Tired

Situations That Allow A Person to Utter the Phrase, "I'm tired" in the Presence of a New Mother:

1. You have been mistakenly arrested as an Al Qaeda operative. They use sleep deprivation torture to try and get information from you.

2. You are a soldier in unfriendly territory. You have to go on watch every three hours to make sure enemy soldiers aren't infiltrating your camp. This lasts for three to six months.

3. You get lost in the desert on a hiking trip. Wolves are chasing you. If you fall asleep longer than two hours they will attack. You are lost for one month.

4. You are a hunting guide for rare animals. You take a man out hunting, he accidentally shoots another guy and then starts hunting you so you won't tell on him. He takes all your clothes, food and weapons. It takes one week to find your way to the city while hiding from him. When you get to the city, no one believes you, so they throw you in jail. (Read this book, it's facinating.)

5. You are a depression-era twelve-year-old who is forced to work 12 hour shifts in a factory so your eight orphaned brothers and sisters can eat.

6. You have a newborn infant.

That about covers it.
Situations that do NOT apply:

1. You do a triathlon.

2. You do an Ironman.

3. You stay up late.

4. You stay up all night at a slumber party, and then sleep until noon.

5. You wake up early.

2:30 a.m.

At 2:30 a.m., while I'm feeding Ellie, I come up with brilliant, hilarious posts that will generate tons of comments. But at 10:00 p.m. I sit down and think, "Duhhhhhhhhhhh" and then I go to bed. So I'm sorry but all you get is this:

The girls adore Ellie. So far, since Mike has been home they haven't felt neglected. We'll start figuring out how things work tomorrow when Mike goes back. (Duhn, duhn, duhn) 

I forgot how much I love my children as babies. Tiny little lumps. So soft and sleepy.

Kenzie, sporting a princess crown she made with her dad and Ellie sporting a knit hat (thank you strange June weather).

Hannah, showing Ellie some adoration. Every time Ellie does anything, both girls are running to her side saying, "Ohhhh Ellie!"

Okay, Okay I Take it Back

Usually this blog is nothing more than a narcisstic rant about my life, but today my friends we turn to the world of (use a deep voice and imagine lights flashing for this next part) Free Product Endorsement! No, I'm not going commercial or adding ads, but someone sent me something for free, so here's a review.

A few posts ago I disparaged a program, Scrapblog.com, that I have been using for about a year and a half because of their high download costs. I first fell in love with Scrapblog when I figured out that posting a lot of pictures in Blogger is a HUGE pain. And they never format correctly. And sometimes they disappear. And unless you know the secret nerd code of HTML and Photoshop they never look good. So Scrapblog solved those problems. Pictures went where I wanted. I could farm ideas from other people's premade layouts (because I am seriously deficient in the ability to create CUTENESS (unless you count my adorable children) that all other women seem to posses). I didn't have to go to a scrapbooking store and try to match papers and buy stickers and letters and flowers and matching ruffles and draperies and metal buckles and eyelets and coordinate them with themes and holidays and anyway, you get the idea. Scrapblog was easy and I could do it cheaply and post it in my blog.

Then one day I decided to see how much it would cost to download my Scrapblog pages so I could print them at Costco or somewhere else that prints things cheaply. Because despite my love of all things electronic, nothing compares to holding physical copies in your hand and leafing through pages. This was when my former loving and happy relationship with Scrapblog took an ugly turn. I even declared my disdain in a blog post, declaring that it was my last time using Scrapblog. Downloading print quality pages was $4 per page. Ouch. I thought I was done with Scrapblog. 

But then, enter amazing customer service. They found my blog post and said they were sorry I felt that way, would I like to try a free premium book printing?  Ummm, yes! Their printing prices are much more reasonable than their download prices. At $9.99 for a 20 page 4x6" book, $14.99 for a 20 page 9"x6" book, or $34.99 for a hardcover 20 page 12"x8" book, they're comparable to other printing services. They offered me a 12"x8" book for free with free shipping! Wowsers! Maybe I should start complaining about other products that I would like for free (Dear Pampers/Ghiradelli Chocolates/Ben and Jerrys, I hate you).   

The resulting book is amazing. And I'm not just saying that because it was free. The printing is high quality, the paper is thick and the binding is surviving my girls who love to look at it.

I love the way it turned out and I take it back--I will be using Scrapblog.com again. Their product is good, and affordable (when printing through them, not downloading), and the customer service is top notch. I have some other book projects planned, a "Who Loves Baby" book and I want to write a book for Hannah. I'll let you know how those turn out. 

