Well, after only one post last month, I suppose it's time for another!

Life is still going well with 2 kids. Ainzley has really become quite animated in the last few weeks - she is just adorable! David has grown SO MUCH!!! I can't believe how big he really is! Of course, when Ainzley was born, it became very obvious that he was no longer my little boy... and it's still a shock to me, lol. He repeats every single word we say and loves books and Blue's Clues. We bought him an outdoor water table for his birthday this year which is enjoys on days when it's warm.

Ainzley is still sleeping through the night (woot!!!!!!!) and absolutely loves snuggling. Her blessing is coming up in just over a week and I'm feeling a bit stressed about it. I haven't really planned anything which is so not like me! Typically, I have things planned, oh, a month in advance, lol. It's really the after party I'm most concerned with. It's going to be a lot to handle. The kids typically go down for a nap around 2... we don't get out of church until 2. Strike one. After church, we'll be trying to get things set up with 2 cranky kids. Most of the people coming to the blessing haven't met Ainzley yet so all my help will be fawning over my daughter which will be considered as "help". All Ainzley will want at that time will be to nurse since she'll be tired... I would rather have help setting up, lol. Strike two. Strike three? Clean up... enough said. I'm hoping to have the get together in the nursery since it's adjacent to the kitchen and is a good sized room, yet it's smaller than the gym for cleaning up... IDK... enough rambling. I guess this is my way of trying to plan things, lol

A BIG new chapter of our life is about to begin: HOME OWNERSHIP!!! :) We've already gotten our pre-approval process over so now we're just hunting. We found a beyond perfect house for us... it's just a little over our loan amount. Even with the cash down we have, we're still short so we're negotiating. Wish us luck! We're still looking in case this one doesn't work out, though. What's even greater is my midwife's husband use to be a home inspector! He's going to come over and look at the house with us so we know what's going on with the house. If he finds something, we'll have to actually pay to have an inspection done (his license is expired) so we can have the official paperwork in case we would need to break our contract if we got that far. Anyway, we put an offer down on the house so it's really real! Hopefully I'll get to post pics of our new house soon (whichever one we find :) )

Well, both kids are sleeping peacefully so I should be too. Good night!

More thoughts on birth

Today I was thinking back to the Thursday before Ainzley was born... March 17th. Jason and I (along with the midwives) had agreed to try to get labor started the next day with natural techniques - castor oil, stripping membranes, etc. I had put David to bed Thursday night, took a shower and was waiting for Jason to get home. Once he did, he tucked David in, showered and we went out to sit on our swing on the porch. We talked about a lot of things... but mainly our upcoming birth. "I'm scared" I told him while trying to hide my tears. When he asked me what I was scared of, I told him "the birth".

David's birth was a scheduled induction due to post dates (I was induced 15 days past my due date and he was born on the 16th day). It was in the hospital and an unfortunately routine procedure. I had an epidural to relieve the pain and also to help me sleep... it wasn't so effective in that scenario since the nurses kept coming in to check my dilation every 2 hours. When it came time to push, I was able to feel him moving through the birth canal without feeling the pain - it was awesome! With the exception of family drama, David's birth was great. I was lucky to have a terrific OB who listened to my wishes and stuck to my birth plan. I would say it was on the better end of the scale as far as a hospital experiences go.

After having what I believe to be a pretty good birth, I had a moment where I was questioning why I wasn't going back to the hospital. I kept having thoughts go through my head of the hospital being THE place to have babies (duh) and my reasons for having a home birth seemed to be fading. I didn't know how I was going to have this baby without an OB and a sterile room!

It's funny that I thought like that. The fact of the matter is that maternity wards and hospitals weren't even around until the 1920's and I was so worried about having my baby at home and not doing it the "normal" way - society's view of the normal way hasn't even been around for a century! I was terrified of the pain of labor and for good reason - even though I had prepared myself my ENTIRE pregnancy for a natural birth, until you go start to finish (and I mean holding that baby in your arms finished) you can't really imagine it. It is the most intense and amazing experience... I just cannot stop thinking about it! It was truly a defining moment. I may have been scared, but I did it! I actually had my baby naturally, at home, surrounded by people who love me, my baby, and my family. It was such a humbling experience and I'm so grateful to have experienced it

Still in awe

Nearly 2 weeks later, I am still in awe of my home birth experience. It all happened so fast that it was over before I knew it and now I have the most beautiful baby girl. I am still convinced that home is the way to go for us. We've settled back into routine and are so happy.

