Pete's arrival

Pete’s due date was Sunday, October 30. Not only was I certain I’d have him before then, but I was sure he’d be such a quick birth, like Henry, I was afraid of having him in my pants! I was getting pretty impatient with his arrival and was up Thursday, Nov. 3 at about 4 am. No contractions, just couldn’t sleep. When Dave got up at 5 for a run I told him to go ahead and run far away as nothing was going to happen here!

At 6:49 I woke up with the first contraction and I thought, “oh, I remember what this feels like: Pain”. I waited and timed them and they seemed to get more intense and closer, but it wasn’t too bad. I called Dave at work (he’d put in about a 25 minute workday thus far) and had him come home at 7:20.

He got Mary, from next door, to stay with the kids who weren’t up yet and I called my mom to drive from Muskegon and we left for the hospital. My contractions were around 4 minutes apart and definitely getting intense!

We arrived at 8 am (easy to remember times when you’re timing contractions) but were in triage for over an hour as they monitored my contractions. They were concentrated in my back and were getting pretty painful, though not moving closer together. The nurse checked me when we came in and I was at about a 4. We suspected the baby was face-up so I tried hands and knees, but I was terrified they’d send me home as my water had not broken and the contractions still were not moving closer. I was afraid I wasn’t “in labor”

At about 9:20 she checked me and I was at 4.5 so I was technically in labor and making cervical change. They wheeled me into delivery and I started asking for an epidural right away! I wanted a natural birth, like Henry’s, because the recovery is so much easier, but I could tell that I just wasn’t having a similar labor and like Charlotte, who was face up, I didn’t think I’d make any progress with the back labor without the epidural.

At about 10:15 I got the epidural and aside from a nick to my nerve in my right leg (shooting pains and kick was the result), that went well. Suddenly, that back pain went away! But it also revealed the uterine contractions that had been there the whole time that I didn’t even notice with that back pain. Let me tell you, back labor is serious stuff! The uterine contractions I totally could have handled. But since it was in anyway, we turned it up a bit to dull that ☺

The on-call doctor came in about 11:30 and I was only at a 7 and my water hadn’t broken yet and my doc would able to come a little after noon, so we decided to wait for her. She arrived about 12:30 and checked me and as she did we discussed breaking my bag of waters when it broke! That was easy. I was at a 9 or so and she went to change her clothes.

By this point, I could start feeling much more in the uterine contractions and could tell that things were changing. She got back about 12:45 (as I was getting uncomfortable and sassy) and then we could finally this on the road. I pushed with 3 or 4 contractions, for a total of about 20 minutes. But it was strange because my contractions never got closer; they were still 4 minutes apart. Very glad for that epi when he was in the birth canal- I remember that part with Henry and having to wait almost 4 minutes between pushes would have been bad!

At 1:09 pm, he came out and it felt so good! Getting that near 10 lbs off my other organs was so nice! His little hand was up right next to his face and the doctor gently unwound the cord that was around his neck and hand. They put him on my chest and I thought “oh good, I DO love you!” and he was just perfect. Dave cut the cord, the doctors did repairs on the 3rd degree tear (apparently along my old Charlotte fault line).

It took a while to get feeling back after the epi was turned off and I was a “fall risk” as my bracelet proclaimed (I faint really easily) so I had to be gurneyed up to recovery around 4 pm.

Pete’s been great! He hard cried at all. He had the mildest form of respiratory distress, which sounded like a tiny Geiger counter. But that cleared up within a day. He’s been sleeping and nursing just beautifully. Charlotte and Henry were so excited to meet him and hold him; it was a joy to see their faces as they looked upon him.

Duck, Duck, GOOSE!

Last night Charlotte wanted to play a game with me. Henry was in the sandbox and Dave was cleaning up dinner dishes. She said she wanted to play duck duck goose. The following is a transcript of this event.

Kate: Okay, how do you play?
CJ: You sit in a circle and touch peoples heads and say duck and then goose and then you run.
Kate: so do we need another person to play?
CJ: no, we can do it.
[we sit in a "circle" across from each other]
CJ: I'll go first
[stands up and deliberates...wheels turning in mind...]
No, you go first.
Kate: I think we need someone else. go get daddy
[dave and henry join us. CJ wants to play upstairs in our bedroom. we sit on the floor as charlotte goes around us]
CJ: Duck
Henry: Duck [gets up and follows her]
CJ: duck
Henry: duck
CJ: goose! [as she pats Dave's head]
Henry: Goose!
[charlotte runs around the circle, dave gets up to follow her, she completes the circle then keeps going and runs into her room. Henry follows her. Dave follows her. They all come back]
Charlotte: Okay, now your turn, Daddy.
[in a whisper: call me the goose!]

