Final Belly Pic

Case of the Mondays

I think many of my Mondays are going to start off looking like this:



and if that's the case, keep them coming. After this sweet moment, Monday as usual blew up. A couple days before I birthed Matthew, Daniel had a crazy looking bug bite on his foot. It was all red and swollen, but it died down. Shortly after we returned from the hospital, the blister swelled up with fluid and looked creepier than our bug bite tolerance allows, so we had the doctor look at it while also doing Matthew's post-hospital weigh-in. The doctor put Daniel on amoxicillin and prescribed an ointment for the bite. Today, his other foot had two or three new blisters on the outside of his ankle, and his entire ankle was swollen and warm. I've been on the phone with nurses all day trying to get word from the doctor. Turns out, he'd like Daniel to come in this afternoon.

I don't remember bug bites (if that is what these are) being so scary as a kid. Is it just me, or are the bugs bigger and badder than ever? I went outside last night for just a few short minutes and my legs were covered in mosquito bites. I've read several posts from friends about their kids getting enormous welts from bites. If I didn't have a veggie garden, I think I'd just bomb the entire yard for weeds, mosquitoes, ants, feral cats, and squirrels - and shoot, why not douse it in antibiotic hand sanitizer while I'm at it?

Dancing Daniel

Joe grew up Southern Baptist, I grew up a prude. Therefore, between the two of us, we have about ZERO dance moves... that's if you nix the "Jar Jar Binks Walk", the "Rocking Horse", the "Marionette Puppet", Joe's "Fishing Reel with a Strong Chin Jut", and the newest, the "Elbow Trap". If you haven't seen these, consider yourself lucky. As I've said, my hips really don't lie... they don't even tell stories, but somehow in all the dancing ineptitude that courses through our veins, Daniel has decided that he likes to dance. His moves consist of the "Step-in-time Knee Slap", the "Birdie Flap", and "Crazy Legs". See if you can identify them in the video.

Garden Pics

Left to right: huge tomato, Silver Queen corn, red okra, garlic, cantaloupe

Updates:
Joe called me out on "taking it easier" this year... I told him that planting was the easy part and maintenance was where the effort lies. I've been taking it easy on watering and weeding, and it's definitely shown. For the most part, the gardens look good, although weedy, but there are some varieties of plants that haven't been as great as expected. I think the back and forth dry heat and torrential downpours has the soil changing too frequently, which has messed with the tomato production and maybe added to blossom end rot. All the tomato breeds are flowering, but we are still waiting on the Mortgage Lifters to set fruit. Omar's Lebanese aren't what I thought they'd be, and I'm not sure if that is because of the seed source. The reds I saved from last year are producing huge, beautiful tomatoes, so I will definitely be saving those seeds again. Squash is another story. The Butterstick Zucchini was ravaged by vine borers and a fire ant nest. The crookneck squash produced small, disappointing fruit. The Goldbar hybrids are just now beginning to take off. The zucchini produced about five fruits and then quit on me. The corn stalks look great, but the ears are very small (other than the first two I picked, which were gorgeous). I'm not sure if this is from a lack of nutrients or a lack of water. I've been fertilizing monthly. The watermelons dropped their fruit because the soaker hose was jammed and they weren't getting water, but the cantaloupes in the front of the garden (where they get more attention from the hose) look amazing so far. I've increased the watering for all the gardens, which seems to be much appreciated by the plants.

In A Year's Time

Today marks the one year anniversary of the loss of my baby in the twelfth week of pregnancy. It blows my mind how just a year ago I was overcome with such grief, and here a year later I can gaze into the face of this beautiful, healthy one week old baby boy. God's blessings abounded then, and they certainly abound today. I don't have anything particularly poignant to say other than I feel extremely thankful.

