My sleepy owl

I have been eyeing these adorable owl hats for months, but could never justify the expense of buying one online when they cost upwards of $30. A crafty co-worker heard me talking about them one day and offered to make one for my new little babe. She gave me this adorable little hat just a few weeks before delivery. I also have one in a little bit bigger size because she thought that "newborn" size was just a bit too big. I'm so glad she made this smaller one, too, because she was absolutely right. I don't know what's cuter --- the hat or the baby!

Another day, another scrape

It's going to be a long summer with this kid. His latest scrape comes courtesy of Nick (a total accident). They were playing with the punch balloons I got them when Ben was born and Nick punched the balloon too close to Zander's head. The balloon didn't touch him, but Nick's fingernail caught his cheek and left behind this nasty scratch.


I'm hoping it doesn't scar like his Wii injury did.

Splish splash

Ben is taking a bath! He isn't a huge fan of getting in and getting out parts, but he loves just hanging out once he is in the tub and covered up with warm, wet wash clothes.


Wow, from this angle he looks like a little chunk.


All fresh and clean (and cute).

It's starting already

I think I have a picture of each boy like this. Usually, though, it doesn't start until we get home.

Welcome to the family

It might be a little loud and crazy sometimes, but it's ours and we love it. Hopefully Ben will learn to love it too, becuase everyone is already absolutely smitten with him.

Papa Graham


Aunt Ashley


Ashley and Papa


Grandpa Christensen


Grandma Christensen


Aunt Jamie



My sister Kelsie and of course my mom were also up at the hospital (my mom was there for everything) but somehow I never got a picture of either of them holding Ben). I guess that's what happens when I'm not the one in charge of the camera. Oh well, I am sure there will be plenty more pictures with those two in the coming weeks.

The new Christensen clan

The boys finally got to meet their new baby brother early Wednesday afternoon. We let Nick play hooky from school so it would be easier to get them where they needed to be and then up to the hospital when I was finally showered and functioning again.

They both entered the room a little timidly but Nick quickly warmed up to the idea of a being a big brother for the second time, which I found funny considering he was the one who wante dnothing to do with a another brother just a day earlier. Zander, on the other hand, just wanted to sit on my lap and would barely look at Ben when I tried to introduce the two of them.


Just a few minutes after being there Nick was ready to hold his new brother.


I thought it was so cute that he kept playing with Ben's toes.


Zander took awhile to warm up to the idea of being a big brother, even though he kept telling me he was going to "hug, kiss and lay" on his brother just a day earlier.


Eventually he started creeping a little closer and finally starting checking out what was underneath all the blankets.


We told him to give the baby a kiss, but he wouldn't get close to his face so he opted to kiss his leg instead.


He finally worked up the courage to actually hold Ben and then he even gave him a little kiss.


And just in case you need a different kind of visual --- Nick thought we should let everyone know who was in the picture. My sister made the picture Tuesday night while the boys were staying with my family.


And, finally, our first picture as a family of five. It's not one that will ever make the photo wall, but it will be treasured forever.

Introducing Benjamin Michael

This adorable bundle of joy joined our family at 2:41 p.m. He weighed in at a whopping (for me anyway) 8 lbs and measured 21 inches. And, of course, he is perfect in every single way.

And, like my other two boys Benjamin's birth comes with a story (I went into labor with Nick at my baby shower and Zander's birth was so fast I barely had time to blink).

It was because of Zander's quick birth and the fact that I tested postive for group B strep (which requires antibiotics during the birthing process) that I opted to get induced on May 10 instead of waiting to go naturally (well, that and my original due date was Friday, May 13. Thanks, but no thanks.). Mike and I dropped the boys off at school and daycare and headed to the hospital to check in at 8 a.m. By 9:30 I was in a beautiful hospital gown and hooked up to monitors and big bag of pitocin. It didn't take long for the pitocin to kick in and we were on our way.

Because of the GBS I did have to have antibiotics as well. However, I am allergic to penicillin and the specific GBS bacteria in my body was resistant to the second antibiotic they would have chosen. So, it was on to option three, Vancomycin, affectionately known as the "Red Man Drug." Apparently, this antibiotic causes those who take it to turn violently red (because I don't do that enough on my own). The nurses didn't know about this side effect and within minutes of administering the drug they asked me if I was warm and felt OK. I figured I was just getting red from being nervous and excited and did I mention nervous? But, by the time the doctor walked in I was tomato red and she instantly said "Oh, I see they had to give you the red man drug." Finally, I made my way to the bathroom to check it out and WOW, I looked like I had spent WAY too much time in the sun (like days, not hours). Thankfully, the redness and itchiness went away within an hour and all was back to normal.

