Hannah Grace

Originally I had planned to write one last post before Hannah was born ...but I didn't make it.  Things were busy and I was tired and sore.  There were appointments, preparations, and the general craziness that I was increasingly finding harder and harder to deal with.  Last Wednesday I had one of my appointments cancelled and so we left as a family for one of our Costco trips -my last one for awhile.  After we got home I remember feeling very very tired and sore.  During the night I remember waking up and thinking "that was a contraction ..."  then going back to sleep (I was tired).  Around 04:00-04:30 Nathan woke up wanting his soother - shortly after that I felt my water break.  I remember telling our doula that she could have a glass of wine that previous night because I likely wasn't going into labor until next week (due date was July 4).  I was thinking "I can't be in labor yet - I told our doula to have some wine!" - my brain was a little fuzzy with sleep - however once my water broke and the contractions started every 5-8 minutes there was little doubt left.

Mark and I went down stairs (he had not been able to fall asleep after Nathan woke up) and I labored for a bit- mostly sitting in a chair clutching the arm rests.  Mark started calling people around 06:00 when the contractions were 3 minutes apart.  We called my mom to take care of the kids (they were awake then, and Mark had to fend them off of me), we called our doula (asking her if she had enjoyed her glass of wine) and paged our midwife.  We had to page her twice because she didn't get the first one for some reason. The midwife arrived around 07:00 along with her back up.  I continued to labor in the living room mostly staying on my knees or standing - leaning against the bed we had brought down or on Mark.  As the contractions got more and more intense I remember thinking "almost done!" after each one.  I started feeling more and more pressure and then finally it was time to push.  No one told me when to push or for how long... the only thing I remember them telling me was to keep my chin down (why do you have to keep your chin down anyway?), not to sit on the baby's head as I attempted to get on the bed again (my legs were getting tired), and to "push out the noise" (instead of groaning) - then at 08:45 the crazy world stopped and I got to look at our new daughter for the first time (after Mark caught her and clipped her cord).  I hope I never forget the sweet relief of feeling that baby come out and snuggling with her on the bed.   She had such a round little head with blond/red hair - she looked so perfect :).  Mom brought over the kids and they got to be one of the first ones to see their sister.  Hannah latched on right away and I stayed in the bed with her nursing her for about an hour.  The kids got to watch as the midwives weighed and measured  Hannah later on in the morning.  The whole experience was wonderful.  It felt right.  As things happened they seemed ...natural , expected.  I felt like I truly "did it" and I did it right.

After everyone left we rested while the craziness slowly crept back on us.  The next morning Mark took Sarah to get her teeth fixed.  She had two cavities and a few soft spots on other teeth.  She was too young to sit still long enough for a dentist to fix them so she had to go to the hospital to be put under while they fixed everything at once.  My mom came to help babysit for the morning (she had to come at 05:00).  Mark and Sarah got home around noon after a long tiring morning.  Sarah recovered well - she even wanted to go back to see the "doctors" a few days later.  The next few days Mark and I were super tired and the kids had WAY too much energy.  Abby was extra clingy, Sarah was fussy/whinny(still recovering) and Nathan would not listen to either of us.  We stayed home from church to get some extra rest - I'm glad we did - my milk came in full force that day (*ouch*).

Today things finally started to fall back into place.  Nathan, Sarah and Abby calmed down.  Hannah graciously let me sleep for about three hours in a row the night before and in spite of the rain we all drove to Kingsville to Tim Hortons just because.  Mark has been doing an awesome job at being "mom & dad" while I rest and recover.  I'm feeling a lot stronger, the kids are dressed/fed/sleep on time, the laundry/dishes are kept up ...I have an amazing husband.  

Highlights that I see daily are Nathan kissing his new sister on the head and playing with her hands and feet, Sarah strokes Hannah's head (calling it "fuzzy") and Abby pats Hannah on the back... eventually smacking her in the face... Hannah falling asleep on Mark ...and finally Hannah herself -what a sweet little baby girl.  All of these remind me that through the craziness, life right now is very good  :)

These first few pictures were taken moments after Hannah came out 

All three of us asleep