SURPRISE!!!!!

Surprise! Our family has grown by two feet!!

March 27, 2013, three days after I wrote my last blog all about Ryder's birthday, three weeks early, Peanut arrived!  Her arrival was a total and complete surprise!! Here is her birth story:


Woman's intuition. That's what I'm calling it.
There is no other logical explanation for my actions the night of Tuesday, March 26th.  I was feeling pretty tired, but then, so would any other 36 weeks pregnant Mom of a two year old.  Tired wasn't anything new but the uneasy feeling I had in my gut was.  I announced to Marty, that I wasn't feeling too hot, so I was gonna take a shower.  I ended up shaving my legs and trying to clean up everything else below my waist, though I couldn't see a thing. This was something I had been procrastinating doing for a long time as the effort bending over required with my big belly was just too much.  
Weird, that I decided to tackle all that bending over that night, out of the blue. Once out of the shower, I wasn't quite ready to go to bed.  Sleeping had been difficult for me most of my pregnancy, I was just soo uncomfortable this time around, so I often put off going to bed, but Tuesday night, instead of heading downstairs to watch TV, I decided I should maybe pack a hospital bag. My baby wasn't due for three more weeks, but for some reason, I had this urge to pack just so "it would be done." Once my bag was packed, (ridiculously early) I decided to write instructions for Jamie, the friend we were going to call when I went into labour.  I just didn't want to forget anything, so I figured it would be best to write the note now, rather than when I was in true panic mode.  I brought the letter downstairs, taped it to the cupboard and crawled into bed.  The next day was going to be Wednesday, March 27th, and I had booked the day off for an ultrasound appointment across town. My maternity doc wanted to verify that the baby was head down.  I had been to see her Tuesday morning, but she didn't do an internal as I had the ultrasound booked for the very next day.
Though I didn't have to leave my house until noon for my appointment, I chose to get up so I could take Ryder to the Day Home. 
I was looking forward to the following week, when I would be on Spring Break and I could keep Ryder home every day. It was gonna be a big bonding week, our last chance to spend all day every day together just the two of us, before Peanut was due to arrive. We just had to make it through three more days of "work" and "day home."  I kissed my big boy good-bye and headed back home. I had breakfast with Marty who was preparing for a big meeting at 9am.  I told him, I was feeling a little crampy, which was probably just Braxton Hixt contractions, though I wasn't sure as I had never had them before. This was way too early for Peanut to arrive, so "it's probably nothing, but just keep your phone handy, incase."  
Marty left for his meeting and I began pacing the house, it was the only thing that I felt like doing. I called my Mom to let her know that I thought I might be having some "practice contractions." I told her I was going to walk Scout to see if that made me feel better. I called Aimee before leashing up Scout to ask her if she knew what Braxton Hixt contractions felt like as I thought I might be having some. She didnt know, but it never crossed either of our minds that I might actually be in labour. 
My friend, Andrea, who knew I had the day off for an ultra sound, called. She asked if she could drop by to collect her daughter's snowpants. They had been left here after Ryder's birthday.  I told her she could come but that I wasn't feeling too hot.  Scout was gonna have to wait.
Just to keep her in the loop, I texted my Doula. My awesome Doula, Leanne who was supportive as always. I was so sure that I wan't in labour that I started to wonder if maybe there was something wrong with baby. Leanne convinced me there wasn't. That these cramps were ok. That I would get confirmation of everything at my ultrasound.....

