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.

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

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.

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

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.

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

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”?

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

How far along: 27 weeks in pic, 28 weeks now.
Size of baby: 2.2 pounds, or the size of a Chinese cabbage, according to my pregnancy app.  A week ago the baby was the size of a hothouse cucumber.  What in the world is a hothouse cucumber?  How is it different from a coldhouse cucumber?  Why the need to differentiate it from a plain old cucumber?  Is it related to Larry the Cucumber?  So many questions.
Maternity clothes: Shorts are mostly elastic/athletic shorts, as I can’t really fit into my maternity shorts *yet*…  the bottoms (jeans & dress pants) from previous pregnancies fit but it’s still too hot outside to wear them.  I have about 6-7 shirts that I really love and wear pretty often (for instance I wore that same blue shirt today).
Movement: Tons.  I feel like a punching bag sometimes and I can really tell when she moves from one side to the other.  Getting easier to recognize body parts (knees, back & bottom, elbows).  I’ve heard that an active baby in utero will be really smart.  This girl will be a genius.
Sleep: Not too many hours in a row.  I have mastered going potty a few times before climbing into bed, but I still wake myself up… snoring.  Either that, or Kevin is kicking me to roll over.  One day I swear I’m going to wake up and find he has put one of those Breathe Right strips on my nose.
Cravings: I have been wanting milk a lot more lately, also have been wanting a snack before bed – either Oreos or chocolate chips top my list lately…  she’s finding her sweet tooth, this baby.  And it seems like ever since my doctor said, “You might want to consider cutting back on carbs & sugar before your glucose test” which is this Thursday, it seems that has been what I’ve been craving…  like the elephant in the room….
Symptoms: heartburn, tired.  See above.
What I miss: My brain cells.  I used to be so good with remembering people’s names.  In Kindergarten choir, I’ve been calling one kid by his dad’s name and another kid by her sister’s name….  What was I saying again?
Best moments of the month: Realizing I have less than 3 months until she’s here!  I can really tell I’m in the 3rd trimester, so even though I’m tired, I’m also nesting.. cleaning out the closets getting Kevin to take care of some honey-do projects.  I still need to finish up my Christmas shopping well before Thanksgiving…  put in your requests early.

PS – I’m going to post-date my Four for Four pic this month… you’ll see why later this week.

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This recipe, all the kids loved, except Colby didn’t want the tortilla.  Here’s what I did.

I used these spices on top of about 1 lb. of tilapia filets.

Then I wrapped each piece in foil.

And put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

It turned out super yummy on top of flour tortillas, with shredded cabbage and sour cream mixed with guacamole.  Wish I had taken a pic of that too!

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Pic taken January 2011.  When Carlee still had a “dinky”…. so glad we are rid of that thing.

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

I got a lot of things done today.  But Colby & I wrote this on a day when I really needed some happy.

pic taken March 2011.

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

How far along: 23 weeks in that pic, at time of posting 24, almost 25 weeks.
Size of baby: 1.3 pounds, “about the size of a small melon” according to my Pregnancy app on my iPhone.  I look like I’m carrying a small melon, don’t I?
Maternity clothes: My XS shirts are starting to show my belly!  I have started wearing some of my M (bigger) maternity shirts because they’re really cute and I’m tired of the XS stuff anyway.  It’s been so hot that I’ve been sweating buckets, which means I get to change clothes a lot.
Movement: Tonight Colby felt the baby kick his hand a couple of times.  I thought the look on his face was so precious because he realized what was happening!  I’ll have to get it on video… he is so sweet.
Sleep: Eh.  Not so good.  I’ve been using a couple of different pregnancy pillows and have finally just settled on my 2 king pillows – one in front, one in back.  I have no idea if Kevin is still sleeping in the same bed as I am.
What I miss: being able to run, bike, & otherwise exercise like a non-pregnant person.  I saw a billboard advertising the first-ever B/CS Marathon & 1/2 Marathon.  It will be on Dec. 11th.  There’s always next year.
Cravings: still don’t like sweets all that much, but (again) since it’s been so hot I can’t drink enough water.  Iced tea is a possible craving.  I got a new(to me) bread machine for my birthday and I made 2 loaves of homemade bread last week.  Guess I should lay off since my glucose test is in 3 weeks?
Symptoms: Heartburn!  Started taking medicine daily (just 10 mg.) and it’s definitely worse when I go to sleep at night.  I’m trying to go to the bathroom twice before I get in the bed, so I can save myself a trip in the middle of the night.  And tired.  Very tired.
Best moments of the month: I hinted at this last week, but we are excited to share IT’S A GIRL!  Colby was pretty crushed he wasn’t having a baby brother, but I am not worried at all about him loving this baby.  Plus, Carlee has already laid claim to this baby (“MY baby”).  Kennedy is having too much fun at dance and pre-K.  :)

