All my boys....

in my bed! School was out on Monday, so we slept in and relaxed. We all snuggled in our bed for a bit, too. Just had to get pics of all 5 of my boys...

Happy Birthday Jackson!!!

Jackson turned 7 today!!! I can't believe he's 7 already. We had his skating party yesterday and made ice cream last night. Yum yum!!! We had a very nice day today, too. Though it was windy, it was a beautiful sunny day and we took the boys to the park this afternoon. Jackson got to try out his new remote control truck that flips over and they also took their scooters. We were going to fly his new remote control plane, too, but it was too windy. What a great afternoon we had together!

1 month checkup

I took Anthony to the doctor earlier this week and he weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces! That's a 3 1/2 pound gain in one month!!!!!! Typically, a baby should gain about 2 pounds during the first month, so I'd say he's doing well!!! He had also grown 1 1/2 inches, he's now 22 iches long! Guess that mama's milk is working!

4 weeks????

I can't believe that it's already been 4 weeks since Anthony was born!! Okay, as of today, it's been 4 weeks and 2 days. He'll officially be 1 month old tomorrow!! Where has the time gone? I thought I'd share a few pics from the past month, mainly within the past week or so.

Blogger is being really slow right now, so I'm just going to share these for now. These were taken Thursday night, when he was 4 weeks old. Here he was, getting ready to smile. He smiles a lot in his sleep, but this is the first time that he attempted a smile while looking at one of us. He smiled really big for Adam last night. But, here he is -- about to smile, a small smile and then asleep within a few seconds. He would wake up and doze off over and over while he was in my lap. He doesn't usually go to sleep that easily, without nursing anyway, but I guess he was tired.

Snow!!!

I know that a lot of people make fun of us here in the South because we make a big deal out of a few snow flurries. But, it's snowing today! We're taking a few pics that I'll try to post later. We were supposed to wake up to 2-3 inches of snow today, but it was still raining. The rain has now turned to snow and we're getting a pretty good little snow shower right now. I don't know if it will stick enough for the boys to actually go out and play in the snow, but they are planning to go out and play! LOL People in frequent snow areas always laugh at us, but you have to remember -- this is a rare event for us! In the past 15 years, we've only had snow that accumulated to a half inch 5 times!!! And the last time that happened was 2000!!! That means that Jackson and Michael have never seen anything more than a flurry falling from the sky. John-William was about 15 months old when it snowed in 2000, so he's been out to play in it but doesn't remember it. LOL So, this is a big deal to them. They were really looking forward to waking up to snow to play in this morning and were very disappointed when there was no snow. They laid their snow clothes out last night and everything! So, now they're dressed and waiting to be able to go out in it. I'll keep you updated....

