2017 Here We Come!

Well, 2016 might have been rough, but there are so many parts of it to be thankful for and I’m going to choose to focus on that!  We got our beautiful Hannah, our niece, Leah, was born, our family has been pretty healthy, Jacob’s business has grown, Elijah started kindergarten, and we have loved the freedoms that our new home have given us. 

We started out the year having just announced our last pregnancy and aside from my not feeling good pretty much the whole time, we spent the first half of the year just struggling to exist, it seems like.  Jacob was working hard in his busy season spending some time away from home and I was working hard at my job that seems to have an ever increasing difficulty level.  Josiah was experiencing some difficulties finishing up the first grade and Elijah had finally settled into his school and was loving it after his fall fiasco.

Towards the beginning of summer things started to slow down a bit and we attempted to get some projects done before Hannah arrived.  I also was trying to get things organized at work so I could go on maternity leave.  In July, Hannah surprised us one week early, which was a little rough for work, but was overall a positive thing.  Three weeks later Jacob was headed back to OH and as soon as he came home from that trip, Elijah started kindergarten and Josiah started second grade.  Jacob took a few more trips to OH, which proved to be more difficult for me than anticipated given some issues Hannah was having, then, before we knew it my maternity leave was over and I went back to work in October.  What a whirlwind those three months were!  Between working part time from home and parenting four young kids with and without Jacob’s help, I was pretty frazzled some days.

Then came November.  Joshua turned three and the next week Brenda’s doctors decided to stop her treatments.  We celebrated a nice Thanksgiving with all sides of the family and started looking towards Christmas and the end of the year.  A little less than two weeks before Christmas, Brenda passed away.  A week later, Mrs. Dot passed away.  We had a nice Christmas in spite of the losses and now Jacob is on his annual (sort of) trip with the boys to the woods and Hannah and I are hanging out at home and working as 2017 rolls in.

I feel so blessed to have our big family full of little people.  I’m so proud of each of them in their own little way and I love all of them more than I can express.  I also feel blessed to have the extended family we have and I’m excited that we have two new little girls to add to the mix. 

Jacob has done a fantastic job growing his business.  He’s been working painstakingly hard to get here and I’m sure he’ll continue to do so.  It’s been hard work but he’s been rewarded not only in growth, but in fulfillment of doing something that interests him.  I also have found a little niche that has stretched me in ways I never imagined.  I’m not sure how long I can keep it up, but this year has shown me what a difference I can make.

We’ve loved living in our home with the ability to live with less frustration caused by our “space” and we’ve taken advantage of being able to easily entertain and open our home with ease.  What a blessing!  We have yet to really settle in in terms of organization and decor, though, so maybe we can do that this year.

It’s been an exhausting year, but has been truly full of goodness.  It feels like we are in our “growing pain” years with our young family, but the beauty of it is capable of moving me to tears and the sweetness of my kids’ faces is enough to make me see just how worth it it is.  I expect 2017 to be more of the same and hopefully I’ll be feeling better (no pregnancy) and our kids will be a bit more mature, thus making things easier to manage.  We don’t have any definite major changes in mind for 2017 but you never know!

Happy New Year!

Saying Farewell

Jacob’s mom, Brenda or Granny to the kids, was diagnosed nearly a year and a half ago with stage 4 colon cancer.  She had had surgery to remove the primary tumor, but the mass that had spread to her liver was inoperable.  She started every other week treatments soon after.

Granny did really well for about a year when her treatments started to be less effective and side effects were greater.  I new treatment began and she continued to to well for a little while.  Just before Thanksgiving this year, the doctors decided to discontinue her treatments because the mass in her liver continued to grow and her liver was failing. 

While we knew that eventually this time would come we were still all pretty devastated at the reality of it.  We spent some time with them (about as much time as it seemed she could handle of our lively family of 6!) over Thanksgiving and she was actually doing pretty well and I think we all really enjoyed our time together.  However, I think this is when it became real for Jacob and I because Granny really looked ill.  As is typical for liver failure, she was very jaundiced.

I shouldn’t speak for Jacob, but I think that the 3ish weeks that passed before Granny passed away was a time for us to reconcile her prognosis with our hopes.  We went from hoping for healing or a significantly longer time together to hoping for peace and physical comfort that she might pass before suffering.  We were granted that hope and she passed away peacefully on December 14.  She had a peaceful passing in her own bed at home alone with Papa holding her hand.

