First pics of Mary Grace

Our beautiful baby girl was born today at 3:51pm, weighing 6 lbs 14oz. She is a VERY squirmy, active one! Here are some first pics...

Progress!

This will be my last update until our baby girl arrives.  My water was broken around 10 am and I had dilated to 5cm by 12:30pm.  At that time the nurse asked me if I wanted her to call anesthesia and have them pump up the dose of my epidural. I was begining to feel the contractions more, but they weren't too intense and so I decided to hold off. I told her that a part of me was just a bit curious and so, I decided to wait. About 10 minutes later, after she left the room, I had a couple of really good contractions and then pressed the nurse call button. When she came back, I told her that my curiosity had been satisfied and I was ready for a larger dose on the epidural! 

At 2:30, the nurse came back and checked me. I had dialated to 8cm and was all the way effaced. The baby had dropped to zero station and she figured that I'd be ready to push in about an hour. It took me 2.5 hours to push Sarah out, 13 minutes to push Hannah out, and I'm hoping that I can just sneeze this baby out! We shall see. Details to follow, but that's the latest. Signing off until our baby girl is here... 

Off to the races...

We are here at the hospital and ready for this party to get started. Unfortunately, I could barely sleep last night so I'm not incredibly well rested for today's big event. I remember looking at the clock and seeing every hour from 10pm until 4:45am, when I finally just got out of bed. John and I arrived at the hospital at 6am and got into our labor and delivery room shortly thereafter. The nurse got my IV going after 2 attempts (I'm so thankful for local anesthetics) a bit before 7am. After my veins were filled with a couple bags of IV fluids, the anesthesiologist came in around 9am to put in my epidural, which was completely pain-free. Dr. Fogwell (my O.B.) broke my water at about 10am, and so now we continue the waiting game. I've already had a few contractions since he broke my water, but nothing too terrible since I do have the epidural on a low dose for the time being. As soon as contractions pick up, you can be sure I'll be calling anesthesia to come back and pump up the dosage!

When I went in for my O.B. appointment this past Tuesday, I was about 2 cm dilated. Now I'm about 4 cm dilated, 50% effaced and the baby is at the -2 station, which basically means she hasn't dropped down very far yet. Since this is my 4th baby, however, everyone here thinks that this labor should progress pretty quickly. I sure hope so because I'm getting hungry and the only thing they're letting me ingest are ice chips. I'm trying to pretend that they're laced with protein, but my imagination isn't affecting my growling stomach so far.

So that's the latest. We'll try to keep you all updated as much as possible!

Close call...

Today I had my last OB exam for this pregnancy before the induction this Thursday. My mom told me on the phone last night that I ought to pack and bring my bags with me "just in case." I assured her that nothing was going to happen until Thursday, to which she responded, "you never know..."

Well, wouldn't you know that the baby's heart rate registered a bit on the low side (about 108 bpm) when the nurse practitioner was listening for it, then went back up into the normal range shortly after that. My O.B. walked in to check for himself and the baby's heart rate stayed in the normal range. To play it safe, he sent me across the hall to have a sonogram and make sure everything looked normal. If the baby passed the biophysical exam, then I could go home. If not, then I would be marched straight downstairs to Labor & Delivery, which is exactly what happened the day Hannah was born. Needless to say, I was getting nervous.

I called John to be "on alert" and then called his mom, who was watching my kids to also be prepared to watch the kids a little longer. John called back and wanted to stay on the line during the sonogram so he could hear the play-by-play. Thankfully, our baby girl passed 10 out of 10 tests (measurements, fluid levels, heart rate, activity level, etc.) with flying colors. Judy, my sonographer, even said that she seemed more active than most babies at this stage. This is probably an indication that the increased activity trend in my children is going to continue. Oh dear. But I was very thankful for this baby's high activity level today! Judy said the only thing she could see that might be the culprit for the slight dip in heart rate was that our little girl was squeezing the umbilical cord in her hands. We actually got to watch this on the sonogram and I wish I knew how to upload the video from the sonogram DVD onto the blog because it was very cool to see her little fingers opening and closing around that cord. There's nothing else to play with or squeeze in there, so it's no wonder she grabs what's right there in front of her! No wonder babies like to squeeze their parents' fingers and clench tightly to rattles.

So I am home and relieved that I didn't end up in Labor & Delivery with an emergency c-section or worse yet, a baby in distress. Yes, I have finally packed my bags and am ready for what I hope will be a textbook labor and delivery this Thursday morning! We are indeed thankful to the Lord for our healthy and highly active baby girl.

What a baby shower looks like for the 4th child...

