Life with 2

In just a few more days Dan will officially be 2 years old! I can't believe how quickly these last two years have gone. Quite a lot has happened since he made his arrival. Besides all his milestones, we have lost family members (Great-grandpa Wester and (first) cousin (twice removed) Tom McClintick), and probably the biggest change is the arrival of Anthony!

Photo by McManigal Photography

Anthony made his debut on June 12th, 2015 - exactly 21 months after Dan arrived. He was 5 days "over due" when he arrived. Here's his birth story:

I was due on Sunday, June 7th. As subsequent births tend to end earlier I was expecting to go into labor before then. Alas, the 7th came and went and no baby. My next appointment with my midwife was on the 11th. We discussed options to help encourage labor to start as we didn't want me to go too far over due. Baby isn't getting any smaller and with Dan being born at 8lb 2oz, we expected at least another 8+ lb baby. I ended up agreeing to a "stretch and sweep" which is where you gently release (sweep) the membranes from the uterine lining and gently stretch the cervix a little bit wider. At 40+4 I was already 4cm dilated. She was able to stretch me to about 5cm. I left with the knowledge that it could still take a few days for things to get moving so I wasn't expecting much.

That evening I started feeling contractions. This wasn't anything new as I had been feeling Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks already. I took notice and tried not to think much about it. It didn't take long to realize that this may be the start of labor. Jason had a football meeting so it was up to me to get Dan to bed. Let me tell you, trying to read bedtime stories while contracting is NOT easy!

By 11 or so that night I let my midwife know that this was the real deal and I was needing to concentrate a bit more during contractions. She arrived around midnight and checked to see how I was progressing. I had hoped to have another water birth, but unfortunately with being a second pregnancy and how far along I already was, there wasn't time to get the tub set up for me. I ended up laboring for a little more than 4 hours in my own tub. Again, unfortunately, I wasn't able to get into the position I needed to in order to push comfortably. Off to the bedroom we went. It was already set up with plastic under the sheets and chux pads on top of the sheets. After a few minutes, we checked to see where I was and I gave the go ahead to brake my membranes. I had been pushing through some of the contractions already and we wanted to make sure that I was dilated far enough so I wouldn't hinder my progress. Turns out I was far enough along and good to go for breaking my membranes.

Warning - a bit of TMI in this next paragraph. Skip it if you wish.

So you hear about how your water breaks and you get that big gush. Well, gush I did! I had to lay on my back for my midwife to break my membrane. Lots of water came out with the initial break. She then ran her fingers around my cervix in which even more water "escaped." Then a contraction came. I HATE LABORING ON LAND AND ON MY BACK!!! As soon as that contraction was done I was back on my hands and knees in a "child's pose" like you see in yoga. On my way over, even MORE water came out. This time I "leaked" on Jason. I later learned that he almost puked from that. I can't blame him. That's probably one of the last things you want to leak on you. Anyway, over the next 8 minutes, if I wasn't pushing my body was. Anthony made a splash into the world, coming out with EVEN MORE water!




OK - you're safe to continue reading now :) 

As soon as he was out, I took a deep breath and turned back over and took him into my arms and onto my chest. After a 10 hour labor, 4 hours of active labor, 8 minutes of real pushing, he was here. He needed some extra help getting all that fluid out of his lungs. He was breathing fine, but was very gurgly. They took 8mL of fluid out of his lungs through suctioning, knocked some loose through inverted palpitations, and further loosened some using a respirator mask and 5 artificial breaths. They also massaged his placenta which helped keep blood moving through his body keeping his oxygen levels up. I also noticed a broken blood vessel on his left eye just outside of his iris. This was from how quickly he came through the birth canal. There was no time for his head to mold, which would have prevented the bruise. After a few weeks he was all healed.

After making sure Anthony was taken care of, breathing fine and had his first nursing session we took all his stats. He weighed in at 8lb 2oz and was 20.5 inches long. In comparison, Dan was 8lb 2oz as well and was 20.75in long.

