Jonathan Eston has arrived...

We'd like to announce the arrival of Jonathan Eston to the M&M Family...as expected, he arrived on January 23, 2008 at 8:13 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches long!

Though we anticipated that he'd arrive on the 23rd, we did not expect to go into labor on our own in doing so...but as it turned out I had not been feeling the best earlier that evening and was having a few contractions when we took the kids over to Sharlyn's for the night. When we got back home the contractions were about 6 mintues apart but we'd had so many of them that quit after going to bed that we just headed to bed and didn't think too much about it. At about 2:00 a.m. I woke up after having dreamt I was having contractions that really hurt to realize I wasn't dreaming...after timing them for about 30 minutes I woke Marion up and told him they were coming at about 3 minutes apart and I couldn't get back to sleep because they were getting stronger...so we called the hospital and they said...come on in...

We arrived at the hospital at about 3:15 am and they started hooking me up to ivs and monitors to try to evaluate if we needed to call in the surgical team or if we could wait until the scheduled time...it ended up that we could wait until the scheduled time...though I had quite a few contractions to bear through until then...

There is more to the story but I won't write it all here...all in all it was a great delivery and recovery has been going very well too...Jonathan is such a blessing and Abi and Nate love him dearly (so far they are just so taken by him)...here are a few pictures...I may get more posted later but at least you can meet him for the first time!

Just TWO days Left...

Yep...down to the wire here...and today is already 1/2 over! 

 

Marion and I will be going to a Home Builders Group tonight...it is one of those bible studies put out by Dennis Rainey!  We are pretty excited about it though the timing is a little off...we don't know how many we'll actually make because it is only a seven week study and tonight is the first night...we will miss next week for sure and then we'll just have to see how the baby does and all that.  Anyway, we did a couples devotional written by Dennis Rainey and his wife when we were first married and really enjoyed it, so when a couple in the church offered to do this Home Builders Group we thought it would be fun and also interesting.  And so far, in just the first section we have gained alot!  Even if we can't go to the groups, we are still hoping to finish the study together...so it won't be wasted that's for sure! 

 

We have some friends coming to watch the kids as Marianne is still not back from Omaha yet.  She is planning on coming back tomorrow afternoon...just in time to take the kids for overnight.  Man, she has had a VERY busy couple of weeks...actually, she has had a very busy time since she retired!  They were talking at church yesterday that it is such a good thing she retired because all us kids and grandkids have been keeping her BUSY!  We just hope it isn't too busy! :-0 

 

Marion says I am getting a bit intense now that we are so close...I'll have to watch that...I think it is just because we are finally here and now I am wondering if I am really ready...I mean it is just two days away...am I really ready to have a THIRD baby!  Do I know all that I need to?  Have I overlooked something in being prepared so far in advance?  Ya know...things like that!  I am getting the laundry caught up today and Marion went to the grocery store.  I know I'll only be in the hospital for a few days but it seems like everything will be different when I get out and so I want it all to be in order. 

 

Well, I suppose I best be getting back at it...we had a very early lunch today for some reason and so now we are just passing time till the kids can take naps...the dryer just got done and my birthday cake is ready to be taken out of the oven as well...I thought I'd do a cake for tomorrow since I probably won't be able to actually have cake on my birthday (ya know...that liquid diet thing at first and all)...well, it may be a few days before I get a chance to get back on here and announce the good news but I'll try to have pictures when I do...until then...

Baby Update

Well, we are now 6 days away from our scheduled delivery date and we are officially carrying this baby the longest I have ever carried a baby!

 

Yesterday's appointment went very well...we grew another inch (although I don't know how that is possible) and my blood pressure was still within normal ranges though we are at the high end of 136/70.  The Dr. decided that we didn't have to come back for the pre op appointment that we could just take care of things yesterday or the day of the delivery...so now we just have to wait for the days to pass!

 

And it looks like things are all going to work out just in time...our van which has been in getting fixed from the deer accident we had back at Christmas is done and ready to be picked up...I am SO very thankful for that...now we won't have to have the seats all crammed into the back of the Jeep...we had previously put them all in just in case...I wanted to make sure that they would actually all fit! 

 

AND Karla (Marion's brother Mark's wife) has had her surgery and though she says it is very painful, she is recovering so that is a huge blessing as well...I am sure she wouldn't mind any prayers sent her way though!  She didn't know when they were talking release from the hospital yet because it was still so early after the surgery but I am glad that the Pancreatitis has subsided and that she could have the Gallbladder surgery. 

