Amazing grandmothers & William's first weeks

When we moved to Minnesota we moved away from our families/ support system.  Since being here I have become much better at asking for help and seeking out support in other forms.  I have grown to love it here and am proud to be living in this state for many reasons.  The hard part is when there is a crisis or a major life event when you really just want your family nearby.  We had been talking to our moms throughout the pregnancy (even before actually) about them coming out to stay and help us with the transition.  Luckily they were both able to come out and help- it would have been impossible to imagine without them.

Tony's mom, Deb was planning to arrive the day before my scheduled Cesarian to stay with the girls for a week while we were in the hospital then my mom would arrive a week later and stay for 2 more weeks.  Luckily Deb was able to change her flight and come in sooner when William decided to show up.  That first week was rough and my hospital stay shorter than with the girls.  Tony was home for a few days after we got home but it was amazingly helpful to have Deb at the house too.  My mom came in time for Tony to go back to work and I would have been a disaster without her.  It's humbling to be in your thirties and a "grown up" in many ways but still need your mom- and be dependent and needy.  I'm so lucky to have a mom who comes to my aid and loves me even when I get super grouchy.

William with Gramma Deb

I somehow didn't get any shots of him actually in the shirt and now he's outgrown it, but the girls decorated a shirt for the baby (didn't know if it would be a boy or girl) to wear home from the hospital.  Here's Emma showing it off before we packed it in my hospital bag.

The bonus of having a baby in the summer that I hadn't realized before was being able to just go outside without 10 minutes of bundling.  What a treat! 

First family of five walk around the block.

Hanging out in the backyard.

Since Tony took time off he got to spend time with all of us including some quality time with the girls- here's a little snippet of Tball time in the backyard.

Since there were other adults around, I was able to just hang with my little guy and rest.  He is a very calm baby so far and loves to just snuggle any chance he gets.

Time with his sisters.

Making pizza with Gramma Deb

Sidenote: This awesome blanket was made by Gramma Bon for Tony when he was a baby :)

Meeting Poppa for lunch

Time with Nana and Grampa

Fair with Nana and Grampa

Baaaaaaa 

Who loves ice cream?

All in all a great start.  That said, it's been a lot.  I've been pushing to try to make things as "normal" as possible for the girls to help them transition, but it's hard to find the right balance.  We are getting there but it takes time.  School starts for the girls and I next week and we will see what that brings.

William is here!

*Disclaimer: I started writing this when William was about a week old and am only finishing now.  I hope this is no indication of the speed I'll be posting in the future, but please bear with me.*

First family picture

Our family grew by one last month and the first little boy joined the mix.  William is now the youngest member of family and exceedingly cute.  I'm going to tell the story of his birth (with tidbits of the girl's birth stories thrown in) and want to warn you that if you don't like this sort of thing, tune out and just scan through the pictures, otherwise here comes a long post.

For those of you who don't know, Ada was born via Cesarian Section.  We were planning an all natural, hypnobirth but when she was 10 days past her due date the doctors and I decided induction was the best way to go.  Tony and I went in but instead of a day of labor followed by the birth of our first child were greeted by many nurses and doctors about 10 minutes after I was hooked up to the monitor.  She was not doing well.  This had been an overnight development as I had been on that very monitor the night before and all was well.  The decision to do a spinal and a C Section was made quickly.  About an hour later Ada was born.  It was stressful and unplanned but ultimately we all were healthy so that's the important thing.

Emma was a highly different event.  Her birth was planned, scheduled, controlled and our 5 days in the hospital after she was born felt like a vacation.  Truly.  Of course there was still recovery from surgery and adapting to life with two kids instead of one, but the birth was much more relaxed than Ada's or William's.

When I first found out I was pregnant with number three I expected I would be scheduling another Cesarian but my OB suggested trying a TOLAC (trial of labor after Cesarian) and I was excited to give it a shot and avoid another abdominal surgery.  So, we scheduled a section for my due date and hoped I would go into labor before that day.  As luck would have it I went into labor on the Wednesday morning before my due date (the following Monday).  The whole day was mild but regular contractions (early labor) and I frantically did laundry, got the house together, and tried to psych myself up.  When they got to about 6 minutes apart I called the triage nurse and she suggested I come in.  Our super awesome neighbors took the girls for the night and they got to have a sleepover with their friends next door.  Tony's mom changed her flight for the next day to take care of the girls.  Luckily Tony was able to get out of work and drive me to the hospital.  They kept me on the monitor for a few hours but since things weren't progressing sent me home to be more comfortable and gave me instructions for when to come back.  It was wonderful to have the night with Tony and be at home, but with strong contractions that woke me about every 10 minutes I didn't get much sleep.

Around 5 the next morning I woke Tony and said we needed to go back to the hospital.  I took a shower and drank some coffee and we went to the hospital.  Things seemed to slow down a bit so we walked around for about an hour then when the contractions got pretty intense we went in and I was admitted.  After a bit I decided to go ahead with an epidural.  Modern medicine is a wonderful thing.  The added benefit for me is that when you have an epidural in, there is a small cord left hanging out that they can add medicine to as needed and in case of a Cesarian being needed they can simply put the medicine in rather than putting in a spinal which can take time.  Things still weren't progressing very fast so we all decided breaking my water was the next logical step, then they could monitor the baby and my contractions more closely as well.  This sent the baby into a major deceleration (when the heart rate goes down too far) and Tony and I started having flashbacks to Ada's birth and the panic we felt before she was born.  We gave my body/ the baby some more time to see if labor moved along but still my cervix did not cooperate.  We started talking about pitosin (a drug that induces uterine contractions in order to open the cervix) and while I was hesitant I agreed to try it after another hour but if the baby had any more decelerations I wanted to have a Cesarian and make sure the baby was healthy.  Fifteen minutes later he had another deceleration and they started prepping me for surgery.

