May 6, 2019- Welcome, Joshua Brenten!

After 34 days for Joshua and I in the hospital, our doctors decided that for him to stay in my tummy any longer could increase the risk of infection for him or me. So on May 6, 2019, labor was induced and we waited for him to arrive. He decided he was not quite in agreement with coming quite yet and they had to turn the pitocin pretty high. He was my 5th born and my toughest labor by far. I made it through, by the grace of God and with only one dose of IV pain meds.

After about 9 hours, though, he all of a sudden decided wanted to arrive in 20 minutes. My doctor, who had been with me all day, had gone into an emergency c- section with another patient. They had to get the NICU team there in a hurry because they had to be there for his birth since he was arriving early and actually, get another doctor to come in and deliver him because everything happened so fast in the last 20 minutes.

Joshua Brenten arrived at 8:33 pm. He was 5 lbs and 4 ounces. He only weighed a pound less than Rachel who was born 4 weeks to the day further along (38.5 weeks). He was also 17.8 inches long. This was 0.3 inches longer than Bethany and almost as long as his 18 inch sisters. So we were thrilled that though early, he was a good size! Even better, he came out breathing completely on his own and never needed any extra support to help him breathe. He was also maintaining his temperature on his own pretty well. Because of all these parameters going so well, Brent and I were able to have two of our greatest memories of his birth.

 We knew from shortly after I was admitted to the hospital that when Joshua was born he would go very quickly from labor and delivery to the NICU. One of our favorite memories with each of the girls was Brent cutting their cord and us getting to hold each of them right after each was born. We had no idea if we would get to do either of those things with Joshua or if he would have to go immediately to the NICU. Because he was doing so well at birth, with his weight, breathing and temperature, Brent was able to cut his cord and give him his belly button and I was able to hold him just after that for about 3 to 4 minutes. We are so thankful to have those memories with him right after he was born, even though he came 5.5 weeks early!

Brent headed straight down to the NICU with Joshua and the NICU team right after I held him while the nurses and doctors finished up with me. They sent me back to my room about 10:30 pm and around 11:30 pm, Brent was able to take me down in a wheelchair to see Joshua in the NICU. And so our NICU journey began.

This is the first picture we have of Joshua in the NICU. He does have a feeding tube, at least for now and a central line because they had trouble getting an IV started right after birth.
He is perfect in every way and will just need a little extra time to grow, put on weight and learn how to eat himself.
Brent and I picked his name even before we were married for if we ever had a son. We didn't think we were going to ever use his name , but God had other plans to surprise us! Joshua literally means "Jesus saves." We are so thankful for God's Faithfulness to our Joshua and how God has worked in saving his life and protecting him already.
"Have not I commanded you, be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed for the Lord, your 
God, is with you wherever you may go"
Joshua 1:9

April 21-Happy Easter 2019

One week and one day after Allie's 2nd birthday and party, we also celebrated Easter in the hospital too! This required some creative planning also. My family has had a large Easter egg hunt and family reunion every year since my grandmother was small. It was begun by my great-grandmother and it has grown over the past 80 years or so. Usually our family would be spending Easter Sunday there, but not this year, with Little Man and I now in the hospital. 

I knew the girls would be looking forward to hunting Easter eggs because that is one of our yearly traditions. But where do you hunt Easter eggs at a hospital? I was not allowed to go downstairs or off the wing of the hospital I was on without being pushed in a wheelchair, so as Brent took me on our (usually) evening wheelchair rides, I began to look for an egg hunting spot. Tucked back out of sight, was a little garden area with pathways just outside the NICU that gave them the chance to find a few eggs that Brent hid while I watched them hunt. I thought it was interesting that we ended up in this little garden area near where Little Man will spend his first few weeks of life in the NICU.

Miss Allie loved her first egg hunt this year. Last year, she was not quite 1 and while interested in watching all the fun, she was not quite old enough to really join in. Not so this year, she was ready to find some eggs and so joyful in doing it too! Of course, I forgot to have someone bring their egg baskets to the hospital, so ziploc bags held those eggs just fine!

  We did a small craft in my room and spent some time together too. I decided to do something a little different for their Easter baskets this year-Easter umbrellas! I love the way they turned out and that they could use the umbrella on and on instead of a basket. They were very surprised and loved them too!

 Bekah was reading to her Dad in "his" chair in my hospital room

 While this Easter looked different than we planned, we were thankful to be able to be together with the girls. Most of all, we are thankful for Jesus, who lived and died a perfect life for us that we might be forgiven and made right with God through Him and that His plans and ways for us are perfect!

