Big Surprise

We're now a family of SIX!

Owen decided to make his appearance early Thursday morning. Which was a huge shock to me since I had already accepted that I would probably have to be induced.

I was sleeping and at 2:30 I had a contraction that woke me up. I thought it was just a fluke and planned on going back to sleep. Ten minutes later, another one. Ten minutes later, another one. They weren't very painful, but I definitely wasn't going to be able to sleep through them so I decided to take a bath and see if they would stop.

That didn't work. They still kept coming so I did a load of laundry and watched part of a movie. They weren't getting any more intense, but by 4:00 they were only 5 minutes apart. Since I wasn't really in pain I was not convinced that these contractions were doing anything. I didn't even wake Scott up. He knew when I got out of bed that I was having contractions and thought that they would just go away like they did last time.

And by 5:00 they were only 2-3 minutes apart. And at this point I was still a little on the fence about going to the hospital. I didn't want to have to wake my grandma up to come sit with the kids if they were just going to send me home. The contractions had gotten a little stronger at this point, but still weren't super painful or anything.

Since they were so close together I finally decided to wake everyone up and head to the hospital. We got there and checked in around 5:45. We went up to the room, I got my gown on, got in bed and my water broke at 6:00 on the dot. They hadn't even got to check me yet. The nurse came in to do that just a minute later and I was fully dilated and ready to go!

That was completely unexpected!! So they got everything set up and we started pushing around 6:30. And I pushed and pushed and pushed. This is the fourth kid. You would think he would come right out. Nope. So I pushed and pushed and pushed some more.

There wasn't really time for an epidural and I wasn't in that much pain anyway. So this was my first completely natural birth. No induction, no epidural. And overall, it was the perfect experience.... And then, during those last 5 minutes of pushing, I thought I was going to die. I definitely scared the crap out of Scott! Poor guy. He probably though I was dying too. I have this nearly painless labor all night and then 5 minutes of the worst pain I have felt in my entire life! Completely unbearable! I swear, I am still traumatized. Will there be any more kids in our future? Ha, I don't know! :)

After pushing for over an hour he was born at 7:49am. Just 5 hours after that first contraction. He was exactly the same size as his brother. 8 pounds 13 ounces and 22 inches long.

Progress??

I made it to 39 weeks on Friday and had my check up today. And guess what?! NOTHING! I went from "almost 1 cm" to "slightly more than 1 cm". What is wrong with this kid?? I was focusing very hard on not getting my hopes up and I guess it's a good thing I did! I was having contractions all day Saturday, Saturday night, and into Sunday morning. They started about 30 minutes apart and by Sunday they had gotten down to 15 minutes apart. And I was getting a little excited. They weren't painful, just noticeable and occasionally just a tad uncomfortable. I took a nap and when I woke up Sunday afternoon they had stopped. And they never came back! And obviously they didn't get much work done. The doctor is going ahead a scheduling my induction for next Friday, the 29th. I have to go in for another checkup Tuesday and if I haven't made any more progress by then I'll have to go to the hospital Thursday night for a little cervix ripening. Sounds fun! At least we know he'll be here by then!

Here is a fun, albeit blurry, picture of Scott and the kids (Abby wasn't home that night)

And this will be little Owen's baptism outfit. Isn't it adorable?!

38 1/2 Weeks

We're 38.5 weeks now and this baby can come any time he wants! So far it's not looking very promising though. I went to the doctor yesterday and haven't made much progress. I'm "almost" 1cm (which might as well be nothing with this being the 4th kid!), but I am 50% thinned out so that's a little bit of something I guess.

This doctor won't induce me until I'm at least a week late. And at this point I'm not getting my hopes up that he's coming out on his own. I'm definitely expecting an induction. So we could end up with a Halloween baby! We'd have to draw whiskers on his face as soon as he pops out I guess! And if we really have to wait that long I'm definitely expecting him to be a 10-pounder!

Jack-O-Lantern

Well, here is our giant pumpkin as a jack-o-lantern.

And I tried to get a picture of it with the kids, but of course none of them turned out.

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We got to go get our pumpkin today! We decided to just get one big family pumpkin this year instead of several little pumpkins. And I mean we got a BIG one!

The kids really like taking the wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch.

For some reason I didn't taking any pictures while we were actually looking for a good pumpkin. Maybe because I had a bunch of little people tripping every time I turned around. But here we are back on the wagon after we got the perfect one picked out.

Daddy, of course, got the lucky job of carrying and holding the beast.

We haven't carved it yet, but it is taking up a good chunk of our table. When were out in the field, we were trying to guess how much it weighed. I didn't try to pick it up or anything, but just by looking I said "it looks like it's about an Emma" (because I tend to use my kids as units of measure). An Emma = 40 pounds. When we got back to the store to pay for it we found out it weighed 42 pounds! So there is our crazy beast of a pumpkin!

Birthday Party

Well before I get to the birthday fun I'll give you a baby update. Sadly, nothing to report. No progress! I was a bit disappointed to hear that, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see where we're at next week. I have been having a few teeny tiny contractions here and there the last day or two, but now I'm just thinking that maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up.

I was super busy this weekend and didn't get around to writing birthday posts for the girls. Oops. Their birthday was Saturday. Emma turned 4 and Abby turned 3. That was also the day of the shared birthday party for all three kids!

This is the amazing cake that our friend Debbie made for us. So cute!!

And here, Abby just wanted a random picture with Jessie. She's adorable :)

Blowing out the candles (Ian didn't want to participate)

Opening presents.

All Ian wanted to do was play with his new Thomas train toys.

That's why he wouldn't blow out his candle, eat any cake, or play in the bounce house.

Although he did finally get in and loved it of course.

And after the party Daddy and Grandpa even got in to bounce with them!

Jessie (seen above) rented the bounce house as her present to them and the kids really had a good time in there - no wonder they love her so much! I was worried because about an hour before the party it started to rain and I thought they wouldn't get to use it. Luckily it didn't rain very hard and didn't last terribly long. It was crazy having everyone crammed in our little house for the beginning of the party, but I think everyone survived.

I might try to give the girls each a birthday post. That way I don't have to be stuck with any mommy guilt for writing one for Ian and not them. :)

FULL TERM!!!

Ok. Here we are. We hit 37 weeks and the baby is officially full term! And honestly, I don't think I'm going to make it much longer. I've been feeling so much pressure that I can barely walk at times. Very intense. The kids' birthday party is tomorrow though, so I would like to make at least make it through this weekend and then Owen can come whenever he wants. Normally I would have had an appointment today, but for some reason I have to wait until Monday. I'm really hoping for some progress by then!