Jubilee Hope Has Arrived...about 11 months ago!

This brings my slacking to a whole new level. Jubilee is almost 11 months old and I still have not written out my birth story. I feel bad because I know I'll forget some of the details, but this past 11 months has been very, very busy and Jubilee's birth was, well, a little less than desirable! I was a couple of days past my due date with Jubilee. She was a very active baby in the womb and always reassured me with lots and lots of wiggles. It was my ritual that I'd get up in the morning, grab my cup of coffee and sit down and feel her wiggle around. The morning of July 9, 2017 was different though. I sat down and she wasn't moving. Well, I shouldn't say she wasn't moving...she was BARELY moving. It was very unusual for her. I did not like it at all and I decided I needed to go to the hospital. I got everyone situated at home quickly and we went to the hospital. She wasn't really moving the entire drive to the hospital and I feared the worse. We couldn't get there quickly enough. When we got in, they put me on the monitor right away and PRAISE GOD, there was a heartbeat!! Oh, sweet music to my ears! The problem was, the heartbeat was VERY fast. Like in the 180's. They called the doctor and got me started with an induction right away. The doctor said, "Whatever is going on, your baby is not happy!". I had a lot of fear about the pain of delivery, even though I had already delivered 4 babies without medication, for some reason I had a lot of fear this time. I said, "Do you think maybe I should get an epidural, just in case we need a c-section?" The doctor said, "Absolutely". They hooked me up with an epidural, but they didn't start any medication. I thought, as long as it's in place, I can ask for the medication when I need it and it'll all be good. Jeremy left to get some food and I was laying there, trying to rest. All of a sudden, a bunch of nurses and the doctor came running into the room, they threw an oxygen mask on me and told me to get on my hands and knees. Yikes! I had no idea what was going on and my husband wasn't there! Soon everything calmed down and they said that Jubilee's heart rate had dropped drastically, but she was doing okay now. The doctor was mad that the epidural didn't have any medication going through it, she said, "This is WHY we have this, just in case I need to do a c-section!". So they started the medication. It was the best epidural I had ever had. It was so mild that I could still move around, which was very handy because the whole, "GET ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES" charade happened again, and again. They came in and prepped me for a c-section. The doctor didn't know what was going on, but she wasn't happy and didn't want to take chances. The weird thing was though, that Jubilee kept coming back just fine and kept the doctor second guessing herself. I'm so thankful though, because she was not one of those doctors I had heard so much about who are more than happy to just cut you open at the drop of a hat. She really did NOT want to do a c-section on me. She said, "You've had 9 babies already with no c-section, I don't want to be the one to cut you open!!! But, your baby is not doing well, so I don't know what we're going to do." The drops in heart rate didn't seem to coincide with contractions or anything, it was all so random. We were all so confused. At some point they had me ready to go off to the O.R. and again decided against it. It was so scary and so frustrating. Everything was getting more painful and I asked them to up the medication on the epidural. The doctor came in and said, "The Neonatologist and I are not happy, we need to do something." I was ready to get this all over with, I couldn't stand the fear and uncertainty. All of a sudden though, I felt pressure. I told the doctor I thought I was ready to push. She checked me and sure enough, we were ready. I pushed one time, hard...and Jubilee was born. They said I started pushing at 9:10pm and she was born at 9:10pm. She had her cord wrapped around her neck twice and she was not moving, not crying, struggling. I was so scared. I couldn't see her, couldn't hear her. It was the worst! I'm so used to a baby being placed on my chest and nursing them from the start and this was so different and so hard. I asked Jeremy to get the camera. I thought that if she wasn't going to survive, I wanted some photos of her while she was still alive. When he left, I burst into tears. It was probably the scariest and worst time of my life. They took care of me and took her off to the NICU. I got settled into my room, but all I could think of was when would I see my baby??? I hadn't even seen her yet. They brought me to the NICU and let me hold her. She was on a CPAP machine, oxygen, heart monitor, etc. She looked so sad, but my oh my, she was SO beautiful. She had the most hair I had ever seen! She looked peaceful, but I wanted to hold her without tubes. I wanted to nurse her, but she as too weak. Throughout my stay in the hospital I pumped milk for her and I visited her as often as I could. I tried to nurse her, but she was too weak. We waited for lab results to find out what had gone so wrong. Slowly she was able to come off of the CPAP, eventually the lab results came back from my placenta. It was infected. I have no idea why, or what had happened. I had no symptoms of any issues whatsoever. I can only guess that perhaps my water had ruptured ever so slightly and I didn't notice and an infection developed. We really don't know though. She had to stay in the hospital for a week to get an entire course of antibiotics. She got stronger and more alert, but was not able to nurse. It was such a different experience from what I was used to. After a week in the NICU she came home. She was and has been such an easy going baby. It was so weird for me to have to wake her up to feed her. I'd get up to pump milk for her, but she'd stay asleep. I don't know if it was the routine she got into while in the NICU or just the way she is or the fact that she was getting more than enough milk from the bottle, but whatever it was, she has pretty much always slept thru the night, from the very beginning. It was SO nice!! I was able to pump milk for her for 4 months and then I gave up because I wasn't getting enough snuggle time with her. She has been our most physically advanced baby...she learned to get around all over the place as soon as she learned to roll over at about 5 months. she didn't really start sitting up at 7 months the way her other siblings did because she preferred to roll around. She got her first tooth between 8 and 9 months, a record for this family! At almost 11 months old, she has 5 teeth already! She's pulling herself up to standing already as well! She giggles and smiles constantly and is just such a treasure. I am so thankful that the Lord gave me the wisdom to go to the hospital when I did. I'm so thankful that everything turned out just fine with this precious bundle.