...but when Andrea walked through my front door, she panicked! She took one look at me and knew I wasn't going to my appointment. Infact, she knew for sure that I was in labour!  I was still in major denial.  She wanted me to sit down, but I just couldn't. I needed to walk (that is how I got through Ryder's contractions too, but still in my mind, this was NOT labour, not real labour anyway.) She began timing my contractions, though I was finding it hard to believe I was having real, "baby birthing" contractions.  I still figured all this fuss was over false labour. Afterall, I wasn't puking or dry heaving yet and with Ryder I did a lot!  That was gonna be my guage for how urgently I needed to get get to the hospital.  My contractions were two minutes apart though, and still no puking.  Andrea was lossing her mind!! She could not convince me that this was "it!"  She called Marty, told him about my denial and urged him to get home ASAP!! She made me call my Doula, who asked Andrea if I was talking through my contractions. Andrea informed her that I was not, but that I was not expressing urgent need to head to the hospital.  My Doula advised me to meet Marty at the end of the driveway and head to the hospital.  I thought everyone was being ridiculous! I was not having a baby. My baby wasn't due for three more weeks!! On the way to the hospital I texted Amanda at the Day Home. (Two years ago, on the way to the hospital, I was hanging backwards over the seat of the truck, dry heaving into a paper bag.) I asked Amanda, in my texts,  "if this "happens to be "it," the day I have my baby, would she be able to keep Ryder as long as we needed her too." She was excited, but I felt dumb even texting her, as I really didn't believe it would be necessary for Ryder to stay there since I was sure we'd be sent home from the hospital.
Parking at the hospital was a disaster. We drove around and around, until finally we found a spot a million miles from the front door.  I wasn't walking very fast and our Doula passed us on her way to find a parking spot. She later said, that when she saw me walking, she instantly knew I was about to deliver a baby!  I had contractions the whole way to the elevator and even in the elevators, but they weren't the kind that caused me to holler or cause a scene...yet.  After stopping on the wrong floor (we forgot where labour and delivery was) we finally made it to triage.  It was 11am.  I explained that I was supposed to go to an ultrasound at noon so we didn't even know if the baby was "head down." The nurse felt my tummy and guessed that the baby was breech. Uh oh!! My initial reaction though, was: "yesss!! I will need a c-section. I can lay down. I can have drugs! Sweet!" Then just as fast as that reaction came, it went. I DID NOT want a c-section. I wanted a natural birth, just like the one I'd had with Ryder.  Marty ended up mentioning this was our second baby and everyone's panic buttons were pushed! Instead of waiting for the portable ultrasound machine thing, a doc was paged and an internal exam was performed...baby was head down and heading out! I was 7cm.  We were led down the hall to our birthing room and finally Doula Leanne was allowed to join us.  Within minutes, she had me naked and in the shower. I had laboured in the shower with Ryder too and she knew it was my happy place. Marty was a pro with the shower head and though he was in his work clothes (dress shirt, dress pants and dress shoes,) he wasn't afraid to get a little wet to make sure I was as comfortable as possible.  I have no idea how long i was in the shower. But I did ask, "is there any way, once you hit 7cm, that things shrink back and a baby doesn't come?" Seriously, I was in the shower naked, in a birthing room, still in DENIAL!!  The answer was, "Jeanne, you are having a baby...TODAY!" 
Finally I had to get out of the shower. It was almost time to push.  
Once given the green light, I pushed for 3 minutes (nurses actually time this stuff) and voila, Baby Peanut was born!  The Doula, said, Jeanne, look down at your baby. I expected to just see her head, still on it's way out, but there she was the whole entire baby, out already and being placed on my chest!!  This time around, the baby got to stay on my skin until the cord stopped pulsating.  With Ryder, we hadn't gotten so lucky. His shoulders had gotten stuck so once he was out, they had wanted to assess him right away. Marty hadn't gotten to cut his cord, but he got to cut Peanut's!
I was still in shock that this had actually happened, that I had just had a baby. A baby girl!! It did not seem real, but it was wonderful!
 

 

I am so thankful that Leanne and Marty were there by my side for the whole journey! I never could have done this whole natural birth thing without their support and encouragement!!

Unlike with Ryder, we did not have a name picked out for this lil one.  We had called her Peanut since our very first ultrasound when the tech handed me the picture, saying, aww, looks like a little Peanut.  We continued to refer to her as Peanut until we had to fill out the paperwork to bring her home....actually, who am I kidding? We still 

 call her Peanut!

In the end, we agreed to call her Payton Jeanne.  Payton was a name we had on our lists for girls both times.  One of my first years of teaching, I had the joy of teaching the happiest most unforgettable little girl.  She exuded sunshine and had the biggest, brightest smile.  Her name was Payton and after teaching her for a year, every time I heard that name, I think of the Payton I once knew and hope that my own children will be just like I remember that little girl, happy and full of light! I have only positive associations with that name (as a teacher it is truly challenging to pick a name with only positive associations,) so Peanut became Payton. Not necessarily after that girl I once knew, but after everything I remember her being, happy, happy, happy!

