Presenting...

Chase Robert Smiley

March 19, 2012
1:20 pm
8 lbs 3 oz
19.25 inches

I went to bed exhausted on Sunday, March 18, at about 11:30 pm. It was a restless night and I woke up several times with strong contractions. At around 5:30 am, I woke again with a very strong contraction that would not go away. I got up and went to the bathroom and tried walking around, but nothing made it stop.

After several minutes, the contraction finally subsided and so I got back into bed, but the contractions kept coming. I decided to take a bath to see if that would make them stop (I wanted to make sure this was the real deal), but it didn't work. The contractions were consistently 3-4 minutes apart. Brian and I decided then that we probably needed to make plans to go to the hospital. I called my Mom and told her we would be dropping off the kids and then we flew into action. We woke up the kids, put the bags in the car, and we were off!

Before heading to the hospital, Brian and my Dad gave me a blessing, which gave me a lot of peace and comfort knowing all would go well. We arrived at the hospital at about 7:45 and things went very smoothly from there on out. When the nurse checked me, I was dilated to a six. I had to get hooked up to an IV so that I could get a couple doses of penicillin during labor, because I had previously tested positive for group B strep. I also got a epidural - thank goodness for modern medicine. I really admire those who can deliver naturally. I am admittedly not one of those women.

By noon I had started getting really nauseated and threw up several times. Another wave of nausea hit me around 1:00 and I began repeatedly throwing up. It was during this time that Brian actually heard my water break. He called for the nurse and she and the doctor both came in and found that I was ready to go.

The room became a buzz of activity. As soon as everything was set up and ready, I began to push. After pushing through just two contractions, Chase made his debut into this world. My water had broken at about 1:05 and he was born just 15 minutes after that. Crazy!

As soon as we could see how much hair he had, we were shocked and amazed! The umbilical cord was wrapped two times around his neck and it took a few seconds of vigorous rubbing to get him to make a sound. He scored an 8/9 on the apgar, but I gave him a 10. I thought he looked perfect. It was a remarkable experience.

We love you Chase! Welcome to this crazy world and to our crazy family :o)

Due Date

Well, we made it. Here we are, officially 40 weeks/9 months pregnant. At my 39 week appointment, my doctor asked if I had taken a lot of pictures of myself since this was to be my last pregnancy. Truth is, no, not at all - just that one I posted, featuring only my belly, at 36 weeks. So, I figured I ought to take at least one full shot of me in all my glory.

Even though I've said that pregnancies are not my favorite thing, I have been a bit sad the last few weeks, knowing that I will never experience this again. And the truth is, if I didn't have to experience that first trimester, I would admittedly love being pregnant. I'm not saying it would be perfect. There are definite pros and cons, things I will miss and things I will not.

The things I will NOT miss about being pregnant:

• That horrible first trimester.
• Heartburn.
• Not being able to bend over without making some sort of grunting noise.
• Not being able to tie my shoes or clip my toenails without severe discomfort.
• Not being able to get up and move quickly and easily.
  
• Maternity clothes. When I got pregnant this time around, I vowed to not buy a single item of clothing. It seemed like such a waste of money to me, knowing that if I bought anything it wouldn't be used ever again, and so I haven't. I'm a bit tired of wearing the same things week after week. It has been nearly a year since I have purchased anything for myself and I am quite excited to shed these extra 30+ pounds and do a little shopping.
• These extra 30+ pounds.
  

Things I will miss about being pregnant:

• Feeling a baby move inside me - it is simply and utterly amazing.
• Lying in bed at night and watching the movements of my stomach.
• Placing my hands on my belly and trying to trace the outline of my baby, wondering if the hard bump that I am feeling is a knee, elbow, hand, or foot.
• Just knowing that I am creating a life and growing a person.
• The anticipation and excitement of knowing that I will soon hold a fresh from heaven infant in my arms.
  

