Blissfully Exhausting

The past 12 days have been a blissfully exhausting blur of feeding baby, changing baby, cuddling baby, bouncing baby, kissing baby, staring at baby, repeat, repeat, repeat. He has been such a good boy--so laid back and easy going! He nurses like a champ and weighed 7.13 at his 2 week check up today.

 I have learned after 4 kids to let my body recover and rest as long as I can, which I'm blessed to do since my Mom is here to take care of everything else. I am forever indebted to her for the countless loads of laundry, cleaning, cooking, and most importantly, loving on my other 3 while Mommy is out of commission. While I'm exhausted, I can't imagine how much more exhausted and frazzled I would be if she was not here to make my post partum weeks easy and enjoyable.

My kids met their baby brother for the first time when he was just a few hours old, unbathed and undressed. For them to see him so new and fresh was something that I really hoped would happen God worked it all out! Nicolas was born a little after 6 on a Sunday night, which meant the kids were able to come right after church was over!

I'll be honest--I totally broke down and cried when they walked in, all smiles. There isn't really any way to describe the overwhelming feeling of joy I was experiencing to see all of my babies, meeting their newest sibling on the outside for the first time. Nathan was obsessed with my belly the entire pregnancy and would not go to bed without "kissing baby". He looked at my belly, then at Nicolas, back at my belly and said, "the other one baby is in there?" It didn't take him long to figure out that the baby had finally come out and he was so enthralled with his little brother from that moment. And obviously, he had been eating something very blue. ;)

Our first family picture when Nicolas was less than 3 hours old. 

My grandma and Aunt traveled down to visit, and it was so special to have them here with the baby just being born. Our time together was too short, but we had such a great time together. Anytime I get to spend with family from home is comforting and gives me just the boost I need.

"Grammy" meeting Nicolas

They adore their Nonnie

She is my biggest helper, like I knew she would be. She loves to dress him, change him and of course hold him any chance she gets.

                              

Nathan had to make sure he had a ball to play with ;)

Nathan has been a handful and a half since the baby was born. He loves his little brother to death, but he's had a rough time adjusting to the change. I'm really hoping he turns a corner soon!

We got family and newborn pictures done last week, and I'm hoping to have them soon and share a few soon!

 Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

The Birth of Nicolas

This birth was very, very different from my others. I am normally an early dilator, but this time I really wasn't. At my 39 week check up on Thursday I was only 1-2 centimeters at the most and 60% effaced. I know that early dilation doesn't mean anything, but I admit I was a little worried I would end up going late. Thankfully, that was not the case!

 We had been praying that I would go into labor that weekend for a number of reasons. The main reasons were so that my Mom could spend most of her time helping me out with the baby, and that my Mother-in-law would be present for the birth since she was out of town until then. 

 On Saturday (8/16), my Mom and I had a perfect day out. We shopped, ate lunch and got pedicures. When we came home, I rested a little and later on Nate and I went for a walk. No signs of labor at all, but the day was laid back and restful. We also found a little bassinet at a garage sale for $20, and set it up, as well as washing the car seat and getting it ready to go. When I went to bed Saturday night, it was the first night I felt totally ready for a new baby to enter our little world. Apparently, my body got the memo--and God answered a lot of prayers!

 At 4am on Sunday (8/17), I woke up to go the bathroom and discovered I was bleeding. I knew that things were starting and even though I tried to rest after that, I was too excited, so I straightened the house instead. I made the mistake of waking up my husband to tell him what was going on, and then he couldn't sleep either. 

 I called my midwife around 7am just to let her know what was going on and to make sure that it was normal to be bleeding like I was. They said that it sounded like things were starting up and I was pretty excited!

 At this point I was feeling slightly crampy but definitely not in labor yet. Nate took the kids to church and my Mom stayed home with me. I took a long walk and bounced on my ball. I was already pretty exhausted from getting less than 4 hours of sleep, so I rested on the couch a little bit too. I would have sporadic contractions here and there but nothing too painful.

 My midwife called around 11 and asked me to come in just to get checked since I have a history of very fast labors. At this point I was contracting about once every 10 minutes and by the way I was feeling was thinking I was about 3 centimeters. Before she hung up, she said, "it's going to be today!" which made me relieved, excited and nervous all at the same time.

