I would like to officially welcome our newest baby, Levi, to our growing family.  He was born yesterday, January 2, 2010, at 5:45 pm, and he weighed in at 8 lbs, 8 oz, and he was 19 inches long.

Levi caused me consternation on several levels.  First, we got the news that we were expecting him a month or two before I was to go on a missions trip to Guatemala.  I was so worried about going out of the country in the first trimester of pregnancy, but the doctor encouraged me to still go on the trip.  I did, and that made Levi our second baby to go to Guatemala en utero.  (Lilly was the first.)

The pregnancy proceeded quite uneventfully, until close to the end when I was informed that the local hospitals both have declared that any patient who has previously had a c-section must have a repeat c-section, unless her doctor is willing to stay nearby for her whole labor and delivery.  I certainly did not want an elective surgery, simply because some insurance company thought it was a good idea.  So my doctor helped me think through the various ways we could get around that rule.  I hoped that I would go into labor naturally, so that I could labor at home until close to the end, and then I could get to the hospital just in time to deliver naturally.

Once I reached the 40-week mark in my pregnancy, Dr. Nord asked me if I would like to schedule an induction for the following Saturday, because he would be on call and could promise to be nearby for my whole labor.  I was torn, because I really liked the idea of a natural labor and delivery.  But Michael and I decided to take Dr. Nord up on his offer.  So we were scheduled to come to the hospital at 7 a.m. yesterday (Jan. 2).

The induction started as they usually do, very slowly, and rather tediously.  Fortunately I’ve been through this before, so I knew we were potentially in for a long wait.

After some hours, I had progressed to about 4-5 centimeters, which was good. The nurse and I were both expecting that things would quickly start to happen and soon it would be time to have the baby.  But after several more hours, I was still at the 5 cm mark, which puzzled us.

By 4 pm, when I was still at 5 cm, and the contractions were getting more intense, I decided to opt for an epidural, since it looked like we were going to have a long road still ahead of us.

Unfortunately, the epidural did not work properly.  After another hour of fiddling around trying to make the epidural work, we decided to start over and try it again.  But during all this, Dr. Nord came in and checked on me himself (rather than simply calling the nurse for an update), and he was concerned.  He didn’t like the fact that I had been stalled at 5 cm for about four hours.  After another short time of waiting and thinking, the doctor declared that he was getting concerned, and he didn’t like how the baby’s heart was decelerating so dramatically during contractions, and he was ready to just deliver this baby by a c-section.  I asked a few questions, including asking for a little more time to labor, but Dr. Nord rather firmly informed me that we had waited long enough, and actually, had waited longer than we should have.

Even though the nurses were convinced I just needed more time, the final decision is up to the doctor, so we decided to trust his judgment, and we agreed to the surgery.

Michael texted a few people to let them know if this change, and he called his mother to see if she could come be with Amelia during the procedure.  (Of course she came right away, but Levi was already born by the time she got here.)

Since my epidural still wasn’t working properly, the anesthesiologist decided not to mess with it any more, and she declared I would go under with a general anesthesia.  I didn’t argue, as I’d had enough of that crazy epidural anyway.  I was hurried into the surgery room, and people scurried around preparing for the c-section.  A mask was put over my face, and when it was time to begin, the flow of gas started, and I was out cold.

The next hour was only a blink of time for me.  Michael was not able to be in the room with me since it was general anesthesia.  I don’t know why that is a rule, but I didn’t miss him since I was unconscious.  Michael said that soon he could hear the baby crying heartily, so that was encouraging.  The staff came out with the babe and took him to the nursery, where Michael was able to stay with him and watch all the routine things they do.

Through the loopy fog, I heard someone calling my name over and over, telling me to wake up.  I groggily stated I’d rather just go back to sleep, but I went ahead and tried to open my eyes and clear my head. The nurse gave me various bits of information, for which I was grateful.  I was able to ask a few muddled questions, and it was nice to hear the answers.  In another moment, Michael was there, holding Levi, and showing him to me.  The tears flowed as I gazed at our newest baby.  He was amazingly beautiful, with dark hair, and chubby cheeks.  I was in awe of how perfect he was and how much I was instantly in love with him.  Nine months of discomfort, frustration and angst melted away in that instant.

