...making a quick run to Target with the girls this morning,
getting back out to the car and not being able to find my keys,
going back inside and asking if anyone's turned them in at customer service,
no luck,
asking the cashier if we left them there,
ditto,
retracing our steps through the store,
and coming up empty,
calling Daniel,
who is about to go into a meeting,
and doesn't have the spare key anyway,
(it's at home)
getting Hollie some lunch to eat while I go through the diaper bag again,
giving up,
getting Blake out of her carseat to feed her,
AND FINDING THE KEYS,
IN THE CARSEAT,
UNDER HER LEGS.
?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Future engineer???
"Mommy, come see my plane!"
Yes, those are scraps of baseboards. The epic, ongoing, basement work continues.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Blake's 4-month check-up
Better late than never, right?
24 and 3/4 inches - 61st percetile
Blake has more than doubled her birth weight, and is over half of Hollie's weight.
She did great. She had big smiles for the doc, and even chewed her fingers a little - okay, that's not important, but it was still cute.
We are going to try rice cereal soon! (By we I mean Blake...haha).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I leave you with these...
Caught!
On the potty,
with a bowl of popcorn,
and reading Daddy's pocket-size edition of the Constitution.
(I'm not sure what she has in her other hand)
(I'm not sure what she has in her other hand)
Can I chew it, pleeeeeease?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Oh. good.
I was out for a walk with Hollie this afternoon, just the two of us. She obviously needed to pee. She was dancing and wiggling like crazy. I asked her if she needed to go home and use the potty, reassuring her that we'd come back outside again. She said "No", and I think that it's important to show her that I trust her, so I said "Okay". I asked her every few minutes, but the answer was always "No". Finally, she had an accident. I said, "Oops! Let's go home and get some new pants". While we were walking, I said, again, "We need to get you some new pants, so that you don't get cold", to which she replied, "It's okay, it's nice and warm".
Thursday, November 3, 2011
So.
So, Hollie's using the potty like a pro. It was a rough start, but after the first week we had a visit from Daniel's brother and family, including 3-year-old cousin J who, I think, showed her the ropes and gave her the toddler perspective she needed. Now she's doing great. Jumps up and tells us when she needs to go, even when we're out of the house. I got one of those little seats that sits on top of the adult toilet seat, but she's not willing to try that yet, so we're taking her little potty everywhere! Accidents have been very rare. When it clicked, it just clicked.
We're still putting her in diapers at night, just because we didn't want to overwhelm her with expectations of dry days and nights. I see us making the switch to underwear at night pretty soon though, because she's been waking up with dry diapers. She wakes us up pretty much every night, at least once, for help using the potty, so another next step will be limiting her fluids in the evening. But yeah, one step at a time.
Blake has started sleeping through the night, after weeks and weeks of just waking up once, around 5am, and going back to sleep. Between her waking to eat and Hollie waking to use the potty, I was not sleeping much! They are such great kids though. Hollie is becoming Blake's favorite source of entertainment. I swear, Blake spends half the day getting poked, prodded, having toys waved in her face, and being generally harassed by Big Sister, but Blake smiles more readily for her than she does for anyone else! I think Hollie even got Blake's first laugh today.
Little Sister is holding up that big ol' head better and better. She's about to be sitting on her own, I can tell! Spending more time on her tummy, too.
She'll be four months old this weekend. That's a third of the way to ONE YEAR. Holy moly.
----------------------------------------
This past weekend we made our annual trip to Phoenix for the ASU Homecoming game. Both girls just soaked up the attention from the grandparents, and loved every minute. We visited a park that we used to live near, and hiked this hill...Hollie's first time!
She made it about halfway up, then asked GB (grandpa) to carry her. She ran around at the top for a little while, and then he carried her all the way down, too!
Blake slept the whole time :)
-------------------------------------------------
Our Halloween was a big deal this year. We have dressed Hollie up every year, but this was the first year that she has really grasped the idea, and also the first year that she has known about CANDY. Yeah. Oh boy.
She chose her costume for the first time, too.
We bought the ears and tail for her, but she picked out the rest herself from her own clothes.
Blake was a hula dancer, with a grass (gold ribbon) skirt and a kiwi bra.
Can't forget the candy-corn socks.
Hollie picked out this little pumpkin bucket herself, too. I was standing there in the Halloween aisle thinking "man, these candy buckets are huge" when Hollie grabs this little bucket (intended to hold a candle) and says, "this is for my trick-or-treating!" Didn't have to think twice about that!
More later (whenever that is)
:)
We're still putting her in diapers at night, just because we didn't want to overwhelm her with expectations of dry days and nights. I see us making the switch to underwear at night pretty soon though, because she's been waking up with dry diapers. She wakes us up pretty much every night, at least once, for help using the potty, so another next step will be limiting her fluids in the evening. But yeah, one step at a time.
Blake has started sleeping through the night, after weeks and weeks of just waking up once, around 5am, and going back to sleep. Between her waking to eat and Hollie waking to use the potty, I was not sleeping much! They are such great kids though. Hollie is becoming Blake's favorite source of entertainment. I swear, Blake spends half the day getting poked, prodded, having toys waved in her face, and being generally harassed by Big Sister, but Blake smiles more readily for her than she does for anyone else! I think Hollie even got Blake's first laugh today.