Welcome to our family!

 Dan has been fantastic adjusting as a big brother. The first few weeks he was so excited to help out. He would get diapers and wipes, look for a blanket if we asked for one, just being overall a big help. (as big a help that a toddler can be anyway :) ) Recently, Dan has been taking stuffed animals and treating them like his own "babies." It is so stinkin' adorable! It makes my whole being smile seeing him hold his "babies" close, wrapping them in blankets to keep them warm, gently laying them down on the couch or baby seat... He will even gently lay his hand on Anthony's head when he's crying. It really makes my heart melt. I can only hope that this lasts as they grow up and that there will be minimal fights between the two.

Jason was able to get two full months off for paternity leave, giving me lots of time to recover and adjust to having two boys. The first few weeks I took advantage of Jason's help and had him take care of Dan most of the time. By 6 weeks, I was ready and feeling confident to handle both on my own. Football season had already started so there had been some evenings where it was just me and the boys.

So while there are times throughout the day where Dan gets frustrated that I can't help him RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, it's been great being home with both of the boys full time. Some days I just need to laugh at the chaos. There has been times where I'm trying to get Dan down for a nap and Anthony is fussing. Then as soon as Anthony settles down, Dan starts fussing. Then it goes back and forth for a few more minutes before both of them are now sleeping. There are times where I wish I was a better parent, but I think all parents have moments like that. I won't even begin to comment on keeping the house clean. As long as things are relatively orderly, the dishes get done every few days, there are plenty of clean clothes, and everyone still has all their hair/limbs/various body parts and are happy at the end of the day, I say the day was successful.

As of now, Anthony is outpacing Dan for growth. At two months, Anthony is already almost 2 full pounds heavier than Dan was at the same age. He is just as long, but we'll see how that progresses. It does seem like I have two linemen in the making!

Newborn

1 Month

2 Months

 As you can see we are using the moose again for the monthly pictures. I think it will be fun to have all the kids pictures done in a collage and set side by side to see how they are similar and different as they grow up.

 At this point, I'm about a week out of starting to teach yoga again. I'm so excited to get back on the mat! Not only am I returning to the Wednesday night class, I'm also teaching a postnatal mama/baby class every other week on Saturday mornings, teaching a core functional fitness class Sunday evenings, and starting a 12-week meditation/mindfulness series also on Sunday evenings! If you happen to be in the area, please come to my class! I would love to have you and show you how amazing yoga can be!

So we'll call it a night for now. I'll leave you with our new family picture. Love from all of us <3

It's Almost Time!

36 weeks!
#1 on the left vs. #2 on the right

A week ago Sunday marked 36 weeks in this pregnancy. This past Sunday marked the start of my "birthing window," or the 5 week window where normal-term babies are usually delivered. When you hear about pregnant women, you always ask "when are you due?" They usually oblige and tell you a specific date. For me, that date is June 7th. What mother nature tells you is different. The "average" length of a standard pregnancy is 280 days. However, 280 days is just the average. What the actual length of a pregnancy is depends on the woman, her family history, the health of the pregnancy, the number of children she's carrying, and even if this is her first pregnancy.

Most first time mothers who go into labor spontaneously go just over 41 weeks gestation. That means no external interventions such as membrane sweeping, induction, breaking the waters, etc. With my pregnancy with Dan, I was certain that I would go to 42 weeks as I have a strong family history of "late" babies. My Mother was induced 2 weeks past my due date (which I'm happy about, otherwise my birthday would coincide with tax day). My sister was also induced 10 days past her due date as the doctors were concerned about how big she was getting. Funny enough, I was 8lb 1oz and my sister was 8lb 14oz (I think I'm correct on the ounces with my sister). Anyway, we were both very normal sized babies at our birth. Today, the average weight of a newborn is 7.5 pounds or 7lb 8oz. The range is between 5lb 8oz and 10lb. With more and more women being induced no later than 41 weeks, I can only imagine that this average weight is a bit skewed toward being lower than what the average newborn weight was before we had all these medical inventions and interventions being used in the maternal healthcare setting.