Bonnie Joy is here!! :)

I guess it's a good thing I keep having babies, otherwise I may NEVER write on this blog! Bonnie Joy is sleeping now and I don't know how long that will last, so I'll make this as quick as I can. My pregnancy started (for me) with a positive test that brought such a smile to my face. After so many babies, it never gets old! Everything went well, I had very little nausea and because of this was CONVINCED that this would be another boy. Surprise, surprise!! We had the ultrasound and found out we were having another girl...our first 3 in a row experience. Of course, we were thrilled. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter, babies are a BLESSING!!! Everything went smoothly throughout the majority of my pregnancy. It was a bit harder than the others simply because I'm getting older and it's not easy having so many babies in such a short period of time. My hips were very sore throughout my entire third trimester. The whole third trimester was very hard on me, in fact. I felt worse than I had in the past. Praise God for my big girls, they swooped in and took over household duties and made it possible for our family to continue to function. Even though I was not feeling well my any stretch, I was feeling okay with being pregnant past my due date this time. I was waiting for my parents to arrive and for everything to settle into place before Bonnie made her appearance. Due to the fact that my parents had missed the birth of Violet, they had decided to come RIGHT after my official due date. On Friday, June 3 I went to the midwife for a standard appointment. I also had my last hurrah of grocery shopping to do. The shopping trip just wore me out. I went home and rested for the rest of the day, I was just BEAT. It took me until Sunday before I started feeling reasonably okay and even then my appetite had disappeared and I wasn't feeling "normal". It's amazing how such a short time in the past can be such a blur, but I believe it was Sunday night that I started to feel intensely itchy. I'm normally very itchy during pregnancy, so this wasn't shocking to me, but this was a bit different. My children are such blessings and they indulge me in nightly scratching fests while we relax and watch a show, but this time was different...I usually HATE having my hands and feet touched, but they were INSANELY itchy! I immediately recognized this as something out of the ordinary and something I needed to have checked out if it continued. It did continue. I woke up on Monday and called the midwife and scheduled an appointment to be seen again. I did some research and started to become concerned that this might be a symptom of a condition called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy. The only reason I even thought of this was because I know someone who had had this during her pregnancies, otherwise I would have written it off as nothing. I started to become a bit concerned because the effect on the baby with this condition can lead to still birth. Usually babies whose mommy's have this condition are induced at 37 weeks, I was 39 weeks 6 days along at this point. I finally got into the midwife and she didn't seem terribly concerned, but she did order lab work to check my liver function. Unfortunately, I could not get to the lab that evening because it was too late and since she didn't seem concerned, it wasn't something that she felt it was necessary for me to go to the hospital to get done immediately. The next morning, as soon as I could, I went back down to the hospital and had the lab work done. I pushed and told them I needed the results ASAP. They told me that they weren't ordered "stat", but one set of results would be ready by the end of the day. At least if one set was off, we'd know there was something amiss. I called the midwife a few times during the day to pester and make SURE they were looking for my results. They took FOR-EVER to get back to me. Finally she called. My liver enzymes were elevated and they wanted me in Labor and Delivery in 3 hours for an induction. Although I was a little bit concerned, I had had baby monitored a lot in the past couple of days and she looked wonderful, so I had no reason to really worry. All of a sudden, we were all pretty excited, we were going to meet our baby--SOON!!!! Sadly, Grandma and Papa would miss this one as well, as they were just getting ready to head to the airport the following day! I am SO thankful that the Lord saw fit to move my brother and his family out here. When I told my children what was going on, the big girls said, "Please don't leave us here alone overnight!! Call someone!" When I called my brother and told him what was going on, the first thing he said was, "I'll come over with Jadah (his daughter)" Ohhhhh, what a relief! Now it was time to get a shower, get babies in bed and get to the hospital. We finally got admitted and got all of the details taken care of and FINALLY got the induction started at midnight. This was going to be a LONG night. I've always had pitocin, but was convinced my the doctor that Cytotec would be a good option. I'm not a fan of induction and I know there are risks to all drugs, but the fact of the matter was, we needed this baby out. I was definitely disappointed though because of this condition I was switched from midwife care to doctor care. I had so very much wanted to have the freedom to deliver in the way I felt most comfortable with and I knew that with a doctor, it was going to be harder to convince them. The doctor did consent to let me do what I wanted to do, after a bit of hesitation. I told her, "Hey, I'm going to try to do this unmedicated...you have to let me