:::SIGH:::

Over the last almost 6 years (I can't believe it's been that long) I have blogged A LOT about my kids being sick.  Most of the time their sickness has occurred when my family has been traveling particularly during cold and flu season.  We have so many puke stories, it's CRAZY!!  Don't believe me?  Here are a few of my blog posts to prove it (this does not even include the Christmas of 2011 when my kids were sick for an ENTIRE MONTH straight!!!!  I was so out of it I couldn't even blog about that one):

Christmas of 2008 

Propped Up and Sucked Out 

When My Kids Are Sick 

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease 

The Boogy Monster

I literally felt insane during those times and even more so when I got little to no sympathy from others around me who were doing there best to cheer me up and make light of the situation.

I'm happy to report that things have changed!  For the whole story of what we changed and why, you can read my blog entitled "Change the Face of Cold and Flu Season."

For this post I just want to give you a glimpse of the differences between our Christmas in 2010 (before the change) and 2013 (after the change) through a few pictures:

Christmas 2010

Decorating cookies with the cousins.  Notice the latex gloves.  This was moments before Micah tossed his cookies.

A sick little boy cuddling with his grandma after a looooooong night of being sick to his stomach.  Colin and I are probably taking a nap somewhere trying to catch up on sleep and stay healthy ourselves.

The day we tried to get our flight changed because both the boys were still puking.   Here they are up for a few minutes between naps and being sick before we hit the road for Omaha and then on to our flight home in which Micah continued to be sick (throwing up every day  for almost 2 WEEKS).  To read more of that CRAZY sickness story read my blogs entitled "My Love/Hate Relationship With Travel" and "My Love/Hate Relationship With Travel Part 2." 

Christmas 2013

Decorating Christmas Cookies with all 9 of the cousins.  Notice that there are NO latex gloves.  NO ONE got sick after this either (despite the insane amount of sugar they used to decorate and then ingested).

A HEALTHY little girl cuddling with her grandma!  Enough said!

The 5 older cousins (we had a total of 9 kids between the ages of 1 and 7 years old and 8 adults all sleeping and eating under the same rough for 7 days straight) sleeping peacefully the entire night in the basement without any puke buckets by their sides.

EVERYONE was present and healthy for the Bible reading on Christmas morning.  A first since 2006!

LOTS of cousin play time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The mommies even got to go out and get pedicures one night!!!!  This was the first Christmas vacation in a LONG time that was 100% enjoyable and restful!  I came home rejuvenated and re-energized for my family.  That was DEFINITELY not the case in years past.

Overall, I visited family during the 2013 holiday season with Micah and Anora for TWENTY days and NONE of us got sick!!!

So, my :::sigh::: is a HUGE sigh of relief.  If you want to learn more about the nutritional supplement my family is taking to achieve and maintain good health, check out my business website here, or you can message me on facebook if we're already friends.  I'd love to come along side of you and help you achieve amazing health.  May this blog find you and your loved ones be happy and healthy!! ~ Corinne

Doughan Christmas Letter 2013

Christmas Greetings

We are diaper free in the Doughan House at the end of 2013!  Maybe I shouldn’t have led with that, but it is a sign of things changing at the Doughan house.  Little people are growing up.  Our conversations at the supper table now include topics like: spelling tests and Mom/Dad’s policy on owning an IPOD.  But this kind of change is good.  Corinne seems more prepared for it than I am.  She pulls me along and helps me to loosen the reigns from time to time.  Here’s your 2013 Doughan Family Update.

Jackson (age 7) learned to ride his bike this summer.  First Grade is pushing him and he is developing deeper friendships and did I mention, spelling tests.  Ah, I remember those days of spelling tests.  He likes his teacher.  He likes school.  I am seeing the Lord work on his heart which is a joy for any parent.  Jackson is addicted to Mindcraft and Legos, and dunking the ball on the little hoop in the basement…and he is eating me out of house and home.