After a while we were transported from the recovery room to our regular room.  We visited a little longer, and then Michael, Grammy and Amelia left.  I sat alone with Levi, feeling very drowsy, but in absolute awe over this newborn in my arms.  I simply couldn’t believe the miracle of it all.  Was this the baby who was tucked inside of me just a few hours before?  Is he really as beautiful as I think he is?  I’m quite sure I’m completely and totally biased, but that’s ok with me.  I’ll just happily sink into my belief that he’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

An hour or so later Michael returned with Laura and Luke for a quick visit.  I thanked Laura profusely for her work all day long as we were in the hospital.  She managed everything at home and kept in touch with us and kept the day as normal as possible for the other children.  It was neat to see the older children greet their youngest brother.

After our guests left again, I enjoyed dozing through the night.  I woke up a lot, and sometimes stayed up for a bit, but then kept dozing back off.  It was a luxurious night, because I didn’t get up at all to use the bathroom, and I didn’t have to worry about getting enough sleep before a certain time in the morning.

Today has been a nice day too.  Levi is nursing very well.  I’m getting enough rest, and I’m recovering much more quickly than I thought I would.  I fully expected to be completely wiped out after a c-section, but I actually am doing much better than that.

I don’t know what the next few days hold.  We’ll probably get to fight the jaundice monster again, since Levi’s bilirubin is already climbing.  But we are mentally prepared for the battle, and won’t be surprised if we have to stay extra days so he can be under the lights.

And so our adventure with Levi begins.  His birth story is different from everyone else’s, as I thought it might be.  I just didn’t know HOW different it would be!

Welcome to our family!

Yesterday Michael took me to World Gourmet Foods to pick out part of my Christmas gift from him. It’s been on my list for a long time, so I was excited when the time came to actually make the purchase.
So what did I pick? A basketful of Torani syrups in some of the flavors I’ve been most curious about.  And I found some tea I’ve been wanting, too.

I know I must be different than most gift recipients, because it just tickled me to no end to pick out my gift, bring it home, and then stash it in my room to wait for Christmas.  The anticipation is so much fun.

Michael often worries that he doesn’t do a good enough job at giving me gifts.  Of course, this notion is absurd from the very outset.  But over and over I reassure him that I’m different when it comes to gift giving.  First, it’s not as big of a deal for me as it is for some.  If you are familiar with “The Five Love Languages”, you know that “gifts” is one of the languages.  Its’ not mine.  Sure, I like gifts alright.  But it’s not something that really matters deep down if it doesn’t happen.  (In case you’re curious, my “love language” is “words of affirmation”.  That means it makes my day when Michael says nice things to me.  Even better if he’ll say it again.)

For some years Michael and I have danced the gift dance, with him asking for a wish list, me making a list, him feeling obligated to buy a certain amount of things, and me feeling bad that he feels so obligated.  One year I offered to do the shopping for my own stocking, picking out little things that I would enjoy having.  I must say, that was a blast!  I shopped for the trinkets, and then had just as much fun on Christmas morning as I re-admired each thing that I had picked out.  It was exactly what I wanted.

This year is shaping up nicely.  The pressure for gifts seems quite low, and I’m getting to help pick out some stuff on my list.  I couldn’t be happier.

Today Michael and I took a long drive out into the countryside. We had a few places we wanted to drive by, and it was the perfect day to go looking at houses and properties that we might want to consider buying.

There are so many factors that we are realizing we must consider. Houses that need work tend to be cheaper initially, but they need work. Houses that don’t need work are too expensive. Beautiful pieces of land are so tempting, but the purchase price is only the beginning of the cost of the property as we consider what we might want to build.

I don’t think we came to any great conclusions during our drive today. But we enjoyed each others company, and we have much to think about as we reflect over what we saw.

Should you, Dear Reader, have any thoughts to share with us as we consider the pros and cons of living in town versus in the country, or choosing a nicer house initially versus a “fixer-upper”, we would greatly appreciate your input.

Well, this week has been a strange one for Judah. He was sick all day on Monday with some sort of ailment that left him feverish and achy, but not nauseous at all. Then Tuesday he had made a complete recovery. Wednesday though, he woke up just as sick as he’d been on Monday. Again he was feverish and achy. Today, Thursday, he is back to his normal self. I wish I knew what kind of sickness acts like this. It’s really odd. And no one else has gotten sick yet.

In other news, I am somewhat flummoxed by the fact that Christmas Eve is three weeks from today, and my due date for this next baby is four weeks from today. It all seems too close to be true. Maybe if I slip into a state of denial, that will make it all go away.

