Going home

The day had to come. They have to kick you out sometime. Goodbye to sterile environments, nurses help 24/7, a bed that sits me up, room service, and quiet....oh how I miss the quiet. A part of me was ready to go home, see my other littles, but the other part loved having all the help of the hospital staff, obviously. 

The night before we left, Braden was at home with eve and graham, so it was just me and the little angel. It was such a precious experience, just to savor. Every wrinkle, every finger and toe, every smell of that little piece of heaven. I love newborns. I am so glad t have had such a sweet spiritual experience with little baby girl, I had been secretly calling her Greta, but Braden hadn't come around to settling on the name yet. 

But, before we could get kicked out, we had to settle on a name. I have been in love with this name for a very long time, and Braden went with it. Her name is Greta Irene Edwards. Irene was a perfect fit, it's my middle name, my grandmothers middle name, and Braden's great grandmothers name. So we made it official. We were ready to take our little Greta home. 

Our time in the hospital

This was our last stay at the Stamford Hospital Maternity wing, and we really made the best of it. Just enjoyed the peace and quiet, the room service, the 24/7 nurses care. It was heaven. It was so fun when the kids came to visit, but it was also a glimpse of what reality that was awaiting for us when we got home. three kids 3 years and under...yikes. 

We got really lucky though, all the rooms were taken so we got a huge room. The ones they save for women on long term bed rest or families with multiples. It was so nice having a little extra space, I figured, it's my third stay here, maybe I'm a preferred pt ;) like a frequent flyers program or something. 

Eve was insanely excited to learn that the baby in mommy's tummy was a girl! We decided not to tell her until she came to the hospital to see for herself. Her face lit right up, as she exclaimed "mommy, it's a sister!" She could only talk about playing dress up and dollies with her new sister. It was so darling to see her so excited, she had been thinking it was a brother lately, so I wasn't sure how she would react. Graham, he didn't really care, he was more interested in opening all the cabinets, finding every single outlet, and destroying anything he could find, namely my styrofoam cup. He looked at the baby for a second, then moved on. Oh the simple life of a 13 month old. 

Just the girls! 

Labor and delivery with #3

D

Here it is. D-day. I started having contractions around 4pm, but nothing too serious or close together. Being 37wks and 5days, i knew there was a possibility it could be real labor, but even as a woman who has had 2early babies, I still felt that I had time. And besides, we had company (the Francia's) coming over for dinner. Well, the contractions got a lot more regular and more intense over the next few hours.

They were kind enough to bring dinner with them, all I had to do was dessert. They brought our favorite, Little Thai Kitchen. It was so delicious! However, looking back, I knew it was a bad idea to FILL up on thai food when I knew pretty well I was headed into heavy labor. I was able to conceal my contractions for the most part, just discreetly jotting them down and timing them. But as the night went on, josh and Colleen could tell something was up. Around 8:30, Josh eventually blurted out "how close are your contractions?" When I replied with "every 4mins or so" they promptly told me to go to the hospital. 

Luckily my good friend and visiting teacher Ashley rushed right over. She came in record time with an overnight bag in tow. I actually hadn't even fully packed my hospital bag yet, I wasn't prepared for the baby to come this early. 

So off to the hospital we went. Checked in around 9:30, and early on in the pregnancy I made the decision to have an epidural this time around. Luckily, as soon as we got checked in, IV placed, I was dilated enough to get the epidural. Braden and I actually semi-enjoyed our night, if you can ever say that about labor. We watched 24 and anxiously awaited the arrival of our newest addition. 

 The epidural did start to slow down my contractions shortly after they broke my water, so I was placed on pitocin around midnight to get things moving again. 

Well it worked, around 3 they actually turned down my dosage of pitocin because my contractions were too close together. Around 4 I was telling the nurse I felt pressure, and thought maybe I should get checked. I must not have sounded very serious, because she responded with a "yeah, you let me know when you're really feeling it." Ok, so shortly after she left I paged her saying "I'm pretty uncomfortable," with slight reluctance in her voice, she said "alright, I will send in a resident to check you." 

So I got checked, and the resident looked shocked, she said "you're at a ten! Plus one! It's baby time, let me get the doctor" I was surprised too, I didn't even think it was possible to be a "plus one". So they got the nurses all ready, and while we waited on the doc the got me ready to push. As they prepped me, I heard a nurse exclaim, "I see the head!" All the while the doc was still getting gloved up, saying "don't push". I wasn't pushing, the baby just wanted to come I guess. He rushed over, and it began. One push later we met our little lady. 

I have to say, the joy and excitement we felt first hearing the doctor say "it's a girl!" Made the wait worth it. It was magical. I'm so glad we waited. 

