Sydney wants a dolly for Christmas. But when I went to the toy store, all I could find were dolls that drink, pee, and cry. So I figured I'd just give her the real thing this year.
December 6th is almost as exciting as Christmas! This morning we came downstairs to find all of our shoes filled to the brim with goodies.
Haley was the first to the loot - and she went straight for her own shoe.
Next came Sydney, and she knew exactly which one was for her. I think the Santa Pez gave it away (she's crazy about Pez).
Max was thrilled about his shoe, which was filled with some mittens and a brand new binkie. He didn't like the cold binkie too much.
Haley dug right into the spoils. We actually all kind of looked like this, but I'll just leave it at this. :)
It snowed today....Tommy's away on business....the baby won't sleep....and I've got about a thousand hours of editing and shooting to squeeze into this week. But when I saw Sydney's face brighten at the sight of the falling snow, I couldn't resist fitting her into a make-shift snow suit and watch as she ran around the yard in pure bliss. I'm not exactly a huge fan of snow and winter, but I'm trying not to pass that on to Sydney, if I can help it.
But as I started snapping a few pictures, Max began screaming, and the dog ran into the house, tracking in huge muddy footprints all over the carpet. I got down on my hands and knees to try and scrub the entire living room floor, crying and blubbering in anger and frustration about the dog, the screaming baby, and the mounds of tasks I needed to get done. That's when I felt tiny arms around my back, and Sydney's little voice saying, "Ok, Mommy, ok...Daddy home lil' bit..." [then some gibberish] "...Santa coming lil' bit! Bring...Mommy...present!" I looked up at her and thought, "Wow. How did I get so lucky?" Sydney is my little sunshine on gloomy days. I feel so undeserving, and I want to be a better mommy for her.
This year has been a whirlwind with my photography business and transitioning to having two kids. I want to slow things down a bit for 2011. I'm not one of those super-moms that can do it all. While I've loved my clients and fun shoots, I love my family even more. I rarely get to see my wonderful friends and family around here, because I'm so overloaded. Starting January, I will only be taking one session per week, and two weddings per month. I want to play more, work less. Write in my journal and blog more, write less to-do lists. Cuddle more, sit still more, serve more, and enjoy this journey, instead of surviving in a blur.
Thank you, Sydney, for being a good little reminder of the important things in life. :)
Yesterday Max had his baby blessing. We had a small gathering in our home, since Tommy's parents were in town, and it was conference weekend. Max was a good boy and didn't make a peep. :) The blessing was so sweet. I love this little guy SO much!
Max is packing on the pounds and the newborn-ness is fading fast! He's so much more alert, and even beginning to respond with smiles and noises. I snuck in a few photos outside at 4 weeks old. His head couldn't squeeze into half of the newborn hats. :)
Max @ 3 weeks.
Sydney wanted to join in on the fun
Let's just say fitting a chubby and alert 9 lb 2-wk-old into a tiny buggy with a wild toddler running around isn't an easy task. :)
I just love seeing my two babies play. Sydney thinks Max can understand everything she does. She shows him her toys and asks him to kiss her owies better. And you know what's funny? She has an extremely sensitive nose to his poopy diapers, and informs me the second he fills one. Then she gags when I change him. This is coming from a 2-yr-old who's reverted back to diapers herself.
Here are some shots I snuck of them when he was 6 days old. He's now 2 1/2 wks and weighs over 9 lbs! This whole 2-kid thing has been even more fun than I thought it would be. I can cuddle with a tiny newborn while playing and chatting with a curious toddler. This is the life. :)
This whole experience of Max’s arrival has been so sweet! Very relaxing, easy, and peaceful. Thank you, Heather, for documenting this special day for us!
*Birth story details at the bottom for those interested*
I was addicted to the cranberry juice they kept me stocked up on the entire hospital stay. :)
I went all natural with Sydney’s birth, and after experiencing such “intensity” (the birthing classes taught us not to call it “pain”), I was more open to the idea of an epidural this time around. :) After having contractions on and off for over 24 hrs with Max and making it to a 7cm, I couldn’t stop smiling when I finally asked for an epidural!
My mom read us the list of about 30 names that I brought to the hospital…it wasn’t until the day after he was born that we finally chose Maxwell.
I was a little confused on what I was supposed to do while we waited (painlessly) during my contractions. It was so different than Sydney’s birth! I got a little worried as my contractions started to slow and they had to give me pitocin to speed things up.
When I got to 9 cm, both my mom and my midwife left to get some dinner. While they were both gone, the nurse came in and said it was time to push (without my mom and midwife!). They were about to grab the OB on call (who I’d never met), and all of this was a bit emotional for me! Luckily both my mom and midwife came back just in time!
When they laid him on my chest, I had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for this amazing gift in my arms.
Maxwell Blake Bethards, born at 7:39pm, 7 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches
such wonderful nurses during our entire hospital stay – and my great midwife, Erica, on the right
My dad brought Sydney in to meet Max an hour after his birth. She was so excited and smiley, and wanted to hold him all by herself.
