The Bean's Second Birthday

This year we decided to forego a big party in lieu of having people stop by at their convenience to wish The Bean a happy second birthday.  I felt a little guilty not making a bigger deal of it, but I think it was the right decision for us as a family right now and I believe that The Bean has been enjoying seeing all his people spread out over the course of the last week or so.

The night before his birthday my mom stopped by for a visit.  The Bean had a blast playing with her and was VERY excited about the Duplo set she brought him.  (Which I was glad about, since I had suggested Duplo animals as something he would probably enjoy.)

On his actual birthday they had a little party at daycare.  We made him chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and sprinkles to take in and share with his friends --they were a hit!  (Last year when we sent in organic oatmeal muffins. That's a Famous Last Words post waiting to be written!)  At least the cupcakes were organic.  That's got to count for something, right?

When he got home we called up Grandma and Grandpa on Skype and they watched him open his gift from them and his gifts from me and Jen.  He totally gets the concept of presents now and was VERY excited, giving an emphatic "WOW!" after tearing into each gift.

Dinner was pretty much just leftover cupcakes.  

Saturday my sister and her family as well as my Nana stopped by.  It was really so that Nana could open her gift from us (a digital frame complete with a bunch of photos of the great-grandchildren from the past year), but my sister also had some loot for The Bean including the book Playful Learning for his Mama and Mommy to take a look at and get ideas from.  I was pretty excited about that!

I'm glad to say that almost everything has found a home now and that we've got a good stash of toys etc. to come out later in the year when the ones he's currently playing with get a bit stale.

We still have to arrange a time to see my cousins and Aunt, but needless to say, The Bean has already been quite spoiled and enjoyed every ounce of it.  As a friend's daughter once said to me, "It's okay to be spoiled, just as long as you're not spoiled rotten."  Smart kid. ;)

Twenty-Four Months Old!

Today The Bean is twenty-four months old!  

 

As our regular readers know, this past month has been an extremely eventful one.  We're happy to say that The Bean seems to be taking things in stride.  

-We've switched our evenings around and The Bean seems to have taken to the new schedule nicely.  We used to do a bath directly after dinner, but now he gets to play for a bit while Mommy cleans up the kitchen and Mama wrangles both kids in the living room.  When it's time to go in for the bath, we give him a five minute warning and usually he just walks right into the bathroom and tries climbing into the tub.

-He started having more difficulty going to bed shortly before Sprout's birth and that's continued, but so far it's been reasonable.    He's started to get four books (vs. three) and four songs while Mommy rocks him in the rocking chair.     

-Over the last month he has started developing attachment to a "transitional object."  There's a particular receiving blanket that we'd been putting on him at bedtime that he's now bonded to.  He'll often want to take it out of bed with him in the mornings, but so far we have been encouraging him to leave it in the bed and he usually does so with only a little suggesting.  We haven't talked much about our philosophy on having it out in the apartment, but we're on the same page about trying to make sure it doesn't leave home regularly.  Any opinions/advice on things you've done in this area?

-Our daycare provider has done a lot of talking about big brothers lately, and The Bean is acting the part of proud big brother while he is there.  This week, she asked who in the class was a big brother, The Bean and one other boy (senior/half-day kindergarten age) were the big bros in the crowd so they were paired together for math work that day.  I feel like she's doing a lot to help him with the transition. 

-We are trying to give him a little more control over his world, especially when it comes to food and clothing.  We'll offer him two choices and encourage him to pick the one that he prefers.

-The Bean has become quite opinionated on how he would like the flow of events to proceed.  For example, when listening to music, he'll be very emphatic as to who is to dance and where there are to do it.  He'll also let us know who he wants to sing songs to him and who should "stop singing!" (Picture a "talk to the hand" sign thrown in there for that last bit.)

 -Some of the nicer phrases he's taken to saying are "Thank you Mama!" (or Mommy) and "I love you MUCH!" which is just about as adorable as you can imagine.  In fact, it's what he was saying when his 24 month photo was taken.  The arms thrown wide show just how much.  He also is into giving compliments.  In fact, just the other day he told me, "Nice PJs, Mama.  Nice penguins."  (And in case there was doubt, I was indeed wearing penguin pajamas.)

