He's Here!

And he has a name!

Announcing... Jacob Matthew!
born on Feb 22 at 3:15 pm, weighing 9 lbs even, measuring 19.5 inches long

Here is the short version of the birth story:

I was absolutely right on Thursday morning; when I went in to my doctor's appointment at 10:30, I reported the contractions and a bit more bloody show, so the doctor checked me. She said I was 4 1/2 - 5 cm dilated, so I could go check in to the hospital! Whew! SIL was home with the boys and Chris and Troyer were with me, so we went right over. I got checked in and put in a room, then waited to meet the doctor who would be delivering. Of course it was a doctor I'd never met, but oh well. He ended up being very nice. He checked me and said he could break my water any time, but I said I wanted my epidural first, so we'd have to wait for that. It took a while for the blood work to get to the lab and the anesthesiologist to get to my room. I guess there were a few other moms in labor at the same time. Finally at about 1:30 the doctor came back and said I was almost a 6, and he'd break my water during the next contraction. I think about 2 or 2:30 they started some pitocin because the contractions were still not closer than 10 min apart, and at 3 the nurse came in and checked me. I was over 9 with just a lip left. She told me to try a push to see what would happen. The epidural was way too strong and I couldn't feel anything, and I had no urge to push, so I tried but couldn't tell what it was doing. She bugged her eyes out and said Stop! LOL She called the doctor back in and they had to tell me when I was getting a contraction so I could push. It only took 3 pushes and out he came. He was born at 3:15. He cried a lot, but as soon as they let me hold him he quieted down again.

I was supposed to have about 2 hours to recover and then get transferred to my regular room, but since the epidural was so strong, it took much longer for me to be able to get on my feet again. I hated that; I wish it wouldn't have been so strong. I think it caused some trouble for me as well, because since I couldn't feel when I pushed, I think I pulled quite a few muscles in my abdomen. They are still really sore. Finally I got in my room about 6:30. They brought the baby to me pretty quickly, which was nice.

We didn't get the name picked until Saturday morning, right before we got checked out. We went in circles back and forth, and finally settled on Jacob Matthew. A nice normal name, no hillbillies, LOL. When we got home the boys were very excited, and all took turns holding him. SIL Shawna stayed a while so she could see him and hold him, then headed back home. I'm so grateful to her for coming over and helping out with the boys so Chris could be with me. The boys had a lot of fun with her too. :-)

I'm really tired, since Jacob seems to like sleeping during the day, and coming more alert at night, plus he was colicky already last night, poor baby. But Wow, he is awesome. I'm so glad he's here!

I have a bunch of pictures on my camera, but no time so far to get them uploaded to post. Hopefully soon!

Happy Due Date to Me

Today is my due date. I am still not having regular timable contractions. I never thought I was going to make it the full 40 weeks. If I go in to my appointment today and the doctor says nothing is happening, I will cry. It is not fair to be so uncomfortable and bothered by contractions that do nothing. If, oh happy day, the doctor does find that I have been dilating and lets me go check in, I will not have time to post again after my appointment. Obviously, if I come home then I will post and let you all know. Otherwise, I won't be posting again until Saturday!

Rats!

I guess I jinxed myself by posting; the contrax have slowed way down and hurt much less. I won't be calling anyone yet. Oh well.

As Close As I've Gotten Yet

Tonight I had over 4 hours of very close, very painful contractions. I may yet call the dr and go in. They are not being consistent, but they are anywhere from 12 to 3 min apart, and they HURT. The baby was super active tonight, more than he's been in a few weeks, and I wonder if his activity is causing the contractions. Though he is mostly quiet now, and I am still getting them.

Honestly, part of me is putting off calling in because it is the middle of the night. I just hate to call the babysitter to come over and then end up coming home in the morning. Another part of me figures it's best to put off going to the boring hospital as long as possible, LOL. I think, though, that if I do end up going in and staying, I won't be able to post again; so this would be my announcement. If I do go in, and then come home, I'll post again that I'm home. And if I end up not going in at all, of course I'll post that too in the morning.

