Sleeping babes

Just after I posted the other post, Steve called me into the bedroom to see the sweet kiddos who had fallen asleep on the bed with him. By the time I could take a picture, he had scooted out of the room. But here at the adorable little ones!

The both of them had fallen asleep, cuddled with Daddy. Jilly just had her arm on him and Jason was on his chest.

What a sweet moment for the siblings.

Can you believe it's been a month?!

Jason is one month old, as of last Monday! Where has the time gone? It's speeding by way too fast for my taste. I want to throw a fit and cry, "No more! He can't get any bigger! I want him to stay my teeny tiny newborn forever!" He's already over 10lbs and getting bigger each day. Right now, he's in the awkward stage where Newborn size clothes are starting to get too small, but the 0-3 month clothes are still pretty big. I'll be sad to put away some of the really cute outfits, but excited to see him in new things too.

First things first- Last Tuesday Jason smiled at me!!! It was the first reactive smile we've gotten out of him. I was visiting my best friend Regan, and we were smiling and cooing to him and he flashed us a quick, but cute grin. Adorable. :-) He did it again on Thursday, again when Regan was there. So far Daddy hasn't seen him do it, but we do see the sleeping smiles which are so sweet.

A couple Saturdays ago marked Jason's first trip to the pool. It's been sweltering here in Seattle, and we couldn't stand it in our apartment any longer. So we slathered him up in sunscreen and went over. It was also my first time back in the pool since giving birth. It took him a little bit to get used to it, but then he fell asleep in my arms. Very sweet. We went back on Monday and he adjusted even faster this time before falling asleep again. It's nice to know he doesn't mind the pool, so I can enjoy it too!

We've been taking advantage of the past few days to do some fun things. Jilly was camping with her grandparents at Lake Chelan, so we just relaxed with the little guy. We helped clean the church building, hit the pool, went to a church picnic, cleaned up the house, Steve got a haircut, went to go see Harry Potter (Jason was quite well behaved during it- sleeping the whole time), got the oil changed and ate out a couple times. Notice how a few of those things are indoor activities? Well, that was because we were MELTING with the insane heat. Wednesday the 29th hit 103 degrees in Seattle- the hottest day on record. It was awful being in our 3rd floor apartment. Luckily Jilly was gone until Wednesday evening, so she didn't have to deal with it. It would have been torture, since I couldn't have taken both kids to the pool by myself and we would have been trapped inside. It started cooling off and is perfectly pleasant now. Thank goodness!!!

Of course, the last day of Jilly's trip, my sister, who was with them, came down with a terrible stomach flu. Absolutely miserable, the poor girl. And it was a super contagious one too. Thursday night Jilly threw up a couple times and was beyond super cranky. I think a lot of it was stemming from having the constant attention of 6 people, focused mostly on her, then coming home and having to split just Mommy's attention with her baby brother. Not to mention, she was exhausted from playing so hard, in the sun all day, and not sleeping as much as she should at night. Luckily, she never seemed to develop the full blown flu, but was still pretty sad and miserable and grumpy. My aunt and cousins (who were camping too) got a little sick as well, but not as bad as Katie. Saturday everyone felt fine, and then Sunday morning I came down with it! So far Jason hasn't gotten it (good, because it could be the most dangerous for him, he'd dehydrate much faster than anyone else since he's so little) and Steve felt a little funny during Saturday night, but it passed by the morning. I hoping it stays that way!

We got to spend some time with my aunt and cousins while they were here, which was fun, but not as much time as we would have liked, since we were trying to not pass around the flu. Saturday, my mom, sister and me (& Jason) went to a bridal shower for my step-aunt Juliet, who is getting married next Monday. (Side note: she is getting married on an amazing day. It's both hers and her fiance's parents' anniversaries AND my birthday. This all bodes well for their marriage. ;-)) We had a lovely time. :-) After that, we all hung out at my mom's and Steve & Jilly joined us. Then we ordered Mexican food and took it down to Edmonds Beach. We got there just before the sun set and stayed until it was dark. Jilly had fun playing on the toys, the boys (my 13 year old twin cousins) played catch and roamed around the beach, and the rest of us chatted and relaxed.

This is Jason wearing the hat my mom knitted for him. He doesn't have as many as Jilly did, but that's because he's a summer baby and doesn't need them! Notice the sailboat? Nice and appropriate for a summer evening at the beach. ;-)


Auntie Karen holding Jason. She was so excited to meet him and cuddle up with him.


