Friday, October 22, 2010
Mommy's Little Shadow
With a new baby in the house, my little bumblebee is ready to help Mommy in any way... especially when it comes to holding baby. Every morning, Bumblebee is very excited to hold M; she'll go grab the Boppy, put it on her lap, and wait to hold baby (with help from mommy of course!). It's absolutely precious!! Take a look!
Picnic Fun
This week we've been running back and forth from the doctors (45 minute drive) back to home for a few mornings now to check on M's jaundice. But each morning, I found myself a little tired and too frazzled to get three kiddos into a car that I succumbed to McD's hot cakes/pancakes for breakfast. Both toddlers were ecstactic to eat pancakes, and as soon as we drove away from the drive-in to park and eat, I could see both toddlers hands folded in their laps for prayer.
Not only was it fun, but also really funny to feed the kiddos! Here are some cute pics!
BumbleBee very excited for the "hot cake"
T-man just as excited to eat his "hot cake"
Not only was it fun, but also really funny to feed the kiddos! Here are some cute pics!
BumbleBee very excited for the "hot cake"
T-man just as excited to eat his "hot cake"Monday, October 18, 2010
Homecoming
Saturday morning was our discharge day. With M in tote, we were off to go home! I was very anxious to see my two toddlers and get their reactions to the newest family member... and boy were they good!
Every one of our children have worn this Pooh Bear outfit as the
Both toddlers were very excited after Daddy put together
Super Hubby changing our little Monkey
Every one of our children have worn this Pooh Bear outfit as theHomecoming outfit. I just love it... but I wish he wasn't crying :(
Bumble Bee's expression was priceless; "Mommy, Baby!"
Both toddlers were very excited after Daddy put togetherthe wonderful swing! It was a wonderful gift given to us
by the wonderful Great-Grandma Ellie... and M seems to
enjoy it immensely!
A Labor of Love...and Songs
It all started a week before M was born. My body had been working hard the week beforehand with a minute long contraction every 5 to 7 minutes...but sadly my son did not want to come out of his mommy's safe womb (I don't blame him, I bet it is pretty comfy). So a week before the due date, my doctor and I sat down and had the dreaded conversation about when I should be induced. We determined it'd need to be soon since my body was in early labor and was constantly straining itself (without any effects like dilating enough, the pain but no gain type of thing).
After that conversation, I was DETERMINED to have an all naturally-hormones-induced labor. I WOULD have this baby! And so we went on walks, and walks, and walks, I had primrose oils, spicy foods, baths, exercises, more walks, and oh yes more walks (we walked 20 miles that week alone, I am not exaggerating!). But NO results! I was stuck in limbo as my body did not want to dilate enough for Malachi to come out.
So Wednesday, October 13th, afternoon, Super Hubby and I were instructed to go to the hospital to start the cervi-gel (sp?). When we arrived we went through all the customary procedures, the hook ups to the monitors, and answering the birth plan questions, and more monitoring. My nurse was great and friendly, and then the awful words of "Well, it looks like your body is ready and kickin' into gear! You're having a contraction every 4 minutes, did you know that?"The nurse: "Well you see, that's a problem; if you're contracting this much, we really can't put the cervi-gel in there. There's not much we can do with it. Unless you can get your body to stop contracting so much, I'm not sure we can do much today. I'll go call your doctor and find out his plan."
WHAT?!?! I had been telling my body to go into labor for weeks now and right NOW they tell me to tell it to stop contracting? I think not. I was fine with starting on Thursday morning, but I wanted out of that hospital bed. Well the nurse came back and told me I had the option to spend the night and be monitored all night OR go home and rest and come back bright and early the next morning. Home it was! I was more than happy to go home and "sleep" in my bed for one last night before my little guy came out.
The next morning, we went in, went through the hoops of procedure, and I got hooked in with some awesome Pitocin! Now to quickly outline the day...
7 a.m.: Pitocin started; 2 cm dilated-still early labor and early labor contractions (let's call them Intensity Status I.S. for short aka pain from 1 to 10)
9 a.m.: Start the walking around the halls, lunge-ing around - still 2 cm, I.S.: 3, every 20 minutes I have to get hooked into the monitor and checked on
1 p.m.: Warm baths, monitored, checked at 4 cm woohoo! progress! During this time, I have decided for this labor and delivery instead of screaming (like with B) OR attempting to say Hail Mary's (like with T), I will sing songs as loud as possible and make up the verses! Brilliant! Resident dr comes in and "tries her best" at breaking my water, epic failure! She does not succeed at all. I.S.: 4
3 p.m.: Warm bath, monitored, checked still at 4 cm and still hitting a I.S. of 4.5/5. Found the song I would change each verse to: Sweet Caroline would then become Sweet M! Perfect!
