Beef Tips, One Month Checkup, Beautiful Thursday, and a Visit with a Sweet Friend

Hi Everyone! What a great Thursday and a beautiful day! The sunshine felt great.

I thought I'd post about a recipe that I made two nights ago. We loved it, and it was so easy. But the baby did not handle it through my breastmilk at all. I'm thinking it was the mushrooms. She cried and screamed until after 12:30 am. Not fun for either of us. So, if you're NOT breastfeeding, I highly recommend this dish!

 Slow-cooker Beef Tips

2 lbs sirloin tips

8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

1/2 cup red cooking wine

Mix everything together and cook on low for 6 hours.

I used stew meat. It was really tender for the kids to eat. And it was half the price of the sirloin. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the completed dish.

Yesterday, Bitty Baby had her one month checkup. The doctor was impressed with her strength. She has already rolled over to her tummy by herself. She is a plump little thing measuring in at 8 lbs 7 oz. and 20 1/4 in long. 

Big sister was so patient. I couldn't have asked for a better toddler.

I plan on taking her picture on this quilt each month. I've seen other's do the laundry basket thing, but I love the pattern on this quilt. I never did this with her sister or my older kiddos. So, this should be fun.

Happy One Month sweet baby! I can't wait to see how you grow.

 Today, my mother and I prepared a meal for a new mom at church. I'm so happy to be part of the new meal ministry and be a blessing to our church family. Our church participates in so many outreaches, that we want to take care of our members too. So, when we took the food to the family, we got to visit for a little while as well. 

Such sleepy kiddos. I love the expressions on their faces. So sweet!

Nursery Buddies. 

It was a great visit. These two are exactly 2 weeks apart. I'm sure they will be good friends.

B "mopped" the floor for a good 10 minutes. Mama's helper. 

Tomorrow is Friday. My hubby is staying home to recover. Apparently he is one of the few that has taken a bit longer to recover from that procedure. Can I get a day off too? Pretty please?........

What a weekend!

Ok, so I am just now updating my blog and it's Tuesday. 

Since the baby has been born, my husband and I were concerned about birth control. Neither one of us wanted me to take a pill, and I had a bad experience with an IUD, and there were other methods that just weren't for us. So, on Friday, my husband made a selfless decision and volunteered for him to have a vasectomy. My weekend has been consumed of ice packs and pain meds, waiting on him hand and foot, and offering emotional support. He is on the mend though now.

 But I have to say that in general men are big babies. I know there is a lot of pain associated with this procedure, and I was very sympathetic, most of the time. I will say that it is hard for any woman, that has had a baby, to feel sorry for a man in his condition. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was thinking how he doesn't even know the amount of pain that women go through during childbirth. I just cannot compare the two. But I did what I had to do to take care of him. I love him. And I thank him for making this decision for our family. 

So now there will be no more babies for us. Both of us can concentrate on raising the kids we have, and focusing on our relationship together. Our first wedding anniversary, I was 10 weeks pregnant with B. Our second anniversary, B was still nursing, and was not a happy camper at our dinner. And here we are approaching our third anniversary  with yet another nursing baby. I'm so grateful that we had a date night last month before the baby was born, because it will probably be another year before I'm kid free again. Another thing....I want to get my body back. Not that I had a hot body before. Maybe I can get it in better shape than before. At least I can try. So, from here on out, we are a family of six. 

On Saturday I made my first grocery shopping trip (kinda) by myself. My parents came over to help with the kids, while Hubby rested. And my oldest daughter helped me shop. Of course I had to take the little one with me. I was able to nurse her in the parking lot, right before we went in. She was as good as gold the whole time. She was even so much easier than the toddler. But I was able to get some great deals. And I have a few recipes that I wanted to try. So I got all the stuff to make them. 

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake

This was awesome! And I'm definitely making it again. Yummo!

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake

3 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts

1 pkg frozen spinach

1 can diced tomatoes, Italian, undrained

8 oz uncooked Rigatoni pasta

1 container Philadelphia Cream cheese, Onion and Chive flavor

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook the pasta as directed. Drain spinach and press dry with a paper towel. Mix together chicken, spinach, tomatoes, cream cheese, and pasta, then top with shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

I also made some granola bars. But these turned out like protein bars. I"m going to play around with the recipe a bit more before I post it.

 What a great gift from Hubby's Aunt in California!

