Three Weeks Old

Mary, three weeks old. I can't believe how much bigger she is in three short weeks. Postpartum weeks sure fly! Did time almost stand still for others while I was pregnant, or did it go this fast? I'm sleepy and my world feels chaotic, but we're all very happy.

Michael, playing his cello. If he doesn't get his practicing done in the morning, Lucy makes it really hard. She loves to stand right up against him and help him with his bow. He often gives up and reads to her and finishes his practicing later.

Grandma Dastrup reading to Lucy. We haven't found her saturation point with books yet. She loves to be read to. 

Little Red Riding Hood, a Gray Kitten, and an Airforce Pilot

A simple, happy Halloween with Mary only one week old. Grandma Thompson was still with us, and took the kids Trick or Treating with Travis while Anna, Emily, and Mary stayed home. Travis lucked out, and though he was on Citywide ophthalmology call, he didn't have any calls while he was Trick or Treating with the kids. Grandma made some yummy Halloween soup, and when the kids came home we watched Harry Potter 1. They thought they could drop off Lucy and go back out with Michael and Sarah, but when she realized they were leaving her, she grabbed her pumpkin and raced for the door, only to have it close just before she could slip out. She was crushed and sobbed until Travis came back for her. Lucy gets Trick or Treating, and she hates being left behind. Sarah was Little Red Riding Hood, Lucy wore the gray kitten costume that Grandma Thompson made for Anna when she was two years old and also obsessed with kitties, and Michael stoically squeezed into last year's costume, an Airforce pilot, even though it was really too small for him. Our awesome neighbor, who is a real Airforce pilot, lent him his hat and leather bomber jacket, but I didn't get any pictures of the complete look. No one was cooperating for group pictures, but we'll remember that we got it done, and that it was even fun!

School Picture Day for Sarah

I should really call this Playing with Grandma Thompson's Macro Lens. We definitely want one of these some day. I'm just impressed that I remembered that it was school picture day. I don't always order them, but they're less expensive in Utah than they were in Indiana and Minnesota, and Sarah wanted to get her picture taken with everyone else. Plus, we don't get a lot of bad pictures of Sarah. We have some really fun school pictures of Michael. 

Mary at Home

Everyone loves to hold this little girl. We are having so much fun with her!

Second Day in the Hospital

Mary Emily's Birth

Emily, nine months pregnant. Travis had me stand at an angle because you really couldn't tell I was pregnant straight-on. I know I still don't look very big, and we were concerned about how small I was after Lucy was only 5'4". I've never gotten very big with my pregnancies, but Lucy and Mary were both small for their gestational ages. 

It's no secret that I love being induced and having an epidural. That combination has worked so well for me. Only with Lucy did I go into labor on my own. I love having this time to spend with my husband. He's so busy that it feels like a date to get to go to the hospital and spend two days with him while I have a baby. We get to laugh and talk and enjoy the whole experience. I wanted my kids to visit while I was in labor because Anna, Michael, and Sarah were all nervous about the delivery. They were able to see me smiling and relaxed and picture the room and get some of their questions answered. They weren't able to visit when I had Lucy, so we were all very happy that there were not restrictions this time. 

My induction was pushed back three hours. We showed up McKay Dee Hospital at 10:45, and by 11:30 by pitocin and penicillin were started. I was Strep B positive this time, so they kept the pitocin slow so that i would have time to get all of the antibiotics before she was born. My kids and my mom visited at about 3:30. We all guessed the weight of the baby and time of delivery. Anna's guess was closest for weight, and mine was closest for delivery time. My progression was slow and steady until I was a 4. I was only a 2 and 60 percent effaced at the beginning of my induction, but I went from a 4 to complete in less than half an hour. It could have been ten or twenty minutes. My nurse and doctor never believe it will be that fast, but I was glad I asked for a bolus on my epidural in time to push. It took only three small pushes. She was born very easily, as all of my babies have been. Mary Emily was 5'10" and 18" long. She looks almost identical to Anna's newborn pictures with a similar amount of brown hair. We fell in love with her immediately, her siblings too. How fun to share this experience with three kids who will remember her birth and an over-eager toddler who is just obsessed with babies! Grandma Thompson and Grandma and Grandpa Dastrup all visited with our kids after her birth. So much fun to share our new baby with everyone!