Mary's First Bath

Having a singleton after having twins is such a sweet experience!  Don't get me wrong, taking care of Tessa and Annie as newborns was it's own kind of fun, but it's hard to enjoy little quiet moments with one baby while the other is waiting for their turn, usually not so patiently.  No wonder so many daily activities with the twins were not as enjoyable as they should be.  Most notable this time around is the joy in holding Mary after a feeding without hastily putting her down to move on to her sister; and the pleasure in changing her diaper or her clothes without continually glancing over my shoulder to entertain the baby wailing for her change; or just being able to hold her as much as she wants to be held, without feeling guilty for neglecting her sister.

Bathtime with the twins at this age was not a fun experience, so it was an unexpected joy to give Mary her first bath yesterday while all of the big girls were napping.  I truly enjoyed her every grimace and sigh.  Focusing all of my attention on her while she relaxed in the water was such a treat.  What a difference it makes to have one baby at a time - go figure! :)



Babies No More

It's funny how these little girls were the babies four days ago :(

Welcome Home, Mary!

Since Mary's delivery was our fourth, and my recovery has been a breeze, we decided to high-tail it out of the hospital as soon as we were cleared, which meant we were let loose when she was only 1.5 days old.  I know that sounds crazy, but we really wanted to be home!  I mean, if I'm going to be up in the middle of the night nursing a baby, I want to watch my DVR'd shows, not something random on the hospital TV :)  And Mary needed to be introduced to her crazy household sooner than later -- we wouldn't want her to get used to the quiet or anything!

Before leaving the hospital, we dressed Mary in her coming home outfit (who were we kidding even packing  a boy outfit in the hospital bag??) and took some last pictures before she came home. 

More than anything, we wanted to get home to all of our big girls, and relieve some of the workload for Mop, who was working overtime.  So, we came home late Tuesday night, and the girls were all thrilled to wake up to see their new baby sister on Wednesday morning.  They took turns sneaking down to our bedroom for a chance to sit on our bed and hold Mary for a picture.  It was really sweet that they each had a few minutes to really meet her.

Later that morning, while Mop and I took Mary for a weight check at the pediatrician (still 7 pounds, 15 ounces - holding strong very close to her birth weight of 8 pounds, 7 ounces), the big girls proved

that they're still our babies too, and that they all used to sleep in the same bassinette, some longer ago than others!

Mary, Meet Your Sisters!

Adding a new baby to a family is a tricky propostion, especially with four big kids to impress!  Luckily, everyone has nine months to adjust to the idea, and all "big babies" can be reminded daily that a "tiny baby" will be coming along soon.  You never know how they'll react when they encounter their squirmy, pink, little sibling for the first time, though.  We were a little worried how the first encounter with Mary would go, but it was a lot of fun, and there were no tears.  They didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl, so they came running into the hospital room on our second day, dying to know. After the initial surprise, they were all genuinely excited for a sister!

These four little mommies all wanted to hold her immediately, and couldn't stop touching her hands and exploring her umbilical cord. 

They also explored every last inch of the hospital room:

and even roamed the halls showing off their sister to anyone who looked our way.  We were quite the procession. 

Mary looks like she'll fit in perfectly with this crew!! 

Freshly Hatched

This past Sunday started innocently enough.  We were still waiting for "Five" to arrive.  We went to church, where at least five older ladies informed us they were praying for a boy for us. (This proved to be the most annoying aspect of this pregnancy. The assumption that we were only trying for a boy, and would be disappointed with another girl.  It couldn't have been further from the truth.  But, I digress.)  We came home and let the girls go swimming in the hot tub,

and I happened to get one more photo of me pregnant!  Who knew it would be on the last day of my pregnancy?

When the girls all went down for their naps, Mop and I headed out to the mall.  We parked in the most distant parking spot we could find, and then proceeded to walk the mall from end to end.  Despite all of the walking, I only felt a few mild contractions all day.  It definitely wasn't looking good on the labor front.  And, as much as I wanted to go into labor on my own this time, I was beginning to feel guilty that Mop was waiting...and waiting. 

