We, yes I said we, are home.

Well, finally, after all the waiting, our littlest one finally arrived. Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 7:51am, weighing a hefty 8lbs, 9.9oz, and measuring a towering 22 inches long. I was scheduled for an induction Wednesday, but baby S decided he didn't like our schedule so much and my water broke Tuesday evening around 5:30. He's a great baby and likes his sleep. Which is fabulous for me. I'm sure it won't last long. We arrived home yesterday afternoon and are glad to have busted out of our "jail". Here are a few pictures of Baby S, better known as Moose.



The "brats" pay us a visit.


Moose and Mr. Smartypants

Mommy and Moose

Breaking out of jail.

Thanks for all your prayers! We are blessed to have him here finally.

Just a quick note

I know a lot of you have called, wanting an update on me and little baby S. We are still doing fine. I haven't felt all that well for a couple of days. The heat and the extended-stay guest in my belly are a little hard on me. Tomorrow should be the big day. I will be up early, checking with Labor and Delivery here at our wonderful hospital to make sure they have room for me. Assuming that every pregnant woman on post hasn't gone into labor, I'll be having baby S tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers. It might be a really long day. As soon as I can, I'll post and let you all know he made it. Thanks for loving us and wanting to know.

Okay, so today wasn't so life changing

Well, bummer. Today's doctor's visit was good but terribly uneventful. The stress tests came back good. Baby is doing well and was kind enough to lay off the stubborn streak long enough to cooperate with the ultrasound tech. His little heart was beating well, my placenta looked, in the words of the tech,"surprisingly good for its age", and he is in the right position. What was slightly un-nerving was the amniotic fluid level which registered barely over 9. The normal range is 8-25, so we are still normal (whatever that means, who really is normal these days) but on the bottom end and more time will just mean less fluid. Which brings us to the doctor's visit that followed. Talk about disappointing. I have not made any progress. NONE. I am still dialated to a 1 (whoop-te-do) and still 50% effaced. No change from last week. This isn't very promising. With all that info combined, and the fact that I will be officially 41 weeks tomorrow, we will be going ahead with some intervention. Did you know they now do intervention for stubbornness?? Anyway, Wednesday is the big day, we hope. I will go in (if they have room for me in Labor and Delivery) and the docs are gonna try some non-medical tricks to see if I can go into labor. Just the standard break your water stuff. They don't want to give me a whole lot of meds because of the stress it can put on my uterus which has this giant scar from my last two children. Uteri (if that isn't the plural of uterus, it should be) that have scars like mine does have a tendency to rupture under too much stress. And that just wouldn't be cool. So, if the "non-medical" interventions don't work then off to the OR we will go. So there you are. The latest update on everything you never wanted to know about my uterus, (or uteri in general). Stay posted Wednesday evening for some pictures of the stubborn little creature currently living in my belly.

Today my life will change....hopefully

Today is a big day for the Hawthorne house. And no, I'm sorry, the baby isn't coming...at least not that I've been made aware of. And considering the situation, I figure I'll be about the first to know. Today we go to the doctor for our first series of fetal stress tests and amniotic fluid level checks. This is common procedure when one is overdue with a overbaked bun in her oven. Promptly after the testing I will see my doctor who will hopefully decide that this baby is coming or needs to come and will send me back to the OB department to schedule my csection. Be in prayer for us that all is well with the baby, but that the doctors all agree there is no need to wait any longer. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to jump back on here and let you know that he is REALLY coming...eventually.

Still no baby

I figured that if you're logging on right now to check my blog its to see if I've managed to get this kid outta me yet. Well, the answer would be no. I hear the sympathetic groans of agony coming from all of you...and thank you for your support. I have officially given up, thrown in the towel, rolled over and played dead, whatever you wanna call it, on having this baby. I'm pretty sure we're gonna have to go in and get him. So I have resigned myself to surgery sometime next week. And I'm okay with that. So with that update out of the way, lets get on to something a little more fun.

The name that photo contest winner:

Lesli from Michigan!!! woo hoo. She was my only entry so she wins by default. There will be something cool in the mail for you soon. Her prize-winning entry?

"Now bubba, swing like you mean it!!"

Thanks Lesli for playing along.

