Becoming An Auntie

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Howdy!

What is it about babies that’s so intoxicating? I know they smell amazing and I’m still shocked that Glade or Yankee Candle hasn’t figured out a way to bottle that stuff up by now, but seriously, why do they have the power to take control of a person so fast?

Whenever my mom takes away Nolan from my bed, after having a time of snuggles, I am so sad, having a little human just laying out on a white fleece blanket is so cute and addicting! He looks so conformable and warm, but he has so much innocence upon his wrinkled face. His strawberry blond hair sticks up on the top of his head, and as he stretches out his arms and legs. At this point in his life, he doesn’t know about my disability. He just knows she likes to do goofy faces and sing to him. You feel mesmerized, and so out of touch with your surroundings because you don’t want to miss out on anything.

On June 12th, my sister went to her last check up to see if she was dilated any more than the day before. This pregnancy wasn’t a walk in the park for her. She was pretty miserable throughout the whole thing, and constantly asked my mom and some of her friends, who recently had babies, if they ever experienced this or that. Little man has been wanting to come out of the “bat cave” since April! So when she found that it was time to go to the hospital to get this show on the road, she was nervous but I’m sure kind of excited to finally met him after all this time.

My day started normally, well, actually I didn’t sleep very well the night before so I was actually looking forward to sleeping in that morning. That plan shattered when my Aunt Laurie texted me that Blondie was on her way to the hospital, within five seconds after reading that, my mom called my dad to get dressed. At 10am, we got there to their fairly large room and we sat in our uncomfortable chairs–including my push wheelchair! We sat in there and talked, but the majority of the time everybody was on their phones. I was happy that I decided to bring along a book, because I read the crap out of it in those fourteen hours!

My parents and I went outside a couple times, just to get out of that room for a bit. They went out a lot more than I did though. My dad and I ate down in the cafeteria for lunch, we had to eat a salad because that was the only thing that looked good. Surprisingly, we both enjoyed it, even though we both kept farting through the rest of the day! After we went down to the gift shop and looked around, we got around the little onesies with funny sayings but what got my attention were these booties, we could find IU and Purdue pretty easily, but in the corner of my eye I spotted a navy blue and hoped that they were Butler booties and they were! So, of course, we had to get them for him because he already has a Butler onesie, he needs something to keep his little toes warm too!

She had to have her doctor break her water, she was really afraid of it and at this time, dad had to leave the room (but he left like three separate times because he doesn’t like to his girls cry) and I sat in my chair facing the inside of the bathroom, with tears rolling down my face. I don’t like to hear/see her cry either! Blondie went through nine hours before caving in to get the epidural done and which case, we all had to leave the room. Afterwards, she started to become very relaxed, they gave her a “peanut” which is this inflatable, peanut shaped ball to put in between her legs to help him come down. The epidural worked so well, that her legs were so numb that she had a hard time moving them on her own, and for some odd reason I thought about the time when we went into a hot tub for the first time and how it took three people to get me out because my lower half was asleep!

When she finally reached ten centimeters, my dad and I were forced to leave the room and go wait in their waiting room. My parents are not patient by any means, but I am. I was very proud of myself and how I did sitting in the chair, keeping to my book. As we sat in the waiting room, watching Impractical Jokers on the television. My mom finally texted him that he was here after what felt like an hour. He got stuck coming out and they had some issues, but they were both fine. Once he got that message, we waited outside the door, which was a bad idea for dad because he was already having trouble with his knees.

Little Nolan Wayne was born on June 13th, and weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 21 inches long! I found out that they did name him after Christopher Nolan, who directed The Dark Knight series, but Brandon also said he was named for Nolan Range, I guess he voiced or came up with the character Deadpool. Wayne is actually Brandon’s middle name, but since he’s a big Batman/Bruce Wayne fan, it kind of fits there too!

Once we were finally allowed into the room, it was so surreal.

As we left the room to get ready for the birth, I thought to myself “this is when everything changes. She won’t be just your sister, she’ll be a mommy too.” So to hear this little baby crying outside the room for the first time was weird but amazing. We stayed for a little bit, but we eventually went home and ate our McDonald’s and went to bed. Later that morning, we came back and they were in their new room, and this time Blondie was doing skin to skin with him and I finally got to see his face. Before we went back home, I actually got to hold the little tyke and it was so strange to feel his weight on my belly and the movements of his fingers underneath my lifeless hands.

He just turned a month old last week, so he’s growing stronger and has the face of my dad! He smiles and tends to smirk to anybody that is speaking to him.  He’s chilled out on my bed many times and threw a punch, kicked my stomach and thighs a few times. I like to kiss the top of his head. I just enjoy watching the different facial reactions appear, like his content sigh he makes when he’s comfortable and of course the poop-y expressions. He is just a sweet thing, and I can’t believe I am this little rugrat’s auntie now!

snowflake

Guest Post | How To Prepare For A Child by Ashley Taylor from DisabledParents

Back in December I was sent a very lovely email by Ashley Taylor from the website Disabled Parents. She asked if I was interested in allowing her to write a guest post on my blog about what takes to be a parent with a disability. However, I feel like able-bodied couples could also learn something from her words too! I will certainly send this to my sister and brother-in-law later today! 


