We’re in full “getting ready for the lake” mode over here! Yesterday, I made Brady comb through my lists with me and make a super thorough list of what we still needed to buy. It wasn’t anything too crazy. Just lots of groceries, diapers, toilet paper, and a few things for Wavy, considering we have shirts that fit her and virtually nothing else! So we put together lists for Superstore and Costco, and another list of all the random stuff we needed from all over the place – Old Navy, Carters, RBC, Shoppers, etc.

I am SO thankful that we have kids who love running errands!!! That makes these days more fun and less overwhelming.

Superstore was pretty easy. Quick and painless. The toilet paper we buy is pretty expensive (we’re tp snobs) and it was on a fabulous sale, so that felt like a win. The kids were happy and well behaved, and thankful for their bakery cookies!

We quickly ducked into the bank afterwards to pick up some loonies for the laundromat at the lake, just in case. Someone tipped us off during our last day trip that they only accept loonies, so we’re ready! Very shortly thereafter the bank, we picked up lunch. Wavy slept through it. We kept rolling!

We scrapped a few stores that we were going to go to for something small, and ended up at Carters. I ran in on my own and found a few little wins for Wavy. She needed a hoodie and some bottoms. As you’d expect, I accidentally came out with a little bit more, but nothing too crazy.

Costco was last, and the most notable, for sure. Waverly was officially lulled and unhappy in her car seat, so I pulled out our carrier and wore her for the first time. I’ve been greatly anticipating wearing her in our new Lillebaby carrier that Brady gifted to me last year in amongst losing out little boys. I wanted it SO badly, and was looking forward to it SO much, and while I’m wearing a different person in it than I originally anticipated, I’m incredibly thankful and fortunate to have the chance to wear my little daughter against me.

I asked Brady if we would maybe need a second cart, considering the size of our list. Not only was it a big shopping day already, but we needed two boxes of diapers on top of it. He figured we’d be fine, and I agreed. We’ve NEVER needed two carts before.

Spoiler alert. We needed two carts.

We had the one cart completely loaded down by the time we reached the diapers. There was no room for them, obviously. Like ZERO room. So I carried one in each hand to the till. They laughed at us and said they could get us a second cart, which we accepted.

*sigh* Yup, guys. We’re there.

It wasn’t two FULL carts, but it definitely wasn’t one cart!

Lucky for us, by this time, Wavy was PISSED and wailing like there was no tomorrow. I tried to feed her but she didn’t want milk. She just wanted out of her seat. So she hung out with me while Brady did all of the legwork of unloaded groceries and buckling everyone up.

She clearly wasn’t even phased by our slightly humiliating first experience needing two carts.

Getting home felt good. Milk and a snuggle seemed to help the baby feel somewhat reassured…

and the older kids all got new water bottles, which they were AMPED about! We are going to have some VERY hydrated kids on our hands in the near future, because all they want to do is drink from them.

It was a very successful shopping day! We didn’t quite get everything, but we only missed pepperoni sticks and disposable bowls. Disposabowls? 🤔 👍 Yup. But we can easily hit Walmart on our way to the lake Monday morning and look for those things. I’m not worried. We’re bringing enough stuff along to cover everyone at Waskesiu Lake!

Wavy and I had our two week check up this morning. Brady and I were ballsy and opted to bring the whole crew along for the appointment! He used to come to every single appointment we had, but as our family grows, those rooms seem to get smaller and smaller. And louder! Thankfully, Dr. Guselle has always been totally accepting of everyone coming along, as is our student doctor.

The kids kept things interesting in the waiting room (why are waiting rooms so quiet anyway?) but thankfully we didn’t wait too terribly long before we were called back. Waverly was weighed and measured, and I’m so happy to report that she is growing beautifully!! At this point, they ideally want the babies to be back at their birth weight, but Wavy had crushed her birth weight of 7 lbs 14 oz and is currently 8 lbs 5 oz. She’s also apparently almost a full inch taller, putting her just a shred below 21″. Apparently she’s comfortably between the 50th – 85th percentile on her growth chart, which is mind blowing to me!!! She’s SO tiny!! But I’m super happy she’s doing so well 🙂 I, on the other hand, was weighed alongside Waverly, and apparently I’ve dropped back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Plus lost an additional two pounds! Please don’t hate me 😔 I had someone actually make the “ugh” sound at me yesterday when referring to my size, and how she hadn’t gone back the way I did, as though accusing me of something. It felt crappy when I’d rather feel great. So that wasn’t my favorite. But I’m pretty happy to be back to size already, regardless of what anyone says.

Once we were all weighed and measured, Dr. Khatra came in and asked a long series of questions. He seemed to like all of my answers, and gave me good answers for the questions I had. I asked about Wavy’s tongue tie (Did I mention before that she had one? Its just little.) and the fact that her hands turn blue fairly often, but he had good answers for everything and I feel confident in them. We talked about my lingering reflux, low iron, and general physical recovery. We talked mood and anxiety and got some of that hashed out. I was pretty honest and said I’ve been having some anxiety, and we talked about factors that have played into it. I think we’ll reevaluate everything at our six week check in August 🙂

It came time for Wavy’s “once over” physical check up. He was SO sweet and gentle with her, taking time to just touch her cheeks and talk to her.

You could really tell he’s been working with Dr. Guselle because he did everything the same way, whether it was warming up his hands before holding her or going super out of order just to check her eyes when they were open or her mouth when she’d yawn. The less he “bugged” her, the better, it seemed. I held her a bit while he checked her ears, but she didn’t fuss or cry once. It was pretty great. She is just so content.

