Royal goes to WI

noel (royal?)

tyler (royal?)

ella, royal, madison, hunter: cousins

uncle caleb

aunt kerri

grandma ann and auntie gracie

grandpa greg

grandpa jim

great-grandma laura

We had a nice time meeting the rest of the family. Royals cousins took to petting him softly on the head and tummy. Great-grandma could only hold him for so long because "My, he is heavy." Grandma Ann took him out of my arms the moment we came up the stairs in the morning. "It's like christmas every morning!" She stated joyfully. Auntie Gracie had tears in her eyes at the thought of us leaving, she fell in love very quickly. Royal; a heartbreaker at the age of 6 weeks. We too will miss our family in wisconsin. Sigh. 

almost a month.

the krull sisters passed through town 

a picture of tired

thanks for the cloth diapers uncle josh and aunt jenni!

Just a quick note to throw some pictures up. We have made it through the first month. Whew, can't hardly believe it. We become more and more comfortable with being parents. It is incredible the ability to function on sooo little sleep, but somehow we do it.

A beautiful birth.

Is childbirth painful: A question that most women ponder at some point in their lives. All too often we are afraid to know the answer. I remember thinking about giving birth in my young adult years and cringing at the thought of it: How is something so seemingly impossible, possible? How do women make it through such a long and laborious process? Of course, modern medicine makes the answers to these questions a bit easier. Makes the seemingly impossible, possible.

But, knowing that it could be done without numbing my body, knowing that my own mother did it 4 times without any pain medication and survived! I knew that that was what I wanted. I am not one to go and pop pills as soon as something is wrong with my body anyway, a cold or a headache, usually you will find me waiting it out or looking up every possible natural remedy first. So, naturally, I wanted my body to be able to do the thing that it was built for, the thing that it knows how to do instinctively.

Not everyone can be so lucky as me to have had to only labor for 9.5 hours. I woke up at 3am already with contractions that were 5 minutes apart. These quickly moved to 2-3 minutes apart and than started to double up on one another, some lasting 3 minutes at a time. I moved around the house, from our bed, to the bath, to the living room, spending plenty of time sitting on the toilet (good for counter-pressure). I guess all that moving around helped get Royal in to position very quickly. By the time our doula was able to make it over, I was starting to feel the “undeniable urge” to push. This of course put us on the fast course to getting to the hospital.

The ride to the hospital was hellish, every bump and turn wreaked havoc on my already uncomfortable situation. I had the hardest time getting out of the car into the wheelchair that would eventually take me up to the delivery unit. Tyler had to really coax me to turn my knees towards him to get my out of the car. Seems easy right?

As soon as I sat on the bed in my room at Clark Memorial, my water broke and I was 9 cm. Perfect timing. By this point I was told to wait on pushing until my midwife could get there. If there is one thing in this life that is nearly impossible, this would be it: To not push when my body is demanding me to. There is no way to control it. Fortunately, it was not long before my midwife showed up and I was than 10 cm.

I only had to push for 16 minutes before an 8 pound 3 ounce wonder was plopped into my arms. I didn’t cry, which I had expected to. Instead, after 5-6 hours of groaning and breathing heavily, the first words that I exclaimed were “He’s huge!” I guess that I just couldn’t believe that he had actually made it out and that he was all one complete piece of a human.

If it were not for my husband continually encouraging me that I could do it, my mother holding me in her tender embrace that I love so dearly, and my doula making sure that I relaxed between contractions, I am not sure how things would’ve gone. But they went, and they went beautifully.

So, childbirth, painful? More like hard work. with a reward at the end that makes you forget all that you had to do to get it. A miracle, really. Perfectly the way that God intended it to be. 

He's Here!

March 17, 12:31 pm. Royal Oakland Deeb. 8.3 pounds, 22 inches. Awesome, soft, broad chested. More pics to come.

Forty Weeks

Tyler's new job look, working for Seminary.

My new job look, stealing basketballs.

Thought that it was impossible that I would make it to the end. Especially these past 3 weeks being so large. Wake up yet another morning to a pregnant body, it is incredible. I have taken up a new hobby, it is called snoring like an old man. Tyler got out his iphone at about 6:15 this morning to record the sound of his lovely wife snoring away. Funny it was indeed. 

My parents, Jim and Ann, have been here for the past week with crossed fingers, hoping that Royal will make an appearance before they have to go back to Wisconsin. There is one day left. Walking has been our favorite thing to do while they are here. I think that my mom has secret motives when she suggests that we go to Cherokee Park for the 2nd day in a row. Those hills, if they don't bring on labor, I don't know what else will. We have yet to try blue cohosh, false unicorn root or squawvine, all contraction inducing herbs. False unicorn root? Who thought of that name? How about true mythical creature tuber.

The recent Past

Last june, Tyler took me to Georgia for as a gift. We broke down a few times on the interstate and for some reason I got real sick at the same time. I was  not pregnant at the time, I don't know what happend.

We stayed at a hostal near the Appalachian Trail. Handsome.

This is for you Erin. Last spring about this time, we shared a special moment.

Bradley Speaks. and growls at the idea of driving to California and back in 4 days. We did it last February, it was awesome.

Sometimes boys have competitions where they test their leg muscle strength. Katherine and Luke's very special wedding shower 3/09.

Last winter, we had to dig a 4 foot deep ditch from the road to our house to repair a busted pipe. We hired nobody that wouldn't be paid with beer and pizza. This saved us about loads of dollars. Friends are great.

I won't say much about this. Tyler and Katherine are in a band, I on the other hand, am not.

live plants and things that are orange

We have been able to enjoy walks through Cherokee Park, no matter the weather.

Our new miniature fruit orchard.

38 Weeks, whoa mama.

What to do with 6 rotting bananas...

Katherine and Luke joined us for

ceviche and salbutes one last friday eve.

Just add raw mahi mahi that has been marinating in lime for 7 hours.

I ate a carrot, sweet potato, cheese crackers and drank an orange emergenC for lunch today. All of those things have something in common. What it is it? 

We went to our first appointment with the nurse-midwife today. You all might think that we are crazy changing our care providers at 38 weeks pregnant. Until we saw the “laboring tub” (more commonly known as a large bath tub) in one of the rooms at our new hospital, I thought we were crazy too. Because of Tyler’s new job as the lead designer at Southern Baptist Seminary we have been able to switch to where we wish we could’ve been this whole time. Sometimes, you just gotta be patient; real patient.

The UPS man delivered a real treat to our door today: A long box with stickers exclaiming that it contained “live plants”. Of course I warned Tyler to be careful when he opened it (Little Shop of Horrors anyone?). To our delight, yes, the plants were still alive but fortunately the only thing they will be eating dirt. Hopefully, if we do it right, over the next few months we will be able to enjoy Heritage Raspberries, Rabbiteye Blueberries and Northstar Cherries. I am also expecting a Clemetine tree, which I can use to add to my list of orange foods that I eat.

This kid will come at anytime now. We finished our natural childbirth class last night: We know now how a rolling pin, peppermint oil, chocolate and a very large beach ball can help reduce the pains of childbirth. Tyler got to witness his first up-close-and-personal delivery on video. He was sweating with very wide eyes and a hand covered mouth as a result. With that said, I have full faith in his abilities to aid me when I am the one panting and groaning. He is a wonderful man.

I continue to sip my red raspberry leaf tea in hopes that it will strengthen my uterus. Maybe the next time you hear from me, it will have pushed our baby out.