Everywhere I Look

Writing feels foreign to my fingers. Instead, my senses are familiar with the achingly sweet scent of my baby’s head… soapy dishwater filled with silverware… warm November breezes… my toddler’s exuberant exclamations… the startling quietness of naptime… creamy cups of coffee… messes everywhere I look…

God has been good to me in this season. As often as I’ve wanted to have a self-indulgent pity party about how exhausted and overwhelmed I am, I’ve been reminded moment by moment of how precious these children are, how short the time is, and what a huge privilege I have in raising them. It’s truly been an acute sense of blessing that’s prevented me from wallowing in discontentment or sadness.

And He has given me so much grace in caring for them, and especially with Christian – just loving to read to him and talk to him and play with him, and be patient and consistent with him, even when I don’t feel like it. Enjoying mothering didn’t come this naturally when he was an infant. I was so afraid of how hard it would be after Eliza was born. Don’t get me wrong, he has definitely had behavior issues (naturally) and I have had patience issues. But the Lord has been at work in my heart and has worked through me and in me. I never could do it on my own.

He’s sustained me emotionally as well. I’ve mostly dealt with a little anxiety – over that overwhelming feeling of grogginess; knowing I can’t get caught up on sleep; my house constantly sliding deeper into the pit of chaos and having to pull it out again and again; the physical changes of having a baby; being able to accomplish necessary tasks and prepare for the holidays, my sister’s wedding, and a huge road trip; having our usual evening routine replaced by caring for an extremely fussy baby.

But somehow I am just so focused on how brief this season is. With Christian I struggled more with giving up “my time.” Being a planner and a type A person, it’s hard for me when the baby is in these unpredictable, pre-routine days. I was afraid of how it would be to just go go go all day long with no tandem naps or rest break. And some days that’s how it is, but I manage.

I actually find myself thriving on the busyness… although I do start to break down by the evening. It’s almost easier to try to fit housework and to-do’s around the edges of caring for the kids, with no spare time, than it is to have one toddler and have to fill the time meaningfully.

Eliza’s stirring from another catnap so I’ll have to limit any further pontification. Thankful today…

Baby Names I Like… But Won’t Use

(enjoying our walk wide-awake for the first time)

When I shared the story of naming Eliza, I mentioned that I became a bit of a name nerd while I was pregnant with her. I have a few favorite naming websites, and even though I’m no longer pregnant and don’t have an immediate need to do this, I still enjoy reading about names and writing down my favorites. I have almost enough names for a family of 30 children at this point.

Before Eliza was born, I ran across a popular blog where a pregnant twin mom “gave away” some of the baby names she had considered but didn’t end up using. I thought that was a fun idea, so I’m sharing some of my favorites that I can never use for one reason or another. Since I’ll never have children with these names, feel free to share your honest opinions of them…

Sylvie: “from the forest.” I think Sylvie is pretty and whimsical. I can completely imagine a cute, chubby baby named Sylvie. It’s too repetitive with our last name, though. It’s not on the list of the top 1,000 names.

Willa: “resolute protection.” I love this name. It’s graceful and classy-sounding. It’s also too repetitive with our last name. It’s #968.

Eleanor: “bright, shining.” We have a little Eleanor in our church already, and Eliza and Eleanor would be too similar-sounding for sisters. Grace named her new baby Elinor. It’s a lovely, classic name, with the traditional spelling at #165.

Lilia: “lily.” I love how delicate and feminine this name is, but again, it’s too repetitive for us. It’s #876.

Eloise: “healthy, wide.” Every time I read our Eloise Wilkin storybook to Christian, I think about how much I like her name. I don’t think the style goes very well with Christian, though, and it’d definitely be too repetitive now that we have an Eliza. It’s #530.

Susannah: “lily.” I think this name is beautiful, but since my name is Anna it just wouldn’t work for us. It’s not even in the top 1,000.

Una: “one; also; lamb” (pronounced Oona). I found this name in Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery, and it’s also in Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss. It’s a bit too “out there” for our family; I prefer names that aren’t wildly popular but are at least recognizable. Sadly it also reminds me of the game Uno. But I think some people could make it work really well. Not surprisingly, it’s not in the top 1,000 either.