We picked Jeanne for a middle name partly because, Payton Jeanne has a great ring to it, partly because it sounds pretty "country" partly because it the English pronounciation of my name, Jean, (seriously, did you actually think I was gonna give her my pronounciation?? Ha ha! NEVER) and partly because it is Mom's name. This way, Payton has a family name just like Ryder has James, which is Marty's middle name and Marty's Dad's name.  It took us a while to commit to a handle for our little angel, but we love this one, even though, we still primarily call her, Peanut!

Marty left Peanut and I at the hospital once we'd settled into our recovery room.  I was super lucky as there happened to be a private room available. These rooms are extremely hard to come by and we hadn't even thought to ask for one, as they are never available.  Our nurse was awesome and as soon as she found out there was a private room free, she offered it to us!! Yippee!! Marty left us with a mission, to get diapers, some feminin products for me, including nipple cream (things I had planned to pick up over Spring Break) and Ryder James. 

 

When he returned, Ryder got to meet his little sister!

I really missed Ryder while I was in the hospital, but when he showed up, I couldn't believe how big he suddenly looked! He was hug compared to Peanut!!

He wasn't too sure about Peanut.....

 

   .....but he sure loved pushing all the buttons on the hospital bed, coloring on my magaizines and finishing my chocolate pudding!!!

 As long as he didn't have to look at Peanut's belly button, it totally grossed him out, he was "in LOVE" with his little sister!!

 I am pretty sure, Daddy fell in love too!!

 I love squishy faces and we tend to make babies that have them!!

 Here she is: Band NEW!!!!!

 Because she was considered "pre term" (I wasn't quite 37 weeks,) we had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights so they could complete the protocol amount of glucose tests, to make sure she was ready to come home....she passed. For an early baby, she sure is healthy!!!! Thank you, God!!

I spent all day, both days in the hospital laying in bed with Peanut on my chest. It was soo peaceful, in my private room, with my healthy, happy, sleepy baby.  I know how lucky I am. She was three weeks early, she could have had to spend time in NICU, she could have had to spend time under the special lights for jaundice, she could have had to have her lungs checked, but she was perfect and I was and continue to be sooo thankful!!

It took me 13 days to find the time to write this birth story, but I remember it like it was yesterday!!  Today, she is home.  Right now, she is napping on her Daddy's chest while, big bro hollers at his tractors and trucks in the living room....I've settled into the caos and am looking forward to my year of maternity leave!  If any of you have time off and you wanna come visit, please do...or heck, maybe we'll come visit you, you need more caos in your life, right??!! LOL

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and embrace Plan B, it's usually the right plan anyway!

RYDER'S BIRTHDAY!

 Saturday, March 23r was 3 days after Ryder's real 2nd birthday, but that was the day, we decided to hold Ryder's party..I use the term "party" loosely.  In reality, I was feeling just too tired and too fat (preggers) to organize a big party like the one we had for his first birthday....We invited just a couple of friends (a handful of kids he sees often) and planned to meet them at Tommy K Play. I didn't rent any birthday rooms, or pay any "group fee." We just planned to meet our buddies there and then come back to our house for pizza and cake and ice cream.  Mom and Nic made an awesome School Bus birthday cake (Ryder is obsessed with school busses) and I bought a few bus decorations.  Some of the grade 8 girls at school made a huge School Bus Photo Prop for the party, they are awesome!
I wasn't organized enough to plan big "treat bags" so I bought every kid a pinwheel and a little school bus to take home. I hung the pinwheels at the front door in Ryder's most favorite bus (one he got for his very first Christmas, thank-you Uncle Terry.)

In order to find School Bus decorations, I hit up the Teacher Store near my house. Most of these are bulletin board cut outs, but they worked for our party!

 This was the snack/cake table, before any food got put on it.

 

I drew a road on the table cloth and put the little "take home" busses on the table for the kids to drive around...simple, but fun!

 

The photo prop made by the grade 8 girls who finished their French Project early!