Matthew seems aware that he has a big brother to catch up to. He's gaining weight rapidly, the 0-3 month Gerber onesies are a very snug fit, he's rolled over from his belly to his side twice, and he's been finding and sucking on his fingers since the day we brought him home. The tenderness Daniel shows his baby brother warms my heart. Whenever I bring Matthew down from his nap, Daniel cheers, "Beebeeeee!Beebee Matthew!" and then spreads his green blanket on his lap and pats his lap showing me where to place him saying, "Daniel's Matthew". He then leans down in his face and says, "Hi, Beebee!" and rambles off some long string of babble part of which sounds a little like a "hallelujah". Daniel, I fully agree.

He Said, She Said

Daniel: (pointing at the picture on the laptop) EWW! EWW! EWW Penis!

Paige: That's not a penis, that's a belly button.

Matthew Cedar Puckett - Birth Story

Matthew's birth story is so very different from his older brother's. They both begin in the wee hours of the morning with my water breaking and they both end with love and joy, but the middle parts are night and day. I was very satisfied with my first labor, but I knew that Matthew was his own person and I was happy to labor in whatever way worked for the two of us together. My only major request was that this time, as long as circumstances allowed, he be placed immediately on my chest after birth.

Matthew's official due date was Monday, June 14. Since Daniel was born on his due date, I fully expected Matthew to be early or on time and was really hoping for early since my brother's wedding date was June 20 (tomorrow!). The Wednesday evening before my due date, mom arrived into town because I'd let her know I thought there was a possibility he might come in a day or so, but also realized it could be another week. She had to be in Virginia for wedding preparations the following Thursday, so this would give her a week to wait with me and help out with Daniel as I grew more tired and round. It was great having mom stay and it gave me much needed rest, but it also frustrated me to no end when my due date passed on Monday, and then Tuesday also went by with no major changes. I wanted mom to be with me for the birth!

On Wednesday morning, I woke up with a much better attitude and a little more energy that sent us to Target for a quick shop for snacks and toys for the kiddie pool. We played outside for awhile and I took a little rest in the afternoon while Daniel napped. When Joe got off work, we all piled in the Jeep to get dinner at Peace China. Once home, we walked down the street and back where mom was nearly attacked by a dog. Once inside, I could definitely tell I was full-on waddling rather than walking and was feeling fairly achy and tired. Joe gave me a foot rub and we settled in for a new episode of "In Plain Sight" before going to bed.

I woke up around 1 am, went back to sleep, and then woke again at 3 am to a strong contraction and slight gush. Honestly, I wasn't sure if my water had broken or if I wet myself, but there was slight bleeding so I knew that the cervix was changing. I told Joe that I think labor might have started and to go back to sleep as I'd let him know if things picked up. Matthew was still active, and the trickle had stopped. I went downstairs for chocolate milk and a snack before climbing back in bed and timing my contractions for two hours. I drifted back asleep as they tapered off from 10 min to 15 min. I heard Joe ask me around 6 am how the contractions were, and I hushed him. We both slept until 8 am when he got up and showered and left for work.

I called the doctor at 8:30 am when the office opened and told the nurse that I thought my water might have broken, and because of my GBS+ test, I knew that I needed to have labor get under way and be put on antibiotics soon if that were the case. Contraction of GBS by the baby can be very dangerous, although there was little chance he would contract it. I am allergic to penicillin, and my strain of GBS was resistant to all the non-penicillin antibiotics, so they would have to administer a penicillin derivative with a known 10% cross-over reaction at the onset of labor. The nurse told me to come in first thing, so I called Joe who had just turned on his computer and checked his email. He came to pick me up, and we loaded up the Jeep knowing that there was a good chance we'd be sent on to the hospital.

The test strip showed that my water had indeed broken. I was no longer having any contractions and was only 1-2 cm dilated, which led to the doctor saying the one word I had dreaded: pitocin. We drove to McDonald's on the way to the hospital and then checked in with all our bags. I was relatively calm but a little anxious about the antibiotics and pitocin. I had labored naturally with Daniel, and although I was proud to wear that badge, I was fine with the idea of an epidural this time. However, being induced was definitely not something I had seriously thought was in the game plan. In my mind though, the baby's health was far more important than my comfort, so I mentally prepped for the new plan.

