The days after

We brought Eli home on Saturday. We took it pretty easy that day. I would like to mention that the day Eli was born, Afton hit her chin somehow at home and it looked pretty bad. The next day, Sam was running around on the playground and supposedly ran into a brick wall with his chin. It was so sick looking. Here's a picture.

Afton's got better right away but Sam's is just now starting to fade.

It turned a dark purple color. It looked like he had a purple goatee.

My dad came over on Sunday to celebrate my mom's birthday (which was on Monday). He baked a delicious cake and my mom made her own birthday dinner.

 Dad was a sneak and bought trick candles.

 Sam thought it was hilarious.

So glad we got to celebrate with her.

Dad had to go back to Charlottesville that night, but Mom stuck around until Tuesday afternoon. Monday was probably the worst day with Eli. He cried a bunch, I was sore, I cried a bunch, I got the chills something fierce and put on a coat and snow hat and socks and slippers but was still cold. We cranked up the heat and that helped. Then I woke up sweating like crazy. It was weird. I felt bad that it was my mom's birthday and I was a wreck.

Tuesday we wanted to get out and get a little exercise so we ventured out for a jaunt around the mall with all the old people. We took it easy but it felt great to be out. Like I said before, Mom left on Tuesday. She was so helpful and I really appreciate all she did for us!

Dan worked from home the rest of the week and that was great, too. He took Sam to school and picked him up. He played with the two older kids a lot so that I could focus on Eli and take a few naps. Sweet friends from church keep bringing delicious meals which is a huge help, too.

Yesterday was my first day flyin' solo. I think a lot of prayers were said on my behalf because Eli was an absolute angel yesterday! I got Sam to school and picked him up on time. I ran a few errands and we went on a walk. Today I think I'm going to take it a little easy.

Also, Sam decided to write some new year's resolutions and I think they're really cute so I took a picture.

Love that kid. Love ALL my kids! I have three kids! That is crazy.

Eli's birth story

A few weeks before Christmas, I went to my OB and she told me that she wouldn't be surprised if I had the baby before Christmas. Which put me in a panic. I gift-wrapped, I sewed, I cooked, I cleaned, I packed the hospital bag, and then we waited. Christmas came and went. (Thankfully.) My due date came and went. I saw my doctor (who had been away over the holidays) again on January 6, the day after my due date. She said she was "shocked" to see me still pregnant. Apparently all of her patients that she thought would give birth while she was gone were still pregnant. She had sent two over to the hospital the day I saw her, and had scheduled one already to head over the following day. She was in a scheduling mood.

I was attempting a VBAC, but because I'd had a c-section before she didn't feel comfortable inducing me with drugs. We decided that if I didn't go into labor on my own before Thursday, January 8, I would head over to the hospital, she would break my water, and we'd see how it went from there.

I called my mom and she came over that day. She is the best! Nothing happened Tuesday night or Wednesday, so Mom and I did some grocery shopping and went through a normal daily routine.

Wednesday night I started contracting a bit more regularly (I'd been having contractions off and on for a few weeks but nothing consistent). The contractions started to get stronger and  more regular as the night and morning went on. We (Dan and I) got up at 5:45 and got ready. (Thursday was the coldest it's been in a long time. It was 12 degrees when we left for the hospital.) We got to the hospital and they put us in a room around 7:15. (Charmed was on the TV in the waiting room. What a terrible show.) That's when things started picking up. My contractions were about 10 minutes apart at this point and I was dilated between 5-6.

My doctor came over at 8 and broke my water. Things got way more intense from there and I asked for the anesthesiologist. She came around 9 to give me the epidural. I have a ticklish back and she kept telling me to take a chill pill. I couldn't help but spaz out every time she touched my back. The epidural worked in all but one area where the pain was still really intense. Dan held my hand through every contraction and reminded me to breathe. He was very sweet. I don't think I've said the word "crap" so much in my entire life. It hurt really bad. They had me change from lying on one side to the other and eventually I couldn't feel it anymore.

By 10, the nurse checked me and I was fully dilated and ready to push. We were all pretty surprised it had gone so fast. She called the doctor and prepped the room. My doc was there by 10:30 and I started pushing. Dan got a little queasy for a few minutes but recovered quickly and our baby was born at 10:50. He must have been plugging up a bunch of the water because apparently after he came out, a huge gush of water splashed all over the doctor and all over the floor. TMI, I know, but I want to remember this stuff.

They placed the baby on my chest right away and I got to hold him for about an hour. I cried, of course. He was beautiful and had so much dark hair! Eventually they took him away to weigh him and we were all surprised that he was so big - 9 pounds, 4 ounces. Because he was so big, they were initially worried about his blood sugar levels, so the nurse cut off more of his umbilical cord and got him down to 9 lbs, 3 oz, so that we wouldn't have to do heel pricks on him every few hours for the two days in the hospital.

 All cleaned up.

 It took until about 4pm before I could feel my legs. Dan went home to get Mom and the kids after dinner. They loved meeting their brother, but quickly became distracted by other things in the room, such as the couch that turned into a bed for Dan to sleep on, the buttons on my bed, and running around.

