Getting Big!

Tinkerpot is getting so big. By that I mean she's doing so many things that I don't want her to be doing...like crawling! Like pulling herself up. Like cruising around. She should still be a little baby lump that I can snuggle. But no. She's got an agenda and no one's going to get in her way!

Yesterday, she began the repetitive "mamamamama". So I guess Mama is her first word. I think it was Bug's first word too. I actually think Tink said "papa" first but no one really encouraged her the way Bugs and I did about "mama" so that's the one she keeps repeating. Poor Marshmallow.

She's been crawling since she was 6 months old. The little rocks back and forth and the inefficient crawls she had were so cute and lasted for so long I thought she'd never get the hang of crawling but now, she's all over the house. I had to empty out the living room of the coffee table and other extraneous furniture so she could pull herself up and fall down without constantly hitting her head which was so frequent she always has a red mark on her forehead.

She is sleeping so great too. Sleeps 7 to 7 with two naps now. The first an easy 2 hours, and the second usually about 1 1/2 hours. She's a good baby in that respect. What am I talking about? She's a good baby all around. She's just a mover. I can't keep her still even for a second. Church is a total joke. And she won't even take a walk in the stroller without half way trying to climb out of the stroller. It's ridiculous. I expect she'll be walking by the time she's 9 months.

She's Getting So Big

I haven't posted for a while but there were a few things I wanted to document before I forgot about them. Tinkerpot is nearly four months old and a sheer delight. She's a beautiful girl and already I can sense a stubborn streak in her though. She's also a very active child and rarely stops moving.

She learned to roll both back to tummy and tummy to back on her 3 month birthday surprising us all. It has wreaked havoc on her sleeping though as she will roll over and then forget to roll back, or as she rolls her binky will fall out, or she rolls over into the side of the crib and be sort of stuck. It's been crazy but she'll grow out of it eventually.

She dropped her evening nap this week as I noticed it was getting harder and harder to get her to bed at the normal 8:30 time. She'd lay down then her head would start bobbing around (sleeping on her belly) and then she'd start the rolling and crying. Not letting her sleep past 6pm has helped a lot.

Tink had her first rice cereal 3 days ago from a spoon. It took some getting used to but I can tell she really loves to have solid food and she gulps it down. I'm not sure I'll put it in a bottle like I did with Bugs because she seems to enjoy it on a spoon so much. And the reasons I'm offering it to Tink are different than those I did with Bugs.

She is sucking her thumb and while it's not regular yet, I can tell she will likely be a thumb sucker. So I made her a little blankie like Bugs has. It's purple with lady bugs on it and a red blanket binding. It's adorable and I offer it to her whenever she's eating, playing with her hands or going to sleep. Bugs finds so much comfort in her blankie that I can't help but think it's a good thing.

Lastly, my milk has nearly dried. I've been pumping a little bit to mix with formula for her and we're now doing 50%/50% to get her weaned and onto a bottle. The transition was/is difficult and she didn't care for the bottle at first, of course. Although I had all these wondeful Avent bottles, I had to go buy a bottle with a nipple that resembled that of her binkie before she'd take it. She drank from it for several days before she'd take the Avent and now that's better. The Avent system is really good and I have a ton of the bottles, nipples etc. I'm sad to not be BF'ing anymore but it's also a good thing considering summer's here and we're at the pool and running around. BF'ing is really hard when you're on the go and forget it at the pool.

All in all, life is good with Tinkerpot. She's a great baby, sleeps wonderfully and is a joy to our family. I thank the Lord daily for our good fortune in being able to have this amazing child in our family. I look forward to many years of her.

Tinkerpot Notes

Since SP was tiny, and especially when she was a baby I kept copious notes about her development, etc. It was my babybook for her of sorts and when she's older, I'll give it to her.

But it's Tinkerpot's turn. She's now 6 weeks old and before she gets any bigger, I need to document what I can before I forget.

What a sweet baby she is. So cuddly and snuggly. I weighed her yesterday and she's already 10 lbs. At her two week appointment, she was ony 7 lbs. 13 oz. No chance she's not getting enough to eat. At least I can do that right!

