Noah is one heck of a character. I can't believe we created him. I could write so much about this kid. Here is all about Noah at 2 1/2 years old.
First off, Noah is a talker. He talks like the average three year old. He amazes us and others around him with his vocabulary. It's so fun having conversations with him and hearing everything that goes on in his head. It's really entertaining to sit there and ask him questions (as long as he's in the mood to sit and talk!)
He LOVES to sing songs, especially nursery rhymes. He is always singing and picks up favorite songs and sings them on repeat. One week he sang Ba-Ba Black Sheep over and over and over again. Then switched it to Rain, Rain, Go Away, then the ABC song. Then it was I love to see the Temple. He learns songs quickly and can remember all the words. We sing a lot of primary songs together.
Although he can sing his alphabet, he's still learning to recognize his letters. He can usually point out an "N" or "S" (for Sophia) but sometimes gets letters mixed up. But he loves to find written words on things. He has been able to count since he turned two. He can count easily to 10 and then starts shouting out random numbers like nineteen, thirteen, nineteen, seventeen... Same as the letters, he can usually recognize some numbers, like 1, 2, 0 but sometimes gets them mixed up. What's funny is several months ago he actually recognized more numbers than he does now, it's like he forgot. But he loves to act like he knows all the letters and numbers. He loves to find N's and say "That's N for Noah!".
Noah can be very busy-busy and go-go-go, yet other times, like in new places, he's very observant and it takes him a little while to become that busy kid in that new environment. He usually needs some warming up - not like he's afraid necessarily, but he needs time to observe and then act. This goes along with people too. He takes some warming up, and can come across as shy, and then he becomes your best friend.
He notices small details, or reads them in a way that you wouldn't have thought yourself. He's good at reading situations and he can really pick up on our emotions by the tone of our voice, our face etc. Sometime's if I'm kind of in a deep thought and maybe worried about something and not realizing it, he'll look at me and say, "mommy, are you happy?". Derek and I are really working on how we communicate, respond, and express our emotions so we can teach by example. Although, it usually feels like we're teaching him the opposite! It's hard when you're still practicing yourself how to react appropriately as well.
Noah still loves trains, and anything that moves. He went on the Heber Creeper train this Summer with Papa, Grammies and some of his cousins. Riding the train is his favorite thing to do at the Hogle Zoo.
His new thing is gymnastics. Especially since Hugh came here in the Summer. Just like he taught himself how to hit a ball, he taught himself how to do a somersault. One day he said, "Look mommy! This is my nastics!" and rolled over. Everything for the last several months has been his "nastics". He pulls up and climbs over everything and calls it gymnastics. He's pretty good! I want to put him in a class this Spring. He loves watching videos of Hugh doing his routines.
This kid is hilarious. He seriously cracks us up! I'm sure all parents think their kid is the funniest, but seriously.. OURS REALLY IS :) Just kidding. But really. He started saying things like "what the heck" and we're like, what! The things he comes up with, Derek and I look at each other and are just like, since when is he a teenager?!
He likes to collect things, like tiny things he finds or random things around the house - to hold in his hand, or to put in a bag and then carry around the bag. It's so fun to watch and hear him play, by himself or with others. Coming up with games, like "I'm the daddy, you're the mommy". He likes to play pretend and makes lots of things "babies". Like a grape, or a tiny pom pom ball he found, or sometimes he'll even just take a burp cloth and wrap it up in a ball and say there's a baby in there. It's so cute. He's getting so much more interested in Oliver, and has really been loving on him lately and always sings to him and calls him cute.
He makes silly voices and has a new silly laugh that he does about 100 times a day. He'll do something he thinks is funny and go "HAHA!" in the funniest way. I wish I could insert the sound into here.
Noah still naps 1.5-2 hours a day. Which I am so grateful for. I have friends with kids the same age and they have stopped napping already. He really really needs his nap. As he always has. He usually wakes up around 7 and goes to bed between 8-9 but we're trying to move it back a bit earlier. During the Summer months, he started going to bed so late and I want to get him back to going to bed around 7:30-8:00.
Some of Noah's favorite foods right now...
Fruit: strawberries, blueberries , oranges
Vegetables: asparagus, green beans and broccoli (cooked), bell peppers raw, tomatoes from the garden
He also LOVES any type of beans - especially garbanzo (like his mommy). He loves quinoa and rice and bread with nut butter. Oh and he LOVES cereal. He does really like plain yogurt and cheese but I haven't been buying those things anymore, since we're trying to cut down on our animal products.
Noah did okay transitioning into his toddler bed. The hardest part was getting him to sleep but he would usually stay in his bed all night once he was actually asleep. But that didn't last long. By the time Oliver was born, he started sneaking into our room some nights. And it quickly became an every night thing. For months Derek would put him back in his bed and have to stay in there until he fell asleep or else he'd cry. But once Oliver started sleeping horribly, we were both exhausted that most nights Derek didn't even realize when Noah would climb into our bed. Lately we've been so focused on getting Oliver to sleep better that we're like, okay fine, we'll tackle Noah's sleep once Oliver is doing better (which he is starting to). I don't necessarily mind Noah sleeping with us as much as I used to, because now he at least sleeps (as opposed to rolling around and keeping us up). But he does wake us up sometimes and I just would like to have our own bed back, haha.
The reason Noah comes into our room at night is because he says he's scared of monsters. I don't know how he became so scared of monsters but it's pretty legit. If he is in a dark room by himself or something he'll start crying and say "there's a monster coming!" It's sad.
I could keep going and going and going but I don't have enough time. How much I love our little Noah. Actually he's becoming more and more of our big boy. We love you bud!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Oliver at 4 Months
A litte bit about Oliver's first 4 months...
One of the first things I noticed about Oliver when he was born was his tongue. As I figured, we had another tongue tied baby. He actually did much better than Noah with nursing in the beginning. I think a lot of this had to do with me though - I was much more experienced after nursing Noah for 21 months. Oliver latched on, it wasn't a very deep latch but he did at least. He did okay in the hospital but he wasn't getting the best latch and I knew he would most likely start having the same problems that Noah did. It was a hard decision but before we left we had the pediatrician clip his frenulum. I didn't really want him to do it because I knew pediatricians aren't the best person to take care of that - it's better to go to a specialist. But the oral surgeon who did Noah's was booked for a few weeks and I just wanted to have a good start with nursing.
I could tell the pediatrician didn't clip it very good though, and I knew he was still tied. His latch still felt uncomfortable and tight. At one week old he started showing some of the same symptoms as Noah - spitting up a ton, crying during feedings and seemed in pain. I instantly called around and found a doctor that I had forgotten about down in Lehi. To make a long story short, I took him down, they revised his tongue and lip via laser. It was hard but I knew it would help him because it helped Noah so much.
He got better. His nursing quickly improved and he did really well for about a month and a half. The only thing he was still doing was latching on and off a lot. But he was otherwise nursing great and gaining a lot of weight. He was also sleeping 6-8 hour stretches at night!
At two months, he had his vaccinations. I keep telling myself it must have been a weird coincidence.. but after that he started crying really bad whenever he'd try to nurse and was starting to refuse to nurse actually. He also started spitting up way more and started waking up earlier to feed in the night than he normally did.
Within days it got worse. He was now barely nursing at all and waking up a few times at night. It was super frustrating and so sad to watch him struggle.