Micah (age 5) learned to read this year.  He will surprise his Kindergarten teacher next Fall by already reading small chapter books.  It is still a little surprising to have him read road signs in the car.  Micah has built a great friendship with his sister since the two them rule the roost now most days.  His comedic timing grows by the day.  His laughter is usually the contagion that has the whole family laughing over supper together.  Micah is addicted to checking his own books out at the library, eating his chocolate dipped biscotti like its chocolate corn on the cob, and enjoying being scared by stories about large African cats with big teeth.

Anora (age 2) is a blue eyed little lady.  As mentioned above, she is diaper-free and very proud of that fact.  She asks her mom questions about heaven, “Will there be toys there?”  She runs around the house in her super hero costume in pursuit of her caped-brothers.  She carries her baby doll with her on their adventures.  Her brothers lack such a sidekick!  She makes me smile every day, giving the best “knee hugs” when I come home from work, “Daddy’s home!”  Anora is addicted to helping Mom make supper, knowing where the contents of the dishwasher are stored better than her dad, and bossing her brothers around when they are healthy and offering to take care of them when they get sick.

Corinne (always 29) grows more beautiful every day.  She gives herself to our children and to our Church.  I am such a lucky man.  This year, Corinne is learning to play the guitar and trust God in all things.  She has become a regular singer at Church – I love hearing her sing on Sunday morning.  The kids don’t know the quality of their nightly lullabies.  In May, Corinne surprised me with a trip to Colorado Springs – just the two us (thanks Auntie Becky for watching the kids!).

Colin has completed his MBA (December 2013).  Boom – ten years in the making!  Thanks honey for letting me live at the library so many nights – now you can go back to school for your nuclear fusion degree…if you want to.

God is teaching us so many things during 2013, but none more so than how to lead others you care about through trials and struggles – when to offer solutions and when to just love on them.  What a beautiful thing it is to live in community.  God’s grace and provision are so evident and even…tangible.  Our prayer for you, our dear ones at the other end of this letter, is to seek the Lord (the God of Heaven born in a manger) and do life with a community of people you love…even though it is messy.  After all, that’s what God did for us.

The Doughans

Change the Face of Cold and Flu Season

If you've read any of my previous posts you'd; note two things. 1. I have not written a blog post in a very long time. 2. My previous posts had A LOT to do with the health of my children.

 Part of the reason I have not posted in so long is because we are past the season of life where routines are changing every day and week and my notes to self have become needed less often. The other part is that my family has discovered a way to boost our immune systems and our sicknesses have not been nearly as dramatic as they have been in the past ("Hallelujah Chorus" in the background).

This is my youngest daughter, posing for a poster I made the other day. She's not really sick, but isn't she adorable?

 Here's a little bit of the story of how we changed Cold and Flu Season and our overall health in our home for good.




 In the summer of 2011 my family moved to Colorado.

 That fall my oldest boy (who was 5 at the time) started to get severe migraine headaches that would wake him out of his sleep and he'd immediately begin vomiting. We got a CAT scan to rule out things like tumors. Thank the Lord that he did NOT have any tumors or the like. However, he did see a neurologist and was diagnosed with migraines. Luckily the doctor did not prescribe medications, but recommended supplements we could buy at the store.

 Enter my good friend from college who told us about a high quality nutritional supplement that is like none other on the market.

I listened politely.

Then, I ignored her.

Then on December 21st my middle child got sick despite our best efforts to have a healthy diet, good hygiene and supplementing with store bought vitamins and probiotics. We were in the airport on the way to family for the holidays administering albeuterol treatments and giving him steroids. Then we got to family and everyone got sick ... as usual. Except this time my kids remained sick (even after traveling back home) for AN ENTIRE MONTH!!!

 I was exhausted!

 I was emotional!!

 My kids were a wreck and I felt so bad for them and so helpless.

I was beginning to doubt whether or not it was worth it to go and see family over the holiday season and desperately wished our Christmas was in the summer.

Not seeing family was not an option ... especially for my husband, but he knew I was exhausted too.

I called my friend back and asked her if this would help my kids' immune systems. She said, "Absolutely!"

We started on the supplement in February of 2012 as a family and we committed to trying it for three months because the human body has a cell turnover rate of every 90 days.

