Mason's birth story

My doctor peered over the surgical curtain separating me from the rest of the action in the room. "Thank goodness we went with a c-section," she said "we can see a big hole in your uterus right now". Not the most reassuring words ever spoken during a surgery, but certainly some validating ones considering the circumstances. When considering the options for how Mason might enter this world, a repeat c-section or attempted VBAC, we weighed the numbers. Though a relatively low number of women who attempt a VBAC experience a rupture (of their previous scar), those that do face some serious and scary consequences for both themselves and baby. The fear of those consequences was enough to direct us towards a repeat c-section. It seemed the right choice for us, and when I heard those words in the ER I discovered how right we were. A hole, in my uterus. This meant that when they went in for Mason they found an open window waiting for them where there out to have been a shut door. Somehow, either before or during this pregnancy, my scar from Skyler's birth had began to rupture creating a nearly fist sized opening where there ought to have been none.

We started out the day of Mason's birth rising early. We needed to be at the hospital by nine for the the surgery which was scheduled at eleven. Before all that we needed to make one last stop to see Skyler who had spent the night previous at Nana and Pa's. We got in some last minute family of three time and then ventured on for all my pre-surgery preparations. Whether it was the stress of the day or lack of sleep the night prior I could not keep my eyes open for the life of me. During the hour or so in which I spent being pumped full of IV fluids to ready me for surgery I found myself fighting drowsiness, I was worried I might fall asleep in the operating room. This was a weird feeling, considering all the nerves I was experiencing at the same time.

The whole process felt very familiar considering we had been through a nearly identical day a few years earlier. They finished monitoring me and led me back to the OR and placed my epidural as Andy waited elsewhere in his surgical haz-mat suit. He was disappointed by the scrubs this time, they weren't take-home worthy. Once they had assured my numbed state and prepared to get underway with the surgery itself Andy got to return to the room. Some jostling ensued and the conversation above occurred, and then, he was out. He sounded just like an angry cat, and I couldn't believe how big he was. Mason really did look like a chunk from the very beginning. I had wagered that he would be about Skyler's size if not a bit smaller. I was wrong. Born at 11:39 am, Mason Alejandro weighed 9lbs 3oz and measured 20.5 inches long. A few ounces heavier and a half an inch shorter than his big brother.

I was so thrilled that this time around Andy and Mason got to stay with me for the rest of the surgery's duration. When Skyler was born he was whisked away, after an initial view, for bathing and measuring in another room. I told Andy to go with him, since at least I knew I wouldn't get lost in the hospital. Our little yet unknown baby boy seemed a more valuable asset to be monitored. This time however Mason and Andy stayed with me the whole time. Once he was wiped off and measured Andy brought him over for me to adore and we spent the end of the surgery cooing over what we thought was an adorable little noise he was making. He seemed to be emitting a constant stream of 'eh-eh-ehs' which we chalked up to a talkative nature. The nurses knew differently though and became concerned by his "singing", as they called it. Turns out that that little noise was an indication of fluid present in his lungs, something Mason was trying in his own little way to remedy. Unfortunately it was nearly twenty four hours after his birth that we received solid confirmation that this was the case, a period in which we spent worrying and Mason endured endless pokes, prodding, and blood draws. We spent a much longer time in recovery because of this and almost sent family home since we weren't sure Mason would be up for visitors. Ultimately the tests did reveal that his noises were caused by fluid, a common occurrence in c-section babies, by which time the grunts had all but resolved themselves. We are grateful for the outcome, but the time in between was not something I would ever want to repeat.

The rest of our hospital stay was uneventful and blessedly short. We came home after two days instead of the three we had been expecting since both Mason and I were recovering rapidly from the trauma of birth. We were very fortunate to be on the receiving end of a lot of familial support during this time and pleasantly surprised by Skyler's embrace of big brotherhood. He loves Mason and is very protective of him, showering him with lots of kisses and coos. He seems to understand very well that baby brother Mason, as he calls him, requires gentle handling. So far the expected swing to the head or all out rejection hasn't occurred yet, but then it is only day four.

