Happy Birthday James!

I know some of you enjoy a good birth story and I this second time around was such a different experience than my first that I would like to remember it and have it written down.

The weeks leading up to James's birth, I was dreading going into labor. Absolutely dreading. I wanted to skip over the whole labor and delivery thing and just hold my baby in my hands. With Zach, I was so impatient for him to come out that I was upset every night when he didn't come. With James, I was completely ok with the fact that he hadn't arrived yet. The first time around is better in that you have no idea what is going to hit you, and the second time around, you know exactly what you are getting into, and I was not fully prepared for that yet.

I was really hoping for a January baby. I wanted him to have a different birth month from Christmas and have a little separation from all the craziness that is in December. I had my 38 week appointment on Christmas Eve. At that exam, I found out that I was already dilated 3 cm and 80% effaced. My midwife told me that I was very 'ripe' and that I could really deliver any day and that she did not think I would make it to my next appointment. Hmmmm... sounds familiar to my first time around. We were planning on driving up to Asheville, NC that day to celebrate Christmas with my family. I went home and talked it over with Justin and we decided to risk it and drive 3 hours. We had the infant car seat and hospital bags packed just in case anything happened. If all else failed, we would just have another Asheville baby ;) We made it through Christmas, thankfully, and after that I felt much more ready for the baby to come.

My next appointment was on New Year's Eve. I was still dilated the same amount and my midwife told me that it was mainly just mentally now, when I was ready to have this baby. Although I agree with that a little, it was also in the Lord's hands of when our little guy was going to come. Justin thought it would be cool to have a NYE baby, but I was still hoping for January.

On Friday, January 2nd, I was awoken at 3:00am by a crying toddler. Zach has been waking up in the middle of the night for the past week or so (growth spurt, maybe?) When I was awake I noticed that I was having some light pains and contractions. I started timing them and keeping track. They were about 8-10 minutes apart, but not very strong at all. I woke Justin up at 5:00 to give him a heads up. I also texted my sister (babysitter for firstborn) to give her a heads up as well. Justin got me a bowl of cereal and what do you know, my contractions stopped! I went back to sleep, disappointed that I wasn't actually in labor. I had reached a point where I wanted out little boy to be born because my sisters were down south from college and they were set to go back up north on Tuesday, along with my parents. I wanted them to meet the baby and for them all to come to the hospital.

On Saturday, January 3rd (my due date!), Justin encouraged me to have a fun girly day with my sisters since my little sister, Stephanie was leaving that day. Stephanie came into town for a few days to stay with us and help out with Zach. She was a huge help, playing with our little guy and giving me some rest. I went out to lunch with Jen and Steph, we got a pedicure, went to Babies R Us and shoe shopping. After lunch I started feeling a lot of pressure and my stomach kept getting very hard. No pain, just lots of pressure. It wasn't until we were at the shoe store that I started feeling uncomfortable. We drove home and met my parents who were there to pick up Steph. We were all inside just talking and hanging out. At one point I was playing with Zach at his train table and I got a pain and couldn't stand up. Cue the start of labor. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and I got another pain. Hello- contractions had started at 4:45/5:00ish. The contractions were painful and strong from the beginning. They were the intensity of when I called the doctor when I was in labor with Zach. I felt so unprepared mentally. I kept thinking, "My goodness. If they are this strong right now, I don't know how I'm going to make it through this." I lied down on the bed, not telling anyone what was going on, and started breathing through contractions and timing. Justin came up to check on me, and I told him that I was having painful contractions and they were already 4 minutes apart. We both started getting ready for the hospital, him running all over the house and me packing up the remainder of my bag in between contractions. I went downstairs, gave my little boy a big hug and cried because I knew that pretty soon our lives were going to completely change again. We left for the hospital at 5:45, with my contractions being 3-4 minutes apart already.

Once we were at the hospital, my midwife came and checked me. I was 7 cm with my bag of waters still in tact. She told Justin he better move the car now because things would start moving quickly. I was set up on the monitor at 6:30, the time I arrived in the labor and delivery room. The next hour and a half was spent having contractions that were 2 minutes apart. I really didn't think that I had the mental and physical capacity to deliver another baby naturally without any drugs. But, when I heard 7cm and knew that was transition and the hardest part, I put up the fight. I worked hard to use my relaxation techniques and had my awesome husband there to encourage me the whole way. Some thoughts that went through my mind during contractions: Focus on this contraction, take them one at a time, if my mom did this 9 times I can do it again, I had my first baby naturally I can do it again, and why did I pray to go into labor today?!?  I had really bad back pain with each contraction, which is something I didn't have during my first delivery. Justin's main job was to rub my back almost the entire time.

