Baby W is 3 Weeks Old!

Baby W is such a sweet, sweet baby boy. He is changing so fast, and it's hard to believe that just a mere 3 weeks ago, he was a red, swollen, continually hungry newborn.

 

He is doing very well- still eating a lot, but sleeping really well at night. And he's so precious with his little "cooing" noises he's starting to make when we talk to him, and his adorable smiles just melt my heart.

 

Here's a whole load of cuteness:

 



First Ride on Kayla

We took it very easy for Kayla's first ride on Christmas Eve. Oldest Daughter has been working with her on the ground often, and we were confident that she is ready for some very light under saddle work.

 

Kayla has been responding very well to voice commands on the lunge-line.

 

 

 

She did so good on her first ride with Oldest Daughter. She is very light and responsive. We believe that she's probably had some good training at some point in her life, and that she'll only need some refreshing.

 

 

For all of Kayla's posts, click HERE!



First Snow!

Once again, the weathermen just didn't get it right. Mother Nature totally surprised us today with a nice little snow. There isn't much out there, but it certainly is pretty.

 



Signs of the Season

Winter is my least favorite of the seasons. Everything about livestock/animal ownership gets harder in the winter- making sure the animals all have adequate protection from the elements, fresh water available as often as possible, and extra feed to keep their bodies warm.

 

De-icing buckets is just part of the water chores. Because of hoses and outdoor faucets freezing up, we have to make multiple trips from the house hauling 5-gallon buckets of water to make sure everyone has enough fresh water until it freezes over again. 

Not only do the horses get extra hay, but the goats do as well, and also the dogs-- they use it as bedding to stay warm.



Kayla Update: 9 Weeks

Kayla's weight gain has slowed a little, but I think she is still doing very well.

 

For all of Kayla's posts, click HERE!



Bundled Up

With daytime high temperatures in the low 30s, and nighttime temperatures dipping down into the low teens, ordinary activities have become much more difficult with the arrival of Baby W.

 

We braved the cold today to make a trip into town to get groceries, as we've been living off the kids' Christmas stocking candy for far too long now. Just kidding, of course. :-)

 

Here's Baby W all bundled up in his car seat. He is such a good traveller, and sleeps every time we go anywhere.

 

 

 

First Smiles

At a mere 12 days old, our sweet Baby W is already surprising us with some of the cutest, most genuine smiles I've ever seen on such a young baby. He is such a darling baby!



Flash!

Our family had the privilege of caring for "Flash" for a short time recently. Flash was dumped, or had somehow gotten lost, and was brought home by Handy Husband, who found him wandering around his jobsite. It was such a high-traffic area, that we didn't want to take the chance of him getting run over, and no one in the area seemed to know where the dog had come from.

 

So, Flash came home with us.

 

 

We immediately started looking for his owners, as we just couldn't believe that a dog like this would have been dumped. But no one came forward to claim him.

 

Since our feed bill has almost tripled since taking in Big Giant and Kayla, we could not afford to keep him. Besides, he is such an active, energetic dog, that really needs a LOT of attention, we decided to find a home for him that could give him more time than we could.

 

We temporarily put him in the goat pasture with Big Giant until we could find a new home for him.

 

And we did! Flash is now living with a wonderful family who were so excited to find a dog like him. He was exactly what they had been looking for as a pet for their daughters. I'm so glad that we could help Flash find a good home. I'm sure he'll be very loved and spoiled rotten there!

 



Baby W is One Week Old!

Our midwife came out yesterday to do Baby W's one-week checkup. She said he looks great! His color is perfect, his heart and lungs sound great. He did lose a few ounces, but that can be expected with any baby in the first days, and in particular larger babies.

 

Getting ready to weigh him.

Even though he lost a few ounces, he's still a heavy boy! 10lb, 11oz.

 



The Long-Awaited Birth of Baby W

I was beginning to wonder if this moment would ever come. I was 17 days over due... the longest I'd ever gone past my due date. I tried every old wives tale in the book... walking endlessly, climbing stairs, getting down on all fours and rocking, taking various herbs and castor oil. Even having my membranes swept. And re-swept. Thunderstorms and full moons came and went, and STILL no signs of real labor. So I gave up. I decided that our sweet growing baby would come when he was ready, and not a moment before.

