I realize I haven’t posted any pictures or said anything on the blog yet, but I wanted to get it all written before I forgot anything. The past 3 weeks have included a new baby, Christmas, traveling 3 hours away with 4 kids (FOUR KIDS!), the kids’ being involved in a wedding, New Year’s, and otherwise getting used to life as we now know it. I still haven’t taken down our Christmas decorations yet…
December 14th.
8:45 am – I went in for my 38 week check up feeling miserable. Every day for almost a week prior to this day, I had had regular contractions for about an hour, then they’d subside. My doctor told me to watch out for these contractions, because he said those who have had multiple pregnancies can get to transition (which is right before birthing the baby) really quickly. So I went in wanting to know “how much longer”?
The week prior, I was dilated 1 cm. My OB told me he didn’t want me to walk around at more than 4 cm because of fast transitions and because he worried about my water breaking and the cord being around the baby’s neck. I knew nothing would happen until I had contractions, but with them being so sporadic, I didn’t know if I should call my OB and come to the hospital to be checked. And, the baby had been so high up in my uterus that I wasn’t yet worried about her falling out.
My OB has a really great sense of humor and is very personable. I told him that that day I was headed to Kennedy’s Christmas program at 10:30 that morning. He told me (all the while doing the exam) to make sure I don’t miss a moment of the Christmas programs, because “it’s so important to take time to…” and then he stopped talking and his eyes got big. He asked me, “What did I say you were last week?” I told him 1 cm. He said, “You’re at 4 cm right now. Maybe even 5.” and then I started having bloody show. He pressed on my uterus and said, “You’re having a contraction right now. Do you feel that?” And I said no, because I had had way worse than that.
He said I needed to go to Kennedy’s program and then get myself checked in to the hospital. He mentioned Pitocin, which I told him I didn’t want, and he said he’d break my water, which I wasn’t opposed to doing. So, I left his office, called Kevin, told him to cancel his plans for the day, made some other phone calls to family, went home to pack my bag, swore at myself for not folding the 5 loads of laundry I had done the night before, and went to Kennedy’s program at school.
It was pretty neat to see and tell some people “Today’s the day!”, especially parents of Kennedy’s friends and her teachers, who kept asking, “When are you due? How are you feeling?” all semester long. It was also neat to be able to pack my bag rather than run around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to drop off the kids where they needed to go and worry about what time they all get out of school and who would pick them up…
11:30 am – After the program, Kevin and I went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. This wasn’t my first rodeo: I knew the hospital wouldn’t feed me until the baby was born. I saw some friends at CFA and they laughed at me when I told them I was in labor! I didn’t eat a lot (because of nerves), but I did get some nuggets and an Arnold Palmer (1/2 sweet tea, 1/2 lemonade – my favorite drink)
12 noon – We arrived at the hospital. I checked in downstairs, went up the elevators, and walked into a very empty maternity ward. I was greeted by nurses who asked me, “Are you thinking of having the epidural?” And I said no. Their faces lit up as they said, “Oh! She’s one of our kind! We love patients like you!” I really had no idea *I* was so rare.
1 pm – I kept laboring, much like I had labored the past week – heavy contractions for a little while, then a nice long break. My OB came in, checked me (I was at 6 cm by that time.), then asked if I wanted pitocin. I told him no, but I said I was ready for him to break my water. He did break my water and Kevin said it would be 38 minutes from that time until the baby would be born. Boy, I wish he would have been right.
1:30 pm – We took pictures, videos, and I kept laboring. Repeat for the next 5-6 hours. We kept getting texts from family asking “How’s it going?” or “Baby yet?” and that didn’t help me relax. Meanwhile, every time the ever-encouraging nurses would come in to check me and I was still at 6 cm. I kept changing positions, I tried all the things that I could possibly do with my water broken to try to get this baby out. I told Kevin “This baby is going to be laid-back. Not in a hurry. She’ll get here when she gets here.”
