Feeling like summer!

Yay for warm temps! All of my pics of the girls for the past couple months have been like, them in pajamas, making messes in the house--finally some sunny outdoor shots!

This past weekend, we played in the sprinkler and went to Fort Washita. Weekends are so sweet when you turn in a ton of work on Friday and then say forget it! for the weekend. That's what I did, and oh, did it feel good. I'm reading a really good Christian novel right now called The Shape of Mercy, so I got in a couple hours of paperback couch time after our exhausting morning at Fort Washita--delish!

I got a thrilling assignment from The Christian Chronicle a few weeks ago--a roundup feature on fiction authors in the Church of Christ. It has been so inspiring to talk with a bunch of authors of all different kinds of books about how they write and how their life experiences have shaped their fiction, and how God has guided their career and strengthened their faith through writing. Anyway, writing this article led me to some really good books, which naturally, led me to a few more (Thank you, Amazon recommendations!), so those book orders were part of my birthday gifts!

....and here's one of my aforementioned pajama shots, because Anna was not a huge fan of the sprinkler! This little girl, like my almost-four-year-old, loves to write! There's this basket of scrap paper, notebooks, and pens behind Claire's little armchair that Anna loves to dig in, find a pen and paper, and take some notes! It is so sweet for this writer-mama to see!



I did have an ultrasound today, but the results were not official, so I will not announce them yet. However, you can probably guess that there was lack of evidence for a boy, so the doc said it was probably a girl. But the official ultrasound is in a month, so I will not plan anything until then!

Boy or Girl?

Cravings: Potatoes! And meat! And I must have something between 10 and 11 p.m. every night. Like I am literally HUNGRY at that time.
Sick: Well, I spoke a little too soon in my first trimester, because now that I'm into my second, I've now had a couple bouts with something that was too short-lived to be a stomach bug. This is all new to me, people; I never had any kind of sickness with my first two pregnancies.
Belly: Same as before, straight out and freakishly large. I don't think it's carrying particularly higher or lower than previous pregnancies.
Fatigue: doing pretty good on this level, actually. I think it's because I pretty much don't have the option to take naps or lay around at this point in my life--two kids, one part-time job, and a stream of writing assignments keep me pretty busy, in addition to all the cooking/cleaning stuff
Claire: Says "We don't need another girl; we already have three!" (She counts me and Jay.) I keep trying to tell her we'll be thankful for whatever God gives us. :)

But I bet we find out in two weeks at my next appt. My doc has this new ultrasound machine that he's crazy about playing with, and it does have a really good picture, so I bet if the baby cooperates, we'll find out!

Aunt Manda

Claire is four weeks older than Anna in this pic. Hopefully Anna will be able to wear that same little ruffley onesie in a month! Amanda spent a night with us this weekend--good times! Claire was so excited to spend some time with Manda, but she was also very tired from spending the night at Mom's house the night before, and then going shopping with all of us that day and skipping her nap. So we put on The Princess and the Frog at about 7pm, and she was asleep flat on her back on the floor by 7:30 and slept until 8 the next morning! Thankfully, Manda was still there that morning to play with her!

How Anna made her entrance

So here's how it all went down: I went to my "officially overdue" doctor appointment on Monday to see if I'd made any progress and schedule an induction for sometime this week, as my doc doesn't let his patients go more than a week overdue. I thought it would be best if I could make it to my SE class on Tuesday, and then be induced, so he told me to come in for a cytotec pill on Tuesday afternoon. Sure enough, Tuesday morning around 2 a.m., contractions started waking me up! Luckily, my body didn't go into freakout mode like with Claire and not allow me to sleep. I dozed during the seven to fifteen minute gaps between, and although they never got regular, they were definitely pretty hard. Of course, I was laying down, which is probably the least efficient way to manage pain.

Claire also woke up twice during this time with a fever! So I gave her alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol to try to bring it down.

