Last week, I thought I had it all together! I had 14 days left until we were having the baby. I had help to come over and help clean the house (Dawn from D6 and her three daughters did a lot of the stuff that I couldn’t!), I had my to-do list whittled down, and I had started packing. I was prepared! Well, this week I started feeling somewhat icky. I can’t really explain why… I just felt bad. But that’s par for the course, right? Can’t sleep, can’t bend over, can’t feel my hands, feet swollen, etc. etc.
Tuesday we finished the REST of my to-do list. I marked off “clean oven” and felt like I had accomplished something! Jesse steamed the carpets in the hallway, the baby’s room, and the schoolroom. I even made a last minute trip to the grocery store (even though I didn’t know THEN that it was last minute). Wednesday morning my mom came over to watch the girls so Jesse and I could go to my last doctor appointment/ultrasound to schedule my c-section. I was fully planning to schedule
for the following Monday (the 22nd) instead of what we had talked about earlier (the 29th) because I didn’t want to suddenly go into labor and get Dr. Joe Schmoe instead of MY wonderful doctor that I felt completely comfortable with. I was really feeling iffy – like the baby was dropping more and more every time I took a step, and like there was no way I’d make it two more weeks until the 29th. Then, Jesse ended up having to go downtown for work and he couldn’t come with me so I ended up at the doctor’s by myself. No big deal, especially since he’d called and said, “I trust your judgment… schedule it for whenever you want and I’ll support you.” Nice! I even stopped by Lowe’s first to get a lightbulb for Josie’s school desk lamp and some Barkeeper’s Friend to clean my kitchen sink with, and I talked to 5 or 6 people who I used to work with. So, I wasn’t panicked at all when I got to the doctor’s office. That is, until I went into the little ultrasound room. Everything looked okay to me… but she sent me back to the waiting room… then called me BACK to the ultrasound room again. Then sent me back to the waiting room… then called me BACK to the ultrasound room AGAIN. At this point, I began to freak out thinking something had to be wrong with the baby. I texted Jesse – I THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG THEY CALLED ME BACK TO THE ULTRASOUND ROOM THREE DIFFERENT TIMES I AM ABOUT TO FREAK OUT – he replied – BEEN KICKING? WHAT THE HECK IS GUERRIERI SAYING? – I said – WAITING FOR HIM RIGHT NOW HASN’T BEEN IN YET – he said – I’M SURE HE’S FINE RELAX. KEEP ME POSTED. – and it was at this point that Dr. Guerrieri came into the exam room and appeared to be all business, which I’ve never seen before! He’s always giving me a hug, calling me the world’s most perfect woman, stuff like that. So the all business thing freaked me out even more. He said, “Here’s the deal. I don’t know if your body is leaking amniotic fluid or if your placenta has stopped producing it, but you do not have enough. You should have quite a bit at this point in the pregnancy and you have hardly any. So I think we should do this sooner rather than later.” I said, “I was planning on scheduling today anyway. I was thinking Monday. Would Monday work?” and he said, “I was thinking today or tomorrow.” Yikes. That threw me for a loop. I asked what he thought… should I do it today or tomorrow, and he said if I could get everything together, like babysitters etc., that he thought I should do it TODAY if at all possible. So I said okay, I will work something out, and he rushed out to call the hospital and set me up right then. Jesse, who had called me right before that (tired of waiting for me to text him) was already on the phone, so I filled him in. I felt a little sick at that moment… I mean, I went in thinking I had 5 more days to mentally prepare myself and get everything ready at home and set up for the girls’ babysitting and stuff, and suddenly I’ve been told it’s going to happen TODAY. He came back in and told me to be at the hospital at 3:30, my surgery was scheduled for 5:00pm. Then he assured me that it would definitely be him doing the surgery and not someone else… “You’re stuck with me, “ he said. Then I went to the car, got in, and began to have pretty much what I would call a full-blown anxiety attack.
