Not My Morning Cup of Joe!!

I've always been pretty good at picking up on cause and effect
patterns, and now this week that I don't have help, I'm able to see
some patterns in Natalie. The most noticeable one is her spitting up.
In general, she doesn't spit up much, or, at least she doesn't as long
as I eat my normal diet. But there is one feeding where she spits up
WAY more than any other feedings, and that one is the one that occurs
a few hours after I've had my morning coffee.

So now I need to test this theory, but when! That cup of joe keeps me
awake and happy til about 2:00, and then most of the time, I can take
a nap, and that gets me thru the rest of the day. Ugh. Do I have
to?!?! I mean, what's a little exorcist spit up among family?!?! Ok,
ok. I'll start by going to 1/2 cup and then take it from there.

Man, the sacrifices!

Sent from my iPhone

Guard Dog

When Alli was first born, it seemed like Bagheera did everything to ignore her, until I started noticing the subtle things that he did.  Bagheera is once again showing me that he is the family protector.  Instead of begging/insisting/bugging us until he gets fed, he quietly waits knowing that we are busy trying to get 2 kids satisfied.  When Natalie cries, Bagheera, who is a little hard of hearing, comes into the room to see what he can do to help.  And today, Natalie and I came home from dropping Alli off at school and I set her down, only to come back to see that Bagheera moved from one of his typical napping spots, to this spot right by her (which is someplace I've never seen him nap before).

Thanks my wonderful guard dog!  You are awesome!!

An Early Birthday Surprise

My mom has come out to Arizona to help out while I'm recovering from childbirth.  She is here for almost 2 weeks - the first week staying with some friends and the second week staying with us.  Well, the first week came to an end over this past weekend and the ladies decided that an early birthday present was in order.  So, we spruced up the back yard with some pots and plants.  Mind you, this took days of work, many trips to stores, emails/pictures/text messages, and a whole lot of planting.

Here are some pics of my "early birthday presents".  Thank you so much ladies!!  The patios look amazing and I can't stop looking out my windows!  And thanks to mom for cleaning the patio sofa - now Natalie and I can sit outside and enjoy the beautiful patio as well!

The Perfect Child

When I was pregnant with Natalie, I was worried that baby #2 could never compete with my perfect baby #1.  Alli is beautiful, and smart, with a great sense of humor, and very kind.  I mean, how can anyone measure up to that?  No I know most moms are worried that they will love the baby more than the older child, but I'm the opposite.  I have such a good relationship with Alli, and let's face it, babies just sleep, eat, and go potty.  There's no real "relationship".  So, I was worried.

And then Natalie was born.  She's almost 2 weeks old now and what I've noticed is that she is beautiful (but beautiful in different ways than Alli), and she is funny (she squeaks and grunts and snorts and just makes us laugh all the time with her funny facial expressions).  Of course, we will have to wait to see about the rest of her personality.

But the one thing that I've learned is that there is not one formula for the perfect child - cause I have two, and they are different.  :D

Multi-Tasking at It's Best

Today we had a follow-up appointment for Natalie, to make sure her she was gaining weight appropriately, and to make sure the jaundice was clearing.  I figured 1/2 hour visit, plus whatever time waiting in the waiting room - piece of cake.  So, we were in the waiting room for about 15 minutes max, then we went to the room, got weighed, took temp, etc.  Now just had to wait for the doc for the jaundice check.  Her weight gain is great - she's at 6 lbs 15 oz, so past her birth weight before the required 2 week period.

Waiting for the doctor took longer than expected.  After 30 minutes of waiting, I finally went out of the room to see if someone could watch the girls so I could go to the bathroom.  Dr.  Patel saw me and said "oh, you're still here!"  What??  They misplaced us??  Grrrr....  We have been saying for 2 years now we are going to find another pediatric doctor, but we never have.  This just added to the list of reasons to do so.  Apparently, they never marked our room for the doctor to come in, so she just kept skipping us!  Ugh.  But, she came in right away when she saw me and started looking over Natalie.  She also said I could run to the bathroom and she would watch the girls.  That was very nice.

