Sebastien Philip Hale

So there is his name. Not exactly sure how we came up with Sebastien- it just sort of evolved. We are spelling it a la Francaise, and Steve is pronouncing it French style, but don't listen to him if he tries to get you to say it that way. I am pronouncing it as any other red blooded American would. Philip and Hale are both grandpa's middle names, so now that we have scraped the bottom of that name source, I hope we will have a girl next time. WE are not sure what we will shorten it to- either Seb or Bass or Bastien, but we will probably go with what the kids end up calling him. Right now they are very excited about him- even Etienne, but there is no way I am leaving him alone with them.

The c-section in itself wasn't so bad- I mean, I couldn't see or feel anything, although Steve throughly enjoyed watching every minute of it. It was so quick and effortless on my part. Ha Ha. The aftereffects are not quite so pleasant however. Let's just say I am on a lot of meds, but my mom is here doing all the forbidden lifting of children and dishes and laundry, and it is rather nice. They also let me out of the hospital early which was a big plus.

Well, enough about me- here are some shots from this sweet little boy's first days of life.

Meeting Aunt Callie and James

"Boy, this guy is cute"

"I think I will kiss him"

"On second thought.."



Bored at the hospital


Wide Awake


Home at last- don't you wish you were a baby?

d-day

Well, everything is just about the same here in breech land, so we have scheduled baby number three's arrival. Barring any unforeseen problems, this baby will have a September 24th birthday, at about two in the afternoon. Everyone has been great, encouraging me about c sections, and telling me it isn't as bad as I might expect etc. At this point, I am just glad to have an end in sight.
Everything is as ready as I can make it in this tiny house- I do love this nesting stage- it makes me so much more organized and clean than I usually am. I had a baby shower last week and got exactly what I hoped for- cash and diapers, diapers, diapers. Thanks to all who contributed. Here is a picture of my booty (pardon the pun). And I have recieved more since.


So next time I post, I will hopefully be the mother of three plentifully diapered children. Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, we have finally settled on a name, and no we are not revealing it until Wed. It isn't quite as outlandish as Etienne; at least, I think most people will have heard it before, but it does lean a little on the obscure French side once again. Hey, that is the title of this blog, right?

Heads Up

Thanks for all your prayers etc., but this baby is coming out backwards. Well, actually I don't really know what side they come out in a c-section, but at this point, barring a miracle leap, I am going to find out.
This is not the way I had hoped this little guy would enter the world, but option B was a complete failure, as option A has been the last couple of days. I really did hang upside down on an ironing board several times with a bag of frozen peas stuck on my stomach.
The external version was, much to my chagrin, an extremely painful process. They gave me medicine to relax my uterus, which made my heart race at 120 beats per minute for over two hours. I wasn't allowed to eat all day just in case I needed an emergency c section, so when they took a bunch of blood, I nearly passed out. Oh, and also they gave me a wonderful IV port for no reason other than I might need it for an emergency c-section.
Then the real fun began. It was a doctor and a nurse shoving, pushing, pulling for over an hour until my body now feels completely bruised and swollen. The pain was so bad that I was ready to throw up several times and they called a nurse in to hold one of those useless tiny little puke buckets next to me. Thankfully I held it in. They managed to move his head from one side of my stomach to the other, but couldn't budge his butt from my pelvic region. The things we go through to bring a baby into this world. After literally wiping the sweat from his brow, the doctor told me that this little man needed a good spanking as soon as he entered the world and then calmly asked when I wanted to schedule the surgery.
So that is where we are at right now. Apparently, doctors just don't do breech births vaginally anymore. I am going to try and fight it, but no one wants to deal with the potential lawsuits.
We are praying on, that he may just head south for the winter at the last minute. If not, I enter the realm of c -sections.

Breech Baby

So, the blogging hasn't been happening lately. I usually like to blog when something fun has happened and I have some pictures to go along with it. I could include some pictures of me shuffling around the house in my slippers and the same comfy pants I have been wearing for about a month now, but I will spare you.
I went to the midwife today and she was surprised at the size of my baby's rear end, so she took an ultrasound. Lo and behold that big rear was the baby's head- in the wrong place. So.....
I have three choices
-Hope he will move in the next few weeks using home remedies like hanging upside down on an ironing board for a few hours
- Go to the hospital monday for an external version where they will shove the baby around til he is facing down as he ought to be
- Schedule myself for a c section

Right now I am opting for plan B.

Hopefully that will go fine and I will carry this baby to term, which is only three weeks away, although part of me wouldn't mind if he came a little sooner. Actually, most of me wouldn't mind.