Ashley Taylor is a freelance writer. photographer, and advocate for people with disabilities. She created DisabledParents.org to provide information and resources to other parents with disabilities. When she isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their two children. 


Preparing for a child takes a lot of planning, but for those who are living with a disability, it may feel a bit overwhelming at first. It’s common for new parents to feel unsure of their abilities, but being as prepared as possible for your new little one will help boost your confidence and allow you to find joy even in the hardest of times.

Finding support during this time is important, whether it’s from friends or family; knowing you have someone to talk to and get advice from is incredibly helpful with a major life change. It’s also a good idea to get organized and think about the easiest ways to maintain your mobility as well as your physical and mental health after the baby comes; many parents have detailed plans for their child but forget to take care of themselves.

Fortunately, there are simple ways you can prepare for a child no matter what your abilities are. Here are just a few.

THINK ABOUT THE FINANCIAL ASPECT
No one likes to think about money, especially as it pertains to a new baby, but it’s important to plan for–and understand–the financial side of having a baby. Not only will you need to figure out the costs associated with labor and delivery, you’ll also want to plan for postnatal care and think about how much time you and your partner will need to take off work. If you have savings, they might come in handy around this time. If not, think about starting a savings account, or open one up for your child that you can add to over the years. For more tips on preparing financially for a new child, read on here.

CREATE A BIRTH PLAN
Every birth is different, and every couple can choose from a variety of ways to bring their little one into the world. Whether you want to go with a local hospital or a midwife-assisted at-home birth, a traditional delivery or a C-section, you and your partner should be on the same page well before the baby comes. Talk about what you want the birth to be like and do some research on the best ways to make it happen.

LEARN COPING METHODS
Living with a disability can be stressful, and adding parenting on top of that can be overwhelming if you aren’t prepared. Learning different coping methods will help you deal with stress and anxiety as they come, and it will allow you to tend to your mental health so you’re the best possible version of you. A great way to do this is to practice self care; that is, do something that relaxes you and makes you feel good in a healthy way. You might take up a hobby, create art or music, bake, or relax with a good movie. Whatever it is, use it to boost your mood and stay positive. These types of coping methods are great for keeping stress at bay and avoiding unhealthy habits, such as substance abuse. For more information on how to cope, check out this article.

GET YOUR HOME READY
It’s never too early to start thinking about preparing your home for the new baby. Whether you want to start nesting and getting the nursery ready or making safety preparations, taking the time to get things clean and organized for the entire family now will allow you to enjoy parenthood that much more once the baby comes. You might also think about preparing a few meals to freeze so you’ll have easy things to grab and heat up when you get home.

Preparing your home–and yourself–for a new baby is not a small task, so ask for help when you need it. Don’t be afraid to reach out for support, and keep communication open with your partner and loved ones to make things easier on everyone involved.

If you have a disability and about to become a mommy/daddy-to-be, it would not hurt to check out the ‘disabledparents’ website! 

Meet Joseph David

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Howdy!

Today I get to tell you the good news! I have a new baby cousin! I know there’s a correct term for this lineup but that gets really confusing, so he’s just a “baby cousin” to me!

When I put up the last post, I mentioned at the end that I wouldn’t include any pictures of his face on my blog in fear somebody would take them and use them for their own. I knew I needed a banner so I did use a couple of photos my aunt Katt had put up the night he was born on Facebook, but I slipped a blue ribbon in the middle of where his face meets up in the middle of the collage to kind of disguise him a little bit, you can still see him but not in a way that somebody would think to steal the picture in general, unless they’re dumb, which some are unfortunately!

Kristi’s due date was January 6th, but as the date kept getting closer and closer she wasn’t feeling like he was going to make his appearance on Friday. She even posted on Facebook that if he wasn’t here by that day then she was going to be induced on Tuesday and hopefully be born on later that day or early Wednesday. We kept teasing her saying, he likes his home and when he wants to he’ll come out. Well, her water broke around 2:30am Friday, she went to the hospital and waited, I’ve had to go back through my Aunt Katt’s statuses and she apparently had pitocin twice to try to force him out but they ultimately had to do a C-section.

It was roughly like 7:30pm when we got the news about the C-section. The little tyke just didn’t want to come out, which when he was born we quickly found out why. Little Joseph David was born at 10 lbs 3 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long! We were all thinking he’d be around 7 lbs or at least under 8 lbs and then we hear this and it just kind of surprised us! Another thing that my nana (and everybody else) wondering about it too if JD would be born with red hair or not. Kristi’s boyfriend Joe is a true ginger and so we’ve all be secretly wondering and Kristi sent a picture of the back of his head to nana the morning after and you can slightly see the tint of red in the back.

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So I figured I should explain his name a little bit. As far as I know, he isn’t considered a “Jr” despite sharing both of his daddy’s first and middle names. However, my papaw and uncle (Kristi’s father) share the same first name, they have different middle names. I don’t see it being an issue as calling him “Jr” if his middle name is changed, because last name is the still the same.

I’m sorry I’m not able to share anything else at the moment. I’m hoping Kristi and Joe make a trip down sometime we can meet the little guy and nana can hold him too! Unfortunately, I can’t hold him which sucks but I don’t think my arms can fold into him like everybody else.

If you would like to read my previous baby posts, here they are!

snowflake

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