2019 :: week 13

March 24

I successfully survived my first Sunday at church with all four kids. Getting everyone ready and in the car took a little longer than I anticipated, but we made it. Sacrament meeting went fairly well and I got to attend Relief Society with Miles. I have not been released from the nursery, but am taking some time off.

March 25

For family night we returned the dishes and tupperware that some of our kind friends used to bring us food in after Miles was born. We have been overwhelmed by how generous people have been bringing us meals before and especially after Miles was born.  In the afternoon I made cookies and we brought those too.

March 26

The end-of-the-year talent show is the most anticipated event of the year at OPC. Lauren and some of her friends are thinking about singing Rachel Platter's "Fight Song." They performed for the some of the parents at pick-up. They did a good job, but the song is much longer than the one minute limit, so we will have to do some tweaking if they decide to go through with it. The girls also suffer from varying degrees of stage fright, so they will have to overcome that too.

March 27

Lauren has come to play this soccer season! In her practice this afternoon she won the game of sharks and minnows that started with the twelve players against the two coaches and ended with Lauren against everyone. In other news, I survived my first crazy Wednesday. I loaded up all the kids at 4:35pm, picked up Will's friend and teammate Bennett, drove to Will's baseball practice at 5pm, drove back to the neighborhood and picked up Lauren's friend and teammate Annabelle and drove the girls to their practice at 5:30pm. It was a lot of driving and both Elliott and Miles (thankfully) fell asleep. In the future we will be carpooling, but the mom I was planning on carpooling with got sick.

March 28

It started raining a bit on Thursday, but Elliott was a ray of sunshine when we walked to the park to pick up the older kids at school. That evening was busy, Anthony had a bishop's council and I went to book club. We discussed Girl, Wash your Face! by Rachel Hollis.

March 29

The kids had no school on Friday and I was planning on taking the to the kids to the zoo. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy, so we changed plans and went to the Money Museum and the Federal Reserve Bank downtown. It was good to get out of the house and the kids enjoyed the various activities. That evening we had a family movie night and watched The Three Ninjas. The kids thought it was hilarious.

March 30

The kids watched some videos of dominos falling on youtube and were inspired to create their own. Will really got into it. Unfortunately we don't own nearly as many dominos as some of the people who posted videos do, so his visions were left unfulfilled. That afternoon Anthony and the kids went to the church to help set up the sound system for the ward talent show that evening. On the way home they stopped to put air in a leaky tire and the tire valve came off in Anthony's hand. The tire totally deflated almost instantly! He called Brother Clay (our ministering brother) who came and helped Anthony put on the spare tire. They then drove to the tire store and got a whole new set. Even though it was frustrating to buy new tires, I am grateful that this happened when Anthony was around and we weren't in a time crunch.

2019 :: week 12

March 17

Sunday morning Nana and Papa took care of the older kids while I slept in a bit. Will had been looking forward to playing Bananagrams with Nana. Doug and Tina took the three older kids to church, but left after Sacrament Meeting so I could drive them to the airport. It was Miles' first drive to Missouri and he slept through all of it.

March 18

We have been watching a lot of Mormon Channel Kids lately. We started watching the videos to enhance our scripture study and the kids got hooked! Elliott loves the "Going to Grandma's" message based on Carole Stephens' talk about God giving us commandments because he loves us. All three older kids like the Children's Bible Videos where children explain stories from the New Testament.

March 19

Miles is two weeks old! I am finally starting to feel like we are settling into a routine. At the very least my body isn't aching as much as it was and I am getting enough sleep that I'm feeling slightly capable again. Spring break ending was a little rough. I was nervous about how it would go having everyone home all day when I would have very little energy, but it was fine. The kids were awesome, and Doug and Tina helped a lot. Miles is now eating about every three hours pretty regularly, with one longer stretch. It seems like he'd like to take his longer stretch in thee morning hours, so we are working to get him taking the longer stretch in the middle of the night. He still sleeps most of the day, but likes to be held during his brief wakeful periods. He is so cute and all three older siblings dote on him.

March 20

Elliott has really brought his A game to this "big brother" thing. He brings me clean diapers and wipes, throws away the dirty ones and fetches blankets and pacifiers without being asked. He has been so gentle and loving with Miles. I am looking forward to seeing what their friendship will be like as they get a little older.

March 21

I love seeing Miles with his eyes open. He looks more like himself when he is alert. Anthony came home for lunch and held him while he ate. I haven't quite gotten back in the meal planning/cooking groove yet. In the meantime cereal and sandwiches are hitting the spot.