It's still a tad bit big, but she will soon grow into it.

Here it is Spring Break and this is what we woke up to this morning. Don't you just love the weather here? It can never make up its mind.

She had her first real bath in her tub today. And Loved it!

Have a great week everyone! And I'll be posting more recipes sometime later this week.

Hairbows and a sick kiddo

Good Afternoon. We've had a lazy day today. My oldest daughter was home sick with croup type symptoms. She's no too bad off and I thought she needed a day of rest with some Mama TLC. I hope she's back to herself by tomorrow. 

I told you all yesterday that I would post pics of the hairbows that I was going to make. I was so blessed to have a friend let me buy her gently used children's clothes. And here lately when I have purchased secondhand clothing for the girls, I have made hairbows to match. I have only bought 2 or 3 brand new outfits for them, so making the hairbows helps me add a little personal touch. These are not all the outfits that I got, but just a few of my favorites. 

B loves ducks, so of course I had to make a bow to match.

This one can clip on a headband.

We had gotten this ribbon back before B was born, and I found it in her drawer this morning. So, I decided to make all 3 girls matching bows. Maybe I can get them to dress alike and take some pics outside, when the weather warms up.

Well, I'm off of here. Got to start dinner. I've got pork chops sat out, and I still need to find something else to go with them. 

Have a great evening. God bless!

I'm ready for Spring!

Good morning everyone! It's almost 9am here at the homestead. Coffee is brewing, laundry is washing, dishwasher is running, big kids are at school, toddler is playing in the living room while watching Sprout, and the baby is next to me in her bouncer. So far, so good this morning. 

It's a pretty day out for the first day of spring, even if it is a bit cool. I can enjoy the sunshine coming through the windows. Sunshine makes me happy. 

Ok, yes, I like John Denver. I used to listen to him on my parents' 8 track player. I don't think kids these days would even know what a 8 track was, or even a cassette for that matter. Ha ha!

There's not much on the agenda today, just my usual housework. And I think that I'm going to lay out some ribbon to make the girls some hairbows to match their summer outfits. If I make them, I post pictures tomorrow. 

Dinner tonight? Spaghetti and Meatballs, thanks to some friends that brought us a few things to stock up in our freezer.....and maybe a salad to go with it. 

Happy Spring!

Getting back in the habit

Tuesday, one day down, 4 more to go, until the weekend. 

Yesterday was a much better day. I was calm, under control, and didn't feel panicked at all. Thank you for your prayer, I felt it. Today, I am finishing a project that I started yesterday. As I have mentioned before, our bedroom had become a catch-all for junk around the house that had no place, or if I quickly needed to hide stuff away for company. ........Be right back......hungry baby, and toddler is done with breakfast....... Ok, I'm back, two hours later.... So, my project is, I've moved the bedroom around and I'm organizing all the junk. It's a lot more complicated than it sounds.

In addition, I'm still doing laundry. It never ends. It seems like I get it caught up, just to start over again. I need to wash the spring/summer clothes for the girls. It's all been up in storage, and it looks like it needs to come out. Next, I'm revamping my cloth diaper system. I'm going to use the old diaper pail in the girls' room, for disposable stuff, and now I have a 5 gallon bucket to use for the cloth diapers. Otherwise we would of filled up the old pail in half a day. I'm probably going to start Bitty Baby on cloth diapers next week.  So, we will need that 5 gallon bucket.

My big kiddos are doing great. One is reading The Hobbit and the other one is gearing up for Middle School cheerleader tryouts. I love them dearly. I know that I don't talk too much about them on here, it seems like the little ones consume most of all our time. My big kids are so much help. And I can't believe that next month I'll have a teenager. A teen and a newborn just within a couple of months. Wow. But I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Ok, so here it is a little after 2pm. I had started this post at 7:45am. It's been a tad bit busy here today. At lunch, both kiddos wanted to eat at the same time. Try telling a hungry toddler that the baby needs to nurse first, and then try telling a newborn that it is extremely hard to cut up a sandwich with her in my arms. Thank God for great parents. Mine came over and held the baby while I helped B with her lunch, nap, and so I could get a shower. Ahh.....I really could call it a day, but I've got to keep the laundry moving. 

Have a great day! I wonder what the rest of the week hold in store for me and this crazy bunch. 

