"Oh. Muhmuh...I've never seen you wash dishes before"
"Muhmuh...I love you. Daddy...will you get me some milk?"
Nora has to be a pine nut because she's smaller than Amelia and Amelia is the peanut.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Nora's Arrival (warning: medical stuff...ewwwww)
After a long night of tossing and turning, my thoughts racing in excitement over what was to happen the next day, and wondering if everything I felt was actually -something-, morning finally arrived. We were so ready to meet Nora! It was precious to have a last night and morning at home with just Amelia. We dropped Amelia off at Grandma & Grandpa's house around 9am. We got to the hospital around 930am, and they were ready for us. Instead of sitting in triage before being admitted, the nurse took me right to my labor & delivery room. After receiving a phone call the night before from a nurse in triage wondering why Dr K had pulled my chart, and making me wonder what I was/wasn't supposed to say about our "secret" plan, I was relieved that the whole thing wasn't that big of a deal.
We got settled in our room, the nurse did the IV and we waited for Dr K. She attempted to break my water, but wasn't sure if it worked, so we waited again. In the meantime, they decided to start me on pitocin at which point I asked for the epidural. The epidural made a huge difference as I was having contractions the whole time we were there, and the water attempt had not helped (that was just about the worst thing I've ever felt). Dr K again attempted to break my water and this time was definitely successful. That, combined with pitocin, should've made things progress...but they didn't. Dr K and my labor & delivery nurse Janelle were both trying to position the contraction monitor, because it didn't look like anything was happening at all. Dr K left, and the nurse anesthetist left, and it was just Janelle and another nurse. Janelle had gotten me a bedpan, which was my first adventure with such a device. I sat up to use it and my vision went black. My ears rang and fuzzed, I went shakey all over and mildly panicked. I heard numbers being called out, and people being paged. The next time I could see, there were about 10 people in my room. The nurse anesthetist was injecting something into my IV, Janelle and Dr K were next to me saying something about the epidural. A cold washcloth was put on my forehead, and a bunch of people were watching some monitors. Dr K pulled up a chair, which was deja vu from when I had Amelia and she told me my bp was too high and we had to do a c-section. She explained that the black-out episode was not supposed to happen. She said "it seems we've had this conversation before...but this time it's because your bp dropped too low" (It had dropped to 80/50, whereas with Amelia my bp was 250/200 when she called it). It could be because of the epidural. But, most likely, it was from an abruption or from a "window" in the scar tissue from the previous c-section. Either way, it was time to call a c-section and be done with labor. With that, we were off to the operating room. Dr K called a somebody over to "take a look at this"...which I found out later was a "window" in the scar tissue that was about 5" in diameter and that Nora was trying to push through (Dr K said usually they're about 1"-2" and that this was the biggest one she'd seen). At 2:06pm, Nora was born! 4 weeks early, 8 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long. When she came out, Dr K said "This one looks like mom!" because Nora had tons of black hair. Nora's first cries seriously sounded like a duck quacking, so someone said "congratulations, it's a duck!" She was doing a lot of premie stuff (breathing fast, with fluid in her lungs) so she went to the special care unit after I got to see her for a little while.
Nora spent 5 nights in the special unit, and finally we were released on Monday morning. She had graduated to a regular crib the night before. Luckily, even though I was discharged on Sunday morning, I was able to board on the floor Sunday night right across from the special unit. Nora had started out on a warming table (which is the most serious type of table since it's designed to allow immediate access to the baby by multiple drs/nurses) in the more urgent room, she had multiple monitors and an IV and was unable to drink from a bottle. Once her temperature stabilized, and she had expressed all the fluid in her lungs, she was moved to an isolette (which looks like an incubator). She was only in the isolette one night, Saturday, and during that time was moved to the less urgent room across the hall within the special care unit. That night her IV was also removed. Sunday was a very cry-y day for me. I cried when I saw Nora without her IV, and found out she was drinking from a bottle. I cried when Dr McIntosh (the ob on-call Saturday night) told me that I was staying admitted Saturday night (which was a relief because Nora was definitely not being released that night). I cried when I found out that there were definitely rooms available for me to board on Sunday night. Normally that much crying would make me cringe, but in this case they were all happy tears (including the ones I shed while on the operating table when I saw Nora, and the ones I shed when I found out Nora was being discharged on Monday).
