TWO under TWO!

I still can't believe I have two kids!

It's pretty crazy. I would be lying if I told you it was an easy adjustment. The hardest part for me is just being tired all the time! I'm sure it will get easier once the baby is sleeping more at night. Last night he slept 4 hours in a row and it was amazing! 

You forget how often babies have to eat. Breastfeeding has been super easy for me this time though. I have lots of milk (let's hope it stays that way) and Jimmy is a really good nurser. I find that I try to feed him right before we leave the house so that I don't have to take him out of his carseat while we are out. I'm kind of paranoid of all the germs and sick kids everywhere. This winter has been a pretty bad one for illnesses in California. 

But ever since having Jimmy we have been wanting to get out a lot more because when I was pregnant we couldn't go more than 20 minutes away from the hospital. We have already gone to my parents house twice now! and we love taking little walks on the beach or by the harbor. 

Even though it has been pretty hard with two kids under two it had been pretty magical at the same time. Having a newborn in our home definitely brings a special spirit. 

BIRTH STORY: Jimmy Craig Kirkland born January 8, 2015 at 1:13 pm

As of the Sunday prior, I was totally off all medications to keep me pregnant and 37 weeks pregnant (full-term!).  I thought I was going to go into labor on Wednesday morning. I woke up early with contractions and started timing them but then by the time I got up and ate breakfast they went away. So Chase and I headed to the beach with some friends. No labor.

That night Casey said I was tossing and turning and making noises all night but I never really woke up until 5am in pain. I started timing the contractions and they were every 5 minutes for a solid two hours. I thought I should get up and drink some water and eat breakfast then see what happens. 

Well the contractions didn't get better but they weren't really worse. When they came I had to stop walking and brace myself. So they were pretty painful.  I got ready, finished packing my hospital bag, called my cousin Julianne so we could drop off Chase, and I got Chase dressed. Casey took his time eating his cereal and we hopped in the car to drop off Chase. 

At this point the contractions were still every 5-8 minutes and pretty painful, especially in my back. We had no traffic heading to the hospital which was nice because it was around 9am. Casey dropped me off by the ER and I waited for him to park. I could still walk through my contractions but they were coming regularly. I seriously thought that there was a chance we could be sent home because they didn't hurt as much as they did when I was laying in bed earlier. 

We got up to the L&D floor (which is the most awkward conversation ever when you have to pick up the phone and tell them you are in labor so can they please open the door). We walked to the front desk and they sent us to a birthing suite. By this time it was 10 am. Our nurse followed us in and had me change into a gown. She hooked me up to all the monitors and then asked me about my pain. 

I told her it was at an 8/10 when the contractions came. She didn't believe me and told me that a 10 is the worst pain ever. Hello lady...I'm a nurse, I know that!! She kinda bugged. She said "well, you shouldn't be able to talk through your contractions, let me check your cervix...". So she checked me in the middle of a contraction which freakin hurt so bad. Then she was kinda shocked and asked me how dilated I thought I was....I had no idea. She said well you are at a 7!!! Thank you, that's why my pain was 8/10. 

She started to work a little faster at that point. I told her I was Group-B strep positive so I needed antibiotics for 4 hours prior to delivery. She immediately got an IV going to give me fluids and antibiotics. Meanwhile the contractions were getting closer like every 2-3 minutes and were hurting SO BAD!! 

The anesthesiologist then came in to give me my epidural. By this time I was in tears because the contractions hurt so bad. I don't remember them being this bad with Chase. I never was to the point where I was crying at least. I probably had the epidural a little faster with Chase. He had me sit indian style on the bed and he tried to give me the epidural in between contractions but they were like every 2 minutes so it was kind of impossible. Once he got it in he gave me a bolus and I immediately felt a little better. I could still feel the pressure of the contractions but they weren't super painful. 

By this time my mom had made it down to the hospital. It was probably around noon. I think my nurse checked me again and I was at a 9. I had to switch sides because the baby's heart rate was dropping with each contraction. My doctor came in the room and he checked me. My water had still not broken--which was a good thing because there would be less chance of infection for the baby. Meanwhile the contractions were starting to hurt even though I had an epidural. I was fully dilated at this point. 

