more emmy

sweet baby with cute onesie by AuntE.

Jonas was being very adorable with her this morning.

going in for the kiss.

love her.

a sleeping baby is a very precious thing - especially at 4 am (unfortunately this picture was not taken at 4 am)

emmy ryan

8-27-07

10:28pm

Well she arrived on the "perfect" day - the day we deemed would be ideal for her to come! The only problem was that she came out a little too fast. I was kind of sick to my stomach all afternoon long but since that wasn't necessarily a new thing with this pregnancy, I wasn't convinved that this was "the day." In fact, it wasn't until about 7:30-ish pm that I had my first "real labor contraction" and knew things were happening. By 8:30 the contractions were coming every 4 or so minutes and I told Ben to call the babysitter. By 9:15 we were at the hospital and I was miserable - I really am not a fan of labor in any way. The nurse who checked me told me I was a 4-5 (which I now doubt) and pretty high. Good, I thought, then let's get an epidural going. But by the time she got my IV in, another nurse had come in and taken over and checked me again - she said I was a 6-7 and pretty low, thus she wasn't too sure I would get my epidural. So I cried for a minute and then went back to cursing my contractions. I also told her to go ahead and give me some fentanyl.

The nurse came back and told me the doc had OK'd the epidural (hoping it would slow me down and thus give us time for needed IV antibiotics), the anesthesiologist had been paged, and she gave me some fentanyl. The fentanyl worked ok, but it wasn't really anything great. I had been standing up and started to feel a little woozy and decided to sit down. I got back to bed and the nurse told me to let her know when I needed to push. "Ummm, I need to push right now!" came my reply. She quickly checked me and told me I was ready - yeah, I know! So I think she dashed out and yelled for help and came back to catch the baby! It took one or two pushes for Emmy to come out. The CNM then came in as well as a bunch of other nurses. My doc was there about 5 minutes later - I don't know how he got there so quickly. All in all, I was in the hospital for 75 minutes before Emmy came!





To make a medium-long story not super-long, I'll try and condense. When I was nursing her about 30 minutes later I noticed that she was no longer nursing and looked blue. My doc was in there and he took her out. She had low oxygen and was put on a nasal canula for supplemental O2. The pediatrician arrived a short time later and really wasn't concerned since she showed no signs of respiratory distress. But she was ordered to stay in the nursery. She had to have an IV to get some antibiotics since I didn't get my proper doses - so she had an IV, O2, and monitors all tied up to her. She didn't feed well for the first 24 hours, but otherwise was fine on the O2. She was on O2 for the next 2 1/2 days and was deemed to have "transitional pulmonary insufficiency of infancy" (a term the doc kind-of made up). Basically she came out too fast and didn't have time to "transition" into the outside world.





She was on O2 for the 2 1/2 days we spent there, but was taken off and we were sent home without O2 early this afternoon. All seems well so far. She wants to nurse all the time because after 5 minutes of yummy milk, she falls asleep! One of Ben's first comments about Emmy was, "She cries like a girl." And you know what? She does! And I finally had Emmy in my room last nite and realizes that she whines like a girl, too. :) Gosh! :) But we love her and are so glad to all be together again!

The Arrival

The proud papa and his little girl!

The proud mama. Emmy with her "pipes and hoses" as Miles called them!

Our sweet little baby girl.

The Departure

After 2 1/2 days, Emmy and I finally got to leave. I was beyond happy.

When we got home the boys were really excited to hold Emmy. Miles did a really great job!

Jonas did a really good job for about 10 seconds, then couldn't resist the urge to "honk" Emmy's nose! But Jonas is doing a great job as big-brother. He is always saying "hold me" to the baby - meaning "hold her." And asking where the baby is, etc.

The Big-Brother Fairy

I don't know why I made up the big-brother fariy all of sudden today, but for some reason I did. So I told the boys during their naps that the Big-Brother Fairy would come and give them a special new gift for being great, new big brothers. The gifts were backpacks (I got Miles' for a penny and Jonas' for 99 pennies - both from ebay. S&H added to the cost, but still!) with a couple fun snacks and some Burger King toys (sent with the backpacks).

