First Day of Pre-K

She is off to school, 5 days a week. I haven't cried yet!

My partners in crime from now on.

Before I forget

From Matt Gleason: The other night, I came home from work exhausted. I just wanted to lay down on the couch before I took on my parental duties from Virginia, who is more exhausted usually than I will ever be. Anyway, the girls didn't take kindly to me lounging with my eyes closed, so they descended upon the couch like something out of Planet of the Apes. After the invasion, Darby told me to open my eyes, so I did, then she grabbed the sides of my face, like I would her to make a point about not hitting Georgia -- Again. Then she said, "Daddy. I want to bother you." At least she's honest.

Night night with D-Rae

From Matt Gleason: Sometimes, Darby just isn't tired when I put her to bed, so she gets, shall we say, creative when it comes to devising ways to get a bit more Daddy Time after I'm off reading about home runs or the status of some running back's sprained ankle. Tonight, Darby alerted me to her not-so-tiredness by hollering from her crib, and down the hall: "Daaaaaaddddddddeeeeeeeee! DAAAAADDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! DADDY!!! I. HAVE. SNOT!" She did, in fact, have snot, not much, but there it was, so I wiped it. Soon after, as I checked on my dorky fantasy teams, Darby once again got to hollerin'. I looked at Virginia, and, together, we decided to give Darby one more visit. I went in. This time, Darby told me she was scared of monsters. That's a new one. Thankfully, Darby has gotten over her fear of monkeys, so now she's apparently onto monsters. I assured D there was no such thing, while feeling very much like my father. Then I told her I would protect her from such horrible things, even if they did exist. I'm very tough and macho when it comes to battling all imaginary creatures. Eventually, I was just a few kisses away from heading back to the computer, when Darby tried one last attempt to prolong the visit. "Daddy, raccoons scare me." That kid melts me. I told her raccoons live outside and, actually, at the aquarium, too. So Tuesday night, when the aquarium stays open until 9 p.m., me and the Gleason girls will go see the object of Darby's great fear and maybe watch it eat carrots.

Finding a Rhythm

We are slowly adjusting to life with 3 girls. I will say, without trying to sound down on my other 2, this baby is a dream. I don't know if I am just more relaxed or better at parenting, but Mera is so pleasant to be with and care for. My only problem with her a this point is she won't sleep at night if she is not next to me. I can live with that right now. Once her sleep patterns get more regulated we can work on getting her out of my bed and into her co-sleeper next to my bed. At this point I am just allowing myself to enjoy it since she is my last baby.

In the evenings she naps in her Ergo most of the time. I used a ring sling with G and a Moby with D and I am now loving the Ergo. We still use the ring sling when out at the store and such but the Ergo is great for naps at home. Here she is with her little arm hanging out.

We gave her her first bath this week even though her umbilical cord has been off for a couple of weeks. It has not been a huge priority. So here are her first bath pics.



And just for comparison, here is Darby's first bath.

And Georgia's first bath. I'd say we got our moneys worth out of the tub.

Mera already has great head control.

And G got to help give her a bath on Thursday night.

Such a great big sister.

All smiles.

And this is her this morning after she has successfully escaped the swaddle.

3-month Hearing Check

Just to update, G had a hearing test last week and there has been no significant change in the last 3-months so that is really good news. Also, Mera passed her newborn hearing screening.

The Last 3 Weeks- Part 2

Nanue and Big Papa came on Mera's one week b-day to meet her.
Big Papa left on Sunday and Nanue stayed for a week to help out.

She looks concerned.

G had some pretty late nights while Nanue was here.

It is amazing how kids can fall asleep anywhere.

Sleeping beauty.


Nanue brought the girls matching shirts that indicate their order in the family.

I already have an idea of how impossible a group picture will be.

Big sister and little sister.

Counting toes.

And she is already smiling on cue. I guess they do the early stuff earlier when they are almost 2 weeks late.

This was this morning so you can call it her 3-week picture.

The Last 3 Weeks- Part 1

Debo came over the morning after I had Mera to meet her for the first time.
Darby has a hard time keeping her mouth off her sister.

They both want to hold her all the time.

These are the cupcakes the girls made with my mom to celebrate the baby's birthday.

We have had lots of visitors which means lots of attention for G and D. Here is Uncle Matt playing with some sort of balloon contraption he made.

Vivian holding her cousin.

When people do come over it always brings out the wild in my children.

Vivian as the tube worm.

This is Mera the Monday after she was born getting strapped in for her first car ride to the Dr.

Ruth came over Tues. after the birth for the postnatal visit.

Mera was not happy about this feet thing.

And here is Ruth with her other Gleason delivery.

Daddy trying to rest.

This baby does not look like her daddy. If so, I don't see it.

Labor Pics

Below this post is the birth story to go along with the pic. Warning: there are some pictures with a little blood.
This is before things got too heavy.

In the pool finally.

Letting my sister know how much her presence is appreciated.

