Splash Pad

Introducing Edith Clementine

On November 19, 2015 at 9:58am, Edith Clementine was born. She was 9lbs 12oz and 21 3/4inches of squishy sweet newborn goodness. We are over the moon in love with her! She is our best newborn yet! She is an awesome nurser, sleeps great, and has won over us all... especially her big sisters. I wondered how Lulu would react to a new baby around since she has been jealous of Mommy with other babies before. Luckily, she hasn't been upset or jealous at all. She has become a bit more of a Daddy's girl, which has been helpful while I recover from the c-section. We are blissfully adjusting to our family of five!

 Welcome to the crazy, baby girl!

 The love of my life and his third baby girl. He says he would have a million more baby girls with me and die a happy man!

Family Photos

Auntie Stacey came over tonight for dinner. But first we stopped by the lake at the end of our block for some family photos. This October has been unseasonably warm resulting in the most amazingly long season of bright orange and red and yellow trees! Glad we finally got to take advantage of the beauty and get out for a super quick 15 minute session to take some photos. Even if I feel more like a pregnant whale these days. There is a reason I tell my clients to take their maternity photos before 35 weeks haha. I am just shy of 36 weeks and I am feeling done. Stretched to the limit. Sore everywhere. I spend my nights getting up to pee more than actually sleeping. I have contractions every 10 mins like I did with Vivi and Lulu. The doc calls it an "irritable uterus" meaning they do nothing for labor but are super uncomfortable to the point of being almost painful. BUT.... in less than a month we will have another sweet little girl! And it makes all of the last bits of pregnancy beyond worth it! Soon Edith Clementine will be here! I may not LOVE the way I look or feel when this pregnant, but I think it's important for me to get in front of the camera and be a "client" every once in a while. Plus, I'll only be pregnant a few times in my life. It's an amazing miracle that the Lord will knit a tiny human together in my womb. I don't take it for granted. I cherish every kick and hiccup of each of my sweet girls and I want to remember it all. We are so blessed!

30 weeks

Remember when I said I was going to try to take pregnancy update photos every now and then? Apparently, I meant about once a trimester haha. Can't believe we are already in our third trimester and are starting a 10 week countdown! Our sweet girl will be here before we know it! We had a wedding this weekend, so before we left, we snapped a few photos in the front yard in our pretty dresses. Viv and Lu make me swoon with their hugs and smiles! I can't help but feel all ooey gooey and hormonal when I picture our third sweet girl in photos with these two!

Gender: Girl

Name: Edith Clementine

Size of baby: Coconut

Maternity clothes: Absolutely all the time. If I'm not in maternity clothes, I'm hovering in front of a box fan in my underwear trying to cope with this summer heat and humidity. Can't wait for Autumn!

Sleep: Sleep is no picnic. I am surrounded by 7 pillows. Which makes the 2 times a night I get up to pee even more difficult. And, as I said before, it's summer and it's hot. Can't wait for Autumn!

Best moment this month: Our 7th anniversary, Lulu's 2nd birthday, and lots of family fun at the pool and local ice cream stand.

Worst moment this month: A double wedding weekend and then a day at the State Fair. Totally fun memories, but my body sure isn't happy!

Miss anything: Cold beer. I would LOVE to sit out on our patio and have a bonfire with hubs while we enjoy a cold beer after the girls are in bed.

Cravings: Phô, Sushi, ice ice ICE water.

Aversions: Eggplant

Queasy or sick: Not really. But I have caught a few nasty colds in the past couple months. Must have low immunity in this pregnancy.

Vivi & Lulu reactions: They fight over hugging and kissing my belly. When I leave, Viv kisses Edie and says goodbye to her like I don't exist haha. Lulu is sad my lap is disappearing and that I can't carry her as often, but she is excited to see the new baby. Vivi is still obsessed with my baby apps on my phone. Her favorite part is watching the animated and real life pregnancy and birth video clips. I was hesitant to show her some of the birth ones, but one day she asked if Edie was going to crawl out my mouth when she's big enough to come out. So we had an age appropriate conversation and I showed her a video. She TOTALLY loved it! She asks to watch the baby be born almost every day. And she says she "can't wait to hug and squeeze and hold and kiss Edie" everyday. So fun! We also got Edie a little squirrel stuffed animal for her special snuggle friend. So both girls like to point out the squirrels in the yard to their baby sister haha.
Looking forward to: Can't wait for Autumn! Cool weather, colorful trees, pumpkin everything, hot coffee, sweaters, scarves, and boots! Yay!

