Mother's Day with the Tuskas

I've gotten behind on blog updates. Maybe I'll get a chance to go back in time and share what we've been up to. But for now here is a peek into what we did on Mother's Day.

It was a largely uneventful day. Olive and Tyler went to the store to get some things for our big brunch with the Tuskas. They also stopped by a hardware store in north loop to pick up a drywall lift.

June was napping so I had a bit of peaceful time at home.. but ended up sitting around waiting for June to wake up so I could finally join the fun.

By the time I arrive to Brooke and Scott's house the food was ready and everyone was eager to eat.





June was pretty excited about Peanut. For a while his only animal sound was to blow raspberries. Now he's moved on to making somewhat creepy growling sounds.. for every animal. So he kept growling at Peanut.



Then he check on Scott's progress in the kitchen. They have a new oven, too.



I'm not sure what they're doing but I think they have enough syrup.



His faces. They're so good.



Tyler wore graph paper for the occasion.







June was excited by Meadow's cup. At this point Meadow had to head upstairs for a nap. Darn kids having different nap schedules.



Olive requested orange juice in a fancy cup with whipped cream on top. The rest of us (minus the babies), had mimosas.



June spent some solo time rocking in the other room.



And then suddenly ended up in the kitchen with a jar of cookie cutters.



Brooke hung out with June and Olive for a bit while Tyler and I went upstairs with Scott to watch the video he's been working on from a wedding we did a few weeks ago.



While we were upstairs June and Brooke built a train track. June has never played with ours.. it's been put away since he started really playing with stuff. It turns out he built a lot of this track himself.. Brooke assumed we played with ours a lot at home. I was impressed so I took our bin out when we got home. He seems to like it but he and Olive can't manage to play with it at the same time very well.



Happy Mother's Day moms!

June Day!

I'll start with the basics.. in case you don't want to sit through a birth story, in short, it went like this:

Olive woke me up at 2:45 am.

While snuggling in her bed I had two contractions. About 5 mins apart.

Tyler called Brooke to come over at 3:15.

And then called the midwife on call immediately after.

I didn't want to talk.

Contractions were around two minutes apart, or less.

Brooke came.

We left.

Tyler drove quickly. And treated a few stoplights as they were stop signs.

I bit the headrest (I was kneeling on the seat) for three pushy contractions.

We arrived at the birth center.

I ran into the birth center.

I waited for FOREVER for the tub to fill up.

June was born at 4:10 am after three big pushes in the tub.

Moral of the story:

Switching from St. Joe's hospital in St. Paul to Morning Star birth center in St. Louis Park was A VERY GOOD IDEA.

If we have more children they must be born at home.  Must.  Or else in the car.  Or on the sidewalk.

And, for those who would like a little more info, or maybe I've piqued your interest.. read on...

On Wednesday I had been feeling slightly crampy.  Not painfully crampy and not uncomfortable.  Just a little bit more of a feeling in my uterous area than usual.  Nothing alarming to me.  Just some feelings.  I told Brooke.  She took it much more seriously.

While in the bath later that night Brooke asked how I was feeling via text message.  I told her I felt the same, nothing major going on, I didn't think baby would be coming anytime too soon.  I assured her that we would all get a full night's rest.  I enjoyed the rest of my bath and eventually went to bed.

When Brooke went to bed she told Scott something like "Watch, they'll call at 3:00 am."

Olive woke me up at 2:45.  I could hear her being noisy in her room and had been sleeping somewhat lightly lately.  I woke Tyler and he went to see what was wrong - it was easier for him to get up than for me.  

Olive didn't want Tyler, she requested me.  So I joined her in bed.. she didn't talk to me, she just made it clear that she wanted to snuggle, which was pretty unsual.  She wrapped my arms around her waist, intertwined her fingers in mine, and tried to drift off to sleep.  My nose was on the top of her head.

Then I had a contraction.  Not overly painful, but the first not Braxton Hicks contraction I had had thus far.  I had one more, so I got up and told her I couldn't stay.  I went to the bathroom, discovered a little bloody show, and then back to bed thinking I should rest up - maybe baby would be coming in a day or so.  I wasn't in bed for too long before I went into the bathroom again.  Constant bloody show.  And constant contractions.

Those first two or three were approxmiately 5 minutes apart.  I found a website with a contraction timer as I sat in the bathroom.  As soon as I started timing them they were 2.5 or fewer minutes apart.  Even back to back.

I was a little bit confused.  I wasn't sure if I should really commit to this being "it" because whatever "it" was was happening extremely quickly.  But, just to be on the safe side, I told Tyler yeah.... maybe we should call Brooke.  I thought it might be good to have her around, even if things were just getting started, to help out with Olive in case she woke up.  Or something.

But then the contractions kept coming.  So I told Tyler... yeah... maybe call Brooke.  And maybe the birth center, too.  Maybe.  It was 3:15.

The whole time I was uncomfortably sitting on the toilet.  Sitting up was not enjoyable but my goodness... bloody show was happening and it felt like the most tidy location for that.

