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Taylor's Birth Story

Taylor, baby, baby Tay, nugget has been with us for an entire month! Naturally, I am reminiscing about his very first days and had to hop back into the blogosphere (feel free to hate me for that word) to share what will be remembered as quite the entrance!  Taylor's Birth Story We had big plans. Oh such big plans.   I expected to go into labor early. This pregnancy was more uncomfortable, with long strong contractions weeks before our due date. I let out a sigh of relief when we made it to full term without rushing off to the hospital. As we hit 40 weeks, my beliefs changed drastically to an overwhelming feeling that Taylor wasn’t ever going to budge without   strong convincing... this time I was right! We decided to induce at 41 weeks, as we had done with Charlie.  Will and I have never been the couple to write out a detailed birth plan, always laughing at the idea that labor could follow anyone’s specific instructions. However when we arrived to the hospital, expec...
Recent posts

5/3/2021

What a contrast between today and a year ago.  This time last year we were holding 3 day old baby Charlie in our arms. We were the happiest we had ever been. Our little boy was in our arms. He was perfect, that we were certainly sure of. The world, however, was a disaster of a thing. It felt cold, unsettling. Knowing what we know now, it's easy to forget the turmoil of those moments. The memory of his first days, weeks, months will constantly get mixed up in our version of pandemic and postpartum life.  However, today we get to sit back, comfortable with what the summer holds - glorious summer days, trips to see family and friends, a Sharkey's burger, the world slowly opening back up as individuals step up and get vaccinated. It feels bright, colorful, predictable.  And Charlie? Well Charlie is certainly not the tiny, sleepy newborn anymore! He claps his hands, broad smile on his face, as he speeds across the living room floor chasing the ever-patient dogs. The yells of "...

9/14/2020

When was the last time I wrote one of these? Shrug.  At this point, it's news to NO ONE that all of us (Charlie, Will, and myself) had a rough start into newborn world. Colicy months, postpartum anxiety, just plain old getting used to this new life. It was all such a mess at first... like a billion piece puzzle that none of us knew how to get started on.  Luckily we have found a few edge pieces, and while life still is a giant mess, we are starting to see the frame of this beautiful life we are building. With most of Charlie's tummy troubles behind us and the smallest bit of predictability, we have found quite a bit of relief. Also with help... A LOT of help from family and friends. Finally it feels like Charlie is ok AND we know a few things.... like two things... but that's a few right?  Like many parts of baby world, this new sense of relief feels like it has arrived overnight. Oh you were crying into a plate of half frozen chicken nuggets yesterday and today you are t...

6/8/2020

COVID has made it difficult to figure out how family would meet our little Charlie. With friends, it was easier. We just wouldn't let friends close to or hold him. It wasn't the easiest pill to swallow, but the choice didn't keep us up at night since many are in health care and easily understand the added risks there. But family... family is tough. The idea of keeping family at a distance truly broke our hearts. After he was born, there were many tear filled days as I sat knowing that we would be the only ones that knew him on this day at this time. These are moments that families treasure, all the milestones.  We went into our birth with everyone, including us, not knowing when Charlie would meet family. Our families patiently waited for a sign from us on how this would go. We didn't know. We still don't know if we have the right answers. Are we being too risky? Are we being overly cautious?  What we ended up with: anyone who would hold our baby needed a mask and a...

Charlie's Birth Story

It's been a while since I sat down to blog. When I closed down the photography and editing business, I also shut down my website and blog permanently. However, as I sat down to write out Charlie's birth story, I kept reverting to my blogging voice! It's comfortable and what I'm used to when sharing our personal life. So here we go again with the Monday Mess!  At 39 weeks pregnant, when they tell you that you are full term, you start to envision going into labor because "it could happen at any moment." This is a blessing and a curse since being ready feels exhilarating, but waiting patiently for the biggest moment of your life is exhausting. Each contraction, each twinge of back pain, each bubble of gas has you wondering, "IS THIS IT??" For us, it was always no, nope, nah, maybe later, HA GOTCHA. At 40 weeks and zero signs of labor, we set up our back up plan with the midwives. They suggested induction between 41 and 42 weeks, if labor didn't star...