Ainsley Renee's Birth Story

My due date was November 3rd and I had been getting pretty anxious pretty much the whole month of October. I was feeling miserable most days. Not sleeping great at night and not feeling good during the day. I was ready to meet this little girl. A week and a half before her due date, I started having contractions. I thought, "here we go, this is it!" I was able to time out the contractions to every 2-4 minutes apart and Aaron wanted me to call the doctors and go in because he thought we would for sure go quickly! (Need I remind you of how fast Atley Mae was actually delivered????) He wasn't confident in his ability to deliver a baby roadside and quite frankly, I didn't have much faith in that either! :) I never ended up calling and I took a shower and we went to bed thinking that we should get some rest before I will be up with contractions that will be more intense. They went away. Seriously, I was soooo sad and disappointed! I had an appointment that Monday and I ended up seeing Dr. Naylor who said I was only dialted to a one and not really softened or anything. So basically those contractions I was experiencing did nothing! So frustrating! He did say, "I don't believe we will see you next week, though. I have a feeling you will go into labor before that." Well, that felt like a million bucks to hear him say that! I didn't care that he couldn't tell me for sure, just the fact that he was telling me there was an end and it was coming soon was all I wanted to hear! That Saturday I started my "Bloody show" and I was excited! I did this same thing with Alivia so I knew that labor would be close. It took me four days with Alivia before I went into labor but at least I knew something was happening to my body. Well, next Monday came and I was still pregnant. I cried and cried because I had taken his words to serious and thought I would for sure be holding a baby at that time and not still miserably laying around. I went to my appointment that Monday, late afternoon and because they were short-staffed that day, they sent me to the mid-wives side. I was a little irritated because I wanted to be able to talk about induction and I wanted someone that knew me and my body and someone I had been seeing already. The mid-wife checked me and I was now at a three and almost completely effaced. Yea! At least I was hearing some good news that day! I had a few contractions going on, but nothing that was timeable and intense. We had dropped the kids off at our friends house and the mid-wife had suggested that we go walking and get the contractions going. Aaron and I set off for the mall and we walked. I was miserable! We decided to go out to eat and it was there that I felt "wet." I went to the bathroom and I was but I dismissed it because I had just gotten checked and I was still have the "show" so I didn't think much of it. We left the restaurant, picked up the kids and then went home to bed. Aaron had taken a few days off here and there because of the "false labor" that I had so on Tuesday, he decided to go back to work. I agreed that he needed to because nothing was happening. Wednesday came and I didn't feel any different. I actually felt a lot better than I had in a while. I went and put the girls down for a nap and I went to the bathroom. I had a small amount of bright red blood and for some reason it freaked me out a bit. I decided to be better safe than sorry and call the office. They called me back within a half hour (which NEVER happens!) and the nurse was asking me questions and then she said, "do you think you are leaking water?" I had leaked water with Atley and never knew it so I told her it is possible but I don't think I have. She wanted me to come in right away so they could test it. I went and woke up the kids and tried calling our friends to watch the girls but couldn't get ahold of any one. So I threw them in the car and drove straight to the office. They tested it right away and sure enough, I had been leaking amniotic fluid. When we finally configured when it could have happened (we were thinking Monday night or Tuesday morning) he told me I had to go straight to the hospital. My face must have had pure shock written all over it because he looked at me and said, "I take it this is not what you were expecting!" I guess I just figured they would send me home since I had been so disappointed the past week. Couldn't believe it was actually going to happen now! We told the Dr. that we wanted to take the kids back home and get our bags and he said, "Um, why don't you have your husband do that. I need you to get to the hospital now and we need to have that baby." I really didn't expect him to have that much urgency to him. It made me a bit nervous. We went and dropped the kids off and grabbed our bags (obviously not listening to the dr! ha!) and we drove straight to the hospital calling all our family to let them know what was happening. I then remembered that it was October 30th and my birthday was the next day and I couldn't believe that I was going to share a birthday with our baby! I was so excited! When we got to the hospital after 5:00 p.m. They started us on paperwork and all that good stuff. I told the nurse that I was hoping to have her on the 31st because of my birthday and she said, "I'm sure we can do that!" The doctor came in and said, "We are going to have this baby as soon as we can because of risk of infection. So let's not wait around." Ugh! Fun hater! Just kidding! Around 6:00 they started my IV and wanted to get fluid in me since I told them I was going to want an epideral. At 7:00 p.m. they started the potocin. Oh.My.Goodness! Ouch! I remembered all those labor pains I had with Alivia and Atley. Not fun at all! At around 8:30 p.m. I asked for the epideral. This was the first time I had a different dr. for that and I had to sit up. The other two I got to lay down and I enjoyed that. I guess I was a bit nervous since it was different. Once that kicked in I felt much better. I still had control of my body and I felt things (unlike I did with Atley) which I liked. They came in and checked on me a LOT! They knew what had happened with Atley and they didn't want me to deliver and not know it this time. When I got to an 8 I realized that I was not going to make it to my birthday. I was ok with that. I wanted to have that happen naturally anyways and not forced. At 11:00 p.m. the Dr and nurse came in and asked if I would be ok to start pushing because otherwise she was just going to slide out on her own. I was at a 9 at this point and I said, "Sure!" You should have seen how hilarious it was to watch me push her out! Aaron and I were pretty much making fun of how inexperienced I was at it. I pushed for about 10-12 minutes and she was out! She made a sweet litle cry (seriously for about one second) and then she was completely silent! I thought maybe she wasn't breathing, but no, she was just observing everything and was just quiet as can be! I definitely thought that maybe this child was going to be my quiet, calm child. No, no she wasn't. She cried, no she screamed, every 10-15 minutes the first 24 hours. She was amazing at feeding though so that was good! We named her Ainsley Renee Wood. Renee is my mother's middle name. Ainsley is a name I found online that I really liked. We decided to continue with the "A" theme. She was my tiniest baby at 6 lbs 12 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. She was born at 11:22 p.m. almost making it to my birthday! How fun is that! I will forever remember my 32nd birthday now! She is absolutely precious and the girls are just smitten by her as are we! As I write this, she is now almost 3 months old (so hard to believe!) and she is my calm baby. It took a good 8 weeks of being colicky and now we are past that. She started sleeping through the night right before 2 months. Yea me!!! That made so much of a difference in our lives! I think she looks identical to Alivia's baby pics. I will post some pics to show the resemblences. She definitely looks like our family though! She is a mixture of all of us. I love it and I love her.

