Wednesday, September 3, 2014

What Blog?

It has been over a year and I feel like I really need to try to get back into journaling. It will be out of order and somewhat random, but the sweet critters are growing so fast; it would be a shame to not write a little.
I guess I should start with my most recent craftiness (growing a human!) I tried to take quite a few pictures during my pregnancy, feeling like it would be my last time. Overall, my pregnancy with Callen was really great. I had to rely on good ol' zofran here and there for nausea, and when I wanted to go out and eat without feeling gross, but the nausea ended after the first trimester. I carried him really high, so it seemed sitting up was more comfortable than lying down, but I had no heartburn, and my hormones just seemed very happy. Food tasted SO so good. I would drop off Beckett at preschool and call Bridget, "Where are we going to lunch?!" She would watch me devour jalapenos and fries and sandwiches and waffles and cupcakes and salads in wonder. Yes, I gain a lot of weight when I'm pregnant, but I really enjoy that food, and it was such a major pleasure this time around. I also know that—even with a disciplined diet—I will gain at least 45 pounds and it will take a year to come close to my pre-pregnancy body, so I live it up!








I talked about waiting for him to make his grand entrance, but as 40 weeks approached, I grew a little impatient, and my mom was in town, so I opted for an induction. I truly felt he was getting big in there, and my doctor didn't sound thrilled about the risks of letting me go too much longer anyway. On April 18th, sandwiched right between my birthday and Travis', we went in around 9 am. It was a busy morning in the hospital so we didn't get rocking and rolling until after 10. Honestly, I was fairly agitated that day. I always get anxious and worried that something might be wrong (Travis reminds me this is just part of my process!), and everyone starring at me and waiting for the big show just made me grouchy. We hung out chatting and reading magazines (thanks, doula Bridget) and eating lots of snacks on the sly while I awaited progression. I labored pretty hard for a couple hours, between my hesitation about going natural and then getting an epidural that didn't seem to be working. Once the happy juice kicked in, it was all smiles and laughter, and the whopping 9 lb 11 oz bundle of yum arrived (just before 5 pm).





The difference between baby 1 and 4 is that I soaked up any opportunity in recovery to be pampered and served. I think I may have accidentally referred to it as a 'hotel' stay a few times the months prior to delivery. I let the nurses take care of him a little at night so that I could rest, and ordered plentiful meals and 'spritzers' (sprite/ginger ale mixed with cranberry juice). Surprisingly, he only ate every 4 to 5 hours in the hospital, but I wasn't about to force a healthy, chubby baby to eat on the clock.

That Sunday, Easter morning, the kids came up to the hospital in their cute fancy clothes that Grandma and Grandpa Thomson had bought them and we left as a family. One thing that I think a lot of people don't talk about (and maybe it's not this way for everyone) is how much you crave time to just bond with the newborn. You have all these emotions of worrying that your older kids will do well with the transition, and you miss them, but you just want to soak up all that newborn goodness. It was very kind of Granberry and Bridget to keep the older kids down at the Bedoyas so Travis and I could have a quiet house for the first afternoon home with Callen.