5 p.m.: Warm bath, monitored, check at 5 cm; need to progress so I went and did squats and lunges in the hallway between each contraction... I.S. 5/5.5
6 p.m.: Dr comes, breaks water; 6 cm, 100% effaced BUT he was at +2 (aka he's waaaaaay up there and NOT wanting to come down. I.S.: 6.5; I needed to get this going so I forced myself to walk around the halls, singing, lunge-ing, and squatting between hard contractions...
7 p.m.: No change! Nothing! Warm Bath.... nothing... stay in warm bath and SING like crazy to "Sweet M"- I will say these were some of the BEST verses because I would concentrate so hard on thinking of good words instead of thinking of the intense contractions. I.S.: 7
10:10ish p.m.: I call Super Hubby to come and listen to my fun song (haha believe me, he could hear it just fine by the time I called him in...) I.S.: 8.5ish
10:25ish p.m.: I tell Super Hubby to get the nurse; he'll have to use his super strength to pull me outta this tub because I'm gonna have this baby (please note I have no idea if my body has changed from a 7 cm or not...but I knew something was happening!
10:30ish p.m.: Dr. comes in; checks.... (waits with dramatic pause...) 9.5 cm! I tell him I need to push so he better get ready to play some catch! Dr tells me to wait to 10 cm so M can come out easily... I SING like no one's business! Oh and my new prayer I created in the tub: "Hail Mary, full of grace, Help me push him into space!" It's a winner and Mary totally helps during this part!
10:45ish p.m.: checked again; 10 cm! Time to gear up! I tell my body I have 5 pushes to go and then I'll see my baby... BUT
11:03 p.m.: it only took 3 pushes! There he was in all his glory! M was the cutest baby, perfect to everyone in the room... Best part of everything was: no problems. All natural labor/deliver, no drugs, no problems :)
After that Super Hubby and I were marveled at how beautiful this little guy is. I mean he is gorgeous and perfect! Here are some pics!
Baby M: 8 pounds 2 ounces
Great-Grandma Ellie sent BEAUTIFUL flowers
After that conversation, I was DETERMINED to have an all naturally-hormones-induced labor. I WOULD have this baby! And so we went on walks, and walks, and walks, I had primrose oils, spicy foods, baths, exercises, more walks, and oh yes more walks (we walked 20 miles that week alone, I am not exaggerating!). But NO results! I was stuck in limbo as my body did not want to dilate enough for Malachi to come out.
So Wednesday, October 13th, afternoon, Super Hubby and I were instructed to go to the hospital to start the cervi-gel (sp?). When we arrived we went through all the customary procedures, the hook ups to the monitors, and answering the birth plan questions, and more monitoring. My nurse was great and friendly, and then the awful words of "Well, it looks like your body is ready and kickin' into gear! You're having a contraction every 4 minutes, did you know that?"
WHAT?!?! I had been telling my body to go into labor for weeks now and right NOW they tell me to tell it to stop contracting? I think not. I was fine with starting on Thursday morning, but I wanted out of that hospital bed. Well the nurse came back and told me I had the option to spend the night and be monitored all night OR go home and rest and come back bright and early the next morning. Home it was! I was more than happy to go home and "sleep" in my bed for one last night before my little guy came out.
The next morning, we went in, went through the hoops of procedure, and I got hooked in with some awesome Pitocin! Now to quickly outline the day...
7 a.m.: Pitocin started; 2 cm dilated-still early labor and early labor contractions (let's call them Intensity Status I.S. for short aka pain from 1 to 10)
9 a.m.: Start the walking around the halls, lunge-ing around - still 2 cm, I.S.: 3, every 20 minutes I have to get hooked into the monitor and checked on
1 p.m.: Warm baths, monitored, checked at 4 cm woohoo! progress! During this time, I have decided for this labor and delivery instead of screaming (like with B) OR attempting to say Hail Mary's (like with T), I will sing songs as loud as possible and make up the verses! Brilliant! Resident dr comes in and "tries her best" at breaking my water, epic failure! She does not succeed at all. I.S.: 4
3 p.m.: Warm bath, monitored, checked still at 4 cm and still hitting a I.S. of 4.5/5. Found the song I would change each verse to: Sweet Caroline would then become Sweet M! Perfect!
5 p.m.: Warm bath, monitored, check at 5 cm; need to progress so I went and did squats and lunges in the hallway between each contraction... I.S. 5/5.5
6 p.m.: Dr comes, breaks water; 6 cm, 100% effaced BUT he was at +2 (aka he's waaaaaay up there and NOT wanting to come down. I.S.: 6.5; I needed to get this going so I forced myself to walk around the halls, singing, lunge-ing, and squatting between hard contractions...
7 p.m.: No change! Nothing! Warm Bath.... nothing... stay in warm bath and SING like crazy to "Sweet M"- I will say these were some of the BEST verses because I would concentrate so hard on thinking of good words instead of thinking of the intense contractions. I.S.: 7
10:10ish p.m.: I call Super Hubby to come and listen to my fun song (haha believe me, he could hear it just fine by the time I called him in...) I.S.: 8.5ish
10:25ish p.m.: I tell Super Hubby to get the nurse; he'll have to use his super strength to pull me outta this tub because I'm gonna have this baby (please note I have no idea if my body has changed from a 7 cm or not...but I knew something was happening!
