And Then There Was Blue

  It's been almost four months since our darling bundle of blue joined our primarily pink family.  Finally bringing him home and getting our whole family together was like a dream come true.  These five big sisters were convinced right away that Darin was the best gift God could have ever given to us.

 

 

        To start out, it hasn't at all felt as strange as I thought it was going to.  From day one he has felt like mine and like he belonged right where he was.  I can't imagine him being a girl.  I can hardly remember what life was like before he came.  It does still seem hard to imagine a little boy growing up in this house though!

 

 

        Darin hasn't known a lonely moment in his life.  When people hear that this little boy has five older sisters, they almost always reply with "Oh, poor guy!".  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  These girls are there to attend to his every whimper.  Making him laugh is their greatest goal.  When the sisters have gone to bed and Mommy thinks she should get something done,  he wonders what has gone wrong with the world.  After all, he is supposed to be in someone's arms ALL the time!

 

 

       Oh yes.  Our dear, sweet little baby is a CHUNK!!!  He weighed almost sixteen pounds at six weeks.  None of my girls have weighed more than twenty pounds by a year.  We are loving, loving, loving these chubs and rolls.  Unbelievably kissable!!!

 

 

     Darin is FUN!  And GOOFY!!!  He LOVES playing and having people tease him.  I've never seen such a little guy with such a great sense of humor. 

 

     We are so, so, so blessed to have been entrusted with this precious little boy.  Our hearts are completely lost to him.  It may feel a little strange at times, but this "pink" house loves it's little splash of blue!!!

 

 

 

Darin's Birth~ Part 5

      David was able to stay at the hospital for the first six nights, but because he was starting night shift that next week, he had to head home to get his sleep!  For the last three nights big sisters came to help me out and spend some time with their brother.

 

 

 

 

 

         Lydia joined us the first night, Bethany and Lydia stayed the next night and then Havilah and Auntie Rachel joined us the last night.  It was a blast!  Who knew being stuck in the hospital could be so much fun!

 

 

          My time at the hospital with my dear son was truly a precious, precious time.  But as the time drew nearer to going home I started getting really excited!  I was bonded so well to my sweet Darin and I couldn't wait to have our family all together at last. 

 

        Finally the day arrived!  The doctor gave the final word and we packed up for good this time and headed out!

 

 

      Ten days after walking into the hospital, I stepped outside for the first time!  With our beautiful little boy!!!  God was so abundantly gracious to us through every single detail.  Now we headed home to begin life with SIX children!  Now the adventure really starts!!!!

 

 

 

 

Darin's Birth~ Part 4

       On day three of our stay at the hospital the doctor came with the final word that we were going to have to stay in the hospital for at least six more days.  That was a bit of a hard pill to swallow.  The reality of such a long hospital stay hadn't really crossed my mind.  David had such a great attitude about it though and our girls were having a grand time with grandparents and uncles and aunties. 

          They also told us that they would keep as at Silverton Hospital to the very best of their ability.  We found out later on just how amazingly blessed we were by this.  This birthing center doesn't keep sick babies, but transfers them to a bigger hospital with a NICU.  Which would have meant that Darin would have stayed in the nursery while we waited somewhere else.  As it was they had to move us to a different part of the hospital, but they gave us a beautiful room with somewhere David could sleep.  The nurses from the birth center came all the way across to take care of us!  The best part was Darin was able to stay with us the entire time.  They brought the IV pump right in our room and anything else that had to be done happened right there with us. 

          Darin was such a trooper.  Even after being poked and prodded unceasingly, he was just a delightful little baby!

(His poor little arm!  He kept whacking himself in the face!)

       There were some long days, but we had lots of special visitors come see us which was encouraging!

 

 

 

         Our sweet Sister-in-law, Hannah, even brought us out a delicious home cooked meal one evening.  The hospital allowed us to continue to order meals which again was a huge blessing.  The food there was actually quite tasty.  This was my favorite hospital meal that I ordered at least seven or eight times for either lunch or dinner!

 

 

          There came a point I thought I would never want turkey dinner again, but I must admit, my mouth is drooling now!!! 

 

         The days passed quicker than I thought they would.  I found that having nothing to do but ~feed my baby, snuggle my baby, stare at my baby, repeat~ was a life I quite enjoyed!  And he grew like a weed!  I felt like I was watching him grow in front of my eyes.  By one week old he had surpassed his birth weight by five ounces!

