bullets:

• i am so tired
• i need to go to bed
• i haven't started/finished packing yet
• we are suppose to leave "no later than 9:30"
• ...a.m.
• jonah fed for like 2 hours straight tonight..
• or so it felt
• noah has a fever and yucky cough
• someone has hired us a car for the week to drive over to belfast in
• God is good to us
• i can't wait for august (to fly to baltimore)
• jonah now weighs 8lbs 4oz
• (that's 4oz in 4.5 days!!)
• i'm going to bed now?

a small recap with lots of photos

hello gang! sorry for not posting any updates, but i'm sure you all know how it is with babies and toddlers in the house!! we are all doing pretty well. noah has a slight fever/cold that could have possibly come from nana (who has since gone home) or from whatever. but he's been sleepy and cuddly, so it hasn't been too bad really. micah is fine and raring to go...wherever!

andy was super husband yesterday morning and took both boys to the morning meeting (church). usually its just micah we take as he is able to sit quietly and draw or observe. where as noah doesn't quite understand the whole sitting still bit ;) but he is only 2!! but andy took them both as noah really just wanted to go out in the pushchair so andy drove so far then walked the rest of the way with noah in the stroller. he just sat in it and fell asleep eventually during the meeting and micah was very good too! so thankful for little things =)

then noah slept again after lunch, not that he ate anything, but i took him upstairs into our bed so that i could sleep too! it was nice, then andy took micah up for a nap and noah woke and joined them and they all slept a wee bit too! then jonah woke up for a feed...but it was a nice afternoon.

i haven't been taking so many photos these last few days, but i do have a few to show you all!

all the boys on my bed


noah taking a bigger interest in his baby brother


andy's cousin rachel (and auntie ann) came for a visit


micah loving his new baby brother


micah took a photo of mommy and jonah


beautiful jonah


and cutie patootie noah!

more photos =)

i just did this one small as i didn't do a good job on the photos. jonah was weighed this morning and we always get photos but i had the wrong lense on so didn't get a good photo! but jonah does now weigh 8lbs. so whether he lost a wee bit and is now just past his birth weight of 7lbs 15.5 oz. the stocks (and pheobe, jane, lizzie and jo) all came over monday night to cuddle jonah.
here is jemima with him.

noah had a chocolate hobnob while watching peter pan this morning..he tends to try and eat the choc first!

micah just can't hold jonah enough! he loves him!! noah too has come around and has asked (gestured) that he wants to hold jonah, though i have yet to get a photo!!

life with jonah, micah and noah

hello! so day 5 with my 3 boys. i am very thankful for valerie and glad that she is here to play with the boys, tidy up and cook dinner =) don't know how i would cope without her! but we are doing well....i was a bit tired yesterday and a bit sore, but feeling better today. jonah is doing well though feeding doesn't seem to be as easy as last time. once he is latched on, he's fine but latching on can sometimes be a problem...
nights have been hard. from 10 till whenever he finally settles down and then we are ok. but its just figuring out what his schedule is. =) but still micah loves jonah. always checking in on him and wanting to hold his or our baby. noah is slowly coming around. this morning for the first time he held his hands out to hold jonah, which he did for about 20 seconds before pulling back. he doesn't seem to be too jealous unless its time for his (noah's) nap or if has hurt himself. so all is good.
andy is pretty stressed and tired with school work as they are being inspected again tomorrow and thursday so they have been planning away and marking all the books. plus they are to be doing their reports for end of year. not much fun...so he has been sleeping in the boys room so that jonah isn't waking him up and if the boys wake up its minimal as he is right there! so hopefully soon we'll get into a routine and back to some what normal =)
and ofcourse, i can't post without putting up any photos right?

jonah

some more photos from hospital:



from saturday:

i'm here...

safe at home since last night. oh so nice to sleep in my own bed, and yes, i did to sleep!! jonah kept me up for awhile (until almost 2) though i did doze inbetween feedings and during some feedings! but he was definitely making up for not feeding at the hospital!! but he slept from 2 till 6, brought up some mucus, dirtied a nappy and went back to sleep until quarter to 9! i got up at 6, had a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice and then crawled back into bed! it was nice!

