Baby Titus is Here! =)

Well, he definitely did surprise me, coming on the 26th. =) Maybe taking the 5w was part of it - I did have more good, hard contractions before labor than I have before. Anyway here is the birth story...

Tuesday (21st) I had my appointment and I was at 4cm and 50% effaced. Kathy stripped my membranes some and I had a few good contractions on the way home and then nothing. =) I had contractions off and on for the rest of the week, but never thought I was in labor or anything. Then Sunday morning, I woke up to a hard contraction. I went back to sleep and woke up to another. After three of them I thought I should probably time these just in case they are close, because I had no concept of time. By the time I had timed two of them (8 & 7 min), I was hungry. =) So I got up and went downstairs to find something to eat. It was about 6:50. I cleaned up all the garden mess we had made the night before. We put soil in one of those Jiffy trays and planted a bunch of stuff, but the kids were getting tired of it before we got to the second tray. Since we had a big dirt mess, we decided to just leave it and do the other tray the next day. So yeah I cleaned up all the dirt and seed packets and stuff. =P I cleaned the kitchen and started timing contractions again. They were about 3 min apart, but only lasting 30 seconds. They were hard contractions, though, so at 7:30 I texted Harper (who was in bed - I hadn't told him about any of this) and said "You wanna get up and have a baby today?" He said "Really???" I said "I think we should call Kathy soon." He said "Schweeet!" lol Before he came running downstairs with a big grin. =)

So he called Kathy at 7:30 and Kathy called Cynthia to come over and check me. Nothing at ALL happened from 7:30 to 7:50, so I called Cynthia at 7:50 to say I don't think you really need to come after all. She was like well would you like me to come check you anyway just to see where you are? I said I didn't know if there was a reason to, but she was willing, so I figured why not find out. lol So I said yeah I guess it would still be nice to know. So she said okay since it's not urgent, she would go ahead and make her bed and eat her breakfast and then be over around 9. She said to call her if I needed to.

So it was still 8. Harper was like well why don't you cut my hair? lol We had been meaning to for days, and I had told him I would... So I got out the stuff and cut his hair from 8-8:16. =P I started having contractions again while I was cutting his hair and they were hard enough that I didn't like standing up through them. I went to wash all his poky hairs off of me and didn't like having contractions standing in the shower, either. So I got out and I think I laid down through a couple of contractions at that point. I figured if I didn't just go ahead and call someone to take the girls, I would probably end up needing someone to leave in the middle of church. So I called Nancy around 8:30 and asked if she would pick them up.

Cynthia got here at 9 and Nancy got here shortly after that to get the girls. I was at 6-7cm by that point. With all the other kids, I have just laid down and relaxed through contractions because it feels better. =P But Cynthia was like well if you stand up and let them hurt more, they'll be doing more. lol At first I said well they (babies) come out eventually. =P But then I decided I would try standing. It wasn't really that bad, but it definitely wasn't as easy as lying around. =P Kathy and Ginger got here with bags and bags of equipment at 9:40 and 9:45 and brought the birth chair in. I didn't know if I would like it and I still don't know if I liked it better or not, but I did like it. You can sit back in it and then tip forward to squat when it's time to push. By that time I was at 9cm and bearing down a little. Oh, actually, before that Kathy turned Titus because after weeks of being in a good position, he was posterior. He stayed put for a little while, but eventually turned back. Oh, and my water broke right after that, too.

I was not pushing hard. With all of the girls I was ready to be on the other side and have a baby in my arms. This time, I was really just wanting it to be as comfortable as possible at any given moment. =P lol I finally told Kathy this, maybe around 10:30 or 10:40. She asked if I was just afraid of the pain when he actually came out. I said yeah. Maybe a little afraid he is NOT coming out, but I'm not actually thinking that. She was like Katie, realistically, it only lasts 30 seconds! That helped. =P So I asked Ginger what time it was at 10:45 and asked if she thought I could have a baby by 11. =P I was sort of just being silly, but she said hmmm yeah I bet you could. Anyway with the last two pushes I did, Kathy was telling me to picture him going under the bone and coming out. I told her I needed her to say that and it really helped me push like I was trying to have a baby. =P So she did it again and we had a head on the next push. =P I wonder how much time I wasted not pushing. Seriously, I even sat through a couple of contractions and didn't tell anybody because I didn't feel like getting up and pushing.

Harper got to catch Titus. He was trying to cry before he was all the way out, lol. His APGAR was 10/10/10. I asked Ginger if I had made it before 11 and she said yep it was 10:59. =) lol This was the first time I wasn't looking at a clock during the birth. We thought he looked pretty tiny, but he was 8lb 5oz and 20" long. He must be more dense than my girls. =P He doesn't really have fat cheeks like they did.

I texted Echo at 11:22 and told her he was born so she told everyone at church. Jeff had announced at the beginning of the service (9:30) that we were home hoping to have a baby and they had the girls and that maybe next week there would be an announcement about Titus being here. =P By the time potluck was starting, he was announcing that Titus was here. =) Hadessah heard after Echo told Nancy and went to tell Emily he was born, and Emily went and told Bekah "Baby Titus came out of Mommy's belly!!" Bekah said "The REAL Baby Titus?!" They were all so excited. Nancy said Lainey was VERY anxious to leave after potluck and meet her brother. =) They were all so cute and sweet meeting their brother and they have all been really good and helpful. =) They love him SO much!

