Super Siblings

I started a tradition last time around of making and giving super sibling gift bags to the kids in the hospital when they come visit baby and me. It was a huge hit last time.
Working on them gave me a fun distraction this pregnancy.

Sydney

Connor

Bella

Each bag had a new set of pajamas (always a hit), cookies and a drink, a movie for Connor and Bella and a book about Babies for Sydney, an activity/coloring/sticker book, lollipops ...

AND

... this time I wanted to focus on when they were a baby too.
I made them each a similar baby book, about when they were a baby.
Picking wording, accompanying pictures, printing, pasting, and primping them all took a lot more time then I originally anticipated. But I loved working on them every night.
Unfortunately the kids were a little too caught up in excitement that day and didn't care much for them in the hospital but they have loved reading them at home.

In the hospital the girls really enjoyed their gift bags, Sydney really enjoyed LOVED her book about babies and her special drink. Bella was ecstatic about her pajamas and her sticker book but there wasn't anyone there to give her undivided attention to do it right away and she wasn't really in the mood to sit still anyway. Connor was happy by the whole idea but was looking for a toy, and was pleased by the book but way more into Piper than anything else.

Piper is so loved and our home is filled with constant conversation over her, and over her crying.

Bella: "When Piper cries, when Piper cries, when Piper cries, and when the sun sets on the third day and Piper cries just give him to me, k?"
Connor: "I know what's wrong with Piper we give her to many kisses and she wants to sleep in my bed but she can't."
Sydney: "I hold er? Baby cry!"

I can't get over how easy it has been having Piper around. And how amazing each of the kids have been with her.
Seriously guys your AMAZING!

You are a big brother now and you seem like you have grown up overnight. When it is just us you are so obedient and careful and I am increasingly grateful to have you as your sisters big brother. And you remember everything we say and hold her just right and are so still and ask about everything to make sure she is okay (of course when your showing off for guests all beats are off). I love it though, I love you.

You just became a big sister again and you love being protective and just a bit possessive, but you also love helping lots. "I'm such a big helper right Mom?" You sure are. You fetch things for Mommy and Piper and you love holding Piper and saying "Now this is how you handle it".

I hear this about a million times a day from you, "Pipers cute, I kiss er mom?"

One Day Late

PIPER's BIRTH STORY

February 14th, my due date, came and went.
I was officially 40 weeks. My body ached and seemed to be in more pain daily (in fact that very day baby was kicking so low she was stopping me to breathe through the sharp pains, I joked with Shea that she was clawing her way out and may break my water if we're lucky). How much longer could this go on for? I knew it wouldn't last forever but I couldn't help feeling as if it would.
I went to bed that night perfectly distracted by a fun Valentine's Day, but dreading the days and possibly week ahead that may or may not bring baby.

February 15th, one day late.
6:45 AM
In the middle of the night I felt a pop inside, like a knuckle popping around my belly or a rubber band snap. It was weird. And following it I felt a gush. I was still a little out of it but wanted so badly for this to be it! I couldn't help but think my water was leaking. I got up to go to the bathroom, and made it just inside the door when I large gush came and soaked me and left me shouting
"SHEA MY WATER BROKE, MY WATER BROKE SHEA! THIS IS IT!"
I continued to have small gushes as I spoke to Shea, my Mom, and Connor who had awoken to my excited shout. I took a shower immediately and tried to get ready with a towel between my legs. I felt so frustrated that I had totally rebelled against cleaning or keeping up on things in case of baby's arrival. Everything seemed a mess around the house and I was in no position to do anything.

7:30 AM
My Mom and brother Joseph came to watch the kids as Shea rushed to repack the car and throw the car seat back in. Shea insisted we grab some breakfast and immediately drove to Panera to get bagels, while I called the Hospital to notify them I was on my way and then called my Doctor's office (which didn't answer so I left a message).

8:00 AM

We arrived at the hospital and were immediately taken to Labor and Delivery (instead of waiting in Triage, which is routine). But considering I mentioned my water was leaking onto the floor they decided that Triage, to check to make sure if I was in labor, was unnecessary. I began the registration process and was all hooked up, and my IV was put in again and again and again and finally again. Apparently they had just switched to new IVs and no one new how to do them so they kept blowing my veins up. So I was bruised, bloody, sore and swollen all over my arms (for about a week).

