Anne Noelle

Finally! She is here! Last Friday, May 18 at 6:59 p.m., Anne Noelle was born into this world. To say we are thrilled, would be an understatement!

Her story actually starts the night before. Thursday evening I had just had it. Emotionally and physically I felt as though I just couldn't go any more. I had a breakdown, and my girls surrounded me, prayed for me, and that evening around 11:30 p.m. I awoke to contractions. They stayed five minutes apart for the next hour, so I decided to get up and get our birthing pool set up and start preparing for a long night. I checked my phone and saw my sister, Ashlea, had texted me a message saying "C'mon Anne Noelle!" I texted her back and said it looked as though things were finally going to start. I called my midwife to give her the heads up and she said she would let the rest of the team know and they would make their way out. My contractions continued until they arrived, around 1:30-2:00 in the morning. Nate and I went for a walk around the pivot and they continued. We got back to the house and decided to try and rest until things started picking up. I laid down and my contractions started petering out. I was so disappointed.....a false alarm!

Everyone slept and the next morning before they left, my midwife checked me and said I was four centimeters and 75% effaced. She went ahead and stretched me and said to call when things picked up. After they left, I stayed in bed most of the morning. I was so tired, disappointed, and just uncomfortable. Anne had dropped a couple weeks earlier and so I had a lot of pressure and could feel her shoulders pushing on my pelvic bone every time I stood up or rolled over in bed.

Lunchtime came and I noticed my contractions were starting back up again. They were about five minutes apart. The girls went to play at a friend's house and Landon went to his grandma's for a nap, so I had the house to myself. I started cleaning my kitchen, washed my floors, cleaned bathrooms, picked up the kids rooms. My contractions got closer together. When they were about three to four minutes apart, I texted my midwife to let her know. I started heating hot water on the stove to keep my pool hot. I started to notice more pressure on my bottom, so I texted again, around 2:30-3 in the afternoon, and my midwife said she would be coming back out. I called Nate to let him know he should be coming home soon, and then decided to get in my pool to relieve some of my back pain.

I got in the pool, and as I sat there, something didn't feel right. The water wasn't warm enough, the pool seemed too big, and I wasn't comfortable giving birth in it. For those who know me, this is super unusual. Water births are my drug. The water helps me deal with labor and delivery.

I got out of the pool and decided to set up a birthing area back in our bedroom and out in the living room, just in case we were in either place when it was time. Nate came home and I continued to labor. The midwives showed up between 4 and 4:30.  Around 6:30 I sometimes felt as though I could almost push, so I had her check me. I was 8 cm. She broke my water and I made my way back to our bedroom. I had a little bit of a break before it was time to push. We were talking and laughing. I felt a contraction coming on and suddenly it was go time!!

The whole pushing process lasted, maybe ten minutes, but it was the most intense ten minutes of my life!! One thing I love about my midwives, is they take their time. They coach me through every last detail so as to help me not to tear. Anne crowned and when she did she didn't turn to the side like most babies do. They turn to the side so you can dip their shoulders and they usually just fall right out. Because Anne didn't do this, my midwife had to help her out some. She had to reach up (yes!) and move her! I didn't know any of this until after, which is probably best, but it needed to be done. Anne had arrived!

She came out with her eyes opened and her lungs working overtime! Nate cut the cord and we wrapped up our baby and just enjoyed the fact that she was here and everything was okay. As time went on, it became apparent that my uterus wasn't contracting the way it should have been. I hadn't lost a lot of blood during delivery, but afterwards it wasn't slowing and stopping like it should have been. I took some herbs and pills that cause the uterus to start contracting. Anne also was nursing, but it was like my uterus became lazy. They put an ice pack on my stomach, which hardened my uterus right up and I started having afterbirth pains, which is a good thing. Once they were satisfied that everything was working properly, the weighing and measuring began.

Anne was 7 pounds, 14 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. She falls right in the middle of our brood.
Here is a sweet picture of her and her daddy....