Dr. Patel mentioned she wasn't worried about the jaundice at all because the test we took Friday came back as a 10, which is not a worrisome number.  That would have been good information to know 30 minutes ago.

So, an hour and a half after getting there, we finally were able to leave.  We went through Burger King drive through (not my favorite getting fast food, but we were all starved!)  We got home and since Natalie didn't get a good sleep for that 3 hour period, she was fussy.  Damn!  Not going to get to eat my burger cause I'm going to have to feed her first.  So I hooked her up and just couldn't stand it anymore.  So Alli, Natalie, *and* I were eating - all at the same time.  Nice, huh?  :)  When it was time to switch sides, I decided I needed to wash my hands first.  So I washed one hand while Natalie was still attached and feeding.  Cool!  Then Alli wanted more water, with ice.  Really child?  Get it yourself!  No...this is one of the outcries of being a new sister - she wants to know that she still matters to us and so doing things for her is the way she knows she still matters.  Ugh.  Once again, Natalie nursing still, I'm up getting Alli a new cup of water with ice.  I like this multi-tasking!  :)  haha

On the downside, Natalie was so exhausted from the morning, that after nursing the one side, I could not wake her up to nurse on the other.  Ugh.  Now I'm lopsided and going to be in pain in about 2 hours.  Oh well.  It won't be the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Parent-Teacher Conference for Alli

Alli is in the same class as last year, so we are very familiar with her teacher and do a lot of chatting at dropoff (and now pickup since we can do that with maternity leave).  Her academics are high, just like last year.  No worries about them.  We talked about how I can support her reading at home to supplement the work the teacher is doing with her on her reading.  Mrs. Gyger mentioned she only has opportunity to work with Alli 2x per week because of Alli going to the other preschool.

So, I asked her other preschool teacher, Mrs. Erste, how she was doing.  Alli is in another preschool 3 days a week in the afternoons as a peer model for kids with disabilities.  So I asked Mrs. Erste how Alli was doing as a peer model and she said she is exactly what a peer model is supposed to be.  So that's good.

The only new news was in Alli's social development.  Apparently she is finally understanding how to walk away from a bad situation (very good), and she also has played with another little boy in the afternoon preschool and helped bring him out of his shell.  Yay!  The teacher said it was great for both of them - Alli plays with this little boy and the little boy is now not shy to ask Alli to play.

On a different note, Mrs. Gyger said that Alli was adjusting to being a big sister really well - she hasn't seen her act out or do anything like that, which is really good.  She did mention that Alli announced to her class "My baby sister eats by drinking milk from my Mommy's boobies!"  The teacher was laughing and said "You are correct.  But we call that 'nursing'."  :D  That's my girl - totally infatuated with boobies!!

One Week Old and First Newborn Doctor Visit

Natalie is one week old!  She sleeps a LOT, which is nice for us, but also very different since we have no interaction and are anxious to get to know the personality of our newest family member.

Her newborn office visit went well, especially considering her GI tract bug that she fought on day 4.  The doctor said we were doing a fantastic job with the breast feeding - her lips and eyes were nice and moist and there was no thrush in her throat.  Here were her stats:

Length:  20-1/2"
Weight:  6 lbs 11 oz


The only issue was the jaundice.  She was still a little yellow (probably leftover from the bug), but the doctor said it was looking ok.  Just in case, she ordered a jaundice blood test since we had to go to get blood drawn anyway for the 2nd part of the newborn screening required in Arizona.  She also asked that we come back to check the jaundice in 4 more days.

Our newborn appointment wound up taking over 2 hours with the blood draw.  Holy cow - who would have thought!  Alli was a champ through it.  In fact, she was so good that we treated her (and us) to a bowl of ice cream when we got home.  AND, since she has been such a good big sister, she got a Dora Kitchen as a gift.  (It was a hand-me-down from the Kingerys - thanks guys!)

