Baby Miranda - a few photos

 My parents brought the kids to see us at the birthing center about 5 hours after Miranda was born.

 Ellia thinks Miranda is awesome!

For now.

 Marissa is in baby heaven.  

 The next day - we had to leave the birthing center section of the hospital to regular mom/baby postpartum in the middle of the night so someone else could use the room.   

 Grant is pretty smitten with his 4th daughter.

 Corban has decided that a 4th sister isn't such a bad thing. 

Annika with Miranda

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 7

Introducing Miranda Kathryn -

born at 12:05 p.m.

9 lbs 5.6 oz

21" long

Labor got pretty difficult for awhile, probably around 10:30 or so. Grant was my awesome support and helped me focus on relaxing through some pretty brutal contractions.  I ended up pushing for about 15 minutes.  Wow, was that intense. No tears or anything, praise God!  

I'll probably write a more detailed birth story sometime soon, but for now, all is well, Miranda is beautiful and perfect, and I'm feeling very good, thankful for some Motrin for those afterbirth pains.  

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 6

9:50 a.m.

Breaking of the waters definitely picked things up - contractions coming every 2-3 minutes and are pretty intense, but I'm handling them just fine.  Baby was perfect on the monitors. 

Hopefully it won't be too much longer!!

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 5

We've had a change of shift, so I have two new nurses, Connie and Jessica, and a new midwife also, Blair - who was actually the one I was hoping for all along, hurray! At around 9am Blair checked me and I was dialated to 5cm, but she thought that I was not really in active labor since my contractions have been irregular. So she suggested breaking my water to get things going. As she broke my water I stretched to 6cm, 100% effaced and the baby's head at zero station. Things should start moving along faster now. I'm also now required to stay on the monitors for 15 minutes to make sure the baby is reacting well to having the waters broken.

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 4

7:00 a.m.

Arrived at the hospital/birthing center around 6:00 a.m.

Had a 20 minute monitoring session, the baby sounds great.  My contractions slowed down while resting in the bed, but are picking back up now that I can move around.

Dilated 3 cm. 

Things are quiet here at the center - very nice.  My nurse is named Karen. She seems really nice.  Nurses can make a big difference in how things go, so that's a relief!

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 3

5:15 a.m.

Contractions are still 4-6 minutes apart, but now a little over a minute long.  Definitely stronger.  

We're gonna head to the hospital now.

So thankful that it's early on a Sunday morning and we don't have to worry about tunnel traffic at all. 

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 2

4:00 a.m. 

I called the answering service - the midwife on call is Beth.  There are four midwives in the practice, and Beth is the newest one and I've only seen her twice.  That being said, another one of the midwives, Jennifer, I haven't seen at all - every time I've been scheduled to see her, something came up like a labor or she was sick, so I'm glad she isn't the one there today!

Beth thought I should wait at home a little while, that since my contractions are not yet a minute long (45 sec), I was still a bit early in labor.  

I woke Grant, we both got showered and dressed, and now we're just taking care of last minute things before we go. 

Haven't woken my parents yet, although Grant's coffee grinder might have done the trick. 

Is it Baby Time? Labor Day Post 1

My 5th pregnancy has presented a challenge that I had not yet experienced.  While I have had Braxton Hicks contractions with all of my other pregnancies, it has never been to the extent that I've had them this time.  There have been at least four occasions that I had regular contractions for several hours and was convinced it was the "Big Day", only to have the contractions fade away and nothing end up happening. 

  

Very frustrating.  

Especially when my friends who have been pregnant with me have all delivered their babies already, my parents have been here for several days and my dad will be headed back home on Thursday, and for heaven's sake, I want him to get to see his new granddaughter!  

Today is my actual due date.  

I have not had a baby born on the due date yet.  My first was 12 days late, my second was 6 days early, the third was 9 days late and induced, and the fourth was 1 day early.  

It is 2:32 a.m. and I was awakened about an hour ago with contractions that are much more intense than what I have had up to this point.  Probably about 6-8 minutes apart at this point, nothing super regular, but definitely meaning business. I am confident that today is the day.  

I hope I don't have to come back and eat those words!

Can't WAIT to meet my new baby girl!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

I was in the mood recently to try a different granola bar recipe.  My family still loves these Chewy Granola Bars, but since good quality honey has gotten even more expensive and harder to find around here, I wanted to find a recipe that used less than 1/2 cup.  These are a delicious alternative and were liked by my whole family, which isn't always easy to do. 

I love the peanut butter flavor and would probably enjoy chopped nuts in these as well, so maybe I'll add some next time.  The flexibilty of granola bars makes them so much fun - you can add in whatever dried fruits or chips (chocolate, peanut butter, etc) or nuts or coconut you want or have on hand. 

I also liked using a combination of oats with this recipe - it just gave them a nice texture.  I'm sure you could use 100% of either and they would be just fine, though. 

Recipe: (adapted from Allrecipes)

1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
3-1/2 cups rolled or quick oats (I used 1 cup quick, 2-1/2 rolled)
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. 
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add in flaxseed and oats and stir to combine.  Add cranberries and chocolate chips (or other desired add-ins). 
Press into a buttered 13 x 9" pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Cut into bars after 5-10 minutes, after bars have cooled some but are still warm. 

Makes 18 bars.