Cysts and Doctors and Surgery, Oh My!

I mentioned surgery, didn't I?

Spoiler alert: it turned out to be a very easy quick surgery with quick recovery! 

Remember that February morning when my sweet little man graced us with his presence, after 52 hours of labor? Well he had this odd little bump on the bridge of his nose, hence the nick name Little man. Side note, that plus his hairline made him look like a little old man. We assumed it was a side affect from birth, but it didn't go away. His pediatrician said to watch it and not to worry. 

Then it grew. 

We were referred to an ENT who side it needed to be looked at by a specialist at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. What we thought was a little bump/cyst, could have possibly been part of his brain that was trapped outside his nose when his nose formed. The doctor said this very calmly and that left me confused on how to feel, do I remain calm or freak out? I wavered between the two for weeks. 

Then we saw the specialist. 

He took one look at it and assured me it was not Isaac’s brain, it was simply a Dermoid Cyst. Oh what a relief! Then the specialist went on to explain that it would need to be removed and Isaac would need a MRI to determine if the cyst extended into brain and therefore required a neurosurgeon…Didn't he just tell me is was a simple cyst?! 

So home we went to wait for surgery. 

After almost three months, we headed back to Little Rock for the surgery. I am a huge control freak and an obsessive planner/packer, so that fact that there were so many unknowns stressed me out. Everything depended on what the MRI said. Would there be a neurosurgeon? Would we have to stay over night? Would we have to stay multiple nights? Then there was the mommy worry of how he would handle the hotel and the MRI and the surgery and the pain and the hospital and not getting to nurse for hours? FYI He was great… I not so much. 

Monday was the MRI. They told me I had to stop nursing him at 2:45am and he didn't go under till almost 8:30am. I repeatedly asked them when he would be put under since they gave me a much earlier cut off than the surgery people, and I stressed them he nurses every 1.5-2 hours, they assured me he would be put under at 6:45am, even though the “appointment” was for 8:45am… Thankfully he is such a sweet little guy and is so excited for new things that he was distracted most of the time. 

However I want to take a moment to rant, there is part of me that gets super annoyed when I think about that situation. I did my homework and the cut off time for breastmilk is closer to the time the child goes under than the time for formula. Formula takes longer to digest so must be stopped sooner to ensure its out of their system, similar to adults and solid food. Breastmilk digests faster which is also why breastfed babies eat ALL THE TIME. Now the surgery nurses understood this so they are excluded from this rant. The nurses staffing the MRI were not as understanding. They ask you the same questions over and over, and every nurse asked what formula he was on and then looked confused when I said he was exclusively breastfed. They seemed peeved that I kept asking when he would be taken back because he hadn't eaten in so long and I was worried he'd get too hungry or worse get low blood sugar. If they can ask the same questions over and over, why can’t I? Then you add in the fact that Mama is getting uncomfortable, and ask to nurse him as soon as he wakes up, and that gets a “look,” this Mama gets a bit grumpy. I don’t mean to sound rude, but breastfeeding a baby isn't as easy as it looks and having someone attached to you 24/7 is hard, so when medical personal aren't understanding it kinda grates on your nerves. And lets be real, watching your five month old be hooked up to tubes and put to sleep is terrifying! Don’t worry, it all worked out and both Little Man and I were so happy when it was all over! 

Thankfully the MRI showed that the cyst was just in the nose and it would be a quick simple surgery. The doctor would go in and remove the cyst and “squish” the bones of his nose back together. Yes, he said “squish.”  The nice thing about babies is they are so new you can squish things together and they fix themselves. 

Last picture with the cyst!

The surgery was scheduled for the next day and was much less nerve wrecking than the MRI. It helped that now we knew he didn't react badly to the sedation and that the cyst was simple. It was also much quicker than we thought it would be. Vince had wandered off thinking it would be about another hour and poof the doctor appeared to say he was in recovery! Isaac actually got discharged from the recovery room instead of the discharge room because he woke up so quickly and was ready to go. He was very upset that he was tethered to the IV still, its hard to play when you can’t move much. 

I wish I recovered from surgery as fast as he did. He took a nice long nap when he got back to the hotel and then played and played and played. All they gave him for pain was tylenol and by the next day he didn't even act like he needed it and by day 3 we stopped giving it to him. By his two week check up the bone was completely healed and the incision was mostly healed. We had some problems with the dissolvable stitches not dissolving, a month and a half later his pediatrician told us to pull it out with tweezers and even now 3 months later I can feel one still under the skin, but other than that it was a super fast recovery. 

