Labor of Love: Part 2

Where were we? Oh, transitions.

I stood next to the bed and leaned on Jason while the contractions racked my body. I was also rocking those hips my momma gave me like no tomorrow and breathing out heavy deep breaths right in my husbands face. I remember asking him at one point if I needed a breath mint and he laughed.

While standing and rocking my water broke. Now that is something to experience. It was like this burst and then yuck running down my legs. I do not like to have anything running down my legs - who does?! Then with every contraction more gushing. I was like, "Wipe that off!" Thus Jason's new job was to support me and clean me. Poor guy did great though. It didn't last long.

Penny, my midwife arrived at 3 am as my water was breaking. She was a bit surprised how far things were getting and made sure to get into position. She had the nurse remove all the baby monitor stuff and had me work my way into bed. It was so uncomfortable at that point but there was this realization that I was really getting there which kept me breathing and holding my own. Penny checked me and the next thing I know she wants me to start pushing.

I was like, "Wow, already?" She got her hand back down there and with the first push there was head coming out. She was telling me to breath and I am sure I growled out, "I can't!" She was trying to grab what she needed from the cart next to her and then turned to catch as our little on came out in the next two pushes. Fast - that is the only way I can describe it. Well, painful and fast might be a better description. I mean seriously we got there at 2 am and our little one arrived at 3:30 am!

I was so shocked to have that little bundle on my chest. Jason peeked right away and was the one to announce "It's A Boy!" which shocked us both. (We now are the proud parents of two of the only three boys in our families! We figured the odds were on a girl.) As they rubbed him down the first cries emerged. It was such a beautiful sound to my ears.

What followed was an amazing time. We got to hold our little one and just relax in the quiet. The midwife declared that the baby had left only a small tear that would mend better without her help so she cleaned up the placenta and let us be. The nurse cleaned up around us and then let us be as well. The lights were mellow and we started discussing names. An hour passed before we started to wonder if we had anything else to do. (This was SO different from having Seth.) The nurse came back to check our vitals and I then she took the tiny man to check him out. He was the model of health!

This baby boy was healthy and able to stay with his mom and dad the whole time - what a joy!

We discussed and decided on a name: Eli Richard Johnson. We went back and forth between Elijah and Eli and realized that we would call him Eli anyway so why not just make that his official name?! The Richard part was a bit easier. We wanted a Johnson family name as our boys will be the only ones to carry on that name for generations to come. Richard was Jason's grandfather's name who passed away in 2005. He was a most special, God-fearing man and certainly one whom we always want to have remembered in our home.

Around 4:45 am or so the nurse came back and offered to get me in the bathtub to soak and clean up. They wanted to get Eli warmed so he could get his first bath around 5:30 am, at two hours of life. I gladly accepted and enjoyed some time getting relaxed. When I came out clean and in another gorgeous little "breastfeeding" gown I was deliriously happy and exhausted. Then I watched as Jason gave Eli his first bath and then we held and loved on him until the morning light started to stream into our room.

A blessing I will never forget was our family physician showing up at 7 am to care for Eli. God just happened to have her on rounds this week which is exactly what happened when Seth was born too. It was such a gift to have my regular Dr. and friend meet Eli and care for him right down to his circumcision before we left for home. I knew he was in good hands and that was such a great feeling! God is good!

I mentioned before that this birth was so different from our experience with Seth. I can't even begin to tell you all the ways but if I had to choose a plan of delivery so to speak, it was the way to go. Fast and furious but over and done.

Some of my favorite differences:

1. The calm environment with only the nurse and then the midwife while with Seth we had an entire collection of the NICU staff and extra nurses on hand.

2. No IV's or blood draws as opposed to six stabs before getting an IV started and then being woken up so often to have a blood draw just to prove that yes I was iron deficient but still alive.

3. The midwife just sat on the bed next to me while I delivered instead of taking apart the bed and using those horrible stirrups.

4. Getting to bathe right away and plenty often as opposed to finally asking if I could wash up somehow because I felt so yucky.

There were many small miracles that we enjoyed throughout our stay at the hospital though short lived. Due to the construction project and number of babes being born we were moved out of our room the evening of the day Eli was born. Our smaller room left us ready for our own beds and the comfort of home, but they awarded us with some perks for our inconvenience.

