It's sorta like a pet. One I've neglected the past YEAR. But ya know what? It didn't die, did it! Ha!
It is the 2 year anniversary of the day I went into labor with Owen and I have such awesome, wonderful and horrible memories from this day/night that it brings tears to my eyes.
First the wonderful: No c-section, Yeah!!, new healthy baby who is one of the most beautiful creatures on earth, Yeah!!, achieving a goal, Yeah!!, winning my husbands admiration and respect, Yeah!!, growing a whole new heart to hold the love for my little Owen in, Yeah!!
Next, the horrible: labor, boo hiss!, labor, boo hiss! labor....you get my drift? :)
It's such an interesting time gauge right now for me. When I look at Owen I keep thinking about how I brought a brand new baby home when Carter was this age. It's so crazy because I remember expecting so much out of him when he was just 2 years old. I thought of him as older in some way or more capable of understanding what was going on and how he was to deal with it emotionall. Coockoo! I look at Owen right now and I think "He's just a baby!!" and it's true! The poor first child is our experimental child. We poor everything into them and expect so much back. Not until we have the 2nd are we almost sane people who then see how silly we've been.
THAT, is the closest I will come to admit to being a bit wacky about my first child. Haha, love it!
Will I blog regularily? Hell no. I have no idea what I will do or when I will have time or what mood strikes me. Will I make false promises? No. It is what it is. We'll see.
and in conclusion....
Happy Birthday Eve to my sweet-cheeked, funny, goofy, shy, cuddly, muncheechee, Owen.
Showing posts with label Owen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Owen. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Owen, OwieBo, Owbo, Bo, Baby Bee, Stinker Pie
All about the "O".
We are getting ready for the milestone marker of turning ONE YEAR OLD. The day he can officially (according to the APA, the FDA and maybe even the PTA) have a piece of cake with frosting, honey, cows milk, and maybe even a sucker. All of the things that are magically okay as soon as we put a silly, pointy hat on him, sing obnoxiously loud while lighting a pastry on fire and putting it within arms reach. An arbitrary milestone that makes him not a "baby" anymore but a toddler......sort of.
Yikes.
Anyway, I very rarely get a chance to write about my sweet little man, so here goes....
Owen has this long wispy red hair that curls up when it's humid, otherwise it's just all-over, crazy. He has the funniest little smile and he lets you see it quite a bit. I've never seen such a happy baby! When he does get mad he has a ferocious, albeit shortlived, temper. If he gets a booboo he will cry but he's more angry about it than anything. I struggle not too laugh when he throws his little fits because I think they are so cute, especially when he gets his feelings hurt when his big brother takes a toy he was playing with or hip-checks him away from the play kitchen. What am I going to do with these boys? I think I may be the official referee from here on out. ugh.
He's a good sleeper even though I think we may be losing the afternoon nap altogether too soon. Sigh. I really needed that break....oh well.
When I put him down in his crib he grabs his blankie and puts it up to the side of his face and mouth and does this tongue-lip-suckle thing against it. Sometimes I catch him just holding it up to his face and smelling it. Hilarious. I'm not sure why he became so attached to this blankie but it's very airy and light so that's a relief for me! It was a babyshower gift when I was pregnant with Carter but he never took to a lovey or anything and so it was only a boring blanket until Owen was born and adopted it as his very own night-night, or bankie.
Last Friday (September 18th) must be remembered as the day Owen took his First Step. On step #2 he fell back and sat on his butt. He's gonna be toddling after his brother in no time, now. Man! He is fast though with his little one-legged-butt-knee-scoot-thing he does. But he wants to play like the big kids soooo much. I feel for him.
There are so many differences between my boys and I will always compare them, I think, but in a good way. I like seeing their differences and similarities. I love watching each of their unique personalities develop. Such a joy!
So, Owen says Da-Da a lot and holds up his arms to be picked up whenever he sees Kevin, can play cars and says "vroooom" while he's pushing them, says "Ahhll duuuhn" when he's finished, says "uuh- ohh" with his hands splayed outward in the air after he chucks his sippy cup on the floor, looooves loves loves his big brother and cries woefully when he can't do what Carter is doing (or if Carter kicks, hits or tackles him), gets into everything, loves playing peek-a-boo, only needs to be shown how to do something once and he's got it, eats like a lumberjack (especially scrambled eggs, peas or bananas), is learning how to "mow" the lawn with the toy mower, laughs hysterically when he gets tickled and is basically the best, most entertaining baby ever. :)
So now I feel better. It's been bothering me that I haven't written much about my little guy on here. Phew. Maybe now I can go back to whining about my health. ;)
We are getting ready for the milestone marker of turning ONE YEAR OLD. The day he can officially (according to the APA, the FDA and maybe even the PTA) have a piece of cake with frosting, honey, cows milk, and maybe even a sucker. All of the things that are magically okay as soon as we put a silly, pointy hat on him, sing obnoxiously loud while lighting a pastry on fire and putting it within arms reach. An arbitrary milestone that makes him not a "baby" anymore but a toddler......sort of.
Yikes.
Anyway, I very rarely get a chance to write about my sweet little man, so here goes....
Owen has this long wispy red hair that curls up when it's humid, otherwise it's just all-over, crazy. He has the funniest little smile and he lets you see it quite a bit. I've never seen such a happy baby! When he does get mad he has a ferocious, albeit shortlived, temper. If he gets a booboo he will cry but he's more angry about it than anything. I struggle not too laugh when he throws his little fits because I think they are so cute, especially when he gets his feelings hurt when his big brother takes a toy he was playing with or hip-checks him away from the play kitchen. What am I going to do with these boys? I think I may be the official referee from here on out. ugh.
He's a good sleeper even though I think we may be losing the afternoon nap altogether too soon. Sigh. I really needed that break....oh well.
When I put him down in his crib he grabs his blankie and puts it up to the side of his face and mouth and does this tongue-lip-suckle thing against it. Sometimes I catch him just holding it up to his face and smelling it. Hilarious. I'm not sure why he became so attached to this blankie but it's very airy and light so that's a relief for me! It was a babyshower gift when I was pregnant with Carter but he never took to a lovey or anything and so it was only a boring blanket until Owen was born and adopted it as his very own night-night, or bankie.
Last Friday (September 18th) must be remembered as the day Owen took his First Step. On step #2 he fell back and sat on his butt. He's gonna be toddling after his brother in no time, now. Man! He is fast though with his little one-legged-butt-knee-scoot-thing he does. But he wants to play like the big kids soooo much. I feel for him.
There are so many differences between my boys and I will always compare them, I think, but in a good way. I like seeing their differences and similarities. I love watching each of their unique personalities develop. Such a joy!
So, Owen says Da-Da a lot and holds up his arms to be picked up whenever he sees Kevin, can play cars and says "vroooom" while he's pushing them, says "Ahhll duuuhn" when he's finished, says "uuh- ohh" with his hands splayed outward in the air after he chucks his sippy cup on the floor, looooves loves loves his big brother and cries woefully when he can't do what Carter is doing (or if Carter kicks, hits or tackles him), gets into everything, loves playing peek-a-boo, only needs to be shown how to do something once and he's got it, eats like a lumberjack (especially scrambled eggs, peas or bananas), is learning how to "mow" the lawn with the toy mower, laughs hysterically when he gets tickled and is basically the best, most entertaining baby ever. :)
So now I feel better. It's been bothering me that I haven't written much about my little guy on here. Phew. Maybe now I can go back to whining about my health. ;)
Monday, March 23, 2009
Our weekend
For a weekend away with 2 sick kids, and one with teeth trying to break through his gums, it was surprisingly relaxing. We went up to Kevin's dad and step-mom's house and had a great time. No internet, minimal sports viewing, minimal cooking for ourselves (grammy is an awesome cook and I look forward to her meals every time we go), no lawn/yard work to keep the husband busy, no dishes to do or toys to pick up and the added benefit of more hands to hold the baby and entertain the toddler (Papa and Grammy are very popular with the kids). Plus, I got to eat some Indian food on Saturday before we went to a friends St. Patrick's Day Party/crawfish boil. Yuck to the crawfish. I don't eat them. It's not my thing. They basically creep me out. As kids we would pry them out of riverbanks .... not boil them up and eat them. I cringe while my husband sucks the spice out of their heads. Uggghhh.
But good grief, I crave Indian food all the time. Why doesn't our town have any good restaurants!? Argh. We had a yummy buffet lunch but I wish I didn't fill up so quick! It was so damn good I wanted to keep going back for more. Alas, I am a glutton. So basically my weekend revolved around food.
Today Owen's First Tooth made it's appearance with #2 running close behind. Why do I feel so proud? It's just a tooth. He is a wee bit fussy but not nearly as bad as Carter when he was teething. Carter was a teething maniac....for months. Owen just had a few crappy days and Voila! Here they are! Just another way they differ, I suppose.
I forgot to mention last week that I started running again. Aiiiyeeee. I am in the worst shape of my life. Seriously. I'm not just saying that. I can feel everything jiggling when I'm jogging and I'm tired after about ohhhhhhh 10 steps or so. God, what's happened? The first day I ran 1/4 of a mile, came home gasping for breath and proceeded to have a coughing fit for the next 30 minutes. I felt like I had just smoked 3 packs of Newports. Like I hadn't taken a deep breath in a decade. What the hell? Have I used my lungs in the past year or two? Anyway, the 2nd time I ran 1/2 mile and felt much better afterwards. Slowly but surely....
I will always hate running. I'll do it though.
But good grief, I crave Indian food all the time. Why doesn't our town have any good restaurants!? Argh. We had a yummy buffet lunch but I wish I didn't fill up so quick! It was so damn good I wanted to keep going back for more. Alas, I am a glutton. So basically my weekend revolved around food.
