Eliza's Birth Story - Just because I have birth, and Eliza on the mind.

I thought I would post this today since I am gearing up my mind and body for another birth very soon. If I could choose what this birth will be like, I would definitely choose Eliza's. At least if I have another Theia-like labor I will know from past experience that I can do it, but I'd just rather not if its okay with everyone else. Someday I will get around to typing out Theia's birth story too, but it won't be done this week since it will be much longer as hers was a lengthy and more intense labor. I just snagged this off of my midwife's website, so no extra work involved here :).

Eliza's Birth Story

I had putzy contractions for a few days and all through my official due date of July 6. I went to bed that night with contractions that quickly became regular, though not painful or real close. Nevertheless I couldn't sleep through them so I got Jessie up at two and we decided to go for a walk. Whoa! That really shifted me into active labor. After that point I never had any contractions that were less than four minutes apart.

When we got home I tried everything to see if it was real labor before we called Patrice. Finally convinced, we called her around 5:30 am and I told her that my contractions were really close and steady but that she didn't have to rush over because I thought I had hours to go since they weren't too hard to handle (I had overwhelmingly intense contractions for hours before Theia was born). Patrice said no, she'd better come over right away. Jessie filled the birth tub while we waited. By 7 am our midwives, Patrice and Barb, and Amanda their intern were all there. I was still feeling very in control, kneeling or rocking through my contractions. By 8 though I felt like I needed some help dealing with them so Jessie and I climbed into the pool (the water felt great!) And Jessie pushed on my back during contractions. I always find steady pressure on my lower back to be the most helpful. With Theia Jessie had to practically push me through the wall for hours on end. I had a sore tailbone for a few days afterward, but it was worth it.

All of a sudden my contractions became very intense and I had to moan through a couple. I said to Jessie that I wondered how many more hours I had to go because in my experience with Theia it was about 6 hours of intense misery after about 30 hours of very uncomfortable and sleepless early labor. I saw Patrice and Barb moving their supplies close to the pool and I thought to myself that I must be complaining too much since they obviously thought I was close. Well, they were right. With my next contraction I felt the unmistakable and overwhelming urge to push. I yelled "I have to push!" And everyone sprang into action. Patrice informed me that the head was already trying to crown. I stayed on my knees with my elbows resting on the side of the birth tub - it never occurred to me to change positions for delivery, even though Patrice got soaked up to her shoulders in assisting me. Amanda helped me stay in control by breathing through my pushes with me (which was a huge help). After only 8 minutes and three pushes later I felt the head crowning and pushed out my baby's whole body in one effort! Jessie caught her and brought her up out of the water and announced that we had another girl. I was so happy because I really wanted Theia to have a sister since they are so close in age. I couldn't believe it had all happened so quickly and with so little pain! Eliza was 7# 13 oz and 20" long. She was born at 8:32 am on 7-7-07 (that should be easy to remember!). We are so pleased with our homebirth experiences. It is so empowering to give birth with sensitive and experienced support. I never had any fear throughout either of my children's births because my midwives exude such a sense of calm, watching to make sure all is well, and reassuring me that everything happening is normal and wonderful.

This Baby Girl

I can't believe that Eliza is less than two weeks away from giving up her status as "the baby". I am tearing up even as I type this. Eliza is very independent in a lot of ways, but she is still so so cuddly. She comes to me many times a day and just burrows her little head into my shoulder while sucking her thumb. She will sit still on my lap much longer than Theia ever did. I was so worried about how I would be able to love her without resentment when she came since I felt like Theia still was so small and needy of me, and I didn't want another baby to divide my attention from her. Of course every time she looks up at me with her dear, dear smile that just melts me I am reminded of how silly those fears were. Eliza has enriched our lives so much, and Theia definitely benefits far more than she gives up by having a little sister. I love being Eliza's mama. I love it from the moment I open the door to the bedroom she and Theia share to see her look up at me with her proud little smile to say "Hi" (she's very proud of her growing vocabulary), to the moment that Jessie brings her to me to say goodnight when she leans way out of his arms to grab a little mid-air snuggle and say her version of "I love you".

This past weekend rivaled the weekend of my sister's wedding when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Theia. But we all had a good time and made good memories. We had 6 adults and 5 children staying in our teeny house overnight, and a total of 17 people here for a cookout on Saturday. Everyone brought food with them and helped out a lot, so I wasn't too overtaxed. Still, no more activities till we leave for our babymoon, please! We went to the zoo with our guests on Saturday, where we received more attention and comments than any of the displays there because of this stroller:

Cousins: Tucker, Theia, and Kadyn

We've always gotten more than our welcome share of attention when we've used the Runabout in the past with just our two in it (people are just magically awed by this stroller for some reason), but try putting three 2 year olds in it at once and you spend all your time maneuvering around gawkers who want to believe you have triplets. My sincerest congratulations to anyone who has multiples and has the courage to take them out in public more than once a month. I think people must believe that parents of multiples are also stricken with deafness.

"Can I offer you some foffee?"

I don't think Theia has a very high opinion of my hosting skills. My cousin Bree was over this afternoon with her girls for a visit and had been here for about an hour when Theia went up to her and timidly asked "Want foffee?" I wasn't sure, but I asked her to repeat herself, and sure enough, I'd heard right. As it turns out, Bree did want coffee. Its a good thing my two year old is on top of these things.

Tag, I'm It.

