All Audrey’s friends and family are asking for more pictures. Here you go.
Audrey has done well so far tonight. She tolerated both sisters and has been sleeping for the last few hours. We are going to eat once more and then all try to get some sleep. Thanks for all prayers and concerns. We are thankful for a new baby girl
Audrey Lynn Whaley was born at 5:53 pm and weighed 7.0 lbs and 19in! More hair than the other ones!
Ethan and I just enjoyed our last meal for awhile.. well, mine anyway. As I recall, he doesn’t have a problem eating while I am in labor. Our nurse tonight has been great. She has a daughter a few days older than Megan and is due with her second daughter next week. She has been taking good care of us including bringing us cheeseburgers, fries and coke. Hey, when it is your last meal, you can have whatever you want!
As of 11 pm, I am having a few contractions. The plan is to do cervadil tonight and then start pitocin at 7 am. Maybe we will get a decent night sleep and then meet Audrey tomorrow. She has been very active and the nurse says she looks great! Ethan can post an update tomorrow.
I am there. I am at that breaking point where everything is getting to me. Is it the hormones, the timing, the anxiety? I think I was there for about 2 weeks waiting on Alyssa and with Megan we induced so early, I missed it. But here I am: excited, worried, anxious, hopeful, doubtful, joyful and scared. How can you have all of that at once? I had my last appointment today and I am scheduled to check in the hospital Sunday evening and they will begin the induction Monday morning. And trying to convey my fears and what will make me feel better to 5 different doctors has been annoying and frustrating. I have been on rotation at the doctor’s office since week 20 and I felt I had to re-tell my story each time. After some serious convincing, I got my “original” doctor to agree to the induction even though there are no real signs of labor in my future. I thought we were on the same page all along and her comments on not wanting to induce if I am not “ready” were enough to send me over the edge today. As I said, she gave in, but made it clear that I was accepting the risk of c-section if the pitocin didn’t work. I guess she doesn’t understand that a healthy baby via c-section is a big step up from no baby at all.
So we are 4 days and 4 nights away from Audrey (as Alyssa puts it). I have everything in the house ready and while that feels great and makes me smile just to walk past her little bed imagining her there, it also brings out emotions that apparently I have been pushing down. The more joy I try to let myself feel, the more pain I feel. The more “what ifs” creep in. Should I just put this all in God’s hands? Or can I make one more ultrasound and just check on her again? Whatever is done or will be done, is done, so what role can I play in this? I guess with Megan’s pregnancy I was so well cared for, that I believed without a doubt that she was perfect, she was healthy. This time, I feel I have gotten the shaft a bit from all these doctors that don’t really understand. I guess I felt you all deserved one more heart-felt post from me. One more spill your guts to all interested parties post. So there it is. I am hopeful for the beautiful baby that I dream of, but am truly scared of the reality that this world can hand down.
We will post news and/or photos as soon as we can. See you again on the other side.
When we were looking for houses, we really liked this neighborhood because of all the kids we saw running around. Well, they all come out Halloween if not the rest of the days. The girls dressed up and we headed down to one of the cul-de-sacs that Alyssa’s friends live on and spent most of the evening with them. They have food and desserts and then throw all their candy together in one big bucket for the other kids. They all walked down one of the streets together and we could just see Alyssa run in and out of driveways from a distance. She had a blast. Now my “angels” are sitting on the couch, full of sugar, winding down with Cars and Daddy. More
Man, things are changing before my eyes. You know they grow up fast, but I feel this has aged her years in just minutes. After an eye exam at school, we were prompted to get her eyes tested and discovered she is far-sighted. So here she is with her new glasses. She really likes them and insisted on wearing them to church tonight even though she doesn’t really need them except for at school. I am just glad she feels good about them. We practiced spraying and cleaning them, and discussed what we can and can’t do with glasses. This is a responsibilty that I don’t know she is ready for. Tomorrow is her first day of school with them. Say a little prayer that no punks make fun of my little girl.
