Backtrack: Preparing for Marcus

Jeez, you'd think that 3 kids took up all my spare time or something eh?  LOL  It's been nagging at me that I haven't posted all the details of our last 7 weeks on here, especially since I have about a million adorable pics of this sweet little man and his many loving fans.  For the lack of having a minute I would apologize but it's honestly just too much fun to love on my kiddos in my spare time than to glue myself to this computer so I suppose the apology will have to fall by the wayside.  :O)

BUT, those sweet children are sleeping and Clint is playing his latest XBOX craze game so I have finally found a moment to at least START this post.  I guess I need to backtrack to November to really record all the details here.  On Friday the 4th, we had a baby shower that Rebecca was able to come to.  I was SO nervous!  She wanted to come and I was totally excited to share it with her, but I was worried that seeing all the baby things would be hard for her.  I prayed profusely to know how to enjoy the shower and share the excitement of it in a way that would be the easiest and happiest for Rebecca.  I think those prayers were answered that night mainly because of my inspired sister, Yvette.  She had the brilliant idea to make a "Pamper Becca Basket" for everyone to contribute to at the shower.  I was SO touched by all the wonderful gifts our family and friends brought for her.  It was so amazing to be able to have a tangible way to show a fragment of our love, support and appreciation for her and I am SO thankful that she was able to take home a piece of that love.  I think my favorite moment from that night {aside from when we gave her the basket} was when Rebecca leaned over and told me, "Tiffany, I'm so sorry."  "For what?"  "I won't be able to give you your shower gift for about 6 weeks!"  Oh Becca, you are too funny girly!  She has the cutest sense of humor, I absolutely LOVE and ADORE this girl!!!  :O)

Things were going great for a few weeks after that, then on Thursday, November 17th, Rebecca's mom called me with the scariest news: Becca was bleeding and having extreme stomach pain.  The poor girl started having contractions and was going into preterm labor.  All day we were on pins and needles waiting for the latest update, wondering if she was ok and wishing we were closer.  I have never done laundry and packed bags for 5 people SO fast!  LOL  I had already begun getting things ready for the baby, but I wasn't completely prepared yet so that day found me freaking out on a number of levels - bringing in everything from the shed, washing and sanitizing it all, checking the car seat, calling family to make sure we had a place to stay just in case, letting Clint's work know he might be gone for a while, figuring out what to do with the girls if we went down that day, double checking with the insurance company, letting our doctor know what was going on, cleaning the house so it wouldn't sit dirty and be gross if we were bringing home a baby early, getting as much done with photography so I wouldn't get too far behind, letting clients know I might have to re-schedule, worrying about the baby being born premature {my sister Tawnya's little boy Jackson was born 5 weeks early and aside from some jaundice was perfectly fine and went home 5 days later.  On the other hand, my friend Jennie's little Eliana was also born 5 weeks early and couldn't come home for a few weeks, then was on oxygen for a few months.}... And while I'm running around crazy, poor Becca is doing her own freaking out because the doctors couldn't figure out what was causing the bleeding, why she was in so much pain or why she was contracting 5 1/2 weeks early.  When they checked her, she was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced.  She spent most of the day in the OB, but since they couldn't find what was wrong and the baby was doing fine, they gave her TWO shots to stop the contractions and sent her over to the ER for a few hours for some tests over there.  The bleeding stopped, and after sitting on a hard chair for a few hours {as opposed to the soft bed in the OB} she was released and sent home to take it easy.  The contractions continued for at least a week pretty consistently, but eventually died down for the most part.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving {the 26th} we had a baby shower here and Becca was again able to come.  We were pretty worried that her doctor would nix the 3 hour drive for her, but luckily she was a trooper and made the trip.  I was SO glad she and her family came!  We were again spoiled by family and friends and instead of having a basket for Becca we all chipped in and bought her a BEAUTIFUL custom quilt that was absolutely perfect for her.  After the shower we headed to the ever yummy local Chinese restaurant for their lunch buffet.  It was awesome to get to spend relaxed time with them and let our hair down.  It was too funny, Becca's step-Dad was antsy to get home to watch a football game from their home state {comparable to AZ's ASU vs UofA}, so after stuffing ourselves we invited them to chill at Clint's parents and watch the game.  It was fun to watch the boys perk up when their team showed up on the TV {and it gave us a chance to prolong our time with Becca}.  :O)  I gave her a back rub {which I loved since it made me feel useful instead of just a bystander ya know?} and exchanged story after story after story.  It was fabulous!  We didn't have that chance to get to know Kiki very well before Maelee was born so this was a nice change {even though waiting 3 months was a sanity tester vs waiting a week LOL}.

