Full house

So we’ve gotten through the first night with three girls. It has been a bit strenuous keeping up with all these girls. The older two are more than enough to keep us occupied, for sure. But they have given us some brief periods of tranquility from time to time.

They are very curious about the baby and like to touch her (or slap her), kiss her, look at her, etc. So far Josie isn’t capable of doing anything to raise their ire. However, the baby is quite a capable crier and pooper. She really kept us up last night. Thankfully, though, we are getting a bit of daytime napping in the last 2 days. In fact, I am quite thrilled to report all four of my girls are still sleeping right now!

Because Josie still doesn’t “do” very much, life in the house in many ways is very similar to what it was before. We still have the same problems of girls getting picky about eating food, fighting over toys (or fighting to have space on the carpet in which to dance), screaming, doing things we just told them not to do, etc. But when we see Jadzia and Ludi have nice sisterly moments, it does give us a hopeful glimpse of what life might be like for these three girls in the future.

We had a brief incident at the hospital yesterday as we were leaving. Yoli was sitting in a wheelchair holding Josie, while a nurse stood by. They waited for me to bring the car around and come in to the lobby with the car seat. Josie was dressed in two layers of clothes (too big for her tiny body) and a beautiful white blanket made by Maud Lawrence, one of my Nan’s relatives. I came in toting the car seat and two little rolled-up blankets to support Josie’s head. A lady standing nearby came over to tell us that the baby wasn’t dressed warmly enough for the frigid temperature outside. I told this woman that the car itself was warmed up and that there were more blankets inside, but this didn’t assuage her. She began accusing us of child abuse and berating the nurse who was helping us, as her husband stood by quietly. She said she would call security, etc. It blew my mind. In any event, the nurse was kind with us, knew what she was doing, and got Josie installed in the car seat nicely.

What a way to welcome a new baby to the world. And what a wonderful feeling it gave Yoli and I as we prepared to start our new life with this new addition.

Seriously, this lady’s intentions may have been good, but her execution left much to be desired.

It goes without saying that Josie survived the drive home.

Video: Family visit

Here’s the second of two videos I shot on Wednesday. This one shows my parents, my brother, sister-in-law and nephews when they came over to the hospital to meet Josie. With four toddlers/preschoolers running around the room, there was potential for much havoc. Thankfully, serious damage was avoided. I’m so glad that Justin and Becca could come up with the boys.

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The girls meet Josie

After a while I took Jadzia and Ludi to meet their new sister, Josie. We told them that Josie had arrived with gifts for them: an apron for Jadzia, and sunglasses for Ludi.

Both girls were very interested in holding Josie and touching her. Ludi especially. Ludi was giving her kisses. But she was also treating Josie more like a doll, repeatedly pushing in her nose and saying “nariz” like she would with the doll she got for Christmas.

Josie Míriel

So here’s a bit more about our new girl, Josie Míriel Renaud.

Yoli began having her serious contractions in the night. She woke me to let me know what was happening, but said they were still very irregular and that I should try to sleep. I did eventually, but I had a hard time of it because of adrenaline. Around 6 a.m. we called my mom and asked her to come over. Thankfully she was able to leave right away, despite the fact that Wednesday is normally a Café day for her.

As soon as she arrived, we set off on the long journey to St. Luke’s. Unlike the last time we had a long trip to the hospital for a baby, Yoli didn’t spend the whole trip pushing. But she was still very close to being ready to deliver.

I can’t say enough good things about St. Luke’s. They took us right in at the ER and wheeled Yoli right into her room. The nurses attended her and helped her get going, without bogging us down with a ton of paperwork.

The birth itself was natural and pretty fast, like the other two. Actual pushing took around 15 minutes. I think Yoli was hurting a lot right at the end, but she seemed very relieved and relaxed as soon as Josie was out.

There were a few little hangups at the beginning getting Josie to nurse, but it sounds like she is an old pro as of this evening.

I’ll have more photos and videos posted in a while, so keep watching.

Baby girl, part three

Already I can tell that it’s not easy juggling three kids!

Yes, that’s right, the third child arrived early this morning — 7:49 a.m. to be exact (that’s for you, Caesar) — at St. Luke’s Hospital.

At the moment the girls are upstairs; Jadzia is watching Mr. Rogers and Ludi is eating cereal. So I only have enough time right now to say that the delivery went very well. It was hard for Yoli, but it was short. Both mamá and bebé are in good shape.

Our new baby is a girl! She weighed 7 lbs and was 20.5 inches long. Her name is still a work in progress. Hopefully this evening we will have decided and I will post it here.

Comings and goings

On the way out: We begin our day-long journey to Bolivia at 6:10 a.m. this morning. We should arrive there at 10 p.m. (Bolivia time). That could make for a long day, so please keep us in your prayers. While we are in Bolivia, we will be posting updates and photos to our Bolivia weblog NOT here, so please check there frequently!

On the way in: The Renaud Empire continues its expansion. We are pleased to announce that we are expecting our third child, who will arrive in January!

Back from the hospital

All four of us are now back at Renaud Manor in Ferguson. The hospital stay was nice, but now we’re in for the real grind… The baby is eating, sleeping, pooping, and crying all day long. So far Jadzia has been nice with her, and we haven’t seen any huge problems. Hopefully it will stay that way. It’s good I can be home to tackle Jadzia while Yoli tackles the baby.

Click the link below to see one final video we took at the hospital.

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