Our family of 5

The girls slept at their Grandmother and Pops house the night of the birth and in the morning they got to come meet their new baby sister at the hospital.  I was so worried how they would respond- especially Elizabeth. My friend Nicole offered to come to the hospital and take pictures. I am SO GLAD that she was there to capture the sweet moments. The girls did great- and have continued to do great. They love Norah and love to take turn holding her.

I always love the hospital stay. The quiet room, the nurses doting on me, and ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD to just love on my new baby. (Fun Fact- The Winter Olympics were on during my stay and so we spent some time watching them. Adaliah was born during the 2010 winter olympics, and Zizzy was born during the 2012 Summer Olympics. 3 for 3!) 

I was a little bit in shock when it was time to go. Time to start life as a mother of 3 girls. Ready or not!   We packed Norah up and journeyed home to our new life of a family of five. 

Norah is here!

The birth story:

At my apointment on Thusday February 13, the doctor told me that he would strip my membranes at the next appointment  (Thursday, February 20th). I spent the week asking friends, and reading online about the procedure. I had a lot of friends that said it put them right into labor,  but also had a few people tell me that it didn't do anything for them.

I was hopeful (and very ready to be done being pregnant after my 13 weeks of pre-labor contractions).
I had a VERY busy week celebrating valentines day, throwing a birthday party for Adaliah, and making her birthday special. On Wednesday I had the girls with babysitters all day long while I did 7 hours of homework at the SLCC library so I could get ahead in my college class in preperation for the baby.

On Thursday morning I cleaned the house and packed my hospital bag. I was ready for this apointment, and ready to have this baby!!

It was a long wait when I got there which gave me almost an hour to finish up one last thing- the Book of Mormon. With each of my pregnancies I start the book from the begining when I find out I'm pregnant and try to finish before the baby comes. I still had the book of Moroni to read that morning, but finished it in the waiting room. Now I was REALLY ready.

When it was finally my turn to see the doctor, he broke the news to me that because I had been Group B Strep positive in the past, he couldn't leggaly strip my membranes. (I really wish he would have remembered that last week when he offered) I was crushed!! He told me he could set up an enduction date for Tuesday, February 25th. I set it up, but left still very disapointed. (Okay, lets be honest- I balled my eyes out the whole drive home).

After I got home and told Pete the news, I decided to change my attitude. It was really my only option. I decided that I was going to use my last few days before baby came to spend as MUCH quality time with my girls as  I could.

So I told Adaliah we could do ANYTHING she wanted that evening- she just had to name it. First we played puzzles and ballerians for over an hour on the floor. Next I vaccumed out my van while she pretended my van was her airplane. The vacuuming started my contrations up about every 5 mins which was TOTTALY normal for me- and had been for the last 13 weeks.

Elizabeth woke up from her nap and Adaliah decided she wanted to go to Trafalga! I got the girls all ready to go and we drove over to Trafalaga. We went up to pay and discovered that my Pass of all Passes and expiered. OPPS! Adaliah was a really good sport about it and decided she wanted to go to the library instead and visit her Aunt Mary who works there.

By this time it's about 5:30 pm and my contractions started getting closer and closer together. (About 2 or 3 mins apart which is still very normal for me when I'm being active). We went to the library and I let the girls bring me book after book and we read on the library coach for almost an hour.

At 6:20 we decided to head home. By this time my contractions were getting pretty painful. I told Adaliah we were just going to buy dinner on the way home but she really wanted me to make her mac and cheese at home. (I hate mac and cheese and refuse to make her it 90% of the time- but because I was trying to be super mom I agreed to it).

When I got home I started making Adaliah's mac and cheese. By this time my contractions were coming every 1-2 mins, and they were so strong they were making me physically ill. (Again- this is not uncommon for me, pretty standard on a day that I try to venture out of the house). I was trying to make mac and cheese, feed zizzy, all while breathing through contractions. By 6:45 my contractions were every 1 minute apart and I was hurrled over struggling for breath. In between contractions I started to get my hospital bag out and start packing an over- night bag for the girls. At 7:00 I realized that I probably was in labor... real labor this time. I started calling Pete at work, and he would NOT ANSWER. Finnaly at 7:10, I sent him a text "GET HOME NOW! I'M NOT KIDDING!"

Adaliah was amazing that night. She watched me hunch over in pain every minute and instead of being scared of upset that I was not getting her mac and cheese to her soon enough- she jumped right into action. "Okay mom, now push!!". She ran into my room and got a pillow and came out "Mom! I have the best idea! You can bush the baby onto the pillow and then you wont have to go to the hospital!". I was so greatful for her maturity and her attemps to be helpful.

I knew Pete would be skeptical. He knew how bad I wanted to have the baby that day, and he knew that strong contractions are not out of the ordinary for me- so the fact that my water hand't broken- he felt no since of urgency. Also- by the time he had gotten home, my contactions were so painful that the only way I could LIVE through them was to sit very still and try to escape my body and ignore the world. He had never seen me be like that during contractions- so in his mind he thought I was just being very calm and and relaxed- not in any urgent state.

