Rachel - 8 days old

Our Boy, "Gordo"

Jason has adopted several nicknames associated with his hefty stature, most of them initiated by his father. Today Sarah was helping make tuna salad for lunch when her little brother invaded her stool at the counter. Sarah shouted in a sing-song voice, "Dad-dy! There's a chunk-of-boy on my stoo-ool!"

The "chunk-of-boy"

Boring B Cup

My big boob honeymoon is over. My body efficiently adjusted to its milk supply and returned to a comfortble B cup. I guess I won't get that job at Hooters.

I saved $20

The pediatrician likes to schedule an appointment a few days after birth, mostly to check the baby's weight. The doctor likes a baby to gain back to the hospital discharge weight by one week. Since I had a Thursday discharge from the hospital, I got lucky and didn't have to go until Monday. But today when I woke up, I realized how much I did not want to take Rachel to the doctor today. It was cold, my pelvis is still sore, and most of all I didn't want to pay a $20 copay to have a nurse weigh my baby. So, I got out my trusty postage scale and cake pan and weighed her myself. She achieved her goal and weighs 7 lbs. 11 oz. So I called the doctor's office, and rescheduled for next Monday. $20 can buy a lot of diapers.

Yesterday Bradley came across some flashcards in the playroom. He asked me what they were and I said, "Flashcards." He asked me why they were called "flashcards" and I told him because they flashed and that I would show him how to use them tomorrow because we were in a hurry to clean up. Today he didn't forget our conversation and he brought me the flashcards and said, "Mommy, remember you were going to show me how these flashed?" I think he was bit disappointed to learn that the paper cards did not light up and blink as he was expecting.

We had a regional conference at church today. We watched a broadcast on a TV at church. President Monson was presiding and he spoke and told lots of stories. I didn't realize what a funny old man he was. He talked about how children are the most impressionable and retentive between the ages of birth to eight with the most important age being age three. Sarah turns four on Friday which means I have 4 more days to cram as much information in her as possible. He also talked about how memories become the June roses in the December stage of life. It brought a tear to my eye.

Today Bradley found my used and soaked nursing pad on the floor beside the bed. He asked, "Mommy, what's this?" I told him it was a boobie diaper.

Gotta love engorgement

Despite the pain and discomfort, I love engorgement! It's just a lot of fun for an A cup (borderline B cup) woman to have D boobs for a few days.

The Welcome Committee

Our Six Kids

7 lbs. 12 oz.
20 inches
5:45am

Last night David and I hung out in the parking lot of the hospital. I just felt funny. My back had a tingly sensation and I felt like my water was about to burst. At about 10:00pm I made the executive decision to go home and attempt to get a good night rest in our comfortable bed before my scheduled induction at 6:30am.

I slept as good as a nine month pregnant woman can. I awoke a few times with a full bladder, but no contractions. At 3:16am I awoke with a long, painful contraction. It was only one contraction, but I felt prompted to nudge David and tell him to wake up and get ready. We were planning to get up at 5:30am anyway, so I thought it wouldn't hurt for us to be a couple of hours ahead of schedule.

He took a shower while I folded some laundry. I didn't have any more contractions. When he was through with his shower, I took my shower and David rested some more. I debated whether or not to wash my hair and decided I wanted to look my best on delivery day so it got washed. I still felt fine when I finished my shower, however, when I began to blow dry my hair, I felt a tinge of pain in the uterus. I noted the time was 3:50am. I continued to dry my hair and felt another one. The time was 3:53am. I continued my beauty routine through a few more contractions. I was not going to leave the house with my hair not finished. Finally, I got my hair completely dry shortly after 4:00am. By then I was kneeling on the floor smoothing the stray hairs, trying to avoid gravity doing its work. Pleased with my appearance, make-up and all, I said, "David, let's get out of here!"