This continued for about 15-20 minutes with Henry refusing to sit down always following whoever was it and repeating duck or goose. The running was in all directions and made little sense or difference whether the person who was it was gotten by the goose. Again, Playing with her is like playing with a drunk person. Just another reason why living with toddlers is like being at a frat party.

The people in your neighborhood

This afternoon as naptime approached, the kids were bickering over toys and me, so I kicked us outside. I picked some ripe tomatoes and Henry noted that the people 3 doors down had a lawn service doing some weed-wacking. So the kids and I walked down there. On the porch was the man who lived there, Mr. Zazakis. He and his wife, Marina, are from Greece though they've been here in the states since they were in their 20's. They invited the kids in right away and gave them candy. The kids made themselves at home and sat on the couch and then it was sort of awkward when the kids decided to go upstairs. But the Zazakis were so nice and welcoming. They sent me home with some candies from Greece that their daughter, who lives there, brings to them. There is a picture of the Mona Lisa on the wrappers.

I think the kids are learning that every neighbor they visit will offer them treats. What a nice neighborhood where that happens. Yesterday we visited Cele across the street and the kids played with her cats. And of course, yesterday when we got home from grocery shopping Henry got out of the car and started calling for Mary and Bernie. Mary was outside and she gave the kids popsicles. We're like the block moochers. I'm okay with that.

Garden Glory

It is a little early to really be planting stuff, but it is getting crazy out of control in my house so I transplanted almost all my seedlings today. I made sure to water them well because they looked pretty traumatized from the move. Hopefully they'll perk up soon. I see the sun is peeking out now so they might get a little warmth.

I plan on covering them with old sheets or a plastic tarp at night for the first few nights because I haven't hardened them off yet. In an ideal world, I would have left them outside for a few hours at a time to get used to the outside gradually. But all of a sudden I realized that I had the time to plant them and I needed them out, now!

My tomatoes were so darn leggy, I ended up stripping the bottom 12-18 inches of leaves and burying the stalk in a shallow trench and then tied the top to a stake so that roots will grow out of the stalk. Tomatoes are good like that. I need to buy lots more cages, though. I only had 4 cages because I used my peony cages on my
peonies this year :-)

I tied some twine up to stakes to make a half-assed fence to keep two year olds out of the garden. But I need to buy some more stakes, too. When my irises bloom, I'll really need the stakes for them and for my gladiolas.

Feels so good to be out in the yard and it is looking sharp with our new playset. If only Dave would agree to cut the lawn shorter. He says longer is better for it. That might be true, but it looks unruly to me.

Oh, biggidy-bomb is up so I'll go tend to him now. I'll post pics later.

Relaxing on a sunny day

I am enjoying a day without a nap. I finally feel good again! About two weeks ago, I got a cold. Then I concurrently got a UTI (thankfully, my dear Dr. Andy was able to prescribe me some stuff since I couldn't get to my doctor). Then Charlotte got some sort of stomach/poop bug that lasted FOUR days. Then as she got better, I got it! But it only lasted a couple of days and Henry never got it.

So I have been napping because I've been sick and miserable. But now I feel pretty good. I worked out today and then we went to see Mary and her new baby, James. He is a peanut! I can't believe babies are so small. Henry looked like Gigantatron next to baby James. My friend Rose also had a baby yesterday, her baby is Elsa. Love that nice german name.

My seed catalog from Henry Fields came today and though I wanted to use burpee (like mom always does), I find this one is slightly cheaper, and so I might use that.

The sun is coming through the windows, the kids are both sleeping and all the world is at peace. Maybe that is the margarita talking. What? A margarita in the middle of the day?? you might ask. BUT, if you think about it, it is the most responsible time for me to drink when I don't have any childcare duties. I just have to be good to nurse at about 5pm. No problem! And though "daytime drinking" is a supposed to be a sign of alcoholism, I can assure you all that I haven't been drinking a whole heck of alot lately. Just too busy/too tired to do much. I go to bed at like 9:30. Last night I stayed up til 10:10 and I thought that was late!

