finn and the full moon

9 days before my due date, i was laying on the couch and felt my water start to break. this was not the way things went down with the girls. so it shocked me and i wasn't quite sure what was happening right away. even my doctor wasn't convinced when i called her. but after dropping the girls off at my parents house (WHO LIVE HERE NOW!!!-more on this when there is not big news to tell) we headed to the hospital after i picked up a cranberry slush at sonic. it was indeed my water breaking. come to find out the hospital was packed with huge pregnant women who's waters were breaking. something that tends to happen a lot when there is a full moon and its been raining and the barometric pressure is low. who knew? i was told several times that night that water breaks only 15% of the time before labor begins. so there we wait in this little cubicle to see if my contractions will start. a couple hours later, they had not. i guess finn just wasn't ready to come on his own. but once your water breaks...you must have your baby within 24 hours. so they began me on pitocin, another first for me. about 5 hours later i asked for an epidural. for some reason it didn't really take. so they dosed me again. immediately i started convulsing, i felt like my tongue was swelling, like my jaw was locked, like i was going to vomit, and i could not breathe all at the same time. i felt people start to panic around me. i started to panic. they gave me oxygen, benadryl, phenegran, ice chips. they checked my breathing, my tongue. i was actually ok. i just didn't feel ok and didn't seem to be. then they checked me to see how much progress i had made. in an hour i had gone from 5 to 10 centimeters. thanks, pitocin! 45 minutes later finn had arrived and the bad reaction seemed to disappear. they handed finn to me. i held him for about a minute. gave him to robbie and then slept for about 2 hours. i don't know how much benadryl and phenegran i was given, but i could not even pretend to keep my eyes open. i wish i had the guts to show you the pictures of me in this state. i don't even remember the pictures being taken. not cute.

but he's here!
7lbs, 3 oz
October 11, 2008
2o inches
6:00am.

isn't he sweet?

you arrive in the world and immediately people start messing with you. finn was not happy with this nurse.






first diaper change with his daddy.

our stay at the hospital was so relaxing. i think i caught up on all the lost sleep over the last 9 months. they told us that we could leave the day after he was born. um, no thanks. there are wild children at home. we opted to stay one more day in the little room where we only had one child's needs to tend to, TLC marathons were literally at my fingertips, and food and drinks were brought to me to partake in bed. if we ignored the fact that there was no pool, we felt like we were at an all inclusive resort.

the only thing we had to do was cuddle this little one

but we were excited to introduce finn to his sisters. neena and poppy traveled from richmond, va to care for the girls while we were at club med. they all came for a visit the day after he was born.




olive came in like a major big sister and said "i want to hold my baby". she has been very gentle and loving. she talks to him in a very sweet, soothing voice. a few days after we brought him home she said "he's just really so cute. oh, i just love him so much."

i have 3 children, people.

thats been a little strange to adjust to. almost immediately after we got home i felt my attention once again divided. there are many chaotic moments in the day when they all want something, where i wonder "ok, who needs me the most right now?" and emotions have been running high. lucy somehow turned into a full time thumb sucker while we were away. she seems to be taking this the hardest. i'm constantly checking everybody's emotions. thinking, "who's on the verge of a breakdown right now?" hoping to catch it before they begin to melt.

well, there are a hundred more things i could say right now. a hundred more pictures i could post. but its late, its been awhile since i've blogged, can't be certain when i'll have the time again to add more. i better just click the button. love to all and thanks to everyone who has sent food, well wishes, and prayers our way.