-He still loves music and dancing.  His new favourite song is "Jingle Bell Rock".  We probably listened to it at least 500 times in the past month.  He got various percussion instruments (and a harmonica) for Christmas that he often uses to accompany the music we are listening to.    

 

-Christmas with The Bean this year was a blast.  He's such a social guy and loved having family and friends over.  He also is just starting to get into the present thing and loved opening his gifts and playing with them. 

 

- Even though we've never really let him watch shows more then twice in one week, The Bean will ask to watch Blue's Clues (we have a DVD) most days (he requests it complete with the sign of hands opening and closing by his face).  It surprises us how often he asks for it. Santa brought Jen a new tech device for Christmas that will let us pull video snippets from YouTube and play them on the TV.  We've been looking at expanding his viewing options to include Sesame Street and other educational things like National Geographic, though the latter is still a bit beyond him at this point.  Unfortunately, there aren't may full episodes of Blues Clues on there. 

 

-Lift-the-flap books have become very popular over the last little bit.  He got Biscuit's Snowy Day as a Christmas gift, and that was also quite popular for a little bit along with Duck and Goose -It's Time for Christmas.

 

-He's still between sizes on clothes.  Size 2 tops fit a little big, but not crazily so.  12 month pants are perfect (or sometimes a little big) in the waist, but too short, so we've moved him up to 18 month ones.  They barely stay on.  My aunt noticed this and got him suspenders ("Penders!") for Christmas.  Good thing the boy loves his accessories.

-Edited to add: At his two-year check up The Bean was 24lbs and 2'9".  That's about the 7th and 13th percentile, respectively and somewhere around the 25th percentile for weight vs. height.

 

Even with Sprout's arrival, I still think of The Bean as our baby.  It's hard to believe that it's already been two years since he was born.  It's been such an amazing two years and I absolutely cannot imagine our lives without him.  

{this moment} kisses

Christmas Recap

This is likely going to end up being a very photo-heavy post.  I've been meaning to get to it for a while, but with a toddler and a newborn and more and more visitors making their way to our place (which has been wonderful) there hasn't been much spare time lately.  I'm going to hammer it out quickly before Sprout wakes up to nurse again.  

---

Since we were still in the hospital on the 25th, Christmas came to our place a little late this (last) year.  The good thing about The Bean being little still is that he really had no idea that we missed the 25th and was just as happy to celebrate on the 28th once we were all back home.  

We waited until Grandma and Grandpa came over to start any opening of gifts.  The Bean really didn't have any idea of what was going on prior, so again, it wasn't hard to keep him away from the presents... not until he had opened a few. ;)  

He started out the day having breakfast with Grandma.  

Once The Bean finished eating, we started opening gifts.  He had so many presents from us, Grandma and Grandpa, other relatives, and (of course) Santa.  What I found really nice is that after almost every present he would sit and play with it for a while.  That also gave us some time to open gifts in between his.  (We also got very spoiled.)

Note: Not everything got photographed, and even if it had been, there's no way anyone would want to see all his stuff, but he did get many very lovely and generous gifts.   

The Bean got a few new books.  This is a beautifully illustrated copy of The Night Before Christmas that Jen and I picked out for him.  Sprout didn't get many gifts, but she did get a copy of The Nutcraker that is also quite lovely.  I hope that the kids' keep these books and if they have children, are eventually able to read them to their kids.

The Bean LOVED his stocking.  It had three Folkmanis puppets in it that he had a lot of fun feeding his pretend food to.  That still seems to be his favourite thing to do with these puppets.  (He also likes it when they "bite" him.)

This sock-monkey-in-the-box was a big hit, but it didn't take him long to figure out how to push the little button on the top to get it to pop up, rather than having to wind the crank.

...real drums!  He got lots of smaller percussion instruments too, along with a harmonica that he got when my family celebrated Christmas together earlier in December.  He loves pulling them out now and playing along when we're listening to music in the evenings.  We had considered putting a ukelele on his wishlist, but for his age, I think the percussion instruments are more appropriate.

