He's Just a Skater Boy

Cade not only has the moves, he's got the look. Complete with skater shoes without socks, he is a true skater boy!

Now, the only true move he has is standing on the skateboard...in the grass! As for the look, we weren't trying I was honestly too lazy to put socks on him because he was only going in the front yard to play.


I know what you're thinking...Mother of the Year!!

Finger lickin' good

Grandpa Buck came to town and made ribs for dinner one night for T.J. For those who have never had my daddy's ribs, they are the best ribs EVER! If you don't believe me, just ask Cade...he LOVED them!

Blocked Tear Duct

Poor baby Cole had to go to his first doctor appointment yesterday and it wasn't for a check up! I woke up yesterday morning and Cole's eye was glued shut with green "gunk". I called and made a doctor appointment knowing what was wrong but hoping they could give him something.

Luckily, the doc came through for us and prescribed some ointment I have to put on his eye six times a day! Poor baby, his eye is all slimy all day long. It makes my eye itch just thinking about it!

It's already better today than it was yesterday but I just hate having to put it in his eye, it just looks so uncomfortable. He's the best baby though and rarely whines, rarely cries, and just sits there happy no matter what! That's my boy!

Don't mind T.J.'s chest in the background, it was just the best picture of Cole's poor little eye!

Wide Awake

Since Cole spends the majority his time sleeping, it's fun to see him when he's awake. Lately he has spent large chunks of time wide awake and just looking all around. Thankfully, these large chunks of time are not in the middle of the night!

Hanging out on the couch

The view from the floor

But when he is sleeping, Cade thinks we all need to be very quiet...shhhh!


Little does he know Cole will learn to sleep with lots of noise!

Cade and Cole

Since I'm incredibly bored being stuck in this hospital room, I have been looking at all the pictures T.J. has on his computer. I came across some pictures of Cade when he was born and I can't get over how much Cole looks like he did when he was born.

Cade

Cole

I know newborns tend to look the same but I think they will definitely look like one another!

Cade sure loves his little brother

Cole's Birth Story

We all know I was supposed to have Cole on August 15th. We also all know things don't always happen the way we would like them to. So, when Wednesday morning rolled around, I was a little apprehensive about going to the hospital. Not because I was about to go through the whole labor process but because I was afraid to be sent home...again!

I decided to call Labor and Delivery that morning to make sure everything was still on. Much to my excitement, everything was ready and waiting for me to arrive! I grabbed my bag, kissed my sleeping husband good-bye (I wanted to slap him more than kiss him because he was getting to sleep in but I figured I better start the day off right) and at 4:30 am, Jen came to pick me up and we headed to the hospital.

We arrived around 4:50 a.m. and checked in. We kind of looked like a lesbian couple since it was just the two of us so I was sure to point out my husband would be there...eventually!!

The nurse showed us my room and I changed into that adorable hospital gown they provide you. Things tend to take awhile to get started so it was a good hour before the nurse started bringing in all the appropriate stuff. Around 6:15 she administered an IV in my wrist and started giving me fluids. At 6:45 she came in with the good stuff, the stuff that was going to get this show on the road...pitocin!

I started feeling contractions right away, nothing big or painful, but I definitely could feel them. The nurse checked me then, and I was only at a two. It wasn't long before the pain started getting stronger and around 8:45 I was at a four so the doctor went ahead and broke my water. I decided it was time to get my epidural because if I didn't have to be in pain, then why should I??

The anastegologist arrived at 9:00 am. T.J. was still at work at this point so Jen held my hand while he shoved the huge needle in my back. Things seemed to be working but then I started to realize, only my right side was getting numb. My first thought...here we go again! The same thing happened with Cade, it only worked on the right side.

After the doctor messed with the medicine and tube for a while, we figured it just wasn't going to work. He had to run off and do another epidural in another room so he left me with the hopes the medicine would eventually make it to my left side.

THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN!

By this time, I was at a six and feeling a lot of pain, but only on one side of my body. The doctor came back about thirty minutes later and decided we were going to have to try again. Even though this is what I had already suggested considering it is what we had to do when I was in labor with Cade, I just smiled and said yes sir. T.J. had arrived and was able to hold my hand during my second epidural of the day.

This time, it worked!

