Nolan Jerome Joseph Linfitt

Born March 19th, 2015 at 12:39 am
10lbs 1 ounce, 21.5 inches long
Due March 6th

I went into labour at about ... I have no idea honestly, but I was dilating painlessly during the day. AT 6ish pm I texted our doula to let her know that I was losing my mucous plug and she told me I would be pregnant until April. Do you feel the LOVE? I still thought MAYBE it was false because ... you know I was already at 41 weeks +5 days so .... figures right? By 9 pm they were no longer super fun or exciting contractions lol.

We called mom and she came over, then we were on the way by .... shortly after 10 or so ... Shortly after Rosthern, my water broke and it was SUPER GROSS. My water usually only breaks when I get to about 5cm or more, and usually baby is born within the hour ... so OBVIOUSLY I was like .... oohhhhhh damn it.

The pain was quickly getting worse so I made sure to be hands and knees to slow the labour down and because that's the best way to deal with back pain. We got to Saskatoon at 11:18 pm and inside.

I immediately removed pants because GROSS it felt slimy and ... just super gross. Once seeing that my fluid was clear I labored at the bed mostly. It was super painful, super fast - all in my back, like unbelievable, ridiculous, nobody can make it go away pain. Our doula, Lisa, did something to my hips which - apparently- made me finish dilating and then they all wanted me to go to the bathroom. Like ... what? I crawled there ... I'm  not joking, there was no way I was walking and I was asking for an epidural and I'm sure I quit at LEAST 5 times between the bed and the bathroom ... labour sucks. I remember at one point lying on my back and it actually felt okay for a few minutes ... anyways, once I got to the bathroom they made me sit on the toilet and it was hard work just doing that LOL, then they all wanted me to go pee ... like ... omg ... then the midwife asked if she could check to see how dilated I was and check on baby. I agreed - actually, she asked BEFORE we went to the bathroom, but I was told to go to the bathroom first so my mind did things in order. Then they wanted me to turn around and the minute I turned around, with the intention of going to the bed to be checked, Nolan dropped down and he was pretty much crowning and ... nobody was ready. I kind of fumbled here because the sensation was unexpected and the birth position is hard to describe ... perhaps acrobatic but basically draped/leaning on Corey and the midwife, with some doula hands .... and my hand on Nolan's head because nobody was ready and then I needed to put my hand down so I asked the midwife to take over the head part ...

Then I worked on breathing/pushing ... it's really hard to not push when that urge comes but basically it was a gentle time, no panicking, no freaking out ... everyone was calm. He wasn't stuck and it turns out he had his hand by his head so was taking his sweet time ... and he blinked as soon as his head was out. Good thing I couldn't see that because ... that's creepy? Then his shoulders and he was out and Corey announced it was a boy and I was all ... wait ... what? First words I said were ... I've never been wrong before ... BAHAHAHA. I mean ... look at him he's .... ginormous? I mean ... AWWWWWWWWW

Everyone kept saying how big he was and etc ... and I was basically just stunned he was a boy. Stuff happened here ... not sure what, then I was on the bed, taking homeopathic remedies and the placenta came out like textbook perfect and I heard a WOW and look at that. Nolan is a true miracle, he had a TRUE KNOT in his placenta. True knots cause a lot of still births, my sweet Nolan has been the exception to a great many rules and a true blessing. I'll make another post about all the rules he has been an exception to in his life later. I have a photo of the true knot as well if you want to see it ... but it's bloody and ... you know ... placenta-y ...

Then ... Nolan was weighed - at this point the only name we had picked out were girl names so ... he was just known as ... Boy at this point. 10lbs 1 ounce. Debbie, secondary midwife, was bang on with her guess ... I was surprised again .... LOL.

Post Notes : Debbie was the primary midwife for William and Nikki's birth but she was going to be away for Nolan's expected due date so we had gotten Alison as our primary. When I went supremely overdue, Alison was kind enough and thoughtful enough to text Debbie to come be secondary. <3 Awwwww. It was great.

Post Note 2 : I wanted to get this wrote down before I forgot details - nobody really asked how it went this time around ... weird eh? I guess 4th baby and all we all just expect him to have a job already and stuff ;)

Baby #4 Guesses

Here is where I'll keep all the guesses for baby #4. I tried to make a page but I couldn't get it to work ...

So nobody was right!!! Nolan was born March 19th, 10lbs 1 ounce ....

