Lead me, O Lord...Psalm 5:8

It is certainly a rare morning that I am done with Bible reading AND the house is quiet.  I thought I would share a bit of what I gleaned from my study this morning...

I enjoy taking a whole chapter in the Bible and using my colored pencils (I use the Crayola erasable ones, by the way) to mark/shade/color/draw pictures of the words.  This morning I was studying Psalm 5, which the publishers of my Bible have titled "A morning prayer." It was a pretty straightforward chapter for me.  There was nothing new or surprising until I got to verse 8:

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

...because of...
 
Can good come from evil? Yes, if we ask God to draw us closer to Him because of  it.

I don't watch the news, and I can barely stomach more than just reading the headlines on the news websites. There is so much evil in the world today, and I don't think it is a stretch to say that the evil is our enemy.  Ask God to lead us today because of the evil in the world!


*****

In family news...
"Toddler" S is 2 going on 16.
G is trying to learn to read (if only everyone wasn't too busy to teach him!)
S will be graduating from 8th grade this Friday night.
S and Sacagawea will be baptized Saturday afternoon.
J turned 16 last week and can now make some recognizable songs come out of his trumpet.
M is home from college until next week, then he'll return for a summer job working for one of his professors.

Whew. Yes we are too busy, but I hope to check in here more often!

I will give you rest...Matthew 11:28

After lunch today, Goldilocks was being a bit cranky so S started to get her ready for her nap.

S: "Time for a nap, Goldilocks."
Goldilocks: "Noooooo."
S: "Fine. I'll go take your nap."
Goldilocks: "Noooo. My nap."

It worked.  She trotted off happily to get ready for bed, satisfied that she was saving her nap for herself. She has no idea who she is dealing with. :) Even though we smile at the antics of a two year old, how often do we fight the rest that is offered to us.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light -Matthew 11:28-30

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock...Revelation 3:20

Toddler mom tip:

Never leave the house without a house key.  

Never.  Even if children left in the house are capable of unlocking the door. 

Why? Because children old enough to successfully unlock the door may wander out on the porch to watch you put the dogs in their crates.  And just maybe the toddler will want to come outside, too. In her fumbling with the door handle, the door might lock.  

Then there will be a toddler inside, crying to come out.

There will be a boy on the outside, crying because he can't get in.

There will be a mama wishing her cell phone was in its case on her waistband instead of inside the house being charged.

The dogs were confused when I opened the garage door again and climbed over their crates while praying that the door between the house and garage was unlocked.

Whew!

I liked G's version that he shared with S when The Man and the older kids arrived home a bit later.  

I was crying because the door was locked, but then Mommy BURST through the garage door and unlocked the door.

It kind of makes me sound like a superhero or something.

The kids were happy until I told Goldilocks that we were done with outside and we all were staying inside.  She had put both of her shoes on and had one glove and one mitten on her hands.  Mean mama made her take them off and put them away.

I couldn't get too upset with G for leaving the house.  I seem to recall his mother did that once upon a time when her mommy went outside to get the mail.  The neighbor had to break a window in that case so her little brother wouldn't be left alone in the house.

All's well that ends well.  I need to come up with a good place to stash a house key outside.  It's probably just easier to spend some time teaching Goldilocks how to unlock the doors, but that could create a new set of problems.

Dwell together in unity...Psalm 133:1

Goldilocks turned 2 on Saturday. 

In the few weeks leading up to her birthday she has been gearing up for what many call the "Terrible Twos." She is a wonderful, sweet child, but she does have her moments of testing her independence and limits. Fortunately for her, we won't have any of it. She has tried, without success, to share her obstinate attitude with everyone. She is learning that it is much more fun to sit pleasantly in her highchair and eat than to sit on her bed during suppertime. The consequences for hitting, biting, and (a new one this week) pinching aren't fun either. G was having a hard time with her pinching the other night and I had to explain to him that even when Goldilocks chooses not to be nice to him, he still needs to be nice to her.
 
