A baby in waiting

I need to get this down before I forget everything. The lack of sleep combined with an already poor memory does not bode well for you, I'm afraid, Oscar. But I'll do my best.

Nana got into town a week before Oscar's due date. I was pretty convinced I would never be having this baby. The contraction activity had slowed down and I was so used to being pregnant, I just figured I would deliver this baby in time for his high school graduation. The night before his due date, Nana implored us to go out to dinner while we had a free babysitter and one child (outside of the uterus anyway), so we took her up on it and left a weepy Annie whom we reassured of our return and went to Jack Fry's where I had a lovely sea bass. Little did I know it would be my last meal for 21 hours. (I should have gotten dessert.) When we returned home a little before 8, it was business as usual. I lumbered upstairs, synched on my scrubs (the only pants I could fit in), brushed my teeth and got into bed. About 45 minutes later I started to have some contractions that seemed to last more than 30 seconds and were looking to be somewhat regular intervals apart.

I told Jay and after they got to be about 8-10 minutes apart, we called the OB on call to see what she thought we should do. With Annie, my water broke before I got to the hospital so there was little doubt that I was indeed in labor, but this time it wasn't so clear. At the same time, my OB told me not to wait until they were 5 minutes apart since it was my second (whose births typically go a lot quicker), which of course put the fear of God in me (I have a new car and really didn't want to give birth on the upholstery). So they said not to wait too much longer before coming in, so at about 11:30, Jay and I woke up Nana, packed up and headed over to Baptist East. We had a perfect parking spot given the ungodly hour and anyone who knows me knows how much that meant to me. We headed in and it was all so surreal. I wasn't in crazy pain so it was kind of like checking into a hotel after a bad airplane ride. I got my gown on and got hooked up to the monitors. I had to get an IV of penicillin because I was Group B Strep positive. Let me tell you, that hurt more than the contractions--and I had to get it every 4 hours.

So after all the wires and needles were in their appropriate places, we just sort of waited. For a REALLY long time. The contractions kept their 8 minute intervals, but then slowed to 10. I told Jay, look, we're here. We're having this baby one way or another. So at about 5 AM (after another round of that IV of acid they called "antibiotics" and a nursing shift change) when the contractions were really just plain misbehaving, they administered Pitocin, or "Pit" as the nurses like to call it. Now the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart but I still was only at 4 cm (I need to be at 10 to push). They also weren't super painful. I was all "if this is 'bad,' I can totally do this naturally." My body had no memory of exactly how excruciating Annie's labor was. I kept thinking, maybe I was just being over dramatic. Then another nursing shift change. More Pit. Not much more activity. 4-5 cm. The doctor finally visited us around 9 or so (this is foggy). She said she would break my water after she did a C-section on someone else. The contractions were stronger but nothing I couldn't breathe my way through. We started watching bad HG-TV shows full of slate pavers and misguided design choices. Jay got some work done on the computer. I updated my status on Facebook. And I was STARVING. I just kept thinking about all the food I wish I could be eating instead of those blasted ice chips they push on you. Jay got breakfast, then Jay got lunch. This was getting ridiculous. When would this labor kick into gear?!?

Then something happened. About an hour after they broke my water (which only led to a trickle since the baby's head was so low), the baby did some crazy kind of jolting head butt inside me. It was as though he got turned around and decided to just poke a new hole in me to get out. It actually scared me the way someone saying "Boo!" when you least expect it scares you. Then, literally, the flood gates opened and all that pain I had so conveniently blocked out came rushing at me like a freight train. Derailed. Downhill. Over and over again at 1 minute intervals.

