the birth story

Last Monday at this time I was having pretty much no contractions at all. I was uncomfortable, but resigned to the thought that I'd probably have another week to go.

I went to bed at midnight, and then up for a potty break at 1am. I settled back into sleep only to slightly move my legs a half hour later and feel an incredible gush of water burst from my body. Instantly awake, I reached across and started shaking Scott's arm. "Honey, my water just broke!" It took a couple shakes and then I heard a groggy, "Did it really??"

Umm...no. I just thought we'd do a trial run. LOL He woke up fully and we started getting ready for the hospital. I had only fully packed my bag the day before -- great timing, huh? We fumbled around a bit, trying to remember everything. I really wasn't in a hurry since I still wasn't having contractions. I took a shower, updated my blog and made sure Scott had the list of people to call or email.

Finally, I admitted I should call the doctor. She resisted my attempts to talk her into letting me stay home a couple more hours, and ordered me to the hospital. We arrived there at 3am. I finally began having a contraction here and there. Still not very strong. They sent me to a delivery room and had me change into the very attractive gown, and I overheard one nurse asking the other if they were admitting me. She answered that she wasn't sure, they needed to determine if my water really had broken. Hello...I didn't go in for a little seepage, this was a flood.

She checked me and quickly agreed it had indeed broken. At my doctor's appointment the week before, I was barely 1 cm dilated and since I'd not had many contractions, I expected to be at a 2 or 3 at most. So I was very surprised when she announced I was at 6 cm!

They let me get up and walk around awhile. This brought on a few more contractions, but they still weren't terribly painful. After an hour, they checked me again and I was at 7 cm. Usually once I hit 6 or 7 I go extremely fast up to 10 but this one was taking awhile.

My Dr. arrived, and she was scheduled to go off work at 7am so they decided to give me pitocin to hurry things along. And since I was progressing so slowly I agreed to an epidural. In past labors, the pitocin has brought on very painful contractions so I wanted to be prepared.

Once they hooked me up to pitocin and got the epidural in, the monitor stopped registering anything -- contractions or heartbeat. After fumbling with it for awhile, they decided to hook him up to an internal monitor. I could feel him moving around, so I wasn't too worried. However, soon after they got him hooked up, his heartbeat slowed way down.

They flipped me to my other side and put oxygen on me. His heart rate thankfully picked back up to normal. Poor guy! I went along like that until 9 cm. Unfortunately, the epidural did not take at all on my left side. I had that happen before, but since I had such a great epidural last labor, I thought I'd try again. Now I really wish I hadn't. So the contractions got increasingly more painful but I still wasn't quite at 10.

Finally I asked to roll to my back since nothing was happening on my side. Sure enough, the second I did that the doctor said the head slipped down more and I was at 10 and ready to push. For the last 3 labors, I have pushed maybe 2 times each. But this baby continued to be different. It probably took a good 8-10 pushes and he was out. It turns out he was face-up, which was what made the labor take longer.

They laid him on my stomach and oh, he was so beautiful!! No signs of Down Syndrome at all, praise the Lord! He nursed well from the beginning and also had a hearty wail.

The doctor exclaimed over his cord -- he had a perfect knot tied in it. See, this proves he was so very active in my tummy!

We had a very peaceful first day until he scared by throwing up bile. But it all ended well and I'm so thankful to have my precious baby home and our family complete.

Babymoon day 4

I find it hard to believe Declan has already been here 4 days! At this time last week I felt like I'd be pregnant forever. LOL

He is doing wonderfully. I took him to his regular pediatrician yesterday for a checkup and he said he looks great. He is down to 7lbs10oz but judging by the way he's eating, I think he will put the ounces back on quickly.

It's not quite been the quiet, relaxing, get-to-know-you few days I usually have after a new baby comes home. My parents came down the morning after Declan was born and my dad started looking for a project he and Scott could work on while my mom helped me with the kids.

We recently had a dishwasher leak in our kitchen and it made a small section of the floor warp, so they decided to redo our floor. The plan was to knock it out before me and Declan came home. However, the best-laid plans, right?