Within the FIRST WEEK I was sleeping better, my mood had improved, my muscle aches (which had been progressively getting worse over the last several months) were a none issue which meant my headaches were gone and I had a lot more energy throughout the day even if I had to get up with my kids in the night.

Within the FIRST MONTH my kids' digestive systems were better.  80% of the immune system is in the digestive system, so their immune systems were greatly improved.  When they got sick the symptoms were so much more mild and the viruses were short lived!!!!! YAY!!!  My chronic constipation (which I had dealt with from infancy) was no longer an issue.  My husband's back is stronger and he'd regularly throw out his back and be down for a week without being able to exercise or function normally.

My oldest started kindergarten after he'd been using these nutritional supplements for 6 months.  He'd never gone to daycare or preschool.  But (despite what nightmares I'd heard from other parents in a similar boat with their first in school catching every virus under the sun), he missed only 3 days due to sickness.  And none of those viruses lasted more than a couple of days.  Not to mention that he has not had ANY migraines since starting this nutritional supplement.

More recently my husband unexpectedly herniated a disk in his back, but was able to avoid surgery and healed in half the time the doctors predicted.

A bonus result that I never anticipated is that my life long skin allergy to nickel is gone.  Earrings I could not wear for more than a few hours without them itching and hurting I can actually wear over night. My husbands pretty happy about that.

I've also been able to help other people,like my mom, but that's a whole other blog.  Yeah, I know ...

This is only the tip of the ice burg as to what this nutritional supplement has helped people with. There are SO MANY people's stories I'd love for you to hear. They are INCREDIBLE!!  Allergies, asthma, back injuries, fibromyalgia, digestive issues, migraines, kidney failure, acid reflux, chronic sinus infections, tendinitis, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, etc.  This company does not claim to be a cure or to diagnose.  The real miracle is the human body and this is just its high quality fuel.  What I'm mentioning here are purely people's personal indisputable health results.

I'm more confident than ever that EVERYONE can benefit from taking these safe and all natural supplements. I'm not using the name of the product or company here because this blog is not connected directly to the company and I have not sought for approval to write this blog.  I'm sharing this information with you ... my story ... purely out of genuine excitement and passion.  If you are interested you can contact me through my business website  (Corinne Fanning Doughan) so that we can set up a time to teach you more.

 Let's change the face of Cold and Flu Season and the health of the world one person at a time together!  How about starting with you?

What Jackson gave to his classmates for their party today. I think the glow bracelets went over well. I tried to upload the whole document I made for this gift, but I was unsuccessful. Here is the link to the image. I used Microsoft word to create the card that went with the glow stick bracelet. Have fun!!!

I don't think I've blogged since Anora's 4 month check up and now she's turning one. I wanted to pin this invite to my party idea board and this was the only way to do it. Hopefully I can catch up on some blogging soon.

The "BOOGY MONSTER"!!

YIKES! I haven't blogged in awhile and things have changed on blogger. It's going to take me a bit to get used to it. I have a bunch more pictures and topics to blog about, but my time is really limited having 3 little ones at home (one of them being an infant who is still nursing). One of the topics I'd love to blog more about is the "schooling" we're doing at home. It's not officially homeschooling at this point, but it's been fun to do some structured things with the boys. This week the book we were reading was "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans. It just so happened that on Thursday we were scheduled to talk about health (in the story Madeline gets her appendix taken out) and Micah also came down with a bad cold. It was a great opportunity to talk about hygiene as cold and flu season is just around the corner. Here is the visual lesson we did on spreading germs. The original lesson plan used cooking spray and glitter, but I didn't have glitter and I wasn't able to get out to buy it seeing as I had a crabby and sick child at home. So, I borrowed some green washable finger paint from my neighbor and I think it worked just the same. I put some clean objects on a tray.

Then I put GERMS (green finger paint) all over Jackson's hands. I figured Micah already had germs on his that he could keep for himself.

I had Micah leave the room and had Jackson touch several of the items. Micah then came back in and had to tell me which items had germs on them. I then asked Micah to pick up one of the objects with "germs" on it. He refused. (Perhaps that means he grasped the lesson a little). I picked up one of the objects to show how the germs then got on my hands.

