Branson's Birth Story

I figured I better sit down and type this up one day or else I will forget all the fun details of that day.  So, here goes...

The morning started out pretty normal as any other morning in the Macmanus Family.  McKenna was off to school early, my husband and I took Kambry to VPK and then we headed over to the OB clinic with Aislynn for what I was hoping to be my last appointment until the baby arrived.  You see, I was actually scheduled for an induction on November 17th if the baby had not come by then.  I saw my midwife and asked her to check me and try stripping my membranes to see if that would make anything happen.  In the past it never worked.  With Aislynn she stripped me three times before I actually went into labor with her so I just thought this wouldn't work either but it was worth a try.  Let me say, it was very uncomfortable but it was for a good cause in my mind...to have a baby.  After the appointment we grabbed some breakfast and then Bart left for work and I went home and decided to go ahead and try to get my bag somewhat packed just in case something happened that night.  It was my last day of work and I knew since it was a Tuesday that it would probably be busy so I needed to go in unless for some reason I just couldn't.  I was having a few contractions off and on but nothing different than the previous days.  So, off to work I was.  As I was getting report I was noticing that I would have a decent contraction every now and then and they seemed a little stronger than earlier in the day.  I just blew it off thinking they would go away.  I was pretty busy at work that day, no time to relax as I had nine patients to see.  I ended up walking the halls a lot that evening because I was assigned the two farthest rooms on the floor.  It wasn't on purpose, that's just how it worked out.  As the next couple of hours past I noticed that my contractions weren't getting any better, in fact they started coming closer together.  But since we were busy and I had work to do I don't think it really came to my attention just how close I was contracting and that I would actually have to stop for a minute during some contractions.  By 7pm I was pretty sure that labor was upon me.  As I sat at my computer trying to get all of my charting done I know I had a few tears running down my face.  It was partly the fact that I didn't know if I was really ready to be in labor, partly the contractions were getting much stronger, and partly because I knew how busy work was and I wanted to finish the shift.  Well, that was not going to happen.  I finished up my charting as quickly as I could and then went and laid down on a triage bed.  I got hooked up to the monitor to see what was going on and then I realized just how close to having a baby I could be.  My contractions were coming every 1 1/2- 2 minutes and not slowing down.  I quickly made the decision that I needed to get to the hospital where my midwife was, where all my charts were, and it was closer to my house.  I left work and drove straight to the hospital I was planning all along on delivering my baby at.  It took me about twenty minutes to get there but as I pulled up in the parking lot, a friend and family practice doctor happened to be walking to her car and she grabbed a wheelchair and took me up to labor and delivery.  I went straight to a labor room, they were waiting for me and started the IV and admission papers right away.  I was checked and found to be 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  I was in active labor and was having a baby that night.  My husband met me at the hospital along with my photography partner, Ryan.  It was good timing as they got there just a little after my arrival.  Once I got all settled in it was just a waiting game from there.  I had already planned on having a drug free birth.  Since I did that with Aislynn I figured I could do it again.  I think I was handling the contractions pretty well for the first couple of hours.  Around 10pm they became much more intense and by 10:45pm I remember saying to my husband, "this baby better be here by 11pm because I am done."  I believe within the next 5 minutes I felt the urge to push.  The nurse checked me and I was 9 with an anterior lip.  The doctors came in, the corpsmen came in, I felt as if it was a show I was putting on for them.  You see, I was at a military teaching hospital so everyone and their granny came on in for the birth of my baby.  I started pushing and the head came out pretty easily.  Then I remember everyone telling me to push, push harder.  It seemed like forever and I was pushing as hard as I could and the nursed started adjust my legs and the angle of my body and I think I realized in a brief moment that he was stuck.  I had a mild shoulder dystocia with Aislynn and prior to delivery was concerned that it would happen with this baby too.  Sure enough it did.  But what seemed like forever was probably less than a minute and I gave it my best push and could feel him budge and then slip on out.  Branson Edward Macmanus was born at 10:57pm weighing 8 lbs, 9 ounces and 20 inches long.  I remember being relieved as soon as he was out and then asking....what is it??  They had to look and then gave us the news we were hoping for that it was a baby boy!  We were all so excited to finally have a boy in the family.  This was our last baby so it was the last chance we had.  Of course we would have been just as happy with a girl, they are precious too.  He was the biggest of all of my babies and was also the earliest.  He was born at 38 weeks and 2 days.  Because of the rapid decent and quick delivery he was a little bruised on the face but it resolved quickly.  I went home a couple of days later and have had no problems so far.  We think he is the perfect baby boy and couldn't be happier.
Here are a few pics of him over the past week.

