Adam's first day at home with Ethan

Adam and Ethan have fun getting to know each other.

Health Update

Ethan with my OB

I know many of you have been praying for my recovery since Ethan's c-section and are waiting to hear how I'm doing these days. Since I'm not sure who exactly reads this blog, I'll try to keep it fairly G-rated. Still, I warn you, if you have a strong gag reflex, you might just want to skip this post.

As you may have read in Ethan's birth story, during the c-section my bladder was "nicked". The doctor sutured the cut and gave me a foley catheter with a bag to collect the urine so that my bladder could remain fairly empty until the hole had healed. Unfortunately I had to have that for about 10 days, which made getting dressed in anything other than sweats difficult and moving around pretty awkward. Last week, I went in for tests with the urologist and they could see that the hole had closed, so the catheter and bag were removed. Yay! I feel so much better being free to pee on my own. :)

My OB decided while I was in the hospital that since I had extra swelling and a longer healing time due to the bladder issue, I would need to keep my staples (at the incision site) in for several extra days too. I had a follow up with him last week and he replaced the staples with steri-strips. Huge improvement! I feel a lot less like Frankenstein now.

This recovery has been more painful and slow then my previous birth recoveries, but I've been so blessed by our parents' help with the children and meals from friends so that I could be on nearly complete bed rest the first two weeks. (*Not forgetting my amazing husband who took over all household chores and pampered me!) Starting this week, I'm slowly easing back in to "normal" life. I can now drive and watch the kids on my own here at the apartment. Next week I hope to start going on walks with the children and enjoy this beautiful spring weather we're having!

Ethan went in for a check up with his pediatrician yesterday. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 13 oz. So he has regained his birth weight plus some!  Everything else was healthy.  He is doing a great job nursing. He often gets fussy when left alone in his crib or car seat, but he responds quickly to being held. He is definitely a cuddler!

Last night: enjoying dinner and feeling much better. You might not guess it by her funny expression, but Hannah ran over to jump in this picture with her beloved baby brother :)

Ethan's First Days, Part 1

The hospital

A happy, peaceful baby

Daddy and Ethan cuddling

Ethan plays peek-a-boo. Look how tired I was! I should have played peek-a-boo too! :)

Small Group Guys: Mike, Chad and Mark

Chae and Mike bring us a bunch of goodies, including chocolate - yay!

Ethan sleeps pretty much all the time. He's a pro at it.

Amanda D visits us

Mark's dad Tom visits us

Grandfather and Grandson

Getting ready for the ride home. He is so little! I just love how even teeny-tiny clothes swallow him and the buckles cover his whole tummy.

Leaving Northside - headed for Home Sweet Home!

Funny Stuff

Observations on parenthood courtesy of my friend Dana. I can now vouch at how true it is! Scroll down to see a funny video about cats.

BIRTH ORDER OF CHILDREN 

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB /GYN confirms your pregnancy.   

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible. 

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes. 

_______________________________

Preparing for the Birth: 

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously. 

2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that las time, breathing didn't do a thing. 

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month. 

__________________________ 

The Layette: 

1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau. 

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and 

Discard only the ones with the darkest stains. 

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they? 

_______________________________

Worries: 

1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby 

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten 

To wake your firstborn. 

3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to 

Rewind the mechanical swing. 

_______________________________________

Pacifier: 

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until 

You can go home and wash and boil it. 

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it 

Off with some juice from the baby's bottle. 

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in. 

____________________________________ 

Diapering: 

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, 

Whether they need it or not. 

2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed. 

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to 

Complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees. 

________________________________ 

Activities 

1st baby:  You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, 

Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour. 

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics. 

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners. 

_____________________________ _____ 

Going Out: 

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, 

You call home five times. 

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to 

Leave a number where you can be reached. 

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood. 

__________________________________ 

At Home:  

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby. 

2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby. 

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children 

_____________________________________

Swallowing Coins (a favorite): 

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays 

2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass. 

3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance! 

