Sleep

I ignored the 5 loads of laundry that need to be washed, the 2 loads of laundry that need to be folded, the dishes that need to be done, and the toys all over the floor. I went to bed at 6:30 last night and I actually got 3 hours of sleep in a row. It was bliss! When Sawyer was up from 1-5 this morning, I had the energy to deal with him. It's the little things that mean the most these days.

Good to go

I had my 4 week postpartum check-up today. Funny how the weirdest things make me sad. I have three pounds to lose and I will be at my prepregnancy weight. Everything is healed and back to the way they should be. I would say normal but I don't remember what that is anymore. I got a script for the minipill and suggestions for dealing with my hemorrhoids. I go back in a year for my annual pap. The nurse sent suckers home for the kids. I wish they could have gone with but they would have had way too many questions that I don't want to answer yet.

Christmas shopping was unproductive. Jody and I are too cheap to pay full price for toys that you can get at a yard sale for fifty cents. I did pick up some glass bottles and onesies for Sawyer. I am exhausted from lack of sleep, trying not to cry and being on the go. I vow to go to sleep as soon as Sawyer does tonight. I need to get some shut eye so I can feel a little more human.

Chugging along

Day 2 was better than Day 1. Probably because MIL took the kids first thing in the morning and didn't bring them back until noon. I was able to do dishes and fold 4 loads of laundry. Sawyer would not sleep all day. When he did fall asleep, he would wake up the instant I laid him down. Judging by the size of my boobs this morning, I'm thinking growth spurt. He's currently racked out in his laundry basket bed so maybe it's over.

Tomorrow I have my 4 week postpartum checkup. I'm feeling great minus the pain in my butt. Literally. Dang hemorrhoids. Jody and I are leaving Olivia and Paxton with MIL and taking Sawyer. After my appointment we plan on doing a little Christmas shopping in NLR. It'll be nice to get out and spend some time together. Hopefully we can find some good deals.

Day 1

Today was my first day alone with the kids since my sister and her little boy left. I only had two crying episodes. Sawyer wanted to be held all morning, Olivia and Paxton were into everything, and Olivia was so mouthy. I told Jody we have got to stop that behavior. We did manage to get lessons done. And I got a load of laundry washed and dried. It does get better, right?

A Name and a Blessing

Today my dad blessed Paxton at church. It was beautiful. I was a hormonal, crying mess as usual. Will these emotions ever level out? After sacrament meeting everyone packed up and left for home. The house is so quiet now. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I couldn't ask for a better holiday.

Due Date

It's hard to believe that today is my due date and yet I've held my baby in my arms for three weeks. And it's hard to believe that three weeks have gone by already since Sawyer was born. My pregnancy weight is already gone. And gone are all the pregnancy aches and pains. I get a strange pang of sadness and emptiness when I touch my belly. It's weird how I could feel so miserable while I was pregnant, but feel so sad about not being pregnant now. All these hormones have done a number on me this time.

I love newborns. I love the way Sawyer curls up in my arms and drift off to sleep on my chest. I love the way his eyes flutter when he sleeps and the constant change of expressions on his face. This is what true love is.

Introducing...

Sawyer Lee
Born October 30, 2007 at 8:20 pm
7 lbs 1 oz
20 inches long

Birth story to follow when I have the time and the energy to write it all down. It was a long day, but totally worth it.

Reality Check

Today at church a 12 day old baby girl was blessed. As the proud grandpa held the sweet little girl up after the blessing, I was suddenly filled with a small amount of panic. It was the same way I felt the other night when Jody mentioned that pretty soon I will have three kids to fight with. In a few short days or weeks, I am going to be a mother of three - THREE kids! Whose idea was this?! Do I have the energy and patience to deal with three kids? I guess it's a little late now- lol.

Fundraiser #1 = Success!

My family had the first fundraiser for my sister Anna yesterday. They did a yardsale from donations collected in the community. The turn out was great, and they ended up making $550. I wish I could have been there to help out. We really appreciate everyone's love and support.

Happy Birthday, Paxton!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Paxton! I can't imagine my life without you. I hope you have a wonderful day full of lots of trains and Cars.

A scare

I woke up at about 11:30 last night having really strong contractions. My ob said go in if I have 4 or more an hour for more than 2 hours. I was having more than 4 but they got weaker so I kept talking myself out of going to the hospital. I kept thinking I'll give it one more half hour. I would hate to wake everyone up in the middle of the night and make the hour drive to the hospital just to have the contractions stop on the way.

I let Jody know what was going on around 3 since we was planning on going to the market. By this time the contractions weren't nearly as bad, just enough to eake me up when I tried to fall asleep. Finally around 4 I was able to go to sleep. Jody went ahead and left for the market with the assurance that he could be home in 10 minutes if need be.

This morning I was still crampy and felt yucky. After consulting with my sisters, I decided I should probably go in to L&D just to be safe. I was a nervous wreck when we got there. When the nurse took my vitals, my pulse was 139! My cervix wasn't dialating, but I was having contractions and they continued to pick up in intensity while I was being monitored. They had me try pushing fluids, but that didn't work so I got a shot of terbutaline. It made me shake really bad and my heart race. The contractions instantly eased up so they monitored me for a while to make sure the contractions didn't return since I live so far from the hospital. They checked me again before I left and I had made no progress.