I'd love to post pics, but I"m using my "craptop" and it doesn't have our photos on it, so maybe another time.

Garden Fever!

Okay, quick update: Henry is getting better and better generally, though Dave still sort of dislikes him and thinks he is difficult. This is not true, he is just a baby. Henry, not Dave. Well, maybe both when it comes to this :-) Found out the hard way that his reflux meds are actually quite important when CJ managed to lose his medicine and he missed two doses and then went nuts the following day. Bought two week supply more for $24 then found the bottle in the pantry. Thanks, Charlotte.

Charlotte is super cute, talks all the time, likes to sing, loves the snow. She stomps one foot into the snow along the driveway all the way down. I'm not sure why this is so interesting, but she's been doing it for months.

On henry's three month birthday we joined the YMCA (they watch kids in childcare center for free with family membership as soon as babies are 3 months old). After some false starts, we found a good rhythm to going and now go 6 days a week at 8:30-10:00. I've lost 10 pounds and several inches and I feel much better!!

Getting out with the two kids is getting easier, or I'm just getting used to it. But I'm getting desperate to get out withOUT the kids and maybe WITH my husband. Need a date night soon!

I'm reading a book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about a family who vows to eat only food that is local. They grow much of it themselves on their farm in Virginia (?) and buy local meats. Although I'm not up for that challenge (it is a holy amount of work), I'm super excited about my garden this year!! Last fall I killed a flower bed so I could do more veggies and I'm so glad. I plan to plant lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beans, onions, garlic, maybe potatoes and I already ahve some strawberries. I'm going to do my best to do it all organically and I have a few books on hold from the library about this. I also plan to try to hit the farmers market as soon as they open this spring and do more local buying and more food from scratch. I'm reading alot about the amount of preservatives and chemicals in our foods and I don't like it! Besides, I enjoy cooking and so does Charlotte. She is a tremendous helper and makes muffins with me about once a week. Now that Henry can sit in the Bumbo on the counter, we can probably do even more! I used my food dryer for the first time since last fall and dried some kiwi. They look awful but taste pretty darn good! I plan to try to do more with tomatoes this fall and dry some and can some and freeze some. I love me my tomatoes and so does Charlotte! I'll have to plant at least three cherry tom plants this year to keep us all satisfied.

Okay, kids still napping (I have them on the same schedule for the afternoon and it was a stroke of brilliance/necessity that I am glad for every single day) so I might get some stuff done.

Much Harder than I thought

(that's what she said)

So this two kid thing...um...really hard. I don't know if I have ppd or what. If I think I have it, maybe that means I don't, because if I did, then I'd be in denial and not think i had it. I don't know. What are my symptoms? Let's see...mostly just crazy. A vast majority of the time I'm doing okay. I get frustrated or sometimes I"m happy. But about once a day I lose it. Like I really get a little violent with the little guy. I swear alot. Charlotte knows who Jesus Christ is because mommy says it all the time. I like the baby because I can swear a blue streak and he won't repeat it. I wonder if he can sense it when I'm so pissed I'm about to bite him (haven't bitten him yet...well, not hard at least).

This morning I was so tired. I woke up at 1 am and 6:45 to nurse then when I got back into bed, Charlotte was yelling for me. But I refused to get her until 8. So I dozed while she yelled for about 30 minutes. I couldn't wait to take a nap. I thought maybe we'd just watch movies all day. But we didn't. And when the afternoon rolled around and I wasn't sure I would be able to get a nap in, I just got pissed and decided to run on the treadmill and get frustration out. Henry was sleeping and Charlotte watched some Curios George. Then after about 25 minutes of treadmill and 40 minutes of Henry nap, he woke up. I convinced Charlotte to nap even though she put on her snow boots and wanted to run on the treadmill with me (I promised we'd do it after the nap). I went up to Henry. This is the part that always throws me. He nursed at 11:45. It was now 1:45. Not really long enough to nurse. So i tried to rock him back to sleep for about a half an hour. This is when I went crazy. I was really pissed. He just wouldn't let me put him down. But he slept in my arms. So I finally nursed him (hoping there wasn't lactic acid in my milk from the exercise). And he went down. But I didn't burp him. So he woke up 1 minutes later, then I had to burp him and rock him more. But he's been sleeping maybe 10-15 minutes now. I hear a little murmur every now and then and I don't know if anyone but a mother of a newborn understands how it makes the hackles rise. I just pray silently....please, please, please, please, stay asleep, please don't wake up! At least not until I want you to.

