Weekend in Iowa

This past weekend we went to Iowa to visit my parents and grandmas. My dad hadn't met Olivia yet so we wanted to make sure that he would get to see her before she got too big. We had a really good trip. We left on Thursday night after 9 PM and arrived at my parents around 3 AM. It was an exhausting way to travel, but it did make it a lot easier traveling with the kids asleep rather than awake.

 
Friday we slept in late to catch up on sleep from the night before, and then just hung out around my parents' house. It was a really relaxing time. I don't think that Will played with any of the toys we brought the entire time we were at their house, but he had a great time playing with the vacuum cleaner and lawn mower!

On Saturday we went to Sigourney and met my Grandma O'Rourke for lunch at the Pizza Ranch and she got the meet her newest great-granddaughter. Will had fun running around the restaurant with another little girl after the lunch crowd had mostly cleared out. After lunch we went over to my grandma's apartment to visit.

Sunday afternoon after Will's nap we headed over to my Grandma Hayes' farm to visit. She was babysitting my cousins Lily and Robbie for the weekend while their parents were in St. Louis for the weekend. They played really well with Will, and I think all the kids had fun playing together.

On Monday Rob got word that he was being offered a position at MDI Achieve. This was such welcome news as Rob has been looking for a job for almost nine months. So we decided to go out to eat at Pizza Ranch again to celebrate the good news!

The Story of Olivia Rose's Arrival

On April 2nd at 2:54 PM we welcomed our daughter Olivia Rose. She weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. I guess the saying is true that good things come to those who wait. Olivia was 15 days past her due date, and I was beginning to wonder if she would ever come.

On Friday night, Rob and I went to the mall to walk around and try to induce labor. I was having contractions that seemed regular, but were pretty weak and really no different from the other Braxton-Hicks contractions that I had been having for the past month. Later that night at home Rob and I watched a movie and I timed the contractions for about an hour. They were about a minute long and six minutes apart. I was pretty skeptical that I was in early labor since this was the same pattern I had the week before but nothing happened. My midwife had told me to call if it happened again, so I did call her around 11 PM Friday night to let her know. She advised me to try to get sleep if I could, but I had taken a nap that day and wasn't tired, so I stayed up until about 12:30 and finished the movie we were watching. I woke up around 3:20 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. Every time I began to drift off to sleep I would get a contraction that was just strong enough at the peak to wake me back up. So at about 3:45 AM Rob and I got up.

I am trying to remember what I was actually doing for those few hours, and I can't remember so I was probably surfing the internet :) By 5:30 AM my contractions were getting stronger so I decided it was probably time to call my doula, the midwives, and my parents to let everyone know that this was the real thing. At this point I was thinking it would be better to call earlier than later since I had no idea what to expect for labor length for my second baby compared to the first. As it turned out there was no rush at all and labor length was about the same as it had been with Will. Rob began setting up the birth tub upstairs in our bedroom and as one midwife set up all the supplies in our bedroom and bathroom the other started steeping herbs in the kitchen to make compresses and an herbal wash. I just tried to keep busy as well chatting between contractions and eating breakfast.

I was able to lay down on the couch for about 45 minutes to rest. I was never able to actually fall asleep, but I was able to relax as my doula Sarah massaged my head, hands, and feet, and it did slow down my contractions quite a bit. Will woke up around 9:30 AM, and while he was eating breakfast we called John and Cassie to come pick him up. They arrived around 10:30 AM and I felt like the contractions were getting a little stronger. Rob and the midwives all thought that it would be a good idea for Rob and me to go for a walk, so we walked outside for about twenty minutes. At first I did not want to go because it was scary to think of a contraction coming on while I was outside without a chair or couch to lean on and have someone press on my sacrum. It worked out fine though, and I was able to just lean on Rob for support.

My midwife checked me at this point, and I was a little disappointed to learn that I was only at 4cm. My contractions had been a little bit start and stop, some close together and then a longer break, and still not super long. We tried to contact the chiropractor I had been seeing to see if she could do a home visit. She wasn't able to come out, but she gave me some exercises to do to straighten and rotate my pelvis that were helpful. My doula also suggested using the breast pump for about 20 minutes to try to stimulate more regular contractions, but I have always hated pumping so that lasted about 1 minute before it hurt too much. So instead Rob and I just hung out together in our bedroom and I did the chest to floor position which worked amazingly well at easing the pain during a contraction.

