Norah's extraction!

The big day has finally arrived!  Here is a little break down of the exciting day!

WARNING: There are some pictures of Norah when she first came out of the belly so some might find the pictures to be a little bloody...

Around 2 am Lucy woke up and after that I pretty much stayed up... I guess I was to excited or had a lot on my mind, but I eventually just got up and got on with the day a little ahead of schedule.  :)  I took a shower, and then got Gaetan up and made some breakfast for him.  I had to start fasting the night before, and honestly the hardest part was not drinking a ton of water like I was used to doing!  And, I know that the days can get really long at the hospital so I wanted to make sure that Gaetan started the day off with a little something in his belly.

We got to the hospital right on time and when we were trying to check it it seemed like everybody was running around like chickens with their heads cut off!  Phones where ringing off the hook, we had nurses running around barking orders and the poor girl who was trying to check us in was obviously new (also, because when I had come in a few months earlier she was getting trained) and she just looked way overwhelmed.  We eventually got checked in and put in their 'triage' area and just had to wait for a nurse to get us all squared away.

Waiting and hanging out... baby time!

Having a baby is easy right?  Just watch a movie and hang out.

It was a bit surreal as I sat there waiting for the nurse to come check us in because I just couldn't really believe that I was going to be a mother of three in a short little while, and that I was done being pregnant!  Usually the last little bit goes by slowly... but this sure didn't!  The nurse came in and started asking us all sorts of questions and then she asked if I had my blood work bracelet that I should've received when I did my pre-lab stuff and the phleb who did it was supposed to but failed to do it.  And then, I had this sinking feeling that I was going to have to wait to get my section done because I didn't have the bracelet and I was disappointed... but the nurse said that they would just have to draw some more blood and that everything should go ahead right on time.  Which, I don't think anybody is a fan of getting stuck more than they have too, but I wasn't worried about it.  So, while the nurse was checking us in this crazy looking nurse came in to get the IV started and get the blood work underway.  She was really good at her job but she seemed all over the place.. much like the rest of St. Mary's that morning!  She did get a good draw for the blood but when I looked down I was bleeding all over my arm!  I wasn't sure why but the last couple of times I had to get blood work done I've been pretty bleedy... anyhoo, she got the IV started on the first try, which is also something that doesn't happen.  I was thrilled.  Getting blood drawn and getting an IV are two completely different things.... so my faithful husband was sitting by my side as I was it done and I didn't realize that I was squeezing his hand so hard during the procedure that I bruised my palm!  I had imprints of where his fingers were because of my squeezing... what a lovely man for not saying anything about it.  :)

After they got all that squared away they came in and informed me that there was a woman who had come in fully dilated but her baby was breech so she was definitely an emergency c-section... so that meant that mine was getting pushed back.  No biggie.  We were getting pretty entertained by the people around us in triage.  I honestly felt bad for them because they were in labor but not quite ready to have their babies yet so you could tell they were in a lot of pain and discomfort... and it's interesting to see how different people handle those situations!  One of the ladies was a big black lady who was swearing up a storm!  Another lady, (whom I didn't see) was just crying... and then there was us.  I had been told that "Here Comes the Boom" was a funny movie, so we started watching that on the computer and let me tell you... IT WAS!  I felt bad because these other woman were obviously not in their happy place and then there was us who just kept laughing our asses off at this movie... it was a great way to pass the time.

The nurse came back in to check in on us and told us that the emergency section was finished but she didn't know if Dr. Leahy was going to be doing another surgery first or if we were going to get to go... and it turns out it was our turn!  So, Gaetan put on his scrubs and I grabbed my IV bag and we waddled down to the OR.  Got last minute stuff on and here we go!

Getting my spinal

Dr Papa!

Everything went great, except for getting my spinal.  :(  It seriously took the anaesthesiologist half an hour to get the spinal to work... which meant a lot of poking into my spine!  What?!  Ohh well... I was thinking better safe than sorry!  We got things underway and it seriously took them about 10 minutes to get Miss Norah out!