While in the hospital, our families all visited...some on multiple occasions. My parents brought Amelia to see us everyday. Everybody was able to see Nora in the special unit, albeit one at a time. Dan Mahrle and his girlfriend Rachel stopped by. Mary came by a couple times. Tonni visited on Saturday. Tom, Kellie, Ava, Giovanna, Steve, and Juliana visited all at once. Everybody was so excited that Nora was finally here! And they all agreed that Nora was a beautiful little girl who was already very talented at keeping us on the edges of our seats. :)
We got settled in our room, the nurse did the IV and we waited for Dr K. She attempted to break my water, but wasn't sure if it worked, so we waited again. In the meantime, they decided to start me on pitocin at which point I asked for the epidural. The epidural made a huge difference as I was having contractions the whole time we were there, and the water attempt had not helped (that was just about the worst thing I've ever felt). Dr K again attempted to break my water and this time was definitely successful. That, combined with pitocin, should've made things progress...but they didn't. Dr K and my labor & delivery nurse Janelle were both trying to position the contraction monitor, because it didn't look like anything was happening at all. Dr K left, and the nurse anesthetist left, and it was just Janelle and another nurse. Janelle had gotten me a bedpan, which was my first adventure with such a device. I sat up to use it and my vision went black. My ears rang and fuzzed, I went shakey all over and mildly panicked. I heard numbers being called out, and people being paged. The next time I could see, there were about 10 people in my room. The nurse anesthetist was injecting something into my IV, Janelle and Dr K were next to me saying something about the epidural. A cold washcloth was put on my forehead, and a bunch of people were watching some monitors. Dr K pulled up a chair, which was deja vu from when I had Amelia and she told me my bp was too high and we had to do a c-section. She explained that the black-out episode was not supposed to happen. She said "it seems we've had this conversation before...but this time it's because your bp dropped too low" (It had dropped to 80/50, whereas with Amelia my bp was 250/200 when she called it). It could be because of the epidural. But, most likely, it was from an abruption or from a "window" in the scar tissue from the previous c-section. Either way, it was time to call a c-section and be done with labor. With that, we were off to the operating room. Dr K called a somebody over to "take a look at this"...which I found out later was a "window" in the scar tissue that was about 5" in diameter and that Nora was trying to push through (Dr K said usually they're about 1"-2" and that this was the biggest one she'd seen). At 2:06pm, Nora was born! 4 weeks early, 8 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches long. When she came out, Dr K said "This one looks like mom!" because Nora had tons of black hair. Nora's first cries seriously sounded like a duck quacking, so someone said "congratulations, it's a duck!" She was doing a lot of premie stuff (breathing fast, with fluid in her lungs) so she went to the special care unit after I got to see her for a little while.
Nora spent 5 nights in the special unit, and finally we were released on Monday morning. She had graduated to a regular crib the night before. Luckily, even though I was discharged on Sunday morning, I was able to board on the floor Sunday night right across from the special unit. Nora had started out on a warming table (which is the most serious type of table since it's designed to allow immediate access to the baby by multiple drs/nurses) in the more urgent room, she had multiple monitors and an IV and was unable to drink from a bottle. Once her temperature stabilized, and she had expressed all the fluid in her lungs, she was moved to an isolette (which looks like an incubator). She was only in the isolette one night, Saturday, and during that time was moved to the less urgent room across the hall within the special care unit. That night her IV was also removed. Sunday was a very cry-y day for me. I cried when I saw Nora without her IV, and found out she was drinking from a bottle. I cried when Dr McIntosh (the ob on-call Saturday night) told me that I was staying admitted Saturday night (which was a relief because Nora was definitely not being released that night). I cried when I found out that there were definitely rooms available for me to board on Sunday night. Normally that much crying would make me cringe, but in this case they were all happy tears (including the ones I shed while on the operating table when I saw Nora, and the ones I shed when I found out Nora was being discharged on Monday).
While in the hospital, our families all visited...some on multiple occasions. My parents brought Amelia to see us everyday. Everybody was able to see Nora in the special unit, albeit one at a time. Dan Mahrle and his girlfriend Rachel stopped by. Mary came by a couple times. Tonni visited on Saturday. Tom, Kellie, Ava, Giovanna, Steve, and Juliana visited all at once. Everybody was so excited that Nora was finally here! And they all agreed that Nora was a beautiful little girl who was already very talented at keeping us on the edges of our seats. :)
Nora's Pre-Arrival
I'm sure this will have to be in parts because I've been so neglectful of writing all this stuff out lately (with good reason, I guess!)
It all started on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009. I'd been feeling yucky for a day or so. All day I'd had a hard time getting around at work. Once, at Rob's desk, I had to lean over to catch my breath and when I stood up I saw stars. I was slowly getting to the point where I was going to just go home sick. Around 2pm I finally decided to go home, however, my office all of a sudden got busy and I didn't end up leaving until 330pm. Rob dropped me off at home and I went right to the couch and laid down. He then went to pick up Amelia and to pick up dinner (chili and Greek salad from Apovini, my favorite!) While he was gone, I noticed that I was having contractions. I figured I'd been having them all day but since I was at work moving around, I hadn't noticed. I was doing the thing the doc says to do to get them to stop: drink lots of water and lay down. If they don't stop with that, then there's really something happening. They weren't terrible, but they were definitely there and every 5 minutes apart. I called Dr K's office and the nurse, Sue, told me to head to the hospital. Rob came home with Amelia, and I said we have to go. We got our stuff together, took Amelia back to my mom's and went to the hospital. Once we got there, we were in Triage first. The week before, at a doc appt, I'd measured 1cm dialated. When the nurse checked me this day, I expected to be 1. She said "Well, you're not 1" and the first thing I thought was "Oh great...I'm 0?" and she said "You're 4cm". I was shocked! I hadn't really felt anything terrible, so I never suspected I'd be at 4 already! With that, I was admitted and put on fluids to try to stop the contractions. Because I was 35 weeks, nobody wanted to stop it with drugs, and they didn't want to intervene to induce with either drugs or water-breaking. Consequently, I had to be pumped full of fluids, and painkiller (luckily!), and wait it out to see what would happen. After a night of contractions every 5 minutes (that were getting painful, btw), the fluids finally worked in the early hours of the morning and the contractions stopped. So, at 4cm and 25% effaced, Dr Smith sent me home with an Ambien to take a good nap and a shower. Also, I was now on bedrest for the time I was home which meant no work, and only necessary walking.
