Two!

I am such a slacker parent. My Lainey turned TWO on July 21st and I am just now writing about it!* To be fair, that was in the middle of Troy's AT (Annual Training for the Army...two weeks at Ft Bragg) so we had to postpone her party until August 4th when he would be back home.

I can't believe she is getting so big. And I don't mean her age, I mean she's getting BIG! She is 97% for height and I swear she has shot up just in the past couple of months. It's crazy when I look back at pictures of her from when I was pregnant with Harper and then pictures of since Harper has been born. I don't know if she had a massive growth spurt or if it's just that she seems so big in comparison to a baby. But after having Harper, it seems crazy to hoist her up on the changing table.

So back to her birthday...she still doesn't really get it. We practiced what she should say when people ask how old she is. She didn't really get it. But she was excited about her cupcake at school and the fact that some family came to see her that weekend. She got lots of great presents and clothes.

When Troy came back, we had her actual party. We had discussed doing a big party for her: renting a bounce house, getting food, all of it. I scoured Pinterest for theme ideas and even considered making a cake in the shape of a zoo animal. Then my more sensible side kicked in and we ordered a cake from BJs and a couple of nugget trays from Chick-fil-a. For entertainment, we set up the kiddie pool in the backyard under some canopies and let hte kids play inside & out. I'd say it was a success! Besides, anyone who knows me knows I am not very crafty (in any sense, really). So this was a much better option as far as stress levels went. Most importantly, Lainey had a good time, the other guests seemed to have a good time and there was plenty of food.

Here are some good pics from her actual birthday and then her party:

 

Now she has her own laptop...just like her Daddy!

 

I made sprinkle cupcakes for her on her actual birthday. :)

 Our casual backyard birthday party



 

The giant (and delicious!) cake from BJs. The best part: it was only$20. No, on second thought, I think the best part is the fact that those flip flops are magnets. Lainey loves them.

 

Troy called me after he picked it up to inform me that it was super cute "but it says 'Happy Birthday Henry.'" Of course he waited for me to start to explode before laughing and proclaiming me gullible.

 

Harper in her party dress with her Grandmas.

 

Chubby is cute on the baby.

 



Lainey scored some seriously awesome gifts. And yes, she's wearing the same shirt in all these pictures...I was trying to get mileage out of her birthday t-shirt!

* Part of the reason is that Blogger & I have been fighting. I created this entire post, complete with pictures, and it would not post it or save it so I lost it and got mad and left it alone for several weeks.

Back on the saddle...

...and it doesn't feel good. Yet!

I am reintroducing myself to exercise. Once upon a time, I really liked to exercise. I even liked to run (which I can tell you is something I never thought I would say!). And I don't mean to toot my own horn but I was in pretty good shape right before getting pregnant with Lainey. But pretty early in, I was diagnosed with placenta previa and the main thing with that is that you're not supposed to exercise. So that combined with a heavy love affair with milkshakes lead to my gaining 45 pounds during that pregnancy. I guess it shouldn't have been a shocker to me that I was measuring large and they thought Lainey was going to weigh 10 pounds but I was clearly in denial.
After having Lainey, I thought the weight would just melt off because I was nursing. Some of it did but not all of it. But I was busy with a new baby and then a new job and all of a sudden, I was pregnant again. And hey, those milkshakes are just so good! So another 45 pounds gained and when Harper came along, only 20 of those pounds disappeared (even with nursing). But this time, I am determined to get the rest of the weight off. Not only that though...I actually want to get in shape.

Now, because I do work full-time and have two kids under two, I don't have loads of free time. So I have deduced that the only time I really have to devote to working out is around 8 p.m. (after Lainey has gone to bed and Harper has nursed for the last time of the day). Thankfully, Troy is here to not only motivate me, but to essentially be my personal trainer. He has been on a real workout kick for the past several months (yeah...he was busy getting buff right when I was getting enormous with Harper). I mean, check him out:

Who let him sneak those guns into the zoo??

Meanwhile, here I am at the zoo...

Doh...that shirt is not doing a good job of hiding my belly!

So he has been helping me out and even though I'm still in my first week, I feel better already. And two days in, I've already lost two pounds! I know that's not a lot but when the scale hasn't moved in weeks, it felt good to see some instant gratification.