9:00 AM
My Nurse, Regina, is so sweet. She is super chatty and excited for us. I'm forgetting my last experience here already. She checks me and I'm 2 cm, 60% effaced, posterior, -3 station, but have a very soft cervix. I'm honestly a little surprised and dissapointed that I'm not dilated more but either way there is progress and my waters broken so  baby's on her way no matter what and due to my soft cervix I won't have to worry about the cervical ripening agent!
My nurse does say she's not totally convinced I'm ruptured, but I'm not worried because I know I am. The gushing has stopped though so I'm not surprised she's uncertain because she hasn't seen proof yet. Shea worries a little it's a false alarm, but I assure him it will only be a matter of time before she's convinced.

9:30 AM
My antibiotics are administered, at my induction I had Penicillin that burned horrible going in so I had to have an extremely slow dose to prevent the awful burn, this time though my nurse gave me Ampicillin, she said it's way better, quicker and doesn't hurt. She doesn't know why they use Penicillin any more.

9:45 AM
My water gushes again for the first time since I got to my room. I call the nurse and let her know so she can do a puddle test. I also have to go to the bathroom, as she helps me up my water leaks everywhere, continually till I get back in bed. That's the last of my waters I feel all day.

10:00 AM
Dr Peterson, the on call Dr comes in to check on me and asks if it's okay to start Pitocin considering my contractions seem irregular currently.

10:30 AM

Pitocin is put in my IV. I call my Mom and get an update on the kids (Bella apparently is having a baby too), and then Shea and I start a game of Phase 10. My contractions immediately pick up and get pretty uncomfortable,

11:45 AM
As my contractions get more and more uncomfortable, I start to worry about getting the Epidural. So I decide to ask for the Epidural now even though they aren't super painful yet.

12:10 PM
My contractions are now stop to breathe through uncomfortable ones but if I concentrate hard I can still talk during them.
As I get set up for the Epidural I notice I'm sitting on the crack of the bed so I'm off center leaning more to the right, I let them know but they aren't too worried, until after. Then the anesthesiologist stays for awhile watching and waiting for my Epidural to take affect, it immediately hits my right side and my left side gets tingly. Then my blood pressure dips and she gives me a pressure medicine in my IV which sends my heart racing, but quickly solves the issue. My left leg is increasingly tingly but my right sides completely dead. They insert the Catheter cautiously, but there's no pain so the anesthesiologist calls it good and leaves.
My nurse checks me again; 4 cm, 80% effaced, mid position, -1 station. Things are progressing I'm so relieved and feel so happy!

1:30 PM
I get a new nurse, Meridith. She's fine, very monotone and blah though.  My second dose of antibiotics is given and she increases my Pitocin.

1:50 PM

We are continuing our Phase 10 game when a bunch of nurses and Dr Peterson all come in at once. I'm thinking it's delivery time already!?! But it turns out it is a heart rate scare. I'm immediately checked; 4 cm, 80% effaced, cervix front, -1 station.
Baby's heart rate has dipped for a few minutes (150's to 50's), my stomach is really hard and their all worried about baby. Fortunately baby's heart rate immediately starts to go up as they put Oxygen on me, pump my IV with with pressure medication, turn my Pitocin off, and roll me from side to side, while pushing on my belly. If baby's heart rate didn't go up after a few minutes of intervention they were prepared to do an Emergency C-Section.
My nurse warns me if it happens again I should start mentally preparing for a C-Section (4/5 mins of low heartbeat and they immediately do a C-Section within 10 minutes). She explains that the reason for baby's heart rate dipping is because baby's in distress, due to the two long contractions that came one on top of each other not giving her much time to relax in between.

2:00 PM
My Pitocin is left off permanently and my stomach softens up. I'm moved to my right side. Baby's heart rate continues to go up and everyone leaves. Shea makes a quick run to get some lunch. I watch the baby's heart rate intently. I'm so scared of a C-Section. And especially of everything happening so fast that Shea wouldn't be there. But he arrives back fairly quickly.