I'd only had ice chips all night, and once I was in the car I ate one bite of a banana and threw up that plus the Ambien. Even without that, I had no problem sleeping for 4 hours once we got home. I took a shower, and Rob went in to work for a couple hours to close up his desk. While he was gone, I started having contractions again. They were 5 minutes apart again. Dr Smith had said that she expected to see me at the hospital that night, and to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart and intense for at least an hour. When they started up again, they were immediately intense. I tracked them for an hour. I called the office and Sue said to wait another hour and head to the hospital again. The general rule is to go to the hospital when the contractions are 5 minutes apart. Mine had been 5 mins apart for 2 days! When Rob got home, we went back to the hospital. I was still at 4cm, and they got me hooked up to fluids right away. I spent the night at the hospital, again waiting for the contractions to either stop or progress on their own. Sometime in the early morning, they stopped and I was released later in the morning. Still on bedrest, we went home to wait for what happened next. From Friday through Tuesday, I had contractions off and on, of varying severity.
On Tuesday, March 10th, we went to my regular doctor appt with Dr K. I found out I was now at 5-6 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So...over the weekend, and without realizing it, I had progressed again. We were all a little nervous that I could be just sitting at home and Nora would just pop out in a surprisingly uneventful fashion (ie while sleeping! Like in my dream where I fell asleep at my desk at work and had the baby and woke up to my coworkers babysitting!) To avoid that, we hatched a plan where I would show up at the hospital the following morning, when Dr K was on, complaining of contractions. She would be ready for me to be there, and I'd be admitted so she could break my water and get things going. Rob and I were relieved and thrilled because we finally knew what was going on and wouldn't have to be nervous about my situation anymore. We went home, called everyone, and tried to get some sleep that night (which for me was pointless because I couldn't turn my brain off).
It all started on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009. I'd been feeling yucky for a day or so. All day I'd had a hard time getting around at work. Once, at Rob's desk, I had to lean over to catch my breath and when I stood up I saw stars. I was slowly getting to the point where I was going to just go home sick. Around 2pm I finally decided to go home, however, my office all of a sudden got busy and I didn't end up leaving until 330pm. Rob dropped me off at home and I went right to the couch and laid down. He then went to pick up Amelia and to pick up dinner (chili and Greek salad from Apovini, my favorite!) While he was gone, I noticed that I was having contractions. I figured I'd been having them all day but since I was at work moving around, I hadn't noticed. I was doing the thing the doc says to do to get them to stop: drink lots of water and lay down. If they don't stop with that, then there's really something happening. They weren't terrible, but they were definitely there and every 5 minutes apart. I called Dr K's office and the nurse, Sue, told me to head to the hospital. Rob came home with Amelia, and I said we have to go. We got our stuff together, took Amelia back to my mom's and went to the hospital. Once we got there, we were in Triage first. The week before, at a doc appt, I'd measured 1cm dialated. When the nurse checked me this day, I expected to be 1. She said "Well, you're not 1" and the first thing I thought was "Oh great...I'm 0?" and she said "You're 4cm". I was shocked! I hadn't really felt anything terrible, so I never suspected I'd be at 4 already! With that, I was admitted and put on fluids to try to stop the contractions. Because I was 35 weeks, nobody wanted to stop it with drugs, and they didn't want to intervene to induce with either drugs or water-breaking. Consequently, I had to be pumped full of fluids, and painkiller (luckily!), and wait it out to see what would happen. After a night of contractions every 5 minutes (that were getting painful, btw), the fluids finally worked in the early hours of the morning and the contractions stopped. So, at 4cm and 25% effaced, Dr Smith sent me home with an Ambien to take a good nap and a shower. Also, I was now on bedrest for the time I was home which meant no work, and only necessary walking.
I'd only had ice chips all night, and once I was in the car I ate one bite of a banana and threw up that plus the Ambien. Even without that, I had no problem sleeping for 4 hours once we got home. I took a shower, and Rob went in to work for a couple hours to close up his desk. While he was gone, I started having contractions again. They were 5 minutes apart again. Dr Smith had said that she expected to see me at the hospital that night, and to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart and intense for at least an hour. When they started up again, they were immediately intense. I tracked them for an hour. I called the office and Sue said to wait another hour and head to the hospital again. The general rule is to go to the hospital when the contractions are 5 minutes apart. Mine had been 5 mins apart for 2 days! When Rob got home, we went back to the hospital. I was still at 4cm, and they got me hooked up to fluids right away. I spent the night at the hospital, again waiting for the contractions to either stop or progress on their own. Sometime in the early morning, they stopped and I was released later in the morning. Still on bedrest, we went home to wait for what happened next. From Friday through Tuesday, I had contractions off and on, of varying severity.
On Tuesday, March 10th, we went to my regular doctor appt with Dr K. I found out I was now at 5-6 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So...over the weekend, and without realizing it, I had progressed again. We were all a little nervous that I could be just sitting at home and Nora would just pop out in a surprisingly uneventful fashion (ie while sleeping! Like in my dream where I fell asleep at my desk at work and had the baby and woke up to my coworkers babysitting!) To avoid that, we hatched a plan where I would show up at the hospital the following morning, when Dr K was on, complaining of contractions. She would be ready for me to be there, and I'd be admitted so she could break my water and get things going. Rob and I were relieved and thrilled because we finally knew what was going on and wouldn't have to be nervous about my situation anymore. We went home, called everyone, and tried to get some sleep that night (which for me was pointless because I couldn't turn my brain off).
