We've had several folks ask us about Adia's name (mostly how to pronounce it) so I thought I would share the story.
Her full name is Adia Harper Dwyer. Adia is pronounced Ay-dee-ah. Or as Clay says "A as in Clay; Dee as in deer; Ah in car." Adia is a name I have loved since high school from the song "Adia" by Sarah McLachlan. So when we were pregnant with Pierce and choosing names I suggeted Adia for a girl and Clay liked it.
We loved the name even more when I looked up the meaning of the name. There is some discrepancy but it's either Swahili or Arabic. In Swahili the name means "gift" and in Arabic it means "gift from God". Either way we found the meaning to be very appropriate for a little girl and she is a gift from God!
As for Harper, this is Clay's mom's maiden name. We like that each of our kids have a connection to their family history through their middle names.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Friday, July 25, 2014
A Teeny Tiny Birth Story
So just like last time, the Teeny Tiny birth story turned out to be not so teeny or tiny. But I've learned that apparently I don't do short labor stories. Similar to last time I planned a home birth. Even though I didn't get the home birth I desired with Pierce, I found the midwife care very beneficial and laboring at home was much more comfortable than the hospital.
When we started this journey I thought I would have to have a c-section since the reason last time was the existence of a fibroid tumor. So I engaged my miwife Yvonne to provide montrice services. However, our first two ultrasounds (9 weeks and 18 weeks) showed no signs of the tumor we began to plan a home birth so in addition to Yvonne I brough Taryn to my homebirth team. All in all we had 5 ultrasounds none of which showed any signs of the tumor!!
I approached this birth differently than last time. WIth Pierce I was determined to have a home birth and consequently we labored at home for 35 hours before going to the hospital. Since this birth was a VBAC there are extra considerations and from the begining I knew that if certain things happened, such as failing to dialate, I would need to go to the hospital and I wasn't going to fight this time.
Labor started around 3:30am on Saturday (7/19). I woke up with recurring surges and I kept thinking they weren't rythemic. But around 4:15am I decided to start timing them and it turned out I was having a contraction for about 45 seconds every 5 minutes. When Clay woke up around 7am I told him this was "it" and we were gonna have a baby.
Once Pierce was up we called our back up crew, had breakfast, and packed Pierce's bags fully expecting he would be home that night to see his new sibling. I also called my midwife and let her know what was going on. She asked if she needed to come right then and we decided it wasn't "time".
All morning I continued to time my contractions and my water broke (for the first time) around 8am. Clay and I had lunch and laid down to rest around 12am. When I did I realized I wasn't experiencing as much fetal movement so I called Yvonne and she came to the house. She checked me out and everything was fine. So we spent the afternoon walking and trying different positions to aid labor and make me more comfortable.
Around 9:30pm my water really broke. It turns out that there are a couple of different layers of tissue that can release to make your "water break" but this was the real deal. This was important because I was GBS positive and the water breaking starts the clock to ensure the baby is safe. Regardless we had started an antibiotic protocol around noon just to make sure everything was safe.
As the evening wore on my labor continued but wasn't really changing. So the midwife decided to check my progress. When you're GBS positive they recommend fewer checks to minimize the chance of infection for the baby. However when I was checked I was only 4cm dialated. I was distraught. 4cm is where I stopped dialating at home with Pierce and this felt like a bad sign. This was around midnight so we decided to try a bath and eventually we tried letting everyone get some rest. However, I couldn't sleep and Clay and I talked and I knew I was too tired and couldn't labor at home anymore. This was around 5am.
So we decided to do one last check just to make sure I hadn't progressed but when I had actually back tracked to only 3cm it was a sure sign we needed to go to the hospital. Clay started packing up and I took a shower. Clay and the midwives got a little breakfast and we headed to the hospital around 8:30am.
We had to decide which hospital to go to. I had delivered at Saints last time and my doctor was at Saints who would perform a VBAC. However, my doctor was out of town and she let me know the doctor on call would not do VBAC, so if we went to Saints I was almost guaranteed another c-section.
On the other hand we could go to OU where I had no history but they have better support of VBAC deliveries. In the end we decided to go to OU since there was no indication I needed a c-section and I prefered a natural delivery.
