Fun with foliage

Grandma Wynetta had giving Emora roses at the hospital. They lasted quite a while but were on their last legs, which is the perfect time to do a rose petal photo shoot. My OBGYN had pics of her baby and preschooler in the buff similar to the poses I took, so that's where I got my garden of Eden theme here from. Aren't they cute??? Albeit Emora was trying to nurse on Dominique's shoulder half the time. She doesn't discriminate. She thinks everyone looks delicious. I'm telling you, this girl can eat! Like mother like daughter I guess. I'm eating a lot these days too. I gained back some weight, but I think that was in part from my milk coming in and in part from all the good food with deserts and chocolate that have been given to us. So the other night, I tried to pay attention and stop eating when I was full. A couple of hours later I was so hungry and felt sick, I ended up eating a bunch of dry cereal in bed while reading a book and feeding the baby. Brian laughed when he saw me and my bag of cereal since I never eat in bed. I gave him a good glare and said I was famished. I miss getting any exercise. We walked 2 blocks over the weekend to the library and I paid for it over the next couple of days and I already miss the pool so much and have another 5 weeks to wait before I'll get the thumbs up to get back in. At the same time, it's so nice to rest and be a homebody. I usually like to go do things during the days, but right now I am quite content to be at home, eat, nap, feed kids and do what house stuff I can manage.

My first day!

Today was my first no adult help day as a mom of three young children. It went a lot better than I had imagined. My intent was to get up at 7:30 after another feeding, but Brian had gotten the kids breakfast and plugged them in front of their morning video, so there was no screaming and I fell back asleep. I woke up at 9 feeling so refreshed! Emora slept while I got myself breakfast and Ivan and Dominique joined me for a second breakfast. They played nicely while I showered and got dressed. Big Buddy came home yesterday, so our plan was to go see him today. We had more feedings, getting everyone dressed and diapered, the kids listened to me read as I fed Emora and by noon we were heading out the door! We came back after some pics taken with Big Buddy and our tummy's telling us it was time for food again.

The kids went down for naps. That was amazing! Emora was actually the one who I had the hardest time getting down. I had to let her sleep on my chest. The kids loved to get me things for the baby and go help her if she started crying. That is good and not so good, like when they said they were putting their lips on her pacifier. Now she has a cold like the rest of the house. Welcome to the world, Emora. A week old and she's already got congestion issues. Dominique and I got the bathroom cleaned while Ivan still slept, which was amazing. He is usually the hardest to get down and the first to get up.

The kids enjoyed hanging out with me while I fed the baby after that and then Brian walked in the door. I suspect the novelty of the baby and her eating and getting dressed will not be quite so exciting after some months, but for now it is good that it is entertaining to Ivan and Dominique.

a surreal day

Pics of the grands showering love on the kids...



Our plans were that mom was going to watch the kids while I took Emora to her 1st Dr. appointment this morning. She was also going to finish up packing and making some chicken, then after lunch we would take her to the airport for her 2:20pm flight. Last night she got a call that her flight was canceled due to foreseen icy conditions. She booked another morning flight and we planned on Brian taking her and the kids. I skated to the pediatricians in the truck with the baby, while Brian scraped the car, the kids got dressed and mom removed items from her luggage thinking they are overweight.


The doctor said that Emora is great. She does have red eyes and a big nogging on her head from her grand entrance into the world. Neither of these are damage or hurt her. The eyes will turn back to white in the next couple of weeks and the big bump may be reabsorbed into her head or could calcify, which means that her head will have to grow around the bump, which could take a couple of years. The pediatrician said his son had one too and looks great now at age 23 and that her hair covers her bump. If her hair falls out, it may be more noticeable, but I didn't notice until the doctor told me and Brian just noticed last night after bathing her all week. Her great accomplishment is her weight gain. The Dr. said he's pleased if a baby regains her birth weight after 2 weeks. Emora gained half a pound in one week! He said that at her weight she should be able to go 3 and 4 hours between feedings, except that she needs some maturity to get there, but weight wise she could handle longer waits. Hear that Emora!! Our pediatrician is great. He is very knowledgeable and not just in the Dr. textbook way, but in the way of being a parent. He said that the 3rd is the hardest (why didn't anyone tell me), that the older ones will test the limits and try to do things they don't normally like jumping on the furniture. I'm thinking he must have stopped by the house yesterday and peaked in the windows. Or any day this last week!