Once his part was done, he said he’d go get Dr. Guselle. He commented that she had been waiting for us to come and was excited to see us. She was lovely, as always. She went over some of the same stuff that we had chatted with Dr. Khatra about, just casually in conversation. Sleep, emotions, etc. She asked Laela if she was happy to have a sister and Laela simply said “Ya, I love babies.” You know she does! Haha! It was a super cute little chunk of the appointment. I could just shoot the breeze with Dr. Guselle ALL day! Wavy dozed through the whole second half of her appointment.

We ended the appointment on a high note, talking about the future of our family and whats to come. Not that we have some concrete plan (or any plan at all, honestly) but its pretty amazing to know your doctors support your choices and are excited to be part of whatever is to come. Like legitimately excited! I feel like Dr. Guselle gave us a good name in our clinic, and that Dr. Khatra just took her word for it and has liked us since day one. Thats really how we should be to one another. Just accepting from the get-go, if at all possible.

The kids eagerly ran out of the room with Brady and Dr. Guselle at the end of the appointment to get some stickers, and Dr. Khatra hung out and chatted with me while I got Wavy dressed and into her car seat. It just felt so comfortable and uplifting. I brag about my medical team a lot, but rightfully so. Not everyone can go to their doctor, with their entire family, mind you, and come out feeling happy and hopeful and supported!

Was a lovely morning 🙂 I’m genuinely anticipating our six week appointment!

You’ve probably noticed me whining about wanting a desk more than a couple of times recently 😉 If you haven’t, you’re probably not over here enough, haha! I’ve been REALLY wanting a desk to spread out on and potentially step up my writing, as well as hopefully just generally being more organized.

I pride myself on being pretty good at finding amazing stuff for a good price, and I’m not quick to rush out and buy something for full price if I can help it. This time around, thought, I was VERY tempted.

See, we’ve had this particular desk in mind for months now. Its from Ikea, its $110, and it matches these beautiful dresser units I have in our en suite. Its crisp and white and simple. It would go beautifully in our bedroom. Yet I’ve been watching Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace for the last couple of months to find anything that measured up, and nothing has really even come close. If there was potential, it was usually right around the same price, and in my head then, I figured I’d rather wait and get my “ideal,” which was this Ikea desk. The only other style of desk that I wanted was something older, maybe vintage-ish, with lots of character, because it would be the only thing like it in our room. But there was no way I could afford the cost that is usually placed on those items. I was getting pretty close to just buying some fake wood-look particle board thing for $20 while I waited for either the right thing to come along or to get to an Ikea. But even that desk didn’t show up for me! I’ve been getting impatient.

In case you hadn’t guessed from the title, it FINALLY showed up!! Not the cheap particle board desk. Not the trip to Ikea. But the beautiful, antique desk that will be more of an art piece than just a basic place to set a laptop and a notebook.

I found this beauty on Kijiji. The seller was requesting an offer for it, but also said they needed it gone fast. I messaged them and said I was VERY interested but knew I couldn’t afford the price of an antique. I asked for the ballpark value they were hoping to get. She responded back “Its up to you.” I’m always nervous to lowball someone, but she gave me nothing to work with! I wrote back “$40?” and she said “Sure, you can have it for $40.” Boom!

I excitedly texted Brady about it, and it turned out they were located just a few minutes away from where he was finishing up his work day. He willingly agreed to go pull out some cash and pick it up for me.

I helped Brady move it into the house and up the stairs. Its not that big, but its HEAVY! We estimate it around 100 lbs. I couldn’t resist playing with it as soon as possible, and was pulling out the drawers and checking it over the moment we got it into the entrance. It. Smells. GREAT! Very solid. Very antique. Definitely something I won’t even consider refinishing for a LONG time!! It is SO much better than I anticipated it would be. I couldn’t be more thrilled, which is weird, because its just a desk. But seriously, guys, I’m SO glad I didn’t bite the bullet and just buy out of Ikea this time. I love Ikea, but I love this more!

Now we keep our eyes open for a cool chair…

A couple of days ago, you may have seen that I posted a side-by-side picture of all five kids as babies! I tried to get them all around the same ago but was limited with what I had in front of me, so while it wasn’t perfect, it was close. Remember?

In order, it goes Dekker, Solomon, Laela, Waverly, and Rowan.

Did you get it right?

I quite enjoyed people’s guesses, both online and in person. Some did way better than I expected, and some bombed HARD. I thought it was worth noting that the kids aced it. Ro mixed it up a bit, but Dekker and Laela crushed the challenge. Dekker was very matter of fact about it, as usual, and announced “Well that wasn’t even hard…” The only mistake that was made pretty consistently across the board, believe it or not, was Wavy and Ro! I thought Wavy’s hair was a dead giveaway, but I guess the other similarities overshadowed that one detail! I get it, though. They look SO similar in ALL the other ways! Here is just Wavy and Ro.

I think Waverly looks MUCH more feminine, with her face shape, but those lips just get me! I LOVE those lips!!

Another very important picture needed to happen, and as usual, ALL credit goes to my girl Cher! She came over and graciously piled all the kids together in their jammies on my couch for their first official kid picture! And guys, it was AMAZING!!!

Aaaaand because they’re kids…

They did SO well, and Dekker was SO careful to hold her well, even when he was being silly.

