"Sleep" Pea

The Newest Love of my Life

Here are some more pictures of my new little love. We have been enjoying her so much. Thankfully the kids are just in love with her, Berkeley especially. She is already talking about wanting to share a room with Finley and wanting to teach her to be a ballerina. She has been a great helper and I'm so thankful she is loving having a baby sister, or a "real live doll" as she would say :) We love you baby Fin and are so excited to have you in our family!!!

Similarities & Differences

Finley

Oliver

Berkeley

I always like to compare each of my babies newborn pictures to see the similarities and differences. It's always interesting to me to see the slight differences in nose, eye and mouth shapes. Anyway, here are all 3 of my sweetpeas as brand new babies! I think they all look related!

She's Here!

Just as they are reaching in to get her!

She came out butt first, literally in half. Her head is just about to come out in this picture (her butt is in the air).

She's out!

Look at those legs...just like Oliver's when he came out. Those breech babies always take a while to "unfold"

The greatest Dr. ever-Dr. Maccio has delivered all of my babies. I just love her!

Berkeley has given her about 250 kisses so far!

Excited new sister

Proud big brother

Cohen likes his new cousin

Berkeley has a little moses basket for one of her dolls and she wanted to put Finley in the basket along with her purple blanket. Finley loved it and slept in it for about 2 hours!

Well, our little Finley Winslet made her grand entrance into the world on Wednesday, March 17th at 8:02 am. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and is 18" long! Everything went really smoothly and I was so glad to have it over with and am so blessed to have another beautiful and healthy baby. She came out completely folded in half just like Oliver. My Dr. said Finley definitely chose the right way to position herself in there, because if I would have had a VBAC, my uterus would have burst. It was paper thin and they barely even touched the scalpel to it before it came completely open. If we would have tried turning her, it most likely would have burst, resulting in an emergency c-section. I know it's extremeley hard to find a Dr. who is even willing to do a VBAC because of the very rare chance of this happening, but my Dr. is one of the few who does them. I am so grateful that it all went the way it did! That could have been a disaster! It kind of makes me queasy just thinking about it.

She is doing really well. We just got home from her first Dr. appt. and she weighs 5 lbs 10 oz and seems to be doing fine. We have to go back in another week to check her weight, but she is not jaundiced or anything yet so that is a huge relief!

Berkeley and Oliver love her. All Berkeley wants to do is kiss & hug her, feed her and hold her. She is even sharing her purple blanket with Finley, which is unheard of. She has had her blanket since she was a baby. The blanket goes everywhere she goes and brother is NOT allowed to touch it. Every time Finley is asleep, Berkeley goes over and lays her blanket over her to make sure she is warm and cozy. She is so sweet with her and so helpful. She wants to help change her diaper and put her socks on, etc. Oliver likes to hold her and always says "Where baby Fimley? Hold baby Fimley?" He isn't quite as interested as Berkeley is, but he does seem to like her so far.

Well, she is ready to eat again so I must go. Thanks for all of your prayers. I'll post more pictures soon.

Tummy Pics

Finley will be making her debut exactly 10 days from today on March 17th. I have to have another c-section because she, like her brother, is breech. Since we tried turning Oliver and it didn’t work, I have decided not to try moving her since she has not changed positions since week 20. Tom and I seem to make the most stubborn, hard headed little babies that just get wedged in there and refuse to budge. I guess it’s not too surprising since we are 2 of the most stubborn people on the planet. The other night I wasn’t feeling very well and kind of panicked when I realized we haven’t had any pictures taken of her in my tummy so here they are.

We have decided to go ahead with Finley Winslet. I just think it’s really unique, feminine and whimsical. When I picture a little girl with this name I picture her to be completely lighthearted and fun–loving. I know some of you will think it’s a weird name, but I like having kids with really unique names. I hope I never meet another Berkeley, Oliver or Finley!! I don’t mind if there are some of those names in other states across the country, just not in mine. I know, I’m a little over the top when it comes to names, but it really is a huge deal to me. Oh well, what are you gonna do?

This pregnancy has gone super fast. I think it’s because I have been so busy with the other 2 that I just haven’t had time to think about it or really even prepare. The holidays didn’t help either because time always seems to fly during that season. I didn’t crave many donuts this time around. The things I ate the most of are Oreo’s. Costco sells a larger than life pack and I have purchased quite a few of them in recent months. One day Laura called just as I put Berkeley & Oliver down for their naps. When she asked me what I was doing I said “Oh, the kids just went down so I am sitting on the couch about to polish off a sleeve of Oreos.” She laughed and said “Oh, don’t let me keep you from that…have a few for me too.” And I did. She didn’t have to tell me twice! I can’t ever say no to my sister, and in this instance I was more than happy to fulfill her request!

I have never been one to wear my husband’s clothes, but I happened to discover some really warm black fleece pants in his closet one day. I put them on along with a black ‘non-maternity’ shirt. When I went downstairs Tom was sitting on the couch and started cracking up. He said “Wow! You kind of look like an Oreo with that outfit on. I think you’ve had so many of them you’re turning into one.” Sure enough, I looked down and saw my pasty white tummy sticking out in between my black shirt and pants. I guess it’s true, you are what you eat! I told him he was really lucky to have a wife that enjoys laughing at herself; otherwise he’d be sleeping elsewhere! Wise guy!

Another thing I discovered from Costco are those cream puffs filled with fresh whipped cream. Every once in a while I’ll get 8-10 of them out of the freezer and let them sit for 30 minutes so the cream gets nice and soft. If you have never tried these you truly are missing out on a little piece of heaven on earth. I have consumed so many of these, that it looks as though I am carrying 3 babies…one in front and 2 in back. We 'lovingly' refer to it as the trifecta! I now have my own “cream filled puffs” that follow me everywhere! When I round a corner it takes a few seconds for the rest of me to clear it! As you can imagine, it is getting increasingly more difficult with each passing day to visit Elmo in the back of my car. You see, Elmo was designed for tiny little 3 year old buns, not enormous cream filled ones! I’m sure I make quite a sight being 9 months pregnant hovering precariously above a child’s potty seat. I'm pretty sure Beyonce would wholeheartedly agree with me when I say "I don’t think Elmo was quite ready for this jelly!"

So, that’s it. 9 months and 40 lbs later I’m getting ready to have another baby. The novelty of being pregnant the third time around may have worn off a bit, but the food consumption definitely hasn’t. I’ll just make sure I steer clear of Jake's vet for a little while longer. I know the growth chart would consider me to be “grossly obese” and I’m just not ready to face that yet! Meanwhile, I believe it’s been about 30 minutes so my puffs should be just the right temperature. I’ll go ahead and have one for you, Laura. Or, more than likely, 2 or 3 or 4!!!

My Babies

Herre are some last pictures of the kids "pre-Finley." I am starting to feel sad that these are the final days with just Berkeley and Oliver. I can totally remember feeling like that right before I had Oliver too. I remember thinking it will never be the same...I will never have time alone with just Berkeley ever again and doubted I would ever be able to love another baby quite as much as I loved her. That wasn't the case, of course. I discovered that I loved Oliver just as much and couldn't imagine my life without him. I know it will be the same once Finley comes. My heart will stretch and I will love her just as much as I love these two. In just a few weeks I will not be able to imagine our family without her. So, for now, I am savoring my last sweet days with these two precious little characters God has blessed me with.