Mountains -o- poo

OK, so I got up this morning, and Will (who is almost 2 1/2) woke up a bit later. I went to his room and he was in his crib, and he said "pooped". Sometimes he does poop first thing in the morning and he had a tell tale brown spot that had come through his pajamas. Nothing in the bed though so poopy pajamas is fine!

I got him on the changing table (with plenty of cloth diapers under him) and when I got his diaper open, I had a sinking feeling. Last night when I was cooking dinner, he wanted to eat and when I asked him what he wanted, he said "corn". (I can hear your sighs and gasps already!!) So I found a can in the pantry and he ate half of it for dinner! And we all know what happens to corn, right? You know, the corn conundrum? No matter how well you chew it, it always comes out looking like corn, and I probably don't need to say more!

So, to make a long story short, I used up about 10 baby wipes (I normally use 1-3 depending on the day, Clane is the one who routinely uses 10 - men!) because he literally had poo up to the bottom of his shoulder blades! This poop rightfully deserved its very own bag!!

Thunder thighs...

Sophie weighs 13 lb 4 oz!! That's a whole half pound HEAVIER than Will was at this same age!!! She is 23 1/2 inches long, which is the same length Will was at 2 months. It's funny because she was 2 inches shorter than him at birth and almost a pound lighter. She's a chunk! I make a ton of milk though and she's a good eater... plus I think I've just got genetics on my side. We make big babies! I thought she would be between 12 and 13 pounds, but now I know why my wrists are shot... she exceeded my expectations!

2 month update (9 weeks today!)

Things are starting to get a little bit better but not fast enough for this tired mama! Sophie is doing a lot better at night, she is finally agreeing to sleep during the time when she would otherwise be awake. And that is a huge relief for all of us. Now if I could actually sleep before 1 am or past 7:30 am or both, I'll be really happy! Otherwise she is doing great, she really looks big to me and is in quite a few of her 3-6 month outfits now. I will take her to the doctor on Wednesday and I'm guessing she is between 12 and 13 pounds. She is getting a little more predictable with her naps too so that makes life a little easier for me!

We set a date for her baptism, June 17th which is Father's Day. Will was baptized on Mother's Day 2005 so this is really cool! She will have two godmothers, my good friend Amy and Clane's sister! Both were just thrilled to be asked to be godparents!

We had some pictures taken at Sears this weekend... what a racket... wish I could take better pics or at least had better backgrounds because it's a rip off I think! They did come out nice, but I think once the kids are in school, we won't do Sears anymore! Will was near hysterical and refused to cooperate... the one shot she got of the 4 of us looks kind of harried but it's the best we could all do! Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow!

It was our 5th anniversary on the 20th and we had a nice dinner at the Italian place where we had our reception. I had a lemon chicken breast with capers and it was so good! We had some really awesome wine too, I'll be wanting to get more of that from somewhere! Will was a PITA but Sophie slept through most of it! I'm tellin ya, 2 1/2 is not for the faint of heart!! Clane bought me a really cool weather station, by Davis Instruments. I'm excited about it because once we get it up and running, and get the data online, we'll be sending it to the NOAA to help them with their forecasting! It's a really cool weather station and I'm really excited about it!

Clane also found Saturn this weekend through the telescope and it was the first time I ever saw it. It was very tiny but you could clearly see the rings. He didn't tell me what I was looking at but I knew right away, it was really neat... Hopefully he'll be able to find it again some clear night!

Sophie is 7 weeks old...

and we all have colds! UGH!!!!!!! Will had his first cold at 5 months. So 7 weeks is a little young! :(

Kitty update

So I brought her to the vet today, and the vet thinks it's related to her allergy problems with her skin. She said that the irritation probably caused a clot to form, and it basically cut off circulation to the tip of her ear, which turned necrotic and fell off! It could have also been an injury, but since she is no longer a rambunctious youngster who plays outside, I would be surprised if that's what it was. Her weight is still good and her scabs, although they aren't gone, are definitely better.

On a side note, one little town in the UP close to where I grew up, got 38 inches of snow during this latest storm they had up there. Go Painesdale! That's a lot of snow!

Just a little update...

I haven't posted here in a while so I thought I'd check in...

Nights have still been really hard. I think she is getting better, at least a little more predictable and she is stretching out her feedings a little more too. But it's not quick enough for her mama. I'm still sleep deprived and some days I feel crazy from lack of sleep. It's not even "tired" or even "exhausted" anymore, it's just completely insane. Any moms who have been there/done that will understand what I mean!