I have a long way to go but I wanted to post about it as a way of motivating me. I will hopefully be posting some updates with some progress soon. Definitely not tonight though...I went all out for the 4th but hey, it's a holiday! Back on the saddle again tomorrow...

Two Months!

My baby girl is two months old already! She is just so cute. Also, she's apparently quite a chunk. The doctor said she is "off the charts" with her growth. I always thought she was long, but she is nearly 25" which puts her in the 99th percentile! She weighs just over 12 lbs (75 percentile). Troy calls her our little butterball. She is just so cute!

I think she's going to be our goofy girl. She is always smiling and cooing. And, if it is even possible, I think she "talks" more than her sister! She is such a pleasant little thing. As soon as she gets up in the morning, she's giving me her gummy open-mouthed smiles. I will miss our little conversations in the mornings. Sweet girl!

Here we go

No, I'm not talking about Budweiser. I'm talking about the end of my maternity leave (which will necessitate some Buds). Where did the time go?? I know every returning-to-work mom thinks that but I don't know how 10 weeks have gone by so quickly. I remember leave with Lainey seeming longer but that's probably because I spent a lot of time just sitting on the couch staring at her and this time I have been busy. Busy? I say that but I'm not sure what I've been doing. The "to do" list I created at the beginning of my leave is still hanging out with hardly a thing marked off. But we've also done plenty of fun stuff, like going to the zoo, parks and the museum. I have had the best time getting to be with my girls (and Troy). And even though I go back to work on Monday, we started the girls at their new daycare this week so we could all hopefully adjust while I was still available. Uh, yeah. It hasn't been going so well but that is another post. I can just say that it is actually easier to drop off a baby than a toddler because a baby is happy as long as she's being fed but the toddler definitely knows she's being left and she doesn't like it. But I can't dwell on that right now. Tomorrow is Father's Day and my last day of leave. I'm going to soak it up and try not to dread Monday.

Busy Growing

Just in case you're wondering what we've been up to around here. I cannot believe my maternity leave is nearly over. Considering I work for a Canadian company, I wish their year-long maternity leave would apply to us! Ten weeks isn't nearly long enough. But if I want to continue to get a paycheck (and Troy insists that I do), then I have to go back to work on the 18th. Boo.

This leave seemed to go by so much faster than my one with Lainey. Probably because most of my leave with Lainey involved me sitting on the couch watching her sleep next to me on her Boppy Lounger pillow. This time, I've been all over the place. Lainey has gone to daycare most of the time to keep her to a schedule and to allow me some time at home with Harper. Plus, I thought she would be bored sitting at home watching me watch Harper sleep. Turns out, that wasn't what I was doing. What was I doing? It's kind of hard to say. I feel like I went lots of places when in reality, I have spent two weekends in Jamestown, one in Goldsboro and five days in Williamsburg. So what happened to the rest of the past eight weeks? Beats me. I imagine a large percentage of the time was spent at Wal-Mart though. Huh.

I have a couple of regrets from this leave: 1) I did not get everything done on my To Do List (but I guess I still have next week) and 2) I felt a little like Harper got the shaft. I guess this is the plight of the Second Child but I just feel like Harper doesn't get nearly enough of my attention. When Lainey is around and awake, she pretty much demands my undivided attention. Even when I'm feeding Harper, Lainey is right there, talking, asking questions, wanting to help and getting into stuff so I'm constantly having to watch her, talk to her, try to convince her to "bring that back" and shield Harper from her rough affections. And when Lainey is not here or napping, I'm too busy trying to get stuff done to be able to just watch my little one. Other Moms of Multiples, how do you do it? Do you ever feel like you get to spend equal amounts of attention on your children?

On Monday, the girls start at a new daycare. We loved the lady who has watched Lainey since she was 10 weeks old but for various reasons, we decided before Harper was born to make a change. So they will be going to a nursery/pre-school program at a local church just up the road from our house. We think Lainey will really love the pre-school atmosphere and getting to play with more kids. And, well, Harper won't know any different so she'll be fine. Plus, I imagine it's several older ladies who want to sit around and hold babies all day and that is Harper's favorite thing so she'll love it. But of course I am nervous about them starting somewhere new and how they will adjust and more so how I'll adjust. I've been pumping almost every evening for the past 2-3 weeks to get a supply but I wish I had started pumping sooner. I'm not sure why I was so reluctant to start pumping this time. Part of it was that Harper wasn't on a good schedule until then and would often still eat right before we went to bed (which is usually when I pump). But now she generally eats for the last time around 7-8 p.m. and then I pump around 10 and go to bed.

