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Thursday, 15 April 2010

  • My Birth Story

    Well, I'll let you know this. It's not like they show in movies or even on the Baby Story shows. I was in labor for around 24 hours but I didn't really know it was labor for a while. I had had Braxton Hicks for 3 days off and on, so I didn't believe this could be 'it'. I think that helped w/ the 'pain'. Contractions really weren't bad until about somewhere b/t 7 and 5 hours before he was born. I started laboring around noon (after Dr.'s appt.), went out and about and came home, ate supper, went to bed late (about 11:30). I woke up about 1:30 thinking, I don't think I can sleep through this anymore, and I lost my 'plug'. I decided to try to sleep through what I *thought* was the first stage of labor, but couldn't. Got into a warm bath to help w/ pain. It helped but it was hard to get out so once I got out I stayed out. I called the midwife on duty at the hospital around 2 or 2:30 and she said she thought I would deliver that night based on how I sounded during contractions (I could still talk to her). She said I probably didn't need to come in until I was in hard labor (aka couldn't talk during them). I waited until about 5:30 and called again. I think she told me I could wait until about seven or come in if I felt like I needed to (all this b/c I had told them I wanted to labor as much as I could at home b/c the less time you are in the hospital, the less interventions and less problems you usually have). Well about six I didn't care anymore b/c even though I could talk I just felt like it was time to go, plus we realized that rush hour was hitting and the hospital was in Nashville, lol. The car ride wasn't half as bad as I'd imagined, and once we got there they got us situated pretty quickly, no waiting around in halls or anything, haha. When I got there, I had to wait a little bit for the new midwife on duty b/c they had switched shifts, and when she checked me I was already at 6 centimeters!! I was like, wow, guess I wasn't kidding, haha. 2 hours later I was at 8 (it didn't seem NEAR that long that I was there) and a little less than 2 more I was ready to push (and let me tell ya, my body knew it!!). I only had to push for 45 minutes and being able to push was bliss. The hardest part was when my body was trying to push and it wasn't quite time (if you push too early you'll just swell down there and then it's harder to get the baby out). When they told me I could push, I turned around on the bed, sorta squatting on my knees (being on your back is a terrible way to push--think about having to try to poop that way, haha). I wasn't even thinking about pain at that point all I could think about was meeting my Ezra!! It was really challenging when he was crowning, and I did scream a lot, but the screaming helped me not hurt. Holding it all in would not have worked for me.
    I swear to you I have NEVER felt so GOOD as when he came out though. It went from "woah, can I do this?" (knowing I did, b/c he was coming out, lol) to the best wave of pleasure/excitement ever (not an 'orgasmic' birth as some claim, though, haha).
    Immediately, the mw asked if I wanted to hold him and I said, "Yeah." and turned around, sat down and held my baby.
    Josh is still in shock about how quickly I went from screaming my head off to a calm "yeah." :P
    Ezra still had some trouble breastfeeding afterwards but it was because he had a small palette and it was like my boob was too much for him at first. It was definitely a learning process for both of us. Those first few weeks of feeding were awful sometimes, but so great when we got it right. Those first 2 days in the hospital, it could have been frustrating to breastfeed and I might have been tempted to give him a bottle but I thought if I could birth him, I could do anything. Plus I had done my research and the staff at our hospital were very pro-breastfeeding, and I asked to see every lactation consultant, every time they switched shifts so I could get as much info. as possible. A lot of times, moms can be pressured to bottle feed on the thought that the baby is hungry, but babies are tuckered out after that much work and full of merconium so their tiny tummies are full. The second day, Ezra showed much more interest in eating.
    The funny thing a/b labor for me was that I didn't really realize that I was in hard labor until I hit transition, shortly before he was born! I just kept thinking I had to take one contraction at a time, celebrating mentally after each one because I was that much closer to seeing my baby.
    I have tons of tips and tricks that I used in labor that I'll have to tell you sometime, if you're interested. :)

Saturday, 13 March 2010

  • Currently
    The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)
    By William Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears, James Sears
    see related

    Well, POOP!

    Ok...so I thought you ladies would appreciate two funny poop stories...(note: my DS is EBF, so you know how explosive that can be, lol)

    "Poop and Poop Again"

    Ok, so the other day, DS is sitting in his Bumbo when I hear him poo (it is almost always loud). Usually, I wait a few minutes to make sure he is finished, but lately he has been leaking, so I took him to the changing pad almost immediately. Well, I got his diaper off and started to wipe him off, when he decided he wasn't finished yet. I quickly caught the liquid poo in my hand (Oh, the joys of motherhood) and got us both cleaned up again and put on a fresh diaper. He had gotten a little spot on his onesie, so I turned around to his dresser to grab a new one, and he erupted again. I couldn't believe it. Cleaned him, put on a new diaper, changed the onesie and put his overalls back on, and took him back into the dining room and put him in his Bumbo again. Less than a minute later...you guessed it, he pooped again. I took him BACK to the changing table, opened the diaper....

    ...and he PEED on me.

    I ended up having to change his outfit again, and he was very upset with me. I don't think he knew what was going on, LOL!



