It may have been some time since I was last on here but believe me, I have been busy. I keep up with a very active 22 month old and a 6 week old. Life has changed so much just in the last couple months and it continues to change every week. We have not established a schedule yet for our daughter, but then again she is only 6 weeks. For those reading this blog, you know how I am a stickler for a schedule, so in the next month or so, I intend on making sure we find one that fits us three. (I don't include my husband in that statement because he isn't here during the day alot and he adapts to whatever works for all of us) But let me just let everyone know what I have learned in the last 6 weeks.
Sleep when your baby sleeps in impossible with a toddler. I always loved it when people would say sleep when the baby sleeps because it is true and it was for my first kid. But when you have a toddler, sleeping when the baby sleeps is near impossible. He takes one nap a day. So if she isn't napping during that time, well then forget it. Luckily for me, I work hard to make sure they do. My solution: because I have a great toddler who sleeps and will stay in his room and play because of our training with him and my schedule, he is so easy. So, once she is ready to eat around nap time, I send him to his room for a nap. He plays a little while I feed her and get her to settle. Most of the time by the time he is finally resting, so is she. Thats when I close my eyes. So far, that works for me.
Take advantage of the time she is sleeping. I go about my day as I did before her, when she does sleep. I spend quality time with my toddler, I clean or I do something for me. She isn't being held constantly like my first kid, but I no longer have just one responsibility. She sleeps through the TV, my toddler screaming and everything. Once he goes down for a nap, I hold her and let her sleep on me, but for the most part, when she was sleeping a lot in the beginning, I used that time to be with my toddler so he knew he was still important. As a result, he doesnt't feel less important or pushed aside. He feels the same and loves on his sister in the mean time. I am quite proud how I have balanced these two kids.
Housework gets neglected, but who cares. I have to say that my housework right now is slacking, but in exchange I am getting some wonderful quality time with my kids who are growing and growing to love each other and know they are both important to me. Do the housework when you can. If you have energy, do something different once a day while they nap. Or if you are up early, do a chore here and there. But the most important thing is this: you will not remember a clean house, you will remember the time you spent with your kids.
Wake up early. Now for those of you who know me, you know this is foreign words coming out of my mouth. I hate the morning. I hate feeling like I am up before everyone else...until about 3 weeks ago. I realized that its QUIET! Quiet? Yeah, thats what I never hear these days. Thats what I find myself longing for these days. When my daughter gets up around 6:30 or 7:00 am, I feed her and then put her down. There is no point in me going back to bed really, because the boy will be up at any time, so I find myself doing other things...like blogging. Or having breakfast first! Say what?! Yeah, eating first. The other day I went and sat outside and just took in the fresh air and the silence. Embrace the early mornings, get ahead of your day, do a chore or two while everyone else is asleep and you will find that you will feel better and more accomplished!
Enjoy the time you get with your husband. It may not be much, but embrace it when you have it and take whatever quality time you can get even if it is only 5 minutes. I remeber the days when it was just us two. We went on dates all the time, could stay out late and have no issues and sleep in. Then we had one kid. He went down at 7, so we still had time together. These days, once our first goes down, #2 is still awake and ready to go. The time my husband and I have has slowly dwindled. Now once I get her on a schedule and as she grows, we will have a little more consistent routine where both kids will be going down together, thus giving my husband and I more time together, but until then, embrace it. Remeber that he is important too and he needs to know you need him and you want to take care of him just as much as the kids. I don't want my husband to think he is second best. And he isn't. He knows that, but he has to remind me that 5 minutes of quality time is worth the world to him because we will always be ok. Together, we make a great pair and balancing us as partners and parents, is one reason we are perfect for each other.
In saying that, he needs to know I find him attractive still and I want him to find me attractive. So even if I have had a long day and the kids cried all day, as soon as he calls to say he is on his way home, I go freshen up. I put the baby in the swing, I turn on Mickey for the boy and I put makeup on, or I do my hair or I put on those tight yoga pants that he likes so much. The point is, keep your spark going and your fire burning by remembering that there is always time to flirt, to look good and to date your husband. Find a babysitter once a month and go out. I am still just as in to my husband as I was 5 years ago, because I find ways to show him I love him and keep us spontanious. When the kids are both sleeping in the early evening, I spend time with my husband, even if its just to say how was your day.
Sleep is not nearly as important as you think even if you feel you really need it. Enjoy the late nights with your baby. They go by way too fast, they really are precious, quiet moments and in light of recent horrible events in our nation, you can never hold your kid too much, even if it means you are losing sleep.
And lastly, life goes on. Life is hard at times. We have bad days. But it is never as bad as it seems. A new day is around the corner, they grow fast and soon you will miss the days when they wanted to play with you. I know that one day my boy will grow up and playing with mom will no longer be cool. So I will take the tantrum with the playtime, because someday I know I will wish he would play with me even if a tantrum will ensue. Our baby girl will grow way too fast too and someday I will wish she would lay on me and cry because that will be the day she no longer wants to hug me or kiss me because thats not cool either. We have stressful days, but nothing is bigger than God. He will give me strength when I am weak, energy when I am tired and encouragement when I am down. I don't always feel like I have a handle on these kids and this house. And sometimes I feel like this was a FAIL day. But I know that I am good at a lot and I have a mighty God and a wonderful husband who will remind me of that. And at the end of the day, there is no where else I'd rather be. I dreamt of being a stay at home mom since I was little. I have wanted to be a mom longer than any other job I can think of. This is for me, this is my life and even when I feel tired and run down, this is my passion.