Charlotte's naps have gone from a solid 2 hours down to about 1 or 1 and a half. This sucks. Timing the two was hard enough before, now the window is smaller. But if I don't nap when they do, I still want some "me" time. The little vampires suck on me (one of them literally) all day long.

Sleeping at night is horrible. I can't get to sleep. I know I'm tired, I know I need to sleep but I lie there. At 9:30 or 10 when I first lay down. Then again whenever I get up to nurse. Seems like the only time I can really sleep is by morning when the stupid kids are getting up!

We're planning on joining the Y and I look forward to that,I think. They won't take Henry (or H-bomb as we affectionately call him now) until 3 months. In the mean time, maybe I'll try to get a workout at home in during his morning nap from 10:15-10:45. Maybe by exercising it will be easier to sleep. Maybe the endorphins will help me not want to kill myself. It didn't really work today, I wonder how long it takes.

Christmas miracles

Wow, a long time since posting. I always think of things to say...just can't find the time to say them! But I might be finding more time soon. I might be dropping MY afternoon nap!

Henry is starting to stretch out his night sleeping! yeah! It started on Saturday after the VanderWier christmas party( Dec. 27). he nursed before we left at 10 pm and then not again until 9 the next morning! Since then I typically only get up once per night, at like 4 or 5 am, and then he wakes up about 9 am. He is settling into a predictable routine. He wakes up about 9, takes a 30 minute nap at about 10:15, nurses again at around noon, takes a nice nap about 1-3 (though he usually wakes about 35 minutes in and needs to be re-settled). Then we nurse again when he wakes up, maybe a 40 minute nap around 5:30, nurse again between 6 and 7, then bedtime between 8 and 9. It is so good to be able to count on it and plan things. The only problem is that going out of the house really screws with all of this. So while Dave has been home, no problem, but when I'm on my own and get lonely...we'll see.

Christmas was great, it is so fun with a toddler. Santa brought charlotte her dollhouse and dolls, which she loves. And then we went out to chinese for dinner with the Courvilles.

Henry is just doing his mid-afternoon nap wake up so I have to publish, but hopefully, I'll get more down soon.

Henry 5.0

Things have really gotten so much better since my last post! Starting the evening before he turned 5 weeks old, Henry mysteriously stopped having the cramping screaming crying fits. He actually was laid down to sleep...and slept! He also started sleeping normal baby amounts during the day (every 1-2 hours after waking up, he'd nap) and he stopped doing marathon 5 hour awake stretches that ended in fits. This is all so good.

Now, don't get me wrong, he is still a baby and still cries and generally is fussy from 5-9 at night. Unfortunately, this is when Dave is home and Dave still refers to him as a "monster". But during the day, it is not so bad to deal with him!

We have had some times where "cry it out" seemed appropriate, and worked. Like, 5 minutes of crying followed by 2 hours of good sleep. And some times of course when that didn't work, the crying went on, the comforting went on, etc.

One surefire way to upset the apple cart is if I eat dairy. Everytime I have it, which isn't often, but I think that maybe it was just my imagination, is followed by about two days of a very fussy little guy!

And another change MIGHT be going on with him regarding night sleep. He usually would do a nice long stretch in the early night, like 8 or 9 pm to 2 am. Though I didn't get to bed/sleep until 10 or 10:30 so it was frustrating. Last night he nursed at 5 pm, then he was awake. and awake. and awake. I just couldn't get him to nap (though he seemed sleepy) so I tried to nurse him. NO WAY! he screamed and screamed. So, completely in tears and preparing for a horrible night, I put him in bed. I even went in at about 9:15 to try to trick him into nursing in his sleep. Didn't work.

He didn't wake up until 1 am! Which got me about 3 hours of sleep interruped by one potty break (darn). THen I thought he'd nurse every 2 hours from there...but he didn't wake up again until 6:30! Which got me 4.5 hours of sleep interrupted by one "oh my god, is he still breathing, let me check as long as I have to get up to pee" break. Today he has been very sleepy still. In fact, right now, I'm trying to decide if I should get him up babywise-style or just let him go til he meets his sleep needs. He proved that he can go awhile without nursing, let's just get it to the right time of day, or rather, night! So i'm going to get him at 3.5 hours between nursing just to harass him and try to nurse and maybe tonight will be better, and maybe I'll enjoy it more!!

