Welcome to Kelly Martin's Blog! Here I share my stories from my blessed life as a wife to a super-talented man, Jason, mom to my precious kids, Lucy, Jack, and Connor, and friend to my amazing girlfriends who inspire me every day!

Monday, February 28, 2011

first car trip alone with all three...

So, it happened today...I was alone for the first time while driving all three of the kiddos home. And it was not without incident!

The new arrangement in the car for our three carseats has Jack and Connor sitting in the second row, and Lucy in the third row. Because Connor is rear-facing and Jack faces forward, the two of them can easily look at each other and Jack can easily reach over and touch (or mess with ;-) Connor.

I say that so you can understand why when Jack said, "Mommy, look!" and held up what appeared to be Connor's umbilical cord stump, I froze. It has not fallen off yet, and I panicked that Jack had pulled it off my poor newborn's belly button!

While fearing a bloody mess in the second row, I suddenly realized that Connor wasn't crying, but was still sound asleep. Now feeling puzzled instead of terrified, I asked Jack where he got the nasty quarter-sized yellowish-brown thing he was holding.

"Cawr-seet"

"Your car seat, Jack?"

"Yeah..."

My wheels are turning, when I remembered I had given him a banana not long ago while in the car. A-ha!

I confirmed my suspicion, then had a good laugh at myself, and reminded myself that lots of women have survived - no, I should rather say succeeded in - raising three young children. Driving with all three of them is just part of that, and as I begin this wild journey, I have no doubt the car will be the setting of many more stories (good, bad, and everything in between) and laughs!

And just so you don't think me crazy for mistaking a rotten banana piece for a withering umbilical cord, take a look at these pictures: ;-)



Friday, February 25, 2011

Lucy, Lady, and Cakes

Lucy and Lady have become addicted to watching how-to videos on Howdini for making cakes. Their favorite cake is a flip flop cake (see link below for video on how to make it and for a picture - it's an ADORABLE and EASY to make cake ;-)

http://www.howdini.com/H_search_result.php?search_id=cake+decorating

And, after a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby's cake decorating aisle, here is their finished product:




Check out the process:

These are Spree candy on the sides...




As you can see, every other step seemed to involve Lucy pausing to eat more icing!





finding meaning in the mundane

Connor turned one week old yesterday! What a wonderful week it has been - there's nothing like having a newborn around to remind you how precious and AMAZING life is!

As all three kids are asleep (for the moment ;-), I was catching up on facebook, and saw a link to this article my friend Annie had posted. It is about a mother searching for meaning. It was refreshing for me to read because it reminds us (and sometimes among the lack of sleep, toys on the floor, dirty laundry, diapers, and temper tantrums it can be easily forgotten...) what a gift it is to be a mother. That we don't need to search for meaning somewhere else...it's found within that god-given role.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20110223/cm_uc_crsesx/op_3917080

After reading it, I was reminded of an article I read, linked from the Turnbull's blog. It's from a Christian perspective, and brings a warmness to my heart:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/01/19/luther-on-sanctifying-ordinary_19/



Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Can you tell who is who? ;-)

Lucy found her christening gown this morning in her closet, and wanted to see what she had looked like when she wore it. Out came the scrapbooks, and as we started browsing Lucy's baby photos, we noticed even more how similar Connor and Lucy were as babies.

Take a look:


Lucy


Connor



Lucy

Connor




Lucy

Connor




Connor




And not to leave him out, here's our sweet Jack, who doesn't resemble Connor or Lucy at the moment ;-)





Saturday, February 19, 2011

Isn't it amazing...?





This sweet thing...




all 9 pounds of him...


was in there just two days ago?

Amazing!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Labor and Delivery Story

So, for those of you who are curious of the details of Connor's arrival in the world, I'll fill you in, and if you're not interested, feel free to skip this part ;-)

Because of his large size (estimated at week 39 of my pregnancy to be 8 lb. 13 oz), Dr. Conrad recommended inducing (due date was Feb. 22). So, we arrived at Crestwood at 5am, yesterday morning. Pitocin drip began at 6am. In hopes of a fast labor (Lucy was 26 hours and Jack 11 hours), I decided I'd try to go as far as I could before getting the epidural. I made it to 5cm and when the tears began, that's when we called the doc.

As I was getting the needle injected in my spine, the doc performed a "test pull back" to make sure he wasn't in a vein. There were two student nurses in the room, and he was narrating/ teaching them, so we were getting a very detailed step-by-step account. Then, all of the sudden, we hear, "Well, you don't see this!" The test pull had revealed blood which meant he was in a vein. Not. good. So, I panic, and they do whatever they're supposed to do to fix it. Try all over again. This time he gets in the right spot, but he tells us he can't stick it in as far or close because he was close to the vein, which was still bleeding.

