We're Still Alive and Welcome Bennett Aubrey!

This little punkin was born March 15, 2016!

Bennett Aubrey 

8 pounds, 11 ounces

21 and 1/4 inches long

We have just been so busy with various things and I was just trying to keep things afloat while pregnant, that the blog got neglected. But, it's more important to live life than try and stress about blogging. I did want to share her birth story, so I'm carving out a minute (or three hours by the time I'm done) to get this posted!

Bennett's Birth Story

This pregnancy was the first in my 40's. I will be 41 next month. And, this pregnancy was the picture of perfection. Not one little issue. Bennett was perfect, my blood sugar was perfect, my blood pressure was perfect. I didn't even have group B strep this time. As a matter of fact, I went to the eye doctor in December and he said my vision had improved since my last visit three years ago. WELL. How's that for getting older? Take THAT 40!

According to the ultrasound and my calculations, my due date was March 11, but my doctor kept insisting it was March 15. He felt like she was a big baby and suggested we induce on Tuesday, March 15. While inducing is NOT my first choice, I've needed to be induced before (my babies get comfortable and don't want to come out!) and most of my babies do tend to be big. So, I decided to go ahead and go with that plan instead of waiting, having her be ten pounds and still needing to be induced anyway.  I was 2 cm and 80%, but that basically meant nothing. I could have gone on like that for weeks.

That morning we needed to be there at 7:30 and Brittany had decided she wanted to be there for this birth also, and she drove separately.  After checking in, we waiting in the waiting room for what seemed like at least 30 minutes until they got me in a room. The nurses came in and got me all hooked up and started the usual routine of questions and procedures. The nurse was very nice and was also helping another nurse that had just moved back to Tulsa get up to speed.

They started the pitocin at a very small dose and would continue uping it at very small doses. It felt like literally FOREVER to get contractions going. I had decided quite a few babies ago, that when I get pitocin I get the epidural. If I don't, then I plan to go drug free. I've delivered 3 without epidurals, 4 with epidurals at the very last minute (2 of those I needed pitocin), 4 with epidurals and pitocin (from the beginning and without having started contractions on my own) and one c-section. My c-section was my first delivery so I've had 11 VBACS. ELEVEN! My doctor says that may be a record.

The only problem with the epidurals is that they make me nauseous, and to the point of throwing up. And, sometimes they don't take well on one side. Both happened this time. They had me lay on my side and then flipped me over to the other side every 30 minutes while I labored. I was feeling nauseous, so I just laid there and listened to David and Brittany talk while I dozed off. That is a memory I will treasure- just laying there listening to those two talk.

Probably around 4 o'clock or maybe even later, I just started to feel really bad. You know that "I don't want to do this ANY MORE feeling".  And I thought to myself, "Yeah. You probably want to check me. Like, right now."  Just a couple of minutes later the nurse said she would check me and then, "OK! There's a head!" So, of course the next little while was a whirlwind of getting the doctor and getting things set up.

My doctor is very good about keeping the mom involved and I was actually able to reach down and help deliver her after I think three pushes. She was laid immediately on my chest, skin to skin. They allowed her to stay there as long as I wanted. They cleaned her off and waited until I wanted them to do the vitals and clean her up. I was still throwing up and nauseous so I went ahead and let them take her after a while and then let Brittany and David hold her.

The hospital, which is large and has a great children's hospital attached, no longer has an infant nursery. They have babies stay with the moms the entire time. They only have a holding area where they do simple procedures. The only time she left my side was to do her hearing test. I was so surprised at that, since that had changed since just two years ago when I had Trace, but I think it's a great change!

I had great post-partum care, as well. Many times the extra nurses and consultants and what-not will come in to see me- the woman with so many children. I'm a spectacle, I guess! The lactation consultant said I have virtually NO chance of getting breast cancer with nursing so many babies and for so long.  I have spent basically my entire adult life being pregnant or nursing.

Recovery went well, but the stomach cramps were something awful. Bennett has been doing wonderfully. She basically slept through her first two months and has only just started waking up for longer and smiling and cooing.

I've definitely been blessed!

Trace's Birth Story

Now, that Trace is 3 weeks old I finally have time to post his birth story. I know this is a lot of details, but I want to remember.

So, when I calculated out when I thought my due date would be based on the usual signs and symptoms, it came up as May 25. But, after I had an ultrasound the doctor thought it looked more in line with June 13. I had another ultrasound a month after the first and the measurements were still in line with June 13. I was fine going along with that date since I have had due dates based only on ultrasound before when I haven't been able to calculate it out based on the usual signs and symptoms. So, I was preparing for a June baby.

When I was still about two weeks or so out from May 25, I felt like the baby was so low I could barely walk and he was moving around so much, and I just felt all over "big and pregnant". And, I had already stopped walking on the treadmill about three weeks before, because I could barely walk afterwards. This is usually the sign the end is near and  I still had over a month til my June due date and then a little more if I was my usual week or so late. I still had in the back of my mind that I could be due the 25th, but I still focused on June 13th.

This pregnancy had really been, well, boring. Which is GOOD. It seems like with every other pregnancy there is some other crazy big life changing event taking place or something with the pregnancy like high blood pressure or the scary bleeding that I experienced with Brennan. But this time, everything was good. My blood pressure was good. My sugar was good. The baby was good. The ultrasounds were good. NOTHING out of the ordinary had happened. I didn't even have Group B Strep this time.

The morning of May 27th I had a doctor's appointment. That week I intended to finish up homeschool for the year and get the rest of the baby's things in order. That would still give me two weeks to get some meals in the freezer and a few other things I felt like I needed to get done. So, before my appointment I went to Walmart and got the little dresser for the baby's things and some cleaning supplies. Going to Walmart always seems to involve a lot of walking, which I had been trying to avoid, but I wasn't feeling any contractions or anything.

I stopped and got an egg mcmuffin and small coffee that I was going to wait and have after my appointment, but I was so starved after walking around Walmart that I decided to go ahead and eat it. I had gotten in the habit several kids ago of not eating before my appointments, because no matter what I would eat, inevitably the nurse would test my urine sample and say, "WHAT did you eat this morning?" and then need to do a finger prick (which would turn out fine). So, I learned to just schedule my appointments in the morning and then eat afterwards to save myself (and my fingers) some trouble.

When the assistant took me back to the room for my appointment, she said that (dread of all dreads) the doctor wanted to do a cervix check. Now, I hate cervix checks for at least two reasons. 1) PERSONAL SPACE and 2) What my cervix is doing is usually no indication of when I will deliver.

He found that I was at 4 centimeters and 100 percent effaced. I wasn't really having any stronger contractions than Braxton Hicks, but he felt my stomach and said that I was having a contraction right then. Didn't I feel that? I told him that yes, I did feel it, but I wouldn't describe it as painful. He said, "You must have a really high pain tolerance." I said, "I don't know about that, but I do know how painful it will eventually be, and this isn't that."

He wanted me to come back at 1:45 to see what the contractions were doing then.

Now at this point, I know how this is going to go.

I will go home. I will come back at 1:45. He will admit me to labor and delivery. I will have to labor at the hospital tied down with monitors and ivs. I will continue to have contractions, but at some point he will determine I'm not progressing fast enough and want to give me pitocin and then I will want the epidural and then I will throw up.

