school's out for the summer

During my last 2 weeks of class during the quarter the Jorgensen parents came to help out around the house so I could work non-stop on school and Kris could survive. They were 1) an enormous help, 2) tons of fun, 3) extremely generous, and 4) fantastic company. Sam especially loved their "big car" and the black candy (licorice, pronounced "back cadjy") in "Papa's big car."

On my last day of class we drove to Bfield for my little brother's wedding. Joey and Charlotte are hitched and they are a perfect match. We failed to take pictures at the wedding but these were the Nations of Jorgensen personal family highlights:
Sam and Mom dancing;
Lucy pooing so much it got on her dress that Aunt Sarah bought her, Mom's dress, Mom's shoes, and Mom's food wrapping, wow;
Me being an awesome Mom and having an entire extra dress/outfit that actually matched the wedding colors;
Sam wandering around in Mom's shoes;
Kris staying late to help clean up despite being on 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

During my finals week we went to a Nations family reunion at the beach. I wrote papers on almost no sleep the week before and during that week and somehow am passing my classes--with good grades. The reunion was excellent. The highlights:
Sam sleeping in a series of progressively smaller closets--he loved it;

Lucy sleeping everywhere: the beach, the house, the car, etc.;

Jenn sleeping--actually, really sleeping (after I emailed my last final paper);
Kris also sleeping (this is actually a picture from last Thanksgiving, but I needed a sleeping shot);


Jenn simultaneously flying a kite, carrying Lucy in a sling, throwing a ball for parents' dog, and playing with Sam in the sand;

Kris surfing and boogey boarding with my brother Mike (what's with that pose Mike? To infinity, and beyond!);

hanging with family and my sister's awesome kids who we don't get to see much;

Sam playing in the sand but not being interested in the frigid central coast water;

seeing cool animals at the tide pools, a few seals, and Kris swimming with dolphins.

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Lucy will be 8 weeks on Wednesday.

She is the most fantastic baby on the planet and we're so glad she's in our family. She smiles and coos in response to our smiles and coos which is just as exciting with baby number 2. She is still bald on top and probably will be for a while, but it has become endearing.

Sam is 2 years old.

He is the most fantastic toddler on the planet. He loves going to the playground; being read to; playing with mixers, trains, vacuums, and trucks (or turning any object into those things); and songs. Who could ask for a better family?

fotografias

First bath

Sammy Bedhead

Mom Nations after a hard days work helping with the kids

Little Lucy

labor

The funny thing about Lucy's birth is: I didn't actually get to enjoy any of the perks of the birth center because it all went so fast. Except for the post-partum perks, which were many (big bed, Kris could spend the night, they didn't bother me so often, the room was all mine and big, and more). So just a quick recap of birth, since I've been asked. We'll post new pictures of Lucy soon--she's almost one week old!

I woke up with contractions on Wednesday, May 6th around 5AM. Since I'd been having somewhat regular contractions for periods of time in the past month I didn't get too excited but I couldn't go back to sleep. Kris woke up, I told him the situation, and said I was walking to get some bagels. The contractions were fairly regular for the next hours but didn't increase in intensity. Somewhere around 11AM they got stronger and were still regular and by 1PM I decided to call the midwife. She said to come on over to the hospital, which we did. I was checked for dilation around 3PM and was only at a 3 (this is me recounting the story to Lindsay 2 hours after birth, gesturing 3 for centimeters dilated),

was 90% effaced, and baby was at -2 station. In other words, I was nowhere. This was incredibly discouraging as I'd already been having contractions for hours. They said to go walk around for a few hours and if labor had really begun we could head upstairs to the birth center.

Around 5PM we headed back, me full of fear that labor still hadn't progressed even though the contractions were more frequent and way more painful. They checked me and, to their surprise, I was at a "7 or 8"--major progression (later the midwife admitted that when she originally checked me she thought it could be 24 or 48 hours until the birth). They began filling up a tub in one of the birth center rooms and wheeled me up there. I had a few contractions in the wheel chair because I couldn't move, a bunch draped over a birthing ball, and the tub was finally ready. After a contraction I started walking over there but decided I needed to pee first. The midwife and nurse suggested I just get in and pee in the tub, which I balked at, and insisted on peeing in the toilet. That was my big mistake. I could have had a water birth. Instead Lucy was born in the bathroom.

Basically I went from a 3 to a 10 and birthed this babe in 4 hours. Her head was perfectly round when she came out because she was hardly in the birth canal. There wasn't time for me to get in the tub, the doula hadn't arrived yet, I got no massages except from Kris and a nurse, and I didn't use any of the distraction methods I had planned on. All I can say though is I'm glad I could do it without an epidural, or any drugs, because it's what I had wanted--it decreases the chances of unnecessary interventions significantly. I hated my experience last time and am glad it could be so different, and so much more in my control (kind of, as much as birth can be in your control) this time. I'm also glad that Lucy and I are well.

I'm also grateful for the most fantastic labor partner ever. Kris was a dream, and since he and I did it virtually alone as we made laps around the hospital grounds (at one point outside a woman walked by and said, "Are you in labor?" half joking. I shook my head yes and she said, "Really?!?" and I just really wanted her to go away) he was why I got through it. I was only in the birth center for about an hour before I pushed her out. It was really intense.

Baby Lucy

Name: Lucy Marie Nations Jorgensen
Weight: 7lbs 2 oz
Length: 20 1/2 inches
D.O.B.: 5/6/09, 7:02pm

Talents: Lifting head up, nursing, pooping, burping, sleeping
Favorite sibling: Sam

Looks most like: Dad Nations due to male pattern baldness

I feel dumb for this, but I shot this video with my little digital camera vertically and you can't flip it once it's shot, so tilt your head to the side for the best view. The video is too cute to keep off this blog.