Now the nurse checked me and we were at an eight! She was off to call my OB and have him head towards the hospital. It wasn't long before I was at a ten and my nurse was telling me to do everything I could not to push.

My doctor arrived around 11:00 am and we were ready to go. It was just T.J. and Jen in the room with me at this point (Cathy, McKinly and Ty's Mom, had been in the room but once I was ready to push she went to the waiting room. Me and the ex-wife might be close but watching your ex-husband's child be born would be a little on the weird side) so we were ready to push this kid out. Since the anastegologist had to do two epidurals, I had a great deal of medicine in me. I couldn't feel a thing. It was kind of hard because I couldn't even feel pressure which I have always felt with the other two so I knew when to push. This time, I just had to push when the nurse told me to. It took pushing during three different contractions and the baby slid right out. And I do mean slid, it was really that easy.

Once he was out, they placed him on my stomach and we all just starred at him. I don't care how many kids you have, it never gets old looking at your brand new, perfect baby right after they're born. I looked over at Jen and she was crying and I looked at T.J. and he was getting ready to cut the cord!

This next part might be considered "Too Much Information" so if you don't want to read on, then don't :)

When I was in labor with Cody, my OB at the time didn't even check to see if I needed an episiotomy, he just cut me anyway. When I was in labor with Cade, my current OB said he needed to cut me again because he was afraid I was going to "tear" on top of the scar from Cody. This time, however, he didn't feel like I needed to be cut so he tried without it! I did tear a little but not bad at all. I am so glad I didn't have to have another episiotomy because I have been feeling great. I don't hurt near as bad as I did with the other boys!

After baby Cole was born, they cleaned him up a little and everyone came back in the room to hold him and love on him. During this time, they were prepping me for the OR. It was time for me to be wheeled down there to get my tubes tied. I once again came face to face with the anastegologist who administered even more drugs in me.

I remember getting wheeled in the OR and I remember talking to the nurses and my doctor a little but I had so many drugs in me I kept falling asleep. By the time they wheeled me back in my room, I thought a lot of time had passed. When I asked how long I was gone, I was a little surprised to hear T.J. say, "18 minutes"!

I was so numb after the procedure that I still couldn't hold my baby. I was afraid I would drop him. We had plenty of visitors though that were more than willing to hold him for me!

Daddy and Cole

Cody, Cade and Cole

McKinly and Cole

Ty and Cole

Cortney and Cole

Ms. Susan and Cole

Laney with Baby Cole


Aunt Lizard and Cole

Kelsey and Cole

Kyle and Cole

Mr. Shawn, Brady, and Cole



My family might not have been here when Cole was born like we had originally planned, but as you can see, Cole and I didn't end up being alone after all!

Introducing...

COLE WILLIAM DORTCH

8lbs. 2 oz and 20 in. long

His four older siblings absolutely adore him

Now we have our three little C's

Cade smiled right after this picture was taken. He was actually talking that's why he has a funny look on his face. We were a little worried about Cade and how he would take to Cole but we found out he loves him. He cuddles with him, loves on him, and just smiles when he sees him. It is way too cute!

Everything went really well today. The labor was fast, T.J. made it in time, and I am only a little sore. I will go into more detail about it later but until then I'm going to go hold my baby boy! He's my last baby for sure now after my surgery so I better go take advantage of him!

Take Two!

Here we go again...or try to go again. Tomorrow is the big day (I think)! By this point, I don't know what to expect.

The plan is for Jen to come pick me up at 4:30 am and head to the hospital. I will check in at five and hopefully get everything started. T.J. is going into work until after 3rd hour so he will head up there around 11:00. I hope it doesn't go as fast as the doctor thinks it will or T.J. will miss it. The only thing I'm nervous about is T.J. not being there when I get my epidural. I hate that thing and the thought of getting it alone scares me. However, by the looks of it, I'm going to have to be a big girl and just deal.

Once the baby is born, T.J. will get the kids up there somehow to meet their brother and then he will hang out up there with me until I'm ready for him to go home. He didn't take off of work on Thursday at all so I don't know how that is going to go but I will figure it out. I will have to be a big girl and stay the night by myself.

That's the plan for now, I always have to have a plan. I will keep everyone informed and post pictures as soon as possible. T.J. will leave me his computer so I can at least do that while I'm by myself!