Little Sister is holding up that big ol' head better and better. She's about to be sitting on her own, I can tell! Spending more time on her tummy, too.
She'll be four months old this weekend. That's a third of the way to ONE YEAR. Holy moly.
----------------------------------------
This past weekend we made our annual trip to Phoenix for the ASU Homecoming game. Both girls just soaked up the attention from the grandparents, and loved every minute. We visited a park that we used to live near, and hiked this hill...Hollie's first time!
She made it about halfway up, then asked GB (grandpa) to carry her. She ran around at the top for a little while, and then he carried her all the way down, too!
-------------------------------------------------
Our Halloween was a big deal this year. We have dressed Hollie up every year, but this was the first year that she has really grasped the idea, and also the first year that she has known about CANDY. Yeah. Oh boy.
She chose her costume for the first time, too.
We bought the ears and tail for her, but she picked out the rest herself from her own clothes.
Blake was a hula dancer, with a grass (gold ribbon) skirt and a kiwi bra.
Can't forget the candy-corn socks.
Hollie picked out this little pumpkin bucket herself, too. I was standing there in the Halloween aisle thinking "man, these candy buckets are huge" when Hollie grabs this little bucket (intended to hold a candle) and says, "this is for my trick-or-treating!" Didn't have to think twice about that!
More later (whenever that is)
:)
Monday, October 10, 2011
I know, I know.
It's been too long.
First, pictures.
Next, stories.
First, pictures.
Next, stories.
Potty training, by the way, is going amazingly, but of course it didn't start off that way. This was our first trip to the store in underwear. She picked her own clothes, including the hat (on an 80-degree September day, why not?). The trip, for the record, was a complete disaster. She did fine until we got to the cashier and when I wouldn't let her get any candy from the display (I hate those candy displays right there at the register. Grrr...) , she had a meltdown and once she was calmed down I noticed her pants were soaked. Came prepared, thankfully.
Cousins!
Another outfit picked out all by herself. Shoes on the wrong feet, and everything.
At Blake's baptism in Lake Charles! This is the church where Daniel was baptized, we were married, and Hollie was baptized too. I love it!
Best picture ever! Poor Blake. Poor Hollie, too. She had been sick the night before, but she powered through the baptism and was just fine. The heat and humidity were wearing on all of us, I think.
We love Pepere!
This is what I get when I ask Hollie to smile.
little [14 lb.] sister
She smiles! Has been for a few weeks, but now we have proof!!
Next up, stories.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Odds and ends
Yesterday Blake turned ten weeks old (!!!!!!!), and we took her to meet our Wichita pediatrician.
She was...
13 lbs. 13 oz. - 92nd percentile
22 and 1/2 in. - 45th percentile
Whew...chunky monkey!
We got back to Wichita last Friday afternoon, but spent the night in a hotel, because there was so much work to be done at the house to make it actually livable - rinse all the dishes and cooking utensils, change all the sheets, clean up all the dead bugs and cobwebs, rearrange our bedroom to find room for Blake's bassinet...we're still not done! I only started unpacking boxes this morning, no joke.
The trip went great. We left several hours later than we intended (deja vu, maybe?), and had car trouble the first two days, but thankfully we had planned on spending a few days in Montana with my mom's aunt, so we just cut that stay short and got ourselves right back on schedule.
It's really a bummer that we had to do that, though. Montana is gorgeous! Our time there really deserves it's own post, so I'll get to that soon.
We really enjoyed our beautiful summer in Mukilteo, but it is good to be home, where we know people, have places to be and things to do, and just know where everything is without having to consult a map every time we leave the house. Also, streets on a grid. We missed that. :) It is still windy as heck here, though.
Hollie is pretty much ecstatic to be home. A couple of times she has asked to go to places in Mukilteo - the Winco store (haha), our favorite park (see below...), or ride the big boat (also below...) - and we have to remind her that we left, but she is really happy to be here, and she's been having fun helping us straighten up the house.
She is getting so grown up. The wild-eyed toddler still makes regular appearances, but overall she is learning to find the words to use when she's upset, obey our requests for her to be quiet (when Blake's sleeping), and help with simple tasks around the house...and actually do them well! She's using full sentences more and more, and she is starting to consistently verbalize when she is tired/hungry/etc, rather than just whining unintelligibly and then proceeding to a meltdown.
The last few weeks that we were in Mukilteo, we pretty much threw in the towel on potty-training. It was going downhill fast. I think we were trying to do it halfway - encourage her but not push it - which sounds great when you say it that way, but it just wasn't working. She just got into the habit of waiting until we needed to leave the house, because then she got to put on a diaper. Knowing that we were going back to Wichita soon, we couldn't not leave the house (too many things to do one last time!), so we just gave up and put her in diapers 24/7. She didn't object one bit. We recently started asking her about using the potty again, and she has seemed pretty excited about it. She remembers the whole process of wiping, flushing, and washing hands. As soon as the house get into decent condition and we're not using every spare minute to organize or unpack, we're prepared to try it for real, and I think Hollie's ready, too.
