Another Sweet Deal!

Right now I have MUSH BRAIN. I can't keep my thoughts gathered. I actually sat down to blog with lots of thoughts to share, and now I'm sitting here not remembering any of it. So this will just be a picture update for now.

Here is my sweet boy (who by the way I think is THE CUTEST THING EVER!). He loves his baby sister and gets really excited to give her some love. It will be fun to see them grow up so close in age. I hope he stays sweet to her.

Now, about My DEAR HUSBAND. He was talking to a co-worker about how I wanted a treadmill. It just so happened that this co-worker had a nice treadmill that he wanted to get rid of. $50!!! Can you believe it?? What a steal! I have wanted one forever. Unfortunately we live in a small house. There really is no room, but for now...I am MAKING ROOM! Time to get healthy and this is my ONLY way to go running/walking/jogging with all these little ones. Thanks Alex for the fun gift :)

Update

I can't believe its been two weeks since Lexi was born. It really goes by too fast. She is such a little angel and so easy to care for. I kinda hope she stays that way, but still has a lot of personality. The kids all love her. Logan is getting better with her but is NOT to be trusted by any means.

Now onto MY recovery process. Depending on the day, and how much I exert myself, I think I'm doing pretty good. Some days I start bleeding like crazy and then I absolutely cannot function. I'm tired of course but I'm trying not to expect too much. So the house gets messy and things just don't get done. Dinner is still my biggest challenge in life. I NEVER know what to make, or if my family will eat it. We still tend to eat oatmeal, cereal, or toast for dinner because I just can't pull something out of my hat. I really need to get organized in that area.

My "milk" is pretty much dried up and I'm on the "shrink"...(at least in upper areas of my body). As far as Alex being back at work goes I am Hating it. It is such an adjustment for me. I know most families only get to have their Dad home for a couple hours in the evening, but I'm not used to it, so I feel like a single Mom of four. His work schedule changed so now he is home in the morning (which is nice cuz he feeds the kids breakfast while I get a little extra sleep), BUT he doesn't get home until around 6. With the kids needing to be in bed by 8 time seriously FLIES.

Well that's about it for now. I'm feeling ok and can't wait until I start getting some energy.

Happy Birthday Dejah!

My Baby is SIX!

August 26, 2004 Our little Dejah was born.
It seems like not too long ago we were celebrating her 1st Birthday.

So Yesterday evening we had a Last minute Birthday celebration at the Natatorium Pool.

Here is a picture of the little reason we were so late getting it planned :)

The kids all had a great time.

Dejah was so excited!

Here is Dejah with her cousin Chase.

It was good times for all!

Dejah, you are a pure joy in our lives. We have really enjoyed watching you grow and become the sweet outgoing girl you are. You are such a good big sister and a great helper. We love you. Happy 6th Birthday.

NOT Mastitis...BUT Yes...Hormones?

Really!? Hormones? Well it happened again last night. 1:00 AM I woke up suddenly with chills, body aches, headache, fever, cramps. I laid there for a bit, trying to figure out what to do. I really couldn't move. I really needed another blanket. I woke up Alex and he got me a big fat blanket. The tremors calmed a little but I was still freezing and still aching. So again, I had Alex get me some Ibuprofen. I took that, but it would be a while before it started working. It was now almost 2:30 AM and Lexi would be wanting to eat. Still shivering with and achy body, I had Alex feed her. Of course she was a pro. She ate and went right back to sleep. I still didn't feel well so decided to take another hot bath...which of course Alex ran for me. What was the deal?? This cannot be Mastitis. I'm pretty much dried up. My boobs don't hurt anymore. Something is wrong. I made a resolve to call the Dr. as soon as they opened. So after waiting almost a half day today for the Dr. to give me some clue as to what is happening, his nurse called and said the Dr. is pretty sure it is HORMONES. Really? Hormones? He said its kind of like hot flashes. My body is just adjusting. I have never experienced hormones like this and I really am not looking forward to anymore of these "hormonal experiences". I am having night sweats too. Gross. I first experienced these with Logan. Not fun. But those I can live with. These tremors and body aches are by far the worst and pretty much knock me out. So good news...no mastitis. Bad news...hormones. Better news...this lovely baby is out and I am on my way to recovery.

