A Good Birthday

So, for my birthday I found out that Laura IS coming this summer! She thought maybe they were going to wait and come for Christmas instead but they changed their minds and are coming in a few weeks! That means we've got to hurry and get Danielle's blessing gown done so we can bless her while they are here. So, everyone write it down, we are most likely blessing Danielle on June 8th. :) We haven't decided yet if we are going to bless her at church or do it at home again like we did with Charity so I will update you about that when I can.

I can't believe my baby is 2 weeks old already! She had her 2 week well child check-up today. She weighed 8lbs 11oz (still 80%) and she was 21 1/2" long! Which put her at the 97%! When I called Dennis and told him, he said we just make tall babies :) Charity is still in the high 90s% for her height. I've heard that on average they are about 1/2 their height at 2 years old and she was just shy of 3 feet tall which means she may be almost 6 feet! Ofcourse that's only in theory and not necessarily, lol. But yeah, we grow 'em tall apparently :)

Anyway, more about my birthday :) It was nice. Dennis gave me my presents in the morning (he was so excited, he couldn't even let me finish breakfast first! One was a book, it was the second in a series. He'd given me the first in the series for Christmas so I'm happy :) And then my second present was the new Stargate Movie! I know, it was only made for tv and it was the finale to the series but I'd heard about it and wanted to see it. Our neighbors had invited us for a BBQ for Memorial Day so he wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to watch it before then. lol. I really liked the present he gave me early too. It was the complete collection of Jane Austen's novels and I actually got to read them all before Danielle was born. Ofcourse, if she'd decided to show up any earlier I wouldn't have. lol.

Then, mom decided to stay for this week so that should help out some. But then next week is gonna be HARD. It'll be Dennis' long week, and to top that off it starts his summer class. Ouch. I'm not sure if he's looking forward to it but atleast the class is only 5 weeks so he'll get it done and over with and then we can have some summer fun. I really want to go to Yellowstone this year (planned for in July) and then we may do some sort of trip for our Anniversary in August but we're not sure yet. I would also like to go camping a couple of times this summer. So, we will see how it goes.

Well, Charity is falling asleep in the high chair. She'd been eating ice cream and then coloring, but it's 4 o'clock! So I should wake her up and entertain her since it's a bit lae for a nap but I think I'll let her rest for a short while so she's happy when Dennis gets home. Cute, grandma just talked her into letting her rock her for a few minutes so that works.

Oh yeah, Doctor Well Child Checkups

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you too that Charity had her 2-year check-up on Monday and Danielle had her 1 week check-up! Charity is now weighing in at 26lbs even, and was 35.7" long!!! So, she's at the 97% for height and around 50% for weight (that's a jump from the 25% or so she'd been staying at! lol). Danielle came in weighing at 8lbs 7oz (that's 2oz over her birthweight!) and was 21" long still. But wow, can you believe her growth? I'm not sure what he weight was when we checked out of the hospital but still, to surpass her birthweight already! Grow girl, Grow! :) Danielle is atleast following in her sister's footsteps in regards to height, she was in the 90%s for height but her weight was in the 80%s! The pediatrician thinks it will be interesting to see if her weight slows down and if she drops percentiles to have more of a growth curve like Charity.

Oh, I have to add, honestly I think her great growth might be due in part to Charity still nursing. lol, you know, she's getting a lot more of that fatty hind milk than Charity did at that age ;)

Update on birthday

I totally forgot to update everyone on how Charity's birthday went! It was a lot of fun. I just sat on a chair at the park and watched Charity play with Daddy and everyone seemed to have a good time. Although, turned out I wasn't very clear when inviting people... They went to my house instead of the park! But it all turned out ok in the end. Tiffany made her cake for her birhtday present and it was one of those doll cakes. She used a strawberry shortcake doll for it. Charity LOVES her new doll. lol. It was a really nice cake!

On Sunday (Charity's birthday) some of Dennis' family came up to visit and brought her more toys (extras from her cousin paige) than can fit in the house. lol... Yeah, we won't be keeping all of them that's for sure! She got brownies for her birthday that day and LOVED them. I'll have to post a pic of her grinning with her mouth full :)

It's hard to figure out what present was Charity's favorite, I think she liked all of them!

Anyone heard of a Uterine Prolapse?

Yeah, me neither until it happened to me :( Just a little over a week postpartem and I'm still having a hard time talking about it, but I think I'm ready, and that I need to. Apparently, a prolapse is a pretty common occurnce in women, whether it's uterine, or rectoceole or another one I don't remember the name of right now. But how come we never hear of it? And have no idea what it is!?! I don't have the answer to that question, but I know finding information about it is still pretty hard. I searched the internet and almost every website I looked at had the same information and it wasn't enough and didn't really tell me anything!

