We spent the day having the time of our lives at Universal Studios, Orlando--
Thanks Nana and Grumpa!
Our family has 6 members: Teacher Daddy, Dr. Mama, Big B, Little L, Super J & Sister CC.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Sunday, March 31, 2019
2019 Reading List, Quarter 1 (Jan-Mar)
I discovered Goodreads in January as a place to store the list of all the books read or listened to, instead of hopping back and forth between the library's website, my phone, and trying to recall which of my own books I'd read! Now to organize them into categories...
Actual books
1. The Complete Book of Clean: Tips & Techniques for Your Home, Toni Hammersley-- started the year trying to make the most of my resolution to purge unused/unwanted things and to keep things clean and organized. She recommends daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for each area of the house (kitchen, bath, bedroom) and I was pleased to see that I did most of the daily things on a daily basis! The weekly and monthly-- some of those seemed like overkill, but were useful to think about implementing on as as-needed basis.
2. The Mammoth Hunters, Jean Auel-- my grandmother purged her bookcases of books she didn't want or read any more, and these were in my bag. I've read the series before, so it was a nice light easy read. She does get a bit repetitive and her characters are frustrating in their emotional under-development, but you can't have everything! I'm always impressed by her level of detail and research into the ecosystem of the Ice Age-- from the plants to the animals, you can tell she spent a great deal of time learning about how they lived so many thousands of years ago.
3. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir, Kelle Hampton. I follow this woman's blog and have read the published story of her 2nd daughter's birth, so I thought... why not read her published memoir? It was... saccharine, written to highlight her previous struggles only to cast a rosy glow over her life now and was a bit one-dimensional.
4. The Complete Book of Home Organization, Toni Hammersley-- I actually wanted this one first, but it was on hold at the library, so I had to wait a while! By this point, my semester had picked up steam so I wasn't able to really dig in the way I wanted and implement some of her strategies to organize. I did snap some photos of pages that I thought were particularly useful but haven't used them yet!
5. The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll-- as long as I'm overhauling my life completely, why not also implement a new journaling method? I'm trying this out as a daily planner style journaling and it's helping me to keep on task and actually do the chores I usually avoid (see: calling to make/change appointments) and it's nice not to have to re-write my task list on a new scrap piece of paper once I get to work. It's also nice to have a page outlining the monthly or weekly upcoming events to help plan dinners and daycare drop-off/pick-up well in advance. The book itself was... ok, good for the parts that were about how to do/use the method, less useful for parts about his ADHD or how other people use the journaling method to create works of art. I mean, they're beautiful pages, but I can see how some would be overwhelmed comparing that level of artistry and detail and never attempt to use the method themselves. We'll see how it goes for the next month or so!
6. The Plains of Passage, Jean Auel-- the next book in the series. She is long-winded.
7. Seabiscuit: An American Legend, Laura Hillenbrand-- picked this up at the townhouse at Mount Snow during our ski weekend and then finished it on a request from the library after we returned home. It was nice to read something I wouldn't have usually chosen.
Audiobooks from my commute
8. The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)-- a murder mystery solved by a protagonist who is a wounded war veteran with a surly attitude. I didn't know it was written by JK Rowling until about halfway through listening, and then some of the superfluous detail and emotional baggage of the characters made sense. I liked it, though, and would probably listen to another of these (this was the 2nd in the series).
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer-- chose this one because it popped up and was available when I needed a new audiobook. I liked the format-- all letters written between the characters, so you have to fill in the setting around them. I watched the movie on Netflix afterward and liked the book better!
10. The Mere Wife, Maria Dhavana Headley-- a current take on the classic Beowulf, told from the perspective of the mothers (Grendel's mother and the queen of the castle). Having never read Beowulf in high school, this was interesting but I doubt I'll take on the heavy lift of reading the original.
E-books
None for this quarter-- used paper copies only.
Books read to the boys
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling-- this mammoth book (750 pages!) took a long time to get through, reading 15-20 minutes each night. As I suspected, the dark ending left L very emotional, so we're taking a break from HP until probably this summer. They only get darker and scarier from here on out!
How am I doing compared to previous years? I copied this from last year's post at this time:
In 2017, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but I hadn't started listening to audiobooks during my commutes yet (only during long trips).
In 2016, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but that included through April because I forgot to tally in March.
In 2018, my Quarter 1 total was 14 (!), but I suspect that had a great deal to do with shorter books read (Jean Auel is very long!), or perhaps 2018 was an exceptionally good year for reading.
Actual books
1. The Complete Book of Clean: Tips & Techniques for Your Home, Toni Hammersley-- started the year trying to make the most of my resolution to purge unused/unwanted things and to keep things clean and organized. She recommends daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for each area of the house (kitchen, bath, bedroom) and I was pleased to see that I did most of the daily things on a daily basis! The weekly and monthly-- some of those seemed like overkill, but were useful to think about implementing on as as-needed basis.