 We arrived at the birth center and I was 3cm, 70% effaced, just as I thought I would be. The baby was a little high for her to break my water to get things going. 

 At this point she didn't want me to go home but she left it up to me if I wanted to go somewhere to walk or stay there. I knew I didn't want to lay around waiting for things to pick up on their own so we went to a shopping center to walk. We walked for about an hour and I was consistently contracting for 30 seconds every 2 minutes. Once again, things tapered off and we decided to go back to rest because I was exhausted and didn't feel like walking anymore. I laid on the bed and rested for about 30 minutes. In this time I had a few stronger contractions but nothing much different than I had been having. The break was nice, because I knew once "real" labor started it would be non-stop.

One last belly selfie while out walking(39 weeks, 3 days)

I decided to get in the shower a little before 5pm and this is when my active labor started. The contractions were getting stronger and I loved feeling the warm water on my belly. I held the bar in the shower and swayed my hips during contractions. They were back to 2 minutes apart, still only 30 seconds, but a lot stronger. At 5pm my water broke in the shower. I frantically texted my birth photographer to come now, because once my water breaks things happen very quickly. We also texted My MIL to come back, because things were finally happening. At this point I asked to get in the tub because I knew I wanted to labor in there.

She checked me in the tub and I was 5cm and 95% effaced. Labor was pretty intense at this point, and even though I was only 5, I knew it wouldn't be long. The water was extremely hot and I immediately started sweating, so Nate ran cool water over me which felt amazing. Thanks to bars in the tub, I was able to grip those during contractions instead of breaking Nate's hand like I normally do during labor. ;)

I mostly labored sitting in the tub, but I did try hands and knees for a little bit which I didn't really like.

At this point I was hating life. This labor was nothing like my other labors and I felt like I couldn't get in the groove of anything. My contractions never got longer than about 30 seconds and never really climaxed--they started out with full intensity and then just stopped. I still had 2 minutes in-between, which was so nice. At some point I asked that we call my sisters who were going to FaceTime for the birth. I started feeling pressure around 5:50PM and just tried to focus on the fact that it wouldn't be long now! My midwife saw me start to bear down and said it was time to get out of the tub. Because my last baby was almost 9 pounds, she didn't want me birthing in the tub because sometimes Moms of bigger babies can sit on them--yikes!  I was totally fine with that because I hadn't really decided if I wanted to birth in the water anyway.

I started pushing at 6PM with my weird, super short contractions. It didn't feel totally natural to me at this point and I was miserable. I know this sounds weird, but I usually love pushing because it's such a relief. This time it just didn't feel right. I kept asking, "is he coming down? I don't feel like these are effective at all!" I was desperate to get this baby out of me!

After about 20 minutes, my midwife checked me and said I had a little bit of cervix still left which was probably why my pushing felt ineffective to me. She said for the next push she would push it out of the way, and even though it hurt, she looked at me and said firmly, "You can do it", and I did.

Well, that did the trick! At 6:23PM in one push, Nicolas Jay came into this world and there is nothing that will ever compare to that feeling of having a screaming baby being laid on you after going through what feels like the valley of the shadow of death. It's horrible, it's beautiful, it's euphoric. 

I haven't really cried at my last 2 births, but I bawled like a baby this time. My labor was just so intense and hard and the relief I felt was overwhelming.

At approximately 2 minutes old, Nicolas made known that he was a boy and peed all over everything!

Nate has never been interested in cutting the cord :), so my Mom got to do it which was so special!

I was dying to know how much he weighed and was surprised when he was under 8 pounds-- 7lb 10oz! After having an almost 9 pound baby last time, I was very careful with what I ate and it paid off! I was very determined to not keep producing bigger and bigger babies each time!

There is nothing like the moments alone after everyone has gone home and the hustle and bustle of weighing and cleaning and checking temperatures has died down, when Nate and I just stare at our newest gift from God and feel overwhelmingly blessed. Another beautiful, perfect baby has been given to us and we do not take if for granted for one second!

