James and John meet their new baby brother

The morning after Jude was born, my mom and sister brought James and John up to the hospital to meet their new baby brother. They were both so happy that he was finally out of Mommy's tummy and they could touch him. They each got to hold Jude on a pillow and give him lots of kisses. After that, they each got to have a piece of cake the hospital brought by the room. The postpartum room wasn't huge and they were both getting restless so they kissed their baby brother good-bye and headed to McDonald's to eat some lunch and play on the playground. Here are some photos we took.

Jude's Birth Story

We woke up around 4 am on Wednesday morning and left the house a little after 4:30 to get donuts for Brian. It's a good thing I don't like donuts cause I was starving. Plus I was really thirsty. We arrived at the hospital at 5:15 am and got all checked in. They started the IV at 6:15. Thankfully she only needed to poke me twice. The nurses started pitocin started at 7:15 am and Dr. Schmidt came and broke my water at 7:45. Unfortunately, his head wasn’t lined up well. She was feeling his ear instead of his head. We were told that if he didn’t correct his position that I’d need a c-section. While we were waiting, they started getting things ready just in case I needed surgery. Thankfully the next time they checked me, I was 4 cm dilated and they could no longer feel his ear. I dilated at a pretty steady rate of 1 cm ever two hours. I hit 6 cm around 2 pm the afternoon. The contractions were coming stronger and faster so I asked for some IV pain medicine to take the edge off and help me relax a bit. They checked me again around 6 pm and I was 8 cm. I asked for some more pain medication as the contractions were right on top of each other and horribly painful. The rest was kind of a blur but I remember the nurse having me push as she moved the last bit of cervix out of the way. Brian said I only pushed a few times before the chaos began. Loads of people and Dr. Schmidt came into the room to get set for the birth. It wasn’t much longer until he was out. I am so pleased that I was able to have a successful VBAC. Jude ended up being sunny side up but came out with just a few pushes. My body did most of the work for me. James and John didn't come up to meet him until the next day because it was kind of late by the time I got all cleaned up. I didn’t actually hold him that first night because I got the shakes really bad and didn't want to drop him. He spent the night in the nursery getting checked out and all cleaned up. Both my parents came to town to see me early on in labor and to help my sister with the boys. My sister came to visit me at the hospital and was actually present for the birth!! She did a wonderful job helping Brian get me through it all.

The time has finally arrived

We've finally reached the end of this pregnancy. I went to see the OB this morning and we decided to go ahead and induce tomorrow morning. I'll be 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant. There's really no reason to wait since Jude should be done baking and ready to come out. After having John almost five weeks early, I never thought I'd make it this far. My only wish was to make it to 37 weeks and hope to avoid a stay in the NICU. Here we are two weeks past that point.

Since the decision was made this morning, I've been cleaning and doing laundry like a mad woman. I don't want to bring home our new baby boy to a messy house and piles of laundry. Hopefully all the activity will bring on some contractions. While they're uncomfortable, hopefully they will get me moving in the right direction for tomorrow. We also decided to take James out for his birthday meal today. He really wanted to eat at Rainforest Cafe and I have no desire to take a 10 day old newborn to a restaurant. He had a wonderful time seeing all the animals, fish, and the fake thunderstorms.

Check back in a few days when we'll hopefully have Jude's birth story and pictures posted.

Happy Mother's Day

First and foremost, I hope all of the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day.

I was lucky to have a Mother's Day weekend. Friday night we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I got my favorite dish - chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. It was super yummy. Then Saturday after our Baptism preparation class, I went to get a massage and catch the new Star Trek movie. The massage was pure heaven. I think I fell asleep a couple of times during the hour. The movie was also fantastic. While I'm not a huge Star Trek fan, the action and special effects were awesome. Sunday, I got exactly what I wanted - to not wait on anyone else. Brian got the boys all of their meals, snacks, drinks, etc. He handled potty trips, getting them dressed and putting on shoes. He took them to the park and took James to a movie while John napped. I pretty much sat with my feet up all day long. All in all, a perfect weekend.

Babymoon!

Brian and I are back from a wonderful Babymoon! I dropped the boys off with my parents Friday around lunch time and then headed to get a much needed massage. After that, we went to dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse and then headed down to Galveston for the weekend. We had to drive through a super crazy thunderstorm to get there but made it in one piece. We stayed at the Harbor House Hotel which is just off the Strand on Pier 21. The room was fabulous and I got a wonderful surprise - a bouquet of beautiful flowers! Saturday we caught a couple of grown up movies - something we don't get to do often (I think the last thing we saw was Twilight back in November). After the movies, we headed back down to the island for dinner at Gaido's on the seawall. While we had to wait a bit to be seated, the food and service was well worth it. With our bellies full, we decided to drive around the island and see some things we've never found. We drove around UTMB which was huge and then found A&M Galveston which was not so huge. Sunday morning we got up and started making the long drive back to Katy. We got to my parents' house around 11:30, picked up the boys and then we all headed out to lunch at Chuy's. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend getaway!!

Putt-putt and pizza

We ended our weekend with another birthday celebration. We got together with our local Katy crew to play putt-putt and then hit Double Dave's for games and pizza. The kids all had a blast playing putt-putt. I think the water hazards were the highlight for James, John and Cameron. They loved throwing rocks and their balls into the little streams. After we finished golfing, we played the games at Double Dave's to kill some time before the dinner buffet started. I definitely did the right thing by reserving the party room as it was packed last night. I think the owner said they were having a spirit night for a school or sports team. After everyone finished eating, we let the boys open their presents and then ate cake. The overwhelming theme of the evening was Star Wars. James received some really great play sets, including a storm trooper helmet, which I had a lot of fun assembling this morning. John got a new princess figurine set, which will replace the doll set he got at Christmas (all of the clothes are either lost or ripped), and more Legos to build "castles" with. They also got some new movies to add to their collection and an awesome wagon to use at the park. Here are some pictures from the afternoon.


The boys playing putt-putt.



James and I watching John take a turn.

The whole gang.

Opening gifts from Uncle Will. Star Wars and Princesses.

Getting ready to blow out the candles. James picked a HULK cake.

Hill Country Flyer

This past Saturday the boys rode the Hill Country Flyer for the very first time as a way to celebrate James and John's birthdays. I've never been on it either but Brian went as a child. We are so blessed that almost Brian's entire side of the family (sorry you couldn't make it Aunt Sarah) was able to spend the day with us. We packed the boys lots of snacks and toys to play with since it took right at two hours to travel from Cedar Park to Burnet. We at lunch at a little Mexican restaurant not too far from the train station and then walked down to the town square. It was sad to see that many of the shops and restaurants on the square were closing down. Thankfully we did find a little shop that sold ice-cream so the boys got a treat before getting back on the train for the ride home. Poor John was wiped out from several days of little to no nap so he quickly fell asleep on the ride home. After dinner, we went back to MaMaw's house to eat cake and open presents. Thank you all for the wonderful learning computer, games, swim clothes, books, movies and Wii party game. Here are some pictures from the day.


Getting ready to start the trip.



Waiting for the train to start moving.



John passed out on the way home.



Opening presents.



Our new learning computer.