To my Daddy: What can a girl say about the best Daddy God could have given her? There's so much I should tell you. Like how you were a perfect example of the kind of guy I should look for to marry myself. I say perfect because you were not afraid of your imperfections, but you always were diligent about killing the sin in your life even in front of me and Bekah, showing us how we should do it too. I never harbored ill feelings for the things you missed because of your job. After all, what's one or two piano recitals missed when we took the coolest family vacations ever? :) You have taught me so many lessons through the years, I can't possibly name them all. But, I can tell you this, when the situation presents itself, I will suddenly remember very vividly something you said, or did in the same situation that taught me how to handle it. I totally forgive you for choosing Butterfly Kisses as our Father/Daughter dance at my wedding and making me cry so hard there was no recovering my makeup afterwards. :)One of my favorite memories is having Super Soaker fights in the backyard. We battled with the old pump action Super Soaker 50's (The COOLEST water guns on the market at the time) and we always ended up drenched. I wonder how one of those battles would go with the new battery powered automatic water guns nowadays!! Or how you would set up the little tent in the backyard every year for me and Bekah to play in, and you would be a good sport one night a year and agree to camp out with us in it. You very rarely said no to watching me jump on Jack's trampoline, even though I'm sure I asked at some pretty inopportune times. Although I was pretty excited when we were finally able to get a trampoline of our own. I got over hating you for grounding me from the car after I backed it into the garage by accident, then didn't tell you about it for weeks. I still talk about the times you took me on a trip with you. Even though one of those times didn't turn out the way we thought it would. Remember how we ended up in Morristown NJ instead of Manhattan??? Oops! :) However, there is one thing that sticks in my mind most of all. Something you taught me with out even realizing it. It was after Mom and I got into a huge fight. We were hurling insults at each other, and you arrived and broke up the fight. I remember you doling out my punishment for disrespecting her (don't remember what the punishment was, but I was mad about it). I said something along the lines of how it was unfair when she was just as guilty in the fight as I was. You leveled your gaze at me and said "She is my wife and I will protect her, even from you." With out realizing it, you showed me the lengths a man should go for his wife. Fortunately, the Lord gave me a husband who lives up to this. Thank you for showing me what that type of man looks like so I could recognize him when I found him. Most of all, thank you for showing me Jesus. Thank you for your constant witness during the 21 years I lived under your roof. Thank you for the example of parenting you have given me. I love you so much Daddy!!!
To my Husband: How could I have asked for a better father for my children?? God sure knew what he was doing when he gave you to me! Our boys are blessed to call you Daddy. I love watching you wrestle with Derek and lavish Owen with kisses. I jokingly call you the "baby guy" because you are always so great with the little ones, but especially your own. I love the twinkle you get in your eyes when your son(s) are the subject of conversation. And the way you laugh with me when we have parenting mishaps. I love that after two children, your love for me hasn't faded a bit. You hear of dads who are totally disconnected from their wives and children, and I am so thankful that you are willingly engaged in your family. I love that you are always striving to be a better example of Jesus to our children. In this they will see Him. Thank you for getting up with Derek every day, especially now that we have Owen and I am up during the night with him. Thank you for doing the dishes, and helping with the laundry, and helping with the cleaning. Thank you for being patient with me and my messiness, even though I know it sometimes drives you to the brink of insanity. I love you more than you'll ever know.
To my Grandpa: I miss you more than ever now that it's been 12 years since you went to be with Jesus. I wish more than anything that you could have met Derek and Owen. I wish you could have taken them fishing. They would have loved that. I am so incredibly thankful that you are my grandpa. More than anything else I am thankful that you came to know Jesus before it was too late. I know that you are waiting to meet my boys in heaven when we all join you eventually. I can't wait to introduce them to you. In the meantime, they will hear stories about you. Like how you spared a 4 or 5 year old me the trauma of knowing I'd accidentally killed a fish. It swallowed the hook and there was just no way to remove it without killing the fish. You skillfully redirected my attention and disposed of the dead fish before I even knew what had happened. Or how you bravely quit smoking cold turkey because the doctor told you if you wanted more time with your family you had to quit. Or how you used to give me money and tell me not to tell Mom. I love and miss you Grandpa.
