he's here!!!!

Sorry for the lack of updating. I always get very anti-social and snarky and overly emotional at the end of my pregnancies and this go around it was off the chart, so for the sake of everyone I pretty much decided to follow my dad's advice of "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

The Birth Story:

In the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, May 29th I had the baby!!! Despite my contractions being so far apart that the hospital staff almost didn't believe I was really in labor, the labor went by really fast- just under 3.5 hours. At my appointment on Tuesday, May 24th I went ahead and let the midwife check me even though I wasn't planning on it. She said I was 2-3cm and that the baby was REALLY low (that part I already knew.) I had been having some contractions so it was nice to know something was happening even if it wasn't a great indicator of when labor would kick in. Saturday the 28th was a really rough day for me. I'd been having contractions for days and they were decently strong- enough that I had to stop and breath and remind myself to relax through them, but they didn't last very long and after a couple hours they seemed to fade away. My husband kept telling me that I probably was in labor, but that I'd done it so many times it just didn't seem like a big deal to my body anymore and that I'd probably wake up one morning with a baby next to me- wondering how he got there. lol. Anyway, by Saturday afternoon I was an uncomfortable, emotional wreck and I huffed and puffed off and on all day having hard but short contractions for a couple hours at a time before they would die out, really dreading labor (which isn't really like me), but at the same time being so sick of being at the miserable feeling end of the pregnancy and wanting to move on. At 11:30pm my hubby and I were laying in bed watching tv and I had a *really* hard contraction and I just lost it. I started crying hysterically and saying, "I don't want to do this!!!" and just panicking in general....all signposts of the start of the transition stage of labor, and I knew this, but I also kept thinking that there was no way I could be at that stage because I didn't feel like I had been in "active" labor yet since my contractions weren't lasting that long and they seemed to come and go. However, after another one or two contractions that again, didn't last very long but were really intense, I went ahead and just said, "I think we should go to the hospital." and he agreed. He woke up the kids and ran them to his friend's house while I labored at home and waited for him to come back and pick me up. I started shaking during my contractions just a bit at this point, but didn't have too hard of a time staying relaxed. Eventually, he made it back and we headed to the hospital.
We arrived at around 12:30am and headed up to L&D. Of course they made me go into triage and hooked me up to the stupid belt monitors and someone who "said" she was a midwife (I think she was a student) checked me and said I wasn't having that hard of contractions (um, hello! do you see me shaking violently over here?) and that they weren't really coming one on top of each other (which that I knew) and that I was at 4cm and she was going to have the head midwife on duty come check me. Less than five minutes go by and before the head midwife comes to check me and says I'm at 7cm and 100% effaced. That kind of caught me off guard cause I kept thinking, "How did I go from 2-3cm to 7cm without being in active labor? That makes no sense!" lol. I went ahead and asked to get fluids started so I could get an epidural. Looking back, I'm a.) surprised they gave me one since I was already so far along and b.) think I only said I wanted one because it was the self-doubt transition stage talking and that if I had had a better midwife or doula with me to reassure me I wouldn't have felt the need for one. (No offense to my husband on that, because he was wonderfully supportive and encouraging, but sometimes nothing a man says to you in labor means as much as it would coming from another female who has been there before herself.) Never the less, they put one in, but epidurals take awhile before they take effect...and right after the anesthesiologist got everything in place, my water broke which always happens right before I start pushing and this time was no different. They didn't even have time to put a catheter in before I was grunting and making small pushes. (Fine by me since I didn't want one anyway.)
I pushed him out laying on my side cause I knew there was no way I'd be able to lay on my back with my joint issues. All the midwives and nurses basically just stood back and let me do my own thing which was awesome. They didn't really coach me or tell me what to do. Afterwards they were saying that they were amazed at how well I did and that I had such great control during pushing and that it was obvious that I knew exactly what my body was doing and where things were at with me and that I just didn't really need any help. :) It felt pretty amazing to hear that kind of praise, but it also made me a little sad cause they obviously don't get to see many natural, non-medicalized births because the female body TOTALLY does know what to do in about 90% of births. It really does go that smoothly when you just leave things alone.



