In the Hospital

This hospital stay/getting ready to bring the baby home was 100,000 times better than the experience we had with Sadie.  For one, Josh actually got to stick around a little bit.  It was so nice having my parents here and knowing that we didn't have to worry about the kids.  I told Josh to go home our first night there so one of us could get some good sleep, and he took the next day off so he could spend some time with us.  

They do a "celebration dinner" where they have some fancier options to order and your spouse gets to order too, and they set the table up and have sparkling juice and a little cake too. Of course another nice thing this time was that Josh can get whatever food he wants there for free, and also that most of the nurses knew him and were extra nice.  It was a different experience this time too just knowing it would be our last and trying to soak it all in.

He went home again that night and worked the next day,but this time I wasn't so exhausted like I was in the hospital with Sadie because they had a nursery and I utilized it some at night when he didn't need to eat.  And so I was able to enjoy the time with him a little more.

I couldn't get over how cute he was!

Grandma and Grandpa came with the big kids to visit both days.

I love this picture my mom got of them seeing Aaron for the first time and waiting to hold him.

Sadie went first and she was so cute, just in wonder and checking him out.

Marissa's turn

Shane's turn

We have 4 kids now!  And can you tell they all love him?!  I'll admit I was a little anxious when they were there about bringing him home because of how overexcited they got, but we are all adjusted now for the most part, more on that soon.

Aaron Gregory Dettinger

***WARNING: This is a birth story!****

My doctor and I had talked for a few weeks about tentatively inducing me on Wednesday November 18, figuring that I would be already pretty dilated and ready like I had been with the last two.  So I was a little discouraged when one week before that I was only a 1 1/2 and not really effaced at all.  I was starting to second guess if I should induce or not, and spent the previous weekend bowling, running, eating spicy food, and everything else to try to get a little more ready.  I decided to just keep a flexible attitude and see how I felt/how far progressed I was at my appointment on Tuesday and take it from there.  Much to my happiness, at my appointment I was a 3 close to 4 and 90% effaced.  Woohoo!  That made me feel a lot better about going ahead with the induction, so he told us to go in the next morning and he would do one prostin just to be safe and then start the pitocin an hour later.

We got to the hospital around 8:30 or so and it took a little bit to get the paperwork stuff done and the iv started etc.  They put the prostin in around 9:30 and I started having a few contractions, then the pitocin around 10:30 and started having them more regularly.  Josh asked me a couple times if I needed anything or wanted some music or movie on or something, and I said no, I was still doing good so I'd just read my book and wait til I needed something more.  I called my dad just after 12 to make sure they had gotten to ballet okay and I remember telling him that contractions were going but I was still comfortable.  And lo and behold, Aaron was born just 2 hours later at 2:10!

Just after the contractions started picking up in intensity my water broke when I went to the bathroom and when I got back the nurse checked me and I was at a 4.  That was a little bit discouraging, but I still wasn't in unbearable pain so I breathed through them, and sat on the birthing ball for a little bit and that felt good, but it made it so the monitor wasn't in the right position to pick up the baby's heartbeat so the nurse wanted me to get off for a minute to do a check, and I was at a 7!  I knew at that point that I would be just fine without an epidural.  I decided to stay on the bed after because I knew if I got on the ball again I wouldn't want to get off.  I could feel the baby making his way down and had the feeling that it would not be too much longer, and started to think my doctor better get here soon!  He called Josh when he was pulling in and asked if he needed to run or not and Josh said he was fine, but I started pushing just a few contractions after he got there so it was a good thing he made it!  (though really Josh could have delivered him obviously but I like him to be my support rather than on the other end).  As I was pushing it was almost as if I couldn't believe it was already okay for me to push, usually it feels like I am wanting to push for awhile before I am actually ready.  The great thing about a fourth baby is that my body really just knew what to do and he came out pretty quickly, and as they handed him to me I thought, "wow, I can't believe I'm already done!"  It was a pretty happy and surreal moment.  

On our way to the hospital

Still comfortable

So happy

 He was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long

These pictures make me smile because this was what was happening while I was in labor- Marissa's little ballet performance!

Last Time

I am one of those weird people that for the most part enjoys being pregnant.  I don't get very sick, I am able to exercise and stay pretty active throughout, and I enjoy feeling the baby move inside of me.  If it were just about being pregnant, I could do it a few more times.  But for a few reasons I feel like 4 is the right number of kids for us (and Josh has always told me that he will support me in whatever I decide in that area since I'm the one having them/staying home with them) and so I have tried to enjoy this pregnancy knowing that it is more than likely our last one.  And we have tried to document it in pictures when we remember:)

24 weeks

27 weeks

32 weeks

39 weeks

I am 39 weeks today and not sure this baby is ready to come out yet.  My parents will get here on Monday so I am not anxious to go before then, but I have been trying a few things so that my body will be more ready when they do get here.  Like bowling last night!  And it turns out, I am a better bowler at 39 weeks pregnant than I am normally- though that's not all that hard to do!  Part of me is ready to get this baby out and part of me is not ready because I know when I do that phase of my life is over.  And one of my favorite things about late pregnancy is when people ask you when you are due and you casually say something like "tomorrow" and their eyes get big and act as if your water is going to break right there on the spot.  But, I also don't really want a 10 pound baby either, so we will see how things progress next week and talk more about a plan then.  Exciting times!

