It's a Girl!

We are very happy to announce that at 8:22 am we now have another beautiful little daughter.
7 lbs 10 oz and 20.5 inches of sweetness!

Since she is our tiebreaker we have been jokingly calling her Tybee.  Now the girls outnumber the boys!
I have been very blessed with easy  & fast labors and this was no exception, I only had 3 hours of labor!  I am very grateful to  my sweet Honey and my good friend Mary for being my birth coaches.  They make all the difference in the world.  And it was Mary's anniversary too!  I hope she liked her present!

The funniest moment occured when we arrived at the hospital.  We happened to arrive when all the scheduled inductions and C-sections were checking in.  When Honey announced (via intercom to the L & D desk) that we needed to check in, they assumed that we were part of the scheduled group and told Honey to have me take a seat in the waiting room.  Honey replied, "YOU WANT my wife to DELIVER in the waiting room?!?!?!?"  The very flustered staff quickly let me through the doors and into a delivery room!  It still makes me laugh because Honey is NOT one to say something rash or raise his voice at people.  He must have been really anxious.

How's this for fate? I got the same labor and delivery room that I was placed in two months ago when I had early contractions! Previous Post

Honey and I with our new little princess.

Big Sister is happy with her new little sister.

Christopher loves his little sister.

Keener is so happy to have someone to boss around!!

My three littlest ones.  So sweet!

Nana and her newest little grandbaby.

Keener's Godmother Mary meets Tybee.

  Our new little princess is healthy and is growing big despite a little jaundice (I think all babies must have jaundice).  Now to just enjoy her and let the other kids love on their new sister.

One last picture from the hospital.

Uh, What day is it?  Shouldn't the birthing center at the hospital at least get this right????

Made me laugh.  Hope it brings you a smile too!

5 weeks left! Venture to make a guess?

I went to the OB appointment today and the time is coming near for our newest family member to show up.  A very active little one.  I had bruised ribs last week.  I have noticed that if they are active in, then they are active out, so I think I will be running from day 1 with this little one.  Luckily both baby and I are healthy.  I am a LOT like a waddling duck, but it is always worth it.  I am just grateful for our local pool this summer because otherwise I would be miserable in the heat.  It has been difficult to get anything done when it is 100 degrees out.  I do actually like the heat, I say it gets the chill of winter out of my bones.   BUT, there can be too much of a good thing, and I think I have reached that point!  I hope you are keeping cool.
 So, as the countdown begins, I thought I'd share my guess on the sex of the baby since we did not find out.  I am convinced it is a boy. Only time will tell if I am right (probably not!) or wrong.  The Chinese calendar is not on my side and has been correct with 3 of my 4 children.  My OB even said that they once checked 150 women against the calendar and it was 100% correct.  Pretty amazing I have to say.  Feel free to leave a prediction.  I'll even venture a weight guess 8 lbs 1 oz.
Let the guessing begin.


UPDATE:  Now I am frustrated, there is another calendar out there.  Which is the right one.  They are similar, but have small differences,  Of course they would be in the month that makes a difference to me!
Here is the other Chinese calendar #2!

What a day!

       So now that I have had a few days to recover, I should let you know that Thursday was NOT a good day for me.  Early in the morning, I started having contractions and was generally not feeling well.  It just goes to show what happens when you start  thinking "Wow! my contractions have stopped for almost 3 weeks, maybe I'll get a break for the last trimester......" 
 "Wrong!!
I barely was able to make it through the morning, but luckily I had a movie backup for one of my sick days.  We watched Around the World in 80 days.  During the movie I called Honey to say that he might need to come home early because I was not feeling well and was having pretty bad contractions.  We finished the movie and used it for our daily geography and history discussion.  Then we did our daily scripture readings and were all set to start reading Greek Myths and Aesop's Fables. 

•  We are using D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths which I simply love.  It has useful illustrations that are detailed and pertinent to the myth.  Each myth leads into the next, so there is a cohesive flow to the book.  The kids really love hearing the myths.  We have already read through Usborne's Greek myths book which was a good introduction, but not even close to the quality of D'Aulaire's. 

     I started to realize that I was not going to be able to read.  I was not able to talk during the contractions, NOT a good sign.   My Bradley Childbirth class (all those years ago...) told us that one of the signs to go to the hospital was when you could not speak through a contraction.   Uh Oh!  I told the kids that school was over and to put things away while I called Honey and told him to come home ASAP.  Then I got on the phone with the doctor, and various friends to make arrangements for the kids.   Then the real fun began!
      I got to ride with a very nervous Honey in rush hour traffic while having contractions.  Scary does not even begin to describe the ride.  
     We get to the hospital and darn it all, but NONE of the contractions are showing up on their monitor.  WHAT?!!!  Here I am having regular contractions and not a bleepity bleep one has the decency to show up on the machine!  After 5 hours in the hospital, a lot of prayers, a lot of patience, and a lot of tests, it turns out that I have an infection.  The infection is irritating the uterus causing me to have "non-productive" contractions.  Great!!!! (said with LOTS of sarcasm.)  I could have saved my uterus the time and told it that I was already non-productive.  It wasn't really necessary to prove it to me!
       So now that I have had a few doses of antibiotics, a few war wounds from being a pincushion, and a few days to rest,  I am feeling a lot better.  I am happy to have left the hospital with my baby still growing inside me,  that was the best part of the whole day!!

