Emmett

It's 8:30 on a Sunday night and I finally have a peaceful house to myself for a moment so I thought I would document little Emmett's birth.

I went in for my 39 week appointment with no expectations to have a baby soon. I thought it would be a quick weight/bp/urine/cervix/hb check and I would talk about induction after I hit that 40 week mark. 
So it was kind of a surprise when my doctor came in to check me and casually said "Now, we talked about my being gone this week right?"

Panic.

I love my doctor. She is one of the main reasons I felt so comfortable with getting pregnant again so quickly. I wanted her to deliver one more baby of mine because I knew I was in competent hands and I was so very comfortable with her. I had never seen any of the other doctors in the office but two that I had dealt with I knew I didn't want delivering my baby. Keep in mind, I'm pregnant and highly hormonal and the fact that someone else would catch my baby disturbed me more than it should have. Back to the story...

My last belly shot taken the Sunday before Emmett was born.

I sat up a little and quickly let her know that we had not talked about it and I could tell she was feeling really bad. Our last appointment had been rushed and she had a doctor shadowing her so I knew she had intended to discuss it with me but didn't. Wide eyed, she apologized and explained how she never goes out of town and she hates going out of town (she really doesn't, she never missed a single appointment with both of my pregnancies) but she was taking advantage of Spring Break and a CE course coinciding. It all came out rushed and at the end of it she said, "You want a baby this weekend?"

Do I want a baby this weekend? My mind was swimming with my shattered plans and fear that I would go into labor without my doctor which we both thought was very likely. She continued to apologize and say how much she hates missing deliveries and she really thought I was favorable for induction if I wanted to do it.

Do I want a baby tomorrow? She would be on call at the hospital all of Saturday and Sunday. At my beck and call. She really wanted to be there to welcome this baby into the world. Besides that, my blood pressure which normally read about 110/60 was peaking at 147/90 and had been elevated all week. I was pretty swollen and she was a little concerned.

She was making a really good argument.

She asked if  wanted to call my husband. My husband who I promised I would not call that day unless I was in labor because he would be in clinic all day. I knew that Keith would love the idea of my not being pregnant an extra week so I took the leap of faith and said, "Let's do it!" Never mind the fact that my mom wouldn't be coming for another week, I'd worry about that later.

I walked into the hall in a daze and proceeded to Candy's office to get my instructions for the induction and make sure the hospital approved and had room for me. Of course they had room, it was Easter weekend and the beginning of spring break. I left her office with less than 24 hours before I would find myself in the hospital hooked up to pitocin.

Sunday before Emmett was born. Clara still seemed so little.

Making silly faces

So what does one do when they know they'll have a 3rd baby in their arms in about a day? I made some phone calls then took my girls to the zoo with a couple of friends. They needed some last mommy time before I turned into a nursing, non-sleeping zombie for a few months. I had also just had my membranes stripped and wanted to try my best to get some contractions going before I checked myself into the hospital.

 The rest of the day was a blur of cleaning and prepping bags for the girls and making sure Easter would be fun for them. I didn't go to bed until after midnight. At 5 AM I made the mandatory call to the hospital to check if they had room for me and they told me to come at 7. I couldn't fall back to sleep so I took a shower and got a few more things cleaned/packed up. Keith on the other hand casually got out of bed at 6:15. We dropped our girls off at the Snyder's at 6:30. Clara started crying immediately which broke my heart.

On the drive to the hospital I couldn't stop the tears. I felt bad for leaving my baby crying at someone else's house, I was super nervous and really overwhelmed that I would be coming home with another baby.

We checked in quickly and were introduced to our nurse, Barbara. They started my pitocin about 8 AM. Again, it wasn't bothering me until they broke my water sometime around 11 AM. Having my water broken is seriously one of the worst parts to me. My cervix is really high and it's incredibly uncomfortable. I had already talked to Dr. Nett about not being aggressive with the pitocin and they weren't. I was progressing and contracting just fine and after my water was broken, the real fun started.

