We finally got to bring Ada home on Friday after a long week in the hospital. I never really had any issues with healthcare until this experience! They tried to send me home without her on Thursday and I made it clear that wasn’t going to happen. The nurses were extremely nice and basically let me stay under the radar (I was no longer in the hospital system, but the room was available). That was an okay solution, but it meant that I had to set an alarm for every 2 hours, walk down to the nursery, take her out of her incubator, feed her, put her back in and calm her down, then start the whole process over in another two hours. It was exhausting, to say the least! Anyway, we are home now and her last blood test was considered “stable,” so it looks like we are here to stay!

The kids came home from Ya Ya’s house on Sunday evening and it has been interesting having us all under one roof. They are being really good with Ada and have been relatively well-behaved, but figuring out how to balance nursing Ada with their needs has been a challenge. Harper had preschool today, which made it much, much easier. It reminded me of how easy it was to have Harper and Roman so close together because Roman just doesn’t care about the baby! As long as you feed him and get him outdoors to play, he is perfectly content. At 3+ years old, Harper is much more interested in holding the baby, touching her, wants to be on my lap when I’m nursing, and overall just won’t leave us alone. I know she is just excited, but it’s pretty exhausting!

For the past hour and a half, all three of them have been asleep. If there were a magic potion to make this happen every afternoon, I would invest heavily in it. Unfortunately I have to wake the older two up in a few minutes or else they won’t go to bed tonight, but let me tell you, this is absolute bliss! I’ve already made dinner, finished the laundry, caught up with our realtor about the house, and dug up some old pictures of Harper to start my new drinking game: “Ada or Harper?” Here’s round one – 5 days old:

We are thrilled to welcome Ada Eliot Wills to our family! Baby Ada was born at 1:22 PM on Tuesday, April 20th, weighing an impressive 8 pounds, 7 ounces – a full pound more than her brother and sister were at birth! She has a full head of dark brown hair, brown eyes and appears to have Portman’s gorgeous dark skin, just like her big sister Harper.

Ada’s birth has been a very different experience for all of us. On Monday morning I went in for my 39-week checkup. At my 37-week checkup I was already dilating and having decently strong contractions, and they told me that she would “definitely be early,” so on Monday when I was still pregnant I was not a happy camper. The baby wasn’t moving around much at the appointment, so they did a non-stress test, and sure enough she wasn’t showing a lot of enthusiasm for still being in the womb. My doctor suggested an induction, and I got a call a few hours later telling me to be at the hospital at 7pm.

We arrived at the hospital expecting to start the induction, but the doctor checked me and it turned out that I was already in labor, at least they thought I was. I assured them that I had been having steady contractions for over two weeks and that I was not in labor, but they said that we would have to wait until the morning and see if anything progressed. So… I had to spend the night in the delivery room. Let me tell you how much fun that was – none at all. It was loud and uncomfortable, and I got zero sleep.

Portman arrived back at the hospital Tuesday morning, and sure enough I was not in labor so they started the induction around 7 AM. Being induced is extremely controlled and predictable, which was very different from my other deliveries. They gave me an epidural around 9 AM, which was entirely necessary since the pitocin causes unusually painful contractions, then Portman and I watched “Superbad” while the pitocin did its work. Around 1:20 PM I told the nurse that I felt a lot of pressure. My doctor came in to check me and informed me that the baby was crowning, I pushed once, and out she came at 1:22 PM! And THAT was officially the fastest birth of the three (Harper was 3 pushes and I think Roman was about 5).

Ada proceeded to scream for about an hour and a half (wouldn’t you if you were born that fast?), then calmed down and has been a sleepy, easy-going baby ever since. Both of us were doing great and were all set to go home as soon as she was 24 hours old, but then they did a routine bilirubin check on Ada and it came back high. So, yesterday afternoon she had to go under the lights (aka the tanning bed, aka the turkey roaster) and has been permitted out of her little oven only to nurse.

Meanwhile I have been sitting here reading magazines, watching movies (I recommend “Up” – it’s amazing) and stressing out about her being in there alone. She now has three little friends in there with her – I guess it is “jaundice week” in the nursery – so that makes me feel a little bit better. This morning Roman came in to hang out with me while Harper was in school and I got some much needed snuggle time with him. We are desperately hoping that Ada tests well this afternoon and can finally go home! I’ve been told that I have to go home no matter what, but we will see about that… they might have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming.

Yesterday (pre-turkey oven) Ya Ya brought the big brother and big sister in to visit. Harper was out-of-this-world adorable and so excited to see “da new baby.” She immediately informed me that the baby is going to sleep in her bed and share her pillow, and that everyone else can call her “Ada,” but Harper will be calling her “Abigail.” So funny! Roman was not so excited about the baby, but enjoyed a little mommy-time.