This is the last pregnancy profile shot I'll be getting before I go into the hospital this coming Thursday at 6:00a.m.
Today my small group from church threw me a baby shower (or a "baby wash" as my friend's 4 yr old daughter called it). Since this is our 4th baby and our 3rd girl, I insisted on consumable items only (i.e. diapers, wipes, creams, soap, etc.). My goodness, did they ever deliver!


Stacked here are the diapers and wipes that should keep our little baby girl clean and dry for MONTHS to come! What a blessing!


Martha (Nana) was the only one who broke the rules and bought non-consumables (she's the grandmother, what do you expect?!). Draped over the changing table and the crib railing are some new cute newborn outfits, pjs for mommy, and burp clothes with decoratively sewn pink ribbons.

I would say that we are WELL prepared for this baby to arrive! Now if I could just get around to packing a bag for the hospital...

It's a Girl!!!

Well, congratulations to all of you who correctly guessed a girl!

The original plan was that I would find out the sex of the baby at my appointment and I would reveal it to the family today at lunch, treated by my in-laws. I went to the appointment by myself today and decided that I wouldn't find out until lunchtime either, so I had the sonographer write down the sex of the baby on an index card and seal the answer up in an envelope that we would together open at lunch. I thought that it would just kill me to know the answer was sitting in my purse that whole time, but it didn't. I honestly could have waited until the birth to find out.

So I came home, picked up Martha (Nana) and the kids, picked up John at the church, then met Randy (Pop) at Blue Mesa Grill. I was going to let Nana or Pop open the envelope, but they all insisted that I open it. After the verdict was read, everybody cheered except for Christopher and Sarah. Christopher was downright disappointed because he thought 3 girls was too many. Sarah told me, "But Mommy, my don't want to be a baby in your belly." I assured her that the girl wasn't her, but that the baby already in mommy's belly was a girl. Christopher got over his disappointment as soon as we started discussing names. We've had the name (Samuel David) picked out for a boy for the last 2 pregnancies. Now we have to go back to the drawing board for girl names. Christopher's 1st suggestion was 'Rachel' and then he started getting silly with name selections that made no sense (i.e. 'process', 'concrete mixer truck', 'mud', and so on).

So Christopher remains our prince as we add a 3rd little princess to the McCracken clan. We can't wait to meet her...whatever her name is!

Post your hunch and win a prize!

Well, not really. Unless you consider recognition from the blogosphere that your hunch was correct a prize.

Tomorrow I go in for my 19-20 week sonogram and will find out if baby #4 is a boy or a girl, Lord willing. We know it's either one or the other, but I don't have a hunch either way. I could seriously wait until the birth date before finding out, but I also don't mind finding out ahead of time...to the great relief of everyone around me who wants to know NOW! We found out via sonogram that Christopher was a boy and then waited until the birth date to be surprised with both girls, and it was fun both ways. People argue that finding out ahead of time helps with preparation and gifts, but we are SO prepared either way! Aside from diapers, wipes and other consumables (which are all gender-neutral), we have all the clothing, bedding, equipment, etc. that this baby boy OR girl could possibly hope for. I guess people just want the emotional preparation. John tells me that he needs time to get used to the idea of what our family is going to look like. I'll buy that. It is fun to find out.

So be brave and post your guess in the comment section! You'll find out some time tomorrow whether or not your hunch was correct.

A little too much excitement for one week...

Well, we couldn't just have one McCracken visit the emergency room this week...

As you all know, John was in a car accident on Wednesday. Thursday morning I had a routine 16 week OB check up where the nurse practitioner had a very difficult time finding the baby's heartbeat with the doppler. She had no problem finding mine, which was increasing in pace the longer it took her to track down the baby's heart beat. My OB stepped in to give it a try after she was unsuccessful and found it, but not immediately. After I had let out a sigh of relief (that's an understatement), he told me, "You see, it doesn't matter how long it takes to find the baby's heartbeat; it's either there or it's not...and your baby's heartbeat is most definitely there." A strong 160 bpm, thank the Lord, but MAN! Talk about an anxiety roller coaster. He/she was apparently hiding in a low, deep spot.
On Friday, I packed up to leave for a weekend women's retreat with the ladies in our church. The kids stayed with John Friday night and then went over to Nana and Pop's house for Saturday night so that Nana and Pop could get the kids to church and John could get himself and his sermon to church in a timely manner. I was having a marvelous time out at Pine Cove when I received a phone call Saturday evening from John telling me that Christopher had fallen out of a chair at Nana's house and seriously hurt his arm when he landed on the floor. They said that they had never heard him cry like that before and he cried on and off for the better part of an hour. So John and Martha (Nana) took Christopher to the ER to get an X-ray and sure enough, his elbow was fractured.
Christopher was very upset upon hearing that he had to go to the doctor but John told him that he wouldn't get a shot. Once the doctor came in the room and asked Christopher what happened, Christopher became very animated and said, "Well, I was at my grandmother's house for a sleep-over...and I was sitting on the arm of the big brown chair...and I fell off and hit the floor...and my arm bended all the way back to my elbow and hurt really badly." The doctor very carefully felt up and down his arm asking if this or that hurt and Christopher was calm and aware enough to point to his elbow as the only part of his arm that hurt. They gave him tylenol with codeine for the pain, which John says took effect very quickly because Christopher started saying what a cool place the hospital was and told the nurses and doctor that he knew the body had 206 bones as well as what the skull, femur and humerus bones were. They got a big kick out of that. So he has a temporary splint until he gets a cast (probably by Monday).

