6months baby

Six months is one of my favorite baby ages. It's when they suddenly can do everything.

 





















They roll around the floor, they're starting to sit by themselves, and they babble all the time. I remember when I took Elora's six month pictures, they were the first pictures of her that I was really excited about: she was so cute!

I do regret now that I never bought her hair bows and didn't dress her in a bunch of cute dresses for her photos. Luckily, I have another girl to make up for this travesty...mwaahahaha. We have a bunch of beautiful clover and alfalfa growing around our area this year, more than I've ever seen. I've been waiting for River to be able to sit up so I could get some pictures before it all gets cut down!

The other night, we were able to go out at the perfect time of day and take pictures of River, with Elora helping so she didn't fall down. At least not more than six or seven times. It's going to be impossible to pick favorites, but it's a good problem to have! Please click to see the photos bigger.

We were able to capture quite a few expressions:

A.























I laugh every time I see the surprised face at the top left, and the "talking" face at the top right. I adore the fingers in the mouth, and she is so pretty at the bottom right! I can't decide if I want one of these, or one of the smiling ones in group B. She's so happy!

B.

I love all these smiles. In the top right she's like, "Hey Girlfriend!"

There are lots of fun photos of her enjoying the flowers and being thoughtful...

C.

D.  left or right?


































 And others with some cool sun flares as well. I love those. In "E" I like the bottom right best, she looks like a doll.

E.























Whichever pictures we end up hanging, there's no doubt she's one cute girl!

F.

Wouldn't you agree?
G.

River Merida

River Merida was born at the end of last month, and we are so happy to have her home! Due to jaundice issues, she and I had to go back and stay at the hospital another two nights beyond the first three day stay, and it was really hard on her to not be held very much. She really hated the eye mask she had to wear, because she loves to look around!
Here are some pictures of our little girl in the beautiful blanket my mom made. I like the first one and the fourth one best (because it shows her face the most). Which do you like?
 I was so happy to have this blanket for our pictures, because it's way too cold in our house to even try the traditional naked baby pictures.

26 Weeks

One of the things that's kind of fun about pregnancy is that it's one of the few times that it's socially acceptable to take multiple pictures of yourself without seeming too narcissistic. I know some people don't like to see pictures of themselves, and I usually hate pictures of me taken by other people, but I actually have fun composing them.
The other day, I brought my camera to church so Joseph and I could take a few pictures after everyone left. There is a window with a white curtain that lets in soft lovely light, and I always look at it and think it would make a great place for a photo- all of our curtains at home are patterned or partially blocked by furniture and other objects.
As usual, I got more than I needed, and it's hard to pick a favorite. Also, the light is perfect for a black and white conversion, but I specifically wore a light colored yellow dress for the pictures. I don't know, I'll probably print all of them then be annoyed at myself for printing so many of the "same thing".
First we did some underexposed photos, which I love. The last one is the one I used on facebook:

Then there are some at proper exposure, which show the face more. They have their own ethereal beauty, but aren't as dramatic:

And there were a few that were over exposed; this was the coolest one. I really like it, but doubt it would print like it looks here:

 At one point, Joseph was teasing that he was going to be in the picture so I told him to go ahead, and we actually got one or two fun shots- I might even hang one on the wall. I like the black and white of these, Joseph likes the color.

 So, black and white or color? Over or under exposed? which do you like best?

If you weren't aware...

9 weeks

16 weeks



















20 weeks

 
can't wait to meet our new little girl at the end of December!

Shiny Happy Baby Pics

Many of you have probably already seen Jonah's birth announcement on facebook...this is the "fake" version of it, as this isn't our real last name:


I was really excited to be able to make this for Jonah, as we didn't have photoshop when the other two were born, so we just did announcements with words and included the photo the hospital took. I was impatient for the baby to be born just so I could work on it!

The photo with Joseph was taken at the hospital before the baby was a day old; I loved the silhouette in this and knew I just had to use it. Too bad I didn't quite catch the sun flare I was going for, but I still like it!



My mom was very generous when she was here, and one of the best things she got me was five yards of black fabric so I could take some of these other photos.
I found it more trouble to get good shots than I thought I would. Partly its because I waited till the window light was too dim for my camera, so many of the pictures I got had a little too much blur, or were a bit grainy. (No studio lights here!)
Also, I was trying to hurry before the baby got grumpy and the other kids kept coming in and out of the room. It didn't help that I had this set up on my bed, which was not the most stable of environments- the baby tipped over more than once!
Plus, my babies never were the scrunchy floppy kind of babies. I was trying to get him to scrunch up or lay so still and cute, but my kids like to raise their heads, look around and wave their arms....even at four days old! Guess they take after me.

