a funny thing happened on the way to the convent

When we were in Nashville for my friend's profession of vows we did not have directions to get from the Cathedral, where the Mass was, to the convent, where the reception was.  I planned on following our friends but that idea was quickly shown to be a bad one when we lost them as people filtered onto the road from three different parking lots.  Factor in a traffic light and we were on our own.

And then we spotted a car with a couple of nuns.  Hallelujah!  They were clearly Nashville Dominicans, they were two cars ahead of us, and so we felt safe following them back to the convent. 

When they turned where all the other cars from the cathedral went straight we wondered if they were taking a short cut or going somewhere else but we stuck with them.  And then they made a quick turn - clearly a last minute decision - leaving us to wait for traffic.  A red light meant we were able to catch up with them and a couple of blocks later, at another red light, we decided we needed to talk with the nuns.

I jumped out of the van, ran up to the passenger window and knocked on it.

The sisters were startled and I had to gesture and ask them to roll down the window because they were just staring at me.

"Are you going to the convent?" I asked.

"Yes!  Do you want to follow us?"

"Yes!  We have been.  So no more quick turning!" I said in a slightly scolding tone while making a turning gesture that was more like a flail of my arm.  I was feeling a little bit of pressure since I was barefooted on the streets of downtown Nashville, hoping the light wouldn't change.

The sisters laughed and laughed as I ran back to the van and hopped in.  They turned and waved, still laughing at me. 

I forgot to tell Sr. Marie Noelle the story and on the way home to Illinois Travis and I wondered if the sisters in the car told the story but no one knew who the crazy lady was.  It was me.

7 quick takes

1 - So maybe I'm on a Walk the Moon kick right now.  I need music that will get me movin', ya know.  I got dishes to do, pancakes to flip, a Thomas train track to build in a figure 8 so that it has to include a bridge and tunnel, a baby to nurse, and a miracle boy to read From Head to Toe to for the 80 billionth time.  I'm busy, people!  I need some pep in my step.

Can you do it?  I can do it!

2 - My newest article at Ignitum Today is up.  It's called "The story of a house: one person's redemptive suffering is another's second chance."  So I broke the rule about short titles. *shrug*  Go read it!  Share it with your friends and your grandma!  She'll love it!

3 - The article is about my friends Alisha and Jude and this amazing thing that happened to them when they sold their house.  I even did an interview with Alisha for the post, which was a lot of fun, really long, and had many fun tangents - including one about gravy.

4 - I still have a cough and a sore throat from my stupid sickness.  Last week was horrible and when I went to the doctor he looked at my throat and said, "Ah, that's gross!"  Then he laughed and gave me a prescription.  I feel better in every other way but I still have this dumb cough.

5 - Travis and I love our family practitioner.  Who may or may not read this blog... I'm not sure.  (Hey, Mark, if you're reading.)  I asked him if I'd be well enough to go to my family reunion, which was last Sunday.  He said yes but that if I didn't want to go he'd write me a note.

6 - While at the family reunion I was holding Bennet when one of my great aunts approached.  "Is this your son?" she asked me.  "Yes.  This is Bennet," I said proudly.  She looked disappointed and confused and then  told me she wanted to see the miracle baby she was reading about in the papers.  Poor Bennet - she doesn't know what she was missing out on!

7 - This past week I've continued to keep a fairly low profile, mostly because of the dang cough.  The kids and I have walked to the park, had home-made pancakes for breakfast, and even done crafts. (!)  The days have been pretty smooth and I have realized that the thing that makes this possible is if I do not shower until quiet time.  Me in my pajamas until 2pm = everyone's happy.  I'm glad to know how to make it work, but I think that it's not too practical.

7 quick takes

1 - I wanted to post a song to go with the heat.  Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot" is just a little too peppy.  So I went with Badly Drawn Boy's "The Shining" which is nice and slow and thick.  I thought it fit.

2 - Thursday was a pie baking day at my house.  Remember when I said I needed to make some money to pay for a trip so I could see my friend profess final vows with the Nashville Dominicans?  Well, my mom is often hired by local women to bake home made pies for certain events.  One such event (an ice cream social at the park) is tonight and we baked four apple pies and one blueberry pie for $8 each.  Every little bit helps!

3 - Here's what we did on the 4th of July:

We made red, white, and blue skewers.  The kids mostly ate marshmallows and complained about how they don't like blueberries.

