Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Pregnancy #2 Update



Well, I officially have one month left before d-day with baby #2 (Aug 19th).  I wanted to post a little update about how it's going, just for my official record keeping. :)

With Harper, I loved being pregnant, despite the myriad of things that went slightly "wrong" during those 9 months.  This time around... I don't hate it, but I haven't basked in my maternal glow quite like I did last time.  There's certainly something special about it the first time.  The second time while chasing a toddler?  Not so much.

The crazy thing is how fast this pregnancy has gone.  I imagine that's true for most people.  I feel like I blinked and now it's almost over.  Certainly, the 22 weeks of crushing nausea felt like eternity, but since that passed, it's sped by and I've found myself feeling like I didn't appreciate it or take it all in like I should.

I'm both nervous and excited to meet this baby.  Yes, I know what to expect so a lot of those newborn jitters aren't there.  Although, I do feel like I've forgotten everything... and with your first, you are immersed in newborn care info - studying schedules and reading articles and all that... so this time I feel grossly underprepared.  I'm hoping it's like riding a bike.

I'm unsurprinsingly anxious about what it's going to be like balancing two.  Harper's accosutomed to a certain lifestyle (ha!) and I'm not sure she's going to take too kindly to having my/dad's time monopolized, especially at first.  Again, I know this is an age-old thing, and millions of moms work it out.  But it's certainly top of mind.  

I really can't wait to see Harper with a sibling, though.  She is so social and loves other kids, so I know that once this baby is more than a blob to her, she will love her and they will be best friends (fingers crossed).  She loves BABIES and shushing them and patting them "niiiiice," so I'm hoping that's a good sign.  I'm also certain she's going to squash this baby when I'm not looking.  She's not so much gentle, despite all her "niiiiice" talk.  Send bubble wrap.



Overall, this pregnancy has been much like my first, minus the whole flying by thing.  Although, one major difference, luckily, is that with this one, once the nausea passed, it was pretty much gone.  Last time, I had little bits hanging on til the bitter end, so much so that I was afraid I would have certain aversions for life.  I've also felt a lot better physically this time.  Certainly it's the fact that I'm more active (by necessity) and have gained a lot less weight (see diabetes update below- blah!).  This summer hasn't seemed as hot either, which is nice.  Yet I feel like my belly itself is just as humongous as it was the first time.  My girls like to stick out, apparently.

 34 week comparison - Harper (left); Baby 2 (right).  Also note the considerable decline in effort made to a) look presentable in these photos    b) add text    c) photoshop my teeth whiter
Another major difference has been with how my babies have moved around... which I'm wondering if is indicative of personality.  Harper punched and kicked me - hard! - from the beginning.  She was all about the jabs.  This girl hardly ever kicks like that.  Instead, she moves all around.  Her movements are slow, but she will drag arms and legs across my belly and was doing all kinds of rolls before she got too big to do so.  She seems to be sitting right at the surface of my belly, and I can feel arms and legs and either hands or elbows or something very small like that when she's moving.  Sometimes it really hurts against my skin she's pressing so hard.  But it's all very smooth and flowy.  Maybe she will be a little less of a firecracker than Harper?  Don't get me wrong - I love my little maniac - but with 2, a nice, relaxed kiddo would be nice.

So, the Gestational Diabetes.  Ugh.  I'm on week 6, and it's super annoying.  I've gotten into a nice routine where I know when to eat and how much, but it's quite monotonous.  I try to have a good attitude about it most of the time, and I do... but some days it just gets me down.  I get sick of eating and just want to have a bowl of cereal or something light instead of x servings of carb and a ton of protein.  I want to just go out to eat and not stress.  And if I have to eat another string cheese again after this, I might lose it.  

My numbers have been really good, but I've had maybe 5 or 6 total times that I've gone higher than my range (which isn't bad considering I've pricked myself 160+ times).  This always happens when we experiment with new foods.  For instance, we researched a Sams take-home pizza (classy, yes) and found I could have 1/5th of it.  I had my one piece and 2 hours later - 140...  which is 20 points higher than the top of my range.  Basically, not all carbs are created equal, and just because the number works, doesn't mean it will be ok for my blood sugar.  I've found I can't really eat any potatoes, no matter if they "fit" in my carb count or not, and if I'm late eating, my numbers are always higher than they would otherwise be. I eat pretty much the same exact breakfast, snacks, and lunch every single day, since I know what works and I'm too wary to experiment more.  By dinner, I'm so over it, but I have to eat.  I've reached that stage where my belly is so big there's just not room for a big meal, but sadly I don't have a choice.


So now that all that whining is out of the way - the good news on this GD front??  Well, I'm holding steady at only 17 pounds gained total this pregnancy - which makes zero pounds gained in six weeks.  Again, I would never try to lose weight or stress about my weight while pregnant, but if I have to see the silver lining of this diet, this is it.  I haven't swollen at all either.  My face isn't puffy like it was last time, and I still have ankles, even on hot days!  So many people have said that I don't look big at all and that I'm all baby and etc.. but honestly, most days, I would trade those compliments for a slice of birthday cake or a bowl of ice cream or a loaf of french bread or a milkshake or a cinnamon bun or a bagel with cream cheese or three bowls of cereal or a can of frosting or... oh sorry... you don't fantasize about food like that??  Yeah, me either...

Seriously though, birthday cake.  I don't even want a fancy cake.  I want grocery store grade sheet cake with the whipped frosting.  This whole time.  That's my biggest craving.  Just a sheet cake.

