Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas Eve 2008




Our Christmas starts very early on Christmas eve each year. This year, I was totally running around that day doing last minute shopping so I have vowed to myeself that I will not do that next year... My New Years Resolution list is coming very soon.... You will find this "vow" in some form on that.


We showed up to Mass twenty minutes late and since Drew had diareah the day before, we decided that Brandon and Drew wouldn't be there so Sammy and I stood in the back of the church. Much to my suprise, this wasn't bad at all - the view was really goOnce Mass ended, Brandon picked us up and I realized that I forgot to purchase the two-liters that we were supposed to take to the Didat Christmas party so we had to make a pit stop at Jacobi's. Drew was crying because he wanted to go into the gas station - he has an obsession with them.



We arrived at Robert and Emma's and it really started to feel Christmasy.... All four of our kiddos were dressed alike and everyone seemed to be in a really good mood. My only regret is that we didn't get a photo with all four of them. Every time the opportunity presented itself, one of them had to pee or was crying...


Santa Claus visited like he does each year and Drew was really excited about that. He ran right up to him when in years before he cried and cried and cried.... Lizzie still wasn't as warm to Santa so we really didn't get any good shots of all of them. My Sam sure was fascinated by that beard.
We left the Didat's a little later than we should have and we made it to the Withrows a little later than normal also. It was really good to see Leslie and Gracie and to just be with all of my cousins. I still love it that Drew has the opportunity to play with my cousins kids. It makes me all nostalgic!

Thanksgiving... a little late

Well, Thanksgivng for us consists of three stops. Brandon and I ususally drive separately because I don't force him to go to desert at my uncles house. Luckily, its our last stop. I don't have any pictures this year because.... This post is very random and full of "run ons"... Thats the kind of mood I'm in today....

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas Card Picture

Every year, I torture Drew by making him do tricks for the photo that I use for our Christmas card. The first year... This is what I did. Poor thing - my camera sucked so I had to take like 200 pictures before I got a few good ones.



Last year, there was so much going on that I only had time for one... It wasn't staged - okay I did put the gold ribbon over his shoulder but he was playing in the bin...


This year sure was a treat... I took 50 and got 7 really good ones... Not bad for having 2 to photograph. I will only post my favorite.


I really do love doing this... I can't wait too see how many kids we add to our family over the next few years!!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Missing her....


Well my mamaw died November 9th - LAST YEAR. No, I didn't forget about it this year... I think just really tried not to think about it. Trust me, I did this subconsciously.

I miss her. It hurts really bad sometimes. There was a time not so long ago, that I thought for sure that she would live to be "at least" 90. One could imagine how depressed I am that she died at 80. To me, she had ten more freakin years... "at least".

So mamaw, I miss you and love you. Please tell papaw that I love him too. Watch Drew and Sam when I can't. By the way, I know that you are the one putting those little thoughts into my head when I'm unsure about a decision to make about the kiddos (ie. sugar on the pacifier). You're insight is appreciated!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Samuel and Preton's Baptism



The babies were baptized last night along with Simon Edward Schillmiller. All three boys were very well behaved - well my Drew was sure curious of what Father John was "doing to my babies head"...




Samuel was the only one in a Christening Gown. Preston and Simon were both wearing little suits which were definately cute but I think the gowns are much more traditional. We finally got a picture of Preston and Sam together!!! Preston was once so tiny but he is REALLY starting to catch up with Sammy!


We chose Rachel and Regina to be Sam's godparents because they truly are devoted Catholics and more importantly to us, just very good people who love both of our children so much. We are very fortunate that they are in our lives!

Sam took the cold water on his head very well... He didn't cry at all - I will say that it did seem as if he was slightly shocked by the way he jerked and blinked. Overall, he did a very good job!

Election Day....





The joy that I felt on election day this year was one that I cannot begin to put into words. I've spent the past months explaining to Drew how important it is that Barack Obama becomes our president.

