This boy could sleep anywhere

Case in point.

Sometimes it's really nice to be renting

I was hoping for a nice night of sleep to hopefully start catching up. Aaron is a great sleeper. He sleeps hours and hours during both the day and night, but it's not in any kind of routine, so I don't know what kind of sleep I'll get any night and it makes nursing quite interesting. Case in point, he woke up at 3:30 this morning for the second or third time, but then I had to wake him up at 8AM because I was dying to feed him. It's all good and normal and I'm not concerned about it at all since he seems to love to sleep, but I will be pleased when we get more of a schedule going. That's weeks away I'm sure.

Anyway, back to my hopes for the night. I was hoping for a good night's sleep in relation to having a newborn baby. Somewhere around 2 or 3AM I woke up to find Genevieve had crawled into bed with us. Usually when she finds her way into our room it involves crying and waking us up, so I was a bit surprised. She always climbs in, lays down perpendicular to us and proceeds to kick Bill repeatedly as she sleeps. What a dear! Maybe it's her way of cuddling? lol. Anyway, I woke Bill up to take her back and he was totally surprised too, which was funny since he was getting kicked.

So we went back to sleep and were up again at 3:30AM with Aaron, who was hungry. He was kind of fussy and I was trying to calm him down so he could sleep when suddenly we heard what sounded somewhere between a big paper bag being popped and a crack of thunder, followed by a huge rush of water. Both Bill and I bolted upright, wondering what the heck had happened. Thank goodness we were awake because Bill hopped out of bed and went running to see what had happened. He called back to me that it was the water heater, which caused me to jump up and go running to help because the closet with our water heater also has two toolboxes in it, our vacuum, and some miscellaneous household stuff. We immediately pulled it all out as Bill frantically turned off water intake and tried to figure out what else to turn to get the water to stop rushing out. The closet quickly filled with several inches of water and more just kept pouring out of a panel on the side of the heater as well as the bottom seam.

We hurried to work on the immediate problem of water pouring everywhere and tried to mop it up with five or six towels. It had seeped out into the hall down towards the kitchen and back towards our bedroom, plus we discovered a bit later that it had seeped under the kitchen cabinets and also into our bathroom, both of which border the closet. Bill had the good idea to use a cutting board as a squeegee of sorts to push the water back towards the closet and soak it up with the towels. I did that and he wrung out the towels. In the meantime I tried to figure out who to call for an emergency maintenance request. Turns out my phone doesn't register pressing the buttons on the phone tree for our apartment office so I had to switch to Bill's phone. This wasn't frustrating at all being that I was trying to keep water from seeping into the hall closet and further down the halls and everywhere else. Oh wait, yeah, it was really frustrating. But I finally got through, left a message, and waited for a call back, then went back to pushing water back into the closet.

Thankfully we have an absolutely fantastic maintenance guy who called back within minutes and was over to assess the damage a few minutes later. I seriously love that guy. He's the nicest and his name is Scooter, so that's awesome too. :) Here's the cool part. He was actually already awake when we called. The phone tree problems made it take a few tries for us to connect, but he had woken up not too much before, couldn't fall asleep, and felt like he should get up. Talk about blessings for us! That's why he could get to us so fast. He was able to connect up a hose to the water heater to drain all the water out, plus call the guy that deals with carpets, who came around 7:30AM to soak up the water and put a fan on it.

Needless to say, it was an eventful morning. Our efforts at the time seemed pretty fruitless trying to soak up all the water, but after the fact I'm pretty sure it saved the complex thousands of dollars of damage and us a huge headache to deal with the cleanup. I'm just so glad it happened when Bill and I were both home as opposed to me alone or us all gone. That could have been disastrous. I'm still worried about the water that seeped under the walls. We have the fan pointed as best we can in that direction to hopefully dry some of it out. The carpet is already dry, so that's good. Black mold grows here so fast, so I'll be watching for it. That's my biggest worry.

So as my title says, I'm so stinkin' glad we're renting right now and had plenty of hands on deck to help us out. I wouldn't have wanted to deal with this alone and find a company to clean up and all that stuff. Here's to the perks of renting. :)

Oh, and as we finally made it out of the house to church a mere five minutes before it started though it is a 15-minute drive away, after having taken cold showers, I turned to Bill and said, "We've been up since 3:30AM and we still can't make it to church in time?!" Yeah, still working on that three kids timing thing. 10AM church snuck up on us. lol.

