From the Beach

Check out the sting rays - not a great picture from the balcony, but there are hundreds of them! So neat to see. A guy working at the condo said they migrate every 2 years and that is what is going on!

Here is where we are. Gotta say - it is pretty wonderful. Even with little monkeys running around!! This past weekend, the four of us (weird to say - I have a family of 4!) were down here with Heath's parents. It was sooo wonderful because they help so much!! John Burke is on my good list because he has been easy so far. PRAISE GOD!! He has gotten in a pretty good rhythm of eating at 10ish p.m., waking up around 3 and then again anywhere from 6-7:30. This has been the last week, and I will take it!! He goes back to sleep after he eats, which has been my prayer!

My boys hanging in the condo

John Burke laying out with us on the porch yesterday while the others napped

Heath and his parents left Sunday night, and Lindsey and her kids came down for the week. We have joked that John Burke is the easiest by far on this trip. The other 3 are very fun, but all over the place! She and I always know something is going on when it gets quiet.

You should see the looks we get when we go places. We walked to the beach the other night. I carried the baby in a sling, and immediately Turner, Blake and Kate were off! Turner decided (after 4 days) that he actually does like sand. Previously he has hated it!! But, Blake hated it, and Lindsey had to carry him. Kate was all over it, and the ocean. She is a brave soul, not very afraid at all. I think 17 people have said to us "Y'all have your hands full!" And then they laugh. We know! But, it has been very fun.

However, we have learned going to the beach with kids is just a whole different animal. The days of laying out are over for now (except during nap time when someone else graciously watches the kids). And everywhere we go involves buckling and unbuckling 4 children 2 and under plus ourselves. The Red Bar (more of a restaurant with a bar for readers unfamiliar:)) was quite an experience the other night! Worth it, though!

Lindsey and the monkeys

Kate "babysitting" - every day she helps me with the baby. She said today "He wants to hold me!" She is very gentle with him, and always makes sure he is covered with a blanket. She likes to tell him how cute he is. What a big girl! She even offered to feed him - not so much with the breastfeeding, but sweet to offer! At one point she lifted her shirt and said, "I'll do it, KK." (That is what she calls me). I wish she could!

I don't like the actual beach much. We prefer the pool. I took Turner in the ocean this weekend, just one on one. It was hilarous. MeMe watched from the balcony as the waves picked Turner up, flipped him over, and he landed face first on the sand. And then he laughed! Luckily, I am used to him and didn't panic. But, I was done after that and we headed to the pool.

All right, more later - I forgot I have some cute pictures on my other camera. Oh well, off to the pool!!

Making It!

By God's grace, we have had a smooth transition from 1 child to 2 children over the last 2 and a half weeks! I don't like change much, but I have learned I enjoy it more when it looks like this:

One of the many wonderful pictures taken by my friend, Lauren Winter

The hormones have hit me so differently this time! With Turner I felt a little overwhelmed the first few days. This time, I have been much more laid back, eating up moments with my little new one! He is just 2 1/2 weeks old, and I am already sad he is getting older!! I think because I can look at Turner and see how quickly it goes. With him, it was scarier in the beginning. Now we are more in a groove, and I can sit and hold and appreciate my tiny baby! I am loving the moments when his itty bitty self snuggles up on me - precious.

Seriously with the hormones though, on the first Monday we had John Burke home, Mom and I took him to the doctor to get his bilirubin checked. I watched a girl walk out with a child about Turner's age on her hip. I teared up thinking "This is the doctor I take Turner to. All those times here with him. My time with him is over." Ha! Then I remembered we will be back at the doctor 58 more times before elementary school!! As I type, I have had plenty of time alone with him - chasing him off the computer, scolding him for messing with the t.v. and stealing my Coke, etc. Needless to say, he is back to normal and has taken a new baby in the house in stride!

Still my baby.

I didn't feel that guilt before the baby was born about how I would love both of them. It came those days he was away in Andalusia and I was home alone with John Burke. He came back the Wednesday 6 days after the baby was born, and I missed him so much!! It was good to see him go, and I loved that my in-laws were so wonderful with him. We needed time to get adjusted without him. But then I loved seeing him come home (even if he seemed 15 years old when I saw him again - a new baby makes him look enormous!!).

Kelly's graduation from Pharmacy School

Look how happy Turner looks with MeMe and Aunt Kelly - he was treated like a king in Andalusia!

Last week was our first full week with 2 kids at home. Heath helped a whole lot, and I never got overwhelmed. As I said, God has shown much grace!! The baby has been nursing very well, and eats every 3 hours during the day, and sometimes does 4 hour stretches at night. I will take it for his age!!

Bedtime - Yay! Look how old Turner is. Shocking when compared to a newborn.

So far John Burke is a sweet boy. He is cuddly, and lets me kiss all over his little face! He is very alert (in those few awake times :)), and he gives funny looks. I swear he already knows how to cut eyes at me, and at Turner. Who, by the way, likes to "help" burp him (smacking him on the back) and swing him (pretty violently). Turner learned how to give kisses while in Andalusia, and he has been kissing Heath, me and the baby a lot. One thing we have to watch out for is this big head he swings around without knowing it!! He inevitably smacks John Burke's tiny little head with his big old melon about 7 times a day. I try to stop it, but he is a quick little weasel, and he doesn't know what a dangerous weapon he possesses!!