One thing we did notice during the doctor's visit, the blood draw, and just observations around the house is that we might have a little princess on our hands.  Yes, she cries when her diaper is the least bit soiled.  She cried during the blood draw - not from the heel prick, but when the lady squeezed her foot to get the blood into the vile.  And that was more because she wanted to be able to move her legs freely instead of have them held.  Oh boy!

Natalie Day 4: SICK!! Agh!!

We got worried with Natalie because she hadn't pooped since 3am Sunday morning.  And here it was Tuesday morning and still nothing.  But more on that later...

Monday night nursing brought a new characteristic out in Natalie.  She kept spitting up a lot after feedings so I started burbing her more religiously.  It seemed to help.  Tuesday morning she was pretty tired, and so I let her sleep.  I noticed she was more "snacking" than feeding, but I figured if she were that tired, I would just let her sleep through the morning and she would probably wake up more in the afternoon.  WRONG!

Late morning, we got a poop.  We were very happy about that because nobody wants a constipated newborn!  But then she started pooping like every hour.  Hmmm..... seems strange.  And then she never did quite wake up for a full nursing - she kept falling asleep after nursing for 2-3 minutes (a snack), and this kept going all day.  By evening, she was looking quite yellow and the fear of jaundice really hit (besides the fact that we thought all the pooping was due to the same bug that gave Alli the diarhea).

We brought Natalie outside for an hour, stripped down to nothing but a diaper, and soaking up the last indirect sunlight of the evening to try to help the jaundice.  Kim called the doctor and got the PA on call for the night.  We talked for a while asking lots of questions about the digest tract bug as well as jaundice.  Armed with information, we decided that an ER visit was not necessary, but we would be going to the doctor's office the next day to at least get her levels checked for jaundice.  And mommy decided that waking a sleeping baby was mandatory for the night, to make sure she was hydrated since all she was doing was snacking.

I've found waking her only takes a diaper change.  Boy, does she fuss with that, although during the day she had been more calm (probably because she wasn't really waking up).  So we nursed at 8pm, and then again around 10:30pm.  I woke up again at 2am and forced myself to wake her up and nurse.  This time, she did a full feeding.  Yay!  Both sides!!!  We were awake for about an hour.  Good job Natalie.  Then she woke me up at 5:30am for another nursing, and again took both sides.  I also noticed that changing her diaper was back to a challenge with the squirmy baby.  (Squirma-dega is Kim's nickname for her right now.  If you don't understand, watch Sesame Street with Jeff Gordon and Squirmy the Worm doing the Squirma-dega race.)  :)

While we are still sitting her next to the window for some sunlight, and still dealing with some interesting poopy diapers, we are happy to have our little Squirma-dega back.  Her eyes are open and bright today, so it looks like she has passed whatever jaundice / bug was affecting her yesterday.  Yay!!!

Settling In

It has been interesting to settle in this time around.  Some of it is easier, and some of it is much harder.

Natalie was born on Friday morning.  Kim left the hospital to go pick up Alli from school and bring her to meet her sister.  I told Kim that he should go home with Alli and spend the night with her instead of with me, so at 8pm, they left the hospital.  

I had a rough night that night.  The hospital was packed and the nurse support wasn't there the way I remember it was for Alli.  So I was up changing poopy diapers, dealing with Natalie puking up, and gagging on, the amniotic fluid that she swallowed during birth, and breast feeding.  All this while having difficulty getting out of bed due to the stitches, the cramping, the just general inability to move easily.  

Kim was supposed to show up at the hospital around 9:30 or so.  Well, Alli wound up puking at 6am, so he had a bit of cleanup to do.  Then he got her back to sleep and we had to decide what to do.  When they woke up again around 8, he took her temp.  Normal.  So he cleaned up and then headed out.  He got to the hospital by 11:30.

Meanwhile, Natalie and I got a visit from the Belt family.  It was nice to see the kids - they each took turns holding baby Natalie.  Kim missed them by 30 minutes.  :(  Bummer!!!

