Leena Beena's birth story

I'm a little behind on my blog!!! I think now that Leena is 2 months old I should probably get a post up about her!!! Where to begin!!! June 30, 2011: Dropped the Littles off at Grandma's house the night before we went to the hospital to have Leena. They LOVE Grandma's house so it wasn't a hard drop off. We had a while before we were going to be able to get to sleep so we went to my friends do get my hair trimmed and colored and french braided. It was nice to have a last minute pampering before heading to the hospital. We got home pretty late and went right to bed. Neither of us slept well! It was like waiting for Christmas morning but 100 times more exciting! July 1-4 2011: Jeff and I woke up at 4:30 and got dressed and pack our last few things we needed to take with us. Jeff ate breakfast(sad! I couldn't eat after mid night) We tried to wait around to leave but we left a little bit early. We needed to be at the hospital at 6am. When we got there the main doors weren't even unlocked yet but a maintenance guy let us in. I think he felt bad for us since I was so HUGE and Jeff was carrying a million pounds of my stuff I NEEDED at the hospital. Once we were all checked in we went up to our "labor" room. I thought it was funny being in there since I never there was no labor ahead for me. Jeff wasn't feeling very good(I think it was nerves) I was so worried he was going to throw up or pass out! I called my mom to see if the Littles were up and on their way to my friends house for the day. They weren't. They had gone to bed VERY late and my mom didn't want to wake them up and make them cranky for the rest of the day. So she left Grandpa in charge! I was very impressed to hear later that when they had gotten up he got Colton's diaper changed and all of them fed and dress. Then they all walked over to my friends house where he dropped them off! Way to go Grandpa! Back at the hospital my mom showed up just in time for her and Jeff to get into their super cool white jump suites and for me to be wheeled down to the OR. This is when I started getting a little nervouse! Once I was down there I met with my nurse anesthetist to talk about my spinal. I normally get very sick during and after my c sections. I really didn't want to spend my whole first day with my daughter throwing up so we worked out a plan to do things a little different. Also when I had Colton I had a very bad spinal headache. He told me there was something he could do different to try and prevent that but it might take longer and hurt a little more. I was all for it! I gave my mom and Jeff a kiss goodbye and went into the OR. My nurse was amazing and comforted me during my VERY painful spinal. In the long run it was worth it but man oh man did that hurt! It took a long time too!!! My Dr came in and checked on me and then we got things started! They always get things going before Jeff and my mom get to come in. I'm used to this now so it doesn't really bother me. I felt very comfortable with my amazing Dr, my wonderful anesthetist and my kids/my primary Dr in there with me. 2 out of 3 them are members of the same church as me which really eased my nerves for some reason. Once my mom and Jeff came in things really got going. There were a few points that I felt pretty awful...more then I have before during my c section. I really had to focus through this one. When my sweet baby was born I could hear everyone talking about the baby and I thought they were calling the baby HE!!!! I panicked for a second and ask if the baby was really a girl. This got a pretty good laugh since all of the people in the room could see clearly that she was indeed a GIRL!!! When I first saw her she my first thought was "Her head is soooooo small!!!" and it was. Miss Leena Noël was born weighing 6 pounds 5 ounces! She is my smallest baby! Once Jeff got a hold of her he brought her to me so I could see her sweet face and get some kisses in. She started sucking her finger(loudly I might add) pretty much right away. When Jeff would talk she would open her eyes and look around but when he stopped talking her little eyes would close. She would only open them for his voice. It was so nice to have my baby girl in the OR with my the whole time. I didn't have to miss any of those first few moments that I missed with the boys. Once everything was back in place(minus one baby) and I was sewed up we headed to recovery. One thing that is handy about my Bishop is that since he is a surgeon at the same hospital he got to stop in and check on me while I was in recovery on his way to surgery. Once I got settled in recovery we thought we would try and get Leena to nurse since she was so interested in sucking her finger. She latched on right away and nursed on both sides for about 20 minutes each! Rock Star baby! The next few hours/day were kind of all smushed together! We had lots of visitors but my favorite of all was when my boys came to see us twice. They were very in love with Miss Leena but also very concerned about mommy being in the hospital bed.We stayed at the hospital for 4 days and came home on the 4th of July. Grandma and Noël bought some fireworks for the Littles and we sent Jeff off to his parents to do fireworks with them. That was Auntie Noël's first day in Washington so she needed to get her baby fix in since she had missed a few days! It was so fun having my sweet sister there with her little name sake! So there ya go! That's Leena Noël's birth story!

As the time slowly ticks by until I have my sweet baby in my arms my emotions have become a huge jumble! As of this morning I was purely excited to drop of my Littles at grandma’s house tonight and go to have Miss Leena Noël in the morning. Now I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought that as this time passes the end is growing near to a huge chapter in my life. I have spent more of my adult life pregnant then not. This may be our last baby and the thought of never being pregnant again makes me sad. I love the bond that I have with that sweet little spirit who is still so close to our Heavenly Father. I feel all of their little wiggles and hiccups before anyone else. I love that connection. There is nothing quite like it on earth. Today I have taken a little bit of time with each of little boys snuggling on the couch. I thought about the time that I spent bonding with them, which seems like just a few months ago but really it’s been years. I will never forget how special this time has been for me. There is such a different feeling knowing that I have a little girl waiting to come and be a part of our family. Its such a surreal feeling to know this could be the end. I am still very excited for tomorrow to come but I am really trying to enjoy my last few hours of having a tiny little life inside on me.

The count down!

