January Be Gone!!!!!

This hasn't been the best month and will all the rotten news it has brought to our family I am ready to put it in the past and pray that February brings more peace and healing.

I won't get into specifics but please pray for members of my extended family that are dealing with serious health issues to have peace of mind and faith in God that He will bring them through this tough time. Please pray for their family members that they can offer love, support, strength, and encouragement.

Good bye January. May February bring brighter days.

Lucy has upped the ante...

Not to be outdone by her baby sister's exciting new milestone...smiling, Lucy has upped the ante a little and demonstrated a new trick of her own.

Last night she walked into the bathroom with Abby and then a couple of minutes later Abby came out and said it...you know...the words every mom of a two year old wants to hear...

"Lucy pee-peed on her potty!"

Of course John and I didn't believe her and she kept telling us that Lucy did it. Lucy was walking around trying to get her pull-up straight so I gave in and figured I'd check it out.

Sure enough, our little Lucy, who has shown ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in the potty up until now (except to put toys in it) had used it... A LOT!

The dancing, singing, high fives, and shouts of joy (mostly from John and me) ensued and I think we may have scared her a little with all the excitement. Once she was awarded with 3 M&M's though she got the point!

Hasn't done it again but was willing to sit on it earlier :) Was it her first step or a fluke...only time will tell I guess.

Alright Ruby, the ball is your court again...how about surprising us by sleeping through the night??????

Guess who's got a new trick?

Our sweet precious Ruby has a new trick...

She's SMILING now :)

She's only done it a few times over the past couple of days but as soon as I can catch it on film (well...memory card) then I'll post it.

It starts out as a frown, then the corners of her mouth turn up, then one side of her mouth opens and then the other side.

It's a full, open mouth, toothless, silly smile and it melts my heart :)

And this time it's NOT gas!

Better Late than Never...Our Christmas 2009...part 1

We had a wonderful Christmas this year (not that every Christmas isn't wonderful) because we got the best gift of all 12 days before...our little Ruby :)

I wasn't sure before she was born if I was going to feel up to hosting our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with my parents (and sister Mallory if she was home). However, since Ruby was kind enough to come a week early I was ready to do it.

I had finished my shopping the Wednesday before Christmas but had yet to wrap everything (I did get a lot done the night before I went into labor but I had several more to go).

On Christmas Eve I had John make his homemade spaghetti sauce and I threw together a salad and made the pasta and bread. John took the kids to the Children's Christmas Eve service at church (I stayed home with Ruby). Since my sister wasn't going to be coming home until the next day it was just my mom and dad who joined us for dinner. We actually used our dining room table and the fine china :)

After dinner and cleanup (thanks mom for helping with THAT!) we got the kids in their Christmas pj's and left out the milk and cookies for Santa and the carrot for the reindeer and then dragged the kids to bed.

Fortunately Ruby was sleeping a good stretch at that point and I was able to finish the wrapping in record time! She woke up at about 11pm to eat so I did that then got everything cleaned up and the gifts under the tree and got into bed about 12:30am.

Christmas morning came early (as does every other morning in the Bailey household). Lucy was ecstatic to see that Santa had left her the baby doll stroller that she had been wanting for months. Max was beyond thrilled when he got his Lego City Police Headquarters (all 953 pieces of microscopic size legos...THANKS SANTA!!!). Abby was just as excited with her new clothes as she was with her baby dolls (the girl LOVES clothes). As is tradition with the girls in this family, Ruby got a "Bobby" and a couple of little toys.

I surprised John this year with an iPod Nano, a Nike+ sport chip, and armband to use when he runs. His parents helped me complete this theme by giving him the Nike+ shoes as a gift. He puts the sport chip in the shoe and connects a receiver to the iPod while he runs then he can download all the info to the computer and can track his runs. I was so excited when I found out about this and knew it was the perfect gift for him (he usually just writes down his miles on a calendar). He was VERY excited about the gifts and will hopefully be able to make his inaugural run with everything tomorrow (it took us a while to actually load songs onto the iPod)...

After everything was opened and the top few layers of trash was cleaned up we had some breakfast, showered and dressed, and got ready to head over to my mom and dad's house...

Part 2...

Christmas at Nana & Papa's House...

Future Mommy?

Here is what I saw when I walked through the foyer the other day.

Lucy with her baby doll freshly diapered and "Bobby" in the middle. He needed his diaper changed...

Lucy likes to help herself to Ruby's diapers and not a single doll in our house has escaped being diapered by this little girl. One day her "Bobby" was covered from top to bottom with 3 diapers! She needs to work on it a little though...she knows how to put the baby on the diaper (with the tabs in the back) but doesn't pull the diaper between the legs...she fastens the tabs to the baby's body and leaves the rest of the diaper dangling...


