Oyamalama

Our little trip consisted mainly of playing cards, laughing, hiking, exploring, and playing with Sawyer. Oh, and driving... we forgot most of the food at home in a bag by the door so we had to go back the second afternoon to pick it up. It's a good thing Mandi only lives about 40 minutes from where we were camping.

Bean enjoyed hanging out by the lake... or maybe more just snuggling with her momma. Either way she was a very content baby. This was her first real camping trip (she had camped in her grandma's backyard before) and she handled it very well. 

When it got cold out we used socks as mittens. I think they are the cutest! I love that the heels and toes are a different color on them. She didn't seem to mind wearing them. They, along with everything else, just ended up going into her mouth anyway. 

 I loved getting unlimited snuggles. It was just the three of us so I had ample time to play with Bean... and I loved every single minute of it. Especially putting her to sleep. We brought her playpen along and she usually napped in it, but I kept her this once for a sleepy snuggle, which is one of my favorite kinds. 

That is really about all there is to say about our trip. It was uneventfully delightful. It was so nice to just rest. At first we didn't know what to do with ourselves, but we soon sunk into the sheer bliss of relaxation.

And lastly, a picture of the three of us.

Bean in Oyama

just having a little chat

Ladies Camping Trip

Mandi, Sawyer and I went on a little camping trip together in Oyama last week. We followed a bumpy, dirt road for about 15 kms and found a lovely camp site. It was a single site on a lake complete with an outhouse and a picnic table. Just perfect. It was breathtaking actually. The water was so peaceful and there was absolutely no one around.

Here are a couple panorama's Mandi took. Isn't this place gorgeous?!??!







It isn't at all what I expected. We'd been driving up a dry dusty dirt road and then this place appeared out of no where. Awesome!







I probably took 100 pictures of the lake alone because I enjoyed it that much. Now I have the lovely job of going through them and keeping only the very best. We'll see how that goes.

It was 38 degrees when we arrived at 6:30pm on Wednesday evening and the weather only went down-hill from there. There was no rain, thankfully, but we didn't get a chance to swim in the lovely lake. The second morning we woke up to frost on our tent and on everything we left outside. Bean had woken in the night and came to snuggle with her momma because it was so chilly.

We took these pictures that morning as we were taking down camp. We left right after Sawyer's morning feed because we had some preparation to do for our next camping trip, the church camp out, that we were going on that same day. 

 We decided that we are going to have to make this an annual trip. We want to take our husbands, friends and kayaks/canoes next time though... and maybe go when the nights will be a little warmer.

4am snuggles with little miss maelle

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

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something other than babies

I am currently having my very first early morning snuggle with Maelle and I am, as you can probably guess, LOVING it. I watched the sun rise this morning while Maelle was swaddled up in the Chimparoo sling Milena has.  I took an online tutorial to learn how to use it this morning just so I could use it. Maelle seems to enjoy it just as much as I do.

I know my babies are all I have blogged about recently. The reason for that is quite simple... all I do is work and then I hang out with my girlfriends and/or their babies on my days off. Don't worry, Erik works evenings so this usually doesn't interfere with our time together. We've been having pretty awful schedules actually - we hardly have any evenings off together. I don't know when that will change, but I can't wait! I'm almost excited for school to start just because I will have more time to spend with Erik.

Erik and I are going to Cirque Du Soleil for our anniversary! I was not so keen on the idea because I'm cheap, but Erik begged a bit and told me he has "always wanted to go". I think I believe him, but he mainly said it to sucker me into going with him. I was so cheap, in fact, that I was going purchase two individual tickets so we could go for $20 cheaper each... but the ladies at work convinced me that was a bad idea.  Think about it for a second, we are just going to be watching the show! Who cares if we don't sit with each other because we can just chat about the show later. That was better than my first suggestion - to send Erik on his own. But no, we are going together and our tickets are costing a little bit more. I hope it's worth it!

