39 Weeks and... Could YOU JUST COME OUT ALREADY???!!! (Part I of Jack's Birth Story)

I found this little gem in my draft box.  I distinctly remember writing it and feeling much better afterwards.  I also remember deciding not to post it because I didn't want to sound like a big complaining baby.  Maybe I was a big complaining baby, but in fairness, it had been a rough pregnancy and a rough year.  I think I was also really scared at this point too. I was genuinely frightened to give birth for the first time ever in my life.  Reading this made me realize that I haven't really shared much about Jack's birth with anyone.  So let's just call this Part I in Jack's Birth Story.  More to come soon.


*******

I am a proponent of natural birthing. No, I don't think it's the only way and yes, I do think there are many times when medicine in birthing is a very, very good thing. I believe that women should have options when it comes to bringing their babies into the world.

My past two births have been fairly good experiences, especially in retrospect. I avoided many unnecessary interventions and an epidural and was able to nurse and bond right away. All things I really, really wanted...

So, how was it that at 11pm last night I was begging Mark to take me in for a cesarean... and I'm pretty sure I was serious.

This pregnancy has been very, very different than the others. It all started with the progesterone injections every other day, not fun, but not the worst. But then of coure, the vomiting began...and continued EVERY DAY until I was about 20 weeks. I lost weight and had many days where I was simply incapacitated. Then, we prepared for a move and moved far away from a midwife I completely trusted and a birthing world that was ideal. I searched for a health provider here and came up short on many accounts. And then, just like magic (of the black kind, I'd have to say), on the first day of my third trimester, I began vomiting daily again.

And then the craziness started. I got the stomach flu at 33 weeks and with it, accompanied many hours of hard, very real contractions. And I remembered how hard labor is. And in the absence of a health provider that I really trusted, I began to grow really frightened of the journey up ahead. The flu went away and so did the contractions and, despite throwing up almost daily, I actually felt pretty good.  Fast forward to 37 weeks and a new friend entered the seen: constipation and with it, hemorroids. And now, here we are at term with an incredibly awful UTI and the stomach flu again! And...I am pretty much giving up. I don't really care how this baby enters the world as long as it is in a safe and healthy way. I'm so sick I can't imagine laboring or pushing this little guy out. I was scheduled to be induced tonight and I called and cancelled. Normally, I would be very happy to put off an induction, but I am not. I am so incredibly sick and uncomfortable I just don't care.

Jack

He does smile.  I promise, he does!  A lot actually.  It's just that every time he's smiling away, I go to take a picture and since our apartment is rather dark, the flash shines an orange light while focusing on him.  This tends to freak him out and he usually ends up looking at me like this (or see St. Paddy picture below):

I will try harder to get some pictures of this little guy"s gummy grin.  Well, actually, he's not so little.  I weighed him today and he is almost 17 pounds!  Yes, he's 3 1/2 months and 17 pounds.  He's recently found two new BFFs, his feet.  Loves to play with his feet.  He must think they are rather tasty, too.  Oh, and he's rolling all over the room.  We were watching family videos and I couldn't believe how much he looks like Kate.

No?

He is one seriously loved little dude!

The Hunger Games

I went to see The Hunger Games with some girlfriends last night.  I had a great time with some great company, but I was left scratching my head.  Ummm.... I don't get it. To be honest, I haven't read the book.  I usually don't get involved in the teen genre.  I had a friend in grad school who was reading Twilight tell me she needed some "brain candy" at the end of the day.  That made a lot of sense to me, but those are not my needs.  Nope, not so much.  Unfortunately, I think my brain is already a bit on the flabby side these days.

Ahhh, but I digress.  The premise of the book seems good and promising.  But I  left the movie thinking, "so many themes to be developed, so little time..."  I really thought they all fell flat.  Deborah over at Whipstitch gives a good summary.  I felt the exact same way without knowing why.   According to her, it's because I haven't read the books.  I do plan on reading the books (someday), mostly because I want to know what the heck the movie was trying to do!

The Conch Republic celebrates 30 years! (our trip to Key West)

We headed to the Keys this past weekend.  They say it's a little four hour jaunt, but it took us six hours.  We happened to go down on the Feast of St. Paddy, which may have had something to do with it.

So we stopped and stretched in our green and beads.

And we set up camp right near the Ocean.

The next morning we had homemade pastries & coffee at an awesome little local coffee house called Island Joe's Cafe and Coffee Roasting Company.

We went to the Southern most point in the Continental US... I told you we lived in Cuba.

We splashed in the Ocean.

Stopped at The Dewey House.

Tasted our first bit of coconut water straight from the coconut.

And generally had an amazing time!

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

Remember how I told you that stories of adoption had been gripping my heart?  Well, honestly I haven't thought much about it in a long while, what with moving across the country, starting a new job, a new life and having a baby.  But today is World Down Syndrome day and right now, somewhere in Eastern Europe, a little 4 year old girl has been transferred from her orphanage to an institution because she has not yet been adopted.  Meet Albina.  Isn't she beautiful?!  Albina has a loving adoptive family here in the states, but they have not yet been able to raise the funds necessary to bring her home.  They've been trying for a year.  Could you help them bring Albina home this year?

Jack at Three Months

Little Jack Jack is now 3 months old! At his two month check up he was over 14lbs. & 24 inches long, measuring in the 90th percentile for both. I think he is at least two pounds heavier now, making him about 16 pounds or so - he's a big dude, for sure! This past month, he started rolling from his back to his tummy, grabbing for things, he coos and smiles a lot and even started giggling when I kiss the nape of his neck. He's a very sweet and serious little guy and he just may be the most like his dad in this regard. We've already had the, "you can be anything you want BUT a philosopher talk. ;) He spends a lot of his time taking it all in (sometime there's a lot to take in with these bigger sibs) ;). Right after he turned two months he experienced his first airplane ride. I took him to the Motherland (Wisconsin) to visit his new cousins, little Ethan who was a month old and the (not so) little Henry was born when we there. They were darling and it was so wonderful to be there and meet them! The eve of Jack's 3 month anniversary we spent in a tent in the Florida Keys in his first ever camping trip @operationembraceflorida. It was a great trip and I will post pictures soon.... Now to figure out how to load the latest version of blogger...hmmm....

I see some fun times in the future with these little guys....

Happy Feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph

Some Pictures of the Last Month

Little Lukie Sayings

Luke is a little love bug. Almost every day he says something that melts my heart. Here are a couple examples:

"You are the nicest girl I ever liked, mom."

"It's good you made the flight, Papa cuz I am so glad you are here with us, Papa."

As he was running to the bathroom, pants down around his ankles, without even looking up:
"You know what mom?  I really like you very much... I do."

"Mom, you are wonderful, mom."

There are more, but it's late and I can't remember them all, but I will add them as I do.