All of the kids

Quinn 6 days old

Quinn 5 days old

The first week after Quinn was born has been blissful and challenging as I have come to expect after a new baby is born. We love him!

Quinn one day old

The children were all asleep when Quinn was born. In the morning, they all came in to meet him.

Happy Birthday Quinn

Quinn Thomas Smurthwaite was born March 26, 2010 at 10:50 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. I went into labor at about 1:30 pm. I called Dean at 2:30 pm to tell him that I was in labor and he should come home. He asked me if he should call the midwives and I said yes only because the contractions were 2 minutes apart and lasted 45 seconds. But, I soon discovered that my labor would slow down. In the beginning, especially after the midwives got to our house, I felt really jittery, anxious, and tired all at the same time. I wanted to lay down and take a nap except when I sat down or rested, my labor would slow. It was already 4 pm and I wanted to get some sleep that night, so I would stand up, walk, and do whatever it took to keep the labor going. We have a labor tub called an aquadoula that we fill up with water and have in our room. I have had a waterbirth with all of my babies except my twins who were born in a hospital. Even with the twins I labored in a tub. So I have a special attachment to water while I am in labor.

I got in the tub while I was 5 centimeters dilated. The water was so warm and relaxing. I soon realized that my labor was slowing down. My contractions were getting farther and farther apart. The labor tub was right by my window. I looked outside and saw that it was gently snowing outside. I was so glad. For some reason I wanted to labor have my baby during a snowstorm. I knew that I had a long way to go. I started to feel scared and tired in anticipation for what was coming. The midwives were outside the door and everyone was just waiting for me to have this baby. I started to wonder how I could convince everyone to take me to the hospital where I could get an epidural and sleep. I knew that labor is intense and takes a lot of focus and energy. I was feeling so tired. The past few months had really taken their toll on me with sickness in the house, the loss of income, and all of the adjustments that we had to make.

I had my hypnobirthing CD's on in the background. They spoke all kinds of affirmations about how I can choose to do this. It was at that time that I really did know that I could do it and I chose to. The CD's and the hypnobreathing techniques really were so great. The labor really wasn't that bad. It was managable. In looking back, I felt like I could do it again.

I remember at one point Dean fell asleep. It was really close to when Quinn was born. I was in the water in a squat and focusing. I wondered where Dean was and I looked back on the bed and he was sleeping. Maren, my midwife, said that it was really wise for him to get a few minutes of sleep. I know that it was wise, but I wanted Dean right there with me during every single surge. I soon called him over and told him I wanted him to join me in the water. My midwives were so supportive. I felt very safe. Quinn was born in the water soon after Dean got in the water. Dean delivered him and brought him out of the water up to my chest. What a beautiful baby boy! Oh, I just love this sweet little baby. I immediately said, "Get my mom!" She came in the door. She had been waiting outside. I was so glad that she had been there for this wonderful moment. She had taken care of the other children and put them to bed that night. I am so thankful for my wonderful mother!

Soon we were nestled in bed. Quinn was nursing and I was resting feeling complete bliss. What a wonderful night!

Zoo Fun

The day after my due date, which was Sydney's birthday, we decided that instead of watching the water boil (me go into labor), we went to the zoo to have fun.

More birthday pictures

Sydney turns 5

Our sweet little Sydney turned 5 years old on March 22!

9 month Belly

Dean wanted to capture the belly just a few weeks before Quinn was born.

March 2010: moments on the couch

February 2010 Ethan's picture, glasses, and baking

When the children make art at school and it is too large to keep in a binder, we will take a picture of it. We remember it that way. We started to bake a lot of muffins and cookies in February. The kids needed snacks at school and we could not afford to buy any. Baking is a very inexpensive way to achieve that and it is a lot of fun for all of us to work in the kitchen making yummy treats. Dean is a great baker. He can make a really great muffin.

February 2010

There were no pictures taken in January 2010. The cloud of despair was lifting somewhat. Dean was getting more legal work and working from home. We thought that this was going to be the new normal. I started to adjust to Dean being home and it seemed like things were going to be ok.

I am 8 months pregnant in these pictures. We took these pictures after meeting with a Realtor. We were weighing our options with regard to moving to a rental home or sticking it out with our mortgage. In the end, staying put for now seems like the wise choice.

January 2010

January of this year was one of the most difficult months I have ever had. The trials that we encountered was extremely humbling. Dean was laid off the beginning of December 2009, but we had been without a paycheck since the beginning of November. Christmas was also hard, but we were hopeful that a job would soon come. Surely after Christmas break when everyone returned to work, the interviews would come pouring in. Two weeks into January we discovered that they did not. We started to get that panicky, wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat feeling. Questions about how we were going to feed our family came up. We wondered how we'd pay the mortgage. Money isn't everything. But when you don't have enough money for basic needs like shelter and food, it can mean a lot. It is security. We had lost a sense of security. Here I am 7 months pregnant and we don't know what the future holds for us or even if we'll be afloat. We had to have hope. We prayed so very hard. It seemed like I was praying every minute of every day. It was exhausting. We tried really hard to shelter the children from the raw reality of our situation. They knew what was happening but we also told them everything was going to be ok. The question was did we believe it?

Playing catch up

Quinn is now 6 weeks old and life is in fast motion. I spoke with a friend last night about using a blog as a journal and then printing it out every year. I think that I'd like to do that since scrapbooking is unimaginably complicated and expensive and while journaling at night is doable, adding in pictures every now and then sounds a lot more fun.

So how to catch up? Good question. I think that for the most part I will start where we are right now although I would like to add pictures in a semi-chronological way. I am going to post a lot of pictures of my sweet Quinn and I'd like to talk a lot about the pregnancy and events as well as his birth story.