Halloween 2012

Little miss muffet, baby dragon, and a fierce ninja

Fall is here

Fall is here and I can not believe how fast the summer flew by. Sawyer is now almost 7 months old and almost crawling. His little personality continues to grow and he is so funny and amazing we all just cant get enough of him. Our new favorite thing is his "sniffing" he does and curls up his nose in response to us sniffing at him. The kids started school and so far so good with new teachers and 4th and 1st grades.
We finally used our groupon we got for last Christmas for family photos. Pics to follow soon!
My husband is getting his wisdom teeth out this week before OSU starts again. The kids are full swing in soccer mode and I am just trying to balance work, commuting, home, and trying to be as healthy as possible. I can tell in my personal health that not workout out as often and not eating as clean as I should be has made a difference in my weight and overall function in managing daily stress. I am keeping things simple at home with homemade laundry and household cleaning products. Saving money and keeping the house chemical free is a bonus. I just chopped my hair and actually love the new short do that is very easy to maintain so far. Fall is my favorite time of the year and I am pretty excited for cooler weather, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and holiday season! And not to mention things are always a little funner with a baby in the house for all of this again@

Whole 30 completed!

I completed my Whole30 for July and I am down 14 pounds! Awesome. And I feel great. Going to stick with it. Although I did have some small cheats like some half and half in my coffee every now and then. Overall I did not have sugar or sweets, alcohol, or grain products.
My new found favorite thing is Mauna Loa macadamia nuts from Costco. Yummy!
I am happy to be able to have a glass of wine occasionally and dark chocolate again.

Baby Advice and my favorites

I wanted to make a list of things I love and things I feel like you don't need with a baby, along with a little advice that I think I have picked up over the years.

Do not need:

• Diaper pail or diaper genie-waste of money. Just take the trash out every day.
• Large amounts of clothing especially in Newborn size and 3M size. They grow so darn fast all you need are a few essentials. Better to keep up with the laundry.
• Baby detergent. There are still chemicals in this. Use an eco-friendly brand for your whole family like Seventh Generation or my personal favorite: Honest Co. Or if you really want to get back to the basics you can make your own!
• Stroller/car seat travel system. Get them separate for your own desires/needs. You can see below what I used.
• An expensive bedding set. They pee and puke on the sheets and rumor has it that bumpers are no longer safe. Get several cute sheets and at least 2 mattress pad covers. The cute comforter is useless to me.

My favorites!

• Bob Stroller. I have ambitions of running endless miles with this but at five months old the most Sawyer and I have gone is about two miles at a time. Never the less its the best stroller I have used! Smooth and comfy for him and goes on sand and gravel, hiking, etc. Worth it! And spending the extra $50 to get the car seat attachment was worth it too. I started walking right away.
• Chicco Keyfit30 car seat-I actually do not have this car seat, I went with a Graco and I wished I had got the Chicco instead. The base for your car is much slimmer and if you ever have multiple car seats or three people trying to squeeze in the back seat: this one is the best. Plus its comfier looking for the babies. My friend that had a baby the same time as me got this one and I was jealous.
• Snap-In Frame for a car seat stroller. I have the graco one since I have a graco car seat. So lightweight and much smaller for your trunk. So much easier to just take baby's carseat out of the car and snap into the frame. Since I have the Bob as my big stroller this little frame has been worth the money for easy use
• Dr Browns Bottles Just like breastfeeding. 
• Organic Mattress-doesn't matter what brand. Just organic. You don't want it smelling like chemicals or made out of those standard cheap materials and chemicals. Invest the money. I personally think fumes and chemicals play a part in SIDS so I am strongly against these $49 mattresses from Walmart. I got mine from Costco online. Not the brand sponsored by HealthyChild HealthyWorld but a great mattress I am happy with that I could afford.
• As mentioned above: HealthyChild HealthyWorld, great book. Read it!
• Honest Company Diapers and all products!
• Petunia Picklebottom diaper bag. This is the one I personally have. (Yes its expensive for a bag but I got a good discount through a connection.) And my opinion is that for at least 2 years (if not more if you have more babies planned) you will be carrying something that needs to be able to hold the essentials and why not be in love with it?! Plus this one has backpack straps which I love since I have 3 kiddos to chase after. Even comes with the changing pad and lots of pockets.
• The little bottle washing basket that goes in your dishwasher and the drying rack for your counter top
• Graco Pack N Play. Used as a bassinet the first month or so and then used for playtime, traveling, and somewhere to lay baby in the living room thats safe from dogs and other children running around. Get a basic one. The fancy ones with nursery and changing table attachments are are a waste of my money in my opinion. We got ours at Costco for $49. It has a bassinet level and the toys that arch overhead. 
• Wellnessmama.com   My husband likes to joke I have become a hippie.
• Ergo baby carrier. Worth the money! So much better than a babybjorn and better for baby's posture. I got mine with my REI member 20% off coupon and got a good deal.

