Survived Week 1

Thanks to my wonderful husband and countless neighbors, friends, and family, we have all survived week 1 one of recovery and are halfway through week 2. The healing process has been much more than I expected, but having baby Jaron makes it worth it, although I'm not sure I really want to do the whole C-section thing again. :)Jaron has been a good baby so far. He's still trying to get a good schedule worked out, so Morgan and I are both pretty tired, but I have a lot of help during the day to take naps, so that I only have to get Morgan up once or twice during the night. :)
Logan loves holding the baby and asks usually at least once a day. He's pretty good with him too and you can tell that they are going to have a special relationship and Logan is really taking hold of the big brother title. He's pretty helpful too with Tragon, he can help lift him in his booster seat to eat and help him get back down, and he's even carted him to his room once for a time out. Hehe, that was funny.
Tragon has adjusted well I think. He hasn't gotten too jealous of the baby, but I think that's mostly because he still has two older brothers to play with and towards the end of my pregnancy those 3 really became buddies.
Logan was taking some pictures with the camera and caught the "puffer fish" Logan and Damon will frequently call out, "you're a puffer fish" and we have to explode with the puffer fish face. :) Morgan is always a good sport and plays along and the boys love it.
Damon is still Damon. I think he'll always be adjusting to having younger brothers. He's had a lot of fun being able to go play with his friends a lot this week so that I can have a little break. Him and Tragon both love the trains, so we either have them both playing great, or total war and meltdown with the trains. He's a pretty good little helper too when I really need it and he can finally wipe his own bum with clogging the toilet. YAY! The rest are just some random pictures that I tried to take for his "newborn pictures" I'm still not ready for family/newborn pictures to be officially taken, I think I'm going to need a couple more weeks and they grow a lot in just a short amount of time, so I wanted a few decent pictures while he was so little. I'm definitely not a photographer, but I liked them.

This is a face he usually pulls just before we have to change his diaper. :)
Sweet, sleeping baby boy.
This one is my favorite. He has provided us with lots of little grins and smiles and I love it. He's going to have the full face smile and light up a room just like his big brother Damon.
I still don't know what color his eyes will settle on. Sometimes I'm positive that they'll be brown, but other times they look a little green, and then today in the light they were still a silvery blue. Who knows. I wouldn't mind another blue eyed baby though. :)
I'm so grateful that we have this sweet baby boy in our lives, and I'm grateful for his older brothers and my husband too.
I think he's had enough of the flash in his eyes for one day. :)

This is a short clip of Logan reading to Jaron. He loves to do anything that makes him feel more grown up and responsible. Until next time...

Welcome to the World Jaron Levi

On Thursday February 16th, 2012 Jaron Levi Hadlock made his presence known to the world. If you don't want to read through about the crazy birth story, just skip to the end for pictures. :)

It all started that morning. We had a scheduled induction as has been the case with all our kids. This one was only a couple days early instead of a week since my doctor had been out of town. I was definitely on the countdown with this one. My body was exhausted and so ready to not be pregnant.

We got to the hospital and baby was head down and ready to go, so we broke my water, but lo and behold I was carrying a whole lot of extra water like I had with Tragon. Enough that as we were letting the water out, his little hand went up by his head, not a good thing if we couldn't get him to move it. Then a little later after the contractions started he still had room enough to move around, so much so that he was laying transverse..or horizontal in my belly, and you can't deliver a baby like that unless it's by C-section, which I so did not want.

The doctor had me get the epidural ready so that when he came in to try and manually turn the baby from the outside I would be a little more comfortable. Up to this point Jaron hadn't been tolerating the contractions very well either, his heart rate would really drop when I had one. We were the only person in labor and delivery too, so all the nurses were updated with our condition and our nurse basically stayed in the room with us the whole time monitoring him. Anyway, so about noon ish, maybe more like 12:30 I'm starting to progress more...which at this point we don't want to happen because we're waiting for the doctor to come in and try and flip the baby.

