The First Few Weeks

We've had a lot of adjusting to do... Week 1 was a total blast - the newness of it all! Week 2, I developed mastitis, which progressed into a severe infection that I am still battling at Week 4. I've started my second round of antibiotics, and I am definitely feeling a lot better, but still not completely over it yet. It really took a toll on me, physically, emotionally and mentally. My mom (Sweet Momma) stuck around an extra week to help take care of me while Jeremy prepped for finals. She was here a total of 4 weeks, and we are so grateful for all of her help! She is greatly missed! We've been solo for a week now, trying to adjust to a new way of life... People continued to bless us with meals throughout this past week, which was a Godsend, while I still haven't been up to par and Jeremy just completed finals on Wednesday. We're now enjoying some days of family time as I continue to feel better and Jeremy has wrapped the semester up. I am back in the space of LOVING being a Mommy and cuddling little Matilda as much as possible! She is sweet as can be! We've compiled some of our favorite pics over the last few weeks to share in the slideshow. I apologize to everyone out there who has been requesting picture updates. It was a tough few weeks. Enjoy the pics. We'll try and get some cute ones around the holidays.

Matilda Month One from Jeremy Johnson on Vimeo.

Matilda Rose's Birth Story

Matilda Rose was born at home early Sunday morning (2:44 am) November 20, 2011. It was actually her due date. I started having pre-labor contractions off and on the whole week before she was born. It definitely got us excited a time or two, thinking things were going to progress. The contractions were pretty mild up until Friday, November 18. I had slowly been losing my mucous plug (the bloody show) for over a week as well. Jeremy and I were excited and ready. The evening of November 18 my contractions were strong enough that I couldn’t sleep through them, but they were anywhere from 6 to 12 minutes apart. My midwife, Toni, encouraged me to try and get as much sleep as I could because I needed to be as rested as possible. It was a broken night’s sleep as I awoke upon each contraction but slept in between. 

The contractions continued in the same manner when we got up on Saturday, November 19. I ate breakfast, found some different ways to labor through the contractions (hands and knees, over the exercise ball, leaning into Jeremy), and per Toni’s suggestion took another nap. We went to Toni’s office at 10:00 am for a change in scenery. She checked me, and I was a good 2 cm dilated. She stayed at her office and continued to work as we headed home, all hoping we would be calling Toni soon to come to our house. Jeremy and I got back and began walking laps in our neighborhood. I found that walking through a contraction was much less intense for me than being still through one. We ate lunch somewhere in the mix. A little before 2:00 the contractions became so intense for me that I threw up and after that release they began to come more frequently. We called Toni and she arrived sometime between 2:30 and 3:00. I had begun active labor. 

Jeremy was an amazing coach he never left my side. We walked laps in the backyard for a while and then moved inside. I began to labor through contractions on my hands and knees again while Jeremy held warm compresses on my lower back to ease the additional pressure/pain I was feeling in my lower back. I rested over the exercise ball between contractions. I also found that deep moaning through the contractions was a total release as well and helped me move through the contractions. Toni and Andrea (Toni’s assistant) would come in and check on me periodically. They would check the baby’s heart rate and my temperature. Andrea checked me at 7:30, and I was 7 cm dilated. Things picked up. I continued to labor on my hands and knees, while Jeremy continued holding warm compresses on my lower back. Around 10:00 Toni checked me, and I was a good 9 com with a little lip of the cervix on the front that needed to slip open behind the baby’s head. I took a hot shower, letting the hot water run down my back as I leaned into Jeremy through contractions. The hot water really helped me relax. I got out and we walked around the house. I tried sitting on the birth stool and leaning into the bed and stepping a leg up on a chair through contractions – hoping to open the last bit of the cervix. It seemed like forever trying to get the last bit of the cervix to open. Toni and Andrea continued to check me over those few hours. I got in the shower two more times, which was the most relaxing thing for me. By the last shower I had reached transition. I was totally ready to give up. I was completely overwhelmed and exhausted and didn’t know how I could possibly get through it. We moved back to the bed. Andrea came in and began encouraging me. She put lavender oil on my wrists to help me relax. Things came to a standstill. Contractions basically stopped. They encouraged me to try and take a nap. 

Jeremy and I went to sleep. We probably slept for about 15 or 20 minutes, and I was abruptly awakened by a contraction where I needed to push. Toni told me not to push yet because she needed to check the cervix again. It was so hard not to push. She checked me, and the lip of the cervix was still covering the front. Tony let me grunt (lightly push) through the next contraction to see if I could get it to slip behind the head. That didn’t work, so she broke my bag of waters. On the next contraction Toni let me push gently again and the cervix opened on up. Yay! I began pushing at 1:45 am. The pushing contractions were very overwhelming for me. They were incredibly intense/powerful. Jeremy told me what to do each step of the way. I couldn’t figure out the rhythm on my own. He told me when to breathe and when to push. My pushing contractions were pretty far apart, so they gave me an herb tincture to increase the frequency because they didn’t want to risk the baby being under distress and having to wait 5 minutes for another pushing contraction. Toni and Andrea continually checked the baby’s heart rate between contractions, and I was told to relax my breath between contractions to not stress the baby out. 

