Madelyn's First Birthday Party

Madelyn's first birthday party was yesterday. We had our immediate families and a small group of friends over to celebrate with a BBQ chicken lunch. Elsie enjoyed helping Madelyn open the presents. Madelyn is a camera ham.

For the larger set of pictures, click here.

Phonemic Awareness!

Elsie showed her first sign of phonemic awareness today. Driving home from Christmas cookie-ing at a friend's house, we were having one of our usual in-the-car conversations: red lights and green lights. After pointing out a red light, she said (knowing well the answer), "what's a green light say?" To which I replied, "a green light says... gobble, gobble!" In her "mom you're silly" voice she said, "nooooooo." Then, with a more serious, teachery tone said, "but it starts with gobble, gobble."

I used to wonder how potty training would go. What signs of readiness would she show... What system would we use to encourage using the potty... Would she like going on a big-kid potty or would she refuse... but we followed her signs, came up with a system, and figured out potty training.

Like potty training, I think about how learning to read will go. At her age, I (we) do not at all focus on teaching her how to read. However, I do do small things, hoping she will pick up on words... and eventually their sounds. For instance I often use my finger to follow along in the book as I read to her, not always. So today, even though her thoughts were a little backwards, I was surprised when she vocalized that "go" and "gobble" start with the same sound. For all I know, she thinks about this often but does not show any signs of recognizing sounds and their coordinating letters.

Elsie has never been advanced in her verbal skills or vocabulary, so I am sure she is doing something many other kids her age do also; however, it was a proud mommy moment!

(Now, I am wondering, should I focus more on sounds and letters if she is showing readiness and interest? But like potty training, I am not going to "worry" about it and just see what happens.)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, good reading!

Carving pumpkins

We Skyped with our favorite Mexican exchange student tonight, then Elsie enjoyed carving a pumpkin with me. She definitely preferred a spoon over her hands. We attempted Jack Skeleton from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Timing that could not be made again.

Note (that no one probably cares about!) This was a draft from a few weeks prior to it's publishing date. I don't think I can get it to fall in with when I wrote it.

Nice Fall Day

It was a little cloudy and breezy, but nice weather for some fall outdoor time. I wouldn't ordinarily rake leaves, but I thought the girls would enjoy a pile. Elsie helped me a bit and really enjoyed walking through the piles. Madelyn came out later and enjoyed having a dad for a foundation while in the leaves.

We kept them bundled up and made the short trip to hike at Mt. Airy. I'm disappointed that we've not thought to hike there before! I'm excited for when we can be more adventurous with our outdoor excursions as well. Now it's neat to focus on the girls' curiosity.

-Will

Unsure, but content.

Hiking at Mt. Airy

This + hunger marked the end of our hike.

Elsie loves to sleep!

I usually have to wake her up from her nap, or she'll sleep for more than 3 hours. I do this by first opening her blinds. She found a way to hide from the light.

Another afternoon nap. She likes to wear comfy pants for her naps.

She wanted to read to Minnie when I put her to bed. This was about 10 minutes later.

Fighting getting up from another nap.

Halloween Fun

This year we took advantage of several Halloween events around town and had a blast! Will and Elsie started out the fun by going to Bat Fest at the Cincinnati Museum Center. This event was sort of by accident because it wasn't until they already decided to go that they discovered the museum was having this event. Nevertheless, they had a good time! They did all sorts of batty things like go through the cave, taste fruits pollinated by bats, and watch a bat flight. Elsie came home with a bat mask and stamp. Following the museum, we went to Halloween Nights at Parky's Farm that evening after dinner. They had light displays, a fun house, a hardly haunted tent, an on-stage entertainer, and other little things for kids and families. Our favorite thing was the hayride! We also went to HallZOOween. We had an enjoyable day at the zoo; which included some highlights like hearing the white tigers roar at each other and seeing the new baby manatee. We also had a Halloween party at our Tuesday play group! We had lots of delicious food and the kids all dressed up :) For Halloween, we had Will's family here. My parents joined us for dinner and part of the time. Elsie trick or treated for about an hour with Will, Baba, Auntie Em, and Alahna, who was a cheetah. It was nice and wet, but Elsie didn't want to stop!

On the way home from Bat Fest

Madelyn's pumpkin

Hallzooween

Sully

checking out the manatees

the new baby in the upper right corner

our family of pumpkins

trick or treating in the rain with Baba

 Madelyn, not trick or treating

Halloween Nights "Hardly Haunted Tent" 

Halloween Nights

 Tuesday play group

Monday Story Time

Just about every Monday, the girls and I go to toddler story time. This is not your typical sit down and listen to a librarian read stories story time. Instead, the kids sing songs with bodily movement, or use rhythm sticks, play silks, and bells to follow along with songs and music. Miss Laurie, the librarian, is great with the kids and knows good activities that are developmentally appropriate. We often meet up with Holly and Henry, and our friends Lauren and Emmitt (They are part of our Tuesday Play Group). Recently, even my friend, Beth, and her kids, Ben and Leah, have been joining us!

Miss Laurie using the felt board to dress Teddy. Normally throughout the class, the kids sit in a circle with their parents, but they like to move up close to see Teddy.

Elsie doing a great job following along with the movement. She often just likes to sit and watch.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear wave good bye. (Even her pig, Fat Percy, gets to sing along!)

Brown's Family Farm

Last Saturday we took our annual trip to Brown's Family Farm to get pumpkins. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny, fall day! We had Elsie's cousin, Alahna, with us for the day, and we met the Donleys there, as well.

Creepy, crawly girlies.

She asked to pull the pumpkins.

Hitchin' a ride with Henry from Uncle Alex.

"Hey, Mom, the sun's right in my eyes!"

Miss Madelyn ~ 9 months

Since Madelyn's birthday is on the 31st, I often find myself in a hard place at the end of months that don't have a 31st: do I call the 30th or 1st of the next month her monthly birthday? Regardless, Madelyn is now a solid 9 months! Can you believe it?!?

Last week, we saw the doctor for Madelyn's check up (no shots this time!). She is measuring in at close to 24 lbs. and 27 inches. She is still above the 95th percentile for weight and around the 75th for height. It was at this point that Elsie slowed down in the growth department, so we will see how Madelyn compares. Nevertheless, this girl is wearing 12 and 18 month clothing - clothes I was just buying for Elsie last fall and winter!

Madelyn loves being down, exploring her world from the ground and pulling herself up on whatever she can (which now includes smashing her fingers in drawers). Just about everything goes in her mouth, and she doesn't go down with out a fight when you try to take it out! She has finally sprouted her bottom 2 teeth! She especially loves being outside. She is a charmer and makes friends everywhere we go, smiling, waving, and clapping at strangers. Her dimpled smile makes it hard for others not to stop and say hi. Madelyn is also a noise maker! She loves to babble and putter through her cheeks. She also loves her thumb, food, being tickled, her big sister, and the dogs.

Camping at Brookville

Last Friday, with two sick kids in the backseat and rain beating the windshield, we headed out 74 for our fall family camping trip.

By the time we found our campsite the rain had stopped and having two lethargic girls, who somehow found their way into Mar-mar and Bebobs arms, made getting set up pretty easy. We mostly hung around the campsite for the weekend. We did get in a nice hike Saturday afternoon and stopped to see the Brookville Lake dam on our way out on Sunday. Camping with two kids keep you pretty busy, so we only got a few pictures.

Exploring the woods on our hike

Will accidentally stumbled upon an underground hornet's nest. A few of these little suckers got him in the hand and calf. My brother in law, Alex, also got a sting or two.

The mornings were chilly. On Sunday, Elsie helped my mom keep an eye on the breakfast meat.

Hiking at Hamilton County Parks

I am going to start posting more. Stay tuned!

For starters, we took two hikes last weekend: the first at Miami Whitewater on Saturday and the second at Shawnee Lookout on Sunday. After each hike, we enjoyed the weather and blue skies with a little picnic :) We are looking forward to some more hiking on our upcoming camping trip!

Elsie climbed DOWN a tree where the dirt had washed out from around the roots underground.

 Madelyn enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Madelyn Kate's Mad Dash Out!

Here are the details. I am not bashful about talking about birth, but I will try to leave out any “TMI” details. Try.

Monday, December 31^st. I woke up around 3:30, okay it was 3:37, feeling the first contraction. I figured it was labor beginning (contractions had never woken me up and these were low and in my back), but I did not jump to conclusions. The second contraction came at 3:44, lasting 25 seconds, like the first. As I timed my first contractions, Elsie woke up across the hall. I debated if I should go in with her or wake up Will. Being that my contractions were painful enough to make me lie still through them, I decided to wake up Will to get her back to sleep, not mentioning the contractions to him. He fell asleep in her bed with her. I continued timing: contractions now 6 minutes apart, each lasting 25 seconds. Not long.

A little after four I said, “Okay, this is definitely labor and I need to go to the bathroom.” From the bathroom in our bedroom, I called for Will a few times. With Elsie’s noise maker on and her door partially closed, my calls fell on deaf ears. I found laboring on the toilet, leaning up against the towel rack the most relieving. 4:18 contraction. The next one should be around 4:24. 4:20 contraction. 4:22 contraction. Somewhere in there, I made it to Elsie’s room and shook Will’s foot, telling him to get up. No response. My next contraction brought me back to the bathroom across the hall, in the back of our bedroom.

4:40. “WILLLLLL!!” I heard him spring from bed – he knew what was up. I asked him to call my parents (to stay with Elsie). He did. He also called Dr. Wall:

“Good morning. Well, Jill’s in labor, she says contractions are coming one on top of the other.”

            Dr. Wall, “Get to the hospital.”

By this point, my contractions were really one on top of the other. I was no longer even trying to time them. I went from squatting over the toilet to standing, still leaning on the towel rack. I found rocking and groaning to be comforting. Will tried desperately to get our bags packed. However, I was basically of no use. I made it out of the bathroom a couple quick times to throw something in or out of my bag. My parents came at some point. Will kept telling me we had to get to the hospital, but every time he poked his head in the bathroom, I shoed him away, relaxing through my contractions.

In my head I realized I needed to slow down my labor. How was I going to make it to the car? The hospital? I knew the answer to both questions. I started laboring on all fours in the knee – chest position (on knees and elbows, keeping my chest low to the ground). The point was to work against gravity so the baby would not continue as quickly through the birth canal. Okay, well, this didn’t really work for very long. As I panted through one or two contractions, trying to relax , I felt the baby’s head crowning. What? I was not pushing!!! Quickly, I pulled off my pants and told Will the baby was coming (he was looking for my shoes). He came to the bathroom quickly, wanting to get me into the tub in the other bathroom, only to find me on all fours and the baby crowning.

            “Call 911!! The baby is coming,” Will yelled to my parents. Acting as quickly as he could, he grabbed his shower towel from the rack to catch the baby.

As I relaxed through the next contraction, Madelyn’s head came through, still in the bag of waters. I continued to stay relaxed and let things happen. Will told me I was doing great and talked to the baby, urging her to come the rest of the way out. I breathed through the next contraction, felt the shoulders twist through, pause, the body followed and she was out. Listening for her cries and breathing was the only time I was a little tense. She let out some cries to let us know she was good and healthy.  From the floor, I grabbed a towel out of the cabinet next to me and Will handed little Madelyn through to me. By this time, my parents were talking to 911, relaying messages to Will. As directed, Will handed me a clean wash cloth to wipe out the baby’s nose and mouth. Wondering how I was going to use this wash cloth to get in her tiny nose and mouth, I used it to pat her dry instead. After getting situated, I finally sat up against the bathroom cabinet and held Madelyn against my chest. What a precious moment.

The EMTs arrived a short time later (and the fire truck and the police cruiser, of course). They clamped and cut the cord. We like to wait until the cord has stopped pulsing before clamping; however, Madelyn had probably been born for close to 10 minutes at this point and the EMTs were just doing what they knew (sitting on the bathroom floor, I asked, they don’t do this very often), so we didn’t say anything about not cutting the cord yet. Feeling good, I walked to the gurney in the hall since they couldn’t angle it through the bedroom doorway. It didn’t really bother me that I was naked with half a dozen men surrounding me. I had my baby and that was all I was concerned with.

From here things aren’t as exciting. The ambulance ride was nice and warm, and Madelyn nursed the whole way to Bethesda North. Our OB was waiting for us at the ER entrance. We were glad to see him and he was excited about our morning events (I later found out that he was sad he missed the birth). We were admitted on the maternity floor. After finishing things up, Dr. Wall sat and chatted with us, while he held little Madelyn.

Personal Reflection and FAQs:

Will and I had no intention of delivering this baby at home, but it turned out to be an awesome experience! Several months ago, I joked with a friend on Facebook about having an exciting, but not too exciting, birth-story to share. I think this fits into the exciting category! There was nothing scary about it and Will and I were both very calm.

With Elsie’s labor being 12 hours, I figured this one would be 8 – 10 hours, not just under two. My contractions started out further apart and shorter than those I had with Elsie. I counted on having a few hours of early first stage labor and didn’t want to go to the hospital too early. That didn’t happen. My contractions pretty much jumped from 6 minutes apart, to 2 minutes, to one right after the other.

One sign of late first stage labor is you lose your modesty. This is easy to identify at the hospital because you stop caring who sees you naked or working through your contractions. It is hard to lose your modesty at home when it is just you and your husband. I also never lost my mucous plug (I’ll leave that up to you to research, if you don’t already know what it is) and my water did not break until the final contraction when Madelyn was born.

There WERE other signs that we could have read to figure out what stage of labor I was in. For instance, standing with one leg forward and rocking is a clear sign of the baby moving down and turning to move through the pelvis. Somewhere in my research in the past few months, I read how during labor you go from using your left brain (reasoning and logic) during early first stage labor to using your right brain (instinct, intuition) during late first stage/hard labor.  So, although in my head I knew I was not going to make it to the hospital I was so internally focused and acting on instinct that it didn’t cross my mind to convey to Will that we would not make it to the hospital. (I think I was also in denial and was trying to convince myself that we could.) However, my body knew what to do with out me even thinking about it. It is also important to know that labor is involuntary. If you let your body progress naturally through labor and delivery (no chemical interventions), you really don’t have to do anything for the baby to be born. Our Bradley Instructor compares it to throwing up – once it starts, you can’t stop it! It is important to know how to work with your body, and not against it, in order for things to go smoothly. This is why I did not have to actively push the baby out, my uterus actively pushed the baby out on its own. Experiencing that was one of the coolest parts of this delivery – my body had this baby all on its own!

We did NOT HAVE to call 911. We did NOT even HAVE to go to the hospital. However, neither Will nor I are medically prepared for an unassisted homebirth. We knew chances were low of anything being wrong (roughly 90% of births are safe to do at home if you let nature run its course) but didn’t want to take any risks. So, we called 911 to get us to the hospital and let our doctor take care of us from there.

I think that about covers it :)