Saturday, August 20, 2016

HOME

Coming home from the hospital is always a HUGE relief for me.  I can't stand staying in there longer than a day and thankfully they got me out quick this time.  I came home to so many helpers!
 Drew giving us some insanely big smiles on day 2!
Even Kara got some quality Auntie time before she had to leave.  I must say she helped me out a lot!!! She watched my 3 boys plus her own 7 month old the entire time I was in the hospital! From Tuesday to Saturday.  She will definitely be able to handle a dozen kids of her own ;)

Thursday, July 28, 2016

5.13.16 - Drew's Birth Story

 I went in Tuesday night,13 days after my due date to be induced...
 Hopefully this doesn't gross anyone out but they put a wireless monitor on called the "Monica" to let me be able to walk around and not be confined to a bed.  It was pretty cool!
 I felt like I was about to pop out a baby Ironman or something!  See the light shining through my gown?!
 Do I look tired or what?!! 3 days in the hospital with not very much sleep. Yes this is as good of a picture as you're going to get! 

 He looks more like Blake as a newborn in this picture

 Drew is definitely a mini Tyler!
The boys first time meeting Drew!

So this is what happened...

Tuesday, May 10:
I left the boys in Kara's hands and off we went to the hospital on Tuesday, May 10.  I was at a 2 and maybe 20% effaced.  I had a LONG way to go!  I started with a balloon induction.  So they put the balloon in and I "slept" all night...which was a joke cuz I really didn't sleep well.  It's not the most comfortable thing.  They also started me on antibiotics since I had Group B strep (first time).  They thought I may have the baby quick since it was my 4th...Big mistake because once they start the antibiotics they have to do them every 4 hours til the baby is born. I still had DAYS before he would be here.

Wednesday, May11:
Woke up in the morning and waited for the balloon to come out.  It took FOREVER!!!  We walked, we played games, we watched tv, we walked some more...We decided to get started on cytotec to see if that would put me into labor.  They give a small pill to you every 4 hours and you can take up to 4 doses.  Supposedly if you've had multiple children, which I have, cytotec is a really good option for you because it will put you into labor. No luck for me...The balloon did end up coming out around 2:00pm that day and I was at a 5! But still only 20% effaced.  Every check they did was horribly painful and I would start shaking every time my midwife came into the room!  Or even a nurse.  I get HORRIBLE anxiety in the hospital.  So we continued to wait, on the cytotec.  Nothing happened when I took my last dose so they decided to stop everything and let me sleep through the night. Thank goodness!!! I'm pretty sure they kept up the antibiotics though although I don't remember at this point...

Thursday, May 12:
I started on Pitocin the next morning around 8am and the contractions began!  I had contractions throughout the last two days but nothing regular.  I was still able to get up and walk around so we made our rounds in the hall.  They were upping the pitocin slowly since I was trying to go for the no epidural thing.  One cool thing that happened was while we were walking in the hall-my old OBGYN, Dr. Hinkle, was there and he recognized me before I recognized him!! He was my doctor when I had Blake and he was an AMAZING doctor.  He ended up changing hospitals and introduced me to the midwife group who I am with now, which is why he isn't my doctor anymore, and I was amazed he remembered my name.

So we continued playing games, watching tv...etc...My midwife came in and broke my water around 5:00pm and the contractions started becoming more powerful.  By 10:30pm was really having to work through the contractions, however, I did not want to get checked because it still had been so painful.  I think it was because I wasn't very effaced yet still.  However around 11:00pm I started having my doubts and decided to get checked. I knew I still had a ways to go by how painful everything was, but I think I was at a point of exhaustion and started to not care about any of my goals :)  When my midwife checked me I was 80-90% effaced and at a 7...I was incredibly let down knowing I had only gone from a 5 to a 7 that ENTIRE day.  The effacement was very encouraging but not enough to make it through.  So I called for the epidural.  Her original poke did not work so she pulled out and poked again. Success!  I started feeling the effects and remembered why I had loved my epidural with Austin! My upper body however continued to shake A LOT so I told Tyler to hold me down to see if I could relax.  However after about 10 minutes I all of a sudden started getting a warm sensation like the epidural was rising above my waist and I started tasting a saline/metallic taste in my mouth and I started FREAKING OUT! (I had a BAD experience with an epidural with Cody that was only in for about one minute and it numbed me up to my chest and didn't wear off for 3 hours...I had trouble breathing and thought I was going to be paralyzed!!  I had vowed never to get an epidural again....but as you can see my goals were overcome by pain)  I asked my nurse what she put in my IV and she looked at me with terrified eyes! It may sound like I was being overdramatic at this point but I was seriously terrified!  THANKFULLY the sensation wore off and I had no excessive numbing.  The epidural worked just fine and I turned on my side and tried to go to sleep.

Friday, May 13:
 Sleep never came because an hour later I was ready to push! I felt the pressure, but no pain(thank you epidural) I woke Tyler up from his short slumber(poor guy) and told him the baby was coming and to call the nurse IMMEDIATELY! I was so ready to get this baby out! He was so groggy and didn't realize what I had said but he called the nurse and asked her to come check me while I was yelling at him to tell her the baby was coming out! Nurse came in and said I was ready to go! Hallelujah.  Best Words Ever!  Midwife came in and I asked if I could stay on my side to deliver and she said I could.  Baby was already crowning and I had a few short pushes and Drew was here!  It really was the best pushing and delivery I had ever had.  Probably because it was so quick and painless.  He was whopping...8 lbs. 9 oz.  and 21 inches.  Perfect size!!! 16 days late and he was perfect!  They put him on my chest immediately and my midwife sat on the bed next to me for the next 20 minutes while we delayed the cord clamping.  It was such an amazing whirlwind for me to just be excited and so relieved and to be able to talk to my midwife and Tyler after just helping me bring this beautiful baby into this world.  Tyler cut the cord and then I held and nursed Drew for the next hour and a half! Then they took him to weigh him and clean him up.  They did not give him a bath for 24 hours after birth.

