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Easter 2011

The Easter festivities started with the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. It is a great tradition and always so fun to see so many friends and neighbors. The weather was beautiful too!

My three.

Easter morning was a lovely family morning with waffles, strawberries, and whipped cream. For lunch we went to our favorite family friend's house. We had the most delicious lunch, the kids were entertained, and we had great adult conversation.

Also, the kids found their weight in candy hidden inside plastic eggs.

Then...

...Rhett finally lost that tooth! It was an Easter highlight!

We stopped by a Peet's for a little coffee treat. Mezmur acted as Dan and Rhett's hairdresser. This is her new favorite "game." She says, "Like Mommy does!" I love that.

Rhett sort of likes the hairdresser game too. And is he so cute with that missing tooth...or what?

Next we went to my Mom's for Easter dinner. The kids enjoyed a gift from my mom...colored bubbles in a "spill proof" container. Hmmm...who thought of this idea? Mezmur was blue from head to toe. Her tongue was blue. Yes, it was surprisingly washable and came out of her dress and shoes.

I never would have guessed last Easter that we would be celebrating this Easter with a new daughter. We are so blessed.

Love And Tantrums

The love and sweetness when they are in the presence of Mavis is overwhelming.

The holy terror and tantrums when they are away from Mavis is exhausting. Apparently they love their baby sister and live to give their parents hell. I can't blame it all on Mavis. They were this way before Mavis was born...way before she was born. It is just more challenging to discipline and curb the attitudes when I'm on the couch healing and nursing. They better watch out...I am almost back to normal and I'm learning how to nurse while I walk around the house and I've even been seen jumping up from the couch to give a time-out with babe attached. They better watch out...Mama is back.

A Bath, Quilt, And Booties

Life with three is pretty great.

Mavis on her quilt.

Oh, Mezmur. So sweet, yet challenging since your baby sister came home. Is it terrible twos or just the big sister blues? One thing is for sure...I have two of the most beautiful girls living in my home.

Here are the booties I made for Mavis. I love this pattern! I wish I made a few more pairs! They are the best and they really do stay on.

Um, I know I'm not supposed to put this out into the universe...in fear that I will be jinxed, but Mavis is an easy baby. Yes, she wants to be held a lot, but we are ok with that. She eats like a champ. She has gained 1lb in a week! She doesn't cry too much. She puts up with her brother and sisters tantrums and fits. Best thing? She sleeps awesome at night. Yes, she wakes up to nurse a couple times a night, but she sleeps better than both Rhett and Mezmur did. Mezmur and Rhett were not sleeping this good until they were almost two!

Please be kind, universe.

The Birth Of Mavis

Here is the last photo of Mavis on the inside. It is crazy that she is over a week old. Two weeks ago I didn't know who my baby was. Now, we are getting to know her and we are at such peace with our new baby on the outside.

Giving birth is a very personal thing. I debated writing at all about it here, but for the sake of journaling and the hope to empower other pregnant women I decided to write about the birth. A little back story...my only other birth ended with a Cesarean and being put under general. I was asleep when my baby cried for the first time, I was asleep when a room full of strangers (Dan couldn't be in the room) found out what the sex of my baby was, I was asleep the first time I held my baby, and I was asleep the first time I nursed him. I knew I wanted a different experience this time. Not only did I want to deliver vaginally, but I wanted to do it drug-free. I had a lot of anxiety about the birth. Could I do it drug-free? Is the baby in the right position and not too big this time? I did a lot of reading and research and got empowered more and more with each story. I feel like I had an awesome advantage regarding giving birth. I experienced a lot about birth with Rhett's, where I labored for hours, got pitocin, epidural, and pushed for 3 1/2 hours before the Cesarean. Then, I had Mavis'. All I relied on was my body, which was made for giving birth. It was made for it. The differences between an epidural birth and drug-free birth are huge. HUGE. Yes, one of the differences as lovingly described by Dan is, "You acted like you were possessed by a different person." I even thought that a few times during the delivery...who is that person screaming and cussing? It was like I had no control over how I reacted to the pain. I think it is funny I told my (extremely awesome) doula that I thought I would "go into myself" when I was in pain...completely the opposite happened...and man was my throat soar the next day. The other very noticeable difference was the urge to push. "Urge" is the wrong word to use. It isn't an urge, it is an uncontrollable reaction your body has with every contraction. With an epidural I was able to "sit out" from pushing with some contractions to let my body rest. Without an epidural...there is no stopping the pushing. This absolutely fascinates me. This was proof that a woman's body was made to give birth. Proof. I also know I couldn't push that hard with the epidural. The pushing is so strong without drugs. I strongly believe that if I did it drug free with Rhett I could have pushed him out. I mean, he was crowning...we were so close, but because of the pitocin Rhett's heart was erratic, which is what lead to the Cesarean. I wanted a vbac (vaginal birth after Cesarean). There are many doctors (I hear) that will not support a vbac. I got lucky with my doctor. She was supportive from day one and never forced me to set up a Cesarean date. I heard from many nurses, midwifes, and doctors that the risk is uterine rupture. What do you picture with that description? An explosion. Well, one really great midwife said to me, "It's less of a rupture and more of a split of the scar from your Cesarean." I thought the choice of words is very interesting. When we went on our hospital tour we visited a delivery room. In this room they told us what would happen after you give birth...I started crying. I wanted that birth experience so bad. What I looked forward to the most was the moment I met my baby. I heard about the surge of oxytocin in a drug-free birth when the baby comes out. I wanted to feel that hormone rush. At that moment Dan announced, "We have a Mavis!" Her floppy body was given to me. Every time I think about that moment of holding Mavis for the first time I cry. It was the best feeling I've EVER had. I think I repeated, "My baby!" 100 times. It was such an incredible feeling. I know I got a warm all over feeling when I held Rhett and Mezmur for the first time...I'm sure I cried out, "My baby!" But, it was different with Mavis. The oxytocin did it's job. I was instantly in love with my baby Mavis.

The two main points from this post:

1. Our bodies were made to give birth. Don't let anything get in the way.

2. Vbacs are possible. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

ps. blogger was being weird about my paragraphs...hence the weird bold to separate the paragraphs.

Our First Moments With Mavis

Here are a few of our first moments with our baby Mavis.

Oh, did you know I had a successful drug-free vbac?! Well, there will be more on that later. Let me just say...my life has been changed forever from the experience.

Introducing...Our Daughter

Introducing...

Mavis Miriam

Mavis was born March 31st weighing in at 8lb. 7oz. She is healthy and beautiful and we are so blessed to have her in our family.