Advice:

• Don't buy a whole bunch of bottles and binkies until after baby is born. Try one and see if they like it. If not, then try another. Don't stock up on every different kind but if you do don't wash them. Keep in boxes with receipts so you can return if baby likes one kind: stick with it. 
• Keep receipts for all gifts and don't open them! I know its temping to nest and wash and fold all the cute things but do that with a few items you know you will be keeping and are your favorites. You may find yourself returning a lot because you simply have too much and wont need it.
• The best burp cloths or rags are the Gerber (or other brand) white cloth diapers in packs of 10 or 16 that are near other expensive burp cloths and bibs. Have a friend decorate them with some cute flannel fabrics and they stick to your shoulder better.
• I know people like this Moby wrap thing but it was complicated for me and takes too long to wrap the baby to you. And it was hot! I love my Ergo.
• Introduce the Bottle right away! We started Sawyer the first week as well as nursing and he never knew the difference. I know "experts" say to wait several weeks before introducing bottles to establish good breastfeeding. Well I consider myself an expert after 3 kids and I say start right away! Even if you pump milk and bottle feed it. Get baby used to taking a bottle so you can have some free time. Don't be like me with my first: Madilynn would not take anything but my breast for over a year. Not fun. I love my children but being attached all the time is not good for you or the baby. Especially since I knew I would be returning to work and he would have to take a bottle. I even think it helped with sleeping. Many babies need to nurse to fall asleep: bad habit, trust me I know.
• Formula-same advice as above. I planned to nurse for as long as possible but I also knew realistically I would be going back to work full time after 8-10 weeks and with pumping at work I knew I may not make it over a full year of nursing like I did with the other two kids when I got to stay home. I mixed half breast milk and half formula often to give myself a break from breastfeeding when I needed it but to also make him used to the taste. Now at five months old my supply is going away and I think we are done nursing. But I feel like I did the best I could and that's all that matters. Don't let other moms criticize you for not nursing longer or not nursing at all. At least you are feeding your baby!
• Borrow as much stuff as possible. However if you know you are planning on multiple kids then by all means register your heart out for the good stuff since you will be getting a lot of use out of it. But don't be afraid of garage sales, craigslist, and baby sales like Pass It On

Sawyer is 5 months old!

Time flies so fast. Here we are again with another monthly sticker on the onsie picture post!
And Sawyer now can sit in this play saucer we borrowed from a friend and he loves it.

