Rubyanna Diane

Writing out my children's birth stories is something that I have wanted to be intentional about doing  because it will help me to remember the little details in the future when time has passed and memories have faded.  I also want to write out their birth stories because a child coming into the world is always a miracle and a gift and I think it is something to be celebrated.

When we found out we were pregnant with our second child we were elated!  I remember feeling so incredibly happy and thankful.  I was overwhelmed by what a gift it was to be able to carry another baby.  My first trimester was relatively similar to what it had been with Harrison.  I felt I was a little more nauseous this time around, but never actually had to throw up.  Harrison and I had a lot of slow mornings and spent a lot of time snuggling on the couch together.  I was also a bit more emotional throughout the entire pregnancy.  Right before Christmas we got to have an ultrasound to see our baby and it was so wonderful to get to see the heartbeat!  We were so excited to get to tell our family and friends about this new baby.  We told our parents and siblings at our Christmas gatherings and then slowly started sharing with more friends and family as the first trimester came to a close.  The second and third trimesters flew by.  We bought a house in April and moved in when I was 34 weeks pregnant in June.  The next weeks were a blur of unpacking, organizing, and checking things off of the house and baby to-do lists.  

After having a C-section with Harrison, I was absolutely thrilled when I found out this baby was in the head down position at 36 weeks.  This meant that I would be able to pursue a VBAC which was something I really wanted.  Getting to experience a real labor was important to me and I was thankful that it looked like I would get the chance to do that!  

My parents decided to come up to visit the weekend before my due date.  They arrived Friday night with frozen lemonades and we talked about what we could do the next day for fun.  I went to bed that night expecting to get a good night of sleep because I hadn't noticed any real pattern to contractions I was feeling.  Some of the days earlier in the week I had contractions that would be somewhat regular for a little while and then would taper off.  I remember waking up around 3:30 or so to use the bathroom and had contractions off and on for the rest of the night.  Harrison came into our room around 7:30 and had soaked through his diaper so I got out of bed to get him cleaned up.  As soon as I stood up my water broke.  My water breaking was the only experience of labor that I had with Harrison so it was a familiar feeling, but I wasn't convinced enough to call the hospital until about 8:00.  They said I should come in and see if it was in fact my water that had broken so I woke up Michael and filled my parents in on what was happening.  I was also tracking my contractions but just as it had been the previous days, any pattern that I saw eventually tapered off.  It took us a long time to leave our house.  Michael apparently didn't realize we were told to go in right away so he was taking his time wanting his hair cut, trimming up his beard, and leisurely getting ready for the day.  Meanwhile I was finishing packing hospital bags and making sure my parents had everything they would need for Harrison.  Once Michael was ready, I jumped in the shower fast and he finished packing his things.  We finally got to the Mother Baby Center at 10:00 and got checked in.  Our nurse Lori took us to an exam room where I changed into my hospital gown and got hooked up to monitor our baby and my contractions.  Then she ran the test to see if my water had broken and checked to see how progressed I was.  It was determined that my water had broken and I was 60% effaced and 1 1/2 cm dilated.  We also spoke to Lori about things that were important to us with our birth plan like Michael announcing Baby's gender and getting to cut the cord, skin to skin after birth, and pursuing a natural labor without pain medications if possible.  We were open minded about the potential of needing pain medications since I  didn't know what to expect, but we wanted to avoid them if we could.

At this point the doctor who was on call (Doctor Webster) came in to talk with us about our VBAC plan and to answer any questions we had.  My water breaking before any real labor contractions had started made it more likely that my labor would end in a repeat c-section because if my body didn't kick into gear and start contracting there wasn't a lot we could do to help push my body along.  We all agreed that if at any point the baby was in distress we wanted to have the c-section because a safe and healthy baby was our top priority.  She didn't give us any kind of time limit for how long she would let me labor for, but said we would just be watching to see how Baby was handling labor and how my body was progressing.  It was decided that they would give me four hours to see if my contractions picked up and then we would talk about whether we should start a low dosage of Pitocin.  Michael and I were happy with this plan.

