Labor Story

Mom flew into town on Monday and with still no baby we had to have some projects to do.  A few of my friends have been making strawberry jam and I was aching for some homemade bread and jam.  Mom went right to work and happily made me 8 containers of jam--YUM!

 Tuesday, June 25th

I woke up at 1:30am to go to  the bathroom, but before I got there part of my water broke.  It wasn't a lot, but then I noticed other true signs of labor and thought for sure this has got to be the day--exciting!  I thought I would maybe even have a baby before the kids got up!  Haha, boy was I wrong.  I had contractions for about an hour, then fell back asleep.  Contractions woke me back up about 8 minutes apart.  Mom was up early so about 5:30 we left to go walking and pick up some donuts :)  Contractions were getting closer so we thought for sure baby was coming.

Our last picture as a family of six...wondering which little guy or gal is inside!

We dropped off the girls at the Hansen's house, and the boys at the Andertons.  Shortly after, about 10am my contractions had slowed to a stop.  I was so disappointed.  I wanted so badly for this baby to hurry up and come out!  Afterall, I was 40w4d, and with a plane to catch in less than 2 weeks I was getting nervous.  So I took a nap hoping labor would continue.  When I woke up, mom told us we should go on a date. So, Zui suggested cheap Mexican (2 tacos from Jax) and a long walk up in Mauka.

 No...I am not in trouble ;)  Zui and I went walking to try and encourage labor to continue, with contractions about 7 minutes apart.  While up in Mauka we saw a kid tagging some public property.  We watched as he spray-painted his gang symbol on two electric boxes and a lamp post, then Zui called the police.  We thought that was it, but then the cops called back because they had caught three juveniles out tagging and they wanted us to identify which one we had seen.  So...the cops came and picked Zui up (they said we both couldn't go) and Zui got to make sure justice had been dealt :)

He had to write up a testimony and leave his info in case he needs to testify in court.  Pretty exciting labor day!

After the walk we came back, picked up Jasmine, and took her on another long walk up Lanikuhana.  During the walk contractions started getting stronger and closer together, 5 min apart lasting 30 seconds.  We still weren't sure if this was the real thing, and as it was close to 5pm already, we decided our kids should come back home. 

Talking to my sistah Cindy in between contractions

Shortly after feeding the kids dinner, the contractions really started to pick up and get strong.  The house turned into a zoo as Mom and Zui were trying to bathe kids, get them in pajamas, prepare the birth tub, soothe the kids, and get them to bed so I could labor in quasi-peace (if you can call labor peaceful).  Medra arrived at about 7pm and took a laissez-faire approach to the labor.  It was very different than Betty or Dr. Lori, but good in some ways too.  I labored mostly on my exercise ball and at about 8:30 got into the birthing tub.

After about 45 minutes in of labor in the tub, I really felt baby low and knew baby was coming.  Zui was supporting my weight, I pushed twice and the baby's head came out already!  Medra caught the baby and Zui showed him to me and we finally found out we had a baby boy!!

The labor was all day, but only about 3 hours of hard labor.  We couldn't believe how big Ziggy was: Just shy of 9 pounds. After a long, oh so long day, Baby Ezekiel was here and it was all worth it.  

 

Our family of seven

It's a BOY!

 Ezekiel was born 9:15pm on June 26th, a water birth at home.  We were SO happy to finally meet him!   

 Our midwife, Medra.  She was great.  Except that she forgot to bring her baby scale so... Zui had to jump on and off our scale with/without baby to try and get an accurate reading.  We think he weighed in at 8 lb, 13 oz, and was 21 in long.

First family picture of seven!!

Happy Grandma :)

So happy he's here, now the sleepless nights begin!

Fishing at Ho'omaluhia

Saturday, still no baby, so we decided to go fishing.  I figure if I make enough plans eventually this baby will come.  Ho'omaluhia allows catch-release fishing every weekend, it's great because it's not like I'd really want to eat the fish anyway!

Four kids fishing got busy real fast, between Jasmine throwing her pole in the water, lines getting tangled, and bait getting eaten too quick.  Hawaiian fish love spam, are you surprised?

I love this pic of Zion:  "I'm a handsome fishing stud" look :)

 The kids each caught four or five fish.  They were pulling them out of the water just as fast as Zui was unhooking them and throwing them back.  So much fun for them.

I think this is a smile.  Jasmine loves her cheetos and juice.

Afterwards we fed the ducks.  Which was really more feeding the fish because the fish are way more entertaining.  Swarms of them. 

Haleiwa beach park

No baby yet...my due date has officially come and gone. *sigh * so we are trying to take advantage of our free time and play a bit more.  We headed to Haleiwa for play, dinner on the beach, and shave ice. The kids loved the tide pools, catching sand crabs, and of course the shave ice at the end :)

Park Days

We have been going to the park a lot lately. My big body doesn't feel like doing much else. But the kids still have a good time. We always pass by the neighborhood cat on our way.  I'm so thankful for that cat. It satisfies the kids enough when they keep asking for a pet (I told them they could get a pet when they turn 18--they are so excited!)

Anjuli and Zion both just conquered the monkey bars. They are so happy and proud of themselves :) And Jazzy just decided she likes riding under the stroller instead of in it. Crazy cute girl.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Zui!  We had homemade pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast.  Then opened presents, the kids were so excited.

Happy father of four, soon to be five!

Zion made this "I'm NUTS about you" picture frame in preschool

The kids each gave Zui a bag of Raisinets, his favorite.

I gave Zui an aloha shirt and new belt

Reading Zion's poem (below) he made in preschool.

Anjuli just loves to make cards, I think she made Zui 4 for father's day.

National Guild Auditions

Guild Auditions today! Zui picked up the judge, Dr. Rita Fandrich, from her hotel in Waikiki, then auditions ran for the next 8 hours. Each of my students were graded on 4 memorized songs, complete with scales and cadence chords. What a lot of work! But my students did great--I even had two students get a perfect score! (Congrats Lauren Ramos and Valerie Joco).  Now I am ready to have the baby...anytime now!

Dr. Rita Fandrich

Valerie Joco

Sydney Bishop

Zoe Omura

Desi Jeffers