Emily Frogley

Any day now...

2009-08-23T14:19:00.002-06:00

So, as of today, I am 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant. As of my last check-up (last Wednesday), I'm 4cm, 50% effaced, with a VERY soft and VERY anterior cervix (right up front). So, basically, I have no idea why labor hasn't started yet. I'm feeling like a ticking time bomb... but the timer is missing so I have no idea when things are going to start. Also, during my last two births I went from 5cm to baby in about an hour... so this could be interesting. :)

On Friday (two days ago), I asked K if it would be okay for the boys to come "tonight or tomorrow." She said, "How about Sunday?" Well... Sunday is here... so far, absolutely nothing has happened... then again, I didn't have any contractions with D until 3:30pm, and she was born just before 11pm... and my labor with C was only 2 1/2 hours, and it's only 2:30pm right now... so I guess we still have plenty of time for these boys to come today. I'm just getting anxious and bored.

I was nesting like crazy yesterday. I made up a long list of tasks for me, and another long list for Dave... and we both finished them!! Our house has been scrubbed & vacuumed... laundry is done and everything is folded and put away except for one load of towels. I finished my before-baby sewing projects, and we installed the boys' carseats. Now the waiting begins...

The tough part is that even though I seem to be progressing already, it could still be another week or two. Based on *MY* dates, each of my girls came around 39weeks... and even though I'm carrying twins this time and there's a greater chance that they'll come early... it's not guaranteed... they could decide to wait until September. :P

So, for those of you who read this... don't worry, I will let you know when the babies come. You don't need to call me or email me or text me... if I haven't called you, or texted you, or emailed you, or posted here... the babies are not here yet. Trust me... I'm just as anxious as you are.

Time for an update

2009-07-17T14:07:00.002-06:00

Well, we're now officially 7 months pregnant with twins. :) I'm now measuring bigger than I ever have (43cm at 31 weeks), though I'm still not as heavy as I've ever been (though I did gain 7lbs in the last 3 weeks!!). The boys appear to be doing quite well, and we're going in for a second ultrasound on the 27th to double check everything.

We just got back from vacation very late Tuesday night (actually, very early Wednesday morning). We went to visit family & friends in California, Oregon & Washington and had a wonderful two weeks. I'll be posting pictures of our adventures soon. Thankfully, the trip was mostly uneventful in terms of the pregnancy... I did swell up during our driving days and had cankles for a few days, but extra water and keeping my feet up got everything back to normal pretty quick.

We're also moving this week... back into our old basement apartment. We decided just before we found out we were having twins that it might be nice to move to a smaller place to save money. Turns out, our basement apartment was available, and is in our current ward, and is $200/month cheaper than what we're currently paying... plus, it has new windows, a new-er refridgerator, and the new landlords (our old landlords moved to Indiana) painted over all the woodwork in white, so the whole place is even better than it was when we lived there before. :)

I'm starting to stress over the move, but only because I see so many things that need to be done, and I can't do any of it... I'm using some good self control though, and not doing any lifting. I did pack two boxes yesterday... but they were full of stuffed animals. :)

Well we weren't expecting this...

2009-04-27T14:08:00.002-06:00

Though we did have some suspicions. As many of you know, we had our ultrasound last Monday (the 27th), we were very excited to find out the gender of this baby, as well as figure out if my dates were really correct (I was extremely certain, but all my measurements were off)...

Turns out, my dates are dead on... measuring was off because...

We're having TWINS!!!! Both boys too!!!

I'm still kind of in shock, and a feeling like I'll be waking up from a dream (or nightmare) any moment...

I'm working on getting the ultrasound pictures uploaded so I can post them... but we're having issues... I'll get them up as soon as I can.

Silly Sayings

2009-04-08T09:43:00.003-06:00

K has just been cracking me up today... everything she says has been adorably funny... mostly because she's being totally serious.

Here's two brief examples:

K - "Mommy, this bag has some toothbrushes and some toothpaste and some sloth in it!"
Me - "Sloth?"
K - "Yea, sloth... for slothing your teeth, like this." (Proceeds to pretend to floss her teeth)

Me - "C, come over here, you con't have a diaper on."
K - "Yea, she only has a bottom on."

Also, yesterday we went to the library and the girls picked out some books. D was looking at her book in the car, and K was explaining all the pictures to her. She kept referring to the main character as a "calipiter." I thought that was really cute, but then I couldn't remember what the actual word was... I kept saying it over and over, trying to remember what the correct word was. I finally had to turn around and look at the book D was holding to see "Caterpiller" printed on the cover. I guess that's what I get for spending 98% of my time with preschoolers & toddlers, with no adult conversation. (eye roll)

Duct Tape

2009-04-07T18:47:00.003-06:00

I was just randomly browsing facebook and came across this pic on my brother's profile... It cracked me up so much that I copied it. :) I figured that was okay, since I'm sure he copied it from somewhere too. :)

New Camera Fun

2009-03-27T13:17:00.003-06:00

So, a few weeks ago the girls were playing with our camera (which they were not supposed to be doing) and dropped it. I just put it up high for a while, but when I went back to it, I realized that something in the lens/zoom mechanism got jammed during the drop and the camera won't turn on at all. We figured it would cost more to fix than a new camera, so we decided to just replace it. The camera we had was almost 4 years old, and had 5.1mp. I decided the main things I was looking for in a new camera were: at least 5mp and video capabilities with audio. We found the same make camera that we had, with 10mp, and everything else I wanted, for less than half the price we paid for the old one 4 years ago. We also found a new 4GB memory card for it on sale for only $14... so... drumroll please... here's a pic of our new camera.

And here's some of our first pictures with the new camera: (The girls had their hair in braids the day before... can you tell?) *Also, I apologize if these take forever to load... they're pretty big.

So, we've played around with the new camera a few times since we got it, but today I thought I'd take advantage of it to get a good pic of the beginning baby belly. Here's one with my jeans on, and one with pj's on. The one with jeans on turned out a bit blurry because the camera was having trouble focusing in the mirror... but you can still see it. :) Here's frog baby #4 at 15weeks3days:

The other day I locked myself in the office while I was on the phone with Stacey so I could hear the conversation. The girls were all screaming at me, and Christine in particular wouldn't leave me alone, but she also wouldn't nurse, so I went in the office to finish the conversation. Anyway, when I opened the door again, this is what I found:

And just now, while I was going through pictures on the memory stick to find the ones I wanted to use, I found that Kathryn had gotten a hold of the camera at some point and taken these pictures. :)

My girls are funny. Anyway, now that we have a working camera again, maybe I'll remember to post more pictures on here. :)

ScreamFree Parenting

2009-03-24T10:26:00.002-06:00

So, I've been very frustrated with my attempts at gentle discipline recently. I'm sure a large portion of my frustration has come from first-trimester hormones, and lack of energy... but I really shouldn't be blaming everything on that... I still want more kids and I would hate for my kids to equate mom's first trimester with nastiness.

So, I went on Amazon and looked up a bunch of books on gentle discipline and parenting, and put them on my wishlist. Then, being the frugal (ie. cheap-o) mom that I am (also the stay-at-home wife of a poor, starving Master's student), I found several of them at the local library and put them on hold (since nearly all of them were already checked out). The very first one to become available was "ScreamFree Parenting" by Hal Runkel.

I picked up the book Wednesday evening, and finished it Friday afternoon. I LOVED this book. The whole concept of the book is that you really have no control over your children, you cannot force them to do anything. So, instead of focusing on everything they're doing wrong, and how you're such a bad parent because of the choices they make... we should be focusing on our own choices (as in, our choice to remain calm no matter what our children try to do to us). If we focus on our own choices, and try to set a good example for our children, we don't worry as much about what choices they make, and realize... it is their choice to make. There are still consequences for the kids choices, but I don't feel a need to take the offense personally.

Example: last night Kathryn was obviously tired at dinner time. We had a late dinner for various reasons and Ryn had already complained that she was feeling sick. As I set the table (because she refused to help... different story), she threw her fork across the table because "it was the wrong one." I tried to calmly explain that the fork she wanted was in the dishwasher (which was running at the time) and could not be used. I explained that she could use the fork I provided, choose another one from the drawer, or simply not eat. She chose to sit at the table and cry to daddy about the fork she wanted. He gave her the same options I had just given her. At that point she started SCREAMING at him. Dave and I both decided that was a "go to your room" type of scream, so we carried her to the top of the stairs and shut the gate (since she refused to go to her room, and we have no way to lock her in her room). Dave and I then went back downstairs and ate dinner with the other girls. The entire time we ate, Kathryn continued to scream at us (even screaming that she wanted to come down because she was ready to be happy). I felt bad that she was missing out on dinner, but I didn't feel bad about screaming at her because I didn't scream. I was totally calm and in control of myself the whole time, and I recognized that Ryn's consequence was her choice... it was her choice to throw the fork and scream at us, so she was the one who had to deal with that consequence.

The whole experience was quite refreshing and I didn't have tons of guilt for losing my temper with her, which made me feel much better and more able to handle other little issues with the other girls that evening.