I did all the prep work and made mine while they were still in quiet time.  By getting all my ridiculous perfectionist tendencies out of the way I was able to let the kids just enjoy themselves.

Thank you, Pinterest.

I tried to get a cute picture of my four awesome kids.  This is as good as it got.

I ate waaaaaay too many patriotic rice krispie treats.

Another thanks to Pinterest here.

Travis set off fireworks and the kids held hands while they watched.  I think it was one part excitement, one part fear, and one part safety.

Poor Lydia momentarily forgot all the warnings and reminders and touched a recently extinguished sparkler. Here's a picture of our little burn victim holding her injured hand in ice water while her daddy holds her ice cream.  It's cute.

4 - One of my favorite sites to visit is Big Pulpit.  Every day Tito Edwards posts links to the best Catholic blog articles out there.  Along with National Catholic Register, I check out Big Pulpit almost every day.  I just wanted to share it in case you hadn't heard of it yet.  Enjoy! 

5 - Let's take a moment to appreciate how cute my little Teresa Marie is...

Six weeks and so, so sweet!

6 - Tomorrow our good friends, and Teresa's godparents, are getting married.  Travis and I are so happy for them and we're so excited to share in their joyous day.  Yay for MVV and Liz!

We love you!



7 - This one's for R, who left a sympathetic message for Travis in my comment box.

7 quick takes

1 - The first line is the best first line of any song ever.  You do know this song, right?  I was one year old when this song came out and I know it - surely you do, too!  It's one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs.  I love the story it tells and the characters that are developed in it.  It's amazing.  Favorite line in the song:  Well our luck may have died and our love may be cold but with you forever I'll stay. 

2 - Here's some updates on James:

* He can say "Hi" "up" and "yeah" although he usually only says "hi" or grunts.  He can sign "more" "please" "where" "all done" "cracker" "book" and he waves hello and good-bye and will shake your hand if you say "Pleased to meet you."  Since he's 18 months he's definitely delayed in his communication but only by a few months, and he's quickly catching up!

* He was evaluated at Easter Seals as a follow-up, info gathering sorta thing for cooling babies. The physical therapist put his gross motor skills at 15 months (dumb bowed legs are partially to blame) and his fine motor at 16.5 (although his grasping skills were those of a 20 mo). His cognitive/learning skills placed him at 16 months. So, like I've said before, he's normal. :)

* He throws up almost every single day and while sometimes we know why (he gagged or lots of mucus-snot in his belly) a lot of the time we don't know why. He went to an allergist who thinks that James may have eosinophilic esophogitis which means he throat is becoming inflamed due to allergies.  It's looking like the little guy will be seeing a specialist, having an endoscopy and biopsy, and hopefully we will figure all this out.

3 - Thanks to everyone who partook in the "No sex for months" conversation!  I wrote a little follow-up post, "So we're all in this together".  I'll probably be coming back to this a lot in the next months - my apologies now. 

4 - Speaking of sex: for months I've wanted to write a post about being a virgin when I got married and how great that was.   I want to write it not to make anyone feel bad but in hopes that it may encourage someone.  I have the post in my head, I just need to get to a place where I can type it out.

Look at how handsome my husband is!

5 - Last night I had dreams about zombies taking over the earth.  My zombies are always like the zombie/vampire things in I Am Legend.  (Why did I ever agree to watch that movie?  I hate scary movies!)  Of course every dream about zombies trying to break into your home is far, far worse when the only thing between them and my kids are me, hiding the kids as we crouch in a corner, and Travis with a shotgun. 

Travis dreamed that the strawberries in our garden had started to grow.

6 - So on Twitter, Facebook, and this blog I pleaded with JJ Heller to please sing her song My Savior's Love Endures when she is in Eureka next Friday for a concert.  The song means a lot to me as I sang it over James when he was in the NICU. 

So it went down like this: 

 That's right - she said YES!  I'm so excited!  And I'll probably cry - fair warning to any central Illinoisans who may also be attending the upcoming JJ Heller / Audrey Assad show.

7 - On that note I'm going to shower, eat old donuts for breakfast and get dinner in the crockpot.  You know we're having meat today - Easter Friday and all!



7 quick takes

1 - I like David Crowder's voice.  A little raspy.  And then I like even more that it comes out of this thin little man with ridiculous hair.  There's been some buzz about DCB's newest album, mostly because the Protestant band's latest album is called Give Us Rest (A Requiem Mass in C - The Happiest of All Keys).  I don't know why people are so upset about them calling C the happiest of keys... 
 
