August Break---Part 1

Oh how fun to have a husband all day long everyday for a whole week! Pete just had a week-long break, and we filled it chock-full of fun and family memories. I know I won't make the time to do a detailed travel log of our little adventures, so I'll just talk about some of my favorite photos from the week.

One day, we headed up to North Georgia to visit the Babyland General Hospital (the place where Cabbage Patch Kids dolls are "born"). Basically, it was a beautiful, Southern-Style mansion filled with dolls. Or, in other words, an Emery paradise. And it's free!

Emery went wild in the "nursery" where all the new babies were kept.

And I'll admit, I was nearly as excited as Emery about this place. I had an awesome Cabbage Patch doll growing up with amazingly thick, form-able hair---not the yarn stuff. I learned to braid and french braid on this doll, and it's very near and dear to my heart (though I wonder whatever happened to it...Mom?)

Here's Emery with a stroller she found in the store and latched onto like it was her new best friend. She's standing in front of the Cabbage Patch, where the dolls are "born" through the cabbage heads. Hmm...baby heads popping out of cabbages...cute or creepy? You decide. I thought it was magical! Ems got to hold a newborn doll after watching the doctor "deliver" it and do its newborn check-up. All the workers are dressed in old-fashioned nurse outfits and the whole place is just cute and charming. 

...And filled with all kinds of kids toys, Cabbage Patch and otherwise. Emery cooked some chicken and waffles for us.

Here's Cam with a very Cam-like expression.

After Babyland, we headed a bit further north to Helen, GA. Helen is a small town up in the mountains made to look like a German village. It's a quaint little place, but all we really did there was eat ice cream, play at a park, and walk around enjoying the scenery.

Before heading home, we played in the Chattahoochee river a little bit. We saw lots of people tubing down the river and it looked like lots of fun! 

Ems loves the water as much as her daddy. It seems we can't go anywhere near a body of water without both of them wanting to jump in. Those two are kindred spirits in many ways :)

After the river, she walked back to the car pants-less and barefoot and couldn't have been happier.

We headed home and spent one day recovering and getting ready for our weekend adventure: Chattanooga, Tennessee!

Change...

Pete just finished up his last clinical rotation as well as got released from his calling as Young Men President in our church ward. The release was a bit unexpected and he has missed working with the youth, but, quite frankly, it took a ton of time and energy to do. We've got a lot of thinking and planning to do about the future, and we're excited to have a bit more family time. Now we are enjoying a week long break before Pete makes the transition from full-time clinical to full-time school. I have a feeling May is going to be here before we know it and our PT school journey will be over. Pretty crazy how time flies!

 

Five Years

Our five year anniversary was a low-key celebration by most standards, but I loved it!

Searching for an anniversary card at Target, to give to Pete, was an adventure in and of itself. In all reality, anytime I take both kiddos to Target with me usually qualifies as an adventure in my book. I must have looked bored as I perused the loads of dumb cards, because Emery said "Mom, I'll go get you a toy to play with," and walked over to the nearby dollar section. An older woman looking for an anniversary card nearby blurted out something about Duck Dynasty and said "I've been married for 52 years and marriage is about survival, but all these cards are about love and roses!" When I told her it was my 5 year anniversary, she became instantly happy---all smiles and congratulations---like she'd accidentally told me a dirty secret or something.

My sweet Peter came home that night with none other than roses! And I loved them. Then he entertained the kids while I had an excellent time making a nice dinner (as opposed to quesadillas and other 10 minute meals like I've been in the business of lately). Then, we decided it would be pretty fun to attempt to re-create the cake that Pete's Aunt Kathie made for our wedding Open House, five years ago.

We had made this cake for our first anniversary and it was fun to do again for our fifth. We didn't grease the pan well enough that first time, in addition to a few other minor mistakes. Our baking skills have definitely improved over the past 4 years and the cake turned out delicious! We shared it with Emery and nearby friends (including our newly moved-in downstairs neighbors, in hopes that the chocolate will help them tolerate our active 2 year old better than the last people who lived there).

