Settling In

Life with Cody at home is delightful!  He is such a mellow fellow!  We thought Wyatt was a chill dude - Cody so far is giving him a run for his money!  He's super easy going.  He usually will just sit quietly and watch the chaos around him.  And he's been an excellent sleeper!  Those first few nights home from the hospital - he went 5 to 6 hrs at night!  What?  I know - it was nice.  

Now that he's starting to wake up a bit from his super sleepy phase, he goes about 3 to 4 hrs at night.  Still - that's great!  He loves to cuddle (although not quite as much as Wy Guy) and is content most of the time.  He's an excellent eater and is growing good!

Today was his 2 week checkup.  2 weeks have passed already!  He got glowing reviews.  He's back to his birthweight and all signs of jaundice have passed!  He's loved by his siblings, but I think the one who loves him the most has to be Manny!  Those two are hardly seen apart these days!

Yes - that is Manny asleep on Cody's neck!

And again on his back!

Check out that hair!!

The other night on the couch.  I peeled back the blanket and a foot emerged..... next to a tail and two paws!

The rest of our stay

JL and I both agree that the hospital stay is one of the most special times after a new baby is born.  I know you may think that sounds crazy.  What's so great about a hospital?  Well, it's not the food (although ours does have pretty decent food!) and it's not the nurses coming in constantly to check vitals and hound me for feeding and diaper schedules.  Nope.  It's simply that it's me and dad and our new little one.  Tucked away in a world that isn't routine.  No distractions.  No other family around.  Just us.  Soaking up all the precious minutes that make up the first few days of our new babies life.  It's magical, and very fleeting.  

Day 2:  24 hrs later

I showered!  I tell ya - there is nothing as healing as a hot shower!

The family came out for another visit.  I was glad to see the excitement hadn't worn off.

This one here is ready to change his diapers and his clothes.  About every 5 minutes!   hehe

Big Wy is the softest with baby Cody.  He says "I hold Tody!"  and then she just caresses his face and gives him kisses on the head.  It is so very cute!

The gang!

In addition to family - Cody also had some friends come to visit!  I was grateful for the company and the conversation!

Day 3:  Release day

Early that morning.  Soaking up some last minute cuddle time early in the morning.

Dressed and ready to head home!

Isn't that hat adorable?

One thing about release day - it can take FOREVER to be discharged!  Here's Dad and Cody waiting for my Dr. to release me.

Tuckered out already!

Green light to go!  Cody buckled in and ready to face life outside the hospital room.  A ranch?  A few animals?  Brothers and a Sister?  Sounds fun and exciting!

The Big Day!

Just as scheduled, I was at the hospital at 7am on Monday September 24th.  JL and I woke up at 5:45, dressed, I had an egg and toast and we were off.  At 7:45, they broke my water and started me on low dose pitocin.  

I mentioned in the previous post that little Quatro had flipped around on me.  My Dr. had given me some recommendations on how to sit/sleep to try to force the baby back onto his face.  I was hopeful that it had worked given I hadn't had any contractions in my back for a couple of days.  But I warned the nurse that the baby may be face up (or sunny side up as they are frequently called.)  She commented that they have had a few of those lately and 70% of them were non-c-section deliveries.  So...  I had that on my mind, but was hopeful things would work out ok for me and baby.

Here I am just getting started. 

Within an hour and a half things were happening.  I requested an epidural, which they gave me shortly thereafter.  And within about 30 minutes of that I was feeling the urge to push.  The problem...  my epidural had only just begun to work - and it wasn't working on my left side.  Like, at all!  Plus, the contractions were heavy in my back.  I could feel them - and they weren't fun.  I knew at that moment that little Quatro was going to greet this world staring straight up at us all!

There he is!  Presenting:  Cody Barrett!

 At 10:51 in the morning (just a scant 3 hrs after starting on this journey) little Quatro made HIS appearance!  Yup - it's a boy!  He was in fact, sunny side up.  And just to be thrilling - he also had the cord wrapped around his neck and there was a big fat knot in it also!  Man.  I feel so blessed that he was delivered with no complications!  The nurses credited my extreme determination to push, but I know it wasn't all me.  JL gave me a blessing the night before and I know that gave me the strength and energy needed to help little Quatro out.  15 minutes and 8 total pushes. :-)  Whew.

Isn't he a doll!!!  My biggest and longest!

7 lbs. 15 oz.  19 inches long

Me and my fabulous Dr.  She is wonderful!!

Me and my fabulous husband!  He's a great support to me!

Post bath!

Look at those cheeks!  And that curly goofy hair!  Less hair than James, but more than any of my others.  And his eyes are blue.  I'm going to go on record right now as saying I think they are going to stay blue and be just like Izzy's eyes.

A friend of my made that adorable garland.  I thought it was so cute and fun to decorate up his hospital bed!

And so unique!  I was getting comments on it each nurse shift change.  Little guy was sleepin' in style!

A scant 5 hrs after entering this world, Cody met the rest of the family!  I was exhausted - but so so glad to see everyone!  It just melted my heart how loving the kids were to Cody.  They took to him instantly!  Isabel got over her disappointment at Quatro being a boy almost instantly!