I had brought along a picture of Annie to be my focal point, but remember that weepy Annie we left behind telling her we'd be there in the morning when she got up? Well, unfortunately she was put on the phone when we called to check in with Nana that morning and she was screaming crying for me to come home and give her a hug in the most pathetic Hallmark Hall of Fame way possible. I lost it after hanging up the phone and then every time after that, when I looked at her photo, that whaling flooded my ears and tears flooded my eyes. Annie and I had literally never not woken up in the same house since she was born. Never. I felt like I was cheating on her. So much for the focal point. So when Jay said, "Do you think you want the epidural now?" I have never in my life nodded so emphatically as I did then.

At 1:30 the anesthesiologist came in and by 1:45, the line was in and he was starting to push the meds, or as I like to call it, liquid heaven. Just before then the nurse checked me and I was at 5-6 cm. It took about 20 minutes for the pain meds to kick in but once they did, and the nurse checked me again, she was startled to see how far along I had come in such a short amount of time. She had just gotten off the phone and told the doctor to get lunch. Now she had to frantically call her back and thought she may have to deliver the baby herself. The delivery nurses came in, people were rushing about. I felt like I was in an episode of ER. Jay was great. He kept reassuring me how well I was doing. When the pain was bad, he watched the contraction monitor to let me know when each one was ending. And most important, he didn't eat in front of me.

Once the doctor returned, she coached me through a few pushes and I felt like I was getting the hang of it and it only took like five more pushes to get him out. It was crazy fast. And this time, unlike with Annie whom I spent 4 exhausting hours trying to push out, I was so present for his birth. I also remembered to wear my contacts so I could actually see him when he was born. I was exhilarated and overjoyed. And the best part: given the late epidural, I didn't feel a darn thing. There was no tearing, so my recovery would be easier, and there was this boy, our boy, right in front of me, screaming to go back inside where it was warm and dark. Nine months of heartburn, back pain, exhaustion and waiting all came together into something so beautiful and perfect. I felt like laughing and crying at the same time, and I did. Jay looked amazed. Now all we had to do was name him. We took a rain check and I sent Jay to get me a sandwich. A big one.

Because I had so little problems with the delivery, I talked them into letting me go home a day early. Oscar was fine (according to the pediatrician) and I could not bear missing Annie's birthday morning that Monday (Oscar was born on Saturday, the same birthday as my dad, and named on Sunday). After more screaming and crying when she left the hospital after visiting on Saturday afternoon, I just couldn't take another day away from her (or me). So Sunday evening I came home as a mother of two. Oscar Kind (pronounced like you would in Kindergarten, Jay's Mom's maiden name) was born at 2:43 PM on 11/7/09, weighing 7 lbs. 4.3 oz. and measuring 19.5 inches.

Oscar since then has been great. He originally had his days and nights confused which meant he was getting up pretty much every hour on the hour at night to feed, but we've slowly worked that out. Now he seems to be getting the newborn thing down. Eating, sleeping, pooping. And I've only been peed on once! Annie's adjusting pretty well to all the change. Having Nana here has been a great help. Annie's totally head over heels for her and they're having a great time playing with AALLL of Annie's birthday presents. I'm a little scared (OK, petrified) of what life will be like when she leaves on Monday and I go from having 4 hands to just 2 again, but we'll figure it out. Just don't expect too much in the blogosphere. Although, be kind of impressed, I typed most of this while Oscar was sleeping in my arms and/or nursing. Yeah, I can totally do this.

Oscar and Annie - birthdays 11-09

Click here to view these pictures larger

Sorry for the long intermission here. We're still getting our bearings but doing better everyday. Enjoy these photos while we get ourselves in order. Soon to come, the birth story or, as I like to call it, "the labor that wouldn't end until it ended in record time." Confusing, I know.

Enjoy these messages during our brief intermission

So, I lied. There are just too many cute videos of Annie to share and since I'm still with child (AND HOW), I figured why deprive her public of her hilarious antics? Since my attention is currently distracted by the large foot trying to puncture my lung, I figured the least I could do is post a few live action clips. One is from today's fun fall leaf backyard play (notice my sprinting) which quickly turned into a jungle safari, and the other from Annie's "soccer" class. As you will see, Annie is trying so hard to comply by the regulations. Enjoy.

