Sunday, May 6, 2018

March '18- Week 1- Grandma Here, Rome Day, Date, BABY GIRL is here!, Lots of Visitors, Ben Glasses

Thursday I went with Anna to music then went to the airport to pick up my mom.  
Anna was so excited to have Grandma here she showed her all her Barbies before it was time for preschool. 
All the kids were pretty excited to have her here.  They never give her much personal space.  :)
 We had our normal afternoon: driving carpool, Ben to music, McKenna to play practice.  There was a random power outage that evening so we had a later than normal dinner.  

Friday I woke up timing contractions every 20 mins or so, but when I got up to get the kids ready for school, they stopped.  McKenna had Rome Day at school and wore this lovely toga and I successfully braided her hair in a crown! :) 
I went and got groceries and Anna played at Lizzie's.  

Dan took me on a date that afternoon.  We saw Jumanji in luxury seats then had dinner at Zupa's!  
That night we cleaned up, Dan gave me a priesthood blessing and we packed for the hospital!! 
We also hung out and I did last minute blogging.  My sister got this lovely naked belly picture.  So shiny, lopsided and BIG! 
Saturday, March 3rd, I was awake from 3-4:30am timing contractions again, this time about every 10-12mins.  I got up to use the potty and they stopped.  At 6:15am we called the hospital and they said to come in at 8am. 
We took one last picture as a family of 6! 
 And one last pregnancy picture!  
I posted this funny Snap Chat-filtered video.  

Baby #5 Delivery Timeline:
8:25am: Check in to hospital. (My doctor was already scheduled to work that weekend so it worked out great for him.)
8:50- IV started
9:05- Cervix checked. Still 2cm and 70% effaced
9:35- Epidural started.  This was the least painful administration of an epidural I have ever had.  
9:55- Pitocin started.  
10:30- Doctor Watts broke my water, 3cm.  He went home for a while.  Said he lived only 5 mins away.  
11:05- 4cm
11:15- Upped the epidural dosage because I was feeling quite a bit of pain during contractions.  
12pm- 5/6cm and 90%, Beginning to feel a little nauseous.  In the past this has been a signal that things are getting close.  
12:40- 9cm! Paged Doctor Watts.  The very next contraction I felt LOTS of pressure and the great urge to push, but the nurses told me not to.  Thankfully, I only had to wait 5-6 more strong urges to push till the doctor got back.  
1:04pm- After about 5-6 pushes, baby was born!  IT'S A GIRL!!  And I was SO surprised!


 6lbs 13oz.  19.5 inches long!

 We enjoyed some snuggles and attempted nursing a bit. 

 My mom and Mickelle brought the kids around 2:30pm.  
Here's everyone's final guess if it was a boy or a girl.  
The reveal and reactions!  Everyone was quite surprised! 

I was most nervous about Ben's reaction.  I was worried he'd complain and say he wished the baby was a boy.  But he never complained even once.  Now he just tells everyone it's ok to have all sisters, because then he gets Dan all to himself. ;) 
Family of 7! 
Everyone got a turn to hold her.  In fact, once Bethany came in the room, and almost immediately climbed up on a chair and said, "Me hold baby now?" 
They cleaned me up and then wheeled me to our recovery room.  Dan followed nurse and baby to the nursery and got to give her her first bath.  
I love McKenna and Ben watching through the nursery window.  I also love her fluffy hair all cleaned up! That HAIR!! A famous trademark of all my babies.  
Some pictures with some of the visitors.  Grandma Kelly, Aunt Mickelle, and Grandma and Grandpa Webster.  
We hung out and ate dinner, which included a shake from Iceberg!  We then Skyped with my dad that night, Uncle Adam visited, and I snuggled with Dan (something I love being able to do more comfortably once that baby is OUT of me).  My mom also sent a picture of 3/4 kids asleep when they got home from the hospital.  :)
That night we sent baby girl to the nursery and had the nurses bring her to me whenever she needed to eat.  I had one of the nurses tell me, "I'm the most expensive babysitter you'll ever have and I get paid whether to use me or not, so you might as well use me."  :)  Sounds good to me! 