I called my mom at home, but Jesse had gotten to her first…she already knew what was happening. So then I called Angela, who miraculously answered the phone because she was on a field trip. That made me feel better. Then I called Daddy, Amanda, Melissa, and Julie from my Bible Study Group. Everyone tried to reassure me, but I was still trying hard not to cry! I needed to hold it together so Sadie and Josie and Adelaide wouldn’t be worried about me. When I got home, I sat them down in the family room and told them what was going on. They were mainly excited… you could tell Sadie was a little bit nervous, though. Adelaide had no idea what was going on… she just said, “Mommy you goin to hospital? You get bruver?” Josie was all smiles, though. I think she’s been the most excited the whole time. Then I got busy finishing packing my bag, sorting one more load of laundry, emailing Sadie’s and Josie’s teachers, calling Dawn from D6, cleaning the kitchen sink, and then snuggling on my bed with the girls until Jesse got there to pick me up. It’s always a scary feeling when you think there’s a chance that you might not ever see your kids again. I always think that before I go in for surgery… that there’s a chance, no matter how small, that I might die during surgery and they will have to face life without me. That’s scary for me to think about. I informed my mom (much to her dismay) that she was in charge of telling them how much I loved them if anything were to happen, and that there were letters to each of them in their baby books from me, and that she would have to sort out all the scrapbooks for them. She can’t STAND it when I say things like that, but hey, it has to be said.
Then Jesse came home, changed clothes, and got his stuff together, packed the car, and off we went. I think I’ll always remember the three of them hugging me and kissing me and running through the yard to climb up on the big rock, waving, waving, waving… until we rounded the corner and were out of sight. My three little beautiful stair-step girls. Sometimes you wish you could just freeze time and keep them JUST LIKE THAT. That was one of those ‘mental picture’ moments you hear about so much. You never really think about how much you love someone until there’s a chance you might not see them again, you know? I know I’m morbid, but that’s just how it is.
It was a cool, overcast day, and I was wearing my dark gray pants that had just finished in the dryer (well, ALMOST finished. Mama put them in, but they were still a little wet and we ended up putting them in the microwave… so I was pantless right up until we walked out the door of the house), a white t-shirt, and my blue and white Nikes we got at the outlet in Florida. I was holding on to my pillow and my boppy while Jesse drove and I recounted the story of the morning dr. visit to him. He didn’t seem to be nervous at all which is both calming to me and annoying to me at the same time!
Once we parked and got out of the car, I started having some serious cramping pains while we were walking through the parking lot. I remember thinking that it was
probably a good thing that we went ahead and came to the hospital, since I didn’t think I would make it through the weekend without going into labor at that point anyway. When we waddled into the lobby, the team of receptionists all pointed us to the 3rd floor, all oohing and ahhing and saying good luck and how exciting that we were getting a baby today! We headed upstairs, and it was all very surreal… it didn’t seem possible that we were actually in the ACTUAL elevator, going up to the ACTUAL operating room. I guess it’s because it hit us all of a sudden. I really didn’t even have much time to get nervous. We arrived around 3:30pm, and they ushered us straight into Labor and Delivery Room 12 on the 3rd floor of the hospital/luxury hotel suite. Seriously. The brand new hospital has all wood floors, granite countertops, beautiful tilework, etc. It’s too fancy to be a hospital. The ladies came in and started on our paperwork, and I switched over into a fabulous hospital gown and sat down in the rocking chair to start signing off on the papers that said I wouldn’t sue them if I happened to die while in surgery. Jesse made himself busy unpacking and moving things around and being generally unable to keep still (maybe he WAS a little nervous after all). Then once all that was finished, a nice nurse named Anita came in to do my IV and started pumping me FULL of fluid. I remember it was icy cold and they put a pressure cuff on it to squeeze it harder to get me even FULLER of fluid faster! My nose and fingers started swelling up even more almost immediately! Anita assured me that she’d be with me the WHOLE time, which made me feel better. Then another nurse came in to put in my catheter, which was pretty much pure torture. Jesse said it was really hard to watch, but it was harder to stay there on the bed while she did it without jumping up, smacking her, and running away! When she was finished, I started to panic a bit and Jesse came over and held my hand and prayed for me and for the baby’s safe delivery. That made me feel better. Next, the two anesthetists came in (Dr. Whitaker and her assistant Cathleen) and talked to me and examined my x-rays. With my history of spinal headaches, they wanted to be extra careful to make sure they did everything possible to get the needle in the right spot the first time with little or no trauma, including using the smallest needle that they had. I felt pretty confident about it, which was a good thing, because right after that, it was suddenly 5pm and they escorted me across the hall to the sterile operating hallway. Jesse finished putting on his scrubs (he joked that he didn’t need a hat since he had no hair) and awaited them calling him into the O.R.
