Maggie's Birth Day

I wanted to write down how Maggie came into this world, so that I'll never forget it. It seems the longer your kids are alive, the less you remember (obviously). This morning I was laying in bed, looking at Maggie and listening to all of the sounds she was making. I got really sick to my stomach because I couldn't remember certain things about when Haylie and Connor were babies. I don't remember Haylie making baby sounds or cooing or even her cry. :( I guess that should be motivation enough to get me to write on this thing more.

So Maggie was originally due May 15th. About halfway through my pregnancy, Dr. Shroff said I was measuring ahead of schedule and told me we would go with May 10th as a our new date. I was, of course, ecstatic! Well apparently I didn't get the memo or something... they were still going with the 15th at the Dr's. office. Lots of confusion, but in the end, it really didn't matter. My doctor was super cool about letting me pick an induction date, which I really didn't want to do, but I also didn't want to have a 9 lb. baby. So we picked May 13th and called it good. The closer the 13th got, the more anxious I got. What kind of a mother would I be if I willingly had my baby on May 13th? What a number. No one wants to ever have a "Friday the 13th" birthday, right? So, May 11th, I called my nurse and I said, "Cindy. I just can't have a baby on May 13th. Can I come in tomorrow instead?" She loves me. :) She called the hospital and they ok'd it! WOOHOO!!!! Except then, I could remember feeling very anxious. I started thinking, 'Too Soon!' and 'I can't do this!' and 'What if I die delivering?' (yes I really did think that). Joe politely reminded me that one way or another the baby was coming so better sooner than later, right?

The night of May 11th, I didn't sleep very well. I woke up in the morning, early, because the hospital wanted me to call in between 5:30 and 6 to see if they had room. They did and wanted us to be there around 7:30, so we got ready. My friend Bethany, (sweetest girl ever) offered to watch our kids for the morning, even though she had a newborn herself, so we drove over and the kids made themselves right at home. Neither one of them even said goodbye to Joe or me. Oh well, right. Anyway, I remember Beth asking me how I was feeling. I'd been feeling a lot of pressure that morning, so I told her that I thought the baby had dropped. Exciting, right? We got back in the car, and that's when it happened. At 7:00 a.m., my first contraction. They started coming every 14 minutes. Like clockwork. Isn't it funny how your body does that? Every 14 minutes, all the way to the hospital, and for a couple of hours after I got all hooked up. Then they started coming every 10 minutes. And then 5. Then 2-3. When they were 2-3 minutes apart, it was about 10:30. At 10:45 I had one that hurt so bad I thought I was going to die. Like literally. And then, POP! My water broke. It really was like a big POP. Very weird feeling. I told my nurse, "I think I'm ready for my epidural now."

The anesthesiologist came right in. He wasn't a very happy man. I tried cracking jokes, but to no avail. He wasn't budging. I got my epidural, FINALLY, after only 5 pokes in the back. I don't know if he really knew what he was doing... but relief at last! At that point, I was only dilated to a 4. My doctor came in and told me to "dilate slow" (joking obviously) because he had some things to do at the office, but that he would be back. About 11:45, my mom stopped by. She was just checking in and then going to pick up Haylie and Connor at Bethany's. I told her I'd give her a call when things got close. Also at 11:45, I was dilated to a 5. Dr. Shroff eventually came back over, around 1:00. He checked me, and not surprisingly, I was at a 10. Since he was still in his day clothes, he left to go get his scrubs on, and all of a sudden there were like 6 nurses in the room, all buzzing around like bees, trying to get everything ready. By the time everything was prepped it was about 1:18. Dr. came back in, put some gloves on, and then it was 1:20 when I gave the first push. Second push came at 1:21. Third push came at 1:22. And at 1:23, Maggie Lynn was born. It was that quick. She was 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20" long, our biggest baby yet. We fell in love with her right away. Because she was in the birth canal for such a short amount of time, she was completely perfect. No scratches or bent nose or cone head. :) I just can't imagine a more perfect human being, and what a blessing it is to be able to bring life into this world.

There were so many emotions... for one, I was so overjoyed! I'd wanted a little girl so badly and I just couldn't believe it actually happened. However, it happened so fast, I felt like I didn't get to really experience it. Like I wasn't ready for her to be here yet. Definitely GLAD to not be pregnant anymore. :) Joe opted out of cutting the cord :( Not sure why, but oh well. We are so excited to have her here. She is already 7.5 weeks, which is so bittersweet. I am LOVING watching her going through the first stages in her tiny little life, but wish she would just SLOW DOWN!

I'm so glad I did this, before I forgot the little details. Maybe I'll attempt to put Haylie and Connor's on here too. Love, love, love this baby girl!

Going Private

I know I've tried doing this before, so after much procrastination, I have decided to make my blog private. It didn't bother me before, as I have "tried" not to use our last name and/or names of cities where we are/were. But I've been getting a lot of people, whom I don't know, trying to comment. Like people from China. Just kind of weirds me out a little bit.

