Random Ryan

Yesterday Ryan and I were playing Birthday Party by making cakes out of legos and singing to each other. I asked him how old he would be for his next birthday. His response: "Becember". I think he means that his birthday is in December, which I have only told him a couple of times! He does not respond with a number to this question ever.

Today Ryan was playing with "Nugget" his baby doll. He was trying to nurse the baby, but said that his boobies were too small, and asked if I would feed the doll. I attempted a through the shirt fake out, but the little guy was on to me, and told me to lift my shirt. I said that he needed Ryan to feed him. We ended up getting the baby a bottle from my stash, and now Nugget is a strictly fake formula fed doll. I've got enough on my hands with little Miss Indi eating all the time, I don't need to pretend to nurse anybody else! Ryan is always very diligent about burping Nugget after each feeding, and replacing his binkie in his mouth. I love watching Ryan's creativity develop!

In Indigo news, she is getting chubby. Today while perched on a shopping cart, the roughness of the ride made her little cheeks jiggle like a basset hound. It was disturbing and cute all at once. Oh, and the mid-thigh roll has made it's appearance. Hooray for baby fat!

One Month Old

I'm a few days late with my post, but some people count 4 weeks as a month, and others wait until the day of, so whatever: my baby is a month old.

She weighed 8 lbs 6 1/4 oz at her check up, and was 20 inches tall. I don't think this counts as 1 1/2 inches of growth since birth, I just think the nurses are more able to get her legs to stretch our for a more accurate measurement. The lovely outfit was provided by Grammy and promptly scarred with a mega diaper blowout following this photo shoot.

3 weeks old and Grammy's visit

Claudia does not like to share her Grammy. She slept with my mom through the entire visit.

Mama Bear Moment

Everybody knows that you don't corner a mother bear with her cubs. I got cornered today, and my instincts definitely took the fight path at full force. After dropping my mom off at the airport after an amazing 10 day visit, I stopped at the cell phone parking lot to nurse Indigo, who had starting squalling at top volume. I moved from the driver's seat to the front passenger seat to allow myself more space, but left the keys in the ignition to allow Ryan to continue listening to his music. All of a sudden, an older man opened my driver's door and started to get into my car! I had my left boob in my daughter's mouth, and was mostly uncovered. I screamed at him in my most authoritative tone, "What are you doing? Get out of my car!!!". He was obviously as flustered as me, simply getting into the wrong car. His car was next to mine, and he drove away in embarrassment. I then broke down in tears, since I was so scared and startled. I thought I was about to be car jacked by a 70-something man in broad daylight!

Lesson learned- ALWAYS lock the car, even when you are in it! I was nervous of locking the kids in the car, since I was shuffling myself around, but maybe next time Ryan will have to wait for more music. :)

Boys Versus Girls

Nobody warned me about the mess. This cute little baby generated the above pile of laundry in a mere twenty minutes! We were alone for a bit, and she came at me with a barrage of bodily fluids, taking out the bouncy seat and my clothing on the way. Ryan was never THIS bad. At least when he peed on me, it was a nice stream that I could dodge, Indi is more of a soak and submerge pee-er.

Due Date- 40 weeks

These pictures were taken on Sunday, August 29, Nugget's real due date. Yes, I'm behind on posts, but I have 2 kids now, so computer time is much less than it used to be. Give me time to adjust, we'll see if we can avoid second child syndrome with the photos.

Introducing Indigo Joy

The following post contains details of labor and delivery. Do not read if you will be put off by details, but I know many of you are interested in this stuff.

It all started at 5:30 AM on Thursday, August 19.

I went in Ryan's room to "tuck up" his covers which he had removed so he could go back to sleep. He has been asking for the baby's crib for the past few nights, and we have been accommodating. Maybe he knew that Indi was on her way. As I bent to cover him, I felt a flush of amniotic fluid, not a gush, just enough to get my attention. I woke Jeff, took a shower, and called the triage nurse. She said to head on into the hospital, even though my contractions were very light and more than 10 minutes apart. We took our time going, stopping for coffee and a scone from Starbucks on the way. Ryan does not like to get up in the morning, so we packed him up in PJ's and managed to forget his shoes at home.

We arrived at triage at 8:15 AM, my contractions were a bit heavier, but still not very painful. I just took some deep breaths and focused on whatever inanimate object caught my attention at the time to get through them. After assessment, I was declared "admitted" at 5-6 cm of cervical dilation (you have to be 10 to have the baby). We were escorted by soft spoken nurse Shirley to our room on the next floor. I had a few more contractions, and sat up in the bed as my midwife, Rebecca, came into the room. I felt a "pop" which I thought was audible to others, and the rest of my water broke. It was 10 AM. I went to the restroom and had a huge contraction. When I returned to my bed, nurse Shirley put an IV access into my arm-just in case. Nothing was hooked up to it, and she noted the time on the bandage, 10:15. I then had the worst contraction, which caused me to yell and cuss and ask for medication. I had another contraction and was yelling for meds. Rebecca said, "We need to check you first". Well, I had dilated to 10, and was ready to deliver the baby, so no pain meds for me!! Just yelling (enough that my throat was sore later) and crazy amounts of pushing. I delivered my daughter while laying on my left side. Poor Jeff was contorted onto the bed in front of me, supporting my top leg and helping my pelvis to maximize the stretch for Indigo to pass through. Rebecca placed my hand on Indi's head, and I pushed into my hand. It was surreal. Indigo was born at 11:01 AM. Our birth team was amazing. They followed my birth plan to the letter without question--no lights, no meds for baby, no bath, skin to skin contact as much as possible, and Indigo stayed with me the entire time.

Indigo has beautiful dark straight hair, and cloudy blue eyes. Her head is perfectly round, and her petite body is perfect in every way. We came home on Friday afternoon, and have been blissfully snuggling, bathing, and learning to eat since then.

Thank you to all our well-wishers and friends. We are a very blessed family of FOUR.