? #2---The Name

This was the question for months now. I actually dreaded when someone would ask me. For some reason we have a hard time finding girl names we like. I've posted before on this matter. Again our criteria was a biblical or Hebrew name with a good meaning. Josh and I figured that the Lord would point us to the right name for this child. We went through thousands of names and couldn't agree on one. I really liked the name Meira which means Light but Josh didn't like this one at all. I still made sure though that this name was always on the list of possibilities in hope that Josh would give in. When we were getting ready to go to the Dr.'s office to see if I actually was in labor four weeks early Josh ran into the foyer and said,"We don't have a name or even a narrowed down list." I told him maybe when we saw her something would come to us. Well it didn't. The next day Josh printed off every Hebrew name he could find and then forced me to go through all 2300 of them. We then had it narrowed down to about ten. The problem was that even though Josh picked out some of these names he said he didn't feel led to call her any of them. After all of our guests had left for the evening I told Josh we were not going to sleep until we had a name. Well Josh must have been tired since after about ten minutes he said, "I don't like any name, just name her Meira." Now if you know my husband he never backs down in a negotiation. This is why we still haven't replaced the flooring in our hallway and stairs and that has been in negotiation stage for about a year now.

Every time I fed the baby that night I would look at her and not feel at peace with the name. She didn't look like a Meira. But I had no other names in mind and we had to decide. The next morning I was in the shower and the name Hannah came to me. I started to think of who Hannah was in the Bible and how she came to that point where she knew she had to give everything completely to the Lord. I started to think of the last year and a half of my life. From having a cyst removed to then having to go back in a month and having an ovary removed due to possible pre-cancerous cells. To getting pregnant right away to then losing that baby in miscarriage. To watching a close friend of mine dealing with losing a friend to cancer and wondering if maybe I should just be content with the two healthy children I have and take every precaution necessary to avoid dealing with that awful disease. This last year had many ups and downs but I still knew He would always be faithful. Hannah was the name!!!
I jumped out of the shower and asked Josh if he liked this better. He said he liked it better than Meira but after the decision was made I think we both felt like this was the name for our baby girl.

The middle name Ilana is actually my Dr.s first name. This was a name I had been thinking about for a middle name and actually had a dream before I even knew I was pregnant that we had a girl and her middle name was Ilana. Hannah really wanted Dr. Kirsch to deliver her. As soon as she heard Dr. Kirsch was going on vacation she decided she wanted out. I'm also very grateful that she is one of the only Dr.s who will still do a VBAC. She has saved me from 2 very unnecessary surgeries so far. The picture below is of Dr. Kirsch holding Hannah.

Big ? #1----The Birth

The big two questions from everyone has been about the birth and how we FINALLY decided on a name. So here is the answer to #1: (This is a long post just to warn you. I want to make sure I write this down for my personal journal before I forget anything.:)

I had a Dr.'s appt at 10am and I found out I was 4cm. My Dr. was leaving for vacation and wouldn't be back until April 7. I started to panic a little. As many know I absolutely love my Dr. but the one who would back up for her, well not so much. I was sent home with the instructions that she would see me when she got back and that I will still be pregnant. On the way home I was praying that I wouldn't have the baby before April 7. I decided the first thing I was going to do is send out an email to the girls I have prayer night with and have the prayers start. Prayer night was actually scheduled for Wednesday and then I would be seeing them again on Friday so the plan was to pray this one through.:) As I felt all panic go away I realized that the normal contractions I had been having were a little stronger. I dismissed the thought that I could be going into labor. Three minutes later I had another one. Hmmm....am I just freaking out or could I really be going into labor. I got home and told Josh I wanted him to hang around for another half an hour. I think he was a little skeptical since he knew I was panicked about my Dr. going out of town. He was a very nice husband and stayed. After twenty minutes I realized I was having contractions every 2-3 min. I called the office back and was told to come in at 1pm if things continued. I then started calling people to make arrangements for the kids. To be honest I still wasn't convinced I would be having a baby that day and figured I would be sent back home. I finally got a hold of Wendy and she said she could take the kids. I started to get that same panicky, shaky feeling I did with Liah as I was packing bags for the kids and myself just in case. Blake started to notice I was panicking a little and started getting a little scared which then caused Liah to as well. I told Josh to take the kids. I knew Josh's mom was on her way and I wouldn't be alone for long. I still was not in pain really just a little panicky. Once Josh got back we headed to the office. We arrived at 1:30pm. I was checked again. I was 7 cm! I had a quick ultrasound to double check that the head was down and then was taken over to the hospital. I had a great nurse who started the whole admission process. I had to have antibiotics since my group B strep test was done at that mornings appt. and the results weren't back. I was asking her questions about this and was told it was 2 doses at 4 hours apart. I asked her if she knew I was at 7cm already. She looked at me and said, "You're at 7. You don't act like you're in pain at all. We have to start moving." The pic below was taken about this time.

