Yesterday, I did not see Thing 1 or Thing 2 all day long. It was peaceful, but also kind of sad. Today, though, both they, their older brother, father, grandmothers, and one grandfather all descended upon this heretofore calm hospital. Sabrina calls Raiden either Raiden or Jemonis, so of course Sasha does too. "Ay-den," he'll say, grinning and so proud. "Raiden?" we asked. "Uh-huh. Monis. Bed." "That's Jemonis's bed." "Yeah." So precious.
Sabrina continues to be in love with littlest brother. She wants to hold him, touch him, kiss him, love him. She is so proud to be allowed to sit and carefully support his tiny head. I do, however, have to keep asking her to be a little more quiet, because Raiden is not quite ready to sleep through older brothers and sisters. I'm sure this will be remedied quickly, through sheer necessity. Sabrina is sleeping over at Grandma Saundra's tonight, mostly because she is completely in love with Grandma Saundra. Of course, who wouldn't love a grandma who wants to sleep in the barn in a tent with you? Even if Grandma Saundra DOESN'T buy the princess treats, the love lavished upon her makes Sabrina putty in Grandma's hands. Which, in turn, makes ME putty in Grandma's hands. Good thing she's not the type to take advantage!
Sasha is looking huge. Although he has one cousin younger than he is on my side, he's the (previous) youngest Froerer. So, the tiniest. Now he looks like a giant! The size of his head...the length of his hair...everything! He has been amazingly happy and non-competitive with Raiden. I know I'm saying this too soon, but still. He came and sat on the bed next to me and held Raiden's hand, and helpfully pointed out "nose. Ay-den." All this without a nap.
And, you are wondering, how about me? I'm actually doing great. Raiden didn't want to sleep last night, which majorly sucked, but I've been sleeping more today and am more ready for a possible repeat tonight. I look only 6 months pregnant, which is a major relief, and Percocet + Motrin is keeping me comfortable. Not exactly pain-free, but since I get out of bed basically to pee, I'm doing great. Oh, and I got to take a shower yesterday. Bliss. Might take one tonight too, but let's not go crazy with making plans.
My RS president called today and said they'd start bringing meals over on Monday. With Sasha, they did every other day, and I hope they do that again, because the women in my ward make Santa Claus look stingy. I got at LEAST two dinner's worth from every "meal" they brought over. Plus at least one lunch. Nothing makes you feel loved like postpartum dinners! I love my ward, my threekids, my husband, and my life! As soon as I can say I love my body, I will be perfectly happy.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Raiden Zane
For the last few weeks, my mantra has been "There will come a time when the baby is born." Then is now. Yesterday, May 24, 2012, Jemonis was born, becoming Raiden Zane Froerer.
I didn't want to have another c-section, but baby Raiden was 9 lbs. 2 oz., just like big brother Sasha, was breech at 39 weeks (although he'd turned back the right way by yesterday) and was overdue. A VBAC is not suggested under such circumstances, and so I reluctantly agreed to a repeat c-section. I found it's very different to plan one than to labor for 9 hours first! I went in, did that tedious paperwork, and got prepped. The nurse anesthetist, who gave me my spinal, told me the steps for a spinal go like this: go into the OR, which is at 42 degrees; wash off your back with an ice-cold antibiotic; get a numbing shot, which will only hurt like a bee sting for about 10 seconds; then get the actual spinal, which should not hurt. Gee, I told him, you're really selling this!
In actual fact, the OR was NOT 42 degrees. It was 52 degrees. True story: there was a thermometer in there. The nurse was very impressed when he gave me the numbing shot; he said I didn't flinch at all. I had to live up to my 3-year-old, I told him. Sabrina might cry but she did not move for her numbing shot, so the least I could do was not move. Or cry. I didn't do that either.
So, I got my spinal, lay down on the (very narrow) table with some help, as my legs were already basically useless, and they put up a blue sheet so I couldn't see the indignities they were committing on me. Or get sprayed with blood, probably. But this is a family-friendly blog, so I won't mention the blood.
Did you know that a c-section is boring? It is if you're the one getting it. I had nothing to do for the 30 or so minutes they were taking Raiden out and putting me back together, except make smart comments to Zane and the nurse. The doctors, I felt, had enough to do, so I didn't have to entertain them with my rapier wit. That was a good move, apparently, because the c-section was more exciting for them than for me. They said I had huge veins in there and no space between skin and uterus. I could've told them THAT. Did you see my belly those last few days? I had to keep some of my organs in storage while Raiden was in there. I didn't even have room for both my kidneys.