Jacob wanted to speak at her funeral service and he did a really great job.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the church – though that wasn’t the point.  He wanted to express Christ’s love using Brenda’s life as an example and he did it beautifully.

It’s hard to think of a life without Granny, but we are overwhelmed by the sweetness of her peaceful passing.  She was a thoughtful, strong woman who loved her family and possessed a strong faith.  We are most saddened that our children will grow up without further influence and love directly from her, but they will still benefit from the influence she had on the people that remain in their lives.  She will be missed.

Hannah Makes Her Debut!

Since this blog is, in effect, our family photo album and memory book, I have written the story of each of the kids’ births here in the kind of detail that I’d like to remember and that they may be interested to know one day.  Delve in, if you’d like, but I’ll warn you that it’s long!

Being my 4th pregnancy, I was just sure I would know just exactly what to expect in the way I would deliver this time.  I have learned quite a bit about how my body does this, after all, right?  Well, yes, but I threw myself for a loop anyway. 

Like my other pregnancies, I had Braxton Hicks contractions throughout.  They are easy in early pregnancy and become more and more uncomfortable as the pregnancy progresses.  Also like my other pregnancies, these contractions did real work for me and I dilated early.  I was 4cm at 38 weeks and 5cm at 38.5 weeks.  But at 39 weeks, things took a different turn when my water broke at a time when I was having no contractions whatsoever.  (Just for the sake of memory…I had taken the boys to an 8am dentist appointment followed by a McDonalds breakfast playdate with Annie, so I was already pretty tired and settling into catching up on folding a pile of laundry Jacob was nice enough to wash while I was out when I felt the first odd trickle.)

Now, my other labors went quickly and I was GBS positive again, as I was for Joshua, so we had all the same concerns and considerations as last time, but a lot less stress in decision making since we already went down that road.  Rather than write it out again, here’s what I mean: http://amlonglife.blogspot.com/2014/01/joshuas-arrival.html

When I felt the first subtle hint that my water broke at 12:30, I pretty much denied it, though I knew what it was.  It took me a little while to stop telling myself I still had too much to do and warn Jacob of what was going on.  After all, it was not too much to manage and I was in no pain, but it wasn’t long before the flow was too much to ignore and I told Jacob he needed to stop putting in the laminate floors in our bonus rooms (a pre baby project), feed the kids lunch real quick and get a shower while I showered and finished packing a bag.  I originally had an OB appointment for that afternoon anyway that I was going to go to alone while Jacob watched the boys during naps, but we switched up our plans and called mom at work to take the boys (she met us at the hospital) and Jacob took me early.

We finally left for the hospital just before 2pm.  Jacob grabbed a beach towel to put in my seat.  Josiah became fixated on why this was necessary and wouldn’t stop asking about it.  Neither of us had the creativity at the moment to answer smartly without scaring him, so we just blew him off.  Poor guy.  When I addressed it days later it turns out he was afraid it would be used to clean up blood.  I think we’ve got that all cleared up, though :) 

By the time we made it to the hospital I had had one or two mild contractions but as soon as I got out of the car I soaked my pants to the knees!  No more denying it!  My pants were dark and Jacob swears you couldn't tell they were wet, but it was pretty embarrassing to make my way from the top floor of the parking garage to Labor and Delivery with sopping wet pants!  Suddenly I was regretting turning down his offer to drop me off at the door and I was afraid the boys would notice and ask in the crowded elevator if I peed in my pants.

After arriving in triage we waited for a little while where labor began and things became real!  I had started having infrequent contractions that were noticeable but not painful by 3pm, when the nurse finally came in and said she needed to do a test to be sure my water was really broken.  I had already made it clear at the front desk that it was REALLY broken, so I figured she knew and that this was just for documentation so I didn't mention it.  When she lifted the sheets, she threw her head back with a laugh and exclaimed at the size of the puddle and asked why I didn't say something :)  I passed the test and got promoted to a delivery room.  The trek there was humiliating, too, as I waddled past a man and his son, along with all the nursing staff in my gown with towels wrapped diaper-like under me. 

Once settled in the room sometime after 4pm (losing track of time now), the nurse prioritized getting my IV going so antibiotics could be started and got my blood samples as well.  I had never had an epidural before and had no idea that the bloodwork results had to come back before you could get one.  I learned this the hard way.  This go round I was thinking I might go ahead with the epidural because I had been pretty miserable in this pregnancy and just kinda felt like I had already used up any wherewithal I previously had long ago.  We discussed it and I hesitantly agreed I wanted to go for it.  I told them that I tend to hit a certain point in labor and then things go quick, so we better act soon, because I was really starting to hurt and that was a sure fire sign that time was short!  I don't think they took me seriously. 

