Luke's Grand Entry

LUKE JACKSON BENNETT
AUGUST 11th, 2007
6:52 AM
8 lb 4 ounces
22 3/4 inches long
14 1/4 inch head

Just when I thought I was going past my due date, I was awakened at 2:45 AM Saturday morning in full fledged labor. In my mind, I was going to "labor" at home for a few hours and head to the hospital when my contractions got to be about 5 minutes apart. Well, they started at 5 minutes apart and by the time we left for the hospital at 3:30, they were 2 minutes apart.

I WAS going to do the "natural childbirth" thing for my last baby, but with contractions one after another, I just couldn't ever get comfortable. It was worse than my pitocin induction with Olivia. On top of the contractions being back to back, I was throwing up and then Luke passed meconium when my water broke and his heart rate on the monitor wasn't looking very good. I had to have an oxygen mask on my face. It was just one thing after another. I was a wreck. I labored like that for about 2 1/2 hours.

And then I got my epidural and things were great. I could relax and talk to Mark, my Mom, and the nurses. I don't regret it on bit!

Unfortunately, due the the meconium, Mark was not able to help with the delivery as the doctor had hoped. He needed suctioning before taking his first breath so he wouldn't inhale the meconium into his lungs.

My nurses and my doctor did a great job of keeping me calm, even though they had to tell me several times to stop watching the monitors and "just be the patient."

I pushed a few times and out he came, looking very blue and floppy. I don't think he was breathing. He looked so bad, I forgot to look right away to see what gender he was. The doctor held him upside down by his ankles so he wouldn't swallow. Mark quickly cut the cord and the doctor carried him to the warmer for the NICU nurses. He didn't cry for the longest time. His one minute Apgar was only 3 out of 10 (the lower the score, the worse the baby is). I could see the nurses resuscitating him. I knew exactly what they were doing. It's is amazing how well he responded. His Apgar score at 5 minutes was 9. As you can see in the picture at the top, he is nice and pink!

Need help with a middle name

OK, so we have had our boy name picked out forever: Luke Jackson Bennett.

We have chosen a first name for a girl: Tess. However, we can't find a middle name that we love. I think the more syllables, the better it will flow, as in Tess Elizabeth (which I've ruled out).

Any suggestions? Cindy-maybe there is a family name down the line somewhere that would fit?

I am now OVER 39 weeks, which means this is the longest I've ever been pregnant. Olivia & Anika were born at exactly 38 and 39 weeks, respectively. I think I've been having what is called "prodromal" labor since the doc stripped my membranes last week. Lots of contractions, but they never get regular or increase in intensity. This is something new for me and I am finding it really annoying! I'm really not THAT uncomfortable, just impatient.

Who knows, maybe the fact that Mark has a tee time with his boss for 18 holes of golf this afternoon with his new set of clubs will be enough to send me to the hospital? He's the one that brought it up anyway!

Brian & Beth will be finding out next week if they are having a boy or a girl! I can't wait. Having all these new babies is so fun!

So.........Any Day Now...........We're Ready

I was kind of hoping for a July baby and yesterday afternoon I actually thought it was going to happen. I was having contractions 10 minutes apart all afternoon and then they stopped. Of course, my doctor didn't help much when he said "Hopefully I'll see you tonight or tomorrow" after he stripped my membranes. He did ask Mark if he was going to help deliver the baby. I had forgotten until then that my doc is known for letting the fathers help with the delivery. He described to Mark how he'll do it, and much to my surprise, Mark sounds like he is going to do it and he actually sounds kinds of excited about it. Mark doesn't get excited about much, that's just the way he is.

We painted the baby's room over the weekend. I am so happy with it, it turned out very nice. I will post a picture later.

I worked my last day on Monday. My coworkers had a nice potluck for me. Lots of good food. There are 7 women on my floor who are pregnant right now, with 6 us of being due between now (me) and November.

I just have a few things here and there to get done, otherwise, we are ready!

Lemonade for Sale! Come and get your lemonade!

