1 month old already.

This was started a few days ago ... on October 6th. 
(This is mostly for me so I don't forget how you develop and progress) 

Okay so Esther....

Today you are 1 month old and sadly I'm writing this at the end of the day and you are starting to fuss and need attention.  So hold on a minute while I go and grab you.....


.... I'm back.

Things I've noticed about you this last month that you've been our little girl

• You have 3 sisters and 2 brothers that ADORE you.  Ethan is always saying how you are beautiful and the cutest in the whole world. And that you are a princess.  And Heidi is always asking me when I talk to her on the phone if you are still cute.  And I think that everyone else totally agrees. 
• Everyone loves to hold you even if it's just for a few minutes.  And any time you are crying everyone at least your brothers and sisters think it's because you are hungry and they promptly yell out ... "Feed ESTHER mom!! She's hungry"  or "Mom! Make her be quiet".  But really you aren't that noisy and I just have to explain that babies make noise.  
• Speaking of noise you are starting to experiment with your voice.  And occasionally you will make some noise and it's so pretty to hear. I can hardly wait till you are able to say, " I love you Mom ...You are the best!"  or some variation of that phrase.  
• You tend to like your binky. 
• You love for me to hold you. And swaddle you with the pink fuzzy blanket. 
• You weighed 8lbs 4oz at birth and we aren't really sure what your actual length was at birth there was/is some confusion on that. But your hospital tag said 19 1/2 inches.  And by your two week check up you weighed 9 lbs 3 oz, and you were 20 1/2 or 3/4 inches long.  ( Don't blame me,  I haven't been getting much sleep lately)  ***** I took you in to the Dr. on the 7th and found out that you weigh 9lbs 12 oz. 
• You have been known so far for two major "blowouts".  Once on our way to see a house with a Realtor and I absentmindedly forgot to make sure the bag was stocked with extra clothes and such and you basically went home naked other than a clean diaper that I did have. 
• You sleep really well, mostly.  And usually I am only getting up with you once during the night for a feeding.  But don't go thinking you've been miss little perfect by any means.... because we have had a few rough nights where I'm only getting 2 hours of sleep.  But somehow I manage to push through the tiredness the next day and do some of my "motherly duties" for you and for the other 5 children.  
• You are nursing really well, and pretty much have put yourself on your own feeding schedule, but I do have to keep you on it during the daytime or we have a rough night together. 

It's been a whole month and I've fallen so in love with you Esther! I can hardly wait to see what this next month and all those other months after that bring about.  

Part two of Esther's birth story....

After I heard the first cries ... I could see her briefly and a bit far away. But I could see this little lady had some dark hair and what seemed like a lot to me!

I was still on the operating table because I still needed to be stitched up but first they did the tubal ligation, so yes -- it's permanent as much as we have any control over the matter. And it's a good thing that we had determined we were done having kids, because the doctor would have recommended to us not to have any more. He discovered the walls of the uterus were very, very thin - which is not ideal for pregnancy.

And I was also informed that we got Esther out just in time, because the doctor told me that there was some meconium in the amniotic fluid, but luckily not to the point that it was going to cause her problems. I know that I couldn't have done this without the help of my husband and I'm so thankful he was there for the birth!

So after a morning of feeling lots of contractions that were very painful and hurting I had the baby within 4 1/2 hours of the onset of my contractions...

Here I am 3 weeks later and I love not feeling pregnant anymore, and my feet have finally gone back to their normal size and my baby girl is so fun to have around. The rest of the kids are doting on her all the time, and the older girls always want to hold her.

When the kids came in to the hospital to see Esther after school on the 6th ... they were all in 'instant' love with her.

I'm still having major feelings of being overwhelmed with all the tasks that I should be doing on top of taking care of a newborn, in addition to healing from a major surgery. But I just need to constantly remind myself that it will take time and I will feel "normal" again.

I can't complain too much though because my little beauty sleeps pretty well at night... especially if she's swaddled! Like last night she fell asleep at 12 am and made noise around 2:30ish in the morning but when I came to check on her, she was still sound asleep. So I let her be, and laid back down and she stayed asleep till 6am. But of course, these nights of sleeping well don't make up for the sleepless nights I had at the end of the pregnancy and even the last few weeks ....


I would like to put up some pictures... but I think it would be easier to just put together some scrapbook pages and post those instead.  But here is a picture of our cute little girl at 1 week old. 