Picture Overload

We've mostly been staying close to home this last week, so we have a ridiculous amount of cute photos of our children. :) Here's a not very small sampling of the first week of Aaron's life.

Playing at the hospital the day we took Aaron home.

Grandma Jones meeting Aaron.

Pose for a picture! Genevieve took it to heart.

This may be the best first family photo we got. lol. Spencer isn't even facing forward.

Oh hey, there's a baby there!

Family storytime!

He seems to have gotten my mom's coloring, which is awesome! His skin is olive toned and way darker than mine for the moment. 

When all other toys are boring, just hop in the box. 

First trip around the neighborhood in the stroller.

She's fascinated by Aaron. She always comes running when he cries and gives him kisses all the time. Her version of a kiss is poking his face or whatever she can reach and making a kissing noise. Maybe it's her version of blowing a kiss? She's learning to not poke too hard and it doesn't seem to bother him, so it's all good.

Grandma's camera. She loves looking at the pictures we take.

Tummy time = sleep time. I've never had a baby so chill that they like tummy time. He is just as happy on his stomach as his back, at least for a little while

This photo was designed to drive Spencer crazy. That's his favorite pillow and blanket. He was highly bothered when he noticed. lol. Sometimes it's so fun to be a parent. haha!

See? He just chills out on his stomach. 

First bath.

He has so much hair around the base of his neck. He has a lot on top too, but so much less that it looks like he's balding. I'd say he actually has more hair on top than either of the other two did for months and months, but with so much around the back, it still looks thin.

One of the many faces of Aaron. He's super expressive. Half smile.

Thinking pose. 

This was on day one home. He already looks so much bigger than this and he's only 11 days old.

We've spent a lot of the last week in diapers only. The kids are in heaven.

This has been officially dubbed the sled bed. Genevieve and Spencer both love laying in it anytime they can, and they cart Aaron all over the place when he's in it too.

"Headstanders." Spencer figured out he could do headstands and has been perfecting his talent. Genevieve is all over trying it too. Spence can actually do a pretty decent one on the floor now, but he loves doing them on the couch the best.

No hands!

I don't know where my baby went, but she's definitely gone. Genevieve seems so huge compared to Aaron now. She'll be two next month and I can't believe how fast time is flying.

Wait, you want me to stay awake during tummy time? Not likely.

Sleepy smiles.

Another picture designed to drive my other kids crazy. This is Genevieve's precious puppy. She didn't notice we took the picture. Good thing. :)

I think they're communicating. lol 

We went to the park on Thursday. Spencer loves the baby swing still because he can get pushed super high on it. Good thing Genevieve likes the big swing.

See? Olive skin-toned like Grandma. 

Another new toy for the big kids. haha! They sit in the bouncer way more than Aaron does. In fact, if one is in the bouncer and the sled bed is available, the other will hop in there.

This is a look of pure joy on this boy's face. He loves his newfound ability.

There was plenty of movie watching this week. The current favorite is Despicable Me 2.

What? You didn't know we had a Japanese baby? This picture makes me laugh every time. 

All swaddled up ready for bed. This little mini crib is a total lifesaver for his sleeping arrangements for now. I'm borrowing it from a friend and I just love it. He'll only be able to use it for a few months until he can start sitting up, but for now it's just perfect.

And the cloth diapers are a tad big. Hahaha! I may borrow some from a friend or just use disposables until he gets a tad bigger and can actually fit into these. He needs a bit more meat on his little body first!

Birth Story

Presenting Aaron David Ashman, born July 10th at 2:28AM. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 1/4" long.

We are in love. I thought it would be so awesome if he was born with dark hair so we could have a blonde, a redhead, and a dark haired baby, just to make people scratch their heads. I had no idea I'd get my wish. I just adore my not so little family. :)

We've spent the last few days just soaking him in, recuperating, and getting used to being a family of five!

