Just a heads up, I had another baby. Whaaaaaaaat?

A good friend told me that whenever I decided to blog again...I should NOT apologize for how long it has been. "Seriously Heidi, no one feels dejected or hurt by your lack of adding to the blogosphere" or something like that. Thank you Paul MacDonald. How humbling and correct you are. I have thought of so many good things to write about, but frankly, when the time came that I was alone in front of the computer, I was facebook stalking my sisters.

Well I'll just skip to it then. I went ahead and gave birth to another baby girl. Just like that. Shortly after my last post we traveled to Alaska for our summer vacation. 
Andy and I knew we would like to start trying for baby number two, and I will over share:
We are such hardcore Alaskans that if our child cannot live in Alaska, it will damn well be conceived at home.

Or maybe it just worked out that way.

From my experience, I've learned that if you would like to get successfully pregnant and have a baby girl follow these instructions:
1. Be in Alaska. Any part of the state will do. I prefer Southcentral Alaska, even though Clara showed up in Fairbanks.
2. Drink a LOT of Raspberry Wheat Ale. Preferably Moose's Tooth microbrew over Glacier Brew House. I think Nora showed up with Alaskan Rasperberry Wheat--how fitting.
3. Don't even worry about it, think about it, or talk about it. That baby girl knows what to do.

                   *Disclaimer, I come from a family of 5 children. There is a chance I inherited some fertility strength in there.

I realized I was pregnant in the month of August, when I was suddenly crying at EVERY SINGLE gold medal ceremony during the olympics. I cried during the closing ceremony when they played 'God Save the Queen'...ummm and I'm not even from Great Britain. I also attended a music festival with close friends and no matter how much beer I drank, I was strangely sober. I guess once the rasperry wheat has done it's job, my body doesn't even acknowledge brewed hops. The phone call to Andy(who was back in California) was actually very endearing compared to the last time we found out I was pregnant. We were ready this time. We were a little surprised at how quickly it happened, but we had our shoes on and laces doubled knotted when it came to being parents, so we thought we were moving in the right direction.

And then the morning sickness hit. Clara was SUCH a handful...that I couldn't take it.

This HAS to be a baby boy, I kept thinking to myself. Along with "I'm never doing this again. I can't believe my Mom did this 7 times with 5 successful pregnancies. Andy is going to pay for this. I'm a terrible mom for making Clara watch Peppa Pig on repeat while I hug the toilet or lay on the couch"..... Andy left the entire month of October and went to Sapper school--(The Sapper Leader Course trains Engineer leaders in small unit tactics, leadership skills, and War-fighter tactics required to perform as a member of a combined-arms team in a contemporary operating environment.) Super conveinient timing right?





 I trotted right on over to Phoenix and hung out with two amazing cousins for a week, and then I just flew right on up to Silverton, Oregon to hang out with my Brady family. I planned to get as much traveling in as possible before I was too huge, and before Clara turned 2 and started to cost money on airplanes.





By the time Andy was home and my traveling was limited, I hit the second trimester. And it was awesome! I had energy, I was not sick, foods did not bother me...I was that 'dream' pregnancy you hear about. The doctor did make me see a nutritionist since I was apparantly the size of a beached beluga whale(my impression, not his), but I successfully maintained a healthy weight, I did not have gestational diabetes like they ALLLLLLLLWAYS think I'm going to get due to my size, and my blood pressure was amazing.

I'm sure those moms who did not have said success want to throw ice water in my face right now.
Well the jokes on you because I'm in the Mojave desert and I'd love it.

Also the third trimester was hell.

Clara and I got really sick after visiting "Disneyland, the happiest place to spread influenza on earth", and I spent several weeks completely drained.

Once my energy left, it never returned. And this is when Clara entered the "No". phase. TO EVERYTHING. Clara, will you please shut the door you opened? "no". Clara, will you stop hitting the tv with a spatula? "no". Clara do you want some chocolate? "no". Andy was working all the time, and I just had to tough it out with the most stubborn toddler in the west. Clara "NO" Lean.
Baby girl in my belly was not idle during this time. She was constantly moving, laying on my sciatic nerve and sending fire running down my right butt cheek to my ankle, or pushing my diaphragm into my brain so it made it hard to breath or think.
I was the poster child for "pregnancy" brain. I forgot Clara's name in public. I would call my mom and get confused because I thought I was ordering pizza. It was crazy.

Around month 7 and after talking to my cousin, who as of last Saturday is a AOBOG Board Certified Perinatologist! GO CORINNA!!!!!!!!! WHOO HOOOO!!!!!, I decided I was not going to take the risk of another giant baby getting stuck and unmentionable things happening to my body. I opted to have an elective c section at 39 weeks.

 My Dr. was skeptical, he thought I was just trying to get the baby out earlier, and told me I shouldn't be "Scared" that a dangerous situation could happen again. I told him we could do the c section at 40 weeks, but there was no way I was going to chance another 3rd degree laceration or worse.