This is about as scrunchy as he got... definitely not the best of pictures, but I think I'll keep them.




This following picture is the one I used in the announcement; I love that raised eyebrow. He looks a lot like Elora at that age. At first I didn't like that his feet were in the way, but I've decided it makes it unique:





Hey, whats that up there?




Technically speaking, this picture is awful in the way the baby is positioned, but I still like it:



As for this foot shot, I really do love this one! I love that his head is in the shot too. This was also used in the announcement:




Then we had to do the obligatory baby-in-daddy's-hands shot; most of them weren't that great as he was getting fussy (the baby not daddy),



But I did like this one a lot:



And before he got too mad, we got in a few head shots:



Then we realized it was time to be done!

There are a few more variations on all these shots, and I have everything in both color and black and white. Now comes the hard part deciding which ones I'll print to hang on my wall.

I was going to try more the next day, but that was when we had to take him back to the hospital to stay under the bilirubin lights overnight so it didn't happen. I had contemplated doing some with the siblings too, but by the end of that week I was exhausted. Maybe when he's older, or when we do family pictures in the fall?

Oh, finally, I did end up fixing that pretty window picture I posted earlier from the hospital. Here is the before and after:

Birth Story

(scroll down for non-scary pictures)
One week ago......
So Tuesday the 21st of July started out pretty normal. I had taken Elora and Joshua to the free cooking class they have for married students every week, where we had tried a yummy cucumber salad. When we got home, I was letting them play outside for a while, while I sat and talked to one of my neighbors. I think it was around 12:00-12:15 when I stood up and suddenly it felt like I was peeing my pants and I couldn't stop!

I had read all about what its like to have your water break of course, but I wasn't absolutely certain that was the problem here.I asked my friend to keep an eye on the kids while I went in to check. Of course, walking to my stairs the water just kept coming, and when I went in and sat down in the bathroom there was another gush! Yck.
Joseph happened to be home that morning and was in the shower, so I told him what was going on and he finished up quickly! I called the hospital to make sure they wanted me to come in (after all, I wasn't in active labor yet and I'd always gone in at the last minute before). Then with the aid of a towel and a change of clothes, I hurried back out to tell the neighbors what was going on and to arrange for sitters.
Lucky for me, lots of people were outside and everyone was more than helpful. We called my mom who would be making the six hour drive to watch the kids that night, then we hurriedly packed our bags- I had a list of what to bring, but had assumed I'd have a few hours on the big day to actually pack it, so it wasn't ready (even though I'd predicted the birth for that week.)
Joseph told the kids where we were going, and while Elora had been asking about it for days, she was actually more excited to be spending the day with other peoples' kids, and seemed indifferent about the whole thing.
We arrived in our hospital room around 1:00 PM. (did I mention I got my hair cut the weekend before this? Yeah, I was going to do a post about it, but things got busy!)

