Getting to know you

The last three weeks with Clark have been a blur (and I'm sure that has nothing to do with lack of sleep, harhar) In those days and nights I have gleaned some important information about this little person I brought into the world. Lessons learned:

Crying because its time to eat. Crying when a new diaper is needed. Crying when tired. Crying when overtired. Clark seems to be a crier. This threw me for a loop. But I'm so relieved to report that the crying is now down to the necessities like eating and a full diaper.

Bath time is enjoyable. First of my kids to actually like reclining in the warm water and having his hair washed.

That it is indeed possible to fill a diaper every time you pass gas. This trait was most definitely inherited from the other man in this family ;)

Nursing is his favorite past-time. I guess that's to be expected I've just never had a baby gain weight so fast!

This boy LOVES to nap. Like his mama. Once we can sleep through the night (and you know how elusive that is for my kids here) we will be a force to be reckoned with. On the weekends ;)

Swings and sitting things hold no appeal. But lounging in the Solly gets the seal of approval. 

The carseat is a love/hate relationship. As is the pacifier.

A big dislike? Nail clippers/file. Though to be honest I hate using them so maybe its the users problem(?) Tiny nails are so very hard to see how to cut properly, amiright?

Diaper changes are a strange endeavor with a little boy. Clark has peed into his face several times already. I thought he was dying the first few days at home because he didn't have any pee diapers. Then I realized he was peeing up into the diaper and not down, like his sisters. #rookieboymom

But I think my favorite lesson of all is knowing I have a lifetime of loving him.

“There has never been, nor will there ever be anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.” Author Unknown

Linking up here.

   

   

Clark + DockATot // a review

I am not blessed with great sleepers. I don't know if its because I ADORE sleep and pretty much need 8+ hours of it to function (to which my kids says, “ha”). So when the rave reviews for the DocATot started flying all over the interwebs, I was intrigued. And naturally HAD to HAVE it. Thanks to DockATot for providing a sleep lounger for Clark to use. All opinions are mine alone.

swaddling blanket

I’m not sure it’s improved Clark’s sleeping, he is definitely following in his sisters footsteps er, sleep print, but it IS very handy as an extra set of “arms”.

I’ve used the DockATot as a safe holding spot when:

• filling up his bathtub and when drying him off afterwards.

• having him within arms length and sight when spending some time with his sisters.

• and the occasional nap.

**I'm looking forward to using the DockATot as a tummy time prop too!

Maybe he’ll surprise us all and take to sleeping longer stretches but for now I’ll take all the newborn snuggles I can get!

Linking up here.

   

   

The Siblings Smith

Nothing is more special than seeing siblings together. Knowing I grew each one inside my body, birthed them and then introducing them to the world are all miracles in and of themselves. Seeing how unique their personalities are is mind blowing. But having them connect and relate to each other? Pure magic. 

My biggest concern when I was pregnant with Brielana was how Kinsey was going to cope with sharing her parents. And that transition has been the hardest to date. Not just for Kinsey but for myself. Mom guilt was STRONG during the first year and I am so relieved it has passed. And I wonder in hindsight, if my worries and fears somehow transferred onto Kinsey, making that time that much more difficult(?)

I am relieved to say adding Clark to our family has been so much easier! I don't know if it's because Brielana is so different personality-wise or if its due to his gender, but throwing in a third kid to this mix has been a blessing.

Kinsey is still rocking the best big sister role. She craves her Clark cuddles and is upset when she has to relinquish her time with him (usually for a feeding, so what can you do?)

Brielana vacillates between calling him “Baby Brother” and “Baby Clark” or “that boy” depending in the situation lol. She loves petting his soft hair and cheeks and is the go-getter of diapers and pacis.

I don't want to sound like we have everything down; we're still dealing with some night waking from Brielana and a bit of 6-going-on-16 sass from Kinsey, but as far as everything baby-related goes, we are all just smitten. I guess it doesn't hurt that the guy sleeps like 90% of the time ;)

But in all honesty motherhood has been the single most important gift in my life and I couldn't have been blessed with better babes. God certainly knows what He is doing!

Linking up here.

   

   

Clark's Birth Story

It's been two weeks since Clark has graced us with his presence!! It feels like forever since he's been with us and yet I'm still in shock that he's here (I can't be the only mom who feels this way, no?) So on to the birth story!

I haven't been shy about voicing my desire to have Clark on September 4th so he could match his sisters (February 4th and July 4th, respectively.) So when Labor Day Monday came and went, I was semi depressed. And bless Kinsey's heart as she told me ever so gently, "Mom, any day Baby Brother is born will be a special day." And she was right!

Tuesday the 5th was a hot and muggy day and we had just got home from picking Kinsey up from school when I was squatting down to pick something up from the ground when I felt/heard a strange bubbling sound right at the top of my stomach and essentially where Clark's bum would be pointing straight up into my face and FREAKED OUT; did he just poop meconium?!?! I called my doctor's office ASAP because googling "can you hear baby poop in uterus" comes with mixed results lol. Not wanting to take any chances the receptionist had me come in and being super dramatic, I brought my hospital bag along too.

Well, baby was just fine and it was most likely my own tummy making weird noises (go figure) so I was sent home but with the promise of a membrane strip at my appointment the next day.

Wednesday's appointment was at 11a and I did indeed get my strip and was sent on my merry way. Brian was also off from work so we took Brielana to Target for some last minute baby items and then we picked up Kinsey from school. (In an interesting parallel, a walk around Target was also had after Brielana's membrane stripe 3 years prior ;) We had In-N-Out as a special lunch request from the girls and I fully imagined it as my "last meal".