We read a couple of books: "Germs Are Not For Sharing" by Elizabeth Verdick. There were a couple of other books on health that I found at our local library as well. We've also checked out this great book in the past: "Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo" by E.S. Redmond We colored signs to hang in the bathroom. The first one tells when to wash your hands and the other one tells you how to wash them.

Then later this week I found a project on Pinterst that we like to call "Boogy Monster Boxes" basically it's a discard box for used tissues with "boogies" in them. The boys had a blast, but ended up just wanting to play with the box instead of using it for it's intended purpose. Oh well.

Micah demonstrated how to use it once and then just played with it. :)

If only you could hear him saying "I LOVE BOOGIES!!!" in his monster voice.

Well ... gotta go feed the kiddos lunch and attend to my sick little baby. I'm hoping when they're all healthy again I'll have a few minutes to post some of the other fun things we've been up to lately.

Anora's 2 Month Check Up

She'll be 12 weeks old next week, so I thought I'd better get around to posting her 2 month check up... you can tell she's child #3!

Her 2 month stats:

Weight: 10lb 9oz (50%)
Height: 22 1/4 inches (50%)
HC: 38cm (40%)

She's got blue eyes so far and they seem to be getting lighter, so maybe they'll stay, but we won't know for several months yet. She's eating every 3 - 3 1/2 hours during the day and going 8 - 9 hours at night time.

It's a good thing she's been sleeping so well at night because her day time naps (up until about a week ago) were not going well at all. She'd sleep for 30 minutes to an hour and then wake up screaming. I'd usually get a few burps out, but then she'd have a hard time putting herself back to sleep.

We tried everything from propping her up for 30 minutes to an hour before we laid her down. Laying her on her side for naps. Letting her nap in the swing. Letting her nap in the wrap. What finally seems to be doing the trick is a combination of me cutting back on my dairy intake (I've been drinking almond milk instead of cow's milk) and consistently giving her Gripe Water and gas drops before her feedings. I also give another dose of gas drops right before I put her down for her naps. She can usually make it the full 1 1/2 to 2 hours for her naps, but sometimes wakes up early and I have to burp her, but then she'll go right back to sleep.

This past week we have been trying to give her a bottle more consistently as well. She seemed to take to the bottle really well around 6 weeks old, but then we didn't offer it enough for her to continue to take it, so it's been a challenge. In fact, Colin and I had a date night this past week to celebrate our anniversary and decided we needed to come back in the middle of it to nurse Anora, so that the babysitter didn't have to battle it out. I've given her a bottle once a day for the past three days and so far it gets better each time. I'm hoping that if we continue she'll be able to take the bottle easily for a babysitter in the future.

We had the chance to travel with Anora when we went to Colorado for a house hunting trip. She did great except for the fact that she does not like to nap in her car seat. Honestly she hadn't spent very much time in her car seat until then because we only have one car and I hardly get to use it because goes to work so early. I'm hoping she'll out grow that with age, but we'll see I guess.

Her personality is so sweet. She smiles with her whole body and loves to "talk" to anyone who will listen when she's awake. She has yet to giggle, but smiles all the time. She's such a doll. I love her curly little eyelashes ... we're all smitten with her and lover her more and more each day.

The 5 Year Report

Jackson turns 5 on June 15th, but we'll be moving to Colorado only a couple days after his birthday, so we got him into the doctor for his 5 year check up early. He was VERY nervous about his shots. He came to Anora's 1 month check up and even asked Dr. Macias if they were going to hurt. The doctor was so great at explaining what the shots would be like, but Jackson still worried.

Jackson had his check up first while I nursed Anora. He's 60% for weight and 25% for height which the Dr. said was perfectly fine. His eye sight is 20/25 in both eyes, which means that the ptosis in his left eye is not affecting his vision at all. My favorite part of the older check ups are when the Dr. asks questions to determine cognitive development. Jackson's answers got a few smirks from the Dr. because he's a pretty sharp kid. Overall, Jackson is right on track and is a healthy growing boy!!

