What I have been doing!

Before baby (thanks emily for the pics!!)

After. Moses coming home!
( I don't know how to flip the picture and I am too tired to figure it out!)

So as most of you know Moses came into this world one week ago today!
What an experience!!!
So so so thankful I got to experience giving birth, but as of now I do not want to do it again!
My water broke last Sunday afternoon, Dan raced home and we took off for the hospital.
It was a long 12 hours, which I hear is not too bad for a first birth.
Had pitocin to help push my labor along, which make the contractions really hard!
The pain was unreal, and just when we were ready to give in and get the epidural I was finally at 8 centimeters! I was really out of it because I got some Demoral which did nothing for the pain but put me into a state of deliriousness (is that a word?)
I would feel like I was in a drugged out dream state for the one minute in between contractions, then the pain would start again and I was completely aware of everything. It was the weirdest thing I have ever been through.
Finally After pushing for about 45 minutes or an hour Moses flew into this crazy world!
I am thankful I got to do a natural birth and everything went well since this will most likely be my one and only time giving birth!
So far we are surviving, on little to no sleep and the energy of the kids.
They are adjusting to having a baby, I would not call it a smooth transition but it will get there! My mom stayed for a week and a half and literally cleaned my house top to bottom and took care of the kids the whole time!
My dad, sister and nephews came up this weekend and helped us cope with a family of 3! Thanks for everything you guys, the house feels quiet (if that is possible) without you!
I remember feeling overwhelmed when Zeke came home from the hospital, and now I think oh how nice it would be to recover with just one! Just the exhaustion of giving birth and recovery is crazy, plus trying to nurse and sleep and take care of 2 kids, and bills and a house to clean. I applaud my friends with 3 or more kids!
So this has been my life for the last week, luckily Dan is good at keeping everyone up to date since I can barely stay awake to type this!
Thanks for all the love and support!

The waiting game

I always heard the end of the pregnancy is so hard, you get tired and uncomfortable and just want to be done. I feel those things but even more so I am just ready to meet my baby!!!
It has been about 2 days of contractions and they never progress into anything. It gets frustrating, but I know this is part of the process of having a baby!
Went to the Dr. today, she wanted me to have a non-stress test to check on the baby.
Everything was great, Moses is doing terrific, I am so thankful for this!!
Some of the circumstances made her want to possibly induce me today, but we decided against it. I really want to go into labor naturally if possible.
My contractions are 2 to 4 minutes apart but mild, so we are waiting it out and hoping that in the next day or two he will be ready to make his entrance!
So until then we wait...
My mom comes into town tonight, which I am so thankful for, I will feel so much better knowing she is here with the kids, the less trauma for them the better!
Anyway if you think of us pray for us! We will keep you posted!

Aren't my kids cute?

Dan already posted one of these, but I took some pictures of the kids a few days ago while we were playing at a ball field. It is really hard to capture anything from them, they are constantly on the move! Soon I will have to try to capture 3 kids in a picture!! At least Moses will stay in one place for a little while!
The count down is on, we want to get through Wednesday, then Moses can join us out here in this crazy world! But if he decides to come early I think we can make it work!

Is it nap time yet?????

So tired today.
We went to take the dog to the groomers and Target and I was dragging myself through Target, both kids crabby and crying. I kind of wanted to just find a chair and sit down for awhile, hoping when I returned the kids would be done whining and crying. Of course I did not do this but man my energy is low today.
We made it home and I am being #1 mom by putting on a little Einstein video so that I can sit on the couch for 20 minutes and not have to think for these few precious minutes! I really have felt so good through this whole pregnancy, which I am SO thankful for. But man if I am going to have 2 weeks of this my kids are going to be very unhappy! Zeke's like let's go to the park, let's go swimming, let's take a walk again, let's go to gymnastics! I 'm like let's take a family nap!!
He is used to getting out and doing something everyday!
That is all really, just tired today.

The picture is for all my Riverside friends who wanted to see how huge I am, there are very few clothes still fitting me, every once in awhile I sport the ghetto belly hanging out of the bottom of my shirts! Good times!