We went downstairs, woke my mom to tell her we were leaving, grabbed a couple of bananas and granola bars and got in the car. I called the doctor's answering service and spoke with the doctor-on-call. I warned her that my babies have a tendency to come quickly. I calmy endured approximately 3-4 contractions during our 15 minute drive to the hospital. David dropped me off at the emergency room and I knocked on the plexiglass window trying to get the attention of the gabbing gals of our town's rather uneventful ER. The security guard/ wheelchair driver had to go get the woman. At that point, David came running in and the woman said she needed my ID and insurance card. I said, "You better get me up to the maternity floor before this baby is born right here." Then David pointed to the entrance of the ER and said, "We had a baby born right there." So the wheelchair driver quickly got me up to the floor while David stayed to give my info. I wasn't real comfortable leaving David behind and I asked the man if he had ever delivered a baby before. We arrived to the floor and they got me a room at the end of the hall. I was relieved to at least be in a room, with a staff of experienced professionals close at hand. David arrived and I got on my gown. A nurse examined me and I was dilated 8 cm. They did the whole IV thing and asked me questions while I took pauses to breathe during contractions. It was about 5am when the doctor arrived. She predicted it wouldn't be long before the baby would arrive.

I didn't like when the nurses left the room so I pressed the nurse's button everytime I had a contraction. Finally I asked them to stay and put the stirrups up. I didn't want to have another incident like when Emily was born when David had to go in the hall and call for the nurses and they didn't come until they heard me screaming due to a crowning head. So they stayed with me from about 5:15am until the time of birth at 5:45am. At about 5:35 am they had me begin pushing. I pushed. She said it would probably take a couple more pushes. Another contraction began and I gave it my all. I had never pushed so hard to get a baby out. My other babies, especially Wendy and Jason, just slipped right out without any effort. But I pushed and I got her out. She was here and was a whoppin 7 lbs. 12 oz - about a pound heavier than we were all estimating.

Rachel was an OP (Occiput Posterior) birth which means that she came out "sunny side up" or "face to pubes." OP births also typically involve longer and more painful labors. However, despite the increased pain and increased pushing it took to get her out, her positioning turned out to be a blessing. The doctor said that we may not have made it to the hospital if she had been positioned normally. But no more OP babies, please!

So all went well. It was a nice time of day to have a baby. I prefer to have a baby when the doctor does not have office hours. My own doctor has yet to deliver one of my children. He missed the birth by 1 hour and 15 minutes. Perhaps he will deliver our grand finale. I am pleased to know that Rachel has a natural birthday, no induction required.

4:43am: Only one more hour of looking like a whale. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get a better belly shot before changing into my gown. I just didn't know how much time we had to spare. I can't believe how huge I look!

6:08am: The hair got a little messed up, but I think it looks pretty good.

12:09pm: We celebrated with Dunkin' Donuts.

I'm on a rampage. I can't stop cleaning!

Why am I still pregnant?

Turbo Nesting

I'm in turbo nesting mode. I've vacuumed the family room, including under the couch and chair. We finally put the Christmas stuff in the attic. It got to the point where it was getting difficult for me to squeeze my big fat belly between the railing and the 4 foot Christmas tree at the top of the stairs. I have all the dishes put away. I even emptied the dishwasher while the dishes were still hot. I scoured the kitchen sink. The baby's crib is in place in the master bedroom. There are of course a few things that need to be completed like some more organization in the playroom and sweeping the kitchen floor, but I'm just plain tired! As long as this baby does not come tonight, I can work on those things tomorrow. I think we have even settled on a middle name. Now I am off to eat an orange and watch American Idol with my husband. Any day now, baby!

Gotta love kids-eat-free at Moe's night! A 38 week and 3 day pregnant woman totally deserves a night off from cooking.

Went to the doctor today. My cervix is still "thick and back." I go back on Monday. If my cervix is ripe and ready, he'll induce me on the 22nd. I don't like the thought of being induced, but it sure beats having this baby on the kitchen floor, with my kids as an audience.

Totally thought I was going to have a baby today. At about 12:30am this morning, right after we rang in the new year, I stopped ignoring the persistent contractions I had been feeling. Being New Year's Eve David and I decided to go hang out closer to the hospital to be safe. I didn't want to be on the road in labor with a bunch of drunks at 3 am. On the way, I called the doctor and they told me to go to the ER. I wasn't actually expecting to be admitted to the hospital, but I got a L&D room and was there for 5 hours contracting about every 3-4 minutes. They weren't extremely painful contractions, but some produced enough pain for me to stop and concentrate on breathing. At about 6 am when we were on our fourth episode of the Twilight Zone marathon the contractions all of sudden quit. The doctor examined me a couple of hours later and determined that there had been no progression, and sent me on my merry way. I was a little disappointed. I was quite excited to be having a baby on January 1st, but we went home, saw my parents and sister off to the airport on their way home, welcomed David's parents in, and took a nice nap. I never experienced false labor before. Darn baby! When are you going to come out?