The Arrival of My Little Drama Queen {Baby Girl}

Sunday, August 5th at 2:58pm we welcomed our little girl Maci into the world.  I thought my water breaking at the hair salon with our son was an interesting birth story... little did I know this girl was about to one up her brother in a big way.

My due date was Friday, August 3rd so by Saturday morning, one day overdue, I was starting to feel anxious for her to get here.  That morning I began to have more painful contractions but they weren't very regular so Luke, Max and I went and had lunch and did some shopping.  When we got home I needed to rest as the contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable but after laying down and timing them at about 10-12 minutes apart they simply stopped.  So much for hoping that she came Saturday.  To try and keep things moving I got up and made Max and Luke run some errands with me but even though the contractions were still painful they weren't getting any closer together.

The next morning (Sunday) I awoke feeling pretty discouraged.  I was hoping that the day before would actually lead to something but without a contraction in sight we all got ready to head to the park.  I wanted to get out of the house and get my mind off of things.  While at the park around 10:30am I had to sit down a few times due to considerable pain but wasn't about to start timing anything as I didn't want to get my hopes up.  After the park we went over to the grocery store to grab some items for lunch and the contractions were starting to take my breath away.  I thought it was wise to begin timing them and realized that they were coming about 4-5 minutes apart.  Panic started to set-in as I hurried Luke along and out of the store.  On our way home they moved to about 6 minutes apart so I figured all the walking around at the park and grocery store was probably what was making them shorter.  I called Luke's mom to come and get Max and once home at about 12:20pm called into the Hospital Triage to see if I should come in.

The Triage nurse talked to me for a bit and after explaining that the contractions were coming about 4-6 minutes apart she advised me to stay at home for a bit longer until they were more like 3-5 minutes apart.  She also said that considering I talked to her for a few minutes and didn't need to stop for a contraction that more than likely I was in the beginning stages of labor and should wait it out a bit.  I took her advice and tried to eat a small lunch.  That's when things started to get even more intense.

I laid down to try and relax and time my contractions and was so discouraged to see that they were moving to about 8 minutes apart, however, they were so intense that I was screaming in pain.  After an hour of this I didn't know how I was going to make it any longer so I called my mom crying.  She said to  call the Triage nurse back and "fib" saying that they were coming 3-5 minutes apart so I could go in.  I was in so much pain that I took her advice.  At 1:50pm I called the nurse back and she said that I was more than welcome to come in, it didn't mean I was going to be able to stay but they could at least check me out.

Luke and I slowly grabbed our bags and I stumbled down the hall to the car.  I could barely make it 4 steps without peeling over in excruciating pain.  Once in the car I tried to relax but found myself somewhat blacking out.  All I know is I yelled at Luke a few times to quit looking at his phone and DRIVE!  The hospital is about 20 minutes from our house and with about 10 minutes to go I started to feel as though I needed to push.  Luke kept telling me that I needed to relax so when I told him what I was feeling he replied "um, I don't think you are supposed to do that yet!"

When we arrived at the hospital around 2:15pm I told Luke to park out front and go get me a wheelchair as there was no way I was going to be able to walk.  I felt a little foolish about this at first as though I may be overreacting but I seriously could not walk.  Once we got to Triage they kindly asked me for my name and unable to speak due to the pain I waived at Luke to fill them in.  With that they rushed me into a room where I informed them of my feeling the need to push.  The head Triage nurse came in at that point to check me quick before getting my information and realized that I was dilated to 9cm!  Well I guess that epidural is out of the question now.

They quickly called a doctor that was there at the hospital with another one of her patients and ordered all hands on deck. They wheeled me into a delivery room not even taking the time to get my name or any other information.  Soon the room was filled with people grabbing supplies and rushing around.  I didn't even have a chance to realize what was going on.  5 pushes and 10 minutes later there she was!  All 8lbs 11oz of her!  When they told me what she weighed I was amazed and thought, no wonder that hurt so bad!

Luke started texting everyone of her arrival and I later found out that some of the texts were things like "Margaret's a pro at birthing babies"  "birthing babies is easy"  "10 minutes and done".  To which I could only laugh at because to me, that was NOT easy, but I guess birthing a baby within 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital could make it look easy to others! :)

When my mom later heard the full story of what happened she felt guilty about her previous comment from this post where she assured me that "the baby will not fall out."  She almost did in the car!

The happy ending to all of this is our beautiful little girl is super healthy, very happy and as of today a very content and easy baby.  I recovered quickly and even went home from the hospital the very next day.