2. The Mammoth Hunters, Jean Auel-- my grandmother purged her bookcases of books she didn't want or read any more, and these were in my bag. I've read the series before, so it was a nice light easy read. She does get a bit repetitive and her characters are frustrating in their emotional under-development, but you can't have everything! I'm always impressed by her level of detail and research into the ecosystem of the Ice Age-- from the plants to the animals, you can tell she spent a great deal of time learning about how they lived so many thousands of years ago.
3. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected--A Memoir, Kelle Hampton. I follow this woman's blog and have read the published story of her 2nd daughter's birth, so I thought... why not read her published memoir? It was... saccharine, written to highlight her previous struggles only to cast a rosy glow over her life now and was a bit one-dimensional.
4. The Complete Book of Home Organization, Toni Hammersley-- I actually wanted this one first, but it was on hold at the library, so I had to wait a while! By this point, my semester had picked up steam so I wasn't able to really dig in the way I wanted and implement some of her strategies to organize. I did snap some photos of pages that I thought were particularly useful but haven't used them yet!
5. The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, Ryder Carroll-- as long as I'm overhauling my life completely, why not also implement a new journaling method? I'm trying this out as a daily planner style journaling and it's helping me to keep on task and actually do the chores I usually avoid (see: calling to make/change appointments) and it's nice not to have to re-write my task list on a new scrap piece of paper once I get to work. It's also nice to have a page outlining the monthly or weekly upcoming events to help plan dinners and daycare drop-off/pick-up well in advance. The book itself was... ok, good for the parts that were about how to do/use the method, less useful for parts about his ADHD or how other people use the journaling method to create works of art. I mean, they're beautiful pages, but I can see how some would be overwhelmed comparing that level of artistry and detail and never attempt to use the method themselves. We'll see how it goes for the next month or so!
6. The Plains of Passage, Jean Auel-- the next book in the series. She is long-winded.
7. Seabiscuit: An American Legend, Laura Hillenbrand-- picked this up at the townhouse at Mount Snow during our ski weekend and then finished it on a request from the library after we returned home. It was nice to read something I wouldn't have usually chosen.
Audiobooks from my commute
8. The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)-- a murder mystery solved by a protagonist who is a wounded war veteran with a surly attitude. I didn't know it was written by JK Rowling until about halfway through listening, and then some of the superfluous detail and emotional baggage of the characters made sense. I liked it, though, and would probably listen to another of these (this was the 2nd in the series).
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer-- chose this one because it popped up and was available when I needed a new audiobook. I liked the format-- all letters written between the characters, so you have to fill in the setting around them. I watched the movie on Netflix afterward and liked the book better!
10. The Mere Wife, Maria Dhavana Headley-- a current take on the classic Beowulf, told from the perspective of the mothers (Grendel's mother and the queen of the castle). Having never read Beowulf in high school, this was interesting but I doubt I'll take on the heavy lift of reading the original.
E-books
None for this quarter-- used paper copies only.
Books read to the boys
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling-- this mammoth book (750 pages!) took a long time to get through, reading 15-20 minutes each night. As I suspected, the dark ending left L very emotional, so we're taking a break from HP until probably this summer. They only get darker and scarier from here on out!
How am I doing compared to previous years? I copied this from last year's post at this time:
In 2017, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but I hadn't started listening to audiobooks during my commutes yet (only during long trips).
In 2016, my Quarter 1 total was 11, but that included through April because I forgot to tally in March.
In 2018, my Quarter 1 total was 14 (!), but I suspect that had a great deal to do with shorter books read (Jean Auel is very long!), or perhaps 2018 was an exceptionally good year for reading.
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
2019 March DITL: A Sunny Skiing Day at Snow Ridge
We spent the morning skiing with the big boys and the afternoon having fun with family! A great March day.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Monday, December 31, 2018
2018 Reading List, Quarter 4 (Oct-Dec) and Final Tally
I felt my reading slowed down in the last quarter of the year. I was tired, I was back to work part-time, and there were other, more pressing things to do around the house! Still, I worked hard to get some reading done.
Audiobooks:
60. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; technically haven't finished this one, but it's 60+ hours long and TEDIOUS. I also watched the Part 1 of the movie made about it (with terrible reviews) on Amazon Prime and may just finish out by watching rather than listening.
61. Storm Front, Jim Butcher; Also about 30 min away from finishing, still in the hold queue to re-borrow. A magician who helps solve crimes in Chicago.
Books Read to the Boys:
62. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
63. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
E-books:
64. Perdita, Hilary Scharper; weird premise-- a child from Greek mythology who bears the "love that binds all things together" has attached itself to a woman who is now 110-ish years old and can't die until she passes the Greek myth baby onto another person (who presumably won't die?)
65. About Last Night, Ruthie Knox
Actual Books:
66. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon; This was really good!
