Recovery

My recovery from giving birth seems to be going great. I have always claimed that it really takes 6 weeks for me to feel "normal" and in some aspects I'm still not quite there yet (sleep!! hello!!) but I'm very pleased with where I am.

I don't feel like I'm incapable of taking care of all three kids during the days and today I got quite a bit of cleaning and other housework done.

I credit a lot of my recovery to my husband to MADE me rest the first week after Noah was born and he (my husband) was home taking care of things. Then he encouraged me to rest a lot the second week when my family was here helping me (thanks family!!).

Sleep could be much better, though. For some reason, I like to torture myself by writing down the nights events in a little note pad beside my bed. It's because people will ask me how the night went (like my darling husband) and honestly I can be so sleep deprived that I can't remember! I've done this with each child so it's nice to look back and compare. :)

Here is Noah's schedule from last night:

9:30 pm Noah in bed
11:00 pm - Changed dirty diaper and nursed
11:30 pm - Up again - nursed
1:15 am - Changed dirty diaper and nursed
3:15 am - Nursed
4:30 am - Nursed
6:30 am - Nursed and decided to get up for the day before the girls woke up. (Probably why I was so productive today).

Whew - I'm tired.

To compound these frequenty wakings, I also could NOT fall asleep. I don't think I was asleep, or at least not for very long, until after his 1:15 am feeding. I've never had insomnia while a newborn was in my care. I've ALWAYS been able to sleep. Weird.

He's had a handful of good nights where I will only get up with him 3 times (2hrs 45 min is about the longest stretch yet). He is a good baby in that he will go back to sleep after I feed him, for a little while at least and he is great about sleeping in his crib. The girls both used a bouncy seat or swing for the first few weeks or months. He did sleep in the swing a bit last night but it was only for an hour so it didn't help him to sleep longer.

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully I can report soon that he's stretched out to 3 or 4 hours of sleep. That would be great!

Finally Fixed!

My computer is finally fixed! Yeah! Thanks to my IT guy!! :)

We finally took some photos of the kids on Sunday. Abigail had a runny nose and Noah hadn't slept very well (at all) the night before so we all stayed home.

Here is one of the best ones!! Elsie had just scraped her knee that morning. Poor girl!


Noah Blake - taken with Andrew's phone! I think he looks so "boyish" but it I'm not sure how he'd look in pink! :)

And . . . I finally got a picture of some of the features of the birth center this time. This is the very tub where Noah was born and where I spent the intense part of my labor (where I thought I might die - ha ha!). I literally could picture the word - epidural - in my mind but I wouldn't allow my tongue to ask for it and I'm glad for that now.

I'll try to post more details of the birth and following days later but it's nap time. I have lots of thank you notes to write, a hungry baby, and a desperate need for a bath or shower! :) Ha!

Not my fault!

So the lack of blogging is not my fault!

My first hurtle is my computer. It really can crash at any moment. If it does, this won't be posted. The video card went bad around the time Noah was born. I cannot look at videos and pictures make it extra touchy. I promise I'll be back with both once this thing gets fixed.

My second hurtle is the fact I have 3 kids under 3. Monday was my first day home alone with them. It went fine, really. Eveyone is well cared for and alive but it's just hard. Wow! When Noah naps well, things go much better with the girls. Elsie has become very clingy on top of everything else and . . . I can't find my sling (would help an incredible amount!). I have learned in the last few days that my response to things can make or break a situation. If there is crying (which is most of the day) I just can't let it make me frustrated or everything spirals down!

Noah is still sleeping in 2 to 3 hour blocks (3 hours is a luxury that he usually doesn't quite make) so I'm pretty tired. I am actually considering letting Andrew give him a bottle (of breastmilk - of course) this weekend so maybe I can hit a deep sleep.

Speaking of Andrew . . .

Today is our 8 year anniversary!! I am really looking forward to having fondue (fundue as we call it) tonight. I love him so much and he has been the greatest support in the history of the WORLD these last three weeks. :)

Welcome Noah Blake!

I cannot believe he's been here a week and I haven't posted yet. I'm a bad blogger!

Noah Blake was born on May 10, 2011 at 10:59 am. He was born in a drug-free waterbirth at our wonderful birth center. I can't imagine ever having a child another way at this point.

He was 8 lbs 6 oz and 21.5 inches long.

He is doing wonderful and despite a few slight adjustment issues from the girls, we're all wonderful.

He's not the best sleeper. Last night was better with a few 2 hours stretches. The thing that helps the most is if he just goes back to sleep after waking up for a feeding. I'm hoping that this week brings about big changes in the sleeping department. One thing though, he's doing great sleeping by himself in his crib - which neither of the girls did well at first, so I think that's promising. He does sleep best next to mama! However Mama does not sleep best next to him so I try not to bring him into bed until the morning hours.