It has been very nice to have Marion around more as the winter months here are alot slower for him.  He is thinking he likes the winter baby idea more then the summer or fall babies we have had previously because he feels more apart of things and like he can enjoy the arrival a bit more maybe without having to rush off to do harvest or field work or something like that.  We've been talking that now all we need is a spring baby and we'll have every season! 

 

Well that is all that I can think of at the moment...Abi and Nate keep asking when the baby will arrive after Christmas (that is what Marion kept telling them...after Christmas).  Today we were talking to Abi about the baby coming and she is convinced it will be a boy but she said it would be okay if we were wrong and had a girl!  She still claims to have five babies in her tummy that need to come out as well...she will even move her tummy and say the babies are kicking...it is really quite funny!

You WON'T believe this...

Well, I had my 37 1/2 week dr appointment and from previous visits I totally expected to confirm a delivery date with the doctor sometime between the 16th and 18th!

WELL...our officially scheduled date is January 23rd!

Yep...a whole 5 days later then what he told me on my last visit! We had originally picked the date of the 21st but he said there were conflicts and we couldn't do it that day and since his regular nurse was out sick on my last appointment he told me he'd move it up to the 18th and then if that wasn't available he'd find a date that week that would work...Well, I guess that whole weekend is just bad for the hospital...I don't know if the staff is going on vacation or what exactly the trouble is he just said that whole weekend was not good to schedule the section and since I was doing SO well he'd like to make it the 23rd!!

I guess it shouldn't REALLY surprise me that he moved it back because he has told me all along that if he could get us to 38 or 39 weeks that he'd like to get me as far as possible before deliverying...and my blood pressure (which was the cause of both of my previous pregnancies going early) has been really good and not an issue. This last appt it was the highest it had been all along but still within normal ranges and NO WHERE near the drastic highs previously!

So, here we are with 13 days left to go before we are "scheduled" to have this baby...I don't know of too many who think we'll make it that far with all that I have been feeling and with my previous two being 12 and 14 days early...but we will see...Last week I would have been DEVISTATED at the news of going an extra 5 days but this week I am fine with it. Amazing how emotions change...or maybe God is just carrying me through this time. Either way I am fine with it!

Well, just wanted to let you all know the last dr appt went SO well that we have a new date and unless we go naturally that is the "official" date of the dr! We'll try to keep you posted as we know anything further!

Computer Bugs...

Unfortunately we have been infected...I have spent nearly two weeks working on this stupid virus/malware/infection issue and have resolved myself to clean installing the entire computer to rid us of this vicious rootkit that I believe we have...

I have scanned and scanned and scanned and from what I have read I have managed to rid the system of the software type of malware but since we are still having problems it is suspected that it has gotten into our registry and has rooted itself there...most references say that the best way to rest that is to reformat our C drive and reinstall Windows...should be fun!

I spent the day today backing things up and trying to make sure I have all the installation things I need to make sure I don't loose some program I really need or want...the complicated ones are the ones that I have downloaded and not purchased actual cds for...it really makes me think maybe I should start purchasing the cds instead of just downloading!

I think we are also going to go ahead and upgrade to vista since I have to already be doing the reboot and all ... we got a free upgrade with the computer last year but I never bothered to do the backing up and installation...it was hard enough to adjust to several of the program jumps we made from 2001 to 2007 without adding a totally different OS as well!

Anyway...it has been keeping me busy and gives me something to ponder and think about instead of just when this baby is coming! Marion says I've been a bit stressed by it...if I have been, it's been because it goes above me and has really challenged me to research it all out...it is SO frustrating when you think you fixed it and then BAM...there it is again! URGH!

At least I have learned alot about security on my system and I will probably beef things up this next go around...a couple of recommendations I have learned...with Windows XP...it is a good idea to clean install every year anyway because the system will bog itself down...also get Spybot Search and Destroy...you will be amazed at what you find on your computer...it is free...another good free spyware is AVG...both picked up on things that Norton didn't...oh...and you can get a free scan from Microsoft One Care...it isn't installed on the computer unless you purchase it but it also has a registry cleaner that did things the others didn't...yeah...its been educating!

Here's a fun one for you....

Okay, some of you won't be able to get this picture downloaded because it is so big but for those of you who can...here is a comparison of me with Nathan and with this baby...we are about one week apart in date but I don't know that I have grown much in the last week. This baby is DEFINATELY lower then with Nathan which you can really see in the bigger picture but it is still fun to see the closeness and differences.

We go in Wednesday for our 37 1/2 week check up and the dr. said he'd give us a final date for deliver...possibly the 18th! Which would only be 10 1/2 days away!