67. Shine through, Tracey Newell; This was really not good
68. The boys from Brazil, Ira Levin; Genetic engineering written in 1960
69. Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan; photojournalist who went to war-torn places in the early 1990s
70. The complete works of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and short stories; I've been working on this huge book while staying at my parent's house for the past FOUR YEARS and I finally finished it this Christmas break.
In 2017, I finished with 55 total, so 2018 was a great success in terms of reading! Here's to another great year of reading and learning in 2019.
Audiobooks:
60. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; technically haven't finished this one, but it's 60+ hours long and TEDIOUS. I also watched the Part 1 of the movie made about it (with terrible reviews) on Amazon Prime and may just finish out by watching rather than listening.
61. Storm Front, Jim Butcher; Also about 30 min away from finishing, still in the hold queue to re-borrow. A magician who helps solve crimes in Chicago.
Books Read to the Boys:
62. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
63. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
E-books:
64. Perdita, Hilary Scharper; weird premise-- a child from Greek mythology who bears the "love that binds all things together" has attached itself to a woman who is now 110-ish years old and can't die until she passes the Greek myth baby onto another person (who presumably won't die?)
65. About Last Night, Ruthie Knox
Actual Books:
66. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon; This was really good!
67. Shine through, Tracey Newell; This was really not good
68. The boys from Brazil, Ira Levin; Genetic engineering written in 1960
69. Shutterbabe, Deborah Copaken Kogan; photojournalist who went to war-torn places in the early 1990s
70. The complete works of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and short stories; I've been working on this huge book while staying at my parent's house for the past FOUR YEARS and I finally finished it this Christmas break.
In 2017, I finished with 55 total, so 2018 was a great success in terms of reading! Here's to another great year of reading and learning in 2019.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Saturday, October 20, 2018
2018 September DITL: ADK balloon festival!
We have been visiting the ADK Balloon Festival in Glens Falls for SEVEN years now! It's a great tradition for our family. This year, we went to the evening balloon lift instead of the early morning one.
Sunday, October 7, 2018
2018 Reading List, Quarter 3 (July-Sept)
I finished Quarter 1 with 14 and Quarter 2 with 37, just before CC's birth. Here's Quarter 3, which encompassed my maternity leave and lots of reading while nursing in the wee hours of the morning!
Actual Books:
38. Educated, a memoir; Tara Westover. Pretty good, gritty recounting of her childhood growing up with Doomsday-er parents who didn't trust modern medicine.
39. Rules of civility; Amor Towles. This one was all right, but I enjoyed the next one better.
40. A gentleman in Moscow; Amor Towles. This one was very good and I would read it again.
41. A world of cake: 150 recipes for sweet traditions from cultures near and far; Krystina Castella. Yes, I read a cookbook. And made several cakes from this book, with varying success. Most of them I looked at the recipe and said "TWELVE EGGS?!? You've got to be kidding me!" and then flipped the page. I have a couple recipes saved for the future, though.
42. It Can't Happen Here; Sinclair Lewis. Recommended read for someone who realizes that yes, indeed it CAN happen here. The rise of a dictatorship in the USA, Depression-era. Yikes.
43. The girl with seven names: A North Korean defector's story; Hyeonseo Lee. This was also a good read and, coming on the heels of the Sinclair Lewis fiction it was eerily similar in recounting how the Kim family came to power in North Korea
44. Relish: my life in the kitchen; Lucy Knisley. My first graphic novel. Not too bad, although I do prefer actual text. Still, that was an easy read while balancing a nursling on my arm.
45. The senator's wife; Sue Miller. Meh.
46. Miriam's kitchen; Elizabeth Erlich. A memoir of a woman getting to know her MIL through recipes handed down through generations of Jewish cooking.
47-51: The Belgariad series; David Eddings. For the 12th time. It never gets old.
Audio Books: My goal for the audiobooks is to get through the PBS Great Reads list.
52. The Call of the Wild, Jack London. I think this is for young adults or children? It was pretty interesting to listen to, but I think I would have been bored if I'd read it.
53. The Shack, William P. Young. OMG-- worst book ever. I should have given up and sent it back to the library after day 2 or 3 of listening. Just, ugh. DISLIKE.
54. 1984, George Orwell-- so I haven't technically finished this one just yet, because my loan ran out before I could get through the last 2 hours or so. Still-- this one was MUCH BETTER than The Shack and I'm interested to find out how it ends!
Books read to the boys:
55. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; JK Rowling. We've started reading this series now that we're done with Percy Jackson, and watching the movies once we've finished reading a book. This, more than a lot of other milestones, has made me feel that I'm really a "parent" now. I can't believe my boys are reading the HP series-- I remember the parties and long lines when a new book was released nearly every year, and how I binge-read the book once I wrestled it away from David's hands... now my children are learning about this universe too.
