1st Week Thoughts

Yes, I'm updating my blog when I should be napping. Both children and hubby are sleeping, but I had a small burst of energy and wanted to keep family and friends updated. I know these updates will get more sparse in weeks to come. I also want to jot down my thoughts in these first few weeks before I forget them. These days go in such a blur between feeding every few hours, or sooner, making intentional time with Jude, and just resting.

My Mom left today, which brought out my surge of post partum emotions. When she walked out the door with Justin and Jude, I just held Sadie and cried. She was so wonderful to have here during this time. God has so richly blessed us with supportive friends and family here, but to have my Mom here to help with Jude and just love on me was so needed this past week.

I had my Hillsong radio station playing on Pandora and the song "Your Grace Is Enough" was playing when they left. I sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to just worship and be thankful, so I did. Thankfully! I placed Sadie down in her crib, sat on my bed, cried, and worshiped. I truly needed this experience. My heart is so overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy. I asked God to help me remember this, just like the Isrealites were told to pick up stones while crossing the river to remember. When my heart feels dry and empty. When the days are long with 2 little ones; remember this feeling of immense thankfulness to have 2 healthy babies, a supportive family, a great group of friends, and a loving husband. To remember what His goodness feels like.

My heart is so full!

Unfortunately, Justin's field season is quickly approaching, meaning this is his busiest season of the year. He took Monday off (Sadie being born on last Sunday), but had to go back to work on Tuesday. Again, so thankful to have my Mom here during this adjustment period. Though he had long days, it's so good to have him home in the evenings. Since trying to only nurse these first few weeks until Sadie has a good latch, he and I have had some good late night talks at her late night feeding.

 As this sweet girl already turns 1 week old, I am reminded of the importance of just being with her. When Jude was born, we had some huge decisions to make concerning Justin's next step in his career. I also was very rigid on what I thought I HAD to do with my baby, trying to follow certain things and self-induced expectations that I did not allow myself to "just be".

Thankfully, this time around, I'm trying to just enjoy her sweet tininess. These moments go far too quickly. I love her snuggles, the funny noises she makes, the gassy smiles while she sleeps, and her teensy baby love. I am so amazed by God's rich blessings when I look at her and Jude.

 Jude is doing well. Though the first night was tough, overall, I think he's adjusting wonderfully. He doesn't like to hear her cry, but it's out of concern, not agitation. She also reminds Justin and I to be careful with her. He told a friend this week, "This is my baby sister. She is so tiny. You have to be caweful." It feels like yesterday he was so tiny and now he's taking on the role of protecting her.

And again, my sweet Mom. She has had such an emotional roller coaster of a year. From my brother's health needs and welcoming 2 new grandchildren, she has been on her toes in 2013. I am so thankful she was able to be here during this experience. I know the coming months will bring other family and friends to our side, which we will also be forever thankful for. Our cup truly does runneth over.

Thank you Lord, for you abundance of blessings. My you remind my heart of your goodness and grace always.

Happy Birthday!

Sadie Caroline Dellinger

Born: Sunday, November 17, 2013, 9:47 am

7 lb. 11 oz

20 inches long

Our hearts are overwhelmed with joy and excitement as we welcome our sweet baby girl to our family. As she cuddles with her Daddy and Jude is at home with Mo Mo, I wanted to go ahead and document her arrival while the details are in tact in my mind.

Because Jude came quickly (less than 3 hours from 1st contraction to birth), my midwife, Justin and I had reservations about Sadie coming even quicker. With the hospital 20 minutes away and I-90 traffic, we had peace in the final weeks about doing a natural induction to have a more controlled birth. At my last appointment (11/13) I was 39 weeks and 3 cm dilated and 60% effaced. My body was already showing it was ready and we solidified the plan to induce.

On Saturday, 11/16, Mo Mo, Justin, Jude and I enjoyed sleeping in, watching cartoons and a beautiful morning at the park before getting to the hospital a little after 11:00 am to check in. We all went together and Jude was able to see me get my IV, snuggle with me, and gave my Mom a chance to see how to navigate the area since she's never been to Issaquah before. Jude leaving was much harder than we anticipated, in that he did not want to go without me. He screamed, "Come home Mommy!" as Justin walked him and my Mom to the car. Talk about breaking my heart.

At 12:30 pm, my midwife stripped my membranes. I was still at 3 cm, but my cervix had gone to 90% effaced, so it was already thinning on it's own. At this point, I was having the same trend as I did with Jude so we were feeling confident we were moving in the right direction. We enjoyed watching the AU vs. UGA game and my contractions stayed exactly at 10 minutes apart from 2 pm-6:15 pm. At 6:15 pm, my midwife checked me and I had gone to 4 cm and was now completely thinned out, again, going in the right direction. She broke my water and pretty quickly, my body began to contract quicker, staying from 5 to 2 minutes apart through the night (starting at 7 pm and going until 6:30 am). I was able to get some rest from about 3-6 am in spurts. Mom and Justin also tried to rest and we made it through the night, in labor, but nothing too hard. 