The happines that I felt was so overwhelming that I felt compelled to take pictures of my sleeping sons so that they could know what they were doing while the news stations delcared Barack Obama the new President Elect...

Drew was sleeping in his clothes and Sammy was in his swing because he was so congested... Not very exciting - I know but at least they will know what they were doing during this important moment in American history!

Halloween - The Real Day

As a child, my sister and I would come home from school on Halloween and dress in our costumes so that my dad could walk us around the neighborhood in effort to collect so much candy that we could barley carry the bag home.

When Brandon was little, he lived in a very rurual area so they just "drove around" to different family members houses - to me it seems more like a "photo session" for his mom and aunts but thats just me.

As my boys grow older, I will take them to the neighborhood where I grew up to trick or treat. I hate this "driving" around and will refuse to do so. The only good thing was that we got to see Lizzie and Preston and I had a chance for my own "photo session"!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I LOVE THIS DAY!!!

MySpace.com - Bumper Stickers

Change is here.... Oh and don't we all deserve it! What a wonderful feeling... I feel American again - patriotic, and so excited to live in this GREAT country! I pondered today about how I would rub it into my conservative friends but I will not do that! I'm taking the high road and will be satisfied with being happy with our new president who is not an old white guy!!!

I LOVE YOU AMERICA! LET FREEDOM RING!!!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Trick or Treat at Buffalo Trace and my Birthday


We dressed the boys up in their Halloween costumes so that we could take them to Buffalo Trace Park for early Trick or Treating.

I had so much fun putting Drew's cowboy costume together... He really did look cute. I normally hate store bought costumes but I have to say, I did purchase Sammy's cow costume off of eBay. I thought about making him and Indian but never really got there! I'm so glad that I bought it because it kept him very warm and he looked precious!


Drew got plenty of candy and seemed to have a really good time. Maybe its just because I'm his mom but I really think that his costume could have won a contest! I mean, it wasn't elaborate but there was truly thought put into it!



Saturday, October 25, 2008

Boys...

Being the mommy of two boys is really fun. I' m sure I would feel the same way if I had a girl but I don't know any different right now. Along with the fun of having a boy comes the uncomfortable instances that arise when Drew references his penis or how much he likes my boobies. To be honest; there are times where I am left absolutely speechless - for those who know me --- occasions like this are rare.

Just the other day, I was undressing to shower (we aren't modest in my house) and Drew looks at me and says, "mommy are those spiders on your penis". I was caught so off guard that I couldn't say anything at all. Really, there was a perfectly appropriate response but I just didn't go there!

The purpose of this is to try to keep some sort of record of all of these things that he says.... Hopefully I'll do better because I don't have the discipline to write all of them down...

Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Punkin Patch...


We took the boys to the punkin patch at Hubers Yesterday. We got 3 punkins and Drew got to play with Austin in the barnyard.

I did have trouble getting both boys to look at the camera at the same time!!!

Drew suprised me by wanting to go down the slide. I thought for sure that he would get to the top and freak but he didn't! He didn't waste any time when he got to the top! He said "look mom" and just flew down that huge slide!!


My sam just sat in his stroller watching people. He really was good considering that the dust was horrible and the sun was in his eyes constantly!


We had a really good time. Our trip to the punkin patch really made me excited for fall... I know its a little late but at least I'm finally there! Drew was so upset when we left... He kept saying, "I don't want to leave Old McDonald had a farm".


The Jacobi Family

Since just one year before I met Brandon, the Jacobi family has been getting together at Grandma Jacobi's house to honor her memory the Sunday before her birthday by exchanging angels. I didn't quite understand how special it was until I lost my own grandmother.

This year, we exchanged angels but I only brought for the boys. This angel is Drew's. It came from Elaine Efkeman (Susan's oldest sister).


This angel is from Heather Jacobi (Craigs wife). It went to baby Sam.

