I think there’s some resemblance, what do you think?

(Left Alex, Right Adam)

Sorry for the delayed email. Jen and I are proud to introduce Adam James Kitchen. Adam was born today at 5:27 PM and weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 15.1oz (just shy 10 lbs). He is 21 1/4″ long. Baby and mom are both doing well and are together in the maternal child unit. After delivery when I escorted Adam to the nursery for his checkup the nurses informed me that he was the current record holder for the day as far as weight goes. Who would have thought that such a big thing could come out of such a small person?

And what kind of parent would I be if I didn’t have a photo album setup already?  Check it out here.

Alex and Mommy both had painful Easters!

I’ll start with Alex - he had a great morning, but managed to fall off his bounce & spin zebra after his nap. Don thought he hit the wall, but Alex says (shows) that he hit a speaker. Either way, he has a big bruised goose-egg right between his big brown eyes. I tried putting some ice on it, but he didn’t want to slow down long enough for that. Then, in the bathtub tonight, he managed to slip and smack his chin on the edge of the tub. Don and I both caught our breath when we heard him hit - it was a major thud, and then there was silence, which we both expected to turn into a scream and a mouthful of blood. But that didn’t happen. He cried a little, but there is only a scratch under his chin. I’m expecting to see a decent bruise there in the morning. But get this - the kid broke the tub! There’s a big chunk of acrylic or whatever it is that the tub is made out of missing - like a half inch piece or so. We had to go back in and look at it after we got the kids in bed because we just couldn’t believe he hit hard enough to break a bathtub without doing any major damage to himself. Unreal how hard our boy’s head is!

And me - I’ve been having painful contractions since 4:30 this morning. They aren’t very regular, varying from 7 to 15 minutes apart. But they hurt A LOT and I am not a wuss about pain generally. They take my breath away, keep me awake, and even make it so I can’t talk or move. But they aren’t regular, and I have no other symptoms to make me think this is labor. Some are worse than others, some are closer than others. I seem to be in a 10 minute pattern the last couple of hours. It’s ridiculous. I keep hoping they’ll get progressively stronger and closer together, but no such luck yet. I don’t have any more appointments scheduled before we’re supposed to be at the hospital on Wednesday, but if this continues tonight, I think I am going to try and be seen tomorrow just to get checked and see if I’ve made any dilation progress, and to make sure everything is okay. I googled and basically it seems like another case of false labor or maybe a long early labor, and I’ve asked on message boards and gotten responses that range all over, from people telling me this is how their first 35 hours of labor started to others saying I’m probably just dehydrated. Humph - why can’t this baby and my body agree on an exit plan??

Tomorrow’s the magical “EDD.” The E stand for estimated, and apparently 3.0 didn’t get the memo that I’d like him out by then. I don’t know why I’m so antsy about it all now - I know life will be hard with 3 of them and I should enjoy every day I have with just the twins. And I’m trying. Truthfully, I feel guilty a little that our little threesome and daily routines are going to be so disrupted, and I’m nervous about how I’ll handle it all. And I did say for a long time that I wanted to wait until after Easter for him to come. But I’m also ready to meet the newest member of our family. So I sit here, anxious, uncomfortable, and impatient and wondering if labor will start before next Wednesday at noon, when we have to be at the hospital for the scheduled c-section.

I had my last doctor appointment yesterday. The good news is that baby is big and healthy and looks good. I’ve had a couple of 8 pound plus estimates, and I certainly feel overstuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. But she basically apologized before telling me my cervix was still totally closed. That was really disappointing to hear - I was hoping for maybe a centimeter or something telling me my body was at least trying to get ready for labor. I really want a VBAC and really don’t want the recovery from another c-section. I just cannot imagine trying to care for the twins and a newborn alone while still in pain from surgery. So I went and did a few laps around the mall while buying Alex some new shoes to see if walking would help. I am having lots of little contractions, but I’ve been having them for a week now, so I don’t think they are doing any good. My aunt Jimmie emailed me today that Friday is a full moon, and I’ve heard that brings on labor for many women. Here’s hoping…

We had a pretty exciting Monday evening. Thought 3.0 was coming and got to do the middle of the night run to the hospital and everything. But alas, here it is Thursday, I’m 39 weeks along, and I’m still pregnant.

It started around the twins’ bedtime, when I just wasn’t feeling well. I was going to make dinner for Don and myself, but told him I felt like I needed to sit down for a few minutes first. Within about 45 minutes, I had a full blown stomach issue going on with vomiting and diarrhea and that led to some contractions. At first they were irregular, but by 11:30 they were steady every 3-6 minutes, my stomach wouldn’t stop, and I was really thinking this was it. Don was great - from when I first told him I was concerned, he cleaned the whole house, installed the infant seat in the car, helped me pack a bag, and kept checking on me. We finally called my dad and Nancy around midnight or so and asked them to come out because the OB on call had told me to come into the hospital. It was Don’s biggest worry that we’d need someone in the middle of the night, but thankfully they came through for us in a huge way. By the time they got here and we got to the hospital, I think it was almost 2 am. They hooked me up to monitors and did an internal. When the nurse told me my cervix was still high and closed, I knew this wasn’t real labor and felt terrible for keeping Don up all night, making my Dad and Nancy drive to us in the middle of the night, and basically I felt like a dumbass who couldn’t tell real labor from something fake.

But, as it turned out, the baby’s heartrate was dropping after each contraction, so they decided to give me IV fluids and some oxygen to see if that would help. They also had me flipping from my right side to my left and back again depending on what his reactions were. If he hadn’t improved, they’d have done a c-section Tuesday morning. Finally by about 6:30, the doctor was happy with his heartrate and we were sent home, doing the walk of shame from the hospital with no baby. We were home in time for Don to be here to wake up with the twins - he only got maybe 30 more minutes sleep than me, but was a saint and let me go to bed when we got home. The doctor released me back to regular activity with instructions to stay hydrated, which has been hard. I still feel completely nauseated and am having stomach issues, and some contractions again today.

I can only hope this is gearing up for the real thing very soon. I never thought I’d say that, but although I’m not ready to be done being pregnant, I am ready to be done being THIS pregnant, if that makes sense. I could be 25 weeks forever, but 39 is kicking my ass. I’m a little worried that if he wasn’t tolerating the contractions the other night, that he might not tolerate labor well and I might end up with another c-section instead of a VBAC, but as long as he gets here safe and sound, that’s what matters most. So let’s all just hold hands and send good quick labor thoughts to me, ok?

Alex and Avery LOVE playing in their new clubhouse that grandma got for them. We haven’t put on all the cool stickers yet as it’s still been somewhat chilly out.

Alex and Avery help build the clubhouse that grandma got them for Christmas.