Oh, incidentally, CJ is in daycare today so that is why I even have time to post and I took an 1.5 hour nap since Henry decided that the 6:30 feeding was the start of his day and I"d been up since 5:44 worrying he was dead. Early morning for mommy.

Big Changes

Okay, reading the beginning of the last post, well, things have changed. In the time since then, Henry has gotten increasingly fussy. I have come to accept that he likely has colic. But that hopefully at 6 weeks (just after the peak of fussiness) he will get better. IF not, then maybe at 12 weeks. It is easier if I just think "two more weeks..."

I didn't think it was colic because he isn't always crying, but apparently colic is characterized by fussiness, not necessarily crying. And yes, it lasts on and off for three hours at a time. The worst is the mornings. At about 5 or 6 am he'll usually nurse, but then I can't seem to get him to lay back down. I'm up every thirty or forty minutes and pick him up and he burps or farts, or just calms down and then I put him down and it starts all over again. This goes on until about 8 or 9. And that is usually coinciding with Charlotte waking up. So I"m trying to soothe him or sometimes nurse him while she wants to get up, get juice and breakfast, sit in my lap, etcetera.

This morning I greeted my husband by yelling "I'm going to fucking kill someone if I don't get some god-damn sleep!". Lovely.

So PPD?? probably. But what to do about it?? Nothing. Just get through I guess. I'll have a better week maybe this week since Dave only works Mon-wed. THat helps. Just three days. Then as long as Thanksgiving goes okay...I'll get a few days with Dave. He's tired too. No one likes a screaming baby. And when it is paired with a screaming toddler...well, you just wanna kill someone. Most people with ppd want to hurt the baby. I mostly want to hurt Charlotte and this makes me feel terrible!

Let's give it two more weeks. Two more weeks. Two more weeks. Two more...

Random Thoughts...

Wow, I have a few minutes, so we'll see what comes out. Lots of thoughts that I'd like to post, but not lots of time to post them!

Things are going well! Surprisingly, Henry seems to be just as good a sleeper as he is an eater. Maybe all the eating helps. He is nursing 2-3 hours apart during the day and the last couple of nights has done a few 4 hour stretches. Much different from CJ. She nursed about every 1-2 hours around the clock. I didn't even get a 3 hour break until she was two weeks and no 4 hour stretch until about christmastime.

Here is what I know about Henry. He is soooooo cute and I love his warm little head. I forgot how sweet a newborn can be. He hates diaper changes and cries violently, but it is getting better. I'm sure it has to do with the circumcision...ouch! He has to burp and poop ALOT during nursing, so I'm never quite sure when we're done. He'll pause to do both so even though he eats fast, it takes a while with all the little breaks he takes.

Charlotte just adores him and has plenty of confidence in holding him and pushing him on his swing. We try to tell her gentle (we say that about a million times a day to her) and she is pretty good, but she must be watched closely. She likes to help by putting blankets on him (scary) and insists when I'm nursing that it is "her turn!". She saw me nurse the first time and wanted to know what was happening. "henry eating?", she said. I said "can you say 'breastfeeding'?" and she said "Henry eating boob!" I guess that's all I can get from her right now.

We went to the mall and Lowes today as a family. Even with Dave I felt like managing the two was tough. just the logistics of the cart and the baby carrier. We took the new stroller for a test drive and CJ was okay with it at first, but it allows too much freedom if she isn't strapped in she'll jump right out.

Physically, I seem to be healing, though I'm dealing with hemorrhoids, which is new territory for me. But I put out some questions to my mothers and more group and find that I am not unique! So I am getting good advice. That is where the majority of my pain is coming from. I still can't believe I delivered naturally. Every time I lay down, I re-hash the whole thing in my head. I just can't believe how it all happened. So fast! I'm thankful for that and pretty darn scared about if I have another child! Dr. said I'd need to rent a Winnebago and live in the parking lot of the hospital the last month :-) Seriously.

Charlotte is napping, Henry is napping, and I just woke up from my nap so we are all doing great right now! Well, I think I'll use the rest of this free time to take care of house stuff.

Henry is born!