the birth did feel long, but was ok. gas and air was wonderful this time around and i really feel like it helped. we had a student midwife who was almost qualified who was my main midwife and she was wonderful! i only pushed a few minutes though it did feel like longer, but i do realize that once we started i don't remember stopping inbetween. i didn't use the gas and air for the pushing even though it hurt like heck, but that was just not possible! jonah cried a wee bit when he first came out and they put him on my tummy, but then it took a bit of rubbing to get him crying again. he has fair hair =) a first for us... the other midwife went and made us some tea and toast and the toast was literally the best thing in the whole entire world! oh my gosh! that will probably be my favourite memory =) (oh and no stitches!! hurray!)

i got a shower around 7:30 or so then moved up to the ward around 8:30/9. jonah slept once upstairs so i slept as well off and on as there was one other mom and baby in our room and her baby kept crying. lunch was nice and then i slept a wee bit more till finally some visitors came at 3. micah, noah, nana, andy, becky and peter (they are from church). they left then i had dinner and then went home as well!

i'll leave this as is and write more later. i need to go and make some hamburgers for dinner i think =) yummy. we missed out on a bbq last night, so tonight we are having our own!!

A Long Night

We arrived at the hospital at 10pm, but didn't go to the delivery suite until just after midnight.

From then until Jonah was born just before 6, Janelle had contractions almost every 3 minutes. The only way she could get some comfort was to kneel on the bed, but after being like that for an hour or so, her knees got sore.

She did very well though, and in true Janelle style only used gas and air.

With Micah and Noah, her waters broke early on in the labour, but with this one, they didn't break until 10 minutes before Jonah was born.

Mother and Baby are fed and watered and resting in the ward. I've come home, and now I'm going to bed.

Hooray!!! Jonah is here!!!

Introducing Jonah Edward Mullan.

Born 13th June 2008 @ 5.57am BST.

Weight: 7 lbs 15.5 oz

Length: 56 cm

Both Mom and Baby are doing very well.

Jonah seems quite a contented wee baby.

A proud father!!

getting stronger

every 5-7 minutes but still not really bad.... so maybe tonight is the night!

still here

but...i am having contractions. mild but they are there! will let you know =)

yep yep yep

i.am.still.here.

no twinges or anything. just still uncomfortable. oh the joy. do you know thought that originally before my dating scan i though i was due june 13th? and what's today? hmm... we'll see =)

also, andy's cousin paul and his wife erin are having a scheduled c-section tomorrow. not fair! i'm suppose to have mine first...

anyway, yesterday and today i have had a nice afternoon nap with noah and micah. atleast an hour or so. very nice! i cleared off a table in our bedroom last night and made it into a changing table/corner with everything there and ready. and i cleaned out my maternity clothes from my wardrobe and made that the baby's shelf with vests, wee socks and baby grows. b/c really? i only have a handful of items that actually fit and are comfortable!

my sister-in-law esther goes home on saturday, so if i have to be induced, she won't get to see the baby either! simon's already missed out when he was here last weekend! oh well =)

so...nothing!

i had a sweep yesterday morning while at the hospital and absolutely nothing has happened since. i'm so sad! i really want to baby to come now...am 6 days over the due date! why me!? =) i am a lot more uncomfortable, especially at nights having to turn over and getting out of bed are terrible!
so if nothing happens before saturday then i go in to be induced. not at all looking forwards to that! so please pray hard that this baby comes...now! though andy has a field trip tomorrow that is a good distance away. he was going to try and get an extra teacher on the trip so that he would be free to drive himself incase he has to leave early! what fun....

saturday andy and simon went to their cousins stag do which involved karting and a chinese buffett. andy and simon were teamed together and they won! they were so excited!!

and this is dan the groom-to-be whose brothers made him dress like this!! what a good sport!