do what I need to do for my comfort". She said, "Fine, I'm willing to do that". So they did the first dose of cytotec at midnight. I had to be monitored for an hour to make sure baby and I were responding well to it, so I tried to sleep a bit. Poor Jeremy was stuck in a funky recliner chair...so that's where he got his night's sleep. He did seem to sleep, but I can't imagine it was very GOOD sleep. As for me, between the monitoring, and the blood pressure cuff and the contractions that were slowly starting, I didn't get MUCH sleep, but thankfully I did get SOME. After 4 hours, they came in to give me a second dose. Now, I had been convinced go to with cytotec because "you don't have to be monitored constantly, you can get up and move". Well guess what I was not told? After the second dose, you have to be monitored for 2 hours!!! It was so uncomfortable because the bed was AWFUL and my hips were SO sore. Finally the morning rolled around and at about 6am I got up, got some coffee (clear liquids only! I was STARVING) and started to walk the halls. The contractions were coming, but they weren't strong and they weren't frequent. The nurse asked me if I wanted to get in the tub. I wondered if it would help get things get moving or slow things down, but it did sound very inviting to get the weight off of my very achey hips. The nurse also gave me a packet of crackers and I snuck a granola bar out of my bag for some much needed energy! With the morning came the change of shift and new nurses. We found out that our nurse would be one of the nurses we had had with Violet's delivery. She was great and we were very excited to have her as our nurse. My previous nurse that had retired also was so sweet and kind to give me a call at the hospital and encourage me! That was such a sweet and thoughtful thing for her to do. She told me that if I needed to call her, I was welcome to! What I didn't know was that the other nurse apparently knew my desires for a natural delivery and freedom to deliver how I desired and made a call to a midwife who was not on call who agreed to come in and assist in my delivery!!!! WHAT A BLESSING!!!! Strangely, even though she's been with the midwife group I had been with throughout Violet's pregnancy and this one, I had never met her! She was fantastic. She came in and we decided that in order to get things moving, and avoid more drugs, she'd break my water. She did so and did all she could to get Bonnie to move down a bit...she kept very high throughout the whole labor process. Thankfully the breaking of my water was very effective to get things moving. The contractions started coming regularly, but not too painfully. This was only the second labor I'd ever had without pitocin, so it was definitely more gentle. Bonnie continued to look great on the monitors, I was feeling pretty good, albiet very tired, but I definitely had enough strength to make it through. I started to feel more pressure and the midwife checked me and said I was at 7, but baby was still very high. That made me a bit nervous because I do NOT like the pushing part and I was afraid that if she didn't come down during labor, it was going to happen during DELIVERY and I did NOT want to have to push any more than necessary! The midwife had me do some exercises and try to help baby get into a better position then I got into the bed on my knees, leaning over the head of the bed. That's how I had wanted to deliver, but as the contractions got stronger and stronger, my legs got tired. At this point it was after noon and the midwife was hungry. She said, "I'm going to go to the cafeteria real quick for some food, I'll be right back". Ohhhhhhhh man. That made me nervous! I knew with the fact that I WAS at a 7 a while ago and the pressure was building, the time was coming--quickly! The pressure kept building and building and I said, "WHERE IS LISA???" to the nurse. She said, "I just checked, she's out in the hall, she'll be right here! She came in and had me get down on my side and checked me. I was complete and ready to go, but was not quite to the point of , "I have to push". It didn't take long though, all of a sudden they got the bed all set up and I yelled, "I have to push, I have to push, I have to push!!". They said, "That's great, we're all here, go ahead!". From what they said, it was basically one big push and Bonnie was delivered. Actually, her head was out and they told me to keep pushing and I said, "I'm not having a contraction" and they said, "It doesn't matter, she needs to come OUT! PUSH!" Then they told me to move my leg up and out of the way, but I said I didn't want to because it hurt too bad, and they grabbed my leg and shoved it up and said, "I can't SEE!". Thankfully that was the moment I pushed and out came Bonnie Joy, as beautiful as can be...crying and blinking and just absolutely perfect! The funny thing was that she was my first baby to be covered in vernix. All of my babies have been overdue enough to not have vernix on them, but she also has VERY long fingernails. Everyone thought she looked like a "tiny little thing" and were saying she was going to be in the low 7lbs...lo and behold, they put her on the scale and she was 8lb4oz!!! Not my biggest, but one of the biggest! :) She's just perfect. She's a fantastic nurser and all of her siblings are in L-O-V-E! There have been no complications from my condition other than I'm still itchy, but it's definitely subsiding. Sadly, this is a condition that is very likely to come back in any other pregnancies I may have, so for now we'll be praying about what the future holds and just enjoying every day with the wonderful blessings the Lord has given us.