Ainzley is wonderful. She sleeps 8 hours a night and is a pro at nursing. She loves to snuggle (as most newborns do) and is just perfect. I've always heard how hard the transition is from 1 kid to 2, but it's not been all that bad. David hasn't really been acting out for attention and LOVES his little sister. He comes into our room every morning asking for baby and wants to hold her and give her hugs and kisses. It's so funny to say kids... plural! There are two now! lol

I think back to the morning I found out I was pregnant with Ainzley - it seems like so long ago! I remember thinking I had so much time before the new baby came... but it went by so fast! My second pregnancy/labor/delivery has come and gone and I can't believe it, lol. A part of me can't wait to do it again. I remember feeling that way after David was born - wanting another right away but we definitely needed to wait and we will again. From the time I stopped nursing David to the time I got pregnant again was 3 months. 3 months of having my body all to myself - that's it! I don't want a huge age gap between my kids, but I'm going to need a little longer than a few months. And I'm going to need to find a new month to have my babies born in. Seriously, 2 birthdays in 2 days, obviously in the same month - crazy!

Ainzley's Birth Pictures

Early contractions


My FAVORITE labor picture!


Filing up the birth pool!


My sweet midwife, Corina, after listening to Ainzley on the Doppler


Contractions in the pool


He was terrific during labor! Truly my knight in shining armor... or a swimming suit ;)





Last few contractions. I was in transition!


She's here!!!!! All 10 pounds and 22 inches of my beautiful baby girl!


One of my favs even though it's a little blurry


Jason was able to deliver Ainzley then resume his place next to me on the bed


Proud Daddy!


Our other amazing midwife, Mary





A sweet moment with Mary, David and Ainzley

What an amazing day!

Ainzley's Birth Story

Friday the 18th, my wonderful sister-in-law, Linda, drove from St. Louis to Springfield to be here to help with our home birth. Since she's had 2 home births of her own and has been there for me through so many tough times, I knew she was perfect for the job. She got here around 1pm and we ran to WalMart to get a few things for her and her daughter Ava. We spent the afternoon hanging out and catching up. We went out to dinner at a fun Hibachi grill here in Springfield where I started having mild contractions. Since they were identical to the contractions I had been having for weeks that led to nothing, I didn't think to much of them and we continued with our evening. After dinner, we went home and had a couple friends of ours (Shannon and Aaron) come over for games. We became fast friends with them after moving into the same ward and they are so great with David. Shannon is his nursery teacher and he really likes her. Anyway, I continued to be uncomfortable but the contractions fizzled out a little later. Shannon and Aaron went home and Linda and I started one of our marathon chat fests.

Around 2am, Jason came into the living room and told me I needed to go to bed. I came in and started my bedroom routine and felt something weird. I went to the bathroom to find I had passed a blood clot about the size of a half dollar and was bleeding a little bit. I yelled for Jason to get Linda and to call the midwife. Since I wasn't gushing blood or soaking pads or anything, I laid back down to try to get some sleep. Around 2:30, the contractions started. I knew something was different about them so after breathing through a handful of them, I went to get Linda. They were already 2-3 minutes apart and lasting a minute. Since I was bleeding, I wanted to make sure we were being careful. We called the midwife after a few more contractions and she said she was on her way. Once she got there, she checked out the bleeding situation and assured me that everything looked fine. She checked me and got a surprised look on her face. She looked at me and said "Amy, you're dilated to an 8 and completely effaced. I'm not sure the other midwife will even make it here before Ainzley is born." I couldn't believe it! We listened to Ainzley on the Doppler and she sounded great so Linda and I continued getting through the contractions. It was 5:15 in the morning.

Jason started filling the birth pool and called Shannon to come watch David if he woke up and we got out the birth supplies. Amazingly, Ava and David both slept soundly through this rather noisy period. Since we were boiling water for the birth pool, we were using every burner on the stove and the heat from that set off the fire alarms at least twice, lol. I continued breathing through contractions and eventually had to let everyone else finish the preparations as I had bigger work to do. My contractions were really starting to pick up right before the birth pool was ready so I laid on my side on the bed while they finished. When I was FINALLY able to get in the pool, I was more than ready to be there. The water helped lessen the strength (or at least what I was feeling) of the contractions. I was a little annoyed with the temperature - it was so hot! Well, at least to a woman in labor it was. We stayed in the pool for a little while before the other midwife arrived a little before 6am. We listened to Ainzley on the Doppler again and she was still sounding perfect.