 ESTHER CAROLINE  

8 lbs 4oz   19 1/2" 

Sept 6th

Sit Right Back and I'll tell you a tale ....

PART 1

What a crazy last few weeks I've had. First off, on Labor Day which was the 5th of September we didn't do a whole lot of anything. Just trying to make sure that the items needed in my absence at the hospital would be in the house, so we took care of picking up those few things that I hadn't gotten to yet. And then come that evening we had already been planning on going to the Orem Owlz baseball game that was happening that evening. Well, it all started off because we didn't know that the game time was an hour earlier than normal. ( I don't know how we didn't notice that before we got to the ball park that night). So when we got to the game it was already the top of the 3rd inning.

Yes I was at the ball game the night before I was scheduled to have my baby!! I was having contractions on and off all throughout the day but nothing that seemed time-able or regular to indicate I was in labor at all. So I made it through the ball game, and at the end we were ready to leave because we were still waiting to hear from the hospital to know what time to report to get ready for the c-section. So we were leaving the ball park and the event staff was handing out little "fat boy" ice cream sandwiches were GOOD!!

We hopped in our van and headed home, and halfway home we got a call on my cell phone, but doofus me left the phone in the bag which I put in the back of the van. We missed the call but found out that it was labor and delivery calling me. So I called them back (which I'm surprised that they called that number anyway as I had given them my home phone and Chris's cell numbers to contact us through). They told us that our c-section was scheduled for 9:30 am the next morning and that I needed to be there by 7:30am in order get prepped and be ready in time. All the kids were excited because now everything started to seem so real.... and I, well I started to CRY because all of a sudden here is this time that I thought would never get here, and I wasn't sure I wanted it to happen yet. I'm chalking that up to pregnancy hormones.... haha...

So now, I couldn't put off packing my hospital bag anymore... I needed it ready to go in the morning!! I had mostly everything together, but I had to double check and then add a few things I hadn't put together yet. We thought we would have a really crazy morning trying to get the kids to school and our 4 year old Ethan to whomever would be watching him. When it dawned on us that I only had to be at the hospital from 7:30 till it was time, and that Chris could easily be a driver and get everyone to school and the sitters etc.... we worked it out to have Chris's sister Amy watch Ethan for us, and we were able to just drop of the older school kids at school about 15 minutes earlier than they should have been there. So that was the plan to shoot for as of the night before.... Well I tried to sleep as best I could.... and knowing how lousy sleep I had been getting for the previous few weeks I'd be surprised if I had any better sleep tonight. Well, after I had everything ready and a bag ready with some supplies in it for Ethan I attempted to get some sleep. Well, I had contractions still coming into the evening and they had all been painful even the ones throughout the day time. So I was just trying to relax and not think anything of it.

I was trying to get some sleep and trying, and trying... but I ended up having a few contractions almost every hour and they were WAKING ME UP!! they HURT!! OUCH.... Around 4:30 (maybe even earlier but this is when I started keeping track) I realized I was having contractions about every 5 - 7 minutes apart and they hurt like nothing I'd ever experienced before!! Okay well maybe I had experienced it before but I couldn't remember how bad and intense they were from before. Well, I eventually had to start breathing to get through these, and I was crying because they were causing me A LOT of pain. And everyone else was SLEEPING, so I was jealous too!!!

I tried not to think anything of it, and just tried to work through each contraction, and finally around 5:30 I decided I needed to get my shower, because who was I kidding I wasn't really going to get any sleep. I showered and had a few while in the process of taking my shower .... so I braced myself against the walls for some support.

Chris was up around 6am and I was in tears and updated him on the condition I had been going through for the last hour and half. Now things seemed to be more serious and real, and we had to get the kids ready ... and take with us, so that Chris could just take me to the hospital, and then turn around and drop off the kids without needing to go home to get them ready or anything. SO .... it was an EARLY morning for our family, we aren't used to being up that early! And I was exhausted.

So we arrived at the hospital about 10 - 15 minutes earlier than we were told to be there, and when I arrived I said how I was scheduled for a c-section but that I was in labor as well and had been contracting since 4:30am. Once I was sitting in a wheelchair I told Chris to take the rest of them and hurry and get back!! They pulled me into my pre-op room and who ever tried to get my IV started wasn't very good or I just had retarded veins that wouldn't cooperate, so it took three attempts to fnally get one in, and the placement of it couldn't have been worse. It ended up in my right arm (which I am right handed) and it was in the crook of the arm. ANNOYING to say the least.

