Six Flags New England!!

April 28th Kylee had a cheer comp at six flags which meant we got to have fun!! We left the babies with Mema so that we could let the big kids have our attention. We had a great time! The kids rode a bunch of rides and had so much fun. I was too busy having too much fun to take pics! Sometimes memories are more important than photos!! We car pooled with our friends Jasmine and Aidan and we had such a great time!!

Dont forget to notice the amazing cheer faces!!!!

Bennett's Birth story

On Thursday Feb 23rd I went for my regular OB appt and my blood pressure was a little high, not ridiculously but enough that I was concerned. My cervix was dialated a little more than 1 cm.

Over the weekend I went to Boston for a cheer comp for Kylee and walked up and down the stairs of the Aganis Arena in Boston. By the end of the day the baby had definitely dropped and I had started to swell. My hands and feet were ridiculous!!

So Monday morning I called the OB and told him what was going on. I had a slight headache and was so swollen. He asked me to come in to the office, When I got their they took my blood pressure and it was higher than it had been the week before. He sent me over to the hospital for a non stress test and some blood work to make sure I had not developed pre eclampsia.

The Non stress test went well and they sent me home. I went in for my regular check up on Wednesday and my blood pressure was even higher so my OB scheduled an induction got the next day. I was 3 cm and 50% effaced

I did not go back to work that afternoon I cleaned the house and got things ready for the kids. I continued to have contractions throughout the afternoon and evening but nothing serious.  I took a bath and got ready for bed. I was set for induction and once it was planned I did not want it to change.

At about midnight I woke up and asked for Brad's phone so I could use the contraction timer app he had downloaded for me. I timed them for about an hour and realized they were 3-5 minutes apart. I woke Brad up and told him we needed to go to the hospital. I called my mom because she had our car and told Brad to call our babysitter Dawn. And I called the OB and got told to call the on call OB Dr Elmer.

I walked downstairs and was glad we had prepped for the induction and had everything loaded in the car. Dawn did not answer her phone so we woke the kids up and tried to decide what to do. I decided to go drop the kids off at Dawn's and wake her up.  We got on the highway and I changed my mind about the plan! I was going to the hospital first then they could figure out the kids! I was in pain and needed my epidural.

Mom dropped Brad and I off and took the kids to Dawn's. Brad and I went in and checked in and got brought up to labor and delivery. I asked for the epidural and the nurse said I had to wait until I was 4 cm. I told her I had been a 3 at 11 the day before so I was sure I could have it.

Cheryl(my amazing nurse) got us in our room and started paperwork and decided to check my cervix. I was dilated to a 7! I asked for my epidural again! She said they needed to do blood work and start an IV first and that they wanted to get the antibiotics started because they were not effective if they had not been in for 4 hours.

The anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural I love that man!! And Cheryl told me to lay down because we wanted to try to keep the baby in as long as possible so the antibiotics got a chance to work though we did not expect it to happen. She left me alone but came in to check on me every once in a while but held off on a cervical check until 6am.

At 6:15 she came in and checked again and I was at 9 and my bag of water was bulging. Dr Elmer came in and decided to break my water. I warned him if he broke my water he might want to stick around because a baby would be arriving.

Not long after my water was broken I felt the urge to push. They had me start pushing and the babies heartbeat was dipping so they started me on oxygen and had me only push every other contraction. I am not sure they believed me when I told them how quickly he would arrive 3-4 pushes later his head was out. He like Kylee and Braeden had the cord around his neck twice. They cut his cord and he officially arrived with the next push.

He had the most wonderful full head of hair! I just held him close and cuddled with that sweet little man!!


And before you ask I was thrilled to have another boy! I was a little sad for Kylee who desperately wanted a sister but I knew all along he was a boy.

After my blood pressure has not come down and it has not been the easiest recovery! I am so glad Brad is not working right now because I have really needed his help a ton.


And a funny story to go along with this. I was asked if I would mind having a paramedic observe the birth because he needed to view so many for certification. I said sure why not. They had him com in as Bennett's head was being delivered and apparently the image was shocking lol. But that is not the funny part! The funny part was that I went to high school with him!!!! Talk about embarassing LMAO!! Nice to see you for the first time in 13 years how's the view. Luckily I dont really care and I am not sure he even realized who I was lol.




And I am the mom of 4 kids!!!!!

Bennett Cahill

At 6:52 am March 1st Bennett joined our family!

He weighed 7 lb 14 oz and was 20.75 inches long

Caleb and Kylee were so excited Braeden was not

as sure about him.

Braedy has since warmed up to his new little brother!

Caleb is 7!!