Violet Grace is Here! :) :) :)

Our newest arrival, Miss. Violet Grace has made her entrance into this world! :) She was born on April 26th, 2015 at 2:18pm...2 FULL weeks past her due date! And let me be the first to say, as I was by far the most miserable while waiting for her arrival, that she is worth EVERY second of the wait! We went to the hospital on Sunday, April 26th around 8:30am for a scheduled induction. I was trying to avoid an induction like the plague. 5 of my other children had been induced and 2 I've gone into labor naturally with, so I know the difference between an induced labor and a natural labor...natural is much easier, in my opinion. I really wanted to have a medication free delivery, so in order to facilitate that, I did NOT want any unnecessary intervention. Not to mention, my parents had come to visit...and to be here while Violet was being born. They arrived at our home on the 12th of April (her due date) and we waited. We waited and waited and waited...and she did not come. My parents had to go back home and I was very sad. This was my first baby that my mom was not present for...a very sad thing for me, and for her! And here I was, faced with having an induction regardless of my patience and willingness to wait, even through the entire duration of my parents visit. I was a bit down hearted. I was also very anxious. I'm not a big fan of pain (who is?) and the thought of the pain of childbirth makes me more and more anxious with each child I have.

When we got into the Labor and Delivery unit, we were introduced to our nurse. Nurse Tina. Answer to prayer #1. If I could not have my mom there...God assigned the next best thing. She is my mom's age, she's been in the nursing field as long as my mom and had many other similarities to my mom. Answer to prayer #2, NO one else was in labor, so we got SO much attention from all of the nurses. I was sad because Jeremy usually has my mom to talk to once the pain sets in for me and I'm not longer good company, so having the nurses around was a blessing. Jeremy also did SOOOO good with being supportive. He kept telling me what an awesome job I was doing, it was really helpful. Since I was on pitocin, they have to monitor the baby constantly. I had hoped to labor in a different position than usual because being in bed not only makes my hips hurt, but it also doesn't do a whole lot to get the process moving along. My plan was to labor while leaning over a birthing ball on the floor, but no matter what I tried, I could not get into a good position and have the monitor in a good position so that baby was being picked up. I decided to just stand. Yes. I just stood there. Each contraction came and I held onto the IV pole and rocked my hips back and forth. It wasn't the best position for general comfort, by any means, but as far as helping to manage the pain, it was fantastic! Who knew? Not only that, but I think the pull of gravity really helped Violet move down more quickly. Answer to prayer #3: I had had contractions all night the night before my induction, so when I was checked before they started pitocin, I was already at 5cm! The contractions took about 2 hours to start, but once they started, it went really, really fast. Answer to prayer #4: the contractions were TOTALLY manageable. I thought that all contractions with pitocin would be horrible. They didn't give me a very large dose and once the contractions were regular and hard, they didn't increase it at all. They were REALLY good about that. I was able to stand there, breathing and rocking through the contractions. It's funny how you can tell where a woman is in her labor by the noises she makes. I started to moan a little bit and our nurse hopped into action. She went from sitting with us, visiting and doing her job, to full bustle mode. She barely stopped to answer a question...she started the baby warmer, got the tools necessary, etc. I was looking at her thinking, "Wow, she thinks I'm going to deliver soon...that'd sure be nice!". But I had only been in active labor for about an hour and 15 minutes or so, so I didn't want to get my hopes up. However, the pressure was starting to build...I was vocalizing more and more, so I knew SOMETHING was going on. The midwife came in to check me and break my water. Sure enough, she checked and I was at 8cm! Baby was still pretty high, but she was able to break my water--which was nice and clear--kinda a surprise for all of us considering Violet was so late! As soon as she broke my water, I could FEEL her moving down. I started to get shaky, which is always a sign that delivery