<3 Drake Amos <3 1 month 5-22-13

I can’t believe that this little man is 1 month old today.

I just love this little guy so much.

God Bless,

Jen

Baby Drake’s Birth story.

Yikes!! Here I am before I had our little boy. You do have to excuse me for the way I look. I got probably 2 hours of sleep that night and we had to be at the hospital by 6am. Being a scheduled c-section you usually have to go in pretty early in the morning. But we made it all the way to 39 weeks!! Which was my goal.

I was pretty sure at this point I was going to have a 9 pound baby. I was very large and pretty darn swollen. As I am writing this I am pretty excited to say that I have ankles and shins again!!

Here I am all strapped up and ready to go. First off the spinal went well no pain during that. I started to feel warm and I was laid down on the table and now they had to get me all ready. After they got me all prepped they called Vince into the room. At this point we were very excited to meet our little man.

So my doctor got started and all was going well from what we knew. My doctors were very calm so we had no idea until later that there was an actual emergency happening. I did hear my doctor ask for the forceps which I thought was weird for a c-section. What was happening at this point was that when the doctor cut into my uterus my the placenta was anterior meaning it was in the front and he cut thru it and it detached and they had to get baby Drake out quickly because I was bleeding out and so was Drake. This is why he need the forceps was to get him out as quick as possible.

 

Welcome baby Drake!! Now they are working on baby Drake and me at the same time. My doctor is closing me up and the peds are working on Drake. Then the part I hate is when they kinda just show me him and take him off to the NICU. Vince was able to go with him.

After I was all put back together I was wheeled into my room to recover. I was assuming that I was going to be able to snuggle with my new baby in just a few minutes and that is when I found out that Drake was struggling and was in the NICU. My nurses were super sweet trying to keep me updated with out stressing me. After what seemed like forever Vince came into my room with the camera to show me pictures of him and to let me know what was going one.

He was not pinking up on his own and was stressed from the birth. They had him on oxygen they put an IV in his little arm. His blood pressure was not at a normal level either. He ended up staying in the NICU for 3 hours before I was able to see him.

I was so excited when Drake showed up in my room. I could not wait to hold him. First thing I did was strip him down and have him skin to skin. He snuggled right up to me and fell asleep and then was able to nurse when ever he needed. It is so awesome how God has made little babies and they know when they are on their mommy and they can find the breast on their own.

What an amazing gift we have here. We feel so blessed to have another life entrusted to us. I am going to say this and I know some people will think I am crazy but I do hope God blesses us again with another baby sometime.

Croix and Drake

Will and Drake

Vinny and Drake

Brooke and Drake

 

God Bless,

Jen

Baby Drake is here!!

 

Drake Amos

Born on April 22nd 2013

8:01 am

7lb 5oz  20 inches

Just saying Hi!

I am here enjoying these last few weeks of pregnancy. I am am loving feeling this little man moving and kicking me *smile* I still can’t believe it is almost over. Vince was just saying to me the other day “I don’t remember you not being pregnant”. Isn't that funny how being pregnant for 9 months seem so long to our husbands. Yet in another sentence he says he is not ready yet. Nope we are not ready but he will be here sooner then we think.

I am 35 weeks today!! I have a picture to share that I took last week when I was 34 weeks that I will share with you. Everything is going good with the pregnancy. I am experiencing a new thing this time around which are the Braxton Hicks which I have to say are very painful. I thought they were just supposed to be pressure but man do they feel like real contractions. I was told by my doctor to stay off my feet for part of the day to make sure they do not get to regular. I have them everyday through out each day. Makes me a bit nervous. Vince has informed me that my only job right now for the next few weeks is to keep that baby inside me so to not worry about the house and laundry. He is so sweet and calls me through out the day making sure that I am not doing anything. Other then the Braxton Hicks and swelling everything is going great!

Yep that’s one big belly

We have been enjoying our nice days (when we get them). We have taken a few walks to the park to get out of the house. A big bummer right now is that we are supposed to be getting some yucky weather here in the next few days. We did happen to head to the park the other day and saw some other homeschool friends there so that was fun.

Here is Croix saying he is the “king of the mountain!” while we were at the park. We forgot to bring something to feed the ducks but we just enjoyed watching them.

I have quite a few friends that are expecting and have had babies. So the other weekend I was one of the hostesses for my dear friend Julie’s baby shower. We did a mustache theme for this shower. It was a lot of fun.

Here is the cake I had made for it. One of my other dear friends Gwen makes some awesome cakes. Isn't this awesome!!

Here we are with the new mommy. She is the one right next to me in the middle. The young lady on the right had her beautiful baby in November. I also had a friend just the last weekend have her baby in the comfort of her own home. She had a boy also.

Seeing all these cute baby boys is getting me so excited!! We have finally settled on a first name for our little boy. We are not telling anyone yet because I know once I tell people we will change our minds so we will announce it when we have him. We have yet to figure out a middle name. Since the first name we pick is not a family name (which I am a fan of family names) we will be using a family name for the middle name. I am sure it will come to us soon.