Blake is doing very well. Just before we left, she started smiling for real, and shortly after that began making little oohs and aahs. Adorable. Sleeping pretty well - generally a 5 to 6 hour stretch, wake up to eat, and go right back down for a 4 to 5 hour stretch. I am so so so lucky that both my kids were such great sleepers at this age...I thank my lucky stars every day. She's lifting her head really well during her tummy-time, but she doesn't enjoy that very long. Her big sister is getting better and better at containing her love (ie - giving gentle hugs and kisses).
Here are some photos from our last full day in Mukilteo. I spent the day before running around like a headless chicken, packing up the apartment and driving Hollie and Blake crazy, so that day we had a break and took our last opportunity to spend the afternoon at our favorite park.
It was a good idea, because the weather was spectacular. It was an awful idea, because then I was super bummed that we were leaving.
She was...
13 lbs. 13 oz. - 92nd percentile
22 and 1/2 in. - 45th percentile
Whew...chunky monkey!
We got back to Wichita last Friday afternoon, but spent the night in a hotel, because there was so much work to be done at the house to make it actually livable - rinse all the dishes and cooking utensils, change all the sheets, clean up all the dead bugs and cobwebs, rearrange our bedroom to find room for Blake's bassinet...we're still not done! I only started unpacking boxes this morning, no joke.
The trip went great. We left several hours later than we intended (deja vu, maybe?), and had car trouble the first two days, but thankfully we had planned on spending a few days in Montana with my mom's aunt, so we just cut that stay short and got ourselves right back on schedule.
It's really a bummer that we had to do that, though. Montana is gorgeous! Our time there really deserves it's own post, so I'll get to that soon.
We really enjoyed our beautiful summer in Mukilteo, but it is good to be home, where we know people, have places to be and things to do, and just know where everything is without having to consult a map every time we leave the house. Also, streets on a grid. We missed that. :) It is still windy as heck here, though.
Hollie is pretty much ecstatic to be home. A couple of times she has asked to go to places in Mukilteo - the Winco store (haha), our favorite park (see below...), or ride the big boat (also below...) - and we have to remind her that we left, but she is really happy to be here, and she's been having fun helping us straighten up the house.
She is getting so grown up. The wild-eyed toddler still makes regular appearances, but overall she is learning to find the words to use when she's upset, obey our requests for her to be quiet (when Blake's sleeping), and help with simple tasks around the house...and actually do them well! She's using full sentences more and more, and she is starting to consistently verbalize when she is tired/hungry/etc, rather than just whining unintelligibly and then proceeding to a meltdown.
The last few weeks that we were in Mukilteo, we pretty much threw in the towel on potty-training. It was going downhill fast. I think we were trying to do it halfway - encourage her but not push it - which sounds great when you say it that way, but it just wasn't working. She just got into the habit of waiting until we needed to leave the house, because then she got to put on a diaper. Knowing that we were going back to Wichita soon, we couldn't not leave the house (too many things to do one last time!), so we just gave up and put her in diapers 24/7. She didn't object one bit. We recently started asking her about using the potty again, and she has seemed pretty excited about it. She remembers the whole process of wiping, flushing, and washing hands. As soon as the house get into decent condition and we're not using every spare minute to organize or unpack, we're prepared to try it for real, and I think Hollie's ready, too.
Blake is doing very well. Just before we left, she started smiling for real, and shortly after that began making little oohs and aahs. Adorable. Sleeping pretty well - generally a 5 to 6 hour stretch, wake up to eat, and go right back down for a 4 to 5 hour stretch. I am so so so lucky that both my kids were such great sleepers at this age...I thank my lucky stars every day. She's lifting her head really well during her tummy-time, but she doesn't enjoy that very long. Her big sister is getting better and better at containing her love (ie - giving gentle hugs and kisses).
Here are some photos from our last full day in Mukilteo. I spent the day before running around like a headless chicken, packing up the apartment and driving Hollie and Blake crazy, so that day we had a break and took our last opportunity to spend the afternoon at our favorite park.
It was a good idea, because the weather was spectacular. It was an awful idea, because then I was super bummed that we were leaving.
See what I mean?
Fish and chips from Ivar's didn't help. at. all.
Last goodbye to our favorite ferry
Snug as a bug
Note to self, for future reference:
Toddler + little condiment cup + sandy beach = 3 hours. Minimum.
... + little pool of water? We're doomed.
Careful, those waves sneak up on you sometimes!
Cheese?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
One more, just because.
Toddler + little condiment cup + sandy beach = 3 hours. Minimum.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Blake's birth: Part 3
Part 1
Part 2
-----------------------------
At 4pm we were back at the hospital and I was getting my IV antibiotics. While we waited for another visit from Dr. J, I paced around the room but was disappointed to find that the contractions had lost the intensity that they'd had at the mall. We talked to the nurse, Angela, for a while and she told us that Dr. J's next step, if I hadn't progressed much, would probably be breaking my water. I balked a little at that idea, because I wanted to have as natural a birth as possible and the miso tablet had already steered me in the opposite direction, so I was really in the frame of mind to say no to everything at that point. Daniel and I agreed that if I hadn't progressed much, and things were going to move at such a slow pace, we would rather just go home. Angela encouraged us to let Dr. J know that's what we wanted.
