Rowan's birth story

Rowans birth story actually starts two nights earlier. On April 15th, I went to a neighborhood outdoor wine night. I started to feel pretty bad - and thought it was from sitting too long. With the massive belly, I can't breathe too well when sitting - and that will start to get to me. I headed home right away. Dan and I joke that I can't get out of places - I always chat and say bye a million times - and this time I pulled a Dan and just peaced out.

When I got home, I was convinced I had a horrible stomach bug. I never threw up but felt HORRIBLE. I couldn't lean over the toilet, or curl up because of the big belly. Laying down I was spinning and nauseous. Dan thought I was in labor - and I said "I hope not - I can't imagine contractions on top of this." We finally found some zofran so I could get a little sleep. Still felt bad the next morning - but got up for work.

Later that afternoon, I wasn't as nauseous and got some soup down, but the lower half of my stomach was super sore. It was really weird and, at 41 weeks pregnant, I started to worry something was wrong. I called my OB (hoping he could get me in for an appt before the weekend just to check on the baby - it had been a week since my last appt anyway). He told me to head to labor and delivery. I was NOT going to walk into L&D and them be like "you're here because your stomach hurts?!?" I joined my next work meeting. By 4 or 5, Dan told me to just go in. We could make sure the baby was fine and head into the weekend without worrying. Finally I did. I brought nothing with me and walked right in. Passing all the stands people were saying "good luck!" and "Congratulations!" and I was thinking "will pass you guys again in an hour when I head out of here."

When I got to L&D they had me change into a gown. It was SO GROSS. It had stuff all over it, including a foil lid to a yogurt stuck to it. I asked for another gown, thinking - now they hate me. I am the high maintenance girl with the stomach pain (not a legitimate reason to go to L&D) who now needs a new gown.

The on-call OB was there checking on the person in the room next to me, so I didn't have to wait long. She came in and said "technically you are having contractions - so even though last night probably was a stomach bug, you are 41 weeks. Let's break your water and see if we can get things going." 

Not at all what I expected! I immediately said "I would really appreciate that." I texted Dan. He didn't see it. I called my parent so they would be ready to watch the girls (first time that it wasn't a middle of the night call with them 4-9 hours away!). 

I had my bags packed, so Dan just had to bring them. I knew things would be slow, so there was no rush. He was shocked to find my text about an hour later - haha. 

The rest, there really isn't much to tell. She insisted I get an epidural first (since I knew I wanted one) because she didn't know how fast Rowan would come. After that, she broke my water around 10pm. We had to just hang out, waiting. I could tell Rowan was still really high. And I knew she was "sunny side up" so was hoping she would turn before delivery - as that can make things more complicated. 

My OB was so positive - "I am sure she will just flip, and drop, and come right out when she's ready." In the past, those statements always jinxed things and my babies would do the opposite. The nurse was a little more worried: "I think this is a REALLY big baby." 

As morning came, Dan and I both were getting a little nervous. This was my longest labor so far - and I just thought that since she didn't come on her own, and hadn't come yet - that she just wasn't going to come out. 

The epidural started to wear off and contractions were very intense - so I pushed that epidural button quite a few times for some more pain relief. Its a delicate balance because my blood pressure drops every time - so I can't push it much. My blood pressure was running around 70/40 the entire time - so dropping any lower made me feel AWFUL.

Eventually I felt a lot of pressure - she had dropped! And just before my OBs shift ended, Rowan came out after 20 minutes of pushing at 7:22am. She was NOT sunny side up - so she had turned at some point. Exactly like my OB said. 

She came out looking JUST like Emma and has red hair. Exactly what Emma requested. She was 8lbs 3oz and 21 inches long. So she was not giant like Sloan :). Same length as Olivia, one inch smaller than Sloan and one inch bigger than E. Second biggest baby, but only by a few ounces. 

Everything was so wonderful. Nothing scary. No crazy moments. When I saw her I realized all those kicks were not spiteful - haha - just her sweet self stretching. Immediately in love with this sweet baby. 

With all of the carb control during the last few months of pregnancy, I made Dan get me TWO large fries from Chick-fil-a, So I could throw away all those end pieces and still have a ton of fries - haha. 

We only stayed 24 hours. After being sick Thursday night, up all Friday night in labor, and woken every hour or more on Saturday night (poor nurse who had to come do a midnight CBC in my arm - I was not nice to her) - we wanted out! We had the most wonderful nurses. A huge struggle naming her - with a blindsided birth certificate lady when I burst into tears after signing the FIRST form. Trying to get out in 24 hours with all the checks, all the discharges, hearing screening, newborn screening, vitals, lactation, all the people who have to come in and sign off - we spent barely any time Dan and I discussing names or hanging with Rowan. It was in and out. But we were so glad to get home to our girls - and they were SO excited to meet her!

9 Months Pregnant with #4

I'm writing this 39 weeks pregnant so it's really the past 7 weeks. I actually feel great. I had some weeks in there where I was in a lot of pain and thought I wouldn't make it. But now we are finally in the home stretch - and hopefully sooner rather than later. 

I had to stop lifting stuff and stop bending over to the ground to pick things up in order to really feel better. It meant I couldn't pick up Sloan - but she could still climb in my lap. And I bought a grabber "for the elderly" (amazon description) to pickup around the house. Because if you have kids you know there are one million things to pick up any given moment. 

I've honestly been pretty nervous that she'll be too big. Sloan was 9 lbs. This baby was exactly Sloan's measurements in all categories at the 36 week ultrasound. My doctor would like her out this week (39 weeks) but the hospital has been out of space for awhile, especially having separate covid positive and covid negative rooms. They are only taking the most medically urgent for inductions and it isn't up to the doctors (since there are multiple from each practice), instead it's the charge nurse's decision who gets a room. So an induction before 42 weeks is unlikely these days. Unfortunately, the other hospital in town is having no issues. 

So, even though I feel great and wouldn't mind going over my due date quite a bit - I'm worried about how delivery will go if she's overcooked. She was already 7 lbs at 36 weeks. And 8.5 pounds at her ultrasound this week. 

It's so surreal that we are going to have another baby. I don't think it's actually sunk in. (Maybe bc we've barely talked about what to name her. Or maybe bc I've been in total denial at work. I love my team and am so excited about the work we are doing that I don't want to be out. Don't get me wrong, it's in capable hands, I just selfishly want to be a part of it.) We will legitimately be bringing home another child in 3 weeks and so starts the newborn no sleep, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, etc. and I just haven't even let that sink in yet.

Emma's 5th Birthday Party

After Olivia's party, Emma really needed one too. This was even trickier because it is February and cold!

We decided to have just the neighbors over - since they had been playing together outside anyway. 

We made individual s'mores kits for each of the kiddos and had the fire pit in our front yard. Also had a cooler of beer/wine and a cooler of juice. Individual snacks and individually wrapped cookies with her favorites - unicorns, narwhals and her name. The kids brought scooters and bikes to ride around in the culdesac. And we had every single person come - a bigger crowd than we thought. 

It actually rained the weekend that we planned on having it and pushed it to the following weekend. Emma was surprisingly good with that. So we had a cake the day of her birthday and her party later. 

And Sloan drank so much juice - that she was a trainwreck by the end. I'm worried about her college days. 

8 Months Pregnant with #4

This one is tricky. I'm only 32 weeks pregnant (and I want credit for all 32 weeks), but we're just under two months until the due date - so I guess my 9 month post will be 36 weeks - and we'll go from there. Actually feeling great. Besides the furniture moving days or days where I'm on my feet too long - I'm not in much pain. I'm not sleeping much. Usually up around 3am for the day - after peeing 4 times throughout the night. With Emma, I had horrible insomnia. With Sloan, I found these magnesium gummies that cured the insomnia. I thought I was smooth sailing this time around - but the insomnia came back. I am now paralyzed with fear that this one will sleep like Emma did instead of Sloan. Haha! We sure love Emma, but that was a level of tired I'm not sure I can survive again. 

There's not much to do to plan for the 4th. I am keeping a list of snacks I want at the hospital. That's actually my top priority. Snacks. 

Sloan had to come home in a diaper bc she was too big for her coming home outfit. And the hospital has all you need. So no need to pack much. 

The nursery is exactly as it was when all 3 others had it. And we will eventually bring the baby clothes down from the attic and wash them - but that will take like 2 hours. 