I got some information about my 20 year high school reunion today. I am thinking we will probably be in the UP for it, but I'm not sure yet how to work out the logistics. I will need to either go home to nurse Sophie or find a place to pump, because she will still be exclusively breastfed in July and I won't be able to go that long without either pumping or nursing. I am sure we will be able to work something out, I might attend part of it but not all of it. I actually don't even know yet if we'll be up there... but it might be nice, it's kind of a milestone year. I don't feel that old, it's funny! It's hard to imagine it's already been 20 years.

My husband has a 4 day weekend now for Easter. I've been waiting for this weekend ever since he went back to work after Sophie was born!

My dad is coming for a visit next week so that will be nice. I don't think we've seen him since last summer.

Sophie is 6 weeks old now and is just a chunk! I need to get more pictures of her. I just got some but she is sleeping so I'll need to get more once she wakes up again. She's got lots of chins and big meaty thunder thighs and I love them! She's definitely getting plenty to eat! I still have oversupply problems though, and she seems to struggle with that daily... poor baby. Oh well, I know that once she gets older she will come to expect it and probably even like it...

Oh and now my cat (the scabby one) is missing the tip of one of her ears. So it's off to see the vet tomorrow. It looks like it's healed up ok but since she doesn't go outside, I can't imagine what happened???

Hmmm... notice a theme?

The titles of my last two posts are vaguely reminiscent of songs by the Doors...

I wonder how I should interpret that? LOL

Yack three times Baby... yack some more today...

My poor daughter. Every time I try to nurse her laying down (so we can all sleep!) I flood her with milk, she swallows air, she starts to cry, then she yacks all over! I gave up trying to nap with her today because she spent the first 20 minutes of my son's (way too short) nap time crying and yacking because I nursed her side-lying while trying to get my son to fall asleep.

Sometimes I feel like this is never going to get better. I think I have resigned myself on the sleep thing though, I am just going to have to suffer and just expect no sleep and to be tired all the time. There just isn't anything we can do about it. We already sleep either with her or very close (in an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, side carred to the bed) and she can nurse as often as she needs to all night... there just isn't anything else we can do. I know it will get better but I also know we could be doing this for many months yet and I just don't have it in me to think about it.

I am even eliminating dairy from my diet in case that's the problem... I'm sure it will do no good but it's at least something I can do easily as I already don't eat much of it to begin with...

Also, my allergic cat, who still has fleas despite two (almost 3) months of Frontline, now is missing the tip of one of her ears. So it's back to the vet for us next week. Will anything ever get better around here?

Days turn into nights.... nights turn into days.....

Uggghhhhhhh sleep deprivation!! It sucks so bad! No wonder it's used as torture in some parts of the world, because it renders you unable to function! It seems like all my days have run together in one big blur, a pile of poopy diapers and endless sitting in the lazy boy nursing. Sophie is cute as heck (despite a bad case of baby acne) and she's growing like a weed... she weighed 11 pounds this Monday at the doctor's which is a gain of 2 pounds in 3 weeks! And, I can get one pair of old jeans on, buttoned and zipped. They are not comfortable, nor would I wear them out anywhere, but I can get them on! Otherwise I'm still in my stretchy stuff and one pair of maternity jeans when I feel the need to wear jeans. They are stretchy and more for early pregnancy or postpartum.

She still insists on being up in the middle of the night, often for hours... and trying to keep her awake more during the day really doesn't help. I guess this is one of those things that will pass, it will resolve itself one day, but it sure is hard now. I'm just so happy it's Friday, counting down to the weekend is the only thing keeping me going. And mercifully, Clane has 4 days off at Easter which is only a couple of weekends away.

On another note - I am attempting to make my life a little easier by actually planning my meals for the week ahead of time. I have never done that in my life, I like to cook and have usually made meals with little planning until that afternoon... unless it involves thawing out a large piece of meat. But I am hoping it will help streamline things. I will be able to pick one of the meals I planned on, get all the stuff out (because I sat with the cookbook and made a list before going to the store) and just make it without stressing about what to cook. I am using the America's Test Kitchens book right now, about everything I've made from that book has been really good. So I'll see how long I can keep this up!

We have crocuses blooming too, they came out this week!

3 weeks old!

Wow, it just doesn't seem like it's been that long already! I just can't wrap my brain around it! When I try to remember what it was like being pregnant and waiting for her, I can barely remember it, it just seems like a dream from long ago. It's kind of weird how that feels. I am sure being so darn tired isn't helping! Nights have been pretty brutal, she seems to have her usual "baby fuss" period from 1-3 am instead of in the evenings like most other babies. She was always awake in my belly at night, so I'm thinking she is still on her usual routine. I am hoping she gets it figured out... or at least I hope Clane and I can figure out how to work with it in such a way that we each get enough sleep to get by.

