Special Visitors!

This past week we had special company--my brother and his younger daughter Elia came to visit us from Texas!  They flew in on Sunday afternoon, so Bob and I, along with the 3 girls and Drew, drove up to BWI to pick them up.  Dan's wife Melinda had to stay home, since their other daughter Emily had school, so we skyped with them (which was fun, but not the same as having them here too!)

Elia enjoyed meeting her new cousin!  She was very careful with him, and she liked rubbing his fuzzy head.

Dan and Melinda gave the boys their old x-box system for Christmas, so Dan got in some quality playing time with them down in the basement.

Luke read some books to the girls, as did other brothers.

Thursday morning we woke up to a little bit of snow on the ground!  Everyone was quite excited, and the kids played outside in the morning and in the afternoon!  The nice thing was that it was pretty cold, around 20 degrees, so the snow wasn't the super wet and melty stuff that we usually get.  The girls had a ton of fun sliding down the little hill in our front yard, and then they had hot chocolate when they came inside.

The 4 girls had such a fun time together!  They really never even argued!  They played Duplos, dolls, Little People, dress-up, and all sorts of things.  Elia was just one of the crowd, fitting in perfectly! 

The only thing we really went out and did was go over to the L's house for dinner Monday night.  Ed smoked some absolutely delicious barbeque ribs in his smoker, so we had a real feast, plus a ton of fun and laughter!  Otherwise, Dan had a quiet week of relaxing, while Elia happily played with her cousins.  A real vacation, LOL!  We sadly drove back to BWI to drop them off yesterday morning.  They eventually made it home--after sitting on the runway at Charlotte for 3 hours and 15 minutes, waiting to de-ice!  We miss them! 

Foggy Brain

I'm going to blog about my brother and niece's visit, but first, a funny from today.

Drew was 8 weeks old yesterday, and he's doing pretty well, as far as sleeping goes.  If I feed him around 9:00, he usually goes until 4:30 or 5:00, and then again until after 8:00.  Of course, I don't go to bed right after I'm done nursing him in the evening, because that's my prime time for getting school-related stuff done, so I'm still feeling pretty tired and foggy-brained.

Today Bob took Luke to his pictures and game starting at 7:30 this morning, and then he and Nathan took Jonathan to his game at 11:00.  The plan was for me to pick up Jonathan after 12:00, when his game ended, so Bob and Nathan could then ref a game.  But a little before noon I had to nurse, so I was running late.  But Bob called as I just started nursing to say he would ask Jonathan's assistant coach (who lives in our neighborhood) to bring Jonathan home with them.  Great! 

So I finished nursing, got my jacket on, and got in the van to go get Jonathan.  It was as if Bob had never called!  I drove over to the church (only about 5 minutes away), and as I drove into the parking lot, something faint jingled in the dark foggy recesses of my brain . . . there was something I should be remembering . . .  hmmm . . . oh, yes!  Our neighbor was bringing Jonathan home!  Bob had called! 

I called home and talked to Caleb.  "Umm, is Jonathan home yet?"  "No . . . oh!  He's just walking in the door!"  "Okay.  I'll be home in a minute too . . ."

I keep telling people my brain is like a sieve--this was a very clear demonstration!

Here's a bonus picture of Drew.  He's intently eyeing the monkey on this thing.  Definitely not too sure about that critter. 

6 Weeks! Plus Some Adjustments

Drew was 6 weeks old on Friday!  Obviously he's adjusting well to life in a crazy household!  He's giving out tons of smiles, much to everyone's delight.  He's sleeping pretty well too.  I usually feed him around 10:00 or so, and then he will go until 4:30, and then again until 8:00--unless I have to get up and go somewhere.  Then somehow this is mysteriously communicated to him, and he wakes up in such a way that he will need to be fed again right around the time I need to get out the door.  How does he do it?!

This is a blurry picture, but you can tell that Micah loves his baby brother!  He loves holding him and giving him gentle kisses.  He's so excited when Drew is awake!  As I've said before, he doesn't see Drew as any sort of a threat because Drew is a baby, while he, Micah, is clearly a big boy!  Which is great, except . . .

 . . . That Micah thinks he is clearly a big boy.  Which means he doesn't want to sit in his high chair or take naps.  He wants to open the fridge and stare at the contents for awhile (we've never actually had anyone tall enough to open the fridge at this age, so this is a new one for us, LOL).  He wants to use markers, play in the bathroom sink, climb on the top bunk, help himself to snacks . . . and disapproval of any of these activities is met with a temper tantrum of epic proportion!  So that's been tons of fun to deal with, LOL (send me chocolate . . .)  Hopefully he will see he isn't "winning" and give up relatively quickly.  Well, I can hope anyway, LOL.           

Starting Up Again

"First a thing is impossible, then it's difficult, then it's done." 

That quote is from Created For Work, by Bob Schultz, which we were reading every day in our character time before November rolled around, and I lost all motivation to do anything remotely extra, LOL. 

Anyhow, that quote is my new motto, as I look toward May and the end of the school year.  I will be perfectly honest and say that I do not want to start back tomorow at all!  This break has been so very nice, and I have a lot looming ahead, which makes me just want to bury my head under the covers. 

