THE WEEK AT A GLANCE!

Oh my! My baby girl is almost a week old, and I have not blogged in about a week.  I feel a bit overwhelmed about all the possibilities and things I would like to write about.  But, I also want to go to bed soon.   So!  While I WILL most definitely post a lengthy labor story later in the week, AND I do owe a poem to the AMAZING Janice Tisdale who guessed Robyn’s birthday....For now I will just try and quickly sum up the week to “catch up”

MONDAY NOVEMER 12

I had a normal busy morning out with the kids, which I talked about in my last post.  At 2 pm, I had very mild contractions start about 5 minutes apart.  I hung around the house, and was in a bit of denial until 6pm.  At this point, Dave and I cancelled our evening plans.  He went nuts making lesson plans, editing a friends paper, trying to get my cell phone re-activated, and I went about cleaning, packing, pacing, laboring, etc.  At 10 we left for the hospital, and at 11pm I was checked into my room at about 5 cm dilated.  I painfully labored in a bunch of different positions until 2 pm, and was sad to discover I had only progressed to 6 cms.  I decided to jump in the tub and try that.  I loved it until the last 15 minutes where I felt REALLY GROSS, and my water broke at 3:07.  I turned into a psycho screaming lady and in trying to get out of the tub and back onto the bed kept yelling, “SHE’S FALLING!!!  SHE’s COMING! I’m POOPING!!!”  The nurse assured me I was fine and it was just a lot of pressure... and then she reached down and realized my body really had pushed the head out.  She frantically had Dave grab her gloves, ring for the doctors, and tried to get me up on the bed.  I couldn’t get up on the bed as my swimsuit bottoms were shellacked onto me.  We got those off, managed to climb on the bed during a contraction, flip onto my back, and got to give ONE mighty push and out she came! 7 minutes after my water broke, 5 contractions later.  I was happy to have achieved my goal of total natural child birth- but it certainly was not the calm collected picture I had in my mind of the way things would go!  Baby nursed well right away, and I got checked into my hospital room and Dave and I cozied up to sleep at 5 am.  Dave slept like a rock for a few hours, while I replayed the fairly intense experience over and over in my brain. We got up at 7am and just snuggled in bed together chatting and ooing and awing over little Robyn Elise. 

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13

Dave headed home to be with the kids by noon, and I spent the day trying to relax. There was a colic ridden screamer in shared semi-private, and so I didn’t get a ton of real sleep.   The kids came to see the baby in the hospital at 6 that night, and they were so cute!  Janna was all GIDDY and kept saying, “Hi Baby!”  and wanting to rub her head.  Jesse was wide eyed and very seriously insisted on holding her the WHOLE TIME.  He would stroke her face and say, “Robyn you are SO beautiful, I’m so glad you came.”  Aunt Katie had to fight to get a chance to hold the wee one.   They headed home, and the screamer next door was discharged early, and so I got a bit better of a rest that night

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14

I asked to be discharged early, and Dave and I headed home at 11am.  The kids were overjoyed that mommy was home, but MORE excited about Baby Robyn.  They both just sat by her in the carseat in the entryway.  Janna dancing and giggling and Jesse right in her face telling her how wonderful and amazing she was (as he pushed Janna away and yelled at her...I am afraid Jesse is going to give Janna a complex with this intense love and adoration he has for Robyn while he lectures Janna and pushed her around)  Anyways, we all had family nap hour, and then piled in the van to get some groceries.  Dave was GIDDY about Filling the van with kids, and wanted to do it THAT DAY.  So, we meandered through Metro to get some essentials, and then zipped to the dollar store to buy everyone a little WELCOME ROBYN treat.  At one point I said to Dave, “ I’ll take Jesse and you load “the girls” into the van.”  This made me feel really emotional and excited.  I have girls!!!  We kept the night time routine the same, and was it EVER nice to fall into my own bed with a flat (ish) stomach!!!  Yes, there is physical fatigue and labor aches, but does it EVER feel good to be 15 pounds lighter immediately without the belly in the way of everything.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 15

