10 things I've learned...

About babies in my house.

{in no particular order}

1.  Babies are not capable of manipulation. {he's trying to get me to pick him up--whatever.  he doesn't even realize his hands are connected to his body!} I never take crying personally--babies cry if something is uncomfortable not to try to get me to do something.  Toddlers are another story...

2. Don't over feed. {Sorry Dallin and Landon}.  Babies act like they are hungry all the time.  They only need to eat every 2 -3 hours--that means newborns eat, wake and sleep about every three hours.  For some reason knowing this really helps me feel calm.  I don't know why. Newborns like to take a little cat nap in the middle of nursing.  I still count that as the same feeding.

3.  Sometimes it's easier just to nurse them again--even if #2 is true.

4.  If I try to have my babe go to sleep in his own bed--at least for the last few seconds before drifting off--then he will sleep through the night on his own without a lot of crying.  Except for Benson.  He broke the rules.

5.  Even if I don't follow #4 all the time, he will still sleep eventually. Sometimes I'm just too tired to lay him down, pick back up and comfort, lay down again and repeat until the babe is sleeping. See #3.

6. I like the smell of newborn diapers.  I do.

7.   I don't follow #4 often enough.  Jackson doesn't sleep through the night yet {7 weeks...pretty little still}. I kind of like his little warmness next to me. Spoiled.  I know. He does sleep through Dallin practicing his Bari-sax in the same room.  That counts for something.

8.  Dads have a different way of caring for babies.  If I want Rustin to help then I have to let him learn and do it his way.  Otherwise he will  just give the babe back to me all the time.  Learned that through experience.  It helped to work the evening shift (as a nurse) for a few years.

9.  Dads' ways of taking care of babies are actually pretty awesome.

10.  Babies grow up REALLY fast.  I can never take too many pictures or write down enough memories. Or smooch them too much or hold them too much or smell them......

Easter, week three and injury

This little one is three weeks old today.  This picture was taken two minutes ago... I'm sure it is against the laws of the universe to have a nursing infant have a stuffy green nose.  At least it should be.

I love his fuzzy clean mow-hawk hair.  It smells delicious.  Of course it is nearly midnight and he is still bright eyed.  Speaking of eyes--we think he is going to follow Jenna's footsteps and be blue.  Today they look completely purple.  His eyes get lighter by the day!

We had a good Easter weekend though it was incredibly strange not to have a single member of our families here for egg hunts and baskets.  We missed everyone!  Rustin was swamped with a funeral and lots of stake conference meetings so we squished things in where we could.  It was a gorgeous day outside for once.

You'll notice Landon is missing from all the Easter pictures.

 He jumped off the play house onto the trampoline and after a few crazy bounces he ended up on the ground with a severely injured back.  It has been four days and it was just today that he has finally been able to walk to the bathroom without tears and help. And lots of pain medicine.

This is Landon trying to enjoy his birthday candles on Monday.

It looks like he most likely 'just' tore the muscles in his lower left back--no broken ribs or vertebra.  He isn't able to walk more than a few feet at a time so we aren't sure what to do about school.  He is obviously done with track and basketball.  Darn. We are praying that we will know what to do to help him recover in the best way possible.

I am off to sleep.  May you all have sweet slumber and happy spring! {or winter if you are in Australia!}

Can it be?

Dallin and Landon age 13 1/2

We have two fourteen-year-olds!  It's true.  It was fourteen years ago that our lives suddenly and completely turned upside down.

Kendra and Ryan saved the day with this ice cream cake when the cake I made fell to pieces.

We were just remembering that night (4 am...) so long ago.  Rustin and I very naively thought we would have another month before babies arrived...  (they came 5 weeks early) Rustin was in the middle of finals (organic chemistry and physics) and we didn't have anything ready for them.

 I remember the next day when Rustin had gone home to shower and nap and the nurses left me alone in my room with two babies. That was the most overwhelming feeling ever.

My mom remembers scouring the mall and stores for any clothing that would fit their  barely 5 lb bodies.  It is a lot easier to find tiny clothes today.  I guess there are more premies these days?

We always love our crazy toddlers but Dallin and Landon were particularly full of it.  Last night we were talking about their younger years.  Kendra remembers them running along in the back yard and Landon tripped and yelled, "Dallin tripped me!"