7:30 pm – At this point, the baby was starting to move into my birth canal, but she flipped posterior so that I had extremely intense [painful] back labor and Kevin had to press really hard on my back to alleviate some of the pain. (And because of this, I would have bruises and soreness for a week after the baby was born.)
Unfortunately, at this point I also lost my supportive nurses at this point because they went off shift. And, supportive nurses were replaced by epidural-happy nurse. EHN came in as if I hadn’t been laboring for the past 6 hours with my water broken, asked if I wanted an epidural, and when I said no, she hung around for several painful contractions.
8 pm - Also with EHN in the room, I remember screaming at Kevin that I couldn’t do this anymore and that I couldn’t handle the pain that was happening (with the baby being posterior). In my mind, I was ready to settle for a c-section, just to get her born. The pain was that intense. EHN suggested that I could try some staidol to alleviate the pain, and then some pitocin to make the contractions more intense. I didn’t want the pitocin because I knew the contractions would hurt like crazy. But, since it’s standard practice to give OB patients pitocin after labor anyway, in order to help the uterus contract back to normal faster, I decided to go ahead and have just a bit. My OB was also there at the time and told me, “We don’t have to give you too much, just enough to make those contractions come more regularly.”
So, he checked me before all these things happened, and I was still only at maybe 7-8 cm. And I started screaming at EHN to take the monitors off of me and to get away from me.. I begged for an epidural at that point. I’m pretty sure I wanted to rip my IV off too.. all of that is foggy because of the staidol.
And then, I needed to push.
Let me interject here to tell you all what a superstar husband Kevin is – he deflected all the texts and calls, he ran out of phone battery trying to get everyone up to the hospital when needed, and most importantly, he was the best labor coach I could have ever asked for. All those intense contractions and times when I didn’t think I could even breathe on my own, and he was there holding my hand and breathing with me. Sometimes I think he was more tired than I was at the end. I had to go through physical pain, but he had to endure the emotional pain of watching me in pain. There were many times when I wanted to give up, and the only thing stopping me was Kevin. If he hadn’t encouraged me and cheered me on and prayed with me, I definitely would have ended up with that c-section. Instead…
8:30 pm – Things got really interesting in the room; all the table setting up and taking down and nursery nurses entering and people trying to get me fully dilated. I pushed my way into 10 cm and then my OB took over. I forgot how to push. My OB helped me push. Kevin helped me breathe. I got into a position that was comfortable for me (forget grabbing my legs and laying on my back). After a few pushes, my OB said to wait while he got the cord untangled from her neck. And then, I looked down and saw her head.
8:41 pm – Karis Mercy Grubbs was born. 20 inches long, 6 pounds and 13 ounces big. The first thing I noticed about her wasn’t how big she was but how loud her scream was. It was a beautiful sound. She looked so purple but her apgar scores were 8 and then 9 (at 10 mins.) Kevin and I cried and kissed and then he got on the phone – my parents and our kids were just downstairs; they had brought Kevin’s phone charger just a few minutes before. The OB’s first words were, “She looks like her sisters!” and boy does she ever. And, then he prayed with us before he left the hospital that night.
We were so blessed to have such a wonderful experience. All things said, it wasn’t exactly how I pictured it, but it was exactly what needed to happen without too much intervention. I didn’t have any tearing or stitching, and all of the tests they ran on Karis came back a-ok, so we got to go home when she was 24 hours old. Everyone who took care of me did a fantastic job, and I’d highly recommend this hospital and staff to anyone looking for a great hospital L&D experience.
Other than that, all I’ll say is, “Don’t walk your infant by the elevators, or the alarm system will think you’re stealing a baby.”
And, because a picture is worth a thousand words, here are two – at Kennedy’s program, one of my last pics while pregnant; and our beautiful early Christmas present.
Just FYI – “Karis” is Greek for “grace”. So her name means “Grace and Mercy”. And she shares her initials with her daddy – KMG.
