Friday night was so hard for me because I was in pain in lots of different places. I woke up still in pain and not having rested well and feeling like I didn't even know what I could do that day. Jeff helped get the kids all read to go see a robotics event at the high school when all of a sudden my water broke. I was so surprised! And in an instant our plans changed.
Ron and Diana were immediately able to come and get the kids, and they stayed at Leah and Taryn's until they came. Jeff and I packed up, I straightened the house a bit and we were on our way to the hospital. I used Max's diaper to absorb my fluid and it worked pretty well :) On Friday we had worked so hard to plan everything out perfectly for my mom to fly in Monday night, be induced Tuesday, and my friend Beth was going to be my nurse. So it was pretty funny to have all those plans put to the wayside.
We went to McKee hospital in Loveland and received wonderful care the whole time. Dr. Cowan was on call and Elisa was my nurse. Everyone was so nice and we even got the VIP room because they were so busy so we have nice big windows with a beautiful view.
I wasn't getting many contractions, but I kept wanting to wait and see if they would kick in before I got the pitocin. I told the doctor to wait 45 more minutes and in 30 minutes my contractions were coming regularly and more intensely at 2:45. I contracted a bit more and then I told Jeff I wanted the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in right away and I was somehow able to hold still while coughing and going through some hard contractions. She also gave me some spinal medicined that kicked in right away so the contractions immediately felt less intense. I was able to rest a bit and then even with the epidural my contractions were really hard and I had to breathe through them. I started shivering a lot and felt pressure to push. The doctor came in and after a few pushes, the baby was out! at 5:30. I was so relieved and happy to be done with the delivery. This was my fastest and easiest labor.
Jeff:
We were preparing to have Tiffany induced on January 31st, but Saturday morning, at 9:45 am her water broke. We knelt down as a family and said a prayer with the kids, and I immediately felt a sense of calm and peace that everything would go smoothly and be okay.
We took the kids to the neighbors and prepped everything for the hospital.
At the hospital, McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colorado, the nurse Elisa and Dr. Cowan were wonderful. The hospital was so full that they had to put us in their best and biggest room, with the best view at no cost to us. In addition, Elisa, the head nurse, followed our progress throughout the entire labor.
Tiffany toughed it out with early contractions for half of the day. During one particularly painful moment, she turned to me and said, "I want an epidural." The anesthesiologist came in and prepped to put a needle into Tiffany's nerve in the spinal column. She tried to do it between contractions, but Tiffany was contracting and had a bad cough as the doctor worked- I held her hands and realized what a powerful grip Tiffany has! In spite of the issues, Tiffany held still and the doctor was able to give the epidural which gave Tiffany some instant relief.
We both rested a bit, and around 5:15pm Tiffany started feeling more and more pressure. Tiffany then started to get the chills. We called in the nurses and they all said, "It's baby time!" They prepped the room, called the doctor, and got everything in place.
Once everyone was set, Tiffany gave three pushes and Liam Jeffrey Baer was born at 5:45 pm. This was the fastest birth of all four kids!
He had a strong cry and the nurses were very attentive. Tiffany did wonderfully. We felt so blessed throughout the process with the room, the staff and their kind bedside manner. We felt very grateful for Heavenly Father orchestrating things to go well throughout the process.
Liam is very sweet. Birth is an absolute miracle. Babies are so pure and innocent.
Post-Partum
Liam has been fighting jaundice and we have been checking him all week with weight gain and blood work. Finally, on Thursday, his levels were high enough that we had to start light therapy with a bili light. He has been so sleepy and his eating just isn't consistent and vigorous, so we pray he will get more energy up so he can eat more.
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| He did awesome on this bed and slept great until he got better. |
This first week home has been a whirlwind. Jeff and I both feel a bit overwhelmed and realize that four is a lot of kids. I don't know what we would do without my mom being here. Jeff said, "Dorothy, if Tiffany doesn't cry when you leave, I will." The first day the kids were still at Mama Baer's and we enjoyed a doctor appointment, lunch at Einstein's, and running some errands. Then Mama Baer and Diana came with kids and this burst of energy came through our door with three very excited kids.
Lily and Max especially love holding the baby. Max keeps talking about how cute he is and because he sleeps so much, whenever Liam cries or makes a noise he gets so excited. Lily loves being a big helper and holding him asking if that is helpful so I can get other things done.
The kids came back from Mama Baer's with legos and other toys and were so excited. My mom got the kids some toys too (legos, a doll, and a bean bag toss) so they feel like it's Christmas. We are still trying to keep in routines by doing chores, practicing, reading, but my mom did insist we have the cleaners come and that was very nice to feel like we are having a fresh start with the house. My mom has been so generous with everything and very helpful, that we feel very blessed to have her help.
Jeff and I met with a realtor, Nicole Huntsman, to talk about homes in this area. Jeff's uncle Rod is also very happy to help us, but since he is further away, he will help us in the end with inspections and to just make sure we get a good home in general. This is also completely overwhelming, so we are doing lots of things that are stretching us all at once.
I am tired and just with the way things have been, I have not been resting a ton. Though even when I rest, my naps never last super long, so I just feel sleep deprived. I have mostly felt okay, but on the day when I found out Liam needed a bili light, we had to call our insurance about it, wait for authorization, we met with the realtor, and trying to get Lily's practicing in, I was just tired and turned pretty short with everyone. But tomorrow is a new day and I will try again.
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| A wonderful date night with a taste of Hawaii to remind us of warmer times. |
Unfortunately, on the day that Jeff had his best basketball game ever, he sprained his ankle. Jeff has been loving doing basketball in the mornings since he is home for so long, so that has been disappointing to have to miss it. But after icing and elevating, it seems to be doing better. One morning Jeff got up to be on a webinar, but his colleague who was supposed to host it was not on it. So Jeff stepped in and hosted the training, even though he had never given it. But he had been looking over it this week so he was very familiar with everything and ended up having a great training. Someone even wrote an email to him and his boss about how good it was.
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