It's All Fun and Games...

...until someone gets pushed into the refrigerator.

Adding a second kid wasn't too hard for me. Neither was a third. A fourth, however, is a different story! As expected, a huge portion of my day is spent feeding, changing, rocking, and bouncing Tyson. And this last week he decided he wanted to turn into a cranky kid, which means even more of my time is spent on the rocking, bouncing, swaddling, and shushing. I LOVE evenings and weekends, because Alex comes home to provide some sanity, and the girls get to spend some quality time with a parent. I have been feeling guilty that most of my time with the girls is spent making them lunch or telling them to do their chores or doing their hair. I read Alli and Holly a book before bed the other night and left their room with the realization that I hadn't read one to them since Tyson was born. Gold star for me.

Now to the story. Tyson was screaming in the swing while I made the girls lunch today. I hurried through making it, then scooped him up, turned on some music and started dancing with him. (Side note: this brought back very vivid memories of dancing around our apartment with a very colicky Allison!) He calmed down immediately and spent the next 30 minutes staring into my eyes while we danced. Meanwhile the girls hurried to finish their lunch so they could dance, too. We all danced around the kitchen together and laughed at each others crazy dance moves. I finally felt like I was spending some fun playtime with the girls and that was heaven.

That is, until Brynne used her crazy-dancing to push Holly into the fridge, which made Holly cry. Brynne saw Holly crying, felt bad, and started crying too. The fun was over. But we loved it while it lasted, and I was so grateful to have 4 happy children all at the same time!

*This post was brought to you by the Valentine's Day soundtrack, the source of crazy dancing and refrigerator pushing.

Sunday 10=5+5

10 pictures! The first 5 are from this last week of activities. My mom, dad, sister Cami, and brother Steven came into town, so we've had lots of fun hanging out with the family!

1. My dad with my kids.
2. Cousins Tyson and Logan, about 5 weeks apart.

3. We went to the Spanish Fork reservoir, and the girls had a fun time swimming with Daddy, MorMor, Grandma, and Grandpa. I got to be the shoreline baby feeder and picture taker.

4. I realized I only had one picture of the 4 kids (it's still weird to say 4!) so we had a little photo shoot. Tyson wasn't loving it, but we did manage a couple decent pictures from it.

5. Brynne loves when I swaddle Tyson and requested that I wrap her up, too. Here she is, all wrapped up and trying to walk. Those two thing don't go hand-in-hand, she learned.

These next 5 pictures are from Tyson's blessing today. We did the blessing at our house since my family was in town. We had a wonderful time sharing this special day with our family and friends.

6. Mambo with Tyson and Logan, who was blessed at their church today. Such a lucky great-grandma!

7. Our whole family post-blessing. How lucky are we?

8. Tyson with his daddy and grandpas. I love this picture.

9. I'm pretty much in LOVE with how cute Tyson's little outfit is. He looks adorable.

10. Father and son. What a great moment.

Sunday 10: I am Thankful For...

This week, I am especially thankful for:

1. the miracle of the human body. It is amazing that this little guy was just in me. It's such an incredible thing that my body can grow him from practically nothing into a real person. I am in awe of the way he was part of my body when I was pregnant, and the way he fits perfectly in my arms now.
2. modern technology, part 1. I was aware when Tyson was born that he had a bit of a tough time breathing, but seeing as how I had just spent the last 12+ hours in labor and pushing a big baby out, I was a little out of it when the nurses were working on him. A few days ago I downloaded all the videos from the hospital onto our computer, and it was a shock to me to see one that Alex took right after Tyson came out: his breathing was horrible! I'm so thankful for modern machines that can make problems like this not such a huge deal. I'm also grateful that I wasn't aware of how bad it was while it was happening!

3. modern technology, part 2. As much as I hated having Tyson on the lights, I'm grateful for the convenience of being able to have them at my house, and that they worked so quickly. Luckily he was really good on them most of the time. Alex thinks he looks like a little doctor here.

