Here’s our Halloween cuteness!  I think the tails are my favorite part of the costumes!

Happy Friday!

It’s 8:25 p.m. and all of my children are in bed.  And it’s at least another 30 minutes before the nursing one will be wanting me.  So I’m taking a minute to blog again.  Wouldn’t want to get too far out the habit, right?

So where are we these days…

• Alex has learned to throw things away.  Pretty much everything.  Whether it’s garbage or not.  Gonna have to work on that… 
• The twins still love their NLS.  Makes things so nice for me.  Though I have to make sure they don’t love on her too much.  “Be gentle” is the phrase of the month!
• Megan has been having issues with gas.  A couple of recent days (and nights) have been pretty rough.  I’m beginning to wonder if Zantac will be in our future…
• And I think she’s hit a small growth spurt, too.  So she’s been eating, like, every 2 hours for a couple of days.  Today, she was starting to go 3 hours between again.  Made for a much calmer day for me, let me just say!
• I’m very much loving the mai tai baby carrier that I got in exchange for the Infantino sling carrier they recalled last year.  Megan loves to be snuggled up on my chest in it.  It actually can be arranged to fit my small frame correctly.  And it’s let me take the twins outside for a bit the last two days.  Nice!
• The laundry is never ending these days.  Never. Ending. *sigh*
• Erin got tomato sauce on the seat cover of Megan’s swing yesterday.  It took 3 times through the wash (and, finally, the Clorox bleach pen) to get it out.  But it did come out.  Finally.  I was very, very glad about that.
• Most days, I’m feeling pretty good.  Still tired.  Still low on stamina.  But getting better.  That is so nice!
• I found a recipe for vanilla sugar cookies that I have been really wanting to try.  Haven’t had time yet.  But one of these days, I’ll let you know if they turned out well.  It might not happen until January…but I am going to make these cookies!
• The twins have loved playing in the leaves that Eric has raked up.  They sat in them, threw leaves all over each other, and generally had a blast.  I love watching life through almost-two-year-old eyes!

And I think that just about covers the important highlights.  Hope all is well where you are…happy Tuesday!

So life as a family of five has been a pretty interesting transition.  Of course, the kids are doing really well.  And as I heal, things are starting to look more and more do-able.  Thankfully, despite a couple of discipline episodes, today is going pretty well.  So I thought I’d just do a quick blog about life as it has settled down a bit…

Megan

• This child gets violent hiccups.  Really…I’m pretty sure her diaphragm is trying to jump out of her throat at times.  It’s crazy!
• She is pretty laid back.  Having her siblings up in her face doesn’t bother her.  She really only fusses if she needs something.  So far…a low-key kid = one thankful momma!
• She’s sleeping and eating really well.  Nursing one is SOOO much better than two.  I’m finally starting to understand why people would like to breastfeed.  With the twins, I was glad I could do it, but it wasn’t at all, shall we say, a bonding experience.  This time, it’s much more intimate.  It’s nice.
• She absolutely loves her daddy (and the feeling is mutual).  She sits on his lap while he talks to her and just stares at his face.  It’s too cute!
• This child is a bear to burp.  She has the amount of gas that Erin manages (which is a LOT), but is hard to burp like Alex was.  We’re still figuring that part out.  But thankfully, breastmilk makes spit-up and poop that washes out easily.  So that makes life much easier on me!

