Will: you're a flying dinosaur

Em: no  I'm not!  I'm a flying lion. 

Will: a flying lion?  Oh... That makes sense. 

Look Who's Six!

The last birthday of the summer has come and gone. I can't believe it!! And I can't believe my Mary Berry is six. 

Mary is such a special girl. She tries so hard to make sure everything she does is just right. She loves being with her friends and loves watching out for those younger and smaller than herself. She has a very analytical brain, and its almost impossible to pull a fast one on her. She can see through parental conniving and manipulating in a snap. This makes trying to get her to do things she doesn't want to do nearly impossible. Well, it just requires the head on approach.

 She has THE most infectious laugh on the planet. I can absolutely believe that that laugh broke into a thousand pieces and created fairies. Pure magic. Every night she kisses my cheek, lets me kiss hers and hugs me then repeats that three times. This is her anti nightmare recipe. She says she has to do it every night. She loves purple. She loves dress up and all things girly but she is so NOT into girl drama.

I love this girl and I'm so honored to be her mother. 

Happy birthday!

Kate two weeks

Here are a few pictures from the last week. Life is good in babyland

"This song is like we just won the war and are celebrating."

We saw this giant beetle outside the library. It looks like it is straight out of the Lion King. 

A few pictures

The Birds and the Bees 'R Us

Will just said, "Remember when you went to the baby store and put that baby (pointing at Kate) in your belly and then she didn't come out of your belly for a long time?"  Hmmm...

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Speaking of babies that steal your heart away.
I am so in love with this little boy.

He is a whirlwind of two year old boy energy.  He is a mischief maker but always does it with a smile on his face.  Such an adorable little stinker!  He loves people and always wants to be in the thick of things.  He is talking more and more every day and has acquired some sentences already.  He loves baseball and will use anything for a ball and a bat.  He could play baseball or just catch all day long.  He also loves birds and anything outdoors.  Every child likes going outside, but it seems to be on a deeper level with him.  He is a cuddler (on the occasions when he can actually sit still long enough to snuggle).  He is better with my phone than I am, and I have to keep it away from him or he will play on it forever.  His favorite song is Popcorn popping.  He does a happy dance all through it every time we sing it.  He just loves to dance in general, though.  Sometimes, he'll be playing with Matt or I, or talking to us, and a song will come on that strikes his fancy.  He'll stop what he's doing for a second and then start dancing all out, dropping whatever it was he was doing.  He is very conscientious about the things he does. (which is one reason his mischief is so mischievious). 

 

I just love you, Ben!  Happy Birthday!

Kate's Brith

Kate is a week old!  The baby time warp is such an odd thing.  I am so focused on the moment, this feeding, this day, this expression, and yet time pushes forward.  On that note, I am overdue in recording Kate's birth.

Just a warning.  If you don't like hearing details about childbirth, I would skip the rest of this post.


Two weeks ago, I honestly felt like Kate would never come. This was completely illogical since she wasn't due until the eleventh (though I am now convinced my dates were wrong - I was suspicious before that they were wrong).  I started having contractions on Sunday... And then they stopped. Then I had contractions for three hours on Monday...and then they stopped. I walked my feet off, but as soon as I sat, the contractions would return from every 2-3 minutes back to every 7 -20 minutes.  Frustration?  Oh yeah.  This continued every day until my appointment on Friday July fifth. After a whole week of contractions that in every passed pregnancy had signified a baby would be here within hours, I had progressed from a three to a whopping 4-5.  I knew this wasn't false labor, my body just wasn't working.  I could feel it.

On Saturday, Matt and I left at 10:30 a.m. to go walk around the out door shopping center.  My midwife told us at my appointment that if I came to the hospital and I was having any contractions that they weren't going to turn us away.  Still, I didn't want to go and feel foolish, feel like I was forcing the issue when I should just be patient.  After all, they were making an induction date.  But, I didn't feel impatient.  I felt like she just needed to be born.  Matt said he felt the same way.  We both just felt a sense of urgency, like we were losing precious time.  There was no evidence to justify the feeling, but it had been there all week just the same.  After an hour of solid contractions, and a prayer for guidance, we decided to go to the hospital.  As soon as I sat down to check in, my contractions completely stopped.  Fortunately, my midwife checked us right in to a labor/delivery room so I didn't get stuck in triage, trying to justify myself. 

At first, they were able to pick up some very weak contractions, but when I got an epidural, they flat-lined. (I got the epidural because we were going to start pitocin) They started Pitocin and after three hours on Pitocin, I had dilated to...a 6.  I could feel my body trying, but it would give out halfway through the contraction.  And then the contractions stopped again.  I wasn't even having contractions on Pitocin!  They upped it just about to the max and broke my water.  Everyone agreed that this baby wasn't coming without assistance.

I think I had been leaking fluid for awhile - like weeks - because there wasn't enough amniotic fluid even to soak a hand towel.  I can't believe I missed it!  I'm so glad neither Kate nor I got an infection.