Finally around 6pm, Dr. J came in, and I was 5cm dilated. Just as the nurse had said, he suggested we break my water. I told him that even though my contractions had been regular all day, they were lacking in intensity, and I would rather go home and wait. He balked at that idea as bad as I had at his! He told me that breaking my water would almost certainly get my contractions much more intense. I guess I didn't appear to be changing my mind, so he said he would step out for a minute and let us think about it. He had such a disappointed look, like he felt like we were making the wrong decision, but he was going to let us go if that's what we wanted.
I think that as he was leaving, I knew immediately that we were going to stay. I realized that A) breaking my water is not like using a drug, so I could still consider it a nearly natural birth, B) he was probably right about the effect breaking my water would have on my contractions, and C) ultimately I was still a very impatient overdue pregnant woman and just wanted to have this baby asap.
He came back in, we told him our decision, and at 6:20pm he broke my water.
He was right, of course, and very quickly my contractions got more intense and more frequent. I stayed sitting up in bed, and just focused on breathing in and out slowly, exhaling with a shhhhh through my teeth, which helped me relax through them. Angela, the nurse, stayed in the room to chat with us, but by about 7pm I needed silence during each contraction, and didn't ask for it very politely, I'm sorry to say. I even threw up at some point, but I was powering through, breathing and relaxing completely. I remember wondering how long this might last.
We talked about getting into the tub, but I was reluctant because the room with the tub was down the hall. They weren't set up for water births, so if we stayed until I had the urge to push, I would have to fight it all the way back to the room. The contractions were so strong and close together that I didn't think I could get out of bed anyway.
During those contractions, one picture kept popping into my head. It was from the Disney movie Fantasia, during Toccata and Fugue, which is the one that's mostly abstract pictures. Here's a link to it on YouTube: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. It's toward the end, and it's quick - from 7:10 to 7:20. Apparently, that's what my subconscious thinks contractions look like. In case you're wondering, I only saw the image...didn't hear any music. :)
During a contraction at about 7:35pm, I had the feeling that I needed to pass gas, and I mentioned it to our new nurse, Marissa (there had been a shift change). I don't know why I mentioned it - that's not something I will normally just tell people. Daniel said, "Hey, if you do, you can blame it on me" but even between contractions I couldn't find the humor, and I think I just gave him a good scowl (later, I reassured him that under any other circumstances he would have gotten at least a chuckle). However, it's a very good thing I did mention it, because she told me that it meant I'd probably be pushing soon, and sure enough...
...next contraction: "I'M PUSHING!" That's a direct quote. Not "I think I need to push", not "Can I push?", but "My body is pushing and there's nothing I can do about it!"
Marissa quickly checked me, and I was completely dilated. she called Dr. J, who had been in the cafeteria getting dinner, and he was in the room right away. After that, Daniel stopped making updates to our Word doc and the details are a little fuzzy.
One part I do remember distinctly: my favorite moment of the delivery (well, second favorite) was when one of the nurses asked me, "Do you like these socks? If you want to keep them, we need to take them off right now!" I said yes, and Daniel took them off for me.
The room filled up with nurses, and they ran around getting the bed and the room ready. I was pushing like crazy. Daniel and a few nurses were with me but nobody was counting down from ten during the contractions, and I kept wishing somebody would, because the pressure was so great and so constant that I couldn't really tell when each contraction ended.
One of the nurses was holding a fetal monitor to my belly, and became alarmed when the heart rate dropped very low, so low that she wasn't sure if she was picking up the baby's heart rate or mine (the baby's is normally much faster than an adult's). They suspected there was pressure on the umbilical cord, so they helped me turn onto my left side, in an effort to relieve the pressure on the cord and also to get a better angle for the fetal monitor. While this was happening, Dr. J decided that the baby needed to come out as soon as possible, so he prepared to give me a pudendal block. This is a local anesthetic that would allow him to use forceps to help guide the baby out. When it was ready, one of the nurses, Geneva, told me I needed to not push for a minute while he gave the injection. I think I gave her a look, like what do you mean not push??, but she helped me do it. when the block was done, Dr. J used the forceps and at 7:53pm, after roughly 18 minutes of pushing, Blake Elizabeth was born!
The rest is history, I guess. They put her right up on my belly, and Daniel cut the cord. I'm so so glad we didn't find out the gender by ultrasound. The surprise was amazing.
They didn't take her away from me for the longest time, and I kept half-wishing they would, because I was curious about her weight and length. In fact they didn't do any of that until after Daniel's parents arrived with Hollie. It was so good to see them. :)
---------------------------------------------------------
There are more little stories to tell, but there are too many for now. We're busy getting ready to head back to Wichita! Yep, we're leaving this weekend, and taking 6 or 7 days to get back. We have really enjoyed living here, but it will be good to be home again.
Part 2
-----------------------------
At 4pm we were back at the hospital and I was getting my IV antibiotics. While we waited for another visit from Dr. J, I paced around the room but was disappointed to find that the contractions had lost the intensity that they'd had at the mall. We talked to the nurse, Angela, for a while and she told us that Dr. J's next step, if I hadn't progressed much, would probably be breaking my water. I balked a little at that idea, because I wanted to have as natural a birth as possible and the miso tablet had already steered me in the opposite direction, so I was really in the frame of mind to say no to everything at that point. Daniel and I agreed that if I hadn't progressed much, and things were going to move at such a slow pace, we would rather just go home. Angela encouraged us to let Dr. J know that's what we wanted.