First photo of my 4 adorable children!

This little guy has just captured my heart!  We are all so glad that he is a part of our family!  How blessed am I to have such a wonderful group to love and care for.  I truly feel overwhelmed with happiness.

The Waiting Game

So.  Grammy came out.  Quatro was on track.  What's happened since then?  Well....

We frequented the gas station for cool treats

James and I started Friday afternoon "Mom & James time."  A little something to highlight him and give him some one on one time with me to just talk about whatever he feels like.  This particular day we talked about Halloween coming up.

We played outside a lot.  The temps are falling and the kids are responding.  

Our little Isabel is an artist!  She loves to draw stick people and give them names.  Usually their names are "mom" or "dad" or "Manny."  Each person is carefully drawn in the favorite color of the actual model and then labeled for the world to admire.  She is SUCH a cute girl!

Meanwhile, her brother drives over her older drawings.

What do you do with an empty feed sack?  Race in it, of course!

Wyatt chose to roll around in it...

 All was progressing until Sept 12th.  Early that morning, I started having really bad contractions - only they were in my back!  I got pretty sick during the night and was feeling a lot of pressure in my abdomen.  The pain didn't stop by morning, so I decided I better go in for contractions and possible labor.  Course, when I got there, I only contracted for another 10 minutes before they told me to "go home."

Looking back - I should have been a bit more persistant and insisted on speaking to my dr instead of just the l&d nurse.  But, what did I know?  I figured it must have just been false labor.  I hung my head for mistaking the signs (this is my 4th, afterall!)  and left the hospital embarrassed.  My sweet family took me to lunch at my favorite restaurant to cheer me up, but I was still upset about it even a couple days later.

Turns out, I should have trusted my body a little bit more.  Little Quatro had spent that night flipping around on me.  Still head down - but face up instead of face down.  How could something that sounds so innocent be such a big deal?  Well - it put baby's spine right up against mine and thus caused the contractions to move into my back.  Did any of that info cross the l&d nurses mind?  Nope.  Did any of the info I was telling her make it to my Dr.'s ears?  Nope.  I only found out a week later when I saw my Dr. for my 39 week checkup.  Yup - that's right:  39 weeks!!!!  She knew in about 5 seconds what had happened.  Immediately she scheduled me to be induced.

HOORAY!  Induction!  That was something I had planned to beg her for during that checkup.  Turns out, I didn't need to.  She recognized the need and put me down for the first available.  I was scheduled for 9/25 at 6am, but was put on a waiting list for anything else that might pop up.

The next day (Friday) - I was moved up to Monday 9/24 at 7am.  I'll take it!  So....  the waiting game then switched to "what do I want to get done two days before baby gets here?"  Really - life went on as normal.  The only difference was I knew I had an end date in sight.  That improved my mood 110%!

Saturday came.  Usual chores:

(2 days prior to labor)  Here I am driving the tractor.  Yes - my tummy DOES touch the steering wheel!  I'm playing taxi while JL rides around marking the dead trees on the ranch.  We counted upwards of 35 that have died in the last 2 summers. :(

And here's all my muckles (including the pup!) hitching a ride in my wagon.

Later that day - JL loaded up THE MOST hay we have bought at one time.  We wanted to stock up so we wouldn't have to buy it for a while after Quatro arrived.

And there it is!

That same day, we went out for dinner at a quaint little local spot we've been wanting to visit for a while.  Good burgers and atmosphere.  Not the best burgers - but decent.

They had a stage!

Grammy and Izzy getting down with their bad selves.

Soon everyone joined in!

Decent band!  We enjoyed the music for quite some time.

 Sunday came:  I was able to attend the primary program I had been working so hard on at church for my calling.  Something I NEVER thought I'd see when the date of Sept 23rd was set way back in July. But I was so grateful to be there!  My little Isabel sang out her little heart!  I could hear her (and so could people 5 to 6 rows behind me!) above all the other little voices.  And she was just beaming!  She was thrilled to be singing for me and Grammy and everyone.  It brought tears to my eyes to see her so happy.  James did his best to sing a few words here and there.  He's too boy to sing too much ;-)

I was also able to relax a LOT and eat well.  It was such a different feeling knowing that I was going to have a baby the next day.  In a way, I was glad to know... but in a bigger way it was kinda weird.  I had never going to the hospital without having a reason.  Usually I was IN LABOR and IN PAIN when I showed up.  This time - I was feeling just fine, and yet I had this huge task looming over me.  It was really odd.

I was grateful to my family for pampering me though.  I went into the evening feeling rested and relaxed.  But more than anything - I was super excited!  Finally!  Little Quatro was going to show up and join our family!

(1 day prior to labor)  Grammy and James making me homemade ravioli!  Yes, I am totally spoiled!

Izzy joining in to help boil the noodles.

(12 hrs prior to labor) Wow!  Look at that huge belly!  I tell ya - that sucker was heavy to carry around.  How is it that a person can stretch that far?  

Last family photo of just the 5 of us!

Here's to Induction day!  Bring it on!