Friday, March 6, 2009
Mexican Standoff
It's a battle of wills. Day three of being in and out of Troy Beaumont. Frusteration is setting in. I've been dialated to four since wednesday, but have not progressed even though my contractions are five minutes apart. Right now I want to tell Nora make up your mind. If you want to stay in till 40 weeks go ahead. but if youre gonna come out at 36 get going.
There's nothing much that can be done because I'm not technically 36 weeks 'til Sunday. Obviously it's better if she stays in longer, and it seems like she wants to come out but she's just not committed to coming out. So our very near future could consist of spending lots of time in and out of the hospital with no results.
there are 2 theories as to why this is happening.
Amelia vs. Nora
Amelia has a very dramatic "How I was born" story: 35 weeks, 7lbs 2oz, preecclamptic mom, drama drama blah blah. Nora: 35 weeks, 7lbs 2oz as of last ultrasound, but mom has no health problems; therefore there has to be a story. Her story is that she kept everyone on the edge of their seats as long as possible.
Nora vs. Mom
Mom had everything planned out,scheduled, etc. Went into the hospital with contractions 5 mins apart and dialated to 4. Expecting Nora to come that night. Nora said "You are not in control. I'm not ready. I go on my terms."
So now we all keep thinking that we can predict h er arrival and this is her way of saying "Things are only gonna be my way." We're all in a lot of trouble.
There's nothing much that can be done because I'm not technically 36 weeks 'til Sunday. Obviously it's better if she stays in longer, and it seems like she wants to come out but she's just not committed to coming out. So our very near future could consist of spending lots of time in and out of the hospital with no results.
there are 2 theories as to why this is happening.
Amelia vs. Nora
Amelia has a very dramatic "How I was born" story: 35 weeks, 7lbs 2oz, preecclamptic mom, drama drama blah blah. Nora: 35 weeks, 7lbs 2oz as of last ultrasound, but mom has no health problems; therefore there has to be a story. Her story is that she kept everyone on the edge of their seats as long as possible.
Nora vs. Mom
Mom had everything planned out,scheduled, etc. Went into the hospital with contractions 5 mins apart and dialated to 4. Expecting Nora to come that night. Nora said "You are not in control. I'm not ready. I go on my terms."
So now we all keep thinking that we can predict h er arrival and this is her way of saying "Things are only gonna be my way." We're all in a lot of trouble.
Friday, February 27, 2009
7 lb Cantaloupe!
I had a doctor appt on Tuesday morning, 2/24, with Beth Mouch (Dr K's nurse practitioner). There were a couple interesting things that happened. First, last weekend I was laying on the couch and I had 3 contractions in 15 minutes. I was sure they were braxton's, so I chugged a bunch of water to see if they'd stop. In the meantime, Rob and I freaked out because we didn't have my bag packed yet. So while waiting for the water to kick in, we packed a bag and there it sits in our bedroom. (they stopped very soon after the water treatment)
At my appt, my bp was nice and normal at 104/70. BUT after not gaining much weight for a month and a half, I gained 6 lbs in 2 weeks! To go along with that, my bump is now measuring 37 when it should be 34 to match my # of weeks. Because of that, I have another ultrasound tomorrow! Yay! I was kind of hoping for another one before she's born because I'm getting so impatient to see her. We all can't wait to see what she looks like, and make sure she's healthy and all that. I just want to hold her and just meet her in general. We keep wondering if she'll have red hair like Amelia & Rob? Or black hair like me? The ultrasound will be so fun...especially because we'll see how big she is. At this point, Amelia was 7 lbs 2 oz already! (I remember that because she was born at 35 weeks and I had an US at 34 weeks and her weight was spot on).
I also found out I'm dilated to 1, which isn't all that big of a deal, but it's exciting cos it means stuff is starting to happen. Because of that, and the size, and the fact that I still want to go to the Clerk Institute in Mt Pleasant on 3/8, I have another regular appt next Friday. Beth said as long as I'm not dilated anymore than I was, I should be ok to go to Mt Pleasant.
People keep telling me my belly is huge, which I guess it is since I'm measuring 37. It's like I have a basketball under my shirt. Despite the achiness and the fatigue, it's so amazingly cool to see this big bump rumble and bounce whenever she moves (which is practically all the time).
People also keep saying that she's going to come early, and my office is in a big of a panic because they don't think I'll be able to work up until the Friday before she's born (like I plan to). So far, aside from being tired and sore, I see no reason why I'd have to stop working early.
babycenter.com says Nora is the size of a cantaloupe this week (at least until Sunday). We've graduated to melon sizes! That means we're almost there!
At my appt, my bp was nice and normal at 104/70. BUT after not gaining much weight for a month and a half, I gained 6 lbs in 2 weeks! To go along with that, my bump is now measuring 37 when it should be 34 to match my # of weeks. Because of that, I have another ultrasound tomorrow! Yay! I was kind of hoping for another one before she's born because I'm getting so impatient to see her. We all can't wait to see what she looks like, and make sure she's healthy and all that. I just want to hold her and just meet her in general. We keep wondering if she'll have red hair like Amelia & Rob? Or black hair like me? The ultrasound will be so fun...especially because we'll see how big she is. At this point, Amelia was 7 lbs 2 oz already! (I remember that because she was born at 35 weeks and I had an US at 34 weeks and her weight was spot on).