For more entertainment value....here are some more random pictures from the "Herd"

okay, I know I promised

I know I said yesterday that if I didn't have this baby then that I would post something entertaining for you to view. Well, sorry...I failed at both ends of the bargain. No baby, and no post. I was too depressed, too tired, and too much in pain from the doctor's visit to do anything but take a giant nap. Not really, I cleaned house, hoping that would help put me in labor, but it didn't work. I hate wasting housework like that. So, since I'm such a bum, I decided I'd better do some updating for you people today. The doctor's appointment yesterday was horribly disappointing. It was my due date (see previous post) and I was really hoping for a baby. Seeing as how I'm sitting here typing and not holding a baby, it didn't happen. I am scheduled to go back to the doctor on Monday, at which time I will have a stress test for the baby, they will check the amniotic fluid level and then I will visit with the doctor. After visiting with him (he's in the family practice clinic) I will truck back upstairs to OB and schedule my Csection for sometime next week. So there you have it...No baby, but I do have some entertainment for you.





This is Noodle's first baseball game of the season. Let me remind you that he is a 1st grader playing in a 3rd and 4th grade league. He's really doing well.

The twins enjoy the baseball games as well.

Itchy is all about the sport.


Scratchy, well, she is all about the crowd. A beauty queen needs to see and be seen.

And in the spirit of baseball and all things American and summer...here's a name that photo contest for you. Give me your suggestions for a title for this photo below. I'll select my favorite and if I remember, I'll send you something kinda cool. Not really. I will send you something cool. I promise. (and that is Noodle in the picture with Itchy)


So send me your titles. I can't wait! I'll announce the winner in a day or two, assuming this baby doesn't come soon. And at this rate, he won't.

40 weeks and out of days to count

Okay, so today marks 40 weeks and I am officially out of days to count down. I am sitting here, posting this early in the morning before I trot off to the doctor for my last regular doctor's visit. From here on out it will be post-term appointments that will include stress tests and more than one doctor's visit per week. They take this whole post-term baby thing pretty seriously around here. I say just take the little brat out. He's beginning to over-stay his welcome in there at this point. Today we will set in motion a few things to start encouraging him to come out. As a VBAC patient (that would be vaginal birth after c-section for those of you less familiar with childbirth terms), I have the option of choosing to do it the old school way and push this kid out, or elect to do less work and just have them cut him out. The joys of undergoing a previous C-section. So, I'm a smart cookie for the most part and I know its better for junior if I can push him out. So that was my choice. Before I knew he would like it in there so much that he would want to stay until he's 18. Now, as I am itching to remove the welcome mat and send him packing to a cradle instead of my uterus, my thoughts turn to c-section more and more. This is the decision I have made. My doctor will most likely be stripping my membranes today (no, that isn't breaking my water, if you want to know what that is, ask a nurse or drop me an email and I'll explain....this is a family program after all), and as fun as that is (about as fun as a root canal), and as effective as it is (is typically effective to start labor within 48 hours) I will be notifying Doc that if it doesn't work, I want to change my mind and be a repeat c-section. So in other words...We'll do the procedure today, and go ahead and schedule a c-section just in case it doesn't work. I like to cover my bases like that.

Okay, seeing as how I have completely overshared with the world, and I'm sure you all were dying to know all about the glorious side of childbirth, we'll move on to other topics. Like underwater basket weaving (okay, so I'm a little short on topics today). If you want something really interesting to read, check out this blog. She's a desperate housewife from the middle of nowhere Oklahoma with a killer writing ability and one seriously well stocked kitchen. There is nothing about her blog that is boring. Funny stories about life on the ranch, her take on homeschooling her punks (because they live so far from town), remodeling advice (both given and sought out), gardening tips, a rancher with some serious forearms, and some of the best recipes EVER. Oh, and great contests...I'm serious, GREAT contests. This week she gave away a kitchenaid stand mixer. She's given away Wusthof knives, bbq grills, and baby socks. Check it out if you aren't already a loyal follower. It will brighten your day. www. thepioneerwoman.com

okay, really I have nothing. If I'm home this afternoon, I'll try to post some videos and pictures for your viewing pleasure. I'm kinda hoping you don't hear from me for a couple of days. Not that I don't love you all, but I'm planning a blogging vacation while in the hospital (only because our archaic hospital doesn't have wi-fi). Keep your fingers crossed the next post is a picture of a newborn!

Congratulations, I guess

Well, we finally hit 500 here on the Mommy Diaries. Congrats to Jaime Anderson for being my 500th hit. There is no cool prize, just the bragging rights that you hit it right at 500. Maybe I'll come up with a cool prize for 1000. Who knows. At the rate I'm going I have plenty of time to figure it out.

Some thoughts on a few things...

