We have a sweet baby girl!

Elaura Audrey was born Oct 28 at 826 pm, 8 lbs 12 oz and 18 and half inches long. So shes pretty darn cute with her little pudgy cheeks! Elaura was healthy and whole, apgars were 8 and 9. A far cry from her brother Gidoens were(his were 2 and 3).

They started the pitocin around 430 pm, broke the water at 630 pm and she was born by 830 pm. Good thing, since I was starting to really lose it by the time she was born. I did make it though without any drugs -- woohoo!

She is a great nurser, nurses anywhere from 15 minutes to 40 minutes at a shot, she likes to eat! Elaura has a full head of dark hair, just like all of the other kids did.

Well she must know Im writing bout her, shes starting to fuss, more later.

God is good ... all the time!

Just a quick post

I was between 4 and 5 cm, so she said we should do the induction yet this afternoon!~ I was so conviced that nothing was happening, that im a bit frazzled now. But realy really excited!

They want us at the hosp between 3 and 330, they will do a controlled induction cause baby girl is still high. So pitocin first, then breaking the water like an hour in.

operation baby day!

MJ

Whew ... feel a bit better

This morning was full of stress and nerves.

We have a banking issue where somebody fraudently used my husbands paypal to charge like 1300 dollars of charge to our account. Thankfully it looks like we wont be responsible for it all, but it is a headache for sure. As of now, we wont have to freeze the whole account but we are ready if anything else goes wonky.

Then I found out the hotel we were going to stay at, all of a sudden said we couldnt stay there over xmas since they wont have staff. They previously had said twice before it was okay and just fine. That really stressed me out. Finally found out at lunchtime that yes we can stay, but have to be aware there wont be services those two days. Fine we understand that. The bummer is the night we were going to extend, is now booked ... sigh... Oh well, we will continue with our plans and either stay that night in somplace like lacrosse or madison or somthing. Maybe we will even sneak in a night at cranberry lodge. Hmm thats a thought.

I did decide to move up my prenatal appt to tommorrow. That in itself was a huge relief, it just gives me an earlier date to get a timeline on this induction. Even if the doc wont let me induce earlier in the week, it will still give me a better idea of when and how and all that jazz. This not having things figured out as far as childcare for the little kids, and andrews work schedule and the whole nine yards is really frazzling my brain. Plus I talked wiht my favorite nurse, double checked that she thought moving up the appt was fine and talked bout maybe inducing wednesday. She thought it was perfectly reasonable to move the appt up and that she thought the doc would be likely to induce on wednesday. Whew thats a huge relief! I just feel better all around, having the appt tommorrow to get things figured out.

Now i will make some preemptive phone calls and figure out who would be available even for just a day or two to help with childcare. Its a little easier to find people for a scheduled time, rather than just a time in the future.

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

No baby yet

Not that I really expected her to come this weekend but Ive been surprised before. Now it will be trying to figure how to schedule the induction on a very busy week for everyone. Im thinking of moving my prenatal appt up a day or two, to maybe then schedule the induction a day or two earlier if the doc will let me.

Its crazy week at work for andrew, they are deploying the new phone system and next monday is move in date for their new building. So there really isnt any good days for this to happen. Plus Katarina, my eldest and one of my biggest helpers is super busy this weekend too, so she will be gone. Some of the people I lined up to do childcare are out of town this week and weekend, so its just challenging all around.

If we put it off til next week, Andrew is just as busy at work with the new building move and Katarinas birthday is wednesday. For her sake, Id like to keep the babies birthday a couple of days away from that. And childcare is still challenging, as one person will be back, but another one unavailable then, so its not much better on that front either. Plus the kids are off school monday as well, which is more challenging as well. Never mind the fact that Im already miserable and uncomfortable and more than ready for this baby to be born. Sigh ... no good options really.

I was really hoping she would be born last week. I had told Katarina that she could go on this trip this weekend, really expecting that the babe would have been born by now. I wont back out on her now but it doesnt work in my favor for sure.

Well ... I know this regardless God is good ... all the time!

MJ

Resigned

My last 4 babies have been induced in some fashion. Ariana was a week overdue, so they used the prostagladin gel. Ezekiel was 2 days overdue(I was very thankful for a doc that didnt make me wait long) and they broke the water. Zemirah had the membranes stripped and Gideon was a full induction with pitocin. So the chances of this babe coming on her own probably are slimmer. Still can happen, God can do anything, but at this point Im just not expecting it anymore. Im resigning myself to the liklihood that we will likely schedule an induction for next friday or monday. So im going about the week, just trying to ignore most of the contractions, as much as i can. It has helped somewhat, otherwise I find myself getting really down and disapointed that nothing seems to be taking.

I really should have been thinking with this mindset in the first place. I allowed myself though to get caught up in the excitement 0f preparing for the baby.

So today I just continued on with operation reduce laundry pile and finished a book. So it was much more relaxed. The dishes were caught up, I have a good handle on laundry, most of hte house was at least somewhat picked up.

