A formal e-troduction...

Make a Smilebox photobook

Sometimes life is sad...

In the middle of the night last night, Michael and I woke up to our dog yelping in pain. In the 15 seconds it took for Michael to get to her kennel and open it, our little Molly dog passed away. She was only two years old. We are heartbroken, and can only assume her mission on this earth was complete. We all love her and will miss her dearly.

In memory of our Molly dog. 2006 - 2008

Ummm, I thought this was a family film...

"I know what a drag queen is. It's a boy who is a queen. I learned that from watching The Bee Movie."
-Adam Hooten, age 6

Oh, is that all?

"All I want for my birthday next year is a Martian Maker, a Mario, a Goomba, and a lot of other things."
- Adam Hooten, age 6 (nine months before his next birthday).

The Story of Thomas...

So, our little Thomas wasn't due to make his debut until at least this past Wednesday, September 3rd. That would have been my 37th week of pregnancy, which is the earliest we could have delivered him and considered him to be a full term baby. We were debating an early induction because we already knew he was a bigger baby. At 33 weeks of pregnancy, we were estimating his weight to be 3 weeks ahead gestationally speaking. (In case you're wondering, this is due to the fact that I'm a Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) Diabetic. Even though my blood sugars were very well controlled during my pregnancy, larger babies are one of the most common issues that Diabetic moms face.)

So, around 6 o'clock on Monday night, August 18th, I thought a little amniotic fluid might have trickled it's way out. I couldn't be certain because the baby was smack dab hanging out and generally performing acrobatics on my bladder and it was also possible that I could have been slightly incontinent. I wasn't contracting so I didn't really think anything of it. Actually, I went to bed that night not thinking of it at all.

Around 1 am (now technically Tuesday morning), I woke up with some mild cramps. They stopped after about 10 minutes, so I went back to bed. Around 5 am, I woke up again. I realized that the mucous membrane had passed, but still wasn't too alarmed because this can happen anywhere from 24 hours to two weeks before birth actually occurs. What was concerning was that I seemed to be having regular contractions. In fact, I had felt the contractions in my sleep, and incorporated them into my dreams. I was drowsy and out of it, but figured that my contractions were approximately five minutes apart. I woke Michael up and told him that I thought I was in labor. I told him I was going to get in the shower, handed him the hospital bag packing list (which I hadn't intended to use until the following week), and took a five minute shower. Once I got out, I called the on-call doctor to find out if I should head to the hospital.

While I was drying off, my water broke. A minute later, the on-call called me and directed me to head to labor and delivery. I got dressed, and started trying to reach my dear friend, Nicole so that she could take Adam while we headed to the hospital. It took about 15 minutes of calling before I managed to wake her. We dropped Adam at her house, and embarked on the 25 minute drive to the hospital. By this point, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart.

15 minutes later, we were in Draper, and still about 10 minutes from the hospital. I had called my dear friend, Rhea, to meet us at the hospital. She's an MA and and EMT, and was so amazing to have present during the birth. She's so calming and reassuring. But, I digress. So we were in Draper, and we hit a red light and I was in a decent amount of pain. I made Michael run that red light (of course I looked first to make sure we weren't putting anyone in danger). By the next red light, eight minutes later, my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart. We ran that one too (still making sure no cars were coming). I called the hospital and asked them to meet me with a wheelchair. By the time I got into my room and the nurses checked my labor status (maybe ten minutes max), I was dilated to a 7 and in the end stages of labor. And I was in pain. Big pain. Begging for the epidural pain.

Hours or decades later (actually more like ten minutes), the anesthesiologist appeared with his magical bag of medicine. I love that man. Truly, dearly love that man. I can't remember his name, and I barely recall what he looks like but my feelings run deep. After a couple of strong contractions (I sort of cried from pain), the epidural was placed and my body surrendered to sweet relief. It was approximately 7 am at this point.

At 8 am, my OB (Hooray for Dr. England) showed up and pushing commenced. At 8:21 am, Thomas made his debut. I got to hold him briefly, but he was struggling to breathe. He had to be put on oxygen, and thankfully he stabilized quickly. He was taken to the nursery, and I waited for my epidural to wear off so I could go see him.

He ended up staying in the nursery for 8 days, and the nurses took great care of him. Those eight days were some of the most painful of my life. All three of my children were in different places geographically, and I couldn't fully be there for any of them. It was very difficult for me to feel so divided, and so unable to to fully meet all of their needs.

As a side note, we also had to delay Frankie's first home visit since she was due to arrive the day after Thomas was born. This was very hard for all of us, but we're looking forward to her rescheduled home visit, which is coming up shortly. I can't wait to have all my children under one roof.

Thankfully, things have evened out. The house is a wreck, our bodies are weary, but all is well. Thomas is here, healthy, off of oxygen, and at the moment crying vigorously (music to my ears) because Daddy is changing him. However, if you want to send a maid over, I wouldn't say no.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a couple of pictures of our sweet little Thomas...

We'll try to post some awake pictures as soon as we get them. Until next time...