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Well, it's no secret that I haven't been good about keeping this blog updated, but I swear there are really good reasons for that! To read all about them and keep up with our even-crazier life in Michigan, please follow me on my new blog House Unseen (http://www.HouseUnseen.blogspot.com). 'Cause we bought a house off the internet and then moved across the country. For realz!

Birth Story- Cecilia Jean

Warning: While this is not the most graphic birth story you'll ever read, it's probably only for those who have read or enjoy reading birth stories in general. It's not really a "funny restaurant review, what the kids are saying" kind of post. Just so you know ;)

On Friday morning, 3/26, I was 39 weeks 4 days pregnant and had my 39 week OB appointment. It was the first time I had an internal exam for this pregnancy and when she found that I was 3 cm and baby was very low, she asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes. Now, I’ve never had my membranes stripped before, but I had had 2 weeks of prodromal labor with this little bundle and was ready to try anything “natural” to get labor moving in the right direction. So I said “Go for it!”. I felt no discomfort or pain whatsoever with the exam or the stripping and was a little disappointed when I left that “that’s all it was”. In retrospect, all I have to say is: HAH!

Flash forward a couple of hours, and I’m having a lot of cramping. Just menstrual style cramping, but still….seems promising. I decide to call my stand-by just to make sure she is still standing by to come and stay with my kids if we feel like it’s time to go to the hospital. “But don’t, like, get ready to come now or anything. She’s probably waiting until April 2nd to come anyway…”. HAH!

Now it’s 3:00 pm, time to get my bigger kids from school. Still cramping, but nothing else. I am so done with false symptoms and getting my hopes up that I don’t even think about it anymore, load up the 2 year old, and go pick up the bigger ones.

4:30 p.m. still nothing more than cramping. WTH?!?! This never ending prodromal stuff can bite me!

5:35 p.m. still….wait. Hold on a minute. Contraction. Contraction with back pain. Could it be?

6:00 p.m. Have only had 2 more of those “contractions” and hubby, who is supposed to be home, isn’t.

6:35 p.m. Hubby calls. Stuck in traffic. I decide not to say anything. He’s tired of the false alarms too!

6:45 p.m. Contractions every 15 minutes, but not increasing or getting closer together. Wah. I start losing hope. HAH!

Dinner, kids to bed, lots of water, lots of exercise ball, posting on Baby Center, hoping, praying, waiting. Contractions still 10-15 minutes apart. Lame.

Then all of a sudden….10 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 7 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes….

Wow, this is for real! I call my standby. It’s 12:22 a.m. when she arrives. 4 minutes. 4 minutes. 4 minutes. We decide I’d better go if we want to avoid another near-car delivery like my last one.

Hospital. Can’t find wheelchair. Check-in is taking too long. 4 minutes. 4 minutes.

I feel like we’re getting close to the end. Panicking a little. Breathe. They find a wheelchair and wheel me to L&D. Waiting. It’s almost 2 a.m. and finally I get checked. Only 4 cm?!?!? What?!?! How can I be feeling like this for this long and only be a 4? Hard to keep baby’s heart rate on the monitor. Why?

They get me to my room. 3 minutes. 3 minutes. 3 minutes. Nurse-who-thinks-I-can’t-possibly-be-serious-about-declining-the-epidural comes in and says something annoying and patronizing about it being the ‘last call’ for the anesthesiologist to my awesome nurse, who pointedly tells her to scram. Hah!

3:40 a.m.- my back. My back is on fire. I’ve never felt back labor until now. Nurse checks me. Only a 6. I mention the back pain and she says “Oh no, she’s turned posterior. That’s also probably why this labor isn’t progressing as quickly as your previous ones. And also why we can’t keep her heart on the monitor. She’s fine. Just backwards.” Well, that will just not do. I get on my hands and knees and sway and pray and just like a good little girl, she turns anterior and I know, I just know, things are going to go fast. It’s only been 3 minutes, but I start pounding on the call button. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I think she’s coming”. Good nurse: “I don’t think you’re crazy. You’re the one who’s in labor”. She checks me. “I’m going to call the doctor right now. Hang in there. Does your water usually break on its own?” Thank God it doesn’t….ever, so I know that if we have to, we can wait, but only just a little.