I had tested positive for Group B Strep at my 36 week appointment so the next step was getting me hooked up for an antibiotic for that and then we were moved to our labor and delivery room around noon.  After that Michael ran out to get some food for himself and contacted some family and friends to fill them in on what was happening.  I ate some peanut butter toast and drank some water because I had forgotten to do that at home with all the hustle and bustle to get ready to go.  They didn't want me eating anything more substantial just in case I had to have a c-section later.  I also contacted a few people, did some Bible reading, and Lori had me try walking around the halls to see if Baby could be monitored well out there, but it was determined it would be best to do labor in our room where we could best see how our baby was doing.  I did have relatively consistent contractions during this time and they were a little bit stronger than some of the earlier contractions I had been having, but they in no way made me need to stop and concentrate on working through them.

At 2:00 Lori checked me again and said I was now 80% effaced and at a "good two".  She also said that it felt like there was still some of my bag of waters that had not broken that was under the baby's head and that maybe it had broken up high.  She went to ask the doctor if she would prefer starting the low dosage of Pitocin or if she would like the rest of the bag of waters broken.  Doctor Webster liked the Pitocin option best since I was only at a 2.  She had explained to us that morning that she would be willing to only go up to a level 5 for me with Pitocin because she didn't want to cause extra stress to my scarred uterus and it was determined that we would start at a level 2.  The hope was that the Pitocin would coax my body to start contracting with more strength and regularity with it and that maybe at some point we wouldn't actually need the assistance the the extra Pitocin anymore.  So at 2:00 I was at 2 cm dilated and began a level 2 of Pitocin after that (easy to remember with all those 2's together--haha!).

We updated people about the Pitocin and we settled in to see what the next few hours would hold.  My contractions started to pick up in strength and frequency pretty shortly after we started the Pitocin and by around 4:00 I stopped replying to any messages that I was receiving from others because my contractions were taking more focus from me to relax and work through.  We had tried a few different laboring positions before and after the Pitocin started because it seems that Baby was posterior (head facing the front of my body) and we wanted to encourage baby to turn around into the anterior position (head facing the back of my body).  We tried laying on both sides for an equal amount of time, standing leaning over the bed, and spent a little bit of time on the birthing ball.  Baby's heart rate monitoring showed us that she did not like when I was doing any bending over and was happiest when I was laying on my left side so I was spending this time laying on my left side.  I didn't really mind this position because it made it relatively easy to relax during contractions, but I was a little disappointed because I knew that I didn't have gravity working for me while I was laying down and that made it seem like it was going to make labor take that much longer.  We also started playing Jaipur around 4:00 to pass the time.  My contractions seemed to be anywhere from 2-4 minutes apart at this point and so we would play a turn or two and then my contraction would start and Michael would have to run around to my side of the bed to apply counter pressure to my back.  This obviously made game play a little slow and I was starting to feel more fatigue in between contractions so it was more difficult to concentrate.  The contractions were definitely more serious work than they had been before and while I felt like I was handling them pretty well it was a bit daunting to consider how much longer we thought we would be in labor for.  Neither of us expected that we would have the baby until Sunday at some point so it seemed we had a lot of time and work ahead of us yet.

Lori continued to check in from time to time and told me how pleased she and Doctor Webster were with my contractions and around 5:00 she asked if I wanted to try standing up again.  I was really excited about this because I was really starting to get uncomfortable and thought the change of position would maybe help me to better deal with my contractions.  I also thought that a new position could help to move things along more just in case we weren't progressing much in the side lying position.  Lori let us know that Doctor Webster wanted to check me again at 6:00 to see how I was progressing and that sounded good to us.  With the strength of the contractions and how often they were coming I was feeling desperate to know that I was progressing.  At the same time I was trying not to get my hopes up for too much progress.  I was beginning to wonder how sustainable this no epidural thing was going to be if I wasn't dilated very far because the contractions had been getting pretty intense.  I also asked Lori if it would be all right to have a hard candy to suck on just to have a different taste in my mouth.  She said that would be fine or we could do juice or a Popsicle.  I tried a Jolly Rancher and that was no good so then we moved on to the Popsicle and I have never appreciated a cherry Popsicle so much!  Unfortunately I could only have it in between my contractions and they were coming so regularly at this point that I didn't get to enjoy it for very long.  Sometime between 5:15 and 5:30 I started feeling a lot of pressure during my contractions so I had Michael call Lori right away to tell her about that.  She stayed in the room with us at that point and wanted me to tell her if I kept feeling pressure because then she would do an exam before 6:00 to see where we were at.  Michael sent a few texts to family around 5:30 telling them that things seemed to be speeding up and at this point things started to feel like a blur to me.  The contractions were coming in really strong waves and the pressure continued to the point where I was fighting the urge to push (which was a bit overwhelming when I didn't know how far dilated I was).  By 5:45 Lori had me get back into the bed to check where I was and we found out I was at a 9 1/2!  I could hardly believe it!  I mean, don't get me wrong, the contractions felt like I should be that far along, but the timeline of it all was so fast!  Finding out we were so close to the end gave Michael added enthusiasm in his coaching and supporting me during my contractions.  He had been doing a great job before, but he really stepped up as I was beginning to feel like I didn't know if I could get the rest of the way there.  At some point my water broke the rest of the way which definitely added to the pressure I was feeling during contractions.

