Okay, so before I post anymore pictures or stories of Drew or the rest of us, I have to take a moment to say how overwhelmed and grateful I am. Our friends and family have been so amazing in support of Drew and our changing family. Where to even start?
Before Drew arrived.....I had turned down offers of a baby shower because I felt so richly blessed already. We already had two children and had been showered with love and gifts with each of them - shouldn't that be enough? No....not according to my gracious friends! Two different groups of friends gave Drew (and me) surprise showers - my Bunco group and friends from base (Chapel and TPS). I was so clueless in both cases. At Bunco, there were Baby Shower decorations up and I actually wondered who else the hostess knew who was having a baby and wondering when the shower would be and if it was someone I knew! The Base Shower was set up as a Children's Ministry meeting - I showed up with my box of "stuff" to hand off to someone. I even baked cookies for the meeting. I know some pretty thoughtful people!
And now, cards and gifts have started arriving in the mail - it moves me each time that someone would think of us and go out of their way to share this joy with us. So many phone calls and emails too! The spouses/families from Nate's office even gave us a huge basket of baby goodies in Drew's room colors!
And the help we've received....where to start? My parents were here for three weeks, awaiting Drew's arrival. While waiting they babysat, weeded, painted projects, sewed, cooked, cleaned, made Jackson and Delaney feel special, bought groceries, and generally helped out. As they left, my mother-in-law came in town and did more of the same. And then Nate's sister, Tymaree, showed up for more. my mom will be back in a few days. My carpool partner has taken on all of the driving responsibilities, including picking up our weekly organic produce. She also made Drew a lovely quilt. Speaking of lovely sewn projects - my mom made all of the bedding and curtains for Drew (with help/input from neighbor Marie and Aunt Toonie) and my mother-in-law made custom art to go with it! Then there are the friends, who at the drop of a hat, watched Jackson and Delaney or offered to watch them.
I feel so blessed!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Brand New Drew goes home
Sounds like a children's book, no?
On Saturday, Grandma and Papa headed to Hawaii for my brother Jay's change of command. He took command of a Brigade - way to go Jay!
Also, Drew and I got to come home and Nana (Nate's mom, Vicky) arrived from Minneapolis.
Coming soon....meeting Nana and Aunt Tymaree and pictures of Drew's new room
On Saturday, Grandma and Papa headed to Hawaii for my brother Jay's change of command. He took command of a Brigade - way to go Jay!
Also, Drew and I got to come home and Nana (Nate's mom, Vicky) arrived from Minneapolis.
Coming soon....meeting Nana and Aunt Tymaree and pictures of Drew's new room
Drew meets his brother and sister
Drew was born on Thursday. Jackson and Delaney came to meet him on Friday. They walked into the hospital room with the widest eyes and biggest smiles - they were so excited to finally meet "the Peanut." Delaney just can't stop touching him - she is truly enchanted with "the baby" doing baby things like nursing, crying, having little feet, and being swaddled. Jackson has already explained the finer points of toothpaste and the importance of brushing your teeth to Drew. He likes to sit and look at him and talk to him about what's happening around them. The "big" kids (and I use the term lightly) have been a little out-of-whack since then, but that's to be expected, right? They've been quite sweet as far as Drew is concerned.
Here are some pictures of the encounter...
Here are some pictures of the encounter...
Found a Peanut!
Okay, okay....I know its taken a while to finally post this....I'm sorry! So...here's the scoop...(if you're uninterested in all the gory details, skip ahead to the stats and slide show at the bottom)
The peanut was "due" on May 10th. On May 12th, we had an ultrasound that predicted he'd be about 9 and 1/2 pounds. Taking into account the possible 22% margin of error on either side of the prediction (read: weight range of 8 to 11 pounds), we decided to induce. We got the call on May 15th at 5:30 AM to come on in. By 9 AM, the induction was underway. Nothing happened, nothing happened....contractions started and eventually got to 2 min. apart, but not terribly uncomfortable. The biggest obstacle to labor was that the Peanut had not dropped AT ALL! Around 3:45 PM, I decided to roll over and take a nap. At that moment, my water broke and the Peanut began to drop.....
By 4:15, I had an epidural, but it took about 30 minutes to kick in and I was still very uncomfortable. By 4:45, I convinced the staff that they should turn up my epidural. By 5, I was "complete" (meaning the Peanut had dropped all the way and was ready to be born NOW!) By 5:20, I was pushing (right around that time, the extra-strength epidural begin to kick in, Praise God!). My parents strolled in around 5:25and Andrew Lindquist Cook arrived at 5:35. Apparently, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and his heartrate dropped fairly low, necissitating the use of suction device on his head to immediately finish his delivery. His quick descent also bruised his face and popped some blood vessels in his eyes. He came out looking less than peachy, but absolutely perfect in every way.
