Visting the Midwife

At the beginning of this pregnancy I was crossing my fingers in hopes of getting a midwife again here in the city. I almost jumped for joy when I received a phone call one evening from my midwife team telling me they had accepted my application. Having the kind of care they give is such a blessing.

They were able to come for home visits on day one and three after Ollie was born, and today we ventured in to the clinic for our five day check-up. Little man is still right around his birth weight and doing so well! 

My Grandparents happened to be down this way visiting Gramma's sister and stopped by in the afternoon to meet Oliver on their way home. I say this every time we have a baby, but I feel so blessed that our kids get to have Great-Grandparents in their lives! It's so special.

My Gramma is a lady of grace, and I admire her so much! She has pretty much lost her sight, but still lives life to it's fullest. She enjoyed the baby snuggles and touching his soft baby skin.

Then mister Ollie slept away the rest of the afternoon!

The Corn Bus-T

We are still lucky enough to have Daddy around for a few more days. The "third day blues" hit today in full force and I spent a lot of time rocking my babe in the rocking chair and mentally adjusting to life with FIVE. It felt good to move around the house throughout the day and spend time with the littles.

While I was in the kitchen this afternoon I caught Finley out of the corner of my eye. He was playing with his shadow, stepping forward and back and smiling as his shadow grew and shrunk. I was so glad I got to witness that little moment of discovery! Each time I bring home a new baby it always amazes me how much my toddler grows! The first time I changed his bum he seemed like a giant compared to his new little brother. I picked him up today, unprepared for how much he weighed! A few days ago he was light and easy, and now I almost have to grunt as I lift him for a snuggle. His hands are suddenly big and chubby. He navigates the stairs independently without a wall or railing. It's crazy how fast these little people grow!

Tonight we took the littles to our Ward Corn Bust. They were looking forward to it all afternoon! Joseph had a nap with the promise of going to the corn bust tonight and staying up late. Between tending to a crying baby and dishing everyone's plates I hardly had a second to sit down and eat, but I loved seeing the joy on my Children's faces as they met up with friends and enjoyed good food.

When we got home I sat down to feed the baby while Daddy wrestled everyone into jammies. I listened to Joe while he got dressed and ended up laughing so hard at his conversation with his Daddy. "You tricked me, Daddy," He said. "What do you mean Joe?" He continued his story, "You said we were going to a corn bus, but there was no bus!!" It was a great way to end the evening!

My Sidekick

I just wanted to take a few minutes and give a little shout out to my awesome side kick. He's taking some time off for me this week and has done a fabulous job keeping up with the house and entertaining the littles. My kitchen has never been cleaner, my counter tops sparkle, and he takes such pride in his work! I love the twinkle in his eyes as he serves me, cooks for me, and takes care of things.

 

He happily takes the baby throughout the day so that I can rest or get a few quick things done. Seeing him with a baby in his arms is a total heart melter for me! 

He is such a great Dad and I'm so glad he gets to be by my side through this parenting journey.

Snuggle Time

 Baby Ollie and I enjoyed some quality snuggle time in my bed this morning while the rest of the family went off to church. I am so in love with this little man! More pictures and a birth story to come...

Baby Ollie

Introducing...

Oliver William Stannix

Born Friday, September 9, 2016

11:54PM

7lbs 15oz, 21 inches long

We are all home and doing wonderful!

Thirty-nine Weeks

Today marks thirty-nine weeks for this little peanut! This morning I took the crew out for a walk behind the golf course to enjoy the Autumn colors and get some fresh air. The last few weeks of pregnancy always seem to pass so slowly. This baby has been teasing me all week with some pretty good contractions and I am definitely feeling ready to meet him or her! I got Joseph to snap a quick bump picture of me along the trail. He's always happy to snap a picture! 

Welcome Autumn

 Autumn has crept right up on us! The air is cool and crisp and the leaves are already changing! Baby has been teasing me the last couple of days, and I am in full nesting mode. As I approach this birth I can feel myself closing out everything around me. 

The children play happily around the house while I work on this or that. Though I'm tired, I need to be busy creating and doing.

We woke up to clouds and wind today which naturally gave me the desire to bake. I looked at the remaining bag of apples from a sweet neighbor and decided it was about time I did something with them!

 I filled my crock pot to the top and ended up with a little less than half a pot of apple sauce. The house smelled amazing as it simmered all morning! The littles ate two helpings each for afternoon snack and loved that it was warm and tasted like apple pie. 

 I've been trying to keep the freezer stocked with bread before baby comes, but our family seems to eat so much of it that I can hardly keep up. I usually make white because it's quick and easy, but today I pulled out my trusty wonder mill and ground some wheat. Hyrum and Joe were fascinated at the transformation from wheat to flour. I called that science, and we went on enjoying our day.

 Between storms we threw on sweaters and let the sun kiss our cheeks. This little guy is still just as rambunctious as ever! His stitches are healing well and he carries on each day as if nothing ever happened! Today I couldn't help but smile at the way the sun brought out the strawberry color in his hair.

 By the late afternoon the house was cozy and smelled of all things Autumn while a nasty storm blew in from the West. We got a quick walk in and arrived home just as it started to rain.

