Our Baby Has Arrived!

Little Luke Nathaniel was born on Wednesday, July 20th. It was actually quite amazing how it all worked out...

Ever since I learned I was pregnant I wanted to have a VBAC. I had to have a c-section with the twins and the recovery was HORRIBLE! I was laid up in bed for more than a week and pretty much couldn't do anything. Sometimes I still feel a little stitch in my side that never completely went away after the c-section. Also, with two two-year-olds I didn't want to be restricted on lifting more than ten pounds for six weeks.

The doctor that I had was willing to deliver my baby with a VBAC, but toward the end of the pregnancy, the baby was so high up and I hadn't dialated or effaced at all so the doctor was concerned that he had to use a lot of medications to bring on labor. The risks associated with a VBAC delivery go up when labor has to be induced with prostaglandins which they would have had to administer to me. After thinking, researching, and praying I just didn't feel good about being induced with prostaglandins. I convinced the doctor to let me go a week overdue with the hope that I would go into labor naturally and then have a VBAC. I scheduled a c-section for Thursday (exactly 41 weeks) if that didn't happen.

Well, my due date came and went and still no baby. I was starting to get really nervous that I would have to have the c-section. On Tuesday morning I had a couple of contractions and got excited but they went away. That evening I felt all crampy. I didn't know what that meant. Darin and I went on a long walk and when we came back I started having contractions. I pretty much had contractions all night long. At 6:00 in the morning I had Darin take me to the hospital. The nurse came and checked me and I was 4 cm dilated and the baby had dropped down. Yay. Things went pretty quickly after that. I did receive an epidural but I felt that it wasn't as effective as I thought it was going to be. Giving birth certainly is a painful process!

At 2:27 Wednesday afternoon little Luke was born. Well actually he wasn't so little which caused some extra pain and recovery on my behalf, but I feel so pleased about how everything turned out. He weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long.

The recovery from a VBAC has been so much better than the recovery from a c-section. It has been a little more than a week and I am feeling great. I was able to move around so much better afterwards and I am not confined to a bed with lifting restrictions. I was only in the hospital for two nights compared to the five that I was there with the twins. It is honestly night and day.

We have been so happy to have Luke in our family. He is such an adorable baby and it has been so much more fun for me to have only one newborn to cuddle and feed. I was so stressed out the last time when I had two newborns that I don't think I was able to really enjoy them like I can with Luke. Cameron and Dallin are enthralled with him (sometimes a little bit too much). It is crazy and stressful to try and keep him from being mauled from his two older brothers, but I hope that over time they will adjust to having a fragile baby around. I find it funny how Cameron and Dallin seemed so small, but as soon as Luke was born, they grew enormous!

I was so grateful to have my family here to help with the new baby, the twins, and to help take care of us. They were so great to Cameron and Dallin while we were in the hospital with Luke. They were also so good to help with all of the meals and cleaning and other random thing that needed to be done. It was so sad to see them go two days ago. I certainly miss living by family.

Well we have been blessed. Welcome to our family Luke!

Our Kids Just Ruined The House!

That is the exact phrase that I yelled over the phone to my hubby last Friday about noon. Along with "Get home ASAP!"

He came home expecting the worst.

It was bad. Very bad.

I left the kids for maybe three or four minutes to put the memory card into the computer (which was running abnormally slow). I heard running water. No big deal right. Lately they have been playing in the water from the kitchen sink by pushing a chair over and running it over their hands. I am okay with that. That was not the case.

One of the sweet little angels pulled the faucet over onto the bar and instead of the water going down the drain, the water was cascading off of the bar, and off of the counter tops, and off of almost all of the kitchen surfaces.

When I came out there were two major rivers running in my home. One was running under the table and hutch and the other was running towards the oven. I turned off the faucet as quickly as possible and called in for reinforcements--my hubby was coming home about ten minutes later for lunch anyway. Together we mopped up all of the water and pulled all of the wet rugs and other furniture outside to dry off. We even had the kids help clean up the mess.

I took a picture of each of the rivers, but it is near impossible to see the water running all over the wood floors. Luckily, nothing was damaged but at the time I was sure that our floors were toast as well as some items of furniture. Needless to say, now the kitchen faucet is off limits and I have learned to come running every time I hear running water nearby the kids.

Toddler Beds

What were we thinking?

After having the babies fall out of their cribs numerous times, we decided we needed to switch them to toddler beds.

That was a crazy plan.

Now there are kids running all over the house when they should be asleep. I am tired of chasing them (especially since I am currently four days overdue with baby brother). I am tired of getting one kid in bed only to have the other kid run away.

How in the world do other people manage this?

Ready For The Fourth!

We wish you all a happy Independence Day weekend!