So I passed the time being bored and trying to figure out what they were doing by the faint tugs I could feel and what they were saying. Then, he was out! Cheri had a really tough pregnancy with Elli, and as soon as Elli was born, Cheri is on record as saying "I feel so much better!" I can relate. It wasn't quite as relieving as Cheri's experience, but it sure was nice to not be pregnant anymore. Besides, once Raiden was out, he was screaming for pretty much all his evaluation, which proved his superior lung capacity, so I had something to listen to besides myself. Then Zane brought him over so I could look at him during the putting-mommy-back-together part. By the way, his 1-minute APGAR was 9, and 5-minute was 10. Eat your heart out, vaginal births. Oh, and he has the prettiest head EVER.
I don't have my camera cable to put the pictures on the blog yet, but they'll come. Suffice it to say he is of the "dark Froerer" variety. Zane says he looks suspiciously like his brother Lance, with the dark hair and lanugo all over his back. I say since Lance has three blond, blue-eyed, pale kids, his genes aren't very strong. Regardless, Raiden is my first child to have my dark hair. He is beautiful, healthy, and loves his mama. What more could I ask for?
I didn't want to have another c-section, but baby Raiden was 9 lbs. 2 oz., just like big brother Sasha, was breech at 39 weeks (although he'd turned back the right way by yesterday) and was overdue. A VBAC is not suggested under such circumstances, and so I reluctantly agreed to a repeat c-section. I found it's very different to plan one than to labor for 9 hours first! I went in, did that tedious paperwork, and got prepped. The nurse anesthetist, who gave me my spinal, told me the steps for a spinal go like this: go into the OR, which is at 42 degrees; wash off your back with an ice-cold antibiotic; get a numbing shot, which will only hurt like a bee sting for about 10 seconds; then get the actual spinal, which should not hurt. Gee, I told him, you're really selling this!
In actual fact, the OR was NOT 42 degrees. It was 52 degrees. True story: there was a thermometer in there. The nurse was very impressed when he gave me the numbing shot; he said I didn't flinch at all. I had to live up to my 3-year-old, I told him. Sabrina might cry but she did not move for her numbing shot, so the least I could do was not move. Or cry. I didn't do that either.
So, I got my spinal, lay down on the (very narrow) table with some help, as my legs were already basically useless, and they put up a blue sheet so I couldn't see the indignities they were committing on me. Or get sprayed with blood, probably. But this is a family-friendly blog, so I won't mention the blood.
Did you know that a c-section is boring? It is if you're the one getting it. I had nothing to do for the 30 or so minutes they were taking Raiden out and putting me back together, except make smart comments to Zane and the nurse. The doctors, I felt, had enough to do, so I didn't have to entertain them with my rapier wit. That was a good move, apparently, because the c-section was more exciting for them than for me. They said I had huge veins in there and no space between skin and uterus. I could've told them THAT. Did you see my belly those last few days? I had to keep some of my organs in storage while Raiden was in there. I didn't even have room for both my kidneys.
So I passed the time being bored and trying to figure out what they were doing by the faint tugs I could feel and what they were saying. Then, he was out! Cheri had a really tough pregnancy with Elli, and as soon as Elli was born, Cheri is on record as saying "I feel so much better!" I can relate. It wasn't quite as relieving as Cheri's experience, but it sure was nice to not be pregnant anymore. Besides, once Raiden was out, he was screaming for pretty much all his evaluation, which proved his superior lung capacity, so I had something to listen to besides myself. Then Zane brought him over so I could look at him during the putting-mommy-back-together part. By the way, his 1-minute APGAR was 9, and 5-minute was 10. Eat your heart out, vaginal births. Oh, and he has the prettiest head EVER.
I don't have my camera cable to put the pictures on the blog yet, but they'll come. Suffice it to say he is of the "dark Froerer" variety. Zane says he looks suspiciously like his brother Lance, with the dark hair and lanugo all over his back. I say since Lance has three blond, blue-eyed, pale kids, his genes aren't very strong. Regardless, Raiden is my first child to have my dark hair. He is beautiful, healthy, and loves his mama. What more could I ask for?
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Last Week
Each day is like a week. Each night is interrupted by a 20-point turn to move from the left side to the right side...to be reversed in 90 minutes. The belly cannot expand more, except it does. The kids sense something tiny this way comes, and push each other off the couch. And the due date comes and goes.
