Our Family of Five

Our first family picture home from the hospital

Sweet Abby Kate


Abby Kate modeling her blanket made by her biggest sister!

Well, we're still here, although we haven't been blogging for a week now! Thank you, Aunt Cassie, for putting up an "announcement" blog for us while we were in the hospital....and thank you to all my sweet friends and family for your comments of prayer and congratulations!

Abby Kate -- 3 days old

We are just eating up every moment of our new family of five---and really haven't spent time doing much else! Abby Kate is pure sweetness and has been such an easy baby so far. (Of course, I think it helps when you've done it twice before as the mommy and daddy! But, still, she is a great eater AND a great sleeper, so I give her all the credit. :) We realize that she is most likely our last baby to experience these "first days" with, which has made each moment that much more special. And, watching our two sweet older girls experience sisterhood with Abby Kate has been absolutely priceless.

I can't even begin to share all the moments we have been blessed with by these three girls in the last few days. And, I can only begin to dream of the ways we will be blessed in the coming months and years as parents. God is SO good. And, we are so thankful.

Kisses from her sisters...

Here's a little more about our time in the last week:

Last Wednesday, we had a slow morning at home before heading to the hospital with our "contractions". Kendyll was still a bit under the weather and was very clingy to me, which made it hard to actually leave, even though I was greatly anticipating meeting Abby Kate. We ate breakfast together, gave them their Big Sister bracelets, talked about the day and what would happen, and then started finishing up the packing and cleaning to get ready. Kendyll was finally okay with us leaving when her Gammy told her that they would be making a special trip to Target to pick out treats for the hospital and a present for Abby Kate. She also got her camera ready, and set her presents for AK by the door.

But, still I was hesitant to leave them! I was finally convinced it was time to go when my doctor called my house wondering where I was! I explained that Kendyll had come down with a stomach virus and was still not feeling well and that the mommy in me was having a hard time getting out of here. She completely understood and then told me to leave and come soon because the L&D floor was slow and quiet and she knew she could get me right in. At that point, I literally jumped in the car and was ready to go!

(You see, the reason I said "contractions" earlier was because my doctor was basically inducing me without calling it that....We knew the hospital would bump me to another day if given the chance, so she decided that I should just show up claiming "contractions", be hooked up to the monitor, then she would come in and break my water and admit me. It was a plan that made me SO nervous, because I didn't like lying to the poor intake nurse, who kept asking me for every last detail about my contractions that didn't really exist!)

About an hour after we arrived and got the paperwork and question & answer session over with, the doctor came in, admitted me to L&D, broke my water, and I immediately began contracting every 5 minutes. She then gave me my blessed epidural, and I spent the rest of my time talking with Kendyll, Carlie, Mark, my mom and my sister. We even busted out the Snow White video for the girls which someone had accidentally left in our VCR. All the time, I was contracting like crazy and not feeling a bit of pain. It was wonderful! (I hadn't done it this way before, so I liked this "no pain" version of labor! My nurse even called it the hospital's "Princess Plan".)

So, my water was broken at 12:30, my epidural was in place by 12:45, and I was ready to push by 3:45. After pushing for 4 or 5 contractions, we met sweet Abby Kate at 4:10. It was by far my fastest labor, and my easiest in many ways. The only difference was the fact that I actually had to push this time----Kendyll & Carlie made that part much easier on me and didn't require a push at all! So, after Mark and I both received oxygen at some point during pushing (yes, Mark almost passed out from the trauma of it all!), we were happily congratulated by all the family and especially by two very proud and excited big sisters.

Daddy and his three girls (shortly after she was born!)

Mommy & baby before we headed home!

The two hardest parts of the hospital experience came later that first night, when we realized that Kendyll had a fever, once again, and had relapsed into the virus that we hoped was gone for good. I worried and cried over the fact that she had been around the baby, and knew also that she would not be able to come back to visit us again for a few days. That broke my heart, because she had been waiting for this moment for so long and this changed so many plans for all of us. She handled it like a trooper, though, after a few shed tears....and she is now making up for lost time with her precious baby sister.

The other difficulty that I absolutely did not anticipate was saying goodbye to the older two when it was time for them to leave after AK's arrival. First, I did not expect their emotions---Carlie was crying and saying "I need you, Mommy! I need you, Mommy!" and Kendyll kept saying "Please, please, can I stay here with you and Abby Kate?" They were both very concerned about me staying in the hospital and not coming home with them. I also didn't expect my own emotions to take over. Although I loved this baby with all of my heart already, my other two babies needed me too...and one of them was sick. So, it was all I could do not to take them home myself and tuck them in bed. Luckily, Mark did it for me, after seeing my tears and knowing it was killing me to watch them leave so sad. He decided to drive them home, do bedtime with them, and then come back to me and Abby Kate when things had settled down.

But, now, the adjustment is over, and they are the happiest two girls around. Every moment they are awake is spent hugging, kissing, holding, and talking to their baby. Each morning they wake up and come right to her bassinet to tell her good morning. And, each night, they help me tuck her in "snug as a bug". They have given her baths, read her stories, rocked her, made welcome home cards for her, and taken many, many sister pictures with her already.

Oh, the blessings of these three girls to Mark and me. This blog would be too long to publish if I continued on about how wonderful this week has been. (Well, except for the "healing and recovery part" of motherhood! But, even if that is worth it when you know it's your last time to do it!!)

So, I will close with another huge thank-you to everyone who has helped us welcome our baby Abby Kate with calls, cards, meals, and excitement for our family. A very special thank you to our parents, who have been right beside us, taking care of our kiddos and helping us with this adjustment to five. And, of course, we are most deeply thankful to our Faithful God who has carried this precious girl straight to our arms. We are truly blessed. And, so, so, very thankful.