It's Potty Time!

A long while back we purchased a potty ring that fits on the toilet. For sanitation and sanity sake, I wasn't about to go with a potty chair. So I introduced the ring by placing it on the floor in the master bath. Since Mommy can't go to the bathroom alone anymore it gave us the perfect opportunity to try it out. So when accompanied to the bathroom I plop Arabella down on the seat. She'd usually sit there for a few minutes and then hop up and drag the ring around the bedroom.

After tripping over the ring several times I moved it to her bathroom. When it's time for her to take a bath we undress her in her room and the second she's let down she bolts for the bathroom, knowing that it's bath time. So I started to place the ring on the toilet and we let her sit on the potty while the bath tub is filling. Usually she just stares at us and hangs on the to handles. It's quite the sight.

So we followed our usual routine tonight, but just as Daddy shut the bath water off she did it... we heard "tinkle, tinkle, tinkle." Our big girl peed in the potty!!!!! It was exciting for Mommy and Daddy. Of course Arabella looked at us like we lost our marbles because of our clapping and hollering. I'm hoping this is a good start to what will become our potty training adventure.

One Week Check Up

Today was Evan's one week check up. Sadly he's now under his discharge weight (8 pounds 1 ounce) but only by an ounce. We've been having issues with his nursing. He's such a savage sucker that he tore my nipples apart. So we were trying to supplement at the breast to make sure he was getting his nutrition but not nursing on me very long. After talking w/ a LC we went and got a nipple shield and that has been a saving grace. He's now up to nursing around 20 minutes on each side before passing out. The doctor is semi-concerned with the weight loss, but is hopeful with the nipple shield that we'll bounce back. He still wants us to feed him at least a couple of ounces of formula a day to assist in weight gain. We have to go back next Monday for a weight check so that he can make sure we're back on track for gaining. He also had "issues" with jaundice. They were checking his bili levels before we were released from the hospital and determined he was in the low to moderate risk level, but it didn't warrant therapy. We had to go back to the hospital to have him tested again the day after we were sent home. They called a couple of hours later to say that his levels had risen but were still in the low risk range. The doctor today say he's actually looking better. He described how jaundice "leaves the body" and that it will leave from toe to head and right now from the waist down he's all clear. That tells him that he's on the right road to getting over it. Hopefully with the added nutrition and longer nursing it will assist in getting it out of his body sooner. Other than those two issues he's extremely healthy. He's in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. And he has a 14 inch head. No wonder I tore?

And get this, the little terd is so strong that he raises his head and controls it like none other, looking around the room. Obviously he isn't seeing much, but I cannot believe that he has such amazing control at such a young age.

Announcing Evan Thomas

The birth story of Evan.

I had been resting up pretty much all day Monday because I just felt like I needed it. I was having sporadic contractions, but they were rather strong. Adam came home and relieved me of Arabella and I just stayed in bed and rested. Throughout the evening my contractions were getting stronger and more regular. It was time for everyone to go to bed but of course my body wouldn't let me, so I rested as best I could. Around midnight the contractions were pretty regular, about 15 minutes apart. By 3 am they were about 3-4 minutes apart and I woke Adam up because they were starting to get to me and there was no way to get comfortable. Adam timed a couple of contractions, then got out of bed and said I think we should take you to the hospital. So we called his Mom to come stay with Bella so we didn't have to wake her up.

We made it to the hospital by 4am. The contractions were back to around 5 minutes apart but getting stronger. We got all checked in and walked up to labor and delivery. They were going to observe me to see if my labor was going to continue or stall. By 7:30 the doctor on call had been called but had a c-section to do before he could see me. The nurse checked me (she happened to be the labor nurse from Arabella's delivery) and I was still at a 3 but effaced about 60%. Around 7:30am the doctor on call, Dr. Bordson came to visit me. She was juggling several of us ladies so her visit was brief. Besides a doctor change there was a shift change for the nurses as well. Ms. Satina was our labor nurse and let me just say she was the best ever, especially when assisting with a natural birth.

