Picture Post

Lisa and Becca reading one of many books while she was here.

Becca helping Kortnie and Lisa make waffles.

Ally sleeping in her car seat on the beautiful blanket made by Elizabeth.

Our tie-dyed kiddo

Resting with Daddy

Asleep at the table in Mommy's arms

More sleepy goodness

Transitioning from one to two

My friend Emily recently left a comment about the transition from mothering one to two that I thought I'd reply to in a post:

So as a mother of one... (and not comprehending having two) how is the transition REALLY? We are talking about another bambino and I fear it, knowing how very much I love Caden. I assume that love doubles with each child. Yet with one I only know that... AND fear loving the second as much as I do the first. Does this make sense? I just never comprehended the love I would feel for our child... WOW, God is GOOD. Is two, EVEN BETTER?!!

I remember sometime after Becca was born thinking those same thoughts...that I had this amazing love just spring out of no where for Becca and how could I feel that way about a second child (or third or fourth,etc) somewhere down the road. I felt that our little family was so complete at that moment, that we didn't need any more, even though I knew we wanted more children later on.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when we met Alexandra for the first time. I was just as excited to meet her as I was to meet Becca and that love for Ally came up again out of no where. I think you can say that your love doubles. I don't love Becca less because Ally is here.

The adjustment we have had to make is more to do with the amount of time we have. Our love may increase, but the time we have does not. So we have had to get creative in trying to spend time with the girls. I try to read to Becca or do a puzzle with her while nursing. Nate may hold Ally while I go and spend one-on-one time with Becca to talk about her day before bed or rock her to sleep for nap time. Nate has stepped up his involvement by giving Becca most of her baths, taking her for bike rides and in the pool, and holding Ally when I need to make dinner. In addition to trying to spend time with both Becca and Ally, there is still housework to do, finding time to spend with each other and friends and time to just try and relax and unwind. It's really kind of overwhelming. I'm finding we have to be intentional, especially about spending one-on-one time with the girls.

As I already mentioned, this has been a big change for Nate. Before he could often choose whether or not he participated in certain daddy duties (and he often chose to help--my children have a wonderful daddy :) ). Now I call on him even more often than before. If I'm nursing Ally, it's hard for me to get Becca ready for bed, so he does it. Tonight we both gave baths to the girls--Nate with Becca in the bathroom and me with Ally in the kitchen. We were running late, so we had to do it at the same time. For the most part, I know Nate enjoys the time he has with his daughters, but it's still an adjustment.

Some of the fun parts of having two are:
...seeing how different they are. Right from the start Ally showed us she was not Becca. It's so fun to see how she is her own little person.
...watching the siblings interact with each other. Becca loves to hold Ally, give her hugs and kisses, sing and read to her, and just be around her in general.
...seeing how much older Becca seems. She has grown up overnight in many ways. She is so eager to be mommy's helper.

I'm sure there is more, but Ally is needing my attention. I'm so new to this two kids thing. I'm sure there are moms out there who can comment even more fully to having more than one.

New choices and pics for house

There was a little change in plans for the house siding/shakes company, so 6 days after Ally was born, we headed into the city to meet with SEND to make new choices. The contractor didn't like how the new siding company he was using was working out, so he decided to go back to the old one. We are actually quite happy that he had to change because we ended up liking our new choices better than our old.

New choices:
Siding--Victorian Grey
Shakes/Scallops--Hazelwood (this really deep blue-green color that will contrast the grey nicely)
Trim--white (this will be nice with our windows and the poles on our porch, both of which are also white)
Door--still cabernet
Roof--Hearthstone Gray (if I'm remembering that right--it's a grayish color with a subtle greenish tint to it)

We also chose our faucets for the kitchen and bathrooms. I'll share those once I hear back that they could find them.

The front porch roof is on!

Torn out retaining wall and steps--both will be replaced

Our little deck in the back--we didn't know we'd get a wood one. We thought it was going to be concrete. Also, new and moved back door and new kitchen window (will be over sink).
New framing--looking toward front of house into the living room from the kitchen/dining area.
Stairs framed

Pictures up

Nate uploaded pictures to our photo gallery--four months worth. There aren't any of Ally on there yet, though. Only through July. Leave a comment or email me if you need the username and password.

First Doctor's Appointment

Alexandra and I headed into the city yesterday afternoon for her appointment while Becca and
Nate stayed home for Becca's nap.

Just as Becca did, Ally measured a 1/4 inch less at the doctor's than at birth--jus a matter of how far you pull out those little frog legs, I'm sure. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz, so she gained back what she lost plus a half pound more. Our dr. said she looked great. We are so pleased to have him as the girls' dr.

