Fiona Coleen was born 11/28/07, at 11:45 pm. I labored at home all day til nearly 10, when my doula came by and checked me (she is also an OB nurse) -- I was at 6cm already, headed toward 8!!! I was still chatting with a friend through contractions, so I was surprised to find I was that far along. I guess all that early labor the week before was getting things ready. Anyway, they broke my water at the hospital and basically cleared out of the way. Denise, hubby and I just hung out together, hard labor started and less than two hours later and one REALLY big push and Fiona was here!!! She was 8lb and 19 inches long, just like her big brother. Her sisters and brother are just enamored with her (as are we all!), and fight constantly over who gets to hold her, hug her, kiss her, and rock her. I haven't had any help from family this time, they couldn't come, but have had lots of meals from church friends and actually have healed and recuperated pretty quickly. Life goes on!!! She's a sweet baby, sleeping a lot and only waking at night to nurse, giving me the most sleep I've gotten in 4 kids!

Pictures in the gallery!

Oh, so many, many details and only 46 days to go!!! Who is going to pick up the girls from school? Who is going to help after the baby comes (mom and sis can't come for a couple of months after, hubby has to work or no paycheck), when am I going to get the energy to get the house really clean -- will it come with nesting? I never really nested before, we'll see what happens this time. We are also trying to decide if we want to keep the girls in school next semester or bring them home in January. We're leaning toward homeschooling again, but I'll need to be WAY more organized. So much to do, so little time!!!

My hubby, Squid, has a up about our upcoming arrival. He doesn't post much, but when it does, it's GOOOOOOD!

http://squidsword.homeschooljournal.net/2007/10/10/the-power-over-me

Can I just say, being pregnant at 39 is so not fun?! I'm not one of those mommies who just "loves" to be pregnant, but I enjoy the perks. You get the cushy seat, people hold doors for you, you get your kids to pick stuff up off the floor for you, people tell you "Oh, don't lift THAT!". BUT at nearly 40 the crap way outweighs the perks. And with baby #4, my body has decided it already knows where all this is headed, and at 27 weeks is acting like I'm almost due. I look huge, I feel like I'm gonna drop any minute, I'm exhausted, hips ache, can't find a comfortable position to sleep in (bite me, grammar police), and restless leg syndrome is topping it all off. NOOOOOOOO! I still have 3 more months of this! I know in the end, sweet Fiona will totally be worth it, but doggone I am draggin' butt tired!

(cross-posted at My So-called Homeschool)

OK, this whole school thing is making me crazy. Not so much the decision to put the girls in school (still angsty), but the actually getting ready for school. Boy, what a hassle! First, Tuesday we had to go uniform shopping because once I finally went and picked up the information packet (Monday, a week and a half after they said they mailed it), I realized that the giant tote of fall hand-me-downs we just were gifted with would NOT be keeping us from school clothes shopping after all. We tried Target first, our Target didn’t have the uniforms, but one up by the mall does. So we tried Wal-mart across the street. I really didn’t want to give WM my money, but didn’t really want to drive to the other Target so we looked. Nothing in the right sizes in the right colors. So, off we went to Target. Wait, but there’s a Kohl’s up by the mall, too, let’s try there! Just for the record, it is NOT a good idea to drag a 3yo boy through three stores without buying him anything and then expect him to behave while his sisters try on clothes. It was not fun for him at all. After that, we headed home to make dinner, tired and cranky. Oh, and Squid has been working 7 days straight so far with 7 more to go without a day off. Doesn’t make for happy mommy — happy anyone, really!

This was not the total screwup, though, this is just a lead-in. Yesterday I had planned to hunt down the girls’ birth certificates and SS cards (somehow lost in a move between desks), get all their other paperwork together, and take them down to the school to meet their teacher and see their classroom. It was a big deal to them, they’ve never actually been in a school. BUT pregnant brain took over and I instead got a hair to go school supply shopping. What the heck was I thinking?! Again, the 3yo is in tow since Daddy’s working, and he is bored, bored, bored (the 3yo, not Squid). First we went back to Kohl’s to return some maternity pants I bought last week that didn’t seem to fit the same when we got home as they did in the dressing room. Bonus cash for shopping! We bumped into friends there who invited us to come swim when we got done. Then we hit Sam’s Club. They have everything at Sam’s, right? I figured since I had to buy twice as many items, I’d get them in bigger quantities there and cheaper. Wrong. They had NO basic school supplies. Fancy Lisa Frank pencil collections and a NICE assortment of homeschooling type workbooks, but no big packs of pencils, paper, or anything else we needed. Even the Clorox wipes I went there for are actually cheaper at Wal-mart. Sigh. Meanwhile my friend called back and said she had too much last-minute stuff to do herself, we’d have to do the swimming another day. So now I dragged the cranky, disappointed, hot, NOT-swimming kids to Target. I found everything I needed there. Why do I even bother going anywhere else? THEN we had to hit the Dollar Store for backpacks and lunchboxes. Of course Monkey Boy had to have a toy then, and he had been done shopping for an hour or so. “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Buy me a Spiderman lunchbox! Buy me a Transformer toy! Buy me a !!!!!!” Again, not fun. As we are FINALLY driving home, I realize, “OH CRAP we were going to see your classroom today!!” Oh, well, we’ll do it tomorrow.

So, this morning I get up (we’ve been getting up at 6:30 to practice for school all week too, another cranky factor) and start hauling! I got all the paperwork finished up, searched for TWO HOURS and found the birth certificates and SS cards. Then it occurs to me — this is Labor Day weekend. I wonder if they’ll even be open today? I call the the school — not only are they closed today, but the office won’t be open until Wednesday morning for school. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! I am so upset! I wanted to see the classroom. I wanted the girls to meet their teacher and get comfortable with where things are. Darn these hormones, I’m sitting here sobbing about it. On top of all that, Squid, who has not worked a single early morning for MONTHS now, is going to be working Wednesday and Thursday mornings so I’m going to have to drag Monkey Boy out of bed and take him with us too! I’m sure it will all be OK, but I wanted to be on the ball and ahead of the game so that things could go smoothly on Wednesday. And it’s all screwed up because I just HAD to go shopping yesterday!