The last few days in blogland have been days of surprise, shock and disbelief. A blog of a young pregnant woman whose unborn baby had been given a terminal diagnosis has been one of interest that I and a couple of friends (along with thousands of others across the nation and world) have been following over the course of the last several weeks. After pouring prayers out for this young family, waiting anxiously for updates and finally knowing of the birth, the blog world was shocked to find it had all been a hoax. Many people who had been reading the blog were furious. Angry that they had bought into this story and had put their time, effort, prayers, and even money into something that was merely a work of fiction by a very disturbed person. I was saddened that someone could make up such a horrific story for any reason. But from the ashes, God will make beauty. As the truth unfolded, three of this young woman's biggest supporters spoke out on how they too were duped. You can read their statements here. It was with class and dignity like few others could muster that these three women sought to stop the rumors, heal the hurt and remind all of us that God is still God. I am reminded that God can take anything, and I do mean anything, and work it to his good. From this fictious story, came a blog that allowed people who were complete strangers to pray for one another. Prayers of support and love that would have otherwise gone unspoken. It allowed a world full of people to pray for a woman who desperately needed prayer, even if the prayers were sent up with false information. In the end, does it really matter that we all prayed for the "wrong" thing? I don't think so. We took time out of our day to talk to God (is that ever wrong??) and He heard our prayers that were sincere. He ultimately knows what is going on with each of us. He knew this young woman, too. Having followed her story made me more thankful that my own pregnancy was going so well. I would read her blog and stop just to praise God that I have four healthy children, even on days when they were ALL misbehaving. How many times do we stop to thank God for our children when the misbehave??? I am saddened that one woman duped so many people. However, I will say I am more than glad to have been duped if it meant I spent more time on my knees, crying out to God, praising Him the way I should. God works good in our lives every day from tragedy. He gives us what we need to go on and people are resoundingly resilient to life's hardships. If you don't believe me, check this out.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Week 39, failures of the public educaition system, and I surprise myself

Okay, so its week 39 and 2 days. I had another visit with my doctor yesterday and again NOTHING, NADA, ZERO, ZILCH. Should I even republish the conversation that we had, it is the same one we've been having for weeks now. "How are you feeling? fine Any pain? no. Okay, great, everything looks good, see you next week." Although this week he did mention that if I showed up for my appointment next week that we would start talking options for getting the baby out. My appointment next week is ON my due date. We'd better be talking options by then...or that doctor's gonna find himself with one really pissed-off pregnant woman on his hands...and we all know that would not be pretty. It could be worse than me with no Dr. Pepper for a week. *shudder* that's just an ugly thought.

On a completely different note...
I would like to think that my husband and I are smarter than the average bear couple. We're intelligent people, right? Well, Mr. Smartypants is enrolled in college while we are stuck, I mean stationed, here at Fort Lost in the Woods, I mean Fort Leonard Wood. He is taking an Algebra class. Now please remember that it has been something like 14 years since he was in high school so that would make his last Algebra class somewhere around 15-16 years ago. The ol' brain is a little rusty and has enough cobwebs in that sector to fill a haunted house. He opted to take a remedial Algebra class to oil the rust and clear the cobwebs before tackling College Algebra. He sat and worked on his homework last night, lamenting the entire time about how he should have paid more attention in school, and how bad he is at math. I nodded my head, knowing full well how frustrating it all is. I took math from coaches in high school. This is not to say that all coaches are crappy teachers or anything like that. Some are wonderful teachers. I'll just say my teacher/coach types didn't work for me. Now, my husband is a really smart dude and is stressing way too much about this, as he finished his homework in short order last night, but I will say this: We are all merely products of the public education system of (you fill in the blank here). Apparently, math is something that certain towns in New Mexico and Texas could use a little improvement on. (And apparently English too, as my language skills are so rusty by the looks of that last sentence that every English teacher I've ever had is wanting to die or hang their head in shame right now)

As for me and my husband's homework, well....you should all know that I'm way too nosey and too much of a busy-body to leave well enough alone. And instead of sitting quitely on the sofa with my crochet (the cable was still out due to a nasty storm that rolled through), I had to go butt in where I really didn't belong. I started trying to help my husband with his homework. Now, after you guys all pick yourselves up off the floor from laughing so hard, I actually surprised myself. I remembered more than I expected to. Seriously. I sat and did half of his homework. Now, I didn't do it for him...no, no. That would be academically dishonest and Mr. Smartypants is way too honest for that. Not to mention that I don't think he trusted that I did it right. I promptly tossed my homework in the trash. I did it more to prove to myself that I could than anything. And, frankly, I surprised myself.

Another day goes by.....

