Naomi

Naomi Nadine

Jenn was induced today, every story of a birth has it's own uniquness, and this one is no diffrent. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 and did the registration thing and got our room. Then the drama started. Just a little background, Jenn has had to get IV's in the past, and recently the technitians haven't been able to stick her on the first needle. In fact, in Korea she needed one and they ended up trying her foot before finally getting one to work in her neck. So Jenn decided to hydrate yesterday. She took two bottles of water with her to church and kept the fluids going all day. (Mix pregnancy, anticipation, and an additional urge to use the bathroom, and Jenn didn't sleep well last night.) Anyway, I told you that story so I could tell you this one. We mentioned to Jenn's nurse that she was a tough stick and the nurse still felt confident. After three futile attempts to get a vain however, she resorted to calling an anesthesiologist who managed to poke her two or three more times before finally getting a vain to cooperate.



By 8:00 the IV experience was over and we were on to the Pitocin. We did a couple activites to lighten the bordem, the nurses checked her, and she was about a 2 or 3. Jenn decided to take a nap, which lasted all of ten minutes before alarms of all the machines woke her. We were having conversations about random thoughts when she started having really hard contractions. She called the nurse to get checked again, this time thinking about finally breaking down and having an epidural (she's never had one). At that point it was too late though, she had dilated to an 8. No wonder she wanted pain killer, she dilated around 5 cm in an hour. At 12:15 the nurses check her again and she hadn't progressed. At 12:30 she was a 9 and the nurses decided to call the doctor and not leave until the baby was out. Around 12:45 the barrage of equipment showed up, baby heaters, the doctors catching mitt and tools, as well as a lot of staff. By 1:00 the doctor showed up. I've never seen such an articulate doctor. He was telling the nurses to move the stirrups down an inch, move Jenn's legs over there, adjust the bed, all this while my wife is in obvious discomfort, he's worried about where her leg is. I don't think Jenn considered that she had a leg at the time, I could be wrong.




Anyway, when her body positioning was all set to the doctors liking, it took about five to seven good hard pushes, and Naomi Nadine came into the world. It was actually funny, Jenn couldn't see the baby and shortly after the baby was out she mouthed to me, "Is it a girl?", in which I replied in the affirmative. This was also a source of concern for both of us, we had the name Naomi picked out a long time ago when we were expecting Michael, who if he hadn't been borne in the car would have been a delivery room announcement as to his gender. Instead I just announced it while I was standing outside the car. Anyway, we have run out of boys names, so if she wasn't a she we would be in trouble and quite a bit more stressed.
Anyway, she weighed in at 8 LBS 9oz and 20.5 in. That is equal in weight to DJ, but she has him in height by an inch.



Both mother and baby are doing well and are expected to be discharged in the afternoon on Tuesday.

I promised my sisters Splash Pad pictures

I put a few in the slide show on the sidebar, but I thought I'd put some in a post, so that they can be enlarged and more fully enjoyed.

This is a water play area located in one of the big city parks here. One of my friends invited us to her daughter's b-day party at the "Splash Pad" and we fell in love. Even when it's packed and the weather is stifling, this is an outdoor activity any child can enjoy!

Nina and DJ: Swimming or praying?

Occasionally the water shuts down to rebalance the chemicals, but the kids still enjoyed it...

These come and go and the kids love to try to be in them right as they shoot up to their highest point.

This is the best view I got of the majority of the splash pad. I didn't get the dumping buckets, so I guess we'll have to go back and get some more pictures. I'm sure my kids will be sadly disappointed.

Tagged

To play this game of tag, post the rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I have never been tagged before, and technically I still haven't been tagged. Amy however invited me to answer the tag questions, so here they go.
Joys, There's a lot of Joy and excitement in having a new baby, so I'm dedicating my first joy to our unborn child that obviously didn't make Jenn's goal of being born in May.
The second is the unfulfilled joy of my team, the San Jose Sharks winning the Stanley Cup. I have an inkling of what it's going to be like, but it still hasn't come to pass.
The last joy is my family. I love spending time with them and having a good time.

Fears. The thing that I fear the most is losing one of my children early. I don't want them to be dead, hurt, or disabled. I want them to be able to live a long and productive life.
Fear number two is offending people that I don't intend to offend. I have no problem with those that I am trying to offend, but I don't want the wrong people to be offended when no offense was intended.
Lastly, I fear my children trying too hard to be cool and not trying enough to do the right thing.

Goals; Right now I have a goal to get an Excellence rating at Leadership Camp this summer.
I also have the goal of turning the PTA upside down. I want to stop conformity and move away from the status quo. I think it's working.
Goal three is to get all A's in my Master degree.

Obsessions, I'm an obsessed Sharks fan, the meetings are doing nothing to cure the problem. No 12 step program for me.
Right now I'm obsessed with Harry Potter ant the Order of the Phoenix video game on the Wii. I've almost solved the game, but it just keeps going.
I'm obsessed with the future. It drives Jenn nuts, but I like to speculate and look into things. I like to test every avenue in the Army to find out which one is best. That's how I got into this program where I remain on Active Duty (paid) to get a degree, that I'm currently in.