Scary, but apparently we avoided a big problem. Although we later learned, that would not be the case.

They said I should begin feeling relief in about 10-15 min, but at 20-30 minutes later, I am still feeling everything - and we're not talking about how sometimes you still feel "pressure" with the epidural, just not sharp pain. No, this was sharp, sharp pain; and I told the nurse that I wasn't feeling any kind of relief. And my nurse, Gaye, (who was the most fabulous nurse I've ever had) got right back with the anesthesiologist and told him to come back. They gave me the bolus and set me up to try again.

Hours later, it's not any better, and I'm squirming in pain, unable to be still, sobbing uncontrollably - in the worst pain I've ever experienced. Doc comes back and finds that the needle has come out of my back - and has been out. Thus, explaining why there was never any relief. At this point, I'm at 9 cm, feeling near death. The pain was beyond explanation. Somehow I get it together enough to sit still for a new epidural, starting all over. I'm a sobbing, shaking, snotty mess, but they get it done, and this time, it's right. Blessedly, in about five minutes, I'm beginning to feel relief.

Oddly enough, my body stalls at 9 cm for almost three hours, which I actually didn't mind too much because I needed some RECOVERY time! I calmed down, and started to relax. Other than feeling like I needed to take a serious poop for almost two hours straight, it was okay, but I kept telling the nurse, "I"ve got to be 10, there's so much pressure!" But I'd always be just shy of 10, Connor's head remaining just behind the "lip" of the cervix. Around 4:30, the nurse suggested that I try to push the baby past that point, and I was able to. So now it's "Go Time!"

THey called Dr. Conrad, and one push later, the head is crowning, and we're waiting for Conrad. I'm so ready to push this baby out, the few minutes we were waiting felt like forever of course. In he comes, I say, "Let's Go!" and two pushes later we get the head out. Pushing his big shoulders out was hard, took two good pushes, but then the rest of him popped right out with ease.

We hear, "IT'S A BOY!" and that was an amazing moment! Everyone remarks about how big he is, eager to plop him on the scale. Nurses guess low 9's...and of course, he turned out to be 9 lbs 15.4 oz. He was less than an ounce shy of 10 pounds!!!!!!!! And amazingly, I had not a cut or tear, nothing to repair. So, after some quick protocol, he was placed in my arms. My mom and mom-in-law, Barbara, were in the delivery room with us for the birth, so we all enjoyed some time with him, but then we asked them to leave because we needed to name this kid! ;-)

Jason and I both suggested that he was not a "Simon" (our top boy name), and he didn't seem to really be a "Reid" either (our next pick.) "Well, crap" I said, "What do we do?" ;-) We had literally only talked about "Connor" once, remarking that we both liked it when it popped up on the Nymbler baby name website. And oddly enough, Jason responded to me, "Well, I know what I think he is...Connor!" And what's funny was, I had been thinking the same thing too. I said as much, we tossed around some middle names, and voila, Connor James!


***********************************************************************************
Jason and I just finished our special dinner, and it was really wonderful taking time before the meal, praying together, thanking God for all that we're experiencing. We've been given another beautiful, health baby, who at least for now, seems to be an incredibly content, very mellow, gentle boy! My heart truly melted this morning as Jack and Lucy bounded in the room, shouting, "We want to hold Connor!" Jason looks particularly wonderful to me, holding Connor and interacting with our others - his care and comfort and rock he's been for me makes me love him even more. I am so very lucky to be raising a family with him!

Time to enjoy some more down time at "Hotel Crestwood," as it's Connor's time for another meal, and we're gearing up for another visit from Big Brother and Big Sister!

Lucy and Jack meet Connor!

One of the most wonderful things I've ever experienced...this morning, my first loves came to see my new love, and oh, was the room full of LOVE!

Jack came running in, Lucy a bit more cautious behind him. "Hold Connor! Hold Connor!" Jack yelled, and Lucy came right up to my side to hold my hand and ask more questions about my hospital bracelets. ;-) She's been full of questions, curious to make sure everything is okay.


Our cup runneth' over...






















My favorite one:








So loving toward both her brothers!













"I can't wait to play 'tackle' with you, Connor!"








Jack was so stinkin' excited and proud to be holding him!

















To conclude, here's a picture we took last night after a feeding. It's a fav of mine!


Thursday, February 17, 2011

First, some pictures

What an amazing day! Will recap all important events and details tomorrow, but it's 10:15 and we're calling it a night - important to get rest while you can, right?!?




Connor's first bath:






The kids were blowing him kisses!





Baba and Connor:


with Lady:


and Daddy!


He came out of the womb grabbing for something, and he latched onto my finger - tight grip, this one!

Lots more to come tomorrow!