I'm getting caught up

Sorry it's been a bit since I wrote. I have a couple of posts that I've been working on, but just never got the time to finish them. These two little kiddos have been keeping me busy. B has been really acting out. I could write a whole post just on all the stuff that she has been doing. Just her alone makes me want to pull out my hair. But then sometimes, she's so sweet and I want to cuddle her. Bitty Baby has been going through a growth spurt. If I had not ever gone through that before, I would have thought I was starving her. She's wanting to eat anywhere between 1-3 hours, day and night. I'm really praying that she balances out real soon. 

This last week, I've been on edge. I've been emotional, drained, tired, happy, sad, and anxious. Anxiety is something that I've never personally dealt with, but I hope it leaves soon. I am usually in control of my emotions and feelings, and the past few days I have felt panicked and nervous. It's just not me. But I'm not going to talk much about that. My husband says I've been nothing but negative this last week. So, I guess I'll try to bring out some positives. 

This weekend Hubby cleaned up the backyard. We have old maple trees, and anytime the wind blows, there are sticks and branches to pick up. The weather here is starting to feel like spring, and we are gearing up for our garden. We bought 3 different lettuce seeds, spinach, cabbage, basil, tarragon, thyme, and lavender. I didn't have time to plant them yesterday, as I had planned, and today it is raining. I wish I had a clone of myself, and a moment of sunshine today. I would like to get them planted. Also I had some potatoes that had grown some eyes, I had already cut them up, to let them scab over. And they are waiting patiently on my countertop to be planted.

After the backyard was cleaned up we went to the park to try out our new double stroller and to let B play on some of the play equipment. The park was so packed with people, that the toddler playset was not accessible. We took her to another area, but there wasn't much that she could play on. But I think she still had fun. It was a nice day to get out of the house. 

She didn't know what to think about the slide.

Finally got a smile!

Bitty Baby getting some sunshine.

We had a great time at the park. I didn't do too much walking, as I'm just starting to add more exercise. But I think Daddy needs to build the girls a playset in the backyard. I have some plans, but as usual I need to get him on board. If I can just get hime to see my vision, through my eyes, I think he'l love it. 

Here are some more pictures from this last week.

Enjoy!

Putting on my Big Girl Pants Today

The day has arrived. I knew it would come. It's sort of bittersweet.

I loved the comfort of having my hubby home with me these last 2 weeks. He has been my extra set of hands, my shoulder to cry on, and my support. And he actually amazed me by how many poopy toddler diapers he has changed. Thank God they were all in disposables. I don't think he could have handled the cloth diaper poopies. But I miss him today. The house has been quiet, all for the loud toddler, who is now making baby sounds. And I'm kinda lonesome. But he has to go back to work. He is the bread-winner of our family, and I thank him for that.

Never mind the shirt. It was a freebie......

I'm trying to welcome back routine. Bitty Baby is getting woke up every two hours to eat, and is currently asleep in her bouncer, sitting on my kitchen table, as I type. The 16 month old has been playing in the living room, reading her books, pulling laundry out of the baskets of stuff that need to get folded, and is now eating a rice cake in her high chair. Eventually, I'll find some sort of schedule that works for me. I'm such a schedule person. I do best and my kids do best, when I actually stick to it. The dishes have been done, the kitchen floor has been swept, all before 10am. That's something to be proud of. Now if I can just conquer the dusting, floors, and toys in the living room. We have one more meal (with extra stuff) being brought by later today. I would feel so much better knowing my house was somewhat presentable. The main thing though is laundry. I hate laundry, and I'm all the time putting it off until I absolutely have to wash it. It's never ending and always there. 

And sleep......what sleep? Well, it sure was a bit better last night. We tried gripe water. She's already acting colicky at two weeks old. And I did something I didn't want to do......I put her in bed with me last night. And she slept four hours at a time. Thank God! But I plan for this not to last long. My main objective right now is to turn nights back into nights, and days back into days. Then we will work on the sleeping arrangements. Hee hee!

Just some extra pics of 2 of my girls. They're both so small and change all the time. I have to capture these moments before they're lost.

Have a blessed day. 

Monday, dreaded Monday

I don't know why I have dreaded today. I guess I know that it is bringing me closer to Wednesday. That is the day that I fly solo. Up until now, I've had my husband here to help, and wonderful friends and family to bring us meals. It has been such a blessing. It would have been perfect if I had a maid. Hee hee! But it's been good practice for me to get up and try to do stuff around the house.

