Queen In a House of Blue: 2011

Life is not a race, but indeed a journey.

Be honest.

Work hard.

Be choosy.

Say "Thank You", "I love you", and "Great job!" to someone each day.

Go to church, take time for prayer.

The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh.

Let your handshake mean more than a pen and paper.

Love your life and what you have been given, it is not accidental - search for your purpose and do it as best you can.

Dreaming does matter - it allows you to become that which you aspire to be.

Laugh often.

Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them.

Some of the best things really are free.

Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming.

Forgive, it frees the soul.

Take time for yourself - plan for longevity.

Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know.

Live for today, enjoy the moment.

Four years ago, our little Braden came into the world. He has changed our lives and completed our family in ways that I never thought would be possible. He is a funny, cute, sweet, loving and incredibly ornery little boy. I would not change one single thing about him. We worked really hard to have Braden, and were assisted by the very best OB-GYN EVER - Dr. Shera Gaslightwala. She helped us through a very difficult time, and rejoiced with us when this perfect little boy was born. I went in for my monthly blood draw/hormone level check appointment, and was told we were expecting! I had a little bit of an idea, but was so happy to see Dr G's smiling face giving me the news during the ultrasound. She was going to tell me that day that it was time for us to start trying again if we were ready...guess we beat her to it. :) Then, the tears came...I was happy, SO HAPPY - but worried and scared...and my due date was January 12, 2007. My sister's birthday. It was bittersweet. Now, this was not my first rodeo...I KNEW the likelihood of having this baby on it's due date was slim, especially with my track record. (Cody was induced on his due date and he was born 2 days later. He was a short little butterball - 9 pounds, 19 inches. Now, Ryan...I thought that kid was NEVER going to come out. He was forced out on the 1st of June...I was due originally on the 27th of May, but then it was moved to the 18th of May. Did you do the math? Yep - 2 weeks overdue. He was ready when he came out - and a giant. 9 lbs, 5.5 ounces and 24 inches long. TWO FEET LONG!!) Anyway - given my history of having big babies, Dr G assured me that if I did not go on my own before, that we would induce on my due date, as long as everything was looking good, of course.

It's a Boy!

Ryan CRIED when he learned he was getting another brother. BAWLED.

Cody was fine with it - he is so easy!

This was the best belly picture I could find tonight...

On the 10th of January, I went for my appointment and had my last sonogram. Everything looked great - baby boy was getting cramped and was safe to be evicted. The sonogram lady said he was big - she was guessing over 9 pounds, nearly 10 and when Dr G saw that, she said - be at the hospital on Friday at 6 am. So...we checked in to Shawnee Mission Labor and Delivery and we...sat...there...all...day..long.

Pitocin was started around noon....water broke around 6pm. It was pretty traumatic once the contractions meant business. I had an epidural and took a nap. Around 9 pm or so, the room was busy. Labor was not progressing, my body was ready, baby just was not coming! Then, B's heartrate slowed WAY down and we were told we would wait an hour and see what to do. The hour went by, I was miserable because I could not get comfortable since I had to be flopped around to keep his heart rate up, and we were told again...we could wait an hour, or we could go ahead and do a c-section. At this point, my hopes of having him on the 12th were gone. I thought it would be better to get it over with, get him out, and not risk anything bad happening.

I was wheeled into the operating room at 1:17 am (I know that because they called out the time when I entered the room) I was shaking like crazy, and I know Jeremy was scared...and wondering where he would get a 'suit' big enough. They had given him the standard issue scrubs for dad's, and when he stood up - he busted right out of them. Hee hee. One of the big male nurses gave him a set of his OR scrubs, and he came in and sat beside me. We convinced them to let my mom in, and she took pictures.

Braden John Pickens was born at 1:40 am on January 13, 2007.

He was not straight in the birth canal and would have not EVER come out that way. The cord was wrapped tightly around his neck, and his head was sideways. His poor little head looked awful the first few hours of his life, but it was perfectly round before the sun came up that morning.

Braden was my smallest baby - 8 pounds, 12 ounces. He was not born on my sister's birthday, but he was born the next day in the same hour of day that she was and he weighed the same as she did when she was born. He just wanted his own birthday, and I am okay with that.

See his poor little head? Awww...

You cannot see it, but his daddy was crying...and so proud. I am mean, I was laughing at him.

My mom....she helped me bring all 3 of my babies into the world. She is THE BEST labor coach/partner...even though I am so mean to her. :) Just ask her...she will tell you!

This is the first time I got to hold him...and I was struggling. My whole body was numb, and I was EXHAUSTED! It was around 4 am at this time...I had just sent Jeremy and Mom home. They had to relieve Sharon, who was with Cody and Ryan, and Mom was going to get them off to school the next day.

See? VERY BEST DOCTOR EVER. I adore her. She came to visit me everyday that I was in the hospital...even after I had been released from care. She did not have to do that. We would sit and chat, and laugh and cry...I seriously adore her. She is such a great person - and doctor.

Right after Jeremy and mom left, I sent Braden to the nursery from the recovery room until I got settled in my room. While he was in the nursery, they decided to admit him to the NICU. He was having a really hard time regulating his breathing, so he was grunting and his oxygen levels were falling REALLY low. I was so scared. And sad...I cried for hours. Then, they wheeled in the breast pump. It was so hard to relax enough to pump while I was worried about my baby. Granted, he was the biggest NICU baby I had ever seen, but nonetheless....he was a NICU baby.

Finally, the day after he was born, I was allowed to hold him.

On the 14th, he was finally allowed to nurse and the next day he was released to my room. I had already been discharged from care, but was allowed to stay in my room until he was released as well. We spent the night together, and on then we were able to go HOME on Tuesday, the 16th.