Claire's Excellent All-By-Herself Vacation

Last Thursday right after lab, Christine took me to the airport, where I proceeded to fly to Ohio for the weekend.  All.  By. Myself.  This little trip was a few months in the making.  Back in the middle of January Amy called to me tell me that the school system we graduated from was celebrating its 50th anniversary with a concert by Michael W. Smith on March 9.  Our other good friend Julie was going to be in town for it--was there any way I could come?  Of course I immediately said no.  March 9 is right in the middle of my busiest time--teaching at TNT for the 2 weeks before, and leading the end-of-unit field trip on March 12.  So there was just no way.

But then I got to thinking:  what if just Drew and I flew out?  I searched around and found a good price on a direct flight.  Bob gave the green light, so I bought the tickets.   As the day got closer, Drew was sleeping better and better, and he had taken formula bottles just fine . . . so I decided to not take him either.  I did bring my breast pump, which got quite a workout, though, LOL.

And it was absolutely wonderful.  I can not even describe the feeling of freedom as I just went wherever I wanted, and no one needed me at all! And the quiet . . . it was amazing! It was such a refreshing time.

When I got up Friday I first visited my friend Anja who had just had her 4th baby back in January.  She and her family are PCSing this summer, so I was so glad to get in one last visit in person before they move!  The visit wasn't long enough, but I had to go meet another friend for lunch.  Marie and I went to college together while our husbands were both active duty Air Force.  We reconnected several years ago in an unusual way.  Several years ago I became friends with Bob's boss's wife Tonya, even though we have (still!) never met in person.  Tonya and Marie are good friends, and eventually Tonya put it together that Marie and I had known each other.  Anyhow, Marie and I had plans for lunch--without any of our combined 17 children!  It was so nice to chat and catch up completely uninterrupted! 

After lunch, I did some shopping, and then I went back to my parents' house to do some work on the upcoming field trip.  That was all the work I did though--I did NOT bring my biology book!  I caught up on all my parents' Christmas letters (they keep in contact with a TON of people), and I even started reading a book just for pleasure.  Imagine!

Saturday was the big day.  After exercising (!), Amy and Julie picked me, and we went out to lunch.  We had a delicious Mexican meal at Abuelo's.  Then we all headed back to Amy's house to talk some more.  We never run out of things to talk about!  We left for the concert a little before 5:00.  There was a reception for alumni and teachers there as well.  It was so fun to catch up with former teachers, including my high school biology teacher!  I got to tell him about my life as a homeschooling, high-school-biology teaching, mother of 9.  Believe me when I say that was certainly not my life plan back in high school!

Before the actual concert, several videos were shown. One had a lot of well-known Christians, like Joni Earikson Tada and Josh McDowell, talking about DC, and what the school means to them. Another had pictures from the history, and the last had current teachers and students talking about DC. I really enjoyed all the videos!

Michael W. Smith had a great concert!  I find it funny that I have not gone to a concert in years and years, and here I have gone to 2 concerts in the past 3 weeks!  Apparently I only go see well-established artists though--Third Day just celebrated their 20th anniversary, and Michael W. Smith has been performing for 30 years.  No "flash in the pan" singers for me, LOL.  Anyhow, I knew all the songs he sung, so that was nice, and it was a good time of worship as well.  He said he had over 190 songs to choose from!  Of course he sang "Friends are Friends Forever".  He said that when he wrote that song back in the late 80's he never dreamed he'd be singing it for the rest of his life, LOL. 

The concert was done a little after 9:00, which was like 10:00 because of the impending time change, sigh.  But we grabbed a quick bite to eat afterward, since we hadn't eaten dinner beforehand.  I spent the night at Amy's, so at least I didn't have to drive back to Mom and Dad's.  But I did have to pump when we got home!