I am so thrilled. Look at this beautiful family we’ve been given. I assure you, I do not take them for granted. I am consistently in awe of these gifts, and the honour it is to be able to parent them and hopefully raise them to be TOTALLY AMAZING HUMAN BEINGS! I’m SO thankful God is on our side and has given us this responsibility, and I trust He won’t let us mess it up too badly…

There were so many other beautiful pictures from this shoot but seriously, I have to parcel them out, haha! Can’t give away EVERYTHING on one post!!

Ok fine, just one more thing. For the first time, Rowan asked to hold Waverly. He was SO in love in that moment, I can’t believe Cher was there to capture it!

Ugh. Its like a punch to the heart every. Single. Time. I look at them. In a good way.

I am so anticipating more pictures of these five beautiful people over the coming weeks, months and years 🧡 💗 💚 💙 💜

Since Wavy came home, bedtime prayers have changed. Dekker thanks Jesus for SO many things about his sister that he often forgets to pray for anyone or anything else. He thanks Him for making Wavy so sweet and tells Him he is so excited that she came home to be with us. But I admit my heart breaks every time Rowan prays and asks Jesus to bring Jamin and Theo back home next. There is still so much to learn and process.

Last night marked two weeks with our amazing baby girl, Waverly Violet. I’m overwhelmed thinking about how fortunate we are to have already had her home for two weeks when so many people are still pregnant at this point! I’m SO happy to be able to hold her and share her with others, and to feel my anxiety slowly dropping. What an amazing gift she is to our family.

Cher came by a couple of days ago and took some squishy pictures of her with Brady and I. I hope it shows just how much we enjoy her!!

Ready for your pictures, Wavy?

That newborn startle is one of my favorite things!!

Her tongue is always out!

We tried to stick it back in. No dice.

Its possible we’re mean people…

Her hair is just SO amazing! I still can’t believe we got a curly one!

She was sleepy, post photoshoot, as one would be. “I’m sooooo tired from being a superstar all day long!”

I feel SO fortunate to have so much of Wavy’s life documented already! Cher, you’ve given us gift after gift in the last year, showering us with memories that we otherwise would have to count on only our mushy brains to keep. Every photo shoot with you, whether big or small, feels like a victory! Like a memory we didn’t know if we’d be able to make again. Like always, this last batch of pictures is just incredible! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for choosing us for this project, and investing in our family.

We love you!!!

I feel at a bit of a loss knowing that to do with Mondays, now that my womb is no longer in bloom! Haha! I LOVED putting a series together each week and having at least one day a week being a structured, somewhat pre-planned post! I think things are here might get a bit mundane if I’m not putting in extra effort to keep them interesting. I briefly tossed around the idea of weekly updates on Waverly (The Weekly Wavy?) but what about the other kids?? Lol! One kid every day of the week?? Haha! It just isn’t a feasible option, and ALL my kids are precious, not only Wavy. Wavy’s updates will come alongside everyone elses, whenever and wherever they fall.

But, because I can’t resist posting a picture of here, behold the pink princess!

I do desire to do better at this blogging thing, though. I truly enjoy writing it, and as time has gone on, I find its only easier to make time for it. I have a picture in my head of a little desk area in my room where I could type it rather than laying in bed where I usually do it. Maybe I’d have a little calendar at my desk where I could schedule certain posts that I want to write on certain days. I could make jot notes so I don’t forget details. I’d keep my external hard drives there, too, so I’d be quicker to add pictures, even if I had to dig back for them. There is so much to document, and I don’t want to get sloppy.

In today’s news, Wavy’s party is officially packed up, save for a few things that will probably lurk for a while. The flowers are still out on display, because they’re so pretty, as is her book, in case someone who comes by to snuggle her wants to write in it. So its still festive, but the excitement has quieted down. All the extra disposable dishes are downstairs, the coffee bar is set back up and the cold drink dispensers are downstairs. Yet our fridge is LOADED with fruit and our freezer with baking. It was SUCH a yummy party!

Our dear friend, and one of the kids honourary grandmas, came for a visit this morning. She played with and read to the kids. She fed Wavy her bottle. She swept the floor. She built forts. She was ON so I could flip flop between getting some small things done, to going to the bathroom alone, to drinking a cup of coffee, to snuggling my baby. I had a moment of ambition and gutted my closet of anything and everything that I either don’t wear anymore, doesn’t fit well, or that I’ve never ever worn. That last one feels the worst. I HATE getting rid of clothes I’ve never worn but finally it has to get done. She then graciously loaded it all up into her car on her way out and is dropping it off as a donation in order to save me a trip. Amazing, isn’t it?? THAT felt great!!

Its quiet time currently, and Wavy is grunting up a storm. I’m going to go snuggle and feed her for a bit, and then back to it! There may not be a whole lot left to do today, but I feel like I need to be ready! One week until we take off for the lake for NINE DAYS!!! I’m SO excited!!! What can I possibly start setting aside a week ahead of time??

I hope I can describe Wavy’s party to give you some semblance of an idea of what it looked like because regretfully, none of us took a SINGLE PICTURE!! I admit I’m a bit choked about it 🙁 The moment I put my dress on was the moment I realized it didn’t have pockets. Therefore, my phone was not in my hand and I just never got back to it through the entire party. Wavy will never get to see how beautiful her party was, and the crowd of people who came to welcome her and get their snuggle on. This blog post will have to suffice.