Dr. Bordson came back to visit at 9:30am and at that time determined that my water needed to be broken. The sac was preventing Evan from engaging properly in order for me to continue to dilate. So she grabbed the handy dandy amni hook and broke my water. Now there are several things we were able to different this time around, and having my water broke was not one that I wanted. I really wanted them to rupture naturally, but had we let that happen, who knows if I would have had him or if they would have sent me home. In retrospect it may not have been ideal for me, but I'm glad it happened. Around 11:30am I was checked again and now progressed to 5cm.

As part of my natural labor birth plan we took walks around the labor and delivery floor, just as we did with Arabella, but the difference this time around is that we continued to do it through out the labor, obviously stopping for contraction breaks often. We also took advantage of the labor ball to help open the pelvis and give Adam a better position to rub my back (that's the best part of the labor ball ~ a free massage). As my labor progressed and the contractions grew stronger I even ventured into the shower. This was something I wanted to do with Arabella, but was not able to stay focused long enough to get out of the bed. I will definitely say and hot shower and pulsing shower head work wonders during contractions.

By 2:00pm I made it to 7cm, 80% effaced and was starting to not be able to control my breathing so I asked for something to take the edge off, but still was aiming for an epi-free labor. So at 3:20pm I got a half cc of Nubain and immediately felt loopy. An hour later they gave me another shot as I had only progressed to 8cm and was still struggling to focus, but I still didn't ask for the epidural. Adam was very surprised that I wasn't begging for it like last time. I just kept telling myself I could do it. Luckily we had the best nurse ever helping us. She has two gorgeous little girls, and both were born natural, so she knew how to help, and what I needed. My cervix, on the right side, wasn't cooperating again. For some reason it just refuses to efface completely, so Satina grabbed a birthing ball and made me lean forward on it to help put Evan in a position to help finish the effacement. Let me tell you it hurt like hell. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to cry it hurt that bad.

Around 5:30 or so Satina asked if I needed to empty my bladder. I said I didn't know, but she thought it would be just what I needed to get me to the end of the delivery. So they helped me waddle to the restroom, I sat down, tinkled a little and immediately felt the need to push. So they rushed me back to the bed. They checked and Evan was crowning. So they scrambled to get the doctor in the room in time. Dr. Bordson had 4 other women in labor at the same time, so needless to say her bedside manners lacked (for the record this isn't the same female that delivered Bella). I had to labor down so that the doctor could get her gear on (it seemed like only seconds) and I said I wasn't waiting and started pushing. About five or six good pushes, and four minutes later Evan was born at 5:41pm. He weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and 21.5 inches long.

I truly believe what I've been told and read that when it comes time to deliver a baby; that the nerve endings are shut off and you can't feel the pain. Remember how I said that leaning forward on the birthing ball had me nearly in tears because it hurt so bad? I could feel myself tearing when Evan came out, but that was all I felt, besides the "pressure" of him leaving my body. I didn't feel "pain." It was an amazing feeling knowing that I made it over twelve hours without an epidural. I know in my heart that if it were not for Adam and Satina I would not have made it through this delivery without the epidural. Of course my legs still feel like Jell-O this morning, but I have an amazing little boy to show for all the hard work that Adam & I did. Adam was an amazing partner and unfortunately didn't witness Evan being born, but he was focused on helping me stay focused. He said he wasn't disappointed because he knew I needed his help more. I love this man dearly. He did what I needed him to do so that we could give birth to a beautiful little boy.

And one more thing, he DOES have Adam's cleft chin, it's even more pronounced than Bella's...so cute!

38 Weeks and Miserable

I've unfortunately made it to 38 weeks. I was really hoping to have had this child by now. Such is life I suppose. Today's appointment was disappointing. No change. I'm still at 3cm. BOO!

The doctor I saw said that if I make it to 39 weeks we can discuss induction. Sorry, thank you but no thank you. I may be miserable and ready for this pregnancy to be over and hold a healthy little boy in my arms, but I'm not about putting synthetic drugs in my system to do it. Thankfully I will see a different doctor next week if I make it that far, and if that doctor brings it up also I will politely decline. Again I may be miserable, but I'm sure as heck not going to go through another long labor like I had with Bella, God willing.

So wish us luck and let's pray these contractions stick together here. I really need for my consistently inconsistent contractions to get their act together!

Fun Times

I'm trying to recall all of the "new" things that Bella has started doing lately. If some of these are repeats, forgive me.

