First Two Weeks

It's been 13 days since Levi joined our family. I'm so happy that he's here and we're all adjusting well to the new addition. I love that his name means "joined in harmony", I think it fits perfectly.

The first week home was great. Jordan got the entire week off of work. Also some of our friends and family brought us meals everyday. This is the first time anyone has ever organized meals for us after we had a baby and I can't say enough about what a huge blessing it was.

The sleepless nights haven't been too bad. I think I've been running off adrenaline because I'm fine until I sit down and relax for longer than 30 minutes. If I sit for too long I feel like I won't be able to get up or keep my eyes open!

The kids have been amazing. Gabriella really loves her baby brother. She's constantly asking to hold him and kiss him. Jayden wasn't as excited the first week, but I've been very impressed with how affectionate he's been this second week. He randomly walks up to Levi and kisses him gently on the head or strokes his arm. We were in the car the other day and Levi was hungry but we were still about 20 minutes from home so he was very upset. Jayden grabbed his pacifier and started trying to put it in Levi's mouth. It was precious. He was very sweetly saying, "come on, open, open. It's okay Levi."

Breastfeeding is going great. Levi hasn't had any formula and I don't think I'll have to supplement since I've been able to pump and freeze milk. It is very interesting having two curious toddlers when I'm nursing or pumping. They ask some funny questions. They also want to help... which can be slightly awkward. :)

And for some big news..... The kids have been sharing a room since Tuesday!!! Jordan decided it was time for Gabriella to sleep in her big girl bed. The first couple nights were a little rough on both the kids, but surprisingly it's been harder on Jayden than has been on Gabri. I've been putting Gabri in her crib for nap time still because Jayden doesn't always go to sleep right away and takes much shorter naps, so until I feel up to the challenge of getting them both to nap together, I'm letting her have the crib.

Being home alone with all three kids hasn't been too bad. It's actually been easier than I thought. I even took them all out by myself! We only went to my mom's house, but I still did it all by myself! :) Maybe next week we'll venture out to the store or the library?!

Levi's Birth Story

Well he's finally here and here's how he came to be.

Thursday (7/21/11) I was supposed to be home alone with the kids while Jordan went to band practice. I decided to take them on a nice long walk and then a trip to the park to help wear out their high energy levels. As we were walking up to the house Jayden pointed out that daddy was home. We went into the backyard through the gate and I was trying to get Gabriella, her shoes, my water bottle and my cell phone. Gabriella was poopy, I had to pee and I was really interested as to why Jordan was home. As I stepped onto the the back door steps I lost my balance and fell holding all the things mentioned above. I thought I landed on Gabri's arm so I kept saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." I got up, opened the back door and got everyone inside while trying to catch my breath. Jordan came over and after I explained what happened he pointed out my elbow was bleeding. He took me upstairs and cleaned my wound and we got the kids put to bed. I spent the evening on my exercise ball trying to get comfortable after my fall. I had been reading online about using the exercise ball to get the baby into proper position and it was a huge relief both before labor and during.

The next day we took the kids to the new water park in town. It's so much fun to take them to places like that! I was really glad that we were able to take them one more time before the baby was born. We got a pizza for lunch and then I had to go to my 39 week check up.

I had been going back and forth on the idea of having the doctor strip my membranes, so when she offered I said yes. I gained 35 pounds and everything with the baby looked good and I was 5cm dilated and he was at a -3 station.

That night we had a special game night planned with our neighbors, my sister-in-law and her boyfriend and a family from his church. We had dinner and played the game "Pit", which is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. I had been having contractions all throughout dinner and while we were playing games. I timed them and they weren't coming often enough or regularly enough to be real labor contractions, so I just enjoyed the night.

When we got home I cleaned the kitchen, picked up the living room and took a shower. When I got in bed I noticed the contractions were coming a lot closer together and when I laid down they intensified A LOT! They were coming every 6 minutes so I called my doctor who said I should come on in. This was around midnight.