I was also blessed to have some great visitors in my short stay. My girlfriends arrived with lunch and gifts for Eli and big brother on Wednesday. It was so fun to talk with them and share Eli with them. They helped me feel so rejuvenated while in such an utter state of exhaustion.

Speaking of visitors, the Big Brother Seth won the award for the most excited to meet Eli. He ran into the room and didn't even have his mittens off before trying to get Eli in his grip. He held his little brother like a champ and continues to care for him with love.

Handing Seth baby Eli for the first time was so crazy. Just yesterday I gave birth to Seth - how can this be?! My Seth sure seems so much older now that baby Eli has arrived in our home! Oh Lord slow down the time!

So this is running on without purpose. I guess that exhaustion is kicking in again too. Time to go rest with my precious little bundle and best Christmas present ever...

A Labor of Love: Part 1

The birth of a child seems anything but miraculous while you are in the pain of labor, but now that Eli is home and in my arms I see just what a miracle the whole process was. God was looking out for all the details. I'll be honest this story can be sometimes graphic but let's be honest - this is a Labor of Love!

Since my last progesterone shot wore off December 2nd I have been having a number of contractions. That first day I actually thought I might be heading to the hospital but after a hot bath and lots of water things calmed. In the days since there have been contractions that came and went always making me wonder but then mysteriously dissapearing just when I started to get my hopes up.

That's how things went on Monday December 14. That morning I had a few strong contraction and then nothing. While making and eating dinner there were a few more but I figured as all the other times, they would just go away again. Thus I headed out to my church meeting at 6:30 and was a bit surprised to find that I was having contractions during the whole meeting about 15 to 20 minutes apart.

After the meeting let out I needed to run to Target and found myself walking around the store for 30 minutes just to see if I could keep the contractions up. (Let's face it - I was more than ready to have this baby!) While in the checkout line I actually had to lean up against the counter and sway my hips a bit to get through a strong one. The lady behind me gave me the craziest look and I just smiled and left.

Once home I got a few things done to last minute prepare for the hospital but also made a list of stuff to do for Tuesday since I was still not totally convinced this was the real thing. Around 10 pm I tried to lay down but the coming and going contractions made it too uncomfortable so I decided to get some more things done. By midnight I was in the tub thinking to myself, "If they keep up after this I might let myself believe that we are actually going to have this baby."

I got out of the bathroom about 45 minutes later and was convinced. The contractions were every five minutes all through the bath and had only worsened in intensity. I walked around the house and rocked back and forth and timed contractions and then finally woke Jason up just after 1 am for a second opinion. Should we start calling people?

We called my midwife and she decided to have me go in and be monitored and checked. That she would have St Johns contact her with the results of where we were at. (She noted later that I sounded so calm she wasn't sure I was really far enough along to warrant her getting out of bed yet.) With that decision made I called my friend Lora around 1:30 to come and spend the rest of the night at our place to stay with Seth. (Second children means more prep work!) She arrived and we were out the door into the cold night around 1:45 am.

Getting in the car was so uncomfortable! The contractions were strong but the transitions were horrible, up and down - no good. They were coming every three minutes apart too. That was a long ride to St John's in Maplewood. When we arrived we pulled up to the usual spot and I was just like, "Honey, I need out of the car." As Jason is getting me out of the car we are seeing that you have to enter by way of the emergency room after 10:30 pm. I was NOT getting back in the car mind you so a walk was necessary.

I walked in the frozen tundra (-3 degrees) down a flight of stairs and around the side of the building. It was not that far a distance but in that cold and with the close contractions it felt like a trek on Mt. Hood in a snow storm. Fortunately we did not get lost! We entered the door and of course they want me to sit in a wheelchair. Whatever! I bargained for walking next to the wheelchair and the nurse agreed with some hesitation. It was another long walk to the maternity ward stopping along the way to grab the hand rails and rock my hips. That technique along with the breathing is the best for me.

Once to the maternity ward the nurse just kept walking me all the way to a new room (the maternity ward is under construction). She told me that she had seen enough to know I was not going home without a baby. I agreed gratefully and told her she was right on. Once in my new room I got into that beautiful gown that covers what I am not sure and then got hooked up to the baby monitor.