4. my mom! I've always been very grateful when my mom comes to help after I have a baby, but I really felt like I couldn't have done it without her this time. She is so great with my kids and they love her. She spoils us all and takes great care of us. Best of all, she lets me sit and hold the baby all day long while she takes care of my house. I'm not very good at accepting help, but I'm very grateful to my mom who spent 2 weeks out here helping us adjust to a new little one. I'm excited for my family to come out again in a few days!

5. great friends and neighbors, part 1. We've had some great help since Tyson was born. We've had so many neighbors bring gifts and meals. On Friday Debbie and Chelsea brought breakfast over, and cleaned my kitchen while I fed Tyson. Another friend took Alli swimming with her kids on Thursday and let her play at her house all afternoon. We're pretty spoiled.

6. great friends and neighbors, part 2. While our 4th of July celebrations weren't the best we've ever had, we still were able to have fun, even with a 6 day old baby. As per our tradition, we crashed the Clark family party. They let us eat their food and go on the slip-n-slide. Pretty much, they treat us like family. We love the Clarks.

That night, we did fireworks with our neighbors. We love our neighborhood and are lucky to have lots of kids around us to play with our kids. Here are Alli and Holly with post-slip-n-slide hair, getting ready for fireworks!

7. big sisters! Alli, Holly, and Brynne have been so helpful with Tyson. I'm pretty sure Brynne has thrown away more diapers than I have. It's her special job, and she does it enthusiastically. They all love to hold Tyson.

Brynne has been a little bit whiny this past week, and I think it's because she's not getting as much attention now. Alli and Holly have been so amazing and play with her and include her in their games. Alli decided to do Brynne's hair the other day. I'm pretty sure it made her day.

8. feeding time. 4 kids can be overwhelming at times! Someone always needs something. Even though it's not always convenient timing, I appreciate when Tyson needs to eat, because it forces me to sit for a few minutes and get some much-needed snuggling in.

9. the little reminders of how fast my kids are growing up. I have a love-hate relationship with time. It's so fun to see my kids get older and be more independent, but then I see my sweet little baby and get sad that my kids ever had to get bigger than that! Tyson is just 12 days old and I am so completely smitten. I know time is going to go so fast and before I know it we'll be celebrating his birthday. I hope I can really enjoy every moment with him and all my kids. I can't believe how lucky we are to have them.

10. ALEX! He is a lifesaver right now. He's always been a very hands-on dad, but I appreciate it more than ever right now. I feel guilty that I spend half my day sitting and feeding the baby while he's left to pick up the pieces of whatever I can't do. But he does it all and doesn't mind one bit. I'm pretty lucky.On Friday he took Alli and Holly to Lagoon for the day with Chris and Paisley. The girls had an AWESOME time. They all came home exhausted, but Alex still took them to the ward swim party that night. He's just great.

Ready to head out to Lagoon!

Another Day, Another Blood Draw

Tyson's level went down to 13.1 today -- a bigger drop than I was expecting! He's off the lights for now. We go back tomorrow for one more test to make sure they're still dropping on their own. I've been holding him all morning, trying to make up for the last 2 days of only getting to hold him when he eats. I'm thrilled!

Tyson Update

Tyson's billirubin levels kept going up after we left the hospital. Yesterday the nurse called and said his numbers were at 19.4, and if they got above 20 he'd have to be admitted to the hospital. We had lights delivered yesterday afternoon, and the poor kid has to be laying on them at all times unless I'm feeding or changing him. It hasn't been too horrible, but I do hate that I can't hold him whenever I want.

Alex took him to get another blood draw this morning, and his numbers went down to 16.4! The nurse that called me said she was impressed that it already came down 3 points. She said once they get to the really low 14s or into the 13s we can take him off the lights, wait for 24 hours and have him tested one more time to make sure his numbers are still okay. We'll take him in for another draw in the morning, and I'm hoping for another good decrease!

He's Here!

Tyson Alexander Stoddard is here!

The short version: He was born on June 29th at 4:45 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs, 15 oz, and was 21 inches.

First picture with mom and dad

The long version: I had been having lots of contractions for the last couple weeks, including 2 nights in a row of false labor on Saturday and Sunday. I tested positive for group b strep, and with my quick labor and delivery with Brynne, my doctor advised me not to labor too long at home this time so I would have time to get the antibiotics before the baby was born. So after having pretty regular contractions on Monday afternoon, I called Alex and he left work early so we could go get checked at the hospital. My mom flew in last week, so we just left the kids with her. I was hopeful this was the real thing, but was really expecting to just get sent home.