He called his Dad and after a minute of chatting asked if we could drop the girls off on the way to the hospital.  I corrected him, " No! WE ARE MEETING THEM AT THE HOSPITAL!"

The 20 min drive to the hospital was a memorable one. Me, trying as hard as I can to survie the contractions while sitting in an uncomfortable chair as the contractions came faster and faster and increasingly more painful.  I told Pete to say a prayer. After his prayer, Elizibeth started requesting that she say one too. "I prayer, I prayer!" Adaliah offered to help Elizebth say a prayer, and so it began... Adaliah would say a line, and then Zizzy would copy her. The prayer started out as your basic, "Thank you for mom, dad, toys, bless baby Norah..." But then it just kept going...and going... The prayer lasted almost the entire 20 min ride there. "Thank you for the United States of America, for birthday parties, (for anything that Adaliah could see out thew window) and Elizabeth stuck with coppying her until the end.

We got to the hospital and met  Pete's parents. They pushed me me upstairs in the wheelchair and Pete started the registartion process. They asked me if my water had broken, and when I said no- they pretty much wrote me off. Nobody rushed me into a room to check me or call the doctor. Nobody really did anything! To my credit- I was acting very calm, but only because I HAD TO! If I were to tense up and scream and yell like I wanted too- I would not be able to make it.

15 mins later (8:10) Pete and his dad gave me a blessing and the nurse finnaly checked me. I was already a 6, but if you know my other labor stoires- that pretty much means it's ALMOST GO TIME. They took me back into the labor and dilivery rom and while waiting for the epidoral to come, I progressed to a 7 or 8.

Of course it crossed my mind that I was already an 8, maybe I should just go natural. But as soon as another contraction came- I couldn't entertain that thought much longer. I was coming off 13 weeks of contractions- if there was relif on it's way- I was going to take it!

I got my epidoral at about 8:30, and by 9:10 I was ready to push! (one hour after checking in). Of course we had to wait for the doctor for an additaional 30 mins before I could push (SO GLAD I HAD MY EPIDORAL FOR THAT 30 MINS OF KILLING TIME). I pushed a few times and she was here, 9:49 pm. She was "sunny side up", meaning her face was looking straight up at the doctor when she came out. I guess this can somtimes be very dangerous for the baby and for the mother, I got very lucky that she came out as quick and as easy as she did.

Of course I was in love at the first sound of her cry. She started nursing as soon as I held her. She was so perfect and healthy. After the doctors and nurses finished up their work on me and the baby they left Pete and I alone in the room. I nursed sweet Norah while Pete offered a beatiful prayer of thanksgiving. There is nothing more spiritual than holding a baby right from hevan. It's undiscriabable!

It was fun to make the phone calls to family that she had arrived! My sister Mary had seen me at 6:30 at the library. I had just talked to my sister Karen a few hours before about how discourged I was that I didn't get to have her that day- and here she was!! In my arms. It was amazing!

Norah Bell Ackerman

Born: February 20th, 2014

7 pds, 8 ounces

Adaliah is 4!!

(Adaliah is getting so good at writing her name- she always adds an A at the end for Ackerman)

Adaliah is 4! On February 15th I threw a small Tinker Bell party for Adaliah. She go to invite her 3 cousins- Alice, Lily, and Lily's cousin Cadance. 

They played games.. 

Had birthday cake...

And got their faces painted

Fun was had by all. 

On Monday we went swimming for family night, then on Tuesday (her actual birthday) she got to bring cupcakes to school and go to the Kanagroo Zoo with her friend Sienna-  (Adaliah's birthday request.) I contribute me having Norah two days later to Kangaroo Zoo. I climbed up the giant inflatable slides holding Elizabeth, and ran around chasing the girls. 

Since her birthday she has continued to ask me "Mom, am I really 4? Really, Really?!" She is so excited to be getting older! 

All about Adaliah:

1. She loves her Dad. I think me being on bed rest has help build their special Daddy/daughter relationship. Pete has been doing the shopping trip every week- and takes Adaliah with him. He also takes her on a "Daddy daughter Dates" about once a week to give me a break. 

Here is a valentine Adaliah made Pete- the marks on Pete's face are his "scratchies". 

For Adaliah's birthday- Pete gave her a BYU shirt and took her to a BYU basketball game. She loved it! Pretty much she loves anything that means she gets to spend time with her dad. He is the best. 

2. Adaliah became a Sunbeam in January and is so excited to be in primary. She tells us all week that Sunday is her favorite day because she loves primary. She continues to impress us with her amazing memory. She comes home from church singing new songs she learned, and comes home from preschool reciting new nursery rhymes and sharing new facts.  I love her excitement and desire to learn. 

3. Adaliah is a SPAZ- and we love this about her. She gets so excited about the smallest things, and she LOVES to be silly and try to make everyone laugh. (A true Ackerman) 

4. She is still our little social butterfly. She wants to be playing with friends from the moment she wakes up, until the moment her head hits the pillow. Yesterday I brought up the idea that we might could have a picnic in the front yard. Ten minutes later she had invited her two cousins and the neighbor kids to join us! It's always a party with Adaliah.

Also- whenever we go to a park, or Chick-fil-a she always makes a friend. She introduces herself and asks them if they want to play with her. I love her confidence.

