Before There are Four

I am overwhelmed and quite taken aback by the goodness of Christ in our sweet home.  Gilana is blossoming in her potential and position as the eldest child.  Her desire to care for her little sisters is so precious to witness.  Earlier this morning, the two older girls got themselves dressed for the day, then proceeded to pick out clothes and dress Eliana as well. Before leaving for work, Byron asked Gigi to take care of everyone, including Mommy, and she is fulfilling that task excellently.  She came to me and asked how I was doing, and I let her know I felt ill from the effects of pregnancy and a cold, so she came to caress me and encouraged Ellie to do the same. Wow.  That was sweet!  Ellie wandered off to see Camelia (who is sitting in a bucket), and Gigi left me after wiping some loose strands of hair off my face and letting me know that she had to leave me to care for her sisters. Gilana is only four years old, yet delights in her role as Mommy's little helper!

We discovered at the 20 week mark that this sweet babe growing within me is a boy!  I had told Byron He wouldn't know the gender till I could come home and tell him in person.  Naturally he beat me home, rushed the car, and demanded the news before I had a moment to think of a coy way to reveal it.  He whooped and hollered, told the neighbor, ran into the house and the girls naturally caught his enthusiasm as a grand celebration ensued.  It was lovely!

As my mobility has drastically decreased with my back failing daily along with other pregnancy complaints, we have been blessed with help.  Kelsey is now nannying for us 2 days a week for the last three weeks.  She tears through the house with reckless abandon cleaning every nook and cranny, singing hymns and spiritual songs, skipping about like a pied piper with cheerful little munchkins trailing joyously behind her.  She clearly has a rare gift that I can only dream of, but certainly enjoy benefiting from. With Kelsey here, the girls are happy, the house is clean and *smells* like it, laundry is done, dinner is made, and I am rested.  It is amazing. Another family from the church is bringing meals twice a month to help out, and I have a 12 year old helper, Joanna, coming on a regular basis to help as well. I am humbled by this much needed help and so grateful for the service of others!

The girls have had several bouts with illness lately... such as today with fevers and runny noses.  Eliana seems to have the brunt of it, being unable to sleep well at night and so achy during the day.  These are the snuggle-take-it-easy-watch-a-movie type of days.  Just my pace!  Gilana had a bad virus about a month ago with a fever about 103.5 which left her delirious and so pitiful my heart ached for her.  I rocked her and tried to sooth her moaning, mid-scream she fell in a deep sleep in my arms and scared me with how still she suddenly became after such a ruckus with her flailing.  Amazingly, this lasted on 24 hours and was quickly a memory of the past.  Eliana had a ongoing fever for several days with no signs of other sickness with her fever spiking at times to over 103 degrees.  She managed fairly well despite her discomfort, then came down with a rash as her fever subsided.  Turns out she had Roseola.  I had thought the rash was an unrelated result of playing in the dirt with her sensitive skin exposed, but apparently it was something more serious.

We are preparing our home for the arrival of the new bairn.  The nasty, stained (possibly original) carpets from upstairs have been replaced with similar laminate to what we have downstairs. The girls' rooms have been mostly decluttered and decorated with the toddler beds now stacked as bunk beds. The garage is continually getting a face-lift to become a welcoming and functional playroom and workspace.  Our master bedroom still needs a good deal of work (that's where the baby will be till he gets a bit older), but my energy level is about depleted, so it is a very slow process.  It is hard to suddenly be so dependant on everyone else, but I am trying to be content with the way things are until I am actually capable of doing something about it.  Patience!  A family from church just passed along their lightly used baby boy clothes, and my sister just gave me a Ergo Carrier, so we are about set!

One big thing remains... a name!  Hmmmmmm......

Little Ellie

Our sweet little munchkin is such a lovely delight.  Cries of protest are a rarity, only heard when she is truly in duress or during her short-lived evening fuss; all instances which are generally short-lived.  She is still quite agreeable, and is the highlight of our home.  She is quite clearly a blue-eyed baby, and while I know this may not last, I am thrilled nonetheless! At her two-week doctors checkup, we discovered she had already gained a pound and an inch!  All her sleeping and eating are apparently paying off into chunking up our little sweets quite nicely.  Diaper changes are always an adventure with the little Lovey.  As soon as a diaper is unfastened, it is imperative that another diaper be ready to go beneath it and that no further efforts are made to remove the soiled diaper for several minutes until she has thoroughly soiled the nappy once more.  She'll get you if you are not careful!

Last night I had the best sleep in many weeks, having a whole 5.5 hours of sleep straight as Ellie has had two colds in her short time out of the womb, and has been very stuffy at night.  We had her propped up in her Boppy last night, and it worked wonders!

