Please forgive me; I've been neglecting my blog. The reason is trifecta.
- The baby came. He's beautiful, just beautiful, healthy, but takes up a lot of time. Mostly, if I'm on the computer, it's while I'm nursing, and I HATE one-handed typing.
- I discovered FaceBook. I spend a lot - okay, a loooooooooooot - of time there, and I can do most stuff there one-handedly. (I'm at http://www.facebook.com/christi.waterman if you'd like to friend me.)
- I didn't realize I had any readers here on HSB, but have recently been told by a certain few readers that they - in fact - do read and would like an update. Thank you for that, friends. I didn't know anyone read this. It's easy to let fall to the wayside that which you think doesn't affect anyone but yourself, know what I mean?
So, here I am. I'm about to give the low-down on the what's up. ^_^
My previous entry was dated July 14th. I spent that day very actively! I should've known what was to come of it, but - alas! - I never do! It always surprises me!
The Day Before Benjamin - It was a Tuesday. That day I made an entry in my blog, wrote and sent my Thank You cards, finished making and addressing the invitation cards for Benjamin's Meet & Greet celebration, threw the kids in the car, and ran to Quik Trip (cheap fountain drinks), McDonald's (dollar menu), Worm's Way (for our Baby Robin), our neighbor's restaurant (dropped off some organic produce), the Post Office (stamps for the Meet & Greet), PetCo (b/c Worm's Way didn't have worms - who'da thunk?), and someplace else that now eludes me. There were 7 stops total, THAT I clearly remember.
Anyway, once home, it was time to feed Robby Ray (the afore-linked robin). Feeling like we were possibly not taking very good care of him, I called the bird-rehab center (2 miles from my house!) and spoke to a volunteer there (Hi, Bonnie! ^_^). She HIGHLY recommended we turn Robby over to them, but I refused, and I asked if they'd give him a once-over and let us know how we're doing, and that if we weren't doing well we'd hand him over. Bonnie agreed to see Robby.
Then, once Kari and my niece Kirsten got to Grandma Sandi's and Pappy's house for a sleep-over, Kari called me and told me she forgot to pack her "unmentionables." (I didn't mention them on my blog, okay?) So, I packed up Robby Ray to visit the rehab center and packed Kari's "unmentionables," and off Beth and I went, first to the rehab center, then to bring Kari her "stuff." Robby Ray got an A+ evaluation, Bonnie was very impressed with how we were doing with him, and she put our family on a list of volunteers so she can call us to care for baby birds next spring. How exciting! Also, we took Kari her "item."
At home, it was now late at night, and I still had to upload the Robby Ray video and send a link out to everyone I thought might be interested (I'll embed it later in an entry all to itself; in the meantime, you really MUST look at it in the link above). Just when I clicked "Send," I noticed something...
A CONTRACTION!
The Labor - It was no ordinary contraction. It was the MOTHER OF ALL CONTRACTIONS, AND NOTHING LIKE ANY I'D EVER HAD IN ANY OF MY FOUR PREGNANCIES! It started low and in front, and over the next couple hours it grew in size and intensity to cover my entire abdomen and lower back, AND IT NEVER STOPPED! You can't time something that doesn't end, friends. It was WEIRD! It was one, ceaseless, 3-hour contraction!
I called the doc. She said to come in. By the time Hubby and I got in the van, with bags and all, it was almost 4am, and my singular contraction turned into timed contractions, coming every 5 minutes. By the time they had me hooked up on monitors, they were at 2.5 minute intervals. After several hours of this, they stopped.
Weird, right?
Well, since I was already hooked up and admitted, and the baby was considered "full-term" (12 days early, yes... but full-term none-the-less), they went ahead and gave me the dreaded Pitocin. Ugh! I made it all the way to contraction level 60 (out of 100) before I accepted the epidural. I was GONNA try "au naturel," but nobody told me the Pitocin made the pain come on like a race horse out of the gate! Man! Painful! Let me tell you, ladies... if you decide to deliver without an epidural, but they give you Pitocin... TAKE THE DRUGS! Trust me on this, okay? Your body doesn't have time to build up its endurance and natural endorphins when you're on Pitocin. Okay?
Baby Benjamin - Anyway, my beautiful baby boy came at 5:10 pm on the 15th of July, weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces. He's named Benjamin ("son of my right hand") David (his Uncle Shawn's middle name).
God kissed him all over the place, too, in honor of each child. It's amazing. Here's the blessing-run-down:
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He has the same Superman swirl in his hairline that Alex does. I'd never seen a cowlick like this before - or since - except in my own son. Now, whenever Alex looks at Benjamin, he can see a bit of himself.
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He has just one dimple, like Kari. She was the only one of the kids to receive my dimple, but Benjamin has one, too... and it's in the opposite cheek as Kari's. So now, when Kari looks at Benjamin, she can see a mirror-reflection of her own dimple looking back at her.
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Beth was the only one of my children to have a big, red strawberry birthmark on the back of the head. Of course, her long red hair covers all evidence of it, but she can now look at Benjamin and see a small way God kissed him just for her.
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All three of my other kids have crooked fingers just like I do - they bend backwards at the second joint. Benjamin has wonderfully straight fingers, like his big brother, my stepson Stew. It must be hard for Stew to be the only one not from both parents in this house, but now when he looks at Benjamin, he can see a definite link to this little guy and know that God kissed Ben's hands just for him.
I know, sappy and sentimental, right? But those are the thoughts that go through a new-mom's head, all the new observances of holding her new baby.
Here's a link to his hospital photos (hope it works):
Yeah, we think he's pretty cute! ^_^
Since then, he's battled - and won victoriously - a bout fighting jaundice. It took six weeks to overcome, which was on-target for his "type" of jaundice (late on-set of milk production made the bile stay in his system too long, had to overcome jaundice by feeding, feeding, feeding until it was all washed out).
And now he's a whopping 13+ pound 3-month old baby, and he's the joy of the whole house! Every single one of us loves to look at him, hold him, interact with him, and laugh at his cuteness.
God has so richly blessed us, way beyond anything we could have ever hoped for!
Anyway, friends, I do plan not to neglect this blog anymore. And I do plan to upload photos. I have LOTS to share! Plus, FaceBook doesn't have much of a way for me to really express my thoughts on those things God's been teaching me, except in "Notes," but - I dunno - it's just not quite like a blog. Ya know? And I do miss my writing.
Take care, and blessings to all of you! ~Christi
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