Once at the hospital they checked me in but wanted to see if I would progress without pitocin. At one point I had a contraction that caused Teeny Tiny's heart rate to fall below 80 and everyone sprang into action. From this point on I was on continual oxygen and had to breathe deeply to keep the baby's heart rate up.
When they checked me around noon I was still only 4cm dialated so they gave me an epidural and pitocin. However, the epidural only partially worked and I had break through pain. So the doctor gave me additional medicine and suddenly I couldn't feel anything below my belly button. Last time I had some sensations so this was really weird.
As the afternoon wore on I was able to get some rest and when I woke up and they checked me around 7pm the nurse announced it was time to have a baby!!
Labor was really strange. My epidural was still so strong I couldn't feel as my midwife and doula worked with the doctor and nurses to move me into position. When I was told to push I didn't have any sensation of what I was trying to do. Luckily once you start pushing labor they turn off the pitocin and epidural so about an hour into pushing I began to have sensations which helped me figure out how to push.
As labor wore on I was more and more tired. In addition they were closely monitoring the baby's heart rate since every contraction caused her heart rate to drop and I was on oxygen and had to really breathe deeply between contractions to bring it back up. After a couple of hours of pushing the attending came in to observe. What I heard him say was "You have 2 more pushes to get this baby out." Apparently he actually said I had to get the baby out soon, but sometimes you hear what you need to hear. In my mind I knew if I didn't get the baby out on the next push I would have a c-section. So with all my concentration I pushed and out she came!!
Once she was out we could tell what the problem was. The cord was wrapped around her neck and then back around her arm and around her neck so every time she moved it constricted her oxygen flow. Praise God everything was safe. When she was born Clay said "Honey it's Adia!" and I knew we had our little girl.
The nurses placed her on my chest but her lungs were filled with amniotic fluid and they couldn't get her airway cleared while she was on me. I was so scared and they had to take her over to the table to clear her lungs. After what felt like an eternity (or probably just a minute) I got my baby girl back and I got to see her beautiful face and hear her little cry.
In the end it was again a blessing we ended up at the hospital. With the cord around her like it was we could have had additional problems. Also, it appears the reason I couldn't progress past 4cm was scar tissue from the tumor so it seems my body needed the boost of pitocin to push through. And finally my entire labor was 42 hours and I was exhausted. Having the epidural gave my body some rest which allowed me to deliver. And yes, for the record I did a successful 42 hour VBAC!!!
When we started this journey I thought I would have to have a c-section since the reason last time was the existence of a fibroid tumor. So I engaged my miwife Yvonne to provide montrice services. However, our first two ultrasounds (9 weeks and 18 weeks) showed no signs of the tumor we began to plan a home birth so in addition to Yvonne I brough Taryn to my homebirth team. All in all we had 5 ultrasounds none of which showed any signs of the tumor!!
I approached this birth differently than last time. WIth Pierce I was determined to have a home birth and consequently we labored at home for 35 hours before going to the hospital. Since this birth was a VBAC there are extra considerations and from the begining I knew that if certain things happened, such as failing to dialate, I would need to go to the hospital and I wasn't going to fight this time.
Labor started around 3:30am on Saturday (7/19). I woke up with recurring surges and I kept thinking they weren't rythemic. But around 4:15am I decided to start timing them and it turned out I was having a contraction for about 45 seconds every 5 minutes. When Clay woke up around 7am I told him this was "it" and we were gonna have a baby.
Once Pierce was up we called our back up crew, had breakfast, and packed Pierce's bags fully expecting he would be home that night to see his new sibling. I also called my midwife and let her know what was going on. She asked if she needed to come right then and we decided it wasn't "time".
All morning I continued to time my contractions and my water broke (for the first time) around 8am. Clay and I had lunch and laid down to rest around 12am. When I did I realized I wasn't experiencing as much fetal movement so I called Yvonne and she came to the house. She checked me out and everything was fine. So we spent the afternoon walking and trying different positions to aid labor and make me more comfortable.
Around 9:30pm my water really broke. It turns out that there are a couple of different layers of tissue that can release to make your "water break" but this was the real deal. This was important because I was GBS positive and the water breaking starts the clock to ensure the baby is safe. Regardless we had started an antibiotic protocol around noon just to make sure everything was safe.