Lucy Marie Jorgensen, born May 6, 2009; 7 pounds 2 ounces.

talents and obsessions

This video shows Sam performing one of his latest talents, and probably my current favorite: mock counting. He generally gets several numbers in the correct order but they usually aren't the same ones. Nevertheless, he likes to count to six. He counts stuff all the time. Here, in case you need a translation, he says, "two, three, four, three, four, five, six" and then a bunch of gibberish and then "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy."



This video sums up a lot about Sam's life right now, including sitting at the table and not eating the things his parents prepare for him, being very interested in himself in pictures and videos (that's why he says Sammy, he wants to watch a video of himself), trying out new words in English and some other language of his own making, and (the part of the video I cut out) him saying "no" A LOT.

His favorite pal, besides his cousin Seth and his Daddy, is this stuffed cat. Its name thus far is "Cat." This was my favorite stuffed animal when I was a kid though I called her "Kitty." Sam takes this cat most places he goes and helps it do most of the things he does (ride in his little car, eat his food, drink his drinks, get hugs from parents, walk around in his Dad's shoes) and this particular day the cat joined him in the bath. We thought it appropriate since it had recently eaten beans and was a bit dirty.

At church one of Sam's nursery leaders saw him bring it in and said, "That cat has to be older than Sam." Yes, correct, hence it has various bald spots, a sad looking heading, and has lost its original luster. Why Sam chose this stuffed animal out of all the ones he has only I can understand--actually, I really don't, even though I loved that cat as a little girl. My favorite thing about his attachment to this cat is how gentle he is with it. I've only seen him throw it once. Usually he hugs it (and says, "hug"), gives it kisses, tucks it under his arm and scratches its head, and talks about its various body parts. We're hoping he'll be just as sweet with his new sibling.

Recently my parents came down to hang out. Kris and my Dad put in a garden, which hopefully Kris will blog about soon, my Mom played with Sam, and I read books and went to class (that's my life). At the Poway Farmer's Market my Mom (who he calls "Manny" in an attempt to say Grammy) got Sam a bag of kettle corn which I imagine he could have eaten all on his own, but we required him to share. They also rode the train together.

After getting off the train my Dad looked down at him and said something and Sam just looked up at him and said, "Papa, signal." He was ready to go watch the train signals again, which my Dad, being a fantastic Grandpa, helped him to do. I think my parents were pretty amazed at how obsessed Sam is with train signals--you can't really grasp the depth of his love until you see him over several days and count the times he asks to watch train videos with signals or go see real signals. It's generally the first thing he asks for in the morning (before breakfast, it's literally his first word upon waking up oft times) and the last thing he talks about at night. When we ask him what song we should sing at night he requests the "signal" song. We made one up.

A note about pregnancy. I made it to term, which is a relief, so now I can deliver in the birthing center instead of the usual labor and delivery (Sam came at 36.5 weeks and ended up having to be induced, blah). Pretty excited about that. I'm strep B negative, which means no IV, and baby is still head down. Hopefully I can go all natural, as long as I can manage the pain. I'm a pretty big wimp though so we'll see. Kris says he has full confidence in my ability, and since he'll be my main coach, that makes me feel good.


This shot is an attempt to show how lopsided my belly is. I love this picture because it's like a bizarre family photo: we're all in it in some form! Kris's finger is showing where my belly button is so you can kind of see that things are off-center. This baby is almost always hanging out on my right side and sometimes it's so obvious it looks super strange. I was asking Kris if he thought from now on I would always have extra skin on the right side because it's so much more stretched out than the left. Anyway, hospital bag is packed, baby clothes are organized, diapers are on hand, professors are notified, Kris is trying to actually keep his phone on his person and turned on, Mom Nations and Mom Jorgensen are standing by--any time now girly girl.

Up until recently Sam hasn't seemed interested in babies, besides pointing to my belly and saying baby. The last few times we've seen Lindsay's baby Ada, however, he begs to hold her and sits for a decent spell to do so. The bad thing is that Seth then gets jealous and they fight over the baby (the first time they had a minor tug of war--Ada is going to be tough). We decided it's time for Sam to have his own baby.

bus!

Like I said in my last post, Kris was nice enough to bring Sam up to campus to visit me a few times during finals week. More than once they accompanied me to school on the bus. This is probably one of Sam's favorite things to do right now. He loves talking about the bus while riding it (bus! bus! bus!), spotting other buses, looking out the window, talking about the stars on the seats (the fabric has shooting stars), and sitting in his very own seat.

Also featured in this photo: a rarely seen shot of my now 8-month pregnant belly.

Above is Sam with the Cat in the Hat and Dr. Seuss. The UCSD library is called the Geisel Library after Dr. Seuss who donated loads of money for it (somewhere in the realm of $20 million). It has a huge special collections permanent exhibit of Dr. Seuss stuff. Sam loves Dr. Seuss books, but Kris thinks he didn't get who this was a statue of because it's really big, and he's just small.

This is the library. Kris likes it because it looks like a spaceship. And because he can access all sorts of fantastic books there through me.

Spring break has been fantastic. Today we went to the beach but failed to take any pictures. I don't mean to make people jealous (heh heh), but we go to the beach often enough that we don't think to take the camera much. It's like going to the park, except it requires more preparation, and usually requires a post-beach bath. Other than that we've been mostly lazy, with a little errand running, rail fanning, and house cleaning here and there.