The One With Blogger Issues...

Also, today I got mad at Blogger so I quit. Moving over to Wordpress, come and find me :)

wardfamilyramblings.wordpress.com

The One With the Six Month Old

I want to start being better at documenting some of Sam's life. I'm not the most organized Mom, so right now he has no baby book he'll get to read, and I like the idea of something to look back on and remember. So here's some fun stuff about our little SIX month old!!

He is such a happy, happy little fellow. He has a big ol' grin that he loves to flash anytime his mom and dad or grandma's are around. If you are a man though, watch out--he will probably cry at you. He is just now starting some separation anxiety and gets upset sometimes if new people try to hold him. He sleeps about 11 hours every night, but is starting to do some closer to 12 hour stretches--yay!! Naps are hit or miss--every other day he takes all naps less than an hour, then he'll take some two hour naps the next day. He usually can't stay up longer than about 2 hours without needing a nap.

No solid foods for this boy yet--we're trying to hold off because of how early he was and he had so many digestive issues. Luckily, he has improved so much since he was born and is on NO more medications, goes #2 on a regular basis, and can have regular (and by regular, I mean Costco brand) formula. Yay for saving lots of $$$--his sensitive formula was crazy expensive! He LOVES his exersaucer and a floor mat that he kicks his little feet at. His favorite song is "You are My Sunshine" except that I change the words to "You are My Sammy." He thinks it's so funny. He also has this funny new habit of liking to suck on my face. He grabs it in both of his hands and then latches on and gets slobber everywhere--so gross, but too cute to stop! He also loves to touch his Daddy's face, I think because he has some facial hair. He still loves to talk and coo at us and has recently started laughing. He hasn't quite mastered rolling from his back to front yet, but he is SO close. He also isn't really much interested in crawling yet, but it's early yet. He's got time. He also loves going for walks in his jogging stroller because he can sit up like a big boy!

Overall he is a healthy, happy little man and we love him more every day!! He is sweet and just the happiest thing in our whole lives. I can't believe it keeps getting more fun--I can't wait for the next 6 months :)

The One with All the Sleepiness

I'd first like to thank all the moms of more than one child that listened to my whining when I was pregnant with Sam. Because for real--what else did I have to do but nap?? For some reason I remember feeling like there was all this stuff to do, and I was always "sooo tired" and stuff, and looking back, I'm thinking, "WHAT!? I had NOTHING to do!!" Haha, long gone are the days of the daily naps, the days off spent lounging in my pjs. Having another baby while growing a baby definitely adds a different dynamic to things. But I think overall, I'm being much better in my attitude this pregnancy. I'm not going to lie--I don't enjoy being pregnant. I just don't. I am not a fan of the sickness, the tiredness, the lack of control over my body (and eventually, my bladder as well....oh sweet things to come....) However, having been through it, and seen what wonderful amazingness it produces, I'm feeling much more grateful for it this time around. There just aren't words that can explain how much we love those little people that we get to be parents to, and now that I understand that, I am much more excited to experience the pregnancy part of things. I'm curious to see if this little one will be a crazy little fetus like Sam, or if maybe this little one is our laid back baby :) (Hint to belly: Please, please, PLEASE be our laid back baby!) It might also have something to do with the fact that this pregnancy seems to be FLYING by for me. We found out we were pregnant at about 3 weeks (even though I thought I was over 5 weeks at that point!! Seriously--long cycle, people.) and with Sam I felt like those first few weeks just went by SOOOO slowly. But here we are at almost 11 weeks and I can barely remember where any of those weeks have gone! I feel like it's going to be December in no time at all!

So for now, I'm just plugging along, excited to hopefully experience a second trimester burst of energy (and maybe no more puking!!) And trying to take a nap every now and then :P

The One With a Little Q&A

So let's start with everyone's favorite:

Was this planned?

Hahahaahahaha. Just give me a minute to stop laughing. Ok. I'm back. But seriously--no. We're totally believers that this pregnancy is 100% planned by God, but it definitely did not enter into our plan. This is the result of a shockingly long cycle, and some naivety in counting. What can I say? After you have a kid, everything is all screwy. And we were never good at math, anyways.

When are we due?

December 28, based on an early ultrasound. I'm hoping for a January 2011 baby, though.

Are we hoping for a girl or boy?