I went in and they helped me up onto the table. I had to sit leaning forward with my legs hanging off the side of the table. Anita helped push my head down onto my chest, and I had to curve my spine so they could find the right spot to put the needle in. It took a pretty long time (I remember looking at the clock and seeing it say 5:04) but they took their time and the needle went in without a hitch (with one of my surgeries – Sadie’s, I think, they had to move the needle all around to find the space and it made a terrible crunching noise). Then I started going numb and they laid me back on the table and strapped me down. Then they put up the drape and Dr. Guerrieri made his appearance (I was so glad to see him!) They checked to make sure I was all the way numb, and then Jesse came in with his video camera and
started to record! Next thing I knew, I was hearing a baby cry! And I was so happy and relieved to hear his little voice! So I started crying too, and the tears kept running into my ears and Jesse had to wipe them out. Jesse said that he started peeing as soon as they took him out, hehee. They showed him to me, and he was so teeny and cute! They said he was 7 lbs, 7 oz, and 20 inches long. I was a bit overwhelmed, and felt both joy and sadness and fear and thankfulness and a hundred other things all at the same time as they put Humpty Dumpty back together and stitched me all back up. I told the doctor to suck some of the fat out while he was down there! Everything after that is kind of a blur for me. I remember them putting the baby right by my head so I could see him close up, and then I remember them switching me to my bed from the operating table (always a scary move!). After that, I don't remember much except marveling over how cute and small he was and ITCHING. The Duramorph they put in my spinal block made me itch insanely for hours and hours. I think the pain would've been better than the itching! Grammie Gail and Grampie Don came to see us first... Grampie was touched - he kept saying, "This
is a glorious night!" Then Grandma and Grandpa came, shortly follwed by Aunt Lydia and all three of the big sisters (proudly wearing their Big Sister medals on their shirts). They were SO EXCITED to meet the baby. I'll never forget Josie's face when she walked into the room, looking for him everywhere, and then she laid eyes on him
and was totally smitten! Adelaide held him first, but she wasn't all that impressed. She said, "Where my baby bruver?" then when she held him for a few seconds and kind of pushed him away and said, "I all done." She also kept calling HIM the big sister, which was kind of funny. Sadie and Josie, however, pretty much fought over who would GET to hold him. They were so
happy to see him, and it was just precious to see them together. Jesse and I spent the next ENTIRE day trying to figure out his name...It was a toss up between my favorites, Jedidiah and Sawyer, and his favorite, Memphis. Needless to say, I finally got my own way for once, and Jedidiah was aptly named: "Friend of God." I hope he'll grow into his name! :)
Jedidiah is already over two months old... and I love the cute little chubbiness he's turning into. Every morning I hold him close and nurse him and snuggle his warm fuzzy baby cuteness and I think to myself... this is the last time I'll have this kind of newborn love! This realization, of course, always brings tears to my eyes. I have to pretty much force myself to LIVE IN THE MOMENT instead of worrying about the NEXT moment. It's a problem I've dealt with my entire life. 
