Theodore Scott is Here!!!

Theodore Scott Bowman was born on December 1st at 8:26 am. after 22 hours of labor. He weighed 8 lbs and 1 oz and was 20.5 inches long and his head was 14.5 inches around. He is a happy healthy baby boy and we are so glad he is finally here.

Here is the full and complete story of the birth. If you don't care for details or don't want to hear my whiny version, just skip the words and look at the pictures.

My induction was scheduled for Monday morning (November 30th) at 6:00am (or so I thought). We got to the hospital a little before 6 and they said that my appt wasn't until 7:30 but that I could start on the paperwork. We did that, drove around for a little while, tried to go back in at 7 but they said to come back at 8. We took a nap in the car and then went in. They didn't get the pill in me until 10:10 am but I was already dialated at a 2. That got our hopes up because with Vivian I was at a zero and no progress was made for awhile with her. However her labor was only 15.5 hours so I guess it didn't matter, she still beat him.

Dee Adams is my CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife), she came in at 7:00 pm to break my water. I was only at a 4 by then. By midnight I was complete so they got everything ready but for some reason I wasn't ready for it. I started complaining a lot. So Dee left and told the nurse to call her when the head got to a certain point. I was annoyed. Everyone started getting really mean and I don't like mean people. I was begging for drugs which they didn't want to give me (because it would slow things down even more) and I started begging for a c-section. (which is totally ridiculous because I just spent the last 2 months terrified of the idea of one)

They finally agreed to give me one more dose of meds as long as I promised to get serious when I woke up. I don't remember the nap at all. I remember a glimpse of her putting the meds in my IV and then the next thing I know I'm feeling contractions again. Sooo NOT COOL, I wanted to enjoy that nap, dang it. So I felt like I got no break from them hounding on me. I was immeadiately shoved in the shower. When I got out I was still complaining and begging for a c-section.

The nurse finally called Dee and they gave me 3 options, 1)I could push the baby out. 2)They could give me pitocin (a drug which intensifies contractions) and I could push the baby out. or 3)They could give me pitocin and a spinal (their version of an epidural, which numbs the bottom half of your body) and I could push the baby out. So I took that as prettymuch 1 option which was to push the baby out (which annoyed me even more) however I did choose the second route and choose the pitocin to speed things up. (I think they gave me that with Vivian too but I don't remember it being a choice, maybe that is what the difference in time was.)

It was around 6 am when they gave me the pitocin. I was still complaining and I really wanted them to call Dee and tell her to come. They kept saying if I got the head to the right spot, she would come and I kept insisting that if they tell her to come, I would get the head to the desired spot while she was on her way. They didn't believe me (I wonder why). They had a shift change around 7 am. I seemed to handle the new nurses a little better.

I told my mom to call my dad, I wanted a real blessing with oil. She called and told him he didn't have time for a shower to just get there. He got there around 8 am, I had made quite a bit of progress by that time. He had forgot the oil but gave me a fathers blessing anyways. I ended up having a contraction in the middle of it so I think he cut it short a little. (He probably felt weird with me bearing all force into it.)

Somewhere around the same time I heard one nurse telling the other to tell Dee to get there "...no if, ands, buts, about it, just tell her to come now!" FINALLY!!! Ok, so Dee was on her way, my dad was there, I started getting serious.... And it hurt.

This is where I will leave out most of the details. If you want them, you can ask me.

Dee got there 3-4 minutes after he came out. I'm glad it wasn't any later because my cuts were stinging and the nurses aren't allowed to sew me up. She was proud of me that I did it. I was proud of me too. I did it without the Vacuum and without Dee and with my Dad there. (Maybe I'll have a special post tributed to my Dad later.)

Here I am on drugs. John took a video right after this picture and I kept bobbing my head and I was actually trying to eat something at the time too. He asked me how I was doing and my response was, "Go away."

Here is my pushing face.

Here Theodore is napping between my legs in our hospital room.

Michael proudly holding his new little brother.

Vivian was really wanting to get the "yax" (ear wax) out of Theodores ears. The video was adorable but way too big to upload.

Here I am telling Michael what all of my bands are for.

Vivian's turn to hold her little brother. I think she is looking at his 'pointer' and 'thumbkin' as she always calls them.

I wish I knew what happened here but she looks thoroughly entertained.

Grandma holding her newest grandson. Thanks mom for being there and for bringing the kids to see us.

This is them saying good-bye to baby Theodore.

