Maternity leave-- a crazy, stressful, tiring, and wonderful twelve weeks. I am very lucky to be able to take the full twelve weeks to spend with the girls, even though our bank account is not liking the unpaid portion of it :). John started working for a new law firm on December 1st, and negotiated 1/2 time during the month of December, so he was able to spend a little extra time with us that month too.
Originally, the plan was to have Emma go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house a few days a week but she freaked out and wouldn't let me out of her sight for the first few weeks after Linnea was born. I think me being in the hospital and having to spend time caring for Linnea really threw her off a little. So I ended up having her with me and Linnea for the bulk of the time. For the first few weeks, it was really tiring and tough to take care of both of them. I will admit that we watched a lot of Curious George those first few weeks. But eventually, we found our rhythm and I got more comfortable taking both of them places by myself.
In January, we got into a routine of going and doing some sort of activity in the morning and being back home in time for lunch and naps in the afternoon. I needed this two hour period in the afternoon to nap myself of snuggle with Linnea, so I made sure that we were home for it on most days. I found quite a few preschool/toddler activities that we tried out. Open Gym for preschoolers, aka "Big Open Gym" as we call it, was a huge hit and the place that we ended up going to the most. We played lots of dolls, puzzles, games, and of course watched a lot of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too. We also made lots of cookies, muffins, cupcakes over the course of the three months-- both real and pretend ones! Of course, the polar vortex kept us inside for several days during those really cold weeks in January. Let me tell you that it is not fun to keep a very active two year old inside for several days straight!
Monday, February 10th is my first day back to work. Most people say that going back after the second kid is easier than the first, but I think this one will be just as hard. I'm really sad to leave Linnea since I haven't been away for more than an hour since she was born (before you think I'm some over worried/crazy mom, let me explain that is is only because I refused to pump breast milk before I needed to. I hate pumping so I avoided it for as long as possible.) but I'm also really sad to leave Emma again. It has been a really fun three months playing with her, going places together, hugging and snuggling with her after nap time, laughing at all of the wonderful things she says, and watching her develop. I feel like while working I miss out on so much, so it was really great to be able to have a second maternity leave with her as well as Linnea.
I am excited to be back to work though because watching two kids is really hard work and I think work will be more relaxing in some ways! But I am really freaked out about getting everything done in a days time, so don't be shocked if I never invite you to my house. It is only because my house is a complete disaster and it will probably only get worse once I go back to work. I have come to the realization that something has to give and in my case cleaning is always last on my list-- besides would you rather spend the day at the zoo with two adorable girls or cleaning bathrooms?
Thursday, February 6, 2014
And She 's Here
Friday, November 15, 2013 Jelly Bean decided it was time to make her appearance. And like I was planning, she arrived at 37 1/2 weeks, just like Emma.
Her birth stats:
The short version:
5:00 a.m.- Awoke to contractions that were spaced at 50 seconds and five minutes apart.
6:00 a.m.- We got Emma up and ready to go to Grandma's like a normal Friday (we didn't tell her what was going on at this point).
7:00 a.m.- Arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house to drop off Emma and Chloe and then headed to the hospital.
7:45 a.m.- Checked into the hospital and was dilated to 4 centimeters
8:30 a.m.- We moved over to the labor room with contractions that were pretty consistent.
10:15 a.m. The contractions were really strong and painful and I was dilated to 8 centimeters.
10:30 a.m.- Time to push.
10:46 a.m.- Linnea arrived.
The longer version:
Her birth stats:
Linnea Elizabeth
Born at 10:46 am on 11/15/13
7 pounds 6 ounces
20 inches
Now for the best part, her birth story.
The short version:
5:00 a.m.- Awoke to contractions that were spaced at 50 seconds and five minutes apart.
6:00 a.m.- We got Emma up and ready to go to Grandma's like a normal Friday (we didn't tell her what was going on at this point).
7:00 a.m.- Arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house to drop off Emma and Chloe and then headed to the hospital.
7:45 a.m.- Checked into the hospital and was dilated to 4 centimeters
8:30 a.m.- We moved over to the labor room with contractions that were pretty consistent.
10:15 a.m. The contractions were really strong and painful and I was dilated to 8 centimeters.
10:30 a.m.- Time to push.
10:46 a.m.- Linnea arrived.
The longer version:
I took Friday the 15th off to finish all of my Christmas shopping, wrap presents, and do last minute things before this kid was born. I knew things were going to get really busy, so I was attempting to be ahead of schedule in an attempt to reduce the stress when she finally decided to show up. It was a good thing I took it off because we ended up having a baby that day. One great thing was that I didn't have to worry about going into labor at work (which was a huge fear of mine from day one of this pregnancy).