Who does Ellie look like?

Kenzie at St. Marks

Hannah at OR

Ellie at OR

Kenzie in the NICU (she had some breathing troubles)

Hannah clean and bowed

Ellie cleaned and bowed

Me

Mike

E.T. (who Mike says all other babies look like)

In other news. . .

Welcome Baby Elizabeth "Ellie" Anne! When I first took the pregnancy test back in September and got out my little "due date" wheel, I said to Mike, "You've got to be kidding. Guess what day she's due? June 4th. Our anniversary." My midwife predicted May 28th at first and then pushed me back to June 11th. I knew she would come June 4th, only because I am not good at sharing. But what can I say? It was the best anniversary present ever.

Warning: Long Birth Story. Scroll down for more pictures.

On Friday at about 2:00 p.m. I was working on making a card for Mike when I started to feel some serious discomfort. And this serious discomfort came at regular intervals. After about an hour of this, and as I was beginning to talk to myself during contractions ("Ohh. Ohh. It's fine. Everything is fine. Just fine.") I decided to call Mike--he didn't answer because he was already on his way home (early Friday!) so I called Shirley to take the girls. I called her between contractions and I felt kind of silly, "I think I'm in labor, but I'm not sure. Would you come and take the girls?" 

Mike pulled up right as I started to freak out about what time he said he would be home. 

I greeted him in the middle of a contraction, "HI! I THINK WE SHOULD GO TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW."

Shirley pulled up soon after and Mike and I threw a few things in the van and headed to the hospital.

On the way there I called my mom to cancel her babysitting the girls that night. Mike and I had planned to go to dinner. She laughed because I had told her that it would be funny if Ellie came on June 4. She was up in Logan with Alisha and her new baby and told us to keep her informed.

I tried to relax as we drove, but I felt a little panicked by the strength of the contractions. I really had no desire to give birth in a vehicle. None. Especially our new van. Mike sped a little (which he never does) and we made it to the hospital at 4:00 p.m.

They never believe I'm really in labor when I check in. Last time they sent me to sit in a chair and my water broke in the waiting room. 33 minutes later Hannah was born. This time they made Mike wait while they took me into a regular room to check my dilation. I had a hard time getting dressed in the gown, since my contractions were getting pretty hefty.  The nurse came in, checked me and asked how long my other labors were. "From the first contraction? Or from the time I got to the hospital? I guess about 6 hours and 4 hours."

"Well," Laurel, the nurse, said, "This one will probably be shorter. You're at an 8/9." 

Marvelous. They walked me back to the birthing rooms and Mike was waiting for me.  I had called my midwife, Mari, on the way there, so she was on alert, but she waited until the nurse called to tell her how far along I was. So she was still 20 minutes out. They called another doctor just in case.

I don't do epidurals (umm a needle in my back that makes it so I can't move my legs? No thank you. I'll take contractions). My water still hadn't broke and I wondered how long that would take. Laurel really wanted to draw my blood and put in a hep-cap. I really didn't want one. She was just getting ready to do it when I had a really powerful contraction, so she just dropped it.

Mike and Laurel helped me get through the contractions by putting pressure on my hips and helping me remember to breathe. Some guy dressed in scrubs ran into the room (the just in case doctor), "Hi." Just then Mari walked in. Phew. I wasn't really excited about some guy I never met delivering my baby.

Mari geared up and they made me lie in bed in the stirrups. Not a fan. With Hannah I delivered on my hands and knees in the bed. I like that much better. Mari asked if it was okay to break my water and I considered it, but Mike said no, I'd rather not. I'm glad he did. We've talked about how if we're going to go natural, we'll do it all the way, no water breaking either, but I was wavering in the face of the contractions. I asked how much longer it would take and could I please stand up?

Mari said it would only take a few more minutes for my water to break. I stood up, gave a little push and my water broke. (sorry about your shoes Mike.)

I laid back down, pushed twice (it is so wonderful when the head finally comes out) and I had Ellie at 4:54 p.m. Here's some more pics for you Grandma!

Here she is!

She's 20 inches long and 7 pds 13 oz.

We're so happy she's here!

The whole family! ("What's in your tummy still, mommy? What is it?")

Hannah was so excited to hold baby Ellie. She's been taking care of her dolls all day. She named them Baby Elizabeth too.

Kenzie has been so sweet with Ellie. She just wants to help. I know it will be a huge adjustment for both girls, but for now we're doing alright.