Finally around 6pm, Dr. J came in, and I was 5cm dilated. Just as the nurse had said, he suggested we break my water. I told him that even though my contractions had been regular all day, they were lacking in intensity, and I would rather go home and wait. He balked at that idea as bad as I had at his! He told me that breaking my water would almost certainly get my contractions much more intense. I guess I didn't appear to be changing my mind, so he said he would step out for a minute and let us think about it. He had such a disappointed look, like he felt like we were making the wrong decision, but he was going to let us go if that's what we wanted.
I think that as he was leaving, I knew immediately that we were going to stay. I realized that A) breaking my water is not like using a drug, so I could still consider it a nearly natural birth, B) he was probably right about the effect breaking my water would have on my contractions, and C) ultimately I was still a very impatient overdue pregnant woman and just wanted to have this baby asap.
He came back in, we told him our decision, and at 6:20pm he broke my water.
He was right, of course, and very quickly my contractions got more intense and more frequent. I stayed sitting up in bed, and just focused on breathing in and out slowly, exhaling with a shhhhh through my teeth, which helped me relax through them. Angela, the nurse, stayed in the room to chat with us, but by about 7pm I needed silence during each contraction, and didn't ask for it very politely, I'm sorry to say. I even threw up at some point, but I was powering through, breathing and relaxing completely. I remember wondering how long this might last.
We talked about getting into the tub, but I was reluctant because the room with the tub was down the hall. They weren't set up for water births, so if we stayed until I had the urge to push, I would have to fight it all the way back to the room. The contractions were so strong and close together that I didn't think I could get out of bed anyway.
During those contractions, one picture kept popping into my head. It was from the Disney movie Fantasia, during Toccata and Fugue, which is the one that's mostly abstract pictures. Here's a link to it on YouTube: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. It's toward the end, and it's quick - from 7:10 to 7:20. Apparently, that's what my subconscious thinks contractions look like. In case you're wondering, I only saw the image...didn't hear any music. :)
During a contraction at about 7:35pm, I had the feeling that I needed to pass gas, and I mentioned it to our new nurse, Marissa (there had been a shift change). I don't know why I mentioned it - that's not something I will normally just tell people. Daniel said, "Hey, if you do, you can blame it on me" but even between contractions I couldn't find the humor, and I think I just gave him a good scowl (later, I reassured him that under any other circumstances he would have gotten at least a chuckle). However, it's a very good thing I did mention it, because she told me that it meant I'd probably be pushing soon, and sure enough...
...next contraction: "I'M PUSHING!" That's a direct quote. Not "I think I need to push", not "Can I push?", but "My body is pushing and there's nothing I can do about it!"
Marissa quickly checked me, and I was completely dilated. she called Dr. J, who had been in the cafeteria getting dinner, and he was in the room right away. After that, Daniel stopped making updates to our Word doc and the details are a little fuzzy.
One part I do remember distinctly: my favorite moment of the delivery (well, second favorite) was when one of the nurses asked me, "Do you like these socks? If you want to keep them, we need to take them off right now!" I said yes, and Daniel took them off for me.
The room filled up with nurses, and they ran around getting the bed and the room ready. I was pushing like crazy. Daniel and a few nurses were with me but nobody was counting down from ten during the contractions, and I kept wishing somebody would, because the pressure was so great and so constant that I couldn't really tell when each contraction ended.
One of the nurses was holding a fetal monitor to my belly, and became alarmed when the heart rate dropped very low, so low that she wasn't sure if she was picking up the baby's heart rate or mine (the baby's is normally much faster than an adult's). They suspected there was pressure on the umbilical cord, so they helped me turn onto my left side, in an effort to relieve the pressure on the cord and also to get a better angle for the fetal monitor. While this was happening, Dr. J decided that the baby needed to come out as soon as possible, so he prepared to give me a pudendal block. This is a local anesthetic that would allow him to use forceps to help guide the baby out. When it was ready, one of the nurses, Geneva, told me I needed to not push for a minute while he gave the injection. I think I gave her a look, like what do you mean not push??, but she helped me do it. when the block was done, Dr. J used the forceps and at 7:53pm, after roughly 18 minutes of pushing, Blake Elizabeth was born!
The rest is history, I guess. They put her right up on my belly, and Daniel cut the cord. I'm so so glad we didn't find out the gender by ultrasound. The surprise was amazing.
They didn't take her away from me for the longest time, and I kept half-wishing they would, because I was curious about her weight and length. In fact they didn't do any of that until after Daniel's parents arrived with Hollie. It was so good to see them. :)
---------------------------------------------------------
There are more little stories to tell, but there are too many for now. We're busy getting ready to head back to Wichita! Yep, we're leaving this weekend, and taking 6 or 7 days to get back. We have really enjoyed living here, but it will be good to be home again.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Blake's birth: Part 2
Alternately titled: Setting the bar really really high with three posts in one day
Hollie played by herself for quite a while this morning, and both girls napped at the same time, so instead of showering, I did this! You're welcome.
I don't know why the spaces are so big here...I'll try to get it fixed...
I need to thank Daniel for his note-taking during my labor. Soon after we arrived at the hospital, I got out the laptop and opened a Word document. I titled it "labor", saved it on the desktop, and started out with:
[spoiler alert]
7:30- 3cm 50% effaced, stripped membranes
I continued making updates on my own until about the time that [spoiler alert] my water broke. After that, Daniel took over, and as you'll see he did an amazing job.
We still have that Word doc saved on the desktop, but the title is changed to "blake".
Part 1
Part 3
-----------------------------------------------------
We left the house a little
late the next morning, but rather than get stressed out (the way being late usually
affects us), we joked and kept the mood light.
Hollie played by herself for quite a while this morning, and both girls napped at the same time, so instead of showering, I did this! You're welcome.
I don't know why the spaces are so big here...I'll try to get it fixed...
I need to thank Daniel for his note-taking during my labor. Soon after we arrived at the hospital, I got out the laptop and opened a Word document. I titled it "labor", saved it on the desktop, and started out with:
[spoiler alert]
7:30- 3cm 50% effaced, stripped membranes
I continued making updates on my own until about the time that [spoiler alert] my water broke. After that, Daniel took over, and as you'll see he did an amazing job.
We still have that Word doc saved on the desktop, but the title is changed to "blake".
Part 1
Part 3
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At 7:30am Dr. J, my OB,
met us in the room and we got to business.
I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced, so he stripped my membranes…without
warning me…yikes.
I started having
contractions right away. They weren’t
very strong, but they came at regular intervals (I don’t remember how far apart,
probably in the 5 to 7 minute range). I
stayed in bed, and we watched True Grit.
I’m not normally a fan of Westerns, but it was really good!
Because I have Group B
strep, I was going to need antibiotics by IV.
I got my first dose at 8am. It
only took about 20 minutes, but they left the IV in, because I would need
another dose every four hours until the birth.
At about 9am, Dr. J came
back to check me again - 4cm and 70% effaced.
We decided to go ahead with the misoprostol tablet, which is placed next
to the cervix. After that, I needed to
stay in bed for another hour while it dissolved and started to work.
After the hour was up, I
got out of bed for a stretch, a potty break, and a snack. I was really glad to be allowed to eat this
time (not the case with Hollie - they had given me IV fluids with glucose the whole
time I was in labor. I never felt hungry
the whole day, but it felt weird not eating at all).
I hadn’t really had any
change in my contractions. Still regular
at about 5 to 7 minutes, but not very strong.
I was a little sleepy just from being up so early, so I decided to stay
in bed and get some rest…knowing the real work was still ahead. The movie was getting really good, too.
At noon, I was due for
my second dose of antibiotics. We had
finished the movie, so I took my IV stand and we walked around the hallways.
We went back to the room
about a half hour later, when the fluid bag was empty. With my doctor’s approval, we got permission
to leave the hospital for one hour. We
went to Jamba Juice! I got something
“caribbean” or “tropical” with orange and mango in it. It was just what I was craving, and it was
sooo good. This Jamba Juice happened to
be inside a Whole Foods store, so Daniel went to pick up some fruit for us to
snack on at the hospital while I waited for the smoothies - and I may have also
snuck over to the bakery to grab a triple-chocolate cookie, but you know, the
whole day’s a blur and I can’t really remember. :)
At 1:15pm we were back at the hospital, where they hooked me up to the monitors just to see how we were doing. Everything was fine, but there still hadn’t been much change in my contractions (they were maybe just a touch stronger). We could have done another misoprostol tablet at this point, but we decided against it.
At 1:15pm we were back at the hospital, where they hooked me up to the monitors just to see how we were doing. Everything was fine, but there still hadn’t been much change in my contractions (they were maybe just a touch stronger). We could have done another misoprostol tablet at this point, but we decided against it.
We asked if we could
leave the hospital again, and while we waited for an answer (doc was busy), I
stood and paced around the room. I was
starting to find that the contractions were more intense when I stood or
walked. The nurses were always asking me
where I was on the “pain scale”, from one to ten - one being no pain at all,
and ten being the worst pain you’ve ever felt.
I had been at about a two all day, and at this point maybe up to a
three, but I had to tell them that I was really just feeling an increase in
intensity…hadn’t really felt anything painful at all yet.
At 2:30pm, we got permission
to leave the hospital for an hour and a half, because at 4pm I would need
another dose of antibiotics. This time,
we went to a big mall nearby, to walk.
While we were there -
specifically, in the Brookstone store - browsing for things we’ll never have the expendable income for (or really need, anyway) (but are fun to look at), the contractions starting getting pretty strong. I had been able to keep walking for them
before, but now I was having to stop. We
could have stayed longer, but I told Daniel that we ought to head back to the
hospital. I even had him go get the car
while I waited by the door. We weren’t
about to have the baby or anything, but I was just getting uncomfortable.
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Is it cruel of me to stop here? Sorry. You know how everything turned though, right? :)
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Is it cruel of me to stop here? Sorry. You know how everything turned though, right? :)
Wow, two posts in one day!
Here are some of the better ones!
For the most part these are self-explanatory, but sometime I'll come back and add descriptions.
Funny things Hollie has said lately
Someone said something about Hollie being a big sister now, and
she protests, "I'm not big sister - I'm Hollie!"