In the morning, Jay called Diane to ask her to come over to take Claire to the doctor. As I mentioned in the previous post, Claire had had a gunky eye for a couple days, and now with this fever, we didn't want to take any chances on her getting worse and/or getting baby sister sick. So Diane got there lickety-split, and I took it easy all morning, counting contractions and trying to rest up. After lunch, Jay and I went to the hospital. By the time we got checked in and I got hooked up to everything and finally got checked for progress, I was already at a 5! So the nurses and doc said I didn't need any induction meds; they would just see how I progressed. That was at about 2 p.m. I was really antsy to get up and move around as my contractions got harder, but they were lasting so long that the doc wanted to keep me hooked up to the baby monitor to make sure her heart rate didn't dip too low. So since I had to stay in bed, I went ahead and asked for the epidural, and got it at about 4:30. It was perfect; I could still feel the contractions mildly, and wasn't totally numb in my legs like last time.

For the next few hours, I just visited with the people who were anxiously awaiting Baby Sister and read my book--gotta love the epidural! Claire came up at about 6, and was not too happy to see Mommy lying in bed all hooked up to stuff. She was much happier to play with visitors in the waiting room.

By 7:30, I had gotten to a 10, and it was time to push! Twenty-five minutes later, she was here! It was awesome! My nurse would coach me along through a contraction--three big pushes per--and then I would talk and laugh with Mom and the nurses (Jay was entirely too nervous to say much). That's pretty much all there is to tell! It was a very smooth process; thank you all so much for your prayers for that very thing! We got to go home the next night after Anna had hit the 24-hour mark, thank goodness. I barely slept at all while we were there. I was a little nervous about being comfortable at home without nurses waiting on me, but it was so much nicer sleeping in a quiet house in my own bed. After Jay got over the trauma of the birth, he was an excellent helper at the hospital and at home. :)

Claire just hit the 24-hour mark on her antibiotics, so Diane brought her home today, thank goodness. I'm so glad to have both my girls at home, and now I'm ready to get us into a good two-kid routine!

Welcome home, Anna! Get well soon, Claire!

We're so happy to be home with a healthy baby girl and healthy mommy! Such huge blessings, it almost feels more like a miracle! We're getting ready to take Anna Jae up to the hospital to retake the jaundice and hearing tests. Not worried about it, but it has to be done.

And Claire is still not home with us, we're sad to say. On Tuesday when I was going into labor, Diane took Claire to her pediatrician for a gunky eye she'd had for a couple days, PLUS she'd been feverish in the night (while I was also starting my contractions!). Turns out, it was conjunctivitis in her eye, a viral infection that is contagious! So she got eyedrops and an antibiotic for the fever, and didn't get to meet Anna Tuesday night, instead going home with Paul and Diane after they came back to the delivery room and met Anna briefly.

Claire's eye was almost totally better Wednesday, when she got to meet Anna (and was absolutely delighted!), and the fever was gone, but then it came back Wednesday afternoon when she was home with Mamaw and Papaw. Diane just started the antibiotic this morning, as we didn't think we needed it on Tuesday or Wednesday. So Claire might not get to come home until tomorrow morning when she's been on her antibiotic for 24 hours.

On the positive side, Anna had a great first night at home. She did need some saline solution in her nose and some tummy drops, but she just woke up to nurse twice (she's a marathon nurser though!), and we both slept until 10:30!! So I feel like I've recovered all the sleep I lost in our noisy hospital room.

Full birth story to come!

January Birthdays (still waiting on a few!)

I am officially 40wks today, and still no baby sister! However, I haven't given up hope yet! There's still three more hours of due date for me to go into labor! In the meantime, here's some pics of our slew of January birthdays! So far, we've celebrated Amanda's (shopping in Frisco), Baby Izzy's (one-year-old party at Nana and Grandad's), Jay's (dinner at Paul and Diane's, b-day breakfast, and lunch at my mom's), my dad's (dinner at his house), and we still have two more! Baby Sister's of course, and my mom's is January 31! Jay's brother Brian's is also the day after tomorrow! The previous pics are from Isabel's party, which is actually in December, but the party fell on Amanda's birthday, January 3.