Breastfeeding is going well. I have oversupply problems (no surprise there) and actually had to block feed for 7-8 hours on one side to get rid of the green poop! And I'm leaking like a madwoman! If Sophie eats too much, up it comes... she actually got my face yesterday, ick!! At least breast milk doesn't stain and doesn't smell bad! (Even her poop smells like sour cream!)

Today I went through all the clothes we got as gifts and put them away. I also went through Will's clothes again and pulled out all the stuff that is either too small or will be too small come summer. I am going to need to do some serious clothes shopping for both of them! I know I am going to be donating a lot of Will's old clothes, we got a lot of them as hand me downs and a lot were for the wrong season. There is just no way I'd use them all, even if we had another boy.

It's my first whole day here alone with both creatures, and so far, it's going OK. Sophie is taking a nap and thank goodness for PBS, that's all I have to say!

I've got some pictures together but I would rather not post the link to them on my blog since it's public... if anyone wants to see the pictures and I haven't already sent them to you, just leave me a comment with your email in it and I'll send you the link!

Just a quick update...

I've got Sophie in the Moby wrap right now - it's about the only time I get computer time! Things are going fairly well... during the day she is pretty content, but nights have been really hard! Last night she screamed for several hours, was pretty much inconsolable! :( I finally swaddled her tightly, against her will, and she passed out after that, around 4:30 am!! I hope this is a short lived thing because it is really exhausting and heartbreaking! She is getting more used to sleeping in her bed rather than on us so that will help a little bit. I think if we can help her get her days and nights straight, that will be good. Of course she is only a little over a week old so it sounds par for the course!

Otherwise she is nursing well, she's got a different style than Will - he gets down to business and doesn't waste time... she has to make sure things are "just right", yells at it a bit, and that can take a few minutes before she finally latches and gets down to eating. She saw the doctor on Monday and had already gained back her birth weight plus 4 more ounces - she's 9 pounds already!

We really appreciate the emails and well wishes.. I haven't had much time to get photos uploaded but when I do, I'll be getting them out to everyone!

Birth Announcement!

Sophia Katherine was born Monday, February 19th at 9:41 am, weighing in at 8 lb, 12 oz and 19 inches long! I had several days of labor followed by almost 26 hours of labor at the hospital. We are working on getting breastfeeding established. I had some interventions I had not wanted originally but looking back, I made the right decisions, because of the long labor, I would not have been able to get through it all without them. We are both healthy and for that, we're thankful.

More to come later... no time now!

Home, baby still in

I'm not real happy about this, but I think I'm in what is called "prodromal labor". I should have expected it since it took 50 hours for my son to be born with "all guns fully loaded" so to speak. We went in, and I'd made very little progress, so my doctor ordered a sleeping pill so I could sleep, I took it, and we went home. I'm having some contractions today but they are mild and pretty far apart. Will stayed with grandma and grandpa last night and that went well, but my husband went and picked him up this morning since not much is happening right now.

There really isn't much I can do at this point, alternate activity with rest and when they pick up again, waiting til they are stronger, then giving doc a call and going in again.

Thankfully nobody has been calling us, freaking out! That would REALLY piss me off at this point, so I've dubbed our house, and all electronic devices flowing into, and out of it, a NO FREAK-OUT ZONE. I don't want to talk to anyone who is going to freak out about anything! No negative energy, please! If *I* can be patient enough to let this happen, I certainly expect everyone else to be patient as well! (After all, they are not the ones going through this!)

I'll update as I am able. The nurse last night was a sweetheart and I can only hope she is our nurse when we go in for real the next time!

I'm in labor, going in soon

I am in labor, no doubt about it. Right now I'm having contractions about every 4 minutes apart, for about the last couple of hours. They were mild all day, then suddenly they became like this! I called the doctor and she said to come in when we're ready, or when I really have a hard time getting through them. We might wait here for a bit, then go, these contractions seemed to come out of nowhere so we probably shouldn't wait too long! We'll be emailing out a birth announcement later on and when I get home and get a chance, I'll post about it here too.

I am amazed at how much easier these contractions are to cope with, than when I was induced. It's like night and day!

Could be early labor...

I could be in early labor, in fact I probably am, but I don't have ANY idea how long it will be... I had such a LONG (50 hour) labor with my son (even though it was induced) so we're just hanging out at home today and I kept my husband home from work. Depending on how things go, I may or may not get a chance to update this again if we need to leave for the hospital later - in any case I will post again if I'm still here or maybe my next post will be a birth announcement! :)

More to come!