Baby Bird 3 is a....

The long awaited day has arrived! We had our 20 week ultrasound! It's actually unbelievable to me that we are halfway already! It was so sweet to see our little babe wiggling and moving all over the screen. The ultrasound tech said that baby was so wiggly that she nearly wasn't able to get all the measurements she needed! She even had me use the bathroom halfway through to give baby a little more room so that maybe she could finish up haha. It worked! Baby calmed down enough to finish the measurement and to get to the fun stuff... the gender!!! We hemmed and hawed all this pregnancy to decide if we wanted to find out. We didn't with Vivienne. We were both wrong and thought she was a boy! We did with Lucielle and it was so fun to call her by name and bond with her as she grew. Both ways were fun. In the end, we decided to do a gender reveal party with our families.

Everyone came over to our house and we cracked a glowstick: blue or boy and red for girl. Viv was so excited! She has been talking about the glowstick plan all week. It's been really fun to watch her totally understand everything this pregnancy! The hugs, the kisses, the questions, it's so fun! She has been saying all along that it's "and itty bitty girl in my mommy's tummy!", so I have been trying to prepare her for a boy just in case. Just that day, she switched her mind and said she thought it was a boy! She should have gone with her gut because..... GIRL! We cracked a red glow stick and couldn't be more thrilled! We ALL had a major gut feeling it would be a girl. Everyone else in the world thought boy though haha.

 So excited!

 GIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRLLLLL!

To answer some commonly asked questions:

Do you have a name chosen? As with Vivienne and Lucielle, we chose the name based on meaning. Our sweet third daughter will be named Edith Clementine. It means rich in mercy and we chose it based on Eph 2:4-5 which is our prayer for her life: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved." We pray that she would come to know Jesus and love Him completely and trust Him with her life. We pray that she would be made alive in Christ because of his rich mercy!

How does Brian feel? Much to my surprise, and to everyone else I'm sure, he is thrilled! He says he was hoping for a third girl all along and that his heart skipped a beat in excitement when he was the red glowstick. He's the best dad to our girls and loves and cherishes them so completely!

Are you going to keep trying until you have a boy? We love babies. We love OUR babies. We don't care if we have boys or girls. We would LOVE to have all girls. We would LOVE to have a boy someday. But that's not our "goal". We may stop at three. We may have three more. Let's birth this one first haha.

Are you going to match the clothes of all THREE? Um... duh! Hahah. Most of what the girls wear match on accident anyway because I am drawn to buying the same prints, patterns and colors. But of course I went out right away and got their first matching rompers for next summer :)

18 weeks

How far along: 18 weeks

Gender: ???

Size of baby: a sweet potato

Maternity clothes: Um yes! I pretty much got a positive pregnancy test and pulled out the maternity clothes haha. Three kids in three years will do that to a belly. I have been loving having a baby bump in summer. While it's been hot, I have been feeling most comfortable in knit dresses and maxi skirts. 

Sleep: Sleep is much better these days. I seem to be mostly over the horrible insomnia of the first trimester. It lasted all pregnancy with Lucielle, so I'm counting my blessings!

Best moment this month: Getting to visit California one last time before my parents moved to South Dakota. While we were there for the sad purpose of my Aunts funeral, we did get to squeeze in some fun times swimming, seeing the beach, and a trip to Disneyland... by far the best day there!

Worst moment this month: Traveling, traveling and more traveling! Flying solo at 5am with two toddlers (one freshly potty trained)! And then all the mini road trips in and our of LA. And finally, a three day monster of a cross country road trip from the west coast to the mid west. The girls did great, I'm not too terribly pregnant to be painful, but in general, traveling is uncomfortable and a necessary evil.

Miss anything: Wine. I don't even drink it often when not pregnant, but something about the smell and taste is so appealing now! Must be the whole "forbidden fruit" thing haha. Same goes with sushi! A California Roll only satisfies so much.

Movement: Started feeling movement around 15 weeks. Very light flutters, but still recognizable. They are just now picking up in strength and frequency. I saw my first kick from the outside this week!

Cravings: Sushi, ice ice ICE water with lemons, salads, jerky, and peaches.

