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Sunday, August 30

A Family Portrait




Not the very first one, but probably the best one... as in, I don't look like a bloated, beaten-and-dragged-for-miles-by-a-wild-berserk-horse lump of blubbery crap.

Plus, Tyler has a real smile! Not a fake, "I don't like it when cameras are pointed at me" smile.

Look at Deklan's shoes. Aren't they the cutest little things ever?! Thank you, Rachel, for instilling an insane need for baby shoes in me. Thank you very much.

Adeena's Birthday!




Was yesterday.

I'm a terrible, horrible sister. I totally meant to write this "Happy Birthday Adeena!" post on her actual birthday, but I failed miserably because yesterday was a busy busy day of visiting for our little family, and I didn't get back until late and my baby was very hungry (he missed a feeding because we were in the car so much he was very sleepy and wouldn't wake up for anything) so there was no time for me to go on the computer.

GASSSSPPP!!!!

That was a long run-on sentence. I apologize, Grammar Nazis.

Anyways, Happy Birthday to the Grand Puppet Master, firstborn of the Thundering Herd, my beautiful sister Adeena! I love you so much!

Friday, August 28

..Excellent...



Already hashing out his evil plans for world domination.

He is my son, after all. Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

Wednesday, August 26

My Birthday



was Sunday.

Saturday, my husband told me he was going to his parent's to help his Dad out with something. I, being completely trusting, believed him, and enjoyed the couple hours I had to myself with Deklan.

Sunday was a very relaxing day. We didn't hurry up about anything, we just hung out and watched movies. I wasn't expecting any presents, because we bought new furniture and that was our birthdays and Christmas rolled together.

We went to town to get pepperoni for my pizza (I love pizza for my birthdays), our first little outing as a family. When we got home, Tyler herded me to my chair and told me to close my eyes. I heard him messing about in the other room, and he brought something in and put it on my lap.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a cake! I was so excited. I was not expecting cake for my birthday, because my husband doesn't bake, I can't eat wheat so he couldn't go buy me something from a store, and I wasn't about to bake for myself. Ty had, very sneakily, phoned his Mom a few days before and asked her to bake a cake, and that was the real reason he had made the drive to his parents on Saturday. He hid the cake in the basement, where he knew I wouldn't go, until my Birthday.

Deklan was wearing a "I love my Mommy" bib, and he had a card for me that said "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" with a poem inside. I was absolutely thrilled, of course.

All in all, it was a very good birthday. No I didn't get very many presents to open, but I got the best gift of all a week before, and pizza and cake, with Haagen-Dazs ice cream. Doesn't get much better than that.

Friday, August 21

Thoughts




In the few days since we brought home our baby boy, my love and I are realizing just how much our lives have changed.

Yesterday we were watching a movie, and the main character was a single father who lost his wife to cancer, and was trying to raise his 13 year old son to be a good man by himself. I teared up watching it, thinking to myself "What if I get sick and leave Tyler and Deklan alone?" It touched my soul in a way it wouldn't have before I had my baby.

This morning, we were watching Sportscentre, and we saw the tragic story of an NHLer who just lost his 2 month old son to SIDS. Both of us had tears in our eyes, and needed a moment to touch our son and ponder what a gift he is.

Life is definitely different, now. It's so much more. So much more responsibility, so much more love... It's crazy good.

Wednesday, August 19

My Dad's birthday




Deklan's arrival kinda threw a wrench into my consistent birthday postings... I missed my Dad's birthday. August 15th is my Dad's, and Deklan came August 16 - so close!

They were sharing a moment Monday night, pondering life on the couch.

Deklan has his Poppa's skin, nice and dark. I'm very glad, because personally, I hate being a sickly pasty white 95% of the year.

Happy Birthday, Dad, only 2 more years til you're 60! Haha!

Love, Sarah

Tuesday, August 18

Deklan James Fenton - his birth story.



This is the sunrise that greeted us on the day our son was born, August 16th, 2009.

Last Thursday, at my last midwife appointment, Rebekah was concerned because of my high blood pressure (140 over 80) and protein in my urine. She told me to come back Friday, and she would test me again. Friday morning, my blood pressure was better, and Rebekah seemed relieved, and told me to take some test sticks home to check my protein levels, and call her on Sunday to let her know, and we would go from there.

Friday night she called me, and asked me to call her the next morning if there was any protein. I was a little worried at that point, because I had read about preeclampsia and knew that I wouldn't be able to have the baby at home if I did have it. Sure enough, Saturday morning the pee stick turned dark green (bad), and when I called Rebekah she asked me to come to the hospital for some tests.

I was naive, thinking I would only be there for a little while. My mother & father-in-law showed up 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave, and I asked my mother-in-law to come with me so Ty could stay home and do a few things around the house with his Dad, as planned. I just wanted someone to keep me company, and she didn't mind. I don't think Tyler was comfortable letting me go by myself, but I told him I'd be fine and we'd be home for lunch.