This of course meant laying in the bed for awhile, not comfy. She let me get up after 20 minutes when all seemed well praise the Lord! The not so fun part was being checked for dilation. What a cruel thing they do to you. I love how they wait for you to be in between contractions, as if it really hurts any less. The nurse Cathi found I was too posterior to really know for sure so she called out for "long fingers" to come.

That's all I know her as since that's how they referred to her. No kidding though, she had long fingers and walked up my cervix as she called it. Not fun at all, but then she told me I was a six to seven and I decided not to harm her. Though she kept her LONG fingers in there though the next contraction and determined I was an eight. Then I thought about striking out, but hey, I was eight centimeters?! That was pretty great news.

Especially great news to my husbands ears who figured we were in for a long haul labor. He admitted later that he figured I was going to be at a two or three and hopefully have a baby by 9 am. What faith he had. Turns out I am tougher than he thought. The nurse looked over at me while rapidly trying to fill out my chart and double checked that I was planning on doing this naturally. As if I had a choice at that point anyway. When I nodded that this was in fact the plan she said I could do it.

Transition was the name of the game - the contractions were right on top of each other and strong! Speaking of transitions this is getting long. I guess you'll have to wait for Part 2...

Welcome to our Family!

I am sure to give many more details in the days to come but I wanted to let you meet the newest member of our family...

Eli Richard Johnson
Born: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 (38 weeks to the day)
Time: 3:30 AM (We arrived at the hospital at 2 AM at 8 cm!)
Weighed: 6 lbs. 7 oz. (only five oz. more than Seth)
Length: 19 1/2 in.

Mom meeting Eli for the first time. I was so shocked to here the word, "BOY!"

The proud father of two sons!

Eli resting and warming up after his first bath - Daddy did great!

Our precious little angel with his Daddy and Brother's chin.

Seth ran into the hospital room and couldn't hold Eli fast enough. He is so thrilled to have a little brother and is taking this responsibility pretty seriously. I am in awe of how well Seth is doing with such a huge change!

We're so excited to finally meet this precious little gift from God. He is beautiful and healthy and both mom and son are doing well. We came home Wednesday afternoon and are recovering with the help of my family. We ask that you pray for continued health for us all. We were all so sick in the weeks prior to Eli's arrival and the germs are lingering in our home still.

You'll have to hang on for the birth story as I have yet to sleep more than rare snippets and the computer seems the last priority if you can imagine...

Homemade Hotsling

Now it may not look like it works all that perfectly but let's keep in mind that I am just a day shy of 38 weeks pregnant in this photo and things "hang" a bit oddly! (That would be Baby Irwin - my former, now Seth's, Cabbage Patch Doll - I used for a mannequin.)

I have really wanted a Hotsling or shoulder sling to use with this baby. I know that hands-free will be much more necessary with a preschooler of my own and two day care children in our home also. I kept watching craigslist-mpls for a good deal but nothing in close proximity in my size ever came up. So I started looking around for patterns and who else makes a similar product.

I found some really cute designs on Etsy, but it made me think, if other people are making and selling them maybe I should try to make my own. That led to more looking. I then found that right on Etsy I could purchase a pattern but easier still I could find one online for free here. However after reading the pattern suggestions I just got more confused about to pull this off. I needed more assistance, off to Hancock Fabrics.

At Hancock's I pulled out the old fashioned books of patterns and found pay dirt. On sale for $1.50 was a baby sling pattern. It allowed me to see the cut out form and exact measurements that had so confused me previously. Good old McCall's #M5678 if you are interested.

Using what I learned with the online pattern and what I received from McCall's I made my own over the shoulder baby holder! The whole project took me about only an hour to sew. I always pre-wash my fabrics so that took longer than putting it all together!

I tried to show you here how it is folded. The curve is where the baby bottom will sit, soon I hope. I used corduroy fabric so it would be slightly stretchy but also thick and resilient. There is a black interior and the multi-colored stripe on the outside which allows me to have a plain color if so choose. Totally reversible and washable and ready to carry a baby. Now if I could just give birth!

Fighting Boredom

Put 'em up kiddo!

