Domestic Engineer

Yesterday was a great day. I woke up earlier than usual...it was around 8 am. I started my daily routine--feed Archer, change Archer, chat with Jackson, bath either both kids or just one (babies don't need to bath every day), dress everyone, make breakfast, and then start laundry or picking up. Sounds very dull, but I actually enjoy it. After these things are done, we usually leave the house to run an errand or visit the park; whatever we feel like doing. After the outing we sit down for reading time and Jackson gets his nap. I haven't been able to get Archer to nap with Jackson yet, but that day will come soon. For now, Archer naps in our sling. I plan to use this bit of time to work on my many "projects". Recently, I've decided to learn how to cross stitch. Today was my first attempt to "artsy fartsy up" a onsie. The project has not turned out to be as easy as I wanted, but I will figure it out. My plan is to have onsies and baby shirts for sale at my booth at the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange. I'll have my Mama Kate's body care and some handmade knit and cross stitched items.

Anyway, yesterday was the day I truly fell in love with being a stay at home mom. I've got what seems like endless quality time with my kids, time to pursue my many creative ideas, time to get the house work done, time to garden, time to grow my business, time to get done whatever it is that I'd like to get done. I am very lucky to be able to do this.

I'm just sayin'

I really do have some good lookin' kids.

Ode to the blanket

Archer was given a beautiful blanket that was hand-made by my wonderful friend Annie. Now that Archer has been around for 5 weeks, (wow) this time has allowed me to fall in love not only with my new son, but this blanket! First of all she could not have picked better colors. And I need to remember to ask her if she was even aware of the sex of our babe when she started this project. Second, the size is perfect. It's pretty big for a baby blanket, but now that I've used it, all the others we have seem too small. Thirdly, it's soft. I've become so fond of this blanket, that I really don't use any others. (This may change as the weather gets warmer) I wait until it's had one too many spit ups on it, wash it, and return it to it's rightful owner--Archer.

Thank you Annie!

adjusting

Archer is officially 1 month old as of yesterday. Yay! He and I are doing well, and finally adjusting. I've had some ups and downs getting used to being a mother of 2. Things are slowly becoming normal and routine for all of us now, though.

Breastfeeding was an issue to begin with, of course. I told myself not to get frustrated if there happens to be a difficulty with breastfeeding before Archer arrived. Inevitably, we did have a tiny issue, and I got a bit frustrated. But, now we have both learned how to "master" this nursing thing, and I couldn't be happier that it's becoming so easy. And, like all the breastfeeding advocates say, it really is rewarding and brings a special bond to you and your baby.

Jackson has had a hard time as well. He's not getting the attention he deserves, so we have decided that we will make it our mission to be more conscious of the attention we give him. Negative attention is one thing he's been getting a lot of--we need to change that. Otherwise, Jackson is being a wonderful son and big brother. He loves his little brother, and he is the best helper his mama could ask for.

John, of course, has had no trouble at all adjusting. He's been there to encourage me when I'm feeling down. He's was there for me when I called him to come home on his first week back to work. He's there for Jackson when I've got Archer to feed. He is wonderful.

My new family is wonderful!

Story of the day that brought Archer…

I woke up earlier and perkier than normal on Wednesday February 10, 2009. I was having contractions much lower than normal, and it seemed that they were coming regularly. So, I lay in bed for the next hour waiting to see if they would subside. They didn’t, so I got out of bed to watch the news, check my e-mail, and clean up the kitchen. Still, the contractions were regular! I was so excited. I assumed that I would be way overdue as I was with my first baby. This time I was early! I also never had the chance to experience normal natural labor with my first. I was induced with Pitocin. Yuck. Anyway, I took a shower, ate some breakfast, and called my husband. The contractions were strong enough that I really didn’t want to stay at home alone with my 3 year old all day. I was afraid I wouldn’t be as available to get him what he needed, so John agreed to come home. I also wanted John to be with me during the whole thing.

John came home and we decided to go out to eat and to the park. The weather was abnormally warm for February. And also there had been a full moon. Anyway, we went to Route 66 and I ordered a Double Steak with Cheese and fried potatoes. Yum. After this, we went to Happy Hollow Park. I had to stop every 6 minutes or so for a contraction. We met a couple friends there, and had a nice time. I was tired, so we went home so I could try to get a nap in. After getting home I took another shower to try to calm down for a nap. After trying to nap for an hour, I decided it wasn’t going to happen. So, I gathered John and Jackson to go on a walk with me. By this time the contractions were pretty painful. We only made it for about 15 minutes on the walk and then came home.

After being home for only an hour, I decided that my 3 year old needed to go. I was having a hard time getting through a contraction with him running around yelling. So, Grandpa came to pick him up. After he was gone, John went around the house lighting candles and turning down the lights. At this point I called our Midwife. When I got on the phone with her I started crying because I wasn’t sure how far I was into the labor, and I wasn’t sure if maybe it would be possible to stall out the labor with a bath so I could get some rest. Our plan prior to my going into labor was to stop the labor (if possible) if I labored all day. We wanted to avoid exhaustion. When the Midwife arrived we started filling the birth pool. It was taking much longer than I preferred to get that thing filled! Our hot water heater is miniscule, so we had to boil tons of water to get warm water in the pool. The warm water was supposed to either stall out the labor, or speed it up. After getting in, my labor slowed down.