Mastitis

Mastitis- The CRAPPIEST form of a so called flu any women will ever experience!! The shivers, the shakes, the fever, and OHHHH the body aches! Last night I'm pretty sure it was all coming to a big blow! I hadn't been feeling so great ALL day. Alex took the kids out for a drive and I decided to take my SECOND hot bath of the day. The water was nice and hot. My hoo hoo's were of course painfully stiff (reason: I am not nursing or pumping...I may get to that in a later post), so anyway I decided to loosen them up by massaging them and expressing the milk that was causing all this pain. Got that done. Started bleeding again A LOT! Then it hit me, maybe I have Mastitis. I was experiencing ALL the signs. Alex got home. I could hardly walk around I was in so much pain, not to mention when I would get up, the chills came out with a vengeance. I was in tears. How could I handle the night and the whole next day with my kids? Pain meds were not working, this was my worst nightmare. To make a long story short, my dear husband gave me a priesthood blessing. I went to bed. Today I am feeling pretty ok. I was going to make a call to my Dr. but all that pain is gone. No more shivers, no more shakes, no fever, and the body aches are back to "normal". Maybe I was getting sick with Mastitis, who knows, maybe I still will. But I am grateful for a loving and worthy husband who can give me a blessing when I need it. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who can heal those who have the faith to be healed.

Lexi Is One Week Old

Can I just say, I LOVE having her here! You always forget how small and helpless they are. When I came home from the hospital I saw my one year old Logan and thought he had suddenly grown five feet! He is a huge chunk and Lexi is so tiny. I am trying to just eat up every minute of it. It gets a little challenging with three other tornadoes running around.

She is such a good little baby girl. I can honestly say I don't really know what her cry sounds like. About every three to four hours she'll start stirring and grunting and I feed her. That's about it. The girls love her...Logan doesn't really care although he loves giving her kisses. She eats really well. I am bottle feeding her and she does great. Nights are ok. Of course she is only one week old, so again she still eats every three to four hours.

As far as looks go, I'm gonna have to say she most resembles Mycah with the exception of a few things. Lexi has NO eyebrows. Her right ear is smashed. She has less hair on top than Mycah did. So we will see.

All is well at home, although we are going through a HUGE adjustment. Alex is back to work officially next week. Dejah is going to school a week later. Mycah is going to have to learn to be the "big girl" while Dejah is gone. Logan is having to learn that he is not the baby. Me, I just need to heal quickly so that I can catch up.
That's it for today.

Lexi's Arrival Story

So last Wednesday at my Dr. appointment I was in tears begging my Dr. to induce me Friday. After explaining very sympathetically that he couldn't do that, he told me to come into his office Friday morning and he could strip the membranes again and possible "augment" the labor. Friday morning he stripped them again. He told me if I have any kind of consistent contractions to go into the hospital. He said they don't even have to be painful. So that day we did several different activities to get me going. I did have some contractions, but nothing too consistent. Around lunch time I thought I might take a very small dose of castor oil. 3/4 Tablespoon and a little trip over to the pool contractions started. They happened like that for a couple hours. I wasn't feeling well and couldn't eat dinner. I told Alex we should go in. He was a bit surprised because I hadn't told him about the contractions. I was just trying to make sure they were for real. So we arrived at the hospital. They got me into the room and hooked up to the monitors. I was dilated to a 4 and contractions were on the monitor every 5 minutes. Ok so you'd think great...I get to be admitted right? Dumb nurse says "I think I'm gonna send you walking around for an hour, you still have a pretty good smile on your face so we'll see if we can get those contractions stronger". I'm thinkin' ok dumb nurse...I'm smiling because you have NO IDEA how excited I am to be here...despite the contractions! I say "well, my Dr. told me the contractions don't have to be painful to be admitted". She sent me walking anyway! Whatever, so we're walking the halls. I ran into an old friend who was a labor delivery nurse and I told her to come be my nurse. Then by some miracle I ran into MY Dr.!!! Hallelujah!!!

