Minor Setbacks

All 7 together.....so, the only time we can seem to get it together enough to do pics is right before bedtime

Well, I suppose it wouldn't be a complete recovery without some minor little stuff going on. I did really well, and was probably doing way too much, up until about day 5 after he arrived. It was then the all too familiar flu like symptoms kicked in and the fever started. By the end of it I definitely had mastitis and was pretty miserable. It was hard to do anything and I was pretty much bound to the bed for a day, probably should've been a few more, and it was then that Brad did have the full load of everything by himself. I think that is the worst part of having a baby is knowing that is probably coming at some point. It happened sooner than later this time around. I think with Garrett it took a couple or 3 weeks. I finally gave in and called the midwife and she called in some antibiotics for me after having tried to get through it on my own for 4 days and nothing working. Hot showers, hot compresses, massages, nursing 24/7...nothing worked and by the end of it there was nothing left but the med route...which did work!


So then, if that wasn't bad enough, I somehow managed to get dehydrated....don't ask me how!!! I've freakin drunk at least as many gallons as I weigh in the last few days. Due to my fever and the whole hormone's getting back to normal thing I somehow managed to get behind the hydration curve, thus resulting in a migraine like I have never in my life experienced. I fought a headache for more than a few days and I knew by the time I went to bed Sat night it wasn't good at all and by the time I got up and Brad was coming off shift I couldn't even move. The light hurt, any bed movement hurt, everything hurt and I was severely nauseated on top of it all. Mother spent the night with me instead of going home when she realized how bad it was hurting so she was there to do the morning routine until Brad got home. By the time he arrived I had taken so much Tylenol.....which doesn't phase a migraine!!!!....and Aleve that I was maxed out on them all. I was ready to make a trip into the ER I hurt so bad but I wasn't exactly sure how I'd ever survive the trip there. Ever my hero and knowledgeable one, he arrived with an IV bag and set to work giving me that to get some fluids into my system. I honestly didn't expect it to work since I was a little skeptical of a headache so severe being due to mere dehydration. At that point I didn't have a lot to lose though and really didn't care about much at that point except my head so I just laid there through it all. I was convinced I'd married a miracle working angel when only 1/2 an hour later I could stand and then actually open the curtains. After having had a headache for 3 days that just kept growing worse I finally had no trace or signs of any pain at all. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to be able to just think and function. I don't think I've ever been so entirely grateful for Brad's abilities either. I think I am in love with him and I think I love being married to a paramedic. I love that he cares so much when I hurt so bad. And when I love him for being so sensitive he's probably sitting there praying it works just so he doesn't have to deal with the children and go through the whole meal routine! LOL!









Anyway, between being sick and the headache I have been kind of out for the last week or so. But, in the midst of it all, Gavin is still the most angelic little miracle ever. I look at his tiny little hands already capable of curling around my finger and his perfectly formed tiny little toes and how perfect they are...down to to the smallest little pinky nail ever. His soft curled little ear and his pink pouty little lips. I marvel over how entirely incredible it is that at only a week and a half old....only a few minutes old......he knows where to turn and how to nurse. I love how he gazes at me like I'm the most incredible thing he has ever seen. I love how his cries are quieted when he hears my voice or when I take him into my arms. The feeling of absolute love that encompasses all 3 of us as his tiny little 20 inch long body all warm and baby soft and sweet smelling lays curled up on my chest while he sleeps. The miracle of a newborn just never grows old.

(Ok...so we didn't quite realize both legs were stuck in one leg hole at the time of the picture)

It's the same overwhelming love that comes as I sit in the quiet dusk of warm summer winds and sunsets rocking sweet Garrett as he lays his huge baby head on my shoulder in complete trust and love. His fat round baby legs wrap around my waist and his chubby little arms wrap around my neck and his pudgy little hands pat my back saying all is perfect in his world.









I love all of their different ages. I love how motherhood is just such an amazing journey. The joy and amazement that comes with loving them all is so all consuming. I marvel over how Brad and I have changed because of what parenting has taught, and is teaching, us.

All the boys...yes, even the unhappy one..he was ready to get down and run


the girls







And I love and hate how the moments come that are so entirely incapable of being captured infinitely with each of them. How miraculous the little moments are with each of them yet I know they cannot be, and will never be, perfectly preserved and remembered. Those every day moments are just ever flowing rapidly down the currents of time to an ocean of seldom remembered, and sometimes even forgotten, memories. What a treasure everyday life with them all is. I wonder how much of it I will truly remember. The fun, the love, the joy, the chaos, the noise, the everything of it all. There is no doubt that life was certainly a little quieter before Gavin's arrival and we've all agreed that the Suburban was definitely a little less cramped and a lot less noisy before he came along and I definitely slept a lot more at night but I wouldn't trade my life for anything. We have been so so very blessed. And with each one life gets a little more interesting and a lot more fun with each different new person added to the mix. And soon even Gavin's newborn cries and the sleepless nights will be yet another memory and I will look back and it will seem as it were only a page, if that, in the overall story of my life.