Corinna: “maiden.” This is how I ended up with the middle name Corinne for Eliza. I think Corinna is a pretty name, but I didn’t want to start a trend of C’s with our oldest’s name being Christian. It’s also not a top 1,000 name.

Charlotte: diminutive of Charles, “free man.” Charlotte is a classic name that I like a lot, but again, using it would be setting a “C” precedent for future children, and our friends have a Charlotte who’s just a few weeks older than Christian. It’s #45.

Clara: “bright, clear.” Clara is yet another vintage chic choice that’s very attractive to me, if it weren’t for those same issues of repeating C’s and friends who have a little Clara. It’s #167.

What do you think of these names? And what are some names (boy or girl) you like but won’t ever use for one reason or another? Do tell!

Two Under 2: Things I’ve Learned (Guest Post)

I’m excited to welcome my first guest author in the Two Under 2 series: Jessica Telian of Something Simple. Jessica is the mama of Cedar and Genoa, and I loved reading what she had to say about the experience of mothering two little ones so close together in age. I completely relate to so many of the things she’s shared here… her fifth point was so encouraging for me to reread since Eliza was born. Thank you very much for sharing, Jessica!

I’m still looking for more submissions to this series, so if you’d like to contribute, please email me at annakristine270(at)yahoo(dot)com.

At the end of April, I became the mama of two little ones under the age of two.  My daughter, Genoa, was born when my son, Cedar, was only sixteen months old.  And in the past few months, I’ve learned several things about this challenging, but wonderful, season of my life.

1. It’s probably not going to be as hard as you think it will be: When I was pregnant with Genoa, and mothering Cedar, the thought of multiplying this times two was rather intimidating.  But after Genoa was born, I realized that it doesn’t actually multiply times two and being a mama to two wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.  Granted, this may not apply to everyone, especially if you have extra circumstances like a colicky baby, etc.  But for me, and for several of my friends who also have two under two, it wasn’t nearly as hard as we thought it would be…and I think I know why.  When you have your first baby, everything changes!  You don’t get nearly as much sleep, you can’t do all the things you could before. So when you think of adding another child to everything, you think that the change will be as dramatic as the first since that’s all you have experience with.  But when you transition from one child to two, you’re already in "kid mode".  Things have already changed from having your first so it’s just a matter of figuring out logistics of adding another little person to the mix.

2. Simplify and get a system: This is a big part of figuring out the logistics of adding another little person to the mix.  Simplifying your life and figuring out a system of doing things that works for your family can do a lot for cutting down on the stress of having two littles under two.  For us this means having the diaper bag packed and ready to go at all times.  So when we randomly decide to go out as a family, or when I’m getting ready to go grocery shopping, all I need to do is grab a few diapers off the nearby stack, stuff them in the bag and we’re good to go…one less thing to think about in getting everybody out the door.  Another example is simplifying Cedar’s toys and implementing a routine that keeps them picked up at several times during the day, thus greatly reducing the stress of having a house constantly cluttered with toys.  Basically, think about whatever aspects of your life with littles stresses you out the most and figure out a system that would simplify it and thus make it a little easier for you.  A stressed mama equals stressed kids equals more stress.  Not good!

3. Try to stick with some kind of routine, at least for the mornings: For some people this will be easier than others, but I’ve found that keeping to the same basic routine for at least part of the day really ends up stabilizing both of my littles.  With Cedar taking a long nap in the morning, that has been the best segment of the day to do this with for us.  Granted, there are days where our mornings are thrown completely off, and life happens, and my kids just need to learn to go with the flow.  But trying to plan grocery shopping and going out for the afternoon while leaving our mornings at home usually ends up making the whole day go better.

4. When you go out, if at all possible, don’t rush: This is another one that can’t always happen in all situations, but if it can, it’s a good thing to strive for.  With two littles, everything inevitably takes longer when you go out…two to put in carseats, two diapers to change, etc.  So allow more than ample time.  Knowing that you have that time takes stress off you, which takes stress off them…everyone is much happier.

