Introducing Baby Boy Number Two

It seems fitting this post is being written almost one week to the hour that this new baby came into this world... so here goes.

The back story on all the events leading up to the birthday are too insane to include in this post so we'll just pretend that everything was perfectly normal and calm. I was scheduled to be induced on Thursday because my due date was the previous Sunday and there wasn't anything happening and I was not trying to be pregnant in October. Why? Well one thing is we already have an October baby and clearly one of our family goals is to hit a birthday every month so that would have really messed us up.

So Thursday it was, I was up and down much of the nights before the induction so when the clock stuck 4 and Lee's alarm went off I was pretty much ready to hit the road. I think we ended up leaving at 4:30 and got checked in everything by 5:15. They remodeled the L&D wing so it was neat remembering what things looked like before.

Then the big waiting game of getting the IV going and stuff set in. I think I commented to Lee on at least one occasion... How in the world did we get back here... again? As I looked over at the empty baby warming table. That is so surreal to me, knowing we won't be leaving the room without someone occupying that little bed.

Anyhow, after the shift change and a visit from the doctor - who promised he wouldn't miss it this time - we were off to the races with pitocin. Last time I think I was on the second highest dose before C was born. I was hopeful this time because I got to the hospital and I was 3 and definitely having some mild contractions so maybe the combo of early labor plus pitocin would get things going without being too crazy.

The L&D nurse was great. First things I told her were - I wanted to walk around and that the last time the nurse delivered the baby. So she got me hooked into the WiFi monitors - Hello 21st century!!!!!!!! - and I could walk and be on pitocin at the same time. Imagine that. Imagine not having that the last 3 times - it was no fun.

I think at some point after 8 I finally got motivated enough to start pacing the hallways. I was pretty exhausted from the nights and days before but I really wanted to take advantage of the freedom while I could. Lee and I chit chatted about stuff. The nurse and I ended up getting into an extensive conversation about soccer - which was a fabulous distraction from the contractions.

Then at some point something happened which had never happened before... my water broke. That was strange. At that point the nurse asked me to just stay on the L&D hallway because ain't nobody trying to have a baby in the hallway of recovery - or in L&D too but you know.

Eventually the contractions got strong enough where I wanted to get in bed. The nurse said I was about a 5 so I had gone from 3 to 5 in 3 hours... perfect. : (

Well not long after being in bed, Lee could probably comment more on the timing of everything, I called for the Stayidol or however you spell it - the narcotic that makes you kinda sleepy and care less. That was at 11:29.

Well a few contractions after that, I was like send for the epidural. Which in the moment and in hindsight I still can't believe I actually spoke those words. I think Lee was just as surprised as I was that I was asking for one but I knew if I had hours more to go then something was going to have to give. The nurse came back and I was like... how long does it take for them to get here?

Someone said, go ahead and call the doctor (the OB) to which someone else replied, he's coming up the stairs. The OB and the anesthesiologist came into the room about the same time and the doctor checked me was like.... nope, she's having this baby.

At which point there was this overarching sense of relief and peace - which was certainly a prayer answered. There was hustle and bustle getting the bed ready and the nurses in place but not the chaotic scene that played out at Cs birth.

A few pushes (which seemed to take forever) a head, two shoulders, two knees and ten toes later - an 8 lb 21 inch long baby was plopped on my chest at 11:47. Lee announced it was a boy and I was basically in shock because I was certain this baby was a girl. Plus I had just gotten a dose of Stayidol (which lasts for 2-3 hours!) so it registered but I was still very much out of sorts.

I'm not one of the immediately bond with freshly plopped baby in the first place - sorry kids, I love you I promise - but y'all that baby just did a whole lot of hurting so call me crazy but it is not my initial reaction.

The room cleared out and we did skin to skin and all that fun stuff. Lee went to get Chik Fil A and cookout milkshakes except those crazy people gave him chocolate chip instead of Mint Oreo - which was rectified the next day as that was my lunch request. The nurse checked him again and we had this funny dialogue that went something like this:

Nurse - Do you want to trying feeding him?
Me - Do you want me to?
Nurse - Well you don't have to, it is up to you?
Me - I mean, I will if you want me to
Nurse - It is your decision
Me - I don't know. I can't make decisions right now (because of the Stayidol) - just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it.
Nurse - (hands me the baby)

Yes I normally keep some number of hairbands on my wrist. No they don't help me remember how many kids I have... just have a few girls with long hair and you'll understand!

That Stayidol took forever to wear off and had I known baby was coming in 15 minutes, I surely would have not gotten it or at least halved the dose.