My sweet daughter

On our way to church today, we heard the song by Audio Adrenaline, "Kings and Queens" and I decided to talk to the girls about being a real princess. I told them that when we have faith in Jesus and we ask him to forgive our sins and follow him, we are real life princesses to the King! Alivia was so excited to hear this, but my sweet Atley responded with a quivered lip, "but what about Zacchaeus???? He's a boy, mommy!!!). I had to quickly explain that boys will be princes and that he didn't have to be a princess. I love her little heart! ;)

Oh Happy Day!

I just got done praying with my sweet, four year old, first-born. Alivia prayed and asked God to forgive her of her sins and asked to be with Him in heaven one day! OH HAPPY DAY!! Now, I realize she is four and she may not completely understand what faith in God means, but this mom is happy, happy, happy! She has recognized that there is a need for a Savior and that she doesn't want to be in hell one day, but with Jesus in heaven! LOVE.THIS. I am documenting this in my blog so that I may never forget this day. I want her to know that I will remember it's importance.

The verse I needed to hear...

That's right people, I'm blogging again. I have actually been thinking about this weekly, sometimes daily, and I haven't had the chance to sit down and come up with what I wanted to say EXACTLY. BUT, that's the joy of blogging. I can write something and then go back and read it and think "what in the world" and that is ok! I don't have to write the perfect post every time. Aaron and I are getting ready to welcome our THIRD girl! Wow! Amazing how God has blessed our lives and I never would have imagined I would be the mom to three precious girls. But soon it will all be reality. I have a little over 5 weeks to go and I am hoping that I only have 3 left. Wishful thinking, I'm sure! :) The beauty of this pregnancy has made me realize how wonderful it is to feel the movement inside of you and knowing that a foot is just stretching out and feeling so wonderfully secure inside. With that comes my anxieties and worries all over again. Yesterday I heard the verse, Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed in dignity and strength. She can laugh at the days to come." I have probably heard that verse a hundred times and yet yesterday I HEARD it for the first time. I WANT to be that Proverbs 31 woman. The one that trusts God with all her heart and never worries about the future. Once my children entered the picture, the idea of "never worry" seemed impossible. One minute I feel like I can relinguish all control to God and the next I feel as if I will never be able to give Him everything. At Sunday School our teacher mentioned how amazing it is that God is in control. No matter what, even in the worst situations, God has His hand on it all. He knows that number of days we will be here, he knew what decision I would make before I even knew of the situation. Knowing that, we can find comfort that even in the hurt, fear, frustration, man's sinful nature that causes a situation...GOD IS GOD and has brought that instance into existence to bring glory to Him. We may never know why but we can find comfort in knowing that He has a bigger picture than our small minds can fathom. AND isn't it wonderful that he has control of the situation and not man?

Marshmallow Faye Wood

So, Alivia is big into telling us our full names.  I ask her what mommy's full name is and she says, "Lindsay Faye Wood."   I ask her what her full name is and she says, "Alivia Faye Wood."  I then ask her what daddy's full name is and she says, "Marshmallow Faye Wood!"  Well, his middle name is Marshall and so she calls him Marshmallow and apparently since Alivia and I share the same middle name she thinks everyone's middle name is Faye.  Ha ha!

Yes Ma'am!

Alivia has been saying the funniest things lately.  I need to put them somewhere so I never forget them...

Today was the first day of MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) and I had to be there at 8:30 this morning.  I was running around and Alivia was finishing up breakfast when I said, "Alivia!  Hurry up, we need to go pretty soon!" Alivia replied to me in a soft voice, stern eyes and a finger pointed in my direction, "That's not your job to tell me that.  You say, yes ma'am."  With wide eyes I looked at Aaron to see if he heard the same thing and sure enough he did!  It was so hard not to just burst out laughing at that point!  She hears this from me because usually she is telling Atley no during the day and I have to remind her that it is not her job to tell her that and that it is mommy's job and then I tell her to tell me Yes Ma'am.  I guess she pays attention, huh?

He's Here, He's Here!!

On Thursday, March 10th my nephew Mack Jordan Hickel was born!  He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 19 1/2" inches long.  That is exactly what I weighed when I was born which is so cool we share that!  Mommy and baby are doing good and I know my brother is on cloud nine!  He has sent me numerous pictures on my phone and I am so thankful because I cannot be there and I want to see everything!  I cannot tell you how excited I am that he has finally arrived and I want to kiss on his sweet little cheeks so badly!  I am planning on taking the girls with me to Kansas the first week of April to go meet this little cutie and I am counting down the days.  I am a bit nervous traveling 10 hours with both girls by myself but I think I can do it!  I think the biggest challenge will be that I will have to stop and nurse every 3-4 hours and also stop even more frequent for Alivia to go potty.  I love that my daughter is potty trained but why does it have to be such a pain when we take trips!?  I guess I shouldn't complain though because last week I was so thankful that she was potty trained. That is because last week she had the flu and it was coming out on both ends...not so fun!  I was so thankful when she would say, "Mommy I have to poopy," because I saw what came out and I would not want to change that in a diaper! 
I have no idea how I got from my nephew being born to Alivia's poop but oh well!  I guess that is what being a mom is like...highs and lows all the time.  I do know that one thing is for sure, I have more and more highs everyday with my family.