He has been a sweet baby. A little mixed up on night and day. =P Actually, the first night I woke him up every 4 hours to nurse. The last two nights, he has kept us up a whole lot. He also didn't poop a real poop until 3am this morning. =P That's a long time, I think! He pooped and pooped when he finally could. =) He has been happy during the day. He is so snuggly - I'm going to go snuggle him some more. =)

Titus, for Real, and Girls

So I didn't even mention Titus. Our baby is going to be Titus. The girls are sooooo excited and talk about him all the time. Bekah tells him how when he comes out and gets big she will take him on a roller coaster. =) She also wants to teach him how to use the potty. =P

Harper's mom came for Bekah's birthday and brought us our first Titus stuff. =) So now there are cute little boy clothes in Em's closet. She told me "I squeal every time I open my closet!! The Titus clothes are SO CUTE!!" =)

I got fabric to make Titus crib bedding and it is supposed to come today! Yay!! =)

Last night Em put a sash around Bekah's chest like a bikini and Bekah ran into my room and said "I have a bakumi!!" lol

Bekah has been saying "make suring." "I'm make suring there's no lions or robots in our basement." or "I'm make suring there's no bad guys in our basement." =)

The girls all got fish when we studied fish in Science and Bekah named hers Gilgamesh. Em's is Emma and Lainey's is Elizabeth. Then we went to a fall party a week later and they got three fish. Agh! So Bekah named hers Hammurabi, we don't remember what Lainey named hers, and Em named hers Jessica. Lainey's fish and Hammurabi died after about two days. It was so cute and so sad to hear Bekah crying "Hammurabi died!!" =( Poor girl! Em's isn't doing so well today but we are trying to do what we can to save it. Spent a lot of money on some chemical that might help. But we don't want Emma to get sick, too, and Jessica is in the bowl with Emma. Sad! Bekah said if she gets another fish she wants to name it Nefertiti. =P lol

The other day I left the garage door open while I lasered and forgot to close the screen door and some flies came into the house. Bekah and I were sitting at the bar in the kitchen and she said "There's two flies!" Then another fly came over and she said "Oh! Now there's free flies, just like I'm free." =P Too cute! She is very happy to be three years old now. =P

I've painted the master bathroom, but still have some spackling to do (and painting over that), and I painted most of Lainey and Bekah's room but I have one wall that I couldn't get to all the way. I can't move the bed myself. But three walls are done, except for right around the top because I'm still deciding if I'm going to put a cute scalloped border around the top (painted) or if I don't want that much work. I painted a ballerina on one wall, but it needs a few more coats. The girls named her Adelaide. =)

I built a bookshelf and an entertainment center for the basement and then the big girls and I spent Bekah's naptime making a doll crib for her for her birthday. It took a few days, but it turned out super cute!! It is dark pink like the ballerina in their room and the drawer under the crib (for doll clothes - yay!) is a medium pink, which is what color the last wall will be. The other three walls are light pink. No crazy argyle stuff this time. =P

Bekah actually helped with her crib before it looked like anything. All of the girls love to do wood putty with me and Lainey likes to sand. =) And of course they all like to paint, but Bekah couldn't do that on the crib. =) Bek was working with me and I asked her "Do you know what I'm making?" She said "Yeah!!!" I asked what. She said "Um...boards!!!" =) lol She didn't know it was even for her at that point. Later she did know it was for her and she saw some of it starting to come together and said "Are you makin' me a bookshelf?!" She probably would have loved a bookshelf as much as a doll crib, if not more. She comes to me daily with an armful of books and says "Can you read all of these books to me?" =) So precious! She could spend all day with books. =)

Speaking of reading, Lainey is doing a really great job. She has learned quite a few more phonograms and she is getting quicker at recognizing words without sounding every letter out. She likes to read her readers to Bekah. =) It's so sweet!!

I'm working on Christmas presents and trying to decide if I want to take a little break and make some baby bedding when my fabric gets here. =P But I can't find my rotary cutter anyway. So I guess that's the first thing I need to do... I have two - how do I lose them both? I don't know. But I can't wait to see my Titus fabric!!! =)

Boys and Hannitizer

We went for an ultrasound today and found out we are having a boy! I was totally surprised. =) When we told Bekah it was a boy, she said "Oh! Can we name him Alyssa?" lol She LOVES the name Alyssa. =) She has been telling me how excited she is to have a little brother, and of course how cute he is. =P Oh, during the ultrasound, Bekah stopped looking at the screen for a while and was just playing in her chair. When she looked up again she said "Is that a snake?!" LOL She is so funny.