for the following Monday (the 22nd) instead of what we had talked about earlier (the 29th) because I didn’t want to suddenly go into labor and get Dr. Joe Schmoe instead of MY wonderful doctor that I felt completely comfortable with. I was really feeling iffy – like the baby was dropping more and more every time I took a step, and like there was no way I’d make it two more weeks until the 29th. Then, Jesse ended up having to go downtown for work and he couldn’t come with me so I ended up at the doctor’s by myself. No big deal, especially since he’d called and said, “I trust your judgment… schedule it for whenever you want and I’ll support you.” Nice! I even stopped by Lowe’s first to get a lightbulb for Josie’s school desk lamp and some Barkeeper’s Friend to clean my kitchen sink with, and I talked to 5 or 6 people who I used to work with. So, I wasn’t panicked at all when I got to the doctor’s office. That is, until I went into the little ultrasound room. Everything looked okay to me… but she sent me back to the waiting room… then called me BACK to the ultrasound room again. Then sent me back to the waiting room… then called me BACK to the ultrasound room AGAIN. At this point, I began to freak out thinking something had to be wrong with the baby. I texted Jesse – I THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG THEY CALLED ME BACK TO THE ULTRASOUND ROOM THREE DIFFERENT TIMES I AM ABOUT TO FREAK OUT – he replied – BEEN KICKING? WHAT THE HECK IS GUERRIERI SAYING? – I said – WAITING FOR HIM RIGHT NOW HASN’T BEEN IN YET – he said – I’M SURE HE’S FINE RELAX. KEEP ME POSTED. – and it was at this point that Dr. Guerrieri came into the exam room and appeared to be all business, which I’ve never seen before! He’s always giving me a hug, calling me the world’s most perfect woman, stuff like that. So the all business thing freaked me out even more. He said, “Here’s the deal. I don’t know if your body is leaking amniotic fluid or if your placenta has stopped producing it, but you do not have enough. You should have quite a bit at this point in the pregnancy and you have hardly any. So I think we should do this sooner rather than later.” I said, “I was planning on scheduling today anyway. I was thinking Monday. Would Monday work?” and he said, “I was thinking today or tomorrow.” Yikes. That threw me for a loop. I asked what he thought… should I do it today or tomorrow, and he said if I could get everything together, like babysitters etc., that he thought I should do it TODAY if at all possible. So I said okay, I will work something out, and he rushed out to call the hospital and set me up right then. Jesse, who had called me right before that (tired of waiting for me to text him) was already on the phone, so I filled him in. I felt a little sick at that moment… I mean, I went in thinking I had 5 more days to mentally prepare myself and get everything ready at home and set up for the girls’ babysitting and stuff, and suddenly I’ve been told it’s going to happen TODAY. He came back in and told me to be at the hospital at 3:30, my surgery was scheduled for 5:00pm. Then he assured me that it would definitely be him doing the surgery and not someone else… “You’re stuck with me, “ he said. Then I went to the car, got in, and began to have pretty much what I would call a full-blown anxiety attack. 
probably a good thing that we went ahead and came to the hospital, since I didn’t think I would make it through the weekend without going into labor at that point anyway. When we waddled into the lobby, the team of receptionists all pointed us to the 3rd floor, all oohing and ahhing and saying good luck and how exciting that we were getting a baby today! We headed upstairs, and it was all very surreal… it didn’t seem possible that we were actually in the ACTUAL elevator, going up to the ACTUAL operating room. I guess it’s because it hit us all of a sudden. I really didn’t even have much time to get nervous. We arrived around 3:30pm, and they ushered us straight into Labor and Delivery Room 12 on the 3rd floor of the hospital/luxury hotel suite. Seriously. The brand new hospital has all wood floors, granite countertops, beautiful tilework, etc. It’s too fancy to be a hospital. The ladies came in and started on our paperwork, and I switched over into a fabulous hospital gown and sat down in the rocking chair to start signing off on the papers that said I wouldn’t sue them if I happened to die while in surgery. Jesse made himself busy unpacking and moving things around and being generally unable to keep still (maybe he WAS a little nervous after all). Then once all that was finished, a nice nurse named Anita came in to do my IV and started pumping me FULL of fluid. I remember it was icy cold and they put a pressure cuff on it to squeeze it harder to get me even FULLER of fluid faster! My nose and fingers started swelling up even more almost immediately! Anita assured me that she’d be with me the WHOLE time, which made me feel better. Then another nurse came in to put in my catheter, which was pretty much pure torture. Jesse said it was really hard to watch, but it was harder to stay there on the bed while she did it without jumping up, smacking her, and running away! When she was finished, I started to panic a bit and Jesse came over and held my hand and prayed for me and for the baby’s safe delivery. That made me feel better. Next, the two anesthetists came in (Dr. Whitaker and her assistant Cathleen) and talked to me and examined my x-rays. With my history of spinal headaches, they wanted to be extra careful to make sure they did everything possible to get the needle in the right spot the first time with little or no trauma, including using the smallest needle that they had. I felt pretty confident about it, which was a good thing, because right after that, it was suddenly 5pm and they escorted me across the hall to the sterile operating hallway. Jesse finished putting on his scrubs (he joked that he didn’t need a hat since he had no hair) and awaited them calling him into the O.R. 