One last note before I get my day going...my husband has been incredible people! he helps out, he rocks her to sleep, he puts our boy to bed and bathes him. He helps with dinner and he brings me flowers randomly to say I love you and great job with these kids. Part of why its easy for me to talk about making our marriage work in the midst of being parents is because he makes it worth it. I won't gush too much, but people...I got lucky!
Until next time, which will probably be after the holidays, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Years and for everyone with two or more small kids in my same situation, hang in there, have fun and I am glad that there are people out there like you who go through this with me so I know I am not alone. Its nice to have "coworkers".
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Birth Story #2
Alright everyone, as promised, here is how our sweet little girl came into this world. I had previously stated that I was going to do this naturally since I didn't like how the first birth went with an epidural and petocin. This was one of the hardest things I ever did, but I did it and it was so worth it.
I ended up having contractions on Wednesday which seemed to stay consistent through Thursday, so my husband and I went in to the hospital on thursday just to be sent away. Apparently, even though they were consistent, they were not intense enough. We ended up leaving our son with his grandparents that night and we came home and had a relatively relaxing night with the exception of contractions off and on. Friday I hardly had any contractions, so we ended up getting our son and coming home. Saturday night I started feeling some contractions, so we called his parents who came to our house to watch our son since he was already in bed and off we went to the hospital again. Ended up that the contractions may have been intense, but not consistent. We were sent home again. We ended up going to his parents house since they live closer to the hospital and staying there with contractions off and on. Sunday morning, we went and had breakfast and basically just did a lot of walking and hanging out near the hospital since I was still having contractions. We finally decided that it was time to just go home since nothing was progressing. Sunday night around 1:30, the contractions were waking me up, so I told my husband we better at least head to his parents house and wait this out there because they were getting pretty intense. Our son was already staying the night with grandma and grandpa, so we called our doula and she suggested since they weren't bad enough that I could still talk, that getting rest was more important than taking another trip to the hospital. That night, I had intense contractions all night. My husband, however, being an attorney, had court Monday morning. He got up and went to court and I told him I would call him once they got really bad and we needed to go to the hospital. I laid in bed for a couple hours until I almost couldn't take it anymore. I called our doula and told her that I was ready to walk and do some exercises in relaxing because this was getting to be too much. She suggested I take a bath which acutally helped a lot. My husband got home and just before the doula was supposed to be at the house, I couldn't take it anymore and had to go straight to the hospital. I told our doula, I didn't want to walk, I wanted to go. She met us at the hospital, which by then, I was in pain and was able to skip triage altogether. I was so thankful for that especially since I had been there twice and turned down twice.
They admitted me and as soon as we got in the room, they checked me and said I was dilated to a 6! We ended up checking in around 10am. I didn't take any petocin, I didn't take any other medication. And it HURT! I wanted to call it quits and get an epidural several times, but our doula was able to bring me back and have me focus on my husband and get back on track. It was nice to be able to sit up and walk around and move more. I did alot of moving and it seemed to feel better to stand at times. By around 12pm, I was about done. We called the nurse in there to check me again and I was an 8. I told everyone I had to go to the bathroom becuase it felt like I had to pee really bad. The nurse said ok, but don't push. Don't push? I wasn't planning on it. She said that my cervix wasn't ready yet. I said, I don't want to push, I just want to pee. I got in the bathroom and thats when everything went blurry.
I remember I couldn't go to the bathroom and I was having contractions so bad that all I could do was let my husband hold me up as I hung on to him. I remember telling him I was going to get an epidural. I told him this was too hard and I was sorry but I could no longer do it. About then, I wanted to push. I told the nurse I was going to push and she came running in saying "no, no! You need to get back in bed!" Between our doula and my husband holding me up, I was just about to give way and push right there. Then my husband said he didn't know what came over me but I just said "fine!" in respose to the get back in bed comment and walked right over and got in bed. I didn't make it quite all the way in the bed though. The bottom half of the bed breaks off and at the time it was lowered, so I was laying on that and leaning on the top part of the bed when the nurse checked me and said "You're at a 10!" I went from an 8-10 in like 15 minutes and at this point it was too late for an epidural. I pushed a few times and my water broke, which was the feeling of I needed to pee. I pushed a couple more times and out she came at 12:53pm. For those of you who want more graphic details, you can ask me later about the pushing experience, but let me just say, I let my body guide me, I let it be in control and as a result, I didn't need any help or anything medically done. Once it was over, it was over. Thats why it was amazing!
I haven't had to go through any recovery. My body is still a little sore at times and I am tired, but thats mainly because I am up with a newborn at night. But my body hasn't had to heal itself, therefore all the energy my body has is going to my kids. That's what I wanted and thats what is most important. I feel so much better after this birth than I did my first. Our little girl and I came together and let nature take its course and it was wonderful. I'm not saying that drugs are bad and that I would never get an epidural again. But for me, going naturally was amazing and I hope that I can find the strength and courage to do it again with however many more kids we decide to have. I also have to say that none of this would have been possible if it weren't for an amazing husband who surrendered to the fact that I wanted to do this, who watched me be in pain and let me deal with it instead of wanting to solve the problem and give me meds to make me feel better and who held my hand, held me up and helped me focus in ways I never thought possible. He was the reason I was able to get through this and he was my inspiration. Our doula was also a God send. She helped me relax and helped with pressure points and made a hard experience a lot easier. She helped draw me in when I was about to quit and helped my husband and I get refocused on each other to get through the harder contractions.
All in all, this was an amazing experience and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Stay tuned for more posts about managing a household, 2 kids under the age of 2 and how we are surviving thus far.
