Owen David King

Owen is a week and a half today. Life is good and full with him in our home and I am stealing these moments to reflect on his birth while he is sleeping on his Daddy's chest before the memories begin to fade. I could sit here and write a blow-by-blow of May 8th, the day which both Josh and I agree is the best day of our lives, but I feel it too mechanical when there was more to Owen's birth for me than simply how long it took me to get to 10 centimeters and how long I pushed. So instead, I offer a few threads of emotion that enveloped that crazy wonderful day.

GRATITUDE:

The first thing that comes to my mind is gratitude. As many of you know, Owen is a miracle. I know, I know, every child is a miracle. But his very existence is a blessing to us as God graciously healed my body and enabled me to get pregnant. He is the fulfillment of our heart's desire and we chose to reflect that in the meaning of his name "Beloved and Desire Born." I remember a moment as I gazed out the window, focused on breathing through contractions, where my eyes filled with tears as I realized how the Lord was continuing to fulfill all of my hearts desires even up to the moment he arrived. My pregnancy had been a dream, my labor was progressing with ease, I didn't experience any back labor, I was surrounded through the whole labor process by my loved ones, Owen came early enough that the threat of my Dad and best friend Heidi missing his birth would not be an issue, and in the end I achieved my goal of going through labor natural. All of these things were reasons for me to be grateful.


Naturally one must update Facebook during labor... and the view out our window that got me through the first stage of labor.

Labor Progress

JOY:
Joy is another emotion that most people experience the day a child is born. When thinking about labor in the days and weeks before my impending due date, if you had asked me if I thought joy and laughter would have been a part of my labor experience I probably would have responded by saying that joy would be at the beginning and end of the process but not in the middle. I was wrong. I remember joking and laughing at things Josh would say, cracking up as he played a cruel joke and took his "bundle of joy" (a wadded up sheet) out to expectant family in the hall, or playful teasing my sister-in-laws as they saw me in all my shining glory. That joy lasted till the final hour of transitional labor (i.e. once I reached 9 cms) but returned an hour and 14 minutes later when I held Owen in my arms for the first time.




Determination

I would be lying if I said that my labor was all smiles and gratitude. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It's not that labor was so painful that I couldn't bear it, or that I got to a point where I decided I truly was crazy for not wanting an epidural. It was more the challenge of maintaining that mental determination and resolve to see the process through to the end coupled with the physical discomfort that was the hardest. Before my labor I found this verse in Isaiah 50 which says: "Therefore, I have set my face like a stone determined to do His will." It was this verse that carried me through those tough moments for I had set my mind to the task at hand in order to successfully move beyond the physical discomfort I experienced. It was not easy. I remember looking over at my Mom and saying " I don't like this part" as the nurse continued to tell me that I needed to fight the urge to push by simply blowing through the contraction with shallow breaths in order to allow my body the time to fully dilate from 9 cm to 10 cms. In the moment it sucked, it was uncomfortable and I wanted it to be over with but I also knew that if I could just hold on he was coming. And he did. Owen David King was born May 8th, 2010 at 1:57 p.m. weighing in at 7lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long. My little man was finally here. My determination had paid off and I had everything I wanted and more.

Weekend Away

Last weekend we had the delightful opportunity of going to the beautiful and picturesque Washington coast with our good friends Steven and Dora Pyke. It was a spontaneous trip. One put together in a few hours in the middle of a beautiful Friday afternoon as we all dreamed of the clock striking 5:00. After some frantic packing and organizing amongst ourselves we piled in to our car and set off for Pacific Beach. What a glorious weekend it was, filled with long walks, clear skies, a balmy 65 degrees and no wind (pretty much unheard of for the Washington Coast). We soaked it up, knowing that this was probably the last time we would get away with such ease of spontaneity and with out thinking about our child.





The saga of the sea kelp and a man always ends in feats of whipping strength.










Dora and I reminisced of our child-hoods and the grand adventures beaches always held for us and our brother siblings. One such memory was the destruction of "sand cliffs." Technique: Stand slightly back from the sand precipice. Next stamp one foot firmly several times noting as a crack forms in the sands surface in front of your toes. Finally ooh and aah as you watch the resulting sand cliff fall in to the waiting stream below. (I think we could have done this for quite some time with out the fascination wearing off.)



Our car found a sweet parking spot on the beach...we later found the final touch to a perfect day- ice cream cones!







(Me at 36 weeks)

Getting Ready

In case you haven't noticed....May is just around the corner. This simple fact means that Josh and I are going to be parents- an exciting and daunting occasion all wrapped up in one, possibly two, days of hard work. I'm sure that every couple goes through the stage of getting ready to bring the baby home differently, but I can't help but think that there are some similarities across the board.

1) First off there is the learning phase as each partner learns about the intricacies, joys and discomforts of pregnancy. Boys learn to sleep in a bed with various "sleeping support" pillows that encroach on "their" side of the bed as their poor wife tries to get comfortable. Girls learn that the pregnancy glow doesn't come until about half way through your pregnancy and that their body will go through more changes than they thought humanly possible.

Within this learning phase falls the category of Labor and Birth Classes. I personally think every couple should go through this not onaly because it helps you to feel prepared but also because it's probably the only time you will ever laugh about labor. Josh and I just finished our two-Saturday seminar last week with my fabulous mother as our teacher. On the one hand, I think it helped us both get a better grasp of the challenge before us. But more importantly, it gave my ever-so-funny husband a chance to crack all those jokes stored up in his brain about breathing and labor positions before we get to the actual day which I think will preserve him from loss of life and limb.