off to appt

so i have a 9am hospital appt. leaving boys at home with valerie and my friend becky is meeting me to be my moral support! so hopefully this will help to start things off =) will write later!

baby #3

is taking their time in coming! i know i am 'only' 3 days over my due date...but that is 3 days longer then ever! but alas, all is well. i'm fine, i'm just tired. and thats about it! so i am off for a kip while the boys are out at the park with nana.

more of noah

midwife appointment

appt was just a normal appt. nothing was done to move this baby along. so if nothing happens this weekend then its to the hosp appt on monday for a sweep...

tonight noah will get the rest of his presents since andy will be home with us for dinner. so i'll take lots of photos =) tomorrow (andy's brother) simon, esther and sarah are flying in. simon and andy will be going out for their cousin dan's stag do (off go-karting and to a chinese buffett). that is in lichfield up on the other side of birmingham, so not too far away incase he needs to be called back =)

sunday we are having a big lunch at the hall (church) as there are a lot of us who want to see simon (who flies home that afternoon) and none of our houses are big enough for 20+ people to have dinner at! esther and sarah are staying on for a week which will be nice!

yep. i'm still here!

i love the waiting game! what fun =)

all is well...we had a quiet day yesterday, valerie is still recovering and i am feeling quite tired these days. imagine that! andy is busy with school reports to write which takes up a lot of time. last night valerie, the boys and i went down to redditch for dinner at the stocks. the boys played lots with jemima which was nice for me and valerie =)

noah is so funny! still not talking but i love when he goes to leave the room he waves to everyone he walks past! so cute!

i have a midwife appt in an hour, i have no idea what if anything will be done. i also have a hospital appt on monday which is the pre-planned post due date appt. i'll update you all later!

Happy Birthday Noah!

My wee little man is 2 today! I can't really think of much to say at the moment....so i'll just post some photos =)

due day

yes, its my due date and no, nothing is happening! it is only 9:48am so i have all day to go...and we'll just see how it goes.
unfortunately, last night was a yucky night for everyone. micah and noah both have the wonderful colds of coughing and flem stuck in their throats or whatever. so they were both up lots and then ended up in our bed. not nice at all, didn't make for a very comfortable sleep or continuous!
andy and i are colds free, but andy's mom who is still here with us is not feeling very well either. though hers is more of a sore head and tummy i think. she slept lots and lots yesterday and is still sleeping or laying in bed now. so hopefully she'll feel better soon and before the baby comes! yikes, what fun!!
though looking back on this post, both micah and andy were sick with a fever the 2 days before noah came...so maybe this is just another indication that things will happen soon!

some photos from yesterday

yesterday i gave noah some sprinkles to eat/play with...it was very funny to watch!

here is micah and his writing! had to take a photo since its my name!!

if anyone is wondering...

i'm still here. tradition has now broken! micah and noah both have come on the first day back to school after a holiday. so its quarter to 9 and nothing happening, so i think we're safe! just had a day of cleaning this and that and i went shopping in the morning on my own, which was nice though i was exhausted afterward and i hadn't even been gone 2 hours!

here are some more photos from the beach and one of the sunset when we were almost home! enjoy =)

a beautiful saturday

we went to weston-super-mare which is south of bristol, down the m5. just south of wales too (just under 2 hours drive). it was very nice but when we actually got to the beach, that you just drive up onto it, it was really misty. you couldn't see the sea or past the next line of cars! you definitely needed to stay with your children. not that we had to worry as noah didn't like the sand on his feet!! he started off with sandals on, but didn't like the sand inbetween the toes so we tried taking them off and i held his hand and walked with him to where the ball was but he kept going back to the blanket. then we put his normal shoes on and he was fine! rolling in the sand, digging in the sand and everything else! micah loved every bit of it too!

finally around 3 the mist lifted and we could see the sea and walked down to it. it was actually really warm though muddy i think from recent flooding. neither of the boys wanted to go in it but enjoyed me splashing them while they threw seashells at me!
i am burnt as i forgot about lotion for myself, but got the boys done. though i think we did it too late on noah as his cheeks are pink too!