Overall, I highly recommend "ScreamFree Parenting" for anyone who wants/needs to stay in control a bit more.

4 months later...

2009-02-27T13:06:00.002-07:00

So, I finally decided to update this thing. :) We've had a crazy few months and I just haven't gotten around to blogging. We finally sold our contract, and moved to a smaller townhome Thanksgiving week. It was a fast move, but it was over pretty quickly. We had a wonderful Christmas with our little family and then spent a super relaxing week with Dave's family in Logan.

Shortly after returning home from Logan we got some fun news... baby #4 will be joining us in mid-September! We're really excited, but I've been super nauseous and I've been having a hard time moving in the mornings. I'm currently just over 11 weeks... so I'm counting on being done with feeling like crap sometime in the next 3 weeks or so... hopefully less.

At the end of January, I was able to help Jami during her labor and my girls finally got their first cousin, and I'm finally an Aunt! Baby Addison was born January 31st at 12:25pm, and weighed 7lbs1oz. Jami had a long, difficult labor, but she did awesome!

Now we're just focusing on trying to settle into our new place a bit more. The older girls are mostly potty-trained, though they often have difficulty remembering to go on their own. We're also working on night-time issues.

Christine just started signing back to us this past week (finally). She's been responding to signs when we sign to her, and she obviously understands when we talk to her.. but she just hasn't made an effort to sign back to us... until now. She started signing milk and more, and now she folds her arms during prayer, and just today she signed potty to me... and was very excited about it. I think it's really time to start signing everything to her, since she seems to be able to pick up everything pretty quick right now.

Dave started school in January, and was having a really hard time for a while. He seems to be adjusting pretty well at this point, and just passed mid-terms. I know he's got another project or two that he's concerned about during the rest of semester, but he's almost done with the first semester of grad school!

I've been working on as many of my 101/1001 goals as possible... but since we made the decision to go back to school... several of my goals became unrealistic, so I obviously won't get them done (like buying a house sometime before next April, or paying off our student loans). I'm still trying to get as many of them done as I can, and I'll probably be starting another 101/1001 list next April or May, after the first one finishes.

Cloth Diaper Info (finally)

2008-11-04T09:14:00.006-07:00

All right... due to repeated demanding... here's my cloth diaper story.

I was given a year supply of disposables as a baby gift when Kathryn was born. That one year supply ended the day Danielle was born and we went from not buying diapers, to buying diapers for two (and two different sizes). About five months later I spent $80 at Costco on two boxes of diapers which I estimated would last 5-6 weeks. I decided that was way too expensive and emailed a good friend of mine who cloth diapered. I had previously told her that was awesome, but something I would NEVER do. Now I begged her to help me figure out cloth diapering because there was no way I could afford disposables much longer.

With her help, I bought some Chinese Prefolds online, and a few covers to start. I was also interested in pocket diapers and bought some DryBees (cheaper than fuzzibunz, or happy heinys). I refused to use pins, so we snappied our prefolds.

Those first few months of cloth diapering I learned a lot. I learned that you can't leave kids in cloth as long as you can leave them in disposables, I learned that my husband avoided snappi's and prefered the pocket diapers (as long as I had pre-stuffed them), and I learned that I hated un-stuffing the pocket diapers before I washed them. I started experiementing with AIOs (all-in-ones) and had the same complaints as most people... AIOs don't absorb as much as other options, or they take forever to dry. After trying several different types of diapers, I finally decided that the diaper I wanted didn't exist... and if it did, it would cost way too much... unless I made it myself.

So... I bought some diaper fabric and started sewing. I created my own pattern, but I can't completely claim the design because it's a combination of a lot of the diapers I tried (and some I just saw online). For my diapers, I use PUL (polyurethane laminate) for the outer, waterproof layer, Suedecloth for the inner, wicking layer (so baby feels drier), and bamboo fleece as the middle absorbent layer. I also use Aplix fasteners because I prefer the velcro-like closures (and Aplix is much stronger). Here's a pic of all the materials (I've already cut everything).

On the left is the PUL (this one is Sage green), with the Aplix pieces and size tag on top of it. In the middle is the bamboo fleece and on the right is the suedecloth, one piece to cover the diaper inner, and one piece to cover the bamboo flap that I make. I also use Lastin clear elastic (not pictured), just because I think it cleans better than some, and I think it's pretty easy to work with.

This picture shows the diapers all put together with the flaps opened. Each flap is two layers of bamboo fleece, so when they're folded up there's 4-6 layers of absorbent material, but when put in the wash there's only two layers at a time to clean and dry. From left to right they are extra small, small and medium. I don't put a front flap in the extra small because young infants don't pee that much. Here you can also see the velcro closures folded back on the "laundry tabs" so they don't stick to each other in the wash.

This picture shows the same diapers with the flaps closed. On the top flap is a layer of suedecloth to help little ones feel drier. On the diapers with the front flap I have the option of folding this layer of suedecloth in first and putting the other flap on top. This can help toddlers feel when they wet, and ideally help potty-learn earlier.

Here's all the diapers folded up. And below are two pics of my kids wearing the diapers. I prefer lower-rise than some, so I made my diapers that way on purpose... a lot of cloth diapers have a higher rise and sit closer to the belly button. The white diaper is a small and worn by my 2 1/2 year old (who normally wears mediums now) and the blue diaper is a medium worn by my 3 1/2 year old. I tried to get a couple of pics of my then 9 month old in extra smalls and smalls, but she wouldn't hold still long enough... go figure. *Note: my 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old are pretty much potty trained now, I just put these diapers on them so you all could see them. :)

My extra smalls fit my baby starting at about 6 weeks, and they still fit mostly, but she's a heavy wetter and the smalls are better suited for her now. The smalls started fitting when she was about 6 months and still almost fit my 2 1/2 year old. The mediums fit from about 18 months until 3 1/2 years.

***Special Note: My children are very tiny and have very tiny bums... When I was using prorap covers the medium covers were too big on my then 2 year old, unless I was using two premium prefolds.

Feel free to ask me any questions. I have several resources I can share if you need... I just don't have time to post everything right now, so it'd be easier if y'all just let me know what you want. :)

And We're Moving... AGAIN (help!)

2008-10-20T20:14:00.002-06:00

So, as I mentioned previously, Dave was accepted to grad school, and we need to cut expenses by finding a cheaper place to live. Our contract here doesn't end until February 09, so we're stuck here until then... UNLESS we can find someone to buy our contract... which is why we have an ad posted for our home on craigslist, ksl, and byu housing.

This is where you all come in. If everyone who reads this forwards our ad link to everyone they know... who in turn forward it to everyone they know... you get the idea... eventually it would find someone who wants a gorgeous twin home in a great neighborhood, and wants it in the next 3-4 weeks... or at least sometime before Feb 09. :)

Here's the like to the KSL listing... it's the one with the most pictures. :)

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=4567159&cat=

Thanks y'all!!

Coming Soon: Cloth diaper info. :)

2008-10-10T14:14:00.002-06:00

I've had a lot of questions about my cloth diapers recently, so I'm planning to put together a post on my homemade AIOs and other cloth diaper stuff... I'm also happy to answer any specific questions anyone has...

However... my sister is getting married next Thursday (which involves major family gatherings three different days next week), my family is coming into town today, I'm teaching in Relief Society on Sunday, and next Saturday (two days after the wedding) I'm hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law... In addition to that, we're taking a break from life tomorrow and taking the girls to the Zoo, all while we're trying to get our house ready so we can sell our lease and move to a cheaper place while Dave is in grad school.

Which reminds me... I don't think I posted about that. :) Dave was officially accepted into BYU's Computer Science Master's program. He's starting in January. We're pretty excited, but trying to find ways for him to finish as quickly as possible, including moving someplace much cheaper so he can cut back on hours at work.

Overall... I'm definitely going to post about my cloth diapers... I actually already took a bunch of pics. :) Unfortunately, y'all will have to wait until after the 18th...

Wanted: Bosom Friend

2008-10-08T10:38:00.003-06:00

Anne tipped the vase of apple blossoms near enough to bestow a soft kiss on a pink-cupped bud, and then studied diligently for some moments longer.
"Marilla," she demanded presently, "do you think that I shall ever have a bosom friend in Avonlea?'
"A--what kind of friend?"
"A bosom friend--an intimate friend, you know--a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost soul. I've dreamed of meeting her all my life. I never really supposed I would, but so many of my loveliest dreams have come true all at once that perhaps this one will too. Do you think it's possible?"

-- Anne of Green Gables VIII

I've been feeling quite lonely lately. When we moved to Oregon last year I had a hard time finding people with similar interests as me. Moms were either members of the church and followed mainstream parenting beliefs, or followed attachment parenting but had completely different religious convictions. Now that we're back in Utah and I'm back with my close-knit group of friends, I'm still feeling like an outsider. I've always felt it was important to have close friends who have similar beliefs and values as me, so that I am free to express myself. I'll admit that Dave is my true Bosom Friend, the only person who really knows me, and the only one I would ever "confide my inmost soul" to... but it would still be nice to have a mom friend who thought like me... surely they must exist.

