A Ballerina, a "Bobot", and a Baby

Kate started Ballet class today. She has been counting down when she could go to dance since the winter. Even though there was a lot of mom barking orders to get dinner done and get her ready by 5:30 for the class, she was happy as could be. She looked adorable. And of course was totally the most graceful in her class. She insisted that she wear a bow, that came with some of my old clothes from my mom's house that was from one of my dance recitals when I was younger.

She has been practicing her moves for years now. That picture above is before the class. A natural see. I'm not sure how she even really knows what ballet is.

Another one of kate just dressed up. This is my dress from when I was a toddler. She loves it and attempts to dress herself in it everyday.

This is my "bobot" or Robot Sam. He likes to put this bucket on his head and run around the house. Surprisingly he doesn't run into walls all that often. At least the bucket would protect his head. He also runs around the house with a red snow beanie over his face calling himself Spiderman. I hope he can see through the tight knit a little, remember running into the wall is how he got himself stitches this winter.

and one of Marianne, just to not leave her out.

She is two weeks old today. She appears to be gaining weight but I guess we will see tomorrow at her doctor's appointment. She is still a great eater..... sleeping is another story. She likes to sleep upright, like being held in my arms, but that is difficult, so we are letting her sleep propped up on a Bobby Pillow most the time. Her hair, that everyone can't get enough of, is already turning blonde. Also though we though we would call her Andee, it seems we mostly call her Marianne. I think that is mostly because she seems so feminine and petite so Marianne is a better fit at the moment.

Update

From her Doc Apt. Here are her stats

w: 6 lb 15 oz 12%

h: 20.25 in 47%

head: 14.75 in 82%

Although it is considered to be doing well if a newborn has gained back to their birth weight by two weeks, I was really hoping she would break 7lbs. For some reason that seems to make her less breakable and vulnerable. As for her height and head, she is about the same as her siblings- average height and big head. I don't remember if medical staff said this about Kate, but just like Sam, nurses and doctors continue to comment on how stretched out and strong little Marianne's legs are. Of course she doesn't have the muscles like Sam, her legs are just these little bird legs, but she is kicking, stretching and using them none the less.

More Pictures of Three

Our best take.
Sam stares at Marianne's belly button in shock
All three non interested in having their picture taken

During our photo shoot last night.

In my mind these photos were going to be adorable, colorful and perfect.

Then I realized if I could get two of the three kids to smile at the camera at a time that would be pure luck. Three.... nearly impossible.

There were bribes involved even, but no success.

I get other people's children to smile on cue for photos all the time, only my own refuse to listen.

Sigh.

Pictures

This is not the cutest picture- but it is so her face. She makes this "are you kidding me" or "are you serious?" face at me all the time.


I attempted to take some newborn pictures. You know the kind where the newborn is sleepy and moldable. Except I kept trying to move, pose and remove her clothes while sleeping, and she kept waking up. So I ended up interrupting 4 perfectly good naps for nothing. On the 4th try, she stayed asleep for a few minutes so I was able to get something. Lets not even talk about how I will never have a good picture of my entire family again, because trying to get three small children to pose, smile and not move is an impossible task.

Who is Who?

I saw my baby sleeping today.

And instantly remembered a picture taken more than 4 years ago when another daughter was a week or so old.

Can you tell which on is which.

It is not just the blanket being reused that makes these pictures so similar is it?

Some people have started asking how we made the same baby twice.

4 days old

Marianne is 4 days old. I can't believe that is all. It seems like she has been with us a lot longer than that. She is a great eater and sleeper like her big brother Samuel. She is still really yellow from her jaundice. She is such a beauty!

Happy Birthday Marianne!

Notes from Marianne's birth

1. Named Marianne Dee Freeman. Marianne for my grandmother, Dee- after Jake's mother's middle name, and we think we will call her "Andee" a lot, which is what you get when you say her full name really fast together. Kate keeps calling her Mary Andy. We keep singing the Counting Crows song to her 'Marianne you're better than the world"

2. She was born Tuesday Aug 16 2011, at 5:47 pm at 6lbs 9 0z and 19 inches long. We were so shocked at her size. We had made bets on a board in the room, I was right about her height, but we were almost two lbs off on her size. I am still searching for answers as to why she is so small, and am in the end grateful I was pregnant for more than 40 weeks if that is what she needed to gain a little more weight.

3. I had to be induced because I was three days overdue and the most my doctor would allow was 7 days, and because that landed on a weekend, I actually was only advised to go six days over. I did not like being induced at all. It felt very medical and like I had no control even though in reality everything was very controlled. I picked Tuesday for the Doctor on delivery that day. I was grateful I was able to get in, as the day before they called to say there were too many people scheduled and I might not.

