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! 

Weekly 2016 Goal Update, Week 7 of 52

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
    Pay off half of Student loan #1

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

6. Survive the first year with Isaac.

We survived the first week! 

Isaac is sleeping well and nursing like a pro. 

At his week check up he was back to birth weight, 8 lbs 6 oz, and had grown 3/4 of an inch. 

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 feel like I needed to update my 2016 goals a bit. Mainly in the area of my personal health. I set a goal of eating better with the hope that would help me be healthier and loose some weight. I don't hate or dislike how I look (but I was overweight for my height).In fact I like being curvy, and now that I've had a baby I am proud of what my body can do. However there is an issue I currently have. It's been a week since I gave birth and I weigh less than I did before I got pregnant and my stomach is flatter than before I got pregnant. That was not what I expected!

So my new goal is to get and stay within a healthy weight range and get in better physical shape, while keeping some of my curves 😊 I need to stay healthy for my little guy. 

I've made a great start, I lost 27 pounds in a week. 😊 However, I am still carrying around 8 lbs of that, but its a cute 8lbs. 

10. Special Secret Goal

Weekly 2016 Goal Update, Week 6 of 52

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
    Pay off half of Student loan #1

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

One major goal got accomplished this week. We welcomed David Isaac into the world. I will share his birth story after some more sleep.  

6. Survive the first year with Isaac.

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

8. Keep making the house less toxic. 

9. Complete a home inventory list.

10. Special Secret Goal

Weekly 2016 Goal Update, Week 5 of 52

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.

Yep, I got the garage all nice and pretty! If I had been willing to share before photos, you would understand why I am so proud of myself. Let's just say it took a miracle to get that place clean!

    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

It would have helped if we didn't have to have bought a new battery this month, but it could have been worse. Still we put a chunk in the balance so I will call this a win this month. 

    Pay off half of Student loan #1

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

6. Survive the first year with Isaac.

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

The Meat Lady convinced us to buy Irish Banger sausage, well I'll be honest, it wasn't a hard sell. She told us it was great with mashed potatoes and a super quick meal. I made it and loved it, then Monday night I learned just how quick a meal it was. If the potatoes I made didn't take an hour to cook, dinner would have been ready in under 30 mins. Meals like this make me so happy. Its good, healthy food and its still quick! 

8. Keep making the house less toxic. 

I guess I could say we took s huge step in this goal. Most of the stuff that left the garage was weird chemical crap... some of which was left by the previous owner. I've lived here too long to have another owners chemical crap sitting on my garage shelves, I know I had no intention of ever using it. 

9. Complete a home inventory list.

10. Special Secret Goal

I realized that it looks like I haven't accomplished much, not only do I have a valid excuse (ahem... baby) but some of what was accomplished involved the Special Secret Goal. Its still too early to share even little hints but hopefully these will go as planned. 

The "Due" Date Quickly Approaches

Tomorrow is our official due date! 

Although I have a feeling Isaac will stay where he is for a while. He is welcome to prove me wrong though.

 

Just incase he decided to come in the next few days I ran some last minute errands, like getting chicken feed and heart-worm pills for the dogs. 

But alas, things aren’t allowed to go easy and smoothly!

I had finished all my errands and I was leaving the vet when my car wouldn’t start… yes, the “new” one. Many thoughts flashed through my head, “is it the battery, the starter, the alternator, or something worse?!” 

I sit there and try it a few more minutes, but all it does is turn on the radio and lights and makes a clicking sound. Clicking sounds are typically not good things… 

Of course Vince in teaching and can’t answer the phone or anything. So my sweet friend and her husband pick me up to take me home. 

After I get home and eat…. because I was super, super hungry… I remember the old Pathfinder doing this when the battery died. I thought I even remembered the clicking sound, but I also wasn’t sure if I was making it up to make myself feel better. 

Vince gets home and we drive over to the vet and try to jump the car… that fails. We discuss having it towed to either our house, so his uncle can look at it, or to the Nissan place. I finally tell him to call his uncle so I don’t have to have it towed twice.

 

Thank the Lord for his uncle! he listened to the clicking sound over the phone and told us it was probably the battery and either it was so dead or our jumper cables were bad. 

After a quick trip to the parts store to purchase a new battery and GOOD jumper cables for the future and popping the new battery in, voila the car started!

I learned two things today. One, always call the professional as soon as possible and don't bother wasting time. We wasted too much time trying to figure it out ourselves when the professional only had to listen to it for a minute, over the phone, to diagnose the problem.  Two, always have a quick dinner option in the fridge or freezer! 

We still had a yummy, home cooked meal despite spending 2 hours dealing with the car. 

Now I need a hot bath and a good nights sleep, so Isaac better wait till the end of the week if he decides to come this week. This mama needs some rest.