4:00 a.m. This is the roughest stage of labor. Transition is the biggest test of a natural childbirth, the moments when you simply must give up the idea that you are in control of this life and especially this process. God challenges you to realize that He is stronger than you can ever be, and that you must give over your pain to him. Trying to own it alone can only lead to feelings of uncertainty and despair. Allowing the Lord to manage it for you is the only way to keep yourself present for the new person who is about to enter your life. The doctor arrives.

4:12 a.m. “Okay, Okay. She’s coming. It’s time” I hear someone say. Apparently it’s me. Nurse checks. “She’s complete. Baby is right there.” Me: “Pushing! Pushing!” Dr.: “It’s okay, Dwija. You don’t have to wait. Do what you need to do. I’m going to go ahead and break your water now.” Deep breath. Big push. Relief. Compared to the intensity of transition, pushing is like a breath of fresh air. Wait for the next contraction. The absolute absence of pain between the contractions allows me to fully relax. Eyes closed. Breathing. Alright, it’s time again.

4:19 a.m. Deep breath. Hold it. Big push. “She’s right there. She’s almost here!” Tommy’s magic words with every baby, the moment I wait for the entire time. His voice, that idea, gives me the strength to finish right then.

4:20 a.m. She’s here! Oh, she’s crying before she’s even fully born! Pink and angry and beautiful. They lay her on my chest right away and she latches on like a little eating champ.

Cecilia Jean Borobia, born at 4:20 a.m. on March 27th 2010. Natural childbirth with 10 hours to get to 6 cm while baby was posterior and only 40 minutes to get from 6 to 10 with baby anterior. She was a tiny thing, at just 7 lbs and 19.25 inches long, but is eating so much, so well, and so often, that I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already up to 8 lbs after just 4 days. Thank you God for this greatest gift!


Taken 5 hours before she arrived...


Right after birth, my little nugget has her first snack


Aw, those precious little cheeks!


Snuggly like a burrito


Meeting her big brother for the first time


Sisters!

What the Kids are Saying

Katy (almost 9): Yeah, my friend Sammy is kinda like you, like with the fancy stuff. You know, like today you have those fancy earrings on when all you're gonna do is sit around the house and massage your feet.

Lizzy (7): Probably the reason Ceci hasn't been born yet is 'cause we're all freaks. We should pretend to not be freaks and then she'll come.

Paul (2): Wow, good job counting, Mama!

It's really my way of giving thanks....

As part of my observation of Lent this year, in addition to giving up all sweet treats and beverages, I resolved to not complain and instead to pray for the strength to endure whatever it is and the wisdom to realize that my little aggravations are so small compared to what so many others in history have undergone. So, in light of that, let me just say that this entry, I hope, will not be seen as complaining, but simply my attempt at letting my friends and loved ones in on the progress of the baby coming- it is certainly challenging to resolve to not complain when one is close to delivering a baby!

Here's the deal: you get to have your baby, I guess, when the idea of being in labor seems more pleasant than the idea of being pregnant for a single second longer. Until today, I don't think I had gotten to that point. A week ago, my friend Erica even said "I think you might a little too chipper and relaxed to have a baby just yet". I knew just what she meant, and I knew it was true. But I turned some sort of corner this morning, a corner around which I found my old enemies Crying-for-no-Reason and Continuous-Unexplained-Lower-Back-Pain. They were hanging out with Loss-of-Appetite, Rushing-to-the-Potty-Every-16-Minutes, and An-Overall-Sense-of-Despair. I guess they are all close chums still. All of them coming for a visit at the same time was a little overwhelming, I have to admit, but what put me past managing to be chipper was the fact that I had a sore throat and a slight fever too.

