And then there were five!

Caleb Murdock Rasmussen has arrived! Born 4 June 2016, at 2:23 AM. Weighing in at just under 8 lbs (7 lb 15 3/4 oz) and just over 20 in (20 1/8"), he made his debut in somewhat dramatic fashion.
You'd think, being my third kid, I'd know when to go to the hospital. I was really trying to avoid my previous mistakes: going in too early with Calista, and waiting a bit too much with Craig. Well, in trying to avoid those mistakes, I ended up doing both!

Friday, June 3: I wake up feeling... off. I repeatedly remind my stomach that Grammie May isn't here in Calgary yet (she'll get here Saturday noon-ish), so baby can't be born today.
Morning: I go grocery shopping with the kiddos, doing normal Friday things.
A little before 1 PM: I start having contractions. They aren't terribly strong yet, and about 10 minutes apart. Early labor??
5 PM: I let my midwife know I am in early labor, as contractions are still coming about 7 minutes apart. I also eat dinner of pizza. Yum.
7 PM: I start to feel nauseous. Another hallmark of me being in labor. I go take a bath and try to relax.
7:30 PM: I cuddle my baby boy for the last time as my youngest child. Calista gets a snuggle for good measure, too.

Kyler perches on the couch next to me, starting up a computer game for "us" to play. Really, Kyler ends up playing by himself as I continue to time contractions and am not up for paying a ton of attention.
10:45 PM: Contractions are closer together and lasting longer, so I call the midwife again. We agree to meet at the hospital at 11:30, giving me time to call up an awesome neighbor to come sit in the house. I am uncomfortable and needing to breath through contraction.
11:30 PM: Kyler drops me off outside labor and delivery, goes to park, and then both he and my midwife meet me in triage to assess my labor.
I am dilated to... not even 3 cm. My midwife is pretty sure this baby will come this weekend, but I'm still considered early labor. Sigh. So I take some tylenol and we head back home.
Saturday, June 4:
Midnight: We are back home, and try to lay down and sleep. Kyler falls asleep for a while, but tells me to wake him up if I need him. I try to sleep, but contractions prevent me from doing anything better than dozing for a few minutes. I refuse to look at the clock, because it's just going to frustrate me. At some point, the contractions get more intense and I begin to shake during each one.
1:30 AM: My shaking wakes Kyler up, and he gets a little concerned, holding my hand or arm during each contraction.
1:55 AM: Kyler decides to call up my midwife and our neighbor again (such a big thank you to her!), and we head to the hospital once more.
I am shaking and moaning at each contraction. Sitting down is incredibly uncomfortable. I feel pressure and shooting pains at my cervix.
2:10 AM: Kyler drops me off again and goes to park. I head up to labor and delivery... again. But this time I'm moaning (loudly) with each contraction.
2:15 AM: I get to the L&D desk. They ask if I'm feeling the urge to push... and decide for themselves I am and need to get me in a room now. They want to make me take a wheelchair down the hall to the room, and I try to sit, but I can't. I insist on walking instead.
2:19 AM: My water breaks as I climb onto the bed. The nurses are paging OBs (an attending and a resident, to see if anyone will answer!) because my midwife is not going to make it in time.
As soon as I get on the bed, I am so ready to push. So I begin to. Kyler tells me that this isn't going to take four hours (exaggeration - Calista only took 3.5 hours of pushing). He is right.
2:23 AM: Caleb is born. The resident OB delivered him, because the attending didn't answer the page and my midwife is still on her way.
I get stitched up and deliver the placenta while Caleb is laying on my chest.

2:30 AM: My midwife arrives! She takes the notes written by the nurses (on scraps of paper, because they didn't have time to make me a chart) and tells me I am a rockstar. I feel like it, and much more comfortable that I did 10 minutes earlier.
We chill, baby eventually gets weighed and measured

(7 lb, 15 3/4 ounces, and 20 1/8 inches long),  I eat some peanut butter toast - my midwife had to spread the peanut butter with a straw because there were no utensils! - and apple juice (my labor nausea was gone, yay!), and Kyler gets to hold his son, too!

5:15 AM: We head for home, stopping for a quick bite on the way. We say a BIG thank you to our neighbor who gets the first peek at the baby. Proximity has its benefits.
5:30 AM: I go take a nap. Kyler says he's going to play a computer game, but decides to take a nap, as well. It's been a long day already.
9:00 AM: The two older kiddos get to meet Caleb for the first time.