Sunday morning I drove to the base chapel to go to church with Mom and Dad.  Their combined choir from the 3 base chapels was performing their Easter cantata that morning.  The lady who directed it was so joyously enthusiastic about it!  Her enthusiasm was very contagious, and I think everyone enjoyed the cantata!  Afterward, Mom and Dad took me out to the Officers' Club for brunch.  It was delicious, and made even better by the fact that all I had to worry about was my *ONE* plate, not plates for 3-4 other kids up and down each arm!  They had a chocolate fountain with lots of strawberries . . . my favorite!

After brunch I pumped again, then took a nap (!).  All too soon it was time to pack up everything and head to the airport.  I thoroughly enjoyed a quiet flight back, reading my book so peacefully. 

I was so thankful I was able to be gone as long as I was.  Just one or two nights would not have been long enough.  I felt like I was able to come up to the surface and take a few deep breaths before diving back in until the end of May.  And I was ready to see everyone again by Sunday evening!  I was greeted by all sorts of eager hugs and smiles, which was nice.  It is nice to be missed!

But Bob and the kids did great while I was gone.  Everything ran smoothly, even things like getting to Luke's all-star basketball practices and game.  Caleb and Luke made chili-mac Thursday night, and then Bob made ribs on Friday, a stunning success!  They had a fire in the firepit Saturday night, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 

So now we're back in our regular routine.  My milk supply did suffer a little bit, I think, so Drew has been eating a little more frequently, although he's still been sleeping really well at night.  Now--to make it until May 23 . . .

Space Unit

I taught the last 2 Tuesdays at our elementary co-op.  We're in a space unit right now, which is one of my favorite subjects!  I actually taught this unit before, way back in 2006, when I was pregnant with Anna.  Although I taught the 1st and 2nd graders back then, and I taught the 5th and 6th graders this time, at least I had some ideas for where I was going and what I wanted to cover.

Last week we talked about stars.  After talking about differences in size, color, etc., we focused on constellations that are in the sky right now in the evening.  We did several activities to help them be able to recognize Orion, Taurus, Jupiter (which is above Taurus right now), the Pleidies, Auriga, Gemini, Canis Major, and Canis Minor, as well as the Big Dipper, the North Star, and Casseiopia. I told some of the Greek myths behind the constellations too. One thing I do that is always popular is pound nailholes into the bottom of pringles cans in the shape of the constellations (actually you have to punch in the mirror image so it looks right when you look through the can).  I sent the kids home with instructions to look at the stars at night and see how many of those constellations they could identify--but unfortunately practically all of the nights were cloudy, LOL.  Oh well.

Today we focused on the moon.  After talking about features on the moon's surface, what it is made of, and how it shines, we talked about the phases.  I demonstrated them with a globe, light, and foil-covered styrofoam ball, and then the kids made these moon phase plates out of oreos. I "glued" the oreos to the plates with white frosting.  The activity was a hit, LOL. 

Then we talked about the space race, and they made a timeline with figures I drew back when I taught this the last time, and I had extra creativity and time, LOL.  From back when Nathan went through his huge big space phase (when he was 4-5), we have a set of die-cast figurines of the Apollo program--Saturn V rocket, command and service module, lunar module, command capsule with the flotation collar and those big beach-ball-looking things that keep it upright in the water, lunar rover, and a few other figures.   Those are great to illustrate things like docking the command and service module with the lunar lander.  I even dug out some pictures of us down in Huntsville, AL, at the Space and Rocket Center, to show how big the Saturn 5 really was!  I just love the race to the moon!  I've read a ton of books on it (again, back when I had lots of time, LOL), and it is so fascinating.  Michael Collins (the third Apollo 11 astronaut, the one who piloted the command module while Aldrin and Armstrong went down to the moon) wrote a really good autobiography called Carrying the Fire that is one of my favorites.