By 6:00 I was at a 10 and Doctor Webster was in there and we were ready to push.  I was both excited and nervous to push because I knew that this was the final step before we got to meet Baby, but facing more contractions seemed very overwhelming let alone the idea of having to actually push out a baby.  With the first contraction of pushing Baby was already crowning which was obviously exciting to hear.  We had two more contractions worth of pushing where Baby got closer.  My fourth contraction of pushing brought out Baby's head followed by the rest of her body at 6:09.  Michael was so excited when he announced that it was a baby girl and I could not believe it was done and that I had given birth to my daughter.

She was immediately put on my chest and I just loved her.  There is something so surreal about meeting someone face to face who you have had growing within you for nine months.  She was so sweet and precious and little and perfect and I was so so happy.

While in our labor and delivery room I got taken care of, we tried nursing Baby (she did great!), and we got her measurements (6 lbs 10 oz and 19 1/2 inches long).  Michael and I also made our final decision on her name, Rubyanna Diane (pronounced Ruby-ON-a).  We had had a little girl in nursery a few years back with the name Rubyanna and both thought it was such a pretty name and it gave us a chance to pay tribute to Michael's grandma whose name was Ruby.  Diane is most obviously after my grandma Diane, but my grandma Karen and two of my aunts have Diane as their middle name as well as myself so it has many roots on my side of the family.

Harrison was able to come to the hospital to meet his new baby sister that night and it was a delight to see him meet her.  He was so amazed by how sweet and little she was and it has been wonderful to watch them bond since their first meeting.  Harrison often asks to hold Rubyanna and says how much he loves her.  He tells her it is ok when she is crying and sings "Jesus Loves Me" to try to comfort her.  He always has to know where she is and is such a good helper to me as her big brother.

We are all doing well adjusting to life as a family of four and continually praise God for Rubyanna.

MOMS Nugget

I had the pleasure of getting to share a five minute testimony of what God has been teaching me this year at MOMS this week.  MOMS stands for Making Our Mothering Significant and it is one of the ministries for women at our church.  This is what I shared on Tuesday: 

"My initial thought when I considered speaking at this MOMS meeting was no.  I thought no for a couple of reasons.  One reason is because I’m a fairly new mother.  My son was born almost 14 months ago which made me wonder what I could possibly share that would bless you more seasoned mothers.  The other reason I had thought no was because when I reflected over the past year, I couldn’t think of anything big that happened.  I didn’t have a consistent trial or anything really dramatic happening that caused a lot of growth.  However, when I thought more about what this year has been like I realized it has been a huge year. Becoming a mom has been one of the most life changing things I have ever experienced. My son’s year was full of firsts for him and consequently full of firsts for our little family.  My day-to-day life also changed a lot when I decided to stay home with Harrison.  Instead of teaching and I spent my days taking care of our baby (and trying to stay on top of things like cooking and cleaning which has proven to be trickier than I anticipated).  Never has serving another person come so easily and yet still been so challenging and confusing at times.  

As Harrison’s mom, I was (well am) responsible for taking care of him (physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.) and that is really quite daunting honestly.  You don’t want to screw up your kid.  And this is where God has met me countless times throughout this year.  He has met me in conviction of prideful attitude of thinking I’m doing all the right things and my kid is the best kid ever.  He has met me in conviction of frustration I’ve had after unwanted comments and suggestions from others.  He has met me in my disappointment as I have failed in many goals throughout the year.  He has met me in my loneliness.  He has met me in my concern that I’m not doing it right or as good as other moms when I get caught up in comparison.  He has met me in the legitimate fear that I cannot save Harrison and make him love Jesus.  He has met me in these places and so many more including the countless happy moments.  

