Oliver

Oliver came to join us on November 8th.

He weighed 10 lbs and was 23 in long.

This is his story.

It may get a bit wordy and long, but a lot can happen on the 9 months of pregnancy. 

The original plan with Oliver was to deliver at a birth center with a midwife. Instead he was born via c-section at the hospital.

Ellie was a big baby.  She weighed 10 lbs 6 oz when she was born and had her shoulders stuck for about a minute before she graced us all with her presence.  Knowing all of that, it makes sense that the doctors and midwives wanted to monitor me a little more closely.

I started out seeing a midwife at a private clinic and it was awesome. I got personalized care and we focused on diet and exercise for the pregnancy.  But, while camping in June my arm and half of my face went numb for about 2 whole minutes.  It was one of the most terrifying 2 minutes of my life.  We ended up going to the ER, had a million tests done (including an MRI), and saw too many doctors/specialists.  What it came down to was a possible TIA or "mini stroke".  No one really knew what or why it happened.  Apparently some people can have it as a migraine symptom, which sounds like a terrifying migraine to me.

After that episode I was told to see an OB instead of a midwife.  

Nothing else happened throughout the pregnancy except I was labeled as a high-risk pregnancy because of it.  Which really threw my emotions.  I did some ugly crying when I found out that I was going to be labeled that.  Hormones...

Anyways, they wanted me to do an ultrasound at 38/39 weeks to check on his size because of his sister being so big.  At the ultrasound it showed that he was 10 lbs 6 oz and three different doctors wanted me to do a c-section.  They were worried that he would just continue to grow and get his shoulders stuck worse than Ellie because boys typically have broader shoulders.  I told them that I knew my body and wanted to try it on my own.  Or at least until 40 weeks came along, then we could talk about it.  I mean, I already delivered a big baby!  Plus, I was terrified of having a c-section.

Fast forward 3 days...

Nick was working the night shift at the hospital (new job!) and Ellie was at her grammy's when I went to pee at 2 am and my water broke.

I hitched a ride with my grandparents and told Nick to meet me there.  I was so excited to get the chance to prove that I could deliver another big, healthy baby.

I was only 3 cm dilated when I went to the hospital.  I had some contractions at the hospital, but nothing too intense.  At around 8 am the OB came in a talked to us about a c-section and all of the risks involved with delivering a big baby - if I still wanted to do it naturally.  I decided that I wanted to wait until the afternoon to see if labor progressed at all before I made a decision.  I was sure my body could handle it.  I'm also a pretty stubborn person, so my mind was made up.
 
Contractions got stronger, but they were still irregular by 2 pm.  The doctor came back in and I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  Nick wanted to do the c-section.  He was worried about our safety ever since he heard about the ultrasound.  My stubborn self wanted to try, but in the moment I decided that we should do a c-section.  Oliver still wasn't ready, we couldn't go home, and I was exhausted from not sleeping.

Well, after saying the word Oliver was in the world 30 minutes later! 

It's amazing how fast everything went.  In the moment it felt like forever.  The operating room was freezing (purposefully), my nerves were everywhere during the procedure - so I had the shakes like crazy, and after taking him out they had to stitch me up (which took about 20 minutes).  

The incredible thing about the c-section was that when they went in the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, twice!  We don't know if I could have delivered him safely or not, but now I don't regret my decision at all.  I think God was playing a little part in pushing me just a little bit to choose the c-section.  For that, I'm so grateful.

We now have a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  Ellie adored him from the first moment she saw him and now smothers him with hugs and kisses anytime she can.  I couldn't ask for a sweeter big sister and a wonderful family!

Here I am

Actually, that should probably say here we am. are.

Here we are.  Baby boy and my gigantic belly circa 33 weeks.  And today, the struggle is real. 

Ever since dinnertime I've had intense pressure down in the pelvic area.  It is hard.  What's even more difficult is having to deal with it while having a 2 year old running around.  Thankfully she isn't too much of a handful all the time and we live in a house with my grandparents who are such an awesome support system.  More on that a different day.


The second time around has been so different than the first.  I feel like I'm diving into the uncomfortable stage headfirst, while with Ellie I didn't really get there until the last few weeks.  Maybe it's a boy thing and maybe it's a weird second child thing.  I don't know, but this little man loves to do acrobatics in there and push the heartburn button all day long.