Max is adjusting well to having his little sister around and likes to give her "knucks" before he leaves for daycare in the morning or goes to bed at night.  He also says "I heard that!" every time she makes a sound.

Luke says after how quick her birth was that I was made to have kids and we should have a couple more... I think I need a few years to warm up to that idea just yet!

Maci Anne

Max meets Maci.  He was a little apprehensive so he clung to me and his monkey.

Kisses for the baby.

Max's first skate

Luke took Max out skating for the first time last week.  He was a little wobbly at first and had difficulty keeping upright on his skates.  After doing the splits a few times and falling on his butt he began to get the hang of it a little better.  Once he had his hockey stick in his hand and a puck to shoot he was able to focus on that and the skating was much more natural... if you could even call it skating.  It was more like walking on the ice but it's a start!

After being out on the ice for awhile it was time for the high school team to practice so the "boni" as Max calls it came out to refresh the ice.  Max just loves the "boni" and it was hard to make him get off the ice.  We stayed for a little bit to watch the high school kids skate and he was in heaven.  He pounded on the glass shouting "Hockey! Skate! Stick! Daddy! Puck! Fast! Whoa!" every hockey related word he knows over and over again.  I think Luke was pretty happy at his reaction to his first time out on the ice.

Getting his skates on in the locker room.

"Skates!" he says

Walking out to the ice

First fall.  "cold daddy" he said as he touched the ice

"help!" he's saying as he tries to get back up.

Shooting

Another fall

Mother's Day #2

Today was my second Mother's Day and so far the best!  Last year I have to admit that I felt a little disappointed in Mother's Day.  I didn't get to sleep in, no one made me breakfast in bed and I didn't even receive one card.  Instead, my husband informed me that he would have bought me a card but the Hallmark he drove by was closed... but "it's the thought that counts, right?" To this I said "NO IT'S NOT THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS! That's only applicable if you actually GET something and the person doesn't like it.  It does not mean you can go around telling people that you thought about doing something nice for them but didn't!"  This argument still comes up as he has done the same thing since.  After this year I think he's learning. :)

Flash forward to this year's Mother's Day.  Max slept in until 8:00am!  Thank you buddy :)  Luke booked a Mother's Day brunch for just our family at the Country Club and we also got a chance to spend some time with Luke's Grandparents, Mom, Brother and Uncle's at his Grandparents house.  Now as I write this Luke is still there and Max is taking a much needed nap leaving me some wonderful and always needed alone time!  I'm not sure this day could get any better :) 

One thing I loved was as we went out and about today everyone was wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.  It made me feel like I am a part of a secret club or something.  The first time it happened Luke actually responded with a "thanks" and then realized it obviously wasn't directed towards him so he then replied "uh, I mean, never mind why would I be saying thanks."  I guess we both just aren't used to this whole parenting thing yet.  

As always, thank you to MY wonderful mother for always being there for me and for showing me what a loving and attentive mother should be.  I hope I can be the same for my kids whom I am so very blessed to have.

Max's Brunch... French Toast, Pineapple and Strawberries.  Yum!

Caught with a mouth full.

Taking the cart for a spin.

Date Night

Once you have kids things change.  I realized this again after spending a wonderful dinner with my husband a week ago.  Before kids, going out to dinner was just something we did on a regular basis.  Now with a little one at home it becomes an special event!  One that gets written on the calendar and circled with a heart (ok so maybe there wasn't a heart around it but it was put on the calendar!)

As we sat in our cozy two person booth at the Melting Pot (which I had a coupon for because if you read this post you would know that dropping $100+ on one dinner isn't part of my new plan) I looked at my husband and started to think about the 8 1/2 years we have spent together and how our 4 year wedding anniversary is just two months away.  WOW!  8 1/2 years, that's the life of a 4th grader!

Mmmm Fondue

What a journey it has been.  When "they" say you never know where life will take you "they" aren't kidding.  When I first met Luke we were both heading into our senior year of college.  I had dreams of going to Graduate School (Now I realize that was probably only due to the fact that I was majoring in Communication and what in the world do you do with that degree!) and Luke was heading into his final hockey season of his college career with a team ranked #1 in the country.  If someone would have told us that in 9 years we would be married, living in Wisconsin and have a two year old and a new born I'm not sure I would have believed them (mostly due to the "living in Wisconsin" part!)