Harper has been sleeping through the night almost from the time she was a week old. By that, I mean going 5-6 hours between feedings. But ever since she was about 6 weeks old, she has for reals been sleeping through the night (like, I often wake up before she does in the morning). So definitely no complaints there! And she is chunking right up. She has recently started to get those cheeks like Lainey had as a baby. I know she weighed 11 lbs when she was 6 weeks old and she is definitely bigger than that now so I'm curious to see how much she weighs at her 2-month appointment next week. At 3 weeks old, she had to move from newborn clothes to 0-3 and then around 7 weeks, we moved her to 3 month clothes (mostly because she is so long!). She took forever (and two treatments of silver nitrate in the doctor's office) to get her umbilical stump to come off at 6 weeks. She just had her first bottle Monday night and took it without any issue at all. I imagine she doesn't mind how she gets a meal, just as long as she gets one. She has also been busy growing a new crop of hair. We were surprised when she was born with lots of soft, light brown hair. Then all of it on top fell off around 3 weeks. She had male pattern baldness and baby acne...her first awkward phase. But now she is growing all new hair that is still soft but appears to be more blond. I have a feeling she will share in Lainey's lack of hair (although hers has also been growing more lately!).

Well, I suppose I should get to the good stuff...the pictures! Here ya go...

Mmm...buttered popcorn

Oh how I love this newborn stage! I know a lot of people don't but I truly do. Their cute little cries, those tiny little diapers wrapped around even tinier little tushies. Yes, I even love that buttered popcorn smell of their dirty diapers. Does that make me weird? I don't care. I have been seriously neglectful of the blog but I have just been enjoying my girls. Harper is now 6 weeks old and getting so big! At 3 weeks old, she outgrew her newborn clothes and diapers and is wearing 0-3 month stuff now. She is growing wonderfully and is so long! She has long arms & legs (and fingers & toes) just like her Daddy but I think this one might end up looking more like me. I thought Lainey had my eyes until Harper came along. She gets this surprised look on her face with those big round blue eyes and that perfect little bow of a mouth. It is too cute! I had to take her to the doctor on Friday because her umbilical stump still hadn't fallen off and she weighed 11 pounds. She is really filling out! And yes, her stump finally fell off after they put some silver nitrate on it. So now...six weeks later...finally, some pictures!!

More to come...

Harper Elizabeth

As you have probably guessed, she's here! Harper arrived on April 7th at 8:29 p.m. weighing 7 pounds, 15 ounces (5 more than her sister) and measuring 21.25" long (nearly an inch longer than her sister!). Here's her story...

I know I was whining in my last post. I was getting desperate as my scheduled c-section date drew nearer that I would never get to experience "normal" childbirth. As I'm sure most of you know, I did not make it to my scheduled c-section but that is still how things ended up. Thankfully I know that when it comes to childbirth, there is no planning and when it came down to it, I didn't get upset and just accepted it for what it was. But let me back up and tell you what all happened.

It started on Friday really. It was a full moon that night and I was determined to see if I could help things along. I read up on all those so-called labor inducing tricks and weeded out the ones that seemed a little medically risky and then tried out all the others (spicy food, walking, stuff like that). When I went to bed that night, I thought, "Well, we'll see what happens!" Every time I woke up, I wondered if it was because of a contraction. Then around 4:30 a.m., I awoke to a little gush. Now, you'd think that, especially in my present condition and frame of mind that I would immediately think that my water had broken and get Troy up. What did I do? Jumped up and went to the bathroom and thought, "Wow, this little incontinence thing is getting out of control." I went back to bed and slept just fine until it was time to get up.

When we all got up Saturday morning, we decided to run a few last-minute errands. I wanted to go to the Carter's outlet to look for a Big Sister shirt to match the Little Sister onesie I'd gotten for the baby (they didn't have it...apparently I bought last year's model). Then we went to BJs and bought a few things. The whole time, I was leaking a lot more than usual and was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. By the time we came home for lunch, I told Troy that things just didn't seem right. Just then, my friend Megan (a nurse) texted to see how I was holding up and I told her about the gush and asked her opinion. She wisely said, "You need to call the doctor. They can do a quick check to see if your water broke." So I finally called and ate some lunch while I waited to hear back from the on-call doctor. Of course, they told me to come in to the hospital to get checked.

Are you wondering where Lainey was during all of this? She was with us for all of the running around and was so tired by the time we got home, she ate a quick lunch and went down for a nap. So she was of course still sleeping when the doctor told us to come in. This was getting close to 2:00 at this point. Luckily, our nextdoor neighbors agreed to "watch" her, even though they were getting ready for their son's second birthday party later that afternoon (which we ended up missing but Lainey woke up and got to attend which was actually really good timing because it kept her occupied). So, off we went to Rex where they checked me all in and the nurse did a quick test. She wasn't able to make a positive determination so she called in the doctor on call. She officially checked me and did a swab to run some labs. No real shocker that it came back positive...I was leaking amniotic fluid. When I told her about my gush that morning, she looked at me like, "Well what did you think that was?" Seriously, when I think back on it now, that's what I always think too! So we were excited that labor had actually started! But my hopes were quickly dashed when Dr. Wind then said, "Well, we'll go ahead and schedule your c-section for around 8 p.m. since you ate lunch." What? C-section? But I was in labor! I had even started having contractions while we were sitting there for all of the testing. Unfortunately, she explained, my body still wasn't in active labor. My contractions were between 6 and 13 minutes apart and never got regular or closer together. Dr. Wind said that there was no way that my body was going to catch up in time and I couldn't get pitocin because of my previous c-section. So...after all that, I was still facing a c-section. In that moment, all hopes of ever getting to experience a vaginal childbirth were dashed. But I didn't dwell on that...instead it was time to get excited because we were having a baby today!

Once we found out all of this, we went ahead and called the family and told them to head to Rex. We had to wait in a triage room until they were ready to do the surgery. That was interesting. On one hand, it seemed like we were in that room for forever but on the other, it went by really quickly. It was probably close to 4 by the time we found all of this out and Troy and I were both busy making calls and filling the family in and making arrangements for Lainey. Since there was nothing to do but wait, we turned on the TV (mostly to keep us from going crazy just sitting there). Let me tell you...I love Rex but their cable sucks. Not to mention that there's not a ton of quality television on late Saturday afternoons. Mary Poppins was coming on ABC Family and that's what we settled on. And so we watched (sort of) and waited. A little more than an hour later, family started to show up. First Troy's Mom, then my Mom, Dad and sister. Thankfully, they had stopped by and picked Lainey up so I could see her before going into surgery. By this time, they moved me to the post-op area since it was totally empty and that's where they were going to prep me. I got to visit with all of the family briefly and spend some time with Lainey. Poor thing seemed confused as to why Mommy was in a hospital bed and gown but she did great. Then all of the family, including Troy, left. My family took Lainey home to eat dinner and get her in bed since it was nearly 7 p.m. at this point. Our neighbors kindly agreed to baby-sit Lainey again so my family could come back to the hospital.

As for me, I sat there by myself for a bit. It seemed like a really long time but it was less than 30 minutes. I talked to the nurses and checked Facebook on my phone. Then it was time for them to get me prepped for surgery which didn't take long. Troy came back and I was wheeled down the hall towards the OR. It's funny what you remember...as we moved down the hall, both Troy and I commented on remembering that so clearly from the last time. Once we got there though, it was a bit different. Troy went to the little room to get some scrubs on and I went into the OR. This time I was getting a spinal so I was positioned onto the surgery table in a sitting position and they came in and did that. It really wasn't bad. A sting and then a surge down my right leg. Another little surge and that was it and then they were getting me down on the table before I went numb. The nice thing about this time around was how everyone talked to me. I definitely remembered that the last time, it was as though everyone thought I was knocked out because no one talked to me or seemed to notice me and were just focused on the surgery. Not that I didn't want them paying attention to that but it helped to have some interaction! Troy couldn't come in until the drape was in place and they had already started the surgery (to make sure things were going smoothly). Then it was just a matter of minutes before we heard our little girl screaming as she was plucked from my uterus and brought up into this bright world.