Anyhow, it is a shame that I am so busy right now and can't just enjoy this unit more, because there are so many interesting websites and new things to read!  I am really relieved to be done with the teaching part, though.  Being at TNT all morning really makes for a long day for me, as I have to come back to Rivendell and teach memory work and life science.  We did not meet at all for biology last week (although I gave the boys a bunch of assignments!), which gave me time to finish this week's lesson plan, but we'll meet this week on Thursday.  In fact, I should be preparing for that now, instead of blogging . . .We're covering the immune system in great detail, and I am definitely not prepared yet!

Week of Luke

Luke turned 14 on Wednesday, but we've been celebrating all week!  It started on Monday when Bob took him and Jonathan skiing in Pennsylvania.  It's a bit of a drive to Hidden Valley, but you can't beat the deal on Mondays and Tuesdays--lift ticket, rental, and a lesson for $32!!  Bob took them, plus Nathan, back in January, and they went snowboarding, but this time they stuck with skiing.  (Nathan didn't want to miss another Spanish class, and Caleb just doesn't like the cold, LOL.)  It was a beautiful day, weather-wise, and they had a grand time.

On Luke's actual birthday, I had a doctor's appointment at Bethesda at 3:00, and I didn't get home until 5:00.  I knew it would be later, so I had already planned on having Luke's special birthday dinner on Thursday.  Instead, Bob brought home tacos from Taco Bell, definitely a special treat--especially since Bob got some (6) of the "loco tacos" with the Doritos shells.  Yum!  I had never tried one of them before!  Bob got three 12-packs, and we polished them all off.  Teenage boys . . .

We have sort of started a new birthday tradition back with Caleb of going to Wegmans and picking out special ice cream for everyone.  Luke didn't really want to go out Wednesday night, so he delegated his picking responsibility to the girls, who are always up for a trip to Wegmans with Daddy!  They (and Micah) came back with a ton of different flavors to choose from!

Thursday we actually had Luke's requested birthday dinner of chicken packets, which is an old recipe from my "Once-A-Month Cooking" cookbook, which I definitely used to own but can no longer find.  Good thing I copied it into a recipe book my brother gave me one year for Christmas a long time ago!  We also had a special salad and kale chips (and more ice cream for dessert).

Then today for Bible study Luke picked a veritable smorgasbord of dessert goodness--candy bar cheesecake (chocolate with snickers), Air Force dessert (which includes cookies & cream ice cream), and chocolate-covered strawberries.  YUM!  I left some strawberries un-dipped, and I made some chocolate-covered pretzels with the last little bit of chocolate.  We brought home with us about 1/3 of the cheesecake.  Everything was gone!  Of course, there were over 20 kids there, plus adults . . .

So we have had a fun week of celebrating Luke.  My parents gave Luke a gun safety course at a local range, and Bob is going to take him shooting there as part of our present.  Fun! 

It's hard to believe Luke is 14!  He is a great older brother--he definitely has a gift with little kids.  He's an excellent student, and he is also a great athlete.  He just was notified tonight that he was picked to be on the all-star basketball team!  He has to miss their first practice on Tuesday, though, because he has now also joined Civil Air Patrol, and he needs to pass a drill test then so he can get promoted. 

Now you are caught up on Luke!

Score at Office Depot

This afternoon I had to make a ton of copies for my astronomy lesson at the elementary co-op on Tuesday, and while everything was copying, I happened to notice the clearance rack.  On the rack was this enormous 5 inch binder, on sale for $3.93.  I have been needing a new binder because I had 2 smaller ones for biology--both 2 inches, including this purple one.  But they were getting full, and the year is only 3/4 over!  I have never seen a binder as big as this one though, LOL.  After the copying was done, I walked around the store to find nametags for the field trip I'm in charge of, and I happened to see other 5 inch binders on the shelf--for over $35!!  So I ran back and picked up this bargain as fast as possible!  When I took it to the checkout, it rang up as originally $32.99, so getting it for $3.93 was such a steal!  Now this beauty has a ton of my biology handouts and notes in it, and it's not even half full!  I do still have the stuff I need right now in my smaller purple binder, because getting papers out of this monster is not as easy as you might think, ha. 