Erik also purchased tickets to go see Sufjan in Seattle in October. We are taking Erik's sister with us. I am so excited for that concert! Again, I suggested that Erik go on his own, but he wasn't interested. I'm fairly certain that Erik bought the tickets without consulting me. To be fair, the Seattle tickets were almost half the price of the Vancouver ones and I did say he could go on his own... I'm not complaining too much because I LOVE Sufjan.

I probably won't update for a while because I am going camping with Mandi and Sawyer today. Then we have a church camp out this weekend. Then I'm home for a bit. Then I'm going to Abbotsford to hang out with my sister-in-law and Hailey while Anthony's gone. Then I have cirque du soleil. Then I go back to work. Yes, I do have a full set off!!! No work until the 31st! I am so excited.

I'm a fan

I love when this

becomes this

which leads to this

and I get to look at this.

look how much hailey has grown!

A Short Holiday

We just got back from a nice little visit to the coast. The main reason for our visit was my niece's baptism. I had to work Saturday night so we left right when I got off shift on Sunday morning (gross!) and made it just in time for the opening song at church. Hailey Jade is so cute! She is even cuter in person than in pictures, which is saying a lot because she is adorable in pictures.

 Hailey was, as you can guess, the center of attention the entire day. We crowded around her wherever she was vying for her attention hoping to be rewarded with smiles. And smile she did!

It's amazing to hold a little person and to think about what their life will be like. I wonder who Hailey will be. I wonder what our relationship will be like. I wonder about how she will be blessed and how she will bless the rest of us. It's mostly exciting, but also a little bit overwhelming. This little, dependent baby will one day be a grown woman. We each have so many hopes for her, but she will one day dream her own dreams and make her own decisions.

My nephews are especially smitten. They have been waiting for a little Jansen cousin for a long time. I love watching them interact with her as they are so gentle. The day when she can actually play with them can't come soon enough!

Speaking of nephews... Erik and I were going to take them and my niece, Kaitlyn, to the reptile refuge, but we learned upon arrival that it was closed. We adjusted our plans and made a pit stop at Walmart where we purchased everything we needed for a picnic at Redwood Park. It was so much fun! We played on the playground and went on a walk that turned into more of a hike.

My nephews are just getting to the age where they can have thoughtful conversations and it is fun to be able to engage with them and get to know them.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love forests? Especially forests with deciduous trees!! Lovely.

And we got to see this little girl one last time on our way out of town.

feetsies

More to Come

I just had to quickly post this picture to show you how Sawyer and Maelle match up. We have a ladies brunch on Friday so we will be taking more pictures, but look at this! Erik took the picture that's why it's not the best :)

Sawyer is 3.5 months and Maelle is 1 week.

Hike up Knox Mountain

I hate being reminded of just how out of shape I am. Erik and I hiked up Knox Mountain with Mandi and Sawyer yesterday and it was awful! I felt like vomiting and I was huffing and puffing all the way up. Mandi was carrying Sawyer in her sling and she did a better job than I did. Ridiculous. She's two years younger than me and I pretend that makes all the difference - never mind the fact that she had a baby 3 months ago.

This is about half way up... if that. Look at all the smoke! We don't have any fires in Kelowna, but there are (apparently) a bunch surrounding us.

Bean needed a break part way up (Auntie did too, but wouldn't admit it). We aired her out half way up. Isn't she cute?

Love this girl. Love her.

Trying to face outward in her sling. Looks nice and cozy! I love when it looks like they have rubber bands around their wrists.

It apparently didn't work too well. Don't worry, she wasn't being choked... I checked many times. She was happy just to chew on her mama's hand.

I know this isn't a good picture of either of us, but I wanted to show you how much smoke their is. It was worse last year because the fires were closer, but check it out.

I got to snuggle with Sawyer on the way down the mountain. We took the road back because we didn't want to slip down the hill... there were parts that were quite steep. We snuggled chest to chest though so Bean didn't slide out like on the way up :)

Maelle's Blanket

Milena and I went to pick out yarn for this blanket a couple days after finding out Milena was pregnant. It is made of 100% organic cotton and it feels absolutely lovely!