Getting ready to push a baby out.

There she is.



Cord cutting.

Still in pain.

With Daddy.



Me, a little happier to see her.

Mera's Birth Story

So I know Matt has a version of the birth, and he told it so well, but now it is my turn. I will start by saying that I had no idea how emotionally draining it was going over my due date by 11 days. Really it was no big deal, and I was still in the realm of "normal" gestation those 11 days, but it took a mental, and physical, toll on me.

Thursday night, when I went to bed, I had a conversation with my uterus that was mostly one-sided. I pleaded with it and implored it to start contracting. I visualized. I tried to force contractions. I think I might have even tried to push the baby out. I was overjoyed when I realized at about 3 am that I was having fairly regular contractions. Ruth's policy is to call her as soon as you think you are in labor, but I wanted to let her sleep as I knew she had been up at a birth recently.

I dozed off and on, then at 5 a.m. I realized Matt was rolling around, so I figured he was not sleeping too well, so I told him I was in labor. He was excited and we laid there until 6 when he got up and took a shower and ate. When I called Ruth, it was like Deja Vu. She was on another delivery, just like when Darby was born, and it didn't sound like she was too close to being finished. I said "no big deal" and told her I would check in with her in a couple of hours. That was all it took. No more contractions for me.

We sent the kids to school, so we could have the day to have the baby, but I had very few, to no, contractions throughout the morning. We decided to meet Ruth at her house after her previous delivery to have her check me out. We got there around 3. I was at about 4 cm and 85 percent effaced. She stretched my cervix and sent me on my way. I was supposed to call her when things picked up.

In all of this, my mom had picked up the kids from school, and my sister had made her arrival in town from Stillwater. So it is 3 p.m., and I have been thinking for 12 hours that I am in labor and going to finally have this baby. We get home from Ruth's and nothing really happens. Well, I start to get a little discouraged. I am tired and I haven't eaten much, so I am starving and I think, " I am not having this baby today, because I am so drained I don't think I will make it." So, of course, about this time I start having contractions 3 minutes apart that are pretty strong, but not very long.

I call Ruth and she decided to send her apprentice Brandi over to check me. Brandi gets to my house around 6pm, checks me and says I am 5cm dilated and to start walking. So I do some laundry and clean up a little bit. The contractions stay strong and regular and I have to start focusing on relaxing through them. From 6 to 8 it is just Brandi and me (Matt was at my mom's house spending time with the girls). At 8, Brandi checks me again and I am only 5.5cm, so Brandi decided to do some hateful cervix stretching that causes me to immediately run to the bathroom and puke. To quote Brandi, "Throwing up is actually a good thing. It can really help dilate you." I was not happy.

At this point, things get a little fuzzy. My sister, sister-in-law and husband are all out in the living room chatting it up. I go out there and Brandi tells me to either walk or go lie down and rest. I choose the laying down, because my contractions have gotten so strong I probably couldn't stand through them. For some reason my body goes into super-labor mode when I lay down, which is not the case for most women. I start having some long and strong contractions. I have no idea how long I laid there before calling Brandi back and saying that I needed Ruth to get here. Now, I know Ruth got to my house around 10:20, and I know Brandi checked me before Ruth got there, and I was a seven, but the 2 hours before Ruth's arrival are a blur.

So anyway, my sister, sister-in-law and husband come to my room and get ready for the show. Christy (sister in law) is going to video tape the whole thing, my sister is taking still pictures and my husband just wanted to watch. Once I am sure Ruth is almost to the house, I get in the tub to hang out. That was such a relief and felt so good. I knew that from here things would go very fast, or at least I hoped. Once Ruth got to the house she took her spot next to the tub and coached me through the contractions. She is very good at what she does, but I knew what was coming and was so reluctant to actually push the baby out that I think it worked against me. I finally decided the only way I was going to get through this was to do it, so I relaxed and let the urge to push take over and started pushing. Once I starting pushing, Mera came out very quickly.

Just to slow it down here, because it actually happens in slow motion when you are experiencing that kind of pain, I felt her head start to come out and thought it hurt so bad. Then I heard Ruth say, "Here comes her head." I thought I was going to die, because her head was not even out yet. I can't really describe the pain of the head coming out, so let's skip ahead to the moment that her head is out, yet her body is not. I gear up for one big push, and let it rip. Then I realized her body is not coming out with just my push, but I feel Ruth reach in and grab her. Oh. My. God. Here I am in a place where I don't think anything can hurt worse. Then it does.

So, needless to say, she was born at 11:03 pm, after one of the longest days of my life at a whopping 9lbs 6oz and I survived. I had to get 2 stitches, which was great considering and I recovered far more quickly than with either of the other children. I can honestly say I feel a little something for this baby I didn't feel with the others, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It is a positive feeling, and it might just be knowing she is my last.

Brave Girl

This one wanted to see what it was like to put both ears in the water tonight. She put her head in so far she got water in her mouth and eyes. Pretty brave!