Around 6, since we had reached the 12 hour mark, my midwife and I discussed having a "whiff" of Pitacon to see if we could get my contractions stronger. At this time, they were occurring every 2-3 minutes, but were at about a 7 in pain, rather than super intense, which would get Sadie through the birth canal. I had peace about doing this and Justin supported my decision. At 6:45 am, 15 minutes after starting the Pitocin, I had my first really intense contraction. I was able to use the birthing ball, walk around and move much easier than I did with Jude. (At this point with Jude, my body responded to the pain with intense shaking, so I was confined to my bed.)

Around 9 am, my midwife suggested getting in the jacuzzi since I was having really intense back labor at this point. I got in and continued to contract as I had for the last few hours. The hot water definitely helped relieve some pressure from my back and my tummy. Around 9:35-9:40, my nurse and I began talking about progress, as I had stayed at this timing and intensity for a few hours at this time. During our conversation, I had a very strong contraction occur and I felt a pop. (I would later learn after Sadie was born it was her poor face ramming into my pelvic bone.) When I felt the pop, I had intense pressure begin and the contraction continued, bringing no relief. Justin, Mom, and my midwife helped me get out and dry off, the whole time, my body staying in the contraction. I said I need to lie down and once I was in the bed, I knew I needed to push. As soon as I rolled over, my Mom and midwife said, "there's her head" and I began pushing. Roughly 3 minutes later, our sweet girl was here.

Though the process was longer, when this little gal decided she was ready, she was ready. We are thrilled to have her and big brother Jude had a great response to her. He loves the new horses Sadie brought him. He wanted to share with her immediately (hope this keeps up) and his first questions were "Can I see her tiny toes?" and "Is Mommy's tummy different?" He didn't want to leave without her. 

We hope to get home tomorrow and begin to adjust as a family of 4. 

Every good and perfect gift comes from above. 

Thank you Lord for your many blessings over our family.

*My computer isn't compatible to my camera, so I hope to upload more pictures on Justin's computer in the next few days.*

Trick or Treat

 Th

 Jude was pretty pumped about going trick or treating. What he was NOT pumped about was his horse costume. Back in September after we went to the state fair, Jude began asking/begging/pleading to be a horse for Halloween. He wanted to be a clydes dale horse like "Sarge" at the fair. He wanted us to be a family of horses and said Eli should be a Shetland pony since he was itty bitty. Daily, all we heard about was being a horse.

So, like any good Mom and Dad, we searched online to find the cutest horse costume around. After lots of searching and $30 later, we found one. The day it came in the mail, I was pretty stoked to see Jude's reaction. Well, it was a reaction of pure despise. As soon as I pulled it out, he said, "NO! That is Jake, not Sarge!" What this meant was, the costume we found looked like Jake, brown with a black mane. Sarge, on the other hand was grey with white spots. Oh dear.

I insisted that we would not get another costume. If he wanted to go get candy, he would have to wear it. The inner battle of a 2.5 year old desperately wanting candy he does not get often vs. demanding his way was one.

As you can see from this picture, Jude was rescued when Auntie JJ sent him a Halloween treat package that happened to include this Frankenstein mask from the Target $1 spot. She thought it was cute, threw it in, and ended up being the way her nephew got to experience Halloween.

On Halloween afternoon, Jude was still pitching a fit to get into the dern horse get up.We showed him his options: Horse, a borrowed lion, football player (b/c we have a few jerseys), or Frankenstein. He was not getting another horse. We wanted him to use something we had provided for him. He chose the mask, we had a cute striped shirt to go with it, and we became a Frankenstein family.

Liquid eye liner and lip liner allowed Justin and I to have some fun with it too. I love Halloween (the fun part, not the weird, spooky, creepy part) so I was excited to have a little fun with it.

Justin was not as excited to put on a little face wear, but he appeased me.

And of course, sweet Sadie girl at 37 weeks had to make her debut on the blog. She is one active little lady. At my appointment last week, I'm right where I should be, measurement and progressing, so we should see her within the next 2 weeks!

We had a great time on Halloween. We went trick or treating with a friend of Jude's and his Mom, also a friend of mine. We just stuck to our neighborhood and Jude got some good treats. I love not having to buy incentives. He gets 1 treat per day based on good behavior and chores. He has no idea that many kids just get to get theirs, and that's fine by me.

This time next year, we'll have two little ones running around in costumes. The Lord has truly blessed us.