Baby Trevor's arrival!

We've been home for just over 24 hours, so it is about time for me to post about the beautiful and shall we say, challenging events since Wednesday! Of course I didn't sleep much leading up to our 5:30am arrival at the hospital for the scheduled c-section. Part of it was anxiousness, and the other part was a cute but very emotional 3-year-old girl in our family who knew something big was about to change in her world. Poor Baby C. With the scheduled surgery, I loved that I was able to do my hair and makeup so I wouldn't look quite so ghastly in the first photos with baby! We arrived at the hospital on time, and here was the last tummy shot: After a couple of hours of paperwork and prep stuff, they walked me into the surgery room. The anesthesiologist worked his magic and I was soon completely numb from the chest down. And about 20 minutes later, 7:54am to be exact, my secret was revealed! It was a boy! Drew was of course shocked. And even though it was a scheduled birth, it still was absolutely sacred and beautiful and memorable as anything I can imagine. So as they put me all back together, I was able to watch the nurses do all of the basic stuff to check the baby and let me hold him as best I could. Our little baby boy was beautiful! 8 lbs, 2 oz and 20" long. I had to spend the entire day in bed as I recovered. And my dad was there shortly after the birth to come hold baby grandson #2. A highlight of the day was Scott and Charlotte and my mom coming to see the new baby. Scott was really excited that he had a baby brother (I don't think he realized there was even an alternative) and just just kept saying, "I like my baby brother!" over and over again. Charlotte, on the other hand, was a bit freaked out by the whole thing. As you can see in the pictures, she was very unsure about what was going on and wasn't crazy about touching or looking at the new baby. But the baby was SUPER nice and did bring with him presents for his big brother and sister: Shifty Drug Launcher (a toy from the movie Cars) for Scott and a tiny Sleeping Beauty doll for Charlotte. How thoughful of the baby! The next day I was SLOWLY and CAREFULLY walking around a bit. Scott and Charlotte did visit again, and Charlotte was warming up to the idea of the new baby. She kept saying, "It is not a boy. It is a baby." She is still insisting upon this 3 days later... But she did bring a hat for the baby to wear, and Scott was happy to share his new car, Shifty Drug, with him. Here are a couple of cute pictures and videos:

Then there was the issue of a name... Since I have known for months it was going to be a boy, I had decided in my mind that Patrick would be the name. After the birth, Drew liked it, but of course had to analyze it to death. On Thursday afternoon, I made him promise we would have a name by the time he left that night. We were pretty much decided on Patrick Ryan when he left to grab dinner. But when he came back, he said he kept thinking more about Trevor. I really liked Trevor, but didn't like changing the name I had picked in my mind 4 months ago. So reluctantly I agreed to think about it that night and decide in the morning. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but as I was able to spend time with the baby during the night while he fed, I looked at him and just felt that Trevor fit him. It was the right name and it didn't bother me at all to give up Patrick. So that morning, we started spreading the news that Trevor Ryan was our cute baby's name! Scott was quite upset that we didn't name him Nate, like Zach's baby brother, so we told him he could call the baby Trevor Nate if he likes. We hope eventually Scott will like it! Saturday came and as much as I LOVED staying at the hospital (seriously) I was ready to come home. After a relaxing morning, the rest of the family came to get me. My window faced the parking lot, and one of my favorite sights ever was watching Drew carry Charlotte and Scott push the stroller with the car seat, just behind Daddy. It was one of those precious little moments that I will not forget. We got all packed up, took a few pictures and walked out to the car to drive home to our new adventure with THREE kids!

The baby can now come...

Sadly, I am sick at home today while Drew and the kids are at church. 3 days before a c-section is NOT the best time to get a cough and cold...

My burst of energy is now over, but I am proud to say that all of the "important" home improvement projects are done! Here are some of the results:

Scott and Charlotte's new room:



Valance in the kitchen:


New light in the front room:


Drapes in the living room:


Scott and Charlotte's closet:


The baby room:


Did you actually think I would show you?

Just call me "Tweety"

During the last few weeks of all my pregnancies, I have experienced a serious case of "Nesting Instinct". I knew it was coming on a couple of weeks ago when I opened the refrigerator and was totally disgusted with how dirty it was. It hadn't bothered me for the rest of my pregnancy, but all of the sudden on that particular day, everything had to be dropped so that I could spend the entire afternoon cleaning the fridge and freezer. It was so clean when I was done it could have even passed the old Riviera cleaning inspections. So now, here is the list of things I hope to accomplish before this baby comes in 10 days!

- Move furniture around to get Charlotte settled in Scott's room (done)
- Install a lower closet rung in Scot and Charlotte's closet so they can reach their own clothes (done)
- Paint Scott & Charlotte's new shared room (tomorrow's project)
- Sell anything on eBay or Craigslist that we no longer need (ongoing)
- Hang valances that my mom made forever ago above the kitchen windows (Wednesday?)
- Hang curtains that my mom also made (aren't I lucky?) in the living room
- Find a solution to the annoying bird that hangs out and poops outside of the baby room window (Wednesday I have someone coming to clean and hopefully put something up to keep the bird away)

Those are just a few of the things I hope to finish! I won't even mention how badly I would like to attack the garage and throw away 90% of the junk that exists in there...

The GOOD things about being pregnant!

In an effort to have a positive attitude during my last month of pregnancy, I thought I should document the things I enjoy about being pregnant:

1) My hair looks GREAT! It is super thick and feels SO healthy. I can't remember the last time I ran my fingers through my hair and one came out...

2) I have an instant conversation starter with nice people I don't know who are just curious how far along I am, how many kids I have, etc.

3) I eat all the time, whatever I want, and don't feel one bit guilty about it.

4) My skin also feels fabulous and no cruel adult acne...

5) My Gap maternity jeans. Love 'em.

6) I have very crazy, often entertaining dreams that I can usually remember when I wake up.

7) I do not feel guilty when I am so tired in the afternoon that I just lay on the couch while Scott plays the Wii.

8) The hair on my legs completely stops growing.

9) How could I forget... I am going to be able to stay in the hospital for 4 days! I LOVE the hospital!

10) Friends and family are genuinely excited and interested in this wonderful event in our family.

Now just pray for me that I can go to bed and get a decent night sleep :)

Who can guess my secret?

It has certainly not been easy to keep the gender of this baby a secret! I haven't slipped yet -- at least not that I have realized. If you are behind and don't know why I am not saying what I am having, check out this post.

So I added a poll to my blog for all my followers to place a vote. Before you decide what you think I am having, here are a few things to consider:

1) The doctor doesn't know the gender, but based on the heartbeat, he guessed correctly the last 2 visits. And no, I'm not going to say if the heartbeat was fast or slow... I'll keep quizzing him in upcoming visits to see if his guess changes.

2) While I was pregnant with Scott, I loved corn dogs. Same with this one.

3) Scott was really active, but Charlotte didn't kick much at all. So far, this baby is really tame.

4) By this point in both previous pregnancies, I had gone through at least one CostCo size Tums bottle. I haven't had much of a problem with heartburn up to this point.

5) I felt more nauseous with Scott, and more exhausted with Charlotte. But during this baby's first trimester, I felt more nauseous AND exhausted than both other pregnancies combined. It really was miserable.

6) Drew isn't ready to talk about names at this point, but so far my votes are Patrick and Natalie.

So what do you think???