Baby Rylee

A handful of you know that 5 years ago I thought I'd be giving birth to a baby girl named Riley, to our happy surprise, Parker was born instead. A week ago Rylee (spelled differently this time) was finally born.

A fast an furious series of events led to the wonderful birth of my third baby on June 2nd. Contractions started at 4:18pm every 2 minutes and they were stronger than I'd ever felt. Each one brought my baby closer, and each one shook my entire body. I knew that they were so strong because things were going quick. Luckily my midwife, Tiffany, showed up quickly after my labor started, I was able to get in the tub and labor for a bit in there. Floating face down on my belly was the most comfortable position during the contractions for some reason. Shortly after getting into the birth tub the urge to push overtook. It felt like the pain of the contractions lifted when I pushed with my body and as my baby quickly shifted down my body. I told Tiffany the baby moved down. With my hand I felt my cervix fully dilate with one push and my bag of water popped with the touch of my finger. During the next push my baby's head was born. I remember feeling the soft wet hair in my palm, I rubbed the sweet head several times before pushing again.

The rest of the baby didn't come so quickly, after asking for help Tiffany eased the baby out and found the umbilical cord wrapped holding the baby down a bit. After unwrapping the cord, baby squeaked and cried, as did many of us in the room. I felt my baby's body and quickly learned I had a little girl in my arms. I announced it and everyone cheered with excitement.  She was born at 5:31pm. 

My husband brought in our kiddos, who were napping in the next room. They were slow to wake up but were very excited to finally meet the baby that grew in mommy's belly. It was such a special experience to have my mom and sister in-law, husband, and my two midwives there with me for the birth. Baby Rylee weighed 7#14, my biggest baby yet. And she is perfect. To say my birth was intense doesn't quite do it justice, but almost.  Luckily it was so quick I didn't have time to quit.  I'm so thankful for my husband's support through each contraction and for the group of wonderful women there to witness and help me through. 

pictures by Kelli Salter  :)

Sadie

It really was everything I hoped it to be, everything I asked and prayed for, but that doesn't mean it wasn't overwhelming and difficult, because it was.

My due date (from conception) was August 27th, from my LMP it was the 22nd. On Tuesday the 25th I took my usual yoga class and my awesome teacher worked me hard. She was definitely trying to help my baby come out, she knew I was ready. After that class I felt achy and sore in my back and low belly, and I had a little bloody show too! Then we went swimming at my girlfriends house, the pool was really nice but I definitely felt like something was going on. Jeff and I went walking on the beach that night with some friends but only a few contractions came of it so we went about our night as usual and went to bed. 

Wednesday morning at 4:50am I woke up having a contraction, which was not at all abnormal at this point, I had contractions during the night for about a week to this point. I got up to pee, laid back down and had two more contractions, 10 minutes apart.  At this point I was excited and wanted to see if the pattern was going to stick around. I got out of bed, leaving Parker and Jeff asleep and timed my contractions for an hour.  Around 6 I called my mom to tell her to get on the road, she wanted to be at my birth and had a 3.5 hour drive ahead of her. The contractions were bouncing around from every eight minutes to every two minutes, until at 6:30 they were every two minutes consistently. That's when I woke up Jeff, "I think I am in labor babe!" He got up and we tried to figure out if this was the real thing, I was in denial for some reason. I have seen several contraction patterns phase away as the sun comes up, so I guess I was waiting to see if that was going to happen to me. It didn't. 

I texted Tiffany, my wonderful midwife, around 8am, she said she'd come whenever I needed her. She had just delivered three babies between Sunday and Monday so I wanted to save her energy, especially if this was just going to go away. I had my awesome midwife friend Mary come around 8:00, she checked my dilation and I was 3cm, which I had been the week before too! That was discouraging news, but the contractions continued on and Mary was awesome at reassuring me that she felt this was the real thing. About an hour later I was 4cm, and the contractions picked up. I got in the birth tub my sweet husband set up to try to stay comfortable. I threw up a few minutes later, that's one of the beautiful techniques I use to cope with pain. And that is when we all knew it was show time. I told Jeff to call Tiffany, didn't need her missing the action! 

