Life with a newborn

Our little Jordyn is almost 5 weeks. She is getting close to the end of the newborn stage. It is really sad, but also really exciting. All she has been doing is sleeping. She is starting to wake up... kind of.....

I have gotten extremely lucky with my newborns so far. They are excellent night sleepers. I thought Madison was good, but Jordyn is a champ. She wakes up once between 3 and 4 and then gets up at 7 to start our day. Madi didn't think she had to nurse any more then Jordyn, but Madi had a serious blowout problem that would wake her and everybody else up in the whole house. Jordyn doesn't seem to have that problem. However, Jordyn does cry out and grunt a lot! I have to set a rule to wait two minutes with consistent crying because I tend to want to get up the second she cries out. Then she just ends up falling asleep within a couple of seconds of nursing.

When Jordyn was just a few days old, Camille and I took a few newborn snaps of her. Usually babies are asleep during these, Jordyn still has hardly been awake as along as she was while we were trying to take these pictures. She does not like to be messed with while she is dreaming. Oh well... we got a few cute shots of her. Here are some of my favorite!

Madison is also adjusting, slowly but surely. She loves baby Jordyn and after asking for water, the very next thing she checks for every morning is baby Jordyn. "Hiii Jordyn", is basically what Jordyn and I hear all day. Madi has gotten into a "mine" phase. All the blankets, toys, binkies, and car seats are hers. Poor girl.

Jordyn Leslie

Well... I had another baby! Crazy. I have two kids. I love birth stories; telling them, reading them, I find them interesting, informative, and exciting. Thought I would share the details of my newest daughter's entrance into the world.

Disclaimers:
* I am very honest and have no shame.... I don't sugar coat anything. While no graphic images are contained... the pain felt is very real and may be described.
* There are a lot of pictures below of a newborn infant. Some do not like what newborn's look like. Just beware. :)

Just a little picture of the "PRIZE" at the end of this story

My week was progressing as normal. Madison and I hosted music time, I taught my English classes every morning, went on our typical grocery shopping trips, finished sewing two little Fall dresses, and had similar plans to begin the next week. On Thursday, the 16th, we went to our weekly doctor visit and everything looked healthy. I was dilated to a 3, but my cervix was still fairly thick. I told the doctor to strip my membranes that would hopefully get labor started soonish so that I didn't go over my due date and have a monster baby like my first.

Friday night, possibly around 3 am, I started to have cramps every 15 minutes that seemed pretty consistent. They kept me awake, but were not any more painful than any minor period cramps that I tend to have. They continued into the early morning and got a little bit closer and harder. I didn't want to get anyone overly excited in case they stopped, but I had a little feeling that they were just going to progress. Between contractions I tried to get things done to get my mind off of the anxiety. I cleaned the car, installed the car seat, set up the bassinet, and straightened up my house. By 11 am, I had to stop what I was doing in order to concentrate through the pain. However, they were still about 7-8 minutes apart.

Jordan and I decided to make a list of things we needed at Walmart and went on a little outing. By this time I couldn't get through a contraction without squeezing Jordan's hand and making a little bit of painful noises. However, we got through Walmart and even decided to stop and get some Panda Express for lunch. I was in pain about every 6 minutes, but liked the distraction of eating out. We made it home from our errands and put Madison down for a nap. Jordan went to the table to do some grading and I turned on my TV show and started timing my contractions.

For the next couple of hours they were between 5 and 6 minutes. They were painful. But if I got on my hands on knees and rocked back and forth I survived them. They were about 45-50 seconds long and I seemed to be okay. I had never experienced hard labor before, with my first, the water broke before contractions and they had me on Pitocin and in a bed before I even dilated to a 3. I got a epidural real fast. Pitocin makes those contractions terrible! People told me that I should go to the hospital when I couldn't handle it any longer. I had no idea how hard they were supposed to get. However, I called my mom, she said that if I went in now I would be admitted, but that I would probably have to lay on a bed which may slow the delivery down. Because I didn't have any tears in my eyes I decided to wait a little longer to give Madison her full nap before dropping her off at the neighbor's house.

We had Madison dropped off a little before 5 and were headed to the hospital. Contractions were very painful, but the hospital is about 5 minutes away. I told Jordan I wanted to be done and I was tired, to me the end was in sight. If I wanted, an epidural would be on it's way.

We got to the hospital only to find that the doors we were told to go through were locked. Mind you, this is a large hospital. It isn't just a parking lot with an entrance. There are multiple parking garages, entrances and walking distance. This is where my labor picked up and I thought I might never make it. Between walking from door to door finding them locked and threatening to sue the living daylights out of the hospital, I would stop and very possibly scream through contractions. I felt so much pressure to 'push'. Walking just made the contractions harder. I will probably never look at that parking garage the same.

We finally got in the door and I actually had a 40 sec break where I was calm. The nurses thought about checking before I was admitted, but as soon as we started to walk down the hall I had to scream through another contraction. I was admitted and led to a delivery room immediately. This was around 5:20ish PM.

I stripped off my clothes as fast as I could to get the gown on trying to beat the next contraction. They tried to check me to see how far along I was, but every time a new contraction would start and I would go into hysterics. LABOR PAIN IS REAL FOLKS! I thought I was going to die. No one tells you this, but the pressure of wanting to push, but having to hold it in is the WORST! Finally, they broke my water and told me I could push. 3 or 4 minutes and I had that girl out! PUSHING PAIN IS REAL TOO! Jordyn Leslie Fuqua was born at 5:45 PM, 20 minutes after getting to our room at the hospital. She weighed 8 lbs and 8 oz.

