One week old

Here is Lani at one week old! We tried to get a photo of her right at 6:42 but she was not so cooperative! So here she is around 9pm :)

New Cousin

The day that I went into labor Lisa, Josh and the kids left for a Canadian vacation. When they got back the next Friday they came right over to Grammies to meet Lani!

It's a Girl

We were able to leave the hospital on Tuesday afternoon after a late morning nap. We were glad to be able to take her home and begin our new adventure as a family of four! Everyone at Concord Hospital was wonderful and were so kind, caring, and had a wealth of knowledge to help even second time parents. Here is our naked chunky monkey weighing in at 8lbs. 3 oz. the next night! When the Visiting Nurse came to our house on Thursday she was down to 8 lbs. She assured us that was normal with nursing babies and her weight will be back up within 3 weeks.

Wesley was so happy when Lani finally was able to come back into the room. He and Michael were able to go into the nursery and see her while they observed her sugars and heart rate. He was all smiles when he finally got to hold the sister he had been anxiously waiting for 9 months to hold. This picture brings tears to my eyes because he loves Lani so much already and I love to imagine what their realtionship will become as they get older.

At 4:15 am on Saturday, June 24th I woke up with really bad cramps in my back. I thought “hmm.. this could be it but it better not be it because this means back labor again.” (I had horrible back labor with Wesley) I tried watching a little TV downstairs and when I decided this was it I went up around 5am to get Michael. We hung around for a while contemplating when to call the doctor because the contractions were about 3-5 min apart. So as the back pain progressed and I began to panic we called the doctor and she said ” relax, don’t rush, eat some breakfast and we will see you at the hospital in a little while.” Relax, yeah right! So, I ate two bites of toast, Michael did the dishes, and Wesley watched some cartoons! Soon I couldn’t take it anymore so we headed to Concord Hospital. When I got to the hospital aropund 8 am I was 4 cm already and was admitted. The nurse we had was my hero because she gave me hot pack for my back, Lani moved and my back labor was gone! So for the next 9 hours I labored with a smile on my face. (Most of the time) Although the contractions were painful I could get through them and relax in between with my family and friends who were there!

At around 5pm my Doctor came in and said that after watching Lani’s reactions to my contractions that I should go in for a c-section. Her heart rate was dropping significantly with even weak ones and since I was only 6cm and labor was only going to get harder we did not want to take that chance with Lani. I was just glad that I had tried to go natural after having a cesarean with Wesley and knew that this was best for Lani. Michael had just take Wesley down for dinner so my friend Jen ran down to get him because to our surprise we had about 20 minutes before I was going into the operating room. He thought Jen was joking but she convinced him she was serious and he came back up to get into his gear! In the meantime I was prepped and ready to go. I went in for the surgery and gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl! She gave us a little scare at first with and apgar score of 4. They let me kiss her then rushed her to the nursery because her heart rate was down to 60 and her breathing was labored due to some mecconeum (not sure of spelling) that she had swallowed. Her blood sugar was low and they also thought they heard a heart murmur. Well as you can see with in a few minutes she was fine and now we welcome Lani Elizabeth Demers to our family.

She was born at 6:42 pm weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long !

3 more days to go...

Well there is only 3 more days until the due date and I do not feel any different than usual :) SO… the waiting game continues!! I have my weekly appointment on Wednesday so I will let you all know what they say! Unless of course I go in before that! Lets hope:)

Happy Father’s Day to all the Daddy’s out there!

Kindergarten Graduation

Wesley had his Kindergarten graduation on Thursday. This is his teacher, Mrs. Starr and she was so wonderful to have for a teacher. Wesley really enjoyed being in her class and I loved seeing him so excited about all that she was teaching him. I know that someday that enthusiasm about learning will not be so strong. He never would tell us much about his day but we received his journal and all about me book that were so neat to see. He does a great job sounding out words to write in his journal and is doing a great job with his reading.
Wesley and his fellow graduates were invited to a Magic show that morning in the school gym. He sat up front with the rest of his class while Michael and I sat in the back with the rest of the families. It was so sad to watch how grown up he was being! Just a few months ago he never would have separated from us knowing that we were in the same room! After the show they served cake and juice but there was no actual ceremony. The scrapbooker in me was a little disappointed that he would not get a little certificate but he was perfectly happy with the cake and juice:)

Beach fun and 8 more days to go!

I went to the doctor today for a check up and everything is fine! I have been having a lot of contractions but have not dilated anymore. I have been feeling a lot of pressure and have a hard time walking for too long! My hormones have also been raging, which Michael has been very patient with! I am either extremely grumpy or extremely sensitive! Michael has been a God send this whole pregnancy! He has taken over role as super dad, house cleaner, massage therapist, crane operator (helps me up when I get stuck), psychiatrist, and any other role you can think of! Thanks honey!!! I will keep you up to date if there is any more news!!

We packed a picnic lunch and went to Ellacoya State Park on Monday after we picked Wesley up from Kindergarten. It was very windy but the sun felt great! Wesley loved the waves that the wind made in the water.He thought that it was just like the ocean only warmer. Wesley was jumping over the waves and trying not too fall into the water. I was sitting on the beach trying not to be so nervous that he was going to fall in and drown. It’s a good thing that Michael is not so paranoid and keeps me in check!

37 1/2 weeks along

Thank you Wesley for this lovely photo! Here I am ready to go at 37 1/2 weeks! God Bless any woman who is pregnant all summer. There has been about 2 hot days and I was ready to die! At my appt. this week all was fine and I am a little more than 1cm dilated. Of course I could stay like that for another few weeks but I will take all the encouragment that I can get. I will be sure to keep you updated on any new news!

Ocean Exploring

Michael, Wesley, Brooke, and Amanda searched for ocean creatures in cold tide pools of the Atlantic Ocean! We spent Memorial Day at Odiorne State Park in Rye, NH with some friends and the highlight of the day seemed to be the tiny crabs that Michael found for them all!

Wesley carried his blue bucket around to show his friends what they all found! He was even brave enough to hold one of the crabs. Later they went swimming in the ocean and he insisted that it was “so hot” that it was burning his feet. I think they were actually going numb:) The Dad’s took them all out to the beach on their bikes while the Mom’s stayed back and enjoyed the peace and quiet!