Baby Blaise Makes His Appearance

Hello world!

Welcome to the world, Blaise Lawrence! Oh my are we excited to have you here, little man! 

It's funny, this pregnancy seemed to go faster than any of my previous ones... until the final four weeks. My goodness, I felt like a blimp, I could barely move, and my body just decided it didn't know how to fall asleep anymore. It was excruciating. Mentally, I had geared myself up for another early baby, since my doctor and I spent a full ten weeks monitoring whether I would need progesterone shots during this pregnancy. After weeks of bedrest with Max, and biweekly shots to prevent preterm labor with the next three babies, I assumed that skipping the shots this time around would increase my chances of having another early baby. 

Boy was I wrong! Starting at 38 weeks, I started to prep myself for the inevitable... and then we had to wait... and wait... and wait... until my due date (and tenth anniversary!) September 2, the last possible day I ever imagined that I would be pregnant. We went for a walk with the whole family at Minnehaha Falls, hoping to move things along, but nothing. 

September 3rd, nothing. (Basketball, anyone? Bowling ball's more like it.)

September 4th, nothing. (But I got to watch Paul's team win their hockey tournament, so there's that!)

 

September 5th, nothing (Do I look a little crazy?)

Finally, on the morning of September 6, four days overdue, Baby Blaise decided to make his appearance!

We called my parents and began to prepare while we waited for them to arrive. My contractions got very strong while we waited, and each time one would hit, I would close my eyes and breathe until it passed... while the kids crowded around trying to ask me questions and talk about Pokemon! Paul finally had to intervene, firmly stating, "When Mom looks like that, DON'T talk to her." (Thanks honey!)

We got to the hospital about the same time as our doctor, and I am so thankful that he made it this time! This was by far my most difficult delivery yet, and boy am I thankful I didn't know what I was up against when I started... a 10lb 7oz giant baby! The poor thing even broke his collarbone on the way out because, as my doctor put it, "something had to give." Oh my, Blaise and I were both exhausted and sore, and I was a little shocked that my fifth baby could be my hardest. I thought they were supposed to just get easier! But we both have been healing up great, and now two weeks later it already seems like a distant memory.

Blaise was born at 11:14 in the morning, and his siblings and grandparents were able to come visit him around dinner time. Everyone was very excited to meet the little guy. I could stare at their faces in this photo forever... look at that joy!

First glance... Pure love

 

We stayed in the hospital for a full 48 hours, and we were visited by my brother Ben (who brought us dinner and a card game) and my good friends Sara, Sarah and Angela. It was nice to sit around and enjoy the quiet for awhile, but by the time we left I was very ready to be with the whole family together. We have had so many wonderful people bringing us food in the past two weeks, I have not had to make dinner yet! My amazing mom stocked our freezer with meals and has randomly called me a handful of times asking if we need lunch brought to us. I am only now starting to think I should get to the grocery store in case I feel like cooking some day.

Blaise has blended right into our life as we jumped back into homeschooling this week. Days are a bit unpredictable as we figure out his schedule, but we are working together and getting things done, and I already can't imagine life without him!

I'm looking forward to sharing our new addition with the rest of his family when they come to visit soon!

 

 

Growing our Family, Growing in Love

Well, folks, we decided that since we make such darn cute kids, we might as well bring another one to join the party! Baby number FIVE is due September 1! We found out we were expecting shortly after Christmas, and to be perfectly honest, it was not something we exactly had on our radar. The lifestyle we have chosen is one that is continually open to having another baby, but that does not mean we are always expecting it. In this case, it took us completely by surprise! The same cannot be said of the rest of our family and friends... but I'll get to that in a minute.

My first thoughts when we got the positive result weren't of the amazing gift that this baby is, or of the great joy that has come to our family. No, selfishly, my first thought was, "Ugh. Pregnancy's HARD. Ick." Three months of sickness, clothes that are always either too big or too small, progesterone treatments, heartburn, fatigue... the list started running through my head. "How am I going to survive pregnancy and still parent my other children?"

But my initial reaction flew out the window the moment we announced the pregnancy to the kids. For starters, they had already been discussing the name of "the next baby" for months prior to this news. Top choices? Luke for a boy or Leia for a girl, of course. So they were not surprised when we told them that yes, there was a new baby in Mommy's tummy. But they were ecstatic! They jumped up from the dinner table and started running circles around it, hooray-ing and cheering, only stopping to kiss my tummy and their newest sibling inside. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. Saint John Paul II once said, "The greatest gift you can give your child is another sibling", and never did I understand the truth of that more than on that day.