I ended up having contractions on Wednesday which seemed to stay consistent through Thursday, so my husband and I went in to the hospital on thursday just to be sent away. Apparently, even though they were consistent, they were not intense enough. We ended up leaving our son with his grandparents that night and we came home and had a relatively relaxing night with the exception of contractions off and on. Friday I hardly had any contractions, so we ended up getting our son and coming home. Saturday night I started feeling some contractions, so we called his parents who came to our house to watch our son since he was already in bed and off we went to the hospital again. Ended up that the contractions may have been intense, but not consistent. We were sent home again. We ended up going to his parents house since they live closer to the hospital and staying there with contractions off and on. Sunday morning, we went and had breakfast and basically just did a lot of walking and hanging out near the hospital since I was still having contractions. We finally decided that it was time to just go home since nothing was progressing. Sunday night around 1:30, the contractions were waking me up, so I told my husband we better at least head to his parents house and wait this out there because they were getting pretty intense. Our son was already staying the night with grandma and grandpa, so we called our doula and she suggested since they weren't bad enough that I could still talk, that getting rest was more important than taking another trip to the hospital. That night, I had intense contractions all night. My husband, however, being an attorney, had court Monday morning. He got up and went to court and I told him I would call him once they got really bad and we needed to go to the hospital. I laid in bed for a couple hours until I almost couldn't take it anymore. I called our doula and told her that I was ready to walk and do some exercises in relaxing because this was getting to be too much. She suggested I take a bath which acutally helped a lot. My husband got home and just before the doula was supposed to be at the house, I couldn't take it anymore and had to go straight to the hospital. I told our doula, I didn't want to walk, I wanted to go. She met us at the hospital, which by then, I was in pain and was able to skip triage altogether. I was so thankful for that especially since I had been there twice and turned down twice.
They admitted me and as soon as we got in the room, they checked me and said I was dilated to a 6! We ended up checking in around 10am. I didn't take any petocin, I didn't take any other medication. And it HURT! I wanted to call it quits and get an epidural several times, but our doula was able to bring me back and have me focus on my husband and get back on track. It was nice to be able to sit up and walk around and move more. I did alot of moving and it seemed to feel better to stand at times. By around 12pm, I was about done. We called the nurse in there to check me again and I was an 8. I told everyone I had to go to the bathroom becuase it felt like I had to pee really bad. The nurse said ok, but don't push. Don't push? I wasn't planning on it. She said that my cervix wasn't ready yet. I said, I don't want to push, I just want to pee. I got in the bathroom and thats when everything went blurry.
I remember I couldn't go to the bathroom and I was having contractions so bad that all I could do was let my husband hold me up as I hung on to him. I remember telling him I was going to get an epidural. I told him this was too hard and I was sorry but I could no longer do it. About then, I wanted to push. I told the nurse I was going to push and she came running in saying "no, no! You need to get back in bed!" Between our doula and my husband holding me up, I was just about to give way and push right there. Then my husband said he didn't know what came over me but I just said "fine!" in respose to the get back in bed comment and walked right over and got in bed. I didn't make it quite all the way in the bed though. The bottom half of the bed breaks off and at the time it was lowered, so I was laying on that and leaning on the top part of the bed when the nurse checked me and said "You're at a 10!" I went from an 8-10 in like 15 minutes and at this point it was too late for an epidural. I pushed a few times and my water broke, which was the feeling of I needed to pee. I pushed a couple more times and out she came at 12:53pm. For those of you who want more graphic details, you can ask me later about the pushing experience, but let me just say, I let my body guide me, I let it be in control and as a result, I didn't need any help or anything medically done. Once it was over, it was over. Thats why it was amazing!
I haven't had to go through any recovery. My body is still a little sore at times and I am tired, but thats mainly because I am up with a newborn at night. But my body hasn't had to heal itself, therefore all the energy my body has is going to my kids. That's what I wanted and thats what is most important. I feel so much better after this birth than I did my first. Our little girl and I came together and let nature take its course and it was wonderful. I'm not saying that drugs are bad and that I would never get an epidural again. But for me, going naturally was amazing and I hope that I can find the strength and courage to do it again with however many more kids we decide to have. I also have to say that none of this would have been possible if it weren't for an amazing husband who surrendered to the fact that I wanted to do this, who watched me be in pain and let me deal with it instead of wanting to solve the problem and give me meds to make me feel better and who held my hand, held me up and helped me focus in ways I never thought possible. He was the reason I was able to get through this and he was my inspiration. Our doula was also a God send. She helped me relax and helped with pressure points and made a hard experience a lot easier. She helped draw me in when I was about to quit and helped my husband and I get refocused on each other to get through the harder contractions.
All in all, this was an amazing experience and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Stay tuned for more posts about managing a household, 2 kids under the age of 2 and how we are surviving thus far.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Tired, baby, happy
I know it has been awhile since I have posted, but things got a little crazy around here. First off, our little girl was born on November 5, 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 in long. I had contractions for days before she was born, so we were on pins and needles waiting for her for almost a week. Her birth story will be the next post. I did have her all naturally and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done...but the most rewarding. More details to come later.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I stayed in today with our little one while my husband and our son went to the family thanksgiving. I wanted to let everyone know that we are still here and we are doing well. She is sleeping well at night for the most part, but she wakes up at least twice at night and with a toddler, I don't get a lot of rest during the day. Today was a nice break for me and I got to have some girl time.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great holiday and blogging will start back up now that things are coming together a little around here. Until next time...
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I stayed in today with our little one while my husband and our son went to the family thanksgiving. I wanted to let everyone know that we are still here and we are doing well. She is sleeping well at night for the most part, but she wakes up at least twice at night and with a toddler, I don't get a lot of rest during the day. Today was a nice break for me and I got to have some girl time.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great holiday and blogging will start back up now that things are coming together a little around here. Until next time...
