the rest of our hospital stay (and how Juniper came home without a name).

I had Juniper at 12:40 p.m., and they let me rest in the delivery room for a couple of hours before moving me to a recovery room.  (This is the first hospital I've delivered in that doesn't allow you to triage, labor, deliver and recover all in one room.  My two cents: it's dumb to move laboring and recovering women if it's possible to just let them hunker down in one spot.  People With Any Say in the Matter should listen to me on this.)

All bundled up for our trek to an entirely different floor for recovery.

We spent the afternoon trying to rest after our nearly-sleepless night.  I also spent the day eating.  After a long pregnancy of not really doing much of anything, labor was really taxing, and recovery started off pretty rough.  Luckily for me, there were exactly two things on the hospital menu that didn't look absolutely disgusting, so I ate nearly my weight in salmon BLT's and omelets.  Out of Styrofoam boxes, because our hospital was really going for a "spa" vibe.

I've wondered why they offer those clear plastic bassinets to set your baby in when clearly you'll just want to hold them all the time.  But it's because the hospital knows you're the kind of mother who would spill ranch dressing on your baby if given the chance, so they provide a holding capsule for meal times.  The more you know.

The night went well - I had made it very clear to anyone who would listen to me that I didn't want people checking on us overnight.  It's weirdly difficult to keep staff from coming into your room at ungodly hours, turning on all the lights, talking in loud voices, and generally acting the way no decent human should at 3:00 a.m.  But throughout our stay, the nurses and staff were really respectful of our request for privacy.  Which was good, because even without their overnight visits, we were pretty tired.

I ate some more.  The kids visited.  I gave Juniper a bath.

We wrestled with name options.  All through our stay, we kept referring to Juniper as "The New Baby."  We had a short list of names we liked, but we were having a hard time deciding on one, and even then, we weren't sure what middle name to choose.

Newborns always have the most dazed, silly, adorable burp-time faces.

Inception.

We wanted to go home as soon as we could, so I told the nurses we'd like to stay until mid-afternoon on Tuesday so we could squeeze in one last nap before heading home.  But the nap came and went, and we still didn't have a name.  We had done all of our discharge requirements, we had packed everything up, and we still couldn't leave because we hadn't filled out the social security paperwork.  The nurse kept coming in and asking if we were ready to go, and we had to keep telling her no.  Eventually, she came in to tell us that she obtained special permission from the Records Lady for us to go home without a name chosen, and the hospital would call us the next day for the official word.

"WHYYYY HAVEN'T YOU PICKED A NAME FOR ME YET?!"

One last jaundice check before our departure.

Sleeping through burp-time, but sure dressed sassy.

So finally, at 6:15, we loaded up The New Baby and headed home, sans name.

Even though she was a major chunk by newborn standards, there isn't a newborn in the entire world who doesn't look like a verifiable pipsqueak the first time they're loaded into an infant carrier.  I'm going to start calling her The Big Tiny.

It was so very strange to walk in the door and tell the kids she still didn't have a name!  So The New Baby she was for the next few hours, until we finally pulled the trigger on Juniper Elise.  Whew.  Rough process.

In my next post (tomorrow??) I'll tell you how we decided on her name, and what it means!

introducing the kids to juniper.

Now that we're a full two weeks out from the event itself, I figured it's high time to start documenting our early days with our sweet girl.  It has been hard finding the time to blog - I rarely have two hands free, and when I do, Callista is dead-set on trying to write a blog post herself, so she won't leave the computer alone long enough for me to type!

The kids came to the hospital our second day there to meet Juniper.  It must've been a strange experience for them - because I went into labor so 'early' (it's all relative, but anything earlier than 40 weeks is early for me), we hadn't prepped them with plans for what to expect.  So they woke up the day of Juniper's birth to find a friend of mine sleeping here, and Todd and I nowhere to be found, since I went into labor overnight.  They were excited to learn it was "Baby Day!" but they didn't get to come see her until the following day.  In the meantime, my mom arrived and took over kid duty, and together they baked cupcakes to bring to the hospital for a Birth Day Party.