They are thrilled and adorable.

Kyler and I are exhausted and happy. Life is good.

Some quotes from the kiddos meeting Caleb:
Calista - "I'm going to take good care of him. He's so tiny! Awwww!"
Craig - "He's so cute!" "Caleb, we made a quilt for you!" "He's wearing pajamas, just like me. But he's little, and I'm big!"

Caleb, welcome to our family. We already love you so much.

And then there were FOUR

Craig Timothy Rasmussen has arrived! Are you ready for the birth story?

First off, do we remember Calista's birth story? For those that don't... it was long. And hard. And did I mention long? I've been having some anxiety about giving birth again ever since I found out I was pregnant again (and, to be honest, even before). I did not want to have the same experience, except for the ending, where I get to hold a beautiful baby in my arms and fall in love. So, this long and difficult and exhausting experience is my only frame of reference for Craig's birth, which I will now tell you!

Timeline:
September 23, 10 PM: I start having contractions, but they're early labor, so I don't tell Kyler so hopefully he can sleep. I also take a couple of tylenol, hoping I can sleep... no dice. Tossing, turning, and a little dozing ensues.
September 24, 2:30 AM: Still hoping to make the contractions relax (though, they are still not bad), I take a bath. The bath feels nice but does nothing to lessen the contractions, so I finally give in to the idea that I really am in labor.
4:30 AM: I wake up Kyler, because I want to hold his hand. We decide that although it's clear I am in labor, it's early still and we won't call the midwives yet.
8:30 AM: Mom calls from the road on the way here, and I tell her I'm in labor and she shouldn't dawdle. Good thing!
10:00 AM: Kyler, Calista and I go buy Iron Man 3 and return some books to the library. Then we come home and begin to watch Iron Man 3. Calista and Kyler and thoroughly enjoying themselves... I'm slightly distracted.
11:00 AM: Contractions are getting really intense. I start trying to be in different positions during them, in a effort to deal with them better. Sitting down is the most uncomfortable position; I much prefer standing.
11:30 AM: I call the midwives to let them know I'm in labor. We decide to give it a little more time, and they tell me to call back in a half hour or if I decide I need to head to the hospital.
11:45 AM: Mom gets here, and I call the midwives and tell them we should go to the hospital.
12:00 PM: Mom braids my hair while we wait for the midwives to let us know which hospital (there are 2 pretty much equidistant) has open beds for me.
12:15 PM: Kyler puts Calista down for a nap.
12:25 PM: Midwives tell us where to meet them and we leave Mom with Calista and go. (The midwives were rather annoyed it took so long to get information from the hospitals. "Apparently me saying I have a woman in labor means nothing to them!")
The way to the hospital is kind of tortuous. Contractions hurt quite a bit, and I have to sit down, which is the worst position for me to be in to deal with the pain. I keep shifting in my seat back and forth, trying to be comfortable (yeah, right!). While we drive, I tell Kyler, "This is hard. I'm not sure I can handle this. This is hard." Remember, I'm thinking of Calista's birth, I'm thinking I still have hours to sit at the hospital with this much intensity. I am not very hopeful at this point, and I can't even hold Kyler's hand through every contraction because he sometimes has to, you know, drive.
12:45 PM: My water breaks while we are in the left turn lane for the hospital complex. Contractions get even more intense, and I begin to feel some pressure. I'm afraid to even think it, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm close to pushing. Maybe I am close to being done? Maybe I won't have to do this for hours and hours more? I don't want to get my hopes up too much, though.
12:50 PM: Kyler circles the parking garage for a spot, we finally find one, and we head towards the hospital main entrance. While circling trying to find a spot, I'm telling Kyler we need to park now, and he's feeling like a failure as a father and a husband: "This kid's not even born, and I'm already failing him! I can't even find a parking spot!"
12:55 PM: We (Kyler, the midwives, and me) are getting checked into labor and delivery, and waiting for the room to be 100% ready. The midwives can tell that I'm definitely in labor, and they think this kid is coming soon. I'm starting to agree with them. Since they don't want to deliver a baby in a hallway, they are talking me through the contractions, helping me breath and relax.
1:00 PM: In the room! Off comes the wet jeans, and the midwives get the room and their things ready. At one point while I'm changing into a hospital gown, I have a contraction that makes me call out for Kyler. He rushes into the bathroom, and I have him hold my hand and hold me. I am so grateful he was there with me and able to support me.
1:15/1:20 PM: The midwives tell me I can push when I feel the urge. I do not argue with them, because I am definitely feeling the urge! At one point while I am pushing, they tell me his head is right there and I just need to do a couple more pushes. In my head I'm thinking, "Yeah right! They told me that with Calista, too, and then I pushed for a couple more hours and she came out head and hand together!" But this time, there is no hand next to the face, and the midwives are right. I push a few more times, and they tell me (and I can feel) that his head is out. They have me pause as they check his umbilical cord, and then give me the go-ahead to push out his shoulders. Another push or two and they are free and he comes slithering out.
1:30 PM: Craig Timothy Rasmussen is born, 8 lbs 1 oz, 19.75 inches long.