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Ready for fall
I know it has been a few weeks since I last wrote. We have been busy. First off, my husband and I went to Santa Fe kid free! It was amazing and our last get away alone before this little girl comes. Being in the mountains with the cooler weather made me ready for fall.
This fall is exciting for us this year with the little one arriving. It just makes it more enjoyable. I cannot wait to cuddle up with a newborn next to a fire. Among all the awesome freezer crockpot meals I will be making, will be some yummy fall soups. Once I start putting them together I will share the recipes. I did make an apple pie two days ago and it is delicious! I am still eating on it. Recipe is as follows:
Crust:
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups shortening
8-10 tablespoons cold water
1 egg
sugar and cinnamon for the top
Mix the flour, salt, and shortening together using a pastry blender or a fork, until the shortening is about pea sized. Then add cold water a couple tablespoons at a time just until the crust is getting moist and can stay together. Then roll it into two balls. On a floured surface, roll the crust out into a circle that will fit the pie dish you are using. Place one in the dish, fill with the apple filling and then put the top on. Pinch the edges together, trim any excess dough off and cut slits in the top to vent. I then brushed it with an egg wash and sprinkled cinnamon and suger on top.
Pie filling:
6 cups thinly, sliced apples; peeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Mix the apples with the lemon juice. In a seperate bowl, mix all other ingredients until well combined. Then add the apples and toss to coat. Pour in dish and top with crust. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. I put foil on the edge of my crust for the 40 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may need to uncover after 40 minutes and continue baking until golden brown.
Thats it! I would have taken a picture, but I dove into it pretty soon after it was out of the oven.
The fall wreath is out on my door, the pumpkin decorations are out in my house and the fall cooking has begun! It may still be in the 80's and 90's most days, but in this house, its fall.
I hope everyone has a great week and a wonderful fall this year. I intend on eating lots of yummy soups, sitting by a fire, drinking hot chocolate, enjoying 2 of the most amazing and beautiful kids around, and spending lots of curled up movie time with my husband. Until next time...
This fall is exciting for us this year with the little one arriving. It just makes it more enjoyable. I cannot wait to cuddle up with a newborn next to a fire. Among all the awesome freezer crockpot meals I will be making, will be some yummy fall soups. Once I start putting them together I will share the recipes. I did make an apple pie two days ago and it is delicious! I am still eating on it. Recipe is as follows:
Crust:
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups shortening
8-10 tablespoons cold water
1 egg
sugar and cinnamon for the top
Mix the flour, salt, and shortening together using a pastry blender or a fork, until the shortening is about pea sized. Then add cold water a couple tablespoons at a time just until the crust is getting moist and can stay together. Then roll it into two balls. On a floured surface, roll the crust out into a circle that will fit the pie dish you are using. Place one in the dish, fill with the apple filling and then put the top on. Pinch the edges together, trim any excess dough off and cut slits in the top to vent. I then brushed it with an egg wash and sprinkled cinnamon and suger on top.
Pie filling:
6 cups thinly, sliced apples; peeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Mix the apples with the lemon juice. In a seperate bowl, mix all other ingredients until well combined. Then add the apples and toss to coat. Pour in dish and top with crust. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. I put foil on the edge of my crust for the 40 minutes. Depending on your oven, you may need to uncover after 40 minutes and continue baking until golden brown.
Thats it! I would have taken a picture, but I dove into it pretty soon after it was out of the oven.
The fall wreath is out on my door, the pumpkin decorations are out in my house and the fall cooking has begun! It may still be in the 80's and 90's most days, but in this house, its fall.
I hope everyone has a great week and a wonderful fall this year. I intend on eating lots of yummy soups, sitting by a fire, drinking hot chocolate, enjoying 2 of the most amazing and beautiful kids around, and spending lots of curled up movie time with my husband. Until next time...
Sunday, September 9, 2012
9 weeks to go...
Well, we will be at 31 weeks tomorrow. I can't believe this has flown by. It seems that with this baby, the time has gone by so fast because I have been so preoccupied with a little tot. With my first, I was counting down the days and couldn't wait. I analyzed every move, every milestone and it seemed that 9 months lasted over a year! But with #2, I have to think about what week we are at. I have to admit its been a lot easier though. Not worrying and being frantic about every little thing has been nice.
We got the twin mattress for our son and transitioned him onto a bigger bed last night. He did so well. I have to admit and brag a little, that he has taken all the changes like a champ. I have read that toddlers have a hard time with change. I have had some experience with this, but for the most part everything that we do, he has adapted to so well. I do my best to take changes with ease so that he will see that its no big deal. When things happen that we did not plan on, my husband and I try to take it in stride and act like its no big deal so our little guy doesn't worry too. Believe me, at times, that is hard for us. So when we gave him the big bed, we didn't even acknowledge it was a big deal. We just did the same routine and put him to bed like normal and he hasn't complained a bit. I could not be more proud of him.
My advice to moms with toddlers is this: go with the flow with a happy attitude even if it's hard. Our kids watch us and every time I am stressed or upset, my toddler can see that and he gets hard to deal with. This makes me more agitated and it leads to a cycle that neither him or I needed. Instead, I have tried to let my frustrations go, let our kid know why we are doing something different or what the plan is and do my best to distract him to make the situation easier. I will say this may not always work all the time, but I have had some great success most of the time.
Anyway, we have 9 weeks to go and if she comes like her brother, she will be here in 7 weeks instead. That makes me so happy. I can't wait to have another baby to hold and cuddle with. Her nursery is complete now that she has the mattress and our household is getting ready for her. I am getting the freezer crockpot meals list together, the freezer is getting cleaned out daily, Christmas presents are being made, and mentally I am getting prepared to have this baby naturally. I do believe she will be here a couple weeks early too because I am starting to get very uncomfortable. By the time I started feeling uncomfortable with our son, he was ready too because a week later, there he was. I understand that with your second, you feel things sooner and more intensely, so this feeling is going to last a little while. Truthfully though, I'm ok with it because it means we are just that much more closer to becoming a family of four!