Whole30

The month of July 2012 I am doing the Whole30.
So this being 7/24/12 I am almost done. My purpose was to eliminate the sugar addiction I had, reduce inflammation, loose some of this baby weight, and mainly see how different I feel while eating really clean and mostly organic. Its working! My clothes are fitting better, my skin is clear and I have not had any breakouts. I have more energy(or at least I think I do). I cant say I am sleeping better since Sawyer gets up once in the middle of the night. I don't miss the alcohol. Sometimes a glass of wine or a margarita sounds pretty good, especially on these warmer summer days...but I can wait. I miss my dessert and treats but I think after this restriction and cutting out the sugar monster in me I will be able to be a little more restrained on portion sizes and having treats as they are meant to be: treats. I did have a couple of cheats. I had a few sips of a Coke the other day and boy did it taste awful to me! It was like pure sugar-syrup water to me. Instead of focusing on what I can't eat I am trying to focus on what I can eat: meat, seafood, nuts, eggs, seeds, veggies, fruits, anything coconut. I have felt satisfied after every meal and most days I have been able to eat 3 regular meals and avoid snacking and I am okay. A huge plus has been that at night I don't get hungry again after dinner and I don't need sweets either. I have my dinner and then later go to bed. Now the next step in taking care of myself better is more consistent exercise. I can do so well for a week with home workouts. Sometimes I can get one in every day for a week or so. I have this great Nike app on my iphone. I like running and taking Archie out for walks. But then I will fail and not do anything for a week. I try not to beat myself up about it because between working full time, commuting, the baby, and the other two kids my time is crunched. However I want to get back to a healthier me. I bought myself a bikini top and its my motivation to get there!

Honest Company

Honest Company
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this company and all its products. Earth and people friendly, I love what they stand for, love what they are making their products with and love the designs. I rant and rave about it to whoever will listen and my husband rolls his eyes when I mention Jessica Alba or this brand name Honest. Sawyer's skin actually gets red and irritated when I run out of honest diapers and have to use huggies or pampers. Madilynn and I use all the products for ourselves including shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, the balm, all of it! I use the products in my baby shower presents now too. Spread the word!
#honestcompany

4 months old

Summer highlights include multiple vacation bible schools, soccer camp, fire/police safety camp, swim lessons, and Madi going to Camp Namanu for the first year, and a new puppy Bella!

Sawyer's Birth Story

I wanted to post this before I forget it or it gets lost on a dead computer or something like that. At 4 months old it seems like we have had him around forever but re-reading this and editing some things made me smile remembering this crazy weekend! (warning, its a long post)

Sawyer’s Birth Story

Since my husband and son have same name I will just refer to husband as hubby to avoid confusion.  

Friday 2/24/12

37 weeks 3days pregnant (although I swear I thought I was about 38 ½ weeks but maybe my due date assumption was wrong and the midwives were correct, who really knows due dates are estimates anyways right?)

I had a midwife visit at 11am. Everything was fine. Heartbeat was a little lower than normal: 130 instead of 140. But this is still normal range. I noticed he had been very quiet all day and the midwife said well if it seems out of the ordinary call later today, we can always have you stop by L&D (Labor & Delivery) and get monitored to make sure things look good. She did not check my cervix or do any internal exam, just listened to the heartbeat. I also never pee in a cup or do any other testing at the midwife clinic.

So between me being extra careful and paying attention to my stomach all day at work and a little stressed out I DID think he was very quiet. He barely moved all day which is very unusual. I left work at 4pm telling my boss I was going across the street to Salem Hospital to get monitored. Of course all the ladies at work wanted me to text or call later and let them know everything was okay.

I went to triage at L&D and was hooked up to monitors for 40 minutes. Baby was fine and I only had one or two contractions during this time that were not painful. This had been happening for weeks now anyways. I saw the on call midwife from my clinic; Elizabeth, and she said I was fine and sent me home. She did not check my cervix or do any internal exam. I got home around 5:30 pm and proceeded to clean and organize and prep the house for little Mitchell's 6th birthday party which was going to be at 11am Saturday, the next morning. I probably was over doing it being it was Friday night and I had worked all week, etc, but this has been my pregnancy the entire time: go go go always something to be done!

7-7:15pm The whole family was in the kitchen blowing up balloons and making goodie bags when I felt warm liquid run into my underwear. It wasn't a lot like when my water fully popped with Mitchell. I looked up at my husband and was like "uh what was that?"