March 22

I loved sitting on the back porch and watching Elliott and our neighbor Blaise jump on the trampoline. The weather is finally nice enough to enjoy being outside. There was something about the carefree way the boys were laughing as they jumped that made me feel happy.

March 23

Miles proved to be a good luck charm Saturday. It was our first time taking Miles to his older siblings' sporting events and both siblings played well. Lauren's soccer team ended up tying their games, but Lauren came to play and stole the ball a few times. Will's team won their last game of the season and my proudest mom moment was when a parent from the other team yelled at the boy that was defending Will to "not let that little guy get past you!" Will scored six of his team's first eight points. I felt a lot more tense when Anthony and the opposing coach started yelling passive aggressive things to each other. Sports are fun! Even though they take up a lot of time (and they are only in first and third grades!) I enjoy watching my kids learn, compete and improve.

2019 :: week 11

March 10

I love the new windows we had put in our basement. Previously the window was small and let in very little light. This area has been a playroom, and while we plan on keeping most of our toys down here, we want to transition it to an additional family room. We didn't have to expand this window, so I was a little anxious about how much light it would let in. Thankfully, it adds a lot of light, so I don't have to regret the expense.

March 11

Monday afternoon it filled my heart with joy to look outside and see the yard full of kids playing together. Maybe it was the post-partum pregnancy hormones, but it has been such a long, gray winter there were times when it seemed like it would be cold forever. At Miles' weight check he had still not gained any weight and I started to cry. The nurse was clearly very concerned about me and started asking me all sorts of questions about the support I was getting. I have actually felt more supported than ever, but have been struggling to sleep. Every time I lay down to try to sleep I suddenly feel very alert. That night I took a sleep aid and Anthony took Miles out of our room for a few hours to let me get a longer stretch of sleep. When I woke up Tuesday morning I felt like a new woman.

March 12

Anthony took the day off Tuesday so that I could rest as much as possible. I was able to take two good naps (and Anthony snagged a few too). It was rainy and gray in the morning, but in the afternoon the sun came out and the kids were able to play outside with the neighbors for a few hours. Sleep and sun give me life!

March 13

Papa and Nana arrived for the rest of Spring Break on Wednesday evening. I tried to go for a walk with Miles while Anthony and the kids went to the airport to pick them up, but he screamed all the way to the end of the block. I ended up just turning around and going back to our house. A few days later we decided to take the infant insert out of the car seat and he stopped crying so hard whenever we put him in. Big baby problems. Nana and Papa came bearing gifts: a puzzle set for Elliott, socks you could color for Lauren, and a heli-ball for Will. All the gifts have been well loved by the kids.

March 14

Our plan for Thursday was to have Nana and Papa take the kids to Science City after I took Miles to another weight check. They scheduled their visit over Spring Break so they could help us keep the older kids entertained. I took Miles to his THIRD weight check in the morning and when I got there Miles' hadn't gained any weight! I felt very demoralized, but the nurse had me feed Miles and we weighed him again after and he gained four ounces, despite the fact that he also had a substantial bowel movement. Hurray! Science City was crowded due to spring break, but the kids had a great time and I enjoyed taking a nap while they were gone.

March 15

Miles is 10 days old! With all of my kids, once they hit the ten day mark I feel like life starts to settle down a bit. I feel like at this point we are starting to settle into a routine as we figure out what our new "normal" is going to be. Of course, there is nothing normal about this week--the kids are home from school and Anthony's parents are here. Don't get me wrong those are good things, but I won't always have two extra adults around to entertain my older kids and cook our meals, allowing me to solely focus on taking care of Miles and myself.

March 16

On Saturday we went to the Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory in Louisburg. The conservatory is home to large cats and other endangered animals that cannot safely survive in the wild. Elliott had been requesting a zoo visit, but I was not sure I was up to that make walking. This is a place I have wanted to take the kids for awhile, so we went there instead. We had heard it was best to go at feeding time, and feeding time did not disappoint. 

2019 :: week 10

March 3

It was a weird Sunday. It started snowing in the wee hours of the morning and making the roads pretty slick. Anthony went to his usual early Sunday meetings, so I assumed church would go ahead as normal, even though several area churches had cancelled services and the neighboring stake had cancelled all meetings the evening before. At around 9:45am we heard that all 10:30am meetings were cancelled and Sacrament meeting only would be held at all the buildings in our stake except ours. Our ward is the only building in our stake that meets in our building, the other two wards are in the neighboring stake that cancelled, so we went to the Stake Center. It was a good meeting. A funny moment was when the conducting bishop got up and asked if there was anyone who still needed to receive the sacrament and Elliott very loudly and enthusiastically said, "Yes!" even though the bread had been passed down our row. He's always interested in some extra bread. It was also fun to see friends from other wards. We visited with the Evans and Chases and met Elena's baby Gunnar for the first time.