Around 1:15 PM we decided that it was time for me to get into the tub. The positions I had been using weren't feeling as effective to me anymore. In general, it is advised that you wait until you are dilated to at least 5 cm before getting into the tub, otherwise it can slow labor. Since it had been at least two hours since I had been at 4 cm, we figured it was a good time to get in.

It felt wonderful when I got into the water. I had been kind of cold and the water was a nice warm 100 degrees. I was also finally able to relax my entire body instead of just most of it which felt really good. At about 2 PM the midwife gave me a homeopathic remedy to speed up labor and it worked pretty quickly. My contractions became much stronger and longer (at least it seemed to me). I must have been in transition around this time because I started to feel like it was getting harder and harder to cope through me contractions. I remember feeling like I just wanted to slip my head completely under the water, like that would make me feel better, but was afraid that I would choke on the water since I was having a difficult time controlling my breathing through contractions. Rob held my arms for me so that I didn't have to hold myself up it the tub and my doula kept reminding me to groan low rather than high since that made me almost instantly tense up and made everything hurt more.

At one point I put my ears under the water so that I could just block everything out and be as close to totally submerged as possible. I remember looking out around the tub and feeling like I was having all this intense turmoil, but all these people were just calmly waiting. It was a weird feeling. Sarah told me once to change positions from floating on my back to a lunge position, and wow did I switch back as quickly as possible. I started to get really warm and could tell that my face was probably all flushed. They put cool cloths on my face and it felt like the most wonderful thing ever. I started asking "How much longer? I can't keep doing this!" Rob decided to get into the tub with me to support me so I could lean back without falling into the water. So I sat on his lap and leaned back against his chest. It was a much more comfortable position.

At this point the midwives decided to check me, and they told me that the baby's head was only about an inch from crowning. I couldn't believe it. I didn't even realize that I was completely dilated already. That was just enough encouragement for me to keep going. So I began to start pushing with the next contraction, which brought the baby to crowning, then I pushed for her head and a third time for her body. The original plan had been to take the pushing phase very slowly to prevent me from tearing like I did with Will, but when they checked the baby's heart rate after the first push it was really low, so I had to push her out really quickly.

After Olivia was born I quickly brought her up to my chest, and Rob and I had her there still sitting in the pool until her cord stopped pulsating. Rob cut the cord, and then I got out of the pool. I wasn't able to nurse Olivia until the cord was cut because it was kind of short, so it was nice to get into bed and nurse her. I was sure that I probably tore since I had to push so hard at the end, but I was very relieved to learn that I only had one small tear that didn't even need stitches.

My mom arrived at the house about twenty minutes after Olivia was born, and the midwives stayed for several hours after the birth. Rob and the midwives were busy cleaning up while I held Olivia. Overall, I felt like the homebirth was a great experience. It was so nice to not have to leave home to go the hospital and to have so many knowledgeable and supportive people around me during the birth. The water birth aspect of the birth was also great. The water helped me not only relax but also cope better with the contractions during transition and the warmth was very soothing. I am so glad that we chose to do homebirth; it was a much more intimate experience than hospital birth.

Olivia has been a great baby so far and we are already so in love with her. We can’t wait to watch her grow!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to all my readers (if there are any left since I never post :) Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to post more regularly.

This has been a busy holiday season for us this year. We had a Thanksgiving celebration at Brad and Becky Pluth's again this year with lots of family and yummy food. The weekend after Thanksgiving my parent came up to Minnesota and we celebrated at our house along with my parents and Ben. This year we opted to buy our meal pre-cooked from Byerly's since there were only 5 of us, and I am glad we did. It was really good, and we still had a ton of leftovers.

During the month of December Rob kept busy continuing to study and test for his Project Manager Professional certification as well as several Microsoft certifications. By December 23, he had passed all his exams and now has 9 certifications! We're praying this will have a noticable impact on his job search.

Will has had a rough couple of months health wise. He came down with a bad cold and double ear infection on Halloween, and ever since then has been on a cycle of sick, get antibiotics, finish antibiotics, wait 5 days, has double ear infection. The poor little guy has been on five rounds of meds since then, and we are taking him in again today. We are not sure if he is getting reocurring ear infections, or if it is the same one that just never completely goes away. The doctors have been talking about tubes, but we are still hoping to avoid that if possible.

