When Little Moose became Miio Eemeli

Little Moose finally got his name. We chose to name him Miio Eemeli. We had thought of doing Olli or Tomi or Niklas but I just didn't love any of them. Then Troy mentioned Miio four three days after he was born and I felt that it was so right. 

Since family came to town on Wednesday night, Miio has had a rough time. Or maybe I am more conscious of it. 

Miio seemed to cry on and off all of Thursday. I felt like I tried everything possible. Finally after a Primary Presidency meeting and getting some gas drops, he seemed to settle down and took a long nap. Troy, Barb and the kids ran errands while I watched TV shows in bed. 

I didn't write down the blessing words and now I can't remember it at all. It is pretty sad but I have to remember that the blessing is for Miio and those promises will hold true whether I wrote them down or not. We had a mic issue as there was no microphone so people couldn't really hear the name well. 

Overall the blessing day was a bit stressful. EVen in the evening, I went for a walk with dad and Paula and Miio and he cried the entire time we walked. It was a bit hard to relax and enjoy the day as I was so self conscious of his crying. 

He wore the same outfit that Saku and Aleksi wore on their blessing day. Now as I am writing this down, it is crazy how much he has changed.

We kept the blessing day within the family. Kyle and Jen and the girls plus Grandma and Grandpa, Ukki and Mummi.

My family was very surprised by the name. I just love the name and often call him "Mighty Miio".

Sunday Evening Outings

Sundays can be exhausting. It takes work to get the kids ready for church. Primary can be tiring as a calling. And when you get home and you would need some time for yourself, you don't really get it because it is too late for Aleksi to nap. And Miio might sleep or he might not, depending on how napping happened at church. Plus we are just tired at this point in our life with four kids. 

So it is easy to get impatient while the kids are just being kids and sometimes bedtime seems far away. So we have tried to do Sunday evening outings. Go and explore some part of Colorado Springs where we can be outside. We aren't distracted by electronics. There isn't a need to take care of things. The urge to nap isn't there. It is just easier to be happy, make memories and be together. 

We explored Lincoln Open Space. We hiked about two miles all together and overall it was a success. Troy got a good work out for carrying Aleksi on his shoulders. There was some competition who could be the leader. Saku drew pictures of plants in his notebook. 

Miio slept pretty much most of the hike which was nice. 

When Miio was just one week old, we hiked up Helen Hunt Falls. It was Miio's first time in the wrap and he slept the whole hike.  The kids had the craziest outfits for the hike; leather jacket, church shirt and shorts, and Hello Kitty dress. 

We did have to pull over on our way home as Miio had a bit of a freak out and needed to be fed. Even when Miio was brand new, I tried to keep a perspective and remember that our life must go on and getting out and fresh air would probably keep us all happier. 

Ukki and Mummi's visit

Dad and Paula's visit for Saku's baptism and and Miio's baby blessing was very short. However, I feel like we really used it well.  

Miio had a rough weekend and cried a lot. However once Monday came around, he settled down and I was able to go to the gym while the kids stayed with dad and Paula. Dad shoveled some rock and mopped the floors. They cleaned the kitchen after each meal. We went out to dinner at Zoup. Dad went to Saku's swim practice and worked on his tan. 

They studied their mission material and took naps.  We went to Fox Run park twice and the kids loved the nature while we chatted. 

I had been stressed out about Miio's crying and it was so nice to feel like I could leave Miio with dad and have dad and Paula hold him and not feel stressed. 

Dad gave me a beautiful blessing. The following things were part of the blessing.

When things are hard, think of all the blessings and gratitude will fill my life and bring the HolyGhost which will give me strength.

Be united with Troy in parenting and in love and nothing in the world will come between us. 

Somehow I can turn to mom and get strength and advice from there.

With challenges, I can find answers to Miio's health or sleep from places that are not usual. 

Knowing the Godly nature of my calling as a mother, vene when I am so tired that life feels empty of spiritual things.

Know that my kids need specific things from me and I am the mother to them. 

I was very sad when they left. I know we will see them but there is a big chance in all of our lives with their calling. 

Saku's Baptism

Saku's baptism day was so good. 

We were prepared enough this morning that the morning felt unhurried and we were able to focus on Saku's birthday and getting to the church without feeling stressed. 

We were traditional and got him a new suit for his baptism.  He looked so handsome. He had been praying all week that he would be prepared to make covenants.

In the confirmation blessing, Troy blessed Saku that he would use his talent of reading to read the scriptures and learn from there because they are the "world of light".

Saku chose Grandpa to do a talk on baptism and Ukki on the Holy Ghost. Grandma played the piano, Eerika and mummi said the prayers. Saku chose "When I am Baptized" and "He Sent His Son" as the songs.

We had many friends to support Saku. The Callisters, Tanners, Stilsons, Barkers, Stettlers, Cronins, Brintons, and Rippergers. Kyle and Jen and the girls came from Utah.

Little Moose at two weeks and two days

Little Moose has been part of our family for two weeks now. He was a very sleepy baby for the first two weeks, and just in the past three to four days, he has started to actually look around the world and keep his eyes open. 

Yesterday and last night were the first times that I felt truly exhausted so when Troy ended up snuggling Little Moose after the 6 am feeding and I slept until 9:15, I felt like a new woman. I have been tired enough that I have fallen asleep while nursing him which I don't remember happening with the other three. I have also learned the trick of nursing him while laying on my side so he goes back to sleep quicker and we both get to sleep more. 

On most nights he was up only twice a night (during the time I was sleeping) and I have felt that it has been very manageable. However, he would have times when going back to sleep would take a long time and every time i tried to lay him down, he would stir and wake up. This is another reason that I would end up just bringing him to bed with me because I didn't want to be patting and shushing him for 30 minutes in the dark.