When I write these posts I ask myself, "What do I want to remember about Jackson as a 5 year old?" Hmmmm...

Jackson is such a sensitive and compassionate boy. He has a gift for making others feel loved. Whether he's doting on his sister or verbally praising his brother or shouting "I love you!" to the friendly cashier at the grocery store as we leave. He's quite the gift giver too (even if it is a rock wrapped in tape) because he loves to make people smile.

Sometimes his sensitivity can cause him to over react at times and worry on occasion, but for the most part he's still pretty logical and we can reason our way through those tough moments with him. However, those same reasoning skills can get him into trouble when he becomes argumentative with Colin, me or even Micah.

Jackson is a learner by nature (he takes after his dad and mom). I'm sure most kids his age are, but he has a hunger for knowledge beyond the typical "whys" at this age and retains what he learns as well. He has a gift for memorizing and has memorized quite a bit of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and several Bible verses. Not only does he have them memorized, but he continually surprises me with the theological questions and discussions he has with Colin over them.

Jackson has also picked up on reading and writing quite a bit this year and loves to read simple stories to Micah and Anora at bedtime (the Bob Books are great for this.) Although (like me) he tends to be a perfectionist and doesn't want to try something new unless he knows he can do it well the first time. (Both of my boys seem to have this trait.) Our household mantra is "always, always, do your best." It doesn't matter if you get it right. It matters if you try and do your best. With this constant reminder, Jackson has been more and more willing to push himself out of his comfort zones.

Finally, Jackson is imaginative and creative. He loves to pretend. He loves to create. His favorite toys are his project box (which consists of empty toilet paper rolls and the like and his own roll of masking tape) and the dress up box. When he can't find a costume he needs in the dress up box, he makes his own out of the project box. He's constantly making projects (i.e. puppets, swords, rockets, new inventions, etc.) I have to admit that sometimes it drives me NUTS to have all of the project "mess" around the house, but I'm trying to be better at not viewing it that way and Jackson is trying to be better at not leaving his projects all over the floor.



It's exciting to chronicle who Jackson is growing up to become. I often day dream about what kind of man he will be. What he will choose for a career. How he will treat his wife. How he will interact with his children. How he will serve our God.

What a gift the Lord has given me to watch my children grow in every aspect of life.

Anora: One Month

Anora's one month check up went well. Despite the fact that plans changed at the last minute and I ended up taking all of the kids with me to the appointment. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal if it was a 10 minute drive to the office, but it's a 45 minute drive so we ended up making an afternoon of it. Anyway, that's a later post perhaps.


Stats:
9lb 5oz (50% - I'm not used to an average sized kid at this age)
21 1/2 inches (70%)
37cm HC (50%)

Dr. Macias said that everything looks great. I asked about vitamin D and iron supplements for her and he said I didn't need to start those right now. I let him know that she slept 6 hours a couple of times at night and he said that she's gaining weight just fine and to let her sleep as long as she'd like at night, but continue 3 hour feedings during the day.

Anora has been fairly easy so far. She fell into a sleep, eat, awake routine pretty naturally which is great! She prefers to sleep on her side and she likes to fall asleep with her pacifier, but spits it out when she's almost asleep most of the time.

From day one she was a great eater and I hardly had any latching issues with her. As a result, she went longer between feedings right away (2 1/2 - 3hrs during the day and 3 1/2 - 4 1/2hours at night). That was great EXCEPT it made my engorgement period more difficult and I ended up with Mastitis. NOT FUN! If you don't know what that is, it's a breast infection caused by clogged milk ducts and the symptoms are high fevers, some breast pain (some women have pain while nursing, but I didn't) and flu-like symptoms (body aches, headache, etc.) Once I was on the antibiotic for 24 hours I was 100% better.

Last night (at 5 weeks old) she slept 6 hours (this is her 3rd time doing that) between feedings. Luckily her last feeding was at 9:30pm and I pretty much went to sleep right after I fed her. Yay for a good night's sleep!

