The Story

I was MISERABLE. (Wasn't sure I'd made that clear enough yet). At 38 1/2 weeks I had my membranes stripped, but all I got from that was a lot of false labor and even less sleep than usual. At 39 weeks, still no baby. By Saturday (39 1/2 weeks) I was cramping and contracting on and off all day, with some serious back pain. Still nothing consistent though. Same story Sunday. Paul was on back-up call and got called in and was gone all day. I was MISERABLE. (Did I already say that?) Had a breakdown or two that day. Paul got home at about 9pm. We were talking about how on earth I was going to survive another day of pregnancy and wouldn't it be perfect if I had the baby on Monday, Paul's day off? At 10pm, we were getting ready for bed...and my water broke.

HALLELUJAH!

I was standing in the kitchen having a snack, Paul was sitting at the computer in the next room. It was such a strange (and wonderful!) moment.

It went a little something like this...

ME: "What the...Paul I think my water just broke!"

PAUL: "Are you sure?"

ME, running to the bathroom: "Yeah I'm sure!"

Followed by lots of cheering from me : )

PAUL, following me to the bathroom: "What do we do?"

And this is where we experienced a role reversal. Paul, normally the calm and decisive one, really had no idea what we should do - not from a medical standpoint, just the logistics of it all. Me? Calm, cool, and collected.

I told him to start packing clothes for the kids while I called a friend to see if we could drop them off for the night. I got changed and threw the last minute things into my hospital bag while Paul woke the kids and loaded them into the car. I called Labor and Delivery to let them know we were on our way, and then called my mom so she could book a flight.

After dropping off the kids (who were a little groggy and confused, but excited as well) we got checked in and settled at the hospital. I was still only at a 3, which I'd been a week earlier at my doctors appointment (disappointing considering all the contractions I'd had throughout the week). I was having contractions at this point and they were starting to get painful. They told me I could have the epidural whenever I wanted it and for some reason, I hesitated. Seriously, do I never learn? Paul looked at me like I was crazy and told me to, "Get it now." I did, which turned out to be a wise decision : ) My contractions weren't real regular so to speed things up a bit they started me on pitocin. The baby didn't like that very much though, her heart rate kept dropping, so they turned it off. But it gave me the jumpstart I needed because after that my contractions were regular and strong and I went the rest of the way on my own. The baby's heart rate was still dropping here and there though so they put me on oxygen and had to come in periodically and move me from one side to the other - my epidural was so good I couldn't even wiggle my toes at this point. All of this, combined with the fact that I always get the shakes when I'm in labor meant I got zero sleep that night. Paul slept some of course. When it was time to push things happened really quickly - it was less than 10 minutes until our baby was here, arriving at 6:26 am. It was an exciting moment, looking down to discover it was a little girl. She was such a sweetheart, not crying much at all, just laying in my arms and staring up at us. I also remember feeling instant relief that I wasn't pregnant anymore : )

So that's our story.

My mom caught the first flight out that morning - luckily Avery arrived before she boarded her plane so we could tell her it was a girl.

Paul brought the kids over later that afternoon to meet their new baby sister, whom they were both very excited about.

And Paul and I worked on a name for our little girl. It took us a day and a half, we decided on Avery Jane the day we came home from the hospital.

And we couldn't be happier with her.

Here she is in her going home outfit.

A few days later my mom had some fun with her new camera and my pretty baby girl.

We love our Avery Jane.

Survival Mode

As in, will Avery survive her ultra excited big sister?

Will I?

Announcing...

Avery Jane

Born October 19th, 6:26am

7 lbs, 13 oz

She's beautiful and we couldn't be more excited to have her here with us.

A typical Gunn family picture

Wow. We have three kids. That's a lot.

We are home and doing well.

More details and pics coming soon.

October 12th

We woke up to this...

The first snow of the year.

And a whole month earlier than last year.

Noah couldn't have been happier.

