We have a new niece!
Brynn Noell was born on the first day of Hanukkah.
This is number three for Mom and Dad, our very dear friends. Dad said to P-daddy “OK, the ball’s in your court now, and I hope you guys stop the game!” He also mentioned a trip to TN, for the 2-for-1 vasectomy deal. This is the kind of weirdness you can expect when you have that many children between you!
In which I delivered an unassisted footling breech on the back porch in a windstorm.
It was another precip labor, where I had only realized that “this is IT” minutes before. Frustrated that dh wasn’t listening to me about it (proof of a dream state– dh is all over any labor alarm and would never behave that way), and doubting myself too much to call the midwife, I went outside to take a breather. As the wind whipped up, I moved from the yard up to the first step on the porch, cold in a sleeveless shift. I had a nasty contraction, one of those that comes from your thighs, through your back and straight into electrifying your cervix. That’s when I felt the baby in the birth canal; out popped one foot, then another.
In the dream, I remember my rapidly cycling emotions, moving from panic to resolve to fear to determination. I remembered reading (during planning my UC-that-didn’t-happen with ~N~) about how to deliver in a footling breech situation on Laura Shanley’s site, and I tried to adopt the proper posture. I couldn’t decide whether to continue climbing the stairs to get some help from my husband, and noticed the neighbor’s gigantic bull mastiff crossing from their yard into ours. Smelling the birth situation, he was coming to investigate, and I didn’t want him anywhere near me or the helpless, dangling child.
I remember thinking even if she didn’t suffocate, she had to be FREEZING, hanging there in the cold wind. By the time the dog got to me, she was free. I reached over to smack him away, and that effort jerked me enough to push her out the rest of the way.
I scooped her up, tucked her into my bodice and rushed through the house (which was not my real house on the interior, but my Grandmother’s) to my bedroom, placenta still inside. I clawed my way under the covers and kangarood the baby, layering both of us with too many blankets. She was looking at me with a quizzical “what? what just happened?” expression when my dh came into the room for the shock of his life.
What
the heck
was that about????????
And my produce is still in the van. At least the van is in the garage, and it is not so different a temperature from the barn. I can get it in the morning. Another sunny day, after a stretch of grey.
I have lots I could write about, but I am pretty engaged in actually living it all instead of reflecting on it enough to have something germane to say. Even my pictures of late have been boring. Or maybe we’re just so busy that I don’t focus on them just now. I miss lunch on Wednesdays.
All I want to do is write about the kids’ accomplishments and the days we spend with our friends. This week I got to intentionally see three different friends three days in a row. When I was in Toddler Land (the lifestyle ruled by playdates with other Moms with toddlers and babies, no dayplanner required), that was a pretty standard happenstance. In Taxi-Land (Reeciebird has congratulated me on graduating to the time-honored status of Mom-Taxi), time with my friends is much more precious. It has been worth it in the trade-off, though. I am watching my kids bloom yet again, and that’s a sparkle I like.
Babies. Maybe I can write about babies. I wrote “sparkle,” envisioned G’s face, and saw her glowing. Not because she got her third black stripe in karate, or passed her swim test or finally conquered her fear of The Big Red Slide, but because she was holding a baby again. This family desperately misses babies. We love them so. I am really happy where we are in our own family, but I told that Baby’s Momma that it was a curious feeling. Before I had the desire to stop procreating, I assumed that once I was done having babies, I wouldn’t like babies anymore. That’s so not the case. I love them just as much; love rocking, diapering, dressing, singing to them etc. They’re just as precious, just as wonderful as they ever were in my eyes. How amazing to me, then, that all the cuteness of my baby and others doesn’t set my ovaries to fluttering anymore!
“OK,” I said cautiously, “you can come sit on my coffeetime lap if you want to cuddle,” weighing the word cuddle meaningfully.
“OK,” D-baby said sweetly, nodding with eyes as big as he could make them. Up on the lap, up into my arms. For a brief moment I was able to enjoy the little legs and arms, the soft tufts of toddler hair. Then the wiggling and the arching began. Ah the true Machiavellians, the toddlers.
“Noooo D-baby,” I admonished, “we only nursey once a day, not right now!”
“YEEEEEEESSSS! NUUURSSSSSEYYYYYYY!” the stutter-temper-cry started, tensing me instantly.
“D-baby, D-baby,” I said calmly, straightening him up, “You’ll be THREE soon, and three year olds don’t nurse!” I silently prayed for forgiveness as I left off “in my house.”
“I a BABY!” he retorted. Choosing not to respond to that, I said “WHAT are we going to do for your BIRTHDAY party? You’ll be THREE soon!”
Blink blink.
“Do you want a pool party? A pizza party?”
“Noooooooooooooooooooo,” he grinned.
“Do you want a party together with Nomi?”
“NOOO! It’s MY ONE! Nomi can’t have my party!” he shouted indignantly.
“Well,” I asked again, “What kind of party do you want?”