Even though I would say this was my hardest labor, it was still only an hour and a half, just like my last 2 and I would take fast and furious any day over something long and drawn out.

Let me just say that I had the best support team ever. First of all, my husband is amazing and I could never do it without him. My Mom has birthed 9 babies and having her there means the world to me. My amazing Mom-in-law was a quiet presence and it was so special to have her a part of this moment!

I'm hoping to post pictures of the kids meeting their new baby brother sometime later this week. Happy Monday!

Welcome Nicolas!

Introducing:

 Nicolas Jay

 7lb, 10oz, 21 in

 August 17th, 2014

After many prayers that I would go into labor the weekend after my Mom got here and trying every old wives tale in the book, I went into labor on Sunday morning. It's amazing the little things God does in our lives to show us that he still answers prayer and cares about our every desire. To me, having a baby at the time that we prayed was nothing short of a miracle!

We could not be more in love. Nicolas has been a content, easy baby so far and we are so blessed for another healthy, perfect little boy!

Birth story to come. For now I have to go snuggle. :)

Baby #4, weeks 24-31

I have missed a ton of pregnancy updates this pregnancy, so I wanted to a little bit of a catch up. My last update was finding out we were having another precious baby boy. After that, Nate and I went to Florida and that was when I really started feeling super great and loving pregnancy again ;). May was extremely busy for me, as I mentioned before, so it really flew by. Really, this entire pregnancy has flown. I'm already buzzing through the last trimester and time doesn't seem to be slowing down yet!

Possibly the worst moment was when I came down with the stomach flu the night before I was shooting a wedding. Let me just tell you, throwing up at 7 months pregnant is not fun. You Mom's that have awful morning sickness--my hats off to you that you keep having more kids! I wouldn't do it, I know myself. I'm a wimp. Give me labor and delivery any day over that!

 At around 28 weeks, I had my glucose test as well as an ultrasound to check on my placenta. As usual it was a little low, but as of now it's moved to where it's supposed to be. Praise the Lord! The best part was seeing my precious little man again--seriously amazing. He was all smooched against the placenta, but she was still able to get a pretty decent 3D shot for me and I really fell in love with him more than ever.

24 weeks, 28 weeks & 30 weeks

As usual, my braxton hicks have started in full swing. My body likes to prepare early, even though I don't necessarily deliver very early. But when the time comes, it's fast, and I attribute that to my weeks...and weeks...and weeks of braxton hicks and eventually contractions.
 And speaking of labor--this time around we are going with a birth center and I am SO excited about it. I really needed to switch Doctors (much to my disappointment--they were amazing) because of fast labors and the minimum 40 minute drive to the hospital. I did a lot of research and really looked into water birth, because I would love to labor and possibly birth in a tub depending on how I'm feeling at the time. The only place that even had tubs to labor in was a birth center about 25 minutes away, so I went for a tour at the beginning of my pregnancy and fell in love. They have all of the equipment there for infant resuscitation, if, God forbid, it's needed, as well as IV's, medicines and pitocin for hemorrhaging, a wonderful relationship with the hospitals, etc, etc. I was so impressed with all of this, and since I've been blessed with 3 natural deliveries and no complications, Nate and I made the decision to switch to them. It has been amazing. I've worked with midwives since my first pregnancy and anyone who has knows how special they are! I have friends who have delivered there, and another friend due one day after me who is delivering there as well, which is so much fun!

 Anyway, other than sore feet at the end of a long day, a really bad digestive system (ehem) and feeling like I can't breathe at night--I'm doing great! And yes, rolling over and getting out of bed is officially an act of congress. I'm not complaining--every day with this sweet boy (name TBA at birth ;) inside of me is a true gift. I love every single movement, even when he does push against my bladder and crush the living daylights out of my lungs. I cherish every moment of this pregnancy, even the discomforts, and am so thankful that God has chosen me to carry another life into this world.

Nathan Robert Enters the World

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and I stood outside for one last belly picture at 39 weeks 2 days. :) We went in, waited around (of course), got checked in and paperwork filled out and finally over an hour later headed upstairs to our room. 

When we got into our room I changed into the flattering and beautiful hospital gown, answered a million medical history questions, got poked twice with that awful IV needle and generally felt nervous, anxious and excited to meet our baby soon! Nate got ready to text updates to everyone who would want them and we waited a little longer.

