schickHouse

Josselyn's First Photos

Here are some photos from Josselyn's first days...

Angela, Elle Mae, Cyrus, & Shelby just before heading out to the babysitters'. They got to spend an

extra long time with their cousins since Josselyn's flipping delayed when we thought she'd be born.

Becky & Steve, ready for the OR and ready to meet this baby.

Just after delivery, with baby Josselyn.

The children were the first to meet her. I love this precious picture.

Josselyn Rose found her thumb.

Josselyn, sleeping with the cap that the nurse's aide picked out for her.

Josselyn Rose

The second half of Baby #5's story did not get any less exciting and unpredictable than the first half. Since baby turned breech during the attempted labor induction, the induction was halted, and we went home to see if baby would flip back to the vertex position. On Friday, July 17, we went in for a non-stress test and a sonogram. Baby was still feet first. We had the option to schedule a Caesarean birth or wait again until Monday to see if baby would flip. If baby did not flip by Monday, a Caesarean birth would take place then. Being tired of waiting, wanting to meet this little one, and not having much confidence that baby would flip again, I decided on the Friday C-section. That decision was made around noon, and our scheduled operation was made for 4pm.

Steve & I went to the pizza shop, at my request, to take my mind off of the C-section. I was both a little nervous about the operation/medical part and a little frustrated & sad at the fact that I wouldn't be pushing this little one out myself. Steve got a good meal, and we visited with the fam.

Once back at the hospital, they got me ready for surgery, told me what to expect, and pumped me full of hydrating fluids. We got bumped back in the schedule twice because of emergency C-sections. At 4:30pm the doc came in and talked with us, and they did one more ultrasound to check baby's position. I had hope because as we walked through the parking lot, the baby seemed to do an amazing move inside me. But, no, baby was still head up. About 90 minutes later, around 6pm, we headed to the OR.

After I was prepped and numb over about 3/4 of my body, they brought Steve in. We were excited to meet this baby. As the doctor made the incision and found baby, she said something like, "I can't believe this kiddo!" Baby had flipped to head down! Aye. It would've been easy for me to freak out, but I think all the prayers going up for us helped me immensely. My thoughts went something like this: it's already done, freaking out now will not help anything. And if we had found baby head-down on the ultrasound, what's to say that during an induction, baby wouldn't have turned breech again? So, my logical won out over my emotional at that moment. Yea!

A few minutes later, baby Josselyn Rose was born. Steve was able to take some pictures. She was just so beautiful. I felt like we had been waiting so long for her. We were both surprised it wasn't a boy. Maybe it was the hot wing craving (like I had with Cyrus), maybe it was the basketball belly (like the wive's tale says), or maybe it was just a wrong hunch, but we were kind of expecting a boy. Got over that in an instant. :o) Josselyn weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 oz, and measured 19.75 inches long. Weight-wise she was our "middle-weight," with Shelby & Cyrus born a little lighter than her, and Elle Mae & Angela a bit heavier than her. I had narrowed my boy name down to one and my girl names down to two, so I had to hold her and meet her a little before I could pick Josselyn.

Now she is waking from a nap, so I will close. But pictures are coming. Josselyn is an amazing addition to our family, and we thank God for her every day.

Yesterday Was NOT the Day

Every birth story is different, and this baby is developing quite the story! We went in for induction at 8am. By 10am we had talked with the midwife (Angie), and she was very agreeable with the requests we had regarding as few interventions as possible. That made me feel so much less nervous.

Around 10:30am they started my GBS antibiotics. At 2:30pm the midwife tried to break my water but couldn't, so pitocin was started to try to move the baby down a bit, to make the water easier to break. I believe that was the turning point (ha, ha). This was shift change for the nurses, and as our new nurse tried to find the baby on the monitor, it took what seemed like an exorbitant amount of time. After at least a half hour, she found the baby's heartbeat with the monitor. It was pretty high up, and before it had been waaay down. So we did pitocin for a while, got in a rhythm. Then around 7pm the midwife came it to try to break my water again. Before breaking, she just wanted to check me again. She felt a hand or foot and immediately put the water breaking on hold and took me off the pitocin. We then got an ultrasound to confirm that baby had flipped, head right up at my sternum. Aye.

It looked like a Caesarian section was inevitable. Then it was more waiting, this time for the doctor consultation (Dr. Yingling). He understood that we wondered about options. He thought it'd be find for us to wait a few days to see if baby would flip back around. So, about 10pm, two weary parents left the hospital and headed home. We both agreed we had not been that tired in a loooong time. I told Steve it was the most exhausting day of doing nothing that I've ever had! We grabbed some McD's on the way home, stopped in to surprise Steve's mom, and then to surprise my dad.