And, an answer to my silly prayer, her cord came off on it's own while we were there. Yay! I think we'll start on our cloth diapers tomorrow.

First bath

We've been sponge bathing around here since Ally's cord hasn't fallen off yet, which is driving me crazy. Becca's fell off in about 4 days and it's already been nearly 12. With Becca we spent sometime airing her out in the sun (mostly cause she was a little yellow) and I gave her real herbal baths with me. We did use alcohol a little to keep it dried. With Ally's I thought I'd just leave it alone, but since it didn't look like that was working, I've tried hydrogen peroxide on it the past few days. We go to the pediatrician tomorrow, so I'll ask him about it.

But anyway, this is about her first bath, which I think was last Thursday. She seemed to like the whole thing and just calmly kept looking around while we washed her. Becca enjoys participating by helping put the shampoo on Ally's hair.

The Story of Alexandra Grace's Birth

I tried to make this as non-graphic as possible, so most should feel comfortable reading it. Enjoy!

After getting Becca to sleep for a nap last Saturday afternoon, I did what I had been doing during her naps all week--laid down to rest. I had been feeling more and more in need of extra rest, especially since I had slipped and fell earlier in the week.

Sometime after 4 pm I noticed some pain coming and going in my lower back. I had had some of this sporadically throughout the week, but didn't think much of it. These were more noticeable and I remember walking out to the living room and saying to Nate, "if this what labor is going to be like, I don't think I can do it." However, I was still not sure we were heading into the real thing. I searched on the computer for back labor pains and found that some women have their contractions start in the back and radiate around to the front. Lucky me, I'm one of those women. In fact, I only remember on contraction in this whole labor that didn't include back labor and I thought, "so this is what that feels like...I could handle that." (I don't know if the baby was facing the wrong way and then turned, because she did come out facing down or if I'm just one of those women who has lots of back labor.)

I mentioned to Nate that I thought I might be having contractions and that I was going to try and pay attention to how long they were lasting and how far apart they were. I found that they were about 7-10 minutes apart and lasting about 90 seconds or so. Becca got up from her nap and I requested that Nate go and get us dinner. I definitely wasn't feeling like making it.

Around 5 pm I called my mom to tell her that I thought I was having contractions, but that I wasn't sure how quickly things were moving. At that point I thought she'd still be able to go to their Coast Guard fireworks and everything before leaving. I also called my midwife to tell her that I thought I had started labor.

While Nate was gone, Becca and I moved into the bedroom from living room where we had been reading books and Becca watched Mary Poppins. I laid on the bed in the typical Bradley position and tried to relax through each contraction. By the time Nate got back with dinner, I had no appetite and was pretty seriously into my contractions. I was so glad he was back. Nate and Becca went to eat some dinner. Nate kept coming in to check on me.

After dinner Nate set Becca up with some home videos in our bedroom and I continued to try to relax through my contractions. A little after 6 pm I called my mom again and told her that this was definitely the real thing and could she please come soon. She said she'd leave as soon as she could. I also called my midwife again to tell her that my contractions were closer to 7 minutes apart and that my mom was leaving soon to come and watch Becca.

Between 7 and 10:30 pm is a bit of a blur to both me and Nate. Nate was wonderful and so helpful and supportive. During that time he took care of Becca, called around to friends to see who could come and watch Becca (my mom wasn't going to get there in time), and was with me for many contractions. It was so helpful to have him reminding me to breathe slowly and to relax different parts of my body during the contractions. While he would tell me to relax, I would also count silently from 1 to 30 and then from 30 down to 1, promising myself that the contraction wouldn't get any stronger than it was at 30 and that it would start to go away as I made my way back down to 1. Since my contractions were around a minute long at this point, this was pretty consistent. Counting was especially helpful when Nate couldn't be in there with me. A couple times Becca came up to me and rubbed my arm while I was relaxing. It was so sweet. Nate told me that I looked like I was asleep through it all. I wasn't, but looking that way was my goal because I wanted to let my body do what it needed to do. During this time Nate also helped me to the bathroom once, letting me lean on him during my contractions, and also reminded me to switch which side I was laying on a couple times. He got me things to drink and had me eat part of an energy bar. I couldn't have asked for a better coach--he did just what I needed him to do.

I called our midwife sometime after 9:30 pm to tell her we had found some friends to come and watch Becca and that we would leave as soon as they got there. Nate started getting Becca in bed. Sometime around 10 pm or so my contractions took a different turn. It almost started to feel like something was moving down. I got a little worried, thinking that I might feel like pushing before we could get to the birthing center. I think my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart.

Just when I thought that I couldn't wait much longer, our friends Todd and Andrea got here (thank you, guys, for coming!). Nate already had the car loaded, so while he talked to them, I gathered my pillows and made sure I was ready. I slowly walked down the hall to Becca's room to say goodbye to her. She was not asleep yet and got a bit hysterical when she realized we were going to leave for the birthing center. Poor thing. It must have been a really stressful situation for her since we had planned for Nana to be there when we left. We stood in her room and attempted to explain it to her, but she was just too hysterical. I tried to relax through two contractions in her room by leaning on the dresser, but I could really feel things moving and told Nate he just needed to give her to Andrea so we could go. It broke my heart to leave her, I just couldn't wait any longer--we told her we loved her and that Nana would be there soon.

I had one contraction on the way to the car and Nate let me lean on him through it. Then we got in the car and I attempted to get comfortable. Before we were out of the apartment complex, Todd text messaged Nate to say that Becca had calmed down already. Andrea had asked if Becca wanted to pray for us and the baby, and after they prayed she fell asleep in Andrea's arms. That made me feel so much better.

The trip to the birth center takes about 30 minutes; it was 10:30 pm. Nate drove and talked me through contractions and I did my counting thing too. I could still feel things moving and opening up and was just hoping we would make it. I had a couple of contractions that were particularly intense and hard to relax through. I remember asking Nate to drive as fast as he could. I opened my eyes once around Meridian Street and then soon after that I asked Nate if we were close and he said we were. I opened my eyes again and saw we were just a block away and said, "Thank God."

Nate pulled into the parking lot close to 11 pm. and we got out. Knowing now how close I was to giving birth, I'm amazed that I walked, slowly, of course, into the birth center without much help. I did lean on Nate for one contraction before getting inside. Once inside, Carla said I could get comfortable. I got on the bed back in the Bradley position. Carla said she wanted to check me and listen to the baby during a contraction. During my next contraction, she listened to the baby and said she was doing beautifully. During the contraction after that she checked me and found I was 8 or 9 cm dilated. That was by far my worst contraction, mostly because it is so darned uncomfortable to have my cervix checked, but also because my back hurt so much more on that one. At the same time I was greatly relieved because I was almost done! I said over and over to myself, "I'm in transition, I'm in transition." (For those who don't know, I thought with Becca that I was in transition when I only ended up being 5 cm dilated, so knowing I was only 1-2 cm away from a fully dilated cervix this time was such an amazing relief.)

Carla went to fill up the birthing tub and Nate helped me move over there once it was full. I had a couple of contractions and then asked Carla if she was okay with me pushing. She said that as soon as I felt that I couldn't bear it, I could push. She left the room to do something and I told Nate that I wanted to try pushing on the next contraction.

It took a couple of contractions to feel the right way to push, but it did feel a little better to push than to not push. I remember feeling pretty with it and connected to what was happening, to the point that I was able to reach down to feel if the baby was coming down any further with my pushes. When I reached down, I felt something kind of like a balloon coming out and thought, "that's not the baby's head and it better not be some other body part, so what is it?" I had Nate call Carla in and she said it was the bag of waters (aka amniotic sac) still intact! How cool is that? I found it to be pretty neat since they broke my bag of waters last time.

On the next push the bag of waters broke open. Another couple of pushes brought the baby's head to the opening, which I also was able to put my hand on. This was one of the hardest parts because I had to wait until the next contraction in order to let her head stretch me a little bit. I had my hand on her head and could feel her moving back up the birth canal a bit, and I said, "no, baby, don't go back up!"

On the next push I decided that I wanted that head out and with some effort her head was born. Carla said I could push the rest of the baby out when I was ready because she couldn't feel the cord around the baby's neck or anything, so there wasn't any hurry. I reached down again to feel our baby's head. On the next contraction I was able to push the rest of the baby out and Carla let Nate catch the baby and bring the baby up out of the water and place her on my chest. That was 11:29 pm on Saturday, August 4th, just 30 minutes after we arrived at the birthing center and about 6 to 7 hours after my labor started.

This is the best part because I just got to lay there in the warm water with our baby nestled on my chest, cord still pulsing. The baby cried for about a second and then just laid right there. I asked if it was a boy or a girl and Nate checked and said it was a girl! "Oh no," I said, "we don't have a name!" Carla covered her in some warm blankets and we all sat and waited for the cord to pulse out while we admired our new baby girl. She looked a lot like Becca, except with less hair. In the coming days, though, she would take on more of a look of her own.