Don't get me wrong. I am so grateful for how advanced our maternal care setting has become. I find it rather unfortunate that many of today's doctors end up relying on the technology instead of actually listening to the mother and child and work WITH mother nature instead of pushing mother nature along faster than what is intended in some cases. I am a strong advocate for evidence-based practices not only in medicine, but especially maternal care. Upwards of 80-90% of maternal healthcare practices are NOT evidence-based. We are doing our mothers a very sad disservice all for policy, whether that policy is coming from the hospital or from the insurance companies.

This last statistic is my motivating factor to plan home births for myself. Under the careful eye of an experienced midwife, home births are just as safe if not safer than a hospital birth for normal, healthy pregnancies. I've been told many times how "brave" I am for having home births. I could say the same to those who plan hospital births. The thing is, there is risk in everything we do in life. It is up to each individual to determine their own perception of each risk, research and discuss those risks with their spouse and care provider, and determine what course of action they wish to take; what risk to take and which risk to acknowledge and pass over.

So, with all that in mind, back to how I've been doing with this pregnancy. We had our home visit yesterday with our midwife. She checked to make sure we have all the supplies that we need and checked on my health and the health of baby. We did the standard pee test plus we tested for GBS, or Group Beta Strep. If that test comes back positive, then there is a protocol that we use to eliminate GBS prior to delivery. If that test comes back negative, well, no worries! GBS can cause some issues in newborns who are not properly treated in confirmed GBS positive mothers.

Baby's heart rate was strong at around 120pbm. We didn't get the fundal height as our midwife misplaced her tape measure. Baby's head is still sitting snugly in my pelvis. Unfortunately he's a bit more posterior than anterior which I hope doesn't cause back labor when labor does begin. My blood pressure is still stellar. I believe it was around 110/68. Somewhere around there. When I was pregnant with Dan, my blood pressure was inching towards pre-eclamptic. It never officially got there, thankfully. Still retaining just a small amount of fluid, but again, nothing like when I was pregnant with Dan.

At this point, baby can come any day. Dan ended up being born one day before his estimated due date. Typically, subsequent pregnancies end up with labor beginning earlier than the previous pregnancy. I have a feeling that will hold true for this pregnancy. The question now is, will baby be born at the end of May or the beginning of June? He may really throw me for a loop and come after his due date! I doubt that it will happen that way, but you never know. What I do know is that I can't wait to get into the birthing tub again!

I hope everyone is doing well. Both Dan and Jason are well, as are the dogs. Looking forward to meeting our new little one. Hopefully it doesn't take long for the new chaos of being a family of four starts to become routine.

Take care!

32 Weeks

Last Sunday marked 32 weeks of this pregnancy. My how time has flown! In less than a month we have our home visit with our midwife, and soon we'll be in the "normal birthing window" - weeks 37-42. Both baby and Mom are still looking and sounding healthy. Baby is head down, on the left side, but not quite anterior (baby's spine closer to the belly vs. the spine). You want baby to be in the LOA position (Left side of the body, Occipital Anterior) for the easiest labor and delivery.

Baby #1 (Left) vs. Baby #2 (Right)

As you can see, I got my hair cut! Seventeen inches is being donated to Children With Hair Loss. I had been wanting to cut my hair for a while. It was just way too long and getting in the way. I must say, this is probably the first shorter hair cut that I've had where I DIDN'T want long hair within a week of the cut. It has just enough sass and pzazz for me to fully enjoy the shorter length.