So here are some updates for all of you who are wondering if I will ever deliver this baby.
1. No, I haven't had this baby yet. But the Good Lord knows I want to.
2. Gwen, my sweet child care provider for the impending delivery, has returned from the Land of Big Ears (aka Disney World, how jealous am I) and is available to take care of all my brats. We were able to hang out for a few minutes today at the park until the weather turned nasty and we all had to run for cover.
3. My mom returned home on Sunday, confident that after having walked all day Saturday with no results of labor, that I would not be having this baby before Gwen returned on Monday. And what a blessing it was for my sweet mama to go on home. Not because I don't want her here, but because she went to the doctor today with a sore throat and came out with Strep Throat. NOT what the Hawthorne clan needs at the moment. She is at home healing and hoping this baby doesn't come for several more days so she can be well enough to come greet him.
4. Went to a fabulous Bible study today with all my Army ladies. The topic was on submitting to authority. Not just our husbands, but any authority God puts us under. A great reminder for a hard-head like myself.
Now you know everything possible going on in my life, oh so exciting that it is. So I'll touch on another topic that is of great interest to me as of late....naturally inducing labor.
Some of you may want to turn off your computer or navigate away from my page, and I certainly don't blame you. For those of you who are curious, have been there, or hope to find yourself in my position in the future, I will go on. It's a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately (go figure). There are a million ways to naturally induce labor apparently. Walking comes highly recommended and if it doesn't work, well, you've gotten some exercise. Of course there is always every man's favorite technique, yes...sex. But I don't know many pregnant women who get this far and get excited about the thought of having sex at all. Sex isn't fun when you're miserable. There is always the bumpy truck ride, but again, that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun when an 8+ lb baby is sitting on your bladder. Forget worrying about the mess it would make if your water broke, worry instead about peeing everywhere. My aunt suggested a good dose of Caster Oil...eeewwwww I think I'll just stick it out, thank you. But a friend suggested something today, that had been suggested to her by a nurse: evening primose oil. Take two capsules at night and two in the morning. She had some left over from her own pregnancy and delivery so she shared. I plan to do a little research today, possibly start taking them tonight and I'll let you know if its anymore effective than anything else I've tried so far. I find that inducing labor is much like any other problem that doesn't really have a quick fix. Everyone out there has a different solution that they swear by. But, does it really work, or did they just happen to try it at the right time? Who knows, but we all keep trying to quick-fix our problems when sometimes, time is all it takes.

The post-doctor update

I could have soooo titled this and left it blank. That's the update....nothing. Nothing new, nothing to report, nothing. Can you all tell I'm getting discouraged, downtrodden, depleted, defunk, depressed, deflated....hummmm...wonder how many D words I can come up with.....anyway...this is sucking, frankly and I'm Done (how's that for a D word??) I'm in the home stretch and I'm ready to meet my sweet baby and love on him and share him with the world. Is it so wrong that I want you guys to be able to see the sweet little bit of Hawthorne (is that an oxymoron??? sweet and Hawthorne?) for yourselves? So here I sit. Still pregnant, still huge, still somewhat miserable. Oh, and for some icing on my cake today....all of you that were sticking your tongues out at me because I had only gained like 4 pounds, well, have your laughs now. I gained 5 (thats f-i-v-e) pounds in one week. Yes, you read that correctly. I gained more weight last week than I have my entire pregnancy up to this point. You may now laugh and point, I deserve it. That's what I get for opening my big mouth and being like, "hey, I only....." Shut up Haley. I'm in denial and blaming it all on the baby...he now weighs something like 35 lbs. World record....it's gotta be.
With all that pouting done and out of my system, let me make sure you all know this: I feel fortunate that my baby is as healthy as he is and that my pregnancy, although long and never-ending, has been uneventful. I would much rather sit here and whine and belly-ache than ride the elevator to the NICU all day. I am thankful daily that I was able to be pregnant and I am thankful everyday that I am still pregnant right now.

Just a short little update and a request

Okay, for those of you on the countdown with me, I officially hit 38 weeks yesterday. Still no news, but I'm hanging in there like I'm gonna be pregnant forever. I go to the doctor tomorrow and will update after my appointment if there is any news.
On an unselfish note....
Yesterday at PWOC (my army gal Bible study) we learned that a sweet sister has a baby girl who will be undergoing surgery in St. Louis this week. Please pray for baby March. I don't know the details, but God does and thats all that is truly important. He gets it, He knows. Please keep this family in your prayers for the next week or so. I'll try to update all you prayer warriors as I know more information about baby March.