The Wee One is Three

We celebrated Ellie’s third birthday all weekend and then some this last week. She was whisked away to Grandma McKenney’s house a few days a head of us so she could spend some special one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa McKenney while I worked on a present for her. I think she really enjoyed it because when we showed up she kept saying “I stay at Grandma’s house?” or demanding rather that we were going to stay and not take her home. She was pleased when I told her we would stay until Sunday morning. So the fun continued for the Wee One and we had a small Birthday party for her with Jon’s family.  She loves her cousins and lights up whenever they come around. My Mom made Ellie’s day special with pools set up to play in and she planned several games to play with the cousins and such. The party was topped off with a water fight. Gary vs. kids. Although Grandpa McKenney got him good with the a surprise shot to the chest with the sprinklers.  By the time we got around to opening presents Ellie was tuckered out and barely had the energy to tear open the paper let alone show any excitement. She loved each one of her presents and has been keeping busy with them.

Thoughts about School

WHEW! She wears us out!

Laguna Beach, California

We took a little vacation to southern California. Packed up the truck on Friday and delivered Adah to my parents and then left for Laguna Beach Saturday morning. We stopped in Mesquite, NV for a nights rest both there and back not my favorite place to be but good for a cheap nights stay while passing through. Gary attempted to win our gas money but failed. The kids did good with the long hours spent in the car. Owen was easy to please as long as we stopped to meet his needs. Our dvd player is out of commission so I was anxious about keeping Ellie entertained. I packed a bag full of surprises and snacks to keep her occupied. It worked like a charm she was easy to please as well. I did load up a bunch of her favorite TV episodes, music, and audio books onto my ipod and that was pulled out when we were desperate. All in all I’m proud of my little family for enduring a 14 plus hour drive.

We stayed in a great little hotel called the Tides (thanks for the info Charie). It was a cute little place that had been totally remodeled and updated. They had a fantastic pool area with a great grill area and fireplace. Our room also had a little kitchenette so we saved a lot of money by stocking up at the grocery store down the block and making all our meals. It was right on the Pacific Coast Highway and only a few blocks to the beach. So it worked out well we were able to walk every where we needed to. We will definitely be back there again.

We basically got up in the morning ate breakfast and went straight to the beach, then returned for lunch, kids and Gary took naps while I went out exploring (shopping), then back down to the beach in the afternoons. There was a great little park at Main beach that Ellie couldn’t get enough of. She made a lot of friends there. It was fun to watch her interact with the other kids. On the last day she made a good friend named Mackenzie they quickly became pals and gave a great big hug when it was time to go.   Ellie wasn’t to sure what to make of the waves at first. She was a little scared of the water the first day and just wanted to play in the sand and collect clam shells. On the second day I finally coaxed her out to the waves and we had a ball running out to them and then running back in away from them. She even got so brave she sat down in the waves at one point. The ocean is very foreign and intimidating to me so it was nice to see Ellie overcome the fear of the waves and get in there and enjoy it. We explored the tide pools a little bit as well, checked out all the shells, sea weed, and saw a few little crabs. I can decide which picture to put up of the 50 we have so I’ll do a little slide show…

Owen’s Birth Story

It has been two weeks now and I really need to write this down before my inherited bad memory looses the details. We are slowly finding a new rhythm in our home and I’m taking small steps to go out and conquer trips to the g-store, park, library, ect. I have been lucky to have a lot of help from Bada, Danielle, and my Mom these last two weeks. They have helped ease the transition. Gary has been awesome as well paying special attention to his little girl and waking up to burp or change Owen after a middle of the night feeding frenzy. And my little Owen, oh my little Owen he is such a good baby, he is content and peaceful. He doesn’t like the car seat too much perhaps he is just protesting the shopping like all the other men in my life.  He is trying to find a rhythm. Our nights have been a little inconsistent but he has given us some 4 hour rest every now and then. He is a chow hound and grows every day. He may even earn his Dad’s nick name “Beach” as in beach ball here pretty soon.

So, on to the birth story. On Monday the 22nd of March I had my weekly appointment with our midwife Danielle. We learned that my body was getting ready I was 70% effaced and dilated to a 3. So we went home knowing that he was getting ready to come out. I was feeling good and wanting to get things done before the big arrival. Bada and Danielle flew in on Wednesday after a 6 hour delay in the Detroit airport due to bad weather. We got home and settled in for the night and slept well.

