The Beginning of Beckett...

He'll be three weeks old tomorrow, so I've got to hurry up and write this before I forget it all!!! It's already getting hard to remember the little details of Reese's birth, so I want to make sure and record it this time. It's pretty long, sorry!

My entire pregnancy went great w/ him. I gained 33 pounds total and stayed relatively comfortable up until the last few days. I was due on Monday, September 1st, and I had my 40 week check up on Wednesday, Sept. 3rd. I was dialated to 3 cm. but not having any contractions. I wanted to go as natural as possible, including no stripping of the membranes, breaking my water, pitosin, and epidural. My midwife, Kim, told me it was fine that I wanted to wait it out, but she wanted to let me know that she was going to be out of town that weekend visiting family, so if I had the baby on Sat or Sun, she wouldn't be able to be there. I really wanted her to deliver him, so I decided to go ahead and get the ball rolling and have her strip my membranes. She gave me a hug and told me to call her if I was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart. We scheduled a follow-up appointment on Friday morning just in case nothing happened.

I definitely started something, because the rest of the day I had irregular contractions, but I tried to stay busy to keep them coming. My sister was bored in Ames so she came up to hang out w/ us while we waited. We went for a walk, played frisbee, I baked banana bread and it was looking pretty promising. They were getting closer together, and increasingly stronger, but not horrible. We had everything ready to go and called a friend of ours in case we needed to drop off Reese in the middle of the night. So we went to bed, but when I woke up Thursday morning, the contractions were gone and I felt fine again. I was so dissapointed!

They slowly started coming again in the afternoon, and were getting pretty bad by the time it was time to go to bed. Wade fell right to sleep, but I knew there was no way I would be able to. They were coming 8 minutes apart the entire night. And I didn't sleep at all. It hurt too much to lay still, so every 8 minutes I had to get up on my hands and knees, or jump out of bed and sway back and forth. It was miserable and I was so tired. I kept waiting for them to get closer together before I woke Wade up or called my midwife, but they stayed at 8 minutes the whole night. In the morning, Wade decided to go to my appointment with me, just in case. I told him we'd better bring the bags. On the way there, I got really emotional and began crying because I felt like we were on our way to replace Reese w/ a new baby. I knew it was silly, but the tears came anyway. Once we were there, Kim checked me and told us that I was dialated to 9 cm. and needed to go directly to the hospital! I was confused that I could be at 9 and still feel okay and be up walking around like normal.

So we checked into the hospital a little after 9 am, I stayed in my regular clothes and pretty much went through the same thing that I had all night. In between the contractions I was smiling and happy, then I'd pause for 30 seconds, then be fine again. Around 11am, Kim told me I was almost a 10, so she broke my water. Then it got ugly, and I knew it would. I labored in intense pain for about 2 hours. No drugs, no gown, no IV. I was able to change positions and move around, which was so much better than being stuck in a bed with tubes coming out of me. Around 1pm, I told her I felt the urge to push, and she told me to do whatever my body felt like doing. She was still putting on her gloves and stuff when the nurse told her she needed to come a little quicker. After about 5 minutes of pushing, at 1:07 pm, Mr. Beckett Leo was born! It was amazing and I'm so glad I was able to do it completely natural. It went so much better than Reese's birth, but it was so different too.

After having one child drug-free, and one with the drugs, I am more confused as ever on my opinion about it. If everyone's labor was like Beckett's, I can understand why people can do it w/o epidurals. It was hard, but not that hard. And I completely do not regret getting one w/ Reese. Next time, if the labor is long like the first time, I can easily see myself getting the epidural. I've done it w/o now, so I have had that experience in my life, I don't know if I need to go through it again. Hmm... it'll be awhile though, so I guess I've got plenty of time to think about it!!

Stay at Home Moms :)

A man came home from work and found his two children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?" ''Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered,"Well, today I didn't do it."

**Too cute!**

FINALLY BACK!!!

