Glen Matthew

On Tuesday, December 27th I got the information that if nothing had happened by December 30th (and there was room for me) I could be induced and have my baby that day (or soon after).

December 29th Mike, Amy, Austin, and Adam came to Roanoke to take care of Grace just in case we were able to be admitted.  Matt, Amy and I did not get much sleep at all since we had to be awake at 4am to call the hospital.  We woke early and called the hospital and they told us that the floor was full and they would call us if there was room, otherwise we needed to call my doctor and see when the next date would be.

They called at about 7:30 and asked me "Mrs. Daniels, would you like to have a baby today?"  I said "Yes!"  They told me to come in right away, and we were on the road within 5 minutes :)

The doctor broke my water, and at about 11:00am they started my Pitocin.  By 4:14 we had a baby!

 Hello Glen Matthew

We have waited for you for a long time 

 You have the sweetest little legs

 And the smallest little feet

 Though your sister seems to be more interested in her soda...

 She really does love you!

 She likes to touch your head and feet

 A happy family of four

Sweet kisses.  A great way to end a long post.

Welcome!

Matt and Lana are proud to announce the arrival of Glen Matthew.

He is 21 inches long and is 8 lbs 13oz.

It's Hopefully The Last!

This is Amy, making a post for Lana.

There has been a request or two for a belly pic of Lana.  I took it upon myself to take some pictures and get a post done.

 

Lana is 39 1/2 weeks in this picture, and feeling VERY done!

I took another picture that was cute...

although she did kiss her brother, in the picture it looks like she bit the belly, it really was a kiss.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

The Good:

On Wednesday our church held a Christmas coffeehouse.  Matt played with the church's praise band, there was the traditional singing of the Christmas carols.  Grace ran around and played (and ate much sugar).  Once we were getting ready to leave and starting to pack up, Grace discovered the rug that had toys for the kids to play with.  There were puzzles and pipe cleaners with pony beads.  She was instantly drawn to the colorful beads and with a little help from a sweet child in our neighborhood (she tied off the end so the beads would not slip off) Grace strung up a whole pipe cleaner with beads all by herself.

I was very amazed.  I did not think that she had the attention or the fine motor skill to do that kind of work.  I guess I was wrong, and I guess I need to get some beads for our house since she still seems to love putting them on and taking them off (we took her string of beads home and she has continued to play with them each day).

    
 The Bad:
On Friday morning Grace was playing in the house and I was trying to start to wash dishes.  Before long all I heard was a frantic cry.  Grace was standing by a chair with her back toward me.  So I scooped her up and tried to cuddle and comfort her as much as I could.  I did not know what was going on at this moment but I thought it best to get her calm before assessing the situation.  When she would not calm down any after about 30 seconds to minute of cuddling I decided that something was really wrong so I pulled her away from my shoulder and looked at her face.

At this moment my breath was taken from me, because all I could see was blood streaming down her face from area around both her eyes.  So I ran to grab a tissue and start blotting at the blood to see where the injury was.  I breathed a bit easier when I realized that she had two cuts under her eyes and that her eyes were not the injured objects.  But the cuts did not look nice at all.

Frantically I called Matt at work and asked him what I should do.  I took a picture with my cell phone and sent it to him e-mail so that he could help me while knowing a bit more about the situation.  He agreed that we should see a doctor.  So he called the pediatrician and got us an appointment at 2 pm, or if we could leave right now they could see us right away.  I left the lights on at the house, I grabbed her shoes (I did not even put them on her feet), I flew out of the house as fast as I could.

We got to the office and they saw us right away.

 

This is the picture that I sent Matt while at work.  Not pretty (and it does not help that she was in middle of a blink when I took the picture).  So Matt got the picture and put it up on his computer screen to look at it.  A man who sits near Matt saw the picture and heard some of the  phone calls and asked what was going on.  Matt explained that Grace had an accident.  His co-worker responded "And why are you still here?"

Matt thought about it and agreed.  He got to the pediatrician's office just as we were starting to meet with the nurse practitioner.  It was so good to see him, and have him help me with caring for Grace at that time.