4. It was the fastest delivery ever. It lasted only 4 and a half hours. When I was checked sometime around 4:30 pm I was at a 4. When I was checked around 5:15 I was at an 8, and 5 minutes later was at a 10. We didn't have to wait for the doctor, but we did wait a second for them to set up the room because they were not ready. I pushed for about five minutes. It was almost too fast to experience. And very surprising. Too fast to have my epidural turned up for delivery which also made it by far the most painful delivery ever.

5. Marianne was attempting to come out nose first, face up, the wrong way. This is likey why I was not going into labor on my own, and also why I was able to walk better an hour after delivery than the previous three or four days at home. Our doctor was able to flip her over right before she was delivered. It took half a second and seemed to easy. Had he not been able to I would have been in for a lot longer labor. I was grateful she turned, as I could feel the pain of delivery and feel I was able to cope because it was only five minutes long. I remembered the words in the blessing Jake had given me the night before that the doctor's hands would be skillful. This flipping her around was a big deal. For many women a sunny side up baby means two or more hours of pushing and some times c-sections.

6. Because of her being underweight for her gestational age she had to have all kinds of tests new to us. Sugar tests every few hours- which she kept failing. She also failed her hearing tests and her jaundice tests. All which surely will be normal but have to be tested and tested again. All the testing made for a sleepless night. Well the tests and adrenaline. I didn't sleep the whole night. I didn't sleep until the following afternoon. We aren't use to all this special treatment for little babies.

7. The kids came to visit the next morning. They were so excited and it was so fun to see them with her. They brought her a few presents. I ordered chocolate cake from room service and we sang Marianne "Happy Birthday" and had a little birthday party for her. I think this should be a new tradition if we have any other children- it was fun.

8. I love the American Fork Hospital. I knew I did already- which is why I drive all the way from Heber to deliver there. We loved our most our nurses and laughed that in labor and delivery that we had the same nurses as when Kate was born, and one of the same nurses from when Sam was born. The rooms are large and comfortable. And the best and new part- room service. Yes food room service. Anytime between 7 am and 7 pm you can order whatever you want off a menu and they bring it to you. Cheesecake, milkshakes, salmon, grilled quesadillas, omlettes, delicious and fun. We didn't love that the power was out and they were running on back up generators, because of a construction accident. It made me nervous but it only really affected us because there was no air conditioning until the evening. Our room went completely dark both when Jake and I were trying to shower, and makes for something memorable from our hospital stay.

9. With Kate and Sam before having Marianne we asked them what they thought she would look like- saying that when Kate was born she looked like an elf fairy and when Sam was born he looked like a baby seal. When Kate saw Marianne she said she looked like a fairy elf. We agree- or we agree that she looks just like Kate when Kate was born. It is proving more true every minute. She has tons of light brown hair that everyone has something to say about. A large strawberry on her forehead- likely from sitting on my hip bone the wrong way. She is actually taller than Kate when Kate was born, she just is so little because she has no meat on her. Her legs are so thin her diapers don't stay on and she is always slipping out of them. We can't wait for her to gain a little weight so we don't have to worry about her so much ( we walked out of the hospital with her at 5lbs 15 oz.) but we think she is adorable.

10. We love being home. Home with the kids. Home in real beds. Home where I don't have to ask somebody to bring me ice and nobody wakes me up at three in the morning to check my blood pressure. Home where Jake watches Kate and Sam most the day while Marianne and I camp out nursing and sleeping in my bed. Currently I am sitting next to her in bed watching Marianne sleep. She is cooing and smiling in her sleep like she is dreaming. We even managed to do two loads of laundry and get the lawns mowed today.... okay that was Jake's doing. I mostly took Marianne to her two doctor's appointments today, nursed her and took two naps.

Lucky Me!

I wasn't sure if this should just be a journal entry, or if it should make its way on to the blog.
I guess proper blog etiquette would dictate- when in doubt don't post it.

But I debated only because it is mostly more complaining. And thought I don't like filling my blog with complaints, I guess the few people that read my blog (my sisters and sis in laws) can cope with a few more paragraphs of grief from a pregnant gal. Plus it is actually funny.

Last Thursday when my doctor's appointment when poorly, I cried.

Today I just laughed.

My doctor was also laughing at me a bit. Really.

He told me that he has never had a patient go late with their 3rd child...I have about 36 hours or I'll be his first. Even more surprisingly he told me, he has never had a 3rd pregnancy he couldn't even do an induction, even two days early, for because they have not dilated at all. I am the 1st.

