Chase is one month!!

I feel like I say this all the time, but I can't believe that Chase is one month old already. Where does the time go? It feels like just yesterday we were in the hospital, but it also feels like he has been a part of our family for much longer than one month. He is getting so big - 11.5 pounds and already smiling. The girls are in love with him and they think it is fun to get him to smile too. Regen is such a big help.. she even wants to change diapers.. a little. :)

We had one of Colin's co-workers who does photography as a hobby come to the house to do some newborn pictures of Chase. I was afraid that if I didn't have them done that I would want another baby in a couple of years... so we had to do them and fast! Now we have hundreds of photos of our little guy. Here are some of our favorites.

We did the Puyallup!

On Sunday, we DID the Puyallup. We went, we ate, we rode, we screamed, we cried, we left.

We had a good time, but have decided that we will NOT go on a weekend again, and we just may take next year off. :)

First stop - the kayaks... Regen's FAVORITE ride. She remembered it from last year and kept saying that it was her favorite.. why, we are not sure, but it still is.


2nd stop- Elephant Ears!!



Me and Chase



Pilot and Co-Pilot


Speedsters


First Roller-coaster for both of them - they had a perma-grin the whole time




Hot-air balloons

Labor Day 2009

Labor day this year was supposed to be a week spent playing at the beach before the start of a whole new phase in our lives - SCHOOL. Well, leave it to Western Washington weather to ruin our plans. The week before Labor Day, and the week after had been, and have been gorgeous, but Labor Day weekend was horrible. It was rainy, windy, cold.. and to have 2 little girls at the beach house when it is too yucky outside to play ON the beach is pretty much torture. We managed to get a little dry weather on Saturday, where the girls got outside to play for a while and the men went out fishing. Colin caught his first and only fish of the season. Chase got to go on the beach for his first time, but it was a little too cold to get his toes in the sand. We ended up leaving early to go home and attempt to do things around the house (keyword - attempt).

Taking a walk with Daddy


Chase's first picture on the beach


The fishermen


Do kids NOT care how COLD that water is?!?! They were both into it up to their knees!

Regen Starts Kindergarten!!

I still can't really believe that my little baby started Kindergarten. I have to say, the last week has been a blur. We went to the Kindergarten orientation just one day after we got home from the hospital, and Regen's open house was when Chase was 3 days old. If you asked me what was said during either of these two events, I can't even come close to remembering. But, I was determined to be there, and I was.. at least my body was there.

Regen seemed pretty nervous about the start of Kindergarten all summer. Anytime anyone asked about it, she would immediately shut down and pretty much ignore the question. I am pretty proud of her though, she has handled these two big life events in stride and when the day came to get on the bus, she hardly looked back. When I picked her up from school on the first day, she was a little disappointed that she didnt get to ride the bus home too. From the first day she has seemed happy and comfortable with the new routine of her school day.

The front porch picture


Getting on the school bus - she LOVES it.

Welcome Home Chase!

Here are some pictures of our first few days with Chase!


The Granpapperazzi got this artistic shot


All ready to leave the hospital - I have to say, it was a little sad knowing we were not going to be back there to have another baby. It feels like the end of an era. Colin is a little nervous that I will keep wanting more babies. I keep telling him that once he turns two, I will be over it. :)



Chase on the car ride home



Balloons from Omi and Grandpa!


Home again- it seemed like it was yesterday we were just a family of four- oh, wait, we were!!



First picture of a family of five



The girls taking a look at their new little brother- at home



First bath at home



Taking a nap with Mommy



Regen has been quite the little mommy...she is actually a big help and she seems happy to do it, however, she gets a pretty panicked look on her face and is very very quick to give him back when she hears any 'noises' come out of him.



We have been promising the girls a treat from the ice-cream man all summer, and finally the time had come when they got to run out of the house and stop the truck and pick their treat.



Eating the special treat

My Baby's Birthday

I can't believe that it has almost been a week since little Chase entered our lives, but I already can't imagine our lives without him. All my fears about having a little boy instantly vanished the first time I held him and I still can't get enough of his perfect little face..even when he is screaming.

Chase's birthday was nothing like I had imagined. I know every birth is different, and the difference in Regen and Claire's birth were about as opposite as possible, so I was just assuming that I was either going to have a birth JUST like Regen or JUST like Claire, and boy, was I wrong.

The day started off like any other day that week - with contractions, and me freaking out that I was going to have a c-section and miss all of Regen's kindergarten activities. I had a dr. appt at 9am and Dr. Russell said that she would be fairly aggressive in scraping my membranes to make sure he was born that day. Having her already do this the week before, my hopes were NOT up at all that this was going to work, but I was willing to try anything to avoid the c-section. When I saw Dr. Russell I was already at 3cm and after she scraped my membranes, I was at a 4cm. She held off on scheduling my c-section until Thursday and said if I wasn't in active labor by 3pm that she would see me again to scrape my membranes again. She sent me in for a non-stress test since the little guy was a week over-due at that point and things with him looked great. I guess he just really liked it in there.



We headed home and I was a little more optimistic and I was still having consistent contractions every 4 minutes, but they were in my opinion.. NOT labor contractions. We ate lunch and decided to take the girls to a park so I could walk around to hopefully get the contractions stronger and closer together. I walked and walked and walked and my contractions stayed about 4 min apart and some got a little stronger, but still not in my opinion LABOR contractions. We left the park and got the girls in bed for naps and I called Dr. Russell back and let her know that I was having contractions, but I did not think I was in active labor. She told me to come back to the office, but to make sure we have our overnight bag in case she admitted me. I got pretty excited that this could be IT.. finally!






We got back into the office and Dr. Russell checked me and I was at 5cm and she could stretch me to 6cm and she sent me right down stairs to get admitted and she would break my water!!! This was it, I was going to have the baby soon! I just didn't know HOW soon it would really be.

I got checked in and hooked up to the IV. Since I was already at 6cm the nurses asked if I wanted the epidural. There was NO question that I wanted it with Claire, I was begging for it when I entered the hospital at 4cm. But this time it was different, I was feeling the contractions, but they really weren't that bad. The nurses talked me into trying it without, but since I was VBAC, I had to be hooked up to the IV and monitored continuously, so if I wanted the epidural, I could ask for it. I decided I would try it without since I was doing good at that point.






Dr. Russell then came in to break my water. There was meconium in the water which meant that Colin could not assist in the birth, and that there would be a special care team in the room when he came to make sure his lungs were ok. This also happened with Regen, so I was familiar with the procedure.

After Dr. Russell left my contractions definitely got stronger, but I felt that I could still handle them fairly easily, and in between the contractions I felt fine. I got out of bed and they were much easier to handle while standing. I wanted to try the jacuzzi tub, so the nurses filled it and helped me in. It was SO nice and really helped with the pain of the contractions. They were getting much stronger and Colin's job was to pour water over my belly during the contraction. The pain was getting a little strong, so I asked the nurse to check me and I had made the decision in my head that if I was only at 7cm I would ask for the epidural, but if I was 8cm, I could handle the rest. When she checked I was 8cm and I felt relieved, but also a little scared since I knew there was no turning back. Two VERY PAINFUL contractions later, I was pushing.. there was NO controlling it. Colin yelled for the nurse since she had left the room. She ran back in and checked me and gave me a very serious look and told me to get out of the tub, I was going to have him NOW! It was pretty difficult to get out of the tub and to the bed while pushing.. or trying NOT to push. The nurses were yelling to get Dr. Russell here NOW. Dr. Russell got into the room and 5 minutes later our sweet baby boy was here. I am sure some expletives were thrown about here and there in the last 5 minutes and I yelled for someone to shut the blinds because the sun was right in my eyes, but it was a pretty amazing experience that I would not change for anything.









I feel pretty blessed to have 3 beautiful children and to have such unique and special deliveries. I wouldn't change any one of them. Amazing!

Chase Michael Worsley
August 24, 2009
6:31pm
8lbs 120z, 22inches


Regen Marit Worsley
June 27, 2004
9:20pm
7lbs 9oz, 20 1/4 inches

Claire Anne Worsley
March 29, 2007
6:43am
8lbs 9oz, 21inches

40weeks-2Days

Hopefully today is the day - fingers crossed, cause we are done!