Blythe excitement

For those of you non-Blythers, I thought I'd share a little of our excitement on Thursday. It rained ALL day and the power went out around 3:45 p.m. Apparently that's when a tornado went through town. I don't have video of the actual storm, but here are some pics of the neighbor's house.

Here's a YouTube video of the actual storm.

Fortunately we came out unscathed. The storm did convince me that I will never have large trees in my yard. The power company gave no indication about when we'd have power again and I was nervous about having no power (and heat) with a four-day-old baby. Luckily we had power restored by 9 p.m. and Quinn was unaware that he had just been through the most exciting weather Blythe had seen or will see for quite some time.

He's Here!

That's right folks, our baby girl is a baby boy. And we are loving him!

Quinn Randall Peterson was born Sunday, January 17 at 11:56 a.m.

8 lb, 5 oz 20.5 inches

We went to the hospital Saturday evening for induction. Of course I hadn't slept much the night before and even though I didn't start feeling contractions until 4:00 a.m., I didn't get much sleep that night either. After pain, puking and passing out, by 8:30 I had my epidural (probably the best thing ever invented) and an hour and a half later I had diliated 4 more centimeters and was ready to push. Then things got tricky. They started pitocin to get regular contractions for pushing, but the baby--she at this point--didn't like it and the heart rate dropped. Troy got really worried but he hid it very well. Once they gave me oxygen his heart rate immediately recovered and I was so tired that I didn't think it was a big deal at all.

Once they had me start pushing, it became clear that this baby wasn't going to get here without help, so the midwife they originally called in to deliver attached the little suction thing to help get him through my pelvis. I thought it was simply a matter of me just not knowing how to push, but he was really stuck. No matter how hard she pulled there was no movement (keep in mind that I'm pretty oblivious to all this as it's happening). So they called in the actual doctor (hooray) and his yanking (that sounds so scary) didn't do much either. Troy said that at this point he and everyone else in the room was sure we were headed to the OR for a c-section, but they decided to give the forceps a try. Once the doctor figured out how to use them (they hardly are used at all anymore), our baby finally squeezed his way into our family.

Learning we had a boy really wasn't a shock. At our appointment a couple weeks before the doctor wasn't sure he was seeing a girl, but because he's not the ultrasound pro, couldn't say for sure. So we spent the next week and a half worried that we had an intersex baby on our hands. Let me tell you, it was a rough time. So when they said we had a boy, Troy and I weren't upset at all. Sure, we had pink clothes, but that is easy to handle.

I was then wheeled off to the OR to get stitched up and Daddy staying with the baby as they did all the regular testing. Quinn even got an x-ray to make sure his head wasn't damaged from the forceps delivery.

The worst part of the whole thing was waking up from the stitch-up. Between the epidural, general anesthesia, and having just delivered an 8 pound baby, I was miserable. The shaking was the worst, then the pressure from the swelling, add all that to running on seven hours of sleep in the last 54 hours and I was not in good shape. I remember being so overwhelmed by it all that I actually thought, "I know lots of people that want babies. I should just give this one to them." How awful of me! Now that it's over I think it's funny. I'm sure that's pretty normal because of all you've been through, but at the time, I really considered doing it. Thank goodness I didn't. He's bruised and a little yellow, but for the most part he's healthy and very happy.

I'm sure I'll have much more to say on the subject later, but for now, enjoy these pics of our little boy!

"Tanning" to keep jaundice at bay.

His standard "I'm full so leave me alone" look.

Making faces like his daddy.

We were sure he'd have obviously blue eyes, but they are VERY dark. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Baby Update

We should be parents by the time the weekend is over!! I report for induction at 7:30 Saturday night. Is that weird? Why don't they have you go in in the morning so you can (hopefully) start with a good night's sleep, rather than not get things started until it's time to go to bed? Oh well, better late than never (ha ha).

I'm still hoping she'll decide to get the show on the road earlier than that. Tomorrow would be nice. Actually, I'm really not that uncomfortable at all. Other than my legs driving me crazy when I try to go to sleep, I could handle being pregnant indefinitely. But having the baby on a long weekend is convenient for Troy and my family. And although I could be happy being pregnant for a while, Troy is not handling the waiting well. Today he informed me he was pouting because we had to wait until Saturday rather than have her tomorrow. We'll see if he's equally anxious to have her around when she's crying at 2:30 in the morning.

I've got the giggles

I have discovered one really strange side effect of pregnancy--things are really funny. In just the last week, these are a few of the things I've found hilarious: (unfortunately I can't find videos of any of them to post) a referee falling down in OT of Sunday's Cardinals/Packer game, Carmelo Anthony getting a basketball in the face when he missed a pass from Keynon Martin, PTI anchor Mike Wilbon's expression of disgust as he looked at the camera when discussing how much money Randy Jackson has, and Michael Scott's face as he sings "Two Tickets to Paradise" in anticipation of his upcoming trip to a Sandals resort. All very silly things, but simply hilarious. I had noticed that I seemed to be laughing more a few months ago, but this week Troy noticed it and now thinks I'm crazy. Oh well, it's a good side effect to have, I guess. I keep hoping that one of these laughing fits will put me in labor, but no such luck.

I'm a singer now, not a worker

Okay, I'm not a singer, but I'm not a worker anymore either. The title comes from a family story. When my sister Carrie was little my sister Rachel found her sitting on the toilet wearing my dad's painter's hat singing "I'm a worker now, not a singer!" Then she took the hat off and sang "I'm a singer now, not a worker!" What a funny girl. Anyway, that is now an oft repeated phrase in our family.

So on to the real reason for this post: yesterday was my last day of work. I have left the workforce to be a mom. Well, for the next few days I'll be lazy housewife, but motherhood is my official excuse. Like all the upcoming changes in my life, it doesn't seem real. Yesterday was too busy and too normal to be a last day. I checked books in and out, told kids to be quiet, to stop using the F word, and did the usual library things. I prepared some things for my replacement, but I've kind of been doing that since September, so that wasn't unusual either. I'm not a big "goodbye" girl, so when it was time to go, I turned in my keys and walked out the door. There were no parades or anything, so it was all quite surreal I guess. Maybe it will sink in at 6:00 Monday morning when Troy is eating his cereal and watching Sportscenter and I can make a decision if I'm going to join him or not. But who knows when it will really click that I'm a mommy now, not a worker (don't worry, I know mommy actually requires a lot MORE work).