The biggest thing is of course biology.  I have been pleasantly surprised, as I tweaked the syllabus for these last 2 quarters, that things seem to be coming together, now that I am not pregnant!  I think pregnancy really was clouding my brain, LOL, because before Thanksgiving I just could not see how to work out the rest of the year.  It's still hard, however, and now I feel the burden of keeping everything we learned in the first 2 quarters fresh in everyone's mind, so they can do well on the AP test, which is May 13.  I got Nathan all signed up at our local high school, so that makes it all seem more real . . .

I still have to do my teaching at our elementary co-op, so that means I am teaching 2 weeks of a unit on space the end of February/beginning of March.  I am also in charge of the 5th week activity, which is a field trip to the Udavar-Hazy museum.  I did a lot of the legwork on the field trip back in October, and my co-leader (and pastor's wife!) Karen is helping a ton by taking over the planning of the "scavenger hunt".  Still, I'll be glad when it's over!  I taught the space unit in 2006, back when Nathan was in 3rd grade, and I was pregnant with Anna.  Now I'm teaching the 5th/6th grade, so I'll have to tweak my lesson plans a bit, but at least I've already taught it.  Next year, I'm hoping to teach in the fall, so I have it out of the way before Christmas!

I'm also the testing coordinator for the co-op, and now is the time to start getting info together to send out to everyone.  At least I did this last year, but I am very worried that I'll miss something or forget something, just because I'm thinking about something else.  Testing is May 20-22, and when that is done, I will be happy beyond words, that that means all my formal responsibilites for the year will be completed!  I also have to send in another batch of Boxtops in March, but fortunately that's not anything stressful.

I need to get back into a good routine with schoolwork here at home too.  In November, we pretty much stopped everything that the boys couldn't do on their own, so we need to start all that back up again, and I need to make Anna more of a priority, since she'll actually be testing in May.  And of course, work everything around a nursing baby while keeping Micah out of trouble!  Sigh . . . burying my head under the covers is definitely an appealing option . . .

"First a thing is impossible, then it's difficult, then it's done."  I can't wait for the "done" part!

Switching Rooms

Our big accomplishment last weekend was changing rooms around.  Anna, Grace, and Faith switched rooms with Caleb and Jonathan.  The 3 girls had been sleeping in the smallest bedroom, on a set of twin bunkbeds with a pull-out trundle.  Faith slept on the trundle, and with it always out, the room was even smaller!  So now they are sleeping on a bunkbed with a twin on top and a full on the bottom (perpendicular to the twin).  Except Anna doesn't want to take her turn on the top bunk, and Grace doesn't want to sleep up there all the time (and I declared Faith, who does want to sleep up there, too young, LOL).  So the past few nights either Anna or Grace has slept on a little pallet on the floor.  Sigh.  Crazy girls!  I think eventually the sleeping situation will work itself out, and the rest of the room is so much nicer for the girls!  We bought these cubes from Target, and the girls have their barbies, Polly Pocket stuff, books, etc. on there.  Before they really didn't have a good place for those things, and it was a source of real frustration for me (I don't think it bothered them one bit though).  There is also more room for them to actually play with said dolls on the floor in front of the bed than in the old room with the trundle out.

Here is the girls' old room/Caleb and Jonathan's new room.  They don't have to have the trundle out, so they are thrilled with all the space!  We still need to hang up their pictures from art class, as well as Jonathan's set of hooks, a present many moons ago from Aunt Amy!  We also turned the bed bunks.  They used to be along the wall with the window, blocking the window.  The room is so much nicer with more light coming in!  Looking at the window reminds me that I need to get some new curtains for this room, LOL. 

My original brainstorm for the move was that Micah could sleep on the trundle with the older 2 boys.  I have since changed my mind on that.  Micah is not at an exceptionally obediant phase right now, and he loves, loves, loves to climb up on that top bunk.  If I put him down in there for a nap or at night, I am sure he would be up there in half a second, and I do not have time right now to camp outside the door, waiting to catch him trying, and discipline him!  Drew is sleeping pretty well, so I am hoping to just go ahead and put them in the same room--Drew in a pack-n-play, and Micah still in his crib, at least until Micah is older.  But that won't be until Drew is sleeping through the night pretty reliably, so he'll still be in our room for a little while longer. 

In the meantime, it was a wonderful excuse to go through clothes, throw away a ton of trash in both rooms, and generally clean house upstairs!  I think it was about my only big accomplishment this break, LOL, even though there are tons of other areas of our house that need the same treatment!

Happy New Year!

 We had a fantastic time last night at the L's annual New Year's Eve party!  Lots of delicious food, good friends, and noisemakers for our 9:00 countdown!  It's great to be able to say goodbye to one year and welcome in the new one with special friends.

 We also had the most amazing thing happen!  Every year we have a new baby, I like to get an ornament for our tree from the place in the mall where you can get personalized ornaments--you know, a bunch of little teddy bears in a stocking or stockings on the mantelpiece or whatever, and the person working there writes the names on the ornaments for you.  I hadn't felt up to braving the mall before Christmas, but right after Christmas, Bob and I went there, solely to look at that little kiosk and get an ornament with 9 somethings on it, so we could have one with Drew's name.  Alas, they were out of all ornaments with 9 of anything.  There were a bunch with 8, a few with 10--but none with 9.  I was so bummed!  I eventually found one on Amazon, but I never got around to ordering it, and in fact I had a disturbing dream a few nights ago where we had ordered one from Amazon, but they left off Jonathan's name. 

