Dates

So last Friday, May 20th was our 6 year anniversary. JD surprised me with flowers, an iphone, and a family outing to the Redwoods. I planned out fun dates for us for the year because I miss spending alone time with him, plus I didn't make it out shopping. We took a beautiful drive through vineyards and forests, and it was so nice to be with my hubby and talk about how we still like each other after all these years :). We truly love our life. The day ended with a treat we've been wanting to try forever (Sarah- the muffin donuts were eh but the brownie cupcakes were delish :) and me falling asleep on the couch at 8pm.

Is this how our family pictures are gonna look from now on?

Saturday night I went out with some friends, so JD took Maddie on a date. She was so excited! She insisted on wearing her new dress and me curling her hair. She was too cute putting on her lip gloss and making sure to grab her purse before they left. Such a girly girl. They saw Rio and got pizza and frozen yogurt. This girl loves her daddy!

This cute guy got to hang out with the girls. He slept pretty much the whole time and is just nice to be around.

Sweet Baby

The title of this post was going to be "A Rare Moment." I had written two lines about how the house was still and silent as both my babies were asleep in their beds and I was feeling good, when Luke started screaming. And I just heard little feet running around upstairs, so I was right about it being just a moment. Two kids can really dominate a mom's time and energy! But I've been wanting to post some of Luke's newborns forever so here they are finally!

Thanks to my amazing friend Dawn for doing these and my maternity pictures. They turned out perfect. I am falling in love with my sweet baby boy. He's growing so fast, and he started out big, so I know this precious newborn stage is going to be over before I know it. Don't get me wrong, I'll be happy when he doesn't want to eat every 2-3 hours and lets me sleep for a solid stretch of time, but I'm enjoying snuggling up to his swaddled little body and kissing his chubby cheeks. Gotta go up and see what the little monster is up to. Until my next rare moment...

Introducing...

Luke Thomas White

Born May 3rd, 2011 at 2:06 am

9 lbs 15 oz, 22.5 inches

The Birth Story:

As you can tell by the date of my last post, I've been avoiding cyberspace and the world for the past few weeks. I can't decide whether to say I had a fast labor or the slowest labor ever. You decide. A week before my due date, I said I was finally ready to bring this baby into the world. Maddie was a week early, so I made sure to have every last detail ready well before the due date. Well, April 25th came and went. Every day after that started to become more physically and emotionally agonizing as this waiting game began. I like to be in control, so naturally we were trying everything to get him here. I walked miles and miles, took herbs, ate spicy food, got membranes stripped, jumped, stretched, meditated, relaxed, visualized, and did pretty much everything I could find on the internet to try to induce labor, including acupuncture. I had contractions every night for 2 weeks, but they would always fade, and I'd wake up in the morning still pregnant. I was exhausted, and nothing worked. My midwife told me two weeks before my due date that I was dilated to a four and could go any time.

So, at a week late, I was feeling desperate, but I still really didn't want to have my water broken because going to the hospital not in labor runs the risks of having to get pitocin, which can lead to all kinds of things I didn't want. So I decided to wait and if I didn't have him by 10 days late, I'd let her break my water. She checked me, said I was dilated to a 5, stripped my membranes for the fourth time, and sent me home. I finally decided to forget about trying and trust that he'd come when he was ready. Maddie and I went shopping, made a couple baby blankets, and tried to stay busy. I felt like I was in labor all day, but brushed it off thinking it would fade.

That night I started to have more regular contractions, and by midnight or so they were 4 minutes apart and lasting a minute or longer. I warned JD this might actually be happening. I don't think he believed it, after weeks of false labor. So when I finally had two really strong contractions, started getting shaky, and bossing him around to call people and get the stuff in the car, he believed me.

A friend from the ward came over at one to be with Maddie and we checked in through the ER at 1:10. (I will always deliver at a hospital minutes away because apparently I like to wait til the last minute to go in.) I said hi to my co-workers and they wished me luck as they wheeled me upstairs. By the time I got my gown on, my amazing midwife LeAnn was there. She checked me and said I was a 9. She broke my water and minutes later I found myself pushing. It was all too familiar a feeling, but this time I only had to push through about 5 contractions and he was here! I must've pushed hard because I broke tons of blood vessels in my neck and face. Luckily that's gone away already. But what an amazing feeling it was to deliver another healthy, perfect baby. I was proud of my body and its ability to do such an incredible thing. I was even more proud when I heard that the kid was almost 10 pounds! What a little tank! I just thought, geez, the little chunk really didn't need an extra week to cook in there, but JD got his wish for a giant.

It was a strange feeling to have another little body lying on my chest and knowing that he was mine just like Maddie is mine. I am falling in love all over again. And this kid is so easy to love. He's so sweet and so mellow, and such a great nurser and sleeper so far. I'm hoping he keeps this temperment because I know what it's like to have a screamer. Maddie is doing great as a big sister. It's true that your other kids instantly seem so big. At the hospital she just wanted to hold him, and the first time she got to, she started singing "Baby Mine" to him. I couldn't hold back tears.

Today being mother's day, I feel so incredibly blessed to have the chance to be a mother. I honestly love it more than anything. It's a huge responsibility and so much work, but getting to love something so completely and watch them grow brings joy beyond measure.

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing moms out there, especially to my mom who continues to love and take care of us even though we're big. And also to Juli, my mother in law who is up here helping take care of us and making sure that we are well fed :).