So tonight I have decided to put off my maternity-leave sub planning and bounce on my yoga ball.  Yoga balls are amazing when you're pregnant.  I still haven't used it for anything BUT.  Maybe I'll play a video game... am I the only one who still does that?

The second time around may be a little more difficult because I'm teaching.  Teaching music to antsy kindergartners is so hard while 30+ weeks pregnant.  I want to play with them and be crazy, but my body says "sit down woman!"  I hate sitting while teaching.

Also, Nick has taken a whole career change.  He has become a certified nursing assistant and is getting experience at a nursing home/rehabilitation center with terrible hours.  2-10 is such a terrible shift.  Not to mention that he's taking 2-3 classes a quarter for pre-requisites because he's applying to PA schools in the spring/summer.  He's decided to go back to school to become a physician assistant mostly because of a great opportunity that arose.  Life is busy and a little stressful.  Thankfully he's now applying for hospital jobs with the goal of working only day or night shift.  No more evening shift.  Hallelujah.

Somehow with all of this going on I've been able to do some serious reading.  It has been awesome.  I just finished Gone Girl on audiobook and it was so intense and so good (be warned, it's a little graphic).  But, really, I could have had a different ending...

I also had a chance to read the Life of Pi (pretty awesome), Coming Clean (incredibly interesting and well-written), We Are Called to Rise (good), Orphan Train (very good), and The Fault in Our Stars (cheesy and an easy read).  

    

Other than Ellie turning 2 and becoming this talking machine (she says 'yes' to everything instead of 'uh-huh' or 'yeah'.  We've trained her well. Ha) that's all that's going on in our lives.  So, how are you?

Stuff and Things (a day late): 7/3

It's still legal to write a blog post for a linkup a day late, right?

Linking up with Kristin and Joey


+ First things first, we found out last week that this little acrobat is going to be a boy! 

I'm pretty excited.  One of each?  We're going to be the ultimate perfect family.  Yes.  But also because, well, we've decided that we're going to stop here at two for now.  At least for planned little ones. 

+ Ellie is starting to talk in full sentences and she's not even 2.  Little girl is eating her Wheaties and drinking her milk.  Okay, she actually doesn't like milk, but society says that Wheaties and milk are the key to being strong and smart, right? 

She walks, runs, talks, pouts, shouts, screams, and knows what she wants.  She loves doing things if she's not forced to.  Put her in the lake without her instigating it?  No way, but let her splash herself and go in on her own?  She's all over it.

She still has her awesome curls and blue blue eyes.  Some say that their kids had curly hair and it went away when they cut it.  I'm never cutting it

+ I got a book from Blogging for Books in February and I STILL haven't finished it.  It just isn't that good.  Can I write that as a review?  I've read 4 other books since receiving this book.  I read The Book Thief (great), Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan (hilarious), Yes Please by Amy Poeller (also good), and The Girl on the Train (awesome).  I've also just started reading Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin.  Books are fun when you have time to read them and actually ENJOY them.




+ I'm currently putting off school planning, but I know it's going to bite me in the butt.  I have to plan a maternity leave (which includes planning out a Christmas concert for the sub while I'm gone) and I'm stalling because I know it's going to be a lot of work.  Yuck.  I think I'll just keep bouncing on my yoga ball and drinking iced tea.  That sounds more fun and productive.


On that note, nap time is over.  Until next time...

Still here

Yes, I took an unpredicted hiatus.

Yes, I am still alive.

Yes, Ellie is still growing way too fast.  I'll get into all of THAT goodness at a later date.


I finally feel like I have the time and motivation to blog.  I've missed it terribly.  I've missed the connections that were made and the feeling that someone cares about my ramblings.

In a nutshell, this is what has been happening in our lives the past few months:

(1)  I have been going full force with teaching this year.  It was my first full year teaching K-8 and a lot of my time was spent figuring out just what I wanted to do with everyone.  I mean, if I had a curriculum it may have been better, but since that didn't exist before I stepped in I had to create my own from hours and hours of scavenging on the internet and Pinterest.