Our dinner that night was delicious and we had the fondue routine down considering we like to unofficially consider the Melting Pot one of "our" restaurants as whenever I would go visit Luke in a new city that he was playing in we would always look for a Melting Pot to go to for our special date night out.  The only disappointing part for me was the fact that I couldn't enjoy one of their yummy cocktails and instead had to settle for a non-alcoholic raspberry lemonade thingy.  It was good but Luke's wine looked WAY superior!

My drink

The best part of the night was the uninterrupted conversations that we were able to have.  No kid screaming or poking at us, no TV or other people rerouting the conversation.  Just the two of us, like it was in the beginning (plus Luke's phone, I think he suffers from being under stimulated. hehe  He's one to have the TV on all day and night just for the background noise)

Luke texting/googling/emailing.

My goal is to do this at least once a month.  For some that may sound easy but when you both work full time, have to find a babysitter in order to leave the house and have other commitments throughout the week you forget to plan for just the two of you.  I know it's important and I can see why.  I'm thinking next month maybe we should do something other than just dinner.  Any suggestions?

I would like to thank my mother-in-law and her husband for watching Max while we were out.  It sounds like he only cried for 5 minutes when we left which is pretty good these days considering he's been an overly clingy Mommy's boy the past few months.

Crockpot Fail

The other day I was super excited to try out one of my Pinterest creations.  A crock pot freezer meal!  How awesome does that sound.  A few weeks ago I put together my sauce and divided it out into 2 separate freezer bags then added pork chops to each bag.  Wrote the date, what it was and the cooking instructions right on the bag and popped it into the freezer.  So Easy!

Then the night before my dinner I stuck it in the fridge to defrost and that morning thew it into the crock pot.  I was a little hesitant as I typically like to put my crock pot together over my lunch break to make sure I don't cook it too long as most recipes call for Low 6-8 hours and I typically am gone for 9+ every day.  This day though I already had lunch plans so that morning in went the pork chops.

All day I dreamt about the tasty sauce on top of some rice and couldn't wait to have a home cooked meal waiting for me with little to no effort at all.  Then I received the phone call from my husband.  It was 10 minutes before the end of my day and he phoned to tell me that I may need to think of an alternative to dinner unless dinner was supposed to be hockey pucks with brown sludge!
 

Whoops!  I guess the 8 hours was just a little too long.  Instead I treated my family to burritos at a local Mexican restaurant and called it a night.  I thought the crock pot was supposed to be fool proof... could have fooled me!

The Good Stuff

This past weekend Luke, Max and myself made the 7 hour trek up to Minnesota for my annual family reunion.  I was so looking forward to a weekend of relaxation and family time.  Max is such a social little boy that I knew he would have a great time with my mom's side of the family.  She has 10 brothers and sisters and so I have a crap load of aunts, uncles, cousins, extended cousins and kids of cousins!

Let's just say that Max did great!  He was actually the easy/relaxing part of the trip.  Everyone gushed over him and he just loved it.

New comfy car seat.

Taking over for dad.

Crawling around the cabin

Playing ball with dad

Lucy and Max playing at the cabin

So worn out he fell asleep with his legs underneath him.  I'm guessing he was sitting up and then simply passed out.

Sippy time!

Center of attention

Watching the annual family baseball game

Uncle Matt up to bat

Dad pitching

Happy family :)

Max and his new buddy Jake

Max and dad out to eat after a cruise on the lake

Me and Max at lunch

Oh How Things Change

This weekend Ashley, Chad and their little boy Cayne came to visit.  Cayne is exactly 1 month older than Max.  He can walk already and so I was hoping that he would teach Max a few things.  It worked!  Max can now somewhat crawl, he tried to pull up on the coffee table last night and is all around just more interested in being mobile.  Yeah!  Thanks Cayne for your help :)

We all had a blast hanging at the pool and the lake.  The boat made Ashley and I reminisce about their trip to visit 2 years ago when Ashley and I drank a lot of beer on the boat and now instead of beer we have babies.  Wow how things can change in just 2 years.

Ash and me with the babies

The two families

Such a cute family!

Future Christmas card?

Cayne and Max having a snack

"Hey, that doesn't go in your nose!"

"Yum, can I have that?"  I love this one

The big boys with the little boys watching some fireworks in the street

"Ooo" Cayne says about the fireworks

Ready to party on the boat!

Cayne loved the lake

Max, not so much

Practicing his floating

Screaming bloody murder

The boys both had fun playing on the boat.  Cayne loved the lake water but Max thought it was a little too cold for his liking.  Maybe next time he will be more used to it.

Such a fun summer weekend.  Love.