Tuesday, November 30, 2010

So, I have a few reflections after being a mom of a 5 1/2 week old. I have always wanted to have kids, always wanted my main job to be a "stay at home mom". I still want more kids and I want my main job to be a "stay at home mom".

With that said.... this job is TOTALLY harder than I anticipated! Not that changing a diaper ishard, or bathing a baby is hard, but taking care of an infant on a couple hours of sleep is hard. :) I love my son. I wouldn't give him back or trade him in. No way jose. With each passing day, I can honestly say I enjoy being home and taking care of him more and more.

I am so grateful that David works from home... it's quite a blessing to be able to sleep an extra hour in the morning and know that David has his eye on the baby. Or if I need to take a shower and little David starts crying, David can calm him down and I can shave my legs. David still has to work while he's at home so I can't just pass off little David whenever I want, but for those few moments when he needs the attention of one of his parents and I can't give it, it's nice that Dad is here.

A couple of new moms have asked me if being a mom "is just the best thing ever"? My mind both times associated the word "best" with "always enjoyable" and "always fun". And I hesitated in answering. Let me restate: I love my son. I wouldn't give him back or trade him in!! Being a mom is not enjoyable and fun 100% of the time. It is tiring and hard, but it's 100% worth it. There have been many enjoyable and fun moments in the past 5 1/2 weeks of baby David's life.... and I am looking forward to sharing many many more with him!

Being a mom is just the best thing ever. :)








Sunday, November 21, 2010

Changes All the Time

On Friday (2 days ago), he rolled over from his tummy to his back twice. Oh man, it was hard work for him. He fell asleep after the 2nd time. What a strong little boy!

I feel him getting heavier every day. He's so cute. He makes the funniest faces too... he can purse his lips so tight (like he's puckering up), his mouth gets so small. (He has his mom's mouth, fo sho.) He has a great "sad face" like his dad, pouty & quivering with a furrowed brow.

He likes to be held all. the. time. EXCEPT for when he's so so so tired. He will start out in your arms and then be ok with being set down after like 20 minutes. After another 30 minutes passes, if he doesn't feel your body heat near him, he'll let you know you better come to him really soon.

Oh, this little boy. I love him a lot!

Friday, November 5, 2010

David Ernest Clinton IV Arrival Story



From my perspective…. (I didn't proof read this. My computer hasn't been connecting to the internet so while I'm connected, I am trying to post this fast!)

Sunday, October 24, 2010.

I had an emotional morning, which set us back in getting to church on time. We arrived at church at 11:23 am, when it had started at 11am. Anyway, I was having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions, “false labor”, just some cramping with no pain, not consistent in timing. Around 12noon, I went to the bathroom and decided to stay in the lobby for a few minutes. I timed the contractions and they weren’t consistent, lasting only about 30 seconds long and coming either 3 minutes or 5 minutes apart… not that close together. And, again, they didn’t hurt. So, about 12:30, Steve had ended preaching and I wasn’t feeling that great. We told the Kalapala’s, who were to come over for lunch, we’d need to rain check and we snuck out before everything was officially done.

On the way home, I told David the contractions felt like period cramps… that “kind” of hurt. I assumed that real labor contractions were going to hurt more. We arrived home and had lasagna for lunch. My contractions were starting to be a bit more painful, but I thought if I was really in labor, it was going to last about 12 hours. I had to be intentional about relaxing through each one. I didn’t think to time them yet because they didn’t seem to last that long to me or come that frequently. David began to do stuff on his computer and I went to put a couple more things in the hospital bag, just in case this was the “real thing.”

After a few minutes, I needed to sit down… so I found a comfy spot on the couch to just rest and zone out. I was able to concentrate on the contractions and they got more painful. It seemed like I was only sitting down for 10 minutes, why I didn’t time the contractions or ask David to, I don’t know! He suggested I walk around a bit, so I got up to do so. I was totally sweating and hot so the layers were shedding. He then suggested that we put pressure on my knees, so I got on the floor and he squeezed my hips.

Ok, so now, I had painful contractions, I was hot & sweaty, I had tried sitting, standing, walking, kneeling, and I wanted to go to the hospital for pain medicine. By now, I was screaming through the contractions. If I was going to be going through these painful contractions for another 12 hours, I wanted drugs. David said, “Ok, we will go to the hospital. Put your pants back on.” I also felt like I had to go to the bathroom. In my mind I couldn’t make it to the bedroom to get my pants on… mostly because I thought I was going to have a bowel movement before I got there. David was running around finishing the hospital bag in between my screams and calls for him to come squeeze my hips.

I was leaning on an ottoman when a painful contraction came, and I felt like I had to have a bowel movement. I pushed, what I thought was going to be diarrhea, and my water broke. (I felt like I was losing a gallon of water and David said it was like a ½ cup.)