Side note on the epidural...it's never really been an issue and we have done fine, but this was the worst epidural experience of all my kids. The anesthesiologist was used to putting them in while the patient is sitting up, but they had me stay on my side because they didn't want any of the baby to come through the cervix while I sat up. Anyway, after about 5 of the most painful electric shocks running down my legs, and a second shot, he was finally able to get the epidural catheter in and we were ready to go. I count that as most painful part number 1.

So, the doctor comes in and tries to flip my little swimmer and as soon as he tries, his heart rate drops really low. He looks and me and says, it's not going to happen, we need to get the baby out now. So, here we go for a C-section. After Morgan saw how forcefully we'd have to manipulate the baby to turn him agreed and had he known would've just said let's go now.

However, because of the strain from the turn, we are now in an emergency situation and the charge nurser starts hollering and they are all running around getting the O.R. prepped and she's calling out STAT, STAT, get this done, get that done, and really kind of causing a mild panic. I wanted to sit up and say, it's okay, calm down, take a deep breath, it will be okay. They are hurrying so fast that they didn't get all my lines from IV, epdirual, etc all up and as they are going out of the room, one of the nurses had my epi line around her leg and if Morgan hadn't caught her when he did I would have had that thing ripped out of my back, something I'm grateful I don't have to label and most painful part number 2. :)

At this point I can tell Morgan is really nervous and scared and I think he took all my worry from me, because I just knew everything was going to be okay. I was in a lot of pain, but I never worried about our safety. So, we get to the OR and everyone is hastily moving about and I'm getting dosed up a little more before the incision, but not quite soon enough. I could feel the doctor's knife cutting me open. It was more of a burning sensation rather than a sharp pain, but it was also dull enough that I knew it wouldn't really help to stop them. They got me open and got the baby out and he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice, then around a leg and arm and was probably the most tangled up baby anyone had seen. Induction or natural labor, this baby would have come by C-Section. Then after we heard baby cry, they went to town on me getting me all patched up and getting the bleeding to stop....Most painful part number 2 & 3, the actual cutting open and then getting me closed up.

I gave Morgan quite a scare as they were patching my up. I had been giving him the death grip through the whole operation and I felt my blood pressure cuff go off, so I relaxed my arm so they could get a reading and happened to close my eyes at the same time because of the pain, and of course Morgan starts calling my name thinking I went unconscious...sorry babe.

We spent an hour in the recovery room monitoring me and the baby. Jaron was perfect! He was 7 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. He has some very healthy lungs and perked right up. With all the chaos and confusion, I am so grateful for how things happened and know that we were truly in the Lord's hands and He was watching over us. There couldn't have been a more perfect time to have this happen as far as hospital attention and even though there was a lot of chaos, it all worked out in the end. And had that baby stayed head down, it would have been a lot more critical and life threatening had he been halfway in and out and then noticed the cords around his neck.

The recovery has been nothing like I thought it would be. It's a lot more complicated. Every time I stand up I feel like my guts are falling out. :) I have to move really slow and I basically feel like an invalid. Morgan has been home with me this first week of recovery and has been the best in the whole world. He's got a lot on his plate and he has really stepped up to the occasion. My parents were here to take care of my boys while we were having the baby and it was such a peace of mind to know that they were taken care of too. And Morgan's parents have always been there to help out when we have appointments we need to get to. I love my family and all the support we have had through this. It's definitely been quite the physical and emotional roller coaster and in some ways I still don't feel like this actually happened to me...until I try to stand up. :)

We love our sweet baby boy and the other boys love him too. They have been really good helpers and have done really well with the whole thing. We're just taking it one day at a time and every day it gets better. Until next time....

Happy Valentine's Day

No picture, but still an update of our happenings.

*I got Logan registered for Kindergarten this past week. It was really weird walking into the elementary school and getting all the information and realizing that he will be going to school shortly. I think I was one of the last three that were able to make it with the AM time, which I really wanted. I'm very grateful for my neighbor taking the kids so that I could get it done when I did because if I had just waited until April after Logan's final immunization checkup we would have been stuck with PM.

