1 month

Fischer is one month old! The more babies we have the more I realize how quickly time flies. Fischer is a bit more fussy then Reiter was, He really loves to be swaddled, cuddled and nursed. He does ok at night, typically gets up twice nurses and goes back down, but still has a couple hard nights where he is up more or doesn't want to go back to sleep in his bed. I had mastitis a couple weeks ago and thought it was going to do me in. I had a very high fever, was so exhausted and nursing on my left side had me in tears. My midwife ended up calling in 2 different prescriptions because the 1st wasn't clearing it up. The 2nd did the trick tho and I think we now have it under control, THANK GOD! Fischer hates his car seat and pretty much screams the whole time we are in the car. But he has started to take his pacifier better which helps some with car rides. He actually did pretty well over the weekend going to Goodlettsville and back, about an hour drive. He was up to 9.1lbs at his 2 week check and Im sure is more then that now, like I said He LOVES to eat. He is already out of his newborn clothes and in zero to three. He has super long legs and torso so even if He doesn't chunk out his length is going to push him out of zero to three before we know it! The big kids are doing well with him. Averi loves to talk to him. Sofie thinks he is her literal baby doll. Reiter pats him and says "Baby Fisch Fisch", I think He is just ready to have a partner in crime! I am figuring out this 4 kiddo thing, and although its busy its wonderful and I would not trade it! I can not say thank you enough to everyone who has helped out. Meals, childcare, visits, playing with the big kids when I couldn't. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! We are truly blessed by family and friends- could not ask for better, you have all made this transition better and easier then I could have anticipated.

5...

Dear Averi, I cant believe you are 5 years old. It very literally feels like just yesterday your dad and I were meeting you, yet at the same time it feels like you have always been here. I can not remember life without you sweet girl! You are the most magnificent little girl. You LOVE to play- your favorite things are Barbie dolls, house, puppies, doll house and little people. You love to write and color and can literally sit at the table for an hour or more asking "mommy how do I spell..." You are so sweet and generous and love to make people cards to show them how much you love them. You have lots of friends and play well with almost anyone. Your best friend is your sister for sure, you guys play so well together- I love listening to you stay up well past bed time giggling together, I remember doing the same thing with my own sister as a child! You graduated preschool this week. It was a hard reality for this momma to swallow baby girl. The idea that my baby girl, the one who made me a momma, is going to kindergarten BLOWS my mind. You are so ready, you are mature and helpful, you have a sweet, kind and respectful disposition and I know will do great but You are and always will be my baby and I am just not quite ready for you to be gone from me so much everyday. I pray God gives me peace as you enter school and gives you so much confidence and that ultimately school will be a place where God can shine so big through you! Averi more then anything I ALWAYS want you to know how proud we are of you! Thank you for always being so willing to help, for always finding the funny in every situation. I love how you talk like youre 16 and look forward to watching God grow you into the young women you already think you are. I love you baby girl, I thank God for giving me you. You my dear have taught me so much, you have grown my heart in more ways then I knew it could expand. You are an excellent big sister and we would all be lost without your grinning face. HAPPY 5th birthday my pinkalicious girl!