March 4

On Monday morning I had my 40 week check-up. My doctor gave me the go-ahead to get induced that evening after confirming that the baby was head down and that I was dilated to a 1. She also confirmed that the feelings I was having all weekend were in fact contractions, which made me very happy. I have never really contracted or progressed on my own in my previous pregnancies so it made me feel like I'd finally "figured pregnancy out." I had to report to the hospital at 5pm so I could have the cervidil in place for the full twelve hours. My mom came over after school and took one last group picture of the John Family of five. It was a weird day. I had spent a lot of time over past week and weekend getting ready to go to the hospital, so there wasn't much to do. I was feeling all sorts of emotional and excited and nervous about our family's upcoming changes and wanted to do something to show the big kids I love them. I made creamy chicken and rice for dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert--two of their favorite things. It was a relatively uneventful night at the hospital. The bed was super uncomfortable, but it was designed for labor, not sleep, so that wasn't terribly surprising. Anthony and I watched several episodes of the Office, which distracted me and helped me not to feel too stressed.

March 5

After a long day with not a lot of action, Miles Douglas John was born at 3:54pm. When the daytime nurse checked me around 7am I had progressed from a 1 to a 2, but was about 50% effaced, so the cervidil proved useful. I was having somewhat regular contractions, but they started me on pitocin to get things going. As the morning went on the pain increased and I decided to get an epidural. All four epidurals have been slightly different. This time I continued to feel a lot of pressure, but no pain. Soon after I received the epidural the nurse checked my progress and I was close to a 5. Dr. Proverbs came and broke my water. Within an hour I progressed from a 5 to a 7. The nurse had me lay on my side and put a peanut ball between my legs. I was starting to feel a little impatient, but did as I was told. Anthony and I had been watching a Fixer Upper marathon on HGTV most of the day and it was over so we turned the TV to Jeopardy. Soon after I started to feel very uncomfortable. The nurse checked me and said it was time to call the doctor. She came within about fifteen minutes. Once she was there I only had to push about eight times in five minutes and then our little guy was born. My doctor had me stop so she could adjust her position because apparently Miles was "one big baby!" All of my babies have been average to slightly big so I wasn't expecting him to be THAT big, but it turns out he was 9 lbs. 14 oz. Again, this made me feel very validated because I had been so uncomfortable for the past few weeks and kept thinking it must be because I was getting old or was too out of shape. It was so fun to meet Miles and see his face and get to know him face to face. My parents brought our older kids over and they got to meet him during his first hour of life.

March 6

We had a pretty good "first night" with Miles. Anthony stayed with us in the hospital and Miles ate well and was able to go to the nursery for just under three hours, giving us one decent stretch of sleep. When I got up Wednesday morning I showered and felt great. It was a busy day with videos to watch, paperwork to fill out and tests to pass for Miles. Stephanie and Kendall came by for a while to say hello. Back at the home front, we had two egress windows put in on Wednesday. It worked out well to have it done while I was in the hospital because it was very loud. The basement finishing is underway! Anthony brought the kids up to the hospital after school and they ate Dominos pizza while we watched Mulan together. It was fun to have all four of my babies together, even though it is still hard to fathom that we have four children. Also, I called Miles Elliott more times than I called him Miles in the first 24 hours of his life. I never had that problem before, but I also have never had children of the same gender back to back before either.

March 7

We checked out of the hospital around lunchtime Thursday afternoon and Elliott, Miles and I had just enough time to squeeze in a nap before the big kids got out of school. Miles did not have a great night the night before and I really needed a nap. The nurse in charge of the nursery sent him back to my room an hour after I fed him because he was crying so loudly he was disturbing other babies. I tried feeding him, but he acted frustrated. It reminded me of our awful night with Will nine years ago when we thought he was getting enough to eat but my milk had not yet come in. Thankfully this time around I was more experienced and was able to handle things much better. After spending an hour trying to feed and soothe him, I attempted to pump. Next to nothing came out and we fed him a small bottle. He relaxed almost instantly. We made it through the night and by the end of the day my milk supply appeared to be adequate for Miles' needs. Elliott has been telling people for weeks that we were going to name our baby "The Greatest Showman John" and was very excited for Miles to wear one of our two top hats. Elliott says he is the Hugh Jackman showman and Miles is the Zac Efron showman. He has been a very loving and attentive brother.

