A Little Sneak Peak

I have a story to write, but not tonight.

Here are a few pics from our first 24 hours. It is a blessing to be at home, but I sometimes forget that most people get those first couple days in the hospital to recover. No dishes, no cooking, no diaper changing older siblings, that kind of stuff. So I'm trying to just take it easy.

My dear friend, Jessie, was present at Annabel's birth and took pictures for us. I'm hoping to get to see them soon and post them with a little story.

Until then....here's a few taken from my camera and my sister's phone after the fact.

4am (just an hour old)

8am (Easton waking up to a whole new life)

My Grandma



On Being Overdue

January 19th has come and gone. Like everyone on the planet that date automatically puts a deadline in my mind. 'Well of course I will have a baby on or by that date.' After that date doesn't really enter your mind.

I have chosen to have my babes outside the traditional medical model. I have researched and read and birthed and experienced enough that I feel confident and safe.

Anticipation is high and that makes the waiting harder. People are worried and that makes me lose confidence. There is an underlying feeling of now that we have passed the date, it is time to take matters into our own hands.

I read the following this morning from here. I feel better now.

Events during Pregnancy's Final Weeks

In the last weeks of pregnancy, maternal antibodies are passed to the baby—antibodies that will help fight infections in the first days and weeks of life. The baby gains weight and strength, stores iron, and develops more coordinated sucking and swallowing abilities. His lungs mature, and he stores brown fat that will help him maintain body temperature in the first days and weeks following birth. The maturing baby and the aging placenta trigger a prostaglandin increase that softens the cervix in readiness for effacement and dilatation. A rise in estrogen and a decrease in progesterone increase the uterine sensitivity to oxytocin. The baby moves down into the pelvis. Contractions in the last weeks may start the effacement and dilation of the cervix. A burst of energy helps pregnant women make final preparations, and insomnia prepares them for the start of round-the-clock parenting.

The watchful waiting and the intense wanting of the big day to arrive are all part of nature's plan. When the baby, uterus, placenta, and hormones are ready, labor will start. Additionally, all that preparation sets the stage for an easier labor and a fully mature baby who is physiologically stable and able to breastfeed well right from the start.

Waiting for Labor to Start

Thinking of, and clinging to, the “due date” as “the day” makes it difficult for women to trust nature's beautiful plan for the end of pregnancy and the start of labor. What women rarely know, and what people tend to forget, is that some variation exists in how long it takes for an individual baby to mature fully. Acknowledging that babies can safely come 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after the due date does not tell the whole story. Some babies are mature as early as 37 weeks (259 days), and others need 42 completed weeks (294 days) and sometimes a bit more to be fully ready. Size is not an indication of maturity, and the due date is only a guideline.

My colleagues who are midwives talk about due dates in vague terms. “The baby will probably come towards the end of August. If Labor Day comes and goes, we'll watch carefully.” In the days before ultrasound, caregivers encouraged a woman to note carefully the day she first felt her baby move. Moving forward 22 weeks gave a nice approximation of the time she would go into labor. It still does. Waiting for labor to start spontaneously is almost always the best way to know that the baby is ready to be born and that a woman's body is ready for labor.

That's what I'm going to go with. Here's to a fully ready baby and a fully ready Mama.

Soon.

During School

During school today I was just a little bored. And besdes, I like taking pictures of their cute faces. Aaaaand, the time is drawing to an end where there will only be 3 little boys to take pictures of. These are my 3 that I have today. Maybe tomorrow there will be another cute face.

A Big Tree Mess

There are pros and cons to living in the woods.
Pro: Lovely scenery, outdoor activities, nature and wildlife.
Con: When you have a big winter storm....it makes a really big mess.

Snow in the woods=really beautiful
Ice Storm and wind in the woods= really scary and eventually ugly.

I haven't left the house since Sunday morning. One week tomorrow. The ice storm that came after all the snow was frightening. All day and night we listened to branches cracking like gun shots and huge branches crashing to the ground. Some sounded real close and some we could tell were in the distance. There are hundreds of thousands without power. I don't know how ours managed to stay on, but the worst we had was about a 30 second black out.

Today it stopped raining for a second and I went outside to look around the house a little bit and see what things were looking like. Ugh, I hate seeing beautiful trees just destroyed. We will see how spring and summer will bring new growth and beauty to nature's natural pruning session!

What a big, big, ugly mess things are though!

