Countdown to...

Disneyland!!

I decided it had been long enough (a whole year!) since I'd been, and convinced my dad and sister Whitney to go with Hayley and me to Disneyland in December. We are just going for a weekend trip, leaving on a Friday, and coming back on Sunday, but I'm still super excited! Plus, we'll get to see the Christmas decorations, and the Christmas tree, and the parade, and some of these guys...

Nothing better than an Disney Christmas present to look forward to!

Mockingjay

Okay, here's my issues:

1. I kept waiting for the book to "start". And waiting, and waiting. I got to about a hundred pages in and realized, "Huh. I guess this is as good as it's going to get." Really, I should have known better. It's not like they could have fanagled another Hunger Games. But I just felt like the realness of the characters wasn't there anymore.

2. I liked Finnick's Annie. A little more background on her would have been nice. Or miraculously finding a cure for some of her issues. Or having her bond some with Katniss. Something.

3. And some more one Maysielee, from Haymitch's point of view, especially now that he wasn't drunk all the time. Or from Madge and her family. Oh wait. That's right. They're dead. (Is is cruel that I would have rather kept them than Greasy Sae?)

4. I kept thinking "When is Cinna going to show up? It's got to be soon." If he was dead clear back in book two, why not make it final and tell us? And, dear Ms. Collins, if you left it open so that you could possibly bring him back, why didn't you? What a disappointment. Heck, I would have even taken him as President Snow Suzanne. I mean, they could fix those lips and the rose stench in the Capitol, right? R.I.P. Cinna.

5. Prim. Dear, sweet Prim who was growing up into such an amazing person. Really?! Seriously?! Kept waiting for the "Oh, wait. Not really. That was a mistaken identity." That ending for her was not okay. In fact, her ending was swiped right out from under her, by her own sister. That leads to my next point.

6. The epilouge was ridiculous. Katniss was dead set against having kids. How selfish of Peeta to convince her into it? And how scary for Katniss to have children and know that their father has to remember not to kill people (not just including Katniss, but especially her) every once in a while? That epilouge would have been fine, great even, if it would have been Prim and one of Gale's brothers that she had married, back in the meadow watching their children. But not Katniss. And especially not Peeta. It's not even Peeta's meadow!

7. And Gale. Oh, Gale. You didn't even try. You just moved on to your cushy new job and forgot all about the love of your life. Why? I felt like Katniss settled, because she knew that you gave up. Sure, maybe it was because the situation with Prim, but it felt so wrong to me when Katniss didn't end up with Gale.

All around very disappointing, not what I was expecting, and surely not what I was hoping for.

Dear Ms. Collins: That sucked. How about you try again?

Dear Barnes and Noble: May I please have my money back?

H2O

Jeremy bought me these flowers when Jackson and I came home from the hospital.  They are still alive, and still looking really pretty.  I commented on this to Jeremy, to which he replied, "Yeah, Heather.  That's because I've been watering them."

It's true.  I kill plants often simply from a lack of moisture.  Apparently, horticulture is not my strong suit.

Difference of Opinion

Hayley: "I just can't get enough!"

Jackson: "I've had enough!"

Jeremy: "Hayley, your new baby brother is here. What does that make you?"

(Thinking he'll get the answer of "A big sister!")

Hayley: "It makes me happy!"

Can't argue with that!

P.S. Jackson is off his stupid bili lights! From the two five hour stretches of sleep he had last night, I think he may be as happy about it as I am. :)

Male Bonding

Dialogue on this post is courtesy of Jeremy.

Because apparently he can read infant's minds.

Or just because he's a boy too.

"Today I got circumcised."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"No, really Dad. I don't want to talk about it."

Just to round out the day, Jackson also got put on bilirubin lights for his jaundice.

Which means basically I can hold him when I am feeding him, and that's about it.

Funny thing, how he gets hungry every two hours now...

Jackson's Day

The Story:

You would think that with having a planned Labor and Delivery, it would go on with no surprises, right? Not so much. Maybe it was because I actually had a Birth Plan this time around that it all went out the window...

After calling the hospital at 4:30 a.m. (a.k.a. the middle of the night) to make sure they had a room for me, we arrived at the hospital at 5:00 a.m. I was hooked up to an I.V. and had my Pitocin started by 6:00. Things were good, and the contractions weren't too terrible. Around 8:30, my doctor came in and decided to break my water. I told him I wanted my epidural first, and he said we'd do it right after. After reminding him that I labor fast, I agreed to let him break my water at about 9:00. That turned out to be a big mistake.

The anesthesiologist came in about fifteen minutes after that, which would have been fine, except that I was really feeling the contractions by then. So much so that I had a hard time even holding still while he did his work, and was in tears by the time he was done. At this point I was relieved that the worst was over, and that the inserting of the epidural would be the most painful thing about the birth. Think again...

For the next forty minutes, I waited for the rush of when I couldn't feel the contractions anymore, but it didn't come. Granted they weren't quite as intense, and the edge had been taken off, but that was about it. I called the nurse who had me turn to my other side to even out the epidural, and that's when I started to feel like I might die. I told her I was in a really, really lot of pain. At this point, Jeremy piped up to the nurse, "Uh, maybe you should check her."

So she did, and I'd gone from three centimeters (which I'd been dialated to for three weeks) to ten centimeters and complete in forty minutes. My precious epidural was in and working, but not even keeping up with me progressing that fast. At this point the contractions are the worst pain that I have felt in my life, the nurse is bustling around getting stuff ready before my baby falls out on it's own (okay, it may not have been that bad, but it was pretty close), and I am hearing "We need Dr K. in here." "We need Dr. K. in here now." "We need any doctor in here right now." Very comforting. The anesthesiologist came back in and re-dosed me (at least he was hurrying) and told me it would kick in in about five minutes. I was thinking, "I'm not going to be pregnant anymore in five minutes.."

My doctor made it just in time for me to push little Jackson out in three pushes. He was great though, nice loud cry, and a 9 on his one minute Apgar Score. My doctor told me afterward that I had just had a pretty much natural childbirth. Anyone who knows me knows that a natural childbirth is (was) my worst nightmare. Heaven help me.

I want a refund on my epidural.

Here's proof that you actually can live through your worst nightmare. Good thing my new little guy is so cute:

Jackon Drake Bachman

Born Monday, August 10, 2009

10:08 a.m.

7 lbs. 11 oz.

20 inches long

The Proud Daddy:

The good thing about not being pumped with drugs for hours, is that they wear off quickly. I was off my I.V. in about 15 minutes, and walking by myself to the bathroom in about 30. Plus, I can actually remember the visitors who came. Here's just a few:

It was so fun to see everyone, and share the latest addition to our little family:

Jackson and I were able to go home the next afternoon. He was ready and rarin' to go!

If only I could have taken home one of those nursery nurses with me for the night...

Oh, the Anticipation!

37 weeks, 3 days pregnant. The only side shot I have of myself pregnant, with either child. This was taken the night before I went into the hospital for my planned induction. I was freaking out a little. I think it may have actually been worse, in a way, to know exactly when I would be giving birth.

Hayley also wanted in on the action:

She was so excited about having a new baby brother!

Hayley's New Fave

On first watching, I thought this show was cute, though too scary for Hayley. Apparently, I was wrong. She's watched it at least once a day for the past five or six days. She's got the "puppy dog whine" that Coraline does down pat, and will tell you all about the mommy with the button eyes and silly Wybee and his pet Slugzilla.

Yeah, we're pretty boring that this is the most interesting thing that's been happening in our house for the last week. What can I say? I've been doing a lot of lazing on the couch.