Our Week with Nonnie

Last week, my mom came to stay with us and give us one more week of full-time help. And boy was it nice! It gave me one more week to really get acquainted with June while Nonnie entertained the boys and kept things going in the house. Also, it was wonderful for me to have some companionship with Dan going back to work. Unfortunately it rained most of the week, but we still managed to come up some fun things to do.
June made her first trip to the library with me, Nonnie, and Will.

Finally on Friday, we got a break from the rain and so Nonnie took the boys to the park.

Thanks again, Nonnie, for all your help and for giving up a week to come spend it with us. I cannot even express to you how much you helped out! And as always, the kids and I are ready for your next visit whenever you are! :)

June's Birthday

Here is the story of the day June came into the world.
Friday afternoon, I had gone for my 40 week check-up with my OBGYN and things were not really progressing all that much. I was barely 2 cm dilated(I had been 1 cm for the past 2 weeks) and she wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure all was good in utero. And, of course, it was. The ultrasound came back saying that she was a little behind schedule size wise, so I left the appointment feeling like I was going to be pregnant at least one more week. My OB set up an appointment for me to come back on Monday and I would then start coming every 3 days or so until birth just to keep an eye on things since I was going past due date. But, I have to say how happy I am with Dr. Fyke. I never felt pressured to "speed" things up or felt like she was giving me a deadline.
So, Friday night, I went home with a whole new outlook and started to plan what I was going to do the next week to keep myself busy until baby decided to come.
The Landrys came over for a cookout and we ended up playing dominos and hanging out all evening. I was having some mild contractions, but I just assumed they were occurring from being checked at my doctor's appointment which had happened most other weeks.
We went to bed around 11 and I fell right to sleep.
Then, around 2:30 am or so, I was woken up by some serious contractions. So, I got up, played on my phone for a little while and waited for them to calm down. Instead of calming down, they got stronger and closer together. After about 45 minutes or so, I woke Dan up just to let him know what was going on. We were both very nonchalant about the whole thing and I just kept waiting for the contractions to stop. At this point, I decided to make a bowl of soup to prepare for the "long day" I was going to have ahead of me, but I couldn't hardly eat the soup because the contractions were so regular and I was starting to get very uncomfortable.
At 4:30 or so, we started to time the contractions and they were consistently 2-3 minutes apart and lasting about 50 seconds each. I couldn't believe how regular they were already since I was sure I was just getting started with labor. Dan then wanted to call my mom to let her know what was going on so she could start heading up here. I was still being pretty stubborn and convinced him to wait another hour.
I also knew that I needed to get in 2 rounds of antibiotics during labor because I was GBS positive, which would take at least 4 hours in the hospital. Dan was really pushing me to go ahead and go to the hospital, but again I was resisting because I still thought we were early on in the game.
Finally at 6:30, we called Clay to come over and sit with the boys(still asleep) until my mom and dad could get into town and we headed out for the hospital.
When they checked me, I was 6 cm and really moving quickly. I was shocked, but also relieved to know that the contractions I was experiencing were the real deal. I was really doubting being able to go au natural if I was only 2 or 3 cm dilated at this point and the contractions were this strong.
The nurses quickly hooked up the antibiotics in hopes of being able to get 2 rounds in before baby was born, but even they were not so sure that was going to happen. It took about an hour getting checked in and about 15 minutes sitting in the bed to let the antibiotics go in. I was actually pretty comfortable in the bed and didn't mind sitting through the contractions. I had this vision that I would want to be walking around, bouncing on the exercise ball, or even taking a shower to alleviate pain during contractions, but ended up either sitting in the bed or standing next to the bed pretty much the whole time. Things kept progressing pretty quickly and by about 9:15 we asked to be checked again and I was 9cm but my water still had not broken. The doctor started to talk about wanting to break my water, but I asked to wait and see if it would break on its own. So, after about another hour of walking around and standing, I was able to break my own water, by bearing down one good time. Then, it was time to push. And at 10:31 am, we got to meet June Elizabeth, all 7 lb 15 oz and 20 inches of her! I would definitely have to say that labor was more painful this way because I felt EVERYTHING, but it was so quick, and totally worth it.
We called Nonnie and Papaw right away and they brought the boys up to meet the newest addition.


