My sweet baby Linkan

Ornery...








"Cheese!"


This was my grandmother's rocking chair as a little girl. :)
















In my daughter's eyes...


And last, but not least...

July Belly Pictures

The tattoo on my belly is a mendhi (or henna) design. When we were back in Denver, moving out of our house, I visited Amy Swagman. She spent two hours painting (free hand) the beautiful design on my belly. I loved the design and I really enjoyed talking to Amy. She is a doll and her daughters are adorable. Sadly, the tattoo faded over time and went away but it was fun while it lasted! Here are some pictures of me at 9 months pregnant when my lovely was still in my belly. :)

July Family Pictures

In July, the lovely Chelsea Donoho took some pictures of us in Lawrence. We had a great time and she took some really beautiful pictures (you can find her on facebook if you want to book her - she's incredibly talented and super sweet). There are over a thousand pictures but I've narrowed them down and I'm going to break my favorites into a couple different posts. This post consists of my favorites of the family pictures.

Palmer's Birthday Story

Ben and I hired Stefanie Olsen of Complete Doula to be our doula for our second baby's birth. Stefanie is an absolute delight! Unforunately, she was on vacation when Palmer decided to be born so Stefanie's partner, Lindsey Clements ended up coaching us through labor and delivery. Lindsey is a total sweet heart and gave us a wonderful gift after Palmer's birth...a written story of her birth! I thought it would be cool to publish her perspective on Palmer's birth and add in my "side of the story" :) alongside it. My story is in red and her thoughts are bold.

I awoke a little after 1 a.m. on August 4, 2011. I had some mild cramping that I very sleepily chalked up to some stomach related issue. When I woke up a few more times over the next 30 minutes, it finally dawned on me that I was actually having contractions. I had an OB appointment earlier that previous day and was at about 3 cm dilated. My contractions were fairly mild. I lay in bed for about an hour, tracking my contractions with a cool iphone app that I had just downloaded and then woke Ben up to tell him that we were going to have a baby today. I went out to the kitchen, ate a bowl of Berry Kix, and then lay down for a couple more hours. We got out of bed around 5 AM and I called my mom.

I received my first text from Kacy at 4:00 in the morning on Thursday, August 4^th. She said that she’d been having contractions since about 1:30 AM. They were 6-8 minutes apart and she’d put the pain level at about 3. She said not to come over yet, so I texted back and told her to let me know as soon as things picked up and she was ready for me. I heard from her again at about 7:45. The contractions were 5-6 minutes apart and they were ready for me to come over.

I arrived at their house at 8:30 in the morning. Kacy’s mom was there with Molly and Linkan had just woken up. Kacy was in the rub and Ben was gathering Linkan’s things. Kacy was staying active and each time a contraction would start she’d stop and bring to breathe deeply. She was timing the contractions on her phone and they were pretty consistent at 5 minutes apart. We all hung out at Linkan ate her breakfast and Molly entertained us. Kacy and Ben were both very laid back.

My mom and Molly arrived a little before 8 AM to take Linkan back to Emporia. The contractions were very manageable at that point so I continued about the house as normal, stopping to breathe through each one as they came and passed. I stayed on my feet to allow gravity to do its job. I felt good and was happy and excited to meet our baby. I felt prepared and ready for what was to come. I wasn’t worried, anxious or scared. Ben said that he didn’t think we had a 9 month picture for the blog so he took my picture.

As soon as Kacy’s mom left with Linkan and Molly, Kacy’s labor picked up speed. She relaxed a bit more and the contractions became more intense and closer together. Kacy spent some time on her knees in front of the couch leaning over and resting her head between contractions. Her breathing was excellent and she did an amazing job of relaxing her body during contractions. Because Kacy was Group Strep B positive there were some questions about when to leave for the hospital. No one wanted to get there too early. Dr. Durland knew this was the case and had given her some oral antibiotics to begin taking. Kacy had taken 2 during the night, but there wasn’t time for any more.

It was important to me to labor at home as long as possible so the Group Strep B thing kind of threw me for a loop. In a perfect world, you get to the hospital at least 4 hours prior to delivery so that they can give you one dose of antibiotics and then they give you another one just as you are delivering your baby. Doc knew what my original plan was, so she prescribed an oral antibiotic and I started taking it as soon as I realized I was in labor. I leaned over the couch on my knees to help ease the pain. I also was getting a bit tired. I was running on 2-3 hours of sleep, so laying my head on the couch in between contractions felt nice. I noticed that my pain level had quickly elevated. I started shaking a little bit and Lindsey asked if I was cold. I wasn’t; and just explained that it was my body’s reaction to the increased pain. She suggested the tub and I thought that sounded great. I was ready for a change.

At about 10:30 it seemed that Kacy had moved into active labor. The contractions were 3-6 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds. She was breathing harder through them, but she showed no signs of pain. Around 11:30 I suggested she try the tub again. Once in the tub the contractions began to increase in length. By about noon they were lasting 1 minute and she had a few that were less than 2 minutes apart. I kept waiting for Kacy to show some signs of pain, or “transition”, but she didn’t! She was really amazing, totally relaxed and breathing very deeply and evenly. I did not think she was in transition yet, but felt like it was time to get to the hospital. Ben had already loaded the bags in the car, he let the dogs out and we left.