I also found out I'm dilated to 1, which isn't all that big of a deal, but it's exciting cos it means stuff is starting to happen. Because of that, and the size, and the fact that I still want to go to the Clerk Institute in Mt Pleasant on 3/8, I have another regular appt next Friday. Beth said as long as I'm not dilated anymore than I was, I should be ok to go to Mt Pleasant.
People keep telling me my belly is huge, which I guess it is since I'm measuring 37. It's like I have a basketball under my shirt. Despite the achiness and the fatigue, it's so amazingly cool to see this big bump rumble and bounce whenever she moves (which is practically all the time).
People also keep saying that she's going to come early, and my office is in a big of a panic because they don't think I'll be able to work up until the Friday before she's born (like I plan to). So far, aside from being tired and sore, I see no reason why I'd have to stop working early.
babycenter.com says Nora is the size of a cantaloupe this week (at least until Sunday). We've graduated to melon sizes! That means we're almost there!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Almost there!
The date is set: March 30th, 2009 at 1030am. We set that date back in January. My health continues to be tip-top, and while I've gained 40 lbs, Dr K isn't concerned. My bp last week was 110/78. By this time with Amelia, I'd gained a lot more than 40 lbs, and my bp was very elevated. Also, I was all puffed up with edema. Right now, I'm still wearing my pre-prego sized wedding ring. The only place I get swelling is in my extremities. I figured that out one day when I wore a pair of super cute knee-high boots to work (which zipped up w/o problem) and when I got home Rob had to PEEL them off my legs. That equals no more boots. And, those were brand new from Mary for my b-day! My fingers are a little puffy, so I can't wear some of my cutesie rings anymore. My pelvic bones are still moving around and wreaking havoc everytime I move. And sometimes Nora kicks my bellybutton and makes me pee a little. Other than that, I've been fighting a sinus thing for about a week. These are all NOTHING to complain about considering I was on my way to bedrest at this point with Amelia! (Not to mention I'd had to do the Jug O' Fun TWICE by now)
Today it is 42 days until Nora arrives! We're all so so so excited. Over the weekend, we brought in the baby clothes and stuff from the little garage. We decorated her bedroom for the most part, Rob and Amelia put the crib together, and we spent the weekend washing and putting away her clothes. I lost count of how many loads of laundry we did! BUT we are all done now. Everything that COULD go into the wash has been through it and is in place. Her room has that New Baby smell now. And while the main focus was on Nora's room, we also made some progress towards finishing up Amelia's room.
Amelia needs closet doors, which Rob is working on, and needs her drapes brought over from her old room (ie Nora's room). The drapes won't be that big of an issue, but we need a rod and finials for Nora's room (which we're still shopping for). We stumbled across the PERFECT fabric for Nora's drapes though: bright pink with lime green shooting stars! Since Rob chose the theme of "Solar System in Girl Colors", I've had my eyes peeled for anything matching that description. After an exhaustive amount of online shopping, and looking in every store we've been through, we've put together a bunch of really, really cute accessories that are turning her room into a girlie-fied galaxy of color. A lot of it needs to be custom made, but luckily either I can paint it or I can beg my mom to sew it for me. (Of course, she doesn't know that I'm going to be begging for help as soon as she gets back from vacation)
Amelia is the resident expert on everything baby. She informed me (from her seat on the toilet) that when Nora has to go potty, she's going to pick up Nora and put her on the little potty chair and say "go potty, Nora!" so Nora learns not to go potty in her diaper. We went to see Elisia Briggs at the hospital the other day, and Amelia was so cute...she wanted to give the baby hugs and kisses the whole time we were there. And since there's a bumper crop of babies around us, we have lots of emails of new baby pictures to look at. Amelia really likes the little hats. She's an accessory girl through and through! Amelia picked out two sleepers, a teddy bear, and specifically said that Nora needs a pink-and-white Turtle Fur Security Blankie (since Amelia has the yellow-and-white one.) Rob took Amelia to the Daddy Daughter Dance last week (which was so cute I almost cried) and she got a little heart bear which she declared was for Nora.
A couple Saturdays ago, Nora's movements slowed down and I got a little nervous. Up to that point, she'd been kicking and punching like clockwork. The next day, she wasn't really kicking and punching anymore, she was moving more like somersaults. Since then, her movements have become clockwork again, and it sometimes looks like something out of Aliens. The bump rolls across my front, sticks out at odd looking angles, and generally it looks like there's somebody in there trying to get out (pretty accurate, I'd say).
My 34 week appt is next Tuesday and that will be the last appt until the 37th week appt. I should have an appt in week 36, but I'm going to Mt Pleasant for the MAMC Education Week (certification class to become a certified clerk). Dr K said that she's fine with not seeing me for 3 weeks since there are no indications that anything interesting will happen this early. Then in week 37 I'll start my weekly appts (which only will be 2 appts since I'm having Nora on the Monday of week 39). I'm still amazed sometimes at the difference the weight loss has made in my condition. Amelia was born in week 35 because of my bp. Nora will get to stay in there until she's a little more ready to come out, and instead of being on bedrest while the 4-year-old Amelia is bored stiff, she gets a mom who can still play and go outside with her.
Today it is 42 days until Nora arrives! We're all so so so excited. Over the weekend, we brought in the baby clothes and stuff from the little garage. We decorated her bedroom for the most part, Rob and Amelia put the crib together, and we spent the weekend washing and putting away her clothes. I lost count of how many loads of laundry we did! BUT we are all done now. Everything that COULD go into the wash has been through it and is in place. Her room has that New Baby smell now. And while the main focus was on Nora's room, we also made some progress towards finishing up Amelia's room.