The pretty sunset. I really liked the sailboats silhoutted against the last bits of light.


Jilly has been really obsessed with Jason's swing. She has tried to climb into it a few times and we have to strongly discourage her from it because she is WAY too big and heavy for it. She hasn't tried to do it too much lately, but pretty much ALWAYS grabs the teddy bear mobile off the top of it, regardless of if it's moving (with Jason in it) or not. Twerp. ;-) I had to get a picture of my two little ones, hanging out in just their diapers in the summer heat, on the couch.


On Friday afternoon, Jilly was wasted. She was cranky and whiny and driving all of us up the wall, including herself. She had earlier taken off her diaper and peed on her sheets and I hadn't gotten them washed yet. So when I got frustrated and put her in her crib to calm herself down (the only thing that will work when she gets like that), there was just a blanket of Jason's from when I'd put him in there earlier. It was something like 15 minutes from the time I put her in there, screaming and crying, until she was sound asleep with her bear, Jingles' butt in her face. It was before 6pm. She stayed in bed and content, sleeping most of the time, until 12pm-noon the next day when I got her up. She was in bed for over 18 hours! Crazy girl!! But she really needed it, because she was so cranky.


During that evening, I also put Jason down on the couch so I could do something. He was so cute! I had to snap several pictures. I love this pose and face on little babies.


We were supposed to have Jason's blessing yesterday, with all the family around, and a party (for Andy's, Steve's and my birthdays, Juliet & Kelley's wedding, Jason's blessing, Katie and Andy both moving away, and Lithuanian Independence Day ;-)) but we had to cancel the blessing and our portion of the party because I got the flu. I was SO bummed!!! I had everything ready the night before, his outfit, Jilly's dress, my clothes, the diaper bag packed, sippy cups poured, all of it! And we had to cancel it because I could barely sit up. So mad. And worst of it, I didn't get to say goodbye to my brother before he moved to Vancouver BC and my aunt & cousins before they drove home to Edmonton. :-( Now that means that they won't be able to be here when we do have the blessing. Bummer. But it was definitely a good thing I didn't try to push it and go to church. I probably would have missed the blessing myself, running to the bathroom, not to mention infected everyone at church. Bad news. Hopefully we'll find another date soon and still get to have some family come.

We have some more exciting things coming up, before I go back to work in a couple weeks. We've been really enjoying this summer. I can't wait until we're at a place where I can stay home full time. I love my kiddos!!!

Finally! Some pictures!

Yes, it's true! We finally got a card reader so now you can see all the pictures we've taken lately. I'll try to organize them a bit for you intow 3 sections: Jilly, Jason and Family. Enjoy!

Jillian:
Jilly fell asleep eating her nuggets one night. Being 2 1/2 is hard work!

Jilly climbed into Jason's bouncer after I'd pulled him out, with her Bunny Lovey and pulled the blanket over herself, like she was the baby now. ;-)

Jilly holding her little brother for the first time. What a joyful smile!

Hammin' it up during a mini-photo shoot.

She buckled her teddy bear Zvijer into the car seat, all correctly and was quite proud of herself. We were proud of her too!

Making a mess of her ranch dip with her lunch of nuggets and tater tots.

So proud of her mess. And yes, that is a Mountain Dew bottle, but no, I did not let her drink it. It was empty and she commandeered it for her own devices.

She helped me make funeral potatoes one night for dinner. Notice the left-handedness? Yep, she's quite the lefty!

Much to our chagrin, Jilly got a hold of my red Sharpie one day and thoroughly decorated our table and her legs. (Note: baths, baby oil and about 24 hours gets red Sharpie off toddler legs and faces.)

The underside of the table that sustained the most damage. Ugh! At least it's mostly hidden underneath and not on the top!


Jason:
This is the week Jason was born. Look how huge I am! Giant I tell you. No wonder my clothes didn't fit.

That week at my appt, the midwife offered to draw on the baby's position. I said okay, and it turned out really cool!

Being cuddled by his Daddy.

I love this outfit- which he's already outgrown! Pardon the pink pacifier, we hadn't dug out the "manly" ones yet, so we just pulled this one out of Jilly's toy basket.

Hanging out in his bouncer with his Longhorns pacifier and football blanket. He can't wait for College Football Saturdays with Daddy!