January 8th, 2012
by Jenna
Dear Carlee,
I really can’t believe you are 3 years old. THREE. And yet, I look back at pictures of you from this time last year and I think of how much you’ve grown. You got rid of your “dinky” a long long time ago, and ever since then, you’ve been working hard on speaking just like your older brother and sister. Really I should be counting the words that you still say like a baby, instead of the words you say clearly.
When you count, you like to skip 13 and 15. Colby did this too and now he’s a pro at math, so don’t worry. You’re still not a good sleeper. I’m hoping that one day I’ll snap my fingers correctly and you’ll love and adore sleep as much as your poor ol’ mom. 
I cannot wait to see you with this little sister of yours. I know you’re going to take such great care of her and help me with her. You can’t stop kissing my belly and talking to her. (*not sure if that’s because my belly hits you in the head sometimes – so sorry about that!*)
I LOVE that you are starting to do things for yourself – like brushing your teeth (even though we still help you half the time – we still help Colby & Kennedy too), getting dressed, helping to put away dishes, and going potty. All of those really help your pregnant mom get out of the house with some sanity. Now if I can only get you to wear shoes when we leave the house… And up until this week, it was okay to leave the house barefooted because it was 100 degrees outside for the longest time.
You love to argue with me and tell me NO. But I figure that comes with being 3. I don’t like being told NO any more than you do. You love to draw and color pictures, especially on Colby’s homework or important papers that you’re not supposed to be able to reach – even though the drawing paper is within your fingertip reach.
Since your daddy has started playing drums again, you have taken to listening to him at the beginning of church and then when the sermon starts, he will take you to Sunday school. Correction – you want to run to him up on the stage so he can take you to Sunday school. You act as if you haven’t seen your daddy for days at a time! But your daddy really does love it. And you love love your daddy.
The thing I’m most proud of is your love for books. I love that you love reading and memorizing those sing-song patterns (like in Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?). Of course, when you read a book 100 times, it’s no wonder that it gets stuck in your brain. I am only kidding, of course.
I know it’s not supposed to be so evident at a young age, but I am beginning to see that your love language is quality time. Because you don’t want to be away from me or your daddy or your siblings. And that hasn’t changed since you were born. I’m happy to oblige in this. That’s why you get to do some special things that your siblings haven’t – because you know what privileges are and how to work them in your favor. You’re no dummy. Except when you decided to cut your own hair a few weeks ago. Thankfully I walked in before you did much damage, and admittedly, your daddy really likes what you did with your hair – but don’t tell him I told you.
I could write and write for days about the things I love about you, especially your laugh, your beautiful blue eyes and your red hair. I know I’ve written this before, but I wasn’t sure if I could love a second little girl in our family. Now I can’t imagine not loving you. You are still very strong-willed, and there’s things that you do that I don’t like – at all. But I do love you and will always love you, no matter what.
Be a sweet girl, Carlee.
Love, Mom.
December 8th, 2011
by Jenna
One of the best things about living in our college town is having access to college sports. If you know me well, you know I’m a born & raised Aggie, but now that I have kids of my own, I’ve been enjoying getting to expose my kiddos to the Aggie culture.
This football season Colby and I went to one game (Kansas), and Kevin went to 2 games (OSU & Texas). Kevin’s company also had a big tailgate for the Idaho State game back in September. So, the 5 of us rode the Aggie buses to the Quad and then walked to Kyle Field so we could eat barbeque at 4 pm. Because tailgates can last all day, but not really with kids. (We didn’t stay for the game.) It was a lot of fun because it turned out to be in the Aggie practice field, so while the kids weren’t technically allowed to play with the equipment, there was nothing our kids could really “destroy” out there.
I took the stroller with us, but that turned out to be a big mistake because the kids ended up fighting over it more than using it. Other than that, it was a great day in Aggieland.
December 7th, 2011
by Jenna
Since Colby & Kennedy have started school, Carlee and I get to be pals three mornings a week (most weeks). I have thoroughly enjoyed only taking ONE child to the grocery store, to run errands, and to otherwise spend some great quality time with only Carlee. Especially since the baby will be here in less than 8 weeks.
This is in the welcome area of Kennedy’s preschool. I have been so used to “hurry-up and let’s go to the next thing”, but one morning Carlee asked to stop and play here. Without hesitation, I said yes. And then she told me to take her picture. So I did.
It’s also really nice not having to drag more than 1 kiddo to the OB for check-ups. One day Carlee decided it was her mission to clean up the doctor’s office with the tub of baby wipes on the counter. And my doctor didn’t even blink an eye when he saw all the wipes in the trash. Carlee has always been a helper in wanting to clean up, and I’m so thankful for her willingness to help.
November 3rd, 2011
by Jenna
Happy Halloween yesterday, or as it’s known at Kennedy’s preschool, “Orange you glad you love Jesus?” day. (No parties and no candy and no costumes and no scary creatures. Although I think the hardest part was trying to find an orange shirt in the middle of Aggieland. Notice that 2 other little girls are wearing the same shirt as Kennedy?)
For Halloween weekend, we went to 1 party, 1 carnival, 1 church trunk-or-treat, & 1 office trick-or-treating. And the kids changed costumes each time. I only have a few blurry pics from the trunk-or-treat; I”ll try to bug Kevin about getting the other ones posted.
November 1st, 2011
by Jenna
Carlee, taking care of her baby [doll]. She has already claimed that the baby in my belly is “hers”.
How far along: 30 weeks in pic, 31 weeks now. I really should stop taking pictures at the end of the day, when I look exhausted! I promise that I put on make-up every day and actual clothes, most days.
Size of baby: 3.3 pounds & 16.25 inches, or the size of 4 navel oranges (according to my app. shaking my head.) Although, yesterday I measured at 36 weeks – my ob says if the baby keeps growing at this rate, I’ll have a 9 pounder, a month early. Stay tuned.
Maternity clothes: I really thought I was going to get to break out my cute winter stuff – we had approximately 2.2 days of cooler weather, followed by consistent 90 degree temps. Again. I think maybe another cold front might be coming through tonight, although I won’t hold my breath. I’ll survive with whatever I’m wearing, it’s just hard to dress my kiddos appropriately.
Movement: Yes, still lots. My doctor told me to watch and make sure I have 10 kicks in an hour, and I told him it wasn’t uncommon for this baby to have 10 kicks in 10 minutes. But the movements are definitely slowing down a bit – not the jerky movements anymore. I’m also having quite a few Braxton-Hicks, which is exciting and very painful, all at the same time.
Sleep: Getting more and more uncomfortable. I am still snoring, I am still tossing and turning, and I am still in need of regular chiropractic adjustments and prenatal massages.
Cravings: Not too many now that I’ve been cutting down on sugar and grains. I do like HEB’s vegetable crackers (which actually have like 0 vegetables?) and HEB’s honey wheat pretzels. Both of those I could probably eat the entire box or bag, but I do limit myself. I also still like milk and will drink a small glass each night before bed.
Symptoms: HOT. Mostly due to the weather, but I have to have my fans on all the time. Kevin has started growing his hair out, instead of buzzing it, mostly because I think I’m freezing him out. [I'm reminded of that scene in Father of the Bride 2, when Steve Martin's wife AND daughter are pregnant in the middle of summer. They've cranked the a/c on full blast, and Steve Martin runs around wearing blankets and mittens...]
What I miss: Other than sleep? Really, nothing. I am in the phase of realizing how little time is left of this pregnancy, knowing it will be our last, and enjoying being a punching bag for this baby’s kicking. I am truly wondering how much more my belly is going to grow, but in the end, it will all be worth it.
Favorite Moments: I think we have decided on her name! It’s a very recent discovery (as in, the past day or so?) and like all our girls, we don’t have a middle name yet. We’ll take suggestions, other than Faith & Joy, which Kennedy & Carlee already have. So far, I have thought of “tax deduction”, “Christmas gift”, and “the grand finale”. Colby has suggested “Judges” or “Ruth” – because of course in the Bible those come after Joshua, which is his middle name.