I woke up a little before 5:00 am with contractions. I started timing them at 5:00 or so and they were already at 50 seconds and five minutes apart. For those who don't know, when your contractions are at this duration and interval for one hour they want you to come in to the hospital. Since, we basically labored the entire time at home and in the car with Emma I wanted to leave right away and get to the hospital to avoid the late arrival that we had with Emma.
Since I don't do well without showering, that was the first thing I did once I figured out what was going on. By now John was awake, and since he knows that I am not a morning person and would not be up showering at 5:00 on my day off, he suspected something was up. He then got ready while I packed that last few items in my bag. I was already more prepared than with Emma-- my bag was 90% packed!
We finally called John's parents to give them the heads up that we would be dropping Emma off extra early today and then proceeded to wake Emma up. We didn't want to worry Emma and since she can't tell time we went on as if it was a normal Friday and she didn't suspect anything. We dropped her and Chloe off at Grandma and Grandpa's at about 7:00 a.m. and then started the trek to the hospital. It is about a 45 minute drive and we weren't sure how traffic was going to be. It was smooth sailing and we arrived at the hospital at about 7:45 a.m. I was still doing fine and was able to walk. With Emma, we arrived so close to the end that I couldn't even walk up to the labor and delivery ward. At this point, I'm thinking, this is already going more smoothly than with Emma.
We started the check in process and they eventually took us to the labor room after getting all of my vitals and monitoring me for about a half hour or so. I was already dilated to four centimeters when we checked in. Since our chart noted that I delivered so fast with Emma, they didn't keep us very long in any one place-- they tried to move right along and get everything situated so things would be ready.
We got to our labor room around 8:30 or so. We had a fabulous nurse who was with us the entire time (since it was such a short delivery). She had one heck of a time trying to find this baby's heart beat. though and spent the bulk of the next two hours attempting to position and keep the fetal monitors on me. They would not stay in one place and catch Linnea's heart rate. With this labor, I was able to try a variety of position to help ease the pain-- the balance ball, bathtub, bed, standing, etc. Nothing seemed to be a stellar position and with all of the problems positioning the monitor, we just kept moving around to different positions hoping to find a good one (which I never found).
I started both of my deliveries with the intention of not wanting an epidural or any medicine and with both of them I got to the point where all I wanted was some drugs ... but unfortunately the point that I was dying for something was way past the point of no return and they wouldn't give me anything. So this time, like with Emma, I went all natural. I really have no good reason for wanting to go without an epidural other than the selfish reason that I didn't want them sticking a needle in my back and I wanted to be able to move around. Also, the body is a pretty amazing thing when it comes to pregnancy, labor, delivery, etc so I felt like by letting my body do its thing it would end up being the best for me and the baby.
By about 10:15 or so the contractions were coming really strong and were getting really painful (of course this was the point where I really wanted drugs). So the nurse checked and I was dilated to 8 centimeters. Another fifteen minutes or so and they told me it was time to go.
Comic relief moment: at this point, I asked John to get my iPhone and play Melissa Ethridge's "I Run for Life" song. I hoped it would give me something to focus on instead of the excruciating pain. He found the phone and found the song on my "Here We Go" play list (this was the play list I created for labor), but hit the wrong button and you couldn't hear it even though it was playing. So he just threw the phone down and told me it wasn't working. John is a very tech savvy guy and it made me laugh to think he was so preoccupied that he couldn't figure out a simple thing like iTunes. Afterwards, he figured out that he hit the button to play it on our Apple TV at home-- obviously, that did us no good at the hospital :).
I pushed for about ten minutes total and those ten minutes were pure pain. I screamed and probably swore too, but I can't say for sure. Linnea arrived at 10:46 and thank god it was only ten minutes of pushing!
John was a rock star as my labor partner and was able to watch her actually being delivered which he tells me was pretty awesome. At one point, the doctor who was directing a resident in the delivery said that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. I could see the look on John's face at this moment and the nurse basically told them to stop talking about it so it wouldn't worry me. It ended up not being a big deal at all, but we laughed afterward because I knew what John was thinking at this point. The nurse needed to be more worried about him than me.
Because of the gestational diabetes, they had to take Linnea's blood sugars right away to make sure that they weren't too low. Of course, they were so we had to give her formula right away to get enough food into her to bring the sugars back up as soon as possible. Luckily, they came up enough so that we didn't need to worry about it after the first twelve hours. But her poor foot had so many pricks on it.
