Our Baby Girl Is Here!

The Month of March has flown by as does every month considering this baby will be in here in two weeks. We are trying to introduce the baby to the kids as often as possible but I'm not sure they really get it. As of right now I will say where's the baby and they will lift up my shirt and give my belly a kiss. I really hope the baby will be welcomed with that same affection. Right now though when they are done with that convo they pull my shirt back down and move on.

On March 16th we went to Sesame Street Live and to my disbelief both Blake and Dax sat through the entire first half and actually did not get out of their seats. I on the other hand was going crazy as it was the most painful thing to sit through. Overall the kids loved it and had a blast 

"Oscar Can"

Some funny events have happened this month that I find as a mother to be pretty funny. We took the kids to the mall kid area (yes the same area that hell once froze over when they were little b/c of all the germs) and after about 30 minutes I was over it so I told Dax it was time to go. He responded no which was expected. I responded while holding up my hand okay 5 more minutes. His response, No ten and held up 5 fingers. I thought it was hilarious and decided I could not argue with his negotiation skills. 

Pregnancy:

Well we are officially 37 weeks and I'm absolutely miserable. At 36 I felt like a bowling ball was trying to push through my pelvic bones, back hurts, sleepless nights, and it's giving me flashbacks to how I felt at 27 when I was sent to bed with Blake and Dax. Workouts are finished and now I'm just enjoying my chocolate and OREO's. My doctor is headed out on vacation  so as an "insurance policy" I went ahead with the last and final injection of progesterone on 3/21. I was advised it was up to me. Not being a risk taker I chose the injection and know that it was the best feeling ever to be off progesterone for good. Baby F needs to stay put though. The nursery/our bedroom is complete, clothes of both sexes are somewhat washed and now just need to finalize everything prior to 4/8. 

So that was the plan but here's what really happened:

Sunday March 24th, we went to church, I came home and slept all afternoon, Richard went to the Thunder game, and I went to my parents house. I was moving around bending over, picking up B and D, and just doing what I normally do. Alissa was watching me and said I needed to stop b/c the baby was going to shoot out if I continued. Little did we know her analysis was accurate. Moving on I began to feel like shit so my parents came over to help with bath time. My parents even started asking at dinner if we had a game plan if I were to go into labor and my response yah I will just call you but that's not going to happen my doc is out of town and I took my progesterone. Later that night I kept feeling like I had peed myself so I resorted to my google search and decided I more than likely peed myself and would wait till Monday morning to go get it checked out after Dax's ENT appointment. I did stay up all night long because I just felt like shit, aching, "wet", and just a little unsure. After a little further confirmation on Monday morning without being to graphic I informed Richard to cancel his meetings and that we were having a baby. He questioned asking if I was sure and I in a not so nice way informed him I didn't care if I was wrong or not he needed to cancel his meetings. Made the call to my mother, the text to my sister whose phone was broken and I thought hmm I can't believe she's not responding but little did I know she was driving straight to my house. So that is where the fun begins. Alissa has always been known as the not so good driver, actually the scary driver, the one who has no sense of direction, and the one who seems to hit things on a regular basis. You get the picture, well she comes over like a bat out of hell asking me what she can do and insists on driving to the hospital. As a little preface we have decided if it is false labor like the three times I did this to everyone on round one with B and D I had planned to just drive on to work so I wanted my own car. Again a little denial going on but you never want to get stuck without a car. So anyway she finally convinces me to let her drive and Richard is going to take a separate car in the event of false labor. So with that being said no bags were packed what so ever and everything was just kind of thrown together. 

"Elmo Elmo"

The drive: She is in and out of lanes, slamming on her brakes, driving like she is the ambulance and this baby is going to shoot out at any moment. Her husband is texting me as this is all going down. I think in his head he was thinking the joke was on me for allowing this kind of madness to go down. As we finally arrive at the hospital safely I get checked in, Richard arrives and we start the testing to confirm true labor. As expected my instincts were right on. My doctor was in Mexico so it was left up to her sister and dad to deliver. I was extremely calm up until they started talking possibilities of the NICU unit. At that point in time I began to freak out and have flash backs of our two month nightmare we lived 25 months prior. Something about being a parent of a child in NICU that memory hits you like a ton of bricks and it's so fresh as if it were just yesterday.  The delivery was great, had a 2 hour stay in the NICU to monitor breathing but other than that she was great. Later we found out that Alissa was driving with her flasher lights on and that my very excited husband decided to send probably the single most awful picture in my life of me to all of his friends. I seriously looked like a doped up junkie holding my baby for the first time and yes it was sent to all. We proudly introduce our sweet daughter who is truly a blessing and the easiest baby.

