A Little Bedtime Reading
I Love Him!
It is Never to Early to Start Playing With Legos
Cuddle Time With Baby Howie
Monday, July 15, 2013
Joel's Photo Shoot
Joel is now 3 weeks old. We have been busy taking care of kiddos and settling into our new home. I decided to take a break today (from unpacking, not the kiddos) and take pictures of Joel during Rachel's nap. He was an excellent subject. I love how you can pose newborns and they sleep right through it.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
The Arrival of Joel Brian
He's here, he's finally here! After 3 1/2 weeks of contractions my doctor and I decided on inducing me 2 days before my due date. My doctor has been super supportive and encouraging these last couple of weeks. I was worried that he would make me wait till I was overdue but he didn't. He said Joel was full term and I had progressed far enough so that he had no reason to believe that the induction would not be successful. I think he could see how physically and emotionally tired I was (I had only had 1 good hour of sleep the night before thanks to contractions). I may have agreed to the induction without a second thought, but that evening I did second guess my decision to have an elective induction. I questioned whether I was being selfish and if everything would go okay. Joel was perfectly content to stay in there and would come eventually. In the end I decided that the fact I was so tired was a legitimate reason because I could see that my fuse was getting shorter and shorter with my family and people around me. I was feeling anxious, depressed, and unable to cope with life.
We went in at 6:15am the morning after my appointment. Thankfully contractions stopped again the night before so I was well rested. A little after 7am I was all hooked up and pitocin was started. My contractions had started up again that morning, so I already had a good albeit weak contraction pattern and I was 4 centimeters dialated. I only needed a little bit of pitocin before labor took off and an hour and half into it I was ready for my epidural. I did not have to wait long for it and lets just say I got a really good epidural. My legs were numb before the anesthesiologists left the room, but I was still able to feel the pressure of every contraction. My legs did not wake up enough to walk until after 9pm that night.
Around 2pm I was 10 centimeters and Joel was right there ready to make his grand entrance. I pushed for about 10 minutes. Silly Joel decided to try to come out sunny side up (face up) with the cord around his neck and needed a little vacuum assistance since his oxygen levels dropped into the 90s. His poor head had a large bump for the rest of the day and he would cry if we touched it. He was 8lbs 10oz and 20 inches long at birth. We were shocked by his size especially since Rachel was only 6lbs 6oz and 18 1/2 inches long.
Rachel is in love with Joel and has been a excellent helper so far. She is so gentle with him and loves to hold him. We are feeling very blessed and tired.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
39 weeks
How far Along: 39 weeks (39 weeks might actually hit tomorrow, but I figure it is close enough)
How big is baby: between 18.9 and 20.9 inches, the size of a watermelon. My doctor played guess the baby size and guessed around 7 1/2 pounds. Which was the size the doctor guessed Rachel was going to be when I went to deliver her, but that was about a pound too much. We will see how close his guess is hopefully soon. My doctor made my day when he was playing guess the baby size by telling me in a shocked voice that I really was all baby and tiny. That is so nice to hear when you are feeling like a hippo.
Maternity Clothes: Yes
Sleep: Some nights I sleep fine and some nights I don't.
Best Moment thus far: Our offer was accepted on a new house!
Miss Anything: Not really
Food Cravings: None
Anything make you queasy or sick: No. I was feeling sick from all the contractions I was having, but I have adjusted and am no longer feeling icky.
Symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions and some a fair amount of real contractions; however, the real contractions have yet to continue on to active labor. I know all these contractions are helping me progress in the right directions because I am 3-4cm and 50% effaced. Joel dropped really low almost a week ago now. It seems like his next option is out, but he is hanging in there. He has been a mellow baby in terms of activity thus far, so I suppose he is just happy to hang out a little longer. I did pray for a slightly larger baby than we had with Rachel, so this will give him time to accomplish that.
Mood: Overall it is good. At this point there are discouraging moments like when the doctor said probably within 24 hours after doing a procedure to jump start labor. Here we are over 24 hours later and no baby, but I am having stronger contractions, so maybe I can still look at it as a jump start to labor. I just keep reminding myself God is in control and sees the whole picture. All I can see is one little piece of the puzzle. His timing is perfect, so why would I want to push my own timing and agenda.
