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!

My Love Affair With Sugar...

The Latest On About Everything

The Marshmallow and I still haven't agreed upon a name. I refuse to discuss it because he won't let me have my way (Olivia) and he just doesn't bring it up. So there it stands. I'm sure we'll have a raging argument the day the baby comes when I just won't back down and he won't sign the birth certificate!

I went by Salt Lake Regional the other day to just check it out. I shouldn't have ruled it out completely without even visiting it first. I was pleasantly surprised actually. It is an older hospital and they deliver a lot less babies than the other big hospitals around but I like that. It means the nurses are less busy and able to provide better care for the patients they do have. Speaking of the nurses, they were so nice! I got a personal on-the-spot tour. The delivery rooms were just as nice as any others I've seen and while the recovery rooms weren't quite as nice, they were decent and very clean, and that makes a big difference to me.

They worried about my doctor being so far away though. For my situation, their policy is that the doctor has to be on-site the whole time I am in labor and they said that most doctors resist that. Not that I care but my doctor will have to be with me the whole time and won't have anything else to do but worry about me since he doesn't even have an office on site over at that hospital. I guess that's his problem and not mine but the nurses worried that he wouldn't be able to be there in time to care for me properly. I'm not worried about that since I progress so slowly. I'll give him plenty of notice too. The faster he can respond, the faster I get my epidural, hehe.

Today I went to the chiropractor to find out why my back feels like someone's sticking a knife in it whenever I move. I knew I had back problems before I got pregnant but since, they've only gotten worse and worse. Although the chiropractor couldn't do x-rays on me today, he said he was 95% sure I have spondylolisthesis which basically means that my spine is crushing itself because I have too much of an inward curve in my lower back. He put me on this hydro table that shoots strong streams of water all along my back to warm it up and loosen up my spine. Then he cracked it good and told me to come back Monday, which I'll gladly do. I hope my insurance is paying for this!

Allergies

This isn't necessarily a post for human interest. I have to document the actual series of events that transpired after I realized my cat allergy just in case I need to remember at some point, or if some other pregnant lady has similar questions regarding all of this stuff.

So we got the cat during pregnancy...allergic. I took Loratadine (a generic allergy med) to overcome the allergy and it worked but I wasn't taking it every single day, more symptomatically.

After a while I realized I was having trouble breathing and couldn't get a full breath, not to mention my lungs were itching deep in the lobes and driving me bananas. I went to the doctor, afraid I was coming down with pneumonia or something. I was told I had asthma. I was prescribed ProAir for symptoms PRN, and QVar to reduce the inflammation, to be taken twice daily for two weeks.

About a week or two later, I noticed a rash starting to appear on my belly that looked like chicken pocks. It didn't itch yet but I was curious about possibly a yeast infection. I was at the doctor's for a routine check-up at about week 20 or something and I happened to mention the rash. He looked at it and said it looked like a yeast infection.

He prescribed Diflucan, the one-pill yeast infection treatment.

I took it, not realizing it was Class C for pregnant women, but found no relief. In fact in about 4-5 days, I discovered that the rash was getting worse and spreading around my sides, up and down! And it was becoming VERY itchy - I looked like I had fleas sometimes. It was awful!

I called the doctor again and reported the Diflucan hadn't worked and that the rash was worsening. He called in yet another prescription to my pharmacy and I didn't know what it was until I went to pick it up.

It was predisone. Now, I'm a therapist and a lot of my orthopedic patients take this drug to ease the inflammation after a surgery. I'm aware that it's a "big" drug with lots of side effects. So I looked it up. It also is Class C, which means it hasn't necessarily been proven safe for pregnancy, and in fact has been associated with scary things like cleft pallet and Down Syndrome. I looked up Diflucan and that's when I realized I'd also taken it although it too was Class C.

I decided not to take the prednisone. Wondering about the rash...and its timing, I also decided to stop taking the ProAir since the rash appeared shortly after I started taking it (the prescriptions for QVar and ProAir had been filled about 2 weeks apart for insurance reasons and I'd started ProAir later).

About 2 weeks after stopping ProAir, I noticed the rash start to ease up...and now it's nearly gone. I still take the QVar and was also taking the Loratadine religiously until the cat was banished to the far reaches of the earth.

About two weeks ago, I also decided to move the cat out of the house until the baby comes to relieve any other symptoms that might come as a result of the allergy. He's at my grandmother's house now. Since he's been gone, I've no longer felt the need to take Loratadine nor QVar (except once in a great while) since most of my symptoms have been resolved.

I haven't been back to my doctor yet and am curious as to what he felt was offsetting the risk of giving me 2 Class C medications. It wasn't worth it to me, and that's what I'll tell him.

The Big Ultrasound

It was confirmed today that we are having a girl for sure. Everything looks normal, in fact it seems that I might be a week or two further along than what we originally thought.

The doctor looked at all anatomical structures and functions and found everything to be normal. They have a new machine in their office that can show the 3-D picture so I saw her little face right before she stuck her little fists up in front of it.

For the past three weeks I've been having what I finally realized were small contractions, verified during the ultrasound. She was actually able to see my uterus having a contraction. I had early contractions with my first pregnancy but not this early. I was given a medication to stop them so I wonder if I'll have to take it again. Since my appt today was only with the lady who does the ultrasound, I'll need to make another appt to talk to the doctor.

So if I'm 24 weeks like the ultrasound says, then I've only got 16 weeks left! Yeah! I suppose that changes the due date that much. 16 weeks from today is January 30. Cool!