At about 7:45 my midwife came in and said I was now 9 cm. She asked me if I wanted my water broken and that doing that would intensify and speed things up. I said yes. She broke my water and asked me if I had any urges to push. I told her no and how I was afraid for the pushing part because I thought I did it so bad during my first labor. She told me not to worry about it and that when the time came I would know and she would help me through it. Not even a minute or so after I told her I didn't know how to push, I had a big desire to push. It all happened so quickly. His head was right there and was already making its way out. The midwife quickly called for nurses to come into the room. It was literally like 3 extremely painful pushes with some screaming involved and asking Jesus for help and our little man was out!

James Michael Powlison was born at 7:59 pm.

They brought James up to me right away. The midwife handed Justin scissors for the cutting of the umbilical cord. Justin and already made the decision that he was not going to cut it, after his first experience, but he went ahead and did it again! James wasn't crying as much as they were wanting him to, so they took him to see if they could make him cry some more. They said that since he was born so quickly, he was probably still in shock. After they determined that he was good and making enough noise and breathing well, they started to examine him. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of him getting weighed for the first time because Justin was on the verge of passing out himself. After cutting the umbilical cord, Justin got really light headed and had to sit down and have the nurses bring him juice ;)

I am so thankful to the Lord for answering so many prayers regarding this delivery. I prayed that Justin would be home and he was. Thankfully he was and that I had family in the house with me, because if we had to wait for someone to come over and watch Zach, we might not have made it to the hospital. I prayed that there would be no traffic driving to the hospital. Atlanta traffic is terrible and I did not want to be stuck in the car any longer than I had to be. Since James was born on a Saturday, there was no traffic. I prayed that I would get a midwife that I liked and knew. I got the midwife I just had my last appointment. (Side note: we are pretty sure it is the same midwife who delivered my two nieces!) I prayed for a drug-free delivery and I was able to do it all naturally. I prayed that it would be a fast labor. I would call 3 hours total pretty fast! And I prayed that the baby and myself would be healthy and we both were.

Thank you Lord for our sweet little boy. 

18 months!

**This post is SUPER OLD! :( I had it written when Zach was actually 18 months old and was just waiting to take pictures, but never got around to taking pictures :( Since I put so much effort into writing it, I figured I might as well post it! 

18 months. 1 1/2 years old. My little baby is becoming more of a little boy with each passing day. Although I think I will always view him as my baby. It is crazy to think that the next time I write a monthly update for him (21 months) he will be a big brother! It was also his last well-check up at the pediatrician as an only child.

Eating
Zach is still a pretty good eater although has gotten a lot more pickier in the protein department. His favorite protein of choice these days are Hebrew National hotdogs. Not my number one choice, but if it gives him his protein, then so be it. I think it just shows how he is such a boy and likes things such as hot dogs.... like his daddy. One area that he takes after his mom is not wanting to eat the same food over and over again. I personally can only have leftovers for about two days and am sick of them. Well, I think Zach takes after me. He will gobble down something I make, I will get excited that he ate it so well that I will offer it to him over and over again, only to have him reject it. He is becoming quite skillful with using utensils. He loves to say 'spoon' when he sees applesauce or yogurt come out. A new favorite is the fork. If there is a food that he is not eating or trying, all I have to do is put it on a fork and he will eat it! I usually offer him a fork at each meal, which he is becoming quite good at poking up his own food with. He still uses his fingers when he realizes that they are a faster way of getting food to his mouth than getting it with the fork. He has also taken an interest in napkins and sometimes wants his own napkin to wipe his mouth.

His favorite foods are still fruits and vegetables, although he seems to be burnt out on bananas and blueberries. He loves grapes, apples, oranges, clementines, watermelon, strawberries, squash, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, corn (especially on the cob). I have managed to get him to eat a few bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (when served on a fork) and scrambled eggs once (that were dipped in ketchup). He has finally turned to liking potatoes although eggs and peanut butter are still struggling in that battle.

Sleep
Oh, we are back at the sleep struggle once again. At his 15 months, I wrote how he was sleeping beautifully. Well, that lasted for about 2 weeks. At 15 months, we went on vacation and the traveling, combined with a double ear infection and teething with molars led to bad sleeping and we are still trying to recover. After many failed 2 naps a day (he would take a morning nap and just play during his afternoon nap) I decided to transfer him to one nap a day at 16 months. It worked out fine for a bit. He would go down for a nap at 1:00ish and sleep for about 2 hours, staying in his crib for 2 1/2-3 hours. However, if we were ever in the car for a morning adventure, he would fall asleep in the car and not take a nap later, or fall asleep, wake up and not go back to sleep. He has also been waking up super early in the morning, 5:30-6:00 am. It is really hard for him to make it until 1:00 when he wakes up that early. I have been doing some experimenting, but we still haven't found a schedule that works.

He goes to bed at 8:00 and sleeps until usually 6:00. Yep, he is a super early riser. Every night I pray that he will sleep in late and I always seem disappointed when I hear the monitor go off at 6:00. My husband keeps telling me that he doesn't understand why I am always so shocked to hear it when this is what our life has been for the past year and a half. I just keep hoping that one day it will be 8:00 and stay 8:00. 

Play
Our active little boy is still as active as ever. When he wakes up at 6:00 and his dad and I try so desperately for him to sleep 15 more minutes, he does not give in and is ready to go. Zach is bouncing around our bed, saying "down" and cannot wait to start the day. His play is very active and on the go. He very rarely will sit down and play for a long period of time. He does enjoy putting stickers in his sticker book and reading books, but will quickly get up to get another book, a stuffed animal or find another toy. Even watching a tv show or a baby einstein video only captures his attention for 15-20 minutes and he is done.

Zach loves to be outside. Thankfully the weather is cooling down and the humidity getting less so we are back to our almost daily walks to the park. In his stroller, as we walk, he will point out dogs, cars, trucks, choo-choos (when hearing a train whistle), po-po's (police cars, although they are not always police cars), and will tell me when his stroller hits a bump. At the park he loves going down the slides, the merry-go-round and other spinning toys and most recently the teeter-totter. He also loves playing with the wood chips. He is a very, very social kid and will always go running up to any kids he sees. Most of the time, other kids ignore him (which breaks my heart!) but he doesn't seem too phased by it. He is becoming very independent at the park and is able to climb the steps and go down slides all by himself. I no longer have to be right behind him on the equipment. I now follow along right next to him on the ground. He also likes to be outside blowing bubbles (actually holding the wand himself and putting it in the bubble solution and trying to blow), sidewalk chalk, picking up rocks, filling up buckets with water. When we take our daily walk to check the mail, he is discovering leaves and throwing acorns and picking up rocks.

In the house he likes to strum his guitar, climb on his truck, grill hamburgers and hot dogs on his grill, throw balls and say, "He shoots, he scores!". He has taken a real interest in flushing the toilet and turning on the water faucet. He usually does these things when I am trying to get ready in the morning. Let's just say that I prefer to get ready alone because it is a lot less stressful ;) Zach has also become very interested in cooking. If he hears me chopping vegetables or cooking, he comes running into the kitchen, wants up and wants to see everything that I am doing. I have even allowed him to help with baking several times. He will help me measure out flour or sugar and will dump it into the bowl, then mix it with the spoon while saying 'mix mix.' While I'm cooking dinner, he likes to go into the pantry and take out every can, box and item that he can find and put it on the floor or 're-organize' the pantry. We have also started doing some art projects together. He can 'color' with a crayon and we have done some painting!

Favorites
Book: Elmer, Pete the Cat, How do Dinosaurs say Good Night, Llama Llama books
Food: Fruits and Veggies
Word: Ta- Da! No (most recently)
TV Show: Baby Einstein, Clifford
Song: The Fruit of the Spirit, Go-Go Joshua, This Little Light of Mine, The Wheels on the Bus

Speech
It seems like everyday Zach is learning more and more new words. Most recently he has learned the word no and is quite vocal with it, although he says it in a very sweet, dismissive voice. Justin likes that he can say no and that it is another way for him to clearly communicate with us. If I say, "Zach would you like a banana?" He will say, "No." But it is sad when you ask him for a hug and a kiss and he says no :( He has also started going up to things that he knows are no's and will continuously say no no no.

He is quite the little copy cat with language as well. He was watching a hockey game and kept hearing, "He shoots, he scores!" He started repeating that, although not really the words, but the syllables with the correct inflections, and throwing his hands up in the air for scores! If he hears someone make a sound, he will repeat it, for example: hmmms, ohh's, etc.

New Words:
Please
Green Bean
Spider Man
Watermelon
Jen
Belly Button
No

Size
Weight:
Height:
Diapers: Size 4
Shoes: Size 6
Clothes: Bottoms 12-18 months, Tops 18-24 months. Sleepers: 24 months (they seem huge!)

 Milestones
13th tooth: 9.12.14
14th tooth: 9.20.14
15th tooth: 9.21.14

-Pick up and eat food with a fork
-Say please when he wants something. Still working on thank you.
-Finally got a bigger convertible car seat, although he is still rear facing.
-Identify body parts: head/hair, ears, eyes, nose, hands, feet, belly button
-When asked to count something, he will point and start tagging the objects and will say 'two' and then other sounds on rhythm. I count along with him while he does the pointing.
-Seems to be able to identify the letters Z and O
-Go to different locations in the house when asked (kitchen, take a bath or brush teeth- go into bathroom, go to the stairs, go to the door when it's time to go outside).
-Say the word no

Introducing....

James Michael Powlison 

January 3, 2015

7:59 pm

8 lbs. 8 oz. 

21 inches long

James: Supplanter

When Justin prayed about what we should name our baby boy and James was given to us, he felt that the Lord was saying that the name James is a gift because it was the name of Jesus' brother. 

Michael: Who is like God?