To start off, I would like to share the journey we took for
this little man to enter into this world and take his first breath of air.
It all started over two weeks before his due date. I was
already dilated 4cm and almost completely effaced (thinned out). I had been
doing anything and everything to get him to come: walking miles and miles each
day, drinking glass after glass of red raspberry leaf tea, taking herbal supplements,
and the list goes on. Two weeks of contractions went by….still no baby. I had
gone into false labor twice during that time. Then came my due date. My doctor
was completely surprised that I was still pregnant. She then told us that his
head was stuck on my pelvis bone, when it should have been on the cervix. She
was pretty sure that once my water broke and the baby could be swept down by
the flow/force, it wouldn't take long for him to come. I was doubtful that I
would go into labor on my own and be able to sustain it. So we set up to have
me induced the next week.
A couple days before the induction I woke up in the middle
of the night with a side ache. Now, having gone through weeks of stomach pains
and contractions I didn’t think anything of it. I went back to sleep only to
wake up later. The second time I woke up it was 3:30am. This time I was in
really bad pain and I was rolling around so much I woke up Jake. We started to time them. The first two were
8min apart, then after 7min went by I had another, the next one came after 6
min, and then 5 min. As they got to be closer and closer Jake started running
around packing the truck. Then the question was…..do we wake the girls? Do we
even have time? Jake called a lady from our church and asked if she could come
out to the house. While he was on the phone with her (just after 4am), my water
broke. Right after my water broke I had
the urge to push. For those of you who don’t know what that means…..it means
the baby is coming….NOW! Jake told me not to push. Not pushing is harder than
dealing with contractions. Contractions you can breathe through and let the natural
course of your body do its work. Not pushing, on the other hand, is fighting
your body….eventually your body wins. I
started freaking out! We still had to finish getting everything ready and drive
over an hour to the hospital. I told him I didn't think we we’re going to make
it. He asked me what we should do. I told him if he didn't want to be the one
delivering this baby he better call 911 and get an ambulance. We got into the
truck and headed towards interstate to meet the ambulance. When I got into the
ambulance I was already feeling very faint. They started an IV and gave me
oxygen. Jake said I was very white looking. The contractions/pushing urges were
coming every 1 to 1 ½ min. apart. They gave me something in my IV to slow down
the contractions. I asked the paramedic if she had ever delivered a baby, she
said she had. That made me feel better. With each contraction she would check
to see if she could see the baby. When we were half way to Fargo she reported
that she could see hair…..scary! Then when we were 10 min or so from Fargo she
said it looked like the baby was crowning (about to come out!). She was calm
and cool up to this point, which she started to look worried- telling the
driver to speed up. Finally we got to the hospital. They wheeled me into a
delivery room accompanied by more nurses then I have ever seen in the same
place at one time. Now, I couldn't see (because I didn't have any glasses or
contacts in), but I am pretty sure there were 7 or 8 nurses running around
getting things set up. Then I heard the most blessed words come out of one of
their mouths ….”you can push now”. After 10 min of pushing…..Blaise came out
and was in my arms! I hope to never have that exciting of a birth again!
Now, what you all have been waiting for.......the pictures :-).
Blaise Ronald
Born 8lbs. 2oz.
22.5 inches
Getting comfortable in our postpartum room.....it was nicer than a luxury hotel!
The proud big sister.
Grandpa Gapp
Uncle Thomas
Our "little" family of 5!
Precious...
Going home.
I wanted a pic of the boys in their green and yellow.
At home....and comfortable.
Blaise loves it when Addy talks to him.
Taking a nap....
.....and another nap :-).
Grandma Gapp
Grandpa Gapp fell asleep.
He likes to frown.
Grandma Loegering and Uncle Josiah came to visit for a couple days.
Silly girl
This was taken today. They both are feeling much better :-).
Both Addy and Susanna love their new brother. But of course,
there have been moments of jealousy and of acting out. Addy helps with a lot
and even does things that we don’t ask of her….like getting all the things we
would need ready for a bath for Blaise when she hears us talking about giving
him a bath. Susanna is very helpful too. She will throw the dirty diapers
without being asked and get things ready for a diaper change for Blaise without
being asked. She has grown up sooo much in the past month! A couple days ago
they both did something pretty funny. I was nursing Blaise but could smell that
Susanna needed a diaper change. I told her and Addy to get everything ready for
me to change her diaper. They laid out the pad and got a diaper and the wipes
out. Then Susanna proceeded to lie down on the pad while Addy started preparing
to take her diaper off and change it. I told Addy not to change it…..both girls
were giggling and laughing.
Friday after we got home from the hospital sickness came to
our house. We noticed that Susanna had a rash in her diaper area that wasn't a
diaper rash. This continued until Monday when she got a high fever of 103.2.
The next day it seemed like the rash had gone all over her body- arms, legs,
hands, feet, and face. We started
getting worried that it was the chicken pox (worried that Blaise would get it).
Then Jake’s mom came for a couple of days so I wouldn't have to be at home by
myself at all last week. Wednesday night Addy tells Jake that she has a fever.
We “jokingly” took her temperature to appease her. She actually did have a
fever of over 102! That night Jake got up with her to check her temp again.
While he was doing that she threw up on him. She was fine until the next
morning when I went to take her temp and she threw up again! I had an
appointment set up to take Susanna in for the rash. Right before I left (I left
Addy and Blaise with my mother-in-law), Addy threw up again! To make the story
short…..we figured out that the girls both had Hand-foot-and-mouth virus. So
they have been out of sorts the past week, to say the least.
Many THANKS to MANY PEOPLE!!!!!!
Thanks to Deacon Joe and Deb for coming at a moments notice in the middle of the night to watch our girls!!!!!
Thanks to my parents for driving out to Valley and back to bring the girls to Fargo!!!! And for watching them while we were in the hospital!!!!
Thanks to Jake's sister Katie for taking off work to watch the girls the day Blaise was born without prior notice!!!!!
Thanks to my mother-in-law and brother-in-law for coming and staying with us after Jake went back to work......but especially for helping to take care of my sick children and helping me keep up with the house and garden!!!!!!
We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends!!!