I thoroughly enjoyed knitting it even though the pattern is monotonous. I'm sure I have said it before, but there is something soothing about knitting while thinking of the little one you are knitting for. I loved it.

I decided to crochet the border around it to save time. I love how it looks. 

Snuggling with the little one you knit it for is the very best part of making something though. The very best.

proud of her

I need to devote a little post entirely to my dear friend, Milena.

I am so impressed with her - she was phenomenal throughout her labour. Phenomenal. She was so focused and determined yet she was able to smile between her contractions and even laugh throughout her labour. She was calm and relaxed and never lost her temper. She was very specific when she needed anything and requests were always followed up with "please" and "thank you". She was positive throughout the experience and never complained about anything. She was incredible! She took direction well and remained as mobile as she could. She would change positions instantly if I encouraged her too and stayed upright as much as she could. She took each contraction one at a time and never lost focus.

I could not be more proud of her.

Milena's Labour - Part 3 - The Hospital

So, we were now on our way to the hospital. The midwife had told Milena that baby’s heart rate was still good so we could continue laboring the same way at the hospital – the pediatrician just needed to be present for the actual delivery. Milena and I did some squats together amidst the flurry of activity around us – everyone packing.
 
Once at the hospital, Milena was connected to the monitors so we could see how baby was responding to the contractions. Sitting on the birthing ball was her position of choice so she laboured like that for the next three or four hours, at which time the midwife did another internal exam.

Milena’s cervix had remained at 8cm, unfortunately, and the midwife consulted the obstetrician on call. He came and examined Milena as well and gave her two options:

1.      She could have an epidural and see if it relaxed her enough to allow the baby to descend.

2.      She could have a cesarean section.

He recommended the latter as the baby was posterior and unlikely to descend at all. The problem with the epidural and continuing to labour was that at some point the baby could (or in his opinion, would) become stressed and an emergency cesarean section would be required.

The obstetrician left and gave Milena and Sam some time to talk about their options. By this time Milena was miserable. She was so discouraged by the lack of progression and was both emotionally and physically exhausted.

They decided that they had done everything they could and it would probably be best to have the cesarean. The midwife said that the obstetrician they consulted was the one least likely to offer cesarean sections and that she valued his opinion and respected his decisions. This was reassuring for both Milena and Sam as they had worked hard to get to where they were at in the labour.

The obstetrician had to perform another cesarean section before getting to Milena’s so we had to wait just over an hour for her to be called. This was a very difficult hour for Milena as she had trouble focusing through contractions once the cesarean had been decided on. She tried using the laughing gas, but it wasn’t working in the room we were in.

While we were waiting to be called to the OR, everyone left the room for a while expect for me, Milena and her sister. I crawled in bed beside her and held her close as the contractions took over her body. I snuggled with her and whispered encouragement in her ear during and between contractions. She was so exhausted.
The nurses finally did come to take her away.

I went to the waiting room (more like an alcove) with the auntie and grandmas.

Sam eventually came up following the pediatrician who had a sweet little baby in his arms. They went into the nursery and w sat waiting for a little bit longer. One of the nurses came to the nursing station and told us we had a big baby on our hands. Baby weighed in at 10lb and 9oz! The nurse didn’t tell us the gender of the baby though.

Sam’s dad and sisters arrived just as they were allowed into the nursery to meet the baby. I stayed in the waiting room for a bit contemplating just going home – it was a time for the family to be with the baby and I didn’t want to interrupt.

The midwife came out and told me they had a baby girl and that she was doing marvelously. She said the obstetrician requested mama and babe have skin-to-skin time whiled he sutured her up – a rarity. Baby is usually wrapped and brought to mama, but they got to spend some time snuggling before baby was wrapped up. Very cool.