He is a great eater and was almost back to his birth weight by the first 5 day check up, so the doctor said we could skip the two week check up. 

He was born with some newborn acne or skin irritation but luckily that has cleared up. He does tend to scratch his face when he gets mad. Because he has slept so much, he hasn't cried much.

Aleksi likes ask to hold him and tells us "he is cute". He also likes to go up to him and say  "hey buddy" in a sweet voice when Little Moose is crying.

He has been super flexible when it comes to going to places. We have gone on a hike, outings at Villa, grocery store, library and Home Depot runs. He will sleep really well in the car seat and he handled being in the wrap for our hike well.

He doesn't love his tutti but he has started taking it more in the last few days.

He is a bit too big for newborn clothes and a bit too small for 3 month clothes. He wears size one diaper.

Overall our two plus week with Little Moose have gone well. We have been blessed with meals from so many friends so I haven't had to worry about cooking yet. I feel like I have been able to be more relaxed about his sleep or crying. There have been moments when I can tell that I am irrationally upset at the older kids but they have been very minimal. I am grateful for that.  

Little Moose's Birth

I went to see Dr. Boydston on Wednesday and I was dilated 4 cm, 80% and -2. I had dilated at 3 cm two weeks before, so we were both surprised that I hadn't gone into labor. She offered to strip my membranes and then we discussed a possible induction. She felt that it wouldn't be much harder labor since I had a "favorable cervix".  The idea of induction sounded so tempting because then I didn't have to stress about calling someone in the middle of the night. Troy said it was up to me so on Thursday morning I called the Dr. Office and scheduled an induction for Saturday 7 am. 

Later that day, Troy said that he was nervous about the induction and he had been praying that I would go into labor before that. 

I had been feeling contractions, though they were painless, all day long and losing parts of my mucus plug. 

We did a family date to Villa and I did two miles on the elliptical before we spent some time in the splash pad area. 

That night around 9:30 I went to bed and soon felt something that resembled a real contraction. Troy was on the phone with his mom. Around 10 pm, I felt a painful contraction so I got up to brush my teeth and brush my hair, which Troy found strange. The contractions weren't very frequent so I was still wondering if this was actual labor. Troy joked and asked if I wanted to stimulate some contractions, I was having enough pain that I didn't find it funny. Finally, I told Troy that I think I was in labor and soon after that I started shaking uncontrollably. My contractions still weren't very frequent but we decided to call Missie. She arrived in 10 minutes or so. I have no words to describe how grateful I am for her willingness to show up and come and sleep here. We headed to the hospital around 11 pm. According to Troy, we got there at 11:15.

It definitely made a difference when I would hold my belly up and once we were in the car, I had two serious contractions on the way to the hospital so I was confident that we weren't going to the hospital for nothing. 

We had to go through the ER entrance as it was after hours and the hospital was very quiet. I got to the triage and as usual, they were very calm and slow to process everything. Since I wasn't in crazy pain, it didn't bother me, more so, just amused. 

I gave a pee sample, changed into the gown and they put monitors on me. Then I was checked and found to be at 8 cm, 90% and 0.  They paged Dr. Boydston and we waited. Soon the labor nurse came to get me and I was wheeled to the birthing suites. She asked what I wanted to pain control and I said I was planning on doing natural and she said it was good since I probably wouldn't have time for epidural. 

From the time, we got to the birthing suite and got IV started and everything set up, things are hazy. At one point, Dr. Boydston came to check me and break my water. I was at 9 cm at that point, which it felt like it had already been a long time. I ended up getting up and standing for most of the labor because I was hoping that it would help Little Moose come down. I rocked back and forth and Troy would put pressure on my back and hips. I would repeat "faith over fear" and  "relax" and "come on Little guy" over and over again. It was very painful and time seemed to stand still but I was managing my pain.

I kept leaking the amniotic fluid and I kept pushing for a second here and there hoping to feel the pressure of pushing Little Moose out.

Finally I got checked again there was just a tiny bit of anterior lip left. This was a flashback for Aleksi's birth where it took a long time to get through the last bit of labor and how painful it was. I think this is what really scared me and I started to lose my control. 

Dr, Boydston was hanging out in the room with me pretty much the whole time. She would talk to me and rub my back. When I vocalized that I didn't think I could do this, she had my lie on my side in the bed to try to help the rest of the cervix go away. It was so painful. I was whimpering at this point and squeezing Troy's hand. Then we flipped to the other side and waited few contractions. I finally felt some pressure and she checked and we were good to push. And I think I pretty much started pushing right away. I felt so much pressure and I just couldn't stop it. People started coming into the room but I just closed my eyes, I literally yelled like a primal jungle woman and I came out within a minute. Once I started pushing, it was so much stretching that I couldn't stop but also I just needed the pain to stop and once I felt him slip out and Troy said "he's here" or something like this, I just sobbed. 

I kept looking at Troy and he kept saying "you did it" and I sobbed with the relief of being done.

Little Moose was purple which is common for Colorado babies. He seemed so tiny but people commented how big he was. I was in a sort of awkward position to hold him as I was still delivering the placenta and he felt so slippery. 

These labors that start so manageable and I get to the hospital and I'm so close to deliver the babies and then it takes few hours and it gets so painful. 

Of course I don't even remember the pain anymore. Troy ended up hanging out with us for an hour or so and then he went home so Missie could go home. Plus I figured it would be good for him to get a good night sleep while I wouldn't be sleeping much at the hospital. 

Since Little Moose was a big baby, they kept checking his blood sugars and it was really important to feed him every two hours. This made things a bit exhausting as he was a sleepy baby and didn't have much interest in eating.