The First Two Weeks

Ah, the first two weeks after a baby.  Normally, they're the hardest days of my life.  This time, however, it was blissful.  Seriously.  Why, you ask?  Because Cubby was at home for the two weeks!  TWO WHOLE WEEKS and NO WORK.  Yes, I was still tired, but it was doable because I was able to rest and recover and not have to worry about real life (which, unfortunately, doesn't stop just because you have a baby!).

Every seven years at Cubby's work, the employees are eligible for a sabbatical.  They're then not allowed to work for two weeks, but paid not to do so.  Pretty sweet, huh?  This year marks seven years for Cubby at his company and so "we" thought it would be a great idea for him to take his sabbatical after Britta was born.  So, while I recovered, Cubby played Mr. Mom and had a grand-ol' time doing so.  Honestly, I thought that by the end of the two weeks Cubby would be sooo ready to head back to work (especially since Kari and Juliana gave him a run for his money), but not so!  Cubby told me that he had always thought that if he'd won the lottery he'd still want to work part time.  But, after being at home with me and the kids, he said he loved it and would love to stay home if he could.  (And we wish he could too!!)

Here are a couple of highlights from the first two weeks:

Sweet baby...

Henry meets Britta

Ben meets Britta

Sleepy time

 What better way to spend a rainy afternoon after school?  Legos!  Cubby and the big kids must've spent 3 hrs one afternoon (and maybe another 3 hrs another) building with legos :-).

A rare awake moment for Britta!  She slept a LOT the first two weeks--yay!

 The weather was beautiful and so we got outside quite a bit!  (It makes life sooo much better when everyone can get outside!)

Ju Ju helped  Daddy mow the lawn :-).

This two-yr old is so cute...but soooo strong-willed.  See that face?  Yup.  That's our girl!

 Of course, there was lots' of sibling snuggle time!

The kids and their schedules kept Cubby pretty busy.  Cubby got to meet the big kids after school and walk them home (Christian loved it...Emily, not so much).  He took Kari to preschool and even got to attend "Dads and Donuts" with her.  He took Christian and Kari down to Lincoln for one of Christian's soccer tournaments and must've taken Kari to Target almost every afternoon!

It was the most enjoyable postpartum (and maybe most enjoyable two weeks) time I've had in a long time!  I loved having Cubby home and having that bonding time together as a couple and family.

Meeting More Family and Heading Home

Auntie Erin and Miss Britta

 While in the hospital, we had some visitors!  Here are just a few of the family members that  came to meet our Miss Britta.  (My Grandma came too, but those pictures are on her camera.  She came up after delivery and I was so tired I didn't think to take any pictures of my own!)

Grandpa Harvey

Grandma Karen and Grandpa Harvey

Headed home!

Uncle Kyle and Britta at home.

I'm slowly getting caught up....stay tuned!

Boosterthon Fun Run

 The day before my induction was the big kids' boosterthon fun run.  (This was their school's fundraiser in lieu of asking people to order stuff from a catalog.)  The kids got pledges from neighbors and family members who pledged a certain amount of money for each lap the children would run in a set amount of time (the maximum amount of laps they could do was 35).  Emily and Christian were very excited!

The cheering section :-)

It was a HOT day and what was supposed to be a morning run, got changed to an afternoon run at the last minute.  I really wanted to be up there to support both kids (who were running at two different times) so it took a little bit of juggling on my part due to having to take Juliana back home for a nap half-way through Emily's run.  (Our sweet neighbor, Marcia, came over to sit while she slept so that I could go back up and cheer Christian on.)  It all worked out, but between walking up the big hill up to the school and the heat, I was TIRED that night.  Alas, it didn't put me into labor, but I did get a couple of contractions out of it!

 Back to the running though...the organizers of this type of fundraiser kept it lively and fun for the kids with music and special kinds of laps (see conga-line lap above.  Emily is in it.)

 In the time allotted for the 4-6 graders, Emily completed 30 of the 35 laps!  Then, it was Christian's turn (K-3 grade)!

 Christian is a great runner!  (All of that running for soccer really came in handy as he not only completed all 35 laps, he was the fastest 2nd grader and finished 2nd or 3rd overall!)  Yea, I was impressed!  Of course, if it's a competition, you can bet that Christian will go all out to win.

A post-race picture with Kari :-)

Overall, the school met their goal for funds, and the kids really felt a sense of accomplishment having worked hard to earn the money all while having a lot of fun and getting in some good exercise!

Great job, Emily and Christian!

Field Trip

A couple of days before my due date, Kari's preschool class was taking their field trip.  (Luckily, I never go into labor so I was able to go ;).)

We went to Fontenelle Forest and explored their outdoor areas and then learned about various woodland creatures.  Major preschool cuteness, for sure.

 Of the turtle, snake, and rabbit, can you guess which one Kari wanted to touch?  Yes, the rabbit.  Can you blame her?  It was so fuzzy, I kinda' wanted to pet it myself, but I'm afraid they didn't necessarily want grown-ups joining in on the fun :-).