Contractions from then on were increasingly intense and every two minutes. I felt my baby's head getting lower with a few of them. And a crazy part of this whole experience was that in between contractions I was totally present and normal. I was chatting and smiling and then with each contraction I would go into the zone, and then I was back! Around 10:20 I was feeling some pressure and asked Tiff to check me, I was 8cm. That was such good news!! After hearing I hadn't hardly dilated from 5am-9am and now I was an 8! Almost done! But my mom had not arrived yet, and I really wanted her to be there this time. With each contraction I thought of her and told my body to wait till she made it. She was only 15 minutes away, I knew I could wait. I squeezed Jeff's hand with each contraction after that to try to focus and wait. 

She came rushing in and I cried for joy that she was there and also because I knew now I could be done. I moved in the tub from floating on my back to squatting against the side facing Tiff and Jeff. I told Tiffany I was going to push and break my water and that "this is going to suck". I just knew that the ultimate intensity was about to come after my water broke. Tiff said "You're going to break your water? Ok!?" With the next few contractions I pushed, my water broke, clear and perfect, and with the next I pushed, and pushed and pushed and my sweet baby's head was born. It definitely didn't feel sweet in the moment and I definitely was not silent as this occurred. The intensity and pain that overtakes your body as your baby comes out is like no other, a couple "ow"s and yelps are definitely warranted. The rest of her body was born seconds later and Tiffany brought her up onto my belly. (The video of the birth clearly shows she came out posterior, so did little Parker, I guess that's just how they fit best in me!) Oh and I can't forget to mention that Tiffany came swimming in the birth tub to catch my baby. I was pulling away as I pushed her out and Tiff got pretty wet! 

I was immediately overwhelmed with the intensity of such a quick birth that I cried out a few times as I held this amazing baby for the first time. The next item of business though was to determine whether we had a girl or boy. As I started laboring in the tub I told Jeff my final bet was that our baby was going to be a boy. So when we all looked down at this new baby in my arms and moved the umbilical cord to the side, Jeff announced we had a girl and I literally shouted for joy! What a sweet surprise that was! 

Every thing after that was cake, relatively so. The placenta came out minutes later and then the after pains took over. Ibuprofen became my friend every 4 hours. No tear, thank goodness. 

Little Sadie Elizabeth had joined our family and she was perfect. Seven pounds and four ounces. She nursed so well and hardly made a peep. She looks so much like her big brother Parker. We can't wait to see who she grows up to be. Parker came to meet her minutes after she was born, it was very sweet to see the look on his face as he touched her and heard me say she was his sister. He is definitely getting used to her being here, slowly but surely.  

Birth is shock to my system. I make intense amounts of colostrum and milk in the first few days, Sadie weighed seven pounds fifteen ounces a week after she was born. My little chunk. I think my body needs extra time to catch up with having such a quick birth and making so much milk because I got mastitis yesterday (so not fun). So now I am laid up in bed trying to recover. I have wonderful helpers and friends taking care of me though. 

I am so grateful how everything turned out and for everyone that was at my birth. It was perfect.

Could Not Ask For More

My family and I were blessed with a sweet baby girl Wednesday morning--Sadie Elizabeth. We enjoyed a personal and amazing home birth. Thank you to the ladies who came to support and help me through the process!! I couldn't have done it without each of you.
I am also so glad my sweet mom made it right on time to see her granddaughter be born. And to my sweet husband whose hands I know were aching afterward, thank you for being there for me to squeeze, hang on and tell me I could do it. You are always my rock and safe place. Thank you for being the sweetest man I know.
So here is a pic of our birth, 1000 words at least can be said about this one.

I hope to write more in a bit :)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like

Yes Christmas is approaching and our family photos are no where to be found mainly because we haven't taken them yet :/ Every time we...I mean I plan to take them something comes up. For example a black eye, rain, the distance between Utah and California, to name just a few things. The answer is alway "next wknd", but that was three weeks ago! It will happen eventually!

Anyway, all is well on the little Waldram family front.  Parker is the apple of our eyes. He got his first tooth last week, it's like a little dagger in there. He also got a gnarly rash that was not fun for him or us. Such a cute little tush should never have to be so sore! He's recovering tho :) He sits all on his own now too, and rolls over on occasion. No signs of crawling but I don't mind, he can't grow up all at once. He loves banana, but I have to trick him into eating veggies, the little stinker!! He's a cutie tho, he makes me smile first thing in the morning and laugh all throughout the day. Such a joy. 

Jeff is in Utah now, attending his nephew, Skyler's, farewell. Parker and I are home.... all alone... just trying not to get kidnapped. Jk we are doing fine. Little Parker will protect me in Jeff's absence. 

I went to an Aspiring Midwives meeting today. All of the student midwives in the area have been getting together for a few months now to glean information and support from each other. It has been really nice to meet with women on such a similar path as mine, dealing with the similar trials and equally sharing in the same passion that I have for birth. 

All in all, we're doing great :) Heading to Tehachapi, the San Mateo, then Tahoe over Christmas. I can't wait to hit the slopes for the first time in a while! In the fall I live for snowboarding and in the spring I live for sailing. One thing that brigs a smile to my face everyday in Decmber are Christmas carols. There is a station in slo that plays all Christmas all day. What a genius idea. Silver Bells....silver bells.....

Well, cross your fingers no ninjas come invade my apartment while Jeff is gone and that we get our pictures taken before the next black eye comes our way! 

Love you all. 

Merry Christmas

Smooth Sailin'

Parker is amazing!! I honestly forget he is a little baby sometimes because he is just so good. Most of the time I feel like he is just a part of me that does what I do and goes where I go! Lately he sleeps through the night, hardly cries, is a cuddle bug, has a smile from heaven and melts us with his laugh. I feel so lucky to be his mom and to take care of him. He brightens up my life, reminding me of the simplicity of things.  

Parker is now four and a half months. He still has yet to roll over consistently, but he succeeds here and there. He really wants to sit up but is still pretty wobbly.  He absolutely loves food tho! It is the funniest thing to watch him stare at us while we eat. He even chomps his little gums, mimicking us chewing! We give him little tastes every now and then but tell him he has to wait til his teeth come in to eat for real. 

We swim as often as we can these days and Parker loves it! Ms. Melanie, our landlord and swim teacher, taught me how to dunk Parker under the water and teach him to hold his breath. Now he kicks and wiggles when he is under! He will be a great swimmer some day!

Although I didn't think it would be, it has been fun to be able to dress him up :) I was really bummed to put away all the dresses and frills and bows but Parker has cute collared shirts, overalls, mini jeans, bow ties, preppy jackets  and fluffy bear suits. I'm working on making him some church ties so he can match his daddy on Sundays. 

Jeff and I have been doing pretty  well lately too. I created a "Date night in a jar" from Pinterest so that has been keeping us busy, reminding us of the need for alone  and romantic time together. My newest venture is to bring Parker to the movies with us.... I'm pretty hesitant for obvious reasons but so many people have told me they've done it before. If anyone has advice, plz I would love to hear it. 

Our latest news is we are moving in November! We have absolutely loved living here but are plainly outgrowing this space. We're moving to a 2 bdrm  not far from where we are now and are so excited! I've been fantasizing about having room to have a table in our house and storage space other than our closet! Haha.

Other than all that... Life is good. God is so good to us. He hears Jeff and I every night as we plead for his protection over the three of us. What more could we ask for.

Until next time, enjoy the pictures:

The first few months--real life

I can hardly believe Parker is already almost four months old!! I swear I fall in love with him again and again very single day. I'm not going to sugarcoat the truth and say that having a baby is easy and all rainbows all the time, because its not. What I'm going to do is share reality:

  Parker poops...a lot. Just today we were about to go swimming and he pooped in his swim diaper. Not cool. It's the reusable cloth kind so I couldn't just cut it off him I had to pull it down like a pull-up diaper and as you can probably visualize, as I pulled it down poop covered his legs and feet... Yay. 20 wipes, a bunch of toilet a paper (yup there was that much poop) and a few tears (mine not his) later we were again ready to swim. Oh and whoever made up the rumor that babies poop doesn't stink until they start solids needs to come smell Parker's. 

  Much less "me-time". Of course babies need lots of attention we all know that, but it didn't really hit me until I had my first experience peeing with him in my arms! Honestly, I love having him with me all the time but I feel this new sense of freedom when he is asleep sometimes! They say sleep when they sleep, definitely do this when they're really little, but now I just do everything I don't get done when he is awake and everything I can't do with only one arm or a baby strapped to my front! 

  Different " us-time"....in a good way. When Jeff gets home I say hi as sweet as I can possibly manage and hand off the little poop machine :. It is such a relief to have Jeff home in the evening and on the weekend. He provides a sense of stability and support during the cries (Parker's and mine), blow-outs (not mine...) and all other teeth clenching moments that come my way. Having a baby has helped Jeff and I respect and appreciate each other in so many new ways. Me for staying home with Parker during the week and him for working so hard all day and then coming home, cleaning up, doing bed time, offering love and support and all he can to help. We've realized that we both work hard during the day and have stopped trying to decide who works harder or deserves to rest more at the end of the day. A woman I met in some of my midwifery training gave me some marriage advice, she told me that from the start of her marriage she went on "walks and talks" several times a week. Doing this has not only given Parker and I the crucial fresh air we need sometimes but also it's an opportunity for Jeff and I to hold hands and just talk openly and freely. 

  One thing my mom shared with Jeff and I that we are trying to live is to not revolve our lives around Parker but to have his life revolve around ours. We bring him everywhere we go (although alone time is essential of course), he is like another appendage of mine. The cutest appendage ever :)

What an Amazing Ride

As many of you have already learned, our sweet baby has finally come to join us on the outside of his momma's tummy! 

He was due May 20th, well actually Riley was due but she is still waiting in heaven and Parker decided to come and surprise us instead ;) I tried to be patient all week, waiting for our baby to come when he was ready but after a week decided that a little black cohosh just might do the trick. With the permission of my midwife, I took some cohosh on Sunday afternoon and by 2:30pm I was having regular contractions. By 10pm they had slowed down quite a bit and we suspected we were just having a false start. My parents had shown up by then but then went to sleep at Melissa and Jared's so we could get some rest. At 11:30pm labor had definitely started with contractions about 5 minutes apart. 

With Jeff as the best labor coach I could have ever asked for, we pushed forward through each contraction one by one. The shower, yoga ball and ultimately the birth tub were my saving graces through the intensity and pain of my contractions. 

Finally at 5am Monday morning Jeff asked Tiffany, my midwife, mentor and friend, to come and check on us. She showed up and I was 6cm dilated. I knew there was still a lot of work to be done so back the the birth tub I went. An hour later I needed to push!! My instincts carried me to the toilet to try to push and my water broke immediately. At that point  I knew things were happening fast. Jeff called my mom and Tiffany called Megan to come assist her, neither of them made it in time! Parker was born 7 minutes and 4 pushes later, without a scratch and without a peep! 

He was such a peaceful baby and indeed, he was a HE! We were all in shock that his parts were male, but so excited he was safe and healthy and here.

My parents and Megan came in a minute too late and joined in the shock of the fast birth and little boy that had filled Riley's spot. Jeff proved to be a wonderful birth assistant when Tiffany had no other choice but to ask him for the help she needed.

All in all, our Father in heaven was definitely looking down on us with protection and love. Without Him I would have not made it through labor. He definitely has many things He is teaching Jeff and I right now, luckily we have each other to look to for strength and support.

Parker is thriving and doing well, back up to birth weight, 7lb12oz, eating, pooping and sleeping so perfectly. No complaints here. Its hard work and there are sleepless hours but I wouldn't trade them for all the chocolate, kittens, beach days or ice cream in the world.