Wish me luck!

More Waiting

Tuesday morning, and still nothing. I sure wish I had more news. Looks like I'll make it to that appointment on Thursday.

Meanwhile, we got the bad news on the car. We had the wiper motor fixed on Friday, but there was a long list of other repairs it needs to pass inspection. Today I called and got the estimate on it: almost $800. UGH! The darn car isn't even worth that! However, we don't have anything else lined up to drive; we were hoping to be able to wait until summer to shop for a new (used) car. And even at that cost, it's still less per year than paying a new car payment. So we are going to have the work done, but now the question is, when? The mechanic says that he can have it done by Thursday afternoon, so that should work out for us. I'll have to take the van to my appointment Thursday morning, but even if the doctor has me check in at the hospital, I still have to drive home to get Chris, so we'll be able to pick up the car at the garage before we go in. What a hassle. Why did this have to happen now??? And heck, at this rate, I won't be having the baby until next week anyway.... *sob*

Up All Night Again

Well, I've had contrax all day, but mostly the ignorable kind. Tonight I had a few that really hurt, but of course, as soon as I tried to time them, they calmed down. So for now, nothing more, but maybe soon? I was looking at the calendar and realized that if I were to go overdue a week, I would actually be having a March baby! Aaaagh! I never never never thought I'd be even considering the possibility! The roads here are slowly getting better, so any time now would be great. Really. Please. Please! LOL

A BAD Day

I called the dr's office and asked if I could just cancel the appointment, rather than contribute to the traffic in that mess of ice and snow. They reassurred me that the main roads were clear and I should have no problem. They implied that they were looking out the window at the street in front of the office.

Well, they lied. The roads were AWFUL. I swear the drive in could have put me in labor. Even the main roads weren't cleared, and it seemed like *everyone* was out. I sure didn't need to be out adding to the mess. THEN to top it off, the doctor didn't even check me. They did the usual weight, bp, hb, and said "see you next week" - UGH! So it was a total waste of a trip! Why the heck did I have to go in??? I was also the last appointment of the day, so of course I sat for 30 min (in spite of the fact that half of their appts DID cancel, they still were behind?) and stewed about how I had to drive back home in the mess. I mostly wanted to be sure to get home before dark, when all the slush would start to freeze over again. It never got above 20 yesterday, so nothing melted away.

THEN (LOL yes, it's not over yet!) on the way home I tried to use the windshield wipers to wash off the slush splatter from my window, since the sun was setting and glaring off the window and I could barely see, and the wipers went up and then quit! The wiper motor died before it even did one swipe, so now I had road splatter AND wipers in my way! I was never so glad as when the sun finally sank below the level of the tops of the buildings, so the glare cut out. Of course, when I got home, dh tried to blame me for breaking them. He actually asked me why I thought I needed to use them, as if turning them on was a dumb thing to do. Uh, hello? I thought the car had wipers because you were supposed to USE them??? UGH

So now instead of wishing this baby out, we have to keep him in, at least long enough to get the car to the garage and get the darn wipers fixed, since there's no way we'll be able to drive it as the snow melts and splatters the windshield. Our street still has about 2 inches of ice on it, so taking the 12 pass van out is out of the question.

My next appointment isn't until next Thursday, which is my due date Waaahhhhh.

Snow!

The boys finally got their wish and we got a decent snowfall. Unfortunately, it ended in a lovely crust of ice on top, which was horrible to shovel. Chris sent the oldest 2 boys out to shovel, but they spent more time falling down in it than shoveling it LOL.



He went back out to clear the driveway so he could go in to work, but the plows came by, and it took him 3 tries to get the driveway open. He was very frustrated and exhausted by the time the plows went home and his work wasn't undone one more time, so he ended up staying home from work for the day.