That is the exact opposite of how I wanted it to go. I wanted to labor at home, get to the hospital at the last minute and deliver before I could be tied down for very long (I was only at the hospital 20 minutes when I had Brennan. Perfect timing!), avoiding the epidural and the throwing up.

I left the doctor's office and texted David to call me when he had a stop on his route and then Brittany called me because she was supposed to pick up Tyler from work, but abandoned him when he didn't walk out the door at 11 on the dot. So, I headed to pick Tyler up and found him walking halfway home through the neighborhood. David called me and I let him know what was going on. I drove on home and sat on the bed and the contractions got to where I could feel them, but they still weren't really painful.

Brittany insisted that she was driving me back to the doctor.

Because, what if you are driving yourself and you have the baby in the van BY YOURSELF, or something crazy.

I guess everyone thinks that by your 11th, the baby is basically just falling out, and don't sneeze or anything, because HERE COMES THE BABY!

That is a myth.

Anyway, Brittany drove me back to the doctor at 1:45. We had to wait at least an hour because he was already over at the hospital delivering babies. I guess out of consideration all the women waited until after Memorial Day to go into labor. After he finally got there he said that I was a 4/maybe 5 and to go on over to labor and delivery. I told him, "Well, I guess this means I'll have to cancel my dinner plans." My good friend, Julie was planning on taking me to Olive Garden that evening to celebrate Trace's upcoming birth.

I convinced the doctor to let me go home, because I hadn't even packed my bag. He said I could, but just don't waste any time and get back up to the hospital. I was thinking to myself, "Well it might take a reeeaally long time for me to pack my bag........"

But, Brittany wouldn't let me waste any time and insisted she was driving me back to the hospital, because what if I drive myself and have the baby in the van BY MYSELF.......

I texted David and let him know what was going on and he texted back, "DON'T WAIT TIL THE LAST MINUTE!"

I texted back, "Why would I do that?"

So, between the doctor, my husband and my daughter, I was outnumbered and had to make my way up to the hospital. David called in to get someone to finish his route and met us there after we checked in.

It's funny, because of the difference in priority when you come up to labor and delivery and say in a calm, cheery voice, "Hi, the doctor sent me over to be admitted.", you get sent to the waiting area for half an hour. If you come in doubled over in pain and moaning they escort you back to a room right in a hurry.

We were in the waiting area when David showed up, and a little while later they took us back to a room. I had to do the usual paperwork, got hooked up and tied down with the monitors, and I had to get two ivs again. Contractions at this point were still not really painful. I told the nurse, "No offense, but if it weren't for everyone else, I wouldn't even be here right now." She was a really supportive nurse and said she totally understood and agreed with me and she wanted me to be able to move around if I wanted to. I appreciated that so much, but still, there is only so much moving around you can do, because the monitors end up losing the baby's heartbeat and and you have to move all the tubes and wires (they ended up inserting an internal monitor as well for contractions so they removed the contractions monitor on my belly), and it's just a bother. So, basically I could move from the bed to the chair (where I ended up spending most of the evening) and that's about it.

David, Brittany and I just sat around and waited for the contractions to get closer together. David was mostly playing on his phone and Brittany was mostly taking pictures of us and posting to instagram. Finally the contractions got a little stronger and the doctor wanted to check my cervix. I knew I probably was at a six. And, I was. He also broke my water.

So, we continued to wait.

I don't remember the exact time frame, but I would say around 11 pm he came back in to check my cervix again. There was really no point, because I knew I was still at six. And, I was.

I could have told him every step of the way what my cervix was at, because I can tell based on what the contractions and pain feel like.

So, remember how earlier I said that I knew how this was going to go?

Apparently because I've had so many children I have a "tired uterus", and he wanted me to have some pitocin to make the contractions stronger. And, as I had already told him, I would get the epidural. I am so over dealing with pitocin. My doctor said you wouldn't be able to pay him to have a baby without an epidural. Ha!

Well, if I hadn't have had that darn appointment that morning, then everyone wouldn't have freaked out and I wouldn't have had to go over to the hospital and I could have labored at home. Oh well. I know that I could have refused the pitocin, but by that point, I decided it was fine to just go ahead with it and get the baby here sooner.

So, I got the pitocin, and the epidural, and by this time I'm sure it was after midnight-well past my bed time, so I dozed off a bit. After a while I felt a lot of pressure on my bladder and about that time the doctor came in and and Trace was ready! It only took maybe two very light pushes and he was born at 1:21 am.  He was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 and 1/2 inches. His apgars were 8 and 9. And, then I threw up for the next two hours from the epidural. Yay.

Brittany had stayed for the entire thing. It was her first birth. I guess everything really worked out for the best, because 1) she got to be there, and 2) she wasn't permanently scarred from ever having her own children because I had gotten the epidural and things were fairly uneventful. She had stayed the entire time and didn't leave until around noon when my friend Jennifer and her daughter came by and, also the lady came in to take Trace's pictures. David had gone on home just a short time after I delivered. He always stays until he makes sure the baby and I are fine, and then he leaves.

I know that ultrasounds are pretty accurate, but this time I think that my calculations were correct. Trace was average weight, but he was long, and he had long fingernails. And, when I look back on the four weeks leading up to May 25, it does seem like things were progressing like that was my real due date. So, I'm going with that. Trace, like his ten brothers and sisters was LATE. Eleven for eleven.

I'm so, so thankful he's healthy and already here!

Waiting for Trace to show up......

Travis and Trace

Brennan reaching for her new brother.

Brennan wondering why she wanted a new brother.

Bailey and Trace

Tristan and Trace

Brooke

Bethany

Brittany and Trace

Travis, Thomas and Trace

Trace had a little jaundice so he had to spend a few days under the bili lights.

And, now he's doing just great!

Brennan's Birth Story

Brennan is two weeks old today. It has flown by. Isn't that always what happens? If you want the condensed version of the story....

She was nine days late, I had contractions, she was born. The end.

If you like birth stories, and mostly so I can remember what happened, here is the long version.......

I didn't even know I was pregnant until I was already probably six weeks along. There was the usual sign that you are not pregnant mid-December and so when I started feeling tired and nauseous after Christmas, I thought I must be pregnant or something was definately wrong with me.

But, that would mean that I was only about two weeks along, and I've never felt terrible at only two weeks along before.

Pregnancy was confirmed, and at what I thought was about nine weeks at the beginning of February, I started heavy bleeding. That has never happened with any of my pregnancies befere and so I immediately thought the worst- I was losing the baby. I've never miscarried before. I called my doctor's office and they told me to go on to the ER since it was so early in the pregnancy.  The ER couldn't tell me anything, but they did bloodwork and the results that came back said that I was still pregnant because my hormone levels were so high. I had an already scheduled appointment with the doctor for the following week, so I would have to wait until then for some clear answers. But, I was told to get some blood work done again the next day. The bleeding had largely decreased by that evening and had mostly stopped by the next day, until we went to the store and I pushed the cart around. It picked up a little then, so I didn't know what was going on. I had started walking on the treadmill the day before the bleeding started so I wondered if that is what caused it, especially after going to the store. But, regardless, for the next week I didn't do anything.

Well, my appointment that next week was only a "new patient" appointment where I filld out paperwork and got my free formula sample. I didn't get to see the doctor, but the nurse said that my hormone count was still high on the bloodwork results.