  

It's Official...A Boy!!

I cannot believe that it has really been a whole month since I posted.  My life has taken over and the blog got put on the back burner.  Anyways...on to the news...

On Tuesday night at 10:57pm I gave birth to a beautiful, big baby BOY!  He was 8lbs, 9 ounces and 20 inches long.  I am so glad that he came a little early or else I would have been in for over a 9lb baby.  Our lives are forever changed once again.  I hope to be able to type up his birth story very soon but for now I am just doing a little post.

So, introducing Branson Edward to all of you:

For those of you wondering

Okay, so I didn't do such a good job of posting after I said I would on the last post.

I am bad!

I am going to try and make up for it here.  I got some maternity photos done with the family last week and I think they turned out cute.  Here are some of my favs for those of you that don't see my FB posts.

 

The pregnancy is trucking right along.  I just need to make it to the end of October and then whatever happens after that just happens. I am still working for those of you wondering.  Some weeks are busier than others and some weeks I have more photo shoots than others but I am trying to work it all out this month.  I will probably be taking some time off from everything once the baby arrives.  I am excited that I don't have to worry about working during the holidays with a new little one around.  This baby is going to be born just at the right time for me to be off for Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years!!

The girls are all so excited to meet this new little one.  McKenna expressed to me many times that she really wants to be there when the baby comes out.  I talked to my midwife about it and she is all for it as long as she knows what to expect.  Honestly, I think she would do just fine, the thing I would be worried about is that Kambry would want to be there too.  One thing leads to another and the whole family is in presence.  I haven't fully decided what I am going to do.  When Aislynn was born it was just my husband and I.  It was nice, quiet and quick.  Since I know this is going to be my last I leaning more on the side of letting the girls in if they want to be there.  Has anyone else dealt with a situation like this?

Halloween is quickly approaching and the girls are already ready for it to be here.  I think they just like the dressing up and candy part...who doesn't right?  This year McKenna has decided to be a snow princess, Kambry is a unicorn and Aislynn will either be super girl or a scarecrow witch...really cute outfit Kambry wore a couple years back.  I am not sure if we are going to do as much decorating this year as we have in the past.  We will probably put some stuff out that last week of October and call it good. 

As much as I would love to just keep going with this post, I really need to get back to some editing.  Trying to get it all done before Friday.  I hope everyone I keep up with is doing great!  Sorry again it took so long to re post.  Working on being better, I promise.

-Lindsay

Trying to stay awake

I find it hard these days to keep my eyes open, yet I find it hard to sleep.  With every pregnancy I get restless legs and they drive me crazy.  I have had to resort to taking tylenol PM at night sometimes just so I can fall asleep sooner than an hour and a half.  The downside is that I feel like a trainwreck the next day.  I am so exhausted yet I slept all night.  I guess I have to just deal with one thing or another.
The girls have been keeping me super busy.  I feel like I am constantly running around somewhere to drop someone off or pick someone up.  Since we got back from Texas I finally edited a few photos of me and the girls.  For those of you that see my FB page these will not be new to you.  But, I have some blog buddies that haven't seen them so I am going to post them here as well.
Here's the belly at 30 weeks:

Me and the girls:

The girls alone:

I can't think of much else to talk about right now.  This weekend I am taking pics at a wedding so I will be very busy with that.  My husband has another triathlon that same morning as well.  I am staying very busy with the photography business.  If you care to look you can find us at http://www.sunflarephotography.com/ or our FB page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Orange-Beach-AL/Sun-Flare-Photography/137604436274027?ref=sgm .  I hope to be back soon, but I can't promise anything these days.

Yes, I am alive.

I know, I know...I have been a horrible blogger lately.  I am still alive and things are good.  I have just been really busy with the new photography business and I just had another trip back to Texas to see family.  I am going to try hard to get a decent post up here again in the near future.  But for now..here's what's going on:
Still pregnant..just about 31 weeks and counting.
McKenna is in first grade and doing well.
Kambry started pre kindergarten and loves it.
Aislynn is talking up a storm and giving us attitude all the time.  We are going to have our hands full as she grows up.
I am still working about two days a week and I still love it.
My husband finished his second Olympic distance triathlon and did well.  He cut 15 min off his previous time!
Hope to catch up with all my bloggy friends soon...just trying to keep up with life.
-Lindsay

Need Help..Photo Stuff

I am trying to figure out how to make rounded corners in photoshop but so far no luck.  Does anyone have an easy way to do it.  This is what I did in Picnik, still not exactly what I want because I have to have a white background for it to look right but gotta keep trying.

