Kyne is such a sweet brother….He loves to kiss and hug RJ, but also likes to grab him out of his swing/bouncer etc!

Here are some pics I took of them this morning:

I took some of Kyne also….he looked so cute this morning with his spiky hair and big blue eyes!:

He is 18 months old today!

The kids are all doing very well.

Rhys is sleeping very good now. He averages about 5.5 hours, but has  done over 6 a couple times. The last week he has been doing this, and it’s been awesome. The night before last he did 11:15PM until almost 6AM!

Kyne’s really into being imaginative and copying his sister these days. Yesterday he came up to me and said "do you want some?" and I said sure…well he starts giving me some pretend food and I look over and it’s from his toy vacuum! Weird kid was getting pretend food out of his vacuum and feeding it to me. He then says "want some more?"…he cracks me up! He is getting 2 new teeth so he’s a bit cranky…oh and both he and Tayah caught Ricky’s cold, so we’ve had that to deal with.

Tayah is back in preschool and she is loving it. Kyne is starting next week also! I can’t wait. I know there might be a big adjustment for him…he is very antisocial, but I also know he will love it once he’s settled.

Talon is back with us after being at his dads for 2 weeks following my mums visit. He spent the night at Becky’s last night with his best bud Tyler. He was very well behaved this visit thankfully! (the last visit didn’t go as well).

I haven’t lost any more weight (I actually gained a little while mum was here!), but I feel a lot more energetic these days (especially with the extra sleep). I really want to get in shape soon though, so I know a diet is in order shortly.

Ricky has been sick for like 2 weeks now. Headaches, dizziness, sore throat etc. We assume it’s the flu since he had an MRI and blood work done which were all fine.

OK well here are some recent pics:

The youngest 3 having their first bath together.

I was trying to capture his smile…they came out soooo funny though!

He had some good sleep yesterday!

And I took some today while he was awake:

Wow, the time has flown by! - Our little RJ is one month old today. We are so happy to have him here. For all the strife he causes (lack of sleep, constant crying) we still feel blessed and completely in love with our newest family member.

Today and last night have actually been 100% better than any other. Last night he ate at 8PM (3oz expressed breast milk bottle) but then didn’t want to wake for his 11PM feed. We tried waking him and managed to get 2oz into him before he refused anymore. He was back in bed by 11.30PM. We put him out in the front room in the pack’n'play last night for the first time…..the grunts and movements he makes an hour or more before he actually wakes up are what is causing us so much less sleep, so we thought we’d try it. Anyway he slept until 4.15AM! Ricky got him up and fed him his bottle while I pumped. He was back in bed by 4.30AM and didn’t wake up until 7AM. That is the best night he’s has so far. I am sure it’s because we couldn’t hear all of the grunts! (our bedroom is downstairs….he is only about 20 feet away with our door open, but it makes a huge difference).

Today he was a little gassy in the morning. I breast fed him at 10AM (I had a bad clogged duct that needed seeing too….as soon as I put him on the clog un-clogged and milk started flowing! - I only had him on the boob once yesterday so that is probably why). He was awake until 11 and then took a nap until 2PM. Becky took Tayah and Kyne to  her house for the afternoon and Ricky is at work. I woke him up and fed him and he drained the breast in about 20 minutes (a record for him) and had almost 3oz…then fell back to sleep.

Tonight one of my good friends, friend is bringing us dinner. My friend Julie used to work with Ricky and we now see each other often. She goes to a wonderful Church (which she has invited us to many times) and was telling me about how when she had her baby Claire the ladies got together and cooked her meals. Well she talked with her friends (whom I know none of) and they wanted to do the same for us! How kind and generous is that?!? So since my mum left we’ve been getting meals delivered by her friends. It has been so nice! Sometimes the kindness of compete strangers amazes me.

I hear Rhys stirring now - So I will post his 1 month photos tomorrow. He sure has changed a lot….even in the last week. He is getting so big!

She came downstairs like this. Dressed herself….even down to the shoes she found in her closet. The sweater is on upside-down (see the buttons along the bottom?), but doesn’t she look good? ha ha

He may be fussy, but he sure is cute! - We love our big boy! (he weighs almost 10lbs already!).

Kyne has a tendency to try and pull him out of the swing….needless to say I cannot leave them alone at all

I just took these this morning. Kyne wouldn’t get in on the pic

His herniated belly-button. It’s actually a little smaller now though.

