Another "Belly Shot"

This is 30 weeks 4 days.  I'd be happy if I didn't get any bigger in the next 8 weeks.  Think that will happen?  ;)

Took a Great Fall

Embarrassing.  That's what it was.  We were walking in the store (Costco) and I slipped on something on the floor (Matt thinks it was a piece of fruit.  I didn't see anything, so I think it was just a slippery spot on an already slippery floor) and I fell.  Majorly fell.  My right leg flew in front of me and my left leg went straight down onto my knee ... basically I kind of did the splits.  It didn't feel great.

A store employee ran over and asked if I was ok ... other people around looked concerned.  I am a VERY pregnant woman after all ... I suppose they were all worried I'd drop the baby right there.  I was just mortified and wanted to escape pronto.  I thought I was fine, except for my pained legs, so I assured the lady I was ok and we quickly walked to another area of the store.  Matt was worried of course, and I think I was a little shocked.  I really did think I was fine, but the longer we walked around the more I realized I did actually hurt ... under my belly and the general "baby holding" area.  By the time we got to checkout I was feeling a little emotional about the whole thing ... I went to the car while Matt, Kate, and Quinn checked out.

Once I was in the car I burst into tears.  Not because I was in so much pain, but I just felt stupid and mad that it had even happened.  I knew my body wasn't going to be happy with me about this and I really didn't need one more thing to have to worry about.

We got home and I went straight to bed to lie down.  I drank a bunch of water.  Eventually I realized I was having contractions and they were hurting.  So I called my midwife and she suggested to go in to the hospital to make sure everything was fine.

Mom and George, of course, had gone to the temple.  The one night a week they're unavailable to watch kids.  SO I called Karen.  Luckily she hadn't left work yet.  She was able to come straight over ... I felt so glad she was so willing.  I got off the phone with her and burst into tears just because I was so grateful for her to be able to help.

Matt and I left for the hospital and as I sat in the car I realized my contractions were coming about every 3 minutes.  Not good when you're only 30 weeks pregnant.

I got into Labor and Delivery, they hooked me up to the monitors.  Isla looked perfect.  Thank goodness!  They were recording my contractions on their monitor thing so we just had to wait and see.  At some point she came in to check my cervix ... it was good.  I am 1 cm dilated but just on the outer edge of the cervix, and that's to be expected at 30 weeks pregnant with baby #6.  Other than that, it was closed tight, just as it should be.

I just continued to be monitored for a couple hours.  Matt and I had dinner (mine from room service, Matt's from the cafeteria) and we waited.  By the time 2 hours had passed my contractions had calmed down enough for them to feel comfortable sending me home.  I was VERY glad.  Those beds are extremely uncomfortable.

When we got home the kids were mostly great.  Aunt Karen had made them dinner in our messy kitchen (sorry Karen) and they had eaten outside!  Fun!  Quinn hadn't eaten, and he was sleeping.  I sat on the couch next to him and noticed he was burning up.  He woke up and as I was holding him he threw up ALL over the couch.  So Quinn is sick.

The dr.'s orders were for me to go home, get a good night's sleep and rest for a few days.  Matt is such a great husband that he slept on the couch all night with sick Quinn so I could sleep in our bed comfortably.

I joked with Matt last night that since we haven't been out alone in a while we were lucky to get a spontaneous "date" ... we even had dinner!  (he didn't think it was too funny, and to be honest, when we see this hospital bill, I'll think it was one EXPENSIVE date)

Anyway ... today I am just grateful that everything is fine ... Isla's ok and even though my body is in pain, I'm still pregnant.  A blessing to be sure.

There is Beauty All Around

Flowers are starting to bloom!!

I love walking around the yard and seeing color.  The trees have been filling in nicely, so everything is lush and green right now ... and when the sun is shining it's so pretty ... even when it's raining, and the water is dripping off the leaves, it's still beautiful.  Everything is clean and fresh. 

30 weeks!

• No more lame 20s!  Hello 30s!  (and I'm talking pregnancy here, not age.)  :)
• same old, same old.  I won't bore you with the list of things this pregnancy has brought ... needless to say they're fabulous.  *eye roll*
• The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days ... we're loving it!  The grass and trees are greener than they were a month ago, the air is warm-ish, and the thought of summer brings a smile to my face.
• I think these last few weeks are going to go quickly ... it seems like time has sped up a little.  Good and bad ... I'd like to get this show on the road, but I know this is probably our last time, and I don't want to miss anything.  I remember with Quinn the labor was pretty quick and I just wanted it over, and when it was done I thought, "it's over?  how did that happen?  I didn't even savor it."  It was literally a blur.  I hope this time I can try to write everything down right away and remember everything.  Childbirth is absolutely a miracle and it would  be a shame to miss any of it.

Honor Chorus Concert

Brielle performed so well last night!  (thanks to Grandma Judie and Grandpa George for watching the youngest 3 so Matt and I could both go)  and Grandma Kathy and Papa Wally were able to attend which Brielle appreciated.

