Monday, June 22, 2015

Birthday! Henry Edition

February 10, 2015 was our scheduled date for Henry's c-section. We dropped the girls off with our friends, snapped a few pictures and head out to the hospital at 11 am for a 1 pm surgery.



Not much room on that lap for Clara.




I had a lot of anxiety about this delivery. Not because I thought something would go wrong or anything like that. There was no real reason for it. The night before I barely slept because baby names were running through my head all night. It was really annoying. I should have asked Zach for a blessing that night, but I didn't get around to it until we were already at the hospital in between nurses checking in on us while we waited.


Taking a selfie while we wait for our turn in the OR. They had me come two hours before the scheduled time.

After four failed attempts to put in my IV (two tries on each arm), they finally gave up and shoved it up the back of my left hand, which  really really hurts. A lot.

Throughout my various pregnancies I've adopted two mantras that I tell myself over and over in my mind:

1. "I'm healthy, I'm happy. I'm healthy, I'm happy"
This one is great when trying to trick myself into smiling and pretending that I feel great while battling nausea, etc.

2. "I can do hard things."
This one is great to say to motivate yourself through something that is awful, like pregnancy!



During this delivery/IV fiasco I adopted a new mantra to add to my growing collection. In order to not focus on the anxiety/pain of getting needles shoved into me repeatedly I told myself:

"Soon this will be the past."

Reminding myself that this awful present would soon just be a bad memory of the past helped me push through it.


Such a trooper.

When it was time, they wheeled me in, gave me a shot in my back to numb me up, and quickly got to work to bring our baby into the world.


He's here!
9 lbs 10 oz. 21 inches. Born February 10, 2015 at 1:36pm

I did notice something different with this c-section. I could smell something burning, which Zach later informed me was the doctor using some sort of torch to cut me open? Mmmm, the smell of burning flesh!





Henry was having a hard time breathing for awhile. They were roughing him up to get him to cry and try to clear his lungs. 


Mad wild-man.





The first wave of relief came after Henry was safely delivered. The second wave of relief came after they had finished stitching me back up.



The first thing that came to my mind when they brought him around the corner for me to see for the first time was, "Whoa! That's a lot of black hair!"
None of these pictures do his head of hair justice. Super long, black and silky.


They were using this oxygen  mask to help him breathe. 





First picture of all three of us!



Oh, be still my heart. Cute little button nose.


Our dear friend brought the girls over later that evening so that they could meet their new baby brother. She snapped these pictures for us before heading home. The girls spent a little time visiting at the hospital, and then Zach took them home for the evening while I stayed at the hospital to recover from surgery.


I think this picture really captures three things perfectly:
1. Lucy's pure happiness at meeting her new baby brother
2. Clara's amazing self-restraint, holding back her own hand from her new baby brother after I asked her to fold her arms
3. Me on drugs.
Lucy's face alone made this picture worth sharing. Too cute.


I was actually feeling surprisingly great at this point, besides the fact that holding my head up any farther than a few inches off my bed made me nauseous. Thankfully, this only happened three times, and I only got sick the last time. I was glad when that medicine finally wore off, but not happy when excruciating neck and abdominal pain came along with it. 

Once I got a heat pack for my back/neck on the third day it made a huge difference in comfort level, I was actually able to sleep. Henry was sleeping like a champ, but a little too much. I had to try to force him awake to nurse pretty much every feeding.




Lucy and Clara inspecting the new addition.



I think this picture really captures the essence of what a 9 lb 10 oz baby looks like.
I seem to be approving his heft. "Acceptable."



Dad and Clara making their examinations, respectively. Me looking on, surprisingly pain-free at this point.












My favorite thing in the world. A baby snuggled up on my chest.


Heaven, I'm in heaven!



My handsome men. <3




Henry needing a break from holding his head up high. Snuggling up with Mom is acceptable. 

The lady in charge of the social security paperwork kept stopping by and calling the room to ask if we had picked out a name yet. (We hadn't.) Finally after a few days of pestering, I told her that we would be there at the hospital until at least Friday, so she could stop by Friday morning and we would have the paperwork filled out then.

We came home from the hospital Friday the 13th. The hospital paperwork had said that checkout was at 11 am, but we had to wait ten hours for the pediatrician to come and clear us to check out. Ooof! Luckily I had arranged a baby sitter to watch the girls that afternoon so that Zach could come pick me up. We thought it would only be an hour or so, but the babysitter ended up staying until 9:30 pm until we finally got home. We were lucky that our babysitter and her mom were able to spend the day and evening with the girls!

I always enjoy my stay at the hospital after having a baby. I take full advantage of the time to rest, heal, and sleep while there are nurses, food delivery and no one else for me to take care of. Just a sweet newborn to nurse every few hours.