We got the twin mattress for our son and transitioned him onto a bigger bed last night. He did so well. I have to admit and brag a little, that he has taken all the changes like a champ. I have read that toddlers have a hard time with change. I have had some experience with this, but for the most part everything that we do, he has adapted to so well. I do my best to take changes with ease so that he will see that its no big deal. When things happen that we did not plan on, my husband and I try to take it in stride and act like its no big deal so our little guy doesn't worry too. Believe me, at times, that is hard for us. So when we gave him the big bed, we didn't even acknowledge it was a big deal. We just did the same routine and put him to bed like normal and he hasn't complained a bit. I could not be more proud of him.
My advice to moms with toddlers is this: go with the flow with a happy attitude even if it's hard. Our kids watch us and every time I am stressed or upset, my toddler can see that and he gets hard to deal with. This makes me more agitated and it leads to a cycle that neither him or I needed. Instead, I have tried to let my frustrations go, let our kid know why we are doing something different or what the plan is and do my best to distract him to make the situation easier. I will say this may not always work all the time, but I have had some great success most of the time.
Anyway, we have 9 weeks to go and if she comes like her brother, she will be here in 7 weeks instead. That makes me so happy. I can't wait to have another baby to hold and cuddle with. Her nursery is complete now that she has the mattress and our household is getting ready for her. I am getting the freezer crockpot meals list together, the freezer is getting cleaned out daily, Christmas presents are being made, and mentally I am getting prepared to have this baby naturally. I do believe she will be here a couple weeks early too because I am starting to get very uncomfortable. By the time I started feeling uncomfortable with our son, he was ready too because a week later, there he was. I understand that with your second, you feel things sooner and more intensely, so this feeling is going to last a little while. Truthfully though, I'm ok with it because it means we are just that much more closer to becoming a family of four!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Baby and Toddler
Well, we successfully went to Chicago and got home safely. Our kiddo was amazing. He adapted so well and did so good. He stayed up late with us and was such a trooper. We had one melt down the entire trip and it was understandable. But overall, a great trip. Our favorite pic was this one.
We would go to this park on the river across from our hotel and he would just watch the boats go by! We had such a relaxing, fun trip.
And since we have been back, the nursery has had a total transformation. It looks amazing. We got the painter in and they did a great job. Then the bedding came in the next day. All thats left is something to hang over the dresser and getting the mattress in there. We need to get the twin mattress for our son to sleep on and then we can move his current bed into the nursery. Here is are some of the pictures. I absolutely love it! Which is good because the nesting bug has hit hard.
I got silk flowers and took off the stem and the center part and then used the hole they already had to fit over the screw and then screwed the knobs on. I think it adds a little girly touch to a dresser that she can use for a long time. Thank you Pinterest for the idea!
And since we have been back, the nursery has had a total transformation. It looks amazing. We got the painter in and they did a great job. Then the bedding came in the next day. All thats left is something to hang over the dresser and getting the mattress in there. We need to get the twin mattress for our son to sleep on and then we can move his current bed into the nursery. Here is are some of the pictures. I absolutely love it! Which is good because the nesting bug has hit hard.
I got silk flowers and took off the stem and the center part and then used the hole they already had to fit over the screw and then screwed the knobs on. I think it adds a little girly touch to a dresser that she can use for a long time. Thank you Pinterest for the idea!
The drapes are on the back of the chair. We need to hang them. I love the crib wall. her colors are yellow, turquoise, pink, light green and touches of red. The fabric is below and will better show how all these colors tie in.
The theme is love birds and chevron.
The canvas I made for her.
Here is the fabric. Its got so many colors in it and I love that its not all pink.
I have never been big into pink. I do have a pink purse and pink tennis shoes, but it wasn't until I was in my 20's did I really start to embrace the color some. Either way, I have never been super girly, so I tried to have a room that you would know there was a girl that was going to be living there, but it wasn't full of what my husband calls: frosting. Frosting is ruffles, pink, pink, pink and flair. Anyway, thats the nursery that I am so proud of.
In other baby news, I met with our doula yesterday and everytime I talk to her I am amazed at how awesome she is. We worked on relaxation and within 5 min my mind was quiet and I was at peace. I had a massage 3 days ago for an hour and a half and I didn't stop thinking once. So her work is awesome. The goal is to practice these techniques. I hope to have an all natural childbirth although, we will be in a hospital and if it turns out I can't bear it, all medical options are available. I know this sounds crazy, but I am excited about having this baby. Not having a baby (which I am of course ecstatic about) but actually going through the process of having this baby. I can't wait to be in labor again and work with my body to have a smooth, drug free labor. I understand complications can arise, and I am on board with having drugs if needed, but hopefully everything will work out and I won't need them. My poor husband thinks I have jumped off the deep end. He believes in the ability for medicine to help someone and you should use it if it'll make you comfortable. I get that. I love him for wanting me comfortable, but he is also trying to support me doing this naturally too. I think he is of two minds and isn't sure where he falls yet. I love that he's my partner and will be going through this with me. He is always so good in intense situations. It seems as if he has everything together and appears calm. Especially with my first delivery, he was amazing, so no matter what I choose for this birth, I know he will do his best to comfort me, support me, and stay calm through it all. The main reason I want to do this naturally is so I can move around. I liked standing up last time. It helped so much. I didn't know that after you get an epidural, you are down for the count. So ladies remember that!