Aren't I special!

I feel so special.

I feel special that even my experienced OBGYN can't believe how stubborn my body and unborn child are being and chuckled at me in disbelief.

Mixed emotions have washed over me as I have observed births this past week.

I had four friends and two sister- in -laws due between Aug 6 and Aug 23.

All six of these women have had their babies and are home holding their little ones and on their way to recovery. Only I remain. I get to be last. I get to be the only one to be pregnant for all 280 days. Even though I am the shortest by a good four inches to any of them. Each one of them should know how lucky they are- as the last seven days have been the hardest days of any pregnancy ever for me. Though morning sickness left me around 6.5 months, it has returned and I am back to throwing up a few times each morning. The hard part is, is that now I don't move quite as quick and it is more difficult to make it to the bathroom to puke because instead of running, it is more of a waddle. Picture that. And laugh with me.

A google search and some convo with my doc told me that less than 10% or women deliver one or more days late. I know- I still have a day and a half, but unless my water breaks, my doctor doesn't think I am going to go into labor before then.

This 10 % usually includes women who are pregnant for the first time- not me.

Having a boy- nope.

Are obese before pregnancy- nope.

Have a mother who was always overdue- nope mine never went over 36 weeks.

So not typically women who are pregnant for their 3rd time, with a girl, and are normally-petite.

I am just breaking all the rules. I am a rebel like that.

It is so frustration- looking for answers I looked at dates. Maybe I could make some sense of it if it were possible my due date were a little early. But Nope. I know the day I conceived. Not only that I was throwing up and asking for hard candy within the week, my 1st ultra sound came back with the exact same date. And my detailed ultrasound spouts date between Aug 11 and Aug 14.

I looks like Saturday is suppose to be our day.

And I'll cross my fingers hoping still.

Otherwise the doctor will force her out on Tuesday the 16.

Strange as it seems, they won't induce me now because I haven't made any progress, but they won't allow me to stay pregnant past Friday the 19. I could choose a day between the 15 and the 19. That is the latest date that I am even allowed to be pregnant for because it starts being unhealthy for the baby. That seems a small window to me.

But four days or sooner (cross your fingers) makes me feel like a ticking time bomb.

Please let my water break. Please Please Please.

And I think I am done crying, I've moved on to laughing, and saying "of course this is my luck"

One of the best things though.

Every night Jake and I got to bed we say "see you in a few hours"

because we assume i'll go into labor overnight. And every morning when we wake up to children and the sun shinning through our window instead, we look at each other, and the look makes me laugh. It is one of disbelief and humor at learning over and over again that we have no control when it comes to these sort of things.

So Done.

I'm done. So done.

I know I technically have a week left in the pregnancy. But I just never expect that my 5'1" body with what I can only assume based on my past children is an 8lb child will hold out to the end. I get my hopes up. I guess I can only hope.

Jake took the kids to the carnival tonight. I sat alone at home depressed instead. Eating shredded mini wheats for dinner. Sad, sad, sad. I didn't feel like walking around.

I had a doctors appointment today. It didn't go as I had planned.

I am no where close to being in labor. So far in fact that although they normally allow women to be induced 7 days before delivery- like now for me.... I am not being given that option, because I am showing no progress. Who has ever heard of this in a 3rd pregnancy? I guess that is fine since I didn't want to be induced anyway, now the temptation is gone.

This in combination with the official fact that I have gained over 50% of my own body weight...... yes 56lbs, was enough to wipe any smile off my face.

I'm exhausted. I found stretch marks on my feet today. No really this is not a joke. And I woke up this morning with my face so swollen it looked like I had botox in my lips, to a gross extreme.

I had big plans of doing chores all day, and getting to a really ready place. Instead all I want to do is eat ice and sit on the couch and watch Friday Night Lights- which we recently discovered on Netflix.

No matter what I did schedule an induction. Though it is not until the 16. 3 days after her due date. I think they will allow me to go through with it no matter what my body is doing. I still want to give her a chance to come on her own. But if she has any love for her mother she would go ahead and come already.

Pile on the sympathy I guess.

Best Friends

Kate and Samuel cuddling in a chair looking at a party catalog.

Whenever a catalog comes in the mail that I don't want I tell them it is for them. Party Supply catalogs, costume catalogs, toy ads, are favorites of course.

After dinner the two of them cuddled together in this chair and planned their next birthdays.

They talked about what they liked. Robots, monkeys, bad guys, princesses. Kate not only wants to be sure her birthday is what she wants but that Sam get something that makes him happy too.