I was wheeled out of L&D and passed through the threshold I was said, I am so glad to be outta there. To which it was discovered my room wasn't ready so back to L&D while that was fixed. By that time grandparents were reigning in the big brother and sisters  who were eagerly and I'm sure impatiently waiting to meet their new sibling.

The gang paraded in and was introduced to little brother Joseph Jeremiah

Came through for A on one of his two requests. Baby boy but no twins... 

I think they liked him : )

Lee left shortly after. It was a quiet evening with a visit (and dinner) from a great friend. J went back and forth to the nursery - which I LOVE being able to turn off the lights and try and sleep. I didn't love that you there was no nursery window so when I did wake up I couldn't see what he was doing when I made my circles around recovery. I've always walked alot in recovery - I makes me feel normal after so much not-normal just happening.

He looks enormous in this picture but I promise he's not

The pediatrician caught me in the hallway in the morning and announced he may not discharge J until Saturday since I was GBS positive (I have been every time - and I've been discharged about 24 hours after birth and I got the full dose of medicine) - that was a MAJOR bummer. Though we did agree to waiting until the afternoon and scheduling a follow up with his pediatrician. Eventually about 4:30 we got the green light and a fast pass outta there.

Home to the loud, crazy, loving chaos at the house.

Happily not pregnant and happily not at the hospital.

Here's to you baby J!

7 Quick Takes - August and September Catch up

Linking up with Kelly ... let's go in reverse order because it has been that long (and doesn't include any of the crazy from this week - that's possibly worthy of it's own post)

---1---

Last Sunday... 

(A supervising the clergy : ) 

Our bishop came and blessed the grounds/site/cornerstone for the church that is being built. If you thought single parenting kids at church was interesting then you should give an outside church experience a whirl. Complete with blazing hot temps and a few fire ants smack dab in the middle of rest time. 

In reality it was a really good time and the kids did quite well - all things considered - and we got a special blessing for baby number 6 which was great. Last week I was kind of just blocking out L&D (because who wants to do that!??!?!) but I've really tried to shift my mentality and focus. 

Also, less than a week until a whole other person is a part of our lives??? I mean the baby has been a very real reality in my life for the last nine months but when you get to put a name with a face and a sibling with their siblings that's when the reality of a new baby can really hit me. 

---2---

M and the rock wall..

M made it to the top of the rock wall this week. Note the verb climb was not used. Well partially climbed but mostly was assisted all the way to the top. I think this might give her the confidence to actually climb it next time - but she was thrilled either way. 

---3---

E has some pretty high aspirations for swim this season... 

Which will require her to really work hard at and outside of practice. I would NEVER tell her not to try but it is going to be a huge stretch. She has taken to doing some exercises at home which R and M will sometimes get in on and C finds wildly interesting and she gets right in the way of her. 

I've encouraged her to run a mile once a week (or more) but I think half the thrill of that is getting to use my phone to track her run pace. I've thought about getting some sort of FitBit device but I'm not sure I'm ready to invite that into the house yet. 

---4---

M has her first take home project...

Y'all know me and a project. I've got to block out mental energy and patience to get through them. But this one is an easy one that big sisters remember doing so they had to see what was going on... 

The hot glue gun got us through and this was the final product!

---5---

AHG is in full swing:

This is actually from the kickoff meeting and the girls got their faces painted - which they thought was the best so we had to document it because it came off before bed. E moved up groups - which I think she was ready for and it already figuring out how many and who can help her with badges she wants to do. 

---6---

Fall activities are in FULL SWING... 

I love a schedule so we've been in the groove now for about a month and it feels pretty manageable. E and R started swimming in mid-August and M and A started soccer (with E and R helping me coach). Helping is very loose term but nonetheless they'll learn early to step up to volunteer. AHG for the big girls and we let E add children's choir to her line up of activities. Having a set dinner plan with quick interchangeable options is huge. I don't know why it took me until last year to see that but now I know the dinner drill requirements and it makes evenings so much less stressful. 

A opted to be the Sharks although the Chickens was a very close second - but I'm thrilled to not be shouting Chickens!!!!!!!! during out team cheer. M (and her friend) picked the Groovicorns - which if you don't know are way cooler than unicorns so check out the double sided sequins book - and I blame my friend (for buying her that book) ENTIRELY for having to yell Groovicorns for a park full of people to hear. I think I laugh every time with cheer : ) 

Yes I'm coaching (with some serious backup assistants). Yes I'm about to have a(nother!!!!!!) baby. Yes I'll probably take a week or so off from soccer but then I hope I'll be out there with new baby in tow. I make no guarantees but I sure do enjoy it. And aside from getting outrun by the kids it is going well. Between the boys and girls teams I've coach well over half the kids which is fun to watch them learn and way easier when you aren't starting from scratch because now they pretty much have a clue as to what I'm trying teach (that's another loose term too : ) 

---7---

All things school... 