Looking forward to: Selling our current house and settling into our new house. Oh, and being done with all the contractions.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Learning through Labor
I am now officially 38 weeks and have been experiencing what could be termed prodromal labor for the past week. In a nutshell it is being stuck in early labor for a really long time. I have times of regular strong contractions that match the description of real labor contractions not braxton hicks contractions. For me these contractions have come at regular intervals and don't subside with rest or staying hydrates like typical braxton hicks contractions. The longest run has been around 36 hours with contractions coming every 10 to 20 minutes. The difficult part of prodromal labor is it does not progress like your text book labor where the contractions get closer and stronger until the baby comes. With prodromal labor contractions can just stop. Laboring like this is both physically exhausting and emotionally exhausting. I have had had only intermittent nights of decent sleep because of the discomfort of contractions and as for as the emotional aspect goes I feel like a yo-yo. Am I an labor am I not? This could go on how long? The OB refuses to intervene until 42 weeks unless baby is unhappy or my water breaks or something along those lines (in reality probably a good thing). Maybe this time I will get a baby out of this discomfort? You get the idea of all the thoughts that run through my head.
The potential positive of laboring in this lovely fashion is for some women it means active labor can be a lot shorter and easier. That part sounds good to me. Last time my active labor was about 16 1/2 hours. I also can look at this as another opportunity to rely on God and turn to him. Sadly like many people it is not something I do often enough unless life is uncomfortable, and let me just say right now life is pretty uncomfortable. So instead of whining and crying I am going to make the conscious effort to stop and pray. Not an easy thing to do, but God is bigger than my pain. He will only give me what he can handle and he has handled way more than what feels in the moment like never ending pointless contractions. So my goal is to paste a smile on (because sometimes when you force a smile you end up feeling a little better), to remember pregnancy is not a life sentence (Thank you God), to thank God that my baby is healthy, to remember there is a purpose to all these contractions and there is progress being made towards delivery (every day is one step closer), and to cry out to God in those oh so frequent moments of defeat and frustration. I will muscle through contractions to keep my household running and make it a peaceful restful place for my family while balancing those efforts with adequate rest. I will do this because I love my family and as a Proverbs 31 wife I will serve them to the best of my ability with a happy heart. I will also remember that my current capacity for work is diminished, but that is okay because completing x number of things does not make me the perfect wife or mother.
If you notice lots of typos or sentences that just don't quite make sense keep in mind I have not really slept in several nights, so communicating my thoughts clearly has been challenging.
The potential positive of laboring in this lovely fashion is for some women it means active labor can be a lot shorter and easier. That part sounds good to me. Last time my active labor was about 16 1/2 hours. I also can look at this as another opportunity to rely on God and turn to him. Sadly like many people it is not something I do often enough unless life is uncomfortable, and let me just say right now life is pretty uncomfortable. So instead of whining and crying I am going to make the conscious effort to stop and pray. Not an easy thing to do, but God is bigger than my pain. He will only give me what he can handle and he has handled way more than what feels in the moment like never ending pointless contractions. So my goal is to paste a smile on (because sometimes when you force a smile you end up feeling a little better), to remember pregnancy is not a life sentence (Thank you God), to thank God that my baby is healthy, to remember there is a purpose to all these contractions and there is progress being made towards delivery (every day is one step closer), and to cry out to God in those oh so frequent moments of defeat and frustration. I will muscle through contractions to keep my household running and make it a peaceful restful place for my family while balancing those efforts with adequate rest. I will do this because I love my family and as a Proverbs 31 wife I will serve them to the best of my ability with a happy heart. I will also remember that my current capacity for work is diminished, but that is okay because completing x number of things does not make me the perfect wife or mother.
If you notice lots of typos or sentences that just don't quite make sense keep in mind I have not really slept in several nights, so communicating my thoughts clearly has been challenging.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
36 Weeks
How far Along: 36 weeks
How big is baby: between 17.2 and 18.7 inches, the size of a honeydew
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and sadly some of the shirts are getting a little short. I really didn't realize how tiny my belly stayed during my pregnancy with Rachel.
Sleep: Great. I had about 6 weeks of really rough sleep. Pregnancy really exacerbates my asthma and for about a month and a half I was waking up gasping for air. I was also really struggling to complete daily tasks until my doctors finally got me on the right meds.
Best Moment thus far: It is hard to pick just one. Some if the highlights since my last update have been picking his name, being able to breathe again, seeing how excited Rachel is about her baby brother, and getting everything ready for his arrival. In case you didn't notice in the picture we decided on the name Joel Brian Bjork. Joel means "God be willing." Joel was a minor prophet who wrote the book of Joel to warn the people of Judah about God's impending judgement because of their sin and to urge them to turn back to God. Brian is obviously named after Brian, and in case you were wondering it means noble, strong, virtuous.