Barbara was wonderful. Around noon, she came in to check on me. I was sitting up and starting to breathe through my contractions. She talked to us for about 15 minutes and before she said, "You're really pausing now, I think it's time for your epidural." I told her no, I was fine and could hold out a little longer. She continued to talk to us for another 15 minutes and I knew she was watching me. Again she suggested I get the epidural. I wasn't in a lot of pain but the contractions were really close and so I went ahead and told her to put the order in. As soon as she left the room, I got slammed with really painful contractions. Not just regular contractions, it was back labor which I recognized from Kenzie's labor. They continued one after the other and just like last time, my face started twitching and I started sweating. I could feel myself losing control. It was about 45 minutes before the anesthesiologist came in. Keith left the room (their policy) and Barbara came and wrapped her arms around me while I sat on the edge of the back and they prepped my back.

Feeling a little miserable here. By the time I was ready for the epidural, I was upright and breathing heavy through the back to back contractions

I could hardly talk at that point and was so very grateful for modern medicine. The epidural was great. I started feeling relief about 10 minutes later and  relaxed as the pain died down. This time, he started with a lower dose so I was able to feel a lot of pressure and I could move my legs around the whole time. I had a bolus but never felt a need to use it. The rest of the afternoon was so slow. They checked me at a 6 and we thought I would fly from there because it had seemed I was nearing transition but it took until 4 PM until I was feeling any pressure to push. It would come as the contraction peaked then go away. The nurse was afraid I would have the baby quickly so she continued to check me often. I mentioned how I was having back labor and thought the baby could be posterior. About 5 PM, she checked me and I was complete. She had me do a practice push then yelled, "stop!" and told me not to push again until everything was ready.

Keith right before push time

At that point I thought it would be a super easy ending. The nurse warned the doctor that my practice push proved the baby would come quickly but when everything was set and I started pushing for real, he wasn't budging. I don't know how many times I pushed before they realized he was posterior. At that point I was again so, so glad for the epidural because my doctor had to turn him. After that, he took a couple more pushes and was out. I reached down and grabbed him from the doctor and put him right on my chest. He was covered in vernix but I could see he had a lot of hair. He also felt bigger than Clara.

He immediately pooped on me then cuddled up on my chest for about an hour. He was really alert and they brought a mirror so that I could lay with him and watch his face. That time was so perfect. Words can't explain what it's like to be with someone so fresh from heaven and know that the Lord had entrusted him to our care. I finally gave him up so they could weigh and measure him and so Keith could have his turn to hold the baby. He weighed in at 7lbs 10oz. and 20 1/2 inches. Keith and I had both guessed 7 lbs. 9 oz and I thought he would be 21 inches, Keith thought 22 so we were really close.

He was so content from that moment on. Keith stayed with me until about 10 PM after they had transferred us to postpartum and gotten me settled in. I was sad to see him go but happy the girls could wake up to their dad in the morning. I had another wonderful nurse that night who gave both Keith and I sandwiches. She also let me sleep without disturbance for several hours. I was so incredibly tired and needed it!

With our wonderful Dr. Nett

Keith brought the girls around Easter morning with their Easter baskets. They had both gotten some treats and a little baby doll of their own. Kenz was excited to see her brother and even more excited for the cable TV. Clara wasn't really sure about the whole thing and followed Keith around like a little duckling. They stayed until noon then left for Clara's nap. Keith came back for a couple hours that night and we watched the Louisville game together. That night was a little more rough because Emmet was up a lot. I finally called the nurse at 4 AM and asked that they take him to the nursery. They let me sleep again until 8 AM. Checkout the next morning took forever, but I finally got to leave at 2 PM. It was bizarre to go home but felt wonderful to be with my girls again.

She's an awesome big sister. She loved him and embraced him the moment she met him.

Pretty nonchalant about the whole thing but she was nice to Emmett.

All that beautiful hair

Ready to go home

The sign Kenzie made for me with her dad's help. The picture is of me with a baby in my belly, then the baby out of my belly.

