Tuesday, August 31, 2010

1st week alone

Working on muscle development, but I love the cross eyes! It's so cute! I still can't believe, this girl....

...came out of this belly. Wow!

Teague loved Jen Nolte's hash brown casserole. Jen - I'd love to get the recipe from you!


Drew went back to school yesterday and is still doing lawn care with Matt after school. I have been home with both kids. Yesterday was better than today, but we're all adjusting. Teague is so cute, I'll say, "good girl" when Finley burps and Teague will say it a few times too! He is becoming more gentle with her, but he still tries to use her as leverage - poor guy just doesn't understand.

Natural Labor

Okay, this is long overdue and if you've heard it before, skip to the next post. First, I have no idea how long I was actually in labor because my contractions with baby #2 were so erratic. I called my midwife twice. Each time she said wait for them to be every 4-5 minutes for an hour, and that they were also supposed to take my breath away and/or bring me to my knees. As, I stated from my post on the 19th. I was already 4 cm (for those of you who don't know how far you have to go - it's 10 cm) however, my cervix was still posterior and that's why it hurt so bad when she checked me. SO anyways, I had random contractions all Thursday the day before. I had strong contractions at 2am for an hour and a half and woke up the next morning totally disappointed. On Friday I had a total repeat of Thursday, contractions but nothing really strong and inconsistant. At 4:30 on Friday they were every 6-7 minutes, but not bringing me to my knees. At 7 pm Leslie my midwife called me to see how things were going and told me she had bible study at her house until 9. I told her our plan was to eat, clean up the house a little bit, drop Teague off at my mom's house, then head to the hospital before 8:30. She said call her when we were on our way so she could contact OB to let them know I was coming. On the drive over to my mom's house I thought my contractions had stopped, but they just slowed down - a lot. I thought, great, they're going to send me home and I'm going to look like a total fool. SO at the hospital I was monitored for about an hour before Terry the other midwife came in and said get up and walk around, I hate all this stuff on. 15 minutes later Leslie arrived, checked me and I was 6 cm and 95% effaced. Hallelujah! She broke my water, I ordered the epidural. Then my contractions really started coming. All the days and weeks that I had been praying for pain (because that meant I was in labor) came - in the biggest way ever. The first big one came and I breathed through it. Okay, I can do this. 30 seconds later the next one came, again thinking I can do this. Then, they got so aweful, I thought I was going to die. Luckily for me it lasted only an hour when Leslie said if you feel the urge to push then push. So I did. I never would have thought that pushing would be a relief from the pain. The pressure from Finley's head hurt, but that was nothing compared to contractions. 15 minutes later, she was born! I had a little tear but nothing that needed stitches this time. Right after I had Finley, the anesthesiologist came down the hall in a panic looking for my room and my nurse said the baby was already born. It took him so long because he was in surgery with a 7-year-old who was having an emergency appendectomy.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

first day home

There's Finley ready to go with her diaper bag. It has her name on it!

Aunt Lissa and Finn

She might look a little like Teague except her eyes and hair are darker.


I know we're crazy, but 45 minutes after being discharged from the hospital we were off to Sunday dinner at the Maier's. Then, a few hours later we were headed to the Nolte's for Drew's Bible Study get together. It was a busy day.

Visitors and Recovery

Zori and Normano!

Big Kiss

I look tired and gross.

Oma and Finn

I think I was eating breakfast and Finn was looking at me with her hand in the air. She's so cute!

Birth Pictures










1st Bath


With no mirror in sight, I improvised and took a picture of myself to assess the damage. Frightning!

Life is good!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

She's arrived!



Finley Grey is finally here and is healthy and well. She was born on Friday 8/20 at 11 pm. Her measurements are 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. Rebecca will be doing a much more detailed blog I am sure when she comes home this Sunday. Thought you might want to see how she looks before then. So, here are just a few pictures.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Retaining Wall 2

First retaining wall 1 with capstone.

Retaining wall 2 with capstone. Drew said they are about 99% done. He has to make a few more cuts and add 3 more little end cap pieces in order to finish them up. Then in the fall we will plant. Drew will also do one more smaller retaining wall on the other side of our deck. Paver bricks will be done next year. Staining the deck will be done this fall.


Thursday, August 19, 2010

Ouch!

I was checked again this morning. Holy cow! It hurt so bad she couldn't even strip my membranes. I am 4 cm dialated and with hardly any contractions I'm not sure how that happened. It will be a few more days before we kick her out (unless she comes on her own). The only other info I have is her heart bpm goes from 135-140. Normal.

drinking from a glass




Yep, we need practice! I have these little glasses from crate & barrel that are perfect for little ones. Teague does pretty good for being 17 months old.

Monday, August 16, 2010

another 4 mile trek!

This is our new jogging stroller. I bought it in July thinking that I would benefit from it more than Drew because I selfishly wanted it knowing he would take the kids on runs with him and I would get a break. The truth is I love it for that reason AND because I can walk with the kids in the stroller and lose some baby weight in the process (plus it's lighter than our other stroller)!!! It's a win win for me.
So Teague and I walked another 4 miles this morning. I love it except now that I'm so late in my pregnancy it really hurts my pubic bone and pelvis. I'm doing it anyway because I know it will help me move her further and further down into my birth canal.
The beach was so gorgeous this morning. There were huge gusts of cool wind coming off the lake - a rare gem for the middle of August and equally as nice for full-term pregos like myself. The sand was even cool looking. It had those ripples in it like they do in the ocean made by the waves except these ripples were covering the sidewalk and made overnight by the wind. I love living in Saint Joseph!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

40 weeks and still counting...