Tyler came to the bathroom door while talking to the midwife on the phone.  He was trying to relay what was going on.  From what I hear the told them about bloody show and the midwife said that was good, and he said "Are you sure?"  He asked me if I wanted to talk to her, but I politely declined.  Contractions were back to back at that moment so no... no thanks to talking.

The midwife said to come right over to the birth center.  So I stood up.  And then suddenly Brooke was there.  She came upstairs and I was like "oh, hi." and she watched me have a contraction standing at the bathroom sink.  Tyler was loading up the car.

Then we went downstairs and I made some quick decisions.  I couldn't stay standing up for long so I leaned over the ottoman while we finalized our plans.  I contracted as Tyler debated if we should call an ambulance. 

To that my brain loudly said no.  I did not want to wait for an ambulance.  I did not want to be on a flat surface.  I did not want to see people I did not know.  I did not want an ambulance, no.

Tyler kept trying to give me socks.  I asked him to get me a hair band because I thought birthing with my hair down would be annoying.  Upstairs seemed so far away so Brooke gave me hers.  She even put it in my hair for me.  I bet it looked lovely.

Tyler told me after the next contraction we had to run to the car.  My brain said DUH.

And then we ran to the car.  I immediately got in the front seat and kneeled on it facing the back.  Tyler started driving quickly and asked me if I could put on my seatbelt and I was like NO.  NO WAY.

Thankfully it was the middle of the night so the roads were bare.  Tyler drove very quickly.  He briefly stopped at stop signs.  And treated red lights as stop signs, brief ones, as well.  He zoomed onto highway 100 going south.  As we got onto the off ramp I felt pushy.  So I bit the head rest because no, I didn't want to push in the car.  I was moaning loudly while biting the head rest.  Tyler told me to wait.  He didn't know I was biting the head rest.

We pulled into the parking lot of the birth center.  I could see the door to the birth area was open and so was the second door of the main entrace but the first was closed (they're all normally closed).  But I was afraid the first might be locked and didn't want to be caught standing outside during a contraction so I had Tyler make sure it was open.

Of course it was, so I ran, or waddled, or whatever it was I did, out from the car and into the building.  I hurried down the hallway, walking like I had a giant yoga ball stuck between my legs, while moaning.  As I was about the round the corner Jenessa zoomed around the corner and met us there - she helped me into our preferred birth room.

I was so looking forward to hoping into the tub and almost died, yes died, when I saw that it had about an inch of water inside.  So I stood next to it, with my hands on it, for a few contractions.  With my pants and shoes on.  Feeling pushy and like I was soiling my pants.

I tried to take my shoes off but failed.  So I asked Tyler for help.  He removed them and then Jenessa was like hey we should take off your pants.  And then suddenly Aly was there and she put pressure on my bottom when I had a contraction and it was amazing.  What a great way to meet someone.

The tub was filling.  It's a huge tub.  But also the slowest filling tub IN THE WORLD.  Finally it was full and I dove in.  I had, I think, three contractions in the tub.  I yelled loudly.  Very loudly.  And I pushed, but not too hard.

I was on my hands and knees and I still had my shirt on.  That felt a little weird.  I was told to keep myself under the water because the baby was about to come out and we wanted it to be under the water, not above.  

But oops, I came out of the water a little bit.  I started yelling into the water on that contraction.  That must have sounded weird.  And then they told me to keep myself above the water because the baby's head was out but wasn't in the water... oops.  This next contraction seemed to take much longer to come than the rest.  Just hanging out there.. awkwardly waiting with a half out baby.

Later I learned that because of where they were positioned, Jenessa had the baby's head but couldn't get around to the other side of the tub to catch the body so Aly was ready to grab it - we literally had two midwives catch him.

On the next contraction I pushed and he came out!  I flipped over and they handed him to me and he had the biggest tiny baby hands I had ever seen.  And I was like what... a baby... I was sleeping an hour ago, wasn't I?  

We hung out in the tub for a little while waiting to deliver the placenta.  I wasn't having any more contractions so they told me to cough a little.  That felt weird and it wasn't doing anything.  I tried pushing a little and Aly tried tugging a little.  It wouldn't come out.  So we hung out some more.  Then we thought if I crouched maybe gravity would help.  But the cord was around my leg in the wrong direction so someone took the baby and I pulled my knee up to my face and untaggled myself.  I was on my knees and had to really push while Aly tugged and finally the placenta came out.  And Aly remarked that it was really big.

I stayed in the tub for a while longer before moving over to the bed.  I apologized for yelling.  Once I got in the bed I got the baby to latch on.  The cord was cut.  The placenta was inspected.

A while later I got check out and it seemed I had a tear again, basically the same as with Olive.  Eventually we got set up to get it stitched.  I'll save the details but it felt kind of like being at the dentist but opposite.  Except Jenessa and Aly were sitting on yoga balls.  They were getting everything ready and a glove broke.  Finally they got me numbed up, all while Tyler was holding little baby, and they got the tools out for the stitching.  And then Jenessa dropped them.  So I awkwardly sat there with Jenessa while Aly looked for more.  She found them and we continued.  And I laughed a lot.

