Tiegan Is Here!

For everyone who would rather not read through all of the details-

Tiegan Skye Loveland
Born at 7:14 AM December 13th, 5 weeks early.
5 pounds 10 oz
19 inches
And absolutely perfect.

Thursday I had every intention of cooking, cleaning, and going to class. When afternoon rolled around, I had a weird feeling that I should stay home from class and clean. I was feeling pretty crampy, but I hate missing class so I was just going to go in anyway. I went to get ready and noticed just a little bleeding. She also hadn't been moving as much as she normally does. The longer I thought about it, the worse my imagined scenario became. I decided to call and see if I was okay to just watch it. But of course they told me to go in to get checked out. Ross was going to be home within the hour, so I decided whenever he got home I'd head in.

By the time I got to the hospital, contractions had picked up, but they still weren't painful. I've had a ridiculous amount of contractions throughout the entire pregnancy so I didn't think anything of it. The crampy feeling had gotten worse though. A couple different doctors came in to talk to me in triage and asked what I thought was going on. They decided to check to see if I was still leaking fluid and check my cervix. The first doctor checked me and said I was dilated to a 6. They left to go consult with my specialist team as well as the doctor on call. After a while they came back in and decided to have someone else check. The second doctor said I was a 4 or 5 maybe, but that I definitely stretched to a 6, so she wasn't sure where to call the number. They left again to go decide what to do with me.

I ended up spending a few hours in triage while they decided what to do. The plan changed a million times and it was frustrating not knowing if I needed to have Ross find someone to watch the girls so he could come in. At that point I was pretty uncomfortable, but just wanted to get sent home so I didn't have to be in the waiting game. I think it was around 10 they came in to check me again. I had thinned and dilated a little more so they decided to admit me.

Wisconsin has an attitude of "Keep the baby in at all costs!!" So none of the doctors wanted to do anything to intervene or help things progress. They were pretty sure I was in labor, but not 100% sure, so there was a chance they'd just be watching me over night and I'd be sent home in the morning. Contractions had picked up. I was uncomfortable but not really in pain. We decided to have Ross come in just to be safe.

I had packed the hospital bags a week or so ago, but I kept them in our room where Aoife naps. During "naptime" Aoife had been slowly unpacking and scattering the contents. When Ross went to get the bags, they were empty. I had to make up a list off of the top of my head and sent him on a scavenger hunt. He was also in the middle of doing laundry, and cleaning as fast as he could. Everyone give him a pinch and tell him what a fantastic husband he is.

While Ross was en route, I was moved to another room. I hadn't been pregnant long enough to have done the Group B strep test, so we decided to play it safe and get the antibiotics going. I was pretty uncomfortable and started feeling nauseous. I got to poke around the room. The bath tub was ridiculously deep and looked fantastic. They also had a birthing ball there that I loved. Once I was hooked up to the antibiotics, I got set up on my ball with my barf bag and water jug and I was set! Ross came in and played a game of Skip-Bo with me before I sent him to get some sleep.

I decided to hop in the tub. Because I was early, babe had to stay on the monitor and they also wanted to keep a close eye on contractions. They were every 2-3 minutes. But they had a really cool portable monitor I could take in the tub with me. The nurse was fantastic and brought me bath blankets and kept checking on me to make sure I was as comfortable as possible. I wasn't hurting enough to want anything, but she kept a close watch on me anyway.

After the tub I decided to get back in the bed and distract myself with Netflix. The doctor wanted to check me again and I was thinner and pretty loose. But still, Wisconsin wants to keep the baby in no matter what, so no intervening. They figured my water would need to completely break to get me progressing much more, and since they weren't going to break my water, the nurse suggested morphine to help me relax. The morphine only lasts about an hour, and just takes the edge off. Right after it went in I felt weird and was wondering what I had gotten myself into. My body just felt heavy and I was woozy. I turned on my lullaby station on Pandora and settled in. Contractions were picking up, but the morphine was wonderful. I was able to sit back and relax. A couple hours later the nurse came in to check on me. I was back to feeling nauseous and was now HURTING. It didn't take long to get to the "kill me now" point. It was close to 6:30 and Ross was awake now. The doctor came in to check me and I was now at a 7. She said my composure had completely changed and I was definitely in labor so she decided to break my water. Instantly contractions got a million times worse and it wasn't long before the tears were rolling and I was rocking around, getting on all fours, and acting crazy.

