Baby Number 4

Baby Number 4 is on it's way! I am due the end of June 2014. And the best part, we found out this week it will be another girl! That means 2 boys and 2 girls and we are done. For real this time. Now we can have a boys room and a girls room. And as my little brother Mike put it, "Yeah for logistics!"

Champion

Hazel Ann Broadbent is here!

She is here! The short story is that she was born March 29th 10:27pm. She is 20.5 inches and 10 pounds, 10 ounces. (scroll to the bottom if you're only here for pictures)

The long story...
I was 4 days over due. I went in for a non stress test on Monday and passed. Which was probably good because my doctor was out of town till Thursday noonish.

Thursday morning I did a lot of walking and went in for another non stress test. By now my parents had been here for 5 days and still no baby. My Dad reminded me he was really only here for the baby every chance he got, and "When do you think we will get to meet that baby..." It was getting old.

Luckily on Thursday we failed the non stress test. I think it helped that the nurse doing the test was the wife of another Provo Firefighter and she took sympathy on me. The good news, I would get induced! The bad news, they still couldn't reach my Doctor. If you remember from my last post, any time after noon on Thursday I should have been golden. However, here is was 3pm and no one knows where he is. But since I had already "Failed" they couldn't just let me go home.

In the end I had to check into Utah Valley Hospital (second choice) and was "monitored" for 2 more hours while they located my doctor. Then I was finally allowed to checkout and go to Orem Community Hospital (first choice) and start the induction.

They started the pitocin about 6pm. By now I was already dialated to a 4. The last 3 weeks I have been "barely a 1" which makes me think Hazel would have been here in a day or two even without being induced. The nurse encouraged me to get the epidural right away. So 30 minutes later I got that too, before the contraction even started to hurt. Wonderful! The epidural hurt a lot more then I remembered, probably because I wasn't distracted by painful contractions.

By 9 I was only dilated to a 5. I was sure this was going to be a long and slow labor. But at least it was pretty laid back. Nate and I were watching Myth Busters and except for the one time I threw up, it was kind of fun and laid back. I think Nate was even a little bored. Nothing like my first two labors!

Then a little before 10 my water broke and I was suddenly ready to deliver. We just had to wait for the doctor, which felt like forever. Just like my last two babies I only had to push for a couple minutes. She was born at 10:27pm.
She didn't cry right away, it took about 5 minutes, that bothered me. The doctor kept saying "Not all babies cry, but she is breathing, that's what matters." But I sure felt a lot better when I finally heard her cry.

Her weight was a surprise to everyone in the delivery room. She weighed in at 10 pounds 10 ounces and 20.5 inches long. She beat both her brothers by a pound and a half. They even had to fetch new diapers because she was too big for the newborn ones they had in the delivery room.


The next day Nate brought the boys to meet her. They were very shy at first. They really didn't know what to make of this little lady. But the warmed up to her eventually.

When she was about 2 weeks old Trey said to me "Sometime when baby was in your tummy we would hurt her because we didn't know how cute she was." That made me melt! (by 'hurt' he means jumping on me, leaning on my stomach, etc.)We named her Hazel Ann Broadbent. Ann is my middle name too.

This is my favorite picture of her so far. She was about 10 days old here.

My Little Soccer Player

We signed Trey up for soccer. Does he look tough or what! His team is the Orange Dragons, he is #28. When we told him we had signed him up he said "Will people cheer for me?" "yes of course" I said. With big bright eyes he asked "And will they pick me up in the air?" Love that kid.

When I was pregnant with Trey we would call him "our little soccer player" because he would kick so hard it hurt, and now he really is our little soccer player.


So far he has had one practice and two games with another game tonight. There have been scheduling conflicts so he will have 2 more games before he gets another practice.

Considering his lack of experience with the sport I think he is doing pretty good. Mostly the boys just chase the ball around the field, occasionally kick it, but mostly just run. It's so cute.

I have seen some improvement already. Kicking the ball and chasing it down and kicking it again, instead of just kicking it once and staying put. Last game the Dragons scored three goals for their team and one goal in the opponents net. :o)

But let's not forget he is only 5, so he is just as likely to be seen spinning in circles or playing in the net while the game is in play.

We will definitely do this again in the fall. And I think we will be able to get Smith in to. Technically his birthday is 5 days past the deadline, but I think we can make it happen...