Brian has not been feeling great, so after he skated in the car with mom and the kids at 25 miles/hour all the way to the airport, he came home and decided to take the rest of the day off. It was really nice. Cold and icy outside, but warm and quiet in the house as we all crashed. A friend had brought soup, salad and desert with tea bags over yesterday, so I didn't worry about supper or anything and we just recouped. It has been a wonderful day to hibernate.

Recovery???

I can't say that we are recovering well. We will never be the same. Right now is super hard and today I had 3 adult helpers! But each day is getting better. I remember my doc saying that the first time, when I had Ivan. I think he was meaning the physical part of recovery, but now I'm seeing that the emotional part is just a big a factor in the process. Physically, this recovery has been much easier, except for the fact that Emora is so far my worst sleeper- as in she is not sleeping at all, or not at all at night. So far, every night, she has a 3 hour sleep, then she is up every hour on the hour and nursing 20 min. in that hour. I woke up at my end today trying to figure out what her problem is. In desperation, we purchased a space heater and pacifiers today. The space heater because our room gets really cold. Last night, I got it to where I could transfer Emora to her bed without problems and she'd sleep 20 or 30 min. then wake up and only fall back asleep with nursing. At one point, she took one suck and fell back asleep- she was so tired. I've never been one for pacifiers and neither Ivan or Dominique did them, but I can not survive nights like we've had indefinitely, or even one more night, so if the heater doesn't help, I'll be opening up the pack of pacifiers, sterilizing them and thinking that maybe Emora sucked her fist for the last 9 months and why break her habit now, right when she got here?

Ivan is being a total beast right now. He was great with Dominique, but he was not quite 2 then. Now he is having a hard time with the transition, plus the grands are here, so he may be putting on a show for them too, because when it's just me and the kids, he can be very helpful and considerate- at least that is what I hope, because my great helps will soon be gone and it will be me and the threesome! This is the kid's before picture. Ivan the beast, Emora wondering what is the problem with him and Dominique praying for Ivan's return to civility.

That all makes our recovery seem grueling and it can be. It is also wonderful, because who wants to recover? We are totally in love with our new daughter and them with their sister (here they are again after we told Ivan to change his attitude and that he wouldn't get pizza if he would not cooperate for pictures).

You may not believe me, because a lot of people claim that newborns can not smile or laugh, or attribute it just to gas. Whatever. Emora laughed her first night in the hospital and I wondered if I was hearing right. Then, yesterday, she smiled in her sleep, laughed, then smiled some more, full smile, half smile and full smile again. I am not exagerating. It was amazing.

Ivan and Dominique looked the same at birth, down to matching angel kisses/stork bites between their brows. Nana and grandma Ruth were here for Ivan's birth, so this visit is reminiscent of then, but Emora is all her own. She seems darker and has a cleft in her chin. She does have silky, black, straight hair that curls up when wet, but the others did too and theirs' changed as they got older, so I'm not sure what her's will be like.

So I'm glad we will never recover. I'm glad we will never be the same. I'm glad we are now a 5some and excited to see who all Emora will be and how we will grow in love and depth as a family because of her place in our lives. I am also hopeful to recover some sleep, sanity and semblance of routine or order or something like organized, graceful chaos with a smattering of creativity that energizes us and leaves us grateful for each day and moment, even those at 3 and 4, 5 and 6 and 2 am.

Her name- Emora Worth

For months we searched and labored over her name. We have some general name preferences that we go by 1) we aren’t fond of names that are overly popular or trendy 2) we like names with good meanings 3) we aren’t crazy about “weird” names. Then, when we were introduced to the concept of having her name start with an “E”, we added another challenge. (A friend noticed that the initials of all our names come together to spell out ABIDE- Angela, Brian, Ivan, Dominique, E-baby).

Nearly every “E” girl name is either very popular or has a negative connotation. The name we were drawn to the most was Emory, but it is nearly always listed as a boy name and means “labor or work” (which did not add much inspiration), plus it sounds like “memory” which I wasn’t very keen on. We tried to like the name for many months, but I just couldn’t get excited about it. I thought, if it just sounded a little different and had a good meaning, it would be perfect.