When my contractions stayed at the slower pace for a while, my Midwife and the attendants decided to go out for some dinner. They thought that maybe I would get some rest while they were gone, or speed labor up due to not being the center of 5 people’s attention. When they left things definitely got going. I was yelling for HELP and telling John that I needed to go to the hospital so I could get an epidural and go to sleep. He stayed strong and told me no. He knew that wasn’t really what I wanted. I would have been very disappointed if we would have gone to the hospital. After yelling so loud that the neighbors were probably wondering, ‘who the hell is being tortured next door?’, I told John to call our Midwife. I was definitely in hard labor. I got back in the birth pool and stayed there until Archer arrived. John laid behind me to support me while I moaned and yelled some more. I was very attached to one of the attendants. Later I found out she has been a doula and has been attending home births since I was born. She just gave me a lot of comfort and encouragement. Every time she would leave the room I would yell HELP!

By this point there was no conversation and the only thing you heard was me moaning. This lasted for only an hour and a half and all of the sudden I felt a snap, and I assumed it was just my water breaking. Then came the urge to push. So, I yelled, ‘I gotta push’! And I did. I pushed maybe 2 times through that one contraction and Archer was out! He came out in the water sac with it perfectly intact. He surprised everyone with how quickly he came. We all were in a bit of shock. He went right on my chest and it was all over! He was beautiful! He cried shortly after laying with me and stayed with me for the next few hours. He was born at 1:09 am on February 11, 2009, also my birthday! He is by far the best gift I have ever gotten on my birthday!

Our experience with having a home birth was wonderful. It was better than we expected, and even though it was rough for a little while, I am so glad we did it. This was much more of a natural way to welcome our new baby to our family. It seems that at the hospital the doctors and nurses take control of the labor and birth. For us, we were in charge, and we made the experience what it was—absolutely wonderful.

Archer

Archer has finally arrived! He was born in water at home on February 11 (also my birthday) at 1:09 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and measured 21.5 inches long. I am in love! Details of the labor are coming soon.

I'm in labor

I've been in labor all day, and now it's starting to pick up on intensity, and it sucks..

Ready for Labor!

If you were wondering what a 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant girl does at home while her family is at a super bowl party down the road at her in-laws house, you've come to the right place for that answer. She is probably spending a good amount of time on her laptop surfing the internet. When surfing gets old, she'll resort to watching an episode of Arrested Development for the first time. While watching the show she decides that the time could be better spent if she were actively trying to go into labor. So, she places the laptop at the end of her bed to watch the show while marching around her room, doing squats, and swaying her hips. After this workout she goes to the kitchen to make a delicious strawberry, banana, blueberry smoothie. And while she is enjoying this wonderful snack, she decides to post a blog about her evening. Let the laboring begin!!

Docs vs. Midwives

We just recently had a hiccup in our home birth plans. I tested positive for Group B Strep. This is no big deal for me, but if this bacteria stays present for the birth of our new babe, it could be a bad situation. The chances of passing the bacteria are pretty low, but they are even lower if the mother is given antibiotics intravenously during labor. So, since the state of Indiana did so well in setting up laws and regulations for Certified Nurse Midwives, I had to go seek out a prescription for antibiotics. Certified Midwives can have their own private practice just as a family doctor would, but they do not have prescription privileges. So, in the event that a client would need a prescription, the client is responsible for finding a doc to write it. I don't think all the bases were covered concerning the laws surrounding the practice of Midwives.

So, we first went to our family doctor to ask for this prescription. You would think this would be easy considering that fact that if I don't have this antibiotic there is a chance of death to the baby. No, not so easy. Doctors today are more concerned with politics and protecting their selves before putting the health of a human being first. Once a patient transfers care to Midwifery, they are usually on their own. Docs want nothing to do with them. (At least in our area, this has proven to be true)

Our next stop was our prior OB. He was wonderful and very supportive of our choice for home birth. I am healthy, my Midwife is very experienced, and we have done our homework on all that goes into creating a safe and healthy birth at home. He actually made a few comments that discouraged us even more from delivering at the hospital. That was VERY unexpected. But very re-assuring to have a doc back us up. But with all is support, he could not write the prescription. Something to do with who he works for.

After freaking out and considering a delivery at the dreaded hospital our Pediatrician returned my phone call. I told him the situation and he immediately agreed to write the prescription. 'This is for safety and health of the baby, so of course' is what he said. I thought 'No shit, that's what any doc should have said!' We are talking about a precious new life here! Anyway, this wonderful man also gave us prescriptions for the drugs the babe will need following delivery and any precautionary drugs I or baby would need should something go wrong. I want to kiss my Pediatrician! More docs should be like him. I'm sure they all started out this way, but so many have lost touch with what is really important; caring for the human life.

3 weeks!

3 weeks exactly until my due date! (translates to 4 or 5 weeks til the baby is here) :) Yay!