Mr. Stannix had some late meetings tonight so I did bed time solo. Luckily they were all pretty tired and it went relatively easy. After they were all tucked in with hugs and kisses I tried a recipe for "apple blondies" that didn't disappoint! I've stayed up far too late cleaning my kitchen and blogging, and should probably make resting a little bit more of a priority. I've still got a lot of apples left to use. We'll see what I come up with tomorrow!! This really is one of the best seasons.

The Nursery

I am officially ready for this little one to arrive! Aside from the typical aches and pains and lack of sleep, I can't wait to meet this babe! Last week I packed my hospital bag with clothes for a boy or girl as well as some handmade booties and hats. When Mike was gone visiting his brother I stayed up late and put a bunch of meals into the freezer. On my last grocery trip I picked up some Ivory Snow laundry detergent to freshen up the newborn clothes. 

Since we had most of our kids during our university days, I am feeling pretty spoiled this time because this little one will actually have a nursery to call it's own. Sometimes I sit in the rocking chair and reflect on our days in the little white house where we cozied three little kids into one quaint upstairs bedroom with a slanted ceiling. Even after we bought our first house we still ended up with two kids to each room and no time to paint. Those were great days though! Life was simple and lovely.

I was thrilled when Mr. Stannix agreed to paint the room and make my dreams of having a nursery come true!  Finley has been sharing with Joseph for a while now which gave us lots of time to work on it. We took a whole week and Mike painted away after work each night to get it finished. I was so excited with how it turned out when I peeled off all of the tape. All it needs now is some pictures, curtains and a baby and it will be complete!

The Children's Hospital

We had quite a scare on Sunday evening!! Finley was standing on a stool helping me with dinner when I opened the dishwasher to quickly grab some clean plates. In the blink of an eye he had turned on the stool to help and ended up falling onto the cutlery tray. I caught his arm as he fell but he was crying pretty hard. When I noticed a couple of rips in his shirt I tore it off to find two pretty bad wounds. I quickly applied pressure while Mike gathered the kids into the van and drove us to the hospital down the road. 

I wasn't about to leave his side, even though carrying him with my huge belly was super awkward. They put some numbing cream and gauze on his chest and I figured we'd be leaving with stitches. After waiting close to two hours (most of which he slept through) we finally got to see the doctor. He sent us for x-rays just to make sure there wasn't any unseen damage. Finley screamed through the whole thing and sniffled the whole way back to our little hospital room. The x-ray tech forgot to take the guaze off, and the doctor wanted a better look because he saw something he didn't like. Finley screamed through the second set of x-rays and I stood in the hall in tears. 

After looking at the x-rays the doctor decided to transfer us via ambulance to the Calgary Children's Hospital for a potential CT scan. They put an IV in his poor little hand and administered antibiotics on the ride in. Both of us had missed dinner and the poor little guy was put on a fast in case something more serious needed to be taken care of. It was a first ambulance ride for both of us! He was such a trooper. 

The paramedic who rode with me in the back told me how overwhelmed parents can get when they arrive at the Children's hospital and get bombarded with people. It was certainly something I won't soon forget. I stood close to his bedside while the paramedic shouted out his name, gender, and what happened. At the same time two doctors were near his head calling out vitals and attaching all of these cords. The team leader was at the foot of the bed organizing everyone and in the midst of all the noise I was introduced to about five different people. They took another set of x-rays while he wimpered on his bed and I stood in the hall. A sweet nurse asked if I needed anything and brought me some apple juice to keep me going. They pulled a chair up by the side of the bed for me to sit while they did a quick ultrasound to check for fluid around his heart. It was determined that they would go ahead with the CT scan just to make sure all was well and the poor little guy got another IV in his other arm for the coloring to be injected. I held my head close to his and hummed a favorite song in his ear to help calm his cries.

We were blessed with friends down the street who were willing to sit with our sleeping kids until my sister could arrive, so that Mike could meet me at the hospital. He arrived just in time to accompany Finley for the CT scan. I wasn't able to go in because of being pregnant and all, and they would have had to sedate him if Mike hadn't arrived when he did. While I waited in the hall I heard him cry for me and prayed hard that he would settle and be still enough to get it all done without being sedated. Prayers were definitely answered and he lied calmly with his Daddy holding his hands and whispering in his ears. 

After his CT scan he perked up quite a bit and started babbling and talking to everyone. They all thought he was the sweetest little patient and couldn't believe how still he was for a toddler. They gave him a nice big teddy to keep him company while we waited on results! It turns out the middle cut hit his sternum, thankfully missing a major artery and the second stopped just short of going into the chest cavity. Gah! It was so scary! It could have been SO much worse than it was and we definitely counted our blessings! Cleaning the wound was almost worse than getting the IV and the doctor decided to give him the tape kind of stitches instead of the other kind. Once he was all cleaned up they took off all his crazy cords and let us take him home. We got back shortly after midnight with very hungry bellies and grateful hearts. 

I am so thankful for great healthcare and an awesome hospital like the Children's Hospital. It was my first time ever being there, and it was impressive. They were so quick and good and kind. Finley smiled and chatted with every nurse he met and it was a wonderful experience.  Today he is playing around like nothing ever happened and I can't help but sigh in relief every time I look at him.

Sunday Snapshot