As the evening wore on my labor continued but wasn't really changing. So the midwife decided to check my progress. When you're GBS positive they recommend fewer checks to minimize the chance of infection for the baby. However when I was checked I was only 4cm dialated. I was distraught. 4cm is where I stopped dialating at home with Pierce and this felt like a bad sign. This was around midnight so we decided to try a bath and eventually we tried letting everyone get some rest. However, I couldn't sleep and Clay and I talked and I knew I was too tired and couldn't labor at home anymore. This was around 5am.
So we decided to do one last check just to make sure I hadn't progressed but when I had actually back tracked to only 3cm it was a sure sign we needed to go to the hospital. Clay started packing up and I took a shower. Clay and the midwives got a little breakfast and we headed to the hospital around 8:30am.
We had to decide which hospital to go to. I had delivered at Saints last time and my doctor was at Saints who would perform a VBAC. However, my doctor was out of town and she let me know the doctor on call would not do VBAC, so if we went to Saints I was almost guaranteed another c-section.
On the other hand we could go to OU where I had no history but they have better support of VBAC deliveries. In the end we decided to go to OU since there was no indication I needed a c-section and I prefered a natural delivery.
Once at the hospital they checked me in but wanted to see if I would progress without pitocin. At one point I had a contraction that caused Teeny Tiny's heart rate to fall below 80 and everyone sprang into action. From this point on I was on continual oxygen and had to breathe deeply to keep the baby's heart rate up.
When they checked me around noon I was still only 4cm dialated so they gave me an epidural and pitocin. However, the epidural only partially worked and I had break through pain. So the doctor gave me additional medicine and suddenly I couldn't feel anything below my belly button. Last time I had some sensations so this was really weird.
As the afternoon wore on I was able to get some rest and when I woke up and they checked me around 7pm the nurse announced it was time to have a baby!!
Labor was really strange. My epidural was still so strong I couldn't feel as my midwife and doula worked with the doctor and nurses to move me into position. When I was told to push I didn't have any sensation of what I was trying to do. Luckily once you start pushing labor they turn off the pitocin and epidural so about an hour into pushing I began to have sensations which helped me figure out how to push.
As labor wore on I was more and more tired. In addition they were closely monitoring the baby's heart rate since every contraction caused her heart rate to drop and I was on oxygen and had to really breathe deeply between contractions to bring it back up. After a couple of hours of pushing the attending came in to observe. What I heard him say was "You have 2 more pushes to get this baby out." Apparently he actually said I had to get the baby out soon, but sometimes you hear what you need to hear. In my mind I knew if I didn't get the baby out on the next push I would have a c-section. So with all my concentration I pushed and out she came!!
Once she was out we could tell what the problem was. The cord was wrapped around her neck and then back around her arm and around her neck so every time she moved it constricted her oxygen flow. Praise God everything was safe. When she was born Clay said "Honey it's Adia!" and I knew we had our little girl.
The nurses placed her on my chest but her lungs were filled with amniotic fluid and they couldn't get her airway cleared while she was on me. I was so scared and they had to take her over to the table to clear her lungs. After what felt like an eternity (or probably just a minute) I got my baby girl back and I got to see her beautiful face and hear her little cry.
In the end it was again a blessing we ended up at the hospital. With the cord around her like it was we could have had additional problems. Also, it appears the reason I couldn't progress past 4cm was scar tissue from the tumor so it seems my body needed the boost of pitocin to push through. And finally my entire labor was 42 hours and I was exhausted. Having the epidural gave my body some rest which allowed me to deliver. And yes, for the record I did a successful 42 hour VBAC!!!
Sunday, June 08, 2014
A "Super" Nursery
We have finally finished the nursery and are ready to share some pics. When you don't find out the gender lots of folks wonder what your nursery theme is going to be if you're going gender neutral. With Pierce the nursery theme was decided by an off-hand comment to a friend of mine who was appalled that we wouldn't know the gender. She couldn't imagine picking a theme without knowing pink or blue. Of course my answer was "Well Itty Bitty is getting a Star Wars nursery either way."