SOOOOO, in celebration of my Lenten obligations, I am using this blog entry as a way to say that despite all of that, I am searching for the strength to complete my requisite tasks, and being thankful for a caring husband who took another sick day from work to help me manage the kids. I am also thankful that we will soon welcome another member to our family, who can only bring us closer together and multiply our love for one another. I will be thankful for the rest of the evening that my baby will be big and healthy and full-term and that given how many friends and family are born in the month of March, she will probably be blessed with a fabulous birthday buddy to celebrate with every year of her sweet life.

Breaking News: Slow Cooker Saves the Day!

If you have kids and you do not have a slow cooker (crock pot, whatever), when you get one you are going to be all "What was I thinking all those years with the fast cooking and the stove and the oven and the pots and the stirring?!?!?!" and I will say "I know! See!"

The slow cooker is an incredible invention, not only in terms of saving you time and hassle (which it totally does) but also in terms of saving you money ('cause it'll do that too). As with most days, I am trying to get a lot accomplished today before my in-laws arrive tomorrow, before we have our little birthday par-tay for my mother in law on Sunday, before I take my girls to work another cookie booth on Saturday morning, before my dear friend drops off her girls for a few hours of fun and merriment this evening, and most of all, before Paul wakes up from his nap and does something insane, like locking himself in the master bathroom (again) and then yelling "Hahaha! My hand is swimming!" (again). Sooooo, dinner is already preparing itself, and it will be both cheap and yummy and will easily serve all seven who are going to be enjoying it, and it goes a little something like this:

Lentil or Split Pea Soup
1 lb. dried yellow or green or whatever color split peas or lentils (just buy what's cheap)
10 cups hot water
3 or 4 pieces of uncooked bacon chopped up
5 cubes chicken bouillon
1.5 cups chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
0.5 tsp garlic powder or 1 tsp. chopped fresh garlic
0.5 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
half large or 1 small onion, chopped

Toss all ingredients into clean, plugged-in slow cooker (hey sometimes people with multiple children need reminders, okay? Our brains are busy with other things, like why we are only wearing one sock). Put the lid on. Cook on HIGH heat for 4 or 5 hours (ish). Serve with crusty bread for dipping, and by that I mean bread with a crunchy crust, not crusty as in gross.

We're Totally Retro, Yo

As promised, as part of our save-enough-money-to-do-something-totally-amazing-in-2010 adventure, we have downgraded our cell phone plan and cell phones too. Not only will we save cash, but we have finally escaped the clutches of no-bars-anywhere-I-need-to-be AT&T. Sorry homeys, but a fast 3G network doesn't help me if I CANNOT ACCESS SAID FRIGGIN' NETWORK. Whew. Sorry. Had to get that off my chest.

So we have switched to T-Mobile, because they offer kick-ass rates on no contract plans. No contract. Did you hear that? No contract!!! And I have reception in my house. And because we have downgraded our plan to talk/text only, we will be saving about $30 every month. And we are selling our old phones.....

...on eBay and have purchased (also from eBay) super cheap old Nokias instead:

I mean, check those bad boys out. We are retro, yo!

$ saved per month: $30
$ saved per year: $360
$ made from sale of SmartPhones: $150
Being able to actually use my phone in my own house: priceless

I Got My Money For Nothing. Have you?

Some of you might remember my Ebates post from a couple of weeks ago, and maybe also the one about rewards cards. If you do, and...well, even if you don't, the time has come for me to present photographic evidence of free money awesomeness:

What you're looking at here is a fantastic, authentic, absolutely real check for $38.93 from Ebates, sent right to my lil' ol' mailbox as well as a totally legitimate, actual $20 gift card for Gymboree for using a rewards credit card. That's almost $60. For nothing! Now, I am aware that $60 is not a life changing sum of money, but if you were standing on the sidewalk holding sixty bucks in your hand, and some hoodlum snatched it from you and ran away, I know for a fact that you would be pissed. Because it's sixty American dollars! And that's what came in my mailbox, for free, today.

Here's an even closer shot, just for fun:


Happy shopping, everyone!