3...part deux

Our sweet Mia Gabrielle

Born on September 19th, 2011

9 lbs 11 oz ~ 20 inches

And now there are 3 beautiful little girls in our house, in our lives, and in our hearts. And I could not be happier!

She's 6 weeks today so clearly her birth didn't bring with it any kind of miraculous time management skills that would allow me to sit down and actually write on this blog within any kind of reasonable time period ;). Oh wellz...

Our newest little sweetpea, like her sisters, was created with her own share of stubborness and ended up needing a bit of a nudge out of the warm and comfy home she had known for 9 months and into the warm and comfy arms of Mommy and Daddy.

So at 40 weeks and 6 days I was induced. Throughout this entire pregnancy I had committed myself to having the natural birth I had wanted with each of my pregnancies. I was ready. I got informed. I was going to do it. And truth be told, the doctor would've allowed me to wait it out another 4 days. But that was it. And this sweet baby refused to drop. At 40 weeks she wasn't even low enough to have my membranes stripped in the hopes of progressing things. I was 2-3 cm dilated for weeks but this little one refused to scoot down which was keeping my cervix from thinning out. So given the option to be induced just 4 days before the "deadline" and my out of control desire to meet the little caboose that would complete our family, I gave in - with conditions.

Monday morning, September 19th the Mr. and I checked into the hospital. I was like a little girl on Christmas morning. So completely excited. Not nervous at all and 100% ready to meet this sweet baby. BUT I was still holding on to my dream of a natural birth. And so I requested that the doctor break my water in hopes of that getting things moving along. So he agreed - and said he would give me 2 hours. If nothing happened they would start Pitocin (argh!). When he went to break my water I was 3-4 cm and she was still so high that, for a moment, he almost couldn't reach my bag of waters! Sweetpea STILL hadn't dropped! But he did reach it. And so we waited. I could feel my contractions getting a bit more intense but they were completely manageable. When my (awesome) nurse came in to check on me I asked how my contractions looked and she said they were the same as when I had come in. No change! What the?? So at 10:30 on the dot in she came with the bag of pain..err, I mean Pitocin. I asked that she start it very slow so she infused it at only 2 drops an hour. Within minutes the contractions HIT. I won't lie - it was awful. They were on top of each other, leaving me little room to rest between them. They were strong, they were painful, and the were long. I hated it. There was nothing that felt natural about them. They were forced. They felt forced. They took away from what I had wanted to experience and feel. The next two hours went like this...

10:30 - Pitocin started.
11:15 - 5 to 6 cm. Anesthesiologist called.
11:40 - Epidural given.
11:55 - 8 to 9 cm. Dr. Josupait called.
12:25 - The tell me to push half way through a contraction (??? no idea I was about to start pushing. Anthony wasn't even standing next to me!)
12:31 pm - we have a beautiful baby GIRL!

2 hours of active labor. 1.5 really tough hours, the rest not so bad (meds!). Was it what I wanted? Not at all. Do I regret any of it? Not even a moment. At the end of it all we got the only thing that really mattered - a beautiful, healthy baby girl that only God could've created put safely in our arms. At the end of the day I didn't care how she got here. All that mattered was that she was here and we were complete. And so in love.

The last 6 weeks have been unreal. She's so beautiful and sweet and she smells so good! My life has been soooo good for so long time that I honestly had no clue that it could even get this much better. Her sisters are in love with her, her daddy is the most patient I've ever seen him, and I'm pretty sure it was a solid 4 weeks before I put her down, for what that's worth :).

This life with 3 is amazing. And so completely how it was always meant to be.

3.

In less than 3 weeks I'm due to be the mommy of 3.

In less than 3 weeks I'm due to give birth to my 3rd sweet baby.

In less than 3 weeks I will quite possibly have 3 girls (or my very 1st little boy).

I've been waiting well over 3 years for this sweet baby.

I share a due date with 2 of my friends. All 3 of us are due on the same day. Crazy.

Last week I was supposed to have started my 3rd semester of Nursing School but instead I'll be lucky enough to be spending that time at home with this little one.

It's hard for me to wrap my brain around it - around the idea that I'm so close to seeing this sweet baby's face and meeting the little one that gets the hiccups and break dances inside my belly. When I found out we were pregnant back in January I thought I'd document this entire pregnancy here. And then life happened. School and our business and the Mr. and our busy little girls and 3 solid months of not feeling so hot happened.

And now it's almost here. And I'm so excited I can barely stand it. Come one sweet baby #3, Mommy can't wait to meet you!

Farewell, 2010

Omgosh it's been so long.

I feel like it seems pointless to make myself any kind of promises or offer up any kind of apologies for not blogging more. I can't do it. I want to do it. But then I don't. And I'm pretty ok with that. I think. And then I come on here and realize I haven't put up a picture of my girls in FOREVER. And I'm not scrapbookin' on this end. And I'm not writin' in any baby/toddler/big girl books all of the hilarious/silly/outrageous things they say. And then it bugs me. And I tell myself I HAVE GOT to get on here more. So we'll see. No promises. No apologies. Just a hope that I'll do it.