 

 

          I need to take a brief moment here to say how overwhelmingly blessed we were by the entire hospital staff the entire time we were there.  They treated us like royalty and were so friendly, kind and encouraging.  Because we were there for such a chunk, we had several of the same nurses several times.  It was so fun to learn about their families and their backgrounds.  Many of them were outspoken believers and it was tremendously encouraging to have the body of Christ right there in the hospital caring for us!  I miss them all!!!

 

          Whew!  I think I'll finally finish up tomorrow!!!!!

Darin's Birth~ Part 3

      So, there we were, all packed up and ready to head home from the hospital when we got the news.  Darin had spiked a fever and had high respiration so they wanted us to stay overnight.  They moved us to a different room and started trying figure out what was going on with our little guy.

      Within what seemed like minutes, but really was hours, our poor little guy was having a chest X-ray, was getting a port in his little arm to start IV antibiotics and was getting ready to go under the lights because his bilirubin count came back too high.  It was hard.  I spent a lot of time standing by his little light bed crying as he screamed and screamed.  He had to stay under the lights for two hour stretches, then I could feed him and hold him for twenty minutes, then back under the lights he would go.  He really, really didn't like it and cried almost the whole time.

         That night was hard.  Thinking of the night before, when I had laid there with nothing but praise on my lips, I was reminded to give thanks again for whatever road the Lord had for us to walk.  The lyrics that had sustained me through labor and filled me with joy as I had held him in my arms, once again reminded me of truth as I laid alone that second night longing for my baby.

     "Scars and struggles on the way,

 still with joy our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone.

Never once did You leave us on our own.

You are faithful, God, You are faithful."

       The next morning brought the news that Darin had pneumonia.  Apparently he had aspirated on some amniotic fluid with bacteria or something like that during delivery.  The doctor wanted him to stay on the lights for the rest of the day and continue on the antibiotics until he knew more.  We were also told that they would keep us at this hospital as long as they could but that it was likely that we would be moved to a different hospital.

       The new day had also brought new joy though, and we were so thankful to be somewhere with people who knew much more than we did and who were taking excellent care of our boy and were also treating us respectfully and kindly.  It was a sobering thought to think that if we had gone home the night before that Darin could have gotten very sick before we knew something was wrong.  We were so grateful to be right where we were.

       That night Darin was able to be done with the bilirubin lights and after almost 20 hours of only being able to hold my baby at scheduled times, I was sooooo ready to have him in my arms again!!!!

To be continued.......

Darin's Birth~ Part 2

    After Darin was born we all cried and kissed and kissed a cried, the placenta was delivered without any problem, Auntie Rachel cut the cord, I got a solid chunk of skin to skin time with my boy, he ate like a champ, everyone got a little snuggle time with Darin and we all kissed and cried some more.  Rachel and the girls headed home around 11:00 or so, and David, Darin and I "settled in for the night". 

     Apparently, after six babies your body likes to bleed a little more than usual even when everything goes well.  I spent the night with my sweet, sweet nurse who seems just a little less sweet after coming in every twenty minutes to press on your uterus all night long.  I passed many very, very large clots but after the nurse's diligent work, everything seemed to settle down and by 5:00 in the morning she said all was well!

     All night long, even with the excitement, I was euphoric.  The tears of joy just kept coming as I marveled at my beautiful son.  I couldn't do anything except give thanks.  Lying there with my baby in my arms was all I could dream of.

       The next day was a joy filled day as we had many of our favorite people come and meet Darin. 

 

 

 

 

 

(Somehow I am missing a chunk of pictures of many other special visitors!  Thank you all who came to see us.  We were so, so blessed and encouraged by you all!)

 

     It was a wonderful day.  Darin was eating great and looked wonderful.  I felt fabulous even after not sleeping much at all the night before.  We felt so very loved not only by those who came to see us but by everyone else who contacted us or wished us well online! 

 

     We LOVE Silverton Hospital, but we were looking forward to heading home that evening and sleeping in our own bed.  The nurse took Darin for his hearing test, we packed up everything and packed it in the truck.  We were ready to head out the door when the nurse brought Darin back in with a very sad look on her face.  She said, " I'm so, so sorry, but he has spiked a fever and his respiration is very high.  The doctor wants you to stay overnight."

 

To be continued......

Darin's Birth~ Part 1

         Sorry it has taken me this long to return with our news and the details of Darin's birth.  To be honest, this past month I've been snuggling my little man 97% of the time and have not really let blogging weigh on my mind at all!  I've been looking forward to getting back here and writing out the exciting story of the birth though.  I know for some of you this may not be your cup of tea (feel free to skip it!), but some of you have been asking for the details.  So brace yourself~ Here it comes!!!