I Heart Faces "Beach"

Those of you that follow my blog on a regular basis probably thought I fell off the bandwagon with I Heart Faces.  Well, I kind of did for a while.  But I want to jump back on and this seems to be the week to do it!  I live in Pensacola, FL so that gives me ample opportunity to see the beach.  Sometimes I feel as if I don't see it enough being so close and all and other times I just plain get tired of it.  Here's a shot that is dear to my heart because it's of my two girls sitting at the ocean's edge just weeks before the oil hit our beautiful beaches.  Though they are recovering from the oil, it's just not the same.

Happy Birthday Aislynn...You're 2!

My baby turned 2 today. sniff, sniff. I can hardly believe that it's been a full two years since the day she was born. Aislynn is by far my spunkiest babe! She has an attitude all her own and loves to show it off. I just love how much she plays with her sisters and wants to be just like them. We had a small get together with a few friends for her celebration. After some singing and cake we played and opened presents. She had such a good time! Here are some photos from today:

Pregnancy Update Plus More

Well I seem to be trucking right along in this pregnancy.  The first trimester seemed to really drag but before long I will be entering into my third trimester and that is call for celebration.  I am still feeling pretty good for the most part.  Those braxton hicks contractions seem to be more often these days and can really get annoying but other than being soooo big I can't really complain.  I know everyone thinks I am being silly for talking about how big I am all the time but now I have proof I am big!  I had a Dr appt yesterday and I am measuring 4 weeks bigger than I am!  Wowza.  So, the plan is to see if it continues and if I am still measuring big at my next appt we will do an ultrasound for growth to see what's going on with my little one.  I did my glucose screening as well yesterday and that was just yucky.  I usually don't have a problem drinking those orange drinks but I guess yesterday morning was a different story.  I felt nauseous as I was trying to force it down.  You know, they say you have to drink the whole thing in 5 min.  I really hope that it doesn't come back high.  The night before at work I indulged in a few too many pieces of cake because it was a friend's birthday.  I have never had a problem in the past with diabetes but knowing my luck this will be the time. 

Now, to totally change subjects on you, I haven't really talked about my new business much.  I guess I had been doing so much with it and I wanted things to be in place before I threw it out there.  A photog friend of mine and I decided to start a photography business here in Pensacola.  Our website is up and running!  Please check it out and let me know what you think.  Is there something I should change?  Can you navigate it easily?  Do you like the music?  I am really looking for honesty.  That's the only way  I will improve.  Here's the link:  Sun Flare Photography

I hope everyone is ready for school to start if it hasn't already.  I know my girls are looking forward to it as am I.  It's nice to get them involved in something again, and keep them busy.  This weekend is Aislynn's 2nd Birthday.  We will be having a couple of friends over to celebrate the day.  Wow...2 already, I can hardly believe it!

Home from Disney...lots to talk about

It's been about a week since we have been home from Disney World and I have been meaning to sit down and blog about it but kept procrastinating.  So, finally here it is.  We left on a Wednesday fully intending to get to Orlando in the early afternoon, check into the hotel and hit the park till closing.  Well, since we didn't actually map it out and tried using our memory from last year we thought the trip would take about 6 hours.  I don't know how both my husband and I miscalculated (misremembered) the drive time and forgot about the time change but we did.  So, what we thought was originally going to be a six hour drive time turned into eight and then in addition losing the hour from our house to Orlando that we ended up getting there three hours after we planned.  Luckily for us, we were both off the day after we were originally going to come back that we decided to just stay an extra day and enjoy the evening at the hotel.  The girls got to play in the pool and we went to bed early ready for the next day!  The first park we went to was Hollywood Studios.  We didn't go there last year so we knew we wanted to spend one day there this year.  It was fun, the girls wanted to do more rides but there aren't many kid rides there so we saw shows and did as much stuff they wanted to do as possible.  My husband was able to ride the Tower of Terror and the Star Tours ride and he said those were fun too!  The weather was actually pretty nice.  As long as it wasn't raining all day we were happy. 

For the two days after that we went to Magic Kingdom.  When I think of Disney, I think Magic Kingdom.  To me, it's the best park of them all.  I could spend days there and still not get bored.  The girls got their faces painted the first day...it was so cute, but the hot weather made for some sweaty girls and I don't think that the paint was ever able to dry.  By the end of the day you could hardly tell they had anything on. 

