ok so life has been full of stuff lately. The obvious from the last post is the new addition to our family. :) gotta say second babies are more exhausting than first babies. With Nathan I was able to sleep whenever he did. This time that isn't an option because I'm up taking care of Nathan. Ryan's been getting us up anywhere between 6 and 8am (you know after the pretty much sleepless night. well for me... justin sleeps right thru it). So around 9pm is when I start falling asleep. Sometimes if I eat a small something just before I'm able to hold off sleep a little. But really I'm so exhausted that I dont mind sharing a bedtime with the 4 year old. As far as recovery, things are easier this time. Labor at the midwifery center was about a bazillion times better than the traditional hospital birth I had with Nathan. And having Justin home is awesome. Someone here to help. Its a bigger blessing than I could have ever imagined.

Other than that we are also gearing up for a move. Unofficial orders to NY (detailer is working on paperwork now... should have written orders with actual dates in 2 weeks) for around the middle of November. Not at all prepared to deal with the house (deciding whether to sell or rent or whatever). Very mixed feelings about the move. I've been in VA for a little over 6 years. When I first moved here I didn't expect to stay this long at all. The first year I was here I hated it. Now I'm happy here. I have friends here. A life here. I know the area (even if I do still get lost driving in norfolk). I'm also excited about moving. About seeing something new. The boys getting to play in snow. the possibility of an actual white christmas. those are all very exciting things. Also the very best part about NY orders is no deployments.

I am getting in a teeny tiny bit of knitting. Just a few rows here and there on some small blanket squares. Nothing big and fancy.

I had other things I wanted to share. But now that I'm trying to type them I can't remember. Maybe I'll think of it later and come back and share.

again by the time I'm posting this most ppl already know. But guess what for those who dont. I had my baby!

Ryan Daniel Ryder was born July 20th 2009 at 4:13am 7lbs 11oz and 20inches long.

contractions started at 20 till midnight. At first they were every 10-12 minutes. It sucked but I could tolerate it. It mostly just felt like a really bad stomach ache (cramping and gas pains) that got worse if I tried to move. I wanted to make sure it was true labor so I waited an hour before telling anyone. Then I waited a total of 3 hours before waking Justin up. At that time contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. We left for the hospital and got there at around 3:20am. I was already fully dilated. Things happened much faster than we thought. I was happy that I didn't have to have an iv this time (was suppose to but didn't get there in time) and REALLY happy about not having to have pitocin this time. labor without pitocin seemed smoother and more natural. It still sucked. I mean its labor. But it was so completely different this time. Even with it progressing so much faster than with Nathan my body had more time to naturally react to everything. Where as with the pitocin the doc/nurses controlled the speed and my body had no choice in the matter.

Comparison of the two:
Nathan born October 16, 2004 at 1:32pm 5lbs 10oz and 18.5inches long
water broke at 4am
check into hospital by 4:30am
born at 1:32pm

Ryan born July 20, 2009 at 4:13am 7lbs 11oz and 20inches long
contractions started at 11:40pm
check into hospital by 3:20am
born at 4:13am

We are so happy to be home. got a great nights sleep last night compared to sleeping at the hospital. Everyone seems to be adjusting really nicely to each other. Nathan has even already helped with diaper changes. He is such a great big brother. Although some of it confuses him. He showed a few signs of jealousy while in the hospital but hasn't displayed much at all since getting home. He has referred to Ryan as "my baby" a lot. His favorite thing is for Ryan to grab his finger and hold on. He also loves to kiss him. He'd kiss him constantly if we'd let him.

Ok so by my calendar I'm 35 weeks this week. My next appt is the 10th and hopefully we can get on the same page with a due date everyone is happy and comfortable with. This I might be anywhere between 34 weeks this week and 36 weeks bothers me. I'll stick with saying I'm 35 weeks, but if they want to say I'm 36 I'll go with that. Especially after they said they think he is huge. I know he is bigger than Nathan. Which yes that does scare me.

