Axel Jay Coyne

So on Friday, I took a little trip to UNC Hospital. And at 8:07, after an awesome epidural, Axel Jay Coyne was born. He took to nursing right away (and has hardly stopped!) and was 8 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long.

He can cry when he needs to, and sleep if he's being held, but so far he's fairly averse to being put down. Good thing Grandma is here to spoil him!

Thanks to my awesome team, Metta my doula (and neighbor), Josh, and two great midwives and a great nurse, I don't even have to worry about stitches.

Photographic evidence

Guy took this belly shot a few days ago.

I'm 3 days overdue, and because I had Guy and Leo at 40 weeks and 3 days, I am now officially ticked that this baby has not come yet.



LOVE his blue eyes.


Outfits from Farmor, who works at the Pentagon (Josh's foster mom)

Still here!

And no baby yet.

The update isn't terribly exciting. Yesterday I was dilated to about 1 cm, but the baby's station is so low that the midwife was touching the top of his head. She tried to strip my membranes, but it wasn't successful because this little one's head is pushing down so far.

My feet are sore and ridiculously swollen by the end of the day. My energy is waning (last night I fell asleep at 8:30) and the kids are getting up too early every day. But we're happy.

Josh starts classes on Monday, so I was kind of hoping to have the baby today or tomorrow. Two days until the PhD officially starts--and it starts with a vengeance! Every Monday, Josh has nearly 7 hours of seminars with LOTS of reading to prepare.

I'll post pictures next time I get a chance to blog at night. If I bring out the camera now, I'll just have a whine fest on my hands!

We can make it!

Not much time left now, I hope.

Today is the first day I've really felt down about being 39 weeks pregnant. There's two loads of laundry to fold, I still need to wash baby clothes, the dishes aren't done (we've all eaten cereal bars for breakfast), there are UNO card, children's books, and toys everywhere, and I'm just plain pooped.

Playgroup? No way. Grocery store? Not that desperate yet. I just feel so tired, and heavy, and uncomfortable. He'll be here soon, I know, and I shouldn't wish away the pregnancy, but the thing that excites me most is thinking that in six months my body will not be so dang HEAVY anymore.

On a cheerier note--I've found a potential crib for mr. "I'm going to climb out and wake you all up at 6 a.m." and a double stroller that I can purchase at no cost to me with my credit card points.

Sunday

I love the Sabbath day. Especially if I've taken the time to prepare our home to be peaceful; there is the opportunity to feel a spirit unlike during the rest of the week. Today I did really well at being patient and loving; I'm really grateful that I was able to be more like the kind of mother God wants me to be and less like the kind of mother I am inclined to be when tired and frustrated.

Yesterday Leo did not want to stay in bed. He did not take a nap, despite my hour-long efforts. He did not want to stay in bed last night, either. So after 30 minutes of putting him back every few minutes I gave up and went to the mall while Josh dealt with it. He let Leo sleep on the floor next to Guy. Leo went to sleep, but at 11:00 when I was ready to go to bed they both started crying. I held them, sang to them, and put them back to bed. Then at 2:30 they both came into our room crying. Put them back to bed. At 6:30 Guy came in, insistent that he was NOT going to lie down, take a nap, close his eyes, or take a rest. He wanted to play on the COMPUTER! I got up and took a shower, and let him play in the water, and we got up and started our day.

All of this to say, I'm really longing for a good night's sleep right now. And disappointed that it's likely months away. At least we managed to convince everybody to take naps this afternoon--but only after putting socks on Leo, realizing that he can't climb out as easily if his feet are covered! That should buy us a little bit of time, at least.

Now we're debating on how soon to get a crib. We shall see.

Oh, and my blood pressure at my last appointment was 138/89, so now I get to go to the midwife twice a week. Lucky me! Here's to a healthy baby and easy delivery. Sometime in the next two weeks. :-)

Drama update

Okay, so an almost 2 year old climbing out of his pack-n-play isn't super dramatic. But it sure felt like it at the time. Wednesday and Thursday night I spent more than an hour trying to get that kid to go to sleep. Friday wasn't much better. But the last two nights, he did great. Mostly because he's realized that he gets out, I put him back in, and I'm not making it fun for him at all.

Luckily, this hasn't affected his naps. He likes his afternoon repose, thankfully, so he hasn't climbed out until after a good long snooze.

He is into throwing tantrums, though, and Guy doesn't help much. Most of the time he doesn't INTEND to egg Leo on, but he tries to "help" me by forcing Leo to do things that I'm trying to coax Leo to do. Then comes the kicking and screaming and throwing himself on the floor.

In other news, I'm still pregnant. Surprise! Two weeks.

Nothing else new or interesting to report, save Josh survived his first week of math boot camp. Barely. But he made it! And he's much more cheerful about it now than he was last Wednesday.

What a day

Josh is sick of math camp after 3 days (12 hours of lectures) of high-level mathematical proofs.

I'm sick of pregnancy. And sick of sweating so much that I am ALWAYS dehydrated, no matter how much I drink.

A member of the bishopric came by to extend a calling this evening, and after talking to us for a while said, "Wow, I'm feeling impressed to hold off on this. I don't think this is the right thing." Essentially saying that the bishopric didn't realize how pregnant I was, and how stressed we're going to be for the next little while.

And while we were chatting, Leo climbed out of his bed and came out.

Did you catch that?

LEO CLIMBED OUT OF HIS BED. MY LIFE AS I KNOW IT IS OVER.

Holding Pattern

It's that time again.

That time when I hate almost every last item of clothing that I can still wear.

That time when if it's not accomplished by noon, it's not getting done.

That time when it takes all my energy just to keep up with dishes, laundry, and feeding everyone.

That time when I think fondly of all the goals and projects and books to read and fun things to do with my kids---that won't be touched until six months from now.

And this time around, there's something new to consider. The fact that I have sweat more in the last three weeks than I believe I have sweat in my entire life. This humidity and heat? It is SOMETHING ELSE, my desert dwelling friends. Just imagine walking out to your car, and by the time you get there sweat is dripping down your back, down your forehead, and you feel damp just about everywhere. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Don't expect much from me in the near future. I'll try to keep y'all updated, but for now it's enough to simply sleep at the end of a long day.