One more submission...

Sorry this is such a belated post, but it's time to unveil the winner of the 1st Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest. And the winner is (drumroll, please).......................The Iowa Kilgores! Kudos to them for actually getting their pictures done on time, in public and having sweaters for 6 people! Partly due to the size of their brood, they also get points for variety. Each sweater is beautiful and unique in it's ugly-ness. So congrats, Kilgores, you're a cut above the rest.

Honorable mentions go out to Christy and Scott and the other couple who shall remain nameless (at their request) but who did submit a picture. As for Brian and Jeni...what can I say except WOW!!!! Talk about commiting to a cause. Not only did they find some super ugly sweaters but they put together a whole '80's photo-shoot. I love the shoulder pads in Jeni's sweater and that sweet uni-brow that Brian is sporting.

Now, you'll notice that in my family picture we are seated in-doors instead of in public. It's all my fault that our picture was not taken in public. We had the chance to stop at the convenience store and have the clerk there take our picture but I said no as all three children were screaming at the time. Not a good excuse, I know. Next year, though, I'll be more on top of this contest!

As for the other picture of Sophie, well, it's been an interesting week. 1718 Elizabeth Drive has had a lot going on! Sophie has already had her first cold - given to her by her loving brothers, and now she (and I) has thrush! ICK! It's actually making mommy far more uncomfortable than her, but our first course of treatments didn't do much so we had to move on to something called Gentian Violet. It's this fabulous purple medicine that we have to "paint" in Sophie's mouth every night for 3 or 4 days. And it STAINS anything it touches. So Sophie is going to have a purple mouth and face until sometime next week. Welcome to mortality, Sophie.

Yesterday we attempted to take some cute family pics in front of the Christmas tree at my in-law's house. We got a couple of good ones but MAN is it hard to keep three little ones all happy and looking at the camera!!!

Anyway, here are a couple of fun ones that won't be ending up on the baby announcement/holiday card.

Don't forget the deadline for sweater pictures is tonight!!!!!

Time is running out! Don't forget to send your ugly sweater pictures to me at annarawlins@yahoo.com

Sophia is now 9 days old. I'm almost past the first 10 days. That's important because, as I was counseled by my sister, Chrysta, the first 10 days after a c-section are the days you feel "like you've been hit by a Mac truck." And it's true. But one more day and we'll be through it. Yay. Actually, I've been feeling pretty great for the past two days and I've been using less and less narcotics. Always a good sign. Of course, I'd probably feel better if I could sleep...but that's another post.
So I just thought I'd show the highlights of our week. Monday we checked out of the hospital. Chase's mom was working that day and had the privilege of removing my staples - all 18 of them. And then she discharged us. It was kinda funny.
Since then we've been just hanging out. I've tried to arrange some playdates for the boys because the weather was bad last week (as in rainy, not blizzardy or icy as some of you are experiencing...sorry). That helped alleviate some of their rowdiness.
Sophie also had her 1 week appointment and she's already about 9 pounds. She had already gained 7 ounces by day 6! She does love to eat.
Chase has been my knight in shining armor, as usual. He's gotten up in the middle of the night with me plenty of times, and he is always campaigning for more sleep for me. So nice. He's been doing laundry and dishes and keeping the kids happy. What a great dad and husband. Yesterday, after a particularly draining night for me, he sent me back to bed and kept the boys happy listening to music on the headphones. Miles wouldn't keep his on so Chase found some old fleece (does that fleece look familiar, Sara? It's from the big bird costume...) and fashioned a headband to keep it in place. Then he made a teenage mutant ninja turtle mask for Cam.
In terrible, horrific, awful, no-good, tragic news....my mom is leaving tomorrow. I'm so sad. She's been SUCH a huge help. She has kept my house clean and the boys fed. If it wasn't for her I'm sure I'd be an under-slept, under-fed emotional and physical mess. She has cooked all of my favorites; home-made bread and sweet rolls, pot roast, fudge. She's spent hours walking the floor with Sophie when her tummy doesn't feel good. She has stocked my fridge, freezer and pantry so that I don't have to venture into the grocery store for awhile. And she's always good for a ridiculous joke. There's just nothing better than having your mommy around when you need her. We will miss her so much. Ugh. Pennsylvania is SO far away!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics. There will be many more to come!

Check out my Slide Show!

Well, here you have it! Pictures of our newest little princess. Sophia Anna Rawlins has arrived and we feel so incredibly blessed!

So last Wednesday I started having contractions. They were regular but not super strong, so I ignored it and went to bed. I didn't sleep that well and when I woke up on Thursday they were still there. Since they still weren't that strong I figured they weren't labor contractions and I'd better find something to do to stay busy and keep my mind off of it. So we packed up the boys and headed to Ikea. I made mom drive because my contractions were still there and starting to hurt a little. While we were on the way I was talking to mom about them and she said, "You're probably in labor and you just don't know it yet." That was around 11 am. By 12:30 we had eaten lunch and were letting the kids play in the toy section of the store when I realized she was right. I was in labor! I was hurting SO BAD but I was so excited. I called Chase and told him that I might need to go into the hospital and to arrange his day so that he could leave if I needed him. We played a little longer but an hour later I was having contractions so close together and so painfully that it was embarrassing to be in public so we left and called Chase to meet us at home. We arrived at the hospital at 3 and were admitted right away. My doc saw me and we agreed that it was true labor and I wasn't going home without a baby. When they checked me I hadn't made any progress so we decided that we could break my water that night if we needed to. My doctor had a part in his church Christmas program that he couldn't get out of, so he said he'd check back in at 10:30, but he said I'd probably be close to delivery by the looks of my contractions. He wished me well and headed out.

