loving our henry john

Sharon snapped this pix.... i'm not sure i need to even say anything else.
=)
I have fallen in love with our Henry.

henry's hospital stay and follow up.

We went to Henry's one week follow up.... he is now at 9 pounds 13 ounces.
this boy is growing! (birth weight 9 pounds 8 ounces)
everything looked healthy and strong..
nursing is going well, he is sleeping well at night, up 1-2 times in the night.

here's a peek into our hospital stay.....



















































daddy dressing henry in a superman outfit to head home!



bundled for the cold Wisconsin/December weather.



Henry was born on Wednesday night and we came home on Friday around noon.
John, Sharon, Caleb and Nancy have been WONDERFUL here at home.
Nancy and Sharon sang and played the piano with Gow at our Christmas Eve service, Sharon has been running the kitchen and making some YUMMERS meals while Nancy, Caleb and John have been pushing the girls on the swings, giving pony rides, ballet lessons, finger painting, more and snuggling our lil Henry.

the flu bug hit Nancy, Caleb and John on Christmas- biiiiig bummer. but they recovered and we celebrated the next day with a meal with my folks, my auntie karen and jane.

the girls are doing great with henry.
daisy is constantly asking "where's my baby?" and "me kiss my baby?" i think she kisses him about 98 times a day.
when henry furrows his brow sally asks "what is he thinking mom?"

i am super tired. healing well. life seems a bit of a blur these days of diapers, snuggles, nursing, and soaking up gowan family time.

k- love to y'all. im gonna work on posting some pix... as henry is now a week old and already looks grown up. =) okay, maybe not grown up.... but he does already look different. =)

love from the gowanito household!

henry john 9 pounds 8 ounces 21.25 inches photos

Henry John Gowan

Wednesday, December 21, 2011. Check-in: 8am. First induction pill: 9:20. Second induction pill: 1:40. 2hrs 45min of pacing the hallway. 2 movies and 6 episodes of "Up All Night." Water-breaking: 6:30pm. Epidural: 8:00. First push: 8:45. Henry John Gowan was born at 9:45pm. 9lb 8oz! 21.75 inches. Doctor said he was playing jump rope with the cord (it was wrapped around the neck and body several times). We are healthy and grateful.

thinking about labor/birth & baby boy gowan

i have been thinking alot about labor, delivery, hospital... how it went delivering the girls and what it will be like this time....

so today, i went back to the blogs that i posted after having each of the girls. it TOTALLY made me cry. Cry with happiness, thanksgiving, joy, love.... just being overwhelmed with how amazing God has been to us with/thru these girls.

here's a snippet from each.... and 2 pix from each.... i was surprised to see the weight difference.... Daisy was almost a whole pound bigger than Sally. Makes me wondering if baby boy will be a 9 pounder?!?!



ok- here's from 2008 and 2009....



April 23,2008

Sally Jane was born at 12:12 pm (central time). She is 7 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. She has a little bit of blackish/brownish hair, hazelish eyes, and a loud cry.

I started having light cramps about 10pm last night and then had contractions off and on all night. I was able to sleep some between them. About 4am I woke Gow up cuz I couldn't do it alone anymore. We got to the hospital at 8:25 this morning, at 9:36 had an epidural was the biggest blessing from God! At 11:39 I started pushing and Sally Jane was in this world not much later at 12:12 p.m.

August 12, 2009

Daisy Kate was born this morning at 9:52am!

She is 8 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long.

Everyone is doing well. Daisy is quieter and less verbal than Sally was and everything seemed a little easier this time. Daisy is finishing her first feeding and mostly napping. We did have a scare as the umbilical cord was wrapped around Daisy's neck twice. So the doctor cut it once and figured out it needed to be cut again. She was pretty blue, but her heart rate never got to a dangerous spot and all is good now.






as for today...

we have crossed off a zillion things from the to-do list... and we are ready!

on wed morning we will go in at 8 am for an attempt at a "natural induction". it means they will give me a pill that is suppose to help the process along... if labor doesn't start, they will try another pill 4 hours later, and then one more time. if nothing happens, we will come home on Wed- still prego to wait. =)

thursday afternoon- john and sharon (buelo & buela) & Caleb and Nancy (Uncle Cookie & Fancy Nancy) will arrive for Christmas! soooooooooo exciting! Katy, Greg and Taylor are not coming as they too are waiting the arrival of their baby boy! sooo fun to have babies at the same time!

last night i woke up around 3:30- ill. super ill. it made for a long night and day... hurling and carrying on...... gow didn't have work until this afternoon- so he took care of the girls, house and me.
I am feeling better and have held in liquids, crackers & now a 1/2 of bagel. PRAISE THE LORD.
I need/want some strength so we can bring this lil boy into our arms! =)

on the prayer front-
please pray for health & strength for all of us... specially me & baby in this week.
please pray for work for gow.... it's looking like he will have the rest of this month off.....
please pray for Daisy and Sally as they (we all) adjust to being a fam of 5.

PRAISES for John, Sharon, Caleb, Nancy and 2 baby boys coming! WAHOO!

2 weeks til due date

hi all.

this is one of my most favorite pix of the girls taken to date.
cyndie took it - she has mad skills -



i just wanted to post to say that we are super duper uper luper buper MUPER ready for this lil baby boy to make his debut! =)

my due date is dec 28th.
i look and feel like i have swallowed a basketball.
we are all healthy.... and ready.

we are also super ready to have john, sharon, nancy and caleb come for Christmas! they fly in on the 22nd!

tis the season to celebrate Jesus! and the incredible blessings that He has given/gives.....

Merry Christmas season to y'all!
love-
and may God bring this baby soon to our arms!
LG

thanksgiving at my sisters

DeVries Family as of Thanksgiving, 2011



we had an all family competition of games... looks like Emma and Daisy are have a dice-roll off.
there was a kids bracket and an adult bracket.... Emma was champs of the kids' and Gow took home the trophy for the adults! way to baby! (the trophy is currently by sally's bed - where all of her favorite things go. ) =)



dad working on one of the 2 puzzles we completed



mom and auntie karen playing scrabble.



mom and I competing.... had to drop mini marsh mellows into a cup bellow..... i won! =)



b and timmers - having an ice cream dessert together.

we had a great time, spent 2 nights down there in the casparis' humungo home that hosted us all super comfortably. thanks for having us guys! and the food was amazing!

we came home and decorated for Christmas! I love the glow of the soft white lights! cozy cozy cozy!

we decided to start a new tradition - the first night that the tree was up - to have a slumber party together in the living room under the soft glow of the tree! it was super fun and cozy.... and didn't work. =) daisy needed the "norm" of her bedroom..... so we enjoyed watching the Saint Nicholas Veggies Tales by the lights... and a good night in our own beds. =)

personally, the beginning of Thanksgiving break marked the beginning of the end..... the beginning of end of the semester parties, a baby shower, Christmas parties, the Gowan family arrives and then.... the baby! woot woot! it's ALL good times from here until lil gowanito makes his arrival! i am sooo thankful! and READY to have this lil baby.

Please be praying with us for continued health for me and the lil one- we have been super blessed thus far. Thank you Jesus!


on a bummer of a note.... we came home to find hannah fossy ( our mega hermit crab ) eating light bulb (our yellow tang) . totally depressing and a bit disgusting to see the really beautiful creatures.... eating each other. yuck. and sad to lose a really pretty fish.

k- better help gow jammy the girls... he is just finishing their baths....

good night all!