Home/office schooling is going.  I'm not sure how well, but we're plugging along. Even though The Man wasn't in the office here in town today, the rest of us went in so I could take care of some things. Before lunch a child wandered into the office area quite offended. Someone had not been nice to the child. Poor child. G overheard the lamenting and went over to the child.

"I want to tell you something," said G. "Mommy said when Goldilocks is not nice to me, I can still be nice to her. I think you should be nice to ____________." Offended child and I tried hard to keep our faces straight while offended child nodded and agreed with G.  

G will turn 4 at the end of this month. I am so happy that he was not only listening to me, but he remembered and was able to apply the principle to another situation!

Bear ye one another's burdens...Galatians 6:2

We are home! The weather was perfect for the church backpack trip.  G walked the entire two miles to the campsite.  Goldilocks was carried most of the way, but she did enjoy getting down and walking with The Man.

She chose her own outfit, by the way.  She convinced someone to put the orange one-piece romper on her when everyone else was getting dressed.  Before long she was back with the denim jumper on asking someone to button it for her.  A few minutes later she returned with a pair of jeans.  I drew the line there.  We are still potty training, and I didn't want too many layers to deal with!

The Man's pack weighed over 70 pounds, but that was before Goldilock's pack was tied on there (G had a backpack, so it was only fair that she also had one).

Not only did G walked the entire way, but he became an expert at pointing out the horse poop along the trail.  In case you are wondering, his pack contained a pillow, a blanket, Curious George, a toothbrush, two pairs of underwear, and a harmonica--all important wilderness essentials!

Don't feel too sorry for The Dog, he practically crawled from the vehicle to the trail head with his pack of dog food.  After showing off his puppy dog eyes, the pack was removed from him and put on Painter, with J carrying the chain for Painter.  The Dog is no dummy. 

Especially since once the dog food was eaten and we were ready to come home, the pockets on the doggie pack were the perfect size to hold the diapers and underwear of Goldilocks that didn't stay dry.

It was a beautiful trip, but I was glad to get home, and Goldilocks is happy to always be within a 10-second sprint of the bathroom.

His good promise...1 Kings 8:56

Goldilocks just reminded me of another word that she knows: moon!  We just came outside to wait on the rest of the family to get home. I'm so glad it cools off so well in the evenings.  She's picking a bouquet of tea roses, watching the birds, and scolding the dogs.  "Dogs! No, no, no!"  I'm not sure what they've done that she thinks is so terrible. They are just lying in the yard waiting for the van to drive by and into the driveway.

 

Tonight is the last installment in the 8 Steps to Wellness program our church has put on the last several months. This morning I thought I was well enough to go, but about lunchtime I figured out that I only wanted to spend time in bed or on the couch.  Right before they left I took some mediation so I could be upright and take care of Goldilocks while they were gone.  The Man is one of the presenters tonight, so I didn't think it would work out well for him to take her along.

We don't have as many helpers with this month's program so last night I was asked if I had any thoughts for a centerpiece.  The meal has a oriental theme, so this morning I got up and made these (yes, I'm fully aware that the origin of these is here in America).

They are "promise cookies" and each one has a Bible verse tucked inside. 

Since the food served at the wellness seminars is always vegan, I followed/adapted this recipe.  The instructions didn't say anything about them not being crisp!  After a few trials and temperature adjustments I got something that looked like a fortune cookie, but they had the texture of a crepe.  A gummy crepe. A few were crisp.  A few were too crisp. It was agreed that they need more experimentation, but considering I've probably only eaten a dozen fortune cookies in my life, I don't think we'll spend a lot of time on it. 

It's a good thing they are just for looking at.  They are edible and quite tasty.  However, with the broad range of textures, none of which resembled a fortune cookie, I told The Man to forewarn everyone that they may not wish to actually eat them.

"Are those for me?" asked G.  So, when I was finished with the ones for the centerpiece.  I threw together a gluten free/flax free/soy free version of the vegan fortune cookies for G and J to eat or not eat.

Sometimes we joke that we eat food with nothing in it. Heh.

The dogs tell us the rest of the family is home. Good night!

An image in the bed...1 Samuel 19:16

Baby S is now a toddler, but she will always be the baby of the family. However, we've decided to dub her Goldilocks here on the blog...keep reading and you'll see why. Of course, she has changed the most since my last set of postings. Next month she will be 23 months old. Today she weighs 24 pounds and is 31" tall. 

Here are a few words that I can think of off the top of my head that I know she can speak appropriately on her own: kitchen, hot dog, apple, orange, (ba)nana, grape, rice, corn, milk, cheese, butter, bread, jam, cookie, popsicle, done, yummy, water, shirt, pants, shoes, socks, table, chair, plate, spoon, car, boat, video, doll, baby, mommy, daddy, recognizable & appropriate names for all the siblings, hold me, please, yes, no, bed, light, (out)side, (in)side, help, stop, please, (thank) you, eat it, I don't know, sheep, pig, dog, cat, horse, deer, fox, bird, fish, cow, rabbit, hair, story, Bible, Jesus, Elijah, diaper, underwear, potty chair, poop, and yucky. I know there are probably a lot more, but basically, I think she is right on target for language development. 

In addition to repeating most words, she knows the basic body parts and will point them out when asked. She also knows the basic animal sounds from dogs and cows to lions. I never thought of making a list like this for the older kids, but with G's challenges, I realized that it is hard to remember when the older kids met the milestones, so I'm recording Baby S's here. 

Goldilocks started climbing out of her crib early in the morning on May 31. She used a rocking chair to climb back in later the same morning. That night she slept on her mattress on the floor. Since then, she sleeps pretty well in her own toddler bed, but when we can't find her, we check out all the other beds that Goldilocks might be trying out. 

Sometimes in the middle of the day she naps in M's bed. That pillow can make his bed too soft for Goldilocks.

Sometimes she climbs in bed with a sleeping S.  That lumpy kid can make the bed too hard.

But most of the time she can be found with a sleeping Sacagawea. She thinks Sacagawea's bed is just right.

As you may have noticed in the picture above with S, and more of the photo I posted a few days ago of S's arm...

Goldilocks got an owie on her arm two weeks ago today while we were eating supper.  The Man, who was sitting right beside her, got up to get something from the kitchen.  She stood up in her highchair and I told her to sit down.  Instead she attempted to climb out of her highchair.  Before I could get to her side, she rolled over the edge and hit the floor. [Just a note that she does have an adjustable highchair.  We've since adjusted it down to the floor, which she dislikes because she wants to see everyone while she's eating, but that's just too bad.  Better safe than have another spill!]  Over the next few minutes it was obvious that she had hurt her arm as she refused to use it, but it looked ok, as in no obvious breaks.  The Man decided to splint it with materials we had on hand and just watch and see how she did.  She did fabulous with her foam/cardboard/duct tape/ace bandage splint, and we kept it on her for a few days. Whenever it would slip off of her itty-bitty arm, she would bring it to me ask for "help" getting it back on. 

A few days later she had an x-ray to confirm she "just" had a greenstick fracture like S.  On that day, The Man made her a professional grade splint that expanded Goldilock's clothing options. We will keep it on for at least another few weeks, although she really seems to like it and she may want to keep it longer.  It hasn't slowed her down a bit.

Here is a picture of her new splint...G wanted to get in the picture too!

I was going to put a new, clean bandage on before church today, but I was feeling yucky so she and I stayed home. It did give us another day to work on some new toddler skills.  Yes, those are training pants that she is wearing.  She's done reasonably well and I hope she is "done" before our church backpack trip next month. If she can learn to go potty by herself with one arm in a splint, that girl should be able to accomplish anything in life she sets her mind to doing!