So Dr. Christenson was in the hall way. I was so excited because I knew he would understand. Of course he did and went down to the nurse's station and told them to admit me. I got admitted, but then I had to wait and hour for the anesthetist to come in and give me an epidural. My Dr. wanted to break my water, but I insisted he wait until I was numb. The anesthetist arrived and I was doing ok. Right after he was done, Dr. Christenson came in and broke my water. This was all around 10:30pm. Soon my contractions were getting much harder and the epidural wasn't quite kicked in. Then they took a sharp turn to PAIN!!! The epidural wasn't numbing my right pelvic area and I was having to breathe through contractions that were not letting up. The anesthetist gave me two more doses into the epidural line. I didn't know what to do it was so painful. Now, my legs were DEAD and my left pelvic area was DEAD. The nurse checked me around 11 and I was complete! I went from a 4, getting my water broke, to a 10 in just a 1/2 hour!! It was time to push. At this point my relief came and my lower body was one sold mass of NUMB. 11:17pm Friday August 13th, Lexi Beal was born, weighing in at 7lbs 12oz measuring 20inches long.

We stayed two nights in the hospital. I actually look forward to these stays for a couple reasons. The nursery can take the baby over night. And I get a break from the "craziness" to enjoy my new little one. Food and Pain meds are served to me and I don't have to think about anything other than getting some R&R.
That went by quickly, and Sunday we came home.

Here are Lexi's cousins Brynn and Brayden.

Here we are today. The kids are back and Alex is kind of getting back to work. Today he has a meeting, then tomorrow and Friday he will go in. Next week, I am On My Own! Wish me luck in a quick recovery :)

Lots of Love and Thanks to EVERYONE who has taken my kids, made and delivered meals, and brought nice gifts. I appreciate all the prayers on my behalf and I have no doubt it was because of that reason I was able to have little Lexi on Friday. Love you all!

Meet Lexi Beal!

Lexi Beal

Born Friday night!
August 13, 2010
Weight: 7lbs 12oz
20 inches long

Loving EVERY minute!
(more to come)

Time To Let It Go

I think last night was my breaking point. Getting the membranes stripped has done nothing. I am having NO contractions. I pretty much lost it, because I thought for sure it would at least give me more. I have been so stressed out that it truly has consumed me. The fact of the matter is, Alex starts work Monday. He'll be taking that day off because that is the day I will be induced. That is the day this little girl will be forced to make her entrance. And that is the day I will keep my eyes on. When we come home from the hospital I will try my best to be a trooper through my recovery. Alex will have meetings that week and then head back to full time work 4 days later. I will just have to learn how to juggle my 6, 3, and 1 year old while recovering and caring for a newborn.
Yes, tomorrow the Dr. can strip them again. I'm not going to have any expectations that I will be dilated to a 4 because usually in order to dilate, your body needs to be having some contractions. Which at this point...aren't happening, and haven't really happened for two weeks now. So this morning I have a new resolve to try to just "let it go". Today I will go help my Sister-in-law on a Vault Denim party. Maybe this evening we'll get the kids out. Friday morning I'll go sit in the Dr.'s office until he can see me. Maybe that day I'll go shopping for some school supplies. Who knows, I think I just need to keep myself busy until Monday morning.
This has been really hard on me, but it makes me realize how powerless I am. I have never been this far along with this little progression. No contractions and a constant achy body is frustrating. So, here's to Monday. I am going to do my best to keep myself composed until then.

You Don't Even Want To Know...