At the party, our friends Rick and Linda said they had a present for Bob and me--and Rick pulled out a little red gift bag.  In the bag was--A PERSONALIZED ORNAMENT WITH 9 LITTLE SNOWMEN!!!

 I could not believe it!!  How did they ever know?!  I was (am!) so excited!  I couldn't wait to get home and hang it on the tree!  Of course we couldn't leave until the boys had finished up their card game, and by then it was after 10:00, so the younger ones were starting to melt down.  But everyone slept in today, and Drew wins a gold star--he nursed at 10:45, and then didn't wake up until 5:00, and then again at 9:00!  I actually felt pretty rested when I got up this morning, LOL!  What a great start to the new year!

This past year has been one where we have really seen God's provision and grace in our family, and we are so thankful for that.  Although there is much to be discouraged about as we look at the direction our country in headed this new year, our hope is always in the Lord--he is faithful!  I love the verse my friend Beverly posted today on Facebook--what a great prayer for the new year!

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith.  We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."  II Thess. 1: 11-12

Christmas Fun

We've been having such a grand Christmas break!  I don't ever want to start back to homeschooling, LOL.

Saturday and Sunday we made and decorated cut-out cookies.  Both days we did this while Micah was napping because, you know, I'm not completely crazy.  What a mess!  But it's fun.  Like I told the kids--just another thing they can think back on when they are old, to know that I loved them!  Otherwise, there is no way I would bother with it!

Sunday and Monday we did all our wrapping.  Monday it actually snowed big wet, sloppy flakes--the kind that don't stick around--but it looked festive, and at elast the trees out the window were white!We also ate a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas Eve, before we went to the candlelight service at church!  Our good friend Ed smoked a turkey for us as a gift, and we certainly enjoyed it!

On Christmas we got up and the kids opened their stockings first.  Then we ate a yummy breakfast--a crockpot hashbrown/egg/sausage casserole that I started the night before, as well as cinnamon rolls that I made Christmas Eve as well so I just had to bake and frost them.  I was glad I wasn't checking my blood sugar numbers, LOL!

Then we spent the rest of the morning opening Christmas presents.  We don't get the kids many things, but still--with 13 of us here, including my parents, we had a lot of presents to get through!  We have all been enjoying greatly all the gifts we received.  I love how occupied the kids have been--playing Settlers of Catan witht he new expansion pack Nathan bought as a gift for everyone, doing a murder mystery jigsaw puzzle on the schoolroom table, playing with paper dolls and activity books, reading new books, etc.  So wonderful! 

Then everyone ate leftovers from our turkey dinner for lunch, and Micah took his regular nap.  We ate our big meal at our regular dinner time, which was nice because it gave my mom and me a chance to rest in the afternoon for a little while before we had to start preparing food.  We had a glazed ham, sweet potato casserole, and sweet potato biscuits, as well as some other sides.  Yum!  Then after we cleaned all that up, we had our birthday party for Jesus, with cake and ice cream.

Micah is at such a cute age for Christmas.  He was so excited by the day--candy in the stocking!  New toys!  Delicious food and plenty of it!  Birthday cake and ice cream!  What's not to love?!

I have to say that Drew gave me my favorite gift--he's started going longer periods at night!  I'll feed him around 10:00 or so, and then he'll go until 5:00 some nights, and then up again after 8:00!  Yay, Drew!  It's so nice to have a little bit more sleep.  It makes me think that maybe, possibly, I'll be able to start school up again in a little over a week, LOL.

Yesterday Bob stayed home, and it even snowed a little bit!  There only being a little bit of snow did not deter anyone from going out, however.  Now I am happy to say that everyone has found the appropriately-sized snowsuit, boots, gloves, and so on, so we are ready for a BIG snowstorm . . . please?!?  We never got any real snow last year, and the kids were so disappointed, as was I, I must admit!

I hope all of you are having lovely, relaxing Christmas breaks as well, and most importantly, remembering Jesus, the real reason for this special season!

Merry Christmas!

"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." Galatians 4:4

Merry Christmas!!

3 Weeks

Drew was 3 weeks old on Friday, and he's definitely fitting in around here now! Here is a picture of him with his big sister Grace. Grace was so funny when we first brought Drew home from the hospital. My mom was holding him, and Grace plopped down on the couch next to them. "So . . . what's this guy's name again?" Now she definitely knows his name!

How to Shut Down a Conversation . . .

Scene:  On the elevator up to the 6th floor of the parking garage at the hospital on Monday after Drew's well-baby appointment.

Older middle-aged lady who prattled on and on:  "Oh, what a beautiful baby . . . I think he needs a hat . . . (blah, blah, blah) . . . seeing babies makes me miss the baby stage--except I really don't, you know . . . (blah, blah) . . ."

Me (brightly):  "This is my 9th baby!"