*****

If you’re reading this one day, Waverly, I hope you know just how loved you were even before you were born. And not just by your parents and siblings. But SO MANY PEOPLE who CHOSE to be invested in your life!! Trust me. And read your book. There are some heartfelt messages in there for you.

The day begun around 7:00am, when you woke for your breakfast bottle. You were a champ and went back to sleep right away so mommy and daddy could get ready, and get the rest of the family up for the day. Your siblings were SO excited!!! Not long after they started their breakfast, Grandma and Auntie Jerry showed up to help make your party.

Already done were the decorations – flowers EVERYWHERE – as well as the little table that held little honey favours for your guests, and the book that they wrote messages in. Do you still have that book?

The grocery shop had been plentiful the day before, and we needed all hands on deck to set up the food and slice serious amounts of fruit for the big fruit trays. Mommy, Grandma, and Auntie washed and sliced and sliced and washed. Fruit was arranged by color to look like a rainbow – our single rainbow feature at the party to honour the fact that you were our rainbow baby. The promise after our storms. We even pitted cherries and cut grapes in half for the sake of the kids. We put muffins – orange chocolate chip, banana blueberry, and caramel – and sprinkle donuts on platters. We sliced and plated sliced cheese, and set out bowls for Babybel, Laughing Calf, and squeaky cheese. Right as people started arriving, our lovely (and loved) neighbour dropped by with four big pans of cinnamon buns! Auntie and Grandma plated them up and they became the final delicious touch to the food!

Daddy was also working hard! He set up the whole drink area, with three big dispensers filled with lemon water, iced coffee, and orange juice. Sparkling wine was tucked beside the orange juice for mimosas, and cream was beside the iced coffee. A big bowl of ice also shared the space. Daddy put up the special sign that Dekker made for your party literal months ago on the front door!

Isn’t it cute?? “You don’t have to pay.” Dekker is SO funny. And did you know we kind of secretly painted this door purple for you? Surprise!!

Remember Cher? That awesome lady that took all those pictures of you when you were in my tummy and being born? She made this amazing book of our whole little journey together! I displayed it on the piano for people to look at. It didn’t make it into these early pre-party pictures, but by the time you can read this, you’ve very likely seen it for yourself. SUCH a special book!!

The last thing Daddy did that morning was bathe you, so your gorgeous curly ‘fro would be out in full force, and he dressed you in your sweet little romper!

My goodness, Wavy girl, you were SO pretty for your party!!

We had timed the party to go from around 10:00am – 12:00mpm, and when 10:00 rolled around, no one had arrived. I think we were all a touch nervous. We had never thrown a party like this! But maybe 10-15 minutes later, in poured probably 40 people. And the party had officially kicked off!

You made your rounds from lap to laps, arms to arms, and people gushed over you! Some people cried very real tears over you, girly. The anticipation was not just our own, sweetheart. LOTS of people were eagerly waiting for you. And you, being the content little dear that you are, slept through your whole party!!! It was so awesome!

Thank you, Hailey, for sharing this picture with me!!

Two hours was not long enough. I could’ve partied all day. It was a loud, active party with lots of people and LOTS of kids! Our final guests, Uncle Simon and Auntie Grace and your cousins, came right towards the end and stayed for a bit of a lunch, which was so nice! They had really big plans for that day, and took a chunk out of their busyness to come celebrate you! Was pretty wonderful. Very honouring to you.

When the time came for the house to empty out, Grandma and Jerilee stayed and helped until the bulk of the cleanup was done. What a relief! Even though you were such an easy baby, Mommy hadn’t sat very much at all that day, and her body was still so tired from when you were born. You were only twelve days old! Not even quite twelve! So I admit, I rested and snuggled you and didn’t help with cleanup much at all. I was very fortunate to have the guest of honour in my arms for that afternoon. It was finally my turn with you!

It is an honour to have you as my daughter, Waverly. Words cannot express how I feel. I’m sorry you can’t remember your party, or see who all came to hold and celebrate you, but you’ll have to trust me when I tell you how adored you were SO early in the game! We will continue to love you unceasingly. Your family is unbelievably happy to have you home.

In case you somehow missed it, we threw a party this morning in celebration of our beautiful Wavy. I admit that I am BUSHED and the details will have to wait for tomorrow, but I wanted to pop in here and send out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made the time to come and get their snuggle on with our littlest miss. We were completely floored by the turn out and the loved poured out over her and our family. Speaking for myself, I never expected to have so many people invested in our life, but I am so happy to be able to share her with the masses! Our last guests left around 1:30pm, and honestly, if a whole fresh group of people came in the door at that very moment, it would’ve been amazing 🙂 I could’ve kept partying all day. Easily.

We had so many guests from all different places, which I found SO exciting! Not only did we know them from all different times of life, but they came from all kinds of different places. Not everyone was just local to our little town. Some drove hours to come, and moved important plans around to be here! SO many people made a significant effort to make an appearance. Our house was positively teeming with families! It was pretty humbling.

We had a little story book for Wavy for people to write notes in, and I was in tears reading them after the fact. Our little girl is SO well loved already, and she is only 12 days old. She has been covered with prayer for months, and not just by her parents, but all kinds of people who don’t have to be even interested in her life, but have chosen to be! I say again, humbled is a great word.