When you are home sick and pregnant with a sick kid you run out of things to do. We have done puzzles (even 150 piece ones), read books, watched movies and TV, built forts, played games, done crafts, etc. etc. etc. Fighting the boredom became literal last night when dad came home (who is unfortunately also feeling sick). Seth pretty much beat him up and we all laughed for every minute of it.

A "smash down" from the couch.

If you could take a moment, pray for good health for our family.

How Much Longer?!?

When I look down not only can I not see my feet, if my son is standing in front of me, I can't see him either.

I am officially 37 weeks pregnant today. Nobody seemed to think it was possible and yet here I am huge and uncomfortable! I think that fact that everybody expected me to be holding my baby by now had me expecting it too. I find myself impatiently waiting for this baby to make its appearance when in all reality it may not arrive until 40 weeks for all we know.

The mind game is almost as painful and the pregnancy. How on earth do women go past their due dates?! I am sorry if that is your story. I can barely walk and the exhaustion is a killer too. My back hurts, well, everything hurts! On top of it all I have a son who is sick and not sleeping which only seems to make it all worse.\

Seth and I making some funny faces, at a time like this laughter is a necessity!

When are you coming baby?!? Please don't wait until the blizzard hits and the streets are pronounced unsafe for travel. I don't think Jason wants to give birth to this child in our home, nor do I.

Tick, Tick, Tock

I am trying to get ready for life with another child. I have one more injection the week of Thanksgiving and then anything goes according to my midwife. That means we could be holding a baby in a couple short weeks! It seems the "To Do" list is endless. So help me please...

1. What do I really NEED to bring to the hospital?

2. What things should I pack for the person who will watch Seth?

3. When do I NEED to get to the hospital anyway? They say second babies come fast - what is your experience?!

4. Oh and how long does it take to get over the exhaustion again? I am wondering if ever at this point...

Thanks for your input. My brain is fried!

The Baby Belly

33 Weeks of Belly

We are 33 weeks pregnant and I have to say I can't imagine how I could get much bigger in the midsection. I really didn't get much bigger than this carrying Seth. Of course he also made his appearance in the world at 35 weeks. That my friends would be a little over two weeks from now. Scary thought.

There is a ticking time bomb about to go off in there...

This pregnancy the goal is to get me to 37 or 38 weeks if not the whole way. I have three more weeks of progesterone injections to complete, possibly four depending on some details that have yet to be determined. What's one more shot when you already have had twenty of them?! I only hope that injections are working as we will never really know for certain. It's a gamble we are playing in hopes of a healthy baby and staying on my feet throughout the pregnancy. So far so good. A cold slowed me down last week but I am back up and ready for more now.

Giving thanks for a healthy pregnancy thus far.

Thanks for your prayers throughout our pregnancy. We will be keeping you updated!

In A Hurry?!

I just have to share this tidbit. At the grocery store yesterday there was quite the line so patience was most called for by me and my short companion. While waiting for the clerk to scan my order the elderly, not smiling, woman behind me starting physically pushing me with her cart. Serious. I had to turn so she would not hurt the baby belly! The alternative of course was that she was shoving me in the rear which if you have heard about my injections is a rather sore spot.

I looked right at her with wonder if she realized or not. I thought maybe she was innocent, elderly and slightly senile, maybe couldn't control her hands or cart well. Not so much, she actually glared and then gave me another shove. By the time I had to sign for my grocery payment she had literally pushed me three feet further down the isle. I said excuse me to try to reach the signature box and she would not move!

I have to admit, I was a bit appalled, even embarrassed for her. Was she in that much of a hurry or did I miss something?

Catering to Your Every Need

Last night we took Seth to the Big Brother, Big Sister class at St John's Hospital in Maplewood where we plan to deliver our baby. He brought his baby Irwin, my old Cabbage Patch Doll, and learned how to hold the baby by supporting the head, how to diaper the baby and how to swaddle the baby. It was rather cute.

The last part of the evening was a tour of the Maternity Ward. Seth is always thinking on his toes and had a few questions about the room and where everything was. My favorite moment went something like this...

Instructor: "Here is a table on wheels that rolls right over mom while she is in bed. That way she can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner right here in bed!"

Seth: After glancing around the room, "But where does she make it?"

Whole room fills with guffaws and chuckles.

Instructor: With a large smile on her face, "Someone else makes the food while mom is in the hospital recovering."

That's my boy! If mom isn't the one making dinner then people must be starving. Where else could food come from?! I guess I better work on that one, but how?!

I Passed!

That not so orange pop flavored drink.

That dreaded Glucose test was this Tuesday. Finally got it in on the 29th week of pregnancy. I love how they tell you that the orange colored drink tastes like orange pop. I love orange pop and it does NOT burn when you drink it nor does it give you a sugar buzz similar to a cotton candy overload. My son tells me as I chug it down, "Just get it over with." AMEN.

The nurse called and to my great pleasure all is well. NO three hour test. Praise God. I barely made time for the first one!

Eating for Who?!

"You might want to slow down a little bit."

Those were the words of the midwife I saw yesterday for my 24/25 week appointment. You would think that keeping up with three children and keeping a home, she meant I should maybe lighten up on my rigorous fall cleaning schedule or try to get more sleep at night.

But, NO.

She was talking about my eating!

I have apparently gained 20 pounds already during this pregnancy. I do not weigh myself often even when I am not pregnant - I don't want to know. May I tell you that I was a bit shocked at her comment. I know I am huge. I haven't seen my feet for weeks! I even had to pull out my fat undies today due to the fact that my faves no longer cover my rear end!

These things happen when you are pregnant my friend. What you don't want to have happen is someone point it out to you! I realize that this poor woman has never seen me before the appointment. She has only looked at my chart and compared me to all the statistics she knows. She is not aware of the fact that I gained 35 pounds with my last pregnancy and lost fifty while nursing. Come on, I was sucking down protein shakes to bulk up because my mom was afraid I would wither away.

Needless to say I am not concerned. Her warning that I am on the road to gaining 40 pounds with this pregnancy only seems scary in the fact that I may actually have to buy bigger underwear! (Just as a side note: I can't stand anything other than VS undies so I just keep buying the bigger sizes - none of those maternity undies for me, it's too painful for my pride.)

I am not planning on eating less malts, nor cutting back on the amount of cookies and bars either. And what if I did eat four hard shell tacos for lunch today? They were homemade with fresh veggies and ingredients from my own kitchen and tasted heavenly. I imagine had I eaten them at Taco Bell they would have had ten times the calories and of course then I would have also had to order some of those cinnamon stick thingys which would only add to the calorie count. I could do much worse as a "typical" American, let's face it!

Grr...you'd think the midwife would know better than to set of a firecracker of a pregnant lady getting weekly shots and who got a flu shot at the appointment to top it off!

So here is my pregnancy in a comic I guess...

You Have to Be Kidding

I just looked at my blog and as you can't miss the ticker counting down to the days of our second child's birth, I saw it right away and thought, "You have to be kidding me!"

This pregnancy has been nothing like the first. I start to complain about side effects, weekly shots and all the nonsense and everybody just says, "It must be a girl." Are they really that high maintenence right from the embryonic stage? We do not know for a fact what the gender is but I guess we will soon enough.

In so many ways I just want this pregnancy to be over with so I can have my body back, pain free. Well more so than now anyway. But then I start to think about how much change a baby will bring to this home that is currently in total upheaval and I wonder what on earth I have gotten myself in to.

I still have to much preparing to do. Pull out old totes of clothes from storage to see what shape our layette is in, sew a bumper pad and sheet for the Moses basket I borrowed, find a loaner/cheap car seat and lightweight fold-able stroller to snap it in for preschool drop off days, get meals in the freezer, decide where this child will sleep in our home and the list goes on and on it seems.

Fifteen weeks seems like forever to some but not to me, especially having been told that our baby will much more likely be here around 12 weeks from now. (That would be when the shots end and the hormones wear off creating the labor inducing stage...) Life never goes according to plan but plan on I must. It is who I am and how I live. I guess today's house cleaning will just have to hold me over until I can work up the energy to get started on the rest of the list...

Looking forward to doing this...

Holding our new baby! This was taken Monday, March 20, 2006 when Seth was our little pumpkin (thus the pumpkin in the background...). Ahhh...not too bad for three days of laboring. They do say the second time goes faster...I only hope!

