Introducing... Riley Shane Don Bowen!

Hey, it's about time I introduce our newest addition! And of course share the birth story so I always have it for my records! :) We welcomed Riley into the world on July 7, 2012 @ 4:48 p.m. He's a big guy weighing in at 9 pounds and 20.5 inches long. His head was 14 cm. Ha he was so so much bigger than Noah, but the labor was so much easier!

So, my due date (July 3rd) came and went and we were beginning to think I would be pregnant forever! Well Saturday (July 7), Nicole, my midwife, called me at around 9:00 a.m. asking if I wanted to have a baby today! Ha, I was freaked out but ready! So we met her at the office at 10, she checked me, I was at a 3, then she placed a folli bulb (spelling?) in me, to mechanically start dialation and said hopefully the would start labor! Well, on the drive home from the hospital I began to have much stronger contractions. By noon, I was having strong, knock me to the floor contractions every 2 minutes. Thank goodness my sis and Trev were there... haha Noah boy was feeling bad for me. Well, we ended up leaving Noah with my sister, and going to the hospital. The car ride was sucky.. and I freaked 2 people out while walking into labor and delivery, they were pretty sure I was gonna pop a baby out any second! We made it to the elevator where my midwife was waiting. We got to our room and she checked me again, I was at a 6! Holy cow, that only took 2 hours! It took me literally 38 hours to get to a 6 with Noah! Anyways, I decided to get in the jetted birthing tub to get through some more contractions before the anesthesiologist came in. Well he got there and gave me my epidural. That slowed things down a bit so they gave me some pitocin and we waited for a bit. By, 3:30 my epidural was wearing off and I was feeling my contractions! :( Not my favorite. So they gave me a little booster of the epi and I was good to go. I started to feel pressure in my bottom and the nurse checked and we were ready to go! Nicole came in and I pushed through 4 contractions, about 10 minutes and then we had a sweet baby boy! Easy peasy, compared to Noah's birth! :) He was huge, however so the stitching up took longer than the pushing! Haha. He is perfect. We just love him so so much. He has the most kissable cheeks ever!

As for big brother, Noah, he was freaked out at the hospital by me being hooked up to all the moniters, and he wasn't real sure about the baby at first. But now he can say his name "Ri-rey" and he actually ventured to kissing him on the head today! Noah is staying with my mom and dad for a little while, until I am not so sore (my tailbone took the brunt of my pain!) and he is having a great time I am sure. We are missing him lots though! My mom brought him up to visit today and he was stoked to see us! And Trev was thrilled to have a wrestling buddy again!

I am so thankful to have my family. I am thankful to be a mommy to 2 beautiful, healthy little guys. I am so happy to have a wonderful husband and father to our boys. And I am especially grateful to both our families who love and care for us so much.  Oh one more thing, I am very grateful for my midwife Nicole, and all of the nurses at Portneuf. It is a wonderful facility and we had an amazing birthing experience. I would recommend Portneuf Medical Center to everyone. And I especially recommend the midwives at the Women's Clinic, they are awesome!

Baby Update.

So, I should probably give a little update on this pregnancy. I am 40 weeks and 2 days right now. I never thought that I would still be pregnant right now. I always thought the second came earlier, faster, easier.. Ha. I have been having some regular painless contractions, and some stronger, but less consistent contractions. So let's see, on Tuesday (july 3rd) my due date, I had my midwife sweep my membranes in hopes that would trigger something. And, while I felt some cramping throughout the day... nothing really happened. So for the past few days we have been walking like crazy, going for car rides, I have been doing all these hip moves and squats and stairs. Haha. And I went into my appointment today to have my membranes swept again, just to have the midwife tell me there has been little progression. Still only dialated to a 2. Bummer deal. I made an appt for Monday to have this weird little mechanical thing help me dialate, and if that doesn't work then I will be either induced or have them break my water for me. I am really against being induced, I like to do most of the laboring at home where I am comfortable and not having to be hooked up to crazy machines. I also don't like the idea of having a clock timing me. If I had been in the hospital during my entire like 40+ hour labor with Noah I would have surely had a C-section, which I also don't want. So I am really hoping to be able to go into labor on my own and and work through the contractions my way. Then, of course get to the hospital when I am ready for the epidural and push this baby out! :) I have told my midwives that I want this delivery to be very similar to my first (just a whole heck of a lot faster!) where I labor at home until I am a 3ish, get an epidural at like a 5, get some relief and rest, and then when it's time to push, have my epidural lowered or wear off so I will be able to move around and do what feels natural, and be able to feel my contractions so I know when I need to push! I don't know if things will go according to plan, but I guess it doesn't matter, I get a sweet baby to take home no matter what! I am very much looking forward to nursing a baby again and snuggling a teeny, precious babe. I am also looking forward to watching Noah become a big brother and (hopefully) loving on his new baby brother!