10:30ish p.m.: Dr. comes in; checks.... (waits with dramatic pause...) 9.5 cm! I tell him I need to push so he better get ready to play some catch! Dr tells me to wait to 10 cm so M can come out easily... I SING like no one's business! Oh and my new prayer I created in the tub: "Hail Mary, full of grace, Help me push him into space!" It's a winner and Mary totally helps during this part!
10:45ish p.m.: checked again; 10 cm! Time to gear up! I tell my body I have 5 pushes to go and then I'll see my baby... BUT
11:03 p.m.: it only took 3 pushes! There he was in all his glory! M was the cutest baby, perfect to everyone in the room... Best part of everything was: no problems. All natural labor/deliver, no drugs, no problems :)
After that Super Hubby and I were marveled at how beautiful this little guy is. I mean he is gorgeous and perfect! Here are some pics!
Baby M: 8 pounds 2 ounces19 1/2 inches long
Wonderful!
Mommy with M right after birth
Grandma Patti came to help with the delivery;
she was the BEST Doula ever! She always made sure I would breathe
through contractions (I tend to hold my breath to push, yikes!)
Great-Grandma Ellie sent BEAUTIFUL flowers(and a little Monkey too!)
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Soon-to-Be Big Brother
My little T-man has a great deal of energy. We consider it quite the blessing since his big sister LOVES to run around with him and it wears both kiddos out for a good nap in the afternoons :)
But as we anxiously await the arrival of our newest baby blessing- a boy- I realize that these are the last days of T-man being my sole "baby boy"... he continues to grow like a little sprout, and every time I blink he's into something new. He gives us many humorous moments each day, and he actually loves to share with his sister... with the stipulation that the object will be returned to him quickly... one of the cutest new features about him are his little "wings" of hair... they are completely natural and show up right behind his ears. I'm hoping they continue to grow out :) Enjoy
See the wing?
Close up! Hi there Blue Eyes!
But as we anxiously await the arrival of our newest baby blessing- a boy- I realize that these are the last days of T-man being my sole "baby boy"... he continues to grow like a little sprout, and every time I blink he's into something new. He gives us many humorous moments each day, and he actually loves to share with his sister... with the stipulation that the object will be returned to him quickly... one of the cutest new features about him are his little "wings" of hair... they are completely natural and show up right behind his ears. I'm hoping they continue to grow out :) Enjoy
See the wing?
Close up! Hi there Blue Eyes!Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Cooler Days
With windy fall days quickly masking over the Minnesota terrian, Mommy thought it'd be a good idea to make sure the kiddos are nice and warm with their heads all covered :)
BumbleBee LOVES hats! And we think she looks so grown up wearing this one
T-Man looks like his preparing for battle with his hat!
I love how they are both matching with the cute little furry lining :)
BumbleBee LOVES hats! And we think she looks so grown up wearing this one
T-Man looks like his preparing for battle with his hat!I love how they are both matching with the cute little furry lining :)
SJU Homecoming
Last week my doctor told me to stay pretty close to the hospital, just in case I went into labor quickly... which is the hope, right? That being said, I was thoroughly sad to find out I wouldn't be able to go with my teens to a huge teen mass down in the cities area. This being said, my Super Hubby came up with a GREAT plan to go to the SJU Homecoming Game and Alumni weekend. This being the plan, I knew I'd have to pull all the stops to get my little "team" all suited up for the game.
In prepping for this momentous occasion (it was T-man's first Johnnie football game), I found my old St. John's jerseys! PERFECT! Check out the cute pics!
So after we went to the game for a while, we decided it was time to try to induce some labor :) So we went with our great friends, Auntie EBs and Auntie SG for a walk around to the Stella Maris Chapel... it's only a 2 to 3 mile HIKE through forest with logs, twigs, leaves, and lots of rocks. BUT it was GREAT! And while it did help stir up some contractions... our little Blessing still did not want to come out on this great fall day...
In prepping for this momentous occasion (it was T-man's first Johnnie football game), I found my old St. John's jerseys! PERFECT! Check out the cute pics!
Our little matching Johnnie Fans!
Then I found some pom-poms :) BumbleBee LOVED them!
T-man at the game... he's ready for some FOOTBALL!
Daddy lifting up T-man so he can see! T LOVED cheering for the Johnnies!
Daddy lifting up T-man so he can see! T LOVED cheering for the Johnnies! So after we went to the game for a while, we decided it was time to try to induce some labor :) So we went with our great friends, Auntie EBs and Auntie SG for a walk around to the Stella Maris Chapel... it's only a 2 to 3 mile HIKE through forest with logs, twigs, leaves, and lots of rocks. BUT it was GREAT! And while it did help stir up some contractions... our little Blessing still did not want to come out on this great fall day...
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