While I was in the tub, the contractions were very intense but I tried to stay focused on breathing through each contraction, relaxing every muscle in my body…including my facial muscles and repeating in my head, “get big”…related to my cervix. ;) Good tips that I picked up from an Ina May book. It was my way to embrace the process and encourage it to hurry the frick up! It was a quiet time in the bathroom…not much talking…and Ben had actually dozed off as he was sitting in the chair next to me. J At noon, Lindsey suggested that we head to the hospital and we agreed. I was ready (again) for a change. On the way to the hospital, Ben and I were talking and joking in between contractions. He reminded me not to get my hopes up when they checked me…because I might not be as far along as I would like and I told him that I wouldn’t worry about it. I was pretty darn uncomfortable during contractions in the car. Not fun! When we arrived at the hospital, Ben walked me up to the third floor. I had to stop multiple times on the way up to work through the contractions and hold on to him for dear life!

We arrived at the hospital at 12:30. I parked the car while Ben walked Kacy up to Labor and Delivery. Once Kacy was placed in a room, Ben went back out to the car to get their bags (we obviously thought we had more time than we did!). Kacy sat on the birthing ball next to the bed while we waited for a nurse. At that point Kacy had a contraction and said that she needed to push. I walked out to the nurses station to let them know things might be moving faster than we thought and to hand them Kacy’s birth plan. A nurse very quickly came in, checked Kacy’s cervix and announced that she was 9.5 cm’s and had a bulging bag of water! Kacy laughed out loud and said “Thank God!”.

We finally made it to the room and Lindsey gave me a birthing ball. During my first contraction in the room, I felt the overwhelming urge to push. There is NOTHING that I detest more than needing to push but having to suppress that urge. It’s like trying to stop a tsunami. Virtually impossible and a tad bit painful. A nurse soon arrived and checked me. I had NO idea I was almost complete and it was music to my ears. I was so relieved that I wouldn’t have to try to NOT push for very long. Lindsey was cracking up at my response and I could tell that she was just as surprised as I was. A nurse got the IV lock in my arm. The next step was to administer the antibiotic for strep B but Palmer had other plans and they weren’t able to get any drugs in my system in time.

Just then Ben walked in the door and heard the news. He came around to Kacy’s left side and I went to her right side as we helped her breathe through the urge to push. Dr. Minderman had just finished a delivery and was out in the hallway. She came in the room as Kacy was having another contraction and had her give in just slightly to the urge to push, but not “bear down” yet. Kacy’s water broke, Dr. Minderman checked and she was 10 cms. Kacy was given the go ahead to push slowly and she did an incredible job. It was so hard to not push with all her force but she did a great job of easing the baby down.

Ben arrived back just as things were getting very intense for me. He was on my left side and Lindsey was on the right. I felt like I was completely out of control. I’m telling them that I seriously needed to push. Then my water broke and I was totally at the mercy of my body and the contractions. The sheer force and power of the contractions wanting me to push Palmer out literally took my breath away. I was gasping for air during my contractions. I didn’t remember the force of the contractions being this intense with Linkan. Probably because I had pushed for 2 stinking hours with her. This time, everything was going sooooo fast. I was a little freaked. I fixed my eyes on Ben’s to try to calm myself. When they told me not to bear down, I used short shallow breaths (like you typically think of when you think of Lamaze) to stop myself from bearing down. I was quite vocal about it at that point too!...because it was hard!! J I’m sure it was quite entertaining to listen to me outside in the hallway. Haha

Although it felt much longer, this part only lasted 6 minutes. At 12:54, only 25 minutes after walking in the door, Palmer Tate was born! Because she inhaled some meconium she had to be suctioned over in the isolette before going to Kacy’s chest. I think Kacy and Ben were both in shock that it happened so fast (so was I!).

I think it was one or two more contractions later that Palmer was born. Ben and I both looked and said at the same time to each other, “It’s a girl!” I’ll never forget the surprised look on his face. He had been convinced that it was a boy so he was shocked. He was so happy. I noticed Palmer’s dark skin color right away and watched her as they took care of her next to me. They said that she was a little distressed due to the meconium and being born so quickly.

Once Palmer had her tummy suctioned she was placed on Kacy’s chest. Dr. Minderman finished her repair work while Kacy and Ben were studying Miss Palmer. About an hour after delivery the nurse came back to ask Kacy all the “admittance” questions. They also did her “admittance” blood work and we laughed that all this was happening an hour after delivery.

Once they felt ok with Palmer’s condition, they brought her over to me for the first time. I burst into happy tears while Ben and I marveled at our little miracle. It was all worth it. I would do it again a thousand times just to have Palmer in our lives. She is a precious little girl and we are completely in love with her.

Holding my daughter for the first time.

Shake Ya Booty!

Sisters

Linkan finally got to come home and meet her new baby sister for the first time! Before she went to bed, she asked to hold Palmer. She thought that was pretty cool and even gave her some kisses. I love my girls. :)

One week old

My baby is a week old already! What a week it has been. :) I thought that Linkan was an easy baby but Palmer is reminding me daily of how blessed I am to have an even easier second baby. She came out of the womb knowing the difference between day and night. If you're a parent, you know how amazing this is! We have gotten WAY more sleep at night than we had expected. She is a very chill baby...doesn't get too upset about much. She caught onto breastfeeding almost immediately and eats like a champ. At her 5 day-old appointment, she weighed 7 pounds! (She was 6 lbs. 13 oz. at birth.) We are so happy to have two little girls. For those who are wondering, the Postlethwaits are officially done having children. Our little family is complete now and we couldn't be happier or more blessed!

He's in love :)

Holding hands with mama

Not happy about riding in the carseat for the first time

Sleepy girl

One-week-old birthday at Orange Leaf

It's a girl!

Miss Palmer Tate was born at 12:54 in the afternoon on Thursday, August 4th. She is 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 18.5 inches long. We arrived at the hospital with only 20 minutes to spare and she didn't waste any time making her grand appearance! We are incredibly blessed to have a beautiful healthy baby girl. Now our family of 4 (FOUR!!!) is complete. We couldn't be happier.