        This pregnancy started out the easiest of all, but ended the hardest of all.  My girls were the biggest encouragements the entire time.  They let me rest.  They brought me water.  They rubbed my swollen feet.  They talked with me about the baby again and again and again and again.  And they never once complained about any of it. 

        I started this pregnancy positive, p.o.s.i.t.i.v.e. that we were having a girl.  And to be honest, I wanted a girl!!!!  I was sooo tired of people hoping we would have a boy.  After praying for a baby for two years nothing sounded better to me than a beautiful baby girl, and I was grieved at the thinking that a sixth little girl was somehow less valuable than a boy. 

       As it got closer to the birth I started to wonder though.  There were enough funny little differences that got the thought in my head, "I wonder.....".  Boy or girl we could not wait to meet this little person.  Every day it felt like all we could do was wait, wait, wait.  I didn't have any even small contractions leading up to labor, but there was TONS of pressure.  It seemed like at any time this baby could just come with little warning!  So still we waited.  And prayed.

         Three days past due, we were still all waiting.  At noon, my water broke!!!  I instantly started smiling, praising the Lord and shaking!!!  David came home right away,  Rachel, Lydia and Bethany got ready to go and we were off!  I hadn't really eaten anything that morning so we were going to swing by for some food on the way to the hospital, but I was having so much pressure I wanted to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  Public Service Announcement to anyone going to give birth:  EAT SOMETHING before heading into serious labor!!!

        We made it to the hospital and they checked us straight into a room.  It seems that having your sixth child and saying you're in labor carries some weight!  When they first checked me at 2:30 I was at 5cm..  That's when the contractions started.  And when I say they started, I mean they started.  I've never had labor begin so furiously.  Usually my labors are a steady progression from start to finish, sometimes slower, sometimes faster.  These contractions were five minutes or closer the entire time, incredibly long and incredibly hard. 

       I was expecting to be able to interact with my sister and daughters that we had invited to be there, but from the very start I was in the zone.  I was very weak from not eating and felt completely exhausted and nauseous.  I had put together a playlist of music weeks before and there were many moments were the words of those songs were what got me through.  It was a blessing having those words of truth playing audibly during those hours of extreme trial!

      David was such a support.  Whatever I needed, he was there for me.  Rachel and the girls were fabulous at just sitting back and letting me do my thing.  I was on the birthing ball for a long chunk.  I was struggling with pretty good back labor so I decided to try the Jacuzzi for awhile.  That was a tremendous help.  I was able to relax briefly in between contractions which was a blessed relief!  After awhile in the tub I began to feel a bit of pushing type pressure so I got out to be checked.  I was still only at 8cm. which was disappointing to me.  We waited for what seemed like forever, but really only an hour or so for things to progress.  Finally I tried laying on my side which proved to be terribly painful but effective.

       It was finally time to push!!!  Pushing didn't take too long before they were saying they could see the head.  I wasn't sure how much Rachel and the girls would want to watch, but they positioned themselves right down at the end of the bed and watched the whole thing!  I could tell in the pushing that this baby was on the bigger side, but finally his head, his shoulders and the rest of his body was pushed out.  There is absolutely nothing like that moment of seeing your baby for the first time.  Nothing better in the world. 

       The midwife showed him to the girls briefly before giving him to me to discover that it was a boy!!!!!!!  It was a moment of complete disbelief while at the same time being so very, very right.  I cried.  Bawled my eyes out is more accurate.  Rachel cried.  Lydia cried.  Bethany cried.  It was beautiful.  Unbelievable.  Nothing in the world like meeting a new person created by an awesome God, brought safely into this world.

           We named him Darin David after his Daddy, David Darin.  He was my biggest baby so far at 8 pounds 14 ounces, 21 inches long.  Labor lasted almost exactly six hours, and while it was hard, it went very well with no complications.  Praise the Lord for His unending grace!!!

          I couldn't believe we had a son.  A beautiful, perfect son.  Daddy was just a little bit proud!

 

 

      There is a bit more to this story, but this concludes the actual birth.  I'll continue on with the rest soon!

      

Introducing.......

     With great, great joy I introduce to you our son ,  Darin David.

 

That's right.  The Lord has blessed us exceedingly with a beautiful boy. 

 

Born September 30, 2014

 

8:30 P.M.

 

Weighed eight pounds, fourteen ounces

 

Twenty-one inches long

 

Loved more than could ever be expressed!!!