A birth story!

It's been almost 2 months since Rupert joined our family and I'm finally sitting down to write a birth story. I did take the time to write this down in full detail in a journal of mine. This journal used to be where I wrote down all sorts of thoughts, feelings and muses. Looking back over the past 4 years it now consists of three birth stories, plus a couple sparse entries of cute things the kids said or did. Such is life, though. Without further ado, introducing Rupert James Claus!

December 4 was my due date and it came and went. This was no surprise to me as our other two babies have been 9 and 7 days past due. (If you pay careful attention you will notice that Rupert was 5 days past which makes a cute little pattern ;). I went for a non stress test at the OB's office the following Tuesday, December 8. Everything was good, the baby was happy, and they did tell me that I had "piles" of amniotic fluid. Interestingly one of the OB's had also told me a few weeks prior that she thought I was going to have a big baby. I didn't really put much thought into it because I know that these sorts of guesses can be very subjective.

I was a little antsy that night though... very thankful that the baby was happy in there.. but at the same time a little annoyed. I had finally reached that point in pregnancy where I was feeling quite done with it all. It took a lot longer this time, with our major move and all the changes plus two other kids, but it still came and settled in once my due date passed. Also, the general public become quite irritating once you are overdue, especially overdue with kids already "Boy, you've got your hands full". "When are you due?" When you tell them, "4 days ago", most people look at you as if you are about to give birth in front of them. I guess it is a little amusing.

Brian and I settled in to watch a Christmas movie, 'Elf'. I'm not really one for Christmas movies but that is my favourite one. About halfway through, around 10 pm or so, I noticed that I has having contractions. And they were actually strong. And seeming to come semi-regularly. I timed them on my phone.. about 10 mins apart. I told Brian and he said, "Oooh, exciting".. but apparently not exciting enough because he went to sleep. But that's for the best anyway.

All night long I had contractions.. anywhere from 6-10 mins apart, 45 sec- a minute and half in duration. Some of them were awful and some not so bad but overall it was manageable. I knew this was the real thing though. I got up to have a bath at one point.. and then a shower downstairs later. The water helped. I comforted John who woke up at some point like he usually does. I closed my eyes and tried to rest in between contractions but there was definitely no sleep happening.

I guess I settled into some sort of rhythm because this kept going all night long. I was just padding around the house and dealing with it. I have discovered that this is how I labour the best. By myself, in the quiet, maybe similar to a mama bear that goes off to her den or something. Haha. 

Around 5 am things started to get worse. I was still waiting for the magical 5 mins apart that the OB had told me to come in for. They did suddenly start dipping down into the 5 minute frequency.. and these were STRONG. I thought about calling the OB office.. which is what you are supposed to do here rather than just showing up in Labour and Delivery. Then, suddenly I felt like I had to push. Oh boy. I got myself upstairs and woke up Brian. He packed my bag (well got the final stuff off the list like phone, toothbrush etc), got himself dressed and packed some snacks. I called my friend Sierra at 5:51 am. She came over, 37 weeks pregnant herself. I told her to look at the list I had made on the fridge with instructions for the kids. She was there in about 10 mins.  

I didnt get dressed, just went outside in my robe.. got in the van.. and we drove the 5 min to the hospital. I was extremely glad that we had picked the hospital 5 min away rather than 40 min. Brian dropped me off at the entrance and went to park the van. I made my way very slowly up to Maternity and he soon caught up.

When I got there around 6:10 am the nurses were confused. I hadn't called the OB office (oops) and they couldnt find my info in the computer. But it was pretty obvious that I was in labour. They got me into a room, and put on the monitor belts- I remember asking if I really had to wear them. The answer was yes, but I never even noticed. Once again I didn't have to have an IV which was nice. The OB came in around 6:15, looking like he had just woken up. 

I got checked and was fully dilated, and the OB broke my water which resulted in a large waterfall and helped the baby move down. At 6:51 am, exactly an hour after I called Sierra (I checked this info on my phone), Rupert James Claus was born. All 9 lbs 14 oz of him. 

We spent a couple of hours skin to skin, enjoying our new son. At around 10 am big brother and sister came to meet him. They were indifferent, then curious. Then mostly interested in the hospital snacks.

We had a great experience at the hospital and I couldn't ask for better. We were very thankful that everything went well! I stayed at the hospital for 2 nights... it was a good time for me to rest up. We went home on Friday December 11 and started out life as a family of five!

John kept pretending that this closet was a shower. At least it was entertaining?

Everyone's got to try out the car seat..

The white newborn onesie that all the kids have worn home!

Cozy at home!