Had a really nice baby shower saturday. Kept it small and I honestly think that's how parties like that should be. I hope everyone that attended had a good time. There was much chatter and eating and prizes.

I got a lot of amazing gifts. Hardly have anything left on my list of "must haves". Was fun getting to explain some of the products to others. Some of the ones I used with Nathan and knew were to be on the "must haves" list this go. and then of course explaining why I didn't want some items. And what some of the cloth diapering items were.

Watching the expression on Sams face when we tried to explain labor pains to her. I think me and Valerie did a rather nice job explaining it. But pretty sure she is terrified of it now. Not that we were trying to scare her. Just being as honest as possible. I'm not the type to lie about it.

I think filling the house with baby items from the shower has gotten Justin more ready for this. He finally got our carseat out of the attic. And he is dying to put the swing together. We have half our hospital bag packed (half meaning we haven't gotten it all gathered up yet. I think we'll finish that tomorrow tho).

I'm ready for this baby to come even if no one else is. Nathan is ready too. He tells his little brother daily that he needs to come out and join us.

bunkbeds and matching quilts for the boys

Went today and registered Nathan for PreK. Wont know until July 10th whether he gets into the program or not. Our interview process went well. So I have high hopes that he is in the program. I can't wait to find out.

Got Nathan all signed up for Swim classes this year. I found an awesome program last year. But found it right before we went to GA for 6 weeks. Then the wedding traveling (Amie's and Wyatt's). By the time we got back we were completely broke and couldn't afford it. And they were pretty booked up until the fall. All year we've been trying to make sure that we could get him the classes. I'm happy to report that he is signed up for 12 classes. 2 classes a week for 6 weeks. After those 12 classes we'll see how he is doing and decide how his progress is doing and whether he needs more classes. He is super excited about his classes. So much that he ask daily if its time for swim classes. His first one is May 18th.

I have my fingers crossed for getting my car back today. I wont know that until around 3. which sucks. All day just waiting to find out if they call or not. I have a ton of errands to run. So would be wonderful if I could get my car back. Not to mention the very early doctors appointment I have tomorrow.

April 2: Justin wrecked my car on way home from work

April 3: spend all day on phone with insurance because they are retarded and can't remember what they said they'd do the night before (tow my car to shop... thus they think my car is lost. or that I'm a lazy bum for not having gotten my car to shop already. This seriously takes from 8am to 5pm to figure out and locate car and get towed to shop for estimate. Estimate that was scheduled for 8am)

April 6: Go sign paper work on estimate at body shop so they can start work on my car. Estimate is for $5182.27.

April 16: Justin stops by shop because they need another signature. Estimate is wrong and they want more money. Turns out they dont need a signature. But he gets update on car. The only Fit in the system is the 08 fit. The 09 and 10 fits are not in the system. Making things difficult to get parts and work done. (I have the 09 model). They are working best they can. Insurance company is being helpful and not giving them hard time about money.

April 24: hadn't heard anything about my car so I call to get update. Parts were on backorder. They finally got them in yesterday. I "might" get my car back first of the week. If they dont run into any other problems.

UGH!

so just fyi to everyone. my baby shower has been set for june 6th. no time yet. and formal invites will go out when it gets closer to time. if anyone wants to be invited but isn't sure they are on the invite list please leave a comment with your address (i'm screening so no one but me will be able to see).

Made my last diaper purchase. well the big one that I was putting off. Should be set on diapers until about 9months or more (depending on baby's size). Got my shipping notice from them today. Wicked fast. Just placed the order yesterday.