Her naps during the day were not the greatest at first, but then we figured out that dairy was making her gassy so I cut down on cheeses and switched to almond milk for awhile. In a couple of weeks I'll slowly bring it back into my diet and see what happens. We also started giving her Gripe Water at night and Mylicon gas drops during the day which seemed to help a lot.

We also figured out that she does not like to be cold. I put her in a onesie, pants, socks, night gown (with little mittens over the hands) a sleepsack AND swaddle her in a blanket at night. Part of that is because I like the room a little cold while I sleep and she still sleeps in the room with us (well, sort of ... she's in our emptied out walk-in closet).

Anora is such a sweet baby. I wouldn't say that she's laid back because she definitely has to speak up if she wants something with two other little boys in house vying for my attention. Half of the time I have to wake her up for her day time feedings and half of the time she wakes up on her own. Usually she fusses herself to sleep and/or I have to put her pacifier back in a zillion times.

She's pretty easy to console when she's upset with the exception of a few times she's woken up almost in a panic in her car seat (I hope she out grows that). Jackson has mastered the "shh-shh-shh" technique, although he thinks if he does it louder it will work better. HA. He's also a HUGE help with her in the car. Micah just thinks the car seat is a toy he can play with.

Anora is smiling more, but it's not predictable or easily coaxed yet. She's also started to make some vocal coos just this week. I LOVE that stage and can't wait for her to verbalize more. I'm sure we will since her awake time during the day is getting longer each day. She's usually awake for about an hour and a half to two hours in her 3 hour feeding schedule.


She handles the attention the boys give her very well. She lets Jackson touch her hands and head without a fuss and he does it a lot. Both boys are pretty good at helping me burp her and they can usually get one out better than I can. Overall nursing her has been easier than Micah because at the time Jackson had no one else to play with and now Micah and Jackson can go off and play with each other while I feed Anora. I LOVE the fact that they play so well together.


Emotionally going from 2 to 3 has been easier than from 1 to 2 so far. Logistically I'm able to handle the scheduling of 2 to 3 better than 1 to 2 AT HOME, but when we go places it's much more difficult going from 2 to 3 than it was 1 to 2. I TRIED to take all three kids to church by myself yesterday ... WHAT WAS I THINKING?!! Next time I need to make sure I ask church family to help me with the boys (especially if I have to feed Anora in the middle of the service).

Overall, Anora has been such a delight! I'm so excited to see what kind of little girl and woman she will become.

Anora Jean's Birth-Day

Moms-to-be usually hear the scary/traumatic birth stories thanks to shows like TLC's "The Baby Story." I know when I was awaiting the birth of Jackson, my first born, I heard several birth stories that made me want to "cross my legs."

Well, I think the normal and uneventful birth stories are just as worthy of being heard. So to you first time mommies waiting for your child's birth-day, you can read Micah's story here and keep reading on for Anora's. (I wasn't blogging at the time of Jackson's birth, but one of these days I should share that one too.) May these birth-day stories inspire you and give you hope for a beautiful birthday for your child. You can do it!

Early Saturday, March 26th -
I had several strong contractions while still in bed that I thought might turn into full blown labor, but then Jackson woke up with a terrible cough and sore throat and the contractions petered out on their own. I spent the whole rest of the day taking care of all three of my boys (including Colin) who were very uncomfortable with head colds. However, I never managed to catch it my self.

You may think that that's not technically a part of Anora's birth story, but I find it interesting how God's grace is so sufficient even in the little things. He knew we needed one more day for me to look after the boys and to have Anora quarantined in my belly while they were pretty sick.

Sunday, March 27th -

The boys did not make a peep and I slept all the way until 3:15am when I started having regular contractions about 10 minutes a part. After an hour they got stronger and I woke Colin to inform him that we may need to get ready to have our little girl.

4:30 am I could no longer lay in bed and just breath through the contractions, although they were still about 10 minutes apart. I got up and took a shower and once I knew the contractions weren't going to subside, Colin jumped in the shower and I began to gather our things for the hospital and get the house ready for the couple we arranged to watch Jackson and Micah who live about 30 minutes from our house.

