Our first baby girl turned 9 at the end of August. Our kids have already made a handful of friends in SC but because of Covid, we didn’t feel comfortable inviting them over to celebrate quite yet. None-the-less we wanted to give her a birthday to remember! Anyone who knows Ellie knows she is all about sparkle and shine. I was inspired for her birthday color scheme by this gorgeous little dress from J.Crew. I had imagined taking her out to a Mexican Restaurant (she’s all about chips & guacamole) and ending the night walking somewhere for ice cream on Hilton Head Island. However, Covid again! I didn’t like the idea of going into a restaurant with the kids especially since Penny still likes to suck her thumb (GERMS!!) and with Charlotte being so little. Instead, we decided to make her birthday a weekend long celebration!

We started out by decorating the apartment Thursday night when the kids went to sleep so Ellie would feel the love as soon she woke up on her birthday morning. The balloons were so simple but made such a statement in our small living room area. Sheldon and I also worked on her cake – we’ve started a new tradition of making homemade cakes for the kids for their birthday. We research decorating idea’s and then hope for the best! Hers turned out as what some may call a Pinterest fail but she loved it! I think the kids like knowing we spent extra time and effort to make them something.

Friday morning we woke up early (Ellie is up by 6:45 am almost every morning) to beat her out into the living room. We got to see her excitement first thing and Sheldon had breakfast with her before he left for work. After that we spent the day swimming at the pool, playing card & board games and counting down the hours until Sheldon came home so she could open presents! Then it was time for pizza, cake and ice cream followed by a walk outside so she could test out her new scooter!

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Saturday we went out shopping so Ellie could spend birthday money and then to the pool to cool off in this southern heat. Sunday we woke up early and went to Hilton Head Island to spend the day at the beach. This was our first time spending the day in the Atlantic Ocean as a family! We were all forced to get out of the water twice by the lifeguards- we aren’t sure why but we believe it may have been shark citing’s! The kids also found a dead jellyfish that they buried in the sand. Finally, Ellie found sand dollars that were still alive! She found a ton as a toddler in California but this was her first experience seeing them as not just a shell. We ended the day by going out for ice cream and playing video games. The kids are hooked on In Justice and love playing it with Sheldon whenever we’ll let them 🙂

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Overall, we had a great birthday weekend with our 9 year old baby girl! I cannot believe next year she will be into the double digits!

Happy Birthday Balloons: Here

Number Balloons: Here

Dress: Here

On July 25th, 2020 we welcomed our 3rd baby girl to this family of ours. Charlotte Grace was born in the afternoon weighing 6lbs 5oz and measuring 19 inches long. She is just as perfect as her brother and sisters were when they joined our family. With each delivery, I experienced a very similar flow of events – admission to the hospital, induction procedures, epidural and finally PUSH TIME! Although each of these pregnancies differed slightly, they were fundamentally the same giving us the sweetest, fully healthy newborns! The biggest difference for Charlotte’s birth isn’t about her or COVID surprisingly – it is about me and one of the most scary experiences I’ve ever lived through.

During our first sonogram appointment for Charlotte we found out that the umbilical cord was not properly attached to my placenta, a condition called Velamentous Cord Insertion. This is a relatively low risk condition (at least for me according to my doctors) but there was risk that Charlotte’s growth would be limited. Because of this I had to have additional sonograms through my pregnancy as well as Non Stress Tests (NST’s) twice a week starting at 36 weeks to make sure she was safe and healthy. This also meant I had to schedule an induction prior to 40 weeks. During those last couple of weeks of pregnancy I picked July 24th to be the day I went to the hospital and wouldn’t leave until we had our baby! I also had to be tested for COVID 2 days prior to my induction so that I was cleared to be close to Charlotte once she was born. Luckily, my test came back negative and all we had left to do was wait for induction day to get here. I’ll walk you through that evening and EVERYTHING that happened afterwards.

On July 24th, Sheldon and I woke up expecting to get to the hospital at 7pm. Sheldon’s parents took Ellie, Sawyer and Penny for the weekend so that he could stay with me at the hospital. That evening we received a call that the rooms were all full and we would be called as soon as one opened up. Around 10:30pm when I was almost asleep we got the call to come in. I woke up with so much energy it felt like I had a full nights rest! We grabbed our bags and headed out the door. Upon arrival, the normal entrance was closed due to the time of night so we had to go through the emergency entrance – not ideal considering COVID. We had our temps checked while trying not to touch ANYTHING and were finally escorted up to the delivery floor. From there we were assigned our room and it was time to officially start my induction.

When my nurse entered our room, one of the first questions I asked her was if I needed to wear a mask the entire time. The answer was no THANK THE LORD. My husband on the other hand had to keep his on whenever anyone entered the room because he had not been tested. Once this important matter was cleared up, my nurse hooked me up to the monitoring equipment and we were all surprised to see that I was already having contractions! It turns out they were not very useful ones though since on my first cervical check I was only a finger tip dilated. My doctor then came in and went through the induction methods we would use. I had a medication inserted into my cervix, followed by a foley balloon (pretty sure I dropped an F bomb when the nurse pulled this out of me) and lastly pitocin. As soon as I heard pitocin was the next step, I immediately requested an epidural because it tends to intensify my contractions as well as the pain I experience.

Once the epidural was administered, it was just a waiting game. I believe I was dilated to 4cm’s when the doctor did her check and she realized my water had broken but Charlotte’s head was stopping it from coming out. They gave her a little love nudge and everything started progressing quickly from there. I was moved to a more vertical position and HOLY CONTRACTIONS. I’m not sure how long it took but I went from floating in the clouds thanks to my epidural to feeling so much pressure. My nurse said this was because I was sitting up. The epidural is affected by gravity so it was flowing to my legs which now felt like tree stumps! I couldn’t tell if I was being dramatic and couldn’t handle the pain or if Charlotte was actually ready following all this. The Resident OB came in shortly after and I was fully dilated with a baby wanting to exit NOW. The room was all set up and they called my doctor but she couldn’t make it in time so I started without her. I don’t know if I felt full contractions or not but I do know that is the most pain I’ve felt while pushing. My nurse held one leg, my husband held the other (as he did with all our babies!!) and Charlotte was out in 3 pushes. I didn’t even wait for a contractions on the final push. Her head was out but her shoulders were stuck somewhere in between. I refused in my mind to sit there and wait for another contraction for sweet relief so I asked the nurse if I could just try without assistance from my contraction and when she said yes I gave it everything I had. Seconds later, our angel was born. We were finally able to hold and see and smell and kiss our perfect baby girl. I need to let you know I’m crying as I’m remembering this part. Nothing in this world is as magical as meeting your baby. Every time I found out I was pregnant following Ellie’s birth (our first daughter) I just couldn’t wait to get to this moment of pregnancy. The events following Charlotte’s grand entrance are kind of a blur. I held her for her first hour of life, I breastfed her, and the doctors and nurses whizzed around getting us ready to move to the postpartum area. Our family was finally complete.

This leads me to my scary experience following her birth. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to live or die that evening. It all started when I was laying in the hospital bed holding Charlotte. I started feeling unwell and I told Sheldon to come grab her. I thought I just needed to eat something since it had been over 24 hours since my last meal. I remember taking a bite of a sandwich and looking over at Sheldon. At the same time, I felt a pain in my stomach and blood gushed out of me. I remember saying I think I’m going to pass out and turning over to push the nurse call button. The next thing I remember is my nurse entering the room and telling me I didn’t look so good. I remember saying I think I just passed out. She immediately yelled down the hall for the doctor and minutes later my OB, the resident OB and 4-5 nurses were surrounding me – I was having a postpartum hemorrhage. Everything I write from here forward is what I can remember while partially in shock and after being injected with 2 shots of pain meds – one in each thigh. My doctor was manually massaging my uterus from inside of me and also externally to shrink it down to stop the blood loss. Nurses were trying to insert a second needle into my free arm but my veins kept collapsing. I was given 2 blood transfusion because my levels were so low, they weren’t sure if I was going to make it. I was dozing in and out but I heard the doctors discussing taking me to the OR for a hysterectomy. A hysterectomy?! I’m 31 I was thinking. There is no way this is happening to me. The next thing I know, the anesthesiologist who gave me my epidural was back in the room. He was called up to bring my OB a spinal needle so she could insert piton into my cervix. WHAT?! Everyone kept talking to me and all I could think about was how unreal everything felt in that moment. I remember looking over at Sheldon holding Charlotte as she cried. Finally a nurse gave him formula and a pacifier to calm her. I forgot he was over on the hospital couch watching all this unfold – hearing the conversations my doctors were having and not being able to help me at all. Finally the doctors stopped the majority of the blood flow and had me all suited up so that they could safely monitor how much blood I was loosing. We ended up staying in the birth room a second night and once I was moved to the postpartum rooms, I was directed to stay one additional night for monitoring. Once the nurses and doctors told me I wasn’t showing additional signs of risk, Sheldon left the hospital to be with our older kids for the night. That is when everything finally started to sink in. Charlotte was sleeping in the bassinet next to me and I sat in my room in silence and cried. I couldn’t believe that my life could have ended that day. That I would never get to hug Ellie, Sawyer and Penny again. All I wanted to do was get out of there and take Charlotte to go meet her older siblings. I wanted to squeeze them and tell them how much I love them and missed them. Looking back I know my emotions were intensified by my hormones and my exhaustion but I don’t think it’s ever been more clear to me what truly matters in life. Before my doctor would let me go home, she explained to me that this was one of the worst cases she had dealt with. She advised me to not take any risks and let my body fully heal before I engage in any strenuous activity including picking up my 2 year old. She explained that the uterus is like a rubber band – they can become weaker the more times they’ve been stretched and have trouble contracting back to normal size following birth. Because Charlotte was born so quickly along with this being my 4th pregnancy, mine was unable to react fast enough to keep me from losing too much blood. She told me I could still have additional kids but to make sure all of my doctors and nurses were aware of my experience.

I am writing this post at almost 4 weeks postpartum. This is the easiest I have taken it following any of pregnancies. I haven’t exercised past taking our dog for a walk. I have started picking up Penny again but I make sure to be aware of how my stomach feels when I do it to make sure I’m okay. I’m happy to say, I am okay! Charlotte is also doing great 🙂 She latches like a pro and at her 1 week appointment, she had already gained her birth weight back along with an additional ounce! I’m happy that we’re finally on the other side of this experience and I am so thankful for my health, Charlotte’s health and precious family and friends that have helped us through this.

You guys, we now have 4 kids.

As most of you know, our family has lived in West Michigan for the past 6 years. We decided to move here from Coronado, CA to start our life as a civilian family during Sheldon’s final deployment. West Michigan is an amazing place to raise your family. There are great schools and safe neighborhoods all around as well as a great job market. Summer and Fall in Michigan are top notch but Winter almost eliminates Spring and gives you 6 months of cold, gray weather. If you can handle that, this is a great place to live. For me, it was too much time stuck inside to handle. Sheldon and I had talked about moving somewhere coastal and warmer for years. We finally got the push we needed when we found out I was pregnant with our 4th child at the end of 2019. Talk about a surprise! After processing the fact that our family would be growing by one more, we started talking about the steps we had to take to prepare. We needed a bigger house, we needed to figure out how additional cost for daycare would fit in our budget, we needed to figure out if our next step was buying in West Michigan or taking a chance on something new.

In early 2020, Sheldon was offered a position in Savannah, GA and once again, we had major decisions to make. With family and friends in Michigan, did we want to leave that behind? I worked for a major retailer in the area at offices 5 minutes from my kids school with great benefits and great opportunities ahead of me. Did I want to give that up with nothing else lined up? Our kids had friends. Not just school friends – friends that we’ve grown to love as a family that are in precious memories from the past 6 years. This was probably the most difficult decision I’ve had to make since becoming a mother. I moved a ton as a kid and knew how hard it was to make new friends in new neighborhoods. I also know it made my confidence and social skills evolve in ways that still help me as an adult. On top of all of these big decisions and major conversations we were having, COVID 19 added an extra layer of stress. We were now stuck at home away from everyone not knowing what the coming months would bring.

After countless talks and hours spent on budgeting, house hunting, school reviewing, COVID planning and tears (from me, the pregnant one) we decided to take the chance and move our family south. Once the decision was made, I knew there was no turning back. I had so many moments when I would get scared of so much change and try to think of a way to make us stay put but I always knew deep down, this was the best decision for our family. I gave birth in Michigan to the most precious baby girl our family never knew we needed and weeks later, we headed to Bluffton, SC to start our new life. We are already looking forward to all the new experiences that are only a drive away!