Isn't She Lovely

So, our sweet, perfect, angelic, lovely daughter is here. Our daughter. We have a daughter. A little girl. I still can't believe it.

This is going to be a long story, mostly so that I can remember it, so if you just want pictures (which I totally understand because she's gorgeous) just scroll down.

My last doctors appointment was on Friday the 17th and I basically leveled with her about how done I was with being pregnant. She worked some special doctor magic and said that hopefully I'd go into labor within 24 hours, otherwise it'd be another week of waiting. All day I excitedly paced and cleaned and hoped and by the end of the day it was quite clear nothing was going to happen. I texted my friend Tierney, who had been waiting for the past month to come watch the kids at the big moment, not to worry because nothing's going on.


Skip forward to 3am. I was having contractions every five minutes, the big sign that you should head to the hospital. I was laying awake, Aiden for whatever reason, kept waking up with nightmares and had to be returned to bed, and Rory was awake playing in his crib for some unfathomable reason. In the midst of this strangely active night I finally turned to Sean and told him that I was in labor. He asked what I wanted to do and I said...nothing. I'll just lay here awake and...wait. Seemed like a good plan. And he somehow went back to sleep.

By 5am I was pretty certain I should go to the hospital but I really didn't want to bother anyone just in case it wasn't real labor. Yes, at 39 weeks with my third baby I should have known it was the real thing. I finally called and woke my mom up who told me to call the doctor but again, I figured I'd just wait until later so I didn't wake anyone up. I had this weird vision of calling my doctor and interrupting her Saturday morning pancake breakfast with her kids. Finally, at 9, I called and told her what was going on and she very firmly told me to GET TO THE HOSPITAL. So, we did, except we dithered around for another hour because we are crazy.

We got there at 10am and they assured me that yes I really was in labor.  I told them all I wanted to try going without pain medication. Sean begged me to reconsider and the doctor and nurse exchanged a "okay crazy lady" sort of look. The contractions had tailed off so my doctor decided to break my water, which I knew was a horrible terrible idea but went along with anyway. Within minutes my labor went from chugging along slowly to moving at a break neck pace. And I quickly changed my mind about that pain medication. I knew I could get through the contractions but there was no way I could push a baby out with this kind of pain.

The anesthesiologist showed up and it wasn't the usual guy. It was some lady who I'd never met, who kept stabbing me in the back which caused horrible muscle spasms, and then she'd scold me for moving. I was on the verge of telling her to just get the heck away because the pain was worse than the actual labor pain. Finally she finished and I waited for some relief.  I waited and waited and waited through the contractions before the doctor mentioned that it might just be too late in the game for it to kick in. At this point I started to panic.

Finally, I could tell it was go time. This stretch of half hour involved much yelling, mild hysteria on my part, annoyance and frustration on the doctors part and utter terror on Sean's part. It was like a classic Hollywood portrayal of labor with all the screaming and yelling and crying. And then she was here! And she was actually a girl! The most perfect, beautiful girl ever.

 

Audrey Juliet

January 18th, 2014 12:20pm

18 inches, 7 pounds 2 ounces

Sean and I have been at home snuggling our kids all week. The boys are both very much in love with her and I can already tell she'll have them both wrapped around her finger. Life with three has been absolutely wonderful.

The Longest Christmas Break in the History of Christmas Breaks

This is the last day of Christmas break for Aiden. It has been a wonderful two weeks filled with lots of family time, pajamas, junk food and enough toys to swim in. We were really lucky that Sean had six whole days off, including Christmas Eve and Christmas and even New Years Eve.

We had a great Christmas, mostly because Sean was home to celebrate with us and I didn't run myself into the ground trying to make everything perfect, unlike this year's very exhausting Thanksgiving. This has actually been a really restful time, despite both kids being home and perpetually hopped up on sugar and new, fun, shiny toys. 

Sean and I even bought ourselves new, fun, shiny toys: Iphones. That's right, we've surrendered our ancient, no-texting, only-make-phone-calls cellphones and bit the bullet. I've been open to the idea for awhile but Sean has been firmly against it and in the end we never went for it because it seemed so....frivolous. Just so unnecessary.  Do I need to stream music and movies from a tiny hand held device? Do I need useful coupons to pop up on my phone when I enter a store? Do I need a nice lady named Siri who answers all my most pressing questions? No. I don't. BUT IT IS SO FANTASTIC. So, yeah, we were quick converts and frankly it's really nice to be able to text family or friends instead of trying to make a phone call over the sound of two very loud children. So unnecessary and so utterly fantastic.

After Christmas we had a rather epic snowstorm that left us with a foot or so of snow. Aiden was supposed to head back to school the Thursday after New Year but got both Thursday and Friday off from school. Thank goodness because going back for two measly days seemed really silly to me and frankly I just didn't want to get myself out of bed and make lunch and stand in the cold while he waited for the bus. Snow days are good for everyone over here. Except Sean, who will never have a snow day. Poor Sean. 