This is from the day when C's bookbag came a while ago and she proceeded to march around the house shouting 'I pre-tee, I pre-tee' 

School is overall is going quite well. Everyone is happy with their teachers and figuring out expectations and all that fun stuff. M and C probably had the roughest restart runs. C had about a week stretch where she forgot how much fun she had and decided she needed to scream when I left. Which I hate leaving a crying kid but ever since that rough patch I open her door and she (tosses her bookbag to the floor) goes in like she owns the place. 

M was an interesting case too. New school. Lots of new faces. New schedule (hello all day!). New everything. So basically the first few weeks were really tough. She hated the towel I packed her for rest time - even though it was green - it was too small and the class was too noisy to sleep - she's definitely my best rester if she rests. Everything was a problem (or at least she wanted me to see it that way - to everyone else school was great). Honestly I did see a 180 degree different kid from the one who was here this summer - maybe not everyone else, but I could tell a difference. That first full week of school I finally saw the M I was used to out on the soccer field playing with her friends. It was good and it was relief. I put alittle reward on the table if she knocked some of her school stuff off her plate (but mine too because its K and basically everything at home is parent driven- HW, reading, sight words, spelling etc etc etc). She rose to that challenge - like I thought she would - and despite everything in me that says one sport per season (and an oldest child who has no problem reminding me of my policy) M went back to swim this week and is thrilled. Kindergarten is definitely a huge adjustment and now that we're a month or so in, I think M's found her groove.

7QTs - All About School

Linking up with Kelly ... before school pics there was back to school prep

---1---

Oh the things we do to get ready for the school year around here are some times fun and some times un-fun but we do it anyways. First on the list (without photographic evidence) is shoe shopping. I don't love buying new shoes. They are super expensive to me (even though if you break it down on a daily usage basis - they aren't!) but we take the school aged kids shoe shopping at a kids shoe store because I feel better about spending money if it stays local/family-owned. 

Let's just say shoe shopping 2 weeks before school starts with 5 kids and half of the greater metropolis is not for the faint of heart. I think we got out in about 30 minutes. C tried on a pair of shoes from the sale rack because the brand is one I like and she was done. A took a few pairs and he was good to go. M, R and E were different stories. 

No one could find the right color or style or non-light up shoe. Praise the Lord they wear uniforms to school because if shoes were a microcosm of clothes shopping with those 3, I might lose it. Finally M decided on some sparkley non-pink shoes, as did R but she had to get tie shoes because that's my rule for 2nd graders... learn to tie your shoes. E took the longest and ended up with a shoe that is probably a half to 3/4 size too big but she insisted the next size down felt weird and hurt her foot and after about 30 minutes and 50 pairs of shoes between the five of them - Lee and I said forget it and just wear big shoes. 

---2---

Haircuts...

Everyone kind of needed a hair trim. E adamantly wanted to wait for a big hair cut until next school year. R was the same until the moment she sat in the chair but I told her I wouldn't let her make a super rash decision in a matter of minutes. M got a bit more than the big girls. C even sat for a second and got trimmed up (see above). I got my hair trimmed and can I be honest and tell you I really wanted a hair professional to just tell me I didn't have the TERRIBLE TERRIBLE L word that gets in your hair (which I don't) but after the girls bout with it this summer I need confirmation. So now I can scratch my head knowing it is probably just pregnancy or stress (that's what the hair dresser said). PHEW!

Also, can I tell you this hair dresser was great. We went late one afternoon. We were the only ones there. We didn't have to play 25 million questions of why we have so many kids/siblings because she is one of six. It was a profound relief to not have to sit and discuss the in and outs and hows and whys because she'd been there done that - and she talked to the kids about large family living. Totally great!

---3---

Attempt to do a marathon day at the pool...

And it was a valiant one. We got to the pool right before opening (ten) and staked out a good spot and dropped the coolers and bags and towels and stroller. We had put the word out for friends aka friendly reinforcements to help keep us busy throughout the day. 

The idea was born after talking with a few other moms just to see who could hack the pool for 10 hours straight. My kids like the pool but 10 hours is alot to ask and they don't love the pool that much and C is a crazy and that's all you need to know. Everyone was on board to last the whole day though

This is our mid-way pic. 5 hours in. We had lunch. I brought tons of snacks and water and a juice box for lunch and dinner for everyone plus everyone could visit the snack stand every 2 hours. We were doing pretty great. 

Then probably about 4:30 or 5 the storms rolled in and the pool closed on us. : ( 

No pizza dinner. 

No visit from Papa. 

The kids were actually bummed we didn't do it. 

Next year though. Next year we are going to try again and maybe even make I survived the whole day at the pool shirts. 

