Zane Braden is Here!

Our 3rd little boy has arrived. Zane was born last Friday, the 23rd of November. He weighed 6lbs 6oz and was a whopping 21 1/2" long. We had him by c-section (which I don't recommend). He was in the neonatal intensive care unit at first, as he had a partially collapsed lung and some fluid on his lungs. That has cleared up and he is very healthy and gaining weight really well. Thanks to God!

For those of you who don't remember, I had placenta previa, which can cause some complications. When they cut for the c-section, they cut the placenta. It caused alot of bleeding. They considered a blood transfusion, even the next day, because I had lost so much blood but decided against it. I was happy with that but am not looking forward to the long recovery that blood loss requires. I really want to thank everyone for their prayers - things went as well as they could have, given the circumstances.

Here are some pictures for everyone to enjoy...

This was the last day I was pregnant.

It was a little scary seeing Zane hooked up to all the monitors!

So happy to have you here...happy & healthy!

Snuggling with mama.

First bath...not too happy about it!

Proud Daddy!

Proud big brother, Dylan!

Mama is t-i-r-e-d! But happy to see her other boys!

Granny and her grandbabies!

My dear friend, Renee, drove 4 hours to come see us. She showed up at my hospital room door with a mischievious grin, a bouquet of flowers and a large gift-bag full of baby clothes. What a treat!

Proud big brother, Kobe!

My 3 boys.

My 4 boys.

Still pretty tired-looking, but oh so glad to be home!

Baby Day

Today we travel to the 'city'. We spend the night so we can be at the hospital at 6am to get ready for my c-section. My surgery is scheduled for 8am. Can't wait to meet our new little boy! See you all when I get back.

House Tour

For those of you who have been emailing me for pictures of the house, here they are. We are moving in tomorrow. We are mostly done, with a few minor things that will continue to be worked on after we get in: trim on the main floor, jaccuzzi tub trim & faucets, mirrors in the bathroom, etc.


Now for the tour...

This is from the foyer looking into the living room.

If you look up while in the foyer, you will see the upstairs.

Look to your left from the foyer and you will see the homeschool room. There will be french doors here, but they aren't installed yet.

Look to your right from the foyer and you will see the playroom. There will also be french doors here which aren't installed yet.

Looking back at the foyer.

Go straight from the foyer and you go past the main-floor bathroom.

Keep going and you are in the living room.

Turn around to see the kitchen. The dining room is on the right, but I realized I have no picture of it. The living room, kitchen and dining room are all open to each other. Laundry is off the kitchen.

Then you head upstairs.

I chose baby blue and chocolate brown for each of the childrens' bedrooms. On one brown wall in each of their rooms, I am putting baby blue wall quotes with the scripture verse that goes...

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.Numbers 6:24-26.

This is where you look down to the foyer below.

This is the main upstairs bathroom.

Our master bedroom. This is where the jaccuzzi tub is, but it is not quite finished yet. I am having a c-section in a week so I will not be able to use it for a little bit anyways. It will be done by the time I'm ready to hop in!

We have a great view of the mountains from one of the tub windows and a view of the garage roof from the other...whoops! At least it will give us light in there!

Our ensuite & walk-in closet.

I don't have any pictures of the basement. There is nothing exciting down there. We are leaving it unfinished - with 3 boys there needs to be a rough-and-tumble place to play when the weather stinks! Floor hockey and such will be lots of fun down there for them!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour! I have to get to bed now, as it will be a long day tomorrow. By the way...Joanne, it looks like you owe me lunch after all!

I Won!

I won the 'baby bump' contest that I posted about below! Too exciting! I think I won some sort of Hanes deluxe gift set. It's nice to post about something that is a little more positive and not scary!

The Countdown Is On!

Well...there are only 6 days left until our house is done and we move in. I am so not ready - packed or anything - as I am on semi-bedrest. I really hate having to rely on other people so much. In 12 days, we will have our brand-new baby boy! Wow, it's all finally happening.

In a couple of days I will post some house-update pictures.

My Belly Bump

I am entering into Happy Panda's Cyber Baby Shower. For contest #2, they want to see a picture of my 'baby bump'. Here are a couple:

Sure hope I win something!

I have posted both of these pictures before. Sorry to those who have already had to endure them!

Halloween

We went out trick or treating this year. Dylan was a giraffe, Kobe was a bumblebee and our nephew, Riley, was a frog. Kobe & Riley had no idea what was going on but loved the candy!

I'm Home!

Yesterday morning started normally and I was preparing for a busy day. I put chili in the slow-cooker for us and for a family that just had a baby and went to have a shower. After my shower, I felt really nauseous. A few minutes later, it hit me like a brick wall - puking, cramping & the whole bit. My neighbor - a dear friend - took the children while I spent the rest of the day trying to keep water down. Dwayne came home for supper and was only home for a few minutes when I started to bleed. (Dylan heard me tell Dwayne that I was bleeding and ran for the bandaids!) I phoned the hospital and they said to come in right away because of my placenta previa. My doctor came running in - literally - and got prepared to ambulance me to a larger hospital. The bleeding stopped but they kept me in the hospital overnight. A little scary...and now I'm on semi-bedrest. Walking is fine, but not much else. It sure is nice to be home, though.