Winding Down from the Excitement

I guess it's a little crazy after birth. There's a lot of excitement and everyone wants to see the baby, even only after a couple of hours of birth. Yesterday and today we had no visitors, it's been super mellow, other than some kind of screaming fit by our eldest. 

Postpartum is surprising, even if you've done it before. During birth, all you want is the baby to come out. My labor was 7 hours and 25 minutes from start to baby. We are now coming up on a week exactly since birth and it's been rough physically, mentally, and emotionally. The first two days you are hormonally wired to stay awake. Yes there is lots of bleeding as your placenta wound heals, but that's expected. The tenderness and swollen genitailia make for some discomfort, but you know it will pass. Your first stool after birth makes for interesting noises that mimic labor contractions, and then there's the extra being to love, hold, feed, pee, poop, burp, and comfort 24/7. 

We are adjusting one day at a time. I guess that's why they come out so cute, so it makes it all worth it. 

Baby Neah's Arrival

Today I had an amazing HOME birth! It started precisely at 8 AM when I felt a little wetness when I turned in bed, so I got up to go pee. I didn't have to go, the discharge was a little tinged pink. Then I felt a cramp in my lower belly. The cramps didn't stop at all the first hour, so I woke up Andy for back-up as I still intended to take Pyper to gymnastics. I had 5 minute contractions, 45 seconds long, consistently all morning. We even stopped for her Chinese red bean bun snack and I got some bakery treats next door. I had a contraction at at the shop waiting for the worker to take care of the other folks. 

This is what two hours of contractions look like. My friend Anna took this picture before our girls ended class. 

The contractions didn't feel great as you can imagine, I was definitely having trouble managing the pain around 11 AM when we got home. We called Sunita, our midwife, we called for the birth tub, we were getting all the forces mobile. 

There was a stent went the tub people came, and then Pyper needed to eat, which took Andy away from me, but man, he did a gazillion things, it was amazing. 

Around 2 PM our Midwife did arrive, I was in the back bathroom, I remember a presence sitting down at the bathroom door as I got through a contraction. I had already had a "bloody show", and it was just increasing. The contractions at that point were weaker, I was falling sleep between them, and I was thinking maybe an IV would be needed to kick start things, but it never came to that.  

Pre-tub solution, and Mid-wife's little helper. Our Midwife, Sunita, is the one helping Pyper. Tara is a mid-wife in training and did a great job helping me progress. 

A couple more contractions later, Andy had the water warm enough and over the heating element to make the tub operational. Not sure how I managed the maneuver mid contraction, but I got in the tub and things ramped right back up. In fact, the need to push was there on the first contraction in the heavenly bliss that was the birth tub. 

Pyper did well. She got bored with the contractions earlier on, but was there to rub my back when Andy did something else. "I'm doing better than Mommy is!" At the edge of the tub she said "having babies is hard work!" She paid attention when things began to happen, happily waiting for the baby's arrival. 

So there I was in the mega huge supportive birth tub with a nice cushy floor and foam railing. I just got in a kneeling squat and then apparently Neah's head was right there. I broke my water on the first contraction in the tub, how convenient. 

It wasn't a quick pushing session, but it was productive the whole time. We did a couple position changes that definitely made for progress. When I finally pushed her head through, the cord was caught on her shoulder, so she stayed put till I had another round of pushing to finish the job. Neah's heart rate stayed good and we birthed a baby girl. Yup, still hard, but two thirds the time of Pyper, and smooth the whole way. Felt fantastic feeling so good after compared with the last. So at 3:25 PM we had a girl that was roughly 7 pounds, 5 ounces. The first thing she did was pee on me. She also had a strong latch right away which helped to detach the placenta as I stood up to use gravity to free it completely. 

Family of four, first latch while still connected to the placenta inside me. 

This time it was less shocking to have a baby present, and we enjoyed being with her as a family. We all got to feel the pulse in the umbilical cord which was pretty incredible. It took awhile for the placenta to detach, that's actually when the tub got really bloody. Shortly after the team put me to bed. 

Baby girl in the house!!!

Baby inspectors, she's perfect!!! Great teamwork. 

After she peed on me I missed the second pee because I didn't have all my supplies ready, but I've caught 3-8 in a row, plus the biggest meconium ever. Not bad for the first 12 hours. She a natural at this baby communication thing, we haven't even opened the "just-in" case disposables. We may be returning those. I love EC and its freedom from dirty diapers, landfill additions, and unhappy babies. She took to the cue instantly. 

UFO's

UnFinished Objects...

Amazingly enough we finished Pyper's Anna dress earlier this month after completing the cape over a month ago. That was a surprising check off the list, but I guess that started our roll and we were able to motivate and finish some more projects. 

