Meet Ella

It has been way too long since I last posted. Over two weeks I am sure. But our little baby girl Ella is here! We were really surprised that we had another girl, but oh so joyful and excited at the same time!  She was born April 21st, at 10:28 p.m.  No, I didn't go in naturally... I was induced a week early.  It turns out I was dilated to 4.5 when I went in, and I was leaking amniotic fluid as expected. I was pretty sure I was leaking, but at the same time I didn't want to drive all the way to the hospital and be wrong and have to come back home. Turns out, I was exactly right, and since I had Strep B., she had to come out as soon as possible or there was a risk of transmitting the bacteria to her.

We got there about 1p or slightly after, by 2:20 or so, we received info that I'd be staying. I was very thankful we packed most of our things *just in case*. They started everything around 3, and for about two hours I just kind of layed there dormant. Nothing was happening at all, just some inconvenient cramps. This is was normally happens when I get induced, and I knew if there was any water left to break, they need to break it so things could get moving.  By 6 I had some regular contractions, by 8 I got the epidural -- sadly the pain wasn't even that bad, I just really wanted to be comfortable. Instead it really didn't help a whole lot because I ended up not being able to breath very well. At 10pm, I finally convinced them to break the rest of my water, which ended up not being very much, but once it was broken, I went from a 6 to a 10 in about 10 minutes. I then felt the urge to push like I did with Madelyn, and I just remember feeling excited. Like, "this is about to happen!". I felt strong urges to push and they advised me not to. We did a couple of practice pushes to see if I'd make any progress and within once push they saw a head and told me to quit! I remember crying a little bit because as I pushed, it hurt and I was shivering and uncomfortable.  As I pushed they told me the baby had big shoulders and I definitely felt that!  Finally I felt relief and they announced proudly and loudly that it was a girl! I remember laughing excitedly because we were wrong again. When they put her on my chest she didn't seem to look like either of our girls. She was our Ella.

The best part of the whole day, besides the birth of Ella, was watching Peter as he cut the chord. His faced was filled with emotion and love. I continued to watch him as he followed the nurse to see how much Ella weighed. He was looking down on her in admiration, following her every move like a lost puppy. I just loved it. I watched him the whole time.  Even now, it is so fun to see him come home from work, hug and kiss the girls, and then come straight to Ella. What a proud dad.

To be continued....

a mess

This week I've been a mess. Wednesday was officially a psycho day for me. Tired all day, crying all day, snapping at the kids all day. I can't help but wonder if I'm truly crazy or if this is a reasonable part of the last few weeks of pregnancy. 

Today was my 38 week appointment. I am 37 weeks and 5 days today. 2.5 cm dilated, about 75-80% efaced, -2 head position in the cervix (last week was -3, which means baby has dropped a bit). Bits of my mucous plug have been coming out the last couple weeks......even today with a little blood. That gave me some hope, except when I went online I read that was normal so basically I'm at square one again. I will still keep praying though to go natural. It'd be a dream to not be induced for once.

Today I got a bunch of baby gifts for all the moms who've had babies this last month or two, and some birthday gifts. I even bought myself some nail polish and some earings. It just felt good to get some of that stuff done, even though maddy was with and the whole day was long, but at least she behaved well and wasn't too tired. It seems like we've been going so frequently, I just feel bad that she has to be in the car/stroller/ or cart all day. Sometimes 2x a week! (When we did kitchen stuff)  But thankfully she did well.

I am in the process of packing my bag for the hospital and getting things ready, just in case.  The house has stayed clean because of constant reminders to the kids to pick up their toys before we play with new ones. They haven't learned yet to do it themselves, but they are getting better at doing what I ask. Sometimes I feel guilty, like they are slaves, but, it IS their mess!!   That's all for now... maybe more tomorrow.

24 weeks

 I'm on my 25th week this week. I have a feeling that the next month will go fairly fast. I'm thinking baby is still breech and starting to sweat a little bit about having to have a C-Section. I realized that I just need to be more trusting that if this was what God had planned, it's for the best.

Yesterday was so unbelievably nice. I could have stayed outside all day! There isn't much to do with little snow and warm temps but we played around as much as we could. Then we went inside and I made some hot chocolate and they had a cookie to go with it. 

Yesterday I was more run down again. Somehow during the night I managed to pull several muscles in my body leaving me very stiff and achy all day. It literally took all day for me to clean the kitchen because I'd get tired of working on it after 10 minutes! But since Peter was gone, I let it be okay because we just had spaghetti for supper, which is super easy and just have to wash a few different pots. I organized a couple more pull-out drawers yesterday while the spaghetti was boiling and got rid of a hand full of utensils that we weren't using. Now I kind of know how many drawers I'd need to be satisfied. Today I hope to work on our pantry cabinet (which might take a little while) or our baking cupboard, and the rest of the time packing and playing with Maddy.

I am over-worrying about getting the flu this week. I am super, super scared. Our hotel in MPLS is non-refundable, and not only are we out a few hundred dollars, our trip that we've wanted to go on since beets is postponed, again. So, I am praying that we, (and family, since everyone is around everyone most of the time) can steer clear of it, at least through this weekend! It is a hard thing to let go, though and not worry.  Three more days....

short

well I guess i have to update this blog! I can't recall the last time I wrote in here. I had peter take a picture of me the other day but sadly it was cold and getting late and it didn't turn out how I'd hoped. I feel like my belly looks much bigger than this pose but it will have to do. I'm working on my 18th week this week... and i've had lots of cramps. I feel awful. I mostly just feel so delicate. What if I do too much? What if I lift something too heavy? It has been worrisome but I do still feel movement so that is a good sign.

At this point that's all I've really got. My eyes are starting to drop so I should try to take a power nap. I heard Maddy squeak and occasionally hear kate so not sure naps are in order today..for any of us!

a little help

We ended up having a really nice time at the pumpkin patch on Saturday. I really thought I had missed my chance bringing the kids there and felt even worse when I wasn't able to go with Kate and her class. But, it was finally something to look forward to, and even better, we got to spend the day with some friends from church. 

a picture of me and peter out in the corn maze. Below are some other favorites from the day. The rest I am saving for another time... once I can get caught up on editing.

Yesterday as I talked to a friend from church and as she prayed over me I felt hope again, finally, that I can overcome these pregnancy blues i'm in. It's not something that I can do alone, but with the prayers of others and myself asking to change my heart and attitude, it might be something that I can totally get out of. I think also, just being in Gods word and totally surrounding myself with scripture and bible studies (hoping i can keep up with them!) will also benefit me. I realized I am overwhelmed with material, as I just started a new book, "Not a Fan" and now starting a new series in our church bible study "Lies Young Woman Believe", the Beth Moore series, and the triad readings we do each week. I am really hoping I can find someone to come and clean once a week or twice a month (reasonably priced) to take some of that burden off me so I can focus more on my kids and my bible studies. If you know of anyone... let me know! also just being able to be recharged once in a while with time by myself or help with cleaning or a break from making supper totally helps. Yesterday Kelsey my sister came over and spent time with the kids and I napped while Peter was grilling supper. I can't even thank them enough.