October 21 2010

well our day started bright and early. we had to be at the hospital at 5:30am. my c-section was scheduled for 7:30am. we got there and things went rather quickly. about 15 minutes before we went into the OR I asked Garran if he thought it was to late to run. I have to admit my nerves were getting the best of me.

here is a "lovely" picture of me waiting to be wheeled back to the OR.

Garran modeling his scrubs!

after we were ready they took us back, got my spinal stuff all done and then brought garran in. it was a very surreal experience. it was very strange to to think that just behind the curtain you were cut open and they were working on you. i don't know. if I wasn't having a baby, I don't think that I would want to be awake for surgery. I didn't enjoy all the noises and things like that. However it was very comforting having Garran there. I just kept looking at him and he would talk to me to keep me distracted. Before we knew it we heard a cry.

Here she is!!

Ayla Joan was born at 7:53 AM on October 21st.

She weighed 7lbs 5.8 ounces and was 20 inches long!

Garran and I just about both fell over. We could not believe how small she was. I kept looking at her and asking if she was ok. I had never had a baby that looked that little and I was worried that something might be wrong.

She was just fine. Healthy as ever. Her apgar scores were 9 and 10. she was so cute and sweet. Garran got to bring her over to me so I could at least look at her for a few minutes and then off to the nursery where they cleaned her all up and got her ready to meet me in my hospital room.

I have to admit that was my least favorite part. I really wanted to hold her right away like I had with my other babies but that just was not going to happen. It seemed like it took them forever to stitch me up. But finally I was on my way back to my room. I was so ready to hold her and find out all her info.

her we are...reunited finally!

the kids were so excited when they were finally able to come and visit. they all wanted to hold her and love her.

kael was very sweet with her and was giving her kisses!

cullan was also very sweet. when it was his turn he started to rock her and sing twinkle twinkle little star to her.

Briea was over the moon. It was like her own personal baby doll. She kept smiling and saying baby, baby!!

Her is our sweetest new addition!

Welcome to the family Ayla!!

I have a picture of each of our kids with Garran in a rocking chair, so I had to make sure to get one of this

My mom and George surprised us and showed up at the hospital. I had no clue they were coming, but I was so happy to see them. It was a great surprise!!

Thanks for every ones love and support.

My actual c section was not to bad, however I will say this. I would not recommend having one if you have a cough. I told my doctor about it, but they said we would go ahead. Coughing after having a c section is HORRIBLE!! It is very painful and is pretty miserable. I am hoping it will go away quickly so that I will be able to heal that much faster!
here we are, one happy bunch!! let the fun times begin ;0)

anxious...but not.

warning: after writing this, I realized it is a lot of rambling!

well i am starting to feel anxious....kind of... the only thing that i really feel anxious about is meeting our new baby and the unknown of having a c-section. i do not always like going into situations where i do not know what to expect. so even though my doctor has walked me through it and the surgical nurse gave me some info... i still am concerned. some people have told me the pain is completely manageable while others have said it is horrible. i have had major surgeries before and tolerated them pretty well (at least i think) but never a c-section. 

i have to admit that i am also sad that i will not get to hold my baby right away. with all of the other three, well i guess with the exception of cullan (that is a whole other story) i have been able to just hold my baby as soon as they were born. this baby i will not get to hold for a while. i try not to think about it to much. i know it is silly but the thought keeps popping in my head, what if the baby does not bond with me because i do not get to hold them right away. i know that is silly because i have lots of friends that have had c sections, and their children love them with all their hearts. it is just a silly thought that keeps popping in my head.

on the other end of the spectrum, the hours seem to be dragging by today. i feel like i keep looking at the clock and saying...really only 2..3...4 o clock. i am hoping that tomorrow goes faster than today. i have to be at the hospital early in the morning to do some pre-op blood work and have my last ultrasound. they want to check the size one more time and make sure the baby is still looking good.  then after that i will come home, make the kids lunch, finish cleaning upstairs and putting away laundry! (exciting..i know). then tomorrow, the boys have their last night of karate.  they are sad. garran and i have debated on whether or not to sign them up again for the next session. it starts right away and the boys have asked, but with the holidays coming and things like that, we always have to consider our budget. I am hoping we can figure something out so they can go. They really love it and it has been nice to have some thing for them to do to get some energy out and make some friends since neither one of them are doing preschool this year. 

(plus, i think cullan is not going to last much longer outside. he came inside today and said it was to cold to play outside. it is jacket weather for sure, but I had to laugh. i just thought poor kid...you are in for a rough winter if you think this is to cold to play outside in. ;0)

well i feel like I am rambling now!! I plan to post our traditional day before the baby is born picture tomorrow, even though I am dreading it and hate doing it. The kids always like to look at those sort of pictures so i figure I do it for them! One more day...and then it will be time to go!!

posts

i have not really posted a whole lot lately, but we have been busy and we have not really been busy doing stuff that is blog worthy and i would like to think. it is all boring stuff. washing baby clothes, organizing the bedrooms, getting hospital bags ready. i joked with my sister in law that unless everyone wanted me to post a picture of me cleaning a bathroom or folding laundry i don't really have to much to say. 

i have had a couple of doctors appointments and ultrasounds. they all show that everything looks normal. the baby is looking like it might weigh about 7lbs right now. which i would LOVE!! however i have heard that before. i had an ultrasound with Briea on a Monday that they said she would barely weigh 7lbs, on Wednesday of that same week she was born at 9 lbs 3 1/2 oz. YA same thing with the boys, so we will just have to wait and see what next Thursday holds in store for us!

ps. i am really tired of being sick!!

blankets.

this tradition started in our family because of a "friendly neighbor" that i had while pregnant with cullan. she was also pregnant and asked me  if i would be interested in making a blanket for him. i was all over the idea. i loved the thought of him having something i had made for him and it was fun to get to hang out with my friend while we worked on the blankets. 

so first came cullans.

 

I was so excited to wrap him up in this blanket. I have pictures of him in the hospital all cuddled up in his baby lamb blanket.

Then Kael's was next.

 

When I bought Kael's fabric I was not sure if we were having a boy or a girl. We had not had the ultrasound yet, however I love frogs. I used to collect them when I was younger and when I saw this I just feel in love. So I bought it and set it aside! Again my "friendly neighbor" and I worked on the blanket and she did the edging for me because I had no idea what I was doing!

next was Miss B's!

 it took me a while to decide what to do for her. i could not find anything that i was really falling in love with. i would go from fabric store to fabric store trying to find something that stuck out to me. finally I came across this and while it was not my dream fabric, i loved the idea of the soft pink on the blanket. it seemed so girly to me and since Briea was my first girl i decided it was going to work. it is hard to tell but it has patch work pink stars all over it. it is a sweet little pattern and I am glad that I went with it. (ps. by this time my "friendly neighbor" was not my neighbor anymore, so I had to drive out to their new house. it was totally worth it though. i always had fun hanging out working on this sort of thing)

Now for number 4!! 

this blanket, i went in a totally different direction. I looked through the baby section of fabric and saw nothing that i liked. since this baby is going to be a surprise i tried to pick something that could work either way. it is hard to see but this blanket has green, browns, orange, and two different shades of pink. the brown trim seems really dramatic in this picture for some reason.. maybe it is and it just looks different to me in real life.

i like that it is kind of funky and different. i am excited about putting our new little one it and wrapping them up. i was just telling garran today that once I get the blanket done, i know we are close. sadly i did not get to do this blanket with my friend. 3 out of 4 is not bad, but it would have been fun if we still lived closer to do this one together too! so now we just have to wait our 10 days, and we will have our new little babe to wrap up in it!!

September 21st

today marks a big day for me. it starts a big count down, that actually starts to make things seem very real. since we know we are having this babe on October 21st, we have hit the one month mark!!! I can not believe it. this pregnancy has been especially long with all of different things we have gone through. especially this last little bout with the flu. i have to say, i am still not 100% so I am ready to kind of get this last month over with. anyways, i am excited that we are so close and that we will soon get to see what this little one will be!!

ok...here is one more

34 1/2 weeks - 6lbs

well today i went for yet another ultrasound. this time it was local and the beginning of my weekly ultrasounds. anyways, the good news that came from this one is that there is no cleft palate!! woo hoo! they said as far as they could tell everything looked good. one other cool thing that i got to see was the baby practicing breathing. i had never got to see that before. we only have 5 more weeks! it is starting to fly by as i am starting to stock up on diapers and wash baby clothes and all that fun stuff.

yet another one...

today i went to have yet another ultrasound. they are becoming a VERY regular thing. for most people that would be great fun, however i have to drive an hour just to get to the place, so you can see how it gets a little old. especially when you have super stubborn baby like mine. this baby absolutely will NOT cooperate with any of the techs or doctors that try to sneak a peak. we still have no idea about the cleft palate thing because the baby refuses to let us see its face! i have no idea where this child gets its stubbornness from (if you could see me, you would know i was motioning towards garran and he would probably be motioning towards me!) I guess we will just have to wait like people have done for years and years!! right now our little bundle of joy is weighing in at 5lbs 1 ounce. Not huge but about a pound ahead of schedule. we will see what happens. hopefully the next 6 weeks go by quickly. i am starting to feel tired all the time and i am so ready to meet this little cutie that i can hardly wait!

