Baby Thomas, Week 1 in pictures:)

I told Max that Thomas had quite some jowls in this picture.  "What are jowls?" said Max...  Hard to explain eh?  It's like cheeks and chin put together???  Maybe I need to get out the dictionary!

Sunday Stories

My friend Wendi has a series she calls "Friday Funnies."  Well, in an effort not to copy her exactly (as in, I won't steal the title, but I am stealing the idea), I am going to start our own "Sunday Stories."  A day late, cause that's how I roll.  Here goes:

Last night Jackson asked if firefighters get weekends off.  I said, "Not exactly.  I think they work for a few days and then have a couple days off.  But the days off are not necessarily on Saturdays and Sundays."  

Jackson replied, "As long as they get days off.  Because when I grow up and be a firefighter, I am also going to open a restaurant and work there when I am not being a firefighter."  

That one has some big ambitions.

I am writing this one because Mike and I still laugh about it.  

We were trying to use our grill one night.  It seemed to have gotten a little discombobulated in the move and was creating a lot of smoke.  The screen door was open and the smoke got inside the house, which set off the smoke detector.  Jackson and Max were upstairs in our room watching an episode of "The Magic School Bus."  But when they heard the smoke alarm they came running downstairs, shouting, "THERE'S AN EMERGENCY!!!"  

It was one of those moments you wish you wore a video camera on you all the time.  The look on Max's face was beyond priceless.  He was panicked, but excited at the same time, or something like that, lol.  

A Christmas gift from my friend Cara arrived a little late and we just opened it a couple days ago.  She is really good at gifts and remembering things people like and want.  Well, last year (or was it two years ago?) she sent Jackson and Max Pez Batman and Spiderman Pez dispensers.  And Max, the candy King, went nuts over them.  He is always sad when the Pez runs out.  So this year, Cara sent each boy two gifts.  We had unwrapped much of her box full of presents, when I realized there was still one for Max; he had only opened one so far.  So, I handed it to him.  And he opened it.  And you guessed it:  Pez.  And I wish I still had the video camera out to catch his reaction...  You should have heard the ear piercing shriek of joy. Priceless the way he was SO excited about the pez and of course, immediately wanted to fill one of the dispensers.  Since Spiderman, Max also received a Darth Vader one, which he refers to as "Dark Vader."  

Clemens baby Comparison

Jackson at 4 days

Max at 3 days

Thomas at 4 days

Thinking of them often...

I feel like I should go back and give my sister credit for pointing out the Scripture verse from Luke 2:19, which I wrote about in my Christmas post.

"All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often." 

I had read it in "The Greatest Gift," but only really thought about all the things I myself could "think about often" after reading my sister's blog post about it.  See that post here.

So these are the things I am thinking about today:  

Thomas being here.  How thankful and overwhelmed with emotion I feel about this gift.  How much more Mary must have felt to know that she had the Messiah in her arms, that He was God's own Son.

How sweet Jackson and Max are with Thomas.  They both love to hold him, give him kisses, and Max loves to tickle his feet, lol.  

Mike being home and getting to spend extra time with all of us.  He is so calm with Thomas, which we both think is a change from the big boys.  

All the little ways it feels good not to be pregnant anymore.  I always hoped I would love being pregnant.  But I haven't loved it.  I feel sick much of the time and this time, I had the worst heartburn.  In general I just felt tired all the time and I hated sitting on the floor, which really hindered playing with Jackson and Max.  I do love seeing my big belly and feeling the baby move, but there are so many more good things to enjoy once the baby is out.  

About babies:  I have missed having one!  Their sweet smell, their baby breath, how tiny and soft they are.  And Thomas so far seems to be a mixture of Jackson and Max.  I don't want him to grow too fast, but I am curious to see what that will actually look like as he grows.  I missed those moments of being the only one who can sooth a cry.  I miss the moments of quiet feedings in the night.  And I simply missed holding a baby in my arms.  

Thomas' birth. Warning: Long story!

0133 on Tuesday, December 30th, 2013.

I was downstairs on the couch sitting through contractions that were uncomfortable enough to make me antsy and unable to sleep.  I had energy, so I emptied the dishwasher and picked up the house, but I could not concentrate on much else.  Finally, around 0400 I was able to go back to sleep on the couch.  I woke to sunlight at about 0645, when I decided to get out there and do some walking, hoping to get this baby out today!  I walked and the contractions did speed up.  I thought they were intense in the morning...

Mike went to work.  I called the midwives at 0945 or so and let them know my contractions were between 2-6 minutes apart.  They suggested I come in and get checked.  I called Mike back and told him to make his way home; I thought we might just have a baby today.

