Adjusting

One of hubby's friends has a saying he loves sharing: "One is one; two is twenty." He's been saying this ever since I got pregnant with Ethan (though I liked reminding him that sometimes, one is twenty... at least in the case of Maggie it is!). In all seriousness, though, two is a lot more challenging. We knew it would be. It doesn't help that I'm still in pain where I tore so I have to take it easy, and I'm not supposed to be picking up Maggie yet (though I did twice accidentally and paid the price).

Maggie seems to like her little brother though. She will sometimes call him by name ("Baby Ethan") though usually he's just "Baby". She pats his head when she walks by. She covers him with blankets even when it's 80 degrees so he'll be warm. She wants to help and she wants to hold him. This is good, right?

But it seems she doesn't want me anymore. Whenever she wants something or needs someone, she calls out for Daddy. Daddy is going back to work tomorrow and we're not sure what that impact will be on her (though fortunately my sister will be helping out the rest of this week). It seems she has abandoned me. Or maybe she feels I've abandoned her? With Ethan in my arms most of my waking hours, it may appear to her that there's no room for her anymore...especially since I can't pick her up and it hurts to have her sit on my lap. My MIL warned me that she would not take out any concerns about the change in our family on Ethan but would on us, but I wasn't expecting her to change to a Daddy's girl so quickly and exclusively. It really makes me sad.

She did have one victory tonight. We've been watching the Elmo potty tape for a while now in hopes that it will spark an interest in using the potty again (since she hasn't in months now). Tonight she was calling out long after bedtime "poo poo" (which usually is an excuse to stay up later through a diaper change). Hubby checked on her and decided to let her sit on the potty... and she peed (a lot!) right away! Yay for Maggie!!!

Quick Birth Story

I woke at 1AM Sunday with strong contractions that were stopping me in my tracks. They were 7 min apart. Knowing that it could be a while still, I let Brian sleep and worked my way through on my own. By 3AM, they were getting closer together so I woke Brian. He started to get everything together as I continued to work my way through, standing the entire time as no other position was comfortable. I didn't want to head to the birth center too early so we waited as long as possible (plus I felt bad about waking the midwife early on Sunday morning). By 5:30AM I had contractions that were 4-5 min apart for at least 2 hrs, so we called. We were to meet the midwife at the birth center within 45 minutes or so.

I think I hit transition in the car. It was uncomfortable to be sitting anyway, but then the contractions started to come every 2-3 minutes and they were extremely painful. I vocalized the whole way to the hospital, which I'm sure freaked out Brian.

Once we got to the birth center, our midwife wasn't there yet. They had us go to the maternity side, where they hooked me up to monitors to check on my contrax and baby's heart rate. I remember looking at the clock at 7AM saying "It's already 7?". The midwife arrived shortly after that. When she checked me, I was 8cm dilated and fully effaced (after not really being dilated or effaced less than 24 hrs before). They rushed me to the birth center.

In the birth center, I labored in the tub very briefly. It didn't work out, as disappointing as that is to admit... the tub was blissful while it lasted. It was quick after that, though. My midwife told me not to hold back if I felt like pushing and the next thing I knew, Ethan was on the way!

As much as I didn't want to deliver that way, I ended up on my back on the bed with maternity nurses (as the birth center nurse wasn't there yet) assisting. One of them kept telling me that I had to pull on my legs, hold my breath, push hard and keep quiet or it wouldn't be effective. I wanted to kick her in the teeth, and I did tell her no at one point.

I tore badly. I guess the OB who did my episiotomy with Maggie (against my wishes) sewed it up too tightly and there was no give. The midwife had a hard time after the birth figuring out where the damage was to repair as I also lost a lot of blood.

But in any case, Ethan joined us at 7:32AM on Sunday. We thought he looked really small and were surprised to learn that he was 9 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long. Only 1 oz heavier and 1/2 inch longer than Maggie at birth!

...

Ethan will be our last. I know that's easy to say right after birth (my family was teasing me for saying that) but I had a difficult pregnancy emotionally and I honestly do not want to go through birth again. Babies are wonderful, but I feel our family is now complete. Brian totally agrees.

Welcome Ethan David!

Sorry for the cryptic message before... I had to send an email from my cell phone and it did not go well.

We just got home and are trying to rest .... story will come.

born

ethan.david.7 :32am.9lbs.3oz.21

Coming Soon?

Today could be the day...

I've been up since 1AM now with strong contractions every 7 minutes. Trying to rest in between but it's been difficult. I have no idea how long this could go on, but it certainly seems like Sprout will be joining us soon.

Trip #1

We had a bit of a scare this morning. Just as we were getting ready to head out for a day of finishing things up, I discovered I was bleeding. Bright, red blood. I thought to myself first that it may be what's termed "bloody show"... but then I remembered being told to call the midwives if I have bright red bleeding. So when I was still bleeding 10 minutes later, I called and was advised to meet the midwife at the Emergency Room.

Not wanting to get everyone all worked up, but also wanting to be sure someone was there to take care of Margaret, we had a bit of a difficult time getting in touch with family. My MIL is the one who is supposed to care for Maggie when I'm in labor... but she refuses to have a cell phone. She wasn't home. Hubby tried my SIL next (she lives with MIL) but got no answer on her cell phone. I called my sister and found she currently had no transportation. My mom was last, but I didn't want to get her in a tizzy so I just explained what was going on and she offered to come get Margaret if we didn't hear back from MIL. Finally when we arrived at the hospital, hubby was able to reach his sister, who agreed to come down and get Maggie.

My trip through the ER was swift... I guess there was no one to do admission in maternity so that's why they sent me through there. I was whisked away up to the maternity floor in a wheelchair, feeling rather foolish. Also a bit perturbed since this was not the natural birth in the hospital's birth center that I was planning.

Once in the room, I was hooked up to the monitors to check contractions and fetal heartrate. My midwife came in and asked when I last ate - apparently the baby wasn't responsive enough (and I hadn't eaten breakfast yet at that point). She brought me some ginger ale and cranberry juice and then I was left to the mercy of the monitoring equipment.

Maggie was AWESOME while we were there. I brought her labor activity bag and she happily colored in the rocking chair or played with the baggie of hospital-issue socks that I never got on my feet.

I'm not sure how much time passed but the midwife returned to say that the baby looked good on the monitor and that I was having contractions but they were weak and infrequent (which I had already told her before that I wasn't having regular contractions). She did an internal and determined that the bleeding must be bloody show. My cervix was barely dilated and I was only somewhat effaced, so I definitely wasn't in labor. There was concern before I got there of a placental problem, but she felt the bleeding I was experiencing was normal.

Discharged...just as SIL showed up. LOL, it figures! In any case, I was advised to rest and walk (not sure how you can do both...LOL!). MIL did get in touch with us and asked to take Maggie for the weekend so she is now out of the house. I did some walking this afternoon and now I'm going to rest...

One of my friends seems sure that I will go into labor tonight or tomorrow. We shall see! I feel like such a dope though... Never had any of this with Maggie and it was so not "textbook" so I wanted to be sure there wasn't a problem. At least I still have a chance of the natural birth I was planning, though!

Gotta Love It!

I was so excited to see that ticker hit 40 weeks that I stopped on here during a middle of the night potty break... only to discover that snugglepie.com apparently thinks that 40 weeks is "overdue". LOL!

Oh well... any day now.