This song is great! Now is the time to stand up for our freedoms!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2H8xHFXC8U&feature=player_embedded

Our newest addition, Micah, has finally arrived. He was 7 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 ½ inches long. He was born at 12:30 a.m. on February 25^th and, yes, my husband did make it in time for the birth!

I went in to have my cervix softened on Tuesday (the 24^th) at 7 p.m. and the waiting room was FULL of people. They told me there wasn’t a bed for me at the moment, but they’d get to me as soon as they could (not encouraging when you’ve just been dropped off at the hospital and no one is with you!). I was already having some contractions, but I’d been having them off and on for over a week so I wasn’t sure if this was the real thing or not. Just in case, though, I’d called Rick to let him know and tell him he might want to fly in that night instead of the next day. All I knew was I didn’t want to get sent home from the hospital because of lack of bed space. As I sat there, the contractions started getting stronger and closer together and more people kept coming into the waiting room/small admittance lobby. I begin to panic because there were at least three other ladies standing there with very swollen bellies and the admitting person was saying something about two ambulance brought in that had priority. Just so you know, this room is specifically for women going into labor, not general admittance.

Then the challenge became, “Is Rick on his way?!” He had been debating on taking the next morning flight and someone pick him up which would put him at the hospital around noon the next day. Wouldn’t work! I called Rick hoping I wouldn’t get a hold of him (because that would mean, most likely, that he was on a plane). Then I called my mom to tell her I was in labor. She called her sister who came over to my house to watch the kids so my mom could come be with me. After that I called our friend, Heather, to find out if her older children were on the way to airport to pick up Rick. Thankfully they were! Rick had decided to come that night and would be at the hospital by 11 p.m. or so.

My mom showed up, and then Heather and my other friend, Lisa (has eight children of her own and would like to be a midwife), came to the hospital to be with me during my labor and delivery. It’s silly, but I really didn’t want to have the baby until after midnight because I wanted him to be born on the 25^th. All my kids have been born on a date that’s divisible by 5 (5^th, 10^th, 15^th, 20^th, and 20th). I figured I was so close, I could wait ‘til after midnight. Heather thought I was crazy and kept telling me I’d have it before midnight (especially after my wonderful midwife, Shawna, told me I was at an eight). I told her I was stubborn and I could wait. 

Rick got there around 11 p.m. and as soon as he started to talk to me, my contractions started changing from really uncomfortable to downright painful! It was like my body was waiting for him to get there. Soon after that my dad arrived (he always comes for the births).

At 11:50 a.m. I finally let the midwife break my water knowing that the birth would happen soon after. When she did, the water was thick with meconium and very little water which was a little scary. The baby’s heart rate (when they first started monitoring me when I was admitted) kept dipping way down when I was having contractions like he was under stress so this might have had something do with the meconium.

Anyway, I probably pushed for 20 minutes or so and then he arrived covered in the meconium. He was whisked quickly away where the NICU team worked with him in the room to make sure he was okay.

He was so late, that the placenta had become calcified. His nails were very long, hair a little longer than the other kids, and he didn’t have that coating on him. All signs that he was DEFINITELY overdue. Because of his low abgar score 3 (not 5); respiratory issues (the poop was in his lungs and he kept gagging and spitting it up); and his temperature kept dropping below normal, they ended up keeping Micah and I for an extra day. He wasn’t peeing or pooping and they wanted to see that happen before they released him. So, even though he was born early on the 25^th, it was the afternoon of the 27^th before we got to leave. He finally peed before we left the hospital (with the help of a little baby formula) and he’s been pretty regular since. They really stressed how important this was for his bodily functions to work right. Saturday he finally had a healthy bowel movement and my kids and I all cheered. It was very funny to see 6 people get that excited over poop. We’d been praying for him.

Now he's doing really well. We went to the doctor today for a check up and he's already back up to his birth weight and has grown 1 1/2 inches. The doctor said he looks and sounds great too. He's been eating well, found his lungs, and his now peeing and pooping like a pro! God really answered our prayers!

I realized it has been a very long time since I posted. I have just entered a more time-consuming season in my life and let certain things go(like my blog) I will attempt to update on things we have been doing.

The children had a wonderful opportunity to put on a little play at church about Squanto's life at our church's Thankgiving service. A few families started a art group a couple years ago and we decided to dive into drama. The kids all worked really hard to make this a success.

4-H has been a wonderful thing for our family to be involved in and more so this year. The group has really involved it's self in community service and outreach and we have stayed busy with that. From Christmas caroling to bell-ringing to card-making. We also have many fun things. We just had a popcorn and movie night, a wonderful Christmas party and will be going on a tubing trip soon.

Christmas was great this year as we spent about three weeks away from the school books and did all things Christmas.

My daughter is still doing her weekly dance class and the two older kids are still doing there weekly home school swim class.

My son tutoring is going great and he loves it. He is always asking if it's close to the next time.

Other than that we are keeping busy sledding alot, ice skating and swimming and dealing with health concerns as hubby is preparing for surgery.

This has been my best year so far as all three are school age. I am so greatful to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to teach my children at home. God is so good. I hope to not let as much time go by till my next post. Hope you all had a great Christmas.