Mason himself has so far been a pretty calm baby. He enjoys his sleep and will even maintain slumber while his father and two year old brother rumble around him. He resembles Skyler in the vaguest of details, though it is clear that he possesses some strong characteristics of his own. We feel very lucky to have another health and beautiful baby boy on our hands.The rest of the story can be told in pictures. There is one short video at the end of Mason's actual birth. It's not very graphic, for those who might be concerned, especially considering it was shot by Andy who is notably squeamish and faints at the sight of blood. He apparently makes exceptions for the birth of his son.

He's here

We are healthy, happy, tired and home. I have quite the story to tell, but no energy to tell it at present. Here's pictures for now. Mason Alejandro was born on Friday June 19th at 11:39 am, he was 9lbs and 3oz and 20.5 inches long.

Bittersweet

Today is my last day as a mother of one. One could (very strongly) argue that my huge pregnant belly already constitutes my status as a mother of two. But what I really mean here is that today is my last day with one child on the outside. Just one little man to keep track of, Mason never strays far from my rib cage so it's just not the same.

I am excited to meet this second son of ours tomorrow. I have been waiting for this moment for almost forty weeks, the wait seems even longer since I knew we were expecting before a pee stick would tell me so. I also cannot wait to be done with this pregnancy deal. I am bloated, I am achy, I literally must have about 4 inches left between my stomach and the back of my throat because it feels like nothing every really goes down but just sits and burns there. Nice. So you see, I am ready. I am also scared though, of what this will mean for son number one and everything that I have become so attached to in the past two years of his life. Surely I know that everything will be twice as wonderful in the end, but right now all I can focus on is that today is my last day of singular devotion to this guy:

So today is bittersweet. I have been spending all day trying to think of ways to take in all his oneness so that tomorrow when our load doubles I can feel a little bit better about springing a sibling on him. A little brother will bring lots of good things for Skyler, a chance to share and opportunities to bond. A little playmate with whom to gang up on mom with, and another male to share fart jokes with. I will look forward to these too, if I love this one little boy so much I can hardly fathom how wide my heart will have to open for two. So here's to today, my final of solo childness, and to what tomorrow brings.

Better late than never

So we had another baby shower for Mason man this past weekend, with five days to d-day no less. Better late than never right? It ended up being so close due to several factors, including some slow planning on our mom's parts and it being an ideal weekend for several out of town guests who would be attending. Either way, it happened and it was lovely. I was just enormously pregnant (still am) and completely wiped by the end. It's sad how sitting and talking can be exhausting at this point. We did get some more very useful items to help us in preparation for the arrival of son number two in *three* more days. Yikes, but yay. I am so worn out, my body hurts so bad. I am scared and anxious about what it will mean to have two children, and worried about how this will affect Skyler... but sweet jebus I am so completely done being pregnant. If I have it, it hurts and it doesn't work very well anymore. Blech. Anyways, here's some lovely pictures from MIL's camera (except for the first two) of our get together. Presents, chocolate, and friends is never too trying after all.

On again, off again

Not that my body hasn't been slowly betraying me over the last few months, but the last week has really made me want to put up the white flag. I surrender, I am done. Time for baby, my body is tired. I never experienced sciatic nerve pain last time with Skyler, and thank the gods that I am only just now experiencing it with the end so very close (11 more days!). Seriously though, ouch! I was already tired and achy in the pelvic region, but now my right leg has decided to abandon me and sends shooting pains every once and a while up the back. Even sitting doesn't provide relief all the time. I thought things had righted themselves yesterday, but it seems Mason was just testing out a different position and has now resumed his camp out right on my sciatic nerve. Thanks kiddo. Looking forward to seeing you and getting you off of my more sensitive internal assets.

Mini "Maternity" Shoot

This past weekend we had a little mini "Maternity" shoot. I use quotations marks because it wasn't anything done professionally, we don't have any extra funds laying around for such occasions. My mother in law however is pretty handy with her camera and obliged us by taking some pictures of the 3, almost 4, of us. I have loads of pictures of just Skyler, and a few more of myself recently due to documentary purposes, but there is a shocking dearth of photos including the whole family. We have a few attempts from the recent holidays, but not enough to satisfy me. I also wanted to have some photographic evidence to look back upon this particular point in our lives. My MIL took quite a few photos of which we really like just a handful. The blame for this partially belongs on the fact that we ran late and missed the good early morning light. The rest can be chalked up to the difficulty of obtaining a "good" photo of three people, one being two years old. Enough disclaimer, here they are:

Showering the baby - 34 Weeks

Today marks the beginning of week 34. Seriously, six more weeks to go. A little over a month for me to get ready for this, number two. Physically I am reaching that point, at some times during the day more than others, where I am ready. Mentally - meh. Looking at my to-do-before-baby-arrives list, also a little meh. We will be needing to make the most of the next five weekends for sure.