So, a few weeks ago, Olivia started asking about setting up a lemonade stand. Yeah, just what I want to do at nine months pregnant in the 100 degree heat: set up a lemonade stand in front of our West facing front yard! I put it off for as long as I could, but they had there little hearts set on it so they could "make some money."

It finally got the point where Olivia said, "Mom, you keep promising that we can do our lemonade stand and you never let us!"

I'm such a bad mother!

Well, I PROMISED Monday would be the day, no matter what.

The girls and I had already made a list with them of things we needed such as cups, lemonade, signs, etc. Everything was very well planned.

The girls wanted both pink lemonade and regular lemonade. I also suggested selling some cookies, which they did.

We went to REI and bought a new canopy (we needed one anyway) after Mark got off work. We then came home and set up their lemonade stand. As it turned out, the weather was overcast and only 97 degrees instead of the forecasted 103 degrees.

I have to say, Mark and I were worried no one would buy their lemonade and cookies. I remember doing a lemonade stand as a kid and didn't make squat! And, after all, I have never stopped at anyone's lemonade stand. However, we did not let the kids in on our doubting ways. We actually expressed a fair amount of enthusiasum when it came to setting things up for them. I guess we live in the right spot. Everyone in our neighborhood has to drive by our house to get in and out of the subdivision. Location, location, location.

As you can see by the sign, they were charging 50 cents each for lemonade and cookies. I instructed them to sell 2 cookies for 50 cents instead of just one cookie for 50 cents. Well, people assumed they got one cookie for 50 cents and that is what they started off paying, so I didn't correct anybody.

The whole thing was truly amazing if you ask me. People from down the street came out of their houses and walked down to our house to buy lemonade! We've never met so many of our neighbors. And who knew there were so many families with kids our kids' age? People pulled up in their cars, some got out, some didn't.

People would be walking toward the house and Anika would shout, "Lemonade, come and get your lemonade!" I think she has some sort of natural born sales instinct like her Uncle Brian. Of course, it probably helped that they waved to everyone driving by as well.

In approximately 1 1/2 hours, they raked in a whopping $25 even. I still can't believe it. Anika says they'll be open again today. At that rate, they could buy their own school clothes this year! Ha ha! They'll be taking it to the bank to deposit in their savings.

Oh, Olivia did say when I split up their money that "We can buy lots of expensive things with our money." I think it's time to teach the real meaning of profit.

Oh, to be a kid again..................

P.S. THANKS GRANDPA AND ZACH FOR DRIVING ALL THE WAY OUT TO BUY LEMONADE AND COOKIES! THEY LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

What I've Been up to for the Last Month

We went camping over Father's Day weekend. That was fun and I wish I was able to do more camping this summer. We took the girls up a few days early to hang w/ Grandpa. It was funny because Olivia was NOT going to stay (said she'd miss Mom & Dad too much). We knew better and packed her bags "just in case." Well, we got up there and she changed her mind (said she didn't want to go on the ride home-too long). They didn't seem to mind at all when it was time to go, we had to ask for hugs and kisses because they were too distracted getting ready for swimming!

We got a new tent, it's bigger and better than our last one. It will fit all 5 of us AND the dog next summer. I can't wait!





Let's see..........what else?

Olivia lost her second top tooth and she now has a sweet gap she likes to whistle through. Anika has been taking swim lessons this week. She is quite the little fish in the water. She has always loved water. Olivia is the cautious one in the family.

Oh yeah, about the time we went camping, we had a robin make a nest in one of my beautiful hanging baskets Mark got me form Mother's Day. The basket hangs right on the front porch. In the days after the girls left for camping, she laid some eggs. She sat on them and about two weeks later, they hatched! Four baby robins! We watched the "Mom & Dad" robins bring their babies worms. The girls LOVED it! And we could watch them from inside the house without disturbing them! They grew so fast. Then one day we came home from the pool and there were only 2 left. The next morning, I went out to get our milk & eggs (we have them delivered) and there was one left. Olivia stayed on the porch while I took the milk inside. As soon as I got inside, I heard Olivia say "Mom, the baby just jumped out and plopped onto the lawn!" Sure enough, there he/she was with Mom nearby. The whole experience was really neat for all of us.







