Madeline's story

my sister had suggested that i drink some dark beer to get my labor started. since i am so not a fan of beer, i defiantly had NOT tried it. well monday she told me again to drink it. apparently she had a couple of friends who had successfully tried it and it worked like a charm for them. so monday night i had jack purchase some cheep beer and i choked it down... well apparently it worked because i woke up at 5:35 with some pains. i laid there for a few minutes just to MAKE SURE it was real labor. i told jack i thought i was in labor and hopped in the shower. when i got out we called my mom and mark and emily. at this point my contractions were about 3 mins apart and pretty painful. i helped get the girls up, dressed, and in the car. we headed to mark and emily's to drop off the girls. i am not sure if it was the bouncing car or just luck but they were getting closer and MUCH more painful. jack pretty much threw the kids and the car seats at the folands and we headed, quickly, to the hospital. during the ride my contractions were about a minute apart and VERY painful. we got to the hospital, parked in the front, and i struggled to walk in. i tried to sit in the wheelchair, but was feeling TOO much pressure so i had to walk up to triage (luckily we had already been there, so the check in process was much easier). we walked in and saw our doctor just siting there... waiting for us :) we then waited as they got our room ready (it felt like FOREVER, but jack said it was only about 3 minutes). i went to the bathroom to change into my gown... and felt the unmistakable urge to push. i screamed and the nurse came in, i got into the bed, she checked me, said i was at 10 cm. she rushed me to the labor and delivery room (as i was yelling down the hall "i have to push, i have to push!!"). we got into the room and after lots of screaming and only about 4 pushes she was out. i was still wearing the shirt i came in! we arrived at the hospital at about 6:40... and she was born at 7:04. it was quite a dramatic delivery, i never fully changed my clothes, i never got an iv... after madeline was born, the nurse asked what my name was. i am happy to say that it all turned out wonderfully, just quite stressful!!
i am strep B positive and during a normal delivery i would get some meds and all would be fine. but since everything was SO fast, i didn't get the meds. so we had to stay 48 hours so they could make sure madeline was not infected... she isn't. so finally madeline is here!! she weighed 7 lbs 2 ozs... 19 inches and she has dark hair :)

getting her first bath
so cute!!
jack and all THREE girls :)
hana holding madeline for the first time!

it took madeline long enough to decide to come, but once she did, she certainly did it quickly!! we are very blessed to have her in our family!!

Madeline is here.. with drama :)

just a really quick blog to say that madeline is here! she came at 7:04 tuesday morning. i woke up at 5:30.am.. so i was only in labor for an hour and a half!! story to come and of course some pictures will be along as well!

lifting my spirits

since i am now officially 39 weeks pregnant, there is not a whole lot keeping my spirits up... so i found some fun old songs on you tube. the girls and i had a small dance party in the den. i mean there is not but so much dancing i can physically do... but mentally it was great.
blast from the past... what's not to love??!!

LEN Steal my Sunshine
( jimmy watch out for that screen door!!)

our last family of 4 outing (hopefully!)

since madeline has not yet made her appearance, we thought we would try to squeeze in a nice last family outing with just the 4 of us. i had 2 free passes to the children's museum... so away we went. (i was also totally hoping that walking up and down some steps and around the museum would help madeline out...). i still think it is a bit expensive, but of course the girls had a blast!!! what's not to love? the place is filled with all kinds of imaginative play!

the girls checking out at the "grocery store"
hana cooking in the restaurant
brooke making corn
hana loving ice cream!
hana loves to paint of course!
brooke painting as well!!
hana "the scientist" mixing colors!
playing with bubbles outside

we really did have a fun family outing... if only it would encourage madeline out!
and then we will be a "party of 5"!

trying everything...

since my packed suitcase has been mocking me for the last 5 weeks... i am willing to try (just about) anything to get madeline to enter the world! after doing some reading on line and finding many websites, i have tried many things. i have walked a bit, but it is pretty hot here, so it is limited to what i can do inside. i have been drinking raspberry tea for the last several weeks. we are trying some of the acupressure spots to see if we can get things rolling. and most recently, tonight i tried some spicy foods. i ate some spicy chicken fingers dipping them in ranch mixed with tabasco sauce and fire sauce from taco bell. since i am not a big fan of spicy foods, my face was red and i was sweating during the entire meal! there just is not much else left for me to try. so if anyone has any other suggestions, i am totally open to hear them :)
i am also, very thankful for any prayers you want to send our way!!!

