Month: November 2017

My children were in rare form tonight at swim lessons. Kaitlyn was trying out the life of a supermodel and Teague was practicing for Mr. Universe.
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Big brothers are the best. I looked up from cooking dinner to find Teague and Kaitlyn snuggled under a blanket and Teague reading to Kaitlyn. So sweet.

The boys are definitely rubbing off on Kaitlyn – or maybe just the choice of books in the house. She loves to find the boys’ comic books and graphic novels. Today’s choice – Dogman.

Alex has been one happy boy since discovering Jadon (a boy in his class at school) lives right behind us. They have been great for each other – Jadon is teaching Alex all about sports (and Alex seems to be enjoying it) and Alex has introduced Jadon to books (his Mom is shocked he will read at our house) and video games. Alex was bummed the first time he asked Jadon if he liked video games and got a “no.” Tonight the boys introduced him to Mario Kart and he immediately fell in love.

Finally, Ben and I can go home today! Granny and Pop had bought donuts for the kids yesterday and bought me some donut holes (my favorite) which were delivered last night. When I opened them this morning, I saw that sneaky Pop had included a $20 for Ben and me.

I was told Ben and I both needed to be checked/released by our doctors and then we would be good to go. That happened and then I was told Ben needed to try his hearing test one more time. When they took him back for the hearing test, I called Wade and he brought all the kids to pick us up. The nurse returned Ben to the room and told us there was one more test, but it had to be approved by a doctor (who had left the hospital hours ago) and then performed. I told Wade to go on home. It was lunch time and Kaitlyn needed a nap. The chances of us going anytime soon were slim.
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A few hours later, we were really released. Our neighbor walked over to stay with the kids and a napping Kaitlyn. Wade arrived and we pretty much rushed out the door. I asked the nurse to take a quick picture of us, but that didn’t go exactly as I had hoped…

Now we are home! I am so glad to be here and the big kids are all loving on the baby.
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Due to the crazy day, I didn’t get a picture of Ben in his “going home” clothes. So I took one a few days later.

Today Ben and I hung out in the hospital and Wade held down the fort at home. Then he loaded up all three big kids and brought them to visit and for a pizza party. The kids were all over and into everything, but we had fun being together. (I begged to go home from the hospital today, but they were adamant Ben had to stay 48 hours to be monitored.)
Ben has been an awesome baby. He sleeps and transfers to his bassinet well. He isn’t a big fan of the bottle and is taking very small amounts but we’re assuming he’ll get the hang of it before too long.
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I’ve been ready to have this baby for a few weeks, but it only really seemed to make sense this week. The nursery was finished on Sunday. My doctor told me I was 4 cm dilated on Monday. Judy and Jerry are in town for Thanksgiving. I am officially 38 weeks. The most important reason – I am insanely uncomfortable. When I hadn’t gone into labor by Tuesday, I started to rethink all this. I didn’t want to miss Thanksgiving with my family.
Birth story below. Feel free to read or skip that part and just see the pictures.
The baby must have taken all of this into account. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day and I woke up about 1:30 am pretty sure I was in labor. I woke Wade up and we called his parents. We got to the hospital a little after 2 am. With my history, I was a little surprised that I was only 6 cm dilated. I was having contractions every minute and there was some discussion about how quickly I would progress. They quickly moved me to a room and I asked for an epidural. After getting all the information/disclaimers the doctor has to discuss before the actual epidural, the OB brought up that if he broke my water, I would most likely be immediately ready to deliver. (Or if it broke on its own, I would be ready to deliver before the epidural took effect.) Then the anesthesiologist also mentions I am a greater risk for the nasty headache I hear people talk about after an epidural. Decision made. I have had one delivery without pain medication and it wasn’t too bad. I told the OB to break my water. He did and suddenly everyone in the room was suited up and ready. Then the OB realizes something isn’t quite right. He keeps checking me (which HURTS) and demands an ultrasound. They were afraid the baby had suddenly turned and I would need an emergency C-section. The ultrasound confirmed the baby was in the correct position but something still wasn’t right. The OB finally realized the baby was head down, but coming face first (instead of crown first). He warned me it would hurt but we were going to deliver immediately. I did, but wow. I should have gotten the epidural.
Benjamin Fuller Burch was born on 11/24 at 4:26 am. He was 7 lbs, 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. The poor thing has a bruised face with a very swollen nose and mouth, but hopefully that fades quickly.
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After we were settled in our room, Wade ran home to take a nap and check on everyone. The entire family came back later that afternoon to meet Ben.
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We had a wonderful day celebrating family. Due to baby’s upcoming arrival, Wade’s parents and sister came to spend the holiday with us in Grafton. The cooking was easy (and something I enjoy) – especially when there are three extra adults to entertain the kids. We had a big meal at lunchtime and then most everyone took an afternoon nap. We had pie late afternoon and then spent most of the evening playing games. Emily introduced Alex to some new ones and I loved that he was old enough to understand games we like to play.
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I heard Alex screaming in pain and went to check it out. He told me what happened and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing – even as the blood dripped on my floor. Alex stepped on a particularly pointy Lego with the bottom of his foot. It’s such a normal parent injury that annoys all parents. I rarely hear of a child having the same issue and immediately pointed out that it might not have happened if the Legos all over his floor had been cleaned up. (I was able to get myself under control and offer sympathy and wound care.)

I came out of my room from getting ready to find Teague helping Kaitlyn get dressed. Love these two!

Teague is my slow child. He would happily sit at the table and eat breakfast for over an hour. He should have plenty of time in the mornings to get ready for school (about 1.5 hours), but he’s never quite ready when it’s time to walk out the door. Today I was checking to make sure he was in the shower and I found that he had taken the time to make Monkey comfortable before showering himself. Adorable, but so annoying at the same time!

In tonight’s game, Teague was evidently a zombie and ran around yelling “Brains” over and over. Here he is after being hit with “gas,” which evidently means a 30 second nap on the floor.