The story of Adorae Shine Becker, By: Nicole

The Birth Story:

Saturday night we had some friends over for snacks and pinochle.  When they left (after beating the Beckers in 2 out of 3 games) at midnight all seemed normal.  We drifted off to sleep at 12:45 am, and I woke up at 3am with a full bladder and one heck of a contraction.  I dismissed the hard contraction immediately, because these things happen (especially with a full bladder), emptied my bladder and went back to bed.  At 3:45 a very hard and long contraction woke me up.  I thought there was a chance I was in labor,  but after 3 weeks of "thinking I might be in labor" I didn't get all too excited.  Eight minutes later, I had another hard contraction that lasted for 2.5 minutes, followed 7 minutes later by another 2.5 minute contraction.  That was enough confirmation for me to wake up Trent and let him know the time had finally come!

At this point, I was unsure about what sort of labor I was going to have.  Ila's was 4 hours and Chessidy's was about 8 hours.  The best, and quickest way to explain the difference between the labors (other than the time itself) is to say that a 4 hour labor is INTENSE and an 8 hour labor is EXHAUSTING.  As I stood there, having an incredibly hard, intense contraction that was MUCH longer than a normal contraction I prayed that labor would be quick.  More accurately, I cried out to the Lord "God, if it's going to be like this, I can't handle a long one!"

I got into the tub and left the timing of contractions to my husband.  I knew they were close together, and I knew they were hard.  After a few more, I told Trent that he needed to call his mom, because I really wanted to get to the hospital before transition.  He wanted to wait it out a bit longer, because my contractions appeared to be a bit inconsistent.  It was very difficult to be in disagreement on the matter while in labor, but thankfully, my body let us know in a short time that we needed to make the call and get going to the hospital.  We called Tammy at 4:50 and she was there by 5am.  Getting to the car took longer than one would want it to, but I made it.  At this point I was in full blown transition, and feeling the urge to push.  Thankfully we live all of 3 minutes from the hospital.  Trent called our doctor on the way and told him I was having contractions every 2 minutes, and they were a minute long.

Trent got the wheelchair and was followed by several employees who seemed very concerned about me delivering my baby outside the emergency room.  They were on the phone with OB telling them to have a room READY and as Trent parked the car the poor wheelchair man wheeled me to the elevator while very kindly asking me not to push and encouraged me to breath.  Trent and I arrived to the room at the same time, the nurses checked me and told me I was at an 8 and NOT TO PUSH.

I'll interrupt myself here and mention that I was taught to listen to my body while in labor, and when a body says push, doing the opposite is dang near impossible.

They hooked up the monitors and the next 11 minutes ticked by at the speed of a snail for me, and flashed by like lightening for everyone else.  I was having contractions with just a few seconds in between for rest and with each contraction I was trying my best to breath, and not to push, but I was mostly pushing and not breathing all too much.  At this point I would say I barely had my stuff together and if it weren't for Trent's encouraging words and the calming touch on my arm from one of the nurses I may have gone totally off the cliff of uncontrollable flailing and wild animal noises.

My doctor arrived and the nurses asked me for the 100th time to get into a different position, so they could 1. check me again and 2. so the baby wouldn't fall on the floor if it came out.  They checked me and said I was almost there at a 9.5, just wait a little longer to push, to which I responded "I've pushed at a 9.5 before!" My doctor gave us (mostly the nurses) the go ahead and after a few pushes Adorae was here!

The Statistics:
9 pounds
21 inches long
35.5 centimeter head circumference
Born at 5:40am on Sunday, August 25th, 2013.

The Name:

Naming her was more difficult than in the past, as we had fewer choices than ever before.  It's amazing how many names we liked when I was pregnant with Ila and how few we like now!  We thought we made up the name Adorae a few months ago, but when we researched it we discovered it was indeed a name, albeit a very uncommon name.  You can read about the name here, but it means "gift; beloved; adored." Adorae really is a gift from the Lord.  All children are but Adorae was a gift the Lord chose to give us completely in His timing.  Shine means to "give out a bright light."  We have hope that our Adorae will give out a bright light with her personality, but also that the light of the Lord will shine out of her.  The definition of Adoration (Adoraeshine) is "deep love and respect. Worship; veneration."  This is how our hearts should be for the Lord.  We deeply love God, we respect Him and His power in our lives, His will for us and we should worship Him in all we do.  This is the hope we have for our children as well.  We will raise them knowing His power and love and raise them in His will and direction, and pray that as Adorae grows into her own person she will have adoration for Him, shining out of her!

Chessidy is 16 months old!

On August 20th, Chessidy will be 16 months old!  My sweet baby girl, who really is a toddler, is such a baby at heart still.  I am partially to blame for that.  I probably baby her more than I should, partly because I haven't had a baby around for so long (so it seems) and the other because somewhere, deep inside of me, I feel a little guilty that Chessidy only gets to be the baby of the family for 16 months.  Probably a silly thing to feel, but I recognize these feelings, and remember that God has a plan for our family, and this is part of it!

Eating some chips after enjoying a teething biscuit.

At 16 months, Chessidy walks, runs, climbs, spins and gets into all sorts of trouble.  She is in that stage of exploration that puts a mother on edge. I'm always (trying) watching and hoping I'll be there to catch her before she falls. It's good to let them fall sometimes, but other times, it's best to catch them.  Chessidy loves to do things that Ila does, and lately that is jumping from one section of the couch to the other.  Unfortunately, Chessidy can't jump, and really just steps off the couch, which often ends with tears, bumps and bruises.  

Climbing on big sisters bed.

Chessidy has an amazing appetite, and out eats Ila at every meal.  She is not the least bit picky about what she eats, but she is VERY demanding about having food the moment she sees it or smells it. The hard thing for Chessidy is chewing, as she only has three teeth.  Yes, you heard me right, THREE teeth at 16 months is pretty dismal.  She is currently working on five though, and that makes her grouch and irritable.

Chessidy camping in Yellowstone

Chessidy LOVES to cuddle, and be held.  She gives the BEST kisses in the world.  If you ask her for a kiss, she puckers up and waits for you to lay one on her. If you ask her to cuddle or for a hug, she'll gladly do that too.  She often wants to be read too, and the moment she gets on your lap she settles in for the story by laying her head against the reader.  When she watched Baby Einstein with Ila, she will lay her head back on the pillow, and lounge, or lay her head on Ila.  

With her favorite play buddies!

As for communicating, Chessidy is doing great.  She has a vocabulary consisting of the normal words her age speaks, and she says  "Ila" so clearly.  She still signs a few words, but she is also speaking them more and more.  Chessidy is very vocal, about everything!  This often means you'll hear her yelling, squawking, or growling.  We are working on some of these choices, and trying to teach other ways to communicate her frustrations, but being patient with her, as we should be!  

Posing for the camera.

I have to tell you about Chessidy's silliness.  She is a ham.  She KNOWS when she is being funny, and will laugh at herself.  No matter how upset she is (mid-fit even) you can get her to laugh by tickling her feet or swinging her upside down.  She is adventurous, and tough!  Ila and Chessidy wrestle with each other and rough house often.  Sometimes it doesn't go well, but most of the time it's full of laughter and sequels of delight!

A beauty and a ham!

I'm sure I haven't really captured the essence of Chessidy with this blog, because she is just so full of light and joy it's hard to explain.  Her name is so perfect for her, because she really is a delight to be around!  I look forward to seeing her learn about being a big sister, and she has a great big sister to teach her all the ropes.

Hanging out with Ila in the morning!