I am so thankful Isaac has such a sweet temperament it helped ease my stress. I’m not really sure how he got such a sweet temperament, his dad has one, but I was a terrible child so my terribleness should have canceled out Vince’s sweetness. I sit here and wonder about it sometimes, but then I quickly tell myself to just be happy and go with it, what crazy person questions why their child is sweet? Normal people just praise God for that!

So I sit here and praise God that I have such a sweet little man and that he is healthy and happy and that I am so blessed to be his mama. 

I'm Still Here!

It's amazing how quickly time flies! 

I’m still not sure where the last few months have gone, but I know where to start, the Week of Chaos. 

Flash back to the Monday the 4th of July. 

We had a lovely holiday with my family, Isaac had so much fun!

Tuesday: 

It was time to head back home to prepare for our trip to Little Rock for Isaac’s surgery, I’ll get to that in a minute. 

We get home and I walk outside to the chicken coop to find it flooded (the automatic waterer broke) and one of the three remaining baby chicks eaten by a predator. Needless to say we spend the rest of the afternoon fixing the coop and we slept very well that night. 

Wednesday:

The plan was to pack, since I like to be prepared. Isaac and Vince woke up and watched some tv while I got to sleep in a bit.

After I had been awake a bit, I noticed Isis was still asleep in our room. I call her to eat and go outside and she doesn't come. I notice she is still a bit stiff and having trouble walking. I didn't think much about it since she always got sore after visiting my parents because she plays so much. This was different though, she wasn't walking at all. After rushing her to our vet and realizing she had no feeling in her back legs, we had to rush her down to Mississippi State. Long story short, she had slipped a few disks cutting off the nerves and she needed surgery. 

Isis had surgery Thursday and recovered great and we were able to get ready for Little Rock. 

Friday: I smashed my toe and broke it, at least I think I did. It took a month for it to stop hurting when I walked, and it still cramps up funny...

Sunday: We drove to Little Rock, thankfully we missed the protest that shut down the bridge for hours. That was the first lucky thing that week. 

Isaac playing at the hotel after surgery.

The surgery itself deserves a separate post, but once we got back from Little Rock it has been non-stop. Isaac recovered great and learned to crawl and climb, so that has meant constant vigilance. Isis came home and needed tons of therapy right as Vince started back to school. That was a huge adjustment! I got used to Vince being home all day. Throw into the mix, helping one best friend move away, then the other getting married and moving, and it has been a long emotional few months. 

But now things have finally settled down and gotten back to a new routine. Did I ever mention how much I like routines!? 

Well hopefully this routine sticks around for a while. 

2016 Goals Update!

I have to brag a bit, mainly because I am so proud of ourselves. 

We paid off three of our student loans! 

When I first set my 2016 goals I was hoping to pay off some of our debt by end of year. Mainly pay off our two credit cards and half of one student loan (we had four student loans of various amounts).  

Then we paid off the credit cards so quickly I changed the goal to paying off one of the four student loans. 

Through serious budgeting and gift money we managed to pay off three of the four student loans! 

Sadly the remaining loan was the most expensive and was more than all the credit cards and other loans combined, but the excitement of paying those off makes it more bearable. 

We are following Dave Ramsey who says to snowball your debt so the little wins give you motivation, and he is so very right about that! 

It will take longer to pay off this last loan, but we are so happy with the progress we have made that its not as daunting as it used to be. 

Being debt free seems to be achievable and not just a crazy dream! 

Goals 

1. Landscape Back Yard
2. Pay off Student loan #1  YAY!!!
3. Reduce Plastic Use/ Created Less Waste 
4. Walk 10,000 steps a day, 3 days a week. 
5. Special Secret Goal

We Got Baby Chicks!

We got baby chicks!

Its been a while since we had baby chicks, and we really had no intention of getting baby chicks this year. Human babies are a lot of work and we thought that'd be too much. However, Penguin decided that we needed chicks and went broody. Really, really broody, so broody I couldn't break her of it, so we found fertile eggs and let her give it a try. I kinda thought she’d give up, which is why Vince was hesitant to give her eggs, since he didn't want her to sit on them for a while and then abandon them and the chicks die. 

On a whim I called a woman about eggs and she gave us six and told us to bring back any chicks we couldn't keep. I was expecting a low hatch rate, so after I dropped and broke an egg I was only expecting two of the five to hatch. Honestly, I told Vince if we got one chick I’d call this a success. It was both Penguin and mine’s first try at hatching eggs (I’ve always bought baby chicks). 