We asked to be discharged quickly, mostly because we figured Alli would need to get home.  This is a much different philosophy than we used before.  With Alli, we stayed as long as they would possibly let us.  My how things change when you have a sick other child in the picture!

Home adjustment was actually easier this time around, probably because we already had experience with having a kid around.  So, the house remained very messy (no worries), I tried to take care of myself and the feedings of Natalie, and Kim took on cooking, cleaning, and Alli duties.  Alli wanted to play a lot, but soon understood that there was going to be a new routine in the picture.  I found nursing in the rocking chair like I did with Alli wasn't going to work as well - instead I started nursing in the spare bed so that Alli could sit next to me.  We could read books together while Natalie ate.  I guess now I'm glad we have company coming and we left Natalie's room mostly a spare bedroom!  :)

It's fun to see the similarities and differences in the baby's.  Alli liked being wrapped like a burrito, but had to have her arms out.  Natalie is very similar in this respect.  Natalie *constantly* has a hand by her face (she did in the womb too!)  Alli had no such habit.  The girls look very similar, yet different in many ways.

The biggest concern we now have with Natalie is this bug that Alli had.  Alli went from puking on Saturday morning to diarrhea by Sunday.  Natalie on the other hand, hasn't pooped since about 3am on Sunday.  Here it is Monday night, so that's quite a bit of time.  She has plenty of very stinky gas though.  We don't know if she caught the digestive bug that Alli has, or if this is something else.  So I'm feeding her often instead of trying to get her on a schedule, just to make sure she doesn't dehydrate or anything.  I'll work on the schedule next week if we can get her bowels working well.  It's weird cause in the hospital she pooped like 6 times within the 25 hours we were there!  

It's so nice to have Kim home to help around the house and just be around.  And Natalie warms up to him like crazy.  Sometimes if I can't console her, Kim has the magic touch.  I will definitely miss having him around next week when he goes back to work...

Food Coma

Sisters

Among Friends

Thank you to all of our wonderful friends and family for all the well wishes.  We love you all.  Thanks for stopping by to say hi Wolferts.  Thanks for stopping by today Belts.  And thank you for dinner last night Pennells.

Speaking of Pennells, we are now part of an exclusive group of families with two daughters and no sons.  In addition to the Pennells, we are joining the Pivins, Kingerys, Emmons, Dalsins, Hogans, and the MacLeods (my aunt and uncle).  Anyone have shotgun buying advice?

My Girls

Wolfert Visit

The crew

Mom/Dad/Natalie with Dr. Plimpton and nurse Susan.

Natalie Elise Guerrette

Born: 2012-10-05
Time: 10:14 AM
Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz
Length: 20 in.

Mom and baby are doing well :-)

It's a girl!

2012-10-05
10:14 AM
Natalie

Is there a doctor in the house?

Our nurse, Susan, is calling dr. Plimpton now because Jenny is about
10cm. dilated. It's almost time to start pushing!

When the levee breaks

Dr. Plimpton breaking Jenny's water sac seems to have kick started her
in the right direction. Whereas before, her contractions were at most
a 3 or 4 out of 10 on the pain scale, they are now solidly in the 5 to
6 range.

Go baby go!

Labor update

6 hours of being on petocin and no real change in my contractions.
They are stable and weak, just like at home.

But Dr. Plimpton just came in to check on me. Yay! It was good to see
his face. He broke my water, so now we are committed. I'm still only
4cm dilated. He's hoping that between the petocin and the water
breaking, we have a baby sometime this morning. Fingers crossed.

Sent from my iPhone

Checking in

On The Way To The Hospital

The hospital called to let us know they have a bed ready. We were
commenting that we are leaving for the hospital a good hour earlier
than with Alli, and I'm not in active labor. What a different
experience this is.

Alli is at Marcie's house. Bagheera is at Erik and Kris house. I'm
having contractions, but nothing strong. I have no clue if they are
just going to break my water or give petocin or both, but we are ready
for a long night.