Shift change was happening so the new doctors and nurses hadn't met me when I was still happy and making jokes. They were walking in to meet me at the worst time possible. Later I found out I introduced myself as "Crazy". I always thought women who said awful things to their husbands while in labor were crazy, but after going through that, I completely get it. I didn't say anything to him, but I definitely shot him looks. Poor guy. Have you seen Bill Cosby's Natural Child Birth? Yeah- it was a lot like that.

While I was praying for death, I said yelled some gems that are now the nurses' new favorite labor quotes. Among the winners:
"Holy Frick!"
"Frick on a Stick!"
"Holy Crap!"

And the winner (while I was pushing)-
Me: "HOLY BURNING RING OF FIRE!!!"
Nurse 1: Did she just say holy burning ring of fire?
Nurse 2: Yup. I think that's a song.
All Million People in the Room: HAHAHAHAHA

And of course I had the sobs of "I can't do this." "I don't want to do this anymore." "I don't want to have a baby." "I don't want to push." Everyone was very encouraging and of course kept saying thing like, "You got this" "Good girl" "You're doing great" "Here's your barf bag" But my main nurse was my tough love gal and just what I needed. Every now and then she looked like she wanted to slap me, but she'd say, "We're having a baby right now. You HAVE to do this. You're fine." I was absolutely in panic hysterical. Tiegan was also facing the wrong way so they tried a couple things to get her to turn. They didn't work.

Not much longer and it was time to push. And I really didn't want to. Ross and I had always joked that he'd do the Bill Cosby chant, "Push him out, shove him out, way out!" But due to concern for his safety, he decided not to. It was probably for the best. A few pushes and a lot of "HOLY FRICKS" later, Tiegan came out crying. We had the nursery staff and NICU staff in the room just in case. I got a tiny peek at her before she was whisked away to be checked out. I sent Ross over while I got stitched up. She scored 9's on both apgars, and was absolutely perfect. I'm so grateful for doctors and medicine and for the aggressive approach we took with steroids. And everyone should throw Ross a couple Benjamin's for enduring an epidural-less delivery with me. Poor guy.

We got to cuddle for a while before we moved to the recovery room, which was great because she didn't have a name yet! We thought we picked her name months ago, but recently we started thinking of others. We came to the hospital with a few we liked, but after she was born, none of them were right. It was a little stressful having to start from scratch, but eventually we found the right name.

 She's a champion nurser and eats like none other. Because she was so early, they had to test her blood sugars before every feeding for the first 24 hours. She did perfectly. It was so much fun getting to keep her with me and take her home with us. We've had to take her in every day to make sure her weight and bili levels still look good, but we love this little nugget and can't believe we have a trio of little girls!

We are absolutely smitten. And life with three littles is absolutely insane so I'll have to post about that next nap time.

Protein Pumpkin Pancakes.

Yesterday I forgot to start the crockpot and had to quickly throw something together for dinner. My go-to fallback dinner is always breakfast. Last night I decided to try protein pumpkin pancakes. And they were glorious. The original recipe was Paleo-but we are a family on a budget and while we love to eat healthy, coconut or almond flour is never on my grocery list. The recipe also claimed to only make 4-5 pancakes so I quadrupled it. I had 4, the girls each had 3, Ross ate 11, and we still had plenty for the next morning. I love leftovers, so I'll post the recipe as I made it, but feel free to half it if needed.

Protein Pumpkin Pancakes-
1 C. Flour
12 eggs (yes, TWELVE of them.)
1 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t Salt
1 C. Pumpkin Puree
2 t. Apple Cider Vinegar
4 T Oil (Recipe called for coconut oil. I love cooking with coconut oil, but didn't have any on hand so I used vegetable oil.)
1 t. Pumpkin Pie Spice
 And Maple Syrup, because who eats pancakes without syrup?