A Little Husker Outing

Seth learning the art of picking corn from Dad.

So if we all had matching Husker gear, I am sure we would have worn it for these photos, but alas we do not. Maybe we really do not bleed Husker red but Jason likes to think we do.

All smiles in the corn!

Instead we marched into the cornfield merely to gather corn for our supper, well a few suppers actually. The U of M has allowed us to pick some corn free of charge. Of course we took them up on it. It helps that the corn is really good eating too! I have to admit it was the first time Seth or I had ever actually picked corn. I have to say it was a pretty fun family event.

A little belly photo op for you just in case you were curious how we are looking at 24 weeks.

What On Earth Happened?

I finally took a few minutes to peruse my blog this morning - yuck! How have I let things get so bad. I hate to admit it (because maybe you somehow didn't notice) but I had photos with snow in them! Ouch - neglect, serious neglect!

I have had a million blog posts come and go in my head but just never get to the computer to actually get them posted. (Summer is a slow time for many of us but snow photos?!) Those few moments I get on the computer are few and far between thanks to my new life:

1. Full time day care for two girls ages four and six. They never stop moving or wanting to go do something. I thought older kids would take less energy - I was wrong!

2. School is about to start and we have had to get prepared for that. No, not buy crayons or anything just teach our little man how to use the potty himself. You know, pull down and up pants - not as easy as it sounds.

3. Jason has been working furiously to finish school and therefore not present around the house lately. He took his final this week so the end is in sight - praise the Lord!

4. I'm 22, almost 23 weeks pregnant. Seriously, this is a BIG factor. (You should see me!) I am exhausted! I was exhausted with my first pregnancy and then I was only working part time and had no child to care for 24 hours a day. Wow, what a difference a second round makes! Between the daily workouts, nightly kickboxing (the baby's), weekly hormone shots, monthly appointments and life in general it's a wonder I can still stand up most days!

5. Last but not least: priorities. My blog has apparently ended up at the bottom of the totem pole. Sad but true.

So what happens now? I wish I could say I would be back full swing as of right this minute but it may take some time yet. My hope is that once school starts I will find at least one day a week where I can have ten to twenty minutes to blog. Oh, we will see...

Pasta with Fresh Garden Veggies

Here is a new recipe we just tried. It was pretty enjoyable and fun to use some garden produce!

Pasta with Fresh Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
• 1 cup sliced fresh carrots
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup sliced yellow summer squash
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chopped fresh plum tomatoes
• 5 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, saute the carrots in oil until crisp-tender. Add the garlic; cook for 1-2 minutes or until garlic is tender. Stir in the tomatoes, broccoli, squash, green pepper and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in pasta; sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 6 servings.

Note: I made a few changes, I know, as usual. I substituted Barilla whole wheat pasta to give it more fullness and well, prego needs more fiber. I also changed out the broccoli for zucchini since I had it on hand and well, prego doesn't need all that gas either. I would serve it up with a italian marinated chicken breast grilled or otherwise and enjoy!

The Bear Attacks of 2009, An All Too Personal Story: Part 2

Sleep did not come easily. With every movement of a tree limb or sound of the night my heart jumped from my chest and it took a good twenty minutes to get my breathing to return to normal. Seth crashed hard with the total exhaustion of the long day and the adrenaline rush. Jason also was alert to movement outside the tent so neither of us was the least bit surprised at just how fast he moved when we heard Keith say, "It's back!"

Shocked and dismayed at just after five in the morning, I crawled carefully out of the tent to see a bear once again under our food pack in the trees. Crazier still - it was a different bear! I put my head in Jason's shoulder and wept. Then the pregnant woman in me had to do what all pregnant women must do when they are scared out of their whits - I had to use the latrine.

That would be Harry the Bear (Seth named both of the bears Harry) under what remains of our food pack. We had strung it ten to twelve feet in the air between two trees. My husband said that he actually saw the bear stand and pull it down breaking tree limbs in the process so he could reach in and help himself to seconds. That brown bear was HUGE!

