Gracie Lynn

I was going back and forth with whether I really wanted to be induced or not.  I guess I felt weird at first about forcing something to happen instead of waiting for it but in the end, I decided having a chance to plan and make arrangements was totally worth it.  So glad I did.

So June 13th was the big day!  I hardly slept the night before and was up and ready to go at 6:00 am.  I waited and waited and kept checking my phone to make sure I hadn't missed the call from the hospital.  My mom came out and they finally called about 9:45 asking if we could be there in 30 minutes.  I was so nervous but so excited also.  

We calmly walked in and checked in to Labor and Delivery and made ourselves comfortable.  A far cry from Jackson's birth...let me tell you.  

Much happier this time!

My doctor was the doctor on call that day so I knew we'd have to be patient and would not get things going as soon as we walked in.  The nurses were great and started me on a very low dose of pitocin.  They didn't want me to start anything serious because the anesthesiologist was busy with two back to back c-sections and I was VERY clear that I wanted an epidural before the pain kicked in.  We hung out like that for a couple of hours.  The anesthesiologist came down and got my epidural in before any real pain started.  But after he left and the numbness started to spread, I noticed it was much stronger on my left side than my right.  I didn't think it was a problem until my doctor broke my water and the intense contractions started.  My blood pressure was dropping and the alarm kept going off on the machine (which happens every time I have a baby) so they had me turn on my side to help with that.  I was feeling serious pain from the contractions and was not happy about it.  AHH!  Finally, they had me turn onto the opposite side just as they were becoming unbearable and that helped the epidural work better on the other side and then I was a happy camper.  

They kept losing the baby's heartbeat with the monitor because she was moving so much.  Finally, the nurse was searching and searching and couldn't believe how low the baby was when she finally found the heartbeat again.  She asked me when I was checked last and I said when the doctor broke my water an hour ago and I was still at 3 cm.  She checked again and said I was a 10.  Let's have a baby!  She paged my doctor and we were ready to go.  Apparently once that water breaks, I dilate pretty dang fast. 

They got the room ready and my doctor came right down.  I pushed about 4 1/2 times and she was out!  I couldn't believe how easy it was.  She arrived beautifully - crying, peeing, and had a head full of dark hair.  She's perfect.

8 pounds 1 ounce, 21 inches, 4:01 pm.

My recovery has been amazing.  I guess over a pound less and a few centimeters smaller of a head make that big of a difference.  They needed the baby to stay at the hospital at least 48 hours since I was GBS positive and they wanted to make sure she was okay.  She was doing great so we got out of there as soon as we could on Saturday.

It has been really special having a newborn again.  There is nothing like snuggling and loving a new baby.  It's been a long time.  None of us can get enough of her.  

Feeling extremely blessed!

Daddy daughter date

Matt decided to surprise Eliza BIG TIME last weekend with tickets to the Taylor Swift concert.  

She was so excited!!

 That is her sign she made for the concert.  "Taylor Swift Rocks!"  

She had such a blast!  Matt is such a fun dad and always tries to spend one on one time with the kids.  Or maybe he just secretly likes Taylor and wanted an excuse?  haha  Either way, it's a night she will remember for a long time!

Weekend getaway

We made a list of things we wanted to do this summer and one of them was to go on a little getaway with the four of us before the baby is born.  Of all the random places, we ended up going to Manti last weekend.  I love it down there...I went to Snow College and have nothing but great memories of those little towns.  Sure, it's no Disneyland but we had a BLAST!  It was raining and overcast most of the time but luckily, almost all our plans were indoors.

On the way down, we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  The kids were so entertained the whole time!

Then we went to the brand new Provo rec center for some swimming.  I was super excited to get myself into a bathing suit, let me tell you.  Reminds me of that line in "Mrs. Doubtfire" when Pierce Brosnan's character asks Mrs. Doubtfire if she wants to get into the pool, "Oh no, dear.  I think they've outlawed whaling."

After the pool we made the rest of the drive to Manti.  The kids were so good in the car.  We walked around the Manti temple and enjoyed the sunshine for a little while.  We ate dinner at a fun pizza place in Ephraim and then went bowling.  Eliza bowled a 121!  Granted, she had the bumpers up but still...she was awesome.  She even got a strike without using the bumpers at all.  