You better believe we went sledding right after school

And made snow angels.

Well, not so much "we"

More like Noah and Alex.

I thought about it...maybe it would put me into labor?

I decided I was much more likely to injure myself or the baby, so I watched from a safe distance.

Speaking of our mystery baby...

39 weeks and going strong.

The baby that is.

I'm hardly going at all.

At The Patch

It was freezing

But Alex found her pumpkin in no time

"cuz it's just my size"

Noah wanted to take his time, and couldn't be rushed, despite the freezing temps.

And then there's always the hay maze

Noah eventually settled on this beauty

"a skinny one with a flat spot for carving"

And we all left happy.

38 Weeks

I know I said no more belly pics...but I had to document the pregnancy, full-term.

Yep, full-term (for a week now).

Hoping and PRAYING it's any day

(but don't hold your breath)

Boy...or Girl...?

Can't wait to find out : )

My Guys

Noah and Paul recently spent a few days in Utah.

A highlight (for both of them)?

Hiking in Snow Basin

Love these pics.

Love these boys.

We missed'em.

Great Analogies, by Noah Gunn

When we left the dentist's office, after the first unsuccessful attempt of getting his tooth extracted, Noah was crying and mad at me. He kept saying it hurt and I promised him it wouldn't hurt. I was explaining that the reason it hurt is because he wouldn't breathe in the medicine. Noah's response:

"It smelled disgusting. It smelled like scorpions."

We were talking to the kids during Family Home Evening about watching General Conference this weekend. Noah's response:

"That's so boring. It's just like staring at a tree."

The story I don't want to tell (again)

On a Sunday evening, about one hour before we expected my parents to arrive for their visit, Noah once again managed to smash his head open. Honestly, it's happened so many times now that there is no fear or worry over the amount of blood - just annoyance at the hassle it's going to be to get it taken care of.

The cause (this time)? Noah thought it would be a good idea to "surf" down the hallway on one of my couch pillows. He did a belly dive onto the pillow, expecting to slide down the hall - but the pillow didn't budge and so he slammed his face into the wood floor at high-speed instead.

The result? A cut and very swollen lip and bleeding gums. We weren't sure at first he'd done any harm to his top front teeth - we were just glad to see that they were still there.

He complained about his tooth feeling a little loose, but of course he wouldn't let us touch it. When he ate we had to break up all his food so he could stick it into the back of his mouth. But I thought it might just be his sore lip. But after 2 days of this I decided I'd better take him to the dentist, just in case.

Normally I wouldn't have thought this was necessary. It was just a baby tooth. So what if it was loose? It would just fall out right? No big deal. Except about a week previous to this one of our friends daughters knocked her front baby teeth on her brothers head and had to have them pulled.

So on wednesday, the day after my parents left, I called the Dentist office and they told me to bring him right in. Noah usually loves the dentist, but, knowing the story about his friends teeth, he freaked. When I told him we were going to the dentist he started screaming, "I don't want my tooth pulled!" I kept explaining that they just needed to look, we didn't know if it needed to be pulled. He was inconsolable. I had to drag him to the car, at which point he clamped his mouth shut and said through his lips that he wasn't going to let anyone see his tooth.

Same story when we got to the dentist. Dragged him out of the car. Couldn't get him to sit in the chair. I'm begging, bribing, threatening. Finally he's in the chair, but still wont open his mouth. FINALLY he let the dentist take a look. Sure enough it was loose. Which meant we had to x-ray it. That was an ordeal because biting down on the loose tooth was painful for him.

And the ordeal was just beginning. The x-ray clearly showed the tooth was fractured - and would have to be pulled, to prevent an abscess (infection) and other problems for the adult tooth. It needed to be taken care of ASAP, so when the dentist asked if I wanted him to take care of it right then I said yes.