Lady:  " . . . (stunned silence) . . . What?!  9?! . . . Wow . . . Uh . . . Well, good luck . . . (lapse back into stunned silence) . . .  "

2 Week Drew Update

Today Drew and I trekked back to Bethesda, our second home, for his slightly late 2 week well-baby check.  I am pleased to report that he is 9.8 pounds now, so back above his birth weight.  Yay!  Everything else also looks perfectly fine.  I did ask about the hemangioma on his right tushie, and the doctor said I can expect it to get bigger and possibly even 3-D, but she didn't think it would get too big, and it should stop growing and possibly even disappear by the age of 2.  So we'll see what happens, but it sounds a lot different than one on the face. 

Drew is definitely staying awake alot more after feedings, to the delight of his admiring public.  I was holding him in the kitchen this afternoon, and little people kept running back and forth through the kitchen.  He was just tracking them with his eyes, back and forth!  So much to see around here, LOL! 

Home Again . . . Again

We got to the hospital after dinner Wednesday, and we got back home right before dinner on Saturday.  I am so glad to be home!  I was beginning to think we were never going to actually be able to leave!

I was started on 2 different strong antibiotics--clendamycin and gentamycin.  By the time I woke up Thursday, I was already feeling better, and by the end of Thursday, the nasty discharge was gone, as was the headache and general achiness I had been feeling for so long.  Of course, feeling better made it really tortuous to have to stay 2 more days in the hospital!

Bob stayed at night with me, but during the day he went in to work, taking the metro from Bethesda.  So then it was just Drew and me.  The time was definitely a "forced vacation", but I can't think of anywhere else where I would have had so few responsibilities and been needed by so few people.  I read some books and magazines, did some crossword puzzles, and watched some useless TV.  I was staying in a postpartum room, and that floor gets the weirdest selection of TV channels--no sports ones at all (I conjectured that was so laboring wives didn't complain that their husbands were totally distracted by games . . .), and no HGTV, which is pretty much the only channel I ever watch.  Instead, there were a ton of channels with trashy dark cop-type shows, a game-show channel, 2 food channels, the military channel, and a few other random channels that were not that interesting to me.  Bob and I watched a few movies in the evenings--"You've Got Mail", "Where the Heart is", "Knocked Up", and some Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg cop one.  Hard to believe we've lived the past many years of our lives missing out on these gems!  By Saturday I had finished my books and crosswords, so TV was the only option--it was then that I really thought I was going stir-crazy!  You can only watch so many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" without going nuts, LOL.

Another thing that was making me slowly crazy was the food situation.  At Bethesda, they have a fixed menu for all the meals posted in each room, and you call 45 minutes before you want a meal and order what you want off the menu.  Except that you actually receive whatever they want you to receive, or they have extra of, or whatever!  So I would order a garden side salad with balsamic vinegrette, and I would receive a caesar side salad with raspberry vinegrette.  Twice I asked for Sunchips with my lunch and got no chips whatsoever.  The last day when ordering lunch, I just asked for "chips".  The lady asked what kind of chips I wanted.  I told her I really wanted Sunchips, but I had asked for them the past 2 days and gotten nothing, so I figured they were out or something.  I actually got the Sunchips on Saturday, LOL.  Two times my order got lost somewhere, so after waiting an hour and a half, I had to call and reorder.  Now of course none of these things are huge issues in and of themselves.  But when you feel like you are stuck in your room, bored crazy, these little things are just the straw to break the camel's back!

The reason it took so long for us to go home on Saturday is because something was growing in the blood culture they started on Wednesday night.  The lab thought it was probably just a skin contaminant, but they and the doctors wanted to make sure--although, as the doctor said, if I had a systemic blood infection, then you would think I would have been sicker than I was, especially by Saturday!  But the lab said they would know by 3:00 Saturday--except even then, they never answered the doctor's call.  Eventually she said we could go home, and she would call us if it turned out to be anything.  (This was probably when she realized we were getting ready to break out of there, as we quickly lost all remaining patience, LOL.)  

So we are happily back home, sleeping in our own bed, with no one bothering us at odd hours throughout the day and night!  I have a ton of bruises all over both arms from different IV ports and blood draws.  It is so good to be home!! 

Another New Experience

I thought that I was overdoing it this past weekend.  After feeling good the first part of the week, by Friday I had started taking 800 mg motin pretty much around the clock.  If I didn't, then I felt like I was running a fever--I had a headache, chills, was achy, my eyes hurt, etc.  But if I kept on top of the motrin, then I felt fine.  About an hour after taking a pill, I would feel like a big fever was breaking.  My headache would be gone, I would break out in a big sweat, everything seemed all clear, not foggy.  I felt fine!  So I went on with life, like church, a neighborhood Christmas party, Christmas baking, Rivendell on Monday, a Christmas musical performance for the elementary co-op on Tuesday. 

My temperature was never more than about 99.1 on my thermometer, though, so I didn't think too much of it.  But I did start having what can only be called a "foul-smelling discharge", which is a phrase straight from the paperwork they sent me home from the hospital with!  So that was an odd thing.  I kept expecting that to lessen, but instead it just stayed the same.  My bleeding had stopped, but now I had this nasty stuff instead, which made me think "uterine infection", probably due to all those manual extractions after Drew's birth.