I can't eat. I can't sleep. I'm giving myself stress headaches. It consumes me. Through all this I think I've pretty much tried everything on the books that is known to self start labor. So, short of breaking my own water or using a dilation pill...I've done it all.

The Castor Oil wasn't that bad. I took two tablespoons with a shot of soda and it went right down. No problem. I didn't get too crampy. It cleaned me out a couple times. Had it put me in labor it would have made me happier. It obviously didn't do that.

Spicy Food, no go. Acupressure, no go. Pumping to stimulate contractions, no go. Lots and Lots of sex, no go...but a very happy husband. I've tried the trampoline, jumping-jax, walking, cleaning house, resting, I've even tried several times to stretch my own cervix. All of it producing no contractions that I could be proud of.

So! Today was the day. My final appointment with the Dr. before induction on Monday. I begged him to induce me Friday, but he was pretty serious about not being able to go more than a week early or he'd get into big trouble. Therefore, he stripped the membranes. I asked him to be as aggressive as possible. He checked me and I am currently dilated to a 3, and 70% effaced. He said I'm at a good place. I did cry. I am just so overwhelmed about Alex going back to work next week that I can hardly bare it. He must have felt some sympathy because he said if I don't go into labor by Friday morning to come in at 9:30. Bring a book and he would get me in to strip the membranes again. If at that point I am dilated to a 4 he will admit me. This is because I am progressing and he wouldn't necessarily be starting me, just continuing the process. Something to that effect. So here I am. Still no contractions. I am a little sore, but really hoping it works. We'll see.

Castor Oil Here I Come!!

Dear Castor Oil,

My name is Anna Beal. I am currently 38 weeks pregnant with my fourth child. I know that there are many women who just love to be pregnant. I am not one of them. I have heard that you have some kind of "magic power" making babies come when they are ready. Although I cannot read minds, I know that my baby is ready. Two weeks ago my cervix was 50% softened and her head was down. Now I wasn't really dilated, but that's no big deal. Since then, her head has engaged further. I know because I feel like all my bones in the lower region are going to break at any time. I am at my whits end. I'm hoping you'll be my friend and help this process along. Now I've heard it may not be fun....since you are a Laxative, but in my opinion, some laxative would be greatly appreciated after the baby....if you know what I mean. My Mom had great results with you and I'm hearing that from others. So tonight at Midnight (because today is the Sabbath), I will be making a scheduled midnight visit to Walgreens where I will pick you up. Following that I will bring you back to my place where you will meet Ice Cream Milkshake. Together I am hoping you will work that "magic". I know I may not get much sleep, but who are we kidding, that isn't happening much anyway. So, see you early early early.

ps. I promise I will try to be a trooper, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

My Babies

Do you ever just want to blog, but don't really have anything new to say? I have really been feeling like that. My whole world right now is all baby. I feel so bad for my friends and family who have to see me constantly waddle, wince, and wine. I feel like it is also all I've really blogged about. I guess that's ok though. This is my FINAL pregnancy (if and I.U.D. does its job right). I might as well document it all.

So this past week has definitely been one FULL of ups and downs. I've had terrible days and I've had great days. My birthday was two days ago and I turned 32. I think I cried 1/2 of that entire day. All I wanted was to be absolutely pampered in every way by my husband (who I know has it in him), and I only got a dinner date. So combine that neediness with my moodiness, it wasn't the best day I've had. I have decided that Men really don't know what you want unless you "SPELL IT OUT". So next year Alex, expect a list. It will probably include things like...breakfast in bed, taking care of all the kids needs or sending them away for a day, taking me shopping, ect.. (just a preview)....Love you anyway for buying me a new bag and wallet and for the wonderful dinner.

Contractions? Not getting enough in my opinion. Its really effecting my mood, but what do you do? I can say one thing...ouch! My entire pelvis feels like it is going to BREAK. So she must be down there. My Dr. is out of town, so...maybe she is just waiting. I am currently two weeks ahead of my due date. Alex goes back to work next week. Booh on that cuz I REALLY need him.