Snowmageddon 2012

That's what they are calling it anyway. Snowmageddon. For an area (in the low lands) that sees on average only 10 inches of snow a year...this is a pretty big deal. It's been snowing here at our house since Saturday. It's been patchy all around us, but here at our place, it's been snow, snow, snow. There was quite a bit yesterday morning and Rand had a bit of trouble getting to work. I was sure he wouldn't make it, especially since we don't have a 4-wheel drive vehicle anymore, but he managed. We had almost 7 inches by that point. Yesterday we had some melt which was nice and I emailed Rand a big ol' grocery list.
Sometime after midnight Snowmageddon showed up and I woke around 5am with about 10 inches of new snow on top of what we already had. It has snowed all morning and is finally letting up. We just lost our first big tree branch right in front of our house. We actually saw it go! I'm glad we were all inside when that happened. We were all outside after breakfast and currently are watching a giant tractor plow and clear the roads out here. Makes me feel a little better about being 1 day away from my due date, knowing getting to our house is at least possible!

Fun and exciting and a little nerve-wracking! Hey, at least we have food and I brushed up on my "what to do if you have to deliver your baby by yourself info." I'm ready.

39.5 weeks

Not that I'm counting or anything....

I really do know better than to get anxious too soon about having a baby before my actual due date. But I just can't help it. I can't. I just think, maybe this time, maybe my baby will come at 38 weeks and be little and really easy to push out, and it won't be that scary.' But no. I cook 'em full term. Full-full. And they are nice and healthy and round. And that is good too. It's just scary. And I do stuff to try and encourage my body to move things along...but as I have learned before, if the baby isn't ready....there is no "making" things happen before it is time.

So today, I thought nothing of putting on all my snow gear (the stuff that still fits), basically layers of cotton/stretchy stuff and then hats, boots and gloves. I layered up all 3 kids, grabbed a carrot and some sleds and tromped off into our winter wonderland.

It is awesome out here. Apparently we are in one of those "pockets" because a lot of the areas around us don't have nearly the amount of snow we do. We've had 3 inches since yesterday and it's been snowing here almost all day with more expected tonight! Wooohoooo! I just measured and we have a solid 4 inches right now. (There is a small element of fear that I might end up delivering my baby unattended or something, but then again I don't think I'm ever going to have this baby...so carry on)

Living in the woods we have patchy areas that don't have as much snow, but there is plenty of clearings to go build a snowman. We built our 4th snow man today. He was pretty cute. And it was not easy for my body to do that. But I did. And my water didn't break. And my labor didn't start. I just couldn't breathe very well, and my back was aching after. And then I pulled Easton in a sled up a hill. I would love to have seen myself. I must look rather ridiculous. I guess if I'm going to be pregnant forever, I should just get used to it. :)

(don't worry. I know the end is near. Soon the huge child in my midsection will be out of my way and I will be able to bend and breathe at the same time. And that will be nice.)
Until then.....life as usual!

More Snow!

It is a winter wonderland!

SNOW

Snow here is a coveted thing amongst some. Pacific Northwest weather is mild. Summers are spent waiting and waiting for a little hot weather to show up and winters can be frustrating with lots of moisture and temperatures hovering just barely above "snow". That just means there is lots of cold rain. So when Alaska sends us some really cold air and it slams into all that ocean moisture we always have, we occasionally get the perfect mix that equals a snow day. Yesterday it came!
Most of the snow fell last night when it was colder and we are anxiously waiting for the sun to come up so we can play in the "real" snow, but yesterday afternoon was very exciting for the 3 little boys from the desert. The snow was scarce and very wet but that doesn't stop anybody from trying to make a snowball and eat it.

The next trip outside should be more fun!

Easton's Fake Laugh

I live with a bunch of characters I tell ya.

Baptized

We're real proud of our little dudes who decided to get baptized today!

Acts 10:47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

Acts 22:16 'And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

 
  Galatians 3:27 'For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.'

 

Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism



The Lower Yard

 We have a small backyard and then a bank and then a ton of land. The little bank (until recently) was covered with a brush that we discovered was a Chinese weed and our landlord had said he was considering ripping it out (and then poisoning it so it wouldn't come back). He said we could do what we want. We have now deemed the area at the bottom of the bank our "lower yard". We have fantastical plans for it. The swing set is going down there (yes, we moved with our giant play structure) and a garden for me and maybe a little camping area for the summer with a bon fire pit and what not. Because there will most likely be a garden down there we opted to rip out the brush (by "we", I mean Rand) ourselves and NOT add RoundUp to the hill that would run downward directly into our vegetables. I can buy toxic veggies at the store, thank you very much. :) I'm not sure what it is with us and giant yard projects, but apparently we like them. And Rand just gets out there and starts working.....even in the winter. I think the thought was, "Let's clean this up before stuff starts growing and getting totally out of control." Instead what we are dealing with is very wet and heavy debris. But it's mostly all cleaned up now. And the best part is that our landlords (neighbors) are very helpful and are taking care of the piles for us and brought down his mower and mowed the whole cleaned up area for us. Score! We are really having fun here...even though it's winter. And I can't even wait for spring to see how everything will transform and bloom and come to color. It's going to be so fun to watch.

So here is the beginning of the "work" we do when we aren't "working".

before

after

the "lower yard". see the potential??