So, another week until the appointment where I would actually see the doctor.

Two weeks of not knowing what the bleeding was from. Ugh.

The next week I saw the doctor, and he did an ultrasound. The baby was fine (Thank God!) and the bleeding was from a membrane next to the uterus. Sometimes that happens, he said, for no reason especially in older moms with many babies. I also found out I was not 9 weeks along, but 14 weeks! He also said there were no activity restrictions, so I started back on the treadmill.

I continued to bleed a very little bit for the next 4 weeks, and then it stopped.

At 21 weeks we had a level 2 ultrasound which showed that the membrane had healed and all was well.

The rest of the pregnancy was fairly uneventful-thankfully, and I actually felt very good for the entire second trimester. I continued to walk about 4 or 5 miles a week on the treadmill with some extra leg and arm weights.

Until....

I went in for my 33 week appointment and my doctor told me he couldn't deliver me because the hospital had changed their policy, and were no longer allowing VBAC deliveries.

So, thankfully, I found one of the last doctors in Tulsa whose insurance will allow for VBAC delivery and at almost 35 weeks he agreed to take me on as a patient. So, not only would I have a new doctor, I would also be delivering at a different hospital.

Life can never just be dull, can it?

I was due with Brennan on Thursday, August 23rd, but that day came and went like I knew it would. Ten for ten on being late. Around Tuesday August 28th, I started having harder contractions-Braxton Hicks-but they were only every 20 minutes or longer apart. Finally, on Friday morning the 31st, they were not getting any closer together, so I knew I wasn't having my 3rd August baby.

I guess when you are number ten you have to do something to make a name for yourself. She's the only September baby.

But, later that evening, maybe 7 or 8, I noticed the contractions were definately stronger and closer together, around the 12-15 minute range. I went on to bed around ten, but they were by that point around ten minutes apart. Around 1 or 1:30, they were still ten minutes apart. David asked me if I was ready to go to the hospital. I told him not yet, so he laid down in the living room to get some rest. Just a little bit later he heard me moaning quite loudly and knew we were going to be leaving soon. My contractions had suddenly jumped to about 5 or less minutes apart. "Just when I decided to lay down", he joked.

We are only about four miles from the hospital, so by the time we got there, found the correct entrance, parked, walked to the door, realized it wasn't the correct entrance, David runs back to the van, drives over picks me up and drops me off at the actual correct entrance, then parks and runs back to get me, then we head up to Labor and Delivery with me walking so slowly and stopping every two minutes for a contraction, probably 45 minutes or so had gone by. But, you know, time is so blurry when you are in PAIN.

We arrived in Labor and Delivery, and after I got changed the nurse wanted to check my progress. When she found out I was  9 centimeters and a zero station, they rushed to get my doctor there. Another nurse put in the IV which took sticking me in three different places and on both arms. I did not want to lay down, so the nurse just put the monitors on me sitting on the side of the bed. Then they realized her heart rate was dropping and not recovering well. On went the oxygen mask and I had to lie on my left side. The labor and delivery nurse was super nice and used to be a L and D nurse at the same hospital in South Carolina where I delivered four of my other children. Always a small world!

Anyway, then doctor had arrived and it was time to push. But by this time, I was so done. I just didn't have anything left. I really only pushed about 5 minutes, but it seemed like the biggest task I've ever had to accomplish in my life. I resolved to just give up. What about this was a good idea? Why didn't I just come on in and get the epidural?

But, finally I stopped the crazy thinking and got the job done. Brennan was born at 3:09 am after we had been in Labor and Delivery for about TWENTY minutes.

Now, I usually like to wait til the last minute, so I can labor at home and not be tied down, which will happen once you get to the hospital. Brittany was basically freaking out that my contractions were two minutes apart when we were leaving the house. I really didn't intend to wait til the VERY last minute, but you know, it really worked out well. And, her apgars were 8 and 10.

And, she was only 7 pounds and 11 ounces! The "no-eating sugar" thing worked! But, good grief, that's all she weighed at NINE days late, I could've eaten a Krispy Kreme once in a while.

On, Saturday I was tired, but I actually felt really good. The baby's doctor wanted us to await until Monday morning to go home since she had just a little bit of jaundice.

By Sunday evenig I was texting David to come pick me up! I missed everyone and I wanted to go home so badly. I've never been that home sick before. This really has been quite an emotionally diffcult pregnancy for me, probably due to some other extenuating circumstances, but still. I really wanted to leave.

But, I waited til Monday morning and was feeling a bit better. I think part of it was my "conflict of interest" with the nursery nurses. I have co-slept in the hospital with all of my newborns and this lady told me not to do that. Well, I am not one to be told what to do. I understand her concern and probably some mothers should not do that, but I have never had such pushy baby nurses.

Brennan is doing great. She lost weight down to 7 pounds 7 ounces, but she had gained it all back plus one ounce at two days out from the hospital. She is a low maintenance baby (I was praying for that after having Travis!) who sleeps a lot and loves to be held.

With Bailey

With Thomas



With Tristan



With Bethany

With Brooke

With Timothy

With Tyler

 

 With Brittany

 

With Daddy

"She's coming home with us?"

Travis's birth story

As I have said before, my due date came and went. It was so hot, I about fainted when I saw the van thermometer said 107. I was addicted, I mean addicted to lemonade over the summer. This was my first due date in the summer in ten years. I was due on Thursday, July 29th, and on Tuesday, August 3rd, I went in for a non-stress test. You know we never find out the baby’s gender ahead of time, and we must’ve forgotten to inform the ultrasound tech about this. After looking around the screen for a minute she said, “So, you’re having a boy?”

And we were all, “Um. We don’t know?”

And she was all, “Oh! Um, well, uh, it could be the cord.”

And we were all, “Riiiight.”

And she said, “Nuts. I did that last week, too. Sorry.”

We said, “No problem.” I had a 4D ultrasound at around 7 months and we suspected it was a boy when we saw the cute little “Sanchez boy mouth”. Well, that and the fact that the baby’s kidneys were enlarged a bit, which is a common issue with boys- and one that usually resolves on it’s own as it did in our case.

The baby was doing fine, but my blood pressure had been up a bit, so the doctor decided that I should come in to be induced on Thursday, exactly one week late. David had to work during the day, so we agreed to schedule our coming in for around 6:00 that evening. This would be my 8th VBAC.

I thought for a while after we moved to Oklahoma, that I may not be able to have a VBAC. Apparently most doctors’ insurance carriers in this area will not cover the liability for VBAC delivery. They just automatically schedule repeat sections. So, what do you do with a person like me who has 1 section and then 7 VBACs in their history? Well, I don’t believe there are too many people like me. And, I was NOT about to schedule a c-section. I mean, really? Thankfully, I found a doctor that could deliver me. And, not only could he deliver me, he is a Christian homeschooling father of five. Woohoo. Jackpot.
Not only was he encouraging in the “many children” realm, but prayed for me as well.

Thursday morning I woke up not feeling very well, and by early afternoon had a fever over 103. David came home on his lunch break maybe around 2, and I guess I must have looked pretty bad, because he went back and told them he needed to leave early. We headed out to the hospital around 4:00. They gave me Tylenol for the fever. The baby was very tachycardic with heartbeats nearing 200 beats per minute. My fever lowered down to around 101, (Travis’s heart rate lowered as well) so they decided to go ahead with the IV antibiotics, which I needed for the group B strep.