Christmas this year ended up being a little different than we anticipated. The original plan was to spend Christmas Eve home as a family, Christmas day afternoon with the Pike clan and then drive down to my parents on the day after Christmas. The Sunday before Christmas, though, we received a phone call that my dad had had a major heart attack and was in the hospital. He had two coronary arteries that were completely blocked. He is okay now, but will have to be on a special diet. It was very scary, and Rob and I decided that it would be best to go to Iowa early. So we drove down on Thursday and stayed until Wednesday. We had a really nice time and were able to visit both of my grandmas and just hang out with the family.

We didn't do anything this year too crazy on New Year's Eve, we just went over to Steve and Sara Davis' for a movie and hang out time. Now it is back to work and our regular routines!

Catch Up Part I

Wow! I's has been a long time since I have posted! A lot has happened in our lives since February, so I will just quick give a quick recap. Tax season is obviously over now, and it went as well as could be expected. Afterward we went to Iowa a couple of times to visit my family which is always fun, but a long drive.

At the beginning of May we went on Vacation with Steve, Sara, and Ethan Davis to Cancun, Mexico. Will was Mr. Popularity everywhere we went, and that came in handy when we requested an extra seat for him in the airport at the gate. Of our four flights, he only had to be on my lap for one! It was good to get away and just hang out at the pool and beach.

In June Rob and I had our 6th anniversary, and we celebrated by staying the weekend at the hotel at Mystic Lake (thanks Barb!). We stayed with Will one night and left him at home with Cassie the other. He and I both did fine for our first night apart - he slept the whole time we were gone, but not before pooping in the tub for Aunt Cassie! My parents came up for the weekend before Will's birthday and we had a small party and cake for him. The day before his birthday, Will starting walking and I don't think he has slowed down yet! Before that he had been taking maybe four or five steps at a time, but after that day he pretty much never crawled again.

Going Places

Time has gone quickly since Christmas, and now I am in the midst of tax busy season again at work. Since I am part time this year, I am not working quite so many hours as I have in the past, but I am still working around 50 hours a week, which has been a bit of an adjustment for our family. Rob is able to watch Will 1 to 2 days a week and Cassie watches him the rest of the time along with the Pluth kids. Starting next week Rob will be watching Will full time since Cassie got a new job.

Lately we have been experimenting with different eating and sleeping schedules to try to find one that will allow Will to get enough sleep, enough solids, and enough milk at the right times throughout the day and hopefully help in also getting him to sleep through the night. He still wakes up in the night once or twice, and doesn't necessarily need to eat but usually needs some help settling back down to sleep. The last few weeks have been a flurry of firsts for Will. He will now crawl fully up on his hands and knees for about 6-7 steps at a time, but then moves back down to his stomach, especially if he is in a hurry to get wherever he is going. His favorite places to get to fast are the dog bowls to play in the water and the computer and tv cords because I guess they just look like fun. We have been busy baby proofing, but it is still a work in process.

This past weekend two more teeth popped through - the top middle teeth - and they have been giving Will some grief. Hopefully they will finishing cutting through in the next couple of days.

About 4 days ago Will learned how to pull himself up to standing all by himself, and now it seems like he can't get enough of it. He will hold on to what ever is convenient - the steps, coffee table, toys, bed comforter, toilet, or parent. It is amazing how long he will stand if he has something to hold on to. Sometimes his legs start to slide apart and he begins to do the splits, and this scares him and he cries, but won't sit down. Yesterday when I put him down for a nap and left the room I could hear him talking and whining a little, so I waited for him to settle down and fall asleep. After about 15 minutes I went in there to check on him since he was still awake, and he was just standing in his crib waiting for someone to play with him. I guess why lie down when you can stand up?

This past weekend was Valentine's Day, and we had a good time. We went out to eat at Bonfire's on Sunday night, and on Monday night Barb got a suite for us at Mystic Lake Hotel. That was a lot of fun; we took Will with us and went to the buffet and then took him to the pool. It was his first experience in a big pool. There wasn't really any shallow part for a baby, though, so we just held him on the steps for a while until we were all too cold. Even though this trip to the pool wasn't as fun as the tub, we got some pictures of it! The rest of the evening we spent watching the pairs figure skating finals which was a lot of fun, too.

