--1--
Happy belated 4th of July! I really loved the pictures here: How to Thank a Soldier - a nice reminder to thank our service members always, not just on national holidays!
--2--
We had a nice time at home, grilling and setting off our own little fireworks display:
John Paul: It looks like JELLYBEANS to me!!!
Cecilia: All da beautiful colors!!!
They each got to hold their OWN sparklers (very VERY carefully):
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| Big girl haircut! No more mullet!!! |
Can you just feel the eager anticipation?
And they very calmly shared a chair to await the "big" display...
We topped the day off with hot fudge brownie sundaes (homemade hot fudge - yum!) and had an impromptu "big" firework viewing on youtube, since John Paul was about to throw a temper tantrum that the fireworks were over.
Then he DID throw a temper tantrum, which woke Mary Claire up. And of course, the neighbors shooting off their illegal fireworks woke her up again. Elizabeth mostly slept, but it was rather a rough night for all...
--3--
Thank you all for your words of encouragement when I posted John Paul's birth story!
Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 are available for your viewing pleasure, if you happen to be a sucker for birth stories and pictures of pregnant women!
It took me a really long time to finally write the story because I still feel a little ashamed that I ended up getting an epidural. Long story short, 60 hours of labor, got an epidural at 48 hours because I had only dilated 1 cm (which is where I started out before labor began), still ended up with a vaginal delivery.
Here's the thing - we took Bradley classes, we were gung ho NOT going to have any sort of interventions or medication. But after 48 hours of no sleep and puking up everything I tried to eat, it was time for some intervention. I've thought many times about what I would have done differently, but it's really time for me to stop the "what ifs" and stop getting annoyed every time someone on facebook posts terrifying statistics on how all epidurals lead to exploding babies or something like that.
But really, this is a post for another day...
I still need to type up Cecilia's much shorter birth story... Maybe I'll get that done this week? After all, I'm in a birth story kind of mood!
--4--
On a lighter note, here's what I wore this week!
It's Day 5 of my "No-Pants July" challenge - check out my original post if you want more info.
I'm excited that so many bloggers are participating! Mary already has some lovely outfits up and Erica's closet makes me so excited for all the bright colors she'll be incorporating!
Taking a picture every day is actually pretty fun - I'm beginning to see that I really do look a lot better in dresses and skirts - would you guess from the pictures that I'm only 5'2"? I think I actually look taller! But maybe it's just the small children in every picture :P
I'm thinking of doing a mid-month link-up so that everyone can share their experiences, and then and end-of-month wrap-up. This is all assuming I figure out how to DO a link-up of my own!
Anyway, I'm posting each day's outfit on the facebook page if you need any inspiration/can't wait until Friday!
Anyway, I'm posting each day's outfit on the facebook page if you need any inspiration/can't wait until Friday!
--5--
Sometimes it takes me really long to write my quick takes because I'm busy reading everyone else's...
--6--
Look! Happy twins in a chair!
--7--
My aunt needs messy face pictures for a project she's doing, and I was preeeetty sure I could help her out - but the twins were eating too neatly! So I gave Cecilia some yogurt and cherries and I think I got some good messy shots:
Check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!
I can't believe people would criticize you for getting an epidural! Pretty much why I avoid(ed) the bradley, natural birth, Ina May enthusiasts, etc. Mommy judgement is at an all-time high. Ok-end rant ;)
ReplyDeleteI totally would never have guessed you were 5' 2". I was going to ask how tall you were bc I am wondering about the length of the gap maxi, but I bet it would be too short for how I like them. (I'm 5' 6") Anyway...day 3 is my fav outfit on you so far!
I have not made my birth stories public because I am still not ready to admit that one had interventions (it was a homebirth to the hospital with an induction that went wrong and ended up the opinion between a C-Section or epidural. I cried my eyes out and chose an epidural and I hate myself for it...)
ReplyDeleteSkirt month is going well over hear relatively speaking. My kids have all gotten a stomach bug, our dryer has been broken for over 2 weeks so laundry is at a minimum ( basically diapers only), and we are in between hospital trips for the baby. All that just means I am wearing yoga skirts and looking as frumpy as usual :)
Ps- I had a baby with a head that was 16! He also came out with his arm first so I had to deliver that head plus a shoulder at the same time. He was born at home, too ;)
DeleteWow!!! I can't even imagine how insane that must have been! Nice job :)
DeleteWill look forward to reading about Cecilia's birth; Liam's really helped me make peace with Elisabeth's.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good 4th. Enjoying the style posts on FB.
Oh my goodness, stop the intervention shame! IMHO, going intervention-free is best for the baby, but only if you can actually get the baby out. If you are 48 hours in and not progressing or sleeping or getting fuel in you, then you shouldn't feel bad needing a little help. Clearly, John Paul wasn't harmed. :)
ReplyDeleteI've only had 2 births, but neither of them were without interventions (pitocin after 12 hours with a ruptured membrane, drug supposed to take the edge off but made me hallucinate, and finally an epidural for the first, and just an epidural at the 23 or 24 hour mark when I started puking with the second). Would I have preferred to do drug-free? Yes. But they are here and healthy and in the end, that's what really matters.
-Dorothy
Seriously, what is it with these hallucinogenic drugs??? You'd think they'd warn you, but noooo... Really the whole thing is something I need to hash out to get it off my mind!
DeleteOkay, so your mom had no birth interventions. But I'm also not as small as you are, and I don't think anybody's head was ever as big as John Paul's at birth. And I take enough vitamins and supplements and outright drugs now that I've long ago made up for my granola-fed births, which were all in a hospital, so how natural could they have been, right? And anyway, Bill Cosby says that the only way that a delivery can be unnatural is if you give birth through your nose. And he's an obstetrician, so he should know. . . . Oh, wait, he isn't? Anyway, quit beating up on yourself. You did what needed to be done, and you have four stunningly wonderful children, in my very biased but not unrealistic judgment. So there.
ReplyDeleteALL THE INTERVENTIONS!
ReplyDeleteJust kidding. But seriously, Dorothy is right!
Before my daughter was born, I was really into the idea of giving birth drug-free.
ReplyDeleteBut then she was born via emergency c-section ten minutes after I got to the hospital for fetal monitoring. I never had any contractions and I have no idea what labor is like. It kinda sucked, but the doctors did what they needed to do to save both of our lives.
Now that I'm pregnant with our second, I've realized how unconcerned I am about natural birth. What matters is having a healthy baby. And that's it!
I love reading birth stories and I'm glad you shared yours! I'm pretty anti unnecessary interventions (as you could probably guess) but I don't judge because it's not my place. It sounds like you made the best decision for you at the time and man, any woman who could go 48 hours of real strong labor without pain meds is STRONG woman. I think it's awesome that you held off that long. I always play the what if game, too, and I don't think it's a bad thing...it can help us learn and make more informed decisions in the future as long as we're not taking undue guilt upon ourselves, of course! It's good to look at scenarios and figure out what could have prevented what, why things happened the way they did and weigh all risks and benefits...but that's the doula in me talking again ;) It obviously didn't affect how incredibly cute and smart John Paul is!!
ReplyDeleteSee, I am too, and I honestly think that's why I need to try to have a home birth in the future. But with the first two, it wasn't a possibility, and with the twins it DEFINITELY wasn't... Can you come be my doula?
DeleteI hate to hear of women ever feeling ashamed of getting an epidural. You brought new life into the world and a child is a beautiful gift...those medications were made to help women as best it can. I think you are a very strong woman for accepting your vocation so beautifully as wife and mother.
ReplyDeleteI love Cecilia's hair. It's beautiful and that cut is precious on her!
John Paul looks so grown up in those pictures! Glad you guys had a fun fourth. My favorite part of ours was Benjamin yelling "boom" after each firework.
ReplyDeleteI can't get over how big he's getting!!!
DeleteI enjoyed reading John Paul's birth story and can't wait to read Cecilia's (and the twins). You definitely should NOT be ashamed of getting an epidural. It definitely sounds like the epidural was the right decision for you. I've gone all natural with all mine, but I've never had more than 5 hours of hard labor before birth. I am IN AWE that you went 48 hours without an epidural! 48!!! There is NO WAY I could have made it that long.
ReplyDeleteI love your outfits..I think day 2 and day 5 are my favorites. I never would have guessed you were only 5'2" either...I thought you were a bit taller.
Oh Cecilia's hair is adorable!!! I'm definitely making you trim Ava's the next time we see you :) annnnd....just send your aunt any picture of clare EVER Hahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteHaha Cecilia's hair is totally uneven, but it curls enough that it hides it, thank goodness!
DeleteAnd you're right, Clare is the messy face master!
Oh Cecilia's hair is adorable!!! I'm definitely making you trim Ava's the next time we see you :) annnnd....just send your aunt any picture of clare EVER Hahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteRosie, LOVED your birth story, you are a great story teller. Please, how could you feel shame? That was epic, truly! I also attended natural birthing classes, was a tough, in shape girl, and thought I would be brilliant. Peter was two weeks late when they induced, had constant back labor for 48 hours, an epidural that failed, (they thought if I relaxed I would progress,) and the dern big headed baby never even dropped, I never progressed beyond 4 cm, and he started to go into distress...so emergency c-section! To recap: two weeks late, 48 hours of constant labor, c-section!
ReplyDeleteWhat was really bad was that I had two natural births after that, and when we moved to Louisiana, the tiny hospital could not perform a v-bac (even though I had had natural births, it was their insurance wouldn't cover it) so I had to have a planned c. After you have two, it is a given that no doctor will let you do a natural labor, so the rest have all been planned c.
Moral of the story, it's fine. I love natural birth, I love strong women, but really, I love healthy, happy newborns the most.
When I'm talking to women who are pregnant with their first and they ask for advice (I don't know why they ask me for advice, but they do), I tell them that whatever their hopes for their birth, an epidural is not a failure. A c-section is not a failure. And I tell them that they (and their husbands) need to know the risks *and the benefits* of different interventions because sometimes they are necessary. Michele was right on your last post--labors like yours are the reason epidurals were invented. I often tell people that if you had lived 100 years ago I don't know that either you or John Paul would have made it. Believe me, yours was necessary and nothing to be ashamed of. I should know--I was there :)
ReplyDeleteStrongly agree. Except, just to expand on one point: I don't believe epidurals are ever a reason to be ashamed, whether you're in labor for 2, 20, or 60+ hours. Definitely not trying to be argumentative.
DeleteMeg, loved hearing your voice in the story. So wonderful that you were there for JP's birth--I often wonder what it would have been like if we had included other loved ones in Ari's birth.
Agreed--never a reason to be ashamed :)
Delete