Doesn't Miles look so old with his backpack on!? Gosh.

And cute little Jonas - who still is just as cute, but not quite as little since his new sister arrived.















So there ya have it. I'm sure I'll be posting more pics of Emmy soon.

The Maiden Voyage

Well since this "baby" came first, we decided to name the sailboat Grassy Rose. Sorry Baby Girl, but you should not be waiting so long to come out!

We went to Ridgway on Friday for Ben to test out his skills. He got a few books from the library on sailing and so he was excited to go and do. And? He had a GREAT time and absolutely loved it! He had a little trouble getting off of the shore, but once he did he was off and running. . . I mean sailing. It was really fun watching him and it looked like he was doing a really job manning the boat. I think Miles was a little nervous for his Daddy. He was real quiet when Ben was getting ready and asked what would happen if the boat tipped over. When Ben was heading out Miles was calling, "Don't go too far Daddy." Another time he called, "Dad, the boat is tipping!" It was sweet. But then watching the ever-so-skillful Ben on the boat, Miles lost all nervousness and began to play and have fun himself!

Ben getting Grassy Rose ready for her maiden voyage.

He made it out there and looked good!

A nice shot of Ben-the-Sailor-Man.

And while Ben was out cruising around, what were we doing? Well, throwing rocks for one thing - of course!

The boys also had fun playing in the water - until they got out and the sun went behind the clouds - BRRRRRR.

We also played in the back of Daddy's Truck. They love it back there - are they boys or what?!

When Ben got back we had a "picnic" in the back of the truck. How fun. We really had a fun time - especially Ben, I think! Oh yes, Boys Just Wanna Have Fun, too.

Conversation with a 6-year old girl

So we went to a little carnival-like event last Saturday and this is the conversation I had with a little girl there (I really don't know how old she was - somewhere between 5 and 6 I think).

Girl: Is there a baby in your tummy?
Me: Yes, I sure hope so!
Girl: Can I see the baby?
Me: No, she is hiding under my skin.
Girl: Oh, did you swallow her?
Me: Laughing. I'm not sure what I said after that.

Post-Partum Recovery Unit (no, no, I'm not there yet!)

Poor, poor Miles. He has to put up with me - and me at 9 months pregnant in the middle of August is, I admit, probably not fun. Fortunately for Ben he is gone most of the day and so unfortunately for Miles he gets the brunt of. . . me!

So today he was driving me absolutely crazy. Now in Miles defense, Miles wasn't even being that bad. Truth be told he wasn't even being bad, just 3 - which often times can be confused with each other. I was confused today.

It started at the doctor's appointment for Jonas (Jonas is still skinny-skinny and ranks under the 1 percentile for weight! but we're not worried) where I was trying to talk and listen to the doctor and hold Jonas while Miles is doing everything I'm asking him not to do: turning the water faucet on full-blast, standing on the exam table, etc. So for the rest of the morning he just didn't listen to me - and I think that is probably my biggest pet-peeve. I would rather have him hit me than not listen to me. So anyways I had taken away his privileges of playing with a bunch of his toys (which, amazingly, he handled very well), but he still just didn't quite get it. But, whatever, we're over it. I told him I loved him and all that good stuff and that maybe I had gotten a little too frustrated with him, blah, blah, blah. And he's napping right now and so hopefully post-nap we all will be better.

But what this all brings me to is, during our fun episodes this morning, I thought how nice it will be to get a "break" while I'm at the hospital. Then I thought, "Man, 24-hours isn't long enough!" Back when my mom was having babies I think you stayed like 5-7 days. Now I wouldn't want that - I mean, the practices were so backwards then: you were practically bed-rest the whole time. But it did get me thinking. . .