You also get to witness her new verbal tick, "Okaaaaay?"

(Love the victory dance at the end.)

So, this is it...

On the way to "Little Kickers" soccer meetup with the moms' group. Annie loved it.

(Cue Huey Lewis)

This is probably the last post I'll be making before the much-anticipated baby number 2 arrives to sideswipe our lives with endless demands and impossible cuteness (just a hunch). I've been relishing every moment with Annie as a single kid lately. Where we always used to get out of the house several times per day, I've been perfectly content just staying home with her and playing with her and letting her tell me what to do (for which she has an incredible gift). We've been baking and eating and cooking and eating and playing and eating. It's like these last few weeks of pregnancy my body has just gone, "Screw it. Look at you. Just pig out." Of course, my stomach is the size of a walnut now because of this massive body taking up residence in my abdomen, so my version of pigging out is more like a day-long mini-meal session. It's almost like I'M the newborn who has to eat every two hours. If only I were satisfied with skim milk.

Annie's been getting more excited about the potential a new sibling holds, but I can tell she's a little anxious about the change. She's been talking about Houston a lot, wanting to go back to her old life, and last night we had a major bedtime blow out where she actually cried herself to sleep after multiple attempts on our part to get her to go to bed by herself. It just killed me. I wish there were a way for me to show her the future so she can see that she's always going to be loved and nurtured and taken care of the same way she was before the baby. Only it will be better, because she'll also have this little person looking up to her, thinking she's God and watching her every move in awe. What could be better? A built-in biggest fan! Well, I guess she's just going to have to see for herself.

We are also eagerly awaiting the arrival of another family member: Nana, or "Nan" as she now prefers. She'll be down on the 2nd for about 3 weeks, and we all are looking forward to showing off Annie's new tricks and culinary abilities and just settling into this cozy nest before one more chick hatches. Here's to hoping the other one doesn't beat her here, and, to safe trips, all around.

Fallin' in love again

I think I've already made this abundantly clear, but seriously, I LOVE THE FALL. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I had to whip out those slippers one chilly morning and had that sweetly hot taste of mulled cider floating in my mouth for the first time in years. Last weekend we went to Huber's, a Louisville autumnal staple (although it's really in Borden, IN)l. There, we got to take a tractor ride to pick out some pumpkins. She then visited the petting zoo and corn maze, and we had some cider donuts and mulled cider. While she enjoyed the pumpkin pickin', Annie was really excited about the fact that there are now so many opportunities in which to interact with heavy machinery and livestock. In addition to the horse meetup detailed in an earlier post, our mother's group also visited another farm this week where Annie got to be on a hayride and see chickens, cows, and horses. The girl's in toddler heaven.

In pregnancy news, my last appointment showed me at 2-3 cm dilated and 60% effaced. If this was my first pregnancy I would probably have the car idling outside the house at all hours "just in case," but with the second, I now know that this status could last for weeks. Tomorrow, we go to the hospital to take the Labor & Delivery tour. We're taking Annie with us so she can see where Mama will be when she's giving birth. We're hoping the baby holds out until Nana gets here on the 2nd. Me, I don't know if I can wait that long. My nesting is complete, having made the obligatory warehouse store run, cleaning out closets (even though we just moved here), building a shelf in the laundry room, and cooking chili AND soup simultaneously (because it just made sense at the time). I don't know if I can take 3 more weeks of these hormones! By the time my mom gets here, I'll probably have refinished the floors (seriously, the upstairs could use it).

Oh, baby

Here's to the not forgotten, but all-too undocumented pregnancy this family is currently experiencing (and yes, it is a group effort--in fact, I'd also like to give a shout-out to Graeter's Ice Cream, as they've played a pivotal role in the success of this gestation). We're in the final stretch: 34 weeks and counting, and we have pretty much everything set. Nana is coming down the first of November (the due date is the 7th, so we're leaving some wiggle room), the nursery is furnished (as you'll see soon, I promise) and my stomach is huge. All good signs. Today, Annie and I discussed at greater length what babies "do" all day. She's very excited to hold the baby, clarified that the baby can't walk or talk, nor does it have teeth, and all the baby's going to eat is Mama's milk. Oh, and she also asked if I was heavy. So I think we're set. As you can see, Roscoe has taken a shine to the baby as well. He jumped up on the table as soon as I exposed my belly to give it a little nuzzle. Little does he know that his world will yet again be rocked, and not by the quiet, soothing momentum of a rocking chair, but by the loud whaling and general chaos equal to that of an earthquake with a tornado chaser.

At my last appointment, I got to have another ultrasound and therefore see this little Poppy in action. This baby can move, let me tell ya. He/She had its fists waving in the air like it knew that we, perhaps, weren't giving it our full, undivided attention. The picture shows its profile (click on it to see it larger), albeit kind of blurry, but trust me. It was cute, and it made me all the more excited to meet this little one. It's measuring almost 5 lbs. which indicates that, if I carry it to term, the baby should weight around 8 lbs. ! Fingers crossed for that 10% margin of error in my favor. Annie was 7 lbs. 4 oz. so this should be interesting. Again, I'd like to thank Graeter's for their selfless contribution.

The last hurrah

Annie and I made a pilgrimage to Connecticut to do our last plane ride as only child and mom. We visited Nana and GrandBob and Oma and PapaJoe, as well as our friends Denise and Trout. We also got to see our good friend Sarah from high school (mine, not Annie's ... she's smart, but not that smart) and found some fun at the Bridgewater Country Fair (as exhibited by the pineapple on a stick), which I partook in pretty much every year of my childhood. It was a lot of fun for one short week. Now that we're back, Annie's starting her Monday, Wednesday, Friday of preschool and yesterday was her first day. She did awesome. I was a little nervous because we put her in a "threes" class, when she's really not three for another couple months. But she seemed to do fine and got a smiley face on her daily report, so we're relieved. She can also read! Well, not really, but she's read this book enough that she makes a pretty good case. Here's her reading in her favorite reading spot as of late, pull up a bath mat, Nana:

In other news, I'm huge. Well, not huge, but I feel a lot larger with this pregnancy than I did with Annie's. This may or may not be true, but I'm scared for the last two months of this ride. I have another ultrasound in a couple weeks to checkup on a fibroid that has a slight possibility of interfering with something (but I think it's just another excuse for the dr.'s office to bill our insurance for another ultrasound). And, maybe due to the hugeness, I'm exhausted. I have spurts of nesting energy but mostly I would trade my right arm to be a good napper. I guess I know where Annie gets her resistance to day-time sleeping. Annie's recent love of the nap though gives me hope.

In my defense

This isn't going to be a long one... there is something I think is too funny about Annie lately that I feel the need to mention it quickly here because this pregnancy, while giving me the gift of another life, has taken away all of my memory. It's a miracle I find the door in the morning. So, either it's because I'm catching Annie in the act too often, or she's picking up on my horrible speech patterns, but now whenever, and I mean WHENEVER, you ask Annie what she's up to, she adopts this defensive tone: "I'm just looking at the sharp knife," even if it's something completely inocuous like "I'm just taking my shoes off." I feel bad that she feels like she has to be a teenager already; at least she doesn't follow the phrase with an exaggerated eye roll and humphy sigh.

I hope next week to post some photos of the new house. Annie's cute and all, but have I mentioned the deck?!

Signed, sealed, delivered

Annie is transitioning well into "big girl" land with the potty training in full swing. I didn't really mean to take this on as my first project in Louisville, it just seemed like the right time for a variety of reasons and two days ago, let's just say, her "number 2" made its first appearance in the potty and boy, was everyone proud. I'm sure she'll kill me later for divulging this, but I have to give her some fodder for when she's a teenager. She even made me save it for Papa to see when he got home. Luckily for me that was only 15 minutes after the blessed event. So we're on day number 3 with no diapers, even at night. Yes, there have been accidents, but she's getting the hang of it and has no trouble using a public restroom (unlike her mother), and, sorry for the plug, but it's all thanks to the Potty Hammock. I got this from a friend of my mother's when Annie was born and originally thought, 'When am I ever going to use this,' but lo and behold, we use it ALL THE TIME, and it works and fits weightlessly in a little pouch in my bag.

We visited a school for Annie for the fall. It will be three mornings a week which I think will be great. It's called Friends School and it was founded in the Quaker tradition although they're nondenominational. Both Annie and I got a great feeling from the people there, so we just have to send our application in. Fingers crossed. I'm hoping those fencing and Japanese lessons pay off (I kid).

We're also about to order her big girl bed in preparation for our number 2 (which will hopefully be a lot cuter and less stinky than Annie's). And as soon as the only working phone jack is out of the nursery we can start on the baby's room. Right now there's our DSL modem and wireless router in there, so it's doubling as a mission control for the time being.

I hope Annie's excited for her new sibling. Tonight she saw my ever-dwindling belly button and said "There's a baby in there?" and I said, "Yes, do you want to give it a kiss." She did, but didn't want to kiss it through my belly so I had to explain to her it wasn't ready to come out yet. So she gave my belly button a kiss and I said "Thank you," and she responded, " No Mama, you can't say 'Thank you,'" and I replied, "Oh, so the baby should say 'Thank you'?" and I said a high-pitched "Thank You" to simulate the baby's intended retort, and Annie smiled and said, "The baby said 'Thank you'." Heart melting. Glad to hear they're starting off on a polite foot. It's all fun and games until that baby comes out, I'm sure.

For now, I'll just enjoy Annie's sweet gestures and pretend the soccer kicks happening inside my abdomen are failed attempts at the baby reaching out to give its big sister a hug.

Oh, to be a kid again

As we near our move, and our apartment is looking more and more like a basement that hasn't been cleaned out in 20 years, Annie and I are pretty desperate to get out of the house during the day. Today, we thought Annie would enjoy going on Jay's commuter bus (the complex sponsors a bus that takes people to the medical center which is why we've been able to live on one car these past 2 years) and meet Papa for lunch. Had we known what joy mass transportation would impart on our child, we would have certainly done this sooner. She sang the entire way there, so excited to not be in a car seat (or any restraint device, for that matter), and cried when we got off. Her tears were soon alleviated once she got to go up an escalator, and, to top it all off, we got to go to the CAFETERIA. Annie was awestruck watching people mill around choosing their various fast foods and brownies. I should just take her to a busy airport from now on when I'm out of things to do with her. She would probably be mesmerized for hours. Jay also shared his bread pudding and pink lemonade with her, which she promptly guzzled long enough for me to dig through my enormous diaper bag and find the camera, turn it on and capture her in action. I expect her to come down from the sugar high sometime next week.

In other news, we had our 18-week appointment, which Annie also got to attend. This is the one where they do an ultrasound measuring all the various parts of the baby to make sure it's on track, and where they can tell you the gender if you so choose. We so chose not to. Annie was kind of interested for the first 20 minutes but then she just wanted to get down and investigate the jelly on mommy's tummy. "We don't eat that," was her refrain. I can't really blame her; only about 2 seconds of the ultrasound actually looked like a baby. Those 2 seconds are shown in the photo here. A face shot and a profile. Kind of freaky, but I'm sure it will be a lot cuter when it comes out. (You can click on the photo to see it bigger.)

Other than that, we are packing away, getting signed up for utilities, researching car prices, and preparing for our increasingly sadder departure from Houston. This Sunday my mothers' group is throwing us a farewell party and we'll see how these pregnancy hormones hold up to what's sure to be an emotional event. I'd buy stock in Kleenex if I were you.

Alike but not the same

Annie has figured out the meaning of the word "similar." Yesterday she said as she was walking up the stairs to our apartment, "Chocolate is a kind of candy," and I interjected, "Yes, but not all candy is chocolate," (much to her shagrin, I'm sure), so then she continued: "... and jelly beans are a kind of candy, and jelly beans and chocolate are SIM-A-LARR." I can not capture in type what painstaking time she took pronouncing those syllables, but my heart melted a little. Then, today as we're walking home from the park with her friend Sara Kate, a pickup truck passed by (because, remember, we sill live in Texas), and she looks right at Sara Kate and says "That was a pickup truck, Sara Kate." (Just in case she didn't know.) And then continued, "Cars and pickup trucks are SIM-A-LARR." This isn't groundbreaking, I realize, but it does show how much Annie's mind is developing beyond just her language skills. She's a great talker, so it seems her brain is all "Check, got that whole talking thing... what else is there to do?" She's also obsessed with knowing what letter words start with, and she's getting good at sounding it out so she can guess. Part of our daily car or meal chats might include, "What's "tree" start with, Mama?" And I always respond, "What do you think?" and she'll say, "Tr-ee, tah-, tah-, T!" It's very cute.

On the pregnancy front, I can safely say at 17+ weeks now that I have definitely felt some kicking or head butting of some sort and it's not just gas. It's so different from how Annie moved. She was the "butterfly flutters" you read about, tickling my insides with her little feet, where as this one is more Thumper from Bambi. Jay and I are both a little worried at this baby's activity level. Every time I've had an ultrasound or they listen to the heartbeat with one of those microphones, the baby moves around like its got ADHD. I guess it realizes that it has a will-be-3-year-old to keep up with as soon as it arrives, so it's getting in shape early. Also, just as a note in case anybody's wondering, we're not going to find out the sex of this baby as it's our last and we wanted to mix things up since we did find out with Annie. Let the betting begin.

Lastly, our stuff gets picked up on the 20th, and we will be leaving on June 24th. Southwest finally woke up and is now accepting pets on board, so Annie and I will take the howling Roscoe and Jay is going to drive the trip with Mason. Until then, we are trying to get in all of our good times with friends and familiar places. And as you can see below, I've figured out how to post Shutterfly slideshows to our blog, so I'll try to do this regularly. If you're looking for more pics, you can always visit our Shutterfly share site. It's like seeing them here, but you can see the comments that explain the photos, so they're SIM-A-LARR but not the same.

And she's off!

Annie witnessed her first of what are sure to be many Kentucky Derby races on Saturday, and what a way to begin (of course, none of the horses we picked was a winner)! She was excited (at first) to wear her Derby hat and join the races with Sheepy (her rocking sheep, who sadly did not qualify due to the fact that he's, well, a sheep). Annie hasn't watched much T.V. in her short life, mostly videos of herself during various moments of desperation when it's all I can think to do to keep her entertained, so she didn't quite get the concept of advertising. When an ad would come on, she'd say "Don't want this one. Don't want this video?" And she had NO time for Bob Costas (must get that from me). She was excited to watch all the horses running together, but mostly just to run around the room herself.
And, if you don't know already, Annie's expecting a little surprise in November. We're due for another baby on November 7 (two days before Annie's third birthday ... well, we wanted them 3 years apart, and I'm nothing if not precise). So far, at 13 weeks pregnant, I'm feeling pretty good. It was a tough three months though, with a lot of fatigue, headaches, and just a touch of cranky. I don't know if it was the pregnancy alone or the pregnancy coupled with raising a two-year-old who doesn't nap. I'm hoping the next trimester will bring back some semblance of energy for me because we have a lot in store in the coming months, a move, a new job for Jay and of course, Annie's never-ending energy for it all. In fact, I think she could win the next Derby all by herself, sans horse.