In these things I have been so thankful to be loved by a God who is faithful.  To be loved and to be known.  He knows me in a way no one else can and He loves me still.  He sees me in my hurts and struggles and because of Jesus He doesn’t look away, but instead draws me to himself.  It is so sweet and glorious and fills me with amazement and wonder at how he continually provides me with grace each and every day.  And he does that for all of his children!  What a great God we have.  I have been doing a Bible Study by Beth Moore on the patriarchs and have been struck by God’s faithfulness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He kept his promises to them even when they strayed and he does the same for us.  He met them in their fear and doubt and loneliness and confusion and the happy times too and he always provided what they needed.  He was committed to them and he is committed to us.  

A verse that has blessed me this year is Psalm 26:3 “For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.” He provides us with what we need for each moment. He does not give us struggles and hurts to see how strong we are, but to show us how strong and steadfast he is.  Likewise he does not give us happy times to show how great we are, but how great he is.  He has promised to keep us always.  I can do nothing apart from God’s grace and I have been learning more of what it is to walk in his grace especially in this job he has given me of being Harrison’s mother."  

13 Months of Mommy-ing

Harrison is 13 months old today!  I decided I wanted to see how he has changed in the last year and here is what I found from a year ago today:

Morning snuggles

Getting a one month picture in

Daddy's home

And here are a couple of pictures I have from our time together today:

Reading some books

Enjoying the beautiful weather with a walk and some play time

What a fun 13 months it has been!  I love seeing how much he has grown and changed.  Some of my favorite developments from this last month are:

• Harrison has been loving bringing me books to read him (again and again and again).  As a former teacher I find this to be extra delightful!  His two favorites right now seem to be a touch and feel animal book that includes a duckling, puppy, bunny, tiger, and kitty and Moo, Baa, La La La!  
• We have been practicing pointing to different body parts.  So far he is pretty consistent with his nose and can sometimes get his tongue, hair, ears, eyes, and tummy.  
• He is getting more confident with his standing alone.  The other night we practiced while dancing to some music.  Michael got some video of it which we of course think is quite funny.  
• He loves going on walks!  Which gives me yet another reason to praise God for this wonderful weather we are experiencing! 
• He is learning more words!  His most recent are 'boo' (sounds more like buh), 'uh oh', and 'papa'.  He has also gotten very good at signing 'more' at meal times!  
• A few other things Harrison loves: seeing other people (especially kids), animals (especially dogs), eating (he will eat basically anything--today we enjoyed some dill pickles with our lunch), running around with his car or walker, practicing building with blocks, and playing peek-a-boo with our swinging doors
• Some things Harrison is not wild about: getting dropped off at nursery (though he warms up and stops crying shortly after we leave), falling down (but who loves that), his block 'tower' falling down, and not getting what he wants

I loved the little baby boy days, but I sure am loving these new toddler boy days as well.  One thing I find that I am reminding myself of often is that not all babies are the same.  They are not all the same in their personalities, eating, sleeping, development, etc.  Remembering that God has designed each child perfectly has helped me to not be terribly antsy for Harrison to walk.  Of course, I do want him to walk and sometimes I wish he would try, but he is growing in his confidence little by little and I'm sure before too long he will walk and I will miss some of ease of these less mobile days.  

Apparently I Took A Year Off

It's funny how easy it is to put things off.  "I'll wash those dishes tonight after supper" (yes, I have thought that today), "Harrison can get his nails trimmed in a couple days", "I will start exercising next week", etc.  Sometimes we follow through on those delays and other times they become longer and longer.  That's kind of what happened with my writing here.  I didn't intend to take a year off, but it seems that I have.  I had things I wanted to write about and share, but I didn't because I kept putting it off for several reasons.

One reason was quite honestly time.  It has been interesting and wonderful becoming Harrison's mom.  I have learned a lot and one of those things is that not all babies nap the same.  I hadn't really thought about this before.  Harrison didn't start taking longer and more consistent naps until the last couple of months.  It wasn't uncommon for me to lay him down for a nap and start a 25 minute workout only to have him start crying 20 minutes in.  Oof...baby snuggles are wonderful, but sweaty baby snuggles are not always ideal.  That being said, while I have been staying home with Harrison, I often felt there were days where I didn't have time to exercise, eat, shower, or other basic things let alone write on here.

