First bath

A new policy at the hospital is that they wait 12 hours to bathe the newborns. I guess that wouldn't be a big deal except that no one attempted to bathe my baby after 12 hours. When I did ask about it, it took another hour or so before the nurse came. Then she turned up the temp in the room so the baby wouldn't get so chilly. Then she didn't come back. I called for the nurse again when I started to sweat. I almost did it myself.

 

Anyway, it was eventually time for the bath. Camdilyn was less than thrilled.

Time to wash the hair in the bathroom sink. She actually seemed to like this part.

 

All clean. I love her dark hair all fuzzy and so soft!

 

Happy baby and happy Mom!

Me and the Gang

Fortunately, Kevin brought the kids back to the hospital after dinner. I had forgotten to get a group shot when they were there the first time. What a cute bunch!

She came!

ON her due date.

 

We proudly introduce you to our newest little bundle:

Camdilyn Jacquelle

September 27, 2013

11:02 p.m.

7 lbs 15 oz

20 1/2 inches

 

I started timing the contractions around 7 p.m. We showed up at the hospital around 10:15 p.m. I was so looking forward to another wonderful delivery like Harmonie's, but I was not so lucky. They checked me at 10:30 and said I was 6 cm. It was the longest, hardest, most painful 1/2 hour of my life. The anesthesiologist had just gotten to my door when my water ruptured and I started pushing, without anyone else. I had so much pain in my back that they had me on my knees with my arms and head resting on the raised bed. That's how I gave birth. I did not hold her right away. The placenta did not release so the OB attending was called in. She needed to sedate me so my body would relax and she could manually remove the placenta. That meant a trip to the OR so I left my baby with her Dad. All went well and I felt much better when I woke up. Camdilyn is a sweet, mellow baby and we are doing well.

 

Kevin brought the other kids to see us after breakfast. They thought it was so great to see little Camdilyn, and the older kids were excited that she came on her due date.

 

What wonderful blessings I have in my life!



First School Field Trip

It was very foggy this morning, as we headed out on our adventure. Emily kept commenting about how she couldn't see very far in front of her. Neither could I. It was nice to have Tamara with me to help me find out way - especially when we came to some detours, missed a road or two, and had to use her smart phone to figure out where we were and where to go. We made it to Uncle John's Cider Mill just fine, and the kids were very excited. I should have taken a group picture but I didn't. We got checked in, paid our money, and then split up. Tamara took the older three, and I took the younger two (with our youngest two in tow). The little kids played games with some of the teachers, while the older kids went through the corn maze. It is something they have always wanted to do, so I'm glad they were able to do it. Fortunately, Tamara took a picture of the map of the maze before they entered so they could use that when they got really lost. Because I was with the younger ones, that is who I have pictures of!

 

Xiomara got to be Simon in Simon Says

Domonique stayed in the stroller trying to stay warm.

Everyone enjoyed jumping on the inflated pillow thing!

Domonique became very adventurous and did her own thing.

This is the picture Tamara took of the older guys at the corn maze!

The sun came out around noon. Some of us came home with slight sunburns on our faces. Everyone came home with stories of meeting teachers, making new friends, and having a good time. They all got to ride the train and the big wagon pulled by a tractor. They all enjoyed the doughnut and cider. No one got stung by the bees that were also interested in the cider.

On the way home we played the Alphabet game - you know, where you look for the letters of the alphabet on the signs along the way - not once, but twice. We did it forward and backward.

I was so worried Wednesday that I would go into labor while we were down there and wasn't exactly sure how that would all go. Fortunately, nothing happened. I'm still pregnant with a very active little one, and she'll be born some time in the next week. Now if I could just get over the little bit of anxiety that I have about going into labor, then I think I'd feel even better.

Counts for P.E. of course

Yesterday, I sent the girls outside for a break and some exercise. Then I sent Domonique and Harmonie out as well. Then Ben joined them. They had such a good time raking the leaves in our neighbor's yard. They even buried Domonique and she was okay with that. What cute kids I have! The great thing - they can count that as their P.E. for the day. With this new program, we have to keep track of their exercise and they are supposed to do 150 minutes/week. We have never kept track of that stuff so this is a new thing for us. I'm just glad that had so much fun, included the youngest girls, and worked together!

 

Harmonie tried to lay down in the leaves like Domonique, but because she didn't have a hood the leaves really tickled her head and neck and she couldn't stay down for very long. Each time she would try it, make a funny face, and sit right back up. At least she was willing to try.

Why?

The last weeks are so hard. 9 days until the due date... Will she come early? Will she come late? It's hard to believe this is the 8th time I'm doing this and I still get so impatient. And yet, life will be so different once she's here, I'm not sure I'm ready. I have lots of things to keep me busy and I probably wouldn't think so much about it, except that she has run out of room so any movement is obvious, and my aches are ever present.

Think positive. It's usually fun to feel her move around, and having the other kids share is awesome. We have picked a name so we all know what to call her. I am still able to get around, do all the things I need to do, and things I want to do. I'm healthy and I haven't fallen down the stairs so, really, things are just fine.

Answered Prayer

Ben was done with school early so he went outside to shoot his bow and arrows. He shoots at a cardboard box that he drew a target on. Usually it is facing our neighbors yard, open grass. Today, he had it facing the garden. One arrow hit the top of the box and flew over the garden (which is now filled with weeds almost as tall as me). He came inside and asked if I could help him look for it. I finished what I was doing and headed outside. When he told me what happened I was surprised and anxious because I thought there was no way we would be able to find the arrow - he wasn't sure exactly which direction it went. The farmer's soybeans, which are planted in the field behind our garden, are almost waist high to me. I walked to the edge and wondered how we were going to find this one, thin arrow. I said out loud, "Okay, Heavenly Father. Please help us find this arrow." I took a step into the beans, pushing them gently apart so I could see to the ground. Nothing. I took another step farther in and looked to my right as I spread the bean plants apart. There was the red arrow! I held it up for Ben to see and told him that I had just asked Heavenly Father to help and here it was. We agreed that we should thank him so we bowed our heads and I offered a prayer of thanks. What a little thing but it truly was amazing.

Price Nature Center, again but different

Since we enjoyed our time at the Price Nature Center so much yesterday, we thought we'd go again today. This time, the older kids took their bikes and Kevin planned on running. I stayed with the younger kids and watched them play on the playground. A few mosquitoes, of course, but not too bad. The girls enjoyed running around, and the bikers and runner enjoyed their exercise. It was a nice family evening.

 

Stop at the farm

After our walk through the woods at Price Nature Center, we stopped by Greg's house/farm on the way home. We thought we'd see how the pepper plants the kids helped plant had grown. It was really fun to visit with them. The kids saw the guinea hens, played with the dogs and cat, went into the corn, saw the peppers, and fed the cows. It was nice just to chat with Greg and his wife, about all sorts of different things.

 

The field of peppers.

You can tell there are different types of plants,

because of the different colors.

 

All the kids were happy to see Oscar.

Emily got stung,

but survived.

Kemiah enjoyed the fuzzy caterpillar,

but it didn't survive.

All the kids touched the electric fence,

and survived.