Late November

Here are a few pictures from our first American Thanksgiving weekend. We went to a potluck dinner with some other postdocs and it was a lot of fun. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing at home for the most part.

Playing while waiting for Thanksgiving morning pancakes

Cleaning up the yard

Making sugar cookies with Dad after church

39 weeks and counting!

The kids are excited about the baby too. Bronwen keeps asking when the baby is going to be born. When asked what we should name him or her she always says, "Bezelia". A creative choice?

We are excited to see what this little one makes his or her appearance.. any day now!

Latest happenings

August is here! This is the month our baby will be born.. I think that I can say that with relative certainty, seeing as I am due in only 9 days. Feeling good still!

Here are some pictures from life lately. We've been sticking pretty close to home. Bronwen is the start of most of these pics.. before she has to give up her only child status very soon.

Some radishes from our garden.. it must be love.

 I snuck up on Bronwen when she was playing quietly in her room. Apparently she is practicing changing diapers with her toy rabbit. She kept spreading out this change mat and laying her rabbit down in the middle.

Serious business.

I see you!

Having smoothies with mum for lunch.

Bronwen got to spend one last afternoon with her buddy Sam before he moved with his family all the way to BC. Here they are at a crucial moment... maybe promising each other to get married someday.. (just kidding.. I don't want to be one of those parents, haha!).  

Actually, Bronwen mostly stared at Sam with this expression. I think she thought he stole her high chair. All high chairs that look like this in the world must belong to her, obviously.

Oh man, I love pop bottles!

And here I am at 10 days left to go, disheveled at the end of the day. Popped bellybutton (though it's been out for a very long time now) = fully cooked. Ding!

More baby prep!

 This week we have had some great weather and I've taken advantage of the sunshine to do some more cleaning and nesting. I find it so much more motivating to tidy and clean when the sun is out!

Friends of ours gave us a car seat last week.. one of those huge, 3-in-1 car seats that is about the size of a small lazyboy. In the back of a small car. But, we gladly accepted it... when baby #2 grows out of his or her infant seat, then Bronwen can upgrade to the lazyboy seat and the baby can go in her other seat. So, we won't have to buy any more car seats for a long time. That's a good thing.
I washed the padding from all 3 seats and wiped them out. Just like new again!

Here is Bronwen demonstrating her growth in the past 18 months...

And reading the manual to her current seat (not a big car seat, this is about as compact as they come for this stage). Better make sure it's installed correctly, Mum.

Here is the progress on Bronwen's new room/ guest room/ office. Brian put the new crib together on the weekend. It was a bit of a pain, as Ikea cribs seem to be. However, based on stories I have heard from other people, putting a crib together is usually a bit of a trying experience. The dutiful husband with his largely pregnant and mostly unhelpful wife probably contributes to that... haha.

The curtains are washed and hung back up, and Bronwen's picture is on the wall, along with her special stuff on the shelf (and our photo albums, well out of reach of little hands).

Bronwen won't be sleeping in here for the first while as my mum is coming to stay in our guest room (hurray!).. but once the dust settles she will be in this room. The 'nursery' room is easier for a newborn with the change table and rocking chair in there, just what we need for all those night feedings and diaper changes.

Baby Prep

The weather here is getting nicer, the sun is out, and the forecast looks promising. A good Newfoundland windy spring (summer, almost) day is perfect for hanging laundry out. So, I've been spring cleaning these days. Washing all sorts of things from bathmats and pillows to curtains and blinds. And then I'll be washing new cloth diapers and miscellaneous newborn baby items.

Some might call this nesting, but I think it's a bit too early for that.
I'm just taking advantage of only having one child to get as much done around the house when I can. It's not always easy to do housework with a toddler (she doesn't realize that freshly mopped floors are very slippery.. and likes to bring me her toys to help clean the bathroom. or feel the toilet water)-- but I figure it's a lot easier than doing housework with a toddler and a newborn.

I am trying to get a lot done with vinegar, dish soap and baking soda and it's been working well so far. It just feels a little better not to be breathing in too much from the cleaning stuff... plus Bronwen has always got her little paws in whatever I am cleaning and I don't care if she licks the freshly scrubbed tub if it's only got vinegar on it.

My spring cleaning list is almost done- just a few things left that I need Brian's help with (such as cleaning our windows from the outside... not about to get up on a ladder and the front ones are very high up). And move the fridge to clean behind it. Things like that.
Then it's onto the 'baby list' which is infinitely more fun- things like getting out the little newborn clothes again, and setting up the crib. And setting up Bronwen's new room (a cozy nook in our guest room/office).
Putting the infant car seat back in the car- this will be a good experiment in how a 2 door Yaris hatchback will hold 2 tall-ish adults and 2 rear-facing carseats. Let's hope it works fine because a new vehicle is not in the works for a while yet!.. oh Rubee, you continue to faithfully serve us.

