blurbs of a city girl living in the country...

Tatum Sophia de Waard is here!

And so it begins…

On Tuesday morning, August 4th (around 7:30am), my water broke. I called the doctor, and she told me to take a shower, eat breakfast, and go ahead on to the hospital. We called my parents and Benjamin’s parents to let them know that she was on here way!

We arrived at the hospital at around 10am. I was starting to feel some minor contractions which were very mild and inconsistant. We checked in and went to our room… a very nice room with two huge windows and cable tv. :)

At noon, the nurse brought Benjamin a big lunch… none for me, though. :( I just got a jolly rancher.

(From here and on, I’m not sure at what time everything was happening… sorry!)

The contractions continued to progress (and become increasing more painful), and at 4 centimeters, I decided to get an epideral. Ahh… sweet relief! :) I continued to labor on…

At around 7 centimeters, I started to feel more and more pain. The nurse told me that as I got closer, I would start to “feel it” a little more. However, I was starting to feel my legs more and more, and I think that the epideral was starting to wear off. I asked for more. :) The anistesiologist agreed to let the nurse bump up the dosage, but nothing seemed to change.

I was at 9 centimeters for about 2 hours when they decided to use pitocin to speed up the contractions. However, everytime they tried, little Tatum’s heartrate would drop dangerously low. So, the doctor decided to have me try and push (even at only 9 centimeters), and everytime I tried, her heartrate would drop again. Finally, at one point, it took too long to bring her heartrate back up, so the doctor announced that an emergancy c-section was necessary. Benjamin and I were pretty scared as the doctors and nurses rushed around to prepare me for surgery.

It took the anistesiologist 3 times to finally get the spinal to work (meanwhile, I was laboring on a teeny, tiny table)! Finally, my feet and legs started to go numb. A spinal is supposed to make everything from your waist down, numb. However, my hands started to get numb… to my arms, my chest, and eventually my head. I wasn’t even able to swallow… it was a very scary feeling! The anistesiologist put an oxigen mask on me and kept talking to me and told me to try and squeeze his fingers. I, of couse, couldn’t. I could only blink my eyes. The next thing I remembered was hearing a beautiful baby cry and the sound of “it’s a girl!”. I was able to see her (and obviously not hold her) for a second and all I could think was “She’s so beautiful and pink!”.

Unfortunately, because of the “drama” with the spinal, Benjamin was not allowed in the operating room. :( They brought baby Tatum back to our room where proud Papa was waiting to meet his little girl!

Thanks be to God for His hand throughout the whole labor process! We are so blessed to have Tatum Sophia, born August 5th, 2009 at 1:30am… weighing 7lbs., 8oz. and 19 inches long. Our lives will never be the same! :)

it's been a while...

So, I decided that I’m not going to update (in too much detail) because it’s been almost a year. Whoops!

Well, I’m about to “pop” any day, now. I’m not “offically” due until Saturday, but I would be happy to go sooner. I’m very ready to meet our little girl (and not be pregnant anymore). I know that our world is going to turn upside down when she gets here, but we are so excited! I definitely have some fears (especially about labor), but I figure, thousands of mothers have babies everyday (and many have more than one!); it can’t be THAT bad!

Benjamin and I just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! It’s exciting to see how much we’ve grown, and to think about how much we will still grow in the future. We are so blessed. As hard as it is sometimes to live in a small town and not be close to family, I realize how much we truly have… each other, a beautiful home, a daughter on the way, and amazing friends! We know that this is where God has called us to be, and we really couldn’t ask for more!

... a new (24th) year resolution ...

Things I would like to accomplish (or at least do) this year (in no particular order)…

• go to bed and wake up earlier
• start an exercise habit (really!)
• become a better friend (keeping in touch and following through with commitments)
• make at least four meals each week
• read at least 20 (new) books
• learn to crochet (really!)
• finish our upstairs (attic, paint bedrooms, shower in bathroom)
• get new glasses
• learn “Nocturne in Eb” by Chopin
• learn “Clair de Lune” by Debussy
• learn “Nocturne in C# Minor” by Chopin
• read from the Word (first thing every morning)
• go to the dentist
• complete a song (words and all)
• have a baby!