 The first of many awkward pictures to come of our three kids!

 My awesome mom.

We were all pretty exhausted by this point and the severe hospital lighting doesn't help matters, but here's our family of five.

That night the baby just screamed and cried. It was a long night. We have been out of the newborn stage for a while, so we have forgotten how tiring it all can be.

Friday my mom and Afton came back for a visit during the day. (We still didn't have a name at this point.)

 I just couldn't believe how much dark hair he had and how chubby he was.

 See what I mean?

Mom and kids came back for another visit Friday night. By that point we had decided on his name: Eli Urban Durst. Eli just because we like it and think it's a nice manly name. Urban after my Grandpa Cheney, who was a really amazing man. We shared the news with our visitors and I think my mom cried.

Saturday we sat around a lot and waited to be discharged. Dan went home for a bit in the morning to go for a run and have breakfast. I did some laps around the maternity ward. Finally we got the go-ahead and we headed back home.

We've seen this face a lot the past few days.

 Excited about their brother.

We are so grateful that Eli has joined our family. For the most part, he's been really good, but there have been some rocky days in there, too. I'll write more about that later, but just wanted to get down his birth story before more of the details slip my mind. We love our little Eli so much and are so glad he's here!

Christmas 2014 (warning: marathon post)

The past few weeks have been a blur. Our master bath is 96% completed, we cleaned out our garage and tried to clean all the dust out of our house. We finished the powder room. We did other random things that needed to get done before baby blueberry arrives. We also got to celebrate Christmas with the Cheney family, which has been the best part of the last few weeks by far!

Here's the lowdown, which I want to document before I forget!

Sunday - here I am at 38 weeks. Just needed to put that in there because I didn't take one today at 39 weeks and I'm not sure if I'll be taking another before the baby comes.

Kirk and Gretchen's family flew into Richmond super late at night. Dan went and picked them up and they spent the night at our house.

Monday - Dan had to work, so the rest of the Cheney clan came over to my house for the better part of the day. It was rainy and dreary, so we stayed inside and visited in the morning while the kids played. We also had Chick-fil-a. Then we went bowling and I got my best bowling score ever - 125! Dad still beat me, though. He got 129. Everyone else headed out in the early afternoon and the kids and I waited around for Dan to get home so that we could drive over to my parents' house.

Tuesday - Dan had to work from Charlottesville in the morning. The kids decorated the tree.

My parents surprised everyone by getting an air hockey table and we played tons over the week.

 Girls playing Hullabaloo.

We met up with Dan after lunchtime to get family pictures taken at the University of Virginia campus. I'm not going to steal the photog's thunder and put up her pictures, but here are a few that I took on the side.

 Oh, these two. They played so well together all week long.

 We went home and decorated sugar cookies for Santa.

Craig and Candice's baby, Lincoln.

Tuesday night we also went caroling to a few of our parents' friends.

Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve) we did our traditional Secret Santa gifts and went to Walmart to pick them out. Later we had our nice Christmas dinner (another tradition - to have it the day before Christmas). My mom got everyone socks.

 Then we headed downstairs to put all the presents under the tree.

 Quite the haul.

 I lied. One more belly shot.

Grandpa told the nativity story and we watched a Mormon Messages video. The kids were really good through the whole thing and did a great job answering questions and listening to my dad. Then they got to open special pajamas that my mom had picked out or made for them.

 Boys minus Lincoln.

 Girls minus Sherri.

Christmas morning (Thursday). We all got ready and then the kids came down to see what Santa had brought them.

Before the chaos.

 They come down youngest...

 to oldest.

 Afton received (among many other things) a Snow White costume, an art kit, and a dollhouse (which is collapsible, thankfully).

 Sam had asked for a costume, more Hot Wheels tracks, and How to Train Your Dragon Two.

 I love how that headlamp mashes his hair down.

Our kids didn't waste much time before putting their costumes on.

 Love Sam creepin' in this picture.

After we saw the Santa gifts, we went upstairs for breakfast and then headed back down to hand out and open the gifts we got each other.

 (You may recall Dan's sweater from the missionary model picture I framed for his birthday. He thought it would be a lovely Christmas addition.)

 We lucked out on Christmas and had gorgeous weather so we headed to the playground for a while.

 The adults played a few friendly games of knock out.

My family in the pajama pants I made them.

Friday everyone except for me, my mom, and Lincoln, went on a hike to Humpback Rocks. Later we just hung out and the kids played with their presents.

Saturday Lincoln dressed up like Santa.

 He is the only Santa Afton will voluntarily get anywhere near.

We went miniature golfing and back to the park.

 Sunday we went to church and had more fun playing in the basement.

 Aiden was sweet enough to let all the kids play with his new Marblelus toy.

 Charlotte wore about 30 bracelets and other various jewelry items every chance she got.

Added into the mix was a lot of eating, more eating, playing games at night, and eating some more. We had so much fun and I'm so glad I got to be with all my family! We drove home this morning and are sad to get back to real life. Thanks, Mom and Dad for everything!