This weekend my husband installed a jump seat in our truck. Before that, we had a console between the two front seats, and we only had seating for Five. But now we are Six. And I've been freaking out for months about how we would all fit in that truck. I never could persuade him to get a mini van. But now we are set. The seat folds down, and even has a seat belt. It kinda feels like we are all packed in there like a bunch of sardines, but hey, it works!

Sunday, yesterday, was our first day back to church. Of course everyone had to take a peek at the bitty baby. Poor sister, didn't get her usual attention. But she's still cute to me.

Just look at those CHOMPERS! 

She seems so big now. I think she's about to go on a growth spurt. I remember with my older two, that when they started getting pudgy in the middle, they were about to shoot straight up. I hope she's about to go up, lol. 

I've not really done a lot around here. For some reason, my body just hurts and aches all over. I feel much better after I sleep, when I can sleep, that is. Last night the bitty baby was awake most of the night, and I felt like someone beat me with a ball bat this morning, but the night before last, she slept six hours straight. What a relief. I wish she would do that every night. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten those seven Hershey's Kisses right before bed. You think?

I have the hardest time trying to get B in the picture too. She just won't hold still.

She is too sweet. You can get any more precious than that. 

I don't have much to write about today. I'm just trying to rest up and sleep when I can. 

Thank you for all your prayers for myself and my dad. Dad is out of the hospital. Surgery went good, and he is having a post-op check up this afternoon. I will know more later.

A Day in the Boro

Today was a great day to get out, even if it was a bit chilly.

  We had to take the baby back to the nursery at the hospital for have her hearing test done again. She had failed the test in her right ear, before we had left the hospital last Friday. She still had some vernix in her ear. But today she passed both ears, 100%. 

She slept all the way through the test. Such a good sport.

After we left the hospital, we headed to one of our favorite eating spots, Demos'. The baby was getting hungry too, so I decided to nurse her in the car before we went in. We were in my parents' Expedition, and with 2 car seats and me sitting in the second row, it was hard to find a spot to change her diaper. So I laid her on the middle console and proceeded to change her. Right in mid diaper switch she decided to initiate me into the poop-club. It went everywhere....on the changing pad, down my jeans, on my shoe, on the floor. And all my parents could do was laugh. I don't think I was as amused as they were, but I'm glad they got a kick out of it. 

We all enjoyed a delicious lunch. I wish I had pictures of Miss B propping her feet up on the table. She's never done that before. And no matter how many times I tried to get her feet down, she became that more persistent to put them right back. Strong willed is an understatement with this child. Lunch was great. I had a little bit of anxiety with the waiter trying to rush me, but I also understand my body is still going through lots of changes. My hormones and emotions have been on a roller coaster the past few days. And sitting in an extremely busy restaurant pushed them slightly to the edge today. But thankfully I have tomorrow and Saturday to just relax and rest. Something that I need to take advantage of before Hubby goes back to work on Wednesday.

This little Squirt has become a major Camera Ham. Now anytime I get the camera out, she says "Cheeeeese". It's so cute. She stayed awake the whole way home, which never happens. We sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Apples and Bananas" (her favorite song), and "Pat a Cake". She pointed at her body parts. So far she knows: eyes, ears, nose, hair, tongue, mouth, teeth, belly button, fingers, hands, belly, elbows, feet, toes, and bottom. Such a smart cookie! She makes me proud. 

No nap for me today, but B took a great one. I had too much to get done once we got home. I'm hoping to sleep in just a bit tomorrow morning. I'm feeling much better today. I haven't taken my blood pressure since last night. I've just been chugging lots of water, and trying to relax. My headache went away yesterday evening, almost dramatically. It was there, and then it wasn't. So I'm very very thankful of all your prayers. 

I'm absolutely amazed at the people who have taken care of us this time around. We have had families from church bring us meals, and two of our neighbors have brought us food. Today when I got home, I was actually thinking about what we were going to have for dinner, when one of our neighbors called. She had made a large pot of vegetable soup, and wondered if we wanted any. It was great. She brought soup, cornbread, and some really yummy homemade chewy granola bars. I'm wanting to make some now. Maybe I'll search the web for some recipes. 

