nice evening

This afternoon Nathan wanted to go swimming and Lucas was not wanting to nap. It was pretty close to dinner time and with Lucas awake, I told Nathan I would take him swimming but I couldn't get in. I wasn't sure if he would go for that or not but he did. The wind was blowing and it was rather nice outside so I decided to take Lucas with us and just sit in the shade with him. I put his little sun hat on and we watched Nathan splash around for about an hour. It turned out really great as I got to be with Nathan and Lucas. Lucas likes to be outside and enjoyed looking at the water and watching Nathan play and after a while he fell asleep. I don't get to hold him sleeping too often so I really enjoyed that. It was the best of both worlds.

The Book

Last week Lee took Nathan to storytime at the library and they had a train book that he wanted to check out but Lee forgot his card. Actually there was one on the keychain but he didn't realize it. Anyway Nathan was disapponinted and has talked about it since then. So today when we go he tells me he's going to look for the train book. He has really gotten into picking out some of the books lately. While I was searching for a few books, he was on the prowl. After a few books that were "really cute" according to him, he came over with the train book. This wasn't the same one he saw the other day but was one we had several months ago. Surprised I said, "Wow I'm surprised you found that." He replied, "I sniffed it out with my nose." I don't know where he comes up with these things. Too cute!

My addiction

Ok so yes I'm an addict. I guess we all are to something but mine just so happens to be cloth diapers. It's for a good cause of course, my precious babes adorable tush. So here is my latest addition to the stash. No I don't really have that many, actually only enough for 2 days of wear.

Contest

Here is a great contest to win a babywearing package.

http://www.alongfortheride.biz/contest-s/49.htm">Win
The Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Contest

There is a new diaper winning contest in town and here's a link. I love cloth diapering and would love to win this!!!

http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2008/06/beat-heat-summer-con-test.html

Recycle

Nathan and I were going through his toys yesterday to sort them and such.  He saw that I had thrown away a few things and put a few more in a bag to take to the Goodwill.  But for the most part we were just putting things in their correct place so that we could find them.  He had blocks, bells, cars, markers and paper clips on his train table and his tool bench had blocks, legos, play cash and plastic people on it.  We also found things that were lost that he was very excited to get to play with again.  It was like getting a new toy.  He kept wanting to hold all the things that I had laid out to put in their respective places The toy box in the craft room had tons of random things in it and when he saw me going through that he finally broke down and said, “Mommy I don’t want you to recycle my toys.”  I realized then that he was afraid I was getting rid of everything that was laid out.   I assured him that we were just organizing them and only getting rid of a very few things.  He was more relaxed after that but it was cute how he thought I was “recycling” his toys.  I guess he must be catching on to the whole reuse and recycle thing.