So for Teeny Tiny we decided to do something equally fun, gender neutral, and a theme that he/she can grow with so we picked Super Heroes. At first we weren't quite sure what that would involve, but Clay found some great superhero pieces online and we're really please with the results.
So for Teeny Tiny we decided to do something equally fun, gender neutral, and a theme that he/she can grow with so we picked Super Heroes. At first we weren't quite sure what that would involve, but Clay found some great superhero pieces online and we're really please with the results.
We love the rug!
Superman can watch over Teeny Tiny at night
The Superhero art was an awesome find
So we're "ready". I'm 34 weeks now and Teeny Tiny is head down and actually dropped in the last week. We've been trying to get Pierce used to the idea of a baby in the house but the best he does is associate the baby with my belly or talking about other babies at church. I guess he'll learn soon enough! Please continue to pray for a healthy, quick and safe delivery!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Home Improvement and other stories...
When we bought this house there were a couple of things we thought were "weird" that the old home owner had done. One of the strangest features was actually a missing feature - no back patio. We have a 3/4 acre lot and there was no area to enjoy the outside space. Just a lot of grass (which was in terrible condition). So over the last few years we've made great strides improving our outdoor area. We added trees! And a large patio! But there was one final *strange* feature to tie it all together.
From our kitchen/dining area to get to the backyard you had to walk through my office. It was awkward. The previous owners had the builder enclose what would have been the back patio as part of the house to make a sunroom/office area. It's great for us because we love having two office spaces but it was a strange layout for accessing the backyard and we knew we needed to change a window in the kitchen into a door. So this spring we took on the door project! (Or more appropriately, we hired a team of skilled craftsmen to disassemble our house and put it back together again!)
A couple of before pics!
And in the midst of all this chaos my folks cam to visit for Easter.
From our kitchen/dining area to get to the backyard you had to walk through my office. It was awkward. The previous owners had the builder enclose what would have been the back patio as part of the house to make a sunroom/office area. It's great for us because we love having two office spaces but it was a strange layout for accessing the backyard and we knew we needed to change a window in the kitchen into a door. So this spring we took on the door project! (Or more appropriately, we hired a team of skilled craftsmen to disassemble our house and put it back together again!)
A couple of before pics!
Looking out from our kitchen
From the patio
A group of masons has to chip away the bricks one by one
Pierce was amazed and still calls the door "noise" because of how much noise the construction created.
The install
Pierce would help with the clean up
Prepping for finish work
Reassembling the bricks one by one
Our contractor was great. He looked at 6 different suppliers until he was able to perfectly match our crown molding and trim.
Painting nearly complete
Ta-Da!!
We absolutely love it. The door made the house so much more functional. And to top it off we also purchased patio furniture! So now we have an awesome outdoor space that easy to access!
And in the midst of all this chaos my folks cam to visit for Easter.
A boy and his grandparents
A wagon ride around the yard with Gramby
Sandbox fun with Geezer
Blocks with Gramby
Grandparent love
And last but not least I guess I owe the world a belly shot!
Me and my babies on Mother's Day!
30 weeks
Saturday, April 12, 2014
London
We made a quick trip to London, Ont over my birthday weekend to visit the extended Dwyer family. It seems funny to say "quick trip" with regards to international travel, but in this case it was extremely quick. Originally we planned to visit the extended family this summer (of course this was before we knew we were going to be expanding the family this summer) and we were talking about the need to make the trip and quickly realized if we didn't go now we weren't going to go this year. Pretty soon I'll be too big to get on an airplane and they discourage travel (especially international travel) towards the end of pregnancy and neither of us wanted to travel that far with a newborn. So we contacted the aunts and uncles to make sure folks would be around and we booked our ticket.
The primary reason for going was to visit Clay's elderly grandparents. His grandfather (John) is 94 and his grandmother (Betty) is 90. Clay and I both feel it's really important for Pierce to have a chance to meet his great grandparents. I actually have a memory of all of my paternal great grandparents and a couple of them survived until I was in my 20s which is really amazing! Clay went and saw them a few years ago and his grandparent's health has been off and on since then so we decided we needed to make the trek. It was especially important that Pierce meet his great-grandfather because Clay's grandpa is very concerned about family name and years ago reminded Clay of his duty to carry on the Dwyer family name. To date Pierce is the only great-grandchild with the Dwyer name and this means a lot go great-grandpa.