A time to sew...Ecclesiastes 3:7

Now for Sacagawea's update.  She is 62 1/2 pounds and 53 3/4" tall.  She's been enjoying a summer filled with swimming lessons, water color painting, and playing with her friends and siblings. She's also spent a lot of time sewing all kinds of things out of treasures she finds in the scrap box. 

This morning she helped keep the little ones corralled in the kitchen.  Baby S has decided she'd rather use a potty chair or toilet than her diapers, so we'll be hanging out where there are easy-to-clean floors for a few days. They had a lot of fun playing together. I call this picture "Playmobil Meets Beverly Hillbillies."

I think I was the most thrilled when afternoon nap time rolled around.  Unfortunately it was over too quickly and Baby S is already awake again...with dry undies! Yay! Round 2 begins now.

A strong wind...Job 8:2

I'm in the middle of overseeing an SAT practice session for M, so I have a few minutes and a few pictures to blog!

We've had beautiful weather the past few days. The boys and Sacagawea have enjoyed relaxing in their hammocks. Three hammocks. One hammock stand. Sometimes they have hung up all 3 at the same time, but usually it is just one or two at a time.

Yesterday I was outside soaking up some sunshine and talking to S when a huge gust of wind whipped through our yard. Someone's hammock, which wasn't connected to the stand, got caught up in the wind. I thought it was pretty cool. S didn't. He might have thought it was cool if it had been J's or Sacagawea's, but it wasn't.

Fortunately The Man was at home, otherwise S would have had to wait for another gust of wind to loosen his hammock from the tree.

That tree definitely isn't strong enough to climb.This tree is strong enough, and S and J decided they wanted a tree house.

Originally, I heard that Sacagawea wouldn't be allowed, but since I saw her carrying boards up the hill yesterday while J & S nailed, I think she has struck a deal. I heard that even G and Baby S were up there yesterday with The Man, so I'm pretty sure it is safe.

We (not me) tilled the entire garden area (~150' x 150') a few weeks ago. So far we've planted potatoes, peas (actually planted a few weeks prior), onions, spinach, radishes, and turnips. Strawberry plants were put in yesterday.

We tried planting strawberries a few years ago, but something ate all the plants. The day The Man and boys tilled the garden, the Dog eradicated about a dozen moles from the garden area. We also just purchased one of these to try to get rid of more of the bigger rodents quickly. Hopefully it will be worth it and we'll get more than a dozen potatoes this year!

G and Sacagawea helped me plant some seeds and we have lots of baby seedlings soaking up sun during the day. We'll continue to have frosts through the beginning of next month so we'll be doing the daily seedling transport for a few more weeks.
Don't you just love his giraffe hat? It was made/given to him last winter by a friend and he adores it!

Here is a "just because" picture I took a few weeks ago. Have a great day!

Seventh month...Leviticus 23:39

I came to make this post and realized I had a few unpublished posts waiting to be "touched up" before I posted them. Obviously that didn't happen, so I published them tonight as-is. Check the previous posts if you want to see what little I had time to write about the past few months.

7 month stats for Baby S...13 1/4 pounds and 25 inches long. Please don't be too hard on this mom of six who neglected to do 6 month stats. Baby S really gets around now with her rolling, scooting, and even some up-on-the-knees crawling. She started eating solid food on Sacagawea's birthday, April 12.

G is talking! He's says "Mama" and "Dad-DEE" and all sorts of other lovely words. He actually has a very broad vocabulary, but it is hard for most people to understand him because he tends to leave off the beginning consonant sounds. I even have him on video calling his baby sister "Eew-ie." That should be worth something someday!

Sacagawea turned 9 years old and three days later M turned 17. Seventeen? Yes. Wow. I'm starting to think I'm getting old. Seventeen. We were in the store yesterday and I heard a song on the loudspeaker. "That's an old song," I told him. "I remember it from when I was a kid."