I try to play "guess that bump," hoping against hope that it's a bum up there, not a head. I convince myself this is true, and then get kicked in the bladder by what I'm pretty sure are feet, not tiny fists. I groan as he moves and tries to get out my bellybutton, but then when he doesn't move, I poke him until he does. I want him out, then realize his bassinet is still lying in pieces on the floor.
The waiting game is almost over, although today every hour will feel like a day from week 18. The c-section, which is inevitable if he's breech, will hopefully happen tomorrow, as long as the hospital can accommodate me. It's not how I wanted my last birth to go, but if all goes well, I'll have a healthy little boy tomorrow. His bassinet is ready now, his tiny little clothes hanging in the closet, and if the house still needs to be picked up and his room still has some detritus from Sabrina's tenure and the basement is nowhere near finished and Sasha needs more 24-month pants, well, these things will work themselves out. Hospital, here I come! (In somewhere around 23 hours.)
Monday, May 14, 2012
Do Something!
There's a book called "The Littlest Dinosaur," in which one of the dinosaur's eggs does not hatch for a few extra weeks. Finally, the daddy dinosaur, tired of taking care of the other babies himself (since Mama is busy with the egg), shouts, "Do something!" at the egg. I KNOW JUST HOW HE FEELS. I know, I'm still technically a week away from my due date, but for Pete's sake. Do something, Jemonis! No contractions, no pain -- I really want me some pain, which sounds weird under any other circumstance -- and no other signs that labor is imminent. Other than that I dropped yesterday, but that just means I have NO maternity shirts that cover my ginormous belly.
Then, today, because I guess I'm nesting or just desperate, I cleaned for an hour, made banana bread, and made regular wheat bread. Oh, and did laundry. Then I had to lie down for an hour because I hurt so much. And not the good hurt, the kind that says "something" is happening. Dang weight gain/center of gravity switching. Thank goodness for Dora and Boots, because otherwise how would I do important things like bring the baby clothes up from the basement? And, um, update my blog?
Add that to the fact that Spencer's room is nowhere near done, to get it done I have to move a buttload of crap (sorry, it's been that sort of day) upstairs to the garage, his stuff is still in what will be Sabrina's and Sasha's room, and Sabrina's stuff is all still in what will be the baby's room, to the fact that the baby is still in my room (my body, actually), and you have a recipe for, well, mostly naps and/or tears. In succession, of course. Usually tears come first, but not always!
Despite the rather gloomy tone I'm taking, I really feel okay most of the time. Then I a) think about what needs to be done, or b) do a lot of what needs to be done, and either a) go back into the cry/nap cycle, or b) hurt, and go into the cry/nap cycle. Maybe I need to watch me some Dora and Boots instead of trying to be productive. Hmmmm....
Then, today, because I guess I'm nesting or just desperate, I cleaned for an hour, made banana bread, and made regular wheat bread. Oh, and did laundry. Then I had to lie down for an hour because I hurt so much. And not the good hurt, the kind that says "something" is happening. Dang weight gain/center of gravity switching. Thank goodness for Dora and Boots, because otherwise how would I do important things like bring the baby clothes up from the basement? And, um, update my blog?
Add that to the fact that Spencer's room is nowhere near done, to get it done I have to move a buttload of crap (sorry, it's been that sort of day) upstairs to the garage, his stuff is still in what will be Sabrina's and Sasha's room, and Sabrina's stuff is all still in what will be the baby's room, to the fact that the baby is still in my room (my body, actually), and you have a recipe for, well, mostly naps and/or tears. In succession, of course. Usually tears come first, but not always!
Despite the rather gloomy tone I'm taking, I really feel okay most of the time. Then I a) think about what needs to be done, or b) do a lot of what needs to be done, and either a) go back into the cry/nap cycle, or b) hurt, and go into the cry/nap cycle. Maybe I need to watch me some Dora and Boots instead of trying to be productive. Hmmmm....
Friday, May 11, 2012
The End. Of an Era.
Yesterday was my last day of teaching. No, not forever, but I'm certainly not going back next fall. I'll have three kids not in school (because I am apparently insane) and I figure I'd be working for about $20/day, if you subtract taxes, gas, tithing, and (oh yeah) daycare. So, I'd be making just enough money for someone else to watch my kids. Nah.