So I gave her the eggs, marked my calendar for three weeks later and left her to do her thing. 

Fast forward to hatch week and I am “preparing” for baby chicks. I got the brooder ready incase she didn't want to care for the chicks and I frantically tried to schedule our Father’s Day Visits around chicks. Based on my math they were due to hatch Thursday or Friday before Father’s day. I invited my grandparents to come visit the Amish with us that Thursday so my Grandfather could be here when they were supposed to hatch. It was like a thousand years ago but his grandfather raised chickens when he was a boy and I thought he’d enjoy it.  

Wednesday evening I go to get eggs and check on Penguin. I decided to candle the eggs and the first two have little wiggling shadows, the next two have tiny holes and cheeping chicks, the last one is half hatched! I was not prepared at all and I didn't sleep at all that night. I was more nervous than I was when I was in labor! I’m not even kidding. I had experienced midwives and doulas around me so I knew I was in the best hands possible, poor Penguin was all alone and it was our first hatching. 

I was so relieved when I saw the first two chicks staring at me the next morning. I had been worried what the other hens would do, but they didn't seem to even mind the chicks. I found Daisy and CoCo in the nesting boxes with Penguin and the chicks like nothing happened. 

All five chicks hatched, but one sadly didn't make it long, and before they were a week old we had lost another. Thankfully the other three seem to be very healthy and happy and Penguin has turned out to be a wonderful mother. She is a natural and she makes it look so easy! I seriously don't know how she does it. 

When I got the eggs the woman had Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Sex-linked, Leghorn and silver and gold Wyandottes. I really wanted a Wyandotte and I really didn't want a Leghorn (I didn't want white eggs). Well since Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Sex-linked, and silver and gold Wyandottes all lay similar eggs it was a toss up on which eggs had which chicks, and none of them were pure bred so that made it harder. Let me tell you, Mother Nature and I have an odd relationship. Well its hard to tell but it seems that we got a Barred Rock chick and two LEGHORNS… and the two that passed away were probably Wyandottes. 

My mother laughed and said thats what I get for trying to control Mother Nature. Oh well as long as they are healthy and good layers I can’t complain. 

Now we just have to hope they are girls so we can keep them :) 

Going Plastic Free

I recently finished reading Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry. And let me tell you, it was both extremely enlightening and a bit horrifying! 

I had already been trying to lessen the amount of plastic we used simply to reduce waste and we had decided not to allow Isaac to have plastic toys, but plastic sneaks into your life easily and in ways I didn't even think about. 

Baby bottles were the first things to sneak in. I registered for glass baby bottles but we didn't receive any and since I am a stay at home mom and breast feeding we didn't bother buying any. Then I got a free bottle in a sample pack from the maternity store, then one from a sample in the mail, and a third one came with the pump. Three bottles was perfect for the few times I have had to leave Isaac with Daddy or my mom. I didn't think anymore about the bottle besides filling them when we needed them and washing them. 

After finishing the book I went straight to the kitchen to stake stock of what plastic was left in there. At first I was so proud of myself, there wasn't that much and most of what was left was not needed and could go away. Then I opened the freezer and saw the bottles. Plastic! What was I thinking, I had been saying for months no plastic for Isaac but I was allowing him to be fed from plastic. So I sat down at the computer and ordered him glass bottles and packed up all the plastic from the kitchen to be donated. 

Confession: I couldn't bring myself to throw out the three bottles of frozen milk, those were a lot of work for this mama to make. I just finished feeding him the second to last bottle as we drive to visit my parents. 

So since finishing the book I’ve been making a mental note of everything plastic in the house and as they wear out Ill be replacing them with non-plastic options. 

The book opened my eyes to the way landfills and recycling plants work, how plastic is made and the waste associated with it, as well as discussing the toxins in plastics. My favorite part was it idiot proofed the science so I could not only understand but also explain to others when they stare at me like I'm crazy (I get that stare a lot so I'm used to it). 

The other nice thing was Terry gave realistic ways to change and repeatedly told the reader that it took her years to get to the point that she was. And that was very encouraging to read.

 This is a journey where each step matters as much as the final destination. 

Weekly 2016 Goal Update = New Goals

The past couple weeks have been super busy and kinda crazy. Since the middle of March we have only had one weekend when we didn’t have something to do, and we ended up going to see the Amish :)  

We've had doctor visits in Little Rock, Easter, Landscaping the Front Yard, Isaac’s Christening, visiting the amish, my friend’s Gender Reveal, and Mother’s day. If I ever get s chance to sit and type I will update y'all on everything. 

