Welcoming our fourth bundle of joy! Tenley is here!

So I know i'm really bad about blogging on our family blog.. maybe that will change.. probably not. Either way... one of the reasons I do this blog is because you can turn your blog into a book. Did you know that? So once I get enough posts I can have it printed and just like that it's like a mini journal. I'll have to go back and add bunch for it be a more accurate picture of our life.. but for now I'll blog about our latest addition. Our sweet baby girl Tenley Sandra.

 I had been praying that God would let me have Tenley as soon as she was healthy enough to be born without any complications. I was so tired and my body was tired and feeling the strain of being pregnant for the fourth time in 5 years. So that was my prayer for about two weeks before Tenley made her appearance. Of course I prayed that but wasn't exactly planning on it happening. My scheduled c-section was already planned a week before my due date. So what were the odds that I would actually go into labor on my own before then? Well.... at exactly 36 weeks I went into labor. I had more envisioned something simple like my water breaking, me going to the hospital and then them quickly giving me a c-section.. The reality? Not even close.

 I started having contractions at about 10:30pm... I was very doubtful they were the real deal so decided I would go to bed and was sure they would go away. At about 2am I still hadn't been able to sleep through them at all and they were about 5 minutes apart, so we decided we should probably go in. Of course because I was only 36 weeks they wanted to stop the contractions and hold me off for another week or two to be safe. I was ok with that, I just wanted the contractions to stop.  I also had a very high heart rate the whole time I was there.  it ranged from 109-140. At one point, for about 5 min my heart rate got up to 170. They ordered an emergency EKG and had a cardiologist read it but everything looked fine... they thought maybe I was having an anxiety attack? One nurse came in and saw two heart rates on my strip at 140 and assumed I was having twins... That heart rate was normal for the baby... not so much for me... so two so close together she thought it must be twins. I think that got Brian's heart rate up!  So at about 12pm my doctor came in, quickly looked at the monitor and said, "We're going to take the baby, your contractions aren't stopping. Let me see at what time we can do it today" I felt such a sigh of relief, I wasn't supposed to have contractions! I have planned c-sections.. not contractions! Then I immediately realized how early I was and what that could mean for Tenley. I knew she would eventually be ok but there was a very good chance she would have to go straight to the NICU and possibly stay there for a few days. So then of course I started to worry a little bit... and cry a little bit... but either way I knew my body was DONE! I was in so much pain at that point so it was mostly a feeling of relief. The doctor came back and said 45 minutes! Brian had just gone to the car to get our camera because the battery needed to be charged... so I called him and told him and the rest of our family and we started prepping for surgery.

So oddly enough the only thing I ever really dread about the actual c-section is getting my spinal tap. I love everything else about the surgery. (I know i'm so weird, but I would seriously watch it if they'd let me... they never did lol) I was especially nervous because I hadn't heard anything about the anesthesiologist I was going to have. In fact I ended up having a different one for each baby. I hadn't had any complications with the others so I was really hoping it would be the same. The lady I had this time was amazing. I don't remember her name, it started with a V, but she was good. It was definitely uncomfortable getting my spinal tap but it never really hurt for more than 3 seconds. Seriously incredible. Even after my back would usually get sore in the area that they put the needle.. not this time! She was great. So they're giving me the spinal tap and my legs start to get all warm and I told my nurse and the anesthesiologist that I loved that feeling.. they thought I was crazy! So your body gets warm from the chest down and then all of the sudden its like weight free... It's relaxing to me. lol I know i'm crazy.. Ok so then after that happens I just keep reminding them Brian still needs to come in.. once he's in there I really can just relax. I like to talk to the doctors and ask them random questions and they always seem pretty surprised that I even care at that point. I asked how my uterus looked... they actually said they were shocked because it looked like I had only had two c-sections when in fact this was my fourth!  (They look at the scar tissue) I asked why some people say when they've had c-sections they thought the doctor took out some of their organs and put them on their chest?!? That had never happened to me... the doctors explained that some surgeons do it that way but that mine didn't. I was thankful. He's the best in my opinion. Then it came time for them to take Tenley out. She was breach so I didn't know if this would make a difference or not from the others... it didn't. The only difference was they confirmed she was a girl before she was even all the way out. lol So immediately my question was, "Is she tiny???" They said she was actually a pretty decent size for being so early. That made me happy. Then as soon as she was out I heard her LOUD cry! That also made me happy! They had the NICU on standby just in case but we didn't end up needing them at all. They wiped her off a little, wrapped her up and gave her to me to hold for a bit before they gave her a bath. While the doctors finished my surgery, tied my tubes, and closed me up I just laid there totally peaceful, thankful, and happy. (Yes I said tied my tubes! 4 babies from my body is enough! If we feel like God want's us to have more one day we will definitely adopt, but I knew my body was done). The rest of the hospital stay was great and the biggest issue we had with Tenley was getting her to poop! God had his hand on me and Tenley through all of this and we are so thankful.

 Now for the fun part.. the pictures... there are some from surgery so I made them black and white so they wouldn't be as gross. I love them though!
Meeting the family...  Papa went first since she was born on his birthday.