Everly Joye Seidel's Arrival

I originally had this post titled "38 Week Pregnancy Update", but at 5 am that morning, everything changed. So, here is our story from the last few days....and it's kind of long.

At 5:00 am on Thursday, April 14th (when we were 38 weeks along), I woke up with contractions. The cramp like pains reminded me of Grace's and after about an hour of them off and on, I decided they were definitely contractions. They were coming anywhere from 5 - 12 minutes apart and although definitely cramp style pain, they were not yet painful. The kids, for some reason, both decided to be in my room at 5:45 to begin their day and Vic had gone to workout. I had stayed in bed to try to keep sleeping, so I had not told Vic yet how I was feeling before we left. So, at 5:45 we were up. Also, funny enough, Grace and Atticus were playing with babies that morning in the bathroom while I as showering and starting to throw my toiletries together. Maybe that should have been a sign...

 

Vic got back while the kids were eating breakfast and I told him I thought he should go with me to my weekly 9:30 appointment. So, as the next couple of hours went on, we got kids ready for preschool, loaded my stuff, and the contractions kept coming. They were coming closer to 5 minutes apart but then would spread back out to around 10 minutes apart. And they were getting more painful. Not terrible, but where I would rather just stop and get through one mid-task and then keep going. It was fun to tell the kids that we might have a baby when they got out of school, but we left them with that. I wanted one last photo just in case, so we took on at preschool.

We texted GG and my parents to let them know so that GG could possibly get on the road soon. And really at this point, although I knew I was having contractions, I also didn't know what my doctor would say. They were irregular and I wasn't sure if she would send me home to wait until a certain time or if they would stop altogether or if I would be dilated at all. I've heard people that have contractions and then they stop and don't have any for two days before they go into labor. We were going to have a c-section no matter what, but I still didn't know what her plan would be.

We got to our appointment at 9:30 and I updated her. She checked me and I was dilated to a 4 and 100% effaced, but the baby wasn't very far down. Then she said "I don't know if this is a head or a bottom". Hmmm...if the baby was breech, it didn't really matter because we were having a c-section no matter what. I really think the baby was head down and just recently flipped; I could feel the hiccups many times and they were way down there. But, now it was possible that we had a breech baby. She decided we needed to plan to deliver around noon (it was about 9:45) so we got everything scheduled and we were wheeled over to the hospital (the clinic and hospital are connected which was very convenient!).

 Now, this is where the story becomes...the most calm delivery every. I imagine scheduled c-sections are calm anyways, and we've had two good deliveries in the past, but this was truly the calmest day ever. And honestly, the pain and recovery, has also been the best yet. So, they put me in the recovery room and we got started. Here is kind of the schedule of how it went from about 10-12:15:

1. Get into gown and answer a bunch of questions for paperwork.
2. Put on monitor for baby's heartbeat for 20 minutes. Nurses agree that baby must be breech.

(In the meantime, Vic is getting the kids squared away by asking Kirsten to pick them up from school and she and Katie and Jonathan to watch them all afternoon....have we mentioned they are our permanent "we are in labor and we know this is the last minute to call them and they still come and we never have to think about our kids again because we know they are in great hands" babysitters?)

3. Get IV inserted - took one try! Woohoo!
4. Have blood drawn - took one try! Woohoo!
5. Get leg warmers on (to keep circulation going for the 18+ hours since I'm bed bound)
6. Dr. Bertsch comes in to check on me.
7. Anesthesiologist comes to explain spinal block.
8. Take DISGUSTING shot of some kind of medicine to help my stomach queasiness during the c-section.
8. Walk to OR.
9. Get spinal block. And...I did not get sick then OR the entire surgery. Usually, I throw up and continue to be nauseous and throw up the entire time and it's miserable. Somebody is always wiping my mouth and I can't move and I feel yuck. But, this time I did not! That disgusting shot of liquid was totally worth it.
10. Lay down and get my foley catheter (my favorite part of c-sections because that feeling of my bladder filling up so quickly is gone), get oxygen, get blue curtain setup, get prepped for surgery, get that toasty warm blanket they put over your top half on, and listen to the many people in that room get setup.
11. Vic comes into the room in scrubs and we begin right at 12:30 pm.
12. Vic watches most of it over the curtain, which he has not done before. Although I cannot feel anything except pressure, he said it looks kind of rough as they work on pulling the baby out - lots of tugging and pulling. Sure enough, the baby was breech so he first sees the feet and then the bottom and then finally the rest of the baby comes out.
13. And...it's a....GIRL! Everly Joye Seidel was born at 12:40 pm at Scott and White Hospital; she weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20 inches long.
14. Vic went to the table with the baby doctor and nurses and took lots of pictures and then came over and told me we had a red headed baby!