After the cord stopped pulsing, Nate got to cut it and hold his daughter for the first time. I birthed the placenta and then took the most wonderful hot shower ever. After my shower we called my mom to make sure she had arrived safely and then I nursed our daughter (still within the first hour after birth). I was feeling hungry after all that hard work, so I had something to eat. Carla stitched me up (I had a very minor tear), and we relaxed and enjoyed our baby girl. We sat discussing names for quite awhile, but just couldn't settle on anything while we were there.

At some point they measured and weighed her. She weighed 7 lbs 0 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long.

At 3:30 am, we were packed up and ready to head home. We got home a little after 4 am and were welcomed by my mom. We attempted to get a little bit of sleep before Becca woke up.

I was able to be in Becca's room in the morning when she got up and I brought her into our room to meet her new sister. She was very gentle with her and wanted to hold her right away.

We spent the day recuperating and resting and attempting to choose a name. None of the ones we had thought of fit our new daughter. Nate really liked the nickname "Ally", so we tried to find a longer name that worked with that. We had mentioned "Alexandra" a time or two, but it had never stuck. This time it was the right one. Alexandra means "defender of mankind" and the first thing I thought of was the hymn "O Worship the King". On the second to last verse it says that God is our "Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend." I love that hymn and that verse in particular. Our prayer is that Alexandra would point those around her to the One who is the true defender of mankind. Her middle name is "Grace", which has obvious theological significance, but is also my mom's middle name and my great-grandmother's first name.

Overall, it went so much faster than I thought it would. I was pleased that I was able to work with the contractions so much. I don't think I would say that my labor was not painful. It was hard, strong, intense, and often painful....but because I understood what my body was doing, I was able to make it through it by relaxing as much as possible. Nate was so great. I couldn't have made it through as well as I did without him. I thought the whole thing went much better than last time, but I'm not ready to do it again any time soon. We are so happy to have another daughter and are praising God for this blessing of another covenant child to our family. Ally is such a joy to us and I love seeing the sisters interact already. I'm treasuring every moment even more than I was able to with Becca because now I know how fast it can go.

As I'm posting this Ally is officially one week old (plus a half hour or so). Welcome Alexandra Grace. We're so happy you are here.

She's Here!

Alexandra Grace was born this past Saturday at 11:29pm. She weighed 7 lbs 0 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. I was 39 weeks along, almost to the day, so she surprised us by being a little earlier than Becca was.

Just 10 minutes old

Ally is doing really well. She sleeps a lot and loves to nurse. I'm pretty tired and sore, but enjoying all the help I'm getting from my mom and husband. Becca loves to be around her new little sister, but she is also happy to have lots of attention from her Nana while she is here.

Sisters: Rebecca Joy and Alexandra Grace

I really am going to write up a more detailed account of everything, so keep checking back for both that and more pictures. My three biggest priorities right now are sleeping when I can get a nap in, spending time with Becca, and of course, taking care of Ally...writing everything down will hopefully come this weekend before I start to forget it. :)

Nate loves spending time with his new daughter

Ally and Nana (my mom)

A picture from today

39 weeks (minus a day)

No picture today...sorry. I pretty much look the same as last week. I even measured the same as my last appointment--38 cm.

I had a birthing center appointment today. Becca came along and enjoyed hearing Baby 2's heart beat (she still refers to it as sounding like a doggy) and helping my midwife push buttons to make the bench (what do you call the thing that you sit on when you are examined?) move up and down. She also really enjoyed playing with all the dollies and toys they have there.

Other measurements--my BP was 98/70. I think my bottom number was up because of that spider last night. :) Baby 2's heart rate was in the 130s. I gained a pound from last week, so that puts me at 173.

Other than that, we just discussed some last minute things about the birth. Oh, and I briefly talked to her about a little spill I took yesterday. I was quickly following Becca to the bathroom (I have to go big girl potty...we move fast when she says that!) and not watching the floor and I stepped on something that slipped out from under me, making me fall forward. Thank God I was able to fall to the side a little bit and catch myself with my hands to absorb some of the impact. I mostly hit my right knee really hard, but also the side of my belly a little bit. I called Nate down to accompany Becca to the potty, so I could lay there a minute on my side. I didn't have any spotting from it and Baby 2 has been moving just as much as usual, so we aren't worried. I did spend a lot of time resting yesterday afternoon and this afternoon. And boy, my arms are really sore and so is my knee.

We're still working on girl names. I have a list of possibilities, but nothing sticks out as being the right one. I figure we'll just take the list with us and if Baby 2 is a girl, we'll work off of that. If Baby 2 is a boy, then no worries on the name front.