                                    For Caleb's birthday this year we took him to the Rain Forest Cafe
                  But the best part of the surprise was we picked up Mema from the hospital on the way!!!
                                  We also went to build a bear and the Lego store!!
                                                        It was a great day!!!

                                     We also did a birthday dinner with Mema and Grandma LeClair
                                         And a birthday party with a couple friends!!



I am so glad that Caleb is a part of my life. I am so excited to watch him grow into a man. He is one of the most sweet and loving person I know. He truly worries about everyone else all the time.

The scariest day of our lives and some things to be thankful for

Have you ever had one of those moments where you feel like you are in a movie. I had one yesterday. Bradley, the kids Bailey(the dog) and I headed out around 10am to drive to VT to visit his family. We detoured to Falmouth to visit my Mother who recently had surgery.

We got through Boston and all was going well when it happened. And here it was a moment I felt like I was living in a movie. Our rear driver side tire blew out and we lost control. Our car spun around on 93 north across 4 lanes of traffic on the busiest travel day of the year. I remember being terrified. I remember think things like this don't happen to me. I remember thinking Oh My God my babies!! As we reached the breakdown lane we hit the guard rail and our car flipped onto it's side.

What seemed like hours was seconds! People surrounded our car! My kids were screaming. The baby slept through the whole crash! A gentlemen had Brad hand the kids out to him and then finally climbed in to help.  I was trapped in the passenger seat because of my seat belt. The dog was running around on the highway by himself as I yelled for someone to get him. Caleb finally grabbed him since he would not go to anyone else. I finally got undone by pushing myself up on the steering column. By then the police had arrived and they helped me go out through the tailgate of my van.

There standing on the side of the high were my children with complete strangers who stopped to help! And here is the amazing part of it all. No one had even a scratch on them. Our car was on its side on the highway and my children, my husband, our dog and our unborn baby were completely unharmed! 

And this is where my PSA is, the reason my children walked away without a scratch and my husband and I walked away without a scratch is because of proper seat belt and car seat use!! The baby (14 months today) was rear facing in his Graco Myride. My 5 year old daughter was 5 pt harnessed in her Britax marathon and my 6 year old was in a Recaro Vivo high back booster! I do not follow the minimums for car seat safety! I make sure my children do not have bulky coats on and I adjust straps every time I put them in their seats. Yes they were cold on the side of that highway waiting for their coats out of the car but they did not have a bump or a bruise on them.

So please remember your Children deserve to be safe!! And so do you, set the example by always wearing your seat belts.







The pictures do not do it justice. The frame seems bent but I could not get a good angle where I was at the towing yard.

Names!

Names are a very tricky thing! And the more kids you have the trickier it is. We had Caleb and Braeden picked out before we go married. Kylee we picked out before we were married also but I tried to change it when I was pregnant with her. When I was pregnant with Braeden we had picked out the name Mackenzie Jean if he had been a girl.

When we found out baby #4 was on the way I knew I did not want to use the name Mackenzie. I also knew we had not thought about a boys name in 7 years!! And girls name had always been a battle!  So I started throwing names out. Brad does not usually suggest names but will say yes or no to names. And so it began

Lilah, Lucy, Ava, Eden, and it went on and on and on. Finally after 7 years of being adamently against the name Charlotte I said to him if we name her Charlotte we can call her Charlie like Charlie Sheen and he was sold! Ummm his reason may not have been great but I was willing to take it to use such an awesome name! Then to come up with a middle name. I had a friend who passed away whose last name was Laurie. So to honor him I decided on Laurel. And so if #4 is a girl she will be Charlotte Laurel.

And then came boys names, it was many months Jonah, Seth, Collin, Micah, Graham. His middle name was set we just needed to pick a first name. It finally came down to Graham and Bennett. Before I was born my mom rented a room in a boarding house frome a woman named Inez Bennett. She was like another grandmother to me. She passed away 10 years ago but I wanted to honor her and so his name was chosen. If this baby is a boy he will be Bennett Cahill.

My boys

This morning I was sitting in the bathtub shaving my legs. I had the baby gate at the top of the stairs and Braeden trapped in the hallway(he loves playing there!) While shaving I hear thud thud thud followed by hysterical laughing. Soon Caleb came upstairs to climb over the gate to see what Braeden was doing.

Before too long both of my boys were laughing hystrerically while Braeden threw matchbox cars down the stairs. I love that even though they are so far apart in age they get along so well. I love listening them play together. Caleb is so amazingly sweet and so wonderfully patient with the baby. The two of them are like best friends!

I am so glad that I am their mom!!

And I think it is pretty darn cute that they are identical just 5 1/2 years apart!