At about 7 I asked to be checked again so I could find out how much progress I had made. I hadn't made any. Not even a little! But I tried to be optimistic. By 9 I got sick of the pain and asked for some Nubain which made me super loopy, but allowed me to rest a little between contractions. My doc arrived back at the hospital (dressed as a shepherd, no less...) at 10:30 and checked me again and still no progress. We decided to try breaking the water and did so. That's when we discovered that Sophie had passed meconium, which is a sign of distress in the baby. Dr. Rost said with the baby in distress he didn't feel comfortable pushing pitocin to help my labor, and that technically I shouldn't need it since I was in active labor already. The pitocin would have just increased the stress on baby. But he wasn't trying to rush me into the OR for a c-section since she still looked good. We decided to give it another hour. That was easily the WORST hour of my life. Contractions were super strong, long and close together. I couldn't get more pain medicine because we weren't sure if we would be needing the epidural or a spinal, so I just had to muscle through it. I was panting, moaning and groaning for a solid hour and I was so sure that it HAD to be doing something! Of course, it wasn't. When the doc checked again I was barely a 2. So, we knew what we had to do and prepared for the c-section. I wasn't happy about it, but we knew that we needed to do what was best for Sophia.

Sorry, this is getting long...

Anyway, they gave me the whole host of medicines to get ready for the surgery, which included a medicine called turbutaline which was supposed to slow down the contractions. But I kept having them. I was so happy when they finally got me on the table and put in the spinal block. Dave Digioranno will forever be a saint in my book. Right there with Paul, the anesthesiologist who gave me the epidural with Cam...

So the surgery started right at 1am and Sophie arrived at 1:12. By 1:45 we were all back in the recovery room and Sophie was having an early breakfast. Mom K and Mom R were already there waiting for us when we got to our room and they stayed until about 3:30 to admire their new granddaughter! We tried to sleep until about 7:30 when we just had to get up and look at her some more. That's when Chase surprised me by suggesting that Sophie have a middle name. He'd been the one who really didn't want a middle name (I didn't care one way or the other since I couldn't find one I loved), so I was a little confused. When he said he thought her middle name should be Anna he got all teary-eyed. It was so sweet. He said that he thinks all of our girls, should we be blessed with any more, should have Anna as their middle name. It was a sweet moment for me.

The last 3 days have been long, rough, tiring, exciting, miserable, fantastic, breath-taking and awe-inspiring. The Lord has been good and generous, as always. Sophia has been met with love and many kisses (and pokes) from her brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. And most of all her parents. We love her so much and are so grateful for her! I hope you'll enjoy the pics. There will be many more in the days to come!

Oh, before I end I have to tell a funny story. I know you're all sick of reading, so come back later to finish if you want, but it's a good story. So most of you know that it's really difficult to sleep when you're at the hospital. The whole system is DESIGNED to keep you from sleeping! Nurses, doctors, lab techs, cleaning people, food service staff, lactation consultants, visitors...they're all coming and going 24 hours a day! So by Friday night/Saturday morning I was exhausted. i hadn't slept a wink since Wednesday night and I was worn out and sore from the labor and following c-section. And Sophie was exceptionally angry and cranky that night and cried non-stop for hours on end. So by Saturday morning I still hadn't gotten ANY sleep and I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Every time I would finally get to sleep someone would walk into my room! So when Doc. Rost showed up that morning to check on me and he said, "How are we doing this morning?" He got me, a crying mess saying how I hadn't slept since Wednesday night and the nursery people wouldn't take the baby the night before because she was crying so much and yada yada yada... So of course he said he would make sure that I was going to get sleep so I could recover. He wrote orders for Ambien and informed the nursery staff that they WOULD be taking Sophie, crying or not. Anyway, the best part of the story is Chase. He decided that I needed sleep immediately, so he took Sophie after I fed her and literally sat in the hallway outside of my room for 2.5 hours while I slept. He was so mad that he recorded every single person who tried to come into my room during that time (he's such an accountant). Every time someone would start to come near my door he would cut them off and inform them that whatever they needed they could get it later. I was astonished when he told me that in that short time I was sleeping 9 people had tried to see me! NINE! And that's AFTER Dr. Rost had put the word out that I was to be left alone! Crazy, crazy, crazy...So I owe a big thank you to my sweet and loving husband. Thank you, Chase! You are, as always, the best. I love you! And if you're wondering, yes, that 2.5 hours changed my life. It's amazing how good it feels to get sleep after so long!

OH, and another thing...so I have this sister-in-law, Kathleen. The whole time I was pregnant she kept asking what she could do to help. I kept putting her off and not letting her help me when I had a good idea. Kathleen is a fabulous hair stylist so I decided that she could help me by coming and styling my hair while I was in the hospital. After a c-section it's hard enough just to get in and out of the shower, let alone blow-dry your hair! So she did and I felt so good afterward! Thanks, Kathleen!

Okay, that's it. Sorry for the book...I'm sure the next posts you'll read from me will be VERY short. I don't see any free time in my immediate future...