finally some photos

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finally, some pictures. anyways the ultrasound went well. the baby is in a crazy position. so it was hard to see things. including the whole cleft palate thing. so that is still a mystery. we will just have to wait and see. right now the baby is weighing in at 3 lb 13oz and also has hair, already. this little one kept doing these crazy yoga position, hand and feet in face the whole time. so anyways, we are hoping that this little one moves by next week. they really need a new position to see everything. come on baby...move!!
that white bar looking thing wrapped around the side of the baby's face is an arm. stubborn little thing!

for posterity

i HATE posting these pictures. i have never been one of those super cute pregnant ladies. however, i am doing this for this baby. i know how much the boys enjoy seeing pictures of when i was pregnant with them and when they were little. they go and get there specific photo albums (yes they each have there own, i know i have a problem) and ask me or garran to tell them stories about when they were little. so anyways, i was going through old blogs and found a picture of myself at the exact same point in Briea's pregnancy. So i thought, well it is time. the only other picture i post is the morning of, right before we leave for the hospital. So here we are, 30 weeks and counting. my doctor is concerned about size as always, so i have to start getting regular ultrasounds to check on this little chunk. we will see. i will post updates as we go!

baby update!

well i had another dr.'s appointment today. the baby's heartbeat sounded good. it was in the 150's. my doctor wants me to keep a close eye on fetal movements. especially with the whole GD thing. so I am going to start charting it, or at least keeping a close eye on it. I am sure there are charts online I could download or something. anyways, i also am going to have to start driving about an hour away every few weeks to have ultrasounds and some monitoring done each week. my doctor is very concerned about the babies size since my 3 previous babies were all 9 + pounds without gestational diabetes. so even being monitored she is thinking this babe might be a chunky monkey. They also want to do some checking into the whole cleft palate thing. So my first round of test should be in two or three weeks and then it will be on a more regular basis from then till delivery. I am just ready to have this baby and know that everyone is happy and healthy!!

10 weeks!

that is all that is left. since we are having a c-section we know for sure the date. (unless something would happen to move it up) so as for now, the countdown is on!!! woo hoo. 10 weeks! in a way i can not believe it and in another it has gone so fast. i have to admit that with everything going on with this pregnancy, I am a little anxious to get to the end of it. plus you get to see a sweet new baby!!

so today it starts...10 weeks and counting!

something new

so i failed both of my diabetes test. BLAH! for the first time ever. it stinks. however, it is not all that bad either. i had to go for training on Friday at the local hospital. it took about two hours and they explained everything from things i should avoid eating to how to use my new handy dandy glucose meter. i have to go back in a week to see if i need to be put on insulin. the nurse seems to think that i might. her reasons are that my body does fine during the day processing everything and my levels are good, however at night while i am asleep is when the problem occurs. i wake up with high blood sugar, which i guess means that i might need a little extra insulin before bed. thank goodness this is only for the next three months. at least that is what they tell me. there is a small chance in anyone who has gestational diabetes that it could stay after the baby but they said that my chances are pretty slim. i have a new sympathy for people that have to do all this on a regular basis. so for this week i am trying out the new system and by next Friday we will know about the insulin. WOO HOO! (sorry i can get a little sarcastic at times) so for now I am staying positive. it could always be worse.

new news

well today i had my monthly check up for baby to be. things went pretty well and standard for the most part. heart beat was good and i drank my nasty glucose stuff. blah. it really isn't that bad, i just hate drinking that stuff. anyways the only thing that was really any different is that the doctor said that she had some concerns about the results of the ultrasound.

of course my heart sank immediately. i felt sick. however, as she started to talk things started to get better. she said that during both of the ultrasounds they were not able to see the baby's upper lip. the doctor said that this was not a definite result but that it did mean that there was a chance that the baby had a cleft palate. i kind of took a breath of relief.

while i would prefer that there be nothing wrong, (which still might be the case) this seems so minor. i think of all the horrible things that could be wrong and this seems pretty minor. yes if the baby does have a cleft palate, there will be surgery to correct it and that is concerning. only because it is surgery and you never want to see your kids have to undergo that. so right now we are hoping for the best and that they just were not able to get a clear view. we are also looking into getting a 3D ultrasound to see if they can get a better picture of what is going on. not that it would really change anything, more to just prepare us for what we might have to take care of.

so for now keep your fingers crossed. we are going to say a little prayer and hope that things work out no matter what the outcome. right now we are just grateful that it was not something serious.

baby to be

well i realized that lately i have not posted much about our soon to be newest addition. our little mystery baby is the most active of all my kids. night and day this little one is kicking and moving. in some ways i am happy about that. i would rather it be that way than not moving that often, however at 2:30 in the morning, a little break would be ok. we are still in the process of figuring out names. we have decided that if it is a girl she will have two middle names like B. if its a boy, just one like our other two. names are always hard. what do you want to call your child for the rest of their lives. i have always liked my name, but I know people who have hated theirs and have always wanted to change it.