Today Owen's First Tooth made it's appearance with #2 running close behind. Why do I feel so proud? It's just a tooth. He is a wee bit fussy but not nearly as bad as Carter when he was teething. Carter was a teething maniac....for months. Owen just had a few crappy days and Voila! Here they are! Just another way they differ, I suppose.
I forgot to mention last week that I started running again. Aiiiyeeee. I am in the worst shape of my life. Seriously. I'm not just saying that. I can feel everything jiggling when I'm jogging and I'm tired after about ohhhhhhh 10 steps or so. God, what's happened? The first day I ran 1/4 of a mile, came home gasping for breath and proceeded to have a coughing fit for the next 30 minutes. I felt like I had just smoked 3 packs of Newports. Like I hadn't taken a deep breath in a decade. What the hell? Have I used my lungs in the past year or two? Anyway, the 2nd time I ran 1/2 mile and felt much better afterwards. Slowly but surely....
I will always hate running. I'll do it though.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
My kids are the bestest
If there is anything of merit Carter would like to show you he will say "You close your eyes", then you have to cover your eyes with your hands, " ....Ready? Okay......TahhDaaahhhh!".This is repeated about 98 times a day in our house. He is very dramatic with his flourishing "TaahDaaah's".
*****
Carter is Don Juan de Marco. He tell's you he loves you all day long and even when he is falling asleep and slurring with exhaustion.
This is how he says it: "I love you too, Mama."
As the day moves along and he gets more tired he just says it more and more. "I love you too, Mama", "I love you too, daddy", "I love Owen, too". Sometimes we can judge how tired he is by how many times he will tell us he loves us. Such a sweet boy.
*****
Last night in the bath I had Owen sitting in front of me playing with the water with the amazement only a 6 month old can have. Carter hopped in and started playing with his toys. Well, Owen (being the big boy that he is now) decided he wanted to play too so he starts wrestling a bath toy from Carter. All of a sudden Owen is a People! Then Owie throws his hands down in frustration and ended up making a really big splash. Carter got all wet and laughed, Owen laughed hysterically, I laughed because they were having fun together. My two boys sat and splashed each other for 10 minutes laughing all the while. The bathroom was a tad water logged but who cares, they had fun.
*****
Dear Owen,
I know you have just discovered your Baby Voice but please, could you keep the blood curdling screams to a minimum? I'm afraid that Child Protective Services will be called by our neighbors and boy, wouldn't that be embarrassing. I know you think it is hilarious to clench your fists, suck in your breath, and let loose an ear-piercing shreek but I'm not sure if everyone else knows you're just testing your vocal range. Is it really that much fun? Your face gets all red and you look very proud of yourself after an exceptionally loud one and I know it makes you giggle but I just don't get it, I guess. Oh well. You can pay for my hearing aids when I get old. Deal?
Love you, Owie Bo. You're my guy.
Mommy
*****
Carter is Don Juan de Marco. He tell's you he loves you all day long and even when he is falling asleep and slurring with exhaustion.
This is how he says it: "I love you too, Mama."
As the day moves along and he gets more tired he just says it more and more. "I love you too, Mama", "I love you too, daddy", "I love Owen, too". Sometimes we can judge how tired he is by how many times he will tell us he loves us. Such a sweet boy.
*****
Last night in the bath I had Owen sitting in front of me playing with the water with the amazement only a 6 month old can have. Carter hopped in and started playing with his toys. Well, Owen (being the big boy that he is now) decided he wanted to play too so he starts wrestling a bath toy from Carter. All of a sudden Owen is a People! Then Owie throws his hands down in frustration and ended up making a really big splash. Carter got all wet and laughed, Owen laughed hysterically, I laughed because they were having fun together. My two boys sat and splashed each other for 10 minutes laughing all the while. The bathroom was a tad water logged but who cares, they had fun.
*****
Dear Owen,
I know you have just discovered your Baby Voice but please, could you keep the blood curdling screams to a minimum? I'm afraid that Child Protective Services will be called by our neighbors and boy, wouldn't that be embarrassing. I know you think it is hilarious to clench your fists, suck in your breath, and let loose an ear-piercing shreek but I'm not sure if everyone else knows you're just testing your vocal range. Is it really that much fun? Your face gets all red and you look very proud of yourself after an exceptionally loud one and I know it makes you giggle but I just don't get it, I guess. Oh well. You can pay for my hearing aids when I get old. Deal?
Love you, Owie Bo. You're my guy.
Mommy
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My little Owen
My, oh my! What a happy little bug! My little Owen is such a sweetpea. He's everywhere these days! His long arms reaching and grabbing anything and everything. His favorite things to try to tangle his pianist fingers around are my face and his older brother's hair. Carter just thinks this is hilarious. Owen loves his brother. I can't get over how much he will just watch Carter and how he'll try to wildly tackle him whenever he is near. He gets such a kick out of his older sibling that even when Carter is throwing a tantrum I'll hear a chuckle out of the little one.
