I just love her

I love how Emily calls her toots "burps." I also love it when she does a little dance for her brother while he is sound asleep or when she wants me to sing "Happy Birthday" to pretty much anything in sight. I also love how she calls "Blue's Clues" "Clue's Clues." I love that she mispronounces simple words like yellow and thunder but can say gargantuan perfectly. When she points at me and cocks her head to the side to get her point across I have to giggle. Her made up songs are giggle worthy too. I also love watching her really get into something so random. Such as buckling and unbuckling something over and over again. I love it when she rubs my arm gently when we cuddle and how concerned she gets for others when they are upset. I love her outgoing and sweet nature. I just love her. I just need to remember this when she's making me want to pull my hair out.

Joshua pics

Our Little Man is Here

Well, he's finally here. The waiting was getting a little annoying and I was paranoid that he would be late. But the little guy decided to come a little early. So happy about that because I was ready to get the labor over with. And boy was it a tough labor. I thought Emily's was tough but this one proved it could get a whole lot worse. Though it was shorter, it was much more difficult. You see, my children like to enter the world in a position that I was told by my OB doctor is referred to as "sunny side up." This means they like to be face up in the birth canal rather than face down. Sounds like no big deal right? Well, apparently when a child presents in this position, a c-section is usually in order. But my kids were able to exit naturally. I guess it wouldn't have been that big of a deal if my epidurals worked the whole time. Oh and did I mention this position also increases the intensity of contractions? What fun. With Emily, the epidural wore off significantly within a few hrs and the medical staff was never able to get it back to its full strength. Though at the time of Emily's exit it worked a little bit and took some of the edge off of it. This time the epidural wore off again but this time it 100% wore off. The pain was almost unbearable. So eventually (after a lot of writhing and screaming) the nurse (who I wasn't too fond of) asked the anesthesiologist to give me another epidural. The second kind of worked a little. It took my pain level from a 15 to an 8. But then they started pumping pitocin into me and the contractions intensified. There was no break in between. I thought I would puke and/or pass out. It was awesome. Luckily it didn't take very long before I was ready to deliver once the pitocin was administered. So, after paying quite a bit for 4 epidurals (including 2 for Emily's birth) I gave birth to both my children naturally. That too is awesome. So, in conclusion, my body doesn't respond to epidurals like a lot of people's do (some people are like that I guess because they didn't work very well on one of my sister's either) and my children like to come out face up. So if I'm going to have a 3rd child I'm going to discuss scheduling a c-section. This might sound crazy to some because c-sections are more dangerous and the recovery time is longer. But going through the kind of labor I did is something I don't think I can even consider doing again. The pain is something I thought I would pass out from and something I never want to experience again. Just ask Josh, I'm not exaggerating. Anyway, enough complaining. Back to the joyful part of it. Joshua Jr. is here and he is healthy. Though he does have a cephalohematoma from knocking his head against me on his way out. What the heck is a cephalohematoma? It is when blood collects between the scalp and one of the skull bones. It causes some swelling and so he has a bump on his head. It could take up to 3 months for it to completely disappear. It's no big deal but I feel bad that he got hurt. Poor little guy. So far, Joshua is a good baby. He usually just cries when he's hungry. I know this could change at any time so I'm enjoying his good nature. We're so in love with him. Well, I can only speak for Josh and I. Emily is starting to show some love for him. My mom kept her entertained for the first week so she wasn't all that interested in him. Now that it's just us, she's starting to "help" me with him. She helps me burp him. But I don't know if this is just an excuse for her to hit him. :) And she also held his bottle for mommy. It's so cute. She also shows some concern when he cries. Right now I'm adjusting to having a toddler and a newborn. So far it's been a little exhausting but I'm hoping it will get a little easier as I adjust to it all. Now it's time for some coffee.