I was about to leave unnoticed when Milena’s mom grabbed me and told me I had to go see the baby. I was not about to defy a new grandma so I poked my head in the nursery and gave the sweet baby girl a kiss on the forehead before saying goodnight to the family. Milena wasn’t going to be out of recovery for at least another hour so I decided to go home.

I came back later that day at around 7pm to see how Milena was doing and to get a chance to meet and hopefully hold the baby. Baby was in the nursery and it was almost shift change so we weren’t allowed to hold her. Milena and I walked down anyway and she introduced me to her baby girl, Maelle Mai.

I finally got to hold Maelle at around 9:00pm when she was 16.5 hours old. I felt like I had been waiting forever. Forever. And I essentially had been – Milena called me up a few hours after she found out she was pregnant.

Poor Sam and Milena really had an experience in the hospital. Being a large baby, the nurses were worried about Maelle’s blood sugars so she was kept in the nursery for observation for a couple days and they continually tried to “top her up” with formula after feeds. Maelle refused to drink the formula and would spit it out. She nursed like a champ from the very first feed. She latches instantly and drinks so much you would think she’s a bottomless pit.

She had mild jaundice on the second day so she had a stint in under UV light.

It wasn’t until the third day that Sam and Milena were finally able to have Maelle in their room. I came to visit before work that evening and walked in to see Maelle sleeping in her cot next to Milena. I burst into tears because I was so excited for them. Sam came rushing in because he heard us crying and though something was wrong, but I assured him that nothing was. We were just so happy that they could all be together.

They were discharged the next morning and are now joyfully adapting to life with a little one.

Milena's Labour - Part 2 - The Birthing Suite

The castor oil finally cleared from Milena’s system around the time we transferred to the birthing suite and her contractions were becoming much more manageable for her. They remained 2-8 minutes apart, but Milena was finally beginning to relax during the contractions, allowing her uterus to do the work uninhibited.

We started our time off in the suite with a shower (I was fully clothed) before going into the tub because the shower water wasn’t heating up. The tub was very comforting for Milena. The water relieved some of the weight she was feeling and the warmth was soothing for her.

I poured water over her back and belly (depending on how she was sitting) and we breathed through contractions together. The chiropractor at some point in the tub and worked on Milena’s back and hips – very cool.

 Milena took the contractions like a champ. She remained calm and focused and took direction well the entire time. She was vocal and made a low droning sound with each contraction. I enjoyed this as I could gauge how she was handling the contraction by how low her drone was. When the sound was low and relaxed, she was relaxed. When it was higher and forced, she wasn’t. When it was low and forced she was trying her hardest to relax. When Milena was relaxed the sound was so soothing - it relaxed all of us.

There were times that she would forget to take nice deep breaths in and I would have to remind her and make loud sucking in noises so that she would match my breaths in – which she did incredibly. She was amazing! Seriously. She would be droning high and I would quietly as her to deepen it and she would instantly do it. I would remind her to take a deep breath in for baby and she would. I was so impressed with her.

 When the bath water cooled off we headed to the bed so she could get some much needed rest. The contractions only let up slightly when she was lying down, but she managed to get a bit of rest between them.
Milena was feeling a lot of back pressure so one of us pushed in a strong downward motion against her lower back with each contraction. She sometimes wanted this coupled with another one of us pushing in at the hips and one of us obviously needed to be near her face talking softly to her.

We spent a lot of the day rocking together. She would have her arms around my neck and I would push on her lower back and we would sway back and forth breathing and chanting together. It was such an honor and a privilege to be there supporting her. So incredible.

Sam had been on duty for the previous two days of pre-labour/early labour so he was exhausted and needing sleep. I was impressed that he took the time to take care of himself. I know it was hard for him because he wanted to support Milena, but he needed to be there later for her so he did sleep. She was relieved and relaxed more knowing that he was taking care of himself.

