Sneak Peek

Evelyn came and did Clayton's newborn pictures today. And they are soo cute! To see a sneak peek of the pics check out her photo blog Freckles Photography.

Pictures

Clayton had his first bath saturday night. He was not a fan. Poor little guy. It'll be better when his cord falls off and we can get him all the way in the water so its not so cold.
My 3 boys! We took this the day he was born, Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?
Wow! Check out the resemblance between KC and Daddy. Good thing I married such a handsome man since my boys all look just like him!
This is my favorite so far! He's finally starting to like the swing, not as much as the other boys did though. Parker practically lived in it for the first 3-4 months of his life. Clayton only likes it for a few minutes at a time. Mostly he just wants to be held constantly. Good thing I found my sling or this could be a problem. But he's awfully cuddly so I guess I don't really mind that much :).

There are just some things I wish I never had to remember.

Clayton's Birth

I can't believe my little baby will be a week old tomorrow! Even though the last week felt like a year it still went to fast. We had Sue here until friday and it was so wonderful. I don't know what I would have done without her. Sue I just can't thank you enough for all of your help, I've got the best mother in law ever. Aaron was able to take half the week off and the boys loved having him here to play with.
So lots of people keep asking me about how his birth went but I've had no energy to really write about it yet so here's the story if you want to hear it.

I wasn't too fond of going past my due date, even if average gestation is 42 weeks. 40 was enough for me. So sunday night around 7 I broke out the castor oil, mixed it with some OJ and chugged it. Sounds good huh. It actually wasn't that bad, and it didn't make me sick to my stomach either so that was nice. I went to bed around midnight, but around then I could tell the castor oil was starting to have some effect and so I didn't ever really get to go to sleep. Around 1:30 I decided the pains I was having were actually contractions and not just stomach cramps and realized they were already about 4 mins apart. So I called Richelle my midwife and Jillynn my doula around 2 and asked them to come over. Then I woke up Aaron. He'd taken a sleeping pill so it took a bit to really get him alert, but he came around.
Richelle got here around 2:30 and checked on me and the baby and then started getting all her stuff out and set up for the birth. Jillynn got there soon after and immediately went to work massaging me and helping me be comfortable. Clayton was sitting posterior (facing forward) so Richelle had me labor on my hands and knees for awhile in hopes that we could get him to turn around. During this time we let Aaron go lay down for a little bit longer so he could be a little more awake when the labor got harder and I really needed him. Richelle's assistant Kim got there too sometime around then.
Let me just say that I have never felt so taken care of. Everyone was right there waiting on me, getting me drinks and snacks and helping me relax and be comfortable. The contractions were uncomfortable, but I had so many people helping me that it made it a lot easier to focus on relaxing and not get overwhelmed.
Around 4 Richelle check me and even though I was only at a 4 the baby had turned the way we wanted him to so I was able to go get in the birthing pool. That was fabulous! The pool really was just like a kids blow up swimming pool, but it was super comfortable and the warm water felt so good. It was nice to float in the water and be able to move around so easily. The contractions increased in intensity quite a bit while I was in there, but the water really helped the really intense part feel like it was shorter. Aaron came in a sat behind me and talked to me and helped me with our hypnobirthing scripts and I realized we should have woken him up long before because it was so nice to have him right there with me. He helped me relax a lot and stay focused. Just when it started to feel like I didn't think I could do much longer I could tell Clayton was moving down and ready to be born any time. I needed to use the bathroom so I got out of the tub and as soon as I sat down on the toilet the pressure got really intense. Aaron and Jillynn rushed over to help me stand up and Richelle ran over and next thing I knew Clayton was born! It was not exactly the area of the house that I had planned on birthing but at that point I was just so happy that he was there I didn't even care that he was almost born on the toilet lol.
My midwife was here for about 3-4 hours after the birth, taking care of my stitches and bleeding. While they were attending to me Aaron got to take Clayton out to meet Grandma Sue and his big brothers for the first time. Then we got to weigh him and Richelle went over the newborn check and all that. After everyone was taken care of I got to snuggle up in my own bed with my sweet little baby with nobody bothering me. Aaron and I slept most of the rest of the day and got to take it easy while Grandma took care of the bigger boys.
I wouldn't change anything about the way it went. I was surprised by how normal it seemed to be at home. I'm so glad that I stuck with my decision for a home birth and wish I had been able to have such a great experience with the other boys births. I loved how it all went and the wonderful women that attended me during the whole thing. I never thought I would be able to look back at a birth experience and say that I loved it, after all labor isn't supposed to be fun right? But I really did love it and would recommend it to anyone.
So there you have it :) Our camera died that night so I haven't taken many pictures over the last week, but I'll try to get some new ones up soon. If you've seen my facebook you've already seen these pictures so sorry.

Introducing Clayton Gene

Born at 5:52 am, 8.5lbs, 21 inches.

Hello Due Date, hello baby?

Well the countdown ticker says 0 days left. Hmmm, could someone tell Clayton that?

...Waiting...

Well the count down is on! I can't believe how fast it has come! It seems so slow everyday, but then at the same time it flys by. I'm getting so excited and having a hard time waiting to hold this little guy. I've been having a lot of false labor over the past few weeks, especially this weekend. I thought for sure we'd have a baby friday night, but no luck. But that's okay, we know it will be soon whenever he comes. We finally got everything ready for his birth and I am looking forward to this new experience of having a baby at home and even though its a bit scary knowing there won't be any pain relief as far as drugs go, I think it's going to be so much more of a spiritual and emotional experience than you get at the hospital and I love that I'll be able to be where I am most comfortable surrounded by people that love me and knowing that my midwife and doula have no one else to help at the time but me.
The other day Parker told me he never wants the baby to come out of my tummy because then I'll be making cakes all the time and feeding the baby and never get to play. Sad huh! I tried to reassure him that I'm not going to be making cakes all the time, I don't plan to start taking on very many orders for quite a while. And that even though baby will eat ALL the time at first, we'll still find time to play. Nursing makes a great reading time. He did so well with KC when he was born I didn't really think he would be worried about this baby, but I guess he's big enough now to understand whats happening and that life will be different. But I'm glad he's talking to me about it and not just acting up. He's being really good. So I told him all about what an important job it is to be a big brother and about all the special things that he'll get to do when the baby comes. He liked that. I also went and got a bunch of new craft stuff and fun things for him to do with Grandma Sue when she comes down so that he hasn't something special and exciting. When I thought the baby was going to come friday I told him I thought we would get our baby soon and asked if he was excited. His response was "yes!! cause then I can have my new toys!!!" I guess if I was 5 new toys would be a lot more exciting than a baby lol. KC knows there's a baby in my tummy and it'll be fun to see what he thinks when baby is on the outside.
I can't wait to have all 3 of my boys together. I feel so incredibly blessed and overwhelmed by the responsibility I've been given to raise these boys to be good men, I'm so grateful for a good husband who is such a great example and leader for them. And who loves them so much and enjoys spending time with all of us. I don't know how I would do it without him. And I'm grateful to have the gospel to help guide me and for the knowledge that Heavenly Father is there to help me with this incredible calling in life. How could we raise these precious souls without His help.
And Grandma Sue we are SOO excited for you to be able to come and stay with us when Clayton arrives. I am so grateful for your willingness to take the time to come and help and we are all excited to be able to spend so much time with you. Thanks you!!!!!!

So hopefully our next post will be all about our new little boy when our family is completed with his arrival. We can't wait to show him to all of you! Wish us luck and send your prayers our way that everything will go well with his delivery!