Benjamin's hospital stay

My second problem at the hospital was that this scale was apparently not calibrated properly. This one right after being born said 6'4", but later in the middle of the night when he got checked on another scale said 6'12". Now he did nurse a little after born but that was it, in fact we struggled to get him eating regularly while in hospital so I don't think he suddenly gained 8 oz. After the next check up he was 6'8" so we figured the second record was more accurate.

Here we are before Eric and Benjamin took off to the nursery to get checked more thoroughly and bathed. Somehow we didn't take many of the normal pictures. The labor room was a lot nicer than the one I was in with Aaron. We only took a picture with Daddy and Grandma (my mom) didn't get one till after we moved downstairs to a recovery room.

 It was amazing how much the essential oils helped with every step of the process. It was also nice having him at 5:30 at night instead of 5:30 am like with Aaron. We both got a regularish night sleep. Also we were able to introduce him to his siblings. We found a tolerable Thanksgiving meal, of course not as good as being home but well enough for the hospital. Then we had a visit from home, the kids were so excited to see their new baby brother. They came after they had got ready for bed so hopefully on the way home they would fall asleep.

After we captured our new family picture I let each of the kids hold him and took their picture (we really struggled w/lighting). We asked Miriam why my tummy was still big if baby had come out and she thought there was another baby in there. We said no there better not be she got a thinking look and said," I know its full of milk!" Another b case of straightening out sensitive body functions.

Aaron was also very excited to see his new brother. When they were leaving to go home he got really upset because he wanted to take the baby home! He enjoys holding Benjamin a lot though maybe not as much as his sisters love holding him!

Rachel made a beeline directly for Benjamin, she was so exciting to see the baby and she stuck pretty close to us. She constantly was pointing at him as if to say our baby is finally here! She is always holding her arms out just expecting us to hand Benjamin over no matter what. ;)

This is pretty much the sum total of our visitors. I loved having my whole family here. Dad has always come down to meet the new addition within in a week, but it was cool for him to meet Benjamin right off, same for my brother. My siblings are finally getting more comfortable with infants being around all of mine. Eric's Aunt Julie popped in after her shift at the hospital and we got some phone calls to congratulate us. Thanks family for holding down the home fort while we were gone!

After his first feeding it was a little bit of a struggle to get him to eat partly from being sleepy and I think partly because his tummy was upset. About 2 am he started crying and I noticed red liquid beside him and he was spitting up red tinged mucus stuff. Apparently the poor guy had swallowed some stuff on his way being born and they had to suction some of it out a couple of times. The nurses were fabulous letting me dictate a lot of my care with exception to their regular vital takings. I don't know if that how they usually are or realized I had done this before. We worked together to help him nurse better from "priming the pump" with formula to letting me pump some milk to get him started. Friday they brought the kids and their bedtime stuff done so we could help them get ready then hopefully go to sleep on the way home. They brought balloons for us which the kids enjoyed as much or more than I did.

Here we are preparing to discharge on Saturday. Upper left dressing Benjamin and having our vitals checked one last time. The right pictures are Benjamin his car seat for the first time to go home!

Benjamin's Birth Story

The story begins Wednesday, November 21 when I was sitting at the table eating my breakfast. I was contemplating all I needed to do that morning-pack to go to Delta for Thanksgiving, and be ready to go to my mid-wife appointment, wondering if I could get some pies made, and many other things. At about 10:30 a release happened that changed everything. First reaction was that my bladder control was finally gone and I said, "oh dear" as it dawned on me that I hadn't put any muscle behind that "accident" and my water had probably broken ( a new experience- for the other 3 the Dr had broken it at some point during the delivery). The kids were very concerned, Miriam asked if I had an accident as we still have lots of those around our house. It was kind of comic trying to get myself cleaned up when I still was continually leaking.

 First, I called my mom in SLC then my midwife who said to bring in a sample to my already scheduled appointment at 1:30. Then Jennifer and I started gathering everything needed for if we ended up staying and having a baby, yet I didn't have any contractions until 12:30. I have had more contractions with him due to dehydration so it was strange that when I did want them there was none. The midwife confirmed that my water had indeed broke. Everything else looked ok, I just wasn't in labor and he was still not quite in position yet.They told me go home, eat a good meal and rest up in preparation to have him. We also had a big misunderstanding. I thought beyond checking in at 12 hours and then if nothing happened by 24 they would then discuss options. By 24 hrs the only option was to check into the hospital and be induced- not what I wanted to have at all! I had already agonized over going to hospital when he was breech, luckily he managed to turn around after some temp treatment and elevating my body.    

After the appointment we ran some errands, namely Thanksgiving dinner ingrediants and a booster seat for Miriam. As recommended we decided to leave Rachel in rear facing carseat and then when the baby came move all the car seats down. The girls were super pleased- Miriam with a booster and Rachel now facing forward (above picture). I took the picture below that night to remember how huge I was. I was seriously afraid that I was going to have a 10 lb baby (this is after losing water all day too!).