The Birth

I would love to write Lucas' birth story before I forget all the great details. So here goes. On Wed March 26th when I went to see Dr Brown I was dilated 3cm. I of course had no idea. He wanted me to go ahead to the hospital then but I objected and went home instead. I didn't want to be one of those women pacing the hall waiting when I could be waiting at home. He convinced me to come back in the morning if I didn't go into labor that night. Well of course I didn't go into labor and went to the hospital in the morning as planned. We dropped Nathan off at a friends house, Jenny that was willing to keep him. We got to the hopital about 8am and I was 4cm and having contractions but never really feeling them. It was like, maybe that's one, yeah I think so. But I was having them consistently about every 8 minutes. They got my IV started and gave me an antibiotic. Then started some pitocin to try to move things along. I really wanted Dr Brown to deliver Lucas and he wasn't going to be on call again until Mon. So I felt like it was now or never. By 1030 I was pretty bored and ready to get the show started so I got up and started jogging in place. This made Lee laugh and it made the contractions stronger and more frequently. Well according to the monitor that is; I still couldn't feel anything. The nurses were surprised and kept asking me if I was ready for my epidural. I didn't want to be confined in the bed so I said no not yet and I wasn't hurting in fact I took a nap after that for a while. At 1:30 dr Brown came back to check on me. I was about 5cm dilated and I asked if he could go agead and break my water. My mucus plug broke easier than he expected and the water was broken so to speak. I immediately felt each and every contraction. At first I though I should wait a few minutes before asking for the epidural to see if this is real pain from contractions. I'm not sure what I was thinking exactly. But by 1:35 I was sure I was hurting and did ask for the epidural. The contractions were coming strong and regular and now I was feeling all of it. They were coming every minute in a half and lasting 45 seconds. I was sure I was going to loose my mind. I wasn't prepared for this. I wanted my EPIDURAL!!!!! I was having natural labor but in no way wanted to. Urgh!! Lee was great, holding my hand and telling me how to breath since I was doing it all wrong. Well yeah, I couldn't even think at this point, must less remember how to breath. I asked the nurse how long it usually took for the anesthesiologist to get there and she said about 15 minutes. I needed to know how long I was going to have to mentally handle all this pain. He finally arrived at 1:45 which was less than what she had said but still seemed like eternity to me. Somehow he got it in but I was having contractions while trying to lean over in that terrible uncomfortable position. Oh if I had only known it would all be over soon. I finally got my first dose at 2:00 and as he prepared to leave, he asked the nurse if I had been checked lately as he suspected I was pretty far along. So she checked me and I was 10cm! How did that happen so fast and now Becky my nurse is telling me to push. I'm like no way, this isn't how it's suppose to be, I want my epidural to work first. She tells me I need to push and that it will feel better if I do. But I'm thinking, yeah right! At this point I looked her in the eye and said please tell me the truth when is my epidural going to take effect? She looked me back in the eye and sternly said it might not. If you push, you could have this baby out before it takes effect. I'm thinking this is not how it's suppose to be. I wanted, ok it's time to push now hunny, look the baby is coming, yeah. All the time smiling, calm and pushing my little baby down the canal. But nnooo. It was more like awww, he he he, ha ha ha. Ok so she did convince me to push because if I could get him out and stop hurting that would be good to. And hey it actually worked, pushing did in fact feel better. With each push, he came down the canal a few inches and I could see him crowning. It was the coolest thing and because I could see his head I knew it would be over soon if I kept pushing. Dr. Brown arrived about 2:20pm and I pushed. Lucas came at 2:25p. I never did get fully numb and could feel the stitches but it wasn't unbearable just the sensation was there.

I think the hardest part was that I wasn't mentally prepared to hurt. I planned on getting an epidural when the pain started becoming noticable, but didn't realize it would just hit me like a ton a bricks. I think if I had planned a natural birth, I could have done it with mental preparation. But because I had mentally prepared for a pain free labor, I was not prepared at all and was quite upset about the whole issue.

Ok the best part is of course the baby. He was so cute, healthy and beautiful! Even better was my wonderfully supportive husband that was there for me every step of the way. Overall the birth experience was great. It was fast and I was healthy too. No HELLP syndrome this time so I was walking later that evening and back home the next day.

I know it's been a while

Well I'm now a Mama of 2 boys. It's quite exciting really! Lucas is already 14.5 lbs. I can hardly believe how fast he is growing. He loves to smack his lips at me. So cute. Of course swinging is his favorite past time. He's a funny little dude; he falls asleep in it at bedtime then I pick him up and put him in his bed about 30 minutes later. He just will not go to sleep in the crib hardly ever. Oh except for in the middle of the night after he eats. I put him in the crib then and he goes back to sleep without any fuss at all. He's a great baby though. Last night he slept from 7p till 5a. It doesn't get much better than that and he's so cuddly. ahh, I love holding him.
Big brother Nathan is a great helper these days. I think he has finally adjusted and realizes Lucas is here to stay. We went swimming together this afternoon and had a great time. He really loves the pool.