I've catagorized my values, beliefs and practices to four main areas: religion, parenting, natural living and politics. I've been able to find people with my same beliefs in two or maybe thre of those four areas, but never all four.

Consider this my personals ad for a bosom friend... or at least closer friends. :-)

--------------------------------------------------------------

1. Religion

I'm a proud, active, member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I was raised in the church, so were my parents, and so were their parents.

I attended BYU where I met my husband (Dave), and I've dreamed all my life of becoming a mother with a large family (6-8ish).

Incredibly boring, I know... but I'm more interesting in other ways. :-) I must also point out that a bosom friend does not need this same background... just similar values & beliefs.

2. Parenting

I follow Attachment Parenting philosophies & Gentle Discipline techniques. Following these I:

--birth naturally (two drug-free hospital births, one birth-center water-birth, plan to homebirth the next one)

--co-sleep

--babywear

--breastfeed for two years (though my first was bottle-fed from 4 months on), currently I have been tandem nursing for 9 months

--select/delay vax (none of my children have been vaccinated at this point)

--won't circumsise if we're ever blessed with a boy

--discipline gently & respectfully... or at least try really hard to

--plan to homeschool

3. Natural Living

I feel I am doing my part to help the environment, but I must acknowledge that this is not the reason for my choices. Honestly... as I may touch on in the politics section, I'm not really concerned about the environment... I make the choices I do because I feel better physically, and because they cost less. These choices include:

--cloth diapering - I make my own cloth diapers because they cost less, and are just as easy as disposable on a daily basis... however, I use disposables for vacations because there is no way I want to drive anywhere with soiled diapers in the car, and I'm not spending vacation time doing laundry if I don't have to. :)

--organic meals - I'm working harder to eat healthy and we usually avoid prepared meals and fast food if possible. However, the outrageous cost of "organic" usually prevents me from going all organic. Also, we like to occasionally splurge on Wendy's, Panda Express & Jamba Juice. ***At this point, I must also confess that I am a chocoholic. I am unashamedly addicted to semi-sweet & milk chocolate. I also have an extreme weakness for Reese's peanut butter in all its forms. ***

--supplements, vitamins - I use one protien powder added to fruit smoothies in the morning... if I remember to make smoothies, but other than that, I don't like adding anything to food or taking any supplements or vitamins... this is mostly because they taste horrible. My mother-in-law insists that you can add some substances to juice, etc and down them that way... however, my husband still has horrible memories of some nasty flavored grape & orange juices, and I would have to agree... I believe it's more important to eat healthy things that taste good rather than hating to eat/drink supplements, etc that taste horrible.

--natural toiletries (shampoo, deodorant, etc) - Here is one area we scrimp on... we buy the cheapest shampoo & soap, the best tasting toothpaste, and the best smelling deodorant.

4. Politics

Here's the area where I differ from most of my UtahValleyAP friends... that's right ladies, it's time for me to come out of the closet. I'm a Republican. Actually, at heart I'm a Capitalist... but the Republican party is as close as I can get to that. I'm not particularly fond of McCain (I was seriously rooting for Romney), but I really don't like Obama, or any of the previous democratic candidates.

I don't like debating in general... but I especially don't like political debates. When people begin any political discussion, I usually just sit quietly and listen to the arguments, or ignore them completely.

I will admit that I don't usually do a ton of research on candidates or issues before I vote... it just doesn't interest me. However, listening to all the recent discussions during playgroups & things, I am leaning even further to the republican platform... and ironically, my main reasons for doing so seem to be my friends' main reasons for voting democrat.

Case in point: When Palin was named as McCain's running mate, Shannon was explaining to our homeschool group all the reasons she didn't like Palin... yet every reason she gave for not liking Palin, was a reason I would like her. The argument I remember most was that Palin said that the global warming issue was not caused by humans, but was a result of the earth's natural cycles of warming & cooling.... I hate to say it guys, but I agree with Palin on this one.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Now, as I'm writing this, I must also admit that I do have one friend who agrees with me on almost every point... the only problem at this moment is that she won't be birthing her first baby until January, so most of the parenting things she agrees with in theory, but not in practice... yet...

Jami... currently you're the closest thing I've got to a bosom friend. I will be very sad and lonely when you guys move next summer.

Some days it's a relief to see only one line.

2008-09-10T13:06:00.003-06:00

Seriously... what is it about graham crakers that turns them to goo and then cement when mixed with infant saliva?

So, given my fertility history and my uncanny ability to get pregnant when I least expect it and therefore can't calculate a reliable due date (Christine's due date jumped from December 10th to January 2nd, and just about everywhere in between), I've started taking pregnancy tests about once a week... just in case I do get pregnant again... I'll have some idea of when it happened. (I discovered that the dollar store tests are surprisingly accurate... they told me I was pregnant with Kathryn and Christine... I didn't use any test when I got pregnant with Danielle... I just knew.)

Today my kids have been restless. Our trip to the dentist yesterday went pretty well... Danielle refused x-rays... but accepted the cleaning... Kathry did great with the hygenist and was only slightly anxious when the dentist checked her... overall... 2 adults + 2 kids = 0 cavities (yay)... but because we skipped playgroup at the park for their appointments... the girls are all anxious to run (this includes Christine who is just gaining enough balance to stand without holding onto anything... about three months earlier than either of her sisters).

So, I'm going a little crazy. I'm finally caught up on laundry, and almost caught up on dishes. But, because I've spent the morning folding clothes, the family room is now buried in a foot of toys (in spite of the fact that it was empty when I vacuumed it this morning), there is a lovely finger-paint picture on the kitchen table done in yogurt, my kids are begging for lunch (even though we ate breakfast less than two hours ago), and the girls are now hiding in my closet trying on Dave's hats and playing with the stuffed animals I confiscated last week. Oh yea... and they're probably all leaking because we're still trying to potty-train, two of them are in training pants, and no one has been to the bathroom or changed in the last 4 hours.

Don't get me wrong... I love my kids and I love being a mother. I do want more children, someday... after Kathryn and Danielle have potty-trained, and after Danielle has weaned (I absolutely refuse to nurse two children through another pregnancy... and I will NOT nurse three at once)... maybe we'll wait until Christine graduates from college...

Today, I was quite grateful to see only one line on that pregnancy test.

My husband loves me.

2008-09-04T10:27:00.003-06:00

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while...

Several days ago I was sitting at home (much like I am now) in PJs, unshowered, avoiding the house cleaning, and hoping my girls weren't destroying anything... at least not too much. I was having a really hard time getting motivated to do anything. I decided I needed a reward to myself to provide the necessary motivation...

After wandering around the house for another 10 minutes, I remembered that Dave had bought me some chocolate the other day and I'd left it sitting on top of the fridge. When I went to check on it, I found TWO candy bars... just enough to get me through the day. :) I set a timer for 10 minutes and cleared off the kitchen table... then I ate a piece of chocolate. Then I set the timer for 15 minutes and cleaned my bedroom and remade my bed... then I had another piece of chocolate...

By the time Dave got home from work, the house was clean... all thanks to a husband who loves me and knows me well enough to bring me chocolate. :)

Unfortunately... I ate all my chocolate and now have no motivation left... hence the pjs, unwashed hair, messy house, and time to write this blog.

Portraits!!

2008-07-30T12:37:00.002-06:00

We went to JC Penney's a few weeks ago and took pictures. Here's the results. :)

Kathryn & Danielle's Births

2008-05-23T09:51:00.002-06:00

Caution... LONG...

Kathryn-
My mother had seven children, four natural, three with epidurals. She claims that anyone who has had epidurals every time has not experienced childbirth (though she enjoyed her epidurals). So, I decided to have at least one un-medicated birth, if for no other reason than to prove to my mother that I was not a wimp. When I told my OB I wanted to have an un-medicated birth, she recommended HypnoBirthing as an option I should look into. My husband and I discussed our options (Bradley, Lamaze, nothing…) and finally decided to give HypnoBirthing a try.

So, my guess date was May 23, but we all hoped I would go early and she would be born on the 21st and share a birthday with my father. I was born on my grandfather’s birthday so we though that could be a nice tradition to carry on. My mother flew in to help with everything on the 20th and I took castor oil that night to try to induce labor. Saturday the 21st I woke up with some contractions that were fairly regular, so we went to the hospital. They monitored me for an hour and determined that I was having contractions but I wasn’t progressing at all. The baby was still floating and she wasn’t putting enough pressure on my cervix to cause it to dilate. So we went home. That afternoon my mom and I walked about 2 miles to campus and back (my husband is still a student) hoping that would help start things. That didn’t work. Apparently this baby had her own plans.

My mother and I had a nice few days together. Then we found out that my sister needed help moving that weekend. So on Wednesday the 25th, my mother flew to Colorado and spent a few days there helping my sister move. Still no sign of the baby. My mother flew back Sunday morning to wait until the baby came. I felt bad that she had already been gone so long, so that night I took castor oil again, since I was now six days late.