"So," he replied, "are you saying you're old?" Ummmm...

We're all working to get an actual garden in this year. Lots of seedlings are started and the garden area is tilled.

Going to go to bed now...I've got to sleep while the babies are sleeping!

Remember how short my time is...Psalm 89:47

5 month stats for Baby S...24 1/4" long and 12 lbs, 4 ozs.

G has enjoyed using his potty chair the past few weeks.

Too tired tonight to write more, but I wanted to get these milestones posted!

Small thing...I Chronicles 17:17

4 month stats for Baby S: 11 lbs, 12 ozs. and 23 1/2" long. She rolls easily from front to back and occasionally from back to front. She sleeps all night (usually about 11 hours) in her crib at night. She is such a good little girl.

G went to his very first non-daddy doctor appointment a few weeks ago. His height and weight is consistent with his siblings at his age. I don't remember right now his stats (bad mommy moment), but they were in the 5th percentile. Actually, I think M was off the bottom of the charts at that age. The doctor said we were already doing everything that could be done for G's allergies and eczema, so we'll just keep doing what we're doing.

I was sick for most of January and I'm still dealing with a lingering case of conjunctivitis. Fortunately it didn't seem to be the contagious type. I'm very slowly starting to feel normal again.

Last weekend we made our very first road trip as a family of 8. Whew! The baby and all the rest did well on the 6 hour trip to visit Weimar College. That is one of many that M is interested in attending in a few years. It turned into a wonderful surprise reunion getting reacquainted with friends and family from all over the country.

S has taken up trench digging. Instead of digging random trenches all over the property, I gave him permission to dig trenches within the garden area. He and J started pulling apart old pallets today to construct a compost bin. After a bit of discussion they started researching worm compost bins. I've offered to donate the Rubbermaid containers if they'll do the rest.

This past week has been unpacking, enjoying the sunshine in our part of the country, and yet another trip to the big city for music lessons for M. The highlight of my week was finding FIVE 100% cotton shirts for The Man at the Goodwill. Not only were they in colors/styles that he will wear, but they all fit. It is the small things that make me happy!

Three months...2 Samuel 6:11

I was a bit late getting Baby S on the scales for her 3-month weigh-in. Tonight before her bath I remembered! She weighs just a hair under 11 pounds and is 22 1/2" long. This was up from the 10 pounds and 21 1/4" that she measured at 2 months.

Guess what else I did tonight? I went and got the box that had been sitting on my dresser since before her birth. I opened the box and removed the baby book! After finding a pen, I sat down and filled in all the information I had available (the book has places to fill in weekly weights until six weeks...that didn't happen!) and looked over the rest. Why is that exciting? Because even though all the children have baby books, I'm sure at least one of them is still blank, and the others are sorely lacking information.

I usually record important milestones on the calendars and I've kept all of those so I do have records. I just need to sort through those dates and fill in the baby books.

End of the year...Exodus 23:15

No more apologies for not writing more here. When I'm at the computer I usually only have one free hand to type, which doesn't make for effective blogging. The Man has taken Baby S to be changed and put to bed. As soon as she's asleep, I'll put myself to bed, so hopefully this will be a short post!

I suppose it is trite to say that I don't know where this past year has gone...but I'm not even sure what happened to yesterday. Twenty-ten has been a very eventful year for our family. I hope that 2011 brings more time to enjoy the everyday pleasures.

I'll try to give an update since my last post. All of these items are very deserving of their own separate posts, but that's not going to happen...

M: Got the results for the PSAT he took in November.
> > BRAG ALERT < <
He scored in the 99th percentile of juniors who took the test. That was his very first standardized, non-mommy given test. I've always known he was a smart kid, but it is nice to get some valid confirmation of that. I was quite relieved that I haven't totally ruined him academically by homeschooling him.

