First Pediatrician's Appointment & Outing

Evelyn had her first pediatrician's appointment this morning.  The main reason for the appointment today was to check her weight.  Babies typically lose weight the first week after their birth.  She weighed 8 lb 5 oz at birth and 8 lb 3.5 oz when we left the hospital the next day.  Evelyn now weighs 8 lbs even.  The doctor seemed very pleased that she has not lost much weight since we got home.  I wasn't surprised, because she nurses like a champ.

After the doctor's appointment, we met with Grandma, Granddad, Miles and Vivienne at Chick-fil-a for lunch.  It was so nice to get out, and everything went very well.  The big kids had a great time.  Evelyn slept through most of the meal, and I nursed her for the first time in public.  I must say that it is so incredibly wonderful to be able to easily nurse my baby in public.  I almost always nursed the twins in tandem, so I rarely nursed them when we were out.  I know I'm going to enjoy the breastfeeding flexibility that will come with nursing a singleton.

After lunch, we all came back home.  Miles and Vivienne took their naps here at home for the first time since we got back from the hospital.  Grandma and Granddad were able to go home and have a little rest and time to themselves.  It was nice to have our family of five all at home together for a while.  After dinner tonight, Miles and Viv went back to Grandma and Granddad's to sleep, which will hopefully allow for the kids to get a better night's sleep and for us to get a couple extra hours of rest in the morning (instead of being woken up at 6:30 with the twins).

After the kids left, Jason and I took Evelyn on her first walk in the ring sling.  She loved the sling and fell asleep after a few minutes of walking.  It was such a joy to spend some time outside with my new baby girl and her amazing daddy.  We made it a short walk, since it's only 3 days after her birth and I'm still a bit sore.  I hope it is the first of many walks to come.  Someday her big brother and sister will be biking down the path while I try to keep up with their little sister behind them.

A huge thanks to Grandma and Granddad for a few extra minutes of sleep tomorrow morning.

Home At Last

Our first night with Evelyn went very smoothly.  She was still very sleepy, so we actually got some decent rest that night.  She slept the first stint of the night in her bassinet, and then she spent the last part of the night sleeping on my chest and my lap with a lot of nursing.

The next morning, Jason and I decided that we would like to try to go home.  The entire staff at the hospital was wonderful, and we are so grateful for the care that we got there.  But we were eager to take our baby girl home and to get some privacy and uninterrupted rest.  Of course, this decision was made much easier in knowing that my parents would be able to keep Miles and Vivienne at their house overnight and help our family ease into the transition of being the Fox Five.

Our day nurse, Donna, was incredible.  She helped us get everything in order to be discharged, including all of Evelyn's tests, baby footprints, social security paperwork and more.  She was a workhorse and was so nurturing and helpful.  That morning was very busy, because we were visited by the pediatrician, the midwife, nutrition services, blood work for me, vitals for me and the baby, the social security/birth certificate people, photography and others.

Evelyn's facial bruising had already started to heal quite a bit, and she was looking much better.

Tired mommy, but really enjoying our baby girl

Mom and Dad brought Miles and Vivienne again that morning to visit us.  Vivienne enjoyed seeing her sister again, and Miles enjoyed running around the room and testing out the curtain again.   

"What?  Is there a baby in here or something?"

After the kids and my parents left, Jason and I both took showers and finished up everything to head home from the hospital.

Our sweet little berry, wearing the same hat that her brother and sister wore almost exactly 2 years ago.

Miles and Vivienne in their berry hats in July 2010

The first of many, many naps together 

Donna took Evelyn's footprints

Look at all that hair!

Jason noticed that Evelyn likes to "catch flies" like her sister did.  She sleeps with her mouth open.  Oh my goodness, she is the sweetest thing.

Catching Flies

Not enjoying her first outfit (that her cousin, Elizabeth, wore when she was newborn)

 Much like her older sister, Evie did not enjoy her introduction to the car seat.  She put up quite the fuss.

But by the time we got outside, she was peacefully sleeping in the fresh air.

