Day One

I had originally been scheduled for an induction on September 13th, but since I wasn't overdue- the insurance called the doctor's office back and said they would not cover it. So I was scheduled for an induction the day after my due date. My doctor and I discussed it at my last doctor's appointment on September 14th.
Last Monday, September 19, I had been told by my OBGYN that I would  be induced at 6am. She told me to  be sure and call Labor and Delivery before we left the house to make sure they hadn't gotten behind during the night before. So I did. I told them my name and asked if it was still good to come on in. They said yes. So I get ready and pack up the last minute stuff, and get Jeremy up. We finish getting ready and take everything downstairs. I ate my piece of toast, which is all I could have. We ran to McDonald's and got Jeremy some breakfast. We then headed off to the hospital.
We get there (about 15 mintues late) and parked the car. We go up to Labor and Delivery on the 2nd floor and go to check in. Well, the lady at the desk says she doesn't have my paperwork. Not a good sign. So she calls L & D and tells us a charge nurse will come down and talk to us. All I could think was this is not going well. So a lady comes down and talks to us and says they don't have us on the schedule for the 19th. We weren't scheduled until the 26th!!! I wanted to cry. We reemphasized that I had been told by Dr. Fuson to be there at 6am on the 19th. So they call her and she says she will drive on in to her office and get the paperwork and we can wait in the waiting room! So there we are sitting in the waiting room with all our stuff: suitcase, pillow, purse, camera case, laptop case, everything. Luckilly, there was only one other family in there. So we sit until almost 8 am.
Finally someone comes out and Dr. Fuson has found where they had it handwritten that I was scheduled for the 19th, but both the hospital and the office had it down for the 26th. We finally get to go to a room and I get changed and answer all the questions for the paperwork. They do the IV, and we get the pitocin going. Around 10 am, the nurse checks me and I am a 4. I had been a 3 for weeks, so I was hoping for faster progress.
Nothing much happens until about lunchtime. I can feel the contractions slightly, but nothing major.  When Dr. Fuson came back around 12:30 I was still only dilated to a 4. She broke my water and man did things get going then! My nurse asked me if I wanted to go  ahead and get the ball rolling for an epidural. I said yes, I guess, because who wants to take a chance on the anaesthesiologist getting tied up and getting in major pain before you can get the drugs? Not me. So I say yes, let's go ahead. They had to run a bag and a half of fluids, well by the time that happened I was already in pain. The anaesthesiologist gets there and everyone assures me he gives really good ones that last a long time. Sounds like a plan to me. By the time he gets done I am having major contractions. It seems to take forever for it to kick in. My legs slowly get numb but by the time it fully takes effect, I am about 20 minutes away from giving birth. I don't know how much more painful it would have been, but let's just say I experienced the most pain I have ever been in in my life! To make things better, there was a lady giving birth naturally down the hall and was screaming bloody murder. I was trying to breath deep or whatever you are supposed to do. Like I know! I never planned on needing to know anything about Lamaze. I now know you can't take a deep breath when having a contraction.
So finally the nurse says she wants to check me again. She does and says I am complete. So they get the bed ready and she asks me to push once. I do and she immediately says I'll call Dr. Fuson. Dr. Fuson comes in and I push once and start to push and she tells me to stop and I look down and can see Miss Lillie Claire making her appearance. So after major pain, an epidural that almost didn't take in time, and exactly 2 1/2 pushes my little girl was born!

Lillie was born at 2:43 pm, she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long.

Our smallest baby!

Needless to say, since the anisteiologist had bumped up my epidural I was good and numb for a long time. I think that is why we got to stay in the LDR room so long. We didnt' move to a regular room until almost 5 pm. I got there and got situated. They now leave the baby in the room almost all the time. She even got a bath in my room. I got to eat supper. It was so good! That's how you know you are hungry. Later that night the kids and Lonnie and Peggy came up to see the new baby.

This is it...