After awhile, I was ready to get out of the tub. I got up, dried off and returned to the bed. Jason held my hand and stroked my hair - he did amazingly, too. Not long after I got out of the pool, the midwives came and talked to me. They were getting concerned about the bleeding and wanted to monitor Ainzley more frequently with the Doppler. After every contraction, we listened to her and she was still doing perfectly. By this point, the contractions were unbearable and I knew I was in transition. Not too many contractions after that, I noticed that my body had started to push during contractions. I announced to everyone in the room that I was pushing and couldn't stop it! lol Jason wanted to catch Ainzley so he got ready and Linda was by my side helping me focus. After the first push, something interesting happened, I birthed the amniotic sac. My water never actually broke before this point. Jason and one of the midwives broke the sac (which was difficult as it was very strong they said) and I pushed again. This time, Ainzley's head came with an arm crossed over it! She was born after only one more push at 7:20am. She was perfect in every way. Jason placed her on my tummy and it was love at first sight... she even pooped all over me to let me know, lol! I was given a shot of Pitocin after the birth to ensure the bleeding was kept under control. Ainzley and I both got cleaned up and finally had time to just snuggle - it was perfect!

Our home birth experience was amazing. Jason and I have talked several times over the past few days and both agree that while we're not "anti-hospital", we definitely prefer the more intimate home setting. There were lots of interesting and even some scary things that happened in our experience. The scary part being the bleeding throughout labor and delivery - my estimated blood loss was about 4 cups. 2 cups is considered a hemorrhage. We examined the placenta and found that it had started to age a bit which probably caused a small placental abruption. The more interesting/uncommon being the amniotic sac being delivered first and needing to be ruptured, and her head/shoulder/arm being delivered at the same time and the cord was wrapped around her neck and abdomen. I share these parts of my birth, however, to show the abilities of these amazing women - the midwives. I've been in their care since about 17 weeks pregnant and have not doubted their abilities. I've actually felt better taken care of by them than the doctor I started seeing in the beginning of this pregnancy! It makes me so sad that people would talk bad about midwives without even having any experience with them. It makes me ridiculously angry that some Missouri legislators are trying to make home birth midwives illegal again. Without my home birth midwives, Ainzley's birth would have been very different - More traumatic and definitely not what I wanted. I'll always be grateful to the wonderful women who helped me have the incredible birth I was after. Pics to come later

My predictions were correct

Here I sit... 2 days past my due date, lol. My children just are not prompt little people! ;) I know I don't have a problem birthing large children seeing that David was nearly 10 pounds so I'm ok letting them cook a little longer than average. I thought about it when I was pregnant with David and decided they just want more time with Heavenly Father while they can... and I don't blame them a bit. Yes, I DEFINITELY have my moments of weakness/anxiousness/impatience. Last Friday I cried for an hour because I was "just done being pregnant". The feeling passed before I went to bed and I woke up the next day feeling ok. Well, today I had another moment but I thought to myself, everyday she is getting a little stronger, a little healthier, a little more intelligent, a little more prepared for her earth life... I made it 4 days passed my first "moment" and can make it another 4... step by step. It doesn't help that it seems like everyone around me wonders why I haven't had my baby yet or what's taking so long. Although, I can't decide if it's worse being pestered about where the baby is or people who haven't said a word to me about my pregnancy at all or just when they want to criticize.

On another note, I was thrown a surprise baby shower! My calling is with the young women in our ward right now (secretary) and their Wednesday night service project for February was doing projects for me! They made us a freezer casserole, a baby blanket, a diaper cake and a memory book. It was so sweet of them and so nice to feel loved. It really was a lot of fun with lots of yummy goodies!

Jason took his test for his promotion at work yesterday and he got the results back today - he passed! No... not passed... ACED it! He got a 100% in all aspects. I was so unbelievably proud of him and he was ecstatic. He starts the class in April. It's a 3 week class followed by a state written exam and clinical hours. I have complete faith that he'll do just great.

There's not much else going on here. David continues to be the most amazing little boy I've ever met. He LOVES going to nursery at church and has so many little friends. We're still potty training though we're not really "active" in it yet. He will tell us when he needs to potty - even when he's in a diaper so that's a small win.

Hello March!

Well, my due "month" has finally arrived! It's strange to think at some point this month, I will be a mother of two! I would say we're as ready for Ainzley to come as we could possibly be and more excited than we realize is possible. I am so excited for our home birth experience and to welcome our sweet baby girl.

Other than our growing excitement, not too much is going on here. Work is going well for Jason and David continues to grow and explore new things.

Kind of a short post but the weather is amazing today and my mind is elsewhere :)