Military Move

Since graduation from Officer School at the end of the summer, Will h as taken a new job in Columbia, we've moved our entire home into my mother's house, Will was accepted into flight school, Dad and Will have painted and fixed up our house in Charleston, we have rented our house to a like minded couple with twin boys, I've started my Doula certification, we're currently packing to move to Alabama for two years, Will got a '79 Mercedes 240 diesel, a motorcycle, we're trying to sell his jeep CJ7.... throw in the girls birthdays, and the holiday season and I am straight up exhausted!! I'm really excited about moving to Alabama. We'll be living in a brand new house on base and I'm looking forward to making lots of friends and having a great time while we're there! YAAY for new adventures! Oh, and one of my dearest friends is having a baby in a month (a VBAC) and I get to be her DOULA! WOO HOOO
breathe......and back to packing and washing diapers for me.....

Carolina's Birth Story - In Honor of her 3rd birthday

The birth of Carolina Lee Ann Murray Current mood:  blissful Here's a link where I posted my story on the forums of mothering.com Mothering.com link to Carolina's birth story The Birth of Carolina Lee Ann Murray  I experienced BH contractions from about week 20 until labor started.  I really believe this helped condition my body for labor day! The first pre-labor contraction hit me while in the car on the way back from a "vacation" in Atlanta during week 38. The first time I felt it, I had a little trouble breathing through it. I felt another about 15 minutes later  and decided to count. They would happen about every 20 minutes or so. These contractions continued  off and on for the next three weeks.  My due date come and went and the anxiousness of it all began to take over. I really wanted to meet our  little boy. - more about that later :) We tried a few "natural" induction techniques, but the bottom line was,  this baby was waiting.....thank goodness! So, September 2nd we find out that Uncle Bud had a heart attack. We know that we HAVE to go to  Savannah...no other option (i'm 6 days past due) Hold on baby..we need to have you in Charleston!!  So we get to Savannah and spend Saturday night and all day Sunday with Bud. We knew that the next time  we saw him we'd have a baby.. oh btw..The Bishop of Georgia came to visit Bud and pray for him.  WE asked him to remember and pray for us and baby Blaise (our boy name) during Monday mass! We arrived home around 9:30 pm on Sunday and I immediately went to bed. I awoke around midnight  and couldn't get back to sleep. I knew labor was approaching! I mean, it  was Labor Day!! I decided to lay  in bed and take it easy!  6:15 am---OUCH! I jumped out of bed doubled over in pain. This is it! I got out my birth necklace, put it on,  and changed into my favorite kimono wrap! I tried to get comfortable. I walked around, got back in bed,  sat on the toilet...nothing was helping! Contractions were about 7 minutes apart. I decided to let Will sleep  until he awoke on his own. I'm going to need at least one of us to be well rested! I'd only had about 6 hours  of sleep the past 2 nights! So Will wakes up around 8 Am and I let him know that I will in fact spend la bor day doing exactly that!  We were both so excited! He started timing contractions while we had breakfast. 5-7 minutes apart.  8:30 Am - breakfast finds it way back up and into the toilet! man did that make me feel better immediately! The next 6 hours were mostly a blur of lots of movement, relaxation, and massages from my husband :)  I enjoyed spending time on the toilet!! Contractions were so much more manageable there! I took two  different baths during this period. They lasted about an hour each. I remember lying back almost completely  submerged - Will holding my hand and reminding me to relax every muscle in my body--from my mouth,  to my toes. The sunlight shining in the window was beautiful... Sometime during the day (i think around 1pm) the thunderstorm started. The rain and thunder really helped  me relax. 2 pm- the urge to bare down...it's definately too soon to push! Most first time moms labor 18 hours on average!!  I didn't tell Will that my body was pushing a little bit with each contraction. They  were about 2-3 mintues apart by  now....I checked my cervix---nothing. Within an hour, this urge to bare down was all consuming. It was so hard  to not tense up! Will kept me relaxed. I finally told him that "I think I'm pushing a little." I checked my cervix  one last time and I felt the head! "I think we're getting close." Once I fet the head, Will really wanted me off of the toilet. The thought of the baby being delivered in the toilet  scared him :) I alternated between the living room and bathroom...mainly squatting or either on my hands  and knees. The irony is that Will has owned an antique birth chair since before  we met...I thought that it would  come in handy, but that thing was the epitome of uncomfortable! 4pm - Will can now see the head. He thought it was the cord b/c it was "rubbery and blue"  ---eeeek CORD PROLAPSE!! I flew to the knee chest position that I had memorized in case of emergency  and demanded a mirror. I could see a little white buble...it was her amniotic sac---deep sigh of relief!! I  assured the wonderful hubby that we're good to go. The head starts coming fast! I decided that I need  something strong to support my squats. I held onto the bed frame of our pull out sofa while maintaining a squat. Will was lying on the floor under me!  Will grabbed some hot wash cloths from the croc pot and supported my peri neum while I pushed. The ring of  fire was the only part of labor that I would consider painful. I felt like I was ripping from the inside out... But  we were almost there...The pain was so unexpected that I initially sucked her back in! DH reminded me that  I was so close---all I need is to get that head out! With the next contraction, I was able to push her head out!  Thank you God! Within seconds, I felt the strangest sensation and asked Will..."WHAT are you DOING to ME??"  It felt like he had his hands inside of me trying to pull the baby out. She was simply turning inside of me so  that her shoulders were free of my pubic bone! That was a really strange sensa tion! Within the next 30 seconds,  I had my last contraction and managed to stretch enough to get her shoulders out and she slid right into  Daddy's hands. She was still in the Caul. Will broke the bag and pulled it off of her. He handed her to me as  I crawled in the pull out bed. 5pm - she let out a scream. She was so pink except for a little blue in her hands and feet. We wrapped her up  and tried to help her clear her lunges. Notice I keep saying she---we j ust knew that we were having a boy!!  I had dreamt that it was a boy - I had a "feeling" that it was a boy - and Will is one of four boys....so naturally,  we were having a boy! "It's a girl- unless he just has a really small penis" -Hubby's quote of the day!  We waited about 2 hours to cut the cord - I was waiting to pass the placenta. Finally, after no placenta,  I really felt the need to go to the bathroom to see if I could help it along (I wasn't feeling very well)  We cut the cord and I went to the toilet where I did a very light funda l massage and PLOP!!! Right into the toilet!  We scooped it out and inspected it....How beautiful and miraculous!  Baby girl and I sat on the couch and nursed for the first time while firecrackers were going off in the distance.  Thank you River Dogs for setting off the Labor Day Fireworks just for us!!!! Happy birthday baby girl... No TEARS or skid marks (unless they were internal) Carolina Lee Ann Murray September 4th, 2006 5pm7lbs 5 oz 18" long born in the caul

