Our Fourth Baby Arrives

Photo credit to A for this timely shot

Welcome to our sweet new child! In the late morning of May 27 I scooped up my fourth son and held him in my arms for the first time. He was born early at 38 weeks gestation, surprising me completely with his prompt and brisk entrance. I had my fastest labor yet, whirling through the whole thing from 6:00am to 11:10am when we first saw his face. We really hit the gas in the last hour of labor though moving from 4cm dilation at our time of arrival at the birth center at 10:00am to the three pushes and baby meeting at 11:10. Whew! I was kind of intimidated when I realized things were clipping along a bit faster, worried that I wouldn't be able to keep my feet under me psychologically and that the intensity of a fast birth would beat me to shoe leather. Handily, he's a very sweet baby and he was gentle on his mommy. I stayed right on top of things until a certain point in labor (maybe 10:30 or so) when I suddenly felt unable to keep up and thought I was wimping out. I realized retrospectively that the panic and hazy feeling of losing it was just transition hitting and the emotional wall most women come up against right before the baby descends the birth canal and pushing begins. Sure made me feel better to realize that I had coped just fine after all. I did most of my labor "on land" this time and slipped into the birthing jacuzzi my plush birth center provided at the very ninth hour. I think I got in around 11:07 or so. I was there for three pushes and the birth of the placenta and then I was popped into the cozy in-room bed and Baby and I were snuggled in with blankets fresh from the dryer in the next room. Heaven, even on a hot day in May. And then we placed an order at the local taco stand and had lunch. No sweat, baby before noon and a whole day left to kill!

Our beautiful new son, our fourth and latest joy is: 

8lb 4oz, 20 inches long,  Giles Crispin Armstrong. (pronounced JYE-ulz) 

And now...a little name background for the curious:

He's named after two saints, a name grounded in history and pageantry.We like that Giles smacks of British Isles chivalry.....tinted with knights and dragons and top-hatted gallantry. Crispin is more boyish and takes down some of the high tones Giles can carry and makes it a little less stuffy.

There have been two great saints named Giles, one was a much loved, early miracle worker and the other one of St. Francis of Assisi's inner circle, one of the first Franciscan brothers whom Francis charmingly called "the Knight of our Round Table." We also like the homey, down to earth hero feel that the character Farmer Giles of Ham gives to the name.

Giles was originally the Greek name Aegidius and the literal meaning of the name is "young goat." I'll grant that this comes off a bit odd but you have to do a little digging. Some sources also say that the name means "shield" which is a much cooler meaning to carry around, although a bit bafflingly far from the first meaning.Turns out the word originally comes from the term for ancient Greek shields, particularly the important shield of their highest god Zeus which were made out of (wait for it....) the tanned skins of young goats. To be a shield is good but to be a shield for the highest god in the pantheon is pretty heavy duty. We like the connotations. We hope Giles is always a protector and a shield for those around him even for the hidden vulnerabilities of those who seem high and powerful.

photo credit to my sister Song

Crispin is another vaguely British sounding name, fitting for our combined very British Isles heritage. Crispin means "curly haired" which is neither here for there for us specifically. Our little man has no real hair of any substance yet and what little down is there is not curly at this point. Wouldn't it be funny if he got lush curls later on in life? Would sure make his mama smile.

St. Crispin was an early Christian martyr who with his twin brother, who left their noble family positions and attempted to share the gospel with the Gauls by day and industriously working as town cobblers by night. St. Crispin's Day was once the feast for honoring these two but today it is most linked to Shakespeare and historic wars after the several key battles that were begun on that day. Shakespeare's famous reference to St. Crispin's Day is in a speech given on said eve by King Henry V (in the play of the same name) before his troops in preparation for the battle of Agincourt. Handily the speech is a rousing call to brotherhood and sacrifice...a lovely thing to reference in connection with the name. Crispin apples are also tasty, and give a little homey touch to the name.

Giles is a completely sweet little soul. He sleeps soundly at night waking once or twice to nurse with no real crying. Maybe being number four has sent him clear signals that an easygoing attitude is needed, or maybe God has given me a special gift not to be taken for granted, relief and charm in a chubby little body. We are enjoying him completely and you'll all understand if the blog temporarily turns into a baby album, won't you? With dimples like this in the viewfinder its hard to resist.

My First Birth

Had one of the most fantastically inspiring nights of my life last night. Nutmeg and Carpenter Man's sweet second baby was ushered into the world and I had the great honor of attending the birth (can words express what kind of a friend-gift that is???? I think not.)  at the side of the midwife who delivered most of own children. I cannot even describe to you all the sheer, scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs feeling of peak experience I felt walking out into the crisp, cold February air re-playing the visual in my mind's eye of Baby's placid, buttermilk-velvet profile, slipping into his mother's waiting arms and then being cradled to her face for first kisses.

