Friday, October 29, 2010
Picture post
I tried to take a few pictures of Nathan this afternoon, hoping to get some cute newborn sleepy smiles. I love the faces babies make when they are sleeping. But he was wide awake. Maybe I'll try again later. But for now, here is my cutie:
Nathan's birth story
Man, it's going to be hard to write all the details of Nathan's birth story. One, because there were so many cool things that took place to make it a miraculous experience. And two, because I'm short on time and sleep these days. But we'll see what I can do.
If birth stories make you queasy or aren't your thing, feel free to skip this post! And it's really long. :) It's mostly for me to remember everything.
First, I have to say that every detail of the day was completely a blessing from God. He took care of us in so many ways, I probably can't even say it all. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, I know I only accomplished another wonderful natural childbirth under His provision and grace.
Second, natural childbirth is kind of like riding a roller coaster. You're kind of wondering when you're going up the hill, "Why did I decide to do this?" But there is no turning back and you just have to prepare and focus. Then when it's all over, you're like, "Wow! That was amazing! I would totally do that again." (Just not any time soon.)
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I woke up Thursday, October 21 feeling kind of tired and grumpy. Mostly because Caleb was sick and had me up at 5:00 a.m., and I could tell my body didn't feel the same. I had the thought, "Oh great, I'm going to go into labor today on little sleep with a sick child." I didn't say anything to David or family though just in case it didn't happen. From 9-10 in the morning I had four regular contractions every 15 minutes that kind of got my attention. Then I thought, "If this baby doesn't come today, it's probably going to be soon!" I already had a premonition that Nathan would come around a full moon. I didn't know I would get the exact day though!
As the day went on, it got worse. Caleb could barely breathe because his colds sometimes induce asthma. So I had to give him breathing treatments. He was so bad he couldn't take a nap, which meant no rest for me. When I realized that I could be having a baby soon, and I was completely worn out physically and emotionally, I texted David to see if he could come home from work. Thankfully he did. He got home around 2:00.
He took Caleb out and ran some errands to give me a chance to rest. Well, I didn't exactly rest. I cleaned the house. Then took a shower. Then rested a little bit. But right as I laid in bed, the contractions were noticeable and consistent - about every 15 minutes again. I realized then that today was going to be the day Nathan was coming!
David came home and we gave Caleb another breathing treatment and a steroid. Thankfully those helped and his breathing got much better. The timeline from there is kind of a blur, but we ate, put Caleb to bed, packed our bags, and called our family.
Around 10:30ish I tried to lay down and sleep. I knew the contractions needed to be about a minute long and 5 minutes apart before going to the hospital. They were getting worse. I couldn't lay down when a contraction came, so I definitely wasn't going to sleep. David came to bed, and I asked him to start timing my contractions. They were 3-5 minutes apart and 45-60 seconds each!! So at 11:30 p.m., we tried to call our midwife to see if we could make our way to the hospital. She was paged, but never called us back. We started getting a little worried. After another failed page, and an hour later, they paged another midwife who called us back at 12:30 a.m. and said we should definitely go to the hospital. We found out her pager accidentally turned off!
We were also concerned about what to do with our sleeping Caleb. We were going to call David's brother, but he was 30 minutes away, and my parents were about 45 minutes away in their drive down from Dallas. We decided to wait for them to get here. So at about 1:00 in the morning, they arrived, and we left for the hospital.
One great thing about going into labor at 1:00 a.m. is there isn't any traffic on the road!
I was admitted to a hospital room at 1:30 and hooked up to all the monitors. And all of a sudden it seemed like my contractions weren't as bad! I started feeling a little discouraged. Then the midwife checked me and said I was only 3-4 centimeters dilated! And I was at a + 2 station, which means the baby's head was still high. She said if I didn't need to get an antibiotic and I lived down the street, she would probably send me home. She said she would turn the lights off and let me rest a few hours, and hopefully I would make some progress.
Well, not more than a few minutes later, I got a strong contraction and felt a big pop - then liquid come out. I know, kinda gross. Sorry. I said, "Um, I think my water broke." They checked, and sure enough it did. Then the contractions started coming really strong, really fast.
I'll spare you all the details, but I'll just say it was hard. I had the urge to push, and my midwife said to just let my body do what it needed to. David helped me with my breathing, and was so comforting. Debbie, my midwife, told me I better turn around and get in a good position because she thought the baby would be here any minute. I really didn't believe her. Because with Caleb I pushed for 2 hours!!! She checked me, and I was fully dilated, and she said I was ready to have this baby with probably the next two contractions.