Then we told the news to our family and close friends, and the joy just continued to grow! But there was a trend that kept coming up, especially from Paul's family... no one was surprised in the least. Everyone spoke of clues I had dropped while visiting at Christmas, before I even knew! Granted, I had an inkling by that point... and it must have shown. But to top it all off, when I announced it to my grandparents, my grandma informed me that my grandpa, of all people, had called it days before we had any idea!

Finally, we took the news to social media to announce it to the masses. For the first time, I was slightly nervous about what the reaction would be... "Baby news? Again?? This is getting old." I mean, how exciting can it be for my friends and acquaintances the fifth time around? And what if they even start thinking we're a little crazy? But I was blown away by the love and support from every corner of my diverse list of friends! Not that anything should be based on the number of likes a photograph receives on Facebook, but to see that the picture I posted garnered more positive responses than any of my previous announcements... or any post, for that matter... blew my fears away. I am surrounded by wonderful people on every side.

We are blessed and thankful beyond belief for the opportunity to raise up another little soul. We count on each and every one of you to pray for us and share our joy, and we can't wait to meet our little one at the beginning of September!

Blogging On!

My brain has been getting a workout lately, and it feels great! I recently wrote a guest blog post for the Guiding Star Project, a pro-life, pro-woman organization whose mission I wholeheartedly believe in. And then, just for the heck of it, I started another blog to chronicle my thoughts and experiences with homeschooling. I found that I had a lot to say on the subject, and I didn't want to bore you all with that here. But if you feel like you want to read more of my craziness, feel free to check it out!

That said, I promise to make a commitment to keep updating this blog as much as I can. I've done a pretty lame job lately, something about homeschooling with four kids kinda eats away at my time... I can't figure it out. But I still want to make this a priority, because I know you all (cough *Megan* cough) want to know what's going on in these parts. So don't give up on me! I'll still be around, if not as regularly as I was when I began this endeavor almost five years ago.

Welcome, Little One!

On July 27 at 3:00pm, we welcomed Edith Clare into the world. What a joy, what a sweet girl she is! Already a good listener, she waited to arrive until the day after my cousin's wedding. The other three kids were ring bearers and flower girl in the wedding and I really wanted to be there to celebrate with my family. So she waited, and I got to attend the wedding and the reception, plus get a full night's sleep before she decided to make herself known. 

Baby Edith has been a dream baby so far. She loves her sleep; I actually wake her up to feed her during the day, which I never would have dreamed of doing with any of my other kids! Let sleeping babies lie, they always say. But I know that if I wake Edith up, she will likely fall asleep the instant she is done eating. And when she is awake, she's almost always content! My dear girl... if she stays like this, I'll barely notice that I have a fourth child!

Her siblings dote on her; their first thought each morning is of their new sister. They run into our bedroom and crowd around her, waiting for her to move or make a noise. They love to hold her and talk to her, and they love to talk about her. Even Audrey is wonderful with her little "Baby Ediff".

We are so glad to have our little girl out in the world with us. I can't wait for everyone to meet her!

 

An Announcement!

I sat down to write a post about Christmas, but I realized I couldn't do it until I made an official announcement, because my version of Advent and Christmas doesn't make much sense unless you hear our news:

We are expecting Baby #4!

I don't have any cute or clever announcement picture like I'm seeing all over the place lately, I just don't plan ahead that much lately. So use your imagination and pretend that I was creative!

I'm sure that everyone who reads this blog was already well aware of this fact, but my goodness, I had to make it official didn't I? As of today I am ten weeks along, and I am starting to see the light at the end of the morning sickness tunnel. I wrote all about my pregnancy sickness trials here, so I won't rehash it all for you, but I will simply say that the going has been rough thus far. Growing a person is hard work! I am not a bit ashamed to beg you all for your prayers, and I know I have been the recipient of so many already. Please, please, keep it up. You all are amazing!

I am overjoyed to know that there is a new life growing inside of me, and the kids- especially Max- can't wait to meet their newest sibling. They are already talking to my belly (and taking turns talking "for" the baby), but I just can't wait until they get to hold the little one in their arms... there's nothing quite like that moment.

Again, thank you for your prayers. I hope to resurface soon as a functioning member of society, and maybe this week I'll even check a few items off of my to-do list... ehh, we'll see. I have important work to do!