Jovee Marie

We welcomed our newest little one on July 4th.  She is just as sweet as can be.  I had forgotten how special newborns are.  And how soft and cuddly.

So the goal this time around was, first and foremost, to go into labor on my own, instead of being induced.  I also wanted to try and do it naturally for as long as possible.  I decided to use hypnobabies; I have heard lots of good things about it, and my friend Celeste let me borrow her cds.  I started contractions around 1:00 in the morning Thursday, and then went into the hospital at about 10:00am or so.  I progressed decently until I hit 7 mm dilated, around 2:30 pm and then I seemed to hit a wall and did not progress much, but was in a lot of pain and the contractions were pretty close together.  For me, doing this naturally was about wanting to have the experience.  I'm not anti-medicine, or wanting to prove anything to anyone, or even to myself.  (Although I'm sure it would have been something I'd be really proud of!)  I'd say the hypnosis really helped me to relax, and helped me go a long way.  But I didn't have the same awesome experience that some women do.  So when I started hating life and everyone around me and the hypnosis lady talking to me in my ear, I decided to go ahead and get an epidural.  I had lost morale and was exhausted.  I've felt a wide range of emotions about it- from feeling like a failure for giving in to an epidural, to being annoyed at myself for trying to go without one at all.  But with some distance and perspective now, I feel really glad with how it happened. I'm glad that I tried, that I got to experience a lot, and that I got an epidural in the end. :)  She was born at 5:30pm and only took two contractions of pushing to come.  Recovery has been pretty easy going.  I feel more like myself every day.

Birthing is an incredible experience no matter how you look at it, and I feel really grateful to be a mom and to have been able to carry three beautiful kids into this world.  

Also the new Birthing Center at Shawnee Mission Medical Center is awesome.  I loved every single one of my nurses, and felt supported in every decision I made.  From the hypnosis to the epidural.  Plus it's really fancy- like staying at a hotel, not a hospital.  Except for the food. Yuck.

The kids have loved her so much.  I hear several exclamations a day of "Isn't it great that we have a new baby?" or "She is so cute!" or "I'm so glad that she came out of your tummy."  They both have little colds though, so it's hard that we have to keep them away from her. I'm praying she has a really great immune system.   

My mom and dad came to watch the kids while we were in the hospital, and then my mom stayed longer after we got home.  I'm so grateful to have had my mom's help!  Besides doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, and playing with the kids, she has a peace and calmness about her that permeates through the whole household.  I have missed that since she left yesterday.  I'm trying to channel my inner Mama!  Why couldn't that personal trait be mine too??  Thank you, thank you, Mom!

Oh, and baby's name.. Marie is after my sweet grandmother, and Jovee was a name that kind of came to me in the middle of the night when I was only a couple of months along.  No one else in the family really liked it, so I tried to think of other names I liked, but after a couple of months Ross said out of the blue, "I kind of like Jovee."  So we went with it.  It's not a typical name, or the typical spelling of the name either apparently, but we wanted to do something a little more unique this time.  I like the idea that it means joyful too.  

I've had so much great support from friends too. I feel really loved, so thank you to everyone who has helped and who has offered help!