It is really such a personality flip from my first child that I am amazed everyday. He is a happy-go-lucky baby with googly grins, quiet and sweet smiles, and a developing jokesters belly laugh. When he wakes up in the middle of the night I usually hear him talking to himself and even laughing sometimes. And of course when I stumble bleary-eyed into the room he laughs hysterically and his arms reach for me with glee.
When I was contemplating taking Carter back to Mommy & Me I was worried about how the little tag-a-long would do. I needn't have bothered because our Owie man is wild about the class. Today we actually just sang to Owen while he sat proudly in his Bumbo seat, drooling and smiling for everybody (Carter was feeling shy and told everyone "No sing Toh-Toh! Sing Owen! and hid behind the stroller). Once I get him in the Baby Bjorn he gets to "dance" around with the rest of us. I'm so glad they both seem to get so much out of the one class. It lessens my mother's guilt for not being able to focus specific one-on-one time with my new little guy. I have been surprised how happy Carter is about the situation, as well. He doesn't mind if I'm holding Owen while dancing with him, just as long as I'm holding his hand. Carter will often run over and check up on his baby brother and pat his head. Owen will just try to angle his mouth to try to eat his hand. Haha.
I think our wee little one has begun teething, though. Ugh.
I'm one lucky mama.
It is really such a personality flip from my first child that I am amazed everyday. He is a happy-go-lucky baby with googly grins, quiet and sweet smiles, and a developing jokesters belly laugh. When he wakes up in the middle of the night I usually hear him talking to himself and even laughing sometimes. And of course when I stumble bleary-eyed into the room he laughs hysterically and his arms reach for me with glee.
When I was contemplating taking Carter back to Mommy & Me I was worried about how the little tag-a-long would do. I needn't have bothered because our Owie man is wild about the class. Today we actually just sang to Owen while he sat proudly in his Bumbo seat, drooling and smiling for everybody (Carter was feeling shy and told everyone "No sing Toh-Toh! Sing Owen! and hid behind the stroller). Once I get him in the Baby Bjorn he gets to "dance" around with the rest of us. I'm so glad they both seem to get so much out of the one class. It lessens my mother's guilt for not being able to focus specific one-on-one time with my new little guy. I have been surprised how happy Carter is about the situation, as well. He doesn't mind if I'm holding Owen while dancing with him, just as long as I'm holding his hand. Carter will often run over and check up on his baby brother and pat his head. Owen will just try to angle his mouth to try to eat his hand. Haha.
I think our wee little one has begun teething, though. Ugh.
I'm one lucky mama.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sieze the Day! (or anything for that matter)
This is all about Owen.
We have "Mr. Personality" developing. It's pretty freaking cute and since I don't plan on having any more children I am really trying to savor it all.
So lately, Owen will wake up in the early morning and I will hear him laughing and talking to himself in the cosleeper. He'll do this for a good long while sometimes dozing in between chuckles. What a nice way to wake up your mommy!! I swear he is so sweet I can't get over it. He doesn't even cry that hard when his brother squishes him with his 2 year old loving toddler body. What a trooper.
His latest baby achievement is grabbing everything within his reach, and Man! is he proud of himself. He squawks with joy when he gets his paws on his Whoozit! or mommy's hair (he laughs hysterically when he gets my hair...I dont' know why but I love it). When he gets a baby blanket in his ninja grasp he pulls it up and down in front of his face like he's doing Peek-a-Boo. Funny.
He's my googly sweetie pie. Love him, infinity.
We have "Mr. Personality" developing. It's pretty freaking cute and since I don't plan on having any more children I am really trying to savor it all.
So lately, Owen will wake up in the early morning and I will hear him laughing and talking to himself in the cosleeper. He'll do this for a good long while sometimes dozing in between chuckles. What a nice way to wake up your mommy!! I swear he is so sweet I can't get over it. He doesn't even cry that hard when his brother squishes him with his 2 year old loving toddler body. What a trooper.
His latest baby achievement is grabbing everything within his reach, and Man! is he proud of himself. He squawks with joy when he gets his paws on his Whoozit! or mommy's hair (he laughs hysterically when he gets my hair...I dont' know why but I love it). When he gets a baby blanket in his ninja grasp he pulls it up and down in front of his face like he's doing Peek-a-Boo. Funny.
He's my googly sweetie pie. Love him, infinity.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Randoms of October
We are out of coffee filters so I used paper towels. I almost panicked. In Ecuador we were desperate and used someones sock as a filter....so essentially, I will do almost anything for coffee in the morning.
Owen is my little Creature. He has these long arms and when I go to lay him down he grabs onto my clothing like a baby monkey and I have to detach him. When I'm carrying him around he opens and closes his hands and scrapes his nails on my shoulder and hugs me. So funny.
I smell like baby throw-up. I forgot how smelly being a newborns' mother can be. Ugh. I repulse myself.