The second day at Magic Kingdom started with a visit to Downtown Disney to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.  The girls absolutely loved getting all dolled up!  They put their princess dresses on and were ready to princesses for the day.  When we got to the MK we went straight to meet the princesses before their makeup and hair did some funky.  Needless to say, with all the gel they use, that hair was not going anywhere.  The last day of our trip we spent at Animal Kingdom.  It rained a little off and on this day but we still managed to have a good time.  Everyone but me did the Safari right when we got there.  We watched the Lion King show and that was really good.  Then Dada and McKenna did Expedition Everest and The Kali River Rapids and seemed to enjoy it a lot.  The younger girls and I rode the Triceratops Spin and walked around.  Even though we just got home a week ago we are already to go back.  Disney World...Where Dreams Come True!  We love it there.

My Growing Aislynn

I was trying to play around with the new camera yesterday.  Aislynn was cooperating a little, just enough.  It's been so hot that I haven't really felt like getting out and dragging all three girls with me so I just haven't been taking a lot of photos lately.  I just need to do it anyways I suppose.  Well, here are some indoor, in my bedroom, not the best lighting pics.  She is getting so big.  In just under a month she will be two years old!

The Upcoming Weeks

The summer is coming to an end very quickly and we are trying to fit in a couple more adventures before the girls go back to school and there is more of a routine.  In the very near future we are headed back to Disney World again.  The girls are so very excited as they seem to remember a lot from last years visit.  We are mainly going to do a lot of the evening and night activities this year and let the girls play in the pool at the hotel during the hot morning, lunch and, early afternoon hours.  I won't be able to do the "big rides" this year but it all works out because it's just us and the girls going this year.  We are going to take our time and enjoy the day.  No rushing to do this or that...just a nice easy going vacation.  We are spoiling the girls this year by taking them to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique so they can get their hair and make up done like a princess.  I know they will just love it!  I had to go out and buy another card for my camera so I can capture all the wonderful memories of the trip.  We are just hoping that the weather is better than when we went last year and it poured rain on us every day.  I can guarantee you though, we will be prepared for the rain if it shall come.  With ponchos and rain covers in tow....we will make the most of what we can.
Then the next month we are headed back to the great state of Texas to do one last visit before the baby comes.  I get to go cheer my hubby on again for another triathlon and eat some wonderful Texas style food.  We really can't wait to do both of these vacations.  In between all this madness I am still working two to three days a week, working on photography stuff, taking care of three kiddos(four at times in if you count the big kid in the house), and trying my best to keep things clean.  Sometimes the cleaning gets put on the back burner. 
Hope everyone has a great weekend and I will update as I can.

Finally...the huge belly

Well I got my friend to take a couple of pics of my today so I could show everyone this huge belly I have.  I know it's big for just 23 weeks but it's mine and I wear it proud.  I am hoping to just have about 16 more weeks to go.  That would put me at around 39 weeks which is good enough for me.  Knowing my luck, and my past, though, this baby will probably wait until 40 weeks +.  That's just my luck.  I am surviving the heat this summer.  It's actually going by rather quickly.  Anyways, on to the photos...

My New Body

I know I made a reference the other day to do with a body.  I got a new body...a new camera body that is.  I know those of you that aren't as into photography as I am might find this a bit of a let down...but to me, it's a step in the right direction.  I am so excited to actually start using it now.  It arrived a few days ago and I have been pretty busy with work and the home life that I haven't really done much with it yet.  As soon as I start using it, I promise to post some pics.  So, here he is:

I am calling it a "him" because of the name: 5D MarkII
YEAH!!!

My Girls.

In case you forgot what they looked like.  I know I haven't been good about posting pictures of them...so here they are!  I also have a new announcement to make coming soon....has to do with a body.  Hmmm, did you guess it yet? 

Mid July Already?

Wow, I just don't know where this summer is going?  I am glad, however, that it is going by fast for the sake of hotness and preggoness.  I am still feeling pretty good for the most part.  The baby is really starting to get very strong in there already and I don't know if I am quite ready for the constant punches all day long.  I am still sleeping okay, as long as I remember to take my nexium.  That heartburn thing can be a killer sometimes.  I go in for another check up on Friday.  I am sure I will up by more pounds than I wish to be though.  Last night I had another double vision episode.  This has really only happened fours times in my life that I can remember.  Three of those times occurring while pregnant.  I don't know what it means but it is kinda scary at the time.  I can't walk straight or really do anything.  I just have to sit there and wait it out.  It resolved in about 20-25 minutes this time, a little longer than my last one.  If this keeps up I am definitely going to have to see someone about it.  I know, I still don't have a belly pic.  I guess this time around I am actually avoiding the camera.  I am not a cute preggo anymore, I have turned to a blimp and so that's why it's taking so long to get me to take a photo.  I do promise I am still working on it.

But as far as pictures go I said I was going to post some from my beach session a couple weeks ago.  Here are a few of my favs...can't wait to take more!