October 27th, 2011
by Jenna
Take a look at what I’ve been eating for lunch lately.
Lettuce
Sliced cheese
Lunchmeat
Avocado
Balsamic Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cracked Pepper
Yum.
October 26th, 2011
by Jenna
What’s that? My feet?
30 weeks along now.
October 19th, 2011
by Jenna
This recipe gets its name because we first had it on our trip to Colorado this summer.
For 4 pounds of meat, mix together in a plastic bag -
3 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp black pepper
3 tsp brown sugar
2 T minced garlic
8-9 T soy sauce
Grill for 20 mins. on one side, then flip and pour the sauce on the meat and grill the other side for 20 mins. longer. Let meat rest and then slice, like so.
I can’t think of an easier way to make grilled pork tenderloin and I was so excited that I already had all of the ingredients on hand. Plus, the meat was only $1.99 per pound this past week… I bought 3 more and froze them in plastic bags to eat when baby gets here.
Coincidentally, Colby has now decided that the baby’s name should be “Colorado”. Wonder if she likes her pork loin?
October 18th, 2011
by Jenna
I went in for my 3-hour glucose test on Thursday, and I was really nervous, considering I “flunked’ my 1-hour test… by 71 points… So, after all the help you all gave me, I could see that I needed a major diet change. My goal was not to try and trick the test (if that was even possible), but to make sure that I was eating the absolute right foods for me.
When I went in, my baseline glucose reading (after fasting) was an 88. A normal reading is somewhere between 90 & 100, and if I had had between 90 & 100 in the 1-hour test, then I wouldn’t have had to take the 3-hour test. Then I drank the lemon-lime-sugar-coma-inducer… Last week I chose the orange-crush-of-death… and after an hour, my glucose level was at 151, which was better than the 165 level I needed to stay under. And after 2 hours, my reading was down to 130, and they were looking for me to be under 145. So, I passed, with flying colors.[insert big sigh of relief]
So, what was my ’secret’ for eating better? I majorly cut back on sugars & grains in my diet. That little step was so much harder than I ever thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, I still ate 1-2 things per day that I considered “no-nos”, but for the most part, cutting back on those 2 things was my secret. And the best part? I had more energy than most days when I was pregnant. I didn’t snap at the kids as much, because I wasn’t always crashing on sugar highs or lows.
The day of my glucose test, I made these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with the kids (they were super yummy!) and had no regrets about eating a few. I could definitely tell, after not eating things with flour and sugar all week, that I didn’t want to eat too many, for fear of the sugar high. ”Everything in moderation”, right?
And what do I eat the most of? Meat. Veggies. Nuts. Cheese and plain milk, even though most people who follow this plan might cut dairy out completely. I’m not even tired of salad, and we’ll have an entire garden bed of lettuces, spinaches (sp?), and swiss chard in a month.
Now, I think my challenge is convincing the kiddos that this change is a good thing… that we can eat healthy foods that don’t have sugars and still enjoy them. Any tips?
October 17th, 2011
by Jenna
I found this idea in Parents magazine, although it suggests to freeze the bananas beforehand. We were not quite so patient, and it worked just fine without freezing – just with a little more mess!
[I covered my banana with peanut butter, not chocolate.]
Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
1/2 c chocolate chips
1 T veg. oil
cheerios (we used regular)
wooden skewers
1. Warm the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, then heat for 10 second intervals until chocolate is totally melted.
2. Put the bananas on the skewers. (We had to cut the bananas in half to get them to fit.) Spoon melted chocolate on top. Add cheerios on top.
3. Enjoy!
The kids did most of the assembly of this; all I did was put out the ingredients.
I love easy snacks that everyone enjoys. What are your kids’ favorite snacks?
