No more belly

Just so you can see the difference in an 8 pound baby and a 9 pound 9 ouncer. Below was the morning we went to the hospital to have Grady.

And this is the morning we left for the hospital to have Reese.

I was not lying when I said my stomach could not possibly stretch any more.

The Story

This will be the abridged version of Reese's birth. Please remember I am a nurse, so I like to use the correct words for things {read on at your own risk}. I went in last Tuesday morning at 6 AM to be induced. My neighbor came to the house at 5:30 AM to be with the kids until Steven's parents could get here. All went well in the early hours. They started pitocin around 7-ish and my doctor was in to break my water around 7:45. I have to say that this was the most painful "break" I've had. Maybe it had to do with the little room my 9-pounder left in there. After breaking my water, my doctor said, "I would choose for you to have an epidural as soon as you're ready." I said okay:). I labored through two hours and felt really good. Around 10, I choose for myself to have the epidural. It worked wonderfully--with Grady only one side went numb and they had to kind of redo the epidural. After that, things were great. I was resting through it all. Around 12, my nurse checked me and said I was complete. I was so happy. This had been so easy and now I was going to push a few times, as I did with the other two, and little Reese would be here. I push through a contraction with my nurse and she says that I'm not actually complete. There was a "piece" of cervix still in the way. You can't push through that or it will swell and then you have to wait and things could get ugly. She decides we need to wait a little bit longer. She had to call the doctor back because she had already called him to tell him I was complete. She would check me every 30 minutes or so, and that stinking piece of cervix was still there. Around 2:30, the doctor came in with a scary, determined look on his face. Mind you, I have been at 9 1/2 centimeters for 2 1/2 hours. He lays my head all the way back and begins to manually try to get the piece of cervix out of the way. If I had not had an epidural, I feel pretty certain I would have died right then and there. I couldn't see his arm from the elbow down and his facial expressions were just as telling. I begin throwing up. My sweet husband was right there with the barf bag. The doctor also tells me the baby is "sunny side up" which means he was face up. Not the worst thing in the world, but not ideal either. When babies are like this, their heads are extended rather than flexed with their chins on their chests. It can make for a difficult delivery. He leaves with instructions on how to position me in order to try to make this piece go away. Steven and my nurse are rolling me back and forth in to all kinds of positions. She checks me again at 3 PM and says it's still there. She starts asking if I want to have my tubes tied if I have a c-section. She leaves the room so Steven and I can talk about it. I lose it at this point because this was my biggest fear going in to this labor. I knew this baby was big and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to deliver him and I really did not want a c-section. (I know all you moms who've had sections are thinking I'm crazy and it's not so bad, but I didn't want it. That's all I can say.) I'm crying and Steven is trying to encourage me. Then he gets on Facebook and Twitter {ah, the technology age} and in just a few minutes, about 35 responses came in and people were praying. I laid there crying and begging God to GET THIS PIECE OF CERVIX out of the way and turn the baby around. My doctor came back at 3:30 with the intent of doing his whole "manual" thing again. As I began to push through a contraction, he said, "Wait, wait, you're complete!" They quickly got everything ready to push. As I began to push, Reese turned around the right way. And then my doctor said, "He's going to be big." Then there he was at 4:05 PM. All 9 pounds and 9 ounces of him. All 22 1/2 inches of him. And he was beautiful. And perfect. And the Lord answered my cries for grace and mercy.

My doctor said I was a "phenomenal pusher". I have paid for that phenomenon for 8 days now. But it was all so worth it. Reese is doing so well. Nursing is going well. He is sleeping well. The kids are doing great with him and with not having Mommy quite at their beck and call. I have had help for all but a few hours here and there and I have been so thankful for that. Next week starts my time all alone, but I have faith we will be fine. I just can't say how much I love my family or how thankful I am to have an awesome husband and three amazing kids. I am blessed.

My sweet friend brought us dinner tonight and it was delicious! The kids enjoyed it too.

My husband's Father's Day present from my mom. Who doesn't want a straw that doubles as glasses. He did say it made his face feel cold. When Mom asked me what I was getting Steven for Father's Day, I said, "I'm making him a father again. I don't think I can top that." And what an incredible one he is.

Reese McNeal Salter

Here he is! Reese McNeal Salter was born June 16, 2009 at 4:05 PM. He was a whopping 9 pounds 9 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. Elle was this size as a 2 month old?! Thanks to all for praying for us. It was by far the longest and hardest of the three but God was so gracious and he is another beautiful miracle. I am already in love again... with Reese and my other two. Hope to post the story soon for those who care. And hoping to have a photo shoot over the weekend.

How about that for a first kiss?

Still Here

This will be a random blog of stuff. Just bear with me if you so desire. I woke up yesterday morning with an awesome break out of a fever blister on my lip. That should make for some great labor day/new baby pictures. Maybe I'll just hold the baby up on one side of my face in every picture. I was able to get some medicine called in only in hopes that it will clear up faster. So far, it's getting worse.

My friend, Hillary at the Other Mama, is doing a giveaway over the weekend. Go on over and sign up. And if you win, you could give me a nice new baby present since the drawing is Tuesday. I'm just saying...

Another blog I've been following lately is Annie. She was a classmate at Troy, although I didn't have the chance of getting to know her well. I started following her blog 1) because she is hilarious and 2) she was due with her 3rd baby tomorrow. I just read last night that she had her precious baby girl yesterday but I can't wait to hear the full story. Go on over and you'll see what I'm talking about.

My sister stayed behind this week to help me out while my mom went back for her first week of summer school. She has been a big help with the small exception of bath time Wednesday night when she was "watching" the kids while I was on the computer. She "watched" Grady poop a lot in the tub. At least she scrubbed the tub after I had gotten all the poop out.

I walked over 3 miles (uphill all ways:) yesterday in hopes of getting this baby out. Instead all I managed to do was make my whole body very sore. Still no major contractions. Looks like it will be Tuesday. The skin on my stomach is stretched so far I can see every vein and artery in there, not to mention the stretch marks. I fear if I go past Tuesday, my stomach just might rip open.

Steven was off yesterday and we made our second trip to the pool. I have to say it is exciting to see Elle becoming more comfortable in the water. Not too mention that it makes it a little easier to only have to watch the every move of one child instead of two. We have YMCA lifeguards at our pool so the only "approved" safety device for the kids is a life jacket they provide. With Elle enjoying herself now, I can actually envision a pool trip with all three kids this summer. Maybe.

Elle and I were reading in Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein before her nap and I came across this gem:

Oh the thumb-sucker's thumb

May look wrinkled and wet

And withered, and white as the snow,

But the taste of a thumb

Is the sweetest taste yet

(As only we thumb-suckers know).

We tried and tried and even tried harder when we had the tooth scare (which, PTL, I think is healed and healthy), but it's just not happening. I've tried limiting it to her room and/or nap time and the child sticks it in there no matter what... even with band-aids on. I really felt like I was saying, "Get your thumb out of your mouth" every minute. I decided not to push it anymore and that she will give it up when she's ready (like she potty-trained in a breeze because she was ready). And braces and orthodontist bills are not the worst things in the world.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend. Steven is working tomorrow (Boo!), but Mom will be here and I just might treat myself to a pedicure. Hoping the next post brings pictures of the baby!

The Final Countdown

It's been far too long and I hope that I can get in a great "catch-up" post tonight. But, I just wanted to let you know that we will have our new baby boy by next Tuesday, June 16th. We went ahead and scheduled an induction at my appointment this morning. I have seven days to go in to labor on my own and I'm still holding out hope that I will. The good news is that I was finally making progress this morning (a "good" cm and 60% effaced), so we'll see... We also got the camera back on Saturday--good as new!

Say Cheese... or Not

I hope you enjoy these pictures. They will be the last of their kind for awhile. We splurged and bought a Nikon D40 a couple of months ago. Last Thursday, Steven was off and we were at pictured park with the kids. As we were walking around the paved trail, the camera strap broke and our splurge hit the pavement. The good news is that my ever-so-wise husband had also splurged on the "protection plan". The bad news is that they won't even ship it off to be repaired or replaced until June 2nd. Elle turns 4 tomorrow and there is a good chance we won't have the camera for baby's arrival either. We still have our old small, not good, not fancy thing. I don't even know what kind it is. But after having a nice camera, I don't even want to take pictures with the old one. {Just as a side note, so you won't think I'm some electronic snob, I have no idea about these things. And I'm not saying that any of you who have these cameras are snobs either. Steven bought it and I saw the difference in the pictures and Mommy was hooked. I just point and shoot on automatic. I don't even have a camera on my cell phone or texting capabilities. When I show people pictures of my kids, it's from my wallet flip page thing. My point is I'm not the most technologically savvy mom.} I guess some not-so-good pictures will be better than none at all. **I do still have some from Elle's birthday party a couple weeks ago that I'd like to post, but I will save them for future posts when I have no pictures to accompany my words.

That's my blurry, horizontal stripe wearing self in the background

Thank you so much for your recipes. My dear mother {after last week's post:)} ever so kindly paid for eight freezer meals from Super Suppers. Three times this week, I doubled our dinner as I cooked and froze the other half. I plan to make a few more this next week when my mom and sister are here. Does anybody else have a hard time keeping their kids occupied while they cook? Most of the time I end up stopping to clean up a busted lip, fix a boo-boo, break up a fight or some other crazy kid-related drama. I have tried several things, but would be interested in knowing your best "make dinner in peace" secrets. Please share.

I am 37 1/2 weeks and so far, this baby has made no indications that he is ready to come out (despite how ready his dear mother is for him to evacuate the womb!). I am extremely large, uncomfortable and irritable. I am determined not to be induced. Pray with me that this little, still nameless, guy will come meet us SOON! I am excited about Elle's birthday tomorrow and my mom and sister coming for the week. I apologize for the lack of posts (not that I have a huge following:), but my head has been hitting the pillow as soon as my kids go down for their naps. Hope everyone has a great and dry weekend!

Calling All Casseroles

The time has come to begin stocking the freezer. I am asking for your best, make-ahead, freezer meal so that the oven can do all my cooking for at least a few weeks when the baby arrives. And I read your blogs, so I KNOW you share wonderful recipes and cook stuff at least sometimes. See, when Elle was born, we were a part of a wonderful Sunday School class that made sure we were well nourished for at least a month after she was born. For two years now, we have bounced around a bit, unable to find a church "home". I think we have finally decided, but we've just been attending worship. We haven't joined the church or a small group--translation, I can't count on others to feed us this time. On another note, my mom will be teaching summer school in June {of all months-how dare she, right?} so she will just be weekend help at best. I realize now, I could have easily done it when it was just Elle. Now I have a 4 year-old (in 8 days), a 21-month old and I'm 36+ weeks pregnant. Please feel sorry for me and give me your recipes.

**Disclaimer: I am just trying to be funny. I am very, very thankful for my three miracles and love that I will have three children. However, I also know the first few months (years) will be exhausting. No preschool, No Mother's Day Out, and 11-12 hour work days for Daddy. I know you other moms out there can sympathize/empathize with me.