Tonight is the last night as a family of 4. It makes me teary eyed just thinking about it. Tomorrow we will meet our newest daughter. I am supposed to be induced at 6 am tomorrow morning.
I am excited and nervous too. Every mom knows you can have a healthy pregnancy and that really only takes care of part of it. You want to have a healthy delivery and a healthy baby too. One never knows what the future will bring. I look forward to meeting her and seeing how our older kids take to this new family member.
Jack seems very excited. He got out one of Lillie's burp cloths the other day and wanted me to show him how to do it. Then again tonight he got it out and was walking around showing Lonnie, Peggy, and Jeremy how to place the burp cloth on your shoulder.
Madalynn on the other hand, is telling everyone that after this baby she is "retiring". i.e. I don't want any more siblings. I am not sure why she isn't crazy about this. She seemed excited when I first told her. She wanted a sister and that what we ended up having. She has said that she doesn't want the baby to have blond hair, because she would be jealous since Madalynn thinks blond hair is the prettiest. I hope she improves. I tried to assure her tonight that she would always be our first daughter and she would always be special. No one can ever take her place. I hope she does OK.
Of course this is sale month in Lexington. So my husband isn't crazy about having to miss work for this. I wish the timing was better. I haven't even asked if he is just going to miss work, I am afraid of what the answer might be. Another reason I really hope I don't need a c-section! When Jack was born, a good friend of Jeremy's dad came up to be here when Jack was born. Well, he ended up having an appendicitis and having to have emergency surgery that led to complications. So Jeremy spent a good deal of time checking on him. I  almost feel like I was in the hospital by myself. It wasn't Jeremy's fault, he was tring to be a good guy. I am not one who likes to be alone in a strange place like that. I hope this time is different.
Jeremy's grandparents are here to stay with the kids. That is a good thing about being induced and knowing when you are going to have a baby... you can plan better. I have written notes and left reminders everywhere. I hope everyone goes to school the days they are supposed to and Madalynn  gets to school with lunch and snack and homework.
Jeremy's mother and grandmother will be here on Wednesday and I hope Lonnie and Peggy are leaving on Thursday. I had a really bad experience with Lonnie, Peggy, and Martha visiting when Madalynn was born. Their 'help" was me cooking supper for extra people. Being confined in my bedroom. Having people barging in my bedroom and bathroom when I was nursing. They cooked breakfast for themselves and if there wasn't anything left when I got up, oh well. They finally did laundry and some vacuuming the last day of their visit. So pardon me if "help" feels more like more work.
I hope everything goes well tomorrow.

Gripes, gripes, and complaints

Well, as my third and final pregnancy draws to a close. ( Induction 6am Monday! If they aren't busy.) I'd like to reiterate all the aches and pains that this gestational episode has brought me.
First we will start with the "normal" complaints.
Heartburn
Sleeplessness (at least at night)
Achy back
Swollen feet and hands
General Discomfort
I can handle all of these. I have had them all before. Now for the list of the ailments that made their debut this third time around.
* Hips that feel like they are going to come out of their sockets. As in during my third month, I could barely go from standing to sitting, sitting to standing, and getting in and out of the car was torture. I have days where they still bother me, but at least I'm not hobbling around like a 90 year old with a broken hip.
*General digestive illness- as in I still have days or parts of days where nothing agrees with my stomach. Not cereal, not applesauce, not anything. Weird. I also spend a lot of time in the restroom. I might feel nauseous after I eat or it might  be that everything is so unappealing that I don't want to eat anything, even though I may be lightheaded from hunger.  Thus why I have only gained 23 lbs. to this point. I gained 35 with Madalynn and 40 with Jack.
* Feeling like I am going to fall/pass out. I don't know what the deal is. I can be fine, as in not feeling hungry one minute, and feel like all the blood has drained from my body the next. Not sure why. I had to take the lovely 3 hour gestational diabetes test and it came out normal, so not sure what the problem is.
* Being so miserable physically. I have never gained so little weight during pregnancy. Now take that with a grain of salt, because let's face it, I weighed more than I should have when I began this odyssey. I have also never felt like I was so unable to move around like wanted or needed to. I feel like I literally have a basketball, a large basketball, sewn to my middle that prevents me from sitting up, bending over, crossing my legs normally, getting any kind of comfortable, etc.
*Never have I waited so anxiously for a baby to arrive! I have been ready for her for a good solid month now. I mean really ready. Room ready, clothes ready, diapers, everything. I am ready to move on to the next stage of life and see how it is going to be with 3 kids. I am also ready to get back to my "normal" life. I miss being able to do what I want in the yard and at the farm. The only slight benefit this pregnancy has had is that I don't have to clean out the litter box. I say slight, because the only time my husband cleans it out is when the stench is so bad that you need a good 45 minutes to air out the garage after opening the door in the morning, prior to actually walking through there to get to the car. The last time he cleaned it out, he only left the litter that filtered through the "litter saving bag". Did I mention he doesn't clean it often, so let's just say there isn't alot of litter left.

When I got pregnant this time, I said "I don't want to be miserable, but when it is over I want to be glad it is over." Well, guess what? I have gotten my wish.

First Day of School 2011

Well, we finally went back to school on August 17th!

I had a boy who was very excited and a girl that wasn't! That is quite the switch! Usually it is the opposite.
Jack could not have been more excited about going to his new preschool.

Madalynn would have preferred to just drop out at this point. She isn't crazy about her new teacher mainly because she loved her teacher from last year so much!

I have to say, I think 2nd grade may be more of a struggle for her than anything has been before.
She still doesn't really want to go to class in the mornings. The days Jack has school, I walk them in and she really doesn't want me to leave.