Eating Baby Food and Christmas

Will turned six months old in December, so we decided it was time to start letting him try out other foods besides milk. For his first meal we gave him rice cereal, and except for his initial surprise at the different taste, he loved it. He did pretty well eating off the spoon, too. Since then we have tried some other foods like sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, apples, prunes, peas, peaches, and avocado. I think bananas are his favorite, but at this point it is hard to tell because he seems to just love food in general. It is fun to feed him, but mommy and daddy haven't been so excited about what all this new food does to Will's nice cloth diapers! Here are some still shots of the video we took of his first meal.

Christmas in our family was pretty busy this year. On Rob's side of the family, the Wheelers and Davis usually come into town several days before Christmas and then stay through New Year's Day, but this year the Wheelers weren't here quite as long since they were in the middle of moving to Minnesota and Dan was preparing to start his new position as pastor in January. Several days before Christmas we started hanging out with family in the evenings, sometimes for organized events and sometimes not. It is good to see everyone, but I usually prefer to spend time with people either one on one or just one or two couples at a time, so in Rob's family that means we need several social events to feel like we got to adequately connect with everyone.

Christmas Eve Rob, Will, and I went to the Christmas Eve service at our church and then drove around the city looking at Christmas lights with Andrew and Jessica. We saw some neat displays, but were a little late and some people had already turned off their lights for the night. On Christmas morning I made Frech Toast for breakfast and we opened gifts with Will. I was actually really surprised that he was able to open a couple of gifts without much help from us, but of course the focus was on the paper and bows, not the actual gift. I think Will played with the bow and cardboard backing to his pacifier package for most of the day, much to his delight. Since he is also beginning to scoot around the floor army crawl style, he loves going over by the Christmas tree. Here are some pictures of when I caught him pulling the ribbon off the tree.

In the afternoon we went over to Becky's new house and had the Pike Christmas. It was a good time with good food and tons of people. Funny how even in a bigger house it can still seem crowded with all the family. This year they split up the adults and children for the meal and for gift opening, which made it a little bit more managable.

On Sunday after Christmas we celebrated with my side of the family over at my brother Andy's house. My parents and other brother Ben drove up from Iowa, and it was good to see them. We had a good time with another great meal and watching the kids open gifts. Ava and Luke always love playing with Will, and it is so much fun to watch them interact together. Rob and I even played Settler of Catan with Sara, a game which we generally refuse to play, but it was really fun this time.

Well, that pretty much sums up our Christmas. We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, too!

Thanksgiving and Disney

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to head south to Florida to celebrate. Several months ago, Rob got a marketing phone call from Hilton wanting to give us a three day stay in Orlando super cheap in exchange for us attending a timeshare presentation (No, we didn't buy it). So we booked it for the same time that Steve, Sara, and Ethan Davis were going to be there, as well are Gail and Mike Davis and Barb Pike. Between our timeshare deal and some military deals we got through Steve (thanks!) we ended up with a super fun and cheap Disney vacation!


The Davis' and Barb stayed on Disney property which ended up being really convenient because we could park our rental car at their hotel for free and get free parking at the Magic Kingdom, but still be within walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We enjoyed the parks, and I think my favorite was Epcot. I loved looking at all the countries and exploring the authentic-looking buildings and international food.

For Thanksgiving, Gail ordered a Thanksgiving meals for all us from a local grocery store and we all ate together in the Davis suite. Gail even brought turkey napkins so it would feel like the holiday even though we were in Florida.


It was fun to see Will, who is now 6 months old, interacting with his cousin Ethan who just turned 1. Here are some attempts to get a picture of them together.

One of the best parts of vacation was being able to be outside together and walking around the Disney property. Here is our family walking on the Boardwalk near Epcot. The weather in Florida was actually quite cooler than I had expected it to be, but toward the end of the time we were there it was warmer and quite sunny.

Here are some cute snapshots I took of Will one morning in our hotel room when we were just hanging out. He can now rollover both directions and loves to do so constantly so that he can get the best possible view of whatever is going on around him. He is also fascinated with almost anything colorful, and water bottles in particular are a favorite item that he likes to reach out and grab.

Here are some older snapshots of Will that were from Halloween that I can't resist including. He was a "Wild Thing" for Halloween and even treat-or-treated to two houses before getting too cold.