I wish I could sum up this so far 4 week experience in a couple words but I can't. My first thought is "Izzz tired!" but then I immediately think, "I'm on cloud 9!" then I think, "but Izzz tired!"
Four kids, a husband and full time entrepreneur...this is definitely not for the faint or weak at heart.
Week 1 Oct 3 2015
Easton's Birth Day!!
Today was supposed to be the day of our Baby Celebration/Our Welcome to LA Celebration. It was hosted by both of my sisters at our house. I was excited for this day to come because it was the first time we had a get together at our house. It was not going to be a typical baby shower. Just hanging out in great weather, good vibing music and overall good time to celebrate the upcoming birth of our baby and welcome to California. However, at 2am I felt my first "real" contraction. My 2 previous children were born exactly 6 days before the due date and this was exactly 6 days before Easton's due date so I knew. Also, when you are on your 4th kid/delivery, you are so much more at ease and knowledgeable about your own body. The contractions were coming about 20-30 mins apart. Since I knew the baby was coming that day, I texted all my family and told them I was in early stages of labor and I wasn't going to be able to have the party. My parents got in 11pm last night and they were at my sisters house. I went to clean my office so Kern wouldn't get trigger happy and throw away any of my papers on my desk. If I leave a piece of paper on my desk, he thinks it's trash. I think he has a slight OCD or just crazy persons problem when it comes to what he calls "junk". Anyway, I was cleaning my office at 3am while everyone slept. By 8am my sister bought my parents over. I decided to spend most of my labor at home so I wouldn't be sitting in a cold hospital hooked up to an IV waiting for the the baby to come. We were just hanging out with the kids and I would fall to the ground in pain during each contraction which lasted about 1 minute long. By 9:45am the contractions were getting so strong that I knew it was time to head to the hospital which was 30 mins. away. My doctor was at a convention out of town so I knew the dr on call would be delivering the baby. Kern has a Escalade so I was crawling around on the floor during each contraction. I remember my sister saying to my mother, "Is it really that bad? Or is she exaggerating?" My mom immediately said, "No shes not exaggerating, It's worse than what it looks like." When we got in the hospital, they took me to the bed immediately because they could tell I was ready to push. As soon as I crawled on the bed, my water broke and i was exhausted. The nurse asked me to wait until the doctor arrived to push. In that moment, I didn't care if the baby was delivered on the hospital bed, I was going to push. I began to push because I couldn't take the pain from the contractions any longer and the nurse delivered the baby. It was just that fast. We wasn't at the hospital more that 5 mins before baby Easton Trey made his arrival.
I was in love and at the same time exhausted. The next day I was released from the hospital and back to work I go...with Baby #4 in tow.
Week 2
Back to Work
By week 2, my milk has came in, I am a human pacifier and milk lady on call 24 hours a day. In addition to my new duties, I am back to work full-time because Baby Easton isn't dishing out any money for me to be his milk lady. My 2nd week, for the most part I am in a state of euphoria. For the most part, everything is going as expected. I'm not getting any sleep...but that is expected. I'm changing diapers non-stop...but that is expected. My body is still out of it.. well you get the point. I felt really good in week 2. I felt so good, I went out looking for a new car that I was procrastinating to buy the entire pregnancy. I owned an Audi A6 and it was the first luxury vehicle purchase in my life. I made a promise to myself at 22 years old that when I reach age 30 I would buy a really nice car. So, when I hit 30, I fulfilled the promise to myself. Kern had been telling me for months when we 1st found out I was pregnant to get a bigger car that would fit the whole family. My Audi was my baby. I didn't want to let it go. It was one of those purchases where I felt, "I have arrived!" lol. It reminded me of how far I've came from my 1991 Mitsibishi Precis that was handed down to me when I was 17.
I was at the dealership negotiating hard to get a good offer. I became in love with Audi's so I knew I wanted to get another Audi. We finally decided on a Audi Q7 and I was happy it had 3rd row seating because I know my family is big now, so my 2nd option was to buy a school bus. We surprised the kids and they acted like they won the lottery when they saw they had a new car. The smiles on their faces were priceless. I was happier for them than I was for myself.
We were doing great.......until the unexpected happened!
Week 3
Back to the Hospital
Lisa, our 3rd baby and only little girl, was all smiles on the weekend. She was helping with her new baby brother (holding and giving him kisses) and Sunday night we heard her in the bed coughing that sounded like a barking seal. It was very distinctive and alarming. I went into panic mode because she sounded very sick and I was worried tending to her, I could pass it on to our 3 week old baby whose immune system was not built up yet. I was also thinking Easton could have already gotten whatever Lisa had because she spent the weekend holding and giving him all these kisses.
We took Lisa to the doctor the next morning and the doctor said her lungs were working too hard to breathe and she would have to be admitted into the hospital for observation. When Kern gave me the call that she would have to spend the night in the hospital I was just done. To top off my frustration, they said I could not come into the hospital with the baby or any of the other kids because it was flu season and they didn't want anyone to get sick.
It killed me inside that I couldn't be by my 1 year old daughter's side while she spent the night in the hospital. I didn't sleep a second. I began to realize that I was getting sleep in 30 mins here, an hour there, but now I wasn't sleeping at all and didn't close my eyes in over 48 hours. I was like someone from the Walking Dead, just out of it.
The good news was the next afternoon, Lisa, was finally released from the hospital. She was on steroid shots for a couple days. The bad news, Easton and I did get a bad head cold. I felt my head was going to explode. I read on how to help remedy a cold faster and the #1 answer on all the google pages were to get good rest! Well, so much for getting over this cold faster. But the most important thing was my baby girl was home!!!!
Week 4
Waved the White Flag S.O.S.
But this time of absolutely no sleep, embracing my baby girl back from the hospital, getting her back to health, trying to take care of my own sickness and a newborn sickness, still breastsfeeding around the clock and working..... it was too much to bear. I read someplace that most people want to help when you have a baby but they don't know what you neee help with. So, this time around, I put up my white flag and sent an email to all my California family to ask for help. I told them I needed help with meals, either to bring food or meals we could freeze. When I clicked on the send button, I was slightly embarrassed and scared. I didn't want my family to think I couldn't handle everything or place a burden on them. Besides, they have their own families to take care of. I was thinking I was selfish to ask for help. I felt ashamed. Shortly after sending the email, my brother called and said that he would come over the next 2 days to cook a home cooked meal for the family. Then my younger sister and brother-in-law came over to help get the older kids in bed that same day. Just when I was taken back from all the immediate support, I got an email from a company that prepares healthy meals and deliver them to your door. It was a gift for a whole week of delivered meals- a gift from my older sister and brother-in-law. I broke down and cried. The love and support was overwhelming. It reminded me of a sermon I heard from T.D. Jakes, "If you need more, take more!" It was a sermon about how God will bless you with everything you need and if you need more, He will supply. Just ask!
I'd like to say that my first four weeks with four kids were a walk in the park. I mainly want to say that because I never want to looked at as the person who doesn't have it all together. But the truth is....No One has it ALL together. We are all struggling with something. As for me, right now, my struggle is learning how to balance my new family of 4 precious angels, my businesses and everything else in between.
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