The temperature has now fallen below 20, so the roads are still awful, even one day after the snow has ended and the plows have been through. I have a dilema now, I have an appointment this afternoon, but I'm considering cancelling it; I haven't had any more signs of labor, and I have enough trouble driving the stick shift while pg when the roads are good. I am dreading the drive over to the doctor's office. But if I cancel, I may not be able to get another appointment until late next week. What to do, what to do...

Just Popping In Quickly to Say Nothing

Nothing more is happening, that is. On Monday the dr checked me again and said I hadn't made any further progress. I was very disappointed, and he was sympathetic, which was nice. I haven another appt on Thursday, but I've been feeling pretty good the last few days, so I'd be surprised if anything more happened.

Still Waiting.....

Thursday night and Friday all day long, I was having contractions about 10 minutes apart. They were the annoying, probably-Braxton-Hicks kind. I wasn't sure if they were worthy of paying attention to or not. In the past I have been known to start dilating without noticable contractions, so I just didn't know. Well, on Friday I ended up calling the doctor's office to see what they wanted me to do. They had me come in to the office and checked me to see if anything was happening. Nope, nothing. All those annoying contractions for nothing. Sigh. But at least it freed me to ignore them rather than wonder if anything was happening and I should be paying better attention. So I've been having irregular contractions all weekend, though fewer than Thursday and Friday, but ignoring them. I have an appointment Monday afternoon; we'll see if I'm getting any closer or not.

Closer Than I Thought

Tonight, for the first time in 7 babies, I actually had a bloody show! I was taking a shower this evening, and there it was. I guess I'm closer than I thought to actually having this baby! I don't know how close, as I've read that it could be anything from 24 hours to several days (a week?) before real labor starts; but it's definitely going to be sooner rather than later! I also got woken up by a real contraction at 2:30 this morning. I've never really had any of those before, either, without being in the hospital hooked up to pitocin. I haven't had any more since then, so I'm not calling the doctor yet or anything, but things are definitely moving along!

Oh, I should mention, the funny part is that I was grabbing the shower before Lost started, so I told Chris when I got out of the shower, but said we wouldn't be going anywhere for at least an hour, LOL. If the baby decided to come really fast, I'd be having it on the floor in front of the t.v. LOLOLOL

A Little Update

I had an appointment this morning, so I thought I'd let you all know how I'm doing. My blood pressure is fine, the baby's heartbeat was 150, so fine, and I only gained 1 lb (phew, after last weeks' 2.5 lbs I was worried!) and the doctor checked me, and I am now a "good 2 - 2.5 cm" dilated, so things are getting started! I've had lots of crampy contractions as well as the usual Braxton-Hicks ones, the baby is moving well but running out of room, so it's starting to get uncomfortable! I think I will probably be having him next week sometime. Thanks for the suggestions on names, Chris is being ultra stubborn, so maybe I should hope the baby comes next Wednesday so I get to name him without argument LOL.

37 Weeks

37 weeks? 37 weeks???! Wow, I am almost there! Less than 3 weeks to go. Some days it feels like any day now. I can say I have finally gotten most things ready. I got the carseat out and into the van; I washed the baby clothes; I found a baby outfit so he won't be coming home naked; I remembered to actually buy newborn diapers, so he won't have a naked butt at home (what? wouldn't Levi's size 5s fit him? LOL) All I have left to do is pack my bag so *I* have something to wear home. Oh yeah, and pick a name. UGH! Chris is just so intent on having a hillbilly in the family. His name list is now up to 4: Jethro, Zeke, Jeb, and Gunther (not a hillbilly but a German wrestler!). I seriously am thinking of just writing Timothy on the birth certificate at the hospital when he's not around.