But for now I decided to update my Yearly Goal’s. We have completed some of them and decided others just needed to be updated. 

So far we finished goals 2 and 5 and are part way through goals 3 and 4. 

Goals are that, goals, so if things change we need to reevaluate them.  

Old Goals

1. Complete the 2016 Declutter challenge. - I’m still decluttering but not really focusing on the numbers, its just too much to keep up with. 
2. Have the following things finished when Isaac arrives.
• I still need to finish hanging art on the walls in the Master Bedroom.
• Secure speaker wires, so Roomba stops trying to eat them. 
• Make sure birthing boxes are ready!
•  Rehang laundry room shelves.
3. Finish the following projects by end of year.
•  Clean out the Garage
• Cut down trees in back yard… Finally.
• Re-gravel paths.
4.  Pay off some of our debt by end of year. 
• Pay of Credit Card #1 – 
• Pay off Credit Card #2 - 
• Pay off half of Student loan #1
5.  If God sees fit, have Isaac at home.
6. Survive the first year with Isaac. - This has turned out to be so easy it doesn't need to be a goal. Isaac is the sweetest little guy, it is so much fun to have him around. 
7. Eat more meals from scratch, made with local foods.
8.  Keep making the house less toxic. - We have switched out our cleaning supplies to the least toxic options, so now we are shifting gears and focusing on using less plastic and creating less waste. 
9. Get to and Stay within a healthy weight and get in better shape.
10. Special Secret Goal - Still working on this, but every step forward is met with a step back :(

New Goals 

1. Landscape Back Yard
2. Pay off Student loan #1
3. Reduce Plastic Use/ Created Less Waste 
4. Walk 10,000 steps a day, 3 days a week. 
5. Special Secret Goal

2016 Goal Update, Week 14 of 52

The most important thing about this week is today is my Birthday!! 

Sadly, I kinda forgot about it. I knew it was coming up, but it just snuck up so quickly I was unprepared. 

The other day my mom said that she rescheduled her dental appointment so she and my grandmother could come down Wednesday and take me to lunch for my birthday, my response was "Why?" I think she thought I was wondering why they wanted to take me to lunch because she responded with "because its your birthday!" 

I didn't realize it would be my birthday...oops. 

1. Complete the 2016 Declutter challenge. 

2. Have the following things finished when Isaac arrives.
    I still need to finish hanging art on the walls in the Master Bedroom.
    Secure speaker wires, so Roomba stops trying to eat them. 
    Make sure birthing boxes are ready!
    Rehang laundry room shelves. 

3. Finish the following projects by end of year.
    Clean out the Garage.
    Cut down trees in back yard… Finally.
    Re-gravel paths.

4. Pay off some of our debt by end of year. 
    Pay of Credit Card #1 – 
    Pay off Credit Card #2 - 

Yay! That's the first thing that came to mind when we hit the confirm button. When I first made the goal of paying off two credit cards and half of one student loan I was hesitant on whether we could actually do that. So far we are ahead of schedule paying down the debt, so if we keep at this pace we might not only reach this goal but pay off more than we planned. 

    Pay off half of Student loan #1

5. If God sees fit, have Isaac at home.

6. Survive the first year with Isaac.

We made it two months! So far so good. 

7. Eat more meals from scratch, made with local foods.

8. Keep making the house less toxic. 

9. Get to and Stay within a healthy weight and get in better shape.

I told Vince I wanted a Fitbit for my birthday. Hopefully it will help, whenever we get the chance to go buy me one. 

We did just get Isaac a stroller and I enjoy taking him for walks because he loves them so much. 

I didn't originally get him a stroller because I intended to wear him everywhere, and I do when we are out and about, but after seeing how excited he was to ride in my mom's stroller and look at the sky I decided to get him one. 

10. Special Secret Goal

Two Months!

It is hard to believe how quickly two months has flown by. Isaac has gotten so big, and it is already making me a bit sad to see him grow up so quickly. 

Its so exciting because now he is responding and smiling at us. I am a bit bias, but he has the sweetest smile!

He loves to just watch us and smile at us. He also gives us huge smile when we compliment him. It seems he likes compliments and he loves looking in the mirror... so we might have a few problems when he gets a bit older. Oh well its cute right now.

At the six week check-up with the midwives he weighed 10lbs and measured 24 inches. Two feet long! I told Vince only four more feet and Isaac will be as tall as him. 