We got the kids out of bed and in the car headed to my mother-in-law's house. We showed up on her doorstep at 12:30am to drop off the kids. I felt kind of silly going to the hospital at this point because I wasn't constantly in pain and the contractions kind of slowed down. The whole time I just kept thinking, I hope they don't send me home after all this!

(Right after we got to the hospital, feeling pretty good)

Once at the hospital they took us into a labor and delivery room and got us all checked in. I asked the nurse if they were going to send me home and she just said, I hope not! :) I put the gown on and she checked me. I was still 5cm and about 100% effaced and the contractions were every 4 minutes. After we were all set up I decided to take a bath thinking it might help ease the contractions. I probably stayed in there for 30 minutes but I didn't think it really helped.. mostly because I didn't want to be laying down. I wish I could have been in a really big hot tub. I got out and got on the birthing ball. This was by far my favorite method of coping with the pain. Jordan and the nurse kept trying to convince me to not use the epidural and I was willing to try it. (At this point I was wishing I had read up on how to go through labor and delivery without drugs and maybe with a midwife.) I had to get on the monitors for awhile so while I was laying in bed I tried to sleep. I kept hearing crying and thought I was hearing things until the woman in the room next to me started screaming, moaning, yelling, etc. I know this sounds really terrible, but I couldn't stop laughing. I've only heard that kind of thing in the movies so to hear it in real life was pretty entertaining... until I would get a contraction... then it wasn't funny anymore. :)

(Breathing through a contraction)

After 40 minutes of listening to her scream she finally delivered her baby, and I called the nurse to say I want that epidural now! I didn't want to end up like her! Luckily for me, that lady was the one who got the anesthesiologist on the labor and delivery floor, however he didn't make it in time for her. I was really thankful I got the epidural because I was so completely exhausted from all the stuff we did the day before that I needed to rest. The one thing I didn't like was the way it made me feel. I was tingly from head to toe, light headed, nauseous and like I need to scratch my skin like crazy! But I guess that's a small price to pay when I didn't want to feel the contractions anymore.

I got a couple hours of sleep and around 7:30am the dr. came in and broke my water. Less than an hour later I was complete. It only took me about 4 minutes to push out our new baby! I have to tell you, when he came out and Jordan announced it was a boy, it was almost more of a question! We were so sure at that point that we were having another girl that when we saw Levi's boy parts we were completely surprised. They laid him on my chest and we were able to just lay there skin to skin for an hour.

Everything went just as I wanted. I got to experience what it's like to go into labor naturally, I got to experience labor contractions without pitocin and Jordan was with me for the whole thing!

We were discharged from the hospital Sunday around 1pm. I was really thankful to be home with my other children and my husband since they had been at my in-laws all weekend. Life with 3 kids has been interesting. It's really not too different from having 2 kids. Right now we're all still adjusting to our new family life. It was great having Jordan home last week.

(Gabriella holding her new baby brother)

(Jayden was more interested in the "balloon" Grammie was blowing up)

Levi Cooper Wertzbaugher

8lbs 8oz

20 inches long.

July 23, 2011

8:41am

My Neighbors

We are coming up on the two year anniversary of living in our house and I am realizing more and more everyday how much I love living here.

Being a homeowner isn't always easy. We just had a terrible hail storm on Tuesday that caused a couple of holes in our siding and of course we'll be the ones to pay to have it fixed. We've had our fair share of broken pipes, leaking window, furnace breaking, toilets needing to be replaced, etc. but being a homeowner is totally worth it!

I didn't want to move to Brighton at first because it was so far from everything. It's just a small little farm town with not a lot going on. Now that is exactly what I love about it! It's nothing compared to my hometown of Broomfield and it certainly doesn't compare to Dallas (at all!), but it's quiet and I like it.

We only knew one family when we moved out here and the husband happens to be the worship leader at our church. We live about 5 or 6 houses away from each other. I can see their house from my couch, bed, kitchen, closet and office.

When we moved into our house I was pregnant with Gabriella and only a few week from my due date. After giving birth to her I became a stay at home mom. Sometimes being a stay at home mom can be rather lonely. I'm the type of person that needs interaction with other adults.