Wow! It's already September 17th. I'm sorry that it took me so long to finally get back to the blog! My intention was that people could check this soon after Beckett was born and get some info, but so much for that! It seems like every time I try to sit down to write something, the phone rings, the baby wakes up, or there's unusual thuds coming from Reese's room that need to be addressed. That, or I just don't feel like it, and laying on the couch watching Oprah sounds much more appealing at the moment!

Things have been going really well! Beckett is now 12 days old and doing great. He goes in again for his 2 week check up on Friday. He is a GREAT little sleeper, and so far seems like a pretty calm baby. In fact, Wade and I wonder if it's normal for a baby to sleep so much. And with Reese, we wondered if it was normal for a baby to cry so much and worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep!! Reese loves giving him TONS of kisses and sometimes just likes to nuzzle his soft little head. It hasn't been too bad with two, the hardest part has been when I'm feeding him and Reese needs to go potty, but she still needs a little help.

We are trying to get back into the swing of things, creating a new routine for this fall. I feel like I have a lot to blog about, including our trip to the Amanas, Reese's new gymnastics class, and I'll try to sqeeze in Beckett's birth story in there somewhere too.

I have a ton more, but here's a couple pics...

Waiting...

*sigh*
Still pregnant.

39 weeks

The Opheims!

I know that they occasionally visit our blog, so I wanted to give a shout out to Steve and Becky Opheim (Wade's godparents) and wish them a happy 35th wedding anniversary, which was last week! Their kids threw them a surprise party in Fort Dodge on Friday night, and we wouldn't have missed it for anything. They are such a phenomenal family and I truly feel blessed to know them. So again, congrats on 35 years! We love you guys!!!!!!



PS: I looove this song, so tonight I dedicate it to the Opheims!

Recent Random Pics

The last couple of weeks have been busy!

Cousins over for the weekend.

Alex, Reese, Olivia, Curtis, and Dylan

Our 2nd garage sale of the summer. We made over $100, but more importantly, got rid of A BUNCH of stuff!!!!

Grandma Monroe reading Reesey a book after the garage sale. Mom, we sold a ton of those children's books, and the rest went to Goodwill!

Wade's 25th birthday! He wanted Jimmy John's and chocolate/peanut butter swirl cake with cream cheese frosting. So, being a good wife, I delivered just that.

37 weeks!

"Oh, just get over here and take a quick picture!"

While folding clothes, Reese decided she wanted to be like Daddy. So she put on his bandana, his socks, and a button up shirt and danced around the room. She said, "Look Mommy, I'm a butterfly!"

She decided to play in room in stead of take her nap, so she fell asleep while Wade was reading her books before bed. :)

Nesting

I'm not sure if I had this much with Reese, but I realized today that I am totally in the "nesting" phase of pregnacy!!! And since Wade didn't know what it was, here's a quick definition:

Nesting is the term used to refer to an expectant mother’s instinct which gives her a surge of energy which prompts her to clean and do various chores around her home. Nesting usually arises as the mother nears her due date. Some women are nesting and are mentally unaware of it. Their nesting instincts may be subtle, yet they are going around their living quarters doing tasks in preparation for their child’s birth. When nesting is subtle, it is thought to be because the woman may be energetic or active naturally, regardless of her pregnancy.

Last Thursday, my swim lessons didn't show up, so I decided to deep clean at the Y, and I went around with rubber gloves cleaning windows, the guardroom, the office, you name it. The lifeguard was like, "What are you doing??"
Friday night I cleaned up the office (his new room) and got his closet ready, vacuumed and swept the floors.
Last night, I got this random urge to dust everything in the house.
And today, I decided to clean the kitchen top to bottom, and really scrub all those little neglected spots. Then, cleaned the windows and took the screens off and sprayed them down.

Afterwards, I was thinking, what has gotten into me?? I normally keep things picked up and cleaned, but it takes a lot more motivation than just a whim. So, I decided I must be nesting. :) Strange!

