Eli is turning out to be a very mellow, content baby so far. We're crossing our fingers that it stays that way. Pretty much the only time he cries is during diaper changes or getting him dressed. He hates both. He never spits up even though he's very stingy with his burps. He's been letting me sleep for 3-4 hours at a time at night, yea! When he's awake, he'll just look around with this profound gaze. I can't help but wonder what goes through such a little guy's mind when he's seeing the world for the first time. The kids absolutely adore Eli. They love holding him (we'll see how long that lasts). There hasn't been any jealousy issues yet, for which I'm very grateful. My biggest struggle is just balancing time for all of them.
Grandma Klaass was in town this whole week too, which definitely made things go smoothly for us. Now that she's gone, we'll have to see how we fair on our own. Here's some more pictures of Eli, a week old.
Elias John Neahusan was born on January 21, 2010 at 6:43 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He's got blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and of course the "Neahusan nose."
I started having contractions around two in the morning. They weren't too bad or too close together yet so I let Sean still sleep. Then around 4 am, I had a really painful one that signaled to me that things might be escalating. Usually it only takes me 3-4 hours from first pain until baby arrives. So I woke up Sean expecting things to get hot and heavy soon.
This time was different though. It was like I was doing this for the first time all over again. Pretty soon after I woke up Sean, things started slowing down. They went from 10-15 minutes apart to 30-45 minutes apart and not that strong. Sean still opted to stay home from work, not knowing when it might be time to go to the hospital. Things stayed the same all day, contractions half hour apart and not too strong.
The biggest complication was that a decent little snow storm was coming in this afternoon. I was so terrified that we'd be having to suddenly rush in a panic to the hospital at 10:00 at night in horrible road conditions. I knew we were supposed to wait until contractions were only 5-10 minutes apart and stronger, but the snow started falling and I was getting nervous. So around 3:30 in the afternoon, we decided to head off to the hospital anyway. We were going so stir crazy by this point and feeling so helpless as to what to do. We wanted to see what they would say and see how much progress I might have made by now. It felt very weird driving to the hospital feeling perfectly fine with a smile on my face, in no pain at all. I thought for sure they'd turn me away.
After checking in, the sent us to triage to see how far along to see if I should be admitted or not. A little after 4:00 the nurse told me I was dilated to a 3. She said they could observe me for an hour to see if anything changed. Meanwhile I was nervously laying on the terribly uncomfortable gurney reading a magazine, just waiting for them to tell me to go home. I did warn the nurse that this was my fifth baby, and that I had a feeling that when things started happening, they'd happen fast. Around 5, contractions started getting a little closer and a little stronger, but nothing major. It was a little before 6 when they decided to keep me. The nurse said my doctor was home for dinner, but would be back in a while. At this point, I wasn't worried because things still weren't too hot and heavy yet, but bad enough that I was asking for an epidural.
Before I could get into a labor room, the nurse had to start an IV, and check me again. The triage nurse took forever to get an IV in me. Supposedly I was pretty dehydrated, usually it's piece of cake to stick me. When she finally checked me around 6:15, I was dialated to an 8, almost 9 she said. I warned her that that meant the baby would be here in less than an hour based on past history. Things started to get a little more painful, but still only 5-6 minutes apart. Still no epidural.
The hospital was really inundated with laboring moms this night, and understaffed we were told. We had to wait a few more minutes for a room to be ready for us. At 6:30 I was wheeled into a labor and delivery room. All of the sudden everything happened at once. It's all a blur. A worker lady had just come in with the tray of sanitized equipment when Eli decided he was coming and coming now!. No nurses had even had a chance to come in and introduce themselves to us, when Sean was yelling into the hall, "We need someone in here NOW! She says the baby's coming!" Thank goodness for the bed rail. I was freaking out, hyperventilating, and so scared to do this all natural. Sean tried to play it cool, but he was totally rattled too. Mostly he said he just wanted to hit someone. So, while the baby's crowning, the nurses are running around, a random OBGYN doctor that happened to be in the hallway was rushed in, and I was told to "breathe through it" long enough to let the doctor get her robe on. After just a few intense pushes, Eli came into the world at 6:43 p.m. a mere 13 minutes after getting into the labor room.
