First Time vs. Third time

I was thinking the other day how different it really is from being a first time mom to now a third go around with baby!

When Linnea was born I felt I was a natural at a few things...but not many. I was so nervous to bathe her, I needed to have someone else there so they could help me get her out of the tub and hold the towel or something. I checked on her constantly in the night to make sure she was alive and breathing, feeding was confusing, frustrating and new to me, I am not lying I swear I called the pediatrician's office at least once a week if not more to just make sure this new "behavior" was normal and my child didn't have some mysterious disorder :) I sat in the back seat of the car whenever possible to make sure there was absolutely no crying, I kept looking to the next stage and kept hoping that the sleepless nights would end. I thought I was tired...even though I was able to sleep in the day whenever Linnea slept. I sanitized everything, if another child was near I was nervous, I made everyone wash their hands...and then sanitize again. Oh my gosh and the first time she got a cold I was a nervous wreck my calls to the doctor went from 1 time a week to 1 time a day it seemed like.

Now I've noticed some distinct changes in myself and learning with Linnea, Drew and now Jarom. I only make sure my kids wash their hands before they touch him...because let's face it who knows where those little hands have been. I figure most adults are courteous enough to know that they have dirty hands and they will wash them themselves before asking to hold your baby, also if they have been around illness or are sick themselves again most adults are courteous enough to stay away, there are the few out there that you still need to ask. I do not schedule Jarom or wake him up at night and I don't worry about him being alive :) (he does snort a lot while he sleeps so that helps me know he's still with us) I have not called the pediatrician once since he has been born, I'm a pro at popping him in the tub, wrapping him up in a towel by myself in my lap and moving on. Crying babies do not bother me in the car anymore, after about two hours yeah I'll get anxious. Jarom already has a booger nose thanks to his siblings and he's just fine, we use our little nose sucker and he hates it, but he's just fine. Most of all though I have found I truly realize how fast the time does fly with these little kiddos, I can honestly say I've been enjoying every second of the newborn phase...and yes that includes the middle of the night and the waking up early because his brother and sister refuse to sleep in. I get cranky, I'm not super mom, but I have never found myself looking forward to a year from now so I'll have a more independent child, or I'll be done nursing or he'll be sleeping through the night. If I've learned one thing from first child to third...it's to not rush their lives...don't wish them to grow up...I look forward to him walking, playing baseball etc, but I'm not wishing for this stage of his life to be over...the same goes for my other two littles. Drew is a pill, but I love how he still wants me to cuddle him and read to him and sing to him. Linnea can be sassy, but I love how she wants to rush to me and tell me EVERYTHING that she is thinking, or I love that she still comes to me with her 200 questions everyday about everything. I love that I'm still number one in their lives. I remember growing up and I remember when parents take the back burner in a teen's life and then after that it's some guy or girl comes along and then  we'll just be there for support and advice.

                              

It's fun to look back and see how we've changed. That is now my advice for first time mommies is to enjoy every second even the night, enjoy the quiet and the special alone time and snuggles with your little baby. That is my advice, now maybe it's something everyone just has to learn on their own thought. HEre are some pictures of the last little while of the kiddos!

Our first week as a family of five

Well we've survived a week with a new little guy. Jarom is absolutely a perfect newborn. He sleeps, eats and poops! He rarely cries, and he gives me typically at least 2 1/2-3 hour stretches each night, not bad for a newborn.

The kids are adjusting each in their own way, sometimes good sometimes....not so good. Linnea has been a little bit more weepy, but on the other hand is head over heels in love with her new baby brother. Sometimes she snaps at Derek and I a little bit more, but that could be due to grumpy, sleep deprived mom as well.

 

Drew has been causing mischief, he likes to push buttons even more now, especially when mom is feeding Jarom since he has learned I can't get up to enforce what I'm saying. Smart little bugger. On the other hand he needs tons more reassurance that he's still my baby boy too. He wants us to hug, hold, and snuggle him more than ever. He as well loves his little brother, he asks to hold him and loves to give his head kisses. I figured Drew would be more jealous than Linnea and it seems to be true.