The face of a happy Momma knowing Norah was out and vocal

Cutting the cord

The first thing I heard the Dr say was, "ooh! You're a big girl!"  And she was!  8 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long came our little bundle.  The Dr thought that if I would've carried the full 40 she would've been closer to 9 lbs 7 oz... which is out of control!  She gave a little yell at first but then quieted right down and has been really chill ever since.  :)

Gooey...

Holding Papa's hand

Everything went really well and then I was in recovery.  They did stitches on the inside but just used glue on the outside instead of staples, and so far I'm a big fan of the change!  Recovery went a lot quicker than with Lucy and I was in and out of there within an hour.  During that hour though Norah ate the entire time... which was good!  They moved me into my room, which happened to be at the end of the hallway and was a double room, so it was huge!

Foot print time!

Happy family!

Momma and Norah on the way to recovery

I had itchy face again, but this time I tried to not rub my nose off my face like I did with Lucy.  I remember having a really bad headache with Lucy too and this time was no different.  The headaches I would get (which I think are migraines from coming off the anaesthetic) made me really sensitive to light and really nauesous.  That didn't go away until later that night when I attempted some crackers because anything I drank made me really ill.  I was so thankful for Ratty who was always right there with the puke bucket in case I really was going too... I did keep it in though because I was worried that the stress from vomiting was going to pull my stitches.  After the crackers I felt much better and the road to recovery had begun!

Skin time

Eyes almost open!

Head full of hair and hairy shoulders!

It had been a whirlwind day.  I will blog about the rest of my experience and visitors who came to visit sweet Norah in another post.  But, as for now... Happy birthday my darling daughter!  You are an absolute joy and blessing to this family.  We couldn't be more in love with you!

JVG

Twas the night before Norah...

I can't believe it that this is the night before Norah!  I am going to be a Mom of THREE kids... craziness!  When did this happen?  I am really excited about it though... to get back to being able to do things with the other kids and having Norah out in my arms.  The time has flown by... and the fact that it got moved up a few days really helped it along!  I had to get some blood work done today which went really well, and everything got packed up smoothly too!  We even got some doughnuts in the morning at the clubhouse which was an added bonus for sure!  :)

The kids loved this little girl because she had the same slippers that Lucy did

Momma was playing on the floor with Lucy... its hard getting off the floor... but this was my last day of it!

We hit up a library here for the kids so that they had something to do and have just been hanging out since.

12 weeks, 20 weeks, 39 weeks.  We are ready to go!

We did tell Ingrid about the change and she is good about not coming to the hospital... which was a huge relief.  We also put in the infant carseat and we look like a real soccer mom van now!  haha.  Out of all the available seating only 2 of them don't have carseats in the back... awesome!  :)  I am looking forward to the time spent tomorrow with Gaetan and Norah.  I am so excited beyond words.  Will update later with pictures hopefully!  :)

JVG

Barnes and Noble

So, we've been going to Barnes and Noble a lot lately.  Mainly because my children love books, but also because it's fairly easy to watch them there!  And, when you're looking for something to do inside this is a great place to go!  :)  The kids are really loving going there and it's free... so why the heck not? This particular outting we went out to eat first because I was tired and had done poor menu planning and had forgotten a key ingredient to the last recipe of the week so we just went out.

Goose going to town on salad

She really likes to wash her hands

We went to Olive Garden (per Dude's request) and the last time we went there we had to rush through dinner and I really liked what I got so I wanted another go at it... haha.  I swear Lucy ate her weight in their salad... and she was going to town on the raw red onion!  Whoa!  I couldn't believe how much she was digging them.  She was pretty smelly afterwards though... haha.  But, after that we went to Barnes and Noble and had a nice time til it was time to go to bed.  :)

She likes to wear this backpack around because its the same one she has at home

G thought this shot was funny because of my huge belly

I love that Dude will just sit with me and read books :)

Silly little things that make the kids happy and makes it easier for us to watch them run around and be crazy sounds like a win win to me!