Yesterday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. Can you believe all the crap we've crammed into 3 years? Good grief. Two kids, 3 different states....yikes.
Yesterday, we went to a friends house in the afternoon because my Big Guy was bouncing off of the walls. He refused to nap so I loaded the kids up and drove. They both fell asleep on the way there. So I actually got to sit and chat while my toddler was conked out in the van. Nice. Got his nap in and then he played. Then wonderful husband got off of work early and met me at home with carryout for our anniversary dinner. Mmmm. It was a good day. However, I didn't get any "rest time" so pretty freakin' exhausted.
Poor Owen never gets to rest for any long stretches during the day. His older brother is always screaming in his ear or poking him or running around with his loudest toys. Poor child slept 5-6 hours straight last night in sheer exhaustion. Good for all of us, though.
Our cat has decided to act like a dog and she is now stealing food off of plates if we leave the room and jumping up on the counter scrounging for crumbs. I'm gonna kill that thing one of these days. We don't particularly like her very much anyway....she is just tolerated. We "rescued" the beast and now I wish we didn't. Carter just yells at her (hmmm wonder where he picked up on that?) "Gooooo Cat! Get!"
Carter doesn't eat anymore. His favorite saying is "No like!" even when he has never tried it. Joyous phase. But if he sees any sort of cupcake or sweet he screams "Me like!". duh.
He throws everything. I mean everything. Even if he is remotely upset he chucks whatever he is holding and then goes on a rampage. It's like watching a drunk, trashing a bar.
I'm trying to get Owen to take a pacifier but most of the time he just looks at me out of the corner of his eyes and mouths it....he reminds me of an old, toothless Irish man up at the Gaelic League chewing on the butt of an old cigar. Kinda crabby and mean looking but basically harmless.
I'm downloading the camera as I type so later today I will post pictures. Maybe I'll even try to update some stuff. Wooohooo.
Owen is my little Creature. He has these long arms and when I go to lay him down he grabs onto my clothing like a baby monkey and I have to detach him. When I'm carrying him around he opens and closes his hands and scrapes his nails on my shoulder and hugs me. So funny.
I smell like baby throw-up. I forgot how smelly being a newborns' mother can be. Ugh. I repulse myself.
Yesterday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. Can you believe all the crap we've crammed into 3 years? Good grief. Two kids, 3 different states....yikes.
Yesterday, we went to a friends house in the afternoon because my Big Guy was bouncing off of the walls. He refused to nap so I loaded the kids up and drove. They both fell asleep on the way there. So I actually got to sit and chat while my toddler was conked out in the van. Nice. Got his nap in and then he played. Then wonderful husband got off of work early and met me at home with carryout for our anniversary dinner. Mmmm. It was a good day. However, I didn't get any "rest time" so pretty freakin' exhausted.
Poor Owen never gets to rest for any long stretches during the day. His older brother is always screaming in his ear or poking him or running around with his loudest toys. Poor child slept 5-6 hours straight last night in sheer exhaustion. Good for all of us, though.
Our cat has decided to act like a dog and she is now stealing food off of plates if we leave the room and jumping up on the counter scrounging for crumbs. I'm gonna kill that thing one of these days. We don't particularly like her very much anyway....she is just tolerated. We "rescued" the beast and now I wish we didn't. Carter just yells at her (hmmm wonder where he picked up on that?) "Gooooo Cat! Get!"
Carter doesn't eat anymore. His favorite saying is "No like!" even when he has never tried it. Joyous phase. But if he sees any sort of cupcake or sweet he screams "Me like!". duh.
He throws everything. I mean everything. Even if he is remotely upset he chucks whatever he is holding and then goes on a rampage. It's like watching a drunk, trashing a bar.
I'm trying to get Owen to take a pacifier but most of the time he just looks at me out of the corner of his eyes and mouths it....he reminds me of an old, toothless Irish man up at the Gaelic League chewing on the butt of an old cigar. Kinda crabby and mean looking but basically harmless.
I'm downloading the camera as I type so later today I will post pictures. Maybe I'll even try to update some stuff. Wooohooo.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The Story of Owen's Birth
Disclaimer: The following is as much detail that I can remember of my labor and delivery so if it is "too much information"....well, just don't read it. :) I want to remember this. It's important to me. Oh and this is gonna be long. I have almost 20 hours to account for, here. All very busy.
As we laid down in bed and said our goodnights it occured to me that we wouldn't be having a September baby like we originally thought. In fact, both of the boys were due in September but Carter came in August and Owen was obviously going to come in October, since it was 11pm Sept 30th already. Oh well.
I had been feeling generally crappy all day and my back was hurting and not an hour earlier I was IM'ing my doula and telling her that I was a "walking crabass" and that "I didn't expect labor any day soon". Haha.
