So as you all know Jake and I had great success with our pregnancies. Not only did we get pregnant on our first try with both kids, but I carried them with relative ease and even though my deliveries were a bit long there wasn't a lot of complications...(yes, emmaus was in the NICU for 10 days, but it was mostly that he had swallowed the maconium...so it was just that they needed to clean out his system...no real scare of underdevloped parts or anything.)
I'm writing this because I have a lot of friends who are pregant right now, or trying to get pregnant. One friend in particular just found out that the 20 week baby she is carrying is missing some vital organs and has been told that it probably won't beable to survive outside of the womb. Heart Breaking. Speechless.
We never did any genetic testing with our pregnancies because my thought had always been if something were to come up, how would that change anything. I would still have the baby, so why not just have the baby and figure things out after the fact....my friends situation isn't genetically relevant, but I've been thinking about the convo I had with her about her situation....and am trying to relate anything I've experienced with what she is going through. To try to understand...to empathize...when I was thinking about not doing those tests it was under the assumption that as long as the baby came out breathing and with a heartbeat that we could overcome anything else...I never considered the alternative.....
I haven't thought this much about anything for awhile...I guess I want to know what other people think about it, what you've gone through...for those of you who are prego or have been, or want to be...what are your concerns/scares/praise reports about experiences you've gone through/heard about....
My friend was given the choice of wanting to carry the child to term/ carry the baby as long as the body allows for it to, or to terminate the pregnancy themselves. How does one make this decision?
There's the perspective that baby is still a baby, so voluntarily ending the pregancy at any point is abortion...but how does one emotionally carry a child in the womb knowing it won't live? I guess the idea of spending as much time with your child would be something to cherish because a life is a life.
I'm not supporting any one decision, I don't have an agenda with this post. I have an open mind about all of the above...I just feel the need to write about this. I know of other friends who have miscarried later in the pregnancy and I saw how emotional it was for them. I never talked to them about it personally...I never knew how to broach the conversation about it since we are friends, just not so close that I felt I could talk to her about it.
My question is not why does God let these things happen, but more...how do we cope with such .....I can't even think of how to describe it. I know that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, that He works miracles, that He will never forsake us. I am grateful that I didn't have to go through anything like this with my children. We volunarily have decided to stop having children. Jake got snipped 3 weeks after Imogen was born.
I feel ...I'm not sure how I feel. I know people, and have friends who struggle with infertility and want a baby more than anything. I don't understand why some people get pregnant without trying, how single teenagers get pregnant after having sex one time, how some women try and try and try and finally conceive only to have some kind of complication and lose the baby...I guess in a weird way that I'm cheating...I know I'm not going to say this right, but...I feel bad in a way, that we had it so easy...that we feel our family is complete that we want to move on with our lives and don't feel the need/want to have anymore kids, yet there are all these people that still can't have a child, or can't have another one, or are struggling to have another one...you get the picture. I just wish it was easy for everyone...
I know everyone is different and I believe that things happen for a reason...in a way it makes me love and cherish my babes that much more. I know we are blessed and I never want to feel held back by my kids. They are a blessing not only to me and Jake, they are a blessing to everyone that lays eyes on their beautiful little faces.
To all my friends out there, my heart goes out to your families whether you are single, married, in a relationship, with child, enjoying a newborn, or are on your umpteenth baby. Cherish the life you have. Live it to the fullest. Bless others around you. Remember Jesus died for you and to show his Love to others in everything you do. Love one another....I'll leave you with Hard Rock Cafe's mantra:
Love All Serve All
please leave a comment about your thoughts....I think people need to hear...
as always, thank you for reading.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Birth Story
Hi there fans. Sorry for the hiatus in posts...I had a baby. Big surprise.
So I'm going to start this out by saying duh me...
When we had our ultra sound to find out the gender of our baby U2, the technician said that from the size of her, the due date was going to get put at Sept 23. However, our dates that determine when we got pregnant were fool proof...only one cycle from breast feeding to positive pregnancy test....not much room for error...so we stuck with the due date of Sept 11....silly me...she came out on the 23rd....so 12 days late? or on time...you decide...her records will always say 12 days late....was it really late, or just me hoping to have her out sooner than later?
We got home from San Diego all ready to have baby U2...time came and went. Due date came, Jake's parents came, we went hiking a few times trying to encourage her to come out...to no avail. We went to Cafe Trio for their labor inducing pizza (lots of roasted garlic...) Didn't work. Ate pineapple, drank red raspberry leaf tea, took some evening primrose, and even a few doses of black and blue cohosh...nothing was getting this girl going. Mike and Mary's trip came and went. Jake and I toyed with the idea of inducing her before the Ulasich's had to go home...but in the end really wanted to go into labor naturally.
Time kept ticking away, Jojo and Sarah's wedding reception came and went. That was fun having everyone ask me when I was going to have that baby...really people?..haha...every night I went to bed hoping I'd wake up with contractions....still nothing to get excited about. We had a non stress test...everything was looking fine on the inside..but because when you are over 41 weeks, the placenta can go bad...I was getting a little nervous. We decided to schedule the induction with the advice of the midwife. We wanted it for friday the 23rd, but they were full so we opted for the Thursday before. I didn't want to wait through another weekend...too much mental stress.
So at 730am on 9/22 we got the call to come into the hospital for induction at 9am. We delivered at IMC with the midwives (LOVED IT! Highly recommend.)
I called my Terri mom....Vickie mom had flown in that Tuesday so she came with us, I called Melissa B to come up to the hospital...Betty M THANKFULLY was able to stay with Emmaus...and we were off. Once we got settled into the room and the midwife came in to check me out I was expecting things to get going quickly and we'd have U2 in our arms in no time....not so much. When the midwife did the first check to see how far I was...I was still barely at a 1...not even all the way through ....grrr...some of the other midwives had said I was at a 1 for like a week,and the last appointment had said I was 1 and a wiggle...I have never been so happy to hear I was a wiggle..but that wiggle apparently went away over night..SO
Next step was to take Cytotech..(not sure how to spell that.) Cervical ripener...a little pill that I had to keep in my mouth till it disolved...So I sat in bed, walked around a little bit..I was hooked up to a fetal monitor..if I remember correctly...so jake and I were walking around together, he was holding the monitor around his neck...it was quite adorable.
After 4 doses (I think..) and 24 hours later we were finally 100% effaced...and at a 2. I didn't think that was much progress for 24 hours and I had my break down and started crying and losing it...sigh. Midwife came in to break my water..tough little thing it was too..again. no surprise (gma's water never broke naturally, neither did moms, nor did we with emmaus.) They started the Pitocin and we were off...NO epidural!
On came the more severe contractions....I think serious labor went on for about 6 hours. We were in every position imaginable....nothing was really doing it for me...hands and knees...on my side, in the tub, with the pole...I had someone pushing on my back the entire time..thanks again everyone..sometimes it helped me get through the contractions sometimes it didn't...I couldn't figure out what was working...I'm sure everyone was getting frustrated with me...but they only showed me love....such a great group of peeps..including the nurses. Couldn't have done it without them.
The midwives were extremely busy that day...tons of induction/labors...so another midwife who wasn't supposed to be on the floor walked into my room...just in time. We were struggling trying to get into a position that would work and she very calmly says have you tried....yadayadayada...I didn't care which position it was, I just wanted help!! So she had me sit up in the bed...it converted into what I like to call a throne..I was sitting up, and the midwife pushed on my knees so that my back was flush up against the bed...it's hard to explain...point being..the pain seemed to miraculously go away...it was amazing. I went from freaking out to being able to breath through the contractions...it was magic! Praise God for Ida walking in when she did.
From there on out..things went well...then an hour of pushing...and out came Imogen Silver Leigh Ulasich! (Her name origin...We had 2 names picked out...Imogen Leigh and Silver Joy. I knew Jake would have a very hard time not picking Imogen...so close to delivery date I had an idea to add Silver as a second middle name since we are done having kids...he agreed and there it was. We got Imogen primarily Imogen Heap..she's a british musician that we both like a lot...from the band Frou Frou..perhaps you heard them on the Garden State soundtrack...then I found out that Imogen is also a Shakespearian princess from the play Cymbeline...and a photographer, and an actor I think...and the aunt in the newest Alice in wonderland..which makes me think the character is in the book, and someone told me it was Julia Stiles characters name in a movie ...Down to you..or something like that with Freddy Prince...and it's the name of a British war ship...so not as obscure as Emmaus...we like it. and I said her name to her today (11/3) and she smiled..hehe...me think she likes it too.)
4:09 pm on Sept 23, 2011. She was breathing and they handed her to me immediately. The chord was a little short, someone was pulling on it...and after all that pain of pushing etc...that is the most memorable pain...the tugging of the chord before it had been cut...haha. (Jake cut the chord.) My placenta was HUGE...I won't post the picture, but it was like 10 lbs...I'd say like 12 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide...crazy huge. Imogen got cleaned up 7.14.5 lbs 21 inches...just .5 oz. off from her brother...someone told us 7.15 so that is what we announced, and I wasn't going to correct it over .5 oz anyway...so we'll just say they were the same.
When she came out she was wide eyed and looking around, she latched after they had her all weighed and measured, that was amazing...we didn't get to hold emmaus until a few days after he was born due to the whole NICU thing.
The rest was normal...went to the post-pardum department, got woken up every few hours by the nurses and the baby to feed..Emmaus came up that night to meet his sister wearing his awesome big brother scrubs I bought for him. He seemed to love her immediately. And he seemed to understand that sister was no longer in mama's tummy but that sister was now, this baby. I thought that was cool.
anything I left out?...if you have any questions let me know.
Our family is complete, all is healthy happy a little sleep deprived, but we'll get over that. Thanks for reading my novella, I look forward to posting more about life and the various goings on with me...
as always...
So I'm going to start this out by saying duh me...
When we had our ultra sound to find out the gender of our baby U2, the technician said that from the size of her, the due date was going to get put at Sept 23. However, our dates that determine when we got pregnant were fool proof...only one cycle from breast feeding to positive pregnancy test....not much room for error...so we stuck with the due date of Sept 11....silly me...she came out on the 23rd....so 12 days late? or on time...you decide...her records will always say 12 days late....was it really late, or just me hoping to have her out sooner than later?
We got home from San Diego all ready to have baby U2...time came and went. Due date came, Jake's parents came, we went hiking a few times trying to encourage her to come out...to no avail. We went to Cafe Trio for their labor inducing pizza (lots of roasted garlic...) Didn't work. Ate pineapple, drank red raspberry leaf tea, took some evening primrose, and even a few doses of black and blue cohosh...nothing was getting this girl going. Mike and Mary's trip came and went. Jake and I toyed with the idea of inducing her before the Ulasich's had to go home...but in the end really wanted to go into labor naturally.
Time kept ticking away, Jojo and Sarah's wedding reception came and went. That was fun having everyone ask me when I was going to have that baby...really people?..haha...every night I went to bed hoping I'd wake up with contractions....still nothing to get excited about. We had a non stress test...everything was looking fine on the inside..but because when you are over 41 weeks, the placenta can go bad...I was getting a little nervous. We decided to schedule the induction with the advice of the midwife. We wanted it for friday the 23rd, but they were full so we opted for the Thursday before. I didn't want to wait through another weekend...too much mental stress.
So at 730am on 9/22 we got the call to come into the hospital for induction at 9am. We delivered at IMC with the midwives (LOVED IT! Highly recommend.)
I called my Terri mom....Vickie mom had flown in that Tuesday so she came with us, I called Melissa B to come up to the hospital...Betty M THANKFULLY was able to stay with Emmaus...and we were off. Once we got settled into the room and the midwife came in to check me out I was expecting things to get going quickly and we'd have U2 in our arms in no time....not so much. When the midwife did the first check to see how far I was...I was still barely at a 1...not even all the way through ....grrr...some of the other midwives had said I was at a 1 for like a week,and the last appointment had said I was 1 and a wiggle...I have never been so happy to hear I was a wiggle..but that wiggle apparently went away over night..SO
Next step was to take Cytotech..(not sure how to spell that.) Cervical ripener...a little pill that I had to keep in my mouth till it disolved...So I sat in bed, walked around a little bit..I was hooked up to a fetal monitor..if I remember correctly...so jake and I were walking around together, he was holding the monitor around his neck...it was quite adorable.
After 4 doses (I think..) and 24 hours later we were finally 100% effaced...and at a 2. I didn't think that was much progress for 24 hours and I had my break down and started crying and losing it...sigh. Midwife came in to break my water..tough little thing it was too..again. no surprise (gma's water never broke naturally, neither did moms, nor did we with emmaus.) They started the Pitocin and we were off...NO epidural!
On came the more severe contractions....I think serious labor went on for about 6 hours. We were in every position imaginable....nothing was really doing it for me...hands and knees...on my side, in the tub, with the pole...I had someone pushing on my back the entire time..thanks again everyone..sometimes it helped me get through the contractions sometimes it didn't...I couldn't figure out what was working...I'm sure everyone was getting frustrated with me...but they only showed me love....such a great group of peeps..including the nurses. Couldn't have done it without them.
The midwives were extremely busy that day...tons of induction/labors...so another midwife who wasn't supposed to be on the floor walked into my room...just in time. We were struggling trying to get into a position that would work and she very calmly says have you tried....yadayadayada...I didn't care which position it was, I just wanted help!! So she had me sit up in the bed...it converted into what I like to call a throne..I was sitting up, and the midwife pushed on my knees so that my back was flush up against the bed...it's hard to explain...point being..the pain seemed to miraculously go away...it was amazing. I went from freaking out to being able to breath through the contractions...it was magic! Praise God for Ida walking in when she did.
From there on out..things went well...then an hour of pushing...and out came Imogen Silver Leigh Ulasich! (Her name origin...We had 2 names picked out...Imogen Leigh and Silver Joy. I knew Jake would have a very hard time not picking Imogen...so close to delivery date I had an idea to add Silver as a second middle name since we are done having kids...he agreed and there it was. We got Imogen primarily Imogen Heap..she's a british musician that we both like a lot...from the band Frou Frou..perhaps you heard them on the Garden State soundtrack...then I found out that Imogen is also a Shakespearian princess from the play Cymbeline...and a photographer, and an actor I think...and the aunt in the newest Alice in wonderland..which makes me think the character is in the book, and someone told me it was Julia Stiles characters name in a movie ...Down to you..or something like that with Freddy Prince...and it's the name of a British war ship...so not as obscure as Emmaus...we like it. and I said her name to her today (11/3) and she smiled..hehe...me think she likes it too.)
4:09 pm on Sept 23, 2011. She was breathing and they handed her to me immediately. The chord was a little short, someone was pulling on it...and after all that pain of pushing etc...that is the most memorable pain...the tugging of the chord before it had been cut...haha. (Jake cut the chord.) My placenta was HUGE...I won't post the picture, but it was like 10 lbs...I'd say like 12 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide...crazy huge. Imogen got cleaned up 7.14.5 lbs 21 inches...just .5 oz. off from her brother...someone told us 7.15 so that is what we announced, and I wasn't going to correct it over .5 oz anyway...so we'll just say they were the same.
When she came out she was wide eyed and looking around, she latched after they had her all weighed and measured, that was amazing...we didn't get to hold emmaus until a few days after he was born due to the whole NICU thing.
The rest was normal...went to the post-pardum department, got woken up every few hours by the nurses and the baby to feed..Emmaus came up that night to meet his sister wearing his awesome big brother scrubs I bought for him. He seemed to love her immediately. And he seemed to understand that sister was no longer in mama's tummy but that sister was now, this baby. I thought that was cool.
anything I left out?...if you have any questions let me know.
Our family is complete, all is healthy happy a little sleep deprived, but we'll get over that. Thanks for reading my novella, I look forward to posting more about life and the various goings on with me...
as always...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Hunger Games...
I wanted to blog about something other than the normal everyday life stuff...and this came to mind.
The Hunger Games
We rented the audio book from the library for our road trip to Cali. (I'll plug this again: audio books are life savers on long road trips. I look forward to when Emmaus is old enough to listen with enjoyment as well. Jake was enthralled with it....it kept him awake and interested and happy to keep driving....yea!)
The book. I had heard from a few coworkers that this book was AmaZing! So it was an easy choice for the trip. And it was a good book. They are making it into a movie...as we listened to it, it was quite obvious that it would make the transition to screenplay quite easily.
I'm not about to do a book review on it....I'm an easy sell. Jake didn't love how it ended...He'd have to write his own blog about. I however thought the ending was just fine. It definitely set up the 2nd book. (It's a trilogy as of right now...we haven't read the other 2 yet.) but I thoguht it was a decent ending in and of itself. I don't want to say too much, just in case you haven't read it yet. (I think it's worth the read.)
I like how these young adult fiction books have such a vast audience. It's not just for kids, or we are all just big kids...I'm leaning towards the latter.
So there you have it.
I'm still reading East of Eden, edging towards the end of that one too. I'm really enjoying it...curious where it's going to go now...If you haven't read that one, I suggest it too.
(I guess the moral of this post is: if you are going on a road trip, get an audio book....it makes the trip much more enjoyable...except when the passenger takes a nap and has to ask for the recap...haha.)
The Hunger Games
We rented the audio book from the library for our road trip to Cali. (I'll plug this again: audio books are life savers on long road trips. I look forward to when Emmaus is old enough to listen with enjoyment as well. Jake was enthralled with it....it kept him awake and interested and happy to keep driving....yea!)
The book. I had heard from a few coworkers that this book was AmaZing! So it was an easy choice for the trip. And it was a good book. They are making it into a movie...as we listened to it, it was quite obvious that it would make the transition to screenplay quite easily.
I'm not about to do a book review on it....I'm an easy sell. Jake didn't love how it ended...He'd have to write his own blog about. I however thought the ending was just fine. It definitely set up the 2nd book. (It's a trilogy as of right now...we haven't read the other 2 yet.) but I thoguht it was a decent ending in and of itself. I don't want to say too much, just in case you haven't read it yet. (I think it's worth the read.)
I like how these young adult fiction books have such a vast audience. It's not just for kids, or we are all just big kids...I'm leaning towards the latter.
So there you have it.
I'm still reading East of Eden, edging towards the end of that one too. I'm really enjoying it...curious where it's going to go now...If you haven't read that one, I suggest it too.
(I guess the moral of this post is: if you are going on a road trip, get an audio book....it makes the trip much more enjoyable...except when the passenger takes a nap and has to ask for the recap...haha.)