Well, I think that's it for this post.

Here are some Pictures of My Babies when they were born.

Dejah Beal
Born in Laramie Wyoming
August 26, Six Years Ago
7lbs 10oz

Mycah Beal
Born in Boise Idaho
Febuary 25th, Three Years Ago
7lbs 10oz

Logan Alex Beal
Born in Boise Idaho
May 27th, One Year Ago
7lbs 10oz

A Really Bad Day...A Really Good Day

Monday....more determined than ever I decided to work this baby out of me. Actually, I am nesting pretty bad, so it was easy to convince myself to work hard. I helped Alex in the yard and edged the whole thing, then I weeded all the flower beds, pulled out all the dead bushes. Did a lot of house work, ect, ect. So anyway, that night was ROUGH! I couldn't rest for the life of me. I ached, I tossed, I turned, I probably went to the bathroom 10 times. Finally at 3 in the morning I got up. I tried resting in my recliner for a while. I ate a little. Then around 4-5 in the morning I started contracting. They were pretty uncomfortable. They progressively got closer. I really thought for sure I'd have this baby sometime Tuesday.

Tuesday comes and progressively they start to die off. I was so irritated and SOOOO tired! I literally had to get on my knees and pray to the Lord for some patience. I mean, it was not a good day for me. Luckily Tuesday is "Fun Day" with friends! I got to pretty much sit and sulk about it while at the pool for hours. Tuesday evening I was Spent!! I fell asleep at 9:30.


Tuesday Night....BEST NIGHT SLEEP EVER!!!! and NO sleeping pill. I didn't get up once to go to the bathroom except at 6am because Logan was crying. I went back to sleep till 8.


Wednesday, Today, I have felt AMAZING! I can breath. I can walk. My veins aren't hurting. I am happy, and I feel good. Alex and I went shopping for a bit today and left our girls to play at my sisters. Its just been a great day. I had some friends over for a Hot Dog roast and little "Birthday Fun" for myself. And I still feel great! I'm thinking she's dropped and all those contractions must have pushed her down. She isn't as wiggly as normal either.
So that is my story. More to come I'm sure.

I Am Goooooood!

So on Saturday, I went to my Mom's house. She told me that my brother moved out and decided to take some things with him...including the TV stand that was downstairs. Lucky for her I had the truck, so we decided to do a little shopping! During this "run around" we wound up at Fred Meyers. We WERE looking for TV stands but what did I find????? The Table of my dreams!! You see I've realized that we've outgrown our little 4 person table. The thing is, tables and chairs aren't cheap. And the other thing is that I have a very small "dining" area (if you even want to call it that), so any 6 person table would literally swallow my kitchen in half.
Ok, so back to my "dream table". Skinny? Yes! Right color? Yes! Seats six? Yes! Price??...get this $699!! OUCH!! I look at the price tag...%50 off! Nice....only...I didn't have $350 just to fork out on a new table. I decided to be a responsible adult, and put it out of my mind. (you know how easy that is?)
Ok, Sunday I'm taking a bath...relaxing and meditating on how to get this baby to come and then it hits me!!! Try to sell MY table on Craigslist for $275ish. Really? Would someone by it for that? I decided to "obey the sabbath" and wait till Monday. So here we are. Monday. I decided to knock it down to $250 and what to you know? All it took was for me to say we would deliver and it was SOLD!! Ahhhh! Dream table here I come!
We made our way to Fred Meyers. The table was there, the tag reading %50 off was there PLUS a coupon for and additional %10 off!!! Are you kidding me?? The service lady said the floor model was the last one and that is why it was %50 off. Guess what, no assembly required!! Triple YaY! So I got $250 for my table. The total of my dream table was $333. Making the overall total right around $80!!! I am goooood! And I thank the Lord every day for blessing me when I need it.
So here is my "Before Table"

And here is my "Dream Table"!! Don't you LOVE it!!!????