Our household is interesting now. Let me just say this, if you don't like the sound of babies crying, don't come around here. I've had several instances where all three were going at it. Three years ago my nerves would have been extremely frazzled by this but now . . . it's just how life is! We'll see if I'm this calm and steady in a few weeks.

I will post more about my thoughts, feelings, and hopefully a full-blown birth story before too long but for now I'm just soaking up a lot of newborn snuggles. I'm not really caring if he sleeps too much during the day or if I hold him too much. He may well be our last baby (sad!!) and I want to enjoy every precious moment!

Been There

I'm up again with contractions. This time they are a bit more regular. I'm still not sure we'll be heading to the hospital any time soon but we'll see how things play out. They may stop all together (they have before) so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Andrew is awake this time too - so I hope they're the real thing!!!

Oh What A Night!

Last night was CRAZY! I went upstairs to take a bath at 9:30 pm. I got out about 10 pm and went to bed. Since I had taken a nap during the day I struggled to fall asleep. Finally (I think) around 11:30 pm, I fell asleep.

Had some very mild cramps (which I'd had off and on all day) during that time. Woke at 1:00 am to a contraction so I used the potty and came back to bed. I had them on and off (just fairly mild ones) until 2:30 am or so. I was hungry then so I got up to walk a little and have a snack.

They never got very close together but I didn't fall back asleep until 4:00 am because the cramps kept me up. Andrew woke me at 5:15 am (I had moved rooms) to see what was going on. He was leaving for work.

I told him I thought today would be a good day for him to stay home (ha!) but he decided to go anyway and just come home early since I hadn't had any contractions after my last round of sleep.

Boy . . . today is going to be fun! I'm just hoping to keep my kids fed and alive. Nap time is around1 pm and Andrew should be home towards the end of that. My sister is still here but she has to leave this morning so I'll have help for a little while anyway.

We'll see what the day holds.

Mother

First of all, I'd like to say "Happy Mother's Day" to my own wonderful mother. I never realized how much to appreciate my mother until I had my own children. I remember thinking during the middle of the night, when Abigail was a newborn, how much I owed to my mother. Wow! What sacrifice and love she gave to me all those years.

I'd also like to take the time to recognize the two little "joys" in my life that have given me the blessing of motherhood. Yes they are lots and lots of joy and laughter!

These pictures were taken last Sunday.

Elsie Joy and Mama

Abigail Jennifer and Mama

Baby brother is also rather obvious in these pictures. No he has not yet decided to join us on the outside world as of this morning (I'm writing this at 7:35 am). He is definitely his own little person and that's okay. We're ready to meet him whenever!!

Questions?!

Okay, here are some answers to some frequently asked questions in my life:

1) What did the doctor say?

Well, to be quite honest, I don't see a doctor. I (generally speaking) see midwives. They usually don't "say" much at my appointments. They check 4 things at this point. Weight, blood pressure, belly measurement, and fetal heartrate. If those are all good, they usually don't "say" much to me but will ask if I have any questions. If I don't . . .that's it. They will never guess on what day you will deliver and yes they have "checked" me recently but I'm reading more and more how that is no indication of when a baby will arrive. I've now been 2 cm for 2 weeks. See?!

2) Any changes?

At this point of pregnancy, I hardly know what is a "change" and what is just a minor discomfort that will pass. As I look back on previous pregnancies and birth, I can see some signs leading up to the birth that I should have recognized but I didn't. That will probably be the case this time. I kind of expected to "know" more this time around except I forgot . . . each pregnancy is different!

3) How are you feeling?

My main response to this question is . . . tired. Let me explain. I went to bed last night at 9:30 pm. I was very uncomfortable. I had a head pushing down and some feet pushing up under my ribs, esophagus burning heartburn and pain in my back. I didn't fall asleep until 10:30. I woke at 11:30 pm to go to the potty. I didn't fall back asleep until around 12:15 am because of heartburn and being uncomfortable. I woke at 1:30 am to my husband getting up to go to the bathroom. I was awake from 1:30 am until after 4 am. During that time, I heard some strange noises come over the monitor. I discovered that a toy (which is a BIG NO NO in my book) had been left in Elsie's crib and she was sitting up playing with it. I got up and went downstairs and took it out of the crib and laid her back down again. Then around 4 am, Abigail started to cry . . . no wail . . . in her bed. I got up to see what was wrong. She told me she was hungry. Usually I do not give in to stuff like this in the night but I was oh. so. tired. and she was oh. so. pitiful. so I got her a snack. Back to bed. I slept until 6 am when my husband left for work. I got up to use the potty. Slept until 7:10 am when I heard Elsie get up for the day. That doesn't happen every night but it is a good indication of why I'm tired.

4) Are you having contractions?