To my Pop Pop: I'm so glad you get to know my boys. Derek and Owen are so incredibly blessed to have a great grandfather to get to know. Thanks for always putting us up in your house when we came to visit Rochester. You are a pretty incredible example to me of how to stay young. :) I mean when I was in high school you were still playing tennis at the club all the time! I'm so glad you and Nana are a part of my life, and a part of Derek's life. I can't wait for you guys to meet Owen!!! Thank you for all you have done for me over the years. I love you!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
More about Owen
Well, Owen is officially 3 weeks old! He is doing great! At his two week appointment last week he weighed 8lbs, and was 21.5 inches long, so he is a growing boy!!! He is doing so well! The best development is his desire to sleep at night! He will eat for a REALLY long time around 9:30pm (for like an hour or more) but then he will go to bed and sleep for 5 hours, eat again, and sleep for anywhere between 3-5 more hours after that! FABULOUS! I realized I didn't include any pictures in his birth story post, so here are a few for you all!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Welcome to the World Abel and Belle!!!!
As many of you know, I've been closely following my friends Aaron and Jennifer in their journey through embryo adoption. Well, the Lord is so good and Jennifer has delivered their twins safely! Abel and Belle were born at 31 weeks due to severe preeclampsia. They are in the NICU, but are doing well. Jennifer underwent two surgeries, her initial C-section, and a second surgery to stop some internal bleeding afterward. But, she has recovered and has been discharged from the hospital, praise the Lord! We continue to pray for Abel and Belle to grow strong so they can leave the NICU and go home. Welcome to the world Abel and Belle! You are loved already by so many people!!!!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Owen's Birth Story
On May 27th Nathan and I (and Derek) welcomed Owen Michael into our family!!! Here's how it all went down:
On May 26th I had been feeling contractions for weeks. We expected Owen's arrival any day, but he was taking his sweet time. I was dilated to 3cm and was 70% effaced, so I was really just waiting for my water to break. That evening Nathan was poking Owen (in my belly) for fun and I felt a trickle of fluid. I suspected that my water had torn but not broken. I didn't feel any more fluid after that initial trickle, so I figured that Owen's head had blocked the tear. I called my doctor who sent me up to labor and delivery at the hospital. When I got there, they tried to test me for amniotic fluid, but the test kept coming back negative. Again, I wasn't leaking any fluid after that initial trickle, so I wasn't all that surprised that the test was negative. I wasn't having any regular contractions (although I was having them) so they decided to discharge me and send me home to see if labor started on it's own. Before I left the nurse scheduled an appointment at 9am the next day with my doctor. That night I went for a long walk around the neighborhood with a friend and hoped that labor would start overnight. It didn't. I went to the doctor the next morning hoping that she would have some advice for me on how to get labor going. I wanted to wait for spontaneous labor but I was also worried about the possible water bag tear. When I got to the doctor I was dilated to 4cm. She told me my options were to wait it out, or go over to the hospital, have her break my water and see if my body took over from there. I was having contractions every 10 minutes by this time so I was pretty confident that my body would know what to do. I opted to go home, get Derek over to the babysitter's and get my bag packed the rest of the way and then head over to the hospital. I called my mom, who grabbed her already packed suitcase and headed over to the airport to try to get on an overbooked plane. It wasn't looking good for her to get here that afternoon, but she went anyway, and we started praying. I got to the hospital, got situated in bed and waited for my doctor. I was still having regular contractions, but I wasn't in any pain. Nathan and I were hanging out and watching TV when my doctor came in at about 12:30pm and broke my water. After that my contractions got more regular and closer together but I still wasn't in any pain. I was dilated to 6cm by now and so I got out of bed and onto the birthing ball to hang out there for a while. At 2pm they checked me again and I was still at 6cm. My doctor wanted to give a 5 minute long slow drip of Pitocin. I wasn't thrilled with the idea. I had wanted to avoid Pitocin at all costs, but at that point I realized it would help. After 5 minutes they came in and turned it off. The Pit contractions were so painful. It was awful. There's a reason the epidural rates for women who are induced are so high! I was begging Nathan to let me give in and get an epidural, but he was great and refused. It didn't take very long for my body to take over once I accepted the fact that I was not going to do pain drugs of any kind. I was pretty out of it for the next hour or so. I was aware of the nurses checking on me. I was aware of Nathan holding my hand. I was aware of my doctor stopping in periodically to check on me. I was aware of them getting ready to deliver and them setting up a fan to keep me cool (because I started sweating horribly through each contraction because of the pain). But I didn't care about any of it. All I could focus on was getting through each contraction. Finally I came awake when my doctor said it was time to push. Pushing was crazy strange. I could literally feel Owen moving down with each push. At one point there was horrible pressure on my tailbone, but I pushed through it. Getting the shoulders out was the hardest part. (Wide shouldered Metcalfs!) Then just like that, it was over. Owen was born. Turns out that pressure on my tailbone was Owen's face. He came out all black and blue in the face from slamming into my tailbone so hard. But, he was healthy! He was 7lbs. 10oz, and 20 inches long. He is a little nursing machine and when he was weighed a couple days ago he was 7lbs 12oz (which after dropping to 7lbs even at the hospital is pretty darn good weight gain!). He is such a great baby. He doesn't scream unless he's STARVING. He just fusses to let us know he needs something. We sleep pretty well at night except for between 2 and 4am. He really wants those to be awake hours, but Mommy is not so thrilled with that idea so we are working on that. He is laid back and easy going, and like I said, a champion nurser now that we are over the initial learning process. Things are going pretty well in the Metcalf house for now. Derek loves his little brother and never misses an opportunity to hold him and cuddle him and love on him (supervised of course). We will resume life as normal when Nathan goes back to work on Sunday! (Eek!) More updates to come!