There needs to be a Post-Partum Recovery Unit. This is for moms and babes only - you'd stay for like 3 days. While there you could sign up to take whatever classes you wanted to. Classes like Yoga for the Post-Partum Mommy, Nursing 101, Healthy Cooking, Post-Partum Exercising, Making Your Own Baby Announcements, chat groups with experienced and new moms, etc., etc. Of course the new little one gets to accompany you to all these things. And there would also just be lots of R&R and special bonding time with just you and your new little babe.

Yes, those are what my daydreams are like these days. . .

Lefse and Sailboats

Question: What do lefse and sailboats have in common?

Answer: My husband is really into them at the present time.

If you really know Ben, you know that he can get "into" things really quickly and really deeply. His current obsession is rather interesting : Scandanavian culture. I think this came about as a result of 2 things: 1. His increasing dislike of the hot, hot summer - thus his thoughts turning to cooler things (like Scandanavian winters, logical right?!?!) and 2. His new exercising (a lot I might add) routine of in-line skating - similar to speed-skating, thus, once again, turning his thoughts to cooler things and places. Or something like that.

So what is lefse? Basically, it's a potato pancake - from Scandanavian culture, of course. We hadn't even tried these and Ben was telling me we had to buy a potato ricer - huh? A potato ricer is basically something that mashes up a potato really, really finely. And you know what - we did buy a potato ricer ! A cheap one. But only because I read how great they were for making baby food. :) So last week we made some lefse. And it tasted like. . . potato pancakes. I mean, I did like them because I really like plain and simple food and that is what it is. Ben LOOOOOOVED them of course and can't wait to make them again.

And sailboats. Well I have to admit that sailboats aren't just a whim for Ben. He's been really into them since his Alaska sailboating trip about 10 years ago. He has always wanted to get on another sailboat and has also always wanted to buy one. So today he passed by a garage sale that had a . . . sailboat. He told me about it and so I said let's go check it out. So we went and saw this sailboat - called a sabot. It's a really tiny sailboat; I guess it's used for beginner sailors and is quite "simple and safe" to use. Anyways, long story short - he bought it. It will technically be a birthday present for him (yes, his birthday is in December). He was quite upset (in a friendly way, of course!) when I made him offer the lady $50 less than her asking price. But, come on, you don't offer full price at a garage sale - unless you're my Dad, then you offer more. Now I'm all nervous about my husband out on a sailboat, but my husband is a cautious guy and so I think it will be okay. I'm really excited for him. He was so cute when we bought it - like a 3 year-old on Christmas morning.

So in spite of my husband's lefse and sailboat ways, AND because of them, I really, really love the guy!

A Little Bit of Nesting

Some "nesting" projects I've been doing this week: So my sister told me about these headbands for babies made with tights - thus staying on the head better and without leaving indentation marks on baby's heads. Her idea was to make some. Then I found some gal online who sold some "nylon" headbands - for $1 each. That was my idea - to buy them already made. So I bought 5 nylon headbands and 1 crocheted one, and got one free crocheted one. Wahoo. Then I found some crocheted flowers on Etsy and ordered some. I also bought some buttons and a non-crocheted flower at Walmart. Then I glue-gunned on snaps to the 5 nylon headbands and the backs of all the flowers and buttons. So now I have many possibilities of what to do for my headbands. I'm excited!
With the generousity of Ben's co-workers, my sister-in-law, and old roommie Rebecca, I had lots of baby clothes to organize. I decided a good place to hang a bunch of stuff would be in our catch-all office closet - it was already home to my sewing supplies, scrapbooking stuff, games, file drawers, etc. - why not one more thing? I, of course, had fun looking at all the adorable clothes again. So fun!
I used 2 of my drawers for more clothes - mainly pajamas and onesies in the top and pants/other outfits, socks in the bottom.
Here is the little nook I created in our room - since we have no space elsewhere. It should work - at least for the first few months. The moses basket is sitting atop 8 barrels of wheat. Lovely.