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Last Summer Hoorah
Short Version: Trip was great. Wonderful sunny weather. Sea World was fun. Wedding was beautiful. We saw 3 different beaches: Mission Beach , LaJolla Cove, Ocean Beach. Stopped by Balboa park. Trip was 15 hours each way, but well worth it and quite enjoyable. Oh, and of course we stopped by the Hard Rock as well.
Long detailed version:
Jojo's wedding means road trip to San Diego for the Ulasich clan. Perfect excuse to get Jake to sunny California. This has been his destination of choice since we met just over 5 years ago. I also wanted to take Emmaus on a family vacation while he was still an only child. He has traveled a little bit, but I wanted this too.
We rented a mini van in Salt Lake for the drive down. A: We wanted the extra space for the drive. (And that turned out to be so very nice.) B: We had to take an extra car seat and emergency hospital bag "just in case." C: We arranged to be the airport picker-uppers for mom and dad and Bill/all around transportation peeps (in exchange for them helping a little with the cost of the van.) That worked out well too. I think it added to the amount of time we got to see eachother since it was a quick trip for them.
15 hours later, pb and j, lots of air conditioning, Finding Nemo, Shrek I and II, Despereaux, Signing Time for emmaus, and Hunger Games on audio book for jake and me, lots of potty stops, and our first ever trip to Mcdonalds play ground, and about an hour of Cali traffic, we pulled into our hotel (Thanks to our smart phone/google maps!!) Emmaus was great on the trip...only one break down, and who could blame him....that's a long time in a car, and it was just about his nap time when he lost it...he's a trooper.
First thing Friday morning we went to Sea World!
(Thanks again Brook for the tip on that coupon..So happy to be able to go back multiple days at the same price as one day!!) The place looks so different from the fist time I was there (13 years ago I think it was...wow, I'm old...hehe.) We saw the penguins, Shamu's show, Blue horizon (the dolphins/pilot whales, and some really cool diving.)
We stopped at In and Out for some much needed food (mama and baby were about spent without it...) airport, hotel, sushi (daddy's place of choice), then to the "rehearsal." Jake and I didn't NEED to be there, but since we were dropping off the parents, we decided to stay and hang and be around the wedding party people anyway....it was fun seeing Andrea and the kids...
Saturday mom, dad, jake, emmaus and I went out to Mission beach.
I didn't venture into the cold water....A: it was cold, B: I didn't trust myself...stability and all...so I stayed on the sand with Emmaus...mamaw and papaw showed him how to play on the beach. Emmaus wasn't too excited about the sand crabs...wasn't sure what they were I think. Mamaw showed him how to draw letters/lines in the sand..
. and we found a shovel...that was fun for awhile too...oh and the kelp...he liked carrying that around too. Emmaus didn't want to go into the water. Too cold, and I think too big for him....we did get a little wet together, but that was enough...for both of us I think.
Next we ran a few errands that needed to be done before the wedding started...lunch etc.., then we drove out to La Jolla Cove....It was CRAZY BUSY.
Not the best place for a 19 month old. I took a few pics, then we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for the wedding. We made a quick stop over to Jojo and Sarah's place to get acquainted with how to drive there for the airport run the next morning. Cute place.
The Wedding: The backyard was such a great backdrop for the wedding. The organizers did a great job with everything. From tiki lights to tissue paper flowers and other lighting, the scene was set. It started exactly at 7:00pm. Normal ceremony, they had communion together, Sarah surprised Jojo with washing his feet. That was really sweet. Then they ran down the isle after the kiss and wedding band exchange...(They all had on Tom's.) They took some pics, then there was some dancing, some dining, some speeches, and some very tired children. Jake laid on the grass so Emmaus could fall asleep on his chest. (Such a grand daddy.) It was nice to see Paul and Alicia. We'll have to go up north on the next road trip and pay them a proper visit.
They exited the reception via a line of sparklers...and that was that. (Their thank you's were bags of candy that you got to fill up from some really stylish, huge candy dishes...hard to explain, I'm sure there will be some photos on FB eventually.) I liked the photo booth that they had set up...I think it was a friend of jojo's from his UCSD group....it printed 4 pics with the wedding date and their names on it....with a copy for the couple and a copy to keep. Cute idea.
Sunday morning I woke up at like 345am to take some peeps to the airport. (There names are supposed to remain annonymous, so I can't say who I took.-sorry) I made it there and back without any hitches...very proud of myself for driving on the 5, the 163, and the 805 I think it was...all alone. Yea me (and the smart phone!)
We went back to Sea World, saw sharks, turtles,
We ate really pricy pizza and I had a nice salad...(totally expensive, but I was really wanting some veggies..we hadn't had many since the trip started.) saw the sea lion show...love how they make it funny, I really think this is one of the most entertaining shows Sea World has to offer.
On the way out, we stopped by the Arctic exhibit and saw the beluga whales and some polar bears and a walrus....it was cool (literally.)