J: Almost as tall as me now. He's been told he can no longer wear my garden shoes to make quick runs outside since he's been stretching them out.

S: Backyard Ballistics was finally available to be checked out from the library. There are PVC weapons in the entryway and I found two potatoes under his bed when I vacuumed today.

A: The Man made her a loom for Christmas so she's learning the fine art of weaving. She LOVES singing and rocking her baby sister to sleep.

G: Cute, cute, cute. And he knows it. Very smart kid, but he still isn't talking. He got a Candy Land game for Christmas so we could "teach" him his colors. He beat me yesterday. I guess he already knew his colors! He absolutely adores his baby sister. Unfortunately he hasn't learned the difference between sharing a doll with her and whacking her on the head with a doll. "Gentle!"

Baby S: Smiling, giggling, cooing, and sleeping well through the night. She is a very sweet and happy baby. I can't believe that she is quickly outgrowing clothes that were swallowing her up a few short weeks ago. She had her first bite of real food yesterday. She was sitting on my lap next to G's high chair. While my head was turned G stuck his spoon into her mouth. Wild rice soup seems to agree with her!

The Man: Over the course of a few weeks, he replaced some rotten boards on our bridge so we had to drive through our pasture to get to the road. He still has a bit more to do, but it is functional.

The creek started flowing again on Christmas. It has been rather wet the past month. A bit of snow is still on the ground outside and it has been getting down into the teens the past few nights. Brrrr.

I still hear Baby S, but I'm yawning and ready to go to bed anyway. May you have a blessed and happy new year!

First month...Exodus 12:18

Happy 1-month day to Baby S! Tonight she weighed in at 8 lbs. and was 20" long. She is such a happy, contented baby. Eating and sleeping are her main hobbies, but she is trying to give us some smiles. She is not in any danger of being neglected. She usually naps in someone's arms, but I actually put her in her little bed two times this week for a nap. Both times G demanded to know where she was. He watches out for her just in case no one else is!

We just took a bunch of pictures this evening, but they are currently being transferred to another computer. I'll add some later.Done!

Let brotherly love continue...Hebrews 13:1

We snapped a few pictures of Baby S after her bath hair appointment tonight. Having a baby with something more than peach fuzz on the head is new territory for me.
It was really hard to get these pictures. It was!
G just kept getting in the way.
He thinks Sissy S needs lots and lots of kisses. I suppose she does.

Tomorrow we're venturing to the big cities for M's music lesson (postponed from last week) and groceries. I'm a bit apprehensive. It's been a long time since I've ventured into Costco with a newborn and toddler.

Happy...Psalm 144:15

Just a quick post to let y'all know we are doing well! Baby S is sleeping and eating as she should be. G continues to kiss her every chance he gets. Everyone else impatiently waits to hold her. I get to hold her whenever I feel like it since I control the food supply!

Off to feed her again before I go to bed...perhaps we'll get another 5 hour stretch of sleep tonight!

A daughter...Genesis 30:21

She is here! Baby Girl S arrived on Wednesday, September 29, at 10:49 a.m.

She weighed 7 lbs., 5 ozs. and was 19 1/4" long.


The first visit by brothers and sister. Sister was definitely the most excited. Big brother G was in awe.
Getting ready for first bath. Baby S has more hair than all the other children had put together!
She didn't care for the bath, but she loved having her hair styled afterward!
All ready to go home!
Just details below...

I had been having mild contractions for the past month. None of them were major, but they were annoying. I was hoping that they were doing a good enough job so that I would have an easy labor. I was also hoping that the pushing stage wouldn't be quite as rushed as it was with G. He came a bit too quickly!

I woke up at 1 a.m. on Wednesday with an intermittent backache. Hmmm. There weren't any real contractions, but the baby was squirming and I just couldn't get back to sleep. About 2:30 I got up to take a shower, hoping that would calm things down a bit. I got back in bed about 3:00 and tried to go back to sleep. No, the backaches kept coming. At 4:00 The Man's alarm went off. At that point I told him I was having backaches and I thought I might be starting labor.