Third Day Concert!

Bob and I had a date to the Third Day concert Thursday night.  It was the opening night of their "Miracle" Tour.  To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure I would enjoy it all that much.  I mean, I really like Third Day, and we have a lot of their CDs, but the whole group experience thing, crowds, loud noise--I wasn't sure about all that.  And I can't even remember the last time I went to a concert.  It might have been our first actual date, where we went to a concert at the Nutter Center after the base chapel volunteer appreciation banquet, back in the spring of 1992!  I have no recollection of what group was playing, but I do remember some ladies singing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", so I think it was some sort of oldies/patriotic music group.  Anyhow . . . suffice to say I've not been a part of the live music scene of late, LOL.

We got there just a few minutes late, and we even got a good parking space, so that was nice.  We walked in and sat down (we had great seats!) and the opening act, Josh Wilson, was already singing.  We didn't recognize his name right away, but we soon realized that the Christian radio station plays his songs, so we DID actually know him.  He was great!  We both really enjoyed him, and I started thinking, "Hey, concerts are fun!  Why don't we go to more of them?"

Then the second guy came onstage, and he was definitely MUCH louder, LOL.  His name was Colton Dixon, and apparently he had been on American Idol this past year.  I wouldn't know, since I don't watch that show.  I definitely felt like an old fuddy-duddy, snickering at his pencil jeans and weirdly spiked hair, and wishing the music was quieter and the bass wasn't so heavy, LOL.  He seemed like a nice boy, though (albeit with really skinny, non-athletic legs).  I just won't be going to his concerts, LOL.

After intermission, Third Day came out.  Everyone was on their feet, cheering, but I just stayed sitting down, because, well, I'm not really all that outwardly excitable, and it just feels, I don't know, awkward or something.  Bob stayed sitting down too, which was fine until the couple sitting next to us decided to move down to the empty row right in front of us.  When they did that, suddenly we couldn't see anymore sitting down!  Bob said something to them, I was embarrassed, they ended up moving down some so they didn't block our view, and I ended up trading seats with Bob and standing up, so it ended up fine.  I felt awkward, but it was okay.  And then Mac Powell, bless his heart, told everyone to sit down, so *whew* I didn't have to awkwardly stand up the whole time!  It got me thinking though--in a big group of people, my tendancy is to back away and almost be outside the experience, looking in.  Which is not to say I'm not enjoying it!  I just don't outwardly express it or something.  Anyway, I was worrying about being in heaven, with thousands upon thousands, worshipping God, like it says in Revelation.  Surely I would be able to enjoy a group experience there, focusing on God, not feeling outside it all, right?! 

Third Day was absolutely amazing.  We both so enjoyed all the songs, and Mac Powell sharing in between songs.  It's hard to believe they've been a band for over 20 years, but they definitely were so comfortable up on stage!  And you know, gradually I became a lot more comfortable in the crowd--I even clapped along some, LOL.  It was like being in a worship service, and by the end I wasn't so worried that there was something wrong with me, that I couldn't enjoy group experiences!   So Bob and I had a really fun time together, and a really meaningful time of worship as well! 

Back at home, Nathan and Luke gave Drew a bottle, got everyone ice cream, and put the younger 5 to bed.  It is soooo nice to have responsible in-house babysitting!  What a blessing!

Big Week For Drew!

1.  Drew started rolling from front to back last Thursday!  He's okay with it if he is up and playing on the floor.  He is NOT happy when he does it when he's sleeping.  He only did that once, LOL.

2,  Drew found his thumb last Friday!  It's still hit and miss as far as reliably getting it in his mouth.  It is helping him sleep though!  Which leads us to . . .

3.  Drew slept until 8:00 this morning!  That was lovely!  Of course, Micah was up crying at 7:00, and Faith was hollering at 7:30 because she needed toilet paper in her bathroom, but still . . .