Monday morning around 3:30 am, my water broke. We’ve pretty much decided now that it had nothing to do with the castor oil. We found out later that there was a thunder storm during the night. I’m pretty sure it was the pressure change from the storm that caused my water to break. Anyway, I was asleep in bed when my water broke. I sort of felt a pop, just one split-second, intense pressure. As soon as I felt it, I knew exactly what had happened. I jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom. I didn’t quite make it to the toilet before the fluid gushed out. That was my confirmation. I cleaned up and went back to our bedroom. I turned on the light so I could find some clean clothes. That woke Dave up and he asked if everything was all right. I told him everything was fine and that my water had broken. He asked if I was serious. I said I was and that this was really “it.” When I told him what time it was he asked why the baby couldn’t have waited another two or three hours. It’s kind of funny how we’d been waiting nine months, plus an extra week, and when the birthing finally started, Dave wanted to sleep. Anyway, we got up, got ready, and told my mother we were leaving.

As soon as my water broke, contractions began. They weren’t painful, just intense like someone was squeezing me. It’s really hard to describe. I kind of felt like I was being flattened like a pancake. When we arrived at the hospital they monitored me for an hour. When they first checked me I was almost 2 cm and almost 90% effaced. At 5:30am when they checked me again I was a full 3 cm and definitely 90%. However, they saw no indication that my water had broken. Apparently it had broken fairly high up. Then the baby had dropped, plugging up the cervix with more of the amniotic sac in front of her head. By 9:30am I was 5 cm and 100% effaced. They went ahead and broke the rest of my water. They told me that if my water hadn’t already broken then my contractions would get worse and I would dilate faster. If my water had broken, I would still dilate faster because the baby’s head could put the necessary pressure on my cervix, but my contractions wouldn’t get any worse. So I told them to go ahead. My contractions didn’t get any worse, at least, I didn’t notice a significant change. I was able to focus through most of the contractions and allow my body to do what it needed to. The worst contractions were when I had to go to the bathroom or while I was standing. I had Dave go into the bathroom with me when I went because I needed his hand to hold for any contractions. I was also having diarrhea problems so I’m sure that was not a pleasant experience for him.

At 11:15 I was 7 cm and at a -1 station, and by noon I was 9 cm. I started feeling like I needed to push around 1:00pm but my doctor wouldn’t let me because there was an anterior lip that would not dilate because the baby’s head was turned the wrong way. She was facing up and to my left leg instead of straight down like she was supposed to. I tried a few different positions to try to get her to turn but nothing was working. By 2:00 pm I was sick of waiting, so I allowed Dr. Savage to physically move the lip up and over the baby’s head to get it out of the way. Once that lip was out of the way the contractions became much harder to focus through. I tried to use the breathing technique I had learned in our HypnoBirthing class. However, as I tried to “breathe the baby down” I had a really hard time staying focused and the contractions were starting to hurt.

After about 45 minutes of breathing I still hadn’t made any progress. The nurse asked me if I wanted to try “real pushing.” At that point I was willing to do anything to get rid of the pressure and to finally be able to see my baby girl. The nurse explained how I was supposed to take a deep breath then hold it to the count of ten while I pushed, and I tried it a few times. It actually made the contraction much easier to get through. As long as I was holding my breath and focusing on pushing my baby out, I didn’t feel the contraction at all. When I would stop pushing for a breath, I would almost instantly feel pain and pressure from the contraction. However, I still wasn’t making much progress. She would move down the birth canal during each push, and then slip right back. I tried a couple different positions for pushing and finally found the most success while semi-reclining and holding my legs up against my sides. They had an internal monitor on the baby’s head to keep track of her heart rate. The external monitor that was supposed to be strapped to me wasn’t doing a good job of monitoring because I was moving around so much. The internal monitor has a cord attached to it that was taped to my leg to keep it from getting caught on anything. Dave said that when I had a really good push he could see the cord moving out. Then when I stopped pushing he could see it move back in. At one point the nurse moved a mirror to where I could see what was happening. That helped me a lot. I was able to see the baby’s head during some pushed and I also saw her head disappear again when I wasn’t pushing. That made me mad because I felt like I was doing all this work for nothing. So I started pushing even harder and more frequently. I didn’t care at that point if I was having a contraction or not. I just wanted to push her out and be done with it.

While I was watching in the mirror, I noticed some blood start to gush out. I asked Dr. Savage if that was me or the baby. She said it was me, that I was tearing. I was really surprised that I hadn’t felt any pain from the tear. I guess I was just focused on the pressure everywhere else, and on getting her out. Finally the baby’s head had moved down enough that it wasn’t going back up as far. The doctors got their apron things on and moved the mirror so they had room to work. I couldn’t see anymore but I didn’t need to at that point. Dr. Savage picked up a syringe from a table and told me she was going to give me a local. I told her not yet, mostly because I was in the middle of a contraction and didn’t want to think about that right then. But I also didn’t want any drugs at all. I had been hooked up to an IV because I was Group B Strep positive and had to have antibiotics during the labor. Other than that, I had not been given any other drugs, and I had had no pain relieving drugs of any kind. I really didn’t want to start then. So Dr. Savage didn’t give me the local.

A few contractions later as I was pushing, the doctors suddenly told me to slow down. I asked why because I was afraid I had torn really badly or that something was wrong with the baby. Dave told me it was because the head was out!! I was surprised that I hadn’t felt anything different, but I stopped pushing. The resident doctor (a younger pregnant girl, who also had Dr. Savage as her doctor) and Dr. Savage took of the internal monitor and suctioned the baby’s mouth and nose. I couldn’t see anything so I just lay back and rested. Then they told me to push one more time for the shoulders. I did, and at that point I was able to sit up enough to see the baby. I finished pushing for the shoulders and the resident doctor pulled out her hips and legs. At that point I felt an immense relief of pressure and promptly forgot about everything but the baby. The doctors clamped the umbilical cord and Dr. Savage handed Dave a pair of scissors. He cut the cord, which he had told me before he hadn’t wanted to do, and the doctors put the baby on my stomach.

She was squirming, but not really crying. She was covered in blood and the creamy, waxy vernix. And she was beautiful. I just looked at her and said, “This is my baby.” She wasn’t there very long. The nurse came and took her off my stomach so she could go clean her up. Dave went with her to the other side of the room where our daughter was given a little sponge bath and a vitamin K shot.

I passed the placenta with no problems (and no pain at all) and the resident doctor gave me the local they had tried to giver earlier so they could stitch me up. I had torn in three places. Two tears were fairly high up and small enough that they didn’t need stitches at all. The third was deeper and required a few stitches, mostly because it was a jagged tear and had to be sewn together carefully. Dr. Savage said it was an average tear for first time moms, but it was probably shorter than what she would have cut if she had given me the episiotomy. Getting the stitches was more painful because I was so swollen and sensitive. I’m sure it was also more painful because I wasn’t focused on getting a baby out.

The nurse finished with our daughter and Dave held her for about a half hour while the doctors finished with me. After I was patched up, Dave gave me the baby and I tried to nurse a little bit. It was awkward but the nurse helped me a little. I didn’t feel like I was doing anything other than learning how to hold her to nurse, so I told Dave to let my mom in. She had been sitting in the waiting room since around noon and was anxious to find out what was going on. My grandparents had also come and were in the waiting room with her. The resident doctor went out and told them I was ready for them. Dave went just outside the room and told my Mom she could come in. When she walked in she was on the phone with my father. As soon as she saw our daughter she started crying. I got a little emotional then too. I gave my baby to my mother and let her hold her for a while. Then I let my grandparents come in and see the baby too.

So, Kathryn Frogley was born at 4:32pm on Monday, May 30, 2005 (Memorial Day). She was 6 pounds 13 ounces and 19 ½ inches. I made it through thirteen hours of labor and had a completely un-medicated labor and delivery. The nurses and doctors kept commenting on how calm I was for not having any drugs. They said it was extremely rare to see someone enduring labor so quietly. I had actually been so relaxed during labor that several times I started to doze and nod off. Dave was also sleeping between contractions. Because Ryn’s head was facing the wrong direction, I had a lot of pain in my lower back. To help with that, Dave gave me back rubs during most of the labor. My back started to hurt so we got some lotion from the nurse. Even using that my back was rubbed raw. The back labor hurt so bad that I kept telling Dave to rub harder and harder. He would and it felt much better while he was rubbing so I didn’t worry about it too much. My mom said that when she saw my back it looked like someone had taken sandpaper and scraped that on my back.

Overall, my experience with HypnoBirthing was a very positive one. I believe the hypnosis helped me stay relaxed during the first stage of labor and helped me store the energy I needed to push my daughter out. There were a few “kinks” that I’ll want to work on for another baby in the future, but I enjoyed being able to get through this un-medicated and I plan on doing it again!