I wasn't having regular contractions yet, and the ones I was having weren't painful at all, so I was worried this would be a long wait. But when they checked me I was dilated to a three. Yay! We stayed around the room and watched Flight of the Navigator. By four I was having regular contractions 3-5 minutes apart, (if I was home I probably would have started recording them around 3:00, so on my records that is when I'd say labor started.)
At around five, the regular contractions had sort of petered out (I'm sure its because I was in a bed instead of going about my regular day like I would have normally) so they decided to start a low dose of pitocin...which I think was completely unnecessary, but whatever. Almost immediately, the contractions were 1 1/2- 2 minutes apart, and lasting 30 seconds or longer, and now they definitely felt like the real thing!
The staff seemed surprised at my quick reaction and lowered the dosage twice before finally turning it off after 45 minutes, in order to "give me some relief" they said. But they couldn't stop what they'd started. Not only did the contractions continue in the same manner (1.5 minutes apart) they kept increasing in intensity. I know 'cause I was watching the monitor! I told the nurse that this was the point I would have rushed to the hospital if I was at home, meaning I'd probably be ready to push within an hour.
While Elora's birth was supposed to be natural (and it was, up until the c-section after pushing for 2 hrs!) Josh's had been with an epidural, and I had planned to do the same with this baby. When I told them I was ready for the anesthesiologist, they told me to wait ten more minutes and they'd check me again. I don't think they understood our time frame here.
When I asked again, I was informed that he was now attending a c-section and would be another 45 minutes. The staff offered me some medicine through my IV in the meantime. At first I declined because I'd heard bad stuff about that, but in the end I accepted- I should have gone with my first instinct.
The medicine didn't seem to affect the actual contractions at all and just made me tired and dizzy in between- just like my sister said happened to her.
At about 6:45 the doctor checked me again and I was at a six, and the very next contraction I felt myself starting to push, meaning I'd reached a 10! Of course that was when the anesthesiologist poked his head in the room, and he was informed his services were not necessary. As mad as I was at Elora's birth not turning out all "natural" I was just as annoyed at my plans for an epidural being thwarted this time!
The doctor was certain he would deliver the baby on my second push, as he was fairly low down already. But I guess I'm not very good at this pushing thing when it causes more pain. It took about twenty more minutes before little Jonah was born, and this was after the doctor getting a little frustrated with me (I swear I know all about how you're supposed to 'push', its just my dislike of the pain had me doing all the wrong things - I knew it, but couldn't help it!)
In the end, they did use a vacuum extractor like they did with Josh, but I definitely prefer that to the c-section! Afterward, the doctor informed me that he'd not had to raise his voice to a patient that much in all 11 years of his practice. (Strangely, I actually liked this doctor a lot, despite his reprimanding me, and despite my usual aversion to male doctors. Weird.)

Jonah, just after his birth

This is me right after the baby was born.

After all the regular tests on the baby, we were informed that his blood sugar was dangerously low - but really, since when do they check blood sugar on a baby? They gave him a small bottle of formula and monitored him for a while (to my annoyance, since I was going to nurse him and this would mess up his nursing technique).
After checking him again later, they found his glucose levels down again. Luckily, the pediatrition who was on duty knew all about nursing supplimental systems- you know, slipping a small tube into the corner of the baby's mouth while he's nursing with the mother, thus sneaking formula in while he is learning to latch on the right way. I was much happier with this solution!

We had to do that all night, and all the next day until they said his numbers were at a satisfactory level. Sheesh!
Then came the next drama. The day we were going home they did his bilirubin test (you know, jaundice) and said it was pretty high so we should come get it checked again the next day. With Joshua, we'd had to have him checked every day for a week but never had to do lights, so I hoped it wouldn't be any more than that. We went in Friday as planned, and the lab never called us back, so assumed he must be fine.
But Sunday...someone called and said there'd been some mix up (because it was a State holliday, all different staff were there, etc.) and someone should've called us on Saturday, as Jonah's levels were dangerously high. They asked us to come right in that afternoon, and we were informed he'd probably have to stay for a few days!
I was freaking out at this news, as we were just establishing a nursing routine, I'd never been able to pump milk well, and I didn't know what we'd do if I couldn't stay with him! Luckily, our lovely neighbors came to the rescue again and watched the two older kids while we went in to see what was going on.
After wandering around the hospital for half an hour (Joseph had taken the message on the phone and had neglected to write down exactly what doctor had called us or where we were supposed to go!) we found the right place.The doctor there explained the alarming level Jonah's bilirubin was at (if it gets too high, it can cause brain damage) and that he felt they needed to persue agressive light therapy immediately. The take-home lights everyone had told us about were not strong enough, in his opinion.
We were set up in a private room in the pediatric ward. Jonah was in the light bed, while I was allowed to stay in the bed next to him! It was a long night- he couldn't be wrapped up so he was thrashing around a lot, and he hated the little mask on his eyes. In fact, they had it on wrong the first few hours, and every time I'd look over at him he had it pulled off and he was looking around! I was only allowed to take him out every three hours or so to nurse him, and he wouldn't sleep more than 20 minutes at a time. Of course, there was that time around 4AM I took him out and fell asleep with him on me for an hour. Shhhh.
Anyway, by the morning when they tested him, his levels had been reduced dramatically and we were allowed to go home! We had to test him again Tuesday and Wednesday, because they went up again slightly, but now we are supposedly in the clear. Hooray!
His first actual doctors appointment is this next Monday.
Oh here are a few pictures from our first morning after he was born...I was going to edit these and make them nicer ( you know, get rid of the fingerprints on the window etc. But its probably not going to happen!

Baby Pics

Jonah August's first pictures for those who haven't seen these yet....and there are plenty more to come, don't worry. As well as the birth story, of course.