Around 5:30 am Thursday morning I rolled over and told Gary I thought I was feeling contractions. We laid there for a while waiting for Ellie to wake up and trying to time my contractions. I finally got out of bed to start my day and the contractions weren’t going away. I called our MW Danielle and she said to wait until they were about 7 min apart. So, I continued waiting it out and trying to do normal things while Gary and Bada kept a close eye on me and Aunt Danielle played with Ellie. Finally the contractions got stronger and closer and we called the midwife who said to come in. Gary took Adah for a quick walk that didn’t feel so quick to me. Then we got in the car and drove with a quick pace to the hospital.

Danielle checked me as soon as I got there I was dilated to a 7 and totally effaced so we walked down to the maternity ward and checked in. It was about 10 am by that time. Once we were settled in the contractions became stronger and closer. I was having some back labor so I sat on a big exercise ball, which helped a lot. Ladies if you have back labor use this! It opened up my hips and relieved some of the pressure on my lower back. My dear sweet husband also helped by massaging my back and applying counter pressure. At this point I was starting to feel a little weak and tired and whoosy. I was getting what I call tunnel vision. I think my body was telling me to start to focus.

Around 11 am Danielle recommended that we break my water to help things move along. When she broke my water she saw there was Meconium (Owen had had a bowel movement). So she called in a respiratory specialist to be there when I delivered. As soon as she broke my water my contractions became exponentially more intense. They were very powerful and overwhelming. I was having a hard time wanting to move. I laid on my side for a little while and remember gripping the bed very tightly. Danielle was right there with a very soothing tone talking me through it and telling me how good we were doing. She was very comforting.

After a few of these crazy strong contractions, Danielle began to tell me to bare down and not fight against them. She encouraged me to work with my body, so I turned on to my back and began to push. Gary was by my side encouraging me as well. He didn’t have to say anything he just had to be there and hold my hand. Which I couldn’t let go of. I remember at one point Danielle asked him if he wanted to change positions a little bit and he tried but I had such a grip on his hand and I couldn’t let go. At this point I was aware of everything going on and everyone in the room but I could not respond to anything. My body was in control. It was the closest I will ever be to an out of body experience. It didn’t take long at 12:18 Owen was born. He cried immediately which was a good sign the Meconium wasn’t inhaled. The umbilical cord was “loosely” around his neck and one of his arms was in an awkward position when he was exiting that all made it a little tricky, but he came out fine and was immediately put on my chest for skin to skin contact while Gary helped cut the cord. He was checked over by the respiratory specialist and cleaned up a bit soon after.

In all I was in labor a total of 6ish hours. I had no medicated pain relief and Owen came into our world with out incident. It was a beautiful empowering experience to have a natural birth. We were very fortunate that the “planets lined up” that day and no obstacles were put in our way. Owen nursed right away and was alert and so healthy. My recovery was relatively quick as well. I felt fine and had energy and a veracious appetite. Most likely some endorphins left over. We stayed one night in the hospital and came home the next afternoon after passing all our tests and receiving important visits from Ellie, Bada, Aunt Danielle, and Grandma and Grandpa McKenney.

Owen Greeley’s First Day

Gary here…Guess it’s time to update the About page on Peas.

Danette is so strong. She was in labor for about 6 hours, and the delivery was 100% all natural with no pain medication, nothing. As with Ellie’s birth, I was in awe watching this process unfold.

Slide show below from today, starting with pics of us leaving the house this morning. More will follow in coming days.

Owen Greeley Marcoccia was born at 12:18pm on March 25th 2010, 7lbs. 15 oz.

3/28/10 Updated with a new slide show from a spontaneous photo shoot “Evening Light” 🙂

Pre Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa McKenney’s

Ellie and I spent the weekend with my parents. Our main objective was to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and the Cousins. I also wanted my Mom’s back up for a Christmas project I’m working on for Ellie.

We made plans to go to the American West Heritage Center in Cache Valley where they had different events such as tea parties, train rides, pony rides, Father Christmas, and a live nativity. On Friday afternoon we had a little tea party with just us girls. It was fun and we had a little lesson about manners and learned a little bit about life at the turn of the century.

On Saturday we went back with the boys and Uncle Jon to enjoy the train and pony rides. Ellie surprised me by getting right on the pony with out any hesitation. In the past she has been extremely reluctant to do such a thing but this time in the company of her cousins she was fearless. They also had a live nativity with a donkey and a goat. Unfortunately the donkey and goat were resting when we went on day two but we still dressed up the kids and got the picture…

Ellie also really got into helping Grandma with some of her Christmas treats. She was very focused on unwrapping some chocolate kisses for her

I didn’t complete my Christmas project unfortunately but I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did without my Mom’s help. It will just have to be a New Years Present instead…