Little baby Greta joined us at 4:41 am, 16 days early. Weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches long, and had a full head of hair. My earliest baby, yet the largest, and my easiest delivery. This thing had a good half a pound to her than my other babies. Way to go girl, you must have just been anxious to come meet us. 

37 weeks

 

Full term! Hallelujah! Starting to dilate, but only 2cm so I think I've got some time. Baby dropped, and having contractions, but nothing major. Cravings are still the same, cherries, grapes, and avocados. Luckily, the spicy chicken ramen noodles are done with. I can't even look at them, I see the few I have left in the pantry and the sight makes me shudder. So glad that one passed, phew. 

Weight gain hit the 27lbs mark, about the same with Graham. So we shall see if that means anything. 

I have to admit, for a long time it drove me crazy that Braden felt so strongly that we wait until the birth to find out the gender. But now, I am so glad we did! I am so excited for the delivery, I have been so incredibly curious for so long...it is so close, I am just emanating excitement! Even packing my hospital bag, I packed both a girl and boy outfit and just couldn't help smiling. 

So many people are so surprised that we chose to wait on the gender. And I get asked often, "what do you feel you are having?" Or "is this pregnancy more similar to your daughter or son?" And the list goes on. The truth is, no. I don't feel any sway as to if its male or female. Should my maternal instinct tell me? Is that a sense I wasn't gifted with? I have been so busy with my older two I can't really tell you if I've felt more like I did with Eve or Graham. I just feel pregnant. 

Having it be my suggested last pregnancy, I am really trying to just enjoy it. Not complaining about my back pain, cankles, and insane hunger. I just laugh about it, it's such a miracle that's happening inside my body, and such a blessing. All the other stuff is just comical. 

36 weeks

It's late, but I had to post the picture, it really captures our life these days. Me, 36 weeks pregnant, cleaning not the top priority. Kids fighting, and making each other crazy. Such is life around here, but we still love each other ;) 4 weeks to go...in theory. We will see when this baby decides to come, the previous two proved to be quite anxious. 

Girl Day

With the baby coming any time now, Eve and I took a morning to just have a girl day. I think she is much more aware of what's coming than I give her credit for. Shes been much more clingy and needy of mom, she knows change is coming. 

So today it was all about her. We woke up and made her favorite breakfast, waffles. I offered to take her to Ihop for a yummy breakfast, but I figured she would have more fun making it herself. And did she ever! I let her do all the scooping of the ingredients, and I was amazed at her precision. 

After breakfast, we headed over to the nail salon just down the block to go get some pedicures. She was so excited, you could just tell she felt all grown up. And sadly, I agree, she is seeming much more grown up lately. I've been getting quite nostalgic lately, going through her baby pictures and reminiscing. 

We went on a bit of a walk and just chatted, we talked about all sorts of things, but she really just wants your listening ear. All you need to contribute is a few "oh yeah?"s and "how cool"s. she could just talk your ear off! We headed to the doughnut shop down the street and she got to order her favorite, a pink "sparkly" doughnut! We had a blast, I genuinely love spending time with her, and just enjoying her company. She is such a spunky little lady, she amazes me. We ended our morning by stopping by party city to pick out a special balloon. You'd think it was Christmas by how excited she was. We didn't do anything elaborate, but she doesn't need or want elaborate. She just wants you all to herself, to talk to and just be the center of attention. I love her so much my heart could burst, I just wish she would stop growing up so quickly...

Watson Visit 7/2013

A few weeks back my dad, mom, and brother mark were able to come to visit. Mark just got home from his mission a few weeks prior, so I was insanely anxious to see him!! They were participating in the Hill Cumorah pageant, and then drove down to our neck of the woods for a visit. We were blessed to keep them for a whole week! It was the perfect visit, no one had any agenda, itinerary, or expectations about the week. We just hung out, slept in (some of us) took naps, and really enjoyed each other's company. We got to go swimming at our friend's pool, spent time at the beach, went on walks, and did a few things locally. We had a great time, it was a great visit. The kids really enjoyed getting to know mark better, he is great with them. It is crazy to see him so mature and grown up...he's come a long way from the quirky little 19 year old who left on his mission. We are all so proud of him. 

This was he best. While at the beach, Eve didn't like that her dress was getting wet at the bottom. So she decided to ask grandpa for help...well this is what happened, grandpa tied the dress in a knot in the back. Genius, except for the little white panties so obviously shown here. They got wet, and of course full of sand. It was pretty fun t watch, but little miss had so much fun, she didn't even notice. She was quite the spectacle at the beach.

We had so much fun, come back soon!!