It was a luxury for me to be able to sit in the back seat with her on the ride home.  With the twins, we had a back seat full of car seats, so no one could fit back there with them.  There are so many little things that make a singleton so much simpler than twins.  Evelyn slept all the way home.


We rolled into the driveway around 2:30 that afternoon.  We had been gone from the house almost exactly 36 hours.  It's amazing how much our lives had changed in that short time.

Miles and Vivienne were still at Grandma and Granddad's house taking a nap.  This gave Jason, Evelyn and I a few quiet hours together to rest and enjoy being together with no nurses or doctors.

Two of my favorite people
 

We also had the opportunity to introduce Noah to his newest antagonist.

"Are you serious?  Another one?"

Before dinner, Grandma, Granddad, Miles and Vivienne came to visit again.  Vivienne kindly offered her backup "Bea" (piggie) to her little sister.  After dinner and baths, the kids went back to my parents house, which was great.  Not only did we not have to worry about the baby waking up the big kids, but we also got a few extra hours of sleep in the morning when Miles and Viv would usually be awake.

Evelyn also found her thumb for the first time that day and started sucking it.  Not bad for one day old! We have only seen her do this a couple times since then, though.  Miles and Vivienne both suck their thumbs when they are tired, so it wouldn't surprise me if we have another thumb sucker on our hands.  I think it's adorable.

Happy Birthday, Evelyn Rose!

Wow - so much to say!  The last two days have been a whirlwind.  In the last 36 hours, we went to the hospital, had our third child and are now back home.  Evelyn Rose Fox was born on July 21st at 9:55 am.  She weighs 8 lb 5 oz and is 20.75 in long.  Her head circumference was 13.5 cm.  She is a beautiful baby with a head full of thick, dark hair.  She loves to nurse and sleep, like most babies do.

Evelyn was born via natural childbirth with no epidural, and it was one of the most amazing, intense, incredible experiences of my life, along with the birth of her brother and sister.  A more detailed story is to come.  Jason and I are so grateful for sharing our lives with these three precious little people.  God is good.

Miles and Vivienne Meet Evelyn

The first thing that Evelyn did when she was born was to poop.  The first time Daddy held her, she peed on him - seriously peed on him through a diaper somehow.  I'm sensing a trend here...

It took a while for them to move us to the Recovery Room, but we were just enjoying our time with our newest daughter.  They took her to the nursery to bathe her while we were moved to our new room.

Once we got there, we settled in with our bags and tried to get some rest.  I had so much adrenaline going through my body that I was still very shaky and spun up.  It took a while, but I think we were eventually able to get some cat naps in between all the knocks on the door to get some rest.

Daddy and his littlest girl

My mom was our first visitor.  She came to the hospital after putting Miles and Vivienne down for their naps at her house.  She arrived around 1:30 and was able to meet her newest granddaughter for the first time.  She only stayed for a short time, and then returned home to get the kids with my dad.

Just before 4 pm, Grandma and Granddad brought Miles and Vivienne to the hospital to meet this baby that they had been hearing so much about over the past nine months.  When they came into the room, they seemed very excited to see us, and Vivienne was immediately enamored with her.  She crawled up on the bed and said "baby" quite a few times.  We got some great video of that moment that I'll put into another post.

Meeting her baby sister for the first time

Pointing out Evelyn's nose, ears, eyes and mouth

Meanwhile, Miles seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Mommy or Evelyn were there.  He just wanted to play in the privacy curtain that was hanging just inside the door of our room.  Miles and Vivienne spent quite a lot of time running back and forth through the curtain and giggling and squealing up a storm.  Needless to say, they both seemed to really enjoy their first visit to the hospital.