John Burke has already traveled to Auburn for Aunt Kelly's graduation. Well, we met up after graduation for lunch. But he loved Auburn!!

He also went to a farm in Sylacauga for our Sunday School party yesterday. He slept through the greased pig chase, but Turner didn't. However, now that Heath and I are one on one with children I couldn't get a good picture of Turner's face while watching this. Enjoyed watching it, but the squealing scared him and he did not enjoy the smell (neither did I)!!

The greased pig, covered in Wesson Oil - kids chasing him in a circle. Hilarious.

We have been hanging more around the house than usual, and it has been such a blessing to visit with family and friends. I am amazingly blessed by all who have showered us with gifts and meals! It makes the transition so much easier!! Come by and see us!

John Burke Henderson

Well, I have been overwhelmed at the sight of the computer. But I want to update the blog before I forget everything. Thinking this birth story is going to be long...

Last Tuesday (4/27) we went to the doctor. I blogged right before that, and found out at the doctor that day that I was 3 plus cm dilated and 80-90 percent effaced. Definite progress. He told me that we would come back the 4th (tomorrow!) early in the morning, and if everything still looked good, we would have a baby. Great with me! With an end in sight, I chilled out, but Dr. A and I both thought there was a good chance it could happen before with the progress made.

We had a good dinner with good friends. Went to bed and woke up at 4:08 a.m. I rolled on my stomach, and felt some pain. I couldn't tell if I had just rolled too hard, or if something was going on. I waited and it continued. I felt one contraction with Turner, so I wasn't sure what was up. I decided to wake Heath up and take a shower. It continued, so I called the doctor. My doctor happened to be on call, and he told me to mosey on to Labor and Delivery, they would be waiting. I called my mom and asked her to come watch Turner and take him to school.

Heath and I went to the hospital. We walked in and I heard "It's Kelly." It was Marie, a friend from Auburn, who I actually saw in Turner's birth. God provides - it is so calming to know someone! She introduced me to Courtney, my nurse.

Courtney, Dr. A and us

We went in to the room and got situated. She told me that they may just watch me and send me home. Sometimes contractions like this can last 3 weeks. WHAT?! Dr. R. (another doctor in the practice) came in to see me and said the same thing. I was fine, just prayed that God would send something definitive either way. Then I started having contractions every 3-4 minutes. The doctor came by the next hour - I thought he was going to say I was going home, but he said we were going to have a baby!

My doctor came by a few minutes later (Dr. A) and said he was going to be taking care of me. Another answer to prayer! The second time around I was a lot less nervous/kind of excited/worried about what Turner was up to. They gave me a little pitocin, and an epidural and got started.

Sidenote - I am writing all of these details so I don't forget. Sorry if boring you.

I fully dilated by 10 something. By 11:45 we started pushing. They felt like it would happen fast because it was my second baby. I ended up pushing 2 and a half hours and we found out during the process that John Burke was face up. So, his head was stuck in my pelvis. Awesome.

Fast forward, Dr. A determines we are going to need to use forceps. A bunch of people come in the room - my nurse, doctor, Heath, Lindsey, NICU nurse, respiratory therapist, a couple of other L&D nurses. Again, nothing fazed me because God used Dr. A and Lindsey (in nurse mode) to keep me calm. My sweet nurse said "We have a bigger birthday party when we use forceps." Fine with me - I was so tired at this point, just do it!

The forceps weren't working - he was really stuck. Lindsey looked at me and basically let me know how serious the situation was. His heart rate was dipping (I didn't know how scary that was at the time) and Dr. A told me he had one more push to get out before emergency c-section. He finally made it at 2:09 p.m. Stinker!! He was 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 20 inches long. Just the same measurements as Turner!! Weird.

They came and got him after a while - this was a more in-depth clean up, etc. than Turner's birth. We saw family (after what seemed like forever!), and made it upstairs.

When we had been upstairs for a couple of hours, we noticed he was grunting. Not consistently, but enough. And his temperature was low (a little below 97.8). Then they tested his blood sugar, and it was also low. It was determined that he should go to the NICU. God still calming my heart - that is where Lindsey worked for almost 5 years and they were very comforting.

I was a little sad, but knew it was the best thing for him and fully trusted they knew far more than I did!

Cousin Kate was very somber while she held him

So, he went. By the next morning, he was "growing up" and was able to come in our room all day Thursday and Friday. Just slept in the NICU. We left Friday night, but only after the birth of Derek's baby girl, Chloe. Stacy went into labor Friday morning and had Chloe around 5:20 p.m.

We went to pick him up on Saturday, but on the way we found out that his bilirubin was too high and he had to stay another day. Again, sad. But, we knew it was the best thing - especially after Turner's spiked crazy high when he was born. This is what we saw - love the sunglasses.

Finally, yesterday we were able to bring him home!! We left the hospital around 5:30, and have been snuggling with this little angel ever since.

His brother has been hanging out in Andalusia - praise God for the Hendersons for entertaining him! I am missing him, and will be really ready to see him. But it has been nice to have a little alone time with John Burke.

Sweet brother - but he slapped his head away after this picture (not too hard)

Whew. Enough for now - sinking back into my hole. There is just nothing as sweet as a newborn! Praise the Lord!

Good Night!