They gave me two IVs.

One in each arm.

What kind of prison torture hospital gives two IVs? I hate getting the IV. It is definitely the worst part about giving birth, and this time I had to have a “back up” IV.

Whatever.

After the first round of antibiotics, they started the pitocin. I was dilated maybe to a 3 or 4 at this point. I was having mild contractions, but they really didn’t feel any stronger than my normal Braxton Hicks.

Pitocin and I have a love/hate relationship. I love that it forces my babies to arrive so that they aren’t setting up extended stay residence in my uterus. I hate that it makes my belly feel like someone is stabbing me with a red hot poker iron. So, I am of course again faced with the epidural dilemma.

To get it or not to get it.

If I get the epidural, I most assuredly will begin throwing up and then will have lower extremities deader than the tree trunks snapped over by last year’s tornado. In addition to the fact that usually it doesn’t take on one side, so one side is numb and the other isn’t. I decided that I would just go as long as I could, and then reevaluate. Shortly before 9 pm, I decided that I just couldn’t do the pitocin/hot poker thing any longer and I would just go ahead and get the epidural. I told the anesthesiologist that the epidurals never take on one side, so he said he’d make extra sure that he got the needle in the middle. Well, he did. And the epidural really hurt. But, it did get numb on both sides. This time, they gave me a little button that I could use to control how much epidural I was getting. I thought that maybe if I didn’t increase the dosage, then I wouldn’t get nauseous. The epidural basically took away the "hot poker" feeling, but not much else. The nurse decided to go ahead and check me. I was at a 7.

Less than ten minutes later I felt a LOT of pressure and my water broke. I said, “David! The baby’s coming, go get the nurse.” My water has never broken on its on except for during the actual delivery. The nurse rushed back in and said, “It’s the water, and the head’s right there. Go on and get the doctor.” After about two pushes later, we had a Travis Clarke. All 9 pounds, 10 ounces and 22 inches of him.

I think I made a good call with the epidural. Travis was born about 15 minutes after I got it. It didn’t make me nauseous and I could still feel my legs, so I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom BY MYSELF.

The never really figured out what had caused my fever, but I had the antibiotics so whatever it was would have gotten knocked out anyway.

Finally.... A Birth Story: Bailey Caroline

If you know me, you know that I push off going to the doctor as long as possible. I just don't like going to the doctor. Or the dentist, hair stylist, eye doctor, etc. Personal space, you know? So, I didn't end up getting to the midwives until I was around 23 weeks along. I did start out to have nightmare morning/all day sickness, but it only lasted about two weeks. I prayed to the Lord to have mercy on me with that. And, He did. It just stopped. I was so relieved!



When I was figuring up the due date I was thinking beginning of March, but at the ultrasound they said February 23, which was Tristan's Birthday. They calculated me being around 24 weeks, but I was thinking closer to 22. Everything with the baby looked fine. I did have a few small health issues. A breast cancer scare, which turned out to be only scar tissue from the incision I had with the mastitis from after Brooke's birth, also I didn't pass my one hour glucose test and had to go back for the three hour test, which I fortunately did pass, and my iron was very low. Other than that, and the stress from my husband losing his job, everything else was good.



All of my babies have been late. All eight of them. So, when my Monday, February 23 due date came and went I was not surprised. The following Monday, at one week late, I had an ultrasound and everything looked good with the baby. They wanted me in that Friday for a non stress test. I was relunctant to go in because everything had looked good on the ultrasound (and I was paying cash.) They wanted me to come in anyway, so Friday morning I went in for the non stress test. (They had gone ahead and tentatively scheduled me to be induced the following Monday which would have put me at 14 days overdue.) I was hooked up to the monitor for at least thirty minutes. The midwife came in and looked at the readings and said, "I'm going to go discuss this with the other midwife and I'll be back in a few minutes." I thought, "What's to discuss?" David had gone with me that morning and we both had not eaten and were starving. I didn't even think they'd make me do the non stress test.

She came back in and told us that the heartrate was not picking back up as quickly as they would like to see after contractions (I was only having those Braxton Hicks-or at least that's only as strong as they felt) and they would like to go ahead and send me over to be induced right then. Well, to say I was surprised was an understatement! I hadn't even brought my bag with me for "just in case". There was no doubt in my mind that they were just going to send me home and wait for Monday-or labor- whichever came first. With Tristan I was induced on the 11th day and on the 9th day, with my amniotic fluid low, they still sent me home to wait two more days to induce. I asked if I could go eat something and they said we could, so we went to McDonald's just down the street. I had a few nuggets and a side salad. I was afraid to eat anything really heavy as I do tend to get nauseaus.

We got back on over to the hospital and up to L and D around 1:00. They got me all checked in and put in the IV (which I HATE). It hurt terribly after she stuck the needle in, so she did it in the other hand. Ouch! I had to have it done twice! She said there must be scar tissue on my left hand from so many IV's with previous deliveries. I had to have the IV this time because I tested postive for Group B strep. I have only tested positive twice out of eight babies. They say that 25% of women carry this bacteria. I think the number is probably higher, because if you only have two or three babies, you might never test positive and just never know that you have it.
Anyway, so four hours of antibiotics before getting the pitocin. My friend Denise had gotten there shortly after we did, so she, David and I just chatted and had a good old time while we waited.

So, that takes us to 5:30. They started the pitocin. This is the only inducer they can use since I have had a previous c-section (less chance for uterin rupture). I had decided that I would go ahead and get the epidural since big baby+pitocin=OUCH. Remember, I am cheap but, I am not insane. The only problems with my epidurals is that they never take on one side and I always throw up. If I had just gone into labor on my own this time, I wouldn't have gone this route. So, I took the more bearable of the two scenarios. I told my predicament to the anesthesiologist and he said that it could be failure to get the needle directily in the middle of the spine, or maybe just my body. He said he would try extra hard to get it straight in the middle, and give that guy a raise, he did it! Epidural a success! The midwife also came in to break my water. There must have been gallons in there! No wonder Bailey always seems to enjoy her bathtime. That takes us to around 6:30.

I was joking with my midwife about a friend of mine who has ten kids and with the eighth, I think, there was a funny little story. This same midwife was also delivering her baby and stepped out of the room for a minute. Her husband came and got the midwife and said, "Can you come check things out? We can't find the heartbeat. The monitor must've moved." The midwife went back in and they see wiggling under the blanket. My friend had delivered the baby and not even realized it!

Denise and David were having fun watching the contractions on the monitor and many of them were going off the chart. Thank you anesthesiologist! Obviously this labor could have been much less pleasant. (I know from "no epidural" experience.)

Around 7:45 or so, I started to not feel well, and it felt like someone cranked up the heater. David asked if I wanted him to get the nurse and I said like a true labor veteran, "I don't know." He said he was going to go to the bathroom and he'd go ahead and tell the nurse to come check on me. The nurse came in and when I told her I was hot and didn't feel well, and asked was she going to check me, she said she didn't want to check because of the group B strep (didn't want to accidently spread the bacteria) and she would go get the midwife. The midwife came and said, "Well, let's take a look. OH! There's the head! Um, where's the dad?"