Aversions: Scrambled eggs

Queasy or sick: Feeling much better. Back to my normal self! I did have to take some antibiotics due to a tick bite (ew! Unbelievably creepy!!) which made me nauseous. But now, great! Gotta love the second trimester! Heartburn, however, is a different story. I'm already getting it from the simplest thing... like water! Ugh!

Vivi & Lulu reactions: Viv is constantly holding and kissing my belly. She tells everyone about the baby in my tummy. She needs to snuggle the baby and say "good morning" first thing everyday. She is fascinated by everything pregnancy and is always asking how big the baby is and requests to watch the animated pregnancy updates on my pregnancy apps. She surprised me by asking about how the baby gets both food and blood through the umbilical cord. Lulu likes to put balloons or balls under her dresses and say "twinsies!" haha. She is also fascinated with showing me she now knows the difference between pointing to "baby" and "booby" haha. She's also a big fan of my "belly butt" (belly button) as it is starting to stick out a bit.
Looking forward to: Deciding on a name... and finding out the GENDER! Only one week left!

Gender predictions: Viv is convinced baby is a girl and offers many name suggestions... most of which are foods haha. Lulu also thinks it's a "baby sissy". Probably because she has no idea what a brother is haha. I have gut feeling it's a girl as well. But I was utterly and emphatically convinced Viv was a boy until they pulled her out (big shock!). I was spot on with Lulu. So I only have a 50% success rate thus far. Brian has yet to make a formal prediction other that to say "If we are having a third girl in three years, I need a few months to process and prepare". Hence why we are finding out the gender this time haha.

15 weeks pregnant!

 I used to think that people we exaggerating when they said that the more kids you have, the less pictures you take of "milestones". As a photographer I simply couldn't imagine that to be true! When I was pregnant with Vivienne, I took weekly photos starting at 9 weeks! When pregnant with Lucielle, I took photos a few times a month beginning at 12 weeks. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant with Baby Bird #3 and these are the first photos we're taken haha. I will certainly not guarantee regular updates and photos, but I love pregnancy and definitely want to remember all the highs and lows, so I'm going to try!

We found out we were pregnant the beginning of April. It was no April Fools joke haha. While super excited, it caught us off guard once again. I'll post the video of me telling Brian haha. Poor guy never seems to see it coming haha. I felt totally normal for a couple weeks and naively thought maybe this pregnancy would be different? Aka... a boy?

But no. The extreme and utter exhaustion soon kicked in. The kind that made me nap 2 hours in the afternoon and sleep 12 hours a night and STILL FEEL TIRED! Then the nausea came. I can't complain too much with so many dear friends who get morning sickness so bad. But it just stinks to not feel yourself. The thought of coffee, chicken, eggs and sugar made my stomach roll. Ice Ice Ice water with lots of lemon is pretty much what got me through the first trimester. I am finally able to drink and enjoy coffee again (yay!). I could eat mountains of meat and super salty popcorn. Sweets still make me feel icky. And I crave ramen noodles haha. I can't decide if this first trimester was worse than my pregnancies with the girls or just felt worse cus I was chasing two toddlers this time. But just like with the girls, the second the second trimester arrived, I started feeling better. Literally almost overnight! Crazy!

Vivi and Lulu have known about the baby since the beginning. They are over the moon excited! Lulu loves to point to the baby and kiss my belly. Vivi is really into knowing how big the baby is, snuggling my belly and talking to baby first thing in the morning, and watching baby in utero animations on my pregnancy apps. She loves to tell everyone that her mommy has a baby in her tummy and tells everyone it's a girl haha. Only time will tell! That's right, we are going to find out this time! Brian claims he needs a couple months to prepare emotionally if it's another girl, but he's so so so good with Vivi and Lulu that I just know another one would be awesome! A boy would be fantastic too but I'm sorta in the opposite boat as Brian. I need to prepare if it's a boy! Switching it up would be so weird! Plus, I know girls and have so much girl stuff. The Lord only knows and we can't wait to find out the beginning of July.

The fun of pregnancy is just beginning. I am feeling better and have more energy. I actually look pregnant haha. And I am feeling baby kicks. So fun! We haven't gotten to hear the heartbeat yet because baby is so wiggly squirmy. Each time they haven't found it at an appointment, they bring in the ultrasound machine and I get a peek at Baby Bird! Today he/she waved at me :) While I would love to hear the heartbeat, it has been really nice to see Baby Bird so many times in ultrasound because at 9 weeks I had some significant bleeding that made us all really nervous. Turns out it was nothing, but so scary just the same!