Little Mason man had his first baby shower this week, courtesy of my place of work. I have been so fortunate to be on the receiving end of now three showers from this employer (wedding, and for Skyler), I am starting to feel a little guilty for it. Not guilty enough to say no to all of this of course:

Sorry for the poor picture quality, my phone can only do so much. Don't get too excited for me though, I shared a shower with another gal who is due just a few days before me, so only half that loot is mine. Seems that it's not just the blogosphere going through a baby boom, there's something in the water here at work.

Remember, I shared the shower. Only one of the above referenced 'babies' is mine. We took home quite a haul, including this stroller and lots of other things to help us fill in the gaps in Mason's nursery. Very exciting, and needed.

32 Weeks - Learning to slow down

Really I was 32 weeks last Friday, so now I am hovering between 32 and 33. It all blends together at this point really, it's going fast. Quite the opposite of my general place these days, which is slow. Or I am finding that it should be. I feel like I have been able to maintain a pretty good energy this pregnancy, I haven't really felt all that limited and aside from the major energy drain of the first few weeks I have been feeling fine. Now not so much. Along with my repeat test for the diabetes they also tested to see if I was anemic. The results came back showing that I am mildly anemic, adding another pill (for iron) to my daily regimen. This also explained why my desire for an afternoon nap had increased significantly in the last few weeks. I have been taking the supplement for about a week now and I think it has been helping, hard to tell really what might be anemia-related tiredness and what is just third trimester dragging.

This past weekend also taught me the need to do some of my own regulation in order to keep myself going safely through these last few weeks. I had a bridal shower to attend that was about two hours drive away. I went up for the weekend, was on my feet helping run it all for most of it, and came home a wreck at the end of it all. I have really been taking for granted that my body would just keep up with me. Chasing a toddler in my spare hours and working during the day led me to believe that I could just power through when needed. My body has officially disabused me of this belief. By late Sunday I just had to lay down and give in, I even had some really unpleasant braxton-hicks to remind me to stay put. I have been having those "practice" contractions for a while now, but these ones were actually a little painful. Time to slow down I guess.

Otherwise things continue to go well, no more travelling or long drives in my near future. Just a matter of sitting back and watching these next 7ish weeks fly by.

Little steps in baby prep

We have a long list of to-do's before Mason gets here. A loooong list. Fortunately we realized a few weeks back just how short a period of time we now have to accomplish all those things. Less than sixty days to paint/decorate/furnish his room, do some major outdoor renovation, transition Skyler to a toddler bed... to name a few. Since our epiphany we have managed to knock some big ones off the list. My lovely husband spent the weekend that Skye and I were in North Carolina painting his second son's room. He has also since ripped apart our back lawn with a rototiller and is making preparations for reseeding and setting up a fence. I'm pretty lucky like that. Back to the room though, since it was painted a few weeks back I have slowly been working towards filling it with the bits and pieces I have accumulated for Mason. We still need to fill it in with some more furniture, and no small amount of organization needs to occur... but, it looks like a room that could be inhabited by a small child now.

Paint by Daddy, decals by me (and Blik)

Pandas and bamboo, it couldn't all be ninjas

Mason's snuggy bed awaits

There are some ninjas though

Deja Vu

I had completely forgotten something that started occurring towards the end of my pregnancy with Skyler. Every once and a while, when he would move, I could hear a distinct 'popping' sound. Like a little click of a joint, or something like that. I think I would have forgotten that piece of information forever if it hadn't happened again today when Mason was doing his morning calisthenics. The very same sound. So many things have been different between these two pregnancies, but this little piece of identical really ties them together. Any one else ever have one of these moments?