I was so thankful that little Britta held off on coming so I could spend this morning with this fun little girl!  Sure do love my Kari-belle!

Labor and Delivery

 To the left is me at 41 weeks pregnant....

And below is me on induction night!  (Who has two thumbs and can't wait to have her baby?  This girl!)

Seriously, I was sooo ready not to be pregnant anymore.  The ligaments in my (ahem) groin area got stretched in some weird way around 37 weeks and I was soooo sore.  Forget Body Pump and Zumba.  Even walking hurt.  (My friends all chuckled and said that's why they hated me during my other pregnancies where I would go to Zumba class the day of my induction...at 41 weeks.)  Ugh.  So, I was definitely ready to bring Britta into this world!

So...I went into the hospital Thursday evening and got settled.  My nurse, Devyn, turned out to be LDS and was really great.  My mom and Harvey were at the house, wrestling the other kiddos into bed and Cubby stayed with me for a bit before heading home.

It was a long(ish) night.  I always take an Ambien, but, for whatever reason, it didn't seem to do much and I don't think I slept for more than 3 hrs.  Around 5 a.m. they started me on Pitocin and that started some contractions.  Britta kept moving around and they were having a tough time keeping a monitor on her so around 6:30 they told me they needed to put a internal heart monitor on her and to do that they needed to break my water.  So, I called Cubby bright and early and he called my mom to come back to the house so he could hurry down to the hospital since my labors usually progress pretty quickly once my water gets broken.

This time, however, my labor went more gradually.  Britta refused to drop.  Like, at all.  Like, I was fully dilated before she finally dropped.  Knowing how hard and fast the contractions come once the pitocin is going and my water gets broken, I had gotten my epidural shortly after 6:30 and I was soooo numb.  My nurses were wonderful and pretty much did all of the work trying to get Britta to drop down.  They had me lay on my right side, then my left.  They sat me up super straight.  They had me use a peanut-shaped exercise ball that often helps babies to drop.  None of that worked.  We then repeated the process (with these sweet nurses hefting me and arranging pillows since I couldn't feel anything from the waist down).  I was also SUPER tired.  As in, I was almost falling asleep a midst all of this.  They finally gave me some oxygen which helped to wake me up some.

Finally, around 10:15, the resident doctor came in to check and low and behold, Britta had dropped!  (And, she had dropped so much that I was told not to push at all before my doctor arrived!)  Well, Dr. Schropp got caught up in traffic and so it took him a little bit longer to arrive.  When he got there he pretty much said hello and told me to push with the next contraction.  I pushed once and out she came!  Yup, easy-peasy for this girl :-).  Oh, and as an added bonus, because she was so high up right up until she was born, Britta's head was perfectly shaped!  (I've never had a cone-headed baby, but hers was extra perfect just the same :-).)

Well, that's my labor and delivery story for little Miss Britta-bear.  I've never been so tired after a birth, but, I healed very quickly and the cramping wasn't as bad this time around (which is weird bc usually it gets worse with each baby).  I was just so happy that she was here and safe and healthy.  I definitely count my blessings each day and am thankful that she is one of them.

Meeting the Siblings

To say that the kids were excited to meet Britta would be an understatement.  They were soooo anxious to get down to the hospital once they heard she had been born.  (But, since she was born later in the morning, they had to wait until after naps to come.  Which, was good bc I was EXTREMELY tired and needed to rest up before they all invaded :-).)  

The big moment did arrive at last and they were all so thrilled to meet and hold their newest sister!

Miss Kari-belle and Britta-bear

Juliana is behind Christian--they all just couldn't get close enough!

So excited!!

Looking up at Daddy--love this!!  Cubby actually didn't really get to hold her until that afternoon bc between the nurses checking her over and  Britta nursing, Cubby had to go home around noon to help Grandma with lunch and naptime.

They came back the next morning too and the love continued :-).

 Does Christian mind having ANOTHER sister?  Not one bit!  (At least not until they're all teenagers, maybe...)  He is beyond sweet with Britta and I love watching him care for her!

Christian's an old pro at baby holding.
Baby in one arm, binkie in the other.  Feet up and watching some TV.
He's going to be an awesome dad one day!

Three weeks later and the novelty of Britta still hasn't worn off!  All of the children continue to ask if they can hold her, kiss her, and love her :-).

Welcome, Britta Kathleen!

She's here!  Britta Kathleen Lindseth was born on Friday, September 26, 2014 at 10:44 a.m.  She weighed in at 9 lbs, 7 oz and was 22 inches long.  She is absolutely beautiful and everyone couldn't be more in love with her!

Check out that sad face!

Sooo quiet and still :-).

Dr. Guy Schropp--he has delivered all five children!

Our newest addition to the family picture!

 I will post her labor and delivery story, along with the "meet the family" pictures in another post!