No tears thank goodness, but she is definitely not happy. I sure hope it improves! She has also turned into a somewhat reluctant reader..I am shocked. I don't know what happened. I never had to ask or make her read last year and this year I have already had to start requiring her to read at least 2 books or two chapters a day. No off to a good start.
Jack on the other hand can't wait to get to school on Mondays and Wednesdays! Dropping him off is easy because he goes right in and just starts playing away. I have already received a compliment on his good manners and behavior from his teacher!
I hope Mady settles in and that Jack continues to enjoy his school this year!
I also hope to eventually have some time to do what I want to do on those two mornings. So far I have done nothing but run errands and go to doctor's appointments. Come on Lillie Claire!

Yard Sale

We finally sold our big house in town back in June!

It was on the market for years! Literally! I hated owning it and not being able to live in it. Plus the deadbeats that had rented it from us and paid the rent only half the time work at Madalynn's school, so seeing them made me see red! So we didn't get what we wanted for it, but at least we aren't still making mortgage payments on a house that is sitting empty.

So anyway, before we sold it the kids and I had a yard sale over there. It was a success! We lived in town for a few months one other time and Jenna and I had a yard sale. It is great! Tons of traffic and since people are already out scoping out yard sales in the neighborhoods, you don't have to spend money on advertising! I just made a couple of neon yellow signs and put them up at intersections and ta-da the people showed up.

We did it the weekend after Madalynn got out of school this summer. We held the sale on Friday and Saturday. On Friday we had a great turnout and sold a ton of the stuff. So much so I felt bad on Saturday because we had nothing but the junk's junk left. We actually had very few come by on Saturday so we packed it up early and left about 10 am. I took two big carloads to Goodwill. We did really well considering I didn't have anything worth anything to begin with. I will miss having access to a great yard sale location next time!

And Her Name Is...

We have a name for our newest daughter now...


Lillie Claire

Jeremy really liked Lillie. It grew on me and I really didn't have anything else that my heart was set on so we went with that. I picked that spelling since I had a great-grandmother whose name was Lillie. I liked the sound of Claire with Lillie and would really like to call her a double name. I have a really cute onesie with her full name on it to help encourage the use of both names!

I had already bought big brother and big sister shirts for Jack and Madalynn a while back, but at that time we didn't have a name for her yet.

Super cute! Can't wait until she is here and we get to use them!

Jeremy's Father's Day 2011

I know this is really late, but that's how I usually do things.
I had the idea of what I wanted to do for Jeremy for Father's Day months before the day, I just am not so good at the follow through. I had saved many of his old rodeo/ horse show t-shirts from his high school and college days for years. I had even looked up how to make the t-shirt quilt  and bought the other materials I would need. I (back when I first thought of doing this) was going to attempt to make a quilt out of them myself. Well, many years and two - almost three kids later I came to my senses and realized that would never happen. Even if it did, I was sure the results would not be up to my perfectionist standards.
I had seen an advertisement for Campus Quilts in the back of a magazine. They had been featured on several news and talk shows like the Today show and Rachel Ray's show. So I figured they did quality work and it wouldn't be some type of scam. I contacted them and got a packet of information the week before Father's Day. I picked all the shirts I wanted to use and figured out the size quilt I needed.

I got them all laid out and figured out what color backing and sashing I needed and sent it all off.
I got it back a couple of weeks after Father's Day, but unfortunately he is used to that. I think he really appreciated it. We now keep it on our bed. I had a quilt that my grandmother made on there, but I really needed to take it off and preserve it for the kiddos when I am dead and gone.
I think it turned out so well! I am very happy with the quality and look of the quilt. Now we can look at it and reminisce about the good old days!
I did order him a Reese's Peanut Butter Blizzard cake and we met him for lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse on the actual day of Father's Day. Plus he wanted a post hole digger for his tractor and he ordered that and I went and picked it up a few weeks before Father's Day, so he wasn't too deprived!