15. Within a few minutes, they had her wrapped up for Vic to bring over to me to see her. Of course, she looks like a precious newborn baby! He holds her while they stitch me up and get me squared away.

16. Then, all 3 of us plus my nurse and the baby's nurse head back to the Recovery Room for the next two hours. It was at this point that I get skin to skin contact and nurse Everly for the first time. They take vitals and start pushing on my stomach to check my uterus and start getting me setup for the postpartum room.

17. We decided to not tell anyone what we had until GG got there. We thought it would be fun to tell her in person. So, Vic would just tell people..."details to come" via text. However, we did learn that if someone tells us we will deliver around a certain time and we do not tell our families for another 4 hours the results, they are worried. Oops. If we have a 4th, maybe the baby will come on schedule and we can have everyone plan to come and be in the waiting room...hint hint everyone! It would be fun for Vic to walk out and say "It's a boy! or It's a girl!" to the crowd! Anyways, Vic got to work spreading the news to all groups and families and people as soon as we reached our postpartum room. By the way, that is a lot of work! I didn't even check my phone until late that night because I just didn't have time. So, I'm glad Vic always takes care of that!

 

18. For details on the name....we came across the name Everly on a pinterest pin on the way to MLK in Lubbock. We loved it immediately, but some other names we have loved immediately fade after a week or so. But, over time, Everly did not. Also, we named her middle name Joye after GG! So, Everly Joye it was. I think it is the prettiest name. Although I've only known one girl with this name, and it's not really on any top 100 lists or anything, I think it is just beautiful.

So, Everly arrived and we got settled in the hospital. The next blog will be about my "hospital hotel" stay....

Garage Sale

So, on April 9th, we held a garage sale along with then neighborhood. The truth is, we didnt' think we had much to sell, but as we have gone through the house over the last few months, we have come across little things here and there that we don't need or use but that we didn't know what to do with. So, when this garage sale date came up, we decided to try it out! The biggest thing we sold was for $25 and we had a few $5 items, but most of what we sold was $2 or less. So, we were so happy when we made $239! And, we didn't have a large load to take to Goodwill either. We sold things like some kitchen items that we didn't use, a few random scrapbook things that are out of date, a few home item like pillows and decor, a headboard and frame, a double stroller, some hand me down baby clothes, a few other baby items that over time we have replaced, some of Vic's jeans/dress pants/shirts, some picture frames, a wine chiller that we just never used, books/dvds/vhs and some odds and ends. So, see - we didn't have much to sell! A few other things we learned that helped us that I want to remember for our next garage sale:

1. We borrowed tables from the church and had just enough to lay everything out. We laid out every little item - nothing was put into a box to dig through. I think that helps people find things and decided to buy them easier.

2. We gave away a couple of things for free. I had a baby box with some little hats and socks and misc. in it and said "free" and we gave away a grill that didn't work but could be fixed, for free. People loved that!

3. We got $200 worth of change but probably only needed $100 for what we did. Also, we read that it was smartest to take the person's money and lay it on the table and give them their change before putting their money into yours. Then, there is no discrepancy if they give you a $20 and you think they gave you a $10 or vice versa. We had great luck, but I could see where that could be a problem if you had a dishonest person or just got confused yourself.

4. We played music in the background - just the radio, but it made it less awkward and quiet for us while people are shopping.

5. We used our ladder spread out longways and laid it on top of two rubbermaid containers on the tables. This allowed us to use it to hang clothes which, in turn, helped them sell better!! It also gave us another level to put things on top for people to buy.