The cord was wrapped around Eli's neck twice, but no ill effects from that. He and I were doing just fine. I'm just glad we didn't wait to go to the hospital or I might have had him in the car in snowy rush-hour traffic! I still can't get over how fast things progressed there at the end. It totally took me off guard.
more Christmas details to come!
Andrea: 8 months along
We had a great Christmas feast at our house on Christmas Eve with all us Neahusans. Then we went Christmas caroling to a sweet widow in our ward, Sister Robb, and brought her some of our yummy Christmas Eve leftovers. We had tried hard to convince her to just come over and enjoy the evening with us, but she wouldn't. When we went over and had the short visit with her, the kids just made her night. There were tears in her eyes when we sang Silent Night and then said our goodbyes. I'm so glad we were able to share that true part of the Christmas spirit with her. Just as importantly, I'm glad the kids got to feel that special spirit in their hearts and feel the love that Christ has for them and for Sister Robb. Will said it best when he said that he almost cried tears of happiness, and that his heart felt big and warm.
Lastly we went to our good friend's house for some treats and games and the real Christmas story out of Luke 2. Our kids got cute cute p.j.'s from Grandma Neahusan that they got to open up tonight too.
So let me explain this unusual Christmas Eve picture. Usually I hate having my picture taken when I'm pregnant because I feel like a beached whale. But I force myself at least once or twice for posterity's sake. Tonight I had dressed up a touch and felt almost photogenic, so I had Aspen aim and fire the camera at me. So, for those of you who don't get to see me pregnant up close and personal, this is me on Christmas Eve 8 months pregnant (35 weeks).
The kids had a day off of school because of all the snow we got. Then the next two days we had delayed start where school started 2 hours late, partially to help the buses and teachers be more safe. We got almost a foot of snow last Sunday and then a few inches during the week. Then yesterday we got another 8-10 inches. Church was even canceled because of it.
One of the most funny and frustrating things was watching Sean relearn how to drive in the snow. He thinks just because he got new all-year-round snow-and-mud tires that he can drive his little front wheel drive Trecel in anything. Nope. He's gotten stuck twice right in front of our house, and a little bit in his parking lot at work.
The kids have had a blast though. Kylee and Will surprised me by staying outside for over 2 hours playing in such cold weather. Aspen grumbled because she had to help shovel the driveway because I couldn't and Sean's rarely home. It was pretty heavy, wet snow.
I know it's quite a bit on the early side, but Sean had two whole days off for Thanksgiving and we decided to make use of it. (Sean only gets one day off for Christmas.) We reorganized Will's room and made room for a crib and dresser for Eli. Sean nobly spent hours, muscles, and patience putting together the crib. I sorted through and washed all the baby clothes, blankets, and linens we still have.
Will was so thrilled with the finished result. He can't wait to share a room with Baby Eli. Poor kid doesn't know what he's in for with all those middle of the night baby cries he'll be sure to encounter.
Aspen's doing great on the violin. She has taught herself some songs individually, and even learned how to transpose "Jingle Bells" into a different key so she could play along with her cousin Megan on the flute.
It was so fun to see Aspen's middle school orchestra concert. It was amazing to see the progress in the kids from the beginning class to the most advanced eighth grade class. Aspen's strings teacher came up to us afterward and told us how gifted Aspen was with the violin and that she could really benefit from private lessons. Aspen glowed with the compliment, but private lessons aren't in the budget for now. Luckily this school district has a great music program and we're impressed with her teacher.
Celeste had a wonderful baptism. She was joined by three other eight-year olds from our ward, one of which was her cousin Ryan. We were blessed to have family come from out of town for the occasion. Grandma and Grandpa Klaass and Grandpa and Grandma Meecham came in honor of Celeste. No Neahusan adults had to give talks this time (thank goodness), but the Neahusan kids sang a little musical number "I look to look for Rainbows." They were so sweet. Grandma Klaass made Celeste's special dress too. We kept my old temple dress, and she used the fabric from that to fit Celeste. What a talented mother I have!
It was so nice to share time with family, have great food, and celebrate a wonderful milestone for such a wonderful girl.