I was SO blessed that my Mom made it for the birth and had also asked my sister-in-law to be a part of this day as well. They were both awesome to have there to talk to and hear labor experiences from before mine started. Between us there had been 16 births so we had lots to talk about. :)

Before she broke my water, my midwife checked me and I was dilated to almost 5 centimeters and 70% effaced. This made me SO happy as I had been 3 cm for 3 weeks, and just a few days before was still the same. I was feeling like I may be going into labor on my own in the next few days (just pretty strong braxton hicks and the baby had become less active) and I guess I was right--stuff was definitely happening!

At 8:20am she broke my water and after the baby was monitored for a little while, I was able to walk the halls with the portable monitor to help get things going. At that point my stomach felt very tight and slightly crampy, but not labor yet. 

Seeing the crib all set up and the little hat with the diaper in it is SO encouraging, reminding you of the end in sight :)

I walked the halls for about 30-40 minutes and started contractions around 9 that I could still easily walk and talk through. Around 9:30am they picked up but didn't get closer together. At 10:00am I would say that I was in very active labor, but still having good 2-3 minute breaks between each contraction. During that time I was sitting on the birth ball and rocking. Here I am giving my focal point (the swirly threads on the the bed ;) quite the stare down! ;)

I was very thankful for the refresher videos I had watched and was able to deeply breathe through each contraction. Joanna showed Nate an awesome counter pressure on my hips and that really helped take the edge off of that sharp pain. 

Anyway, from 10-10:30 I labored really strong but kept waiting for it to get "Bad". The contractions were bad but not on top of each other and very sporadic. I was shaking and feeling nauseous so I thought that I should get checked just to know where I was at, even though I still felt like it wasn't getting really awful yet.

At 10:40am I was 6cm, 100% effaced and the head was very low. "With the way you go, I would say about 30 minutes", my widwife said. I stood up from being checked and immediately felt the "I can't do it anymore" contractions so I knew the end was in sight. My Mom noticed the difference and suggested I stay standing to help the baby move down quickly. Minutes later I had a very strong urge to push but could tell it wasn't time yet. 

Probably 10 minutes after that my midwife looked at me and said, "Do you want to push your baby out?" (Best words ever to a laboring woman!)

With all my babies, pushing has been such a relief, but also hurt worse each time because they've gotten bigger each time. With Joe and Nathan I asked for a mirror to be able to watch my babies enter the world and help me push more effectively. I sat on the bed and pushed for about 5 minutes, and at 11:06am my Nathan Robert was born! Feeling a tiny human's body wiggle out of you is a feeling I cannot describe, a feeling I can never forget. The most amazing thing was when I reached down and "caught" him and scooped him right up into my arms. I had read about this just a few days before and loved the idea. It was SO special! The emotion captured in this picture is amazing--I'm so thankful my Joanna took all these pictures for me! I love that I have now experienced 3 natural labors. I'm alert and feel everything and even though it is no fun it is truly incredible.

My sisters were on the phone, listening as he came into the world which is why my Mom is holding 2 phones. I LOVE these pictures--they make me cry!

Happy tears!

When they weighed him and said he was 8lb, 11oz, my jaw dropped. I was told by 3 of my Dr's in the past month no more than 7 1/2 pounds, maybe less! I don't know how he fit in there! :)

My sweet, sweet midwife

Joanna and I--I am so glad she got to be there. (Nathan was ready to eat ;)

His first picture with Nonnie! Having the quiet support and presence of my Mom during labor means SO much to me, and having her here for these few weeks while I'm recovering has been wonderful. I don't know what I would do without her!

Heading to get a bath!

My in-laws watched our kids for us and it was so nice to know they were in good hands and I didn't have to worry about them! They brought the kids up later that evening to meet their new brother and they were in love right away. :)

I'm still trying to get used to the idea that I have 3 kids now. I am blessed beyond measure!

After 2 wonderful days in the hospital :), I got Nathan all dressed up to go home. Since then I've been taking it easy, cuddling and snuggling a lot and enjoying my "time off". :)