Occasionally I had some mild cramping throughout the rest of the afternoon/ evening but nothing that screamed "labor" so I went to bed p-r-a-y-i-n-g I'd wake up with a baby in my arms.

At 11:30a I woke up to pee and to possible contractions (because I'm never sure at first, am I the only one?!) and tried laying back down. Well, that was horrid so I tried some stretching and when they didn't lesson, I figured timing them would be a good idea. And because "laboring time" moves differently then regular time it was already 12:30a when I decided to start timing. Contractions were clocking in every 1-2 minutes and lasted for 1 minute. Suffice it to say I called my doctor around 12:45a and he told me to call the hospital and the show began!

I woke up Brian, woke up my mom, who was to watch the girls and then jammed it to the car as Brian said, "don't mess around you need to get your epidural." Love that man.

The drive to the hospital was about 8 minutes with no cars in sight and all green lights (praise the Lord.) We arrived about five minutes after one in the morning.

We made it to check in and I was taken to a triage room (a first) to be monitored pre-admission as it was a busy night to have babies! On the way in we passed a couple who were sent home and then we were told later someone gave birth in the hallway behind an erect curtain (yikes!)

I was 4cm dilated when I was first checked and had my blood drawn for lab work pre-epidural, which I had requested as soon as the door shut behind me haha. Luckily the anesthesiologist was right down the hall and was informed of his assistance. Laurie the nurse read from my chart that I had quick labors so we walked across the hall to the birthing suite and by then it was like 1:30a and I had already progressed to 5cm in that short half hour.

My doctor came in shortly after and even though I didn't have a full bag of IV fluids, he said I could get the epidural in now because "as much fun as labor is, let's get the show on the road!" This is another reason why I adore my doctor. 

I got to watch the room get set up with birthing materials and that was fascinating. And then my Bestie of the morning arrived, the anesthesiologist. He made some jokes and I just was relieved I made it before the point of no pain meds!

After the epidural because, smiling ;)

This epidural was not my favorite but it was better than Brielana's so it was middle grade lol. It felt like it took forever to get inserted, and longer to take affect, and then my whole right leg went numb, so I was basically useless when it came to maneuvering.

My water was broke around 2:45a and then my doctor left. 

Laurie the nurse mentioned something about an "anomaly" on the baby monitor when another nurse came in saying my doctor didn't like the look of it and ordered a amnio-transfusion to which I was like, "what's going on?"  **An amnio-transfusion is basically an IV for the baby as my fluid levels were lower and it was causing slight distress on Clark. But when she went to put in the catheter thing his head was in the way and there was no room to maneuver it in. (So at this point I was basically a 9cm.)

We tried changing my laying position from back to left side but I started to get uncomfortable and asked to roll onto my right side but he liked that even less, so I was rolled back over to my left.

And then it seems everything happened at once. Nurses started to come into the room and I felt Clark's head just drop into the birth canal (which felt like I'd imagine how a car shifts gears, ku-clunk) and a doctor I've never seen before asks if its ok if she steps in to deliver.

I get my legs into the stirrups and getting ready to push when my doctor walks in (relief!) and then I have an oxygen mask placed over my face. In that moment I almost panic, because WTH?! I've never had that happen before but then I'm pushing and Clark is out after three.  **Anyone else feel like they don't know how to push out a baby?! I've done it three times and still feel like I have no clue how that works? 

Incidentally, I have a second degree tear and a labial tear(?) so stitches were needed but it hasn't bothered me at all, so Ill take it!

Still in the mask I heard Clark cry but didn't get to see Brian cut his umbilical cord before a nurse asks if I got him and I'm holding our son! Clark came out and greeted the world by pooping and then peed on me, welcome to the boy mom club, indeed!

Brian had to fill me in on some goings on since I had that oxygen mask on but apparently, Clark came out with his cord wrapped around his neck and body so he was slightly blue (and why the extra oxygen was administered to me). He passed his Apgar and nothing is amiss, but talk about an entrance! 

He was born at 3:31a on Thursday, September 7th after about 2.5 hours of labor. He weighed 8.11 (a pound more than Kinsey and Brielana) and measured 20.5 inches (an inch and a half longer than B and an inch longer than K.) His hair was dark and wavy(!!!) and it pains me that I didn't take a picture of it as it has since straightened out. I'm hoping once he has a full bath the wave will return.

He is a wonderful mix of his sisters (Kinsey's eyes and chin and Brielana's nose and cheeks) and has the longest, skinniest toes from who knows what relative lol. He halfheartedly nursed those first few hours but it was just such a  joy to finally hold him in my arms. He is such a squish!

Brian went to pick up the girls around 8a and they were so sweet when they came into the room! I swear my heart ruptured seeing them all together. Kinsey wanted to hold Clark right away and Brielana couldn't pet him enough. Big old fail for not remembering to have my mom take a family picture but in my defense, I was still a little drugged haha.

We spent the day watching Peter Pan and The Peanuts Movie and then Brian took them home and Clark and I were solo for the night. 

He passed all his tests and received his vaccines and I wisely took a few naps throughout the day as I needed them; this boy cried for like two hours from 2-4a and it was exhausting! I've never experienced that before! Luckily Brian came to the hospital bright and early around 5a and I got to nap and then shower.

We were discharged around 11a and got to bring our squish home! The girls had decorated the front door with my mom and it was the sweetest welcome. Being a family of five is nothing short of a blessing.

Thank you all for the warm well-wishes and congratulations! It has been more than I could have asked for or deserve, this mama definitely feels loved!

Kinsey's birth story | Brielana's birth story

Linking up here.