Ford's Birth Day

Friday, at 9pm contractions started.  It was a very dull soreness in my lower back and abdomen with slight pressure that started coming in waves.  I didnt start timing my contractions until 9:20 though, at that point they were 2-3 minutes apart.

 At 9:40 I decided to call my midwife, Michelle, who told me to meet her at the birthing center as soon as I could get there.  Jed called Jay who sent Joseph over immediately so we could leave, while Jay and Jamie packed up stuff in case they'd have to spend the night at our house with the boys. 

 We arrived at the birthing center around 10:15 and Michelle immediately checked me, I was dilated to 6 and definitely in labor!  I was still able to speak and move through the contractions but they were getting more painful so she started a bath.  I got in and Jed sat on the edge while Michelle went out into another room to do some paperwork and to give us privacy.  As the pain got worse I started using the hypnobirthing breathing method which really helped distract me and gave me a sense of working with my body rather than just focusing on enduring labor. 

 In between contraction Jed and I chatted and I felt pretty good.  At around 11:10pm I had one contraction that was extremely intense and I felt I just had to get out of the bathtub.  I had a few more contractions standing up before heading to the bed to lay down.  I had remembered that I felt a lot of relief when I laid on my side last time opposed to any other position.  I thought I was going to be laying there for at least another hour or so before I was fully dilated but the very next contraction I felt a lot of pressure and the urge to push.  I told Jed to go get Michelle and he did but later he told me that he thought I was crazy.  She came in and checked me again, I was complete and could start pushing whenever I felt like it.  I was so happy that I had basically skipped the horrible transition phase but I was not looking forward to pushing! 

 At this point which I think was around 11:30pm, a student midwife, Misti, arrived to help and obviously learn.  It was perfect timing b/c I always seem to need extra help bracing myself while pushing.  I pushed a couple times and finally my water broke which is the first time that happened without intervention!  It was so encouraging when Michelle told Jed to get in position to catch the baby because he was definitely coming in the next couple of pushes.  

On a side note, usually at this point I'm so focused on the pain and just getting the baby out that I block everything else out but this time I was surprised how aware I was of what was going on around me, I was even able to talk in between contractions/pushes.  And Michelle was right a few more pushes and Ford arrived, at exactly 11:59pm.  Jed put him up on my belly and then cut his cord.  He was so cute and chubby! 

 He breastfed almost immediately without any problems so Michelle and Misti cleaned up and left the room to give us time alone.  We chilled out until about 2:30am and then Misti did the newborn exam, he weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and 21 3/4in long.  Not only is he our biggest baby but his length was even shocking to Misti who measured him a second time just to make sure!  

We were on our way home with our healthy baby boy at 3:30am.   It was wonderful to sleep in our own bed!  Ford slept all night long and only woke up breifly at 6:30am to poop for the first time. 

Welcome to the world little man!

 Sweet boy!

 Proud daddy! 

 You would think with this being our fourth baby we'd be prepared but we hadnt set up the pack and play at home yet, oops.  We decided to make due with a laundry basket for the night instead of wasting precious sleep time on getting his bed ready.  I thought he looked so cute sleeping in there. 

Proud big brothers! 

Blue Eyes

My two blue eyed babies!

SCORE

 
Got this for free!  I had one of these when I was little and loved it! The boys are going to have so much fun!  We just have to figure out where to put it now, I wish we had a basement.

Kane at 7 Months

Here's a list of things Kane refuses to eat:
-sweet potato
-beans
-peas
-corn
-apples
-baby cereal
He starts gagging as soon as they go in his mouth and then most of it comes shooting back out.  I've tried to be persistent in offering him these things but I end up wasting food and making a huge mess.  I'm going to give up on those things for a little while and try reintroducing them later.
Things that Kane will eat:
-Banana
-Cantaloupe
-Watermelon
-Instant oatmeal
-bread
-cake
-ice cream
-spaghetti
He has banana almost every night at dinner time, I put him in his booster seat mash part of one up and let him play with/eat it.  It keeps him quiet so we can all eat together as a family which is nice.  He had ice cream for the first time the other night when we went to Brusters with Jay and Jamie and they snuck him a taste.  He was surprised by the cold but loved it!  That being said he still prefers milk over anything else and thats what his diet mostly consists of.  Unfortunately he's getting his bottom two teeth in and I'm not sure what to do about that.  I've never breastfed a baby with teeth ( Evan and Seth didnt get theirs until much later) and I'm a little bit afraid to.  Even without teeth it hurts when he bites which he's been doing quite a bit for the last month.  I really didnt want to switch over to formula this early but on a positive note he's holding his own bottle! 

In other news, I'm down to 110lbs!  Thats how much I weighed before Kane was born, oddly enough I still dont fit into my pre-Kane clothes. :(  Oh well, it'll happen eventually.  I hope. 