Rhys is so different than Kyne was…..we feel it’s God’s way of certifying that we have no more kids He is a fussy little thing, full of gas and pain….it is so sad

He doesn’t sleep all that great either. He does a good stretch when he first goes down (it ranges from 3-4.5 hours) but then after that he has been fussy and awake pretty much until we get up for the day.

Through the day he seems hungry but pulls of the boob constantly…causing me more pain than I already have and getting us both in a mess (milk squirting everywhere ). At night I pump while Ricky bottle feeds him expressed breast milk because I can’t handle the pain through the night This works well for all of us because it’s quicker (takes me 10 mins to pump whereas it takes 20-45 mins to breast feed) and less traumatic.

I really want to carry on breastfeeding but so far it’s such a struggle. It still hurts (although it is better than the first 2 weeks), and it’s very difficult to get him to have a good feed. We have to have the positioning perfect with pillows for support and everything ‘just right’ for it to feel remotely less painful. I am determined to keep at it for as long as I can though. I honestly can’t believe I’ve made it almost a month (he will be 4 weeks old on Thursday….amazing!), so I am very proud of that.

Daddy thinks he caught some smiles/grins yesterday - I did see a couple also (only daddy can get them), but they aren’t full-on just yet. It is so cute though!

Rhys Josiah - 08.21.08 6:32PM EST 7lb 10oz 19.5 inches

Birth Story

The story starts Wednesday, Aug 20. I had an OB appointment that day, I was 3cm dilated but didn’t think much of it as with your 4th baby being 3cm doesn’t always mean anything is imminent. Wednesday evening was actually a really nice evening. We ate dinner and I even had a white wine spritzer! I was feeling pretty good all around.
Ricky cleaned up after dinner and decided to put the oven on self-clean, saying that the baby was waiting to come until we had done it!
After the younger kids were in bed Talon and I played cards for a bit, this is when the *real* contractions started. It’s funny thinking back to the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having the weeks prior to this. I thought they were kinda painful, but when you get the real thing, you know it!
They were very spaced out , but I decided to take a bath and blow-dry my hair just in case.
After my bath I had some bloody-show and was pretty convinced that the baby was coming within the next couple days because things went the same way with Kyne’s labor.
The contractions continued throughout the night, coming every 20-30 minutes - They were painful but not strong. I managed to sleep even with them until about 3AM. After that I was awake on and off. Ricky had gotten up to use the bathroom and I had a pretty strong contraction. I moaned out, but it wasn’t from the pain….my water broke at the same time. Ricky said “they are coming every 20 mins or so“, and I said “yeah, but my water just broke!” I thought it was earlier than it was (it was 5AM) and was panicking about leaving the kids. We called my midwife who advised us to come in soon being my 4th, but I wasn’t in any pain (contractions eased up a lot after water broke) and wanted to wait until the kids woke up.
We called Becky and told her to make her way over but not to rush.
I hear all the time about how pregnant women want to experience the whole water braking scene, but to be honest it is such a pain! I went through 8 pads and 3 pairs of underwear in less than an hour. My belly shrunk so much it was weird looking (I weighed myself while walking the halls of the hospital and had lost 3lbs since my OB visit the day before).
So 6AM rolls around and Becky is here but I still want to stay until the kids wake up. My water is leaking so much though and Becky says the kids will be fine, so we head on out.

We arrive at the hospital at 6.30AM get all checked in, monitors on and IV started (no meds or liquids though). At 7 I am checked and 4-5cm dilated, 80% effaced.
My contractions at this point are very different than before my water broke. They are very short but intense, about 15 minutes apart….but only last 15-20 seconds of pain.
I am taken off the monitors so we can walk or bathe as needed/wanted.
I let the nurse and my midwife know that I am not wanting an Epidural, but am open to getting it if needed. My nurse asks at what pain-point will I want it and I say a 8-9 on a scale of 1-10 - She says she will hold me to that!

Between 8-8:45AM we walk the halls and I take a Jacuzzi bath. I am checked soon after and said to be 5-6cm with the same effacement and baby is at -2 station.