The older girls have some well-natured squabbles over whose baby she is.  Gilana proclaiming, "Ellie is my baby.  She came out of my tummy." They love to give her kisses, fawn over her, and exclaim such niceties as "Aww, what a cute baby."  "Don't be sad, Gigi is here!" "You want your Paci Ya-ya?" "I love you oh sweet baby Ellie." And then Camelia's favorite... "Baby Ailish here!"  (Auntie V and Uncle Will visited with their little one the week before Ellie was born, and Camelia is since convinced they left that baby behind to be her sister.)

We are truly enjoying this addition to our family and slowly adapting to the change of pace and additional difficulty of leaving the house that she brings.  Life is a constant whir of motion, but I am happy for it and for the now rare moments of quiet to soak it all in.

The Perfect Baby

Perhaps this title is rather pretentious.  Of course, there is no guarantee that this last week is the indicator for the next year, but we hold out hope.

Eliana has a ridiculously sweet and accommodating spirit.  She is extremely considerate of her parent's sleep, does not desire to make her arrival in any way upset the flow of life here, is apologetic of disturbances, and generally seeks to be a blessing to all who interact with her. She cries as a last resort if we cannot hear her gentle protests for attention.  We put her down for sleep when we are tired, she nurses two or three times during the night, and only wakes in the morning once we are ready to care for her. On top of all this, she is lovely.  A perfectly round head with dark hair and a faux-hawk, button nose, full lips, long fingers and toes, and charming little skinny legs.  Adorable in every way.

The picture I have just painted you, can only belong to a {practically} perfect baby.  We are stunned.  This is not something we were expecting.

Of course every parent hopes for an infant like the one I have just described, but they must be rare creatures, indeed.  Our first two were the exact opposite.  Their presence was very much experienced throughout every night.

God must have known the trials we are already facing at this time with Camelia's nocturnal wanderings and my difficult healing.  Thanks to the amazing sleep and gentleness of little Ellie, I am recovering.  Last night we put Camelia back into the crib (after about 6 months of being in a toddler bed), and she slept, too. Mellie only woke once in the night gently {?!} crying out, "Daddy, hold me!"

We are blessed with a family perfectly designed by God to grow together, love each other, challenge each other's weaknesses, and uplift despite those shortcomings.  These little girls are remarkable.  Gilana has proven to be an excellent big sister, concerned for the little ones and always desiring to help (though she is not yet trusted to hold Ellie as she is likely to pass her like a football to someone else).  Camelia is adjusting to the new change of pace as we have had a great deal of help from family and friends.  She enjoys watching as I care for Ellie and likes to be involved with this marvelous "baby sister" in whatever way I can include her.  There has been a constant flux in life lately, and the girls are holding up considerably well.

We have been blessed with help caring for both myself and the girls.  Thanks to Mopsy, Popsy, Tammy, Luana, and Nana Robbie, Byron has been able to go to work, I have been able to rest, we have had food, and the girls have been supervised and loved.  Tammy even flew in with little Will to help commandeer the girls and housekeeping.  Laundry would not have gotten done without her.  Luana has been a constant help throughout the challenging last weeks of pregnancy and this last week.  We clearly have reason to be grateful.

I look forward to mothering my children and taking back my responsibilities.  I have missed our snuggles and romps together, but know this time with my newborn is precious and something to be savored.  Above all, I am once again reminded of the remarkable man I married.  His faithfulness and diligent work on behalf of his family is incredible.  We are blessed.

Birth of a Blessing

Eliana Elizabeth born 9/11/11 at 12:21pm. 8lbs 12.2oz and 22 inches long. She's a doll! We chose her middle name in honor of her Auntie Liz, as with Ellie's sisters, the first name was not fully decided upon until hospital staff surprised us with the birth certificate to fill out...

Eliana: The Lord has responded, God has answered
Elizabeth: My God is a vow, Oath of God, God's promise
Last Name: From the heavens

So, her name means "God has responded with His promise from the heavens"

She is a treasure and we are enjoying our first day with this sweet gift and answer to our prayers.

What is the story of this birth? I had a rather impulsive thought the other night, that the birthday of 9/11/11 would be convenient to remember, and honestly I was getting tired of regular albeit rather ineffectual contractions. Byron called our doctor and asked him if he had any plans to be at the hospital that evening, he did, and thought one additional patient (myself) would be just fine. So, we left the house within the hour to have my labor "augmented."

When we arrived at the hospital, I was about 2 cm dilated, 50% effaced, with contractions coming about every ten minutes. After being monitored in triage for an hour, we were sent to a private birthing room and I was hooked up to a bevy of monitors, antibiotics and a slow drip of Oxycontin.

Sleep was sporadic throughout the night, but happily, we got some as the contractions were not yet intense enough to hinder my succumbing to exhaustion. During the night the ultrasound was wheeled in to insure her head was in position. I am grateful that she was right on target. In the morning I got an epidural as the labor became more painful. As pain lessened and my legs went numb, I was happily swept away on a cloud of nearly pain-free labor. Around 10am I was 4 cm dilated and the doctor broke my water to speed up the process. An hour later I was 7 cm dilated and labor progressed rather quickly (but fuzzily!).