I worked lots of extra "on call" shifts. I only work 40 hr every two weeks, well, it works out to be 40 hr in 6 days and then I have a stretch of 8 days off. So, I am able to pick up extra 4 hr on call shifts, if I so desire. It's completely voluntary, but it is time and a half (if I get called in to work) plus an extra $3 an hour just for being on call. Fortunately, my on call hours are DONE! No more until after I return from maternity leave.

Speaking of maternity leave, I only have 5 more 4 hour shifts left until I am officially on leave. These were originally 8 hr shifts, but I was on bedrest last weekend due to swelling and increased blood pressure. My swelling and BP went down so nicely, my doctor said it would be OK for me to work just 4 hr shifts. THANK YOU! My doctor is great, he even called to check on me Friday night.

The girls went camping with Grandpa and Grandma Deb last weekend, they had a blast. Both of the girls have a great relationship with my Dad, but Anika has especially bonded with him. She is already threatening to move to his house when she gets upset with Mark or me. Can't wait for those teenage years!

First Tooth Fairy Visit and Posing for the Camera

Olivia lost her first tooth last Saturday. She pulled it herself. She talked about it for at least an hour afterwards! She is very proud of herself - and she should be! Here is a picture of her right after she pulled it.




Not to be left out, here is Anika posing for the camera. I think she's been watching too much of "America's Top Model" or whatever it's called.

Funnies by Anika

Two recent funny, well we found them hysterically funny, conversations at the Bennett house. Keep in mind, the kids have a mother and three grandparents, both Mark's parents and my mom, who are nurses! My kids are subjected to lots of medical mumbo jumbo!

#1 Picture our family at the dinner table.

Anika: "I figured out that the baby is going to be a boy!

Me: "Wow, Anika, how did you figure that out?"

Anika: "I could feel his p_ _ _ _ through your belly?" (Baby is now big enough to feel body parts and we have been talking about feeling feet/knees/butt)

Olivia: "I don't even know what a p _ _ _ _ is!" (Denial)

Anika: "You know, it's that thing that hangs down from your bunkie (Mark's family nickname for bum) and when you're a boy, you go pee with it."

I am really surprised Mark and I didn't choke on our food, we were laughing so hard!



#2 Prologue: At my last OB app't, two weeks ago, my blood pressure was 130/96 (I'm fine), my legs were swollen (they still are), and I had protein in my urine (I know, more than you wanted to know, but these are all signs of pre eclampsia). Because of this, I had to collect my urine for 24 hours and deliver it to the hospital lab. I couldn't really hide it from the kids because I had to keep the container in the fridge. So, when they asked, I just told them the truth about what was in the container. Life went on and everything was A-OK (and still is, my blood pressure is down now).

Anika woke up just after 7 a.m. yesterday. We could hear here walking around upstairs for awhile before she actually came downstairs.

Mom and Dad: "Good morning, sweety. What were you doing upstairs?"

Anika: "If I tell you something, do you promise not to get mad?"

Mom: "Nope, I won't get mad. What is it?"

Anika: "I'm collecting my pee for my collection." (She likes to collect various things, but pee is a new one)

Mom and Dad (trading glances at each other): "Oh, really? What are you collecting your pee in?" (knowing I had an extra container in my bathroom cupboard)

Anika: "The bathroom"

Mom: "Yes, but what kind of container? What did you pee in?"

Mark is sitting next to me trying to control his laughter, as am I, but I want more information.

Anika: "You know that Target bag that you put Adam's (baby cousin) present in?"
Mom: "You peed in a bag? Where is the bag now?"

Anika: "It's on the floor in the bathroom. It only has one little hole in it."

Then I kindly asked her to go move the bag into the bathtub. The rest is kind of a blur since I started laughing so hard.

Then I went up to the bathroom and there was the bag. It was no joke. Olivia reported when she woke up that Anika actually made her first 'deposit' the night before when getting ready for bed. That makes 2x she collected!