2:30 PM
My nurse comes in and rolls me to my left side. I'm consistently contracting on my own now every 2-3 minutes or less. I can feel them sort of on my left side. Not painful though.

2:40 PM
Baby makes a large movement and the fetal monitor is moved all around.
Her heart rate dips down again.
Nurse comes in and changes my position immediately, baby's heart rate goes up at once and she checks me; loose 6.5-7cm, 100% effaced, -1 station, Front and center cervix.
Another nurse comes in as well so they can move baby and me around, as well as the monitors.
They think she's rolling on her cord. I ask it the cord could be wrapped around her back or body, and they remark that it's definitely a possibility.
My nurse goes over the C-Section routine. What shots I'll get how quickly I'll be prepped, everything that will happen just in case. My nurse leaves.
I freak out a little to Shea. But we reassure each other that if baby is in trouble and it comes to a C-Section then we will gladly take it.
Shea gives me a quick blessing of comfort.
My nurse returns quickly and continues to monitor me.

3:00 PM
She checks me again, I'm 9 cm.

3:10
My nurse checks me again. Fully dilated. The room gets set up and within a few minutes another nurse comes in and I started preliminary pushing to get baby down and in position. The oxygen I'm breathing is extremely hard to breathe through while pushing but I manage. And Shea helps me put it on in between pushing when I rip it off. He is a huge coach and supporter during everything I can tell he's trying so hard! Baby is stuck at my pelvic bone though and seems to be face up. My head feels like it is bursting and I am seriously worried about popping an eye vessel in the process. And the nurse remarks that baby is stretched out really far, because she is kicking my ribs so HARD when I push. Everyone keeps telling me I am working so hard and that she is just a bugger, I KNOW! It also doesn't help that my epidural is increasingly less effective, nothing PAIN burdening but increasingly uncomfortable. I hit the epidural button somewhere in the middle of pushing but it doesn't do much.
Finally she turns, baby is crowning. Dr Peterson is called.

4:10 PM
Dr Peterson comes in. I start the real pushing! I'm feeling contractions and the urge to push more and more but fortunately the epidural takes the edge off so it never really gets painful. While I push she asks me, do I still want more after all this? (I'm guessing because of the long pushing period), and I remember just looking up at Shea with a big smile and saying YES! 
Looking back it was totally a weird question to ask me at the time, but for me it kinda gave me a serious amount of energy and love for birth.

4:20 PM

Piper Scarlet Stanger is born!

7 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches

The cord was wrapped around her neck once, but it was fairly loose. She's perfect! She is mine! I do skin to skin for an hour as they recommend. Shea is so jealous. Her eyes are open the whole time, everyone remarks on how alert she is. (Her Apgar score was 8 at 1 min, 9 at 5 mins.) 

After skin to skin they take her stats; weight 7 lbs 7 oz, height 20 inches.

Then we get moved to recovery. Which was much more cozy and the nurses all seem a little more baby and mommy doting, which I love. 
Once settled it's already around 7 pm and we opt to Facetime tonight and have everyone visit tomorrow instead. Connor was totally enthralled and did struggle HUGELY with not getting to see Baby and Me in person. But he was a champ and pulled it together at the end. 
Piper slept great that night and we loved talking and Facetiming family that night (and throughout the stay) to show off our beautiful new baby girl. 
I also had a ton of yogurt, which I normally hate but was all they had and tasted so good I just ate it every time they brought me meds or  asked if I needed anything. Finally they got the idea to just bring one every time they came in.

The next day Connor didn't have school, which worked out great so we could have them visit right away (visitors are allowed at 12pm). Shea grabbed them and Mcd's and headed over so we could all have lunch and visit. 

 

If you can't tell the kids were ecstatic and completely in awe of baby. Every one of the kids wanted Mommy time and I loved snuggling them and telling them about Piper. 

Of course they were all CRAZY too; running, screaming, giggling, shouting, etc. but no tantrums though! 

