My New Title

It's still "a wonderful life" here, however, since writing about having three kids, I have been wanting to change my title.

The phrase, "And then what happened?" is actually a phrase that Mark has used since I can remember. It annoys me and he knows it annoys me and that is why he says it. Over and over. He even annoys the poor kids with it. It is those crazy, annoying quirks he has that I love about him.

I think having kids is like that: day to day annoyances that can really grind my nerves at times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!


OK, maybe a margarita. Just to take the edge off.

Thoughts on Having Three Children

I always wanted three kids. Three kids never seemed like a lot of kids to me. When I took water aerobics while I was pregnant, I was the oldest one in my class. The next oldest person in my class was 25 or 26. Several were born in the early 80's. When the instructor asked me "is this your first?" and I replied, "No, this is my third" everyone said "WOW!" like I had a lot of kids. It was just something I didn't expect, the shock in people's voice when you say you are having your third child. Strange.

I asked a few people at work and one friend, all who have three kids, about what it was like. They all pretty much said the same thing: It's hard, but worth it. I just never put that much thought into it. I mean, both Mark and I were raised in a family of three, what's the big deal? We turned out all right.

I also googled "having three kids" while I was pregnant and, much to my surprise, found this great website: www.havingthreekids.com. It makes me laugh and I can appreciated more now that I actually have three kids.

So, it's been five weeks. I think because my kids are 4 (almost 5) and 6 years old, I have it easier than those who have three kids under 3 or 4 years old. So far, the hardest part has been making sure Olivia & Anika are getting enough positive attention. I find that really hard to do when I am sleep deprived. I also think we are extremely lucky that Luke is such a mellow baby. He has been fussier in the evenings the past week, but still, nothing compared to Olivia or Anika. He makes those cute little waking stretching noises when he wakes up at night and he might start to cry by the time I get his diaper changed, but as soon as he is plugged in to the milk machine, he's good. He nurses at night for about 15 minutes, sometimes 10, and then he is back to sleep (and so am I). He is waking up to eat nowdays about every three hours, HOWEVER, last night he slept for 6 1/2 hours straight giving me 5 hours of straight sleep. I'm still tired.

New pictures

One of Lukes' first smiles captured on camera! He's been smiling a bit more these days. It is one of the best feelings in the world when your baby smiles back at you!



Mark & Luke napping in the recliner. It must be nice to sleep all night and still get to take a nap in between football games! I love you, Mark!



Clearly, Luke does not want his picture taken! He is five weeks old tomorrow and still being smothered by his big sisters! We weighed him on our scale the other day and he is around 11 pounds and measuring 23.5 inches tall.



The girls were restless so we ventured out to Build-A-Bear (I hate that place). They had fun and they entertained themselves the rest of the day with their new bears. I did get Luke a teddy bear, he didn't have one yet. No outfits though, just a plain bear.



I spy a 90 pound dog under all those stuffed animals!



Here is Anika on her first day of preschool this year! She is so excited to be in the "older kid" class this year. She is mostly excited to get to take her own lunch once a week (just like Olivia)!

Update and some pictures

*So, I started this post awhile back, here it is finally!

Well, Luke was three weeks old as of yesterday! He is such a mellow baby, I still can't believe it. He really does not cry much at all, in fact, I thought there was something wrong with him the first week after he was born. He still eats ALL THE TIME and I am pretty tired ALL THE TIME, but I know it will pass. At his one week appointment (9 days, actually), he was 9 lb 2 oz. He is almost as long as the changing area in his play yard. I think he got the tall genes from both Mark's Mom's side and Dad's side of the family. He has started smiling the past two days, just a few times. It's not gas, either. He was wide awake each time. I will try to get a picture as soon as I can.



Olivia started First Grade last Monday. She is SOOOO excited. She is really tired and really hungry by the time she gets home though. I overheard her telling Anika that a boy at school was "in love" with her, but that she was not "in love" with him. She gave Anika very specific instructions NOT to tell Mom or Dad because she would be "so embarassed." She really likes her teacher and talks about her everyday. She has taken her own lunch everyday because she doesn't like the school food (thankfully). Her favorite lunch item this week was, interestingly, tomato soup.



Big Sisters can't get enough of their baby brother, even after three weeks!




Snuggle Time!




This one is my favorite so far! Luke loves to snuggle up on our chests.

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!