Princess Anna dress

Somewhere in the mess of things we also got another batch of Italian plums from the neighbors. We dehyrated the extras from the first batch, but we went after preserves for this one. Ten cups of fruit, two lemons, and a cup of sugar later, we had some tastiness. 

Yummy plum preserves over shortbread 

Finished Neah's quilt today and we tackled tie dying as well. Neah's quilt is the first quilt I've done from start to finish. It's a simple one, but with everything going on it seemed like the biggest project ever.  

Yarn tied quilt I will probably never attempt again. 

I definitely didn't think I'd get to this tie dying project. We had a whole pile of white, slightly milk stained hand-me-down white newborn shirts and socks, that we're going into the Goodwill bag unless we made them into something cool. We just had to buy the tie dye material which we got on super sale with a coupon. 

It was a committing project, considering Pyper made one shirt for herself and about a dozen projects for her sister. She did make one for her dad too. This in itself took a couple hours and she said she was tired by the end of it, but stuck with it till there was no die left. We unravelled our hard work and saw some amazing results! 

Successful Tie Dye, they fit stuffed animals as well. 

So we finished up everything we had on the prebirth list! Yahoo!!! Now it's time to chill and get on with the birth. 

Birthdayness

Family hot pot for September Birthdays

Another year...has come and gone. We started the day off early at a Geocaching event named "Everyone's Birthday Bash," which was fitting for the day. They had Top Pot doughnuts, which is how Pyper celebrated her first birthday, and there was even a Group First to Find Cache. We had fun then played a bit before having Birthday Sushi, always a good way to go. I vegged in front of my mom's TV for a bit in the afternoon, and also got in a mostly quiet bath. 

Everyone's Birthday Bash Geocaching Event 

Melon head

Well, we successfully grew from seed a watermelon and harvested it for the eating! Melon is a funny thing because you can't see inside to see if it's red, got bugs, or anything else. So we just crossed our fingers. It was big, juicy, very pink, and sweet. And yup, full of good old fashion seeds. Pyper claims it is the best watermelon ever. 

Yup, seeds!

Be a Hero 5k

We are about two and a half weeks out...but there is always time for another 5k. We ran just a tiny bit of it finishing in 51 minutes. All three of us finished, mom just did all the work! The Be a Hero 5k is put on by the Bellevue Fire Fighters and supports local kids that need help to afford school supplies. 

What you can't see is my black cape with a pink lightning bolt on it. My mask is a little floppy after an hour in the rain too. 

Got this shot after finishing, we don't look too miserable. 

Daddy Days

Daddy and Pyper have been out exploring while Mommy just takes some time not to think about taking care of another human being, at least for a little longer. The last days of summer are coming to an end as the leaves start to change color and the nights are cooling down. Pyper takes note that the leaves will soon fall off and Neah will be here. That has been her nature cue, and she is very perceptive. Everything is greening up again, which is a nice change from the dryness. And it's time to transition the garden. Thanks dad for a little breathing room. 

Discovery Park and Ballarding

A very purple Twin Falls hike

Gymnastics and Ballet

Upon talking, Anna and I discovered that we signed our kids up for gymnastics at the same gym. The more amazing thing is that we signed up our daughters for the same day and time slot as well. So now I get to see Anna every week by default. Pretty cool. 

Hanging with Hope for warm-ups

Pyper really really wanted to sign up for ballet this year. All her favorite book characters participate in ballet like Fancy Nancy, Pinkalious, and Angelina Ballerina. It's very difficult to dissuade such enthusiasm and passion. But of course I see nothing wrong with it since that's what will drive her in life. If she is anything like us, she'll dive right in till she's bored and it's no longer a challenge, or she'll continue a life long pursuit because she has found her calling. I don't know, only time will tell.  

First Ballet class at the new studio. 

Octonaut Fever

Pyper's friend Tomas likes to watch the Octonauts, so we decided to check it out. It's fun and educational. She learns all about sea creatures and their habits and habitats and enjoys going on missions. She likes putting on her octopus costume and discussing octopus "stuff. "

This year Tomas is turning four and the theme is Octonauts. We hate presents of the traditional sorts, so we decided to make him his present, which meant Pyper and I had fun creating finger puppets of the five main characters, and she got a set too. 

Showing off the goods. 

Spider Girl Unleashed

She talked about getting a Spider-Man costume but didn't like the idea of a full mask that covered her mouth. I came across this one on Craigslist and it was just her size. After checking out the goods and paying for it, she wanted it on and got right into character. I think the muscles are the best part. She was in costume half the day. 

It's nice she doesn't want to be a princess all the time. We got wings yesterday, and also ruby red slippers...I'm weak I know. She calls herself "The Princess Fairy of Newcastle." No pictures because she changed attire over a dozen times. 

No we aren't going as Spider-Man for Halloween, it's just fun to dress up.