Yesterday Judah woke up crying, saying his eye hurt. I could not figure out what was wrong with his eye, so after examining it and using a warm cloth to wipe it off, I tucked him into our bed where he fell fast asleep again.
Judah woke up and fell asleep again many times throughout the day. He said his eye didn’t hurt any more, but he did have a fever, and he sure did sleep a lot.
What was most puzzling about it all was that when Amelia came downstairs, she said her eye was hurting. It was the left eye, same as Judah! But Amelia didn’t really seem to suffer much at all yesterday. She had a slight headache sometimes, but otherwise she had a normal day.
Last night Miguel said his eye was hurting, and again, it was the left eye. So strange! He could have been making it up, I suppose, but when we looked at his eyes, the left one definitely had a darker “circle” under it.
I don’t know what today will bring. Hopefully Judah will feel better. And hopefully Amelia and Miguel won’t be sick. But we’ll see.

Today we are back to school for the final three-week session of our semester, and then we will have a break until February. The children weren’t too happy when I started school rather early, but now they are singing my praises at the idea of a long Christmas and baby break. I sure do like setting our school schedule myself, especially when babies decide to be born right in the middle of the school year.

Our Thanksgiving week has gone by rather quickly. I thought for sure I’d get lots of projects done, but instead I spent the first half of the week fighting a cough and sniffles. Fortunately by Wednesday I started to feel better, but by then it was time to kick it into gear for Thanksgiving dinner.
I had lots of fun making my favorite things for our family feast. And the children seemed to really delight in the goodies that adorned our little buffet line on Thursday. We didn’t go anywhere else for Thanksgiving Dinner. We just enjoyed the company of our family.
And after our dinner and a rest, we headed out to have dessert and game-time with Roy & Mary and family.
Today, Black Friday, we decided not to participate in the shopping frenzy. Instead, we had a quiet morning, and then ran errands during the middle of the day. One of the errands included looking at a loft bed that we thought we might be able to use to rearrange kids a bit, thus making room for the next kiddo who will arrive in about 5 weeks. We bought the bed (second-hand), and then worked hard to get it assembled and in place in the study, believe it or not. Isaac is delighted to have a new place to call his own. I hope it will be a good arrangement. Time will tell.

One wonderful side benefit from the rearranging project is that it pushed me into sorting through some boxes that have been sitting and waiting for my attention for a very long time. What a great feeling to get things looking better. Hopefully tomorrow we can continue with the project and have even more areas looking more tidy.

Even though our family has escaped the worst of the flu stuff going around, we finally succumbed to the sniffles and coughs during the past week. I’m grateful to report that no one has gotten seriously or miserably ill. But we have gone through our share of tissues, and we’ve been coughing through our days.
It seems like we’re through the worst of it, and since everyone seems to be getting better rather than getting worse, I’m hopeful that we have dodged the bullet for now.

This next week we are off school as we enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m really looking forward to the break. No doubt the children will enjoy it as much as I do. I’ve been pushing them for 15 weeks, so we’re all ready for a break.

In other news… I wish I could report that Lilly is fully potty trained and trustworthy, but she is still stumped at the idea of doing her poopy work IN the toilet. I know she’ll get it eventually, but it seems to be taking a long time.

Have a restful Sunday!

Our school calendar allows us to take the week of Thanksgiving off, so this week we are eagerly working toward the goal of being done with our requirements. We still have some busy days before we are free though. Tonight is choir practice at church. Tomorrow is “music lesson day”, which is a long day with five kids taking lessons. Then Friday evening there is a choir performance over in Peoria (50 minutes away) that Laura is part of, so I’ll take her to that.
Somehow in the middle of all this, school is happening, chores are happening, and music practice is happening.
The kids have some sniffles and coughs, but nothing to serious. My pregnancy is progressing nicely, with a good report yesterday from the doctor’s office.
So, there you have it. Nothing terribly exciting, but full days nonetheless.

One week ago today, I started potty-training Lilly. And one week ago today (and tomorrow) I was very discouraged by our efforts. But I have to admit, the rest of the week has gone very well, and last night we made our final breakthrough with Lilly figuring out that pooping in the potty is preferable to having dirty pants. This morning she repeated her success, so I’m hopeful that she is really understanding the whole process. It’s amazing how far she has come in one week.