At my appointment last Monday I was dilated to a 4+ and 80% effaced. I have had a lot of strong contractions throughout the week and so I am anxious to see how much progress I have made. I am taking my overnight bag with me to my appointment tomorrow, just in case we run into the same scenario that we did with Trent - which was, that I was dilated to a 7 and the doctor told me I couldn't go home and needed to walk right on over to labor and delivery.

We shall see. I'll keep you posted :o)

Terrible 2s

Luke has hit the terrible two phase head-on, three months early, and with extreme force. He has always been a very curious child, getting his hands on anything and everything within reach. We have had to install more child locks with this kid than we did with his two older siblings. However, being on the shorter end of the scale has kept him from getting into too much trouble. Until now. He is now just tall enough open the pantry and get into the junk drawer, causing me much grief. Not to mention all the unwanted clean-up.

Here is just a small sampling of my little pre-two terror...

A whole entire container of oatmeal, strewn across the kitchen floor.

A stick of Crisco, smeared on the walls, floor, cabinets, and dishwasher.

And a blue marker, abstractly adorned on my walls.

I will be overjoyed when he has passed through this phase. It's a good thing that I still think he is so gosh darn cute.

Ashlyn Turns Six

My baby girl turned six years old yesterday. SIX?! Sheesh. Where did the time go? We celebrated her big day, one day early, on Saturday. Her family surrounded her for three hours of fun at Classic Fun Center. This kind of party was definitely not my norm, but I just didn't have it in me this year to do a big-themed party. I didn't have to worry about decorations, games, food, favors, or clean-up. And the kids had a blast. It was a win win.

As the birthday girl, Ashlyn was able to spin the big birthday wheel and get into a money-blowing capsule. In the capsule she had to try and catch as much fake money as possible in one minute, and then she could use that money to buy prizes.

On her actually birthday, Sunday, Ashlyn opened more presents and then we fixed her favorite breakfast - french toast, using Great Harvest cinnamon burst bread. That night we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Lifferth's house and had a steak dinner. Ashlyn has been asking us for at least the last six months to have a steak dinner for her birthday. She is our carnivore :o)

I am having a hard time accepting the fact that six years have passed since my baby girl was born. The time has gone too fast, but they have been wonderful years. Our lives wouldn't be the same without her. She is full of life, energy, and wit. She loves to laugh and she makes us laugh all the time. She is a wonderful sister to her two brothers. She is super smart and has completely impressed me with how much she has learned this year at school. She loves to do her nightly reading and homework. She is full of questions and keeps us on our toes. She is both sassy and sweet. She isn't a girly girl, but definitely has the emotions of a girl. She is affectionate and loves to cuddle. I love this girl and feel so blessed to call her mine.

Finally!

I definitely would have preferred snow storms in January or February, but Mother Nature had different plans, so we rolled with it. When we finally woke up to a good layer of snow on March 1st, the kids could not get their snow gear on fast enough.

By today, most of the snow had melted, but at least we still have "Frosty Nickle Jones" (named by Trent) to remind of our few fun-filled snow days.

And who knows what Mother Nature has in store for us, we just might have snow in June.

February Wrap-Up

Wow, March is here! Hard to believe. There were a few things that I wanted to write about in February and just didn't get around to it, so here it goes...

Ashlyn and Trent tried their hand at finger painting. I knew it was going to be messy, so I made them paint shirtless. Twas messy, but worth it.

They had a ball and were so proud of their creations. Two little abstract artist in the making!

We also added two member to the Smiley clan: Batman Flash & Angel Princess.

These two lucky betas joined our family all because of our plans to visit the aquarium were thwarted. In an attempt to make it up to our kids and to ease our guilt, we let Ashlyn and Trent each pick out fish. They have loved their new responsibility of feeding their fish every afternoon.

We also learned in February that my Dad's tumor has not shrunk, but it hasn't grown either. I'm not going to lie, I was really hoping that it had shrunk and was disappointed to learn it hadn't. However, I am so grateful that it hasn't gotten any bigger. At least we know now that his chemo pills are working.

And since I have not yet shown a picture of baby Luke, we'll end on this note: