I've got someone pretty special to introduce you to. Meet our precious Gwen Stellamaris Stewart! Born after 13 hours of active labor at 7:41am on May 30, our little lass weighed 7lbs 4oz. She has grey eyes and plenty of jet black hair. She is healthy and sweet and we are so grateful for a safe delivery. Labor was very hard and exhausting and my recovery has been much slower than with Lucy, so … [Read more...]
Birth Plan Advice
Today I'm over at MamaAndBabyLove talking about envisioning your dream birth plan. If you're expecting, a good birth plan is a must! Here's a snippet of my post, I hope you, or a friend, can find it helpful: "When we wrote our birth plan for our first baby, my husband and I were surprised to realize how many things we hadn’t thought about before. Who was going to cut the cord? Did we want our … [Read more...]
Why I Hated Breastfeeding (And How That Changed) Part II
In Part I, I described my horrible experience breastfeeding my firstborn and how after four months I gave up. I was stressed out. My baby was stressed out. It wasn’t working. I am so glad to say that round two has been totally different! Part of it must be due to Baby Number Two's easy temperament, but I think other factors are lower stress, and a shift in my attitude and mothering … [Read more...]
Why I Hated Breastfeeding (And How That Changed) Part I
I am a huge supporter of breastfeeding. I nurse my baby girl everywhere and do my best to promote breastfeeding and support nursing mamas.But, I never judge another mama for choosing to bottle-feed. Some mamas can't breastfeed even after trying everything to produce enough milk for their baby. Sometimes circumstances make it almost impossible. I know this first hand... When I was a few days … [Read more...]
Tomorrow You’re THREE!
Oh, Benjamin, my little paleontologist, Tomorrow you will wake up and you will have turned the venerable age of THREE. The twos that I have loved so much will be over. I loved the day when you turned two. And I loved your First Birthday, too. So many gifts of grace you have brought to our lives. The Blessed John Paul II wrote that the enemy of true love is selfishness. Being your … [Read more...]
Our Year in Pictures: 2011!
I think Daniel and I both agree that 2011 was our best year to date. Here’s some highlights (which turned out to become a monstrously long post with mostly pregnancy pics, oh well). January Daniel got a new job and we hoped to get pregnant again. Benjamin continued to amaze us with the joy he brought to our world. February In February we celebrated Benjamin's 2nd Birthday … [Read more...]
Lucy’s Birth Story: Part III
Catch up on Part I and Part II. So, we had been at the hospital for two and a half hours. I was having a contraction while standing up and Daniel was holding me up so I could try to relax through it. I looked up at him and (he tells me) my eyes got wide. “SHE’S COMING,” I said. “NOW. RIGHT NOW.” All of the sudden I could feel her head and she was coming out. Pronto. All I could think of at that … [Read more...]
Lucy’s Birth Story: Part II
Click here to read Part I. Having sent my mom home because “nothing was going to happen,” we decided to go on a walk before going to bed. The walk didn’t do anything to make my contractions more frequent and Daniel encouraged me to try to sleep so I wouldn’t get too exhausted (I had, after all, been up most of the past two nights with contractions.) After settling in bed, my contractions … [Read more...]
Lucy’s Birth Story: Part I
I just knew that Lucy would come early. Big brother Benjamin had arrived at 39 weeks and I there was no doubt in my mind that she would come at least as early. At 37 weeks I started losing my mucus plug, experiencing extreme pelvic pressure and some mild cramping, dilating and effacing, and feeling the Braxton-Hicks become more frequent and intense. “Any day now!” I started to think. I even … [Read more...]
Why I Haven’t Been Blogging…
I haven't posted in almost a month due to the morning sickness and fatigue accompanying a new pregnancy. That's right, we're having another baby! Due Date: October 13th We are so thrilled about this new life and can't wait to see Benjamin as a big brother. We are grateful and humbled by the idea of becoming parents twice over and can't wait to meet our little one. Today was our first … [Read more...]
