Mud Pies & Minivans: The Cherry on TOP! Zane Elias Has Arrived!

Well, #6 has finally arrived & I can finally say I believe our lil’ family is compete at last. Now don’t get me wrong, I am sure a week from now I’ll be talking about having like a hundred more babies in theory, but the reality is that 6 kiddos is the best number for us!

"How does it feel?" Is a question I often get asked? I mean, 6 kiddos 6 years old & younger, If I wasn't living it out myself I would have to ask too. I mean, it kind of “feels” the same. We have done our best to keep the older 5 kiddos on their regular schedules & Baby Z fits nicely in there. The girls are absolutely head over heels & a tremendous help. Big Z is head over heels too & checks in on his lil' brother in between playing with his cars & cooking up imaginary meals for mom & dad. He often grabs one of his sisters’ dolls & mimics what Super Daddy or I are doing with the real baby. He loves to hold his brother & cries when you take him away. Its all very sweet to see.

So, do I feel like I already have it all down? Of course not. In the beginning we had a few health hurdles we had to hop over, but my husband was a huge help. I am also eagerly anticipating my first solo public adventure-Just 3 kids, 2 toddlers, 1 newborn, & my best friend “the pump” that needs attention every 3 hrs no matter what you are doing-But the “at home” part is good & we are finding our balance. I have also had my share of humbling moments like when I realized that my past 4 trips to put dirty clothes in the hamper were really me tossing the clothes in the trash can by mistake & the time I heated & reheated & reheated again...and again the same food in the microwave because I kept forgetting about it. Yeah, those are the good times, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.

I’ve also enjoyed my hormones going back to normal. I swear, every time I am separated from 1 of my kids for more than a few minutes (if J has to take them to a class or run an errand with 1 of them or every time they left the hospital), I bawl. No, not cry, bawl. 6 kids is a lot on the heart. When you have a new baby, you fall head over heels for them. Well, I swear this time around I am not only busy falling in love for the first time with our new baby, but also falling even deeper in love for the kids I already have. There are no words to adequately capture just how thankful I am for each & every one of them. They are so special & unique. They each bring something so different to the table that our family would just not be the same with them. My heart is full to the absolute brim. Don’t even get me started on how I feel about my husband. It was such a tough pregnancy on our relationship & now that we have made it through even stronger, I am just so thankful. We’ve only been married 7 years & have endured 6 crazy pregnancies & raising up these kids basically just kids in the beginning ourselves. Gosh, I love him. But enough of that gushy stuff, lol.

“How did it all go down?” Is one of the next most frequently asked questions I get. Zane Elias made his very much anticipated appearance the last day of May at 4:14 pm. I have to say I was exceptionally anxious for this lil’ guy to arrive, the Dr. kept telling me at every visit that this was going to be a BIG baby-my biggest yet! Well, being only 5 ‘ 2”, I am not afraid to admit that made me somewhat uncomfortable. I mean, just how big is “BIG”? My last baby was 8lbs & I felt all 8lbs for sure. So, after spending the last few weeks of my pregnancy on mild bed rest, as soon as I hit 38 weeks it was time to walk, walk, walk, eat spicy food, dance to “Uptown Funk”, & whatever else to send Baby Z the message that it was at last okay to come out. Well, of course now he wanted to stay in. The very last thing I wanted was to be induced for my last baby, so I did my best to remain positive & sure enough I woke up early Sunday morning with a few contractions (nothing new when you are on your 6th). I just continued to press through my Sunday as usual as I got the kiddos up & so forth when I finally decided to give my mom a call to just see where she was at, then again 5 minutes later to see if she could drop by in an hr or so, & then 5 minutes after that to let her know I needed her to come now because I didn't want my oldest daughter to have to deliver her brother on the living room floor lol. I then proceeded to try to call my husband who was at work. Of course he didn't answer & was out on a call. I then proceeded to panic a lil’ & began to call every single firefighter in our state to try & get a hold of him, ha ha. He had made all 5 births & I was determined he was going to make this one too. Eventually I did get a hold of someone & they sent the message out over the radio that his wife was indeed in labor. At this point my sweet babies were dressing each other without even being prompted. In between contractions, my heart was truly melting & then as soon as my parents arrived we were out of there! Of course my favorite hospital is like 45 minutes from my house, a decision I was beginning to regret not because of the pain (It wasn’t unbearable), but more out of “fear” of delivering this child on the freeway. We finally pulled up & my sweet husband was waiting at the ER entrance in his sexy firefighter gear & wheelchair. “Let’s do this!”, I thought. I am ready at last to welcome my last (tear).

Well, once we arrived in triage, I was happy to hear I was only half way there (aka: dilated to a 5) & we had plenty of time to get settled in a room. This kiddo wasn’t going to come as fast as we once thought. I had a few short visits from the kiddos, enjoyed some comical banter with my husband & the nurses, & then it was finally time to push. Well, baby Z must have known this & decided to take himself right out of the birth canal & back inside mama. Phew, he wanted to go out with a bang I guess. I had to push 15 intense minutes. Now as you roll your eyes at me, 15 minutes is like 12 minutes longer than I am use to. All 5 of my other kids were a 2 push deal, this child was a different story. Getting him down was not fun & I was definitely not going out with a C-section if I could avoid it. Finally, he made his grand appearance weighing in at only 7lbs 14 oz (thank goodness) & 19 inches. It was a wonderful experience.

Not everyone knows, but 12 hours before Zane’s birth we had to say “farewell” to my husband’s grandmother. A truly wonderful woman that was so eager to meet her newest great grandson. When my husband’s mother came in to meet Baby Z for the first time, she also brought receiving blankets her mother had made sure to sew for our lil’ guy ( just like she had done for all my other children) which meant so much & made it almost feel like she was there with us-which I am sure she was.

So, that’s how it all happened & that’s how things are currently going down in our household of 8. It’s a great life & I feel honored that although my baby making days are behind me, I will be able to look back on them with nothing but love & such awesome testimonies from each & every child's pregnancy & birth story. Although odds were stacked against us for fulfilling our dream of having 6 kids, here we are-The A2Zteam-COMPLETE!

But yeah...That itch is just never going to go away lol.

God is so good!

-M&M Momma