Oh, or maybe because people are afraid he's going the way Rich Mullens and Audrey Assad went - to Rome.  Shoot.

2 - Do you listen to Relevant Radio?  Usually I don't - especially in the mornings.  But when I get a tip on a good show I like to dig around in the archives.  Today's Morning Air is one show I dug around for.  The second hour features Msgr Deptula from my Diocese talking about Archbishop Sheen.  The third hour features Kate Wicker talking about glorifying God with our bodies.  She also mentions the Behold Conference several times which is cool.  You can find the links here.

3 - Speaking again of the Behold Conference - let me just say it's amazing all the things that are coming together so wonderfully.  God's Hand is definitely guiding all of us through this process and it's such a blessing to be a part of it.  I sincerely hope you can join us.

4 - This picture is a little old but I wanted to share it with you.  Usually St. Nick only comes to our house on his feast day but this year, well, you can read for yourself:

In case you're wondering, St. Nicholas brought Lydia this letter, some dress-up shoes, and some more gold coin chocolates. 

5 - In a related "parenting success" story, James was wearing some pajamas that were a little too long.  As he walked around the living room Lydia, who is 3 and 1/2, started singing, "Pants on the Ground."  I asked; she learned the song from me.  So proud.  *tear*

6 - Last night I slept for ten hours, having gone to bed at 8:30pm.  By 9:30am I was so tired I had to lay down.  I napped this afternoon.  And I'm still super tired.  I also have a cough.  Ugh.

7 - Lastly, I want to warmly welcome to the world Lucy Anne, who was born to our friends Michael and Susan on Wednesday and Elijah Nathan, born to our friends Margaret and Nathan.  I am so happy for our wonderful friends who have all just entered the lovely, crazy, beautiful world of parenthood!  Please join me in thanking God for Lucy and Elijah.

7 quick takes

1 - This song is a tribute to what I had wanted to happen.

2 - I am on Pinterest.  Are you?  It's true what everyone says about - a great way to have hours of your life sucked away from you.  But it did teach me about the sock bun.

I look cute with a sock bun.  Not gonna lie.

3 - It's also how I learned how to do a simple Gibson Tuck.

I was hoping I'd look really cute with my hair like this.  But I got 0 compliments and my husband told me I looked like an AC.  (That's Apostolic Christian.  I was told once, by an AC, that there are more AC churches in Central Illinois than in the rest of the world combined.  So you may not know what an AC is.  Think strict Baptist meets strict Mennonite.  They're good people.  The women wear skirts, and always have their hair up with a little croqueted covering.)  It's not an insult to be told I look AC, but I would have preferred "pretty", "classy", or even "nice".

4 - Of course I was not trying to look like an AC.  I was a little more inspired by this:

It is true.  The void in my life created once I finished Lost has now been filled by Downton Abbey.  Simply put: I am in love.

5 - Here's a little post I wrote over at the Behold blog.  It's all about how I got involved with Behold in the first place.  Check it out!

6 - There is a youtube video all over the place called "I hate religion, but love Jesus".  It's really well done and you may have seen it.  If you have, I encourage you to read this commentary, written by Marc Barnes. 

7 - We still have our Christmas lights on the front porch and I still turn them on.  Especially now that there's snow I like having them glowing in the night.

Winter is so dark and I love coming home to a dark street with our cheery lights welcoming me.  But I do promise to you all that they won't stay up all year long.

I don't care what you think

You can think my taste for music isn't developed.  You can think this is a silly pop song.

That is your opinion.  But let me tell you the truth!

This song makes me dance in my kitchen while I'm washing dishes, making dinner, or typing.  I sing it throughout the day and it makes me feel happy.  It has clean lyrics - ones my kids can hear.  It is well performed and well produced.  And it features Ludacris, which actually doesn't mean very much for me but I think he does a good job.

Whatever.  I've got Bieber Fever.  Laugh.  Roll your eyes.  Or listen to the song and have a little dance party.  I'd chose option 3.

;)

wa-hoooo

Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that I'm dead tired right now I would be freaking out at the fact that I am now officially published.  Sure it's a blog and I published it myself, but the editors want it that way!