Finally, after having pre-labor/false-labor symptoms for 3 weeks, my water spontaneously broke Sunday, December 9th around 6am. This was a first for me- my water has never broke on it's own before. We spent the whole day Sunday doing normal things, even going to the grocery store and doing chores- a typical day. My contractions were consistently 8-10 minutes apart all day, but never got uncomfortable. My midwife was kept abreast of the proceedings, and I told my best friend, but I didn't want to tell anyone else because I honestly thought I would be in labor for a very long time, and I didn't want any of my family to worry.

 

That night, we went to bed, knowing that at any moment "hard" labor would arrive.

 

At 1am Monday, December 10th, I awoke because the contractions seemed a little "tighter," and I began to time them. They had gotten closer together, and were about 6-8 minutes apart. I sent a text to my midwife to let her know, but told her that they still were not painful.

 

So back to bed I went.

 

At 2 am I woke up to some pretty uncomfortable contractions- the hardest I had had up to that point. Again, timing them, they were still apart 6 minutes apart. Knowing how different these contractions were feeling, my midwife said she'd gather her things and would head over- but being that we live an hour away from her, she wouldn't arrive until 3:30am.

 

One of the midwife apprentices' arrived first, as she lived the closest. She offered to check me, but I declined, as I assumed I was still very much in the beginning of labor.

 

My midwife and another apprentice arrived at 3:30am and almost immediately my contractions got painful. I was checked and shocked at finding that I was already dilated to 8cm! The next hour and half were the hardest, with me having to utilize relaxation and breathing techniques to get through the contractions. They were so close together and very intense. I spent most of this time sitting on the edge of my little couch in the bedroom, rocking back and forth with my eyes closed, and concentrating on just RELAXING.

 

Handy Husband was so helpful and supportive this whole time. He kept asking what he should do, but honestly, I didn't need him to do anything but be there with me.

 

I'm not sure exactly what time I started getting the urge to push, but I tried pushing on the bed for a little while, but we felt that I was not getting anywhere in that position. So my midwife had me try out the birthing stool and that was so much better. I could instantly feel that my hard work was making some progress as my little one moved down. We knew this baby would be big, and the birthing stool helped to open up my hips better and I was much more able to really utilize all my pushing power in that position. From here, I believe I only pushed for about 20 minutes when his head was born.

 

At this point though, my midwife had one of the apprentices help hold my right leg out and up a bit to open my pelvis up even further to get the baby's chest delivered. This was no petite baby. After one more push, his body gently eased it's way completely out.

Though I was relieved to have it over, a moment of panic and confusion set in when our baby boy did not immediately respond to the midwives' rubbing and stimulation. All I remember was them telling me, "Talk to your baby." So I did. I said hello. And I caressed his cheek. And then he woke up and it was one of the most wonderful moments of my life.

I held my sweet baby boy to my chest as the midwives and my dear handy husband helped me back to the bed. There we spent some time bonding and he instantly latched on for his first meal.

What only seemed like a few minutes later, the placenta, my baby's home for nearly 10 months, was delivered. Now, I don't know much about placentas, but according to the midwives, mine was simply amazing. Very robust and beautiful.

After our mother & baby herb bath, we got all cleaned up and our little one was weighed and measured. It wasn't long after that, that our older two boys woke up and came in to meet their little brother. After that, we sent them upstairs to wake up the girls. We could hear the stampede coming down the stairs as all four kids came running down to see Baby W. They all loved him, just as I knew they would.

 

Baby W, weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces, and measuring 22 inches long, was born at 5:22am December 10th, 2012. He is one hefty little boy- with his chest measuring an inch bigger than his head! 

 

Now for the pictures:

Taking our herb bath.

Daddy holding his first-born for the first time.

Getting checked out and dressed by our midwife.

Me and my little guy. Love!

 

 

Loooong Overdue

16 days overdue. Feeling good. Just waiting. And waiting.

 

And waiting....

 



Good Distraction...

...from the fact that I still haven't gone into labor. We got a great deal on these French doors and used them as the perfect distraction from my overdue state of pregnancy. I have had so many false labor alarms and was getting so frustrated that none of them turned into real labor, so it was nice doing a house project that got my mind off of things.