Marriage may not be all about love and roses, but I hope they continue to be a big part of mine for a long, long time. :)

 

Emery and Braelynn

We are lucky to have seven different families from our church ward living in the same apartment complex. Many of them are moms that stay at home with their young kid(s), like me, so we have lots of fun together! It's so easy to borrow a missing ingredient if needed, have pool parties and barbecues, play dates, or just visit during the week when we're feeling like we need a little social time. 

The Shelton family lives just one floor below us and have kids nearly the same age as us. Braelynn, who is 7 months older than Emery, is one of Ems' best friends. They see each other almost everyday it seems like, and Emery is always wanting to play with her. They are such sweet friends and it makes me sad to think that in a year, we will probably be moving away from each other. Pete snapped some photos of them playing outside the church last Sunday. I sure love these cute girls and hope we get to stay friends with this family even once we move away from Atlanta!

The Big Sister

I was really nervous with how Emery was going to handle having another little one around. However, I am pleasantly surprised at how well things have been going. Not like it has been easy...there are hard days, stressful moments, and honestly, everyday is tired. I look forward each day to when Pete gets home and can help; but overall, we are so happy! Emery is super sweet and adores her little brother. There are several things that have really helped with the transition to having our new little guy around, and I want to remember them:

1) This was nothing we did obviously, but it really helped that many of Emery's friends got little brothers in the months leading up to having Cameron. We talked A LOT about her friends getting new babies, and how she was going to too, and how it would be so fun and he'd be so cute, etc. We also talked about things that might be different when the baby came ("when we have your little brother, you'll have to walk up the stairs by yourself because Mom will have to carry the baby," etc.). I tried to keep it all very positive.

2) In the hospital, Cameron "gave" Emery a present to open. (Pete wrapped a present for Emery and we talked up how great it was going to be, how nice and sweet her little brother was for getting her a present, etc.). She loved the little baby doll she received from Cam, and right away that helped her think and feel kind feelings toward Cameron.

3) Shortly after we had Cameron, our friends let us borrow their book, entitled "I'm a Big Sister!" It talked about a girl named Ellie, and all the things she got to do now that she was a big sister as well as the things that were different between she and the baby. (side note: I love teaching Emery things through books---about sharing, having a new baby around, being nice to friends, etc.) She loved the "big sister" book and I really think it helped her feel special and like she had some control over the whole situation. For a while, anything she did to help, such as getting me a burp cloth, walking up the stairs by herself, carrying a little bag of groceries for me, "holding" Cameron, getting a binky or diaper, etc. it was "Because I'm a BIG SISTER!"

Eventually, "Because I'm a big sister!" became her answer to everything...

A friend: "Wow, Emery, you're swimming in the pool by yourself!"
(with a life jacket and water wings)
Emery: "Yep, 'cause I'm a big sister!"

Me: "Wow, Emery, you're getting really good picking up your toys."
Emery: "Yep, 'cause I'm a big sister!"

4) While I was pregnant, I decided I was going to be extremely patient with Emery in those first couple months after having Cameron and I was going to expect the worst from her: major meltdowns, sleep problems, jealousy issues, regression, etc. and that I would try really hard to avoid power struggles between us. So far, we haven't had (crossing fingers) any big problems with the things I was afraid of. However, having two kids does require more patience on my part, so I'm glad I mentally geared myself up for that. It was so nice to talk to friends who recently had their second child and hear their advice.

5) Lots of help. Oh man. What would I have done without Pete taking a few days off clinical? Without my mom coming for a week-and-a-half? Without Pete's sister coming to visit and all the friends that helped so much with meals and Emery? In the entire first month of Cam's life, I spent a grand total of 4 days by myself. It was glorious. Emery had all the attention she wanted from loving friends and family, I kept from feeling too overwhelmed, and the biggest bonus: I got to spend lots of time cuddling and bonding with my new little one instead of running around trying to meet the needs of both kiddos from the get-go.