I made an "acute OB appointment" for this afternoon at Bethesda.  The doctors agreed that it was a uterine infection, so right now I am home gathering stuff together, as well as getting the baby, and then we will go back to Bethesda to be admitted for 2 days of IV antibiotics.  At least Drew can stay with me, although I am sure this is going to be many steps back for his schedule!  He has been doing pretty well with getting himself off to sleep on his own, but I won't really be letting him do much crying there on the ward!  And he won't be able to sleep on his tummy, so he'll not sleep as well either.  Oh well.  Hopefully the infection will respond quickly to the antibiotics and not require anything else, like a d&c.  At least we're on Christmas break right now, and my parents are here to help!!

Over a Week Old Already!

 It's hard to believe that Drew was a week old on Friday!  As you can see, he looks like our other babies.  He's a sweetie, and I am still having to set the timer sometimes so that everyone gets their fair turn holding him.  He's definitely not lacking for love and attention!  He's going a bit longer at night, which is nice, and everyone is thrilled that he is keeping his eyes open longer.  He is taking better naps during the day as well, and he's doing much better at getting himself off to sleep.  That is due to him sleeping on his tummy--I think this is the earliest I have ever switched anyone to their tummy, but he has a strong neck, and he is just so much happier on his tummy.  When we brought him in last Monday for his weight check, the doctor actually commented on his strong neck, asking if I had been giving him "tummy time" yet!  I hadn't put him on his tummy at all at that point, except when he was up against my chest.  I don't think anyone gives their 3 day old tummy time, LOL. 

 Drew has the longest, skinniest feet and toes of any of our kids!  They definitely come from my Grandpa's side of the family! 

Drew also must be part elf, because he has this pointy "elf ear" on his right ear (you can kind of see what I'm talking about in that top picture too--it's pointy!).  The left ear doesn't have anything special.  The funny thing is that one of Faith's ears looks like a mouse nibbled away a tiny bit at the top--so Drew must have gotten that extra bit, LOL. 

Drew also has a little red birthmark on his bum, which the doctors called a hemangioma--a type of vascular tumor.  This was a little alarming, since the only other person I have known with a hemangioma was my friend Carri's daughter Mercy, who is about Anna's age.  She had a severe hemangioma on the side of her head, and we prayed for many years for her and her doctors, as they figured out the best course to treat it.  She is looking so beautiful now, though--truly amazing!  Anyhow, I guess we'll see how Drew's develops.  Right now it just looks like skin that is darker red--it's not raised or anything, and it's not very big, maybe the size of a nickel.

Random Post-Pregnancy Thoughts

I had a couple random thoughts I wanted to mention before this latest birth becomes a blur.  Here they are, in no particular order.

1.  I forgot to mention in my birth story post some of the other oddities about this labor.  One was that the doctor made me wear those ted hose that prevent blood clots while I was laboring.  That is the first time anyone has ever even suggested them before!  Back at one of my first OB appointments, the nurse-practitioner I saw made a big deal about the blood clot I had in my arm back in 1993.  How weird that in this pregnancy, people have focused on the blood clot from almost 20 years ago, when I haven't had any clotting problems whatsoever during the first 8 pregnancies!  Anyhow, the hose were annoying but not too bad.  When I was in bed, however, I had to have them hooked up to this pump thing that inflated them every so many seconds!  Now THAT was annoying, especially during those really bad double-peaked contractions, where I was really trying hard to concentrate and relax.

2.  I have used calcium pills before in other labors, but I have never tried liquid calcium, which is what Kim, a mother of 11 recommends.  This time I found a bottle at Walmart.  I drank some maybe at 3:00 AM or so.  I waited because Kim says wait until a good labor pattern is established, and the contractions just weren't that painful for most of the labor--I could hardly feel them.  So I waited.  I don't think the calcium really did anything to mitigate the pain of the really hard pit-induced contractions, but really, how could it compete, LOL?  Where I noticed a HUGE difference was in afterpains.  I have had very intense afterpains the past several births--these tend to get more and more intense the more births you had.  Well, I was expecting earth-shattering ones this time, but I hardly felt any.  Any at all!  It was amazing!  So if there is a next time for me, I definitely plan on taking the liquid calcium again.  It is worth it, even if all it does is help with the afterpains!

3.  I have never worked harder during a labor, trying many different positions, making sure to change positions every half hour or so, trying many asymmetrical positions, and so on.  I don't know what you should do when there's so much fluid that the baby just doesn't move down though.  Maybe I'll email the spinningbabies lady and ask her what she would recommend.  I do think everything helped though--once Drew did decide to move down, he was obviously in a good position.  I didn't stall during transition, like I did with Grace, and Drew didn't get stuck, like Grace did, even though he was bigger than she was.  I really felt like I learned so much during this labor.  Has any doula ever had so much chance to practice stuff on herself, LOL?!

4. Another thing that was different was that after I delivered Drew, while they were worrying about getting all the clots out of my uterus, they inserted a Foley catheter, because, as they said, a full bladder can prevent the uterus from clamping down as well. Okay. I've never had one of those either! I didn't like it, and I had to have it in for 12 hours after delivery. I was literally counting down the hours, and I frequently reminded the corpsman, when he came in to check on me, how much time was left, LOL. I still felt like I needed to pee, the tube got caught on stuff, and blood dripped down the tube whenever I stood up. Blech.