I ran to the bathroom and some more leaked out. It was like a slow pee but clear and I knew I was not peeing. So thinking maybe it was just extra discharge(normal pregnancy symptom) I changed my panties and put on a pantyliner to carry on the decorating in the kitchen. But more kept leaking and I filled a pantyliner and another pair of underwear. At one point even more leaked out like a big flow of urine over the toilet but again it was clear. So we knew it was my water and I called my midwife. She called back pretty quickly and said well come back to the hospital and we will check you out. I was not having any painful contractions. I kept waiting for them to happen because with Mitchell once my water popped I had immediate painful contractions. But every birth is different!

By this time husband is freaking out and starting calling people like his parents and I was texting and calling a few close friends and my mom. My dad and step mom were still in Hawaii for one more day. I was not supposed to have the baby until March so they could be here. I had some things set aside for a hospital bag so I started packing the rest and the kids were of course running around the house being super crazy and it was just plain chaos. Mitchell was upset I was going to have the baby and what was going to happen to his birthday party the next morning? Madi was all packed and ready to come with to the hospital (this was our plan all along) but of course had all the wrong things packed and was wearing some ridiculous outfit with slippers. At one point I remember yelling at hubby to get off the phone and pack his bag because I could hear him running on about name choices and etc etc. (sorry to whoever he was talking to at the time lol). The poor dog was so confused. Archie has been kinda left in the back burner with all the prep for baby and the poor weather, etc. We made sure he went potty and left him in the house since it was rainy and windy outside.

We FINALLY made it out of the house and dropped Mitchell off at a friends house down the street to stay the night (thank you Matt and Candice!). By this time it was probably 9:30. Madi came with us to Salem.

Since it was after 9pm we had to go through the ER entrance at Salem Hospital. This was super busy since it was Friday night. I found it humorous that the people kept asking why I was there. Apparently my baggy sweatshirt didn't make it I was obviously pregnant. So we had to move through the assembly line of three different people at three different windows getting forms, ID bracelets, more forms. So much for the pre-registration I did on the computer weeks ago. Then a transport person had to wheelchair me through 3 buildings and multiple floors to get to the Birth Center. I wanted to walk since I still was not having contractions but they don't let you do that. I can only imagine how horrible this process would be to someone in labor with serious contractions.

Madi was super talkative and bouncing around and I kept looking at hubby thinking "was this really a good idea to bring her?" It was already after 10pm and I knew it would be a long night for her and me.

Once we got to L&D I was again put in the same triage room as that afternoon and changed into a gown. Felt strange since I was there only hours earlier. I had soaked a washcloth with fluid that was leaking in between my legs. They hooked me up to monitors and we waited for the midwife to come in. It was still Elizabeth on call like I had seen earlier. Out of the 5 midwives at the clinic she was probably choice #3 for who I was hoping would be on call when I went into labor. She did a microscope scan of my fluid and a vaginal/cervix check and thought I was NOT in labor and told me she didn't think my water had broke. At this point the pad thing they lay on the bed under your butt was wet also so I was confused as to what could be coming out of me. I could also tell the nurse and the midwife had some friction between their behavior together. It was a little awkward in the room. I loved this triage nurse though, she was great.  Madi pulled out a tooth while in triage too (always has to be the center of attention of course and had to steal the show while I am in labor LOL). The nurse helped her with water to rinse and a towel to stop the bleeding. We put the tooth in a box for safe keeping.

So there was one last test they could do to test the fluid, a lab test that would take 30 minutes or so. Or I could go home. If the test came back positive I would be admitted since my water did rupture. So… yes of course please do the lab test, we are already here and its after 10pm. At this point hubby is fading fast. He was just all around drained from a long week of being pretty sick (another concern we had since he was still coughing and not feeling 100%-should he even be around a baby if I deliver). Ten is normally bed time for us “old” people haha.