When the nurses checked me next, I was 9 cm, and her head was at -2 position. Little Ellie's heart rate kept dipping at this point, and despite efforts to manipulate my position, she didn't seem to be getting much relief. After the masterful prodding of my doctor (this dude is awesome), the wee lass was at a +2 position and I was fully dilated. Apparently the lady in the next room over was competing with me for first delivery, but somehow I got priority over her +3 position.

Three minutes of pushing and she was out. The doctor promptly unwrapped the cord from around her neck, and though she was rather purple, her color began to come back quite nicely.  She was a beautiful little dear with dark hair, a graceful neck, long fingers and toes, her Daddy's ears, and a sweet round face. Apparently I had some internal bleeding, so I needed some extra attention afterwards, but we had some great time bonding with our little dear before our little munchkins arrived with Mopsy, Popsy, Tammy and her little William. It was a lovely family affair.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

We thought Gilana was really starting to understand the concept of the new baby arriving to bless our home in a few short weeks.  That is, until nap time arrived today and I began to read one of Gilana's current favorite's to her.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar is considered "one of the greatest childhood classics of all time," but it seems to have confused my daughter regarding the perpetuity of people.  Those innate truths so relevant to every human life; the preschooler's perception of pregnancy.

We arrived at the climax of the story.  The hungry caterpillar has enjoyed his glutenous existence and is no longer hungry, but now a "big, fat caterpillar," to which Gilana stoically asserts, "Just like Mommy."

I suppose in her understanding of things, I will soon build my cocoon and emerge a beautiful butterfly.  Or perhaps my big, fat belly will get wrapped up in some gauzy ethereal material for a lovely baby butterfly to emerge from.  Sounds like a great Anne Gedes concept.  Gilana is brilliant.

Unexpected date night

Byron and I did something very selfish last night.  We stole the Johnson's date night and had a late evening out on the town.  They had planned on a evening out to a movie while we watched the kiddos, but we pulled a switcheroo on them.  Out the door we rushed to our destined location in one of our favorite locales, Glendale.  The evening found me robed in a lovely blue and white gown, with my sweetheart snuggled up next to me as we watched a movie from our private viewing booth, complimentary beverages delivered with sweet precision.

Sounds pretty sweet, right?  I guess there are a couple details I should have included.  After having contractions straight for over an hour and a half, Byron and I excused ourselves and headed to the hospital.  I checked in, changed into my regular hospital attire, settled into that {un}comfy hospital bed, was strapped in and plugged into the monitors, then Byron set up a movie on our laptop.  Not exactly our ideal for a night on the town, but it was nice to have some time with my sweetheart, nonetheless.

After about two hours of false labor contractions, things settled down.  In the meantime, I readjusted my monitors.  When machines didn't pick up the contractions or the baby's heart rate monitor seemed "off,"  I just reached over and squirted some of that lubrication jelly under the sensor pads on my belly and readjusted things.  Byron joked that the next time we come in, they won't even need to come into the room with us, we'll just take care of it ourselves.  "Don't worry, we got this!"

The Baby Belly

Baby 3 is getting cramped!

Pregnancy the Third

This pregnancy has really flown by.  There has been so much to keep me busy considering I have 2 little ones that occupy nearly every waking moment.  Motherhood is a joy and a delightful journey to travel.  Last week I found myself rather amused in considering another baby would be gracing our home with her infant voice and little (though assuredly powerful) presence in a span of only a few weeks.  This considered, I determined to go and pack my hospital bag, but to no avail.

Within minutes of these thoughts, a sharp cramp gripped my side and left me unable to climb the stairs.  This pain continued on for about 20 minutes when Byron called to check on me.  Apparently my Dad had received a vaguely distressed call from someone he thought was me.  I had never called him, but it prompted him to call Byron for information.  Thus Byron was home from work in short order and soon after drove me to the hospital.  We were there for about 6 hours with my contractions varying in intensity and duration.  Since I did not appear to be dilating, we were allowed to go home with an order to rest.  Bed rest. 

I received these orders when pregnant with Camelia, but it seems slightly more daunting at this point.  I am not a very good patient.  The girls need attention, and I want to give it.  Luckily I have help.  Friends and family are gathering round to take the joy of my little rambunctious munchkins out of the house and off to grand adventures.  Marvelous.  This is clearly helpful in making me relax and let the beautiful little life inside me grow and flourish. 

Now I am starting to think about her a great deal more and she is becoming so real, so present, so SOON to be here in my arms as a daughter, sister, and precious addition to our family and home.  I am growing in excitement and desire to prepare for her.  God's work is truly remarkable.