Danielle -
Well, I figured I'd better get to writing Elli's birth story, or I'll forget most of the details. So, here's the story of Danielle's birth. I apologize in advance for the length... I'm a very detailoriented person and didn't want to leave anything out. :)

Monday, May 22, 2006 I went to see Dr. Savage for my 36 week appointment. She said everything looked great, I was dilated a little more than 1 cm, and I was 50% effaced. However, the baby wasn’t head down yet. She wasn’t too concerned and said we’d just wait to see how the baby was positioned at the next appointment before we worried about what actions to take.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 I went to my 37 week appointment. This time I was 3 cm and 80%, and the baby was in a perfect anterior vertex position. Dr. Savage noted that my cervix felt very soft and speculated that once my surges started, this would be a fast birthing. She also said she wouldn’t be surprised to see me in the hospital before my next appointment. I was hoping to hold off a few more days, though. My sister, Lindsay, was getting married on Thursday and I just wanted to make sure I made it to the wedding and the reception.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Dave woke up a little… um, playful, and I indulged him, figuring it would probably be the last time for a while. Later in the morning I lost a good portion of my mucus plug and noticed some light pink spotting. I didn’t really pay much attention to that because the same thing happened with Kathryn three full weeks before she was born. I went to a different appointment at 3pm. For the hour I was in that appointment I thought I recognized 5-6 surges. I didn’t think too much about them because they weren’t really that strong and they were covering a very small area. I only felt tightening very low, in the front. I had to leave my meeting early to pick up Dave from work by 4:30. During the half hour drive to his work, I felt another 2-3 surges, and another one started as he got to the car. I told Dave what I’d been feeling and made him drive, in case they started getting stronger. We decided not to worry about them for the time being because if I had calculated correctly, the surges were about 12 minutes apart and not intense enough to keep us from going to my sister’s rehearsal dinner.

We left Dave’s work and drove 40 minutes to my sister’s apartment where we were planning on meeting everyone before the dinner. When we arrived, I lay down on the couch for a while to see if the surges would stop. They weren’t getting any stronger or any closer together, so I figured they were probably just brought on by stress and if I relaxed they’d go away. I also went to the bathroom while we were there and lost the rest of my mucus plug, along with more blood. By the time we left Lindsay’s apartment around 6:30pm I was pretty sure the surges were increasing in frequency but not intensity. I didn’t really want to time the surges but I was pretty sure they were about 8-9 minutes apart.

We got to the rehearsal dinner just before it started at 7pm. I quickly found the bathroom (right outside our banquet room!) and lay down on a couch in there for a few minutes. I really wanted to enjoy dinner and be there with my family, so I got my light switch to center and went to join the party. During dinner, I had to make several trips to the bathroom. My digestive system had started to flush itself in preparation for the birth. By now, I knew this was really IT, but I still wanted to stay for the dinner, and I was sure I still had time.

Dinner ended by 8:30 and people started to mingle. I told my parents we were leaving and heading to the hospital. They offered to take Kathryn and bring her down later that night or the next day. We gratefully accepted their offer and headed for the car. During the drive back down to Provo, I listened to one of the birthing day guides on my MP3 player, and Dave timed my surges. I would touch his arm whenever one would start and whenever one would end. He then called out how long each one was and how long between the beginnings of surges. By now they were 2-4 minutes apart and 40-60 seconds long. Dave said I seemed really calm. He said he thought I’d fallen asleep and that when he looked down at me, even during the surges, he thought I looked really peaceful.

We got to the hospital about 9:30 (good thing I’d thought to bring our hospital bags!!). Dave grabbed the hospital bag and then helped me out of the car. I had two surges between the car and the elevator. I just stopped Dave and leaned my head on his shoulder while I focused on staying in center and on directing my anesthesia. The nurses checked me in and had me change into the hospital gown. The nurse did a pelvic exam about 9:45 and said I was 5 cm and 90%. I was so relieved that the surges I had been feeling were actually doing something. The nurse finished asking a bunch of questions, most of which I let Dave answer for me, and left the room for a minute. By now it was 10:00 pm. Dave said he had to go to the bathroom and that he’d be right back. I felt another surge start and told him to wait, but I said it so quietly that he didn’t hear me. During that surge I felt a pop followed by a gush of fluid. I don’t remember the rest of that surge at all. I’m pretty sure that the HypnoBabies affirmations I had listened to had really programmed my brain to feel a rush of anesthesia when my membranes released. I wasn’t consciously thinking about that at the time, but as soon as I felt the pop, I didn’t feel any more of that surge.

The nurse came back in the room a minute later and I told her that my membranes had released. She said she wasn’t surprised and checked the color of the fluid. Dave called my parents and his parents to update them and let them know we’d be having a baby in a few hours. I told the nurse I wanted to sit on a birthing ball as soon as possible. She said she’d have someone bring one in and I could get on it as soon as she got my IV started (I was GBS + and had to have the antibiotics). In the meantime, she asked another nurse to come in and help her get the room ready for delivery. Dave was really surprised at this and commented that with our first baby we’d been in the hospital for 12 hours before they prepped the room. The second nurse explained that because this was my second un-medicated birth and my membranes had already released, they were all expecting a baby very soon. That comment really encouraged me. The surges had started to get more intense and it was becoming harder to focus. Knowing that they were really accomplishing things helped me relax a bit more.

The first nurse finished with the IV and I moved to sit on the ball and put my head on the bed. Unfortunately, the bed wasn’t locked in place and it rolled away from me when I first leaned against it. Dave locked it for me and made sure I was in a comfortable position. I complained that I was cold (the nurse apologized for the antibiotics being cold) and Dave put a blanket around my shoulders. He also began to massage my neck and shoulders with our massage oil. I kept telling him things to say and do to help me relax. I told him to use the “relax” cue and to “take me to my special place.” As the nurse left she told Dave to get them if I felt anything was changing. During the next surge, I thought I felt kind of “pushy.” I wasn’t sure though so I didn’t say anything. Two or three surges later I felt the same thing only stronger. I told Dave to get the nurses because I thought I needed to push. I also told him that my head was really hot and I needed a cold compress. He got the nurse and dampened a paper towel for my head. The nurse came in and had me climb on the bed so she could check me. I was only 8 cm, but she told me to stay on the bed because she didn’t want gravity to help at this point. She said the doctor was on her way but we needed to give her time to get there. (10:30pm at this point) I did my best to avoid pushing because I really didn’t want my cervix to swell. However, within two surges my body started bearing down on its own. Whoever compared this feeling to food poisoning was dead on. I honestly couldn’t stop my body from pushing my baby out. These two surges were the worst to deal with. I didn’t want to be on the bed, but I couldn’t move by myself. I asked Dave to hold me and he leaned down and put his arms around me. I actually sobbed into his shoulder while I tried to focus on getting through each surge. I vaguely remember Dave talking to me the whole time, I was aware that he was describing my special place for me and in-between surges I was briefly able to visualize what he was saying.

Right about this time (around 10:40pm) the resident doctor came in and began to introduce himself, explaining that he would deliver my baby if my doctor didn’t make it in time. All I could say was that I needed to push. The nurse quickly checked me and said I was complete and at a +2 station. One nurse began to help the doctor get his smock and gloves on while the other nurse watched me bear down during the next surge and then called out that the head was crowning.

The doctor finished getting ready and got in position to catch the baby. Just then I felt what must have been the “ring of fire.” I thought the doctor was trying to pull the baby out or something because everything felt SO tight. I said “ouch” and tried to slap the doctor’s hand away. Dave told me later that the doctor hadn’t even touched me. I also told the doctor not to cut me, he promised he wouldn’t. I was so concerned about tearing that I decided to just let my body do all the work and not force it. It took an incredible amount of self-control to wait for the next surge, which seemed to take forever (probably only a minute or two). When the next surge came, I allowed my body to bear down on its own and the head was born. The cord was around the baby’s neck so the doctor quickly pulled it off and suctioned everything out. The rest of the body slid out easily with the next surge and the doctor put our beautiful daughter on my stomach. I noticed that the doctor was preparing to cut the cord on his own and I managed to say something like “Dave… cord… Dad cut.” The doctor looked at Dave and told him it was kind of slimy. Dave said he didn’t care and took the scissors from the doctor.

I got to hold my baby for a few minutes before the nurses insisted on taking her. They were concerned about her breathing because the cord had been around her neck. My doctor walked in while the nurses checked the baby. She said she’d come as quick as she could but hadn’t expected that I would be THAT fast. She apologized for not making it in time. I didn’t mind… we hadn’t exactly given her much notice.

I had torn slightly, but it only required a stitch or two, much better than my tear from my first. After the placenta had been delivered and the doctor stitched me up, everyone left the room and left Dave and I alone with our new precious daughter. I was able to nurse for a minute or two on each side and we got to enjoy our new baby for an hour or so before family started showing up and before they moved me to recovery.

So, Danielle was born at 10:53pm on Wednesday, May 31, 2006, exactly one year and one day after her older sister. She was 6 pounds 5 ounces and 18 inches long. I didn’t actually get to finish the HypnoBabies course. I got a little behind and was supposed to finish the first week in June. However, HypnoBabies definitely helped get through my birthing. I know I didn’t practice nearly enough, but I could tell that the practice I had done really had trained my subconscious. The pregnancy affirmations were especially helpful. I wish I’d been able to listen to the birthing day affirmations, but I didn’t want to start that until my sister’s wedding was over, for fear it would start my birthing time. As it turns out, I wasn’t able to attend my sister’s wedding anyway. Little Danielle came on her birthday, and not when anyone else wanted her to come. Oh well, Dave was able to attend the wedding and he took a video camera to the reception and filmed a lot of it for me. I was able to see the first dance, the cake cutting, all the speeches, the bouquet toss, and the drive off into the sunset.