More interested in saying "cheese" than meeting his sister

Evelyn's Birth Story

The entire day prior to Evelyn's birth, I had contractions on and off all day.  They were more intense than the previous Braxton Hicks contractions, but were very manageable and inconsistent.  That night, Jason and I went to sleep around 11 pm.  He eventually moved to the guest room to get some better rest.  Around 12:15, I was awoken by a fairly intense labor contraction.  I started timing the rushes to see if I was going into labor.  At first, they were about 15 minutes apart.  After an hour or two, they were 6-8 minutes apart.  At my OB appointment earlier in the day, the doctor had advised me to go to the hospital if they even got to 8 minutes apart, so I called the office and let them know that we were headed to the hospital.

Jason: Even with Leslie's contractions on-and-off all day Friday, I actually had a feeling that I would still be going back to work on Monday with the baby yet to be born.  Not exactly sure why I felt this way.  Perhaps it was my way of managing expectations.  I knew that I couldn't wait to meet her, but with this mindset she came sooner than expected.

On our way to the hospital

We finished packing up our bags and ate a little bit.  I called my parents, and they came to the house to stay with Miles and Vivienne.  Around 2:30, we left for WakeMed Cary Hospital.  Just before 3 am, we were settling into the labor room.  It was surreal to think that I was going to deliver my baby here.  Miles and Vivienne were delivered in an operating room (even though it was a vaginal delivery), and it was interesting to think about how different this birth would be.

Our labor nurse, Kim, checked my cervix.  I was 3-4 cm dilated at that point.  She called the midwife, and she suggested that Jason and I walk the halls of the Women's Pavilion from 4 to 5 am in an effort to get my labor moving along.  We walked the dark, quiet halls for an hour, chatting and making jokes, stopping for the contractions as I tried to figure out which positions eased the pain the best.

Jason: I thought it was really a special time to spend that hour walking the halls with Leslie.  It gave us time process what was happening and think about how our lives were about to change forever.  It was the calm before the storm and something I will always remember.

After we returned to the labor room, Kim checked me again.  I was still only about 4 cm dilated.  This was frustrating, because I was still having very regular contractions - about 6-8 minutes apart, and I was getting very tired from not having slept.  She said that if I didn't dilate further, that they might send us home (probably giving us an Ambien to help me get some rest until the contractions got stronger and we returned).    I had been joking with Jason earlier in the night that I had a sort of performance anxiety about being at the hospital - feeling like the nurses judge how you're handling labor, whether you're progressing quickly enough, whether you're overreacting, and so forth.  Of course, it's ridiculous to think about these sorts of things, but I do.

Jason: I knew exactly the feeling Leslie was talking about regarding her performance anxiety.  And as with everything on this day, I just tried to be there for her and be as helpful as I could be.  I just wanted her to feel loved and supported and that I was cheering her on every step of the way ... regardless of what Leslie's next sentence below says :)

By this point, Jason was starting to doze off in a chair in the labor room.  Neither of us had really gotten any sleep yet that night, so we were pretty exhausted.  Kim suggested that I take a shower and then walk for another hour.  I took a shower and then walked the halls on my own from 6 to 7 am.  In the shower, I felt very few contractions.  While walking, the contractions were still coming every 5 minutes, but they didn't feel very strong and I was convinced that we were going to have to go home.  It was nice to just be with my thoughts and think about the magnitude of this day.  I had just started to pray that God would move this baby along in His timing, and just prayed that He give me patience and strength for what lay ahead.  At that point, I was exhausted from being up all night, and I felt a bit like a zombie dragging my feet down the hall.  Because of my exhaustion, the idea of going home really didn't sound all that bad.  I was thinking at least we could go grab breakfast together somewhere.

Here is a table of the contractions I recorded during that hour on my iPhone:

StartTime	EndTime	Duration (mm:ss)	Freq. (mm:ss)	Intensity
Jul 21, 2012 6:19 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:20 AM	00:30	00:00	-
Jul 21, 2012 6:23 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:24 AM	00:35	04:02	-
Jul 21, 2012 6:29 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:29 AM	00:39	05:39	-
Jul 21, 2012 6:35 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:35 AM	00:32	05:58	-
Jul 21, 2012 6:40 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:40 AM	00:36	05:05	-
Jul 21, 2012 6:43 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:44 AM	00:35	03:32	-
Jul 21, 2012 6:48 AM	Jul 21, 2012 6:49 AM	00:41	05:04	-

When I returned to the labor room at 7 am, there had been a shift change for the nurses, and we were assigned a new nurse, Courtney.  Courtney checked my cervix, and I was at 6 or 7 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  I was completely shocked.  The contractions over that past hour had been very manageable and I was convinced that they weren't very effective.  I had resigned myself to thinking that we would definitely be going home at least for a few hours to sleep.  Courtney said that she wouldn't be comfortable sending me home at that point.