is near for me. They asked me if I wanted to stand up again, but my legs were shaky and weak, so the midwife asked me if I wanted to lean over the head of the bed. Yes! That sounded wonderful. I got on my knees and leaned on the head of the bed which was raised. They threw a blanket over my back side and I continued to rock and moan through the contractions. The moaning got louder and more frequent...actually, I don't think I stopped, I just got louder and quieter with the intensity of the contraction. The pressure was getting stronger and stronger. All of a sudden I had a contraction and said, "I HAVE to push!". I was in my own zone of animalistic groaning and breathing, so I wasn't really paying attention to how many people were in the room, but it sounded like more than "normal". I think that because it was a quiet day AND most people do not deliver in this position, the nurses were curious! :) I pushed for 3 grueling minutes and OH SWEET RELIEF, Violet was delivered. I picked her up and she was GORGEOUS! A head full of dark, dark hair and a sweet little face! The midwife waited for the cord to stop pulsing and cut it and I was able to move around and hold Violet on my chest. Answer to prayer #5: a quick delivery with no pain meds and little pain, considering. The entire process from first good contraction to delivery was only about 2 hours, if that. I really appreciate all of the prayers that my friends and family sent up to the Lord. Through all of my anxiety and complaining, God was indeed listening (go figure!) and answered all of those prayers. It didn't go the way I had planned or wanted, but it was beautiful. I got to go home after 24 hours and it feels so good to be home again. The hospital is NOT my cup of tea! Everyone is adjusting very nicely to the changes...Liberty even slept through the night last night! :) God is good...all the time.

Debating the Future...

...of this blog, that is. I've always enjoyed keeping this blog as a record of the goings on of our family. As things have gotten busier, I've let things slide and I'm embarrassed to say that although I've never been super great with keeping up to date, I haven't written anything since the birth of Liberty! Eeek! I have started another blog, and although I had good intentions there as well, I haven't really done much there either. I know I've written there since Liberty has been born, but not very much. So I'm really not sure what to do about this blog. It has so many wonderful records of things that have happened in our family, I cannot take it down. I don't know that I want to keep a record of just our family happenings though. But maybe I do?!? Hmmmm. So therein lies the debate. What to do?

My dream is to start a blog where I share recipes, craft ideas, pictures, etc., etc....but I also know myself and know that although I dream big, I don't accomplish a fraction of what I scheme. So for now I'll make a quick note of RECENT events as a record, and as I become inspired, perhaps my future will become more clear.

Liberty has recently started crawling. All of my other babies went through a process...first they got on their hands and knees and started rocking. Then they'd start to scootch backwards before they'd finally figure out the whole forward crawling thing. I've also had a wide variety of types of crawlers...the textbook, the stink bug, the army man, etc. Liberty, however, started in her very own way. First I was noting that although she had been able to roll over when she was smaller, now she is stuck if she is put on her back. I'm still swaddling her at 10 months old. She likes it, what can I say? I don't know if that has anything to do with it, or if it's just her docile personality. But, she was able to get from sitting to her tummy and back to sitting all on her own. None of my other babies could do that before they could crawl. One day she got on her tummy and she was wearing nothing but a diaper and she just got up and started to crawl. Just a perfect little textbook, wind-up toy crawl. Now she's all OVER the place! She also appears to be getting a couple of teeth. Nothing has popped through yet, but she's on her way. Liberty is a WONDERFUL, sweet, fantasticly awesome baby. She sleeps well, smiles all the time, giggles at all the right moments. She's just a HUGE blessing. She is around 23 lbs as well, a very big girl! I bought her some 9 month clothes and had to go back almost immediately and upgrade to bigger ones!! :)

Well time with the family is pulling me away at this moment...as it should be. I'll write more later. At least I hope I will.

