Joy to the World

On April 4, 2018, we welcomed our sixth child into this world. After five kids, I thought I knew what my labors were like. She changed everything.

In the weeks leading up to the delivery, I had several appointments and tasks I needed to complete. The running joke was that "after this, I can go into labor." Well, my to-do list grew shorter and shorter, and there was still no baby in sight. Finally, two days after my due-date, Timo asked me to give him a haircut. After that, I could have the baby, we joked. After I finished cutting his hair, he went to the bathroom to comb it to see if there were any stray hairs I needed to trim. I had just finished trimming his last stray hair when I felt a gush of fluid.

"I think my water just broke," I stated.

"Really?" he responded, doubtfully. My water had never broken on its own.

"Yeah," I said, as I started to remove my soaked pants.

After hopping in the shower and changing into some dry clothes, we headed to the hospital. I still was not having contractions, but I continued to gush fluid, especially when Timo made me laugh. The towel I was sitting on was not sufficient to absorb the tremendous amounts of amniotic fluid, and my pants wicked it down my legs and onto the floor of Timo's truck.

A couple of minutes before we arrived, I started to have mild contractions. After parking the truck, we headed up to the maternity ward, where I was given a dry hospital gown. After I was given the go-ahead, we walked the halls, timing contractions by how many I had in one turn around the hallways. When the contractions started to get more painful, I headed back to the room. Upon discovering that I was still only dilated to a four, I decided to walk the halls again, this time with an IV in tow. The pain eventually got bad enough that I decided it was time to ask for an epidural. Unfortunately, it did not work its magic for me this time. One side of my body was pretty numb, but I could feel everything on the other side.

Assuming that my progress would slow down after receiving the epidural, I sent Timo to the cafeteria to get some dinner. As my contractions grew stronger and stronger, I began to regret my decision. When the nurse checked me, she was surprised to find that I was about ready to push. And Timothy still wasn't back. I called him. No answer. As I struggled to send him a text while breathing through a painful contraction, he walked in the door. I felt so relieved, but I still had to wait for the doctor.

Thankfully, the doctor and resident arrived soon, and I could finally push. About ten minutes later, our sweet baby 6 was born. They immediately put her on my chest for some bonding time while waiting for the cord to finish pulsing so they could clamp it off. After Timo cut it, I sat there bonding with my newest bundle of joy, finally able to hold my cutie pie. She weighed 8 lb. 10.3 oz, and measured 19.75 inches.

At five hours of labor, this was my quickest delivery and the only time my water broke on its own. I am sure she will continue to pave her own way, proving that she is her own person in many more areas of life. And I will love her through it all.

Baby Number Five

Just born

Easter morning, I awoke after another uncomfortable night's sleep. I was three days overdue in my pregnancy, and I was more than ready to have my baby. I got up, got to church with the family, and came home afterwards for lunch.




Around 1:30pm, I started feeling contractions. Since I had experienced a lot of false labor during the latter half of my pregnancy, I didn't say anything about it. I wanted to make sure this was the real deal. Around 2pm, I mentioned it to Timo. The contractions were coming regularly and definitely getting stronger. We left the house at about 2:30pm, but after we started driving, the contractions stopped. I waited, and I finally had another one. Whew!

When we arrived, we walked up to the Labor and Delivery wing, and we checked in. It is a good thing I went earlier rather than later since they were dealing with a new computer system, and I was still at a point when I could handle the delays and questions. Timo and I walked around the L&D wing until I was too uncomfortable. Then, I asked for a labor ball, shortly followed by a request for an epidural. (I am a wimp.) The anesthesiologist arrived rather quickly, and I was happy when the pain subsided.

First snuggles with Mommy

When I was at about a 9, they broke my water, and it was not long afterwards that I was pushing. After a couple of small pushes to get her to turn her head the right way, a change of scrubs for the doctor (amniotic fluid), and pushing through two more contractions, she was out. I was so thrilled to have another baby girl that I cried with joy. I had not allowed myself to admit I wanted a girl after three boys, but, once she was born, I could freely say it.

A was born at 7:33pm, weighing a solid 8 lbs. 6 oz. and measuring 20.5 inches. She is a wonderful baby, and a perfect addition to our family.

Grandma and K holding baby girl

Daddy and H with A

Memories and Ramblings

I have noticed that I have not had the time to regularly blog since I gave birth to my fourth child. For this reason, I have very few posts that include him. It is not that my experiences with him are any less entertaining or memorable. This post is dedicated to him and a few memories I want to keep.

S has had a habit of rubbing my arms when falling asleep for a while. When he was really young, he used to give me five when nursing. Now, he likes to put his hand up my long sleeves and rub my forearm as he relaxes. I have started to sing to him (and Hunter) before bedtime, and he snuggles down into my arms while in the rocking chair, sticks his hand up my sleeve, and listens. Sometimes he faces me a little more and sticks both hands up my sleeves.

Another memory I want to capture is that of S singing with me. I have started to sing some Christmas carols at night so the younger two can learn them by Christmas. Today, while I was singing "Away in a Manger" to him, he started singing along with me. We were rocking, looking into each others' faces, and singing together. It was such a sweet moment.

When I am done singing, I say the 23rd Psalm, and S knows it is time to go to bed. He insists on having his sippy cup (it has to be the blue one) in a certain corner of his crib, and he sleeps under his Cat in the Hat blanket. All this constitutes his bedtime routine, whether napping or going to sleep at night. I am not sure how it will all pan out once baby number five arrives. I guess we'll find out in April.

Ultrasound of Baby 4

Yesterday afternoon, I had an ultrasound of my sweet baby number 4, due in December. The ultrasound technician was wonderfully careful to tell us to look away when she was near certain tell-tale areas so we would not accidentally see the gender of the baby. She also did a few 4-D images for us. Here is our precious baby at 21 weeks, 5 days, with a knee by his/her mouth and an elbow next to his/her face.

I think he/she looks a lot like our other kids. I can see H in the face. :)

The older kids got a little impatient (especially the boys) during the ultrasound, but, thankfully, Timo was there to rally the troops while I enjoyed looking at the sweet baby growing in my belly.