The cake Mom and Nic made.  Nic ended up getting sick and not being able to make it to the party, but Mom came and brought the cake! Thank you! Thank you!!
Nic, we missed you!!!!!!

 

My Big Boy

 

The big moment!!

All aboard the birthday bus!!

 Yep, it was my birthday last week too, but the big celebration for me, was hitting 36 weeks! Only a few more to go! Yippee! Lil Peanut, I am sooo ready to meet you!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and jump aboard the birthday bus!!!

35 WEEKS

I am now 35 weeks preggers! I am feeling huge though everyone, except Marty, keeps telling me I'm soo smal and am all belly.  I am ready to meet Peanut, but not until Peanut is ready to meet me! 

 

Ryder turns 2 tomorrow and my birthday is the next day!  In order to prepare for Ryder's big day, we took him for his second hair cut ever on the weekend. He was sooo excited about going, but once we got there, he showed no signs of excitement.  He sat sooo quietly and so seriously the whole ten minutes it took. He never cried or got upset. He just got quiet. Weird for me to see him so quiet.  Once the scissors were put down, like magic, he turned into his excited self again, excited to sit on all the car, train and pony chairs in the salon.  Melon Heads is a fun place to get your hair cut!! :)

 So serious!

 Hair cut over, cape off, riding the motorcycle. Happy and relaxed!

We went for a Booster Juice after the hair cut.  It was getting late so we decided to have our juice to go.  From the backseat, we heard, "uh oh, Mommy." Never a good sign. We turned around to see that Ryder had somehow poked a hole in the side of his foam cup and chunks of strawberries and juice were spilling out all over his lap, his jacket, the car seat, the floor, everywhere.  Like what? How the heck did he manage that little trick?? Messy, but delicious.  It only got messier though as that Booster Juice contributed heavily to the prolonged diarrehea Ryder had been battling for the last couple days.  Ooops, I later read online that juice is the worst thing for diarrhea.  Who knew?? Anyway, I paid for that bit of Mom stupidity, I'll tell ya, but sadly so did Ryder!  (He's all good now though.) :)

Waiting for Booster Juice with Daddy.

The weather here, over the weekend was brutal. Blowing, snowing and cold. We only ventured out for hair cuts and to walk Scout.  There was lots of time for building leggos with Daddy and for fixing stuff.

Yesterday, it finally sort of started to feel a little warmer. Ryder was determined to be outside for a while. He wanted to shovel and he wanted to play with his sandbox toys.  I am a big believer in fresh air and being outside, so we bundled up and made the most of it. I was cold before he was, but eventually, he wanted to come in to warm up his fingers. At least getting him to put the mittens on in the first place wasn't a battle. I think he's finally learned that lesson. Yay!

 The way I took this pic, it looks like he's shoveled all of that path, but in reality, the only snow he actually shoveled is the stuff on the sidewalk. He actually put it all back there! LOL  Toddlers are soo helpful! ha ha ha!

 The sand in the sandbox was frozen solid. Instead, Ryder drove his loader in the snow. He loved this! Now that he can actually drive his "big trucks" in the snow, it's way more fun to be outside!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and don't be afraid to drive your sandbox toys in the snow, if you live somewhere that has way more snow weather than sand weather!

PUDDLES AND SNOW?

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy! It's been report card time, so I've been spending my evenings and most spare time coming up with creative ways to tell parents how great their kids are doing...or not! The other day, I realized I was spending more time trying to come up with creative phrases to convince my almost two year old that, Yes it is time to change that poopy diaper NOW, than I was spending on creating phrases for my professional job! Yep, negotiating a diaper changes has become very challenging around here. It almost always includes tears. What I can't figure out is, why is the toddler crying when it is I that has to get that close to someone else's poo?? LOL 
Anyway, aside from the diaper change tantrums, we've been doing pretty good lately. There are still a few good ones, like the other day when the sun was actually shining and we decided to go play in our sandbox. We have not been in the sandbox or seen the sandbox diggers and dumper trucks since September. It was a big deal! Ryder was pumped!!! He has gotten significantly better at shoveling sand (the stuff that was loose enough to scoop) and driving his trucks through the mostly frozen sand.  When it was time to come in the house, an epic tantrum began. I could tell that Ryder's hands were frozen, that he has sand in his pants, shoes, socks and everywhere else, but he did NOT want to come in the house!!  It was bath time, so he had too, but it was a LOUD, ugly process.  The next morning, he showed up at my bedside at 5:30am, yelling: "Wake up Mommy! Sandbox! diggers!!! Wake up, Mommy!!" Hilarious...well it would have been if it had not been 5:30am!!! I wish I could wake up that excited to start my day!!  Unfortunately that night it snowed and our sandbox visits have been SHORT since then, but he's come inside without a fight everynight since the epic tantrum! Yay!