5.  Speaking of corpsmen, I had 2 take care of me, one on Friday, and one on Saturday.  They both were 19 or 20, but really nice and competant.  I have always liked the people I've had take care of me at Bethesda, even if I thought they were making weird decisions (ted hose *cough*), LOL.  Anyhow, it was weird to think that these guys were only a few years older than Nathan!  It's hard to imagine Nathan working a post-partum ward in 4 years, taking out Foley catheters, giving moms fundal massages, etc!  They also took vitals on the babies, and I am sure Nathan has had more newborn baby experience than either of them had before they did their training and started working up there on the ward!

6.  I always try to bring a good book to read during my hospital stay, and this time I was really looking forward to my book, especially since I have basically had no time for any leisure reading since the end of July.  I read The Midwife, by Jennifer Worth.  It's the book that the PBS show "Call the Midwife" is based on, and in fact, when I looked up the book on Amazon, I found that it was republished in August under the new title of Call the Midwife.   It was an excellent book--very well-written and gripping.  I could hardly put it down!  Her description of a breech delivery was riveting and enlightening!  She also wrote a lot about stuff other than pure midwifery--the culture of the poor Docklands area, along with a lot of the problems that the people dealt with, like abuse, prostitution, the workhouse (that was quite a draining story).  Definitely a book that left me with a lot to think about.  I highly recommend it!  She wrote 2 other books, but they were not so directly about her midwife experience.  The second one is called In the Shadows of the Workhouse, and I just don't know that I can read that one.  The institution of the workhouse in England seems like such an incredibly horrible and cruel "solution" to poverty, and I just don't know that I can read any more stories about it! 

Settling In

We've been home for about 4 days now.  My millk is completely in, I'm feeling much better, and the bruises on my arm from my IV port are starting to fade, LOL.  Bob went back to work today, and things are getting back to normal, although we're still not doing too much school, other than Nathan and Luke's Rivendell assignments.  I'm so thankful for Rivendell, for keeping the boys on track when life gets in the way!

We had to make a few extra trips back to Bethesda this week because when we left on Saturday, Drew had lost more weight than they wanted to see.  So we trekked back up there on Sunday, where we discovered he was down to 8 pounds, 1 ounce--a loss of about 12% of his birthweight.  But my milk was in, he was nursing well, and he was peeing and pooping, so I wasn't worried.  Even his bili levels were just fine!  We had to come back again Monday, where he was up a whole ounce, to 8# 2 ounces.  The doctor we saw that day thought that was fine and going in the right direction, so now we don't have to come back until Dec. 17 for his regular 2 week check.  Whew!  I was getting tired of all these trips around the Beltway! 

I think that sometimes all this hyper concentration on newborn weight is not too productive, especially if everything else looks fine. As my sister-in-law Melinda (a labor and delivery nurse herself!) pointed out on Facebook, I had gotten a ton of fluids during my long labor--likely Drew got some of those too and was just losing the extra fluid weight.  I think that sounds right.  I know I was so very puffy and fluid-filled afterward--so much so that I scared Micah!  Drew is nursing like a trooper now, and he's doing a little better with sleeping in the pack-n-play for naps.  He still prefers to be held, if you can imagine--and believe me, there are always plenty of eager volunteers around to do so!  I have had to set the timer a few times to make sure everyone gets their fair turn, LOL.  Everyone is always so excited when Drew's eyes are open!  I wonder what he thinks as, whenever he peeps open his eyes, there is a sea of faces surrounding him, peering eagerly down at him.

Micah is not in the least bit jealous, and he's actually been quite gentle with Drew.  He gives him sweet little kisses on the top of his head and says, "Hi Drew!!" whenever he sees him.  So cute!  But clearly Micah sees himself as one of the "big kids" and doesn't feel threatened.  Plus, as I said before, there are plenty of people around to hold Drew besides me, so he can still snuggle with me when needed!

So we're doing just fine, and adjusting to being a family of 11! 

Finally Here!

 At long last, Andrew James was born at 4:47 AM Friday, Nov. 30.  He was 9 pounds, 2 ounces, and 22 1/2 inches long.  Observant folk may point out that we already have an "A" name, which violates our naming rules.  Not to worry!  We're calling him Drew!  Bob has been reading God's Smuggler, the biography of Brother Andrew, who has been instrumental in smuggling in so many Bibles to restricted areas of the world for so many years, and he was inspired by the man. 

 Now, for the rest of the birth story . . . I spent forever on hold Thursday afternoon with L&D, but eventually someone told me to come in at 5:30.  Bob and I left at 4:30, and we stopped by the Bethesda McDonalds where I ate a double hamburger plus some fries before we actually went into the hospital.  Of course, not long after I was admitted, they decided to do a blood sugar stick on me . . . whoops!  My numbers were 160, LOL.  Fortunately I confessed up to what I had eaten right before going upstairs, and they decided to wait a little bit and test again.  My numbers were fine then.

They finally actually got the pitocin started around 8:00, so I knew it was going to be a long night.  When the doctor examined me, before they started the pit, I was 4 cm dilated, but still just 50% effaced.  The baby was still moving around a ton, so clearly he wasn't engaged.  The doctor said she wouldn't break my water until he was further down, since she didn't want to risk cord prolapse.  Because the baby was so active, it was hard to keep him on the monitor, but they insisted he be on it, since I was having pit.  So I spent my time trying all these different things and various positions, but I was limited by having to chase the baby around with the monitor thing on my tummy. 