5. Remember that, sometimes you won’t be able to meet everybody’s needs right away and, that’s okay: A friend gave me this advice when I was pregnant with Genoa and I’ve thought about it often since then.  When you have one baby, you’re usually able to meet his or her needs pretty quickly.  But when you have two, there’s only one you and despite doing all you can do, sometimes you can’t meet both of their needs at once.  Example: you’re changing the toddler’s diaper and the baby starts crying, but you can’t get to her right away so she has to cry alone for a couple minutes.  Or the toddler needs help with something (not urgent), but you’re nursing the baby to sleep and you know that if you move right away, she’ll wake up.  There definitely are things you can do to minimize this happening (like tandem-nursing and baby-wearing), but there will be times where the baby will cry and you can’t get to her right away or the toddler will have to play alone for awhile, and that’s okay.  If, as the mama, you’re stressed out about not being able to meet both babies’ needs every time, your attitude will start to affect everyone else (it always does) and things will start to go downhill fast.

6. Enjoy the riches: In the first several weeks of having two under two, the overwhelming feeling I had was not sleeplessness, or being stretched too thin…it was of being incredibly rich.  Being able to drink in the sweet milky scent of infant and have my baby fall asleep on my chest, and also being able to watch my toddler learn and grow and explore the world…it’s amazing!  Yes, being a mama to two under two definitely has its hard times, but the joys certainly outweigh them. And with each day, I’m seeing more and more that my babies will only be babies for such a short period of time and I want to enjoy each moment I can with them.

There are many more things that the Lord has taught me in this continuing journey of motherhood, but those are the ones that stand out to me.  Bonus tip: read Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic.  Rachel has five littles ages five and under, so she’s definitely been where I’m at.  It’s a short little book, written very casually, but so full of wisdom and encouragement for mamas of littles.

Two Under 2: A Day in the Life

Warning: incredibly long post ahead.

Also, I know I really need more pictures. I just did a whole 1-month-old “photo shoot” with Eliza, but none of them are on this computer.

Thirdly, the random pair of Christian’s little pants in this picture makes me laugh.

Where to begin?

I miss writing… I miss commenting on your blogs (although I’ve still been reading!). I have numerous thoughts to share, sleep-deprived though I am. I have great guest posts in an email folder waiting to be published. I plan to publish them beginning Monday (I hope!).

Life with two… well, it’s been busy, needless to say. Times like this are rare, when both of them are sleeping at the same time for more than 20 or 30 minutes. I have a sweet, riotous toddler who’s had some difficulty adjusting to the new state of things. I have an adorable, precious baby girl who would like to snuggle with me all day long, and I would love to do the same.

My days are quite a whirlwind now. I’m figuring out how to balance everything – the kids’ basic needs are taken care of first, of course, and then the less essential but important things with them like playing, going outside, etc. In between I have to fit in laundry, meal preparation, keeping things picked up, and a little cleaning. And finishing a task without several stops and starts is rare (does that make sense? Again, sleep deprivation…).

Speaking of sleep deprivation, Eliza’s been a little champ. She’s even gone one 6.5-hour stretch already. She basically wakes up once between 11 and 7, although sometimes it takes awhile to get her back to sleep. If I wasn’t so wired from forcing myself awake during the day, I might be able to get more sleep at night. But I feel very blessed she’s not waking me up every 2 hours at night. (Famous last words.)

I think I’m figuring out our new routine, even though 1-month-olds aren’t exactly predictable or schedule-able (new word!). Here’s how it looks:

7:00: Eliza wakes up and eats breakfast. A.J.’s up getting ready for work. (I’m not going to describe his exact schedule though.) I get Eliza and myself (hopefully) dressed for the day, and if I have time I make the bed and tidy up a little, depending on if she lets me.

8:00: Christian wakes up and eats breakfast. I juggle both kids’ needs and try to fit eating my own breakfast and drinking coffee in there somewhere.

8:30: Somewhere around this time Eliza falls asleep, usually while I’m carrying her around. I try to lay her in her glider, or I continue holding her while I eat breakfast. Christian watches his one half-hour movie of the day while I eat and/or clean up the kitchen.