April 13, 2019- Happy 2nd Birthday, Allie Grace!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Allie Grace!

Ten days after her brother and I ended up in the hospital,  our baby girl turned 2. It was a special day so we had to celebrate, even if it was in the hospital.

 The wing where I was a patient had a suite that could be used for events or small parties so I signed us up for Allie's birthday. I found a wonderful Baker who actually delivered the cake to the hospital for us and so we had a Minnie party for the birthday girl!

 Isn't she two cute!

Here was her Minnie cake

 She loved the puzzles in the suite retreat.

We decorated Minnie Mouse ears and she loved her new play food set!

While we definitely never planned on a 2nd birthday party in the hospital, we loved celebrating you, Allie, on this special day! Happy 2nd Birthday, Busy Bee!

April to May 2019- A Month in the Hospital

After the shock of finding Little Buddy and I in the hospital for days or weeks until his arrival because my water broke 10 weeks too early. We settled in to pray for a healthy baby and wait until he decided to arrive!

One week went by

Then two weeks went by.

One more week for a total of three and suddenly we had an arrival date (if he didn't come on his own sooner), of May 6, 2019. That would mean he made it to 34.5 weeks in my tummy growing and safe.

Suddenly, we finished week 4. 34 days waiting for his arrival in the hospital.
This picture was taken the evening before he was induced to come and join our family. May 5, 2019

This picture was taken April 4, 2019 after I spent the night hooked to monitors and getting shots in case, he arrived that very day. This was my very first full day in the hospital.

We loved watching this little face grow. It made 34 days away from home easier to bear to know he was growing safely still.

We spent Easter 2019 and Allie's 2nd birthday both in the hospital

The girls came to visit as often as we could get them here and we waited and prayed for Little Man.

Finally on May 6 in the evening after 9 hours of induced labor, our wait was finally over! Joshua had arrived!

30 Weeks with Little Buddy: A Trip to the Hospital~April 3, 2019

On Wednesday morning April 3, I got up early and headed to the dentist office to get a broken tooth fixed. After I came home, I was definitely tired but went about my day. The rest of the day went on and we had supper after Brent got home from work. Just before 9, I was getting the girls in bed, when I became concerned that maybe my water had broken. Keep in mind, I was only 29 weeks and 6 days along- this was a very not good possibility. Nana came to spend the night and we headed down the very dark, quiet interstate to Wimington and the hospital for us to be checked.

Here I was at 24 weeks and below at 28 weeks. This picture taken in Charleston was one of the only maternity pictures I will ever have with Little Man and was taken just 6 days before we ended up in the hospital.

I was kept in Labor and Delivery overnight because I was having sporadic contractions and they were concerned I might deliver right away. I also had to receive steroid shots for his lungs and neuro magnesium for his brain development in case he did deliver right then. It was a very nerve wracking several hours. I was also not able to eat in case he came right away. I tell you i couldn't believe it when the doctor on call looked at me and said, "yes, your water broke and you are here at the hospital with us until you deliver." I was speechless.

Very quickly with the grandparents' help, we got a weekly plan in place for everyone and we settled in to wait and see when Little Man would decide to arrive. 

Charleston Trip~March 2019

The last week of March brought around the time for our annual Charleston photography trip and the girls' spring break week. We took a different route than usual to Charleston and we went near Myrtle Beach. We happened by Brookgreen Gardens and decided to see what it looked like photographically and give the girls a chance to stretch their legs too.

After we got settled in at our very favorite campground in Charleston, we headed quickly to bed because we had to be up early the next morning for the beautiful Magnolia Plantation. The gates dont open till 8 am so you have to be ready very quickly to catch the best light and azaleas there.

Magnolia is enormous and filled with beauty in every corner! It was a first trip for all of us and we loved exploring the entire grounds!

Miss Allie was very excited with all she got to see, as you can tell!

 

There were beautiful bridges all throughout the gardens as well.

We were able to get a few maternity pictures thankfully with Little Buddy and me.

This little lady is almost 2 years old! We even managed to get a few pictures of each of the girls too. My, they are growing up so quickly!

After 2 days at Magnolia, because we couldn't see it all in just one day, we headed to Hilton Head for just one day. This was a new place for our family to visit as well. We stayed at a beautiful campground with a marina.

 

Hilton Head was beautiful but very different than we realized. We didn't realize how many neighborhoods, sections and segments that the island was divided into and all there was to see. We even got to see the lighthouse decorated in plaid.

We saw a couple of new lighthouses on this trip also.

Our final stop of the trip was Hunting Island State Park.  The campground and state park had