The nurse had me switch sides again and told my doctor that she wanted to wait for me to push till she could give me the 2nd dose of antibiotics. But the baby's heart rate kept dropping with each contraction. My doctor told her that I needed to start pushing ASAP. He said the cord was probably around his neck. 

So we had my mom leave the room. My doctor broke my water and I started pushing! I kind of forgot how to push so they had to teach me haha. My nurse told me to tuck my chin and pretend like I was doing crunches. Seriously that was her only good advice she gave me! I probably only pushed 3 times and Jimmy's head was almost out. The cord was around his neck :( Which my doctor just unwrapped and on the next push he pulled him out! 

There was another nurse (who I loved) that was just in charge of Jimmy. Casey got to cut the umbilical cord. The nurse cleaned Jimmy off with a towel and immediately put him on my chest so we could do skin to skin. I never got to experience this with Chase because he was early. They had the NICU team in the room an immediately took him away from me- I saw him like an hour later. It was the worst! This was such a different (better) experience!

Once my doctor was done stitching me up (sorry for the gross detail) everyone left the room so it was just Casey, Me and the baby for a whole hour! I was able to breastfeed baby Jimmy and just hold him. It was so relaxing! I was shocked how he just latched on and how natural it was for him. 

After our hour was up my mom came in the room and the nurse came back to weigh and bathe the baby. His blood sugar was a little low so they had to give him some formula and have him sit under the incubator lights. Once he was totally stable we made our way to the Postpartum room. Me in the wheelchair. Jimmy in the bassinet. They never once separated us.

I really liked the postpartum rooms. They were a lot roomier than the ones in Utah. Later that afternoon Casey went home to get Chase who was with his mom. His parents just happened to be visiting and I had Jimmy right before they drove back to Utah! Casey and his mom brought Chase to see Jimmy and he was so excited!! The first thing he said was "kiss kiss". He wanted to hug and kiss him so much! We had to teach him to just kiss his head :)

So that is my birth story! Night and day difference from Chase's birth. Things were a lot smoother. Jimmy was almost exactly 1 lb heavier than Chase and he was 2 weeks and 4 days later which I think made a big difference. We are adjusting somewhat smoothly to life with two! The baby is definitely the easier one right now.

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by my boys! I love being a mom so much and wouldn't have it any other way! It's the best job I could have ever asked for :)

James Craig Kirkland

6lbs 12 ounces

18.5 inches

born 1/8/2015

1:13 pm

Our Last Moments of December 2014!

I can't believe how fast December flew by!

It's crazy that it is already January 2015! And we are still waiting for this baby to come. 

I will be 37 weeks on Sunday. To be honest, I did not think I was going to make it this far. But that's a good thing I did:)

Here are some pictures of our last moments of December...what we have been up to and some of our Christmas festivities. 

Lots of pictures of my little love Chase. I'm soaking up our time together before baby brother gets here!

Enjoy!

 Ugly Sweater Party!

 Dana Point Lights!

 in our Christmas Sunday best!

 Celebrating Casey hitting his QUOTA! 

 Christmas Eve Mexican Food with my family. 

They all came down to San Clemente to spend the night with us since we could not go up to LA!

They really are the best. 

Wellness Wednesday: Why you should eat more FAT!

This post is just in time for New Year's!

And I know this is the time of year that everyone is thinking about going on a diet or cleanse of some kind. But before you do there are some things you should consider. 

A couple of months ago my cousin Courtney turned me on to this book called, "Beautiful Babies" by Kristen Michealis

Beautiful Babies: Nutrition for Fertility, Pregnancy, Breast-feeding, and Baby's First Foods 

This book is not all about fertility, pregnancy and breast-feeding. It's basis is on getting back to eating REAL FOOD. 

"...The kind of food we ate before the industrialization of our food supply. This is the food your great-grandmother would have recognized as food"

 She backs everything with facts and research. I feel like I could go on and on about the things she says. They all make so much sense! Although it is overwhelming to think about changing your diet- she likes to go by the 80/20 rule which states that 80% of the time we should try to feed our families healthy sustainable foods and 20% of the time we need to give up the control. 

