Jane, Jane, and more Jane

It's been a little over a week now, and I don't want to jinx anything, but so far Jane is a jewel. She's already a much better sleeper and eater than Sophie EVER was, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things will not make a change for the worse!

To finish off the birth story, I ended up staying in the hospital for a mere 24 hours, and to be honest I've never felt more rushed out of a place than I did there. When the doctor asked if I wanted to check out the next morning, it took only about a minute for me to decide that going home would be a much better option than having to thrust our 3 children on someone else for another night, or the alternative of spending another night at the hospital by myself without Scott there to help me.

Since we've been home, the kids have been adjusting fairly well to the new baby. I should clarify here that while they are all fine with the baby, they are not exactly fine with each other. The fighting and fussing between them has escalated quite a bit over the course of this week, but hopefully things will smooth out here in a bit. Thankfully none of them have exhibited any jealousy or sibling rivalry with our new addition, so I should definitely just count my blessings!

Here's how things have played out with Jane: Ethan loves the baby, but is a bit too rough with her -- not to mention that he doesn't quite get the concept that he shouldn't try to talk to and play with Jane when she is SLEEPING. Grace has actually been the most consistently interested in helping me take care of her, and lets me know on an almost hourly basis that she has washed her hands with soap and water and used the hand sanitizer so can she please touch the baby now? She actually has quite the magic touch with Jane, and we've taken to calling her the Baby Whisperer because almost every time she holds the baby, Jane quiets right down and becomes very "calm" (Grace's word, not mine). As for Sophie, she really adores Jane but her form of adoration comes in the form of mostly ignoring her and doing her own thing -- which to be honest is probably more helpful to me than if she were constantly hovering over her.

The Baby Whisperer

Unfortunately the honeymoon phase is coming to an end. Scott was lucky enough to be able to take off all of last week from work and all I have to say is that it's too bad he's nowhere near retirement age, because I could definitely get used to having him home every day. However, tomorrow is back to reality -- although, it's not quite the REAL reality just yet. Thankfully, my sister has so graciously taken the girlie bugs off my hands for the week thus easing my transition into the world of caring for all my children on my own during the day. The girls were ecstatic to go, but I'm curious to see if they last a whole week. Especially since Ethan was already missing them by bedtime on the first night they were gone. He was literally crying and saying he wanted Sophie to come home the next day and although he didn't mention wanting Grace to come home, too, I'm pretty sure the sentiment was implied. He seemed a little better after calling the girls to say goodnight, so hopefully we'll all survive the week!

Ready for an adventure.

And now to end this epistle, here are some more pictures of Jane from her first week of life. I have to say it is so nice to be able to ENJOY the newborn phase this time around! Sophie's newborn phase was merely ENDURED, so this has been a nice change of pace...

This is Jane's sleeping pose -- she does not like having her arms swaddled down -- that one little fist always makes its way under her chin in a "Thinker" pose.

She really seems to like the swing, and here's a picture on the second day home where Sophie and Grace gave her some "comfort" items which hold special places in their little hearts. Sophie gave her a pacifier -- which she WON'T take at all, and Grace gave her a junk -- which of course she's too little to play with. But it's the thought that counts, right?

One of my favorite pictures of her -- she just looks so peaceful.



Her first official photo shoot for mom...






Cute little monkey face.

And here's the most recent picture of Jane awake. Consequently, are blocked tear ducts common with ALL babies? Or just MY babies. Ethan, Grace, and Sophie each had the same goopy-eyed problem that Jane is now sporting.

Well, that's all folks. Hope the pictures satisfy my family members. Jane is waking up now, so I guess it's time for her to eat! Until next time...

She's Here!

WARNING: Picture-heavy post!

Here are the basics:

Jane Felicity
1:23 PM
8 lbs. 4 oz.
20 1/2 inches long

(Look how much hair she has! And how dark it is!)

The short story:

Although I went in to the hospital to be induced this morning, I really think she probably would have come on her own either today or tomorrow anyway. Shortly after I finished posting last night, I started getting some pretty good contractions and thought that perhaps we wouldn't make it till this morning, but then a little after midnight they fizzled out and I was able to get some sleep.

