on a lighter note

Maybe this is hard to decipher, but here's Soren helping mommy out by pumping.

Being a big brother is hard work!

the birth story

Hooookay. So here comes the story of Greta's birth, no holds barred. For perspective feel free to start off by reading the story of Soren's birth here: http://iktownsend.blogspot.com/2007/06/soren-carter-made-his-grand-debut-8.html

So despite having announced that I planned on having this baby July 11th the weekend came and went with no sign of anything starting. At my last midwife appointment on my due date I had been 2-3cm dilated and about 50% effaced, so she had stripped my membranes, but to no avail. Sunday I was upset at the prospect of Isaac going back to work on Monday and having to chase Soren around in all my misery. So I tried some of the old-wives tales about things to induce labor- ate half a papaya, a ton a pineapple, did some accupressure on my legs, and went for a long (for a very pregnant woman) walk. Monday morning Isaac got up about 5:00 to get some work done, and I woke up feeling what I thought might be contractions. I tried to stay in bed, but they quickly ramped up to strong enough that I had to get up. I spent some time wondering around, got in the shower for a while, and then when it became apparent that this was it we called my sister Beth to come watch Soren, and called my doula Carey to come over. I got into the downstairs jacuzzi tub at about 7:00 which felt really good. In fact it felt so good that I stayed there until about 10:30. My contractions stayed at about 3 minutes apart and 45 seconds long for pretty much the entire time we were at home, never got longer or closer together, but definitely got more intense. At about 11:30 I decided that I wanted to go to the hospital before the contractions got much worse.

It's too bad there was no one taping the ride to the hospital, because I'm sure we were quite the scene. We stopped at a red light at 50th and France, right next to a bunch of people enjoying their lunch outside at the D'Amico's, and of course right then I had a massive contraction. Next time you see Isaac you should ask him to do his impression of what I looked like screaming in the back seat. Carey suggested that I might be more comfortable leaning over the back seat of our station wagon, so we drove up 100 with me hanging over the back seat screaming. I would have loved to see the faces of drivers passing us.

When we got to the hospital at about 12:15 Isaac dropped Carey and I off and went to park the car. I really didn't want to have a contraction in the lobby and make a big scene, and it's a long walk to the elevators, so I was pretty much running down the hall with Carey chasing me. We got up to labor & delivery and the assessment room where my midwife Karen was waiting, and found out that I was dilated to 7cms! Much better than my progress with Soren! So I ran down the hall to the delivery room and leapt into the tub. I have to say that until we left the house I think I was managing the contractions pretty well. I mean it was no walk in the park, but I was hanging in there. But in the car and when we got to the hospital I started losing it. Isaac, Carey and Karen did a stellar job of getting me back on track and helping me figure out how to manage, but damn was it hard! I didn't last long in the tub at the hospital before I started feeling "pushy". Karen checked and I was 9.5 cms with just a lip of cervix left. So she had me get into some different positions in the bed to try to get past that last little bit. What she didn't tell me was why it was that I was stuck on that last little bit of cervix (foreshadowing!). She also broke my water (the only intervention I ended up getting). There was meconium in the water, so they had to call the NICU to come down and be ready to check her. Although I wasn't quite completely dilated Karen said I could start pushing, which actually felt good. Not good in an enjoyable way, but good in a less excruciating way. I pushed for about an hour, and at 2:20pm Greta Christine was born- sunny side up!! Most babies are born facing down, but Greta came out facing up, which was why she had gotten stuck on my pubic bone for a while. Karen said that she thinks if Greta had not been sunny side up that we wouldn't have made it to the hospital! After a third-degree tear with Soren I only had a small "skid-mark" (sounds nice, huh?) that required one stitch. My recovery has been nothing short of miraculous, the worst was that my tailbone was sore for a day or so, but by day two I was feeling back to normal!

