All is Calm, All is Bright

That sums up our Christmas so well. We spent this Christmas at home with just the 5 of us and David and I both agree it was our favorite Christmas yet. We spent the whole day in our pajamas, eating yummy food, playing with the kids toys, and watching Christmas movies. It was beautiful.

Here are the kids carrying on one of my family's traditions of sleeping beneath the Christmas tree.

Here we are on Christmas Eve opening up our first present. Thank you Papa and Grammy for the super cute PJ's!

I love this picture each year. The kids waiting to come down and get their stockings. I remember being a little kid and waiting at the bottom or our stairs while my mom was at the top teasing us about what she could see. :-)

Kids opening presents. Thank you Mom and Blondie for the church clothes and all the church books! I think I was more excited for those presents than any of the others! I also loved the Scentsy Warmer, my house has never smelled better. And the picture of the kids was so beautiful, thank you for using one of the pictures that has a daisy in it.

This is what Maylee did all Christmas morning which was a nice present in itself.

And this is Emma with her brand new Zhu Zhu pet in her hair. I was skeptical about these but they actually are really cute and the kids love them. Thanks Granna!

David and I didn't do presents for each other this year because we both agreed we'd already been given the best present possible. The arrival of a healthy, beautiful daughter. By the way David is sporting my brand new Moby Wrap which Cheryl got for us. Thank you so much Cheryl I absolutely love it!

Oh Christmas Tree

The importance of Grandmas

So I'm all alone today and in total Grandma withdrawal! For the week after Maylee was born my mom came and stayed with us and the day she left my mother-in-law arrived to spend the weekend with us. Yesterday was my first day alone and it was a little traumatizing.

I mean, what are all these dirty dishes? Whose going to wash them now? And whose going to cook for my kids who still want 3 meals a day? Whose going to hold the crying baby so I can take a shower? Whose going to entertain the 6 & 4 year old while I sit in a nursing coma on the couch? Whose going to pick up after me and bring me lunch on the couch?

Yes, I admit it! I was extremely spoiled this last week and a half and I'm a Grandma addict now. I just don't think it's healthy to go cold turkey. So I'm going to post more pics of the adorable baby in hopes of luring them back to my house. No Grandma can resist a cute baby, right?

Picture Mania

Because who can resist a naked baby?  
 
 
 

Introducing

Maylee Joann Drorbaugh
Dec 2, 2009 3:18 am
7lbs 20 inches

My contractions started yesterday afternoon but stayed about 10 minutes apart all last night but didn't seem particularly strong so finally at 11 we told the midwife to go to bed because we wanted to try and get some sleep. We got into bed around midnight and I fell asleep pretty quickly.

I woke up at 245 with contractions I couldn't sleep through, mostly in my back. Not super painful but very uncomfortable. I woke David up and told him to call everybody to come over as soon as possible, then I got into the bathtub. David ran around our room setting everything up for the birth. I had 2 contractions in the tub and then my water broke, then the very next contraction I started to feel kind of pushy. I told David to call the midwife and tell her to hurry. In one more contraction she moved down and crowned and then her head was out. I had my eyes squeezed tightly shut trying to concentrate on not pushing her out too fast but I remember David saying, "She's beautiful, a full head of dark hair."

With the next contraction I pushed her body out and pulled her up out of the water and put her on my chest. Then David covered us with a towel to keep us warm. We called the midwife back to let her know the baby had been born and she gave David some instructions in case the placenta came out before she got there. Me and the baby just snuggled in the bathtub and stared at each other until the midwife got there. She was so awake and super calm, just looking around at everything.

When the midwife got there she helped me get out of the tub and over to the bed.
The time of birth was 3:18 am and I woke up at 2:45 so the total time was 33 minutes between getting up and Maylee being born. Best of all I didn't tear at all like I did with both of my other kids! The midwife showed up about 25 minutes after Maylee was born. She did the newborn screen and everything was perfect. She weighed 7 lbs even and 20 inches long. She is the calmest baby I have ever seen and she squeaks and grunts while she sleeps which is adorable.

We woke Emma up right after she was born and she was excited and stayed up with us for almost three hours before crashing again. When we woke Eli up he came and looked at Maylee, smiled, and then asked, "Can I go back to sleep now?" He was much more excited when he woke up at 8 am. :-)

I can't believe it's all over and I'm so happy with my homebirth. It was intense but here I am 9 hours later in my PJ's typing at my computer while my kids watch Christmas movies and my husband snuggles our little girl. :-)