For the next couple of hours contractions still continued a little stronger but nothing that bad. I remember at one point I said I wish things would just start hurting so I could get things done. Josh's mom and my nurse started laughing. They both agreed that normally at 7 cm you shouldn't be asking for more pain. My Dr. came at 5pm and could finally break my water since the baby had dropped. The water was broken and things started. It took about 45 minutes for the pain to really get unbearable. At about 6 I had the nurse check me. I was at 9cm(I think. Everything past this point is a little blurry.) The next contraction I had this unbearable pain in my back and continued to have it. I dismissed it as just back labor. At 6:25 I asked to be checked again and I was 10cm and she called my Dr. Now the time from being checked and when my Dr walked through the door seemed like eternity but in reality it was 10 minutes at the most probably less. I tried to start pushing but my back was killing me in the position I was in. My legs were also now starting to kill me. I remember freaking out at this point because I felt like I didn't want to be in this position but I also knew that there was no way I could move. I remember saying "I can't do this." but I felt like no one was understanding that it was about my back and the position I was in and not about actually pushing the baby out. I remember looking at Josh and he had that helpless look on his face and then I looked over at Josh's mom and she had the same look. I finally remember just thinking that I couldn't communicate what was going on and I was just going to make things happen quick. In about 2-3 pushes Hannah was out. Even after the baby was out my back was killing me. We think maybe I pulled a muscle and I'm pretty sure it happened that first time I had the nurse check me. So I was really only in pain for about an hour and feel so blessed to have fast labors. When I hear some of my friends talk about their long labors I can't imagine. I actually did get that second dose of antibiotics. The last drop went in not more than 5 minutes before she was born.

Meeting their New Sister

Blake and Liah were so excited to come and meet their new sister. So after a shopping spree at Babies R Us to pick up the things we still needed they headed over. They were both so ecstatic.

You might notice that both kids look a little tired. Because things happened so early the kids were really shuffled around the day before. Within a 6 hour period I think they were at 3 different houses and 1 1/2 hours of that they were at Adventure Club. I am so grateful to the great friends we have and everything worked out perfect. After their visit they went with Grandma and Grandpa and stayed there until we came home.

Hannah Ilana Ostrom is here!!! 4 weeks early!!!

She was born on Thursday night at 6:45pm weighing in at 6 lbs. 15oz..

So many things to celebrate

I feel like all we've done is celebrate this weekend. It started out celebrating Evie's first birthday at Josh's parents house. We were so glad Tim, Melodie, and Evie could make it down even if it was not for long and at last minute. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and missed some great pictures of the cousins playing together.



This is also Easter weekend. Well sort of. This is one of those years that the weekend we celebrate Easter and when we should celebrate it don't match up. So next month we will celebrate Passover along with the other feasts at the right time. Blake's explanation of why we are celebrating twice this year is great. To think that a seven year old gets how the feasts and the Crucifixion and Resurrection go together while most adult Christians can't. Insights of a child are great.

On Saturday we went to the Egg Hunt at church and the kids had a great time. Again I forgot the camera. I realized this on the way and Josh told the kids not to do anything memorable that should go into a scrapbook. Saturday night we had our Shabbat meal. Blake requested lamb and even though we had just had it I was happy to oblige.

On Sunday we went to church and then to Josh's parents for lunch. We then went home and did a little something to celebrate Purim. Since I wasn't feeling all that great I scrapped most of what I had planned and we watched the VeggieTales Esther story while eating popcorn. The kids had their noisemakers and even though it wasn't exactly what was planned it was still fun. Next year I better not be 8 months pregnant and will feel better.