Well, onto the gory details. I didn't include this in Danielle's birth information because 1) I wasn't really aware of what was going on and 2) I wasn't really ready to talk about it. So, about 6:30 that morning when I used the bathroom, I found something I wasn't expecting! And that was my uterus hanging out of me. That's right, my uterus. I had Dennis get a nurse who then went and got my CNM. Well, she had me lay down and just pushed it back in. I thought it was a uterine inversion (like what you read about in the what to expect book) and figured that's what she was referring to when she said uterine prolapse.

Not so, it turns out a uterine prolapse is something different, and more of a permanant problem. (Don't worry, it's not life threatening or anything). Here's the definition from the Mayo clinic website: "Uterine prolapse means your uterus has descended from its position in the pelvis farther down into your vagina. Normally, your uterus is held in place by the muscles and ligaments that make up your pelvic floor. Uterine prolapse occurs when pelvic floor muscles and ligaments stretch and weaken, providing inadequate support for the uterus. The uterus then descends into the vaginal canal. "

I had assumed it was a one time thing and when the CNM and the OB talked about doing lots of kegels and possibly seeing a physiotherapist who deals with pelvic floor issues, I figured it was to help strengthen those muscles so it didn't happen again. It was a few days later I began to understand it wasn't a one time occurance. (no, my uterus is not falling out anymore but my cervix hangs a lot lower in the vaginal canal than it is suppose to).

I have found a support board through msn groups that I have a feeling I'll be frequenting quite often so that I'll be able to talk to other women who can relate. When I was searching the internet I ofcourse found horror stories of people dealing with it and then other stories of just normal people dealing with it in their lives. The horror stories scared me of course. People talking about being in so much pain from their prolapses that they couldn't stand to cook dinner, let alone play with their kids. That's what scared me the most. I'm so young and my kids are so young. What would it mean to not be able to play with them? That's one of the things I was looking forward to the most about having Danielle, was that I'd be able to play actively with Charity again and I didn't want that to happen. I read of some women not being able to have successful pregnancies, or of pregnancies making their prolapses worse. And I worried more about what this could mean for me? Not to mention, how many times you can ask yourself, why me? Why did this happen to me? Of all the risk factors, the only one I had was a tilted (aka tipped, retroverted) uterus, and I found out, men in my family have hernias which can signal a genetic problem that causes weak connective tissue. Oh yeah, but that's right, I said a tilted uterus is a risk factor. While not everyone who develops a prolapse has a tilted uterus, it's a lot more common among those who do than those who don't so if you have a titled uterus ladies, lots and lots of kegels!

Right now, I still don't have those answers but I'm ok with that for now. We'll cross those bridges when and if we get to them. It's possible that since I did just have Danielle, that if I take it easy over the next 12 weeks, it could improve some on it's own. At this point I've had it for a little over a week and it doesn't seem to be causing any serious issues, so we'll see where we go from here.

But seriously, why aren't women told about this? It's estimated that about 50% of women will have a prolapse at some point in their life but because a lot of women may be embarrassed about it and not want to talk to their doctor about it that many go undiagnosed. How sad is that? That some women may struggle with this a lot of their lives never knowing or understanding what is going on :(

Oh, but when I talked to my twin on the phone the other day, she was repeating a lot of what I said back to me to make sure she understood what I was saying and her husband (who grew up on a farm with lots of cattle, knew what I was talking about because they'd seen it in the cattle... How unfair is it that people have more knowledge of problems with cows than women!?!) Ok, done with my mini rants now :) lol... wow, I can actually find something to laugh about it...

What was I thinking?

So, tomorrow is Charity's birthday and I decided last weekend we'd have a party for Charity the day before her birthday. Nothing big or anything, just a get together with her friends at the park and then eat cake and icecream. And, it's really not that big of a deal BUT lol, I'm taking my kids to the park and my baby isn't even a week old!?! lol. Atleast she decided to come Monday morning instead of this morning! I'm not worried about it or anything, I just think it's some good timing.

The party should be a lot of fun though. The kids can play, the parents can chit-chat :) And then we all get to eat treats! Can't complain about that! lol.

Introducing Danielle Lillian

born May 12th, 2:16 am weighing 8lbs 5oz and was 21" long!

She's Here!!!

At my last appointment (the 6th) when I was checked I was 3 cm dialated, 60% effaced and she was at a -1 station. So, I knew this labor would be quicker than last time, if only because I had a headstart. But this was no where near what I was expecting!