I have noticed recently that I've been getting crankier and more easily agitated lately. Reflecting on that I realized that I have had no bodily autonomy since December 2012, when we conceived Dan. Almost 2.5 years of being pregnant and/or nursing - part of that simultaneously! No wonder why I'm itching to get away and do something with just ME and FOR me. Not sure what I plan to do yet. I was thinking of catching a movie, but nothing looks interesting enough for the price (or I haven't seen the first movie of the series). So we'll see what I end up doing to do a little pampering for myself. Maybe just having a day to deep clean something in the house will be a good start. Bonus with that idea is that something gets cleaned in the house! That is something that doesn't happen too often with a husband, two dogs, and a toddler who is very "helpful" around the house.

Other than that, we are planning out our raised garden in our back yard. Right now this is one of the ideas we're working in. We definitely need fencing around the outside as there is at least one rabbit in the neighborhood. I also need to get some 5-gallon buckets for the tomato plants that I have going. I plan on painting those with spray paint so they don't look like 5-gallon buckets. I might do something fun with the paint. I have some spray paint already so I'm thinking paint them all black then take the silver and do an ombre effect with the solid sliver on the bottom and lighter on top. Could be fun.

Still waiting on Dan to pick up some adult words. Sometimes it sounds like he's trying, but it's not consistent. "Blueberry" is one word that he seems to try. I only say that because his most common sound is "da." Anything outside of that I'm thrilled with! I know that boys tend to develop language a bit later than girls on average, but my patience is starting to wear down and my worries are starting to mount. At least he does understand adult words, so really it's just a matter of time before he starts using them himself. I'm sure that as soon as he does start talking it will soon be constant (and I'm sure it will be defiant at times - can't wait until the "no" stage :/ ) and I'll be kicking myself for wondering why I wanted him to talk in the first place!

So I'll end with a few pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy and take care :)

Easter 2015

All set for a family funeral.

Hanging out with Mom's cousins
(yes, these are my aunt's sons which makes them Dan's 1st cousins once removed)

Too funny not to post :)

My aunt Sara, my Mom, my Grandma, and me all wearing clothes my sister either got rid of from her own closet or gave as a gift. This was NOT planned!

18 Months and 28 Weeks

So since my last post, Dan has reached his 18 month "birthday" and I have come to 28 weeks gestation. About a week before Dan's 18 month appointment we got a letter from the doctor's office that had us go through a slew of milestones that Dan should be hitting at this time. The first page was all verbal. The choices for each point were "always," "sometimes," and "never." With most of the verbal points, Dan was more in the "sometimes" and "never" categories. He has always been so focused on his physical development that the verbal just hasn't been a major focus for him. This was very evident when continuing through the document as it hit on the various physical milestones that he should be doing or starting to do. At this point we aren't too concerned that he doesn't have any true words as he is communicating what he needs via sign language, pointing, and other gestures. He does understand what we're saying as evidenced by asking him to point things out, asking simple commands, etc.  and he is able to point out the objects we mention, follows commands, and what not. However, if he hasn't started adding words by the time baby comes we need to start thinking about getting him evaluated to see if there isn't anything that is preventing him from physically forming words.

So, for stats: Dan now weighs in at 27 pounds and 9.2 ounces, putting him in the 87th percentile for weight. Definitely won't be blowing away in any summer storms! He is 2 feet 8 inches tall, putting him in the 23rd percentile for height. Jason wants to stretch Dan out so he ends up taller than both of us, but we'll see how he ends up growing. He's a strong, solid kid that's for sure! Just the strong and silent type :)

As for me, I'm now 30 weeks gestation at this time, but as I only take belly pics every 4 weeks, I'm including my 28 week picture. You can really see the difference in how I'm carrying this baby vs. Dan. A lot of it I'm contributing it to all the yoga that I've been doing since Dan was born. Not only have I continued teaching, but I have also done additional training focusing on core work and now prenatal yoga teacher training as well.

