Past Due

I am officially past my due date now and not even a hint of a contraction (or any other sign that this baby is coming soon). Will induce next week if the baby is still not here. Wish me luck getting through the next few days. This is not fun!

--Amanda

Breech baby no more!

So at my 34 week appointment we found out baby girl, or 'little sister' as Molly calls her, was still breech. I was bummed about the news because another friend who is pregnant had to schedule a version and c-section because her daughter was still breech (but luckily her baby turned in time). Anyway, for almost 2 weeks I had to lie on my back with pillows under my hips making my hips about 18in high with my head still on the ground for 15 minutes, 2-3 times a day. It sure was a pain but it worked! At my next midwife appointment she had turned head down and we got to see her on ultrasound to confirm.

So that's a big relief. Our new focus is that she was facing to the side and not to the back. She still have plenty of time to face the back but the midwife recommended that I don't lie on my back or even recline at all. I'm going to start swimming as well because that is suppose to help convince her to get in position as well.

I can't believe I'm at the point where I now have weekly doctor's appointments! I have my GBS test on Thursday so hopefully I will get a break and that will be negative. Otherwise I'll just keep plugging along!

The 'betes...

I should have posted about this a while ago but you probably all know that I have gestational diabetes. It definitely came as a surprise because I didn't have it with Molly. But at my midwife appt before the glucose test, I had sugar that had spilled into my urine so I guess there was a slight hint. Then I failed the 1 hr test on a Friday, got the phone call about that on the following Monday and had to go in Tuesday for the 3 hr test, failed that and got the phone call on Wednesday. I had a nutritionist call me on that Thursday and met with her on Friday. So it all happened pretty fast.

After the meeting with the nutritionist (who pretty much sucked, by the way) I was set with a new meal plan and glucose monitor. I don't have to completely eliminate carbs but have to majorly limit and control them. That not only includes breads, grains, and sugar but also fruits and even milk! and I've upped my protein. I have to prick my finger and check my blood sugar four times a day! That part sucks and I have to write down all of my scores and make notes of what I ate if my numbers are high. The midwife makes a copy of my numbers at every appointment.

All that being true and sucking, I really have come to view it as a blessing in disguise. I am so much more aware of what I am putting into my body and eating so much healthier. With Molly I gained about 50 pounds. So far, at almost 36 weeks pregnant, I have gained seven, yes 7, pounds total. With the food knowledge, I think I will really be able to get in even better shape after this baby comes than I was before!

I am also in the gym at least 3 times a week. With Molly I stopped working out at about 2 months along.

So that's the health saga here. Only about a month left to go. As soon as this baby, well, the placenta, pops out, the 'betes should be gone. I will have to test for a period of time afterward just to make sure it didn't turn into true diabetes but I have full confidence that we'll be back to normal. My midwife already told me that I will be given a grace period right after the baby is born where I don't have to test so to think about what I want to eat during that time.

Almost Ready for Hadley's Baby Sister!

Well, I was trying to get motivated to do some of the million things I need to do this afternoon while Hadley is napping, but I could not get motivated to do a single one! So I decided to write a post instead. I am now 36 weeks with Hadley's baby sister, and was already 50% effaced when in the Dr.'s office a few days ago. The doctor said that was normal for this point in a second pregnancy, but it seems like a lot, since I was about 0% effaced and 0% dilated at 38 weeks when I had Hadley. Ultrasounds have all been normal so far and the baby is head down now, but she will probably only be a little bigger than Hadley was---about 6 or 6.5 lbs.

We brought up all the little baby gear from the basement a few weeks ago to put in the nursery. I can't wait to hold this little baby soon! However, as we were bringing up all the gear, I realized that the amount of gear you need for a small baby directly correlates with the amount of work it is! I don't remember being overwhelmed last time because I just had no idea what I was getting myself into. This time I know how much work it will be on how little sleep, and it is a little overwhelming. Oh well, thank goodness for caffeine! Still can't wait to meet this new little girl!

