Tolman Family

Friday, March 6, 2015

November 2013 part 4

Oh how this big sister loves to hold Melody.

And this big brother is completely smitten with her!

Her cord fell off when she was a week old, so we were able to give her a real bath!

And I love the post-bath hair.

A co-worker of Pat's made her this Star Wars blanket, she loved it!

JD and Karri came down to watch the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special with us and Jaina fell asleep next to her. So we put the sleeping baby on her and Mara pretended to be asleep too.

4 sleeping angels.

I was able to catch a sleeping smile!

These girls will sit and baby watch all day if they could.

Jaina has the best fashion sense and I love it!

Gotta have some baby snuggle time.

THANKSGIVING 2013

We had dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Tolman's house

Melody was getting snuggles from everyone!

Olivia was so happy to kiss her.

Thanksgiving was also Grandpa's birthday!

Jaina has caught on to me nursing Melody.

She decided that she needed to feed her baby too.

This awesome onesie was made by the same co-worker that made her blanket.

It just amazes me how little she is, and the way she sleeps.

November 2013 part 3 - Going Home

We were only at the hospital for a little over a day. But we were able to get these few pictures. Melody was very fussy because of mucus in her tummy, so she wouldn't stay calm when I put her down.

This is one of my most favorite pictures.

It's crazy that babies are so small.

Our first day home was

Wednesday, November 13th

She got some snuggle time with daddy.

Pat had a conference to go to on that Thursday, so my mom came to stay with me overnight. She was great and kept Melody for me so I could get some sleep, since Mel didn't like her bed yet. But she discovered if Melody was wearing a hat and swaddled in her blanket, she would sleep better. So we started to keep her in a hat when she slept.

Sunday visit from Grandma & Grandpa Tolman

The whole Ramey side came down for dinner and to meet Melody.

Sawyer was so excited to hold her, and didn't care that she was crying.

Finley is a little mommy and would make a circle with her arms to show that she was ready to hold the baby.

It was SO cute!

Conli was so happy to have another cousin to love on!

My mom was able to pick up Grandma Joan from the care center and bring her to dinner and to meet Melody. It was so great having her in our home and with the whole family. She sure loves being with everyone.

4 Generations

Had to get a family picture with her before she left.

We just love our Grandma Joan!

Monday, March 2, 2015

November 2013 part 2 - Meeting Melody

Our only full day at the hospital we had a lot of visitors:

Big Sister Mara

Big Sister Jaina

Aunt Gwen

Grandpa Tolman

Mara (again)

Uncle Morri

Mommy

Big Brother Xander

Aunt Lana

Grandma Tolman and her reaction to finding out that we named Melody after her mother, Grandma Ethel.

Aunt Liza and cousin Addi.

Cousin Carter

Cousin Alex

Cousin Noah

Cousin Maddox

Uncle JD

Uncle Chris

November 2013 part 1 - Melody

Mara has been getting better with her reading, and I was able to catch her reading a book to Jaina.

She is such a great big sister!

I can't remember why I took this picture, but I sure do have a handsome boy!

Our yard gets full of leaves every fall, and it's usually from the neighbors trees + the wind. Jaina was being such a good helper.

And what's a little clean up without a little fun!

The Big Day arrived!!

This is me: November 11th, 2013

39 weeks & 1 day with baby #4

I was scheduled to be induced after spending weeks with contractions and even a weekend where I was timing contractions during a movie (Thor 2). I really thought I was going into labor, but didn't. So the day came to be induced. My doctor was going to be on call at the hospital on the 11th and 13th, but I really wanted her to be born on the 12th so she could have a cool birthday 11-12-13. Dr. Skinner was awesome and said I could come in the evening of the 11th so we could hopefully have her born after midnight.

After a long day of waiting and trying to fill my time (I sewed her a blanket) we took the kids to Grandma & Grandpa Tolman's house for a sleepover, then headed to the hospital around 6 pm. After checking in and getting hooked up they started my Pitocin at 7:20. It was going smooth for a bit and they bumped it up about every hour. My mom and Karri came to be with us, like they have with all my other babies. The pitocin made everything more intense and I felt very overwhelmed. After being checked while sitting up (the bed wouldn't lay flat) which was the worse thing EVER, I was brought to tears. This was not the way I wanted it to go, so we decided it was time for the epidural. By this time I was only dilated to 4cm. After the epidural Dr Skinner broke my water about 11:55 pm (4+cm, 80%). I was happy at this point because we had made it to the 12th, and she would have the birthday that I wanted.

At 1:00 am I was 6cm and 90%, so finally making progress. Over the next hour I tried to rest, but couldn't. I started to get the shakes, which I did with Jaina, so I knew that it was almost time. My mom was so worried that I was cold, but I told her that it was because it was time. So we got the nurse in to check me at 1:55 am and I was complete!

Dr Skinner came in and got everything ready, then it was time to push and I only pushed for 2 contractions!! It was great!