Baby #1 left vs. Baby #2 right

On top of the additional yoga work, I also haven't gained as much weight at this time compared with Dan, and I overall have a better heath regimen using more simple, non-toxic products not only for health and beauty but also for around the home, and being more conscious about what I'm eating - less processed foods, more organic when I can, etc. Baby is still moving around a ton and as of my last appointment is in the LOA position - left occipital anterior - which is the ideal position for an easy delivery. Here's to hoping he stays there until delivery! Jason and I have a name we like, but haven't officially settled on it. More than likely the name we have will end up being the baby's name in the end. Just like Dan's name, this one is also a strong and more traditional name.

And yes, my hair is ridiculously long. I have an appointment in a little more than a week to get it cut. Not sure exactly what I'm looking for, but it will be significantly shorter and more manageable!

In other news, Jason and I took a trip out to San Diego and Los Angeles at the beginning of the month. Once I finally get through the 1000+ pictures we took I'll write a post on that.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the spring weather that's been creeping in! Take care :)

And Baby #2 is...

...a boy! Dan has a little brother on his way. I will admit that a part of me is sad that we're having another boy. I love all the little girl clothes that you can buy! On the other hand, I'm not sure about those teenage years. SO much drama can happen, and even more so with girls. So unless we have more children, I will continue to be outnumbered in the house. Even both our dogs are boys! Good thing I like getting dirty, checking out dead animals, and overall exploration.

Being that we didn't make it down to see Jason's family over the holidays, we decided to head down to have the reveal with them. The last time we saw them was over the 4th of July. At that time Dan was only crawling around. Now, he's walking and running! Needless to say, the family was gushing over him.

We headed down on Saturday after my prenatal yoga class that I'm teaching (if you haven't done prenatal yoga before I highly recommend it!). It worked out great that it was during Dan's normal nap time. That made the 3hr trip pretty smooth sailing as Dan slept most of the way. Jason's aunt was kind enough to let us stay at her place again. His uncle and his wife were already there when we arrived. After some socializing and leg stretching we headed out for supper at a local Mexican restaurant. Always a safe bet for our family. I LOVE food with a kick! That love has been inherited by Dan. He will sit there and eat salsa straight out of the bowl! We found that out a few weeks ago when we stopped at a local (to us) Mexican restaurant and he insisted on having salsa on his chips. I would have thought he wouldn't like it as salsa is a pretty strong flavor. I was wrong. He kept on asking for more!

Mmmm...salsa!

The next day we went and visited Jason's Grandpa. He unfortunately is now living in a nursing home due to his dementia. Back in July, he recognized Jason. He didn't recognize me or Dan, but that's to be expected as I haven't been in the family very long and don't live close enough to see them on a regular basis. This trip Grandpa didn't recognize Jason. It was pretty sad and reminded me of when Jason's Mom had her last stroke before she passed. His Grandpa wants to go home, understandably, but doesn't understand that he can't. According to Jason's aunt, he even asked where John was. John is Jason's father who passed away 5 years ago. (If you're keeping track, that's 2 deceased parents. Over the 10 years we've been together, we've lost 3 parents and 2 grandparents. Dan has 1 living grandparent and 4 living great-grandparents.) Dementia is a terrible disease. It steals your family away while they are still living.

Jason, Grandpa, Dan, and me.

We left the home at lunch time. After a quick stop at KFC we went to visit with Jason's Grandma. She was thrilled to see Dan. She now calls him "Prince Daniel" as she thinks he looks like Prince George from across the pond. Too bad he doesn't come with the family money like Prince George does ;) Once lunch was over we cut into the cake. Only Jason's cousin thought we were having a boy. Everyone else thought girl. The lady who made our cake for Dan's gender reveal made this cake as well. It was just as delicious and just as adorable. We still have some left - stop on by and have a slice!

Jason, Grandma, Dan, and me.

Family picture before the cake was cut.

Blue for boy!

Dan's gender reveal cake. Our friend is so talented!

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With Austin and Janelle.