The guest of honour made her rounds through her admirers, sleeping the entire time. You’d never know it, though, because she seemed pretty pooped. She’ll obviously never remember her party, but I will. I’m going to post a heck of a lot more details about it tomorrow, and put credit where credit is due, but tonight, we REST. The kids are trashed, and so are their parents.

Gotta get this little girl fed and off to bed! Party time is over, for now 🙂 Was AWESOME while it lasted, though!

Thank you, all, once again. What an amazing day!

You’re in for a LONG one, folks!!

*****

I woke up on July 2nd, 2018, alert and ready for the day. It was 4:00am. Shoot. I knew today was the day we were all hoping for to be baby day, but there was no guarantee until I got that coveted call from the hospital. I lay in bed for a while but started feeling a little crazy, my mind wandering a bit too far. I opted for playing on my phone to pass the time. After a while, I heard Brady giggling. I looked over at him, thinking he was watching me and maybe I had made a face of picked my nose or done something awkward, but he was fast asleep, eyes closed, with a big dopey grin on his face. (I later learned he was dreaming of eating burgers at Montana’s. The firecracker burger, to be specific. Hold the spicy chicken, though, and the spicy ranch, right Brady?)

We had set an alarm for 7:00, knowing the nurses shifts switched over somewhere around there. Soon after, they’d look at their list of inductions and make decisions about who they could take that day, and then make their calls. We didn’t want to risk missing our call. Brady got up and made us coffee and breakfast. We waited and waited, and it seemed like today wasn’t going to be our day. Brady went to get the kids up for breakfast and I stayed in bed and sulked. Around 8:30, my phone rang. It was Dr. Guselle. She basically was giving me the inside scoop, that things were running behind this morning and they were just getting to their list of people to call, but she wanted to reassure me that I hadn’t been forgotten. Seriously, who else has a doctor like that?! I love her.

At that point, I decided to stop pouting and go join my family. I got dressed and “ready” sort of, but didn’t load those last minute items into the hospital bags just yet. It was a beautiful day, and Brady and I both decided to enjoy it as much as possible, regardless of what came or didn’t come from the hospital. We still had a whole bunch of kids to entertain! So after breakfast, we went outside to ride bikes and play. It was cute. Apparently I don’t have pictures of all the kids though, so I’ll say we were cute! Haha!

Cher also dropped in to take our FINAL belly pictures!

And around 10:30, my phone rang again. And it was our call!! Except the nurse was sneaky, and definitely let me believe we were getting bumped for a second there! She said “Dr. Guselle had requested you be induced today, aaaaand it seems liiiiike we can accommodate that!” Eek! I thanked her profusely. She laughed at me and asked how soon I could get there. It would have to be an hour-ish, to give Jerilee time to get to us and time for us to get to the hospital. She said an hour was fine, and hung up. We excitedly texted out to Jerilee and Brady ran to pack the rest of our stuff up while I stayed out with the kids.

Jerilee arrived around 11:00 (THANK YOU!!) and we were on the road shortly thereafter.

Cher wasn’t far behind, ready to join us with her cameras and mad skills. As we drove, I prayed and had a little teary moment, asking God to keep our little Bambina safe until we could get her. I was completely thrilled that it was delivery day, but honestly still so scared that something awful would happen. How would I ever survive if she didn’t?? Ugh.

We got to the hospital and made a ridiculous video for Cher to find the building that we needed to be in. She met us up in registration. It was so dark and quiet, I was right away hopeful for a relaxed day, a private room, etc. SO nice when its not bustling. No joke, the lights weren’t even on. We waited just a few minutes before our first nurse, Krista, came and introduced herself to us. Off we went with her to begin the exciting stuff!

It began with monitors. About a half hour. Baby was aaaaall over the place, and our poor nurse had to keep coming in and repositioning them. Over and over and over. I didn’t mind, and asked that the sound stay on. I liked hearing her heart beat.

She also did my IV. It was probably the slowest IV install ever of my life. She went from hand to hand to arm to arm and back again, tapping veins and locating the spots she didn’t want to use, etc. Finally, she nailed down what she felt was the prime spot, and POOF! IV was in, painlessly and quick. Crazy! I guess being so specific about its location really paid off! I appreciated that effort so much, because the IV is one of my least favorite things about delivering a baby. No joke.

Dr. Guselle came in and we briefly celebrated that today was the day! She did a quick cervical check to get a starting point, and made a comment about how she hadn’t gotten to check me yet this time around. I laughed at her choice of the word “gotten,” and said something back about “Well, lucky you.” We had a bit of a laugh, and I realized that I could laugh at a joke and look her in the eye, and carry on a conversation while she checked my cervix. I’ve come a LONG way from that first pregnancy! I’m so comfortable with her 🙂

I signed a form and consented to my induction. 1:17pm. Oh, and I ate a popsicle. Because celebrating. And also because no food for the labouring.

I peed. Yes, this is important to note. Lol! I was still in my regular clothes so I took that opportunity to change into the bralette I planned to wear for labour, and a gown. Shortly after that, I asked for my epidural. I wasn’t in big pain yet or anything, or even especially dilated, but I know my own history, and when I start labouring, it moves fast. We were off to a bit of a slow start, however, and had to keep increasing the medicine to get things moving, and I was nervous of the pain to come. I signed another consent form and ate another popsicle.

