It started out pretty slowly. I was trying my darnedest during that first week. My mom came to stay to help with the other kids once the new baby came and during that week I did everything I could with the chiropractor, acupuncturist, even castor oil to avoid that c-section. As a result I didn't do much else. I slept and I ate and after that we didn't do too much.
The first weekend in October came and I knew that if we didn't go apple picking that weekend that we wouldn't go at all this year. Since I was feeling good and hoping that the walking would help get things started we decided to go.
We headed out to the orchard with a plan.
Mister W picked our first apple.
I'm not sure what I'm saying to Brad here but it is a pretty good shot of me at 38 weeks.
There's just nothing like fruit off of the tree.
Yum!
Granny Smith's are miss L's favorite!
It was the fall festival weekend which is probably not usually the weekend we would pick to go, but it's what we had and even though the playground was crawling with tons of kids we stayed a few minutes anyhow.
On October 10th I went to my 39 week appointment hoping to have the doctor help me along a bit. When he checked me he found that I wasn't dilating even a little bit so we knew at that point that I'd be having a c-section the next morning. I found it impossible to sleep. I'd planned to have this natural birth that I wasn't going to have and even though having a c-section wasn't the end of the world (or even close) it was just such a weird feeling to know that the next day we'd finally be meeting this little guy that we had been so desperate to meet!
We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am to get prepped for surgery.
It's a tiny little stretcher for a big mama.
We were so excited to meet this guy!
Brad's ready to go!
My team was great. Besides what I think may have been the world's worst epidural (they had to try two different sites to get it in and it was very uncomfortable) everything went smoothly. I asked that they not give me any medication for anxiety until it after he left the room and I felt so much more present at this birth than at the birth of the twins. Brad and I were talking and joking and he was able to tell me what was happening. It was not the birth I was expecting but it was wonderful anyway.
At 8:25 our sweet little man made his way into the world screaming his head off.
He was immediately examined for any signs of a heart defect that may have gone undetected and his cord blood, cord tissue and a piece of placenta were all packaged up to be tested for Lyme.
He was whisked away while they stitched me up and Brad stayed with him. I'm not sure how long it was, but it wasn't very long when they met me in the recovery room with a lactation consultant in tow. I was so impressed that they were so on it in that regard. We were able to nurse right there with someone to help and then it was quickly on to our room.
I was just one happy mama.
Later that day Mawmaw brought the big kids by to see us and sweet little man.
It was so nice to be together, even for a few minutes.
They left and Brad got some dinner for us. I was just spent from all the goings on of the day. After a nap we were able to snap a few photos before bed.
Overnight I decided that I MUST get up. The nurses were great. I just wanted to move around and they were all so understanding and let me do pretty much whatever I wanted. Wednesday morning I even got to shower. YAY!
Then we had a another little photoshoot.
Miss L and mister W came again to see us. Everyone was just so smitten with sweet little man.
The next couple of days went by fairly quickly. We just kept recovering and taking photos. We watched cable (a treat for us and ultimately what made us decide to get cable at our house once again :o). We ate and spent some time just the three of us before really becoming a family of five.
Friday morning we got ready to go home. I'm not sure sweet little man really wanted to. :o)
We settled in at home. Brad started a new job the Monday after we got home and though we were adjusting to not sleeping once again we felt really good.
Miss L had a school field trip. It was scheduled for the previous week and we planned for Brad to leave the hospital and take her. Sadly, it rained and the trip was rescheduled for Brad's first day of work. Miss L was so excited about this trip and I wanted her to go, so together we went. She understood that we'd have to leave early because mommy couldn't walk all over the place and she didn't complain when it was time. She's such an amazing girl and so compassionate for others. I'm often surprised at how well she goes with the flow and her understanding of others' feelings. What a great person she is!
Miss L's class.
Beautiful eyes.
At first she wasn't sure about feeding the animals.
She got the hang of it pretty quickly though.
She loved the baby llama especially that he was wearing a sweater.
Her favorite, however, was this pig. I think she fed that pig most of a bag of food.
We were able to get a pumpkin for her and for mister W on our way out. She was super proud of them.
One of the wonderful things about having a baby is how it forces you to slow down. A baby won't be hurried and always needs you when you are thinking about hurrying off for something. It's definitely frustrating at times, but it's wonderful too. Things get pared down to what is absolutely necessary. One of the things I love during these early days are how we can just sit and take photos. One morning the kids were all on the bed and so we snapped a few.
Mister W loves his brother, but miss L is really helpful with him. There are times when she can calm him down if he is upset. Mister W just can't wait for him to be able to play.
Of course, there have to be silly faces.
Here's a post bath photo of sweet little man. I just love the hair.
No matter where it is, if sweet little man gets put down (which, amazingly, doesn't happen THAT often) someone crawls up next to him. This may be the most loved creature in the world. It's wonderful.
After miss L had her photo taken with sweet little man, mister W wanted his taken too. It's hard for me to believe that sweet little man will grow as big as mister W someday.
Mister W's little personality is really coming out. Here he's got on miss L's shoes. It's so fun to watch him grow and come into his own. He is all about "I do it," and "I try it." I remember this with miss L where every age got more fun than the last. We are definitely discovering that is still true with mister W.
This hat is a hand me down from friends. It's a huge hit at our house and even though it's a little small it's mister W's favorite dress up item.
It became part of our Halloween costumes this year. I've become pretty accustomed to miss L picking out her own costume theme. Last year it was a ladybug until about two days before Halloween when it switched to robot. This year, it was a LOT of different things, but she eventually settled on a super hero. She wanted to be super L. That costume sounded pretty easy to put together to me, and after a trip to the fabric store, we were all set!
I had actually planned to dress mister W up as a super hero too, but he wanted to be a farmer and since it incorporated his favorite hat, we went with it.
If sweet little man weren't a fourth child then he might have had the benefit of dressing up, but as it is, I think the pumpkin hat is costume enough!
I think that most kids want to wear their costumes more than that one special night and this year we tried to seek out opportunities to do so. Our local gym had a party and we decided to go, thinking it would be sort of low key. It was BUSY! We saw tons of friends and had an awesome evening!
Then, the Sunday before the big day, we decided to carve the big pumpkin we picked at the farm. Miss L and her daddy got on the computer and found a pattern that they liked, printed it out, and got to work.
Miss L can't stand the inside of a pumpkin, but she discovered what little brothers are good for. I think Brad wasn't too disappointed either.
He was a pretty good scooper!
Eventually, daddy got to a part where he was using sharp tools and receiving a little bit too much help, so we painted our pumpkins from the class field trip while daddy finished up.
The boy just has to taste is paint! Yuck!
Sweet little man spent his time hanging out in his swing.
...finally daddy was done!
Mister W loved that pumpkin so much he gave it a big kiss!
Finally, the big day arrived! Mister W was happy to have his costume back on.
Sweet little man missed all the excitement, but enjoyed his own activities. :o)
Our trick or treating group this year.
...and mister W discovers how lovely Halloween can be.
See you in November!