Last weekend, Amanda stayed a night with us and accompanied us for a doctor appointment, pedicures, and haircuts for Claire and me! Claire was very still and solemn for both of these first experiences for her. It was a fun girls day! I could show you a picture of me all slouched up in my pedicure chair, but really, who wants to see that?



I subjected 23 students to me and my big belly today, as I made it to my first day of class at SE. I got a burst of shocked laughter when I told them that today was my due date, and several grateful grins when I said that we would probably not be meeting for class very regularly for the next couple weeks. We will still have online work to do, though!

Naming Baby Sister

We have obviously been talking over baby girl names a lot lately: not enough to satisfy me, and too much for Jay's taste. I like to run names past Claire, not that she will actually have any hand in choosing the name, but it's funny to see what her reactions are. So far, her suggestions have been Marabelle (the doll name of one of Claire's favorite book characters, Fancy Nancy), Annie (she's a fan of the movie musical), and Moto. I don't know where she got that last name; she named a robotic dog that, and then started using that name for lots of things, including baby sister.

New baby update!

Well, I'm sorry readers, for so far not mentioning the biggest news of our lives! I put it on Facebook, as I'm sure all of you saw, but I haven't talked about it on the blog, as Lissa pointed out to me today!

Just to give everyone the full story, I'm 13 weeks pregnant, with a due date of January 14. Jay's birthday is January 10, and Lissa is due January 16, so this little one could share a b-day!! As far as my well-being, we waited until 12 weeks to tell everyone, except our parents, because I did have some bleeding at 5 weeks and a couple early ultrasounds that showed a spot that was almost as big as the baby. But at my 8wks ultrasound, my doctor said there was nothing to worry about anymore, since there's been no bleeding and the spot was no longer there. Praise God! That first trimester was so nerve-wracking for me, but the whole pregnancy process really just shows how amazing God made our female bodies!

I haven't felt sick really at all. Maybe once or twice I felt so fatigued and nauseous that I had to lay down for a couple hours, but that's all. Not even much heartburn. Although I must say, my belly is popping out so much that I already am feeling the sleep discomforts of the third trimester! Maybe I'm exaggerating, but I certainly don't remember feeling like my belly was in the way so early last time! I'll try to pose for a belly pic soon, but Jay has been so busy lately that I'm already out of my cute pregnancy clothes by the time he gets home.

Claire is really excited, when she's reminded of the baby anyway. If I mention my belly, as in "Don't lean on my belly Claire; be easy!" or "Oh, my belly is full," she'll say "Baby in there!" and then usually, "I hold it?" She's learned my response by now and says, "Get a little bigger."

Next week is the Maucks on Lake Texoma; so excited!

Flailing helplessly in Daddy's arms: prelude to doggy-paddling?

Claire's first swim

Sorry for the lag; our Internet was down at our house. But now I'm back at work, so blogging free-for-all! Don't worry, my boss is letting me bring Claire in until I'm comfortable leaving her for a few hours. So I'm just coming in in the mornings with her and then working from home in the afternoons. I'll be back here at GEAR UP for six weeks, and then will have three weeks off before school starts!! Yes, Aunt Neila I will be teaching high school at your alma mater! I went to the school yesterday to get my books, and whoa do I have a lot of reading to do this summer! That's how it goes when you teach four grade levels.

Claire got a new swimsuit (not her first, actually) at Pops' house last night (my dad's in Pottsboro), so we decided to let her test the water. She wasn't such a fan of the pool, but she really liked the hot tub (which had been turned off for a few days, so it felt like her bathwater). She had a real peaceful look on her face, except when Uncle Tyler would make too many waves, or when we put her adorable sunglasses on her, and then she would scowl for a second before returning to her Zen-like state.

First bath

Claire had her first bath day before yesterday, after her umbilical cord stump fell off. She now has a perfect little belly button! Since Daddy was on the phone then, these pictures are actually from her second bath. She likes this kind of bath much better than the sponge bath, which I think must have been fairly uncomfortable for her. In this tub, the hammock kind of cradles her in the warm water.