Miss Anything: Being able to reach my feet to buckle sandles or paint my toe nails. Brian did an excellent job a couple days ago painting my toes.
Food Cravings: None
Anything make you queasy or sick: No
Symptoms: Overall I am feeling good, but I am starting to feel done with being pregnant.
Mood: Good
Looking forward to: Meeting Joel
Friday, May 10, 2013
Georgia Vacation
After years of talking about someday going to see the Manta Ray at the Atlanta Aquarium we finally got the perfect reason to make the trip. Last month Brian's cousin got married near Atlanta, Georgia. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to spend so much time with his family. The wedding was at the Hazelhurst House in McDonough, Georgia. It was a beautiful setting and took place in the evening. The forecast had called for rain, but God held off even the clouds until just after the outdoor ceremony was complete. While we didn't get to spend much time at the wedding because Rachel got tired we still enjoyed sharing the beautiful event with family.
That morning prior to the wedding we enjoyed Zoo Atlanta. I accidentally grabbed the wrong directions before we left the hotel and took us the wrong way, but we figured it out and and successfully found our way to the zoo. My favorite part was the giant pandas and Rachel loved the orange elephants. Orange elephants? Yes, orange. Their dirt was orange colored and when they put the wet orange clay mud on their back they become orange. Two other highlights were brushing and petting the goats in the petting zoo and seeing a giant tortoises up and walking. I missed about 1/4 of the zoo because I needed to take some time to sit and rest. I am thankful this was the only day I had to take time out from fun to sit. The combination of pregnancy, hills, and warm somewhat humid weather sapped my energy.
The next day, Sunday, we headed to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It was raining, but we still enjoyed the indoor portions including the Dorthy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory and the Fuqua Orchid Center. The Conservatory has 5 display area including a main lobby, tropical rotunda, desert house, orangerie, and special exhibits. I think the tropical rotunda was our favorite display in the conservatory. It was nice and warm and had quail we could see walking around on the ground. Supposedly there are also finches and frogs in there, but we did not see any. Brian especially enjoyed the orchid center a took some fantastic pictures using his macro tubes. On our way out we stopped to check out a fountain with an amazing blue and white glass sculpture on top. It took us about an hour to see all that and after a late start that morning that was really all the time we had before Rachel's nap.
Finally, it was Monday and time for what I had been waiting for. The Atlanta Aquarium and the Manta Rays! Guess where our first and last stop was for the day was. If you said the Manta Rays you were correct. The 4 Manta Rays were in an exhibit called Ocean Voyager which also contained 4 Whale Sharks. Both were amazing to see and watching swimming around the giant tank. After forcing ourselves away from Ocean Voyager we headed to Cold Water quest. Rachel loved the the Japanese Spider crabs. They were really active and she was super excited to show Daddy when he walked over. The sea otter tank was fabulous. I love the sea otters at the Monterey Bay aquarium and the aquarium in general, but lets be honest the otter tank can get a little crazy. If it is feeding time forget about actually getting a good spot to see the otters and even if you should get one you are can expect to get pushed around as other people fight for a view of the adorable sea otters. The nice thing about the otter exhibit at the Atlanta Aquarium was it was uncrowded even though the otters were busy breaking open and eating sea urchins. We had an unobstructed view for the whole feeding time. There was also an octopus in the exhibit who was actually swimming. I don't recall ever seeing a swimming octopus before. I think Rachel's favorite exhibit was Frogs-A Chorus of Color. Rachel recently decided that she really likes frogs so it was nice to experience what appeared to be a temporary but really well done exhibit.
On Tuesday we took Rachel to Imagine It! the Children's Museum of Atlanta. It took us a little while to find it because from the direction we were driving we really couldn't see the sign on the building. We finally decided to park the car and walk to where it should be and found it. The morning was a little crazy with all the field trips, so it took Rachel a while to warm up and explore. That being said all the students on field trips were really polite and helpful making sure Rachel had things to play with or got a turn. She loved driving the life size tractor, playing with the moldable sand, dancing around in tap shoes and sparkly vest, working the simple machines to move ball pit type balls around, playing at the train table, and fishing in the giant water table. This was a really nice children's museum with a lot of exhibits and even had an area in the back corner with cafeteria tables where we could eat our lunch.