Well, I had just dozed off when the first contraction hit.....hard. Owww. Wtf? It was sharp and low-frontal. Not at all what the internet or any book says "Real" labor contractions feel like. (makes me wonder if I had some issues from previous cesarean...scar tissue? I dunno) In fact what I was experiencing sounded an awful alot like "False" labor. Who the hell knows why.
They started at about 8-10 minutes apart and I was unable to sleep through any of them. Hurt like the dickens. Very soon (within 1 hour) they were consistently every 5-6 minutes. This is when I move to the couch because I can't keep quiet or keep still. My darling husband says "Are you in labor?" and "Try to sleep". I say " I have no freakin idea" and "Yeah right".
At around 4:50 am I text my doula "FYI: I’m gonna lose my mind. Contractions 5 min apart since 12, very very painful. No sleep yet 2night. They were more like 8-10 earlier. Some still fluxuate. But they are all lower pelvic ones. ‘Real’ or not? Internet says not…"
She responded right away (I love this woman) and thought I should try a warm shower and just resting....thinking it was probably labor but the pain (kinda like someone carving out innards with a spoon while stabbing me in the gut) and location (cervical) sounded odd. So I took a shower and felt a wee bit better......for a minute. At around 6am I dragged husband out of bed and said I can't do this by myself anymore, "I need you". This is all very boring. Me moaning and doing this low throat hum thing through each one, watching t.v. and talking about whether or not this was labor. Can you believe I still wasn't sure?
So at around 8:30 am I'm talking on the phone with my sister. I hang up, stand up from the couch and I feel "POP" in my abdomen and then a spreading warmth. I freaked the f*&^ out.
This is me: "Oh my god. Uterine rupture! Get Carter. Drive. Drive now." (small explanation here: I had read that a uterine rupture is accompanied by an almost audible "pop")
So I'm standing there trying to figure out what the hell just happened, Kevin takes towel he has had slung around his neck this whole time and whips it under me. I don't have any pain like a rupture would have so I'm just standing there as my water is breaking over a towel. Very odd feeling. It's all clear so I'm starting to relax slightly. Still kinda freaked though. I call Amy, my doula, and she says she will be over shortly and to try to stay relaxed.
Strangely enough, after my water breaks my contractions start improving. I thought it was supposed to work the other way....I am totally backwards.
Amy comes over and Kevin calls his Dad (who just happens to be working a job in Hattiesburg that day...weird) to come and sit with Carter. Good timing Baby!
The contractions are now more manageable and I move to the couch in the living room where we checked the baby's heart tones. I pretty much stayed in there the rest of the time. I tried different positions (wall, birth ball, couch, all fours, kevin support) but I just liked sitting on the loveseat and bracing my arms during each one. I dunno why.
They are now coming every 3-4 minutes and I'm kinda thinking I wanna go to the hospital now. So around noon we head up there. Ugh. Traveling during labor sucks. It's a good thing we only live 5 minutes away. :)
They check me at 12:30 and I am 1 cm dilated and 100 % effaced. I'm like "You've got to be kidding me!" How the hell have I labored 13 hours and only gotten to 1 cm. Oh crap.
They contractions are strong and at 1:45 pm they check me again and I am a whopping 2 cm. Oh My Freaking Lord! Get on with it! This is totally disheartening. The only thing that was keeping me going was the fact that I knew it would be harder for me to dilate in the early part because of cervical scarring and that once I got to 3-4 it would speed up. Everyone told me this but I was still a wee bit bummed considering I felt like I was working very very hard and should have been approaching transition, or something. Good grief.
They officially admitted me anyway because they thought I was having pretty good contractions from what the monitor reported. Uh duh. I could have told them that. Or moaned it in agony :).
I start trying different positions but the best position seemed to be seated on the side of the bed (which worked well since I was hooked up to the monitor constantly being a VBAC) and then a little bit later the bed turned into a chair kinda and that was my fave. I really needed to brace my arms during each contraction and the rails seemed to be my lifeline.
At 3:45 my contractions are hard double-peak ones every 2-3 minutes. The check me again at 4 pm and I am at 5 cm and I also got the green light to get off the monitors for a hot shower. Yeah me!!! I got about 20 minutes of free time in there but I think the shower and me being dilated to 5 cm speeded things up because I was all of a sudden not having a good time in the warm water. The doc (O'Neal) comes in and checks out the situation. I like this guy and I'm glad he will be there all night for the delivery.
I am flippin' out by this point. I hate to say it but I was doing the whole "I can't do this!" and "I wanna go home!" labor-rant. Apparently the nurses were impressed that I was handling the very strong double-peak contractions. However, I felt like I was losing my mind. Everyone said how calm I looked throughout. I even have pictures and yes, I do look calm but very, very serious.