She will "change" her babies as well. I walked through the living room this past weekend and Abby and Lucy were "changing" their babies. Lucy took the diaper off of hers and I heard her say, "Ewwww gross. That stinks! Abby, where are the wipes?"

Ruby's Birth Story...

Here it is...

On Friday the 11th I had an appointment and there really hadn't been any change from the previous week. I was still about 3 cm and was bummed that I actually had to schedule another appointment for the following Friday. That night I had a few contractions but nothing to get excited about.

Saturday night (the 12th) I figured I needed to get my rear* in gear and wrap some Christmas presents. I had started having contractions about the time we got the kids in bed and I started writing them down just in case. I was surprised after a couple of hours when I looked and realized they were averaging about 10minutes apart. They kept coming and so I kept wrapping presents thinking I might be heading to the hospital soon. Of course, I didn't mention the contractions to John until about 11:15ish that night because I knew it would just start freaking him out and he would be asking me about every 5 minutes what I thought we needed to do... I was right, when I did tell him he started asking me what to do and I told him I was going to try to go to sleep to see if they went away or not. They did slow way down and I only had a handful during the night.


The morning of the 13th the contractions came back at about quarter till 8. John wanted to take Abby to church with him (I can't remember why it was just her). I told him to make sure he had his phone in his pocket in case I needed him (the contractions were about 8-10 minutes apart). I could tell he wasn't sure if he should go or not and I'm actually surprised he walked out the door but I told him it was fine.

After he had been gone about 20 minutes he called and said he had a feeling he shouldn't go. By this time the contractions were getting stronger although still about 8 minutes apart and I told him to go ahead and come home. He kept bugging me to call my parents and calling the doctor. I did call the dr. and told her the contractions were getting stronger but they were still going back and forth between 7-8 minutes apart. She asked if I thought it was labor and I just told her that it felt the same way it did when I had Abby and Lucy. I also told her I'd feel better if I went to the hospital and at least got checked...to be safe and for John's peace of mind :)

We called our neighbor to come and stay with the kids until my mom or dad could come and get them and John and I headed off to the hospital around 12:30ish. We had to check in at the Emergency Room since it was a weekend and by that time my contractions were coming 5 minutes apart. I was wheeled to the Labor and Delivery room and got in the gown and in the bed. The nurse was noticeably relieved to see I was having the baby right then. She came in the room saying she was expecting a tornado (I guess my doctor had passed on my history of fast labors to the nurses). My doctor came in at about 1:15 and checked my and I was at 4 cm.

I had bravely made a decision during my pregnancy that I was going to forgo an epidural. The moment my dr. told me I was only at 4cm I asked if I could have one. Forget bravery...I had already had 2 babies without pain medication...I knew I COULD do it so I didn't need to prove it one more time :) The dr. told me if I wanted it to get it ASAP otherwise with my history it might be too late. I told her to bring it on!

The nurse kept trying to ask me all the admission questions and I had to keep stopping to breathe through the contractions. After a while she noticed things were moving along pretty fast so she stopped asking questions and went to get the anesthesiologist to tell him to light a fire under his feet. She came back in and said he would be there in one minute and that he had said something like "let's rock and roll" (yes, my dr. had passed the word around about my deliveries). I had mentioned to John at some point that I thought Ruby would be born by 3:00pm.

Dr. Epidural (I can't remember his real name) came in about 2pm. He tried to explain ever detail of the procedure (even though I've had it done twice before even if it only worked once). John was getting a little queasy from the lecture and I couldn't hear most of it through the pain of the contractions and the heavy breathing I was doing. He quickly decided I knew enough and got started. It was in by 2:15 and he was kind enough to stay in the room to make sure the dose was right (I told him about my failed epidural with Lucy). By 2:30 I was feeling good and thinking I might be able to catch a nap now.

My dr. came in at 2:35 to check me and I was at 9 - 9 1/2 cm and the bag of waters was bulging. Ruby was going to make her entrance in the next 10-15 minutes...no nap for me (my normal)! John called my mom who was on her way to the hospital after taking the kids back to her house and leaving them with my dad and told her she had better hurry!

The dr. did what she needed to do first then came in and broke my water. They had enough time to break down the bed and on my first contraction (which they had to tell me I was having) I started pushing. I pushed 2 times during that first contraction and Miss Ruby Anderson Bailey made a loud squirming entrance into the world at 2:53pm (a mere 23 minutes from the time the epidural took effect). I broke my previous record of 3 pushes!

No problem with this little girl's lungs...whew!