Check out these awesome pacifiers Aunt Becky sent him. Longhorn Pride baby!

Sweet sleeping baby boy in his bouncer.


Family pictures:
She is quite excited to be a big sister!

I heart my family!!!

I look pretty awful, but ignore that. I was snuggling Jason on the couch and Jilly apparently needed some love. So rather than fighting her brother, she climbed up and cuddled up with my legs. It was so cute I made Steve take a picture of it.

Then they both fell asleep. So I extracted myself carefully and took a picture of the sleeping kiddos.

Another angle. Such sweeties!

Photo session! Look at my big kiddies!

Auntie Katie loves snuggling with her niece and nephew. Jilly wanted nothing to do with me when Auntie Katie was there, even if she was holding the baby.

Jilly is happy to share her crib with her brother one morning. I don't think that will be a long-term solution. ;-)


So there you go! Lots of pictures! Now that we have the card reader, I can keep up with them more regularly. :-) Stay tuned- I have another post in the works about our past weekend and when I get the pictures and full report about Jilly's weekend in Chelan- that will be blogged about too!

The Big Giant Fuzzy Man

Jason is over 3 weeks old now and I thought I would post just about him. He is mostly a sweet baby but he’s been developing this annoying habit of getting cranky right as I want to go to sleep. He’ll sleep peacefully during the day and evening, but as soon as I am ready to turn off the light, he wakes up and gets snotty. I have been up until 1 or 2 am for the past several nights. The most frustrating part of it is that he doesn’t seem to know what he wants. I will nurse him, burp him, cuddle him, rock him, lay him down, give him my finger or a pacifier to suck on, etc, but each thing will only soothe him for a few minutes, then he fusses again. I usually can tell that he’s tired, but won’t give up and go to sleep. So I end up out in the family room, really to fall asleep on my feet, constantly nursing and patting and changing his position. That’s not exactly my favorite thing.

We find he is less and less like Jilly each day, both looks and some other things. When he was first born, I thought he looked like her as a newborn, but everyday he looks less like her. *gasp!* I might actually have a kid that looks like ME! He is definitely longer and skinnier than she was. He has longer legs and a shorter torso (like me) and the super long monkey arms that Steve and his father both have. I’ve compared a few pictures of newborn Aimee to newborn Jason and there are some similarities, but I still don’t feel like he necessarily looks “just like” anyone. We’ll keep seeing as he gets bigger and bigger.

Another interesting thing is the color of his eyes. Jason was born with those typical dark blue-grey eyes, that most Caucasian babies have. Well, his eyes darkened within days. We have always figured it’s inevitable for our children to end up with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, but thought it would happen when they were older. Jilly’s eyes stayed blue for a very long time, like 9+ months I think before turning brown. Jason is the opposite! You can already see lots of brown in his eyes, with some grey around the edges. Pretty much both kids have the same eyes at this point. I was not expecting that to happen when he was only a week old!

Jason has the strangest hairline. On his temples, his hair actually covers them and starts to blend in with his eyebrows, but above his eyes it goes way back. It’s hard to describe. But it is changing, I think some of his hair is coming off, so his hairline is evening out a bit. It’s still brown, and yesterday I swear I saw a little red in the sunlight. Just like his daddy.

Our little boy really loves to sleep cuddled up with us. He hates his cradle. At the moment, I’m okay with him being in our bed at night, though I am ready for it to end soon. It’s the same during the day, he wants to sleep on our chests. I let him cuddle with me a lot, and Steve too, but sometimes I have to put him down to get something done! He’ll often take one nap a day either in the bouncer or in Jilly’s crib, but it’s always a toss up for when that will work out. He would probably sleep okay in the cradle if we let him sleep on his tummy, but I’m a little hesitant to do that because of the risk of SIDS. We’ll see.

He definitely has a more pronounced need to burp than Jilly did. I used to spend 15+ minutes trying to get a burp out of her and she never would have one. I finally realized she didn’t need to burp and wasn’t uncomfortable, so I stopped trying. Jason needs to burp much more. But the good thing is, he’s usually fairly easy to burp. He hardly spits up at all, and only if I’ve overfed him, he’ll just let some leak out his mouth.

It’s really interesting to find all these little ways he is so different from Jilly. He is plumping up, but doesn’t have the cheeks his big sister did (and does). I am happy to see he seems to have inherited his daddy’s eyebrows too. I would be so disappointed if he didn’t have them. He also has this quivering lip thing. It looks like he’s cold and shivering, but really, it’s just because he’s thinking about crying. It’s pretty cute! I have been surprised in all the ways the two kids are different. I expected Jason to be more similar to Jilly. But he’s so cute in his own way!! I certainly wouldn’t want to trade him. ;-)

And I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my cell phone (hence the bad lighting and sub-par quality) to tide you over for now. :-)

The Mogwai and his adoring fans

It’s been awhile since I last blogged. I’ve been meaning to for several days, but every time I sit down to do it, something else distracts me. So here goes.

Jason is now 2 ½ weeks old and utterly adorable!! We love him so much!! He is a grunty, squeaky, fuzzy baby. Seriously, this kid grunts like none other. He makes such funny noises that Steve calls him “Mogwai” from Gremlins. Hehehe. He’s mostly a very relaxed, calm baby, as long as he’s being held or sleeping on his tummy. Not so much a fan of sleeping on his back, alone, in the bassinet. He gets cuter every single day. He is getting bigger, I can tell and it makes me a little sad. Can’t he just stay my teeny, tiny baby forever? Please?! I just weighed him, and according to the incredibly scientific process of me standing on the scale with and without him, he weighs about 9 ½ lbs. We also call him our little red man because he’s often quite pink! He still loves to have his hands up be his face a lot. And you may not believe me, but this kid is trying very hard to get mobile. He can roll from his back to his side and tries to get onto his tummy. He also tries to crawl and can move himself a little, especially if he has something to push his feet against. I don’t think I have to worry about him waiting until 17 months to walk, like his big sister. ;-) One great thing about Jason is that he seems to have very distinct, but simple needs. He cries when he needs to eat, burp, or be held. That’s pretty much it. I do find that I need to burp him after every feeding, and sometimes during them, otherwise he can get uncomfortable. But he’s quite easy to burp and it settles him down nicely. Nursing has settled into a routine for us and we’re both happy with how it’s going. Holding him seems to be the trickiest to manage and the quickest to elicit an unhappy response, if not fulfilled. It’s a bit more difficult to manage holding a newborn while still getting everything done around the house with a two year old as well, even with two parents at the same time. Sometimes, I need to be doing the dishes while Steve is cleaning up the toys with Jilly, and it’s not easy for either of us to hold him. He does like being in the wrap or sling, so that helps at times. We’re still figuring it all out.

Jilly is doing well. I haven’t seen a huge reaction to the new baby, but little things here and there. We have started making her help clean up her own toys and books (which she loves to throw all over the floor, then step all over them, UGH!) and she absolutely loathes it. It must be pre-programmed in kids to automatically turn into a limp noodle and whine “I can’t do it” when asked to clean up their messes. She’ll just cry and cry and cry as we make her do it. Unfortunately for her, we’re not gonna give up. She has to learn that she either shouldn’t make the mess in the first place, or has to clean it up when she’s done. Honestly, I’m fine with either option, but I will not let her make the huge mess and then leave me to clean it up completely. Steve is even less inclined to accept that. But other than those tantrums, she is great. She talks so much. She is certainly in that mimicking stage and repeats everything we saw. And I mean everything, good and bad. We can mostly understand a lot of the words she says, which is very fun. Jilly also does this thing, where she goes up to whoever is holding Jason and asks them to help her. Whether she wants a drink or someone to play “buckles” with her, it doesn’t matter how many other people are in the room, she will ask the person with the baby. Maybe she thinks they’re the ones in charge or something. Pretty funny, if you ask me.

I am doing fantastic! I hardly have any pain anymore and my body has adjusted to nursing very quickly. I have enough energy, but still have to take it easy a lot. I find I get tired if I’m exerting myself physically; my body’s way of reminding me “Uh, lady, you just had a baby- take it easy on me!” Hehehe. But I’m getting back into the swing of things. And, oh!! The glories of not being pregnant anymore!! It’s wonderful!! It’s lovely to have more clothes to wear (though it’s not like anything looks good, oh well), as well as not have to worry so much about eating constantly for fear of nausea. I can lay on my stomach comfortably and the pulled muscle in my leg has been healing. There’s not nearly as much weight and pressure on my hips and back and for that, I am truly grateful!!! I am settling into being a mother of two, which is still surprising to me. We are pretty lazy during the days. We sleep in late (like 10 or later), I get the kids both changed and dressed, Jilly and I eat breakfast, and then we just hang out until Steve gets home. Sometimes, I’ll do things around the house. Clean up the kitchen, unload the dishwasher (which Jilly helps me with), or do some laundry. But I don’t do tons. Thank heavens Steve understands and still does most of the cooking and cleaning. Steve is adjusting to being back at work. Can’t say he’s happy about it, he’d rather be home with us, but hey, someone’s gotta make the money, and we’re grateful he has a job!

We have been very blessed by so many friends and family members. I don’t think I can appropriately express our gratitude to everyone. We’ve had people bring us meals, loan and give us lots of clothes, offer to baby-sit, and take over work and church responsibilities. My mom has crocheted receiving blankets, burp rags, is knitting a hat, and bought lots of clothes and shoes for this little guy. She is having Jilly spend the night Tuesday night and stay all day Wednesday with her, to make it easier on me. My sister and brother have both come over to hang out with us and are quick to get me something if I need it, or just entertain one of the kids so I can deal with the other one. Let alone everything that my family did for the actual birth! We are incredibly blessed and are grateful everyday for it!!!

Well, there you go. A little update on how we’re all doing. Still no cord for the camera, so no pictures. But I have been taking them, so as soon as we get the cord, you’ll get inundated with tons of pics! :-)

Settling In

Here we are, 3 days after the birth of our little Jason. Things are going extremely well. Not everything is perfect, but can you really expect perfect right after such a big event? Nope, so I'm pretty happy with what we have.

We learn more about Jason everyday. He's really gotten the hang of nursing since my milk came in Sunday night. He nurses frequently now, and for a decent length of time at each session. Luckily, I haven't gotten engorged yet, though I know it's only a matter of time. ;-) The only complaint I have about nursing is that we need to work with him on getting a wider latch. His isn't bad now, but wider would be better. But his mouth is still pertty small, so I know it will certainly get better with time. He is mostly a calm baby, pretty relaxed. He has a strong need to suck though, so he often get a pacifier to help him soothe and calm down, especially to sleep. He takes it well and keeps it in his mouth easily, unlike Jilly who never got the hang of it (but she didn't need it the same way either). He greatly prefers to be cuddled up on our chests, over anything else, and sleep much better when tucked in bed with Mama and Daddy at night. But he sleeps a lot and can nurse when I'm laying down, so I'm still getting sleep. Hooray!! Jason seems to have inherited more of my body shape, but Steve's arms. In other words, he has looooong limbs and a shorter torso. Even his fingers and feet seem long to me. He's not entirely a string bean, but definitely more along those lines than his chubby sister. ;-) His little sideburns crack me up!

I guess I should point out right now, that our camera stopped working a few weeks ago. We were given a new one from my good friend at work, but we haven't gotten a connector cable to link up with the computer, so we can't get the pictures off of it yet. Hence, we don't have pictures to upload. As soon as we get the cable, you can be sure we'll be posting pictures like crazy!! Just bear with us until then.

Jilly is doing pretty good. In reacting to Jason, she either ignores him or dotes on him. If he is upset, she gets worried and will come running into the room to make sure someone is attending to him. She hasn't reacted jealously to him yet, which is good, but I figure that too, will happen at some point. She mostly is the same, but has been a little whinier lately, so that's been less than amusing for us parents. Really and truly, she's not any different than she was before he was born, but it's harder to deal with right now. She often doesn't listen when we tell her not to touch something and will cry and whine for no good reason. But she's 2 1/2 and just had a new baby brother born, so her life is kinda thrown off. She hasn't napped in a couple weeks, which is really annoying, but at least she'll sleep a good 12 hours or so at night. She has started spitting lately though, and this is really gross to both Steve and me. It's disgusting, and of course she finds it hilarious. If anyone has any helpful hints on getting her to stop, I would really appreciate them!!

Steve is amazing. He has been taking on all of the housekeeping, cooking, errand-running, etc responsibilities. Not to mention, the bulk of the Jilly responsibilities and taking care of me and Jason too. He's a rock star. Yesterday he took Jilly out to Costco and Safeway to fill up on groceries and diapers & wipes. (Side note: Changing a boy's diaper is WAY more complicated than a girl's! There are way more folds and places for poop to hide. We use like two or three times as many wipes for much smaller amounts than with Jilly. Was not expecting that...) In the mornings, he'll get up a little before me and take Jason for like an hour, so I can sleep all by myself. Then I get up and he cooks a delicious breakfast, cleans it up and works on something else around the house. I am so blessed to have him here with me!! I look forward to another week with him at home. Not sure what I'll do when he goes back to work.

I am doing good too. The pain has been increasing the past couple days, but is still quite manageable. I just have to keep up with my ibuprofen and make sure I change positions often, so there isn't pressure on any one spot for too long. Nursing came easy once again, and it's even easier to get into the swing of things this time. I probably should sleep more during the day, but I haven't felt like I really need to yet. I'm sure I'll get there. :-)

So there you go! We're all adjusting pretty well to the new little guy. He gets cuter and cuter everyday and we fall more in love everyday too. The weather has been quite pleasant, not too hot but warm enough, and sunny. To sum it all up: We couldn't ask for anything better!

The Birth Story of Jason

To be completely fair, this is a very raw and detailed story of Jason's birth. It may gross you out, so if you're squeamish or just don't want to know that much, feel free to skip it. There are some pictures in here at the end. Most of them are totally benign, but the first one may be a little gross too. Just so that you're warned!

Wow, where to begin with telling the story of Jason's birth. It's hard to say how long labor really was. I feel like it was in two separate parts. Friday morning, I had a good 6-8 hours of early labor, consistent contractions that I had to concentrate on, but nothing super intense. They petered out about 10:30am, and didn't really do much after that. I did get them going again around 1:30pm, but they didn't last long. At about 5:30pm, after checking in throughout the day, I talked with the midwife Cindie and we decided to just forget about it for the night. She told me not to try to force anything, because it may lead to something I would regret. It was still 10 days before the due date, and there was no medical reason to try and force it. So Steve and I went home from my mom's house, but left Jilly there so we could actually rest. I'd only gotten, maybe 3 hours of sleep total since Thursday morning, so I was exhausted. We went home, snoozed, watched TV, ordered pizza and just hung out. I was feeling discouraged it hadn't turned into "real" labor, and that I'd gotten everyone psyched up about it, but knew it was better just to let it happen as it needed to. If it wasn't turning into real labor, there had to be a reason for it, and it was safer for everyone to just let it be. Throughout the evening I had contractions, and when they came, I had to vocalize (kind of an open mouthed hum) through them, but they were still few and far between.

I crawled in bed at 10:30pm, read for a little bit and was asleep by 11:30pm. I woke up every once in a while with a contraction and had to make noise through it still. Steve (who had been asleep on the living room floor since 10pm) came to bed around 3am, and I warned him I might start randomly making noise right in his face. But I wasn't taking anything seriously or even looking at the clock during this time. I got up to pee once every hour or less, which was annoying, but what could you do? Around 4:15am, I woke up with a couple contractions in a row that I could not lay down through. I was nauseous too, so I got up, went to the bathroom and drank something. I ended up being awake for like 30 minutes, and had quite a few contractions, but still wasn't taken them seriously, so I went back to bed. A half hour after that, I had a contraction so intense, I jumped out of bed from the pain. I then realized immediately that I was going to throw up AND was having abdominal cramps (like when you have diarrhea). I ran to the bathroom and began one of the most horrible moments of my life. I was bouncing up and down on the toilet seat (sitting made the contraction super awful, but it also made the cramps feel better, and I couldn't decide which feeling was worse so I went back and forth), all while holding the trash can and ralphing. My back was killing me from the contraction and Steve had to come push on it at one point. I think I had about two or three contractions all in a row, and then finally threw up and got some stool out. The contraction faded and I felt so relieved. Steve said right away, "We need to go to your mom's house. NOW." Until he suggested that, I didn't really believe I was in labor. I thought I'd just gotten sick from eating Thai curry and pizza that day. But when he said it, I couldn't argue with him. I told we did need to call Cindie first. By the time we'd cleaned up myself and the trash can, and could call Cindie, I had had a couple more contractions and realized I couldn't talk through them and they were too close for me to talk to her. Steve paged her and then spoke with her when she called right back. I told him to tell her I had vomited and was feeling shaky, both signs of transition I knew. I still wasn't convinced I was in transition, and if I was, I couldn't be fully dilated yet. But it was serious and we did need to get to Mom's ASAP so I could relax in the bathtub. Cindie agreed, told us to get our butts over there and she'd be on her way right then. I called Mom, didn't even say hello, just "We're heading over. NOW. Cindie is coming too. See you soon." I wasn't in the mood for pleasantries or explanations. Mom could tell I was different too.

