Life with two....

The first few months being the parents of two little ones were rewarding, but pretty challenging. Cute Simon could only sleep for any real extended period of time in my arms which - while incredibly sweet - was also exhausting. Tears were shed by all of us over the attention Ruby wasn't receiving, but thankfully, even though she struggled at times, she never seemed to take it out on her new baby brother. Ruby got really sick for a few days which made for two little ones who only wanted their mama! Thankfully, Uma was around for those few days to keep us afloat!

Babies sure are cute though and as I look at these pictures while I do indeed remember the nearly unmanageable fatigue, I also remember the sweetness of a new little wonder in our home and smile as I see his cuteness all snuggled up to us.

Meeting Simon...

Simon was pretty popular in the weeks and months after his birth! We were grateful to have friends and family come to love on Simon...and on us! We surely would have starved without the meals and been overcome by the fatigue without the extra arms. We felt loved and cared for and Ruby loved the attention from doting grandparents and aunts and uncles. Saying thank you is completely inadequate!

Three years old!

I can't believe Ruby is three! She was SO excited to have her birthday and it was so special to have her Gran and Pa with her to celebrate! She loved her birthday cake (with birthday frosting!) and was over-the-moon to open her presents.

We did a little birthday interview with her about her favorite things etc. We were recently watching the interview video with her and as she watched herself answer questions she was particularly interested to see her answer to "what is your favorite food?" As we waited for Ruby's answer in the video, Ruby said "Please say cake, please say cake!" She was disappointed when her previous self answered "carrots." HA!

Family of Four....

I am so grateful to my friend Ashleigh for taking these pictures of us when Simon was but a week or two old. I will cherish them forever!

I'll be home for Christmas….

We were home for Christmas. We were home for CHRISTMAS. WE WERE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

To say I was grateful and relieved to be home for Christmas would be an understatement! It was such a tender mercy. We were vigilant in reminding the nurses etc that I hadn't received any meds or stitches or anything from the birth and that I was READY TO GO. We also told everyone who would listen that we had a toddler waiting for us and that we wanted to be home as soon as possible. It was looking like we could for sure leave around 6 or 7 pm on Christmas Eve, but then we actually ended up being able to leave in the afternoon! Ah-MAZING.

Ruby was SO into Christmas this year and it was so fun. We spread out the fun (mainly due to necessity of fatigue/nursing etc) and did stockings on Christmas Day (while eating Pannetone!) and then did presents on the 26th and 27th. It was actually really fun to slow down and keep Christmas going for a few days.

Introducing…..

Simon Bron Whitesides

Born December 23, 2014 around 6:55 a.m. (On his Auntie Jess' birthday!)

5 lbs 15 oz - 19 inches

As I mentioned earlier, the end of pregnancy always makes me anxious. The holidays compounded my anxiety of wondering when the big moment would happen because Ruby would be staying with friends and I didn't want to intrude on anyone's Christmas (even though all our friends insisted it would be okay!). While we were definitely committed to just letting Simon come when he was ready, I was definitely hoping he would arrive either before or after Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I was amazed (and excited) to learn that my body was actually progressing at my last handful of appointments with my midwife. When I went into labor with Ruby I was dilated to a 1 and was dilated to a 4 when we got to the hospital after having labored all day. It gave me a lot of peace to know I was further along before I was even in labor with Simon! I had an OB appointment on the morning of Monday the 22nd and learned I was dilated to a 5. A 5! I was half-way there! My midwife's advice on when to come to the hospital changed quickly from laboring at home for a bit to heading to the hospital AS SOON as anything started changing.

After my doctor's appointment we decided to head down to Myrtle Beach to be festive and walk through the mall. The traffic was heavy and when we got to the mall the parking lot was so packed I didn't even dare let us pull in for fear I'd go into labor and we'd never be able to get out of the parking lot in time! We turned around and came back to Conway and went to a late lunch/early dinner at a new Thai place in town (where I ate Pad Thai that was a total disappointment!).

That night I did what I had done for the past few weeks - snuggled up on the couch (the only place comfortable to sleep at that point) and wondered if tonight would be THE night!

I woke up around 2 a.m. with a contraction - which wasn't uncommon, but this contraction (and the next handful) seemed more serious. Having starved through Ruby's long labor, I hurried and ate a little something before  labor got any harder. I was timing my contractions to see if they were steady and getting closer together, but they seemed to be all over the place - a few minutes apart and then closer together. I sent Marie a few texts to get her advice and decided it was time to wake C up when I started needing to walk through the contractions. We contacted our friends Ryan and Timmeri, gathered our things, C gave me a blessing, and by around 4:30 a.m. we were on our way!