The other day Bekah wanted to snack on a mini bell pepper (my kids LOVE bell peppers and especially the mini ones because they are cute and I'm much more likely to say yes because I don't have to go cut anything). I told her she needed to wash it first. So the next thing I see she is coming around the corner rubbing a mini bell pepper and I KNOW she hasn't been to the sink. Turns out she "washed" it with hand sanitizer. LOL! Good thing I caught it before she took a bite. That would have been one nasty surprise. =) And Bekah calls hand sanitizer "hannitizer." Too cute. =)

The girls and I already did a Christmas craft. lol =) We bought a wreath made just out of sticks and a bunch of bright jingle bells and we stuck them all over the wreath with some wire. It is really cute. It just needs a big bow. =) I got ribbon for it, but I haven't googled how to make a really good bow yet. =)

We have the craft room pretty much in order, except two boxes of Harper's stuff. I think it can just chill there for a while. =P The rest of the house is good except the main room in the basement, and I am building a bookshelf right now to help with that. I was almost done with it and then ended up having to re-putty a knot. So now I'm waiting for that to dry. It is mostly painted, and the paint dries quickly, so I MIGHT get it done and down here tonight, but definitely tomorrow... And I will be so glad when this basement looks good. I need to make a little entertainment center for the receiver and stuff too but that stuff is on a broken school desk right now so it's at least not all over the floor. Oh and the Glidden paint they have at Walmart now is amazingly good paint. I am loving it. I painted our bathroom with it and now the bookshelves... I can't wait to paint Lainey and Bekah's room but I don't know when I will really be able to.

Funnies, Cuteness, Baby Stuff

Bekah calls watermelon "lalamelon." She just wanted some cantaloupe and asked me for "some of that lalamelon thingie." =)

The other day I said I felt sick and I didn't feel good. Em said "Welp, life's not about you feeling good!" lol I said I know it's not, I was just warning you that I might run and throw up. lol =P

I have been feeling baby kick a whole lot. I started feeling kicks Sept 6. I had looked on my blog for when I first felt Bekah and calculated the equivalent date in this pregnancy to be Sept 7. I felt movement - just wiggles and squirms it felt like - for the week or two before. But real thumps started the 6th. =)

Bekah asks me every day if she can have a Tum because her tummy hurts. I always tell her Tums aren't for an owwie tummy but you can have one anyway... =P

School has been really great so far. I'm liking everything I planned for this year, so far. =)

I still need pictures on the walls. I never like doing that. I need someone to come over and just do it for me. =P

Bekah and I were talking about what words start with different letters the other day. I showed her an A and she said "alligator" even though there was an apple on the card. I don't know if she really gets that it starts with A or just knows she has heard A for alligator before. She didn't contribute anything else that started with A or with C, but I asked her what starts with B. I said Bekah, banana, etc... and asked her if she could think of another. She said "butt." LOL Good job, Bekah... =P

Bekah DOES know butt starts with B though because every time she would say it her sisters would say "Bekah just said B-U-T-T again!!" Now she says "B-U-T-T." Nice, huh? My 2-year-old can spell butt. (Emily is standing here cracking up. No pun intended.)

Bekah says "Ja." Harper said it reminds him of Wayne's World. I don't remember ever seeing that... But if you ask her if she did something or if she likes something or whatever... she says "Ja!"

Oh and Bekah calls Walmart "Warmart." (War rhymes with car.) =)

House!

After tons of house drama, and a crazy last week (we're closing, we're not closing, we're closing, we're not closing...there is an error in the closing cost, there is no key to do a final walkthrough...), we are finally in a house. We closed late Friday and had our stuff delivered out of storage on Monday. I have been pretty exhausted since then. I don't know if I'm sick with no other symptoms or if you can be this tired just from a couple of late nights. Harper ordered me Floradix in case it's an iron thing. I don't think I look anemic, but I might as well get started taking something now that I'm not feeling too sick.

I still throw up if I don't eat, but I'm getting less sensitive to WHAT I eat, which is nice. And I can change a bad diaper with only a reasonable amount of discomfort.

Speaking of which...Bekah has totally regressed since we have been here. She was going on the potty in Colorado. But Harper didn't want her peeing on the floor in our temp housing, so he said to put her back in diapers. Well she has gotten lazy and it's almost like starting over. If I remember to tell her to go, it's not too bad, but she doesn't go on her own very often anymore. Pretty lame! I was so happy about not having to change poopy diapers. lol

The movers broke a ton of stuff, so we're going to have to claim a bunch of damage. Not really anything that can't be replaced, though.

We went to Lauren Bourcier's wedding in Texas a couple of weeks ago, and my sister got engaged the same day. =)

My dad's mom passed away the day the movers brought our stuff. She was my last grandparent.

My house is still sort of a wreck, but I have been making progress slowly. I really don't know what is up with my lack of energy, but cutting up some oranges this morning felt like lifting weights, and my water glass just felt sooo heavy. I feel a little better now.

My veins are starting to bug me - I'll be 15 weeks Friday. I don't really want to go get pantyhose yet but I may have to soon. I think moving day was just too much, being on my feet all day.

We are going to start school after Labor Day. Maybe I'll get more of the house in order by then. Or at least the main floor. I am almost done, and if I get something to wrap up a bunch of souvenir things, I will be done. I have started a box of them. The basement and my bedroom still need work. Especially the basement. But Harper will do a lot of that.

Guess that's all for now. =) Later!