Yes, there is juicy news to reveal, but propriety requires I start at the beginning like always, and therefore I will. Just keep reading!
First of all, I would just like to highlight these three morning time pals, who are all basically in the same size clothing somehow, and make such a fun gang.
Um, how "Callista" is Callista in this photo? Answer: "V. Callista."
It looked like the biggest news of the week was going to be that I bought the game Clue for the kids when Penelope mentioned it was their favorite board game. I was getting a grocery order anyway, it was inexpensive, sure, why not? - let's throw it in the cart. Well, apparently this kind of thinking is what gets you cult-like devotion from your fans. They have been playing it literally nonstop all week. It gets opened first thing in the morning, and alternately picked up and taken out multiple times a day until it's retired at bedtime. A couple kids have even taken to playing it by themselves (somehow?) when there's no one else in the general vicinity who is free to play with them.
As for the prodromal labor from last week, it stopped immediately once my midwife was back from her family vacation, so I think much of it was related to a hidden anxiety about that. Once she returned last Friday afternoon, I started sleeping well at night, no contractions, I felt great! She came on Saturday and checked me, and the baby and I both looked good. There was no sign of labor progressing, other than that I was still leaking fluid. But she wasn't concerned, so I just went back to waiting it out, though much more comfortably than before!
Sunday we again laid low at home and did home church, and Todd got fun meals for the kids and flowers for the house. He is so thoughtful about bringing flowers and plants home when he finds something pretty for me.
Sunday night, we cozied up for family movie night and watched Home Alone 2.
Monday we kicked off our long stretch of Christmas break, and while I had hoped to get some Christmas cooking and baking and crafting done, very little of that happened. The weather was gorgeous, so I sent the kids outside to play, and we ran some errands in the afternoon. It had been a long time since I'd been out of the house and driving, so it was nice for all of us to get a little break. We ran to the library and Natural Grocers.
Sitting on the couch so much lately, with pregnancy and Covid, meant that I have had lots of time for girl chats with my big girl lately. That has been a big blessing.
Well, not to jump to spoiler alerts or anything, but I will say that the biggest news this week was that we welcomed Ophelia home on Wednesday! I am working on a post with just the birth story, so I won't write it all out in detail today, but I will share a few details and photos!
My water broke Wednesday morning around 5:45, and I started having contractions around 6:30. I got up around 7:30 or 8:00 to eat something and get the day started. I puttered around for a bit and called the midwife, and she got to the house around 10:00, I think. By 11:00 I was in the birth pool, and Ophelia was born at 12:10! It was crazy. It all just chugged right along, the kids did a great job, and for the most part everything went as smoothly as you could hope.
Penelope and Laurelai decided at the time to attend the actual birth itself (they previously hadn't thought they'd want to be there), so they got to see their sister be born! The rest of the kids met her within minutes of her birth.
Looking through these photos, I realize I'm still pretty yellow and ill-looking from being sick so long. I'm really grateful that I felt better than I looked on Wednesday - I had energy and breath and felt really good through labor. As my lungs have kind of re-expanded post-birth, I feel have had a few setbacks with my breathing and coughing, but nothing concerning. I think the road to recovery is going to last a bit longer - thank goodness I'm entering a postpartum season of intentional rest anyway! God's timing is good.
And I'm going to let Todd send us off with the Van Voorst secret handshake:
This was a fantastic week, and I'll be back soon with a detailed birth story!
3 comments :
Yay Paige!! Yay Ophelia!! I am looking forward to the birth story.
Welcome to the world Ophelia! I'm so glad you were able to have a home birth. Our house had covid about the same time as you did. It was so rough!! I couldn't imagine having it while pregnant. You are a champ for that. Irelynn had it in April but Erika and Morgan got it before Thanksgiving and Dan and I got if right after. We all ended up with a secondary infection from it and it took a good 2-3 weeks to even function.
Tell Penelope clue is my favorite game! Grandma Ann and I use to play it often when I was her age. I pray you can continue to get the rest you need. ❤ aunt Berta
i love being able to look back at the weeks that were and recapping. i love that black and white photo.
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