Derek...Derek is always a champ with new babies, he helps at night whenever I ask him too (he's usually a little loopy and doesn't remember getting up, but whatever) he has been balancing entertaining the other kids when I can't, school, moving, and work. So he's a champ hyped up on coke and Dr. Pepper :)

Me...well I'm doing pretty good. The baby blues hit a few days after delivery where the smallest things will make me cry...I usually get a few good days of the weeps then I seem to click into our schedule so I feel I'm on the uphill side of that part. The pubic symphysitis I had during pregnancy unfortunately is just if not more painful now after delivery, so I'm trying to deal with that. It really hurts if I sit too long, which is hard when a little baby demands to be fed every few hours. I am totally in love with my new little guy and I can't stop kissing him and rubbing his soft head with all his dark hair!!! I'm trying to really have patience and understand my other two love bugs are adjusting just like the rest of us, sometimes I really fall short and lose my temper, but I apologize and try harder next time. Hopefully we get into our routine after our move and we can have a wonderful summer together!



Look at all my babies! They look so similar to me, except different hair colors!!!

Linnea

Drew

Jarom

 

Love them

Jarom Philip Childs

Our beautiful baby boy was born on Friday May 31st!!! We are so excited to have him finally here. He even made his appearance 2 weeks early...you can't ask more than that :)

 

He is so sweet and precious and has added more to our family than we knew we were missing...that always seems to happen when you get a new addition I think...one day before they come you can't picture having a new little person and then after they are here you can't imagine how you lived without them.

Jarom's birth story started at about 5:00 pm on Thursday. I had had my 38 week appointment earlier that day. I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced We had discussed stripping my membranes. I was a little nervous since I am a believer that babies should bake as long as they need. My OB told me that if he's not ready he won't come, stripping membranes just kind of helps babies who are on the edge get things started. So with that info we decided to give it a go. It was probably the weirdest feeling I've ever had. So anyways that evening right after Derek left for work I started having pretty consistent contractions. I waited a little while and then told Derek that maybe he should come back home. So of course he was more than thrilled to leave work :). We decided to go out walking, we needed to get a pack of diapers for Drew to send to my sister's house and my parents for when we were gone so we walked down the street to Smith's and happily the contractions were still coming...they weren't changing how far apart they were though and they weren't getting stronger...hmmm I wasn't ready to admit that this really could be the real thing.

By this point my mom had decided to drive up (since she missed Drew's birth by ten minutes she did not want that to happen again) so I started feeling anxious about having her up here and what if it was a false alarm...blah blah. Well Derek wanted to go and get some things at Lowes so we figured that we could keep walking (by this point our kids were pretty exhausted since it was 7:30 and past their bed time, but they were troopers). By the time we headed home we still weren't sure if this was it because the contractions were still about 10-12 minutes apart and not getting closer. So we put the kids to bed and decided to just relax. At this point Katie and my mom were on high alert (we're an anxious family) and they were ready and waiting. Derek and I decided to relax and just watch a movie together...until our land lord called. He said there was a couple wanting to come look at the apartment...sweet. So much for relaxing I guess.

Around 8:30 this couple came and did their walk through so finally after they left Derek and I popped in 17 again, popped some popcorn and tried to time some contractions. They never got closer...pretty frustrating. But they were still coming so after the movie was over I suggested that we go get rest just in case this labor picked up in the middle of the night, Derek said he wanted to try and just stay awake because he felt he would be more tired if he went to bed for two hours then had to get up. Well after a couple of hours NOTHING WAS CHANGING! So I finally convinced him to get some sleep. We attempted to tell my mom to sleep too (come to find out later she was never able to). I planned on just resting in between contractions since I figured I wouldn't be able to fall asleep with the annoying pings of contractions....and then what to you know I woke up 2 1/2 hours later! I was so upset I figured things must have stopped. I wasn't having any contractions anymore. Man, then the water works started I woke Derek up and cried to him how frustrated I was and how I really thought this baby was coming. He calmed me down and I finally was able to lay down and relax again...after about 20 minutes THEY STARTED AGAIN!!! I was so excited, this time they stayed 12-10 minutes apart still, but they got STRONGER! After a few contractions we called up my sister and said we were going to bring the kids over and we were going to head in to the hospital to get checked. So at 3:20 a.m. we loaded up the kidlets and hauled them over to my sister's house. Linnea went right back to sleep...Drew was a little bit more excited. It was amazing though as soon as I got up and started walking around the contractions started coming about 5 minutes apart. We stayed at Katie's for about 20 minutes trying to get Drew back to sleep, but the contractions got closer so finally I told Derek we needed to leave. Katie and my mom told us they would be right behind us.