Someone went off to find David, the midwife quickly got her supplies together and after they found David, everyone gathered around. The midwife told me that when I was ready to go ahead and start pushing. So I took a deep breath and the midwife said, "Slow down!" And I thought, "But I didn't do anything yet." I know I had the epidural and all, but I seriously did not push. That girl was on her way regardless. At 8:30 we had a Bailey. She was mostly cheeks-so cute. Then there was a small debate between the midwife and my husband about cutting the cord. She was all, "Dad! You can cut the cord!" and he was all, "No." My husband is NOT a cord cutting kind of guy. He is a "leave it all to the professionals" kind of guy. But, I love him.

I think that if the midwife hadn't come in when she did, then Bailey would have been wriggling under the sheets! Unfortunately, the epidural did make me nauseaus, so instead of holding her, I was puking. So fun. Denise and David held her and she peed all over them. Several times. She's a generous girl.

The recovery went well. I have heard that stomach cramps get consecutively worse with each child. Yes, yes they do. Oh, my word, it's as bad as labor contractions. And that motrin they give you does NOTHING.

Ahem.

Nursing went very well. I was nervous because since my mastitis/incision after Brooke's birth, nursing my last two babies was excrutiating for about the first six weeks. (on the left side only though.) But this time, it really wasn't painful at all. I was so thankful.

One final cutie birthday boy

Today is Timothy's birthday. He is number three of seven. He is eight years old today. We are going to celebrate with a little party and he's having two friends sleep over. I'm not sure I'll survive! lol I'm not really feeling any better, but usually by week 15 or 16, I'm over the nausea. So, I've got around 6 weeks to go.

Timothy's birth story

I had a rough first trimester with Timothy, same as usual, nausea and exhaustion, but by second trimester I was feeling good. I worked out during the pregnancy and was in good shape, but my hips were killing me. From this baby on, my hip joints are always so sore. I also got a bladder infection (which I do with every pregnancy) but it went undetected because they didn't take urine samples at the OB visits, so finally when I was doubled over in pain, the lab tech assured me it was a kidney stone. I told him that I didn't think so, but finally some lab work revealed the problem. I also had to drink about 10 gallons of water and not go to the bathroom to have my ultrasound done. "You get more accurate readings this way" they said. "Yes, with your fifty year old equipment maybe" is what I was thinking. Who makes a pregnant woman drink gallons of water, and then mash on her abdomen for an hour, without letting her go to the bathroom? Are they insane? I wrote to the head of the hospital and told them I thought some of their procedures needed to change. She actually called me and was very concerned about my concerns. I don't know if they ever changed anything, though.

Anyway, I started contractions on my due date of 8/08/00 (Tuesday) The day just went on and they weren't getting any closer together. By the next day, they were stronger, but not closer-maybe 15 minutes apart. I went to the doctor for a regular appointment and he told me we could go on ahead over to the hospital and he would give me some pitocin and speed things along. I really didn't want to do that, so I told him to wait it out a little longer. I went ahead and served in the church nursery that night. So by the next day, the contractions were stronger still, but still not closer together. So, I went ahead to my Mom's church group. My mom had taken Brittany and Tyler for the week, so it was just David and me. We went to dinner on Thursday night and walked around and around and around down town Beaufort to see if that would make a difference. And, it did not. So, we decided that we would go ahead and go on in on Friday and get the pitocin.

We went in on Friday morning, and I couldn't stop crying. I just didn't want the pitocin. They admitted me at 9, started the pitocin and and I went ahead and got the epidural. I had been seen by Navy doctors at the Naval Station for my OB appointment, but they didn't deliver babies there, so I actually went to the civilian hospital to deliver with my Naval doctor. Of course, my epidural didn't take all the way, so my entire right side was still hurting. Then around 1:00 pm it was time to push. I don't remember pushing very long, but that could be because the epidural made me throw up several times, so that was the bulk of the pushing. The doctor said, "Wow, Ms. Sanchez! You have yourself a ten pound baby boy!" This same doctor assured me before birth that the baby was around 71/2 pounds. (If you've ever carried a ten pound baby, you know the difference!) He was actually 9 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches.

I recovered very well, Timothy was very healthy and all was happy. And this hospital had the best hospital food, ever. They even brought me a turkey sandwich, fruit and coconut cake just for my evening snack. Yum!

Yesterday was Brittany's 13th birthday. I am now officially the mother of a teenager! I'm not worried one bit. She's a pleasure to have around. She knows we've been so tight on money for a while, so all she asked for was to have pigs in a blanket for dinner, red velvet cake and for us to play a game together as a family. She has been such a blessing to us. She babysits when I need to run out, or just so David and I can go out together. And, she's even offered her babysitting money when we've needed it. I knew she'd been really wanting a digital camera and, for about the last year, I've been thinking how I really, really wished I could get her one for her birthday. So, I kept praying that God would provide some way for me to get one for her. A few weeks ago, someone gave us some extra money, and I took that as answer to prayer. We went out and got her the camera from Wal Mart, with a memory card and carrying case.

We had a book club meeting yesterday afternoon at a friend's house, who also let me bake the cupcakes in her oven, and then had the appliance drama (see the previous post) that evening, so we didn't actually get to "partying" until around 8 pm. She finally opened her gift and was in shock. She loved it! As I knew she would. She kept asking, "Is this a real camera?" "Is this for real?" I'm so thankful to be able to do that for her.

Brittany's birth story.
Hers was a surprise pregnancy in a whirlwind wedding. I turned 20 in June and she was due mid July. David and I had just gotten married the previous February, and I had just moved out to Hawaii in April. David was in the Marine Corps and this would be my first lovely and moving experience with military doctors. (Sarcasm is kind of hard to write.)

Anyway, I didn't KNOW nothin' bout birthing no babies. I think that one must give birth at least 3-4 times to really understand exactly what it going on. I think I just assumed everything would somehow just happen, and sort of likened myself to an innocent bystander. I read "What to Expect" and all, but nothing really wakes you up like actually having a baby.

I was due with her on the 16th of July, and starting the trend, that day came and went. On the 19th, in the early am, I started having contractions, but we decided that David should go on ahead to work. By that evening, we went to Labor and Delivery thinking that certainly things were happening now. They sent us home, because I wasn't far enough along, and there wasn't anything they could do. "What do you mean, nothing you can do???" We went back home and Brittany gave new meaning to the term "back labor". The next morning David went on in to work again, but came home later that morning with tonsilitis. I had an already-scheduled appointment at 2 pm, so David drove me in. The doctor discovered I was at 6 cm. and they rushed (wheelchaired) me upstairs to L and D. Hours later things still weren't progressing. They tried to break my water with this stick-thingy that must've existed in medieval torture chambers. Finally the other nurse had pity on me and told the other nurse to stop. I was quite exhausted. No sleep and no food going on 40 hours. I decided to get the epidural and of course, threw up, right as my pregnant friend and her husband showed up. She was due the next month with her first child. I must've have made quite a scary impression.

I eventually got to ten cm, and the nurse said to push, but I was so tired that I couldn't stay awake. And, she still was not coming out. So, the doctor decided, shortly after midnight to do a c-section . At 2:18 am, we had a Brittany. 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 17 and 3/4 inches. I had "failed to progress" because Brittany was sunny side up (babies are supposed to be face down with their spine facing up, but she was facing up with all her weight on my back-hence the back labor) and she was also crooked with her should trying to come out with her head.