Jason: It was definitely reassuring to hear that Leslie was making progress.  Especially after the nurses had planted the seed that we may be sent home.  At this point, we knew for sure that we'd be meeting our precious little girl very soon.

She asked if I wanted an IV hep lock put into my arm.  The main reason for this would be that they would be able to use it if they needed it for pitocin or anesthesia or anything else they need to administer.  I was hoping that we wouldn't need to use pit or any kind of anesthesia, but decided to go ahead and have the IV done so that it was there if they needed it.

After the IV was in place, Courtney recommended that we try the jacuzzi bath to help me relax further.  As soon as I sat in the bath, I was much more relaxed.  I started to get a little worried when I only felt a couple of contractions in the bathtub, though.  After about 45 minutes, I got back out of the tub and laid down on the bed.  Jason and I both dozed off for a few minutes before Courtney came back in.  At 9 am, Heather, the midwife, arrived and checked my cervix again, and I was still only around 6 cm, meaning that my labor had stalled.

At this point, Heather suggested that I either allow them to break my bag of water or get pitocin to move the labor along.  She said she would prefer to break the bag of water, because it's a more natural method, and I easily agreed.  At 9 am, she broke the bag.  She remarked that it was a "tough bag" and seemed to have a hard time getting it to break.  There was only a trickle of amniotic fluid, but she was able to break it.  She said later that she never saw a gush of fluid and thought that my amniotic fluid was probably low.

Jason: I am glad that Heather was able to break the bag of water.  If she had not been able to, the remaining time until Evelyn's birth may have looked much different.  I knew that Leslie did not want to be given pitocin and without the resulting acceleration of labor due to the bag breaking that was a definite possibility.  Don't get me wrong, we would have done anything and everything necessary to get baby Evelyn to have a safe birth, but I knew that Leslie's heart was set on as natural a birth as possible and I was glad that it appeared that she would get what she desired (even if moment's later should be questioning why she was doing this).

Immediately after she broke the bag, the contractions got a lot more intense.  I starting moaning a lot louder and having a harder time getting on top of the contractions.  Courtney had me lie on my side with a pillow between my knees.  I remember saying, "Go, go, go, go, go, baby girl" over and over (because in my head I really was starting to think "stop, stop, stop, stop, stop").  Courtney recognized that I was progressing very quickly, and she alerted Heather to be on stand-by.

Just 20 minutes later, at 9:20, Heather checked me again and I was at 8 cm.  The rushes continued to get stronger and stronger.  Soon after this, I began to panic a bit.  I realized that my mind was looking for a way out of the situation, feeling like I couldn't handle it.  But I knew that there was no way to make this end, except to have the baby.  I was really worried these intense, painful contractions were going to continue for a couple of hours, and I wasn't sure that I could make it through that.  Some of the contractions were coming back to back, which meant that I had strong pain (certainly the most intense of my life) for 2-3 minutes straight before I would have a minute or so of relief, and then it would all start again.

Jason: Somewhere during this stretch I started to feel a little helpless.  I wanted to help Leslie manage the pain but wasn't always sure the best way to do that.  I kept telling her that she was doing great and that she was designed to do this.  Even in her moments of what she describes as panic, she kept her head on straight and kept moving forward with incredible bravery and courage.  I could not have been more proud of my beautiful wife for her ability to push through the pain and not curse me for what I did to her.