...a Thomas bridge, as well as Annie and Clarabel and a musical caboose (we got a laugh out of that one) for his new train table.

The curvy board.  It took him no time at all to start playing around with it.  :)

...and the train table!  We've had this for MONTHS and waiting until Christmas to give it to him was so challenging, but we're glad we did.  He loves it!  Right now the Lego side seems to be getting more use than the train side, so it's nice that it has both options.

A sweet classic book from Grandma and Grandpa.

Santa even brought a few things for Sprout.  :)

Christmas jammies.

Special "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments from my best friend and Sprout's Oma.  We didn't put them on the tree until after we brought her home.

This one was a little late, but my aunt brought over a new handknit hat for The Bean.  Isn't it cute?!

Tomorrow (hopefully) the birthday update!  Can you believe that our baby boy is going to be TWO?!

Wordless Wednesday: Play

The Bean's two "big" Christmas gifts have proven to be a hit so far.  (As have his small ones, but we are especially happy to already see him getting a lot of use out of these.)

 

Note: The Bean's "big" gifts were the KidCraft 2-in-1 Activity Table (from Mommy and Mama) and a Curvy Board from Open Ended Creations (from Santa via Grandma and Grandpa). 

Update, Recovery and Reflection

I find it somewhat shocking to look at the calendar and see that our lovely little girl is already two weeks old.  These two weeks have gone quickly.  Of course, the first several days were spent in the hospital.  I remember remarking to Jen on the second (or third) day we were there in recovery, that it was like the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day.  The same thing everyday.  Easy to lose track of time.  

It's been busy since we got home, but it is so good to be here!  The Bean has been his usual busy toddler self.  We're seeing him push the limits a little bit more.  Demand a little more attention.  But also be SO loving to us and to Sprout.  The other day we were all in bed and he kept giving her big kisses on her head.  It was so, so sweet.  The kind of moment I hoped for when we found out we were expecting again.  

I think it's good for all of us to be back on a more regular schedule with daycare now that the holidays are over.  It give The Bean the routine that he seems to do so well with.  It also gives Jen and I time to soak up all the newborn goodness, without worrying that we aren't being attentive enough to his needs.  Plus now we (Jen) can do laundry and clean and make meals and whatnot much more easily.  We were lucky that her parents stayed with us through the 30th and helped out IMMENSELY with The Bean and the apartment and everything else.  They're also coming back for a week on the 16th when Jen has to start back to work.  I'm sure we'll be fine, but I don't look forward to Jen being back at work and me being here on my own once they return to PA.  

Sprout is already seeming more like an infant and less like a newborn.  She has periods where she is quietly alert and just seems to look around.  We talk to her.  Sometimes we sing to her.  Her first album was R.E.M.'s Automatic For the People and Jen and I sang her songs --Man on the Moon and Nightswimming.  It is one of my many favourite moments from the past few weeks.  

Her face is becoming less squishy, and more her face.  She is lovely.  Her hair, which I initially thought was a very dark brown, seems lighter now that it's been washed and fluffed up a bit.  I think it will be light brown. Her eye colour has yet to be determined.  Both the donor and I have light eyes, so I'm kind of hoping that they are light, though brown eyes would also be quite pretty. She definitely bears some resemblance to my brother as a baby and even a bit to my sister's son, though we think she has the same under eye/cheeks as The Bean and the donor.  She is round and pink.  

I'm doing fairly well.  I took the tape of my incision on Day 10, and it seems to be healing nicely.  I'm still quite sore, particularly on the right side, and have to be careful of the way I move and lift things (nothing heavier than the baby).  I'm finding it hard not to be able to do things, both mentally and physically.  I am very glad for the progress I've made so far though.  In the hospital I could barely walk a circle around the ward.  Though I haven't been out of the apartment yet, at least I can move around with relative ease now.  And use the toilet, and shower, and dress myself, and all sorts of other small actions that I used to take for granted.  