These pics were taken today after about a 3 mile walk. Yes, I've tried EVERYTHING to try and get this girl out (and no, I won't go into detail because some of it's personal and some of it's gross). Guess what, none of it works. So now, I'm waiting - still!
Some differences in my two pregnancies:
  • I gained 10 less pounds with her than I did with Teague.
  • My belly button popped out this time. With Teague it was totally flat.
  • My belly protrudes forward instead of being really round around the sides.
  • I was more nauseous this time and still sometimes am (never threw up with either).

The good news is she'll be here within the week. Whether she comes on her own or we force her out, she's coming... Can't wait to share her name. Those that know it, love it, and so do we!!!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

39 Weeks and counting...

So today I had my 39 week check up. I am officially 39 weeks and 4 days. I lost another 3 pounds!!! Can you believe it! My nurse said this sometimes happens at the end of pregnany. Still no more dilation, but her head is so far down that when Leslie, my midwife lifted my shirt she said "whoa, you can totally see her head from here!" She needs to move down a little bit more to get things moving. We do have an induction date, but I'm not going to tell anyone because I don't want anyone bothering me when I'm trying to have a baby - so we're keeping that a secret!! Sorry moms Katie and Helga, more torture!!! By the way, we're not letting anyone guess the name anymore because that got too out of hand. Until the next peppermint update....

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Big Boy Bed


Teague was being a little fussy at bed time last night, so I decided to put him in his new big boy bed. He went right to sleep and loves lots of pillows. He slept there until about 1am when he woke up crying because he was confused as to where he was. I want to buy him a bed tent because I had one when I was a kid and it was the sweetest thing ever! Plus, his new sister is going to need his crib in a couple of months! Stay tuned for that since I'm still PREGNANT!!!

Staining the Fence

Backyard view - nice huh?

(Opa wanted to put a lock on this door). This is the difference in color from treated oak to the Mahogany stain by Sikkens.

This is the fence that Opa built us last year. It is a privacy fence, but if you've ever driven by our house there is no privacy from the road, only from our favorite neighbor Jenn who lives next door. He also wanted to put a lock on the fence door because he thought it's important to keep people out. But I was like Opa, who are we going to keep out, when you can just walk around the house??? SO he installed a little string you can pull to get in from the outside.

He really wanted to stain the fence for us and since we are quite busy, Drew with landscaping projects and me with raising one baby and growing another, we thought we'd let Opa do it. So far so good! I think we're going to do the deck by ourselves though.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Peppermint

I'm officially 38 weeks and 2 days. There is no change in dilation, still 1-2cm. My fundus is 36cm so that means her head has dropped. The other good news was that I managed to lose 2 pounds in a week. How does that happen? By the way, my hopes for inducing in any way were shot down by Drew. He doesn't want me to do anything, he wants it to happen naturally. Maybe that's because he doesn't have to squeeze into a bridesmaid dress 3 weeks after our due date!!!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Teague the Explorer

Rebecca asked me to blog about a recent experience I had with Teague. So...here goes. The other night, Rebecca had to leave for a party while I was just jumping in the shower after work. I had given Teague a bath first and he was in his pajamas waiting for dad to get out of the shower. As most parents know, when your kids are quiet, it usually means they are up to no good. Well, I hadn't heard Teague playing at all in the living room when I was in the shower. I didn't think much of it, because he often times goes downstairs to play with his toys and most likely that was what he had done. So, when I got out of the shower I threw on my underwear and started to walk around the house looking for Teague while calling out his name. He wasn't upstairs and he wasn't downstairs either. At this point, my heart rate quickened. I went through the house one more time calling his name now and looking a bit more carefully in out of sight places. Nowhere in the house to be found was Teague. At this point, many thoughts are racing through my head as I run to my room to throw on some shorts because I am sure by now that Teague is outside. I run out the back door and head for the drive expecting the worse, like seeing Teague in the road or something of the equivalent. As I turn the corner of the house, there's Teague in the dirt next to the house playing with our sprinkler. He is in his pajamas just recently out of the bath playing in the dirt. I breathe a sigh of relief, but also want to drive home the point to Teague that you don't come outside without mom or dad. So, I am trying hard not to look too relieved that he is alright, but rather disappointed and mad about what he had done. Well, I got him crying for sure as I laid 3 firm spankings to the butt and ordered him inside. It's amazing at almost 17 months how much he already knows. He knew what he did was wrong, I am convinced after seeing his face when I ran around the corner. And for sure after his punishment. We went in the bathroom and I washed off his feet and hands with a wet rag and changed his shirt. He was still sobbing at this point, but I wasn't quite ready to let him off the hook. I gave him a short lecture with a stern voice about what he did. He kept trying to look away from me and I would say, "look at me" and he would lift his head slowly. He was so sad to have disappointed me so. Finally, when I was finished cleaning him up and talking to him, I softened my glare and reached my arms out to him. He was on the ground at this point and he ran into my arms and just squeezed at tight as could be. I knew he was sorry without words being said.
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