Kim will keep the blog updated.

Sent from my iPhone

38-1/2 Week Checkup

I would have never thought I would be blogging about another checkup with the doctor, and yet, here we are...

I have lost 3 lbs since last week's visit (unsure why, but I have been a little nauseous lately).  The baby is unknown in weight because the head is so low the doctor couldn't get measurements.  But, he said that based on his judgement, the baby is probably 6-1/2 - 7 lbs, and the measurement from last week being 7-1/2 lbs was definitely heavy.

I'm 4cm dilated and ready to go.  Once again, he's just surprised that I haven't started into active labor yet.  And then I had a contraction while we were there and he asked about how strong I thought it was and I said maybe 2 out of 10, and that's what I've had for the last 7 weeks.  He said "Well, there you go.  Only 6 more weeks of being pregnant!"  hahaha

The baby was so low we couldn't even get an ultrasound of the face.  Unreal.  No wonder I'm so uncomfortable and waddle all over the place.

So we are now talking about going to the hospital for an induction to get the active labor started.  He said the hospitals have changed their processes, so his office has to call to schedule.  We are tentative for tomorrow afternoon, but the hospital is pretty busy and they are not sure they will get us in.  So, we are guessing we will be in the hospital sometime this week or this weekend, and then finally meet the baby that has been procrastinating in my belly!!!  :)

Every Pregnancy is Different

I know you always hear that every pregnancy is different, but until you experience just how different, you just don't want to believe it...

My pregnancy with Alli was easy - textbook as a matter of fact.  From looking back at the blog and from what I remember, I was running 1-2 miles until 6 months, started swimming at 32 weeks, assumed my due date was probably when I would stop working because I would have the baby on or after my due date, my labor started on a Sunday and gave us plenty of warning so we could tell work and make final preparations for the baby.

Now this pregnancy.  At 26 weeks I got stung by a scorpion (3 times).  Ok, that was unfortunate and not really a pregnancy problem, but still!  I ran 2-3 miles up to 15 weeks only, then could only walk.  The baby dropped at 31 weeks and then I couldn't even walk without bringing on contractions.  With Alli and a stressful job, going to the pool and swimming for exercise seemed out of the question.  I had to start working from home to keep the contractions at bay, at least until week 36.  And then we hit the magical calendar date of week 36 - safety.  The baby could come out - throw caution to the wind.  I was 2cm dilated and every indication was that the baby was coming soon.  Week 37, contractions are sporadic and not strong, dilated to 3cm, ready to pop at any time.  And then the week/this weekend since my last appointment:  pink show for 3 days straight, baby dropped so far down I was having issues sitting, cramps on both sides of my groin, and the fear that we would never make it to the hospital fast enough if my water did break.  And besides all of that, Kim's project had a big due date and he was on critical path and was working a lot.  (Ok, so can you say a lot of stress in our household?)

So this weekend was a turning point.  We went to the hospital to get checked out.  I mean, 3cm on Thursday, pink show for 3 days and groin cramps doesn't sound very good.  Kim finally packed up work and drove me down (we have at least a 40 minute drive to the hospital).  Alli wound up with an impromptu play date with Cali Pennell, who lives 2 miles from the hospital.  Everything checked out fine - contractions indicated pre-labor; baby's heartbeat was fine.  I was still 3cm dilated, 70-80% effaced, ripe to go at any time.  The hospital triage was slow and we were able to chat with the nurse quite a bit.  In the end, she said "You really need to reduce your stress.  It might be that your body wants to push this baby out but the stress is keeping that from happening."

Exhausted, both emotionally and physically, we had dinner with Angel and Cali, then went home to get ready for the week.  And in my sleepless night that I had, I finally came up with a de-stress plan:
1)  Stop working
2)  Schedule an induction  (seems like cheating, but I need a near-term date both for myself and for Kim's work schedule)


I often wonder if I would be so stressed if I didn't have 6 weeks of contractions prior to being full-term...