Our Beautiful (and unexpected) Homebirth: Part 1

A bunch of things have happened this week that have brought me down memory lane to reminise and relive one of the most beautiful and intense days of my life....the day Josiah Anthony Teryek was born.

I'd like write it down, before I totally forget...it has already been 8 months after all (wow!) The details are a little fuzzy, but the warm, contented felling still resides deep in my soul.

When I first found out I was having a baby I couldn't wait to make that first exciting Dr's appointment. I could imagine hearing his heartbeat, seeing him on an ultrasound, and having one of the midwives deliver the baby. I pictured it all going down at a hospital (why not..) and I expected that I'd probably get an epideral (again, why not...)

I started off with a midwife group I had worked with before and I got an ultrasound the first  trip in (awesome!) Everything time I would see a new midwife and I wondered who would be the one on call when I went into labor. I saw a poster of laboring positions at their office and was pretty intreaged by all the options. All of them seemed better than laying on your back (going against gravity didn't seem too smart). After this I started researching options like birthing stools, birthing tubs, and all sorts of unconventional options that I didn't see in the movies.

At my next appointment when she asked "Do you have any questions?" I finally had something to say! I asked a dozen questions about tubs, positions, walking around, etc. Every answer, came back a very tactful "Well that would be against hospital policy" or "We aren't allowed to do that" or "We don't use those here." Hmmmm....very disappointing. But what choice did I have? There weren't any birth centers anywhere near me, so this was the it was going to be.
I eventually resigned to the idea that I would be laying in a bed for most of my laboring and certainly all of my delivery.
After 5 months of thinking I had that I had no real options a good friend of mine who is a Doula (birth assistant) and a childbirth educator offered to do a childbirth class for Brian and I and another couple. After weeks of scheduleing conflicts we finally met up.....that night changed the course of the birth of my son and will forever impact how I feel about childbirth and birthing options.To be continued... :)

Long Overdue

Josiah is 7 months old and he just amazes me by the day. He is crawling all over the place (not quite a pro, but he gets it done!), he loves the idea of standing up and is pulling up to his knees and working on going up all the way. At his 6 month appointment he was 28 inches and 19lbs 13oz. He has 8 teeth(four chompers on the bottom and four on the top). He just started going from a crawl to sitting position and he thinks this is just the best thing ever.

So hard to imagine that the last time I posted he was barely sitting up....wow. I know there are going to be more fast and furious changes to come in the next few months. What a fun time in the life of a mommy!

After playing for a while Josiah and I went for a walk to the park and  had some fun. He actually did really great on the swing and got a huge smile when we went down the slide together.

What a beautiful February day!

Too Many Kisses to Number

I find that the day after I work I always have an extra dose of fun with Josiah. He's happy to have a mommy to snuggle with, too many kisses to number, and warm milk at a moment's notice. I'm happy to feel his warm cheek on my neck as he drifts off to sleep and wait for that sly smile as he looks up at me after a nap.

After a 45 minute nap Josiah woke up to eat and while eating we both fell asleep in the chair. He would wake up and eat a little more and then we would drift off once again. When we finally woke up I looked at the clock to find we had been sleeping there for 2 hours. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

I took to many pictures again today...here are a few.

Chilly Days and Christmas Trees

My sweet little Josiah is 5 months now. Wow. He has 2 teeth coming boldly into this world  (with which he loves to bite any unexpecting fingers) and a few more timid teeth that are secret agents. His hair is growing in and officially looks like a hair piece. He is getting very close to sitting up by himself, and if it wasn't for that pesky wind blowing every which way he might already be able to. I spent some time today taking pictures of my little munchkin with my early Christmas present...a Very nice camera. (Insert: Thank you Brian, you are the BEST)

The sun was bright and the wind was chilly....and with that combo Josiah was not in the mood to smile pretty, but he's still cute. :)

Well after a few minutes we were both a little chilly, so we went inside, but on some warmer clothes and played a little more. Josiah was in such a sweet quiet mood today.

After the little guy went to bed, Brian and I set up the Christmas tree. I kept thinking about how next year Josiah will be walking around helping up decorate for Christmas....and probably breaking a few ornaments!

This is a nativity scene that my grandma painted many years ago.

Together Time

I was just uploading some pictures from my camera and I realized there were a bunch of things I totally missed sharing. I'm sure things were just too crazy and busy, but there are some cute and important moments, so tonight we will travel back in time. At the end of October Brian's family came to visit (all of them!) It was great having them all together. Josiah loved all the hugs, kisses, and extra play buddies. Here they are!