Wow, in a feat of human ability, Henry managed to surprise the hell out of us this morning! We were, of course, getting set for my induction of labor that was to start at 9:30 pm on Monday night. I was upstairs in our bed and David has relegated himself the bed in the basement so as to get better sleep (he was overly concerned about every turn I made and was sleeping poorly). Here is the play by play:
5:04 I wake up and feel hungry, then like I have to poop. Go back to sleep.
5:11 wait a minute, this feeling like I have to poop feels like a contraction. 7 minutes apart. okay.
5:16 There it is again, I'll see if I have to pee.
5:17 water breaks just as I'm getting to the bathroom
5:20 call Dave's cell, "water broke, contracting, get upstairs please"
5:24 Call Dr. Murphy's office and give the details about water and contraction timing.
5:26 Dr. Murphy calls back, "go ahead and go to hospital, it'll probably be 4-6 hours"
5:40 Call Becky to see if she can get Charlotte. yep.
In the meantime, contractions are closer and closer together. I try to use my cell phone's stopwatch feature to time them. I get a little confused but see that contractions are 2 minutes apart. Dave is throwing stuff together. Bags are mostly packed. Can't find phone. I'm on the floor every couple of minutes grunting.
6:00 Becky arrives and takes Charlotte, I think. It gets hazy here. We get into car and drive to hospital. Take a wrong turn, bend the traffic rules slightly.
6:15 check into triage. I ask for my epidural for the first time.
6:17 The nurse checks my cervix (in between contractions). I am at 5 or 6. I ask for epidural. They have to give me an IV fist (in between contractions). I don't know how long and IV takes, but we started just after one contraction and I still had another while they were working. Those suckers were right on top of each other.
6:20 I ask for epidural again. I tell dave that I feel like I have to push. They start wheeling me to delivery. I tell nurses I feel like pushing and scream like a maniac, possibly frightening all other patients.
6:25 I ask for epidural. They examine me. I'm at an 8 or 9. They say, "call dr. murphy again".
6:30 The lady comes in to have me sign stuff for epidural. I don't care what the risks are!!
6:40 They check me and I'm complete. I give up on epidural and just say "drugs, drugs, drugs" all the while being a complete coward. They say, breathe in through nose and out through mouth. concentrate on breathing. Very difficult. Moaning felt better. Plus, I wasn't sure they realized how much pain I was in. Instead of asking for epidural I said I want a doctor!
6:42 Doctor comes in (dr. Hicks I beleive) and they drop the bottom half of bed, pull down the death star looking search light from the ceiling and put my legs up. I'm instructed to push with contractions. I mutter plenty about how I can't and don't want to and how it really hurts. I can feel baby in my vaginal canal and it feels pretty bad.
6:45 dr. says we need to do a small episiotomy since I tore last time. I guess they gave me a shot of lidocaine for that. I head the snipping but didn't care. I am pushing on contractions.
Doctor puts some sort of lube on and in a few more pushes (with lots of horrible screaming from me, and the medical staff insisting that I"m doing "great" (liars)
6:56 Henry is out! Thank God it doesn't hurt any more! Whoops, there goes placenta (that felt weird).

Henry is 9 lbs. 9 oz, 20 inches. Great skin tone, he might not be as olive as me, maybe closer to Dave's coloring. Dave thinks he looks like Charlotte. I think he just looks like baby :-)

I got sewed up (with a little more lidocaine). And got to order a fantastic breakfast with cinnamon french toast, then showered (gingerly) and was moved up to my room. I have my cell if you'd like to call :-)

I feel pretty good. Just on motrin for the cramping and "bottom pain" (along with the ice packs). Baby Henry is doing well, seems to latch on okay, not great, but hey, he's not even a day old! Charlotte has fared well today with Becky and is currently with daddy getting our car seat and they will be back to visit shortly. My friend Chrsiti even brought a balloon and a "I'm a big sister" pin. She also took the picture at the top.

People for birthday ring

I didn't realize I hadn't put up pics of finished birthday ring people. Here they are:

Finishing up crafts...

Two posts in one day! Crazy!
I finished the birthday ring with some decorative painting. And the birthday crown is also done. And i got a great craft idea to do with Charlotte form someone else's blog (outline leaves with black marker and have the little one "color" it and cut out and tape to window. And charlotte is cute. Here are pics to prove it.