Breastfeeding, thankfully, also seems to be going well.  The first few days were painful, but my milk came in and the latching issues seem to have resolved, so now things are pretty good.  I feel like I may still have a little too much milk, but I'm sure that will regulate as Sprout moves towards a more regular nursing schedule.  Right now she feeds on demand, about every 2-3 hours or so, for anywhere from 5-20 minutes.  She gets quite drowsy when nursing, but as long as I can bother her enough that she stays awake, she'll fill herself up.  

I'm still processing the birth.  Ultimately I got what I wanted --a birth where we were both safe and healthy in the end.  It was not what hoped for, or even what I expected though.  I don't understand why I never progressed beyond 3cm, and it doesn't seem to be a question that anyone can answer.  I am disappointed that I wasn't able to have a vaginal birth.  The opportunity won't come again.  I do feel that I tried though and that we made the right decisions without being pressured into doing something we didn't want to do by either midwifes or OBs.  But still, I wanted the experience.  One of the most amazing moments in my life was watching The Bean be born.  Jen didn't get that with Sprout.  She didn't get to cut the cord.  She did get to hold her right away though, so I guess there's some comfort.  It makes me kind of sad to think about, though I am so, so happy to have our beautiful and healthy daughter here with us now.  

Anyway, I would have posted a few photos, but right now there is a sweet baby snoring on my chest and I am also ready for a snooze.  I'll try to update again later in the week.  

Firsts

Just a few firsts, among many...

First Christmas

Gift from Santa

Gift from Mama and Mommy

First Bath

Our Helper

First Story Book

Sprout's Birth Story

Warning: This is a long one.  Settle in...

 

So, about three and a half hours after my 41 week update, my water broke.  I was in bed, rolling over, trying to get comfortable, and I felt it break.  I said to Jen, who I was farily sure was awake, what with all my tossing and turning, "Either I peed the bed, or my water just broke."  I knew though.  I'm sure Jen did too.  I got up and went to the bathroom, thinking to myself, "This is when they tell you to rest.  I need to sleep.  It's going to be a long day."  I wasn't back in bed for long before deciding that sleep just wasn't going to happen and decided to get into the shower.  The warm water pretty much instantly made the pain of the contractions I was having stop hurting.  I spent all night sitting in the tub with the shower on.  (Because of my GBS positive status, the midwives advised against taking a bath when we called to update them.)  At my request, Jen stayed in bed and slept off and on throughout the night. 

 

At 5:00am, after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, I called Jen's parents, who were planning on coming up later that morning, if they might be able to leave a bit earlier.  I could tell from her mom's voice that she was surprised and excited.  (I think we'd all pretty much been thinking that things wouldn't happen until I was induced on the 27th.) 

 

The Bean, who had been sleeping later, was up at 6:00am.  It's like he knew something was going on.  Jen took care of him while I continued to labour. 

 

The plan was that the backup midwife (F) would come and administer the antibiotics I needed in the morning because the 23rd was my primary midwife's day off.  We got a call at about 7:30am, saying that a different midwife (J) was on her way over, as the F was quite sick.  We waited and waited and at about 8:30am got call from J asking us to meet her at the hospital, as one of her clients had gone into labour and she needed to be there.  We called my aunt to come over and watch The Bean until Jen's parents arrived.  She willingly obliged. 

 

We left for the hospital just after 9:00am.  The Bean was not happy to see us go.  We had the suitcase by the door and told him we were going to the doctor and would see him soon.  He grabbed the suitcase handle, and told us "I go doctor".  Poor kiddo cried as we passed him off to my aunt and headed out the door. 

 

According to the clock in the car on our drive to the hospital, my contractions seemed to be about 3-4 minutes apart and lasting just under a minute.  I felt fairly sure that we wouldn't be returning home from the hospital. 

 

When we got there, we eventually got settled into triage where J administered the antibiotic and hooked me up for a non-stress test.  The NST showed regular contractions and I was measuring 3-4cm dialated.  We made the decision to stay at the hospital.  I couldn't imagine driving home and back again for more antibiotics in another six or seven hours, really all I wanted to do at that point was get back into a hot shower. 