This was not our usual dentist and (turns out) he was not very good with kids. So as Noah overhears this conversation he jumps out of the chair and starts freaking out all over again. It was a good 10 minutes till he was back in the chair again and he was still not cooperating. The dentist put a mask over his nose but Noah refused to breathe in the nitrous oxide. So me, the dentist and the assistant all held him down, applied a topical numbing ointment and the dentist attempted to give him a shot.

He attempted it about 6 times, with Noah screaming, crying, and trying to get away and then the needle broke in his mouth.

At which point the dentist threw his hands up in the air and said, "That's it! I'm done."

In the meantime, Alex has run over to the corner of the room where she is crouched down, eyes squeezed shut, hands over her ears and crying. I'm trying to keep it together, but not very successfully.

We all three left in tears, with the tooth still in place and a referral to a pediatric dentist in town.

Now the story gets really long and boring - the gist of it is, none of the pediatric dentists would see us or get us in anytime before December, the dentist office is telling me it's gotta be done asap, and Noah is leaving town in 2 days for Utah. After hours on the phone with way too many people the nice ladies at my dentist office got us an appointment for Friday morning with an oral surgeon.

Much more expensive, but they would put him to sleep, which was an idea Noah could handle. And as it turned out probably necessary anyways because the fracture was up in his gums and the peds dentists recommended an oral surgeon for that scenario.

Paul got the day off, which turned out to be so great. The experience was a little more intense than I anticipated and it was so good to have him there. And to have him know and understand what was happening.

Noah was nervous, but much more prepared this time. He cooperated. I was a little upset that they made us leave the room before they put him to sleep because I'd told him I was going to be there to hold his hand. But Noah seemed ok with it.

The procedure itself was over quickly and they took us back to him in recovery, where he was hooked up to some monitors and trying to wake-up. At one point Noah dozed off again and the oxygen monitors went off and the doctor was shaking him, trying to wake him - and it totally freaked me out. But then it was over and Noah was awake and crying again, which was a good thing. The poor kid was just inconsolable he was so disoriented.

We picked up Alex and got Noah home. It didn't take long for him to start begging to go to the Bounce House - his prize for being brave and cooperating. So that very afternoon that's what we did. He was a little tired and overly emotional but ended up having fun (and luckily NOT getting sick from the drugs).

Early the next morning he and Paul were off to Utah. It was a quick recovery.

And now he looks like this.

And he has a lisp : )

The big tooth wont be coming in for another year or so.

Way to go Noah!

You're one brave kid (and really cute too)!

43 Hours of fun

My parents were here for less than 48 hours, after visiting my sister in Chicago, but we managed to squeeze a lot of fun into that short period of time.

We went to the National Eagle Museum in Wabasha, MN (who knew?) where we attended an hour long show with nothing but senior citizens - which meant both of my kids got to participate. Noah even got a front row seat between some nice old people.

And we all got an up close and personal encounter with the eagles.

Noah loved it.

(Noah's lip - yes, that story is coming in a separate post)

It was in a beautiful spot along the Mississippi river

but Noah wouldn't hold still long enough to get his picture taken.

Nice day too, but SO bright. I had to give up my sunglasses to Noah and this is the best family picture we could get - and that wasn't easy.

Such a photogenic family.

(sarcasm intended)

Then we headed across the river into Wisconsin where we had lunch at a great little creamery.

And ice cream too of course.

The adults were exhausted but the kids insisted on swimming that night at Grandma and Grandpa's hotel pool.

Noah even swam - like really swam - without his floaties!

Alex eventually snuggled up on a lounge chair and took her third nap of the day.

The next day Paul was back at work but the kids squeezed in lots of playtime with Grandma, a lunch date, a trip to the toy store and the local bakery before Grandma and Grandpa had to head to the airport to catch their flight.

Noah loved having Grandma and Grandpa walk him to school both mornings,

and Alex loved posing for my mom.

Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa! We had so much fun and miss you tons!

Good thing Grandma will be back in October, November, and December!

Grandpa, we can't wait to get you back with her in November and December : )

Love you!