Progress

Pin It Now! Oh the ups and downs of having a new baby!  I mentioned that Parker would only nap when we were holding her, well I didn't give up and we have finally gotten her to take a couple naps in her swing, still no luck in her crib or co-sleeper.  Over the weekend it just started happening.  It's still not every nap but I will take what I can get.  On Saturday she took 2 naps in her swing, Sunday 1, Monday 1, Tuesday and Wednesday none, and today 2.  Each one lasts about an hour and a half to 3 hours.  So at least now we know she can do it!  Yay!  It's been so nice, too, cause it's given me some time to spend with Avery.  LOVE that!  We've played games, read books, and done some art projects.  A couple of times it's even happened when Avery was napping so I had some time to myself, HEAVEN!!!  I'm not going to count on it happening all the time but any little break I can get is nice!


On top of that, she's stretched out her night time sleep to about 3 hours at a time and is only getting up twice a night.  Yay, LOVE that, too!  Plus I've been pumping and Eric has been taking some of the nighttime feedings.  I don't get enough to do it every night but he takes one feeding for 2 nights and then takes 1 night off.  So, I'm definitely getting more nighttime sleep.  Ahhh, sleep!!!

What a Difference

Pin It Now! When Avery was born I decided to take a monthly photograph of her in the same chair with the same stuffed animal next to her to show her growth.  I started doing the same thing with Parker (even using the same chair and stuffed animal as with Avery).  It's fun to see the difference between the 2 girls, and boy is there a difference!

Avery- 1 month

Parker- 1 month

Up until 1 month old Avery was not doing a great job at nursing.  She was gaining weight but not very much.  At 5 weeks old we discovered she was tongue tied.  Once we had her tongue clipped everything changed and she started gaining a ton of weight.  Parker was tongue tied also but it was much milder and didn't effect her weight gain.  Also, Avery was 6 lbs 5 oz when she was born and Parker was 8 lbs 13 oz.

Avery- 2 months

Parker- 2 months

I can't wait to see how the rest of the pictures compare!

Parker's Birth Story

Pin It Now! It was kind of a whirlwind so I will do my best to retell how Parker was born.  My doctor had been out of town the week that I was suppose to have my week 38 appointment so it got pushed back until August 8 (I would have been 39 weeks on August 10).  Due to my history of gestational hypertension and MTHFR we were doing another ultrasound to check on growth and fluid.  She was measuring big, about 8 and a half pounds (especially since Avery was 6 lbs. 5 oz when she was born at week 38), and my fluid was a little high.  I didn't really think anything about it and headed to my appointment.  While I was in the waiting room, I noticed that my contractions (that I had been having for a couple weeks) were getting a little stronger and seemed to be a little more consistent.  


I finally got called back and they weighed me and took my blood pressure.  This is where it all started going kind of crazy.  My blood pressure was 150 over 100.  I had been taking it about twice a week and it had been holding pretty steady about 130 over in the 80s.  My blood pressure is not that high outside of pregnancy but it always seems to go up toward the end but it was still within the "safe" range that my doctor and I had talked about.  So, I was a little surprise to hear it had jumped up that high over the weekend.  


They took me to a room and immediately my doctor's nurse came in and took it 2 more times just to be sure that it was an accurate first reading.  Yep, she got the same thing.  Right away I knew this was not good.  I asked the nurse what this meant and she said she figured I was on my way over to L and D to be monitored.  So in the very short time it took my doctor to come to my exam room (way shorter than it normally takes her), I called Eric and my mom (who was watching Avery for me) to give them a heads up.  


Once my doctor got to the room, she did a quick exam and asked me a couple questions.  Then she confirmed her nurse's prediction and told me I needed to go to go to L and D.  She saw a couple of possible outcomes: my blood pressure goes down and I get to go home the next day but have to be on bed rest until the baby arrives or we have a baby later that night (she didn't think it would be before 8 since I had eaten lunch shortly before going to my appointment and if we had to get her out that night it would have to be a c-section).  


So, I headed off to L and D and gave Eric and my mom another call on the way to let them know.  Later, Eric and my mom both told me that through all of my conversations with them I was way too calm, just very matter-of-fact about it and didn't appear to be worried about it at all.  To tell the truth, I wasn't worried, I was surprisingly ok about it all.  I figured what ever happened happened and she would get here one way or another.  But I really didn't think she would be here that night, I even told Eric that he didn't need to drop everything and rush to the hospital, he could just head over once he got off work at 4:30 (which of course he didn't listen to me on and showed up not long afterwards).  


When I got to L and D, they hooked me up to the BP machine and contraction monitor and drew some blood for a couple of tests.  At this point I kind of lost track of time, I was busy texting 3 friends whom we were suppose to have ice cream with that night, a friend in my mom group whom I was asking to host a play-date the next day that I had organized, and keeping an eye on my BP and contractions.  My BP continued to rise (got up to 165 over 110) and my contractions got stronger and stronger and were consistently 2 minutes apart the whole time.  


Shortly after office hours were over my doctor came by to check on me.  She gave me a quick exam and went on to tell me that she thought it was best to get the baby out now, she just had to check with the anesthesiologist and be sure we were ok time wise with the whole eating lunch thing.  Here were her reasons for getting her out so quickly...high blood pressure and she was worried I could have a stroke (especially since it kept getting higher and higher), blood tests came back and showed signs of pre-eclampsia, possibility of gestational diabetes (high sugar levels, raised fluid, and size of the baby), contractions were so strong and close together but I was making no progress at all, the baby hadn't dropped far enough to be able to give birth vaginally yet, and since I had a previous c-section induction meds were not possible.  All in all, we needed to get her out before something bad happened to either of us (more likely it would have been me).