Pray this baby comes soon! We are so ready for him. Crib and bassinet are set up, all his clothes are hung up or in the dresser, carseat is in the car, bags are packed and in the trunk, we have diapers and wipes galore, and we have also narrowed the baby name list to 2 (I think!).

Motherhood

As I sit here awaiting this baby's arrival, I am reading an old book I have, Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul. And anyways, I was reading in the motherhood section and found this lovely story that pretty much made me bawl. It is just exactly how Motherhood is and exactly what it means to me. One part that just radiates within in is "I want her to taste the joy that is so real it hurts". I always say, "Gosh i just love Noah so much it hurts!" There is no greater happiness or love than I have for my babies. I love how at the end it refers to motherhood as the "holiest of callings". 

Motherhood- It Will Change Your Life 

By: Dan Hanson Bourke

Found in Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul

Time is running out for my friend. We are eating lunch when she causally mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family". What she means is that her biological clock has begun its countdown, and she being forced to consider the prospect of motherhood.


"We're taking a survey," she says half jokingly. "Do you think I should have a baby?" 


"It will change your life," I say carefully, keeping my tone neutral.


"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on Saturdays, no more spontaneous vacations..."


But that is not what I mean at all. I look at my friend, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in child birth classes. I to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. 


I consider warning her that she will never read a newspaper again without asking "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every fire, will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.


I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a souffle or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.


I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for child care, bu tone day she will be going to an important business meeting and she will think about her baby's sweet smell. She will have to sue every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her child is alright.


I want my friend to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonalds will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of those clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in the that restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.


Looking at my friend, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring. She will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs'. I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.


My friend's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the ways she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is always careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his son or daughter. I think she should know that she will fall in love with her husband again for reasons she she would now find unromantic.


I wish my friend could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried desperately to stop war and prejudice and drunk driving. I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threat of nuclear war to my children's future.


I want to describe to my friend the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to hit a baseball. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it hurts.


My friend's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You will never regret it." I say finally. Then I reach across the table and squeeze my friend's hand, and offer a prayer for her and me and all of the mere mortal women who stumble into this holiest of callings.

DUE DATE!

So tomorrow is my due date! Ahh! And I am more than ready to have this baby. As much as I feel like this pregnancy has flown by, at the same time it feels like I am permanently pregnant! Ha. I have been having little, very irregular contractions for about a month now, and I am kinda just ready to be done and feel like a normal human being again. And I am so ready to meet this little guy! I have been hoping every day to go into labor so I wouldn't have to be in the hospital on the 4th.... but it seems that we are probably gonna have a 4th of July baby! Tomorrow morning, at 8:40, I have an appointment to get my membranes stripped. I had this done with Noah and went into labor with him that night (granted it was 2 days later when I actually had him) so anyways, I am hoping that I go into labor tomorrow after having my membranes stripped! Then, shooting for half the time I was in labor with Noah... maybe like a 20 hour labor would be fantastic! Haha. I am nervous, I think more nervous for this delivery and baby than I was with Noah, because I know what is coming... I know the pain and freakin hard work, and recovery is gonna be like. Terrifying! I'm sure it will all be fine. [and easier/shorter than last time!] I am grateful to be able to be pregnant and go through this natural process to bring a precious angel to this earth. I am so blessed to be a Mommy.

We have the carseat in the car, bags packed and ready by the door, most of the house clean, I think physically we are ready at home!I am still a tad nervous about how Noah will adjust to sharing me and Daddy, but that could just take time! I am sure he will be fine, besides he gets to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa Willie in Holbrook! Nothin better than that in this boy's eyes! Well, wish us luck tomorrow and the next few days! :)