In addition to the angel exchange, we all got together to eat and have fun. It was such a beautiful day and all of the little boys and girls played outside in the same yard that Brandon and his cousins played in when they were younger. It really made me happy to know that my boys come from such strong, large families. These are memories that I hope that they will hold dear forever.


Sammy and Luke are exactly seven days apart and they were soooo cute! They are about the same size and would just look at eachother like, "Hey, what are you"? It was precious. We laid baby Preston next to them to see how small he really is!

This morning while writing this entry, I explained to my Drew that even though his Great Grandma Jacobi is in heaven, she still watches over him along with several other angels. He didn't really understand but I think it is important that he knows about her. She never knew any of ther great grandchildren as the first one (Walker) came right after her death. I know that she was smiling down on us that day and I hope that she knows that she is loved.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Preston James Didat - My new nephew

Preston is such a little cutie!!! He's so tiny compared to my monster babies. I can't believe that Jim and Susan have 4 grandchildren! I grew up in a family where I had 16 cousins on one side and part of me hates it that Drew and Sammy won't know what that is like. They will have their second cousins but it still doesn't quite seem to be the same!

Check out baby Preston! He's a cutie!

http://our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=193ea306-81dd-4e74-886c-3ac142ae172f&babyid=de3d36be-8185-48fe-8f90-173d0b6054c4

Yes... I got it!

Tuesday at 4:30, I was holding my baby Sammy when the telephone rang.... It was Kim Blanding, my new manager. SHE OFFERED ME THE JOB!!! I couldn't believe it! Here I had spent about three weeks making fun of Sarah Palinisms as she would stumble like an idiot through her interviews and I thought that I was being paid back for all of my harsh words because I didn't present myself in the best light during my interview with Kim and Jackie... Well and then I realized that I wasn't running for VP of the United States of America but thats another day...

Anyway - I'm busy as hell - there's a lot to do and I'm ready! I wouldn't want to do this job at any other company as there is a clear understaning that family/life balance is essential to employee satatisfaction... I am rambling again but I'm just so happy! I've waited for this for a long time! My day has come!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Family... Brandons Family

Normally, we go the the lake every weekend in October trying to soak in every drop of fall weather before the real cold sets in... This year is a little different with the arrival of our Sam this past July. Not that Sammy can't go camping ; we just happen to have a very BUSY two year old boy and with Sam in the mix; we have just kind of nixed the idea for this year.

The Didat's have a mini family reunion every October so we decided to go. Lizzie and Drew had so much fun eating fruit roll ups and playing out side.



Sammy didn't have a bad time either... He was passed around and cuddled by just about everyone. He looked so cute in his mongramed bib that the girls at work gave him when he was born!

Recycle!!!

After the first ever Hurricane that swept through Indiana last month; we realized that there were hundreds of beer cans all over our yard! How embarrassing... We've been collecting them on the side of the garage so that we can take them to the recycling center. Well, this is what we get for being procrastinators!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Asthma...

Having a child with asthma is scary... Especially in the Ohio Valley. Every season brings some sort of pesky allergen that causes most of us to sniffle, itch and run from our eyes and nose but for my Drew, it can mean much more than a nuisance.

You can do things to prevent it but in effort to save his teeth (the ones that he has left) and his future fertility; I don't like to "over do" the steroids so I usually have to play my cards exactly right to keep him from having a full blown attack. He gets a daily dose of singulair in his applesauce no matter what and when he is wheezing I try to give him an in hailed dose of pulmacort along with a decongestant every 12 hours. If I feel that he is struggling in between; the albuterol usually knocks it back down but I don't like to give the albuterol unless the other stuff is obviously not working. Once it was so bad that Dr. Corba prescribe an oral steroid but Drew hated it and threw it up in our kitchen so I just made it work with the nebulizer.

