More Maya

I just had to share some more Maya pictures :) We are having fun loving on this little girl and I am enjoying every moment of having an itty-bitty baby around again. We are definitely more relaxed the third time around! Maya is a very laid back, serious baby. She is eating like a champ and is already sleeping 3 - 4 hours in a row. She is a very good, easy baby so far. And lets not forget to mention how absolutely adorable she is!!!

Beautiful baby Maya!


Not the greatest picture but here's all the Budkes loving on Maya! Can you tell I had only slept 30 minutes in 2 days???


Introducing Maya to duckie!


Mommy and Maya taking a little rest at the hospital


Maya still looking like she has a sunburn at the hospital... she was bright red and had some bruising from coming down the birth canal so fast.


Look at those teeny-tiny feet!! They are very dry and cracked though... we think she baked just a little too long in Mommy's belly.


More Maya at the hospital


Mommy and Daddy ready to take Maya home from the hospital


Maya's first ride in her car seat!


The three Budke girls. This picture looks peaceful but I believe they were actually fighting over who got to hold her just prior to this picture being taken.


Our family of five together for the first time at home!


The proud big sisters so glad to finally have Maya at home!


As soon as we got home Maryn wouldn't leave Maya's side. Or should I say "Myna" since that's Maya in Maryn talk :)


Snuggle bug Maya!


Close-up of Maya's precious face (and dry skin!)

Maya's Birth Story

I woke up on Thursday, February 19th feeling very bummed... it was my due date but no contractions whatsoever (despite the fact that I had been contracting for weeks). I decided to run errands with the girls rather than sit around the house and dwell on it. We went to Wal-Mart and ran some other errands... I was hoping all the walking around at the store would put me into labor. That afternoon I started having contractions again but nothing out of the ordinary from what I had been experiencing for weeks. At dinner time Josh was in the kitchen making dinner and I was sitting at the breakfast bar talking to him and told him that I felt like my contractions were maybe getting a little more serious. We kept going with our typical nightly routine and around the girls' bedtime I decided that maybe I should start timing the contractions. They were consistently 5 - 10 minutes apart and were growing in intensity. We decided to give my parents a call around 9:45 pm so they would have enough time to get to our house. In the meantime, I talked to my doctor and she said she wanted me to head to the hospital as soon as my parents arrived because it's hard to tell how fast a third baby will decide to come once things start going. We left for the hospital at 11:00 and my contractions were more consistently 5 - 7 minutes apart and I could no longer talk through them and had to do a little breathing. We checked into St. Luke's at 11:30 pm and got hooked up to the monitor and checked. I was 5 cm dilated and contractions were coming on stronger. They got us back to our room and hooked me up with an IV and a saline drip. I continued to breath through contractions as they were getting stronger. From past experience I knew it would take quite awhile to get an anesthesiologist so I ordered an epidural fairly quickly after we got to our room. As is typical, it took close to an hour to get him there because he was in a c-section. By the time he got there at 2:45 am I was 7 cm dilated and starting to shake uncontrollably (something that seems to be typical with my labors). The anesthesiologist was done in about 15 minutes and I started to feel relief quickly. Our nurse Jen decided to leave at that point to have her dinner and left us with a back-up nurse. About 15-20 minutes into having the back-up nurse I told her I felt the urge to push. She decided to check me (even though the plan was to wait until Jen got back) and sure enough I was at 10 cm after just 15-20 minutes on the epidural (once again, it's typical for my labors to speed up dramatically once I get an epidural). Josh was in the bathroom when they checked me and I just remember the shocked look on his fact when he came out and I told him I was at a 10 already. They called my doctor and told her to get to the hospital ASAP. Dr. Sterling arrived approximately around 3:30 am. My bag of waters was still intact so they broke that first. They got dressed appropriately and got everything ready to go and after about 4 minutes of pushing Maya was born at 3:53 am. I couldn't see what was going on but apparently Maya's shoulders got stuck and all Josh could see was her purple face. The doctor had to adjust her quite a bit and had to yank at her pretty hard to get her shoulders unstuck. They laid her on my belly and the first thing I noticed was that she was purple with lots of blood on her and she wasn't crying. The nurses were frantically working on her (as she laid on my belly) trying to get her to cry. In the middle of all of this she opened her eyes and looked at me and that gave me a sense of peace. It seemed like forever, but after probably only a minute or two, they got Maya crying. Josh and I were so relieved. Some of our first thoughts of Maya was that she looked just like Maryn and Josh said she was big. I didn't believe it until they put her on the scale and she registered in at 9 lbs 3 oz! Maya took to nursing almost immediately and the nurses were in awe of how fast she picked it up. She is a very sweet, content baby and didn't even cry when they gave her a bath. She likes to scrunch up her face and scowl. She has a strawberry colored birthmark on her lower back and a round one on the back of her head. She was very dry and all the measurements they took after her birth showed her to be at 41 weeks gestation. We are guessing that maybe she was one week overdue after all (since my ultrasound due date was a week earlier). We stayed at the hospital until Saturday night and decided to have an early discharge since Maya was doing so well.