The anesthesiologist showed up and went through the motions with me about getting an epidural. I am pretty familiar with the process, so he went forward with it pretty quickly. He warned me that sometimes, people get a sore feeling on either side, in the leg or the hip. Its happened to me once before, with Dekker, I remembered. But it was nothing like the zing I got this time around. WOW! I’ve never come so close to jolting away from the pain. My right hip hurt SO BAD! I told him, he continued doing his thing, and the pain lifted. It wasn’t long before it started working and my feet got tingly. My nurse, Krista, came and ran ice along my body to confirm that, yes, the epidural was working its way up and down my body. Win!

Brady, Cher, and I continued to shoot the breeze for a bit. Brady ate a popsicle. Cher did not, and is still pretty bitter about it. Dr. Guselle made a couple of appearances. I found out there is a term for people “like me” (which I’m pretty sure means people with a handful of kids) called “grand multipara.” I’m not sure how it happened, but I heard “grand bottom.” It was all downhill from there, especially when the term “super pubis” made its appearance. We had some great laughs that eventually led to our nurse asking if we knew whether or not Dr. Guselle was taking patients. Haha! I loved that 🙂

Around 3:00pm, Dr. Guselle and Dr. Khatra arrived together. Being that Dr. Guselle is teaching, I basically became Dr. Khatra’s patient, and the “work” was up to him. The next move was the cervical check and we talked of breaking my water to get things moving. But my poor student doctor 😂 He became the butt of ALL the jokes very early on that afternoon. Unfortunately (for me, mostly) Dr. Khatra has massive hands. MASSIVE. There is nothing dainty about them whatsoever, to the point where the hospital does not possess gloves that fit him properly. Its a bit nerve wracking, as his patient! He briefly ducked out of the room to try and find gloves for his monster hands but it was to no avail. He came back and settled for the gloves a half size too small. The whole room was far too interested in watching him try to put them on, which likely didn’t help the process. By the end of it, he couldn’t really look anyone in the eye. Hopefully it felt like more of a “laughing with him, not at him” situation. It was a healthy mix of both. Or we were just laughing at him… Lightened the mood, anyway!

A lighter mood was handy, considering I had barely progressed :/ He broke my water but almost nothing trickled out. I knew there was more to be had in there, but you can only do what you can do! So we continued our wait. And wait and wait and wait.

Things kept taking their time, and I had the “pleasure” of the catheter-forced pee. There is something so strange about hearing myself pee into a plastic box and feeling none of it. Our nurse gave me a cloth to wipe up the antiseptic (or whatever that orange stuff is) and I casually mentioned I had to “clean the things.” I’m very mature, I know. My doctor referred to myself and “the thing” separately from there on out. Another good laugh there. Seriously, SO MANY TIMES I was left wiping my eyes from laughing super hard 🙂 Who can say that about their labour??

It was becoming clear that things were just going to go slow. Baby wasn’t dropping much, I wasn’t dilating much, etc. So the peanut-shaped ball made its appearance. My pain was also resurfacing, and  got the all-clear to start pushing the epidural boost button. I lay on my side with the huge ball between my legs in hopes of making more space for the baby to come down. It did its job slowly but surely, while also accomplishing the task of KILLING my pelvis. Like the exact OPPOSITE thing that I’ve been doing for my pelvis over the last nine months. My pubic bones no longer were even related by the end of it. OUCH! We moved to a very upright sitting position after a while, and it was as I was getting into that setup that I leaned forward and Brady commented that I had a bulge in my back. He said it looked like there was fluid under my skin. I rang my nurse and asked her about it. She was super calm, but agreed that it wasn’t normal, and she tried to reach the anesthesiologist.

The one who had put the epidural in was unavailable, but another came just a few minutes later. He examined it closely and said it looked in order, though he suggested it didn’t look quite like what the paperwork said it should be. He did something (I truly don’t remember what) and said this particular dose of medication should be more than sufficient, and to lay off the button. He returned 20-30 minutes later and it hadn’t touched me. Not. At. All. My epidural wasn’t even functioning anymore. The ice test was icy cold from my hips to my boobs and back down to my knees. It was just gone. So he offered to redo it, and I accepted. But I peed first, before I lost all feeling again. Win for peeing in a toilet hat and NOT in a box! The anesthesiologist was incredibly meticulous about finding his spot for it, almost like massaging my love handles and tracing up and down my back, finding the EXACT right place. And he nailed it! When it was placed, it was completely painless and easy! I thanked him profusely and he laughed at me, saying he appreciated being appreciated. As soon as that sucker was in, we started pushing that button to get it moving. I was scared to suddenly fly into crazy painful labour with absolutely no pain management!

Timelines are fuzzy, but somewhere around here, both Dr. Guselle and Dr. Khatra’s shifts ended, and they kicked around. They hung out together down the hall and worked on her big list of tasks. Because they are the BEST.

Once the epidural was set and starting to work, we began the flipping from side to side with the peanut ball again. It was right around then that it was brought up that baby was having some decelerations after each contraction. I tried to keep track of contractions with the clicker. I was terrible at it, though.