I kept going over the lists I had made of “E” names and started looking at the roots of their parts. My favorite one for meaning was Eleora- “God is my light”; “El” means “God” and “ora” is light (Kudos to Jenn for her guess). That’s when Emora first floated into my thoughts. Emor sounds like the Spanish word “amor” meaning love. I’ve always wanted to have a child with “love” in her name’s meaning. So using some poetic license and breaking our rule number #3*, we came up with Emora- meaning “love light” or “love’s light”.

The scriptures describe God as both love and light, so Emora is both a response of walking out that love and light, of loving the way of light and living in it, but also “love’s light” means that the source is Him, the love and light flow to us and then through us as we dwell, abide, and walk in Him. I am fascinated by this circular pattern to her name: 1-giving, 2-living, 3-offering 4-receiving again.

Brian has been hearing/sensing the word “worth” all year. Although it is not the most feminine sounding name, I cannot think of a better word to speak over and into the identity of our daughter. Worth means: high value or merit, desirability, significance, quality, importance, distinction. Historically, socially and even globally right now the worth of women has been misconstrued, abused and twisted. This is a great tragedy as it is such a critical and important part of being a woman, both personally and socially. Plus, I believe every woman not only needs to know her great worth, but has a deep longing to be cherished, loved and valued.

Pronunciation: Emora can be pronounced several ways, but we are choosing to pronounce it like Emory (drop the Y and add “ah” or you could think of it as rhyming with Deborah).


*While we don’t think Emora is weird, it is certainly rare in that we have not found it anywhere!

belated birth announcement...

Born January 20, 2009 @ 12:36p

Emora Worth Baggett
9lbs 13 oz
21 1/4 inches

(Our biggest and tallest baby yet)

Mom and baby are well...should be home today.

Hope no one has tried to call...our phone has been out.

Brian

The plan

My doctor visit went well. They were not too impressed at seeing me again and I wasn't too impressed at being there, but that is the way it is and we all agreed not to meet this way again ;) We will gently persuade #3 to come out tomorrow. With Dominique, all they had to do was break my water and we were underway, so that is what we'll try again this time. I'm already dilated to a 4.5 or 5 and 50% effaced. According to those numbers I could actually get an epidural right now- ha, ha. I'm really not uncomfortable at all, so it's nice to have half the work done before we show up. Maybe I'll have some more contractions tonight so that tomorrow will be even easier.

One of the good things about inducing is that we won't all be in a scramble. Brian is taking the day off (obviously), so we don't have to call him in from work, or try to get the kids somewhere and make it to the hospital in a rush (which could have happened if my water broke on it's own and we were more surprised by labor). Tighe was going to babysit our kids for us, but Isaiah came down with a fever last night, so I racked my brain over who is off from work tomorrow and remembered our friend Trish. Her husband cooked us our anniversary dinner and now she's sacrificing her day off, coming way early in the morning and helping us out big time. This will be even better than waking the kids up to take them somewhere, so that is a relief. Thank you Trish!!

We will most likely have her by noonish, since that is the pattern I've had with the other two, but I can't guarantee it. I wouldn't expect a post right away, but I'll try to have Brian post something when he comes back to the house. We are so looking forward to seeing her, naming her and introducing her to all of you. We'll take any of your prayers for an easy, safe and uncomplicated delivery, healthy baby and me and good adjustement for all of us as the big siblings now have to share mom, dad, home, love and toys with another family member.

I packed a couple of hats for her since everytime I have gone in the Dr. said her head is so low. Today when she was palpating my stomach and measuring it, she said she couldn't even feel her head, just shoulders and wouldn't make a guess at her size. All of that to say I wouldn't be surprised if she is cone headed.

I guess Brian wins the birthday contest, but we didn't pick the day so he would win! He actually picked the day because he knew I had the doctor appointment today and figured the Doc would want to induce the day after, so he did use some deduction to come up with the 20th. I'm also bad with dates and Ivan wants to have her on his birthday. There is no way we are waiting until Oct., but it is the same day in the month, so that will be convenient to remember.

It's so surreal to think we'll have a baby tomorrow!!!! We are so excited.