After we were discharged from the hospital unfortunately things got a little more interesting. Maya's bilirubin levels were on the low/intermediate level in the hospital so we were told to come back for a check the following day. At that check, her weight was at 8 lbs 5 oz. (which was too low we were told) and her bilirubin had not gone down at all. The doctor ordered lab work for the following day to get a better picture of what was going on with her bilirubin levels. The lab was a very excruciating experience as they couldn't get enough blood from Maya's foot and they were poking and prodding her for 15 minutes straight while she screamed in my arms. Unfortunately those tests showed a higher bilirubin level and the home healthcare people were sent to our house with a bili light. Maya was to be on this light non-stop for the next 18 hours until we took her back to the lab to test again. Josh and I were pretty laid back about her weight initially but once the lab tests came back and you add that to her losing weight, I was starting to get concerned. That night my mom and I were up with Maya most of the night with her light. I figured out at about 2:00 in the morning that Maya had not pooped for over 27 hours (which can cause more bilirubin to build up in her system). I was on the phone with the doctor and we were trying everything to get her to poop. The doctor said it was because my milk probably hadn't come in yet and she wasn't getting enough to eat to make her poop. So I started pumping in hopes of getting extra milk to give her in a bottle between feedings. I was only able to get approximately 1/4 ounce at my first pumping, but we gave it to her in a bottle anyway. She took to the bottle immediately and gulped down the milk. Within 5 minutes she had a bowel movement that was seriously 4 diapers worth of poop. I've never been so excited to see a bowel movement before in my life! Then she just kept on pooping and peeing after that. We took her in for more lab tests the following day and another weight check. Her weight was up to 8 lbs 10 1/2 ounce (a gain of 5 1/2 oz), which was outstanding since most babies only gain 1/2 oz - 1 oz per day. My milk was apparently starting to come in and things were going better. I was feeling confident and then finally yesterday afternoon we got the call that her final lab work was back and her bili levels had dropped 2 points and we no longer had to do the bili lights! What a relief! I can't tell you how many times yesterday I thanked God that my baby was better. Now she's eating, sleeping, pooping and peeing with the best of them and is such a content sweet little baby. We are so blessed to have Maya in our family!

Maya Grace Budke

We are so thrilled to share the exciting news of the birth of Maya Grace Budke!!! She was born at 3:53 am on Friday, February 20th. She weighed in at 9 pounds 3 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long! We are still shocked by her size! She is absolutely beautiful and looks just like her sisters! I intend to post her birth story shortly and all the details about what has been going on in the five wonderful days since Maya joined our family. She is such a blessing!


Maya with her very proud and very relieved Mommy and Daddy


Mommy & Maya


Daddy & Maya


Maya getting ready for her first bath


Maya enjoying her first bath... and yes, I said enjoying. She barely even made a peep the entire time. The only noise she made is when they squirted some cold soap on her tummy. We couldn't believe how laid back she was!


Makenna & Maya


Maryn & Maya


The Budke Girls! Someone told Josh this week that his lot in life is to be surrounded by beautiful women! :)

40 Weeks

Today's the big due date! Everything points to baby coming at any minute, but no luck yet. I was 3 cm dilated, 50% effaced and soft and baby's head was very low at my appointment on Monday. I feel exactly just how someone should feel at this point... I'll spare you all the gory details. I just keep trying to find the energy to do normal day activities so the girls and I don't just sit around here and dwell on it. My doctor said that if I haven't gone by my appointment on Monday then we will schedule an induction on either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. I'm hoping to avoid that if at all possible. Luckily my horrible 5 day sore throat has subsided somewhat but it has now turned into a cold. I'd much rather deal with a cold than a horrible sore throat though. Poor little MarBear started acting sick just before lunch so we're praying she's not coming down with something as well. I will post something as soon as possible after baby is born!

Here are my final belly shots! Disclaimer: I think doing my hair and make-up are optional once I reach my due date and anything beyond :) Plus my clothes don't exactly fit anymore.

This picture cracks me up! My shirt doesn't even cover my belly completely anymore!


Any guesses how big she is in there? I'm guessing somewhere in the 8 1/2 lb range, but if I go into next week I might need to adjust that number upwards a little bit.

Cute Little Stories

Catching up on all the cute little stories...

One of our favorite phrases from Maryn right now - If you are brushing her hair or doing something that she doesn't particularly enjoy she will say "Ow Ow Double Ow!" Sometimes we even get a "Double Double Double Ow" if it's really bad! It's adorable because it ends up coming out like "Duba ow." This is, of course, learned from her big sister (we're still not sure where Makenna learned it from though).

Just recently Makenna's preschool teacher's mother passed away. They apparently discussed this with the kids and that day when I picked her up from preschool I could tell immediately when we got in the car that something was bothering her. So I asked her what was wrong and she said "I'm worried about Daddy." Not sure where this was going I kept prodding her and not getting much of a response. Finally she breaks down in the back of the van and tells me "Daddy's getting so old mommy! I'm worried that he's going to go to heaven to be with God." I know this is a legitimate concern for little kids, but the fact that Josh is "so old" has given us all a good chuckle.