But the nurse checked me to see how much time they had to get the OR ready and I was at a 5 by the time I got there, and I was only at a 1.5 on Friday the 2nd of Sept. So I was for sure in labor and being a huge baby about it. I didn't want anymore pain.... !!!! And the whole time I was anxious for Chris to make it back!!

The Doctor who was supposed to do the surgery at 9:30 wasn't even in the hospital or close by, so luckily another doctor with the same office was there, and stepped up and took over. They got me into the OR around 8:30ish to get the spinal block in place, and once that was in place within just a few minutes I was in HEAVEN... no more pain. Which of course, meant no more control of my legs either. The nurse checked me again and in an hours time I went from a 5 to a 7!! She was not waiting to be born any longer -- today was the DAY!

Just after that Chris was in the OR with me in his "scrub" gear with the camera in hand and was there to hold my hand finally!! I don't think I have ever loved him more than at that very moment when our eyes met and we knew what was about to take place. And within just a few minutes about 10 or 15 - I heard the first cries of our little daughter Esther Caroline Randolph!! Boy what a set of lungs she has!!

Pictures to come later.... (Blogger isn't letting me load them right now)

Twas the night before .....

Well tonight is the last night in my life that I will ever be pregnant. Kind of a bitter sweet moment for me. But my body is so ready to have this little angel join our family. I have been having painful contractions throughout the day, but nothing that is timeable or consistent to make me think that I might be in labor. So now that we have gone to the baseball game and got our call on the way home from the game to say that the c-section is scheduled for 9:30am and we have to report by 7:30am. I hope I can get some sleep tonight, which I'll be surprised if I can sleep because of how miserable the last few weeks have been during the night. But at least this is the last night to sleep being pregnant and then tomorrow night I start the whole not being able to sleep because I have a newborn. I've been terribly emotional this entire pregnancy and the slightest little things will set me off into crying. And I kind of feel like that now. I know what I'm doing is special, and that I'll just fall in love with her the minute she's put into my arms. The kids are all EXCITED to meet little Esther tomorrow after school. And it was really hard to actually get them to go to bed tonight, I just hope that everyone can wake up an hour earlier than they are used to in order for me to get to the hospital at the right time. I do feel like an EPIC FAILURE as far as cleaning up the house goes because the kitchen and living room aren't tidied and I don't have energy to do a darn thing about it. Hopefully my kids will kick into gear and get things done while I'm away for a few days. (Crossing my fingers) I still can't believe I'm about to have another baby and a little girl at that!! It's been several years now since I've had a little girl and now that little girl is 9 years old!! Well, this is the one time I've waited till the last minute to pack my bag... actually most of it is done, I just need to make sure that everything is actually in there now. So I should go, and maybe try to wash up the kitchen dishes at least so that Chris doesn't have to deal with them tomorrow. I can't believe another incredible journey is going to begin tomorrow morning. I'm nervous, excited, tired, sad, and scared all in one. But I know with my husband close by I can make it through anything, and with all the friends and family praying for me and wishing my family an I the best... that things will be okay. So I'm signing off for a few days, and when I'm back I'll have pictures to share!!!

Maternity Pictures from August 16th, 2011

So I had a great friend of mine who is talented and just plain AWESOME take some pictures of me a few weeks ago.   Here are some of my favorites.   And now, it's just a few more days until the arrival of our little Esther girl.   Tuesday SEPT 6th will be her birthday ....UNLESS something changes between now (Sept 2nd) and then.   Chris is taking me out tonight for a "last FRIDAY date night" before we have a baby again.  And last night on top of all the regular pregnancy pains and ailments... I stepped on a bee or wasp and ended up with a "sting".   YES it hurt!!!  YES I cried!!!  YES it throbbed most of the night causing me to get very little sleep!!  YES this resulted in me taking a two hour nap today!!   

But Chris being his funny self ... when he realized that I was stung and I was hysterical and completely freaking out and crying like a big baby ... said something like, " Oh my, I think you are allergic your foot is already swelling up"     REMINDER:  I have had swollen feet for 2 months now.   I wasn't laughing when he first said it, but about 15 - 20 minutes later it came back to my mind and I was laughing in the middle of crying ....If that is even possible.

I like this picture ALOT... except you can really see how fat and ugly my feet are and have been. haha.

 

Tonight was our LUCKY NIGHT!!!

NO!!!! The baby isn't here yet.