9:00-10:00: I get Christian dressed and brush his teeth and mine. If Eliza’s sleeping, I clean up the living room and start laundry while Christian “helps” me.

10:00: Snack time – we’ve been having green smoothies every day lately. Christian loves it when I say it’s time for his smoothie. He rushes to the cupboard where I keep the blender and says, “Wow!!” because it’s noisy.

10:15-12:00: Kind of a whirlwind of playing with Christian and keeping him out of trouble, feeding Eliza and keeping her happy, catching up on tasks I’m already behind on, making any supper preparations, changing diapers, etc.

12:00: Lunchtime! Eliza’s often taking her second nap by this time, or she might be nursing or wanting to be held. Christian’s in his high chair in the kitchen and I take care of any dishes that need doing and chit-chat with him.

12:30: We hang around waiting for naptime. I try to read to Christian but he’s not having too much of it lately, other than the Bible stories A.J. reads him before bed. Sometimes if I have to feed Eliza at this time, Christian plays in the pack ‘n’ play or in his room with me, because he tends to be a little difficult right before his nap.

1:00: Naptime. Sometimes I get Eliza to sleep too, but more often she’s still awake for awhile and I have one-on-one time with her. She gets some tummy time, we “talk,” and eventually she’ll drift off to sleep. I eat lunch and usually drink another cup of coffee. I should nap and read my Bible during this time, but often I try to get things done or just remain unproductive because I’m so tired.

3:00: Christian usually wakes up by now. It’s snack time for him, and I wash my lunch dishes while he eats.

3:15-4:30: Another whirlwind time period, during which I entertain both kids, finish laundry, and if I’ve had a really crazy day, pick up the house and finish getting myself ready “for the day.”

4:30-5:30: We usually go outside. We don’t have a backyard, but we live on a tiny side street, so Christian walks up and down the street and pushes his dump truck. He loves it. I push Eliza in the stroller, following him closely and keeping him away from the busier road in spite of his vehement protests at being hindered from his chosen path. (Wow. Long sentence, anyone?)

5:30-8:00: I give Christian a bath before dinner if he got extra dirty outside. Or I get him started on his dinner. I used to cook in the evening but I’ve been using my crock-pot almost daily instead. A.J. gets home from work and Eliza’s evening fussy period begins around the same time. We juggle both kids, baths, eating dinner (sometimes in shifts), and keeping Christian from attempting all the forbidden actions he especially likes to try in the evening.

8:00-10:00: Christian goes to bed. Eliza kicks up her fussiness a notch. I’m unable to soothe her and A.J. takes about 30-45 minutes getting her to sleep (seriously, this happens almost every evening). By the time she’s finally asleep, we’re about ready for bed too. We finish any cleaning up that needs to be done and get ready to start all over the next day!

Whew… As you can see, it is crazy around here right now. The most challenging part for me is balancing enjoying my children and getting necessary tasks done. If I’m super task-focused, I’m stressed all day because I can never finish anything I start without being interrupted. But it’s not good for my family either for me to lounge around every day doing nothing but hanging out with them.

I have to keep the house running somewhat smoothly and give them plenty of quality time as well. I need a lot of grace to breathe and enjoy my sweet baby while I’m holding her, without focusing on everything that needs to get done… and then to do what needs to get done when it’s time, without getting frustrated that I can’t sit on the couch staring into Eliza’s eyes every minute of the day.

I think I should end this now! Happy Friday, everyone!

Eliza’s Birth: Epilogue

[continued from part 4]

Eliza was whisked away to the other side of the room so the NICU team could ensure she was breathing well and hadn’t aspirated meconium. She was doing fine, so they cleaned her up and returned her to me. Per a new hospital policy, we were given an hour and a half of bonding time in the delivery room before being moved to recovery, and they didn’t take her to give her a bath until I told them I was ready. Since Christian was whisked away not long after he was born, I absolutely relished getting to hold my baby girl and enjoy her for the first hours of her life.