I had a unbroken nights sleep to be woken up around 8ish from the new midwife on call checking in to see what was happening. I was then given the unpleasant news that if labor hadn't started by 24 hours I would have to be induced and that was the only option. I couldn't figure out where all the supposed options had gone and I was very upset. Well I immediately started the process for starting naturally if body is ready a series of baths and walks which got some contractions going, but not regularly (boy were folks surprised to see me out roaming the neighborhood!). We gathered to go meet with the midwife though lost track of time and were late (over the 24 hr period). By the time we reached the birthing center the contractions had completely stopped again. The midwife gave me a quick check over, he was almost in prime position then sent us over to the hospital. It was very weird checking in to have a baby around 1:00 with absolutely no contractions.
I have to say this hospital visit was so much better than when I was there with Aaron despite not knowing the doctor at all. I only had two major complaints. One was the lack of clarity of information, I had to tell everyone several times over my history, personal information, etc. They never quite got it down my whole visit there. So while they were figuring that out we waited for at least an hour and a half before anything significant happened. I had to have antibiotics having ruptured for so long and boy I hate the needle, I think it got squished making it even more painful somewhere along the course of labor. This time I actually managed to get really good use out of my oils. I had the diffuser going, put clary sage, helichrysum, myrrh, geranium and a couple of others on to encourage him in the proper place, get contractions going, and prepare my perineum for birth and it helped so much. Citrus bliss was my all time favorite to revitalize me during labor though. They started me with pitocin and they only turned it up once thank goodness. When labor hit it came hard and then within 2 1/2 hrs Benjamin Joseph was born at 5:30 pm. I was starting to emotionally disconnect again like I did with Rachel somewhere in the middle, but I rubbed some oils on and was able to get back in the game which made everything so much easier. They had started the pit but nothing happened as mom, Eric and I were just staring at each other contemplating starting a game or reading when all of a sudden things started happening. I still had back labor despite all my efforts to position him so I'm thinking I'm just cursed to endure that.  I had a really great nurse that allowed me some more freedom moving around and had some great suggestions during labor. One of the best was toward the end to have Eric get up behind me so I could push against him and it worked well. He said it was interesting to see things more from my prospective.

First Snow

What is this? Our first big storm was a good one, snowing for 3 days and sticking around for a good week. I don't know how much Rachel remembers of snow from last year, this was the first time to go walking in snowsuit though. I had to think hard about where snow gear might be for after checking pictures on Miriam to see if we had little boots and such.

My little snow bunny was soo cute! The kids all had a good time playing in the snow. Miriam wanted to make a snowman, but didn't seem to know how to by herself. No big people were up to going out with her so she didn't get one this time. Rachel was pretty game to play, but not for too long.

What do I do know, I think was Rachel's question when put into the snow. I think this was biggest storm in her life. One late afternoon Miriam wanted to go play and Aaron was asleep so she made do with Rachel. When Rachel had enough Miriam hadn't and was soo sad not to have anyone to play with. She is definitely not content by herself like the other two are.

Miriam and Aaron were so excited to get into their snow clothes and go exploring. They wante me to get their "boat" ie sled and pulled it around. Daddy took Miriam sledding over to the school where there was a small hill; Aaron was either asleep or in trouble. The biggest problem was a lack of gloves. Aaron also needs all new gear having grown out of his though Miriam should last another year.

I'm done!

Fall Fun

This year we actually raked leaves and put them on some of our plants as mulch. Miriam was a great raker and they had a blast playing in the leaves. I realized they never have done much with leaves before so this was a new experience.

We had to take turns with the rake, but Aaron found his own way of helping. We started in jackets and before long had taken them off. November 3 was a beautiful weekend that we used to tidy up the yard and finish off the garden.

Hard work that even Rachel was getting into. Miriam, my beautiful girl in the leaves.

So we had to take a break. Miriam and Daddy tried out the new bike her cousins gave to her.

I wasn't as excited when they brought the leaves inside and coated the sitting room floor on November 9! When I asked why they decided to coat my floor, Miriam told me she wanted some pretty leaves to decorate for Thanksgiving. This seems to be getting more common, Miriam pitching and helping, Aaron dragging his feet, and Rachel being happy and proud to help. The girls did a great job cleaning up.

Garden Wrapup

I'm probably not the best one to do this blog since I feel disconnected from our garden this year due to being pregnant. Eric did a great job as always and I believe we had a good harvest.

Here is Eric in April planting a new almond tree because the first died. We added several things to the garden this year including extensive herb/flower beds, got our blueberries planted; and tried corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, and potatoes. The corn didn't turn out to well and the watermelon never never got super sweet. We had some trouble figuring out when some things were ripe for picking, sometimes waiting too long and not being very good (which was the main issue for the corn).

We were thrilled to get peaches and bumper crops of raspberries and blackberries for the first year of producing fruit (blackberries were particularly hard to tell if ripe- any tips?). We were especially excited to have some great grapes. I loved seeing the blossoms and leaves change through the seasons. There was something fulfilling seeing our whole yard green up this spring.

