Bathtime in the Sink

These photos were taken last week on Thursday when Viola was 3 weeks, 1 day old. She keeps pretty quiet in the "bathtub", which is the sink for now. It won't be long before she outgrows it.

"The Cow" by Robert Louis Stevenson

Morgan and Emma have learned another poem. Here they are reciting it together.

The Cow

The friendly cow, all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass,
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

Morgan's Writing

Morgan has become very interested in writing lately. I have shown him how to make some of the letter; others he has just figured out how to do on his own. A few days ago, he wrote his name and then Emma's and Viola's names. After that he asked me how to spell "big brother". I added the lines on his easel to guide him a little- everything else he did on his own.

Viola's Birth Story

Much of this story is taken from the note I posted on Facebook, but I wanted to record a few additional details here...

I knew that going into labor naturally would be exciting, but I definitely underestimated the magnitude of the surprise. I prepared myself for a nice, medium-length labor- a sensible 8 to 10 hour ordeal. I assembled a tool bag of mental techniques and physical props to assist the process. And I carefully coached myself not to expect anything to happen until at least 40, or even 41 weeks, had passed. So carefully in fact, that when labor began, I nearly missed it. For weeks leading up to the birth, I felt increasingly painful pre-labor contractions. Sometimes I would get excited that this could be "it", but I trained myself to set wishful thinking aside. I didn't want to be too disappointed if I went overdue.

Wednesday morning, the morning of the birth, appeared to be just another practice run. I felt hard contractions and jotted down a few times to see if they were forming a pattern. For some reason, I believed that true labor would exhibit a rigidly ordered progression with contractions at 25 minutes apart, then 24, 23, and so on. When I saw that my contractions were jumping around between 15 and 30 minutes apart, I dismissed the whole thing. I took the kids to Target and then made lunch. A little before 2:00 pm, I called my mom to tell her about the contractions I had that morning. I told her I didn't think anything real was happening but she might want to be sure her bag was packed just in case. As we were talking, I felt my water break.

It wasn't as big a gush of fluid as I thought it would be, so I still wasn't certain. I called Dawn anyway. She told me that over the next 2-3 hours the contractions would likely move to 10 minutes apart, at which time I should call her back. I called mom back and told her not to rush. In my imagination, the contractions were still 20+ minutes apart. In reality, they were never separated by more than 15 minutes after my water broke. After calling Dawn and Matt, I threw myself into a frenzy of household chores. I cleaned my bathroom, swept the kitchen and dining room, and fretted over the kids' overnight bags. I figured Viola would arrive maybe 8-10 pm. Sometime around 2:30, despite contractions that were already less about 8 minutes apart, I told my friend Faith that I still planned to make pancakes for dinner! But by 3:15, I began to feel more urgent. I called Matt again to ask, "You're coming home, right?" He arrived around 3:30, and Dawn came sometime before 4:00. The contractions were manageable up to this point because I was busy and because there was such a nice break in between each one. In fact, the break between pains was so relaxing, I would even begin to fool myself that the next one wasn't coming.

We had established "plan A" and "plan B" childcare for the kids- I was adamant that a "family birth" was out of the question- but it happened so quickly we couldn't get reach anyone in time. When the kids got up from their naps at 4:00, we confined them to their room. Between then and about 4:30 Matt ran back and forth taking care of me, filling the birth pool, and serving the kids their snack. I sat in the living room with Dawn while she led me through some relaxation exercises. After 4:30, the pain intensified and I could no longer let Matt out of my sight for more than a couple of minutes. When I moved into the birthing pool at 5:00, we put the kids in the playroom at the back of the house.

Just before entering the pool, I felt the first inklings that Viola was making her descent. After entering the pool I enjoyed about 5-10 minutes of relief. I think it would have been a helpful tool if I had had a longer labor. As it turned out, I moved into the transition period almost immediately. After that, nothing could help me. Labor was like a freight train moving full speed through my body. I dilated from 8 to 10 cm in a few minutes. At this point, I had a very strong urge to turn back, as if I could somehow call the whole thing off. I remember telling Matt, "I don't want to do this." I had imagined the need to push would be a sensation I could control, but was a little alarmed to find how forceful and involuntary it was. The mental imagery and other techniques I had planned flew out the window. I clung to Matt's neck and survived because I had to.

Viola was born at 5:33 pm, and I felt overpowering relief. A few minutes after she was placed on my chest, we brought the kids into the room. How sweet to have them with us to greet her right away- I'm thankful God knows what we want and need better than we do. Nine minutes after the birth, my mom rushed in. None of us were ready. If I had been rushing to the hospital, I probably would have been one of those women who delivers on the sidewalk.

There were so many things I loved about this experience. I was cared for by someone who became a trusted friend over the course of the pregnancy. Because of this personal care, I actually felt like I was having a baby this time instead of undergoing a procedure. Matt and I were able to do something truly important together. The wonder and mystery of birth- elements stripped away by the modern hospital atmosphere- were restored to us.

Viola's Progress

I thought we'd better do a quick update now that we've come to the end of Viola's first week. We had plenty of company and lots of help. My mom arrived just 9 minutes after Viola's arrival (so close!) and stayed with us until this morning. Papa Wes and GG came to town Thursday morning, the day after the birth. They stayed with us until Friday afternoon. On Saturday, my Dad and sister came to spend one day. We had a few hard days of adjustment, but things began to turn around starting on Sunday. After Dad and the girls returned to Abilene, it was just us and my mom. We couldn't have made it without her. We said good bye to her this morning and then loaded everyone up for out first family outing. We dropped Matt's car off at the mechanic then had lunch at Michael's.







1/9/10, 3 days old

1/11/10, first shampoo

getting her hair did!

5 days old

I can hardly tell the difference between her and Morgan at this age, especially in this picture!

my mom with all her grandchildren

We tried to get a group shot at Michael's...unfortunately this was the best we could do before the camera ran out of batteries.

The Birth of Viola Marie - January 6th 2010

Yesterday, a little after 2pm, Ashleigh called me in the middle of a meeting to tell me that her water had broken and labor was starting. Since we had decided to have Viola at home, there was no rush to get home—we still had plenty of time. I finished up the meeting and made a few phone calls. Finally, around 3:30 I headed home. Dawn, our midwife, made it to the house at 4:00 and at 5:30 on January 6th 2010, after only three hours of labor, Viola Marie emerged in a birthing pool in her own room. We are so thankful for God's protection and for providing Dawn to hold our hands through the process. Viola is a whopping 9lbs. 4oz. and 21in. long. Ashleigh and Viola are both doing very well. We're all resting now and enjoying being home together.

Here's a few post-birth photos (the process was too fast for pre-birth photos).

Sandhills 10K

At one of our trips to the sand hills in Monahans this summer, Matt commented that it would be a fun site for a run. So when we received a brochure for the Inaurural Sandhills 5K/10K not long after that, he couldn't resist. Only the sheer enormity of my belly restrained me from competing this time. We got up early this morning for the drive. It was sunny and calm with temperatures in the thrities- perfect racing weather. Matt chose to compete in the 10K race, and enjoyed a challenging, scenic course through the sand dunes. He placed 2nd in his age group. The kids were excited to cheer him on; Emma even broke free and attempted to run to Daddy as he neared the finish.