The Story of Blake

As soon as I found out I was pregnant with our third baby, I knew it was going to be a boy. We still left it as a surprise, but by the end of the pregnancy, we were all calling the baby a "he". I started gaining weight a lot earlier also, so I was pretty sure this was going to be a big baby boy. And boy, was I right on!!

The other thing about this pregnancy was that I was due on Christmas. It was funny the responses I would get from people- they would either say "Oh, that would be such a miracle," or they would say "that would really stink." I agreed with the latter (I really didn't want my baby to have to have such a big holiday as a birthday!). So, I began to convince myself that this baby was coming early. Jack was right on his due date(but they had moved my due date up after measuring his size via ultrasound) and Lindsey was 5 days early. I was ready at the end of November for our little baby to join us. My Christmas shopping was done, Clint had taken the last few weeks of December off, and we were squeezing in as much holiday cheer as we could.

Well, the days kept passing and there was no early baby. I had plenty of Braxton Hicks and even some painful contractions that would start and then end a few hours later, but no baby. I started trying every trick in the book: I walked at least 30 minutes a day, ate pineapple, spent quality time with Clint, used my breast pump, made lots of Christmas plans, had my membranes stripped, and considered taking the dreaded castor oil. I got to the point the week before Christmas that this baby was never coming out and I would be pregnant forever. Clint was off of work and the baby wasn't even here yet! I also got a nasty sore throat that wouldn't go away, so I was not a happy camper and not sleeping well at all. Poor Clint had to deal with a crying wife a lot!

Christmas came and went (It wasn't fun to still be pregnant, but I was relieved that we dodged the Christmas Eve/Christmas birthday).

the 40 week picture

Monday morning (Dec. 27) contractions woke me up around 4 am. I got out of bed and started walking around my house because I didn't want these ones to stop! They were pretty regular and kind of painful, so I woke Clint up. We showered and packed our bags and called my parents around 6. Lindsey was a super fast labor (3 hours from start to finish) so I didn't want to take any chances. We were at the hospital around 7. Contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and I was at a 4-5, so they admitted me. Well, then things slowed down. We walked the halls for awhile and then I walked in our room for 2 hours while we watched a movie. I was a little frustrated things weren't happening any faster! The next time I checked, I was still at a 5. I kept walking. The doctor came in around 12:30 and I was at a 6. I asked him to break my water and I became a 7. I jumped in the jacuzzi tub (something I've always wanted to try during my births) and it felt great. Once I got out, contractions were faster and harder. I thought about getting an epidural, but since my initial goal was to go natural, I decided to go for it. I labored for a bit, changing positions to get the baby's position to change a bit (the face was facing the wrong way). The doctor came in to check again and suggested I give a few practice pushes. The practice pushes turned into the real pushes and before I knew it, I was getting ready to deliver my baby. I pushed for 20 or 30 minutes and wanted to die. I could tell this baby was big. He finally made his way out with the assistance of the resident and the ob pulling while I pushed. He arrived at 2:51 pm. He had gotten stuck a bit on his way out, so he was one beat up baby! And he weighed 9 lbs 8 oz! He was huge! (Jack was 7 lbs 7 oz and Linds was 6 lbs). He had a full head of hair, rolls, long fingernails, wrinkly skin- he was definitely overcooked. I fear how large he would have gotten if they would have waited another week to induce me! We named him Blake Philip Karren. We have always liked the name Blake and he looked like a Blake, so we didn't waste any time in naming him. Philip was my grandpa's middle name.

His face is purple because it got bruised during delivery. He looked like he got in a fight with the birth canal :)

His hair has a bit of red to it, but looks a lot like Jack's did.

I think the girl in the pink coat might be the reason Blake decided to stay in a little longer.

Ready to go home!

A mini Jack with a little extra chub on his face.

3 kids! How did we ever get to 3 kids?!?

Blake is a champion nurser and was a champion sleeper (up until last night :)). He is pretty chill and we are enjoying getting to know him. We're glad he arrived safely, even if it was on his own time line. :)