The Ugly:

So the nurse practitioner glued Grace's cuts shut.  Yes, glue.  On some injuries they still do stitches or staples, but on a lot of injuries that are not too bad (but bad enough) they use a special kind of super glue that is made for this.  She said that we should wait a week till the glue comes off then start putting on some non scaring cream (though she does not think that it will scar much anyway, but with the location we should not take our chances).

So now we have a beautiful little girl who looks like she is practicing to be a football player.  And many bruises to look forward to.  All of her Christmas pictures, 2 year old pictures, and new family of 4 pictures are going to show the events of this day.

However, when I look at her and all of her glued, scabbed mess I am so thankful to God that the injuries were as minor as they were.

Dr. Appointment

Went to see the doctor for my regular check up regarding Glen.

This is the start of my one week visits (the end is near!)

All is good.  He is measuring well.  Heart beat is good.  He is very active.

I also got checked by the doctor this morning and found out that I am 1cm dilated.  I realize that this does not matter much since some women walk around for weeks being partially dilated.  But it makes me happy to know that my body is moving in the right direction for me to have this baby in my arms.  Also it makes me very happy that I am farther along (in this regard) than I was when I went into the hospital to deliver Grace.

Now the waiting game continues...I just hope that Glen makes his move soon.

Christmas Happenings

Also known as...Keep Lana's Mind Off Of This Pregnancy

I am so ready to have this baby.  And I think that I am starting to convince this baby that it might be time to come soon (well, we will have to see how my convincing skills are with an unborn child).

But so that I do not dwell on this topic, Matt and I have been keeping busy with our usual Christmas happenings.

 First we went to the wagon and tricycle gathering.  GE purchases many, many, many wagons and tricycles for the Salvation Army to give out to the needy children of the area.  However, they need to be assembled.  So they order pizza and invite all workers and families to come and put together these items.  I did not get much assembly done, but Grace made sure that each tricycle and wagon were comfy to sit on and ride in.  I guess you could call her the quality tester :)

 Two days later we went to our second usual Christmas event which is simply called Christmas Boxes.

GE takes donations for the Christmas Food Basket event, and use the proceeds to purchase bulk goods from the local food pantry.  Sometimes, other interesting items are purchased.  One year, for whatever reason, the food pantry had a pallet full of electric razors.  "Sure, we'll use 'em".  All of these purchases are brought to a warehouse, where GE volunteers and their families package everything up in large boxes.  They used to be baskets, but people got too generous for the contents to fit.  Each of these boxes usually end up weighing in at about 60 pounds, and delivered to local people in need.

The official count was 502 boxes filled that morning.  Grace loved riding the cart (and the boxes) through the packing area where people were placing items in the boxes.  She also met a very nice lady named Miss Julie who carried her and helped Matt push the cart to where it needed to go.  Later in the process, Grace would climb around the top of the boxes, pushing the lids closed, and holding them shut for the tape.  She had a blast.

I was wondering how these events would work with an active and determined two year old, but being enticed (bribed) with the idea of wagon rides, throwing away trash from the wagon/tricycle assembly, and donuts, does amazing things and Grace was very good through most of the events.

Caroling With The Bells

Last night Matt and I did our first of many Christmas type items (that are planned and put on the calendar mainly to keep my mind off of this pregnancy).

We went caroling with our handbell choir.  There was no singing done, but many carols were rung.  We went to one of the local hospitals and played on their oncology, labor and delivery, pediatric floors, and also the lobby of the hospital.  Many nurses, doctors, patients, and family members came into the hallways to hear and see our caroling.  One person even Skyped us, I am guessing it was to a patient that was stuck in bed.

Many people thanked us and told us how wonderful it sounded.  I was just happy to be there and to see smiles on their faces.  Toward the end of our journey it was getting kind of rough for me to help with all of the setting up, tearing down, moving from floor to floor, etc.  But all in all, I am glad that we did it and I look forward to doing it again in future years.