Liberty Rose is Here!!

Our precious baby girl has arrived safely and soundly! Praise God! I woke up Monday morning with some contractions and getting a little anxious about Jeremy going to work for the day because he was going to be an hour away with no real communication. I had been praying that the Lord would give me a CLEAR sign that labor was starting so I'd know when to call everyone I was going to need. I woke up and looked at my watch and it was 2:47am. I decided to get up and use the bathroom and when I got up and was walking back to bed, my water broke! There was my clear sign. It took me a few "gushes" to realize that it truly was my water that broke, so I told Jeremy and I went downstairs to call my parents. I ate breakfast, packed the rest of my stuff and fixed my hair and face. I wanted to be TOTALLY ready, just in case. The contractions did not continue though, so when my parents arrived around 8am, we had to decide what to do. I didn't want to wait around TOO long and I didn't want to go in too early because I know full well that as soon as you set foot in a hospital, they start wanting to do stuff to you. And I did not want anything done. I wanted a natural labor and delivery again. My mom and I went walking and contractions picked up, but definitely not enough to be heading to the hospital for...but when we came inside, I had a couple of good, strong ones that made me a bit anxious. I did NOT want to get caught at home in fast, hard labor...so we decided to go in to the hospital. We got all checked in and the contractions were not picking up. We walked...and we walked...and we walked. They did a test to be sure my water had broken...as if there was another explanation. My doctor called me to confirm that my water had indeed broken--thanks, Doc! They started discussing my options--and were throwing around Cytotec and Pitocin. I didn't want EITHER, but of course, you're in the hospital...they want to do SOMETHING. I was reading about Cytotec and was horrified by what I read, and was so relieved when my doctor came in and checked me and said I was at 4cm and said I was too far progressed for Cytotec. That solved that issue!! :) Then of course, they started pushing pitocin. We walked some more, rested, ate...contractions were coming stronger, but still not enough to really get a pattern established. I was getting tired since I had been up so early, so at 6pm, I relented and asked them to start pitocin...but the SMALLEST dose possible. I also told the nurse that if she upped the dosage, I would, SERIOUSLY, rip the IV out of my arm. I do NOT like pitocin and just the thought of it made me very anxious. I did not want any other interventions, but I was so afraid that if pitocin was started, I would not be able to handle it. Everyone assured me that as soon as a pattern was established, Liberty would be there in no time. At this point I was still 4-5cm, so I was getting a bit desperate to move everything along. They started the pitocin and the contractions started coming. They got very uncomfortable, but not unbearable. I went into my little zone. I kept hearing everyone say, "I don't know what's going on with her, she's so stoic." I was in pain, I wasn't going to get up and dance!! My doctor had missed the first baby he was supposed to deliver of mine and nearly missed the second, so he was here with me the ENTIRE time, which is very unusual. Pretty soon I started feeling that wonderful animal instinct to push. It wasn't strong yet, but my doctor checked me and I was at 8cm. He said I could go ahead and bear down if I felt like it. At this point Liberty's heart rate started to drop a bit with the contractions. It wasn't anything super worrisome, but the doctor wanted to get her OUT. It started to get a bit crazy now. I felt like everyone was grabbing me and pushing me here and there. The doctor started pulling Liberty out manually. He had me push--HARD. It was hard work, but thankfully I only had to push 4 or so times before she finally came out. Once she was out, I started to bleed heavily. The doctor delivered the placenta and upped my dosage of pitocin and the bleeding subsided. I only ended up needing 2 small stitches. Liberty is absolutely PERFECT. Everyone was commenting on how perfectly round her head is. She has a LOT of dark, dark hair. My doctor even said, "That's a lot of hair for a white baby!". Hahaha. So that is how Liberty Rose made her arrival into this world. She started nursing right away and has been very happy and content so far. She's been sleeping a LOT. Oh, she arrived at 8:04pm and weighed 7lb14oz and was 20 inches...same weight as Savannah and one inch shorter. I'm not one to stay in the hospital. I don't like the hospital, I can't sleep...I'm uncomfortable...I just want to be back in my own home. Yes, my home is crazy and chaotic and LOUD, but it's home. My doctor has always been wonderful with letting me come home early and we've never had a problem. In fact, he was there at 6:45am to check on me and have me discharged--bless him! Getting Liberty discharged, however, was a completely different story. We don't currently have a pediatrician. First of all, I try to avoid doctors especially this time of year. It seems like whenever we go to the doctor for a "well-child" check, I end up with a "sick-child". But