I will say that having three kids in three years really stretches out a tummy and I am showing and feeling way more pregnant at this point than before haha. We will see how quickly I start getting "twins?!" comments from strangers haha.

Lucielle's Birth Story

I had an emergency c-section with Vivienne. So, when we got pregnant (surprise!) when Viv was only 6 months old, my OB recommended a repeat c-section because they would be so close in age. I'm sure I could have fought for a VBAC if I really wanted a "regular birth" but the thought of there even being a chance that I may have to recover from a ruptured uterus with a newborn and a 15 month old sounded too awful. And my last c-section wasn't so bad. So we planned the date: August 6th at noon, Lucielle would be born!

The night before August 6th was a rush of emotions. Last minute packing and pre-baby preparations lasted until late. We tried to watch a movie and relax, but I was more excited (with a little anxiety thrown in) than I get on Christmas Eve... and I LOVE Christmas! So I took a sleeping pill to help me relax and hopefully get a good nights rest. I still woke up at 3am to pee. Which turned out to be a good thing cus I was able to eat a banana with peanut butter and a glass of milk. You aren't supposed to eat or drink anything for 8 hours before surgery. This was my last "meal".

We set our alarms for early because Brian was going to take Viv out for a "Papi/Daughter Breakfast" to explain a bit about how things were changing that day. When they came back, Viv showed me how she learned to say "Love you!" Adorable! We took a few last family of three photos and then Grammie drove us all to the hospital: the new Mother Baby Center.

When Brian and I got there we filled out some paperwork and then all the tests and shots and IVs began. Which wasn't very fun because my veins are notoriously hard to find. We were in the pre-op room for about 2 hours. We passed the time playing games on the iPhone and then looking at pics and videos of Viv's first couple weeks of her life as we wondered what Lucielle would look like?!? The nurse came in at one point and said that I had some protein in my urine and that my blood pressure was a little high so they paged my OB and did a blood test. When Dr. Goodman came she checked out the swelling in my legs/feet and told me I had preeclampsia. All I really know about preeclampsia is from what I saw on Downtown Abbey. Which didn't end all that well. So I was a little nervous. Brian looked it up on his phone and when I asked him what it was he said "the cure is to have a baby so we're good!" Little did he tell me that the first 24 hours AFTER having the baby can be the most dangerous for the Mommy and that preeclampsia is called the "silent killer" because you usually have little to no symptoms. Yikes!

Finally they came in and said they were ready for me. Brian prayed with me and then changed into his scrubs while I walked into the OR and sat on the table. Talk about a surreal experience to walk in and sit down where they are about to cut you open! Within 5 mins they had me lean forward, gave me a spinal, had me lay back on the table, put the catheter in and they started pinching and poking to see if I was fully numb. Which I was! I was freezing from the IV, the cold OR and the shock my body was going through so I started shaking. They gave me heated blankets to put across my chest and arms... the only not numb area! It was heaven! Then they allowed Brian to come in. He kissed me and held my hand while taking occasional peeks at the surgery (ew!). At 12:54pm Lucielle was born and I heard her cry. When they lifted her up for me to see, the first thing I saw was her head of DARK hair! So different from Vivienne! After they cleaned her up, they brought her back to me and let me hold her against my chest (with Brian's help) as the started putting me back together.

We were in and out of surgery in 40 mins! In the recovery room, I was able to nurse Lulu for the first time. She did great! Totally different than nursing Viv for the first time when I had no idea what I was doing haha. This was like riding a bike and Lulu totally caught on right away. The nurse kept an eye on my vitals and took my blood pressure every 20 mins. Suddenly the machine started beeping and she came in and started asking me questions about how I was feeling. I was feeling super relaxed and tired. I figured it was from the surgery, but apparently my heart rate was super low and my blood pressure was super high! This was a confirmation of the preeclampsia. So my OB had me take a shot of... something... and it lowered my blood pressure instantly. Then I was given magnesium in my IV for 24 hours to keep it low. The nurse told me that the magnesium would make me feel weird and boy was she ever right! the whole time I was on it I felt super groggy, confused and unable to for complete thoughts. Like how you feel after a super long nap and you wake up still tired. Looking back, it was a bummer to have spent my first 24 hours as Lulu's mommy so groggy, but I'm glad that her and I both came out happy and healthy in the end!