Eventually the newborn exam happened.  This is when we learned that he weighed NINE POUNDS EIGHT OUNCES.  The entire room basically gasped collectively.  And Jenessa looked at the scale a second time, just to be sure.  Aly then exclaimed: THAT'S MORE THAN THREE POUNDS MORE THAN OLIVE.

For the next few hours we hung out together on the bed, chatted with Jenessa and Aly, I drank a ton of coconut water, and they made me and herbal sitz bath.  Jenessa and Aly also offered me some cake to which I immediately accepted.  I ate it while relaxing in the bath.  Oh, I also walked to the bathroom all by myself without falling over.  And I went potty - which is a big accomplishment.

While I was in the tub Tyler went home to pick up Olive.  We had been text messaging with Brooke since Olive woke up.  Brooke asked Olive if she wanted to go meet the baby, to which Olive replied "no, I don't want breakfast and I don't want to meet the baby - I want to play with your phone."  But she eventually changed her mind.

After the bath I was back on the bed with June and I heard Olive with her loud voice coming down the hallway.  She came into the room and looked at things and asked questions and eventually checked out the baby.  For the rest of our time there Olive talked to everybody, she ate my cake, I ate some bananas, and we discussed the baby's name, the spelling, and his middle name, for a while.  Jenessa kept popping in for a name update, to write on his certificate and paperwork, but we were never ready.  And then June pooped - which was a big accomplishment.

My tummy was feeling badly crampy all of a sudden so Jenessa offered me some cramp bark tincture. It was amazing.

Eventually Tyler started loading up the car, Jenessa took Olive to the potty, Olive asked another midwife, Rosa, lots of questions about what she was doing to an inflatable birthing tub, we got the baby dressed, and we settled on his name.  Olive picked his middle name.

JUNE ARTHUR FIALA

We got everyone into the car and headed to Whole Foods for my own bit of cramp bark and to grab some lunch to eat at home.  And then the four of us drove home.  :)

June was 9lbs 8oz and 22" long, his head was 13".

At our 24 hour in-home appointment he was down to 9lbs and everything about us both was going great.

At our four day appointment June weighed 9lbs 11oz.

At our ten day appointment June weighed 10lbs 4oz.



And at our twenty-five day appointment June weighed 11lbs 7oz.



And it's totally official now because he's on the birth center's new arrivals list.

happy birthday tyler!

Wednesday was Tyler's birthday.  As we usually do for birthday stuff, we went out to dinner with Brooke and Scott.  But this was the first time that we had Meadow around to join us for a birthday celebration.  Yay Meadow!

Unfortunately, as often happens this time of the year, Tyler was starting to get sick.  He settled on wanting Thai.  We parked on the same side of the street as Sen Yai Sen Lek and across from Karta Thai and decided which to go to.  They're both on University Ave in northeast.. a pretty short drive from our homes over north.  Karta Thai took over the space once occupied by a tiny, mostly uninteresting, Indian place that we had visited once.  It was nothing powerful but it was affordable and yummy - I was sad when I noticed it had closed.  Hopefully Karta Thai has better luck.  It looked completely full.  We headed to Sen Yai Sen Lek.



But first I took a photo through the moon roof.  I hate to be that person.. but I'm wearing a lot of stretchy pants lately.





It took a long time for anyone to greet us at the front of the restaurant.  So I took some photos.



We were seated in the less interesting of the two rooms because the interesting room was full.  But this worked out well because we had a little living room area next to us for Olive to play and bounce in.  And it had really really really great art.



Tyler and Scott discussed their options.



Olive sampled all of the sofas.



Tyler thought some more about his options.



Not too long after getting comfortable at our table Olive met a friend.  She always meets friends.  This little girl is probably six or so.  Her name is Liberty.  Unfortunately that takes me back to Beanie Baby days and I think of the bear.. Libearty.  Hmm.  Anywho - Liberty got some toys and Olive experienced her first Barbie doll - naked no less.



Meadow, fully clad in stripes, enjoyed some time on the table.



Our appetizers arrived.  The spring rolls were really yummy.



Tyler and I both wanted tea but they were all out of anything green.





Brooke took a photo of me and Olive.



And Scott winked.





Tyler and Scott talked about the local ingredients.



And Meadow slept through most of everything.







Then Olive had something really important to tell Scott.



There was totally enough room for her.



Not realizing it was nearly an hour after her bedtime, Olive built a bed on the couch.



And tucked herself in with a pillow.



But then decided it wasn't quite comfortable enough so she made it a little bigger.



Olive went to say goodbye to Liberty.  Liberty must have ordered a children's dinner because she had a big Izzy's ice cream cone.  She gave most of it to Olive.  They sat on one of the leather sofas together, Olive with the ice cream cone in her hand, occasionally giving Liberty a lick, while Liberty had some much too old for them fashion type magazine on her lap.  It was funny.

We skipped desert since Tyler wasn't feeling quite his normal self and because we realized Olive needed to get home basically immediately.

Happy birthday Tyler!  :)