David had opted not to come into the operating room. He was sick and more than a little overwhelmed. You know all the "risks" they let you know about with an epidural? There are even scarier "risks" they let you know all about with a cesarean. He must've been terrified.
So, they sliced me open, ripped out a human being, took out my insides and examined them, put them back in and stapled me shut. Literally. And, that's literally what I felt like had happened to me. Although, I was still numb from the epidural for a while after, they wheeled me to the recovery room for a few hours, then onto my own room. (I only got my own room because I had a c-section, I had to share a room when I had Tyler at the same military hospital) It must've been 4-6 hours before they even brought her to me for the first time. I don't know if they fed her, I don't know what happened. And, of course, I didn't know any better. The nurse came in that morning and wanted me to get up to take a shower. I thought she must be crazy. I had been in quite a bit of pain since the epidural had worn off. They gave me a morphine pump, but I was a little afraid of overdosing or something, so I don't think I ever really turned it up high enough. It would take me about 30 minutes just to get up and go to the bathroom and get back in bed. And of course, as soon as I would lay back down, Brittany would start crying.

The day before I was released, a student nurse came by to take out my staples. Well, I guess they have to practice on somebody. Ouch. I did heal fine, though, with no problems. I was so thankful for a healthy baby, but I knew that if I had another baby, I was NOT going through that again. Think VBAC.

Another Cutie Birthday Boy-or should I say "handsome"

Our oldest son is 11 years old today. We didn't do anything party-like today. He had his best friend of six years sleep over on Friday night. We turned our computer room into Redwall Abby-Redwall is a book series that Tyler is into at the moment. He never seemed too into reading until he discovered these books. There are a lot of books in the series and he's read maybe a dozen of them so far. It is a story set in something like the middle ages and is about mice and other small critters. One of the mice is a warrior. It's a great series of books, really quality literature. I'm very pleased that he's reading them.
So, we decorated the room with swords and shields and I drew some "R's" on some posterboard for banners. I printed a few character coloring pages off the internet and put them on a big piece of cardboard that said "A special feast in honor of Tyler's birthday." We brought in a TV so that they could watch the Dvd's of Season Two of the Redwall series that they did on PBS. We checked it out from the library. I bought some ice cream sandwiches and ranch Doritoes at Tyler's request. And they decorated their own Redwall shields on posterboard. I also sewed some pouches out of felt and tied them with some red felt cord that I found on clearance. Then Monday morning we'll have our Spanish class stay afterwards for play and cupcakes.

Tyler's birth story

Tyler is the second child-the first one was c-section. I knew I didn't want to go through with another one of those, so I did a lot of research into VBACs. We were in Hawaii and I was being seen by military doctors at a military facility. They weren't very encouraging about me having a VBAC. They were pretty sure it wouldn't work out, but they'd go ahead and let me "try". I had an ultrasound later in the pregnancy, maybe 32 weeks. I was carrying "small" they said, so they wanted to make sure fluid and all were fine. They noticed they the baby's ureters were dilated. That meant that the tubes that carry urine to the bladder were somewhat enlarged. They wanted me to schedule a test after the birth to make sure the plumbing was working normally. Things progressed along well. I was carrying him very low. Around maybe the 37th week, the nurse practitioner assured me that I was not going to make it to my due date. "You had better get your shopping done and your bags packed because your are not going to make it to your due date!" she said. Well this was my second baby, I was only 21 and I didn't know anything. So I believed her. The next week was the same thing, only added, "As soon as you start having contractions you better get here fast- this baby will be coming fast!" Okay.
My due date came and went. On the 9th day overdue, which was a Friday, they said that if I didn't deliver that weekend, they were going to induce on Monday morning. I've heard many wives tales on how to get labor started. And the only thing I had on hand was a spicy frozen burrito. It couldn't hurt. I ate the burrito on Saturday night and on Sunday morning I woke up with contractions. I was supposed to rush to the hospital, right? So, I called David who was out patroling (military policeman with the Marines) and told him that he'd better get home. He raced back to base with his blue lights flashing and picked up our friend that was going to watch Brittany. We raced up to the hospital and the nurse checked me out. "You're not that far along. You can go back home if you want and go walk around for a bit." Huh? So we went back home and walked. And walked. And walked......
This was my first lesson. Doctors, midwives, nurse practioners,etc. DO NOT know when you will go into labor and DO NOT know how long it will last.
When contractions picked up we went back up to the hospital. We'd gone up there the first time at around 8 am. We only lived about 5 minutes from the hospital. The hospital actually looked like a big pink palace up on a hill. Anyway, we went back up there maybe around lunch time. They went ahead and let me stay this time, but of course tied me to the bed with monitors, wires, IV, and stuff. They might as well use duct tape. Labor is much harder to deal with lying flat in the bed not being able to move. Lesson number 2.
Apparently Tyler was not dealing well with labor. His heart rate was dropping and they had me on oxygen and then attached an internal monitor to his head. I just couldn't deal with it any longer so they gave me Nubain. I was now out of my mind and still in pain. So, after begging David to just tell them to do another c-section to get it over with, they said they'd let me push. I wasn't ready so my cervix swelled. Things weren't progressing. They gave me an epidural. This was the only time, other than the c-section, that the epidural took on both sides and didn't make me throw up. They realized that Tyler had meconium, which means his first bowel movement had already happened. If babies asperate this they can get pneumonia. At least the epidural allowed my cervix to stop swelling and then I was able to push. They had a neonatal team standing by to make sure Tyler didn't cry until they had cleaned him up. There must've been a million people in that room. Give a girl some privacy-sheesh! Finally, after 2 and a half hours of pushing and an episiotomy Tyler was born at 5:36pm. This is the only episiotomy I've had, and even after having ten pound babies, I've never even torn. Tyler was only 8 pounds 6 ounces. The episiotomy was unnecessary in my opinion, but I didn't have any ill effects from it at least.
They cleaned Tyler all up and he was just fine. They took him to the nursery. I don't remember even getting to hold him or nurse him. I was taken down to my room, and I wanted my baby so I walked down to the nursery. He was in the little isolette under heating lights. I remember thinking, "Well, couldn't I just hold him and make him warm?" But, I just sat there for what must've been 45 minutes at least waiting for him to be released. Then we went back to our room, which I was sharing with another mom. Yes, military hospitals have customer satisfaction high up on there priority list.
The protocol was to have a nurse come to your house to give the baby a check up at two weeks. It was Hawaii so it was around 80 degrees and we had no central heat/air so you leave your windows open all year round. It was spring so it was really windy. This woman came in and took off his sleeper, and said he didn't need it. Then she took off his diaper and put on another, but this time folded it down in front under his unbilical cord, because I hadn't done it the right way. She treated me like a completely incompetent mother. Mind you, I had another 21 month old child right there and she had survived so far. She handed me Tyler, who proceeded to pee all over me because she had folded his diaper down too far. I didn't even let her know. I just sat there until she left. Lesson number 3. Do not let others treat you like you don't know how to care for your own child.
I scheduled Tyler's plumbing exam. He was about 2 and a half weeks old. They injected a dye into his urethra, and when he'd pee it out, they could look on the scanning machine and see if all was working. He screamed and screamed. They had him tied down. Everything was working fine. Well, at least I had a healthy baby boy.

