March '18- Week 2- Temple Open House, First Bath, Truman's Baptism, McKenna's Play,

Thursday Dan went to the temple, then to Music with Anna, then to get his car oil changed.  Grandma and cousin Mia came by for a visit.  

After lunch my mom came to hang out.  Dan took the van in for emissions and registration and we watched "Alice in Wonderland", while my mom left to get some groceries.  The Behunins brought us soup and bread for dinner.  Dan and my mom took the three older kids to the Jordan River open house.  

Once they got home and kids into bed, we gave Alice her first bath at home.  

She screamed a lot but calmed right down as soon as she was wrapped.  

*I felt more grumpy today, had a canker in my mouth, and felt nervous about going off pain meds.  :(

Friday morning before school Dan gave McKenna a blessing to help her feel better about her play opening that night!  

We cleaned up the basement and Brynn came by for a visit.  After lunch and naps, I headed to the school to do McKenna's hair and make-up for her opening night of her play.  The Moultons brought dinner (including her amazing bread), then Dan took Ben and Anna to see McKenna's play.  Unfortunately, they got stopped at a SUPER long train and ended up missing the opening prologue, which was McKenna's big part.  I knew there would be other chances for them to hear it, but it still made me so sad and was the first thing that had made me cry postpartum.  :(   Dan's parents were able to be there and they said she was perfect!!  :)  I stayed home with Bethany and Alice and we watched the cartoon Beauty and the Beast.  Mom and Mickelle came over.  

After the play, Swa, Whitney, and Hazel came over to hang out.  The bottom picture of Bethany is to show her new obsession with "vwips" aka "lips."  She likes to dig through my mom and Mickelle's purses to find their lipstick and then tries to put it on herself. :)  

Saturday McKenna had to be to school by 8:30 for another performance.  I attended that performance with mom and Mickelle and Ben and Anna came again...and we made it in time for the prologue!!  She was amazing and again, it made me cry, but for a good reason this time! 

Right after we headed straight to cousin Truman's baptism!  I then went home and Dan took the other kids up to the Stewart's for lunch.  David took this cute picture of all the cousins (minus Emma) who have been baptized so far! So fun to see them all together! 

That evening we had pizza, watched Boss Baby, gave the boys haircuts, kids to bed, vacuumed, watched "This is Us", then set the clocks ahead for daylight savings time.  *That was my first day with no pain meds at all. :) 

Sunday I had a great nap while everyone else was at church.  Then my mom came home with the kids and after lunch I worked on thank you notes while she snuggled her. 

Grandma Kelly showed Ben how to make little roses out of ribbon.  When Dan got home we went for a walk around the neighborhood and delivered some dishes and thank you notes.  

Alice's cord fell off!  Dan took the kids to Webster Sunday dinner while I stayed home with Alice and my mom and sister.  **I continued to feel such an increase of love for my whole family and felt like my heart would explode.  

Monday Dan went back to work after being home with us for a whole week! We were late for gymnastics as we started getting use to the new normal of adding baby Alice to our normal routines.  The Days brought dinner that evening.  We got an adorable personalized onesie from the Irions.  

Tuesday Dan took the day off (he decided to ease back into work)!  Aunt Ailin came to visit!  We went grocery shopping and for smoothies and bread for lunch.  

In the afternoon I worked on organizing Alice's room then the kids got home from school. That evening was McKenna's last performance as the Enchanted Rose in Beauty and the Beast.  Everyone had such high energy (including the audience) and had lots of fun!  My mom babysat while Dan and I went.  Lots of friends and family came that night too.  We're so grateful for their support!   

(Alexanders, Brynn and Katie, Moultons, Camille, Sam and Hailey)

(Mickelle and Jonathan, friends Kaylee P.- as the Enchantress and Lyla L.- as Mrs. Potts)

Some pictures on stage.  We gave McKenna a rose necklace to remember her fun time in the play! 

Wednesday morning Dan went to the temple and I forgot to set an alarm to get the kids up for school.  Oops!  So they were only about 30 mins late.  Sarah Moulton came and took Anna and Bethany for a couple hours for a play date.  Rachael brought dinner that evening (chicken pillows).  We also spent some time counting all the change Grandma Pat had given us in some cute "piggy" banks.  McKenna and Ben had their last evening of art class that night.  

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!  

Pregnancy #5 Note-Baby Alice Katherine!

Baby #5 Pregnancy Notes

• We found out we were pregnant on June 30th, 2017 Dan's 35th BD.  
• We are so blessed to be able to get pregnant easily and to have never miscarried!
• I felt more nauseous and sick with this pregnancy than any of the others, but still never threw up.  Also such a blessing.  
• I got bigger much faster than other pregnancies.  I felt like I was "showing" at 10 weeks.  
• We went public and announced we were pregnant the day before I went to girls camp July 31st, at 9.5 weeks.  
• I think I felt baby move around 13 or 14 weeks. 
• On our get-away to St. George, at 18 weeks, we looked over many, many girl names because we pretty much already decided on Paul David for a boy. 
• At our 20 week ultrasound, the tech used the pronoun "he" then quickly corrected herself with "or she," leading me to believe it was a boy.  I tried to push that out of my mind and not read too much into it.  
• I wrapped my belly in foil for Halloween and called it a baked potato.  I did the same when I was pregnant with Ben.  
• I started to get pretty uncomfortable around 6.5 months.  I usually feel uncomfortable later around 8 months pregnant.  
• McKenna took most of my belly progress pictures since I liked to do them on Sundays and Dan wasn't always around. 
• Felt like this was the wiggliest baby out of all my babies!
• I felt more laid back about "getting ready" for baby.  I didn't really feel as big of an urge as in the past to deep clean my entire house.  
• I felt almost bored waiting for baby to get here!  
• Felt hot most of the last month of my pregnancy, which also led me to believe it was a boy. 
• McKenna, Ben, and Anna, most of the time said the baby was a boy.  
• Bethany held strong and said the baby was a girl the whole time.  I came to find out later that Dan had told her after the ultrasound thinking she couldn't talk well enough to spill the beans.  
• Doctor stripped my membranes at 39.5 weeks.  
• Induction set for March 3, one day past my due date.  

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