    "Oh, POOP!"

    So, yesterday morning, DH got up to get ready for work (which is way earlier than I cared to be up after a long day of working and mothering, by the way) and DS started fussing. At first, I thought DH had woken him, and I was not thrilled (I later discovered his tummy must have been hurting). He sleeps in bed with us (long story involving necessity when he was first born and us living with our BIL and having little/no space for his crib) so I picked him up and was trying to comfort him while sitting in bed. Suddenly, he let out a loud BM that shook my hand (which was under his bottom). I thought, "Well, I'll see if he's done" (thinking I'd learned a lesson from the previous story). The thought had barely left my mind when I felt something warm on my stomach. I panicked, and said something along the lines of "Are you kidding me?!?!" as I lept out of bed, running toward the changing table. I quickly put DS down and buckled him in, and went to the bathroom. DH was in the shower and wasn't too amused by my story (he was in a bad mood that morning). My shirt only had a small spot on the bottom edge, but my pajama pants were soaked in poo down to my knee! It had even soaked through to my undies!! (MAJOR EEW FACTOR!) I cleaned myself up and changed into fresh pj's and got DS cleaned up (there was poo all over him and he insisted on putting his hands and feet into it, so that every time I got something clean, something else was gross, lol! Oh, and yeah, it got on the sheets too, so I had to change those. I can't believe it got everywhere that fast! After we got all cleaned up and the sheets were changed, I let DS play under the covers (he loves to chew on the blanket) and played with him until he was ready to eat and go back to sleep (no way was I getting up that early, especially after that!)



    Here's a pic of the little rascal in the infamous Bumbo:

    024

    I'm starting to believe he thinks the Bumbo is a toilet or something b/c he almost always poos when he sits in it, lol...I have a very advanced 4 mo. old!

Wednesday, 04 November 2009

  • D-day update (and variation)

    Today I'm updating about the previous D-day situation I posted about (DH's job situation) and also, letting you know that today is my DS's due date. He should be here by next week! Please keep us in your prayers for both situations. Now onto the update...I'm going to post them as I did on my other blog, chronologically so you can get the whole story.

    Read the original "D-day" blog here: http://princess-deidre.momaroo.com/715054761/tomorrow-is-sort-of-a-d-day-for-us/

    Oct. 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM
    Thanks! DH went by to talk w/ the friend this morning when he got back into town from working. He told him he had been praying about it and just didn't feel any peace about signing this loan. (I forgot to mention that the hospital turned us over to collections and collections called yesterday and made us set up an automatic draft for the next 6 months or they would have to turn us over to someone else.) Luckily the guy was understanding. He still felt like he had a better chance of getting the loan w/ DH (which we don't understand, but whatever) but he told him it was alright and he didn't need to go to the meeting so he came home. He'll be getting up around 2 and I guess he'll call the guy back then to see what happened. I wish I had an update already, but I don't for now. I'll try to update ASAP though.

    Your prayers are immensely appreciated!!

    Oct. 23, 2009 at 4:13 PM
    Well, DH talked to our friend a little bit ago. He applied for a line of credit instead of a loan w/ the bank after explaining our situation. The loan officer thought the line of credit would be easy to get and the best option for us. Plus that way you only pay back what you use. He needed a Sr. officer to sign off on it and there wasn't one there, so he will have to get them to do it later. He said we should know if it went through by the middle of next week and will "definitely" know way before Nov. 1st. He pretty much guaranteed we'd get it though.

    So we are waiting for a little longer...keep us in your prayers, please!

    Oct. 30, 2009 at 12:07 PM
    friend called about 30 min. ago to say the bank needed one more thing from him that they had forgotten but the line of credit deal should be finalized on Monday. so I guess we are sticking around here for a while. *big sigh*

    IDK why but I just woke up this morning thinking that was going to be the case... {note: I was still not at peace about the whole thing}

    Nov. 3, 2009 at 6:02 PM
    OK, NEW UPDATE:

    Called friend on the way home from the MW appt. (he had called earlier). The loan did not go through. So please, please pray for us. We know what we need to do but it is very difficult now that the time is here. Pray for understanding among our friends here and for a smooth transition for us and our baby (he should be here by next week).

    Thanks so much!

    Nov. 4, 2009 at 10:28 AM
    Now that it's happened, I'm not really sad it didn't go through. I have a feeling things would not have worked out and I never really felt a peace about the whole thing.

    We just dread talking w/ some people here (they are probably not going to 'get it'...long story) and I'm praying the move will not affect our bonding w/ DS (due today...so he should be here by next week!).

    Continue to pray for us and thanks a ton!


    ....So that's where we are now. DH is going to talk w/ the friend/pastor after he gets up (around 1). Not sure if he'll go straight there or what, and not sure how the conversation will go, so I will update as soon as I can.
    My main concerns right now are my baby and helping him transition into the world w/ as little chaos as possible. Please pray our friends will understand (if not now, eventually) and that DS will not be adversely affected by the changes to come.
    Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers and support!

Friday, 23 October 2009

  • Tomorrow is sort of a "D-day" for us...

