Merry Christmas!!

We have been busy around here. Very busy! I had a good head start on shopping and cards before Jack was due, but then he came and we got even busier. It took forever to finish the cards (I sent out 73 this year!) with the thank-you's, photos of the kids, birth announcements, etc. I was lucky to have help from Kerry with the last of the wrapping (THANKS!!!) and now I am packing for heading to Mom and Dad's.

Jack is doing awesome! Such a great little guy. He is an AWESOME sleeper at night — now in his cradle (in our room) for the most part. We go to bed lately at about 11, after giving him one last change/feed at 10, and he has been sleeping until 5:30 or 6 sometimes. Woo! Feels awesome getting a huge stretch of sleep! He is smirking, looking around a lot more, even "talking" to his toys sometimes on his bouncy chair. I am excited for the family to see him tomorrow! He has changed a lot :D

Ben is growing like a weed. Size 5 pants are needed soon! He is having fun at school, spelling his name ("B's" are all over the house!) and singing Christmas songs! It's great to see him learning. He can sing most of the alphabet song now, too! Was never interested in this before..

Daisy is such a smarty pants. She knows some colours already, picking up on everything we say and tries to say so many things, even putting 2 and 3 words together. So exciting to see this again! She recently had her first hair cut, too – thanks Cat! She sat still in the chair all by herself, got a cute little bob and bangs. Bye bye mullet!

As much as they are at each others throats a lot of the time, they have their moments of getting along and I savour those LOL! Bribing works ;)

Have a great Christmas!!

Jack's Birth Story!

Unlike the births of Ben & Daisy, labour didn't start on it's own with Jack, despite having two membrane sweeps, walking, going on the elliptical multiple times a day, etc. I was scheduled to be induced the morning of November 21st (Saturday) and was hoping I would wake up with contractions. Morning came, nothing. So we got ready, Mom was going to stay with the kids at home, and we headed to the hospital.

I had SUCH butterflies, it was ridiculous. I was more nervous this time around than with Ben! Nervous knowing that I was going to be in pain very soon, unsure of how long it was going to be (no guarantees that it was going to be faster!), worried that it wouldn't start right away and I would be sent home.. all these thoughts were buzzing around in my head. My only bit of peace was knowing that my doctor would be there, to do the induction, and he knew of my history with Daisy especially, and probably wouldn't send me home.

They gave me a bed (didn't get sent home, they weren't busy!) to check me out, assess me to see if I was having contractions (I wasn't) and I was about 3cm. So Dr. H came in at 8:30 and gave me a double dose of gel to get the contractions going. And it worked! Within 15 mins I was feeling them, totally manageable at this point, and thankfully my nurse said that I was not to go home LOL! Phew!

Contractions were coming, Jack's heart rate was between 136 and 140 at this point..

It was very calm in the maternity ward, not busy at all. We got to walk down and pick our deliver room! Number 3 it was :) Got settled in, Mike went to put my CD on that Kerry made (THANK YOU!) and wouldn't you know it, I burned it wrong. Damn it! Mike knew how important this CD was to me so he whipped home and re-burned it for me and was back within 45 mins! What a guy! While he was gone, my contractions picked up FAST. I even called home to find out if he had left yet, they went from 6 to 5 to 3 mins apart (lasting about min) in about 10 mins. The nurses continued to check on me, check on baby, confirm that I was having good contractions (!!) and told me that Dr. H would be in to break my water sometime after 12.

Uh-oh. I knew what that meant. As soon as my waters break, it's baby time not long after. With Daisy, when I was checked at 5cm, the Dr. accidentally broke my water and I went to 10 cm in 10 mins. She was born very soon afterwards! So Dr. H came in at 12:45, and I said that if he was going to break my water that he couldn't go anywhere far! Scrubs on, they waited for a contraction to break it and sure enough, they were back to back to back. Not even 10 seconds in between.

I was in such a trance like state, trying to focus on my breathing, not hyperventilating, staying calm (especially with the wee break I got in between them) that I could just hear them around me. Mike was commending me for doing such an awesome job, my nurse was counting for me as I counted with her in my head, assuring me that once I got to the peak they would get better and less & less paint (it worked!) and then I had to push.

I don't think I pushed for more than 10 mins and his head was out, cord wrapped around him (just like the others), one more push and Jack was in the world at 1:28pm! Less than 5 hours labour!

He was perfect.. looked exactly like his big sister, then his brother, then he looked like Jack! So cute, pink, healthy. 8lbs, 7.5 ounces, 21.25" long.

A very overwhelming, awesome, memorable experience :)

And his birth song?! One Day Like This by Elbow!