Even in the midst of my happy bonding state, I was hyper-focused on food and asked A.J. to go find me some soup. He came back with a broccoli cheese Soup-in-Hand and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Who needs elaborate post-labor dinners? I just wanted food! I sipped it while holding my baby and being cleaned up, which makes me laugh to think about now.

My mom had flown down that morning, and she stayed with me in the hospital. In the morning, A.J. brought Christian to meet his little sister. It was a sweet moment. After he’d been there for several minutes and had already “held” her, she started to cry. He burst into sympathy tears and sobbed for a few minutes. We’ll definitely be telling him that story!

We’re so thankful for our little girl, and we’re loving life as a family of four! Thanks for hanging in there with me through this epically long story!

Eliza’s Birth: Finally Here

Part 4

[continued from part 3]

It was 7:00 and time for a shift change, so I said goodbye to my first nurse and met my new nurse. At first I wasn’t sure whether I would like her. She seemed a little tough and not as personable as the first one. But as the evening went on, she grew on me and I ended up liking her a lot. I’ve been blessed in my L&D nurses.

My contractions weren’t peaking at a high enough intensity for me to progress, so it was time to start Pitocin. I’m familiar with the “cascade of interventions,” but I knew the medicine was needed at this point, especially because of the presence of meconium. I asked the nurse to tell me each time she upped the Pitocin, and I was glad I did because she upped it frequently and I wouldn’t have even realized it. I felt in tune with what was happening.

My epidural had never blocked my pain completely, and once the augmentation began I could feel some very painful twinges. For the next hour or two the nurse was in the room almost constantly.

Then Eliza’s heart rate began dropping noticeably with each contraction, and I knew what could end up happening – baby in distress and a dreaded C-section. No one had mentioned this yet, but this situation was hard on the baby and couldn’t go on for long. I asked A.J. to pray for us and it was a very calm, sacred moment in the midst of my labor.

A few minutes later, the nurse returned to check my progress, and uttered the best phrase ever: “You’re complete.”

Hallelujah! I was so happy. It was time to get this baby out. My remaining concern was the intense nausea I was experiencing. I’d barely eaten in the past day, and in spite of Zofran I’d already thrown up a few times. I threw up while pushing with Christian and I was praying that I wouldn’t this time. It makes pushing so much harder.

My midwife came in for delivery, along with one of my doctors who was observing. There were also a few NICU nurses who would be checking Eliza immediately because she’d passed meconium (the same thing that happened when Christian was born).

Pushing was so quick it was almost anticlimactic! I didn’t throw up, and after a few contractions they could already see her head, and A.J. was telling me how close I was. Less than 15 minutes later, she was here!

She was born at 8:22 pm after 20 hours of labor, with a head of dark hair and the cutest cry, weighing 7lb. 15oz., and 20.5 inches long. What a gift from God. I’m so grateful for His protection, and especially for the way things ended after getting tense for a little while.

[concluded in part 5]

Eliza’s Birth: A Game, a Bridge, and a Train

[continued from part 2]

Back out into the sunshine we went. Our hospital is downtown, about 15 minutes from our house, and we have a professional football team in our city. A Sunday afternoon game was just about to start. Our normal route home was blocked, so we followed the detour, which took us right past the stadium and thousands of people tailgating, finding parking spaces, and crisscrossing the streets.

Having hard contractions while in a car wearing a seatbelt is not fun, and watching people drink beer and enjoy the weather wasn’t helping matters. Meanwhile, A.J. got the fun job of inching through a traffic jam with a laboring wife next to him.

By the time we finally got home, my sleeping pills began to kick in. My contractions were now painful enough that I was beginning to vocalize (not scream!) through them. But in between I was completely out of it and kept dozing off, which was so nice and much needed since I’d been awake for over 24 hours.

After a couple hours, I stood up to go to the bathroom and felt something different. I was pretty sure it was my water, and it seemed to have meconium in it. Christian had passed meconium in the womb, and I knew you’re supposed to go to the hospital as soon as possible if you think that’s happened. I told A.J. we definitely needed to go in this time.