She's been practicing every Monday after school for months, and to be honest, I'm glad it's over.  No more crazy driving Monday afternoons. 

This was an auditioned choir from the 5th and 6th graders in the school district.  I think she had fun.  It's been fun for me to see her doing the same things I did, at the same school/district, when I was in elementary school.  Kind of neat I think!

Brielle's in the middle on the bottom

 

In this video she's on the bottom row ... hair in a pony and glasses.  and sorry about the head in the shot for most of it ... this girl liked to move a lot.  :)

Our New Outdoor Fun

Before

The kids are thrilled!

after front

after back side

 We just need to buy some sort of ground covering for underneath and we're done!  It's nice to have something the kids want to do in the backyard. 

29 Weeks

• contractions, sciatic pain, headache, large belly.  I'm 29 weeks pregnant.  It's starting to get hard.  (although I'm still grateful to be pregnant of course)

• Isla weighs about 2 1/2 pounds now and is around 15 inches long.

• I'm starting to realize how fast these last weeks are going to go ... I could have her as early as 8 weeks from now.  Yikes!!

• I'm craving vegetables and hating meat.  That's probably not a bad thing.  Thank goodness for Bountiful Baskets!

• Isla is just like me.  She's a night owl.  She is calm and quiet all day and then come 10:00 pm she goes CRAZY moving and pressing and pushing on me.  She's squished ... she's probably trying to stretch.

• I'm loving making some fun girl things.  Yesterday I finished her patchwork afghan.  Today I made her 5 headbands and an adorable hat with flowers on it. (picture to come later)  LOVE this part!

• Is it July yet?  ;)

August 25, 2009 ... Quinn's Birth Story

(I never put this on here, and since this is our family journal, I figured it needed to be added.)


THIS IS TAKEN FROM MY MOM'S BOARD ... WRITTEN ON AUGUST 25, 2009

so it has been busy with a newborn ... I forgot how often they eat.  ALL THE TIME.  (I'm lucky to be getting this break I guess)

so birth story.

I went to the dr. last Tuesday, it was the day before I turned 38 weeks, and everything looked good ... so she stripped my membranes.  ( I was only 2 cm dilated and 25% effaced at that time) I decided to take full advantage of that and the fact that my mom had my girls at her house with all their stuff, just in case.  So I went and walked.  I walked ALL day.  I went to the store, and to the mall and then when my dh got off work at 2:30 we went to the park and to the beach. 

By 5 (appt. was at 11) I was having pretty regular contractions, so we went home, ate something, got my stuff together and got to the hospital by 6:30.  They hooked me up to be monitored and I was having pretty regular contractions but they were still only like every 5 or 7 minutes.  When I was checked I was still only 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced.  (that was annoying after all that walking)

So they had me walk for another hour at the hospital.  When I came back from that walk I hadn't dilated more, but the nurse said she didn't feel comfortable sending me home because of all the contractions, so they admitted me.  (I was SO excited and happy at that point)  I think they felt concerned about this being my 5th and having it go too quickly.

So I sat around for a while, I walked around some more, I took a nice warm bath, I rocked in the chair for a while ... all through this the contractions were pretty regular, but still only like 5 minutes apart.  At some point the dr. came and broke my water ... I wanna say it was 9 or 10 but it's all kind of a blur on the timing.  When she broke my water she said the head was still pretty high and I was only dilated to a 3.

So then at some point they decided to give me pitocin to try to speed things up, and I said if I had to have pitocin I wanted an epidural, so they called the anesthesiologist (sp?) and got that set up.  I got the epidural and it didn't work.  Half my body felt tingley and a little numb and the other half felt normal (that's happened to me before) so they tried to adjust it and it still wasn't doing anything.  By that time though, the pitocin had started and I was in more pain than I wanted to be.

So I asked them to have the anesthesiologist come back and give me a new one ... they checked me at that point and I was dilated to a 4 (this was like 2 in the morning) ... the nurse was getting frustrated by the lack of dilation ... so the anesthesiologist came back and was setting up to do a new epidural and all of a sudden I felt like I had to push.  I tell this to the nurse, and she says, "we just checked you ten minutes ago and you were only at a 4 ... it's probably just a little pressure from the head moving down" ... I told her to check, and so she checks and says, "oh ... the head is right here and you're at a 10" ... then she asks me to push a little to see what happens and so I do and she says "stop, stop, someone get the dr. fast, the baby is coming now"

at this point it's kind of all a blur ... people are running around, the dr. is called back in (luckily she was just in the sleep room across the hall) and I have one more contraction, push twice and the baby is out. (the dr. said I went from a 4 to completely done, delivered placenta and everything in 35 minutes)

The cord was wrapped around his head and his body and his hand was up by his face while he came out (which the dr. said was amazing that he was so easy to push out even with that) ... it hurt SO bad and I really thought my body was just going to break open and shred to pieces or something, I don't know ... it's amazing I didn't even tear at all ... it felt like I did.

anyway ... I got to have the baby on my chest for a while after that, until I decided he needed to be cleaned up because he was super sticky.  His apgars were 9 and 9 ... but then he started to look ashy, so they had to call the NICU and do an eval for a while ... he just wasn't crying enough I think ... he really only cried for like 30 seconds right after he came out and that's it.  He didn't even cry for the heel poking and all of that. 