At about 5:00 he checked and said I was about 3-3.5 cm dilated, which was a definite change from my appointment the week before when I was only 2.5 cm. He said the baby still seemed pretty high.

I started having a few "real" contractions after that, but they were irregular and 10-15 minutes apart. After 6:00 I got up and started getting ready to go. I had an 8:30 ob appointment scheduled, but I was thinking about going straight to the hospital. The contractions started becoming more irregular after I got up, so I decided we should just go to the doctor's office. The Man checked again and said the baby had come down lower, but I was still less than 4 cm. Rather than leaving The Man at home with the kids (he had the morning off), we decided he should probably go with me, along with my hospital bag.

I had a few contractions on the way over the mountain, but they were still over 10 minutes apart. When we arrived at the doctor's office I told the nurse I thought I might be in labor, but I wasn't sure. I had lost a pound since my appointment the week before (bringing my total weight gain since my first appointment at 30 weeks to 0), but I wasn't surprised since all I ate for breakfast was 1/2 an English muffin and a few ounces of juice with my antibiotic (I started getting a sore throat so we assumed I was getting the same strep throat the rest of the family had).

The doctor came in the room and did all the measurements and listened to the heart beat. Then she did the internal exam. After informing me that I was 6 cm. dilated, 100% effaced, and the baby was at +2 station, she told me to go to the hospital "NOW...and don't stop for breakfast on the way!" Oh, I guess I WAS in labor. By the time I got out of the room, she was on the phone with the hospital telling them to get a room ready. By the time I made it to the parking lot, she was running out to her car.

We got to the hospital and I declined a curbside drop-off. After parking the van I had a contraction while The Man was getting the bags. Did I want a wheelchair? No, I had just had a contractions and it was only take a few minutes to walk to L&D.

When we arrived at L&D I saw my doctor was already there getting the cart ready. The nursing supervisor was also there getting things ready. At that point we found out that the L&D had been closed and they opened it just for ME! It is a small hospital and the department shuts down when there aren't any patients.

Not only was this the first time I had the same doctor & hospital for 2 pregnancies, but I also had the same room and nurse as when G was born. After nearly two years, G's birth is still the talk of the OB department!

My doctor parked herself beside my bed and waited...and waited...she wasn't going to miss the birth!

By the time I got settled there at the hospital, I was stunned when my doctor said I was 8 cm. The two strong contractions weren't that strong. I shrugged. "I'm just not feeling strong contractions." She looked at the monitor and informed me I was having very strong contractions about 3 minutes apart. Hmmm. I was puzzled. I was only feeling about every 3rd contraction. The Man told me not to complain!

A bit later she checked again and said I was 9 cm. I still wasn't feeling like I was ready to give birth. After some (ouch) manipulation to move that last cm., she told me to go ahead and push. She broke my water at that point and had me push through the next few contractions.

Baby S arrived less than 2 hours after we entered the hospital. I was surprised it was so quick, but I think my doctor was surprised I was so slow! At any rate, she is a very healthy little girl. After I held her for a few minutes they decided she wasn't crying well enough, so she got a bit of oxygen while we waited for the placenta.

I sent The Man back home then to have lunch with the kids. He came back with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon so they could all get acquainted. After they left, we had our dinner and Baby S and I went to sleep about 10 p.m. I was tired after being awake since 1:00 a.m., but I still woke up every hour to check on her. At 1:00 a.m. she was wide awake, squirming around. Baby dozed with me in my bed for the rest of the night.

The Man arrived the next morning right after my doctor left. We ate breakfast together and waited for the pediatrician, hearing test (which had to be done twice due to malfunctioning equipment), and paperwork. We finally got to leave after 11 a.m.

Last night Baby S got to snuggle with The Man at 1 a.m. while I slept.