Then we left for the beach, but I had to stop to eat something...I was getting way too hungry/irritable to function without food, so we stopped at a thai place, they were closed, kept walking and found a really cute mexican restaraunt that advertised vegetarian too (Bill was happy about that.) It felt good to sit down and eat a full meal.
We made it to the beach...I had wanted to be there at sunset, but didn't look like that would happen, but it DID happen! The boys went out and played in the water for what felt like hours. The life guards sent out a message to clear the water as the sun fell below the horizon. I was very grateful because Emmaus didn't want to go near the water, nor walk on the sand. He's so heavy and with my big belly it's nearly impossible to carry him comfortably for more than a minute...so he was only entertained by playing with my Canon...and with his little fingers probing for my lens...that is hands covered in sand...I was getting beyond tolerant of his wishes. Needless to say the lifeguards call was an answer to prayer...it sucks being stuck like that. 
We got back to the hotel, started packing up and had another very early morning dropping Bill off at the airport. We started the drive home at 5 ish and got into SLC around 9ish (our time.) 15 hours there and back...including a dinner stop at Wendy's. Emmaus did well, and we were sooo grateful to have David: the backseat babysitter with us. Emmaus kept watching his collection of movies, snacking and sleeping. Only made one big fuss about 5 hours into the trip...but I don't blame him. He is a great traveling companion. I hope that his sister is too! (Jake and I listened to the rest of the Hunger Games (really liked this book, and am looking forward to either reading or listening to the other 2 books/and happy the movie is comingo ut too.) and got through 4/5 discs for Wrinkle in Time too...I think I mentioned that we won't be doing anymore road trips without an audio book...LIFE SAVERS.
Thanks for sticking wtih arduous task of reading my very detailed depiction of our California end of summer horrah!
Stay tuned for birth details!!! (as soon as I have some to share that is..hehe.)
Monday, August 15, 2011
long time...
I was just looking at this blog and realized that I haven't added pictues in a long while...I'm lame. I'm fairly sure all my readers are on FB, so you've hopefull seen some pics, but I wanted to put a few on here too....In hopes of loading more soon....from my shower, for emmaus' 18months and a look at the belly....36 weeks and counting. This picture was from a few weeks ago...I think week 33....not sure, I definitely took more pics the first time...partially cause jake was willing to take them. I burned him out last time.
(This is at Silver Lake up by Brighton ski resort.)
This was a pic of me and my daddy from when I went up to the canyon with Oasis...again, this was in late July...so I was just about 34 weeks. We both look a little puffy in this picture, I think it was early, and the altitude...at least, i hope so..haha
I"ll get more loaded on here soon. I realized I used to write blogs more often, more clever, and more...fun. I'll see if I can start that again. It's fun to go back and reread stuff....
If you are still out there...thanks for reading.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
18 months today!
I've shared a few of these things on Facebook, but I wanted to post it here too.
Emmaus is freaking awesome. I know I'm biased, but some of the things he does, I just don't expect....examples to follow:
We're watching Shrek the other night (the new one)....something funny happens on the show (can't remember the details...I'll have to ask jake...) Neither jake or I laugh....but there's emmaus sitting up front just giggling away....such a good sense of humor he has. (of course his laugh made us laugh...)
Sunday night we were at a friends house for Bible study and it was getting a little late...emmaus walks over to where his pack and play is sitting...starts dragging it towards us so we'll set it up for him. We get him into the back room and set it up...he lays down without a peep. (Jake used to ask to go to bed when he was 2 (he'd already given up naps according to the stories I've heard...like father like son.)
Mamma sneezes, emmaus says bless you.
Emmaus sees someone drinking something in one of his books. He says/signs drink. Jake and I try to remember where his Camelbak is....so we tell emmaus..."it's in the side pocket of your diaper bag.....in your room." a few minutes later he comes back holding his camelbak.
A few weeks ago, mommy (I) was laying down on the couch and jake had just finished making dinner. I asked Emmaus to help me up. I reached out my hand and asked him said "pull." he wasn't sure what to do so I said "back up" and I grunted ...so he knew he was supposed to ..pull. It worked, he pulled me up...and we ate dinner together. So NOW, whenever I am sitting on the couch, laying in bed, or sitting on the floor and emmaus wants me to get up and go ....he grabs my hand and says "pull" and grunts....you can't say no to that!
We finished a walk last week or so ago...I helped show Emmaus how to take his shoes and socks off...he giggled..it was cute. So then I aked him to put his shoes away...off he goes to the shoe rack at the front door. Then I ask him to put his socks in the dirty basket in his room....he leaves the room....and comes back without them. I asked jake to go check his room....low and behold (what does that really mean anyway..) he had put his smelly sweaty socks in his dirty laundry bin.
Those are all the cute stories I can think of right now...