JVG

Lucy Goosey Stubborn Missy

I realize how lucky we are to have the kids that we have... I mean, honestly, I wouldn't trade them for anything, and especially for anybody else's kids!  But our little Miss has been such a stubborn little lady recently, I'm beginning to see how people say Terrible Two's.

I honestly think that I must be giving off some end of pregnancy hormone or something because both kids have been acting a little bit differently than normal.  Lucy has been more insistent about getting her way and if the littlest thing happens she cries and throws the biggest fit.  :(  The worst time is at night time... there was one night that she screamed for 1.5 hours.  Of course in that time we did check on her to make sure she was OK, but she didn't give up.  She kept this up for a couple nights in a row and honestly, it was starting to become discouraging to think that is what we were up against when it was time for bed.  We thankfully have a Dude that didn't seem to mind that his sister was screaming for such long periods of time...

We had a sweet little morning session together and who can help but love that smile?

She has gotten over it and I'm really happy that she only did that for a little bit.  It is painful to hear your child so upset, but I know that if we gave into her screaming and whining she would only learn that's how you get what you want.. and being such a smarty pants that she is I know that she would pick up on it.  We have gone up there a few times to check on her before we went to bed to find her sleeping next to her potty... like she was just to tired to walk the few feet back to her bed after she had gone.  I'm glad that she's getting up to toilet herself, but I just find it humorous that she would fall asleep right next to it... It's like she fell asleep while going potty and just tipped off of it or something!  But, all is well when we go and put her in her beddy.  :)

It's just one of those phases they go through.  I remember Dude went through a weird phase after Goose was born... but, as long as they know I'm boss and I will always win, I'm OK with it.  haha.  Just the little joys and learning curves of being a parent.  I love her strong will and personality and hopefully we can shape that into something that she can use for good and still be our sweet girly.  :)

JVG

Duder Date

I was so lucky on Wednesday that I got to go on two dates... with my favorite two men in the world.  Yes, I say man when talking about Tristan because he has very enthusiastically told me that he is a man before.  Mainly when I'm taking him to the bathroom in public and he wonders why we're going into the women's bathroom when clearly he is, "A man!"  haha.

My Dad rejoined the GR Symphonette and this was their first concert in the cycle.  I am hoping to be able to go to their last one but I wasn't sure if I was going to be healed and up for it... so I took my chances and went to this one.  Ever since Dude went to my dress rehearsal for KPhil he has been so excited about anything dealing with orchestra.  So, when I asked him if he wanted to go to the concert with me and see Don play he was SOO EXCITED.  So, Momma and Duder got to go on a little date together.

Momma and her other date for the day!

The group itself musically isn't that great... but the people in it are a lot of fun and it looks like they are having fun.  :)  And I know that the venues they play for really enjoy it, so everybody is happy.  Dude had a really good time dancing through the first half of the concert.  They did a lot of marches and upbeat thing so it was perfect for him.  He was charming those old ladies like no other.  It was really cute.

The shot I could get of the group... the room wasn't that big

Dude set Hippo up to read the program

After that he really wanted to hang out with Don and we went to a symphonette concert before and then got appetizers and desserts at Applebees afterwards and he really wanted to do that again... so we did.  It was fun hanging out with Dad for a bit after the concert and Dude was still bouncing up and down with all the excitement he had.  Unfortunately, I think Kyle is getting sick, so we got out of there pretty fast... and by the time we got on the road going home it was already 10:30!  So, Dude had quite the big day with no nap... but he did great, and that's why we can do fun things like this together!

I was really happy that I got to spend that time with him.  I don't get to do it all the time and to be able to pay attention to him 100% is really nice for me, and I think he enjoys it as well.  That also meant that Gaetan got to spend some time with Goose too before she went to bed.  :)  Oh man, soon and very soon all that will change.

JVG