Music has played an important role in my pregnancies and labor and deliveries and this time around Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion's song "The Prayer" was MY JAM. It proved to be the perfect song to distract me or help me focus. We  had it blaring in the car and each time it ended I told C "Again!".  I called Marie for her final words of advice and she was very encouraging and reminded me to just breathe through my labor and that everything would be okay. We decided to wait to call the rest of the family until we were checked in and knew more of where our progress was (since everyone had to wait SO LONG to hear that Ruby had finally arrived!)

We entered the hospital through the ER and the people checking us in really didn't believe us when C told them I was in labor. (I mustn't have looked bad enough!) They looked at us unbelievingly and asked things like "ummm...so did your water break?" No. "Sooooo, were you induced?" Ummmmm....no. If I had been, I'd already be upstairs!

C then had to go fill out a bunch of paperwork that they don't let you fill out ahead of time. So off C went into a little room to do paperwork as I paced the ER waiting room to get through my contractions. There was only one other guy in the waiting room and bless his heart he just tried not o make eye contact with the laboring pregnant lady! C and I were finally reunited and a nice nurse came to escort us up to the maternity wing. She was surprised when I turned down the wheelchair and told her I'd rather walk and was particularly surprised when I told her (when she mentioned that they might not check me in if I wasn't truly in labor) that I was dilated to a 5 at my most recent appointment!

We were taken to a small room and told that someone would come and check me soon. I was terrified that was the delivery room. (Thank heavens it wasn't!) The nurse came to check us and she didn't seem to be in much of a rush - until she checked me and I was already at a 7! We were then quickly moved into the delivery room where things quickly got more serious. Nurses came in to do things like fill out more paperwork, check my blood pressure and take my blood. My response was always the same "sure, just do it in between contractions...and you'll need to be quick!"

C got my tunes going and secretly fed me frozen grapes whenever he could. My midwife came and awesomely told the nurses that I did NOT need an IV or a heplock. My breathing and squatting and swaying had been helping me through contractions and then, really in an attempt to conserve energy in case I needed it, I got on the bed on my hands and knees so I could continue to sway etc, but not be standing. I had sort of envisioned being in a squatting position while delivering, but when my midwife told me that I could stay on my hands and knees and that it was a great position to prevent tearing, I knew it was a good decision.

As labor got intense I just repeated Marie's words in my head over and over "breathe through your labor." Instead of telling me when to push, my midwife told me that I could push when I felt was ready. I felt unsure for a minute (and a bit panicky since I was in transition), but I remembered that I had also been told in my blessing from C that I would know when and how to push. And sure enough during one contraction I felt Simon drop. "Woah! That felt different," I told C and my midwife. C was cheering me on and I asked my midwife to guide me through pushing and breathing. After a few pushes I knew that I could either take a few more pushes to get him out or I could push through that contraction and he would arrive. I had a type of control in delivering Simon that was really amazing to me.

So I pushed through and there he was! It was so exciting! I think I yelled "He's here! It's over! (not really referring to the labor, but to the waiting and wondering when he would arrive). C cut the cord, snuggled him quickly and then handed him to me. I laughed out loud when the nurse said he was under 6 pounds. Lighter than Ruby! There he was - our cute and tiny Simon Bron. I snuggled him up to me to keep him warm and was amazed that he was finally here - and before Christmas!

I snuggled him close to me and nursed him and marveled at this little wonder that had just joined our family. We then started to call our families. I'll never forget calling my mom. The unusually early hour of the phone call cued her into the fact that something was going on and she excitedly asked "are you on your way to the hospital?!" It was so fun to respond that we had just had our baby!

Thankfully Simon's birth was so amazing, because the hospital stay was NOT my favorite. Physically, I felt really good - like I could have just gone home a few hours later! But things like an uncomfortable bed, constant interruptions, the nurses always taking Simon away (they did everything in the nursery instead of in our room and C couldn't even stay with Simon and had to just watch from a window...and then they'd take FOREVER to bring him back to us. I was not a fan.), and my overall stress of just being in the hospital had me itching to get out of there! The highlight was definitely when Ruby came to meet Simon. She had been staying with our friends the Potters and C went to get her for a few hours to come to the hospital. She was SO cute with him and so excited. She was also pretty surprised to see that I still looked a little pregnant. She lifted up my shirt and asked why my stomach was still so big! Haha. Ruby had been having a great time with our friends, but she was definitely feeling stressed because she hardly ate anything at their house. When C picked her up they grabbed some burgers and Ruby ate an entire burger, order of fries and drank a bottle of water!

In what can only be described as a tender mercy, we arrived at the hospital around 5 a.m. on the 23rd and were out of there in the late afternoon of the 24th. And just like that we were officially a family of four. We were so excited to get home with our little family.