Fischer Jonathan Yates

Fischer is here. He is simply magnificent and has my heart totally wrapped around his tiny fingers! He is perfect and I am in love. I am in awe, once again, of Gods grace in allowing us to parent another tiny human. Of Gods grace in bringing him into this world healthy and strong. Here is the story of his birthday, be warned I don't hold much back when I write my babes birth stories so if you don't like words like cervix stop now :) I write this for my memory and therefore I want to remember EVERY LAST DETAIL, for their birthdays are amazing things! Friday the 19th of April... I was 8 days past my due date. Pretty miserable, very ready to meet my son. At this point I was waking up every morning disappointed I had not woke up during the night with contractions and met my baby. I was having to constantly pep talk myself, remind myself that a due date is an estimate, remind myself why I have chosen natural childbirth, and remind myself of the birth I knew I could have if I would just be patient and rely on God. I went to see my midwives late in the afternoon (3 I think) and had a non stress test to ensure Fischer was still healthy. He passed with flying colors. The midwife came in and said I was having some contractions, she was surprised I really wasn't really feeling them. She then checked my cervix, which up until this point hadn't been dilated AT ALL! She said I was a 3 and when I had a contraction during being checked (that contraction I felt) I was nearly a 4. She felt I was probably in early labor and would have him in the next couple days, she suggested I go home, rest and see what happened. I left my appointment HAPPY! I was proud of holding out and not having an induction. I was proud of my son for staying healthy and strong. I was happy that my body was finally gearing up for the inevitable. I got home after being stuck in a lot of traffic and Kevin and I had to load the kids up and head straight to soccer practice, soccer was at 630. I started to really feel some contractions during their practice. They were not unbearable, just noticeable. So I walked and swayed around the soccer field during the practice. We left practice and the contractions continued while we drove home (we stopped and got the kids a pizza on the way) Kev and I started to talk about this seeming to pick up fast (I was in more pain and they were about 5 to 7 minutes apart) we were laughing and happy though because we were both SO ready to meet Fischer! We got home and I went to our room and bounced on the ball while Kev put the big kids to bed. They all came in to tell me goodnight and it became kind of emotional for me, I knew my body was getting ready and that the next time I saw my babies I would be introducing them to their brother- it was all a little overwhelming, in a good way. I continued to contract and called the on call midwife, she said to come on in as soon as I could get our kids taken care of because things seemed to be progressing. So we called my friend Mandy to come sit with our kids, and Kevins mom to start getting ready to meet us at the hospital. In the 30 or so minutes it took us to really get ready and call everyone I noticed things had slowed down. I started walking around the house more to see if they would pick back up. They really didn't. I told Kevin I didn't want to go in, it had to have been a false alarm. I was incredibly disappointed. Off to bed we went, this was around 1030 I think. God knew we were going to need our rest though and we both fell asleep pretty much as soon as our heads hit the pillow. For this I am thankful. I woke up about 4 in the morning and went to the bathroom, I passed this medium size clot, not really bloody show, a real clot. I was still having mild contractions and began to think what if something was wrong because I had never really bled or passed clots prior to delivery before and I had some post partum hemorrhaging after Reiters delivery. I ultimately decided to wake up Kevin and go in. He got up, we called and talked to Mandy, she generously came on over, and by 430 we were on our way. Isecond guessed going the whole drive but knew I would feel better when I heard his heart beat and was checked out. We had to go in through the ER and actually got a little lost with Kevins mom in the garage on the way. It was somewhat comical. We got to emergency, contractions were still every 5 to 7 apart, but not incredibly painful. One of my old NICU buddies was working in the ER (on her orientation) so we actually chatted and she was able to walk with us up to triage (SO FUN!). We made it to triage and the midwife checked me. I was still a 3. I started crying. I was glad Fischer was fine, glad I was fine. But felt a little foolish for coming so early on. The midwife was wonderful and said to go walk and see if we could get things going. So walk we did. the route we walked took us around newborn nursery and postpartum so we saw lots of girls I used to work with and joked with them between walking and contractions. Kevin kept saying "is there anyone you don't know" lol. We literally power walked for 2 hours, we were both sweating. But I was determined my cervix was going to change and we were having a baby that day. I was still contracting, and they were strong enough to make me stop during one, but they really had no pattern, 3 minutes, 5 minutes and then an excruciating 10 would go by and I would think they were going to disappear all together! The new on call midwife came on, Mavis, and checked me. I think this was around 7. I was a solid 4. Not really what I wanted but enough to get me admitted. She felt like labor was just starting slow and it would pick up on its own so there was no reason for me to drive 45 minutes back home. We got settled into L and D and met our way sweet nurse Sylvia. She had 4 children and a husband named Kevin too. She was very supportive of our natural birth and