Brooke's Birth Story: The Final Installment

I called my friend, R, the next morning and asked her if she'd watch my kids while I went to the army base to go to the doctor. She said she'd come over with her daughter and she'd just drive all of us in my van. it was 80 degrees outside and I was in sweatpants and a jacket looking like death warmed over. Mastitis gives you flu like symptoms. My left breast was bright red and on fire. I had to wait an hour just to be seen and then after the doctor came in and determined it was mastitis (brilliant) gave me a prescription for antiobiotic and prepared to leave the room. In my mind I was yelling at him, "My husband comes in with a little leg infection and you admit him and keep him for fours days to lie around and rest, while I am in immense pain, feel like I've been hit by a truck and have a new baby and four other kids to take care of and you send me home with a bandaid and a get well wish!" But, I actually said, "Okay, thank you. Could I get some pain medication?"
R. drove us all home after stopping by the store for some cabbage leaves, the old wives remedy. But, my body was so hot the leaves wilted by about 5 minutes. I am not good with medication. If there is a side effect to be had, I will get it. So add throwing up to the list of ailments. All in all I was in bed for the next two weeks. I had to go back up to the doctor on that Thursday because the doctor wanted to make sure it wasn't an abcess. So I had to have a one inch incision in my left breast. It turns out that there was no abcess, but I had to have that incision packed with guaze til it healed. I think that was probably as painful as labor! I'm so thankful for my friend, L.. She came to my house twice a day for two weeks to change the dressing. She was a registered nurse. Otherwise I would've had to have changed it myself, yikes!, or had to go up to the army hospital twice a day. I'm also very thankful for R. She became my personal organizer. She scheduled people to come to the house to take care of the kids in shifts from breakfast to bedtime. It was literally Grand Central Station. I don't know what I would have done with out her or all the people that came to take care of us. It was really a great portrayal of the serving hearts of God's people.
They had done a culture of the incision and found out that there was antibiotic resistant staph. The typical protocol was to be placed on six weeks of IV antibiotics, but thankfully after upping my dose of oral antibiotics twice, I was on the mend. So since I was recovering the doctors decided to not give me the IV antiobiotics. By the third week, I could mostly stay out of bed all day and only had people coming by here and there to see if we needed something. You know you are feeling better when you are ready for people to get out of your house! But, I deparately needed them up until then!
The day after I found out that I wouldn't need the IV antibiotics, Tuesday, I noticed that Brooke was starting to get some red spots. It looked exactly like baby acne and she was at that age. I dismissed it the first two days and then on Thursday she was splotchy from head to toe. I just thought, Wow, this is bad baby acne. I was just in such a fog from the last six months of life. But that night I noticed she had a fever. One month old babies should not get fevers. The next morning, some dear friends were taking the older four kids to the zoo, so I called to bring her in to the doctor. I went to the army base and the doctor took one look at her and told me I needed to take her to the Children's ER at the county hospital. So, in a daze, I took her over to the Children's ER and the doctors weren't quite sure what to think. Everyone kept asking me what I'd eaten, like she'd had an allergic reaction to something. I had stopped nursing her two weeks earlier because of the incision and the pain medication. I knew it wasn't an allergic reaction. What was wrong with my child?
They admitted her and started all sorts of tests. They tried to draw blood, but because she was so small and splotchy red, they couldn't get a vain and forever they kept poking her and she kept screaming. Then they told me I'd have to leave the room, because they needed to do a spinal tap. I went into another room to wait, and called G (who took the kids to the zoo) to let her know what was going on. I just burst into tears. This was my limit. Thank goodness for G. She called the Red Cross so that they could send David back. She called me back to get the necessary paperwork from the doctor so that they could give him orders to come back and get him on a plane. They still didn't know what was wrong with Brooke, but went ahead and put her on IV antibiotics. I gave them the recent medical issues with David and myself, and they thought it could be the staph, and were afraid she could get septic. (That means the infection would get into her bloodstream.) Friday afternoon they wheeled us up to the peds unit. Thank goodness for some other friends who came and sat with me, and with Brooke while I went to eat. And thanks again to L. who came up to the hospital room twice to change the dressing on my incision! David was able to fly back for 10 days and he arrived Saturday evening. Someone went and picked him up and drove him to the hospital. By the time David had gotten there, Brooke was looking so much better. Apparently, the antibiotic resistant staph had gotten into her body through a little scratch on her head. They gave us a prescription for vancomycyn (sp?) and let us leave on Sunday afternoon. Praise God she was recovering. The staph easily could've killed her.
I fully recovered, Brooke fully recovered and things were less dramatic and eventful for the rest of the time until David returned the following September. And that series of events let us have David home for that additional ten days which we just savored because the whole time he was home before was so chaotic.

Brooke's Birth Story Part 3

So, I woke up having contractions and they were strong. By the 5th kid you can tell the difference in contractions. We called over a friend who had also sat with the kids when Bethany was born and raced off to the hospital. Maybe 45 minutes had gone by. The hospital was probably 25 minutes away. I didn't get to deliver with the midwives this time because that hospital didn't accept the military insurance. We had to park in the parking garage and walk about 5 miles, or so it seemed, to get to labor and delivery. I'm pretty certain I was completely dilated at this point. The dear little woman in labor and delivery insisted we go into a "let me see if you're really in labor, and if not we'll send you home" room. Dear, dear lady. Do I look like I may have to go back home? She also insisted that I lie down so she could check to see how far along I was. I told her that she had better get it done quickly before this next contraction. She checked and said to the other nurse, "Hmmm. I can't tell. Either she's not very far along or she's complete." Was she new to this business?
After establishing the fact that I did need to be moved into a delivery room, they had me walk down the hall to one! Finally in the room, they called the doctor and got the IV antibiotics for my Group B strep. The two nurses kept telling me to hold on because I needed to get a good dose of the antibiotics in before I had the baby. I had been standing this whole time, because I couldn't deal with it lying down. They insisted that I needed to lie down because the doctor would definately want me lying down. I told them that they'd better give me the epidural because I couldn't hold on any longer. So they order the epidural, which of course, as usual, didn't take on one side. And, made me throw up. The doctor showed up just in time to douse me in betadine and push, push, push, we have a red headed 9 pound 4 ounce baby girl. It was 6:50.
I could easily have delivered at least an hour prior if the wonderful and quite competent staff had actually delivered a baby before in their careers. You know hindsight is always 20/20. I wished I would have told them to go get their baseball gloves, because I am NOT laying down and I am pushing this baby out right now! And take your betadine and .......... well, I'm not bitter, just wiser.
Brooke was so cute, she was a fat little thing with curly red hair. Keep in mind that we didn't know the sex of the baby beforehand and I was just convinced that we were having a boy!

Everything else, at least, went well, we came home on that Saturday, and we still had another week before David had to head back to Cuba. Around Tuesday, I started feeling as though I might be getting mastitis. I had it once before with my second child, and had gotten over it with just taking vitamin C. So, I took vitamin C. for several days and didn't seem to be getting better, but was hoping it would work. By the weekend it was hurting quite a bit, but I knew on Monday morning I had to drive David back to the airport. I think part of me was ignoring the pain. We only had a little time with him left, so maybe I was just over doing it. We drove him to the airport on that Monday- man goodbyes are so hard!
By that night, I was laying with an ice pack on my chest, it just throbbed. I was alone with a fever, chills, a new baby, four other kids to take care of and no husband. Could things get worse?
To be continued...........(I promise only one more installment!)