And with a few pushes, Nathan arrived into the world! Oct 22 - 3:23 a.m. - 7 lbs 4 oz - 18 1/4 inches.
So basically, I was in the hospital for less than 2 hours, and went from 3 to 10 centimeters and had a baby in less than 45 minutes. Crazy whirlwind.
When they put Nathan on my chest, he practically fell asleep. He cried a bit, but overall was so chill. He is so precious, and we were in love at first sight.
We are thankful for so many things. That I went to the hospital at the perfect time, that my parents arrived in town at the perfect time, that Caleb started feeling better and slept soundly as we left him, that my labor was quick and relatively easy (I said relatively), that it progressed smoothly, that my water didn't break before getting to the hospital (or I would have had a baby in the car!), that I wasn't sent home, that there were no complications, I could go on and on.
Anyway, we are happily adjusting to life at home. I love love love my boys. Here are some pictures:
If birth stories make you queasy or aren't your thing, feel free to skip this post! And it's really long. :) It's mostly for me to remember everything.
First, I have to say that every detail of the day was completely a blessing from God. He took care of us in so many ways, I probably can't even say it all. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, I know I only accomplished another wonderful natural childbirth under His provision and grace.
Second, natural childbirth is kind of like riding a roller coaster. You're kind of wondering when you're going up the hill, "Why did I decide to do this?" But there is no turning back and you just have to prepare and focus. Then when it's all over, you're like, "Wow! That was amazing! I would totally do that again." (Just not any time soon.)
---------------------------------------
I woke up Thursday, October 21 feeling kind of tired and grumpy. Mostly because Caleb was sick and had me up at 5:00 a.m., and I could tell my body didn't feel the same. I had the thought, "Oh great, I'm going to go into labor today on little sleep with a sick child." I didn't say anything to David or family though just in case it didn't happen. From 9-10 in the morning I had four regular contractions every 15 minutes that kind of got my attention. Then I thought, "If this baby doesn't come today, it's probably going to be soon!" I already had a premonition that Nathan would come around a full moon. I didn't know I would get the exact day though!
As the day went on, it got worse. Caleb could barely breathe because his colds sometimes induce asthma. So I had to give him breathing treatments. He was so bad he couldn't take a nap, which meant no rest for me. When I realized that I could be having a baby soon, and I was completely worn out physically and emotionally, I texted David to see if he could come home from work. Thankfully he did. He got home around 2:00.
He took Caleb out and ran some errands to give me a chance to rest. Well, I didn't exactly rest. I cleaned the house. Then took a shower. Then rested a little bit. But right as I laid in bed, the contractions were noticeable and consistent - about every 15 minutes again. I realized then that today was going to be the day Nathan was coming!
David came home and we gave Caleb another breathing treatment and a steroid. Thankfully those helped and his breathing got much better. The timeline from there is kind of a blur, but we ate, put Caleb to bed, packed our bags, and called our family.
Around 10:30ish I tried to lay down and sleep. I knew the contractions needed to be about a minute long and 5 minutes apart before going to the hospital. They were getting worse. I couldn't lay down when a contraction came, so I definitely wasn't going to sleep. David came to bed, and I asked him to start timing my contractions. They were 3-5 minutes apart and 45-60 seconds each!! So at 11:30 p.m., we tried to call our midwife to see if we could make our way to the hospital. She was paged, but never called us back. We started getting a little worried. After another failed page, and an hour later, they paged another midwife who called us back at 12:30 a.m. and said we should definitely go to the hospital. We found out her pager accidentally turned off!
We were also concerned about what to do with our sleeping Caleb. We were going to call David's brother, but he was 30 minutes away, and my parents were about 45 minutes away in their drive down from Dallas. We decided to wait for them to get here. So at about 1:00 in the morning, they arrived, and we left for the hospital.
One great thing about going into labor at 1:00 a.m. is there isn't any traffic on the road!
I was admitted to a hospital room at 1:30 and hooked up to all the monitors. And all of a sudden it seemed like my contractions weren't as bad! I started feeling a little discouraged. Then the midwife checked me and said I was only 3-4 centimeters dilated! And I was at a + 2 station, which means the baby's head was still high. She said if I didn't need to get an antibiotic and I lived down the street, she would probably send me home. She said she would turn the lights off and let me rest a few hours, and hopefully I would make some progress.
