Just can't get enough.

I have spent most of my day staring at this little miracle...

 Best day ever.

 I am smitten.  Cora Anne is as sweet as they come.

Coming home with Cora

The white board in my hospital room said I would be discharged on Saturday.  But my doctor checked me out on Friday and said I could go home if I wanted to.  

Resting in the hospital isn't very restful.

The good nurses checked on me and Cora frequently... bless them.  But that first night in the hospital was brutal.  They gave Cora some shots, so she was fussy.  And they had meds for me throughout the night.  And they wanted me to feed her every two hours.  Not restful.

So I was very glad at the opportunity to go home sooner.

The girls were expecting us home on Saturday.  We arrived home before they got off the school bus on Friday.

They were so happy to see us... especially Cora!

 They gave her lots of love and attention.

 We are so glad to be home.  Tired.  But so very happy.

And we all slept much better our first night home.

The newest sister... Cora Anne!

Cora Anne was born at 5:19 am.  We knew the girls would be super excited to meet their new sister.  

My sister was home with Alli, Ruby, and June.  

We had planned on sending them to school... we didn't plan on such a quick delivery.  But with everything done so early, we called my sister and told her to bring them in when they were ready.

They must have been so excited when they woke up and realized we were at the hospital.

Anyhow, Janis fed them and helped them get ready to meet their baby.  Somehow Alli and Ruby broke Alli's glasses on the way to the car.  So Alli has taped up glasses.

Their reaction to seeing Cora for the first time was a collective (high pitched) "aaawwwwwwwww!"

They washed their hands and came to inspect their little sister.  They adored her tiny fingers and toes... each tiny detail got a new "aaaaawwwww!"

 Then they took turns holding her.

 Everyone loved her silky dark hair.

 All the girls together...

 Adorable!

If you want to read more about the labor and delivery of Cora, click here (warning, it has words like placenta and blood).  

The labor and delivery of Cora.

Warning... this post is a birth story.  If words like placenta make you uncomfortable, you may not want to read this.  You have been warned.   

Weeks before my due date, my midwife checked me out and said it could happen any day now.

Here I am at 39 weeks...

Well, the March 1st due date came and went... no baby yet.

I went to my check up on Monday, and my midwife stripped my membranes (for the second time this pregnancy... nothing great came of it) and asked me when I would like to be induced.  My first choice was Friday.  Second choice Thursday.  (Honestly, I didn't want to be induced.  Not because I didn't want the baby to come soon, but my labors with Ruby and June were so great, I was nervous about too much unnecessary medical intervention.)  The hospital called to schedule the induction with me.  They said to be there Thursday at 6 am.  Later, I got an email reminder saying my appointment was Friday at 6 am.  To clear up the discrepancy, I called my doctor's office and they confirmed an appointment on Friday... all set, right?

Wednesday night, I stayed up much too late to watch the beginning of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  So very funny.  And those big laughs brought on a few contractions.  But by midnight, I was ready for bed.

I woke up at 3 am Thursday morning.  I had to go to the bathroom.  And I was bleeding a little.  And I was achy.  But no contractions yet.

I woke Andy up... I didn't want him to miss anything fun.

I texted my sister.  Then I called her and asked her to come over.

By 3:27 I was timing contractions.  And within ten minutes, the contractions were about 2 minutes apart and they were lasting about a minute each.  For real.

I showered and got dressed.

Janis came and helped us get out the door.  She stayed with the kids (who were sound asleep).

I sent a text to my mom at 3:51 as we drove to the hospital.

In the middle of the night, you can't go straight to the labor and delivery department, you have to check in at the ER.  So we did.  A L&D nurse came to take us back.  She asked if I wanted a wheelchair.  I could still walk and talk, so we walked back to the labor and delivery department.

It turns out a room was ready for us... we were on the schedule to be induced at 6 am Thursday... it was 4:10 am.  With a room all set, I changed into a gown (sounds too fancy... more like a bed sheet with snaps and ties).  Our nurses hooked up the monitors, and I stopped keeping track of my contractions at 4:18 am.

Amanda, one of the nurses, checked my cervix.  I had dilated to a six.  She couldn't believe I had walked to labor & delivery.  She went through a zillion questions about medical history and insurance and where we live... sign here and here... it was very distracting... which was good.  I could talk through contractions, but she got good at reading my breathing patterns.  And then I got shaky... which means SOON!  She checked me, and I was a 9+.

Amanda called the midwife and doctor in right away.

They suited up (including a splash guard... which I found humorous... and I thought of the splash zone at Sea World).  Elizabeth, the midwife, broke my water.  There wasn't much of a splash... more of a trickle... but the baby dropped into place.

And then the crazy five minutes started.

Pushing a baby out is painful.  I have to dig deep.  Here is what I remember...

Andy was on my left, holding my hand, stroking my head, encouraging me on.  He was awesome.  Amanda was on my right, coaching my breathing.  She was a great coach... and I focused on what she was saying.  I was hot... it felt like I was burning up from the inside.  A nurse fetched a cold wet cloth for me.

They were all telling me to push.  

I pushed through the first contraction.  I wasn't making great progress.  I took too long of a break when I let out the breath I was holding to catch another breath.  Amanda told me what to do better.

The next contraction was much more productive.  Amanda kept me on track.

I felt like I was splitting in half.