At 5:45 pm I was feeling very "pushy" as Amy says. I mean my body was already pushing down and I couldn't stop it. This made me panicky because I knew I didn't want to push against a cervix that wasn't fully dilated. So I begged them to recheck me. Our nurse said that I was at 7 cm but I was so thin that she honestly wasn't sure and she needed another opinion. I was telling/yelling/growling that I was definitely more than 7 cm and that I needed to push very very soon. So at 6:15 another nurse finally came in and agreed that I was totally complete and that I could begin pushing. I knew it, damnit! Of course, I could start pushing after they set everything up......hmmm, lemme tell ya....nature doesn't really want to wait while you "prep the room". However, once I started pushing the pain really disappeared. It was great.
Well, I pushed through about 6-8 contractions and birthed my sweet baby boy at 6:59 pm, October 1st. I was exactly 41 weeks.
Owen Aimery McMahon was 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. His Apgar scores were 9 (1 min) and 10 (5 min). Kevin cried...alot, and got to cut the cord. I was drenched in sweat and was so damn happy to have him out. My goodness, what a relief it is to push your child out of your body!
I had no IV, no medication or epidural and the labor/delivery staff was very respectful of my birthplan. Dr O'Neal even took a minute right before the birth to reread it so that he didn't violate my wishes.
I had a couple of small tears but no episiotomy. They did not clamp the cord right away but let it pulse and they let Owen lay on my chest for a couple of minutes while they rubbed him down. It was wonderful. He didn't get any eye goo for an hour or so, so he was totally checking everything out. I asked dumb, demented questions like "Why are his eyes so puffy? Does he have Down Syndrome? What's wrong with my bottom?" (mirror's are not your friend at this point)
I honestly owe so much to my doula and husband who were my support through this experience. I couldn't have done it without them and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Well...unless I was one of those lucky ones that didn't have much pain..... that would have been nice. ;)
I really can't describe the pain of childbirth and even now it has faded from my memory. I think your mind naturally forgets the trauma of it all to make sure you go an do it all over again.
I am just glad that I have had such a positive experience and that I achieved something that I have wanted to do for almost 3 years now. I feel triumphant and strong.
As we laid down in bed and said our goodnights it occured to me that we wouldn't be having a September baby like we originally thought. In fact, both of the boys were due in September but Carter came in August and Owen was obviously going to come in October, since it was 11pm Sept 30th already. Oh well.
I had been feeling generally crappy all day and my back was hurting and not an hour earlier I was IM'ing my doula and telling her that I was a "walking crabass" and that "I didn't expect labor any day soon". Haha.
Well, I had just dozed off when the first contraction hit.....hard. Owww. Wtf? It was sharp and low-frontal. Not at all what the internet or any book says "Real" labor contractions feel like. (makes me wonder if I had some issues from previous cesarean...scar tissue? I dunno) In fact what I was experiencing sounded an awful alot like "False" labor. Who the hell knows why.
They started at about 8-10 minutes apart and I was unable to sleep through any of them. Hurt like the dickens. Very soon (within 1 hour) they were consistently every 5-6 minutes. This is when I move to the couch because I can't keep quiet or keep still. My darling husband says "Are you in labor?" and "Try to sleep". I say " I have no freakin idea" and "Yeah right".
At around 4:50 am I text my doula "FYI: I’m gonna lose my mind. Contractions 5 min apart since 12, very very painful. No sleep yet 2night. They were more like 8-10 earlier. Some still fluxuate. But they are all lower pelvic ones. ‘Real’ or not? Internet says not…"
She responded right away (I love this woman) and thought I should try a warm shower and just resting....thinking it was probably labor but the pain (kinda like someone carving out innards with a spoon while stabbing me in the gut) and location (cervical) sounded odd. So I took a shower and felt a wee bit better......for a minute. At around 6am I dragged husband out of bed and said I can't do this by myself anymore, "I need you". This is all very boring. Me moaning and doing this low throat hum thing through each one, watching t.v. and talking about whether or not this was labor. Can you believe I still wasn't sure?
So at around 8:30 am I'm talking on the phone with my sister. I hang up, stand up from the couch and I feel "POP" in my abdomen and then a spreading warmth. I freaked the f*&^ out.
This is me: "Oh my god. Uterine rupture! Get Carter. Drive. Drive now." (small explanation here: I had read that a uterine rupture is accompanied by an almost audible "pop")
So I'm standing there trying to figure out what the hell just happened, Kevin takes towel he has had slung around his neck this whole time and whips it under me. I don't have any pain like a rupture would have so I'm just standing there as my water is breaking over a towel. Very odd feeling. It's all clear so I'm starting to relax slightly. Still kinda freaked though. I call Amy, my doula, and she says she will be over shortly and to try to stay relaxed.
Strangely enough, after my water breaks my contractions start improving. I thought it was supposed to work the other way....I am totally backwards.
Amy comes over and Kevin calls his Dad (who just happens to be working a job in Hattiesburg that day...weird) to come and sit with Carter. Good timing Baby!
The contractions are now more manageable and I move to the couch in the living room where we checked the baby's heart tones. I pretty much stayed in there the rest of the time. I tried different positions (wall, birth ball, couch, all fours, kevin support) but I just liked sitting on the loveseat and bracing my arms during each one. I dunno why.
