Instagram seems to be my social media of choice these days so if there’s anyone still out there and you want to follow me, shoot me an email at saje1 at hotmail dot com for my username.
October 28, 2012 October 28, 2012
Attempting to post from my phone so excuse choppy-ness.
Frequently wonder if I should officially abandon this space. Life is busy, just like everyone’s and if I’m going to blog, it should be my business/farm one.
The kids are good. B is infuriating and amazing as are all almost 3 year olds. Robert is an extremely laid back, happy baby. He has tongue and lip ties that made him gain weight poorly so we started supplementing and he packed on the pounds. We’re flying to Alberta to get the ties fixed later this week. Ridiculous that we have to leave the province for a 15 minute dentist appointment but glad that we have the ability to do it by only straining finances, not breaking them. The procedure will probably be covered by benefits but if not at least it and the flight will be tax deductible.
June 30, 2012 June 30, 2012
Robert.James arrived Wednesday, June 20th, 5 days early. He’s doing well. He was 9lbs 6oz. It was a rough delivery that involved 3 hours of hard pushing after 26 hours of contractions (the first 20-ish hours were spent at home and weren’t super-intense) and a decision that he was stuck because he was face-up and just refusing to turn. Then an epidural, and a forceps delivery with an episiotomy and tearing. Then part-way though stitching me up the OB got called to an emergency delivery leaving me in the stirrups with open wounds for 45 minutes until she could come back to finish the job. We were discharged on Friday afternoon but I was readmitted to hospital on Sunday evening for a really bad infection requiring IV antibiotics. It was most likely a perineal infection, which, really, isn’t that surprising. Robert did get to stay with me, but there was a whole kafuffle as to whether or not I could nurse while on the rather heavy-duty antibiotics. I didn’t nurse for 18 hours and had no access to a pump (I was in a different hospital than the one I delivered in and this one had no maternity ward). Amazingly my milk supply seems to be okay. We were discharged on Tuesday and I’ve been at home recovering on oral antibiotics since. I seem to be on the mend now.
And although it doesn’t sound like it, I actually had awesome care during the birth with nurses who were very supportive. I was very happy to have the doula there, and J was too.
June 1, 2012 June 1, 2012
I’m 36 weeks 5 days today. Almost term. All is well. I did have some bleeding at 33 weeks that landed me in the hospital for two nights. It wasn’t anything serious, but my OB wanted an ultrasound done plus he felt that I live too far from the hospital to leave before they’d assured themselves that nothing major was going on. This translated into 2 nights because it wasn’t decided that I needed the ultrasound until about midnight on the first night, and then because I wasn’t urgent I didn’t get the ultrasound until almost 7pm the next day requiring that I stay a second night so my OB could review the findings in the morning. His conclusion was that because the baby was measuring so large (6lbs at 33 weeks) it may have been “bloody show” and that I could go into labour at any point. He wasn’t too concerned about this, and I was given steroid shots to mature the baby’s lungs just in case. Obviously nothing has happened since then. I suspect the bleeding was due to lots of Braxton Hicks from not drinking enough while working the Farmers’ Market on a hot day (I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced, the nurse said this was likely due to the Braxton Hicks, but that it didn’t mean labour was imminent), and straining due to constipation. I will admit that, although the hospital stay was boring and inconvenient, part of me did enjoy the break from the early mornings and never ever ever having any downtime while working the farm. J has been doing most of the physical labour, working 4:30am-9:30pm between the farm & his regular job, but that leaves me with 95% of the childcare, plus cheesemaking, kidding, & goat kid care. So the time in the hospital wasn’t entirely an unwelcome break. J took sick time to stay home and take care of B.
We have decided to go with a VBAC and a doula. I’ve met with the doula for the interview and one appointment so far. She’s willing to come out to the farm to help me labour at home for as long as possible and has no problems with the fact that I’ve never taken any birth classes and have no desire to do so. We’re not going to look for a back-up for milking. If J has to leave and miss the birth then so be it. It will suck but it’s not the end of the world. I worried about the potential size of the baby for a while, if he was 6lbs at 33 weeks, what will be be at term, but I got over it. I realized that my problem wasn’t with the idea of giving birth to a large baby, it was that I didn’t want a newborn that looked like he was 6 weeks old. This is just silly. Plus ultrasound estimates are inaccurate. When we had an ultrasound for B at 36 weeks they said she was about 8.5lbs and then when she was born a week later she was 7lbs 4oz.
Our cheese business is going well this year. We’re pretty much selling out of each batch, we’ve got one restaurant that we are supplying regularly (I don’t think we’ll be able to supply more than one), 2 retail locations that are carrying it, plus the Farmers’ Market. I’d like to blog more regularly about the farm but I’m not sure about where to do it. Maybe I should just turn this blog into more of a farm-life blog. Or not. I spend enough time “plugged-in” as is, even though I’m not posting much.
B is great. She’s your average 2.5 year old, by turns amazing, sweet, and adorable, and then frustrating, stubborn, and exhausting.
April 8, 2012 April 8, 2012
I’m 29 weeks pregnant now. Everything is going fine. About the only minor complaint I have is heartburn, which is easily taken care of by Zantac.
We’re starting to think more and more about the delivery though. We have a bit of an issue there. Our goats have to be milked twice a day, 5am and 6pm. We can’t miss one because it will seriously mess with their supply and therefore our business, which is still new enough to be barely squeaking by. We can’t hire anyone to cover for us because it’s not just milking the goats, it’s dealing with all the cleaning and sanitation required for the cheese business, and knowing the goats on an individual basis because some of them have some major quirks when it comes to milking. There would be a huge amount of training time required for just one or two milkings. This means that J might miss the birth if I go for a VBAC. Because B was delivered by c-section I could request a scheduled repeat and get one with no questions asked even though I don’t have the same issue (placenta previa) that caused B’s c-section delivery.
I want a VBAC. J understands this and understands why, but, not surprisingly, would be very supportive of a c-section if I were to decide that’s what I want. We both know that a VBAC should have me back at work on the farm sooner, but I still feel selfish choosing a birth that would only allow J to attend if it occurred between about 8:30am and 5:00pm (theoretically he could be there in the middle of the night too, but he’d be getting to the hospital around 9:30pm and having to leave by 4:00am). I want him there. He wants to be there. The only way to pretty much guarantee that is a c-section. J actually talks as though there’s no chance he’ll be there because he’s trying to prepare himself for missing it.
We have been proceeding as though we’re going to have a VBAC and have contacted a doula, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s really the right thing for us.
March 14, 2012 March 14, 2012
Here is an article about cheese in Saskatchewan that focuses quite a bit on our little business. It was in papers put out in the two major cities in the province. I’m proud of us:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/bridges/Where+find+goat+cheese+Saskatchewan/6301286/story.html
March 9, 2012 March 9, 2012
The other day B put one of her favourite stuffed animals, Dizzy, in the oven, and later I turned the oven on. Dizzy got a big hole melted in his head and singed fur down his back. B didn’t know it had happened, but I sobbed and sobbed. And then I decided to try to fix him. I snipped off his melted ear and sewed a patch over the hole. He’s definitely not as good as new, and when I first showed him to B she was really upset and demanded that I take his bandage off. By the next day she was over it and Dizzy was accepted back into the fold. This is what Dizzy looks like now. He’s kind of toasted and dingy, and one eye is cloudy from melting slightly, but both B and I are very glad he’s still around.