I took him back to the doctor. He said it was reflux and prescribed some baby zantac which of course I was so hesitant not to give to him. We gave it some time first, but after a couple of weeks I couldn't watch him suffer anymore. We started him on the meds. Two weeks into it and it still wasn't helping. So back to the doctor. They prescribed Prevacid. Stronger stuff.. hm, even more hesitant! But we tried it. We're over two weeks into this and it has improved his feedings. He is now nursing again without screaming! He still pulls on and off and seems like he's struggling a bit. Sometimes if I have a strong let down he seems to struggle more and cries but it's not nearly as bad as before.
He's sleeping a tiny bit better I'd say, and when I say that I mean he's still waking up several times in the night, but it's usually easier to get him back to sleep whereas before he would sometimes be up for a while crying.
It's hard though. Extremely tough on me and Derek physically and emotionally. He's basically sleeping with us all night now because I've gotten to the point of extreme exhaustion and most nights I can't even pull myself out of bed. So we put him to bed in his pack n play at bedtime (we put him and Noah down at the same time, around 8:00-9:00). He usually wakes up at least once before we even get to bed. Then he wakes up shortly after we fall asleep and I'm already exhausted so I just bring in the bed with me and nurse him. The he usually wakes up at least 3-4 more times. It's even more hard because he sleeps worse now than he did as a newborn (besides the first couple of days) and we did not go through this at all with Noah! By this point Noah was sleeping 9-10 hours every single night.
He also doesn't nap! It's extremely hard to get him to fall asleep and once he does he wakes up after sleeping 30 minutes. If I'm lucky, I can usually get him to fall back asleep for at least some of his naps. Then he'll sleep another 30 minutes and sometimes if I'm really lucky I can get him back to sleep for another 30 minutes. But most of his daytime sleeping is done in my arms or sometimes the carrier, and NEVER his crib. Oh Oliver, I think you're trying to kill me!
Oliver has been a light sleeper from the beginning though. I remember the first week he was born, every time he'd fall asleep I'd try to do some newborn pictures of him and he's instantly wake up and cry! He has never taken long naps, it was so weird! Noah would fall asleep and I'd have to practically dump a cup of water on him to wake him up so he would eat! Haha. It was SO different. Even now, Noah is a pretty deep sleeper and NEEDS his sleep.
We were so "by the book" with Noah and all about schedules, sleep training etc. But we found that in the end, Noah is two and we still struggle to get him to sleep and stay in his bed. And as a baby Noah had such a hard time sleeping anywhere BUT his crib. And people kept saying, you've trained him to sleep in his crib! So with Oliver, I thought, okay I want him to be able to sleep anywhere! So I planned on being much more relaxed and didn't worry about a schedule at first. But it's kind of backfired and now he will absolutely not sleep in his crib and cannot for the life of him fall asleep on his own. But honestly, even if I tried to do a schedule, it wouldn't work because his sleep is so inconsistent I couldn't figure out a schedule that would work for him. So it's just kind of a mess right now. We'll figure it out eventually! One day. Hopefully before he's one! This momma needs sleep! We're going to give the medicine a little longer and see if anything else improves. If nothing else improves, we might take him off of it and see what happens.
Anyway, a little more about Oliver. Besides not sleeping good anymore and struggling a bit with nursing, he is such a happy little guy! Honestly, before he hit two months (when all these problems got really bad), we were like wow, he is a lot easier and happier than Noah was! He smiles all the time! At everyone. It's so cute. Looking back I'm like, yeah Noah was pretty serious as a baby (he still is). He smiled but you had to work for it. Sometimes I just LOOK at Oliver and he starts smiling, haha. He's really such a little sweetie pie.
He seems super social and when someone is talking to me he usually ends up smiling at them. He laughs at the most random things sometimes. It seems like him, Noah and Derek all have the same sense of humor... when someone falls down or trips, or something falls, or something did something stupid. He loves to watch Noah.
He is turning more blonde which was not expected either. His older hair, the longer stuff in the back that he hasn't lost is more of a dark auburn color but all of his new hair coming in looks more like an ashy blonde. Sometimes he reminds me of my dad actually. The face that my dad makes in pictures, haha. But he also really looks like Derek lately. Some people say Elijah too, but I don't see that as much, maybe just because Elijah always had very dark eyes as a baby.
He is grabbing onto things now - toys, hanging objects, his feet, and anything in his reach basically. It's nice that he's more entertained by toys, it gives me a little break and it's just cute.
He also started rolling last week. It seemed like he was going to roll over from his back to tummy for a while now but he never did. Now he is just rolling from tummy to back. It's so fascinating how they go from this tiny, fragile, immobile thing that can barely keep their head up to rolling and wiggling around the place in just a few months!
I feel like I forgot a ton of things I wanted to write but I can't think of anything else right now. We love you Oliver, thanks for joining our family! I'll try to keep an updated monthly post.
At two months, he had his vaccinations. I keep telling myself it must have been a weird coincidence.. but after that he started crying really bad whenever he'd try to nurse and was starting to refuse to nurse actually. He also started spitting up way more and started waking up earlier to feed in the night than he normally did.
Within days it got worse. He was now barely nursing at all and waking up a few times at night. It was super frustrating and so sad to watch him struggle.
I took him back to the doctor. He said it was reflux and prescribed some baby zantac which of course I was so hesitant not to give to him. We gave it some time first, but after a couple of weeks I couldn't watch him suffer anymore. We started him on the meds. Two weeks into it and it still wasn't helping. So back to the doctor. They prescribed Prevacid. Stronger stuff.. hm, even more hesitant! But we tried it. We're over two weeks into this and it has improved his feedings. He is now nursing again without screaming! He still pulls on and off and seems like he's struggling a bit. Sometimes if I have a strong let down he seems to struggle more and cries but it's not nearly as bad as before.
He's sleeping a tiny bit better I'd say, and when I say that I mean he's still waking up several times in the night, but it's usually easier to get him back to sleep whereas before he would sometimes be up for a while crying.
It's hard though. Extremely tough on me and Derek physically and emotionally. He's basically sleeping with us all night now because I've gotten to the point of extreme exhaustion and most nights I can't even pull myself out of bed. So we put him to bed in his pack n play at bedtime (we put him and Noah down at the same time, around 8:00-9:00). He usually wakes up at least once before we even get to bed. Then he wakes up shortly after we fall asleep and I'm already exhausted so I just bring in the bed with me and nurse him. The he usually wakes up at least 3-4 more times. It's even more hard because he sleeps worse now than he did as a newborn (besides the first couple of days) and we did not go through this at all with Noah! By this point Noah was sleeping 9-10 hours every single night.
He also doesn't nap! It's extremely hard to get him to fall asleep and once he does he wakes up after sleeping 30 minutes. If I'm lucky, I can usually get him to fall back asleep for at least some of his naps. Then he'll sleep another 30 minutes and sometimes if I'm really lucky I can get him back to sleep for another 30 minutes. But most of his daytime sleeping is done in my arms or sometimes the carrier, and NEVER his crib. Oh Oliver, I think you're trying to kill me!
Oliver has been a light sleeper from the beginning though. I remember the first week he was born, every time he'd fall asleep I'd try to do some newborn pictures of him and he's instantly wake up and cry! He has never taken long naps, it was so weird! Noah would fall asleep and I'd have to practically dump a cup of water on him to wake him up so he would eat! Haha. It was SO different. Even now, Noah is a pretty deep sleeper and NEEDS his sleep.