On May 26th I had been feeling contractions for weeks. We expected Owen's arrival any day, but he was taking his sweet time. I was dilated to 3cm and was 70% effaced, so I was really just waiting for my water to break. That evening Nathan was poking Owen (in my belly) for fun and I felt a trickle of fluid. I suspected that my water had torn but not broken. I didn't feel any more fluid after that initial trickle, so I figured that Owen's head had blocked the tear. I called my doctor who sent me up to labor and delivery at the hospital. When I got there, they tried to test me for amniotic fluid, but the test kept coming back negative. Again, I wasn't leaking any fluid after that initial trickle, so I wasn't all that surprised that the test was negative. I wasn't having any regular contractions (although I was having them) so they decided to discharge me and send me home to see if labor started on it's own. Before I left the nurse scheduled an appointment at 9am the next day with my doctor. That night I went for a long walk around the neighborhood with a friend and hoped that labor would start overnight. It didn't. I went to the doctor the next morning hoping that she would have some advice for me on how to get labor going. I wanted to wait for spontaneous labor but I was also worried about the possible water bag tear. When I got to the doctor I was dilated to 4cm. She told me my options were to wait it out, or go over to the hospital, have her break my water and see if my body took over from there. I was having contractions every 10 minutes by this time so I was pretty confident that my body would know what to do. I opted to go home, get Derek over to the babysitter's and get my bag packed the rest of the way and then head over to the hospital. I called my mom, who grabbed her already packed suitcase and headed over to the airport to try to get on an overbooked plane. It wasn't looking good for her to get here that afternoon, but she went anyway, and we started praying. I got to the hospital, got situated in bed and waited for my doctor. I was still having regular contractions, but I wasn't in any pain. Nathan and I were hanging out and watching TV when my doctor came in at about 12:30pm and broke my water. After that my contractions got more regular and closer together but I still wasn't in any pain. I was dilated to 6cm by now and so I got out of bed and onto the birthing ball to hang out there for a while. At 2pm they checked me again and I was still at 6cm. My doctor wanted to give a 5 minute long slow drip of Pitocin. I wasn't thrilled with the idea. I had wanted to avoid Pitocin at all costs, but at that point I realized it would help. After 5 minutes they came in and turned it off. The Pit contractions were so painful. It was awful. There's a reason the epidural rates for women who are induced are so high! I was begging Nathan to let me give in and get an epidural, but he was great and refused. It didn't take very long for my body to take over once I accepted the fact that I was not going to do pain drugs of any kind. I was pretty out of it for the next hour or so. I was aware of the nurses checking on me. I was aware of Nathan holding my hand. I was aware of my doctor stopping in periodically to check on me. I was aware of them getting ready to deliver and them setting up a fan to keep me cool (because I started sweating horribly through each contraction because of the pain). But I didn't care about any of it. All I could focus on was getting through each contraction. Finally I came awake when my doctor said it was time to push. Pushing was crazy strange. I could literally feel Owen moving down with each push. At one point there was horrible pressure on my tailbone, but I pushed through it. Getting the shoulders out was the hardest part. (Wide shouldered Metcalfs!) Then just like that, it was over. Owen was born. Turns out that pressure on my tailbone was Owen's face. He came out all black and blue in the face from slamming into my tailbone so hard. But, he was healthy! He was 7lbs. 10oz, and 20 inches long. He is a little nursing machine and when he was weighed a couple days ago he was 7lbs 12oz (which after dropping to 7lbs even at the hospital is pretty darn good weight gain!). He is such a great baby. He doesn't scream unless he's STARVING. He just fusses to let us know he needs something. We sleep pretty well at night except for between 2 and 4am. He really wants those to be awake hours, but Mommy is not so thrilled with that idea so we are working on that. He is laid back and easy going, and like I said, a champion nurser now that we are over the initial learning process. Things are going pretty well in the Metcalf house for now. Derek loves his little brother and never misses an opportunity to hold him and cuddle him and love on him (supervised of course). We will resume life as normal when Nathan goes back to work on Sunday! (Eek!) More updates to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