Another reason related to this would have to be laziness or lack of desire.  It takes time to write and express yourself while trying not to sound terribly foolish.  Oftentimes in the last year I haven't wanted to spend my spare time trying.  There were other things I was interested in doing, or if I was motivated to get something done there always seemed to be something more pressing (like Harrison's baby book--man what a project!).

There are two more reasons I can think of for why I haven't been writing.  One is the number of blogs and bloggers out there.  I don't really fancy myself a "blogger".  I am not cutesy, I am not full of cooking, cleaning, parenting, living, or any other tips.  I'm just a girl living the life God has given me and trying to do it to the best of my ability.  I didn't want my writing here to seem like I was being a "blogger".  I would rather be more of a reflector.  I want to write about some of what is happening in our lives and what I have been thinking about and I've decided I can do that without worrying about trying to fit into a 'blogger' mold.

The final reason I haven't been writing has been concern for others.  I have found as I have gotten older that the reality of life in this world can be really hard.  I know there are so many people who are dissatisfied with where they are in life.  They may be unhappy with where they are living, working, or with their lives just not progressing as they had hoped and dreamed.  My life right now is in our home with Harrison.  Not that I don't get out, I do, but most of my living is done here and I didn't want that to make others sad  when I write about aspects of this life I'm living that they may not have themselves.

All that said, I'm going to try to write more often (Ha!  It would be tricky to write less often than I have been!).  I'm not committing to a number of times per month or anything like that, I'm just going to legitimately try to write more often.  More than anything else this is a place I can reflect on what's going on in my life and share it with anyone who is interested.  If that's you, great!  If that's not you, that's all right too.

A picture from Harrison's first birthday...since it's been a year!

Harrison Russell

I love reading and hearing birth stories because each birth and each baby is a miracle so I wanted to share how we met our sweet baby boy on March 13.

We had a delightful and pretty easy pregnancy.  Other than feeling tired and a little nauseous my first trimester was a breeze.  The second trimester was filled with sharing our happy news with friends and family, seeing our baby in our ultrasound appointment, and seeing my tummy grow.  Our third trimester like the others was wonderful.  I began to feel more uncomfortable as time went on, but with each passing day we knew we were closer and closer to meeting our baby and we were beside ourselves with excitement.

At my 36 week appointment on March 6 we discovered that our baby was in a footling breech position.  This was a bit of a disappointment to me as I had always hoped to have a completely natural labor and birth experience.  My midwife suggested some things I could do to try to encourage baby to flip on his/her own and I worked hard the next several days to try to make that happen.  If baby didn't flip then we were scheduling a version where a doctor would apply pressure to the baby on my tummy to try to coax the baby into the correct position.  My midwife let me know that in rare cases versions can lead to emergency c-sections or they can kick start labor so our appointment would be scheduled for sometime after baby was at 37 weeks.  If the version was unsuccessful we knew we would be scheduling a c-section.  This caused me to have a wide range of feelings because suddenly it looked very likely that we would be meeting our baby before our due date for a scheduled c-section which I had never considered.  Needless to say I was pretty distracted the next few days as I processed all of this.

Leaving my appointment we believed that the version would probably take place on March 17.  On Tuesday the 10th, however, we found out that the appointment had been scheduled for the 13th.  While only 4 days earlier than the anticipated date, this seemed crazy to me. We were already working really hard to try to make sure everything was ready at home and at work just in case the baby was born on the day of the version, so going from having a week to still prepare to 3 more days was a little intense.  One thing that did excite me about the appointment being on the 13th was the fact that it was Grandma Diane's birthday and I thought it would be so cool if they baby had such a significant birth date.

The rest of the week was crazy at work and home.  Somehow by the grace of God I managed to get everything squared away at work by the time I left on Thursday--all while feeling ridiculous because more than likely I would be back at work on Monday...maybe even Friday afternoon depending on how I was feeling after the version.  At my regular appointment on Thursday it was determined that baby was still breech, but that everything else was still looking good.  Thursday night Michael and I stayed up late tidying and getting packed just in case baby came the next day, but mostly thinking that it would be nice just to have stuff done so we didn't have to do it later when baby actually would come.