Ok, so I am ready, and I think my body is getting there too. My hips are killing me, the braxton-hicks contractions are getting closer and closer to the real thing, and my feet are starting to swell. I have now entered that time frame (you know, the one where the last month seems like it actually lasts 3?) where every twinge makes me wonder, "Is this it? Should I start timing them? What if I'm dilating and don't know it? (with #5, I really did dilate all the way to 6 without feeling any real labor pains.) On the other hand, Chris has scheduled to go out of town for the day for work next week. Yes, on the day I'll be 39 weeks pg, he's going to leave town without a cell phone and drive 2.5 hours away. I warned him that #1, if he misses the birth, oh well for him; #2 I may have already had the baby by then and what will he do? ( I suspect he will still try to go up for this meeting, even while on vacation!) and #3, if he is not here to watch the kids and I can't get to the hospital, I may be having the baby in the bathtub . I am telling you, he is in such denial about this whole baby thing. He is not taking the naming thing seriously because he feels like "there is still time;" and he isn't concerned about leaving town so close to my due date. I, in my hormonal pregnant state, am considering him an idiot. But hey, that's just me.

So, if you have any name suggestions that I somehow haven't thought of, I'd appreciate it. Keep in mind that Chris and I were in school in the 70s and 80s, so he's against any of the names that there were gobs of back then: Bob, Tom, Tim, Pete, Dave, Matt, Mark, Dan, Rob, Will, Jeff, Jim, etc. Oh, and Chris, LOL. We like Biblical names, but they are trendy right now, so Isaac, Isaiah, Elijah, Joshua, etc are out, as friends of ours already have used them. Jacob has been in the top 10 list for over 10 years now, no need to go there. Man, this would be easier if we were having a girl!

Winter is Here!

We've had cold weather the past few days, but the skies have been pretty clear. Today while I was out shopping, that changed. It started to snow, and it kept snowing! We didn't actually end up with a big accumulation, but it made the roads very slippery on the way home. I cut my trip short so I could be sure to get home before dark. My nightmare has been that all our snow would finally come in February, just in time for me to need to get to the hospital. Of course it looks like that will happen after all. I start my weekly dr. visits tomorrow; I sure hope it doesn't snow any more until Tuesday.

Last weekend Michelle came up to take me out for a girls' day out. We went out to lunch (at Applebee's, which I hadn't been to before, yummy!) and then went shopping. On my agenda were: curtains for the living room, some maternity pants for me, and a home-from-the-hospital outfit for the baby. I have been searching for all three for a while had having no luck. Michelle was happy to drive me over to the mall that I hate to drive to, and we did good!

First, the curtains: notice how I didn't say "new" curtains? That's because for the nearly 2 years we've lived here, we have only had sheers hanging in our front window. A big picture window. I finally ordered a curtain rod (had to order because I needed 120" long, and that is hard to find in stock in a store) which came just before Christmas. We had just one of those flimsy white aluminum rods which the boys had bent from pulling on the sheers so often. Just the new rod alone looked so good! I also wanted to find sheers or a scarf for my dining room window which is at the opposite end of the room from the living room window. I needed them to coordinate, but I didn't need to block any light, because that window faces north and has a pine tree in front of it, I just needed to dress it up a bit. I found just what I wanted at JCPenney's, but the scarf alone was $80! Ouch! I had to pass that up, but the next store we went in I found a very nice scarf on the sale table for $10. It was different from what I had been planning, but it still was very nice, and I couldn't really feel bad for spending $10, lol. We were able to find tab-top curtain panels to coordinate with it, and they were relatively inexpensive, so I got a set of those too. Chris just hung them today, and it really helps make the room feel more finished just to have the windows dressed a bit.

Here is the front curtains: boring tan, but better than nothing! And now it can block the sun when we watch tv in the afternoons.

And here is the matching scarf across the room: (please ignore the clutter and mess! LOL)

Next we looked for maternity clothes. I ended up in Motherhood, which surprised me because I'd have thought that the clothes there would be more expensive; but it turned out that they were charging less for the same clothes that Kohl's was carrying. I found a pair of black pants that have some stretch to them, and a dress so I can finally go back to church, LOL. Here is a picture of me in the dress, but I'm beginning to regret buying it. Troyer took a bunch of pictures of me in it tonight, and I hate all of them! I feel like I look like a horse. Either it really looks that bad, or Troyer takes bad pictures, LOL