At the hospital, Rebekah asked me for a urine sample again, and then hooked me up to two different sensors, one to keep track of the baby's heart rate, the other to measure his movement. She wanted to make sure that my high blood pressure wasn't negatively affecting my baby. She took my blood pressure every half hour or so, and each time it was really high, even when she got me to lay down.

I suppose I knew what she was going to say, but I was in denial. I felt fine! I felt great! The last few days I had felt better, had more energy, than I had in a long time. No headaches, no stomach pain, no nothing to indicate anything was wrong... except for a considerable amount of swelling in my legs, hands, well... everywhere.

When she told me I had preeclampsia and she was going to consult with the OB, my heart sank. I knew right then I would have to deliver in the hospital, which is what I had been planning to avoid since before I was even pregnant. It was a pretty big blow, and I started to get emotional, and I really wanted Tyler there with me. My mother-in-law, bless her heart, could tell by the look on my face, so she called him on her cell phone and told him to get changed and come to the hospital. He wanted to, anyway.. he hadn't stopped thinking about me since I left, and he was kicking himself for letting me go without him.

I'm not much of a cryer, I really only cry when I'm angry or arguing, so I didn't shed any tears as I lay back on that uncomfortable hospital bed, listening to the steady heartbeat of my son, and thought about what was important. Was a home birth really the be all and end all? Or was it a healthy, safe delivery that I wanted most? I knew that God is in control, and that everything happens for a reason, so by the time Tyler got to the hospital, I felt at peace about the situation.

Rebekah said that the obstetrician on call for the next couple days was the midwives' favourite. He was very slow to use any type of intervention, and he was very skilled and confident without being arrogant. She said that if she had to choose an OB, she would choose him. That made me feel a lot better about having a doctor consult.

When Dr M came in, he came straight to the point: I had preeclampsia, and I had two choices - I could be induced and get the baby out now, or I could wait and get sick, and potentially my baby could get sick too. It was a pretty easy decision to make.

Dr M gave me cervadil, and said for me to come back the next morning at 8:00.

We went home, after stopping at half a dozen stores because I wanted to watch "Bridget Jones Diary" and dagnabbit Tyler was determined to get it for me. I was a little bit jittery, and felt a little sick from the cervadil, but when we got home my Mom called and invited us over for my Dad's birthday supper.

We cleaned up any mess in the house, packed a bag for me and one for the baby, and then went over to my parent's to try to have some fun and stop thinking.

I had a good time, was able to visit with my family and get my mind off of the induction. It really helped to talk it out with my sisters and Mom, to share my disappointment about not being able to have a home birth. I just needed to whine a little bit, and then I was fine. I held my sister's brand new baby Hannah, and thought about being able to hold my own little guy the next day, and then I started to get excited.

I didn't sleep at all that night, I was too worked up, couldn't shut my brain off. I was also uncomfortable from the cervadil, although I wasn't in a terrible amount of pain. I couldn't wait to get out of bed and get showered at 6:00.

We had breakfast, and waited for my Mom to come at 7:30. I watched Sportscentre while I had my cereal, and tried to calm my nerves about the day ahead of me.

At the hospital, I was hooked up to the sensors again, to make sure little Ducky was doing fine. He was just as active and his heartbeat was just as good as the day before. Rebekah periodically kept saying "That is one happy baby in there!"

Dr M came in at 8:30 am, and didn't waste too much time in breaking my water. It was the weirdest, yuckiest, gushiest feeling I have ever felt! It's like you're peeing yourself constantly, without being able to stop it. I was definitely uncomfortable, especially in the giganto underwear and pad they made me wear!

He said he'd be back to check on my progress, because if I didn't start having regular contractions, they were going to give me oxytocin. I really, really didn't want oxytocin, so I prayed that the contractions would come and do some good!

After my water was broken, Rebekah told me to walk around the hospital, and come back every half hour so she could check on the baby's heart rate. We walked and walked, and praise the Lord the contractions started coming regularly. I was having them every five minutes or less! By noon, they had done enough that I could get admitted into the hospital, and be in a birthing room instead of in triage.

I've been asked by a couple different people how hard my labour was. I have to say, it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The contractions were hard and painful, but they were spaced out, and I breathed through them and relaxed between them, so I never got overwhelmed.

I was supposed to keep hydrated, but I couldn't keep anything down. Tiny sips of gatorade, ice chips, little bites of banana, all of it came back up when I had a particularly hard contraction. By 5:00 pm, I was dehydrated, and was starting to faint away a little bit between contractions. They had also slowed down, and after making good progress all day, I stalled at 8 cm.