We checked in this morning at 8 and they started me on the Pitocin by 9. I was already at 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced and kind of contracting a little on my own, so they didn't really need to use a whole lot of the Pit. By 11:30 I was ready for my epidural, and shortly after it was placed my water broke on its own -- which has never happened before and felt really weird. I got stuck at 9 cm for about an hour and a half during which time my epidural of course didn't really work to block out the pain, and by the time I was ready to push I felt like I'd rather be dead than in so much pain. Since I have such awesome luck with epidurals, OF COURSE the anesthesiologist was tied up in an emergency C-section and couldn't come in to up my dosage level, and OF COURSE neither the doctor nor the nurse was authorized to do it themselves, so the end result was a nightmare possibly worse than Ethan's. The only positive thing I can say about it is that at least it was over (relatively) quickly. According to the official record, I was in labor for 4 1/2 hours and pushed for an additional 15 minutes. Jane is my biggest baby weighing in a good 4 ounces more than Ethan did, and that extra heft has left me a-hurting with a second degree laceration which I can already tell will take a LONG time to recover from. TMI, I'm sure, so I'll put an end to this birth story right now.

The following are the fave photos from the day. Of course, we're super biased, but we think she's just cute as a button!

Before leaving for the hospital.



Getting all set up -- this is quite possibly the ugliest hospital gown I've ever had to wear.



The cute little peanut after she had her bath.



Proud mother and babe.



The kids come to meet their new sister.



And we try to get a better family shot.

Happy -- yet VERY tired -- new parents.

The Girlie Bugs.

Big Brother Bonding...

And then moving on to more entertaining things.

Happy Big Sister.

And newest Big Sister.

It was love at first sight, really.

Jane and her star-gazing amazing eyes looking at Dad.

Well, that's all folks. Jane has been a super-alert baby so far, and we still can't get over how much more hair she has than any of the others. It is by far the thickest and the darkest of all the kids!

A few more parting shots:

The Time Has Come...

Yes, folks, it's true. Tomorrow is the day. All I have to say is that Sophie coming 3 weeks early set me up for MAJOR disappointment. I never would have thought I'd still be pregnant 2 days before my due date this time around. NONE of my other pregnancies ever made it to this point, and as much as I'd prefer to let nature take its course here, I've decided for my peace of mind I need to be induced tomorrow morning before my sister Amy has to leave to go back to BYU. After stressing out for the last 2 weeks about what to do if the baby doesn't come while she's here, I finally decided to just take things into my own hands and schedule it so that she DOES come before Amy goes. I am a bit apprehensive -- especially because Ethan's induction experience was such a nightmare -- but I'm hoping that this time around things will go a little more quickly and smoothly.

The kids are excited (I think) and as Ethan commented this afternoon, by tomorrow I'll be able to bend over again and reach my toes -- so I'm excited, too. My biggest curiosity of all about this baby girl is how big she is going to be. My guess at this point (based on the sizes of the others vs. how early they were born) is that she's already between 8 and 8 1/2 pounds -- which would make her my biggest baby of all. We shall see, though. I certainly hope that she's contributing significantly to the bulk I've put on during this pregnancy. Hahaha. But then again, I thought the same thing with Ethan, and let's just say that I was in for a rude awakening after I had him and realized that gaining 50 pounds in a pregnancy was more MY bulk than HIS. Hahahaha.

Well, the only other major happenings of the last few weeks were the arrival of my favorite youngest sister, Amy, and the start of a new school year for Ethan. Amy got here a couple of weeks ago and has been super nanny extraordinaire. The kids LOVE her, especially Ethan who has a special bond with her -- quite possibly because they are two peas in a pod -- and having her here has been such a help. We'll be so sad when she leaves this Saturday. :(

Ethan and Amy playing a little B-Ball.

Ethan's 1st day of school came and went on Tuesday, and I have to say that having him in school all day long has been fabulous. Not that I don't miss him, but the half-day schedule of Kindergarten made it so difficult to get anything done before it was time to pick him up at the bus stop once again. To celebrate the first day of all day freedom to run errands, us girlie bugs went to the mall and ate lunch together at The Cheesecake Factory. Sophie chose the restaurant. She just has really good taste, I guess. Hahaha. Actually, she went there with me and my mom at the beginning of the month and has been wanting to go back to "the restaurant" ever since. I was only too happy to oblige, since I love it there myself.