we are starting to realize that October will be here before we know it. i mean in three weeks i will be starting my third trimester. YIKES! in a way i will be excited to get there and in other ways i want to really enjoy this pregnancy. the kids are definitely excited. cullan always comes up and asks if he can talk to the baby in my tummy. kael asks every single morning if the baby is coming today. briea i don't really think has any clue but will love having a baby in the house. she LOVES babies. i have my next appointment monday. the dreaded glucose test! i guess it is not that bad, i just hate drinking that stuff. i hope everything goes well like with the other three. well off to chase the three i have! my energy is already starting to fade in the afternoons. this should be interesting when garran goes back to school.

round two.

well i guess i was not the only one that thought yesterdays ultrasound was a bust. the doctor called this morning and said that she was not happy with the ultrasound at all. that the pictures were not clear and that the girl had even forgotten a couple of things. i am hoping round two goes a little better and hopefully they will get all the images that they need.

i was nervous when they called because I thought that something might have been wrong with the baby. however she said that from what the could see, everything looked ok. they just wanted to see it a little bit better. oh well. we will see what happens. off to schedule the next ultrasound.

uneventful ultrasound

well this was by far the least fun ultrasound i have ever had. it started off lame because it was a student and an instructor, so they would not turn the monitor so I could see anything. BLAH! Then it took forever and the poor girl that was the student was having a hard time because the baby would not cooperate. It took an hour. It was the longest one that I have EVER had.

However on a different note. Even if we wanted to find out what we were having, we would not be able to. This baby was sitting with its legs crossed and would not budge. Oh well. Guess it worked out the way we wanted anyways!!

Oh and the lamest part. We got no pictures at all. NOTHING!

Guess we will just have to wait and see what the real baby looks like!

today!!!

we are going for the ultrasound!
we are being brave and taking the whole gang since we do not know any sitters here. wish us luck. i am hoping to get some cute pictures.

baby news

well for starters I have to say that I really love my new doctor!!! I was very worried because I have not always had great luck with my doctors in the past, however this one is great.
she is very to the point, which I like. She is personable and easy to talk to which I also like.
so for my first appointment this is what we have learned.

1. i have an ultrasound tomorrow. if everything goes according to plan, we will not be finding out the sex.
2. my doctor has already decided that we are going to have a c-section at 39 weeks. due to complications with cullans delivery and due to the size of our babies, that is what she feels will be the best plan.

*the funny part to that is that 39 weeks starts on October 18th. Cullan's birthday is the 17th. YIKES! Hopefully cullan will not mind it being so close.

so for now we have a lot of info to digest and some other decisions to make. i will post pics tomorrow if we get anything good at the ultrasound!

oh we're halfway there.....

this ultrasound is old. it was from when I was 12 weeks.

ok, i was singing the title like that bon jovi song!! i am so excited. i did not even realize but yesterday marked the halfway point in this pregnancy. its not that i don't enjoy being pregnant because on some levels i do. but the fact that this is the last also is starting to really be ok for me. I have always like the idea of four kids and so i am happy with this. i can not remember if i have posted this before or not but because we have two boys and a girl, we are not going to find out what this baby is. we have decided to just let it be a surprise. it will be fun. however it does complicate picking a name, which is never easy for us. so far the only suggestion is from cullan and he wants to name the baby giggler whistle! so we will see if garran and i can come up with anything better! i have my next appointment on the 14th with my new ob. i am a little worried just because i really loved my old doctor and am a little worried about trying someone new.

if anyone knows any great baby names or fun websites, let me know....right now...we are drawing blanks!

annoyed~

(remember before reading this what i said about my raging prego hormones)

ok this blog might sound a little harsh, but oh my goodness i came home so annoyed about twenty minutes ago. i had to go to a local super center and return some fish tank filters, because i bought the wrong ones last week (again i might add my brain often goes on vacation). anyways back to the story, so i am standing in line waiting to return these filters and am watching these four teenagers sitting on a bench by me. they are obviously couples (two boys & two girls) and they are all chatting and talking about what candy they should go buy. for starters let me say that i completely get that teenage girls are giggly and flirty and all that. but when did it start to be cool to be an IDIOT. i mean these girls were acting like they could not make common sense decisions. it was making me sick. i thought is this what guys like-girls with no opinion and that act like they have the intelligence of a second grader when they are 16 or 17 years old. i wanted to lean over and say "ITS NOT CUTE TO BE AN IDIOT, JUST TELL THEM YOUR REAL OPINION" i am sure this is coming off really harsh but i was just so annoyed.

sorry for my venting blog!