It's been almost a week now, and Anne has been doing a great job. At this point she seems like a fairly content baby, and pretty easy going, which will be needed around here! I am feeling good and getting around easier every day. We are so thankful for all the prayers and encouragement over the last few weeks as we were waiting for her arrival. We are so thankful for a healthy baby girl and a quick and safe delivery. Our midwives are amazing and we have been so blessed to have them for our children's' births.
We are so glad you are here Anne Noelle!

Birthdays, Houses & Babies

It's been a while since I have been on here. Life has been moving pretty fast lately. There haven't been too many weeks where we didn't have anything going on. April is a busy month for us because we have two birthdays. Charlotte is the beginning and Larissa is at the end. Nate's birthday is the first of May. So there's lots of celebrating going on here in the spring! Here is some pictures of the birthday girls.....

We don't do birthday parties every year, where they invite friends over. Charlotte turned five, so she got to have a birthday party, and the next one will be when they turn ten. Which, in Larissa's case, will be in two more years! So we celebrated her birthday with Grandpa and Grandma.

The house is coming along. We had some great help a couple weekends ago, and got the shingles off the roof. The addition is done, and the guys have been working on the carport, back porch roof and front porch roof. They are pretty much done with that as well. Hopefully we'll get to order the steel soon for the roof!

Here is our front porch! I can't wait to put a rocking chair out here and rock our little baby!

This is our addition. This will be our bedroom, bathroom & closet.

Back porch. It now goes all the way over to the carport, so we will have a nice covered area back here. 

Carport. We are looking forward to having a semi protected area to park our vehicles. 

As you can tell, it was ballet night when we stopped for pictures! I am nearing 39 weeks now. Hopefully not too much longer. I have been having contractions and when I went for my checkup this week, my midwife checked position of baby, and baby has dropped down and is "engaged", meaning her head has dropped down into the birth canal and can't be moved out. So that is good! I feel a lot of pressure and can feel her shoulders pushing down on my bones. It's getting harder to get up off the sofa or a chair! :) I am praying that baby comes soon. This is the closest my ultrasound due date and my calendar due have ever been. Two days apart, so I am hoping this means I won't be going too much over.

Nate has been busy with cutting hay, baling hay, and basically, all matters of hay! I have been trying to be diligent in getting as much school in as possible before baby comes. I should also be freezing meals and doing some extra cleaning, but until I get lunch over and cleaned up, I am worn out.

But we are all ready for baby. I have my pool, my birthing kit, and all her clothes are washed and hanging in Landon's closet for her. We are looking forward to meeting Anne Noelle. Hopefully sooner then later!

Hope

It's been a while since I've posted, and yes, I am still great with child!  I was thinking this morning about how even though this is my fourth time around, and my other three were all late, I still cling to hope that perhaps this time will be different. I am watching for any little indication that labor might be just around the corner. And while this one is definitely lower then the other three ever were, and I am experiencing occasional contractions, I have a feeling he will be hanging out for a while longer. Alaina likes to ask if he's still cooking. Yes, our babies like to cook for a while! The last couple weeks, when we put the kids to bed at night, Larissa will get teary and say, "Mommy, I thought our baby brother would be here by now!" And I usually tell her that she needs to pray that he comes soon, which she does and asks for a healthy and strong baby. It's really sweet. It will be so interesting to see how our family changes to accommodate a new addition. Charlotte likes to come over and just kiss my belly. Just random times throughout the day, she'll come over and say she is giving her baby a kiss. It's been a lot of fun to go through this pregnancy with the girls. With how close they were in age during my earlier pregnancies, there wasn't the inquisitiveness or excitement over a baby. That has definitely been fun this time around.
But I digress, I was thinking this morning about hope, and how no matter how many times we may be knocked down, feel totally defeated, there is still that small spark of hope. I am so glad that God has given us a hope to keep trying, to keep living, to keep dreaming. Sometimes it's hard to see a reason to hope, to keep believing and trusting, but I have seen so many situations that seemed so utterly hopeless, and miraculously, God turned them into something beautiful. Sometimes it can happen in an instant, in days, months, and perhaps it can take years, but He IS faithful, even when we are not.
So, I am just going to continue hoping that perhaps in the next week and a half, I will be blogging again, sharing pictures of our new baby, and not lamenting the fact that I am STILL waiting!