They started the pit at 2 and kept upping it, but I was hardly even feeling the contractions, so I knew they weren't doing a darn thing.  And sure enough, at 10:00 when the doctor checked me, I was still at 4 cm, 50% effaced.  Bob took a nap, and I finished reading a murder mystery, plus a Reader's Digest while changing positions regularly, rocking on the birthing ball, etc.  But the contractions continued to not be painful at all, the baby continued to not move down, and I just got tired!

Eventually they upped the pitocin all the way to 18, where they felt like I was in a good, albeit non-painful, labor pattern.  Eventually the baby moved down enough where the doctor felt he was "well-applied" to my cervix, so she broke my water around 2:00 AM.  I am sure if she had broken my water earlier, things would have happened more quickly.  That is what I remember about Jonathan's labor--he was also high, but the doctor broke my water after just a few hours, so the total labor was not too long.  Anyhow, things became a little more painful after that, but really the contractions weren't too bad until 4:00 or so.  But although the contractions hurt, and I was having these double-peaking contractions that just never seemed to end, I still wasn't feeling much pressure or anything, so I was worried that I still had a long ways to go.  I started thinking that maybe I would get an epidural this time--I was so tired, these contractions were so intense, and I felt like I still had a long ways to go.  I was feeling like I was heading into transition because I was feeling shaky and hot, then cold, but when the doctor examined me at about 4:15, I was only 6 cm dilated . . . and still just 50% effaced.  So then I really started thinking seriously about the epidural.  I've never had one, and I was quite curious as to whether it would really ease these intense, double-peaked contractions.  The only way I was getting through them was intense concentration and relaxation on my part, and intense counter-pressure in the small of my back and against my top hip by Bob (I was on my right side at that point).  I didn't know how much longer Bob would be able to keep up the pressure either!  But then the baby's heartrate started decelerating.  They decided it was because of the massive dose of pit I was getting, which was making my contractions so strong, so they cut the pit off and gave me an oxygen mask.  They also said an epidural would be good for me, so they called the anesthesiologist, but before he got there, they put a fetal heart monitor on the baby's head, so they could better track his heartrate.  So I had several very uncomfortable contractions on my back while they got all that hooked up, and then the wire didn't work, so they had to replace it.  It was a little after 4:30, and the doctor confirmed that I was still just at 6 cm, 50% effaced.  Finally they finished up all the fetal monitor stuff, and I rolled onto my left side . . . where I promptly had another contraction and felt a strong urge to push.

"Ummm, I don't know why, but I'm pushing!!" I cried out, so the doctor rushed over to examine me again, and what do you know--I was complete!  I pushed for about 5 minutes, and Drew was born at 4:47!  I could tell he was big, as in over 9 pounds, but I could also tell he was nowhere as big as Micah, LOL.  I had to push about 15 minutes to get Micah out!  It is still not easy to push out a 9 pound baby though.  Hard work, even if not a long time of pushing 

So all of a sudden it was over, which was stunning to me.  I know people like my friend Christine dilate really quickly, but that has never been my experience in the slightest, and this labor was just so slow that I never in a million years expected such a speedy end!  I thought it would all drag on for hours more!  I was so relieved though.  I was really running out of energy, motivation, and everything. 

The bad thing was that the long labor, plus all the pitocin, combined to make my uterus not clamp up very effectively, which was something I worried about, since that had happened with Grace as well.  If you have had a baby, you probably know all about fundal massage, which is very uncomfortable.  Well, this time I had not one, not two, but 3 doctors reach their entires hands inside me and scoop out clots and junk from my uterus--an internal uterine sweep--and each of the 3 did it at least twice--all while pressing down on the fundus from the outside as well.  Let me tell you, THAT was so painful.  By the time the 2nd doctor had done it once, I actually had to have some fentanyl in my IV to take the edge off.  I don't know if it really helped though--just made me a bit woozy.  Oh my goodness, it was painful!  I also was the lucky recipient of cytotec rectal suppositories, plus a shot in the thigh of methergen, all to help my uterus clamp up better.  All that took until about 7:00, and it really wiped me out.  My uterus and pelvis are still sorer than usual from all the manipulation.  It was rough! 

Finally we were able to go to our room, and I was able to eat breakfast.  Then we dozed around all morning until my parents brought all the kids to visit at lunch.  They were all so excited to meet their new baby brother!  Micah was carried in by Luke, and as soon as he saw me, he burst into tears and clung to Luke!  LOL, my face was all puffy from all the IV stuff, plus I don't think he really expected to find me in this strange place, so he was quite suspicious of this imposter!  He eventually got over it and got on the bed to snuggle with me.  He was also very fascinated by this new baby!