Around 11 am I was hooked up to the IV and started on antibiotics. Everything seemed fine for the first few minutes until my scalp became intensely itchy. This was followed by my rib cage, my palms and finally between my legs. I was clearly reacting to the drugs, so we knew I needed to have this baby in 12 hours to avoid a second dose of the drug.

The pitocin was started around 12 pm, and it took good long while before my contractions became regular. Eventually they were 3 minutes apart and growing in intensity. I was breathing well through them. I turned off the tv and asked Joe to turn on the music I requested (Alexi Murdoch) and I sat in the bed with my back straight up and my feet almost touching in front of me. As the notes filled the room, I silently wept inside at the beauty and intensity of the moment. The second song, "Breathe" was so appropriate and I enjoyed his soft voice as it sang, "In the quiet of the shadow,/ In the corner of a room/ Darkness moves upon you/ Like a cloud across the moon./ You're a-wearing all the silence/ Of a constant that will turn/ Like the windmill left deserted/ Or the sun forever burn/ So don't forget to breathe/ Don't forget to breathe/ Your whole life is here/ No eleventh hour reprieve/ So don't forget to breathe." I rocked to the music in between contractions and then swayed to the sound of Matthew's heartbeat while I blew loud shallow breaths with my chin dropped to my chest as the contractions took over my body before tapering off.

At 4:30 pm, my cervix was between 3 and 4 cm. With my previous labor, I came to the hospital at 7 cm with 3 and 4 minute contractions. Realizing that was only half that far along caused me a little panic. Mom, Joe and I discussed the epidural and we all agreed that I was doing great but that it would be really helpful to be able to relax some in the case that the pitocin needed to be punched up again (as they had been doing every 30 minutes until then) or if this carried on for hours longer. At 5 pm, I requested the epidural, and the fluids were sped up. I also requested the pitocin be kicked back a notch just so I could deal with the hour wait until the relief would come.

Shortly before 6 pm, I had an enormous contraction and felt my waters fully burst. I bypassed the bedpan at this point laughing at how I was already fully drenched anyhow. Right after this, the anesthesiologist with very poor bed manners and the swiftest hands hooked me up in nearly 3 minutes. I was amazingly still for my contraction, so he decided to do the whole deal in one fell swoop. After several contractions the pain was only mild, but I could still feel the pressure of the contractions, which seemed to have taken over my entire abdomen pushing from the top down.

Dr. Seidel arrived around 7 pm wearing cargo shorts and a polo (I think he was coming from his kids' swim meet), and when checking my cervix said that he couldn't find the cervix and that Matthew was at -1 station. He asked me to give a tiny push and exclaimed, "Wait! Not -1, Paige, don't push!" and sent the nurses rushing to get the room ready as he scrubbed up. I told him, "Don't forget the goggles!" I was amazed that I had transitioned from 4 cm to 10 cm in only 1 hour! I asked Joe to support my left leg and mom to support my right leg. While the pain was nearly gone, I tried hard to tune into my body's cues to push and reached down deep to give it all I had. As I pushed, Joe and mom helped pull back my legs and cheer me on. A nurse braced my back, while yet another helped thrust my legs back more. Several times I was told to back off as Dr. Seidel helped Matthew turn once his head was out.

Within three or four contractions with 3 or 4 pushes each, Matthew easily came out at 7:32 pm without causing any tearing and was immediately placed on my chest. He was warm and wet and felt like he might slide right off! The nurse pat him dry as I held him, looking in amazement at this tiny face and body I'd never seen but been so close to for nearly a year. We all marveled at his full head of dark waxy hair. I quickly pulled him up to breastfeed and he did very well. The nurse asked me to let her know when I was ready to have him weighed and measured, but told me I could take my time. After awhile, I handed him over. Matthew was just 2 oz heavier than his brother - 7lbs, 13 oz - and the same length - 20 inches.