E-Books:
56. The Bird and the Stone, Amy Harmon; fantasy where people have certain magical powers which are outlawed, including one woman who can speak things into creation, her lover who turns into a falcon... it was weird
57. The Book of Pearl, Timothee de Fombelle; a fairy-tale person leaves his enchanted home and makes his way to pre-WW II Paris. His fairy lover pursues
58. Above the Waterfall, Ron Rash; West Virginia-setting mystery
59. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll; I thought I'd like this more than I did... I'm sure there's lots of allegory and symbolism, but I just didn't like Alice.
In 2017, my Quarter 3 reading list had me up to 35 books and in 2016, I was up to 28 books (although the last one I have listed is Alexander Hamilton by Chernow which was a BEAR to get through, as I recall!). Reading to the boys at bed and adding audiobooks to my total each quarter definitely helps get that number higher, but I really think the kicker this quarter was the sheer amount of time I spent sitting/lying down reading while nursing. Such is the season of my life, I suppose.
Actual Books:
38. Educated, a memoir; Tara Westover. Pretty good, gritty recounting of her childhood growing up with Doomsday-er parents who didn't trust modern medicine.
39. Rules of civility; Amor Towles. This one was all right, but I enjoyed the next one better.
40. A gentleman in Moscow; Amor Towles. This one was very good and I would read it again.
41. A world of cake: 150 recipes for sweet traditions from cultures near and far; Krystina Castella. Yes, I read a cookbook. And made several cakes from this book, with varying success. Most of them I looked at the recipe and said "TWELVE EGGS?!? You've got to be kidding me!" and then flipped the page. I have a couple recipes saved for the future, though.
42. It Can't Happen Here; Sinclair Lewis. Recommended read for someone who realizes that yes, indeed it CAN happen here. The rise of a dictatorship in the USA, Depression-era. Yikes.
43. The girl with seven names: A North Korean defector's story; Hyeonseo Lee. This was also a good read and, coming on the heels of the Sinclair Lewis fiction it was eerily similar in recounting how the Kim family came to power in North Korea
44. Relish: my life in the kitchen; Lucy Knisley. My first graphic novel. Not too bad, although I do prefer actual text. Still, that was an easy read while balancing a nursling on my arm.
45. The senator's wife; Sue Miller. Meh.
46. Miriam's kitchen; Elizabeth Erlich. A memoir of a woman getting to know her MIL through recipes handed down through generations of Jewish cooking.
47-51: The Belgariad series; David Eddings. For the 12th time. It never gets old.
Audio Books: My goal for the audiobooks is to get through the PBS Great Reads list.
52. The Call of the Wild, Jack London. I think this is for young adults or children? It was pretty interesting to listen to, but I think I would have been bored if I'd read it.
53. The Shack, William P. Young. OMG-- worst book ever. I should have given up and sent it back to the library after day 2 or 3 of listening. Just, ugh. DISLIKE.
54. 1984, George Orwell-- so I haven't technically finished this one just yet, because my loan ran out before I could get through the last 2 hours or so. Still-- this one was MUCH BETTER than The Shack and I'm interested to find out how it ends!
Books read to the boys:
55. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; JK Rowling. We've started reading this series now that we're done with Percy Jackson, and watching the movies once we've finished reading a book. This, more than a lot of other milestones, has made me feel that I'm really a "parent" now. I can't believe my boys are reading the HP series-- I remember the parties and long lines when a new book was released nearly every year, and how I binge-read the book once I wrestled it away from David's hands... now my children are learning about this universe too.
E-Books:
56. The Bird and the Stone, Amy Harmon; fantasy where people have certain magical powers which are outlawed, including one woman who can speak things into creation, her lover who turns into a falcon... it was weird
57. The Book of Pearl, Timothee de Fombelle; a fairy-tale person leaves his enchanted home and makes his way to pre-WW II Paris. His fairy lover pursues
58. Above the Waterfall, Ron Rash; West Virginia-setting mystery
59. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll; I thought I'd like this more than I did... I'm sure there's lots of allegory and symbolism, but I just didn't like Alice.
In 2017, my Quarter 3 reading list had me up to 35 books and in 2016, I was up to 28 books (although the last one I have listed is Alexander Hamilton by Chernow which was a BEAR to get through, as I recall!). Reading to the boys at bed and adding audiobooks to my total each quarter definitely helps get that number higher, but I really think the kicker this quarter was the sheer amount of time I spent sitting/lying down reading while nursing. Such is the season of my life, I suppose.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Thursday, July 5, 2018
26 June 2018: CCP Birth Story
Welcome to the world, baby CC! You were born at 8:38 am on Tuesday, 26 June 2018 after a speedy, intense, life-changing labor and delivery! You were 21" long and weighed 7 pounds-- the smallest of all my babies.
On your "due date" of 24 June.
