Nice Weekend

I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of this "two kids" thing. Abbie is beginning to settle into a routine (she eats at about the same time every day give or take 1/2 hour, which makes it easier for my schedule), and Bryce as usual is uber patient with me. He has begun voicing his needs very strongly (and sometimes rudely) though, so that's my cue that I need to pay more attention to him. There were a few times this weekend that I told Abbie she needed to "wait" because I was spending time with her brother...I made a point to make a big deal about it, so Bryce knew that Abbie was taking a back seat to him for a change. It was cute to watch his chest puff out. :) But, he's a great big brother, and is always wanting to hold her or help me when I'm doing something with her.

I found a great preschool activity book in my travels this weekend, so I bought Bryce a pencil box, new crayons and extra large pencils (the ones I remember using in first grade) and told him today that we're going to start "home preschool" tomorrow. He is TOTALLY excited and wanted to start today. But, I really want him to treat it like a mini-school session, so I'm making him wait until tomorrow and we'll do a little bit every day through the week. There are neat "field trip" activity ideas and a good book list too, so we'll probably hit up the library at some point this week too to pick up some of the books on the list. I'm secretly hoping that this will be a way for Bryce and I to spend some good quality time with each other every day, doing something that is both fun and will help him be ready for Kindergarten next year. I just need to remember not to force the issue when he's not into it and get creative on those days. Also, since he and Abbie will be going to a lady's home who does not have a preschool curriculum (she's a very sweet stay at home mama who is not breaking our bank by caring for our kids!), I'm hoping to take the remainder of the workbook to her house for Bryce to finish up with her during the day when I have to go back to work.

Bryce started his swimming lessons last week too. He really enjoys it, though he has a hard time with putting his face in the water. It will all come in time!

Trying Times

Abbie is still a fuss-budget in the evenings...now it starts even earlier. Unfortunately it's very impractical for us to put her to bed any earlier than 7, since dinner is at 6, I'm usually, cooking dinner/eating dinner and Brett is rarely home any earlier than 6:30. So, tonight (as well as a few nights this past week), we have broken down and rocked her, and rocked her, and rocked her to sleep. It's exhausting.

Bryce has the first cold of the new school year. He's not in school. I'm not sure where he encountered this cold, he's been home since Abbie was born...he's having a hard time not touching and kissing his baby, I don't think he fully understands that a sick baby would be a TERRIBLE thing right now...especially considering her nightly fussiness. I feel bad for him, he clearly feels like crap and needs lots of love and attention right now. We try so hard, but he still takes a back seat to the baby a lot of the time. He takes it in stride, he's so laid back and understanding, well beyond his years.

Brett has been particularly grumpy the last few days, as have I. By the end of the work week, sleep deprivation has sent in BIG TIME for me (I'm the only one getting up with the baby during the week, Brett and I alternate on the weekends). Worse, I think I may be getting Bryce's cold, so I'm really dreading next week. And of course, I've already loaded next week down with activities galore. Dentist appointments, swimming lessons starting for Bryce, band/choir practice at church, my 6 week post-partum visit. Good Lord.

After re-reading the above, I've decided I'm going to bed early. Just reading this is exhausting. :)

Princess Poops-A-Lot...

Is Abbie's nickname now. For *hopefully* obvious reasons. Brett assures me he did, but I don't ever remember Bryce's bowels being so...well, active.

She's either got a ripe diaper, or she's working on a ripe diaper. For the first 3-4 weeks, I can count on one hand how many diapers I changed that did not contain solid (or mostly solid) material.

I hope you aren't eating while reading this. My humble apologies if your meal is no longer appetizing.

Abbie now has a fussy time every evening. 7 to 9-ish every night is the time that, no matter, what we do, she just cries. She acts hungry, so we feed her and she rejects her bottle. She seems gassy so we try and pound the gas out of her (we're really quite gentle, honest), nothing comes out. She acts tired, we rock, and rock, and rock her, the minute we stop, she wakes up and...cries (my mom thinks this part is hilarious, because I apparently did this to my dad as an infant, all the time). Then, like a miracle, around 9 or so, she takes her bottle, burps easily and passes out without so much as a whimper. Perplexing. Luckily, this is our second "dog and pony show," so Brett and I haven't tried to kill each other yet. We just pass her back and forth for 2-3 hours until one of us has some success.

Last night, I took a friend's advice and tried to feed and burp her, bathe her and put her down for bed before the fussiness began. And it worked! Here's hoping it works again tonight!

PRAY FOR US! :)

Life With Abbie

My baby girl is almost 4 weeks old...and just one week shy of one month old. She already looks different and bigger to me than she did at birth. She is an extremely easy baby (knock on wood), and though she wakes up very regularly to eat at night, she most always goes right back to sleep. I am able to nurse her and I just get such a rush of joy and love when I am able to cuddle my little girl and stare into her blueberry eyes.

Bryce is very protective of his baby. I've overheard him on more than one occasion telling someone who is looking at her that she is very fragile and they must use hand sanitizer before they hold her. He constantly hugs and kisses on her, and wants to know where she is if she's not right with us. People ask him what he thinks of his sister or if he's a good big brother. I think he's finally getting a little tired of that question, because his answers have gone from an emphatic "yes, I'm a great big brother!" to an almost annoyed "yeah, she's great and I'm great." I think it's becoming very taxing on him to not be the center of attention...at least for now. If I know my boy like I think I do, he'll quickly find ways to steal the limelight from his baby sister in the near future. But for now, he's a least being civil about folks oohing and aahing over his baby.

Brett has told me that Abbie already has him wrapped around her finger. He is so relaxed and natural this time around, so patient with her and still managing to find lots of things to do with Bryce so he doesn't feel left out. He went back to work last week, so I've been flying solo at night, but he's quite the champ on the weekends. Even lets me sleep in from time to time!

Balancing the two kiddos is difficult, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I've learned that as soon as Abbie's done nursing, that's the best time to make meals, take a shower or head off for errands...I have about 2 1/2 to 3 hours before she'll be ready to eat again. I probably put Bryce in front of a movie more than I should, but luckily the sun is still shining and our teachers are still striking, so the neighbor kids and bicycling have kept Bryce occupied while I learn to entertain two.

The Birth Story of Abbie Kathleen Monahan

First of all, allow me to share some beautiful pictures and some stats about my precious daughter. Then I'll get to the "good" stuff (WARNING: I will not get too detailed or gory, but I apologize in advance if I make you feel uncomfortable!)






Abbie Kathleen Monahan was born ON her due date, August 20, 2009 at 8:19PM. She weighed in at 7lb 11oz, is 18.5 in long, and had a NORMAL sized head (I managed to slip by the curse of the "Monahan" head!). From the time they broke my water until the moment she was born was about 7 hours.

On the 19th, I was getting very frustrated with still being pregnant despite the fact we hadn't hit the due date yet. I started having contractions at around 35 weeks, so EVERYONE, including myself assumed she was going to come early. Therefore, at any point before the due date that I started have a twinge of what I thought might be impending labor, I began to get very excited. I would start timing contractions to see if there were any regularity to them, and began really nesting (ie: cleaning incessantly) in my house so I wouldn't have to come back to a huge mess after being in the hospital. Of course, nothing would ever result of these early labor contractions, they would fizzle and I would become a bit disheartened. It became very tempting to try all of those "natural" induction methods you read about and your mommy friends tell you about to get the baby out.

So, again, on the 19th, after having been up 3 nights in a row timing some fairly uncomfortable and somewhat regular contractions, only to wake up in the morning pain free with NO contractions, I was at my wits end. I walked my neighborhood a few times, and we went grocery shopping later that day, where I power walked the aisles. Again, the evening of the 19th, I began contracting, but I was trying very hard not to get my hopes up, as I knew these would likely fizzle out too. But, I hopped on Facebook and chatted with a friend into the wee hours of the morning as we sort of timed them together. Around 4 AM they were anywhere between 4-7 min apart, but were progressively getting stronger and longer. So, I decided I would hop in the bath tub and soak for a little bit...warm water will make them go away if they were not the real deal. I hopped into the tub and had 3 contractions, one on top of the other. So, I called my OB's nurseline and they instructed me to head to Labor and Delivery.

Waking Brett up proved to be more difficult than I had envisioned. He looked at me like I was crazy, like I maybe was believing the contractions into existence, just because he knew how badly I wanted to just have this baby. He slowly got up and got dressed, as I rushed around the house packing all of the last minute things you can't pack until it's time, making contingency plans for Bryce and ensuring my mom (who is staying with us), would have a way down to the hospital come morning. We took off and got to the hospital at around 5:30AM.

They took me into their little triage department first. I don't know if that's standard protocol, of if they did that just because I was able to walk in there on my own volition (I was not going to let the niceties such as a wheelchair ride into the hospital take away from the intensity of these contractions!). They hooked me up to the monitors, and confirmed that my contractions were now about 4-6 min apart, but my blood pressure was through the ROOF! They took it several times and though it came down slightly, it was still elevated. They figured I was likely in that phase between pre-labor and active labor, and would have sent me home had it not been for my high BP (I've never been so grateful for a high reading). I was admitted!

They set me up in a room, which apparently was the last and largest room on the floor (it was like staying in a SUITE!), and then my contractions began to fizzle. So, up walking we went. Contractions came back, would get more intense and regular, and then would fizzle out again. So, again, we would walk. We did this until about 12:30 in the afternoon, with no progress in the dilation/effacement arena. At which point, my OB made the call to have my water broken in order to speed the process along. And boy howdy, did it ever. My water was broken at 1PM.

The first hour of contractions were tolerable. Definitely needed to focus and breathe through them, but they were tolerable. Then out of nowhere, I got hit by a freight train. My mental mantra when they hit was "body like jello, body like jello, body like jello" until I was taken by surprise by the crazy wave of pain and inner wringing out that my body went through. Mom and Brett were quietly watching a movie as I was breathing through them when I began to moan, and breathe heavy. They looked at me, wondering what I needed of them (I had apparently been doing fine on my own and was trying to be Miss Independent prior to this). I grabbed Brett's hand and tried breaking his fingers off. When that didn't work, I said very loudly and insistently "EPIDURAL TIME, EPIDURAL TIME, EPIDURAL TIME" over and over again until the contraction finally eased up on me. Next thing I knew the anesthesiologist was there giving me sweet relief. This epidural's entrance was more painful than I remember it being the first time around, but as they say, it was well worth it to be able to enjoy my labor after that point. I made it a bit longer without pain meds than I did with Bryce, so I patted myself on the back and looked forward.

I was able to labor sitting up, and my epidural was perfect. I could feel pressure, but no pain, and I could still move my legs around. At some point, they had my lay on my left side, in order to help speed up the dilation process, I was almost 10 cm and they were looking for a little quicker way to get me there. Well, that did it. All of a sudden, I had this fear that my epidural had worn off, because I could feel a ton of pressure and though it didn't hurt per se, it was uncomfortable. I had Brett go get the nurse, and sure enough what I was feeling was the urge to push because I was at a 10!!!

The nurses then switched shifts and I had to wait for the new nurses to set up shop and get the resident doctor and my OB in the room. They had me do a couple "practice" pushes, just so I would know what it was I needed to do, and then they immediately stopped me, because she was COMING! The resident donned her mask and gown quickly and the OB finally came running into the room. 3 more good pushes and Abbie Kathleen made her grand entrance into the world. She was wriggling and crying loudly, very unimpressed with the bright lights and cold, but she was perfectly healthy and beautiful. :)

She eats like a champ, and despite a bit of jaundice that required some in-home bililights and a nurse stopping by daily for the first couple of days, all is well. Abbie is a very good-natured baby, actually sleeps at night in between feedings and likes to be cuddled up with anyone who will hold her (rest assured, she's rarely put down between all of us)!

1 week to go...

I am officially 39 weeks today...one week away from my due date. Did you know that only about 5% of births actually occur on the due date? That's why they give you a 2 week window around your due date and call that "full term." For first time moms, they say about 40% of births happen after the due date. I can't seen to find statistics for second-time moms...

My body is making some progress toward going into labor...it's comforting to know this process already so that each symptom isn't freaking me out, however that's a double-sided coin. I also get very frustrated that the contractions I feel aren't leading anywhere. I also don't have an "end point." (beyond the fact that I won't be pregnant forever and she is likely to come within the next two week). You see, with Bryce, I was induced, so once it was decided that I need to be induced, there was an immediate light at the end of the tunnel...within 24 hours, I was holding him in my arms. Not so this time around. I over analyze EVERYTHING, so it probably has to come as no shock to any of you who know me that every agonizing day I'm pretty much hyper focused on the goings-on within my body.

Abbie is still quite the mover, even though she's officially run out of room. She has dropped, her head is engaged, and my pre-labor (false labor, I was told) has progressed me enough that, it LITERALLY could happen at anytime. I'm 1 cm away from being in "active" labor.

And even though I thought I was against it, all of these "natural" inducers are starting to look VERY appealing. :)

The Insanity Must Stop!

So, for fun this time around, I joined up with the August 2009 Birth Club chat boards through babycenter.com. It was a great way to meet up with other moms who were due around my due date, trade stories, share concerns and help each other through these 9, arduous, long months.

However, as we all creep toward our due dates, the postings have gotten OUT.OF.CONTROL. I've noticed 2 distinct types of posts lately:

1) My baby is here! Here is the story!
- for the record, I have yet to read one story to date where a c section or induction was not involved. I was induced the first time around with Bryce. I'm starting to wonder if our bodies have forgotten how to birth babies and we now need medical interventions to get these children out of us!

2) I'm DONE being pregnant, please tell me every symptom I have means I'm in labor, or what old wives tale/witch doctor potion will induce labor on its own.
- though I've tried my best, I became victim to the "it's a full moon tonight and the gravitational pull will make your water break" post. I was so hoping. Alas, here I am still pregnant. If I see one more post about someone taking castor oil 3 WEEKS before they're due and then wondering why all they did was sit on and/or hug the toilet all night long, I might just throw up myself.

Do not get me wrong, I have seriously pondered trying some of these "natural" induction methods, and did go for a walk with my mom around the store yesterday, hoping gravity would just help me out a bit. It's very tempting to help move things along if you can, especially when you're this uncomfortable and the weather has been crazy hot. HOWEVER, there's something magical, dare I say romantic, about letting nature take its course. Waking up in the middle of the night to twinges of pain, waking up your husband and making him time them...heading to the hospital to waddle around the halls in an oh-so-flattering gown (that doesn't close all the way in the back)....ripping his fingernails out one by one once the pain gets so intense that you want to marry the anesthesiologist...and then the grande finale...enter stage left, baby Abbie.

So, as much as I'd like to walk 10 miles, have uber-alone time with my hubby, eat spicy food with fresh pineapple on the side, bounce on a trampoline, etc, I know she will come when she is ready.

And if she's late, I can always ask the OB for an induction. :) Here's hoping my body remembers how to push a baby out of it!