Here is Eric putting down the black plastic for the tomatoes and peppers in May. Another addition this year is Eric designed a drip system for the garden. We had a few problems that made us wonder if we were watering enough, boy is it getting more complicated getting everything watered and picked in good time. I decided the kids would be in charge of picking berries and maybe we could keep up. Eric also got top notch super big sturdy tomato cages which worked great so we didn't have to wade through a sea of vines.

The two cantaloupe plants sent out bumper crops; we had cantaloupe (Aaron holding a specimen) nearly everyday and the chickens got plenty of over-ripe ones also. Miriam is holding the best cucumber we got- they grew, but not many and not well.

The kids did enjoy helping pick things. Here they are Oct 6 digging up all the potatoes. You can also see the tomato cages. We got 3 nice size pretty good pumpkins also that can see on the left. We thought we were doing red potatoes, but the interior of the potatoes seems white, despite the red skins.  We also got quite a few volunteer tomatoes.

We also got a baby, momma, and papa watermelon. Here are the kids on Oct 6 with the papa watermelon. It weighed in around 45 lbs!

 Rachel upper left after eating all the strawberries on September 8. We have been surprised how long the berries have kept producing. I feel bad I didn't get more/better pictures of the garden and the new flower/herb beds. The purple flowers are larkspur which I really like how they turned out. The orange ones are gladiolas, also a pleasant surprise (Eric picked most varieties). We are not real sure on the rest of the specimens, if you know what they are let us know. In the white flowers you can see some chamomile flowers. Some things didn't come up at all, and we didn't do a very good job harvesting so the experiment goes on into next year. Maybe soon with seeing we will remember the difference between perennial and annuals!

Welcome Benjamin!

Benjamin was born on Thanksgiving at  5:56 pm after my water broke the morning before. He was in a hurry to get here I guess. He was 6 lbs 12 oz (we think there was a scale discrepancy) and 20 in by far my smallest baby! I'm still not really sure what to do with such a little baby.

His siblings were so excited to come see him a couple of hours later. They all wanted to hold him and Aaron was so upset he couldn't take his baby home. Now a family of six, I can't believe it! I guess I now have "two sets of twins". ;) Though Miriam told me she needs another sister so she will be even (not the thing to say right after delivering a baby!). They are all set to be big helpers, which is good because mommy will definitely need them!

Happy Halloween!

Once we got through the pumpkin patch the next thing was constantly asking about was carving the pumpkins and she wasn't much convinced that we had wait so as not to have moldy caved in jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. Follow the night arrived, we asked Uncle Ryan to help. He came over with his curly fry cutter and we had french fries, hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner.

Here we are on October 23 digging into the pumpkins. Miriam chose Uncle Ryan to help her, Aaron chose me and so Eric helped Rachel. The kids still didn't really want to help "gut" the pumpkins though they dictated what kind of face to put on it. Eric did feel a little gypped as Rachel didn't participate at all. We saved some seeds to plant and Eric tried baking some others. Our garden pumpkins were easy to clean out- not much stringy stuff, but the pumpkin patch ones were really slimy.

Uncle Ryan and Miriam with their finished pumpkin. We are glad Uncle Ryan moved back to Utah!

Mommy and Aaron's pumpkin, complete with star eyes.

Next on the list was to go trick-or-treating. They wanted to go earlier in the month but I said nobody was ready for them. I did allow them to put on costumes and trick-or-treat up our hallway. They went to about every door in our house and knocked on it for me to give them a little piece of candy. 

Jones Pumpkin patch. We all wore our pumpkin shirts on Halloween.

We started the evening with our annual tradition of pizza and apple juice. While we ate our yummy pizza we watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. We were also excited to have my mom spend the evening with us. The kids loved handing out the candy to our trick-or-treaters. Though it didn't seem like we got as many this year even though the weather was fabulous- warmest Halloween on record, I believe.

 After dinner it was time to suit up to go trick-or-treating. Someone gave us the skeleton costume and I was always going to get rid of it but never quite could bring myself to. A month or more ago Aaron found it and became entranced and there was no turning back for him. We don't have a lot of costumes so it was Rachel's turn to be a snow tiger. First Grandma Delta had to sew the tail back on because the other two had managed to pull it off. Those two were easy picking costumes for, Miriam on the other hand kept changing her mind. At different times she wanted to be a ballerina or a fairy, but after we found "glass slippers" at the store I insisted she be Cinderella. She gets kind of funny with her clothes and if they are scratchy (seams) or tight so she balked a little because it was scratchy. Then at the last minute we almost couldn't find her new shoes (may I just say I hate hunting for shoes practically everyday!!).

The kids had a great time handing out candy (pictures on the right). They were excited to have Grandma come treat-or-treating with them. We went around the block, mostly only on one side then the older ones went farther with Daddy. The only probably is I got side tracked talking to someone so we missed several people waiting too long. Unfortunately, they got too much candy- they really got into it even Rachel for her first time. The look on Rachel's face the first couple times was one of bewilderment, whats going on, but then she decided it was really a good deal.



Ahh the loot at the end of the night. I showed them my holiday candy tradition of dumping everything out and putting all the like candy together.