Interesting enough...Jake made stirfry last week...with my suggestion of adding noodles instead of rice...success. Emmaus loves them...we had zucc, squash, brocc, red peppers and chicken in there. Emmaus ate the veggies and the noodles, but didn't want the chicken. Even after giving him more left overs, he kept picking out the chicken...no worries because he gets plenty of protein, just kind of weird I thought...oh, and did I mention he LOVES edamame, and our zucc soup...
He's tall, and is talking a lot...Jake and I look at eachother sometimes trying to figure out what he's saying...I hate asking emmaus to repeat himself, or clarify, I don't want him second guessing himself, but some of the stuff he says ..I have NO idea what he's saying. We're trying to couple words with signs as much as possible, but sometimes that's just not possible.
He's started coloring and is doing a really good job with it. I came home from work yest. and jake had taped up a canvas on the side of our desk. Looks like they had a great time together. Emmaus loves our shrek coloring book (I had this like 3 years ago...) He colors on it, and keeps coloring over things, colors in over peoples faces, and loves to point out shrek and cat...sometimes fiona, but hasn't gotten that word down yet...smiles.
He's amazing and well loved... he still kisses my belly when we say kiss sissy, or where is sister.
Less than 6 weeks ladies and gentleman, and baby U2 makes her debut...
as always, thanks for reading.
Emmaus is freaking awesome. I know I'm biased, but some of the things he does, I just don't expect....examples to follow:
We're watching Shrek the other night (the new one)....something funny happens on the show (can't remember the details...I'll have to ask jake...) Neither jake or I laugh....but there's emmaus sitting up front just giggling away....such a good sense of humor he has. (of course his laugh made us laugh...)
Sunday night we were at a friends house for Bible study and it was getting a little late...emmaus walks over to where his pack and play is sitting...starts dragging it towards us so we'll set it up for him. We get him into the back room and set it up...he lays down without a peep. (Jake used to ask to go to bed when he was 2 (he'd already given up naps according to the stories I've heard...like father like son.)
Mamma sneezes, emmaus says bless you.
Emmaus sees someone drinking something in one of his books. He says/signs drink. Jake and I try to remember where his Camelbak is....so we tell emmaus..."it's in the side pocket of your diaper bag.....in your room." a few minutes later he comes back holding his camelbak.
A few weeks ago, mommy (I) was laying down on the couch and jake had just finished making dinner. I asked Emmaus to help me up. I reached out my hand and asked him said "pull." he wasn't sure what to do so I said "back up" and I grunted ...so he knew he was supposed to ..pull. It worked, he pulled me up...and we ate dinner together. So NOW, whenever I am sitting on the couch, laying in bed, or sitting on the floor and emmaus wants me to get up and go ....he grabs my hand and says "pull" and grunts....you can't say no to that!
We finished a walk last week or so ago...I helped show Emmaus how to take his shoes and socks off...he giggled..it was cute. So then I aked him to put his shoes away...off he goes to the shoe rack at the front door. Then I ask him to put his socks in the dirty basket in his room....he leaves the room....and comes back without them. I asked jake to go check his room....low and behold (what does that really mean anyway..) he had put his smelly sweaty socks in his dirty laundry bin.
Those are all the cute stories I can think of right now...
Interesting enough...Jake made stirfry last week...with my suggestion of adding noodles instead of rice...success. Emmaus loves them...we had zucc, squash, brocc, red peppers and chicken in there. Emmaus ate the veggies and the noodles, but didn't want the chicken. Even after giving him more left overs, he kept picking out the chicken...no worries because he gets plenty of protein, just kind of weird I thought...oh, and did I mention he LOVES edamame, and our zucc soup...
He's tall, and is talking a lot...Jake and I look at eachother sometimes trying to figure out what he's saying...I hate asking emmaus to repeat himself, or clarify, I don't want him second guessing himself, but some of the stuff he says ..I have NO idea what he's saying. We're trying to couple words with signs as much as possible, but sometimes that's just not possible.
He's started coloring and is doing a really good job with it. I came home from work yest. and jake had taped up a canvas on the side of our desk. Looks like they had a great time together. Emmaus loves our shrek coloring book (I had this like 3 years ago...) He colors on it, and keeps coloring over things, colors in over peoples faces, and loves to point out shrek and cat...sometimes fiona, but hasn't gotten that word down yet...smiles.
He's amazing and well loved... he still kisses my belly when we say kiss sissy, or where is sister.
Less than 6 weeks ladies and gentleman, and baby U2 makes her debut...
as always, thanks for reading.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Coming down to the wire (Ladies only...)
We're 33 weeks yest. that leaves 2 weeks till schools done, one week till shower 2 weeks till vacation/jojo's wedding, then 2 weeks at home to chill/wait. Sounds like a funfilled 7 weeks to me.