4. Drew had his first formula bottle this morning!  I wanted to try him on formula to make sure I could leave him for the weekend I go to Ohio, but I also wanted to make sure I was around, in case it didn't work or he was allergic or something.  The younger kids didn't have TNT this morning, because they're on winter break (lucky ducks, LOL), so that was perfect--Caleb gave him the bottle while I was leading a fetal pig dissection for biology!  Drew did fine with it, although he didn't have naps as long as he usually does this afternoon.  That, however, could be from all the kids we have here Tuesday afternoons, LOL.  I'll try another formula bottle before I leave, just to make sure he's okay with it. 

And in the picture above, Drew is smiling and cooing at his beloved older sister Grace!

Well Babies!

So Faith and Drew had well-baby appointments last Thursday.  Drew was 12 pounds, 6 ounces, and that is the only statistic I remember from the appointment, LOL.  They both are perfectly healthy!  Drew is doing really well at night, sleeping from about 9:00 or so until 6:00 or 6:30 pretty reliably.  Yay!

Caleb, who didn't want to be in this picture, also had an appointment.  After 2 years of basically never needing his inhaler, he has had a harder time this winter.  Starting in December, whenever he would go outside to play basketball, he would come in wheezing and needing his inhaler.  It only seems to be exercising in the cold that triggers the wheezing, though.  It had been awhile since he had been seen, and he needed new prescriptions for his asthma meds, so that is why he had to go in too.  The doctor her saw was so nice--he was one of 7 himself!--and he asked a lot of thorough questions to make sure it wasn't some new allergy or something.  It doesn't appear that it is, so the plan is that Caleb has to take Flovent in his inhaler preventatively, twice a day, now. 

The doctor called in a staff doctor to come in and make sure he was on the right track, as far as a treatment plan goes.  When she walked in, I recognized her from back when Faith was a baby, although we haven't seen her for several years.  We talked about Caleb for awhile, and then we talked about us having so many kids.  The doctor started talking about this one family who used to come in, who were "very religious" and had 7 kids.  The mom would line the kids up against the wall, and they would sit while the doctor would examine the baby and talk with the mom.  The older kids took care of the younger kids, and they were always quiet and well-behaved.  At the end of the appointment, the mom would give them a snack.  I laughed and said something about it sounding familiar, but after we left, it hit me--I'm sure she was talking about us!  She was our doctor when Faith (#7) was a baby, and Nathan was not even 12, so I still had to bring everyone in.  We saw her several times, and what she described is pretty much what I would do.  I'm sure there are plenty of other families with 7 kids who could also be described that way, but I'm pretty sure she was talking about us!  It was encouraging, though.

Good thing I had that encouragement, because the afternoon dragged on forever!  We left out house at 12:40, and we finally got back home at 6:40, after getting shots at the immunization clinic and waiting FOREVER at the pharmacy for Caleb's prescriptions.  I was so ready to be home!  And when I got home, I was greeted with flowers Amy sent me, plus balloons and a delicious "not-cake" fudgy torte thing from Christine, since it was actually my 40th birthday!  Bob had already gotten me roses, but he surprised me with an absolutely beautiful jewelry box with a really special inscription on it. Then he took me out to eat at Cheesecake Factory, and we did a little bit of shopping afterward.  He wanted to do something fun, like go ice skating, but I was just totally beat from my long day at Bethesda, so we will have to save that for another date!