Last time we were desperately hoping for a boy. This time, we still are hoping for a boy, but are less set on it. My gut feeling right now is that this one is a girl, so we'll see if I'm right. We mostly just think it would be fun, since they'll only be a year apart, to have 2 little boys to grow up together. But, a little girl would be fun too. Plus, I like our girl name a lot, and we haven't settled on a boy name yet.

How am I feeling?

In some ways better than with Sam and in other ways worse. With Sam I had terrible sickness that lasted all day, every day, until almost halfway through my pregnancy. I'm about 10 weeks now, and have definitely had some rough days. I got some medicine that works great WAY earlier this time though, and my sickness has been actual morning sickness that subsides as the day goes on. I've had more nausea this time, but overall am managing better. I am exhausted basically all the time, but hoping that passes in the next few weeks.

How are we doing emotionally?

On the one hand, I feel like I'm supposed to say I've been excited since day one, and am still excited every day. But I feel like being honest is important. There have been many, many tears. Some days we're totally overwhelmed at the thought of 2 babies a year apart. Some days we're nervous and anxious and have a million questions about how we will make it work. But at the end of the day, we always come back to this: We trust God. His plan for our lives has ALWAYS been better than our plans for ourselves. We already love this little baby like crazy and are eagerly anticipating growing our family. The further along I get, the more excited we get.

Are there physical risks to getting pregnant again so soon?

Yes and no. Any pregnancies I have from now on carry an increased risk of preeclampsia. For the pregnancy right after a pre-e one, the chances are 1 in 4 that it will return. My midwives are working with me on things like diet, supplements, etc, to ensure I have the best chance possible for a healthy pregnancy. The biggest factors in returning pre-e are the severity and time on onset. My pre-e was not nearly as severe as a lot of people get, but it did show up earlier than most people. So we'll see what happens!

Where will we deliver?

Last time our plan was to have a natural birth at a freestanding birth center. Obviously that didn't happen. Luckily, as long as my blood pressure stays normal and I carry this baby to term, I will be allowed to try the center again! This time, though, we're much more open to whatever happens, and trying not to get too set on a birth plan. All I want is a full term baby!!! I'm hoping to carry this one even a little past my due date to get his/her birthday out of Christmas week :)

Anything else anyone wants to know?? :)

The One Where I'm Going to Get Way Worse at Blogging

Soo. I'm pregnant :) Baby #2 making his/her entrance in late December 2010 (Or, early January 2011, if I get my way) Busy life, here we come! That's all for now...

The One With a Sam Update

Sam turned 4 months old last week. Sometimes people hear that and say, "FOUR MONTHS?? Wow! That just flew by, didn't it?" Usually I smile and nod. Sometimes I give the obligatory response "Yup! He's just growing so fast!" What I'm saying in my head is, "Really? That's interesting, because actually, this has been the longest 4 months of my whole entire life." Being a mom is hard. And exhausting. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world...but flying by? Nope.

His appointment went fabulously though. Basically we went in expecting to hear that all of his development was on a 3-month level. Premature babies usually develop according to their gestational age, not their actual age, so Sam would be totally fine if he were developing 5 weeks behind. We were excited though, because while his motor skills are right on a 3 month level, his cognitive skills have caught up to a 4 month old! He looks wonderful and healthy and has gained a good amount of weight--up to the 35th% percentile! We're really proud of him. Right now his favorite things are cooing, smiling, and sitting back on the couch while someone talks to him. He is starting to enjoy bathtime more and more and we've established a good nighttime routine. Bedtime is 7pm and he is sleeping about a 9 hour stretch every night before eating once and going back down until 7a. He is a really high maintenance baby and usually isn't happy unless he's being held, although he is getting used to sitting in his exercauser for a few minutes at a time. He rolled over for the first time a few weeks ago from front to back, but he can't roll himself back yet, so sometimes he gets himself stuck! All in all, we're having more fun as each day goes by and we enjoy seeing his little personality emerge more and more. So far, I'd describe him as difficult, stubborn, and hilarious--which surprisingly enough were exactly the characteristics he had in the womb!

