2010

We started 2010 slowly because I just couldn't move at any other pace. Being 9 months pregnant after such early babies was a new experience I don't care to repeat. (I would love more kids, I just don't want to be 9 months pregnant again). On Christmas day, I started having contractions and they lasted for the next month, until he was born. Unfortunately, they weren't productive contractions. Early in January, we learned he was breech and the doctor suspected the baby might be tangled in the umbilical cord was. When I finally went to the hospital on January 24, they said he was still breech and in distress, so we had to do a very quick C-section. I didn't even get to see the end of the Saints play-off game because they went into overtime. It took them less than 30 minutes to decide to do a C-section and get me into surgery. They even started to cut before I was numb, but we stopped that pretty quickly. Turtle is by far the prettiest baby I have every seen. He really should have been a little girl, but he's perfect in every way. He was tangled in the umbilical cord, it was around is neck numerous times and the early photos show the marks. So, being breech was actually a blessing because if hadn't been, it would have been a traditional delivery and we would have probably lost him. I don't think I would have survived that.
He's a week and half old and doing beautiful. He goes to the doctor next week and we'll see how much he's grown. He eats well, so he should have put on weight. He's so good. He sleeps well and has yet to be really fussy. He went to church last night for the first time and was quite content to sleep through my Bible study. His sister and brothers seem to like him. The older boys aren't too interested because he can't play baseball yet, but Elmo and Baby Bear think he is theirs'. Elmo likes to feed him and Baby Bear gets very concerned if he so much as squeaks. They both really like him.
It does look like he may be our last one. We'll see what is in store for us and not make a decision to quickly, but the C-section has taken a lot out of me. I am not Michelle Duggar contrary to what a lot of people think. My body is getting too old for this. It takes too much work to get back into a bikini and I'm not ready to be that old. We shall see though...you never know what Mother Nature has in store for you.
Work is wonderful. I have never had a job I've loved as much as this one. I only have two classes to teach this semester and one is online. I only have 5 students I actually see. I wouldn't know the other 30 if I walked right by them. I have four research articles out for review and am anxiously awaiting verdicts. One of my main goals this year was to have 2-3 scholarly publications. I need 3 for tenure (I can't go up for tenure for another 3 years), but I'd like to have them out of the way. It would take a huge weight off of my shoulders. In the meantime, I'll just keep working on it. I have 3 other articles I'm working on right now. When I get tired of one topic, I switch to another for awhile:) Now you know why I went into special education, I can directly relate to the kids:)