I’ve been a blog slacker for a few weeks, but for a good reason – we’re busy! I’m going to attempt to squeeze 2 weeks of our life into one post, so bear with me.

Two weekends ago we drove down to Charlottesville for Pop Pop’s 60th, let me spell that out SIXTIETH, birthday. We had so much fun celebrating with the whole family – something that rarely happens in a family our size! Harper and Roman loved getting to spend time with their cousin Charlie, who they don’t see often, and Portman enjoyed some quality video game time with Uncle Kevin and Uncle Brian. Here’s a shot of the whole gang celebrating the big 6-0:

 
On Sunday, Portman and I drove home and left the kids in Charlottesville for an extended vacation. Harper had spring break that week, so it worked out well. I got to spend the week nesting, and they got to spend the week playing in grass (the Lawn) – something that they don’t get to do often on our little patio!

Since up to that point I had done very little to prepare for this baby, I spent the week going through Harper’s old clothes, getting the nursery/closet ready, and figuring out how to fit 3 car seats into our SUV. We just assumed that they would all fit in the middle row… not so much. Harper is now enjoying her car rides in the 3rd row, and we are now in the market for a smaller double stroller so that we can fit it back there with her! Roman is overall very confused by the empty infant seat sitting next to him.

The kids’ visit to Ya Ya and Pop Pop’s turned out to be perfect timing because we put a contract on a house just a few days before dropping them off! That meant I had time to do the home inspection and deal with all the lender paperwork without kids hanging on me. We don’t close until the end of June, but we are SO excited to have more space, a yard, and a garage – all things that will make life with 3 kids much more comfortable. Our new house is exactly 1.6 miles from our current house, so we are not exactly branching out, just getting some much-needed space!

As far as baby news, it is pretty likely that she is going to be early. Without going into detail, I am “progressing” much quicker than I did with the other kids, so we are hoping she will arrive sometime next week, if not sooner. I can’t say that I am ready to take care of a newborn, but I am definitely ready to not be pregnant. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to keep up with Harper and Roman and I just need my body back!

That being said, I have been trying to get the kids out of the house as much as possible since it will be a lot harder once the baby is here. Last weekend we ventured into DC to see the Cherry Blossoms. We usually try to go during the week, and for a good reason. It was ridiculously crowded. We didn’t stay long, but I’m glad we didn’t skip it altogether – it’s so gorgeous!

 
We’ve also been spending a lot of time at Hidden Pond Park, now that the weather is nice. Last weekend the toad mating season officially started, which meant there were big, loud toads all over the pond. Harper and Roman thought this was pretty awesome.

 
And finally, Easter! I debated whether or not to do Easter baskets for the kids, and I’m so glad that I did. They were totally into it and we had a lot of fun watching them go through their stash. The Easter Bunny brought very little candy, but Roman managed to consume what he did bring in about 5 minutes flat. He then spent the rest of the day pointing to the empty eggs and asking “more treat?” I still have the baskets out and he asks for “teat” every time he sees them!

After Roman’s nap we headed over to the McGeary’s house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Both of the kids knew exactly what to do and the hunt didn’t take long. We quickly had to empty all of Roman’s eggs before he went into a diabetic coma!

 
We’ve spent this week getting back into a normal routine. We broke out the kiddie pool a few days ago, since we have had 90-degree weather all week. It is so hot that we can’t really play outside in the afternoon unless water is involved! Keep your fingers crossed for a baby soon, and stay tuned for any news!

It’s 10:15 PM and I just checked on Harper and found her asleep on her floor, under her bed. I have absolutely no idea when, how or why she got there, but I couldn’t resist taking a photo:

She didn’t stop snoring for a second when Portman pried her out of there and put her back in bed!

Starring Roman Wills as Roman Wallace
Photo and Screenplay by Peter Martin

Roman Wallace: And if this is your army, why does it go?

First Grader: We didn’t come here to fight for them!

1 Year Old: Home! The Parents are too many!

Roman Wallace: Sons of Springfield! I am Roman Wallace.

1 Year Old: Roman Wallace is three feet tall!

Roman Wallace: Yes, I’ve heard. Eats Cheerios by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he’d consume these Parents with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

[child army laughs]

Roman Wallace: I *am* Roman Wallace! And I see a whole army of my fellow toddlers, here in defiance of parental rule. You’ve come to fight as free children… and free children you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?

First Grader: Fight? Against that? No! We will run. And we will live to see another episode of Thomas the Tank Engine.

Roman Wallace: Aye, fight and you may get a time out. Run, and you’ll stay up… at least a while. And sleeping in your beds, many weeks from now, would you be willin’ to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our parents that they may take our icecream, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM!