It's a Boy! . . . Welcome Elijah Paul Laufer!!

So, where to begin? After a long and difficult pregnancy Elijah Paul Laufer is here! He's a month early, but he's here, healthy, and everyone is doing just fine.

It all started a long long time ago... No No No, that would take too long to type out. Basically, I started going into pre-term labor somewhere around 18 weeks. Long story short I ended up getting a circlage at 24 weeks. Between the high risk doctor and my normal OB doctor I was going to the hospital every week, taking progesterone shots weekly, and "Procardia" every 4 hours (3 hours at the end). Even at night! It was like having to wake up to take care of a newborn but the newborn was still inside. So tiring! Fast forward a few months to Monday Oct 4th and I was back in the hospital with steady contractions and a circlage in me. The high risk doctor decided that we were far enough along to warrant removing the circlage. That way I wouldn't have to stay in the hospital under constant supervision and could return home to take care of Paul and the kids until the baby really decided to come.

Fast forward two long weeks of constantly wondering if these contractions were getting closer together or stronger and at 35 weeks 5 days finally things started to progress. We called our friend Holly to come watch JP and Rachel and went in to the hospital. Sure enough I was dilated to 4cm which is far enough along that I was considered to be in active labor. We told them we didn't want to stop labor and to see what happens. Within an hour we had progressed to 5cm! But the last two pregnancies I've gotten stuck at five. A few hours later they broke my water and within an hour of that I was dilated to 9cm, ALMOST ready to push. With my last two pregnancies once I got past 7cm I was ready to push within less than an hour so that's what I was expecting. But this time I got stuck at 9cm! After 45 minutes that seemed like 2 hours they moved me to another room with a hot tub. The thought was that by relaxing in the tub my body would move to 10cm and I'd be ready to push. It worked! They were afraid I was going to have the baby in the tub! So they got me back into the bed, with some nice warm towels, and after a few short pushes Elijah was born! We were so excited and relieved when he came out crying, breathing, and not blue.

They did the usual baby checkout and Elijah was found to be in perfect health. He never needed to be put in the NICU. Thank God! He even wanted to nurse right away and get acquainted with mommy! Dad was all smiles and taking lots of pictures. But I did manage to take this picture!

We spent as short a time in the postpartum room as possible. It is impossible to rest with nurses, doctors, lactation consultants, lab techs, hearing test, baby nurses, pencil pushers, etc. coming in and out at all hours. We let the staff know we wanted to leave ASAP and since this was our third child they figured we knew what we were doing and didn't object, especially since Elijah was doing so well.

About an hour before leaving the day after his birth Grammy made it to visit with the older siblings. Jeremiah saw Elijah and asked, "Baby Rachel?" We introduced him to Elijah and asked him if he wanted to come closer. Jeremiah walked up, got a scared look on his face, and ran and hid behind Grammy! It was so funny and totally unexpected. Rachel seemed unsure and somewhat affectionate with her new baby brother.

All in all it couldn't have gone better. We're home and adjusting to life outnumbered by our kids as best as we can.

♫ Happy First Birthday Rachel ♪

Happy 1st birthday Rachel! This past year has gone by so fast. We cannot believe that Rachel is one! She is such a joy to have in our lives. We had a wonderful birthday celebration with the Dreger Grandparents coming from Cali and lots of friends from our church.

Rachel had lots of fun eating her cake...




























and opening her presents...Rachel is so close to walking. She takes several steps on her own before falling. She will be walking in no time now.She is talking more and more all the time. She says "hi", "up", "what that" while pointing at something, "alk" (milk), and a few others. Rachel loves playing with JP's cars. She is learning to make the car sounds like "big brother" does and wants to do whatever he does. She chases JP around the house all the time. They are always making each other laugh. We are excited to see her interact with baby #3. She is so patient and kind. We know she is going to make a great big sister. We love you so much Rachel! We are looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us in the near future and as we become a family of five!

God bless you Keiki!!!

Rachel is 11 Months

Rachel is growing up so fast! We cannot believe that next month she will be one. Where does the time go? She has changed so much. Rachel is cruising and has taken her first steps. Although we would not say she is fully walking yet. Jeremiah really wants her to chase him. It is so cute to see the two of them interact. She is starting to say real words now. She loves saying "Mama" and "Dada". She is really starting to get into books now. Although she prefers to read (look at the pictures) herself. She can drink out of a sippy cup by herself.



But she is happiest right now with her bottle. We are going to need those bottles though when baby #3 comes, but for now they belong to her.













Rachel's hair is starting to get curly in back. We are sure she is going to have Elizabeth's curly hair but then again you never know. She also loves to snuggle with us. Which we love!

Grandma Bea and Grandpa Martin came to visit this month. They came between the two kids birthdays. Grandma Bea loved playing with Jeremiah and walking with Rachel. Grandma Bea played outside with Jeremiah all the time. It was hard to figure out which one was the kid (Bea or JP) because Bea was having so much fun.


Rachel is just so much fun to be around. She makes us laugh all the time. We cannot wait to see what she has in store for us in the future. We love are little Rachel so much! We cannot imagine our family without her in it.

Jeremiah is Two!!!

I cannot believe we just celebrate JP's second birthday. Wow there have been so many changes I do not know where to begin. Let's see...Jeremiah is a wonderfully smart, caring, compassionate, wild, full of energy, dare devil, loving, son. I could not imagine a more perfect child.

Jeremiah really enjoyed his birthday party. It was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed. One of his favorite TV shows. He had a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (chocolate his his favorite sweet treat). We had lots of people from our church come with their little ones. I had all my family here to celebrate. It was just a wonderful time to be had by all. It was a very exciting time including having to take care of a wasp nest outside (something all the men really enjoyed taking care of). The hard part for me was that I was on bed rest at the time and could not interact and participate in all the fun. It was really hard watching all the fun that everyone else was having while I was just lying on the couch. But Jeremiah had a blast and that is what matters most. He enjoyed having his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins come for his birthday. They really got along well and had a blast playing with each other. He misses them a lot and will ask about them by name. It was so neat seeing them all play together. I wish I wasn't on bed rest at the time. I would have loved to interact more with all of them.



















Mommy on bed rest with kids!

Jeremiah knows all his shapes and colors very well. He loves his flash cards and often asks for me to get them out. His vocabulary has just exploded. He is talking in complete sentences a lot of the time. He still does some baby talk with real words mixed in. He has amazed us with some of the deep things he says.

Jeremiah loves to pray! If we give him food and walk away he reminds us that we need to pray first before he can eat. It is the cutest thing ever. We love to hear him pray. He does it with such passion. It truly is like he is talking to a close friend.

His favorite movie is Cars and in close second is Tinkerbell. He loves watching cars and knows all the characters by name. He also has a lot of the cars from the movie Cars. He tells us their names and has fun making up little games while playing with them. Jeremiah's other favorite thing is going outside! He loves to playing in out backyard and especially on the play set. He loves climbing up the slide and then slide down feet first on his tummy. He often cries when it is time to come in the house.

He is such a wonderful big brother to Rachel! He gives her hugs and kisses all the time. He cannot stand to see her cry (like when she falls and gets hurt). He loves it when she chases him around the room. They both just laugh and laugh. He is very good about sharing his toys with Rachel. He is just the perfect big brother.

More pic's from JP's birthday party and visit from the Dreger's...












Sister-in-law Christine and Step-mom Debbie




































Cousin Mia




















Cousin Avery

Latest on Baby Laufer #3

Yesterday I went to have my cervix length checked once again to determine if I would need to have the cerclage. I measured 2.2 cm. They would normally put you on bed rest if your cervix is shorter than 2.5 cm. As I said before 24 weeks gestation is the last possible time to have the procedure done. Today I am 23 weeks and 5 days. So my high-risk specialist decided that it would be a good idea to go ahead and put the cerclage in today. It is an outpatient surgery and I will need to have a spinal done to numb me from the waist down. By having this procedure I will not have to go onto bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy, which is what I would have to do if I do not have the cerclage done.

Paul was in New York for a business trip for 8 days. I called him to tell him the news and he jumped on the first available plan to get back home to be with me. He got home late last night. God bless him he went through a lot to get home to be with me. I also have my step-mom here to help watch the kids.

Right now I am sitting her hungry because I am not allowed to eat anything. Watching my kids eat and enjoy their breakfast.

Please keep me in your prayers as I have this surgery. Pray for Paul as well that he will have peace about this situation.

Update on Baby #3!

Monday I went to see the high-risk specialist to have our baby checked as well as my cervix length checked. The baby is looking wonderfully well. The baby is really low and head down. That is not normal for this gestation. But we are happy to say that baby is looking perfect.

My cervix is actually a little better measuring at 2.5 cm (last week it was 2.1 cm). Which is good news! However, the high-risk specialist wants to see if the change in my cervix length is due to the medication (Procardia and Progesterone shots) or the bed rest. So I am off of bed rest until Friday! Yay!!! Paul is doing a wonderful job at giving me my shots. He did his first one at home last night and it could not have gone better! Thank you Paul!!! I ♥ you!!!

I will go back for another ultrasound to check cervical length on Friday. If my cervix is not shortening then this will tell the high-risk specialist that the medication is working and that no further intervention will be necessary. I would not have to go back onto bed rest. If it has shortened then they are going to want to do the cerclage. It has to be done before 24 weeks gestation and I am almost 23 weeks. So if it has shortened then they are going to do the cerclage either Friday afternoon or Monday. I am really hoping that they can do it Friday afternoon because Paul leaves to New York on Monday. I would really like him to be there.

If I am to have the cerclage done it will be an out patient procedure and I will have an epidural. Then I will most likely have to be on bed rest for about a week until the stitch heals. After that I would be able to get up and resume normal (not crazy) activity. The high-risk specialist is really trying to make it so that I do not have to be on bed rest so I can be a mommy to JP and Rachel. I really liked the high-risk specialist and like the course of action that we are taking.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

God bless,

Preterm Labor/Baby #3 Update

Today I went for another ultrasound to check my cervix length. Last week it was measuring 2.8 without compression and with compression it was measuring 2.5cm. Today it was measuring 2.2cm without compression and with compression 2.1cm.

I have officially been put on bed rest. I am allowed to get up to eat, go to the bathroom, and take a shower. I am also allowed to get up for an additional 30 minutes. Other than that I have to stay laying down. I have also been prescribed Procardia to help stop the uterine contractions. I am continuing the Progesterone shots. I had my second one today. Paul gave it to me. He did an amazing job! I was very impressed (Thank you Paul! You are my hero!!!).

I am going to see a Perientologist (high-risk pregnancy specialist) Monday to have an ultrasound to check my cervix length. Based on the results of that ultrasound it will determine what our next course of action is to be. If my cervix length gets below 2cm than they are going to look into doing a cervical cerclage (stitch to close the cervix). If they do that I may need to spend a night in the hospital for observation. I would be on bed rest for about a week then I would be able to get up and be on light duty (no picking up JP who weighs over 30lbs). But I would not be on the bed rest that I am on now. They use spinal, or epidural anesthesia for pain control during the procedure. A doctor will stitch a band of strong thread around the cervix, and the thread will be tightened to hold the cervix firmly closed. Generally the thread is removed at the 37th week of pregnancy. The procedure is successful in 85% to 90% of cases.

Some of the risks include:

• Premature contractions
• Cervical dystocia (inability of the cervix to dilate normally in the course of labor)
• Rupture of membranes
• Cervical infection
• Cervical laceration if labor happens before the cerclage is removed

We are having family come Thursday for JP's birthday and they will be staying until the following Wednesday when Bea will come and stay with me for a few days. After a few days my dad's wife, Debbie will stay almost two weeks and Bea will go home. After that we have not scheduled anyone yet. We will assess the situation next week and see if Bea will need to come back out.

Please continue to pray for us!!!