2 weeks

i think 2 weeks after the baby is born is when you finally feel like you can get your head above water....even if its just a little bit.
Abraham has been such a sweet sweet baby. Although he does have his days/nights mixed up a tad which makes for a very tired (and sometimes grumpy) momma. Maggie LOVES her brother and we have to block her kisses all day long. Her once tiny hands seem very mighty when she grabs his toes to kiss them. We are in a season of learning, thats what i tell myself. I am super excited about having two kids and will be a proud momma to whip out my double stroller (thanks grandma carole!) and go to the zoo!
Abraham has started smiling right on time! The time being when Maggie smiled, which was two weeks old. Doctors say that isnt possible but these pictures show otherwise. He laughs! (with no noise!) He reminds me of her so much, but also lately like my brother-which is so fun to see peek through!

Laughing


Looking like uncle josh


i'm cute


i've got dimples

fathers day remembered

in the midst of new baby bliss, i never got to write about mojo on father's day. His day was special, of course, because he had TWO children to adore him this year! And this past week has reminded me again and again what a WONDERFUL father he is! He has been off work this week to take care of Maggie and has highly surpassed me in keeping maggie entertained.
reasons why he gets best father of the year award:
1) he has gladly taken over the reigns for potty training (that alone wins him the award right?) he even read the chapter on potty training in our parenting book
2) he takes maggie on daily rides around the neighborhood in our new bike trailer
3) he doesnt mind taking maggie to her parent/toddler gym class where he is the only dad (and i think he might have more fun than maggie....)
4) he takes her to the YMCA pool almost every day and teaches her to jump off the side of the pool
5) he makes playdates with my friends cause he knows maggie will have fun
6) he takes her to storytime and then goes and gets coffee at starbucks (maggie gets water with a straw)
7) he snuggles on the couch with her at 6:30am and they watch cartoons while i get to sleep in
8 )he changes the occasionally diaper in the middle of the night when i arouse him and changes plenty during the day!
9) he has way more energy than i do!

here's to you honey. the perfect dad in every way. Maggie adores you and I know Abraham will too!

Abraham-what a beauty huh?

just like daddy

first kiss from sister

first hours with mama

Abraham Joseph is here and already brightening our lives!

Abraham was born last night at 8:14pm. 7lbs and 12 oz. (And i keep forgetting to ask how long he is!)
He is a sight to behold and looks just like Maggie did when she was born! We're so thankful for a healthy and beautiful SON! Maggie was able to see him right after I delivered. She immediately looked at him and said "hold you?"

Better pictures coming forth. We forgot the plug to download our camera photos to the computer. But for now, here are some cell pictures. He is awesome! Also, the blog about having perhaps "too" short of a labor...

due date + 5

{this is funny. so i am posting it. Sweet Baby Morginsky is here!!!! From the time I began this post on Friday at 2pm to the time I got to the end of the last paragraph, I went into full on labor at 2 -3 minutes apart in my contractions....thats quick! it is abruptly...}

so. i'm still pregnant. i thought for sure last night was the night. i had consistent contractions most of the night, but alas morning came and i'm still large and in charge. he was moving so much last night that i think he was trying to get out through my belly button! so i'm pretty sure he's ready too. good thing is, the contractions are still there, not as frequent but still as strong so somethings going on! my doc says she thinks he'll come this weekend, if not, we've picked next weds. to induce. the other day,my friend alice looked up when the next full moon is. we both laughed when she said the 18th cause it seemed crazy to us that i'd still be pregnant. well, thats the induction date, so who knows!

but last night's contractions were good "practice" for me in figuring out what mental imagery works for me. what i learned is, picturing a flower opening petal by petal does nothing but annoy me and picturing me riding a swell in the middle of the ocean is also pretty distracting. so we marked those of the list of "visuals."

and i also had an epiphany yesterday. i took to the treadmill and gave the "baby labor" playlist a run through. Mojo did a fabulous job-picking from Dylan, The Decemberists, Flaming Lips, Fernado, etc. They all hold my attention while allowing me to relax. Everyone needs a Mojo!
Anyway, on to the epiphany. While walking, I realized that going past your due date is like waiting for a marathon to start. Your prepared, mentally and physically, but your just waiting for the darn gun to go off so you can begin what you were meant for.Thats how this week has been. It's not been stressful or full of anxiety. its just the feeling of standing at a start line waiting for the gun to go off. It's amazing what the mind can do in those "minutes". And these days of waiting really are minutes in the big picture of this little guys life.