I think I've finally settled on crib bedding. But I need to wait until next paycheck to order it. So hopefully they wont sell out. Went to order the crib mattress and they are sold out/back ordered. Not really sure which. Found a different place that had it and same thing there. I'm on the list to be emailed when they become available but I'm kinda freaked out and scared about it. Its a very specific mattress. I did a ton of research and found the one that fit in our crib just perfect and wasn't one of the 1inch thick ones. But of course when I found it we put it on our registry. Hoping someone would help us out and order it. The entire time I kept telling Justin that no one will spend that much and that we should just order it ourselves. I should have trusted my gut. Because now I can't find it. Hopefully it'll turn up somewhere. Just hopefully for not a ton more than what we saw it for before. But I'd pay it if we found it. Having a mattress is pretty important.

called today about Nathan's school. But lady was on lunch so I have to call back. I looked into a couple private options too just in case he doesn't get into this one. The private option that I liked best we can't afford. theres an enrollment fee and a monthly fee. I hate that I can't afford it. But I'm honestly not sure how anyone can. Its pretty pricey. We are getting Nathan better swim classes this year. I found a place last year that I wanted to put him into... but things came up and we didn't have the money for it. But this year I'm figureing out money even if I have to sell a kidney. I dont want Nathan to miss out on things like this because we are irresponsible with our finances.

I ordered the kids matching blankets. But not sure when we'll get them. Custom done from a lady on etsy. They are really cute. But she is having trouble finding the backings I want. She found another option but it was way more childish than what we wanted. And I'm not about to pay that much for blankets I'm not happy about.

Seems everything I'm trying to do lately is blowing back up in my face. I try to do this and then that happens. I try that and its something else. I'm getting frustrated.

bored out of my freakin mind today.

Ok so old office charge me $.25/page for my record. I was fine with that. I was not ok with getting charged $1.25 for 5 pages that had nothing on them whatsoever. Grrr...

But new office was really happy I brought old record. They are use to people switching into their office, but apparently most ppl dont think to bring records. I thought it made sense. I'm right in the middle of something pretty big.

New office was good. I like the midwife I saw today. And since it was a different one than the one that gave the tour I went on. I've now meet 2 of the 3 (there may be 4 but I think only 3 i'm iffy about that... will check later). She was cool. New my neighborhood and taught me a couple interesting things about it.

The visit went fine. Blood pressure a little high. We are hoping just anxiety because of the new office. Afraid of getting lost in norfolk, not knowing exactly which building I was suppose to be in that type thing. Will keep an eye on it. Hopefully no big worry there. Weight wasn't mentioned at all. I did lose again tho. But they dont seem concerned in the least. I'm showing enough and baby kicks hard enough that they dont think he is struggling. and my urine test come back fine each time so they aren't worried about me either. Which is good. I hate being lectured about my weight. Pregnant or not you dont want to hear that your to big or to little. Since I switched offices I didn't get the glucous test like I should have. But they aren't concerned with that either. I have the bottle of 'crap' to drink. And will get tested at next appt. Everything basically went well. Took my cousin so she could hear the heart beat. Pretty sure she liked that. She smiled pretty big when she heard it. Then baby kicked the doppler. Which I thought was hilarous.

My biggest concern now is that the center wont deliver before 37 weeks. And everyone is pretty sure I'll deliver early again. I'm at high risk for it since I did with Nathan (36weeks). I'm not concerned about having baby early. Even 36 weeks again. Nathan was perfectly healthy. So as long as baby is ok and doesn't have to be in the nicu or anything I'm perfectly happy having baby early. But I'm not really that happy about if baby comes early not being able to be in the center and being stuck int he hospital again. I'll still get midwife care the entire time. But that's not the point. I'm also really worried about if my water breaks early again, they'll force pitocin on me again. I was dumb last time and didn't realize what all pitocin did. Kinda took doc/nurse word for it. I'm educated this time and wont make the same mistake. But its a big worry I have now. guess we'll see what happens. To me they have my duedate wrong. So even if I make it to 37weeks they'll still have me listed at 36 and wont let me deliver there. And if I deliver at 36 like with Nathan, they'll have me listed at 35. I'm not happy about that at all. Going to try to get it switched around... but not sure. Its not like due dates are exact science. They get moved around constantly. I have my reasons for thinking my due date is a certain time. And to be perfectly honest I know my body better than they do. So we'll see. Pretty sure I need to come to terms with the fact that I'm going to be at a hospital again and not the center tho.