Lily on Ice

Last Friday night was my last Older Girl's Night Out for Girl Scouts. I decided I need a break; some time to collect my thoughts and focus on me for a while. The event last week was SO much fun! We went ice skating at 7th Mountain Resort (formerly known as Inn of the 7th Mountain).

Since it was Friday, Lily was with me at work, so she came with me ice skating. It was her first time, and she was so excited! We picked out her skates, got a helmet and headed to the ice.
It was really slick since they had just "zambonied" it, and I had no idea how to begin to teach her how to skate, so we struggled at first. After going around at a snails pace with her holding either me or the wall, another GS leader showed me how she taught her son to skate. Hold one hand in yours (either their left in your left, or their right in your right). Use your other hand to hold under that armpit (so holding her left hand in mine, my right hand is in her left armpit). She then puts her right arm out for balance. We went around the rink once more like this, and she was off on her own!

It took some convincing before she would stay away from the wall for any period of time, but by the time her dad came to pick her up around 8:30, she was doing great! She fell a few times, but never really got hurt (of course she is only 3.5' tall, so much closer to the ground), and she never got frustrated with herself or me!
We went back Tuesday night with some friends, and she had so much fun showing off her skills. She was timid at first, and tried hugging the wall, but quickly remembered that she knew what she was doing.

The best part of all this? The price! Admission is free for kids under 5, so the first time it cost us $5 for her skates. Tuesday is 1/2 price night, so she was FREE! I want to try to go on Tuesdays as often as we can, I mean what else can we do as a family for $12?!

So, it's been awhile...

You know how it is, life as a mom gets in the way and the blog you committed to gets moved to the back burner. Since my last post, I've had a few changes in my life. Two new bosses at work, one not-so-nice, the second INCREDIBLE. She inspires me and challenges me and is just a sweet, kind person besides! Also, I went back to school. I'm only taking 2 classes this term, but I think it's a good start after a 4 year break. Oh, and we got 2 cats!

Speaking of 4 years ago, 4 years ago tonight I went into labor. What follows is my birth story.

I was due on January 12, 2006. I was working in a child care center at the time, and figured to make things easier, I would have my last day be the end of 2005. So, the end of December came and went and I was home, alone. I had also made arrangements to take the entire month off of Girl Scouts, so I was utterly bored! I actually ended up going to work a couple times a week just to visit and kill some time! January 12 came and went and I was only 1-1 ½cm dilated. Then, on January 17, I decided to clean the bath tub to take what I figured would be my last bubble bath for a very long time. After my bath, I went to bed as usual.
I woke up at 3:45am with contractions, this was not the first time, so I decided not to wake Josh up until I was sure we needed to call the hospital. For 2 hours, I sat in the dark, timing and writing down my contractions. Then, at 5:45, I woke Josh up and told him I think we should call. My contractions were about 4 minutes apart at this point. We called the hospital and headed out.
Now, I had been told to eat before I got to the hospital because they would not let me once I was admitted, so I reminded Josh of this and we stopped at McDonald's. I could only eat a hash brown and my orange juice (I am not a breakfast person) and I remember the speed bumps were quite uncomfortable. We arrived at the hospital just before 7am. They put me in a triage room and started monitoring me. My contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, but I was still just at 2cm.
Being that I was 6 days late, they decided to keep me and make it happen. I made all my phone calls to people I knew wouldn't mind a 7:30am phone call and was assigned a room. As friends and family arrived, my contractions all but stopped. They had me walking laps in the hospital until after lunch. When I complained about starving to death, the nurse let me drink some broth (yippee!) and we all sat and waited.


At 2pm they started the petocin. I started to have more, quicker contractions, but made barely more than a moan the whole time. The nurses were giving me a hard time for being too quiet! The doctor broke my water around 3 (I think) Then, about 4, transition started and I got louder. I was going to try to go natural, but I was getting so tired from the pain that I asked for some pain meds. Once those kicked in I was much better and able to rest for about an hour. About 5, the meds were not working anymore and I had my epidural. It ended up not working, and I felt the whole thing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared!
Shortly after, while I was in my trance, moaning and sweating like a pig, my good friend Katie stopped by to visit. Josh ended up sending her away (I didn't even know she was there), and we headed to the home stretch. During this process I was so hot that Josh, my mom and his mom had an assembly line going of cold washcloths back and worth to the sink. Nothing has EVER felt so relaxing in my life!
About 7, I started to push (incidentally during my Girl Scout troop meeting). I only remember pushing about 4 or 5 times, and Lily was born at 7:44pm. She weighed exactly 9 pounds and was 21 ½ inches tall with a think head of black hair. Around 9, my brother did a dinner run for us. I was so hungry, and I remember that Taco Bell tasting so good!



Looking back, had I known my epidural wasn't going to work, I would not have gotten it. I also laugh at all the extra stuff I did to prepare (like I learned in Lamaze) that I didn't even think to use. Things like music and lighting. Once I was there, I didn't care what it looked or sounded like, I was in such a trance I wouldn't have known anyway! Now, my little baby is turning 4!