And now we are 6

George Peregrine Baker

was born on June 27 at 7:05 am

weighing 8 lb 5 oz.

Little George is now 4 weeks old, and life is starting to feel a bit more stable.  (I managed to bake chocolate-chip banana bread, work in the garden, do a few loads of laundry, and even make a simple dinner tonight without too much stress.  Things are going much better than last week, when we were subsisting off grilled cheese  sandwiches and yogurt, and couldn’t manage to get out of my PJs before 11 am.)  Overall, it’s been quite a rough start – we’re taking it day by day, but it’s totally worth it to add George to our family.

George was born at 40 weeks, 5 days (the earliest of any of my kids!), and considering his big brother was born after less than three hours, I thought things would be pretty quick, but this labor was about 8 1/2  very difficult hours.  He was OP (“sunnyside up”), and the labor was pretty excruciating and I was stuck at 6 cm for hours and hours.   Once he finally turned, he was born within 5 minutes (I caught him!  That’s 4 for 4!).  In retrospect, I’m grateful he wasn’t well positioned, or he’d likely have been born long before we got to the hospital.   He is healthy and a great nurser and looks like a perfect blend of his three older siblings.

I ended up with a PPH again, but it took several hours, a few doses of pitcoin and a hefty dose of misoprostol to get it under control this time.  And when George was 6 days old, I ended up needing to be treated for dehydration and double mastitis, so that has slowed my recovery even further, and I am anxious to get back up to full speed.  Our entire family are very thankful for the friends who brought meals, and my sister who kept the kids while I was in the hospital and afterward helped with laundry, etc.  We’re also grateful for our neighbor who cared for the ducks & chickens both times we were in the hospital, and my MIL and SIL who helped watch the girls while I was so ill the end of that first week.  We could never have made it through without the support everyone offered.  Thank you all so much!!

George is a bit of a colicky baby, and that plus a very-energetic (and destructive!) 3 year-old brother, and two intense older sisters makes for a challenging mix of needs around the house.   I have no idea how I’m ever going to get my house clean again, much less maintain it.  The thought of tackling homeschooling in the fall scares the living daylights out of me.   But, we’ll adjust to the new dynamic in the household, and before we know it we’ll have settled in to the new normal around the Baker house.  Things get a little easier every week, for all of us.

Oh, here’s a photo of the whole Baker family back when George was 2 weeks old:

Clockwise from lower left: Harold (Hal) age 3, Grandma Bishop and Grandpa Bishop (visiting from Florida), me (Angela) holding George, Casey, Ruth age 8.5, and Beatrix (Bea) age 6.5.

I’ve got a new quick update on the garden coming very shortly, and a few recipes after that.  As things ease up a bit, I’m looking forward to posting a more frequently.  Thanks for your patience and God bless!