The moby Wrap

So as I await the arrival of Moses one of the things I am working on is making a Moby Wrap. I am a lover of slings for my babies. Each one I have tried a different sling and I absolutely love carrying my babies around close to me. With Zeke my dear friend Jess told me about over the shoulder baby holders, which at the time was one of the only slings out there. Funny what has changed in 5 years, now there are like 50 different types of slings, which is great! Anyway Zeke did SO well in a sling, he was a preemie so he needed extra time to adjust to this crazy world, and I think being bundled up tight and close to us was so good for him. He was a colicky, crying baby and when he was in the sling life was good!
Sofia got jipped out of time in the sling since we didn't get her until she was 6 months, but that didn't stop me from using the sling all the time as soon as we got her from the orphanage! My friends went in together and got me a sloomb, which is like the sling I had for Zeke but cuter fabric! It is an easy one to wear your kid on your hip too. Which if I was not pregnant I would still do, I did it until my belly got in the way.
So tonight I worked on my Moby wrap, which you can easily buy online, but I opted to buy fabric and cut the dimensions. Jess constantly wore her daughter in it, and when we moved up to Redding Leah Caldwell had made herself one and was loving it, so I thought sure I will do that too!
But let me just say it is annoying laying that much fabric out to cut the dimensions!!
But I finished it and it is cute, I tried it out and it was not looking quite like the picture online, then I realized oh yeah, I still have this huge belly, maybe it will fit better when the baby is here!!
Anyway it made me excited to finally have him here and hold him!!
Hopefully it is soon!!!

Things I miss

I absolutely love being pregnant, it has been a desire for really my whole life, I remember being young and thinking pregnant women were so beautiful, and I couldn't wait until it was my turn. So after 7 years of praying for it I am thrilled it has finally happened to me.
But there are a few things I miss and can't wait to do when I have the baby.

Like sleeping on my stomach! Oh how I miss sleeping on my back and stomach, I have always slept on my stomach and it is an adjustment not being able to do that!

Stretching! That morning stretch when you are laying in bed on your back before you get out of bed. For some reason I can't stretch, maybe because you use your stomach muscles and they are all stretched out with a baby pushing on them. And you can't point and stretch your feet because it hurts and then you have those crazy charlie horses!

Being able to see below my belly, and do things like reach your feet! We had a girls night last weekend and I realized I can't paint my toenails anymore! I couldn't breathe, so Erica kindly painted them for me! Thanks Erica

Drink a big fat Cherry coke. I hardly have soda, but every once in awhile I crave a cherry coke with my friend Karen(miss you girl).

Having a glass of wine. Also something I don't do that often but there are those great nights when the kids are in bed and we go sit outside and it would be perfect to sip a glass of wine with my husband!

Sleep longer than 3 hours without having to get up to go pee! Not that this is going to change anytime soon, but I look forward to this day!

Eating hummus and not getting indigestion! I get indigestion when I drink water! I love hummus and Trav & Annette brought us some from Trader joes when they came up and every time I eat it it stays with me all day!! But I still do it because I love it so much!

Those are just a few things lately I have been missing, but to counter those there are a million things I love about being pregnant and I feel so thankful to be able to experience this crazy thing that God designed our bodies for!

endurance

So last week Dan and I were discussing giving birth and planning out how we wanted it to look, hopefully! When Dan commented on my lack of working out. It is true I have not worked out in months! Granted I go up and down stairs 50 times a day with 20 more pounds than I used to have , sometime 40 if I am carrying Sofia. Plus just keeping up with the kids all day. So I am not sitting on my butt all day, but I have not been purposeful about it either.
Dan was like don't you think you might want to work out more so you will have some endurance for childbirth?
huh? Interesting question which makes perfect sense and I had not thought of!!!
I really want a natural childbirth and I pray I will be strong enough for it, so I have been exercising every other day this week.
You may be thinking um isn't it a little late to start now, aren't you due soon?
Yes, yes I am, in two months actually!
But better late than never right!

my little miracle

So the rumors are true, I am pregnant! I figure everyone who reads my blog reads Dan's so you already know, but I still wanted to post about it!
What the heck right! We are still in shock about it a lot of the time, 4 months into it and we still get huge smiles on our faces when we talk about God and his surprises!
It is so cool to look back on our journey and see God's plan woven throughout the whole process. 7 years of trying to have children and just when we think our little family of four is complete, God blesses us with this desire that has been deep within us. I love that each of our children are miracles, with different stories and that all along God was orchestrating each and every detail.
I am so absolutely thrilled that I have this little person growing and floating inside me, that she(dan keeps saying he so I am gonna go with she) that she has all her little organs and fingernails and I get to carry her around with me, it is really amazing to me. We have heard the heartbeat twice now and each time I get the chills, it is just like wow, this is really true, finally.
Anyway I just wanted to say thank you to all of our family and friends who have traveled this crazy journey with us, so many of you have been praying with us for literally 7 years and a friend just said on the phone the other day that it was an answer to their prayers as well. How cool that so many people are rejoicing with us in this miracle.
How cool is our God that knows the desires of our hearts and he gives them to us when we least expect it!