Anyway, HypnoBabies definitely helped me relax during the first 7 hours of surges. The last hour was infinitely more intense than the first 7 and much more intense than anything I’d experienced with my first baby. However, because I was able to relax so well during the first seven hours, I was well rested and though at times the last hour was agonizing, I never thought to ask for drugs and I never doubted that I would be able to handle the pressure. I also feel that HypnoBabies gave me the “okay” to walk, talk and keep my eyes open during the birthing. This made it so much easier to ask for what I needed (cold compress, blanket, birthing ball, etc…). I actually felt a little demanding. Dave said that he didn’t mind being ordered around because he felt like he was doing something to help, and he definitely wasn’t bored. I had my headphones around my neck the entire time we were at the hospital, but I never actually put them on. I just wanted to hear Dave’s voice at that point. Overall, I wish I’d practiced more diligently. Now that I have the HypnoBabies home study, I’ll be able to start much earlier next time, and I’m sure I’ll be more prepared.

Wedding Pic

2008-05-14T22:29:00.006-06:00

I'm uploading this pic so I can link to it from another site. :)

Emily

And another one

Back in Utah

2008-05-07T16:38:00.002-06:00

So much has happened in the past four months that I'm not even sure where to begin. Dave's internship ended the first week of January, and he looked all over the Portland Metro area for a new job. About the first week of February he added Utah to his job hunt. The week of Valentine's Day Dave flew to Salt Lake City and interviewed with 13 companies in 3 days. We accepted one of four offers and packed up the truck to move back to Provo on February 22nd. It's good to be back among friends... but we both really miss Oregon.

We found a great little house (thank you Craig's List!) for which we signed a rent-to-own contract. The girls have adjusted well, though they still refer to my parent's home as "their house" and our current home as "their NEW house."

Kathryn is now learning her ABC's. She's able to recognize most letters by sight, but so far the sounds are still quite confusing for her. Danielle has started counting and loves to sing constantly... she also continues to insist on nursing at least 6 times during the day and throughout the night. Christine is sleeping 12 hours at night, only waking once to nurse about 11pm. (What did I do differently this time and how can I get my toddler & pre-schooler to sleep that well?!?!?!?!?) She also cut her first two teeth at four months and three days... beating Danielle by almost a month, and Kathryn by three months.

That's the update for now, I've been working on many of my 101/1001 goals, but most are taking quite a while and are not being completed as quickly as I would like... oh well... back to work. :)

She Finally Made It!!!

2008-01-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

A word of caution - I tend to be very detail oriented, and this birth story might just take you as long to read as it took me to birth Christine.

-------------------------------

Well, I’d better get the details of this thing written out before I forget them. With DD#2 I went into labor 2 ½ weeks early and she was born the night before my sister’s wedding. This time, the next sister scheduled her wedding the day after my due date, fully expecting that I would again start labor early and have a new baby at her wedding. Things don’t always work out as planned.

Christmas, my EDD (12/27) and the wedding (12/28) all came and went, and still no baby. I’d been asking for vaginal exams at my appointments and as of the 27th I was only dilated 1-2cm, but fully effaced. On Sunday, December 30, we realized that our insurance provider was changing with the new year, and we’d get stuck with a horrible bill if she didn’t come before the end of the year. Since I was already 3 days past my EDD, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take some castor oil and see if that did anything. (I had tried castor oil twice with DD#1 and it hadn’t done anything then… but why not.) About 9pm Sunday night, I took two tablespoons of castor oil, with a lot of orange juice. We put the girls to bed and watched an episode of 24.

11:45pm: I decided to run to the bathroom one last time before getting in bed. While on the toilet I suddenly felt baby kicking hard, and a lot of pressure on my cervix, as if she was trying to kick her way out. I didn’t think much of it, and went to bed.

12:45am: I finally felt the effects of the castor oil and barely made it to the bathroom… not fun. Shortly after I got back in bed I felt the first contraction… I was fairly confident it was a “real” contraction, but I’d been having several of those over the past few weeks and wasn’t positive. When it was over I checked the clock… 1:07am.

I lay in bed trying to sleep and counting contractions as they came… though completely ignoring the clock. After two or three more, I got up to go to the bathroom again… another 2-3 while on the toilet. I got back to bed, felt another contraction and finally checked the clock… 1:30am… I’d felt about 8 contractions in 23 minutes…

I woke DH up to tell him we would need to leave soon. He jumped right up to get dressed, but I told him to get some more sleep and I’d let him know when he really needed to get up. 8 minutes and 4 contractions later I told him to get up *NOW*

I called my midwife at 1:45am, and told her we’d be at the birth center in about an hour. We woke up my sister who was planning to be at the birth, and my mother who would be watching the girls while we were gone. I went to the bathroom one last time and was startled to find lots of bright red blood… not really mucous-y… just blood. For a brief instant the word “hemorrhage” passed through my mind… but I knew there wasn’t really that much blood… I hadn’t even gotten it on my underwear.

2:02am: We finally got in the car and drove away. I had DH’s ipod with my HypnoBabies scripts on it, and listened to that on the way. There was so much cervical pressure that I was sure my water was going to break with every contraction. At one point I opened my eyes and saw the speedometer… the speed limit was 55, but *most* people on that road go 65 easy… and at 2am, there was no traffic… DH was going 60… I really, really didn’t want my water to break in the car, so I told DH he needed to go faster. (He told me later that he was driving slowly because the roads were covered in ice… we actually fishtailed at one point while he was changing lanes… of course, I didn’t know that.) I also started getting very warm and took off my coat and sweatshirt… I didn’t bother putting them back on when we arrived, the cold air felt great.

2:38am: We pulled into the parking lot at the birth center. One of the apprentices met us at the door and assured me that the tub was full and ready whenever I wanted to get in. I started to undress and asked for a vaginal exam. The midwives assured me that wasn’t necessary… but *I* needed to know. I’d now been in labor for almost two hours… and it wasn’t anything like the menstrual cramp-like contractions I’d had for 7 hours with DD#2… I had to know that something was happening. Sure enough, I was already at 5cm.

2:49am: I jumped in the tub while the midwives finished checking me in. I explained everything that had happened to the midwives in between contractions, and enjoyed the water and the freedom of movement.

3:09am: I left the tub to go to the bathroom… one last trip to finish off the castor oil. I also noticed a lot more blood, with a ton of mucous. When I got back in the tub, the contractions were becoming more and more unbearable. I remember thinking, “this is why people ask for drugs.”

3:24am: I asked for another vaginal exam. With DD#2, I had an hour of labor after my water broke… this time, my water had still not broken and I didn’t know how much more I could take… Before she even checked my midwife told me that she was sure I was at a ten, or at least very close… all my noises left very little doubt in her mind… but I had her check anyway. Sure enough, “9 ½ cm… push whenever you feel like it.” I immediately let everything go and tried pushing through the next few contractions. That felt so much better.

3:32am: I reached down and felt the head in the birth canal. I got very excited and told everyone she was “right there, she’s coming.”

3:34am: Part of the sac emerged, still intact… a small bubble of fluid. I tried to pop it but it just wouldn’t break. With the next contraction coming, I moved onto my knees.

3:35am: Baby’s head worked its way steadily through the birth canal and was born. The sac finally broke and I could feel her head, I looked up at everyone, relieved, excited and awestruck. I started to relax to await the next contraction, but suddenly the rest of the body just shot out. I really wasn’t expecting that, and almost didn’t catch her as she shot through the water. She was a bit slow to breathe, partly because the water was a bit too warm and she was just too comfortable, and partly because she just didn’t need to breath… she was still receiving plenty of oxygen through her still pulsing cord. When she finally did start breathing and waking up a bit more, I offered my breast. She latched on immediately and started gulping. Since I’m also still nursing DD#2 I still had some milk (though not nearly as much as I had before I got pregnant).

I pushed the placenta out in two pushes 42 minutes after birth, with no assistance, and no difficulty. Then we cut the cord and I handed Christine off to DH and went to take a shower.

My midwives and apprentices were totally awesome and hands-off, just as I had wanted them to be. I’m not sure how much relief the water provided, because the whole labor was so much more intense than either of my previous labors… but it was wonderful to be able to move… I’m not sure I held still for more than two minutes at a time. It just felt so much better to move. It also felt better to make noise. I started moaning quietly (like a loud sigh) during the drive. That got progressively louder and more “aahhhhhh”-ish. Then once I hit transition it turned into more groaning with just a hint of scream.

So, there you have it… Christine Frogley entered this earth-life at 3:35am on Monday, December 31, 2007. She weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 21 inches. (For the record DD#1 was 6lbs 13oz and 19 ½ in; DD#2 was 6lbs 5oz and 18in.) She’s absolutely perfect, with a lovely head of dark hair, and she nurses constantly.