Ruby weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 inches long. As soon as she came out she was screaming and had her bottom lip poked out in a huge pout. The nurse told John that he was in big trouble! She looked (and still does) so much like Lucy.

"Hey, I'm a little cold over here...can I get a blanket?"

John and I finally realized we did not get any lunch so he walked over to Arby's to get us something. He did such a good job during the labor even though I know seeing me in pain like that and not being able to make it better had him worried. I was singing his praises until, as he was giving me my food from Arby's, he put his foot in his mouth (on purpose and teasingly) and said, "So, are you going back to Weight Watchers tomorrow"! If I hadn't been so hungry I might have thrown the food at him :)

I am not one of those women who looks all done up and glowing after childbirth...I'm swollen and tired and just bleck...not my fault but I apologize anyway :)

John went with Ruby and the nurse to give Ruby a bath and she stayed down there to get warmed up while John and I hung out in the room for awhile until I had enough feeling in my legs to get up and move around then we were moved to a regular room.

Daddy and his third girl...I'd say he's toast!

John had to work on Monday so my mom brought Max, Abby, and Lucy to the hospital after lunch to meet their new baby sister. Max and Abby were all over Ruby but it took Lucy a little while to warm up to her...when she finally got to sit on my bed and hold her :)

Our Crew of Four! Here we go...

Yes, I know it is a long story but I wanted to get it all down so I could remember it. Imagine how much longer it would have been if I didn't have such quick and easy labor and deliveries. My dr. and the nurse kept telling me since I had the whole thing down to a science I should have at least one more...

...nope!

Has It Been a Month Already?????

Happy 1 month Birthday to our sweet little Ruby!

Ruby in her Christmas sleeper...we're getting as much use out of it as possible :) Unfortunately, the delay on my camera caught her in a moment when she was crossing her eyes at me. That just gives me the heebeejeebees when she does that!

I can't believe it has been a month since you joined our loud and slightly wild crew :) You fit right in though...I can hear your "call" over the rest of the noise. You are such a sweet little one though and you make my heart melt when you tuck your tiny fists under your chin and snuggle up against my neck.

Ummm, are you ready to start sleeping better at night yet? Just asking :) ...

Love,
Mommy

Post...postponed...

I just sat down to post Ruby's birth story and the little stinker just woke up from what turned out to be only a 10 minute nap! I'll get it on here eventually...gotta go!!!!!!

Ruby's 2 week checkup...at 3 weeks old...

Lucy and I took Ruby for her "2 week well visit". Yes, technically she is 3 weeks old but I guess that's just semantics. Anyway, here are Miss Ruby's 3 week stats...

Weight... 8 pounds 9 ounces. That is up 1 pound 5 ounces from where she was when we left the hospital and 11 ounces higher than her birthweight. WOOHOO!!! Her dr. says she is growing beautifully :)

Height...she was 20 3/4 inches today which is up 3/4 of an inch from birth. Just call her "Stretch" :)

She is nursing great and I told the dr. that she will sometimes sleep for a 5 hour stretch at night and he said that I can let her sleep as long as she wants at night now since she's gaining weight...now if Lucy, Max, and Abby would stop waking up during the night that might actually mean more sleep for Mommy and Daddy!

She's not really on any kind of schedule yet except that during the day she normally eats about every 3 hours (give or take 30 minutes). She pretty much sleeps when she wants to during the day (mostly while being held) and will usually wake up shortly after I lay her down so I can get some housework done (or just try to do something crazy like use the restroom or eat)! That's okay though...I have gotten used to working with one hand and even changed the sheets on my bed with one hand...I know...I'm talented like that :)

When she is awake she is the most alert little thing. She was like that right after she was born too (well, after she finished screaming anyway). She had her eyes wide open and was looking around and taking it all in...so much for the epidural making her drowsy...then again it had only just taken effect 13 minutes before she was born so she probably didn't get much of it anyway! She has started watching people around her and is slowly starting to respond to our voices by turning her head in our direction. She is also making little noises (mostly squeaks and grunts). My mom and sisters claim she is a genius though and will be finishing her thesis soon :) My mom swears she heard her say "Nana"...maybe that was "Mama" :)

Oh yeah, Ruby's umbilical cord stump FINALLY fell off today! Now I don't have to worry about Lucy trying to pull it off anymore when she watches me change Ruby's diaper.

Mommy Note...
I will be heading back to Weight Watchers tomorrow night. I am so excited and extremely motivated to lose this baby weight...my 20 year high school reunion is in November! John's is in July so I'll hopefully be most of the way there by then but November is my ultimate goal :)

Holy Cow! Have I really been out of high school for 20 years????? I better not think about that...it makes me think of that woman in Wal-Mart who thought I was Ruby's grandma...grrrrrr....