Some history if you would like :

Baby #1 - Amelie (girl - in case that wasn't obvious) Due May 5th - Born May 5th - 7lbs 13 ounces
Baby #2 - William (boy) Due April 30th - Born May 2nd - 8lbs 8 ounces
Baby #3 - Nikki (girl) Due May 1st - Born May 4th - 9lbs 2 ounces
Baby #4 - Unknown - Due March 6th

GUESSES

Corinne's Guess - Girl - March 5th - 9lbs
Rachelle's Guess - Boy - March 5th - 8lbs 3 ounces
Kim's guess - Girl - March 7th - 8lbs 9 ounces
Ray's guess - Girl - March 4th - 7lbs 6 ounces
Melanie's guess - Girl - March 9th - 8lbs 11 ounces
Mary's Guess - Girl - March 6th - 7lbs 10 ounces
Grandma Lois - Boy - 7lbs 6 ounces
Matante Lucille - Boy
Gayle's guess - Boy - March 5th - 9lbs 3 ounces
Bonnie's Guess - Boy - March 3rd - 9lbs 1 ounce
Deanna's Guess - March 14th
Kylea's Guess - Boy - 8lbs 5 ounces
Isabelle's Guess - Boy - March 4th - 9lbs
Eliane's Guess - Girl - March 8th - 8.5 lbs

Syrup anyone??

Tonight as I watched Suits and enjoyed the tiny handful of popcorn the kids allowed me to have, it occurred to me how quiet it was. Nikki was lying in my arms after having nursed herself to a nap - that's right a 7pm nap. I decided to get up and go check on them and get Amelie in bed because she has school tomorrow.

I'm glad I did.

Earlier that evening William had packed his 'lunch' - he likes to pack some snacks and eat them and I'd seen grapes and crackers when I'd peeked into it.

I approached the bedroom and in the dim light I could see a big blue Tupperware full to the brim of something orange, so I turned on the light and was relieved to see the carrots. Then I noticed William was drinking out of an old Yogurt container I'd washed - Tupperware is expensive FYI. I asked him what it was.

"My drink," William replied.
I looked inside and thought at first it was Iced Tea - except ... we didn't have Iced Tea ....
"It's sywup," He informed me.

0_0 ................

I called daddy to let him know he'd likely be putting Amelie on the bus in the morning ...

I'm out of grapefruit

I didn't think I had a craving this time - but it turns out ... as I sit here STARVING ... that I do. I need grapefruit. RIGHT NOW. IT doesn't help that I have nothing else to curb my anger at not having grapefruit in the house - literally - nothing. No snap peas, no beans, no oranges, no strawberries ... not even carrots. 0_0 sssssiiiiiigggggggghhhhhh

All I have his chocolate cake with sucre a la creme. Oi. I don't even want it. I want grapefruit.

Since we've started making meal plans and eating more raw veggies/fruits and 'checking' what we eat, my fridge gets emptier quicker. I guess I have to seriously re-evaluate my budget for the fresh stuff. It used to go bad so quickly but now .... not so much.

I'm just really wanting grapefruit right now. My cousin owns this business called Munch Eaze where he delivers snacks to people for a small fee. Yep. I'd be his best customer if he lived out here. And ... I'd have grapefruit and I wouldn't have had to leave my house.

Going shopping, even by myself, is a marathon. The drive sucks, the pushing the cart sucks, the loading the truck or car sucks, the driving home sucks ... it alllll sucks. My belly is heavy and my back will hurt, or my feet! Baby shoves around like he/she owns the damn place - he/she DOESN'T just fyi ... renting maybe.

I keep reminding myself 3.5 to 5.5 weeks left. That's not long ... right? Just around the corner and hopefully closer to just 3.5 weeks ... welll that weekend everyone is kind of busy so the Monday after would be okay or before that would be okay too.

Corey works nights this week so he can't just 'grab some grapefruit' to bring me in the morning unless he wants to haul that everywhere at work - lame.

Nikki just brought me a sleeve of crackers - joyously exclaiming SNACK ... so ... I guess we'll do that for now.

Crazy Carpets

They aren't just for kids.

They are for everyone, including super pregnant women - if you are careful getting on, which I was pretty good at. They are also awesome on the slightest incline, like our driveway.

Amelie and William got them for Christmas and I have no idea who gave them - Corey knows. Today, during outside time after school, I watched Amelie and saw how fast she was going and thought - yeah ... I could do that. So we carefully set down the blue one, got on and Nikki and I went for a ride. It was pretty awesome and we went pretty far and the climb back up wasn't bad - which is important because Nikki insisted 'ENCORE!' a great many times. We were also able to race each other, although ... William cheated a lot of the time.