After the movie we colored a couple of Easter eggs to finish the night off.

The Messiah has Risen!!!

These are some pictures that were taken on Sunday morning before we went to go celebrate.
Yes that is snow in the background. We always try to get outdoor pictures but it was so cold so we improvised and took some pics in front of the sliding glass doors in the family room. I must say that the snow and the spring clothing does not really go together.


I realized I haven't posted any pregnancy photos. Here I am at 35 weeks.

6 weeks to go

It was a pretty routine Dr's appt today. We talked about being induced since I'm a VBAC and a lot of my concerns about this were put at ease. We also think the baby is head down which was also great news. That was pretty much it.

We still have no name and to be honest am wondering if the baby will have a name leaving the hospital. Baby Girl Ostrom sounds pretty good right. I'm nesting like crazy and will be posting pics soon of my organizing obsessions. I'm definitely tired. I'm noticing every Saturday I get a little slower at getting Shabat dinner ready and the house cleaned. I'm anxious to have this baby so I can feel normal again.

Last big girls night out---just the two of us

Since we think this baby is a girl I really wanted to do something really special for Liah's last girl night before the baby. "My Little Pony Live" came to the Morris at the perfect time. I kept this a huge surprise and she didn't find out where we were going until we were walking up to the Morris and she saw the sign. Thankfully Blake kept the secret as well. All day it was killing him to not tell Liah because he knew she would love it.
Here is Liah waiting for the show to start holding her flag that she picked out as a souvenir. She was so good and had a great time. She sat on my lap the whole time completely amazed. The whole story line was based around the biggest tea party ever which one of Liah's favorite things to do is have a tea party.
This was Liahs favorite pony.

Josh and Blake had a great Boys Night In playing video games. On the way back from the show we stopped by Dairy Queen to get a treat for everyone and Liah got to tell the boys all about the show while eating her hot fudge sundae. It was a great memory.

Picasso in the making.....and other projects

Today we learned about Picasso. Our project was to make a "Picasso-like" face. We looked at quite a few of Picasso's originals and then some examples of ones that kids had recreated. Blake was all set to go and actually did the whole project in one sitting where I had planned on finishing this up next week. Art is definitely something that Blake loves and it puts him in such a good mood. Blake used oil pastels for the first time and he really enjoyed them. I had been warned that these could get very messy but was surprised at the mess free table. Yeah for Crayola!
Here is Blake's finished masterpiece.

Here are two history projects that we've done over the last couple of weeks. Last week we finished up our study of Knights and Castles. The left pic is our family Coat of Arms that Blake designed. He said he put the cross in the middle so people would know that our family follows the Lord. This week we just started studying the Vikings. The right pic is a drawing of a longship. Blake is definitely developing a love for History and just a love for wanting to find things out and have his questions answered.

8 weeks......but who's counting......

I AM!!! I went to the Dr. on Monday(March 3) and things are looking good. I was actually very nervous about this appt because for the last couple of days I had been having pretty strong contractions. The Dr checked and said that things were starting to happen with my cervix but nothing considered preterm with a third baby. I'm feeling really good except for the feeling as though my stomach can not possibly stretch anymore. This morning Josh made a comment how it seems as though I've been pregnant a lot longer this time.:) It must be because I've been pregnant ALL winter which makes it seem like things are taking forever.
We still have no name. I'm nesting like crazy. Strawberries have been the choice food this month and I'm dying for it to warm up enough that Josh can grill out. It started off with a craving for grilled out steak but now I would settle for a turkey hot dog as long as it's grilled. I definitely know what we'll be having for dinner the whole month of April.

Our Shabbat Visitors

As I was just finishing preparing our Shabbat meal last night I looked out the kitchen window and saw 8 deer eating our sad looking bushes in the backyard. Did I mention that our bushes are sad looking because they have been known to be a favorite snack for the deer last winter? The kids were so excited. This was the first time we've seen deer in our backyard this whole winter. You can't see but in this pic there is actually a deer that is only about 3 feet from the window looking back at the kids. You can tell that people have been feeding them since they don't seem to be scared of people at all. Some of our neighbors think the deer are a bother but we love them and look forward to their visits. This morning we also saw a wild turkey behind the house. We definitely live in "Natureville" which I love as long as the animals stay outside of our house.