Friday morning we woke up early, loaded everything into the car and headed down to St. John's Hospital for our appointment.  We jokingly talked about how this could be our last drive before baby came.  Getting to the hospital we scored an awesome parking spot and went inside.  We were taken to our room and all prepped for the procedure (checking heart rates, getting a shot to loosen my uterine muscles, measuring any contractions, getting changed--embarrassingly I put my hospital gown on backwards...oops!)  Then our midwife and the doctor came in.  We talked about how the version would work and took an ultrasound to verify that baby was still breech and then began.  First she tried to get baby to do a backward roll--baby was having none of that.  So then after checking baby's position and heart rate  we tried a front roll.  Baby moved better this way, but got stuck at one point near the bottom of my ribs.  On our third and final attempt we tried the same way and baby got stuck in the same spot.  The version was not a comfortable experience and it was made worse by baby not turning into the correct position.  We talked with the doctor and midwife then about how I could continue to try to get baby to turn naturally, but that a nurse from the clinic would be calling me to set up a c-section for sometime around when baby would be 39 weeks.  Then they all left while Michael and I waited in the room for 30 minutes so that baby and myself could be monitored before being dismissed.  We talked and I cried a little bit due to the disappointment and it was helpful to have that time just to ourselves to process where our pregnancy was headed.

About two minutes before the nurse was going to come back  into the room (at 10:00) to dismiss us I felt something wet running down my leg and told Michael.  It came in little spurts and when the nurse came in she said it looked like my water had broken and that we would be staying there.  She ran a test to verify that it was in fact my water that had broken and they started preparing for my c-section.  CRAZY.  By around 10:30 we were told that yes my water had broken and our c-section was scheduled for 1:00.  We didn't know if we would be on the labor and delivery floor or if we would have to go up to the OR floor, but our baby was coming and would be here this afternoon.  There was a lot of pacing being done by Michael and laughing as we had planned for this, but hadn't expected it at all.  Michael made a few calls and sent a few texts so our immediate family could know what was happening and determine when they would want to come up.  When my doctor returned to the hospital from the clinic she said this was the first time she had seen labor be triggered by a version in 10 years!

Shortly after we found out our baby was coming that day!

Around noon we found out that there was a chance our c-section would be pushed back in time because an ambulance was supposed to be coming in with a mother who may have needed an emergency c-section, but at 1:00 it was just determined that we would go up to the OR floor and have our c-section there so I got put in a wheel chair and we went up with the nurses to begin prepping me for surgery.  The doctors and nurses on that floor were very friendly and excited because they don't have many c-sections up there.  They began getting me ready and talked with us about what the surgery and experience would be like.

Last picture before we meet our baby!

At around 1:15 I was wheeled into the surgery room without Michael to get cleaned up and receive the local anesthesia.  I was both excited and nervous and was praying constantly asking God to keep baby safe and to keep me safe.  They kept me informed on everything they were doing and by around 1:45-1:50 they were ready to go and Michael was brought in.  He sat by my head and talked with me as they began the surgery and we heard the doctors saying that they could see baby's bottom and before we knew it we heard our baby crying.  We were so happy and relieved that we immediately started crying.  Then baby was brought around for us to see and Michael exclaimed that baby was a boy!  After that Michael went over to where baby boy was getting cleaned up and they began stitching me back up.  After baby got clean they brought him to me and laid him on my chest for a little skin to skin time before we would go back downstairs.  He was peeking at me with one eye and I was just so happy and in love with my new little boy.  I felt emotional and a little out of sorts without being able to feel half of my body, but everything was perfect.

Brand new baby

Mommy and Harrison meet

Daddy and Harrison bonding

Shortly afterward Michael and baby boy went down stairs to our room to weigh and measure baby (6lbs 8 oz, and 19 inches long) and I was taken back to our room a little later.  They moved me onto the bed and baby boy was brought over so we could try nursing with some assistance from a nurse.  We determined baby's name would be Harrison Russell (Russell after my dear Grandpa Butch, one of the best men I have ever known) and after enjoying some time as our little family, Michael went to announce Harrison's birth to my parents and Josiah in the waiting area and to call other family members.  The next hours and days were spent introducing Harrison to family and friends and getting to know our little boy.

Happiness

I have been healing really well from surgery--the nurses gave me many compliments about how well I was doing. Harrison has been doing a wonderful job living life outside the womb despite coming a little earlier than we had anticipated.  We were dismissed from the hospital on Monday March 16 and have loved having Harrison home with us.

Our family of THREE is ready to go!

In the car headed home!

