2 week report

Here we are at the 2 week point. It was a long, tired recovery from birth. I then started having severe pain while nursing and early last week came down with mastitis. Thanks to a friend who's a lactation consultant and a good breast pump, we're slowly getting a sense of normalcy. Anyway, here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

The Defeat of Zurg

A child is born. Zurg was defeated in an all-out battle. Frankly, I don't know what that means, but a friend of mine who also recently had a baby turned to her husband after birth was completed and said, "I did it. I defeated Zurg." So, Randy and I latched on to that and used it for levity multiple times this weekend.

Friday night, just as we were settling in to bed, the chickens went berzerk. Something was in the woods though we couldn't see it. They freaked out continuously until about 2 am. Needless to say, sleep for me was not in the cards. Then contractions started at 3am. Not too strong, but they woke me up every 10 minutes. That continued through the day Saturday. I thought he would be born Saturday afternoon so called everyone and we had a house full of expectant women. Not the case. We went to bed, me very exhausted and a little frustrated, truth be told.

Again I had contractions all night. My midwife came over Sunday morning, but I was still only dilated to 2 cm, same as Saturday. She suggested getting as much sleep as I could and taking castor oil about 12:30. So, that's what I did. 2 hours later, still nothing was different, except that exhaustion had set in to were I could sleep those 7 minutes between contractions and it would feel like an hour. I started thinking he wouldn't be born until Monday and wondered how much longer I could hold up the strength. But about 6:00, contractions were much stronger and Karen, my midwife came over. I was dilated to 6 cm and she proudly proclaimed, to my great relief, that we would have a baby tonight.

And so that's what happened. at 10:45, shortly after the Giants won the superbowl, our own little giant won his birth certificate. Aaron Ross Coslow, weighing in at 9 pounds and 14 ounces, 22 inches long, was born in perfect health. And apparently Karen knew all along that he was probably going to be a 10 pounder, but continued to lie to me saying he would be about 8 pounds and I just had a lot of amniotic fluid. She did this for my own sake. I might have really freaked if I had known I was going to attempt to give birth to a 10 pound kid at home with no meds.

So all is well, Gloria, who spent the night at my mom's (who now must share her birthday with the little man), came home the next morning thrilled to find a baby in the house. She's very gentle and loves to just sit by him. He brings her even more giggles that the baby goats do.

Randy is major superstar in this whole sequence of events. By Sunday, my legs and abs were so tired I really couldn't walk much so he was waiting on me hand and foot. My family has been wonderful helping to care for Gloria during this time also. I'm still a little slow on my feet as my muscles just haven't quite recovered yet, but Randy's been wonderful and I'm making good progress.

There will be more pictures later, once one of us is in more of a "capture the moment" frame of mind. Time to feed the little giant. Goodbye.

Our Country Life

Just a few pictures from this morning's romp. Its February 1st which means, here in Florida, spring has sprung.

Gloria finds great delight in a pretty weed.

Gloria, at the milking table, ready to work.

Our newest doeling, Sundae, playing with her mother and brother.

Annie, the working mom, doing double duty.

Sundae and "Bucky" with their mom. "Bucky" has been sold to a nice family a few blocks away where he will live the leisure life of a cuddly pet and receive a proper name. He will stay with his mom for 2 more weeks.