Good? Good.

So now. On to my very first post of 2011 {holy crapola. 2011. when in the world did THAT happen?!?!}

A couple year ago I did a recap of my year and, while I thought I had done it every year, apparently it's been a long time - like, over-a-year long time. So here goes - the very best of 2010!

January...
brought new friendships and a feeling of hope for the year. Going into our 2nd year with the new company, things looked promising.

And we took the girls to Florida for the the first time. It was our first vacation as a family and, in a word, Disney World was...MAGICAL. No joke. They don't mess around. Everything is so well done and so incredibly whimsical and, well, magical. Totally deserves it's own post. Ahem...


February...
came with one determined little toddler deciding to give up diapers! Can I get a hollerrr!!! Maddie did so well and she did it when she was ready {in true Maddie fashion}. We celebrated with, what else but a Potty Party :).

March...
oh March. This was a big month for our family. After not getting accepted into the Nursing program last Fall, I got the news that I was accepted into this Fall's program. This is going to change our life. Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned I decided to go to Nursing School last year ;)

April...
aside from our everyday blessings, I can't think of a milestone. I guess it's the price I pay for not writing stuff down!

May...
in May our sweet, and tough little Maddie turned 3. She wanted a race car party. Yes, my princess wanted a RACE CAR party. But of course, this princess decided on a PINK race car party. THAT I could do. And we did. And it was super fun! Super hot out but super fun.

This was the month that our big girl danced on the big stage for the first time. Ana was the cutest elegant elephant out there {totally unbiased, I swear!}. Tears, people. Tears and tears and tears! It was beautiful :)


June...
June...June...June...no idea. Please see "April" for explanation :).


July...
well, July brought us the newest member of our family. Little Baby Eva was born on the 19th. Ana and Maddie were THRILLED to have a baby around! Little Eva made Maddie a big cousin for the first time and Ana has oh-so-affectionately dubbed her "Eva the Diva" :).

July also brought me my first 5K. Yeppers! I ran a 5K! I've wondered in the past what exactly people got out of physical challenges and I tell ya, I get it. What a sense of accomplishment I got crossing that finish line! I ran the entire race without walking once and finished it in 32 minutes. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the last time I ran but am absolutely looking forward to my next!


August...
August brought two very big changes. The first was the news that Dana was offered {and accepted} a job too many states away. I won't lie. I don't like not having her here. Even though she's been back twice already it's just different. But it's good for her. Really good, I think. And so this is how it'll be. Til August at least. Maybe longer. Hopefully not.

And I started Nursing School. And leaving the girls with a sitter for the first time {outside of family}. They love it. Dropping them off on the last day of the semester wasn't any easier for me than the first was but there are no words to express how thankful I am for the situation we were handed. Their sitter, Aimee, is one of the kindest people I've ever met. She's so incredibly warm and patient and has taken my girls in like she's known them their entire life. The girls ADORE her, her hubby, their 3 kiddies, and even their big dog, Cherry. How blessed we are that God put them into our life. Dramatic as it may sound, I honestly don't think I could keep going to school if this situation were any different. Thank God for her. Thank God for answered prayers.

September...
our very first baby turned 5. FIVE!!! When did that happen?! And she is every bit of it. Sassy and smart as can be. She keeps us on our toes, cracks us up, and turns me to mush with the love she offers so completely unconditionally. Her big 5th birthday bash was, per request, a red cowgirl party. The weather played a bunch of tricks on us but all in all she loved it!

September also brought the start of a new school year for my sweet girls - Ana's 2nd year and my big girl Maddie's first. I was a mess. But filled with pride. They walked in, hand in hand, and took another step towards independence. An unbelievable mom moment for me, for sure, and one I'll never forget.

October...
and yet another baby was born. Sweet little Dorothy Patricia was born to my sweet friend Sharon. After a worrisome pregnancy, everything was great and that little girl was born as perfect as could be.

November...
an amazing Thanksgiving full of blessings. So many times throughout the year I sit and wonder how we got so lucky - what we did to deserve the enormous blessings we've been given.

December...
amazing. Amazing. A house fuller than ever and seeping with love. A Christmas that just keeps getting better and better each year with these beautiful girls and a revolving door of parties. I loved it. Every second of it. I love that the girls love having our friends and family over. And I love that our friends and family want to be here. Blessed? Sometimes I feel like that's not even a big enough word anymore.



This year was incredible. I saw friend go through a lot of downs but fate never failed to pick them back up. I watched the girls go from being sisters to really becoming friends. I felt the sincerity of true friendship as my life adjusted to the challenges of going to school full-time. I felt our family get closer with the addition of sweet Eva. And I felt our little family of four stronger than ever.

Thank you, 2010. For everything you've given us this year and the hope you're sending us into 2011 with. So incredibly thankful. And so incredibly looking forward to what 2011 will bring.

Happy New Year!!!

xoxo,
me :)