Since early on, I've been putting her to sleep on her tummy against common medical advice. I've found she sleeps better and longer that way and it always helps to keep her binky in a little better. I love how warm her cheek is when I get her up, hot from laying against the mattress. She's got fat cheeks, the better to kiss.

She eats quickly - 10 minutes and she's done much in the way SP did. I prefer that "get down to business" personality as it suits mine just fine. Also, she has been out of the newborn diapers for about a week now and most of her newborn clothing is getting pretty snug. O-well. It couldn't last forever.

While reading SP's notes last night, I found that she wasn't 10 lbs until she was 4 months old! Seems we're headed down a completely different road! The problem is that we'll probably have problems with off-season clothing.

Just lately it's been a little harder to get Tinkerpot to sleep at night. Day naps go great and she settles right down and drifts off but at night she fights it so much. I've taken to putting her bassinet right by my bed so I can re-position the binky many times and help her settle down without going in her room repeatedly in the night. Once she falls asleep though, she usually stays asleep until her next feeding time but at least I'm getting a full night's sleep. There actually was only about 2 or 3 nights were I was up a good portion of the night with her but that's fairly typical of most infants.

I sure am enjoying this little baby. She is absolutely the light of my life. I love to hold her and would do so the whole day through if it didn't make it impossible to get anything done. But she's so good - she will lie on the ground and just look around for 1/2 an hour sometimes which is so great!

I am so glad I had her. Not a single regret! It's amazing the peace she's brought to our home.

The Delivery

After my first was born, I wrote up the birthing experience more for her sake than for my remembrance. I would be remiss if I didn't do it for this baby too.

It's been two weeks now since Nicole was born. She's such a good baby! I just can't even believe it's been 2 weeks already but I can't imagine my life without her already. She's just so special!

So...the delivery...

Let's see. Tuesday the 17th I woke up and knew something was different in my body. I felt crampy and somehow more tired. I could tell labor was coming. I didn't have much going on that day so I did a few things around the house but around noon, started craving tamales. So I spent the afternoon making a big batch of them. It was a good thing because they fed us and many relatives for about a week after I was out of the hospital. And I love me some tamales!

I thought I might end up in the hospital Tuesday night which would have been okay. My mom came that afternoon to watch Natalie so we had that covered. But, it didn't happen. I didn't sleep well though and spent most of the night tossing and turning with nightmares. I was pretty worried about the surgery. I'd even had my brother-in-law come and give me a blessing a week prior to the surgery just to help calm my nerves. After the blessing I did feel better but I was still pretty nervous.

Todd and I got up at 4:30 the morning of the surgery and left the house at 5:15 AM and checked into the hospital at 5:30 while it was still dark. It was very cold and there was ice still on the ground. I remember because I was worried I would slip getting into the hospital since I was wearing my Crocks because they were the only shoes that fit over my "Flintstone Feet" which is what Todd was down to calling them at this point.

By this time, I could definitely tell I was in the early parts of labor and my contractions were coming ever 5 minutes and while they weren't killing me, they made me stop and take deep breaths for a second until they passed. We went into a recovery room where I changed into a gown and laid on the bed to be connected to all of the monitors. Sure enough, the contractions were registering nicely on the monitor and the baby was looking good too. We were in that recovery room for about an hour until it was time to go get the spinal anesthesia.

I walked down the hall into a large operating room that was very cold. It was full of nurses and there was a long table in the middle of the room where they directed me to sit. I'd been so hot for so long that it felt sort of good to be in such a cold room. I sat down on the table and the anesthesiologist came in and started explaining what she was going to do and how it would feel. There was a nurse that sort of freaked me out because she said she'd be right there with me the whole time and she stood right in front of me and took both of my hands, as if I was going to need a whole lot of moral support. The thing was, they didn't let Todd come in that room for some reason and it would have been very nice to have him there instead of that freaky nurse.

Anyway the anesthesiologist told me that I would feel a sort of pinch but if I felt like a sharp shocking feeling go up and down one side then I needed to tell her right away. That scared me. The whole thing was pretty awful - the coldness, the anticipation, the lack of anyone I actually know to be there with me. Finally I felt the shot and it hurt quite a bit less than I thought it would and it was over before I knew it. Before I even laid down my legs were going numb.