March 8

Friday was the first day of spring break. I was really dreading having a brand new baby a few days before having my kids off of school for nine days, but it ended up being pretty great. Friday was a low-key day. It was nice to have a slow, quiet day to acclimate to life with four kids. We are in the process of moving Will out of the room he and Lauren have shared for the past three years and into our office bedroom and the kids have been going through their stuff. Lauren found her "fashion glasses" has been enjoying wearing them. I think she looks even more like Will when she wears them. Our friends and family spoiled us. Emily came over to take some newborn pictures of Miles and my friend Tara brought us lunch from Chick-fil-A. In the afternoon our neighbor Renee brought us dinner. That evening Anthony took the older kids to the church to play basketball and Elliott, Miles and I watched some episodes of Paw Patrol.

March 9

I was extremely glad I took the 11am slot for Miles' weight check instead of the 8:30am slot when I called to make the appointment earlier in the week. We barely made it on time, despite all being awake for awhile. It's going to take some work getting used to getting all four kids out the door. Unfortunately, Miles lost one more ounce than the 10% they allow newborns to lose so we will have to head back Monday. After the pediatrician's office we headed to Hy-Vee to pick up some groceries.

Calling the Doctor

Carrie is at a 10. The baby is at position "0". They have called the doctor and we may have a baby soon.

Update 5: Water is Broken

The OB just came and broke Carrie's water. No hiccups. No problems so far. She is still a 4 or 5. Things are getting exciting over here. Carrie is not in pain but it is not a picnic.

......

Carrie has progressed to a 7. Pain is increasing. Getting ready!

Update 4: Banished

Carrie is getting her epidural right now. I have been banished to the other side of the room. Carrie does not want me to watch because she *claims* that I look very concerned while it happens. I have to plead my own case. When Will was being born the anesthesiologist stuck Carrie with a large needle three times, and it bothered me. I did not pass out or anything. But it made me upset, especially when the medicine was not working and they had to do it again. So, because of that trauma I have been banned to the other side of the room, not allowed to watch. I just get upset when I feel Carrie is in unneeded pain. Sue me.

Before the epidural she had progressed to a 3-4. The contractions were getting more painful. Carrie was resisting getting the epidural because the pain was not really bad, but the nurse wisely insisted that with your fourth child the baby will come quicker than you expect. The doctors get tied up, and it can take an hour from the time you request the epidural. So she relented.

Also, there is a state-wide tornado drill today. It reminds me of Parks and Rec episode where they do a town-wide natural disaster drill. Makes me grateful that there isn't an actual tornado. I do not know how a hospital would ever feel fully prepared for a natural disaster. There are so many moving parts, people in various states of personal emergency.

Carrie continues to take things in stride. She will never complain, my role is to communicate clearly with the nurses and doctors how stoic she is and advocate for her when she is feeling nervous to ask for help.

We cannot help but make mini-predictions of when the baby will arrive. It feels like things are progressing really well. Elliott arrived in the late morning, and we are bracing ourselves for a lunchtime baby.

Update 3

We are awake after a relatively restful night with the changing of the guard/nurses. Hospital beds are pretty lousy. Carrie described that she spent a long time trying to find the right place on the bed to avoid the seams, and the nurse told her sympathetically that her quest was in vain. But this morning they did give Carrie the option of taking the monitors off for 30 minutes to take a shower. She chose to not shower, and they just left the monitors off anyway. It's simple decisions like this that are making this experience feel like they are purposefully giving her more freedom, more choice. It is more pleasant. Perhaps it is just the perks of being the super mom who is doing this for the fourth time, and the third time at this birthing center.

The new nurse checked her, and she moved from a two to a two and a half. They are getting the pitocin ready along with an antibiotic. Apparently Carrie tested positive for a strep virus two weeks ago and her OB never told us. That is just slightly weird, but we were assured it is extremely common and as long as the antibiotic is administered during the birth process the baby will be fine, though they will monitor him closely. But isn't that the case for all the new littles around here?

Update 2

It's been an uneventful evening.

It seems unlike every other aspect of our culture, this birthing center has loosened up its rules. They gave Carrie a small dinner and snacks. They let her unplug from the monitors and go to the restroom without a nurse. The nurse claims that they won't be waking her up tonight, and they turned down the heart monitor sound so we won't hear it, which is different from what I remember.