It was right at shift change so the next doctors on came in to perform the surgery while anesthesia started to up my dose to numb me.  While it was a good idea in theory it didn't work.  I could still feel everything so after they gave me all they could give me, they told me I needed to be put under general anesthesia to get the baby out right away.  I was sobbing in the OR while Tony was waiting in the hall unaware, expecting to come in and talk to me until the baby was delivered.  The nurses were wonderful at keeping me calm-ish until I went under.

Poppa and William

The next thing I remember was trying to wake up as they told me we had a son.  I had been adamant about wanting to breastfeed as soon as possible after birth and the nurse had William latched on right away!  I remember being confused about why my throat hurt (breathing tube), and struggling to wake up and get a grip of what was happening.  It was clear from the start that this little guy was a champion nurser.  I was relieved (and continue to be trilled) with his ability and our ability to feed him especially after so many struggles with the girls.

Pictures of his sisters always with him

Ultimately the labor start to finish was about 30 hours and I am even though it wasn't "successful" in the way I was hoping, I am glad I gave it a go and am super duper glad I was in a medical facility that took such good care of me and the baby and made me feel comfortable enough to try.  The final result is all that matters in these cases and we are both on the other side... safe and healthy.  Thank you modern medicine!

Card from Ada and Emma- Love it!

Any Day Now...

While I have been very aware of being pregnant for nearly 40 weeks now, I have been in a bit of denial about actually giving birth.  But, that will be happening in the next week wether I like the idea or not.

The summer has been filled with little adventures, lots of swimming, Ada and Tony working together on Ada riding her bike with no training wheels, nesting, and play dates.  We've been having a blast and I'm trying the best to make a little bit of time to do some special things with the girls.

 Here are some pictures of the summer so far...

This is really just to show off how big this baby is.  Seriously.  Even the maternity clothes barely cover it!!

 Strawberry harvest...

Making wrapping paper for the year...

This tool is a dollar store rolling pin with bubble wrap taped to it.  We love using these for painting.  Really cool effect and I learned about it on Pinterest :)

Walking our babies...

Family movie night...

Post-date with Ada to make necklaces at a local bead shop.

And to top things off, Ada turned 4 and a half!!  She had half a cake (funfetti per her request) and we all sang and were silly.  Very fun family time.

I'm excited to meet this new little one and by this time next week the baby will be here.  I will be the mother of three.  THREE!  Still hard to believe, but I'm very excited to find out who this little person is.  Will keep you posted when I can.

Rhubarb

Last year I planted a small garden in our front yard that had mostly perennials and a few annuals.  There is a mix of flowers and food and while I wish more of the herbs were thriving, we have had loads of rhubarb and a few strawberries too.  Inspired by the new warm weather here in Minnesota we made a rhubarb crumb cake- a recipe I make every year and is super yummy.  The recipe is on a small piece of paper I got from a woman at the Copley Farmer's Market nearly 15 years ago.  I don't make it quite as it appears.  For starters I almost never remember to buy buttermilk when I want to make it, so I usually just add some lemon juice to milk and let it sit for a few before adding it in.  I don't think I have ever purchased margarine- this is a butter house.  Also, I use white whole wheat flour or a combo of whole wheat and all purpose.  I omit the white sugar in the topping and it's still plenty sweet enough.

So out we went to collect our rhubarb and get baking.

Fighting the ballerina look is a waste of energy.  I like the addition of the rain boots here.  Also, note the super hero tattoos they are sporting from an awesome birthday party we went to!

Baking with the big loud mixer.

Taking turns adding ingredients.  The little aprons they're wearing were their Christmas presents from me this year.  I kind of slacked on the home-made gift thing this year and I know I didn't write about it, but I did make these and the girls seem to like them :)

Too noisy!!

Licking is often the most important part of baking

The best part however is eating all our effort- yum!

Milkapeas

While sitting at the breakfast table Emma is taking her usual 45 minutes to eat a small bowl of Cheerios with raisins.  She then proceeded to remove the raisins and place them on her spoon offering "milkapeas" to Ada and me.  We politely declined and finally realized what she was talking about- "milkapeas" are her pretend version of "millipedes".  Mmmm, yum!

Notice the spoon full of "milkapeas"

Trying not to forget

The day we took Emma home from the hospital

When we became new parents so many people told us how quickly it would fly by and to savor every moment and try to write things down so we will remember when they're grown all the little things the kids would do.  Well, that's part of why I started this blog.  Since I always wanted to do baby books but really never did a great job at it I figure this is sort of the family scrap book to remember some of our little moments.  It's just easier to type and drag photos than it is to sit with a physical book and have pictures printed to add in, etc. (at least for me)!

So with that said, right now Tony and I are constantly reminded of the girls getting a grasp on the English language.  As goes with being a parent to toddler/preschool age kids they frequently have us cracking up- sometimes with their actual words and sometimes with the way they use their words.  Love it.

Here are some of our current favorites:

Ada
"Kilgren" = children
"Yesternight"= last night
"Sank You" = thank you (they both say this)
"65" = this is the unit of measure that lets you know it's a wicked lot.  Like what a grown up might call a million or more.

Emma
"soor, soor, soor"= sure
"noonoos"= noodles
"all my by self" = all by myself
expressing emotion through her belly button= "that tickles my belly button", "that hurts my belly button"
"how yabout?"= how about
"I tell you someping?" = can I tell you something? (usually followed by a rambling story filled with giggle breaks, or a simple I love you)

Sadly I know there are already things I have forgotten, and some that I will keep just for me, but I try and that's what I need to focus on :)