I'm up to 20lbs lost, 10 more to go!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

How Claire made her grand entrance

Well, many of you have heard the basic story of Claire's birth, and here's the rest of the story: As I posted before, I started feeling contractions pretty regularly early Sunday morning: they were five to six minutes apart, but not very intense, until about 9:30 a.m., when they seemed to subside altogether. I called the hospital (again) and a nurse said to try walking, and wait until they became regular to come in. So Jay and I went for a walk, and I tried to keep moving around. Of course, both sets of grandparents had been notified in the morning Sunday that I was in labor, as we though we would head into the hospital sometime before noon. So by noon, my family and Jay's parents were both at our house, wondering when we were going to head up there. They left us to monitor contractions pretty soon, though, and I took a nap. When I woke up, contractions became more regular, and we finally got ready and headed to the hospital at about 7 p.m. Sunday. Again, both sides of the family were so excited, they all got to there shortly thereafter (except Paul and Diane, who met us there, as our church is next door to the Women's Center).

I was dilated to a three, which was a little disappointing--I was hoping that after waiting so long for regular contractions that I would be a little further along. Little did I know I would stay at a three until 8 a.m. the next morning, when the doctor came in to check my progress! He had me put on a Pitocin drip around midnight to speed up my contractions, and then I took some pain meds a couple hours later, as the contractions became really painful (Jay helped a lot by massaging my back every time one came on). I was glad I took the pain meds though, because we both desperately needed some sleep, after being up since 3:30 a.m. that day! When the doc came in around 8, I was still at a 3, like I said, so he said he would go ahead and break my water. He said contractions would start coming on hard and fast at that time, and did I want the epidural. As tired and weak from hunger as I was at that point, I did not hesitate to say yes. So he gave me the epidural (almost painless, really!), and then the nurse broke my water after it kicked in. I don't know that I liked the feeling of being numb from the waist down, but I think I liked it a lot more than contraction pains! Labor progressed pretty fast after that: by noon, I was completely dilated, and ready to push. Unfortunately, my beautiful sister had a final in Norman at 4, so she had to leave by 1!! At 1:15, she had to take off, not having any idea how much longer I would be. 1:15 was actually Claire's birth time, but Jay and Mom didn't go into the waiting room until 10 minutes later. We were so sad for Manda, but she came back to town the next day, even though she's in the middle of finals week.

Pushing was INTENSE, but the doc and nurse said I did a good job! Except for how completely drained I felt, I had no idea how much good I was doing, because of the epidural! Mom, Jay, the nurse, and doctor were really good about cheering me on, though. My arms are still sore today from pulling on the handlebars when I pushed!

Claire did GREAT last night, her first night at home. She woke up to eat twice, and went back to sleep really well. At the hospital, she was really stuffy and gassy, and would cry inconsolably at night, but my nurse was quick to recommend she go to the nursery for a few hours to give me a break. At home, I'm figuring out what she needs (to have her back patted hard so she can burp often, to use a bulb to clean out her nostrils), and my milk is coming in and she's eating really good, so she sleeps for longer!

Can't wait to see the Pannell family this weekend for Kyle's graduation!!

Claire is here!

Claire Diane Mauck is here! She's the tiniest, most perfect, beautiful human we've ever seen. We just got home about an hour ago. The first pic is her first pic at home, and the next one is obviously her and Daddy, and the last is my last belly pic! I'll post more soon, and the labor story, but for now, I need to study for my online final.

It's starting!

That's right, I'm actually posting while I'm in labor! Contractions started early this morning, but haven't gotten regular or intense enough to go to the hospital. I've talked to nurses at the women's center several times today, and they say it just takes a while for first-timers to get going sometimes. Walking and waiting is what I'm doing, so wish me luck!