The baby's heart has been going fine all night, no hiccups. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that Carrie has been having somewhat regular, and painful, contractions. She has never experienced contractions without pitocin. We are hoping this means that the baby will come sooner.

We have been watching classic The Office episodes on Comedy Central to kill time: Micheal gets back with Jan, Micheal botches interview in New York, Pam and Jim secretly date, and my favorite the Rabies Fun Run for the Cure.

Until tomorrow morning!

it begins...

It is now time for the ritual of Anthony writing blogposts about the arrival of our baby while Carrie does the work.

We have checked into the hospital and they have Carrie wired up. We can hear the baby's heart well.

For anyone who does not know, we found out a few weeks ago that the baby was lying transverse. Our OB was concerned that Carrie would have to have a C-section. Carrie went to the hospital that week to have a procedure where they would rotate the baby around. At that point they did an ultrasound and saw that the baby had his cord around his neck, and therefore they were not going to do the procedure. Last week during Carrie's regular appointment they found that the baby had moved into better position, which was a relief.

Carrie has been having mild (easy for me to say) contractions for the last few days, which she has never had before outside of the hospital. This morning we visited with the OB who let us know Carrie is at a 1, which is more than she has ever progressed on her own. 

So we are here, starting the induction process. They are letting her go the bathroom, hooking her up to an IV, and applying the cervadil.

It is hard not to feel a bit apprehensive about potential complications as this pregnancy. We are a little nervous, but also feeling good. Carrie is as stalwart as ever. Probably by tomorrow afternoon this munchkin will be here.

2019 :: week 9

February 24

Sunday evening we attended an "8 is Great!" event put on by our primary presidency. Lauren turns eight in October and is very excited to be getting baptized. The primary glued clues around the building and we used our scriptures to find answers to Who, What, When, Where and Why of baptism (there were others too, I just can't remember). The kids loved it.

February 25

This week felt like a week of "lasts" for me, being that it is my last full week before we add child number four to the mix. I have tried to stay active this pregnancy and water aerobics has been my main source of exercise for the past four months. I try to go 3-5 times a week, depending on our family's schedule. The ladies and instructors in the classes have been very supportive of me and I really appreciate it. This week I went Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It was bittersweet saying goodbye to my classmates knowing I won't be back for at least six weeks.

February 26

Elliott and I met Renee, Blaise and Luke at the library for story time Tuesday. Elliott isn't a great participator unless he has a friend to be with. After story Ttime we played with the toys. Elliott took the dollar bills from the play ice cream shop and put them around the juvenile section. Then he took a magnifiying glass that was part of another play area and told me he was doing "8 is great." The answer to every clue was "Jesus Christ is the Savior." He also randomly recited the third article of faith to me this week, so clearly he is paying attention in primary.

February 27

I was shocked to find out that school was cancelled Wednesday! The kids were all up and we were eating breakfast when I looked at my phone and saw the notification. Apparently there had been freezing rain overnight and the roads were very slippery. Our driveway was a sheet of ice. The kids are now at eight, yes eight! "snow" days. I took advantage of having everyone home and we did some getting-ready-for-the-baby cleaning. Will has been an amazing helper this week and is a big reason why I don't feel super stressed about adding this baby to our family. In spite of the weather I had my 39 week check-up and found out our baby has turned! He is now head down. We are crossing our fingers he will stay head down and I can be induced next Tuesday. If he moves I will have a c-section that day instead.

February 28

The kids were being extra goofy during our family scripture study Thursday night. It started with Elliott talking about the baby in his tummy. Then Will had to have one too. Lauren didn't want a baby in her tummy, but she did want a baby so she had to go get a stuffed animal to love on too. I have to admit, I was feeling a little jealous of how effortlessly the babies left their tummy. I have been having Braxton-Hicks contractions all week and know that is just a harbinger of things to come.

March 1

Elliott and I delivered our last batch of meals on Friday. We started this route in August 2017, so we have known some of our recipients for 18 months. We are taking a break and will reevaluate our ability to help in a few months.

March 2

Another busy Saturday of getting stuff done. I took Lauren on a breakfast date to Chick-fil-A and shoe shopping this morning. We did a variety of chores around the house throughout the day, including installing the baby's carseat into our van. Elliott's car seat has been moved to the passenger side. Will's basketball game was rescheduled, so Anthony took the kids to the church to shoot hoops and run around. That evening we went out to eat at Red Robin and topped off the night drinking root beer floats.