Good Things

I haven't been writing much about the good lately. Even with the misery, we've been having a lot of good around here. Here's a few.

John and I, because the baby keeps us on a weird schedule anyway, have been making time late at night to talk. Having two kids with very different needs makes us miss 'us', so it's been good to take some time to reconnect. Even if it means missing out on a little more sleep.

My recovery this time around was SOOOO much better, meaning I've been able to enjoy having a baby. I've never been a baby person, but I just can't get enough of Edward. Even with his issues, I'm already sad that he's growing up. (For anyone who's wondering why I mention my recovery 4 months out, it was really that bad last time. I don't really remember what Ethan was like until he was about 6 months old. So I'm soaking it all in this time. Maybe in the future I'll write about what I learned from those months.)

Edward, when he's not in pain or overtired, is the sweetest and most happy baby I've ever met. He is a huge flirt, is always ready with a big grin or giggle, and could not possibly love me more. Makes getting through the rough spots a whole lot easier.

Ethan, although he is a typical 3 yr old boy (read: CRAZY!), is so much fun. My favorite thing is his singing. We listen to a super-old Janice Kapp Perry tape in the car and Ethan knows most of the songs really well. I absolutely love to hear him belting out "Jesus understands MEEEE!" and "Who will preach the gospel? I will!" everywhere we go.

And I decided to mess with my favorite cookie recipe and made it even better! I'll post it below for those of you who asked about it. Mmmm. I might need to make some more tomorrow.

Ta Da! (It's just that easy!)

He's finally made an appearance! This is my big, chubby, ridiculously long baby!

First, the stats. Edward Owen weighs in at 9lbs 3oz and is 22 3/4 inches long. (Even the pediatrician didn't believe his length at first.) He was born 12/19/07 at 5:39 pm. The boy has lots of dark hair and is surprisingly strong, reaching for me just minutes after birth and holding his head up for long periods by day 2. Also, he's a great eater.

OK. So here's the story of how. Don't read on if these things bother you.

We were late for our appointment at the hospital, but were settled into our room by about 9:30 and started the IV to get things moving. After several hours, thing were progressing VERY slowly. But the contractions were becoming an issue for me, so the dr ok'd the epidural. (We'd spent quite a lot of time talking about my labor and recovery last time so that my pain, shock, and emotional state could be handled better this go round.) The anesthesiologist did a great job. He did hit nerves, but we'd talked about using some trial and error to get better placement, so I was expecting it. And his placement was sooo good. I did need a few extra doses over the course of the day, but only b/c of contraction pain in my back.

So, I'm numb and happy. John and I decided to watch a movie b/c clearly, this would be a long process. About halfway through, my back was starting to be problem again, so the nurse came in to check me before calling for an extra dose in my epidural. John got ready to call the grandparents to give a long overdue update, but the nurse stopped him with "Are you ready to have a baby?" She had me push through one contraction and then paged the dr b/c he was crowning! Unfortunately, my dr had expected me to take several more hours and had just gone into the OR to assist. So I met another wonderful OB as she ran in, suited up, and delivered the baby. It took less than 10 minutes! And because of my great epidural, I didn't feel any pain. Definitely the best way to have a baby.

Recovery has been much easier. Except for the exhaustion and a sore back, I don't really have much to complain about. I give a HUGE shout out to the maternity services at Newton-Wellesley Hospital for their focus on the patient's wants and needs. It was the best hospital experience I've ever been a part of.

So that's it! Still don't know if I'll ever be willing to do it again, but at least it won't be fears about labor and recovery making the decision next time.

The last few days

After finishing up with the Christmas party last weekend and delivering the Sub-for-Santa donations on monday, Ethan and I have had nothing to do. It's been a little weird after weeks of going non-stop. But we're LOVING it.

Ethan and I have been spending our time just hanging out with each other. I can't imagine a better way to spend our last week together. He's been so much fun. Playing with all his toys, coloring, pretending to be everything from superheroes to pirates, and lots of dancing. We really need to spend the occasional day doing nothing more often. He's just a different kid!