I hadn't been sure how Callista would respond to the new baby.  She had been around plenty of babies before, and while she seemed to like them, she was never super interested in them - unless I was holding them, in which case she'd try to push them off my lap.  I was a little worried she'd take some time to warm up to her new sister.

HOWEVER.  When everyone arrived at our room, and she saw Juniper for the first time, Callista pretty much launched herself out of my mom's arms and onto the bed, where she forcefully wrestled Juniper out of my arms and into her own.  As long as she was holding the baby, she was super calm and quiet.  But if anyone attempted to take Juniper away, or if anyone else held her, Callista would lose her mind.  It was clear she knew that this baby was her baby, and a strong bond was formed in her mind right away!

Everyone else was pretty much in awe as well.

(And just because Rocco's self-chosen and saucy pose cracks me up...)

After that, each kid took a turn holding their new sister.  I just love the unique expressions of amazement and joy on each of their faces!

Unfortunately, the entire time the bigger kids were having heartfelt moments with Juniper, Callista was not loving the fact that she was not the one with sole possession.

Luckily, custody was regranted eventually and things went back to relative calm.

 

It was finally time to break out the cupcakes, which distracted Callista long enough for my mom to actually get to hold Juniper...

… and eventually we discovered that my water cup was nearly as endearing to her as the baby, so she was pacified with that for a while.  (Until it was time for everyone to leave and both the baby and the cup were taken from her, at which point Callista had to be carried out the door, screaming.)

It was such a sweet visit getting to introduce Juniper to her big siblings.  They are so enamored with her!  Rocco continues to ask me every few days, "Do I get to keep my new sister forever??!"  It's such a beautiful thing to watch them love each other so fully and loyally from Day One.  I'm so grateful for each one of them!

Happy Birthday, Penelope!

Yesterday was Penelope's birthday!  She is NINE YEARS OLD.  Oh my goodness.

This girl is just full-throttle sweetness and spunk and sincerity.  She is so smart, and her vocabulary rivals mine.  She is an avid reader, and an incredible writer, and will readily tell you that she is a good writer because she's a committed reader.  (It's amazing how few writers, and also educators, seem to understand what she has already intuited.)  She uses her giftings to bless others - she often writes stories, books, and poems for the rest of us, and is such a great encourager with her words.  She has a natural talent for writing plays and songs, and loves performing.

She is helpful and servant hearted.  She loves making breakfast for her siblings.  She has requested to learn to change diapers so she can help me with Juniper.  She keeps her own room so clean and tidy, and even likes to rearrange her shelves to make them pretty and fresh.  She readily takes responsibility for the younger kids without being asked - buckling them into car seats, putting on their shoes or coats, brushing their teeth, or playing with them when they need to be out from underfoot.  She has taken personal responsibility for our pet turtle, Stumpi, feeding her every day and cleaning out her cage- all without being asked or reminded.  She sees needs and really enjoys meeting them.

She is so funny.  She is kind.  She is patient.  She really strives to honor Todd and me.  She's a gift-giver, and revels in spending her allowance on the perfect gift for someone else.  Often, the lucky recipient is yours truly, and gifts from her are honestly so thoughtful and meaningful.

When she grows up, she wants to have ten kids and run a self-sufficient farm.  She loves horses and gardening and babies.  I just know she is going to do great things in life and for God's kingdom as she grows!

I can't tell you how much I enjoy this person.  She is a genuine blessing.  Not just as a child, but as a friend.  She fills my days with laughter and deep conversation over our many shared interests.  She is engaging and interesting and so full of life.  She continues to become more and more precious to me every single year, and I'm so grateful for the gift of her life and presence.

Happy birthday, cherished one!

juniper's birth story.

Juniper's story is so very unique, and it's hard to even know where to start!  (Read here for some of her story and the unknowns we were facing as we approached labor.)