Now Im on to operation distract me :) Thinking bout hitting the budget theatre tonite or this weekend.

God is good ... all the time
MJ

Bummed

Prenatal appt was okay, although my blood pressure was a bit low. The depressing part was no progress -- pretty much still dilated and effaced the same as I was last week.

I am so ready to have this baby its not funny! I packed the little kid bags today, finished up the phone and child care lists, finished packing my hosp bag as well. Now I just wait.

Unfortunely IM thinking I will be stuck until the doc will induce me as it has been with the last 3 or 4 kids. Its a side effect of having so many kids, your body just doesnt kick into labor like its supposed to. Sigh...

At least she isnt making me wait until the calandar due date, she has nov 1, which is hte ultrasound date as the official. So if I make it to the appt next thurs, then we will talk bout inductions. So probably only two more weeks at the most.

I was really hoping to have made some progress today, enough that she would have sent me to the hospital to get started on labor lol. Alas no such luck, so I have been pretty down today. I tried to stay busy,w hich induces more contractions but soon enough I just gave up and took a nap instead.

Tonite, Andrew teaches, so I think ill just curl up with my kiddos and watch the pirates who dont do anything.

God is still good ... all the time
MJ

Is it time yet?

These last weeks of waiting are just plain draining. Pretty much no matter what I do, Im sore and uncomfortable. The trick is trying not to complain all the time as you are inclined to do.

It really doesnt matter much if I do cleaning or rest, my body is just sore lol! So I try to do a bit of both in anticipation of the babe arriving.

Todays tasks include digging out our storage room. We moved in a utility shelf this weekend to hold our larder from our trip to Sams Club. In reality that meant a whole lot of stuff got displaced and well, it really wasnt all that well organized anyway. Add to the fact we had frigid 35 degree temps this morning and we have a mess from digging for warmer coats. So I have been working on that on and off this morning. Unfortunely my motivation doesnt equal the energy and what my body is capable at this late stage. So it means frequent breaks to rest.

Also trying to find a bottom in the laundry pile, i fear it doesnt exist.

I find Im a bit more motivated since hubby thinks baby girl will arrive this week. I would be really happy if she does. Anything has to be easier than this! The hardest part I think is carrying all 32 lbs of Gideon. Hes only 18 months old and still wants to be held at times or carried and well with his size(height and weight both) hes heavy!

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Its a pop tarts kind of morning

Since I got most of what I wanted done yesterday, i got pop tarts as a treat for the kids this morning. They were happy with that!

I managed to get quite a bit done yesterday.

The boys and I dug out the downstairs bedroom and got Zechariah's new dresser in. Josiah disassembled and reassembled the crib in the other bedroom we moved it to. Nathaniel got his room cleaned up and is waiting for his bed to get moved in today. Then we will switch out dressers, as he has a captains bed with drawers now.

Managed to get a bunch of laundry folded -- woohoo -- doing more laundry and folding is on the adgenda for today as well.

Mainly I want to get my room in order, set up the cradle, fill the babys dresser with the clean washed clothes. Side note on the clothes, Zemirah was fascinated with the little pink clothes. She kept picking them up and saying "Is this the babys?" Id say yes and shed respond with " But the baby wont come out" in this distressed voice. Its so hard to wait when you are 3!

Should be a more relaxing day for the kids, since they got most of the work done yesterday. So all they need to do is tidy their chore rooms this morning and then they are free lol! So i anticipate some WII play and movie watching to be going on.

Hopefully Andrew will be able to take some time off today and we can enjoy some time as a family.

God is good ... all the time, he put this song of praise in this heart of mine!

MJ

Might be an October baby after all

Who knows -- only God :) Had my prenatal today and made further progress on the dilation front. Im now 3+ cm, so its at least encouraging that all of these lovely fun contractions are doing something! No more effacement but the baby has dropped down. Its now at -2 station and I went from measuring 40 cm to 37 cm, so her head is much further down now.

Doc pretty much doesnt think it will take much or that we will make it to November. I know enough about this, to know that nothing is really predictable with labor and delivery though. I had one baby that I was dilated to a 3 for like 3 weeks straight with no futher progress, that was depressing!

Im rather ready, things are uncomfy most of the time, sitting or standing. We are definitely on the home stretch.

Working on getting things ready like rearranging rooms with beds, moving the crib, washing up baby clothes, etc. Andrew finished the baby dresser, so its waiting for me to fill it! I still need to type of the list of which kid is going where etc, and child care details but we are getting close. I also need to pack a hospital bag.

Well thats all for now, off to switch over loads of laundry!
God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Feeling a tad more energetic this morning

Maybe its cause I dont have anywhere to go til this evening. That always helps!

We made a late run into the cities last night to pick up Nathaniels bed. It was in great shape, came with a nice mattress and since its a captains bed, means one less dresser to purchase. Woohoo! Almost done, the last thing we need to get is another crib mattress, since its starting to crack. So hopefully this weekend or maybe before, we can get the crib moved and boys room put together.

It will be nice to have everything done. Im just relieved to have the purchases made, the rest will come in time.

So i need to start doing some of the organizing areas that I want done plus I want to tackle some of the boys room downstairs so we can move the new dresser in for Zechariah.

Tonites schedule should be a little lighter as we wont need to go to the CC meet since Josiah isnt running. Hes rather bummed by the deal but at least its at the end of the season and not the beginning. So conferences for the two elementary kids(its weird only having two there instead of 4) and then a cub scout meeting here at the house for Elijah.

Well off to dig out my storage room!

MJ

Drained

I feel like a limp spaghetti noodle, completely drained and limp. Its like someone came along and sucked the little bit of energy i had right out of me.

I had some running to do this morning with a doc appt with Josiah and therapy for Gideon but other than that, I have accomplished very little. Im not sure if its the weekends activities now catching up or what. I just am just overwhelmed at the thought of even attempting supper.

We went shopping this weekend and got most of the furniture purchases we needed. Got some good deals as well. The wicker dresser thing I wanted for the baby was even further discounted by 30 bucks --- Awesome! We found both set of bunk beds either on clearance or on sale - double bonus and Katarinas mattress set on clearance as well. God is good .. all the time. But it was a lot of walking, comparison shopping, back and forth and the like. Plus getting new mattress covers for those mattresses we purchased etc. So both days were filled with either shopping or picking up purchases, plus I didnt get a lot of sleep last night either.

Im currently trying to gather up enough energy to figure out what to cook for supper... anyone wanna come help lol!~

Oh well, i guess the work will be there tommorrow!

Josiahs cross country season is officially over due to injury. The doc viewed the xrays this afternoon and he has a stress fracture. So that means he has to miss the last two weeks and two meets of the season. Rather a bummer for him! I feel kinda bad, he has been running on an injured foot for at least two weeks. I thought it was just needing some insoles or whatnot, but when that didnt clear it up, to the doc we went.

Okay enough babbling, need to figure out something for supper
MJ

Hoping for a productive day

Gideons therapist canceled for today and IM pretty happy bout that. While its only an hour appt, it really seems to break up the day and motivation loop. So that pretty much leaves me a day at home ... I so need one!

I will still have to pick up the big kids from various practices but thats not til after school. I really need to tackle laundry and IM hoping to start organizing my room so i can move the cradle in there.

Had my prenatal yesterday, no more dilation, but more effacing. So the contractions are actually accomplshing somthing lol. And my childcare arrangements for delivery are starting to come together, just need a few more back up people and we will be good to go. So i need to type that all up, and type up the call list for after baby girl is born.

Well enough for now, im on a spider hunt, Zemirah is freaked out by one in her room!

MJ

we're back and the car that never dies

It was a good weekend. The getting ready was a bit crazy but I managed to accomplish most of what I wanted done before we left.

Only forget one thing for the trip, Zemirah's dress for the wedding. Good thing I had her backup dress packed, same colors choc brown and pink, but just a different pattern. That was pretty good. Although we did forget all the swimming suits in the dryer at the hotel on sunday morning. Thankfully, his brother rescued them for us before he left on his honeymoon.

It was nice seeing some of Andrews family that we hadnt seen for awhile. And since the majority of the family stayed the same hotel, we had some nice conversations over continental breakfast. And absolutely lovely seeing aunt ruth again. Shes just as spunky in spirit as she ever was, although age on taken a toll on her body. The wedding was nice, and the bonus was it was short(I was a little concerned over Gideon staying quiet, I bribed him with food) We even managed to get a family picture taken, so that was awesome!

Its nice being back home. My datebook never showed up, so i purchased another and began recreating my calandar. Today is double appts at a clinic in the cities. It is nice they booked them back to back for me, so I only have to make one trip in but it does make for a longer day for sure. Im looking forward to talking with his developmental doctor and seeing where he is on the progress chart.

The busyness continues with practices and the like. Josiah will be running varsity for the rest of the season, thus a few more practices and one more meet than I orginally thought. This week he will run conference in Kimball and then next week is our home invitational and sectionals either next week or the week after. Hes still contemplating whether he signs up for running. Katarina got into the fall musical, bye bye birdie, so her practices is starting for that as well. Football is almost over, two more games and 1 more practice -woohoo! And scouting is starting up as well.

Our car has been acting up for several months now, dying at stop signs and the like. It would always restart but it was challenging to drive at times. Well we delayed getting it into the shop, expecting the repair to be 200 dollars or more, and we just didnt have that with all the school supplies, clothes and stuff like that. So we finally had the funds, take it in last friday. Mechanic calls yesterday and says " It was a $1.39 part". Im like no way! With labor and the part, it the whopping total came to 37 dollars. God is good ... all the time. We really should have known better, this is like the 3rd time, we expected a big repair and its been a much simpler fix. It will now be known as the car that never dies lol.

We were at the point with the car that we had to decide if it was worth fixing or not. It has 194,000 miles on it, its over 10 yrs old and the body is in really rough shape. It has been a really good little car. So its good it still has some life in it!

Well enough babblings,
MJ