Last on the list was a baby outfit. I was beginning to despair, and I think Michelle deserves an award for putting up with me on this shopping trip, LOL. I just hated everything we saw. Maybe that is because I am just so sick of buying boy things, it all looks the same to me now. I can't tell you how many cute cute cute girl outfits I saw. Waaahhhh. Finally in Kohl's I found a set marked 70% off and it was just what I wanted! Woohoo! It's in a basket waiting to be washed, but you'll be seeing a picture of it soon enough ;-)

After that we came on home, my feet were killing me and Michelle was getting tired too, and she still had to drive home. I really did have a nice day out with her, it is nice to have someone to shop with who doesn't constantly talk about Star Wars or Bionicles LOL.

About mid-week I came down with a cold. It was pretty nasty but I think I've just about kicked it. I did stay home from church (even though I had a new dress to wear!) to get some extra sleep, because my sinuses were keeping me up all night. I really don't need a cold hanging around until the baby comes. Nothing like labor when you can't breathe well. Ugh.

One more note, I've made a bit of progress in getting ready for the baby. No, we don't have a name, and no, the carseat is not in the van yet. BUT it IS out of the attic now LOL. I asked Chris on Tuesday if he was going to be getting the seat and the baby clothes out soon, as I am quickly running out of energy to do all that wash; his answer was no! Grrr! So on Thursday I went up in the attic myself (yes I am 8 months pg and had to climb a ladder as we don't have a walk-up) to find what I wanted and bring it down. I did enlist Troyer's help with the two big heavy plastic bins of clothes (I have all baby clothes from NB to 9 months in one bin) and blankets. When Chris found out I did it myself, he said oh, he was kidding, he was going to go up there this weekend. Yeah right. He still thinks we have plenty of time; I know very well how long it will take me to actually get this stuff washed, LOL. I also brought down a few boxes of maternity clothes. I didn't realize how much winter stuff I actually have, I assumed it was all summer. I have a box of clothes from Aimee, and her kids were born in January and March, so that is nice, I have a few more tops to wear.

Not in the Mood

To blog, that is. I'm not sure why, I have been cruising all my favorite blogs the last few weeks (and getting irked that they are not updated often enough! LOL) but I just feel like I don't have anything interesting to blog myself. Sorry to leave you all hanging.

Christmas was great, but I'm glad it's over. Not so much pressure to get everything done. In fact, I only baked half of the cookies I had planned. The cards did get out, and the presents got bought and wrapped. The boys had a great time, we mostly did a Lego and DVD Christmas this year. I did get my new digital camera, but since I had to play so much with it to learn how to use it, I didn't really get very good pictures of Christmas to post here.

We took a quick last-minute trip back to our old town to see old friends and go to our old church. We all had a great time seeing everyone. It was a long drive though (at least for a pregnant woman!) and my ankles were pretty swollen when I got home. Chris had 2 whole weeks off of work, and it was wonderful having him around. It was good for the boys, but it was really good for me too. I need more adult contact during the week! LOL

We started back to school and Chris back to work last Tuesday, ick, but somehow it's not so bad as it seemed before the holidays. We've got a lot of our Christmas stuff put away already, but the tree is still up (the benefits of a fake tree!). Levi still asks me everyday to turn the lights on. I think he will miss it a lot when it comes down. My plan is to have it down this weekend.

Pregnancy is going well. I just had an appt yesterday, and the doctor was pleased with how I am doing and how the baby is growing. Only 6 weeks left! Holy Cow, where has the time gone? I am sooo not ready yet. All the baby stuff is still in the attic waiting to be retrieved and cleaned, and in the case of the car seat, installed. And of course, we still have no name picked out yet. Last night was one more in a long string of fruitless discussions, nothing new to even consider. Sigh.

The weather is finally turning colder. I can't tell you how often the boys have complained about how warm it's been, and how can we have snow if it doesn't get cold? I, of course, am more than happy that it's been so warm! Snow only means I have to drive in it, or that I'm stuck in the house because there's too much to drive in. But I do get lots of cute pictures of the boys playing in it. ;-) Let's just hope we don't get a big snowfall in the second half of February! I need to be able to get to the hospital and back home again!