Here is a picture of the quilt I made for him. This is not the pattern I was going to use for him but I decided I didn’t what to make something that was going to take me more then just a few days to make. With all of my swelling sitting at the sewing machine. This picture does not do justice for the colors. I have been crocheting a few things for some friends that are having babies. I am crocheting to help me stay off my feet.

Here are a couple of pictures of my cute diaper covers that I have bought for this little guy. I am so loving the Fox one. I just bought it the other day when I went to the doctor. I got these along with some Pre fold diapers and flat diapers for them to cover. These covers are called a one size that will fit 8-30 pounds. So these will save some money in the long run. When Croix was a baby we used cloth also but we used the fancy new kinds of diapers and we had so many problems with the fabrics causing rashes and things like that I am sticking with natural fibers this time and the prefolds and flat diapers are considered what our grand mothers used but the wash out so much nicer and they didn’t give him rashes. After I spend a ton of money on the other diapers I had to spend more on buying the others after spending all that money. This time I am not making that mistake. I do have a few of the other kinds of diapers to see if they will work for us. And they will be nice for sitters to use because they work just like a disposable diaper you don’t have to worry about folding the diapers or anything you just out it on.

 

As for school we have been doing as much as we can. But I do have to say that there are days I get behind with it and we wait until daddy gets home to help us out. Vince had a great point which made me feel so much better because I have been well freaking out a bit about not getting as much done as I think we need to. He said you know being pregnant and having a new born is not something that will happen all the time and that if we don’t get all the school things done everyday it will be okay.

Croix has started his new reading books that I ordered. He is doing well with them. He is right now doing the beginning of them which is review but that is okay. Will has started division which he was pretty scared to start and he is doing great!! Vinny has started to do some pretty hard things in math that I was nervous about for him yet he has picked up on them super fast!

Well I hope to get another post before this baby is born. We could use some prayers to keep this guy where he is for a few more weeks.

 

God Bless,

Jen

Update: 32weeks and how school is going.

Here is a picture of our sweet little baby boy. If you can see this is his face. What a cutie. I can not wait to snuggle with this little one.

Me at 31 weeks. I am today 32 weeks 4 days.

Sorry for not posting lately but I have been trying to just do what I can to get my days finished smoothly. When I think about writing a post it is 12am and there is no way I am staying up to do one. I have tons of fun pictures I would like to post but I don’t think I will get those done.

I am so excited to have this little guy in my arms. I know he is not ready so I pray he will stay put until he is ready. Not sure he will get to stay put until then but I am praying. I have been having some not so fun issues. I am swelling like crazy. I have taken any sodium I can out of my diet, drink a ton of water, and keeping my feet up but nothing is seeming to help me at all. I have this evening been checking my blood pressure every couple of hours which I was told to do so by the doctor. I have an appointment in the morning so the doctor can get a better look at everything.

Other then all that we are all doing great! School has been going good lately. Will is really excelling in math right now. He has even surprised himself last week. He was so nervous to multiply 3 numbers. It looked very scary to him at first but once he got it he just flu with it. I am so proud of him. Vinny has is days but for some reason we are going thru a struggling time with him doing his work. I am sure if we just work thru it he will get out of this slump. Croix is also doing well. I just had to place an order for some 1st grade level reading and phonics books because he finished his and he is not really clicking well with Time4learning. Will and Vinny are using Time4learning still and they will finish the school year out doing it and probably the next school year they will be using it also.

I hope that I can get back to writing more often. Sorry for all of the time that has past since the last time I blogged. 

God Bless,

Jen

What to do when the baby comes?????

This is something I worry about often and I am trying to prepare myself for when the baby comes and we still need to do school. I have heard some people just take 3months to a year off of schooling and just catch up later on. I am not sure I want to do that even though it sounds like a good idea sometimes. I do know I will take a month off at least. Or just enough time that this guy is nursing well and has some longer naps.

I am also guessing I will be doing a lot of reading aloud before then with baby in my arms. Well I am guessing we will be doing a lot of schooling with baby in my arms, I know that I can do it but I am a planner and I need a plan. If the plan is not followed to the “T” I will be okay with that but I just need a plan.

Another thing I was thinking I may do in the beginning is to school in the evenings when daddy is home so that way he can be here if I need help with anything that I need help with.

I just need some ideas. HELP!! Any ideas would be great.

God Bless,

Jen

The Reveal!!

Well we had our big reveal today. It was a lot of fun. My brother and his friend, my mom and dad, a sweet friend and a young lady that who was so excited to find out what we are having came. Along with the rest of us. Here are a few pictures of the day.

My dear friend Gwen made this cake for us. She did a GREAT job!!

The set up.

Croix giving his baby a kiss.

The boys I wonder what it will be pose

Here is the reveal! Love this face! He was so excited!