The primary reason for going was to visit Clay's elderly grandparents. His grandfather (John) is 94 and his grandmother (Betty) is 90. Clay and I both feel it's really important for Pierce to have a chance to meet his great grandparents. I actually have a memory of all of my paternal great grandparents and a couple of them survived until I was in my 20s which is really amazing! Clay went and saw them a few years ago and his grandparent's health has been off and on since then so we decided we needed to make the trek. It was especially important that Pierce meet his great-grandfather because Clay's grandpa is very concerned about family name and years ago reminded Clay of his duty to carry on the Dwyer family name. To date Pierce is the only great-grandchild with the Dwyer name and this means a lot go great-grandpa.
Pierce, Great-Grandma and Clay
Pierce is the 13th great-grandchild in the family
Clay's grandparents no longer live together now that they are both in homes. Clay's grandma is in an assisted living center with her own little apartment. It suits her well because she has a lot of freedom but friends to have lunch with and a nursing staff should she fall or need assistance. Her health is pretty good and her mind is sharp!
On the other hand, great-grandpa is suffering from Alzheimers. He has good days and bad days but he needs full time nursing care. So great-grandpa is in a full nursing home that's part of a hospital. The wing he stays in primarily caters to WWII vets so it's perfect for him. And he makes weekly trips to go see great-grandma at her place so they both seem very happy and in the right place for each of them.
Pierce, Clay and Great-Grandpa
Pierce wanted to go for a walk so he lead great-grandpa on an adventure
Walking buddies!
The oldest (94yrs) and youngest (21mo) of the Dwyer men!
Clay's aunt and uncle (Barb and John) who we stayed with were very considerate and thought to host a family gathering one evening while we were visiting. This helped tremendously because we weren't traipsing all about the city to try and see the whole family. In addition, they were super thoughtful and threw me a bit of a birthday party. Also, some of Pierce's second cousins were there and they had a blast running around together.
Nolan, Sullivan, Oliver & Pierce
68 years of marriage
Clay, Pierce and the Great-Grands
Happy birthday to me!
This boy LOVES some cake!
Unfortunately the party marked the end of the carefree trip. That night Pierce woke up sick to his stomach. We couldn't tell if he had too much cake (wouldn't surprise us) or if he had a tummy bug. So he stayed home with John that day while Clay and I went and had lunch with grandma and made one last visit to grandpa.
Finally, thanks to John and Barb for letting us stay with them, putting on a great family get together, babysitting Pierce, helping us with a sick baby, and generally being awesome!
Barb, Pierce & John
When we got home we figured out Pierce had the stomach flu as both Clay and I succumbed to it's powers. It was a nasty bug and I actually went to the hospital for dehydration... but that's another story. In the end we are so glad we went. It was good to see the extended family and Clay's grandparents really cherished the opportunity to meet Pierce.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Science Museum and a Baby Bump
We had a great time this weekend at the Science Museum. Clay had been before with Pierce and some family friends and had a blast so he wanted to share the experience with me. The place was packed! It was a rainy Saturday and the first day of Spring Break and so everyone was there. But we had a great time and Pierce LOVED exploring all the exhibits.
Pierce LOVES playing with water :)
A car roller coaster
Pierce got to try out a lot of new professions...
Firefighter
Farmer!
Driving his own John Deere
Astronaut
Pilot
And Fighter Pilot
In the end he's still deciding but he has a few years to consider before he must make a serious commitment!
There were also lots of fun exhibits where he could run and climb and play!
Gymnastics
Balls and forced air
Obstacle course
A 2 story slide with dad!
Obstacle course fun
The only exhibit he didn't like was the animatronic dinosaurs. We got to the entry of the exhibit and he froze and violently shook his head "no". We tried a couple times to see if he would go in but it obviously scared him and we didn't see the point in making him do something scary. There were too many fun things to do!
The fun only ended when a little boy said "home"! He was a worn out kid.
Also as promised a few baby bump pics. In these pics I'm 20 weeks and Pierce is 20 months! I think I'm already as big as I was in these pics at 23 weeks last time.
Two Goofs
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