I was trying to convince Hollie that there's no longer a baby in
my belly, and she suggests, "We need to get another baby in the
store." In almost every conversation we have these days, she tells
me we need [something] "in the store".
I had made a smoothie to share with her, so I poured some into her
cup and started drinking the rest right from the blender (we always try to set
a good example around here). She looked at me, wide-eyed, and said,
"That's a biiiig cup! Go show baby Blake!"
and pointed across the room to her sister.
One afternoon, she was wound up and running around the house
clicking her tongue. I asked what she was doing, and she said, "It's
a song about Mother Goose".
She told me, "You gotta be kidding me!"
Phonetically, for full effect: "You gah be
kimmee!"
Daniel was cooking dinner, and Hollie and I were helping, while I
held Blake in one arm. I told her, "Good job, Hollie!", and she
came right back with "Good job, Mommy!" and "Good job,
Daddy!". I asked her if Blake was doing a good job, too, and she
thought for a minute before saying, "Nooo."
Her latest method of getting my attention is to plead, "Turn
your head, Mommy!"
Just this afternoon, I’m changing Blake’s diaper and her clothes -
she’s not happy about it, and she’s letting me know. Hollie tells me, “Blake wants Daddy.” Umm, ouch?!
Last but not least, my very favorite:
We were at the park yesterday, just walking along, and she said,
"Did you know cars go pee-pee in a little potty outside?"
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We have been busy around here (maybe that goes without saying) but
in good ways. Working on updates, promise!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Blake's birth: Part 1
As I'm writing this, it's becoming a novel, so I'm going to post it in installments. This is the boring one, about the day before the birth. They will get more interesting after this, I promise.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 2
Part 3
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It was the Fourth of July, and we were four days
overdue. Daniel’s parents were staying
with us, to be home with Hollie when Daniel and I went off to the
hospital when the time came. Daniel’s
brother and his family had driven up from Portland for the long weekend, hoping
to see Baby, though they had to go back the next morning and would miss her by
just a few hours (so they ended up driving back up again the next weekend).
I got a phone call that afternoon from my OB. He had been out of town the entire previous
week, so he was just calling to check up on me (isn’t that awesome?). One of us, I don’t remember who, brought up
induction. He understood how I felt
about it, but I also understood the risks of going too far overdue and to be
honest, I was losing patience and was just really-really ready to be done being
pregnant. I asked what options we had
other than Pitocin, and he kind of chuckled at me changing my mind about it
(induction), but he said (I’m paraphrasing), "Please realize- Pitocin is my last
resort. We will try everything else
first. It’s obvious that you had a bad
experience with it last time, and frankly I don’t understand why they started you off with it."
So, without hesitation I agreed to go in to the hospital the
next morning for a “gentle” induction.
The plan was to first see if I was dilated enough for him to strip my
membranes*, and if not, we would try a misoprostol tablet. We were really excited to know we’d have our
baby soon, and I was really excited to have the less aggressive induction and
see if and how my labor would start. I
was a little disappointed that we weren’t going to have the wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-with-contractions experience, or the dropped-off-at-the-hospital-entrance-while-Daniel-parks-the-car experience, that I had been hoping for,
but I was beginning to see that going overdue is just normal for me (turns out
it’s genetic - my mom went over a week overdue with all three of her
pregnancies!). I can accept that, especially knowing now (spoiler alert…) that I can have a [mostly] natural birth anyway,
and have a great experience while I’m at it.
*By the way, if you don’t know what that means, Google it at your own
risk.
Later that afternoon, we were preparing our big Fourth of July lunch and
realized we didn’t have any matches to start our little grill we had purchased
for the occasion. Daniel and I left the
crowd at home and took a long walk to the grocery store. We figured it would be the last opportunity
we would have to be alone together for quite a while! At the store, we rented a movie, True Grit,
to watch the next day at the hospital if we got a chance. We were also surprised to see a book called “McElligot’s
Pool”, a classic Dr. Seuss book that we thought was out of print. My dad used to read it to me when I was a
kid, from the copy he got when he was
a kid, and he recently gave me it to me for Hollie. We read it to her a lot, and she loves it,
but we don’t let her handle it because it’s about to fall apart. In fact, we had left it in Wichita because we
didn’t want to risk damaging it in the move.
We bought that copy in the store, and saw it as a good sign for the next
day. It was so cool to bring it home for
Hollie that evening.
After we got back, I remember feeling that I was "allowed" to relax at that point. I had been having this awful feeling that there is some magical secret thing women are "supposed" to do to start labor and I wasn't doing it. I know it's silly. As a result though, I had been walking quite a bit for the last week or so, feeling like if I wasn't walking or generally staying active then I wasn't doing anything to get my labor started. This is a glimpse into the mind of an irrational overdue pregnant woman. It was keeping me very busy. So, having made the decision to induce, and being at peace with it, I finally felt like I could sit back and be lazy for an evening.
It was so tough putting Hollie to bed that night, knowing that we wouldn't see her in the morning. Actually, knowing that we probably wouldn't see her until after the baby was born! For once, we were the ones not wanting to turn off the lights.
However, I think Daniel did sneak into her room the next morning to give her a kiss before we left, even though I was worried that she would wake up. For the record, she didn't, and she slept late that morning.