Drew and I are both doing fine.  He's gotten the hang of nursing, and my milk is coming in.  We got to come home this afternoon, much to the delight of Drew's siblings, who all clamor to hold him at every opportunity.  I'm hoping Drew will cooperate and let me get a little bit of sleep tonight, but I am not holding my breath, LOL.  If there has been one thing true about Drew so far, it is that he has not been cooperative with my plans!  But I am still so tired.  Luke and Caleb were our only other night births.  It seems so much harder to recover from night births, after a full, busy day, than day births (esp. when you aren't in labor the night before).  Tomorrow Bob and I have to make the trek back to Bethesa to get Drew weighed, since he went home before 48 hours.  They would have let us come back Monday, but then traffic and parking are worse, so Sunday is actually a better day! 

I'm so thankful my parents are here to help with all the other kids and their running around.  Today they got Jonathan to basketball practice and Luke to a basketball scrimmage, and tomorrow they are taking all the kids to church, then getting Nathan to a scrimmage and Caleb to a practice!

So that's the story--different from all the others!  I'm off to nurse again, and then hopefully go to bed to get some rest!

No Room at the Inn

I called L&D this morning at 7:30, and what do you know--they don't have any room for me.  Sigh.  Bethesda doesn't technically start inductions until 7:00 PM, but the doctor was hoping I could get in earlier since I don't need my cervix softened and all that stuff, just a bit of pit to get things going.  I'll call back around lunchtime, but the nurse this morning was not hopeful and encouraging, so it looks more likely that this baby will be born tomorrow, a day I totally wanted to avoid.  Although there is the very real chance that they won't have room for me tonight either, and then they'll just move the induction to some other day.  Whee!

I am trying to be encouraged by Day 29 of the Thirty-One Days of Praise book I pray through in the mornings.  "Thank you that I can give myself up to be led by you . . . that I can go forth praising and at rest, letting you manage me and my day . . . that I can joyfully depend on You throughout the day, expecting You to guide, to enlighten, to reprove, to teach, to use, and to do in me and with me what You desire . . . that I can count upon Your working in me and through me as a fact, totally apart from sight and feeling . . . that I can go forth praising and at rest, believing You and obeying You and ceasing from the burden of trying to manage myself without Your wisdom and power.  Thank you that I can throw the whole weight of my anxieties on You, for I am Your personal concern."

And now I must decide if I want to take yet another walk, or do my "Perfect Pregnancy Workout" DVD one more time.  Then school, a quick trip to Sam's for more soy milk . . . life goes on.

Big Day Tomorrow

I went on what is hopefully my last forced march around the neighborhood this pregnancy, and I ate my last (small) bowl of chocolate ice cream.  I'll call labor and delivery tomorrow around 7:30 to see when they want me to come in.  This will be my 3rd induction where I haven't been already 5 cm dilated.  I will definitely admit to being nervous.  The thing about having had a lot of babies is that, well, I pretty much know how this is going to feel!  The baby could be very uncooperative, as he has been so far, and refuse to move down, making this induction take a long time, and that is what I really dread.  That, and pushing.  I hate pushing!  And just the thought that he might be 10 pounds or more like Micah is certainly reason to dread the whole thing! 

I never really had any more measureable contractions last night or today, so I expect that I haven't progressed any more than the 2 cm I was yesterday.  I printed off a ton of stuff from the spinningbabies website so I have plenty of techniques to try once the pitocin starts that will hopefully help him move down and me progress.  I will let you know if anything actually works, LOL.  My hope is to eventually become a doula, after I'm done having kids an homeschooling no longer takes up so much of my time.  Reading so much about optimal fetal positioning this time around has really been incredibly worthwhile and educational--I really do think it will help me become a better doula.  Now let's see if I can doula myself into a good labor, LOL.

I definitely appreciate your prayers for a safe, smooth, uncomplicated labor and delivery!

(Small) Progress

I had another OB appointment this afternoon.  It was supposed to be at 1:20, but a guy from the front desk called and left a message yesterday saying they had to cancel my appointment, and I needed to call back to reschedule.  So I called back, and the man said they had a 2:40 slot for this afternoon, so he was putting me in there.  Okay, fine, whatever . . . that worked better for Bob anyway, who was metro-ing over from the Pentagon to meet me there. 

So I showed up at 2:40 this afternoon, and the lady at the desk looked quizzically at me.  "What time did you say your appointment was?"  Hmmm . . . this is not my fault, LOL!  Long story short, the guy had not actually entered my name in the slot, although I overheard a different lady at the front desk telling someone she was there when he was talking with me, so he must have just messed up.  Well, I was assured that I would indeed be seen, since I was due, and that was all I cared about! 

I saw the same doctor I saw 2 appointments ago.  This time I am all of 2 cm dilated, although still just 50% effaced.  She said the baby was lower, although still not totally pressing against my cervix.  But my cervix was low enough that she could at least strip my membranes, so that was good.  I had felt that my pelvis was achier this morning, and last night I actually had a few Braxton-Hicks contractions.  I've had a few contractions tonight as well, although they still don't seem like they are really meaning business, and I certainly haven't had anything like bloody show or anything.

She scheduled me for an induction Thursday.  I will call at 7:30 AM to see what time they want me to come in.  I really am praying that I will make some more progress by then, although clearly this baby is not one to cooperate with my plans and wishes!  I really, really do not want another long, drawn out induction, like the one I had with Grace.  So in the meantime, I will continue with all the exercise, plus the spinning babies techniques.  I will be QUITE happy to be done with all that in just a few more days!