She's expanded her vocabulary to include ta-da, white, and mine. It's rather cute most of the time, but as you can imagine "mine" gets old quick. We're working on "baby." She understands what we mean when we say it, it's just trying to get her to repeat it that's funny.

I've been working with her on patty cake and she's getting really good at. But now she has the "roll it" part confused with us washing our hands. Anytime we apply lotion, soap, hand sanitizer, or rub the cracker crumbs off our hands she repeats the rubbing motion. It's pretty cute. But again she does the same move during patty cake.

And unfortunately her "kisses" have turned into blowing slobbers. When you'd ask for a kiss in the past she'd give the ole open mouth kiss. Now she proceeds to blow slobbers on you. Such a goof.

She's become addicted to chap stick over the past day or two. She's been having the teething snots lately and at night breathes through her mouth. Thus it's created an upper lip that split. So I started applying some of my Burt's Bees chap stick to her lips. Now when she sees me putting my chap stick on she starts smacking her lips and waits for me to put some on her.

That's my goofy child in a nut shell for now.

37 Weeks &....

Well, today's appointment was actually exciting, but before I get to the details we'll rewind to Sunday afternoon.

Sunday I had to work, which entails standing on my feet for four or more hours. And anyone who has ever been pregnant knows just how tiresome, and painful it can be to do so. Towards the end of my shift I started contracting and was in quite some pain. I tried to hide behind a curtain and lean against the wall for a few to see if that would help, but no such luck. Thank goodness I work with one of my long time friends (and second Mommy like figure). She could tell I was hurting, but I just said I'd be fine. Finally she said "go home and I'll cover you." Well I headed back to my boss's office to grab my stuff & let her know I'd be heading out and that Jackie would be covering me.

I told her that I may not make the next show on January 30th, I'd play it by ear. But of course she said "Don't show up. We'll see you after the bambino is born." Fine by me! So I head home and am driving in pain. That's when the lower back pain started in...while I was sitting? The pain continued off and on throughout the night. The next morning I felt a little better. Then Monday comes and goes with the contractions and tightening off and on. Tuesday rolls around and the same thing as Monday occurs. Wednesday, four in the morning and boom a really hard contraction strikes. Twenty-five minutes later, there's another one. This continued every twenty to twenty-five minutes for two hours and then it ceased and I was able to get back to sleep. All day Wednesday I resumed random contractions and tightening.

Today I laid in bed most of the day. I was having very obvious contractions and tightening, lower back pain, and various other pains that most females in labor can relate to. So I was very thankful that the booger butt slept in until 9am. After she ate her breakfast I put her in the pack n play and she watched cartoons. I hate to say it but the t.v. played babysitter today. Then around noon we had a snack and she took a nap until I had to get us ready to go to the doctor's office. We made it to the doctors office and I was sweating so profusely you'd have thought I ran a mile. Finally we get checked in and seated. Then of course Arabella wants to play the wired kid who's never been outside the house in her life. Luckily Adam showed up rather quickly to take her off my hands and belly. I was hurting rather bad by the time he got there.

We make it back to the room and I tell the nurse about the past couple of days and how I've been feeling. Before she leaves the room she pulls out the trusty paper apron that's only big enough to cover a ladies thigh, and said she'll check to see if my doctor wants to check me. Normally if nothing has been going on they won't put you through the discomfort of being checked. A few moments go by and another nurse pops her head in and says that the doctor wants to check me. So I do the ceremonial disrobe from the waist down and wait. The doctor comes in, we chat, then she said, "Let's check you." I told her I would be so disappointed if in a weeks time I've gone through so much pain and discomfort to find out that there hasn't been any progress. As she started checking I was starting to get discouraged. She said that she couldn't feel the baby's head. "Awe man, I don't wanna hear that." Then she asked if he had been floating any. Of course he has. Sometimes he pushes down really hard and other times he's killing my ribs. So she checks some more and finds his head floating. She said that all my pain hasn't been imaginary and that it has been making progress toward this little guys appearance! I went from barely 1 cm a week ago to 3 cm. I was so relieved. That's when she said she doesn't think he'll hold out until his due date (Feb 12) and if he does she would really, really be surprised. Especially with all the early labor pains and symptoms I've been having. So, it was a very exciting appointment for me.