One note about the epidural…when people hear that I have short labors that pretty much only hurt during transition and time to push, they comment that I don’t need an epidural anyway.  I have no doubt this is true when you are talking about long hard labors, but from experience I can also say it takes a physical and mental toll to go from 0-10 on the pain scale in a matter of minutes and not get a break to catch your breath between contractions.  Now, I’m pretty anti-epidural just because I tend to be pretty minimalistic in what I want done to my body, but can I also just say that crowning HURTS!  Transition is not exactly a walk in the park either.

Anyway, it wasn’t long before I said I felt a little urge to push.  The new nurse (we liked our first one) wanted to check me but I said no, partially because I didn’t like her (terrible bedside manner!) and partially because I didn’t feel like it was a strong enough urge yet and I wanted more time.  To my relief, Dr. Million walked in.  She wasn’t on call, but was headed out for the day and came to check on me.  She decided to stay and take over my care.  Bless her!  Unfortunately, she had a really cute skirt and shoes on and this became a problem – more on that later.

It was confirmed that it was time to push right when anesthesia showed up at the door.  Dr. Million wouldn't even let them enter the room for lack of time.  She adorned herself with a double layer of booties and a gown to protect her attire and we were down to business.  I told them I just needed a minute to prepare my mind for doing it without the epidural and shut them all out with closed eyes.  I’m sure I seemed ridiculous though later Dr. Million told me she much preferred that to her last patient who screamed “I want my epidural!” the whole time she pushed :)

Pushing commenced and there’s not much to say about that because that time period is always a blur to me afterward.  I do remember that it was “easier” than the others and that initially I was able to feebly laugh and joke a bit between contractions.  I also remember Dr. Million saying she could see dark hair which struck my heart with a mother’s tenderness (That sounds corny, huh?  But it did!).  I also clearly remember crowning!  At one point I felt like her whole body should have been out by now and asked how much more was left of her.  I swear she seemed to be 3 feet long! :)

At 5:15, after only getting about 45 minutes of antibiotics, I felt relief from pain followed by a collective GASP! Followed by “OH NO!”  I assumed they dropped Hannah but then someone had the decency to fill me in and said everything was ok, but that her umbilical cord avulsed and that blood sprayed everywhere, but that it was clamped now.  Dr. Million is a seasoned OB and there were a lot of years of experience in that room, collectively, but no one had ever seen that happen before.  Leave that to an Amlong!

Then my beautiful, healthy, whole, warm, slimy, and sweet Hannah was in my arms.  She indeed had plenty of dark hair and a darker complexion (not too dark, but not like my and Elijah’s fair skin).  Somehow I wasn’t as exhausted at the end of it as I was with the others and I was able to more completely enjoy and absorb the time that followed.  Hannah was precious and I soaked her up.  Quite a bit of time passed before I ever realized Jacob never got to hold her, but he was loving and patient about it. 

Something about this delivery was different.  Not just the part about my water breaking first.  During the actual pushing phase I just felt more aware of things and was able to be in the moment.  Perhaps that just comes with having done it a few times, or maybe it is a result of the order of events being different.  I’m not sure, but other than the mess of the wet pants and bedding, it was nice, as far as painful delivery goes :)

Dr. Million later apologized for sending my epidural away without asking, but she knew I could do it and so did I.  I joked that I got her back with the blood spray, which went through her gown and smeared her legs, though her cute shoes and skirt were spared!  So while I’ll never know about these blissful pain-free deliveries people talk about with epidurals, I’m also happy to have just kept it simple.  Within hours I was already feeling better than I had in months and little Hannah was my reward, though the whole girl thing still felt odd!

Hannah was 7lb 8oz, 20.5” long, and was born at 5:15pm.  Shortly after, her adoring brothers came to visit her.

4 Weeks With 4 Kids

Hannah’s fourth week of life was extremely busy for her older brothers, so I find myself writing this a month late and it’s a little hard to say what was going on with her then.  She and I spent the first part of the week together while Daddy was in OH and her brothers were at Granny and Papa’s.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  We even shopped one day!