*I had my last dr. appointment before we have the baby and still no progress, just like every other pregnancy. I was hoping that maybe baby boy would come to us a bit sooner, but nope, at this point we are looking forward to Thursday very much! That is the day we have scheduled his induction. I'm definitely looking forward to taking care of this baby on the outside rather than the inside, my body is really at it's wits end...although, a lot of the strain does come from the three older brothers that keep me running after them. :)

*Morgan earned his Woodbadge Award and to celebrate a dual occasion, his parents came down and babysat for us on Saturday afternoon. We were able to go out to a nice dinner at Olive Garden, which I think we haven't done in probably years. Going out to dinner is not really our thing, we'd be just as happy with fast food and picnic at the park, but it is nice to do on occasion. After dinner we headed to his bead ceremony so he could get his award. I'm so proud of him for how hard he worked to accomplish the goals that he set.

*Sunday was our Stake Conference, something which at this stage in the pregnancy I had decided well in advance that I wouldn't be attended, because I would not be able to sit on a hard chair for two hours and going an hour early and having to entertain the boys for 3 hours was not an option either. I was planning on just sending Morgan to take notes, but something inside me said that would not be the right choice and would not be a good example to the kids...so I basically said, okay Heavenly Father, I'm going to Stake Conference, but I'm going to need help, please help the boys to behave and please help my body to handle it. The Lord hears and answers our prayers. We walked up to the church about ten minutes before conference and lo and behold there was still enough room on a soft bench seat for our family...so far so good. I made sure that I came prepared with several different activities to keep them occupied as well as snacks (something they haven't had in sacrament for a LONG time). Well, between the activities and snacks they exceeded my expectations for reverence. Sure, they weren't perfect and we had a little struggling, but surprisingly less than we have on a normal Sunday during sacrament. I went away feeling uplifted and very grateful for my family and for the tender mercies the Lord provides.

*The rest of the week I have just spent in "nesting" mode. Trying to get the house cleaned, although I don't get too far before I poop out. I do at least have the baby's clothes in the dresser and the portable crib set up in our room for the first little while. I still have a few bathrooms to clean, some never ending laundry, but I think for the most part we are ready! Hopefully the next blog post will be filled with pictures of the newest member of our family. Until next time...

Keeping a Better Journal

This year one of my new year resolutions is to be better at keeping this journal/blog going and more updated. As I have been working on past blog books to publish I realize how much I have already forgotten about our kids growing up and some of the little silly things that have happened, so my goal is to try and post at least once a week because I know that something goes on each week, even if it's not a really huge thing. This weekend of course we got our TV and Morgan was like a little kid at Christmas the night before he was going to get it all setup. Of course, there are still a few more things/bugs we need to work out...like getting an attic antenna that actually gets reception, but for now we have been content to just watch movies and it's actually cut down on TV time quite a bit with the boys, which has been nice.

We're still moving things around in the basement and figuring out how we want to put everything and what to do with the old tv, which we'll probably keep in another room to pull out on special occasions, or to hook up the GameCube to. It's really made the basement seem a lot bigger and the boys seem pleased with the "extra" space, although Logan's first impression of the chaos was, "horrendous" (yeah, he actually said it looked horrendous).

Sunday was my last week doing music time with the Nursery kids until well after the baby is born, which is a good thing because it was getting really uncomfortable to sit and do music time with them. I only have about a week left and I'm just trying to keep us busy, sometimes a little too busy though. We went grocery shopping at Walmart and Costco yesterday and it about did me in, but of course not enough to push me into labor, just enough to make my legs and ankles swell and retain a whole bunch of water.
I love my Damon. This morning at breakfast he was saying this was a girl house and of course I said, are you kidding, this house is full of boys and then I asked him to count, and he counted the baby as a boy too. :) After that he realized that I was greatly outnumbered, but I just thought it was sweet that they already think of the baby as being here and part of the family.
Tragon loves Thomas the tank engine too, more specifically any episode with Diesel in it. He'll got around the house saying, "Diesel Works" (deedal wot) he got that from the "Day of the Diesel" movie that we rented a while back, but when he asks for it, I just put in any Thomas show and he seems content with that. I love his sweet smiles and the faces that he pulls, they always make me smile, even when he's being naughty.

