Brendan is 8!

Hard to believe this time EIGHT years ago, I was just reaching active labour with my first born child.

Here's his birth story:

On Wednesday July 11, 2001 I started having stronger Braxton Hicks contractions. Throughout the day they became harder. Around 10pm I went to the hospital in hopes that my baby would make his/her grand appearance. That wasnt the case though, when I arrived there wasnt too much going on, the nurse gave me a couple of sleeping pills and sent me on my way. The sleeping pills didnt work at all. I was up all night with contractions.

On the morning of July 12, 2001 5am, I woke my Mom up and asked her to take me to the hospital. The nurse gave me a gown and hooked me up to the non-stress test machine to check baby's heart rate and monitor my contractions.

Around noon they gave me a shot of demerol in the behind and told to go home and relax - easier said that done! From there, the contractions got stronger and more painful. I couldnt stay in one place for longer than one minute! I would go from my bed to the couch, from the couch to the bathtub ... I even tried to take comfort in my little brother's bedroom. I just could not get comfortable.

I was home alone. My Mom took my little brother's and my step dad was at work. I was left home alone out in booneyville to whimper and cry. Around 7pm I called my Mom (who was at a friend's house) and told her she must come home ASAP! She arrived home shortly after and took me to the hospital. The truck ride was awful. Each small bump was felt.

We arrived at the hospital around 9pm. My baby-Daddy arrived shortly after. The night seemed to go by so slowly. At the time, those few hours seemed longer than the nine months I carried the li'l person inside me.

Around 3am the time came for me to start pushing. It was the moment I had been waiting for FOREVER. There was no turning back.

4:18am Friday July 13th, 2001 - Brendan Mathieu arrived. It was a rainy morning but this li'l guy definately brightened up my world!

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He was a tiny li'l man, 8lbs 1oz and 20.5" long. He had red hair and dark blue eyes. He was the cutest li'l guy. He had big hands and big feet ... and really long, slender fingers. The tiniest li'l toes! He had the cutest little cry. It was so soft and so quiet.

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To finally hold him, and kiss him for the first time was the most wonderful and emotional time in my life ... words cant describe how amazing this moment was.

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I love him so much! Words cant express the amount of love I feel for him!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY BRENDAN!

Birthday Bash Times 2!

For Brendan's birthday this year we decided to have two seperate birthday parties. His first birthday party took place July 5th with his school friend's. The kids had a BIG water fight - over 400 water balloons & squirt guns! ... as well as taking a dip in the pool!
. His second birthday party took place July 12th with family and close friend's of the family. We had a bbq with tons of great food! I think it's safe to say "fun was had by all" at both events!

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One Hundred Fourty Two

Happy 142nd birthday CANADA!



A picture of the boys at our local Canada Day parade - enjoying the bag pipes! Keeping in touch with our Scottish roots!

Keyan Goes to the Dentist!

Keyan has been visiting the dentist since he was 3 years old. At almost 5 years old, his visit this June was his third time in the dental chair. He is such a trooper - he handles it better than his own Mommy!! He is so compliant, we are so proud of him. Now if only he can teach this to his older brother!

Knopp's Dairy Farm Adventure

On July 18th, we accompanied Brendan's Grade 1/2 class on an adventue to Knopp's Dairy Farm. We had a first-hand look at where it all begins - how the milk makes it to our kitchen table.

This is a picture of the kids exploring the OLD milking station.The kids meet some baby calves.
Lily makes friends with a baby calf!
Here, we meet some milking cows, as well as Mommy's-to-be.

Meet Arden Elly. She was named after the kid's school, Arden Elementary. The farm had a big fire a couple of years back. Arden school came together and donated money for the purchase of her. The kids of the school voted on her name!

This is the NEW milking station.This is where the milk is stored until a big truck comes to pick it up!
Tractor rides for all!

Fun with relay races!

The fresh farm air was enough to knock Lily out for over 2 hours!

The kids enjoyed 3 fun rounds of water balloon toss!

Watching the remaining water balloon tossers!

Watching the Knopp's dog chase a soccer ball. Always more comfortable in the back of a tractor trailer!

Thank you Knopp's family!!

