Friday, October 22

Friday the 13th...my lucky day

I can NOT believe how fast the past 10 weeks have flown by!  TEN weeks?  It seems like only a few days ago that my ankles were swollen to an unrecognizable state, my heartburn medication had ran out and Tums were not doing the job, and i couldn't sleep worth beans despite how physically exhausted i was due to an insanely large protrusion in my mid-region. for anyone who spent any time with me in the weeks prior to august 13th, it was painfully obvious how READY i was to have this baby. but, as i would soon learn, our fourth and final broke the mold in almost every way imaginable.  
i was due on 8-9-10 and i had never gone over my due date before. according to my own calculations, i was pretty convinced that it was going to be somewhere near the end of july/beginning of august.  so when it came and passed, i was in the frame of mind: any day now!
Except when came to August 12th...dallas' 8th birthday.  and as much as dallas wanted me to have her on his birthday--i did NOT.  i only had his best interests in mind...
on saturday we were at a movie with the kids when i started having contractions.  the plan was, at the first contraction we were hightailing it over to tacoma since it is an hour away and my labor with alec was only 3 hours. {we were not keen on having the baby on the tacoma narrows bridge} but that only holds true if the labor actually continues...with all my others, once the contractions started, they never stopped, it was  full-on labor!  so we went through the motions and dropped the kids off and headed towards the hospital, making a few stops along the way to do some walking since the contractions didn't feel "normal"....i.e. hard and regular.  some were 3-5 minutes apart while others were 20-30 min.  i finally did check in at the hospital just to get the green light to go home {it would have been very unfortunate to have the baby on the bridge on the way home} i was only 1cm dialated and so we headed home, thinking things would pick up overnight and i would be back in the morning.  but i went home and slept soundly, waking up with nothing more.  sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday...same irregular contractions. which brings us to thursday, dallas' birthday.  i lost my plug that morning, so i knew it was close, but i was determined to hold out till his birthday was over.  we went to a movie {i crossed my fingers there was no dejavu}, angel took the kids mini-golfing, and then we went out to eat.  my feet/ankles were at their all-time hugest and i was feeling lots of pressure.  i woke up at 3:30am with the contractions i had been waiting for for the past week.  i got angel up, called the midwife, and after we got the kids situated, we got to the hospital at 7am and i asked angel to check me in while i went to the bathroom.  as i stood up, my water broke. {FYI, i was in the 95% for my amount of amniotic fluid.  point being, there was A LOT of fluid.}  they stuck me in a wheelchair to take me up to L&D and on the way i proceeded to soak myself and everything around me with the outrageous amount of fluid that would gush out every 10 seconds.  the nurse checked me and i was at a 4. my midwife arrived, took one look at my fluid and told me that the baby had already had a bowel movement {or two} since it was full of meconium. they hooked me up to the monitors and alerted the neonatal nurses. right around 8:20 i thought maybe i could go for some pain medication of some sort...i deserved it on my last one, right?   but she checked me and said i was almost a 10, which made sense, cause that's the only time i feel like i can't take it anymore--when it's almost over.  a few pushes later, our baby girl arrived, and they quickly suctioned her out so she wouldn't inhale the meconium.
Evalynn Socorro
{named after mine and angel's moms middle names}
born 8:35am
8lbs 12oz
23in long
LOVING her fingers...


Everyone took their turn holding her, and my sweet Grace was overcome with emotion.  at first we thought she was upset because she didn't get be in the room for the delivery {we had told her that she could, but there were so many nurses already and they almost didn't even let my mom and sister in} but she said that she was just "so happy".  

as we all were....
it was the best feeling in the world to finally hold her in our arms
she was so peaceful and had the sweetest little cry!


and the nurses were all so good with grace...they let her help give eva a bath and get her dressed
{and let me tell you, that water was a sight to see!}

It was definitely different being in the hospital after having alec at home, but everything worked out great and we brought home a healthy, beautiful little girl, which we all know is the most important thing!
the view from our room

we checked out that night at 7pm and drove home where the rest of the family was eagerly waiting to meet the newest family member!
 big brothers dallas and alec

we all know how fast time flies with little babes, but to me it seems like it's gone even faster this time around.  i'd like nothing better than to push the "slow motion" button.  but alas....if there only was such a thing!

Friday, August 6

Getting ready for baby...

I keep wondering if this baby is waiting for me to be "ready" before she makes her entrance into the world. So i am trying to think of anything and everything i need to get done to be "ready" for her.
Help me out if i've missed anything...

She has a seat to ride in...

She has clothes that are clean and ready to wear...

She has a cradle to sleep in...

She has diapers for her sweet little bum...

She has her own bath to bathe in...

She even has plenty of hair bling {or in our family's case: peach fuzz bling} to wear...

and she has a family that is ready and waiting to LOVE her till our hearts explode!
Not to mention a mother who's stomach is ready to explode....
{photo taken 2 weeks ago!}

Is there anything more a little girl could want/need?
So what's the hold up little one?
Come join us!!!  We're READY for you!

Saturday, July 17

Fun on the Fourth

We had a great 4th of July weekend.  On the 3rd we all met down at my dad's office on the Poulsbo Marina pier to watch the fireworks show. We set up our chairs, and brought some yummy snacks while we waited for the show. I bought all the little boys glow swords and glow hats and the girls glow wands and necklaces.  It definitely kept them occupied while we waited...
and little Emma just couldn't make it till the end....sweet thing!

The next day, after church we came back to my mom's and took a few photos.  We had some yummy bbq, celebrated my bro-in-law Scott's birthday, and tried to keep the boys occupied till it was dark enough to let off the fireworks we brought.  Some of them just couldn't wait...{think adults} All-in-all it was a super fun weekend with friends and family!

Thursday, July 1

15 inches of L-O-V-E

Right before school got out, Grace decided she wanted to get her hair cut. It had gotten pretty long since the last time she had it cut and a little hard to manage washing and brushing, etc.  I decided it was probably a good idea with summer coming to have an easier and faster head of hair!
But it would practically be a crime to cut this hair and not have it go to someone in need...
So I called up my cousin who is an AWESOME hairdresser and told her Grace was wanting to donate it to Locks of Love.  She willingly obliged...and Grace was super excited!
The initial cut...

Trimming it up

The Final Product!

Afterwards she couldn't stop tossing her head back and forth...something about the feel of her hair swinging around.
She loved it :)
And hopefully whoever her hair goes to will be just as happy!

Monday, June 28

throwing my name in the hat...

i found this cool giveaway at thefashionablehousewife.com and one of the ways to gain extra entries is to blog about it.  for a free, fun, trendy diaper bag?  you say jump, i say "how high?"
isn't it cool?

DancingInDublin_CTC_Front.jpg
it's from this cool website:  http://petunia.com
wish me luck :)