October 14th, 2011
by Jenna
Here’s yet another “summer” outside activity that we are not getting tired of. Nor are we tired of wearing our sleeveless seersucker summer dresses. Well, I don’t have one, but if I did, you can bet I’d be wearing it.
October 13th, 2011
by Jenna
It’s the middle of October, and yes, we’re still swimming in Texas. These pics are from our weekly swimming date with Doc & Belle; I think it’s the last time we’ll be swimming because the water temperature is finally getting cooler after a very very Very hot summer. And, the reason I got pics is because I didn’t get in the pool.
I also got some great video of Carlee swimming. She’s quite the little squirming tadpole. I can’t keep her out of the pool, and she swims so fast and so far that I have to watch her all the time. Doc & Belle aren’t just “back-up”. They’re vital swimming companions.
Dear Summer of 2011, you treated us well in the pool. I’m still tan from my water aerobics classes (which ended just last week) and subsequent swims with Doc & Belle & the kids. however, I’m a little tired of all the heat. Fall on the calendar started 3 weeks ago, which actually means nothing in Texas, but this pregnant woman is really ready to have some relief from all this heat.
October 12th, 2011
by Jenna
Last weekend my cousin Jesse got married. They had one-time use cameras on each table at the reception, so Colby took this as his mission to take pics of everyone… many times over. So, I gave him my iPhone and told him to have at it. I deleted a lot, but I thought these were really cute. (Obviously he didnt take the ones he was in, but he did have everyone posing. I see a budding photographer in the works, just like his dad.)
October 11th, 2011
by Jenna
Yesterday Kevin and I attended a fantastic one-day parenting conference at our church called Extreme Home Parenting, led by Mark Holmen of Faith @Home. Kevin and I have always been proponents of teaching our kids at home first before taking them to church, and Mark Holmen talked a lot about how a lot of families “do church” rather than give to the church – we should come to church filled rather than needing to be filled.
Yesterday morning, he preached on Deuteronomy 6, especially verses 5-12. (I’m linking to NIV because that’s the version he read from that morning, but he did talk about using different versions of the Bible for study.) If you were unable to hear this message, it will be on KBTX this Sunday morning at 10 am cst, if you’d like to set your DVRs. Or, FBC has copies of the cd that you can get from the church office. I loved his emphasis on praying blessings over your children. For his child, he used Numbers 6:24-26 -
May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
25 May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
26 May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace. (NLT)
Last night I sang a version of this to our kids before bed, and Kennedy kept asking me to sing it over and over again. So I did!
In the Extreme Home Makeover, Mark mentioned that not every family’s faith walk would look exactly the same. Some families do devotions in the morning (which is clearly not us – we like lunch time devos) and some parents get on their knees in front of the bed to pray, some families keep prayer jars or boxes and some families do prayer journals or prayer trees. Kevin immediately elbowed me when he said “prayer journals”, because we know how much all of our kids love to write and draw, and while the other options seem a little foreign to us, this is one that we could keep up. And, my mom is a huge fan of prayer journaling – I have learned my journaling/writing skills from her and am all too thrilled to be able to pass them down to my kids.
So, here’s our first attempt at prayer journaling with the kids. I gave each of the kids a spiral notebook that I got for 5 cents each at Office Depot last month. We introduced it today slowly; the kids got to decorate the front and back covers of their journal this afternoon, and tonight we had Colby write some prayer requests down (tomorrow we’ll have the girls draw pictures and write). Then we all took turns praying out loud individually for these requests. The advantage of journaling is being able to look back and review, to see what still needs prayer and what God has done in answering these requests.
In this age of self-comparison and “keeping up with the Joneses” (love you, Joneses!), I won’t pretend to think that this will work perfectly, nor do I think it’s the best way to do prayer for every family. But, I am blessed to live in a nation where we have the freedom to worship God in the way that is best for each family, and to be able to teach our kids at home before we drop them off anywhere else.
What works best for your family – how does your family do “faith at home”?
October 10th, 2011
by Jenna
Previous Posts