Paige Suzanne Foster

 3-25-2013 11:28am 6lbs 3oz. 18 inches

Life with 3 under 3:
I'm clearly extremely exhausted, busy, and sleep deprived as I try to figure out how to do it all. Blake and Dax have not taken to their sister very well and now that we are 6 weeks into this they are starting to have an interest. Dax more so than Blake. The first night home scared my mother so bad that she took to the internet and started reading super nanny. They were absolutely awful. The fighting, kicking, hitting, biting, and screaming has doubled since the arrival of Paige. They are slowly getting there but it could not come fast enough. Obviously it's a cry for attention so we are working on this currently. In addition to this they have been sick with a  cold virus so I have been doing everything in my power to keep Paige from catching this. My hands are so dry that my cuticles bleed from all the sanitizer and hand soap. The most recent behavior has been to call me dada. As far as the baby goes she sleeps all day and party's all night. I've decided to quit answering peoples questions on how she is sleeping because every time I do this I jenks myself for that nights sleep. Some nights she goes every three hours and then when I brag she will go every 2 that night. Mums the word going forward. 

Last night before we became big bro and big sis.

3 under 3 or west side

1 week old

Yelp it's for real H2O has broke

Meeting my doc for the day. (mine was in Mexico)

Some Hospital Pics

02/27/2013-We are 2 today!!!

Top Ten Reasons why I love being a mommy to my adorable multiples

10. More hugs and kisses 
 9.  Extra giggles
 8.  Their Individuality
 7.  I love that they love each other
 6.  New adventures everyday
 5.  They keep me active
 4.  Their love of life & curiosity
 3.  Their confidence and companionship
 2.  Their beautiful bond
 1.  All the "I wuv you's" and did I mention hugs

Happy Birthday to my adorable two year old's whose personalities are so different and yet so fun. We see both of our characteristics in each of them. Dax being the more cautious and Blake being the dare devil of the two. Dax becoming a boy doing awnry things and playing with his trucks, cars, and balls. Blake being the nurturing personality who loves to be in anyone's lap and holding a doll or stuffed animal. Dax loves his mama and daddy time and his morning snuggles.  It's just so crazy how the time has flown by, I remember so vividly of exactly what led us to the hospital, the slowest drive of my life, and the fears of my tiny little babies not making it. I remember my first thoughts and feelings when I saw them for the first time in the NICU, so tiny and so fetus like. Quite frankly Blake scared me to death when I saw her hooked up to all the oxygen and tubes. She looked like a fetus and Dax was wrapped in tubes, wires, and such but looked more like a baby. Those memories are so fresh yet so hard to forget those tough few months. Today we are so thankful to have them in our lives as they have forever changed us as human beings. 

We celebrated their birthday at Gymboree and they had a blast. All the kids donated their favorite book which were given to the Infant Crisis Center along with some old clothes the kids have outgrown. They still walked away with quite the load of toys from a "Big" piano, a slide, and last but not least a humongous bounce house that takes up an entire bedroom. Every time we get home from school they repeat the word bounce or jump and want to go upstairs. It's so funny to watch them as we blow it up they start clapping and put their hands on their face like the home alone kid. Then when they are done with it they tell the bounce house bye as we turn off the blower. 

Baby ? Foster appointment went great this morning, weighing in at 5 pounds 2 ounces according to their computers. Officially released from the high risk doc and the baby has turned and believe me the pressure is definitely being felt.  Baby ? is moving like crazy and growing on target as expected. Still able to work out and all is well, again the easiest and quickest pregnancy ever so April 8th will be here before we know it. Now we are down to getting the crib and bedding put together, bottles washed, bags packed, and clothing cleaned. 

We took maternity photos below and the pictures could not have turned out any cuter. Sharlee Rother Photography pics are below. She is very talented and so patient as with every time we have photos taken Blake and Dax find a way to let the tears and grumpiness unravel. 

http://www.sharleerotherphotography.com

http://www.sharleerotherphotography.com/sweet-mama-f/

Everyone thinks it's a boy, all the strangers that come up to me think it's a girl based off how I'm carrying. We shall see on April 8th. 

After two years, I finally see where she might actually look a little like me.

As previously stated, I'm obsessed with OREO's and M&M's and can not get enough of them. How cute is this next round of photos?

01/27/2013- 29 weeks

I had a recent appointment where we booked  two weeks out for the glucose testing and in that conversation my doctor said and then we will book your c-section. What my c-section, holy cow that is so close to happening it's unbelievable. So for the past 48 hours I have been going into fast forward mode of all the things we have to get done and one of those is figuring out names we can agree on. If I'm not mistaken this is the fastest pregnancy I've heard of:)

Bed time:
Blake and Dax got to stay up late during the holidays and have carried this new routine beyond the holidays. It has worked out well for Richard and I as we have discovered that they get up a little later too. In the past they still woke up early but now they will sleep in for us. Each night when we tell them it's time to go to bed they leave the room say bye and go to their play room. At the same time we have found this to be an advantage in that if we say okay guys it's time for bed they go off and play together allowing us some time to get things ready for the actual bed time like gathering up blankets, turning on the humidifier etc. A very sneaky yet nice touch in the routine.

Parakeets:
I continuously drop things and in my last drop incident I said oh shit, little did I know that my little parakeet named Dax would start repeating the word shit over and over again. Fast forward a couple of days and he dropped something which then followed with shit. I had no idea he would remember. So these days we are now having to watch what we say and it always seems that when you are having to be extra careful you are actually worse in your language...go figure.