the main reason is that the practice we have been with for the past 9 years has released us from their practice because I refuse to give my younger children the MMR vaccine. I'm not anti-vax, but Aaron, my 3 year old, has displayed some sensitivities and I don't want to inject him with heavy metals, especially with a vaccine that has been linked to autism. I don't want to argue this whole thing...there is plenty of evidence on both sides, but for us as parents, we feel strongly that we don't want to do this vaccine. We also feel strongly that, as parents, we should have the right to do what we feel is best for our children. We educate ourselves, make a decision and WE take the responsibility for how things turn out. That's our duty as parents. I don't want to be forced to do something to/for my child that I do not feel comfortable with. Anyway...I figured that we'd go into the hospital, choose a physician I know takes our insurance and meet him there and if we like him and he will take us, we'd continue the patient/doctor relationship. Unfortunately, it was not that easy! The doctor didn't come to the hospital because he wasn't expecting a new patient--even though I told the nurses he was going to be who we'd be having. When they finally called him, he was confused about what was going on...why we didn't have a pediatrician, why we had chosen him, why we don't vaccinate, etc. And after waiting and waiting, he decided he did not want us as patients. So all of the blood work that Liberty had done (thankfully just little heel pricks) had to be RE-done because the tests had that doctor's name on them. UGGH! Now we were left seeing the on-call doctor, which wasn't a problem for me...I didn't care WHO saw her, I just wanted her checked out and released...I could go home and pick a doctor! So the on-call doctor came in and started asking us why we don't have a pediatrician, why we choose not to fully vaccinate and wanted us to get on the phone that MOMENT and make an appointment with a pediatrician so he'd KNOW we were going to have her care followed up with. As if we're negligent parents who don't want our child even seeing a doctor. Yeah, and we're only going to feed her vegetable juice for the first year of her life. Seriously, we're not alternative health wack-a-doo's! I WANT my child being seen, I want her healthy. I want to do what's best for her. So once that was FINALLY taken care of and she was taken off to re-do her tests, a social worker came to visit me in my room. She first asked me if I'd ever suffered from postpartum depression and I said, "No, I'm usually just so happy not to be pregnant anymore!". She asked me if I have help...and I said, "Yes, my husband will be home, and my parent's are helping". Then she said, "Well the reason I'm here is, and this is usually an error, like the nurse accidentially checked the box, but it's because of drug use." I just looked at her kinda funny because I really had NO IDEA what in the world she was talking about. I said, "You mean, MY drug use? Like I'm using drugs? I really don't understand." She said, "Yes, if you tell a nurse that you use drugs or if she over hears you talking about it, she has to report it. This had to do with marijuana or cocaine" I kinda, in shock, started laughing. I said, "I have 7 children, the LAST thing I want to be doing is smoking weed!" She said, "Okay, I figured it was a mistake, I'll make a note of that and we'll have that removed from your file." Oh gee, that makes me feel so much better! Now it's on record that I've been visited by a social worker because of my alleged drug use, that of course, I denied. I don't fully vaccinate my children, nor do I have a pediatrician...I have 7 children (what normal person does that?) and I've told the nurses who asked where my children go to school that we homeschool. Lovely. I felt like a bit of a target. Even though this was obviously a big mistake, it was very unnerving to me! I just wanted to get out of there and get home. One of the nurses came in and I told her what had just transpired and she said, "Oh no, that is SO not okay!" She left and went to "investigate". When she came back, she said she had figured out what had happened--who had accidentally checked that box (yes, it WAS just an accident), and made sure it was UNchecked and said the unit manager would be there shortly to offer me an apology. So the unit manager came and sat down and had a long talk with us. She felt really bad that everything had gone so haywire the whole day. I told her I had had 3 other children there and it had never been a problem getting out of there. She was very sorry that we had to go through the whole social worker ordeal and she gave us a $50 gift card to their little boutique there in the hospital where I was able to buy some cute things for Liberty and I that I never would have splurged on...so that was a little silver lining. And alas, within 30 minutes, they had us all ready to get out of there and get home. Praise God! Jeremy said next time will be a home birth!! I'm not sure if that will truly happen, but the whole ordeal did not ease my dislike of hospitals! However, we're home...we're all good and we have a precious baby girl who is absolutely ADORED by all of her siblings. For that we are very, very grateful!

