Samson Wiggin Kendell

Not having time to write this post has been driving me nuts for nearly a week. My baby deserves his literary debut! But with my physical healing time, cuddling a new baby time, mothering 4 other children time, and homework time, there hasn't been writing time. And there still isn't. But I'm taking it anyway.

FIRST OF ALL, let me clarify that Samson did NOT come early--I lied about my due date. Don't take it personally, but that last month of pregnancy is eternally long and uncomfortable and emotionally tumultuous without having people asking you daily, "Where's that baby?!" "Why hasn't he come yet?" "How much longer?"

Thank you, Mr. Wonka and the creator of this meme. You speak the thoughts of pregnant women everywhere.

So then, the real due date was February 20, not March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). Samson was born an agonizing four days late on February 24, at 10:43 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz, and was 20.75 inches long. Standard Kendell body type--long and skinny.

And if Thora's birth was my easiest one, Samson's was by far the most difficult. I was already so physically exhausted, I just didn't have the strength or willpower. Shad also pointed out that in all my other pregnancies I was able to be physically active, which definitely plays a part in the ease of delivery. However, this pregnancy I was barely able to move.

Recovery has been pretty smooth and easy. Lavender oil, again, deserves a lot of credit. Rubbing that on my belly and back for 2 days was enough to take away the after-birth cramps and pains, and soothe my back muscles from the intense back labor I get. Samson is doing well. He's a good sleeper, as long as he's not bothered by mass amounts of poop. We had one night where I had to stay up with him for 2 hours because he just kept pooping! But he sleeps well at night otherwise. He does have a lip-tie, so Shad and I will hopefully be cutting that today so that we can be successful with breastfeeding.

Words can never express the joy and love a mother has with her new baby; but this time for me, that statement is just as truly applied to how I feel about not being pregnant anymore. Shad has commented to me several times that I look happier than he's seen me be in 8 months. I am so unbelievably happy and grateful to be done with that torture session I had to endure. And I love this baby and his adorable, cuddly face. 

Snippets of May

I left Dancy too close to a bowl of pancake batter.

Thora loves to chew on fingers. She doesn't care whether they're hers or yours.

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An afternoon of bird watching. Momma bird knew I was there and she did not like it.

Hungry babies!

Hiding behind my palm tree wasn't good enough.

Turkeys!

Pot!

Yes, Dad, I have this stuff growing in my yard. Or at least I did until Shad mowed...

Katie fixed her own hair.

The kids gave me a really wonderful Lego set for me for Mother's Day. It was what they told Shad I wanted most. I wouldn't like the fish cleaning kit, or the Divergent movie, or anything else, they said. "Oh, I just knew that Lego set was going to be awesome for you, Mom!" says Tom, sitting next to me right now.

Thora likes to cuddle with a blanket for sleeping. But when I leave her on the floor too long and she's tired, and towel will do in a pinch. As long as one is left out on the floor...

We went to stake conference (a large area church meeting) in Kearney, Nebraska, because Elder Dallin H. Oaks (one of the apostles of our church), was coming through and wanting to attend. So we drove up on Saturday and stayed in a hotel. Getting ice in our ice bucket from the ice machine was an exciting treat for the kids! We also bought glowsticks!

"Oh, oh! Please don't forget to write our names," says Tom, sitting next to me.

Dancy, Katie, and Tommy

We've been building a swing set (that'll get its own post), and one night Tommy slipped on the slide and knocked out a tooth. It was quite traumatic for a day or two, and we took "emotional health" days to heal. Then I babysat a girl in our ward for a day, and she served as an excellent distraction which allowed Tommy to get over it. And in case anyone wants to talk to Tom about it, he'll tell you with a big, goofy grin on his face that yes, the tooth fairy came, but he knows that his parents pretend to be the fairy.

Thora started eating food (allowing me to feed her food), though only Cheerios and canned beans (black and garbanzo). She'd throw a HUGE fit if I offered her anything else--applesauce, mashed sweet potato, yogurt, banana chunks, canned peach chunks, watermelon off my plate! She developed a diaper rash at some point, and it's been seriously a month of this rash. I've tried different creams. I've tried going off the Cheerios. I thought at that point that it might be a yeast infection. I spent a couple days letting her butt air out on my lap covered with a towel. During this time, I noticed that Thora wasn't doing well nursing, and that I wasn't feeling the way that I should when breastfeeding. We went to the doctor and she said it's just a normal diaper rash, not yeast. Also that there's nothing wrong with Thora's mouth to be causing breastfeeding problems. I thought that maybe I'd just need to clip Thora's lip-tie again in case I didn't get all of it the first time, but there's not much of a tie to be seen. I pumped to see how much I was producing: 2 ounces in 3 hours, which is vastly insufficient for a 7-month baby. So I quit. I quit breastfeeding and gave Thora raw cow's milk. People told me to get off that because it's too difficult for baby stomachs to digest. I dealt with several days of constipation and indigestion. Then I switched to formula--specifically the leftover cans of preemie formula I have from Dancy. That's been going well. She drinks 6 ounces every 3 hours now, and is much happier. I'll be switching on her, yet again, in mid-June when I'll be able to buy fresh goat's milk. Rose isn't selling yet because the nannies are still nursing their kids.

And we had Dancy's birthday! Dancy got Shrek, orange nail polish, bubbles, swim goggles, and Disney princess books. We ate food she loves all day: bagels and cream cheese for breakfast (she got to ride in Dad's blue truck to buy it!), hot dogs for lunch, and Ramen and quesadillas for dinner. We decorated the house with balloons and orange streamers (orange is her favorite color), and we had cupcakes for dessert.

Shad's parents and brother Jimmy came to visit Sunday afternoon and spent the night. We already had plans with Jimmy, and Shad's parents came to crash the party because Pris needed to get a temple recommend interview, and the stake president lives in town. Jimmy and Vern helped Shad put up a fence around the garden to protect it from rabbits and obnoxious neighbor dogs.

Shad borrowed a nail gun from a coworker and was able to finish installing the trim for the dining room and kitchen floor. It looks so much better being finished!

Also, I finished my grammar class a week early, with an A! Class ends on Sunday, I turned in my final exam on Saturday. The next class starts on the 22nd.

We went to the state park for the nature walk, which now has a story walk incorporated in it. They've got protective display cases for pages from a book so that as you go around the walk, you get to read a couple pages at a time. Dancy got really into it when I tasked her with finding the next display case. She excitedly ran along the trail, saying, "Super Why! Super Why!" Apparently, she felt like she was playing Super Why, which is her favorite TV show. It's a PBS show that teaches reading skills and she loves it! That was our best nature walk yet, and we've been doing it regularly for 3 years. Thank you, library, for adding this story walk. We also enjoyed this gorgeous sunburst.