Camping At Ormond

The Highlights
-Before we left Kane started officially crawling on hands and knees, he's a lot faster now!
-There is a burn ban b/c of  the dry weather and potential for wildfires.  That was a big bummer.
-Because of the burn ban we werent able to make our planned dinner on Friday night so we headed into town for Chick-fil-a where the boys were absolutely spoiled!  One of the workers fell in love with Evan and Seth so she gave them free soda, ice cream and they got to meet and take pictures with one of the cows.
-We went to Walmart and bought rummikub to play after the kids were in bed. 
-Kane didnt sleep well Friday night so neither did I but it was nice when Jed got all three boys up in the morning and took them outside to let me sleep in!
-Saturday we visited 4 different state parks, having a wonderful picnic lunch at one.
-We were able to watch some "soldiers" shoot guns and a canon.
-We explored a sugar mill ruin.
-During the heat of the day we went to Target to enjoy the air conditioning and I'm pretty sure I witnessed a girl shoplifting a bathing suit.  I was weighed down by three kids (Jed was else where in the store) and couldnt make it to an employee before the girl left.
-We hunted for crabs on the intercoastal.
-We made dinner and smores over our camping stove. 
-Sunday morning we went for the most beautiful ride I've ever been on in Florida.  Forests, rivers, beach and ocean, it was awesome!
-We visited Washington Oak Garden State Park.  So pretty!  After we toured the garden area we headed to the intercoastal area and sat for a long time letting the boys play by the water while we watched people fish and boats drive by.  It was nice until the largest yacht I've ever seen came by going extremely fast sending giant waves to the shore.  I thought it was going to sweep the boys out to sea but fortunately we were able to get them out of the way fast enough!  One of the most terrifying moments of my life! 
-On our way back to our campground we stopped at a different campground, Gamble Rogers, thats actually on the beach.  We wanted to check it out to see if we thought we'd ever want to camp there and it was the perfect place to also take the boys for a swim. 
-We got back to our campsite and spent a couple hours relaxing before we packed up and headed home. 
-Got home, unpacked and set Kane's pack and play up in his own room instead of ours!
The next time we go camping will be this summer for 8 days with Jed's entire family in Virginia.  Then we wont go again until the fall when it cools down. 

Evan, Tammy, Seth and Mr. Cow. 

Evan loves smelling flowers.

Testing the waters.

Sweet (and sometimes not so sweet) baby boy!

Me and my baby.

Evan marveled at the huge fish in the ponds.

Bathtime!

Evan: "Mommy, do you have a baby in your belly?" 
Me: "No." (Shoot, I really need to lose this baby weight!) :)
Evan: "Why?" (This is his new standard response to everything, it gets old real quick.) :)
Me: "Because God hasnt given me another baby.  Do you want another baby brother?" (I immediately wondered, to myself, why I asked this question.)
Evan: "Yes!"
Seth: "I dont want a brother. I want a baby sister!"
Evan: "No I want 3 baby brothers!"
Me: "WHAT?!"
Evan: "I want 14 babies!" 
Seth: "YEAH, 14!"
Me: "Oh geez!"  We're all laughing.

This made me laugh and it reminds me of my childhood, http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/04/101-letting-anyone-play-music.html
And this one, http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/04/106-side-hug.html.  Brings back bible school nighmares, oh wait, I mean, memories! :)  lol

He's Mobile

Its not exactly a crawl so much as a scoot.  Also it takes a really long time for him to make progress but its definitely mobility!  He starts off in one spot and about 5 minutes later he's made it about 10 feet.  Its hilarious to sit down and watch him do it, he struggles and grunts but he loves it.  The weird thing is he almost always ends up under the poang chair where he gets stuck and starts crying.  Its too the point that when I hear him crying I think to myself, "Oh he must be under the chair."  This makes Kane our earliest "crawler" beating Evan out by a couple of weeks.  Also he has made progress in the food department!  I've been trying to get him to eat baby food for about a month now but he hated it!  He would spit everything out and then start crying so for awhile I gave up.  Then yesterday while I was at church with Evan (Jed stayed home with Seth and Kane b/c Seth was sick) Jed fed Kane baby cereal and he gobbled it all up.  This morning I gave him cereal and mashed up banana and he ate all of it and wanted more!  Yippee, now I get to start making more baby food and trying out new stuff like peas, beans and apples!  Yay!

This is where he started out and ten minutes later...

here!  See how he's up on all fours, he does like an inch worm move!  He wasnt very motivated this morning so he didnt go very far.

And here he is stuck under/next to the chair.  This was yesterday and as I'm typing he's in the same spot but hasnt started crying, yet.

I scored this on Saturday at a garage sale for five bucks!  I know its girly but my boys love to fake cook and I havent been able to find a blue kitchen set, especially not for $5!  The boys dont notice anyway.