Logan is really starting to take off in reading. The other day I was busy cleaning, or something and the boys wanted to read stories and I said, just a minute, so they just went and sat down in the chair and read all the books that Logan "knows" (he likes to read the book at least once with us before he feels like he can read it on his own, even though he really does know every word in the book) He's trying to use the silly voices that Morgan uses when he reads to them. The battery died after this video so I wasn't able to get a better narration. I'm so proud of him and I love that Damon is willing to sit and listen to Logan read too. I'm glad that my boys love to look at books and I hope that excitement will continue through school.

I feel so blessed to have the family that I do. I love my husband, he is such a good man and he takes care of us and loves his kids and they love him too. Their favorite time of day is waking up and eating breakfast with Daddy, and when they hear the garage door open when he gets home from work. Although my boys keep me busy and try and test my patience, they are truly great kids and I hope to be able to continue focusing on more of the positive rather than get frustrated by the few moments of "learning."

Until next time...

Let It Snow...well, at least after we have the baby.

This past week..or month..or so..we actually got a day of good snow in. At least enough to build a snowman for the day. It pretty much melted the next day, but the boys were really excited to build it.I decided that snowman building should be reserved for those non-pregnant parents though...it was really awkward trying to squat down and roll the snowballs, and tough to lift them up on top of each other. Somehow we made it though. It was a fun day to get outside and play a little with my boys while I had some energy.
I love being able to go outside with the boys and now that they are a little older they stay within the boundaries a little better...at least Logan and Damon do, and Tragon for the most part just follows them around. I've really enjoyed having warmer weather so we can go outside, but I'm also missing the snow, it just hasn't felt like winter. I do hope that we continue to have good weather at least until we bring the baby home, but then, Let It Snow!
Our boys love to look at books. It becomes something they do at least a couple times a day. This was one night before bed when Logan wanted to read some books to Damon. And he really reads them. He's been doing so well picking up on reading as long as the pages don't have too many sentences on them he'll give it a try and he gets so excited when he "learns" a book.
Tragon will usually find one or two favorite books and just carry them around with him all day or he'll jump up on the couch when I'm reading and he'll look at his books next to me. I've really enjoyed that. The only challenge is when they all want to read different books at the same inconvenient time...i.e., while I'm trying to make dinner or cleanup. That's when it's nice to be able to defer to Logan now to read some books to the other boys who for the most part are compliant.
Damon has a play group that he's been involved in and today it was my turn to host so we had three of his friends over. They had a good time. I think Tragon was the only one that threw a fit and that was mostly because it was getting close to his naptime. They are a fun bunch of kids and it will be fun to see them all grow up together, I hope they all stick around for a good while.

In other news we got our tax returns back and were able to pay of our last 3 credit cards, Lowe's RCWilley, and our VISA. We even had a little extra money leftover that we might finally get our TV for the basement. It was a huge weight off our back to get them paid off and our goal for this year is to only use our VISA in a real emergency...we got a little lax with it last year in the anticipation of money coming, or whatever, but this year, we're cracking down. Now we only have a personal loan that we took out to finish the basement that we should be able to pay off by the end of the year, and other than that, just student loans....which someday we'll get rid of. :)

Morgan's Weber job and the prospect of renting or selling our house in OK will definitely help speed up that process. We're finally turning over our house in OK to a property management group in hopes that it will take off some of the stress of being a landlord. Ideally we'd just sell it, but the market is just not cooperating, it's been up for sale for almost a year now.

We've got about 2 more weeks until our baby will finally join the family and on that front we're just taking it one day at a time. I'm so ready to not be pregnant that I would be happy to have this baby right now if I could. I'm excited to see how the boys do with another baby brother. I know that Logan is getting pretty excited and I think Damon is more excited this time around than he was with Tragon, and Tragon is pretty fascinated with babies in general, so I think he'll do just fine. I just need to get him to stop climbing in the crib. :)

Until next time...