 

 

We got set up in our labour and delivery room and I got into the shower.  The contractions continued to get stronger.  I was quite uncomfortable, and kept shifting position, getting up and down, adjusting the water, etc.  Jen stayed with me the whole time, rubbed my back and was just generally awesome and reassuring.  (She was proud when she saw in the J's notes that she had provided "excellent support", though I would have told her the same thing.)  J would pop in and out of the bathroom, monitoring the baby's heart rate, which remained strong and steady the whole time.

 

 

At 2:15pm I got out of the shower and into bed.  The contractions were getting strong and more painful, but the baby continued to do well.

 

 

At 3:10pm I made the decision to get some pain medication.  At 4:00pm they gave me a shot of morphine and a shot of gravol (to counteract the nausea morphine can cause).  At 4:15pm I got up to use the washroom and ended up throwing up into the sink.  By 4:30pm the morphine was starting to kick in.  I still had a lot of pain, especially on the left side of my low/mid back, but the morphine allowed me to rest at little bit, which I really needed at that point. 

 

At 6:20pm I received my second dose of antibiotics (I needed to get them every eight hours) and also had a catheter put in, in anticipation of getting the epidural.  I still was holding out hope that I had made progress.  I remember thinking if I were at 6 or 7 that I could make it through the last little bit without it.  Again, I tried to rest. 

 

At 7:30pm they checked me again and said that there was no change in dialation.  To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.  I decided to get the epidural.  It was administerd at 9:30pm, after 21 hours of labour with no progress.  Not surprisingly, it slowed down the contractions, and at 10:00pm they started me on Oxytocin.

 

The epidural allowed me to get some rest overnight and regular contractions resumed with the Oxytocin. 

 

At 5:30am they checked me again.  I was told that my cervix was about 60% softened, but there was still no change in dialation. 

 

At 7:30am the midwifes got the the doctor to change the order on the Oxytocin to the maximum dosage (I had been receiving 20cc and had it upped to 30cc, which is the most that they will ever give). 

 

At 9:30am I was about 90% thinned out and my primary midwife, B, who had arrived a little earlier, told me that I was about 4cm dialated, but that she could stretch me to about 5cm. 

 

I continued to rest through the morning.  I wasn't feeling great that I had only progressed a few centimeters since arriving nearly 24 hours earlier but hoped that the Oxytocin would continue to help. 

 

Sometime after noon, B checked me again and said that there still hadn't been any change.  I was experiencing a lot of pain on the right side of my abdomen and it was spreading to my back.  B called in the attending OB, I think because I was GBS positive they were watching the clock more than they might have otherwise.  The OB was very calm and kind.  We filled her in on the details of the labour to that point and she asked if she could also check me.  When she was done she said I was only 3cm.  I know you can't go backwards, and had a hard time processing that according to what she said, I had made NO progress since my arrival the day before.  I wondered why B would say I was 4-5cm, if she was trying to be encouraging, or if she was just interpreting things differently, or what.  I was also very upset when the OB looked at my catheter, asked if it had been amber (indicating blood) the whole time, which it had been, and if it had been emptied, which it hadn't been.  She immediately removed and redid the catheter and my bladder started to empty.  It had been put in poorly and despite my complaints of a sore abdomen and back, B hadn't thought to check it.  I was very upset at this point, doubting B's competence, which I never had before. 

 

With the news that I was only 3cm, and already receiving the maximum dosage of Oxytocin, the OB said that she would recommend a Cesarian.  I felt like that was probably the best option at that point, consulted briefly with Jen, and then told her that we would go ahead with it. 

 

From there things happened quickly.  They gave Jen a gown and cap to wear and asked her to wait outside the OR until I was prepped.  I also got a gown and was moved to the OR.  The doctors explained what would happen --they'd put up a screen, sterilize my stomach, give me oxygen, cut into my abdomen, that I would feel pressure but that it wouldn't hurt, and that soon our baby would be born.  Jen came in and sat up by the right side of my head.  I was anxious, but felt that we had made the right decision and was excited to meet our baby girl. 

 

I could feel a lot more than I expected to during the surgery and when they were pulling the baby out remember saying "I can feel it!  It hurts!!", at which point the anesthetist asked me if I wanted laughing gas, to which I agreed.  It helped a lot.  With the gas I was able to hear what was happening still but dissocciate enough not to be so focussed on the pain.