---4---

Get uniforms organized.

After our marathon school shoe experience, it is a good thing we don't have to do to that for clothes. I've been on the hunt for some heavy duty white polos because everything I found - Target, Old Navy, Amazon, uniform supply store were basically see through (well not really) but I'm not putting tank tops under the girls polos everyday. Can we just get a thick polo PLEASE!?!?!

I finally gave in and got Lands End and spent way more than I wanted BUT considering the polos M is wearing now were worn by E 5 years ago and I need these new polos for E to last through at least 3 girls, I figure it might be best to pay more and know they will hold up?

Time will tell

---5---

The school supply run. Last year E reports that I did WalMart pick up for a good chuck of their supplies and now that she said that I do remember something like that but Wally's swapped out stuff they didn't have for things I didn't love so it was back to the old fashion way of supply shopping. 

I felt like we were being super effective on time but we got sucked into the Target vortex and probably spent over an hour and a half there. I do have memories of going supply shopping - for whatever reason Office Max sticks out in my head so maybe the girls will remember our Target runs for years to come. 

There is something exciting out picking the exactly right notebook and cool folder so here's to the experience and thankfully we only do that once a year!

---6---

We divided and conquered the Target run spoils...

The day after we went and it killed them to not be able to touch ANYTHING. I think we ended up with every on the lists except for the fat pencils for M which Target ended up sending to us free shipping because the Target App is the bomb. 

---7---

I don't know if s'mores are a back to school tradition but they are fun!

I distinctly remember looking at the clock in between dinner and dessert and it being 6:15 and thinking to myself. 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I am not ready for summer to be over!

Role Call

Here's to the latest and greatest school year... 

The first of the first days started for E and R. Breakfast of choice was banana chocolate chip muffins which went off without a hitch. E declared that she didn't want anything special for breakfast but that's not how we roll around here. 

This is the first time we attempted an age order group pic and C wasn't being super cooperative but we got one somehow!

4th 

grade

I see lots of books in the future for this year

2nd

grade

Cursive and lots of math facts will fill her year. We've already been impressed by R's penmanship in the first two weeks of school!

The second first day. M had orientation two days after her big sisters started. It was first-day-ish but really was only an hour. Breakfast of choice was cinnamon rolls which older sisters may have had a hand in that. 

Kinder

garten

Kindergarten is usually a cause for a pause because it means I lose my lunch and afternoons with whoever is going into K. I'm sad to lose that time with M but there is one person who misses her more and that is A. He has asked where she is on several occasions and for someone who doesn't like playing with C - he has got some getting used to. In the first two weeks, K will definitely be an adjustment for M on tons of levels, new school, new friends, new routine and I think she's picked up on what I have come to find - Kinder isn't fun and games and centers and playing. It is not the school. It is not the teacher. It is the curriculum in our diocese and state. It is not the Kindergarten I went to. Anyhow, I digress. She comes home pretty exhausted but I did see a spark of old M on the soccer field the other night which made me happy. This year will be filled with not losing any teeth because I think she got all that out of the way before school started, except for the one super loose one that got knocked out at a birthday party the weekend after the first week - that story is for another time and place but nothing like first impressions and profusely bleeding within 15 minutes of coming to a b-day party.

Mass Day Friday.

Yes they have to wear their hair down. Yes they can put it up after Mass. Yes it is a weekly debate. No I'm not interested in opinions or if anyone else does it or not. If you don't like it, and your friends don't do it... maybe their family will take you in. Probably only my mother can truly appreciate my insistence on this issue because I was a skirt-hating, ponytail-wearing girl basically my entire childhood. 

The last first day because we really needed three. A (and C kinda) decided on pancakes. Lee made the batter and dug the griddle out of the garage - which I did not spray before cooking the first round of pancakes. That morning almost killed us getting out the door but we made it. Nothing like coming home to lunch only to be met by the disaster left by breakfast

3s

preschool

Oh the 3s. A is going to have such a fun year especially because M has given him the full lo down on his class and teachers. If he makes it to the stage for the Christmas and spring programs this year, I will be thrilled

2s

preschool

I think C might be a bit excited about her elevated status to preschooler. She has new shoes and a bookbag to prove it. She walked around the house the week before preschool started saying "I cute, I'm cute, I'm cute" She walked into her class the first day and didn't look back but every day since has been a bit tearful and I'm hoping that will get ironed out before she officially becomes a big sister. She's the youngest 2 we've had (hi June bday) but she is quite talkative even though sometimes it is babble - more often than not she is definitely making a point and it is pretty understandable. 

Attempted age order shot fail.. thanks to C 

Almost got it but C wasn't have it 

Papa requested a bookbag pic

So this one's for you Papa!