The Muench Bunch

My lack of sleep has really caught up with me. I feel so helpless, sitting in the chair feeding Lukie all the time. It is so hard feeding him. I have to wake him up to eat and work to keep him awake. He sleeps 20+ hours. Mark has been awesome, getting the kids to bed and up for school in the morning. He has been so helpful, but he has too.

Jayden and Jacob are pretty good about entertaining each other whether it's playing Barbies, playing tractors, or watching TV.

Today was Jayden’s very first tumbling meet. She went with the Whalen’s and my mom showed up to watch her. I felt bad not being able to be there, but I guess she did really good and got 4th place.

I couldn't wait to get behind my camera and take some photos of our newest addition.

Today we prepared to take Luke home. My brother and Carina came to visit and friend Debbie Dedecker. After our visitors and after some lunch, we loaded up and headed out. Luke was all bundled like a teddy bear in his little bear snowsuit. He looked so big in his car seat. A lot bigger than Jayden or Jacob. We couldn't’t wait to get home. Our family was now complete and we couldn't’t wait to begin our lives with 3 children. Our first night at home, Karen & Orrie fixed supper at our house. The kids were excited and Jake was bouncing all over the place. The kids had helped put together the play pen and had it ready in the living room. Anderlik’s also stopped by to take turns holding the baby.

After a night with Luke in the nursery, by 6AM, I knew he would be ready for another feeding.I was missing him, so I had my nurse bring him in. I was happy to see him and hold him and I was ready to feed him. Once he was nursing, the nurse had to take him back for the pediatricians to do the morning checks. I was not happy about that one bit. Finally they brought him back and we had him in our room all day. Luke is a sleepy eater and I had to work to keep him awake to eat. Mark and I enjoyed our time together with Luke. For the second night, I fed Luke at 9 and had them take him to the nursery for the midnight and 3AM feedings, so I could sleep. During the night the gave him a lavage to clean out his stomach to help him eat better. I knew this was my last chance to get a night of sleep before going home. This time they gave me a sleeping pill. I had to force Mark to shut off his movie so I could sleep.

In the evening, the nurse came to give Luke his first bath. Jayden got to help wearing scrubs and all. She thought that was pretty neat, but Luke screamed through the whole thing. Jake didn’t know what to think with Luke crying so hard. He would look at me with this sympathetic face. He noticed during his bath that Luke was a boy and announced that to us all. After everyone left and Luke was fed, Mark and I tried to get some sleep. I wanted to go to sleep by 8PM as I was so tired. I had the nurses feed Luke a bottle in the nursery during the night so I could get some sleep. At midnight I still had not slept at all and I was trying so hard. I was having a lot of pain and was exhausted. The nurse gave me a strong pain killer that helped me sleep too. I slept until 5AM and was ready to see my baby.

Jan 23 2008 Today was the day I had a scheduled induction. We set our alarms at home for 4:30Am as we had to be to the hospital by 6:30 AM. Both Jayden & Jacob heard a loud noise in the night at 2:30 AM and woke us up. I never went back to sleep. We arrived to the hospital on a dark and cold winter morning,temp in the teens. At the hospital, we were informed that all 40 rooms were full and we may not even get in today. We waited for 2 hours to get into a birthing room. I had my pillow and blanket and a nice nurse got me all settled in. By 8:30 I was started on a pitocin IV. That gets the contractions rolling pretty quickly. I have had Dr. Mansager for all three pregnancies, but once delivery comes around, I always end up with one of his partners. Dr. Hwang checked me and broke my water. I was already at 4cm. I requested an epidural and at 9:30 I had one. Within seconds, I was nauseous and felt awful. Before the anesthesiologist did the epidural and during the process I was having i

A chilling 15 degrees out. My parents came down to stay with the kids so we could leave home by 5 AM the next morning for my induction. At 2:30Am the kids heard a noise and woke us up. I never went back to sleep and was nervous and anxious. I wanted so badly to get a good nights sleep. I knew that the next 4 months of my life I would be lacking sleep and the next 24 hours would be exhausting. Ugh! The next 24 hours our family will grow and I was excited and nervous.

Dr. Mansanger and I discussed the possibility of induction and scheduled the date of Jan 23. The decision was made because, the baby was getting big, and we live an hour away. I was happy with the choice. I just can’t wait to meet my new baby boy.

This month is a month of preparing and waiting for the arrival of our new baby. The kids have been keeping themselves busy making crafts and playing. After New Year's we made it a tradition to build a gingerbread house. Call me cheap, you can buy the kits super cheap after Christmas. This year Daddy got in on the building of the house. Wow, he is Mr. perfection. It was hard for him to let the kids just gloop and glob things on. He had a method and wanted them to do it neat and orderly. I just sat back and watched and tried not to laugh.

I made it to 37 weeks, yeah! At my doc appt. I had an ultrasound to check the babies size. He is measuring 7lb.s 14 oz 90% for size and I am 2cm effaced. Now I am ready and I hope it will be soon. I have gotten so big!