It's My Due Date

Yes, we've come upon yet another due date! Each baby I have I wonder if THIS will be the one that I go early with. I don't know why I haven't given up on that notion yet, I guess I'm an eternal optimist. This time is a little weird because although THIS date is my due date according to my LMP and was confirmed by both of my ultrasounds, my doctor has written Feb. 2nd down as my "official" date. That's better for me because if/when I do go over, I won't be pushed into an induction as soon. He has already asked me if I wanted to schedule an induction...and of course, I said, "NO WAY in ....!" Now that I know the difference between a natural labor and an induction, I'd NEVER choose that route again...no matter how uncomfortable I get. I feel like I'm having a bit of an easier time being patient this time. Not that it's easy by any stretch, but I don't feel as antsy as I have in the past at this point, probably because I don't have a SUPER specific due date...more of a range. That's what I've been told a due date should be anyway...a due "range". It is a bit odd that we assign a date and then say, "baby will arrive on this date...and if baby is early, baby is EARLY and if they're late, they're LATE". I mean, really...we don't give them a specific date to get their first tooth or to crawl or walk, right? I find that a due date just serves to make me frustrated and irritable...not something I need help with at this point. By the way, only around 5% of babies arrive ON their due date! So today I don't have any plans...I'd love if things started happening. I'd love to have a baby today, but I'll keep busy with everything else and if this day ends with no sign of baby, it's just one day CLOSER to holding her in my arms. She's bound to show up eventually, right?

Getting Bigger!

Yes, everyone is getting bigger--including me!! I'm now 16+ weeks pregnant and finally feeling human again. This pregnancy has been the hardest as far as the yucky feeling has gone. It usually hits at 8 weeks and ends around 12 weeks, but not this time. This time it hit around 6 weeks and lasted well into my 14th week. It was really hard to cook or even think of food. I'm so glad that part is past. I have my ultrasound scheduled now and I just cannot believe that it's already getting to be that time! Speaking of which, can you believe that my baby Ry-Ry is almost 1? His birthday is in a couple of days and I just cannot believe it. This has been the fastest year of my life! He is such a precious little guy. He's crawling like a maniac. He's ridiculously fast. He's mastered climbing up the stairs (and giving Mommy a heart attack each time he does it). He stands and cruises very well, but has not yet attempted to stand up on his own yet. My guess that he'll be like pretty much everyone else and wait a month or more longer. He still has no teeth, but he's acting like that is soon to change. He likes to babble, but doesn't really say anything yet. He waves and claps his hands though. He's been sleeping reasonably well, still taking 2 naps a day. He usually wakes up very happy, but sometimes he's a bit grumpy...but all it takes is for him to see one of his siblings come into the room and he gets all excited! He and Lilah play really well together and usually Aaron is pretty good with him. Lilah is talking more. Her language is still really hard to understand. I have a referral to have her hearing checked. I know she HEARS just fine, I'm just wondering if maybe she doesn't hear as clearly as she should. Either that or she needs some speech therapy or just a bit more time. She is definitely progressing, just slowly. She is absolute sugar. She is such a special little blessing. She decided to potty train herself and is what I would consider pretty much 100% potty trained. She doesn't even ask to go potty--she just runs to the bathroom and goes. Every once in a while she needs help getting her clothes back on, but usually you don't even know she's gone! She calls her undies "Nunnies". It's SO cute! She has been sleeping in pretty late--usually we wake her up at 8:30am and for the time being, she still naps well and goes to sleep at night easily. She's usually is a good mood and has a way of lighting up a room with her sweet smile, darling giggle and of course, her ADORABLE curls!! Aaron is also working on potty training. True to his nature, it's been a bit of a challenge, but we're getting there. He is fiercely independent and is often times an INCREDIBLE help! He is the child that challenges and exhausts me the most, but he also adds SO much dimension to our lives! I'm just going to go ahead and publish this...it never got finished, but oh well. '