The stats: Andrew Lindquist Cook (Drew)
Birthday: May 15th, 5:35 PM (Shel Barker, you owe me a pedicure!)
Weight: 10 pounds and 1.3 ounces (you read that right!)
Length: 21 and 1/2 inches
Head and chest circumferences: 14 and 3/4 inches
More commentary:
I really feel like with each baby, God has given us the opportunity to make some important choices about their birth. I feel like he's given us the best answer every time also. With Jackson, I "opted" for no epidural. When he was born, it was apparent that he'd been stuck in the birth canal and because I'd had no epidural, I was actually able to stand and twist and walk (in what the nurse-midwife said was "an unusual" way)and I was able to unstick him. Otherwise, it could have all ended in a C-section. (I have plenty of friends who've had C-sections, so I'm not knocking it; I'm just acknowledging that it's major surgery and a hard recovery.) With Delaney, I opted for an epidural and had as pleasant a delivery as I can imagine, other than getting the epidural about a week in advance. She was more than 9 and 1/2 pounds, so again, I'm grateful for the pain meds. With Drew, I feel like if we hadn't induced, he would have just kept getting bigger and bigger and the delivery could also have ended in C-section. I'm so grateful for 3 healthy children.
The peanut was "due" on May 10th. On May 12th, we had an ultrasound that predicted he'd be about 9 and 1/2 pounds. Taking into account the possible 22% margin of error on either side of the prediction (read: weight range of 8 to 11 pounds), we decided to induce. We got the call on May 15th at 5:30 AM to come on in. By 9 AM, the induction was underway. Nothing happened, nothing happened....contractions started and eventually got to 2 min. apart, but not terribly uncomfortable. The biggest obstacle to labor was that the Peanut had not dropped AT ALL! Around 3:45 PM, I decided to roll over and take a nap. At that moment, my water broke and the Peanut began to drop.....
By 4:15, I had an epidural, but it took about 30 minutes to kick in and I was still very uncomfortable. By 4:45, I convinced the staff that they should turn up my epidural. By 5, I was "complete" (meaning the Peanut had dropped all the way and was ready to be born NOW!) By 5:20, I was pushing (right around that time, the extra-strength epidural begin to kick in, Praise God!). My parents strolled in around 5:25and Andrew Lindquist Cook arrived at 5:35. Apparently, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and his heartrate dropped fairly low, necissitating the use of suction device on his head to immediately finish his delivery. His quick descent also bruised his face and popped some blood vessels in his eyes. He came out looking less than peachy, but absolutely perfect in every way.
The stats: Andrew Lindquist Cook (Drew)
Birthday: May 15th, 5:35 PM (Shel Barker, you owe me a pedicure!)
Weight: 10 pounds and 1.3 ounces (you read that right!)
Length: 21 and 1/2 inches
Head and chest circumferences: 14 and 3/4 inches
More commentary:
I really feel like with each baby, God has given us the opportunity to make some important choices about their birth. I feel like he's given us the best answer every time also. With Jackson, I "opted" for no epidural. When he was born, it was apparent that he'd been stuck in the birth canal and because I'd had no epidural, I was actually able to stand and twist and walk (in what the nurse-midwife said was "an unusual" way)and I was able to unstick him. Otherwise, it could have all ended in a C-section. (I have plenty of friends who've had C-sections, so I'm not knocking it; I'm just acknowledging that it's major surgery and a hard recovery.) With Delaney, I opted for an epidural and had as pleasant a delivery as I can imagine, other than getting the epidural about a week in advance. She was more than 9 and 1/2 pounds, so again, I'm grateful for the pain meds. With Drew, I feel like if we hadn't induced, he would have just kept getting bigger and bigger and the delivery could also have ended in C-section. I'm so grateful for 3 healthy children.
Mother's Day 2008
Well, I certainly thought that by Mother's Day we'd have a new baby! He certainly has a mind of his own! We had brunch at the Silver Saddle Ranch with my parents, just as we did when they were here over Mother's Day 3 years ago. That was following Delaney's birth.
Brunch was tasty. The weather was beautiful and the Ranch landscaping was quite nice as well. Here are a few pictures from the "photoshoot" after brunch. Yes, I was quite full and feeling like I might pop!
Brunch was tasty. The weather was beautiful and the Ranch landscaping was quite nice as well. Here are a few pictures from the "photoshoot" after brunch. Yes, I was quite full and feeling like I might pop!
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