As for my toddler, he seems to be changing daily. His eating habits are getting so weird. He has become very picky and what he used to love, he now doesn't want. Feeding him has become somewhat of a challenge. I am still trying to get fruits and vegetables in his diet so I have had to get very creative. For one, I started making smoothies and then holding the cup and letting him play and then come get a drink every minute or so. He thinks its "mommy's drink", and he's getting a treat. What he doesn't know is that it is his drink and he is getting spinach and banana's which he won't touch whether its on his plate or anyone else's. I also have been sneaking pears and apples into his grilled cheeses. Hey, people pair fruit and cheese all the time right? Why not do it in a grilled cheese. He loves it and eats every bite. I also puree broccoli and peas and mix it with mayonnaise and use it as a spread. I do not add fruit if I use that. I also put spinach leaves on the grilled cheese too. It may not sound appetizing to you, but he sure loves it and I am getting my son nutrition even if he is eating the same thing every day.
On another note, he is getting to be so big. He still sleeps on his mattress on the floor without getting up. He goes to bed when we tell him, and when I say I am leaving and kiss him goodnight, he lays down and is quiet. He rarely cries anymore when I leave the room. Philip and I are very good about letting him know what we are doing and why and I think that helps. After we read him a book, we tell him he can read it on his own as long as he wants but it's time for mommy or daddy (whoever is in there) to leave. We also tell him we will be there for him if he needs anything that night. Sometimes he keeps reading and lays down later, sometimes he lays down right away. Either way he hardly ever cries when we get up to leave. In the mornings he stays right there on that bed until we get him. He usually wakes up between 7:15-7:45 and we don't get him until around 8. He never complains, and he doesn't get off the bed. He will grab a paci that rolled off or a book he wants, but he gets right back on and he stays. I can't believe that we have such an easy going kid who is becoming so independent.
My world is going to change when I have both a baby and my toddler, but I am so excited. I can't wait to have a baby that will sleep in my arms again. And then when she's asleep, I am going to love talking to my toddler who understands me and can commnunicate with me. I get the best of both worlds. I get that I will get the trying times as well, but thats what prayer, God, and patience is for. I will survive, and at night and on weekends, I have this awesome partner that will help. Lets just say that right now, life is good and I am so thankful. Until next time...
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Our birth story
We are planning to leave tomorrow to go to Chicago and will be there until the weekend. I figure with a big trip coming and all the things that will need to get done once we get back, I better blog now while I have the time. So as promised, here is our delightful birth story.
Lets start with my husband. He is such a planner and organizer. He likes to have things ready and at least two or three different plans and routes in case we run into problems. He always prepares for at least 1-3 problems in every major event so that when these issues arise, its nothing he can't expect, handle and effectively deal with. I married up girls! So his idea was to have a phone tree. Once we knew we were heading to the hospital, he would have one or two people he called who would call three people and call more people and so on. This way everyone we wanted to know would know with us not having to do much. I say us, I meant, him. :) As of 37 weeks, he still had not made that list.
Continuing with my husband's part of this amazing story...we still had not sold our house in Georgetown, TX. We moved from Georgetown to Dallas when I was 7 months pregnant and had put our house on the market there. We had showings, but no buyers. Finally, someone took the bite when I was around 35-36 weeks pregnant. All of our stuff was still there because our house was staged. All we took when we moved was the essentials. So to complicate things, I am now 38 weeks pregnant and our house sold and there is still no phone tree. I told my husband early that week around 38 weeks, that he better start making that list because I felt different. I felt like my body was tired and done carrying this kid because we were running out of room and fast. He did make that phone tree and two days later he had to go move us out of our house in Georgetown and into a storage shed in Dallas. This was his weekend...
He didn't want me leaving Dallas County in case I did go into labor. We didn't really want to be 3 hours away and not be anywhere near our new doctor and hospital. And really what use would I have been? I couldn't lift anything, I could barely bend over and I would have just been in the way. (my husband and I have a very different idea on how to move, so with me out of the way, it was easier on him) On thursday night, he left. He spent pretty much all night Thurday packing and all day and into the night Friday packing our entire two story, 4 bedroom, 2800 sq ft home all by himself. Bless his heart! (I told you girls, I married well) Then his parents left me and went to help him on Saturday. We had relatives on stand by for me. They packed the rest up and the movers came that afternoon to load. They finished loading late Saturday and so the movers decided not to come until first thing Sunday morning. Philip and his parents got home very late Saturday night and exhausted. Sunday morning, he got up, we went to storage, met the movers and spent all day playing tetris in a storage shed that ended up being barely the right size. To top that off, it was on the second floor. We still had cars loaded with stuff, so all that had to get unloaded somewhere too. He was so exhausted Sunday and was finally done. Which leads me to that night...
My husband had not really rested or slept in 3 nights now and he was running on E. We decided to take a break, watch a movie and go to bed early. We finished dinner and I went upstairs to start the movie while he talked to his parents a bit. I started feeling contractions. I thought it was false labor since I was only 38 weeks along and they say that your first is often late. So I ignored them and kept on watching TV. They persisted so I started timing them. They went from every 5 min to every 2 min. Philip finally came upstairs and said, "are you crying?" I said, "no, why?" Apparently I looked as if I was crying. He claims to this day I was, but I don't think so. He asked what was wrong and I said I am just having false labor, no big deal. He told me to time them and I said I had and told him about the progression. He went and got his mom who came in and asked as well. She used to work for a dr. They both started timing me and staring at me. I was like, hey its not happening now, I'm fine. After a few minutes he said he would feel better if I called the dr. It was 9:30p at this point. So I called and they said if you keep having these contractions after a full hour, come in. At this point it had been going on for 30 minutes. At 10, we got in the car. Everyone was excited but I still thought this was false labor. We get to the hospital, they admitted me into triage around 10:15pm. And then the big contractions started.