Emery is so excited for Cameron to grow up. One of the funnier, unexpected things was her confusion about him not being able to do certain things. She'd go talk to him in a sweet voice, her face about 2 inches away from his, and then give me a confused look and say, "Mom, he's not talking." Or she'd show him a cool "trick" and when his reaction was less than satisfactory, she'd say "Mom, he's not clapping!" We talk about how he will be able to do a lot more things as he grows up and that seems to put her at ease again. Funny girl! Having Cameron has also really strengthened Emery's relationship with her dad...they have had way more time together since I'm often nursing Cam or putting him to sleep.

We are just loving the way our little family is growing and all the fun stuff that comes along with it!

Cameron's Birth---More Photos

Pete and Emery brought me chocolates when they came to visit, and the first one I opened happened to say this:

I predicted this would be the theme of my life for a while, and I must say it's true! I'm sure we'll get back to being able to do all the things we used to, but for now, we are enjoying life at a little bit slower of a pace :)

Emery was pretty cautious when she met her baby brother for the first time. 

She warmed up to him pretty quickly, though, and is pretty much as smitten with him as I am.

Multiple times per day, Emery says to me: "Mom, your baby's sooo cute!"

We love our little Cam Man!

Cameron's Birth Story

In many ways, giving birth a second time was kind of a "first" for me. With my first, I was induced and ended up with a C-section, so this time I was really hoping to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I chose to go to Intown Midwifery, a midwife clinic, and one of two providers here in Atlanta that will regularly do a trial of labor after a Cesarean.

On Friday, June 7, around 3:30 am, I woke up having contractions that felt real. I had been having lots of Braxton Hicks throughout my pregnancy, but these felt different. Lets just say I spent a good hour and a half on the toilet before Pete woke up at 5 am and noticed I was gone. I told him what was going on and he perked right up to help with some last minute things like packing a hospital bag, etc.

Around 6 or 7, I called the on-call midwife, Julie, and told her my contractions were happening every 2-5 minutes. She said it was pretty much up to me when I wanted to come in (I think she could tell by my voice on the phone that I wasn't in tons of pain yet). I was nervous about going to the hospital only to be sent home for not progressing, so I really wanted to make sure this thing was real before I went in.

We hung out at home for a bit, waiting to see what happened. Emery woke up and I went in her room to get her right as a contraction started so Pete ended up coming in behind me to get her instead. She had this confused look on her face and said, "Why my Mama taking deep breaths?" (Just a cute Emery memory to store away for the future) :)

After calling our good friend, Lindsey, and seeing if she could come over and get Emery, we decided to head to the hospital. Once Lindsey came over, she assured me that I was really in labor (she has two kiddos of her own) and told me if I wanted my epidural I should probably get to the hospital. That, combined with thoughts of morning traffic, was enough to finally get me out of the door to the car :)

Once at the hospital, we learned I was at 4 cm and the contractions were still coming strong, so I was pretty sure this baby was coming! I got all checked in and everything and then just spent a lot of time walking around my hospital room, breathing through contractions. Pete was great and helped a lot, but I found I mostly just needed to be in my own little world as I worked on them. For some reason, putting my forehead on the cold countertop in my room seemed to help me stay in control and just be in the "zone."

view  of Atlanta from our hospital room

When the midwife came in to see me, she said "Wow, you're in a lot more labor than you were on the phone, huh?" My contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes now, and I was hoping my epidural was in the not too distant future. I was waiting for a bag of fluid to go through my IV (to counteract the blood-pressure dropping effect an epidural can have) before I could get the epidural.

At this point, I basically came to realize why a midwife/doula/support person is pretty amazing to have during labor. Julie kept saying wonderful things like "Stephanie, you're doing awesome!" and "you're getting into the intense part of labor right now," and "you are not being a wimp." 100% truth? Probably not, haha, but it was 100% what I needed to hear! Then she got me into the shower, sitting on a ball, with Pete spraying hot water on my stomach through contractions and on my back in-between. Wow, can you say AMAZING! This seriously worked wonders in helping me get through the contractions and I felt really grateful to be at a facility and have an awesome midwife where they advocate for things like that (they also have birthing tubs, allow intermittent monitoring, etc.).