But we did head out to the OREM OWLZ baseball game again tonight. The weather was great!! We had cloudy skies and the sun wasn't in our eyes, it wasn't too hot, we even had a few rain sprinkles but nothing too heavy.

But before we experience all the rain sprinkles, we were prepared to pay for parking as we always do, and the parking people waved us on in, so we parked for free. YAY!!!

While in the ball park, we were waiting for the game to start and one of the staff people asked if we had any kids that would like to do one of their in between innings games. So three of our five (Thomas, Heidi and Katherine)were in the little "HOT DOG" race. One of them represented Ketchup, while another was Mustard, and the other was Relish. And you watched a screen on the scoreboard, and then the kids more or less "spaz" out and pretend to race while basically staying in place. (Heidi was so wild, she even fell down!) We were laughing so HARD. They did a great job and with three of our kids in the "contest" we were guaranteed to come home winners. The result: Heidi who played the part of MUSTARD won the race and won an envelope full of "prizes". There were 3 Little Ceasars pizza vouchers that can be used there in the park. And three upgrade seat tickets. And several other free kids meal coupons that we may or may not use. THe other two kids ended up with a couple of free "Crazy Bread" coupons to use in a Little Ceasars location. Can you say S.C.O.R.E !!! YAY HEIDI. So we redeemed one of the pizza vouchers while at the game tonight.

Next Katherine ended up with one of the foul balls (AGAIN) I've lost count of how many we've gotten because of her. Oh, and I forgot that they were giving away "PENS" at the beginning of the game as well. So all of us ended up with a pack of three pens with string on them so you can hang them around your neck.

Then Thomas discovered that some booth was giving away some stuff and saw some squishy balls that just happened to be blue. And he went up and asked them if they had any of the balls, and the people gave him one, matter of fact they gave all of our kids one when they went up to the booth. Crazy times.

THEN.... there was another contest they were doing between innings and Kaylee ended up winning this one. And got three vouchers to redeem at Trafalga for any 2 activities. SWEET!! ( So as Thomas said...." Tonight was our LUCKY NIGHT!")

Not to mention the Owlz won the game 4-3 after the top of the 9th.

What a night. We definitely had some fun. Planning a fun day for tomorrow as well. Hope the weather will cooperate. Not sure exactly what we'll do, but hopefully it ends up being a good fun day for our family. Maybe I'll talk my husband into going out in the evening for one last little date night before the baby comes. haha.. (I'll see how that goes, though)

Happy Anniversary to my Mother and Father in law ....Part 2

We had a great weekend. Well mostly.

I made it through the entire Anniversary weekend celebrations for my in laws, and now Im ready to have my baby anytime she's ready!!

We started off with a family picture session on Saturday morning. IT. WAS. HOT!! and right when my little family was up for our family picture, the photographer was starting to take pictures and OUCH.... I was having a contraction right when she snapped the first picture....

YEah I know I look lovely don't I ?

But really this is how most of the pictures turned out... not with me having contractions, but just not as good as I was hoping.  But it's okay because we'll have to get a new picture taken for Christmas this year because we'll have our little Esther here within 2 weeks or less from tomorrow.

So we had group pictures taken of EVERYONE, those didn't turn out so great either ...

then of course, we had Grandma and Grandpa with all 21 grandchildren -- yeah that didn't work so well either.  I guess the point is that we have everyone in the picture regardless of whether they are all happy or not. 

We ended back at my sister in laws house for the big celebration open house and there was a decent turn out and lots of extended family that showed up.  So it was really fun to see all of them.  The book I made was well liked by everyone who saw it. Or rather I was told that they liked it.

Here are pictures of the quilt that was made for them.

This book was 193 pages  --- consisting of pictures that were donated and given to me to use for this project.  It took up pretty much my entire summer, and suffered from swollen feet most nights because of it.  But I do have to say there was a point that I was working on it, and I really did just want to throw in the towel and stop working on it altogether because I did frustrated here and there.   My house got neglected and is still suffering from the neglect all summer long.  (Except my bathroom is mostly clean right now but that's about it.)



But I stuck with this project, and kept forging onward, and there was a moment where I was overcome with extreme emotion and got a little teary eyed, because I realized how special this was, and the love and hard work that was put into it will really mean a lot to all of those who look at this through the years. 

I WAS GOING TO POST A PICTURE HERE OR TWO OR THREE, but it's not cooperating, and I'm going to get off now because my feet are really starting to hurt.  Wish I had a lap top right now, so I could sit back in my recliner and still be able to use the computer.