I am fairly certain that I misspelled something or somehow, under the influence of my daughter, wrote poopy pants in the article and I'm too tired to notice.  Plus I've read and re-read the thing like 57 times so it's become one giant blur.  And I'm tired (I already mentioned that, whaaat?) and it took me like 30 minutes to figure out how to upload an image to a website that is not Facebook or Blogger.  But I've done it.  whew.

I hope it's not lame that I wrote about a movie that's been out for awhile - the buzz is long over.  If it is just lie to me so I feel better.

Wanna check it out?  The post is called "whatever is noble." 

7 quick takes

1 - Blogging at my mom's sucks.  I can't post videos.  I can't leave comments on other people's blogs.  For some reason my blogger dashboard is odd formatted.  And this is about the 3rd time I've typed this...  Otherwise, staying at my parents' home has been wonderful, but here's a few things I've wanted to say:
Kaitlin, I loved your engagement story!  The best ones always involve peeing in the woods. 
Cynthia, I loved your post on beauty.  Thank you for sharing those thoughts.
Also, I apologize that there is no music to read by today.

2 - Travis has been working hard on our house which is why the kids and I are at my parents' house.  He's gotten a lot accomplished, including our laundry room.  What was once a 30% finished room filled with crap is now DONE with shelves, cabinets, and all kinds of room for storage.  You might be jealous when you see it.  Fair warning.

3 - Lydia has taken to saying "cockle-doodle-do-do" all the time.  It is her expression of choice.  I turned it into a brilliant joke:
What did the rooster say when he stepped on some poop?
Cockle-doodle-do-do!
I know.  I'm awesome.  You can bask in my glow.

4 - We saw the newest Pirates movie.  Lame-o.  However, I did love that the Catholics were the portrayed rather well.  Did you like it?  Or were you smart enough not to see it?

5 - For those of you who haven't seen it, I am referring to the end of the movie, when the British, the pirates, and the Catholic Spanish all arrive at the Fountain of Youth at about the same time.  The Brits and the pirates are fighting over it when the Spanish come in  and declare that only God can grant eternal life.  They then destroy the the area.  Boo-yah! 

6 - Teeth.  Bennet loves brushing his and James now has 3.

7 - Tonight we are going to Galva for Ella Berry's benefit.  Ella was born with an undetected heart condition.  She almost died when she was a few days old, was life flighted to the same hospital James was in and just came home from the PICU last week.  If you are looking for something to do, and would like to support the Berry's huge medical bills, please consider coming.

our engagement story

The lovely Betty Beguiles is hosting a The Story of How You Became Engaged link-up.  Join the fun!

I'm going to splurge a little bit and tell our whole story.  The short version.

Travis was a super senior at WIU, living at the Newman Center, when I was hired as the campus minister.  When I arrived to campus he was the only one around.  We spent our first day together rearranging furniture, eating at Hardees, talking about the girl he was in love with, and watching We Were Soldiers.

Over the next two years we became very good friends.  Our relationship was completely platonic.  It was wonderful.

In February 2006 he and his fiance called off their engagement.  In March the man I was seeing told me he had found greener pastures (another woman).  On April 1st we unofficially went to the Newman Formal together.  I had an idea that maybe I liked him but, not knowing he ended his engagement for seminary, I thought he was still in love with his ex. 

Around the middle of April Travis was praying in the chapel about his vocation.  He asked God, "What do You want me to do?"  He thought he'd get a response like, "Become a monk."  Instead he was overcome with thoughts and images of me.  When he asked the chaplain, Father told him God was either showing him what he was going to miss out on or what he was going to get. 

Travis began to be more intentional in spending time with me. 

I was clueless and kept any attraction pushed waaaaaay in the back.

Then he called me one day, saying he had to discuss something with me.  As we ended the conversation I almost said, "I love you."  I hung up the phone and freaked out.  It was true: I had completely fallen in love with Travis and I didn't even know it was happening. 

It was okay, though, because the conversation he wanted to have with me began with, "I want to date you.  I think God wants us to be together."

He then spent the next two days convincing me he was over his ex.

Two weeks later we had our wedding date picked out.  A month after that we were officially engaged and I had the ring on my finger to prove it.  Almost seven months after that we were married during the Octave of Christmas, on the Eve of the Feast of the Holy Family.

And we've lived happily ever after.


Now, how did he actually propose?  Well, he made a date with me.  I was pretty sure he was going to propose and in my nervousness I drank a ton of water.  I packed a picnic dinner - real plates, chicken breasts, yummy stuff - and he picked me up, bouquet of roses in hand. 