Surprising facts? That's a hard one. How about the fact that I was diagnosed with ADD when I was in the first grade. I was never medicated and never had the hyperactivity, but I was in special education classes from that point on. I've since learned to cope with it.
I enjoy chick flicks. I know, I'm in the Army and shouldn't admit to things like that, but I don't mind that type of movie. Mind you, I don't see them in the theater and I don't go out of my way but I still watch them.
I feel I don't hide a lot from anyone, so I'm digging into the past for the last one. When I was in high school I decided to be a head banger. I had long hair, wore all black to include combat boots (hey, I still wear those), I listened to Pantera, Metalica, Megadeath and Tool amongst others. The last concert I went to before my mission was Pantera and White Zombie, granted that was when I was sixteen, so it was well before my mission. The phase didn't last long, after about eighteen months of hanging out with kids with no standards, I cut my hair and my ties and found some better friends. Anyone shocked?
I'm going to tag four people, all males. So I tag (in alphabetical order) Brent, Craig, Spencer, and Wade (Poulson).

I started this several days ago, and have finally finished it, so ignore the date. Most of it was done on the 8th/9th (in the middle of the night -- that's my excuse, if it's senseless).

To play this game of tag, post the rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Joys:
1. Listening to my kids play to together -- especially when they laugh. I love the carefree happiness of children. I wish I was better at capturing those moments in my own life.

2. Spending time with my husband -- alone. He is my best friend and I love it when we have time to relax, forget about the worries of the moment, and just enjoy each other's company.

3. Sleep -- I can never get enough, but I certainly enjoy what I do get. I'm especially happy when I can sleep without interruption and then sleep in (at least a little).

Fears:
1. I can be a worrywart (and somewhat irrational and highly imaginative), so I do sometimes worry about losing anyone close to me -- kids, husband, parents, siblings, etc. I try not to dwell on it, but it does cross my mind at times, especially since Michael has a habit of trying to severely injure himself...

2. Rodents. I can't help it. They freak me out. I try to be rational, form plans for their eradication, act calmly and collectedly to carry them out, but I just can't. When I see a mouse, I just lose it. I would hate to see my reaction to a rat, so I hope that I never see one of those on the loose -- especially anywhere near my house.

3. Cockroaches. Again, I know that they can be stepped on and eliminated, but that is so gross. Have you seen how big those nasty things can get? I hate the crunch, even when it's someone else stepping on them. I'm a compulsive insecticide user (my apologies to any environmentalists out there...). We fog every house we move into, before we put anything in it, then we usually fog again at the beginning of every summer (and anytime I see nasty insects in my house). I don't like taking chances.

Goals:
1. To have a baby soon! (See my previous posts) I know I am still rather far from my due date (but only a week until the induction date), but I am so tired (literally) of being pregnant. And, I like babies a lot better on the outside, even if they do cry and wake me up in the night. I would be so happy if I could wake up tomorrow in labor...

2. To get myself organized. In some ways I am a very organized person, in others I am terrible. I like to be in control of things and organization is one of the best ways to accomplish that, so I am always trying to get organized. I wonder if I shall ever feel that I have succeeded...

3. Patience. I'll let you know if I ever succeed at that one. Don't hold your breath.

Current Obsessions/Collections:
1. I am currently obsessed with getting this child out of my stomach. I have quite a list of labor inducing tactics, that I am putting regular effort into.

2. I am so obsessed with having a baby that most other things in my life are getting neglected. I guess I can look at stuff I collect. I do collect a lot of books. I have tons of children's books. We have books stored in five different rooms in our house (and we don't really have that many rooms), not counting the kitchen, where we do have cookbooks. That leaves two bathrooms and one bedroom without any bookshelves.

3. I also collect scrapbooking/crafting supplies. Sometimes I even use them...

Random Surprising Facts:
1. Probably not surprising to most of the people who read my blog, but very surprising to most other people -- our third child (Michael) was born in the car on the way to the hospital.

2. I don't like peanut butter. That usually shocks people, especially when they see how much of it my kids consume. (Hey, pb & j's are the easiest lunch I've found -- who cares if I eat them.)

3. I love politics. I don't necessarily care for all of the garbage that comes along with the political workings of our system, but I am fascinated by democracy. I thoroughly enjoy most political discussions and I like to be involved in the lowest levels of politics, as I feel that I can actually have a pretty decent effect there.


As I'm sure that all of you look forward to being tagged -- hoping beyond all hope that you will be next -- I had a difficult time choosing, but I have decided on Amanda, Meg and Savannah, since I don't remember seeing any tag posts from them before. (I know the rules say five, but goodness, how quickly will I run out of friends if I follow that... If any of them want to involve their husbands, then maybe I'll reach the stated goal.)