Local Headline Reads: Pictures Taken, All 6 Still Alive

Ok, we did the pictures this afternoon, and I will admit, it wasn't as hard as I anticipated. I think it helped tremendously that Chris is home on vacation and was here to help. That and the incentive of candy afterwards if I was happy with the results, LOL. Now I need help choosing which picture to print to put in the cards. Here are my top 5, please let me know which one you like!

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


And here is the payoff:

Several handsful of M&Ms.

Let me know what you think!

The Tree is Up!

Ok, we got the tree out of the attic on Sunday, I put it up on Tuesday, and we only just finished decorating it this morning. So we work slow. But it's up! It comes pre-lit, so no fussing with light strings, but I put the garland and the angel on, then last night let the kids go to town on the ornaments. Trust me, no one will ever pay them for their decorating skill. This morning I came out and spread the ornaments more evenly over the tree. Almost all of them were hung in one spot dead center on the tree, and many were hanging either from the garland or from another ornament, rather than from a branch. As a last touch, I hung the breakable ornaments, hopefully high enough to last the season. We only had one casualty this year, and it was broken when I pulled it from the box. I think it got crushed when Levi tried to walk across the boxes. Oops.



Of course, once the camera came out, Levi had to have his picture taken. And since it's really hard to get a bad picture of him, of course it's good enough to post here. Can you see what he was watching on tv when I got out the camera?

Nothing Much Going On Yet

Christmas is coming, but I'm not ready. I've bought cards to send but haven't written any out (and haven't taken the boys' picture for them) yet, and bought ingredients for cookies, but I haven't made any. The tree is not up yet, though Chris is hoping to drag it down from the attic tonight so I can maybe set it up tomorrow. I might also bake some cookies tomorrow.

One thing I did finally get done was giving everyone hair cuts. Last Sunday I did 7 cuts, since Chris really needed one too. Whew it was a long hairy day LOL. Even Levi got a real cut, not just a trim. Unfortunately he was sitting on Chris' lap so he could have his arms held out of the way, but Chris wasn't all that helpful, so there is a spot over his left ear that is too short. Mostly you can't notice it though. He was really good for his haircut, too, which was a pleasant surprise. Some of the older ones still fuss about it.

I had a bit of a worry over my glucose test a few weeks ago. I took my 1 hour test the day after Thanksgiving, and the level came out high, so I had to go back and take the 3 hour test, which is more accurate. Ick, I hate those things, and this is the first time I've had to take the 3 hour. Luckily I found out this week that I passed the 3 hour test. I was worried because being diagnosed with gestational diabetes would be a big complication in my plans to have a vbac. Since I am seeing a new group this pg and will be delivering at a new hospital, it seems that my 5 preious successful vbacs mean nothing, and they all assume I will have a repeat C-section. Even saying repeat sounds dumb to me, since the one I had was over 12 years ago. But phew, I passed, so hopefully everything will go smoothly in February!

Here is a picture I took of Levi last night:


You can't see the bad side of his haircut from this angle. Poor guy caught a cold yesterday, and last night Noah got it too, so they are both home from church this morning, recovering. I hope they are better by Christmas, and that they don't pass it on to their brothers!

Happy Thanksgiving

Chris and I drove down to VA for the day to spend Thanksgiving with Michelle and her family. Aimee stayed in Ohio to do the day with her in-laws, and Dad planned a trip to Tahiti, so he didn't come up. We had a great time, in spite of the rain on the way down. The kids got to watch the movie Cars, which was really cute, and we stuffed ourselves on some great food. I brought all the desserts, since Aimee wasn't bringing her pies. Troyer made brownies, Noah made a pumpkin pie, and I made apple crisp. It was all yummy.