Rebekah advised me to get an oxytocin drip started, and some fluids in an IV, because it wasn't good for me to have no fluids all day, and she wanted to strengthen my contractions before I ran out of energy completely for the birth.

The IV was awful. I hated it, still hate it, will hate it until the day I die. It ached and pulled, and I could definitely feel there was a gigantic needle in my skin. But, it did the trick. It revved up my contractions again, and a couple hours later, I was ready to push.

Pushing was the best part of the whole labour. I know that sounds weird, especially to those of you who haven't had a baby, but it's true! The last few contractions before the urge to push comes are the worst of the whole labour, and when you can push, it actually feels good, like stretching a cramped muscle.

Tyler got behind me on the bed to support me while I pushed, and I was so focused I didn't even realize I was sitting on his leg. When Deklan came out, at 8:25 pm, Tyler started crying, and I was just so relieved and happy to have him in my arms. Tyler felt faint, he hadn't eaten anything all day, and he groaned as he stretched out his leg that I had been sitting on. He was so good, so supportive of me all day, he never complained about any discomfort I put him in, which was a lot.

The moment Deklan was out, when Rebekah put him on my stomach, I swear that is the best feeling I have ever felt. It was so amazing to look at him, to smell him, to touch his head and his face and to know that he was mine. It made all the pain I had experienced seem small and insignificant. He seemed huge, I thought he was 9 lbs, but they took him and weighed him and he was only 7 lbs 1 oz! Just a little peanut.




My precious baby boy, only a few hours old.



Daddy with Deklan, chilaxing the morning after he was born.



Our sweet baby, snuggled up in our bed. Look at that hair! He's a mophead!

He started nursing a half hour after he was born, and he hasn't looked back since! My Ducky has quite the appetite, and he gets really ticked off if I take too long getting settled and ready to nurse him. He's been sleeping well, pooping and peeing regularly, and all signs point to a healthy, happy baby. We think he's wonderful, we're so in love with him, so ready to do anything and everything for him.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, I'm sure they helped me through my labour. I really can't complain about having a 12 hour labour for my first baby, especially considering I was induced!

Love to all of you, from the proud and happy new parents of Deklan.

Tuesday, August 11

Happy Birthday Becky!

I wasn't lying when I said most of my posts this month will be birthdays. In fact, there were a few that I missed already.... my cousin David's oldest son Arthur turned 10 on the 4th, and his youngest son Charlie turned 1 on the 9th. Happy Birthday(s), oh 2nd cousins of mine!





I don't have any good recent pictures of Becky, my oldest niece. She's the sister of my newest, youngest niece, Hannah. She's the one in the above picture with the white sleeves, breaking out some wicked dance moves in the parade. It's her birthday today! She's 7, which is ca-razy! All these little kids are growing up so fast!

Happy Birthday, Beck-a-beck, hope you had a great day!



Saturday, August 8

Happy Birthday Levi!

August is chock full o' birthdays in my family. Probably every post I do this month will be someone or others' birthday shout-out. I might miss a few if my baby comes within the next few weeks, don't know if I'll feel like blogging much.... maybe he'll drag it on into September, though, who knows. Please, no, but who knows.



This cute little chunky monkey is Levi.



Levi had the coolest birthday. He was born August 8th, 2008. So he gets to write "08/08/08" on any forms he has to fill out that require birth dates. Pretty cool, eh?



Oh, my, yes. He's thrilled about it, as you can tell.

I think his bum was too full of sand. That makes me grouchy, too.

Happy Birthday, Levi! Love, your Auntie Sarah. (Yes, I am going to resurrect that bumcrack picture on your wedding day... and I'm not sorry.)

Thursday, August 6

Three Birthdays!




My baby brother is TEN today! That's insane. I changed his diapers! Seriously, I did. Now, he wipes his own ass... has for a while, thankfully. He's becoming such a comical, interesting person, who makes me laugh every time I see him. Happy Birthday, Christopher!




My nephew Matthew is TWO today! The Great Gazoo is Rachel's most quiet and shy baby, who has the most amazing smile if you can get him to reveal it! He's also a great cuddler, and can be a bit lugubrious if he feels he's been wronged. He's sweet and sensitive, and I love him to bits!





Heidi is Matthew's twin sister, so she's two today, too! She's talkative and outgoing, and loves her baby brother "Wessy". She's very headstrong and opinionated, she has what it takes to stick up for herself in a family of five as the only girl!

Happy Birthday Matthew & Heidi! Auntie Sarah loves you!

Hannah




Ohhhh, I can't stand it! Is this not the sweetest little girl you've ever seen? Look at those little lips, that perfect button nose, those beautiful bright eyes! I just wanna pinch those cheeks and kiss that little chin!

Soon enough I'll have my own tiny sample of humanity to snuggle. I can't wait!