Birth Story

I was induced at 5am on May 29th (5 days before my due date). We got the process started and things were going just fine. I had my mom and Sean at the hospital with me, while my dad was home with McKay. We spent the first few hours chatting, watching Arrested Development, and eating strawberry flavored ice chips. Then around 10:30am my contractions were starting to get pretty painful so I asked for an epidural. At that same time my doctor came in to break my water, and once he did things started to progress pretty quickly!

My contractions came on SUPER intense (to the point that I didn't know how any woman could possibly give birth without drugs!). Luckily (or so I thought) the dr came in to do my epidural. I'm not sure exactly what the problem was (he blamed it on my curved spine) but it took this guy 45 minutes and TWELVE pokes to get the job done. Imagine trying to be still that long and curved over your huge belly while having horrible contractions. Needless to say, I was hating that guy the whole time.

Right after my epidural was in the nurses starting becoming concerned because the baby's heart rate would drop each time I had a contraction. They quickly gave me a shot to stop my contractions and paged my doctor. Once he was there he told me that even though I was only dilated to a 6/7 I needed to start pushing and that we had a short window before they would need to do an emergency c-section. I pushed for around 20 minutes and then the doctor used his little suction vacuum thing to pull the baby out.

Max was very gray when he came out and I only got to hold him for a minute or two before the team of doctors from the NICU rushed in. They worked on him for a little while and then took him to the NICU. His cord was really twisted which was the problem. Sean went with him to the NICU while my mom stayed with me. I had to stay in the recovery room for 2 hours, which was really hard to not see him until then! Thankfully Sean would text me pictures and videos to keep me updated. 

We got really lucky and Max only had to be in the NICU for two days and was off oxygen after the first day. It was also really hard on McKay since he wasn't able to go see his new baby. He would get really upset whenever he came to the hospital! 

Max is now a month old and is doing great. Putting on weight like a champ and trying to survive all his big brother's hugs and kisses!

Introducing....

Maxwell Benjamin Edwards

Born May 29, 2013

Birth story to come later...

Just an hour old - Max spent the first 48 hours in the NICU

McKay loves his "cute baby!"

First time they got to meet. Not getting to see Baby Max while we were in the hospital was really hard for McKay.

"Hey, Brother."
(Said in Buster's voice from Arrested Development)

So many cute outfits! The left one was worn by Ari, and the right (Duckies) has been worn by Lillia, McKay, Ari, and now Max. It's a family tradition!

We're SO glad you're finally here, Max! 

Last Pregnancy Post

 Here's what we've been doing the last couple days while waiting for Baby! 

Our neighborhood Memorial Day Picnic

Fun at the park with Daddy!

Breakfast in bed for Mommy

Tonight - Being induced TOMORROW!!!!

When you're 9 months pregnant and working full time...

...blogging is about last on your to-do list. Sorry. 

Here's been our week, in pictures

McKay giving his My Little Pony a bath because she was sticky.
Note to self - this is a fantastic way to kill time and get his hands super clean. He did this for at least 15 minutes! 

The fantastic Room Mom's decorate our bulletin boards for Teacher Appreciation Week each year. I actually cried when I saw mine! It is so incredible!

My selfie at 35 1/2 weeks. This was a week ago and not long after the baby dropped (even though everyone tells me he's too high still - he has in fact dropped!).
As of today - almost 37 weeks - the baby is around 6 lbs!!

The ladies I work with, were so kind to give me such a nice baby shower! I got a lot of  cute outfits for baby as well as tons of bath supplies for him. Such a relief! 

McKay's gifts for his preschool teachers and speech teacher. Today was his last day. 

Little Man at his last day celebration. He's really going to miss "My Dawn" AKA Miss Dawn.
She's been such a good teacher for him! 

Easter Weekend

Last weekend was Easter and it was a bittersweet one for my family. It was wonderful to see everyone - especially since we hadn't planned on it - but it was sad to say goodbye to my grandma. Her funeral was as upbeat as any funeral can be, I suppose. It was mostly family, and we knew the last thing my grandma would've wanted was her family, all together, crying for her. Instead we celebrated her life in memories, which was very sweet.

Sean was awesome to take care of the kids during the services. This is at the lunch afterwards - the kids thought he was the best jungle gym ever! What a good sport!

Sweet Lilly!

My dad with Chad's kids...

...and then with mine and Becca's.

Okay, so this was the funniest part of the weekend! Sean had Becca's phone during the funeral (because Lilly was playing a game on it) and he decided to pull an early April Fool's prank on her. Normally I think pranks are mean, but this one was too funny! He changed his contact info in her phone to say "Cat Facts" and then deleted all their prior texts. Then starting the next day he would text her with some crazy cat fact every hour on the hour, like it was from some crazy cat fan page. He only did it for a day and 1/2 but it drove her nuts!!!! I took this picture of her about 30 mins before she finally decided to call the number and realized it was actually Sean. She was pretty pissed, but I think once she gets over the annoyance of it, she'll think it was funny. At least the rest of us did! 

Mine and McKay's first time dying eggs. I'm guessing this was Becca's first time too  ??

Lucky boy got to hunt for eggs twice on Easter! First at Taylor and Logan's (where we stayed)...

...and then at my uncle's house where the rest of my family stayed. 

The kiddos showing off their eggs! Here are Becca's kids, as well as two of my cousin's kids. They all had a lot of fun together.

With grandpa after Easter dinner.

I love my family! 

Nova Dee

My sweet grandma passed away early this morning. She was sick with pancreas cancer for the past year and went peacefully in her sleep. It was such a blessing that she never really went through the final stages of cancer. I think we were all really dreading watching that happen so I'm glad she wasn't in any pain in the end. I think my dad said it best when he said, "She is now in a place where she will wait to greet each of us." I'm thankful to have that comforting knowledge in this sad time. 

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of my grandma...

Collage-a-thon

 Instead of posting 9 different pictures, I put them into collages...because it was faster and 3 pictures is about all I have the energy to upload right now. I'm officially in my third (and last!) trimester - 28 weeks! Usually your energy is supposed to come back in your 2nd trimester, but mine never seemed to. I guess I should just get used to it though - I'm thinking with two kids I'll probably never have energy like I used to. I shouldn't complain too much though, I'd rather have less energy and be able to snuggle (and chase after) my cute boy and future cute boy! 

These are some of my favorite things right now - Hat Day at McKay's School,  a Shamrock Shake, and watching Kayo mimic us with his toys! 

Rare moments of a sweet, snuggly boy - he's usually too active for this to happen anymore! 

McKay found his own place to watch a show on my phone.
And me - 28 weeks (7 months) today!