We went to Grandview Dr. in Peoria and ate while overlooking the Illinois River.  We then went for a small hike in the woods.  During the hike I really, really had to pee.  I told Travis and we tried to get to a park area, which just kept seeming further and further away. 

Then, at the top of a hill was a small clearing with a handful of grazing deer.  We were very close and we stopped to quietly watch them.  Travis said my name and I turned to see him kneeling, holding up a ring. 

"I love you.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?"

I said yes.  We kissed; we hugged; he picked me up and spun me around in a circle.

And then I went to pee in the woods.

Because I am that classy.

a small success

Grocery shopping yesterday was awesome. 

No one cried.
We were in and out.
I only forgot to get three items.
I stayed on budget ($70).
I got 10 boxes of name brand pasta for $5.

And the best part: by using a couple of coupons and buying sale items I saved $35.71!

Sometimes I feel like I am really doing a poor job with the whole housewife thing.  But when I save 1/3 of my grocery bill without really even trying, well I feel a-mazing.  Now perhaps part of the reason I saved so much was because of the huge sale on pasta.  And of course it's going to take a couple months to eat it all.  But dude, I'm owning it.  We have space in the cabinets and we eat pasta at least 3 times a month. 

People, I was so excited about the deal I actually texted some local friends. 

Maybe you're sitting there thinking that I'm a dork for being so excited about $35.  A day later I'm still giddy.  But, you see, it was almost $36 - which is even more money!

I don't usually have this kind of success at good ole Kroger's.  Whatever.  Today, I feel triumphant. 

a tea party for the royal wedding

 Wasn't it beautiful and lovely and even better than any princess movie because it was real?

His uniform, her lace-covered shoulders and arms, that gorgeous, gorgeous veil.

I even liked the trees in the church!

At my house we celebrated with a tea party.  I know, I'm a nerd.

In fact I am such a nerd about this that I couldn't sleep the night before and at 4:30am I realized that I was stupid for tossing and turning - there was a royal wedding on! - and so I came downstairs just in time for the Queen and Prince Phillip to arrive at the Abbey.

I made egg salad while sitting on my living room floor, taking in every moment.

And right there, mayo in hand, I realized that Kate Middleton will now be my #1 fashion influence.

Back to the tea party:

I had hopes of showing the wedding so my friends and I could gush over the dress, the tiarra, the groom, the best man(!) but technical difficulties wouldn't allow it. 

So instead our children ran around like mad and we watched highlights on tv.  We also had a cup of tea with two lumps of sugar because it felt like a British thing to do. 

For further evidence of my nerdiness I actually researched what to serve at a British tea.  So we had sandwiches, off which I cut the crust, home made scones with strawberry jam and cream, and cake.  I also had crackers, cheese, and fruit because I wanted my friends to still like me instead of finding me annoying for only feeding their children cake with coffee frosting and then sending them home for nap time.

(Recipes for the scones, egg salad, and coffee frosting used on the cake can be found at the bonnie dinner table.)

The above picture is from my breakfast this morning. 

I did not eat cake for breakfast but I looked at it longingly.

Longingly, people.

my idea that I'm super excited about

Today while rocking James to sleep I had a great idea.  I mean, I love this idea.  I am so excited about this idea.  Like I came downstairs and made Travis pause his movie so I could immediately tell him this idea.

Idea:  Use our Baptismal candles in our Easter decorations since every Easter we renew our Baptismal promises.

Travis was a little dismayed that I made him pause his movie for that, but come on, it's a good idea.

What else does one do with their Baptismal candles except keep them in the little box they came in and wonder what to do with it? 

Oh except for this other great idea I have which is to celebrate my kids' Baptism days with a nice dinner with their godparents, cake, and the relighting of their Baptismal candle.  Of course I haven't actually done that yet, but I have every intention of actually getting around to it some day.

So I'd love to know, how do you and your family use your Baptismal candles?  Also, do you celebrate the anniversary of your family members' Baptisms?  And do you have any special Easter decorations in mind?

my confession for a $57 grocery bill

as requested by Kaitlin.

There are two HUGE reasons why I was able to buy our groceries for so little this week:
#1 - I've been cloth diapering a lot more lately and so I don't need any disposable diapers, saving around $10.  (I buy Luvs.)
#2 - Last week I had extra money and stocked up on formula, saving $14 this week.  (I buy the Kroger soy brand.)