The six week check up was the last time we see the midwives until we have another baby, so that was a very sad visit. They told me if I wasn't handling things well then they would have us come back in two weeks, but unfortunately I was handling things well and there was no excuse for another visit. Instead they just told me to have another baby very soon! 

I found a better solution, a friend is seeing them for a few visits and she said I could tag along. 

With how quickly Isaac is growing I kinda want another baby soon, but then I want to wait because he is growing so fast. 

The one good thing is Isaac loves to be held. He loves it so much that somedays he will just cry if I put him down, so I have a very good excuse to just sit there all day and cuddle him. 

The little man has all the women in his life trained. 

We were at my mom's Easter weekend, and the day beforeI was sitting there nursing him and my mom was going on and on about how much she had to do and how much she needed mine and my grandmother's help. The second he was finished nursing, "Is he done? Come to Mamie!" All the sudden she was no longer busy. She and my grandmother then sat there showering him with attention. 

And then on Easter the whole family was there and Isaac had his aunt, both grandmothers, and two great-grandmothers showering him with attention. I don't think he got put down all day. The poor boy is going to grow up thinking every woman just worships him! 

His two grandfathers and one great-grandfather were also there but I don't think any of them got a chance to hold him at all. 

I look back at the photos from when he was born and I can't believe it was only to months ago, it seems like just yesterday. These have been the best two months of my life. 

Big Thoughts and Tiny Heads

Recently I have thoughts that I think I should write down and share, but then I realize two things. One: I’m too tired to find go get my computer. Two: there is another load of laundry to do.  

Not that I’m complaining too much about the laundry. I knew having a baby meant more laundry, but I thought it would be more baby clothes, or even my clothes (spit-up and all), but no Vince beats both us of for going through the most cloths and towels. I understand, he spends all day around middle schoolers so he comes home and changes and washes up so he doesn’t cover Isaac in nasty middle school germs. I’m not really worried about germs in general, but middle schoolers are gross… so I’m glad he does that. 

I kinda wish he had been doing that for a while. I’ve seen that school. Over the summer it was nice and clean, but you stop by after school and before the cleaning staff come through and there are no words to describe the nastiness. 

Like the time I took a few things up to Vince. I was still pregnant so I had to stop by the bathroom. Someone used the restroom and left without washing their hands. THIS IS HOW DISEASE SPREADS! I am not super germaphobic, but people need to wash their hands! 

And see when I do have the energy and time to write I get distracted by things. 

This all started with the thought that I like to write (even if nobody reads), but now I am deeply concerned about middle school germs and laundry. The thought of middle school germs makes me want to go sanitize everything, and the thought of laundry makes me kinda want to go finish the load of diapers in the wash, but instead I am going to sit here, finish typing this, and watch my sleep little boy asleep on his daddy’s chest. 

Thats the thing, the thought that starting me thinking and typing, the thought of how amazing it is to be the mom of that sweet little boy and the wife of that kind man. 

No matter how overwhelming it is to try to keep up with laundry and house chores, fixing dinner every night (why do people eat so often), and taking care of numerous animals… the most important job I have is to be a wife and mother. And something that means leaving a load of laundry in the washer to enjoy that wonderful job. 

Weekly 2016 Goal Update, Week 10 of 52

This week Vince and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary, and Isaac celebrated turning 1 month old! 

I can’t believe how quickly time flies. It seems like just yesterday Vince and I were getting married, but now we have our sweet little man to celebrate with us. 

So much has happened this past year and I am so very blessed!

1. Complete the 2016 Declutter challenge.

Isaac helped me get rid of a few more things. Mainly clothes he has already outgrown (he is super long!) that I don't love enough to keep for future kids. Also we got rid of a lot of socks. I found a type of sock that stays on his feet, so I got rid of all the others. This also means since they all look alike I don't have to try to match tiny socks. 

2. Have the following things finished when Isaac arrives.
    I still need to finish hanging art on the walls in the Master Bedroom.
    Secure speaker wires, so Roomba stops trying to eat them. 
    Make sure birthing boxes are ready!
    Rehang laundry room shelves. 

3. Finish the following projects by end of year.
    Clean out the Garage.
    Cut down trees in back yard… Finally.
    Re-gravel paths.

4. Pay off some of our debt by end of year. 
    Pay of Credit Card #1 – 
    Pay off Credit Card #2
    Pay off half of Student loan #1

5. If God sees fit, have Isaac at home.

6. Survive the first year with Isaac.
I cant believe our sweet little man is already a month old!!!

7. Eat more meals from scratch, made with local foods.
I signed up for Realplans.com and I'm giving it a month to give my verdict, but so far we love it. 