Hickory Rutledge Wing was born at 2:49am on Sunday, May 29, 2011 weighing 8lbs 12 oz and 22 in long with no real interventions, no tears, no nothing. He did have the cord wrapped twice around his neck pretty tightly and they all said he was pretty blue when he first came out, but they quickly slipped the cord up and over his head and he was fine. Nothing on the monitors ever showed him having reduced heart rate or being in distress or anything. (I think people don't always realize that a cord around the neck isn't that uncommon and that it doesn't automatically mean imminent danger. Maybe if he had been in the birth canal a long time it could have gotten that way, I don't know, but never the less- it doesn't automatically mean the worst.)



He's the second smallest baby out of my four sons, and he's precious and wonderful. I'm still adjusting to my life being all about nursing the babe, and true to my track record at 2 weeks post partum I'm feeling quite lumpy and frumpy since I still have 20 pounds to go till my pre-preggers clothes will fit again, but all in all I'm the typical happy but tired new mom.

date night hair

I'm in a little bit of fragile pregnant emotions mode right now. I had the most stressful day in a long line of stressful days with my three kiddos today. I had texted my husband to say how overwhelmed I was and he responded that he already had a babysitter lined up for the night and we were going out to dinner! Aside from the timing being dead on, my husband has never planned a date out A.)without me telling him to take me out, and B.)done any of the arrangements on his own. He is a really great man and wonderful husband, but planning dates just isn't his forte, so this news on this day was amazing.

I kept the kids busy for a bit before I started to work on my hair and I had literally just finished and was about to lay on a good shellac of hairspray when the phone rang. It was my sweet husband, calling to say that there was a situation at work and we weren't going to be able to go out tonight after all. Despite his reassurances that it's all good to go for tomorrow night instead, I couldn't help but sit on the edge of the tub and cry my little preggo eyes out. Never the less, my hair looks good and I want photographic evidence of it.

front:

back:

Those stinkin' french twists are tougher than they look! I'm sure it doesn't help that I haven't really had hair long enough to do one in YEARS so it's completely foreign to me.

My husband has no clue when he'll be able to get home. I'm going to guess it'll be after the kids go to bed, so I need to get some sort of dinner going now that it's 7pm.

second trimester! thank goodness!

Whew! That first trimester was a doozy! There's certainly many a preggo that has had a worse time, but I'm still extremely grateful for the nausea and exhaustion to have gone by the wayside. I just hit the 14 week point this past Monday and true to my previous pregnancies I have rounded out early and it is getting near painful to squeeze into my pants even with them completely unzipped and with the aid of a bella band, and the majority of my shirts are totally out of the question. I'd looked and looked and looked online at maternity clothes and none of them are "me." Not only are the all quite modern, but they all seem to be quite trendy. I've been hard pressed to even find things I would deem as "classic." However, the other night I scored two vintage maternity patterns from the early 1950's on good ol' ebay.

I've never made a shirt before so I must admit that is quite intimidating, but the skirts look incredibly easy (not to mention comfortable!) I just need to start looking for fabric! Since I'm due at the end of May, it'd be nice if I had something that could take me from winter to spring. Perhaps I'll just make the blouse a solid white...nothing like a crisp, white blouse. So easy to dress up or dress down. Any ideas on fabric for the skirt? I'm torn between some grey suiting and a more casual cotton.

off the style wagon

Oh my, oh my have I fallen off the style wagon in the last month or so, but with a good excuse! I am expecting again!!! Atomik offsping #4 will be making an appearance late spring/early summer of next year and between the hormones, the exhaustion, the morning sickness, expanding waistline and all the regular stuff of being a wife and homemaker and homeschooling mother to three little boys.....keeping the retro of it all has not be very high on my priority list. After all, in between the constant fear of tossing your cookies and my own mother-fears that I will fail at teaching my children to read and thus set them up for a lifetime of failure that I will be personally responsible for (are all homeschooling moms as neurotic as I am, or is this the hormones talking?), I just haven't had it in me to wear much outside of yoga pants and pony tails.

However, now I'm in the place of recognizing the frumpy depths to which I have fallen and am resolving to find SOMETHING that fits my already round belly and get back to setting my hair. Undoubtedly I will have to make some adjustments to the wardrobe I sport, but something that fits no matter what your size are accessories!! My favorite being hair flowers and Belle Blossoms is currently having a giveaway!!!! Included in the booty is everything from flowers to feather, bow to cherries. Get on over there before the 31st and enter!