We left soon after the cake was cut. Dan was getting crabby as nap time was upon him. I ended up driving most of the way home. Both Dan and Jason (and probably the dogs as well) all slept while I drove. Thank goodness it was only a 3 hour drive. I've done a 5.5 hour drive by myself before, but it is much easier to spend that time on the road talking to someone than channel surfing on the radio.

Not much to report on this last week. Baby boy is sitting breech so most of the kicks are on my bladder. Thank goodness I know how to work my pelvic floor muscles! One new development is pregnancy-induced insomnia. Not fun! There are a few things that I'm going to try to help counter the insomnia and I'll let you know how that works out. Next belly picture is in a few days so I'll post that when that's done. Maybe I'll have an update on this insomnia "fun." Fingers crossed!

Take care and stay warm!

Baby Pictures

The picture above is how we announced on Facebook that Dan was going to be a big brother. He normally loves reading books, but when we took this picture it was later at night and he was getting ready for bed. The look on his face was perfect though! (Side note: that is my Dad's - Dan's grandpa's - sweater. I'm pretty sure my Grandma knitted that, but I could easily be wrong on that. She did know how to knit so I have that going for me!)

When we were expecting Dan, we were much better at getting those early weeks documented by taking belly pictures. With this pregnancy, I decided that I wanted to compare the two with one another. We didn't take our first belly picture until a few weeks ago when I was 18 weeks pregnant.

My pregnancy with Dan is on the left and the current pregnancy is on the right. It does seem like I'm carrying a little different. Not sure if it's a baby gender thing (myth of carrying girls high and boys low), me knowing how to use my core muscles more efficiently, or if there's something else at play. I will say that this pregnancy is different than Dan's in regards to aches and pains. With the two pregnancies being so close (and my body knowing how to BE pregnant), the relaxin hormone is in full force already. This is making my hips ache and creating challenges when teaching and practicing yoga. Thankfully I am very in tune with my body and how to properly practice yoga that the hip aches are tolerable.

Just a few days ago we went and got my mid-pregnancy ultrasound to check the fetal anatomy. I'm happy to report that baby looks healthy! Yes, I said baby. We did get the gender information, but it is sealed in an envelope. We do NOT yet know if we are having a boy or a girl. We do plan on finding out with a gender reveal party with family. I have a guess as to whether Dan will have a baby brother or sister, and I have a 50% chance I'm right!

Profile

Feet

Arm

One big difference between the two ultrasounds (the one with Dan and this one) is that we actually got good 3D pictures! With Dan, he was snuggled into my placenta when we tried we only got one good side of his face. When one side looked good, the other was hidden by the placenta. When we moved further down and got past the placenta, the other side then looked like a skeleton. Definitely not cute. It is so neat how technology has advanced so we can not only check to see that everything is developing normally with baby, the umbilical cord, and placenta, but now we can even get 3-dimentional pictures as you would with a normal camera!

I think they're a keeper :)

I really enjoy being pregnant. I enjoyed Dan's pregnancy and I'm enjoying this one, too - achy hips and all! Coming into the second trimester makes it even more fun as baby is getting bigger and you can start feeling them move. With Dan, I felt him move for the first time around 15 weeks. This baby, my first flutter was around 12 weeks! Yes, crazy! At this point I'm feeling movement almost daily, especially when I take a few moments and focus on baby.

Elsewhere with the family, Jason's basketball team came in 2nd place in a tournament last week! This was the first year he was in the winners bracket. I'm so proud of him for coming in 2nd place! He will grumble about it as the kids weren't playing the best they had been, but this is the first time in 6 years that he made it to the winners bracket. That is something to be proud of.

Dan is still doing his thing. I'm really hoping that he'll start getting words out. He's babbling quite a lot, and does know some sign language, but he is getting frustrated that he can't communicate well enough what he wants without me having to guess what he wants. He has been so physical - crawling at 6 months, walking at 10 months - that the language has been a little slow to develop. Nothing to really worry about, just would be nice if it would come in soon so we both can reduce our frustration in our communication!

That's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well! Take care.