I don’t remember this day!!! Baby was up for a few long stretches during the night.....No wait, I do.   WE had the Potters come by to meet Robyn and bring lunch..... Dave had to go into the school to conduct parent teacher interviews, and a family friend, Tamara Guidon came by to hang with the family for the afternoon.  It was nice to have an extra set of hands, and somebody new and exciting to entertain the kids.   I reaaly missed Dave.  I think all the oxytocin from labor and nursing really hit me, cause I’ve felt so needy for him the past week J  We gave Robyn her first bath when he got home later in the evening, and she handled it like a pro.  I was hoping the late bath/massage/swaddle routine would help her with her night, and sure enough she gave mama two 4 hour stretches through the night

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16

Our delightful friends, the Potters, came to whisk Jesse and Janna away for a morning full of fun so Dave and I could relax and enjoy the baby.  We did take the opportunity to clean the house like mad for an hour- but then settled into relaxation mode.  The kids were delivered for naps after being fed, and I spent most of the remainder of the day trying to rest up while super Dave hung out with them.  I find when I get a burst of energy I sometimes go too nuts being productive, then am back to being wiped instead of restored.  It’s tough for me to let other people do things. 

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17

Once again Dave took great care of Jesse and Janna and I attempted to rest a bit, feed the baby (who is doing wonderful at sleeping, eating and pooping by the way) and do a few lighter things around the house.  My dad arrived in town at 4pm from Fredericton, and the kids were overjoyed to see him!  All hugs and snuggles, and won’t stay off his lap!  It’s cute.  We got all caught up over dinner and after the kids went to bed had a nice chance to chill and chat.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18^TH

It had definitelt been too long since I’d been outta the house, so we all headed into church.  It’s amazing how it seems to take almost the whole morning to make sure everyone gets fully ready!  We  made it to church a few minutes early, and Jesse was very happy to show his new baby Robyn to lots of people!  After church and naps, we had some more visitors this day, and I fell into bed at night after Robyns late bath feeling very blessed and thankful....and a tad apprehensive about the next day with Dave back to work.

TODAY!

Well, I still have grandpere here for the day with me, so I took the opportunity to get some stuff done.  He hung out with the kids for most of the day, and Robyn and I ran around doing some things...chiropractor for me, baby check up for her(she is lookin’ great!), groceries, Tims, walmart for a monitor and diapers, etc.  It’s amazing how peaceful and easy these tasks are with a newborn compared to a 1 and 3 year old.   My doctor (who has 3 kids of her own)  and I were discussing how we can more easily handle the physical fatigue of a new born, than the emotional fatigue from toddlers and fighting siblings!

The kids are still doing pretty well.  Janna actually has seemed totally thrilled with the new addition and has been a bundle of joy.   She has a bit of a crush on grandpere, and will just sit and snuggle with him FOREVER with a book.  Janna doesn’t sit still too much, so this is quite funny for us to see.  Jesse is very pleased and in love with his new sister, but is definitely a bit out of sorts.  He loves all the visitors and new people in his day....but he doesn’t adjust as well to change.  He just gets tired and out of sorts.    I think he was finally adjusting to Dave being home for a full week, and then he was OVER the moon excited that grandpere was here.... but today  has been a bit blue and wanting, “daddy.”  I have not been quite as patient with him as I normally am, and I feel a bit guilty about that.  Oh the parental guilt!

Anyways, that was the week at a glance.  Grandpere leaves tomorrow and I am solo with the kids for a few days, then Nana arrives on Wednesday night to stay for a while.  So, lots of excitement happening.  I hope to blog a fuller account of my labor story and that POEm for Jan sometime this week.  We'll see....  For now, I will leave you with a pic of me and Robyn taken about an hour ago.  Thanks for reading. I’m out.