11:15pm 

Test came back positive and I wanted to laugh at the midwife and say Told You SO! But I was nice and we went over what happens next. My birth plan was to go as natural as possible, use the Jacuzzi tubs to labor in and try to avoid epidural. (I did have epidurals with the other kids though). At this point since I am being admitted and I was not having regular contractions the midwife said we could (1)have you walk around for an hour or so and see what happens or (2) start pitocin right away and basically induce you.  Elizabeth likes to start pitocin right away so she was pushing for that option. Well at that point I was tired and ready for bed and I knew I did not feel like walking around the hospital for an hour. I also knew I hate pitocin and it freaks me out and if I get that I know right off the bat I will end up wanting an epidural at some point when the contractions really get going. So my birth plan flew out the window. I was admitted, got moved to a room and an IV started. I just hoped that my body would react well to pitocin knowing its baby #3 and once contractions started everything would go quick and it wouldn't end up in a C-section which I know happens a lot with inductions. Madi was still bouncing off the walls and hubby went to get bags from the car and find himself coffee. I got Madi to settle down and told her she needed to go to sleep otherwise Dad will take her back to Albany and leave her with Matt and Candice too. So she did eventually fall asleep and hubby later joined her on the smallest of bed/couch things ever. It was pretty funny seeing them cuddled up on it together.

So here is a timeline of what happened next:

Midnight: IV started

1am: Pitocin Started, I was about 2 CM dilated and only 80% effaced.

1am-3am: Nurse comes in every half hour or so to turn it up gradually and check on me. Not much sleeping at this point for me since they are in and out so much.

Contractions are regularly 3 minutes apart and getting stronger, I am starting to have to breathe through them and really concentrate.

3am: Nurse gives me heads up that anesthesiologist is on the floor-okay lets get that epidural then! I also was starving so I was allowed chicken broth, jello, and popsicles.

Madi has to wake up to move to other side of the room so the guy can do the epidural in  a sterile environment. He did great and didn't even bother me getting the epidural. It was a great one too because I could feel my legs and move them but contractions were more like pressure not pain. 

Around 4-4:30 hubby was awake and wired with anxiety and stressing over the birthday party and the state of the house we left. (In case baby didn't come in time Matt and Candice were going to be at our house to make sure the party still happened because we wouldn't be there, great friends!) So hubby went back to Albany to clean and prep the house. Yes he is crazy but this is my husband. Madi was still sleeping. I was progressing slowly and still only 3 CM dilated so were assuming it was going to be a long labor. Albany to Salem is about 30 minutes driving, maybe 20 with no traffic.

There was a dip in the contractions after the epidural which is normal and now they were more like 4 minutes apart so the nurse played with the settings and soon they were back to consistently 2-3 minutes apart.

5:50AM midwife checked me still only 3-4cm dilated. My thoughts were “seriously? That’s it” I figured 3 hours of pitocin would do more.

5:53AM Texted hubby that it was looking like it would be a long labor and I wasn’t progressing very fast.

However…

Soon I realized the epi was not holding off the pain anymore. I couldn't really feel the contractions on my stomach but every time I had one I felt like my cervix was being ripped open. It hurt and I really had to breathe and focus. I was in the "zone". 

6:30AM Called hubby and told him to get here fairly soon, things were progressing faster. He asked if had time to shower and I said yes no worries.

6:56AM Called my mom to giver her an update and ended up getting off the phone because I couldn't talk through contractions anymore. They were really killing me and I kept thinking why did I get an epidural if its not going to work! I was pushing the “more” button on the IV and no pain was going away. Madi was awake now and was behaving well and minding her business off to the side of the room.

I called the nurse to have the midwife in to check me because I felt that pooping sensation and lots of pressure and I was pretty sure it must be close to being time to push.

Midwife came in and was shocked that baby was there and ready. She didn’t say 10cm dialted but I was at a plus 2 station and 100% thinned out. The nurse asked where my husband was and I called him to yell at him to get here ASAP. I had gone from about 4cm  to being ready to push in about an hour. No wonder I felt like my cervix was ripping open.

