Exciting Times!

Wow! Has a lot happened in our lives our what?!?!

I don't think we truly realized we were a family of five until last night. I watching Jeremy and Daniel play 'race' and counting the kids (one, two, three. One, two, three. Oh my goodness we now have three children!). Below is our attempt at a family picture. I know I look like I have a mental disability in the picture. Yeah. Apparently a good one of everyone is going to be impossible to come by...














It's been nice to be at home. I slept SOOOOOO much better last night. So did Allie. She must know she's at home. Well, I probably caved too early actually. At the hospital we had to sign this 'safe sleep' pledge which says that you won't fall asleep with the baby on you. Well, that's where my babies like to sleep. So both nights from about 3 til 6 Allie wanted to stay up. Last night around 1am she decided she didn't want to sleep in her bassinet anymore. So I gave in, put her on my chest, and she slept for about 4 hours there. I know, bad Mommy! Sleep is soooooooo tempting though :) Both boys got at least a little sleep time on Mommy's chest for the first few months. It's only fair, right? The pic below is actually from the hospital.














Details of the birth:
We went in for induction at 7am on February 10th. I believe February 10th would have been her birthday even if I wouldn't have been induced. I had been having hard contractions for several days. When they checked I was already 4cm dilated and 75% effaced. They started Pitocin by 8:30 and broke my water. I told them I go fast, but they never believe me. Three and half hours later I was ready to push. My nurse called the doctor but apparently he was thinking he still had time so he told us later "I thought I had plenty of time - I was just talking to the nurses at the nurses station". We heard the nurses start looking around for any doctors available to deliver the baby. I heard my head nurse say over the phone "No, I have her on her side now. I am NOT going to roll her over or we will have a baby!". Doug was about to strangle someone. The doctor DID get there in time and out came Allie!!!! She was delivered at 11:53am. Here is a picture of her in one of my favorite shirts.














At seven o'clock that night a nurse came in to check on us. I was burping Allie. She started making funny noises. I was checking her out to she what they were and she turned blue. I said, "She's turning blue!". The nurse said, "She's purple!" and whisked her away to the bassinet. These were the scariest minutes of my life. Maybe it was hormones, but I was thinking "She's going to die right here in front of us!". Is that a weird thing to think? After a few minutes the nurse got her pink again but called some other nurse in for a consult. She kept saying "She's fine, she's breathing and pink now". When the OTHER nurse got in, she said, "Can you listen to her lungs? I didn't hear any breath sounds on one side". EXCUSE ME???? DOES THAT SOUND LIKE FINE TO YOU?

Cripes! The other nurse didn't hear any either so they called in a consult from the NICU. They basically told us that if you have a fast delivery sometimes babies don't get the 'squeeze' they need to get all the junk out of their lungs. Most babies just cough it up but apparently whatever came out of Allie was too thick. They told us if it happened again she would go straight to the NICU. We were supposed to just watch her.

I didn't want a nurse to leave the room! What if it did happen again??? Doug said he would run out into the hall screaming holding her until someone got in there. Thankfully it DIDN'T happen again and she's been great ever since.

Also, we praise God that a nurse was in there when it DID happen. What are the chances of that? The nurses only stay in there for about 5 to 10 minutes at a time a couple of times a day, but she was IN THE ROOM when Allie turned blue. Allie must have an angel named 'Crystal' watching over her...

So we had to stay another 24 hours because of the whole 'blue' incident but coming home was so much fun! Jeremy and Gammy had a 'birthday party' for Allie ready. There were pink balloons on the mailbox and a sign on the door. There were princess party hats and plates along with pink and white cupcakes that said "Allie". Jeremy had made her a little craft and they had her a singing flower. Daniel seemed more happy to see Mommy and Daddy than Allie. I'm not totally sure he realizes she's here yet. Jeremy sang to her and gave her kisses and said, "She's so cute!".














Everyone seems to have adjusted well thus far. We started getting snow yesterday evening (we should nickname Allie 'snowflake' since she brought the snow home with her) so we're expecting visitors today, but not too many. We're excited about spending time getting to know each other this weekend and will make sure to keep you posted - when we get the time :)