That evening, baby was very active and the kicks/punches seemed to indicate posterior positioning ("sunny side up"), which we definitely did NOT want to go through! Between 9-midnight, I stood and read my book while doing some positioning techniques. Around midnight, I felt a weird crunch in my pelvis and then felt wet. I dashed for the bathroom (not something easily done!) and saw that, yes something had happened and my water had probably broken or at least I had started to leak. This was so different from all my other pregnancies and labors, and I was concerned because I had tested positive for Group B strep at 37 weeks, so it was something that would need monitoring at the least and IV antibiotics during labor. But nothing was immediately happening, so I went to bed and tried to get some sleep.
When I woke up around 2am, I had leaked a little onto the sheet. Again, something new and not what I had envisioned. So I put on a pad and went back to bed, trying not to visualize worst case scenarios or become too anxious.
The next day, the boys went to daycare while Jake and I ran errands and completed some last-minute chores around the house. I watched while he weeded the garden and cleaned up the yard. We drove to Troy for a midwife appointment with Maureen and a visiting midwifery student. We told Maureen about all the weird things that had been happening, and she offered to do a fern test to see if what I was leaking was actually amniotic fluid or not. We said yes, and she did the swab-- we did see the fern pattern using the microscope (so cool!), and confirmed that yes, my water was leaking. We talked about what that meant for me and this baby-- we were coming up on 18 hours since the first pop, which is a risk factor for the baby being infected with GBS. So we decided that, once labor actually started, that we would definitely do the IV antibiotics. I was not having any contractions, so nothing seemed to really be "happening".
Maureen checked my cervix and did a membrane sweep to try to get things moving along. I was 3 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and baby was at -1 station-- significant progress already! Those numbers made J a little panicked, and Maureen kept telling us "Ok, so we'll see you later tonight". I was not buying it-- nothing felt different, and I thought that I'd have another full day or so. Still, J called my sister on our way home and asked her to spend the night at our house just in case.
Maureen suggested that we get some rest, pick up the boys from daycare, have some dinner and then do some walking to get things moving along later that evening. When we came home, the boys swam and then Jake mowed the lawn. After dinner, we took a walk up to the high school and boys rode their bikes down the tall hill.
When I woke up around 2am, I had leaked a little onto the sheet. Again, something new and not what I had envisioned. So I put on a pad and went back to bed, trying not to visualize worst case scenarios or become too anxious.
The next day, the boys went to daycare while Jake and I ran errands and completed some last-minute chores around the house. I watched while he weeded the garden and cleaned up the yard. We drove to Troy for a midwife appointment with Maureen and a visiting midwifery student. We told Maureen about all the weird things that had been happening, and she offered to do a fern test to see if what I was leaking was actually amniotic fluid or not. We said yes, and she did the swab-- we did see the fern pattern using the microscope (so cool!), and confirmed that yes, my water was leaking. We talked about what that meant for me and this baby-- we were coming up on 18 hours since the first pop, which is a risk factor for the baby being infected with GBS. So we decided that, once labor actually started, that we would definitely do the IV antibiotics. I was not having any contractions, so nothing seemed to really be "happening".
Maureen checked my cervix and did a membrane sweep to try to get things moving along. I was 3 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and baby was at -1 station-- significant progress already! Those numbers made J a little panicked, and Maureen kept telling us "Ok, so we'll see you later tonight". I was not buying it-- nothing felt different, and I thought that I'd have another full day or so. Still, J called my sister on our way home and asked her to spend the night at our house just in case.
Maureen suggested that we get some rest, pick up the boys from daycare, have some dinner and then do some walking to get things moving along later that evening. When we came home, the boys swam and then Jake mowed the lawn. After dinner, we took a walk up to the high school and boys rode their bikes down the tall hill.
By this point, I was having irregular contractions that were about 15 or 20 minutes apart. I figured this would last through the night, then we would have things pick up tomorrow morning and a baby by that afternoon. We walked home slowly and put the boys to bed.
Overnight, the contractions kept coming every 10-12 minutes and were fairly strong. I lay still and tried to doze as much as possible, but when one started building I'd get up and sway next to the bed or go to my hands and knees. Lying down through a contraction was awful, as was having one on the toilet. I was trying to relax as much as possible because I knew there was going to be a full day's worth of labor ahead of me and I wanted to conserve my strength. I also expected contractions to space out at any time and for me to get in some good rest. This did not happen.
Around 6 am, I finally decided to get up for the day. Once I was upright, the contractions started coming more closely together (5-7 min) and were fairly strong. J wanted to call Heidi right away, but I wanted him to wait until we either had a longer pattern established or I had some visible sign of labor (mucus plug, etc). After 15 min, he called Heidi and she said she was on her way.
My sister got the boys breakfasted, dressed, and out the door. Little J threw a mini fit that I could hear through the doorway because his sandals were broken and he had to wear his sneakers at the last moment.
Heidi arrived around 7 am, I think. She said she wanted to listen to baby's heart and to check me out to see if we needed to start the IV antibiotics. Baby's heart tones were in the 140s (the same as at nearly every prenatal visit and throughout the rest of labor) and I was 8 cm dilated. I was surprised-- I didn't think I could have made that much progress overnight! Heidi said that there was no real point in starting the IV antibiotics, because we probably didn't have 4 hours lead time before baby would be born. (She was right-- she was only there for 90 minutes before baby was born.)
Jake started topping off the birth pool with hot water, because I really wanted to get in and see if it helped at all. Some of the contractions were getting particularly intense and hard; I could feel my pelvic bones moving and shifting as the baby descended and it was not pleasant.
I got changed into a bathing suit top and awkwardly climbed into the pool. It was still hard to deal with the contractions, but there wasn't as much bone-crushing pain. I can't imagine how much harder it would have been to deal with out of the tub (!) and being able to float a bit between contractions helped immensely.
Jake took these pictures around 8 am-- I was somewhere between 8 and 9 cm. I was having contractions about every 10 min, so it was nice to have the little break between to catch my breath and gather strength. Contractions transitioned to uncontrollable pushing/bearing down somewhere around 8:20 am. I think I had 4 pushing contractions, that stage lasted around 20 minutes. I could feel the bowling ball head moving down in my pelvis and pushing everything aside. It was intense and hard and fast and I was scared at how quickly everything was moving.
At the end of one hard push, the head was out! Heidi looped the cord around the neck and asked me to push again. I tried to catch my breath and squeeze the rest of the baby out, but I think I couldn't get enough leverage in the pool (it was quite wide, and my feet didn't touch the other side to push against) to be effective. Mary, the assistant midwife, grabbed my leg and pushed it up, told me to hold it back to open my pelvis. My eyes were closed and there seemed to be a lot of splashing and squirming and SUPER INTENSE BURNING pressure and then suddenly the pressure moved down and through and there was a baby out in the water. Heidi scooped the baby up and placed it on my chest.
I was completely overwhelmed with emotions. I kept saying "Oh God, Oh God" and "It's a baby! It's really a baby!" I couldn't believe that there was actually a baby who was yelling and moving and alive.
I had been so worried, especially in the last weeks before birth, that everything was going to go wrong. I panicked when baby would sleep for an extended period of time, when I couldn't feel it moving around. My fears and anxiety was increasing with each passing day, although I knew intellectually there was nothing I could do but wait and that being stressed would make things delayed and more difficult. This essay sums up my frame of mind.
After the cord stopped pulsing, J cut it and took the baby into his arms. We hadn't checked for sex yet, and he peeked under the towel to see that baby was a girl !!! We were completely shocked and stunned-- after so many boys, we thought it was impossible to have a girl, yet here she was!
Heidi asked me to push out the placenta, which was harder than I thought it would be. Then she and Mary helped me out of the pool and onto some towels on the floor, where Heidi removed some clots manually and teased out some shreds of trailing membrane which were left behind. She said that my cervix had come down with the baby during pushing, so she helped maneuver that back into place and said that it was probably going to be pretty bruised and sore for a while. She inspected my bottom and there were no tears or even skid marks-- for such a fast pushing phase, I was surprised!
I was shaking with cold and adrenaline on the floor, which made it harder for Heidi to get out the last bits of membranes. Mary gave me a shot of Pitocin to help things clamp down. Then they bundled me up and helped me climb into bed, where Mary put a heating pad on my legs and they passed my baby daughter back over to me.
She was snuffling and snorting and crying. She pinked up very quickly and her APGAR scores were all excellent. She and I had some nice skin-to-skin time for the following hour or so (passing back and forth with J), while Mary helped clean up the birth pool and Heidi completed the labor notes and birth certificate paperwork.
We spent the rest of the day snuggling our new baby girl and marveling at how wonderful and perfect she was! My sister came to sit with me while J drove to the daycare to pick up the boys around 5 pm. The boys thundered up the stairs to meet the new baby and they were SO SURPRISED when we told them she was a girl! They jumped up and down-- they had wanted a baby sister very badly.
At 3 days postpartum, baby CC was down to 6 pounds, 11 ounces and by 1 week she was back up to 7 pounds, 1 ounce (of course, she hasn't pooped for days, so that's probably an overestimate). She has been an eating and sleeping champion and we are so happy that she has joined our family.
Monday, June 25, 2018
2018 Reading List, Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun)
I finished Quarter 1 with 14, so here goes:
Actual Books:
15. Percy Jackson and the Olympians 4
16. Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5-- read these aloud to the boys before bed, 10 pages at a turn. It took us nearly all school year to get through this series, but I think the boys liked it! Onto either the next Rick Riordan set or maybe Harry Potter?