Alex and Erin

• They ADORE Megan.  Really.  So far, no jealousy or frustrations with her presence.  They ask about her, look for her, want to be near her.  They think we got her just for them.  At least for now, that is a great thing.  
• Erin does like to help with Megan some.  She gets the wipes for me and makes sure I know when Megan is fussing. And she wants to “do” things for Megan, like turn on the bouncy seat’s buzzer.  If I turn the buzzer off, she comes right back and turns in on again.  And she likes to watch me feed her.  Her new favorite word is “boobies” – which I can’t wait to hear her announce in the grocery store sometime.  Or not…  
• Alex likes to give Megan “kisses” – which for Alex is a very gentle bump of foreheads.  He also likes to sit and watch her.  Sometimes, you’ll come into the living room to find him sitting at her feet in the bouncy seat just watching.  And if you interrupt him, he stops and finds something else to do.   He’s a sweet little guy.
• Erin occasionally gets into a little temper (which she inherited from me, I’ll admit freely!) and starts just knocking things over and shoving toys around.  It would be funny except for the scowl on her face.  I try to respond to those episodes with a little direct attention which has worked so far.  It’ll be interesting to see if those escalate into full-blown tantrums before too long. 
• But overall, the twins are adjusting pretty well.  The number of discipline issues has gone up (and we’re still trying to find effective responses), but as they are 22 months, that is not necessarily related to Megan’s arrival.  We are definitely developing a couple of serious cases of the ‘terrible two’s’!  Hopefully we can put off big-kid beds and potty-training for a couple more months, at least.  Maybe in January, I’ll be ready to face those transitions!

Eric

• It was really great to have him home for most of last week.  The twins, especially Alex, ate up his attention.  They went to parks and played outside while I sat on my donut.  Really, he took good care of all of us.  I’m really thankful for him.
• He’s a big fan of sitting with Megan when I need to attend to the twins.  He’s also really good at burping her.  So that comes in handy a lot, too!

And finally, Me

• I’m finally starting to make real progress with healing.  I’m still needing some ibuprofen through the day, but most of the time, I feel pretty good.
• The hardest part is not overdoing just because I feel better.  It’s hard to be okay with how bad my house looks most of the time, and how sticky my kitchen floor is, but in a week or two, I’m sure I’ll start to get ahead again.  Just need to learn to give it time.
• I am amazed at how much laundry Megan has added to our lives.  Seriously…it’s crazy!
• Finding a good balance of paying attention to the twins while still getting things done and still getting Megan attended to is a hard thing.  But sometimes just finding times to include them while I feed Megan is enough.  Or sitting down to watch TV or color with them before Megan needs something has worked, too.  It’s a learning curve, I guess.  But we’ll figure it out.  One day at a time. 
• Last night, I read the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand in John, and it was like God put it in just for me.  I needed the reminder that what seems impossible (like surviving these days on my own) to me is really just an opportunity for God to do something amazing for and through me.  And the 12 baskets of leftovers was such an encouragement.  Jesus didn’t just give those people enough to eat.  He gave them more than enough.  It was a promise I took to heart and claimed again this morning.  Learning to parent from his abundance instead of out of my own (less than sufficient) strength is a daily thing, I know.  But that perspective has helped me a lot today.  I’m grateful for his influence in my life. 

And that is where we are, for now.  It’s quite an adventure, and I still feel a step behind sometimes.  But I guess that’s what builds a family…learning to do life together, one day at a time.  So…here’s to our family of five!

Happy Tuesday!

Well, we survived.  All four of us.  Five, if you count Eric.

It would have been nice to be a little closer to full health before having to manage the day by myself.  But it didn’t go too badly overall. 

We did have to start the day with discipline.  Alex was sitting on my desk which he is NOT allowed to do.  And he knows it.  But thankfully, I didn’t have to spend the entire day correcting them.  Being consistent is really hard when you’re only barely managing to keep ahead of normal behavior!  

Megan is really laid back, so she was pretty easy to manage.  But the twins were a little needy, a little whiny.  Erin threw a couple of tantrums.  Alex got really unhappy after nap time.  Still no real idea what his beef was, but he got white stuff (in case it was constipation) and ibuprofen (in case it was his 2-year molars bothering him).  And he did get better before bed.

Of course, I probably overdid a bit today.  My hormones got to me a couple of times.  And my body started rebelling by early evening.  I guess I’ll have to learn better how to pace myself.  ‘Cause I’m so good at that… 

But we did survive.  And that, in itself, is an accomplishment.  And a sign of God’s grace.  I’m sure we’ll get the hang of it as we go.  And as I continue to heal.  

