Chessidy, Ila, house.

Today Chessidy is 2 weeks old!  What a wonderful 2 weeks it has been.  She mostly sleeps and eats, but we sure enjoy our time together.  Chessidy also has developed her cry from dinosaurish to an all out scream, it is pretty vicious, but we love her none the less for it!  She likes to stay curled up like she was in the womb still and loves being held against a chest, but she sleeps nicely in her bassinet, for 4-6 hours at night.  I sure appriciate that!  So far we have not had night and day mix-up problems, and I hope it stays that way.

Ila loves being a big sister most of the time. She is adjusting well, but has a hard time when mommy is feeding Chessidy for the umpteenth time in a day.  I do my best to spend good quality time with her in-between feeds and cleaning at what not.  Ila helps me with laundry and in the kitchen some, so that is fun.

Trent is still loving his job.  I'm loving mine.  We are in the process or buying a house, and it is supposed to close on the 24th of this month if all goes well.  It's a pretty great house, so we hope all does go well.  I'm not looking forward to moving for the 9th time in 4 years but I'm looking forward to living in our own home, and hoping that it means we'll be in one place for awhile!

Chessidy's Birth Story by Trent

In case you were thinking this might be a repeat of Ila's birth story, please kindly take your pessimism to some other blog!!  This story helps highlight, among other things, a new appreciation for healthcare workers and the beautiful teamwork that took place among our birth team members which included the hospital staff and doctor.

Chessidy's birth started the same, it seemed, as Ila's.  Good progression in the weeks leading up to the birthday, and leaving the doctor's office with encouraging words that it is likely "going to be today, and happen fast!"
Nicole started having fairly regular contractions right away on Thursday the 19th ranging from 10 to 15 minutes apart.  By the time I got home from work she was having them about 8 to 10 minutes apart, but we had some house hunting plans, and decided to continue with them, in an effort to spur on the labor.  It sure seemed like it was working, and by the time we were done looking at places we called our Doula and started in with our plan of making it to the hospital a little sooner for the birth.

We ended up checking in to our lovely birth room around 10:30pm on April 19th and were all expecting to hear that the baby was all but out.  To our surprise Nicole was still about 4cm dilated, which is what she had been at 6 hours earlier during her appointment.  We just figured that we hadn't really hit the "hard" contractions yet, and rolled up our sleeves (because the room was warm) and started in with our mantra!

Three or so hours later the nurses were excited with all of the positive labor, and attitudes and said we might be nearing the "pushing part" and offered to give Nicole a little checky-wecky.  Well, she was progressed to 7cm, which was positive, because that meant that we were definitely moving forward to the birth, but we were all a little miffed that it was now 2:00am and we were just starting the hard part!!!

That wasn't enough to phase this team though, and the nurses were encouraging and helpful in lots of ways.  However, by the time 4:00am rolled around, and Nicole was still not fully dilated, suggestions started being murmured of breaking Nicole's bag of waters to help urge things along.  We said we were open to that if it was going to be beneficial, but we didn't want to just do it and then find ourselves not progressing AND being in lots of pain from the missing cushion of waters.  The time for the water to be broken came when our doctor gave Nicole the go-ahead to start pushing because she had finally dilated (around 5:30am on 4/20).  Nicole asked if she could push a little bit to see if the waters would burst on their own.  After a couple really good pushes, she politely requested for the intervention.

Since Chessidy was positioned so low breaking the bag of waters didn't appear to accomplish too much since only about a tablespoon of water drizzled out.  However, this took some of that hydraulic pressure off of the cervical area and allowed for the pushing to drive little Chessidy on through.  The drive involved a change in positions from sitting up in the bed to kneeling while facing the bed.  This position allowed gravity to help with the descending little one.  As Grandma pointed out later, "Gravity: it's not just a good idea, it's the law!"

So with just a few more pushes Chessidy graced us with her entry to the world at a healthy 9 lbs, 2.1 oz; 22 inches long, with a head circumference of 35 centimeters!  I was able to clamp and cut the cord, after we re-positioned Nicole to have some skin to skin contact with Chessidy and the cord stopped pulsing.  The placenta also came out without having to be tugged on or anything like that.

Within a couple hours we were in a new room recuperating and getting used to life with Chessidy Light.  The nurses and doctors were all we could have ever hoped for, and left us feeling well cared for, and valued.  They appreciated our concerns, and didn't pressure us to make conventional decisions, and they were very helpful and attentive when we needed explanations about certain nuances in practices or procedures.  This was important to us because of the disenchantment we experienced with healthcare professionals with Ila's birth.  We wanted to feel more trustworthy of our local healthcare facility and Chessidy helped us do that with her birth.

Introducing Ila's Best Friend

She has finally arrived! Our new bundle of joy finally joined our family!

April 20, 2012 at 5:53am.

9 pounds, 2 ounces

22 inches long

Here she is, our beautiful daughter:

Chessidy Light Becker

Her name is quite unique like Ila's, and has very deep meaning as well.  We got Chessidy from the Hebrew word "Chesed" which translates to Lovingkindness.  Her middle name, Light, is to remind us and her of God's light that shines upon us, and her name is also chessiDELIGHT, as in we Delight in her, the Lord delights in her and we delight in the Lord.  We find her name to be quite Delightful! :)

Chessidy is nice and healthy, mom is doing well recovering after a long, hard, natural (yea!) birth and we are all trying to catch up on sleep, as we were up all through the night.

Settled

We are sure happy to report that we are nice and settled into our new/temporary home. Our 2 closets 9a regular sized on and a very large walk-in are stuffed to the gills with boxes as is the 4X4 storage unit that came with the place. Most of our stuff fits nicely enough though, and we are thankful to our Marma and poppy for storing the other stuff that doesn't fit, like our deep freeze.

Ila is pretty well adjusted to the new home and we are so happy to be back to our normal routine! I find that not having the internet sure makes for more productive days! I do miss being able to look up recipes and switch up dinner plans at the last moment, but I will survive! I do have several cookbooks that are being used, so that is nice.

My last doctors appointment put me at 2cm dilate, 75% effaced and the baby is at a -3. That means she is super low, which was no surprise to me as I'm pretty sure she's been at a -2 this entire pregnancy! My body is HURTING like crazy, but it's worth it. I'm super excited to meet our little one though, and to figure out her name! We're hoping for April 16th for the birth 9because we have so much control...right?!?!) because it's Trent's grandma's birthday, and it would be a real blessing to have a little one on that day. We'll see if we can make it happen!

Trent is enjoying his job. He already had a bit of a shift in what he is doing, and it fits him much better. He was the lawn care foreman, but now he is the landscaping foreman. He like landscaping wuite a bit, so he is excited about it. Also, if you've heard about the Chobani factory being built in Twin Falls, you'll be pleased to know that Living Earth (Trent's company he works for) got the bid to landscape it, so he'll be running the crew that does that landscaping there, and of course getting his hands dirty in it! He is currently studying for the CDL test, as his company would like him to have one and it comes with a raise, so why not, right?! Trent's two weeks working outside have renewed his appetite, darkened his skin and brought home some bacon, so I'd say things are going really great!

Ila's potty routine took a hit with the move, but we seem to be back to all good now. Her current favorite things are playing with her toys (which she has a new found passion for, since she didn't see them for two months). She plays and plays and plays, putting babies to bed, telling them to "be quiet" and taking them to the potty. She also has two new favorite movies (goodbye Tangled and Toy Story 3) Bolt and Finding Nemo. She especially likes the sharks and the whale in finding Nemo, and always likes to mention Dori. It's pretty cute, and it is nice to shake things up a bit! Her vocabulary is pretty incredible. She can sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star all by herself, say the alphabet (with a little help) and count to ten, if you say five for her. She LOVES counting things! She knows her colors, and I think we'll start working on letter recognization next. Oh, and her other favorite song (TTLS and ABC'S are her favorite 2) is Little Bunny Foo Foo, who was hare today and goon tomorrow!

So that is our story! Please forgive the typos, I'm writing tis int he driveway of my in-laws and would rather go hang out with them, then re-read it! :)

36.5 weeks

How far along?: 36.5 weeks.

Heart Rate of Baby: averaged 140 today

Gender: we were told Girl at 20 weeks, so we'll go ahead and assume they were right.

Total weigh gain: 25 pounds

Maternity clothes: for sure

Stretch Marks: same ones from Ila, but they are getting more stretched I think. I have one VERY painful and large one right where all my pants sit. It makes wearing pants not so great.

Best moment this week: getting my parenting issues with Ila sorted out. We are back to being happy, happy people!

Sleep: sometimes I sleep. It's never the whole night through, or very comfortable, but it does happen. The best sleep I get is when Ila is sitting in my lap watching a movie.

Miss anything?: Sleeping on my back. The ability to roll from one side to the other without shooting pain, cuddling with my husband (I'm too hot and too uncomfortable to cuddle much these days!) and running after Ila for more then 3 minutes.

Movement: Lots, and I know she is feeling squished in there these days by how hard to pushes around when she moves.

Food cravings: meat, and chocolate (but it gives me heartburn if it doesn't have almonds in it!).

Anything make you sick or queasy?: nope.

Labor Signs: contractions are getting harder and I just have a feeling this little girl is coming soon! And, I'm already dilated a bit over 1 and 60% effaced. My doctor told me he thinks she is coming soon too. Oh and I pretty much feel her head pushing on my cervix ALL the TIME!

Belly Button in or out: I'm going to go with halfsies again. It looks pretty funny.

Wedding ring, on or off? On. I have not been a swollen pregnant lady ever (yet) and I'm MORE than okay with that!

Mood: Pretty good, but lots of mood swings and stress.

Looking forward to: Getting moved and settled. It is pretty much all I think about these days! I really need to nest.

So there you have it. I've had a feeling this little one would be coming soon for several weeks now, and the doctor pretty much confirmed that news today. I am super excited to meet our little one, but I'm praying like crazy that she waits until we've moved. I want to get Ila settled and get the house ready for an infant SO BADLY!

