The Marathon

As stated in my previous post, I did park myself in front of the television on Saturday evening to catch some of the women's marathon in Beijing. I was having a great time, watching it with Hubby and our friends Bobbi & Steve, cheering on my girl, Deena Kastor, checking in once in a while to see how things were going. Then, it happened. About 3 miles into the race, there's Deena, on the side of the course, holding her foot. No, no, no...ugggghhhh! So, yes...she dropped out of the race, and that ended my enjoyment of the women's marathon. Now, I'm looking forward to watching the men's marathon this coming Saturday evening. My sights are set on Ryan Hall winning this thing, and I'll also cheer on Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenhein. Go USA!

Week-long Update

Wow, time is really flying by fast! I'm not sure where this past week went (besides spending hours sitting on the couch feeding someone), but I can't believe it's Friday already!

Let's see: A little catching up. Oh, I just downloaded pictures of Peanut from last weekend when she helped her Daddy change the brakes on his truck. She was the tire-cleaning assistant...

...and also added fun to the task by wearing the tire bolts (or whatever they're called) and saying, "Look, Daddy! I have big fingers!"She adds a great deal of fun to our lives, and we love it! :o)

My little man had his two-week check-up today and passed with flying colors! He now weighs in at 10 pounds, 13 ounces and is 22 & 3/4 inches long. I call him my "super nurser", since it seems that's all he wants to do (yup, he's a boy!), and he actually sleeps well at night! Amazing! He also graced us with his first smiles yesterday (actually, he smiled for Daddy), which was neat to see.

Having a new baby in the house is still a bit of an adjustment, especially for my little Peanut. While she loves her brother dearly, you can tell she is struggling with some jealousy when visitors come over. She gets upset when people look at him and makes it known (especially to approaching strangers in stores) that they "can't look at my baby!" Hmmm. While at times it's kind of funny, it can also be embarrassing when you have a little girl yelling and crying in public. We'll have to work on this one. :o)

So, we've been spending our evenings relaxing and taking in the Olympic games, especially Michael Phelps' races, some of the gymnastics, and women's volleyball. Pretty amazing stuff so far! I'm getting pumped for the start of the track races (today!), the women's marathon (this Saturday at 7:30pm ET...you know where I'll be parking myself), and the men's marathon (the following weekend). I can't wait! Oh, and on a side note: Just the other day, my daughter pulled out a page from my husband's ESPN magazine and said, "Hey Mommy, look! It's you!" While I secretly wished I was a famous athlete in a sports magazine, it was really a photo of Allyson Felix.Even though our skin tones are not quite the same, I still felt good about that comparison. :o) Now I'm really looking forward to my first run and eventually first race post-baby!

Enjoy the weekend, and we'll try to keep the posts coming! :o)

A Birth Story

Caedon is 1 week old today, and we are slowly adapting to life with two children. Thank God, Danae has been the best, most helpful big sister...much better than we could have imagined.

So, how did our new little (well, big) boy come into the world? Here's the skinny:

I was having a few contractions last Tuesday (July 29), but nothing organized or strong. Early Wednesday morning brought somewhat stronger contractions, but once again, nothing really organized or that I couldn't handle. Danae got up way too early, so she climbed into bed with me and we slept until almost 9am. (How nice that was!) :o) Contractions had pretty much ceased at that point. Wednesday afternoon brought some more mild contractions, so toward the later afternoon I decided to get some of our mowing done (don't worry...I do the riding mower) in an effort to get some more contractions going. Well, by the time I was done Hubby arrived home from work, and contractions were stronger. He finished the mowing while I got dinner ready and showered. We started timing the contractions around 6pm that evening, and they were consistently 2-4 minutes apart and strong (as in, I couldn't talk during them). We called Birth Care after about an hour or two of timing, and the midwife (MaryBeth) said to come in. We arrived there around 9pm, and I was 6 centimeters dilated and about 80% effaced. I labored in the jacuzzi (awesome!) and in the bed. (Obviously, the pain grew stronger as my body dilated, and the pain...well, let me just say thank GOD for the Bradley Method and my husband, because if we didn't know proper relaxation techniques, deep breathing, and his coaching skills, then I wouldn't have made it through.) Around 11:45pm, I felt some pressure, as if I wanted to push. I was 9 centimeters, but my water had not broken. MaryBeth broke my water, and within seconds the urge to push was HUGE! After 4 pushes and 16 minutes, Caedon was born.

Our experience at Birth Care and with MaryBeth was absolutely wonderful. All of my nervousness about pain tolerance, length of labor, etc. was all for nothing, because God truly worked all of it out PERFECTLY! We had a big, healthy boy after a relatively short labor/birth, I didn't tear AT ALL (which completely shocked me), Caedon latched on at the first try of nursing (and seems to not want to stop eating) :o), I'm recovering quickly and feeling relatively good, and things are going as well as can be expected at home. What more could I ask for?