Melissa and Greer--would love to hear about things you are doing differently this time that are working/not working. Congrats to Melissa! Look forward to seeing the post-birth post, but I know it will probably be a while with two little munchkins to take care of!

--Amanda

trick or treat!

My sweet and sassy little Raggedy Ann, trying out the trick or treating experience for the first time (she loved it!).


A successful posed shot with her hot date, Raggedy Andy. He got relegated to the stroller pretty quickly when it came down to him or the bucket of candy, but she carried him faithfully at the fall festival we went to.


I couldn't get motivated to do costumes for Joe and I or for Lawton this year, so we relied on Laine's cuteness to carry us. I've got high hopes and expectations for myself for next year that we can come up with some cute family themed costumes before they're too old to be embarrassed by it (a la your costumes, Emily... loved it!).

Potty Training

Well, I am happy to report that we are now diaper free during the day! Hadley started showing some interest in potty training at about 19 months. I went to Target one day and I was just looking at potty seats (but not really planning on buying anything that day), and she absolutely had a fit for a potty. So I decided not to fight her if she wanted to try it, and I bought her a potty that day.

At first, I just took her with me when I went and sat her on her own potty. She actually used it the first day, but it took a while before she would do it regularly. For the first month or two, we were still using diapers/pull-ups on her while she got used to the concept of using the potty. She did well when we took her to the potty and every once in a while she would come and tell us she had to potty, but she was not really consistent. So I picked a week when I knew we would be home for most of the week, and I put panties on her full-time. The first day or two were a little rough--there were lots of accidents--and she usually was not very happy about it when she had an accident. But after that, she seemed to get the hang of it.

She still averages about 1 accident per day, but I think for a less than 2-year old that is doing pretty good.

A few suggestions in case anyone else is planning to potty train soon:

1. Potty training is much less convenient than diapering. So if you have not been potty training for a number of months already, I wouldn't suggest doing it right before or after a new baby. And changing a diaper is much, much more pleasant than cleaning out a kiddie potty!

2. Along the convenience lines, you have to be potty-ready at ALL times. Because they will inevitably say "potty" at the MOST inconvenient times for you. Like when you just left somewhere (that had a potty) and got ready to put him/her in the car; when you are driving on a rural road with no bathroom in sight; when the only bathroom in sight is so gross that you would not even want to use it yourself.

3. A few products that help with convenience: the Pottette Plus is the best portable potty ever! You can get it at Babies R Us (online only) and BuyBuy Baby. We keep this in the car so that we have a bathroom everywhere we go. It has disposable bag liners (that actually do not leak), so after they are used, you can just throw them away in the trash and don't have to worry about emptying/cleaning a potty on the go. I also carry potty protectors and a plastic portable potty seat that fits on a regular size toilet so that we can use public restrooms when needed (as long as they are relatively clean). The plastic portable seat keeps her from falling in, and I don't have to hold her up on it.

4. And for the accidents--invest in a steam cleaner. That way you can easily clean carseats, mattresses, carpets etc. without having to take the carseat out of the car. I have the Shark Portable Steam Pocket, which you can get a Kohl's.

--Amanda

party of three...make that party of 4

So we are heading closer to officially become a family of four, and I am still shocked that I am a mom...does it ever hit you that you are a grown up?!!
Anyways, we have about a month to go before this next little guy gets here and I am in full swing nesting mode. The nursery is pretty much done; we just need to hang some art work. We kicked Andrew out of the nursery about two months ago so he would have plenty of time to adjust to his big boy room before Thomas gets here- more on that in a minute. The nursery is the largest regular bedroom in the house so we have room for a full sized bed in there so if needed whoever is doing the night feedings can have a comfortable place to lay down and get some shut eye.
Like I mentioned, Andrew moved to his big boy room, and I am SHOCKED by how well the transition went. Seriously could not have planned it better myself. They always say to "look for the signs"...let me tell you, I suck at reading the signs, but in hind sight I think they were smacking me in the face. We had decided that once our summer visitors were pretty much wrapped up we would turn the guest bedroom into Andrew's room and put the guest bedroom in the nursery until we needed to start using the bonus room when the baby arrive and start using the extra hard bed for guest that we have been hiding for the past year.
Anyways, I had always thought the sign that we needed to move Andrew was him actually escaping from his crib. I was terrified of moving him into a big boy bed so early when all my friends have waited until their kids were at least year years old. But with a baby on the way we had to readjust. That means moving him about a year before I was intending I was not ready for the power struggle that could arise if he wasn’t "ready". But about a week before we were going to seriously start changing the bedrooms around Andrew started acting out at bedtime. He wasn't going to sleep like he used to and he was getting mad at us for putting him in his crib. He was throwing everything out of there and was just becoming a brat to deal with at bedtime. And let me tell you something, if there was something that this kid was a pro at was going to bed. So after a few days of him acting out I threw my hands up. If you don’t want it in your crib, we will take it all out, so I did, everything came out including the mattress. That first night was interesting. He did better than I expected, but was by no means going to sleep on his own like we were used to. I think I fell asleep in there on the floor beside the crib mattress that was more like a pillow to Andrew then a bed. The next day went a little better, but my back was killing me and there is a reason that pregnant woman do not sleep on the floor. So I told Joey that we are working on Andrew's room this weekend because we wanted it "complete" before we moved him in so we weren’t making some many changes back to back.
So that weekend Andrew went to Grandma's house and we finished the big boy room and he loved it. His favorite part was the ceiling fan...just wait until he finds out it comes with a remote control. We didn't get a toddler size bed because we didn't want to spend money on a second crib mattress. We also didn’t get a fun toddler bed because eventually we want the boys to share a room and if we were going to invest in furniture we were going to look into bunk beds. So right now it is just a mattress on the floor. Joey was dead set against it, but after the first few nights of Andrew rolling off the bed he could see we made the right decision. Eventually he will be up off the ground, but we aren't in any hurry.
It took Andrew about a week to get used to the change and he has been such a big boy about it. Bedtime was easier then nap time. But we have a routine worked out and we read books before bedtime and it helped in the beginning to sleep with a toy of some sort that wasn’t a traditional toy...ie: box of baby wipes (don't ask, I don't get the fascination) or legos or even a book these days. I don't see the harm in it and anything to make it easier these days is fine with me. There were a couple of nights in there that I don’t think he was ready for bed, but it was bedtime and we don’t mess with our schedule too much these days with a very pregnant mommy putting him to bed. On those days I would kiss him goodnight and close the door behind me. He would cry, but it would only last a few minutes. We did cry it out when he was younger so this was a very short version of that-time wise nightly and time-wise for just a few days, and after a few days of realizing that he needed to go to bed he has been a big boy ever since. He even tells me night-night now, or bye-bye when it is time to get under the covers. Every once and a while he will not be in bed when we leave, but he knows how to get in and pull up the covers. We have a moveable night light in there with just enough light for him to move around and that has worked out really well for us. But seriously the hardest part of bedtime is getting him in from outside and up the stairs. Once we are in his room he is good to go and start his bedtime routine.
Hope this information helps out. We are nowhere near potty training although his favorite book these days is about a duck that is learning to use the potty chair. We will start looking for the "signs" on that front, but I am thinking it will be sometime next year before we try to tackle that transition. Until then it is all about kissing the baby and learning where the baby will sleep and pointing at all the babies at daycare...I hope he is ready because he is going to be a big brother very, very soon!

Here is a link for the nightlight we got. It was last season at Target, but I could only find it on Amazion right now. I think we are going to get the turtle version for the nursery...
http://www.amazon.com/Circo-Circo%C2%AE-Car-LED-Nightlight/dp/B005P8HINE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320164472&sr=8-3


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