Recovery - First Hours of Life

Mama feeling better already! Yea for Natural Childbirth! No Epidural!

Learning to Nurse

Snuggles

Look at all my dark brown hair!

Room with a View... Love Hoag! We are so blessed to live in OC!

Tiny Man

So tired from all the hard work of being born!

Holding hands with Mama

Naptime for everyone!

Archer Lynn Atwater Xagorarakis

Welcome to the world where you are so loved and cherished!

Baby Archer Lynn Atwater Xagorarakis

Monday, May 10, 2010

6:46 AM

7 pounds 19 inches

Archer's Birth Story

I am pretty sure that I walked and yoga'd BB out :-) On the 8th Avee and I went for a 3 mile walk in the morning and then a mile walk with Dada in the evening. Then on Mother's Day the 9th all the boys and I went for a two mile walk stopping at the park for AV to play half way. Approx 6:30 pm, on the drive over to Golden Dragon for dinner with the family I felt my back starting to have aches and spasms so I told Alex that BB would be coming the 10th or 11th. By 9:30 I was having contractions every 20 minutes. But I didn't tell anyone because I had false labor for like a week. Although, I did tell Mom (Grandma) that she should definitely pack her overnight bag when she got home that night. From 10 - 11:30 I laid in bed with Alex watching TV & knitting, secretly timing my contractions off his laptop while he worked. By 11:30 the contractions were about 12-10 minutes apart so I finally told him I was in labor and that he should really lay down and get some rest. By 12:30am the contractions were 4 minutes apart. At 2am our amazing doula came over, she sat with me and talked me through every contraction while I labored in the tub. By 4am I felt the first urge to push and we waited a few contractions and then decided to get going to Hoag.

 Lindsey and Mama - 8cm and waiting for the next contraction

 Yes my tush was pretty much hanging out for all to see!

I eventually took the stupid gown off and just labored and delivered naked :-)

We arrived and were rushed into a room (which was the room right next door from Arvums birth room.) I was eight centimeters and my water was still intact. Our OB went into a C-Section which I knew was going to be a big mistake for me. By 6:15am I was pushing BB down, they called in the OB. My water was still intact so I finally agreed for them to release it to move the birth along. As the hook was coming at me my water released! It was the funniest thing ever! 6:30am the nurse is holding BB's head in and everyone is telling me not to push and to just breath through the contraction because we are waiting for the DR! Finally Dr. arrived I pushed a few times and BB's head was out but everyone was calmly telling me to push right away and then the DR was cutting the cord. Alex's face was sheet white and scared. I pushed two more times and BB was born! IT'S A BOY!

Our little Smurf

Pinking up

A few minutes of cuddle time with Mama

There was a little panic in the room his face was blue-ish but he was breathing, the cord was tightly wrapped around his neck.Which happens in like 30% of births. They laid him on me, wiped him down and started clearing his lungs. They took him to the side and continued to work on opening his passages and getting his color back. They let me hold him once more and then Dada and Baby Archer went to the Nursery for an hour to be check out by the NICU doctor. I cried but was comforted that Lindsey was with me and Alex was with Archer. Alex later told me that Archer had a tube down his throat and also had an oxygen mask on... So scary! But after an hour Alex kept bugging the nurses to let Archer get back to Mama cause he was hungry and sucking on his finger. The NICU doctor said that it was totally safe to take him back :-) All back together we were enjoying skin to skin and learning to nurse!

Bye-Bye with Dada

Look at all the crap they hooked him up to!

Going back to nurse with Mama!

That is better :-)

Brought another life into the world with the Love of my Life!

Alex was amazing! Strong and loving through the whole birth! Thank you Honey! I love you! Lindsey must have 8 arms. I have no idea how she talked me though every single moment, held my legs, held the bowl, took pictures, cool compresses on my next and face, and so much more! Love her and would not have a birth without her!

Getting ready to move to recovery

We love our little Belly-Bean, BB, Archer, Archie, Ari, Alax

Mothers Day

Andrew made me breakfast in bed! What a sweetheart!

BoopyDoo reading Mama the numbers he wrote in my card :-)

Going for a walk with the boys to the park... And no we couldn't leave without BOTH flags!

Fun Day with Mama and Dada

Check out my cool Bedhead!

Preggers Mama @ the park

I finally learned how to go down the big boy slide!

I love my flag!

AV & C

Avrum and his BFF Colin chillin at the park in monkey shirts eating watermelon!

Tanaka Farms Forever

Strawberry picking with our Mommies Group :-)

Such a Big Boy now!

Yummy! Organic Strawberries!

Pregger Pics

I cannot believe that Belly Bean could be here any day now! We are very excited and I am very anxious! I am having a major case of nesting and insomnia. Love feeling all the stretches and kicks! I am going to miss that so much. There is no way this is our last Baby. (Sorry Hubby at least one more time!) My belly measures 40 inches around - same as when Avrum was born. It is amazing what a woman's body can do during pregnancy & delivery! I gained 36lbs so far with Belly Bean as to 44lbs with Avrum (he was born at 37.5 weeks which was yesterday in this pregnancy.)

I love making Babies!

37 Weeks

1cm, station -1, 60% effaced... Woohoo! Could be like this for weeks... Last week 0cm, station -2, 50% effaced.