Kathryn and Danielle adore her, especially Kathryn who constantly wants to hold her “Christine baby.” Danielle loves to give Christine hugs and kisses… unless she wants to nurse while the baby’s already nursing… then she gets a bit jealous.

Next time… I’ll be homebirthing for sure… I’m not sure I’d make it to the birth center if labor gets any shorter… plus, I really don’t want to labor in the car again. Now if only we could find a job for Dave so we can buy a house…

If you've made it this far... here's some pics...

Christine and me in the tub about 20 minutes after the birth
Cuddling with Daddy

All our girls

Kathryn holding Christine

The newest Frogley

So many things, so little time...

2007-09-10T10:46:00.000-06:00

So, I was updating my 101/1001 list yesterday, feeling pretty proud that I could check off another goal. I also have another goal that's pretty much done (baby quilts), but I haven't delivered the blankets yet, so I'm not checking it off just yet.

...anyway... that's when I realized that I'm already 40 days into this thing and I've only done 2 goals... not a good rate... looks like I really need to get to work. :) Suddenly one goal every ten days seems so fast... I'm not sure I can keep up... especially when some of these goals take at least a month to complete. :)

oh well... here we go...

I suppose an update is due...

2007-09-02T20:33:00.000-06:00

So, I've been doing the 101 goals in 1001 days for an entire month now... and just finished the first goal. Considering I need to average one goal every ten days... I'm not doing very well. However, I have started several goals that involve more time (three months in one case) and a couple of goals that will span the duration of my 1001 days (every month between now and then).

I have actually been working very hard on several goals, but many of them are taking a loooong time. The main one I'm working on right now is making 5 baby quilts to donate. The blankets are all put together (that took a week by itself...), but I still have to quilt four of them. I'm really hoping to get those done this week... but more realistically, I'll be done in two weeks.

On another note... I've been pretty bad at this whole blogging thing. I don't really feel creative enough to write my own posts, I do much better responding to other people... I guess I need to work on that.

As part of my Home Management Book (See Goal #58), I've decided to try to update my 101/1001 list every Sunday. I plan to try to add a new post to this blog then too... hopefully I'll get some good ideas for posts.

Signs learned

2007-09-02T20:29:00.001-06:00

So, to help us learn our 200 signs, I've joined an ASL playgroup. Two weeks ago we went to the zoo with the playgroup and learned a bunch of animal signs. I decided I need a place to keep track of the signs we learn, so I can get an accurate number. I've put a * next to the ones we already knew.

*all done
alligator
*apple
*baby
*ball
*banana
bat
*bath
bicycle
*bird
black
blue
brown
bug
*butterfly
candy
car
carrot
*cat
*change
chicken
*cold
colors
*cookie
cow
cracker
dance
diamond
doll
donkey
don't like
*eat
elephant
*fish
*flower
garden (plant place)
giraffe
*goat
green
*hat
*help (though we use a modified version)
helicopter
high
hippo
horse
*hot
how
lettuce
like (as)
like (affection)
lizard
*milk
monkey
*more
*outside
orange
*pacifier
peach
pink
*pizza
plant
*please
potato
purple
rainbow
red
rhino
run
*shoes
sing
sit
sky
*sleep
snake
*socks
*star
strawberry
*swing
tiger
*toilet
train
turtle
twinkle
*up
vegatable
walk
*water
what
wonder
world
write
yellow
zebra

Those learned since we started our 101/1001: 60

Progress

2007-07-24T14:44:00.018-06:00

So, here's my list with current progress as of... 18 August 2009

Key:
Planned
Working on it
Not Going to Happen
~~Completed~~

Crafts
1. ~~Perfect diaper pattern & make birth to potty stash~~
2. ~~Make swim diapers & training pants~~
3. ~~Make “baby legs” for the new baby; 3-4 pair~~
4. ~~Make Danielle’s Blessing Bracelet~~
5. ~~Make a baby book for new baby~~
6. ~~Make a blessing outfit for a boy~~
7. ~~Make a solarveil pouch~~
8. ~~Buy or make a Moses Basket~~
9. Sew a quiet book
10. ~~Make flannel board stories~~
11. Make Halloween costumes (3x)2/3
12. ~~Sew tree skirt & matching stockings~~
13. Make Christmas gifts each year (3x)1/3
14. Take an oil painting class
15. Take a class on arranging flowers
16. ~~Create & Send Graduation Announcements for Dave~~
17. ~~Make something to sell & sell it~~

Personal History
18. Scan all memorabilia
19. Create shadow boxes to display souvenirs
20. Learn to use Adobe Photoshop (finish tutorial)
21. Label all digital pictures/organize by date & event
22. Digitally scrapbook our wedding
23. Start journals for each kid & update at least once a month 4/23

Community/Friends
24. Certify as a LLL leader
25. ~~Participate in a bead swap online & create a nursing necklace~~
26. Send Christmas cards every year (3x)1/3
27. Organize a mom’s night out
28. ~~Make and donate 5 baby blankets~~
29. Meet Kristin for lunch at least 6 times 4/6
30. Donate at least $40 a month to charity 25/33
31. Host a dinner party

Cooking/Food
32. ~~Learn to make candy~~
33. Learn how to can fruits & veggies
34. ~~Plan & cook a Thanksgiving dinner~~
35. Make 5 different flavors of homemade ice cream 2/5
36. Learn to make Gnocchi
37. Grow a garden – harvest corn, tomatoes, green beans, cucumber, carrots, pumpkin?
38. ~~Pack a lunch for Dave at least 3x a week for 2 months~~
39. ~~Cook at least 3 dinners a week from scratch for 3 months~~
40. ~~Learn to decorate a cake~~

Church/Spiritual
41. 100% Visiting teaching for 12 consecutive months 1/12
42. ~~Read scriptures daily (personal study) for 30 days~~
43. ~~Personal prayer 2x daily for 30 days~~
44. Go through 12 endowment sessions in 12 months
45. Find 10 family names to take to the temple
46. Take family names to the temple
47. Sing in ward choir for at least one year
48. Give out 5 copies of the Book of Mormon 1/5
49. Invite someone to meet with the missionaries
50. ~~Study the Sunday school lessons before church every week for 3 months (13 weeks) 13/13~~

Home Organization
51. Decorate a room with a seaside theme
52. ~~Create “Reference Books” for dream houses, parenting, homeschool, home organization, scrapbooking, crafts, FHE, health, etc~~
53. ~~Organize recipes – finish recipe book~~
54. ~~Find a system for planning meals~~
55. ~~Read David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”~~
56. ~~Organize baby clothes by size & season – label well in nice containers~~
57. Find a diaper bag that can actually hold cloth diapers for 3 kids & buy or make
58. ~~Build and use a Home Management Book~~
59. ~~Organize my kitchen~~
60. ~~Plan, organize & implement a mudroom~~
61. ~~Have at least 2 weeks of dinners in the freezer when baby comes~~
62. Inventory all possessions
63. ~~Hold a yard sale~~

Finances
64. Pay off student loans
65. Buy a house
66. ~~Buy a car~~

Family/Parenting
67. ~~Tandem nurse (at least nurse through pregnancy)~~
68. Read “The Well-trained Mind” by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise
69. Read “Charlotte Mason Companion” by Karen Andreola
70. ~~Read “Adventures in Tandem Nursing” by Hilary Flower~~
71. Take a couple’s ballroom dance class
72. ~~Go through the bedtime routine with the girls at least 5 days a week for two months (9 weeks)~~
73. Make breakfast in bed for Dave at least 5 times 2/5
74. ~~Research vaccines & make final decisions~~
75. Organize a family reunion
76. ~~Get pregnant with baby #4~~
77. Go on a date with Dave at least once a month 25/33
78. Start a new Christmas tradition (3x) 2/3
79. Write at least 15 love letters to Dave 2/15

Travel
80. ~~Eat dinner at the top of the Seattle Space Needle~~
81. ~~Roast starbursts over a campfire at the beach~~
82. ~~Hike Multnomah Falls~~
83. Go to Canada
84. Renew our Passports

Personal Enrichment/Fun
85. Finish web site
86. ~~Write in my journal daily for 30 days~~
87. ~~Get eyebrows waxed~~
88. Do an exercise video 5 times a week for two months (9 weeks)
89. ~~Play 25 Hymns on the Piano 25/25~~
90. ~~Create a morning routine and stick to it for 30 days~~
91. Learn 1001 Spanish words – Teach the girls
92. Learn 200 signs – teach the girls
93. Do a self manicure/pedicure/facemask once a month 22/33
94. Go skiing
95. Ride the Alpine slide on Mt. Hood
96. Get a professional massage
97. Go horseback riding
98. ~~Make a new friend~~
99. ~~Join a book club~~
100. ~~Watch a movie at a drive-in theater (Newberg, OR)~~
101. Finish puzzle!!

About Me

2007-07-24T11:32:00.000-06:00

The Short Version

I am 24 years old (born April 1983)
I am the oldest of seven children
I married Dave in May 2003
I am a mother to Kathryn (May 2005), Danielle (May 2006), expecting another girl in December 2007
I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormon)
I'm currently living in Hillsboro, Oregon
I practice Attachment Parenting, Gentle Discipline, and I'm working on more natural living.