I'm still working on processing the whole experience. Although it obviously went a lot smoother than Soren's birth, I think it was actually harder for me. Isaac disputes this, so we'll see if some distance gives me a different perspective. Right now I'm traumatized enough that the thought of doing that a third time terrifies me, but IF (note the big if) we did I'm not sure if I would do it unmedicated or not. Probably, but damn the thought of it makes me want to invest in a good chastity belt.

family of four

It's amazing how different being a parent of a newborn is the second time around. We have so much less stress/anxiety over the little things. And yet, so much is the same. We still have no magic solutions when Greta is crying for hours on end. And frustratingly we find ourselves dealing with many of the same breastfeeding issues we had with Soren. For whatever reasons Greta lost almost a pound in the first three days, which was over 10% of her birthweight, so we had multiple visits to the pediatrician for weight checks and help from the lactaction consultant. But it seems that we are getting back on the right track, and so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make it work this time.

Soren love love loves his baby sister. He's doing so much better than we had even hoped he would. He is so sweet to her!!

Soren helping push Greta

if our swing breaks you never saw this picture

She's here!! She's here!!!!!

We are so excited to welcome Greta Christine Townsend into our family! She arrived Monday July 13th at 2:20pm after 9 hours of unmedicated labor!! She was 8lbs 12oz and 21" at birth, which is only an ounce smaller than Soren and the same length! We can definately see a resemblence between Greta and Soren, and think that she's a beatiful little girl (although we're pretty biased)!! I will post the full birth story when I have some time and energy, but the short version is that it was a completely different experience than Soren's birth- intense and so difficult, but so much smoother! Soren showed up at the hospital with flowers and a big grin for mom, but is a bit leary of his baby sister. Curious, but would rather observe from a far for now. We head home from the hospital this afternoon!! In the meantime here are a plethora of pictures!

Belly comparison

Here I was thinking that my baby belly with Soren was bigger than this time around somehow. So I took a comparison shot, and maybe not so much! Here I am at 39 weeks pregnant with Soren.... (the view of downtown Chicago/Lake Michigan from our apartment) And here I am today in the same shirt, at 40 weeks 4 days. So not a perfect comparison, but pretty close.

Pretty darn close, eh? Shoot, I'm still hoping that this baby girl will be a little smaller than Soren was!

nom-nom-nom

Cinnamon twists at the Great Harvest bakery in Linden Hills. Yummy!

bow-bow---chick---chicka-chicka

That was the song from Ferris Beuller if you couldn't tell. Not sure why, it just seems appropriate. This is Soren on the bike he got from mom and dad for his birthday. He likes to ding the bell and wave to all the ladies as mom and dad push him around.

swim diaper on the head = comedic gold

4th of July

We were sad to miss out on the annual 4th of July festivities with our friends up at Isle of Pines this year, and it felt a little wrong to not be at a cabin, any cabin, but we did our best to take advantage of our dwindling time as a family of three. The morning of the 4th we headed down the street to the Edina parade, and even though it was sprinkling a bit Soren loved seeing the bands, the horses, and the clowns. Now I should warn you, you're going to have to take my word for it when I tell you he loved all the stuff we did on the 4th, because the kid has developed an uncanny ability to just look stunned when the camera goes off. You'll see it's a reoccuring theme.

How cliche is this picture? (except the non-smiling kid)

After lunch and a nap we headed up to Linden Hills to ride the trolley. I swear the kid was screaming with glee, and then every time the shutter goes off this is his involuntary reaction...

We then took in a concert at the bandshell with the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra. The musical selections were disappointingly unexciting, but Soren still liked waving his flag around and dancing, and munching on a sucker.

Plus, it's hard to argue with a free outdoor concert on beautiful Lake Harriet!

Of course baby girl decided that just because we had sacrificed our weekend plans on the off chance she would come a few days early, she did not want to have her birthday upstaged by fireworks and such every year, so she'll wait thank you very much. Still waiting.

This seems like a great idea, right?

Soren is under the misguided impression that playing baseball in the house (with the saran wrap) is a good idea. Wonder where he gets that? But you have to give him props for his batting stance!

Woah.

Dear Uncle Tom and Aunt Liz,
Thank you so much for the awesome dump truck you left while I was gone. I was so stunned when I saw it that all I could do was repeatedly say "woah". I really love it lots. Thanks.
Smooches,
Soren

Missing Mary

My sister Mary is in Africa for six-ish weeks for work. We miss her lots. Soren did his best to quality check the provisions she packed, including her mosquito net tent.