Harlow Rose Dickson

Thirteen is a new lucky number in our home.  Our little Harlow Rose Dickson decided to officially join our family this last Saturday, April 13, 2013. After a week that included Sam's "guaranteed" due date prediction, my actual due date,  and two planned and cancelled inductions (thanks to Sam and Ruby catching the stomach flu), I was anxious and very ready to come to the end of our waiting game.

Sadly, I've never recorded anything about the birth of my other children so I thought I'd get this down before it turns into too much of a fuzzy memory.

Early Saturday morning I woke up to what I thought might be real contractions. After so many false alarms from the previous week, I was trying not to get too excited. Sam---who seemed confident at the start of each new day in the previous week that "this was the day"--was once again sure that "this was the day".  I still wasn't convinced and decided to move forward with our regular Saturday routine. This lasted until about breakfast. At that point the contractions started to become more regular and so painful that I was ready to jump on Sam's "this is the day" bandwagon.

After breakfast we started getting our things together and making a plan. My mom's flight was scheduled to come in that morning at the same time the boys were scheduled to have their first day of swim lessons.  I was determined to have them not miss their lesson, but I also wasn't sure I would be able to take them with the increasing frequency of my contractions. I also wasn't too keen on Sam leaving me for an hour and a half to pick up my mom from the airport.  In the end I decided to stay home with Ruby while Sam took the boys to swim lessons and my mom worked on finding a way to head in the direction of the hospital so we could pick her up on the way.

By the time Sam made it back home with the boys, I was definitely ready to go with teeth-gritting-eye-squinting contractions occurring every 3-5 minutes.  The hospital is about 45 minutes from our house, so I was really feeling like we were cutting it close.  In what I am sure was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father, my mom was able to find a bus that would  get her just 10 minutes from the hospital about the same time that we would be arriving. When we arrived at the hospital, Sam helped get me checked in.  After he was sure I was settled, he went with the kids to pick up my mom a few miles away.

For as crazy as our morning had been, the actual timing couldn't have been more perfect--neither could our nurse. She was fast, incredibly efficient, and quite possibly one of the most upbeat, positive and excitable people I have met (big points in my book), and, aside from her frequently referring to me as a "rock star", practically perfect. Not only was she always two steps ahead in all of the preparation for delivery, she also acted like the delivery of my baby girl was the most exciting thing that had happened in that hospital all year.

I often give Sam a hard time about the fact that we don't have a single picture from Max's birth and that of the four pictures we have of Ruby's, three of them are of Ruby with the doctor...and not a single one of him or me with our precious newborn. I think he heard me loud and clear because he went a little paparazzi on me this time. Now I know how I make my kids feel.

When I got there I was already at a 7 and, I felt, managing the pain pretty well. I thought about skipping the epidural, but decided better safe than sorry. Soooo glad I did because I definitely would have been sorry. My labor wasn't long--about 4 hours from the time I got to the hospital, but without a doubt the most horribly painful thing I have ever experienced. In fact, after Harlow was delivered the doctor said, "I'm so glad you didn't try to do that without an epidural...it would have been really horrible."

On my long list of things I had to do before Harlow was born was getting a pedicure. Thankfully Ruby and I finally squeezed it in the day before I was due.  I knew it hadn't all been in vain when the nurse complimented me on how great my toes looked.  Also, did I mention how great Sam was through the whole thing...because he was. If I'm going to include a picture of my toes I can't overlook the one picture I have of the person who kept me from falling apart throughout this experience.

It wasn't until it came time to push that things got really painful. Forty minutes may not seem very long, but when it's something equally exhausting and excruciating, it feels like an eternity. I kept telling Sam, "I don't think I can do this." In fact at one point I asked the doctor, "OK...so what is the next step if this doesn't work?" Even at the time of delivery they didn't have a clue how big my little girl was. Things got a little crazy at the end when they realized she was stuck under my pelvic bone and the nurse had to practically jump on top of me to push on my belly to get her out. They were shocked when they saw how big she was and were immediately taking bets on her weight. (Sorry for the grotesque picture, but I'm trying to keep an accurate record here.)

As awful as the last hour of delivery was, nothing can compare to the amazing euphoric feelings of happiness and relief I experienced when she was finally delivered and dropped into my arms. Even after carrying her for 9 months, I could feel nothing but awe and gratitude that she was actually here. As a four-time mother, you'd think I'd know what to expect from this experience, but the overwhelming and immediate wave of love I feel is something I'm never quite prepared for.

When they first laid Harlow across my chest after delivery, I knew she was no waif. However, I was shocked to see my guess of 10 lbs was significantly off with her weighing in at just 1 oz shy of 11 lbs!

Oh, how I wish I could bottle up how I felt at this moment with my sweet girl. Nothing can compare.

Because I knew things weren't going to take long once I got to the hospital, my mom and kids stayed nearby. In fact, after getting some lunch the nurses let them hang out in what would become my recovery room just a few doors down from the delivery. It was neat to be able to introduce them to their new little sister only 15 minutes after her arrival. Seeing their excitement was definitely a highlight.

Reed's emotions were pure elation, Max was excited but nervous, and Ruby was in awe--I'm sure wondering what this all meant for her.

Reed--love at first sight, again. He was anxious to be the first one to hold her.

 From the look on Harlow's face in this picture it looks like the "checking out" was mutual.