Phrases, words, or comments that drive me nuts…

• “Please hand me a scissors.”
• “I seen you at the store yesterday.”
• “I’m going to Chicago for the weekend.” (When what they really mean is, “I’m headed to Wheaton, or Elgin, or Skokie, etc.”)
• “Let’s go down to the crik.” (Uh, creek?)
• “I have to go warsh my clothes” (Yeah, where’s the “r” in wash?)

… to be continued …

I miss Chicago today…

I miss our relaxing Sunday afternoons in Oz Park. I miss being able to walk anywhere I wanted to be. I miss Lake Michigan. I miss the fireworks over Navy Pier. I miss the Lincoln Park Zoo (especially the merecats). I miss coffee shops at every corner. I miss always having something to do. I miss Michigan Ave. and all the tourists. I miss J. Alexanders and Chipotle.

…but I know that this is where we are called to be.

I have been extremely spoiled by my husband’s new found hobby of roasting his own coffee beans. Last night, I became aware of this when I made a huge pot of “generic” coffee (the kind that I keep in the refrigerator in hope that it will taste somewhat fresh) for our small group. I immediately apologized for the terrible batch after I took my first sip. The responses were “What’s wrong with it?” and “It tastes great!” I realized, then, that people were either acting unnaturally kind (our small group has definitely passed the “kindness” stage) or that I really must have little tolerance for store bought coffee. The latter is for sure true. The benefits are, however…

• cost effective: the green beans are only about $4 per pound
• better quality: by roasting them yourself, you can brew them as soon as 24 hours after they have been roasted (a fresher taste because of no shelf time)
• you can control the exact roast of the bean (dark, medium, or light)
• they smell and taste incredible!

The next step is to start our own cafe…

I would love to post a new updated picture of my mint herbs, however, there hasn’t been much progress. :(

I met a 2008 presidental candidate today. He, I’m sure, will be happy to know that I’m mentioning his name in my blog. It’s free campaigning for him. His name is John H. Miller. He’s from Dubuque which is a little silly to me because he’s just now coming to Maquoketa (Dubuque is only 35 miles away), and I’ve never heard of him until today. He was interesting to meet and to talk to, though, but it seems a little ridiculous to hope for a write-in this far into the game. He, of course, chuckled a bit when I mentioned that I was a Christian. He said that I would find in website “interesting”. His whole campaign, it seems, is based on “going green”. When I brought up some of the “issues” he told me that he cares about the “little” issues (such as gay marriage and abortion), but he says that the “big” issues (like taking care of the earth) are more important. We had good conversation, especially when he brought up the issue of truth and hope (hello, Truth Project!). It’s pretty neat when God puts people in our lives when we least expect it and we get to use some of the things that we have learned.

I think that I am an artist at heart. Unfortuately, being an artist at heart doesn’t guarantee artistic talent or ability (or drive). Sometimes I just feel like I have an abundance of creative energy that just needs to be released. Those are the times, however, when I just sit at the piano and play. I need to do that more often (however, our piano is horribly out of tune). I do love to paint pottery. I should do that more often. As I walk around the Drew Art Gallery and see all of these high schoolers creations, I can’t help but think what it would have been like if I attended a school focused on a type of art (even computer art). Maybe I would enjoy art more as a hobby, though. School and I don’t really see eye to eye. I think that I’ll funnel my artistic energy into music and painting pottery (and of course coloring with my Cubbies on Wednesday nights). I tend to get a little too ambitious. (I have many unfinished hobbies including two rows of a crocheted scarf and half of a finished scrapbook.) Maybe that’s the sign of a true artist. :)