So here's the story for interested parties out there. Or at least the highlights. I'll try to rein in my verbosity. :)

Aaron's arrival felt super drawn out. I started having contractions two and a half weeks prior to his due date, which was a new experience for me and threw off my ability to patiently wait for his arrival. It made me really antsy. I'd have contractions for several hours, usually in the evenings, and then they would peter out. This last Tuesday I started having contractions at 9AM and they lasted all day and into the night. I even had some after I had gone to bed that I felt when I woke up a few times, but they all were gone by the morning. It was really mentally taxing. Bill stayed home with me Wednesday because I couldn't handle the thought of another day like that with just me and the two kids.

So Wednesday we just relaxed throughout the day. Early in the afternoon I decided to make a trip to the store to pick up some fabric for a project I'm going to make for Genevieve's birthday. After I got back at about 3:30 the real contractions started, but somewhat far apart, maybe 6-7 minutes. They crept slowly closer together and I decided this was finally the real deal, as they felt as strong as the ones I'd had with Genevieve throughout her labor. I made it my goal to get the kids in bed and then we could head to the hospital. So that's what we did. A friend came over to spend the night and we headed out.

My biggest concern for this labor has been how far we are from the hospital and the logistics of making sure the kids were taken care of and I got there in time. It was 45 minutes away from our house. So this timing felt absolutely perfect. We got to the hospital and got checked in and my midwife checked my progress only to find that I was dilated to a 2. I was so disappointed! We had aired on the side of caution a bit, but holy cow, I'd had contractions for two weeks, plus 13 hours the day before, plus all afternoon and evening by this point, and that's all it had done?! Not fun. We spent the next two hours walking the hospital halls, having tons and tons of contractions, hoping they were doing something. At 11:30PM I got checked again and had maybe, maybe dilated to a 3. My water hadn't broken, nothing else had happened, so they had to send me on my way. The midwife commented she was so sorry, but she promised I wasn't going to be pregnant forever. I would definitely have the baby in the next day or two. Nice words, but not helpful at that point.

We headed out to the car and I had to stop a bunch of times while a contraction happened. These were not easy ones! I had to totally focus on them. It was so discouraging that for how intense they were they didn't seem to be creating progress. We headed back towards home and stopped by Burger King ot get a conciliatory ice cream. The entire drive home I had contractions every five minutes on the dot. They were crazy intense, particularly since I was sitting down. We got all the way home and decided to camp out on the couch and hope things intensified so we could head back. I fell asleep for maybe a few minutes and nearly leaped off the couch and out of my skin a few minutes later as a contraction on a whole new level hit me. My whole body started shaking and I had to vocalize to get through it. I had another one or two of these and Bill said he thought we really needed to head back. I was hesitant because of the lack of progress, but the next one convinced me and he called the midwife. She was totally skeptical but was kind of like, it's your gas, so off we went.

This trip was completely different. I kneeled on the floor instead of sitting and barely held it together and contractions came hard and fast, every few minutes and some even closer together. They would come really hard or one would come small and then stop for a second and then ramp up to a higher level. IT.WAS.CRAZY! I felt like I needed to push, so I did that a little, enough to relieve some pressure, and that helped. I tried not to wonder too much what that meant about my progress. It was one of those crazy, late night drives you see on TV shows. Bill drove like 85 mph the whole way with his flashers on and running the occasional red light. We made it to the hospital in record time.

Walking in was a trick. I ended up hanging onto Bill's neck, quietly vocalizing through each contraction. People kept asking if I needed a wheelchair. There was no way I was sitting down. It was such a long walk. We finally made it back to the 6th floor maternity ward and the same people greeted us. They could tell this was a whole new ballgame. I went into the triage room and the nurse wanted to monitor the baby. Heck no! That required me laying back. There was no way. As I had these contractions she totally understood and jumped to get the midwife there ASAP. She couldn't have taken very long but the contractions were coming so fast that the nurse ended up checking me in between two and found I was a 7 or 8 dilated. Yes! The midwife got there then and approved us moving to a delivery room. I remember a stray comment at this point that I could deliver in that room if need be. lol. Things were moving fast.