I tossed everything into the Kitchen Aid to mix and we were good to go. They came out thinner, but oh so tasty. I think the Lovelands have a new favorite pancake recipe.

A Little More News.

I'll start with my doctor appointment last Friday. Remember a couple weeks ago when I said I had graduated to only needing to come in every other week? I take it back.

The good news is her head is up pretty high. And that's about all of the good news. I've been having more and more contractions that hurt much worse than before. It's a little funny. Ross and I will be watching a show and every so often I'll take a breath, hold it in and leap off the couch because it's too painful to sit. All the while muttering all kinds of things to myself.

Doc thinks I probably won't last much more than a few weeks, so I'll be going in every week now to get checked. We'll probably do another round of steroids soon, which is great for the babe. She's pretty much guaranteed a spot in the NICU, but the steroids will help a bunch. I really don't know what to expect this time around. It's the first time I've been on shots to keep her in there, so it's hard to say when she'll actually come. That's the hard part. Last week I pulled out all of the newborn clothes, and the toys and bottles just so I know where everything is.

Which brings me to the next bit of news.

The Loveland's are moving! A couple of weeks ago we signed a lease at a new complex about 20 minutes away. It's right between the office Ross works out of the main Epic campus. Which will be wonderful since he works out of Verona sometimes. It's closer to where we grocery shop, work, and school, but it's also more out in the country, so it's a little quieter.

Our complex decided to raise our rent but they also really wanted us to renew our lease. There have been a few things I really don't like about the complex, so we decided to check around for other options. For a while it didn't seem like we could find much for January. (Seriously, the WORST time to move.) But then this place popped up, and we're so grateful. It's an end unit on the third floor. (I am going to have amazing glutes hauling 3 kids and groceries up and down those stairs.) It's about the same size that we're in now, but with a pantry, underground parking, brand new cabinets, light fixtures, and appliances, and a HUGE bathroom. And the best part: It has a washer and dryer!! Momma's getting a washer and dryer for Christmas!!! I couldn't be more excited. With cloth diapers, three kids, and remembering all of the newborn blowouts, we NEED one.

Unfortunately, that means we're moving. In January. Our lease begins January 1st, but the manger will probably give us keys before then so we can get started. With not knowing when the babe will arrive and the notorious Wisconsin winter, it's a bit of a hassle, but it feels like it'll be a good thing for our family. And did I say I'll have a washer and dryer?!

Claire's Three!

Well she will be. On Wednesday. We decided to have her party the Saturday before her birthday. Claire really wanted a princess party. I honestly have no idea how kid's birthday parties are supposed to work, and I was overwhelmed scanning Pinterest for ideas. Since when did birthday parties become such a big spectacle? With potty training and my school schedule, I had to keep it pretty simple. We completely forgot about the BYU/Wisconsin football game, and I'm so grateful some of Claire's friends could still make it to her party. Claire had a blast and loved having everyone there.

I set up a dress up table with some necklaces, bracelets, hair clips, and ring pops. I wanted to find some knight things for the boys, but couldn't find any.

We had a craft table where everyone could decorate a crown. The girls seemed to love that and were very creative.

The food was themed, and I meant to make place cards, but when it came down to it, I really didn't care. The pigs in a blanket were supposed to be "swords in sheaths", chips were "dragon food" and the fruit was made to look like magic wands.

Because I had class on Saturday, I decided to set everything up Friday night. I was excited about making Claire's cake, even though it was probably a little too ambitious for me. I wanted to make her a castle, but I ended up using 5 boxes of cake mix and spending 3 1/2 hours on the stupid thing. It started out fun, but when the cakes started sticking to the pans, and I had to throw away two of the cakes, I started to get really frustrated. I think I scared Ross. After a second trip to the grocery store to get more cake mix, I calmed down. And I was happy with how the cake turned out, even though it wasn't quite what I was envisioning. I now know what it means to do anything to make your child happy and their day special.