DOB

So we might/probably/I think we do have a date of birth for our little Mason man. Assuming that things don't go wildly off target, and that scheduling doesn't switch on us, Mason Alexander should be arriving into this world on Friday June 19th. That's 11 weeks away! *Gulp*

I went and had a doctor's appointment this morning and all is well. Mason's heart is beating away in the 130's and he was nice and squirmy for the doctor. Could be because I had to do glucose test part deux, lovely thing about having GD in a prior pregnancy - you get to take the tolerance test twice! Blech. Hopefully I continue to be diabetes free, we will find out in the next few days. Then the doctor brought up the idea of scheduling, which I had been meaning to do myself. Since my original due date was the 26th(ish) we are going ahead with things exactly a week prior to that. Shouldn't be an issue as the little bean has been measuring ahead by a week anyways. Just crazy to think that I can mark it on the calendar now, and really feel the heat of the countdown. Perhaps it's time to actually get serious about putting together the nursery?

In less pleasant news, I will be off on a plane again tomorrow. This time for an even longer duration (with a layover!) to go and visit my ailing grandmother in North Carolina. With my mother and Skyler in tow. While 28 weeks pregnant. Can you feel the impending doom? I can. This in the end will be a good thing, it will give my grandma a chance to finally meet Skyler and (sort of) Mason. Also considering that travelling of this sort really won't be in the cards for us for about another year... who knows what can happen in a year. My grandma has been healthy for all her eighty some years, up until lately. I would hate to think that I left things too late all because of some temporary discomfort. Unfortunately that discomfort starts tomorrow at 8:30 am and won't stop until sometime around midnight next Monday. *Sigh*. Anybody familiar with the use of benadryl on toddlers for extended periods of flight?

As the belly grows - 27 weeks

One more week and we are into the third trimester baby! I can't even believe that is possible, time really does fly. I already thought I was getting bigger, but something must have happened recently because I have been getting a lot of comments lately that I have 'popped'. I would agree with them, Mason is kinda hanging out there now. Also, so is my belly button. This didn't really happen last time, but now (especially after a good meal) my innie is definitely an outie. Just another funny difference between this time and the last.


I am starting to become more achy, starting each morning with my hips feeling like they just might go their separate ways. By the end of it all last time I was wearing a lovely garment that Andy sweetly referred to as a diaper but was really an all around belly support. I haven't had to resort to this just yet, but it's heading there. I feel like I am carrying Mason differently than I was Skyler so we'll see.

I can also feel that Mason is getting bigger in there too, I still get the frequent jabs and pokes but more and more often I feel his whole body shifting and the long rubs of some solid little body part pushing out against me. He also performs a most unsettling move that feels like a good solid kick to my nether regions, it's strange where those baby bits manage to reach. Even more strange when these particular karate moves are performed while I am trying to quietly sit through a meeting at work.

We have been accumulating items for the nursery and are getting close to starting the putting together process. I feel a bit behind with it all and probably a bit in denial seeing as the time we have to do all this is quickly decreasing. Just 13 more weeks...

P.S. If you haven't had a chance yet be sure to enter the giveaway I posted about a few days ago. I will be, with Skyler's assistance, picking the winner this Sunday!

The final countdown

Is anyone else out there a fan of Arrested Development? I look at the title for this and can't help but associate it with that song and Gob Bluth. Sorry, sidetracked. It's now only one hundred more days and then Mason baby is out, of course it is likely it will be less than that, but the number just seems so significant. Likely because as it's the end of the triple digits and the days will only speed up from now until d-day.

My nesting, and apparently baking bug is in full swing. I finally ordered the bedding for Mason's room (thanks tax refund!) and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival so that I may choose a paint color. I spent this past weekend taking out all of Skyler's 0-3 month clothing and washing it with a fresh round of Dreft. We also have already received some new clothing just for Mason himself, so I of course needed to wash and fold those as well. The smell of all this fresh baby laundry really takes me back to Skyler's early days, not to mention looking at all the tiny outfits. Skyler was near on nine pounds when he was born and those newborn clothes were still big on him. It's hard to imagine someone so small again...

