Exhausted

These are the family members who have done the most with Lauren :) Just kidding girls!

We need to get our beauty sleep too!

Visitors

And some of the people to welcome her into this world.....

Grandpa Kenny & Grandma Gladys (grandchild #21)

Grandma Elaine

Grandpa Tom

Katie & Abby Frey

Luke, Ella & Levi Gilbertson

Gina

Miss Gabby

Updates!

ok Annie...I'm finally getting to my blog so that you can be updated.  You and 2 others may be the only ones who check this on a regular basis! :)

Left off Feb 13th.  I was pregnant.  Today, Mar 13th.  I am not. :)

My due date 2/27/13

Miss Lauren Mary graced us with her presence on February 28th at 3:51pm.  7lbs 3oz 19-3/4"

Here's her story:  After a couple days of ups and downs-will I be induced? will I go on my own?  The girls disappointed faces every morning that they still saw me at home, expecting me to be gone in the morning having the baby they so eagerly wanted to meet.  We finally got the go ahead on that Thursday morning.  I was scheduled to go at 6:30am but was called off and that someone would call me with a plan later in the morning.  I wasn't expecting a call back at 7:20 but was excited that they did and wanted me to come in. :)  So Brian and I got the kids ready for school and was out the door at 7:40.  I got to the hospital around 8:20 and in my room around 8:30.  They didn't start the Potosin until around 9:40 or so.   My doctor came around 10:30? and broke my water and checked in with how I was doing.  Contractions were pretty minor at that time but were coming every 3-4 minutes.  I was enjoying this time.  But by 1pm the contractions were harder and I was getting more uncomfortable.  Back up just a bit..The nurses said I had great veins but failed 2 times to get my IV in.  (the first of many pokes)  So at 1pm I had the nurse order me the epidural.  She started me on saline.  Contractions were getting harder and I actually had to start doing the in-2-3 out 2-3 breathing.  Finally the anesthesiologist came and failed 2 times to get it in.  At this point I was pretty uncomfortable and was freezing/shaking.  My nurse and Brian were awesome though!  So that was probably around 2:30-2:45.  The epidural ended up only working on my left leg. :(  I was feeling the contractions and pelvic pressure and praying that the medicine would find my right side and area down below. No such luck.  By 3pm, my nurse called my doctor (he was at a conference) and informed him I was having a lot of pressure and felt like I wanted to push.  The only thing that silly epidural did was get me to point of pushing in a short amount of time.  Dr. Campbell arrived & checked me.  Dilated to 8-9 but fully effaced.  He had me push thru some contractions-not the kind to get the baby out but get her further down.  He and a nurse noticed that she wasn't coming down very good and figured that she was hung up on something.  Like the cord was either around her arm or leg.  Finally it came to the real pushing.  I think I pushed thru 3 contractions and on the last one my doctor told me to listen to him very carefully and stop pushing when he told me.  I'm wondering why at this point....I want her out!  Well, I didn't know about the cord thing at the time.  So got her head out (and felt everything) he had me stop and monkied around down there for a bit then had me push again, this time she came out and had the cord wrapped around her leg and arm and it had started to tie in a knot.  No wonder this felt more painful that the others!  Thankfully, she was good, had great color, beautiful dark hair, just perfect.  I was so thankful to be done.  I honestly didn't know if I could go thru with it & was hoping that it wouldn't end in a emergency c-section.  I was overwhelmed at this point & so overjoyed.  The thought that I had just had my 5th child didn't bother me anymore.  The jokes, the comments, the teasing about having so many kids didn't matter.  I felt so blessed to be chosen to be the mom of 5 healthy, beautiful daughters.  And to have a husband who felt the same as me is priceless.

Best Friends Any Girl Could Ask For

Front: Amanda Heather G, Jen, Me, Sharon (due 3/9)
Back: Kelly (mother of 5) Amber (due 8/13) Heather H (hostess) Jessica, Deb, Mary, Stacy, JoAnne & JoAnna

Last night, my friend Heather H from Mankato threw me an amazing baby shower.  We get another shower once we hit 5 kids!  Surprisingly I'm not the first shower she's thrown for someone having their 5th!  She had her house decorated so cute & festive, she had yummy food (olive garden salad and bread sticks and homemade cupcakes) fun party games to play and a non-alcoholic margarita drink that tasted soooo good!  She is a very gifted party planner if you ask me!  The best part of the evening was hanging out with some of my very dear friends.  These women are awesome, beautiful, kind, generous, loving, faith-filled and the best friends any girl could ever ask for.  How abundantly God has blessed me with placing them along my path.  There were a few ladies that couldn't make it and they were missed, but know that they were there in spirit.  Our family received some wonderful thoughtful gifts.  I am so grateful...

Cupcakes, Cream Puffs, limited ed. Kettle Corn with pink sprinkles
Olive Garden Salad & Breadsticks

So Pretty!!  Loved the fun colored puff balls

Heather sewed the circle thingy's hanging from the ceiling!

A funny game that people played while I opened gifts.  They had a baby
frozen in an ice cube in a glass of water.  When their "baby" thawed,
they had to yell, "My Water Just Broke!"  SOOOoooo funny!!

Surprise for a 30 year young'in

Our lovely friend Jessica turns 30 at the end of February.  But her awesome hubby and sister planned the ultimate surprise.  Have a surprise party for Jessica on her daughter's birthday!  Yes, talk about confusing poor Lydia!  There were at least 50 of us, adults and kids waiting in a hotel room for the honored guest to arrive.  Jessica's mom and sister had sloppy joes, chips, drinks and of course cake for all of us to enjoy while we waited.  After the big "surprise" we were all invited to stay and use the hotel pool-which of course was a hit for the kiddos.  Jessica was surprised and Lydia thought it was for her and everyone went home happy. :)   It was a good evening!

Jessica-Finally joining us in the 30's

Polar Plunge 2013

Once again, Brian, the crazy man that he is, took the plunge....The Polar Plunge!  His friend Drew sets it all up and gets the guys and they LOVE it!  Their team is called Nut Migration...haha!  And this is I believe year #5.  But I think Brian missed one of the years.  It was relatively mild out this year and it wasn't too terribly uncomfortable to be in the stands waiting for your loved one to jump into the frigid water, hoping their heart wouldn't stop beating.... :)  This year the guys dressed as super heroes.  Brian was Superman and had tossed around the idea of just shaving the "S" in his chest hair.  I'm happy he decided to just go with the shirt.  Oh...but he did add the cape.  It's a great bunch of guys with big hearts jumping for a great cause.

Poop

Not the most appropriate title for this post but it is what it is.  Natalie is our joker of the family.  She is quirky and she says the funniest things, sometimes, joined with a funny facial expression of some sort.  Well the other day she was in the bathroom doing her job.  She has a system...2 books, the stool under her feet and the door has to be closed.  Oh and she gets naked.  After completing her job, she yells to me "momma, I'm done...come wipe my butt".  So I cheerfully head to the bathroom-with just a little eye roll.  Thinking to myself, she's almost 4, when will she wipe her own butt?  Anyway. I get to the bathroom, wipe her butt and while I'm flushing and washing she's busy getting her clothes on.  But still naked, she says to me.  "I had a hard poopie" and I said "oh, that's not good" and she says "I had to slap my butt like this (which she demonstrates) and then I wiggled (which again she demonstrates...still naked) and the poopie fell out!!"  I said laughing hysterically and in amazment "That's great Natalie!!  That worked huh?"  and she says "yup!"  and on we went with our day! :)  Good stuff....this is what I love about being a stay-at-home mom.  You never miss the good stuff!