I hold him on my stomach until his cord stops pulsing and Kyler cuts it, and then I hold him on my chest for nearly an hour before they do the measurements.

Kyler holds him after they finish.

It's kind of amazing how different I felt after Craig than after Calista. Last time, 3.5 hours of pushing and 3 second degree tears, one of which was internal. This time, it was 10 minutes of pushing and a single first degree tear so small I didn't even need stitches. I feel amazing in comparison.
4:00 PM: We are discharged. Yes, that's right, the same day.
4:30 PM: We are all back home, and Calista (and Grammie May) get to meet Craig for the first time.

I am so grateful for this little boy, and also for this whole experience. I spent the last nine months trying to deal with my fear and anxieties towards giving birth by turning to the Lord, and this time the worst part of my labor and delivery was trying not to push while searching for a parking spot. The Lord blessed me with peace concerning what was to happen, and also a knowledge that regardless, he (Craig) would be worth it. And he is.

And then there were three...

On July 26th, 2011 at 11:23 PM (23:23 military time!), Kyler and Jeanette welcomed Calista Elizabeth Rasmussen into the world. She was 8 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long.

Her coming was a long process, and I don't mean 9 months long. I mean I started having contractions every 6-8 minutes around 10 PM July 24th.
By noon the 25th, they were every 3-5 minutes and we decided to go to the hospital.
By 5:30 PM, the hospital had sent us back home, telling us to come back when the contractions hurt more.
By 1 AM the 26th, I decided they hurt more and we went back to the hospital... where they told us to go for a walk.
By 5 AM, the hospital was going to send us home again, just as soon as they had finished monitoring Calista's heart rate (which they had to wake her up to do).
However, by 5:30 AM, my water had broke, and by 6:30 it was confirmed and we were on our way to labor and delivery. Yay!
By 8 AM I had an epidural, though it didn't exactly last as long as would've been preferable.
By 3 PM, they decide to augment my labor with pictocin... and my epidural ran out while the anesthesiologists were in a c-section. I was having contractions every 1.5-2 minutes without any pain relief. It was fun. Kyler and I got to really practice my breathing, and discover that Kyler is a great support. Eventually I get the epidural back and it's all good.See? Pain management exists again, and life is pretty good!

By 8 PM, I am fully dilated and effaced, and the doctors decide it's time for me to push, which I do, with all the energy and effort I have... for 3.5 hours. During which my epidural runs out again, not that I have the strength to care; my entire focus is on pushing. Kyler said the longest sentence I utter in these 3.5 hours is "Even if I take a break, my body will just want to push."
By 10:30 PM, doctors are starting to offer options like vacuum and forceps. I desperately want to be done, but I look at Kyler and he says, with love and confidence in his eyes, "Just two more pushes. You can do it." Two pushes later, he says "Just one more! Try just one more!" And I do. And she's still not out. And I accuse Kyler of lying. But the doctors are now convinced I can do this, even though I'm doubting it more and more.
As I mentioned before, by 11: 23 PM, she is finally out. I am exhausted, more tired than I have ever been before in my life. I pushed with everything I had, all the physical and mental strength I could summon, and I had absolutely nothing left.
But I had my baby girl.
All goopy and cold, so the nurses covered us up with blankets.



Naked on the table to get measured. She's grimacing, annoyed by the camera interfering in her personal space.



We came home on July 28th, my actual due date.
We're getting ready to leave the hospital, and we are both dressed in our civvies.




At home, asleep in the bassinet.




And, of course...
Spending quality time with her daddy.

Our little baby girl is absolutely adorable, and I'll post more pictures soon.