John thought this picture was kind of funny because it looks like he lost his right leg along with breaking his arm. Oh, and for those of you thinking it's "lucky" he broke his left arm instead of his right...he's left-handed.

Sarah was so concerned after Christopher broke his arm and was crying uncontrollably (he hardly ever cries), that she came over to where he was and said, "Here Chrio-fer" as she handed him her blanky, which is her most treasured possession. It was SO sweet! I guess she thought, 'Well, this is what brings me the most comfort, so maybe it'll work for you.'

I love this picture because Christopher is dancing around, being silly while Sarah is thoroughly entertained and giggling.

A bit surprised...

Here's another fun snapshot that was taken earlier the same day we received all of that snow...

For those of you unfamiliar with sonograms, that's a profile shot of the latest addition to the McCracken household. You can see the little eyes, nose and mouth facing upwards (on the left), the body to the right and the little hand above. Pretty amazing - and all of that is visible at 11.5 weeks gestation. And yes, we just found out about this little life less than a week prior to this sonogram!

I know some of the women reading this are thinking, "How on earth could you get to the end of your 1st trimester and not even suspect that you're pregnant??" Yeah, I'm wondering that too. I guess February was a pretty busy and distracting month with sick kids, sick mommy, traveling, busy schedules, etc. that I just kept dismissing the tell-tale symptoms as leftovers from the flu, not getting enough sleep, running ragged, and catching whatever the kids had. I actually did wonder a few times here and there, but then brushed it off as nothing since my symptoms were so inconsistent. Then last Thursday evening (not this past Thursday, but the one before) as I was sitting up in bed reading a book, I looked down at my tummy and noticed that it was a little rounder than usual. It was then that I started connecting the dots, realizing that I had actually been feeling rather lousy for over a month.

So the next day while John was at work and the kids were taking their naps, I took a test and it was as positive as it could be. After connecting all of the dots the night before, I knew it was going to be...but I was still pretty surprised and overwhelmed. I couldn't even bring myself to tell John until that evening after the kids were in bed. I started by saying, "Well, it's a good thing we got that minivan...because we're gonna need that extra seat." His head jolted upright, his eyes got as big as saucers and he said, "You're pregnant???"
"Yes."
"When did you find out?"
"This afternoon."
"But...I hadn't decided on whether or not I wanted a fourth yet."
"Um, John...it's a little late for that."
"But..."
"John...it's not like I did this behind your back!"
Needless to say, he was even MORE surprised and overwhelmed. But after the initial shock wore off, he said, "Well, I guess I was leaning towards having a fourth...I just wanted a little more space between Hannah and the fourth! But obviously, this is God's will." Now that we've had several days of knowing go by, a sonogram that confirmed a healthy baby at nearly 12 weeks, and the excitement of sharing the news, we've all gotten a little giddy at the idea of having yet another baby in our Christmas family photo this year! My estimated due date is September 21st.

So there you have it. The cat's out of the bag, so why not post it on our blog? Hannah turns 1 year old by the end of this month, and I'll already be 3+ months pregnant. This baby and Hannah will be about 18 months apart. Christopher and Sarah were a little more than 19 months apart and I wouldn't change that age difference for anything because I love how close they are. So now Hannah will have a buddy as well. Of course, they're all pretty close in age - that's 4 kids in 5 years. We're very prolific...

Any day now...

Any day now, baby #3 will be born. Mindy is about in the middle of her 39th week of pregnancy. We took this picture last night. Doesn't she look great!? I definitely married up! There is a chance that she will be induced tomorrow as well. We don't know the sex, but if it is a boy, it will be Samuel David and if it is a girl it will likely be Hannah Elizabeth. We'll keep you posted!

31 weeks pregnant

Here is Mindy's profile shot at 31 weeks pregnant. She doesn't look 31 weeks pregnant to me! Our due date is April 4. Christopher was born April 2, 2003. We don't know the sex and aren't going to find out until the baby comes.