Last Thursday night, right at 39 weeks, I had a couple really strong contractions.  They never turned into anything, and I was so far away from my due date, I didn't think much of them.  Plus, Todd was in for a full weekend of ministry (he'd be gone and teaching at a men's event Friday night and Saturday, and preaching at church on Sunday), so I think I was just needing to mentally get to a spot where we weren't facing timing/logistical complications with that.  So once the contractions died down, I didn't think too much about them.

Sometime over the weekend (I had been thinking it was Saturday morning, but Todd remembers it being Friday night) I started kind of … leaking something.  It wasn't like previous labors when my water broke, so I wasn't sure what I was dealing with.  My midwife was gone over the weekend, Todd was in and out through the weekend, and I wasn't confident I knew what was happening.  So I did what I default to in times of uncertainty: I sat around and waited until something became more obvious.

By Sunday night, I was still leaking, and so Todd and I prayed that if it was amniotic fluid, I would start labor overnight and know for sure what to do.  Around 2:00 a.m., contractions began in earnest, and by 3:30 I had asked my mom to start the drive down from Iowa.  I puttered around gathering stuff for the hospital (I still hadn't packed the hospital bag before that) and putting on makeup (because I'm nothing if not practical when I have time to kill at 4:00 a.m.).  A friend in town came over to hold down the fort while waiting for my mom to arrive, and Todd and I took off for the hospital.

My contractions weren't strong, and weren't super regular, even by the time we got to the hospital at 5:00.  At first check, I was already dilated to 4, and they confirmed I'd been leaking amniotic fluid... for two or three days, which is not great.  I was taken directly to a labor room, and given a bit of time to see if labor picked up on its own, or if they'd need to start Pitocin.

Making sure she was head down and that there was still plenty of fluid.

By 10:00, stuff still hadn't gotten moving.  I'd eaten a small breakfast, which seemed to help my overall outlook, but my contractions were still irregular (nothing from 7:15-8:30, for instance).  So they called in the anesthesiologist and got me prepped for an epidural.

Oh my word.  They were training the guy placing my epidural, and he couldn't figure it out.  He kept talking about how he was hitting bone, and how he couldn't find my ligament, and how it wasn't working, and once he placed it, his overseeing doctor-guy told him he would need to do it over again in a new spot.  It was so terrifying because, like, you know... this is my spine, Guy.  If you royally mess this up, there are no take-backsies.  It was really frightening.

Once they got the epidural going, they started Pitocin.  Pitocin has always freaked me out, but it wasn't so bad... until it was so bad.  I was fine... fine... fine... not fine.  One minute I was on the phone with my mom, wondering whether I'd be able to tell through the epidural when I'd hit transition, and literally the next minute I was being overtaken by seemingly unmitigated pain and the urge to push.  It was so strange.

I waited for a short bit while they tracked down my midwife, backed off the Pitocin, and re-dosed my epidural.  And then it was time to push.  Four pushes later, and she was out, completely and totally tangled up in her cord, but happy and healthy and HUMONGOUS.  No growth problems, no chromosomal problems, just a perfect, beautiful miracle baby.

It was a strange day.  Because I felt very normal and clear-headed for most of it, and the actual contractions/labor lasted for such a short time (though I'd technically been in labor for days at that point), it felt very much like a normal day... but one in which I had a baby.  It was completely surreal and, to be honest, a little difficult to wrap my head around.  I think I'm still processing it, even now.  In every way, it was unlike any other birth experience I've had.  She has had her own story from Day One.

We spent the rest of our stay at the hospital resting, cuddling and trying to decide on her name, which we still hadn't been able to decide on. But that's a tale for another time...

what's up weekly.

This week has held a lot of activity!  Last Friday, I enlisted (read: bribed) the kids to help me get a handle on the house.  The reasoning was two-fold: first off, the house has been a disaster.  I had emptied out my laundry room in order to make room for new shelving, but many of the things hadn't been put back or organized in any way, so my basement was full of random storage boxes and bags of things to take to Goodwill.  It was a serious bane.

