Here is the story of Jack's birth:
Saturday May 8th I was scheduled to be induced at 3:30 p.m. However, the day before my Dr. called to see if it would be possible for me to be induced earlier in the morning. I didn't sleep well that night at all. At 4:30 I woke up and got myself ready for the day, and finished packing my bags. At 6:00 I called the hospital as my doctor asked to see if a bed was available, and there wasn't. All ready to go, Chad and I watched t.v. till 7:00, at what time I called back, with still no bed. By this time the kids were waking up and we were anxiously waiting by the phone. It seemed to be such a mean trick. I was exhausted from lack of sleep, but was way too anxious to shut my eyes at this point. Finally we decided to get the kids ready and take them over to Chad's parents house, so we would be ready to leave as soon as we got the call. While Chad was gone dropping off the kids, the hospital did call, and we arrived at the hospital at 10:00 a.m.
I had decided already that I was not going to use the elevator, and would do whatever necessary to get someone to take me up the stairs. (For security reasons in my hospital the stairwells are locked at the maternity floor and you can only get there by elevator). Lucky for me I found a nice man who gladly trucked up the 5 floors with me and poor Chad, caring all my luggage. :) Soon after I got settled in my room, the pitocin was started and my water was broken. My mother arrived, which was very comforting. Emmi came too quick and she missed her birth, so I really wanted her there for this one. By 12:30 the contractions had picked up and I got an epidural. The epidural did make my anxiety rise, and I fought to stay calm. Luckily I dilated very quickly after that and just before 2:00 I was 10 cm. One contraction and 3 little pushes, and Jack was born. He surprised us all at his size, just 1 ounce under 8 lbs at 7 lbs., 15 oz. and 19.5 inches long. Before I started pushing, we found out that Jack was a little posterior. On the first push he turned and ended up coming out smoothly, but his little faced was pretty bruised from his previous position. He had a good cry, a strong grip, and showed good plumbing by peeing on his papa's shoe when he was on the warming table.
We decided to name Jack after my father, Brent, and we have already started calling our little "B," since the kids call my dad Grandpa "B." Jack has been a great baby thus far and has been a joy to have here at the house. The kids are constantly asking where he is if they can't see him right away, and asking to hold him. I am a little tired from lack of sleep and feeling the old familiar pains from birth and breastfeeding, but I so grateful for this little guy already and can't wait to see the little man he will turn out to be.
The picture I took of his purple mouth really didn't do it justice. So, for memory sake I wanted to post these that we took right after we gave him his last and final dose. I am so glad it is over, and I think Jack is too. As you can see he wasn't a big fan either. :)
It is not your eyes playing tricks, Jack's mouth has a purple hue. Just after we finally got the jaundice under control, I noticed an extremely amount of pain when nursing, as well as some sores in that area that just weren't healing. I finally gave in and went to see a lactation consultant who promptly said that thrush was the culprit. The quickest and cheapest fix is something called "Gentian Violet," which I have to swab Jack's mouth with, thereby staining it purple. The picture above was taken almost a full 24 hours after the dose and has lessened considerably. Believe me when I say that just after being applied it looks like Halloween around here. Considering the jaundice and now this, it looks like maybe giving him formula would've been the easiest option and if I didn't have my heart set on nursing him I probably would've switched weeks ago. The good news is that I only have to give him one or two more doses and that I am feeling much better. Hopefully this will be the end of our little nursing difficulties.
Sam has graduated from preschool! Coming this fall, Sam will be getting on the bus with Keaton, and going to Kindergarten. He has grown in the past year in many ways and was a very proud and excited little man during the graduation. Here he is with his best friends.
I snapped this just after his teacher put the cap on his head. I love how I got it right as he started laughing at his temporary blindness.
All of my babies had jaundice as a newborn, but my first 3 kids didn't have levels high enough to require lights. My poor little Jack did though, and he had to endure almost 3 full days in this little tanning bed last week. Not only did it break my heart to have to put this blindfold on him and only get to hold him during feedings, but Jack needed constant supervision 24/7. This meant that Chad and I were on rotating 3 hour shifts during the night. One would sleep, one would keep watch for 3 hours, and then we would switch. The lights did take his jaundice down a little bit, but not low enough. We were able to get him out of the lights, but still had to get his blood drawn every couple days. This last weekend his levels went up and Jack's Dr. ordered me to stop breastfeeding him and switch to formula. After giving Jack formula for 2 days, we went back into the lab again and got his blood tested. Sure enough, his levels dropped, and the Dr. was right. Jack's jaundice was being caused by an enzyme in my breast milk... weird, no? Apparently this is a common occurrence and once the jaundice level has gone down far enough it will not go back up. Thankfully the Dr. gave me the green light to resume breast feeding and Jack will not be going back to the lab to get his heel pricked anytime soon. 
Right now I am waiting for the hospital to call me back to tell me that there is a delivery room available so I can go in and be induced. The wait is killing me. But, it does give me a few minutes though to post pics from yesterday, when my little Emmi turned 3. In the afternoon I took the kids to the city park, which was a first for the year. Then Chad and I took the kids to Taco Time for dinner, at Emmi's request. Our favorite Sno Shack opened yesterday, so making her day even better, we grabbed one of those on our way home.
We got home and let Emmi open her presents, with the boys very eager to help.
We got Emmi a new doll, stroller, and bed which you can see she is very happy with. The boys were actually happy with them too and kept trying to take them away from her.
It wouldn't have been a birthday without birthday cake and Ariel was Emmi's choice of design.
I can't tell you how much I love this little girl. How much I look forward to her sweet hugs and kisses. How much her little voice and smile melts my heart. Since she was a baby I have given her big hugs and said "I love you baby." Eventually she started saying, "I love you too mommy" right back. Now almost every time I get a hug from her she automatically says "I love you too Mommy," without any word from me. She without a doubt has me and her daddy wrapped around her little finger and we are so grateful to have her.
my life really began. I made the most important decision in my life and married my sweetheart in the temple. We didn't know what was in store for us as we started our life together. Still college students, we were moving to a new town hours away from our families, without any money to our names, and no jobs to speak of. But we felt it was the right path for us and that we were led by the spirit.
Speaking of blessings... our newest little blessing still has not arrived much to my dismay. I realized that I have not posted any pregnancy pics. This is not because I don't like being pregnant, but I have a hard time liking any pictures of myself and pregnancy pics seem to be the worst. However, my time being pregnant is getting short. The nursery is put together, my bags are packed and the family is all on alert. The more days that pass, the more I am looking forward to meeting this little guy and getting to hold him. My induction has been scheduled for Saturday May 8th, so his eviction notice has been sent. :) Tune in for baby pictures soon!
