A Baby Story

A few weeks ago, I was having trouble falling back to sleep after catheterizing Anara and I started having some anxiety about childbirth. I started thinking about how I wanted this labor/delivery to be and remembering Violet's birthday. I don't think that I have ever recorded the details of Vi's birth so I decided to blog the details as well as I can remember because I know they will get hazy and I want to remember. If you aren't into birthing details or are easily repulsed by female things you may not want to continue reading.

My mom was here for one night only and I was 4 days past my due date. We decided to try out some acupressure points and other natural induction methods. I was pretty skeptical that any of these things would work and I don't necessarily accredit my late night water-breaking to our intervention (I had to go sometime), but it was an interesting coincidence. Nate went to our Wednesday night House Church meeting at the Wiesman's house and then Nicole and Joel stopped by afterwards to see how things were going.

I wasn't able to fall asleep or get comfortable that night and for some reason Nate and I were up late talking. I went to the bathroom around 1:30am and I noticed a small popping sensation. I wasn't gushing or anything but decided to use some nitrazine paper to determine whether or not it was amniotic fluid. Sure enough it turned royal blue and I paged my OBGYN. It wasn't a normal water breaking experience and I didn't even leak on the way to the hospital. Since there was no watery mess I decided to shower and get ready before leaving the house. We arrived at the hospital and they confirmed in triage that my water had broken. I was admitted around 3:30 or 4:00.

Around 5:30am the on-call MD decided that I need pitocin because I wasn't having consistent contractions. I started pitocin and we (Nate, my mom, and Christina) played Phase 10 and hung out for the next several hours. Nate's brother, Joel, came to hang out with us at the hospital. After about 5 hours, I was contracting but I wasn't really having those breaks between contractions that you are supposed to use to gear up for the next one. It felt like I was having one giant, continuous contraction. At 11:30 we decided to try the epidural. This was not quite the savior I had imagined. I had a "hot spot" on my right side and still felt everything the same as before. I was having my mom apply extreme counter pressure to the right side of my back during every contraction. The anesthesiologist gave me some additional fentanyl to try and take care of the hot spot and this caused my blood pressure to drop. I remember crying to the nurse that if I fell asleep I would stop breathing. I felt like my breathing was no longer involuntary and I was having to tell my body to keep breathing. They gave me ephedrine to bring my blood pressure back up.

Finally about 2:30pm I was dilated and we were ready to do a couple practice pushes while we waited on my OB to arrive. I pushed a couple times and saw Vi's dark hair. We waited until my Dr. got there and then I was able to continue. I am not sure how accurate this is but it seems that I only pushed through 3 or 4 contractions and there she was. Violet was born on April 28, 2005 at 3:42 pm. She was 8lbs. 9 oz. and 21 1/4 inches long. I had an episiotomy and ended up with a 2nd degree tear. When Violet came out, Nate saw the swollen underside and said, "It's a boy" and my mom said, "It's a girl" and the doctor said, "I am the doctor I will decide." My doctor said that happens all the time ;) We had decided on the name Violet for sure but were still discussing boys names during labor.

We had originally planned for just Nate and I to be present during the delivery but in the middle of things I had a "more the merrier" perspective and ended up letting my mom and Christina stay in the room. This time Christina will most likely be delivering the baby and I am still thinking the more the merrier.

Violet only lost 6 oz. before she started gaining. Nursing wasn't easy or natural for me and I white-knuckled it for 6 weeks. I joke that Violet's 1st solid food was scabs. I ended up nursing Violet for 16 months (obviously it got a lot easier after the initial 6 weeks). I had weird hormone swings in the days after the birth that I am not willing to call baby blues because they were short lived and seemed to be somewhat cyclical with other physical symptoms.

And that is pretty much what I remember from Violet's delivery. Feel free to add details in the comments if you have memories that I haven't included.