    So tomorrow my DH and our friend will be going to apply for a loan to get a second branch of the coffee shop opened (friend owns/manages original branch and DH is supposed to manage this new one once it gets going). If the loan goes through, we will be staying here (4-5 hours away from our hometowns) for a while (the loan will probably take 5 years to pay off). If it doesn't, it looks like we'll be on our way back to Arkansas.

    Oh, and did I mention I'm due with DS in 13 days? :P

    If the loan works out, here's the situation:

    DH manages the coffee shop and takes on an additional part time job to help us make ends meet. (this job pays less than the job he has now, but we won't be paying hundreds of dollars in gas each month and he won't be on 3rd shift anymore). If the coffee shop does well, his pay may be raised.

    We have committed ourselves to staying here longer than originally intended (said 3 years and we are coming up on the end of #2 in May). This means our DS will be raised further away from family for longer than we ever anticipated (he was a surprise).

    I am stuck w/o a job b/c we have no one here who can watch DS (and even if we did, most of what I made would go to childcare, so it would be sort of pointless).

    If this coffee shop thing fails once the loan has been taken out I don't know what will happen. (they are trying to get the loan w/ the original owner's signature and the original shop as collateral and may try w/ DH's signature if that doesn't work by itself) I'm afraid our credit will be hurt (and we've already had DH's emergency appendectomy bills turned into a collections agency).

    If the loan doesn't work out, here's the situation:

    DH will be jobless in 2-3 weeks (his current job changed his route and now requires he use a truck--we've had one on loan but have to give it back in the beginning of November).

    I will not be able to get a teaching job for the next school year because I will need to stay home w/ DS (no one here to watch him) and my license will expire (I haven't gotten to use it yet due to delay in switching from an AR to TN license and lack of job market). I'm not sure what I'll have to do to renew it, but it probably won't be easy or cheap.

    We will start getting ready to move back to Arkansas. (can't do this until after DS is born b/c we have Medicare through the TN system, plus we wouldn't want to move when I'm this close to my due date).
    Benefits: his brother has a house all to himself that he would share w/ us until we got our own place, the cost of living is much more affordable (payment on houses is less than our current rent), we would have family to help us out and keep DS if needed, we have job connections (family friend can get me subbing/teaching assignments and possibly a full time teaching job, and DH can work with his dad (self employed) or find other work through friends and family members)

    Downsides: We will be starting over w/ the job situation, and there is no guarantee that we will find them as easily as anticipated (we were on the hunt for months once we moved here, even though we were told it would be incredibly easy to get them), we aren't sure what we would do church-wise (we don't feel like we fit into the church in DH's hometown and the one in my hometown is 45 min. away, which doesn't lend itself to much involvement), we will be on the hunt for a place to live w/ a new baby (thankfully his brother lives alone and is usually out of town for work during the week, so at least we wouldn't bug him, and he had offered to let us move in w/ him after we first found out we were expecting and the families wanted us to come home).

    The thing is, we don't want to move back just because it's the easy thing to do. At the same time, if we do, I don't feel like our time here has been wasted b/c we have grown and learned SO much since being here.

    We had been discussing whether or not we should move back for months before the job situation went south, simply because we weren't doing much ministry which was the whole reason we moved here and we felt like the church would be able to move along without us now. Then the second coffee shop thing came up (which would be used as an outreach tool) and we thought we'd found the niche for DH (it's near a college campus and he's done student ministry). However, the church we were partnering with to do the second location has been dragging their feet for months (it was originally expected to be opened by the beginning of October) and it has come to the point that our friend (pastor and owner of 1st shop) decided to take care of things ourselves.

    It seems like doors have been opening and then closing lately, and it's nerve wracking to say the least. We're really not sure what to do, but DH feels like we should see what happens with the loan and go from there. If it doesn't work, then he feels like God will have given us a clear answer on what to do. I feel that way too, but I worry about the loan thing b/c God will allow you to make the wrong decision sometimes too. At the same time, I don't see any other option than trying this and seeing what happens.

    So tomorrow, DH and our friend will go to a loan meeting at 10 am to determine what happens. I can't believe that our lives will be changing so much (either way it goes) by tomorrow. It makes my head spin. I'm trying my best to trust God and to trust DH. That's all I can do.

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

  • A special offer for cloth diapering!

    As you all probably know by now, my friends have started their own cloth diapering site, www.clothtushies.com. I am currently ordering my first set of newborn covers (Swaddlebees ABC Wraps) to use w/ my OsoCozy Birdseye flats, and I can't wait to get them in! There are so many cute patterns/colors!

    Anyway, I wanted to let you all know about a special offer my friends are doing to help promote their site!

    If you become a fan of them on Facebook, you will receive a coupon code, good for 10% off thru November!

    All you have to do is click here,

    Then click the "Become a Fan" button at the top of their FB page. Or you can click this icon on their homepage, at http://www.clothtushies.com/ (on the left sidebar).

    And don't forget, they have FREE SHIPPING on orders of $50 or more!!

princess_deidre

  • Visit princess_deidre's Momaroo Site
    • Member Since: 7/17/2008

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