My mom was here as well through the whole thing. She had some particular motherly things to say to me during the pushing phase that really helped me focus. I knew what I needed to do for my baby. I let go of all of my fears of pain that may come and pushed with all of my might. I was on my side on the bed. Jeremy held one of my legs and my mom held the other as Toni and Andrea tended to me and the baby. I pushed for 1 hour. In the final contraction I pushed 3 times. Jeremy asked if I had one more in me and on the 4^th push out came the baby’s head with its body following all at once. I didn’t realize what was happening. Jeremy and my mom both gasped in amazement and suddenly there was a baby resting on my belly. 

It took me a moment to wrap my head around it. I thought I still had more pushing to go. It was over. I had done it. And, there was our little baby! It was a girl! Our intuition was right. Little Matilda Rose Johnson! We now understand how quickly you can fall in love – it only took 1 second of laying eyes on her! We enjoyed an herbal bath together as we cleaned up for bed. She loved being back in the water. My dad came over from his hotel to meet her. We got snuggled into bed and tried to get some sleep. It was really, really hard work, but I absolutely loved birthing our little girl at home!

Four Generations

Friends and family celebrated a baby shower with me in early October. A talented friend of mine took this beautiful photo of me adoring the little one within.  So for those of you who wanted to see a belly photo, here it is...

My grandmother, mom, and I ventured on to Ross's sweet potato patch later that afternoon where he captured a great photo of the four of us.

Diplomas and Rings

After 2 hard years of work, Jeremy received his Masters of Science in Geography. We celebrated and watched him walk in August.

Ring Day was September 16. Check out that Aggie ring! Gig 'em Aggies!

Yosemite

We were able to take a two week vacation this summer to California.  The first week was spent celebrating Justin and Missy's wedding in Yosemite National Park.

El Capitan - the largest granite monolith in the world

 Yosemite made a wonderful backdrop for a wedding.

 

Coatal Research or: How I learned to Quit Worrying and Love the Marsh

You would think that someone who was just about to finish writing his thesis on coastal vegetation dynamics and begin his Ph.D. in alpine ecology would quit collecting marsh data, but no.  I can't help myself, and I returned to the coast to collect data on management practices (burn regimes) and the influence of wind waves on marsh structure.  The temperature has been in the 90s upper 80s and the wind has been howling so off I went; and yes, I did see alligators. 

Bodcau

Les, Ross, and myself took a little canoe trip through the Bald Cyprus (Taxodium distichum) swamp of Bodcau WMA in Northern Louisiana.  It's a stark view compared to the lush green landscape that is seen when traveling the same swamp in the summer time.  Although it was a good distraction from finishing my thesis it's time to get some work done.  Enjoy the photos.

Dad's 60th

This past January my dad (Gary) turned 60.  How to celebrate? Well, we coordinated flights (Justin and Missy, Lesley and me, and Aunt Kay flew in. Chris and Elizabeth drove down, and Aunt Kay picked up Grandma Elsie in Fort Morgan) and rendezvous points, purchased silly string, and quietly concealed ourselves in the front yard of their house.  ... Grandma rings the doorbell..... and

 

Needless to say, he was quite surprised.  We all enjoyed a short couple of days celebrating.

 

Mapping the Cloud Forest: Costa Rica

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica to help survey/map the cloud forests around Texas A&M's new Soltis Center for Research and Education.  It was a great experience and I hope to return soon. 

The view from my cabin

Navigating the forest
 

 Surveying the forest

What would a jungle trip be without a little vine swinging

The bat cave... I did crawl in there, but not too far.

A view of the top of the canopy

 Strawberry poison dart frog. This was only one of the poisonous inhabitants of the forest.

Another... The Eyelash viper, small and deadly.

 Lugging equipment

Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Some of the waterfalls we encountered in the forest.

Alberth with a coral snake (red on yellow kill-a-fellow).  We also saw two fer-de-lance which are among the most poisonous snakes in the world... I didn't get close enough to them to take a photo.

La Bicicletta

Jeremy's new set of wheels...

Panniers and all!

Fun with Friends on New Year's Eve!

Yeah for the friendships that we're forming in Bryan/College Station!

And, for mustache growing contests...

And, for Larry (affectionately named after Lesley-Jeremy "Lerry" by Eli, Age 4)

And, for Corinna - the hostess with the mostess!

And, for my LOVING husband Jeremy!

I love coming across pictures that "just make you smile" - this is one of those "just makes me smile kind of pictures!"

Procrastination at its Finest!

Jeremy's distraction as he studied for finals in December...

There's no better way to relieve that pent up nervous energy than to spontaneously rip up the carpet in the living room and dining room and uncover these fabulous oak floors.

They still need to be refinished, but that's a project for this summer after the master's thesis is complete.