GOD said there'd be days like THIS...

I have been putting off writing this entry. I don't know exactly why but even as I'm typing now my heart is beating faster than usual and I feel a bit anxious...

A fair warning up front: it's no secret that humor is largely my focus on this blog but this entry is not going to be as much fun...I guess some "motherhood confessions" are of a more serious nature. But I said I would share the good, bad and ugly, and I suppose this is part of that.

SO...I started going to MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) in September and immediately met a TON of amazing and wonderful mothers. We share mom-tips, mom-stories, mom-laughs... We come out for a couple of hours twice a month and eat breakfast and talk about fun stuff like crafts and "finding our identities" as mothers. It's all just "NORMAL" mom-stuff.

But after just one meeting, we learned that one of the fellow moms had a baby girl who had become sick and was in the hospital. Immediately, we all began to pray for her healing and recovery. We followed a blog to check in on her progress....and we prayed. We worried...and we prayed. HOWEVER, I think most of us counted on the idea that little girls just don't die and that we'd quickly return to talking to this mom about how to make Christmas centerpieces for her home this holiday season. We were all just waiting for her little girl to get better.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This...

So...life with a new born, a toddler, and a pre-schooler has been a whirlwind. I've heard varying opinions on the subject, but I would definitely say THREE is a whole lot different from TWO. Suddenly I found myself looking around at all of these little people and thinking:

"Dang, there sure is a lot of them".

It kind of snuck up on me though, as these little humans typically do. It's not until you get them home and unwrap them that you really get a clue as to what's in store. As I mentioned before in my summation of my labor experience, Garrett started things off awesome by behaving himself and graduating to the status of a regular nursery baby, rather than a Special Care baby like our other two. This allowed for two days at the hospital filled with visitors and presents and laughter and joy...a first-time experiene for Ryan and I.

And it seems that the blessings just continued after we got home. Ryan was on paternity leave for two weeks (can you believe our world has come so far that men actually get PATERNITY leave?? I can just hear older men scoff...40 years ago, I thinks kids were lucky if their dads knew their first names). BUT alas, this is a new era and Ryan took advantage...and we enjoyed every minute of it. We had people bringing us meals and non-stop visitors for those two weeks.

THEN just as Ryan was getting ready to return to work and I thought reality might set in, his parents came to visit for 5 days...yea! I can prolong real life for a little while longer! So we're up to three weeks now, and I had yet to experience what real life was going to be like...though I knew it was looming and I would soon find out.

Well that day finally came. It was just a few days after Ryan's parents went home to Cape Cod. It was like I woke up to a newborn-hangover. All the noise and lights from the 3-week party still spinning in my head...yet the house was eerily empty. Except of course for those three little humans I was now charged with taking care of all by myself for the first time.

Welcome Baby Garrett Ryan Howe!

SO...he's finally here! Baby Garrett Ryan Howe joined us on July 25, 2009 - 11 days early! (I was SOOO happy about the early part) I had started preparing for labor to happen "any minute" at about month eight. Perhaps I was a little over-anxious...and I was DEFINITELY exercising some wishful thinking, but he came through for me... (atta boy!) But, before I talk about all the good stuff, I absolutely HAVE to talk about the storm BEFORE all the good stuff....that beautiful thing called Labor and Delivery. What a trip! As they say... "every woman's labor is different"...and that has been true even for my own labors - all three have been vey different. But this one takes the cake. I think if I had to title the whole experience, I would definitely have to call it "What the Crap".

Here we go...

So that Friday started out like any other day. I had an amazing morning with my neighbor Elizabeth...we took the kids to the park and then came back to her house to eat lunch and let the kids play. But then that afternoon when I got home, it happened. My water broke.

I wasn't sure what had happened...this never ocurred with my other pregnancies. So I called the doctor. She said either my water broke or I peed my pants. I was DEFINITELY crossing my fingers it was the first one. Not just because I was really hoping I was in labor but because I was really REALLY hoping I wasn't facing an incontinence issue - pregnant or not.

So I got to the hospital and my water had indeed broken. Weirdness set in a bit for me here...with my other two labors, there was something amazing about arriving at the hospital...there was such an air of excitement that kind of helped to distract from all the discomfort. BUT for SOME reason, this time around, the novelty had completley worn off. As I prepared to get admitted (i.e. signing paperwork and getting that stupid I.V. drip started), I was already over it. I was asking for my epidural before I even got out of triage.