I pulled myself together and Crystal and I watched as our husbands once again created a barrier of safety between us and the bear. We are talking twenty to thirty feet for us and about fifteen for them. They would bang the pots and pans and make sure the bear knew that we were there. However, this bear had found the goods and was not interested in going anywhere. He thundered down to the lake a few steps away for a drink after getting a mouth full of Kool-Aid and various drink mixes that totally turned his tongue red and certainly burned his mouth. We actually had to laugh and the comic relief felt good.

The bear finished a few more bites of our wonderful, scrumptious, well-packed and prepared food and then lowered his enormous body to the ground and started to fall asleep. No kidding. We realized then that this bear was really NOT going to leave. It was time to, "fish or cut bait," as they say.

Our last family photo in the BWCA, for this trip anyway. Seth was sound asleep in the tent. (Yes, it was cold. I had on long johns and my snow hat! Oh, did I mention that we had NO food to eat. I was hungry!)

We packed up the tents, minus the one my beautiful brave child was still sound asleep in, and cleared camp to the point of the boats being ready to launch. Still the bear stayed put. Letting the bear sleep while keeping us from breakfast (our stomachs were growling at this point) didn't sit well with any of us, especially my husband. He charged the bear a few times hollering and banging pans only to have the bear "bluff" charge him back.

Friends a "bluff" charge is one scary move. You do not know that it is a bluff until the bear backs up. I saw that bear charge my husband and my uterus seized in a clear first contraction. NOT good at 19 weeks of pregnancy I might add. Crystal got me to sit down and drink some water which resolved the contraction issue, but there was still a mad bear in my camp site!

I was told later that my husband had charged the bear many other times when I was not able to see it happen and even pelted him with rocks in the middle of the night. (Now I know why we heard vicious growling!) It's a good thing that our baby is in the womb to stay for much longer given the enormity of the situation. I don't even want to think what would have happened if my husband or anyone else had been hurt. This pregnant lady can paddle but I cannot carry my husbands lifeless body down to a canoe. Crystal and I had to make plans of how we would make it back with Seth alone to get help two hours away. NOT fun thoughts my friends.

Our group photo with Seth still in the tent. Needless to say we decided NOT to invite Harry #2 to be in the photo. He was content to snore under the food bag he was now claiming and protecting as his own!

We woke Seth and left my friends. There was nothing more for us to do. The bear had been there with no intent to leave for about three hours. Close to two hours later, an hour of that paddling, we reached the Tofte Ranger Station and reported our incident. They were not surprised and told us then that there had already been three other bears in that area in the past week. (Might have been nice to know BEFORE we left!) They told us they would get a ranger in there to clean up the mess and if they found something salvageable they would send it our way.

We hope they find something as we lost $150 of food and a lot more money than that in camping gear. So much for our "bear" necessities!

Here is a quick video I took to give you a view of the camp site and the bear. This is our camp in the morning: after we moved our tents as far as water would allow from the bear in the night! I will never forget the sounds of his Darth Vader breathing, ever. It will be in my nightmares for weeks to come too...

The Bear Attacks of 2009, An All Too Personal Story: Part 1

"This is the year we are going to do the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as a family."

These words once spoken brought excitement and joy, now looking back it was one crazy adventure. I am not even sure where to start...maybe right at the beginning.

With our friends, Keith and Crystal, and family tucked tight in the suburban with gear for five days and two canoes loaded up top, we drove north to the beautiful land of the BWCA. The trip seemed to go quickly as we roared up to the Tofte Ranger Station and checked in. We learned there that the area we had chosen has bears and we all nodded our heads thinking, "they always say that." So we loaded up once again and headed into the wilderness excited and feeling well prepared for our greatest adventure of the summer.

Keith and Jason taking one last look at the map.

Seth running between the canoes and helping pack them up.

Our first family photo in the wilderness. (Seth was not interested in joining us so you can see him as the red speck in the background...he, he.)

Ready to take on whatever comes our way: Seth and J mom.

We paddled Kawishiwi Lake looking for a campsite. As it was late afternoon and we were hungry and tired for along day in the car we wanted an easy first day. With no sites on Kawishiwi available but no portgage necessary we headed into Square lake and saw a campsite available right away. In fact it was a great site. It had three tent areas which was just what we needed and a amazing view of the water and tree line.