We go to the the hospital at 4:00 and they got us all back into a room and checked me, I was dilated to a 6 and we were admitted! I was so excited I couldn't believe this was it we were going to meet this guy that we were so anxious to meet! I put in my head phones with my hypnobirthing CD and really started focusing on what I needed to do. This was my second natural birth and I wanted it to go a little smoother than Drew's had, not that his was bad, but I kind of lost control sooner than I would have liked so I was really focused with this one. I was so amazed at how much the recording and the type of breathing I was using was really working, I had only minimal discomfort. Katie and my mom showed up and we were able to joke around and laugh all while I was continuing to have contractions. I progressed to an 8 1/2 around 5:30. The nurses decided to call my doctor and have her come break my water since it was starting to bulge. We were still calm and I had Derek doing some counterpressure against my knees, but I was so happy to find that if I continued to focus I could literally sit in the bed while he just rubbed my calves or feet and breath and even at an 8 1/2 I was not in pain. The doctor came in and broke my water then things really sped up, I felt the urge to push at about a 9 1/2  and then the ouch factor set in!

Holy cow, Drew's pushing was painful, but this big headed boy...ouch! I stayed relatively calmer still than I had with Drew, I was begging for it to stop, but with Drew I needed oxygen with Jarom I was able to keep breathing. I find it funny the types of things you say when you're in pain. When I was pushing with Drew, I begged for a C-section with Jarom I just kept telling the doctor to just pull him out of me!!! All in all I went through 3-4 contractions and Jarom shot out, literally my doctor had to catch him! Once his head was out the rest of him came out so fast it was amazing!

 

He was here. The doctor nurses told us his head is in the 85% and he also had a hand next to his face, along with the pubic symphysitis I had my whole pregnancy all these contributed to the major pushing aches. I was so happy though that we had nearly the peaceful labor and delivery that we had been practicing as a couple for months. Derek was the most amazing coach I could ask for, he spoke so calmly it's like he knew exactly what I needed. Jarom was born at 7:09, 3 hours after arriving to the hospital and about 14 hours after the first contraction! It was amazing to see his incredibly dark hair and his more olive complexion! He is my largest baby, we are so happy to have him. He is calm and seems to be eating well. No complaints with this guy.

 

 

Linnea is in love with him and finally today Andrew is showing interest in holding him and being around him! We couldn't be happier to have Jarom in our lives.!

sorry for some of the picture quality...

I Got You

My little Drew man is almost two....I can't believe it, sometimes I feel like it has gone pretty slow, but other times I feel like it has just flown by. My kids have been saying some funny things lately and I just want to write some down so I always have the memories

Drew is in love with...Me. Yes thank you he's my momma's boy which I'll take. Drew refuses to walk downt he stairs in the morning he must be held. He reaches his chubby little hands up with his blankie tassles in his hand and says "I got you, I got you, I got you!" This translates into...Hold me! He says it when we're sitting on the couch, when I'm cooking etc. He loves to be held and loved and basically just see what's going on.

He is still my little thumb sucker, I honestly am in love with it, but unfortunately we will hopefully be weening in a few weeks...I don't know how to start, but that's what I keep telling myself.

Every morning now it's like Drew knows when I'm about to head out the door for work...he'll dart from wherever he is and stand in front of the front door, blocking me! He usually smiles at me, but yells "No" the whole time too. It's adorable, but slightly heartbreaking too. He loves Barney and his favorite song at this moment is The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. I love my little munchkin so much! He is in the terrible two's and quite a pill a lot of the time, but he is also still my sweet little man!


Linnea has gotten her first bike, and honestly hasn't taken to it as much as I would've hoped. She almost fell off a little while ago and sometimes Nea takes awhile to really jump back on the horse again...sooo hopefully that helps. 

This little sweetie had a realization the other day that I thought was hilarious that I want to share....she loves Turkey sandwiches so I whipped her up one for lunch. She was about halfway through the sandwhich when I looked over at her and saw her holding the turkey meat in her hands...with tears coming down her little cheeks. I asked her what was wrong and she asked me if this was a chicken, I told her no it was Turkey. She just started balling! She cried while she held her murdered turkey and said "I want turkey's to be animals!" I realized at that moment she had just understood that when we eat meat we are eating animals! It was the saddest, cutest thing ever. She seriously carried the turkey meat around for about ten minutes just holding it, mourning it. I told her if it made her sad she didn't have to eat it...but in the end the liking for her yummy turkey sandwiches won out...she ate the dead turkey and accepted the fact.

