April 16, 2010

Our little Claudia Paige.	Ina Sue got up in good time on Sunday and put the finishing touches on our lunch while I got the children fed and clothed for church.  Gary preached on "Respecting Others".  We came home for a feast of ham loaf, baked macaroni, fresh garden broccoli and cookies.  After lunch we played games with the children then took naps.  After the naps I took Landon and Savannah on a walk.  At church in the evening "Higher Ground" from Highland WV gave the program.  I thought they did a great job overall and felt inspired.
Our friendly mid-wives.	I went to work Monday morning and left my wife doing the laundry.  She called me part way through the morning to let me know that she was having a few contractions and that she "thought" that things were perhaps starting but not to be in a hurry to come home.  She finished up the wash and got everything folded and put away.  A little before I got home at 6:00, Savannah fell off the step of the screened porch backward onto the deck and hit her head pretty hard.  After I got home we ate supper of BarBQ & rice with kale.  Savannah kept on crying then right after supper she threw up.  By this time Ina Sue was pretty sure that the birth was going to happen.  Savannah threw up about 4 or 5 more times during the evening.  We were pretty worried that she might have a concussion...  I did some reading on concussions and found that there really isn't any real treatment other than rest and observation so we just tried to comfort her the best we could.
I spent the evening holding her and trying to monitor the other children while we straightened up the house and washed another load of dirty clothes.  Savannah had soiled about four different sets by the time she got done throwing up.  By 9:00 the house looked good and the contractions were coming pretty regular.  I told Ina Sue that if she didn't call the midwife soon, I would!  She called Adrienne and she got on her way.  I took the children over to Carl and Grace around 9:30 and Adrienne got here at 10:30.  Things progressed through the night.  Ina Sue had me go to sleep on the couch while she worked and Adrienne did some studying.  It turned out I almost slept through the birth... :)  Adrienne woke me up around 3:41.  Brandy (the 2nd midwife) got here at 3:40 and Claudia Paige arrived at 3:48.  She came into the world crying.  6lbs. 14oz.  We loved the home birth!  It was so nice to already be home and so peaceful.
The childrens' first look at their baby sister.	The midwives did a few blood tests then helped cleanup up a little and left around 6:00 Tuesday morning.  I laid down to sleep for a little but felt a little queasy.  By 8:00 I was nauseated and throwing up.  Felt miserable but thankfully had not eaten much of anything since supper so there wasn't much in my stomach to start with.  I went and got the children from Carls and brought them home to meet their baby sister.  They were enthralled.  I gave them a little time to get acquainted then took them over to Marcia's for the day.  We were able to spend the day resting.  By the late afternoon I was able to eat a little bit and keep it down.  I picked up the children from Marcia at 4:30.  Sharon Brubaker brought us a wonderful supper of lasagna, french bread, corn, broccoli salad, mixed fruit and bars.  What a treat!  We all went to bed early.
They were enthralled.	We had a fitful night of ups and downs.  Claudia didn't sleep the best but I think she slept the whole day previously and still doesn't have her day night schedule yet.  I got up Wednesday morning and made us all waffles for breakfast.  I tried to take care of the children all day so that Ina Sue could focus on her rest and the baby.  We worked outside for a while putting a new drainpipe on our gutter to get the water/moisture away from the dining room (which I think contributed to the fungus problem)  We had to make a trip to Denmark for pipe and picked up some 99 cent chicken burritos from Taco Bell for dinner.  Adrienne stopped by for a visit around dinner time and checked the baby over.  Claudia sleeps most of the time...   Lois and Emma Heatwole stopped in for a little visit.   We had leftovers for supper then Uncle Howards stopped by for a little to see the baby.
Adrienne gives Claudia her checkup	We had a better night with Claudia sleeping most of it.  Got up Thursday morning and made breakfast then spent the morning doing laundry and keeping the children.  I dropped them off with Deb Hochstetler in the afternoon and went in to the shop for a couple hours.  Adrienne came by in the afternoon for a more thorough checkup with PKU and a Rhogam shot for Ina Sue (She is RH neg and I am positive).  She was a little concerned that Claudia's temperature was a bit low.  Also, that she continued to sleep even when she got her shot.  She advised us to keep her wrapped up really good and to keep an eye on her temperature.   Glenda Stove brought us another delicious meal.  Wonderful grilled steak, fresh potatoes, green beans, cookies, and strawberry tapioca.   Then Nelson Hochstetlers dropped the children off here already fed and extremely proud of the mints that Deb had helped them make.  We have such wonderful friends!!!
Claudia picked a beautiful time to enter the world.	We were getting pretty concerned about Claudia by 8:00 Thursday evening.  Adrienne had called back and voiced a bit more concern about low glucose level and  that Claudia's temperature needed to get up pretty quickly.  Ina Sue had kept her wrapped up throughout the afternoon and when we checked her temperature it was getting close to normal.  But she would not wake up!  As Ina Sue thought about it she didn't think that she had hardly had her eyes open all day long and during the afternoon would not even wake up to drink.  We were getting pretty worried and thought we might need to go to the doctor for her.  By 10:00 though she woke up and drank a bit of milk and throughout the night she seemed to be waking up and drinking better.  By morning her temperature was completely normal and she seemed pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Thank you God!
Deb Hochstetler helped the children make mints.	I made French toast for us Friday morning.  Then I took the children with me on a service call to Denmark.  From there I took them to McDonalds to play on the playground and ate a McFlurry & chicken nuggets.  They had a big time.  After lunch I dropped the children off with Ruthie Stover for the afternoon.  She was very kind to keep them for us.  Many people had volunteered to babysit for us but everyone was so busy with our special weekend.  I worked for several hours at work then rushed to pick up the children, eat supper on the way home, then get them ready and take them with me to the first evening of Barnwell Christian School's 30'th anniversary celebration.  A very nice program with a short video presentation showing the history and vision of the school then a talk by Steve Brubaker from Hebrews 12.  Afterward there were refreshments.  After we got home we put the children to bed then I spent several hours cleaning and vacuuming the house and washing several loads of clothes.

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