Baby Number Three - Announcing Malachi Alan - just a few months late....

So, life has been busy for the last six or so months. 

First, I was pregnant.  And miserable.  I truly hate to say that I was miserable, because a new baby is a huge blessing.  But for the sake of transparency and honesty, I was not a happy camper for the last few months of my pregnancy. Some people love to be pregnant, would be pregnant all the time if they could be...  I could not WAIT to be NOT pregnant and to hold and see my sweet baby boy.  Each of my pregnancies has been rough in its own way, but one thing that has been constant is a weird pain under my ribs toward the end.  With each subsequent pregnancy, this awful pain comes earlier.  I tend not to be a complainer when it comes to pain, as I consider myself to have a pretty high pain tolerance (I mean, I did take on a minivan with my head)...  But this pain was bad enough that I was taking Tylenol almost constantly, and my ribs were still tender about seven or eight weeks AFTER we had Malachi.  

So add some toddlers to chase, and I was a huge, hormonal, in pain, pregnant mess who counted down the days until September 5 - our scheduled C-section date.  I hoped my water would break sooner, and I really thought for sure it would...  But he was cozy and held on inside the womb until our scheduled meeting day.  Which was also a good thing, because my mom and dad were in Ireland, on a trip scheduled months before John and I even knew we were expecting.  A trip which ended a week and a half before my due date...  So thankfully, my mom made it through the trip, and safely arrived stateside, to help me at home the last few days before we became a family of five! 

On September 5, John and I went in to the hospital super early in the morning, excited to meet our baby boy.  am not sure why, but somewhere in my mind, I was thinking that the more C-sections you have, the easier it gets.  And I must tell you, while it may be true for vaginal deliveries, it's simply not true for C-sections.  At least not for me.  I was nauseous again this time, and for a change, John was too.  :)  What a pair we were in the delivery room, as I'm nearly dry heaving, while John is out in the hall, taking a break so as not to pass out.  At 8:14 am on Friday, September 5, our son, Malachi Alan, was born, measuring 21 inches and 8 pounds 14 ounces.  

Malachi at two days old

He was certainly a chunky little guy, and his chunkiness got him into a bit of trouble right away.  He surprised everyone when he presented breech and then got a bit wedged inside mom during delivery.  He took a bit of tugging to get out and in the melee, he ingested some amniotic fluid.  Also, because he was so big, the nurses had to check and recheck his blood sugar, as he was having a bit of trouble regulating his blood sugar.  So our first few days were certainly not without excitement...  

His siblings came to the hospital on Saturday to meet the new little guy.  It's always interesting to see how kids respond to certain situations, and I guessed that both of them would be ecstatic to meet Malachi.  Isaiah was.  Annika was not.  She started bawling in the hall on the way to meet him, and declared that she didn't want to meet him.  She has since grown to ADORE him, so it's all good!  The kids have adjusted nicely, and in some weird little way, three kids almost seems easier than two.  Maybe it's their ages, maybe it's their desire to help, maybe it's all in my head.  Who can tell?!  I can tell you that Malachi must be my easiest baby so far, he's serious, but loves to smile and sleep.  What's not to love?

Malachi at Christmastine, my chunky little monkey! 

We had just a few things going on since his birth - holidays, hospital stays, and a wedding.  Yep, four weeks after he was born, my little sister got married!  It was exciting, and I was in all my post partum glory.  But to get from Malachi's birth to the wedding, we had four solid weeks of fun and excitement.  I won't touch on it now, except to say, hospital stays suck!  More on that soon!