And hopefully, I’ll get a few minutes to write a more interesting post about all three kids and some of the fun things we’ve had going on (before I forget them all).  And maybe I’ll throw in a picture or two, too.  We shall see…

Anyway…off to bed…happy Monday!

So I’m going to blog about Megan and the twins and some of the fun things that have been happening around here in the last week or so.  But before I do, I’m going to fill you in on the not-so-fun stuff because it’s been way more intrusive.  And I think we’ve crested the hill of the bad stuff while the good stuff should just keep on going…

Anyway, here’s the tale of my woes:

First of all, I have to say that my recovery has been pretty good, overall.  Except for the hemorrhoids.  I’ve had them for years, and I knew a vaginal birth would irritate them something fierce.  And I was right.  But while the rest of my body has steadily improved every day, the backside of my backside has not.  Not even a little.  But, well, I didn’t exactly know what a ‘normal’ recovery was, so I just put up with it and sat on an inflatable donut as much as possible.

Turns out…it was not a normal recovery.

The doctor’s office called Tuesday for their routine “just checking in” phone call.  How was I doing?  Really fine, except for the hemorrhoids.  Good, bleeding is slowing down?  Yep.  Good, no trouble with postpartum depression?  Um…nope.  Just a minor meltdown when my mom went home.  Good. Any other questions for me?  Just about the hemorrhoids.  When should I be concerned about them?  Well, you’re probably just going to have to wait them out (rattles off the “how to treat hemorrhoids” list again), but as long as they aren’t purple…  Oh.  I’ve got a purple one.  A big purple one. 

So, they squeezed me in yesterday morning to have the doctor check on them.  Apparently, I wasn’t acting enough distressed because they kept saying things like “if they’re only ‘this’ big, they probably aren’t a big deal” and so forth.  Then my doctor looked.  And her response…”Oh, that’s a doozy!”  Then she got things moving.  They called their rectal partners to see if I could be seen yesterday (“since I’d hate to have to send you to the ER” ). They got me an appointment in Westerville.  All within about 10 minutes of her first look.  And the whole time I was just thinking, “Okay, so I was not imagining things…good to know”!

So, the appointment was made for 3:00 yesterday afternoon. My mom came up and drove me.  I was easily the youngest person waiting for treatment!  And the very nice lady doctor did an excision of the thrombozed hemorrhoid before I left the office.  I won’t go into details about the procedure, unless you really want to know.  But it was short, not pain-free, but, hopefully, has put me on the road to full recovery…finally!

Of course, then I got home.  And the numbing medicine wore off.  And it hurt.  A LOT.  And it was a rawer pain than I’d been dealing with.  And after days of pain, I just couldn’t deal anymore.  I pretty much melted into a puddle on the couch for a while, wondering how I was ever going to survive that kind of discomfort in that particular area for even a few more days.  

And that’s when SuperDad showed up.  See, I didn’t realize that I had married SuperDad.  His mild-mannered alter ego is a techno-loving, slightly nerdy, witty scientist.  But underneath that deceptively normal exterior, it would seem that a hero lurked.

After manning all three kids while I was at my appointment, Eric took care of me, took care of the twins, got dinner, played with them (I hung out in a chair with Megan while they played around me), did jammies and brushing teeth and bedtime prayers.  I made it in to say good night.  Then he cleaned the kitchen and tidied the living room.   But I didn’t do much of anything else all night.  And I went to bed at about 8:30. 

Then this morning, Eric has pretty much run the house.  Deciding on breakfasts, getting dressed, entertaining the twins, generally making decisions about everything – all him.  And he’s already out with the twins.  He took them over to a metro park to play on a small playground while I showered and took it easy some more.  Yep…he’s amazed even me this morning. And all I know is that I would not have survived this week, and especially the last two days, without him.  He’s just down-right awesome, even if he does think jello is a dessert. 

Oh…and the other thing I learned over the last two days…I can finally (and correctly) spell hemorrhoids. 