The Long Version

I was born in Santa Clara, CA. My parents moved to Hillsboro, Oregon when I was six. I left home to attend BYU after I graduated from Glencoe High in 2001. I met Dave while working on campus that fall. We started dating December 2001, were engaged in February 2002 and after a super-long engagement (by Mormon standards) we got married in the Portland, Oregon Temple in May 2003.

I found out I was pregnant in early January 2004... then miscarried in February at only 9 weeks. Losing that baby was really hard, but it gave me a chance to finish school before our first daughter was born in May 2005. I got my bachelors of science in Marriage, Family & Human Development and walked at graduation in April 2005... 8 months pregnant. :)

I chose to have a natural childbirth with HypnoBirthing. After a 13 hour labor, I succeded in my quest for a drug-free hospital birth at one of the worst hospitals in the nation for natural childbirth. (Utah Valley Regional Medical Center) I felt that breastfeeding went pretty well (after the initial 2-3 weeks), but Kathryn took a pacifier wonderfully, and didn't seem to be hungry more than every four hours. At her four month check-up she had only gained 2 ounces since her two month check-up and the doctor was pretty concerned. At that same visit we discovered that I was pregnant again, and the doctor explained to me that my milk supply could not keep up with a nursling and a growing fetus. After several weeks of failed attempts to get Kathryn to gain weight, and after many days of tears... I finally succumbed and weaned.

Six months later I had decided that when my milk came in after the second baby, I wanted to re-establish a nursing relationship with Kathryn. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to go about that. When I mentioned my desires to another mom at a playgroup, I was invited to my first La Leche League meeting. At that meeting, someone suggested reading Attachment Parenting by Katie Granju. That was the first time I realized that there were actually people who still slept with their babies, and responded to their cries, and carried their babies everywhere. I was completely enthralled with the messages in the book. I had always hated putting my daughter in her crib, I never wanted to put her down, and when she cried I always wanted to hold her. But now someone was telling me all those things were okay, normal, and good parenting.

That book opened my eyes to a new idea of motherhood. I began to trust myself, my children and my instincts much more. I trusted my body to deliver our second daughter, Danielle, using the HypnoBabies method (again, drug-free, in the same hospital) in May 2006. I trusted myself to sleep with her in the hospital even when the nurses told me it was dangerous. I trusted my daughter to let me know when she needed to nurse, and I responded. I trusted that I wasn't spoiling my children by holding them. And I trusted that my first daughter would be okay even though I hadn't nursed her as long as I had wanted to.

Kathryn never did resume nursing... she just prefered her bottle by then. She did take some expressed breastmilk in a bottle for a few weeks, but pumping became difficult while trying to keep up with a toddler and a newborn, and I gave up pumping after about 6 weeks.

I joined an AP playgroup and a homeschool group in Provo, UT, and made some wonderful friends. Thanks to them I made even more progress towards natural living. We now co-sleep, baby-wear (more recently toddler-wear), breastfeed (Danielle is still going strong at 14 months... even while I'm pregnant), don't vaccinate (though we had made that choice before Kathryn was born), won't circumsise if we are ever blessed with a boy, cloth diaper, practice gentle discipline, and would like to have a homebirth with our next baby.

Just a month ago, Dave finally finished classes at BYU. He will officially graduate with a bachelors of science in Computer Science in August. The day he took his last final exam, we loaded up a moving truck and started our long drive to Oregon. For the moment, we are living with my parents in Hillsboro. Dave has an internship with Intel that will last through the end of the year... then we'll have to see what comes up. Ideally, we would like to stay in Hillsboro, and really settle down here.

I am currently pregnant. Our third daughter is expected sometime during the second half of December. If we know we'll have a job in January, we will move into an apartment the beginning of December and have a homebirth. If we don't know, we'll stay with my parents and birth at a waterbirth center nearby.

If you're still here... thanks :) If you couldn't already tell... I like to talk/type... especially about my family and myself. For those who made it this far... here's a pic of me. This picture was taken 4 years ago... soon after my wedding. I chopped my hair off two years ago, but I don't have a good portrait of me since then.

This picture is my family during Christmas break last year. I'm on the far right holding Danielle. Dave (DH) is sitting next to me holding Kathryn. My parents are front and center and my brother-in-law Mike is sitting on the far left. The rest are my siblings. :)

Enjoy!!

Emily

My 101 in 1001 List

2007-07-20T16:27:00.000-06:00

Crafts
1. Perfect diaper pattern & make birth to potty stash
2. Make swim diapers & training pants
3. Make “baby legs” for the new baby; 3-4 pair
4. Make Danielle’s Blessing Bracelet
5. Make a baby book for new baby
6. Make a blessing outfit for a boy
7. Make a solarveil pouch
8. Buy or make a Moses Basket
9. Sew a quiet book
10. Make flannel board stories
11. Make Halloween costumes (3x)
12. Sew tree skirt & matching stockings
13. Make Christmas gifts each year (3x)
14. Take an oil painting class
15. Take a class on arranging flowers
16. Create & Send Graduation Announcements for Dave
17. Make something to sell & sell it

Personal History
18. Scan all memorabilia
19. Create shadow boxes to display souvenirs
20. Learn to use Adobe Photoshop (finish tutorial)
21. Label all digital pictures/organize by date & event
22. Digitally scrapbook our wedding
23. Start journals for each kid & update at least once a month

Community/Friends
24. Certify as a LLL leader
25. Participate in a bead swap online & create a nursing necklace
26. Send Christmas cards every year (3x)
27. Organize a mom’s night out
28. Make and donate 5 baby blankets
29. Meet Kristin for lunch at least 6 times
30. Donate at least $40 a month to charity
31. Host a dinner party

Cooking/Food
32. Learn to make candy
33. Learn how to can fruits & veggies
34. Plan & cook a Thanksgiving dinner
35. Make 5 different flavors of homemade ice cream
36. Learn to make Gnocchi
37. Grow a garden – harvest corn, tomatoes, green beans, cucumber, carrots, pumpkin?
38. Pack a lunch for Dave at least 3x a week for 2 months
39. Cook at least 3 dinners a week from scratch for 3 months
40. Learn to decorate a cake

Church/Spiritual
41. 100% Visiting teaching for 12 consecutive months
42. Read scriptures daily (personal study) for 30 days
43. Personal prayer 2x daily for 30 days
44. Go through 12 endowment sessions in 12 months
45. Find 10 family names to take to the temple
46. Take family names to the temple
47. Sing in ward choir for at least one year
48. Give out 5 copies of the Book of Mormon
49. Invite someone to meet with the missionaries
50. Study the Sunday school lessons before church every week for 3 months (13 weeks)

Home Organization
51. Decorate a room with a seaside theme
52. Create “Reference Books” for dream houses, parenting, homeschool, home organization, scrapbooking, crafts, FHE, health, etc
53. Organize recipes – finish recipe book
54. Find a system for planning meals
55. Read David Allen’s “Getting Things Done”
56. Organize baby clothes by size & season – label well in nice containers
57. Find a diaper bag that can actually hold cloth diapers for 3 kids & buy or make
58. Build and use a Home Management Book
59. Organize my kitchen
60. Plan, organize & implement a mudroom
61. Have at least 2 weeks of dinners in the freezer when baby comes
62. Inventory all possessions
63. Hold a yard sale

Finances
64. Pay off student loans
65. Buy a house
66. Buy a car

Family/Parenting
67. Tandem nurse (at least nurse through pregnancy)
68. Read “The Well-trained Mind” by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise
69. Read “Charlotte Mason Companion” by Karen Andreola
70. Read “Adventures in Tandem Nursing” by Hilary Flower
71. Take a couple’s ballroom dance class
72. Go through the bedtime routine with the girls at least 5 days a week for two months (9 weeks)
73. Make breakfast in bed for Dave at least 5 times
74. Research vaccines & make final decisions
75. Organize a family reunion
76. Get pregnant with baby #4
77. Go on a date with Dave at least once a month
78. Start a new Christmas tradition
79. Write at least 15 love letters to Dave

Travel
80. Eat dinner at the top of the Seattle Space Needle
81. Roast starbursts over a campfire at the beach
82. Hike Multnomah Falls
83. Go to Canada
84. Renew our Passports

Personal Enrichment/Fun
85. Finish web site
86. Write in my journal daily for 30 days
87. Get eyebrows waxed
88. Do an exercise video 5 times a week for two months (9 weeks)
89. Play 25 Hymns on the Piano
90. Create a morning routine and stick to it for 30 days
91. Learn 1001 Spanish words – Teach the girls
92. Learn 200 signs – teach the girls
93. Do a self manicure/pedicure/facemask once a month
94. Go skiing
95. Ride the Alpine slide on Mt. Hood
96. Get a professional massage
97. Go horseback riding
98. Make a new friend
99. Join a book club
100. Watch a movie at a drive-in theater (Newberg, OR)
101. Finish puzzle!!