 The last doctor had to physically yank Clara out because she was stuck so bad. No Thanks. I decided to listen to my gut and my cousin, and went through with it. 

The c section was awesome. It was completely planned, and I think that had a lot to do with why I enjoyed the process. A lot of my mom friends and family had to have emergency c sections. No one is ready for that, and I cannot even imgaine how scary it was. I was even a little scared when I walked into the big operating room, saw how skinny that table was that I was going to be on, and tried to crack jokes while the 10 people in there just stared silently at me. 

My anesthesiologist was awesome, and he completely put me at ease. He told me everything that was happening in regards to the spinal block. He also noted that my epidural placed for Clara was off to the left. Weird...since the whole left side of my body was numb but I felt EVERYTHING on the right. Interesting....Anyhow, this guy nailed it and I couldn't feel a thing. I had friends say they could feel tugging...stuff being moved around. Nope. I was cracking jokes with the nursing staff. I even let Xavier, my anesthesiologist, know that Andy sort of has a weak stomach when it comes to blood. And that he should make sure he can't see my open gut when Andy arrived. Andy was fashionably late because..well, his giant tug boat feet couldn't fit in the "scrub slippers". They had to go find a baby elephant size before letting him in the OR....typical. 
When Andy finally showed up, my 5'6 anesthesiologist was holding 6'3 Andy very tightly and walking him into the operating room. Andy thought the guy was acting strange, and we both laughed later when he found out what I said through my oxygen mask to the nursing staff trying to bring our baby into the world. Sorry Mandrew, I was definitely more concerned about my husband feinting than the complications of major abdominal surgery.

I walked into that room around 8:00 am. At 9:40 I heard the loud, boisterous cry of my 8 lb 8 oz Nora Michelle Lean. She was born at 39 weeks and she was so pissed that we took her out early that they hardly had to suck anything from her lungs. That kid cleared it out all by herself. She had chubby cheeks, a round little belly. And as soon as she was brought to me and I said "Hey little Nora!"...She stopped crying. My heart skipped a beat in such a precious moment. She knew who I was, I knew who she was. And we both were so happy to see each other. Sounds cheesy? Well it is, and it was such an amazing moment in my life.

 














I went to the recovery room and Nora was brought to me within the hour. Big Sister Clara got to come meet her within the first few hours of her life...and I cry just thinking about it. She did not try to hit the baby or cry. She was excited and wanted to hold her. She didn't like all of the IVs and tubes, but I can't  blame her. I bet I looked pretty strange to a 2 year old. I am soooooo thankful that 'Grandy' Mandy was here. My mom bleached my floors, cooked us dinners, and watched Clara "the werewolf" while we were in the hospital. Andy was attentive to all of my needs, and it is amazing to see what a great father he has become. I'm serious, all you guys who haven't seen us since college will be blown away. He comes home from work as soon as he can because he wants to hang out with us. Or because he knows I need a break. Probably the second one, but the fact that he cares makes me feel like a pretty special lady.

Today it has been 6 weeks since I had Nora Michelle Lean. When I was being discharged, my doctor shook my hand and said "I think we made a good choice. This baby was not ready to come out at all. I think she would have stayed in as long as possible and then tore you a new one". I love Dr. Toth and his bedside manner. We got along well. We both just said it how it was. I wasn't sure what to say when he told me he had been wounded in Vietnam. Thank you for serving my country and for rocking this C section? Why are you retired from the army but living at Fort Irwin, California? Regardless, I plan on bringing him back some amazing Alaskan goodness after we go home for a visit (no Raspberry Wheat).

  The worst part about the c section was that I was very limited to what I could do. The recovery was slow, but it seemed to last forever because I got really sick when I left the hospital. A sinus infection turned into an ear infection, and those antibiotics ruined my stomach flora. BUT: while I was stuck in my amazing green recliner I guilt tripped Andy into buying me, I had two awesome Lean ladies running my house for me. Reba and Mikey made sure Clara stayed alive and that the dog was walked. We now have Roxy, the German Shepherd, as Ju-Ly went to heaven unexpectidly last Aug. We'll talk about that a different day. 

I am recovering well, taking my 3 girls on double BOB stroller/dog walks pretty much every day...and I'm trying to eat healthier. Nora was a HUGE fan of Buffalo sauce, blue cheese, and wild cherry pepsi. I'm talking...I put buffalo sauce on everything. It was boarder line disgusting. I've reigned it in pretty well... But dammit, Andy found me ShockTop Honey Crisp Apple Wheat yesterday. Looks like I'll be eating salads to compesate my new found drink choice. 

Was this a boring blog entry? Maybe to some. I've got a TON of Clara and Nora and typical "Heidi" stories up my sleeve. So bare with me. I just had to tell you about our amazing addition to our family, and how glad we are she is here.