After dinner the kids , except for the baby, all were spinning in circles in the living room. It's a wonder that nobody got sick from being dizzy. They had a great time. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful big kids. They love their little sister, and have so much fun with her. I hope they always have a great relationship with each other. 

My oldest being silly in the kitchen. You should have seen the other faces he was making before this one. He really is a handsome fella. When he's not goofing off.......

Alrighty Blogger Friends, I'm calling it a night. And hoping to get some rest.

Please say a special prayer for my dad. He is having surgery on his shoulder tomorrow at 4 pm  Please pray that the surgery goes good, and that his shoulder comes out better than before he hurt it. Thank you all.

Already a week old...

I can't believe our tiny little baby is already a week old. Time does fly!

I know I should be resting, but I had to take advantage of everyone in this house, but me, sleeping. The house is quiet, all for the television going and the sound of me typing. A week, I better not blink, or they'll be in college. Our sweet baby is so cuddly and snugly  She hardly ever cries, at this point. I know that will change later on, but right now I'm savoring all of the sweetness. She is a quiet baby, and not very active, like her sister. 

Speaking of her sister, B is starting to warm up to her a bit. She wants to hug and kiss on her. She points at her and calls her Baby. I think she's starting to grasp the idea that the "baby" is not in my belly anymore. LOL. B wants to be a big helper. She brings me diapers and wipes. And she has tried to put the baby's hat on her, which she kinda got fussed at for. Over all she has been very gentle. I have to watch for the occasional poke and pinch. I think she's trying to figure out if she's real or a doll. But she's handling the transition better than I thought. My husband and I are giving her extra attention. And I especially try to set aside some time to hold her and read to her. Lord knows I have the bitty baby in my arms over half the day. 

Breastfeeding is going good now. She's eating about every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. I wake her up often during daylight hours, and I dare not touch her at night. The lights stay dim. I don't talk to her, and only do what I have to do at night. This method has always worked well for me. Nighttime is quiet and daytime is noisy, or at least music or TV is playing. 

My blood pressure is still a little bit elevated. I heard back from the doctor's office today. She said it could last up to 6 weeks postpartum. I'm praying that it resolves itself a lot sooner than that. Hopefully in the next couple days. I've been instructed to rest and drink a ton of fluids. I don't know how much more fluids I can stand. LOL. I know my husband is looking forward to me getting back to normal. He is definitely not made out for this Mr. Mom stuff. Bless his heart. He is doing the best he can. And after this week, I hope to never hear out of his mouth, "So what did you do all day?". Ha Ha! I'll have to remind him of this week. He has taken the kids to school and picked them up. Taken my daughter to and from gymnastics. Taken us to the pediatrician, washed dishes, washed laundry, let the dogs in and out all day long, swept the floors, CHANGED B's POOPY DIAPERS, taken out trash, given B her bath, cleaned the highchair, supervised a monkey of a toddler, etc.......

And that's just a taste of my normal day. Throw in there a dinner, and it makes it close. 

I know he has worked so hard, and I'm so appreciative of it. He's exhausted. I bet he looks forward to going back to work, kinda like a vacation. Nah, but close. 

Just a few pics from last night.

Two Peas in a Pod. Their personalities are a lot alike.

Such a sweet face. She was curled up on my belly.

What a wrinkly forehead. LOL.

Well, back to rest for me. Keep me in your prayers. They're working. 

And thank you ladies for the wonderful meals. You don't know how much that has helped us out. We are so blessed!

A Minor Setback

Today our precious baby is already six days old. I can't believe that a week ago I was begging to go into labor. But I am so glad she's here.

Yesterday, we had to take baby M to the pediatrician for her first appointment out of the hospital. She is doing great. My milk has come in and she is definitely an eater. More so than my last one. She reminds me a lot of my oldest daughter. She was also a good eater. And this one has blistered my nipples once again. At least I'm not cracking and bleeding, but it takes a deep breath and a long sigh for me to get through  the pain of her latching on. It's short lived, and soon the blisters will disappear. Well she has gained back 3 oz so far. Her jaundice was a 13, but it should come down soon now that she is drinking real milk. 