Now all I need is Grassy Rose. . .

Just the 4.9375 of Us

Well Ben was off today and it was just delightful. We went to Ouray - about 45 minutes away - and had a good time. I love Ouray - it is a town right next these beautiful moutains and is just fun. It was so nice to be up there because it was cool - literally cool. It felt incredibly good to get out of the heat - I absolutely hate summer, really I do. Anyways, we just played at a park there and had fun. Then went to get some snacks (i.e., treats) for the boys at a local bagel shop. Miles decided upon a cinnamon roll and we ordered one - to be shared with all of us. The cash register guy must have had pity on us because 1. We are a family of 4.9375 and 2. We paid with quarters (thus signifying how poor we are???). So as we sat down he brought over the warmed-up cinnamon rollS - yep, he gave us 2. He said, "Well they are kind of small so I threw in a second one." I just thought that was really nice!

Anyways, after that we took a "hike" (1/4 mile) to Cascade Waterfalls. It's a little steep hike, but just the right length. It was perfect and beautiful.

Then for the ride home we didn't want the boys to fall asleep - we still wanted them to take a nap at home! So Ben bought them a special candy - ring pops! And, needless to say, it did the trick - neither kid fell asleep. You'll have to look at the pictures, though, to see what sticky mess we got ourselves into, however. :)

So here are some photos:

Miles, and Jonas, both had fun on this "old-time" toy. They just don't make these things anymore - which is probably smart cuz with lots o' kids there could be lots o' accidents.

Swinging is Miles' favorite activity - he just loves it! I wanted to show the amazing mountains in the background. So neat.

Here we are at the waterfall. Of course we don't get the whole waterfall, but it's still neat. (And I really don't like this picture of me. I look, ummm, fat. But Ben reminded me this blog is a journal and it would be fun to show Grassy - so I conceded).

The hiker boys.

Well where there is water, there are usually rocks. And definitely where there are rocks and water, my boys will be picking up the rocks and throwing them in the water! Always. Miles would ONLY pick up the big, "humongous" (his new favorite word) rocks!

Jonas was really proud of his rock throwing, too. And he took it very seriously. Take note of the puffed-out chest as he gets ready to throw! Wow.

And this picture does not even do justice to the sticky mess Jonas got himself into! He smeared that ring-pop all over his legs, then proceded to his face and hair. He especially liked rubbing the ring-pop all over his eyelids. At one point his eyelids were even stuck shut - it was hilarious!

Just the 2 of Them. . .

So Ben and Miles went camping on Friday nite - just the 2 of them. I decided my camping days are probably done this summer - although frankly I'm not all that comfortable anywhere so it might not have made a difference. (Plus, Ben slept from 9-6:45, while my sleep was from 12-6. Blah. It was my fault staying up late, though - trying to get some scrapbooking done!) But it was good for Ben and Miles to go by themselves.

Here Miles is helping get the truck all packed up!

Dinner time - some yummy ramen noodles and french bread. With S'mores later on for dessert, of course!

Really no need for explanation of what is going on here. But this is future payback for all the, ummmm, trying times he gives us. :)

Our very own blond-hair, blue-eyed Huck Finn. They spent the evening trying to catch some fish - but unfortunatley weren't successful (where's mom when ya need her?!).

Ben had forgotten Miles' pull-ups for the nite and so when going to bed Ben told Miles not to pee and that he'd get him up in the middle of the nite to go. So at 4:30am Ben awoke Miles: "No, Dad, I want to sleep." But he did go out - and got to experience the magic of STARS - and lots of them! Then he went right back to sleep.

The rest of the morning was spent fishing again. This time they were successful - yea! The first thing Miles did when getting a hold of the fish - hug and kiss them! Ain't that just so precious????

So it looks like a wonderful time. When they got up in the morning Ben asked Miles how his sleep was. "It was fun, Daddy." Well I guess if his sleep was fun the rest of the camping adventure was probably really, really fun!