They came across a couple obstacles so I ended up coming home to a bit of disarray. As in, my stove and dining table were in the living room, my dishwasher was in the front yard...you get the picture.

My dad and Scott definitely work fast, though. I had a new floor by evening. The next day they worked on a new pantry and today was finish work.

Thank you, Mom and Dad!

So while not relaxing, this week has been productive! LOL My parents left for home today and so me, Scott and the kids will now settle into our new family life. Dear friends have been bringing meals and that has been such a blessing.

Here's a few shots of our newest member:

With proud big brother:

Sooo tired:

Ah, that's better:

I'm really not getting much sleep, but I know it's just for a season and I'm loving the quiet moments in the middle of the night alone with my guy.

over the river and through the woods...

...to grandmother's house we go!

We drove up Friday morning to spend the long weekend at my parent's house. Along the way, I love to stop and take pictures by the river in the canyon.

Zane was not sure about the cold water.

And it WAS cold, as you can see by Aiden's reaction. =)

Our black Lab finally likes the water -- he hated it as a pup. The Australian Shepherd still shies away from it.

Big brother showing little brother how to throw rocks into the river.

There were a lot of rafters enjoying the great day.

From all the snow runoff, the river was really running high and fast.

Father's Day

We had a good Father's Day although it wasn't the relaxing day I had hoped for Scott. We needed to take Chase to his Boy Scout Camp where he'll be until Friday. It's down by Colorado Springs so that meant a 1 1/2 hour drive each way. And then the Troop Master was over an hour late, so there was more time out of the day.

But at least we all spent it together. After we finally got Chase checked in, we went to a nearby Outback restaurant. Our waiter was very new and made a few mistakes, although they really didn't bother us. The manager decided to comp. part of our meal and give us a free dessert. So that was nice! We all really enjoyed the Chocolate Chocolate Tower. =)

Cousins

My niece Annalea with Brenna and Zane:

Project 365 - Day 37

Family Christmas Photos 2007

Since all my cards are now mailed out, I can post our family pictures. These are the ones not picked:

Zane was trying to pull Conner's hair

I suddenly remembered my sunglasses on top of my head

Can't see much of Chase and I'm talking to Zane

Zane looking the wrong way

Now he's looking the other way

This is the one we finally went with. Still not perfect, but neither is our family. =) And Aiden's silly face represents his ebullient personality.

Sunday

We went to the early church service, then for a drive in the mountains. We wanted to just spent a nice family day away from all the usual busyness.


We ended up in Central City. I used to spend a lot of Sundays in that area with my parents. My dad loved to go 4-wheeling. We had a series of trucks and jeeps that we'd take. We'd usually meet up with other people and make a day of it. It was a ton of fun, even when we got stuck.


Central City and Blackhawk are completely changed now, with the introduction of gambling. The charm of the old town is obscured by the glitzy hotels and casinos. It's really a shame.

But one of my favorite spots is still there. Just outside of town is a very old cemetery. It's lovely, climbing along the hill, with wildflowers and Aspen trees scattered throughout. I used to love wandering through, looking at the dates on the headstones and imagining the people and what their lives were like.




Some of the headstones are quite elaborate. The saddest to me are the ones that indicate several children from one family.

I'm glad I got to share this with my children. Brenna especially seemed to feel what I did there.

Then we moved on about 6 miles out of town to the Gilpin County Fair. It was a nice, small fair and the air was much cooler than in Denver. The kids got to try out a mechanical bull and the bungee trampoline and it was all free. Then we shared some fair food and headed out just as a thunderstorm hit.

Back at home, Scott got in a nap and the boys mowed two lawns. I did a bit of grocery shopping and took a bubble bath.

A very nice day, indeed.

Birthday girl

Today, we attended a birthday party for our sweet niece, Annalea. She turned 8.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

Both of my nieces with Zane. I think Natalie (the little one) and Zane look a lot alike in this picture.