My Birth Story

In case you aren't interested in reading the details of Anthony's birth, you might want to skip this post. There's nothing real gory or anything like that, it's mainly just the timeline of what happened last Thursday. Just wanted to give you a warning, though, before you read it.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:20 am on December 27th. My induction instructions told me to arrive fasting (nothing to eat OR drink after midnight) and to be there by 6:30 am. I told the nurse my name and my OB’s name and she put us into a L&D room. She had me change into the lovely hospital gown and told me to climb into bed. About 30 minutes later, another nurse came in and asked, “So what brings you here today?” I kid you not, that’s what she said!!! I wanted to say, “Well, I’m almost 38 weeks pregnant and am scheduled to be induced by Dr. S today, what do you think brings me here?” but I didn’t. I just politely told her I was scheduled to be induced. She went on to tell me that they had me on the standby list, **if** they had room for me!! They already had 11 other L&D rooms full, so they weren’t expecting me to come in unless they called. However, my instructions said they’d only call if they were canceling or postponing my induction, so I got there when I was supposed to. I’m glad I did because I don’t know if we’d had our baby that day if I hadn’t. They were busy all day long!!! She got my IV started, though, and we waited on my OB to arrive. She came in about 7:20 am and checked me – still 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She broke my water at 7:25 am and headed to surgery while we started waiting on things to pick up. My OB knew that I wanted to try to go without pain medication if I could, so she agreed to see if labor would begin on it’s own without pitocin. After sitting in the bed for a while, I asked if I could get up and my L&D nurse told me no, I had to stay on the monitors since my water had been broken. I wasn’t even allowed to get up to go to the bathroom. She brought me a bedpan instead! Well, it wasn’t urgent so that wasn’t happening! LOL She said that I could ask my OB when she came back in to see what she said. My OB came in again a little while later and I asked if I could get up. She said, “Yeah” with a very nonchalant attitude like it wasn’t a big deal to her. However, when she realized that there was no way to keep me on the monitors, she said I couldn’t walk to try to get my labor going. She did agree to let me go to the bathroom, though, and suggested that I could sit in the rocking chair and see if that made me more comfortable. So, the nurse got the chair ready while I went to pee! I could tell that this nurse wasn’t accustomed to having women labor in the rocking chair, but she accommodated me. She was a very nice nurse who took good care of me but she’s a grandmother and I could tell that she’s used to having things go the way they’ve gone for a long time. We’ll leave it at that. She was going to start pitocin before I told her that we were going to try without it, too, because that’s how inductions are normally done. Since I couldn’t walk like I’d planned, I was hoping that being more upright in the rocker would help but it didn’t really. I had a few contractions sitting there, but nothing that really signaled that labor was starting. So, an hour and a half after my water was broken, the pitocin was started. I was disappointed but knew that it was coming because labor wasn’t beginning. My OB agreed to just start with “a whiff” of pitocin and let it go very slowly to try to keep me comfortable without pain meds. About 20 minutes after the pit started, I started having some real contrax. Gigi (dh’s mom) and the boys were there by this time, so that was a welcome distraction. My mom had been there for a while but having the boys in the room was nice. I wasn’t very uncomfortable yet and the boys were dealing with everything so well. I’d packed an activity bag with coloring books, crayons and their Gameboys for them, so that helped a lot. Even though I would normally **NEVER** allow them to sit on a hospital floor, the room was a little crowded so they colored in the floor. That kept them happy and in the room with me. We’d been told that they wouldn’t be able to stay, but since they were so well behaved, they were able to stay in the room as long as I wanted. In fact, we’d been told that family members could come in for short periods of time but would have to wait in the waiting room most of the time. But, we had a room full of guests for quite a while. No one was being loud or causing any problems, so our nurse let them stay. I’d started contracting some but it still wasn’t anything real bad. Around 9:40 a.m., my contractions started coming about 5-8 minutes apart. They were getting stronger, too, so that I needed to breathe through them. I’d told the boys that I would have some pain and wouldn’t always be able to answer them right away so that they wouldn’t be scared by labor. They were in the floor coloring most of the time, so I don’t think they really noticed when I was hurting. Around 10:20 a.m., the contrax started coming every 2-3 minutes and they were definitely getting stronger. I would close my eyes and really concentrate on what my body was doing. I was still without pain meds at this point but I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to remain that way. At 10:35, I decided that the contractions must be making progress and I probably needed to let the nurse check me so that I could make a decision about pain management, should I be making fast progress. So, I let the grandparents and all our visitors take the boys out into the waiting room for a while and I climbed back into bed. Unfortunately, I was still only 3 cm dilated and maybe a little more thin. I was certain I would be farther than that! Within just a couple of minutes, though, my contractions were every 1-2 minutes and much more intense. At this point, Adam stood by my bed, holding my hand and helping me breathe through the contractions. I had been getting a little light-headed after each contraction and my OB said it was probably because I was breathing so much that I was kind