 Dallin quickly replied "I didn't trip you--it was my magic!"

 I remember watching them boost each other out the ground level window of our Pocatello apartment so they could escape to the nearby swings.

Rustin and I both remember how {before 18 months of age} both boys could get out of their cribs faster than we could get out of their room.

Today Landon can make pancakes from scratch without a recipe.  And he is the designated cookie maker.  Dallin {more than any of the other kids}  has taken like a pro to caring for baby Jack.  And he is very quick to compliment and encourage the younger kids with reading, math or whatever is hard for them. They set a great tone in our house--we couldn't ask for more awesome oldest kids!

Two!!

It's been two weeks since our new arrival and we are all finally starting to find our new normal.  Jackson is very peaceful.  Of course anyone who could spend 18 hours a day nestled next to his warm, soft, food source wouldn't find much to complain about!

Jacks (or should it be Jax? I can't seem to stick to a name completely yet.  Jack doesn't feel quite right and of course I can't always say Jackson...) is growing like crazy.  He had gained 13 oz. in 8 days at his ten day checkup.  I forget how fast they grow!  We go to bed between 10 and 11:30 and he usually sleeps until about 3:30.  After that we fall back asleep nursing until morning...  I am working on having him go to sleep by himself at bedtime. Trying not to completely spoil this child.  Can you spoil a baby?  I don't think so.

We got to have Grandma and Pa Hatch come visit for a few days.  We wished they could stay for a week.

This is Jackson's preferred sleep position.  We need a grandma full time!

Dallin and Landon are busy with track (Dal set a goal to run two miles a day and so far he has stuck to it!) Landon is kicking pants with shot put. Dal prefers discus. They are also finishing up with AAU basketball.  We will be so glad when that it done!

Rustin is swamped as always with funerals, baptisms, appointments, work and of course--his wife and babe.  We can't wait for spring to hit here in full spring.

Week one with a newborn...

Day one:  If you are ever lucky enough to have a sixth child at the hospital make sure to go with an arsenal of comments like --"we love having a house full of kids!" and "I'm so glad I'm the one with these kids too!" or "we just take it a day at a time."

 Didn't sleep one bit in the hospital.  Jackson spent the night with the nurses who were all nervous about his grunting and choking episodes. We went home a little before our 24 hours were up.

Day two:  Jackson still kind of chokes when he spits up.  He isn't grunting as much as he was in the hospital since he threw up a bunch of mucus but he still makes me nervous enough that I am extremely hyper vigilant.  He hasn't cried even once.  Just kind of grunty.  Not much sleep.

Day three: I've never been so swollen in my life.  My hands and feet are shiny and my face has swollen so my eyes look like I belong to a raccoon family. I'm sure the copious amounts of IV fluids during labor and delivery haven't helped the situation.  Even my jaw is so swollen that I can only touch my front four teeth when I close.  Is my body going to recover from this?

Jack eats pretty regularly every three hours.  He falls asleep quickly so if he acts like he's hungry within 30 minutes or so I feed him on the same side and count it as the same feeding.
Comment of the day comes from Benson.   "Hey mom, are you done milking yet?!"

Day four:  My mom is still coming over every morning and does a couple of loads of laundry and makes me breakfast.  I'm spoiled.  Jackson isn't grunty anymore and I am not nearly so worried about him choking.  Night wasn't too bad last night.

Day five:  I still don't want to leave my room.  Thankfully lots of friends are helping drive the kids to all the activities.  It was Sunday today and I slept the entire three hours with baby Jack.  He cried for the first time today.  Cute little wail.

Day six.  I am starting to feel normal again.  I can finally touch my teeth together.  Jackson is adorable.  He still very rarely cries but I am tired.  I am not nearly as tearful this time around as I have been sometimes.  Though I did almost cry today when I saw a picture of a newborn penguin and its mom...

One week:  I seems like an eternity ago that I was pregnant.  Almost immediately after Jack was born I felt the absence of his movements and his little spirit in my tummy. I found myself wishing I was still pregnant more than once.  I can't believe I would say that.  The difference between this time and the other times is that I know this sweet stage in life will be over in just a heartbeat.  Missing a nap or two is such a temporary state of existence.   I'm enjoying every minute--except the first few seconds when he starts to nurse--yeouch!  As my mother always says--"this too shall pass" whether it is a good time or a bad.