Brooke's Birth Story Part 2

David got home on Friday evening, April 11. I was due with Brooke the next Tuesday- April 15th Tax Day. Some very dear friends of ours had scheduled a welcome baby/welcome home David party for us that afternoon. We had a very nice time seeing everyone and visiting. That evening, some other dear friends were planning on spending the night at our house watching our kids, while David and I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast. That morning David noticed a bug bite or something on his thigh, and mentioned later that afternoon that it was sore. We dismissed it until that evening at the B&B, it was quite sore. By about midnight his entire thigh was bright red, and by about 3 am he was soaking in the tub in hot water and eating Tylenol like it was candy. This was not quite turning out as we had planned.
The next morning we called our friends to let them now we were taking David to the urgent care on the local army base. He had to be seen there since he was active duty. So after about 5 or 7 hours of waiting they finally called him back to be seen. By this time David was in unbearable pain. When the doctor came in, he took one look at him and said, "Yeah, I think you'll be admitted." So, here I am, my husband has been home for two days after being gone for six months, my kids are at home with our friends, I am due to have a baby in two days and my husband is being admitted to the hospital with some strange skin/leg issue. I remember leaving him there to go back home, it's now around 6 that evening and I hadn't eaten all day. I sent the friends home and just sat on the couch in a daze.
I took the kids to see him for a little while the next day, Monday, but there's only so long that little kids can sit in a hospital room. Tuesday morning, I had an OB appointment and the doctor wanted to do a non stress test. I was admitted over at another hospital to do the test. So, for a brief while that day, we were both laying in hospital beds in different hospitals. The test was fine and I went back up to see him afterwards. Wednesday morning came and still no baby and no contractions. They finally allowed him to come home that evening around dinner time. He was on some pretty serious pain medication, but was doing much better. He had gotten an infection in his leg-some antibiotic resistant staph that he had apparently picked up while deployed.
So, we brought David home that evening and around 3 am that morning David gets up and takes more pain medication. I woke up and told him, "I'm having contractions. I think we need to call someone to come over and sit with the kids. NOW!"
To be continued.......

Brooke's Birth Story Part 1

Moving right along in our plethora of birthdays, Brooke turned five today. We went under the sea to join Mermaid in a birthday celebration. Brooke loves all princesses/famous people with red hair. Rightly so. Here favorites are, of course, Little Mermaid, Strawberry Shortcake, Fiona, and Pippi Longstocking. Brooke invited her friend to come and join us. We found princess jewels that Mermaid had hidden in the living room, pin the sticker on mermaid, and a felt craft that I'd found at Michael's for $1 each. The cake didn't turn out exactly as I had imagined, but it was good enough. Those are gold fish in the ocean, and a Mermaid candle, also from Michael's. She was very excited.

Brooke's Birth Story Part 1

I got pregnant with Brooke when Bethany was only four months old. So, the two of them are only thirteen months apart. My husband had just joined the national guard about six months earlier. He had gotten out of the Marine Corps the previous year, but when 9/11 happened, they tried to recall him. They were originally just taking volunteers, but if they didn't get enough people to volunteer, then they would inforce a total recall. David would have had to go back in because he still had a few months left of inactive status. When you enlist they sign you up for four years active duty and four years of inactive. The inactive is for that reason. They can recall you if necessary. So we weighed our options and decided that he should join the National Guard for one year, which would cancel his inactive time, he could drill one weekend a month for the year and be done. But then, this unit that hadn't been deployed since the Gulf War got called to go to Cuba. My husband was military police and they put a stop loss on military police, meaning "You can't get out until we let you out." David left that October to go to Cuba to guard the detainees. I was three months pregnant with Brooke, and the other kids were 7, 5, 2, and 7 months.
I didn't really have much morning sickness with Brooke, which was good. I was incredibly tired all the time. I had a terrible time with anemia, so much that the doctor had me taking iron twice a day. I've never had a problem with iron. I don't know if it was the back to back pregnancies or stress. I'm not sure how I survived other than by the grace of God. I had an awesome church and friends to help. J cooked me dinner twice a week. Several ladies came in more than once and cleaned house for me. Some men from church came and put up our backyard fence. They mowed the lawn and raked the leaves. They babysat. A dear lady from the bible college where David worked came and watched the kids for every one of my OB appointments. People were so supportive.
Things were fairly uneventful, except for my falling down the stairs, and thinking my water had broken, called 911 and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. But, I've tried to block that out of my memory. I fall all the time, clumsy. Hello, my name is Courtney, and I fall. I also twisted my foot and couldn't walk for two days. By the way, my water had not broken.
Anyhoo, everyone was granted a time of leave, so David was sceduled to fly home for two weeks around my due date. We were totally planning for God to work out the details. We didn't want to schedule an induction or anything. We weren't even sure what we'd do with the other kids when I went to the hospital. We just planned on God to allow Brooke to be born while David was home. He would fly home on a Friday and I was due the following Tuesday. I hadn't delivered early the past four times, hopefully I wouldn't start now.
To be continued...........

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, March 9th, was Bethany's 6th birthday. She invited two friends over and we made these cute little compacts out of candy mint tins. You paint them and paste some faux fur on top, glue a small mirror onto the inside lid. and fill them with hairbows and lip gloss and such. They had a great time. She begged to have a treasure hunt, so I just hid a few clues that led them to the treats ofr their compacts. I didn't have the boys make one, and then then I saw a cute idea for a boy-themed idea. You paint a candy tin and glue on a small lizard, or some other such icky boy favor, and their you have a tin for your coins. Oh well. Always the good ideas in retrospect.

Bethany's birth story.......

I had my typical first trimest feel-like-throwing-up-for-three-months-but-never-actually-throwing-up feeling. I usually don't have any real medical complications, fortunately, but I do have my share of typical pregnancy discomforts. My weight gain was just fine, I thought, until one evening we went out to dinner. Our waitress was asking when I was due. When I told her at that point I was about 7 months, she said, "Oh my sister is 7 months, too. But, she's not as big as you are!" Can we say, "NO tip for you?"

We were renting at the time, and had closed on the house we were buying just two months before she was due. I was seeing the doctors at the same practice as the midwives, but was not familiar enough with the midwives at that point, so I had just chosen to see the doctors. I was actually due on March 7th, then early in the morning on March 9th I started having contractions. We took the 30 minute drive to the hospital. Things were progressing very quickly- I was almost 10 centimeters by the time we got there. But, of course, they have to call the doctor and needed to give me the antibiotic since I was Group B Strep postitive, so they didn't want her out yet. I had previously decided that I wouldn't get the epidural, but then told the nurse that was probably a bad idea. She was very encouraging and said that I was almost ready to push and that I could do it. I was very thankful for that. When I think back and remember her birth, it seems like everything was so calm. No extraneous people going in and out, everything was quiet- very peaceful. So, I decided that maybe I could do it and about an hour and a half later, at 6:50 am we had a Bethany. She was small for our babies, only 8 lbs. 3 ounces. She was so pretty. She had a full head of dark hair with these light brown highlights at the tips. I recovered very well and so did she. I couldn't have planned for anything to have gone any better.