Nyla, who is a friend of my big sister's friend who has become my faithful Scrabble buddy, just tagged me in this tell-all expose (and when I say "expose" I really mean "ex-po-zay", I just can't figure out how to make the little squiggly). What were you doing 10 years ago?: I was participating in a mission trip with my youth group, and incidentally meeting my husband for the first time. My first impression of my husband was that he was a single dad, because he was 5 yrs older than me, seemed somewhat older than that, and always had his 3 yr old sister tagging along after him. I believed this for the first few days of the trip. 5 years ago?: After seeing my future husband while participating in his cousin's wedding over the summer, I realized, yet again, how much I like that man and what a great husband he would make for ME (it had happened a few times over the previous couple of years) and fell into deep pining from which I did not recover until the man finally realized, several months later, that maybe there was something there, and decided to do something about it. 5 months ago?: I decided it was about time I stopped trying to fit into regular clothes and went public with my third pregnancy. Well, almost public. Just yesterday someone I know who has seen me multiple times in the last 5 months asked me "are you expecting again?!" My answer: "We had all better hope so!". 5 things on my to-do list for tomorrow: 1 - Order the birth kit that my midwife requires. Do you think I should ask for a frequent customer discount? 2 - Wash a load of diapers 3 - Take inventory of what we need to haul across state with us for our vacation/baby having trip. 4 - Prepare my house to be descended upon by a (same above-mentioned) cousin of my husband, my sister-in-law, and their respective husbands and children for the rest of the weekend. 5 - Enjoy myself with my friend/husband's cousin who I have not seen in over a year. 5 things people don't know about me: 1 - I have 6 brothers and 3 sisters (obviously some people do know this about me, but I bet Nyla didn't). 2 - I am a pianist. I feel like I should say "was" instead of "am" because my hands have spent much more time in the toilet than at the piano in the last 3 years (rinsing out diapers, people! I don't just play in the toilet for fun). 3 - I have an obsession that involves guessing people's country of origin by their features, dress, posture, and overall "vibe". I am usually pretty accurate. Yeah, nerdy. I honed this skill while working as a cashier at Costco in this culturally diverse area. 4 - I always expected to have only boys (don't ask me why I'd have such an irrational expectation), and didn't know what I'd do with a girl if I had one. Now I know:). 5 - I hate baking desserts. I'd hazard a guess that the majority of desserts produced by our family were actually made by my husband. 5 Bad habits: What, I don't have any bad habits, let alone 5! Actually, these were shockingly easy to come up with. 1 - I do bite my nails, still! I've stopped multiple times, but this is not one of those times. 2 - Like Nyla said - not replacing the toilet paper on its roll - guilty here too. 3 - Jessie claims I have a habit of dropping the toilet seat lid - I didn't think I ever did this till I caught myself in the act about 10 minutes after it was brought to my attention. 4 - I procrastinate just about everything that can be procrastinated. For example, last night, conversation between me and Jessie: Me: "Don't fold those clothes!" Jessie: "Why?" Me: "Because you shouldn't have to, and I really am going to do it tomorrow." Jessie: "I don't mind, you're going to be really busy tomorrow." Me: "No, really, I LIKE folding clothes!" Jessie: "Um, then why are they still here?" Me: "Well, you know, anticipation is half the fun." 5 - I talk before I think. But God is helping me with this one. 5 Places I have lived: I can't really say because they have all been in the same state.

Summer Fun Photo Contest

This is my entry for the Summer Fun photo contest hosted by 5 minutes for Mom. I picked up the idea from Liz's blog. It was a scorching hot day in the Midwest and my husband was spending the afternoon watching his cute niece and nephew play at a park. His niece, Chanty, went for a drink of water after totally blowing herself out from all the running around under the hot sun. Jessie zoomed in and started snapping away because she was so darling with her hair up and her rosy cheeks. She did him the unexpected favor of squirting the stream in her flushed face and this was the result:

I never pass up an excuse to post one of my favorite pictures, taken by my favorite man :)

It Has Begun...

I sometimes wonder if my house would ever get anything resembling a spring cleaning if I didn't have a baby every year. Last week the nesting urge really hit me and I know that I simply have GOT to get all my windows and floors washed. Every day that passes in which my windows and floors go un-washed is excruciating at this point. So I was thrilled when my wonderful sister-in-law, who usually takes Theia to play with her girls for a few hours on Monday, offered to take Eliza as well today. I feel very accomplished when I manage to actually be caught up with dishes AND the laundry when I have both girls all day at this point, so embarking on a larger project with them home was not an option in my mind. Jessie flat out ordered me NOT to mop any floors, so I satisfied myself today with getting out my vacuum attachments and vacuuming all the molding, baseboards, trim, and windowsills (old, nasty windows they are) in the house, and vacuuming all the floors, including using a crevice attachment in all the cracks in the old hardwood floors! I'm sure the baby will really appreciate the absence of dirt between our floorboards. It was one of those amazing "Domestic Goddess" type days. When the girls came home, they'd already had lunch so they went right down for their naps and slept for hours so I was able to finish up my project AND make supper (its sad when making supper starts to seem like a bonus accomplishment). It was really good, too. And wholesome and healthy, with vegetables from my very own garden. I felt like I should be wearing a black and white-checked dress and heels, maybe with a kerchief on my head, when Jessie got home. Anyways, that's enough ego-stroking for now. Jessie is mopping the kitchen and dining room as I type this. What a guy :).