Shortly after noon Dr. Mall came in to check on me and break my water. And then the contractions started coming even faster. Thank God for the epidural, which I'd asked for about 11 a.m. per doctor's orders. The next two hours are kind of a blur. I got a little light-headed and nauseous and basically just laid there with my eyes closed for those two hours. By 2:15 the nurses knew it was about time to go. Unfortunately, Dr. Mall was down the hall helping deliver a baby to a mother who chose to go drug-free. But, my baby didn't want to wait. So, they called for the back-up doctor (Dr. Hines) and within minutes of her walking into the room Benjamin (who went nameless for the first 30 minutes or so) was born. There were no techs in the room. The cart they used wasn't prepped when the doctor walked in, but there was no time to wait. I pushed three times and he was out. As I was pushing Mike whispered something about a "Smart Software kind of delivery" (which is a reference to the half-assed way his previous employer operated) and my mom said I was laughing as Ben was making his entrance into the world. Ah ... the wonders of a good drug. It was crazy though, because this was the first time I actually felt the baby leaving my stomach. With Nick my epidural was too strong and with Zander I was so jacked up about not having one I didn't feel anything.

I got to hold him for just a few seconds before they wisked him away to be measured, weighed and cleaned-up. My mom and Mike gave me the play-by-play while the doc finished up with me.


After the doctor left we got a few peaceful minutes to share with our new baby (and to decide on his name).




But, all was not well. Here is where this might get a little graphic, but, for my sake I need to get it all down. If you don't want to know you may want to stop reading and just focus on those cute pictures above.

My uterus/cervix failed to close properly after I delivered. Instead, it moved over to the right side of my body and blood clots started developing inside (only we didn't know this then). The nurses were concerned, but not worried, abouit the placement and firmness of my uterus. Then my back, where the misguided epidural needle had first entered, started to hurt. The pain was damn near excrutiating. They kept trying to force a vicodin on me, but I was certain there had to be something that was causing this pain and refused for quite some time. Finally, I relented, but the pain did not. By this point the nurses noticed I was still bleeding quite a bit more than a I should have been and gave me a shot of methergin, a drug used for the prevention and control of postpartum and post-abortion hemorrhage. It didn't work.

And then, they found out why. While massaging my stomach (I use massaging lightly because it was more like kneading a really tough bread dough) I started to pass clots. Eventually, after several minutes of excrutiating pushing and pulling I passed a large clot (about the size of a grapefruit, maybe bigger). My mom and Mike were in the room for all of it (Mike had actually went to get the boys to come up and meet Ben, but she called him during dinner and told him to take the boys back to her house because I wasn't doing so good). I let out a noise, which likely sounded like I was in pain, as the clot passed. My mom, who was worried about me, tried to calm me from the other side of the room. I told her the noise was actually one of relief because the moment it left my body the pain in my abdomen and back was gone.

But, that wasn't the end. The blood and the clots kept coming. I was given two more shots of methergin with the final one coming about 9 p.m. This was right after I saw the doctor for the first time since delivering Ben. Apparently, they weren't worried about what was happening to me. My vitals were all still strong and this kind of thing isn't common, but it's not uncommon either. Just before the doctor got in the room I started worrying about all the possible things that might happen. My first thought was I was going to have to have a total hysterectomy (which is fine in that we aren't planning to have anymore kids, but not fine in that I wasn't prepared for a full on surgery). Thankfully, when Dr. Mall finally came in and ordered another shot of mehtergin she said the next step would be to do a D&C to make sure everything was out of the uterus, since that can sometimes cause bleeding.

Thankfully, that wasn't necessary. The final shot and some "handy" work by Dr. Mall slowed the bleeding to a normal amount and by midnight I was finally cleared to eat the dinner I had ordered six hours earlier. After food and a little bit of sleep I tried to get out of bed about 4 a.m. to go to the bathroom and take a bath/shower. I got to the bathroom, sat down and had to be wheeled back to bed because I almost passed out. The same thing happened at 6 a.m. Dr. Mall did not want to give me a blood transfusion unless absolutely necessary so I tried again after breakfast and was finally able to make it into the tub. A bath/shower has never felt so good. But, that was about all I could handle. I was still very tired and weak and had to get right back into bed after I got cleaned up.

By then, it was time for the parade of visitors (who were told to stay away the night before) to come meet Ben!