Ewww

I just killed the biggest spider I've ever seen in person, besides the tarantula I was crazy enough to hold in Belize (I didn't kill that one). I was writing my last blog post, when I saw something dark on the floor out of the corner of my eye. I let out a little squeal and called Nate when I realized how huge it was. He nicely came down from playing WOW, but I realized that the spider might move before he got down, so I got up to get a shoe for him. As soon as I moved, so did the spider...and he moved really fast. As much as I'm freaked out about spiders, I grabbed Becca's Bible and slammed it down on him right before he got under the chair. Phew...I don't think I would have been able to sleep knowing he was hopping around here. And I'm still shaking a little from it and from the thought that I'm sure he/she has family members living somewhere in our apartment.

I didn't know they grew them that big around here. And don't help by telling me about how gigantic they can get. I don't need to know.

I'm off to bed now, that is, if I can sleep without dreaming that they are in my bed.

Provision

I finally was about to give in an purchase a brand new KK Adjustable Fleece Pouch today, but decided to check the BabyWearer's For Sale or Trade Forum one more time before I did so. I had no previous "luck" on there or eBay finding one, so I didn't get my hopes up.

But...I found one! Three actually, but decided to go with the first one. I bought a gently used sage KKAFP for $26.50 total. It's an older model, which means it unsnaps completely instead of being sewn at one point, plus only three rows of snaps instead of four. That's okay with me, though. For less than half the cost of the new one, I'll take it.

She is shipping it to me tomorrow. :)

Cabinets, counters, flooring, paint

I really appreciate all the advice and opinions we were given on our choice of cabinets, etc. It did help. Most especially I was helped by our friend Bridget who sat down with me last night and walked me through the decision making process. She does this kind of stuff for a living, and is quite good at helping you figure out what you want and what coordinates.

After all my talk of no white cabinets, we did decide to go with them. We definitely wanted white cabinets in the bathroom, and since whatever we chose for the kitchen also went in the bathroom, we had to choose the white. I like the wood look, but we only had one option for the wood (it's called Golden Oak), which wasn't quite as light as I wanted the cabinets to be. I would have preferred a lighter maple wood. Since our kitchen isn't that large, I think the white cabinets will brighten it up, and they will look great with the darker wood floor, which will provide some of the warmth I like.

Speaking of the floor, the oak wood shade we chose is called Gunstock and the sample they have on the site is actually quite close to what it looks like. I really like it.

The counter top is called Navy Matrix. I found a sample of it online, but it looks so dull compared to what it will actually be. It's a really pretty dark blue textured laminate. I think if you look closely, it has a medium blue background with dark blue and black speckles (for lack of a better word). Trust me, it looks nice. :) It will provide another nice contrast with the white cabinets.

The vinyl we chose (wasn't able to find this online), which will go in both baths and the laundry room, is really hard to describe. It is supposed to have a tile look to it--the colors in it lean toward the pinks and tans, but very subtle pinks. It just has a rosy quality to it. I think it has a really warm, cozy feeling to it.

Paint--we chose a neutral color for the walls called Newport Tint, which tells you nothing. The site for the paints doesn't have any easy way to look up paint colors**, so I'll just basically say it's not white, not off-white, not yellow, kind of a light tan. We also chose the color they will paint our front door--Cabernet. Kind of a dark-reddish color with hints of purple. We wanted something to provide contrast with the Linen and Mountain Blue on the exterior. The trim inside the house will all be painted white--this is standard for SEND houses and even though we originally wanted a wood look for our trim, we think it will go better with the flow of the cabinets and such.

We only have a few things left to pick out: light fixtures, cabinet hardware, appliances, and possibly faucets (they usually select a standard faucet, but I really wanted to choose them ourselves, so they might let us do that by giving us a credit toward what they would have spent). We won't have to pick these things out for awhile.

We did drive past the house briefly today and I snapped just three photos of the front. They have the windows framed in on the main floor. They are a little taller and narrower than they used to be, which I think fits into the historical period when the house was built, but I'm not sure. There is also one picture of the front door, which is hard to see because it was open, but it shows the half-moon window door we have in the front.

A before picture so you can compare the windows

Newly framed window openings from two different angles

Click on the picture to see the front door more easily

**If you have the time, you can go to this site and click on "Launch Tool", then click on "Design Spectrum Color Visions". A window will pop up--click on a room to paint and you can type in the names of the paint colors into the color search box (Newport Tint and Cabernet) to see the colors, which are actually pretty close to the real thing. It's a cool tool, but just a pain to get there. Does not require any downloading to use it.

House choices

I'll post them tonight with a few pictures. I'm off to do dishes. My sink is overflowing!