Well, yes and no. If you've ever given birth or had contractions you know that if you're having the real thing you'll be heading for the hospital so if you see me walking around, I've probably not had any real contractions. I generally call the other pains you might feel at this point, cramps. Yes, I'm having those but honestly, I've had them on and off since January so it is no indication of when the baby might come (which is what I know everyone wants to know).

5) Induction?

I can't believe I'm actually answering this yet since I haven't even hit my due date but as a general rule my practice does not induce unless medically necessary. That probably means a fetus in distress or VERY high blood pressure. They will do everything possible to no induce because that is a scary road leading to bad things (in my world). The midwife at my last appointment mentioned some "natural" things to try. I told her I wanted to wait for my due date to try them because I believe he'll come when he's ready.

Also a note about induction, I will have the midwives check the babies measurements before trying any sort of natural or other induction. This pregnancy was a wonderful surprise but that also means that I am not nearly as sure about the timing of this one than I was with the other two. Birth control was messing up the timing of my cycle so my due date as always been measured by the baby's size.

6) Surprised?

I'm surprised by how much I can still do at this point. I thought I'd be laid up on the couch but I have all the laundry done (currently), beds are made, lunch dishes are put in the dishwasher, all the dishes are washed, etc. I have a few things that I'd like to do today and tomorrow - including cleaning the fridge and kitchen cabinets - and you know what, I may just get them done. I am trying to just do as much as I can when I feel good because I don't feel good all the time.

Okay, that's it. Hopefully that explains things better than I can do face to face.

Oh . . . one last thing . . . silence from me (on the blog, Facebook, no calls from me, etc.) means exactly that. . . nothing is happening. Someone (me or Andrew) will post or let people know when the event is happening or soon after.

Ah, it's nap time so I'm off to rest a bit.

39 week appointment

I had my 39 week appointment this morning (despite not actually being 39 weeks until tomorrow). Andrew took these pictures yesterday.


Stats:

• Still dialated about the same amount. She said 2 cm and 80% so almost 3. Funny midwife.



• I didn't ask about my blood pressure but they didn't say anything so I'm sure it was fine.



• My belly measured 40 weeks - like last week - but it was a different person measuring so that probably makes a little difference.



• No real significant contractions or pains.



• She said the baby is not engaged yet but with 2, 3, 4 babies, a lot of times they don't drop until actual labor has started. I never noticed my babies dropping before until I was in the birth center getting ready to have them so that makes sense.


• She is concerned that the baby is laying posterior (meaning facing forward with his spine against mine) and not anterior like he is supposed to be. This primarily just means that I would have back labor so she gave me a few exercises to do to try to get him to turn around. I have read that most babies will turn during the labor so I'm hoping for that!!

I'm hoping the rain will hold off so we can go on a family walk tonight. Maybe that will help things!

It is still possible to have a birthday baby, I guess, but I assumed I would be feeling more contractions by now if that were the case. I guess we'll see.

And . . . I accidentally uploaded this picture instead of the one of me above but it is so cute I had to keep it. This was Abigail on Easter Sunday! :)

Baby Baby - Thoughts at almost 39 weeks

I really thought I'd have a baby by now. I guess the main reason I feel that way is that I thought my children would progressively come earlier and earlier but I guess that reasoning is faulty.

Abigail was 3 days before her due date, Elsie 6 days before her due date, so I guess I sort of assumed this one might be 9 days before his due date. No such luck.

Oh well.

Despite being increasingly uncomfortable (I NEVER remember it being this bad before) there is no rush for him to get here.

The hardest part is taking care of the girls all day. I can do it. I just can't think about everything that has to be done in a day for them or I feel overwhelmed. I'm so thankful for Andrew and all the help he's been giving me - especially with them.

I have done everything mentally possible to prepare. You see, my husband thinks that my babies are born when something mentally changes for me (like Abigail being born just hours after I left work on maternity leave). I tend to disagree with this argument. I think the baby comes when he's ready and then the hormones start labor. It has little to do with me! :)

Anyway, for my own memories sake, here is a list of things that I thought might release me "mentally" to start labor: getting all the laundry done last week, cleaning both bathrooms, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the living room (dusting and vacuuming included!!), eating spicy mexican food (it's happened several times with no luck), having Andrew take pictures of me in late pregnancy (with Elsie I went into labor the day after we did this), stayed out "late" to play a board game with family (went into labor with Abigail the day after we did this) - didn't work since I'm not in labor right now), etc. That's all I can think of right now.

Well, I have a midwife appointment today so I'm sure I will report back on that. I'm not technically 39 weeks until Tuesday . . . which also happens to be my birthday. I'd love to share my birthday with our little boy but I had hoped he would come before then so I could actually enjoy eating something or resting in relative comfort on that day. Oh well. I know it won't be forever.