We were so "by the book" with Noah and all about schedules, sleep training etc. But we found that in the end, Noah is two and we still struggle to get him to sleep and stay in his bed. And as a baby Noah had such a hard time sleeping anywhere BUT his crib. And people kept saying, you've trained him to sleep in his crib! So with Oliver, I thought, okay I want him to be able to sleep anywhere! So I planned on being much more relaxed and didn't worry about a schedule at first. But it's kind of backfired and now he will absolutely not sleep in his crib and cannot for the life of him fall asleep on his own. But honestly, even if I tried to do a schedule, it wouldn't work because his sleep is so inconsistent I couldn't figure out a schedule that would work for him. So it's just kind of a mess right now. We'll figure it out eventually! One day. Hopefully before he's one! This momma needs sleep! We're going to give the medicine a little longer and see if anything else improves. If nothing else improves, we might take him off of it and see what happens.
Anyway, a little more about Oliver. Besides not sleeping good anymore and struggling a bit with nursing, he is such a happy little guy! Honestly, before he hit two months (when all these problems got really bad), we were like wow, he is a lot easier and happier than Noah was! He smiles all the time! At everyone. It's so cute. Looking back I'm like, yeah Noah was pretty serious as a baby (he still is). He smiled but you had to work for it. Sometimes I just LOOK at Oliver and he starts smiling, haha. He's really such a little sweetie pie.
He seems super social and when someone is talking to me he usually ends up smiling at them. He laughs at the most random things sometimes. It seems like him, Noah and Derek all have the same sense of humor... when someone falls down or trips, or something falls, or something did something stupid. He loves to watch Noah.
He is turning more blonde which was not expected either. His older hair, the longer stuff in the back that he hasn't lost is more of a dark auburn color but all of his new hair coming in looks more like an ashy blonde. Sometimes he reminds me of my dad actually. The face that my dad makes in pictures, haha. But he also really looks like Derek lately. Some people say Elijah too, but I don't see that as much, maybe just because Elijah always had very dark eyes as a baby.
He is grabbing onto things now - toys, hanging objects, his feet, and anything in his reach basically. It's nice that he's more entertained by toys, it gives me a little break and it's just cute.
He also started rolling last week. It seemed like he was going to roll over from his back to tummy for a while now but he never did. Now he is just rolling from tummy to back. It's so fascinating how they go from this tiny, fragile, immobile thing that can barely keep their head up to rolling and wiggling around the place in just a few months!
I feel like I forgot a ton of things I wanted to write but I can't think of anything else right now. We love you Oliver, thanks for joining our family! I'll try to keep an updated monthly post.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Washington 2015
We took a short trip to Washington in August to visit Derek's brother Chris and his family. We left Thursday the 13th and were supposed to arrive at 7 pm I believe. But We our flight got delayed on our layover and we ended up arriving around midnight. Plus it takes almost an hour to drive from the airport to Chris and Nancy's house. So it was quite a late night for the boys.
Derek's dad came with us which was really nice. We got to spend 5 days straight with him! Noah just loves his Papa!
Friday we went on a hike to a beautiful waterfall - Franklin Falls. It was raining that day but we decided to go anyway. I didn't care about getting wet, my only concern was my babies. Noah had a rain jacket but it was still a bit cold. He did great though. He was shivering towards the end since he was soaked. I was surprised how well Oliver did. I can't imagine what we was thinking, "what is this wet stuff falling from the sky and why is it so darn cold!?" We had him in the carrier, and he fell asleep on the way. The falls were very beautiful. We didn't stay too long at the falls since we were only getting colder, but it was worth the hike.
We went out to dinner at Red Robin and had a nice evening in together.
Saturday morning we had a little work out session (when I say we, I mean Chris, Nancy and the kids) at the park by their house. Then we spent a few hours downtown Gig Harbor. We rented some kayak's and paddle boards. To be honest, I was not too excited, and a little nervous. I've had some minor traumatizing experiences with water and with canoes that have left me a bit fearful of water activities. I just wasn't thrilled about it because I didn't think I'd enjoy it too much. Especially since I would be alone in my kayak.... boring. But after a bit I actually started to really love it! And I don't know why I thought we'd all separate, I caught up with everyone else and it was really fun. We even saw some seals just a few feet away from us. That was really, really cool! I love seeing wild animals.
Noah liked it too and Nancy stayed back to watch Oliver, so that was nice of her. I think I want to go kayaking more often now. It was actually relaxing. Michael said he'd even like to buy some for East Canyon.
I love Gig Harbor. It's such a cute little harbor town. So beautiful. And reminds me of Nova Scotia just a little!
That night we went on another little hike. This one wasn't as steep, and it wasn't raining, so an easier one for us. Chris took us to see a big piece of land in the forest that he dreams of buying and building a home on. As if their current house isn't beautiful enough - this would be so dreamy!
Sunday we went to church, came home and had lunch. Relaxed a bit. And spent the evening at the beach. We didn't go swimming, just hung out. The kids played in the sand. Noah was "Wreck-It Ralph" like always and smashing everything his cousins would make. They finally decided to build him a chair of sand to sit on and then wreck it! And he did, of course.
Monday Chris had to work and the kids had obligations so Derek, Michael, our boys and I spent the day in Seattle! Although, with travel time (we took the ferry) and kids, particularly a two month old and a two year old - it was more like a few hours actually sight seeing Seattle! Haha.
Our first stop was at Pike's Fish Market. I wish we could have spent more time there but it was a quick look and we walked on by. We headed to the Space Needle. That was cool. I liked the views.
We then had lunch and took a break to feed Oliver. After lunch we didn't have a ton of time left before we needed to head back to the ferry so we decided to take Noah to Seattle's Children's Museum. We only had less than an hour there but it was fun. It's cool to see children's museums in other cities.
We took the monorail back to Pike's Market. Noah fell asleep instantly on the ride. Which was unfortunate for him because we were on our way to see the famous Gum Wall. Noah LOVES gum. But he slept through it all, haha. We realized we didn't even have time to buy some gum so we found some hi-chews and stuck them on the wall!
We took the ferry back home and spent the evening raspberry picking with the Finch's. We had a beautiful sunset. I really enjoyed taking walks in their neighborhood - it has such a different feeling and completely different scenery than our neighborhood (Don't worry, we love Rose Park). But it truly is breathtaking. I would love to live there! Only if it didn't rain so much. However we were lucky on our trip, it only rained the first day.
Both plane rides (there and back) were smooth as far as kids and crying. We swaddled Oliver and he slept most of the plane rides - even though Seattle is close, we had layovers both ways. I was super worried about Oliver because just days before we left he started having reflux. More on that in his post. Noah did pretty well too. Every time we travel by plane, someone at the end of the flight always says, "He did so good!" or something along those lines. I think he does do pretty good, but I also think they're being kind. Which is appreciated.
We really, really, really enjoyed our trip to Washington! We LOVE spending time with that family, they are all such amazing people. I love how musically talented they all are. And I love how active the whole family is. I joked around saying, this is the first vacation that I think I actually lost weight rather than gained! We did so much walking and hiking, kayaking, and ate pretty healthy food. It was refreshing. The kids are also so smart, mature and polite. I just love everything about them. You can tell their parents are doing an excellent job.
I loved the feeling of their house. Not only do you feel the spirit there, but it's just so gorgeous! Inside and out. You look outside and just see HUGE trees! I couldn't get enough. I loved how peaceful and serene it was. As you're peeing in the bathroom... you look outside the big window and you feel like you're in a magical forest. It felt like I was in the movie, Twilight! Ah, it was great.
It was also a relatively inexpensive trip, which is really nice since we don't really have a vacation fund. We used our air miles for our flight, we didn't need a hotel or rental car. Basically Derek and his dad were fighting over who pays what the whole time. "I'll get this. No, I'LL get this." I think the most money we spent was on airport food!