 

At 3:52pm Sprout was born.



 

 

The first thing I noted about her is that she was loud.  (She got 9 and 9 on her Apgars.)  I couldn't see her as they cleaned her off and weighed her, but I could hear her!  She certainly didn't have that bleating little newborn cry.  Jen went over to see her and take some photos right away.  And then brought her back over so I could finally meet her.  

 

 

 

 

 

I was so happy and so relieved.  I remember smiling so big and crying tears of joy.  I wanted to hold her, but they wouldn't let me do that right away.  They finished putting me back together (14 staples) and then moved us into the recovery room. 

 

The nurse there was very kind.  She explained that I would be quite swollen from labouring and all the fluids I had received.  We chatted about babies and life and her love life, which was a welcome distraction.  After a little bit I told Jen she should go home and help put The Bean down for bed.  Grandma and Grandpa had been doing a great job taking care of him, but it was clear that he missed us and now that Sprout had arrived, I felt okay with her taking a few hours to spend with him and get him settled.  She wasn't going to miss anything major by going home for a little bit. 

 

 

So she went home and I was moved into a post-partum room.  There was another family there, but they were very respectful and quiet.  I got to hold Sprout and try feeding her.  She was a natural.  Jen came back and we dozed in and out of our first evening and night --Christmas Eve-- together. 



 

 

Christmas morning came and the nurses were encouraging me to get up and move around.  I didn't really want to, but since they said it was best for recovery, Jen and I took a short and very slow walk around the floor.  I was swollen and sore. 

 

As we rounded a corner, Santa and some firemen were entering the ward with toys for all the babies.  They gave Sprout a polar bear stuffed toy and we got her first Santa photo taken in front of the tree by the nurses' station.  

 

 

During visiting hours that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa came by with The Bean to meet Sprout for the first time.  We had wrapped a gift, from Sprout for The Bean --a children's flashlight.  It was a big hit!  He seemed much more interested in the flashlight than the baby, but that was okay.  He and Grandma played.  Jen traded off with Grandma so she could get some time holding Sprout too. 

 

The Bean seemed very cautious around me, and wouldn't look me in the eye when he first came into the room (just as I was exiting the washroom).  Though I know Jen had told him I had a sore tummy and wasn't feeling well, and he was likely just worried and trying to process things, it still broke my heart.  The next day when he came back for another visit he seemed to warm up a lot more quickly, though he didn't like that he wasn't allowed on the bed with me.  I made a point of not holding Sprout while he was there, so he wouldn't feel that I was favouring her over him.  When we returned home on the 27th he seemed more himself and now (fortunately) you'd hardly know that eleven days ago his little world was turned upside down. 

 

 

It's been a busy eleven days, but each day I'm feeling a bit better.  Sprout has been a great baby, eating and sleeping most of the time, and despite what it may seem from the photos, does not cry much or for long.  The Bean is adjusting better than we though he would to his new role of "big brother".  Jen has been AMAZING taking 99.9% of the responsibility of caring for The Bean and the household, as well as helping me out and taking care of Sprout.  In fact, she's resting with Sprout in her arms right now.  It is one of my most favourite sights. 

 

There is a lot to update on still --Christmas, life with a newborn, and at least a zillion more photos, but I have rambled on long enough.  I look forward to sharing more about our life as a family of four with all of you soon. 

 

xo,

-Allison.



Very Quick Update and Some Photos

Hey All,
Allison here.  Thank you all SO much for the congratulations.  Perhaps needless to say, we are falling deeply in love with our daughter along with getting used to life as a family of four.  All is well. 
I hope to post a small fraction of what must be the thousand photos we've taken this week and also get to Sprout's birth story at some point.  All in due time.  Right now I need to get ready to feed the not-so-little one.  ;) 
-Allison.

Welcome Baby Girl

Sprout was born at 3:52 pm on December 24, 2012 by C-Section.  Baby and Mama are both doing well. Allison will have to be in the hospital for a few days recovering. 8 lbs 15.7 ounces at birth. 20.5 inches. More when we are back home. -Jen