39 1/2 Weeks - I just need to vent

On Monday a nurse called and told me if I wanted to be induced this week I should come in right away instead of my scheduled Thursday appointment. I said "I would rather be induced next week instead." My parents will be in town and it makes the baby sitting situation a lot easier. So the nurse told me to keep my Thursday appointment instead. And that was it, that is all she said.

So today I went in. First I'm told, still no change, only dilated to a 1, just like last week. Bummer. And then they drop the bomb. The Dr. will be out of town Monday to Thursday next week. (I'm due Monday). So if I go into labor I have to go to Utah Valley hospital and be delivered by a stranger.

A BIG part of the reason I picked this Dr is because I wanted to go to Orem Community not Utah Valley! Seeing my surprised the Dr said, "We gave you the option to be induced and you said no." I said "No one said you would be out of town next week or that induction next week was not an option!" He shrugs, "Let's hope you don't go till Thursday afternoon then."

I really don't know how to express how frustrating this all is! I have been praying not to go into labor before today because after today I am off work and so is Nate and my parents are almost here. Today was the day I finally get to relax, I'm ready to have this baby anytime. I've been holding my breath until today. From here on out having the baby is not complicated. But no, it just got tricky again.

Now I am more stressed then before. I need to either have the baby before Monday or wait till Thursday. YES, I realize I don't have a lot of say in this, baby will come when she is ready. It's just now I am more stressed about the WHEN then I ever was before!

One Funny Stor y Today:
I went for a pedicure to cheer myself up. I've heard there are a few pressure point on your feet and calves that can induce contraction. I mentioned that to the guy doing my pedicure. He agreed, he knows where they are, but he absolutely refused to rub those spots because "today is the 23rd, that is an unlucky number in my country, even numbers are better. You don't want to have the baby today!" I told him I really do want the baby today, but he would not be swayed. The rest of the pedicure I had to listen to all kinds of random superstitions related to pregnancy and birth and babies from his country.

When I got home I check the calendar. Today is the 22nd. An even number.

Pregnant - 37 weeks

So I am about 37 weeks (or will be Sunday) I have been trying to be good sport about it. And really It has been a good pregnancy. I have felt better and had more energy and fewer uncomfortable side effect then I remember with my last two. I contribute this to two things. The weather and swimming. Both my boys were born in summer so I endured a lot of heat and swollen hands and feet as a result. I've had very little of that this time. And I have been swimming once a week. A lot of the soreness seems to go away the 3 or 4 days after I swim. I didn't exercise with the boys. So it's been a relatively comfortable pregnancy.

Or it was. Now that I am in the home stretch I am finding it hard not to get cranky. Back aches, feet and hands are starting to swell, and I am growing out of my favorite maternity clothes. And the insomnia, oh the insomnia! I am lucky to sleep 2 hours at a time and rarely get 5 total a night. Lately I have been waking up at 4:30am and not even feeling tired again untill 9 or 10am, at which point a nap is not an option. And boy can this kid kick! It was really cute at first but now that she is getting bigger and stronger it is really uncomfortable and often makes me nauseous. Fortunately I only have 22 days till my due date... 22 more days...

For those that are interested, here are a few pics of my growing belly

26 weeks

31 weeks

36 weeks

We Got Chickens!

So this is an idea we have been kind of toying with for a while now. But I was still a little surprised when Nate decided one Saturday to actually go and pickup a chicken coop, complete with 4 laying hens. The boys were so excited! They LOVE birds! They are always pretending to be a quail, peregrine falcon, scarlet macaw or some other really specific bird. So now that we actually have birds as pets they are pretty happy.

The 4 hens averaged 3 eggs a day, but we decided quickly that was not enough so we picked up 2 more a few days later. We let them run around in the garden (which is all fenced in) during the day, and they pretty much put themselves to bed at night. We just go out and shut the coop door.

The first day home with the 2 new hens I went out to shut the coop and one of the new girls was missing. It was already dark so it was hard to see, but Nate and I walked through the yard and the several neighbors yards searching for her, but we couldn't figure out how she got out or where she was. We went to bed thinking we had lost her for good.

The next morning we opened the front door, ready to take Trey to school, and there she was! Just standing there waiting for us. I hope she enjoyed her wild night out on the town.

The eggs are fun too. The white chickens lay white eggs, the red chicken lay dark brown with spots and the black/white chicken lays light brown. I love having my own little egg factory in the backyard.