Too Quiet

It is way too quiet around here. My sister and her family had to leave yesterday morning and then my best friend, Pam flew out last night. They were all SUPPOSED to be here to meet the baby and keep me company in the hospital.

I know things happen that we can't control, I really do, but it just sucked for everyone to not be able to have this happen. I was a wreck last night. I was fine when my sister and her family left Sunday morning because Pam was still here to keep my mind off of everything. However, when we pulled up to the airport to drop her off, I kind of lost it! It was then I realized everyone was gone and it was back to just us minus a new a baby!

A friend of ours, and a life saver at this point, is flying in from Michigan tomorrow night to help out since everyone left. I couldn't be more thankful! She will probably help out with the boys while I go in on Wednesday. It's T.J.'s first day of school on Wednesday so he is going to go into work for a while and get everything situated while I get everything started at the hospital. I'm just scared I'm going to be alone. What if he doesn't make it in time? I have to be there at five in the morning and they don't think it's going to be a long labor! My friend, Jen said she would go to the hospital with me until T.J. got there but how can I ask someone to get up at 4 in the morning and sit in a boring hospital?? Plus, it's her daughter's first day of Kindergarten that day. She needs to be there! At least her daughter doesn't go to school until 1pm so that helps a little but still, this whole situation just sucks!

I had everything planned!!

My family was going to be here!!

My best friend was going to be here!!

I guess I should just be thankful the baby is healthy at this point and that we are going to have a beautiful baby at some point.

It's just way too quiet around here right now!

No Baby today

My sister and I woke up this morning and headed to the hospital (TJ was going to get the kids settled this morning and then meet us up there once everything got started). When we arrived the informed us there were no beds at the time but as soon as patients were discharged, they would give us a call.

Well, my doctor's office called and the nurse informed me they were not going to have room for me at all today so they have to reschedule me for next wednesday!!

That is FIVE more days from now!! Are you kidding me???

I called the hospital back, because they were sure they were going to get me in today, and they said it was my doctor who said if they couldn't get me in by 10am then he didn't want to do it!!!

It's no surprise that a doctor wouldn't want the chance of being stuck at a hospital on a Friday evening but come on...I'm in pain here!!!

So, Wednesday it is...

Last Couple of Days

We are taking advantage of the last couple of days before the baby arrives. There is so much to get done yet I don't seem to be accomplishing anything. I have been spending time with the boys and enjoying the last few nights I have to sleep all night long.

We are getting very excited to meet our new little one but it's no surprise I am pretty nervous. I have eight kids running around my house every day but I know, on the hard days, they will all be going home.

These last few weeks, Cody and Cade have been getting me ready for the new baby. Cade has been crankier than usual and Cody has been getting into more things than he has in his whole life. The other day I walked in his room and he had drawn me a picture on his wall with chalk! I know it's just chalk but Cody has never done anything he knew he wasn't supposed to do.

Reality is sinking in and the thought of three little ones is keeping me up at night. At least it will help with the transition of a newborn.

I am very excited for Friday. I can't wait to hold my new baby and introduce him to everyone. I am just a little scared, that's all!!


I took this picture of my sweet boys this morning. I wonder how I'll be able to get all three of them to look at the camera at the same time!

Pregnancy is NOT a beautiful thing!

I know people will totally disagree with that statement but it's true!! I understand the blessings, being able to feel your baby move around inside you, the true miracle, etc!

I AM JUST PAST ALL THAT NOW!!!

I have one week left. One more week of discomfort, one more week of looking at myself in the mirror and wanting to puke, one more week of not being able to shave my legs because I can't reach, one more week of literally having to roll out of bed, one more week of all the gross things that come with pregnancy!

For those who have been pregnant, you know what I'm talking about, for those who haven't...just wait, you'll know what I'm talking about soon enough. I don't want to scare you with all the gross realities...but there are many!

If you can't tell, I'm totally over being pregnant. I will not miss it one bit! Next Friday I not only will be having a baby, I will also be getting my tubes tied. People keep asking me if I think I will regret it! My answer...

NO WAY!!

I have a three year old, a one year old and I will have a newborn. I don't think I will have the time to regret it! Three boys will be enough. Three very adorable boys I must add!

With one week left, I just wanted everyone to know I am ready! Ready to not ever have to do this again!!!!!!

I AM HUGE!


And I'm not showing my face because well, that's just as big as my stomach!