Thanks to all the help and care from the hospital,our friends, and family! We love our new addition!



Saturday, June 20, 2015

PAX South 2015

Zach surprised us with an awesome family date in January. He got us tickets to PAX South, a game convention.

Being large with child, I tried to take it easy while meandering through the halls. Zach found different groups to play games with and I took the girls around to explore the booths, activities, and various photo ops.

For dinner we went to a Brazilian steakhouse that was located across from the convention center. It was delicious!

Lucy had I had a great time collecting buttons from all the booths and putting them on her lanyard. She also sweet-talked herself into several photo ops with cos-players.




This picture is by far my favorite. I can't help but laugh every time I look at it.
The Warriors and Confused Baby.



Heaven! She's in heaven!



This costume was really impressive.






This girl was working it.



Lucy putting on a show while dancing to "Happy." This guy was a great sport to dance with her. They drew quite a crowd.


We had a great time at the convention. The only down side was that we were hoping to meet some local people to invite over for game nights, but unfortunately all the people we met were from out of town! Maybe next year.



Friday, June 19, 2015

Thrifting: Duck Bathrobe

I love visiting our local thrift store on their weekly "Half-Off All Items" day and seeing what treasures we can find.

It was love at first sight for both Lucy and Clara when they saw this rubber duck bathrobe. Lucy begged me to take a picture of her with it and Clara wouldn't stop repeating "Duck! Quack!"

Much to both of their disappointment, the glorious duck bathrobe didn't come home with us that day.




Tuesday, June 16, 2015

2015: This Year I Will...

Here is the list of things I am working on this year! These are things that will make me happy inside and out.

This year I want to develop new talents, dust off old talents, minimize, simplify, and create happy memories and experiences.









1. Ukulele:
Kay and Greg got me a ukulele for my birthday last November and I have yet to learn even how to tune it. I'd like to at least learn how to tune it and play one song. Anyone local willing to help me with this one?



2. Read:
This favorite hobby of mine is sadly neglected most of the time for two main reasons:
1. Lack of new books that interest me
2. Lack of free time where I can ignore everything else around me

I am working on compiling a list of books to put on hold at the local library. I'm also working on cultivating Lucy and Clara's ability to play by themselves safely.



3. Organize and Downsize Closets:
We have great spacious closets in each room of the house, but they are not set up for maximum usage. I'd like to get rid of unused/unwanted items in each and  reorganize the remaining stuff. This will most likely include buying a 2-3 drawer filing cabinet, shelving units etc.



4. Makeup:
Being a minimalist, my ideal would be to have only one of everything I use for makeup. One perfect foundation, one perfect blush, etc. I concede that some variety is good for the occasional special outing etc. but I hate having a bunch of unused samples, half used, old makeup that I never wear and never will wear. I also hate wasting things so my solution is to use up as much as I can and give away the rest.

I also think it would be fun to have a daughter-mom makeover with Lucy and let her do my makeup.

- Use up makeup and perfume samples
- Use each lipstick I own at least once, then keep, give away, or toss
- Minimize makeup by using up as many half-used things as I can



5. Flowers around the house:
What is something that truly makes me happy every time I see it? My orchids in the living room and bathroom. I need more flowers!

I want to thoughtfully pick out flowers to decorate my home with.

Some flowers I love to look at:
- White orchids
- Blue Irises
- Peonies
- Blue hydrangea
- Tulips
- Roses
- Daisies



Via.





6. Record history
Whether recording my own life or the lives of others, I want to do more of it!

- Update my blog
- Write about people that have made a difference/impact in my life
- Experiment with the new Story Corps recording/interviewing app and hopefully record family stories



7. Master a recipe
I want to master making an amazing dessert. Soft and gooey rice krispies, moist pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing, cream puffs... Mmm. So many choices.



8. Dance!
I really, really, really love to dance.

- More dance parties with Lucy and Clara
- More dancing with my husband
- In an ideal world: a free adult ballet, dance class, or Zumba



9. Hang it up:
Since moving into our home in 2013 I have yet to hang up a single piece of art work or photograph. Mostly because I have enjoyed the emptiness of having bare walls. It was peaceful. A blank canvas.

After living in our home for over a year I've thought a lot about where I would hang things. I've finally decided where I'd like to put up a few of my favorite things. It's also made me realize that I have a lot of art/frames that I can get rid of because they aren't things that make me smile when I see them, they were more of space fillers.

Here's the starting list of what to hang:
- Chalk board
- Print and hang bluebonnet pictures and family picture from 2014
- Height measuring chart



10. Family Pictures 2015:
Have new family pictures taken with Henry included in them. The new addition calls for new family pictures. Who knows if I will have the opportunity to get them taken but I hope I can accomplish this goal!









What excites you?
What makes you smile?

Do more of it!





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