loinfruit #3

Elin Thalia

( ee-lynn tah-leah)

Yay! She's here! And I don't have to go through that again for a VERY long time.

She surprised us all and made her debut 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

This pregnancy was extremely uncomfortable for me. More so than the other two put together. She carried so incredibly low the whole time I always felt the need to go to the bathroom. like ALWAYS. All my pants, even the low rise ones were right where her the majority of her body was and she was a mover. Holy cow was she ever! She was by far my most active womb baby. I always felt like she was kicking against the waist of my pants and it just felt really weird. I do remember thinking that they just had to be off on my due date because my body literally felt like it was the end. It was sooo ready to be done. However, I was still thinking... heck I've got two weeks left. That's plenty of time to get everything for her and myself together. No problem. Monday was going to be that day. The day I finally got everything I needed and could breath a sigh of relief that I had gotten it done in time. She had other plans.

I was crazy busy that week. I was planning a halloween party for the Activity Day girls in our ward and left everything till the last minute. Luckily I have a super hero for a sister and she came to my rescue with ideas and tips, so it turned out great. I came home from that on Wednesday night exhausted. Spent the next two days recovering and getting some cleaning done, but I wasnt feeling all that caught up. My mom decided to come in on Saturday to help me get some of my laundry finished up (I loathe laundery) which I was so grateful for. Thanks Mom! I went to sleep Friday night, yet again, exhausted. Our midwife had told me that babies will usually come during the night because your body is more relaxed and will allow itself to go into labor. I had gone into labor with Noah and Masyn in the night so I believed her, but I was still worried. I wasn't quite ready mentally to face the pains of labor. I remember going to sleep Friday night and praying, please dont let her come tonight, please dont let her come tonight. Saturday came and while my lovely Mother watched the kids and did my laundry, my girlfriend and I went to get pedicures. The appointment was at noon, we were back by about 1:30 and my first real contraction came at 3:00. They were 2.5 minutes apart and never stopped. I called Carol our midwife at 4:30 just to let her know what was going on. She told me to call back in a half hour if they hadn't stopped. I called her at 5:00 to report that nothing had changed so she headed over to check it out. I was only dilated to a 3 when she arrived but she said she felt it was going to progress so she decided to stick around. I had already called Ed home from work, so I called Janay next and she came around 5:30. Carol wanted to get me moving so we decided to take a walk outside. We didn't make it very far, it was FREEZING out! I did stop and lean against a car during a contraction and then I broke down and cried. I wasn't ready for this. I hadn't prepared, physically, mentally, even emotionally for the near death that my body was about to go through. I found myself wishing that it was my first baby all over again, because then atleast I wouldn't know that even though the pain was enough to make me claw my own eyes out, it was about to get a WHOLE.LOT.WORSE. We came back inside and I walked up and down the stairs instead. Oh, I should have mentioned that we wanted a home birth this time around. hahaha Which explains why we weren't rushing to the hospital. Anyways, it was around this time that we decided that Ed's Mom should come and get the kids because I wanted my Mom to be there. She came to get them around 7 maybe earlier. I wasn't paying attention at that point I was starting to yell during the contractions. In hindsight I was going through transition. That part always sucks. Carol checked me once more and I was a 7. So we filled up the tub and in I hopped. She was born just over and hour later at 8:18pm. From start to finish a total of 5 hours and 18 minutes. A whole 4 minutes longer than Masyn's labor was. She was born super fast, one push for the head, one for the shoulders and out she came. I wish it was as easy as it sounds. But it was much, much worse. My sister in law told me once, that when you feel like you're about to DIE, then you know you're about to have your baby. And I always thought.. wow I wonder what it feels like to be so close to dying. Well, let me tell you. I've 'almost died' three times now and it is unimaginable. I keep chanting to myself, one more time Kevyn, just ONE MORE TIME and then you don't ever have to feel like you're going to die ever again. Well, until I actually DO die. But I'm planning on going in my sleep at a very old age so I am hoping it will be uneventful and painless.

