So it's nearly midnight, and I'm sitting in my very quiet house listening to the dryer tumble. Kurtis and the girls are sleeping and I'm waiting for the dryer to buzz so I can switch the laundry over so Lydia will have clean, dry diapers tomorrow. Yes, we use cloth diapers, but no, they're probably not the kind you're thinking of unless you are up to date on the cloth diapering world. Here's a few pics to show you what I mean.



Anyway, back to my original train of thought. I was just sitting here listening to the dryer and thinking about how much has happened in the last two months. Two months ago, almost at this exact same time(I think it was around 12:30AM so I'm about a half hour early), I had just climbed out of the birthing pool, put on a nightgown, tennis shoes with no socks, and coat to go walk outside. Keep in mind that the temperature was in the single digits, ice and snow was covering the roads, and the wind was blowing. Even though I don't think it was technically snowing, the wind was blowing the frozen ice crystals from the top layer of snow so that I could see it swirling and dancing in the light from the street corner. I remember thinking that my midwife was nuts as Kurtis opened the door and a gust of wind came rushing in, freezing the water that was still dripping down my legs, and thinking that I was nuts for listening to her. I was stalling around 9.5 cm dialated, which is where I stalled with Emmy, and my midwife thought it would be good for me to get out of the house, get a change of scenery. I had agreed to at least try any suggestions she had if this situation came up, and I didn't want to end up with another ceasarean, so I stepped outside.

At this point my contractions were coming fast and hard, with less than 20 seconds between the end of one and the start of another. I honestly did not think I was even capable of walking, much less outside in what felt like subzero temperatures with the wind chill. Boy was I amazed when I not only could, but I actually found it refreshing. Yes, it was cold...very cold, and I was only able to stay out there for about ten minutes with the wind blowing ice up my nightgown, but it helped. Both the cold and having to focus on not slipping on the ice forced me to not concentrate quite so much on the contractions and how painful they were. When Kurtis and I got back inside, I was ready to get back to work.

It's so funny for me to think about that now. On the one hand, I have a hard time believing Lydia is already two months old, but on the other it seems like ages since Kurits and I took that arctic walk outside together in preparation for bringing her into this world.

Well, that's it for my crazy middle-of-the-night rambling. Just wanted to get down my thoughts. Hopefully the dryer will buzz soon.