I think that things were pretty smooth with Hannah at this time, aside from the ongoing battle with thrush where we had to escalate the treatment plan with more drugs for both of us.  She had been an easygoing baby, waking to eat once a night and going right back to sleep.  She also napped well and easily, but was already trying to be a tummy sleeper.

I love this!  I took this picture while we waited at the pediatricians office.

The second half of the week was spent prepping her brothers for school and she was a trooper tagging along.

We’ve been totally smitten with Hannah.  She’s incredibly precious and this overwhelming feeling is compounded by knowing that she’s our last.  She’s the perfect completion to our family and every one of us is thrilled to have her.

Gettin’ some Joshy lovin’!

Three Weeks of Pink

Hannah has been with us for three weeks now.  The title of this post makes me think of the first day we had her home from the hospital and we dressed her in a dress with pink butterflies to go to the pediatrician.  Jacob and I had both been there and when I was finished putting the dress on her we both stood back and cocked our heads to the side thinking how odd it was to have a kid in a pink dress!  Things look much more familiar at night when she wears hand me down blue sleepers! :)

Sleeping angel in pink (with a blue hand-me-down boppy)!

I’m pretty sure this wasn’t actually a smile, but it’s cute anyway!

I love a good sleeping baby picture!

Anyway, early in the week we conquered the thrush…only to see it rear its ugly head again yesterday.  So, we begin the regiment again.

Otherwise Hannah is doing fantastic.  She woke up from her newborn stupor about 2 days ago and now cries a little when she’s hungry or tired, though she does give some whimpers and grunts as warning first.  She’s sleeping about 3.5 to 4 hours between feedings at night and I no longer have to wake her for them.  I have been going to bed way too late and not taking naps, along with getting up in the night, so I have hit that stage of being thoroughly confused when she does wake me up to eat.  In the daytime it seems funny, but at night it’s miserable!  Jacob, come home soon!

Hannah is still getting plenty of brotherly love.  So sweet!

Hannah’s umbilical cord fell off during a nighttime diaper change so she was able to have her first real bath.  She loved it!  Her favorite part was when I let her free float (with head support, of course!).  She completely relaxed.

Jacob will come home sometime tomorrow, so he’ll have missed nearly 1.5 weeks with her.  I’m curious if he’ll think she’s changed much.

Two Weeks of Sweetness

My amateur photography featuring our sweetie.

Well, we started out our second week on a lower note.  I’m not sure what it was about, but I spent Hannah’s one week birthday feeling sickly in a nonspecific way.  Thankfully it passed pretty quickly, but then two days later I discovered she had thrush.  No fun!  I presume the antibiotics at birth played a role in this. 

This is what Nystatin tastes like the first time your mean Mommy gives it to you!  Josiah was rolling with laughter!

We immediately started treatment for both of us while disinfecting everything every day.  In a few days there was no sign of it, but I know it often comes back, so I tried to stay diligent with the treatments and cleaning.  We’ll see how that goes.  Meanwhile, I haven’t had the heart to dump all my pumped milk, but I have clearly marked it for boiling if I must use it later.  Very disheartening, but I count myself blessed that she’s generally healthy.

My favorite dress!

Those lips and wrinkles!

Not the best picture of Hannah, but this is my favorite casual outfit.  Do I need to mention I like blue – apparently even on girls!

The boys continue to be in love with their sister.  It really is too sweet!

In this second week Hannah has had two special visitors.  Tommy and Margie came to visit and took some very beautiful pictures of her.  (Those are still to come.)  We always enjoy their visits.  She went to work with me a couple times (I really need to stop that!), out to lunch with me, Joshua, and Josiah, running a couple errands, and to church.  She’s so good for all this!  Also, Daddy left for Ohio for a week and a half on her second week birthday.  He was sad to leave his family with it’s new addition.

Those eyes can pierce your heart!  No wonder Daddy struggled to leave for work.  Pure preciousness!

One Week With Hannah Bear

Hannah Bear is the name that Dr. Million gave her before she was even born and it has stuck with her, despite our attempts to stifle it from flowing off our lips.  She has blessed us with her presence for a week now and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed her.  She’s a sweet presence in our home and is loved by all.

We don’t see many of these wakeful moments.