5:00 am Colin calls the couple to have them start heading over to the house. My contractions are 8 - 10 minutes apart, but I can no longer talk or walk through them. The most comfortable position during those contractions was leaning on a table or counter and standing on my tip toes. Colin and I both eat breakfast.

5:30 am - Jackson wakes up coughing and Colin goes in to his room to give him some honey and comfort him. Several days prior, Jackson told me that he had a bad dream that I left and didn't tell him. So Colin and I both decided it would be best if we told Jackson when we were leaving. Jackson was a little weepy about us leaving, plus he was still sleepy and not feeling well. However, I was able to talk to him between contractions and remind him that there was a present waiting for him that he and Micah could open when we were at the hospital. That seemed to do the trick ... but I ended up having to go up there a second time before we left to talk with him again. That time I didn't make it out of the room without having a contraction and here's how the conversation went:

(Me taking deep breaths and holding on to his bed posts.)

Jackson: Mommy? Why are you doing that?
Me: Because baby Anora REALLY wants to come out.
Jackson: Mommy? You can go now.
Me: (still taking deep breaths) Give me just a minute.
Jackson: Why?
Me: Mommy can't move right now.
Jackson: Oh.
(My contraction stops.)
Me: Okay. We're leaving for the hospital now. I love you.
Jackson: You're going to the hospital right now?
Me: Yes.
Jackson: Okay. I love you.
Me: I love you too.

(I leave the room just before another contraction comes.)

5:30am - My contractions are about 3 - 5 minutes apart lasting about a minute each and we're not sure if we can wait until our friends arrive in order to leave for the hospital so we call our neighbor to come over. Colin says, "I'm going to call the midwives and have them get a hotel room ready for us." (I love that slip up, so I had to put it in the story.) When he calls them we find out that Helen (who also delivered Micah) is on call and will be delivering for us.

5:35am - Our neighbor arrives.

5:45am - We finally have everything we need for the hospital and have the house ready for the caretakers. The couple from our church arrives and we head off to the hospital.

The contractions continued to be 3-5 minutes apart and it helped tremendously to just moan through them. Every other contraction was very hard and longer (closer to 2 minutes long) but I had almost no pain in between contractions. I also had a couple of double peak contractions (contractions that would peak and then never fully subside before the next contraction peaked) and those were challenging especially given the fact that I was sitting in a car.

6:30am - We arrive at the hospital (pausing a few times in the parking lot and foyer for contractions) and go back to the delivery room. The nurse has us fill out some quick paper work, they draw blood, checked my cervix (which was 4-5 cm dilated and fully effaced and Anora was low enough that the nurse could feel that she had a lot of hair)and monitor Anora's heart rate and my contractions for about 15 minutes while they filled the tub.

THE TUB! I love the tub! The hospital we delivered Micah and Anora in has a portable tub that they can fill up for laboring moms while they have contractions, but not for delivering. The warm water and the buoyancy took the edge off of the contractions for me. As soon as I could I got in there.

It's at this point that I lose track of exact time. The contractions continued to be 3 - 5 minutes apart and getting more intense and a little more pushy. I also had some back pain with a few of the contractions as well. Nothing sharp, just radiating pain in my back during the contraction. It helped to be on all fours in the water while I was having the contractions. It also helped to have Colin rubbing my back between and during those contractions. But I still had little to no pain in between contractions. Helen came in during that time to check up on us and see how we were doing. Then left us alone for a bit once she got the low down of how things were going.

After about the third or fourth pushy contraction and feeling a little doubt and nausea, we called Helen in to have her check my cervix again. I was 7-8 cm dilated, but she could easily stretch me to 10 which meant I was ready to push.

9am - Helen broke my water to help speed up the dilation. It took her a few times because the sac was so strong, but that wasn't painful at all. The fluid was clear, but just trickled since Anora's head was very low.

I pushed a couple times through the contractions, but I still had a little lip of my cervix that wouldn't move out of the way. It felt like a had longer breaks between each pushing contraction with no pain at all. I even said between contractions once, "I feel bad that you guys are just sitting around waiting for me to have another contraction." Helen laughed and later Colin told me that he thought that was adorable.