Spending the afternoon at the doctor is not exactly an ideal birthday, but Bob had already given me a huge present that I am sooo looking forward to.  A few weeks ago, Amy called, and she mentioned that my high school, Dayton Christian, was having a big 50th anniversary celebration in March.  She wondered if there was any way I could possibly come home for that, since our other good friend Julie was going to be in town that weekend.  Well, the timing is absolutely the worst--right after my 2 weeks of teaching at our elementary co-op, and right before the big field trip to the space museum that I am in charge of.  No way we can pick up and drive out there in the midst of all that!  But then I got to thinking--what if just Drew and I flew out?  So I looked into ticket prices, and I found a direct flight for only $215.  Bob okayed the plan, so I bought a ticket, leaving Thursday after lab, and coming home Sunday evening!  Now it's been a few more weeks, Drew is sleeping really well, and . . . well, I'm thinking that if he will do okay with formula, I'm not going to take him.  Just me, all by myself, with no kids for 3 days!!   It sounds so amazingly refreshing.  I can. not. wait.  Best birthday present EVER!!!  I need to buy some formula so I can try Drew on it.  I'll bring a pump, which will be a little bit of a hassle . .  but  all by myself!  For 3 days!  With no one needing me!  I can hardly imagine it!

Happy Birthday, Faith!

Faith turned 4 on Friday!  Bob took the day off, which was really nice.  After he took Nathan to the Pentagon DMV to take his test for his learner's permit, he took the girls and Micah to Wegman's so that I would have uninterrupted time to frost the cake!  If you have read this blog for awhile, you may have thought that this cake looks familiar.  It does!  I used the same dog as a model for Grace's 2 year old birthday cake, back in 2009!  That dog was Grace's special stuffie that she loved and slept with.  Faith was 3 months old when I made that first cake!

Well, apparently a few months ago, Grace bequeathed the puppy to Faith.  And so when I asked Faith what she wanted for her cake, she picked the pink and white puppy, even though there is no way she could have any recollection of me having made a cake of it before!  There just must be something about that dog that screams "birthday cake"!  Grace's cake was actually cuter, but I had way less time this go-around.  I did the ears differently, which was easier, but not as cute.  Oh well! 

Faith is so happy to finally be 4 years old.  She was so funny the other day though.  She told me she felt like she was still 3 because she still sucked on her finger, LOL.  She does it less, though.  We're working on it!  Faith is a sweetheart, and we're glad to have her in our family!  And we never forgeet that she is there, because she is just SO loud, and she always is making some sort of noise!  I usd to worry about having 3 girls--would one always be left out, especially since Anna and Grace are so close in age?  Not to worry!  Faith's personality does not lend itself to being left out, and that has definitely not been a problem!  The Lord knew exactly who to put in our family!

Catching Up

I thought last week would be a "breather week" for us!  That didn't happen, and this past weekend was certainly not restful either, so I didn't get any blogging done, despite my best intentions. 

So . . . catching up.  When I last wrote, we were down a van and a toilet.  Sunday afternoon Bob had the brilliant idea to call Brian, our awesome church administrator who knows everyone, to see if he could recommend a towing service.  Brain said he could but then asked if Bob didn't just want to call Noah, another guy in our church, to see if he would just want to fix it?  So Bob called Noah, he drove out Monday afternoon and fixed the van there off the road where Bob and Ed had pushed it, and it was good to go!  Noah's wife and son were over in Africa visiting friends, so he came over afterward and had dinner with us.  So fun!  And now the van was working again!

Bob had been working each evening on the recalcitrant toilet, snaking it and so on, to no avail.  But Tuesday morning before he went to work, he tried one more time, and *voila* the toilet flushed!!  That was a direct answer to prayer because Tuesday afternoons while Rivendell is meeting we have 24 kids here, and it is a total pain to have everyone have to troop up or down stairs to pee!  Although, as I had to remind myself several times, it's not like we were roughing it like the pioneers, LOL.  We have 4 other toilets in our house, all of which were working, so we weren't exactly digging an outhouse or anything!  Bob's parents raised 6 kids in a house with one bathroom, which was upstairs!  But I was still glad to have the main floor bathroom open for business again.  Thank you, Lord!

The reason last week was going to be such a breather for me is that we were studying stuff in biology that is not on the AP test (phyla), and the lab was just dissecting a frog.  I did not have to spend hardly any time at all preparing, which was so nice.  We had a fun time with the frogs.  Leo had a female frog who was just stuffed with eggs in every space in her intestinal cavity!  I've never seen so many eggs before!  That was really interesting, although it did make it hard to see the other organs, since they were so squished and covered in eggs.   

