The birth story of Cora

It all began on July 13th. I woke up thinking my water broke and had a slow leak. I was excited and nervous at the same time and quickly took a shower and made sure my bag was packed. Since I didn't have a huge "gush" like in my last two pregnancies, I kept second guessing myself and wasn't 100% sure. So, I decided to lay down and see what happened because I read somewhere if your water had truly broke and you lay down it will leak out more or something like that. So, sure enough after laying down a lot of "fluid" started leaking down my leg. I was so excited!! I woke up Jon (who had worked all night)and told him it was time to go to the hospital. We told the kids who were beyond excited and off we went. I wasn't having any contractions yet at this point and didn't think anything of it. Well, after arriving at the hospital and quickly finding out my water had NOT broken, they did a stress test on baby and then sent me home in tears. I didn't want to tell the kids or our parents that it was a false alarm. I couldn't believe this was my 4th baby and I couldn't tell if my water broke or not....I still wasn't convinced. They were trying to tell me that it was my bladder and basically I was peeing in my pants all morning.

After I got home around noon I started having small contractions. I had a regular Dr.s appt. later that day and decided to keep it. At the doctors, they checked again to see if my water broke and once again they told me it hadn't. I hadn't gained any weight all month and was measuring shorter this week than last so they decided I should have an U/S to see if all was ok. My sister Chris was visiting from Colorado and she came to my appt. with me so it was fun to see the baby with her in the room. The first thing I had her do was confirm it was a girl (: She said the baby was measuring around 6# 6oz. and from what she could see all looked good. By that time I was having more contractions, but nothing severe and they weren't very consistent. By this time I was exhausted already and had a small dinner with the family and then decided to try to rest on the couch that evening just in case. My contractions were starting to get stronger at this point and were about 15 minutes apart. We couldn't decide if Jon should stay home from work and in the end I just told him to go to work. He had to drive about 2 hours away so I was a little nervous! Around 10 that night my contractions were getting very painful, so Jon and I decided he would turn around and be home by midnight. I decided to try and sleep but I was in a lot of pain so that didn't happen. When Jon got home, I sent him to bed to get some rest and I sat on the couch timing contractions and trying to breathe through them. I was in so much pain but didn't want to run to the hospital too quickly! By about 5:30ish I couldn't stand it anymore and woke Jon up, left the other 3 kids sleeping, called my mother-in-law, and we headed into the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, I was checked and thought for sure I would be dilated to at least a 5 since I had been having strong contractions since the evening before. Depressingly I was only dilated to a 1 1/2. The nurse told me they would wait for about half an hour and check me again. If I had progressed they would consider keeping me, but if I hadn't they would send me home. I was shocked and scared they would send me home-I was in so much pain!! At this point I was shaking so bad and had started throwing up. I couldn't even walk and couldn't imagine trying to get to my car and go home when I knew I was in active labor. So, after being there for about 1 1/2 hours a nurse came in and checked me and I had NOT progressed at all. At this point I knew I had tears in my eyes as she told me to get dressed and they were sending me home. As Jon and I were getting ready to leave, I was hanging on to him and the bed and having a severe contraction just as the doctor on call was walking by. He immediately stopped and said, "Hey your in labor! I didn't realize you were in that much pain." He then told one of the nurses to get me in a room right away. I was so relieved!! Once in the room, they drew blood to check my platelets to see if I was able to have an epidural and make sure they weren't dropping too fast (as in my previous pregnancies). The nurse started the tub for me to help relieve my pain and I think it worked a little bit. After about an hour, they checked me again and I was at a 4. I was still vomiting , exhausted, and in so much pain that I said I wanted an epidural if my platelets were ok. This was my 4th baby and I didn't think I could stand it much longer. My platelets had to be above 100 to get one and the results came back and they were 102! The anesthesiologist couldn't come fast enough! Once I got the epidural, I didn't feel a thing and felt awesome. After 45 minutes I went from a 4 to 10 and the doctor said it was time to push. I burst out crying and was so excited I would see my baby within minutes. I probably pushed about 7 times and she was here! The first thing we noticed was her dark hair and thought she looked just like Jonnie. And here she is born July 14th:

Cora Karen 6# 10oz. and 19 inches long-You had long fingers and equally long toes. You were a little peanut and we thought you were perfect!



We thought you were so beautiful and we felt so blessed to have another healthy, perfect child. You were very bright eyed and sweet.




Grandma Jeanne gave you your first bath. You didn't like it at first but soon relaxed..until you had to get out!



Our family is complete and I couldn't be happier! Everyone was so excited to bring you home.




And here you are ready to go home. You are such a peanut and didn't fit very well in your car seat. (:




I love you so much Cora and couldn't be any happier these days. I can't imagine my life without you in it. Welcome to the world sweet angel (:

What's new

First thing, Jon celebrated his 20th class reunion this summer (boy is he getting old :)). I think he had fun seeing all his classmates and old friends again. Here is a class picture of them. Jon is off to the left.

We celebrated Alaina and Sawyer's family birthday party with my nephew Tucker, who turned 5 only 5 days before Sawyer. I made the boys a Cars cake since they are both into the movie and Alaina wanted an ice cream cake. It was nice to do it all together this year. On Alaina's birthday, she went to the movies with a friend and had a sleep over-still can't believe she's 13.



We celebrated Sawyer's birthday at the aquatic center. He's been wanting it there since winter and he was very happy it all worked out and he had a lot of fun! I loved that they did everything (:





Two of my sisters have been home visiting and I loved having them around for awhile. My sister Chris is visiting from Colorado and is staying until the 16th in hopes of being here when I have the baby. So I am crossing my fingers I don't go over! I would cry if she has to leave before the baby comes ):

We spent 4th of July at the pool. It was great to just sit in the sun and float in the pool, plus there wasn't many people there which was even better. Sawyer started jumping off the diving board, too! We spent the day at the pool today, too and there was sooo many people there it was crazy! Sawyer continued to jump off the diving board like 30 times! That's a lot of work for a little guy-he will sleep well tonight!


Doing a "twisty turn"

Sawyer started t-ball about 4 weeks ago and yesterday they started their first game. It was hilarious! At one point the ball rolled right to Sawyer and he just stared at it. All the kids needed constant direction or else they would just stand there clueless-so funny! I think next week will be better and they will have more of an idea on how the game is played (:



And now we are just playing the waiting game. Baby is due in 5 days and I am so excited the time is near to meet her!! I am very ready and we have narrowed a few names down, so hopefully when we see her one of the names will click. So, I hope my next post on here will be of my new baby girl! Wish me luck and lets all hope and pray for an easy, fast labor (: