Potato Babies

Ryan and I have long called those babies that sit quietly in church, at a restaurant, in the car... potato babies. When Dylan was little, we used to envy our friends with all their 'potato babies' and wonder what we were doing wrong to have such a fussy baby that just never really seemed content. We didn't go out to eat for about 6 months because we invariably had to walk out with a screaming baby. And when we went anywhere in the car we heard crying the entire time without a break. Don't even get me started about that car trip we did out in DC...

Dylan has always been high maintenance. And that's ok. It really is. But we were a little scared (to be honest) this time around, knowing what we may be in for... with two kids.

But now we have a potato of our own. And we love it.

As long as she has a clean diaper and is fed and not gassy, she's perfectly content to just be held. She coos and babbles at us and smiles.

Our very own potato baby!

unsolicited advice

Today after church we went to Target for a few things.
While Ryan went to another part of the store, I took the kids towards the checkout area...
Granted the kids were tired and fussy and Addie was crying.
One woman came up to me and commented how sweet a baby's cry is and how I should enjoy even these moments cause they are gone before you know it, sharing that her 'baby' is now 18 and asking for gas money. It was encouraging and I plodded along with Dylan helping me push the cart and negotiate around the clothing racks enroute to the checkout area.
Then another woman approached us. She came up quickly and asked in a panic if everything was ok with my baby. Asked if I was SURE the baby was ok and told me she was 'very concerned with her crying' as if I was a 12 year old who had no clue what I was doing with a crying baby in a store. It's not like Addie had been crying for 30 minutes. It had been about 5 minutes and she was just tired.
I tried to be polite to that second woman, but my patience was clearly running low. I finally told her through clenched teeth that yes, my baby was fine. And when she pushed me on the issue, I nearly lost my cool. Nearly. But I was in Target and my baby was tired, and I was tired, and I really didn't have time to deal with that silly woman.
What is it with people and unsolicited advice? UGH!

3 months

Addie is just about 3 months old now. She's changed in the past week, I've noticed. She likes constant movement and went from dislike of the swing to total contentment in them. Thank goodness we now have one upstairs and one downstairs for her.

She found her hands and loves to suck on them.

She likes to hold my fingers while she falls asleep.

She loves being in the bathtub. Smiles, coos, and has learned how to kick her legs to push off the tub wall when I'm holding her so she can 'swim' across the tub while I hold onto her. She was proud of herself yesterday when she figured that trick out, practicing for at least 30 minutes at it!

She doesn't like a lot of noise. In fact, she prefers a quiet room with just one or two people around. If we are in the car, she seems to like the Dixie Chicks and her hanging turtle toy to look at.

She has had a lot of gassiness and constipation, which causes her great discomfort, but we are working on it and I think today I learned a few new tricks to help her out. If nothing else, she's always happy when I put her in a warm bath.

First Bath

Addie's cord fell off on Sunday, so last night she got her first official bath. I think she was hungry when we decided to do it, so she was quite upset with us as you can see.
But she smells terrific!
Now we just hope she's not one of those anti-bath kids. Dylan LOVES the tub and it'd be nice if she did as well...

Update: 38 weeks

Weight Gain: down by 1/2 pound (whoo-hoo! - maybe that cupcake yesterday was fat-free)
Dilated: 2 cm.
Effaced: 50%.
Estimated Delivery: around 39 weeks, which means another week.

Having more contractions, but we'll see if they progress. She said if I am on my feet a lot, things will go faster.
Ryan, of course with work being so busy, wants me to lay down and do nothing.
And I, on the other hand, want to nest and get everything in order for whenever this baby girls decides to come!
And Dylan just wants to play with his new toys from yesterday's birthday party!!!

Update: 37 weeks

Another OB appointment this morning. Ryan has only missed one appointment between both Dylan and this baby's prenatal visits. But we knew that this week would include another ultrasound. So despite being uber-busy at work right now, he rushed over and arrived just as the doctor came into my room. Perfect.

Ultrasound shows her measuring just about right at around 36 weeks. Heart looks good. And fluid surrounding baby looks good.
Oh, and STILL a girl, which was nice to hear now that the closet is filled with baby girl clothes...

The doctor says she weighs approx 6# at this point, so the estimation is that she'll be around 7.5# at birth depending on when I deliver.
I've had more contractions the past two days, but nothing painful.
She said I could do more walking if I want to progress things, but I think I'll just wait until after Dylan's 3rd birthday party this weekend before I do anything like that.
Plus I have a headcold that I wouldn't mind being rid of before labor and delivery. Who wants to blow their nose during a contraction?

And that pesky office scale says that I've gained 2 more pounds in this past week. Where in the world did that come from? I know it could be water-weight, but I doubt it, as my ankles and hands aren't super swollen. And I have been eating, but no more than I did a month ago.
At least I'm near the end. How much bigger can you get with only 3 weeks to go, I think slyly stupidly to myself.

Baby Shower #2

Today my dear friend Kathy and some of my coworkers put together a baby shower at work to honor this little boxer-girl who has set up camp right under my ribs (yikes she's kicking a lot tonight, it seems!). They had about 5 different kinds of pizza and a full ice cream sundae station set up, lots of thoughtful gifts, and Kathy took lots of pictures. Since she already posted her pictures from the event, I'll send you there to see them. About 20+ people were there, which was a pretty awesome turnout for a baby shower. Maybe it was the pizza and ice cream luring them in, but I'd like to think they came at least in part to see me (and perhaps sneak a peek at how big I've gotten in the past 2 1/2 months)...

It was a fun afternoon and I feel blessed to have such sweet and supportive coworkers.

Thanks Kathy for all you did in making us feel special today (me and baby)!

Baby Shower

Back in St. Louis I remember when people had their second (or third) babies, it wasn't customary to have another baby shower. But here in Southern California, things are different. "Every baby deserves to be celebrated", as a friend of mine says.
And our baby girl was VERY celebrated today.

My friends (Anamara, Christy, Karissa, Genese, and Lisa) hosted the most awesome and carefully thought out baby shower for our family (yes, husbands and kiddos were invited as well). There were numerous games, a delicious cake (Portos!), sangria (no, I didn't have any), balloons, tons of food including fajitas, a towering diaper cake, toddler pool and sand table under a big awning for the kids, tiki torches, party favors (including a personalized cd of tunes in honor of our baby girl and bags of homemade cookies for everyone who came), and lots of VERY generous gifts.

One gift in particular was from the whole group: a new stroller!

And games? Let's see, there was the 'how big is briana's belly' game (actual size was 10 squares around), where Ryan nearly came in second to last with estimating my tummy as GIGANTIC! (Cagdas, thanks for guessing my girth to be a few toilet paper squares larger than Ryan - you saved him!)
There was another game where you guessed how many jelly beans, pretzels, and goldfish were in various baby bottles.
And the gold standard: Guess what kind of candy (smashed up in diapers, only to be guessed by smelling one by one).

And a beer drinking game for the dads. That was a sight!
Imagine 7-8 grown men, lined up in a row, fiersly drinking beer from baby bottles...

And the kids decided they needed to play too, so here they are chugging their bottles alongside the daddies. (don't worry, theirs didn't have beer!)

I am still spinning with excitement from today. I'm in awe of how much effort, careful planning, and generosity these women put into making this such a special celebration for our family. A labor of love, for sure.

Thank you so much, my dear friends!

Update: 34 weeks

Ryan took the day off today to spend together and celebrate our 7th anniversary.
Our day started off with another OB appointment (see below). Then we went out to test-drive a couple cars we've wanted to check out and haven't had the time to do together sans toddler until today. Then we went to the mall and Ryan got himself some new sunglasses, which I must say look very good on him! And then we wrapped up our afternoon with a nice long lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. It was a good day.

Now for the OB visit update:

Another ultrasound with a nice shot of our baby girl's face, looking straight ahead. My doctor pointed out her 'chubby cheeks'.

Remember how I was fretting over her head still being up and a possible C-section? Well, she's flipped downward, ready for the big event apparently. Nice work, baby girl!

And let's see, what else? According to the office scale, I had only gained another pound in the past 2 weeks (whoo-hoo!) To be honest, my scale at home showed about 3 pounds of gain, but I'll take the doc's version this time around. And my doctor stated that my weight-gain is good, not too much, and she thinks I'm on target for a healthy weight at delivery.

Baby's weight is estimated at 5 pounds already, putting her estimated delivery weight at around 8 pounds if I go the full 40 weeks. Not bad, as Dylan was 7lb, 15oz, and most second babies are larger. If she comes a week or two early (as Dylan did), then she could be in the 7lb range. We'll have to see, won't we?

I know my body

Today I had another prenatal appointment. The nurse led us into a room, but it didn't have the ultrasound machine and both Ryan and I frowned. We wanted another one - you know, just to get a peek at the baby again and make sure all was still ok in there for her. Plus we wanted to make sure her head is pointed down, as it is pretty important for delivery...
When my doctor came in, we asked if we could switch rooms and she picked up on our hint right away and led us into the next room.

All is ok. Heartbeat 150 bpm. Measurements of head, abdomen, and femur all averaging at 31 weeks and 2 days... exactly where we are at today. Baby's weight estimated at 4 pounds. My weight... let's not go there.
Oh, and her head... pointed UP.
I knew it! I knew that wasn't a head kicking me in the bladder for the past 2 weeks!
And then my doctor commented, "wow, I guess you really know your body. I would have guessed by where the heartbeat was that she was head down so it's good we checked."
Yup . Glad we checked, but now hoping for a nice big flip-flop before labor in a few more weeks...

Good news is that she said after 35 weeks, she'll let me do more. Still won't be able to return to work yet. But at least in another month I can go walking a bit (although she said I probably won't want to much at that point).

Going BPA Free

Somehow the issue of BPA (Bisphenol-A) came up in our house this week. We've tossed all our old Nalgene bottles and replaced them with the Camelbak bottles, which are BPA free. And now I'm on the hunt for BPA free bottles for baby #2, as her arrival is only 8-10 weeks away. I was all set on the Born Free brand, but then found out tonight that Dr. Brown's has now launched a new BPA free bottle line. The problem: Which should we get? The Born Free bottles are pricey, but the new Dr. Brown's bottles are really hard to find still and are outrageously priced because of that. We used the Dr. Brown's ones with Dylan and he did great on those. But is it worth $50 for three of those suckers or to hunt all over town to find them with a decent price tag?

My friends have asked for a 'wish list' for this baby. I've settled on a few items, but still feel very torn on a few key items.
1. Stroller. Originally I had my heart set on the double BOB for both kids together. However Dylan is getting older and prefers to walk most of the time now unless he's really tired. Do I just use my BOB single for the first few months and carry the baby until she needs to be in the stroller herself?
Then there's the option of a sit-and-stand stroller. A friend of mine recommended the Joovy Caboose Ultralight, which is pretty sweet. But again, will it work for our family? Hard to tell until the time comes.
2. Carseats. I'm planning to borrow a friend's infant carrier/carseat for the first few months. But once she's a bit bigger, I'd like to put her in a rear-facing carseat. We had the Graco ComfortSport carseats for a while, but after lots of traveling that first year with Dylan, we've seen their limitations in durability. And after replacing one of them for a Britax last year, we realized how much better the Britax truly is. Eventually we know we'll need 1-2 more of those, depending on when Dylan is ready for a booster seat and graduates out of the Britax in my car. But for sure we'll need at least one more of those. And boy oh boy, those are not cheap!

Ok. And now I'm off to bed. Just thinking about all this stuff makes me tired.

Update: 26 weeks

Another OB appointment.

Still on bedrest (and probably will be for the rest of the pregnancy in general or at least until we get to the 'safer weeks'), but at least it's modified so I can go outside as long as I stay off my feet and rest as much as possible. Still no walks or exercise. Still no trips to the grocery store. Still no trips to the zoo or Huntington Gardens with Dylan, but I'm not stuck in bed, so I'm going to be thankful for that. And being able to sit and watch him play at the park while someone else helps chase after him is better than sitting at home alone getting depressed.

And I'm SUPER thankful for all my friends' support. I can't believe how quickly they responded with offers to help us each week with meals, helping with Dylan, and just letting me cry on their shoulders when I have felt discouraged about this situation. And while I have a hard time asking and taking help from our friends, who I know are already busy themselves with work and families and schedules, I'm trying to be graceful about accepting their help it as it's offered.

One thing that I've realized (FINALLY) on a personal level is that this is "only temporary" and while it feels like a huge burden on everyone around me, it's much less of a burden than we'd all be if I had the baby early and we were stuck in a NICU for the next few months.

So stay in there, little girl. I'll do my part. Don't come out yet!

24 Week Ultrasound

Ultrasound picture of our baby girl's face at 24 weeks.

Update: 24 weeks

On Tuesday my scheduled OB appt was cancelled, so I rescheduled to see another doctor in the same practice on Wednesday. Since Dylan didn't have daycare, we brought him along so Ryan could be there too.
While driving around looking for a parking spot, Ryan got pulled over (yes, a TICKET!) for making an 'illegal U-turn' where the sign was covered by a bush!

Then once he joined me inside with the doctor, our day went from bad to worse.

But first I want to point out some Good news , that the baby looks good. We saw her spine, umbilical cord with both channels intact, heartbeat, kidneys, stomach, bladder, head, femur. She measured good, with the doctor noting that she is about 1 pound and 7 ounces already.

Bad news is that she discovered that I have a low-lying placenta, which isn't a problem as long as the baby moves down below it in the next few weeks/months. And is more of a concern because I've continued to have noticeable contractions (the painful ones haven't reoccured since around 21-22 weeks, but they are still there despite my reducing my exercise and lifting since my last visit.
So this doctor did a few other tests and sent me home on bed-rest at least until my next appointment with my regular doctor (she's out on vacation for about 2 weeks), if not for longer.

This wouldn't be so much of a problem if we had regular outside help with Dylan, or if I wasn't at a risk of losing my job because of how much time off this could mean for me (the max that the law protects my job for is 4 months, which takes me just until after her due-date, but not enough for post-partum recovery after she's born), or if Ryan wasn't so busy at work with trying to resubmit his paper soon, or if me working those few days a week wasn't something we depended on. But I do realize that only I can carry this baby to term. Only I can ensure she has the best chance at not having to be born prematurely by following the doctor's instructions. And in researching things a bit more today, she wouldn't have much of a chance at life if she was born now. A risk that isn't worth taking just because I don't want to be stuck in bed. My hope though is that this is short-term and once I see my regular OB doctor in 3 weeks, that she can lift this bed-bound sentence so I can at least have Dylan during the week at home with me.

And here's where I get to focus on what I'm thankful for. I'm so thankful for my precious husband and son, who both have to endure the bulk of these changes to our life/schedules/routines along with me. I'm thankful for the many friends who have called, emailed, and stopped by with supportive words, food, and the promise to help out where they can as long as I'm in this position. I'm thankful for my health, that this is potentially a short-term discomfort and hopefully will resolve soon. I'm thankful for our families, who love us unconditionally and we know we can count on for support and encouragement with whatever lies ahead.

For those of you out there who read this, please keep our baby girl in your prayers for continued time on the inside so she can grow up strong and come join our family healthy at the end of these next few months. And pray for patience and endurance for Ryan, Dylan, and myself as we adjust to these changes.

Update: 21 weeks

We had our 21 week OB appointment on Tuesday afternoon. Baby girl has once again been confirmed as a baby GIRL, looking healthy, measuring femur and head size appropriately. Heart looks good. All is good...
Except that I've been having contractions. Braxton Hicks mostly, but in the evenings I've had a few painful ones that even once woke me up from sleep. When I mentioned this to my doctor, she told me that I should stop working to avoid total bedrest with a preterm labor. I made promises to stop working out and to limit any carrying of Dylan when possible (he's 30 lbs) and to rest more in the evenings instead of being on my feet so much. She said as long as I don't have any more painful episodes and watch to make sure the Braxton Hicks are no more than 4 in an hour, I can continue working.
So here I am, thinking of all the ways that I'm needing to put not only my unborn little baby girl, but my whole family first in my life. I need to stop thinking of myself in terms of 'weight-gain' and time out of the house with my mommy-friends, judging myself from the perception of the world around me.
Another friend mentioned to me yesterday how important it is that we put our families first in our lives, because this time is only a season in our lives that we will miss later on and nothing is more important. She's 100% right and I need to be reminded of that when I'm tempted to go hit the park for a workout, long walk, or big day running errands. What would those things mean to me if I didn't have my family? Nothing.

Baby Girl Stuff

Mary Jane Socks
Hats and more hats
Leg Warmers (also in Purple)
One-piece Sunsuit outfits (for 3-6 and 6-9 months)
Rompers (short sleeves for summer and long for winter months)
Overall outfits
And on a side note: I know pink is the usual choice "girl" color, but I love reds and soft greens too!

And of course, I'm thinking I should hold off on buying anything myself for a while. But online window-shopping sure is fun!

p.s. I have started to feel her move now. And while most people say I don't even look pregnant yet, my non-pregnancy pants don't fit anymore! Time to bust out the maternity pants.

Confirmation in 2D and 3D

This one will probably land our daughter in therapy one day... It's the shot of her 'parts' (indicated by the three parallel lines), confirming that she's indeed a girl. That's right folks, it's a GIRL! Only took about 20 minutes of flipping and flopping on that table trying to get her to change positions so we could see!

This one is in 3D, showing the profile of her face with her arm held up. Since it's still so early, she doesn't have really any fat on her bones... but I promise to fatten her up before you all meet her again!

Whoo-hoo! It's a GIRL!

What would you do?

Ok. Came across this online tonight. Would you do it? Not as pricey as we thought it could be, but still more than our copay for our regular OB appointment I have in a month...

17 week ultrasound: Results!

This morning Ryan and I went to my rescheduled OB appointment with renewed hopes. We sat in the car, said a little prayer that we would learn something new about our little growing baby... and then went inside.
First let me comment on the weight-gain factor. According to my scale at home, which I weigh myself on every morning, I have gained only 4-5 pounds above my prepregnancy weight. But per the doctor's scale, it says I've gained a whopping 4 pounds since my last visit 3 weeks ago, with a total gain of 6 pounds. Let's note here for a minute that my doctor is a petite asian woman, soft spoken, and very kind. But she went as far as to verbalize the noted weight gain and mention that in the first 20 weeks, the weight gain should stay within 5 pounds. Yikes. I have 3 weeks to go and food tastes so much better and I'm HUNGRY. Does that count for anything? Plus, the change in the size of my chest alone should give me some grace-poundage, don't ya think? That's what I say, at least.
Secondly, she spent a considerable amount of time with the ultrasound (at least 15-20 minutes), checking anatomy measurements (which all measured well), and looking for gender cues. Let me say this much: We aren't certain about the gender still, as the telltale "3 lines" weren't visible yet, but she said she's 90% sure it is a girl. A GIRL!!!! We are so excited!!! And my mom... let's not even go there. From what I could tell, she's already started buying girl clothes for the baby and that was before she got the news. I, on the other hand, have decided to wait until we are more sure in another month before buying any of those adorable newborn girl clothes, just in case.
Anyhow, we have another ultrasound/appointment scheduled in 4 weeks to recheck the anatomy (because she wants to make sure the heart has all 4 chambers, since it was difficult to clearly see that today as well - so keep that in your prayers!) and she said she'd check again on the gender to see if we can see more.
One of the things she thought was that the baby's cord was draped between the legs in a way that made it hard to see clearly, plus the legs were crossed a bit (if it's really a girl, at least she was modest from the start). But the news we are taking from today is this: we are 90% sure it's a girl.
That, my friends, is worth celebrating. Now if I could only justify a bowl of ice cream right now...

Note: After letting all this sink in more, and with a scientist for a husband, I've been convinced that the absense of data isn't proof of a girl itself. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic.

Ultrasound: No Go

We had my 17 week ultrasound scheduled for today. I was bursting with excitement all day at work and left early so I could get there on time, at 4:00.
As Ryan and I walked in, the receptionist asked me for my name as I attempted to sign in at the desk. I told her, excited that maybe they were actually running on time and we'd get in sooner than later. Nope. Instead she told me that my doctor had to leave just a few moments earlier for a delivery.
I know I'll be one of the deliveries in a few months, leaving another poor, over-excited mommy-to-be stading there annoyed that her appointment was cancelled... but I'm still bummed. Today was supposed to be the big day when we got a chance to find out the gender of this little mystery baby. Not today.
Maybe Friday.
So now I'm hoping and praying for Friday to work out. My appointment is the first one for the day, so maybe it will be alright.
I'm planning on a breakfast consisting of soda and some fruit. Ya know, I've gotta get this baby moving around so we can get a good shot!

p.s. Today at lunch, food suddenly tasted SO good to me. I never thought hospital cafeteria food would be so wonderful, but it was. I nearly ate my coworkers arm, everything looked so good!