So far Hannah has proven to be a very easy baby and we are THRILLED! :)  Because my babies tend to be jaundiced to some degree and I was trying to prevent this, I was feeding Hannah every 2 hours around the clock in the first couple days.  The first night we had her home I either turned off my alarm or set it wrong because she slept for a 4 hour and a 5 hour stretch back to back, and even then the only reason those stretches weren’t longer is because I woke up in a panic and woke her up to eat!  We were very well rested the first night!  This process of waking her to eat continued for the rest of the week, though I improved my alarm clock usage.  Jacob has, at my suggestion, been able to take advantage of her easy nature by sleeping in our guest room so that at least one of us can be well rested.

Sleeping beauty!

Just chillin’

This might not be the most flattering picture, but I think it’s cute.  She often holds her ear with one hand and sucks the fingers of the other hand.  This might explain why her left hear was limp and flopped over when she was born.  Thankfully that has since straightened out!

When you have older brothers, you get to wear blue at night!

The boys have loved having Hannah.  They are constantly asking to hold her and can’t understand why I have to spend so much time feeding her.  They think I’m hogging her all to myself!  She’s definitely popular!

He may just be her biggest fan.

The girl can’t get any peace!

So far, in her first week of life, Hannah has been to the pediatrician twice, the grocery store, church, and to work with me for a few hours.  She’s also had numerous visitors – all the grandparents, Gram, Uncle Jesse, Savannah, and Mommy and Daddy’s friends.  Lastly, she’s survived her Daddy finishing installing the laminate flooring upstairs that he was trying to finish the day she was born.  There was quite a bit of pounding, but we figured it was better to do in her newborn stupor than later when it would interrupt naps.  And now it’s done!

The finished, undecorated product.  The boys loved sliding and spinning on the new floor!

I’ve been a little surprised at just how happy I’ve been this week, despite lack of sleep and general recovery.  It’s been so good to feel good again, plus I’m thoroughly in love with this sweet little girl.  Add to that that my whole family is home under one roof – no school, no work – and I’m a happy camper!  We’ll see what next week brings as Hannah starts to wake up a little bit and we start to become worn down with the rigorous schedule of  a newborn ;)

First home sponge bath!

So precious!

Two Day Doctor Appointment

Because of my GBS status and the fact that Hannah and I only got 45 minutes worth of antibiotics rather than the recommended 4 hours during labor and delivery, she had to have a CBC done soon after birth as well as a quick follow up appointment with the pediatrician the day after we got home from the hospital.  Her bloodwork was fine and she checked out perfectly at the doctor. 

Here are her stats:

Length            16.9 inches           50th percentile

Weight              7 pounds             30th percentile

Head                    34.6cm              50th percentile

We returned for a appointment at 5 days of age for a routine check.  She had gained back 2 ounces, was mildly jaundiced, and doing well overall!

Hannah in her first dress all ready to go to the pediatrician.  This was a memorable moment for Jacob and I, too, as we have never dressed a baby in a dress before.  It struck us both as odd and we shared a laugh at the awkwardness, yet cuteness, of it.

Hannah Has Come!

Hannah made her debut on July 13!  She surprised us a week early and left us scrambling to pull things together, but we were thrilled to welcome her to our family.

There’s nothin’ sweeter than a fresh, wide eyed, slime covered baby!  Especially your own.

Moments after Hannah arrived.   She didn’t cry much and was content from the start.  She was a beautiful slimy mess!  I have to laugh at the exhausted look in my eyes and my crazy hair (that was a ponytail!).

Speaking of hair, long before she was even out, Dr. Million told us she could see dark hair!  I didn’t really care if she was a red head or brunette, but for some reason it was exciting and encouraging to hear that.  I suppose I felt like she was close, for one thing, but I could also start to see her in my mind’s eye.

Soon after Hannah’s arrival, Grandma and Bill brought her brothers to meet her.  They all loved her and took several turns holding her.  It was cute, too, because they were all concerned that I was ok.

Too sweet!

All of my favorite energetic people in one bed!

Day two:I wish this wasn’t blurry, but oh well.

They were trying to get her first smiles :)

First bow.

Ready to head home and begin a life as an only sister!

 

Up to this point Hannah has been a perfectly easy baby, but the newborn stupor hasn’t worn off yet.  We are cautiously optimistic that we have an easy baby!

This go round Jacob and I decided to hold off on having guests at the hospital and just relax together.  Since we only stay 24 hours it has always been stressful to fit in visiting with all the family, resting, feeding baby, and necessary exams.  This time we just lounged around while loving on our baby and napping.  It was pretty nice since we never get alone time.

Next up, her birth story.  Each one has been different.