17. Bellevue: Three centuries of medicine and mayhem at America's most storied hospital, David Oshinsky
18. Essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less, Greg McKeown-- I thought this was going to fit into my de-cluttering reading theme, but instead it was a 20-something business person mansplaining how you need to decide what's really important for you and then saying no to any and all other offers in your workplace. And I thought... that's really great, if you're financially stable, but for most people that simply isn't an option and your whole book is awfully presumptuous
19. The year of cozy: 125 recipes, crafts, and other homemade adventures, Adrianna Adarma-- an example of why a successful blogger shouldn't necessarily write an actual book. Trite and of little substance. I only got a few ideas from this, not a lot I could or wanted to implement in my own life. (That sounds really negative, but I guess not all books can be life-changing, right?)
20. The midwife, Jolina Petersham-- semi-religious fiction about midwifery practice to the Amish (although she calls them Mennonite?) with shame-filled adoption and gestational surrogacy stories.
21. Being mortal: medicine and what matters in the end, Atul Gawande-- Discussing healthcare practice at the end of life and what people REALLY want, which is to spend their last moments in peace with their families, ideally at home, not hooked up to a ventilator and trying half-assed, dangerous, unhelpful remedies to eke out a few more minutes. An eye-opener about what I want and what I need to make clear to my family and in my living will
22. Doctored: the disillusionment of the American physician, Sandeep Jauhar-- Another good one about the state and practice of medicine in a for-profit healthcare system which prioritizes money over actual care. Came off as a little whiny because why else become a doctor except for the paycheck and prestige, but Dr. Jauhar had some really good points to make.
23. Wrapped in rainbows: the life of Zora Neale Hurston, Valerie Boyd-- because I was listening to the audiobook, below
24. Dietland, Sarai Walker-- cannot recommend this one enough! I didn't want it to end. AMAZING
25. Ready, player one, Ernest Cline-- good, video-game, fast-paced read
26. Hatchet, Gary Paulsen-- I got this from the library for Ben to read, but wanted to go through it myself before he did to make sure it would be ok. I think he'll be a little scared at the beginning, but the rest will right up his alley
27. Barracoon: the story of the last "black cargo", Zora Neale Hurston-- both the biography and the audiobook were checked out in response to this book, which came up on a recommended list. And I can't recommend it enough! So, so good and so necessary to read!
28. Birthing From Within; Pam England and Rob Horowitz
29. Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon woman's intimate diary of marriage and beyond; Deborah Laake
Audio books:
30. Improvement, Joan Silber-- an ok audiobook written from several POV, circling around a story of of two women who experience love in various forms
31. Yesterday, Felicia Yap-- a murder mystery about an alternate universe where people retain either one day's worth of memories or two... How will they every solve the crime?
32. The Little Book of Hygge: Danish secrets to Happy , Meik Wiking-- gave me some ideas on how to up the cozy factor around the holidays, and insight into some Danish culture
33. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore: A novel, Matthew Sullivant-- a suicide at a bookstore leads a young woman to look back on her traumatic childhood
34. City of the Lost, Kelley Armstrong-- what if you wanted to disappear, off the grid? What if the off-grid town harbored a murderer?
35. Their eyes were watching God, Zora Neale Hurston-- I really liked this story of a woman who won't settle for anything less than what she wants in life and love and it was impressive that it was written so early in the 20th century, when the feminine role was so rigid. The description of the hurricane washing into the Everglades was incredible!
36. The lovely bones, Alice Sebold-- PBS is sponsoring a "Great American Read" for summer 2018, and this was on the list of 100 recommended books. I'm not sure who made up the list, because the 50 Shades of Gray trilogy is on there too, but I thought I'd work through what I could work through during the heat.
E-books:
37. Leaving the Saints: How I lost the Mormons and Found my Faith, Martha Beck
In 2017, my Quarter 2 reading list brought me up to 25 total. Obviously, listening to the audiobooks during my commutes is increasing my total this year!
In 2016, my Quarter 2 reading list was at 17 total. I'm at double that this year, wow!
Actual Books:
15. Percy Jackson and the Olympians 4
16. Percy Jackson and the Olympians 5-- read these aloud to the boys before bed, 10 pages at a turn. It took us nearly all school year to get through this series, but I think the boys liked it! Onto either the next Rick Riordan set or maybe Harry Potter?
17. Bellevue: Three centuries of medicine and mayhem at America's most storied hospital, David Oshinsky
18. Essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less, Greg McKeown-- I thought this was going to fit into my de-cluttering reading theme, but instead it was a 20-something business person mansplaining how you need to decide what's really important for you and then saying no to any and all other offers in your workplace. And I thought... that's really great, if you're financially stable, but for most people that simply isn't an option and your whole book is awfully presumptuous
19. The year of cozy: 125 recipes, crafts, and other homemade adventures, Adrianna Adarma-- an example of why a successful blogger shouldn't necessarily write an actual book. Trite and of little substance. I only got a few ideas from this, not a lot I could or wanted to implement in my own life. (That sounds really negative, but I guess not all books can be life-changing, right?)
20. The midwife, Jolina Petersham-- semi-religious fiction about midwifery practice to the Amish (although she calls them Mennonite?) with shame-filled adoption and gestational surrogacy stories.
21. Being mortal: medicine and what matters in the end, Atul Gawande-- Discussing healthcare practice at the end of life and what people REALLY want, which is to spend their last moments in peace with their families, ideally at home, not hooked up to a ventilator and trying half-assed, dangerous, unhelpful remedies to eke out a few more minutes. An eye-opener about what I want and what I need to make clear to my family and in my living will
22. Doctored: the disillusionment of the American physician, Sandeep Jauhar-- Another good one about the state and practice of medicine in a for-profit healthcare system which prioritizes money over actual care. Came off as a little whiny because why else become a doctor except for the paycheck and prestige, but Dr. Jauhar had some really good points to make.
23. Wrapped in rainbows: the life of Zora Neale Hurston, Valerie Boyd-- because I was listening to the audiobook, below
24. Dietland, Sarai Walker-- cannot recommend this one enough! I didn't want it to end. AMAZING
25. Ready, player one, Ernest Cline-- good, video-game, fast-paced read
26. Hatchet, Gary Paulsen-- I got this from the library for Ben to read, but wanted to go through it myself before he did to make sure it would be ok. I think he'll be a little scared at the beginning, but the rest will right up his alley
27. Barracoon: the story of the last "black cargo", Zora Neale Hurston-- both the biography and the audiobook were checked out in response to this book, which came up on a recommended list. And I can't recommend it enough! So, so good and so necessary to read!
28. Birthing From Within; Pam England and Rob Horowitz
29. Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon woman's intimate diary of marriage and beyond; Deborah Laake
Audio books:
30. Improvement, Joan Silber-- an ok audiobook written from several POV, circling around a story of of two women who experience love in various forms
31. Yesterday, Felicia Yap-- a murder mystery about an alternate universe where people retain either one day's worth of memories or two... How will they every solve the crime?
32. The Little Book of Hygge: Danish secrets to Happy , Meik Wiking-- gave me some ideas on how to up the cozy factor around the holidays, and insight into some Danish culture
33. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore: A novel, Matthew Sullivant-- a suicide at a bookstore leads a young woman to look back on her traumatic childhood
34. City of the Lost, Kelley Armstrong-- what if you wanted to disappear, off the grid? What if the off-grid town harbored a murderer?
35. Their eyes were watching God, Zora Neale Hurston-- I really liked this story of a woman who won't settle for anything less than what she wants in life and love and it was impressive that it was written so early in the 20th century, when the feminine role was so rigid. The description of the hurricane washing into the Everglades was incredible!
36. The lovely bones, Alice Sebold-- PBS is sponsoring a "Great American Read" for summer 2018, and this was on the list of 100 recommended books. I'm not sure who made up the list, because the 50 Shades of Gray trilogy is on there too, but I thought I'd work through what I could work through during the heat.
E-books:
37. Leaving the Saints: How I lost the Mormons and Found my Faith, Martha Beck
In 2017, my Quarter 2 reading list brought me up to 25 total. Obviously, listening to the audiobooks during my commutes is increasing my total this year!
In 2016, my Quarter 2 reading list was at 17 total. I'm at double that this year, wow!
Saturday, June 23, 2018
2018 June DITL: A Sunday to start the Month
We had a Red, White, and Blue bouquet to celebrate Memorial Day, and it's still looking beautiful!
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Saturday, April 7, 2018
2018 March DITL (delayed): A Seventh Birthday!
It's not every day that you turn seven, so I thought we should document with a DITL!
Monday, March 26, 2018
2018 Reading List: Quarter 1 (Jan-Mar)
I'm beginning to tally up my reading list for 2018. Here goes nothing:
Sunday, February 25, 2018
2018 February DITL: Field Trip to Kennedy Space Center
Our February DITL took us to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Thursday, February 8, 2018
2018: A Snowy February Day
Yesterday, a big snowstorm blew in and left us with somewhere between 4-6" of powdery white.
Boys learned they had a snow day early (school sent out a text at 4:30 am) and celebrated with French toast.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
2018 January DITL: Thursday, the 18th
I have been doing DITLs (Day In The Life) since 2007. In 2010, I decided to start doing these photo journal-style blog entries on a monthly basis and it was a great way to look back on how the boys were growing and changing.
Last year, I stopped doing them. There were several reasons, but some boiled down to Livejournal's decline as a blogging space and then Photobucket changed their terms of service so I didn't have a place to host the photos for free. Facebook wasn't an ideal option either.
Without further explanation, here's a short DITL for January 2018. Eleven photos, no warnings.
Last year, I stopped doing them. There were several reasons, but some boiled down to Livejournal's decline as a blogging space and then Photobucket changed their terms of service so I didn't have a place to host the photos for free. Facebook wasn't an ideal option either.
Without further explanation, here's a short DITL for January 2018. Eleven photos, no warnings.
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