Eventually Helen held my cervix back between and during contractions. THAT was painful, but only when she was holding it. After a few pushes she suggested I move to the toilet to see if I could get the cervix to move with the help of gravity. After a few really hard pushy contractions on the toilet I moved back to the bed. My cervix still had a lip.

Helen held my cervix back through 3 or 4 more very strong and long pushes until Anora began to crown. I had the mirror there to watch her come into the world for the very first time. Helen coached me through those pushes to insure their was a little tearing as possible (I ended up with only one stitch).

9:33am - Anora arrived and was placed on my belly immediately. She yelled right away and pinked up within seconds. She was GORGEOUS! That moment is the most wondrous, most beautiful and rewarding moment God could give to a woman after all of the hard work and pain of childbirth. I'm continually amazed at how God is a just AND gracious God all at the same time in so many areas of life.



After the cord stopped pulsing, Colin cut it and soon after I delivered the placenta. I got my stitch and Anora and I jumped back into the tub (which I guess was bending hospital rules, but ... eh). She nursed beautifully in there for quite awhile. In the mean time Colin called everyone he could think of.


It wasn't until about 2 hours after she was born that we got out of the tub and got all of her stats and by then she'd already had two meconium movements:



7lb 14oz
20 1/2 inches

We are all just smitten with this little girl. We praise God for his grace and provision and protection during her beautiful birth-day and stand, once again, in awe of his sovereignty and providence over HIS creation.

Big Brother Present

As I've been getting ready for our baby girl I've been preparing the house and the boys for being taken care of by church family while Colin and I are at the hospital.

One of the ideas I had was to wrap a present for the boys and put it out ahead of time and tell them they can open it when Mommy and Daddy go to the hospital.

I didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I wanted it to be a cool enough present that they would be distracted by it while we were away from them for a very short while.

As you know from my previous post, my boys love GeoTrax. I was able to to find THREE tunnels/bridges for the price of one on ebay the other day. I plan on giving one of them as a future present to their cousin in Iowa who shares the same passion for trains, but these two are wrapped and waiting for the day I go to the hospital to give birth to our little girl.




I really want to celebrate the life of our new little girl, but I also want to celebrate this new phase in the boys' life. Micah becoming a big brother for the very first time and Jackson taking another sibling under his wing.





Colin and I have been stressing the importance of their roles as big brothers to take care of their little sister. They are the princes and she is the princess. I believe they are up for the challenge and I can't wait to see what that looks like in reality.

Keeping Ourselves Busy

Here are a few things the boys and I have been keeping busy with lately:

Making Cards:
Ever since Valentine's Day and my birthday, Jackson has especially enjoyed making cards. Here's one he made with his babysitter for my birthday. I LOVE the picture of the two boys in it!!!



Here's the inside of a get well card Jackson made for his friend Patrick.


Inventions:
Jackson wants to be an inventor when he grows up. Here's one he made out of the "project bag" present I gave him for Christmas. It's Rodney Copper Bottom and Wonderbot from the movie "Robots." He assembled it all by himself.


Of course there are LOTS of Lego creations around here too and Jackson is getting REALLY good at coming up with some very creative designs ... he takes after his daddy!


Anything Musical:
Micah especially loves music. He walks around with his guitar and loves to sing songs. It isn't unusual to have pandora.com playing on my laptop throughout the day around the house.


"Animal Shelter"
It's a game both boys came up with that consists of getting out all of their stuffed animals and putting them in bed or on the couch with them. They pretend to take care of the animals ... Grandma Deb's got her genes in them for sure!



GeoTrax and Cars:
We got a few extra pieces of track for Christmas that allows for a bit more creativity and now the boys play trains almost every day. Jackson loves to build the track and Micah can watch the trains going around for hours ... well for a while anyay.



Getting Ready for a Sister:
Oh yeah ... and the boys have been getting ready for the arrival of their little sister. They are pretty excited to get to see her face to face and teach her all of the things they know and do everyday.