That night we had a pretty big snow storm roll in.  When the nurse brought the baby in to nurse at 5am, Dan woke up and joined me in bed for some snuggles.  We watched the news and weather and Dan was texting lots of people about road conditions and trying to assess if church should be cancelled or not (there were also two baby blessings that needed to be moved/changed).  In the end, he decided church should be cancelled since the snow plows were not clearing our neighborhood roads at all.  

We ate breakfast, napped, went for a walk, ate part of my lunch, then we attended an LDS fast and testimony Sacrament meeting right there in the hospital.  Such a unique experience!  We finished lunch then Grandma and Grandpa and Adam came for a visit.  Grandma Sibber took these beautiful pictures. 
Soon after that, my mom, Mickelle, and the kids came again.  We also Skyped my sister Emily in Alabama.  
Dan left the hospital around 5pm so he could attend a Court of Honor for our neighbor and good friend, Quinn Koldewyn.  He also helped get our kids ready for school the next day.  I watched the Oscar's and ate dinner and snuggled.  
Baby passed her hearing test and heart test.  Dan was back with me in the hospital by 8pm and we worked on figuring out a name for this little one.  We decided on... 
ALICE KATHERINE WEBSTER
*Fun fact: each of our 4(!) girls have a middle name from each side of the family.  
McKenna Jean (Thompson side) 
Anna Gayle (Condie side)
Bethany Sylvia (Nelson side)
Alice Katherine (Webster side)

Monday morning we were able to sleep in till 8am!  After breakfast I showered and we packed up ready to head home!  It's always fun playing dress-up for the first time with a new baby! Of course the clothes were huge on her.  
We were home by 11:20ish and Anna and Bethany were so cute with baby Alice! (It took Bethany a little while to not call her "Baby Bobo"which was the nick name while I was pregnant and we didn't know the gender.  
We had lunch and Anna went to preschool then we all napped for a bit.  Grandma Sibber came by with cookies and then the kids all got home from school.  That evening Marilee Novak and Sue Koldewyn brought dinner.  Then we had a very special visitor....Dan's Grandfather came by bearing a gift and taking cute pictures with his #117 great-grandchild!!  We are so grateful he takes the time out of his incredibly busy schedule to visit with us and give us his love! 
Tuesday after the kids got off to school, my brother came by to meet his new niece for the first time.  
After lunch, our friend Amanda Koldewyn came by for some baby snuggles.  She came bearing gifts for the kids, and candy and some medical cream for me.  Such a good friend!  After the kids got home from school, Dan and I left for an appointment for Alice to check her bilirubin levels.  She was pretty yellow when we left the hospital.  Janet Thomas brought dinner that night and it was a great feast!  She also brought some little toys for the kids.  (People are so nice!)

Wednesday the doctor wanted us back to check her bilirubin again and we found out the numbers were coming down, which is great news and she wouldn't need to be on lights for being jaundiced. 
Dan's Aunt Rosalie came by with a beautiful outfit and warm zucchini bread.  After lunch, Dan went with Anna to her "Be There" activity at preschool.  
McKenna stayed after school for rehearsal.  Ben came home, then Dan took him for his eye exam we found out we needed at his 7 year old check up.  Turns out his right eye is a -2 and his left eye is fine.  So, they ordered him some glasses!  Then they went to a Lego store for a bit before picking up McKenna.

 That night my visiting teachers (Brigette and Autumn) brought over hawaiian haystacks and homemade cheesecake.  My mom and Mickelle came to hang out in the evening as well.
Those first few days home from the hospital I felt so much LOVE for each of my 5 children!  I felt pretty positive and up beat.  It's amazing how blessed we are!  

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