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

A glimmer of hope!

I know I just blogged this morning but I just found out some thing that I cant wait to blog about. I learned today about something called a natural c-section. Essentially a natural c-section is done slower and more personally. This first part I am not interested in but this is how it goes, after the incision is made and baby's head is out the drape is dropped so mom can see baby(I do want the drape dropped so I can see my baby's birth) wriggle its way out on its own. This helps the baby get squeezed more in turn helping clear fluid from the lungs like in a vaginal birth. This in the part that I am not interested in. After baby is out and the cord is cut the are immediately placed skin to skin on moms chest. Every thing can happen from there and your surgery can continue as normal. As long as every thing looks good with mom and baby the baby can stay right there skin to skin with mom until its time to move from the OR table to the recovery bed. This is huge for me. The thing that has always been the hardest for me about having my babies via c-section is not getting those first moments of life and bonding with my baby. I feel like everyone sees and hold my baby before me. I watched the youtube video above of this done in the UK and it was amazing. It was like a light bulb turned on. Why shouldn't I be able to hold my baby when she is born. Why cant I have the skin to skin contact that is so good for babies and moms. Why not!? I am excited for my next dr appointment next month when I will talk to my dr about doing this. Cross your fingers she is on board and will let us have this magical birth with our daughter!

Just a few of the reasons I think my husband is a rock star.

8 years ago I met a boy. He was super shy and a little crazy. I never thought I would date him much less marry him and have 4 sweet babies together. He is really the most amazing man I have even known. He does so much for our family every day. For example, this morning he woke up at 3:30 so he could be at work 2 hours early. Nobody else in his group went in early this morning. Now this is pretty awesome, but what makes it so much more then that is that he will get home from work today just to turn around and go to school until until 9:30 tonight. He does this on a pretty regular basis. He is working as much overtime as he can in the next few months so we can safe money for when Leena is born. Jeff is going to take a week off of work to help me out with the boys since I will be having a c-section. Hence the over time. Last night he helped the boys pick up all the toys and clothes that managed to get spread all over the house. Then he swept and mopped the dinning room, living room and hall way. Then he did his homework! This man is amazing! I really cant say it enough, he really is more then I could ever ask for.

The proof is in the picture!

I had my 22 week OB appointment today. Since at my Ultrasound 2 weeks ago the tech forgot to give my pictures of my little one my Dr said she would do a quick one for me today. She got several very good views to reassure me that I am indeed having a girl! She check all the angles she could to make sure nothing was hiding or in a shadow. I can comfortable say now that I am having a girl! The last 2 weeks have been full of emotion. I have been very excited but at the same time still a little afraid accept that this baby is a girl. I was having dreams that when my baby came our during my c-section that my dr announced to everyone "its a boy!" Its been freaking me out and making me a little scared to get excited. Now I know though! Leena Noël is coming! YAY! Also today I got to pick her birthday! She will have her own day! I was a little worried that she would be born on the 4th of July or on one of the many birthdays on either side of the family. She will be born July 1st, 2011! This will be my first baby who's birthday is not a multiple of 12. I know that's silly but its true! Alex:2/24/06 Graysen:11/12/07 Colton:6/12/09 I thought I would be fun to have her on the 6th but my dr wants to make sure to take her a little bit early to insure that I don't go into labor. At this point with all the c-sections Ive had and the thin spot where the scar is on my uterus its really not save for me to labor at all. So safety first! We are so excited to welcome a little girl into our family!!!

Craft crazy momma!

Since I found out we are having a baby girl I have been going crazy trying to find new and fun crafty things to do. So far I have:

• sewed a pin cushion




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• sewed a stuffed owl




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• made yo yo flowers



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• decorated a white onesie with said yo yo flowers


• 

and last but not least!

• I made a new headboard start to finish!!

I have a million things I want to do still and still feel like there are so many more thinks that are out there that I have no idea about! I have really fallen in love with crafting. It really surprised me when I got started into it how much I loved it. Ive never really though of myself as a crafty or creative person but this has been such a joy for me! I find myself wanting to make EVERY THING! Why buy it when I can just make it!!!

Now I ask a favor of anyone who is reading this. Please leave me a comment of your very favorite craft you've done or wanted to do! I need more ideas people!!!

I need to change the name of my blog!