Cravings and Pee:
As most know I have an OREO addiction and always keep them out of the house. Since this pregnancy discovery I have given in to my addiction. My favorite OREO's are the seasonal white chocolate covered ones. They are by far my favorite and I have been looking for them for weeks now since they are seasonal. Since the white chocolate covered OREO's are no longer I moved onto M&M's. 

01-27-2013
Baby ? Foster now weighs 3 pounds 9 ounces, looking good, moving like crazy, and bends it like gumby. It's legs were up over it's face however at one point we were able to get a face shot. It really looks like Dax but then I think it looks like Blake. We are officially scheduled for April 8th. The bets are out and the majority believe this little one is a boy. We shall see, a he or a she what will it be...

Big Sis and Big Bro to be:

Blake and Dax had their first ice cream date at Orange Leaf. If you have not tried it you are missing out. I made the mistake of discovering it and go at least once a week. My love of OL is definitely in B and D's blood because they smiled between every bite and were so happy. They patiently waited on the ice cream which was a first. Dax savored every bite eating it at a snails pace while Blake ate it at a race horse pace. 

Once again this month the kids have been sick. I took Dax to the doctor to find that he had an ear infection. The poor child screamed uncontrollably from the time I woke him to take Blake to school till we left the doctor. He would not allow me to hold him while sitting it was only standing and walking around. It was awful. After waiting 20 minutes at CVS which seemed like an hour. Thirty minutes into being home we received a call that Blake was sick.  So off we went back to the doctor to have a second diagnosis. Poor babies and poor mama!

With all the illness I'm really torn on what I should do with our situation. Do I bring another child into the world and risk having 3 babies sick at one time or do I make changes that will best fit our family. As a working mother I'm torn in finding balance for what I've worked so hard to build and then at the same time I have these sweet children I want to be healthy. 

Besides the illness we have had a fun month of firsts. The kids and I have been doing Christmas crafts where we put foam stickers on foam Christmas trees, we look for our elf who sometimes forgets to move to a new place each night. Actually he forgot to move for three straight days but who's counting right. We have been looking at Christmas lights, singing Christmas songs (when we sing Santa Clause is coming to town Dax looks around the room for him), and each night we turn our tree on which is a big deal let me tell ya. It's so fun this year seeing the excitement in their eyes and to our surprise they have not touched the presents under the tree. 

We had our first friend Christmas party where their aunt Mere Mere thought it would be funny to obtain a drum set and a talking Dora phone. "Hola it's Dora" on repeat over and over again went to bed with Blake and then to church the next day. Dora magically did find her way into a hidden drawer.

We decorated Christmas cookies for Santa that mama forgot to put out, had the school Christmas party, decorated paper with Christmas stickers, and built a gingerbread house. The house truly needed a builders warranty as it collapsed immediately. By Christmas Eve all the beautifully wrapped presents I mentioned had not been touched were missing bows or had been opened just a bit and then later taped back up. The kids had a blast opening their presents and playing with their new toys. Santa brought them a kitchen that included a refrigerator, stove, and sink. Santa's elf worked on the refrigerator earlier in the week and thought oh this is cake; however when Christmas Eve rolled around that same elf had put off all of her work and learned that is a bad bad bad idea. Santa's elf got in a fight with the "other" elf who is not a handyman elf and then to top it all off it was a 4 and a half hour project on Christmas eve. All future toys will be put together by a hired elf. 

Part of our routine is to put our paci's back in our bed in the mornings and we can get them out right before bed. Yes I had fed my children their crack addiction as I'm an enabler to my sweet screaming offspring. I really need the Intervention counseling as the enabler. So yesterday we asked both to take their paci's back to their beds and they both did. Dax went around to the other side of the bed reached in got his paci out and said shhh with his finger up to his mouth at Richard telling him not to tell what he was doing. Seriously the funniest thing we have seen. Little did he know he was not telling his secret to the correct person.  

The Pregnancy:
If we all go back to the first round I mentioned all the entertainment I ran into at the high risk doctors office. Well typically when you go to a high risk doc you are there getting your cervix checked and so forth or at least that's what happens to me every time. With that being said most people would be sensitive to what's going on or whats smelling on in that region. Myself being on the sensitive side I know I would be mortified if that region was in bad shape. So at my  last two appointments I took note of how many people I saw in the lobby with greasy dirty heads of hair that I could smell across the room.  So if the top half smells what do you think is going on in the bottom half? Just a little observation.

Pregnancy BRAIN:
It's for real ya'll! I have found myself going to put my shoes on and then stopping in my tracks to think what was I about to do or starting something in the microwave and then totally forgetting I cooked something until about thirty minutes later. And the best to date was washing my hair with Summer's Eve sensitive skin wash (no it's not a douche). I must admit your hair does not get oily and it does give you some volume. 

Baby ? Foster now ways 1lb. 13oz. and had a heart rate of 134 as of 12/27/12. The original due date given was 4/14/13, second due date was 4/9/13, and today we were moved to 4/11/13. I find it so entertaining that  when you don't know when you were knocked up the due date is ever changing. 

Enjoy our favorite pics from this month. 

Between 23 and 24 weeks-thought it was 24 but no idea now.