On the way, I called my midwife again and she seemed pretty casual and not positive it was my water. This cast doubt in my mind and the whole way there I was analyzing whether it had really broken. I was going to feel so foolish if it hadn’t.

Between our house and the hospital are a drawbridge and train tracks. The drawbridge has never been up once in all of my hospital trips, and my doctor’s office is in the hospital so that’s saying something. Today though, it was up and we had to wait. And there was a train after that. Oh, the irony. I was so done with laboring in the car!

After we arrived, the minute I stood up I had no more doubt about whether my water had broken. We got checked in again and my nurse said she knew I’d be back. My contractions were still 7-10 minutes apart, but it’d been about 15 hours of labor at this point and needless to say, they hurt. I was so thankful for God’s grace in having my water break so there was no doubt about whether I could stay. I couldn’t imagine going through the hospital trip with contractions any closer together or more painful. And I was very tired.

When the nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural I said yes. My only fear was that I still hadn’t progressed and would be getting it too early, but she checked me and said I was at a 5! I’d gotten to a 5 on my own! I was so happy. And then my pain kicked up a notch and the nurse said that was normal now that my water had broken.

Since it was a Sunday afternoon the anesthesiologist wasn’t in-house, so my nurse had to call him in. Thankfully my contractions stayed spaced out so I was able to relax a little in between.

After a blurry hour of pain and waiting, the anesthesiologist arrived. The initial placement didn’t work, so I had to have it replaced, and that strange but welcome numbness finally gave me some relief. My midwife had come in for the first time while my epidural was being placed, and she said I was now at a 7. She left me to rest for a bit.

A couple of hours later, she came back in and we found that I hadn’t progressed at all since her last visit! My contractions had stayed so far apart during my whole labor that getting the epidural probably caused my progress to stall (although the nurse said that wasn’t the reason).

[continued in part 4]

Eliza’s Birth: Home vs. Hospital

[continued from part 1]

Part 2

Even though my midwife had told me it was okay to come in and get checked out, I wasn’t ready yet. Only a few of my contractions had been 5 minutes apart or less. I decided to lie down and they spread out to 7-10 minutes apart again.

They were much too painful to talk through, and at this point I just wanted to work through them alone, which surprised me because I never felt that way during my first labor. So A.J. rested on the couch and I stayed in bed between contractions. During them, kneeling over the exercise ball was very helpful to deal with the pain.

For this labor, I really wanted to intentionally relax and give my body a chance to progress. I was incredibly tense during Christian’s labor. Even after several hours of excruciating contractions 2-3 minutes apart, I was barely dilated and was augmented with Pitocin for the rest of my labor.

Exercising throughout this pregnancy helped amazingly with my physical awareness, and I was trying very hard to breathe through each contraction instead of fighting the pain. As difficult as it was, I felt like I was succeeding so far.

I made it through the next couple hours until Christian woke up and we could use our daytime plan. Our friends from church with three little boys would be watching him. We wanted him to be taken care of before they left for church, so A.J. fed him, got him dressed and packed, and dropped him off while I continued to labor at home.

After he got back, I tried to decide with him whether I should just go in to labor and delivery and get checked out. I was so weary of the pain. My contractions were still 7-10 minutes apart, but I couldn’t imagine dealing with the trip to the hospital while they were closer together. I’d been in labor for about 10 hours. I decided to go in.

It was a perfect, beautiful morning. A.J. dropped me off at registration and went to park. The nurse said she hoped they would keep me since I’d been in labor for so long and was already five days past my due date. Theoretically I wanted to avoid Pitocin, but secretly I thought I wouldn’t mind a little kick start, accompanied by a nice, soothing epidural. It’s funny what pain can do…

We got settled in a room and the nurse hooked me up to monitor my contractions. Then she checked me and to my dismay told me I was only at 2 cm – the same I’d been at my appointment 3 days ago. After 11 hours of labor, this was a huge blow. When she left I tearfully told A.J. that my body didn’t work and I would never progress.

We talked and waited and after awhile A.J. left to find something to eat. While he was gone, the nurse came back to tell me they were sending me home. I wasn’t surprised, but I was very disappointed. I’d told myself I wouldn’t be “one of those people” who assumes they should be in the hospital before it’s time.

