rewind...summertime before Mercy

I have a couple "rewind" posts of our summer before Mercy Rose.  Mostly because I have a lot of pictures that I want to share!  

It was a BUSY beginning of the summer...we ran around a lot..or at least it felt like we did.  Which makes me appreciate how much things have slowed down now.  I'm a home-body kind of girl...so I've loved staying home with our girls this past month.  Don't get me wrong...we're still busy...just busy changing diapers, feeding, a meeting needs at home ;).  Having 3 girls that are 3 1/2 and under is a challenge (to say the least!).  But it's a good challenge.

Anyway, here's a little glimpse into summer life with Livie and Emma while being 8 and 9 months pregnant :)...

Fondulac Farm park with friends

Livie fell in love with painting this summer.  Also notice her beat-up face :(!  She fell from her bed that week and bonked her head on the side table...plus her eczema flare up just made it all look worse :(. Treating her eczema has been a major challenge this summer, but 3 months later it is looking SO much better.  Praise the Lord.  I still am not for sure the cause or the best treatment, but we're learning...

 at the park behind Mamaw's

quality time with Adalai and Remy

beautiful girls...just beautiful...

 seesters!

Livie helping me bake...so happy about me taking this picture ;)...

Ask Emma to show her "happy heart"...and this is what she does

 Livie sporting her sparkly pink swimsuit at Norris...if you've been with Livie out at Norris you know she's obsessed with that suit!

Tot-time at Morton pool

 

 Emma always wears these glasses upside-down...I think it's pretty cute :)

 And the madness of cleaning parade houses for Noah Hermans Sons at the end of June...put in 2 FULL days with these girls!   

 evenings at Norris...

red-neck wellies :)

On the fourth of July, Chad got to go hogging at the Schock's...Emma was not a fan of this catfish he caught!

sparklers at the Getz's later that evening :)

 

posse kids celebrating the 4th

And a summer time favorite...

Welcome Mercy Rose

We praise God for our newest addition, Mercy Rose!  Born July 8th at 2:16am (7 days early!),  7 pounds, 1.1 ounce,  19 inches, and a slight tint of red in her hair.  She's doing wonderfully and is VERY loved by her two big sisters...

In the past month, I was reminded twice, (once by a good friend, and once by our sweet neighbor), how we are never guaranteed to deliver a healthy baby into this world.  So true.  Praise God for His grace in giving us this precious miracle!  Her new life is such a gift.  

Here's how she came...

I started having consistent contractions Sunday morning at church...so, around 10 am on July 7th.  I wasn't due until the 15th, so I was a little skeptical that this was the "real" thing...but my body was telling me otherwise.  After church, the contractions kept coming, but they didn't get real strong until later in the evening.  Our girls were at Norris with Chad's family, so Chad and I had time just take it easy and keep track of the progress ;)...

And of course we took a few pictures to remember this day...something we've done with each one.

At 10pm, we headed to the hospital.  But once we got there, my contractions slowed down and I was only dilated to a 3 :(.  I was pretty bummed because I really didn't want to be sent home.  My midwife had us go take a walk for an hour and then come back to be checked again.  That walk made the contractions come back hard and strong, thank goodness!  When she checked me at 11:15, I had dilated to a 5 and they could admit me...yay!  

I did go ahead and get an epidural this time (my first real one really...with Emma I had an intrathecal - a type of epidural I guess, but my midwife didn't recommend it this time).  So, I got that at 1:00am, but it didn't work very well.  My left leg was numb, but I could still feel everything on the right side and ALL the contractions.  It made the experience pretty uncomfortable because I was hooked up to my IV and epidural, in bed, but I could still feel all the pain :(.  (Note to self, if I do give birth again the future...don't get an epidural!).  Thankfully, this only lasted an hour.  At 2:00am, they checked me and I was fully dilated and fully effaced.  Right after that, I sat up to puke and my water broke.  It was time to push!  I pushed through two contractions and she was out.  And all the pain was gone :)...it is SO amazing how the pain can go away so fast!

Her first picture :)...

So thankful to hold her in my arms...

The rest of that day was pretty relaxing...she slept ALL day (of course)...and we tried to!

 

Her first visitors, my Mom and Dad...

And then Liv and Emma came with Chad's mom and Aunt Katie.  Liv was in love with her from the start!

Emma not so much ;)...

Emma was all over the place in that hospital room!  She wasn't that excited at first about Mercy, but now that we're home, she's a big fan :).

Andrea was her most excited visitor though :).  She moved with her family to California the next morning, so it was so special for them to meet Mercy before their departure.  This was one of the best parts of Mercy arriving early!

And Alex and Brittany came too :).

Tuesday, July 9th, we headed home...

The rest of that week Chad was around to help out with the girls.  It was SO nice to have him home.  I got spoiled with the extra help...

Just 3 days old...

And at 5 days, she had her first outing with our family.  We needed to get the girls out of the house for a little bit!  First to the doctor for Mercy and then to wildlife prairie park.  Here's Chad with his 3 girls :)...

Anyway, Mercy's doing amazing.  Such a wonderful baby so far!  Up twice at night and otherwise content, cuddly, and happy.  I'm LOVING having a newborn around again :).  So...little Mercy Rose...welcome to our family!  We love you!

Love this last picture from Rachel.  Chad and I look tired...Emma is picking her nose and being ornery (ha!)...Livie is the proud big sister who just wants to hold her...and Mercy is just hanging out :).  Yep, that pretty much captures us these past couple weeks!

2 weeks to go!

Today marks 38 weeks of this pregnancy.  Some parts of this little journey have been REALLY long...carrying a third child has been seriously harder on my body than the first two :( - morning sickness lingering to 21 weeks, varicose veins, fatigue, moodiness - bleh.  And other parts of this pregnancy have gone EXTREMELY fast...which I'm sure I can attribute to having 2 little girls running around me 24/7 :).  

Right now though, I feel really good...just a little tired.  And I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions...which is kind of exciting :).  I would love for her to come early - especially because then my sister and her family could meet her before they move to California next Tuesday!!  Please pray for that if you think of it.  May seem like silly request, but it would be so special if that could happen before they move away.

Here's the bump today...

And here she is as of last Friday!  We've never had a 3D sonogram before...so this was fun :).  And I'm even more excited to see what she really looks like...

And since this post is mainly on this pregnancy and our baby girl, I thought I'd share these pregnancy pictures by Chad's aunt Rachel.  They were taken about 6 weeks ago, so I'm quite a bit smaller...but they are with my favorite people :)...and I think they turned out great!