It made me remember crazy carpets as kids and how we would find the steepest, bumpiest, stupidest hill we could ... then go down .... on our stomachs. I don't know how we survived. Maybe when everyone comes over next we can have races again ....

Nikki's thoughts at 21 months old

Everything looks better when colored on.
Only accept milk from a cup if mom isn't around or if mom doesn't give in to your pleading.
Matante Madison is the best.
Memere is pretty awesome too.
Until she tries to leave ... then she's not cool.
Going outside is fun as long as someone carries me.
Sledding is super fun.
Climbing in the fridge is fun.
Climbing on the couch is fun.
Climbing everything is fun.
Unfolding the laundry is pretty fun too.
Chocolate milk is probably as good as breast milk.
Amelie is my favorite person in the world - right up there with mommy, and mommy-mom (dad)
It's fun calling dad mommy-mom because he gets annoyed.
It's also fun calling William - William Amelie and Amelie - Amelie William : nobody knows why but me.
Batting lashes and yelling YEAH when mommy asks if I want boogie (boob) gets me everything - even cookies.
Playing with the tablets is fun, but only if I can play the kitty kitty game - which mommy gets annoyed with.
When watching my leappad it must have the volume turned up all the way.
Day care was pretty awesome - they had cookies and cuddled me when I needed it, sometimes when I didn't. ;)
I like when Grandpa comes over.
I call everyone grandpa, even the doctor and mommy's boss ...
I like pretending I'm a puppy.
If I don't know what to do, I pretend whoever is scaring me is a puppy.

Pro-Choice

Lately, my newsfeed has been bombarded with pro-life, anti-abortion type posts, from lots of people. Even family members. Normally, since my pro/anti vaccine post in January, I just close/remove these things but ... they have been bothering me.

Has anyone posting this ever considered what a law like this could mean for women? I mean truly considered what this could mean ... you are forcing a woman to do something with her body that she has not given consent for. Really think about that. Really, truly think about it. I didn't really think about it and just kind of let the activists do their thing, but then ... it hit me.

It makes me sick. It doesn't make me feel good to know what abortion is or how it works or any of that, but worse ... the idea that my rights are being taken away. It may start with the right to abort and access to birth control. It may progress to my right on how I give birth (which is already a huge fight), it may progress to whether or not I vaccinate, circumcise, homeschool, playdate, eat organic ... am I getting all crazy? I don't think so. All these things directly affect our children, their long term health and there are pros and cons to each and there are also tons of doctors/researchers to support each side. Forget what a celebrity says, I've never taken advice from a celebrity, not even Dr. Oz. I research all my choices and then agonize over it forever LOL.

Some women choose to abort because the pregnancy was unplanned and another pregnancy would be too dangerous and might leave her children with no mom. Why is it not okay for women to make conscious decisions about their body?The thought of aborting a life is a sad one, but one that women make because it truly is the best decision for them. How can any of us tell them what is the best decision for them or their child? Ever.

We can't.

We should protect the innocent?! Agreed! How about those that were born and abandoned? Maybe start there instead? There are so many children in the world that need loving and caring arms that ... maybe instead of glaring and forcing women into doing something they don't consent to ... we should just focus on giving an extra set of hands to those who chose to have children and are overwhelmed with the responsibility. What happened to kindness and compassion? When did they get less important than judgement and laws?

I don't want my kids to grow up thinking that they know what's best for others. The further along they get in school the more I realize what truly is important to me and what God's plan for me is. To raise children who love, are compassionate, care about the planet and environment and are gentle. I want them to look over at others to make sure their neighbor has enough.

It's hard to draw the line when it comes to laws, I know. I know what the pro-life people are pushing but I just can't agree with laws that go against a woman's right to her own body. IF we make that law, then shouldn't there be other laws that forbid us to make decisions about our children? Circumcision is a decision that parents choose shortly after birth, it affects the boys forever. (In some countries they do something similar to girls). Of course there are many examples but ... I digress.

So ... to you, I say, as long as you aren't trying to hurt my family or my children, carry on. Love. Live. Be compassionate ... or not.

Besides, maybe we can focus on laws against drunk drivers instead, or ways to keep pedophiles/sexual predators behind bars? Or how about ways to help mamas who want to stay home and raise their babies?! Yeah. Sounds way awesome.