Saturday morning Claire came out front. First she saw the streamers, and then she saw the cake. She had the cutest shocked expression and said, "MOM! You made this for ME? For my BIRTHDAY?!" Then she talked about how beautiful it was and asked if we could take a picture. She's so funny. Then she ran in to wake up Ross. "DADDY! You have to wake up! You have to come and see! You have to open your EYES!!" We saw the future of birthdays and Christmases and all of the excitement. It made all of the frustrations of last night totally worth it. She LOVED her cake and was SO excited about it. She made us sing Happy Birthday to her five times before I had to leave for class.

Thanks to everyone for coming and making her birthday so special! She had so much fun and is still talking about it!

Potty Training.

Last week was quite possibly the longest week of my life. And we're doing it all over again this week.

We've been potty training. And I'm pretty sure my children are only alive because of Diet Coke, and my sweet mother in law who will listen to me whine a million times a day without judging me or making me feel like a complete idiot.

When it comes to parenting, I have no idea what I'm doing. I am totally out of my element here, especially in the potty training arena. We cloth diaper. And it's fantastic. And we have two kids in diapers. And we really don't want THREE kiddos in diapers. One night Claire had started to poop and Ross and I decided to stick her on the potty against her will. And she did it. We made the biggest deal out of it and that's what got this train rolling. And I wasn't ready for it. I really don't think there's a "good time" to potty train. There's ALWAYS something going on. Every single week is ridiculously busy, so I just had to go with it.

I thought I had a good plan and went with it for the first two days. Boy oh boy was I wrong. It was frustrating. Everyone was yelling and crying and it was the most frustrating, miserable two days. That second night I really didn't like myself, really didn't like being a mom, and really didn't think I was cut out for this. I started to think Heavenly Father had made a MONDO mistake by making me a mother and putting me in charge of these girls. I had a pretty lengthy chat with Him about all of the reasons why He got it wrong and how I'm REALLY not cut out for this whole Mothering business. I literally felt like I was going INSANE and should be admitted. But I didn't want to give up, because then the two miserable days we had spent destroying our relationship would be for nothing. After I soaked my pillow and stained it with mascara, I had a new idea.

On Day 3 I decided to completely change tactics. The new plan seemed to be working MUCH better. Everyone was happier, I didn't have to spend the entire day in the bathroom (Which was probably contributing to my loss of sanity.), and most of all Claire was happier and she still liked me despite all of the trauma of the previous days.

It's been hard, mostly because with my doctor appointments, I have to put a diaper back on Claire which kind of undoes the work we've been doing. We aren't there yet and we'll be continuing potty training this week, but it's going! Even my little old lady clients keep telling me this WILL end and she WILL get it. I still don't believe it.

Sometimes when Claire is sitting on the toilet, she'll quote random parts of Tangled to herself. Her favorite parts are when she meets Flynn Rider, and when she realizes she's the lost princess. So I'll be in the kitchen cleaning up and I'll hear, "Who are you, and how did you find me?" Or "Did I mumble, Mother? Or should I even call you that?" She cracks me up.

When she's on the potty, I set the timer for five minutes and walk away. Five minutes seems to be a good amount of time for her to try, and it's just worked better if she's in there alone. When she starts going she'll yell for me and say, "I'M DOING IT!!" One time while she was on, she started yelling for me. I came running, thinking it was time for the potty hat and to blow the celebratory horns, but when I walked in, she had unrolled the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper and draped it around herself like a boa. She was so happy and told me about how beautiful she looked and said, "I need more, Mom!" Later, the entire unrolled roll was crammed in the toilet and attempted to be flushed down.

Hopefully not too much longer and it will click with Claire. Until then, we'll just keep watching Christmas shows and chugging Diet Coke. I'm so grateful for the little tender mercies and funny moments of the day that I can laugh at.

Halloween.

The festivities started with a Harry Potter party at the library. They had different stations set up where the kids could make an owl, make wands, play quidditch, and have their picture taken in a castle. The girls didn't last too long, and they just wanted to play in the castle, but it was cute. Later in the week I took the girls trick or treating downtown. I loved seeing all of the kids in costume. The girls dressed up at superheros were my favorite, and the girls were a big hit at the retirement home. It was cute. We didn't get to stay long because I had an appointment that day, but it was more than enough time for the girls to get out and have fun.