The Classic 1st Day of School Picture.

Here is his new "smile" he pulls out these days.

Amy and Grace-Face at "the restaurant."

Me and the Muppet (Stacy and Clinton would have had a field day with what I wore out in public that day -- but hey NOTHING fits me anymore! Hahaha.)

Cat nap in the car.

Of course, the day wasn't all smooth sailing as our outing caused Sophie to miss her nap -- the last 10 minutes of the car ride home don't exactly count -- Ethan mistakenly thought I was going to pick him up at school and I experienced a few moments of panic when he didn't get off the school bus with the rest of the kids at his stop, and then once I retrieved him from the school office and took him home, he threw a fit when he found out that we did something fun without him and demanded that I take him back to "the restaurant" for dinner. That clearly wasn't going to happen, but I think I appeased him by telling him I'd take him there next month on a date with just him and Mom.

The rest of the week has gone by just fine, and his favorite things about 1st grade so far are eating lunch at school; being able to go to gym, music, art, and library; and the popsicle they get every afternoon at 2:15 in his class. All in all, I think it will be a great year for him.

Grace is getting excited to start preschool in a couple of weeks, herself, and was able to meet her teacher today when she came by for a visit to introduce herself. Apparently Sophie is also getting excited for school seeing as to how she tells me almost every day that she will go to Kindergarten when she is 5.

Well, that's basically it. I can't believe how quickly this summer has gone by. And I really can't believe that this is my last night as a mother of 3. I don't quite know how I'm going to manage 4, but I guess we'll figure it out as we go along, right? Hopefully all will go well tomorrow and I'll be able to post pictures of Jane as soon as possible. Until then...

The Last night as the 3 Little Kiddies.

I love these little faces.

And finally, here is a picture of what happens when Ethan can't fall asleep at bedtime:


That's all folks...

Waiting for Jane

Well, believe it or not, I have gotten just about everything done on my to-do lists! The upside is having things in order, the major downside is that now all there is to do is WAIT for this baby to come.

Here is what we've been up to for the last few weeks. First off, I got Sophie's allergist appointment taken care of. She was scheduled for a skin prick test, and while I was hoping for some major progress, what we got was minor indeed.

This is what a skin prick test looks like:


Each of those numbers correspond with a food that is being tested for an allergic reaction. A red bump, or hive, is proof positive that an allergy exists. As you can see, Sophie is still allergic to quite a bit. "Oh wow," said the nurse as she came in to check, "did you know she was this allergic?" Indeed we did, my friend, indeed we did. Luckily Sophie was fantastic for the whole appointment (I think she REALLY enjoys all the attention she gets from going to the doctor) and was completely entertained with a Wiggles video tape during the 20 minute wait for the test to develop.

(This pic is somewhat misleading, because she sat for maybe 2 minutes before she was up and dancing all over the place. It was actually quite hilarious.)

AND, I was more than impressed with her when she didn't even cry when she had to get blood taken for additional allergy testing after the skin prick test was over. I was seriously expecting a meltdown because the nurse was poking all around in her arm trying to find one of her tiny little veins that kept rolling out of the way, and it took a few minutes to finally get one. Sophie was a superchamp, though, and just sat there hardly moving at all during the whole ordeal. And, in her young mind, she was more than rewarded when she got to pick out a sucker when she was done.

Luckily we won't have to do that again anytime soon. And while she's still allergic to a few major things (e.g. milk, eggs, peanuts, and regular nuts for that matter), she HAS outgrown her allergy to bananas! Baby steps, right? Here she is eating her very first banana -- and let's just say she LOVES them:



As for other happenings, we enjoyed a week's visit from my mom and Jacob. And even though they had to leave today for Jacob to get back for football and school this week, they were a HUGE help while they were here. We miss them already! Mom helped me get the last of my to-do's checked off my list, AND took Ethan and Grace off my hands for 3 days and 2 nights while they went to visit my sister Sarah.

Ready for their adventure!