Fun times around this house...I'm struggling physically to do just about anything. I have pubic symphysitis with this little guy which means my ligaments and cartilage surrounding my pelvis and pubic bones are super stretched and super inflamed so any movement feels like I'm getting stabbed in that general area or getting poked with a hot poker...ladies you can imagine that that is uncomfortable. I'm concerned about making it to my due date with work since I walk and bend a lot with my patients I feel it's making it a little worse....so hopefully it all works out. I've tried everything I can, I've got a belt I wear I try to take it easy, but it's not so easy when the hubs works nights and I'm working. I appreciate the offers for help I've gotten, we'll survive but I do look forward to having that pain gone in a few months so I can actually run and play outside with the kids instead of being a spectator on the porch! It's all worth it at least!

Well hope everyone else is enjoying this spring weather....I hope Utah doesn't play any nasty tricks and start to snow or something

Stay at Home Mommy in the making

Well in a few months we will add our new little man to our family. Having the big #3 child has really caused Derek and I to look at what needs to be done for our family since he is still in school and not finishing his college education is just simply not an option.

It can be done with kids...does it make it a lot harder I would probably for sure have to say yes, but I finished school with kids and so can Derek. Anyways- I have been the sugar mama while he's been in school, however we are re-thinking some things. Three kids in daycare is highway robbery just in case anyone wanted to know...it averages about $800-$1000 a month...sooo not cool.

Derek and I have come to the conclusion that we need to cut, cut, cut in anyway that we can. He says he truly wants to find a full time job that could support us. So we talked with Weber State about the hours that the MET program usually has. They said most classes are each day from about 8-12 in the morning. So we figure that's do-able with a job. The exciting, scary news for me is...if he can find a high enough paying job...I probably could come home about 90% of the time. I may have to make up the difference a little bit, but we're working on that part...I've been wondering if I should maybe babysit a few kids or try and work PRN (on call) at a hospital or something one day a week since I get paid a higher rate for PRN.

Well, I say this is scary because honestly I have never been a full time stay at home mom...ever. I've either been in school or working. Thank heaven this last year has only been part - time but I have done full - time and it's totally not super enjoyable.

So I've been trying to see what I can do...we do have bills...some are annoying we wish we didn't have debt bills but what can you do so I can't just cut that out of our budget. I've started simple right now like going homemade on some things to save. So I decided boxed snacks are processed and not super great for you anyways right...but they are also soo expensive so I've begun to make all our snack food homemade. I think I've mastered several different granola's and granola bars- homemade bars are sooooo much cheaper than store bought stuff and personally I think it tastes better.

I've learned my kids love muffins...and I am really utilizing my freezer. My kids eat a lot of apples and fruits for snacks with peanut butter or something like that. Linnea loves carrot sticks so she just munches on those all she wants...I make homemade fruit snacks instead of buying the ones from the store and I think they are great.

I've also started to make my own bread. I'm so not a pro yet, but I've actually mastered it enough to make good sized sandwich bread. I get four loaves out of one batch and we freeze it and it lasts for us.

I get two newspapers for coupons, and honestly lately they haven't been much help unless I want oreo's (not saying I don't, just saying why waste the money) I am really trying to be a hardcore meal planner, I only do week by week because it's not quite as overwhelming to me. After reviewing our budget the money that disappeared the most was on food...you know those nights where you don't have anything planned and you really don't want to cook...yep those nights-- so turning into hard core meal planning has helped cut the out to eat runs quite a bit...we still do it occasionally but we've really cut back.

I'm doing bountiful baskets co-op again to get more fruits and veggies for a good price so hopefully that will start to add up!

I can't tell you how bad I want this. We finally kicked ourselves in the butt and said instead of just complaining and waiting for a solution to fall into our laps if this is what we want for our family then we need to make some changes. We don't live in luxury homes, my kids very well may be bunk bedding it with the baby in the room too to save on living expenses, we don't have TV, we don't even have netflix...just movies and online shows....(to be honest that's what I miss the most is our Dish Network...ahhh someday)

So my reason for this post is for all you money savvy people...what other ideas can you throw at me? I'm so ready to pinch and save for 2 1/2 years until Derek is done if it means I get to spend almost everyday with my pumpkins...I am realistic I probably will have to do something to help bring in money (stupid debt) but if I get the majority of the week at home I'll take it... I'm excited to see how our journey plays out in the next few months. Derek does have some prospective jobs, we are actually waiting back on an awesome internship that we really hope he gets...if not we're still looking! So keep the ideas coming....what do you do to save and cut costs in your house?

 

(oldie but a cutie)

Our life Changes

Wow, this is the first post that I've done about our little nugget that is baking in the oven.

I blame my computer for some of that, it's really had a hard time with this site for some reason, but also I've just been putting things off for a long time I guess.