Going over my receipt I purchases 43 items, and the only name brands were parchment paper (Reynolds was the only brand available), Post cereal ($1 a box after store sale + coupon), Hallmark cards (coupon), Dial soap (only kind Trav will use), Angel Bath Tissue (sale), Starkiss Tuna (sale + coupon), Marzetti dried cranberries (sale and the cheaper brand).

Everything else was store brand or fresh produce (peaches, strawberries, corn on the cob). 

Buying store brands saves a ton of money, especially because Kroger usually discounts their store brands for their members (meaning I have a little card that they scan.)  I'm pretty sure that when I signed up for the membership card I also marked to receive coupons.  They mail us a packet of coupons 6-8 times a year.  Some are from the manufacturer but some are based on my shopping - those are very valuable.  I've gotten bread, Nestle chocolate chips and tortilla chips for free several times because of the personalized coupons.

The other thing that is just as important as buying store brands is prioritizing.  If I would have needed formula we wouldn't have gotten the peaches, parchment paper, cranberries, and some crackers I bought for the kids.

Having a garden has saved us money.  I also ration milk:  Trav, Lydia and I each get only 1/2 gallon a week.  I make bigger dinners so we can eat leftovers for lunch (this is especially easy and inexpensive to do with pasta).  We don't buy really nice bread (it's $1 a loaf) but my hope is to someday get a craigslist bread machine and fix that.  We rarely buy pre-made food.  Even frozen pizzas are a rarity around here anymore.  The only thing I buy in the frozen food section is veggies and the occasional ice cream treat.

Also, I have done some comparing and it seems that for the products I buy, I spend less at Kroger.  Often people think I'm crazy for shopping at Kroger over Wal-Mart on such a tight budget, but I honestly save more at Kroger than at Wal-Mart.  However, I'm pretty sure that's not true for everyone.

Lastly, I go to the store with cash and a list.  I stick to both and I use my phone's calculator to make sure I'm not going over my allotted amount of money.

So there ya go, Kaitlin.  I hope you can use an idea or two!  :)

What have you done?

Friends left comments on this post telling me amazing things about themselves that I never knew. And now I want you to do the same. I'll even let you comment anonymously, although I'd prefer to know about YOU.

Did you graduate Summa Cum Laude?
Have you volunteered every Saturday for the past year?
Where you prom queen Senior year?
Are you fluent in Italian?

Brag about yourself a little bit because I want to know so I can be excited for the things you've accomplished.

I'll start. The summer after my Junior year at EC I had an internship at 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing center & pirate supply store in San Francisco. Dave Eggers, who was my favorite author at the time, is the founder of 826 and I was able to work with him some while there. (Dave was nominated for the Pulitzer for his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. He also founded a publishing company, McSweeney's and wrote the script for Where the Wild Things Are.) I was completely alone - not knowing anyone - but I went out on my own. I traveled the city, going to museums, plays, the opera, restaurants. I randomly met Tatjana, who is still a good friend even though she's a German living in South America. I helped kids become excited about reading and writing. I learned all kinds of things that helped me become the employee and mother I am today.

What I did 6 months ago

6 months ago, May 3rd, was Lydia's birth day. Here's some pictures to commemorate what I did that day.

(Warning, these are the most "risky" pictures I've put up, but nothing too gross.)

This is Bernice, my midwife. She was listening to the baby through a contraction.

Her white little hands and feet are what knocked her down one point on the APGAR. Please notice my very red knees.

Holding my newborn - she was maybe an hour old.
Less than 2 days old.

6 months old exactly. What a cutie!

Please excuse me for being so bold as I say, "Well done, Me."

The Labor

It all started with this guy:

Iron Man.

Friday night Travis and I went to see the new Iron Man movie with some friends. It started at 7pm. So did my contractions. I had had some contractions, on and off, throughout the day, but nothing seemingly significant. But at 7 I started noticing that the contractions were a little stronger, and they continued to strengthen and become more regular throughout the 2 hour movie. It was a good film, by the way, and I recommend it.

We timed them for the next few hours and finally made the decision to call Bernice, since they'd been an average of 5 minutes apart and 1-2 minutes long each. I was instructed to call her back in another 30 minutes but she thought she'd be on her way. We went ahead and also called my friend, LB, who came right over and began timing contractions for us.