due date + 2

hey all. for those of you checking in....the bun is still in the oven.
although, my hormones were RAGING today so we'll see if he comes tonight! i already finished the book sweet Mojo bought for me last week to read while in labor. It is Thousand Splendid Suns (the kite runner follow up)....so so good but definitely not a book for pleasant reading, so it was a good thing I read it so fast. So now I am on to a spy thriller and there are like 5 in the series so i should be good for a while if the babe still isnt ready to come just yet.
We have filled our days with lots of reading and lots of pool time (it feels amazing to be in water) and someone told me today that she saw me yesterday and was wondering if I am having twins. I guess that means he's getting big in there and women "overdue" usually don't show up everyday at the pool in a tankini. but really, the water is the only place i'd like to be! keep checking back often, he'll be here sooner or later!

they dont call it labor for nothin'

****disclaimer****may be unsuitable for men or women who want to believe childbirth is easy*****

So i've been thinking about labor alot lately, obviously. one day away from the due date and the excitement is mounting! before i talk about labor let me say a few things about pregnancy. despite what my husband has been hearing lately about aches, pains, and the like...I LOVE being pregnant. I really think it suits me. I think it is an honor and a privilege to get to be a vessel in which God's hands do a miracle inside you. I love feeling little knees and hands. It is a blessing to get your ribs bruised by a future soccer player, or see a tiny bottom roll under your skin when you talk. It's weird and it reminds you that even with all our advances, we haven't found a better way to make a baby. Everything about it is perfect. It physically prepares you and is a sign of the impending lifetime sacrifices. As your body stretches (sometimes so much you think it will break)-its a physical sign of your life stretching to make room for new life. The aches and pains are only a glimpse of the worry and anxiety over sniffles and coughs that you'll have in the future. God prepares you in this season and its wonderful.

My mantra this week has been this: Labor is the easy part, parenting is the hard part.
This close to the end and its easy to focus on the labor instead of what quickly comes after. I remember the first time I was left alone with Maggie in the hospital (and I didnt even tell Mojo at the time)....my thought was, "oh, yeah, i'm the parent. I guess I should feed her."
But nonetheless, my thoughts have dwelled on labor and preparing for the event to come. And i have a few conclusions about it. First, I am pretty sure everybody that has "blogged" about their labor has had a somewhat pleasant experience. Or there is such joy in the outcome (your baby) that you never write about the experience without a touch of rose colored glasses. This is good except it leaves first time birthers at a disadvantage. Even in my natural birthing book, it glosses over alot. While reading it yesterday I laughed because i came to a sentence that said, " All these things are rare but within normal range."
I am pretty sure they could leave about the rare part, because i qualified for all of them. And when a woman reads that something is rare, she just brushes it off. For instance, its rare but normal for a body to take 12 to 24 hours of labor just to dilate to 4cm. CHECK. It's rare but normal to throw up during labor. CHECK. its rare but normal to get hot and cold flashes during labor. CHECK. its rare but normal to have tremors during transition (read: shake uncontrollably.). CHECK.
Even my child birth educator said things like, you may throw up but its really good for labor b/c it pushes the baby down further. What they dont tell you is, when you are throwing up while simultaneously having a contraction, it possibly is the worst feeling in the world and telling yourself, "this is going to make labor faster" doesnt quite make up for it.
And then when you finally (after 30 hours) get to transition and you start shaking uncontrollably and your fear is reflected in your husbands eyes-it doesnt help to think "pushing is just around the corner"-all your thinking is, "what if i never stop shaking"

Just like most things in life....The reality is, labor comes really easy for some. Like my sweet friend Alice who didnt even realize she had gotten to 10cm by the time she got to the hospital. and for some, it takes a little more work. And thats okay, but i think OBs and educators need to cut out language of what's "normal" or "average" cause the poor girl (me) who ends up on the high end of "within normal range" just feels in the midst of things that perhaps something is wrong....cause everything she read said what was an average labor but forgot to mention what happens when something isnt average.

So to all my friends that are pregnant or Lord willing, will be pregnant in the future:Read your books, prepare yourself, and then realize you may not be "normal."
So this time around, I have no expectations (as much as that is possible)-I believe that all my walking and eating spicy foods and drinking special teas isnt actually doing a darn thing. I believe that he'll come when the Lord has appointed the hour. I believe that i'll probably have a very long labor again and if perchance i don't, I'll blog about that too.
I believe that women in Africa have to work all day in the fields and then labor-all I have to do is the labor part-thats not so bad right? I believe that if Eve saw what her choice would do for women over the millenia she may have given pause to that apple. I believe that in the midst of labor its almost impossible to focus on the end so you just have to be present in the pain. I believe that God knew what he was doing in allowing women to give birth so to quote my educator "get out of the way of the uterus and let it do its job." And i believe my husband when he says, "one way or another he's coming out." hallelujah.

maggie learning from harriett

So, quickly after seeing Harriett drinking from the hose, Maggie jumped in with full gusto. Maggie loves water and continued her learning weekend by fun times in her new pool that Mimi bought her. Summer time here we come!!!!