Being parents has been challenging and wonderful. It's made Geoff and I communicate more and differently than we ever had to before, and we've gotten to show each other support and love in more tangible ways than ever before. Geoff has been an amazing and hands-on dad. He does almost all the night feedings and is home by himself with Sam at least one day a week plus about 4 mornings a week. Sam loves to talk and babble to us, which is the best part about coming home from a long day. Sometimes balancing our jobs, the house, each other, and Sam is a lot, but his little smile makes every day worth it, and we've been so lucky to have so much support from family and friends. I'm really looking forward to the journey continuing!

The One With Sam's Birth Story: Part Three

So we're at Wednesday, December 9 (which happens to be Sam's birthday, so don't worry--the story can't go on much longer!!) My midwife came into the hospital at about 7am to check the progress I'd made overnight and to break my water. She needed me to be at about 3cm to be able to break the bag, and I was just under that. She thought she could still do it though, so she tried, and it worked! Up until then my contractions hadn't been too uncomfortable, but once my water was broken they started to get more intense.

Around noon I was still contracting regularly and couldn't sleep through them, so my midwife suggested I take some medicine to take the edge off and be able to take a nap. I wasn't sure--I'd still been wondering if I might be able to do this naturally even though things were going differently than I'd planned. I asked my midwife what she thought would be the outcome of my attempts to labor without the use of drugs. I knew I could trust her to be honest, because she works at a birth center that strongly encourages drug free labors whenever they can, and whenever it is best for mom & baby. She said that she honestly felt my labor would end up going better with an epidural. Because I was so early, my body hadn't begun going through msot of the changes it would begin to make in the weeks prior to a full term delivery. The pitocin was basically working against my body, and there was little chance I'd be able to relax enough to let my body get where it needed to be. We discussed various options, and I ended up deciding I'd take the drugs to help me sleep, but try to progress as far as I could before taking the epidural. So, I took stadol, and ended up NOT being able to sleep very much, but at least relaxed a little bit. I'd sent Geoff home to get a few things we hadn't brought with us, and by 3pm my contractions were MUCH more intense. My midwife helped me onto a birthing ball to help me work through some of the pain, but after about a minute my blood pressure shot up even higher, so I was back in the bed. Laying flat on my back was NOT a fun way to deal with contractions, but I kept pushing through. At around 530p, my midwife wanted to check me again. I'd been contracting at this point for nearly 24 hours, pretty intensely for a few hours. I was anxious to hear how things were going. She checked me...and held up 4 fingers. FOUR. I'd been just about 3cm at 7am, and now it's 530p and I've gone ONE STINKING CENTIMETER. I was so frustrated and tired, and I immediately said I was ready for my epidural. I got it at around 630p, and as soon as I got it, everything started going faster! My contractions were stronger and faster (and I couldn't feel a thing!) Around 8p, my new nurse for the night came in. I was starting to feel more pressure with the contractions, and she asked if I thought I'd need to push soon. I said, "Oh no, I think I'm good. Take your time." So she left to get everything she needed to help deliver the baby. The very second the door closed behind her, I was suddenly like 'WAIT! I need to push!!" Haha, it happened so fast! Everyone started scrambling to get things ready, and by 845p I was ready to start!

Pushing was by far the most frustrating parts of labor. It ended up taking about an hour (which I realize isn't really long, comparatively. But when I was doing it, it felt like FOREEEEEVER!) Every time I finished a push, my midwife was so encouraging and would say "Great job! You're doing so well!" And I would respond, "Then WHERE is my baby?? WHY WON'T HE COME OUT??" Finally at about 945 she called the NICU team which I knew meant he was coming out soon! Because he was so early, the NICU team had to be there to make sure he was ok and didn't need any immediate help. (I should also mention there were 2 nurses, my midwife, and my mom and Geoff, making the grand total 9 people watching me push this kid out...) Finally at 9:52pm, little Sammy made his entrance!! He came out pink and screaming and got to come right to me! I looked at his little face and was just SOO relieved and happy to see him. I was thrilled to hear that he was doing fantastic and got a 9/9 on his Apgars. He weighed 5lbs, 11oz and was 18.5 inches long. He had brown hair that was a little curly and a cute little nose. He was such a skinny little thing--needed some more time to fatten up!! But after 3 weeks of back and forth and hospital visits, we were just so thankful to have him safe and sound with us.

Everyone that reads this probably already knows that this isn't the end of the story and I'm going to keep going with the story to include his next hospital stay. But, for now, this story ends with our family of 3, happy and together and healthy! And that's Sam's birth story :)