Amelia needs closet doors, which Rob is working on, and needs her drapes brought over from her old room (ie Nora's room). The drapes won't be that big of an issue, but we need a rod and finials for Nora's room (which we're still shopping for). We stumbled across the PERFECT fabric for Nora's drapes though: bright pink with lime green shooting stars! Since Rob chose the theme of "Solar System in Girl Colors", I've had my eyes peeled for anything matching that description. After an exhaustive amount of online shopping, and looking in every store we've been through, we've put together a bunch of really, really cute accessories that are turning her room into a girlie-fied galaxy of color. A lot of it needs to be custom made, but luckily either I can paint it or I can beg my mom to sew it for me. (Of course, she doesn't know that I'm going to be begging for help as soon as she gets back from vacation)
Amelia is the resident expert on everything baby. She informed me (from her seat on the toilet) that when Nora has to go potty, she's going to pick up Nora and put her on the little potty chair and say "go potty, Nora!" so Nora learns not to go potty in her diaper. We went to see Elisia Briggs at the hospital the other day, and Amelia was so cute...she wanted to give the baby hugs and kisses the whole time we were there. And since there's a bumper crop of babies around us, we have lots of emails of new baby pictures to look at. Amelia really likes the little hats. She's an accessory girl through and through! Amelia picked out two sleepers, a teddy bear, and specifically said that Nora needs a pink-and-white Turtle Fur Security Blankie (since Amelia has the yellow-and-white one.) Rob took Amelia to the Daddy Daughter Dance last week (which was so cute I almost cried) and she got a little heart bear which she declared was for Nora.
A couple Saturdays ago, Nora's movements slowed down and I got a little nervous. Up to that point, she'd been kicking and punching like clockwork. The next day, she wasn't really kicking and punching anymore, she was moving more like somersaults. Since then, her movements have become clockwork again, and it sometimes looks like something out of Aliens. The bump rolls across my front, sticks out at odd looking angles, and generally it looks like there's somebody in there trying to get out (pretty accurate, I'd say).
My 34 week appt is next Tuesday and that will be the last appt until the 37th week appt. I should have an appt in week 36, but I'm going to Mt Pleasant for the MAMC Education Week (certification class to become a certified clerk). Dr K said that she's fine with not seeing me for 3 weeks since there are no indications that anything interesting will happen this early. Then in week 37 I'll start my weekly appts (which only will be 2 appts since I'm having Nora on the Monday of week 39). I'm still amazed sometimes at the difference the weight loss has made in my condition. Amelia was born in week 35 because of my bp. Nora will get to stay in there until she's a little more ready to come out, and instead of being on bedrest while the 4-year-old Amelia is bored stiff, she gets a mom who can still play and go outside with her.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Nora's Room
So, we're almost done with Nora's room. We have all the storage stuff back in the office. Hopefully I'll be able to get the attic plywooded tomorrow and will start to transfer the stuff this week. I can't believe this had dragged on as much as it has, but at least it's starting to come together.
Pics to be posted on our flickr page soon.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Butternut Squash!
29 weeks! That's equal to the size of a butternut squash. She feels like a full-grown soccer player in there, though. I'm officially done with all my prenatal tests. My bp was 108/72 last Tuesday (my 28 week appt). At this time with Amelia, my bp was already elevated so we're totally excited that it's nice and normal this time. My glucose test came back in the middle of the normal range, and I'm not even anemic. So really, aside from the fact that I feel gigantic, everything is perfectly boringly normal! We scheduled the c-section for March 30th at 10:30am. If I go into labor before then, I'm just gonna go for it but the March 30th date is just to say that's the latest she'll be born. However she wants to be born, it's cool with me.
Amelia is concerned with how Nora will get out of my tummy. She wants to know how Nora will fit through my "belly butt" (belly button). I told her it won't hurt, the doctor will take care of everything, and I'll have to wear a band-aid afterward. When I said she'd be coming to the hospital after Nora is born, she thought I meant that she'd have to also see the doctor and have something done. The look of panic on her face made me want to give her big hugs and kisses. We talked it over though, and she understands she'd just be visiting.
She bought Nora her first teddy bear at Babies R Us. It's a little light tan bear with a heart and she named it "Nora's Bear". She also wants to buy Nora a pair of snuggly pajamas. We're going to buy those a little later so we can kind of drag out the anticipation for her.
Amelia loves swimming so much. She's getting very good at it. We went to the pool the other night and we did lap after lap. She can climb onto the side by herself, put her face in and blow bubbles, float on her back the entire length of the pool, kick and stroke her arms at the same time, go under water without hesitation. I remember when she couldn't even touch the net above the lilypads and now her head grazes that net and she uses it to walk across the pads.
She loves her dance class, too. She's learning a Motown-themed dance for her recital in May. The song is "Can't Get Next to You", and her teacher is Ms. Shannon. She calls her classmates her "students" and is very proud of the steps she's learned so far.
Last weekend, I made a Korean lettuce wrap dish with ground beef. All of a sudden, I couldn't stomach the smell of it cooking any longer. We had to scrap the whole dish and had Thai food instead. Ever since then, I haven't been able to tolerate ground beef at all. We've made spaghetti, sloppy joes since then and both dishes were not enjoyable. There's this weird aftertaste that just gets to me. I guess that means where I only ate beef and couldn't stand chicken in the first trimester, in the third I can't stand beef and only want chicken. Weird!