Perfect ending

Graduation Picture

I'm so proud of this guy! Years of years of hard work are finally going to pay off this Spring. May 11th is the big day. He passed mock boards in February and will be taking his real boards in Chicago end of April. He's stressed about it, but I know he'll do great. The plan right now is to take an associate position in Atlanta, Georgia. We feel grateful for the job and know that it will give Keith some good experience. I'm excited about living in such a fun city with a lot of family friendly activities and a husband working normal hours to explore it with.

34 weeks

 I'm not up to date with pregnancy pics and don't really plan on another one until 39 weeks which was my last pic. before I had Clara. Kenzie took the second pic here, that's why it's so flattering:)
I'm bigger than I've been with the other two but I'm also not as uncomfortable which I find odd. Maybe I'm just used to having a big belly in  my way so it doesn't frustrate me as bad this time around. Also, I know that a big belly is easier than 3 kids! Besides being heavier, the only differences at this point are a relaxed attitude about delivery, more reflux, lots and lots of contractions, and fear of having my hands full! I had my 36 week appointment last Friday and the doctor wasn't able to feel the soft spot on baby's head so I go in for an ultrasound on Tuesday to make sure baby boy is head down. I've lucked out with the last couple of pregnancies getting extra ultrasounds because my baby's didn't want to cooperate. No big news either, I'm dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced, at a -3 station. More progress than Kenzie's ever was but about the same as Clara. It will be fun to get a sneak peek on Tuesday and check my progress. I expect something from all of the backaches and cramping I've been having! For those interested in a name, I've been pushing for Evan but I don't think Keith's going for it. We have about 5 other names we both agree on and a couple in particular I've been gravitating towards. We really don't like to pick a name until we see the baby.

Just a couple random pics of the girls. Clara's starting to get into babies and strollers which is really cute. Hopefully she'll be excited about a new baby in the house!

BFF's

I'm so glad that the Snyder's moved in 2 years ago. Mackenzie and Morgan are the same age and get along so well. McKell and Clara are 7 months apart but Clara enjoys loving on her and she's always happy to tag along after Kenzie and Morgan. We've been able to swap babysitting with them and it's been great, we'll be sad to say goodbye to them this summer!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal Treats

 So I made the mistake of buying Peanut Butter Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I say mistake because I love just about every cereal made and I couldn't even finish a bowl. I tried pawning it off on the girls but they would hardly touch it with or without milk. I didn't want to throw the box away so I decided to try to salvage it by adding some chocolate and marshmallow goodness. They came out SO good, I haven't been able to stay out of them. I thought I would share the recipe if any of you find yourselves stuck with a full box as well or you love PB and chocolate as much as I do. 

Ingredients:

1 bag marshmallows

3 Tbsp. Butter

6 cups PB Toast Crunch

1/2 bag PB M&M's

1/2 bag milk chocolate chips/chunks

In a large saucepan, melt marshmallows and butter over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in cereal. After cereal is well coated, add M&M's and chocolate chips. Press mixture into a greased pan and cut into bars when cool. Enjoy!

Sisterly Love

It's so fun to see Clara grow older and be able to interact with Mackenzie more. Clara is her shadow and Kenzie is her protector. They have a perfect sibling love/hate relationship and I'm blessed to watch it constantly change and grow.

A bit of January

I usually hate January but February is proving to be much harder. Overall we had a decent month- some cold weather, some warm weather that allowed us to get out of the house. It was a fast month!

 A woman in the ward was getting rid of some clothes for her cute daughter and this dress was included in the treasures. Kenz calls it her Cinderella dress and chooses to wear it every Sunday I manage t have it clean.

 The girls spent a day going  for rides in boxes from Costco

 Clara still loves her binky. I've really tried to just give it at night and during naps. In the background you can see the box for my new double stroller! I'm in love with it. I spent over a month researching and bought one on Craigslist I thought I would really like. When I saw my dream stroller for a steal through a Kohls deal, I jumped on it and sold the other one for a profit so all worked out well.

 Kenz holding up her "Book of Norman"

 Practicing some gymnastics

 Kenz with her best friend Morgan. We decorated cookies from Halloween courtesy of Target Clearance:)

 We've seen lots of  Keith this month and the girls love it.

We went to several birthday parties this month. All were so fun but Kenz scored a super cute apron and chef's hat at Morgans.