Backyard Fun

Backyard Fun

Swim Class

The slideshow:

Swim Class

The slideshow:

A day of firsts...

Henry went to his first birthday party, where he drove a car and a boat, rode a ferris wheel, a carousel, and a train...and tasted his first bite of concession stand pizza. It was a pretty great day.

A day of firsts...

Henry went to his first birthday party, where he drove a car and a boat, rode a ferris wheel, a carousel, and a train...and tasted his first bite of concession stand pizza. It was a pretty great day.

Henry's birth story

Henry is almost a year old now and I’ve never sat down to write his birth story. If I don’t do it now, it will never happen…or it won’t be accurate. It probably won’t be accurate anyway since I no longer have complete use of my brain, due to the large holes caused by severe sleep deprivation…but that’s another story.

The quick and not very romantic version is this:

Went to Dr. Oliver. All was perfect, so I fired her and hired a midwife—Siobhan Kubesh, CNM. She was great—LOVED her. All was set for a home birth. Week 32 (or was it 35?) I inexplicably got gestational diabetes and had to transfer back to an OBGYN. Went with Dr. Oliver. All was well again. Week 40 comes. Doc won’t let me go past due date, despite tears and protests. Tried acupuncture, different foods and lots of walking and nothing happened so I had to go in on Sunday the 13^th for cervical ripening to prepare for induction at 6AM the 14th. Tears and more tears. No sleep.

7AM get Pitocin. 9AM feel contractions. 12PM uncomfortable. Doula and Justin giving non-stop back massages for hours. Uncle Karl and Aunt Rachel visit at some point. 3 PM naked and sobbing on the hospital floor. 5PM feels like someone performing surgery on my insides using a putty knife. Pain is like no other. Can not be described…almost blinding. Shaking uncontrollably. Nauseous. Bleeding, peeing, spitting up on the floor. Nurse says, you don’t have to do this. No gold stars in chart. Fine, get me the anesthesiologist, now. She comes. I jump off table while she prepares to insert the needle. She scolds me—she’s very upset I did this. I hold on to Justin for dear life. I must be still, even during the back to back contractions. Pain eases. I lay down for the first time in 6 hours.

I laid there stunned by what I just went through…dazed. For three hours. Continued to feel the pressure/cramping of the contractions, but compared to what they were, it was comfy.

9PM feels like someone wants out. I call nurse. She checks me. Yes. Calls doc. She oils and stretches and pretty much does all the work. 10PM doc comes in, I push a few times. I can’t stop and do not take a break because I’m so excited to see my son and there he is, safe and warm in my arms. Tears, joy, rambling, bath, nursing, love.

Lot’s and lots of love.

Henry's birth story

Henry is almost a year old now and I’ve never sat down to write his birth story. If I don’t do it now, it will never happen…or it won’t be accurate. It probably won’t be accurate anyway since I no longer have complete use of my brain, due to the large holes caused by severe sleep deprivation…but that’s another story.

The quick and not very romantic version is this:

Went to Dr. Oliver. All was perfect, so I fired her and hired a midwife—Siobhan Kubesh, CNM. She was great—LOVED her. All was set for a home birth. Week 32 (or was it 35?) I inexplicably got gestational diabetes and had to transfer back to an OBGYN. Went with Dr. Oliver. All was well again. Week 40 comes. Doc won’t let me go past due date, despite tears and protests. Tried acupuncture, different foods and lots of walking and nothing happened so I had to go in on Sunday the 13^th for cervical ripening to prepare for induction at 6AM the 14th. Tears and more tears. No sleep.

7AM get Pitocin. 9AM feel contractions. 12PM uncomfortable. Doula and Justin giving non-stop back massages for hours. Uncle Karl and Aunt Rachel visit at some point. 3 PM naked and sobbing on the hospital floor. 5PM feels like someone performing surgery on my insides using a putty knife. Pain is like no other. Can not be described…almost blinding. Shaking uncontrollably. Nauseous. Bleeding, peeing, spitting up on the floor. Nurse says, you don’t have to do this. No gold stars in chart. Fine, get me the anesthesiologist, now. She comes. I jump off table while she prepares to insert the needle. She scolds me—she’s very upset I did this. I hold on to Justin for dear life. I must be still, even during the back to back contractions. Pain eases. I lay down for the first time in 6 hours.

I laid there stunned by what I just went through…dazed. For three hours. Continued to feel the pressure/cramping of the contractions, but compared to what they were, it was comfy.

9PM feels like someone wants out. I call nurse. She checks me. Yes. Calls doc. She oils and stretches and pretty much does all the work. 10PM doc comes in, I push a few times. I can’t stop and do not take a break because I’m so excited to see my son and there he is, safe and warm in my arms. Tears, joy, rambling, bath, nursing, love.

Lot’s and lots of love.

Wednesdays at Boggy Creek Farm

Wednesdays at Boggy Creek Farm

I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!!!

I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!!!

Henry fell asleep last night at 7 and did not wake again till 6AM!

Henry fell asleep last night at 7 and did not wake again till 6AM!

Henry's a shrimp!

Henry began his first swim lesson today at the Y. He's in the shrimp class with 6 other babies. He appeared to love it. It was like bath time X's a million. He splashed and kicked and smiled and flirted with the teacher Jennifer (he must have liked her fetus tattoo, no joke).

This week has included many firsts for Henry. First chocolate (Easter), first French fry (made of yams, on Sunday). First bite of ice cream (at Amy's, Mexican vanilla). First lasagna (last night). I have a feeling this might begin the end of our wheat germ, flax seed, tahini, quinoa, and avocado diet.

Henry's been changing like crazy lately. It's a very weird phenomenon to have this child who can't do something and the next day it's like they've always been doing it. It makes about as much sense as having a cat who one day starts playing the drums. You're like, WHAT, how did you do that? You get so used to them being one way and you almost don't believe it will ever be different. I truly believed he would never crawl. Now I can't imagine him not crawling. I never dreamed he'd actually sleep in a crib and last night he slept there till 7 AM!

Henry's a shrimp!

Henry began his first swim lesson today at the Y. He's in the shrimp class with 6 other babies. He appeared to love it. It was like bath time X's a million. He splashed and kicked and smiled and flirted with the teacher Jennifer (he must have liked her fetus tattoo, no joke).

This week has included many firsts for Henry. First chocolate (Easter), first French fry (made of yams, on Sunday). First bite of ice cream (at Amy's, Mexican vanilla). First lasagna (last night). I have a feeling this might begin the end of our wheat germ, flax seed, tahini, quinoa, and avocado diet.

Henry's been changing like crazy lately. It's a very weird phenomenon to have this child who can't do something and the next day it's like they've always been doing it. It makes about as much sense as having a cat who one day starts playing the drums. You're like, WHAT, how did you do that? You get so used to them being one way and you almost don't believe it will ever be different. I truly believed he would never crawl. Now I can't imagine him not crawling. I never dreamed he'd actually sleep in a crib and last night he slept there till 7 AM!