Phone call: 7:30am. Hubby was on I-5 driving past Enchanted Forest. That’s pretty close, about 10-15 minutes from the hospital but he still needed to park and get to the room, etc. Thank goodness it was Saturday and not a work day with the commuters!

I knew the midwife was letting me “labor down” a bit hoping I wouldn’t push to wait for hubby to get there. By the time he walked in the delivery table was ready and the midwife was in her delivery attire and 2 nurses were standing aside. Madi was alert and excited but being good and staying aside not to bother me. I was still in the zone and focusing on getting through painful contractions.

Husband finally came in and we all praised him for being there and I immediately started pushing with contractions.

No one counted to ten or did anything to suggest what I should be doing.  It was super quiet in the room. It was just me focusing on my body and my need to push. They didn’t hold my legs or anything, it was all me and I was silent. I pushed through 3 contractions and he was out!

Just as I started to feel that “ring of fire” and started to actually make a painful cries/grunt his head came through. It was 7:53AM. (only 23 minutes after I called hubby and yelled at him to hurry or he would miss it!)

The rest of him squirted right out and I could tell he was smaller than the other 2 kids by pushing him out. They put him on my chest right away and I knew he was so small. It’s the first thing that was running through my head, he was so tiny I hope he’s okay. He proceeded to cry/whimper on my chest for about 10-15 minutes while we rubbed all the white vernix off him(there was a lot since he was a little early). He had a good cry so I knew he was going to be fine.

Madi cut the umbilical cord.

I was so oblivious to what the nurses were doing. Hubby later said they just stood back and let us have our time. The midwife was waiting for the placenta to be delivered and I just got to have Sawyer on my chest for almost an hour before we finally handed him over to get weighed and poked and prodded by the nurses.

Madi and hubby stood watch while they did all that.

He was 5lbs 11oz and 18inches.

            Madi was 7lb12oz and 20in and Mitchell was 7lb6oz and 20in.

My regular midwife had said all along she thought he would be smaller than the other kids just from my pregnancy but with the combination of him being 2.5 weeks early he was so tiny to me.

Madi took her shirt off and had skin to skin time with him just like I did. It was special having her sit in the bed next to me and share the first moments.

Hubby’s parents arrived not much later so they were the first to see him. We were still in the delivery room on the third floor. Hubby and Madi left around 10am to go back home to throw Mitchell’s 6^th birthday party. They moved me to mother/baby unit on floor 4 for the rest of my hospital stay.

I did not tear, no stitches, in all honesty I felt great really fast and it was probably too easy of a delivery. I knew I wanted to go home Sunday and the Dr seemed really concerned about the baby and they thought maybe I should stay until Monday. Sawyer was doing great though so we were able to come home Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours after he was born.

I am still so amazed at how wonderful it is to grow a life inside your tummy in only 9 months and out comes this amazing little human. Its truly the most beautiful thing in the world I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with three healthy children. 

June 2012

Kids are out of school for the summer!

3 months old!

Loves his fist!

Memorial Day weekend

Wow time is flying! Yesterday sawyer turned 3 months old and I've been back at work for almost a whole month already! Glad the sun is finally coming around! Soccer is over and Mitchell had a kinder performance. School is almost out for the summer!

Madi turns 9 and a busy weekend!

In one Saturday we had 2 soccer games, two bigs birthday parties and Madi's 9th birthday party. It was a busy weekend but sunny and warm! Glad I finally caught some smiles from Sawyer too!

In love with our little man

Spring break

My friend took these pictures of Madi and Mitchell over spring break week. t
They are just nice shots that she captured.

One month old!

Wow time flies. Sawyer hit one month old and we are so in love! He is an easy baby and such joy to have added to our family.

Awesome siblings

First bath

Sawyer's first real bath after his umbilical cord and circumcision both healed. He didn't even cry!

Sawyer Frank Denniston

Born 2.5 weeks early! Surprise!
5 lbs 11oz
18inches
2/25/2012
7:53am

Baby shower