They are now coming every 3-4 minutes and I'm kinda thinking I wanna go to the hospital now. So around noon we head up there. Ugh. Traveling during labor sucks. It's a good thing we only live 5 minutes away. :)
They check me at 12:30 and I am 1 cm dilated and 100 % effaced. I'm like "You've got to be kidding me!" How the hell have I labored 13 hours and only gotten to 1 cm. Oh crap.
They contractions are strong and at 1:45 pm they check me again and I am a whopping 2 cm. Oh My Freaking Lord! Get on with it! This is totally disheartening. The only thing that was keeping me going was the fact that I knew it would be harder for me to dilate in the early part because of cervical scarring and that once I got to 3-4 it would speed up. Everyone told me this but I was still a wee bit bummed considering I felt like I was working very very hard and should have been approaching transition, or something. Good grief.
They officially admitted me anyway because they thought I was having pretty good contractions from what the monitor reported. Uh duh. I could have told them that. Or moaned it in agony :).
I start trying different positions but the best position seemed to be seated on the side of the bed (which worked well since I was hooked up to the monitor constantly being a VBAC) and then a little bit later the bed turned into a chair kinda and that was my fave. I really needed to brace my arms during each contraction and the rails seemed to be my lifeline.
At 3:45 my contractions are hard double-peak ones every 2-3 minutes. The check me again at 4 pm and I am at 5 cm and I also got the green light to get off the monitors for a hot shower. Yeah me!!! I got about 20 minutes of free time in there but I think the shower and me being dilated to 5 cm speeded things up because I was all of a sudden not having a good time in the warm water. The doc (O'Neal) comes in and checks out the situation. I like this guy and I'm glad he will be there all night for the delivery.
I am flippin' out by this point. I hate to say it but I was doing the whole "I can't do this!" and "I wanna go home!" labor-rant. Apparently the nurses were impressed that I was handling the very strong double-peak contractions. However, I felt like I was losing my mind. Everyone said how calm I looked throughout. I even have pictures and yes, I do look calm but very, very serious.
At 5:45 pm I was feeling very "pushy" as Amy says. I mean my body was already pushing down and I couldn't stop it. This made me panicky because I knew I didn't want to push against a cervix that wasn't fully dilated. So I begged them to recheck me. Our nurse said that I was at 7 cm but I was so thin that she honestly wasn't sure and she needed another opinion. I was telling/yelling/growling that I was definitely more than 7 cm and that I needed to push very very soon. So at 6:15 another nurse finally came in and agreed that I was totally complete and that I could begin pushing. I knew it, damnit! Of course, I could start pushing after they set everything up......hmmm, lemme tell ya....nature doesn't really want to wait while you "prep the room". However, once I started pushing the pain really disappeared. It was great.
Well, I pushed through about 6-8 contractions and birthed my sweet baby boy at 6:59 pm, October 1st. I was exactly 41 weeks.
Owen Aimery McMahon was 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. His Apgar scores were 9 (1 min) and 10 (5 min). Kevin cried...alot, and got to cut the cord. I was drenched in sweat and was so damn happy to have him out. My goodness, what a relief it is to push your child out of your body!
I had no IV, no medication or epidural and the labor/delivery staff was very respectful of my birthplan. Dr O'Neal even took a minute right before the birth to reread it so that he didn't violate my wishes.
I had a couple of small tears but no episiotomy. They did not clamp the cord right away but let it pulse and they let Owen lay on my chest for a couple of minutes while they rubbed him down. It was wonderful. He didn't get any eye goo for an hour or so, so he was totally checking everything out. I asked dumb, demented questions like "Why are his eyes so puffy? Does he have Down Syndrome? What's wrong with my bottom?" (mirror's are not your friend at this point)
I honestly owe so much to my doula and husband who were my support through this experience. I couldn't have done it without them and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Well...unless I was one of those lucky ones that didn't have much pain..... that would have been nice. ;)
I really can't describe the pain of childbirth and even now it has faded from my memory. I think your mind naturally forgets the trauma of it all to make sure you go an do it all over again.
I am just glad that I have had such a positive experience and that I achieved something that I have wanted to do for almost 3 years now. I feel triumphant and strong.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Happy Birthday!
To all you out there who haven't heard yet....
Owen Aimery McMahon graced us with his presence on Oct 1st at 6:59 pm. He was 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. He has long fingers and toes and a full head of red-gold hair.
I labored for 19 1/2 hours and had an unmedicated natural birth. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but the most rewarding.
I will write more about later. I just wanted to make a quick announcement.
Owen Aimery McMahon graced us with his presence on Oct 1st at 6:59 pm. He was 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. He has long fingers and toes and a full head of red-gold hair.
I labored for 19 1/2 hours and had an unmedicated natural birth. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but the most rewarding.
I will write more about later. I just wanted to make a quick announcement.
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