As of right now I have to be at the hospital in 2 days, 20 hours and 11 minutes! (thank you ipod count down) My bag is pretty much pack except for a few last minute things. The plan for the Littles in set. They are going to Grandma Erin's house Thursday night. When they get up in the morning they will eat and head over to my friends house to spend the day. My mom will head to the hospital in time to be there for Leena to be born! I am very excited but it still hasnt really sunk in yet. I think when I am sitting outside the OR waiting to go in is when it will hit me. I know all of you think Im crazy but Im still a little worried that this baby will be a boy!!! I have had 4 ultra sounds confirming that she is in fact a SHE but it still worries me!!! I talked to the boys in the car on the way to church Sunday about Leena coming this week. They are soooo excited! Graysen told me that he misses his baby sister. :) In ture Peck family form we have had a few things happen just in time for baby that we could have lived without. Jeff has been having some medical stuff going on that we are trying to figure out. That has been stressful and a long process that is still under way. Colton has been pretty grumpy this last week, I just assumed it was from a list of things: Teething, allergies, terrible two's and/or mommy having a baby in a minute. This morning he woke up with bright green boogies. We are pretty sure he has a sinus infection so the Dr just called in some antibiotics for him. I hope it clears up quickly and he feels better soon! He is just feeling awful! So for now life is as normal as it can be. Its a little hard to believe that in just a few days(hours and minutes) We will have a new sweet member of our family!

Xander VS. Graysen and sinning...

Today in the car the boys and I were talking about baptism. Xander is giving a talk on Sunday about it and I thought it was a good opportunity to see what he knew about it so we could work on his talk together. I asked him if he knew what baptism was. He told me about how to hold on to Daddy's arm, plug your nose and say a prayer. I asked him if we knew why we should get baptised and he said because Jesus told us to. I ask him if he knew why Jesus told us to. He said because Heavenly Father told us to. So I told him that it was to wash away our sins. I ask if he knew what sins were. He said no. I told him that they are things that we do wrong and know they are wrong. He said to me "Well, I don't have any sins." Graysen piped in and said "I do! I like to sin!!!" Thanks for the heads up Graysen!!!! I ended the conversation with "We all sin but we can repent and that is part of getting baptised!" *sigh* I hope it sinks in before the teenage years!!!

24 days!!!

I have 24 days left until my c-section! Im so excited! At this point I dont really have any anxiety about my c-section or bring home baby number 4. It has been so fun getting things ready for a little girl. I am not doing any thing to her room until later. Its just too much work right now and since she will be in my room for the first few months it doesnt really matter if her room stays blue and green. The boys are very excited to have a little sister coming. They ask me all the time if baby Leena is going to pop out of my tummy yet. I baby sat a friends 2 week old baby for a few hours this weekend and the boys were in heaven! They loved watching him sleep and make funny noises. Colton kept trying to take the baby from and said "Have it!" I think he will do just fine with a new baby around our house very soon. I am very excited for Jeff to have a week off of work to spend with me and the littles. Also my sister, Noël, is going to be here for 2 weeks which will be so nice! My mom is going to take some time off work to spend with all of us. When I had Colton she wasnt able to spend a lot of time with us and it was hard on her and me. This will be so nice to have my mommy. Living around the corner from my mom will make life soooo much easier! No car rides from Auburn to see my kids, who last time stayed at Grandmas house. Everyone will be able to sleep in their own beds and be comfortable. I feel like this is going to be the best bringing home baby that we have had. I just hope we can keep all the crazy things that normally happen when we bring home baby to a minimum this time. No ants infesting my apartment, no moving, not collapsed lungs, no broken cars, and no fender benders! I would LOVE it if things could go smoothly this time. Every time we bring home a baby things have gone a little better so I am hoping for perfect this time! I cant wait to post pictures of little Miss Leena Noël when she gets here!!!!

Getting ready for Kindergarten

Alexander is going to start school in just a few months! I cant believe we have reached this point in his life! Im a little freaked out but I know he will do fine. Last night we got him all ready to go to Kindergarten round up. He was so disappointed when we got there and the parking lot was empty. Thank goodness it is really tonight and we didnt miss it. I let him go play on the play ground to try and cheer him up a little. Boy did it work! He ran 3/4 of the way across the field so he could go watch some little boys playing baseball. Once we got there he was bored with that and was quickly distracted by a dog playing fetch with a frisbee. I glad that he is finally over coming his fear of dogs. He watched the dog for a little bit and then headed back to the play ground. He went right for the slides and took a few rides down those. He climbed every thing there was to climb. He did the monkey bars(with mommy's help) We went to the swings last where I taught him how to pump his legs. He understands how to do it but not how to make it work to his benefit. I then taught him to swing on his tummy which was his favorite of all. We headed home after that with the promise that we will go back today.

Over the last few months I have been working a lot more to get him academically ready for school. We have been working on recognizing and writing his letters. This has been a slow moving process but we finally found something that works for him. If I write the letter and tell him what it is and how to make it he can do it and it sticks in his mind. He is a very hands on learner. He loves the show Word World and it has been teaching him about letter sounds. A lot of times he will say a word but make the sound for the first letter a few time before finishing the rest of the word. IE: sh sh sh shoes. I am not sure if I am ready to send him to school and it should be interesting since he will be starting about 6 weeks after I have Leena. I am hoping for AM kindergarten although it will be hard getting him from the bus since that will be right about nap time. Any way we are so excited at the thought of this new huge chapter in our little mans life!

The natural caesarean: a woman-centred technique