SO... if you would like an invite to continue reading my blog, email me your address, or leave it on facebook. Or if you feel comfortable, you can leave it as a comment on this post. :) I'll probably change it to private in about a week..maybe two, depending on how many people respond to this.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!!!

PICTURE THIS:

So, Joe got off work at noon last Thursday and had Friday off too, so our weekend was officially started. We all dressed down into our jammies and popped in a movie. I was craving a Diet Pepsi, so I decided to run down to the market and get Joe and I some pop. As I was leaving, I thought I'd take Lady (our Beagle) along since she loves car rides. She was all too excited to go and ran around the house like crazy after I said the word "Bye bye."


Now, remember, I was in my pajamas. And not just any... some pink and white flannel pants, and an old, pink, maternity t-shirt. And no bra.


Ya know, I've had moments where I think... 'Who knows who I'll run into. I probably should make myself a little presentable.' Well, the pop machines were just right outside the building, and I planned on just pulling right up, getting the drinks, and leaving.


Easier said, than done.


So we left. Music up, windows down; a nice little "minute" away from the kids! We did pull right up to the building. I left the car running, because, as I said, I was just going to hop out and hop back in.


I got a couple cans, brought it over to set on the car, turned around to go get another can and heard it. The doors lock. I turned around to run and unlock them through the window, but it was too late. Not only had she locked the doors; she'd rolled the window up too.

So there I am. Standing outside of my locked car with the engine running and my dog inside, in my pajamas (and no bra), yelling, begging, PLEADING with her to come to the window and undo what she'd just done. Of course, she just stood there on the middle console, tongue hanging out and tail wagging like she was having the best time of her life.

One of the boys that works at the market came out to do some sweeping and offered to let me use his phone. So I called Joe. Well, we were both a little "iffy" about him coming to rescue me because Connor had been diagnosed that day with Bronchitis and Haylie was still getting over Pink Eye. So, the boy whose phone I was using went inside and got me an old pizza pocket so that I could try and lure Lady closer to the lock button.

You think I looked crazy before? Now I was standing in my pajamas, no bra, right outside the front door where people were streaming in and out of the store, with food in my hands, begging Lady to just move an inch. It was so horrible. I felt so stupid. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't really walk home and just leave my car running... except the doors were locked so no one could really steal it, could they? But still...

And then he came. My Hero. With the other set of keys. And we all went home happy. Except Lady... I threw the pizza pocket away. At least she cleaned up all the crumbs in the car. :)

:)

June 19, 2010 We caught Maggie smiling yesterday. Her first smile was actually last Tuesday, the 15th, but this is the first one we caught on film. So much fun! I sure do love this little girl!

Spit-Swallow

Me: Haylie, why is your eye watering?

Haylie: Oh it's just a spit-swallow.

Me: What's a spit-swallow?

Haylie: It's when you spit. And then you stick out your tongue. And then you swirl it around your tongue. That's why it's called a spit-swallow.

Me: .......oh.

My Blog is Boring...

Or is this post-partum (sp?) depression kicking in?

I used to like my blog. I thought it was good. I had people telling me that they liked how I write. And now... well... it sucks. I need to work on it.

What happened to the little creativity I had? It just disappeared.

Well this makes me feel better. This little girl right here. I still think my blog is boring, but at least I feel better when I look at her face. :) I never thought I could feel more after knowing the love you have for each of your children. But she just completes it. It's like there's some hidden, locked doors in your heart that just magically open and when they do, enormous amounts of love and happiness and everything good, just come pouring out.

I'm so happy to have my little Mags. She is the light of our lives. We are all SO in love with her. Even with her constant spit up and her HUGE dislike of riding in the car below 50 MPH. ;)

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!

Just because we've been focusing all of our attention on Maggie lately, I snagged a couple of pictures of Haylie and Connor one afternoon while they were riding their bikes. As you can see, Connor is dressed while Haylie is still in jammies. Connor LOVES "riding his bike in the front." It makes him SO happy. In fact, he loves everything about the front yard. FREEDOM! So, on this day, when I told him he could ride his bike in the front, I actually got a smile with teeth! That NEVER happens. And no, NOT because she didn't get dressed. She IS dressed. Every day she asks me if she can have a "pajama day." Sometimes its at 8:00 in the morning and she changes from one set of jammies to another. Other times she asks at 6:00 in the evening. On this particular day that I decided it wasn't worth the whining, she pulled out her favorite "nightgown." She got this from Auntie Kelli (my sister). It's actually a shirt that I believe she used to wear over her swimsuit... Haylie just LOVES it!!! And why wouldn't she??? It twirls (and trust me, she's showed us millions of times) and it's Auntie's! She would wear it every night if we'd let her...

And yes. I let her wear it outside to ride her bike. :)