was open to me walking around, she was fine to come back and monitor me intermittingly. She even found a birthing ball and suggested I bounce on that for a while. She was so kind and a good comic relief to us all. They noticed at this point that my BP was just slightly elevated and Mavis had them check my urine for protein, there was none. I felt relaxed and good in Labor and delivery and finally confident I had made the right choice to come in. In our labor and delivery room I had a midwife, mother in law and nurse for support when needed and most importantly Kevin could focus on me fully without the kids around, the kids were being taken care of and I was relieved every detail was taken care of before my labor had gotten to intense. Kevin and I walked a while longer I the halls but I mostly bounced/rolled on the ball and walked/swayed around our room. At one point Kevins mom had to leave for a bit to take our kids to another family member and relieve Mandy. Shortly after Mavis came in to check me again. I prayed for a 5, and prayed he would be in a safe position so she could potentially break my water. My prayers were answered with a YES and I was indeed a 5 and indeed she could safely break my water, which she did at 1:15pm. I knew from prior births that things would likely get pretty intense pretty fast now. But I was ready. All I wanted was to meet my son. I sat on the ball for a while after my water was broken and almost immediately my contractions were more intense and getting into a good pattern. I was happy! I finally decided I wanted to be in the shower. I knew that I needed to stand and sway as much as possible to keep him coming the right way and standing without water was getting unbearable. I got in the shower and Kevin got the water as hot as I could stand for me, it felt wonderful. I asked him to turn my phone on to my passion Pandora station. I stood and swayed and contracted for an hour. I prayed over Fischer and quietly sang praises to God for bringing us to this point. I relished in how God had designed my body to bring life into the world. I prayed for more strength then I felt I had as the contractions got harder to handle. Kevin stayed outside asking every few minutes if I was ok or needed anything. This was my favorite part of labor and by the time I got out I knew I was in transition, I was being much more vocal during contractions and shaking. I needed to move to the bed, I couldn't stand upright any more. Mavis was in there and helped Kevin get me back to the bed. She commented that things were really moving fast now. She checked my cervix though and I was a 6, this was at 4pm. I knew then I could either lose my edge and start to panic because I was only a 6 or I could regain composure and just breath through these contractions whether they lasted 2 or 4 more hours. I know somewhere in the midst of this I told Kevin I could not do this again and He had to make me remember how badly it hurt if I ever said I did, I said the same thing with Reiter haha. Mavis left to check another patient but suggested my nurse stay with me (we had a different nurse at this point, also very sweet but not as funny as Sylvia her name was Katie) because she still felt I was going quickly. Mavis sat the bed upright and dropped the bottom to keep me as up and my pelvis as open to help Fischer descend as possible, these are the reasons I love midwifes! A couple more contractions came my nurse on my left and my beloved husband on my right coaching me through them, Janice was our silent supporter (I love that she never oversteps but is always there to support us, this is one of many reasons I have asked her to be a part of the last 2 births), I kept focusing on a bag Janice had brought that said " Jans junk" and breathing to make it through each one. At 1 point Kevin said "babe youre doing great, you have to be an 8 or 9" when that contraction ended I kindly told him to "shit up, they just said I was a 6 and He did not know how to check a cervix" little did I know I was indeed an 8 or 9 because a couple more contractions and I was telling my nurse I really needed to push. The 1st time I said it nurse Katie calmly told me to wait 1 more contraction to "be sure". The next contraction there was no being sure, I was grunting and groaning like only you do when you are trying to NOT push the baby that wants to come out-out. Nurse Katie ran out to get Mavis. The next contraction hit and I'm screaming to Kevin "I AM PUSHING I CAN NOT HELP IT". Kevin runs out to get both thr nurse and midwife. The next one hits and its just me and Janice and she says to breath, don't push, I know this is no option! In come a whole crew of nurses, Mavis, Kevin, and my nurse and Im saying over and over "Mavis I am pushing I cant help it" to which she calmly replied "ok lets have your baby then Rachel" as she puts on her gown. I begin to push and I cant believe its really time, they just said I was a 6! I ask Kev if he is really coming and he says "babe I can see his head". "REALLY!" Even though I knew I could feel him coming I was still a lot surprised he was now coming so fast after waiting for So long to get here! 4 pushes total, that unreal burning and my midwife says "Rachel reach down and pull up your son" and I did. He was perfect. I cried and Kevin cried. We just watched him lay on me while they cleaned him and let the cord finish pulsing. Mavis showed us the cord, Fischer had actually tied it into a perfect knot while in Utero- seriously cool to see! Kevin cuts the cord, but I was to busy staring at my boy and kind of missed it! Fischer was perfect, 8.1 19 1/2 inches,born at 445pm april 20. He is 3 weeks now and although I have struggled with mastitis, over all its been a good adjustment and we are all doing well.God truly heard my prayers for his birth. We had a helpful but not intrusive staff, a healthy birth and I felt so in tune and connected the entire time.