Monday, October 24, 2011

iheartfaces: let them be little...

This week's challenge over at iheartfaces focuses on the little people in our lives with the theme "let them be little."


My submission is one of my all time favorite pictures of Boogie.  It portrays his little attitude perfectly :)

www.iheartfaces.com

Thursday, October 20, 2011

a wild ride...

Our little pumpkin is here!! Emery MaCaire was born on Monday 10/17/11 at 11:52am, weighing in at a whopping 8lbs 8oz and 20in!


A wild ride...that's the only way I can describe her entrance into the world! Just like with Boogie, contractions started around 2am.  They were pretty intense right from the get go and quickly went from 15 min apart to 4-5 minutes within about 2 hours.  We headed in and arrived at the hospital around 4:15am. By 6:30 we were admitted, in our room and the epidural was flowing...well, kinda...I knew from the minute the anesthesiologist jammed (yes, literally jammed, as hard as he could) that needle into my back , that something just wasn't going to be quite right....

My belly got numb pretty quick so the contraction pain up high, was gone and I got to rest a little bit.  BUT, I was noticing I could still feel tons of pressure and pain down low with the contractions and while my legs felt a little tingly, I could move around just fine and feel touch/temperature. I figured I just needed to wait a little longer for it all to take effect....

Soon, the pain of the contractions got lower and stronger and the pressure grew like crazy.  That's when I knew that this epidural was NOT working!  Even when pushing the little magic button for 'more drugs,' there was no relief.  The contractions were strong and we were moving forward so there was no "redo." I was going to feel every bit of this birth whether I was ready for it or not!

At about 11:15am it was time to push! That's when our CNM found out that our little girl was 1. twisted sideways, head facing to the side and 2. MUCH bigger than anticipated and thus had no room to turn and face the right way!  I could tell by the look on her face that we were about to begin a wild ride! Lying on my back, pushing the "normal" way wasn't happening.  This little (well, BIG) girl was stuck! Between me, the nurses and J (and while fighting through the pain and pressure) we somehow got me positioned on my side, about half way up onto all fours....and that's how I pushed this little princess out! Her head probably entered the world around 11:45, but her big shoulders and the rest of her were officially born at 11:52am!
8lbs 8oz!! An entire pound bigger than her brother! All of the nurses (and myself!) were in shock that something that big came out of ME! No wonder I couldn't keep her out from under my ribcage! She had no room in there!

While in those few hours of laboring and delivering through all that pain I couldn't believe that people actually CHOSE to deliver like this :)  But, now, looking back, I'm so proud of myself for making it through and completely in awe of the human body and how much it can endure! (but, still, never doing that again!!)

Once they gave our little pumpkin a good bill of health and got her all cleaned up, we brought in the proud big brother to finally meet his little sis :) He is SOOOO proud!!

Just like her big brother, she looks just like her daddy.  To me, she looks so much like Boogie did it's scary (except she definitely got her daddy's nose!). Little mouths and big 'ole chubby cheeks! Here are my babies...side by side:

When we found out we were pregnant (especially after we learned it was a girl) we decided that we were done. Two kiddos, one of each, would be it for us. But, throughout my pregnancy I couldn't help but have that nagging feeling in the back of my mind wondering if two was enough....

As soon as she arrived, and I got my perfect little family together, I knew we were complete. I'm so blessed to have two perfect, beautiful little babies and an amazing man by my side.  There's nothing else I need and I couldn't be happier!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

iheartfaces: raise your hands...

This week's challenge over at iheartfaces is Raise Your Hands.  They're stepping away from their usual focus on faces and focusing on the hands this week.

There's nothing more precious than tiny little hands.  My picture is of Boogie's hands wrapped around daddy's.  I love the contrast of soft baby hands on daddy's rough fingers....