Here is baby Theodore before we left the hospital wrapped in the blanket Grandma made for him.

Here I am on our way out of the hospital.

I was trying to get a good picture of that dark hair. We are still not really used to it.

This is how we keep him pacified when he is awake. (Which isn't very often yet.)

Theodore is such a good baby. He is nursing well and doesn't have a very loud cry (yet). He usually only cries when we take his blanket off. He sleeps well (for now) and likes to pretend he is still in the womb with his arms tucked to his chest like a dead chicken. The kids love looking at him but they are pretty good about leaving him alone.

John appologizes for not being as diligent about taking pictures this time. We didn't get one of him on the scale with his birth weight or of his first bath (probably because it wasn't a real one like they did with Vivian.) And for some reason the family pictures we took in the hospital didn't end up on our camera so I will be posting those later when I get them from Nana or Grandma.

We came home from the hospital Wednesday night. I figured I could get better sleep without the nurses coming into my room every time I fell asleep. Theodore is happy and healthy and I am on the mend taking it as slow as I can. John has had this whole week off which has been nice. And Tammy and her girls have been a great help with the kids. I hope you enjoyed the update and that all is well with you.

Thanksgiving

I found myself stopping to think of all the things I am grateful for today (I wonder why?). I know I haven't posted in awhile but I figured this would be a great thing to write down before I enter this next chapter of my life.... Ok here I go in no particular order.

1) The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, without which I would be very lost and alone. I love knowing I have friends and people to help me wherever I go.
2) My wonderful husband who is always so awesome. He does so much for me and the kids on top of his job and his calling in the bishopric. I love him so much and can not imagine life without him. It has been a fantastic four years with him by my side.

3) My adopted son Michael who teaches me something everyday. Our life wouldn't be the same without him and I am grateful that he was able to join our family for eternity.

4) My daughter Vivian who brightens my day with her smiles and her songs. She is our little princess that amazes us with how smart she is.

5) This pregnancy, it has changed my attitude about life and has helped me crawl out of the depression I was carrying around since early in our marraige (I think around the time Michael was taken into foster care and our fight for custody began). I believe I have grown up a lot in the last 9 months. (Kinda scary now that it's almost over though.)

6) Our new roommates, Tammy and her 2 daughters, Rachel (17) and Regina (13). They moved in with us the end of September and have been such a blessing to me and the kids.

7) For baby Theodore Scott who we are excited to meet on Monday (or tuesday, depending on how long the induction takes.)

8) For our house that we were able to purchase this past spring. Even though I wasn't ready to become a homeowner at the time, I am so grateful that we have a roof over our head at an affordable rate and that I can call it my own.

9) For my parents and all that they put up with from me growing up. They set a good example for me and I am grateful that they raised me with the gospel.

10) For John's parents and all the help that they give our family. It is such a blessing to have them only 3 blocks away.

Well I'm sure I could go on and on but I do need to get some rest. I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the last couple of months. And don't forget to check back sometime next week for pictures of baby Theodore. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

News

I don't know why I've been putting this off but I guess I can't anymore. I feel so behind on this blog but I have no idea when I'll get around to catching up. However I felt like I should post an update with our BIG news.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!! We are really excited. I kind of knew it was a boy just because this pregnancy has been a breeze which is so contrasting to when I was pregnant with Vivian. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues if we add to our family in the future. The only downside about learning it is a boy is we are at a total loss for boy names. We've thrown around a few but niether of us get too excited (especially over the same name). I don't dare mention them because our taste in names scare people a little more with boy names than girl names. I'm sure we'll find something and I'll let you all know when we do.

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John took the day off for the ultra sound (why he needed the whole day, I don't know) It was nice having our daddy back for a fairly normal weekday since our saturdays have been pretty hectic lately and we hardly see him on Sundays either as he has bishopric meetings all morning and a good portion of the afternoon. So after the ultra sound he dropped me off at the Lab to do my one hour glucose test and then he took the kids to the park. He had a lot of fun playing with them and taking pictures so here are some recent cute pictures of the kids.

Other than having fun at the occassional park we've mostly been holed up in the house while I've been canning. Yes, I found a new hobby. I will probably post more on that later. Our garden is doing quite well. Our tomatoes are delicious the sqaush are florishing and our watermelons will hopefully get big enough. We didn't plant them until the end of June but I still think they will do good. We have several the size of cantelopes already now we just have to wait for them to get the promised 25 lb or somewhere around there.