Finally, things started to progress.  My epidural didn't work on my right side, so I got the full force of the Pitocin induced contractions, in addition to feeling it tearing at a hernia on that side that they discovered the next day and fixed through surgery.  Ouch!  (I thought it was just round ligament pain and that I was being a big baby).  In a weird way, I'm glad though (about the epidural not completely working - not about the hernia).  I was able to work through the contractions and be in tune with what needed to happen.  That may sound new-agey or something especially given my extremely assisted birth, but I think the mind-body connection is really important and does make a difference.  Within five contractions, she was ready to come.  After an entire week of failed starts, that was so incredibly fast.  I have a huge issue with delivery.  It really freaks me out every single time.  But, this time, I prayed for peace.  My midwife was stuck in a delivery that "wasn't going well" so I had to just wait for five minutes or so.  I'm so thankful for that five minutes.  It helped me to find that peace and understand my body.  Between that peace, and my amazingly awesome midwife, I delivered an 8 lb 12 oz posterior baby in well under ten minutes with very little damage and not even a moment of panic.  For me that really is huge.

Just a side note.  I really really really didn't like this midwife.  I had a horrible appointment with her early on, and she was condescending and rude and said several things that were not her place to say. I had been with the other midwife for years but she was out of town.  But, after my appointment on Friday, and then through the whole process on Saturday, I was so impressed with this midwife and grateful that she was the one there.  In fact, I think she might be a better midwife than my original one.  Sometimes it's good to give people a second chance.

Kathryn Grace was born at 7:55 pm on July 6.  She was 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/4 inches long.  She had a knot in her chord and she also had the tell tale signs of an overdue baby.  They laid her on my chest and she sprawled out.  I guess she had had enough of the fetal position.    I'm so grateful for prayer.  I'm grateful for guidance that we can receive and for blessings that our Heavenly Father gave me through the whole experience.  I'm so grateful to have Kate here.  It's amazing how these little ones can root themselves so deeply in your heart so quickly. 

Being a mother is a blessing I don't quite deserve and can never express enough gratitude for.

My Pretty Little GlowWorm

Phototherapy begins. Hopefully her bilirubin levels get under control quickly. 

Home Sweet Home With Kate

I am so glad to be on this end of the birth process. I have been worried for months about my little girl and it is a relief to have her in my arms. 

She moves right into a house full of people to love her. The weeks of anticipation drove the kids completely crazy, but it was worth it. They are all completely in love. 

Kate is here!

Will's words

I love listening to Will. Since he spent most of his life as the strong silent type, everything he says seems like a precious treasure I can wrap up and keep. He has said a few things recently that I wanted to record so I didn't forget. 

Last week, he came into our room in the morning and started talking about different beds. Matt said that there are such things as water beds. Will sat without saying anything for a minute then said, "the dragon fire fish swim all around."  Before I could be too confused he added, "They swim and sleep in the water bed."  I'm glad he was able to figure out a scenario where water beds make sense. 

My mom came into town on Tuesday and Will was sitting with her Wednesday morning. She put her arm around him and he said, "grandma your big. Your big like mom and dad."  My mom said that is because she is an adult like mom and dad. He laughed and said, "You're not a dog grandma!  Dogs poop and pee."  Again, as long as it makes sense to you. 

Today, Will asked if he could play the computer. I told him later. He smiled and jumped up and down and said, "Later?!  Like when I can have a cookie later?  Later I can have a cookie and play on the computer. I love later!"  

He then added that a fire truck would be coming later. And a dragon. Because dragons "fire" houses. "Later" sounds awesome!

False labor and sprained feet

We have been stuck in the end of pregnancy holding pattern for the last few days. The flurry of activities to finish up before Kate arrives have been checked off one by one and now we're down to two: pick up grandma from the airport, and go into labor. 

Grandma flies in tomorrow and we are so excited!  Last week, we spent two afternoons at the newly renovated science center which grandma Myers bought us a membership for. The kids were in heaven playing with the sting rays and watching the shark tank. So very cool!  

All the walking brought on lots of contractions. On Saturday night, they continued sporadically until midnight. When I woke up on Sunday morning, they continued all day. At five we went to Emily's best friend's baptism. I was running from the kitchen after washing my hands to help her mom with the cake when I slipped on my silly sandals and twisted my foot. I have gone through labor without medication but twisting my foot reduced me to tears. How silly is that?  It swelled up horribly and soon started bruising I gathered the girls and drove home -using my sprained foot for the petals - ouch!  At home Matt iced it, scolded me for not calling him to come pick us up, and put all the kids to bed. At 9:45 my contractions picked up considerably, crossing that threshold of intensity that has always signaled true labor. We called a friend to stay with the kids and headed to the hospital. By the time I filled out the paper work, my contractions had completely stopped. I couldn't even walk to encourage labor because of my ridiculous foot. So, at 1:30 we headed home with the news that I hadn't dilated AT ALL over the last week and was still at three centimeters. Sigh. So, today Matt is home from work (which is an unusual treat) and I am a virtual invalid. 

Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery and for Kate to make her appearance soon after grandma comes.