Thank God for Grandparents :)

It's hard to believe that Zoe is a week old today. The past week has flown by! We are very thankful for the help we've been getting from grandparents. My parents got up in the middle of the night to stay with the boys while we went to the hospital & kept them until we got home. Mom also provided me with some laundry services & meals...ahhh.... The boys got to have a few days home, snuggling with Zoe, before Aaron's parents came and 'grandkid-napped' them for a few days.


Yesterday was our first 'girls' outing. Zoe had her one week check up. We ran a few errands & stopped by to visit a few people. Today, I am looking forward to actually doing some relaxing, in between loads of laundry :) Here's Zoe all dressed up for her first outing!

God is Great!

Our little miracle, Zoe Lynnae, was born on June 23rd at 9:19 a.m. She weighed 7lbs 8oz and measured 20inches long. The labor seemed pretty uneventful until the last 45 minutes. My contractions increased significantly at 8:34 a.m. I was measuring at 7cm. At 9:10, I felt my water break & felt like baby was ready to be born! The nurse agreed & called for the doctor...whom they couldn't find! The doctor came into the room at 9:15 & Zoe Lynnae was born 2-3 pushes later. As she was coming through the birth canal, the umbilical cord tore from the placenta.

Aaron & I didn't realize the seriousness of the situation until my OB later came in & explained it to us. It turns out that during this pregnancy, there was a condition called Velamentous Insertion of the umbilical cord. With this condition, the cord could have ruptured at any point during the pregnancy, resulting in the loss of the baby. We feel extremely blessed and thankful that God's protecting hand was with us throughout the pregnancy & delivery of Zoe. Our dear friends, the Carpenters, lost their precious baby, Gracee Lynette, to this condition almost 6 years ago. My heart goes out to them in what they had to endure.

The creation & safe arrival of a baby is truly a miracle! Praise God!

Update

Aaron & I went to my 40 wk appointment this morning. I am 2cm dilated, so a 'little' progress from last week. My doctor stretched my cervix in an attempt to move things along...and I'm waiting patiently to see if that works.

I also found out that I have been wrong on my due date this whole time. We are actually due tomorrow, not Wednesday...so I'm sure the baby is quite confused as to when he/she is supposed to show up. I've had a little talk with it & hoping that it knows the game plan now.

I have also let it know that we have made a decision about the names, so it need not worry about being nameless anymore. Additionally, Aaron has his farm list done...and we have our childcare arranged, so the baby should have no hesitations about joining us now.

The Name Game

I don't know what it is this time...but we are all of a sudden a little indecisive on our names... We chose them several months ago & then tabled the discussion until just recently. In the past week, I think we have looked at more names than we did with BOTH Leighton & Brecken...and now I'm starting to fret that this child may be nameless when it's born. Just kidding Nonny.

At this point in my pregnancy with Leighton, he had just made his appearance 30 minutes ago. I think it's making me more anxious for this one to hurry up & get here :) If it shows up in Brecken style, I have another 11 days...

Catch 'em being good

Brecken & Leighton have reached that phase where they like to wrestle & beat on each other. For the longest time, Leighton would just get away from Brecken, but he has now chosen to fight back...and sometimes start the wrestling matches. I know this phase will continue on for....EVER. Growing up with 3 brothers has somewhat prepared me for that. Anywho - the moments where they are sitting nicely by each other seem to be growing fewer in number, so I have to catch those on camera when the moments arise!



We are still waiting patiently on baby W3. I think Brecken is in the biggest hurry. When I returned from my doctor's appointment yesterday, he looked at me & said, "How come the baby is STILL in there?" Mommy is officially ready - all bags are packed, childcare is arranged, etc. Daddy still has a few things he wants to get established on the farm. He's scheduled to get those finished up Wednesday evening, so I guess after that, baby can make it's appearance :)

Hurry up & wait!

After a busy week of bible school & the Cloud County Junior Miss program, I decided that I needed to tackle my list of things to do before baby. I successfully knocked everything off the list, besides packing my bag & the boys' bag! I can officially say that we are 'ready' for this baby to arrive...however, BabyW3 has different ideas. At my 38 week appointment yesterday, the doctor said I am still only 1cm dilated. I think I was a little disappointed...but Aaron gave a big Yahoo! Apparently his list isn't done yet :)

Aaron & I made our predictions last week about baby - this is the first time that we have disagreed on the gender. We both predicted correctly with the boys...but one of us will tarnish our 'spotless record' this time. Any predictions from all my readers?

Gender - Weight - Length - Date

If anyone is super close, maybe I'll have a prize for ya :)

Birthday Party

Here are a few pics from the birthday celebration this weekend. We had cake (isn't it great - check out Wendy's Party Treats), homemade ice cream & presents at the park & then spent some time playing in Poppa & Nonny's pool. We finished up with a BBQ. It was a fun-filled day!