His name Matthew means "Gift from God" and Cedar represents strength. Scripture refers to the Cedars of Lebanon many times, one of which is in Psalm 92, "12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

40 Weeks Going on 7 Months

Today is the little one's due date. With no signs of impending labor, I sent Joe back to work and mom, Daniel and I are going to face another day of North Carolina humidity and heat in the kiddie pool. I still regularly get comments from strangers about how I look like I'm only six months pregnant (thanks to my Go-Go-Gadget torso), which definitely beats the alternative of being relegated to compression hose and moo moos, but does nothing towards encouraging me that I'll be holding a new baby soon. I seriously considered taking this *final* belly pic with a doo-rag, pipe, and empty beer bottle in my hand, but I'm keeping it classy in the purple "wife-beater" and sweats instead. Happy due date to me! Here's to hoping there's not a 41 week belly pic!

Good Fortune

Belly Pic, 39 Weeks

Tons of Pics

So in a desperate effort to make myself feel less like a delinquent over-ripe pregnant mother who would prefer to sit on the couch and sigh, I took Daniel outside and took tons of phone pics of him playing and things growing.


1) Watermelons 2) Big tomato 3) Cars 4) "Mommy, draw a red car!" 5) Corn and okra plot 6) Squash and garlic 7) Joe's grill 8) Number activities on the laptop 9) "Mommy, push the car!" 10) Corn silk

The Last 2 out of 40 Defined

A lot of interesting things go down in the final two weeks of pregnancy. There are 11 days until my due date, and I have spent a little too much time paying attention to clues that might as well be as accurate as a 10 day weather report. Let's define some of those.

Braxton Hicks Contractions. Who is John Braxton Hicks, and why on earth would a dude name a practice labor contraction after himself? I find that a little presumptuous if not just downright creepy. I have these often - usually at night ranging from 5 minute to 30 minute intervals.

Mucus Plug. If any pregnant woman ever brings up this topic, cover your ears and hum a little ditty until she gets the idea that you just simply don't want to know. I think pregnant ladies like to talk about them to make people as uncomfortable as they feel. My doctor today said that a patient actually saved hers and brought it in for him to see. He promptly told her to put it away.

38 Week Cervix Check. I flat out asked my doctor why they bothered checking since most likely the cervix wouldn't be dilated beyond 3 cm, and 3 cm can last for weeks. He said some women have been known to be in labor and not realize it. He had one patient come in very dilated and sent her to the hospital where she delivered 9 minutes later. Thanks to you crazies out there, the rest of us are getting needlessly prodded. By the way, I am currently 1 cm.

Dropping. It's when the baby starts settling down farther into the pelvis. Frankly, mine drops during the day and climbs back up into my lungs in the morning. People love to say, "Wow, you've really dropped!" I had an older gentleman three weeks ago tell me I was about to "drop that baby." Thank you, older gentleman.

Nightmares. Maybe this isn't as common, but darn it if I don't keep getting chased, having to walk on ice and broken glass barefooted, and going into labor completely unprepared. This my friends is fear of the Contraction Man. When I was actually in labor with Daniel and hallucinating because of my first ever dose of Ambien, I told Joe, "I keep trying to hide from the Contraction Man, but he keeps finding me!"

Name That Pest

Two quick questions: 1) What is that bug? 2) Why are my peaches not fuzzy?

Answers:

1) Thanks to Emily's help, the bug has been identified as the Milkweed Assassin Bug, Zelus longipes, nymph. They do bite humans, and from what I've read, it can be painful!

Quick Facts (from Texas AgriLife Extension Service)

Common Name: Milkweed Assassin Bug
Genus / Species: Zelus longipes
Size: 1/2 inch
Type of Beneficial: Insect predator
Type of Metamorphosis: Immature stages are similar in appearance to adult stage (i.e., simple metamorphosis)
Beneficial Stage(s): Immatures (known as nymphs) and adults
Prey: Wide variety of prey including flies, caterpillars, beetles, mosquitoes, etc.

2) I think we must have picked up a white nectarine rather than a peach tree - either because the tree was labeled incorrectly or we just got disheveled trying to pick out the healthiest looking tree. I don't know. It was tree we purchased over a year ago.