The midwife came back to examine Milena at some point and found that she was 5 cm and 90% effaced. This was so encouraging for Milena as progress was now visible. We jumped in the shower together (I now had my bathing suit on) and laboured in there for a long while. Milena sat on the birthing ball and I held the shower head over her back between contractions. During contractions, she would remain sitting, but would wrap her arms around my neck and rock with me. I tried desperately to maintain good posture, but to no avail. I alternated squatting in front of her and bending down at the waist during contractions.

Milena did a wonderful job remaining mobile and upright as much as possible. She felt good despite the contractions and was determined to do everything she could to help her baby. She prayed throughout her labour and asked me to pray for specific things at times. During some contractions she would ask me to explain exactly what was happening in her body. She remained focused on baby and on why things were happening and she never once complained. Not once. And she never said she couldn’t do it. She was so brave.

At around 9pm Milena was checked again and found to be 8 cm dilated, but baby’s head was not descending so the midwife said it would be advisable to break Milena’s water. The midwife was able to stretch the cervix the last two cm so breaking the water may allow the baby’s head to come down and push the last two cm out of the way.

There was meconium in the amniotic fluid so the midwife advised a transfer to the hospital. This was disappointing, but Milena and Sam knew it was best for the baby so we packed up to leave yet again.

Milena's Labour - Part 1 - Labouring at home.

I don’t know how far I will get, but I thought I would get a start on the story of Maelle’s birth. I will start by saying that it was long and hard – the complete opposite of Mandi’s labour and Sawyer’s birth.

Contractions started for Milena on Saturday (July 24) at 5am - they mild, irregular, and lasted 2 to 5 minutes each. They came anywhere from 10 minutes to 1.5 hours apart and Milena was handling them quite well. As the day progressed the contractions got a bit more intense and Milena needed to stop what she was doing and had her hubby apply pressure to her hips.

She called me Sunday morning (July 25) and asked me to stay with her while our husbands went to play their instruments in church. I gladly obliged... obviously. The house was quite full with Milena mother, sister and mother-in-law all visiting, but it is lovely to have so much family so close.

We escaped to the solitude of Milena's room and she rested in bed for a while. She even managed to get an hour and half sleep in before bolting out of bed (quite a feat for a woman 42 weeks pregnant) and resting on the window sill while we rocked and I put pressure on her hips.

Contractions (or "rushes") continued to be irregular all day, but we made the best of it. When Sam came home we both took a hip as I discovered that holding constant pressure for 4 minutes can be quite challenging.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch together and even went swimming in the lake. Milena's little sister treated us all to ice cream from the ice cream truck (a first for me!!). Milena had two contractions while we were swimming and we took our positions and supported her through them. I really enjoyed how she managed to carry on life and take the contractions as they came. I think it's easy to get so focused on the fact that labour is starting and to put everything else on hold... which makes it seem so much longer. Waiting is an awful thing.

We came home and ate some dinner and then we just hung out for a while before I went home to bed. I was scheduled to work Monday at the hospital, but Milena called me at 5:45am telling me her contractions were now all within 30 minutes of each other and they were now only 2- 3 minutes long, but stronger. So I called work and let them know that I wouldn't be coming in (my manager already had a heads up). Milena took a castor oil concoction to try to speed things up because she didn’t want to be induced at the hospital on Wednesday.

After Milena took the castor oil she started having contractions every 2-8 minutes. They were increasing in intensity and difficult for Milena to manage. We laboured on the toilet for a couple hours – Milena would wrap her arms around my neck and we would rock back and forth while she remained sitting.

Milena was unable to relax during these contractions, but she managed to smile and joke between them. She started panicking a little bit because the contractions were quite intense and she was unable to control herself during them, but she took direction well and was easily redirected.

The midwife came to Milena’s house at 11:00am at our request so she could examine Milena to see where she was at. We were told she was 2 cm and 70% effaced – pretty much at the same place Milena was at 4 days ago.

This was disheartening and Milena began to worry that her body wouldn’t work properly. I prayed with her and encouraged her telling her that each contraction was preparing her body even if the numbers didn’t show it yet. She remained positive and looked forward to transferring to the Midwives suite where she had planned to deliver.