It was sad, and sort of anticlimactic. It was leadership day, which means I didn't get to teach but had to babysit random students instead. It was only MY last day, so there was no groupthink about summer vacation -- they still have three weeks plus today left. I didn't see half of my students on Wednesday, my other teaching day this week, so I had to have my closure day with them last week, but I still saw them around yesterday and Wednesday, so again, anticlimactic. Altogether, not a beautiful end to my days at Salt Lake Arts Academy. Not ugly, you know, but it was not the triumphal flourish with sobbing students that my glamorous career deserves when it's going on indefinite hiatus. (How's that for a vocabulary lesson of a sentence?)
What WAS great yesterday was that Lindsay was there. She's the other me this year, teaching Monday and Tuesday as well as alternate Fridays. She's my favorite other teacher, and since we were the same person, we almost never got to see each other. Talking on a Google Doc is not quite the same thing as hanging out at lunch, y'know? Anyway, she came to the leadership day yesterday, and we both went to the 8th grade program. Then they went on a hike. As I am 38+ weeks pregnant and she is 33+ weeks pregnant, we got lunch and talked in the staff room for about three hours. That was really nice, and sort of rounded out my year. Oh yeah, and the staff party is today, so that will be nice too. We had or will have four babies born this year (one yesterday, I believe), so it will be a fun baby party to compare war stories.
I'm not sure what's on the horizon for me, professionally. Although I won't teach next year at SLArts, I have applied for the Electronic High School, so that could be fun. I'd be teaching some classes online for a) awesome students who want to get ahead, or b) less awesome students who failed a class. Honestly, I like both types. Maybe it's the counseling background. Still, who knows if I'll get the job. I'd like to return to teaching in a few years, maybe when Sasha goes to school, or even wait until Baby Jemonis is in school. It's all up in the air right now, which is okay with me. Bring on the future! And the baby! Anytime now would be great.
It was sad, and sort of anticlimactic. It was leadership day, which means I didn't get to teach but had to babysit random students instead. It was only MY last day, so there was no groupthink about summer vacation -- they still have three weeks plus today left. I didn't see half of my students on Wednesday, my other teaching day this week, so I had to have my closure day with them last week, but I still saw them around yesterday and Wednesday, so again, anticlimactic. Altogether, not a beautiful end to my days at Salt Lake Arts Academy. Not ugly, you know, but it was not the triumphal flourish with sobbing students that my glamorous career deserves when it's going on indefinite hiatus. (How's that for a vocabulary lesson of a sentence?)
What WAS great yesterday was that Lindsay was there. She's the other me this year, teaching Monday and Tuesday as well as alternate Fridays. She's my favorite other teacher, and since we were the same person, we almost never got to see each other. Talking on a Google Doc is not quite the same thing as hanging out at lunch, y'know? Anyway, she came to the leadership day yesterday, and we both went to the 8th grade program. Then they went on a hike. As I am 38+ weeks pregnant and she is 33+ weeks pregnant, we got lunch and talked in the staff room for about three hours. That was really nice, and sort of rounded out my year. Oh yeah, and the staff party is today, so that will be nice too. We had or will have four babies born this year (one yesterday, I believe), so it will be a fun baby party to compare war stories.
I'm not sure what's on the horizon for me, professionally. Although I won't teach next year at SLArts, I have applied for the Electronic High School, so that could be fun. I'd be teaching some classes online for a) awesome students who want to get ahead, or b) less awesome students who failed a class. Honestly, I like both types. Maybe it's the counseling background. Still, who knows if I'll get the job. I'd like to return to teaching in a few years, maybe when Sasha goes to school, or even wait until Baby Jemonis is in school. It's all up in the air right now, which is okay with me. Bring on the future! And the baby! Anytime now would be great.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Gratefulness
This morning, Zane was explaining to me that he did not feel appreciated for getting up with the kids on Saturday morning. This because ALL I did was tell him if he was in so much of a hurry to get to Spencer's soccer game he could get the kids dressed instead of watching TV. I'm sure I was the soul of politeness while I explained this. Anyway, this discussion led me, in my pregnancy-induced hormonal state, to talk about how underappreciated I am, blah blah blah. There may or may not have been tears involved.
Meanwhile, Sabrina and Sasha come in from the living room. "Mom. Mama. Mama. Maaaamaaaa." They come into the bedroom, climb up on the bed, and proceed to snuggle into me. Sabrina looks in my eyes, pats my cheek, and says, "I love you Mom."
Well, don't I feel dumb. I guess I'm appreciated after all.
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