"Done"

I wasn't going to post on my blog very much during Holy Week, but tomorrow is Lamb 3's birthday. Last year I posted his birth story here if you are interested. I also posted about how we celebrated his first birthday here. I was a little disappointed that his birthday is on Good Friday this year. I remember as a little girl the neighbor kids were Roman Catholic and I was surprised when I went over to play with them on Good Friday and their mother wouldn't let them come outside to play. I figured we didn't have church until the evening, why couldn't they come out and play? We plan to open presents tomorrow but celebrate with his birthday meal on April 3. His favorite food is clam sauce spaghetti (it really is-he eats 3 helpings!-thanks Susan for the recipe!) so we'll have that and of course cake and ice cream. Ewe's parents are here to help us celebrate. It is Lamb 3's golden birthday (2 on the 2nd of April).

Lamb 3 is not talking very much, but more than our other Lambs did at age 2. Tonight Lamb 3 watched as they stripped the altar at the Maundy Thursday service at church. After each candle was put out Lamb 3 said, "done". When the altar was completely bare, Lamb 3 yelled, "done" so loud that Ram heard him. Yes, Lamb 3, "It is finished."

6

Lamb 1 on his 5th birthday-celebration supper of his choice-meatloaf, sweet potato fries, and corn.

Lamb 1 turns 6 years old tomorrow. Recently people at church and in our local community and my sister have talked about how surprised they are that he is 6 tomorrow. I didn't really think about it until I started hearing those comments. The time went quickly! One of my bridesmaids had a baby boy named Joshua on March 2. She had a c-section because he was breech. Everything went well. It has been fun to remember what it was like to have Lamb 1 by looking at their photos. Her Joshua was just a few ozs smaller than Lamb 1. He was born about 15 minutes after Lamb 1. Many things are really similar for her Joshua and for Lamb 1 which makes it fun to remember 6 years ago.

Last year before Lamb 1's birthday, I posted his birth story. I also posted some photos of him. I looked and I was a bad Mama-I never posted photos of his birthday last year! I'll have to do better this year. My sister is here visiting. On Tuesday we went to the Twin Cities (4 hours) to get her from the airport. Yesterday was a busy day that I will post about later. Today the Lambs took Aunt Hannah to the local cafe for breakfast. Today we are going to make a cake for Lamb 1 and Aunt Hannah has to wrap his presents because she couldn't bring wrapped presents on the plane. For his birthday, Lamb 1 has to go to the eye doctor for a checkup and then we'll celebrate with a dinner for him. It is great to have Aunt Hannah here to celebrate with us.

Lamb 2's birth story

In honor of Lamb 2's birthday tomorrow, I am posting his birth story today.

During the pregnancy, the blood tests came back positive for Down Syndrome. We went to the Twin Cities for a level 2 ultrasound that didn't tell us any more. At this ultrasound we found out we were having a boy and we told people that wanted to know, but we didn't tell everyone.

My water broke about 3 am and we headed to the hospital 45 minutes away. Lamb 1 came just one hour after we arrived at the hospital so I wanted to go immediately for Lamb 2. We waited and waited and walked the halls until about 11:30am when they finally said I was far enough along to get in the tub for a water birth. I wasn't prepared for this long in labor after Lamb 1 came so soon. I was bored just walking the halls and waiting. Ram read a book most of that time. For Lamb 2 I had tested positive for strep B so I needed IV antibiotics when I first got to the hospital and then every 6 hours. The midwife had told me with my first birth being so quick that I would probably just need one dose. Wrong. The first dose was easy. By the second dose the last thing I wanted to do was to lay still on my back until the whole IV bag was in me! I now know why we want to labor any way besides on our backs. The only drugs I took for Lamb 2's birth were these antibiotics.

I got in the tub about 11:30am. They were in the middle of beginning a total renovation of the hospital. So I was in the tub with lots of banging and drilling and knocking down walls. The birth room with a tub was very small. The midwife laughed and said that all this noise would be worth it for future babies and their mamas to have better birth rooms. I didn't know at the time that she was right and I would have Lamb 3 in one of those beautiful new birth rooms.