of hyperventilating each time. She pointed out that I was taking good, deep breaths but I guess it was still affecting me. I’m sure the pain from the pitocin didn’t help any. My OB had been in surgery again and she came back at 11 am and checked me again. This time, I was “a good 4-5” cm and now 90% effaced. The baby had dropped, too, and was now at –1 station. Contractions were still coming every 1-2 minutes and were VERY intense. At this point, I knew I couldn’t keep laboring like this. I wanted to go without pain meds and if my labor had been faster or had started without pitocin, I might have been able to make it. But, the pitocin makes the contractions come faster and harder than they normally would and it was just too much. I knew I was making progress and feared that once I really started going, I wouldn’t have time for an epidural. So, I let the nurse call the anesthesiologist. At 11:45, I got my epidural and was checked again, still 4-5 cm and 90%. The epidural brought relief within just minutes and I was able to relax a bit. The nurse told me to let her know if I started feeling pressure. The epidural takes away the pain and sometimes the sensation of the contractions. What I did feel felt like Braxton-Hicks contractions again. She certainly didn’t want me to ignore the pressure, though, since that usually indicates a need or readiness to push. During this time, we let the boys and everyone come back in for a visit since I was no longer in pain. They stayed in for a while and it was nice to be able to interact with my kids without being in pain. At 12:45, my OB came back in to check on me again and this time, I was 5-6 cm, still 90% effaced and the baby was around 0 to +1 station. So, definite progress had been made!!! I was able to nap a bit, too, and get a little rest. I’d been up since 4:15 and needless to say, didn’t get a lot of sleep prior to 4:15! Just after 1 pm, I had a contraction and felt pressure. I decided to wait and see if it happened again before I said anything. In just a couple of minutes, I felt it again and knew I needed to let the nurse know. So, I said, “I know it’s only been 25 minutes since she checked me, but I’m feeling pressure.” At 1:10 p.m., the nurse checked me and I was 9 ½ cm, completely effaced!!! I told you I go quickly when it finally starts!! So, I got Adam to bring the boys in one more time for one last kiss and hug while I was still pregnant. I told them that the next time they saw me, their baby brother would be here. The nurse got the room completely set up with all the delivery tools and sterile equipment. She made sure that Adam had everything he needed (cameras, etc.) on his side of the room because once she had everything sterile out, she didn’t want him to have to go through it. It took a few minutes to get everything ready and she said she’d check me again at 1:30. She did and this time, I was complete and ready to deliver!! She called my OB to come down to our room. The boys told me later that my OB went running through the halls to get to my room. She came in, suited up and we could already see the baby’s head! She asked if I felt the need to push and I said yes, so with the next contraction I pushed. He would have been born with that contraction, but I needed a small episiotomy to keep from tearing. So, she made one very small incision and with the next contraction, I pushed and he was born at 1:41 p.m.!! I never thought it would only take pushing through two contractions for him to be born, but it did. We had a mirror set up so that I could watch his birth and it’s still amazing, even after 4 children! As soon as his mouth was suctioned out, he was placed on my chest and we got to help dry him and warm him. Our nurse even finished suctioning him right there. My OB had given him to me so quickly that he still had a bit of fluid that he needed to get rid of. He laid there with me for quite a while because there wasn’t even a nursery team in our room yet. The L&D department was very busy that day and we had to wait a while for them to come in. That was okay with me, though. I got to just hold him and watch him for a long time. Our L&D nurse did eventually take him to the warmer and wrap him in dry blankets and weigh him. He weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Adam also let me know then that the name Anthony Joel was fine with him. Up until this point, we still weren’t sure what we were naming this baby! I had picked out Anthony Joel and Adam had been telling me he wasn’t too crazy about the name Joel, so I had chosen Anthony Luke as an alternative. He told me then, though, that he’d just been giving me a hard time and Anthony Joel it was. After I was all cleaned up and presentable, Adam brought the boys in to meet their little brother. They were all amazed at how small he was and that he was finally here. After a little while, we let everyone else in, too. We had 3 sets of grandparents, 2 sets of aunts, uncles and cousins and my very good friend Cayce. Everyone oohed and aahed over Anthony for a while before the nursery nurse got there to finish cleaning and measuring him. By the way, his Apgar scores had been 8 and 9, so that was good to hear, too. The nurse finished his assessment and measured him – 20 ½ inches long with a 14 inch head circumference. He got his first bath and we let the boys stay in the room to watch. Then, he was given back to me and we got to get to know each other a little more. Around 4 p.m., I was moved up to my hospital room. Of course, we had a gaggle of family members waiting for us to get settled in so that they could pass the baby around. We hadn’t passed him around in the L&D room, just let everyone admire him from our arms. But, once we were upstairs and everything was set, everyone got a chance to hold him. After a long day of waiting, Gigi finally took the boys home around 5 pm and everyone else started dispersing then as well. I’m so proud of how well the boys did with such a long day at the hospital and not being sure of what all was going on. They were so good, though, and everyone talked about how well they did, even when they weren’t in my room. So, that’s the story of Anthony’s birth, hope you’ve enjoyed reading!