We spend the day walking, resting (I was so tired) watching Friends on DVD and just talking.
At 12.45 I am checked again and 7cm (later the nurse tells me that when she checked me soon after she would have said I was more a 6 than 7).
4PM and the contractions finally pick up….and boy did they pick up! There was no gradualness to it, they just started coming harder and faster (3-4 minutes apart). I took another Jacuzzi bath which at first seemed to help, but the pain was getting very intense.
The nurse checked me and said I was still a 7 but getting a lot softer and thinned out. This of course upset me because I was in so much pain and convinced things were finally moving along.
At this point I started to tell Ricky I needed something for the pain. He helped me through so many of the contractions and convinced me I could hold out a little longer. The pain was unlike any I remember from my other labors.
My nurse  kept a close eye on me and checked me again, saying I was still a 7 but definitely making changes.
It was 5PM by now and with this last news I lost it and begged for some drugs! - She said she had to talk with my midwife first to see how she wanted to progress.
I was totally regretting my decision not to get the epidural, but felt like if I could just get something to ease the pain then I could make it to the end.
The nurse said that getting some pain meds might make the contractions peter out, and I needed to think about if I really wanted anything. Well I thought about it for about 5 minutes and with another contraction that had me in tears, the decision was made! I didn’t care if the contractions petered out, I needed something and I needed it now!
My midwife must have still been at the office (which is only 2 minutes across from the hospital) because around 5.30PM another Dr from the practice comes in to see how things are going.
I am given a shot of Stadol and at this point I ask if it’s still possible to get the Epidural. After talking with the nurse and seeing the pain I am in he says to go ahead and get the IV fluids started (which takes an hour), but lets me know I might not make it. (Thinking back, I believe they all knew I wouldn’t make it but were trying to calm me down and help me psychologically get through it)
The Stadol seems to take the edge off of the first contraction I get, I am relieved and think things will be manageable if they stay like this. Unfortunately the next one is worse than before the Stadol and they continue to be thereafter.
Around 6PM my midwife arrives. She is the sweetest little lady who has a great way of calming people. She stays with us through the contractions, rubbing my arm and helping me breathe and grunt through them.
After about 15-20 minutes I feel the urge to push. It came on like a freight train, all of a sudden just like with Kyne….it’s such a powerful feeling, un-explainable.
Lucie (my midwife) quickly rushes to the foot of my bed, talking to me the whole time, she checks my cervix and says I’m about 9.5cm with a little tiny lip left, but baby is there and ready to come and with my pushes the lip will just go.
Of course the pain and intensity are scaring me so she is trying to keep me calm and tells me to listen to my body and not to be afraid of the pain. I remember her saying this so vividly.
I start to push with the contractions, in my own way with no help….I just do what my body tells me. Once he starts to crown the pain is so unbearable I scream out loud, and I mean SCREAM! The nurse tells me in a not-so-nice way to stop screaming!
I push 2 times and his head is out (I ask if he’s out because I knew ‘something‘ was….Ricky tells me it‘s his head and I know this horror is nearly over).
Then things go a little panicky….I am in so much pain that I don’t take a lot of notice until afterwards, but I hear the nurse tell Ricky to grab my leg and push it all the way back, like she is doing. They push my legs so far back into me and Lucie is telling me to push with all my might. Apparently he got stuck after his head came out so the nurses (there was another one there too trying to help) and Ricky had to help. Lucie is urging me on and trying to turn him at the same time, and with 2 last frantic pushes out he comes! Wow the relief, it was utterly amazing once again!
He is put straight onto my belly for a good long while. He looked just like Tayah did at birth, it was so surreal just laying there staring at his beautiful face. I fell in love all over again.
His apgars were 8 + 9.

Looking back over the labor and delivery the differences between this one and the others are so amazing. I always thought that with Kyne’s labor the epidural had totally worn off while I was pushing….but the pain this time with no epidural was so much worse! I realize that some of the epidural with Kyne must have still been there slightly. Nothing compares to the pain of these contractions and the pushing. I am so proud of myself for doing it naturally, totally amazed that I managed it….but would I do it again…no way! - Yeah it was empowering and I have healed wonderfully (no stitches, bleeding almost gone 7 days post-partum), but I would totally get an epidural if I ever did this again (which I will not be doing!).

And now I am all alone while Ricky is at work

It was so nice having her here….and we will all miss her terribly.

The only pics I took while she was here:

She’s doing Tayah’s hair in pigtails……and Tayah isn’t liking it! ha ha

Rhys’ cord fell off 1 day shy of 3 weeks old (9.10.08). He didn’t get a real bath until 9.12.08 though because I wanted to wait until Ricky was able to do it with us.

We thought he would hate it….we were wrong! He loved it and stopped crying as soon as he was in the warm water.

Here are some pics:

Poor little guy has a herniated belly-button, so it sticks out quite far.

Plus he has some baby-acne at the moment. Not quite as bad as Kyne got (yet), and I hope it doesn’t get that bad.