Favorite Adaliah Moments:

When we told Adaliah we were having another girl- she was really confused how we knew it was a girl. I told her that we saw where the baby goes potty- and it looked like a girl.  Adaliah's response.. "Oh! So you saw it go potty and it was sitting down? Not standing up?"

While saying her prayer last week "and thank you that mom loves me more than Zizzy"....umm...

She woke up crying last week and Pete went into her room. She told Pete she had a scary nightmare- then without any encouragement from Pete she knelt up in her bed and said a prayer that she wouldnt be scared anymore. Her faith humbles me.

I colored my hair brown and Adaliah is SO EXCITED that we have the same color of hair now. She keeps telling me "Mom! I love you more than I ever have now!" 

Valentines Day

Adaliah had a valentines party at school.  She came come so excited to show me her valentines bag full of cards and goodies. "Mom! It was just like Halloween! I went around and everybody gave me candy!" And yes- most of that candy ended up in our giant bag of left over halloween and christmas candy. Gross. 

But the girls loved valentines this year. They got spoiled by their dad, grams, and grandmother with treats and cute stuffed animals. 

Valentines Day this week fell on a Friday. I had been on "bed rest" for 3 months- so I told Pete that I really wanted to go out to dinner this year.  Pete set up the reservations and also the babysitting. He told me that the only reservation time available was 4:30, so he was going to get off from work early, take me to dinner and then we were going to go do sealings at the temple.

At 4:00 his parents came over to babysit, and Pete came home from work. We got into our church clothes, grabbed our temple bags and left. Pete drove downtown to the restaurant at Little America Hotel. The food was AMAZING.

After dinner- Pete pulled a classic Pete on me. He told me that we weren't going to the temple, we were actually spending the night at the Little America and his parents were spending the night at our house and watching the girls. In his "temple bag" he had packed our swimsuits and our overnight stuff.

It was the best surprise ever. We swam after dinner (which felt so nice for this big 38 week pregnant mama). Then Pete gave me my valentines present- which was an entire gift bag full of my favorite candies and treats. SUGAR OVERLOAD! So we chilled in our room, watched olympics, ate candy, and got a good night sleep. Pete even got a room with 2 queen beds so I could have my own bed to sprawl out in. Haha. He sure knows how to make a big pregnant lady happy.

Elizabeth is 18 mths!

January 30th- Elizabeth turned 18 months! 

Stats:

Height: 32 inches 

Weight: 23 pds

Elizabeth has gained SO MUCH personality in the last few months. She has us laughing all day long.

1- She wants to do everything that Adaliah does. She follows Adaliah around all day modeling her every move and even copying everything she says.  

2- She loves to climb, jump, and get into EVERYTHING. I feel like I have to follow her around all day to make sure she is not putting herself in danger or destroying the house. 

Example: Last sunday I gave her a bath, did her hair, and got her dressed for church. While getting Adaliah ready to go, Elizabeth slipped out of the room for 5 mins and came back looking like this. " I Wash Hair!" She was so proud of herself for coating her entire head with conditioner...see it dripping down her face?

We had to start all over and put her back in the bath. 

3. She LOVES to play dress up and get herself dressed. She comes up to me once or twice a day and says "Mama! I dance! Dress!" Which means- she wants me to put music on so she can dance...and of course she has to run into her room and get a dress up on before she can dance. She's also already figured out how to take off her pajamas and put on pants.

4. She wants to be big SO BAD. She gets upset if you help her do anything.  Getting dressed, pilling bananas, getting into her car seat...ext. Everything takes twice as long, but I'm glad that she's determined to be independent.

5. She LOVES dogs. She has a little stuffed dog that my mom gave her a few months ago that she has to sleep with every night, and she carries it around for most of the day. If she can't find it- she'll yell out around the house "Doddy, Where are you Doddy?!"

6. Every time you tell her to do something, or to stop doing something she always replies with "otay". (Okay) which makes you believe she understands what you're saying...but then when she continues to do it...you realize she has no idea what you're talking about- she's just very agreeable.

7. She LOVES to help out. She has been throwing away her own diapers since she could walk,  and if she see's a mess she yells "Uh-Oh! Mess!" then runs to get a broom or a towel or something to help clean it up. If you tell her to go put away things in her room she'll take them to her room and put them WHERE THEY GO! It's amazing. She'll put shoes in the closet, dirty clothes her her hamper, books on her shelf... It is so helpful!

8. She is SO FULL of love. She loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. At night when we put her to bed she yells "Love you!" at the top of her lungs over and over until the door is closed and we're half way down the hall. Pete wakes up in the mornings with the girls and feeds them breakfast. When I wake up an hour later, she makes me feel so good. "Mama!!!! Yay!! I eat doturt!!" (telling me what she had for breakfast- yogurt...is her favorite) She does the same thing for Pete when he gets home from work. She stops whatever she's doing and runs to give him a hug. "Dada!!!"


9. My FAVORITE thing has been watching her and Adaliah play more and more together. There is seriously nothing better than to hearing them playing and laughing together in the bath or in their bedrooms.... SERIOUSLY the best.