Well we have baby number three coming and we recently learned it is another BOY! We're pretty excited, but I have to admit I am nervous to have two boys right next to each other. Drew is kind of going through some busy, tornado, terrible twos! Linnea was busy at this age, but not quite as destructive. Drew takes pleasure in pulling things off the shelves, climbing on furniture, and I have used more band aids and Neosporin on this kid than I ever did with Linnea. So...yes I am a little nervous to have two little destructos within two years of each other!

At the beginning of this pregnancy I felt so much anxiety....doesn't make sense  right....it's not my first time around the baby block, but it came much faster than I expected. Derek still has three years left before he's out of school and holy cow I just felt like there was no way we could keep adding more kids to the picture.

This pregnancy has also been my hardest so far. I've only actually thrown up twice, but I had extreme nausea all day long to the point I was actually trying to throw up and it wouldn't come...it was pleasant. Well for the most part that has passed, now I'm dealing with intense pain during walking. It has slowly gotten worse with each baby and this little guy is really making it tough. I'm going to be ordering a band to help lift him up and see if that helps. I wish I could explain it, the only way I can describe it is a shot put ball putting burning pressure between my hips every time I move my lower half...it doesn't make it easy at work working with patients...secretly I want to steal their wheelchairs and wheel myself around the building :)

At this point I am 22 weeks along and I have had an attitude change, I am ecstatic about our little guy, I can't wait to meet him. Some how things will work out and Derek will continue and will graduate the same as always. I admit I was 100% sure this little guy was a girl. Linnea told me it was girl, I had the fuzzies it was a girl so when we found out it was a boy I litterally asked the tech if she was sure. I was worried I would be disappointed but I only felt confused for a  minute and then I couldn't wait to start really focusing on names and getting to know this little guy.

The two kids are getting ready as well. Linnea is going to be such a little mom I can already tell. I promised her I would let her help me feed him with a bottle at one point. She is good at being mom...sometimes too much. I often find her putting her younger brother in time out and taking privalages away :). Drew I only worry that he won't understand why the kid won't play with him so I do worry he might touch a little rough at times, but he'll learn. And as many of you know newborns take up a lot of time so I worry my little destructive boy may take that opportunity to make a run through the house :)

I'm prepping already to have this kid. I'm planning on no medical interventions again, just like with Drew. I struggled during pushing with Drew so Derek and I are prepping so hopefully  I won't beg for a C-section again when his head is basically out :) Drew's labor was pretty fast, so the Doctor told me they typically just get faster so be sure and get to the hospital as soon as I have consistant contractions, so that will be nice too if he comes fast :) I am so happy to have a summer baby (June 12) I think that will help with the other kids too, we'll be able to go outside and let them get their wiggles out.

Well life is pretty good....it doesn't change a lot, we're just busy mentally preparring to officially be outnumbered kid wise :)

How grateful I am

 

I re-lived one of the most horrific experiences of my life last night...in a dream. It was the first few minutes of Linnea's life.

 

What you may say would make the birth of your first child horrific...try having no sound when she comes out and a red blinking light and a team of nurses and respiratory therapists rushing in. Try watching your husband freeze and your mom crying her eyes out...and never hearing your baby cry! The worst part is...the medical staff never told me what was happening. They smiled at me and said everything is fine...as a mom you know everything is not fine.

 

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, but in all reality was a little over a minute I heard Linnea cry for the first time. I have her birth on film. I've watched it once since she was born almost four years ago...I've watched Drew's multiple times now because it brings me joy, I can't watch Nea's because she is born blue and floppy. I had the whole experience flood back to me last night...and it made me pick her up this morning and kiss her so hard! I am so blessed my story ended beautifully with a healthy, spit fire daughter!

 

Why did this happen to her? Well no one had an answer, but after watching the footage of her birth beforehand I noticed something...as soon as I got my epidural my labor slowed down...then I noticed (because we filmed it) the heart rate of Linnea was dropping, then rising...after hours of this she was born. Any type of drug effects me in strong ways. I couldn't walk for hours after delivery. This is why Andrew was born without drugs. I learned that epidurals can at times cause depressed breathing.

 

Natural birth is not for everyone (I think everyone can do it, you have to get your mind in it)...but it is for me! This is the only explaination I have as to why Linnea was not breathing, it shows on her monitors....so I won't use one again unless medically necessary. I don't know why I'm writing this...probably because it's a very emotional experience and I need to get it out of my mind for now!

 

 

I'm just feeling really grateful for this beautiful little girl right now!

Both my healthy kids for that matter!