My doctors showed up and we talked about it. They explained that sometimes a contraction can squeeze the baby’s umbilical cord a bit, so baby’s heart rate will drop a tad, and as long as it comes right back up, we’re in the clear. Just something to watch, not to worry about, they assured me. But as you know, I was on pins and needles, almost waiting for the worst to happen. So this was NOT reassuring for me. It became clear that she was neither happy on the right side, nor the left, and I was asked to hang out on my hands and knees for a bit. Now I know some people LOVE this position but I do not. They cranked the head of the bed up for me to basically drape myself over, and then I had the pleasure of sticking my butt out for the world to see while shoving that ridiculous peanut ball under me. Nothing – I repeat nothing –  about this was flattering. I super didn’t care for this position, also, because my legs were shaky from the epidural, obviously, so I was tired pretty early on. My nurse could tell I was shaking (considering she was basically under my body, holding the monitor on my belly) and she called Dr. Guselle in to talk to me about options. They brought up the little probe monitor that they could place directly on the baby’s head, and that way I could maybe lay down more comfortably. I didn’t nix it, but I didn’t love it, and it showed. My nurse was lovely and said she was more than willing to hang out and hold the monitor in place as long as I wanted to stay on all fours. (Somewhere in there our nurse switched over, by the way! I don’t remember when, but this nurse wasn’t Krista. She was Danna.) While I didn’t love this position, it was one of the nicest parts of my labour. Both of my doctors came and hung out for a bit, and we all just talked about baby names. I’ve always liked keeping the name private for the big reveal at the end, and this was the first time we shared with the room what the baby’s name would be. We talked about names we had previously considered for other kids, and what names we possibly liked for the future. Our nurse said Rowan was on her list of boys names that she was hanging onto for the future 🙂 I loved that. It was so normal and nice.

Things seemed stable after a while, so we tried to relax again. Brady went to find Tims but was unsuccessful. Cher teased me about apologizing too much and started to keep track of how many times I said “sorry” on a whiteboard. Danna came in and out, asking questions about how I hoped the rest of my labour and delivery would go. A couple more cervical checks. Very little progress. Slowwwww!!

After a while, out of nowhere, I felt a big goosh. I thought maybe more of my water had broke, and that usually means we’re on the way! I was excited! My nurse was right there, and I mentioned it to her. She lifted my sheet and confirmed that, yes, there had been a goosh, but I was actually bleeding. She, like everyone else had been all day, was super calm about it, but rang Dr. Guselle and Dr. Khatra right away. They came and examined the special fun that had just exited my body, and also very calmly told me they were going to call obstetrics to get their take on it. I think the panic showed on my face, because Dr. Guselle reassured me right away that there was no need to panic, and we were still on track for a vaginal delivery, BUT obs might want to move me to the operating room to deliver, just in case. She has this AWESOME way of calming me down. I love her.

An OB showed up within just a couple of minutes to check my cervix. She said I was at 7 cm, but she said everything on the inside was good and stretchy, and if suddenly baby was in trouble, she could easily stretch me to a 10 and grab her out with forceps. Now, I KNOW, that is not ideal at all, but it was an option that felt safe and avoided surgery, so I felt some reassurance there. It also helped that I didn’t keep bleeding and bleeding. Just that one yucky gush of fun. We followed that all up with another break of my water. There was definitely more in there, but it still didn’t seem like much compared to my usual crazy amount of fluid.

And as history would dictate, it was just minutes after that break of my water that I felt that pressure that you’re supposed to feel! I was instantly in quite a bit of pain, as epidural #2 had been great but had never completely caught up, regardless of our diligent button pushing. I rang for our nurse, who then called my doctors. I know the pressure feeling, and I know I only feel it basically when the kid is crowning. I tried to breathe calmly and fought the urge to push. I was only a bit panicking.

Dr. Guselle and Danna helped Dr. Khatra into his baby-catching garb,

and everyone around me moved quickly. In moments, I lost my blanket, the end of my bed, and all modesty, haha! All of it, GONE! I couldn’t lift my own legs because they were so dead with the epidural, so Brady grabbed one and my nurse grabbed the other.

I was mid contraction when the set up was ready, so we just started halfway through! I gave a good push, without any real direction, counting, etc. Just went for it. Her head was out right away. The millisecond her head came out, a torrential waterfall of fluid and blood followed, clocked her in the face, and came back ALL over me! It was bananas! It soaked my chest and neck, but Brady says the nurse basically caught it in the air and stopped it from soaking my whole head and face! She was on the ball! Thank goodness for that towel over her shoulder! Two seconds later, as she was wiping my chest off, I gave my second push and out came the rest of our baby!

The room was celebrating her arrival! She’s here! Look at her hair! She’s perfect!

But there I was, panicking and crying, because my daughter wasn’t crying! I asked “Is she ok?” over and over and over.

Our nurse was right nearby, wiping her down, with a HUGE smile on her face! “Yes, she’s great! She’s perfect!” And she was right. Our baby was fine. MORE than fine. She was just peaceful and content. And GORGEOUS!!!

Our daughter was finally in my arms! Waverly Violet was born healthy and well on July 2nd, 2018 at 10:46pm. Her doctors stayed over 5 hours later than their shifts to be part of her birth, which soothed her mommy’s soul. Wavy weighed only 7 lbs 14 oz, and was only 20″ tall! The teeny one of the family! She had a FULL mop of hair, the biggest (grossest) umbilical cord I have ever seen…

and tiny everything else, from her ears to her nose to her hands and feet. They’re all SO LITTLE! She had wide, alert eyes, and a little sticky outty tongue. She had the clearest lungs of any of my kids thus far, likely thanks to her longer labour. She found her fingers to suck on right away. She must have been practicing on the inside. Her little hands were a bit blue, which I assume was her one “lost point” on her APGAR score, but I only just overheard that even. There was NOTHING to worry about.