Life is peppered with a few crystal moments and I knew--standing there on the curb, helping my mentor load her birthing supplies back into her trunk and then hugging her under the golden halo of the streetlights---that I had lived one of those great times. A time that will always be hung in space as significant.

So, to better remember, there on the sidewalk at 1:45AM, I pulled out my camera, squeezed my cheek against hers and held it out and snapped a memory. A little salute to one of my heroes.

So, here's to you, Martha, I feel so blessed to have knelt at the side of a laboring mother, next to you and to have peered over your shoulder as you worked and helped you lug your bags out to the car. I know that yours are big shoes, and I hope someday I'll be able to keep a pair on as I slosh down the road of midwifery. You're super inspiring.

Duet Magic

I'm not a crazy, wild American Idol fanatic. First of all we don't have t.v. so that sort of shoots keeping up with it at all, and then secondly, I'm not a fan of the whole idea of nationwide idolism/the complete commercialization of young artists. On the other hand, I think Simon Cowell is wonderful, I do like the dreadlocks + dimples of one of the latest contestants, Crystal Bowersox. Plus she has a stunning voice and sings stuff I like. So, there's that.

And so, I'm leaving all of you for the weekend with this tremendous video of her latest on show exploit, a duet that knocked me clean over. I could just sit there and hit play again and again. So pretty. Love how they twinkle into each other's eyes as they sing, the way the camera swings lazy circles around them and the way she affectionately manhandles the neck of his guitar in the after-interview. Cute cute cute. Do you think I could get away with wearing feathers in my hair?



Tomorrow (the due date I calculated), a slew of houses, the next day a midwife appointment after church and then more realtor meetings and maybe somewhere in there...time for a long, warm bath. Unless....Baby cancels all plans! We'll just wait and see.

A Typical Homebirth Midwife Appointment

Today a photo-journalism style post covering our latest midwife visit. We homebirth, (at least we aim at homebirths) and so these our photos of my regular appointments with our assistant midwife at the office where they see all their clients. The 35 week visit will be in our home to go over supply checklists, make sure the midwives know how to get to our home smoothly and touch base about all the mechanics of how we will lay out the birthing care in our particular home space. But, for now, its simple blood pressure checking, baby feeling and heartbeat listening as well as a lot of chatty conversation about pregnancy, birth, babies and the female body.

Blood pressure...looked just great! (Ru squeezed the bulb for the midwife)

Boys looking on

Pull away shot of the whole lovely "clinic" room where

our practice sees all clients. So pretty and warm and open. 

(small bathroom and waiting room just out of the frame

to the right)

Up the shirt and down the skirt to find the belly under it all

Midwife, feeling the baby...nice size, good reactive movement, and yes, head down!

 

Listening to that heartbeat, clear and strong

Ru, playing cars at our feet.

This is the sort of thing the boys do during most of the appointment

The midwives have the best toys!

I listen to Baby, very clear and strong.

Ru has a go...

....and Dee too...getting tips from the midwife about what he's supposed to be hearing, "Bum bum bum!"

And finally the Daddy/photographer takes a break to listen to his youngest child drum away.

Good times. So, that's what happens at a typical midwife appointment. Minus the part where we sit at the desk together and chat and laugh which isn't nearly so interesting in photos. Thanks for coming along!

Picnic Weather!

Was a lovely day today. Took the boys trekking over to A's work for a jolly little picnic on a bench in the sun at lunchtime. One woman stopped and said, "What fun! You know you're going to make lots of people jealous!" nodding towards the continual stream of strolling executive types clicking past down the sidewalk, clippy i.d. tags fluttering in the breeze and black dress shoes gleaming. We did get a lot of waves and hellos and folks, cold asparagus, drizzled with garlic olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and a generous dose of sea salt is d.i.v.i.n.e. when eaten sitting cross legged in the sunshine with no utensils, whole spears dripping and gleaming greenly, fingers all an oily, tasty mess and that amazing color of chartreuse/grass green stacked like cordwood in the make-shift tin foil bowl. Yum. Asparagus is one of my favorite foods in the world.

Ahem. Yes. Picnic. The picnic was really grand. First of the year. That's important. Everyone cheerful even though I was about an hour late arriving. Also good. Looks like it was chilly but it was tremendously comfortable and jackets would have been sweaty overkill. We're leafless but, really balmy at the moment.

And if you need real, further proof...look. Just down the street folks were lining up rather substantially for the local Dairy Queen. Note to self: Take the boys to Dairy Queen. Its a childhood institution. I think I may wait until its really good and hot.

Potty training continues on apace. Only two misses today...small progress is laudable! Still no initiating on his part which is slightly off-putting but really, I'd be asking a bit too much if I said that I truly expect him to have it all down in two days flat. I am not insane.

 Hope your weekend is fabulous. We're grilling steaks, visiting the midwife, and jogging off for a date alone together. Much sunshiney bliss awaits. May some of it come your way too!