He's here!!!!

I know it's been a week, but I've been a little busy. Our newest baby boy, Anthony Joel, arrived on Thursday, December 27th at 1:41 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. My labor wasn't real long, only 6 hours from the time they broke my water until he was born, but only about 4 1/2 hours from the time that my labor really started until he was born. He's healthy and happy and we're thrilled to finally have him here with us!!! Here are some pics:

A few last pregnancy shots -- Christmas night at Kym's house and then the morning of his birth. I had to take one last belly shot before heading to the hospital. :)

Waiting patiently for his arrival:

The proud big brothers waiting in my room...

Normally, they would NEVER be allowed to sit on a hospital floor, but the room was crowded and they were keeping themselves busy by coloring, so it worked! There weren't very many chairs in the Labor & Delivery room and I certainly wasn't going to ask the grandparents to stand or sit in the floor. LOL So, the boys colored and they were so good during all of the waiting, it was just amazing. Our L&D nurse told us initially that the family could come in for visits but wouldn't be allowed to stay, especially the kids. I was afraid that she was going to try to make them leave, but the boys were so well behaved that she let them stay as long as I wanted. She even told us once they did go out for a break that they were so good. She said a lot of kids come in there and are loud and running around and she can't let them stay very long but she commended us on our boys' behavior. That certainly makes a mama feel good!

Okay, now for the baby's pictures. I just had to make sure that big brothers got their due, too. Anthony's very first picture, only a couple of minutes after he was born:

Daddy holding him for the first time:

Tomorrow is the day!!!

I found out today that we couldn't move our induction to Friday, so we're having our baby boy tomorrow! I was a little disappointed that he won't have his "own day" since he'll be born on our anniversary (14 years, by the way!). Plus, this means we won't be able to go out to dinner on our anniversary for the next several years. LOL But, it will be worth it to stay at home and celebrate our baby boy's birthday instead. We're heading to the hospital early tomorrow morning and hopefully things will go quickly and smoothly from there. I'll post an update when we get home!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I'll post pics later, but wanted to say Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful day and we were all very pleased with all the gifts we received. Our Christmas celebration and gift giving actually begins on Christmas Eve with my side of the family. We gather at my parents' house and eat dinner and exchange gifts there. We all came home with lots of goodies (mainly clothes but there were some fun things and chocolate thrown in there, too!).

Santa was way too good to us this year, as usual, and the boys were very excited this morning. It really is a good feeling when your kids get excited over clothes (even socks and underwear!) and books and it doesn't always have to be fun and games to make them happy. Santa brought John-William an MP3 player like he'd asked for, Jackson got extra Gameboy games and a really snazzy dress outfit for church (he loves to dress up) and Michael got a Gameboy like he'd requested. We managed to get our hands on a wii, so they were very excited about that as well. We enjoyed the day at home and had visits from grandparents to came to see all the loot. This evening, we went to Kym's house for dinner and shared more time with grandparents and family. We exchanged gifts there, too, and the boys had a great time and got way too much stuff there as well. Now, it's almost midnight and Christmas is officially ending. It's sad to see it go so quickly after we've waited so long and worked so hard to get everything ready. But, we've enjoyed our Christmas season and tried to instill in the kids that it's a time to be thankful for what we have, spend time with family and share with others. Hopefully, that message has gotten through. Of course, we try to keep those ideas alive all year long but right now is a good time to really good time to show it.

No baby today...

I didn't do an update last night but that's because I wasn't in a big hurry. We found out yesterday morning that the amnio shows that the baby's lungs aren't ready yet. Or, at least they weren't when the fluid was drawn on Wednesday. So, no induction today. If he doesn't come on his own in the next few days, we have an induction set for late next week. It's actually set for Thursday but may be changing to Friday, I'll keep you updated.

Another baby update....

Okay, not quite as late this time. We saw my OB on Tuesday and things are still looking good. I've made a little more progress -- am now 2 cm dilated and still 50% effaced. Amnio is still scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully, we'll have the results by lunchtime on Thursday and I'll update as soon as I can then. The next update after that should be that the baby's here!

Baby Update

Okay, I know I'm really late! In fact, I have so many other things to update that it's somewhat overwhelming and when I do have a few minutes, I don't feel like I can really even get started because there's so much to post. But, I want to post this update from last week. Yes, I know, I'm even a week late on this!! But, we saw the OB last week and not only did we find out that I'm already progressing (1 cm dilated and 50% effaced), we now have an induction date set!! Due to my history of fast labors (my entire labor with Michael was only 1 hour, 23 minutes!) and the boys coming earlier and earlier (3 days, 9 days, 11 days respectively), we've decided that it's best to go ahead and induce and try to avoid me going into labor on my own and chancing not making it to the hospital. So, on the 19th (one week from tomorrow!!!), we're having an amniocentesis to check the baby's lung maturity. We'll get the results the next day and as long as his lungs are mature, we're inducing on Friday the 21st! If all goes well, we'll have our baby in 10 days and be home in time for Christmas. Woo Hoo!! We go back to the OB tomorrow, so I should have a little more info then, at least on the progression. But, for now, we're planning to have a baby in 10 days. Boy, do I have a lot to do!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