Waiting, waiting

Well, by the looks of it we may be picking out a day for our little darling to be born. I don't like doing that, but I know the doc. will be wanting to induce and mom only has another week or so here, so she needs to come on out! Ivan came a day early for my birthday, but apparently the girls find it way comfortable in there and like to take their sweet time. Dominique was induced 8 days after her due date. I keep hoping my water will just break and away we'll go, but I'm not even having many contractions like I have throughout the months. In any case, I've progressed enough that hopefully the doc will just need to break my water and our daughter will take the hint to come out. That's what happened with Dominique. The other advantage of that is there won't be a rush to the hospital and we can get the kids to my friend's house without too much chaos. Of course I could still have her in the next 2 nights or tomorrow...

I'm not sure what day we'll pick. I had thought of waiting until a week past, but then mom would only be here half a week after that. Brian figures we could induce Tues. I still have to canvas what mom thinks and haven't talked to the sitter yet. I'm sure the doc. will have an opinion too. So far her opinion was to induce 1.5 weeks ago. She's an induction happy doctor. So weird to choose a day for our baby to be born!

It is tiring waiting and I am anxious to use her name. Most of the pregnancy, I've been calling her "baby cakes". Don't know where that came from, but it just seemed to fit. Since her name is a secret, we haven't said it out loud lots and I'm ready to.

Mom and I did a marathon run at the store today while Brian took the kids to the library, fed them and put them down for naps. I got all our pecans partly shelled (they are cracked, but I left the meticulous job of getting the meat out for now).

I haven't taken many pictures in the last few days since the camera is in our to-go bag, but I guess I need to get to snapping some again. I also have 6 videos to post and they won't, so I don't know if you'll ever see them. Maybe I should try them on facebook.

So, to ask a heated question... are you pro-induction or lean towards less intervention?

still here.

Baby's not here yet. I guess she wanted her own birthday and it wasn't daddy's birthday or the day after. Not sure when she'll come, but I do know my doctor won't let her stay in there a week past her due date, so the good news is that we'll see her darling face before the week is out. Crazy huh?

I'm sure we'll get into the swing of things once she comes, but it's hard, despite my 9 month pregnant belly, to think of what it will be like to have a newborn again. We are looking forward to getting to know her and welcoming her home to our family, but it seems like so long since we've had a newborn. I can't imagine what it is like for people who wait 4 and more years between children.

Happy Birthday!

As I write this post, I am not sure if we are going to be celebrating one or two birthdays today. It's for sure Brian's birthday, but baby is also due today, so if I'm in labor, it could be her birthday too, which would be cool since Ivan and I share a day. But I'm actually writing this a week in advance, so I don't know what is going as you read this.

I did want to write though and brag on Brian. He is such a great husband to me and unlike many other people's partners, is very helpful to me with house stuff, child rearing and understanding what it is like to be with the toddlers 24-7. He is good to listen and bring realness to our lives, but has learned to be flexible and accommodate all of our personalities and chaos, despite having grown up as an only child. He cherishes us and time with us and we soak it up. This pic was taken by Ivan who obviously looks up to Brian. His other biggest fan, (after me) is Dominique and I'm sure our next daughter will feel the same way.

Of course we never know what kind of parents we will be until we become one and I've been so pleased by the way that Brian has embraced his part as a parent. He is involved, loving and has become more and more patient, even letting the kids "help" him and tag along in the garden or with house projects- like making their fort/swing set this Christmas. He really loves them and they really love him. He spends time with them, plays with them, gives me breaks by taking them for me from time to time and tries to spend special time with them individually. In a world where fathers have often relinquished their roles and place in parenting, at times physically, socially, spiritually or emotionally, I'm so thankful that Brian is present on all those levels.

Brian is not too uppity to try new things and has taken on a new venture that he is enjoying- house flipping. I think it's so amazing that he just tried out something so new and different for himself and has grown to love it so much already. I know it's hard to learn new things and he is learning everyday, so I am thankful for his stamina, humility and stick-to-itness. Here he is in the first house he is the owner/ flipper of. He works with two other guys and they do beautiful work to make a gorgeous, functional home out of something old and run down.