Maybe it was that fishing trip yesterday--or the fact that I'm four days overdue! (Jay wants me to note that this was not an involuntary trip--I actually suggested we go, so I could get out of the house and have a break from thinking about labor and delivery. And I caught four fish!)

40wks+ belly pic!

Alright you (meaning Audrey!) asked for it, here's a belly pic! You can really tell how much I've dropped I think. I feel like she's about to fall out. It was pretty funny going to eat at Chili's last night, and whenever people asked me my due date (three), I got to say "Yesterday, actually." To our server, I said, "You'd better consult your 'How to Deliver a Baby' server handbook." This is pretty much how I've been feeling for the past couple days. I considered putting on make-up and real clothes on, but then I thought, hey if my awesome cousin Lissa can post a pic of her after successfully running a mini-marathon, I can post a pic of me after sleeping half the morning, going for my Little Bell-come-on-out walk, and midday shower. You'd think this spa-type schedule would have me looking fresh and rejuvenated. Not so much, when I can't sleep at night and don't have enough to keep me busy during the day. I'm trying to clean the house in little bursts of nesting energy (haven't had the full-on, scrub-the-floors-and-baseboards-all-day nesting instinct yet), and I'll probably lay out this muggy afternoon and do some reading (a combination of Emma, The Birth Book, The Baby Book, and teaching book In the Middle).

No-news update...

I know you guys are getting as sick as me of these no-news updates. I'm now officially overdue. I can hardly sleep at night for waking up to think about when I'm going to go into labor. Literally, I can't sleep for waiting!

Another day, no baby yet!

Well, I again went to sleep last night expecting to wake up in the night with contractions, water breaking, or something. Nothing! I even managed to go to my last graduate class of the semester last night, giving my classmates some degree of anxiety and excitement, I think. I tried my best to wait to break to get up to use the bathroom, because I knew if I got up during class, everyone would think I was going into labor or something. Sure enough, when I felt about ready to explode, I got up, told a classmate I was just going to use the restroom, but was still asked by three people when I got back if I was okay.

Also, I have a job interview this morning, my third with a big pregnant belly! My mom suggested I stand for the interview, as your water is more likely to break when you're getting up from sitting or, even more likely, lying down. HA!

I'm sort of proud I made it to my due date, after all the naysayers have been shaking their heads in doubt for the past EIGHT WEEKS whenever I mentioned how much longer I had to go. So there, naysayers!

Keep your phones handy!

Just got back from my 40wks dr. appt, and he said he doesn't expect me to last through the next day or two! Then he looked out the window, noted the overcast skies, and said, "Looks like the storms are coming through tonight; I'll probably see you tonight!"

Little Miss Mauck is almost here!!

Time to get busy!

Okay, no more excuses. Time to go through this stuff!

The lull does NOT mean I'm in labor...yet!

Sorry this is a post with no pics...my goofy preggo-brain has caused me to misplace my camera, so I have no pics from the unbelievable shower yesterday. You know at Christmas, where it takes like ten minutes to unwrap what seemed like a mountain of gifts? Well, Little Bell is already spoiled, because her mama was unwrapping gifts for two solid hours yesterday! I mean, no cake and very little punch or visiting, just unwrapping! There was something like 60 people there, and probably 10 or 15 gifts from people who couldn't come. So now my baby is completely outfitted, and my beautiful nursery is 75% covered in gift bags, baskets, and boxes. Yikes! I've been working on my 10-page Psych paper that was due today, so I haven't been able to do much except gape at the wealth of onesies, sunsuits, and diapers.

Thanks so much to the people who traveled for the shower, including sis-in-laws Audrey and Jennifer, niece Abby, and of course their men, cousin Cristy, and Amanda, who also worked like a dog for those two hours writing down all the gifts and their givers. It was so great to have you all there, even if I didn't get to visit with you during the shower at all!

Doctor's appointment yesterday: No dilation yet. He says it could be a while, or I could dilate really fast and go into labor anyday. Weight gain staying steady at about 30lbs.

Pics are pending my bro e-mailing the ones my sister took on my mom's camera.