On Monday May 12th, I woke up a little after 1 in the morning to use the bathroom (you know, one of those standard pregnant gotta pee in the middle of the night breaks, lol). I got a contraction shortly after waking up but I didn't think much of it really because I'd been getting a braxton hicks contraction atleast once a night when I'd wake up for over a week. But it was so intense, and then within 10 minutes when I had another one equally intense I figured it was time. I woke Dennis up (good thing I didn't wait at all this time!) and told him it was time to get ready to go. The thing was, these contractions were about as bad as I remembered when I got the epidural last time and I was at a 7 then. They also quickly went to 2-3 minutes apart and at times felt almost on top of one another. I decided before we left, forget the going natural idea, I couldn't take hours of this, lol.

Dennis wanted to take his time and get something to eat before we left but I told him no, we needed to get to the hospital. He wanted to wait and wake mom up at the last minute but I told him no, to get her up, cuz we were leaving. Then he called Tiffany (since she was coming to the hospital) and she was called at 1:56. When we got to the hospital, they didn't take me back immediately but instead made me stand there while they got the insurance information and stuff. Talk about torture!!! Finally they wheeled me back and the nurse had me go change. While I was changing I jokingly told her "please tell me the anastesiologist is already here so I can get an epidural now".

After that, I went to go lie down on the bed so she could put the monitors on my belly. As soon as she started trying though a contraction hit that was even more intense than the others had been. All I wanted was to stand up so I could deal with the pain. Up until this point that's how I'd been dealing with the pain was leaning onto something (like a counter) and then rocking my pelvis back and forth. Well, she thought I meant I wanted the back up on the bed so I could sit up and Dennis was trying to help maneuver me to standing, but then I HAD TO PUSH. So, I'm sitting sideways on the bed with my feet halfway hanging off and leaning up against Dennis. The nurse immediately checked and sure enough there she was. They hadn't had a chance yet to call my midwife who lives like 20 minutes away so they called the closest OB who lives only 2 mins away. The nurse was also calling in other nurses to come help.

Well, let's just say when you don't have an epidural and it's time to push, that's all there is to it. You don't even do the pushing it just happens. Before I even had time to think I had delivered the baby's head and then there she was. My water had never broken so she was born with the membranes intact, or still in the caul. Some cultures consider this a sign of great luck. So, Danielle Lilliane Y arrived at 2:16 am weighing 8lbs 5oz and was 21" long after a labor a little less than an hour long! Wow, what an experience!

I just wanted to add that I held and nursed her immediately and she just did great from the get-go and we didn't end up having any problems like we did with Charity, I'm so thankful for that!

Had my 38 week appointment

So, I had my 38 week appointment on Tuesday. She checked me and I am 3cm dialated, 60% effaced, and she is at a -1 station! So, what's holding her up already? lol. I have resigned myself to her probably deciding to stay in for atleast another week. That way, if she comes earlier I will be pleasantly surprised! lol. And if not, I'll have to resign myself to up to another week!

Oh, my friend Ginny had her baby on Wednesday :) A cute little girl, they're probably going to name Victoria. She was born in the afternoon weighing in at 8lbs 9oz and was 20 1/2" long! Remember, Ginny and I were due the same day! Go Ginny!!!

Oh, and mom and dad decided to come down on the 6th. It was funny, my sister Renell and my brother Roy both called to say congrats and see how things were going! lol. I had to disappoint them to say she hadn't decided to come yet. lol. It was Dad's birthday on the 6th, and honestly I think he was hoping for a birthday present but she didn't want to share with Grandpa I guess!

Soooooooo tired

Ok, I am just beyond tired. It's 7:30 in the morning and I have been up for over 2 hours!!! No, has nothing to do with baby but Charity deciding she wanted to get up when Daddy did! I am so tired I might just take a nap today although I'm not sure if that is really a good idea cuz I can't afford to feel terrible tonight cuz Dennis HAS to be able to finish his school stuff (paper and presentation) so he can be DONE for this semester!

Oh, I was tired yesterday because of baby though :P I ended up having contractions for 2 hours Saturday night that were 4-8 minutes apart but then they spread out to 6-10 minutes apart and I ended up just oign to sleep and they were gone when I woke up :( I was really hoping to be getting a baby on Sunday!!! Well, it's getting close, less than 2 1/2 weeks to go. Hopefully she decides to show up soon. And NO SAM she is not going to decide to be late just to make up for Charity being early!!! Trust me, she's going to be early too.... just not early enough for me! lol.

Oh, and I got a new calling yesterday :) I am going to be in Achievement Days working with the primary girls. I don't know what age group yet but it should be a good calling!