Parenthood ONL (on 'notha level)

Hello from mama-land. All is pretty well, but two kids is no joke. Some friends take care of their kids full time, and I can see how it'd qualify as a full time job.

Edie's been sick twice since Emmeline was born. On the day she visited us in the hospital, she vomited in the downstairs lobby, the start of a stomach bug. Luckily my parents were able to care for  her and, sadly, keep her at bay from our newborn. This past Sunday she had a runny nose which morphed into a cough and wheeze that requires a nebulizer and meds to open up the airways. She's been home with me and Emmeline this week. Doctors' orders are to lay low, and we can't meet up with friends because I don't want to spread whatever she's got. I'm loving my time with both babes but we're watching more t.v. than I'd like. It is laughable trying to keep a toddler from coughing on a baby. We put a temporary flower tattoo on Edie's forearm; I told her to cough into the flower to make it better.

Edie getting better.

Edie returned to school for half the day, so we'll see how it goes. This morning she declared, "I feel better!" and she sounded better too. As soon as I told her we're going to school, she declared, "But I'm sick!" Funny how quickly they learn to manipulate the situation. Can you blame a girl for wanting to watch Cinderella with her mama and little sister on a dreary day?

Emmeline's a doll; so new and precious. Newborns smell faintly of milk, and it's basically impossible to keep the run-off milk from collecting in their sweaty little necks, even though I bathe and clean her. I'm kinda surprised that I'm so smitten with newborns, but I am. Especially ones who sleep and generally have a good temperament. That could all change on a dime, so every night that I get a decent amount of sleep is a victory. Tonight could be a train wreck, you never know.

Will she take a pacifier? What about a lovey?
Let's ply the girl with comfort objects.

My mom's been a great help. She comes over often and is of service, folding laundry or cleaning up my kitchen or holding the baby while reading to Edie, even if she's here for 10 minutes. What can I say, she's a busy lady. I don't even need to ask, she just looks around, sees, and does. That is the same industriousness that her mom and grandma passed down. My dad has also been here a lot, and he's great day-time company. Being home is nice, but can be isolating. He works in our basement, tinkers around the yard finding projects and weeds to tackle, and we chat while he eats our leftovers. Also, I believe he might've just finished off the gourmet English Muffins that Michelle sent, but I'll let that slide since he does so much to keep our house up. Yeah, I pay my dad in English Muffins.

Memere's got her hands full,
and Edie's got some avant garde bed-head.

On the other end of the spectrum, Dave has been working like a madman ever since his lovely and leisurely paternity leave ended last week. It was fun to hang out without the stresses of the workday overshadowing conversations. I don't think we'd spent that much time together since we had Edie and he had summer's off back in Seattle. We ate delicious turkey sandwiches on soft rolls for lunch (welcome back, deli meat!), and watched Inside Amy Schumer at 2pm.

Now, as the school year winds down, his grad school and work schedule are forming a perfect storm, and once in a while he plays softball (on one league down from an all-time high of three, so it seems reasonable). He recently asked if he could play 18 holes of golf this weekend with some buddies. For the uninitiated, it takes about 5 hours, assuming no beer and burgers post-game. I don't think I responded verbally, just flashed him a look that spoke a thousand words....unfortunately that look will probably make some more appearances in the coming years.

First day getting out the door in one piece.

Over the last few weeks, having two little kids has instilled a fear of commitment. I make minor plans, and attached to those plans is a footnote that indicates we may be late or bail, and please don't hold it against us! Just getting out the door in one piece means it's a successful day.

Emmeline has arrived!

Dave, Edie and I welcomed Emmeline Ashley to the world in the wee hours of May 2.

Before her arrival, I attempted to blog twice to kvetch about being overdue. But that's pretty boring.  And I wasn't even that bored or overdue, so I scrapped my drafts and decided to hold out for a post about Emmeline's birth story. I believe all pregnant ladies and new mamas love birth stories. Maybe some new dads do, too.

Dave and I picked her name around Christmas. We were driving up I-5 in Seattle, tossing around ideas to complement Edie's name and to honor family. We veer towards vintage, and there's a cutie at Edie's day care named Emaline. It means 'industrious' and we chose the French spelling (for those wondering, Emmeline rhymes with Caroline). People ask if we plan to shorten it to a nickname, as with Edie's, but we don't. We just love the full name, and picked Ashley to honor my little sister, whom I adore. 

We were asked throughout pregnancy all the way into the delivery room if we'd settled on a name. Our lips were sealed! We didn't even tell the midwife or nurse until she was born. Everyone has an opinion, and many feel compelled to share it with expectant moms. We liked having our little secret.

My Saturday due date came and went without so much as a cramp. I stayed busy baking with Edie, napping, and making my "Emmeline: Get Born" mix in the days that followed. On Wednesday, Dave took the day off to attend my post-due date appointment, where they checked amniotic fluid, did a fetal non-stress test, and swept membranes. Sweeping the membranes is a non-invasive form of induction. It starts cramping that ideally triggers contractions, which ideally progress to labor. It's strange but when you're in late pregnancy, you want to be in pain. It means the baby is on its way... and pregnancy is soon over. Hooray!

Around 4pm, we picked up Edie from day care and Dave started playing housekeeping with the class, when I felt some contraction pain. I was like, "Dave, take off that kiddie bandanna, I want to go home". We walked to the park to play and to keep contractions coming. After dinner and Edie's bedtime, they were definitely increasing. We packed up our bags and called my mom to come spend the night with our girl. I kept sitting down, standing up, and swaying through the contractions, then reading my magazine or watching 'Modern Family' in the time in between.

Around 10:30 I called my midwife, Kira. She instructed me to labor on and call when contractions "bring a tear to your eye". An hour later, small talk was painful and reading impossible. I was heavily focused on breathing and not vomiting at the smell of Dave's late-night chicken nugget snack. Kira gave us the green light to go to the hospital.

Admittal to the delivery room was stressful. The lights were on full blast, many people were in the room, the nurse kept missing my veins to get the IV in, and you know, those damn contractions kept crashing down like a wave. Lastly, it is impossible to feel dignified in a hospital johnny. Ugh. Labor may be less painful if I didn't have to wear that open-backed gown.

I was 6 cm dialated when we arrived at midnight, and ready for the epidural. My blood pressure had spiked, but subsided once the epidural took hold, they turned lights down, and everyone but Dave, Kira, and Emily the nurse left the room. We hooked up my Get Born mix and were able to relax a bit. At one point, Dave was sleeping while Kira, Emily, and I discussed eHarmony like we were three friends at a bar. I was tired and wanted to sleep, then developed a fever that they treated with antibiotics.

I got stressed out all over again and decided that labor is the absolute worst, even though I barely felt pain. There are so many twists and turns...you just want it to progress with ease. But then, it wouldn't be called 'labor'.

The baby's position and my cervix weren't ready until my water broke and the nurse drained a liter (a liter!!) of urine, around 3:45 am. After that, labor came on like gangbusters. In an hour, I was ready to push, and did so through about two contractions. She was born at 5:02 am, and it's just amazing to hear that newborn cry and have a squishy, warm new baby placed on your chest and look up at you.

And that's how Emmeline arrived in this world.