I really loved this experience and am convinced now that I am not a good candidate for natural birthing...Once I got my epidural it relaxed me and helped me get this baby here.  Who knows how much longer it would have taken me if I pushed through the pain.  I don't even want to think about it!  I am truly grateful everything went well since he was so overdue! I am one lucky mama to 4 crazy boys! 

Kara to the RESCUE!!!

 We flew Kara down to help watch the kids while I had Drew.  We got to spend a few days with her before the big day.  And to the ZOO we went!
 Her little boy Landon is absolutely the cutest!!!

 Love this pic of Blake!
 Landon wasn't too sure about the cow
TOO CUTE!!!!

Random Pics

 Every year I have high hopes of taking picture in Blue Bonnets and it NEVER WORKS OUT! But THIS YEAR we made it happen!!! Blake with his binoculars, Austin with his jar of bugs, and Cody ready to shoot your lights out!  Love them!
Blake and Judah! Best Pre-School buds!

 Fun with dad!

Anniversary dinner at a Greek Restaurant!  I LOVED the Greek Salad and meat gyros.  We tried some pretty crazy appetizers that I wasn't so sure about.  Last night date night out before baby comes!

Pumping Some Iron!

 Why do I exercise while pregnant?  To keep up with these 3 shenanigans! I LOVE this picture my friend Emily took of my boys a month before Drew arrived. We had to give Cody fruit snacks to be in the picture but his face is picture perfect!
I think I was about 38 weeks in this picture.  Still squattin'!  
Here I am at 40.5 weeks pregnant doing incline bench
 This is me as well at 40.5 weeks doing alligator pushups across the gym floor
 And here are some AMAZING ladies I workout with at the YMCA.  The class is called "Fit Camp" led by our awesome trainer Jim!  They encouraged and supported me the entire way.  Love these ladies!!!

And one last photo of me working out while pregnant! This is me 12 DAYS AFTER MY DUE DATE! Yes you heard me...My friend put on an obstacle course at her ranch and I couldn't NOT do it! One part of it was jump roping 100 jumps. You should have seen the rest of it! 

Jumping over boxes
Moving 4 medicine balls various distances
Climbing up and over the spider web jungle gym
Burpees with 15 pound weights
Kayaking across the pond
zigzagging through cones
5 tire flips
5 sledge hammer smacks on the tire
balance beam
100 jump rope jumps
balance beam 
Crawl under a bench (I alligator crawled next to it cuz I couldn't fit!)
one foot in each ring
Sprint to the finish line

I thought FOR SURE this would put me into labor...but no such luck! 



Lyette's Visit

 I was sooooo lucky that my best friend from Elementary School decided to spend her Spring Break here with me in Texas!  She brought her two kids Cedric and Quinn with her and we had such a good time! One day we went to Flight Deck where the kids bounced and bounced.


 Blake and Cedric had fun lining up all these foam cubes
 Another day we went to the zoo.  Quinn and Cody eating their cake pops!
 They spent a lot of time in the backyard digging in the dirt

 Quinn climbing the treehouse. She is sooooooooooooooo cute!!!!

 They all passed out in the car! A mark of a great day.
 We also rode the kid train which was the highlight for Cedric.  He is crazy in love with trains! 
 We played volleyball one night with a group of friends.
 I must say I was VERY impressed with Lyette's volleyball skills.  We were on the same JV team in high school and even though she hasn't played much since then she was definitely one of the better girl players on the court.  Here I was 38 weeks pregnant still jumping and spiking the ball!
Oh to have a GIRL!!!!  Thanks so much for visiting us!! Cody still will talk about Cedric every now and then.

NOLA Trip - New Orleans - PART III

 Good thing we got our van right before our trip! We got to squeeze Janelle and Hazel in with us on our drive from Hattiesburg to NOLA.  Chris was going to meet us down there.
 First stop was the Aquarium
 We looked like a polygamous family walking around before Chris showed up. Janelle and I were both pregnant and Hazel looked like she belonged to Tyler.


 A very rare Albino Crocodile at the aquarium.  It looked like it was glowing!
 We were told we HAD to get the beignets from Cafe du Monde! And they did not disappoint!
 My first time seeing the Mississippi River! It was HUGE! and dirty
 Eat our beignets along the Mississippi River

 Next stop was the Insectarium. This was a really cool place! And of course the Slug Bug was a huge hit
 The boys ate some cookies with a beetle baked into it!  Austin was a little hesitant but ended up eating it.  Blake was pretty upset there was a bug in it and would not eat his.
 I don't think Cody had any idea what he was eating...he just wanted a cookie!


 Butterfly Exhibit! I loved this place

 I love the colors in this picture! My chacos I've had for EVER (9-10 years) and my fresh pedicure!
 Butterfly landed on Chris's head! We all stayed in a little house (AirBnB) and it was so cute and New Orleansish!  

We walked through the French Quarters and ate at a place called "Daisy Duke's"! We had a lot of fun hanging out with Chris and Janelle!  And although New Orleans was great...overall it was not a kid friendly place.  But we're glad we made the trip out and experienced the things we did! Love making memories!

 On our drive home we stopped in Houston to drop Tyler off at a work training that he would be at for an entire week.  We stopped and ate dinner with one of my friend's from back home and then she was nice enough to let us come back and hang out the next day before we drove home.