Numero UNO Party!

On June 14th, close family and friends gathered together to celebrate a year full of love with Lily! She looked like a princess in her beautiful yellow dress [thanks Grandpa!] and sparkly tiara with matching necklace!
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Lily had a wonderful time with all the people that mean so much to her! We love her so much and couldnt imagine our lives without her! It's so hard to believe she's been here with us for a year now.

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Lily's guests included: [Mommy] Jessica, [Daddy] Jim, [Brother] Brendan, [Brother] Keyan, [Uncle] Daryl, [Uncle] Darren, [Uncle] Jason, [Nana] Cathy, [Papa] Wendel, [Great Grandma] Rita, [Great Auntie] Cherie, [Great Uncle] Larry, [Cousin] Jaimie, [Grandma] Lynda, [Grandpa] Norman, [Great Granny] Judy, [Great Pa] Martin, [Grandma] Glenda, [Uncle] Jordan AND [Adopted Aunty] Sabrina.

A Year to Celebrate!

It's hard to believe that at this time, ONE year ago today, the doctor was breaking my water and a few hours later I would have my baby girl. I cant wrap my head around the fact that she has been in our lives for that long. It seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital!

Here's Lily's birth story:

I woke up Wednesday morning (June 11) with contractions that were 10 minutes apart. As the day progressed, so did the pain and contractions. By 1am, Thursday morning [June 12] they were 2-4 minutes apart.

Even though the contractions were tolerable, the hospital still asked me to come in and get checked since she was my 3rd baby and I have a history of fast active labour.

We got to the hospital, the nurse checked me and I was still only 3cm. No change all day. So disappointing!! She called my doctor who said to send me home to rest. She gave me the option to either meet her at the hospital at 8:30am to be reassessed, or continue on with my 11:30 appt in her office.

Once home my contractions were a stready 2 minutes apart and the worst they had ever been ... but still tolerable. I breathed through them and got a bit of rest.

I was going to just wait until my 11:30 appointment but couldnt sleep. Jim and I took Brendan to school and then headed up to the hospital.

My doctor checked me and I was still the same. As she was checking me the nurse was opening up a hook they use for breaking the water! I was so shocked!! I was not expecting anything to happen.

She broke my water at 9am. The water was green, Lily had her first bowel movement inside.

Contractions slowly got stronger. At 11am I was at 5cm. Contractions from there got ALOT more intense. Just after noon I asked for drugs because it was sooo painful. I was given fentanyl - "very groovy" as I referred to it. It helped make the contractions more tolerable.

At 1pm I was a "very stretchy" 7-8cm. The pressure was sooo intense. By 1:15pm my doc arrived and I felt I had to push so bad, grunting so hard through each contraction. It turns out I still had a li'l lip of cervix left and couldnt push yet. It wouldnt go away because Lily was laying the weirdest way inside and her wasnt putting enough pressure on my cervix to make it completely dilate.

My doctor decided that she would let me push while she pushed the lip of cervix to the side. OMG what an intense feeling!! So many sensations all at once, I didnt like it at all. Owiieeee!!

Lily finally flipped her body around inside. With a couple pushes I got her head out, her shoulders were the hardest because she was so broad!

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Our big baby girl was born at 2pm on the dot! Weighing in at 9lbs 11oz, she was 21.5" long.

I was told before giving birth to her that she may not be placed directly on my chest because of the concerns that come with passing meconium in-utero. She was taken away right away to the paediatrician, still in the same room. I was okay with it because they had a good talk with me before about it, it wasnt a shock and I understood what was going on. She scored 7 on her first apgar test, and then a 9 on the second one.

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She let out her first cry a couple minutes after birth. Shortly after she was sucking so hard on her fingers!

A little bit after birth the nurse was listening to her chest and it didnt sound good. They took her for xrays, which later came back good. We didnt sleep the first night. She seriously ate for four hours straight. The nurse took her to the nursery to allow me to sleep a bit. While in there Lily was shaking, they checked her blood sugar level, which came back very low. They supplemented her with 40cc of formula and she was okay after that. They said that there was a small chance I had undiagnosed gestational diabetes, not to mention Lily's size, her body needed that little extra.

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