Well, not more than a few minutes later, I got a strong contraction and felt a big pop - then liquid come out. I know, kinda gross. Sorry. I said, "Um, I think my water broke." They checked, and sure enough it did. Then the contractions started coming really strong, really fast.
I'll spare you all the details, but I'll just say it was hard. I had the urge to push, and my midwife said to just let my body do what it needed to. David helped me with my breathing, and was so comforting. Debbie, my midwife, told me I better turn around and get in a good position because she thought the baby would be here any minute. I really didn't believe her. Because with Caleb I pushed for 2 hours!!! She checked me, and I was fully dilated, and she said I was ready to have this baby with probably the next two contractions.
And with a few pushes, Nathan arrived into the world! Oct 22 - 3:23 a.m. - 7 lbs 4 oz - 18 1/4 inches.
So basically, I was in the hospital for less than 2 hours, and went from 3 to 10 centimeters and had a baby in less than 45 minutes. Crazy whirlwind.
When they put Nathan on my chest, he practically fell asleep. He cried a bit, but overall was so chill. He is so precious, and we were in love at first sight.
We are thankful for so many things. That I went to the hospital at the perfect time, that my parents arrived in town at the perfect time, that Caleb started feeling better and slept soundly as we left him, that my labor was quick and relatively easy (I said relatively), that it progressed smoothly, that my water didn't break before getting to the hospital (or I would have had a baby in the car!), that I wasn't sent home, that there were no complications, I could go on and on.
Anyway, we are happily adjusting to life at home. I love love love my boys. Here are some pictures:
Us with my midwife and nurse.
The grandmothers, and Caleb meeting Nathan.
First family pic.
First week at home - getting more alert.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
First family-of-four outing
I'll be posting an update of Nathan's birth story and pictures soon (who knows when I'll find the time...) - but before I have a chance to sit down and think about that, I thought I'd do a quick post of our first outing as a family of four. We took a drive to a nearby park. Caleb needed to get out an play, and Nathan needed some sun to try to get rid of his jaundice.
Also, today David went into work and I took the boys on our first double stroller walk. It was the perfect fall day. Caleb loved lounging in the front, and I got to look at Nathan while he slept. This stroller is much heavier than the single one, so I'm definitely going to get my exercise when we go on walks. I'm pretty sure I got a full body workout today from carrying around a newborn in one arm, while chasing a toddler around, lifting him up on the play equipment, and pushing him in the swing. I forgot to take my camera to the park, but snapped these couple pics when we got home. :) Oh, and I really like this stroller so far. It's cool because it can hold a car seat, and eventually they can both sit in it. Or I can take the back seat out and Caleb can stand on the back or sit on a little bench seat.
Also, today David went into work and I took the boys on our first double stroller walk. It was the perfect fall day. Caleb loved lounging in the front, and I got to look at Nathan while he slept. This stroller is much heavier than the single one, so I'm definitely going to get my exercise when we go on walks. I'm pretty sure I got a full body workout today from carrying around a newborn in one arm, while chasing a toddler around, lifting him up on the play equipment, and pushing him in the swing. I forgot to take my camera to the park, but snapped these couple pics when we got home. :) Oh, and I really like this stroller so far. It's cool because it can hold a car seat, and eventually they can both sit in it. Or I can take the back seat out and Caleb can stand on the back or sit on a little bench seat.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Pumpkin Patch - a year later
We visited a neighborhood pumpkin patch today. It was quite a different experience than from last year. Caleb seemed so little back then (about 8 months) and he didn't like sitting in the pumpkins. This year he was running all around and throwing pumpkins (which we had to tell him were different than balls and you shouldn't throw them).
Here are some picture comparisons from this year and last year:
Here are some picture comparisons from this year and last year:
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| Not so happy about posing in the pumpkins last year. |
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| Much more easy-going about posing for us this year. |
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| Kind of freaked out about putting his head through the holes last year. |
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| Much more fun this year! |
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| Last year, not as fun. |
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| This year we got a smile! |
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| Last year Daddy had to pick out Caleb's pumpkin for him. |
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| This year he picked one out all by himself! |
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| Last year with Mom. |
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| This year with Mom. |
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| Last year with Dad. |
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| This year with Dad. |
Random
Here are just some random happenings and pictures.
Caleb reading Daddy's MotorTrend.
Caleb was helping Daddy in the garage and got stuck.
We got out the Baby Bjorn for Nathan and decided to try it out on Caleb again. He still fits!
Eating black bean soup. Yummy, but quite messy.
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