Meal Calendar

Foodies. Yep, that's us. We like to eat and we spend a lot of time in the kitchen, trying new things and whipping up old favorites. That might just be our family hobby - cooking and eating. (Just don't remind us about all those dirty dishes! :)

Enter Baby. For the next several weeks, while I recover from Ethan's birth, establish nursing, and figure out how to take care of three kids, I won't be doing much cooking. Our good friend Julie T has set up a meal calendar. If you are interested in bringing over some food and meeting Ethan, go here to sign up. We will love you forever!

You will need this: SECURITY CODE :   1079

Welcome Ethan!

Welcoming with love the newest member of our family, Ethan Mark. He was born Saturday April 11 at 8:32 pm, weighing 7 lb 6 oz. We already can't imagine our lives without this sweet baby!

Ethan's Birth Story:

Saturday afternoon: After a month of occasional pre-term contractions, I passed the 37 week mark and now the contractions are coming more regularly. When they became closer than 10 minutes apart, I called the doctor and he sent me to the hospital - STAT!

Thank goodness we had just finished getting things ready for the baby at home. We quickly packed the kids bags and Mom and Dad came to pick them up. They were thrilled about getting to spend the night with Grandma and Papa! Hannah kissed my belly goodbye one last time and said, "See you soon Baby!"

Our last picture as a family of four:

Mark and I arrived at Northside hospital and got checked in. Our minds were racing but we were feeling peaceful. It helped that we have been through this before and knew what to expect. Secretly I wondered if I was just imagining this was really finally happening and hoped they wouldn't send me back home.

No mistake! I was very much in labor. When they hooked me up to the monitors, we could see the contractions were now 3-5 minutes apart and I was quickly dilating. They prepped me for the surgery and the on-call doctor came in for my delivery (my OB was unfortunately unavailable). Everyone was in good spirits and we had fun joking around with the nurses and doctors.

The c-section went relatively smoothly all considering. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens with repeat c-sections, connective tissue had fused my bladder to my uterus in a higher-than-normal position. When they began the operation, they accidentally cut into my bladder. This complicates my recovery a little bit, but it should heal just fine with time.

Additionally, the doctor said that my uterus wall was very thin, meaning that I was at risk for uterine rupture. Uterine rupture is extremely serious for the mother and fatal more than 50% of the time for the baby. We thank God that He kept us safe from this especially since I labored before the delivery. The bad news is that I am at even greater risk for uterine rupture with a subsequent pregnancy, no matter how long we wait or how well I heal. For this reason the doctor said that I should absolutely not have any more pregnancies. We felt pretty sure that this would be my last pregnancy before receiving this news, but I mourned the finality of it. At the same time, a huge peace has washed over us as we celebrate that our family is now complete and that God has blessed us so richly with three healthy children.

8:32 pm: Baby is born. Sweet joy! He had a little trouble breathing at first so after a quick cuddle, we had to send him off to the transition nursery for 6 hours of observation.

11:00 pm Mom came to the hospital to meet Baby. What an amazing lady - she had already fed Hannah and Adam, served in the evening services at church, and put the kids to bed. 

Mom and Mark get a sneak peak of Baby in the Transition Nursery while I am in the Post-Op Recovery room.

Baby is breathing well and doing great. They transfered him up to the nursery on our floor and eventually he got to come to our room. Holding him is one of the most wonderful things in the world.

Easter Morning: After our long night, we get a teeny tiny bit of sleep. We've been trying out our name finalists on the baby and now we know the one that fits him uniquely and perfectly: Ethan Mark. We rejoice in our risen Lord and in our sweet baby Ethan!

Mom and Dad bring the kids to meet Ethan before going to church. Hannah couldn't be any prouder of her new brother!

She is a fantastic big sister. She waits patiently to hold Ethan and then talks softly to him. Ethan already knows each member of our family by their voice. As he opened his eyes, he studied Hannah's face intently.

Adam meets Ethan. He squeals with delight and reaches out for Ethan very gently.

 He loves babies! 

We are now a family of five!

Siblings

Pop Quiz: Can you guess who is who? 

Answer: Hannah, Ethan, Adam