Now I get to sit at home, relax as much as I can, and wait for him to arrive....and wait for Adam to get his room painted so we can get everything set up. We'll see who wins, Evan or Adam!

36 Weeks

FINALLY!!!! I've made it to 36 weeks. Now the real fun begins (Can feel the love?) and we start going to the doctor every week. Yesterday's appointment was the same old same old. The baby's heartbeat is great and I'm doing well. There was a turn of events with ever-so-coveted Group B Strep test, yay for cotton swabs! While the doctor was down there she check to see if any of the contractions, pressure and pain I've been feeling is progressing towards anything. She said my cervix is soft and I'm at 1cm. So yes there's some progress, but very little. I was truly hoping for more than that, but if memory serves me right Arabella was the same at this point in the pregnancy. So does this mean I have to wait it out until February to meet our new little one OR will he show up on his own sooner? Only time will tell I suppose. Either way I've officially hit that point where I am done. I'm ready for this to be over and ready to move past the discomfort. I'd say I'm ready to get past the sleepless nights, but if you've had a child you know that's unrealistic.

P.S. Send me your dilation & labor dust to P.O. Box 1 Eviction Lane, Get-Out-Now, MO. Thanks!

My First Video Chat

I don't have but a moment and wanted to make sure I documented this fun occasion. Recently on our December Mama board a chat feature was enabled. This afternoon I was talking to Laura, in Boston, and she walked me through setting up a video chat for our girls. So Bella, and Mommy, got to experience their first video chat. It was fun and nice to talk to another Mommy face to face, so to speak. Abby was very active and Bella was laid back. It was a fun time and we can't wait to do it again!

I'm raising a vampire

Last night Arabella was grinding her teeth and she knows (yes, she knows) how much it annoys me. She only does this when she gets new teeth in and is "exploring" them. So I told her I needed to see which teeth she got in so I can chart them. She was strapped into her highchair, minus the tray, and I said "let me see what you've got and don't bite me." I stuck my forefinger in her mouth and before I could get it to the side, and avoid being bitten, she chomped down as hard as she could. My reaction, of course, was to withdraw my finger but that only made things worse. She had left a pool of blood collection underneath my skin. It still hurts to touch it. Adam was standing there and laughed. He told Arabella to tell me to keep my fingers out. Of course that isn't going to happen because I chart which teeth she gets and when. Guess I'll have to be more careful next time. Yes, Mommy learned her lesson.

12 Month Check Up

Everything is going great with Arabella. She's at 31 inches tall and 27 pounds even. They made her stand and she was hanging on my finger, so I'm not sure how accurate that was as we weighed her at 11 months at 27 pounds 8 ounces. Anyway, the doctor says she's doing great, advanced with some of her skills, and growing like a weed. She's very proportionate although in the 95th percentile.

Then came the shots. The nurse didn't have a helper so I had to hold her down while she got three shots (Chicken Pox, MMR, and Hep A). After I picked her up she stopped crying after 15-30 seconds. And then we had to go to the lab for her blood draw. They were testing for lead and to make sure she's not anemic since we've started weaning off of the formula. The nurse specifically told me that they would do a finger prick which was fine by me. Then the hose beast (what I will call the old lady in the lab) says no, the arm collection is better to test. Mind you I have to hold a 27 pound baby ON my belly and keep her as still as possible. First off she wailed when they put the band on her arm, first left, then right, then back to her left. As if that weren't torture enough they jabbed the damn needle in her arm and "lost" the vein. The hose beast proceeded to dig the damn needle around for over a minute and I couldn't take it. I told her to stop. I go through that w/ my TSH draws and I know what it feels like. It's not pleasant and there was no call to do that to my baby. SO, she proceeds to bitch that UHC is picky about how the blood is drawn for those tests. I DON'T CARE! She proceeds to walk away from us and continues to mumble the same line several times. WHATEVER. So the other lady pulled out the finger stick and I again had to hold her still and keep her from retracting her arm. After a minute of wailing and blood collection it was over. We then had to wait around for the anemia results and all is well.

There were two other incidents that followed this at the doctors office, but had nothing to do with the appointment, it just turned out to be a really crappy afternoon for both of us.