I am going to try and make some meals for the freezer... does anyone have any ideas for summer-type freezer meals? So far I have 1 meal in there... black bean enchiladas. Side note.. if you are looking to help out any families with new babies... one of the BEST things you can do, in my opinion, is to bring food! I still will not forget when Bronwen was born and our friends Alex and Adrienne showed up with a big container of chili, and homemade bagels. They didn't stay for hours, they just said hi... and left us a wonderful gift. I'm sure there were other people who brought us food, but that's what stands out in my head the most.

looking back.. some of our friends at the hospital... they arrived en masse.

Bronwen, 1 week old. Maybe an August baby won't have to wear a toque 24/7! (she literally wore one to sleep every night for the first few months). 

June Days!

Here are some pictures from the latest happenings in our life.

30 weeks pregnant with our little sprout.... (this was a week ago now).

 Date downtown with Brian! We hadn't been on a date with just the two of us since January(!), so it was long overdue (getting a babysitter once or twice to go to parties doesn't really count, and neither does taking Bronwen along with us). It's a lot more work to go out child-free.. but always worth it! We hope to squeeze in a couple more dates before the new baby arrives (and it gets even harder to go out!).

We went to one of our favourite dinner spots, Nautical Nellie's, and then walked by the boats and had coffee and dessert at Rocket Bakery.

Mmm, I love dad's homemade bread..

Sometimes I like to eat my snacks on this little bench...

I didn't take many pictures, but we went to the wedding of some of our friends from church on Saturday. It was a really fun, relaxed, and beautifully decorated wedding. Here are the food tables.. they were still setting up, hence the Sobeys bag. Also, 'scoff' is Newfoundland-ese for 'a big feed' aka 'a good meal'.

Family picture!

We had some visitors from Vancouver and Regina. Krista and Chelsa stayed with us for a couple of nights and we got to show them around a bit.

That's all for now!

May Days

 It's already May- spring is upon us! Temperatures in St. John's are still usually below 10 degrees, and drop close to zero at night- but it is definitely getting warmer, slowly but surely. We have the odd day that really and truly feels warm, without much wind, and last Friday was one of them. I was washing the car- Rubee really needed some TLC after all the salt and ice of the winter- and Bronwen was outside helping me. Well, by helping I mean finding some fun things to explore on the back porch....

Also, today it is 99 days till my due date with our little sprout!

I am enjoying how nice it is to already have all the baby 'stuff' that we need, mostly. We tried to keep the gadgets to a minimum with Bronwen for space and simplicity's sake, and got rid of the things that we didn't really find to be useful. I know that each baby is very different and may like different things- but either way, things like the baby swing that we had just take up too much room in our living area.

I was quite happy to find an Ikea crib on Kijiji, after keeping my eyes open for one for a while. The closest Ikea is in Montreal so it's usually only possible to buy their stuff used here, after a bit of hunting. But I really enjoy their cribs- they are solid and well made, as well as compact and cute! We bought the Diktad, an older model which is very similar to Bronwen's current crib. It is well used from 3 kids but still in great shape, and converts to a cute toddler bed.

We already have an infant car seat, change table, bouncer, and rocking chair... those are our 'big ticket' items. And lots of girlie baby clothes (though the seasons don't entirely line up with the sizes since Bronwen was a winter baby). If this little one is a boy, we will need to get some clothes, but we do have some cute little neutral newborn things (so tiny and cute!).

Our cloth diaper stash needed a bit of an expansion.. here are the 4 new Flip covers which came in the mail yesterday (along with 12 inserts). Aren't they cute? The 'Albert' patterned black one with the equations is to commemorate another engineering PhD baby (see this link).

I am thankful that we moved into a 3 bedroom apartment because it is going to be even more useful to us now! The third bedroom is slowly being transformed into the guest room/ craft desk room/ Bronwen's room. I'm planning on putting some of her special little knicknacks on the bookshelf (which our maintenance man Carl kindly put up for us recently), and putting her crib under the shelf (the new crib will be for the baby). With a couple special photos on the wall and maybe a little rug, it will become Bronwen's little corner quite nicely I think. :)

Tomorrow we are leaving to go to Trinity for the weekend! It's a cute little outport town about 2 1/2 hours away, and our friends Ralf and Karina have a cabin out there. They kindly invited us to spend the weekend there with them and their boys. The weather is looking good too and we're pretty excited! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures. Have a great weekend everyone!