Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
honey
"Where you going, Daddy?"
"I'm going to work to make money."
"For the bees?"
"What?"
"You gonna make honey for the bees?"
"Yes, it's time to make the honey for the bees!"
I love that this is what Bree thinks her daddy is doing when he leaves the house. I wonder what picture she has in her mind as she imagines it?
"I'm going to work to make money."
"For the bees?"
"What?"
"You gonna make honey for the bees?"
"Yes, it's time to make the honey for the bees!"
I love that this is what Bree thinks her daddy is doing when he leaves the house. I wonder what picture she has in her mind as she imagines it?
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Benjamin's Birth Story
Two weeks prior to his expected arrival, Baby Benjamin made his way into the world on April 17, 2010. His due date was April 30th, and his early debut was quite a surprise for us all!
It was Saturday, and Bree had spent the day at her Grandma's house while I did some shopping and other errands. On Friday at work, I remember feeling noticeably different, like maybe baby Ben had dropped further into the birth canal. My maternity leave sub shadowed me for the day on Friday and we joked about the possibility of her needing to cover for me a week earlier than planned. Luckily, she was available! Saturday evening I arrived at my mom's house to pick Bree up and stretched out on the couch for a few minutes, when my water broke! I was not feeling ready to deliver this baby, in fact I had quite a few things planned to do before he arrived, so my mind tried to go to denial at first. Startled, I said, "OH! Ohhh," while my mind tried to rationalize everything so that we could still host our daughter's third birthday party the next day and so that I would still be at work on Monday morning for a class/family breakfast and presentation I had been planning for weeks. My mom asked me what was wrong and I told her, to which she said, "Get off my couch!" I quickly complied.
From the bathroom I began to make phone calls. I wasn't having any contractions or anything yet, but I remember learning the only thing that absolutely means you have to go to the hospital is your water breaking. I knew I couldn't drive there myself and I called Dan first. He was just walking in to Albertson's to pick up our daughter's birthday cake. (They froze it for us, it tasted great a week later!) I instructed him to stop at home and finish packing my hospital bag, and then to come and get me. While I waited for him I made calls about Bree's birthday party, rescheduling it for the following week, which, ironically, was her actual birthday. One of the things that I had been anxious about was what to do with Bree when the baby came. Being at my mom's house meant that Bree got to spend a few nights with Grandma, which worked out well for all of us! Dan arrived and we kissed her good-bye and headed towards the hospital.
Once we were on the road we both agreed to driving thru at McDonald's. It was dinner time. I was hungry and not having any contractions, and I did not know what the night had in store for me so I decided I should eat.
We arrived at the hospital and checked in, with really not much happening. The nurse asked if I was having contractions and I didn't think I was, but small contractions were registering about every three minutes once they hooked me up to the monitors. We changed rooms and things began to progress from there. The contractions started coming faster and stronger but it was a couple of hours before I felt ready for the epidural. Once I was ready, I was READY. In fact, I waited too long. By the time they got the epidural in place I was completely dilated and ready to push, the point in labor when you need to feel things! The epidural was not much of a relief for me, I did my share of moaning and crying. I remember feeling frustrated that it took so long to put the epidural in, but I am glad that the anesthesiologist took the time to do it right. One thing that was easier with baby number 2 was the pushing - I think I only had to push about 3 or 4 times before he was out. Baby Ben was born at 10:32 pm on April 17th, about five hours after my water broke.
It took us some time to decide on his name. A day later we still had not decided, but were leaning towards either Blake or Caden. But he didn't really look like a Blake. Not much like a Caden, either. In the end we settled on Benjamin and it seemed to fit.
Now he has been with us for over two weeks, and we took him for his first photo shoot this morning. I know we are biased, but we think he is absolutely gorgeous!
It was Saturday, and Bree had spent the day at her Grandma's house while I did some shopping and other errands. On Friday at work, I remember feeling noticeably different, like maybe baby Ben had dropped further into the birth canal. My maternity leave sub shadowed me for the day on Friday and we joked about the possibility of her needing to cover for me a week earlier than planned. Luckily, she was available! Saturday evening I arrived at my mom's house to pick Bree up and stretched out on the couch for a few minutes, when my water broke! I was not feeling ready to deliver this baby, in fact I had quite a few things planned to do before he arrived, so my mind tried to go to denial at first. Startled, I said, "OH! Ohhh," while my mind tried to rationalize everything so that we could still host our daughter's third birthday party the next day and so that I would still be at work on Monday morning for a class/family breakfast and presentation I had been planning for weeks. My mom asked me what was wrong and I told her, to which she said, "Get off my couch!" I quickly complied.
From the bathroom I began to make phone calls. I wasn't having any contractions or anything yet, but I remember learning the only thing that absolutely means you have to go to the hospital is your water breaking. I knew I couldn't drive there myself and I called Dan first. He was just walking in to Albertson's to pick up our daughter's birthday cake. (They froze it for us, it tasted great a week later!) I instructed him to stop at home and finish packing my hospital bag, and then to come and get me. While I waited for him I made calls about Bree's birthday party, rescheduling it for the following week, which, ironically, was her actual birthday. One of the things that I had been anxious about was what to do with Bree when the baby came. Being at my mom's house meant that Bree got to spend a few nights with Grandma, which worked out well for all of us! Dan arrived and we kissed her good-bye and headed towards the hospital.
Once we were on the road we both agreed to driving thru at McDonald's. It was dinner time. I was hungry and not having any contractions, and I did not know what the night had in store for me so I decided I should eat.
We arrived at the hospital and checked in, with really not much happening. The nurse asked if I was having contractions and I didn't think I was, but small contractions were registering about every three minutes once they hooked me up to the monitors. We changed rooms and things began to progress from there. The contractions started coming faster and stronger but it was a couple of hours before I felt ready for the epidural. Once I was ready, I was READY. In fact, I waited too long. By the time they got the epidural in place I was completely dilated and ready to push, the point in labor when you need to feel things! The epidural was not much of a relief for me, I did my share of moaning and crying. I remember feeling frustrated that it took so long to put the epidural in, but I am glad that the anesthesiologist took the time to do it right. One thing that was easier with baby number 2 was the pushing - I think I only had to push about 3 or 4 times before he was out. Baby Ben was born at 10:32 pm on April 17th, about five hours after my water broke.
It took us some time to decide on his name. A day later we still had not decided, but were leaning towards either Blake or Caden. But he didn't really look like a Blake. Not much like a Caden, either. In the end we settled on Benjamin and it seemed to fit.
Now he has been with us for over two weeks, and we took him for his first photo shoot this morning. I know we are biased, but we think he is absolutely gorgeous!
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