They laid me down and I was paralyzed before I even knew it! And it was the strangest feeling. I've had an epidural before but this was nothing like that! I was paralyzed from my diaphragm all the way to my toes and breathing was difficult - like I had to be conscious of my expiration every single time. It was terrible!

My anesthesiologist was awesome! I started to have the weirdest panic attack and crying and stuff. I was panicking about breathing, and felt suffocated and claustrophobic. She just kept dabbing my forehead with a cold cloth and talking to me and it helped calm me down so much. I was so grateful to her. I've never been so scared in my whole life!

The doctor allowed Todd to videotape the whole surgery but he said the angle wasn't great. He did get most of the surgery. I felt a lot of pressure during the surgery as they were pushing my uterus down and pulling out the baby. I guess my water broke in a gust, sort of like a geyser and everyone laughed. Todd said he got it on video (I haven't watched it yet). Then, I saw them pull the baby out and they showed her to me. She looked bigger than I would have imagined but maybe I was just really out of it. It took a long time for them to sew me up and it was very uncomfortable because they kept pushing on my belly and I could just feel this really heavy pressure and I couldn't wait for it to be done.

I don't know what happened then but they must have given something to me to knock me out. Todd said I was out for about an hour during which time they bathed and dressed Nicole and who knows what else. They brought her to me in the recovery room just like they did Natalie. We had no trouble with breastfeeding and she latched on really good right away. We were in the recovery room for a long time, I remember. I guess they were monitoring my vitals and wanted to make sure I was okay before letting me go to my room.

With my catheter, I started dumping fluids almost immediately. I asked for a water retention pill and it helped me get rid of tons of water within the first day or two. I immediately felt lighter and in the three days I was in the hospital, the swelling in my ankles and feet went down so much and it felt so much better!

Nicole was slightly jaundice but not so much that they wanted to put her under the lights. We had to just monitor her during our stay. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz when she was born and within the first couple of days had lost several oz and was down to 6 lbs 18 oz (?) before we left.

She slept pretty good in the hospital which was good because for two of the three nights we were there, I was alone with her in my room all night. Natalie was sick and Todd wanted to be home with her so we let my mom go home so he could be with her. We did great though. Nicole was a great baby from the day she was born and didn't give me much trouble those nights.

Lakeview Hospital was a fantastic place to deliver as I fully expected! During the time we were there, I think there were ony 3 or 4 other deliveries so we got really good care. The nurses were so attentive and very friendly. I was so grateful to them; they made my visit almost like a holiday!

All in all, this delivery was leagues better than my first one. My expectations were high for disaster but everything turned out so much better than I had even hoped. I'm so happy that it's done now and my beautiful baby girl is an angel. I'm so lucky!

In the recovery room

Weekly Visits

I've started going in for weekly visits about two weeks ago. I hate going to the doctor that much even if it does seem like it's important.

The doctor told me today that I should expect to not have a baby much bigger than about 7 1/2 lbs. That sounds great to me! Not that it matters since they'll take her out C-section. But if they're a little smaller at the outset, they seem to stay babies for a little longer. And I have such cute preemie clothes! I'm such a girl!

He also told me that he's going on vacation next week and will be back February 8th. It didn't register with me for a little bit but then I started to panic. I asked him what if I go into labor next week? He tried to reassure me but I was just so upset - that's what happened to me last time and it made the whole experience awful! I mean, what's the point of a certain doctor following your entire pregnancy and going through your delivery plan with you if he's not even going to be there?

Hopefully I'll just last until my scheduled date and then there'll be nothing to worry about. What's that about the best laid plans?

It Can't Be Helped

What pregnancy is complete without full-on pregnancy photos? This is so humbling for me as I have completely sworn off pregnancy photos and literally become a giant freak-o-rama on anyone who so much as walks around me with a camera!

The truth is I've just gained so much weight and it's freaking all over my body - not just my belly. I can't help it. I have been addicted to sugar but seriously, I gained just as much with SP and was actually very careful with what I ate. This time I just sort of let it go and didn't end up gaining anymore than I did with SP. So I am what I am - just a girl who gains a crapload when she's pregnant. Thank goodness I'm able to lose it!

So, ta-da. Here's my final picture - taken tonight exactly 3 weeks from my delivery date. I'm not sure why I'm doing this to myself, lol!