Makenna must be on an aging kick lately... one day we were randomly talking about every one's hair color in our family. We made it through everyone and Makenna comes to Josh and says "blondish, grayish." Oh the look on Josh's face! Makenna immediately changed her answer like she knew she said something wrong :) But the old comments aren't just limited to Josh. The other night when I was kissing Makenna good night she points to my forehead and says "Mommy why do you have all those lines on your face." Oh how that made my day ;)

This morning Maryn was finishing up her cereal for breakfast and like most typical mornings, she wanted to drink the leftover milk from the bottom of her bowl. Unfortunately the bowl she was using had suction cups on it and was suctioned to the table. She started pulling the bowl as hard as she could and before I could do anything about it, she put the bowl and all the milk directly into her face! She couldn't have made it a more perfect shot! She was dripping with milk and leftover remnants of bran flakes! In her hair, on her face, all over her jammies! She was SO mad! The bonus was that she got to take a bath before church and she loves baths!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was very laidback at our house this year. Daddy surprised us all by bringing home four red roses for the four girls in his life (we're just hoping the flowers live long enough so the 4th little one can actually see her rose!). Josh made heart-shaped pancakes for the girls with whipped cream and strawberries on top for breakfast :) We all exchanged cards and then Josh and I gave the girls each a play bracelet and necklace and some candy. It all seemed to be a huge hit. Unfortunately I came down with some kind of virus and ended up at the doctor's office for a good portion of Saturday morning. We're just praying that this virus clears up before baby decides to come and that no one else gets sick.

Maryn was using her long stem rose like a wand!


Makenna liked to smell her rose and likes to look at them all in the vase.

Clifford The Big Red Dog

Maryn and I were able to attend storytime with Clifford the Big Red Dog this morning at the Cedar Rapids library. I didn't say anything to her ahead of time because I wasn't sure if we'd be able to go or not due to the baby. I don't think she really understood what all the excitement was about until Clifford came out from behind a door! She just kept repeatedly giving this deep, hearty belly laugh! She was waving "hi" to Clifford, helped sing him "Happy Birthday" and really enjoyed herself. At the end we stood in line and she gave Clifford a high-five and then stood by him for a picture. She wasn't so sure when he offered her a hug though and backed away pretty fast :) It always seems like preschool mornings get filled up with so many other activities that it was a blast for Maryn and me to have a special outing just the two of us! I'm glad she had fun!

So my pictures really aren't all that great because they were going to cut the line off and take Clifford away for his next appearance. I was just trying to get a picture of any sort! You'll still get the idea even if her eyes are shut :)

Maryn taking her time to warm up to Clifford!


Our fun morning with Clifford! I know her eyes are closed but the most important aspect of this picture is the huge smile on her face :)

Watch the Baby Belly Grow!

Here is the progression of my baby belly! I still had a fairly flat stomach up until about 8 - 9 weeks of pregnancy and then all of a sudden I woke up one morning with a belly! It seriously happened over night. It grew at dramatic rates in the early weeks (thus lots of pictures because I was in awe of how pregnant I looked so early on!). I then seemed to hit a plateau in the middle and of course have gotten huge at the end. We'll see if I make it to my due date next week for a 40 week picture to add on!


Pre-pregnancy! Actually I was in that time period where you don't know you're pregnant yet but you actually are! I found out just a few days after our triathlon that I was pregnant! This picture is great motivation for me to get back into shape after the baby comes! I can't wait to be able to run/bike and not run out of breath just going up the stairs!


9 Weeks


10 Weeks


13 Weeks


16 Weeks


19 Weeks


21 Weeks


26 Weeks


30 Weeks


34 Weeks


36 Weeks


38 Weeks

Valentine's Cookies

I honestly think that maybe I am a little out of my mind right now... I'm 39 weeks pregnant, I've been having the real-deal hard contractions regularly since Monday morning but yet today I thought it sounded like fun to make cut-out frosted sugar cookies with the girls! What was I thinking?! They loved it and had a blast (and are still feeling the effects of their sugar high!) but it took every last ounce of patience and stamina I have left in me. I'm absolutely drained now from being on my feet all afternoon, but I'm secretly hoping that maybe it will put me into labor! That would be a fun story! Maryn improved in her frosting and decorating abilities since Christmas and actually decorated one whole cookie before diving into her second one. Makenna continues to take great pride in her cookie decorating abilities! Anyway, here are some of the fun pictures from our afternoon :)

Concentrating hard on her decorating...


Maryn does not like to be messy and had to wipe her hands on the paper towel frequently throughout the process




Note Makenna's creative outfit... I dress this kid in appropriate, matching outfits each and every morning and she insists on changing into more summery outfits the minute she gets home from school. I suppose this is all part of being a girl and wanting to create your own "look" but I'm not liking the amount of laundry this produces.




One of the Makenna's finished products!


Could she shove her fingers any farther down her throat!! Have to make sure she gets all the frosting off her fingers!