I probably could have stayed there in the shower a little longer and progressed more, but when I found I was only at 5 cm and got the green light for an epidural if I wanted it, well, I couldn't pass it up...even when the person who gave me the epidural was an Anesthesia Assistant student and required a lot of guidance/help from the anesthesiologist. The only thing that kept me okay with the whole situation was thinking back to nursing school and just remembering that you have to learn sometime on someone. I wasn't the only one that thought the whole thing might be botched. Later, my nurse said "Oh honey, we were praying for you!" Luckily, the epidural was awesome...took away the pain, but I could still feel pressure and move my legs really well. What sweet relief! Gotta love modern medicine.

Post epidural pic. Feeling good!

Shortly after the epidural, my water broke. Then it was only a couple hours before I was complete and baby was descending. Right before it was time to start pushing, a different midwife came on duty (Julie was pregnant herself and having some preterm labor signs, so I couldn't blame her for needing to go home!). Julie gave me a hug and said "You're SO going to have this baby! No C-section!" And then Margaret, the new midwife, came and introduced herself. Ironically, she was the only midwife from the practice that I hadn't met yet. She is also the oldest and founding midwife of the clinic and I had heard really good things about her. She was super nice and personable and straightforward and I liked her immediately. It was so cool to see how comfortable she was delivering babies. As she chatted with us while she did her thing, it just seemed like it was second nature to her to be delivering a baby.

Finally, it was time to push! I had been feeling pressure for a while and the baby was getting really low. After a half hour of pushing, out came our sweet, big baby Cameron at 3:57 pm right onto my lap where I held him and snuggled him for about an hour. He kept up the nuchal cord tradition started by Emery, and when my water broke, it had meconium in it, but the midwife was not overly concerned by these things...such a different experience with these little hiccups in comparison to similar things with Emery's birth!

The first thing I thought when I saw Cam (who actually didn't have a name for two days), was that he was HUGE! Compared to my little 5 lb 14 oz Emery, Cameron seemed so chubby and big at 8 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 in long. I also had the thought that he looked a lot different than I thought he would. Weird, but I guess I thought he'd look just like Emery. Instead, he has blonde-brown hair, blonde eyelashes and eyebrows, and I think looks a lot more like my side of the family than Emery did as a newborn.

All in all, Pete and I were so happy with how the birth experience went. At times during my pregnancy, I questioned whether I should really try for a VBAC or just do another C-section, but I'm so glad that after lots of pondering and praying, I went for the VBAC! I know it's not the case for everyone, but doing the VBAC was definitely right for me. Recovery for both was definitely painful, but recovery time for a vaginal birth has been SO much quicker. I am really happy that I chose Intown Midwifery, too. I just really like having female providers, and I loved how they understood and validated my feelings after having a C-section and were willing to try a VBAC.

Also, I feel so grateful to wonderful friends who completely saved us when it came to taking care of Emery, bringing dinners, etc. We ended up staying in the hospital longer than we had planned and then ended up needing to go to a few doctors appointments and another hospital visit. Things wouldn't have gone nearly as well without our awesome friends who offered to take Emery, stay overnight at our place while she slept, bring us meals, etc. We feel so blessed to have great friends while being so far away from family.

The things I want to remember most about Cameron's birth are the sweet blessing that Pete gave me when we first got to the hospital. I love how comforting priesthood blessings are in all situations. Also, after I got my epidural, I just remember being with Pete alone in the hospital room and I could almost tangibly feel how incredibly excited both of us were. We knew we were just hours away from meeting our little baby, and we felt so happy!

I know I've got some long days and nights ahead of me, but from the time we met Cameron to now, I just keep thinking "I could get addicted to this." Meaning, becoming a parent again; bringing little humans into the world and just instantly loving them. It's such a miraculous and beautiful thing!

Back at it...for now

A while ago, I prepared a nice little post trying to explain why I haven't blogged in months and how I'm going to be all committed now and blah, blah, blah. But honestly, I don't really know if I am committed, so I guess we'll see. I wrote up Cameron's birth story a while ago and I want to post it. He's only 8 weeks old and I already feel so behind in recording things about his life!