Today, I made an appointment with a chiropractor recommended by a midwife (Tiffany) who has apparently had huge success with accupressure to get babies to turn. Tomorrow, I have a non-stress test and another sonogram at May-Grant to see how baby's doing. If baby is head down at that point, we'll probably head over to the hospital to try the induction again. If baby is still breech, it sounded like Dr. Yingling thought they'd give us til Monday for baby to flip. So, Monday we'd be scheduled for a C-section, but they'd check first, and if baby would be head down on Monday, they'd start the induction again. *Whew* If at any time labor comes on by itself or my water breaks, we go to the hospital, find out what position Baby is in, and proceed from there.

All your prayers are greatly appreciated. Through all the surprises of yesterday, we had peace. My peace surprised me because I really don't want a C-section. I know, though, it's all in God's hands, in His timing, and for His glory. So, I've let him know what I'd prefer, but I will accept His answers knowing He has the plan. I can't WAIT to meet this little one. Yesterday we strolled the halls and oogled over some of the babies in the nursery. They are just so pink and soft! I can't wait to hold ours. Thank you again for your prayers. They've helped in every way.

Today's the Day!

Woohoo!!! Heading to Women's & Babies' Hospital for induction this morning at 8am. Thanks for all your prayers. They are greatly appreciated and working already as I had a wonderful night's sleep and woke up excited instead of intimidated. Please pray for as little "medical intervention" as possible today, as this is what we feel is best for baby and Mama. We will post info and pictures as soon as we get to a computer. Goin' to meet Baby Schick!!!

Nest Much?

Today, completely unlike myself, I tackled a bake-ahead for the freezer project. I bought 10 pounds of ground beef on sale and made six casseroles, 8 burgers, and froze 2 extra pounds. I didn't really look at the clock (also odd), but I believe it took 3-4 hours. I did it with the intention of ready-to-go food during baby's arrival. I was also secretly hoping the unusual inspiration meant labor was imminent. In honesty though, I doubt it.

:o) We also bought baby's first pack of diapers today. Too cute.

Baby Update

Today was my first appointment at the "new" doc's. "New" because it's actually the same practice I went to with the first three. I made them let me go after the appointment went two hours. My mother-in-law was keeping the children, and she had to get to work, after all. So, updates, trying to be brief and quick:

- I'll have an appointment once a week to see the doc and get a non-stress test (NST).

- They (at this point) switched the due date back to July 16. Happy because sooner is always exciting. Not happy because this (to me) forebodes of induction. At any rate, that puts us just six weeks away. Wow. Another thought - this is good news for my brother and his wife, since they will be here during that time but were going to leave before the old due date.

- They ordered me off insulin and on an oral med. One nurse told me she thinks I'll be happy with the results, that they'll be better than the insulin. I hope so!

- Sonogram #2 next Monday.

- Oh yes, and I almost forgot. I now can only hobble around. This weekend's garage sale may be more of a challenge than anticipated. And the garden may start and stop with pumpkins. As I was getting in the big red van (my first day after a long stint in the minivan) I failed to remember that the sun was strong and the seats are vinyl. As I scooted into my seat, I singed the underside of my leg, causing the classic "knee-jerk" reaction, in turn causing a muscle in my groin to be pulled. Ugh. I knew it hurt, but I didn't realize it would stay with me. When I got out of the car, I realized every step hurt. A LOT.

So that's where we are now. Steve ran to the store and pharmacy for me, since he's like ten times faster than me now! 

July 22

after a sonogram and another midwife appointment, my official due date has been changed to july 22. that's about a week later than i previously thought. i've adjusted the ticker on the right. hoping that dan & amy will still be in lancaster for baby's arrival. so, i guess this means i had "morning" sickness from week 4 through week 17. yikes. hope that extended sickness trend does not continue.

Baby Schick

today was sonogram today. woohoo!!! i took shelby & cyrus along with me. they enjoyed watching the pictures on the screen for a while, and cyrus was checking out the computer and cords the whole time. baby looks like s/he has all their parts. my midwife will get to see the results tomorrow, i believe. baby was hiding a little, head down, face down, which made the face and heart pictures a little tricky. our technician was wonderful, explaining all of what she was doing and what we were seeing. i love when they do that instead of just whip through the measurements. healthy baby measured like maybe i was estimating a week early. i thought i was 20.5 weeks along. baby measured about 19.5-20, she said.