Gigantotron

Yep, that is what Dave calls me. Don't blame him. I move with all the grace of a robot. That is HUGE! Turns out there is a good reason (and a reason why I can't breathe well). Tuesday Doc did an ultrasound to find the baby was ONLY 9 lbs. He thought it was bigger, but as it turns out, I have a condition called polyhydramnia. This is too much amniotic fluid. Happens .5-2% of pregnancies. That doesn't sound too bad, right? Right, sort of.

Increases risk of other things like cord prolapse (BAD), baby not settling into pelvis properly (not good), chances of c-section :-(, and me bleeding out after the baby (also bad). He's mildly concerned about shoulder displaysia though I'm not as concerned. CJ was 8'10" so I figure I'm good with the biggies.

Talk of induction...going to do another non-stress test on Friday and have doc check my cervix to see if it is "favorable for induction". This would mean a combination of dilation, thickness, and baby station. Probably would induce by next Tuesday. So the end is in sight. But I"m a little freaked about these other risks. And the fact that this condition CAN be caused by problems with fetal development; my doctor feels that risk is low and that if that were the case we would have caught it sooner. But you all know that a tiny worry or risk to a mother turns into a giant scare pretty easily.

In the mean time, today is my day off with Charlotte and I plan to wrap up some errands, work on finishing touches of crafts and even hit the library to find a good book to take my mind off of all of this!!

no progress

I saw the ob today. Looks like I"m still where I was last week. Which is sort of okay, since I'm not actually due for 5 more days. However, he's getting concerned about the "size of the baby" and is thinking about induction. He said he doesn't want to induce me yet, unless i progress or the baby is "too big". I asked what is too big and he said 9 or 10 lbs. I'm pretty sure that Henry is about that. To be sure, I have an ultrasound Tuesday at 10 am so we can look at size. This will be nice because it will feel like I"m doing SOMETHING. Instead of just waiting, which is hard!

I finished making the little people for Charlotte's birthday. They are cute.

We went to the Boo at the Zoo thing last Saturday. Charlotte is a bee this year.She even has a squishy little stinger in the back. I made the "dress" but bought the wings and headband. lazy mama!

Living large...

I'm still hanging in there. My "personal" predicted due date (Oct. 17) has come and gone and Henry is cozy in there. I was a tad worried about movement but a quick call from good old Andy helped ease my mind..."you'll notice that the baby seems to move less because there is less room to really pull back and give a good kick and also the baby is sleeping more and more. If you are worried, have a small snack and lie down for 15-20 minutes. If there is no movement, call the doctor and you can come in for a non-stress test. Most likely, you are preoccupied and the movements are lower in intensity". So I feel better. There was lots of action last night. I mean that in more than one way. I've decided to try the old intercourse induction method, but it isn't pretty. It's worse than trying to conceive. Very little romance there.

Tonight we're headed to Muskegon to have a Laboween party with the Wiles and Jason and Uncle Jim will watch CJ. We might also get to pick up my plaster torso cast. The artist sent pics, but I'll wait til I get it tonight and take my own pics. It looks like it is very cool!

On Wednesday night it was raining and lately I've noticed what appears to be a shiny, mucas slug trail IN MY HOUSE by the side door. Now, I hate worms, but at least they are a gardener's friend. Slugs are friend to no one! THose things disgust me. So back to Wednesday night...as we enter the door I look down and sure enough a nasty old slug is sitting there munching on a stray bit of cat food!! Dave, of course, taught CJ that "slugs are cute" and the sound they make is "nee-nee-nee-nee-nee" with little fingers on head like antennae wiggling around. Here are pics of that.
CJ is fascinated with the buggers and now she goes to look for them and is so disappointed when they are not there.

Oh, I finished Charlotte's crown and birthday ring.

The dollhouse is coming along nicely, I repaired the crappy job on the roof and put in a couple of walls. Just thinking about painting/or not painting it.

I am making little "people" for Charlotte's birthday and they aren't something I'm proudest of, but my dear, sweet friend Tara was so kind and agreed to hunt for acorn caps for little hats for me. I just couldn't get myself to get all bent over hunting for anything on the ground right now. I think when I get the hair on and the caps, it'll make them look a little less homely. At least their faces turned out okay.

Progress

Here is a cute pic of Charlotte wearing her "Chip Day" shirt. Looks so cute!!