The Details…(and lots of them)
The day before Max’s birth, I went in for my 40-wk check-up with my midwife group, and I was at 4 cm and 70% effaced (it must have been all the contractions I’d been having on and off for the 3 weeks before my due date!). The midwife stripped my membranes to help get things going, and I immediately began feeling contractions about every hour through the rest of the day and on into the night. I spent the next morning timing my contractions while trying to entertain/run after Sydney. By 10am the contractions were coming every 10 minutes and much more intense. But between contractions, I felt great. My water hadn’t broken, and when I called the midwife, she said to keep waiting to see if it was the real thing. So while I waited between contractions, I kept busy ordering newborn photo props that I felt I just HAD to get before the baby came. :) By noon, I called my parents to come help with Sydney, as I was having to really breathe through each contraction in silence. I was keeping Tommy in the loop while he was at work, but I didn’t want him to have to come back until I knew it was the real thing. As soon as my parents showed up, I immediately got in the warm tub, which really helped ease the pain. At 1:30pm, Tommy peeked his head in the bathroom, and I was so relieved to see him, since the pain was suddenly coming much stronger and every 3 minutes. He called the midwife right away to tell her we were coming into the hospital. I got out of the tub and tried to primp before leaving, especially since I knew I’d have a photographer there! Tommy and my mom told me to stop being so silly and to just hurry and leave (which was good, since I wasn’t making any progress at my primping, since I had to get on my hands and knees every few minutes to breathe through each contraction). So I left with dripping wet hair in a bun with Tommy and my mom in tow, and my dad at home watching Sydney.
We got to the hospital (which is just down the street from us) at 2pm, and they took me first into the Triage room, where they checked and monitored me for about 45 minutes. I was at a 7cm and 90% effaced. This was the hardest part of my labor, since my contractions were so close together and getting really intense, and the room they put me in was tiny with lots of machines, and they made me lay on a bed hooked to monitors (who can labor like that??). The nurses asked me all sorts of questions (”Are you allergic to any medications?”, “When was your last menstrual period?”, etc.), which was hard to answer with the constant interruptions of my contractions. They also kept asking if I was planning on getting an epidural. I was hoping to go as long as I could naturally. Between contractions and pain, I’d say I wanted to keep going natural (since I had come so far), but whenever a contraction would hit, I’d say, “Maybe I do want an epidural!”. Tommy was on one side, reminding me that it will get more painful and that I’ll want an epidural, and my mom was on my other side telling me I was doing so well and to keep going. I felt confused and frustrated and extremely indecisive!
They finally took me out of the Triage and into my delivery room, which was really nice and big, with a huge window. I continued to labor for another 15 minutes while the intensity and frequency increased. My midwife finally came in to see me, and she checked me and found that I was still only at a 7 1/2! It had been over an hour of intense pain, and I hadn’t made any progress! As soon as she told me this, I said I wanted an epidural! No way could I handle an 8, 9, and 10 going at this rate! It was also difficult to labor in the delivery room with so many machines and nurses coming in and out, and just a tiny tub (Sydney’s labor was more doable in the private birthing center with dim lights, a huge tub, and the privacy and quietness of just me, Tommy, my mom, and midwife).
As soon as I asked for the epidural at 3:15, the anesthesiologist came right in and quickly went to work, and within minutes my contractions were becoming less and less painful. The sensation wasn’t as weird as I was worried about, and I still could move my legs a bit, and felt the tightening of contractions. I was suddenly all smiles, and the room immediately became peaceful and quiet. They checked me every half hour, but I continued to stay at a 7 1/2, even after breaking my water. By 5:45 my contractions had slowed and I still hadn’t made any progress, so they put me on pitocin. I kept asking the nurses and midwife if there was something that I could be doing to help things move along. I felt so strange just laying there, painlessly, not doing anything. But when they checked me at around 6:15, I was already at a 9cm!
Both my midwife and my mom left to get some dinner at this point. At about 7pm I started to feel this strange feeling down there (like a mild pressure sensation), so when I asked the nurses to check me, they said I was ready to have the baby! We immediately tried calling my mom, but kept getting her voicemail! The nurses told me my midwife was still gone, and that the OB on call would deliver my baby. This all made me become a bit emotional…I wanted my mom there, and I didn’t want a stranger I’d never met deliver my baby! But both my mom and midwife came back just in time to push, and all was right with the world again! :) Even though I couldn’t feel pain, I did feel the pressure they talked about, and I was able to feel how to push. I was so happy to have this moment here (and without pain!), I was all smiles. Everyone kept saying I made this look easy, and I’d tell them “This IS easy!” After only about 4 contractions, they saw his head crown and they said he had lots of hair, and after another push or two, he was out!
They immediately put him on my chest. He was covered in vernix and looked so big to me. He had cute big, puffy, wide-set eyes, chubby cheeks and dark hair. I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude, like I’d been handed this amazing gift that I was so undeserving of. I just held him close and stared at him in amazement and couldn’t stop crying. He was so big and so REAL. I think since I wasn’t in any pain, I could focus more on him. It was all so sweet and peaceful. After about an hour, my dad brought Sydney in to meet her new little brother. I’ve never seen her more excited and giddy. She didn’t want to leave his side. It was so neat to watch her, my little baby suddenly a big sister! The entire day was just perfect – I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. And now, 10 days later, I’m still in awe at this little miracle in my arms!