I'm going to share with you one of my favorite findings in the book:

Why FAT is good for you!

-It used to be common knowledge that saturated fat (butter, red meat, eggs) was high in cholesterol and thus caused heart disease. Well now those studies have little to no credibility because of modern research. 

1.  Fat does NOT make you Fat. Sugar/refined carbs make you FAT.

This is probably the biggest misconception in our society. 

Fat is good for you!

Remember: When fat is combined with sugar/carbs it is NOT GOOD. So don't go and eat a gallon of ice cream or a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting just cause I told you Fat is good for you. 

2.  Hormones are made from cholesterol. Without cholesterol we cannot make necessary hormones leading to hormone imbalances

"In 2007, a team of researchers at Harvard University found that women who consumed skim milk and low-fat dairy had 85% higher infertility rates than women who consumed whole-fat dairy"

-Yes there is a link between infertility and your hormones being balanced. 

3. When you take out fat you have to replace it with something else (usually processed/artificial sugars or carbohydrates)

-Next time you are at the grocery store look at the yogurt/milk products with LOWFAT or NONFAT labels and compare them to the WHOLE fat ones.

They always will have more sugar/carbs!!! or artificial sugars added

-This is one of the biggest lies told to women- That we need to eat everything "low-fat" in order to NOT BE FAT. 

-And guess what, Women have the most hormonal imbalances! (see #2)

4.  Fat makes you feel fuller longer and helps you store important vitamins like A,D,E,K. 

 If you are not getting enough fat in your diet than you are probably deficient in those vitamins because your body does not have the fat stores to store them!

- Plus you need vitamin A to make estrogen and other pregnancy hormones

Eating the RIGHT FATS

First we need to understand the Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio: The amount of these two needs to be somewhat balanced. In American we get WAY TOO much Omega-6 from Corn (which causes: inflammation of arteries, depression/anxiety, insomnia, low-levels of energy).  Corn is in everything!!!!! and its ratio is 46:1 which really messes up everything. Corn is fed to all animals that we eat and it is turned into oil/sugar/starch which is in turn in everything we eat. It's a problem. 

So when it comes to FAT that you eat. You want it to be CORN-FREE!

1. Say No to Modern Vegetable Oils

-EAT: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Sesame Oil, Avocado Oil, Macadamia oil, Red Palm Oil

-DON'T EAT: Canola Oil (corn oil), peanut oil, sunflower oil, Safflower Oil- basically any yellow-seed based oil

2. Eat Traditional Fats

-Butter from grass fed cows (not corn fed cows)

-Sour Cream, full fat with live active cultures

-yogurt, full fat with live active cultures (harder to find than you think!)

3. Eat Meat and Eggs

-When choosing meat, try to choose grass-fed. This tends to be expensive but sometimes at stores like Trader Joes or Sprouts you can find deals or cheaper frozen options

-try to choose antibiotic and hormone free

-Don't be afraid of Bacon!

-The best eggs are ones you can get from someone local! Look on craiglist or ksl (in Utah)

-Second option: Choose eggs with Omega-3s and DHA (usually only a $1 or $2 more)

third option: Organic Eggs

4. How to Choose Dairy

-Best Choice is raw milk but good luck finding it and someone you trust who is selling it

-Second choice is Pasteurized whole milk and cheeses from grass fed cows

-Milk is one thing that I always choose to buy organic and spend a few more dollars on. 

5. Eat more Seafood

-the best source of vitamins A&D, omega-3 fatty acids and much more!

-eat more oily fish like sardines, anchovies and salmon

-try to stick to WILD vs Farmed (they are more nutrient dense)

Sorry if this all seems overwhelming!! When I first read this book I was definitely overwhelmed. But just remember FAT does not make you FAT!

CARBS/SUGAR DO!

So don't be afraid to eat 2-3 eggs for breakfast and some bacon! you will be shocked how much fuller you feel.  Just stay away from the donut and pancakes--most of the time :)

I definitely don't follow all these guidelines 100% of the time but I try to follow the 80/20 rule. Everything in moderation.