I had a bunch of contractions in a row right before we left the house and was getting louder and louder (from a low pitched humming noise to a more speaking volume level or slightly louder). I had one right before I got in the car, and then sat straight up with the heat bag pressed against my lower back. I got lucky and only had one contraction IN the car, during the entire 10 minute drive (yeah, Steve didn't pay super close attention to the speed limit signs. I appreciated and whole heartedly endorsed it.) But the one contraction I did have felt different. I really had to pee (which normally didn't happen during a contraction) and I thought it might be more of an urge to push, though it was up front and not rectal pressure. That contraction was insane though, because I couldn't move around very easily, with my seatbelt on. I was pulling myself up off the seat with the handle above the door, wriggling from side to side and not really finding any relief. Steve started squeezing and rubbing my thigh, while helped both the pain and distracting me. He kept doing that until we go to Mom's. As soon as we parked, I jumped out of the car and another contraction hit. I made it into the house before bending over on the counter, squatting and moaning super loud. I ran to the bathroom next because I was having rectal pressure and needed to poop. I stayed there for 3 or 4 contractions, while barking out orders in between (Katie, run the bath now! Get the compresses going!!) then ran to the bathtub. The water felt so much better! It was very warm which relaxed some of my back muscles. It also rounded off the edges of the sharp back labor and focused it a bit more. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt like hell but I definitely preferred being in the water. I got into more of a hands and knee, squatting position. I think it was just a little before 6am at that point. I opened my eyes maybe twice more until he was born, so I wasn't really aware of who was in there and what they were doing. The contractions started changing a liitle, the pressure increased and I couldn't help but push a liitle. I mentioned this, so everyone knew what I was feeling. My mom cried, "Don't do that! Don't push!" because Cindie wasn't there yet. The words "Kiss my ass," along with a death glare were sent her way quickly (yhough this was the more tame version of what I was actually thinking, since I needed a minute to catch my breath and say it.) Just after that Cindie arrived.

Also at this point, my sounds went from moaning to full on roaring/yelling. It sometimes even went up into a scream. That was also the time, I really started pushing. It was all so instinctive, there was no conscious decision to do any of that. It was just what needed to be done right then, so I did it. Cindie checked me and sure enough, I was fully dilated and he was moving down. The roaring really helped me move him down and pretty soon I felt the ring of fire. I can't remember if it was before or after that, but I felt the water break right around then. It was literally a POP, and I told everyone that I'd just felt it. As soon as he got down onto the perineum and was crowning, I felt a lot better actually! The pain was focused and not really in my back anymore. Cindie told my mom he was crowning and to get anyone in there who was supposed to be. All my yelling had woken up Jilly, so Katie brought her in as well. I didn't realize this until someone was talking to her and she made some noise. Paul was running around trying to get the camera to work, and Andy was still sound asleep in the family room. Steve was rubbing my back at this point, and talking to me. It was wonderful. I pushed and let things stretch, and I could feel him moving farther and farther down. Cindie wasn't really coaching me, other than a couple instructions to let things stretch and try and control it, but otherwise just let me do what I needed to. I was also able to get some actual rest in between contractions at that point, which felt like such a relief. Finally the pressure really built up and I gave a couple big pushes and his head came out! I could totally feel it and it felt SO much better! Everyone saw it, including Jilly. Because of the way I was positioned, they could all see his face (he was facing the right way after all, who knows why I was having the back labor), Cindie commented on his big, rosy lips. After a couple more minutes (I think), of resting and him wriggling around, I was able to push the rest of him out. That felt so much better! I couldn't believe it! The midwife passed him to me, under the water and I brought him up to my tummy. I was in shock!! I kept saying, "I can't believe I just had a baby! How did that happen?!" and just looking at everyone to explain it to me. Here's a picture of that moment:


It was amazing. We stayed like that for awhile, I wasn't in an hurry or getting uncomfortable at first. After several minutes though, I could feel the cramping start to get the placenta out, so my mom cut the cord and we passed Jason to Steve. They wrapped him up and took him out to the living room. Pretty much everyone else left too, so it was just Cindie and me in the bathroom. I stayed in the tub for a while, and got the placenta out about 30 minutes after he was born. I felt really good at that point, not really sore or in pain at all. After relaxing some more, I got into the shower and cleaned up, then crawled in to the bed in the guest room that had been set up for me. Cindie checked everything out and found that I had in fact torn, about a 2nd degree, but it wasn't bad and should heal just fine with some stitches. That was much different from the 3rd degree plus tear that I'd had with Jilly. I was a little disappointed that I tore at all, but not surprised (especially with how fast he came) and happy it wasn't worse.

While I was in the bath, Jason was out in the living room with Steve, Jilly, Auntie Katie and Grandpa Paul. They sat on the couch and introduced Jilly to her brother. You can see her (behind Steve) giving him a little kiss.

She kept looking at him and staring.

She seemed a bit confused at times, but knew that it was "A baby! A baby!"





Auntie Katie was so proud to have her little nephew there. It was nice too, that she didn't have to take another day off work in order to see him be born.


Granny Sam even took Jason into Uncle Andy at one point, who had slept through everything!!! She laid Jason next to him first, but he didn't stir, so she put Jason on top of his chest and woke him up. Andy was so confused as to why there was a baby on him, and where the baby came from! It took some convincing from Katie and my mom, to get him to realize it was Jason, and he had just been born! Hahaha.

Grandpa Paul was very excited to have his grandson there. He took great pictures and held him like a pro.


After awhile, I nursed Jason for a long time, then ate and drank something for breakfast myself. I was feeling pretty good, but was very tired, so I kept laying down. Eventually we got around to giving him the newborn exam. Everything checked out great, he was 7lbs 9oz, 21 inches long, head is about 13 1/2 inches around, and very healthy. That makes him 2 ounces and 1 1/2 inches bigger than Jilly was! And she was a full 40 weeks, while he was 9 days early! Crazy! There are a couple things you can see on him, that are from being a little early. He is REALLY FUZZY! He has hair everywhere! Most of it is blond and short, but his face is fuzzy, his shoulders and back, and he has long sideburns. It's super funny, and I call him Fuzzy Face sometimes. I was also right about him being long. He had been feeling long to me, so I was glad to see that validated. From being unwrapped during the newborn exam and a little before, his temperature dropped, so my mom did some skin to skin with him, with a heating pad on top.


Right around then, Auntie Juliet came over to say hello and meet her new grand-nephew. While she was there, I came out and sat in the chair, taking over skin to skin duties. Cindie left then, with plans to check in with us today and then come over to our house on Monday to check on both of us.

I got some time to cuddle with both my kiddos in bed. Jilly wanted to climb up and see me and her brother. She laid down on the pillow next to us to cuddle too. It was very sweet.


We spent the rest of the day, just hanging out and relaxing. I feel so much better than I did inmmediately postpartum with Jilly! Not having the epidural made things easier to move around and have some energy. I was certainly still tired, but also had this high from all the endorphins and couldn't get into a deep rest. It was so nice to be at my parents' house and settled and relaxed, with so many people around to wait on me, hand and foot. There was no shortage of arms wanting to hold him! It was heavenly really. We went home around 6:30pm or so, stopping at the store and Taco Bell on the way, getting home at like 7:30pm. Jilly fell sound asleep in her high chair (Bobblehead Jilly!) really fast, because she'd been woken up early the second morning in a row and not taken a nap that day. Two year olds running on 6 hours of sleep are not the most enjoyable creatures. So Steve got her settled into bed, where she slept over 12 hours. We went watched a movie, then went to bed. The night went fairly well. Jason still hasn't really cried too much, except when we change his diaper, understandably, and is soothed quickly. Jilly vacillates between ignoring him and totally doting on him. It's quite cute, she wants to give him kisses and when she sees him she'll say "A baby! A baby!". Very sweet. He's been getting better about eating. He's a good nurser once he starts sucking, but hasn't shown tons of interest in nursing. He's getting better and more interested as today goes on.

We're feeling so blessed and watched over. Everything went very fast, but so well. I'm feeling good, Steve is taking great care of us, and the kids are both eating, sleeping and pooping well. What more can you ask for?! If anyone wants to visit, we would be totally happy to have you! Just give us a call first. My cell phone isn't working, so we're swapping out our SIM cards in Steve's every so often. So if you try one of us and it goes straight to voicemail, call the other phone, only one is on at a time. Thank you for all your prayers, well-wishes and congratulations! We appreciate them more than we can express. We're so happy to have our little Jason Emmanuel here! He is a blessing to our family!!