Probably should have done a big renovation or something to keep me busy. ;) 

Failed my 1 hour glucose test, and had a scary experience in the 3 hour. My OB said, "I can tell you with confidence that you do not have gestational diabetes. However, your body clearly does not like sugar or carbs - so might be best to stay away." So I have started the gestational diabetes diet on my own (minus taking my blood sugar, pricking my finger, etc.) Did you know a banana has more carbs than you can have in an entire meal? And peanut butter has the amount of carbs you can have in a snack? I am realize how carb heavy so many things are. Upping protein has been hard - but no matter what it will be good for me and this baby. My hospital snacks are currently ALL the candy and sugar - I can have them in 8 or so weeks!

Emma is 5!

She's been talking about it for most of the year - so although I can't believe she's so big, I also kind of thought she was already 5. (Sloan believes that she too is 5) Emma stood on her tippy toes yesterday and said "when I wake up in the morning, I'll be this tall!" Emma has the biggest heart. She is always thinking about others and how they feel. She takes care of our dog, Koda. She makes Dan save and free the bugs that are trapped in our house. She has an incredible emotional maturity, and will call you out if you are not modeling the behavior you've asked of her. Being her parents can be very humbling. She is hands down the most excited about this new baby and constantly hugging and talking to my belly. She is an incredible big sister! New things, change, and hard things can be very difficult for her, and she's working every day on her frustration tolerance. I am so proud of the little girl she is becoming! I can't wait to see what 5 has in store for Emma. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's a year without a broken bone! 

7 Months Pregnant with #4

The back pain and hip pain is setting in, but it's not nearly that bad. Part of it, I attribute to still working out. Now - these are not intense workouts by any means. But just keeping the back strong and stretched helps a lot. I am also seeing a chiropractor (that I previously referred to as a witch doctor) which is helping a ton. He also makes me ice my back so Dan and I sit in the living room, after the kids go to bed with our ice packs like quite the old couple. (Dan had shoulder surgery a few weeks ago and will likely be in a sling for 12 weeks - you forget how handy (pun intended) that second arm is in your day to day life). 

We had to move all the furniture out of our room and the office to have painters remove popcorn, paint, and then have new carpet installed. Shout out to my parents for helping us move the big heavy stuff. But I'm pretty proud of how scrappy we are on our own - me with a big belly and Dan with one arm. We will be thrilled to get this finished and our upstairs back together. Right now the nursery holds all of the extra furniture. 

Speaking of, Sloan is completely potty trained and sleeping in a big girl bed in her sisters room! I'll get pictures up of their room once it's finished. When I realized that Dan only having one arm meant that he couldn't help with diaper changes, I was determined to get her out of diapers. She took to it so easily like Olivia did. This is the first time our youngest is potty trained before the new baby. But it's also our biggest age gap between kids. 

Overall this pregnancy is absolutely flying. I'm up around 25 pounds (not bad, but I usually gain 30 in the third trimester, so likely will end up at 55 pounds gained like with Emma). But I do know the last few weeks are the longest and most miserable. Just hoping my hips will hold out until the end.

6 Months Pregnant with #4

This month has been one of the most fun while in quarantine. Having Christmas to look forward to and all the fun baking, shopping, wrapping, Christmas lights, etc. We made a list of fun things to do during Christmas and it's been fun to do something off of it if we get bored. I've been feeling pretty good up until this week. All of the standing while cooking, and sitting on the floor wrapping presents has killed my back. Hopefully that will go away in the next few days. 

Thanksgiving was wonderful, but I also gained 4 pounds in one day. So the weight is packing on now. It tends to be exponential, so I'm thinking I'll definitely end up gaining more than when pregnant with Olivia. Currently up 15 pounds. I'm hoping that all the hip and back pain with Sloan (and inability to walk the last month) was due to the weight gain. Even though I tried everything with Sloan to eat hardly anything and it didn't work, I'm hoping if the weight gain is a little less, I'll feel better at the end. My OB says the hip pain is unrelated and usually worse with each pregnancy and is prescribing me a walker. So I think that'll be super cool and not embarrassing at all. Haha! At least I am not in the office - that is helping a ton!

My chiropractor said he would keep me out of a walker. He isn't big on promises when he can't deliver, and was very confident in this one. So we will see how big of a miracle worker he is.