As they carried her to the isolet, they held her up so we could see her. My first thought was that she looked so much like Lainey! She was louder though, and longer. Lainey cried some but then quieted down, as though she was taking it all in. Not this one...she cried out for all she was worth. :) Troy went with her while they cleaned her up and this was the part where I steeled myself for the rest of my surgery. With Lainey, this was when things went downhill for me. I could feel them stuffing my insides back into my torso and I was so uncomfortable and just wanted them to stop. Apparently, I was shaking and turning rather green so they pushed some high-powered sedatives into my IV and that was all I remember about that. This time, I was determined to be more present. Thankfully, there was no stuffing of insides. I don't know if that was the difference in having a female doctor this time but things at least seemed...gentler. I also had a female nurse anesthetist (the person who stays up by your head) and she actually talked to me which helped a lot. We talked about the baby and if I asked a question ("I smell burning flesh..."), she kindly answered me back to keep my informed ("Yup, they're cauterizing your blood vessels so you won't have a bunch of blood in your body cavity." Ah.). Then Troy and the baby were back and he held her close to my head so I could see her. Your arms are strapped down so I couldn't do much but it was nice to get to see her because I missed that with Lainey. Now that I got a better look at her, she didn't look as much like Lainey. I mean, she did, but she was definitely her own person. For one thing, she had wavy light brown hair! (I've gotten plenty of grief about that from Troy.) She also had a perfectly round face and head because she was a c-section (even Lainey had a bit of a conehead because I labored with her first). She doesn't look nearly as much like Troy the way Lainey did (and does). Maybe this one will look more like me? Then they were gone again...off to the nursery while I stayed behind. It took much longer for this part of the surgery than it did to get her out so that was interesting. Finally they finished and it was off to post-op. They checked me out and did the dreaded pushing on my abdomen (I definitely still remembered that from last time...that is pain like you can't imagine). Once I was all checked out and good to go, it was off to my room to be with family and finally, Miss Harper.

The rest of the time in the hospital was just like last time...perfectly pleasant with kind nurses and lots of care and attention. We were told that insurance would cover us to stay until Wednesday but we could be discharged Tuesday if we liked. Let me tell you, we seriously considered staying that extra day! If it hadn't been for Lainey, we totally would have. But we wanted to get home to be with her. She had come up to see us on Sunday and that was great but not enough. Thankfully, she loved her little sister right away and was only upset that I couldn't "get up" and she didn't like my IV. We had loads of family visit on Sunday and Lainey and Harper got all kinds of gifts. Then Monday was a quiet day for us and we went home Tuesday around lunch time. Troy's Mom was there to help until my Mom came the next day to take over. They switched off again for the weekend and then my Mom was back the next week. I can't tell you how nice it was to have help. I don't remember the recovery being as slow last time but I think that's mostly because I didn't have a toddler wanting me to pick her up. That was the hardest part for Lainey & me. It's been three weeks and I still am trying not to pick her up because it hurts and I have made the mistake of thinking that I'm fine and picking her up and then setting myself back so I'm trying to take it easy. But all in all, things are going very well. Harper is a sweet and calm baby. I think she is possibly even more easy-going than Lainey was. While Lainey runs around squealing, she snoozes peacefully. The first two nights at home were a little rough but by the third night, she was sleeping 5-6 hours at a time. I know...pretty amazing! So I can't complain too much about that. And breastfeeding! Wow, it is so much better when you know what you're doing. So far, there haven't been any issues and everything is going smoothly. My milk came in quickly and for a few days there, I was tempted to inquire if any neighborhood kids needed to eat because I had enough for everyone. But ice packs and hot showers helped and now my overflowing 38Ds have calmed down to about a 36C and we're all much happier about that. the rest of me is slowly going down as well but of course not as quickly as I would like. Time will take care of that though...and also if I can stop eating desserts.

I will post pictures soon. It is pretty amazing how slack you get about stuff like that the second time around unfortunately. All of our pictures are on our two phones and we haven't uploaded them to the computer yet. I keep asking Troy for his phone to do that and he's all, "But I don't have that many. Just some from the hospital when they were bathing her off and stuff." Um, yeah...all of the first pictures of her. I kind of want those! So, yes, I will upload and share them soon. In the meantime, you can check out the amazing pictures my friend Elizabeth took of her when she was a week old. :)