35 weeks of change.

It's hard to believe that I'm 35 weeks along in this pregnancy and living in Idaho, although not in our own place yet. 35 weeks ago we lived in Washington and Trent had a job. We were pretty excited about growing our family and thinking it was a great time to do so, since we had a steady income, a home, insurance and a nice healthy family and marriage.

A lot of thing can change in 35 weeks. As my body has grown, the saving account has shrunk. As our little baby made a nice home in my uterus, we have lost ours. Thankfully though, Trent and my relationship has grown stronger, as has our relationship with Ila. We can thank God for that, because as we lean on Him, He teaches and grows us together, and that my friends is a good thing. I'm not saying this 35 week road has been easy, because it really hasn't. I'm not saying it was fun, because it wasn't. I'm not saying I would gladly do it again, because I wouldn't. What I am saying is that the Lord loves us a whole lot, and without Him I'd be a wreck.

Now is a time for celebrating. Trent starts his job on Monday, and we will probably (maybe hopefully is more accurate, but I'm going to be optimistic and go with probably) be moving next week or next weekend. If the moving guesstimation is accurate we'll have enough time to get the house in order and possibly relax for a few days before our new little one comes. I am on the edge of my seat about the housing thing and I think my nesting is fighting for SOMETHING to organize and get ready for the new arrival. I'm curbing the urge as much as possible and hoping it comes roaring back when we are finally in the house!

I also have to mention that Ila is wearing big girl panties today. We've had her in slightly padded panties since we started potty training (back in July/August) but we finally (after 2 solid weeks of no poo in the pants) made the switch. She was pretty excited about them (possibly because Aunt Telcia and I were so excited). She even pulled her pants down to show her Daddy her big girl panties. He didn't find that as humorous as I did... It was strange having a child completely pee potty trained and night time potty trained but still pooping her pants. She would run off and poop in private, and then come say "uh oh, poopoo!" Not my favorite thing ever. I'll tell you the secret that finally did it, LEMON DROPS. That girl would do just about anything to get a lemon drop. She LOVES them. Every time she would poop in the toilet we would give her one. Now, the second she hears her poo plop in the bowl she yells "LEMON DROP!!!" I can't wait till she poos in a crowded public restroom!

Now, back to the 35 weeks of change. I've had my doubts and wonders about why this pregnancy and the unemployment happened at the same time. Here is what it has come down to: The truth is that there is sin in the world, and we are all sinners. Some people chose to act on some sinful behavior and that threw our lives into this whirlwind. It is just part of life on this earth, dealing with the repercussions of our own sin and others sin. Just because we love the Lord and do our best to serve Him does not make us invulnerable to the sin of others. Sin is hard and hurtful, but how great is it that it all gets washed away and we will one day not have to live in it?!

I see now how this is still a good time to grow our little family. Things don't seem so perfect or so lined up but it is God's timing and our choice in family planning and things don't have to be perfect for it all to work. We were never promised a life full of perfection, consistency, control or routine and this 35 weeks has shown me that so much. I'm grateful that God is still teaching me, and that I am teachable! Our little bundle of joy will come into this world loved deeply, and will be well cared for with or without a job, with or without our own place, but certainly not without God and all his awesomeness!

Moving!

Well, it looks like we have a home to live in! It's not our home, but it will be, temporarily (what isn't on this earth though?), until we find something not so temporary. We feel very blessed by the circumstance and what not of how we came to have a place to live! Our move-in date is not certain yet, but it will be soon.

We're heading to Boise on Monday and then to Washington on Tuesday to pack up our stuff. We'll be there for the week, and then hopefully load the moving truck over the weekend and head back to Twin. We're hoping the timing for our move in date and our moving coincide, but it may be a few days (or a week) in between. Prayer that they would coincide would be great though, as that would save a lot of time, work and energy of our helpers (and if you live in Twin and are reading this we WILL need helpers! I'm not going to be up for much more than watching Ila while people carry boxes and furniture, so we would appreciate any and all help we can get)!!! We'll let you all know when the help is needed too, when we've got it figured out.

It's sad to see our time in Washington end, but it is also good. Since Trent lost he job there it has been difficult for us emotionally to live so close to the farm he work so hard on. We were super blessed to live off the farm and on a ranch owned by amazing people (who will be greatly missed by us!) but it was still difficult to be living in the area. Washington is the place Ila has lived the longest and also that Trent and I have lived the longest together. It was a great home, and we feel quite sentimental about it all. We're really hoping, praying and planning that this move to Twin will be much longer then any of our other moves!

Ila is doing great, but ready to have her usual space and toys back. Or maybe I'm ready for it. Either way, she is a trooper and seems to adjust to change pretty well. I'm hoping that she adjusts to life with a sibling as well as she does to new places, but I'm not counting on it! Lately, she has been hugging my belly and saying "ohh, baby. Ohhhh!" It is the sweetest thing ever.