Tried to talk to my OB today about "non-directed pushing" during labor... not what I hoped... There is a reason I totally try to stay home as long as possible. I tried from the time AV was born to talk AL into a homebirth for the next one... Just too scary for him. My OB said that the hold your breath and puch method is the perfered method... blah blah blah... She also said that this method had nothing to do with my freak hypertension during the actual pushing which led to pre-eclampsia which led to me on MAG after AV arrived... I am not convinced... Don't get me wrong, I love my OB just not the common methods that OB's are following.

Baby Celebration

I absolutely love my Mommies Group! They are the most thoughtful and loving group of Mom's I know! We had so much fun having a Mommy brunch to celebrate the coming arrival of four new babies!

Missy took the Photo, left to right - Michelle, Naomi, Joy, Crystal, Shoko, Susan, Jenny, Crissy, Helen, Aimee, Denise and Cyndie! We missed Ruth and Courtney.

Shoko, Joy, Denise and Naomi

If I took off my heels we would have been all the same height! So funny!

Denise - due May 19th with a surprise

Naomi - due May 20th with a boy

Shoko - due June 24

Joy - delivering a little girl May 21st

FI on a Beautiful Cali Day

Just had my first REAL contraction - Grant it, I only had one the whole day.

Owen, AV & Colin watching the pop-up fountain while Mommies enjoy some Pink Berry

Who says that Adults cannot use strollers too?

Although I am about 60 lbs over the weight limit...

36 Weeks

We are 36 weeks! Yea! I am 50% effaced but not dialating. I gave birth to Avrum 2 weeks after a similar measurement. Dr. Grouse said if I go into labor from here on out we will deliver the baby, who is doing great. Healthy heartbeat and already dropped into position!

I am going to miss all the kicks and rolling around in there but I am so excited to meet BB!

We hired our Doula again. I am so excited to have her help and support again!

http://www.ocdoulas.com/

OOHH! Guess what!

We have a girls name!!! And cause it is so close we are going to keep it a secret. It is prefect and I am super excited! I cannot wait to meet BB and find out if we have a boy or a girl! 10 days till 37 weeks! OMG!

35 Weeks

It is almost a waiting game... 2-5 more weeks to go. Last week I suffered from MAJOR insomnia and this week I can bearly keep my head up and eyes open. I think my body is trying to tell me to rest cause BB is almost here! I remember this is when I went on Maternity leave with Avrum and I was exhausted! Slept almost all day everyday :-) No way that is happening this time around :-)

I am not as hungry as I was before, probably because I can eat bigger meals now that BB dropped into position. I cannot wait to go to the Dr. next week and see what she says. With Avrum I was already 60% effaced at this point but with no dialation.

We better get that Hospital Bag ready!

Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma!

Happy Birthday Mom! Looking more beautiful and happier than ever!

34 Weeks & Counting Down!

The last two months have flown by! BB is head down with a healthy heartbeat. We are super excited! Just a few more weeks and BB is here! I already put on 31lbs but have perfect stats so our OB could care, Lucky for me! All I want to eat is Sweets, Jack in the Box Tacos, Mc D's Hash Browns, Cheese, Pickles, and Raw Veggies. In that order.

The Ultrasound tech wrote the gender of BB in the file they sent over to our OB, who is faithfully keeping it a secret from us! Thank Goodness! However, I had her write it on a piece of paper and put in in two envelopes. I then took it to my fav baby boutique, Bassinets & Blueberries. I picked out two outfits for each gender (making sure not to look at prices) and gave them the sealed envelope. Then I left they opened the envelope and packaged up the proper outfits in a sealed white box, which I picked up two days later! It was great. So now BB has something special and new to wear coming home from the hospital that Mama specially picked out. Alex could bearly stand it! I had to fight him off the envelope more than once!

We have another appointment April 20th where they will probably check me for effacement and any dialation, as it will be 36 weeks. Then we may get one or two more weekly appointment in before BB is here. Cannot believe this is going SO FAST!

We both love the Boy Name:

Archer       Lynn Atwater       Xagorarakis

We cannot agree on a Girl Name:

Analynn     Marie Atwater     Xagorarakis

Alysse       Marie Awater      Xagorarakis (still playing with the spelling)

Anne Marie      Atwater        Xagorarakis

Or something totally different! :-) we will have to wait and see

This is the ironic part when we were preggers with Avrum we were set with a girl name (Avery Anne Atwater Xagorarakis) and couldn't agree on a boy name until our little peanut arrived and Alex pick Avrum over Asher. So, does that mean this time we are having a girl? Still 50/50 of guessing right hahaha!

HAPPY EASTER!

AV had fun finding eggs with Dada and the doggies... Sleepy head Andrew woke up at 9:30am.

We skipped the candy this year and put hotwheels in AV's eggs!

 Best Buy and  iTunes gift cards!

Making Easter Bunny Eggs

Brother is showing AV how to dye eggs

Dada let me see the picture

Mama and a clearly annoyed teen...

Dada take a picture of this!

The X Boys

Our Colored Eggs

(there would be 18 but Mama dropped 3 - preggers reflexes)

AV's Special Eggs

He colored these himself - Beautiful!

Big Boy Eating Breakfast

Basketball Star

Phone video - so super bad quality I will try to get better video's tomorrow.