2) I think most mothers must go through an irrational dream phase. I have heard multiple women tell me that they have the craziest and most vivid dreams during pregnancy. Two dreams in particular stand out to me. The first was in regards to naming our child. We have decided, much to Josh's chagrine at times, to keep the name a secret. I had one dream where our baby was born and we named him "Tyson" (which just so happens to be the name of my best friends 1 year old). However, even as I introduced people to my newborn son I would tell them that this was not in fact his real name, it was just one we were using for the time being. Apparently, my subconscious was bothered at the time that we had not chosen a name for baby King.

The second dream I have is re-occuring. The dream itself is not usually that eventful, except for one minor detail...I forget to feed the baby! Usually this dream is just a day in the life of the Kings. I go through the whole day toting my infant along through the various activities of the day and at some point I stop and realize that I have only fed him once or twice! The only thing that reassures me that I'm not a total failure as a mother is that baby King is a little angel, he does not cry or fuss even though his horrid mother has neglected him of sustanance! Apparently I'm a little worried about the whole breast-feeding thing.

3) Finally, I think every couple probably freaks out for a moment now and then that they will not be ready for the baby to come. I experienced that this week. Despite my best efforts to maintain the mentality that I will be prepared to be over-due, I somehow find myself surrounded by people who are sure I will not make it to my due date. At this point, 35 weeks is still too early for this little man to come. But, for a moment yesterday afternoon I got a tish-bit panicky that he might come early and that I wouldn't be ready because I had left all my preparation time till my maternity leave in two weeks. So, I promptly ran to Target and bought a package of diapers, a nursing-tank top, and some new born sized pants (the one thing missing in his tiny little wardrobe). My irrational fear appeased, I expressed to Josh what had just happened and decided that we will now be fine if he decides to come early...although in all reality we would have been just fine before those purchases.

Me and Baby King at 35 Weeks



Sock Monkey (made by Jude and Levi's Grandma)


Fuzzy Friends



Little Man's crib awaits him!

Bright paper packages tied up with string...

Last Sunday was my first baby shower...which means that my long suppressed nesting urges are finally satisfied! I can organize and sort and then re-organize all those organized things to my hearts content. It may sound crazy but sadly true and extremely gratifying. Thanks to this baby shower my mind is now a whirl with how to most creatively and efficiently store all these fabulous gifts people have bestowed upon us. If money were no object, and my nesting urges were allowed to run free, this child's bedroom would probably have more baskets and storage containers than were necessary.



Anyway, Kathleen Woodward, Jen Loftus and Joanne Stewart were the fabulous hosts of this shower. I am grateful to these women and the support they have shown me, not only in this most exciting time of life as I enter into mom-hood, but over the course of my life. It was extra special to be sharing it with Kathleen and Jen who were my Senior High small group leaders back in my youth group days. Who would have thought all these years later they would be throwing me a baby shower? I'm grateful to have shared yet another momentous occasion with these two women who were such an important part of my growing up years.


The lovely shower throwing ladies and me :)

THE SPREAD:

Delicious doughnuts specially made with blue frosting.








These doughnuts were seriously amazing, hence the need for a picture of their own!



THE PRESENTS:


Josh's Aunt Lisa makes incredible baby blankets, burp cloths and bibs...I'm so lucky to have gotten some :)



Lots of cute tiny boy outfits...one of the highlights was a Sounders onesie!


Apparently I have a new "breast" friend and didn't even know it!

A Love Hate Relationship

I love orchids. Yet we seem to have a bit of a love-hate relationship. My first one I received from Josh way back in our dating years...we jokingly called it our "love" orchid. When it comes to flowers, I like to think of myself as someone with a green thumb. For the most part, thanks to my gardening mother, I have learned the fine art of nuturing plants and am always awestruck by the beauty of flowers. Well...apparently those skills stop when it comes to orchids. I did everything in my power to make that little "love" orchid bloom. I took it to a Molbacks specialist, I bought special blossom encouraging fertilizer, I set it in a special tray so that it would have humidity...6 years later it had more leaves then it knew what to do with but never once did it bloom.



Orchid number two came from my mother-in-law two Christmases ago. She bought it with flowers as she knew that my hopes for the orchid Josh gave me were failing. At the time I was living with Casey who has successfully nurtured an orchid to reproduce flowers multiple times. I mirrored what she did, placing my orchid in the same window sill, watering my orchid when she did. Yet again...nothing but leaves...so it joined my "love" orchid on the leaf growing shelf.

For our anniversary this year, Josh surprised me with a new orchid as I had finally given in to despair and threw our first orchid away. This one came with blossoms! It was beautiful and I was hopeful since I knew that this one had the capability of producing flowers. I was careful to not over water it and marveled at the intense colors and delicate beauty of the flowers. Yet once again my efforts failed as a few months into my new orchid the flowers withered and the leaves started dying. (I did manage to save it from complete death, as it now sits in the window sill with two little leaves and my hopes that one day it will bloom again.)



Now we are present day. A new orchid from my dear brother, complete with 8 of the most beautiful white flowers and three promising buds. I am hopeful, or perhaps in denial, that this time will be different...that even once these flowers fade it will one day bloom again. However, just in case my orchid caring skills fail me once again I have documented the beauty of these delicate flowers. Oh little orchids, your beauty inspires me to keep trying even in the face of total defeat.