Night one: kinda chilly out, but sooo excited to be in the sandbox!

 

Shoveling! If only the sand weren't so frozen!

 

Sandbox toys we haven't seen in sooo long!

 Night two...wanting badly to be outside even though it started snowing just after this pic was taken!

Scout, loving having the family outside to play with!

 Around here, it's pretty common to go from snowy days to sunny days to puddle hopping days to snow suit days and some days are a combo of all of the above!

On our walk the other day, we saw a snowdog!

 We have to bring a truck on every walk. Sometimes it's a big truck, sometimes not, but Ryder insists on being the one to carry it almost the whole time!

 Puddles!!! We need to see more of these more often. Ice sucks, Puddles are awesome!

 Stopping to drive his hummer on the brick wall.

 

Saint Patrick's day began with a blizzard, but ended with sunshine! We wore green and bounced on "bouncy horse!"

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and splash in as many puddles as you can find, even if you are wearing a snow suit and winter boots!!

IN LIKE A LION

The end of February was mild and beautiful. We took a drive one of the last Sundays in February, just to get out of the city and to soak up some mountain air.  I was 32 weeks preggers and since it was sooo nice out, we decided to get a belly pic in the snowy sunshine.

 32 weeks

It stormed last weekend! A huge, winter storm! I guess that must mean, March is coming in like a lion and hopefully, going out like a lamb! 

  

The first week of March, I was 33 weeks preggers.

33 weeks preggers or not, snow storm or not, Scout still needed a walk!

The wind was blowing the falling snow around so hard that I decided to wear my ski goggles for eye protection!!

The rest of the week was pretty snowy and cold. We had to find some things to do inside. We had actually gotten used to going for our little after dinner walks...around here, you gotta be flexible with routine.

 

 Much to Marty's horror (seriously, I thought he was going to have an anurism) I busted out a tub of rice and invited Ryder to play with his diggers and trucks in it. I even invited him to play with it in the living room, on the train table. Remember, there are no tracks or trains on our train table, only trucks and busses and diggers.

 Yep, it made a giant mess. Yep, Scout ate more raw rice than is probably recommended for dogs.  Yep, so did Ryder. Yep, I got some work done on my report cards. Yep, Ryder had a blast. Yep, Marty couldn't take his eyes off the mess in front of him.  Yep, the Dyson cleaned up every last piece of rice...I think. :)

Snow storms do not affect hockey at all, not in Canada anyway, so of corse Marty, after surviving the rice in the living room trauma, headed out to play in his senior, no hit hockey league. Ha!! He came home after midnight, looking like this:

 The wait at the hospital for stitches was too long, so he left and came home with dried blood and a steri strip over his cut. Ewwwww!

Apparently, Ryder has given up his "suckie" at the Day Home. He's always only had it for naps there, but according to Amanda (his care giver, whom I adore,) Ryder said, he didn't need his suckie anymore. She asked him if he wanted to put it in the garbage. (That's how she got her own kids to finally get rid of theirs.) Ryder said, "yep." She explained that if he tossed it, he couldn't get it back.  He agreed. So, Thursday, yesterday, he had his first nap "sans" suckie.  My big boy is growing up!! At our house, the suckie stays upstairs. He can have it at night, in the morning, at naps and whenever he is upstairs. When he gets himself all worked into a tizzy, or if he's "loosing" it, he often goes upstairs on his own, gets his blankie and his suckie and he calms right down.  I like that he has his own self soothing vices.  

When we got his "big boy bed" we thought we'd give him until Easter with his suckie, so that he'd have a month to adjust to his bed with his self soothing device.  Lately though, we've decided we are not in a hurry to make him give it up, especially since he only has it upstairs and since Peanut's arrival could make him regress anyway.  I do wish he'd give it up though...he's sooo much cuter in pics without it!!