I also have become addicted to orange juice, oranges and citrus in general. I even drank pink grapefruit juice today. I normally can't stand citrus juices. Now I drink it more than twice a day on top of eating as many oranges as my mouth will tolerate (no cankers yet!)
My daily food addictions are also chocolate Fiber One poptarts with skim milk or oj, Yoplait yogurt, 94% fat free popcorn, peanut butter granola bars, oranges, slightly-green bananas, spicy spicy spicy food, kool-aid made with 1/2 sugar, TONS of ice water, decaf coffee.
Aches and pains are pretty common lately. My hips/pelvic bones have been shifting or something, and that's not fun. My lower back has been bothering me. My energy level dwindles down around 2pm. Being in the pool really helps a lot of that, so I'm going to try to get to the pool with Amelia as much as we can.
I stopped in at WW this past weekend and said hi to all those guys. It'll be great to get back into WW. I'm figuring I'll be at the meeting on April 3rd since we should be home from the hospital and settled by then.
I wake up about 2-3 times per night to go to the bathroom or change position. Sometimes I wake up a lot more than that, and sometimes I lay awake for hours for no reason. I guess that's the sleep issues that come with the territory.
Nora kicks non-stop it seems. I sit at my desk, or on the couch, and I can see my stomach bounce and jump. It's crazy! She seems so much bigger than I'm sure she is. And she's a strong girl already! All of us can't wait to meet her. We're all curious what she'll look like, what her personality will be like, if she'll be similar or opposite to Amelia. I can tell already she'll be so very special in her own way, just like Amelia is. Will she have red hair? Cutesy cheeks? Fair skin? Or will she have black hair like me? Brown eyes?
Rob and I keep saying how crazy it'll be to have two little girls. We'll have a family of four!
Only 69 days (at the most) to go!
I'm on two-week appts now, and my next is a week from today.
Amelia is concerned with how Nora will get out of my tummy. She wants to know how Nora will fit through my "belly butt" (belly button). I told her it won't hurt, the doctor will take care of everything, and I'll have to wear a band-aid afterward. When I said she'd be coming to the hospital after Nora is born, she thought I meant that she'd have to also see the doctor and have something done. The look of panic on her face made me want to give her big hugs and kisses. We talked it over though, and she understands she'd just be visiting.
She bought Nora her first teddy bear at Babies R Us. It's a little light tan bear with a heart and she named it "Nora's Bear". She also wants to buy Nora a pair of snuggly pajamas. We're going to buy those a little later so we can kind of drag out the anticipation for her.
Amelia loves swimming so much. She's getting very good at it. We went to the pool the other night and we did lap after lap. She can climb onto the side by herself, put her face in and blow bubbles, float on her back the entire length of the pool, kick and stroke her arms at the same time, go under water without hesitation. I remember when she couldn't even touch the net above the lilypads and now her head grazes that net and she uses it to walk across the pads.
She loves her dance class, too. She's learning a Motown-themed dance for her recital in May. The song is "Can't Get Next to You", and her teacher is Ms. Shannon. She calls her classmates her "students" and is very proud of the steps she's learned so far.
Last weekend, I made a Korean lettuce wrap dish with ground beef. All of a sudden, I couldn't stomach the smell of it cooking any longer. We had to scrap the whole dish and had Thai food instead. Ever since then, I haven't been able to tolerate ground beef at all. We've made spaghetti, sloppy joes since then and both dishes were not enjoyable. There's this weird aftertaste that just gets to me. I guess that means where I only ate beef and couldn't stand chicken in the first trimester, in the third I can't stand beef and only want chicken. Weird!
I also have become addicted to orange juice, oranges and citrus in general. I even drank pink grapefruit juice today. I normally can't stand citrus juices. Now I drink it more than twice a day on top of eating as many oranges as my mouth will tolerate (no cankers yet!)
My daily food addictions are also chocolate Fiber One poptarts with skim milk or oj, Yoplait yogurt, 94% fat free popcorn, peanut butter granola bars, oranges, slightly-green bananas, spicy spicy spicy food, kool-aid made with 1/2 sugar, TONS of ice water, decaf coffee.
Aches and pains are pretty common lately. My hips/pelvic bones have been shifting or something, and that's not fun. My lower back has been bothering me. My energy level dwindles down around 2pm. Being in the pool really helps a lot of that, so I'm going to try to get to the pool with Amelia as much as we can.
I stopped in at WW this past weekend and said hi to all those guys. It'll be great to get back into WW. I'm figuring I'll be at the meeting on April 3rd since we should be home from the hospital and settled by then.
I wake up about 2-3 times per night to go to the bathroom or change position. Sometimes I wake up a lot more than that, and sometimes I lay awake for hours for no reason. I guess that's the sleep issues that come with the territory.
Nora kicks non-stop it seems. I sit at my desk, or on the couch, and I can see my stomach bounce and jump. It's crazy! She seems so much bigger than I'm sure she is. And she's a strong girl already! All of us can't wait to meet her. We're all curious what she'll look like, what her personality will be like, if she'll be similar or opposite to Amelia. I can tell already she'll be so very special in her own way, just like Amelia is. Will she have red hair? Cutesy cheeks? Fair skin? Or will she have black hair like me? Brown eyes?
Rob and I keep saying how crazy it'll be to have two little girls. We'll have a family of four!
Only 69 days (at the most) to go!