I had never heard of Fall Break before moving here. Apparently, kids need a little time off after only 2 months of school, so Alyssa had Thursday and Fri off last week and no soccer game. Ethan thought it would be fun for us to take one last trip before Audrey comes so we went to Atlanta. It is about 4 hours from us and we enjoyed the Aquarium, Coca Cola Museum, the Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We also ate at The Varsity. The Downtown Atlanta location is on more than two acres and can accommodate 600 cars and over 800 people inside. On days when the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets are playing a home game, over 30,000 people visit The Varsity. It was worth the experience, but of course I felt so rushed and intimidated ordering that I had to get my hamburger fully loaded, so I didn’t quite enjoy it as much. Megan was a bit cranky after a full day and Alyssa was just climbing all over the window. However, Ethan quite enjoyed his “dirty” dog and made sure this experience was mentioned in the blog. It was a good “last” trip. Pics
‘
So, the other really cool thing about Atlanta was church. I am no expert on North Point, but it is a large church community in the area. The main campus has 2 auditoriums that can accommodate 5,000 worshipers at one time. About 5 years later, they opened an additional campus called Buckhead Church down the street from our hotel. The idea was “Atlanta does not need another church. What Atlanta does need is a safe environment where the unchurched can come and hear the life-changing truth that Jesus Christ cares for them and died for their sin.” Since Ethan and Ben work on church systems (video, audio, gear, lighting, etc…), he has been more interested in visiting different places. And there was a time in my life, when I just wasn’t interested in this. I like my church, I like my acapella music, I like my semi-conservative beliefs, I don’t want to go anywhere else – even to visit. I don’t know where that mindset came from, I will try not to blame my upbringing, but if you have not experienced God in any other place than your home church, you are missing out. I am amazed at how God can work. At how differently he can work in different areas, in different people. How church can adapt to bring others to know Christ and still be church. We have been to some rather large churches and not all of them move me. Like the one that served popcorn because the series was about God in the movies or something. And they literally watched long clips of Return to Neverland then discussed it. Great if that works for you, but that is not what I need to feel a connection with God. But this morning, I felt that conncection. Far away from home, even farther away from what I would consider a church I am comfortable with. It had nothing to do with watching others. It was about the setting, the words, the songs this morning. And for the first time in my 32 years, my arm (just one) left my side and raised to heaven in glory to God. I felt the tears roll down my face as I humbled myself before God and just let his power run through me. I just can’t describe it. I just want to encourage you that when you have the chance to go to church somewhere different, and I mean different, not the Church of Christ on the other corner, GO. Let God show you how he works. Experience Him in a different way.
Alyssa went on her first field trip this week at school to Gentry’s Farm. It was a lot of fun to hang out with her and see how she interacts with her teacher and friends. They learned about pumpkin patches and the stages of the pumpkin. Did you know that all pumpkins start as a yellow flower with a small ball on the the end? I sure learned a lot. Also that cows like to eat pumpkins too. Here are a few pics of the outing. In case you haven’t discovered, I usually put more in the photo gallery 🙂
Celebrating
This weekend my friends joined me in celebrating the upcoming arrival of Audrey. Amanda hosted the event and was a wonderful friend: pampering me with gifts, delicious Julie-approved food and a sweet blessing. It was great to be able to share this time with new (and old) friends, since most of mine are so far away. I received fun goodies for Audrey including this amazing diaper cake (or whatever they call them). Thank you girls for celebrating this new life with me.
Preparing
After I came home from the shower, I enjoyed showing the goodies to Ethan and the girls. And I just can’t do that without really getting excited about her arrival. So the next few hours of my Saturday were spent finding and unpacking the baby items. The room has been ready for awhile. Diaper cloths, blankets, and clothes have been packed in the drawers too. But I had yet to get out the supplies. So I unpacked and washed the covers for the swing, bouncer and car seat. There is a part of me that wanted new things. I mean, the swing was for Blakely and is from 2001. Good thing they do not have an expiration date on those. (I am ignoring the one for the car seat.) But I also love the fact that all my girls will use the same “equipment”. I remember bringing each one home in that car seat. I just feel warm inside to get this stuff out and look forward to using it again. I told Ethan surely after 3 kids, we have got our money worth out of this stuff.
So, of course, after the things are assembled, the girls had a good time playing with them. I am afraid that Megan may push Audrey right out of that swing. We will have to make sure she is always buckled. Each one also took their turn in the car seat. A 5 yr old in the car seat is quite funny. So, for now we are ready for Audrey.
Playing
Of course we had soccer again too. Alyssa and her team scored once and the other team… well, we lost count. But they are having fun and I love to see a new side of her come out.
We had our final ultrasound today. One of the signs of Downs is a slow in growth, and I wanted one more look to measure her and see that she looks healthy. And that is what we got today. Audrey measured right on for her estimated date and showed us all how active and limber she is. She spent the majority of the time sideways with her feet and hands by her head. It is so surreal to see your child moving around inside of you. It is just miraculous that this whole thing actually works. Thank you Lord for giving me the signs that I need to trust that she is healthy. Thank you for making her in your image and I know she will be perfect whatever that is. At our house, we can’t wait for Halloween this year. Because after Halloween comes Audrey!
Amanda took these great pictures for us to document this special time.
Alyssa comes home from school each day full of energy. I hear other kids that are pooped, in a daze. Alyssa is the opposite. Ethan thinks that school is so stimulating for her that she is almost on a high while she is there. She enjoys almost every moment. She loves to learn. And loves to show you what she has learned. She has always been bright. Knowing her letters and sounds and writing at age 3. Sounding out words as early as 4. Now at 5 with some real training, she is picking up on reading and writing so easy. I would say I am impressed, but honestly I am not. After school today, she sits right down by me and begins writing sentences. They teach them to sound out the word and write the sounds they hear – even if it is just the first and last sounds. She has a little bit of her mom in her and is constantly asking if that is how you spell something. So it is hard for her to write it down knowing it may be wrong. But she is doing great. See how well you do:
This is a “sneaky e”. He goes over and tickles the other vowel and makes him say his name – “i”.
I love my family. She says it is “lie” because she knows how to spell Julie and they both sound the same.
The AT word family
Tired of me asking her things, she writes: I can’t write any more words.
And once more, because I asked her to write it on another sheet of paper so I could scan it in. This one of course, she got right.