The kids weren't the only ones excited to see Harlow. Not only was my mom one of the first to hold Harlow, but she was also the closest in guessing her correct weight. About 7 months into my pregnancy my mom said she thought I was going to have an 11 lb baby. Looks like she wasn't too far off. I'm not sure if she is so happy in this picture because she was right or because I had joined her in the ranks of the 10 lb 15 oz baby club. 

Sam was thrilled when it was finally his turn to hold Harlow.

 Our family of six! I may have looked a wreck, but I sure felt blessed.

Welcome Harlow Rose! Our family needed you. So glad you are finally here.

Max at this moment

A good thing Sam was wrong with his prediction of when I would be having our baby because I too grossly miscalculated my level of exhaustion and what I would be capable of at night during the final days of my pregnancy. I'm trying to look for all the positives of Sam missing the mark and certainly one of them is that I will be able to finish writing something about my two boys before my life is swallowed up for a little while with our new baby girl.

Each one of my kids have very distinct personalities...truly a testimony to me that their strong spirits were developing long before they ever came to me. Max is no exception to this rule and has a strong personality that has been evident since he was a baby. When Max is good, he is golden, but when Max is upset--watch out. Thankfully, we see much more of the golden than the latter and even his most stubborn moments never last too long.

Here are some things about Max at this moment.

1. He's a do-it-yourselfer. If Max wants to do something, he just does it. The other day Max played basketball at P.E. and when he got home he wanted to practice what he learned. Without saying a thing to me, he finished his homework, went into the garage and pulled the basketball hoop out to the street to start practicing his lay ups.

He had the same attitude with his science fair project. He jumped right in and started setting up his experiment all on his own as soon as he had decided what his topic would be. He was pretty happy with the finished product too.

2. He loves and finds joy in the success of others. As the younger brother, Max has spent a fair amount of time on the sidelines. He has never complained about this and is always quick to cheer for and compliment his brother on his success. This might be one of the things I love best about this boy.

3. He's not afraid of hard work. He will often voluntarily do jobs around the house or at least not complain when I assign him something. Here he is ironing Ruby's old clothes for our new baby. He begged me (actually both boys did) to let him help iron them.

 

 On another day while playing outside he just got the hose out and started washing the truck and then after I helped him finish up I found him inside vaccuming. What!? 

 

4. He's a goal setter. Last summer he made huge progress with his swimming. He was so determined to be able to swim all the way across the pool without stopping. By the end of the summer he could do it. I was very proud of him, although I don't know if I've ever seen anyone use so much muscle to get through the water. His technique isn't quite there, but his heart is.

5. He "notices" people and things. It is not unusual for him to comment or compliment someone in our family on something new or different. When Sam wore a new shirt to work the other day Max was quick to say, "Is that a new shirt dad? I like it." Or my most recent favorite was when the kids were playing outside and I was inside trying to do some deeper cleaning in the kitchen, Max walked in and said, "Wow..it looks great in here!" It totally made my day. He's good at that.

6. He's a math ninja. Math/numbers has always been Max's thing, so we call him a math ninja because everything is better when you add ninja on the end. Yesterday, Max came home with an addition page he had done at school. I had to laugh when I turned the page around and saw that he had made up his own problems on the back. I tried to scan it in, but it didn't come through very well. On the back he had written mulitplication problems all with correct answers and most of them with backwards numbers as well. That's my Max--he understands and loves to apply more advanced math concepts, but writing his numbers in the correct direction is still a struggle sometimes.

7. He's my first runner up when it comes to being a willing model for my camera practice.

 

8. He loves to dance. During our after-dinner jobs, everyone gets to pick a song to listen to while we work. I thought it was working out pretty well until Max told me one day, "Mom, don't put my music on while I'm still doing my job because I just can't help it, I have to dance and I wont be able to work."

9. He's got faces, faces, faces. He's got such an expressive face that it's not hard to know what he's feeling. Sometimes when I see this mopy face, I ask him what is wrong and he tries to tell me this is his "regular face". Nice try Max. You maybe able to fool me with some things, but never with your face--you're an open book.

Baseball is not the most exciting thing to watch...watching Max watch baseball is much more enjoyable. Check out Max in the background of the 2nd photo.

10. He's very "punny". Max has a great and somewhat advanced sense of humor for a 6-year-old. He is king of literal and pun humor. On the way to school on the first day of kindergarten I was encouraging him to not be shy and to try to make a friend. Without missing a beat he said, "Sure...as long as my teacher gives me some clay...I can make as many friends as you want me to!"
I am often surprised at how quickly he comes up with a humerous response to what I say. We hear a lot of jokes at the dinner table too. I guess I have Sam to thank for my family full of jokers.

11. He likes to have "Lego hair." I love Max's hair--when he lets me do it, which is almost never. Whenever I even try to comb it to the side he imediately pushes it straight down to what we call "lego hair."

 

I should have been happier for the two days he wanted to have a mohawk.

12. He's an awesome playmate. He will play pretty much any game that his siblings come up with. He's always happily gone along with Reed's made up games, filled lots of characters and even more rules, but I am even more impressed when he goes out of his comfort zone to play "Mom and Dad" with Ruby. (Her favorite game...definitely not his!) I love it when I hear him trying to appease her "mom and dad" request by saying something like, "OK, let's be mom and dad playing hexbugs."

Reed and Max playing some kind of ninja master game which I'm sure has many rules including how you can cut off your opponent's arm. I think the third picture was taken after Reed "lost an arm".

I'm really glad I got to finish this. Recording these things about Max was totally worth being pregnant for a few more days.  Let's just hope baby girl will be patient enough for me to get to Reed too.