Probably my FAVORITE picture from the day 😭💗

I admit that most details are blurry and out of order from here on out. I was clearly FAR too preoccupied with the new little girly on my chest than anything else. I remember hearing something about three stitches only. So thats not much! I’m happy about that. I remember Dr. Guselle checking the placenta over and commenting that the blood clot from earlier was probably just blood resting in a funny place because my placenta was tearing away a little early, maybe. I don’t remember the details, but it all made sense to her, and we all know I trust her implicitly. This right here is a FABULOUS woman!

Cher ducked out once things had settled down for the most part, and graciously brought us back some Subway. She knew I was super hungry for it. (Cher, did I ever tell you I ate mine at 3:30 that morning?? Best night snack ever!) Now Brady says Wavy was weighed and measured in delivery while Cher was gone, and Cher says it happened upstairs in postpartum. I remember neither 🤷 I remember that I still had a super numb right leg so I couldn’t get a shower or even stand on my own by the end of delivery. Danna lovingly cleaned me up herself, and then called another nurse to help her get me into the wheelchair to transport me and Wavy upstairs. It was actually a bit hilarious, because for some reason, the wheelchair we ended up with didn’t have foot rests and as much as I wanted to just hold my legs up, that right leg would not be controlled AT ALL. So I was legitimately sitting cross legged for my wheelchair ride up to postpartum! Lol!

The day couldn’t have ended smoother.

Waverly was a touch on the cold side, so she and I were draped with a good stack of warmed blankets and left alone for about an hour, and then another half hour or so until her temperature stabilized. Just she and I. Brady was there, of course, but it was a good time for him to sleep. I had my little deary aaaaall under control. Aaaaall to myself. While it was not the smoothest day, or the smoothest delivery, I can clearly see God’s hand it in. Clearly. If labour hadn’t gone so slowly, I wouldn’t have had time for my second epidural. My bleeding was scary but there was a simple, non-scary solution. Both of my doctors willingly, happily stuck around long after their shifts were done. All kinds of things worked out so beautifully, and I credit it ALL to God! Thanks to HIM, Waverly is here, and her family is THRILLED!

*****

Thank you, all who prayed along with us through this pregnancy, and the last year or two of our lives. We are SO fortunate to have who we have in our amazing circle of support! We do NOT take you for granted, friends.

Tomorrow, we CELEBRATE together!!

*****

ALL photo credit goes to my girl, Cher Andrea Foto. She went pretty far out on a limb to make this session happen for us, and we are THRILLED with the results!

SO much love to you, Cher, from all of us over here!

Ok, three events! From the evening, the night, and the morning. And one bonus thing at the end. Lol! In case you were looking for a previewed layout of todays blog. 🙈 Guys, one day I’ll sound more normal but that day is not today. My brain is still mushy.

So event one. Yesterday evening. This is probably the most exciting one. We finally washed Waverly’s hair, and she has CURLS!!! 😍 I can’t guarantee that they’ll stay, and one sleep later, the sides and back were already flattened, but I’m super hopeful that I FINALLY got my curly kid!!

This morning, the mohawk was still in tact! Eek!

She is SO stinking pretty!!! I’m SO excited for her hair!

Also a win with bath time – she didn’t poop in our sink! Win!!

Yes, we washed her in our en suite sink. We CAN! She’s LITTLE!

Thing number two! Waverly had this amazing night last night! She drank some milk around 9pm, woke up shortly before 2am for another drink, and only lulled me awake around 6:30am! AMAZING, right?? Except wrong. I texted Brady and told him I was SO thrilled, and that Wavy had such an amazing night. He responded with “Haha. She did not.” He went on to tell me that, after Wavy’s 2am feed, she was in and out, grunting and fussing like a maniac until 3:30! I heard NONE of it! Seriously, NONE! Poor Brady dozed in and out, and rocked her and burped her until she finally gave in to sleep. I had been suspicious that she’s had some awake time in the night, thanks to her 3-4 hour “pre-bedtime” nap. Might have to rearrange that tonight, Wavy.

Thing three is that my aunt came over for a chunk of the morning. I’m not sure if she had met any of our kids before today, but she did it right! She came with Tim Bits for the bigs and a present for the baby. The kids were totally comfortable pretty much right away, giving her hugs, chatting, etc. Solly hid behind my bum for a little while but it didn’t take long before he was comfortable, too. She held Wavy through most of her visit, and we chatted and caught up after years of not seeing each other. My mom came as well, and lovingly occupied the bigger kids through pretty much the entire visit. There was so much hotting and hollering and belly laughing as they ran around the house. SO cute to listen to, as always. Was a little sad to see them go when the time came :/ But they had other commitments today, and it was time for me to feed the kids and nap the littles so they’d have enough energy forrrrrrr…

The bonus thing! Which is shopping for the final baby party groceries!! All the fresh stuff is coming home TODAY! Brady is working a pretty full day at work so if I want a partner in crime for this shop, it’ll have to be one that comes after supper. I told him I’m more than willing to go on my own with the kids, but I think he secretly wants to be part of it 😉 There has been SO much lead up to her party, and besides a bit of basic tidying and cleaning, this is kind of the last thing! So we’ll do that tonight!! YES! Feels good to be getting all of this stuff done! Don’t forget to tell me if you’re coming to Wavy’s party! But if you don’t RSVP, you can obviously still come 😉 You just can’t eat anything. Nope, that was a lie. Feeling SUPER sarcastic right now. Oy! Just come 🙂 Come ALL! I can’t wait!!!