Thankfully, I didn't need to worry about keeping her waiting much longer.  At 10:45pm that night, just after we had all gone to bed, Matt and I were up watching a new episode of "Breaking Bad," and I immediately started to contract every two minutes.  It was kind of surreal.  There's nothing like being in your pajamas and glasses, knowing you really should be getting your butt out of bed and getting dressed again.  So, we waited until the end of the show just to make sure this was the real deal, and then began to get dressed, put contacts back in, and get the essentials in the car.  The contractions really started to pick up in intensity, and by the time we arrived at the hospital a little after midnight, they were less than two minutes apart, and taking my breath away.  I measured 4cm in the OB triage, so they allowed me to be admitted, but I had to be administered a four-hour round of antibiotics for testing positive for strep B, so they were hoping I wouldn't move too quickly.  We were transported upstairs where the anesthesiologist performed an epidural just as things were getting even more uncomfortable.  And, in an effort to wait things out, they decided to not break my water, and hope that I could relax and sleep for a few hours to get the full round of antibiotics.  About five hours later, I really felt like the baby was coming, and in my first round of pushing, my water bag broke, shooting water in a huge rush across the room.  It was very glamorous, let me tell you!! 

Two more rounds of pushing was all we needed for Five to finally appear, at 7:27am, and she was a GIRL!!  Even though I fully expected her to be a girl, I was still really surprised!  Matt was shocked, since he'd started believing the baby to be a boy too.  She was perfect!  I had a chance to hold her for a few minutes and nurse her before the nurse weighed her.  She seemed so tiny, but she weighed a very healthy 8 pounds, 7 ounces.  (Somehow, Tessa and Annie each weighed nearly two pounds less than her!! And Megan and Bridget each weighed an even heftier 8 pounds, 10 ounces.)

Then it was bath time, and I'm so glad Matt took pictures, because I was sooo sleepy, I drifted off for most of this activity.

Next, she was diapered and bundled up! 

Welcome to the world, Mary Adele! 

July 25, 2011

7:27am

Mary Adele is Here!

Five girls!

Our little surprise baby has arrived, and she's a girl!!

Weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces, Mary Adele is 20 inches long and the jury's out on who she resembles. It changes hourly, but today, at nearly 3 days old, she now looks the most like Megan at the same age.

As for Megan, who was adamant we were having a boy, there have been no hard feelings about not having a "boy sister."

















We've been home 24 hours now, and Mary is pretty popular around here. The girls are in love! We've got lots more photos to share, just as soon as I have a chance to sit down to the computer. For now, these phone pictures will have to do.

And, finally, all of our girls!




- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Transition

Nope. I'm not at that stage of labor yet. We're patiently waiting, but also appreciating the time we have left as a family of six before the baby arrives. Things will change, for the better in many ways, but there will definitely be a big transition for all of us.

So, to document our relative quiet household (no newborn cries or sleepless nights), and our everyday moments, I thought I'd clear some photos off my phone.

Some good ol' iPad entertainment:



"Buddies" Bridget and Tessa bonding on the water table:



One of Bridget's many interesting outfits:



Our little fish Megan:



And our babies who won't be the babies very much longer. This might be the hardest transition!



Is there room for a fifth on there?



Or here?



And these babies are fascinated with all of the "new baby" things sprouting up around the house. They've succeeded in peeing on a freshly washed infant car seat (I'm looking at you, Annie!) and playing Mommy and baby with the infant bath tub that just came out of hiding.



At least the baby bath tub is a little more water, er, pee-proof.



Maybe Five is waiting for Tessa and Annie to be totally potty-trained before he or she adds to the chaos. I may set a gestational record if that's the case!

- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Fun in the Sun

In our effort to find some true summer heat last week, I headed down the peninsula to the Rinconada Pool in Palo Alto with my friend Dana and her kids, and succeeded in enjoying some heat, the best toddler pool ever, and, even better, no water birth!  Managing seven kids five and under poolside was a major feat for Dana and me, but it worked wonderfully.  It helped a little that her 15-month-old can swim a few feet underwater on her own!!!  So, we kind of didn't need to worry as much about her :)

It was my first time wearing a swimsuit in a while.  In fact, as we were getting dressed for the day, the girls were a little thrown off by my attire.  Or, maybe they didn't know swim suits were made that large.  Either way, me going swimming with them was pretty novel.  Novel enough that I agreed to a picture, as long as the girls completely surrounded me :)

Megan and Paige were little fish at this pool!  They never got tired of jumping in and out of the water, or of the little water slide that shoots kids into 3 feet of water.  It was the perfect height for Megan to land under water, but still right herself on her own and touch the ground.  She was so confident in this pool, thanks in large part to her lessons!

Bridget and her buddy Jimmy were more content taking breaks now and then.  It wasn't a big surprise to see Bridget behave like this around the water, but I'm glad she found a kindred spirit in Jimmy!

And, the twins were pretty happy all day, sliding and wading in the water.  I did make them wear life jackets for most of the day, which wasn't the biggest hit.  The "gobbles," which I only had one pair of, of course, were a bigger hit, though!  Tessa's a little happier in this picture :)

If I wasn't worried about going into labor so far away from the house, I would be heading to this pool mach more often!