Interior Decorating

I've always wanted an interior decorator to help me make my home look pretty.  So when Baby Ruthe was born, I decided to finally hire one...

She is quite expensive though. 3 meals per day plus snacks, room and board for the next 16(+) years, LOTS of attention, clothes, hygiene maintenance, hugs and kisses and cuddle time, responsibility for her education and well-being physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, etc....

Here's some of her budding "portfolio" of work she has done for our home! (please forgive the sideways pics, I can't seem to fix them.)

the office: so much more efficient to gather toys in the office where mom works on stuff during the day instead of playing in her own room

Daddy always says, "out of sight, out of mind," and complains of not playing games often enough, so if he wants to play more games, they must be in plain sight-- in the middle of the hallway floor!

the bathroom was looking kind of plain, so our interior decorator added some art to the bathtub (using washable bathtub crayons, of course!)

after a busy day's work, the artist needs a break to watch "Elmo Street on the teebee"

I'm impressed with her talent!  As per our agreement, I try and give her a fresh slate to work with and practice her work each day... I feel like I've been slacking on my end of the deal lately.  Luckily, my family and friends are pretty forgiving.

Birth Story: The Ruthe Maedean Edition

Can I just begin by saying that I've never been so glad to be proven wrong about almost everything?!

Sunday morning, I woke up just like any other Sunday around 7am.  Used the bathroom and started taking a shower to get ready for church.  During the shower I started feeling a bit "crampy."  After the shower I asked Brad the time.  I started to notice that the "cramps" were coming kind of like waves and wanted to start timing them.  After getting dressed, putting on make-up, and doing my hair, I'd had 5 more waves of cramps, all consistently 3 minutes apart. I let Brad know that I was starting to time what "I think might be contractions" before he got in the shower while I started making breakfast and waking up Munchkin.

Shortly after 8am, Brad got picked up to go to his early morning church meetings.  He told me to call the dr and see if I really was having contractions and what I should do.  I told him I'd do that after giving Munchkin a bath and getting her ready for church.  By the time I called the dr, my "waves of cramps" happened at consistent 2 minute intervals and the dr wanted me to come to the hospital to get checked.  I called Brad and told him what the dr said, but that I think we could go to church first... I mean, it was the day BEFORE my due date.  I'd had 1 false alarm a few days before my due date with munchkin and had been sent home; so I wasn't convinced this was the real deal.  Besides, I wasn't having real contractions... I remembered those were the most horrible, painful, tear-inducing things ever when I was induced with munchkin. This was just some crampy feeling...

Well, Brad was waiting outside for me to pick him up when I got to the church.  Some dear friends of ours had also just arrived and we told them what was happening, so they insisted on taking Munchkin and her carseat "just in case."

We arrived at the hospital about 10am, the nurses were busy giving twin boys circumcisions and the dr was on the phone.  We just waited ... and waited... and waited.  The dr finally noticed us and took us to a room and left.  The nurse came in and asked who I was, I told her, and she didn't believe I was the one who'd called saying I was having contractions every 2 minutes.  But she agreed to check me anyway after I told her that on Thursday the dr had determined that I was "at 3cm but easily stretched to 4 or 5cm."  She asked if i had a guess where I was, I said maybe 4cm, if I'm lucky.

I was already 6cm!  I was shocked!!!  Needless to say, so were the nurses and dr.  The dr told me the next time he came in that he didn't believe I was in labor when i showed up. They also assured me that I was getting admitted; this wasn't a "false alarm". I just wanted to keep walking around and felt fine, but they insisted on keeping me in bed for at least an hour to do some monitoring. Baby Ruthe was having some slight deceleration in her heart rate after contractions, so I couldn't have intermittent monitoring, and I had to have an IV.  Bleh. After an hour of fluids and monitoring I was dilated to 7cm, and Ruthe's heart rate was stabilizing, so they let me get up and move around on the condition that I stay hooked up to the IV and external monitors (giving me about 3 sq. feet to roam in).

yummy orange Popsicle! dilated to about 6 or 7 cm

Brad and I played a game of canasta while I sat on a "birth ball", pausing during contractions so he could apply counter pressure to my lower back and I could focus on relaxing and breathing. By 1pm, I was at 8cm and my contractions were starting to feel more intense.  I asked the nurse if it was too late for the epidural... I knew 8-10cm was supposed to be the "hardest part of labor" and I was having vivid memories of the pain I felt when induced with Munchkin.  Even though the intense pressure and cramping I was feeling now was nothing compared to then, I was starting to get really scared that it would become like that after it was "too late."  Brad and the nurses were amazingly supportive and kept telling me how great I was doing and that they didn't think I needed one. Brad encouraged me to keep going, reminding me that I can do this contraction and that was all that mattered for the next 30 seconds.  He would also remind me that each wave of pressure was like a message from our sweet baby Ruthe that said, "I'm so excited to meet my mommy and daddy!" I crawled in bed at this point and, laying on my side, had to devote all my energy to staying relaxed and calm.  Brad never left my side.  He was a wonderful and supportive coach-- feeding me ice chips and popcicles, holding my hand, wiping my forehead, keeping me calm, applying counter pressure to my lower back.  Seriously, I have the best husband ever!

I stalled out at 8cm for a couple hours, which was really disappointing.  The nurse told us that the dr wanted to break my water, and asked if I was ok with that.  I said yes, but wanted to walk around some more and use the bathroom.  That's all it took to fully dilate, "except for a tiny bit on the right side" before the dr got there. I was feeling lots of pressure and wanted to start pushing.  He broke my water and told me to push when I was ready.  After 1 contraction, all I heard was "push! push! she's here!" So I pushed again and heard my baby's first squeals!

Ruthe Maedean Neeley
5/27/12
8 lbs. 3 oz, 19 inches

My first thoughts-- "wow! she's pretty chunky! how did I just do that?!"
The dr commented on how I was probably the "strongest pusher he's ever met"... Brad later explained to me that the dr wasn't telling me to "push," but rather "wait! don't push! stop pushing!" as he was trying to re-position Ruthe so I wouldn't tear... but I pushed so hard that I tore anyway and he couldn't stop me.  Oops! I'll need to work on that next time.

Happy mommy and "papoose"

It was an incredible birth experience.  I had to allow some things that I would have rather done without-- like the IV instead of just a heplock, and constant monitoring instead of intermittent, and more freedom to move around.  But overall, I feel like it was amazing! I felt amazing for hours after she was born; like I could go home right then.

I have to say I'm a huge fan of natural childbirth now.  Having been induced and gotten an epidural, and now having had a "natural birth", I can say I think natural childbirth is amazing.  I'd like to send out a quick "thank you" to a couple friends that inspired/convinced me to give it a shot-- Adele and Emily.  I read their blogs and birth stories (Emily actually made 3 posts but i only linked to the 1st one), and both recommended some books. (Thanks for sharing your stories, Adele and Emily!) I chose to read one of them, called Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method.  I highly recommend it for anyone interested in trying natural childbirth.  When I read it, I thought he sounded a bit hokie.  But I tried it.  And he was right. (There's classes, too, but I just read the book.) Much of the pain associated in childbirth can be alleviated if we can train our minds and bodies not to work against itself during labor.  It is tough-- it's called "labor" because it's hard-- but it doesn't need to be harder than nature intended to get the baby out.  It was tough, and it was painful, but it was also incredibly rewarding to essentially surrender my whole body to the natural process of birth. The difference between this birth and munchkin's is like night and day! I would do it all over again... but I'll wait a couple years.  ;-)

Super-Dad! and Best Husband Ever!