Since we did the lab on Tuesday, and we didn't need to cover the chapters, we didn't need to meet on Thursday, which worked out perfectly, since I had made 3 doctor's appointments for Thursday afternoon.  I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the appointment center, trying to get 3 appointments together on one day, and when Thursday afternoon was all they could come up with, I wasn't going to turn them down and start all over again!  Faith and Drew had well-child appointments, and Caleb went in to get new prescriptions for his asthma medicines.  I'll do a separate post on the appointments (that's my well-intentioned plan, anyway!).

Saturday was an absolutely crazy day.  Luke and Jonathan had basketball games in the morning, and Caleb had a birthday party at a friend's house.  Nathan toured an FAA facility with CAP, and then he reffed 2 games in the afternoon at Upward.  Bob and I were driving all over the place!  We can't wait until Nathan can drive!  He got his learner's permit on Friday, so after I picked him up from his refereeing, I took him across the street to a parking lot so he could have his first driving experience.  He did great!  He picked up on how hard to press the pedals really quickly.  Now, to fit in time for more practice . . .

The last thing on Saturday was a father/daughter dance at a local church!  Bob took Anna, since the girls had to be in 1st grade to go.  She was so excited!  They had a great time.  There were a lot of activities--some drawing, they made a necklace and a picture frame, there were snacks, as well as the dancing.  It was really special!  Grace is looking forward to her turn to go next year!

One of Those Weeks . . .

 . . . where you think all your possessions are rebelling against you.  It started on Tuesday when one of those plastic deoderizer-things that hangs over the rim of the toilet bowl got knocked into the toilet and flushed.  We were attempting to make it not as noticeable that there are a bunch of boys using our main floor bathroom on a daily basis, but given the choice between a non-working toilet, and a bathroom that can smell like a hamster cage, now we realize we would pick the hamster cage.  So the toilet is well and truly clogged.  Reasonable solutions such as snaking have not yielded any positive results, so now Bob is thinking that he is going to have to actually take off the toilet.  Now there's a project to look forward to!

Next, it appears one of garage doors is possessed!  I was standing by our refrigerator Wednesday night when I thought I heard the garage door going up.  But we were all inside, so I convinced myself that it was just the dishwasher or something.  But a little later I heard the noise again, and I went out to the garage to check.  The door was down, but the light was on, indicating that the door had been moving!  Freaky!  We locked that garage door so it couldn't move, but the next day I unlocked it, just to see what would happen.  Sure enough, a little while later I was standing in the kitchen when I heard the garage door!  I ran out the door in time to catch it going up!  So now it is staying locked until Bob can take a look at it to see if wires are touching or something. 

Then yesterday we had another busy Saturday.  I took Jonathan to his pictures and game at 10:30, while Bob took Nathan to meet a review board for CAP, to determine if he will be selected to go to the summer special activities he would like.  After they got home, Bob left to take Luke to his 1:15 game.  At 12:55 I got a call from Bob.  He said his 2000 Honda Odyssey was "broken" and that I needed to come get Luke and take him on to his game!  When Bob was making a left turn, the van just made a big clunking noise and wouldn't go anymore.  It wouldn't even stay in park.  After talking to some repair guys, it seems the consensus is that the axle is broken.  We were actually hoping it was the transmission, since we had that replaced in March 2010 (I remembered it as "a year we didn't have a baby", LOL), and so it was still under warrenty.  But alas . . . this is a new problem, it seems. We didn't want to pay for weekend emergency towing, so the poor Ody is still stuck on the side of the road.  It looks like we'll be doing something with that tomorrow.  At least we have the big van as well as the Sienna!

Now we are waiting to see what causes problems this next week . . . (cue ominous music . . .)

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!