I'm told they behaved, so hopefully that's the truth! Hahaha. I do have to say, that while it was nice to have some peace and quiet around the house while they were gone, it was also exceedingly WEIRD only to have one kid at home and none of the noise and chaos. I have to admit that I actually missed it. Crazy, I know! Me and Soph did share some mother-daughter bonding time, which I know my little mama's girl loved, so that was fun. And of course, it is SOOOOO much easier dragging around only one child to run errands with. All in all, though, we were happy to have everyone back at home on Friday.

Self-portrait with the supermuppet

While my mom was here, we also scored some free stuff courtesy of our neighbor's curbside, and let's just say that Grace is in heaven with all of the new toys. It is RIGHT up her alley. Ethan has actually enjoyed playing with her as well. Although, I do have to say that I wish the poor boy had a brother to play with sometimes. I think he does, too, evidenced by his recent musings that perhaps the lady (meaning the ultrasound technician) was wrong and that it's really a BOY we'll be having. That would be a surprise indeed.

Here's Ethan wearing the "Pet Vet" lab coat. Hahaha.

And here's a picture Ethan snapped of Grace while she was having fun with one of the new toys at bedtime on Friday night.

One of the other curbside treasures -- could this be any more perfect for my little junk loving Grace?

In other happenings:

I got my hair done.




Back to School supplies (yay!) were bought.




I took Ethan and Grace on a date to pick out some school clothes.

I can't even TELL you how much this picture of the 3 of them just tickles my fancy. Each of their expressions are GOLD.

I hit the 37 week mark (anytime now, Jane).





I packed my bag for the hospital.





AND we celebrated Scott's 32nd birthday.



Scott has forbidden me to embarrass him by listing 32 fabulous things about him, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he's the coolest. Hahahaha. We were able to celebrate last night while mom was still here to babysit by going to eat at Benihana. Because this place is super expensive, we don't frequent it that often, but when we do, it's DELISH. It was made especially delicious last night thanks to signing up online for Benihana's birthday club which gave Scott 30 bucks towards his meal -- essentially a free dinner for him.

Scott didn't want to take any pictures of us at the restaurant so this one will have to do.

Ethan was excited to make decorations today for Scott's "party," Grace was excited for the ice cream, and Scott was excited when he opened his birthday present. After much thought and deliberation, I decided that it was better to get the Wii for Scott for his birthday than to have Santa bring it for the family for Christmas. Ethan has been wanting one since before LAST Christmas, but I just didn't want to have to deal with him wanting to play it all the time. Now that it's SCOTT'S present, however, I'm hoping that it will be easier to put limits on when and how long the kids can play. Wishful thinking I'm sure.

Ethan's decorations.

Scott discovering that his sneaking suspicion was right.

Posing with his new toy. Hahahaha.

To close with, here is a story about our little free spirit, Grace. Grace is proving to be completely hit or miss with Sunday (and more specifically Primary) behavior. Last Sunday was a catastrophe due to a few factors. First of all, she went to sleep WAY too late the night before. Second of all, Scott was substituting for Ethan's primary teacher and Grace does NOT handle having either of us there very well. And finally, her OWN teacher was gone and a substitute was in place which must have thrown Grace off a little bit more. Oh, and how can I forget? I made the mistake of letting her wear accessories to church. With a hairbow and bracelets to distract her, she disintegrated from bad to worse over the course of sharing time -- culminating with Grace telling her teacher that she would "break her arm and her legs" when she threatened to take the bracelets away if Grace wouldn't turn around and stop playing with them. When the teacher followed through with the threat and TRIED to take them away, Grace would not let go and they ended up popping and the beads went everywhere. A full-on, meltdown fit then commenced with Scott finally just collecting her, and the rest of us, and going home.

It took all week to convince her (ok, ok, MAKE her) compose an apology letter to the teacher -- her reasoning being that the teacher owed HER an apology first for breaking her bracelets -- but she finally gave in yesterday and colored a little picture for her and wrote "I'm Sorry" on the back. AND our little schizophrenic was actually REALLY well-behaved for all of church today! So there you go. Hopefully she'll stay on this mood swing for the next few weeks. Hahaha.



Well, that's about all that's been happening. Nothing too exciting, so I apologize, but hopefully the next post will bring an update with a baby!