Chloe Jean...

It's been just over a week since her birth, and she is adjusting perfectly to our family. She definitely completes our family and is a sheer blessing. The "big" girls are adjusting well too. Yes, they have their moments, but what can you expect... their little lives have gone through a HUGE change in the last week. Claudia is a big helper and when Chloe does cry she is the first to be there telling her that "it's okay Chloe"... granted she says it over and over and over, but it's priceless!!! Constance has been her spunky little self, and is definitely our strong willed child, but I have to tell you it's more than precious when she goes up to Chloe and gives her a big kiss. They both love their new baby sister and we couldn't be happier... although I'll be honest, there are moments when Jon and I look at each other and say, "what did we do... 3 girls?" and then stare at each other in disbelief. I'll quit going on and on and get the good stuff... pictures of course :)

~ Mama in surgery... this may sound crazy, but it was perfect!!! ~

~ 8lbs. 11 oz. & 20 inches ~

~ Sheer Perfection ~

Justine came to the hospital and did Chloe's first photo shoot...

it was VERY special... thank you Justine!!!

~ My Girls ~

~ 4 Generations ~

~ Our Family is Complete ~

~ Going Home ~

~ Meeting Mattie Sue and Cash ~

~ Uncle Trav was our 1st visitor when we got home ~

~ Chloe Jean's Birth Story ~

Everything about this pregnancy has been a bit of a surprise, so why would the birth be any different…

Sunday night we went to bed and I never guessed that I would be up a few short hours later… but I was!!! I had been up with Claudia at 12:30am because she had to use the bathroom. I put her in bed and went right back to bed. At 1:15am I woke up and felt weird, so I went to the bathroom, sat down and had a release of water. Nothing serious, but definitely thought that my water had broke. So I sat there a few minutes and then grabbed a towel and went to tell Jon. After I told him I knew I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I went out in the kitchen to pay some bills. As I stood in the kitchen (thankfully on linoleum) there was a HUGE gush of water… I pretty much flooded the kitchen. At that point I was in complete shock and honestly I stood there for like 5 minutes just leaking all over the floor… I just couldn’t believe it was actually happening early. Around 2am I called my OB and the on call OB wanted me to just get into the hospital. That sent me into a state of panic, because um hello, I have 2 other kiddos at home and there was no way I was waking them up and taking them some place, but I still needed a little time to get someone to the house to stay with them. I told her I wasn’t contracting, and she said that as long as I was in by 5am I was okay. So I made the calls, and started to get myself ready. My mom and g-ma came over around 4ish. My g-ma stayed home with the girls and Jon, my mom and I headed to the hospital.

They brought me right to my room, and before I could even sit on the bed the nurse told me that I would be in surgery at 6am. You should have seen all of our faces… we NEVER guessed they would get us in that soon. It was a good thing though, because by that point my contractions were strong and 3 minutes apart. The nurses did their thing and prepped me and by 6:00am I was in the operating room. My spinal was perfect!!! With both of the other girls it took the docs like 2-3 times to get it right, but this doc got it in the 1st time and honestly it wasn’t painful at all. By the time my head hit the table I was totally numb and they got started. Jon watched the whole thing, he said they had to do a lot more tugging and pushing on me this time… they said there was a lot of scar tissue to get through. At 6:35am they pulled Chloe out. She made a little noise, but didn’t cry like the other girls, which really made Jon start to worry, but they gave her a little oxygen and before he knew it she was screaming, and he felt MUCH better. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long.

While Jon went to the nursery with Chloe, they finished working on me. As they were stapling I couldn’t help but ask if they had remembered to tie my tubes… they did, so I told them to just finish stapling me up then. I pretty much just laid there in shock the entire time. Everything just went SO fast!!! I am SO happy that it all happened like it did though. By Chloe coming early I didn’t have to sit and worry for 2 days… it was great!!!

The 1st day was great… she was such a quiet and when she did fuss she had the cutest little dainty voice, and then the 1st night came and all she wanted to do was eat, and that seriously made for a not so great night. She ate from 12:30am – 5:00am… so needless to say day #2, was not near as fun as day #1. The girl just likes to suck and she is REALLY good at it, and I was completely exhausted. Night #2 was much better, and day #3 was been great too!!! My BFF Justine came to the hospital and took some pictures for us… she did a fabulous job. After pictures we packed up and headed home. I couldn’t wait to get home. Chloe went down for bed just before midnight, and I was in bed by 12:01am and the next time I looked at the clock it was 5:45am!!! I couldn’t believe everyone in our house was still sleeping!!!

So far things are going really well. I am really sore yet, and I’m sure I will be for a while given the way I look around my incision. I’ve never seen so much black and blue. Jon said they did a lot of tugging on me and he wasn’t kidding, but it was all worth it, and I know in a few weeks I will be feeling much more like my old self.

I did have a moment during pictures that was quite special… I had all my girls on my bed with me, and we were all just “playing” with Chloe. Justine took a few shots and then had Jon hop in the picture too… as I sat there looking at my beautiful girls and Jon with his arms wrapped around me, it hit me… my family is now complete. It was beautiful, I just sat there and cried, which of course made everyone in the room cry with me… it was just perfect.