After dinner, Michelle invited 4 of the boys to stay overnight, offering to drive them back up the next day. They were super excited! Poor Caleb hadn't been very good about behaving and getting his chores done all week, so he didn't get to stay, and he was very upset. But that opened up a slot for Micah, who has not been on a sleep over yet. he was very excited! We thought it was an excellent opportunity for him, since he'd have his brothers with him to help with any nervousness about leaving Mom and Dad. They all had a great time, and when the boys got home and Michelle and Gary drove off, Micah cried at the door that he already missed them.

We all had such a good time that I forgot to take pictures until we were going out the door. Here are the few that I took:


They had a great time playing with cousin Alex, who exhibited loads of patience with all the noise!


Micah was so busy playing that he almost didn't have time to give a hug goodbye!


Troyer was happy to stay!


Poor Caleb was very sad to go.


Levi was looking forward to getting home to bed!


Caleb was upset to ride alone in the back, so we did end up moving him up next to Levi.

Once we got home, Caleb realized it was kind of fun to have the house and his baby brother to himself, and wasn't quite so sad anymore. He also did a very good job of cleaning up the house, making up for all the work he didn't do all week.

(Little) Men in Uniform

This weekend Troyer and Noah's Pathfinder group held their induction service during church. This meant they had to wear their uniforms to church. Don't they look cute?



Noah was inducted, so he got to stand up, recite part of the Pathfinder pledge, and light a candle. He managed not to set the tablecloth on fire! Way to go Noah! LOL

As long as I had the camera out, Micah and Levi wanted to get in on the action. Here is a cute picture of the two of them:



Notice that Levi likes to have his breakfast "to go" LOL


I took this picture in front of my house this weekend also. It has been unseasonably warm for a few days, but really, you'd think the silly plant would know better? I only wish Spring were so close... sigh




And finally, a tidbit of news from a few weeks ago:
2 weeks ago Chris had to go on a business trip to Florida. It was his first time ever on a plane. He was nervous and I was nervous for him! I wasn't so much worried about the actual flight as I was about managing the whole airport maze, from leaving the car in the overnight lot to checking in and checking bags, to getting through security, to finding the right gate (gate*s* - he had to switch planes both down and back), as well as renting a car down there, and finding the hotel, an hour away from the airport. We briefly considered my figuring out a way to go with him, but that just wasn't going to work out with all the kids. Luckily he was able to convince the client to fly his coworker down, too, so he had help with the whole mess. It ended up being a pretty smooth trip, though he said it was more boring than anything.

Meanwhile, I was home alone with all the kids for a week. All went well, and I was looking forward to Chris getting home on Thursday night. I wasn't expecting to see him until midnight or later. Of course, just at the time his flight was taking off, disaster struck, lol. Caleb had been playing in the living room, "spinning," and fell and hit his head against the corner wall. Next thing I heard was Noah shouting "Mom! there's blood!" Oh great. Well, he split his head open good! He got a 3/4" gash close to the crown of his head, and it bled a lot. I was afraid he'd need stitches, and I just dreaded the thought of dragging all the kids down to the ER. Of COURSE it had to have happened when Chris wasn't here! So instead I just told Caleb he'd better stop bleeding or ELSE! LOL. Luckily it did stop quickly, so though the cut was long, it wasn't deep. I trimmed the hair away and put antibacterial cream on it and then stood there trying to hold it closed with my fingers. I couldn't put a bandaid on it because of the hair, and the lump that was forming was keeping the sides of the wound apart. I had him hold a piece of gauze to it for an hour or so, and let him stay up a few extra hours to make sure he hadn't hit his head harder than we thought. He didn't have any dizziness or nausea, and it wasn't long before he said it didn't even hurt much, so thankfully I was able to send him to bed, ER avoided.

He had me take a picture of it, since he couldn't see it himself.



The wound dried enough and formed a scab pretty quickly. Of course, under clear instructions to play quietly for the next few days so he wouldn't get the blood flowing again, he fell and hit his head on his bunk bed while playing hide and seek with Micah. (He was jumping out from hiding to try to startle Micah) More blood, etc. LOL Since then, thank goodness, he's managed to let it alone, and it is healing nicely.