We made it to the delivery room and they started filling up the birthing tub. I had intended to do a water birth. There was no time though. My memory gets a little blurred here. I remember moments more than the entire thing. There were a bunch of nurses around calling encouragements, telling me I was doing great. Bill was at my shoulder telling me different parts of my body to relax. I was laying on my side with my arms wrapped around the rail. I don't remember how I got in that position, but it worked. I was having contractions nearly on top of each other and just going with the flow of it. I was listening to my body, not really getting instructions from anyone. I felt a strong need to push, which I did, but discovered it didn't feel good to push with all I could, but just some. It relieved some of the pressure. I was vocalizing like crazy, practically shouting, just in a deep tone. It was awesome. lol. It's kind of hilarious how much that helps. My water broke and I instantly felt Aaron right there and couldn't do anything but push. When they say it's an irresistible sensation, they're not joking. This time I did push with all my might. I wasn't feeling contractions anymore, just this undeniable need to push. I stopped for a second to breathe and the nurses all jumped in to help hold my legs so there would be room for him to come, as I was still on my side and definitely not going anywhere. I wound up to push again after I had breathed and started only to feel a huge whoosh a second later and suddenly there was a baby on  my stomach and I was totally disoriented. Again, kind of an amusing moment. I felt like it couldn't possibly be over. I was like, "Wait, he's here? I'm done? That can't be true!" But it was and I was done and I had only torn a small first degree tear, so I already feel so much better than the last time around.

And just like every birth story, the whole thing was amazing, intense, nearly out of control, surreal, and the ending the sweetest thing ever. Aaron is the most mellow baby. He loves to sleep, eat, and just gaze around. He hardly cries and at this point is just super easy. We'll see what time brings, but for now he's a little angel and I can't imagine not having him.

Good sleep at 9 months pregnant?

In totally random news, I got the best night's sleep of probably the last month last night. This is random because I'm three days from my due date, and I had contractions literally from 9AM yesterday until I went to sleep at 10PM or so, and then I vaguely remember a few throughout the night as I moved around a bit. It's nigh unto impossible to truly stay asleep all night long at this point because my stomach is so unwieldy that if I want to move at all it wakes me up. However, I woke up at literally 5:30 this morning awake and alert and totally refreshed. That hasn't happened in ages! It felt pretty amazing.

I really thought yesterday was the day. The contractions were not super crazy, but they had an edge to them that made me think they might start going places soon. But then they didn't. I couldn't believe they lasted for that long. This end of pregnancy is vastly different than the previous two. With them I had nothing happen until the day I went into labor and then it started and never stopped until the baby was born. This go around I've been contracting for at least two weeks enough on several occasions to make me think we'd be welcoming the wee one that day. And yet here he is, still not born. It's been weird. I even called my midwife to ask her advice because this is so different. Apparently it's not uncommon to have a third pregnancy do something like this. It's like my uterus is revving up to go time but isn't quite there yet. I dearly hope that when it does happen, it will go much, much faster than yesterday.

So here we still are, one day closer to his due date, still having contractions, wondering if this is the day. In interesting news, he's sitting so low that when I do have contractions it sends zingy pains down my legs. That's a first time experience for me. They don't really hurt per se, but it's kind of a weird sensation. 

Oh, and my mom arrives late tomorrow night. Maybe he just wants to wait for her. 

mixed bag

In a strange twist of events I'm much less anxious today to have this baby than I've been for the last couple weeks. I'm dealing with some unfortunate side effects of pregnancy left me hobbling around yesterday and barely able to sit down. It's a little better today, but I'll leave it at that for details. Suffice it to say I'd like a few more days to heal. I'm six days from my due date and for now that suddenly sounds really nice.

We decided to make a Greenville run yesterday to run a couple needed errands and take the kids to a great park up there. Who knows when we'll be able to do that next. Aside from my physical discomfort it was a good time. We cashed out our REI dividend and bought ourselves the current huge Costco tent. I'm so excited about that! Here's to a little, or a lot, more space to avoid being kicked all night when we go camping. Though it will probably be a bit before we use it. We have a Halloween camping trip planned but that's it. For now it's ours and lots of future fun is sure to happen with it.

Bill and the kids are headed to church while I hopefully do some of that aforementioned healing, so here's to a good weekend despite some rough times. I'll take it!