Heather reassured me that my baby girl was going to be here very soon, and I convinced myself that I could finish this race.  I started saying things like,"I can do this.  I can do this."  Honestly, though, there were moments where I thought,"I can't do this.  Why did I do this?"   But for the most part, I was able to fight the battle raging in my head and push through the pain.

Jason was wonderful the entire time.  He rubbed my back and between my eyes and was very encouraging.  He reminded me that I was strong and that I could do this.  It was great to hear his voice reassuring me.

Just before I started pushing, Heather said that there was just a lip of cervix that needed to move back.  She said to think of a clock and that the position from 11 to 1 was what needed to dilate.  After a few minutes, she said we were ready to go.

At 9:35, I started pushing.  Honestly the pushing phase was less painful than the previous phase, but it was still very intense.  Heather noticed that the baby's heart rate would drop as I was pushing, so she had Jason give me oxygen in between pushes.  At one point, I remember Heather saying that I just had a couple more contractions before meeting my baby, and I knew I could do it.  When the baby's head came out, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, so Heather quickly unwrapped it before she was born.

Jason: Having had a front row seat for Miles and Vivienne's birth, I was a little worried about the cord being wrapped around Evelyn's neck.  But Heather was great and talked through her actions during the birth.  She explained that the cord wasn't too tight and that she was going to remove it from around her neck.  Then once Evelyn's head popped out, there was a very long moment where nothing seemed to happen.  It really did look like a little lifeless, dark haired, very blue head hanging out of my wife.  And that freaked me out.  Why wasn't her body following by now?  The pause, later explained by Heather, was her waiting to see which way Evelyn's shoulders would turn so she knew how best to finish extracting her.  It seemed too long for me.  And then once she came out, she was very very blue and didn't make a sound for what sound liked another eternity (probably only 4-5 seconds).  After some prodding she cried a little bit much to our relief.  It is amazing how much runs through your mind in the precious seconds.

After about 20 minutes of pushing, at 9:56 am, the gorgeous Evelyn Rose Fox was born.  Heather put my beautiful baby girl up on my belly, and I was completely overcome with emotion.  I was so overwhelmed with love for this baby, and I was so relieved that she was finally here and so proud of myself for making it through her delivery.  She had a beautiful head of gorgeous, thick, dark hair, just like her brother.  I also remember thinking that she looked huge to me, because she was a good 2 lbs bigger than her older siblings.

Just as she was being born, Heather said, "Oh, she pooped!"  She was either pooping while she was being born or immediately after coming out.  The first thing she did in the outside world was poop - even before she breathed.  That's my girl!  They immediately put her up on my belly so that I could see her beautiful face and start bonding with my youngest daughter.  Jason got to cut her umbilical cord (which he wasn't able to do with Miles or Vivienne).

Evelyn looked very purple to me and Jason when she was born, and we were immediately concerned.  She didn't cry very loudly at first, but after a few seconds of rubbing her cheeks, she let us hear her lovely voice for the first time.  She stayed with me for quite a while after she was born and latched on to nurse very quickly.  Her Apgar scores were 8 and 9 (at 1 minute and 5 minutes), which are both very good.  The only mark against her was her initial color, which quickly regulated itself when she started breathing.

Evelyn also had a lot of bruising and swelling on her face.  Her forehead, cheeks and nose were all purple even after her face turned to a normal color.  They said this was because she was born so quickly.  The pediatrician asked whether she was born "sunny side up," because her bruises were unusually noticeable.

This is quite a few minutes after she was born.  You can see how discolored she was even then.

Daddy holds Evelyn for the first time.

Our little lady warrior with her battle scars.

"Baby Girl" Fox - we still weren't certain of her name.

Waiting to take our sweet daughter to the recovery room.

Heather said that Evelyn had a textbook birth.  She said it was the kind of birth that they hope for but very rarely get.  I certainly can't say that I was calm and collected the entire time.  In fact, at some points, I wondered what the nurses outside and the patients in adjacent rooms would think of the sounds that I was making during the delivery.  But I am so proud of myself for having created this amazing little life and bringing her into the world naturally.

