Fun with Nana

We packed up the car and made the trek to Bakersfield this week to spend some much needed time with my mom, Nana. We kind of have a policy of no Bako trips in the summer, so it was fun to spend a little time over there when it was under 100 degrees. My mom has this great old house near downtown and Judah loves visiting, especially since he gets his dog fix with Winnie. It was a great trip, other than the fact that we all got sick. It was the first time in years that my mom was there to take care of me, sick in bed and, oh what a treat. We still managed to make it to the California Living Museum (CALM), which I haven't visited since I was little. Judah loved it, especially since it was so small and there weren't many people there, he was able to roam around all by himself. It was kind of, well... interesting. Nothing like seeing a ground squirrel in a glass cage. They had a ton a reptiles that Judah got very up close and personal with and don't forget the two skunks that welcomed us. It is pretty cool though, all the animals have been rescued and you can see their injuries that make it impossible for them to survive in the wild. My dad is a veterinarian and when I was a kid he would often treat wild animals that would end up at CALM. We once had a mule deer living in our 'fort' in the backyard while it recovered from being hit by a car. Anywho.... it was a great trip and I miss my mom already. Here are some pics of the kids...

Happy Valentines Day!

To: Katie & Annie

From: Joey (daddy) & Judah:

Be Mine.

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Judah & I are very thankful for the girls in our life. So we have a little Valentines Day song to sing in this video.

We love you Katie & Annie!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

The little love of our lives turns 2 today. With all the excitement of a new baby sister life has been anything but easy for all of us, but we are so proud of the new big brother, Judah. Sometimes in the midst of life I forget how much our lives have changed in the last 2 years and how much the better we are for knowing and loving our little nugget. In honor of his birthday, I decided to write him a letter...

Judah,
Sometimes when I look at you I swell with pride so much that it hurts. I think all parents think their children are genius, but you really are. I look at you and can't believe that you are a part of me, that you were once so tiny that you were contained in such a small place (since out of the womb keeping you contained is nearly impossible). You are such a little man these days showing us love and compassion, making us laugh hard enough to pee our pants. Sometimes when we're hanging out, I want time to freeze. I can't imagine you growing up any more and not seeing the you just as you are right now. You are a so special and so treasured. Here are some things that your mama especially loves about you right now...

1) You are a born entertainer.
2) You are so extremely compassionate with Annie. Every time she cries you try and comfort her and tell her, 'it's alright baby Nanny.' On that note, when we were walking the other day, we saw a 'sleeping' dog on the side of the road and you wanted to kiss her better. so sweet.
3) You are mommy's fierce physical trainer. Whenever I stop to get a breath on a run you encourage me 'run mommy'. You also drop your toys while I'm running so I can get in some much needed lunges. You love doing exercises with Mommy and Daddy, counting all of Daddy's 'perfect pushups' and teaching Mommy better sit up form.
4) You are so smart. You can count to 10 (who needs 8 though, right?) You are learning your ABC's so well and you know all your shapes (thanks Sesame Street!)
5) You love to read and memorize your books.
6) You are fearless. Climbing and jumping are you new past times.
7) You have some hot dance moves.
8) You have an insane ear for music. You can pick out the piano, harmonica, violin, drums, and guitar in music and act them out. My favorite is your harmonica.
9) You already have the ability to give love and make people feel special and valued.
10) You are quite a negotiator, just like Daddy and Papa. I could see you following in Daddy's footsteps.

I dream about you becoming a man it makes me sad to know that it will be so hard to explain to you what you were like as a child. I know that sounds really weird, but I wish grown up Judah could have the pleasure of knowing baby Judah. My precious boy, the day you were born changed my life forever. Just a few months before we found out you were going to be born, I lost a baby. God has used you to help restore things that were lost and to heal some of the pain of that time. Some good friends found this verse about your biblical namesake...

"AND SHE CONCEIVED AGAIN, AND BORE A SON: AND SHE SAID, NOW WILL I PRAISE THE LORD: THEREFORE SHE CALLED HIS NAME JUDAH." GENESIS 29:35

Love you a million,
Mommers

Picture Update

Annie is almost 5 weeks and for the most part it has been a dream. God has answered so many prayers with this little one. In fact, last night she only woke up one time to eat! Judah has been an amazing big brother, super nurturing and helpful. It seems like Annie has always been a part of the family. Joey's back to work and we are figuring it out without him. . The biggest answer to prayer has definitely been my sanity this time around. I only had about 3 days where I couldn't stop crying and since then I've been pretty stable. For those of you who don't remember, I was practically insane for 6 weeks after I had Judah. Every day gives me more and more confidence that we can not only survive, but actually enjoy our days together. Blessings to all, and thanks for all your prayers and support for our family.