We dropped the boys at my good friend Sonia's, bags packed for them to stay overnight.  Mike stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way, so I could get some ice cream.  We arrived at the hospital and I was disappointed to find I was only dilated to 3 cm, 80% effaced and the baby was a -4 station (that means he was still high up in my pelvis).  I told the midwife my plan was to go natural, no drugs, no epidural.  She suggested it might be more comfortable for me to labor more at home and do some more walking.  At first, I was hoping the contractions would get stronger and more frequent quickly, but after a walk around the hospital that only took Mike and I fifteen minutes, we decided to head home.  I needed to put some shorts on and get better walking shoes.  Mike got some lunch while we were there.

We decided to go over into one of the housing areas and do some more walking, through which I stopped a few dozen times to breath through contractions.  We walked for about an hour and a half and then went back to the house one more time.  We made our way back to the hospital around 1500 where the midwife checked again:  only 4 cm, but 90% effaced and the baby moved to a -2 station.  OMGoodness!!  But, she said she stripped my membranes a bit and was fairly certain by my level of discomfort at that time that things would move pretty quickly from there.

Boy was she right.  I was in a triage room, waiting for my L&D nurse to come and move me to a labor room.  Apparently, I was uncomfortable enough for the contractions to cause vomiting, which is a good sign labor is progressing.  Glad I only ate that ice cream, which I counted on to be not too bad if I did get sick.  All that prior experience with puking while pregnant paid off for delivery!

Not sure what time the nurse came, but we moved to an L&D room, where I proceeded to move on to contractions more intense than anything I had experienced with the first two boys.  I got into the whirlpool tub, but the water was not warm enough and I got cold pretty quickly.  I made Mike help me out, even though he wanted me to wait for the nurse to come back.  I think he was afraid of me falling.  I fell in the shower at 34 weeks and people get a little worried about things like that.  I was shivering though, and just wanted out.  We moved back to the bedside and I got so uncomfortable I had a moment of weakness and decided that I better make sure the window was really closed for an epidural.  Mike said he and the nurse basically ignored me, lol, as sure enough, there was no chance of that.  I asked to be checked again and the midwife came.  8 cm, 90% effaced, baby at 0 station.

At that point, I was laboring on the bed, on my hands and knees.  I had put on my gown backwards (more like a robe) so that if anyone came in they would not see my behind in the air.  Mike later said that turned out to be a good idea.  The midwife said she thought I would be feeling some pressure to push anytime.  She got more people and supplies into the room and stuck around.  I sure did feel that pressure pretty quickly.

The midwife suggested that I turn more onto my left side for the actual pushing.  My water still had not broken and she asked if I would like her to do that.  My question:  "Will it help get this baby out??"  She said probably.  I said yes.  She broke my water, which really did not add any pain to the labor at that point.  I still felt a lot of pressure.

 She then mentioned that I was probably going to be feeling some burning while pushing.  Burning?  Talk about the understatement of the century.  I have since been describing said "burning" as someone putting a blow torch down there.  And I thought the contractions I had been most recently having were painful.  Let me just say, that everything regarding labor just gets progressively worse and more painful until the point of pushing, which is the worst.

An addendum to the story:  Jackson takes piano lessons from a lady whose sister lives here (they are in the Navy).  She was also pregnant and when we went to our first lesson after Thomas was born she and I exchanged birth stories.  I got to the point of telling her about the burning and she said, "Oh yeah, the ring of fire."  My mouth dropped open.  I said, "That is the perfect way to describe it."  Apparently, even some books describe it that way!

The relief only comes once that baby is out.  So push with all your might.

I got a burst of energy when the midwife said the baby had meconium in the fluid.  That gave me the will to push, as I wanted him out as soon as possible to avoid anything bad happening to him.  I gave another two pushes, I think, and he was out.  My first thought was that his face was pretty blue and swollen and that he had a pretty big head.  He looked a lot better by the time they got his weight.

Even after the baby is out, there is not complete relief.  You are still waiting on the placenta.   After the pediatrics team checked out the baby and gave him to me, I was still pretty uncomfortable, not to mention exhausted.  I wanted to much to pick him up and look at him, but I just did not have the energy.  So, he laid there on my chest for a bit, until everything was taken care of and I could sit up.

Mike and I could not decide on a name right away.  And there were too many people coming in and out of the room for us to debate.  Apparently, our baby was the first to get any kind of bodily fluid on our labor nurse's shoes.  She joked that she felt she should get some say in naming him because of that.  We had told her our list of names when she initially brought us to the room and she said she was going to call him Tommy.  Mike and I still had not made a firm decision when we were taken to the postpartum room, but I guess Thomas stuck with both of us because we fairly easily agreed to go with it.  For his middle name, we  thought we would use Arthur for the longest time.  Arthur was Mike's grandpa's name and Mike's middle name.  But we had also thought about Michael, although had more leaned toward Arthur.  Jackson's middle name is for Mike's Dad.  Max's middle name is for my Dad.  And now, Thomas' middle name is for Mike. It was a last minute change.  Mike just said he liked it better.