Really, he doesn't cry at all now either (which I consider to be a blessing)

So that's the story ... sorry it's so long.  I am just glad he's here, and healthy, and everything's good.

He weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces, was 19 inches long.  Super cute!!

My Uterus is Irritated

At what?  Probably being pregnant again.  It's only the 533rd week of pregnancy for my poor tired old uterus. 

Last night it would NOT stop contracting.  It felt like it was constantly on the verge of a contraction or it was half contracting or something.  It just felt irritated.  And that's the best word for it.  I drank water, took a warm bath, lied down, and ended up calling my midwife because it wasn't getting too much better.  She suggested calcium magnesium ... so I loaded up on the calcium and went to bed.  It shortened the Mother's Day celebrations (I didn't even get any of the special dessert :(  ) and probably ruined the evening.  But I woke up this morning in my bed, not in the hospital, so that was a good thing.

So far today when I get out of bed and walk I get contractions.  I feel like my uterus is sensitive or something ... it's frustrating because there are a million things I could be doing besides lying in bed.  My midwife said lying around for a few days is probably a good idea ... and I guess now, for the next 11 weeks, I'll just be taking it easy and not doing too much, because that is when I get more contractions.  We want Isla in here for at LEAST 8 more weeks. 

My poor house.  My children.  My poor husband.  I guess they'll all have to get used to doing more around here because I can't.  Oh well.

I am a mother!

Today is mother's day and as such I thought I would list the things I love about being a mother.

• Babies.  They are just so sweet and wonderful.  I love that all my kids have started out as pure lovely babies.
• Smiles.  A smile from a little person who loves you is just the best!
• Hugs.  Especially the kind where they wrap their arms around your neck and squeeze really tight.
• Firsts.  They're so fun to watch as a parent.
• Silliness.  I love to sneak up on my kids when they're all playing and laughing and being silly together and to just watch them.  
• Learning.  I have learned so much being a parent, and it's also so fulfilling to see my children learn and grow.
• Helpers.  When I am doing something I am always able to get someone to come help me with it.  They love to be with me no matter what I'm doing.
• Chocolate Faces.  Who doesn't love those?
• Joy.  These children have brought me so much joy.  It's the best part!! 

I love being a mother.  I do complain sometimes, because the daily grind is just that ... the daily grind.  But I would NEVER change my life.  It's a blessing to be a mom.  I have learned so much and continue to on a daily basis.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Phew

My gestational diabetes test came back NORMAL!  I'm so relieved.  I had one pregnancy that it was too high, so I'm happy to not have to deal with that again. 

... and yesterday was the most beautiful day!  The weather was warm (ish) and so sunny.  It was really great.  Matt took part of the day off, so after the girls went to school we spent the rest of the day outside.  Tessa, Quinn and Kate had a blast! (until Tess had to go to kindergarten ... she would have liked to stay home and play) Quinn got super dirty, but I suppose that's what happens when you play outside all day.  They rode bikes and scooters, dug in the dirt, we ate lunch on the deck, they followed Matt around as he did his outside chores, they even found a frog.  It was a preview of what the summer is going to be like!

Matt mowed and edged the lawn.  It took him over 3 hours to finish.  That's a lot longer than our old house's less than an hour to finish.  I gotta say though, I like having a bigger yard and more grass, so I suppose it's worth it.

Anyway, can't wait for summer to actually arrive.  Today is a rainy dreary day again, which is fine because yesterday was so beautiful.  But I'd like to finally have more than one nice day a week.

28 Weeks

• I am now officially in my third trimester!!!  (wahoo!!)  That's the LAST trimester!!
• Baby's movement is good ... she isn't a kicker, but more of a gentle "mover".  I'm hoping this is an indication of her personality.  This is my first non-kidney-kicking baby.  I would love to get a little sweet quiet girl.  So far we don't have one of those.  (well, they're all sweet, but not quiet)
• Baby's heart rate is great.
• My blood pressure is perfect.
• Took the gestational diabetes test ... I'll find out the results later this week.  (fingers crossed)
• I'm measuring right on for the number of weeks I am.  (fundal height wise)
• At this point in my pregnancy Isla's eyes can open and close!
• We're right on track for having this little girl in July!  Can't wait.  My next appointment is in 4 weeks.  :)

(am I getting big enough yet?  *eyeroll*)