All week long, I have seen it coming. So needless to say we've spent the weekend indoors administering meds as needed. He also sleeps with me when he is like this because I have a fear of him going into respiratory distress and I won't hear him... He seems much better today so we have only given the daily dose of singulair and the decongestant. Hopefully we won't need any of the other stuff! All of these meds are hard on a little boy.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Drew's teeth


My oldest baby lost his teeth when I was about 8 months pregnant. I have some extra time on my hands so I thought that I could post the pics. In the moment I was so upset. I wondered how he would feel about not having front teeth... I even took the next day off because I thought that he would feel bad - he didn't care! He asked for doritos! I still don't think that Drew really knows that he has no front teeth...

Kids are just so resiliant!

Sammy's first day at Lisa's....


Here is a of my baby on his first day at Lisa's. I missed him soooo much but she said that he had a wonderful day!

The Damage.

The windstorm that we experienced a couple of weeks ago literaly rocked our world. It was total chaos for three hours all the while we were in our truck with both of our children. We left because a power line very close to our house and we felt that it was unsafe for them to be here. We made it all the way down hwy 150 but once we got to Greenville we were stuck. After "almost" getting to the end of several country roads only to realize that a tree had fallen; we finally made it to Brents. It felt nice to get the boys into someones house. Once it was over we made our way home and this is what I found...

Front Yard


More front yard...


Back Yard



More of the back yard...



There are several from the side yard and very back yard but honestly to you guys they will all look the same. The roof was ripped off of our deck as well as the whole roof to our house is damaged. We had several windows to crack and I lost my birdbath in the front yard. Out of the 50 mature pines that we had in our yard; we now only have 23. This is very sad as we love our yard because of those trees but we will put something else there! Maybe strawberrys!!!

Although that week was less than routine (it was only my second week back to work); we did learn one thing... We are a family and we are lucky that no one was injured. We sat on the porch until there was no more light outside TOGETHER. There was no tv or computer to separate us. I really hope that others took advantage of the power outage!





Sunday, September 21, 2008

Where do I start....

The past couple of weeks have been crazy... So crazy that I can' t even begin to give details. Lets just say that I left my job with 13 open positions and I came back to over 50... What a horrible feeling... I refuse to work later than 4:30 as I have two little boys who wait for me in the afternoons.

I'm tired and cranky and I miss my kids.

The good news is that Sammy is still breastfeeding like a champ. If I could sell breastmilk I swear I wouldn't have to work. I'm pumping about 36 ounces while at work.... Sammy only drinks 12 of that while I'm away from him! I've stopped pumping at night as I obviously have no need to!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

I feel like.....

Scrapbooking! Tonight, I am going to stay up late after Drew goes to sleep and I am going to scrapbook! For him.... I stopped right before his first birthday so I have a whole year to catch up! I'm not going to be so anal about making sure that everything is in chronological order (thanks deanna).... I do have to brag though; I have every event for his first year documented nicely with pics and journaling!!!

For Sammy, I am purchasing a file box (today when I go into town) for pictures and my index cards so that I can scrapbook as much as possibles (thanks deanna for the index cards) I know that I don't have as much time and not to mention that I lost my humble little scrapbooking studio because he needs a place to sleep (lol)...

I really wish that I could commit to a layout a day---- it just won't fit into my life!

The "second" time around...


Omigosh... The second child is so much different than the first. Poor Drew was rushed - I admit it. He was off the breast waaaayyy early, I ditched the bottle at 14 months, he was potty trained at exactly 2 years old (regressed and then trained for good at 25.5 months) and now we are left with only one of his "baby" needs----- THE PACIFIER. There must be some repressed guilt within me that won't let me take it from him. I've tried and to my regret, we've actually made it for DAYS AND DAYS without it. He doesn't even take it at daycare for his nap so why do I do this? I was so anxious to rid him of everything that made him a "baby" and now I cling to his paci to remind me that he is still young. I really need to talk to myself because he is too old for his paci. Luckily he doesn't have front teeth anymore!

My point is - Sammy will not be rushed but I haven't been as quick to stick the paci in his mouth this time either....

Monday, August 25, 2008

Breastfeeding....

Why do people try to make you feel as if you are molesting your child when you breastfeed them? Anyone who's ever breastfed could tell you that there is NOTHING sexual about it! Maybe they should feel bad that they DIDN'T breastfeed! I quit with Drew at about 3 1/2 months and I feel guilty... Give me a break. He isn't getting a bottle when I'm around. How do you think I make milk???

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Its a start!!

I cleaned the living room. Today, I would like to get the bedroom cleaned... I know - this is not in the same order that I had originally stated but its progress!

Monday, August 18, 2008

My big scare...

For the past few months, I've been counting on the fact that my moms bff would be taking care of Sam when I had to go back to work. Naturally, this gave me a lot of comfort just knowing that he wouldn't have to stay with strangers. This past Friday; my mom called to tell me that "Donna didn't know if she would be able to keep Sam". This DEVASTATED ME. I cried all weekend every time I even "thought" about taking him to a daycare full of strangers. Brandon tried so hard to provide comfort by saying things like, "people do it everyday" or "its not like we're taking him to some random persons house"... Well, I'm not those people and in my opinion... we may as well be leaving him at some random persons house as those places are state regulated but the state can't be in there all the time and to be quite honest, I feel like the state has failed so many children. I just think about the situation that happened at Kiddie Kampus (Drew's old daycare) right before my mom quit and I yanked Drew out of there! Thankfully, my mom did work there so I knew the truth!

So today, I called about 25 daycare facilities all of which were full. Tearfully, I would call and ask about openings and rates. It just felt like some were so outrageously expensive and the ones that I could afford were cheap for a reason. I called Sherri and cried to her that I didn't know what I was going to do and ranted about how things were going so well for me and that now I was on the verge of a freaking nervous breakdown. All of the sudden, a light bulb went off in my head!! Lisa Withrow babysits from her home! This is my aunt (my dads sister in law) who babysits for one of my cousins already! I called her... SHE SAID "YES"!!!

Now, my day is much better! My son is being cared for by family... Although its not the same; its the closest thing to being with me and that makes me happy!!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

EEEwwwwwEEEEE!!!! PUKE!

Poor Drew... My oldest baby boy woke up at 1:00am because he puked in his bed. We heard him scream for us on the monitor so Brandon went running. About that time, Sammy was waking up for his next feeding so things proceeded to sort of fly off the handle.

First of all, Brandon put Drew in bed with me wearing only his pullup (just for the record, pull ups are reserved ONLY for bed in this house)... I could smell vomit but Brandon assured me that it "wasn't that bad". After only a few short seconds, I knew; "Yes it was". We took Drew out of our bed only to realize that it was all in his hair. Slightly irritated that Brandon didn't check his hair considering that he first noticed the mess on his PILLOW; I proceeded to run bath water and clean him off.

Once he fell asleep, it was so nice to sleep next to my boys - all three of them! Even the bigger one!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Brothers....

Drew and Sam. I think it has a nice ring to it! I cannot believe how well my Drew has taken to his baby brother Sam. He kisses and loves him all the time. I can't help but wonder how it will be once Sammy is "mobile".

My sis and I were "rivals". I think that it might have something to do with being female but then again - who really knows. We (Brandon and I) are making our best effort to make Drew feel important and wanted. Over the past few days, Drew has wanted me to hold him more often and has even asked me to put Sammy in his swing. Of course I have held him as much as I can. Sometimes I can't hold him because I am nursing Sam but instead I will offer for him to sit with us. I've noticed that little things like asking him to rub Sammy's head or hold his had while he is nursing has helped Drew to bond.

My aunt told me that there is nothing like having boys (I'm sure the same goes with girls)... I'm sold on this! I love my boys!

Mamaw's Roses


My mamaw died in November after a short battle with Emphysema and probably lung cancer. Strangely enough, the day that she passed was the same day in which Sam was conceived. I can't help but think that there is some significance in these two events. Its almost like God knew that we needed something happy to help us to go on so he gave Sammy to us.

There were a lot of things that I could name that my grandma loved such as; Coca Cola, Thomas Kinkaid, kittens, puppies, babies and pretty flowers. I can still remember the rose bushes along the fence at her house on 2nd Street. She talked about how pretty they were each year when they would bloom. When she moved to Southland Blvd; she had pink rose bushes along the fence as well as on the side of the house that were over 1oo years old. Once again, she would always talk about how pretty they were as they would bloom.

This year, being the first year that she is gone, her roses had a hard time. For some reason, they didn't bloom very well. I think maybe her roses were mourning her too.

As I sat in my hospital room, Judy Nall came in with a vase that contained two pink roses. She said with tears in her eyes; "these roses are from mamaws house". Being that I had just delivered a baby the night before, I had a difficult time really feeling anything - it was strange really. I did have a hard time telling my mom where they came from just because I know how much she misses my mamaw.

Here we are, three weeks later and the roses are dead and are still in the vase in which they were given to me. I can't throw them out. Knowing me, I probably won't. They just remind me of her so much. I miss her and if I threw them away, I would be getting rid of a part of her. Hopefully, I'll find a place for my dried roses. Maybe I'll be able to preserve them enough for Sam to keep.

My mamaw may be gone but she will never be forgotten.

About the house....

So... I didn't do anything again! LOL~ I'm too busy enjoying my baby boy! When Drew comes home, I'm busy with him!!! That list will get done; just on a different timeline.

Oh... And guess what??? I don't feel guilty about it!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Kitchen Progress...

Well, I didn't make much progress on the kitchen today. I can't seem to put my baby in a swing, bouncy chair or his crib... Not even to nap!! Oh well, I still have a few more weeks! Hopefully I'll do more tomorrow!

The past few nights, I have had Brandon bring Drew to our bed so that I can be close to him. I feel like my time has become limited. I really admire Drew for his patience with me. He has shown us such strength and he is only two! This weekend, I think I'm going to leave Sam with Brandon so that Drew and I can go shopping. We need some mommy/drew time. We will probably just go to Corydon so that Sammy doesn't have to take a bottle!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Maternity Leave....Projects and such! Diet!!!

My maternity leave will be cut short... Much shorter than I would like so that means that I have no choice but to start working on this house! I have a "longer" road ahead of me than I would like to admit but I will get there... Now that Brandon and I are parents of two - it is important that we are organized!! I can't wait to start all of these projects this week... Maybe I'll jumpstart something this evening!!!

Monday - Kitchen: clean out cabinets, pantry, fridge and freezer; scrub walls, windows, countertops, floors and appliances
Tuesday - Living Room: windows, doors, walls, trim; adjust the sofa cover, sort toys and clean out closet
Wednesday - Bathrooms, top to bottom.... even brandons! Master closet
Thursday - Sam's Room - have brandon take doors out, carpet, remove quilt rack and organize the closet. Hang pictures and other decorations.
Drews Room - carpet, closet, toys, books and have brandon hang curtains
Friday - Bedroom - Sort clothes for consignment, dust, windows and floor

In addition to these projects, I will start my diet... Yikes! I'm scared to see how much I weigh but its all good - I just have to keep going!

Now, I just have to convince Brandon to paint the kitchen and living room before I go back to work! I can't wait to post pics by the end of the week!!!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Sam's Birth Story


Sammy

On Monday, July 21st, my day was soooo hectic. Drew has asthma so the hot weather and ozone warning days were really starting to take a toll on him. We had him in the doctor’s office all weekend with a fever (most likely a virus) but he was wheezing and coughing and his O2 levels would drop from time to time. Needless to say, we spent the day curled up on the couch until he started to sound really bad. I called Dr. Corba and scheduled an apt for the afternoon. They gave him another albuterol/pulmacort cocktail and then sent us to Floyd for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia.