We quickly got the ok from the anesthesiologist and the next thing I knew I was being prepped and taken to the L and D OR.  And then Parker was here!  

I have to say, even though it was kind of a whirlwind and it's no fun having a c-section, I actually preferred it being an emergency (minus the scary "will everyone be ok?" thing) rather than a scheduled one like with Avery.  Since it was all so fast I didn't have as much time to think about it, dwell on it, and worry about it.  Before I knew it it was over and everyone was safe and sound!

Life With 2 Girls

Pin It Now! I'm not even sure where to begin or what exactly to write about since it's been so long and so much has been going on.  Adjusting to life with 2 kids is definitely not easy.  A while back I ran into an old friend at the grocery store.  She knew I was pregnant and she had recently had her second child.  She told me that before she had the second child, friends had told her how easy it was.  However, she said, anyone who tells you it's easy is lying or has just blocked out the memory of how hard it is.  She said there had been times when all 3 of them were sitting there crying.  Well, I have to say, she was completely right! Having a 2nd child is so hard!  And just like her, we've had our moments of all 3 of us crying!  Don't get me wrong, I love my girls more than anything but it has it's challenging moments, very challenging moments.  

It probably doesn't help that the new baby (we'll call her Parker- that was one of my favorite name that did not actually get picked) is not the best sleeper, just like her big sister.  She wants to be held constantly when she sleeps, and when I have to keep up with a 2 year old (yep, Avery had her second birthday, yay!!!) it can be a little tough.  We have tried everything, swaddling, carseat, bouncer, swing, crib, co-sleeper, pacifiers, white noise, slings and carriers, anything and everything I've heard of or read, we have tried.  Some work better than others, like the carrier works well (most of the time) if we are out doing stuff and moving but not so well when Avery wants me to sit and play with her.  

I am co-sleeping with her at night and until she went through her 6 week growth spurt that was going well.  Most nights she would only get up once or twice.  However, during her growth spurt she started getting up every two hours to feed (so after the 30 minute feeding and the 15 minutes or so it takes me to fall asleep, I usually get about an hour and 15 minutes of sleep at a time) and it hasn't stopped since then and I'm pretty sure growth spurts don't last 2 weeks.  ; )

As I said, Avery was not the best of sleepers when she was an infant but at least with her it was just the two of us so I could sleep when she slept, there wasn't a whole lot of cleaning to do, and everything just revolved around her schedule.  But this time around it's completely different.  I can't sleep when Parker sleeps cause I'm having to entertain (or at the very least keep and eye on) Avery.  When I do finally have a break cause both girls are sleeping, I have to try to clean the house (while holding Avery usually) since I have a 2 year old who makes it look like a tornado went through the play area everyday.  And I still have to maintain Avery's routine since she has to go to school at a certain time, eat lunch, go to nap, have dinner, take a bath, etc.  It's not like I can just have dinner when I get the chance like we did with Avery.  

I could totally deal with everything, if only she would let me put her down to sleep every once in a while.  But I have no idea how to help her learn how to do that at this age.  I keep trying but it just doesn't seem to work, if anything it's getting worse.  She's starting to be picker about her sleep: noises are starting to wake her up, light is starting to bother her, etc.  I just feel at a loss for what to do while still being able to take care of both of my children. 

Ok, enough of the pity party, on to happier things!

Avery has had so many exciting things happen lately.  First, she started preschool!  She is in a wonderful toddler program at a school I absolutely love!  It's a French immersion school that, although not an official Montessori school, incorporates Montessori works into their classrooms.  She only goes 2 mornings a week from 9 to noon but it's nice to have some one-on-one time with Parker and to have a chance to run some errand with only 1 child.  The first week was a little tough.  She would cry when I left, but not for too long according to her teacher.  But she also didn't want to leave when I came to pick her up, which I thought was a good sign.  The past 2 weeks though have been completely different, she can't wait to go to school and gives me a quick kiss good bye and runs off to play with her friends.  On days she doesn't go to school she asks to go see her teacher and friends.  Plus she's already speaking some French, she can count to 3 and says hello, good bye, thank you, and please.  So, I couldn't be happier with how that is going!

We also had Avery's second birthday!  We had so much fun and the birthday celebrations lasted for about 5 days.  One day/night for each of the following: my parents, our little family, Eric's family, the party with friends, and my sister and BIL.  It was a little crazy around here and the poor child didn't understand why she suddenly didn't get cake and ice cream everyday once it was all over!  : )  She got some really great presents; a doll house, a bike, a Little Tikes Cozy Truck, a cash register, a doctor kit, a fruit cutting set, a Mr. Potato Head, a phonics magnet set, and some dress-up clothes.  And that was all just from family, we actually asked her friends not to bring gifts but to do a donation to the Ronald McDonald House if they wanted (which I loved and think we will try to do every year).  

Parker is such an amazing and sweet little girl.  I can't believe how much she has already changed since she was born.  She is now so alert and curious when she is awake.  She is getting so strong, does a great job at holding her head up and loves to "stand up."  Besides not wanting to be put down to sleep, she rarely cries and is completely happy to be put down when she is awake, she loves to just watch what is going on around her.  Her smile and laugh make my heart melt!  

Taken at 1 month old

I know I was whining and complaining about the whole sleep thing, but I have to admit, I am a pretty lucky mom, it could be so much worse.  She's a happy, healthy baby and I know it will get better!  However, it is nice to get some of this off my chest, just being able to vent makes me feel better.