I am getting by, trying to be patient about baby. Thinking every minute, this could be it...but each day passes. I hit the wall last weekend. I just feel done. I'm sick of knocking CJ down. Sometimes it is because I don't see her, sometimes because I think I'm walking straight, but my waddle is so pronounced I just bop her to one side or the other. I feel good when I'm sitting :-) Getting up at night is getting even tougher. It takes so long just to get out of bed! Dr. said that I'm about at 3 cm. Funny, after 5 hours of labor with CJ (and pitocin) I was still only at 1. But my cervix is still "back" (whatever that means) so I'm going to go anytime really soon. I'm setting my sights on Friday! In the meantime, I'm still working on my projects. An update: Since a wooden doll highchair costs $40-50 I decided to make one. So for UNDER $10, I made this.












I also am working on her dollhouse. Coming nicely. It will be hard to wait until christmas because I think she'll really like it. I have the clasp on the end and the hinges on. Just have to finish interior walls, do something about the roof, and I think I'll polyurethane it. I was going to paint it, but I like the unfinished wood look so much.


I am, of course, also working on her birthday ring. The people are done, I got candles, I just have to find a way to drill the holes for the candles and people so it all fits well. Then maybe poly or paint the ring.
her crown is done. Might send pic of that later. Right now I'm also working on putting together a birthday book. Like a scrapbook, but oh so much easier using online ordering and pics we have from the last year. It is so hard, I love every picture of her!!

Nesting = Crafting?

Lately I have been seriously into crafting. I suspect that since housework sucks and it is hard to move around alot, I'm really just nesting in another way.
While everyone in my family was at Chip's wedding, I was at a pottery studio painting him a platter for a gift. I also did one for Dave's cousin whose wedding we're missing
because it is Oct. 25.(don't forget, click on pic to make it bigger)


I am making Charlotte a dollhouse for Christmas and it is coming along nicely. I used the router to cut out window holes and then I used the dremel to smooth it out a bit. Still needs lots of work, though.


I am making a German birthday ring for Charlotte's birthday. This is a ring with 12 little people on it and each birthday you replace a person with a candle. Here is the start of some of the people. I won't post a link to what I saw and am copying, mine doesn't look as good!


I am also making her a birthday crown that she can wear each year (hopefully). I saw these on another blogger's page and thought they were adorable. Some charge like $40 for them. I think it cost about $6 for this one.

We are enjoying fall and I put CJ into a cute Halloween outfit.

We went to the dr. office today. After I get on the table and the nurse finds the baby's heartbeat, Charlotte likes to get up onto the table and lift up her shirt, too. Monkey see, monkey do!
The doctor checked my cervix and said that I'm internally at 3 and externally at 1. Totally normal for a second pregnancy. I felt relieved that there were no signs of imminent labor. I thought I was having contractions last weekend and that really threw me. What about all my unfinished crafts? Better get them done!

I just love her!

Just felt the need to express how much I admore my darling little angel, Charlotte. I had no idea I could love anyone this much (sorry Dave, it is just different). She is, at the age of almost 2, sometimes exasperating but sometimes so adorable I just want to get a spoon and eat her up! She is currently in her crib shouting "big sister!" She really likes the "I'm a big sister" book her Oma got her and I let her take it bed with her today. I might have to go in and remove it. I don't know if she'll nap with all that excitement!

I feel sort of bad that when Henry comes, her little world will fall apart in a way. No more of all the attention being just on her! But it will be a special time for her and Daddy and a chance to develop a special relationship with Henry. That will hopefully last. And I know that in a few years, they will play together and I'll be so glad they have each other.

In the meantime, I want to just appreciate all I can about THIS moment. The feeling of Henry kicking and rolling like a rock-n-roll star inside me. THe joy of her smile when I get her each morning. Watching how much she and her daddy love each other and make each other giggle. Cuddling up just the two of us (and a giant belly) to read stories. Her calling the cat "stupid dumb-dumb" (wonder where she got that?) and ordering him around, though he rarely follows her orders. And now that she sometimes call us "kate" and "Dave" I even love that!

But for now, I'm off to relax, we had a tiring day at the zoo and my feet are swollen a bit and my back is tired. So I'll lie down and get back to reading my book about why TV and Videogames are so horrible for children. I need encouragement to keep me from plopping her in front of the tv when I'M tired.