Blog into Book

If you have a blog and you would like to print it for posterity's sake then I recommend Blurb. I used their software to pull the contents of our blog and put it into book format. I started it a long time ago and just finished it last week. When I originally had blurb "slurp" our blog, it didn't pull the comments and I copied and pasted those manually. I also spent quite a while reformatting and picking different photo layouts. I think the most recent software might do a better job and it may not take as much manipulating, but even if it does it was totally worth it. The finished product is a 158 page, hardback book complete with all 397 pictures from the blog. I am pretty excited about it. Oh, and the cost including shipping and handling was $62.00. I think that is dependent on number of pages and layout chosen. You could choose a softbound version for only $36.00. Below are some pictures of our book. If you are interested in previewing the first 15 pages of our book to see what some of the layouts look like, email me and I will send you a book preview invite.

Quotes and Stories

Violet to Anara - "You can sleep here for a while but I need to go upstairs and do dishes."

A couple weeks ago Violet put a plastic bag on her head. Nate and I were trying to be very grave about the consequences of that and told Violet that we wouldn't have her anymore. Violet replied, "But I would go fly to be with Jesus, shouldn't you be happy?"

We were looking at Halloween costumes in a magazine and there was a picture of a Cookie Monster costume with the kids face peeking out Cookie's mouth. Anara was alaramed and said, "Oh no, look at him - he's eating her." Last Friday we lost another helium balloon to the heavens. Violet asked, "When I fly to be with Jesus can I have all my balloons back? Jesus has a lot of balloons."

Violet has only seen two movies - Cinderella and Mary Poppins. She is really sensitive to conflict and suspense so we have been pretty limiting of what she watches. The part in Cinderella where the stepsisters tear Cinderella's dress really upsets Violet. She has to have an adult watch it with her and she talked about it for a long time the first time she watched it. Today she was playing with some little dress-up dolls I got the girls at Disney Land in July and she reenacted the whole stepsisters tearing the dress scene. Here was the conversation, "Here come the stepsisters. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Tearing, tearing, tearing, tearing." While she said the tearing part she was clawing the air with her hands.

Also, while they were playing with the little dolls they were removing heads and exchanging them (because this can be done with these little dolls). Violet said to Anara, "No, Anara the head goes on this way because look where the boobs are." I knew there was a a downside to letting them play with developed dolls.

Today Violet put on all her princess attire (and I mean all) and asked Anara, "Anara, are you going to be my prince?" Anara responded, "Okay, Bilet" and Violet said, "Okay, you have to take me to the ball." The proceeded up the stairs to start the demo on the keyboard and dance.

Vi with crown, gloves, ring, dress and heels.

Violet was looking for her orange, diamond necklace and I wasn't sure what she was talking about. She said, "Do you know what I am talking about?" I said, "No, I didn't know you had an orange, diamond necklace." And she said (in a very disappointed and dramatic voice), "Oh, I wish you know'd what I was talking about."

Mommy: "Vi, is the baby in my belly a boy or a girl?"
Violet: "A boy"
Mommy: "What should we name it?"
Violet: "I think Caillou"

The Lake

Uncle Andy and Uncle Bryan bought a boat a couple weeks ago. They wanted to take the girls out for a boat ride last Thursday. The sky was threatening rain but it ended up being a nice trip. Anara didn't like it at 1st and cried about the speed, bumps, and wind while clawing my neck to pieces. Violet of course, loved it and wanted to go faster and faster.

Uncle Andy and Vi

Uncle Bubby and Vi
Anara lounging on the sun deck
Anara "driving"
Vi's tube ride with Uncle Andy
Anara and Mommy
Vi happy on the boat (with blue lips from being cold)
"Say cheese"

1st Day of "School"

I know it isn't really school. Actually, I have always had an aversion to calling daycare "school" but I have started referring to it this way to Violet. It wasn't really Vi's 1st day of school but it is her 1st day of care outside of the home. She went to child-care last Thursday for about 2 1/2 hours. Ummm... she was supposed to be there for 3 hours but I got a little antsy. I will leave her there for the full 3 hours this week.