The baking is something new, I think. I don't remember being a baking fiend last time around, but in the last two weeks I have had a major upswing (from my usual nothing) to baking a couple of loaves of banana bread, some from-scratch blueberry muffins, and Irish soda bread last night. Not sure where this came from, but at least Andy can't complain any more about the lack of activity my KitchenAid receives. For now at least:).

I am definitely starting to feel the slowdown too. I am getting bigger and clumsier, and carrying Skyler up the stairs is no longer a reasonable option. Fortunately he doesn't seem to mind not having this mommy valet service. Overall I am feeling good though, and the thought of getting the nursery put together does help me retain a little bit of energy. Thank goodness for nesting.

As the belly grows - 25 weeks

Little Mason man will be twenty five weeks (gestationally speaking) tomorrow. That means only fifteen more weeks(ish) until he enters into this side of the world. I can't believe how quickly the last few weeks have flown by. It scares me to think how quickly we will now move to thirty and *gulp* beyond. I have definitely popped, I know this both by my own observation and the willingness of the general public to now make their own observations. I have been receiving a lot more comments from strangers lately, mostly women asking if I know what I am having. Though I did meet a lovely homeless man while I was parking my car today who inquired if it would be rude to assume I was expecting.

We also had a doctor visit today, all is going well and I am measuring right along if not a bit ahead. Technically I am measuring at 26 weeks, but again I am just going to keep sticking with the 26th of June as it's too much hassle to keep switching. Mason's little heart was ticking along at 150, he gave the doctor a run for her money as he was being a squirmy little bug and she had to keep readjusting to get an accurate reading. As Andy has noted, and I have noticed too, Mason is much more of a mover than Skyler was in utero. Skyler pulled lots of kicks and jabs, and by the end of it I seemed to constantly have a foot lodged in my ribs. Mason seems much more interested in full on body movements, lots of stretching,flipping, and scooting around. I also found out that thus far I have accomplished the astonishing feat of only gaining 13 pounds. This is practically a miracle if you compare it to the weight I have gained by this point with Skyler, you could pretty much triple that number and it would be accurate. Now if I can just keep it up...

Here's the belly:

One of the less pleasant aspects of pregnancy

Swelling, blech. I have officially had to take off my wedding bands because I am afraid that if I wait any longer they won't come off at all. At least without some sort of assistance. It's a little frustrating because with round one I really didn't experience any swelling until about a month before Skyler's arrival, and even then it was due to some extended car travelling. Lately I have been finding my poor feet swollen at the end of the day's work, and as demonstrated by the picture above my fingers are not exempt either. I have switched over my plain gold band that I received from Andy on my first Mother's day to my left ring finger, because it feels a bit odd wandering around visibly pregnant and sans ring. It has Skyler's name, dob, and gemstone (luckily a diamond) engraved on the inside of it - so it's passable. Still a bit sad I had to give this up so early. I also have some travel in my near future, including a flight to New Mexico this weekend, so this everyday swelling bodes nothing good post-flight I am sure.

Ninja nursery

When we first found out Skyler was a boy, well actually even before we knew for sure that he was, Andy announced that he had the perfect theme for his nursery: dinosaurs. Andy always loved dinosaurs as a child and could think of no better decoration for his son's new room. I knew how much it meant to him, so I set about making it happen. Fortunately it wasn't too difficult as Babies r' Us carried a dino bedding set and the rest of the accessories to fill in the gaps. Who knew dinosaurs could be cute?

When we discussed the possible genders (and associated room themes) that this next baby might have, Andy again had a suggestion: ninjas. A ninja nursery. If you are so inclined try typing that into a google search and see what comes up. Not a whole lot of baby friendly options, let alone any convenient bedding and accessories at the local baby outlet. Again, I knew how much it meant to Andy so I set about making it happen. It hasn't been easy, and we are far from even setting things up, but the pieces are starting to fall into place. First, did you know that someone out there decided to make stuffed ninjas:


Again, who knew ninjas could be so cute? I also searched, in vain, for some sort of "cute" ninja wall art. I came up empty handed on that one, so I improvised. I made my own. They are lacking frames at present, but I am thinking I managed to make ninjas cuddly and appropriate for a child's decor.


The one area I really couldn't improvise or provide a specific ninja theme was the bedding, but I am thinking the below will help create an overall Asian feeling. Pandas are definitely baby friendly too, so that helps.

