James Wallace

There I was. It was 4 o clock in the morning and the first one hit. I thought it was just another Braxton Hicks, but then 10 mins later another one came. This time I tried getting up to relieve the pain but no relief came. It couldn't be-- I was a week before my due date. I was so excited but I didn't want to convince myself I was in labor if I wasn't so I waited through another hour of consistent contractions before I woke up Dad and asked him if he wanted a Sept. 7th baby. He said yes and I told him to get back to sleep, while I went in to finish some projects for work. Five mins later Will joined me and said he couldn't sleep. He read his scriptures and then took Ben for a bike ride when he woke up. The house was buzzing. I don't know how he did it but Ben even seemed to sense his little brother was on his way-- he was soooo hyper!

I called my friend up from her downstairs apartment to coach me on some hypo birthing because I was determined not to freak out once the contractions got real bad. I was planning on going into the hospital at hour 12 of my labor--- so I had some hours before I would go to the hospital. My sister in law mentioned things might go faster this time so I told her to pick up Ben in the morning, instead of the afternoon like I had planned. Will and I then drove to Salt Lake City for errands and to be closer to LDS hospital in case the labor pains intensified. (I've learned that with Ben I am to watch intensity and not my contraction times as much, because they tend to be all over the board no matter where I am in my labor period). Once we got to Salt Lake City my contractions stretched from 10 to 20 mins apart and barely hurt. I was applying more breathing techniques-- but come on! It couldn't make that much of a difference right?! We wandered the SLC cemetery and then Smiths marketplace for three hours. And then waited on the other side of the conference center. By this time my mom and dad called and said get to the hospital. I said no I'm not in pain and they said they didn't care I should go. So being the obedient daughter that I am at 4 pm I went to the hospital. On the way in I told Will I wanted to stop by the bathroom to splash water in my eyes so I look like I had been crying. I was way to jovial to be in the hospital. I cracked jokes at the check in desk (very different from the screams and tensing I was doing with Ben at this point in the process last time). We were put in a room and I was thinking-- they would send me home. But come to find out I was at a 5.5 and well into active labor. I was admitted and almost said no to the epideral but thought better of it cause I had not "trained" to go natural. Four hours later our little bundle of joy was born. The doctor who had been in the middle of a family party was in the delivery room literally less than five minutes.  I pushed three times and out came James. He was born at 9:41 pm and was 8 lbs and 20.5 inches long. He has been a doll!  He didn't nurse as well as Ben the first few days but seems to have caught up in his skill set the last few days. He sleeps like a newborn and hugs like one too.  I love him more than I thought possible. Having two kids is proving to be double the fun and double the tears-- O I mean adventure.

In popping range

My poor neglected blog!  I have so much to tell and if I don't tell it --- it will pass by as if it never happened-- not even a memory because it will be forgotten if I do not write it. I don't know where to start so I'll just start with Ben. I could start with a list of things he's broken in the last 48 hours or I could start with the fact that he is able to identify some letters and some numbers. His colors are a little shady but they are slowly emerging. He broke a neighbors planter and his grandma Blackhurst's frame in the past two days. Of course he was in "time out" for both shenanigans but I have no idea if he fully understands the time out concept yet. We'll keep at it. His sentences are starting to include anywhere from two to four words-- his favorite phrases right now are "open door," "come on," "lights on," "amen" and of course "NO."  I smile from the inside out every time he talks right now because it is so new to me to have a child actually be able to articulate his wants to me. It's great!  Other developmental steps are front rolls, jumping, and screaming like a girl whenever he sees water on the ground and waiting for me to walk him around it.

On to James. I'm just about to pop. I'm a little over a week away from my due date-- and I'm getting so excited (and uncomfortable). I keep telling myself I'm OK to wait but I feel like I'm less nervous about this birth and more just plain ready to have him in my arms. My nesting has broken out into full swing and I'm buying supplies, organizing and preparing meals like it's nobody's elses business. Every time I run into a friend or stranger in the store they want to know how close I am to delivery-- I'm really showing right now.

To end I'll continue the saga of our lives-- things haven't got a whole lot less dramatic around here but I feel like we're managing our stress better. We're moving out of our condo sometime this month (hopefully after little man is born). I have been pretty busy working from home on writing/PR projects for the company Go Au Pair. I hope I can keep it up and have two kids all the while-- things will be crazy I'm sure for the next couple months. Will is helping out a lot with Ben and looking for jobs all the while. We've had a few interviews and don't know if it will produce results but are hopeful. I can't imagine the day when our expenses are less than our income--- O the feeling ;)  I have to say though it's been great to be able to have savings pad our path all this time... or we would be sad sad dudes. We're just about to the end of the savings pad so we're praying for miracles in the next little while :)  Well I'm thinking that's the latest. I'm happy to have such a great family. I'm more grateful for Will everyday and love being a mother.  So although we have our downs we have a lot more ups!