Sorry...

For all you hopeless romantics who thought it would be SO cool if we had a Valentine's Day baby, you're out of luck!!

The next holiday, according to my calendar, is President's Day. :)

Doctor update

I am certainly not going to complain, but my doctor has done a complete turnaround on the whole induction thing! I'm SO relieved! She made me so mad last week! I had a non-stress test yesterday at the hospital (they watch baby's heart rate to make sure it behaves normally with movement and contractions, if you have any) which was totally fine, and today when I went in, we were both totally fine. So even though she did offer to induce if I wanted, she seemed completely OK with me just going home and letting nature take its course. I am also 1 cm and 60% effaced so at least all these contractions I've been having are doing SOMETHING! Maybe now that she is off my back, I can relax and go into labor. Either way, the baby will come when the baby is ready, and that's fine with me. I will have another NST at the hospital on Monday and see her again on Tuesday.

I have my moments of feeling pretty good and optimistic, to feeling really bad and just MAD that I haven't gone into labor yet. I suppose that's all par for the course. If I'm feeling OK tonight, I think we are going to head to the mall to do some walking. I plan to do some shopping as well, because I'm not going to haul my big pregnant ass all over the mall and not buy myself something to make me feel better! Even if it's another book! I've been going through a lot of books lately, I've read Jimmy Carter's "Palestine - Peace not Apartheid", I've gotten halfway through "The Iraq Study Group Report" and "The Weathermakers" which is about global warming. With all that heavy and depressing reading, now I am reading Bill Bryson's book about his travels through Europe. He is really funny and I've enjoyed every single book I've read by him! (Thanks Dad!) I got really tired of reading books about birth and breastfeeding, so I had to get something different!

I still think my due date was yesterday and not the 7th, but I'm too lazy to change my ticker. I'll put up a new ticker when the baby is born. Just do your own math and subtract 5 days. It's not that hard! :)

It's my dad's birthday...

And it doesn't look like he'll get a new grandchild today! *sigh* Sorry Dad, we tried!

Unless something unexpected surprises the heck out of us, it looks like it's business as usual....

More contractions...

I had a TON of Braxton Hicks again last night, and whew! They hurt! They weren't bad while I was laying down to go to sleep so at least that was good, I got a fairly decent night's sleep. But if I was up walking around, I could barely stand it. I could have spent some time walking into the night but I figured if it was really turning into labor, I needed to get some sleep first and foremost. I'm having a few mild ones right now but it's nothing that I'm excited over at this point.

My husband asked me if he should stay home today and I told him no, he should go to work. Will and I are getting together with some friends this morning, he will play with the other kids and us grownups will be working on some stuff for La Leche League. I need to continue on with life as usual!

I would love to have this baby tomorrow because it's my dad's birthday. I have a feeling it won't be that much longer anyway, definitely within the next week.

"Due"?

Today is my due date, I guess. Honestly I would be more willing to go with the 12th, only because when I look at my dates and the bigger picture it makes more sense. In any case, I saw the doctor yesterday and she royally pissed me off by attempting to get me used to the idea of induction - I'm not even due, this is a totally healthy pregnancy, and there is no reason for it! So she will have to make a very convincing argument, if I do need to see her next week in the office. I will not be induced because of the day on the calendar. I will consider it if there are concrete signs that the baby is not well or if I am not well, but otherwise, she will have to step outside her comfort zone and live with my decisions. In the meantime, she suggested (at least!!) evening primrose oil and red raspberry leaf tea. I have both so yesterday I started taking EPO and drinking as much tea as I could stand.

Yesterday after my appointment I met Clane for lunch. I started having Braxton-Hicks contrations during lunch and I had them for the rest of the day, they were still going when I went to bed. I have had a few this morning and I am sure they are helping things along, but they are really nothing to get excited about.

I am going to the hospital for a non-stress test on Monday if I'm still pregnant, and I will see the doctor again on Tuesday. I know at that point she will try to get me to set an induction date but she will have to be pretty convincing. If my NST is normal, and her exam checks out normal, I will go home and continue to wait. Unless she can tell me that the baby is definitely compromised, she will have to bear with me. If I am really only 40 weeks on Monday next week, in my opinion, it is still jumping the gun and really inappropriate to be talking about such an invasive procedure! I'm just really mad that she is laying all this on me now and that I have something else to worry about when I should just be relaxing!!

Otherwise, all is well. My BP is excellent, I am showing no signs of trouble, the baby sounds great and is doing very well, so there should be no need for this kind of crap, right?