Next came the waiting game that seriously drives you nuts.  If you've had a kid, you know what I'm talking about!  Everyday of that last month is so full of anticipation, "Will he come today?"  "It's GOTTA be today!"  "Ok, how about TODAY?" and so when you go to bed every night, you hope you have everything ready for just in case he decides to pull a fast one and come when the stars are out.  I was glad for the extra time since I had waaaaay too much on my plate between finishing up photography, getting ready for Christmas, putting the finishing touches on Marcus' room, doing all the last minute things to be totally ready for his grand entrance, making sure the girls had enough attention to make up for the lack thereof after the baby came, getting everything in order for the week we would be gone with baby stuff and Christmas...  I honestly didn't get to sleep before 11 {usually later} for pretty much that entire month.  Not so smart there, chica!!

In December I decided it was time to buckle down and choose a name for this boy. I had made lists of names that I liked and Clint had vetoed pretty much everything.  I had looked online, in books, in movies, around town, racked my brain and finally turned to my ancestors for inspiration.  Know what I found?  Between my mom and dad's lines, I have 8 ancestors with the first name of "Speedy".  Yeah, like as in "Speedy Gonzales"!!!  I died laughing when I read my final tally on that one; Clint wasn't amused when I suggested it must be fate.  LOL  Rebecca and her mom had mentioned at our shower here that they thought we should name him an "M" name since we have Madi and Maelee, so when I looked specifically for an "M" name, I kept coming back to Marcus.  Then I looked back at all the lists Clint had vetoed and realized that on EVERY SINGLE LIST I had made, Marcus was on it.  I seriously hadn't noticed that I had come back to it so often.  When I told Clint about Becca and mom's "M" name suggestion the first name he said was... you guessed it!  Marcus!!  So, at that point I did my final test {and you may think I'm TOTALLY nuts, but this is me being honest}, I imagined how it would sound being announced during a football game!  Ha ha, I know, right?  Totally silly, but it sounded good in my head, met all our criteria for a name {not feminine, not too macho, not too boyish, not too manly, not too old fashioned, not too out there and not too common} and sounded good with our choice of a middle name {Tyrel is after Clint's younger brother Jason Tyrel who was struck and killed by lightening 5 1/2 years ago}.  I made the executive decision and breathed a sigh of relief.  :O)

Poor Rebecca had no change in dilation from mid-November until they induced her, even though she tried to jump start the contractions on her own {her mom took her to the mall and had her walk around for a few hours... nada}.  She wasn't actually due until December 26th, but her doctor {thankfully} was ok with inducing her a week early so that we would for sure have everything finished by Christmas.  So, on December 17th, Clint and I had our last hoo-rah before baby: we headed out to our friend's ranch and had the Christmas party to top all Christmas parties.  It was a BLAST!!  We started with an elegant meal, followed by minute-to-win-it style games and ended the night with a fun twist on your classic White Elephant.  Instead of your usual 1 big present per person, everyone brought 3 smaller ones.  The same rules applied: each present could be stolen twice, and if your present was kiped you got to yank someone else's.  There were times when people had all 3 of their gifts taken, and then had to wait forever to be able to steal or open new ones because so many people ahead of them had had theirs stolen too!  It was so fun!!  I tried to upload my videos from that night with no luck.  :O(  I will keep trying!!

The next morning we loaded up our bags, the girls' bags, Marcus' bag, all our Christmas presents and everything else we would need for the next week.  We dropped the girls off at Clint's parents' and headed out just as Rebecca was getting started on her admission paperwork in the hospital.

I know you are simply dying to hear more, my dear reader, but I would rather post this much now than make you wait another 2 weeks or so for me to have time to finish the next chapter in this story.  :O)  If you read all that, GO YOU!!!  Now I'm off to bed cuz my sweet Marcus will be up before I'm ready for him to be and I need all the shut-eye I can manage before then!  Night!!