And that's it! That's her story. She was born on October 28th at 8:18pm weighing 7 pounds even and 21 inches long. She has more hair than our other babies did and it's dark. They all start out dark and then get lighter but I have a feeling she is going to stay that way. She is the most hispanic looking out of all three which I think is kind of cool. I hope it stays.

The first night wasn't bad, as usual. But WOW the next 4? ZERO sleep you guys. And I do mean ZERO. I got one, one hour stretch one night and that was it. She had horrible gas pains. I could literally feel and hear them in her poor little body. It would last from about midnight until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. And then she would crash for three hours and so would I. It was a good thing Ed was home. There was no way I would have been able to deal with taking care of the other two kids on no sleep. When Carol came to the house for the 5th day visit, she walked in the bedroom door and I immediately started crying. No sleep will do that to you. It turns you into a crazy, hysterical crybaby. We got some probiotoc drops for her and that night she gave me a three hour stretch and then a 5 hour one! Wow, did that ever feel good. As short lived as it was :) The most I get now is one 3 hour stretch and then its usually every hour after that. But my body is dealing with it surprisingly well. Three kids is not too bad. After two, you're already used to being pulled in different directions at the same time, having to split your time between kids and playing and house duties. It's the hormones and lack of sleep schedule that really get to me. As soon as the darkness hits, which is at 5 these days, I begin to have a panic attack. I hate when my kids aren't on a schedule. I feel so out of control and vulnerable. I like routine and I like predictablity. Two things that a brand new baby is not. :) But oh how I LOVE HER! She is teeny and dark and she is the gruntiest baby I have ever heard! Noah calls her Squeaker McSqueakerson. We don't really hear her cry. She'll just grunt over and over again and then if you leave her too long she'll let out a really loud yell to let you know she means business. It's to die for. She hates to be swaddled in any way. She loves sleeping on her back and I am so worried she is going to have a flat head because she likes to sleep with it tipped to the right. Whenever I switch it to the left she just flips it right back. Don't know what I'm going to do about that yet.

Noah and Masyn are so in love with her. At first I was afraid that Masyn would love her to death, but she's alot better now. Just have to remind her to be gentle sometimes. She has felt my pull towards the baby a few times and she lets me know by being extra whiney and clingy throughout the day. Always wanting me to carry her and snuggle. I have to remember to make time for her and be extra sensitive with her needs. I think we will need to start having one on one time with each of the bigger kids here pretty soon.

* I wrote this post about a week after she was born and then tucked it away in my saved folder. Now she is 3 1/2 weeks old! Where does the time go?? I blame it on the lack of sleep. I am like a zombie. Survival mode has kicked in and I don't pay attention to too much else other than the immediate needs of my little family. At her two week appointment she weighed 8lbs 6oz. Little chunk! Love her. I was told by the midwives that she can stand to go a little longer in between feedings at night since she was clearly not starving. So I made my way to my Moms house last weekend and she took the baby for the night and tried to hold her off longer than every two hours and brought her to me when she needed to eat, which was around the 4 hour mark. (Seriously, what would I do without my Mom?) After that night she has seemed to work things out and its been 4 nights with one 4 hour stretch each. It's fabulous. I feel like we're settling into a routine. I'm coming out of my haze and WOW It's nearly Christmas!! I have no idea how I am going to get all my shopping done with 3 small kids, but I'm sure it will work out.

Her blessing is scheduled for the 4th of December and I SO hope her dress gets here in time! I am cutting it REALLY close this time. We were not 100% sure about her being a girl so I wanted to hold off until she was born to buy it, but then she came and life was chaos so it got pushed back a bit. Hopefully not too much!

Anyways, life is good, we are good. Three kids is hard to adjust to, but we were expecting that. Most of all we are just incredibly grateful for our beautiful new addition to our family. I'm looking forward to getting to know her and watch her develop her personality as she grows.

xoxo