But secondly, my sister and brother-in-law were coming down for the weekend, and I wanted to actually have a clean, accessible place for them to sleep.  (I know, I know.  I really go above and beyond for our houseguests.)  So the kids and I tackled the basement.

So I got my new shelves organized and filled, and my laundry room cleaned out.  It may not look fancy to you, but this is my only indoor storage space, and it is such a breath of fresh air to see it in an organized state.

Right side of laundry room, including my new media shelves.

Pantry overflow, kids' clothing storage, and bins for Goodwill/consignment.

left side of laundry room.  Guitar added for all those spontaneous jam sessions I log while waiting for the dryer to buzz.

I also (kind of) organized all the random crap strewn around our basement family room.  I think eventually I'd like to build a closet in there that is custom-sized for storage bins to give me some more tucked-away space to keep everything.  I heard once that there are two personality types when it comes to organizing: "Outties" and "Innies."  Outties like having their things organized but visible, so they know where everything is at a glance.  Innies like having their things organized but tucked away so they don't have to actually see it when they're not using it.  I am strongly, decidedly, passionately an Innie.  I would like to pretend I don't own a single functional item, and that everything in my life is there purely for aesthetics, and then I open an door and VOILA - there, waiting to surprise me, is all the stuff necessary for existence.  (Organized in an aesthetic way, of course.)  So having big plastic clothing bins to store in a house with so little hidden storage has been an obstacle for me.

As a reward for helping me clean the house, the kids got a popcorn party for lunch.  I think I made five bags of microwave popcorn...  and gave them Smarties... and let them drink Sprite.  It was all very ill advised but fun.

Lauren and Austin arrived Friday night, and we spent Saturday just enjoying their company.  Of course we didn't get any pictures with adults in them.  Sigh.  Luckily, the kids are cute, so I'm happy with the COUSIN PHOTOS!  (We hadn't seen Hyler since she was ten days old - she has grown so much!  The boys were especially smitten with her and kept asking to hold her.)

Lauren and Austin watched the kids Saturday night so we could go on a date, so we went to a local Cajun place I love.  The one drawback to this particular restaurant is that they always have live music.  Sure, it sounds like a good thing on the surface, but it's always turned up way too loudly and performed by a weirdly large troop of middle aged guys, one of whom is inevitably playing a saxophone, and all of whom are secretly still hoping to hit the big time while they sacrifice time with their wives in the name of playing their 'gigs.'  It's all very sad.  BUT this weekend there was just one guy, and he was really good, and it wasn't too loud, so I deigned to offer my approval.

The rest of the week was pretty normal - chiropractic appointment, midwife appointment, trip to the Amish.  A friend of mine came over on Tuesday and helped me to deep clean my main floor.  The walls, doors and floors have been scrubbed down, the windows have been washed, and I feel like a brand new person.  Of course, things only stayed clean for about an hour before the kids came in from playing outside, but it was a great feeling for that hour.

I feel like Callista deserves her own highlight for the week.  She has been growing like crazy: chunking out and getting 'toddler face' and 'thicky thighs,' as well as starting to talk a bit more.  She can climb up on chairs and the table (oh, great) but the beautiful thing is that she has also learned to climb down on her own, so I'm actually not all that worried about it.  She's going through that testy phase where everything sends her over the edge, but she's starting to come out the other side, which I'm grateful for.

She learned how to open a bag of trail mix by herself and without permission.  She was pretty proud of herself.

I'm curious to see how she'll do once the baby arrives.  She's still reveling in her status as the baby of the family, so I could see this transition being hard for her, but she's also becoming super maternal lately (brushing my hair, rubbing her siblings' backs when they're upset, even bringing pillows and blankets for those she thinks need a good rest) so she might like having 'her' baby here to care for.  We'll see.  We'll see very soon.