Seriously, thank you SO MUCH for your thoughts and prayers, and thanks to all of you who have sent/given gifts, cards, meals, visits, and phone calls. It's such a blessing to be surrounded by people who love and care like you do. And a BIG thank you needs to be sent out to my Mom, who stayed with us for a few days. We realized afterward that her help with the house/laundry, Danae, and the baby allowed us to get the post-birth rest we needed while not having to ship our daughter out the door (which is what we wanted to avoid). So, while she will probably want to kill me for posting a picture of her, here's to you, Nana! :o)

I've fallen for a little man!

We've had a busy week, but we're back!

The three of us (Hubby, Peanut, and myself) are proud to announce the safe arrival of Caedon David on Thursday, July 31.
Our little man arrived at 12:01am. He weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 15 ounces and is 22 inches long. Yeah, we were a bit shocked, too. :o)

Since we are a little bit occupied with nursing, getting along with others, and trying to cat-nap when possible, the "labor story" will have to wait for a later post. But, I will try my hardest to do that really soon!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers...they really helped out!

The "D-Day"

Well, today's the official D-Day...and still no baby! At yesterday's weekly appointment, I was about 2.5-3 centimeters dilated and about 60% effaced. Not much different from the previous week's appointment, but hey, at least we're getting somewhere! :o) I was almost 4 centimeters and 80% effaced for almost a whole week when I had my Peanut, so I know to take things with a grain of salt this time!

I've tried many of the natural labor induction methods that you may have heard of, including drinking red raspberry leaf tea (drank an entire box within a week), taking evening primrose oil, walking, walking, and more walking...but not much is happening. Just goes to show that no matter what you do, nothing can change the birthday plans that God has in store! :o)

Have a happy Tuesday, and stay tuned (hopefully!) for a labor story!

The ABC's and other milestones

Last Tuesday, my daughter shocked me (no, not literally...that would be bad). As we snuggled and were getting ready to enter mid-day dreamland, she told me she wanted to sing a song. This is what I heard:

It took me a second to realize I wasn't dreaming and that my little baby of almost 3 years is really turning into a little girl before my very eyes! Seriously...where DOES the time go???

I'm also happy to report that Peanut is officially and FULLY potty-trained! Yup, that means no more diapers for bedtimes (even overnight), and the business from the backend is even done on the potty. It's amazing what a "We'll buy you a big toy" bribe can do in a matter of a few weeks. :o) She chose her prize and got it last week: a stuffed dinosaur from Build-A-Bear. No, really...that's what she chose, and now Dinosaur is involved in decision-making and all kinds of daily activities and outings. I'll get a picture on here once I remember to take one. :o)

Now, the last thing to accomplish this month would be...you guessed it, labor and delivery! Oh, that and still picking a name for this little boy. All will come in good time, I'm sure! :o)

Two weeks to go...or maybe less!

I had my weekly prenatal visit yesterday, and while I was secretly hoping that the midwife would tell me I was, let's say, 5 centimeters dilated, I really didn't have my hopes up. I was happy that I'm about 50% effaced and around 1.5 centimeters dilated, so at least this butterball is working on coming out! :o)

Usually I'm not a huge proponent of babies coming too early, but there are a number of factors to consider. 1) My "due date" is two weeks from today, so I'm out of the "pre-term labor" zone. I wouldn't consider this "too early" anymore. 2) He's bigger than average right now, and there wouldn't be any worries about lung development or anything like that. 3) It's hot outside, and most days I feel like a big, sweaty beast that would like to shed several pounds and feel better. 4) I just submitted my last two grants that are due this month, and now I don't have any deadlines to meet until September 1 (thank God for that one!). So now I'll have a bit more time to feed my hunger to clean everything in site even more. :o)

I think we are all pretty much ready for this boy to be born. My Peanut has started asking when he's coming, and she demonstrates how she'll hold him, burp him, teach him things (such as hopping on one foot), and play with him. We're thinking she's going to be a great big sister, and we're excited to see her reaction when they meet. The only thing is that she told my friend Sarah and I that she was going to feed her brother the same way Sarah feeds her baby daughter (nursing). Hmm...not sure how to explain that one to a two year old, but we'll get around it somehow. :o)

So, as we await this life-changing occasion, we'd LOVE your prayers for a great labor (a.k.a. a really easy & short one), adaptability within our family, no postpartum "blues", and a speedy recovery. Oh, and thanks so much to those of you who sent in name suggestions! While we haven't yet decided on one name, we are narrowing it down and are almost there! :o)