8. Keep making the house less toxic. 

9. Get to and Stay within a healthy weight and get in better shape.
Breastfeeding has become my best friend, I get to sit and snuggle my sweet guy and loose weight. This is my kind of exercise :)

10. Special Secret Goal

Samuel Richard Leatherman III

This last week has been a bit of a sad one. My grandfather passed away last Tuesday. 

It left me with mixed emotions, here I am overjoyed that my little man is two weeks old and healthy, but at the same time my grandfather never got to meet him. We were going to Memphis that Thursday for the two week check-up with the midwives and Isaac was going to meet that set of great-grandparents for the first time. Thankfully he still got to meet his great-grandmother, and he was able to distract her and she was so happy to meet him! 

Isaac's Birth Story

I am happy to report that David Isaac was born February 9, 2016. 

He weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and measured 21.5 inches long.

After 52 hours of labor we are overjoyed to have our little guy here. 

Thursday when I went to my final midwife appointment my two grandmothers joined us so they could be reassured about the home-birth. After the midwives assured them everything would go smoothly, we went to measure and listen to his heart beat. The midwife then casually pointed out that it looked like I was having a contraction… and with that the calmness was out the window. Since I hadn’t even noticed the contraction, the midwives again reassured them everything was good and I drove home. 

Of course the next two days were filled with many calls and texts to check to make sure I was fine and not in labor. 

Saturday night I noticed the contractions made me breathless and I texted our doula to ask if labor might start “soon.” 

11:30pm - I texted doula to ask about bloody show and give her a heads up that it was starting. 

3:30 am - Contractions were now waking me up and I was only able to nap the 7-10 mins between contractions. 

around 5 am - I woke Vince up, mainly because I was tired of being alone

We called the doula in about 7:30 am Sunday and that helped. 

My mom and grandmother came down later that evening because they couldn’t handle the wait any longer (Isaac made them wait longer). 

One of the Midwives also came down that night because she was excited and wanted to keep up with my progress. 

Im glad she did. she checked me and I was only 2-3cm, so she gave me some herbs to help me sleep. Sadly they didn’t help as much as I would have hoped. 

Monday was about the same. We spent all day in labor, that afternoon my dad and another midwife came, that evening Vince’s mom, sister, and the 3rd midwife came, and we all waited. 

We did figure out that for some reason I wasn’t dilating. The first midwife decided to try stretching me since i was almost fully effaced and still 2-3cm after 24+ hours, I immediately jumped to 4cm. A few hours later she did the same thing because I was fully effaced but still only 4cm, this time I jumped to 5-6cm. 

Monday night during a check we found that I was 7cm and Isaac’s head was angled into my hip so he wasn’t descending. We tried different positions and got him to straighten up, but he still wouldn’t tuck his head or flip to the optimal birthing position (I have already learned he is a bit stubborn). 

Midwife #1 is the comforting midwife and Midwife #3 is the one that tells you to do something and you do it (Midwife #2 is a nice mix). Any guesses who had me up moving so that Isaac would move?

At some point very late Monday night or early Tuesday morning they broke my water and then things got moving quickly (compared to the first 48 hours). 

Vince and I tried to rest. I wrote up to two strong contractions. Our sweet doula sat beside me and talked me through them so Vince could get some more rest, since we thought it was going to take quite a bit longer. On the third the doula saw Isaac flip in my stomach and I had to push. 

She called the midwives back into the room and I woke up Vince. 

I still had a small cervical lip but the midwife was able to get rid of that and then realize Isaac is coming now, we needed to call my mom into the room. 

After 52 hours of labor it felt like I only pushed for a couple minutes. 

It was the most amazing feeling holding Isaac for the first time. After so long I finally got to see his face and kiss him and it was magical. 

In full disclosure, after Isaac was born there was more bleeding than the Midwives were comfortable with. but they calmly and quickly gave me the needed medicine and delivered the placenta (which came very quickly! before the cord even stopped pulsing) everything was fine. 

Now a week later, we are all happy and healthy. Isaac has really got the hang of nursing and is already back to his birthweight. He has also already grown 3/4 of an inch! 

His pediatrician was very impressed with Isaac and the home birth. The pediatrician lives across the street from our doula and his wife babysat for our doula during our labor, so he already knew a little about the birth. You got to love small towns!