Mike went home that night, so that he could get something to eat and have a good night's sleep.  He brought Jackson and Max by the next morning to meet the baby.  They were instantly in love.  They stayed for a couple hours and then went back home.  The nurses told me that since this was our third baby, I could go home at 24 hours.  So, 1813 on December 31st they did a heal stick to check bilirubin levels and something else.  All was well, Mike and the boys came back to get us, and we were on our way home.

Going home outfit:  Boys are Awesome!!!

Big brothers ready to take the new baby home

He cried when we first buckled him in, but once we got going, he was quite content in the car seat.  Let's just hope that continues; Jackson and Max were not fans of being in the car seat.

Thomas Michael arrives!!

Thomas Michael arrived December 30th, 2013 at 1813 (6:13 pm).  He was 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19.5 inches long.  He came out a little swollen and blue in the face, but otherwise perfect.  He had meconium in the fluid, so the Pediatrics team came to the room to check him out.  They gave him to me pretty fast, as he was doing everything they needed him to.

First picture with Mom.

You can tell from my face that I was still hurting from all that natural childbirthing.  See my other post about that whole experience.  I wanted to hold him up and look at him so badly, but I just could not make that happen through the pain.  So, he just laid on my chest for a while.

7 pounds 4 ounces of perfect baby boy!  His little face looks a lot better here!

One tired Mama, but happy to have our baby boy out.  He remained nameless until the evening, around 9 pm when Mike went home for the night.  Our delivery nurse may have had some pull in what his name turned out to be.  We told her the list of names we came with and after he was born she kept calling him Tommy.  She joked that she felt a "right" to have some say in his name, as he was the first baby to get schmutz on her shoes, lol.  I later told Mike I had not thought we would call him Thomas, but since his birth and the nurse calling him that, I could not picture him as anything else.  

Close up of some pudgy cheeks!

Christmas Day

A Christmas funny:  Christmas Eve night I followed the boys up to tuck them in and they were super fast about getting in bed.  They already had the lights out and their Christmas lights on.  Their eyes were closed.  Max stated that they were pretending to be asleep so that they could stay up and see Santa.  Lol, they ended up pretending themselves into real sleep after only a short time.  

They actually slept till their normal wake up time, but when they got up they wanted to head straight to the presents.  Here is our video of them coming down the stairs and seeing their Santa gifts as well as opening something from each other:

Max opening a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Clemens.  Grandma Clemens always wraps their gifts in their own paper so they know whose is whose.

Jackson got a soft Superman guy from Grandma and Papa Watts.  Definitely a new favorite.  

They both got a set of Lord of the Rings Legos from Mom and Dad, which they opened yesterday.  Today, they got a set of Ninja Turtle Legos to share.  They are both super into Legos and do really well with them.  On a set like these, Jackson needs almost no help and Max needs minimal.  

This year, when opening my Christmas decorations I found a serving set from Celebrating Home as well as this coffee mug.  I have been drinking out of it all month.  My friend Stephanee got me the serving set and when we were moving in I thought it must have gotten broken or lost in our move because I remembered it being an every day set, with every day colors.  When I found it in the Christmas stuff I was so happy.  It has the same colors/pattern as the coffee mug.  

Yahtzee with Daddy using the new score cards.

Captain Hook's Adventure Rock from Auntie Harmony, Uncle Eli and cousin Lili

video of the boys opening Captain Hook's Adventure Rock

Angry birds helmet that came with the balance bike from Santa

Max pumping up the bike tires Santa forgot.  

Later in the day, after some bike riding and relaxing together we joined our good friends, the Berrios family for dinner and fellowship.  Sonia did not want me to have to do too much.  We were both hoping a baby might have joined us for Christmas!  We both had similar ideas about celebrating together though and we celebrated the birth of our Savior with party hats and those blow toys for the kids, as well as candles in the pumpkin pie and a song of "Happy Birthday to You" for Jesus.  

This year during the Advent season I read Ann Voskamp's devotional "The Greatest Gift."  She wrote on the verses from the Bible in Luke 2: 19  

"All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often."  

These are the memories I will cherish and I hope I can think about often through the year.  My wonderful husband making a garden box for our family.  My kids seeing what Santa brought them and Jackson still saying that the best part of Christmas is that it is Jesus' birthday.  Max wanting to get right out there and ride the balance bike, which he seems to really be into.  But most of all, I hope I will remember what Mary remembers:  the angels rejoicing over a baby being born, a baby born to die for the redemption of our sin.  A baby born so that, if we choose to trust in Him, we can one day be in Heaven forever with God the Father.  I hope I can live my daily life like I know and remember the reason Jesus was born.  I hope I will live my life like I know the reason was His LOVE for us. 

Merry Christmas to you all, from the Clemens Fam!!