The nurse gave me a shot of demerol and phenergan right before I left the hospital so my body would relax and I would sleep. I made it to the van and I was gone. Jody practically had to carry me into the house when we got home because I was so out of it. I've spent the rest of the day sleeping. No more contractions though. I'm suppose to take it easy the rest of the weekend and I have my regular ob appt Monday.

More Olivia-isms

Olivia has become pretty much obsessed with babies and pregnancy lately. She likes to look through pregnancy and childbirth books with me and ask questions about the pictures. This has led to various discussions about the female anatomy.

Jody was out of town so the ILs watched Olivia and Paxton for me while I went to a meeting at church. While there, Olivia was praticing writing words. She wrote down O-V but she and MIL couldn't think of any words that started with that letter combination. When she told me about it, I immediately said the word O-V-E-R. MIL said that is what FIL suggested after the fact. After thinking a little more I said or O-V-A-R-Y. Olivia hollers, "I said that, but Mamaw wouldn't listen." Apparently, MIL didn't think a 5 year old would know that word. I told her that Olivia had the parts so she might as well know what they are called. Then Olivia blurts out, "And I have a vaginamus." I thought MIL was going to wet her pants right there.

Birth Control

As part of Olivia's lessons, she is making an alphabet book. After she studies a new letter of the alphabet, she cuts out pictures from a magazine that start with that letter and glues them to a piece of paper. The only magazine I've had recently is Parents magazine so she has been using it. The other day she was looking for pictures that began with a particular letter when she came across an advertisement for the Mirena IUD. It showed someone holding the IUD in the palm of their hand, presumably to show how small and unobtrusive the IUD would be in your uterus. Olivia asked what it was. The conversation went something like this:

O- What is that?
Me- An IUD
O- What's it for?
Me- To help a woman not have a baby
O- Does she have to keep it in her hand?
Me- {Trying not to laugh hysterically} No, it goes in her uterus

Wouldn't that be some form of birth control! Just carry it around in your hand all the time. ROFL

Pain in the butt...or pelvis

The other day I was reflecting on my pasts pregnancies and found in odd that I didn't have the excruciating pelvis pain that I had when I was pregnant with Paxton. That was until I went grocery shopping yesterday. The last time I went grocery shopping, I told Jody that he would have to go with me from now on. By the time I got home I was exhausted and crampy. But Jody went out of town for the week and we hadn't gone grocery shopping in over three weeks, so we were in desperate need of food. Things were going ok until I added a 24 pack of bottled water to the cart. It went downhill from there. By the time I got to the checkout, I told the cashier that I had items on the bottom of my cart, but there was no way I was bending over the pick them up. My pelvis ached! And that isn't exactly a pain you can do a whole lot about. I hurt the rest of the day. Luckily a semi-good nights sleep helped with the pain. I'm 30 weeks today. I guess you could say it's all downhill from here.

Behold, the Crib

We set up the crib today. I have to admit I felt a bit panicked when Jody and FIL brought it in the house. OMH we're going to have a baby!! And it's going to live in this house!! I washed and ironed all the bedding. It was a lot of work but the outcome is outstanding. This is a crib memories are made of. Olivia is already using it for her dolls. It looks like we will be getting a lot of good use out of it.

Diaper Duty

I've decided to use cloth diapers on this baby. I like the idea of less trash and saving money. I used them on Paxton for awhile until he started potty training. I've bought some diapers off the FSOT diapering boards, but I wanted to sew some of my own. After trying several free diaper patterns online, I broke down and bought the Very Baby AIO pattern. I just finished 8 newborn diapers. I'm so excited for my accomplishment. They look so cute and tiny. I can't wait to try out the newborn fluff on this little baby. Now, I'm wondering if I should make 6 or so more.

Silence

We've been having computer problems. I can't decide if we are cursed or if four machines dying on me is an unfortunate coincidence. BIL gave us a laptop to use in the meantime. Apparently the curse doesn't apply to this machine. It's slow and awkward, hence my blogging silence lately. Hopefully some RAM will speed things up a bit. And hopefully the curse (or whatever it is) will lift, and we will be able to have a regular machine again.

Anna's Website

This is the website to help my sister Anna. Things have gotten worse recently so we are trying to get the word out so we can help her in any way possible.

www.annahamilton.org

Please pass this site information on.

Prayers are needed as well as donations.

Mother’s Amnesia

Being a birth coach for my SIL two weeks ago seemed like a good idea at the time. I put pressure on her back and helped her breath through contractions until they *finally* gave her an epidural. She ended up having a c-section and gave birth to a health baby boy.

Seeing a woman in labor had a stronger affect on my psyche then I anticipated. See there is an agreement between mothers and Mother Nature. We are supposed to be given a hefty dose of mother’s amnesia after we give birth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a strong enough dose after I had Paxton. His labor was fast and furious and the thought of going through that again scares me. And the months of sleepless nights I spent holding him in the recliner are not far from my mind.

I wonder if I have the strength and energy to do it all again. Do I have what it takes? I almost had a breakdown as I walked into my OB’s office this morning. Suddenly, it was all too real. I am going to have a baby, and I am going to have to give birth to this baby. I have become The Little Engine That Could – I think I can, I think I can. I have to.

What color is your soul?

What color is your soul painted? Blue Your soul is painted the color blue, which embodies the characteristics of peace, patience, understanding, health, tranquility, protection, spiritual awareness, unity, harmony, calmness, coolness, confidence, dependability, loyalty, idealism, tackiness, and wisdom. Blue is the color of the element Water, and is symbolic of the ocean, sleep, twilight, and the sky. Click Here to Take This Quiz

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