Wednesday we woke up bright and early and headed home. Five am came really quickly, but we all managed to get up and make it to the airport. Rachel really does not sleep in her car seat, so in spite of how tired we all were (even Rachel) we all stayed awake for the 4 hour flight, but as soon as we pulled our car out of the parking lot after landing Rachel fell asleep and slept for over 4 hours. Brian and I also enjoyed a nap when we got home. We had a great trip, but it was nice to come home and get back to normal life.
That morning prior to the wedding we enjoyed Zoo Atlanta. I accidentally grabbed the wrong directions before we left the hotel and took us the wrong way, but we figured it out and and successfully found our way to the zoo. My favorite part was the giant pandas and Rachel loved the orange elephants. Orange elephants? Yes, orange. Their dirt was orange colored and when they put the wet orange clay mud on their back they become orange. Two other highlights were brushing and petting the goats in the petting zoo and seeing a giant tortoises up and walking. I missed about 1/4 of the zoo because I needed to take some time to sit and rest. I am thankful this was the only day I had to take time out from fun to sit. The combination of pregnancy, hills, and warm somewhat humid weather sapped my energy.
The next day, Sunday, we headed to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It was raining, but we still enjoyed the indoor portions including the Dorthy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory and the Fuqua Orchid Center. The Conservatory has 5 display area including a main lobby, tropical rotunda, desert house, orangerie, and special exhibits. I think the tropical rotunda was our favorite display in the conservatory. It was nice and warm and had quail we could see walking around on the ground. Supposedly there are also finches and frogs in there, but we did not see any. Brian especially enjoyed the orchid center a took some fantastic pictures using his macro tubes. On our way out we stopped to check out a fountain with an amazing blue and white glass sculpture on top. It took us about an hour to see all that and after a late start that morning that was really all the time we had before Rachel's nap.
Finally, it was Monday and time for what I had been waiting for. The Atlanta Aquarium and the Manta Rays! Guess where our first and last stop was for the day was. If you said the Manta Rays you were correct. The 4 Manta Rays were in an exhibit called Ocean Voyager which also contained 4 Whale Sharks. Both were amazing to see and watching swimming around the giant tank. After forcing ourselves away from Ocean Voyager we headed to Cold Water quest. Rachel loved the the Japanese Spider crabs. They were really active and she was super excited to show Daddy when he walked over. The sea otter tank was fabulous. I love the sea otters at the Monterey Bay aquarium and the aquarium in general, but lets be honest the otter tank can get a little crazy. If it is feeding time forget about actually getting a good spot to see the otters and even if you should get one you are can expect to get pushed around as other people fight for a view of the adorable sea otters. The nice thing about the otter exhibit at the Atlanta Aquarium was it was uncrowded even though the otters were busy breaking open and eating sea urchins. We had an unobstructed view for the whole feeding time. There was also an octopus in the exhibit who was actually swimming. I don't recall ever seeing a swimming octopus before. I think Rachel's favorite exhibit was Frogs-A Chorus of Color. Rachel recently decided that she really likes frogs so it was nice to experience what appeared to be a temporary but really well done exhibit.
On Tuesday we took Rachel to Imagine It! the Children's Museum of Atlanta. It took us a little while to find it because from the direction we were driving we really couldn't see the sign on the building. We finally decided to park the car and walk to where it should be and found it. The morning was a little crazy with all the field trips, so it took Rachel a while to warm up and explore. That being said all the students on field trips were really polite and helpful making sure Rachel had things to play with or got a turn. She loved driving the life size tractor, playing with the moldable sand, dancing around in tap shoes and sparkly vest, working the simple machines to move ball pit type balls around, playing at the train table, and fishing in the giant water table. This was a really nice children's museum with a lot of exhibits and even had an area in the back corner with cafeteria tables where we could eat our lunch.
Wednesday we woke up bright and early and headed home. Five am came really quickly, but we all managed to get up and make it to the airport. Rachel really does not sleep in her car seat, so in spite of how tired we all were (even Rachel) we all stayed awake for the 4 hour flight, but as soon as we pulled our car out of the parking lot after landing Rachel fell asleep and slept for over 4 hours. Brian and I also enjoyed a nap when we got home. We had a great trip, but it was nice to come home and get back to normal life.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
I Like to Live Dangerously
Brian here,
I've been painting things this weekend at our house in an effort to make our house more presentable for when we put it up for sale. I'm NOT using tape or drop clothes. That's right ladies and gentleman, I'm living dangerously!
I've been painting things this weekend at our house in an effort to make our house more presentable for when we put it up for sale. I'm NOT using tape or drop clothes. That's right ladies and gentleman, I'm living dangerously!
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