Finally, we (meaning me) are in the final (seriously, FINAL, the end is nigh, please) days of this pregnancy. I'm at the point of practically living at the doctor's office I have so many appointments and they've given me the not-useful-at-all discussion about how I could go into labor at any minute. Also, I may not go into labor for a couple of weeks. Either one. Constant vigilance! But try to relax. So, you know, not helpful at all. During the day every twinge and ache makes me hope that this could be it! Please let this be labor! At night however every twinge and ache throws me into a panic as I think about how unready we are. So not ready. I think it's pretty normal but my attitude amuses Sean who just hopes everything happens when he's home.

So tomorrow we're back to real life. Alarm clocks and non-pajama clothing and having to be places on time. These two weeks have been great but maybe getting back into the swing of things will encourage the last little Christmas present we're waiting on to finally get here.

Snow Angel

Thankful, Even for the Growing Pains

We celebrated Thanksgiving a week ago. We did dinner at our house which I love because cooking and thinking about cooking are two of my favorite things. We rarely get to have nice big dinners, usually I'm refereeing a child who doesn't want to eat and a child who eats but also flings food and it's not a lot of fun, so it's wonderful to sit down with the whole family and enjoy a leisurely meal. The only downside was that  Sean was working the night shift so he could only join us for dessert.

  

 

The next day I attended my cousin's wedding which was lovely and also really weird because I remember us all having pillow fights in my grandparent's basement and there he was in a tux with a pretty new wife and a law degree. Time flies! 

In between the Big Meal and the Wedding, Sean and I squeezed in some Black Friday shopping where we purchased our annual haul of movies. We own more movies than I can count because we so rarely make it out to the theater, plus watching them at home means you can wear pajamas. I guess you could wear pajamas to the theater but you might get weird looks.

I was a really busy couple of days, I even had a doctors appointment squeezed in there. Baby-wise, things are going fine. She's growing right on track and seems so be much more laid-back than her brothers. Please let this mean she will be laid-back on the outside too. PLEASE.

I have reached that point in pregnancy where I am OVER IT. So over it. Being this large and tired makes doing all the fun holiday stuff much more strenuous and I never remember to take it easy until I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. Even something as simple as standing for the length of the cocktail hour at my cousin's wedding left me so lightheaded and dizzy I was afraid I'd faint. I do not cope well with having to delegate tasks or admit that I  need a break, and it was especially hard during the holiday weekend because there was so much to do. From here on out however, I pledge to take a giant dose of Sit The Heck Down whenever I need it. 

Notice the mommy snowman, on the left, has passed clean out

Another special  "holiday" we celebrated this week was Aiden's sixth birthday. He is just like his father and spent the days leading up to it lamenting turning six and telling everyone he didn't want to get any older. He certainly enjoyed the cake and presents however. We also got our Christmas tree, at his request, on his birthday so that was fun too.

I cannot believe how big he is getting. Physically he's all long legs and arms and we have to warn him to be careful whenever he tries to climb on us or curl up near us because he's just so big. At school he's gone from the silent child to one of the chattiest. He can count by fives and tens and we're seeing that math is definitely his forte. He and Sean will go back and forth asking each other math problems and this word-oriented girl is left trying to encourage him to read.

 Emotionally, he's like a teenager. This has been, by far, our hardest year yet. Our very compliant kid who never threw tantrums (or at least tantrums the way Rory does) has become opinionated, strong willed and kind of high strung. It is really hard for me to cope with but it all makes so much sense in the context of learning to deal with new siblings, starting Kindergarten and becoming more independent than ever.  I'm trying to remind myself that this is necessary for him to figure out how to stand on his own but it's trying at times, mostly because I realize how much of his life, from all day at kindergarten to the time he spends with his grandparents or friends, that doesn't revolve around he and I anymore. He too must be realizing that he is his own person with his own experiences and it's a lot to process.  Despite the challenges, I am so proud of him. He has embraced these changes and grown so much, he really is going through a whirlwind of growth and change and doing a spectacular job of learning to navigate it all. Basically, he still needs me, but just a little less than yesterday. That's really the blessing and the curse of it.
 

Disney!

It's been a week (uh, plus a little) since we got back from Disney and we've juuuust about recovered.  We left two days after Halloween (which I don't even have photos of because it was such an insane day). There were four adults and two children to wrangle and our arrival at the airport was very reminiscent of Home Alone. All the adults were split up, a suitcase got left behind and Aiden slipped through security without a ticket.

We were all reunited with each other and our luggage and in the grand scheme it was a pretty smooth trip. Rory was pretty cranky and clingy but that was to be expected with the early departure ( we were up at 4:30 am). We stayed at a resort rather than at Disney and we rented a big honking minivan this time instead of relying on resort transportation and it made for a much easier time.

We did Animal Kingdom on Sunday,  spent two days of the week at Magic Kingdom and two days at Epcot and spent our last day at Hollywood Studios. Our trip coincided with the Epcot Food and Wine Festival which turned out to be fantastic. I didn't know much about it before we went but it was food from all over the world and it was so delicious. We ate hamburgers and fries at most of the parks but at Epcot it was filet mignon, escargot, mint lamb chops, fried pork belly and on and on. It was amazing! I was a little sad that being pregnant meant I didn't get to try the wine or alcohol and they had some pretty interesting sounding cocktails: Singapore sling, Eiffel Sours and Tipsy Ducks in Love. Yeah, that last one was especially intriguing. But the food was just beyond.

