Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday...I'm 25 years young!

Brian bought me something I've been wanting for a while, an Amazon Kindle.

I was hesitant when I first heard about it, I need the feel of a book in my hands. I also assumed that the screen would glare like a computer, iPod, or TV. Not at all relaxing like a good book right before bed.

But then I saw one, I held one, and there was no glare. It looks like a book. It's lightweight, and it opens up a world of possibilities for me.

I love to read, which in Paraguay means that we pay a lot of money to ship down heavy books.

Now, with my new toy I have thousands of inexpensive books at my fingertips.

I'm currently reading Emma by Jane Austen (a free Kindle book!) and loving the Kindle.

To all you readers, what do you think? Would you want a Kindle? Or do you need the smell and feel of real paper?

Cloth Diapers

Guess who is wearing cloth diapers?

A friend of mine has been very generous in making me so many diaper covers, prefolds, and fitted diapers. I'm having fun learning how to use them, but Brian is still scared of them.

They look stinking cute, they're so soft, and I haven't found much of a difference between the cloth and disposable as far as leaking goes. I guess I do have to change the cloth a little more frequently, but are babies supposed to be in one diaper for more than five hours? I think not.

So far my opinion on cloth diapers is that while it's not quite as convenient as disposable, there is some planning required, I like it better.
Similar to the reason why I make my own bread, not because it's more convenient, but because it just tastes better. While it takes a little more time and preparation the taste and health benefits are worth it.

There's something satisfying to me about prepping the diapers and taking that little bit of extra time to make sure my baby is as comfy cozy as possible.

(Also, I found out that disposables have some sort of chemical in them that turns pee into gel. The health nut in me finds that very creepy.)

I like them, Lexi likes them, it's working for us.

The thousands of dollars I will save over our childrearing years is just a bonus.

All about Lexi

She likes to sleep.

She likes to eat.

She has squishy cheeks.

She wears cloth diapers, which are so cute on her, I can't stand it.

She finds her older sisters fascinating.

She thinks Mommy is very nice.

She likes to sleep on Daddy's chest.

She has peach fuzz for hair.

She wears pajamas all the time.

She has chubby eyelids and has a hard time opening her eyes. It's cute.

I would write more, but I'm off to do more important things.

Like stare at my baby.

(Who, by the way, is over a week old. Waaaaaaaaaaah!!!)

The Birth Story of Lexi

My water broke at 1:30 am on Friday, the 26th of February.

There were no contractions, just nervous energy so I did the only rational thing.

I cleaned the kitchen and made muffins. I walked up and down the hallway, I crawled, I prayed, I watched Food Network.

Then at 4:30 a strong contraction brought me to my knees. Literally. To my knees, in the kitchen staring at the kitchen floor and wondering how it got so dirty.

I woke up Brian and we worked through some contractions together.

Then I asked for my Mommy.

I had a feeling this labor was going to be intense and it was. Hard contractions that started off without a warning, peaked twice and left me begging for mercy.

I was so hungry and demanded pancakes during transition. I decided to wait to till after the baby was born because I wanted to enjoy the pancakes. So, my stomach rumbled throughout transition and that made me angry. I don't like being hungry, and when I want pancakes, I want them NOW.

Things started to slow down and I was getting very frustrated so it was recomended to me that I move around, which I did and it helped.

I needed to push shortly after, and push I did. Two pushes, or was it one and half? It happened so fast and there she was. In to the arms of my Dad, (wonder if Brian will forgive him for catching the baby? He wanted to have that honor again.)

Why homebirth? Why natural childbirth?

For me, it's all because of this moment...

When they are messy and screaming and in my arms, my head is clear and I realize that I did it!

It makes me feel like a Queen.

(A really tired queen, but a queen none the less!)

I held her, we cleaned her up, and then my Dad made me a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes with maple syrup.

Way better than hospital food.

I'm always grateful for my jungle upbringing. Thinking about my Yekuana friends in the jungle who birth in mud huts with smoky fires around them gives me strength to get through the hardest parts of labor. If they can do it, I can do it.

And I did.

Week One

The first week was full of snuggles, counting fingers, toes and how many times she open and closed her eyes. We gave her lots of love, cuddles and whispered sweet nothings into her tiny ears. Week Two will probably be full of the same things.

Lexi Joy has lots of Little Mommies who tickle, hold, snuggle, cuddle, and squeeze her. Big Mommy (though I'm not really that big...) gets nervous but knows that all the loving does little Lexi loads of good.

She eats like a champ, smells amazing, and we're just so glad she's part of our busy little world.

In fact, how did we ever live without her?

Today

Today my Lexi Joy is two days old. My how time flies!
Today we worked on getting her birth certificate, the nurses at St. Petersburg Hospital were very friendly but weren't quite sure what to do with us.
Today my sister in law is making me empanadas and that makes me happy.
Today Lexi smells just like a newborn baby and I like to squish her cheeks.
Today Elena and Abbie played dress up with Baby Lexi. Over and over again.
Today we weighed Lexi...8 1/2 pounds?? Seriously? My babies just keep getting bigger and bigger!
Today I remembered what those horrible contractions felt like and I decided to think about something else.
Today I'm really glad I married a Good Man who watches the girls while Lexi and sleep.
(We didn't sleep all night, we both just ate and ate.)

Today was great.

Alexandra Joy McCobb