Also, my body is in better shape. The leg problems that were keeping me up half the night are only a minor annoyance now. It's been good to get a little rest before all the work of a newborn.

The big craziness going on right now is the snow that's coming. This afternoon is the first storm, promising at least half a foot in a matter of hours. (And of course I have a dr's appt just as it starts so I can't stay out of it.) Then, on Saturday night, there's a nor-easter coming with predictions anywhere from sheeting ice to more than a foot of snow. Just in time to cause problems with Grandma J flying in.

Our only hope is that the changes in barometric pressure don't push me into labor. (It's crazy how many babies are born early for this reason.) We feel like the scheduled date is just perfect for us, and we REALLY don't want to be driving to the hospital during the middle of a storm.

So that's us for now. I'll try to get a belly shot posted later today (if I can find the memory card.)

Updated Sidebar

Just an update on my sidebar. I think G&G J are buying the stroller. And I removed the diapers from the "want" list b/c I'm realizing that it's just more work and expense than I want. But I did add a baby sling. I didn't like the one I had last time and barely used it b/c it didn't fit well, had no stretch, and had this annoying padding. After looking around for a while, I found these. They come in something like ten different sizes, are all stretch cotton, can be ordered with or without padding, and are so adorable to boot! Just in case you were wondering, I think I'll wear a size 23, unpadded, and I really like White Lotus, White Lily, Natural Bamboo (the bluer one), and Spellbound Stretch. I also like Blue Acadia, but definitely no solids b/c it'll be harder to hide messes and stains.

I'm sorry, WHAT??

Tonight, when I went in to sing to Ethan before bed, he asked "After Edward can you have another baby?" Seriously.

FYI

For anyone who might have been thinking about it, the solid colors of the swaddling blankets have been marked down. (The link is under 'Things we want...' on the sidebar.) I plan to buy at least one of these b/c they are such a great weight of fabric and the perfect size to swaddle even big babies, nurse under, and use as a sun shade on the stroller. I figure that we need so little I can afford to splurge on a few nicer items this go round.

It's a..... oh, just look and see

This is a little hard to see small, so maybe click on the picture to see it bigger. It's a bum shot, with the legs disappearing to the left. (The round, hollow thing is a knee, so follow it back down to the bum.) In between you can see a distinct something...That's right! We're having another boy, and we are sure this time. This is a nice profile shot. For anyone who has a hard time seeing these, the white curve at the bottom left is the back of the head. So if you follow the curve over the top, you get to a nice profile. If you look at it close up the nose, lips, chin, and even cheekbones are visible. The squished oval to the right is the torso and the white streak coming up at the right is a leg bone.
Here is another profile. In this one you can see a little hand coming up to his mouth. You can even count all five fingers.
Right after the last one, the tech gave the baby a poke and he appeared to be laughing at her. (The cross-section is at a strange angle, so no, my baby isn't deformed.)
I know this doesn't look like much, but it's a foot with five toes. (The toes are at the upper right end of the foot.)

So it was a great ultrasound. He is healthy and clearly enjoying his ability to move around in there. It took quite a long time because he was playing around so much. Rolling around, waving his hands at us, and crossing his legs when she went for a bum shot. The tech commented that he was incredibly active, but was fun to chase around. She also mentioned how tall he seemed to be. All his measurements were right on, but they can't get a good length estimate once they are this big, so she was just guessing.

Well post something at soon about his name, because I'm sure you'll hear us using it. But I don't want to tell you yet until we can explain what it means to us. I may even have John write about it.

Little Miracle

Our big ultrasound is tomorrow. Before we find out what the baby is, and more importantly if it's healthy, I thought I should share why this baby is already a little miracle for us.

After my experience last time, I wanted to have a much better doctor this time around. The entire year that we were trying to become pregnant, I asked everyone I knew for recommendations, feeling like I would never find a doctor who would be what I needed. Finally, my visiting teacher mentioned her dr and I just got a good feeling. So when I was nearing 12 months of nothing, I called to make an appointment. Afraid to admit that there might be a problem to the receptionist (and to myself), I simply scheduled a new patient appointment, which meant a three month wait. Because I was afraid of what he might find at the appointment, and that he might not be a good fit for me anyway, I was ok putting it off.

A week later, I was at the temple. Frustrated after a year of trying and pleading, I didn't want to pray about getting pregnant that time. No, not just didn't want to, I flat out refused. So I went, focused on other things. It wasn't very far into the session when I was overridden and received a very direct answer. I very distinctly heard in my head "Call and move up the appointment." Not the kind of answer I'd been looking for, and one that made me worry about why, but an answer.

I called and explained that I needed to discuss fertility issues and that I just didn't feel like it could wait. Apparently my dr's assistant had been covering the phones and something I said made her fit me in where she wouldn't normally. I had an appointment for a week later that turned out to be fitted in between surgeries.

When I arrived for the appointment, I sat in the car shaking, afraid of what he might say. After a quick exam (everything normal), we talked about my last pregnancy. He completely agreed that I needed to plan for large babies and talked about inducing weeks early as an alternative to a C-section. And he was appalled by the level of care I'd had, assuring me that he would make sure I had what I needed the next time around. Then we talked about why I wasn't pregnant. Normally, he would prescribe something to make me kick out more eggs or send me to a fertility specialist who would start the testing with John, but he agreed with me that maybe some hormone testing and checking my ovaries for viable eggs first was a better course this time. I left with a huge smile, so relaxed.

A few weeks later, I had my tests. The hormone levels were all normal and the ultrasound of my ovaries was surprising. I had eight immature follicles on one side and three on the other. I also had one VERY mature one. This told us several things. First, that I was glad I hadn't taken the clomid route (the drug that makes you kick out more eggs) because I could have kicked out eleven at once! Second, that I didn't have a problem, just that the mature follicle was going to be released earlier than we expected. Early enough that we'd been missing the egg each month. The tech was hilarious and said "That's going to pop any day now. Do what you've gotta do."

I started feeling sick about a week later. Yay! We've felt hugely blessed to have found this Dr who I'm sure would say he is following his gut, but seems to be in tune with the spirit. Between the things that John and I had been prompted to do, and the promptings that our Dr listened to, we were able to have our eight week visit a week before my original appointment. We don't know why the timing of this baby was so important (other than my mental health, and possibly keeping us here in Boston to use this doctor), but we are grateful for it. We know that without the direction we received, we might still be struggling to get pregnant.

Gotta Love This Boy

After Ethan recovered from our week of craziness, he's been the cutest kid!

Yesterday, I was cleaning in the kitchen and asked him to pick up some of his toys in the living room. He balked (of course), but then disappeared. When I looked in, he was just finishing the last of the three things I'd asked him to do! I mauled him with hugs and kisses and then we finished cleaning up the other toys together. Later, I was doing laundry and he wanted so badly to help. I pulled things out of the washer and he put them into the dryer. Then he threw an entire load into the washing machine one item at a time. Once that was done, he ran over and helped dad mix up the scrambled eggs he was making for dinner. Ethan used to be a little helpful, but lately has been more obstructive. (I'd even been thinking about instituting the rule that if he wants to be with me when I'm busy he needs to be helping.) This day of help was great.

This morning, I was woken up by Ethan, who promptly asked where the baby was. He couldn't see my stomach buried in the blankets and wanted to be sure he didn't jump on it. While I was finishing breakfast, Ethan asked to sit on my lap. Thinking this was the start of a clingy, miserable day, I grudgingly obliged. Nope. He wanted to check on the baby. He pulled up my shirt to poke at my basketball sized belly and ask if the baby was hurting me today. (It's still low enough that it's stretches and flips can be rather painful. Hopefully it will pop up soon and I won't grimace each time it moves.) We talked about seeing the baby tomorrow at the dr's (Yep, ultrasound is tomorrow!) We talked about how it would grow really big and then come out. We talked about mom going to the hospital to take it out after Ethan's birthday. We talked about it living with us and even about Ethan and the baby sharing a room. The boy is very enthusiastic about all of it. He is starting to understand a little, now that my belly is hard to miss. And just in case you were wondering what he wants, he says different things when asked directly, but he always calls the baby a "she".