The Babywearer

I've been longing for (and saving for) a girasol wrap! I found a lovely momma that was willing to sell me hers. I had to pay her in monthly installments but I finally have a beautiful wrap. Now for a beco.... if you're interested in a baby carrier, i highly recommend them! A high quality baby carrier is my must have baby item! A blog that I stalk recently posted about baby carriers - you should check it out!

Flower Girl

We were thrilled when Tim and Channing asked Carolina to be their flower girl! They are the coolest and we just adore them. Will was supposed to be a groomsman in the wedding, but as you know he's been away for the summer so he was unable to attend. He was pretty bummed about not being there to share their big day.

Carolina did so well!! I was so amazed and so incredibly proud. This has been a tough summer for her - with Dada being gone (and she's 2) - so I honestly thought that it might not work so well. She actually walked down the isle with all of those people watching and she stood up front during the entire service and even walked back out - WOW.... it was just amazing! Tim and Channing were beautiful and their wedding was fabulous!! We had a great time - thanks again for including us :)

4th of July

I forgot to post these :) Fun pics from our fun filled fourth...minus the falling in the pond fiasco with Carolina---too bad I didn't get a few pictures of THAT!!!!

We started the day picking blueberries. Later on, Danny and Cheryl stopped by for some BBQ. Dad brought sparkelers with him and Carolina had a blast with them. All of our neighbors seemed to have "shelled" out a small fortune in fireworks so we enjoyed all of their firework displays. It was a relaxing fourth of July. Wonder what Will was doing?!?!






Dad is so silly!!!

kinky curly hair

my hair hasn't curled since last summer. I have no idea what happened to this mane of mine, but once I cut it shoulder length last summer, the cut (or the pregnancy hormones) caused my hair to go limp. I've let it grow out for a year and I finally had it cut :)

Before

After

I found a local salon that could give me a Deva Cut. Deva is a curl line that specializes in curly hair. They are the experts. So, this Deva cut lasted about an hour and she cut my hair dry. I've NEVER had someone cut my hair dry. I wanted to keep the length, I just wanted my curls back. When the cut was over, there was very little hair on the floor- but it has already made a huge difference in reviving my curls. I've also learned that curly girls (or anyone for that matter)should never use sulfate shampoo. It is so harsh and drying. I've been using only conditioner for the past 6 months at least. Well, guess what I didn't know?!?! If you use hair product with 'cones, then you have to use sulfates in order to break down the product buildup. Well, here I am using my silicone based hair products and never shampooing out the nasty gunk. No wonder my hair wouldn't curl!!! Well, I've learned that in order to have healthy curls, you need to get rid of all hair products with the nasty 'cones in them allowing you to not use the harsh sulfates. This "method" of hair care is called "curly girl". If you're interested, check out the forums at naturallycurly.com. I have sooo much more to learn and I'm sure the next few months will be trial and error while I find a new routine, products, and styles that work with my curls. I want these ringlets gorgeous and juicy again... like this:

Grass

It seems as though most of the summer has consisted of shoveling dirt and laying sod. Dad and I have worked hard in Mom's yard moving sand, repairing sprinkler lines, and trying to encourage Mom's grass to grow. We have her yard looking much better. There is so much more work to do, but we're setting the foundation :)

You can't see the peninsula here behind the dirt pile, but it was basically sinking into the pond. It was a mess....
I am still amazed by the look of the peninsula now :)

My car has been working hard this summer. We've packed it full three times thus far......So, who'se hiring me next?!?!