After all that, the kids were beat and it was bedtime.  In the morning we headed out and drove home.  We decided to do one more thing before we ended our weekend.  We went to the Living Planet Aquarium.  What a cool place!  Once again, the kids were entertained the whole time we were there.  

Such a fun time!  I'm so glad we could get away for the weekend before we we'll be bringing a newborn everywhere with us!   

8 more weeks

I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by!  We have so much to do still - maybe that's why it's been so long since a blog post. It hasn't been on the top of my list.

I have days when I'm really excited for another baby...most days I'm more nervous than excited though.  It's been almost 4 years since we've had a newborn.  I'm out of practice!

This has been a good pregnancy, just like the other two.  Nothing dramatic or awful.  Just the normal sickness at the beginning and the normal uncomfortableness from now to the end (hopefully...).  I do feel like I've been much more emotional this time around.  I should probably apologize to Matt.  Or maybe I'll wait until the sleep deprivation turns me into a real nut case.  Then see which me he prefers.  :)

The kids have been big helps getting everything ready.  And they have been very patient with me on the days I have ZERO energy.  They are VERY excited for the new baby!

I am starting to see the doctor every two weeks which makes it all go by even faster.  I am going to talk to him about possibly being induced a few days early.  Not because I want her here on a certain day or because of any reason other than I don't want to give birth in the car.  Which is what I thought was going to happen with Jackson.  I was shocked with how fast he came considering how long it took with Eliza.  I didn't have one contraction (not even braxton hicks) until my water broke and my contractions started out at 1 minute apart.  I went from 4 cm to 9 in the hour (or less) it took to get my mom out here and drive to the hospital.  Yeah, I don't want to chance it again.

So...we'll see how the next two months go and cross our fingers we get everything done in time!  

Girl!!

Pretty much everyone knows by now but we found out at the end of January that we're going to have another little GIRL!

I had no feelings one way or the other.  I really didn't know what they were going to say at the ultrasound.  We are so happy!  Honestly, HONESTLY, we would have been happy either way.  But Eliza was over the moon happy!  Jackson is still going back and forth.  Either way, she's going to be called "baby Batman" for a while by him.

Oh, and we are now traveling in style with a minivan.  So nice to have all that room...and a DVD player.

The rest of December

I don't know, I'm just no good at blogging lately.  By the time I sit down to update, I don't have the energy to catch up with everything that has happened.  But here goes...

Christmas was awesome.  Came and went so fast!

Jackson's "bus" school Christmas party

His Miss Amanda school program

So proud of him for learning all his songs!

Eliza also had a school Christmas program but I was too far away to get any pictures.  So cute though!  

Christmas Day

 Eliza bought this book for Jackson with her own money.  She was SO excited to give it to him!

Fun with Grandpa!

I guess he thought pulling the kids behind the car wasn't as good of an idea as it was 20 years when he did it with us!

#3

Baby #3 is on it's way, arriving in June!

If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be making this announcement, I'd have laughed out loud.  Jackson has been SO hard in SO many ways.  And he still is but he's has been doing great in school and making huge progress.  And really, what child isn't challenging in some way?  

As much as we joked about being done with having kids after Jackson, deep down I knew we should have another.  But I was not going to jump into that until I felt like I could manage that and the ones I already had.  It seemed way too overwhelming for a long time.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to be a mother again to another special spirit.  I know many people who have not been blessed with this and I try to always remember what a huge privilege and blessing it is.  

I feel okay now.  Just bloated and bigger than I should.  For several weeks I felt like crap but thankfully that seems to have passed.  I have been wearing maternity pants since like 10 weeks.  So awesome.  I try to not look at the scale.  I don't care if I gain weight, I just don't think I should be gaining this much already.  Oops.

I go in next week for my second appointment and then we should have our ultrasound in January.  So excited for that!

Not so excited that we are basically starting from scratch with baby gear.  We'll need a car seat, crib, swing, bouncer, A VAN, changing table, etc.  And we'll need to figure out how to get Eliza and Jackson to share a room...

Here's the little one.  And ONLY ONE.  Yay!

Sorry, no belly pictures.  I haven't done it with the others, why start now?  I'm sure a few pictures of me looking like a whale will get taken here and there.  That's all the documentation I need!