One Week Old

Riggin is a week old today.  This week hasn’t been too bad.  My biggest complaint is a headache that I’ve had most of the week.  I don’t know if it’s from poor posture and sleeping on the couch most of the time, but I feel like I’m recovering from an epidural.  I wonder if it’s a side-effect from the medicine I had during labor.  Riggin eats constantly, which I don’t mind because he could really afford to gain weight, but he’s having a hard time nursing (or maybe it’s just me, I’ve never been good at it).  It’s frustrating.  Last night was our best sleeping night.  He only woke up once and I got to sleep in my own bed.  I hope we can get a routine going soon because next week is going to be hard.  I don’t know how I will get the boys to and from school without my mom.  Or feed anyone.  Or clean.  Or laundry.  Or keep Dallie under control.  It’s been so nice to have her here.  The kitchen is always clean and the floors swept.  She washed windows and is finishing Dallie’s quilt (the one I didn’t ever finish for Dallie as a baby, so we (Mom) has fixed it to fit a toddler bed).  The kids always want to hold Riggin, especially Ryder.  Dallie has only knocked him on the head once.  Kache likes him, but isn’t as interested in him as Ryder.

One day old.  His hands and feet are so much bigger than the rest of his body.  Maybe he will be tall (but not likely). 

Two days old.  Leaving the hospital.

Riggin is so small that not even the smallest pjs fit him. 

Riggin Kollin Bagley

We decided on Riggin for his name. He and I are both doing good today. Unfortunately this hospital makes us stay for 48 hours because I had group B. So we don't get to go home until tomorrow. I'm excited to see our kids at home. We called them at school yesterday and while the teacher was getting the boys, Jason could hear Ryder yelling, "It's a baby!"

They started me on pit at 7:30, broke my water at noon and Riggin was born at 1:35. Surprisingly I didn't have an epidural. I did have fentenal (I think that's what it's called) through my IV after they broke my water, but it only lasts an hour and the nurse decided to check me before she gave me the second dose and I was nearly ready to push so I didn't get anything for the last little bit. It hurt, but it was nice not to have the huge epidural needle in my back. I was afraid the IV incident was a sign of things to come with the epidural needle. Recovery for me has been nice because he is so small, but I worry about him. I don't want him to lose any weight because he is already so small. He's pretty docile right now, but he's barely 24 hours old, so we'll see if he stays that way.

It's a Boy

Its a boy, he was born at 1:35 this afternoon. He was 6 pounds 2 oz. and 19and a half inches long. Both Mom and baby are doing well. Hopefully he will have a name by tomorrow we have it narrowed down to two names.

update

I need something to do to pass the time. I'm laying in the delivery room dreading the next couple of hours. My arm hurts as bad as my contractions right now. My veins must be hard to poke because this is not the first time the nurse has had to dig around to draw blood and insert the iv. So my punctuation and spelling may not be great because im only typing with one hand. I dont have an epidural yet. I hope I dont regret this, but im going to try not to have one, again. im not progressing like id hoped. I wantedto have this baby by now. Jason's freezing. im surprised they have it so cold in here. im hungry and trying not to think about the pain im going to be in. just last week i was thinking we need to have one more baby, but then i get to the hospital and remember the labor and delivery and i think im crazy for having more than one baby. if i could just be pregnant, skip the labor and delivery, and get a baby, it would be nice.

i hope i havent divulged too much info. im not even on any meds yet (except pit and the group b antibiotic) and i feel kind of loopy. the contractions have increased in pain since starting this post. and my arm hurts. i dont think i have a very high pain tolerance.

hoprfullt this evening we'll feel up to blogging pictures of this baby.

First Day of School

The first day of school was yesterday.  It was only a half day and I’m not sure they did much, but hopefully today they will get to start working.  Our teacher is Mrs. Britt and we don’t have an aid this year because we only have 6 kids.  Ryder is the only kindergartener, so I am worried about him.  He is eager to learn to read and write.  I guess it doesn’t do me any good to worry.  If we feel like he isn’t learning like he should we’ll have to do more at home.  He is happy to be going to school, except he didn’t like recess so much because when they played tree tag, everyone tagged him.  Just the frustrations of being the youngest.

Kache is in the 2nd grade this year.  He has two girls in his class.  He didn’t have much to say after his first day of school – it’s all old hat for him.  I’m glad Ryder talks a little more, hopefully I’ll know what goes on in school this year.

We even managed to get a family picture before we left for school.

August 17, 2011

Just some shots from the other day while we were out checking water with Jason.  I love the texture of thunder clouds.  I was glad this tornado-maker past us by.

We have to pump water off of some of our meadows or they would be covered in water all year round.  This is a ditch the water gets collected in and then pumped into another pasture. 

We’ve had a really good water year.  It’s amazing that our grass is still this green.  As you can see, Jason still has some hay to haul.  I wish I could do it for him, but he’s as picky about straight stack yards as I am.