One of my favorite passtimes (snow storm or otherwise) is to take pics of my favorite subjects.  I have been practicing using some new editing apps...these are a few of my favorite shots from the other day...I LOVE the adorable subjects and the editing, I just wish I had moved the lysol wipes and the rubber made tub from the background! Ha ha ha!

Pretend the wipes and rubber made bin arn't there!!!! LOL

ALMOST TWO

I cannot believe that Ryder is almost two!!  In 19 days, he will be officially a "Two Year Old!" I know it's cliche, but it really is hard to remember life before him.  I certainly cannot remember not being tired! LOL
Lately, it's been hard to ignore the fact that Ryder is turning into more of a "boy" and less of a "baby." He is talking more and more. He continues to name every truck, car, city bus, school bus and van we pass along with it's color.  He is not afraid to yell from the back seat, "hey car go!" If a car is infront of us (he is already picking up my road rage, thank God, I keep my rage PG when he is with me...at least most of the time.)   It amazes me that he has a memory like he does.  There were scarecrows at the entrance to our community in the fall.  Everyday as we drove past, Ryder would say, "hi Scarecrows." Then one day, they were gone.  He started saying, "no scarecrows."  I explained that maybe there would be reindeer in a few weeks (I was expecting them to put up something for the Christmas season, but nothing ever got put up.)  Every day, Ryder continued to say, "no scarecrows" when we got to that spot, then he started adding, "no scarecrows, no reindeer" and he still says it every time we drive by!!! 
Marty drove over rumble strips on the side of the highway last weekend and Ryder started laughing and laughing, saying, "Van tooted!!!"  Yep, he has a sense of humor!!!  Tonight was the first time he ever "stalled" before bed time.  We had gone for a walk after dinner, once in the house he asked for a drink of water. I gave him a cup and he took it over to his play kitchen drinking it like he'd never had water before. When he finally put the cup down and started playing, I asked if he was ready to go upstairs, he picked the cup back up, saying, "still drinking mommmy, still drinking." Hilarious! He kept saying it until finally the cup was empty and he had no more excuse.  Sooo cute (at least for now.) 
Ryder, like his Auntie Dic, loves to spontaneously burst into song. Often I wake up to him singing in the morning from his bed. His songs range from The Wheels on the Bus (his fav) to "Always a Good time" to the Lumineers "Ho Hey" to Taylor Swift "Never Ever" to "This Girl is on Fire"  Last weekend, he even came up with lyrics to his own song (this was the first time I'd heard him do this.) He had been given a plastic ziplock bag full of playdough at a friend's house. On the way home I told him he couldn't open it, but he could hold on to it.  Wasn't long before, coming from the back seat, I heard him singing (there was a definite tune) these words: "Open the playdough, open the playdough, open the playdough, open the playdough!"  Then just recently he's added his own verse to The Wheels on the Bus.  He likes to sing (I never once gave him this idea, it is his own) "The truck on the bus goes vroom, vroom vroom." 
Ok, I am totally that Mom bragging, thinking my kid is the smartest, most adorable one out there, but that's what Mom's get to do right??  Actually, I just want to write this all down so I don't forget it.  All of these things make me smile, so I want to remember them forever!!  Speaking of smiling. Do you know the highlight of my day??? Knocking on the door of the Day HOme and hearing, before the door is open Ryder's little voice yelling with excitement, "Mommy, mommy, mommmy" That along with his quick little footsteps erases any stress I am carrying from work and fills my heart and head with nothing but happiness and love....then he gets into the carseat and wines for juice all the way home....Ha hahaha
Ofcorse with every diaper change, I am reminded that yes, he is still my lil baby, but pretty soon there will be another little baby and "Baby Ryder" will become "Big Boy Ryder" and Peanut will be the new "Baby."

 Still loves to "help" with dishes.

 Always has a truck or "Po po" (the police car) with him wherever he goes.

 He likes to set Po po down and say, "Po Po parking Mommy."

Stalling before bed time...still soo cute!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and try to enjoy every stage from baby to beyond!