(2)  Nick has gone back to school.  Some opportunities came up for Nick to be able to go back to school and he chose the medical field.  Currently, he works at an electronic recycling/re-selling place and he felt that it wasn't what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.  So, since he has recently been intrigued by science and new discoveries, he figured out that going to PA school (Physician Assistant) was where he wanted to go.  I'm very excited for his career change and I'm glad that he found something that he wants to spend the rest of his doing.

He's becoming a CNA (nursing assistant), will take part-time classes to build up his per-requisites for PA school, and then spend two years at some school for his certification as a PA.  The next few years are going to be insane, probably a bit stressful, and definitely busy.


(3)  Ellie is a legit toddler.  Too legit.

She talks all the time, throws mini tantrums, purposefully makes messes, and loves getting attention.



(4)  #2 is on his/her way.

 

That bump is not a joke. #2 will explode in your belly and cause you to look much more pregnant than you actually are.  I'm really only 17 weeks along, not 25.

 

Yup.  It's happening! Due mid-November and sure to be different than Ellie (I assume).  This pregnancy has been quite different from Ellie's, so that's why I'm sure this kiddo will be very different.

Stuff and Things: 2/19

Linking up with Kristin and Joey

+Whistler.  Guys, Whistler was awesome.  Okay, it wasn't as awesome as it could have been because there wasn't very much snow so we didn't get to use our free snowshoe rentals, BUT it was still fun for our first trip out there.  We stayed in an adorable log cabin, spent WAY too much money on incredibly delicious steaks, and went to a Scandinavian spa.  Oh. My. Gosh.  There must be something to hydrotherapy because Nick and I felt SO good afterwards.  They tell you to spend 10-15 minutes in a hot bath, 10 seconds in a cold bath (60 degrees cold), and then 10-15 minutes of relaxing to get your core temperature back up, and repeat for about 2 hours.  All of the baths were outside AND it was raining.  It was magical.

Also, everyone in Whistler has an accent.  Our lunch waiter had an Italian accent, our spa lady had an Australian accent, our fro-yo guy had an English accent, and I heard about 10 other languages/accents.  I think I might have melted about 20 times.  Something about accents, I don't know what it is.  Even Canadian accents are cute. 


+ Speaking of our Whistler trip, the cabin had labels for all of their light switches.  Awesome, but I'm not quite sure I understand the need for "quotation marks".

+ I love cloth diapering.  It's been a fun adventure, but diarrhea with cloth diapers is just not fun.  No.  I'll let that sink in a bit...


+ I've just started trying out some Pilates last week.  It's been quite fun! I'm surprised with how much I like it.  I'm pretty sure I thought that it would consist of not doing much for too long, but it's pretty tough.  I was inspired by Kristin's post that had a few websites to try so I jumped on it.  


+ I started The Book Thief on audiobook for my commute to work last week. It's amazing.  I forgot how much I love books regarding WWII and how wonderful a good book is.  I'm still trying to get through my Blogging for Books book.  We're actually taking a break right now.  I just can't get into it and my free time is so limited.  So, The Book Thief trumps all.


+ I ordered my contacts two weeks ago from Vision Direct and my order is STILL processing.  I'm on my last set.  It's terrible.  Why must it take so long?!


+ Toddler tantrums are terrible.  I'm always conflicted.  Is she old enough to understand the consequences?  To actually GET why we're ignoring her screaming for no good reason?  I don't know.  It makes things very difficult.  We're getting into serious parenting territories.  I'm not looking forward to it.

Ellie Mae

Every stage is my favorite.  It's funny how as a parent you say "this is my favorite stage" over and over again.  I loved when Ellie was a newborn.  I loved when Ellie was starting to babble and laugh.  I loved when she started liking the swing and going for walks.  I loved when Ellie was crawling.  I loved when Ellie was talking.  I loved when Ellie was just walking.

Now, there a few things that I don't want to forget about this stage before it's gone.

-- Ellie always greets you in the morning with a "mo-ning".

-- She has a routine now of always picking out her PJs before bed.  I've started letting her pick out certain parts of her outfit (i.e. just pants and I'll pick the shirt to match).  It's fun to watch her brain work, pick up one pair of pants, say "noww" (no) and then pick four different pairs until she finds the right one.

-- She talks ALL the time.  Okay, not when strangers are around, but if it's people she knows she will talk on and on and on.  She is very good at play-by-plays.  She will see grandma coming up the steps to take her boots off from getting chicken eggs and Ellie will proceed to say "Mama (grandma) up, up, up.  Eggs?  Booss (boots) off.  Uggghhh (sympathy grunt).  Pussshhh (door opening).  Ah.  Hi!

It's adorable.  Sometimes, though, I swear she's speaking a different language.  She'll just start talking and it'll sound like full sentences, but just not English.

-- I love that she understands things now.  She knows what all done means.  She knows what wait means.  She knows so much.  It amazes me sometimes.

-- On that note, she is VERY aware.  My grandparents have a family picture on their desktop that Ellie loves to look at and point out certain people.  Well, one day she went in there to look at the picture.  The screen was off so she wiggled the mouse to turn it on.  It still didn't turn on so she went down below to push the button on the computer to turn it on.  It's pretty impressive how much she retains.

-- She is an outdoor baby.  Anything that involves being outside she will instantly be a part of.  Going for a walk around the yard, getting eggs from the chickens, going on a run with mom and dad, hanging up laundry to dry, etc.  If she's out there for less than 10 minutes it usually ends up in a meltdown because why would we go inside too early?!

-- She can really communicate with us now.  It's wonderful and frustrating all at once.  She will tell you if she does or doesn't want something, what she wants to do at that current moment, and what she's thinking.  Example: she may go to the couch, bang on it, and say "sit!".  Obviously, you know what she wants.  Sometimes, though, she knows what she wants and she won't take no for an answer.  Thankfully, we're still in this very short attention span phase so we can easily distract her mind if that happens.

She loves to be chased, to play on our keyboard, to read books, to snuggle with her blanket, to throw the ball around, to find sticks outside, to look for ay-panes (airplanes) and eat any fruit she can get her hands on.  

I love her tickle spots, her belly laugh (it cures all), her snuggl-y side that comes out before and after bed, her curly hair, her hip-swinging dance, and her love of animals (except bugs. She saw a ladybug crawling on grandma's hand and did not like it one bit).

Stuff and Things: 2/5

Linking up with Kristin and Joey

+ Winter?  Are you real?  No.  I don't think so.

+ Apparently we over here in Washington may get to vote on keeping or not keeping daylight savings time.  This better happen.  Do you know how much fun it will be to NOT have to change clocks and change my daughter's sleep schedule?  Too much.

+ You guys blog too much.  I can't keep up.  I want to comment all the time.  Keep up the relationship-building, but man if I try to at least once a week I have about 30 blog posts to go through! How do you make time for it all?!

+ I know I'm late, but Mad Men has me.  I'm sucked in.  I'm still trying to decide if I like Don or hate him.  I keep going back and forth.  Sometimes he lets a little sweet side slip, but most of the time he's kind of a jerk.  Betty, on the other hand, is crazy and she drives ME crazy.

+ Speaking of shows, Parenthood's finale killed me.  That show brings my hormonal girl side out.  I can't help the tears that swell up at least once an episode.

+ Ellie is ...sigh... growing too fast.  She's developing a personality and quirks.  I love it!  So far she has shown that she has her mother's OCD tendencies.  She cleans up and LIKES it.  Yes, you heard me right.  My 17 month old likes to clean up!  I don't know how this happened, but she will do it even when she's not asked to.  Sometimes she'll see a toy or kitchen item (best toys around) and she'll put it back.  Even if it's not what she was playing with at the time.

She also will lay out her stacking buckets so that they are all facing the same way.  It's amazing.  I don't know if this is something I should be celebrating or fearing.  What if I've created a crazy OCD child? I don't know if I can handle myself and my daughter.  Poor Nick...

+ I'm attempting to wake myself early in the morning to workout before Ellie wakes up.  No one told her that she needs to sleep past 7.  Can you tell her that that's what good kids do?  Anyways, I'm debating trying out a video service thing like Daily Burn.  Anybody use that or something similar?  I get so bored using the same workout video all the time.

+ I'm slowly, slowly, slowly getting through my Blogging for Books book.  It's slow and just not peaking my interest.  Maybe I should just write that as a review...

+ I wish is was Friday.  Friday means that it's only one more day until our Whistler getaway.

Happy day before Friday!