He grinned mischievously…. “A NURSEY party! A BOOBY party! At the ComPOOTER party!”
AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Especially since it hurts to sit at the computer right now. Lots good, some bad. It’s life, you know?
My friends and I officially decided to pretend we’re a homeschool group since, as Niki points out, we already are. But we’re really an exclusive group. Totally selective. You must have three children, live in the Puget sound area and have an ongoing struggle with food allergies. So far there are four of us families, all of whom have tongues firmly planted in cheek.
3/4 of us attempted IKEA earlier this week. We’re nuts, I guess.
My back is on the mend after deciding to go on strike. I went speed-hiking in the woods with Birk clogs but no socks. I expected to only venture a little ways in, but Neighborgirl hijacked one of mine and two of Mack’s boys on our Wednesday lunchfest and took them to the &^@ beach cliff. SO out of her boundaries, SO out of my boundaries, and completely on the down low from her mother. I was livid when I finally found them– coming down the path from the cliff and past the turnoff for home. She was leading them on to the gulley in another far off section of the woods. I don’t usually yell at other people’s children but I did that day. Our boys were in the back picking berries– Pickles didn’t even have on shoes or a shirt– when she said she’d take them to “see a waterfall.” I am growing more than weary of Neighborgirl issues.
Can’t go to Renny fair today because while I have range of motion 70% back, I won’t risk that kind of event with a toddler and G-girl. P-Daddy has N off fishing with buddies from work, so I am happy to see that happen. We did however, go to the GH Farmer’s Market for a trial run of my back. I made it through, but just, and the kids got their faces painted. Very cute. the artist was an artist, so the pictures on the little guys were very good. D-baby didn’t move at ALL while he was being painted.
One of G’s crabs died, for no explainable reason, and she was heartbroken. She doesn’t want a replacement crab because these crabs were from Santa, and the ones from the store are just too mean.
Plucked another zucchini from our bush in the dry garden, and a spaghetti squash from the big garden. The acorn squash are coming along nicely and apparently I forgot to plant cucumbers.
I am excited to try to win Jubilant Tulip over to the world of stove top espresso makers. I am making a latte now as a matter of fact.
I talked to my Danny today. The second she answered the phone, I could hear it in her voice; I knew.
“You sound like …. you!” I exclaimed
Not one to beat around the bush, she replied “Yes, yes I do!!!!”
“When did it happen?” I asked.
“Sometime last week…it’s like someone flipped a switch.”
It is so good to hear her coming out of her postpartum haze. Talking with Danny and listening to her newborn ew-glahing in the background, I felt my heart swell with joy and love. It’s so strong, and even those of us dedicated to embracing that hibernation for it’s best natural intentions (babymoon!!!!) still get overwhelmed by the sheer power of it. It makes us think funny things, feel odd emotions that are so out of sync with our perceived realities. It makes us say things that make no sense and make choices we won’t understand later. I remember it in my life and I see it in the friends around me. I can’t be there to bring her cookies or make crude jokes that make her laugh in spite of herself, so it was wonderful to hear her come full circle.
I have felt that switch flip, and I am glad it happened for Danny. I see it in others and I have to admit my heart aches, waiting for that switch to flip in another I hold so dear.
schnurfling
cooing
using their voices
looking for nipple
From MamaMidwifeMadness’ blog:
I’m so impressed with mamas who homebirth their first babies. they make me wish that I had enough knowledge and sense to find a midwife and do the same almost 5 years ago instead of stepping into the shitstorm which was my first pregnancy and birth with OB’s and hospitals.
Best question today was from a primip (expecting her first baby) who is figuring out how to have a waterbirth when she has no mains water supply and depends on small rain water tanks…
“Is it safe to wash babies in rain water?”
If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, nothing will.
What a beautiful life you have to be living to even ask that question. Marvelous!
And I agree so much with the sentiment of first-time homebirths. I truly wonder sometimes how much different our lives would be had we just had the babies at home, especially with Nick, when we did know better. I am so proud of Danny. So proud.
now I know why I couldn’t get to sleep last night at all– I stayed awake until Danelle went to sleep, cuddling with her newborn baby girl.
This morning, my family got to listen to their family. It’s so wonderful, hearing those baby coos. Congratulations, my new inductees into the world of blissful baby parenting. We love you so much!
Just back from a delicious, busy week. We went camping and had a fabulous time. The kids are just as into it as we have ever been, and ~N~ is a fishing addict. Wow. While we were gone, Tamera had her baby, and when we got back I helped host a mother blessing for yet another Momma.
While I worked really hard before we left to make sure the house was clean when we got back, today you’d have a hard time telling that. Now, at the 5 o’clock hour I am back to no dirty clothes and no dirty dishes, but oh dear the kids have strewn all over. I don’t care. It’s been a lovely day; their laughter was worth it and hey, Stargate Atlantis was on all day.
I never watch that much TV but it helped me get through the laundry! 