We had a great time the whole week,but our trip to the beach was by far the most fun.

Grandpa and Josiah spending some quality time

Sandy feet

 

 

 

 

 

My little sweetheart

  After they left we took a trip to Washington Oaks State park with just the 3 of us. We had so much fun. Imagine, beautiful beach weather....in late October!. I love Florida.

The boy of many faces!

Looking out at the water

Two peas in a pod

Feeling the water and sand between our toes

Nap time!

I also recently took Josiah to visit his Great Grandfather who is is in his 90's. Josiah just seems to brighten his day every time.

Age gap of over 90 years...

First Day Back at Work....

Well today, was quite an interesting day. I started my new job, and boy am I overwhelmed! I have to work with a student who is taking honors Chemistry, Algebra II, some AP history class, and honors English. These were all classes I enjoyed and did good in, but boy was that a LONG time ago. So tonight I have been catching up on my Algebra II....

I wondered all day about my boys at home, but after calling 3 times I gave up. I guess the phone was on vibrate.

When I came home, Josiah was giving Brian a hard time about taking a nap and we finally both gave up and I just held him and told him about my day. He soon fell asleep and I was excited about spending some time when he woke up....nope...he hasn't woken up and it's already passed his normal bedtime now.

Brian is gone too.

So after my first day away from the family....I ate dinner alone...did my algebra II alone...and now I'm going to find something to watch on TV for a little bit before I fall asleep.

Glad I don't work everyday....

Packing up and moving on (for now)....

Well today I am going to be officially starting to pack up my classroom. Yes, that is right, no more second grade. These past two years in 2nd grade have been such fun. I loved my team even more than I realized I would and even went on a family vacation with one of them! But for now, I must move on. I do hope some day to return.

When I first went on maternity leave I had no idea what was going to happen. I was torn. I knew that teaching was WAY too much with a newborn. I wanted more cuddle time with my baby than from 6-8pm. I just couldn't do it. In three years of teaching I haven't mastered leaving when the kids leave and so I couldn't count on that.  Even that would be too much time away from my little munchkin. But how could I stay home?

Brian was working about 20-30 hours at Bose and we were pretty sure that we couldn't swing me staying home on just that. So I prolonged the decision....hoping...and praying...that something would change. I never told anyone I was coming back and I never told anyone I was leaving. I was told to just enjoy my leave and worry about it when the time came. So that is what I did.

Well a funny thing happened....2 weeks after Josiah was born my husband got a full time job as a "software engineer". He decided to keep on 20 hours at Bose to keep benefits. So he was working 60 hours a week (including weekends) with a 40 minute drive Monday-Friday. He was a trooper. He was happy to be providing for our family and we were able to make it on my mostly unpaid maternity leave. It finally seemed possible to imagine that I could really stay home with Josiah.

Even though I know he was exhausted, he never complained. He just picked up and went to work day after day. Unfortunately neither Josiah or myself saw him very much (there's always a catch). We knew this was not forever, only a season, so we just stuck it out.

About 2 weeks ago Brian was told that the website he was working for could only keep him on for 20 hours. This was a blessing in disguise.

Around this time I was checking my school email and saw something about a hospital/home bound teacher. They basically go to the house of kids who cannot go to school either permanently or temporarily. and give them 4 hours of instruction a week (I could do that....). I emailed some people to find out more. After some research I was told that I could not do this. So, I emailed some other people in the district just to make sure. A few days later I got a call from the district offering me a 40% position (15 hours...2 days a week...EXACTLY what I wanted). Really???

After meeting with the people in charge I accepted the position. I am just so excited.

At first I thought I wanted to just stay home full time, but there were some drawbacks to this....first of all, Brian and Josiah weren't getting the time together that they needed. Now, because Brian can pick any 2 days off that he wants, he will be able to have "guy time" with Josiah when I am at work. Secondly, I think we both felt like we were doing it all on our own. Brian was working so hard and supporting our family single handedly and I was taking care of Josiah 24/7. This way we both get a little variety in our week.

So today, with the help of a friend, I am staring to pack up my classroom at Crookshank. A decision has finally been made. I am moving on to a new position. I will miss my 2nd grade team tremendously but hopefully some day when Josiah is older, I will find myself back there.

Praise the Lord for having a perfect plan in mind, far better than I could have imagined.

But for now...how could I leave this little cutie for that long?!?!?