We got camp set up and made our Hobo dinners which tasted delicious. Tiredness still a factore, we decided to make it an early night. As the sun set we pulled into our tents for the night. Seth in his own small tent, J mom and Dad in there tent and Keith and Crystal in their own tent slightly further into the woods. We were expecting to get a great night sleep and wake up ready to paddle further into the wilderness for our next camp site.

Little did we know...

Around 11 pm Jason was in Seth's tent (Seth was so overtired and restless he needed someone to be by him to help him keep getting back to sleep). I was in our tent and heard some loud rustling. Now I have been in a tent and heard mice, racoons, even deer but this sounded really BIG. Jason was also hearing this noise and popped out of Seth's tent and in the light of the moon headed toward the sound. Next thing I hear is, "A BEAR is in the food bag".

Within moments I was running from my tent to our son's, now yelling for mom, with my sleeping bag in tow. While comforting him, my husband is banging our pots and pans together and yelling in his deepest, darkest voice, "Get out of here, Bear!" It was either panic or pray. We chose to pray! Seeing the bear in our food and not being able to deter him Jason yelled for Keith to start a fire. Crystal, not wanting to stay alone one second, joined Seth and I in the tent.

May I stop to mention that we can hear this bear breathing and eating. He is a mere fifteen feet from our tent! My son is the bravest little boy ever and Crystal and I are great actors at being brave. Had Seth not been there I think we would have been freaking out or passed out on the ground!

The bear finally walked away about an hour and a half later with a very full belly. We all sat around the fire discussing possible plans and finally moved tents closer to the fire ring and each other for safety. Jason and I also joined Seth in a tent as we were not letting each other out of sight any time soon! The guys surveyed the damage and we assumed we were safe until morning. We decided to get a few hours of sleep and then decided what to do in the morning about our lack of food and newly developed fear of bears.

Oh how wrong we were...

To be continued...

A Wellness or an Illness

Pregnancy. Is it a wellness or an illness? According to my insurance company it is an illness as I pay one copay for the whole shebang. According to my nurse it is a wellness. Having a child is a normal and healthy thing that should not require one to live day to day life much differently than the non pregnant women. I am not sure how I feel about it all...

One the one hand I am healthy, yes. I walk every morning when I wake up, well almost. I still do all the chores that need doing from carrying six loads of laundry up and down the stairs today to making meals for my family and you know the rest. I eat pretty normally and focus a great amount of energy on eating extra fiber though that does not always mean one is pregnant of course.

Still I have a unique pregnancy as my first child came at 35 weeks there is the concern that this baby will come early as well. Thus I am the recipient of weekly progesterone injections that are to keep my from contracting and keep this baby in place until week 36 at least. This weekly shot makes me think that this pregnancy is therefore more like an illness. Yes, we get shots when we are healthy but not weekly!

Yes weekly. My first pain in the butt happened on Wednesday. Though the injection is placed in the muscle just below the hip off to the side, my cheek is still sore. In fact I iced my rear end off and on yesterday to stop the pain. Does that sound healthy to you my friends? Not to me. And then there is all this warning info from the home health nurse that comes to give me my injections: do not lift anything heavy, take care of falling, you may feel nauseated, lightheaded, or have a headache so "take it easy".

Take it easy. Don't you have a love/ hate relationship with that phrase too. How does a mother "take it easy" I ask you?!? Again, wellness or illness. You be the judge...

Mommy's Little Fire Cracker

Off to NE for the week of the Fourth of July once again...

J mom was begging for a "couple" photo. This will do nicely.

Couldn't pass up on the little belly bump shot. About 14 weeks here.

Out at the Gus Gang's farm for an evening. Seth found the cat, a toad, a snake, and plenty to do! I sometimes wonder if we live in the wrong location.

Cousin B got the skid steer out for a drive right away. Seth could not wait!

Now that is one happy boy!

It would not be a trip to Nanny's without at least a day or two at the pool.

My movie star says, "No more pictures Mom!

Seth's favorite part: the water slide. Here he is going down with his Nanny, Dad needed a break!

Here is my little firecracker. He is still very fearful of loud noises but allowed Dad to set off a few kid-friendly fireworks for him. Here they are doing snakes. Other faves included a chicken and tanks.

We had a great time at Nanny and Papa's but that was only part of the 9 days we were away from home. Stay tuned for more....