The contraction ended, and I was breathing so hard.  I wanted a rest so badly.  I was determined to get this baby out with the next contraction.  When the contraction started, I took a deep breath and gave it all my strength and energy.  

The feeling of a baby slipping past the tightest part is a huge relief.  And the warm, wiggly, wetness of a baby being plopped on my chest was surreal.  The baby cried out a little... which is just a miraculous, musical sound!  It was 5:19 am... and I was done!

She was 7 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches long.

I could see lots of dark hair on this baby, and chubby cheeks... but I couldn't see much else as she was right below my chin.  I asked Andy to take a picture of her face and show me with the camera.

I was bleeding a lot.  We could tell that the nurses, doctor and midwife were all concerned, but they were playing it cool so as not to alarm us.  They delivered the placenta.  The heavy bleeding continued.  I could feel blood and clots squishing out.  Not a good feeling.

I don't remember who did it, but either the doctor or the midwife had to stick a hand in to see if there was tissue left in my uterus.  That was painful.  Painful!

They gave me a bag of pitocin through my IV to cramp up my uterus and stop the bleeding.

They massaged my belly and pushed on it.

They gave me another medicine... and finally, it started to slow down.

Whew.

And now I will share pictures from after that point...

In the delivery room... after the really painful stuff.

 By 7:30 am we were in the postpartum recovery room... breakfast was on the way.

  

Staying sane.

 It is arcticly cold in Ohio.  So very cold.  This winter has been exceptionally cold.  And irritating.

We had a big snowstorm last Sunday.  We were sent home from church early due to the snow.  When we arrived home, snow six inches deep covered our driveway... and it was still coming down.  The girls and I shoveled enough so Andy could get in the driveway (he stayed at church to finish up his clerk duties).

I had contractions every 2-5 minutes for the rest of the day... so I won't be doing that again... for a few weeks.  :)

I couldn't sleep Sunday night.  The wind was howling all night long (and those contractions kept up until the wee hours of the morning).

In the morning I sent the kids off to school and ran a few errands.  I noticed a bunch of snowballs rolled in near the road.  Lots of them.  I thought, "Who was crazy enough to roll all those in THIS weather?!"  (It was so cold!) 

Then I noticed them everywhere... along the highway, at the school, in the park, in our neighborhood!  And then I realized that it was a widespread thing.

Snow rollers.

They are kindof cool.  (Except that you have to have crappy weather to get them.)
We waited until it was "warm" outside... like 20 degrees...  (And we had to wait until Thursday) and then we went to a park to check out the snow rollers first hand.
I had never seen them before.  My mom had never seen them before, so I figured we better seize the day and get some pictures with this rare phenomenon.

"It's a donut!"

They are somewhat fragile.

They are everywhere!  Hundreds of them!

June sat on one... it broke.  She was pleased with herself.

"Can't I just get one picture of the three of you together?!"

 Fine.

The kids have missed so much school this winter... the school used up all of the calamity days.  With all the snow days and holidays, they haven't had five school days in a row since early December.
We have spent too much time inside.
Here is the latest fun diversion...

 The girls have made a little world in the house plants.

 And all sorts of little plastic animals, people, and creatures live on the plant "islands."

 There are little cottages and barns on the islands.

 More fun than toys.

Stay warm.  Stay sane.
Spring will come.  (Right?!!!)

The Big 1-0... Harry Potter style!

I still can't believe I have a ten year old!  Double digits!  (Where did the time go?)

Sigh.

Anyhow, Alli read all seven Harry Potter books over the summer, and she is slightly obsessed with all things Hogwarts.  And so we planned a Hogwarts-style birthday party.

First, I went on Pinterest to find a few good ideas.  (And then I remembered that I didn't want to spend a fortune and I didn't have tons of extra time.)  Good old Pinterest.

We gathered up a few witchy/wizard-ish things and made a display.

The big project was in the dining room... floating candles!

 For our craft, we made golden snitches!

We dipped pretzel rods in chocolate and decorated them to make wands.

It was hard to wait for the chocolate to harden.

The girls ate lunch in the dining room with lights out... floating candles gently illuminated the room.  The girls drank butterbeer (melted butterscotch candies mixed with cream soda and seltzer water... topped with ice cream) and ate sandwiches, chips, carrots, and fruit salad.

Then we played a game tasting Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (aka Jelly Belly beans that come in nasty flavors).

Alli wanted a pink cake with green letters that said, "Happy Birthday Alli," like the cake Hagrid made for Harry.  It was supposed to be sloppy.  (Oops.  I forgot.)

Gifts were opened... there were lots of ooooohs and aaaahs.

Andy somehow managed to calmly sit on the couch and check news/email/etc while a riotous game of quidditch ensued all around him.

The goody bag: the pretzel wand, coins from Gringot's bank, a chocolate frog, jelly beans, and a couple of mints.

Alli was delighted with her party.  She is excited to be ten!  

Next year she hopes to get a letter from Hogwarts.
You can read about some more of the details of the party here.

if being pregnant makes you THIS slow...

We took the kids to the gym tonight for a little swim.  We go as a family, but when we get inside, Andy gets to go to the men's locker room solo, and I take my little flock of girls into the women's locker room.
The girls were excited to hit the pool... and they were pretty much running to the locker room.
I am 33 weeks pregnant.  I was not running, so they were far ahead of me.  When I caught up to them at the locker room door, Alli said, "Mom, if being pregnant makes you THIS slow, do NOT get pregnant again!"

I will take that into consideration.