A herd marker.  Jason calls him Lightning McQueen because of the lightning strike on his girth.

For certain reasons, I don’t like to edit pictures (except going black and white and cropping).  But the following picture was a total loss (it was one of those that I saw in my mind what it should look like, but I couldn’t capture it on camera).  So I thought I’d try some editing to try and save it.  It turned out much better than the original, but I feel slightly dishonest because it’s not real. 

This was the follow-up storm to the one at the beginning of the post. 

My Camera

I’m finally getting back into doing the things I enjoy (like ranch work and taking pictures).  I forgot how much I love my camera (Nikon D5000 – someone asked the other day).  Some day I will learn how to really use it.  I can see in my mind what the shot should be, but I haven’t figured out how to capture it with the camera.  I wish I would have been brave enough to take a photography class in college.  My roommate was in a photography class, but I didn’t think I would do very well so I didn’t ever try.  Someday, hopefully soon, I’ll learn.

Random

Well, I have more random pictures and more random things to say.  I had my last doctor’s appointment on Monday.  The baby is low, I’m dilated and effaced and the doctor thought I‘d have the baby this week.  But I know better.  My induction is scheduled for next Wednesday.  Our biggest problem now is trying to figure out a name.  We have a pretty good list of boys’ names, but we can’t agree on girls’ names.  I just keep thinking this has to be a boy or we would have come up with a girl name by now.  Although, Tricia suggested Ruby (and Mijken wanted to use it for her next girl) and since then I’ve seen it a lot on baby name websites.  I think it would be a good middle name, except the one first name Jason and I both kind of like is also a form of red.  I am getting excited (and nervous) about this baby.  I’ve been boiling pacifiers and washing baby clothes and bedding and getting packed for the hospital stay.  I try not to think about it too much though because then I get worried about the labor and delivery.  The older I get the more I get scared of needles and hospitals, etc. 

We shipped steers this week (14 trucks worth).  Shipping steers is always a good thing.  It ranks up there with the last calf born and the day after branding.  It’s a relief to have them gone.  Unfortunately, in a couple weeks we get the Handcart steers.  Handcart is the ranch near Martin’s Cove and they wean onto the trucks, which means a lot of sickness and three days of steers trying to escape the corrals and run back to Wyoming.  We will only keep them long enough to get them through their adjustment/sickness stage and then ship them to the feedlot.  It’s a pain.  It doesn’t make sense to me (a feedlot seems more able to handle the situation) but last year they had a wreck so they don’t want them and we are used to wrecks so we get them.  But I need to remember that the feedlot has only been in operation for just over a year and is still getting bugs out of its system. 

Dallie fell asleep on the dirty dinning room floor the other day after throwing a fit.  It just made me laugh seeing her laid out like that on such an uncomfortable floor.

This year we have had so many water frogs.  We figure it has to be because of all the grasshoppers.  I’m worried though about next year.  If we have such a high population of frogs because of the great food source, are we going to have tons of snakes because of the amount of frogs?   Oh, the joys of country living.  In the pictures below you can see all the little bumps (frogs) in the moss.  And then you take a step toward them and they all hop away (bottom picture). 

This Week

We had our Rex Ranch BBQ this week with perfect weather.  The storms all went around us so we didn’t have to cut the party short.  After dinner we shot skeet and the kids had a treasure hunt.  We always have a fun time getting together and visiting with the ranch crew.  I only have one picture from that night is the sad thing.

We brought this little pup home from the BBQ.  She came from the same mother as Rex, so we are hoping she will be as good a dog as he is.  She’s already fallen out of the Honda and run over by the solar trailer, but she must have had enough padding under her not to be hurt too bad.  The kids have spent almost every waking moment with her since we brought her home.  They call her Little Star.  I’ve been trying to talk them out of it, but so far we haven’t come up with anything else.  Unfortunately both of my stipulations for getting a new dog were not met.  I didn’t want a female and we didn’t get rid of Loco. 

Today we went in search of a tire for a swing.  We were successful and the kids had a fun time swinging this afternoon.  Our set up won’t last too long, but we hope long enough for us to figure something out more permanent. 

We set up the tent this week so Jason and the kids could have a camp out before school starts.  We’re sad we didn’t get to go on a real camping trip this summer, especially since we got a new tent for Christmas, but having a hot dog roast and sleeping in the back yard kept everyone content.   

I’ve been trying to get ready for this new baby, but I wake up every morning from a nightmare that I’m totally unprepared or I’ve brought the baby home and have no husband or mother there to help me.  I usually enjoy pregnancy – physically it isn’t too bad (except for the snoring) and knowing I’m bringing a baby into the world is nice.  But I really don’t like all the out of control hormones (crying for no reason), my brain doesn’t work, and my dreams are terrible.  I guess my poor night’s rest from bad dreams are numbered, but will give way to poor night’s rest from having a new born.  I’m tired just thinking about it.