Fast forward to the evening…

My mom and dad came up to see Drew – to be honest, I don’t even remember why! I think just to check on him and make sure that he was okay. At around 6pm, my contractions started. My mom noticed that I was uncomfortable and told me that I needed to time them. I don’t remember how frequent but I was a vbac patient so my doctor (who I am very close to) asked me to call no matter what. I called and my doc happened to be on call – so he said to take a shower and come in. I packed a bag for Drew, wrote instructions for his meds and called his doc to try to get the results of his chest x-ray.
As we were heading to the hospital, my contractions seemed to pitter out but were still there. We checked into l&d and the nurse checked me and I was at 2…. At that point, I had some bloody show and she left to let the monitor do its job. Contractions were coming but they were slightly sporadic but then again regular – she checked me again, I progressed to 3 so she called my doc. He told her to give me a shot of terb. If the contractions stopped, they weren’t real, if they kept coming they were… Well, they kept coming so I was admitted.

Once I got in the room – we slept and I didn’t feel one contraction all night! The nurse came in the next morning and said that I was having contractions but…. They weren’t very strong and that if she had to guess, I might get to go home and wait it out as I was still at 3. I was pretty upset but at least it wasn’t a section! Dr. R came down at 7:55 am and thanked me for letting him get some sleep – and told me that Dr. Koontz was coming on and that “The good thing about Bill is; he has gray hair like me and isn’t scared of a vbac”. They decided to start a VERY SLOW pit drip and I was told that if I fall off and contractions stop – I would have to get a c-section… Although I wasn’t crazy about this intervention, something told me to do it. He was a very Pro-vbac doc and if I go home now, I could end up with someone less experienced later.

The day wore on and my contractions were nothing to write home about! At about 3pm, I still had not progressed so Dr. Koontz broke my water. At that point, all hell broke loose! I made it until around 6pm and had to have an epi…. I was at 5cm and I started to panic because I didn’t want that epi to slow my labor down. Well I had my epi (that only numbed the right side of my body and for some strange reason, I had full feeling in my pelvis) and Dr. Koontz called at 8pm and I was just at 6. He told the nurse to talk to me and ask if I wanted a section at 9pm. She said that in her opinion, we needed to see where I was at 10pm… and then we would reassess! Needless to say, I felt things change and asked her to check me again and I was at 9cm!!!

The pressure that I felt was totally different than the feeling that I had with Drew. By 10:45, my new nurse was coming on and I was in pain… At this point, I lost all track of time. I told her at some point (after 11pm more like 12:00am) that I felt like I was going to have to take the biggest “crap” ever. She checked me, I was complete and at “zero station”. She called Dr. Koontz to tell him that we were pushing. So I pushed and it was amazing! I started to feel the “ring of fire” and I begged for more pain meds so they called and I had my relief within minutes. Dr. Koontz came in and asked the nurse if he had a few minutes to walk upstairs and “do something”. She tried to tell him no but he kept saying, “Really, I’ll be right back” finally, I asked him just to watch me push and then he could make his decision. Once I pushed he realized that he could not go upstairs, I was having this baby! Two more pushes and he was out! Samuel Joseph was born at 12:29am on Wednesday, July 23rd. It was the most exhilarating experience in my life! I didn’t have to wait for the doctor to tell us the sex; I just looked over and screamed “OH MY GOD! ANOTHER BOY”!

I had my heart set on pushing my baby out and I did it! I was so proud that Brandon actually got to cut the cord. Sammy got to eat right there and he latched on immediately!

My recovery has been wonderful and I have truly been soaking in every minute… I love both of my boys so much and Sammy has just been such a wonderful addition to our family! We couldn’t be happier! I hope you all enjoy Sammy’s birth story! Its something that I will never forget!