We are definitely planning on going back soon. And this time we would love to try to go up to Vancouver while we're there since it's so close!
Adjusting to Two Kids: The First Few Weeks
BROTHERS//
Noah was so excited to meet his baby brother! He really, really loves babies! My family brought him to the hospital to meet Oliver the morning after he was born. He said he was "so cute" and liked meeting him. It was such a special moment for us.
Of course that excitement didn't last too long. After a little while he seemed to maybe be having some jealousy. There were a few weeks where he just seemed to be having a rough time, MAJOR tantrums and acting out, mental breakdowns (where he just cries for a long period of time for no reason). He usually does these things already but they were much more frequent and more intense. It was hard.
He also seemed a bit indifferent towards Oliver most of the time and then sometimes would be rough with him. He didn't want to hold him as much as I thought he would have. There were a handful of times where he caused baby some harm - including the time where he kicked him in the head after Oliver got out of the bath...... so sad!
However, I've noticed that the last little while (now in October) Noah has been really warming up to Oliver. He seems to want to cuddle with him and hold him more often. He likes to talk to him and comfort him. I think this will increase even more as Oliver gets older and more able to do things. Every time Oliver cries, Noah starts singing, "Hush little baby don't say a word, daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."
EMOTIONS//
The dreaded baby blues hit me the second day home from the hospital. I felt sad. The first two nights with Oliver were exhausting and I think it hit me like, this is going to be so hard. It sucks to feel those feelings because you feel kind of guilty, like I should be so joyous right now, so why do I feel sad?! It's so annoying. I remember that day, Derek had to go somewhere - I can't remember where, but me and Noah were eating lunch together and I just started crying. It reminded me of all the special times we had together, just me and him. Every day, it was always just me and him, for the last two years. Something as simple as having lunch together just the two of us was suddenly so special to me. And now things would never be the same. Even though we loved Oliver, it was just different and it made me very emotional. It's funny though, looking back now, I remember those feelings but I don't feel that way anymore. It feels completely normal to have both Noah and Oliver home with me now. Those baby blues really only lasted a few days - and then I started to feel good. I think Noah is used to life with Oliver now too.
While at the hospital I didn't get to see Noah as much as I normally do, and once I came home I was with Oliver A LOT. So Derek and Noah were suddenly together all the time. Noah was already a bit of a daddy's boy but I think this really nailed that in. Derek was the one putting Noah down for bed each night. I remember one of the first few nights home, I just felt like I missed him. And all I wanted was to read him some books and put him to sleep. More tears.
I encapsulated my placenta, and started taking them about 4 or 5 days after I gave birth. I do feel like they helped me have more energy and helped my emotions get back to normal much faster.
ADJUSTING//
I think the hardest thing in the beginning was feeling bad for Noah. I spent so much time nursing Oliver and it was hard to not feel sorry for Noah. He was so bored and probably wondering why I was spending so much time with Oliver and not much time with him. Derek also started his LSAT prep class shortly after Ollie was born so Mon & Wed nights I was now by myself and it was very hard to do bedtime for Noah if Oliver needed me.
We slowly adjusted and I remember at one month post pardon already feeling like we were doing okay. Things were starting to get easier.
Noah was so excited to meet his baby brother! He really, really loves babies! My family brought him to the hospital to meet Oliver the morning after he was born. He said he was "so cute" and liked meeting him. It was such a special moment for us.
Of course that excitement didn't last too long. After a little while he seemed to maybe be having some jealousy. There were a few weeks where he just seemed to be having a rough time, MAJOR tantrums and acting out, mental breakdowns (where he just cries for a long period of time for no reason). He usually does these things already but they were much more frequent and more intense. It was hard.
He also seemed a bit indifferent towards Oliver most of the time and then sometimes would be rough with him. He didn't want to hold him as much as I thought he would have. There were a handful of times where he caused baby some harm - including the time where he kicked him in the head after Oliver got out of the bath...... so sad!
However, I've noticed that the last little while (now in October) Noah has been really warming up to Oliver. He seems to want to cuddle with him and hold him more often. He likes to talk to him and comfort him. I think this will increase even more as Oliver gets older and more able to do things. Every time Oliver cries, Noah starts singing, "Hush little baby don't say a word, daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."
EMOTIONS//
The dreaded baby blues hit me the second day home from the hospital. I felt sad. The first two nights with Oliver were exhausting and I think it hit me like, this is going to be so hard. It sucks to feel those feelings because you feel kind of guilty, like I should be so joyous right now, so why do I feel sad?! It's so annoying. I remember that day, Derek had to go somewhere - I can't remember where, but me and Noah were eating lunch together and I just started crying. It reminded me of all the special times we had together, just me and him. Every day, it was always just me and him, for the last two years. Something as simple as having lunch together just the two of us was suddenly so special to me. And now things would never be the same. Even though we loved Oliver, it was just different and it made me very emotional. It's funny though, looking back now, I remember those feelings but I don't feel that way anymore. It feels completely normal to have both Noah and Oliver home with me now. Those baby blues really only lasted a few days - and then I started to feel good. I think Noah is used to life with Oliver now too.
While at the hospital I didn't get to see Noah as much as I normally do, and once I came home I was with Oliver A LOT. So Derek and Noah were suddenly together all the time. Noah was already a bit of a daddy's boy but I think this really nailed that in. Derek was the one putting Noah down for bed each night. I remember one of the first few nights home, I just felt like I missed him. And all I wanted was to read him some books and put him to sleep. More tears.
I encapsulated my placenta, and started taking them about 4 or 5 days after I gave birth. I do feel like they helped me have more energy and helped my emotions get back to normal much faster.
ADJUSTING//
I think the hardest thing in the beginning was feeling bad for Noah. I spent so much time nursing Oliver and it was hard to not feel sorry for Noah. He was so bored and probably wondering why I was spending so much time with Oliver and not much time with him. Derek also started his LSAT prep class shortly after Ollie was born so Mon & Wed nights I was now by myself and it was very hard to do bedtime for Noah if Oliver needed me.
We slowly adjusted and I remember at one month post pardon already feeling like we were doing okay. Things were starting to get easier.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Welcome to the world baby Finch #2
Oliver Jay Finch was born at 10:48 pm on June 3rd, 2015. He weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. If he would have been born just over an hour later he would have been born on our wedding anniversary!
Here is Oliver's birth story:
Well, we had made it into June and I couldn't believe our baby boy hadn't arrived yet. I know it's silly and you really never know when your baby will be born, but I predicted that he would be born in May, and actually before May 30th. Since I was due on the 20th originally, I just couldn't see us going past the 30th. And of course I had heard about women going 2 weeks past their "due date" but I just thought I'd go early. I was wrong. Now I really know, you really just don't know!
To back up a little, on my 40 week appointment (which was 2 days shy of my actual due date), I was still at 1 cm dilated but my cervix was thinning she said and baby was engaged. I had another appointment a few days later, on June 1st. Midwife said "you're ready to go!" She predicted that day or the next day. I was happy! The anticipation was killing me. Since we had planned a natural birth, I was so anxious to just experience it already and put to action everything I had been practicing for months. To be honest, I was scared. I was scared of not being able to cope with the pain... yes I feared the pain, but I mostly I feared giving up and getting an epidural. And I didn't want an epidural! So I just wanted to go through with it already!
Our baby didn't come that day, nor the next day. The last few weeks, we had done many things as a family to 1. try to keep busy and distracted to help the anticipation and 2. to enjoy the last times we would be together just the three of us. So that week we kept at it, we went to temple square with Noah, we all went out to eat at Cheesecake Factory with Jared and Lorin and Derek and I had some relaxed movie nights.
It was now Wednesday, June 3rd. Noah and I went to the downtown SLC library that day. The past few days I had been having some mild contractions (at least that's what I thought they were... you'd think I would know for sure since this was my second baby) but nothing big. I was just getting over a bad cold (which happened at 39 weeks with my first pregnancy too!) and just hadn't been feeling very good that week.
As we were eating dinner that evening, close to 6:00, those tight contraction feelings started getting more frequent. Then they started getting stronger. I thought, okay good, we're making progress. Derek has Young Men's on Wednesday nights, so we thought it would be okay for him to still go. I didn't know if this was for sure labor, or just very early labor or just more practice contractions or what. Since my early labor with Noah lasted a whole day, I figured it would be similar this time. I didn't want to get my hopes up and thought I'd see how the next hour went. We needed to fill up our water jugs so Derek thought he'd leave a bit early, run to the store before Young Men's to fill up water, then go straight to the church. He left around 6:30. Just shortly after he left I thought, this is definitely labor!
I started getting Noah ready for bed, put his pajamas on and started reading books. My surges started feeling really intense already and I could barely do anything with Noah anymore. I called Derek, I think it was only around 7:15, so he had just barely got to Young Men's. I told him that I think he should come home because these waves are pretty intense!
He came home and took over putting Noah down. That usually takes a while! So I just went on my bed by myself, on my hands and knees, and put on my hypnobirthing scripts. I called my aunt Sarahi, who was my doula and told her I was in labor. I told her I was just going to try to relax, maybe rest if I could. However, things were escalating so fast, only a few minutes later I called her back and said she should probably just come over. I actually started getting emotional, because I felt like this was already so intense and I thought I was just in the beginning. I already started doubting myself. She said she would be over soon. At this point I thought I should start timing my surges to see how close together they actually were and how long they were. Our goal was to stay at home until they were about 2-3 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute long, for at least an hour straight. We used an app to start timing.
I got in the shower. The hot water felt okay, but it wasn't soothing as much as I wanted it to. I thought maybe it was because I was standing, and when a contraction came it didn't feel good to stand. So I switched it up to a bath. Derek was still with Noah, who was just not going to sleep! So it made it very difficult for me to time my own contractions - while in the shower. Sarahi got there while I was in the bath, she helped with the timing part. I thought the bath would be better since I was laying down. Laying down didn't feel good. I tried sitting, bending over the tub. That didn't feel good.
We were only timing for maybe 30-40 minutes when something happened with the app and it got reset! I was so mad. So we had to start over. But it seemed like they were already 2-3 minutes apart and were lasting close to a minute long sometimes... I was confused, how were they already to that point when I just started laboring not too long ago?! I wish I was better at keeping track of time during labor... so I really don't know what time it was at this point. It is such a blur, I hope I'm remembering everything right. I feel like time just disappears when you're in labor. I'm thinking it was around 9:00 maybe when I was ready to get out of the bath.
I just couldn't believe that I was hurting this much already! I'm not going to sugarcoat anything here, this is my blog and I'm being honest in how I felt. According to everything I learned in my hypnobirthing class, it's not technically PAIN, but it felt VERY PAINFUL to me! I was extremely vocal during my surges, being quiet did not feel good. I couldn't keep it in. I was practicing my breathing in between waves but during them it felt better to make noise.
We got out of the bath, and I couldn't even brush my hair or get ready. I could barely put some clothes on. Noah was finally asleep, so Derek was able to join us. I tried to sit on my birthing ball, and move my hips around. That didn't help. I tried just leaning over my birthing ball, that didn't help. I tried hands and knees again, no help. Again, I'm going to be honest here, I felt like Derek and Sarahi weren't really helping me (sorry guys). They were kind of sitting there watching me and asking me questions. I was probably not the nicest (again, I'm sorry!).. but I finally said "PLEASE HELP ME! YOU'RE NOT HELPING ME! DO SOMETHING!". I was just frustrated that they were asking me questions instead of just DOING stuff that we had practiced. I wasn't in a position to talk or answer questions, I was dying here (in no way am I being dramatic, this is how I really felt!). I think they were both just overwhelmed and didn't really know what to do. And maybe they were a little scared of me, haha. Bless their hearts.
So Derek and Sarahi did start trying different things, like putting pressure on my back, massaging my head, but honestly nothing felt good. The pain was getting so bad, and nothing was making it feel better. I couldn't focus on my scripts at all. All I could think about was how bad I was hurting and how I couldn't get comfortable in any position.
After a little while of trying all of this in my living room I started really breaking down. I was crying and felt like I just couldn't do it anymore. I had never experienced this kind of pain in my life. I told Derek that we needed to get to the hospital and I just wanted an epidural.
The problem we faced was that we couldn't leave Noah asleep by himself and we planned for Jared to come over. But Jared wasn't going to be able to get to our house until 10:30 at the earliest - it was around 10:00 I think. I told Derek I couldn't wait until 10:30, I needed to go NOW! I even thought that I started to feel some pressure down there. I said, actually I don't even think we can make it, we might need to call an ambulance! Which didn't really make much sense, it would be just as fast to drive ourselves to the hospital. I just really, really, really did NOT want to get in that car and deal with that car ride. Again, I thought I was going to die. We decided Sarahi should stay until Jared arrived at our place. Derek assured me that we would make it to the hospital and it would be less than 10 minutes. I finally was able to actually get in the car and we were on our way. Worst. Car. Ride. Ever!!!!! I just remember looking at Derek and feeling like I was literally dying. And I felt like he just had NO IDEA how bad this hurt.
We got to LDS Hospital. I told him to just drop me off at the door so he could go park. I walked into the front doors by myself and told them I was in labor and needed an epidural NOW! They insisted that I sit down in this wheelchair and they'd take me upstairs. I did not want to sit down in a wheelchair, sitting did not feel good. So I just started on my way up the elevator and Derek had caught up with us.
When I got up to Labor and Delivery, again the nurses tried to get me to sit in the wheelchair. I kept telling them, I'm NOT sitting in that wheelchair! I was feeling so much pressure down low! I just kept demanding an epidural and was wondering why I didn't have one already. They said they needed to get me in the room to check me. I had bought this beautiful birthing gown to wear (I was also supposed to have my friend come and take pictures, but everything just went so fast!) but I didn't even care about it at this point, we just threw it on halfway.
They finally were able to get me down so they could check my progress. 9 CM! I couldn't believe it! No wonder I was dying on the way over here, I was in transition! And No wonder I couldn't sit down in a wheelchair, haha. They told me that I wouldn't need an epidural because this baby was about to come out! They didn't really deny me one but they kind of kept me going along so that it would be too late I think. They knew I wanted a natural birth from my birth plan. My midwife wasn't there, it was a different one that I had met before though, Lupe. But that was fine, I was never super attached to my midwife and knew there would be a good chance that one of the other one's would be there. We had two midwives there and a couple nurses and they were all great!
Sarahi got there just in time. I quickly felt like I needed to push. For some reason I remember them not wanting me to push but I kept saying, I need to push! I was still on the bed from when they checked me but I was on my side. Not at all how I wanted to deliver my baby, but I couldn't even move to get in a better position. I was shaking so much (I had the shakes with Noah too) that my legs wouldn't even stay open, plus being on my side just wasn't working.
I had a brief moment of thinking rational and decided I needed to move into a better birthing position, I knew that giving birth on your back usually isn't the best position. I somehow managed to quickly move into more of a squatting position on the bed. I felt more in control now and like I could push better this way.
I started pushing when I felt the urge to. But I really disliked that feeling. They quickly said, "He's right there!" So I thought he was like right there and I could just push him out with my next push. But they were saying that for like 5 minutes! I think they meant they could see him, but he wasn't crowing yet. After a few minutes, he was ACTUALLY right there and I just remember I hated this part so bad. The whole pushing thing. I was scared to push because it hurt. So I was holding back a little. I was basically a mess at this point, screaming my head off. I also felt like I was going to faint, which made it way harder. I kept saying, "I'm going to pass out! I'm going to pass out!" I was feeling super light-headed from the pain.
I finally thought, I just want this to be over so bad - oh wait, then why am I holding back! I stopped holding back and just gave it my all and he was immediately out! It was the BIGGEST RELIEF of my life! The pain was over! My baby was here in my arms! My whole labor experience was so different from Noah's labor but especially this part. I felt like I had worked so hard and suffered so much and the reward was perfect and beautiful!
I do have to say the feeling of him coming out was so weird. It felt like I just pushed out an octopus! Also, you think the pain is over until they remind you that they have to push on your abdomen every few minutes - ugh, ouch! You're like, okay my baby is already here, why am I still having to feel this pain!! Haha.
The next hour and a half I was able to hold my new and precious baby on my chest, skin to skin, and without anyone taking him away from me. It was amazing. We had our first nursing session which actually went okay. I am so happy and grateful that they allow this "golden hour" now, and also that I educated myself on this and requested it. We delayed his cord clamping also.
We're lucky we went to the hospital when we did. Oliver was only born about 20 minutes after arriving to LDS hospital. It all went very, very fast. I'm also grateful that I can push my small babies out with only a few pushes. I cannot imagine going through that for a couple of hours. I remember that night I couldn't even sleep because I still couldn't believe that I just did that. It was so surreal. I kept thinking, did that really just happen!!?
My labor was about 5 hours from start to finish. I didn't really have much of an early labor this time, within an hour of starting I was already right into active labor. It was completely different from my labor with Noah. With Noah, I started early labor while I was sleeping, and labored all day at work, and into our evening at home. We went to the hospital around 9 pm when it was really bad and found out I was only at 3 cm! And then Noah wasn't born until 3 am. So this time it really took me by surprise when it was so fast and when I got to the hospital so far along. It was overwhelming but at the same time I'm grateful it was fast. I also had an epidural with Noah and didn't feel a thing past 5-6 cm.
I'm grateful for Derek and Sarahi for supporting me through this. And for Jared and Lorin for staying at our place that night and bringing Noah to the hospital the next morning.
The next day we struggled with his name of course. We wrote out our list on the board in the room - Calvin, Beckham, Callaghan, Lou/Louie... I think that was it. We were looking at these names and we just didn't really like any of them! Haha, at least not enough to name our child. We wanted something we LOVED, just like we loved the name Noah. Derek said, "What about the name, Oliver?" to which I responded, "You know I love the name Oliver but it's getting pretty popular..." Because it is. I wanted something that's not trending, and that you wouldn't see on a baby name list. But I took a look at our new baby and thought, okay he REALLY looks like an Oliver! So I didn't know what to do because I really loved the name and we thought it would sound really good with Jay as a middle name. Jay is my brother Hugh's first name, and it's also Derek's brother Dustin's middle name. Plus all of my siblings start with the letter "J" so we thought it was perfect.
I was talking to Jared on the phone and he said that we should just use that name. He said it's better to pick a name that you love. I thought about it and decided he was right. It's obviously better to choose a name that you truly love rather than just settling with one of these other names that we just thought were "okay"(... they're great names for whoever has them!). And especially when the name just seemed to suit him so well. SO, right before we left the hospital we named him Oliver Jay Finch! And I haven't look back - I love it! Yes, a few people have pointed out that his initials are OJ.. well I really don't care. His generation won't even know who OJ was, and it's not like we're going to call him that. We sometimes call him Ollie, but lately I feel like calling him Blue, because of his eyes!
So, yup, Oliver had blue eyes at birth. Which was quite different for us, Noah's were always dark brown. So we're not sure what Oliver's will end up being. His skin was and is much lighter than Noah's, he looks completely white with no hispanic mix at all. And his hair was lighter than Noah's too. They look very different from each other I think, which was not expected.
We love you little Oliver! Thank you for joining our family :)
'
Here is Oliver's birth story:
Well, we had made it into June and I couldn't believe our baby boy hadn't arrived yet. I know it's silly and you really never know when your baby will be born, but I predicted that he would be born in May, and actually before May 30th. Since I was due on the 20th originally, I just couldn't see us going past the 30th. And of course I had heard about women going 2 weeks past their "due date" but I just thought I'd go early. I was wrong. Now I really know, you really just don't know!
To back up a little, on my 40 week appointment (which was 2 days shy of my actual due date), I was still at 1 cm dilated but my cervix was thinning she said and baby was engaged. I had another appointment a few days later, on June 1st. Midwife said "you're ready to go!" She predicted that day or the next day. I was happy! The anticipation was killing me. Since we had planned a natural birth, I was so anxious to just experience it already and put to action everything I had been practicing for months. To be honest, I was scared. I was scared of not being able to cope with the pain... yes I feared the pain, but I mostly I feared giving up and getting an epidural. And I didn't want an epidural! So I just wanted to go through with it already!
Our baby didn't come that day, nor the next day. The last few weeks, we had done many things as a family to 1. try to keep busy and distracted to help the anticipation and 2. to enjoy the last times we would be together just the three of us. So that week we kept at it, we went to temple square with Noah, we all went out to eat at Cheesecake Factory with Jared and Lorin and Derek and I had some relaxed movie nights.
It was now Wednesday, June 3rd. Noah and I went to the downtown SLC library that day. The past few days I had been having some mild contractions (at least that's what I thought they were... you'd think I would know for sure since this was my second baby) but nothing big. I was just getting over a bad cold (which happened at 39 weeks with my first pregnancy too!) and just hadn't been feeling very good that week.
As we were eating dinner that evening, close to 6:00, those tight contraction feelings started getting more frequent. Then they started getting stronger. I thought, okay good, we're making progress. Derek has Young Men's on Wednesday nights, so we thought it would be okay for him to still go. I didn't know if this was for sure labor, or just very early labor or just more practice contractions or what. Since my early labor with Noah lasted a whole day, I figured it would be similar this time. I didn't want to get my hopes up and thought I'd see how the next hour went. We needed to fill up our water jugs so Derek thought he'd leave a bit early, run to the store before Young Men's to fill up water, then go straight to the church. He left around 6:30. Just shortly after he left I thought, this is definitely labor!
I started getting Noah ready for bed, put his pajamas on and started reading books. My surges started feeling really intense already and I could barely do anything with Noah anymore. I called Derek, I think it was only around 7:15, so he had just barely got to Young Men's. I told him that I think he should come home because these waves are pretty intense!
He came home and took over putting Noah down. That usually takes a while! So I just went on my bed by myself, on my hands and knees, and put on my hypnobirthing scripts. I called my aunt Sarahi, who was my doula and told her I was in labor. I told her I was just going to try to relax, maybe rest if I could. However, things were escalating so fast, only a few minutes later I called her back and said she should probably just come over. I actually started getting emotional, because I felt like this was already so intense and I thought I was just in the beginning. I already started doubting myself. She said she would be over soon. At this point I thought I should start timing my surges to see how close together they actually were and how long they were. Our goal was to stay at home until they were about 2-3 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute long, for at least an hour straight. We used an app to start timing.
I got in the shower. The hot water felt okay, but it wasn't soothing as much as I wanted it to. I thought maybe it was because I was standing, and when a contraction came it didn't feel good to stand. So I switched it up to a bath. Derek was still with Noah, who was just not going to sleep! So it made it very difficult for me to time my own contractions - while in the shower. Sarahi got there while I was in the bath, she helped with the timing part. I thought the bath would be better since I was laying down. Laying down didn't feel good. I tried sitting, bending over the tub. That didn't feel good.
We were only timing for maybe 30-40 minutes when something happened with the app and it got reset! I was so mad. So we had to start over. But it seemed like they were already 2-3 minutes apart and were lasting close to a minute long sometimes... I was confused, how were they already to that point when I just started laboring not too long ago?! I wish I was better at keeping track of time during labor... so I really don't know what time it was at this point. It is such a blur, I hope I'm remembering everything right. I feel like time just disappears when you're in labor. I'm thinking it was around 9:00 maybe when I was ready to get out of the bath.
I just couldn't believe that I was hurting this much already! I'm not going to sugarcoat anything here, this is my blog and I'm being honest in how I felt. According to everything I learned in my hypnobirthing class, it's not technically PAIN, but it felt VERY PAINFUL to me! I was extremely vocal during my surges, being quiet did not feel good. I couldn't keep it in. I was practicing my breathing in between waves but during them it felt better to make noise.
We got out of the bath, and I couldn't even brush my hair or get ready. I could barely put some clothes on. Noah was finally asleep, so Derek was able to join us. I tried to sit on my birthing ball, and move my hips around. That didn't help. I tried just leaning over my birthing ball, that didn't help. I tried hands and knees again, no help. Again, I'm going to be honest here, I felt like Derek and Sarahi weren't really helping me (sorry guys). They were kind of sitting there watching me and asking me questions. I was probably not the nicest (again, I'm sorry!).. but I finally said "PLEASE HELP ME! YOU'RE NOT HELPING ME! DO SOMETHING!". I was just frustrated that they were asking me questions instead of just DOING stuff that we had practiced. I wasn't in a position to talk or answer questions, I was dying here (in no way am I being dramatic, this is how I really felt!). I think they were both just overwhelmed and didn't really know what to do. And maybe they were a little scared of me, haha. Bless their hearts.
So Derek and Sarahi did start trying different things, like putting pressure on my back, massaging my head, but honestly nothing felt good. The pain was getting so bad, and nothing was making it feel better. I couldn't focus on my scripts at all. All I could think about was how bad I was hurting and how I couldn't get comfortable in any position.
After a little while of trying all of this in my living room I started really breaking down. I was crying and felt like I just couldn't do it anymore. I had never experienced this kind of pain in my life. I told Derek that we needed to get to the hospital and I just wanted an epidural.
The problem we faced was that we couldn't leave Noah asleep by himself and we planned for Jared to come over. But Jared wasn't going to be able to get to our house until 10:30 at the earliest - it was around 10:00 I think. I told Derek I couldn't wait until 10:30, I needed to go NOW! I even thought that I started to feel some pressure down there. I said, actually I don't even think we can make it, we might need to call an ambulance! Which didn't really make much sense, it would be just as fast to drive ourselves to the hospital. I just really, really, really did NOT want to get in that car and deal with that car ride. Again, I thought I was going to die. We decided Sarahi should stay until Jared arrived at our place. Derek assured me that we would make it to the hospital and it would be less than 10 minutes. I finally was able to actually get in the car and we were on our way. Worst. Car. Ride. Ever!!!!! I just remember looking at Derek and feeling like I was literally dying. And I felt like he just had NO IDEA how bad this hurt.
We got to LDS Hospital. I told him to just drop me off at the door so he could go park. I walked into the front doors by myself and told them I was in labor and needed an epidural NOW! They insisted that I sit down in this wheelchair and they'd take me upstairs. I did not want to sit down in a wheelchair, sitting did not feel good. So I just started on my way up the elevator and Derek had caught up with us.
When I got up to Labor and Delivery, again the nurses tried to get me to sit in the wheelchair. I kept telling them, I'm NOT sitting in that wheelchair! I was feeling so much pressure down low! I just kept demanding an epidural and was wondering why I didn't have one already. They said they needed to get me in the room to check me. I had bought this beautiful birthing gown to wear (I was also supposed to have my friend come and take pictures, but everything just went so fast!) but I didn't even care about it at this point, we just threw it on halfway.
They finally were able to get me down so they could check my progress. 9 CM! I couldn't believe it! No wonder I was dying on the way over here, I was in transition! And No wonder I couldn't sit down in a wheelchair, haha. They told me that I wouldn't need an epidural because this baby was about to come out! They didn't really deny me one but they kind of kept me going along so that it would be too late I think. They knew I wanted a natural birth from my birth plan. My midwife wasn't there, it was a different one that I had met before though, Lupe. But that was fine, I was never super attached to my midwife and knew there would be a good chance that one of the other one's would be there. We had two midwives there and a couple nurses and they were all great!
Sarahi got there just in time. I quickly felt like I needed to push. For some reason I remember them not wanting me to push but I kept saying, I need to push! I was still on the bed from when they checked me but I was on my side. Not at all how I wanted to deliver my baby, but I couldn't even move to get in a better position. I was shaking so much (I had the shakes with Noah too) that my legs wouldn't even stay open, plus being on my side just wasn't working.
I had a brief moment of thinking rational and decided I needed to move into a better birthing position, I knew that giving birth on your back usually isn't the best position. I somehow managed to quickly move into more of a squatting position on the bed. I felt more in control now and like I could push better this way.
I started pushing when I felt the urge to. But I really disliked that feeling. They quickly said, "He's right there!" So I thought he was like right there and I could just push him out with my next push. But they were saying that for like 5 minutes! I think they meant they could see him, but he wasn't crowing yet. After a few minutes, he was ACTUALLY right there and I just remember I hated this part so bad. The whole pushing thing. I was scared to push because it hurt. So I was holding back a little. I was basically a mess at this point, screaming my head off. I also felt like I was going to faint, which made it way harder. I kept saying, "I'm going to pass out! I'm going to pass out!" I was feeling super light-headed from the pain.
I finally thought, I just want this to be over so bad - oh wait, then why am I holding back! I stopped holding back and just gave it my all and he was immediately out! It was the BIGGEST RELIEF of my life! The pain was over! My baby was here in my arms! My whole labor experience was so different from Noah's labor but especially this part. I felt like I had worked so hard and suffered so much and the reward was perfect and beautiful!
I do have to say the feeling of him coming out was so weird. It felt like I just pushed out an octopus! Also, you think the pain is over until they remind you that they have to push on your abdomen every few minutes - ugh, ouch! You're like, okay my baby is already here, why am I still having to feel this pain!! Haha.
The next hour and a half I was able to hold my new and precious baby on my chest, skin to skin, and without anyone taking him away from me. It was amazing. We had our first nursing session which actually went okay. I am so happy and grateful that they allow this "golden hour" now, and also that I educated myself on this and requested it. We delayed his cord clamping also.
We're lucky we went to the hospital when we did. Oliver was only born about 20 minutes after arriving to LDS hospital. It all went very, very fast. I'm also grateful that I can push my small babies out with only a few pushes. I cannot imagine going through that for a couple of hours. I remember that night I couldn't even sleep because I still couldn't believe that I just did that. It was so surreal. I kept thinking, did that really just happen!!?
My labor was about 5 hours from start to finish. I didn't really have much of an early labor this time, within an hour of starting I was already right into active labor. It was completely different from my labor with Noah. With Noah, I started early labor while I was sleeping, and labored all day at work, and into our evening at home. We went to the hospital around 9 pm when it was really bad and found out I was only at 3 cm! And then Noah wasn't born until 3 am. So this time it really took me by surprise when it was so fast and when I got to the hospital so far along. It was overwhelming but at the same time I'm grateful it was fast. I also had an epidural with Noah and didn't feel a thing past 5-6 cm.
I'm grateful for Derek and Sarahi for supporting me through this. And for Jared and Lorin for staying at our place that night and bringing Noah to the hospital the next morning.
The next day we struggled with his name of course. We wrote out our list on the board in the room - Calvin, Beckham, Callaghan, Lou/Louie... I think that was it. We were looking at these names and we just didn't really like any of them! Haha, at least not enough to name our child. We wanted something we LOVED, just like we loved the name Noah. Derek said, "What about the name, Oliver?" to which I responded, "You know I love the name Oliver but it's getting pretty popular..." Because it is. I wanted something that's not trending, and that you wouldn't see on a baby name list. But I took a look at our new baby and thought, okay he REALLY looks like an Oliver! So I didn't know what to do because I really loved the name and we thought it would sound really good with Jay as a middle name. Jay is my brother Hugh's first name, and it's also Derek's brother Dustin's middle name. Plus all of my siblings start with the letter "J" so we thought it was perfect.
I was talking to Jared on the phone and he said that we should just use that name. He said it's better to pick a name that you love. I thought about it and decided he was right. It's obviously better to choose a name that you truly love rather than just settling with one of these other names that we just thought were "okay"(... they're great names for whoever has them!). And especially when the name just seemed to suit him so well. SO, right before we left the hospital we named him Oliver Jay Finch! And I haven't look back - I love it! Yes, a few people have pointed out that his initials are OJ.. well I really don't care. His generation won't even know who OJ was, and it's not like we're going to call him that. We sometimes call him Ollie, but lately I feel like calling him Blue, because of his eyes!
So, yup, Oliver had blue eyes at birth. Which was quite different for us, Noah's were always dark brown. So we're not sure what Oliver's will end up being. His skin was and is much lighter than Noah's, he looks completely white with no hispanic mix at all. And his hair was lighter than Noah's too. They look very different from each other I think, which was not expected.
We love you little Oliver! Thank you for joining our family :)
'
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Easter Eggs 2015
Here are a few pictures from our Easter egg hunt with Noah. His first time - and he LOVED it. We just hid some plastic eggs in the backyard. Around 5 of them had an M&M inside. We also hid a little chocolate bunny in the bushes, and a stuffed toy Donald Duck up in the tree.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Noah turns TWO!
My little buddy is getting so big! We had a birthday party for him at the park. We had a BBQ with some friends and family members. We kept it super simple this year. We got him a Thomas the train birthday cake because he loves trains. We also got him a train set from Ikea. He loves it! It was a great little party. He got lots of cute clothes and fun toys. It is always nice to have our family get together.
A few weeks before Noah's birthday we got him his toddler bed in preparation for the baby arriving. It's great because it extends out to a twin bed. I am loving how his new "big boy" room is turning out. The first little while he did good with his bed but lately he has been sneaking into our room! It's been a bit hard, but I guess that's just part of life!
This is what I wrote on Facebook on Noah's birthday about him:
"Happy Birthday to this cute little munchkin! Two years has flown by! Noah is such a character and we just love him. He's insanely smart and VERY passionate. He's extremely strong willed, stubborn and super particular about what he likes and doesn't like. He speaks in sentences, he knows shapes and colors, he can count, sing songs, loves dancing and loves animals. He loves to play pretend, and has a wild imagination. He somehow really loves his unborn baby brother and loves all other babies. He likes to "baby" his stuffed animals. He's a natural at sports, and has quite the ball collection. Trains, trucks and buses are also on his top list of favorite things. He's been playing with his new train set all morning! We love you Noah! All 23 pounds of ya!"
That's Noah in a nutshell at two years old. He definitely keeps us on our feet constantly. He's seriously hilarious! He's also become my most challenging thing in life! But he's shaping me into the person I need to become and I wouldn't change it for the world. He's my everything! I love you Noah!
A few weeks before Noah's birthday we got him his toddler bed in preparation for the baby arriving. It's great because it extends out to a twin bed. I am loving how his new "big boy" room is turning out. The first little while he did good with his bed but lately he has been sneaking into our room! It's been a bit hard, but I guess that's just part of life!
This is what I wrote on Facebook on Noah's birthday about him:
"Happy Birthday to this cute little munchkin! Two years has flown by! Noah is such a character and we just love him. He's insanely smart and VERY passionate. He's extremely strong willed, stubborn and super particular about what he likes and doesn't like. He speaks in sentences, he knows shapes and colors, he can count, sing songs, loves dancing and loves animals. He loves to play pretend, and has a wild imagination. He somehow really loves his unborn baby brother and loves all other babies. He likes to "baby" his stuffed animals. He's a natural at sports, and has quite the ball collection. Trains, trucks and buses are also on his top list of favorite things. He's been playing with his new train set all morning! We love you Noah! All 23 pounds of ya!"
That's Noah in a nutshell at two years old. He definitely keeps us on our feet constantly. He's seriously hilarious! He's also become my most challenging thing in life! But he's shaping me into the person I need to become and I wouldn't change it for the world. He's my everything! I love you Noah!
California 2015 - San Diego & Disneyland!
Just a week after New Years, we were off to San Diego! We were all very excited!
We spent pretty much a week there. It was a MUCH needed vacation. I had kind of a rough Winter with my depression and this trip kind of gave me a reset to start over with so many things and I felt so much better when I came back home.
It was Noah's second time on an airplane. He did pretty good! He was very excited. He brought his own little carry-on suitcase - so cute.
We had so much fun! We spent time on the beach, went to Balboa Park, ate some good food, spent a day at the San Diego Zoo, saw the San Diego temple, and spent a short hour at the Mormon Battalion museum.
We also spent a full day at Disneyland! It was AMAZING! Definitely the highlight of our trip. We originally were planning on doing Disneyland but then decided it would be too much money and Noah was still really young. Well last minute we changed our plans (like a few days before our trip) and we decided to just go. SO glad we did. It's so cliche but it really felt like a magical day, haha.
We went on several rides that Noah loved. Although, he got a bit scared of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride - which I don't blame him for, it had a humongous unexpected drop! Haha.
We also got to watch a mini show of the movie, Frozen, which at the time Noah was getting super into somehow. He had only watched the movie once or twice and just loved it.
Noah got to meet Mickey Mouse, but at the time didn't really know who Mickey was. Looking back, I feel like we should have introduced him to these characters at least in pictures beforehand. But he still loved it. He still remembers meeting Mickey though and giving him a high five (after 9 months!)
One of our favorite things that day was getting ice cream and sitting and watching the parade. It was so awesome! We got to see all the characters! We loved it.
San Diego will always have a special place in mine and Derek's heart as that is where we got engaged. It was cool to go back to the beach on Coronado Island where Derek proposed to me.
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