is a glorious night!" Then Grandma and Grandpa came, shortly follwed by Aunt Lydia and all three of the big sisters (proudly wearing their Big Sister medals on their shirts). They were SO EXCITED to meet the baby. I'll never forget Josie's face when she walked into the room, looking for him everywhere, and then she laid eyes on him 
and was totally smitten! Adelaide held him first, but she wasn't all that impressed. She said, "Where my baby bruver?" then when she held him for a few seconds and kind of pushed him away and said, "I all done." She also kept calling HIM the big sister, which was kind of funny. Sadie and Josie, however, pretty much fought over who would GET to hold him. They were so 
Sadie confided to me the other day that sometimes, when I think she's asleep, she will sneak out of bed, get a book, and "Read by fishlamp light." She's just a regular little old Abraham Lincoln. :) 
Last week we went to the Little Red Schoolhouse for an "It's Fall!" class. Adelaide had a super good time. Sadie and Josie did too, but this was Adelaide's first real trip when she was actually part of the class. We did leaf rubbings with crayons of all different kinds of leaves, played with fall puzzles and puppets, listened to a story about what the animals do in autumn, checked out the hissing cockroaches, butterflies, and tarantulas that they have in cages, and then we went on a nature hike on the trail with our tour guide and the rest of the class. Out there we got 
to see milkweed, burrs, and all kinds of seedpods in action! It was fun to see the girls kicking up all the leaves (we didn't have any in our yard yet) and interacting with nature. My only problem was trying to climb the giant three story outdoor staircase covered with wet leaves... I didn't think that top-heavy me would be able to make it to the top and back down the hill on the other side without falling and killing myself! 
They liked looking for worms and grubs and other bugs underneath the rocks and throwing sticks and leaves off the bridge into the creek. They collected their own leaves, too, and their favorites seemed to be these GIGANTIC poplar (I think) leaves that used as their 'fans' on the way home. The coolest part that we learned about was that leaves aren't naturally green in color. Green is just the chlorophyll that they make all spring and summer for food. The green covers up the leaf's natural color, which only comes out in the fall when they leaf stops making its own food! It's fun to see them enjoying nature and the wonder of God's creations!
Since we watched The Wizard of Oz last year, the girls incorporate the ideas from the movie (and the book) into their every day lives. At breakfast the other morning, Josie cracked me up with her spot-on impersonation of the Mayor of Munchkin City... "Follow the yellow brick road!" She can sound EXACTLY like him! Sadie likes to sound more like the flutey voice of the GIRL munchkin, while Adelaide sings in a growly voice: "Sing it low, sing it low. Sing it LOW!" 
Last week Sadie spent her own money at a garage sale for a Dora the Explorer pogo stick. She constantly calls it a "pongo" stick, which drives me nuts. No matter how many times I tell her it's POGO, she always switches back to PONGO. Oh well. It's fun watching her try to conquer it, but it definitely calls for a helmet.
Last week, Grammie took it upon herself to teach Adelaide how to go potty. I told her it was pointless, that Adelaide keeps saying she has to go poop, but then she'll sit and sit on the potty and nothing ever happens. Well Grammie, in her infinite wisdom, parked Adelaide on her potty with the little step-stool in front of her AND a couple of books (Sam's Cookie, for one - her current favorite), and lo and behold, the stinker sat there for 20 mintues and finally yelled, "MOMMY! I POOP! POOP COMED OUT!" My mom loves to say I told you so.
The best part, by far, was at the end when they decided they wanted to put their handprints in the newly poured cement. James and Jesse had the bright idea to put footprints in there too. I must admit, it turned out pretty cute!
last week Josie and I sorted everything out into separate bags (we couldn't give one family a case of chicken soup and nothing else!). Today, I was so proud of Sadie and she went with her daddy, talking to these people and giving them stuff that they needed and really appreciated. She even gave away an extra little bike that we'd had in the garage, and we know some little kid is going to be very happy with it! She also handed everyone a business card from our church so they'd know where the food was coming from, and WHY we were doing this... I know this is something that will make an impression on her and that she will remember for years to come.