To be continued...
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Edit
Yesterday, when I wrote about how we're doing, I left out quite a crucial quarter of "we".
Daddy has been wonderful. He went back to full days at work about a week ago, while my mom was here.
He ended up doing Blake's first bath at home entirely by himself, while I took pictures. That was after I was the one complaining that she needed to be bathed.
He has really made sure that Hollie is getting the attention that she needs, taking her out for walks and trips to the park when she needs to let off steam.
Blake is so content with him. I can't let him hold her too long in the evenings, because she sleeps so well that she won't be tired at bedtime!
Without getting into the gory details, he has been gentle and endlessly supportive through my hormonal postpartum mood swings and new-mom-of-two worries.
Okay, done bragging. But really, he's the best.
Daddy has been wonderful. He went back to full days at work about a week ago, while my mom was here.
He ended up doing Blake's first bath at home entirely by himself, while I took pictures. That was after I was the one complaining that she needed to be bathed.
He has really made sure that Hollie is getting the attention that she needs, taking her out for walks and trips to the park when she needs to let off steam.
Blake is so content with him. I can't let him hold her too long in the evenings, because she sleeps so well that she won't be tired at bedtime!
Without getting into the gory details, he has been gentle and endlessly supportive through my hormonal postpartum mood swings and new-mom-of-two worries.
Okay, done bragging. But really, he's the best.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
How we're doing
Today is my first full day at home with two kiddos. We had three hours yesterday between dropping my mom off at the airport and Daniel coming home. Still alive and intact...so far, so good!
We went for our first walk this morning, just the three of us, with Blake in the mei-tai. It didn't go perfectly...I may have had to pick Hollie up and carry her in one arm at one point...but we did make it home again.
We went for our first walk this morning, just the three of us, with Blake in the mei-tai. It didn't go perfectly...I may have had to pick Hollie up and carry her in one arm at one point...but we did make it home again.
Both girls are napping right now, so I probably should be, too. Instead, I give you some disjointed thoughts...
She's nursing like a pro.
She initially screamed through every diaper change, but lately she doesn't mind them so much while she's awake. But if she's drowsy or in a milk-coma, you'll get an earful. I hate to spoil a newborn milk-coma, but sometimes it has to be done.
She's two weeks old today, and she's only had three baths. I know, I know, she doesn't really get "dirty", but that's still just wrong.
She even seems to like baths, unlike her sister did at this age.
Her umbilical cord fell off in the wee hours of yesterday morning.
I find myself forgetting how young she is...I keep thinking that tomorrow we should try some rice cereal or mashed banana, or be watching for her first tooth.
Hollie is a fantastic big sister. We only have to watch that she doesn't hug too hard. She also really really wants to pick Blake up all by herself. I'm sure at some point the novelty wears off and jealousy moves in...I'm watching for that too!
I am a little tired. For a while there, I was not resting nearly as much as I should have been, but the "new mom high" was carrying me through...and also an irrational need to keep up with all the housework on my own the way I had been before (working on letting go of that). As reality is slowly setting in, I'm making a conscious effort to rest when I get the opportunity. I have to say, the recovery from this birth was infinitely better than last time around. On that note, I am working on that birth story. In my abundant spare time. :)
More later...
Her umbilical cord fell off in the wee hours of yesterday morning.
I find myself forgetting how young she is...I keep thinking that tomorrow we should try some rice cereal or mashed banana, or be watching for her first tooth.
Hollie is a fantastic big sister. We only have to watch that she doesn't hug too hard. She also really really wants to pick Blake up all by herself. I'm sure at some point the novelty wears off and jealousy moves in...I'm watching for that too!
I am a little tired. For a while there, I was not resting nearly as much as I should have been, but the "new mom high" was carrying me through...and also an irrational need to keep up with all the housework on my own the way I had been before (working on letting go of that). As reality is slowly setting in, I'm making a conscious effort to rest when I get the opportunity. I have to say, the recovery from this birth was infinitely better than last time around. On that note, I am working on that birth story. In my abundant spare time. :)
More later...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
First bath and some close-ups
Sorry, creative post titles have gotten pushed down the to-do list for now. We'll get to them eventually. :)
What looks like a really wrinkly back here is just the blur of Daniel's hand.
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This girl opens her eyes so infrequently that every time she does, whoever is holding her has to make sure everyone knows so we can drop what we're doing to come and see. It's a strange feeling to not really know what she looks like.
Managed to capture some evidence of a grayish-blue color here...
----------------------------------------------------
We are doing great! Daniel's parents have left, and now my mom is spending a week here. Overall, Blake is very, very similar to Hollie at this age, but our experience, with the perspective of experienced parents, has been very different.
Stories and more pictures on the way...
(That tongue is really a tongue.)
----------------------------------------------------
This girl opens her eyes so infrequently that every time she does, whoever is holding her has to make sure everyone knows so we can drop what we're doing to come and see. It's a strange feeling to not really know what she looks like.
Managed to capture some evidence of a grayish-blue color here...
----------------------------------------------------
We are doing great! Daniel's parents have left, and now my mom is spending a week here. Overall, Blake is very, very similar to Hollie at this age, but our experience, with the perspective of experienced parents, has been very different.
Stories and more pictures on the way...
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