The day we all fell in love.

Jackson Rustin 24 hours old

It is amazing how we women like to talk about labor and delivery.  I think it's actually therapy.  It keeps us from having post-traumatic stress syndrome.  And it is a magical moment we don't want to forget.

We had a baby last Tuesday.  We were able to go to the hospital and have labor induced one week early.  We started a little bit of pitocin and my more-than-ready uterus immediately started contracting every 2-3 minutes.  Not painful, just uncomfortable. 

After a couple of hours Dr. Coleman came in (about 11:00) and declared that it was time to break my water and he kindly and wisely suggested we get an epidural before the watery event. 

The epidural was placed, my water broken and--as usual--intense contractions commenced immediately.  That is when it became very evident that the epidural was working only on the left side of my body.  ugg.  After a good 30 minutes or so the anesthetist came back in to try to fix the problem and discovered that the catheter had pulled itself out. (about 12:00) During the course of the day we figured out that out that the anesthetist had a dental appointment later that afternoon with my dad; so I told him that I was going to call and tell my dad to only get him as numb as he got me.  Unfortunately, there wasn't anything that could be done (short of surgical anesthetic) with the rapid intensity of the contractions/dialation and with the baby positioned against my right side.

By this point contractions were extremely intense and I put Rustin to work trying to keep me comfortable.  (move my leg a little, I need some ice, help me sit up etc.) There is no one more comforting than Rustin.  My mom was there also and she helped a ton.  I'm a lucky girl.

The second epidural was placed to no avail. (about 12:30) The baby was posterior and grating against the nerves in my right side with every contraction, which were every two minutes lasting 60-90 seconds.  My left side was completely numb. I was able to sit up and lean forward on a birthing bar and that was enough to take the pressure off my back.  Rustin and my mom would press a hot blanket against my back during each contraction and things were tolerable.  The effect of the epidural and labor made my blood pressure plummet so I had bags and bags of IV fluids and several doses of stimulants to keep me from passing out. 

Before we knew it it was time to push.  This was the only moment of true tears on my part but my worries were unfounded.  Unlike my previous five deliveries, pushing brought total relief from the pain of contractions.  Jackson flipped over and into position at the last second and three contractions later he was born--at 3:37 p.m.  It turned out that he had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck so he took a little coaxing to get going at first.

All told it took about 7 hours, which is double my other labor and deliveries.  I can't complain though--for a 'not perfect' delivery it wasn't so bad.

Baby Jack continued to have some distress for the first couple of hours after birth so he took a visit to the NICU to have some IV fluids and a little extra monitoring.

Jackson went to the NICU just after Rustin left to round up the kids and get everyone dinner.  No new mother should ever be left alone after giving birth!  I was almost panicked.  I wanted my husband and my kids and my baby.  I felt completely out of sorts.  I was still feeling the effects of all the fluids and stimulants.  I was saved from certain insanity when a good friend (Mitch Moffitt--also our pediatrician...) stopped by and offered to check out the baby and give me some grounding words of encouragement.  Thanks. One of those tender mercies for sure.

Rustin and the kids arrived at about the same time Jackson was brought back to my room.  I felt calm immediately.  The kids couldn't stop smiling and the baby was as sweet and cute as ever.  The kids offered to stay with me and sleep on the floor.  I was tempted to take them up on it.  It's amazing how strong the bonds of family are.  We all felt it.  One of the nurses commented about how the kids were waving goodbye until the elevator door closed.  It is completely different to have a baby with an entire support group of my husband and kids.  When we had Benson the twins were seven.  Today they are almost fourteen.  The difference is immense and so comforting.  I have been promised that my children will be my greatest joy in life and I truly believe it.

A Handsome Hatchling

We have a baby!
Jackson Rustin Hatch
April 5, 2011
8 lbs. 6 oz
21 inches
3:37 pm

Really cute.

This is the first of our kids to be born with no facial swelling, no redness and  hair.  We are all in love. And feel truly blessed.