This delivery was almost identical to Emma's in so many ways but was so different at the same time. Fate decided to give me a break after such a long nine months of being pregnant and make it a fairly easy labor, which I was very thankful for. It was great to finally meet her and hold her in my arms.
Here are a couple photos of her on the first day:
Since I don't do well without showering, that was the first thing I did once I figured out what was going on. By now John was awake, and since he knows that I am not a morning person and would not be up showering at 5:00 on my day off, he suspected something was up. He then got ready while I packed that last few items in my bag. I was already more prepared than with Emma-- my bag was 90% packed!
We finally called John's parents to give them the heads up that we would be dropping Emma off extra early today and then proceeded to wake Emma up. We didn't want to worry Emma and since she can't tell time we went on as if it was a normal Friday and she didn't suspect anything. We dropped her and Chloe off at Grandma and Grandpa's at about 7:00 a.m. and then started the trek to the hospital. It is about a 45 minute drive and we weren't sure how traffic was going to be. It was smooth sailing and we arrived at the hospital at about 7:45 a.m. I was still doing fine and was able to walk. With Emma, we arrived so close to the end that I couldn't even walk up to the labor and delivery ward. At this point, I'm thinking, this is already going more smoothly than with Emma.
We started the check in process and they eventually took us to the labor room after getting all of my vitals and monitoring me for about a half hour or so. I was already dilated to four centimeters when we checked in. Since our chart noted that I delivered so fast with Emma, they didn't keep us very long in any one place-- they tried to move right along and get everything situated so things would be ready.
We got to our labor room around 8:30 or so. We had a fabulous nurse who was with us the entire time (since it was such a short delivery). She had one heck of a time trying to find this baby's heart beat. though and spent the bulk of the next two hours attempting to position and keep the fetal monitors on me. They would not stay in one place and catch Linnea's heart rate. With this labor, I was able to try a variety of position to help ease the pain-- the balance ball, bathtub, bed, standing, etc. Nothing seemed to be a stellar position and with all of the problems positioning the monitor, we just kept moving around to different positions hoping to find a good one (which I never found).
I started both of my deliveries with the intention of not wanting an epidural or any medicine and with both of them I got to the point where all I wanted was some drugs ... but unfortunately the point that I was dying for something was way past the point of no return and they wouldn't give me anything. So this time, like with Emma, I went all natural. I really have no good reason for wanting to go without an epidural other than the selfish reason that I didn't want them sticking a needle in my back and I wanted to be able to move around. Also, the body is a pretty amazing thing when it comes to pregnancy, labor, delivery, etc so I felt like by letting my body do its thing it would end up being the best for me and the baby.
By about 10:15 or so the contractions were coming really strong and were getting really painful (of course this was the point where I really wanted drugs). So the nurse checked and I was dilated to 8 centimeters. Another fifteen minutes or so and they told me it was time to go.
Comic relief moment: at this point, I asked John to get my iPhone and play Melissa Ethridge's "I Run for Life" song. I hoped it would give me something to focus on instead of the excruciating pain. He found the phone and found the song on my "Here We Go" play list (this was the play list I created for labor), but hit the wrong button and you couldn't hear it even though it was playing. So he just threw the phone down and told me it wasn't working. John is a very tech savvy guy and it made me laugh to think he was so preoccupied that he couldn't figure out a simple thing like iTunes. Afterwards, he figured out that he hit the button to play it on our Apple TV at home-- obviously, that did us no good at the hospital :).
I pushed for about ten minutes total and those ten minutes were pure pain. I screamed and probably swore too, but I can't say for sure. Linnea arrived at 10:46 and thank god it was only ten minutes of pushing!
John was a rock star as my labor partner and was able to watch her actually being delivered which he tells me was pretty awesome. At one point, the doctor who was directing a resident in the delivery said that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. I could see the look on John's face at this moment and the nurse basically told them to stop talking about it so it wouldn't worry me. It ended up not being a big deal at all, but we laughed afterward because I knew what John was thinking at this point. The nurse needed to be more worried about him than me.
Because of the gestational diabetes, they had to take Linnea's blood sugars right away to make sure that they weren't too low. Of course, they were so we had to give her formula right away to get enough food into her to bring the sugars back up as soon as possible. Luckily, they came up enough so that we didn't need to worry about it after the first twelve hours. But her poor foot had so many pricks on it.
This delivery was almost identical to Emma's in so many ways but was so different at the same time. Fate decided to give me a break after such a long nine months of being pregnant and make it a fairly easy labor, which I was very thankful for. It was great to finally meet her and hold her in my arms.
Here are a couple photos of her on the first day:
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