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I am also getting ready to start a Joy School for Michael. I found a couple sisters from church that are going to participate as well. We each have a younger child as well plus I babysit Malakai. So our group will consist of 3 four year olds and 4 two year olds. The only boys are Michael and Malakai. Because of all the little ones 2 of us are going to team teach and it should be a lot of fun. I am hoping to learn as much (if not more) from the experience as Michael does. He is so excited about going to school and sharing his paints with his friends.

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Vivian is growing up really fast. I am constantly taking away clothes that she has grown out of however they claim she is underweight. I think she's just going to be pettite though because she is a pretty good eater and she's got chubby cheeks. Her language apears advanced. She talks so clear and in very full sentences. She seems to sing more primary songs than Michael and she loves Dora with all her heart. However she is very UNinterested in the potty which is something I was hoping to take care of before the baby gets here but I'm not going to push her because she'll more likely revert back with the new one anyways.

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I had my follow up appt today to get the results from the ultrasound and the glucose test. I am thankfully not diabetic although I am slightly anemic again but not as severe as I was with Vivian. But I still get to have fun forcing the iron pills down again. He is also a week ahead of schedule in his growth however she didn't change my due date so I'm still on for December 6th I guess. We discussed the option of inducing early again which even though she had to talk me into it last time I was all for it this time around. They aren't allowed to go more than 7 days early now which is the same as what we ended up doing for Vivian. I was hoping to go a little earlier (like before Thanksgiving) But the earliest date she gave me was November 30th. Which doesn't give me the time with John after the baby because he doesn't have enough vacation to take extra time off. I'm also afriad of this little guy being bigger than Vivian (whom I barely got out of me at only 7 pounds 5 ounces) and I'm terrified that I will need a C-Section. The whole epedural thing and the longer recovery and not being able to laugh (yeah that one will be impossible as I am married to a pretty funny guy that always makes me laugh) all scare the crap out of me. And the whole mindset of once-a-c-section-always-a-c-section thing is not a fun thought either. So if you have any positive thoughts on C-sections or have questions that I should ask my doctor/midwife please let me know so I can be prepared for whatever may come.

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So other than preparing myself for the worst case scenario, the coming months will bring a lot of housework trying to get this house as organized as possible before the baby comes. Hopefully we can potty train Vivian and get Malakai to be potty trained here not just at his house. And then a lot of fun times with Joy School. I hope to get the blog up to date as well because this is pretty much the only journal I'm keeping track of. So look forward to pictures that are months (if not years) old and realize they are more for my benefit than yours. I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts on C-sections. I hope you are all doing well and have enjoyed our little update.

Go Bananas

Ok, So I'm finally gonna get my Go Bananas pictures on here. My sister was in town for a couple days in March so I had her come with me to play with the kids and have fun herself so that I could take pictures.

For some reason whenever I go there I get bored enough to throw all the balls back into this little pool.
My kids love jumping in and hiding when it's full.
Malakai too. But other kids just like to throw them out so I don't know why I do it.

I think he bit his lip or something.

I don't know why she was pointing at me.

And I don't know why Michael is pointing at Melanie either. But I was entertained when I went through the folder and saw two pointing pictures right next to eachother.

The new Whale that they had. It's already gone though. Janice (owner) said it was too big for her ceiling. She bought it online and was mislead on the size.

Climbing the "rock" wall.

Malakai walking through the dinasaur bones.

Michael's turn.

Michael climbing up the BIG slide.

Michael sliding down the big slide. (sorry it's a little blurry)

Vivian loved hanging out by all the toys. She's my little homebody that doesn't like to do much or wander far.

Lounging in the princess chair that she claims as her own each time we go.

I loved this cool little climber. I want to find one for our back yard someday.

Vivian and Malakai pretending to play pac man.

Look at my little monkey... he really does go bananas when we come here.

Lounging with his water cup.

Vivian sliding down the whale.

We really miss this one. It was the only one she was super confident about doing the stairs by herself.

Michael being cute.

Malakai sliding down the whale.

I don't think Vivian liked this strange little boy getting that close. I just hope she keeps that fear when she's a teenager.

We had so much fun going to Go Bananas again. Unfortunately our 3 month passes expired and we have to wait until we can afford it before we go again. But I'm hoping that will be sometime around the end of July or begining of August. That way we can get 3 good months in before the baby comes. It'll be nice to have an indoor place to go in those super hot months though. If anyone wants to join me, let me know. It's so much funner to go with friends. Here's the website if anyone wants to look into it: http://gobananasnow.com/