Sigh.

Today has been a day of days. I keep thinking about all that has happened, so I am writing it here to make sense of it all.

Ollie is going thru a major jealousy phase, and I am reaching for patience I never knew I had. I think I told him "no" today more than anything else, and that makes me sad. Its so hard to give 100% to two different children, and I hope they are not suffering because of it. At least at the end of the day, all is forgiven and he goes to bed happy.

We had our very last appointment at the Birth Center today. Ever. I have been really emotional about it all day, because the women there are so amazing, and have given me the chance to have the births I wanted and needed. There was no way I could have had such an experience in a hospital, not to mention the connection our little family has with them now. Thank you midwives, for all the love and care you have given us the past three years, bringing our two babies into the world!

We have also decided that we are officially done having kids. Yikes, that's a scary thing to put out there, but its what we both want. I am a little sad to know that the excitement of pregnancy and births are done, but also SO relieved. No one tells you about the hard parts, and there are so so many, if I am going to be honest here. I am excited to have my self back, and really start being a mom!

And the most exciting thing...Ben was offered an awesome new job today, which he accepted! For him its a great change of pace in a company that is big enough that he can move up in. The benefits and salary arent bad either ;) We have always struggled with money, but this will be just enough to give us some relief, and another step towards owning a home someday, and getting something into our savings account- hopefully. I am so proud and happy for him! He does so much to take care of us, and I am very grateful! I love you, my love!

I will leave you with the cuteness that is our little bean, 7 weeks old, and 10lbs 10oz! She is getting so big!

Happy Birthday, Oliver!

Today is the day we welcomed our little (well...big) boy into the world, two years ago! It has been a wonderful two years! He has grown so much, and learned so much, and even got a baby sister! We had a birthday party on Sunday and had so much fun. It was great to have everyone together to celebrate!

And Thank You Aunt Cris for the wipes!!!! :)

4th of July

We spent the 4th at my mom and Tom's house. It was so nice- lots of arms wanting to hold Eva, and Ollie got to spend lots of time with his beloved Grandma :) We had awesome food, took a short trip out on the lake with Ollie, and watched a fancy fireworks show from the living room- out the giant windows overlooking the lake.

The next (tired) day, we took Eva to her first appt with the pediatrician. The doctor says she is perfect, which of course we already knew. At 5 weeks old, she is up to 9lbs, 10oz and almost 23: long. She is 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height.

Here are some pictures from the 4th. The first one is of Eva wearing a dress that her Great Grandma Hackney made for her!

Newborn Pictures

Now that Eva is 5 weeks old, here are some newborn pictures :)

Quick Eva Update

We have had a few appts since she was born. She is still perfect and wonderful :)

At birth she was 7lbs 8oz.

One week old: 7lbs 15oz

3 weeks old: 8lbs 12oz.

She is growing so fast! She is waking up less and less at night, which is so nice for Mommy! Ollie is a very helpful big brother. He LOVES his coloring books from the Blanchards and Nana. Also, ha can almost count to 1o all on his own! In just a few weeks, we will be celebrating his second birthday. I cant believe he's so big already.

In other news, I had my first outing all on my own, with both kids. We went to Target, of course :) And it wasnt a total disaster! I think I am getting the hang of this.

Eva's Birth in Pictures

Our Girl!

On Sat, May 29th, we welcomed Evangeline Kate into the world. She was born at 5:01pm, at the Puget Sound Birth Center, weighing 7 lbs, 8oz, 20 in long! And I got to have the water birth I wanted so much. She was born at 38 weeks, 6 days.

This is the link to a sneak peak of her newborn photos!

http://jsheltonphotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/eva-beautiful-everett-area-newborn.html

We also had her birth photographed, since this talented photographer is also a friend of mine :) Here are some of the amazing photos she took:

http://jsheltonphotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/birth-of-eva-birth-photographer.html

Here is her birth story. Warning- it has ALL the details :)

Evangeline Kate, May 29^th, 2010, 7 lbs 8oz, 20 in

I got out of bed about 8:00 am on the 29^th (38 weeks, 6 days), went to the bathroom and had lots of bloody show. I had been having contractions on and off for weeks since we left the hospital (pre-term labor). I knew something was up, but waited to see what happened. By 10am, I had been having more intense contractions, enough that I had to really concentrate thru them, so Ben called the Birth Center. Nicole, our midwife, called back and we decided to labor at home for a little while longer, and then see where things were going. About 10 mins later, she called again. She said she had found out that at my appt last tues, I was 4.5 cm dilated, so she wanted me to come in right away instead! So, we slowly cleaned up, got things together, and my mom came to stay with Oliver. As soon as she arrived, we were out the door. It was a long car ride. I sat in the back so I could move around during contractions.

When we got to the Birth Center, Nicole was there with one of the student midwives, Jaqueline, who we had met a few times before at appts. They had the candle lit that shows there is a birth going on J I labored at the birth center for about an hour before I got in the tub, which really took the edge off the contractions, and pretty soon they were really spaced out, and things were slowing down. I got out of the tub, tried walking the halls, going up and down the stairs, sitting in the shower with the birthing ball. The contractions were still intense, but still spaced out. So, we decided to break my water and really get things going. At this point I was at 5cm. It was really emotional for them to break my water, just like I felt with Ollie. I kept thinking “she’s coming for sure now,” and was nervous for the pain. I immediately felt nauseous and thought I was going to throw up, but just dry-heaved a couple times. The next two contractions were SO intense. I wanted to go in the tub, but they wanted me to wait 20 mins, so she could get lower, but after I went thru the two contractions, Nicole suggested I just go straight to the tub. I felt like I had no idea how else to cope with the pain, so I was pretty happy that I could use the water. I had about 3 more contractions in the tub, and my body started pushing. Ben immediately recognized the noise, and Nicole came in and said she did too. I think we were all pretty surprised it was so soon. She told me to let her know if I felt any burning (head crowning). The contractions were so intense and long at this point. Only a few contractions later, I felt the burning and remember saying “She’s coming!” At this point I was screaming/ yelling thru them to be able to push effectively. I remember reminding myself that I needed to really push to get her out. I pushed thru about 3 more contractions, and her head was out! There was immediate relief. Ben was able to help the rest of her body out in the next push, when her shoulders came out, and then the rest of her body. It was all so fast and intense! Ben picked her out of the water and gave her to me. I kept saying “I did it!” I was so happy and relieved it was over!

When I looked down, I noticed that she was really purple, and Nicole was saying “talk to her, try to get her to breathe.” All the sudden things got serious. They were telling Ben he had to cut the cord (they usually wait a while) and as soon as he did they had her on the floor with a little tiny oxygen mask, pushing air into her lungs, which made her take her first breath. All the sudden she was pink and crying. It felt like forever, even though it was only a minute or two. It was like she hadn’t realized she was out and needed to breathe on her own, because the delivery was so fast.

She is a very calm and alert baby. She took to nursing instantly. We are so in love with her, and its so cute to see Ollie give her kisses and talk to her.