Jason: I am extremely proud of Leslie for deciding she wanted a natural birth and then following through.  She amazed me at every step of the way with her determination and ability to stay in the moment and handle whatever was thrown at her.  She's my hero and baby Evelyn is as precious as can be.  Welcome to the Fox family baby E.  Your daddy loves you very much!  And you have a very special mommy who also loves you to pieces.

We're Getting There

Well, today has been interesting.  For the past few days, I have had generalized cramping in my abdomen.  I kept wondering whether it was the start of contractions, but it definitely wasn't strong enough to be real solid labor contractions.

This morning, I had about an hour of intense contractions - clearly labor contractions with a discreet start and stop.  They were about 9.5 minutes apart, but then they stopped.  Throughout the day today, I have continued to have contractions here and there, but nothing regular like this morning.

Jason and I were debating whether or not he should go to work.  We decided that he should, and he packed up his hospital bag (no, I still haven't packed my own bag) and went to work.  I'm glad that he went, because it's 3 pm and I'm still at home. 

This morning, my mommy playgroup had a little "sprinkle" for me and another expecting mommy, Allison, this morning at the park across the street.  They gave us some adorable baby gift baskets and balloons.  It was fun to see all our friends and to give Miles and Vivienne a chance to play at the playground.  After that, we had lunch with my parents, and then the kids napped at their house while I went to my regular OB appointment.

The OB said that I have made good progress and that I'm 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  She said that if I were 4 cm dilated, Strep-B positive (which I'm not) or currently having contractions that she would go ahead and send me to the hospital.  It was kind of surreal to hear her say that.  She said that if the contractions started up regularly again and got as close as 8 minutes apart, that I should probably go in.  8 minutes seems pretty far apart to me, but on the other hand, I don't want to have a baby in the car on the way over there.  My first labor with the twins was fairly quick - 9 hours from water breaking to 2 babies in our arms, so I guess they just want to be careful.  Personally, I would rather spend the least amount of time in the hospital as possible, though.

The doctor also said that she can't really tell whether I'm going to have a baby tonight or days from now.  I suspect that it's probably going to be sooner than later, but you never know.

I guess I should go pack my hospital bag now.  After that, I'm going to try to take a nap, though it might be kind of hard to sleep.

To be continued...

Worst Headache of My Life

A few weeks ago, Miles and Vivienne spent the night over at Grandma and Granddad's house.  This was their first overnight trip away from us.  It was fun to pack a little bag for them and take them over to my parents' house.  The kids had a great time, as always, and it was nice for me and Jason to be able to sleep in in the morning at home.  Of course, I slept in, and Jason got up and ran something like 16 miles.  To each his own, I guess.

It's a good thing that we did this initial overnight away, because this week they stayed at Grandma and Granddad's house for 3 nights in a row.

For the past 3 weeks, I have been battling this very frustrating head cold.  The congestion and sore throat were the worst part.  It would get a little better; then it would get a little worse.  And back and forth we go.  I would always ask the midwives at my weekly appointments and they would just say something like, "Yes, pregnant women are often congested.  Hang in there."  In retrospect, I clearly should have been more assertive and insisted that this was beyond regular pregnancy congestion.  After all, I have had twins, and I know what it is like to be very, very  pregnant and to have normal pregnancy colds, but this cold had clearly surpassed normalcy.

Last Thursday night, I had a piercing headache - probably the worst of my life.  My eyes hurt.  My teeth hurt.  This progressively got worse throughout the weekend, and it never relented regardless of the amount of acetaminophen I took.  On Saturday, we celebrated Miles and Vivienne's birthday early.  I'm so glad that we did this, because I was too ill on their actual birthday (this past Wednesday) to celebrate well with them.