Motionsickness

If only this baby were really as calm as the one floating in the little bubble. I remember seeing Ethan during his ultrasound and being grateful that I couldn't feel all that action. Not so lucky this time. I'm weeks away from my ultrasound and am feeling so many flips and kicks it's been making me nauseous. Not looking forward to when this baby gets big and fights against being cramped in there.

G Diapers

Thinking about using G diapers with this baby. Some of the earthy benefits of a cloth diaper without being a cloth diaper. They have a cloth outer, a liner to keep the outer clean when diapers are messy, and use flushable inserts. I probably would only use one or two a day, and I wouldn't start until the Medium size (the small just isn't worth the investment with our big babies). Even if I throw away the inserts rather than flushing them, they are still so much more biodegradable.

Anyway. Still just thinking about it. Finances may determine that we stick to our Pampers, but I like the idea of these diapers.

The Quickening

I think that's what they used to call it. Anyway, I thought I'd pass on to the grandparents that this baby is just as active as Ethan was. I've been feeling little kicks and stretches on occasion for the last two weeks or so (I know! Crazy early!) I'm only certain that I'm not making it up b/c I feel it every day now. I get little kicks right in front where the baby spends most of its time (I think that means the placenta is in the back padding my spine. Yay!) and occasional pushes against my already sore round ligaments on my right side. This baby clearly knows where it prefers to hang out. Picky already.

New Sidebar

After weeks of research, John and I have made a list of what we know we need for this baby. Surprisingly, it's really short! Because we are so far ahead of ourselves, rather than just buying everything, we thought we'd throw out ideas for the family. There is a new sidebar with what we know we need this time around. These are the things we will definitely buy if no one else does. Don't feel obligated to buy us anything.

Because we've researched these well, I include the disclaimer that we will not accept substitutions. If you want to know why these particular items, call and I will be glad to tell you. The biggest reason for all of them is that they fill our needs exactly and are reasonable priced.

My Magic Pill

It's doxylamine, also known as Unisom. I know it sounds weird. But it's a part of the medication Bendectin that was used to treat nausea back in my mom's day. (The other part of Bendectin was B6 which I'm also taking.) You can still get it in nearly every country of the world, but because of a scare many, many years ago, it's not available in the US. It's since been proven to be one of the safest things a pregnant woman can take. And I sleep better too! For anyone with morning sickness, I whole heartedly recommend my magic pill.

I'm in Love...

...with my Dr! I got an inkling of how good he is when I saw him about our fertility problem, but now I'm in love. I told John I'm not leaving Boston until this baby is born b/c I'll never find another like him.

First, he gave me several options for dealing with all the sick, so I'm starting with the combo of OTC stuff before I spend the money on a prescription. (One of the things I'm doing is switching from a full prenatal vitamin to just folic acid. The full prenatal causes nausea, and if I can eat, I can get the nutrients from food. Such a great tip!) Second, he suggested that I probably didn't need several of the screening tests (early Downs syndrome check and AFP quad), so if I didn't want them, we didn't need to waste our time and money. Because they wouldn't change anything for John and I, we totally agreed. And finally, the best. We talked last time about my delivery with Ethan and decided to induce the next one two weeks early. Today, he said we'd do it at least two and a half weeks early. So that puts the delivery date for this baby around Dec 10th. Yay!

Anyway, I could go on all day about how great he is. I need to thank the friend that referred him again. It's so good to know that he is just as concerned about me having an easier time this go round as I am.

Sick

I'm sick. Really sick. And I've been this way for a month. Hoping to get some relief from the Dr today. If I do I'll post a real update on how we're doing.

OH! And I'm due Dec 28th, but this Dr agreed to induce me early so it'll be around the 14th. Still a risk that the baby will be too big for me, even a pound lighter, but he'd rather induce early than schedule a c-section.