Alter Boy.

Today Christopher served as alter server for the first time at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.  Wow!  Isn't that a mouthful!  We went on a tour there today with our good friend Father H and our homeschool group.  He gave mass in the BEAUTIFUL chapel and Christopher was one of the boys to get to participate.  He was so excited!  The nice thing about Father H. is that he wants to seize the joy of being a server and allow boys to participate whenever they are ready.  He figures that if they have the desire to serve God, then allow them to participate.  He does not mind the little mistakes and tries to encourage them on their way to serving God.  Some priests are really bothered by the little mistakes, but not Father H.  He just corrects them with a gentle word.   I was very proud of my little alter server.  He did a great job.  Father H also had me do the reading for the mass.  Oh boy was I a nervous wreck!  Oh well, God knows I tried my best.
    So after our wonderful day at the Basilica, I came home to have dinner prepared for me by Keener's godmother.  She brought dinner and cake to celebrate Keener's 3rd birthday (Next monday).  Oh how yummy and what great conversation! Once she gets her pictures on her blog, I'll put a link up so you can see the food.  Kebabs with scallops, shrimp, swordfish, chicken, tomatoes onions, and peppers; and a Kenwah salad.   I am so glad to have friends like these.   She is a great comfort and help when I am not feeling my full 100%.
   I'll leave for now, baby has decided to kick for a while, and I want to enjoy it.  It is always a comfort to know that baby is doing well and has the energy to move around.

So it goes.

For several days, I have been feeling contractions, some  bigger than others.  So I decided to go get it checked out.  I had early contractions with Elizabeth for 12 weeks before she was born, yet she was born on her due date.  So on one hand I was not worried, but on the other hand, I think it is better to be a little cautious.  So joy of joys, I now am on "limited activity" or "modified bed-rest".   It is hard to get me to slow down, but this little one is doing a good job of making me.  I am not "progressing" according to the doctor, so the contractions are not doing any harm.  Thank the good Lord!  My biggest worry is that I tolerate the pain of labor quite well and have quick labors, so I am concerned that I will go into labor and have little time (if any) to stop it or get the baby some steroids for his or her little immature lungs.

  I believe very strongly in the power of prayer and the power of mind over body.  So as I will my body to get this baby to a safe age to be born, please say a few prayers for the little one who still needs to grow.  I figure that 5 weeks is a minimum for any viability, 8 weeks is much better (I'd be about 28 weeks).  The chance of survival goes from 25% to 75% in the matter of 3 weeks.  I always find that so amazing.  Of course better still would be me getting all the way to 40 weeks, but I take it one day at a time.  What else can you do?

#5 Ultrasound

I went to have my 20 week Ultrasound today.  Here are pictures from Baby # 5.   I did not know that I was going to be having a 3-D Ultrasound, but I was glad to get to see the little sweet face.  What a great joy a little bit of technology can bring.  Baby's face is a little blurred at the chin because the placenta is in front.  This also explained why I have not been feeling a lot of the kicks.

 Baby was not cooperative, so we saw a lot more of Baby's behind than baby's face.  Oh!  I know I will have a fun one to deal with!   Here is a "moon" shot for all of us.  Made me laugh!

Here is the traditional side shot of the baby's head chest and arms.

A Picture of the baby's foot.  You can see the tip of the other foot also.

Picture of Baby's face with hand in front.  Baby was being very shy, but moving all around.  It took a long time just to see the heart and all the chambers.  Everything looked perfect.  Yeah, that is a relief.

At the end of all the tests, the baby is doing well and is growing big and on target.

Baby of Mine

I went to my 17 week checkup yesterday.  Everything is going fine with our new baby.  My morning sickness is passing, but the extreme fatigue has not.  I need naps daily, but get them about twice a week.  I have again (third time's the charm!) gotten gestational diabetes.  I am hopeful that I  can manage it with diet and exercise. The baby seems to be doing well and as usual for OB check-ups I got to listen to the heartbeat.  I love listening to the heartbeat.  It is very comforting just to listen to that sweet little beat.
 I am very much looking forward to my next appointment. It will be for the ultrasound.  I just love seeing our new child and having a picture of him or her.  We still have not decided if we will find out the sex of the baby or "be surprised" when he or she is born.  Keener was the only child that we did not find out what her sex was ahead of time.  It was very exciting to wait and learn when she was born. So I am leaning towards a secret.  Secrets are such fun.