AND IT IS A BOY!!!!!

Thank heaven for little boys!

God Bless,

Jen

Boy or Girl??

 

Well we will be having a gender reveal party so everyone can find out what we are having. I am so excited!! I am having a dear friend make a cake for us that will reveal the gender of the baby. My kids think I am being so mean not letting them know what we are having. On Sunday after church is the party. Then I will post what we are having.

Will we have our 4th boy in a row or will it be a change and finally get some pink ?????

God Bless,

Jen

Appointment; 14 weeks 2 days

I had my appointment with my new doctor on Monday this week. I had a GREAT one to tell you the truth. I was part of a miracle. But I will get to that in just a minute.

You may have noticed that I said new doctor and I did. I Love my doctor here in town but with all of my previous c-sections (4) I felt I needed to be somewhere that they would have an OB deliver this baby. I have delivered my last 2 babies at this hospital I will be at this time and we loved it so I felt we needed to be there again. It is only a 45 min drive from our house. This doctor that I chose this time I have went to before a few times and liked him a lot.

My appointment was a t 10:15 am and well it took forever which I figured it would because it was Monday and everyone goes to the doctor on Mondays. Also I had to transfer all my info also. After all the paper work and waiting room time I finally got in to see him. Did the normal things I was weighed and well lost yet another 2 pounds. This makes a total of 10 pounds. I would be happy but I am a bit nervous about that. I have not been sick I just keep losing weight. The doctor says its is fine because of my weight anyway. I think it is just that I can't seem to eat bread because it makes me feel yucky. So I guess take away bread from my diet and there you go –10 pounds. I think that would do it for anyone.

Not many people know this but when we were at my last appointment my old doctor found a mass in my bladder so I had to have this looked at again at the hospital. So I headed over there to have an ultrasound again to check it again and decide what we were going to have to do with it. If it was something that needed to dealt with now or after the baby was born. So after another wait, but this time I was able to stop and have some yummy Mexican food and then head to a friends house for some girl time then I headed to the hospital. I called and asked for prayers form friends and I prayed. Praying that the mass would be gone. Well here is where the miracle happened! The mass was GONE!!!!!! I just get chills thinking about this. The radiologist said it could of just not been there and all these other things but I said nope this was Gods hands *smile*.

I was able to see our little blessing bounce around and see its little legs and arms. This little stinker would not stay still long enough to take a good picture so I have one for you all but its not the best. I got to listen to the heart beat which was 165. I do now know why I have felt this baby move so much more then the others it is because this one is a little jumper. I love feeling the little flutters and can’t wait to be able to let the kids touch my belly and fell baby move. So as you can tell pretty much everything is right on track and all good news. Praise the Lord!!

Here is a picture of our little bean

God Bless,

Jen

Wonderful News

    We are very excited to announce that we are expecting our 5th child!! What a blessing this news has been for us. I almost 8 weeks which is a little early to tell people but we are just so excited that we couldn’t keep this to ourselves. God has blessed us so much that this is just another wonderful blessing that he has given us. We were not sure it would happen again and I had just came to terms that my womb was closed, then God opened it and has given us another child.  

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate

Psalms 127 3-5

     I just love this verse. This verse makes me think about what children are to mean to us. Each child we have is such a blessing even if we only are able to have them for a short time. The loss of 4 babies before being born is very hard but I have learned to enjoy every moment with them. This is why I am so excited to announce so soon. Why not enjoy every second I have with this life that God has given. I pray daily for this baby to come to term and we will have to privilege of knowing this baby.

     I have had a few problems with this pregnancy in this short time. First off I had a lot of pain and didn’t know what it was so I went in to the doctor and he did an ultra sound to see if this was a tubule pregnancy that the Lord it was not but still had pain. We found out that my uterus is attached to my abdominal wall by adhesions. So which means I will have this pain the whole time. At this appointment he was not able to locate the baby so I had to come back in a week. I came back the next week to have another look and we found 2 babies and a cyst the size of a tennis ball and well lets say I was very excited about the twins! The cyst was painful and he said that we need to watch it to make sure it doesn’t get to big. If it does then they would have to do surgery, so I had to come back in another week. So I came back and we found that the cyst is bigger but it looks like it is collapsing and there is less pain so he said that is good news. Next we looked at the babies and  there was now only 1 baby that had developed. I was sad but at least we have one baby growing right on track. He then asked me again to come back in in a week from that day. So I will be going back in a few days for another look to make sure the cyst is smaller. I feel like all will go well from now on, I have my progesterone to level out my hormones and I have my faith in my Lord.

Here is a picture of our baby

   

I will post my new picture when I get it next week.

     Now I have to tell you all that my other kids are so excited. We are going to let them in on everything thing this time like naming the baby. Which they can not seem to wait to do this. I just keep telling them as they tell me names to remember it and tell me again later.

  God Bless

   Jen