I was actually telling my husband to find the nurse because I wanted an epidural right then. I didn't know you had to wait until you were officially admitted into labor and delivery to get the epidural and standard proceedure was to be in triage for at least 2 hours. 2 hours?! With sharp pain? And all I can do is lay there. Oh no, no...not a good thing for a woman who is used to moving around when she doesn't feel good and hurts. The nurse asked me to remember what I learned in my birthing class. Birthing class? Hahaha, oh wait...I didn't take one. ;) I figured I would play it by ear. I am a very naive woman. I did not play it by ear. I was only dialated to a 2 I think. It might have been a 4. I don't remember, I just know that I must have been a huge pain because after only on hour or so, she admitted me.
We were admitted around 11pm. I got a lovely epidural around 1am and things seemed great for the first few hours. My husband laid down on a roll away bed and got some sleep...finally. It was great, I didn't feel a thing. Except I was HUNGRY! I mean, bite my arm off starving. My husband (the planner he is) told me to eat on the way and I said we will be in and out, its not labor, but it was and I didn't get any food. I should have listened. I was stuck at 4 (dialated to a 4) for a long time. Then around 5-6am, I started feeling contractions. The epidural appeared to be wearing off. Not good for a women who doesn't like pain and this pain was 5x what it was a few hours before in triage. So the nurse called the anethesiologist who gave me another dose. 30 minutes later, I was feeling contractions. We did this over and over and over. By 7:30am everything was a blur. I had been dosed with so much epidural, the nurse said I could have had a C-section with that amount and not felt anything and I was still feeling everything. My husband quit sleeping long before this because I was in so much pain. I was also still dialated to a 4. They gave me pitocin (which speeds things up) and everything just went crazy from there. The dr checked me and said that I was good and I should start dialating one centemeter per hour, so he would be back at lunch. Lunch?! Remember I was still starving. I told the nurse if I had to wait until lunch, I would for sure faint once I started pushing.
On a side note, the dr I chose whom I loved and was so comfortable with, was skiing that weekend. So I had another Dr whom I did not know and did not want. Two actually. One throughout the night and one at shift change at 7am. I was not very serene with the dr who told me I couldn't eat. Plus, we had hit Valentines day. Thats right, this was all the night before Valentines day and the morning of. Apparently there are a lot of women who schedule to be induced on this night so they can have Valentine babies. I saw the first dr a few times who was just checking in with us. The second dr I saw twice. Once to say hi and once to catch the baby. It was not a very personal experience with my dr.
Anyway, the epidural wasn't working. So the nurse decided to have the supervisor of the anethesiologists (all 6 of them that came in to up my dose) come in and do it again. They found that it was in too low. Given my size, they were just off and so they had to do it again. The rest happened so quickly. They didn't kick Philip out for this epidural because it all needed to happen quickly and he didn't have time to leave. They usually kick the husbands out because of the size of the needle. More husbands faint from that than the delivery. Philip was holding my head and telling me to breathe. The nurse was putting pressure on my stomach to calm the contractions and the dude is giving me an epidural all when I tell the nurse, "Something bounced!" Yep, I felt something. The other nurse who had come in for shift change blew me off and said nothing bounced honey. I said, "No, it did!". The nurse (the one I had all night) told everyone to stop and for me to lay down and sure enough, there was a head. I had gone from 4-10 centimeters in like 45 minutes. And I felt it all! The epidural was done at this point and was starting to kick in, the nurse ran after the dr who came in and said to push. I pushed twice and our baby was born at 8:31am Valentines day morning. I was totally numb and happy at this point.
Lets start with my husband. He is such a planner and organizer. He likes to have things ready and at least two or three different plans and routes in case we run into problems. He always prepares for at least 1-3 problems in every major event so that when these issues arise, its nothing he can't expect, handle and effectively deal with. I married up girls! So his idea was to have a phone tree. Once we knew we were heading to the hospital, he would have one or two people he called who would call three people and call more people and so on. This way everyone we wanted to know would know with us not having to do much. I say us, I meant, him. :) As of 37 weeks, he still had not made that list.
Continuing with my husband's part of this amazing story...we still had not sold our house in Georgetown, TX. We moved from Georgetown to Dallas when I was 7 months pregnant and had put our house on the market there. We had showings, but no buyers. Finally, someone took the bite when I was around 35-36 weeks pregnant. All of our stuff was still there because our house was staged. All we took when we moved was the essentials. So to complicate things, I am now 38 weeks pregnant and our house sold and there is still no phone tree. I told my husband early that week around 38 weeks, that he better start making that list because I felt different. I felt like my body was tired and done carrying this kid because we were running out of room and fast. He did make that phone tree and two days later he had to go move us out of our house in Georgetown and into a storage shed in Dallas. This was his weekend...
He didn't want me leaving Dallas County in case I did go into labor. We didn't really want to be 3 hours away and not be anywhere near our new doctor and hospital. And really what use would I have been? I couldn't lift anything, I could barely bend over and I would have just been in the way. (my husband and I have a very different idea on how to move, so with me out of the way, it was easier on him) On thursday night, he left. He spent pretty much all night Thurday packing and all day and into the night Friday packing our entire two story, 4 bedroom, 2800 sq ft home all by himself. Bless his heart! (I told you girls, I married well) Then his parents left me and went to help him on Saturday. We had relatives on stand by for me. They packed the rest up and the movers came that afternoon to load. They finished loading late Saturday and so the movers decided not to come until first thing Sunday morning. Philip and his parents got home very late Saturday night and exhausted. Sunday morning, he got up, we went to storage, met the movers and spent all day playing tetris in a storage shed that ended up being barely the right size. To top that off, it was on the second floor. We still had cars loaded with stuff, so all that had to get unloaded somewhere too. He was so exhausted Sunday and was finally done. Which leads me to that night...