Now I knew I wanted to go to the hospital but I had to try going to the bathroom first. I made it to the bathroom and realized my contractions seemed a little further a part and were less painful. Each time one would come, I did feel like I needed to push… but in my mind, I was feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom too! After a few minutes, David came into the bathroom to check on me. We realized there wasn’t any poop in the toilet, but there was blood.

He wanted to check to see if he could see the baby. I didn’t think he would see anything. He didn’t expect to see anything either. He had me get on the ground and lean against the tub. He got me a couple pillows, and then he went to check me out. I remember he said, “I can see the head.” I was so surprised!

Our midwife was out of town down in St. George that weekend. We knew that if we called her office, it’d take time for the midwife on call to get back to us and we didn’t have time. David decided to call our Bradley teacher for some advice… he asked if she thought we could make it to the hospital or not. The answer: no.

I had a couple of contractions while the phone call was happening. He got off the phone with Adrianna and called 911 right away. The dispatcher talked him through my contractions. All my urges to push were involuntary. I believe I had 4 contractions total on the bathroom floor. His head came a little bit, then I was crowning, then his whole head was out. At that point, David told me to push again to get his body out. I didn’t know how to push on my own but I tried and his body shot out. He was covered in blood! I was in shock… “Holy crap, there’s our baby!”

David grabbed a towel off the towel rack and put the baby on my chest. He cried a little and just lay there breathing. We could have been more vigorous in drying him off but didn’t think of it at the time. The dispatcher told David to tie a string around the cord… he cut his shoelace, but didn’t tighten it around the cord because we wanted it to stop pulsating first. Little David Ernest Clinton IV was born at 3:17pm on Sunday, October 24, 2010. (911 call lasted 9 minutes total)

Within minutes, the paramedics knocked at the door. Six big guys walked towards the bathroom. Only 2 fit in there with me, but it felt like all 6 were trying to come in. They clamped the cord, David cut it, and they took the baby into the dining room (David went with him). They checked each of our vitals, had me get up and walk to the stretcher in kitchen. I got on the stretcher and they carried me down the 3 flights of stairs to the ambulance. The baby & I rode in the ambulance, they tried to get him to breastfeed but I didn’t know what I was doing…. And neither did the 4 guys in the ambulance with me!

We got to St Marks, and David pulled into the parking lot just as we did. They rolled me & the baby into the labor & delivery room. They weighed & measured little baby David right there. At the same time, the midwife on call from my midwife’s office, checked me out. I delivered the afterbirth and she said I had 1 little tear to stitch. They had to take baby David up to the nursery because hid temperature had dropped to 94 point something and they needed to warm him up. David went to the nursery with little David and I didn’t get to see them for another 2 hours. When his temp was back up, and I was moved into a recovery room, my boys rolled in and we got to spend some quality time together.

Oh man, it was quite the afternoon! I had no idea that my little baby David would come 10 days “early” and come so quickly. J We thank God for our little boy and that He kept us safe during the labor, delivery, recovery, and now raising the little guy.


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The New Man-Child

Introducing the newest little David. He is so cute! His due date was today, but he decided to come 9 days early on October 24th. (I will have a blog post dedicated to explaining the whole labor experience, it's quite a story.)

For now, I just wanted to share a picture of the little man and a couple observations. I can't really say a lot to what his personality is like so far, because all he does is eat and sleep and "soil" his diapers. He does have a couple hours (several minutes here and there) throughout the day that he is very alert and makes eye contact. So cool! He actually is pretty content. We've only experienced a couple of times (in the middle of the night) where he cries so much it's hard to calm him, but for the most part, he's pretty calm.

He sleeps a lot.... during the day. His longest stretch during the day was about 5 hours. Longest stretch at night was 4.

Big David (DC3) and I are realizing how much life & your priorities can drastically change for a newborn. Our regular schedules have flown out the window the last week & a half. These first few days have just blended together, he is already over a week old! (Yay, we've kept this little boy alive for over a week! Thank you, Lord.) We love our little David and wouldn't give him back.

A huge help over the last week has been having my mom here from CA and the gracious friends who have provided us meals. My mom flew into town last Wednesday. She loves holding David, especially when he is alert. She has done laundry, dishes, warmed (not had to cook yet) food, watched the little guy while we nap, ran errands, etc with/for us. It is comforting to have an extra set of hands, the experience of a mom with 4 kids, and the emotional support which she provides. Thanks Mom! Thank you friends who have been so gracious in coming to visit and bringing meals. You are awesome and we do feel so loved & blessed. It has been refreshing, not only to not cook, but to visit with you and enjoy company.

Well, like I said, I will write a post of our labor story. We are pretty non-dramatic people, but little David's entrance into the world was quite a dramatic one. He would have gotten attention coming on or after his due date, but he wanted to show off I guess and come early. That story is coming up next.