Aiden had a great time and was so eager to go on all the rides he remembered from last time. In the afternoons he'd start to get pretty run down but once we got into the habit of making sure we relaxed a little or left the park early, he did great. Rory swung between crazed enjoyment of the sights and sounds and being totally overwhelmed and cranky. We knew he was on the young side but he was still able to go on almost every ride and I think he had fun. I can't speak for everyone but I know that I simultaneously enjoyed myself so much and was so exhausted. That's Disney for you though, so much to do and see and we collapsed into bed every night by 8pm.

It was really a vacation to remember and having our moms there made it so great, spending time with them and also having an extra set of arms to help wrangle the kids. We will always remember this one!

Waiting on the Weekend

This week has felt like the longest week ever. You see, way back when, we made plans to go to Disney World, despite ferocious toddler and pregnant me. Only last week did I realize that woah, we're going THIS WEEKEND. That kind of crept up on me and now my week has been filled with making phone calls to the school, the vet, the resort where we're staying, doing infinite loads of laundry and making lists upon lists of things to pack.

I probably over think the whole packing thing but you really have to be prepared when traveling with kids. The best thing we're bringing with us: the two grandmas. Oh yeah, we need all the help we can get this time and I think it's going to be so awesome having them there.

Besides all the packing and repacking and fretting, Aiden got a haircut. He's been complaining about his hair being in his eyes for weeks and when I offered to cut it he would say that he really only wanted a three inch chunk in the front cut. Yeah....no. So finally he agreed that he really did need a haircut and he sat down and let me get to work. Or he let me get the clippers out and turned on before leaping out of the chair because he'd changed his mind and he didn't really want a haircut after all. Except, whoops, that fantastic leap out of the chair included a brush with the clippers and there was a large chunk already cut. So he ended up going much shorter than usual because I had to even it out and he was so fidgety that he started to sweat and the sweat made the hair curl which required more evening out. Not fun times. But now I figure he can go for quite awhile before I ever have to deal with it again.

 Here's Aiden, giving the people what they want, a smile:

 

 His true feelings about the haircut:

Rory witnessed the entire ordeal. Here he is, as always, being the Yin to Aiden's Yang. Or Yang to Yin. Whichever.

Of course,  before we can get too carried away about our vacation we still have Halloween on Thursday. Aiden is very exited about his costume and very excited about his big school party and less excited about trick-or-treating but someone needs to get out there and bring me home mini snickers bars. I'd go myself but this big belly is fooling no one. Oh well. Here's to Halloween and the Happiest Place on Earth.

A Bumpdate

It's sort of like an update, except it's about my bump. I actually just cringed a little writing "my bump" but it sounded less weird than "physical rotundity resulting from the gestation of a human".

Anyway, semantics aside, I feel like I haven't written much about pregnancy this time around and I figured I'd better record some of my thoughts before I forget them (in five seconds or so). We've pretty much already told everyone the saga of the mystery baby but after 3 (3!!!) ultrasounds, the last of which we paid for out of pocket and out of desperation, we found out we're having a girl! My feelings about that? Imagine a pink cannon shooting off a trillion pieces of pink confetti over me while I'm riding around on the back of a pink convertible while wearing a pink sash and crown and waving joyfully to all of you. That about sums it up.

Sean is excited too. Not pink confetti cannon excited, but he pointed out the fact that having a girl this time around sort of makes if feel like we're going through it for the first time. There is so much we haven't experienced. I realize that babies are babies, be they boy girl or puppy, but it feels different this time. Not better or worse, just different.

Emotionally, I'm in a pretty good place. The first six weeks were really hard and I realized that a lot of it was being so sick. It made it really hard to imagine how I could care for three kids when I could barely get up off the couch. Now that the morning sickness is gone, everything seems much more manageable. Sean even told me that I've been the nicest during this pregnancy. Thanks Sean.

Physically? Oh jeez I am so sore. My backs, my hips, my arms. Pretty certain it has nothing to do with being pregnant and everything to do with Rory. When I was pregnant with him I had tons of energy and felt all glowy and magical and now I just want some ice cream and a nap. This is what happens when you have a toddler to chase instead of a nice and independent four year old. Lesson learned.  I'm convinced I'm going to go into early labor this time around. Not dangerously early, just inconveniently early. This fear was solidified when my dental hygienist mentioned that with her last pregnancy she was due a week before me in January and had her daughter on Christmas. That would be.....not awesome.

All the backaches and tiredness and uncertainty totally disappeared for a moment though the first time I heard Sean refer to this baby as our daughter. I don't know why those words got to me but they did. We were in a bookstore and he had picked up a book covered in flowers and butterflies and he said "We have to get this for our daughter. She needs this" and off he went to buy it. Maybe it's because seeing how much he already loves her reminds me how much he loves me.

And now on a less sappy note, the first and most likely last picture of ze bump:

Just Sean, me and our daughter. Oh and that random guy in the back. One big happy family.