I'm on two-week appts now, and my next is a week from today.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Bos grunniens infantilius
Updateorama
- So, apparently I'm driving like a baby yak nowadays. I was driving with due care and caution, but not to the amount of care that my loving wife would have liked. She made a comment on my vehicular control that included the colorful metaphor "maniac". Mia picked this up instantly, but had to put her own bit of flair on it. So she reiterated that "Daddy is driving like a baby yak." Good times.
- The new eating lifestyle is going surprisingly well. I faltered a little over the weekend, but I was down 4 pounds last week but am only down 1 pound as of today. The entire IT department has joined the mix and we're doing a biggest IT loser. Of course, I had to create an spreadsheet that tracks this and graphs our progress.
- School is going really well. It should as I'm taking the same class I dropped a few semesters ago. Either way, I'm cruising in it and I think I should get at least a 3.5 if not a 4.0... woo hoo
- Rest of stuff is going well too
Monday, January 5, 2009
Karate Chop Nora
Yesterday was rough. Nora was in a position where she kicked me in the bladder one way, then in the intestines (or something) the other way. So all day I was either groaning from abdominal cramps or trying to make it to the bathroom in time. Somebody at the salon told me, "Your first one is the performer, your second one is active." Well, Amelia kicked as much as Nora does and she's definitely a performer. I can't even imagine how Nora will top "Miss Wiggles" (one of Amelia's aliases) in activity. Amelia -never- stops moving. Even when she's eating she wiggles her feet. She can't stand still for 2 seconds. And she's NOT supposed to be the active one? We're in big trouble.
Today Nora is in a nicer position. She's still practicing Judo, but at least she's kicking benign areas of my abdominal cavity. I was talking to my boss and I saw my entire "bump" wobble to the right and back. Crazy!
Today Nora is in a nicer position. She's still practicing Judo, but at least she's kicking benign areas of my abdominal cavity. I was talking to my boss and I saw my entire "bump" wobble to the right and back. Crazy!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Aileen's New Year's
I've caught a New Year organizing bug on top of the nesting bug I had already. So far, I've gotten a few things accomplished that have been sitting around for years (seriously) waiting for me. There's still so much to do.
My New Year's goals are as follows:
Each day, do at least one thing towards maintaining memorabilia (I'm terrible at this) such as: blogging, scanning photos, working on scrapbooks, organizing photos. I want a first-year scrapbook for each of the girls. Amelia's got up to 9-months, and I lost motivation. I need to finish hers before I can start Nora's!
Get back to WW as soon as Nora is born, and reset goals so I can get back in shape by mid-Summer (when I return to work).
Save $$$ to rejoin up with a personal trainer in the Fall (but obviously workout on my own up to that point at least 2-3x/week).
Obviously, work on getting everything cleaned and organized for Nora's arrival. That's a huge goal in itself.
One thing I learned from the WW/weight loss experience is what is/not an attainable goal. I know I can accomplish all these things, it's just a matter of making each one a priority. Thinking back on other accomplishments, these seem somewhat easy but with the year I've got coming up, achieving easy goals WILL be a huge accomplishment!
My New Year's goals are as follows:
Each day, do at least one thing towards maintaining memorabilia (I'm terrible at this) such as: blogging, scanning photos, working on scrapbooks, organizing photos. I want a first-year scrapbook for each of the girls. Amelia's got up to 9-months, and I lost motivation. I need to finish hers before I can start Nora's!
Get back to WW as soon as Nora is born, and reset goals so I can get back in shape by mid-Summer (when I return to work).
Save $$$ to rejoin up with a personal trainer in the Fall (but obviously workout on my own up to that point at least 2-3x/week).
Obviously, work on getting everything cleaned and organized for Nora's arrival. That's a huge goal in itself.
One thing I learned from the WW/weight loss experience is what is/not an attainable goal. I know I can accomplish all these things, it's just a matter of making each one a priority. Thinking back on other accomplishments, these seem somewhat easy but with the year I've got coming up, achieving easy goals WILL be a huge accomplishment!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year's
Happy New Year, all my followers (heh.. right now.. it's just the two of us)...
I'm not gonna say i have resolutions, but more like goals..
Finish the attic project
Okay.. This really isn't a goal.. more of a requirement. We're having another kidlet in case you haven't heard and we need more storage space. So.. I'm plywooding the current attic and gonna chuck in some indoor outdoor carpet. Anyway.. It needs to be done soon soon soon
Lose some weight
This is an actual goal. When Mia was born I was a whopping 260... I wore a size 40 pants. So.. Bean joined Weight Watchers and by proxy I did to. She and I both lost a buttload (pun intended) and I got down to 190ish at my lowest .. back to a size 32. Well.. I've slacked off and I'm back up to around 215 and around a 34-36 waist. I want to get back to 190ish and maintain it.
Run some more races
I've been saying that I'll do a triathlon for a few years now. I want to do one, but I'm realistic. I'm in school, I'm on the Fire Department, I have one kid (soon to be two) at home.. I don't have time to train properly. But.. I can hit the gym a few times a week and get in shape to do a 5k or two.. maybe a triathlon sprint, but we'll see how it goes
Do well in school
I'm the perpetual student. I am a senior now, but it still feels like i have a long way to go and I'm getting a little discouraged. I've got decent grades, but I need to keep it up.
Blog
hopefully a few time a week. I'd like to be able to keep this one with my personal stuff and my other blog with professional workish stuff... Again.. we'll see how it goes.
Okay.. That's enough for now
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