Christmas Video, inc Annie footage

Annaleigh Marie Hill

We are at home with our lovely daughter, Annie. After spending just over 24 hrs. in the NICU she has made a full recovery and we were able to take her home as soon as I was discharged. She is such a little love, we are smitten. It's crazy how much she sleeps, but I guess I'm just making up for how little Judah slept at this age. Judah is doing amazingly well with her. He is so excited to have her around and so far we haven't had any huge meltdowns. He even decided to sleep in his big boy bed last night for the first time and slept through the night, wow!

Here is a play-by-play of Annie's birth for any of you who love the nitty gritty...

Well, we made it. Our daughter Annaleigh (Annie) was born on Thursday, December 11, 2008. She was 9lbs. 2oz. and 20.5 inches long. BIG girl! I had a successful VBAC and feel so amazing about it. After our last birth class on Monday my labor started to pick up and I was unable to sleep at all. Contractions continued through Tues. but they remained at about 5 minutes apart and the intensity didn't pick up until later in the evening. I had a regular appointment with Dr. Yin on Tues. morning and she said I was 1.5 cm, 90% effaced. She stripped my membranes and was hopeful that I would deliver the next day.
I think that I was a little unique in that I didn't feel comfortable at home for very long, maybe it was because I was a little scared being a VBAC. I decided to go to the hospital around 1:30am . When we got to the hospital, the nurse checked me and said I was 2cm, 90%. It was such a blessing, my admitting nurse was a new friend of mine from church and I really needed that kind of care, she even stopped and prayed for me as it was determined that I wasn't in labor yet... after 2 nights of no sleep... yikes. So Haupt gave me an Ambien and let me stay so that Dr. Yin could take over in the morning. I got about 3 hrs. of sleep and when Yin got there I had dilated another cm. We had previously talked about an epidural due to the exhaustion factor. So she told me I could have that at any time, but I really wanted to wait as long as possible.
I labored 8 more hrs. and was checked by a nurse and was told I was 2cm again. You can Imagine I broke down at that point. Dr. Yin's had overestimated when she checked me the last time. She was so optimistic the whole time and when she came back in about an hour she checked me and broke my water, which had light meconium. After that labor was really difficult, the contractions picked up immediately in length and intensity. I was having back labor as well. I lasted about 2 hrs. before I decided to get an epidural. I'm sure you remember my anxiety about having another spinal so the nurse gave me a low dose of Staidol before the epidural. Dr. Hack was amazing, I told him I was really afraid of the procedure and he did a great job calming my nerves. After that I was able to rest for a few hours while they started me on Pitocin. I got the epidural at 6:00 and by 11:15 I was ready to push. I was amazed! I didn't feel a thing until I was fully dilated.
Pushing was crazy, her head was already super low, so she moved down to near crowning fairly quickly. But there she remained for almost an hour, which is when I really started to feel things. It hurt bad, but it was great to know where to push. I almost gave up and Dr. Yin was very close to giving me an epesiotomy and finally Annie's head popped out. I tore pretty bad, so that has been fun.
Annie came out with the cord wrapped around her neck and had some complications due to that. They told us that it caused
hypovolemia and acid build up in her blood. So round 2 in the NICU for us. She also got a little meconium down past her vocal cords so they really wanted to monitor her and keep her on oxygen. She recovered so quickly it was really miraculous to us. It was emotionally taxing to again not have that initial bonding time with her, but knowing the NICU drill made it less stressful. She was able to room in with me on Friday and we brought her home on Saturday.
It was an amazing experience in spite of having a really long labor and a little scare when she came out. I was shocked that I never thought about having a c-section or wanting one at all. Having Dr. Yin there the whole time made me feel so safe and I was able to trust her completely even when her plan was not what I had expected. I loved delivering my girl! I was so worth it.

Thanks to all who prayed for us. We felt so blessed by all the calls and emails. Knowing that the Lord hears our prayers is a comfort in times of joy and times of fear. We are so blessed by a community who surrounds us with prayer and encouragement in the Lord. We hope to see many of you in the next weeks to come.

False Labor?

Okay, a little confused here. Night before last I was up for 3 hours with some intense cramping, contractions and light bleeding. I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours and everything slowed down. I was really crampy all day yesterday and had some really painful contractions last night. They stopped again and I went to sleep and had nothing last night. Today I feel way better than I did last night, so I'm a bit bummed. I thought it was the real deal. I guess it still could kick in anytime but now I feel like I'm on pins and needles. Maybe Annie is just waiting for her due date, December 9 would be a lovely birthday. In the meantime I'm just trying to stay on top of the house, get some Christmas shopping done and spend quality time with my boys. We'll keep y'all updated. Pray that I would have peace about God's timing in this delivery and be patient to meet our daughter.