you learn something new every day...

well i woke up thursday morning thinking it would be a great day to have a baby. and what do you know, my contractions started at about 8:00 that morning. i started keeping track of them at 9:36... they were coming every 10ish minutes for the next few hours. they then started getting closer together (about every 7 minutes) and stronger. so i called the dr to see what to do. they said it sounded like i was in labor, but to wait to come to the hospital until they were 5 minutes apart... ok i knew this from my previous two. so i kept tracking them. in the mean time, i called my parents to let them know what was happening and they decided to head down this way. jack also called his mom to let her know the good news and she headed down too. but as the day progressed they started getting a little farther apart. they also were not quite as strong. oh well i thought, not sure what this is, but i have been in labor ALL day so there is NO way it could stop! long about the time my parents were rolling into town, they were back to 10ish minutes apart and becoming less painful. well, my parents were here, so we headed to the hospital anyway. maybe i was just in the really early parts of labor and things just weren't quite consistent yet... right?! so we check into the triage side, change into the hospital garb, and wait for the nurse to check me. i am thinking ok worse case, i am only like 2 cm and they will send me home until i am a little farther along. so the nurse checks me... not only am i NOT dilated AT ALL, but i am still thick. then the realization sets in... i have just had a day of false labor with nothing to show for it. and i have family waiting at my house, that have driven in for the big event. how stupid do i feel??!! this is my 3rd labor, surely i KNOW what labor feels like (and let me tell you, it FELT like labor!)

well luckily my family was in town. it turned out to be a very nice family weekend. friday, they took the girls to fit for fun while i went to my already scheduled dr apt (turns out i had an infection which probably caused the contractions). then we went out to a super yummy dinner at indochine. and this morning we made our way to the beach.

the girls enjoyed the sand
so did jack!!
they also got to play football with the boys :)

so all in all i learned that you CAN have false labor all day. that false labor feels very much like the real thing. and that i am very lucky to have a family that will drop everything to join us to meet madeline... even if she wasn't quite ready for the visit :)

triple coupons...

it is a big week in the couponers world... triple coupons at harris teeter!!! i have already been (of course!) and spent, in 2 trips... $18.56 and i saved (are you ready for this??!!)... 111.38! wow i know! if anyone wants to know how i do it, email me and i will be happy to share!
ok that is it, not an exciting blog. well only exciting to the fellow couponers out there!

might as well

let me say again, that i have never been a fan of taking pictures of myself pregnant. but since this is the last time i will be pregnant, i thought i might as well. and since i am officially full term (well tomorrow anyway), hopefully these will be the last set of pictures (and yes, i wear the same dress of purpose, so it is easier to compare any changes). and we might as well compare them to 33 weeks...
the 37 weeks pictures are on the left and the 33 weeks are on the right.

balancing act

i have been trying to balance being ready for madeline to come at 34 weeks but not expecting her to come for several more weeks. and let me tell you it has been hard. just about everything is ready. the bags are packed (well, as much as they can be) the lists are made, and the arrangements for the girls are in place. and they have been for the last 3 weeks. so this is where it gets hard. everyday, i am essentially waiting for something to happen... contractions to start, my water to break, something. but it hasn't yet. and it may not for another 4 weeks!! ahh the waiting. i am sharing all of this because when i went to the dr this morning, at 36 weeks, i was not dilated at all! so today we wait... but hopefully the wait won't last forever!

hana-isms

here are 2 hana-isms from the past couple of days that are just too cute not to pass on :)

we were at the folands' for dinner the other night. while em and i were chatting, the kids were playing in noah's room (the boys were doing some repairs on our van) . we then heard the bathroom door open and the toilet lid go up. so, emily asked "who is in to the bathroom?" after a few seconds pause this is the response we get "my name is hana. i had to go peepee." ok hana thanks for sharing :O)

a couple of days a go a young kid (high school age maybe) came to the door collecting for something. he was african american. when hana saw him she looked at me and said "is that the president?" um no honey, not the president.