Loving This Fall Weather

We have been enjoying an abnormally warm fall for here, and trying to get outside often while it's still comfortable to do so!  Sadie and I got to go on Marissa's "Fall walk" at preschool.

 Sadie felt like a pretty big girl getting to join in on all the preschool happenings!

We met our friend Ellie at Fox Island Park to do a little "hike" after school one day,

 but we didn't make it very far because they were so happy playing and exploring this spot that we bagged the walk in favor of some good old "nature exploration time".

But a couple weeks later we went back with Josh and got some walking in along with the usual exploring.

And it has been great being able to walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus without freezing.  It is about a quarter mile from our house so if it's very cold/wet it's a little too long for the girls to be out there but it really irks me when I have to drive because I feel ridiculous.  But I think I've only had to drive two or three times this year.

 And on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Marissa doesn't have school I have been packing the girls up in the jogger and going for a long walk after Shane gets on.  I didn't have much hope that I would be able to do that for very long because his bus comes at 7:25 so it is potentially pretty cold out still but it is mid November and I have still been able to do it most times, which has been a wonderful surprise.

Before Daylight Savings Time it was still dark when the bus came and the sun would come up while we were walking, and I would see the beautiful sunrise with the geese peacefully swimming and my cute girls in the stroller and get one of those mom highs where life is great.

And other mornings they would be fighting over whose elbow was in whose way and I would have to kick grumpy girls out of the stroller for a few minutes, and then fight them to get back in when they were slowing me down. Just keeping it real;)

Halloween 2015

I love the ages my kids are at now.  They get so into holidays or really anything they think is exciting and they still think my cheesiness is awesome:)  We had a lot of fun with Halloween this year, and it gave us lots to do while daddy was on a rough couple weeks at the hospital.  I saw these cute minion painted pumpkins on the internet and knew we had to make some of our own.  

 Shane's homework project Clifford dressed up as a minion too.

 We went to a couple different Halloween parties, one at the community center downtown,

 and one at the Y.

 Josh got off work just in time to join us at this one, and since the Y is right down the street from the hospital he just came straight there in his scrubs.  I think some people probably thought that was his costume, but hey, I guess it works!

 One thing I love about taking the kids to these kind of things is that they act it out in their play for awhile after.  They played Halloween for quite awhile, dressing up their stuffed animals or creating games for each other to play at their parties.  This one they had to knock things down,

 and this night they wanted to play limbo, albeit it not quite the right way:)

I noticed while taking lots of walks with Marissa and Sadie that they got excited when they would see Halloween decorations, so I thought they would get a kick out of going on a scavenger hunt for Halloween decorations, and boy did they! 

 I put little clip art pictures of pumpkins, skeletons, witches, etc. and we walked around the neighborhood and every time they saw one they would put a little tally next to it.

 I thought maybe we would skip carving pumpkins since we painted some earlier, but Josh asked "we're still going to carve some aren't we??" and how could I say no?  It's one of his favorite Halloween things so we did it on Halloween day since he was finally done with his long hours then. The kids were able to do more than in previous years, though it was funny to both of us to see how grossed out Shane was by the insides of the pumpkins since he is usually so sensory seeking with most things.

 Between trick or treating at the nursing home, trunk or treat at the church, and trick or treating at Kroger, we already had a ton of candy before they even went out Halloween night, but here is the spoil they got that night.  The forecast had called for rain but luckily it stayed dry and pretty warm and we were able to go a lot farther than I was expecting.  Since the neighborhood goes in a kind of loop, by the time we got back to the house Marissa was saying her bucket was so heavy with candy that she didn't even go up to the last few houses!

 I'm sure it seems crazy to some people that I would let so much candy into the house but the kids are really very good about it and know that they get a piece after dinner and don't really think about it too much other than then.  And mom and dad have been mostly good about not eating it all either:)  To me it's more just the fun of it than the actual candy.  And Shane was pretty excited to graph it too.  Josh and I were pretty pleased with his taste in candy, he got 21 Reeses, not too shabby!

We were sad to see Halloween go but you know me, we are finding ways to celebrate Thanksgiving ha ha.  Though Shane was telling me that he likes Thanksgiving but it's not that great, and that Halloween and Christmas are better.  When I said, yeah, but Thanksgiving is all about being thankful, so that's good right?  And he said, but mom, Christmas is all about being thankful for Jesus, so that's even more important.  How can you argue with that??

Fore!!

Shelley and Matthew came down one Saturday to watch the kids play soccer.

 Afterwards Shelley took the girls to the park and Josh and I took Matthew and Shane golfing.  Matthew has been going a lot with his dad and he was a stud out there!  We played best ball and let's just say we definitely used his more than mine!

Shane hadn't been since last summer so it was definitely a practice run but he was making a lot of improvements by the end.  Surprise surprise the hardest thing for him was learning that golf is a "quiet" game and to stop jabbering when someone else was swinging:)  But a fun time was definitely had by all!