Needless to say, we didn't get the second round of antibiotics in, but the baby and I were both perfectly healthy. They even let us all go home on Sunday. At first I thought I would want to stay the 2 nights, but after one long night of lots of interruptions and an uncomfortable bed, I figured we would take our chances at home. :)
I cannot say enough good things about the nursing staff at OCH or Dr. Brown. Everyone was so respectful of our wishes and so positive the entire time. It was one of the best days of my life and we have one beautiful baby girl to show for all our hard work!
God has blessed our family beyond measure and I don't think I will even begin to understand why we have been given all that we have. I will just continue to say thank you every day for these 3 perfect children and God's ever present handiwork in our lives.

Our first week at home

We have had a whirlwind of a first week home with lots of fun, family, and not a lot of sleep! ha!
June has been a sweet baby so far, and seems to just fit right in.
Nursing is going really well which is such a relief for me. This has probably been my number 1 worry for the past 9 months, but she is a champ and I am really enjoying bonding with my sweet little girl.
She is not the greatest sleeper so far, but then again, what newborn is? Each night has gotten a little bit better, so maybe we will all get it figured out soon.

Anyway, here is a rundown of our first week with little miss priss:

Papaw and Jabo returned home on Sunday, then Nonnie headed out on Monday and Gigi stayed the week here with us. We absolutely could not have gotten by this week without her! She cooked delicious meals EVERY night, cleaned the house, entertained the boys, ran errands, and just about anything else that needed to happen around the house, Gigi took care of it. I cannot thank her enough and am so very thankful to have such an amazing mother-in-law! I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am to have a mother-in-law that they feel as comfortable around as I do. Our whole family genuinely enjoyed every minute with her this week!

Monday:
A pretty low-key day just trying to get adjusted to being home and getting ready for the week. Gigi took the boys for a ice cream treat at Bop's, then came home and did these fun projects. Gigi had a great bag of tricks for the week with tons of Pinterest projects to keep the boys busy.



This is the first day that we noticed a racoon that has taken up residency in our backyard(oh joy!).


Tuesday:
Andrew started preschool and was so excited. We found out at the last minute that he was going to start this week, and it ended up working out perfectly to have something special for our "no longer the youngest" kiddo.



Dan and I took June in for a follow-up check-up at the hospital nursery. She was a little jaundice, so we came home with a biliblanket. Boo!

The boys made "cloud dough" with Gigi.



Wednesday:
First thing, back to the hospital for check-up. Jaundice levels coming down and weight holding steady, so the biliblanket was discontinued after just one night. Yay!



Then, the Landrys came by for a quick visit. The boys were so happy to see their friends.

Clay and Michelle came over that afternoon and cooked both lunch and dinner for us all. It was a great way to celebrate the 4th!



Thursday:
Nothing much to report...or I just can't remember what we did. I told you...I am just a little sleep deprived! :)

Friday:
June had one last check-up at the hospital to make sure the bilirubin count was staying down and her weight was still going up. And all was well, so she was cleared until her 2 week check-up.
Kelly, Brett, and family came into town that afternoon to meet baby June!
Patrick and Katie also made it into town that evening. It was such fun to have all the fam around! We played Wii games, chit-chatted, and, of course, ate lots of yummy food.


Saturday:
We celebrated Clay's 24th birthday

Luke's 1st birthday





and June's 1 week old day!

The kids made slime with Gigi. Will decided this was his favorite project of the week.


Sunday:
Kelly and Brett headed out early on Sunday, and the rest of us made it to 11:30 mass. June did great and slept pretty much the entire time.

All of our guests left on Sunday afternoon. We had so much fun with everyone and it really made our first week home with June! Dan and I love having family around and there is no better way to celebrate our new baby's entrance into the world than sharing it with everyone. Thanks to everyone for coming and we can't wait for the next visit!

Baby June is here!!

June Elizabeth made her grand entrance into the world on Saturday, June 30th at 10:31 am. She weighed 7 lb 15 oz and was 20 inches long. She is such a sweetheart and the perfect little addition to our family! I will write a post later with more about her birthday and all the goings ons around here, but for now here are some of the pictures from June's first couple of days.
The boys kept a close eye while she got her first bath.











A sweet kiss from Andy-bear...





Will was so proud to help the nurse escort June out to the car. He actually took the innitiative to push the cart on his own. I think he is going to be one protective big brother! :)

Home together as a family of FIVE!!