I joined the 'no pain medication' mommy club! (not that I had a choice) Yay for me. I am still a tad traumatized and not sure if I want to be a second time visitor. Ask me in a couple of months.... but the recovery has been amazing and fairly easy as of late. It may have been worth it. Plus I got a ton done that day. :)

Enjoy the pictures!

WE LOVE OUR LITTLE JORDYN LESLIE!

Last Hurrah to Summer!

Summer is basically gone! It's crazy and very sad. I have honestly learned to love Iowa City and all the family friendly things it has to offer. I have made good friends, and Madison has too. We have had a blast all Summer. Amongst doctor's appointments to check up on this baby (that hopefully will come very very soon)  (this is funny), we have music time at our house, story time at the library, multiple hikes, a camping trip, swimming, splash parks, and lots and lots of picnics. However, sadly it is coming to an end. The days are cooler and hopefully the leaves will start changing colors soon.

I thought I would share a few last couple highlights from the past few weeks.

We went swimming with some friends at Kent State Park. We enjoyed the beach all to ourselves. Between keeping an eye on kids to make sure they weren't drinking the lake water, we soaked up some sun, got overly excited for airplanes, and played in the sand.

Madi and Collin Leigh

I can never get her to look at smile at the camera, NEVER!!! Don't be tricked, she is just super excited about a plane overhead

Kirsten and Cory Hinds came into town on their way to New York. One evening we spent an evening at a farm where they made pizza in a stone oven. They had multiple kinds and we enjoyed a beautiful evening in the country of Iowa.

Just last night we went to a little live music festival in the park. It was super low key and Madison LOVED it. If I knew she liked live music this much we would have gone to a lot more of these little outdoor concerts. She off course loved the little dog that came and visited us. Between the little bit of freedom to run, a friendly dog, music, and dancing, Madison was in heaven. The pictures aren't great, but the outing is worth remembering.

We had a little photoshoot in the grassy area in our apartment complex, I would really like a frame worthy photo, but Madison doesn't actually want to give me the time of day to look at the camera and smile. I even bribed, but that barely worked. I still got a lot of cute photos that capture her personality.

We have loved Summer in Iowa City! We are sad it is ending. However, Fall is a good transition. Madi can barely contain her excitement when she sees the rows of pumpkins at Walmart.



Oh... and I started this post the day before I delivered the newest addition to our family. More details to come. Be EXCITED!

Pregnancy #2

It is no secret that I am pregnant, but I thought I would give an update. Only 6 weeks to go!

This post is going to be very very honest. Pictures were a little hard to find.. But I found a few that hopefully represent the development of my 2nd baby. If you would like to see my first pregnancy you can read the blog posts about pregnancy here.

This pregnancy was way worse. I can honestly say that I hated being pregnant from day one.

1st trimester: I don't even count this as a time period. NOTHING was accomplished or done to be worth remembering. It was the dead of winter, we had just moved, and I hardly left the couch. Madison and I read a lot of books and ate a lot of crackers. I realized how important sleep training is to me. If Madi didn't take a long nap every afternoon, I am not sure we would have survived.... haha, but seriously. Luckily it came to an end.

2nd trimester: Like any average pregnancy, this time is the most doable. My sickness went away. Dinner started getting made, and Madi and I had a blast visiting Rexburg and doing all the fun summery things that Iowa City has to offer. We found out we were having another girl and I immediately started planning a blessing dress. I grew a ton this trimester. I will probably have another huge baby, I just hope all this pregnancy stuff doesn't cause too much havoc on my body. Back pain also came, I had a little with my 1st, but not this early or intense. . .  Also, my bladder doesn't work. :)

3rd trimester: I am in the midst and huge! I get tired easily, but I don't feel sick or queasy. I am sooo excited for the baby to come. I am curious to what she will look like and be like. I am always interested in knowing what their little personalities will be. Labor and delivery is making me a little nervous as time gets closer, but hey... modern medicine is awesome if I can't handle it.

I feel so lucky that I have had healthy pregnancies and that I seem to get pregnant fairly easily. Regardless of these blessing, being pregnant is hard. My self-esteem has taken a hit and is probably the reason for a lack of pictures of my 'developing body.' However, I let Jordan take this last picture because I want this next baby to know that I am soooo excited for her to come.  I cannot wait to hold her in my arms, introduce her to her awesome Daddy and big sister.

We swim a lot now

Madison has always LOVED water. Even from being a newborn she has loved baths, sprinklers, and swimming pools. She has not had fear of the water yet.

Luckily, this summer we have got to go swimming a lot.

Madison 7 months

Our apartment complex in Iowa has a pool that we love. Especially on hot hot humid days. It really is the only relief..... and with the humidity it is only partly a relief, but still. I love that it is so easy to get up from a nap, stick on her swimsuit, and head outside to swim. I decided to take some pictures before the summer is over/life gets more busy.

She really is a little fish. We put her in a puddle jumper a couple of months ago, and at first she hated it. She couldn't figure out how to balance. But a couple of swims later she became a pro! She loves the freedom of kicking around the pool.

Everything is more fun when her crazy dad comes along!