We don’t have a name picked out yet, although I’m trying to convince Kevin of a name I really like.  He has turned down pretty much every name except for this one, so I’m holding out for it…

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

In 2001, I was 20 years old.  I was living in a southside dorm at Texas A&M (Underwood, I think?), and I remember when I woke up that morning that I heard no music from my radio, only hushed tones and almost scared voices from the djs.  I was kind of in a fog and my (incredibly dense) roommate at the time – NOT Bonnie – told me to turn off the music/radio and the lights because she had had a late night previously.

So, I got ready for my Ultimate Frisbee class (best. class. ever.) and prepared to meet this guy Brian, whose last name I never knew, but we’d always walk to Ultimate together because he lived in the dorm across from mine.    I think it was him who said, “Did you hear that a plane hit a really big building in New York City?”  I think I said something like, “No way.”  It was not a far walk to the Simpson drill field where we had Ultimate, but I remember we didn’t say much on the way there.

And let me be really honest – I was 20 years old and knew pretty much nothing about the world around me.  I had really no idea what terrorism was or who Al Qaeda was or even where the World Trade Center was.  I don’t think I had ever seen or heard of the Twin Towers, until they weren’t there anymore.

Later that day I went to my child psych class, really because I didn’t know what else to do but to keep my normal schedule.  The profs said they weren’t making anyone stay, but those of us who did stay talked a little bit about what had happened.  I think we were all looking for answers but finding none.  I think the profs said something about not worrying that anything was going to happen, because they still didn’t know who was behind these actions.  (And because by this time rumors had circulated about bombs being dropped at the next A&M football game…)

So then I went to Kevin’s apartment, and we stayed glued to the tv all day.  We couldn’t stop watching what was happening, what had happened, and thinking about all the specifics of that day.. the replay of the planes hitting the WTC…  the plane hitting the Pentagon and the one that went down in Pennsylvania…  And the number of people we saw who jumped from the burning building was horrifying… the cameras showed up-close shots of these people and I remember thinking how awful it must have been inside the building, if their best option was to jump from 77 floors to their death below.

In talking with Kevin’s sister, who is a structural engineer, she said everyone at her work was convinced that the building wouldn’t fall.  Because you don’t just crash a plane into the side of a building and not expect it to topple over, structurally.  But, they didn’t take into account the fire that happened and the melting that ensued, which did eventually cause the crumbling.

I really can’t believe it has been 10 years.  Kevin and I were less than 3 months away from being engaged, at that point, and none of our kids were alive to even know what all took place.  I am thankful that this tragedy united our country for at least a little while, but now I feel like we are back at finger-pointing and name-calling and not working together toward a common goal.  I think about the large number of divorces that were put on hold or cancelled after 9/11.. because 2 people realized it was worth the trouble to try and reconcile, rather than having their own way.  I wish we as a country would learn that lesson.

I also wish that our country would respect our President.  Like him or not, we elected him *as a country*.  Our country turned to our former President, looking for answers, and I think he did a lot of good.  But the American people as a whole did not agree with his policy changes in the midst of tragedy, so the President’s hands were tied.  Regardless of who we have in office, we are to stick by them, just as we stick by our favorite football (or baseball) team when they are 0-10.  We might not like what they are doing, but we have to trust that what happens was done in the best interest of our team, or our country.

The church choir this morning sang one of my favorite songs, and these are some of the lyrics:

Bow the knee;
Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.
Bow the knee;
Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.
And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,
In the presence of the King, bow the knee.

There are days when clouds surround us, and the rain begins to fall,
The cold and lonely winds won’t cease to blow.
And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel;
We are tempted to believe God does not know.
When the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight.

Bow the Knee.

Where were you on September 11th?

© Jenna for kevin and jenna [dot] com, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh