Day at the fair with friends

Catch up post....

Its been a busy couple of months. I'm back at work and working more than I'd like (and more than we really need). Juggling both boys, work, keeping house, and making time for my spouse there's not much of me left. I've begrudgingly learned to lower my standards. My house looks like someone threw up toys and dog hair (on a good day), I've stopped couponing, and my hair is in serious need of a dye job. Alan and I have been out together twice in the last 8 months (w/o kids). One of those times was for a Dr. appointment (very romantic). Being a parent is many things but it is definitely not glamorous.

I'm not complaining... I'm tired but happy. Working hard and content. It's a good place and about to get better. Alan was offered a promotion today that is going to give us more time together as a family. I'll cut back my hours at work significantly and will eventually stay home altogether.

*Happy dance*

Besides the hard work... These are the fun things we've been up to:

Luke's Ben 10 cupcakes

We actually had really nice weather so we busted out a slip n slide

Yup... that's my boob. This is how you pick berries and nurse. Round two of nursing has led to a loss of modesty and a chubby happy healthy baby :)

Making jam

Luke was impressed with the tiny jam

Family shot at the zoo

Luke posing as a mighty morphing power ranger. 

Levi learned to crawl.

Threw ZZ and Jordan a Lil' Man baby shower. Duncan Patrick is due this September.

Coed baby showers are fun. This is one of the games... baby bottle chugging (beer in some, cider in others)

Levi sitting in his bumbo destroying a banana and making a big mess.

Brothers at the park.

Aliya's 6th birthday. Unicorn theme. Check out her cake... it's all cupcakes!

Levi's first cake. I'm much less uptight about what foods he gets to eat.

We got Aliya a unicorn mask which lead to lots of creepy pictures.

A month after learning to crawl, Levi decided to start climbing and standing. He'll be walking by October :(

Picked 7 pounds of blueberries for jam, cobbler, syrup, and pancakes.

Levi has been swatted by motors a couple of times now. Hopefully he'll learn his lesson soon.

Luke is my sous chief this canning season. So far we've made strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry lemon jam. Nothing fancy but it should last till next season.

Levi's blueberry face.... such a cutie.

3 months

This cutie is holding up his head, smiling and cooing like crazy. He's really close to laughing too. When I tickle him, he gives me little grunts. Levi does  not like taking a bottle which has been rough on Al. I'm back at work and the boys normally come and visit on my lunch breaks to feed Levi. It's working out but Levi now wants to feed more at night which gives me less sleep. I'm surviving on caffeine and sugar. Good thing he's so cute!

Fire Star Luke

Luke has dubbed himself "Fire Star Luke". He's been doing this for about 6 months now. His friends at school even call him that. It all started with a pair of flame covered slip on vans which make him run extra fast. I made him a flame covered star shirt for Xmas which he wears all the time too. Sometimes he adds other names like ninja or magician to his name as well.

Luke has started writing his name! It's pretty cute. Sometimes the "L" is upsidedown and he likes to add both an upper and lower case "e". He also likes to draw rainbows and fire. For the longest time he would just draw what he called cake makers which were mostly abstract designs. He also now draws faces which ALL have mustaches. Go figure. It's interesting to watch his drawings become more complex.

Luke is a great big brother for the most part. He can be a little rough but what else are big brothers for?

1 month

This month has flown by. Between the holidays and nursing the days seem to role into one. My new lil cutie Levi is adorable. He's a chunky guy that eats almost every hour during the day (and sometimes more frequent than that). He's even a good sleeper at night. He just wakes to eat and goes right back to sleep. I love listening to his little grunts and snorts. He's becoming more responsive and giving more smiles. I'm trying my best to savor this short amount of time as a tiny squishy baby. We're not sure if he'll be our last one or not :)

Big sister Lucy watching over Levi

Luke adores his little brother... more so than I expected. Perhaps because I always found my younger siblings annoying. He wants to hold his hand and hug him all the time. He does get impatient when he has to be quiet or wait for something but all of that is normal. He feels very important in his new role as big brother and tells anyone who will listen that he has a baby brother.

touching his hair

and nose

The guys

One week old Levi with Santa, Luke and his cousins Marie and Russel. Marie told me she was too old to take pictures with Santa and didn't want any little girl presents this year :( She's growing up too fast (they all are).

Chilling in his Bumbo. I love that seat but he can't quite hold up his head for too long yet.

Blue steel?

Levi Taylor Stetson

Family of four 

At 9 days overdue I had tried acupuncture (2 times), been to my chiropractor, drank tons of red raspberry leaf tea, taken evening primrose oil, walked daily, and eaten lots of spicy foods to help get this little boy out but he was being stubborn. He was posterior, like his older brother, and not descending into the pelvis. So on my midwife's recommendation I took some lemon verbena essential oil mixed with apricot juice, almond butter, and a little bit of castor oil. And it worked because within 3 hours of taking it I started having regular contractions (around 2 pm)! I had been getting contractions off and on for a few days but nothing that became regular or increased in intensity.

Super Overdue

As luck would have it, Luke was already staying with my mom. I called Alan to come home but I wasn't convinced it was actual labor since I had taken the lemon verbena and thought it could wear off. I labored for a few hours bouncing on a exercise ball and on my hands and knees in front of the fireplace hoping to turn him into a better position. My contractions were coming every 3ish minutes and lasting about a minute but were still pretty mild.  Alan kept busy by handling incoming calls, timing my contractions and getting things ready.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Al this time. We had both been pretty freaked out and uncertain when Luke was born. I had a lot of fear that this birth would turn out like Luke's, with me giving up and transferring to the hospital. But Alan was my rock. He's the strong silent type which was just what I needed. He gave me quiet support by holding my hands and helping me move (not an easy task). It was surprising how intimate this birth felt. In fact my entire pregnancy was like that. I feel like I was more open and willing to be vulnerable which brought us closer.

Somewhere around 8 pm my midwife stopped by to check on me. My contractions had got more intense around the same time and she called her assistant and the student midwife to come over.  I was happy that I hadn't vomited yet as I was expecting, with Luke the vomiting started very early in the labor which wore me out. She checked me and I was 3 cm. I hadn't changed from my last appointment except for being more effaced. That was discouraging but my contractions got even more intense and I started vomiting (yay!). I have no idea how many times over the coarse of the night but it seems my "bucket" was always in the wrong room. After that point I lost track of time.

I labored lying on my side for a while were I could totally relax in between contractions. Alan says I actually feel asleep in between but I remember people talking around me. I took a shower, walked around the house, sat on the toilet. At some point I was checked again and was at 6 cm! I was relieved that I was making progress despite this baby still being posterior. I lost my bloody show at one point and was starting to really struggle through contractions. I kept telling Alan I didn't want to do this anymore... he didn't say anything that I remember. My midwives were encouraging me and telling me not only that I could do but I was doing it. I would have cried but that would have taken way too much energy that I didn't have. I shook a lot. My teeth were even chattering. Despite the pain, I wasn't scared or panicked.

I moved to the bedroom and was checked again. I was 8 cm and and had just a little bit of cervix left. My midwife wanted to break my water to increase the contractions which I wasn't too keen on. I felt like I was barely coping as is but more contractions would speed up the process. I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel since I could only focus on one contraction at a time. At that point I started vocalizing through each contraction. Someone made a joke that the police might show up because of all the noise I was making.

Then I had the urge to push. I still had some cervix left and I was told to not push.... quite impossible to do. I didn't feel the urge with Luke since I had an epidural but, it was uncontrollable and harder to do than I expected. I don't remember being told I was at 10 cm but at some point my team switched to encouraging me to push instead of holding off. I had to change positions four times since the baby's heart rate was dropping (probably due to the cord being compressed).  Eventually I was settled into a squatting position with Alan holding me from behind for support. When his head was pushed out he was anterior. I have no idea when he turned. With the next push the rest of his body came out. He was red, chubby, and whaling. I never had any doubt that my baby would be healthy but was still comforted to see this little bundle of squirming life. We double checked to make sure he was indeed a he (you never know).

The order of events after this are a little fuzzy for me. I was pretty grateful to be done with labor and wiped out. I don't remember what Alan exactly said to me but I felt his pride in my accomplishment and lots of love. I held Levi  for a while and then Alan took him so we could take care of the placenta and repair tears. When I looked at Alan, he had fallen asleep with Levi on top of him, it was 4 am after all. Levi got his check next and was a breastfeeding champ. They fixed me something to eat and I had a shower. After that, they tucked us into bed and left around 7 am.

Levi getting checked over by Melissa, our wonderful Midwife

He was a thumb sucker right away

Getting weighed 8lbs 9oz

Nana meeting Levi

Later that day my mom and sister came over. They did my barf laundry, cleaned up, and filled my fridge. Perfect baby guests! They were originally going to be at the birth but as it got closer I was feeling the need for more privacy and it just worked out better to not have Luke at the house. 

Luke meeting Levi

Luke has taken all of this surprisingly well. He made some initial comments about putting the baby back in my tummy but now he's smitten with him. He wants to hold his hand all the time and is the best one in the house to get Levi to smile so far. 

All wrapped up and cuddling

He looks way chubbier than Luke but he was only a few ounces more than, it must be in the cheeks. Breastfeeding has gone way better. The first week was a little tough. Levi was getting used to latching well. This kid has an intense appetite, feeding every hour during the day.

Levi and Daddy

Brothers