Front Page 

Headline: Megan Marie Arrives at 12:22 on October 7, 2010

Synopsis: After a surprisingly short first labor, Megan Marie arrived.  I’d been having contractions since 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  So I hadn’t slept much since then.  And all day Wednesday, it wasn’t clear whether I was in labor for real or not.  In the evening, though, contractions started coming again every 10 minutes.  Then at 9 p.m., they dropped to 5 minutes apart.  We waited for my parents, who were already on their way, and we headed to the hospital about midnight.  I was only dilated about 2 cm, so we walked for a couple of hours.  By 4:30, we were only barely at 4 cm, but my contractions were twice as long as normal (80-130 seconds vs. 60-80 seconds).  So they decided to admit me and break my water.  That was accomplished about 5:30 in the morning, and by 8:30, I was still 4-5 minutes between contractions.  But they were still “mammoth” as one nurse told me.  And I had dilated to 6 cm.  By then, and compounded by the lack of sleep, lack of food, and having my water broken, the intensity had increased beyond what I was able to manage with any semblance of grace.  So we did a full epidural, and by 9, I was much more comfortable.  I could still feel them, but they didn’t hurt.  And I could rest.  So I did.  By 10:30, I was fully effaced and dilated, and she had dropped into position.  We labored down for a bit and started pushing about 11:15.  After just over an hour of pushing, out she came.  She was face up (which I was told was the hardest way to push a baby out, other than breech, I assume), and we were very happy to have her join the family!

Health and Wellness Section

Headline: Contractions hurt.

Synopsis: Contractions hurt. 

Op-Ed Page

Headline: A Successful VBAC

Synopsis: So a lot of discussion was had before Megan’s birth about repeat c-sections vs. VBACs.  I am very glad I tried the VBAC.  And I’m very glad it worked for us.  The c-section is not a big deal, especially if you have no choice.  Which I did not for the twins.  But letting my body just do its job this time was so much better for us.  The hard work came before Megan was born (they call it ‘labor’ for a reason!), but the healing went, overall, much faster.  The c-section was easy on the front end…lie there and let someone cut you open!  But the recovery was a lot more work.  So if we ever do this again, I am pretty sure I’ll opt for another VBAC, rather than a c-section.  In the end, it was the best thing for us. 

Headline: Things I Learned from Nurses

Synopsis: When Pam, my labor nurse, took me up to the postpartum floor, she went over my labor with the nurses who were taking over my care.  They kept talking like I had done some really amazing things.  Like the fact that I even tried a VBAC.  Or that my labor was spontaneous, not induced.  Or that we used not pitocin at all during labor.  Oh, and the craziness of having 22-month old twins waiting at home was, apparently, impressive.  Perhaps that was just a nice way of them saying they thought I was nuts.  But it was nice to be applauded, especially because I didn’t go into labor intending to do any of that “impressive” stuff.  I just wanted to have a baby, as ‘normally’ as possible.  And since I came out with Megan, I think we accomplished exactly what I wanted!

I added these to Facebook as well, but since not all of you are friends with me there, I thought I’d post them here, too.

Some pics of Miss Megan…

Sorry I couldn’t get back to xanga with the rest of the news before now

But the short version is that Megan Marie was born (vaginally) at 12:22 this afternoon. She was 7.4 lbs. And she was 19 inches long.

All of us are well and I will add more details soon.

Thanks for all the prayers!

She’s almost here! Pushing to commence shortly…

I kid you not…I had (very real-feeling) contractions from 1 am to about 6 am.  Ten minutes apart.  Time-able.  Obviously, I was not sleeping.  And then, some time after 6 am, they just sort of went away.  I’m still having some lighter ones.  But the ones that got my hopes up at 3 in the morning…they haven’t returned.  It’s a little disheartening, to be honest.  To feel like you are getting started and maybe today is the day and then…nothing.  *sigh*

But who knows what the rest of the day (or week) will bring.  Maybe (hopefully) even a new little sister.  We shall see…