Things Students Say About Baby

Michael and I are about two months away from having our first baby and we are so very excited and loved getting to share the news with others. There were however some people I see every day that I decided not to tell right away--my students. This is primarily because of the nature of my job this year. I meet with several small groups of students throughout the day to work on math and reading skills and I worried that to announce such news as a baby coming would prove to be a big distraction and we would lose a day of instruction since we only have 15-20 minutes. This being the case I decided to let them find out on their own as I continued to grow. I also thought it would be interesting to see who noticed when and which students brought it up.

My first students to notice and say something were in first grade followed shortly by a group of second graders back in November I think. Since then almost all of my other groups have asked if I'm pregnant and even several kids I haven't worked with. During this time I have received several humorous comments that I would like to share. These are the only ones I can remember right now :)

• What's that bump on your tummy? (1st grader) 
• Is your baby coming in December? (A first grader asked me this in November) 
• When is your baby coming out? (At least once a week a kindergartener asks me this) 
• Did your baby come out? (Also asked by kindergarteners almost weekly...umm does it look like the baby has come out?) 
• Your baby is getting bigger (kindergarten) 
• Recently in one of my third grade groups: student 1: "are you pregnant?" Me: yes student 2: "again!?" (What?! This is my first baby...)
• I'm excited for your baby to come out (a kindergartener while rubbing my tummy) 
• Are you having your baby in the summer because you don't like winter? (A kindergartener...no my baby is coming in the spring because that's when baby will be ready) 
• You are BIG (a kindergartener a few days ago) 
• When you came into our classroom I saw your baby a little (a fourth grader this week) 
• And my personal favorite from a kindergartener: "do you have a baby or do you just like to eat a lot?" (Umm both but mostly the baby :) )

When March rolls around I will actually have a conversation with my groups telling them that someday coming up my baby will come and I won't be coming to school to teach them because I will need to take care of the baby, but until that all baby talk will be coming from them and I'm sure I will hear some more silly things.

Ten Favorites from Vacation

In July Michael and I went on vacation with my family to North Carolina.  Here are ten of my favorites from that time together:

1. Visiting the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
--This wasn't something I was overly excited about before we went there, but Dad, Jos, and Michael were looking forward to it.  It ended up being interesting and quite fun.  My favorite part was getting to go out on the field.  Michael and Jos threw the football around (Charley and I did some).

2. Visiting Washington DC
--We took a segway tour of the city.  This was fabulous for several reasons: segways are fun, we were able to see tons of the city, and our guide shared many interesting facts with us.  We also visited the Captiol and met Senator Grassley.  We ended our day by walking around Arlington Cemetary and seeing the monuments near there.  Loved the time we got to spend in this historic place and hope to go back someday.

3. Mount Vernon
--We spent a few hours here before heading to North Carolina.  It was interesting to walk the grounds and visit the museum.

4. Shelby and other family joining us!
--Shelb wasn't able to be with us for the first part of vacation because she needed to work.  We missed her, but were so happy when we got her from the airport and got to spend the rest of our time with her.  We also got to spend our time at the beach house with my Uncles Kent and Brett, Aunt Meg, and cousins Noah, Natalie, and Nolan (we missed you Nathan!).  I don't get to spend time with them very often so it delightful to have this time together.

5. Beach time
--We loved spending time at the beach whether that was wading, walking, collecting seashells, seeing critters, boogie boarding, skim boarding (I do not have the skills for that), etc.  We hit the beach every day and somehow with all of that I managed not to get sunburned--major win!

6. Playing Games
--We had fun playing games when we weren't outside.  I love games and it was fun to share in that with my family.

7. Marvel Movies
--We watched through the first six Marvel movies while we were there.  It was great at the end of the day to cozy up and enjoy them together.

8. Yummy Food
--So much delicious food.  We split up suppers each night so that a different group of us were in charge of cooking and cleaning up.  This was such a fun way to do meals.

9. Car Time
--So.Much.Car.Time.  Oof!  There were definitely times where it was overwhelming and not so good, but there were also times where it was fun and silly.  Lots of singing, laughing, and talking.  A few movies watched, some naps, games played, and snacks eaten.

10. Memories Made
--So many memories.  Memories are always a highlight of time spent with people we love.  I could list so many other things that happened while we were on vacation like how Jason and Claire were able to join us one day as they were vacationing nearby, conversation on the porch, lots of ice cream snacks, etc.  So many delightful memories.