As we end this day of thanks with full bellies and hearts from all the food and fellowship we've had today, I want to share something that was read in church last night. It really is a good prayer and thought we should keep with us each day. As I work to be more thankful for all that I have in my life and to be more aware of all the little blessings each day, I am going to try to remember this.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings each morning,

Thank You, Lord, that I can hear. There are those who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes tightly closed against the morning light as long as possible,

Thank You, Lord, that I can see. There are those who are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off arising, Thank You,Lord,

that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned,

tempers are short, Thank You, Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in the magazines and the

menu is at times unbalanced, Thank You, Lord, for the food we have.

There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous, Thank You, Lord,

for the opportunity to work. There are many who have no jobs.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day, and wish my circumstances were not so modest, Thank You, Lord, for the gift of life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Happy Halloween!!

I still have lots of updating to do but wanted to say Happy Halloween!! I'll post pics of the boys in their costumes later but here's our pumpkins.

New Photos

Last month, I took the boys to have their pictures made. It was just a short while before Michael's birthday, but he was still 4 at the time. I'm working on getting on a better schedule with the photos. Of course, with a new baby on the way, we'll be getting photos made more often anyway. So, here they are:

The boys posed themselves for this photo. While the photographer was setting up the camera, John-William and Jackson laid down on the floor and told Michael to lie down on top of them. Then they asked if they could take their picture this way! It was cute, so I said yes.

Aren't they a handsome bunch?

This photo really captures the boys being themselves. Or at least themselves while they're tickled. John-William's face really expresses what he's like when he thinks something is funny. And Jackson was in the middle of a good laugh and Michael thought it was funny, too. I don't remember if this is when the photographer was hitting herself on the head with a candy tin or what was happening, but they thought it was funny!

Pregnancy Photos

I've also taken a couple of photos of myself in the last few weeks that I haven't shared yet. So, here they are:

Open House

All 3 of the boys have had Open House at school in the last few weeks. John-William and Jackson had theirs first. Grandma and Grandpa and Ninny and PawPaw were all able to be there that night. Our first stop was in John-William's room, where each child had done a self-portrait based on certain things about themselves (gender, hair color, birthday and month, likes and dislikes, etc.). Each object, even the shape of the face, had a code to determine what to draw. John-William's portrait turned out like this.

John-William also had a story map that he shared with us:

John-William also showed us all how to look up his AR (Accelerated Reading) points in the computer and proudly showed his grandparents how many pointed he had accumulated at that time (I can't remember how many there were).

After John-William's class, we visited Jackson's class. On the outside of the classroom door, there's a picture of each child in the class. Of course, it's kind of dark behind the door so my camera didn't pick up the details real well.

Jackson also enjoyed sharing his work with his grandparents:

They also made handprints with poems and I love it!!

A few nights later, we had Open House at Michael's preschool. He had lots of work to share. I won't post every picture, but here are a few of my favorites:

Part of their booklet was about family. Here's Michael's family picture that he drew. Starting at the top right is Adam and then it goes in order to the left. Notice the family member at the bottom left -- he has four legs and is named Riese. :)

Happy Birthday NaeNae!!

My sister, Tina, is celebrating her birthday today. I hope she has a great day!!

Have you ever seen a cuter goat???

Jackson was in a play at school last week and he was one of the billy goats in "The Three Nanny Goats Gruff." I'll share more pics later, but just had to share this.

Happy Birthday John-William!!

Today is John-William's 9th birthday. Can you believe that? And unfortunately, he woke up with a little bit of a cold. It isn't bad and the medicine is controlling his cough, which seems to be his only symptom. But, he went on to school and Ninny and I had lunch with him today. I also took cupcakes to his classroom and we shared those with his classmates. Then, he left a little early and came home with me. :) School got out early anyway today. So, we've had a pretty good day. We're going to the football game for a little while tonight and having his party tomorrow at a bowling alley. Should be lots of fun!!