Anara and I dropped Violet off at 9:00am. I drove away feeling like the least credible stay-at-home mom in the world for dropping my 1st born off at childcare. Anara and I went for a 45 minute walk with a friend from church. It was nice to chat and get some exercise. My OB says I need to make this a habit so if you are interested in walking (and live in or near my neighborhood) give me a call. We finished walking and I looked at my watch wondering what to do for the next 2 hours and 15 minutes. Anara and I stopped by my brother's house and hung out for a little while. I let her eat 4 Nutter Butter cookies which is unheard of and Anara was a little amazed by my generosity. After this we came home and hung out for a little while. Anara followed me like a baby chick, which is not normal. She sat on my lap, hugged me, nuzzled me and enjoyed the one on one attention. I know it will be a good thing for us and that it will get easier.

Violet loved daycare. She told me everything they did, "Played weeble wobbles, played family living (I need to ask someone what family living is), played bugs, made crafts, and had a snack." She asked me, "Can you please leave me for a long time next time - like 12 minutes?" She is looking forward to going again and hopefully Anara is looking forward to our time together. Anara would love to go to "school" but for right now we are hanging out.

Anara is excited for her sister's 1st day away

Lots of Joy!!!

So sleepy - the time change was rough Noble taking things in

Mommy and Joy
Smiley babyTummy time playing with toys
Big smiles!
Practicing sitting in her bumbo seat.
Big Brother Noble eating a cupcake.
Baby Joy getting ready to enjoy her birthday cupcake.

We got to spend some time Friday and Sunday with our new niece. She is doing great. She is very healthy and strong. She rolls around the floor, gets up on her hands and feet, claps her hands, throws toys and smiles often. She was a pretty sleepy baby Friday because of jet lag. Her foster mother in Korea sent both of the outfits you see in the pictures. She came with lots of accessories :) She seems to be responding wonderfully to her family and exhibits some healthy stranger anxiety. Rachel and Guy are doing well despite their lack of sleep. Little Guy (not pictured) is good at engaging his sister and is still keeping up with his 7 y/o responsibilities (skateboarding, biking, and playing on the computer). Noble is doing great considering the transition from baby to big brother. He is typical 2 y/o with his new sister but will make a great playmate.

Who needs sleep?

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

BNL

If I am not making my 8th trip to the bathroom, catheterizing Anara, or walking off leg cramps then I am just up thinking random thoughts. I am not blogging just to complain but what else is there to do at 1:37am when I am not sleeping (except blog about the fact that I am not sleeping for no good reason)? I have been trying to cut back on my whining about my lack of sleep - especially to Nate who hears it all the time. Maybe my body thinks it needs to prepare now for the newborn time. Oh well.

While I am blogging, here are some recent quotes....

*"Mommy, guess what! Anara likes tomatoes now! I gave her a tomato and she took a bite." This might sound amazing and very convincing except for the fact that they were playing with toy food in the playroom. Violet was so happy she said, "You better call Daddy and tell him that Anara likes tomatoes now."

*Violet - "Anara if you go downstairs then Mommy will give you a spank." Ummm... not sure who Violet thinks she is but that definitely is not the rule.
Anara - "Okay Bilet, I will pay with you."

*Anara - "Can you bite my fingers?"
Violet - "See how sharp my teeth are? I can't bite your fingers or they will come right off."

*Violet - "I splashed Anara in the eyes with the water and Nina told me not to do that 5 times."
Me- "You should have gotten a spank for disobeying Nina."
Violet - "I know, but Nina didn't."

*Violet had been asking all morning to watch TV or play computer. I kept telling her to play with her toys. She just asked again and I said, "Violet go upstairs and play in your playroom." She said, "If I go play in that messy playroom I will step on something and crack my head open - that's what will happen and then you won't have me anymore." Geez!! That is some pretty intense manipulation for a 3 year old. I should have told her to go clean it up but I wasn't really sure how to respond.

"God is God and He can do anything, but He couldn't drink poison."

"I can't believe I have a baby cousin named Joy like Super Why's baby sister."

"Okay, Anara but I am getting a tall, decaf milk and you won't like it."

Welcome Joy Sa-Rang Platter!!

Joy is home and doing great. Check out the Platter's blog to see pics, video and welcome her home...