Bernice and her assistant, Brandi, arrived around 2am. They got a feel for the situation and Brandi fell asleep on the couch while Bernice stayed up to be available. Over the next few hours I slept between contractions. During the contractions I would hop into a variety of positions. I never "decided" what to do - it was more instinctual.

I was in labor for 21 hours and I had strong, painful contractions for at least 15 of those hours. I had back labor for most of the labor. This was caused by the fact that Lydia was posterior - she was facing up and out, not my back like she was supposed to be. To be honest, the labor was more painful than I ever imagined it would be, and of all the "horror stories" moms told me of their own labors, none prepared me for how intensely painful this labor was. Around 11am on Saturday Bernice called in another birthing assistant, Kim, to help, since she had experience with posterior labors. Travis and I both loved her. As good as Brandi and Bernice both were, Kim walked right in, put her hands on my hips and greatly relieved pressure. She also had me get in the tub, which is when and where Lydia finally turned anterior (facing back).

Positions I used:

- standing, leaning against the wall

- kneeling, leaning on the birthing ball

-laying on my left side, squeezing Trav's hand

-squatting with Travis supporting me from behind while he sat on the bed

-standing, holding onto Travis (in a slow dance type stance)

-kneeling on all fours (I did this on the floor, on the bed and in the tub)

-rocking and swaying was often used

A few things I remember from the labor:

- While in the bathtub I told Travis I couldn't do it any more, that he had to take me to the hospital so I could get an epidural.

- There was a point, also in the bathtub, when I desperately wanted a c-section. I just wanted everything to be over with - even if that meant major abdominal surgery.

- Around 5am I was having a very strong, painful contraction. So much so that it caused me to vomit. And while vomiting I felt a gush of fluid. My response: "Oh shit, I just pissed myself........ Or my water broke." My water had broke.

- I was supposedly very polite throughout the labor, saying "please" and "thank you," as in, during an intense contraction, "Someone please put pressure on my back! Lower! Thank you!"

- After I got sick Bernice started having me drink "LaborAid" a mixture of honey, lemon juice, baking soda and a few other things. It tasted horrible but she made me take a sip after every contraction to soothe my stomach and keep me hydrated. However, by the time I was pushing the taste of the LaborAid was making me sick and I announced loudly after a sip, "I'm not drinking any more of that crap!"

- I pushed for 31 minutes.

- After a good push that moved Lydia down I was told to hold, pant and let my body stretch. I did that twice but then couldn't any longer. I continued to push, just wanting to get it over with, and I heard and felt a pop - which led to over 2 inches of stitches a little later in the day.

-I listened to Johnny Cash during the labor. His low voice helped me keep my cries/moans low instead of high pitched, which helps keeps things loose and open.

-I squeezed LB's hands like crazy while I was pushing.

In the end, Lydia was born red (except for her hands and feet) and crying. There was very little molding on her practically perfectly shaped head. Travis did not end up catching her, which was the original plan, since he was putting pressure on my lower back. (But in the end he was okay with not catching her, though he feels more confident about doing it next time.) Travis did cut the cord, though. One neat thing was that the sex of our baby was not announced to us, but we were able to discover it for ourselves.

The afterbirth was easy and Lydia and I both cleaned up easily as I bled very little. I was absolutely delighted to meet my baby, and like a champ, she self-attached to my breast in an hour and 15 minutes. I discovered that I have a great pelvis and a wonderful uterus. (So says my midwife.)

After things had settled down we all had some birthday cake: pineapple upside down cake that LB made for us. It was delicious!

I ended up having 2" of stitches. My knees were bright red and swollen for a couple of days from all the kneeling I did. My arm pits were sore from supporting my weight on all fours. My upper middle back was sore from the way I leaned on the birthing ball. My abdomen was sore from my uterus clamping down. My hips were sore from labor. In the week and one day that Lydia's been here she's gotten bigger and has learned to latch on very well to the left breast (though we're still struggling with the right). I am very, very sore on my bottom but my daughter is a dream child and I'm loving getting to know her.

LB is also a blogger, and if you'd like to read her account of the birth, please go here.

Welcome Lydia Anne

Born at 3:51pm on Saturday, May 3rd.

After 21 hours of labor.

She weighed 8lbs, 15 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

She was a 9 on the APGAR and self attached an hour and 15 minutes after birth.

More details will come in the following days.