6. We also probably priced things well - our goal was to get it out of our house. So, we didn't price things too much although we probably could have priced certain things a little higher here and there.

7. We also used the wall to hang things on and that seemed to be a good way to save table space.

8. We kept ours in the garage because we had enough room and our driveway is so steep. But, if we had more, it would probably be good to move it out a little into the garage. Also, we were super lucky on weather because the sun rises behind our house AND the weather was overcast so it was not hot! 

9. We got completely ready the night before. I was glad because while the garage sale was 7-12, people were out at 6:45 shopping. And, I drove to get us some breakfast about 6:45 and saw a girl just then setting out tables nad getting her stuff out. While it was busy until about 11, most people were coming in small droves starting at 7am and they were ready to go!

10. The cutest part was when Atticus finally got out there. He loved being a part of helping and was good too. Thankfully, Grace wasn't as interested so it was ok having Atticus out there. Towards the end, Vic joked with Atticus to "reel some customers in". It was so funny when he came running into the house at one point and said "Mommy! I rolled TWO customers in!".

11.  Overall, while it was a success and we felt so good about getting things out of the house and purging, garage sales are a lot of work. Thank goodness for Vic who is strong and organized and did all the heavy lifting and dealing with people during the day. My body, at least right now, is so tired and I could never have even done half the garage sale work. So, hooray for Vic! And hooray for a successful day!

Easter, Egg Hunts, Family Day and weekend

As in most years since we've been married, we have stayed in College Station for Easter. We've had different friends and family join us at different times, but this year, it was just the four of us. We had the church Easter Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday and then the next weekend, Easter, we had no plans except family plans. Saturday was one of those really relaxing days. The weather was beautiful and the four of us spent some time outside using glitter glue on rocks and paper and stickers on paper and making some little crafts just for fun. We also planted jellybeans that, surprise!, turned into dum dum suckers the next day! We ate lunch outside and played and it was just one of those great days!

On Easter, we had our normal busy church day. 8:00 am service, put together flowers with Sunday School for decorating the big mesh cross for the late service; we then headed home where Vic had hidden magnets all of the yard for clues for the kids to find their Easter baskets. He does a type of scavenger hunt every year for them to find their baskets. They found them and all was going well! Then, we headed outside for our picnic lunch of cobb salad sandwiches, classic macaroni salad, and watermelon. I love a cold lunch like that and let me tell you - we will be having that again this summer! For being a simple Easter lunch, it was so good! Thank you Melbo for our Taste of Home magazine each month! The only thing I made was actually not that good. It sounded kind of good and the picture looked good, but when we ate it, it was just not a good combination. It was a strawberry chocolate cobbler. I love cobbler and I love strawberries and chocolate but together...not that good.

It was at that point that Atticus must have been tired because he went into his cranky mode. Sadly, over the next hour or so, it resulted in him getting his Easter basket taken away. I know I sound terrible, but it seems like with celebrations, it's easy to let the kids off the hook when they get too wound up or don't act the way they should. But, that should not be ok and so we took it away. He got it back a week later and he knew, each day, that his behavior would determine whether he'd get it back. So, one day we will all figure it out!

He took a nap and felt better and then we hunted Easter eggs and called family. Overall, it was a great day and really just normal for a 3 and 4 year old. And, this was the first year that Atticus was into re-hiding and hunting eggs again. He wanted us to do it, but we told him we used to do that when we were younger - hide eggs over and over. The confusing part to him was that we hid them empty for the fun of hiding and didn't re-fill the eggs. But, he thought he needed to re-fill them too! And we decided to give them separate colors to hunt and that worked out great! Grace was into hunting them too, and even more so into it when she was only looking for purple, pink and yellow! It was a fun day! OH! And then, Vic took off Monday. Easter is one of those holidays that he likes to take off either Friday or Monday...he just thinks it's terrible that employers do not close for a 3 day weekend for Easter. So, he took off Monday and it was another nice day and we finally dyed Easter eggs as well! Better late than never!

 35 weeks!