Halfway!

Well, I'm halfway along now and in some ways, it seems my belly growth has sort of stagnated which suits me just fine thank you very much.

My only real complaint lately is this ridiculous sciatica which is usually isolated in one leg or another for most people - but in me, oh no. It picks a different leg each day. And my tailbone gets so sore too!

Today, I was on my feet more than usual and I noticed that the sciatica was a lot more painful than usual. I attributed it to being on my feet but later in the day, I decided to change my clothes and as I took off my pants, a-ha! - somehow the pain was reduced by like 75%. It was those pants! I noticed they put a lot of pressure on my lower abdomen as they have a tight elastic band but I had no idea the tightness was also affecting my lower back too - duh! What's my degree in?

I retired the pants of course. They still fit and look decent but aren't worth it if they're going to cause me that much pain every day.

On another note, I have finally decided to go with the VBAC vs. a volunteer C-section. It freaks me out but I'm going for it. I'm just thinking of the recovery - I want to be back on my feet quicker.

Week 18

I'm fat.

Girl Names

Well, I'm not sure but I think we've narrowed names down to four. They are:

Ashley
Erika
Courtney
Heather

Middle names are a completely different story. DH wants to pick something that goes well with Amy, either as a first or middle name. That definitely complicates things.

My favorites are the first three but it's going to be a constant negotiation. What's your fav?

Drum Roll...

Week 16

I bought a pair of maternity pants at Old Navy a few weeks ago on clearance for about $15 and they are the greatest thing ever. I actually think I got a size too large and they kept falling off of me until today when I put them on and when I was looking at my hiney in the mirror, I noticed that the waistline looked an awful lot like the pants you buy a toddler with that adjustable waist thing.

Sure enough, they are adjustable waist! I just cinched them up and they fit excellently now! And I'll be able to loosen them up later when I'm needing a little extra room.

I think I'll head back to Old Navy and see if I can find a few more pairs of these adjustable waist pants. They're really comfy!

Sciatica has started plaguing me a little bit this week and boy is that uncomfortable! Couple that with the headaches I've been having on a daily basis and I feel like I'm always dealing with something. But, I found myself thinking today that I'd take these complaints GLADLY over being nauseated for 9 months. I had WAY enough of that the first couple of months and I feel so awful for people who have that to deal with the whole time. My complaints are nothing!

Oh My Gosh - My HEAD!

It is at this point in my pregnancy with SP that I was going to the chiropractor daily to have an adjustment to relieve my aching head, prior to going to school - yes, DAILY. $30 a pop! It was so worth it!

And now they're back, only now they're migraines. I'm not sure which were worse, the tension headaches or the migraines. My only consolation is that I know what meds I can take vs back then, I didn't know I could take anything! I don't love it though because I'm ibuprofin from sun-up to sundown and I just don't think my little tike is benefiting too much from that.

On another note - I'm getting so excited for Wednesday! I am literally counting down the days until I can find out what I'm having. Really, so much hinges on this - you laugh. Really, the whole nursery, and my shopping can BEGIN in earnest!

Week 14

So I've finished my first trimester now, thank goodness. I'm happy I'm 1/3 done now but scared because I'm already much bigger than I was at this time with my first pregnancy.

I actually begun feeling the baby poking me this week. I might have said that in another post but I'm forgetting now. Right behind my belly button, just randomly I feel a little poke and it's pretty fun.

So, here's my first prego pic. I literally HATE how I'm looking but what can you do?

Somewhere in Week 13

So much for my brief period of feeling awesome. It lasted only about 4 days. For the past week I've been having to sleep during the day which makes me feel like I've been run over by a Mac truck. Plus I usually wake up with a headache.

I'm glad that summer's nearly over because that means the heat will be over too. I keep thinking that the cooler weather will bring some relief. At least that's the big hope.

We're looking forward to Sept 10th when we find out what we're having! DH finally has conceded that he wants to find out too so I'm very excited about doing that together since we didn't do that with SP.

Week 12, Day 1 or so

For the third day in a row, I haven't napped! Today, I actually felt human again and feeling human is bliss, let me tell you!

The smell of cooking food still gets me and some sweeter smells but I'm regaining my composure and can tolerate a lot more.

And I'm not so queasy and dominated by my stomach, and that is so nice.

I took an actual walk today, in the heat no less. And then I went to the pool and sat...in the heat...for 2 hours. And then I even went to work without a nap! I was tired but it wasn't exhausting. I even considered making something for dinner today but then thought I might be pushing my luck.

But I'm totally fat. And that's the way I look. I don't look pregnant - just pudgy which is great for my self-esteem. Whatever.

I made my appointment for September 10th to find out what the baby is. That'll be exciting.

And, if you were wondering how me and the cat are getting along, we're not. I sneeze ALL the time and now I pee my pants whenever I do, which is frequent. It's annoying. The doc told me I could take Benadryl but it says it causes "marked drowsiness" and that's EXACTLY what I don't need right now just as I'm feeling LESS drowsy.

Week 10, Day 1

Saturday night I wore my favorite black slacks out on a date with DH. They fit still even if they were just a smidgen tight.

Today, I wore them again and was unbuttoning them as often as I could.

I noticed yesterday that my belly does not resemble the belly that I know. I've popped. My normal shirts are no longer adequate and although maternity pants are still ludicrous at this point, I'm shortly going to have no other option.