I sort of pleaded with my nurse to keep me. She was very nice. One of my doctors had made the decision, of course, but the nurse said if my contractions stayed this painful but didn’t get closer together over the next few hours, I should still come back in and she’d make sure they kept me. Then she gave me a sleep aid. I didn’t want to take it, but those pills ended up being worth the hospital trip to me. They helped me make it through the next few hours.

[continued in part 3]

Eliza’s Birth: Early Labor

I have to wonder how birth stories get written in any reasonable length of time. I didn’t realize how challenging it would be to finish Eliza’s! But Christian’s nap on Saturday coincided with hers and then I had a little extra time while A.J. took him outside, so I was able to get it all down. I wrote a lot – it turned into a five-part story! I really didn’t want to forget anything.

Part 1

Since I didn’t go into labor with Christian until 41 weeks, I was trying not to get my hopes up for an early delivery with Eliza. I had my 40-week appointment on Thursday, September 29th at 40 weeks 2 days. I’d been having mildly painful contractions since 38 weeks.

I had made a little progress, but not anything that seemed to indicate imminent labor. The practice I go to recommends induction at 41 weeks, but we wanted to extend it for a couple more days, so instead I scheduled another appointment for Tuesday, for a non-stress test.

I wasn’t surprised that I hadn’t gone into labor yet. In fact, I was starting to think I would never go into labor before 41 weeks. I anticipated going to that 41-week appointment as if I would undoubtedly still be pregnant.

At 5:00 on Saturday morning I woke up suddenly to my first really painful contraction of the pregnancy, and it was quickly followed by more. They stayed 10 minutes apart for 2 hours, then they stopped completely.

I was so glad this happened on a Saturday morning so I could get some more sleep while A.J. watched Christian. I went to bed around 8 and slept until after 11. Little did I know that was the last time I would sleep for more than a few minutes until after Eliza was born.

It was a beautiful day and we took Christian to the park that afternoon. I was feeling “labor-y” all day but with no real contractions. We went to bed around 11 that night and I was still awake when my contractions started about 12:30.

I was in the living room by myself and I worked through each contraction using a friend’s exercise ball. After the contraction ended, I would get a drink of water and walk around. I remember being relaxed during early labor with Christian, but that was during the afternoon. For some reason I felt very antsy this time.

The main thing on my mind was whether I was going to make it to the morning without having to call our overnight babysitter. We had a kind church friend who was willing to come over and sleep on our couch while we went to the hospital so we wouldn’t have to wake Christian up, but I’d been hoping we could use our daytime plan instead because I really wanted Christian to wake up to his mama or daddy.

After a couple hours, my contractions moved to five minutes apart, and then I had a couple that were three minutes apart. About 4 am, I decided to wake A.J. up. I wasn’t sure if it was “time” or not, but I didn’t want to be alone and in pain anymore.

We decided to start getting things ready. I kept saying I was going to get in the shower to help with the pain, but it seemed like a huge effort and I never did. I finished packing my bag, then I called my doctor. My practice has one midwife. She was the one on call and she said to go ahead and come in.

[continued in part 2]

The beginning of life with two

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and congratulations for Eliza’s birth. I can’t believe she’s eight days old already. Today is my first day on my own with both of my little ones, and it’s going well so far. I’m typing this in scattered fragments.

This week I’d like to get Eliza’s birth story posted and get started on some of the “Two Under 2” guest posts, which I’m looking forward to rereading now that I’m living it!

Something I’m enjoying besides my children is not being pregnant anymore. I can wait to eat breakfast without getting sick, no more Braxton Hicks, I have more stamina, and coffee tastes good again. I wasn’t sleeping in the third trimester anyway so that’s no different.

Eliza’s been a pretty good little sleeper though, and at her five-day appointment she was already over her birth weight. I feel so much more relaxed with her than I did with Christian. I know a routine will eventually fall into place, but for now I’m just enjoying these fleeting newborn days.

Happy Monday, everyone!