Singing to Gus

Is it bad that I don't ever want her to grow up!? We were playing at the park this afternoon and there were some girls swinging by us, who seemed to be about 11 or 12. They were decked out in clothes from Limited Too and Claire's jewelry.They all had cell phones, and were calling boys, and talking about kissing them. But, just when they thought they saw a boy they knew, they ran and hid behind a tree. :P After Reese and I left, I hugged her so tight and almost cried because I don't ever want her to be that age! I remember it all too well, and those were tough/awkward years! (At least for me!!!) **sigh**

So here's a little video of her just being herself. We're not sure if she really understands that there's a baby in mommy's tummy, but we at least give it a shot. Don't mind my extremely fat legs... I'm almost embarrassed to put it on her just because of that!

Beads

How stinkin' cute is she!?!

We just made a necklace out of beads (or balls, as she called them) and I just had to share this pic. Watching her use her little 2 year old fingers to thread the beads was priceless, and when she was successful she got so excited. I can't believe how old she is getting!

Our Babymoon

Babymoon (n): a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby. Babymoons usually take place at a resort that offers appropriate services like prenatal massage. The term babymoon comes from the more traditional term honeymoon, which is a vacation taken by a newlywed couple after their wedding ceremony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babymoon

This weekend, Wade and I were lucky enough to take a little weekend getaway in Decorah! For our 1 year anniversary, Roger and Mary were so kind to get us a gift certificate for one night's stay at a bed and breakfast, The B&B on Broadway.(http://www.bandbonbroadway.com/) SO COOL! This was our first time staying at a bed and breakfast, and we'd definitely do it again. But, we are a little sad because we know we've set the bar pretty high. We stayed in the Royal Suite, which takes up the entire third floor. It was like a little apartment!

Mary also treated us to pedicures, another first for both of us. With all the gross, dead skin they scraped off Wade's feet, we think he's about an inch shorter. I managed to smudge mine up about 5 minutes afterwards. Oh well, it was still fun. :)

Mary ALSO got us a gift certificate to eat at the Rubaiyat in downtown Decorah. I know, isn't she awesome!?! (http://www.rubaiyatrestaurant.com/) YUM!!

It was such a relaxing weekend and Reese got to spend some time w/ her grandparents. In less than a month we'll have two little ones so we were so grateful to have a little time to ourselves!

Comfiest bed ever!!

Awww...

The house was filled with antiques. Oh, and I'm about as big as the fireplace.

The Homestretch!

I will be 36 weeks in a few days, and I have a feeling this last part is going to go fast. I saw that the little baby countdown said 31 days to go, wow! I also wanted to point out that, according to the picture, it would seem that he has lots of room to float (and "spin"?) but this is not true! He is definitely running out of room! I have little feet way up in my ribs at times and a little head pushing down on my bladder!

I have been pretty comfortable so far, with only a little tiny bit of heartburn and a little itty bit of back pain. And the heat hasn't really seemed to bother me. (Even when our air conditioner was broken for a week!) My biggest complaint is being so tired all the time. Which makes me feel like a bad mom when I have a 2 year old who wants to play all the time :(

I'm beginning to get the question, "You're STILL pregnant!?!?", which is really annoying. So for those of you reading this, don't you dare ask me that! (Or any other pregnant lady for that matter!)

A few of my favorite pregnancy things:

1. The Boppy Pregnacy Pillow

So comfy to cuddle with at night and keep between my legs to aleviate back strain!

2. Old Navy Maternity Underware

AWESOME and so much more comfortable than my regular VS underware that has that thick elastic waistband.

3. Long T-shirts
Who needs those ugly maternity shirts when the current styles are already long enough to cover my belly!? I just wear a camisol under them and I'm good to go!

4. Dairy Queen Blizzards

For those nights when I'm especially moody. Always seems to help. ;)

5. Cocoa Butter

With my first pregnancy, I used a Bath and Body Works kind, but this time I just used Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula on my tummy. Not sure if that's the big secret, but no stretch marks so far!!

6. Gauchos

Ahhh! So wonderful! I would wear these everyday if it wasn't so hot out. I don't even care if they went out of style a year or two ago!