Hope your birthday is grand Brian!!! We love you.

a video!!! finally

I've been trying to upload videos since the 1st of Jan. I don't know if it's the net, blogger or our connection, but they haven't been working, until this one! Pretty much everyday Ivan and Dominique tell my belly "I love you baby". They've been doing this for months, since I told them that she could hear their voices. I'm afraid this one is a bit staged. I wanted the baby to know how much her siblings cared about her even before her birth and figured she may be coming soon, so I'd better get their little ritual on camera before she makes her grand appearance.

Baby has one more day to hang out before her due date and Brian's birthday. It's a little tricky trying to birth her on a certain day. We'll see how we do!

I have her clock finished apart from the fine details of name, birthdate, time and place. Yipee! Can't believe it!

visit to the zoo

Here are the pictures from our visit to the zoo. Aren't the monkeys hilarious? They came right up to where we were on the other side of the glass window like they wanted to crawl into our laps.

Big Buddy is still in the hospital. It's been so long and it doesn't seem as though they are in a hurry to let him leave. I used to joke that I'd race him out, but that's not so funny anymore because it looks like I'll be in and home before he will.

Last night I had so many contractions, I thought she'd come early, but then I woke up and they calmed down. So we went to the first toddler reading time at the new library- got even more books and played puzzles, discovered that there are no headsets for the kid games on the computers, so they added it to their list of things to add. Always glad we can help out.

I had wanted to vacuum the floors today, but mom did it for me and we are all so thankful for it. When I vacuum, I run it over the carpets and rugs. Mom had the hand attachment and was doing all the furniture and at the edges of the walls. She filled up a garbage bag and when we didn't have a replacement on hand, emptied it out manually and went at it again! The house is now all clean and beautiful and I got to work on the baby's clock. It is nearly done!!!

We went out to see Brian at the practically finished house. They may have a full day or just half a day of it tomorrow. It looks so great! I knew it would look good, but it's still shocking to see how nice it is having seen what an ugly wreck it was at first. They even planted shrubs and flowers, which is the first thing mom noticed.

He is taking his birthday off on Thurs. and the next couple of days off, so baby- you can come now, well not now, but in about 36 hours.

Everything is coming together

Here are the pictures of Brian putting the final touches on the swing/fort set and the finished project. It is amazing and is way nicer than what I imagined we'd have. The kids are loving it and I know it will be so helpful when the baby comes.

I got a lot of pages made for the baby book this weekend, and got some of her clock painted last night. Other moms clean house and I should, ours is a wreck, but lucky for Brian (ha,ha), he did not marry someone who nests with cleaning, but one who invents creative work for herself instead.



I had a major glitch with her baby book. Our printer has been having major attitude and I won't print color, so I've been coloring and making the pages pretty by collages etc. Since there was so much glue and pasted pictures... I thought I'd better laminate the pages to keep it all together. I feel bad even writing this, but when I laminated her first page of sonogram pictures- the pics turned all black! Yep, I erased her first ever pics. Told you it was bad. I did go back on my blog and find two of them though and printed out poor copies from there and today at my doctor appointment, I asked them to make a copy and got a picture they hadn't even given us- so I do have some documentation and a new pic.- that makes up for it right?

My appointment went well. Baby was moving a lot. The doc. asked if I wanted to keep waiting (I'm dilated to a 3.5) or be induced. I told her she'd be born Thurs. Thurs. would actually be great. Brian is finishing up his first flipped house Wed. afternoon (if all goes well) and is taking his birthday off. Mom volunteered to keep the kids so we could go out. Wed. night and I could get some more painted on her clock. I can't believe the projects we were going to do before her birth are getting done! I'm so excited about that. Mom has been such a huge help! We even have some muffins baked- because a nursing mom is a hungry mom!

We took the kids to the zoo today and it was so nice. Perfect weather and so fascinating. I could spend a whole day there. Half a day with the monkeys and the other half with everything else. I got some great pics I'll need to share.

Tomorrow we hope to take the kids to the first toddler reading time at the new library!! So fun.

We are trying to do fun stuff with the kids while we can. I think Ivan is the one with the biggest problem adapting. He turned into a troll tonight and has been very unbearable, but transitions are not his strongest suit. With Dominique, he was so small, he didn't notice all that much, but he knows there is major change now and while he's excited, it seems to be throwing him off too. Pray he'll adapt well and have peace and joy about our new baby.