We got to the hospital around 4:30 and got monitered for an hour. I was dilated to a 2 and 70% effaced when we started, and after the hour of monitering, I was a whopping 2+ and still 70%. The nurse had us walk around for an hour to see if I would change anymore. After the walk I was still the same. The nurse was getting ready to send us out to get dinner and come back to get checked again, but decided to give me the first dose of penicillin in case something crazy happened at dinner and the baby came really fast. While I had the i.v. in me, I went from a 3 to a 3+, and the nurse decided I was in early labor and probably shouldn't leave. So dinner plans were scrapped and she had me walk around L&D again until the doctor could come to break my water. I got admitted into my room at 9:00 and the doctor showed up at 10:00 to break my water. From this point I expected things to go fairly quickly because of how fast Brynne's labor went once my water broke. No such luck. The next many hours, from 10 p.m. to around 3 a.m. were slow and frustrating. Every time the nurse came in to check me with her knife-like fingers, I expected to hear progress, but it was inching along so slowly. Because of how quickly Brynne came and how much better recovery was, I decided to go without an epidural again this time. Note to self: going natural is way harder with a 12 hour labor than it is with a 3 hour labor. Lesson learned.

In between contractions . . . baby number 4!

By the time 3:00 a.m. rolled around, I was FINALLY at a 7. The nurse kept telling me that with it being my 4th kid, I could easily go from a 7 to a 10 in a matter of a couple contractions. I kept waiting for that magic contraction to happen, but it didn't. Around 4:30 a.m. the doctor showed up, checked me, declared that it was a big baby, and decided I was still a 7. He also discovered that the baby was face up, so he had me roll over as far onto my stomach as I could in hopes that the baby would flip. He left to get a drink and said he'd be back in a few minutes to see if my cervix changed at all. I had one contraction while on my stomach, and that was all it took to go from a 7 to a 10 and frantically tell the nurse that I needed to push THAT SECOND. She had Alex push the call button while she yelled for the doctor to come back. They got all ready to deliver the baby. It took one pathetic effort of pushing before they believed me that I had no energy left to pull my legs back far enough to grab on to the back of my knees. So on the next contraction Alex and the nurse each pulled a leg back to me and I managed to muster enough strength to push him out in 2 pushes.

The next few minutes are a little hazy because I was so exhausted, but the baby was having a hard time breathing right, so I got to hold him for about 30 seconds and then Alex went down to the nursery with him and the nurse. They hooked him up to a cpap machine and tested his blood sugar. It came back at an 18. Alex said the nurse thought it had to be a mistake and retested him. Still 18, when it should be at least 40. So he got an i.v. with sugar water. By the time I got cleaned up and sent to the Mother/Baby unit, he was already doing way better. The took him off the cpap and retested his blood sugar, which was now at 118. He had to stay in the Level 2 nursery until 4:30 that afternoon while they weaned him off the i.v. His levels continued to stay good.

Hooked up to the cpap with his i.v. and other moniters. It looks worse than it really is!

It took us until Tuesday night to pick his name. Tyson was a name we had talked about occasionally, but had never really been on our list. Alex brought it up again after he was born and we both stewed on it for a couple hours before we decided it was a perfect fit. After calling him "baby brother" for so long, saying Tyson doesn't come naturally yet. I still want to call him "the baby" or "baby brother", so I have to be very deliberate about saying his name so it will become easy.

We stayed in the hospital until this morning. He is doing really well. Once again, I feel so blessed to have such healthy kids and an amazing support system. I'm so thankful to have my mom here. She spoiled my girls rotten while I was in the hospital! She shares her anniversary with Alli, and now her birthday with Tyson. Lucky lady! I'm also grateful for Alex's parents who are also very supportive and will always help in any way they can. We have such great families.

Here are a few (okay, a lot) pictures from the hospital. Enjoy!

My girls, my mom, Tyson, and I.

First family picture!

Proud sisters!

My FOUR kids. Holy cow.