A few weeks ago my Dr. did a quick ultrasound in her office and told me she thought the baby was a girl. She couldn't tell for sure though. So this left me wondering for 2 week if I was really getting my little girl. It was hard not to buy cute little girl things, especially since my friend had a baby girl the day after my quick ultrasound. I did buy a FEW little things but really not a lot. The night before my ultrasound I couldn't sleep and when I could I was having crazy dreams. I Got up and ready for my big morning! I left early to go get my friend Nicole who went with me since Jeff couldn't. I went and go my peppermint hot coco from Starbucks to make sure my bladder was topped off. (they told me not to go to the bathroom after 8:30, and at 8:31 I had to pee so bad there was no holding it so I needed a top off!) We go there and waited for what seemed like forever! My stomach was in knots and I was nervous. I hadn't felt the baby all morning which made me more nervous. My cute little ultrasound tech came out and got me and started my ultrasound. For how tiny she was she managed to hurt me a lot through out my ultrasound! My baby was hanging out right under the scar from my c-sections so she had to do a lot of pushing and twisting and pulling on my scar with the little probe thing. As most of my kids have done this baby was hard to ultrasound. As soon as I laid down baby started rolling and kicking and pushing. It was a little sigh of relief for me since I really hadn't felt the baby at all that morning. So first things first she checked out baby's heart rate which was 146. That has been right where the baby seems to be most of the time. Then for all the technical stuff like how big is baby's head and what does the heart look like and blah blah blah. Every thing looked good, baby is measuring one week behind on size but that's not really a big deal. So then for the fun stuff! I watch very intently when they are looking at feet and legs. That's normally when I can get a good view of who my baby is. I saw....nothing. I couldn't even really tell where I needed to be looking. I am normally pretty good at spotting this stuff. The tech kept looking at all the things she needed to and after a while she said "Well....I looked and I cant tell for sure girl or boy." I asked her if she had to guess what she thought and she said "Girl" I was not really thrilled with the maybe kind of sort of answer. I asked her if when she was all done looking at every thing she needed to if she could go look again to see if baby had moved into a better spot. She said she would and had me turn from side to side to shake baby up. She still needed to see baby's lips and nose to be sure they looked ok. She did get a good view and then looked at a few more things. The moment of true came on our second look. One of the most clear as day ultrasound view of a little baby girl I have ever seen! And yes I know I only have boys but I have done my research. I googled ultrasound so I could get an idea of what we were looking for with a girl. I know I'm crazy but what else was I going to do over the 2 weeks I had to wait!? My tech said "100% a girl!" I cried just a little bit...and left happy as a clam to tell the world(Jeff first of course) that I was having a girl! I forgot to ask for ultrasound pictures so I will ask my dr for some at my next appointment in 2 weeks. Our little girls name will be Leena Noël Peck. And YES the dots are that important! ALT0235 will make them show up on the computer. :) So now my dilemma is what to change my blog name to?!?!? Im open to your ideas so let me know!

Alexande 4, Graysen 3, Colton 19 months

My poor neglected blog!

It has been ages since I posted to my blog! I Figured an update on everyone was very past due.

Me: As of today I am 16 weeks pregnant with baby number 4. I am due July 6, 2011. We still have a few weeks until our ultrasound to try and find out baby's gender. With our history I am planning on a boy of course! Jeff and Xander, however are both sure that the baby is a girl. We have our names picked out and cant wait to know who is coming so we can start calling the baby by his/her name. I really trying to be healthy with this baby so Jeff got me a gym membership for Christmas. I'm not making it as much as I was hoping to due to sick kids and Jeff's work and school schedule. I am going to keep working on it though! Over all I am feeling pretty good with the baby! YAY!

Jeff: School has started up for Jeff again. He is taking a full load at school and working full time. We don't see him much during the week but we know all this time apart will be worth it when he is done with school! He is very excited about one of his classes this quarter, he is doing weight training and loving it! He just applied for a new job back at Kenworth where he used to work. Is he hoping for a different shift then he is working so he doesn't feel so crammed with school.

Alexander: We are just weeks away from Xander's 5th birthday! I cant believe how fast this time has gone! Just in the last few weeks he has changed so much. He is learning to write his letters willingly. Its always been a battle with him so I gave up for a while until he was ready for it. His drawing has even changed. He has gone from scribbles to drawing stick people, cars, animals and dragons almost over night. Suddenly he just seems so old! He loves going to his church class and telling everyone that he is in "CTR 4". He loves his new teacher and the friends he is making there. He is just my little man!

Graysen: We are in that fun stage with Gray that my mom calls bi polar baby. One second life is good and happy the next its all tears and screaming, three seconds later he is laughing again. He loves his brothers in a big way! He loves to give them hugs and kisses and snuggle on the couch. He is my independent soul! He gets himself dressed and ready to go. He loves the get his Buzz Lightyear "pack pack" all loaded up with this to take with us when we leave. Its so cute to see his little tiny self with a boy sized back pack on. It makes me laugh every time! He is a natural in primary! His first week went off without a hitch. We dropped him off and that was it, he was hooked! He loves his Sunbeams class! I think he really loves the structure of primary and getting to be a big boy now.

Colton: This little guy is getting big so fast! I feel like every time I look at him he is getting bigger! A few weeks ago my friend was over and we both realized that there was a drastic change in his face from over night. Suddenly he looked like a boy and not a baby! (good thing we are having a baby soon!) He is learning to talk and sign a little bit. He loves to play with his brothers and be a big boy just like them. He thinks he can do all the things that they can do, and for the most part he can! He is getting interested in potty training so we will see where that goes over the next few months. He is still the easiest baby Ive had by far! He eats EVERY THING! I don't think we've found a food yet that he doesn't like or wont eat. He still goes down for naps and bed time pretty easy. As long as he has his teddy bear that Santa brought him and the stuffed monkey toy out of the toy box he is happy as can be for bed time. He takes turns being a momma's boy and a daddy's boy. It nice for both of us to get that time when he just wants to snuggle and be held only by you. The only time I don't like it is if he wakes up at night he doesn't want Jeff at all! Only mommy!!! I only mind a little bit. Its just hard to get out off bed once I have finally drifted off! He makes up for it with big hugs and kisses.

So that is our family at the start of 2011! We are doing wonderful! Things are going so good for us right now and we are loving it! I cant wait to update you all and tell you the gender of our baby!