I can't tell you how many times I go over to visit my sweet neighbors and come back feeling totally refreshed. I'm so thankful for them and how they always open their home to my family. This past weekend Jordan was over helping Troy with a project he's working on for their backyard and as our families sat together in their living I realized what a deep love I have for the Warwicks. They're truly an amazing family. They've seen us and our house at our best and worst and love us just the same.

Today was just another day where I need a little time out of the house with some adult interaction, so I went running to Tirzah who gladly opened her home to us and sat and chatted with me for a couple hours. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Frustrated and Discouraged

I haven't written a blog in a while because I've been so busy trying to get this baby to come out. You'd think by the 3rd baby I would have learned that these little babies just come when they're ready and not before. All the silly things people say induces labor aren't helping me. The one thing I will continue to do is walk because I know that even if it doesn't jumpstart my labor, it will help with the position of the baby, it's exercise and it makes the kids tired so they take good naps! :)

I'm 4-5cm dilated and 50% effaced, so you'd think that pretty much anything would send me into labor. I'd had a lot of false labor which only results in a sore belly and back.

Jordan reminded me the other about how big our children are when they're born and that just made me all the more anxious to get this baby out of me! I don't want to be past my due date and then deliver a 10 pound baby (which is totally possible given the size of my previous children).

Pretty much everything I've read online about natural induction says, "If your body is ready then these could help..." well why isn't my body ready?! All the numbers seem like it should be ready. So I wait. Impatiently.. I wait.

I hate feeling frustrated and discouraged, especially over something you CAN'T control.

As we were getting ready to go out for our daily walk I forgot that the chain on Jayden's bike came off yesterday. So after getting all the water bottles filled and everyone's clothes and shoes on, we get all the way to the sidewalk and I realize Jayden can't ride his bike, which means we can't go for a walk and it totally spoiled my plans. So I got down and started trying to fix it myself. I had no clue what I was doing and quite frankly I was about to start crying because I was so frustrated. After about 5 minutes of trying to figure it out, I somehow got it back on properly. So we were still able to go for our walk. But it was as we were walking that I realized I try so hard to take matters into my own hands then get so frustrated when they don't work out. How old will I be when I finally learn to just relax and rely on the Lord and know that He has the perfect plan.

The doctor who delivered both Jayden and Gabriella told me, "God made pregnancy 9 months long so by the end of it women would be more than willing to go through labor and delivery." It's funny how we're so ready to be done being pregnant that we're ready to go through the most intense pain we've ever experienced.

I know this baby won't stay locked inside of me much longer and we'll have that precious newborn in our arms soon, but darn this waiting game is hard!

Anxiety

The anxiety has kicked in full force. I am 37 weeks pregnant today. Every night I go to bed wondering, "will tonight be the night?" I don't know why I always assume I'm going to go into labor at night... It's really annoying because I'm so tired and all I want to do is sleep as much as I can before the baby gets here, but my body won't cooperate.

Adding to my anxiety is not knowing the gender of the baby. You know the feeling you get right before your 20 week ultrasound, the one where you find out the baby's sex? Well, I'm having that along with the anxiety of not knowing when I'm going into labor, feeling unprepared and scared about what kind of labor and delivery I might have. Part of me is hoping that tomorrow when I go for my ob appointment that the doctor will check me and I'll be like 6cm and she'll just offer to admit me and break my water. :) Since I'm already 3cm dilated it's not that far off right? ha!

My sister brought down the cradle that the new baby will be sleeping in for the first few months. Reality is beginning to set in... we're having another baby. Although I know I'm 37 weeks, I'm already dilating, it's not unlikely for me to go into labor within the next couple of week... It still doesn't seem real. Part of me isn't ready to have another baby and part of me can't wait for the baby to be here. I realize I don't make any sense right now... unless maybe you've been through pregnancy before.

We STILL don't have a name picked out... but it could very well be Abigail Grace or Cooper Levi... Those are the only ones that we both sort of like... neither one of them are official.

These last few weeks of pregnancy are the hardest, but I want to enjoy them as much as possible before my life becomes: sleep, eat, changing diapers, repeat. As well as trying to entertain two very active toddlers.