When they left though it did feel nice to breath. I was a little sad things hadn't gone smoother and calmer and no one had an interest in a family picture, but everyone was happy so that left me happy too. 

In terms of my recovery it has all been relatively quick, I was up and moving around pretty good by day two (little by little). So Shea went home to take the kids off my Mom's hands and spend the night with them. But boy did he not want to leave.

And of course when he did leave our perfect angel babe wasn't too happy. She seriously had me up all night till 5:55 am. The nurses helped some but FMH (Frederick Memorial Hospital), does a step down nursery which of course meant this exhausted mama didn't get a break. I was seriously praying for a full straight 30 mins. I got maybe 2 hrs somewhere in the mix. And yes I survived. But missed Shea terribly. 

At 6 am rounds started and along with vitals Piper passed her hearing and cardiac tests beautifully. My nurse then started the discharge while I tried to sleep a little (Piper was finally out!)

After dropping Con at school and the girls with my Mom, he showed up around 9:45 ish. And as I showered and got ready, he got Piper ready to leave as well.

For some reason the postpartum blues hit me on the way home from the hospital every time. To ease it all we went out for brunch (I know with our not even 2 day old newborn, we are terrible). But it was kinda great. 
Now we are all home and I'm taking it slow and getting spoiled by Shea (like I literally sleep half the day, while he runs the house) but either way we're all doing great!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD

Piper Scarlet Stanger

Born February 15th of 2016 at 4:20 pm

Weighing 7 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches long

Mom and baby are doing well, and we are all perfectly smitten.

Be My Valentine

We start our valentine's month with Sweetheart snacking every year (all but Daddy), we all fought over the white ones this year and enjoyed reading our hearts to each other.

"That one says popcorn love in the mud.
Don't laugh Mom, that's what it says."
-Bella

"Cool, Cool, Cool. They all say cool, I must be COOL!"
-Connor

This year Connor had a School Valentine Party to prep for. Daddy and Connor picked out Zombie Tattoo Valentines and Lollipops to go with them. They couldn't have been more perfectly Connor valentines. I made Connor write out (almost) all his valentines. Which he was so excited for at the start and then grudgingly completed, his hand was dying so I did help a little. He was so excited to get them to school for the party, and he was so excited to eat his lollipop, because he made sure he didn't forget to give himself one too!


"Wow making all this love is a lot of work."
-Connor

 

I had few plans for Valentine's weekend in anticipation of baby's arrival. But since baby has yet to arrive it put a damper on things and but we continued with the simple plans. Saturday we went Chocolate heart shopping everyone got one! And Connor insisted on Peeps instead, which he later traded in for an actual surprise heart Mom and Dad had gotten him anyway.We didn't want him to miss out and we were right to think ahead, because he was slyly trying to lure his sister's and Shea and I into sharing.

"So these are purple Bella and you like purple and they are really good. If you want to share I guess I can too." 
"You know Mom sometimes these Peeps look good and sometimes those hearts do more." 
"If anyone wants to give me ones. Like Sydney can't eat them all then I can take them."
-Connor

We also had a family date night to Chick-fil-a on Saturday. Con and Bells loved playing with all the kids, Sydney loved watching and acting coy. It was a nice night enjoying our 3 little valentines.

Sunday we had a big breakfast with all our favorites; bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits, eggs, oranges, and toaster strudels.

That night we had an early brownie dinner (yes brownies for dinner), where we played a little game. I wrote everyone's names down and all the brownie fixings went with a different valentine message they had to give the name they picked. It was fun and future reference I will let them eat while we play, because it was very hard to wait. And everyone had a lot more fun playing freely while we ate.

Valentine brownie game: 
Strawberries=I love you because

Whip cream=You are really good at 
Pretzels=My favorite thing to do with you is
Marshmallows=I love when you
Chocolate chips=My favorite memory of you is 

We ended the Valentine night with the kids watching Princess Bride and gorging on our chocolate hearts and popcorn. 

Can you tell someone was popular?

While I did bedtime, Shea picked up outrageously delicious take-out that we enjoyed while watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. 

It was a great night and took my mind off of that 40 wk mark that I hit. Never guessing the early morning surprise that would greet us...