So I hope I have risen to the challenge my husband put before me. The dinosaurs turned out well, and I think the ninjas will too. Now the issue will be convincing Andy that the ninjas are for Mason, not him.We are currently sitting at twenty three weeks with baby boy number two, hopefully lots of time left to pull his room together for him. We are excited to be getting under way with planning, getting things set into action and preparing for Mason.

Also excited that now Skyler will give kisses to Mason when asked, we'll see how this translates once his brother arrives.

No GD for me!

I found this out a few days ago, I just have been too busy to mention it. They did an early test for gestational diabetes at my last appointment since I did have GD the last time around. The nurse called me the next day with the great news that I cleared it this time! I was so excited, I really have been making a concerted effort to make this pregnancy different than my first. Having an active toddler to chase and no longer working from home makes a difference, but I also know that my eating habits changed a lot following my bout with diabetes when pregnant with Skyler. So wheeee! no needle pricks and glucose testing for me!

*On a side note, thanks for all the kind hellos for my last post. It feels good to be out in the open:)

Behind the curtain

When I started this blog it was because I needed a separate space from the blog I had already begun when my first child was born. That forum was meant entirely for the friends and family members who were (then) so far away and required regular updating and of course pictures. It wasn't an appropriate place for me to express my feelings though, and in those early months I really did need somewhere to go with all of that. In a way the original blog is sterile in that it was entirely dedicated to the mister, not my feelings about breastfeeding or why my mother was driving me crazy that week or really anything about the deeper me. Not that I am all that deep, but still. A lot went on in that first year, and I just needed a place to express myself - anonymously.

I feel comfortable enough now that the idea of sharing my name, our names, doesn't seem so scary. I still worry that family members and people who I haven't shared this blog with intentionally might find me here, but then that is really a consequence I have been courting since putting my life and words out into the blogosphere. So hi, my name is Jeni. I'm married to Andy, and our first born son's name is Skyler. And this guy (direct your attention to uterus level):

...is going to be called Mason.

Drumroll please

It's a...


Another little boy! Come mid-late June MR will be receiving a little brother, and we will have a second son! We weren't even thirty seconds into the ultrasound when the Little Bean flashed us this:

Not shy at all, just like his big brother. The ultrasound tech said we were the perfect patients, Little Bean was very accommodating and allowed for lots of good clear shots and rolled over when needed. He was also given a very clean bill of health, all his bits and pieces (head, heart,spine, fingers and toes) are looking beautiful and just as they should. BL and I didn't even realize how much we needed to worry about this until she started checking for all the chambers in LB's heart. It was then that we remembered that we are not guaranteed a healthy baby, and we are very grateful that the ultrasound confirmed that all is well. Here are some more profile shots.



The little guy is taking after his big brother in more ways than one, he is already a whopping one pound. Seems small, but for his age it's a good couple of ounces more than average. Little Bean is currently measuring in the 85th percentile for his gestational age, which the tech actually estimated to be about four days ahead of where we thought we were at. It's always changing. MR always measured ahead too, so this is not entirely new territory for us. We are so thrilled with this news and so very excited to really get into planning for this new little boy.

Little Bean - 19 Weeks

Holy wow, I cannot believe that this pregnancy is almost halfway over. Even more so I can't believe it's only another week and a half and then we get to find out what we're having, I can barely contain myself. The mister was very forthcoming in revealing his gender, I just hope the Little Bean is as helpful.


So at 19 weeks I am starting to feel unwieldy. I am not feeling big, per se, but I am beginning to notice a certain lack of balance and I even think I am starting to waddle. Not the full on pregnancy waddle, mind you, but it's not my usual forward movement. My hips and pelvis are also starting to feel loose and creaky, something that occurred closer to the end of my last pregnancy. Everything really does happen sooner the second time around.

I also have been experiencing increasingly regular nudges and bumps from this internal inhabitant. Since about week 15/16 I have been feeling pokes here and there, but now there are definite intervals during the day when the baby is up and moving. It's incredible to feel these things again, and even more so since I know how much more regular and intense their movements will become. Even though we are nearly fifty percent there it almost seems like it is all just starting now, I think the movements (and the bigger belly) make it even more real.