Now for actual Halloween! We had a blast! It was pouring rain and I was just hoping and praying it would stop before trick or treating happened. Claire's finally old enough to know what's going on and she was especially excited about trick or treating. The girls were INSANE all day with excitement, so in the afternoon I took them to good old Micky D's to play and get their wiggles out while I gulped down some much needed Diet Coke. It was perfect.

After, we changed into costumes and headed to a friend's house for a birthday party. Ross met us there and we had fun celebrating with friends. After the party, we went trick or treating with the birthday girl. The first few houses all had dogs and the girls started to think that every house had a dog. They were into the household pets more than the candy. And honestly, what's cuter than 3 little girls all dressed up saying trick or treat the best they can? People were so nice and were scooping handfuls of candy into their buckets because they were so darn cute.

The poor thing was so exhausted she couldn't stay awake!

From The Mouths of Babes.

Claire has turned into quite the chatter box. And sometimes she says the funniest things. Here are some of my favorites from the past couple weeks, (Well, the ones I can remember. I meant to write about this a week ago):

Claire: "Mom, you're a girl."
Me: Yup, you're right.
Claire: And Aoife's a girl, too.
Me: Yup! You got it.
Claire: And I'm a boy.
Me: Nope, you're a girl too.
Claire: I'm a boy. I'm a cowboy!


Me: What would you like for lunch, Claire?
Claire: Ummmmm I just want chocolate. (Don't we all, Claire, don't we all.)


Claire was running around with her tongue hanging out of her mouth making weird noises.
 Ross: What are you doing, Claire?
Claire: Ummm I'm just being gross.


 While Ross was out of town, I took Claire with me to the doctor to take my glucose test. You chug the drink and wait an hour to draw blood. I brought Claire the iPad, a coloring book, and some bubbles. She loved blowing bubbles and everyone in the office thought she was cute. Then I had to go to the bathroom so I took her with me. When we came out, she announced to everyone in the office that, "Mom went poop in the potty." and I did "A really good job." While maybe not funny for me, everyone else thought she was a hoot. Bless her heart.

Good News!

Yesterday I met with the specialist. His partner is out of town for three weeks and he's been on his own. It made for the longest appointment EVER, but it was so worth it.

At these appointments I have a couple different types of ultrasounds done first. We check on baby to make sure she's doing well, and do some growth measurements. Then they switch tools to check my cervix, which is the most concerning.

After the tech has all of the images, the doctor comes in to look at them and have a quick chat. Then I get to put my pants back on and head into a room to do all of the vitals and get my shots. Once that's done, the doctor comes back in. He may or may not do an exam, we have a lengthy chat, and then I head to the front desk and schedule to do it all over again next week.

The ultrasounds went really well. This gal weighed 2 pounds 12 oz and is in the 27th percentile. Her femurs measured a few weeks bigger, so we'll have another tall one which is no surprise. She still loves to hang out sideways and loves my back. This isn't a problem yet and there's still time for her to move, but she had better decide she likes being upside down soon! Thanks to the steroids, her lungs looked amazing and we got to watch her breathe for a while.

The second part of the ultrasound had good news, too. The medicine is working and I'm stable for another week!

I finally gained some weight, too. Up till now I had only gained 4 pounds. But this past week Ross was gone and I went on food vacation. I gained a whopping 6 pounds in one week. I was horrified, but it's apparently a really good thing.

Doc came in for our chat. He loves that I'm still stable and I graduated to now only needing to come in every 2 weeks. And I'm done with the ultrasounds. At this point, my cervix is going to start thinning more and he's anticipating some changes. So at every appointment, he'll check me out and reevaluate from there.

Then he asked if I had any questions. "So does this mean I can get back in the gym?"  He laughed at me and said that he KNEW I was going to ask that. Even though the answer was absolutely not, we ended up chatting for a little bit about CrossFit, different workouts we liked, and what I liked doing in the gym. He said if I can hang on six more weeks and if I was still looking good, he'd let me start working out again. He admitted he was only saying that because he's betting by then I'll be so uncomfortable I won't want to work out.

I love this doctor. I'm secretly hoping I pop right around 34 weeks so I don't get transferred back to the doctor I was seeing before.

When you see a specialist, you hear about all kinds of scary things that can happen. I'm one of the most uneventful, boring cases there. Some people go through pregnancy healthy and normal with no worries or problems, and there's a big spectrum of what can happen. It really, really makes me grateful for my pregnancy "problems".  I talked to doc about that, too. Sometimes I feel ridiculous for seeing a specialist and like I'm really no big deal. He reassured me that while it's pretty unlikely I'll go into labor in the next two weeks, my situation is concerning enough that he can't ignore it and that he's betting I'll go somewhere between 32-36 weeks.

I'm so grateful this appointment went so well and that the babe looks great, because I know so many other people don't get good news like that. It's a great reminder for me when I feel like shipping the girls off to grandma's house.

MAC Thinks I'm A PRO.

Well, not really. But, a couple months ago I submitted an application for the MAC PRO Student Program. MAC has an awesome pro program, and students can get the same benefits! You get a discount on products, access to products that are only available to pro members, classes and events, and parties with different professionals in the industry to network.

Ideally I'd like to be in a higher end full service salon. I want to do it all. Not only that, but I want to be really really good at everything. So I'm always looking for additional education experiences and opportunities. Make up is one of those things that I want to be an expert on, so when I stumbled on the PRO program and asked around about the classes they offer, I decided to apply.

So much time had gone by, I thought my application had been lost or skipped over or something, but lo and behold, this past Monday my PRO card finally came! I was beyond giddy and immediately logged in to look up specialty kits, events, and classes. Unfortunately, the class in Chicago had just happened the week before.


I'm hoping the event schedule for spring will get posted soon, I'm so excited to play!

Aunt Ena.

I have so much to catch up on! this month has been CRAZY busy.

Not too long ago Ross' sister, Serena, came to visit. Next week she leaves on an 18 month church mission. She'll be serving in Tiajuana, Mexico! She was kind enough to take some time out of her crazy schedule to come to Wisconsin and visit for a few days before she goes.

We were so spoiled to be in Utah surrounded by family. Claire has a great relationship with her Aunts and Uncles, and I'm so so grateful. I think being so far away from family has been an adjustment. Thank goodness for Skype! I don't know what we'd do without it!

We picked Serena up in Milwaukee and grabbed some lunch before heading back home. We went to a farm, took the girls costume shopping, made Halloween cookies, played at the park, took delicious naps, played with puppies, took a trip to the outlet mall, and went to the zoo. And of course it wouldn't be a Wisconsin trip without ice cream.

We loved having Aunt Ena here. The girls were in Heaven and were spoiled rotten. While we were at the outlet mall, Claire was helping Aunt Ena find shirts. If I walked by too close, Claire would start to shriek, "I don't want my mommy, I don't like my mommy! I don't want my mom!" Who knew a two year old could hurt my feelings, but I'm glad these girls love their Aunt Ena.

Serena was giving her farewell talk and party the following week, so Ross and Aoife flew back with her. Claire doesn't fly free anymore, so she got to stay home with me. I took a few days off from school while Ross was gone. I loved the one on one time with Claire. It was SO different just having one munchkin at home. I actually showered, got some cleaning done, took Claire on little outings, and just enjoyed being with Claire. And I never once yelled or got frustrated.

She did much better than I thought she would, though she definitely missed her sister. She was able to Skype with Aoife a couple times. It was so sweet to see how excited the sisters were to see each other. Claire would tell Aoife about her day and ask how she was doing. Melted my heart.

When we picked up Ross and Aoife from the airport, Claire waited so patiently. When she saw them walking up, she jumped down from the stroller and ran to them screaming, "AOIFE!!!!" Then she gave her a big hug and kiss. They've been inseparable since. Despite having to go back to school and real life, it's nice to have everyone home again.

Netflix Party at The Loveland's.

