My Declan at 3 weeks old

 

 

 

And then there were 8......

Declan Sawyer Calder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was the best Christmas present!
He almost arrived on his brother Grant's birthday but,
thanks to over 24 hours of labor,
he was born the next day.
It was love at first sight.

Announcing.......

Declan Sawyer Calder 

born December 15th 2012 @ 10:31AM

weighing 6 lbs 6 oz
20 1/2 inches long

Declan's Birth Story:

My water broke on December 14th at 8:40 AM.  I was just about to leave for one of my twice-weekly non-stress tests.  Mark had taken the day off from work in the hope that the baby would come soon and because it was Grant's 7th birthday. I called downstairs to Mark to let him know that my water had just broken and he came up and calmly helped me pack for the hospital.  He also called to cancel my appointment.  We were excited to know that the baby would soon be coming. I was stubborn and made Mark and my mom take me over to the school to hand out Grant's cupcakes to his class and pick him up for shopping and for lunch before heading to the hospital.  Contractions were fairly far apart and not too painful, so I opted to spend the time with my birthday boy.  We went to the hospital around 2 pm and left Grant, Luke and Eden with my mom, who had flown in the night before (thank goodness for tender mercies).

Once I was admitted to labor and delivery, I made the mistake of telling the nurse that I was in no hurry for the baby to come since it was Grant's birthday. My opinion changed as the labor dragged on and on. It was a rough evening and night full of painful contractions. They gave me pitocin to help regulate the contractions, but as they slowly turned it up, Declan would go into fetal distress.  So, they would turn it off and start again.  It made for lots of strong contractions at various lengths apart and a long labor. The doctor was sure we were in for a C-section when he came in to check me the next morning.  I was bleeding a lot (once Declan was born, Dr. Davidson confirmed that a large portion of the placenta had come detached during labor) and I was in a lot of pain, but he found that I was finally complete and Declan's head was really low. Much to my relief, he told me he thought one push would bring him into the world. It took a bit more than that,
but I was so relieved to be pushing that I didn't mind.
Once Declan was born, he had a lot of trouble breathing. He was wheezing and struggling for breath.  An echo had already been ordered for him once he was born because the perinatologist had seen a possible problem with his aortic valve in utero and he had been measuring small. So, they whisked him away to the special care nursery and hooked him up to all kinds of monitors. They had to suction out all of the fluid in his stomach. We had a few sort of nerve-racking hours in which many prayers were said.  Thankfully, they found nothing wrong during the echo and, after a few hours, he began to breath more normally.  I asked that they bring him to me so that I could nurse him and the special care nursery nurse came up with him to monitor him while I fed him. He refused to eat and wouldn't open his mouth.  The nurse told me this happens sometimes with babies that get extensive suctioning after they are born.  He was breathing well enough that she left him with me.  I ended up having to feed him by pumping milk and using a syringe and a small tube that I gently pushed into his mouth. I had to do this for several days.

We didn't choose his name until the morning I was being discharged from the hospital.  I had a list of names I liked, but we couldn't decide which one fit him.  It was important to me that his name mean something special, so we chose "Declan" because it means "full of goodness" and it is Irish like my name.  It is a fitting name for such a sweet little boy. He is long and slender, not much of an eater but definitely a fighter!
My cup runneth over. What a sweet blessing from heaven!

 

Eden's 1st Birthday

The birthday girl on her first birthday.  
It was so nice to celebrate the first year of Eden's life.  
She is such a blessing in our family.
 
 

Some decorations

Our traditional birthday breakfast

 

Her first birthday present

 

A quick photo session before playing outside

 

 

Dinner at Red Robin

Eden's birthday cake and cupcakes

After enjoying some cake

Getting tired

 

The gifts

Happy Birthday sweet girl! 

An Apple a Day........

Have you seen this guy?
We rarely see this face and if he is around, those beautiful blue/green eyes are closed in heavy, much needed sleep.
If you find him hurrying around St. John's Hospital, please send him home every once in awhile. 
We miss him!

I am boycotting apples in this house.  You know the saying!

My Benjamin is a Kindergartner!

I am so glad I had a couple of days after the other kids started school to get used to the idea of dropping off Benjamin in Kindergarten.  He seemed excited.  I wasn't sure what emotions I would get from him, but he was excited and ready but a little nervous.  His siblings all fought over who would sit by him on the bus.  That made me happy.  I love seeing my kids take care of each other.

He chose his clothes.  Isn't he handsome?!

We got to the school pretty early.  No one was lined up yet. I was glad it wasn't utter chaos like it was on the first day of school for all of the other students.

Benjamin was first in line to come into his classroom.

His hook

His classroom

His seat

His teacher, Mrs.Hebert. 
Both Jackson and Grant had the same teacher for Kindergarten. She is great.
I said goodbye and started getting choked up, but smiled and waved.  He waved back and Luke, Eden and I headed out.  As I reached the door to leave the school another mom was leaving with me and said "Oh goodness" to herself as she left her Kindergartner.  I said: "I feel the same way!".

After school he came running off of the bus to tell me that he "loved it".  I was so pleased.

I didn't even have a knot in my stomach when I sent him off to school this morning.  So far so good.

Happy After School

I

I should never write blog posts when emotions are so fresh.  After worrying all day about the kids at school, everything turned out fine.  I admit, I am always a wreck on the first day of school.  It isn't easy to say goodbye to any of them, let alone four in one crazy morning.  My kids' first day of school wasn't perfect, but I feel confident that we will be flying along happily in no time.  Carston came home with a smile on his face and said that he had made a new friend.

Grant was all smiles.  He made a friend too ("a girl, Mom" he said).

Peyton noticed that a girl living only a few houses down the street is in her class.

Jackson was unsure of his teacher, but was feeling more comfortable and has a friend in the class.  I think it will just take him time.  I'm sure he'll love her.

After school, we had cider and doughnuts to celebrate.  We love Michigan cider mills in the Fall!