Adelaide, my mom, and I went on Wednesday for my "big ultrasound." The good news is, everything looks great as far as the baby being healthy... the heart, the brain, the lungs, the kidneys, etc. were all in perfect shape. The not so good news is that the baby was keeping its little legs crossed and we could not tell for sure if it's a boy (as the doctor THINKS it is according to my 18 week ultrasound) or a girl. I was disappointed because I really wanted to firm things up and get psyched up for whatever he or she is! Plus there's always The Great Name Debate to contend with. Anyway, after the ultrasound, Adelaide and I rode to Bible School (about a 3 hour trip) with a couple from our church and their teenage son, whom Adelaide dubbed "The Kid" and/or "Children" (his name is "Chandler"). She proceeded to talk NON-STOP for the ENTIRE trip. I am not kidding. I never really notice just how MUCH she talks until I'm with people that aren't around her that much... then I kind of "hear her through their ears." Sheesh. The kid was unstoppable. They especially enjoyed her weird growling voice and when she said, "I will eat you!" to Chandler. She is such a goof.
We had fun at Bible School, once we FINALLY got there. I was happy that pretty much everything we had to eat looked good to me (I was afraid I might starve to death there, what with no slushies and all :). The girls made lots of new friends, including some "big kids," which is what they call teenagers. They were especially enamored of Sean, Emily, Chloe, and Conner. They both also really liked a little girl named Erin (from Georgia, I think), and they thoroughly enjoyed their classes about prophets. Sadie made a little Jonah doll that is so cute, and Adelaide and Josie made tons of crafts in their classes... Josie volunteered to stay and help Adelaide so she "wouldn't be scared." Jesse took them swimming 3 or 4 times, and both Sadie AND Josie WENT OFF THE HIGH DIVE. This was very scary for old mommmy here, but they did it like it was nothing! 
The week ended with a great presentation of a Jonah musical play and all three girls dressed up like tiny little Ninevites and sang, "Who did, who did, who did, who did, who did swallow Jo Jo Jo Jo...." Now the song is stuck in all of our heads!
We've taken several trips to the park, but the girls really had a good time when the 4 of us had a "garage sale day," visiting neighborhood sales, buying cookies and lemonade, and letting them spend their very own money on little treasures. We had a little picnic at this park with a giant slide that goes down a huge hill...even though we were approached by a policeman who was looking for a biting dog on the loose! Sadie and Josie immediately started running around warning people about the "rabied dog" in the park. :) 
Jesse has taken the girls fishing a few times (Sadie got to go perch fishing out on Lake Erie for the first time this year) already, and judging from the triumphant looks on the icky stinky fishy faces that come home from the pond, it looks like it's going to happen a lot more before the summer is over! 
Poor Adelaide took a literal "nose dive" and tripped on the driveway a couple of weeks ago, doing a FACE PLANT right onto the pavement. The poor kid didn't even have any scratches on her hands from trying to catch herself... she landed RIGHT on her nose. I have never seen her cry so hard over a boo boo before, so I know it hurt! At first I thought she had knocked her teeth out, she was so bloody and upset. She looked AWFUL for about a week and a half, but has miraculously healed since then... now her nose is just a bit shiny, which is actually kind of becoming on her. :) >
So for three days, she's been running a low-grade fever and she's been really tired - sleeping in until almost 10am, which is unheard of! She doesn't want to eat anything, and she who is normally helpful and easy to please has been a super drama diva. For instance: Yesterday, she wanted to wear her purple frilly fancy two-piece skirt outfit to play in outside. I said no, she needed to wear play clothes. She proceeded to cry and moan, and say that it wasn't fair, that she was going to go naked or stay inside all day, and then she actually (I am not kidding) put the back of her forearm to her forehead and SWOONED backward onto her bed, yelling and saying things like, "I can't help it! It's not my fault! I'm not trying to be mean! It's my TOOTH! IT'S MY TOOTH'S FAULT! It's my... it's my... SIX YEAR MOLAR!" Oh my goodness. I am so looking forward to adolescence.
Last week was a big week for us. Sadie and Josie had Safety Town camp all week, AND Natasha, Britt, and Bayleigh came up to stay with us for the week. We had a great (if exhausting:) time. We went to an Indians' Game, had a "Donfire," went to a cookout at Beth and Roy's house, went to the beach while the guys had their Father's Day fishing trip, went to the zoo, ate at PF Chang's, and did a day trip to Niagara Falls. That's a lot to squeeze in to one week, but I made the itinerary! :)