Here's to motherhood!

It's the final count down!

As of tomorrow I am 36 weeks pregnant! That means the baby is full term and can come out anytime now! :)

I'm convinced the last 4 weeks of pregnancy are really the longest weeks. Once the doctor says, "Now that you're full term, we wouldn't stop your labor if the baby decided to come." So of course, in the back of my mind for 4 weeks I think the baby will come any day now... it's terrible false hope!

We still haven't solidified a name for the baby. We have decided not to push Gabriella into her big girl bed before the baby is born. So we'll be using a cradle that my sister is giving us until Gabs is ready. Which means the baby will be in our room or in the office for awhile.

I've outgrown some of my maternity clothes... which is always slightly annoying. My favorite outfits are skirts (which are all non-maternity) or sweats. I wear Jordan's shirts a lot because they don't make me feel like I'm suffocating.

This is my favorite outfit right now

(My cousin Hailey and me at my Grandma's memorial)

I downloaded a "contraction ap" for my phone, so for fun last night I was timing my braxton hicks. They were coming every 10 minutes and lasting for about 30 seconds - a minute. I only timed it for like 30 minutes because it was right before I went to bed, but I was surprised with how often they were coming. Monday night I was woken up from my sleep because of a strong contraction.

I'm also convinced that during the last few weeks of pregnancy I have the strangest dreams! Last night I dreamt the baby was kicking so hard I could see every detail of it's foot and all the way up to it's knee. Creepy!

Tonight we're preregistering and taking a tour of the hospital. I'm excited to see everything in person and get the registration out of the way. My bag is packed for the hospital, so after tonight we're ready to have this baby! :)

Why I LOVE being "momma"...

Sometimes motherhood can become overwhelming and you feel like you're at your wits end. Then there are other times when you are so in love and your heart overflows because you can't get enough of your children. It's easy to lose sight of the latter when you're feeling stressed out.

Sunday on our way to church we were listening to a Jesus Culture CD and I heard the littlest voice coming from the backseat singing the words to the song. Before Jayden was born God told us he would be a worshipper. He's super into music and learning to play instruments already. As we were listening to Jayden sing the lyrics to the song I started crying, maybe it's because I'm pregnant, but I think the real reason is because he's learning to love God even from a young age. I never experienced God until I was an young teenager, so it blesses my heart to watch my kids learn and grow in their relationship with God.

"You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you."

Psalm 8:2

A few weeks ago Jayden's Sunday school teacher brought his guitar to sing songs with the kids. After the service he told Jordan that Jayden was the only one who knew and would sing the words to the "B-I-B-L-E" song. We sing this song everyday in our house and even Gabriella sings along... although it sounds more like "e-i-e-i-e bible!" ha! I was so proud of him that he isn't afraid to sing out the praise of God!

As rambunctious and energetic as Jayden can be, he's also very sweet and loving. We were watching the Curious George movie a couple months ago and towards the end there is a sad part where George is going back to the jungle without his friend 'the man with the yellow hat'. I looked over at Jayden and he had big tears in his eyes. When I asked him what was wrong he just broke down crying. He does have a very sensitive spot in his heart that might not always show, but it's there.

Then there is Gabriella who the world is just in love with. It doesn't take much to fall in love with her. Not only is she very adorable, she's extremely sweet and calm. She's also an extremely nurturing child. Jordan will fall on the ground and pretend to be hurt and she'll rush over to him and kiss him and ask if he's okay... literally EVERY single time! One time he pretended to fall down the stairs and she started crying, working her way towards him until she could check on him to make sure he was okay. When I ask her where the baby is, she'll lift up my shirt and rub my belly give it hugs and kisses.

Gabri just has a way with people. There is something about her that people are drawn to. I believe she has a gift and will be able to reach many people because of it.

It's interesting watching my babies start to develop their personalities. I often think about their giftings and callings and where God will take them and how even now at 1 and 2 they are being shaped and molded for the rest of their lives. I want to be the best example of what it means to love God and serve Him, so that my children will WANT to follow in the same footsteps.