By Sunday, the pain had gotten even more intense and I was in tears.  I had an awful time sleeping, and when I did sleep, I would wake up in pain and be unable to go back to sleep again.  I would get up for hours in the middle of the night to take medicine, take a shower, sit in the recliner - try anything to get myself to sleep.  I decided that I couldn't take it any more, and I went to Urgent Care.  The physician there was very kind and helpful, and she gave me cephalexin (an antibiotic) and recommended some other OTC medications that might provide me with relief.

I had become terrified of going into labor in the middle of this sinus infection and headache.  I have no idea how I would handle labor on top of that.  I was just hoping that if I did go into labor, my body would take over and somehow the illness would be pushed into the background.

After I got back from the doctor's office, I crawled into bed and never really came back out again.  Jason was in full-force solo daddy mode and took great care of the kids.  He eventually packed them up in the van to go to my parents' house.  My parents offered to keep the kids so that I could rest.  This was an enormous lifesaver.  I was completely debilitated by the headaches.  At this point, the pain was so strong and my jaws were so tender that it hurt to eat even soft food - it reminded me of what it was like when I was an early teenager with braces.  My eyes hurt so much that I would just lie in bed and press on them with my hands for hours.  I could actually press on the bones in my face and feel the pressure and pain.  And at this point, the headache had been there since Thursday night without any reprieve whatsoever.

This week was so rough that I didn't see the kids at all on Monday.  On Tuesday, I went to my parents' house for a few hours and then retreated back home to spend the rest of the day in bed.  On Wednesday, their second birthday, I thought surely I would feel good enough to take them to a museum or bring them balloons or something special.  After trying to eat breakfast and shower, I retreated to my bed again.  At this point, I had had the worst headache of my life for six continuous days.  That afternoon, I started to feel a little better and finally was able to wish Miles and Vivienne a happy birthday in person around 2:30 in the afternoon.

The kids had a great birthday at my parents' house, though.  Grandma and Granddad took them to the playground every single day this week (which I hadn't been able to do in quite a few weeks because of my sickness and the crazy heat wave).  The kids played in the pool on their back porch.  Granddad made them a bubble solution with some huge bubble wands that they love.  Vivienne fell in love with Mindy, my parents' Shetland sheepdog, this week.  Grandma splurged and let the kids each have their own strawberry creme from Starbucks (because they are always coveting her frappucinos).  She also made a delicious dinner for all of us (and brought over chicken soup for me that night).  Then we finally brought the kids home last night for the first time since Sunday.

Mom and Dad said that they shrieked with delight when they saw that they were finally going to a playground again.

I think she was a little happy about the special birthday drink.

And he was pretty excited, too.

Today, I feel like a human again.  I'm extremely tired - more of a "sick" tired than a "pregnancy" tired, but I have continued to feel better throughout the day.  I'm no longer scared of going into labor, and I'm so thankful to just not be in pain any more.  And I'm also thankful that it didn't turn out to be something much more serious, because I was honestly starting to wonder whether this was something much worse that was being misdiagnosed.

I have to thank my parents profusely for getting me through this.  I cried at their house while I was thanking them for taking care of the kids.  It is such a huge blessing to know that they live just a few miles away, and that my children are as well loved and cared for there as they are at home.  Grandma and Granddad are always so attentive and full of love.  Miles and Vivienne feel just as comfortable at their house as they do at our house (maybe even more comfortable, because Grandma and Granddad are so fun, and then there's Mindy).  =)

Jason has been amazing, as usual.  He got off work early every day to come home and check on me and then go check on the kids at Grandma's.  He would think to get things for them from home (their firemen hats, blankets, stuffed puppies, favorite books) and take them over so that they had them at Grandma's house.  He would stay with the kids until they went to sleep and then come home.  He is always so attentive and loving and has endless energy for our family.  I couldn't ask for a more supportive or loving husband.

It was so hard for me to not be able to take care of Miles and Vivienne.  This is the first time that I have been unable to care for them since they were born (besides a very short bout of mastitis when they were a few weeks old).  I found it difficult to be incapacitated, and it made me feel like a failure as a mother sometimes, which I know is completely unreasonable.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who love me and my family and got us through this awful week.

Now, let's go have a baby!