My husband had not really rested or slept in 3 nights now and he was running on E. We decided to take a break, watch a movie and go to bed early. We finished dinner and I went upstairs to start the movie while he talked to his parents a bit. I started feeling contractions. I thought it was false labor since I was only 38 weeks along and they say that your first is often late. So I ignored them and kept on watching TV. They persisted so I started timing them. They went from every 5 min to every 2 min. Philip finally came upstairs and said, "are you crying?" I said, "no, why?" Apparently I looked as if I was crying. He claims to this day I was, but I don't think so. He asked what was wrong and I said I am just having false labor, no big deal. He told me to time them and I said I had and told him about the progression. He went and got his mom who came in and asked as well. She used to work for a dr. They both started timing me and staring at me. I was like, hey its not happening now, I'm fine. After a few minutes he said he would feel better if I called the dr. It was 9:30p at this point. So I called and they said if you keep having these contractions after a full hour, come in. At this point it had been going on for 30 minutes. At 10, we got in the car. Everyone was excited but I still thought this was false labor. We get to the hospital, they admitted me into triage around 10:15pm. And then the big contractions started.
I was actually telling my husband to find the nurse because I wanted an epidural right then. I didn't know you had to wait until you were officially admitted into labor and delivery to get the epidural and standard proceedure was to be in triage for at least 2 hours. 2 hours?! With sharp pain? And all I can do is lay there. Oh no, no...not a good thing for a woman who is used to moving around when she doesn't feel good and hurts. The nurse asked me to remember what I learned in my birthing class. Birthing class? Hahaha, oh wait...I didn't take one. ;) I figured I would play it by ear. I am a very naive woman. I did not play it by ear. I was only dialated to a 2 I think. It might have been a 4. I don't remember, I just know that I must have been a huge pain because after only on hour or so, she admitted me.
We were admitted around 11pm. I got a lovely epidural around 1am and things seemed great for the first few hours. My husband laid down on a roll away bed and got some sleep...finally. It was great, I didn't feel a thing. Except I was HUNGRY! I mean, bite my arm off starving. My husband (the planner he is) told me to eat on the way and I said we will be in and out, its not labor, but it was and I didn't get any food. I should have listened. I was stuck at 4 (dialated to a 4) for a long time. Then around 5-6am, I started feeling contractions. The epidural appeared to be wearing off. Not good for a women who doesn't like pain and this pain was 5x what it was a few hours before in triage. So the nurse called the anethesiologist who gave me another dose. 30 minutes later, I was feeling contractions. We did this over and over and over. By 7:30am everything was a blur. I had been dosed with so much epidural, the nurse said I could have had a C-section with that amount and not felt anything and I was still feeling everything. My husband quit sleeping long before this because I was in so much pain. I was also still dialated to a 4. They gave me pitocin (which speeds things up) and everything just went crazy from there. The dr checked me and said that I was good and I should start dialating one centemeter per hour, so he would be back at lunch. Lunch?! Remember I was still starving. I told the nurse if I had to wait until lunch, I would for sure faint once I started pushing.
On a side note, the dr I chose whom I loved and was so comfortable with, was skiing that weekend. So I had another Dr whom I did not know and did not want. Two actually. One throughout the night and one at shift change at 7am. I was not very serene with the dr who told me I couldn't eat. Plus, we had hit Valentines day. Thats right, this was all the night before Valentines day and the morning of. Apparently there are a lot of women who schedule to be induced on this night so they can have Valentine babies. I saw the first dr a few times who was just checking in with us. The second dr I saw twice. Once to say hi and once to catch the baby. It was not a very personal experience with my dr.
Anyway, the epidural wasn't working. So the nurse decided to have the supervisor of the anethesiologists (all 6 of them that came in to up my dose) come in and do it again. They found that it was in too low. Given my size, they were just off and so they had to do it again. The rest happened so quickly. They didn't kick Philip out for this epidural because it all needed to happen quickly and he didn't have time to leave. They usually kick the husbands out because of the size of the needle. More husbands faint from that than the delivery. Philip was holding my head and telling me to breathe. The nurse was putting pressure on my stomach to calm the contractions and the dude is giving me an epidural all when I tell the nurse, "Something bounced!" Yep, I felt something. The other nurse who had come in for shift change blew me off and said nothing bounced honey. I said, "No, it did!". The nurse (the one I had all night) told everyone to stop and for me to lay down and sure enough, there was a head. I had gone from 4-10 centimeters in like 45 minutes. And I felt it all! The epidural was done at this point and was starting to kick in, the nurse ran after the dr who came in and said to push. I pushed twice and our baby was born at 8:31am Valentines day morning. I was totally numb and happy at this point.
Thats me at 38 weeks and right after our son was born. I was due February 26 and he came February 14.
The last part of my story ends with me almost fainting off a toilet. They had transferred me to a room and when we got there, I had to go to the bathroom. The nurse and my mom helped me to the toilet and when I got on I started seeing spots, then black. I said mom, I see black and then I remember going limp. My mom caught me (she is just as small as me) and the stupid nurse, instead of helping, ran to the door to call for help. My mom was mad and I remember hearing her say, if you don't get back here I am going to drop her and she will hit her head on the shower. The nurse came back to help, I came around but needless to say we asked for another nurse. Thats what happens when you get up and move around after having a full dose of an epidural.
So there you have it. This was our first borns birth story.
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