During her dr's appointment, I asked if the nurse could take my blood pressure. That morning and the day before, my ankles had started to swell, and now I was noticing pain and tingling in my fingers, and I could feel my heart pulse all over my body. My blood pressure was 149/92. I really didn't expect it to be that high. My BP is usually 117/68-ish. The Pediatrician and nurse recommended that I stop by my OB/GYN and get it checked out. So we drove to the building across the street, and I was able to get in to see the nurse practitioner. After laying on my left side in the office, she sent me next door to the hospital. I was admitted, and they took several hours of blood pressure readings. To this minute, I still don't think they knew what was wrong. They screened me for Preeclampia, which apparently women can still get up to 2 weeks after delivery. But my blood panels came back normal. My reflexes were good, and they couldn't understand why my blood pressure was up. It actually wasn't considered "high". It was borderline. 

I feel so sorry for anyone with High Blood Pressure. That little bit that mine went up, made me feel like my hands and head were going to pop off of my body.

In the hospital I was given 2 extra strength Tylenol  for the headache that I told them had already gone away. And then I was discharged with the instructions to rest and lay on my left side as much as I could. 

Now this is my hypothesis:

I think my body was just exhausted. And just maybe it's my hormones causing the spike in BP. I had such a fast a traumatic birth that my body may have just been shocked and it's taken it a few days to realize the baby is out. lol. 

I felt so great in the hospital, and even when I got home. I know I was supposed to come home and rest, but secretly when Hubby would sleep, I slipped in some housework. I felt so good, and for so long I wasn't able to do much. I suppose I should have let my body rest a few days longer. But ever since yesterday, I have laid on the couch. And I have slept and slept and slept. It feels so good to sleep. Hubby has been such a great help, and I love him for it. 

The extra help around the house and the home cooked meals that family and friend have brought, have been such a blessing. 

Thank you everyone! And please continue to pray for this blood pressure issue to go away. 

Now back to laying on the couch..........

Welcome Home to our New Addition

This is the story of our fourth baby's entrance into this world.

It begins early last Wednesday morning. The last time I had commented about the blog was around 1am. My contractions were 4 minutes apart. I played on the computer and tried to ignore all the contractions, but they were hard to ignore. I decided I needed to get some rest around 1:50 am, and went to bed. Shortly after that, I tried to wake up my husband. Now, if anyone knows my husband, they know that he is extremely hard to wake up. Talking in his sleep, he told me that he was not calling the sitter at 2 am, and for me to go back to bed. In my head, I thought that the contractions were going to disappear, as they had done before. I took some Tylenol PM and tried to sleep. I just couldn't sleep though. The only thing that was helping me get through the pain was sitting up in bed and rocking back and forth, or getting on my hands and knees.

At 4 am I could no longer let my husband sleep. I had to wake him up and this time I was serious. The contractions were still about 4 minutes apart, but there were smaller contractions starting to sneak in between the bigger ones. So, really I was having them every 2 minutes. At this point I still had a moment of relief in between them. I got my husband awake. He had no idea that I had tried to wake him at 2 am. And then he asked me if I was really in pain. Was he serious? I really considered punching him at that point. He called the sitter for B and they were on their way. I already had my bag packed, it had been packed for days. I hopped into the shower, and we left our house around 5:15 am.

As soon as I stepped up into the passenger side of the truck, I felt a difference in the position of the baby. There was more pressure in my pelvis, and the contractions became very noticeable at 2 minutes apart. Knowing we were low on gas in the truck and we had a 30 mile drive to the hospital, we stopped to get gas.  As soon as we were on the interstate, those two minute apart contractions became about a minutes and a half in duration. It reminded me of being in labor with B, only these didn't seem as bad. I felt like I was able to control the pain and breath through it. I focused on the guitar rifts of the songs on the radio, and focused on the glowing red tail lights of the vehicles far in front of us. Hubby tried to ask me questions, but at that point I was not in a talkative mood.

We arrived at the hospital at 6 am. As I stepped out of the truck, I felt so different than I did shortly before. I wasn't even able to walk across the parking lot. I thought I could, but Hubby had to almost drag me into the ER. He grabbed a wheelchair and they motioned us to go on up to the 3rd floor. At this point, I had placed my mind in another world. I felt like I was in a different consciousness. Should I say, Beside myself? Hubby had to sign all of my registration papers, and I was immediately wheeled into a room.

As soon as I got into our room, my clothes were stripped off and the nurse was waiting to check how dilated I was. I was thinking maybe 4cm.........Nope! I was a whopping 7cm dilated, with my bag of water bulging. I said, "So does that mean I can get an epidural?" There was no answer. Shortly after I figured out why.

A few weeks back I was tested for GBS (Group B Strep). It's a normal bacteria that people can carry in their digestive track and vagina. Nothing serious to the mom, but could pose a hazard to the baby. And because of the GBS I had to get an IV. I don't know if it was my veins or the nurse had a bad stick, but she blew every single vein she touched. And I think she stuck me over 7 times. Still 3 days later my hands and arms are bruised. She was totally unsuccessful at getting a vein and called a phlebotomist to take my blood and put in the IV. They wanted me to get 2 bags of antibiotics.

While waiting on the phlebotomist, the nurse tried to check my dilation again . This time the bag of water was so in the way that she couldn't tell. They didn't know if the baby was head down or not. I tried to tell them she was, but they had an ultrasound done anyway. Of course she was head down. Everything was happening so fast, but to me it seemed like an eternity. The contractions were so hard, and I had no break between them. The nurse checked me again. I was an 8. It seemed as though she just had checked me 2 minutes before that. The phlebotomist entered the room. As she was gathering her materials to start the IV, I told the nurse that I had an incredible urge to push, and there was so much pressure. She said "Don't push!". I really did give a conscious effort not too. But apparently my body wanted something different.

And here is the amazing part.

It is now 6:20 am. All of a sudden I screamed, my bag of water burst, and shot about 6 ft out the end of the bed. It not only soaked my legs and bed, but went down the wall and got on my shoes, that were laying there. Crazy stuff. Even the nurses were in shock. The phlebotomist jumped back; she was about to walk by the foot of the bed right as it happened. I think it scared her quite a bit. Now I had a minute of relief. All that pressure went away. But only just for a minute. Meanwhile, the Doctor had been called and she was on the way from her house.

Right after my water broke, I felt that bone grinding sensation. The nurse checked me again. I was fully dilated, and the baby's head was crowning. I could feel the baby's head coming down my pelvis. The thought of having a 10 lb baby actually passed through my mind. I yelled out that I needed to push, but once again I was told not to. The Doctor had not yet arrived, and they were calling for the floor laborist. I couldn't help it. I had to push. It didn't matter what I was telling my body to do. There was a force much greater than my mind power that was driving my body. I had lost complete control. Her head was crowing even more, but I was told not to put my legs in the stirrups until the laborist got there. He had just entered the room, I was pushing as he was getting his gear on, And he got to catch the baby. Yay! As soon as her shoulders came out, I let out a HUGE sigh of relief. I was laughing and talking again, like nothing had happened. Amazing. Baby #4 was born at 6:30 am. Only 30 minutes after we had pulled up in the parking lot. My doctor showed up shortly after she was delivered and she was able to make some minor repairs. Just a 2 degree tear. Something I'm used to.

My husband says that now I have a badge of honor for having a natural birth. It happened so fast, and was the most painful thing I have ever done in my life, but looking back, I'm glad it happened the way it did. I feel great. The baby was alert. I didn't have any of the itching or headaches from an epidural. I could get up and walk right after delivery. It was great.



So now for the part that you all really wanted to see. Pictures!

Baby's first nursing. She latched right on like a pro.

6 pounds 5 ounces and 19 inches long

Isn't she just beautiful? And look at those long nails!

Four Generations- Baby, Me, my Mother, and my mother's Mother

So sweet. That Paci is almost as big as she is.

We called her a glow-worm. She had to use phototherapy to lower her jaundice.

Big sister B didn't know quite what to think of the baby.

Such a big difference in just 15 months.

As you can see, her eyes are already turning brown. Daddy didn't get his blue-eyed blondie this time. It's only fair, right?

Daddy and his new princess.

Proud Big Sis!

Daddy putting together the new double stroller.

Little Big Sister enjoying her diced mango. She said it was cheese. It does kinda look like cheese.

Getting her suntan in front of the window this morning.

My beautiful flowers that my hubby got me.

Isn't he sweet?

 I hope you have enjoyed my story. I wrote it partially for you and partially for me. I wanted to write it down, while my memory was still fresh. More pics will be posted on FB tomorrow. But until then, Enjoy.

We are accepting visitors. Please do not come by if you are sick. But I'm breastfeeding and not too scared about germs. So if you need a baby-fix, come on by. And thank you in advance to the ladies of the church who are going to prepare meals. It is a great blessing to our family.