A Few Things I Won't Miss

As I type this I am about 6 weeks away from my supposed due date. That is, if the date is correct. I have measured 4 weeks ahead twice! So who knows! I may have a baby in the middle of August or the middle of September.
Jeremy and the kids are in Tennessee for the weekend. I decided to stay home and use this as "me" time. That is if you can call working like a dog me time. I have done all kinds of errands, laundry, put up the crib, found all the baby stuff, cleaned the girls room, hung the curtains in Mady and Jack's rooms (after 3 years!), cooked a batch of vegetable soup, cleaned out all the junk drawers, got the bassinet ready, hauled off all the recycling, cleaned out the garage and touched up all the scuffs on the walls. So instead of sleeping more like I thought I would, I have slept less, but I have gotten a lot accomplished.
Tonight as I suffered through terrible heartburn, and tried to reach around this belly to paint my toenails I thought of all the things I won't miss after being pregnant.
I won't miss the aforementioned heartburn. I won't miss the insomnia, thus why I am writing this at 1:30 am. I won't miss trying to roll around this big belly to get up or do anything. I won't miss getting up to go to the bathroom 58 times a night. I won't miss having a belly button that was once an "innie" that is now a major "outie". I won't miss swollen feet and hands. I won't miss not drinking caffeine. I won't miss the feeling of someone trying to kick their way out of my cervix.
I will miss the wonder of knowing I have a baby growing inside me; of creating something where there was nothing. I will miss feeling kicks and hiccups and later full blown rolls and flips. I will miss hearing your heartbeat at the doctor's office. I will miss seeing glimpses of you at my ultrasound appointments.  I will miss watching my belly grow and knowing you are growing too.
I'd do it all again and I can't wait to meet you Lillie Claire!

The Cutest Baseball Player in the World

We just finished up a six week t-ball league with the YMCA. I wasn't sure how much Jack would enjoy it since he had never played before and really didn't even know the rules for baseball. He did pretty well though.

It was just the kind of organized sports we can handle. It was only for 6 weeks and we had practice and a game one day a week. We even lucked out most of the 6 weeks and didn't have terribly hot weather. He really enjoyed himself especially as he practiced and got better at hitting and catching. We may even do it again sometime. I knew with Jeremy's work load/schedule and it being hot weather and the kids being used to going out to the farm alot that we weren't the kind of family to be out at the ballpark 3-4 nights per week. This was perfect.

He was on the Braves team, so we now have a Braves ball cap.It was the only southern ball team he could have been on. The others were the Blue Jays, the Cubs, and the Reds. He also got a t-shirt with his number on it. (Lucky #7!)

I also bought him some baseball pants. I had to go back and buy a belt so he could keep them up. The first time he tried them on, I turned them loose and they hit the floor. (He doesn't get his hips from his mother!) Shorts would have been cooler, but he fell and scratched himself up the first time around the bases.Plus he just looked so cute in them!

He had really nice coaches. He technically had one coach but a couple of other guys helped too. His coach had never coached before but did a really great job with all the kids. We had a couple that were handfuls. Jack did a much better job of paying attention than he did when he played soccer. So maybe this is more of his thing.

All in all, it was a really fun experience and I was actually sad when it was over!

Last MONTHLY OB Appointment

Today I went to the doctor for what I didn't realize until I saw the doctor, was my last monthly appointment! Scary! That means it is getting closer! I had to do the glucose test, go back down to the doctor, go back to the lab and have blood work done, and then back up to the doctor's office to get my RhoGam shot.
So I go to the lab and get to drink that orange glucose drink. Gross! I have always heard everyone talk about how awful it tasted and had been very lucky up until this point. I could swear that with Madalynn and Jack it tasted like orange coke. I could honestly swear that it had carbonation. It wasn't a big deal at all. Today...that was a different story. It was NASTY! But I got it down. Then I went back up to my doctor's office to see the doctor. My blood pressure was 114/70, I have only gained 14 lbs so far, and the baby's heart rate was 133-134. I didn't realize that I would have to start seeing the doctor every two weeks but she said since I was almost 30 weeks, I needed to. I hope Jeremy can keep the kids for my next appointment and he is off the day of the following appointment so maybe I can make it until they go back to school before I have to go too often. After I saw the doctor I still had some time before they could draw my blood so I waited down in the lab. Got the blood drawn and then back up to the doctor's office. This was another experience that I don't remember being quite so bad. I have had RhoGam shots with both my other pregnancies, and don't remember it hurting any more than any shot in the hip ever does. Today it burned like crazy. My hip was achy all afternoon and is still a little sore. I have said to myself that I hoped this pregnancy would make me glad it was over and this was my last. Well, today I had two experiences that I am glad I don't have to do again.

When I finally got done at the doctor's office it was over 12 hours since I had anything to eat. That's a long time for a normal person much less a pregnant woman. So since I had been craving Olive Garden I called and ordered something to go. While that was getting ready I ran in Penney's to get myself a fake wedding ring. My hands are too swollen to wear my real one. I also ran in Motherhood Maternity to grab a couple of tank tops. I am trying to get a little sun when I can and two of the ones I bought a month ago are wayyyy too big. Then I rushed home and picked up the kids from my neighbor and got to actually eat something!

I ate so much, but it was soo good.Olive Garden's salad and seafood Alfredo is delicious!!  I felt yucky the rest of the day. I guess between eating too much, the long day, and the aching hip I did myself in. We stayed home from church and I just laid around.
If the chance of rain isn't too great tomorrow, I might venture out to the water park. The kids have been begging and summer will soon be over. So we may do that after swimming lessons.