Now's the time when I'm starting to freak out about plans for postpartum/labor and delivery logistics. So here's my concerns/issues. Any advice or suggestions my readers have, let me know. I need all the reassurance I can get.
Mike and Mary are driving in close to the due date. Hopefully they'll be here, but never a guarantee, since they are coming in from Minneapolis. Mom will just be getting back from Mexico/working/planning for Jojo and Sarah's reception right around the time baby U2 will be coming. Dad will be working as well. My other trusted Emmaus watcher has a newborn at home and her own 2 year old to worry about. I'm not sure how to put together a list of people to look after Emmaus during labor. I have NO idea what to expect this time around. Last time I was in bed/walking around for a good 20 hours laboring before we got wisked away to the hospital for another 20 hours. Jake said he'd be at home with Emmaus during the night while I am in the hospital postpartum. I can't think of who to ask to care for my sweet boy while I'm having this baby. I hate to rely on other people for things like this, but then I know I have a lot of people who care and love us tremendously and would jump at the chance to help us out in this emergency..since it's not a planned induction and you know how labor can start whenever it darn well pleases.
Then theirs the postpartum stuff. Last time I was taken care of by moms and best friends, and jes on top of the hospital staff, this time, it seems like everyone/thing is iffy and since we have Emmaus in the equation too, I'm getting nervous. I know I'm hormonal, and I know things will work out, but I want to have a tentative plan in place, and a planb and possible c if I need to be. This new addition to the family will be a big enough shock for him, I want Emmaus to be loved and cared for while I'm away for however long. (hopefully the shortest amount of time possible.)
So postpartum....care: I remember the hospital doing these make shift ice packs, disposable underwear, tucks pads some numming spray etc etc etc. So Ladies out there with experience, what did you use for your postpartum? What do I need to buy before these 7 weeks rush passed us? I want to have as much in place as I can so Jake won't have to do more than he needs to. He'll have his hands full enough as is.
My mom is coming to town about a week later, so we'll have her around for that stuff too, which will be nice, it's this immediate stuff that has my mind in a tizzy.
As always, this is just me thinking out loud, trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. Sigh, and breath.
Again, any support or suggestions are much appreciated. I'm not trying to be a spaz, but I think that's what I sound like. Jake is trying to understand, but he's getting frustrated with me I think...as any man would/should when dealing with a crazy pregnant lady. I'm frustrated with me too!!!
Now's the time when I'm starting to freak out about plans for postpartum/labor and delivery logistics. So here's my concerns/issues. Any advice or suggestions my readers have, let me know. I need all the reassurance I can get.
Mike and Mary are driving in close to the due date. Hopefully they'll be here, but never a guarantee, since they are coming in from Minneapolis. Mom will just be getting back from Mexico/working/planning for Jojo and Sarah's reception right around the time baby U2 will be coming. Dad will be working as well. My other trusted Emmaus watcher has a newborn at home and her own 2 year old to worry about. I'm not sure how to put together a list of people to look after Emmaus during labor. I have NO idea what to expect this time around. Last time I was in bed/walking around for a good 20 hours laboring before we got wisked away to the hospital for another 20 hours. Jake said he'd be at home with Emmaus during the night while I am in the hospital postpartum. I can't think of who to ask to care for my sweet boy while I'm having this baby. I hate to rely on other people for things like this, but then I know I have a lot of people who care and love us tremendously and would jump at the chance to help us out in this emergency..since it's not a planned induction and you know how labor can start whenever it darn well pleases.
Then theirs the postpartum stuff. Last time I was taken care of by moms and best friends, and jes on top of the hospital staff, this time, it seems like everyone/thing is iffy and since we have Emmaus in the equation too, I'm getting nervous. I know I'm hormonal, and I know things will work out, but I want to have a tentative plan in place, and a planb and possible c if I need to be. This new addition to the family will be a big enough shock for him, I want Emmaus to be loved and cared for while I'm away for however long. (hopefully the shortest amount of time possible.)
So postpartum....care: I remember the hospital doing these make shift ice packs, disposable underwear, tucks pads some numming spray etc etc etc. So Ladies out there with experience, what did you use for your postpartum? What do I need to buy before these 7 weeks rush passed us? I want to have as much in place as I can so Jake won't have to do more than he needs to. He'll have his hands full enough as is.
My mom is coming to town about a week later, so we'll have her around for that stuff too, which will be nice, it's this immediate stuff that has my mind in a tizzy.
As always, this is just me thinking out loud, trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. Sigh, and breath.
Again, any support or suggestions are much appreciated. I'm not trying to be a spaz, but I think that's what I sound like. Jake is trying to understand, but he's getting frustrated with me I think...as any man would/should when dealing with a crazy pregnant lady. I'm frustrated with me too!!!
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