I really felt like Lamb 2 was stuck the entire time I was in the tub. Finally the midwife told me to try a different position. I was in the middle of getting up on my knees when Lamb 2 decided to come out. The midwife caught him from behind. She says she will always remember his birth because he was the only baby that she caught in that position. (Maybe since he was born she has caught another one like that, but I doubt it.) He was born at 1pm. (I know I shouldn't complain because my labor was only 3am-1pm, but this was my longest even if it was uneventful!)

He was healthy- 7 lbs 7 1/2 oz; 19 1/2 inches. He was born one day before his due date. He was both my heaviest and shortest lamb.

I had a really hard time adjusting to two lambs. Lamb 1 then- dairy problems (MSPI), not potty trained at all, not talking at all (soon after Lamb 2 was born we had him evaluated by the school system), still had a pacifier at night, and still slept in our room. There are 2 years and almost 3 months between the first two lambs. I remember sitting in the house crying most of the day on the 4th of July, because I just couldn't get myself together and get everyone dressed by noon to go to the town potluck. Plus Lamb 2 did not sleep well at night (during the day he did ok) until we got the bright idea at 2 months old to take him to the chiropractor. He slept great after his adjustment at the chiropractor. We had taken Lamb 1 to the chiropractor from the beginning so I don't know why we didn't think of it for Lamb 2. So the first 2 months with 2 Lambs was terrible, but we survived.

Lamb 2 had a very easy-go with the flow-attitude that he still has today. I was thankful for this because Lamb 1 demanded so much from me.

Lamb 2 was born Memorial Day weekend so the hospital had different staff than normal. My midwife still was there for me and the small town hospital took good care of me, but it wasn't as much attention as normal. In some ways this was good. At night, the nurses took turns holding Lamb 2 and let me sleep from 10pm-4am (which was really nice after getting up at 3am the night before). And Lamb 2 got a lot of attention from the nurses. Ram was supposed to have Ascension Day service in the evening after Lamb 2 was born, but he canceled.

Lamb 2 was born with red hair that has lightened up quite a bit now to blond. Lamb 1 was a great brother and Lamb 1 and 2 are very close. We would have been happy with either sex, but I was very glad to have two boys in a row to be brothers and play together.

5 Years Ago

In honor of his birthday tomorrow, I thought I would post Lamb 1's birth story.

I had extreme morning sickness and was even hospitalized in September. We called the midwife about 10pm on March 4. From what I described, she said it sounded like Lamb 1 would be born in a few days. I woke Ram at 5am on March 5. We left at 6:30am. Snow was bad and it took 2 hours to get to the hospital (it should have been a 1 1/2 hour drive). The first time I was checked I was dilated 9 3/4 cm! The nurse said, "Get the midwife over here fast!" Thankfully she lived in town and she made it quickly. We had to wait until the water in the tub was body temperature. I finally was able to get in the tub. Lamb 1 was born about an hour later. The nurses couldn't believe Lamb 1 was born so soon, especially since he was the first child! Lamb 1 had a knot in his cord. Nurses came from all over the hospital to check it out.

Lamb 1 was my first water birth. He was born during his last scheduled prenatal appointment. He was born exactly one week early. He was born on March 5, 2004 at 9:34am. He was 6lbs 13 oz and 20 inches. I didn't take any drugs for his birth.

Our journey with a baby that NEVER slept was just beginning. When he was two months old he was hospitalized and finally given the diagnosis of MSPI (Milk soy protein intolerance). I continued breastfeeding and changed my diet. He slowly improved and very slowly gained weight. Tomorrow he will be 5 years old and he can finally tolerate moderate amounts of dairy.

Because of his MSPI, I was exhausted and didn't feel like I was caught up until he turned 2. I feel cheated because I don't have some of the baby memories of Lamb 1 that I have with my other Lambs. I think this is unusual because usually you remember more about your firstborn before you have more children. I was definitely in survival mode his first few years of life. Thankfully he has outgrown this and we get to experience life with a five year old beginning tomorrow. There definitely aren't dull moments around the house when Lamb 1 is home!