 After calling my doctor with some concerning things, I was told to go to the hospital NOW. I had just finished making dinner for Ross and the littles and picked him up from work. I took it as a do not pass go or collect $200 but tuck my tail and floor it to St. Mary's. I didn't think anything was actually wrong, so I was confused why I had to book it to the hospital.

Let's just talk about the drive there for a minute.

I hadn't been to St. Mary's before, had no idea where it was. (Thank you trusty, GPS!!) It's downtown. And I have to drive through campus to get there. Lots of college students walking, some on bikes that can't decide if they want to act like a car and ride in the road or act like a pedestrian. Once you weave through the bikes and pedestrians you find out there is only one entrance to the parking garage. And you'd better not miss it because you'll be stuck on a one-way street going the wrong way. After you park, it's a hike through a maze to find labor and delivery, which isn't actually labeled 'labor and delivery'. I think it was called 'birth suites'. Very fancy.

I got admitted right away and situated. After vitals were taken, a couple doctors came in to do every test known to mankind. Up till this point, nothing super concerning was happening. I was having contractions, but they were pretty spaced and didn't hurt.

While waiting for tests, contractions picked up. The on call doctors didn't know what to do with me so they had to call the doctor I've been seeing as well as the specialist group I'll be seeing next week and coordinate between the two. In the meantime, they were coming every 2 minutes and HURT.

I ended up spending almost 7 hours on monitors. Luckily the contractions started to space out and become less intense so they didn't have to keep me over night.

I got home a little before 1 and have never been happier to go to bed in my own house in my life. A couple of the doctors were furious that the specialists had me wait two weeks for an appointment and they'll be poking the bear with a stick to get me in pronto. I'm hoping I can stay on pretend bed rest, but anything to keep this babe cooking! I really have tried to be good about staying on my royal rump. I'll cook dinner and go to class. Maybe do some dishes. The last couple days though, the girls have been so stir crazy and restless we walked across the street to the park one day, and yesterday they had a play date. I didn't think I did much, Claire and Aoife pretty much walked to and from the park themselves and I just sat on a bench while they got their energy out. I really do feel bad for them. We're pretty good at going out and exploring and playing. It's gorgeous out and they're stuck watching Mulan for the millionth time picking on each other.

I'm so grateful for science and medicine, and for the doctors and nurses. I'm especially grateful that this gal decided to stay put a while longer. Bring on the Netflix party.
 

Sleeping Babes.

One of the hardest things about having class at night is missing out of the girl's bedtime routine. Ross has always been in charge of bedtime, but I still miss the giggles and squeals, and kisses. Sometimes, the girls will even cuddle with me and give extended hugs to avoid bedtime.

Every night when I get home, I set my stuff down, maybe grab a small snack, and then go in for a peek at the girls. Sometimes they stir, sometimes they're out like a rock and I can brush through their hair or hold their hands. And sometimes I get to hear Claire talk in her sleep. I love me some sleeping babes.

Making The Switch.

We've been thinking about switching to cloth diapers for a while now. After we went over our budget, we realized we've been spending $100+ a month on diapers. With another gal on the way, likely to make her debut sooner than anticipated, I couldn't imagine buying THREE different sizes of diapers. Of course Claire will be potty training soon, but I'm waiting for her to take the lead on this one.

There were lots of things that appealed to me about cloth diapers aside from the financial benefit. They're natural with no chemicals, they're adorable, I can use one size for both (or all 3) girls, and my trash loads will be smaller.

The thing that held us back was the poo. Luckily I have a good girl friend who has been cloth diapering both of her kiddos. After researching, grilling her about it, and researching some more, we found tons of options and decided to give it a go!

The girls had fun picking out diapers as I ordered them and they've loved getting to pick out which ones they want to wear. So far, so good! I was shocked at how soft they are. I'd want them against my nether regions, too! The girls seem to love them and are as happy as can be! I couldn't have hoped for a smoother transition from them. Hopefully it's equally smooth for the parents!

Claire's partial to the zebra print. If it were up to her, they would ALL be zebra.

The Stash.

Aoife's latest obsession is dogs.

All put away and ready to go.

It took a couple drawers to hold them all.