The even better GD news??  My doctor was happy with my numbers and said if I stay like this she won't induce me!!  I'm really excited about that.  I know inductions can be just fine, but I really don't want to end up stalling out and getting a c-section or something - especially because I know I've delivered a big baby before and it was all ok.  Of course, if she wanted me to for health reasons, I would.. but I'm glad she's ok with me waiting until my due date (she probably won't let me go over, but I'm ok with that).  So in about 3 weeks, I'm going to be desperately trying to walk this baby out!



I got an ultrasound two weeks ago to check baby's size, and she was 54th percentile, which isn't bad at all.  Her head was the largest too, which is a great sign (you don't want her torso to be bigger than her head, risking her getting stuck head-out).  Harper always measured bigger than that anyway, so I'm pleased.  They were training someone on the 3d part of the machine, so we got a sneak peek.  They kept commenting on how chubby her cheeks were.  She looked kind of like the Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters at one point.

And for the final TMI portion of this show, I'm already 2cm dilated.  So who knows.  This baby could come early on her own (Harper was only 2 days early).

Either way, I have a lot to do between then and now. I have a house that is filthy and a room that is partially finished. I hope to make decent progress on both of those here soon.  The clothes are washed and there is a crib.  That's more than you even need, right??

Monday, July 21, 2014

Clubfoot Files: 2 Year Checkup

Welcome back to another riveting edition of the Clubfoot Files!





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I've had a few people stop by this blog who are also on the clubfoot journey with their little one (hi!), so I'm writing these Clubfoot Files to share what we are going through and what we are learning.  I know I like reading other parents' blogs about it - the more info you can arm yourself with, the better!  It helps to hear what real people are going through.  
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Harper had her 2 year check up with the orthopaedist recently (spoiler: her feet look great!), and I wanted to update on where we stand at this point in the treatment process.  

The last time Harper went to the ortho was when she was about 16 months ish maybe?  I can't even remember now!  I do know that she wasn't walking yet at the time (**FYI - Harper took her first steps when she was 16 months, and wasn't truly "walking" until well into 17 months.  And guess what?  She's FINE!  She runs like a champ now!  If your little one is delayed with these movement milestones too - relax, it will happen!**).  But her foot looked so good, the doctor said not to come back until she was 2.  


So, we made our appointment and I wasn't too worried, even though it had been so long.  As she learned to walk (and then sprint - everywhere...) I watched for any warning signs and all looked good.  Sure enough, at her appointment, the doctor wasted no time in telling me that her feet looked perfect.  She said she wouldn't have been able to tell she even had clubfoot without looking at her chart.  She watched her walk and run around the room and was really positive about her movement.  Harper's feet are even roughly the same size, which the doctor said is not common by this point.


Such welcome news!  It's crazy that something that is such a Big Deal when the baby is first born turns into no big thing as they quickly get older.  Like I've said before, we are very diligent about the time she spends in the brace and I know this has helped.

We are ready to move up into the next size shoe (luckily she's slowed down some on growing and it's been awhile!), so I ordered a pair in size 4.  This time, we decided to buy directly through MD Orthopaedics again, instead of through insurance/Children's, since Harper hasn't gotten anywhere close to meeting her deductible and it's a much better deal to pay the $237 upfront than pay her full deductible, since buying the shoes through the doctor is ridiculously pricey.  I'm hoping this pair will last her through the end of the year. 



Currently, Harper's heels have red spots, and they pretty much have all summer.  I know it's from wearing sandals (even though I get the expensive stride rite ones!) and crocs that get wet and rub (cheap, but I didn't know what else to get for water table play, etc).  They never get worse, so I just keep an eye on them and hope they stay just minor irritations.  The spots don't seem to bother her, so I just chalk it up to life with clubfoot.

I haven't gotten the new shoes in yet, but I always dread a new pair a little bit.  No matter what, she always has some sort of issue with any new pair she gets.  Breaking them in, I suppose.  By this stage, I'm much more knowledgeable about how to correct issues that come up - and I'm armed with sheets of sticky foam to line problem areas of the shoes.  But like most aspects of parenting, it's trial and error until we find what works.

That's pretty much all there is to update on right now.  Life stays much the same - shoes on at night, check ups every 6 months.  Rinse repeat until she's 4 years old. 

Our next big hurdle is "big girl bed."  So far, she can't climb out of her crib during naps (when she's not wearing the brace).  Of course she won't be able to climb out with her brace on, but once the naps are escapable, we are going to have to commit to a real bed anyway.  I need to do more research on how to make this happen safely.  I've heard lots of people just use a mattress on the floor, that way if the kid falls out with the brace on, there's not far to go and they don't hurt themselves.  But that kind of weirds me out for some reason.

Harper is so stubborn and even though she's a good sleeper, I'm worried about this transition already.  I can see her crawling around her room with the brace on, getting into trouble.  And don't even start me on worrying about what happens when they are potty trained and need to go at night... but there's time to sort that out.  And don't worry, I'll be sure to blog about it along the way! ;)
((If you have any good blogs/resources on how to transition to a bed with cf, do share!!))


One last thing:  I get emails weekly from parents who read these little posts and have found them helpful or comforting.  I always reply to their awesome emails that this is exactly why I write these posts.  Not just to chronicle our own process, but to help share some positivity and tips and let others know that it's going to be ok.  Clubfoot is a big pain, but certainly not much more than that.  Your baby will be healed, pretty easily and quickly, and be a totally normal kid in no time!  How awesome is that???  So, if you've emailed - thank you.  Your emails make my heart happy.  And if you haven't or want to - I'd love to talk to you! :)

Friday, July 18, 2014

Summer Snaps

Remember when I used to have a blog??  Oh yeah, those were the good ol days.  I would say life has been busy, and in a way, it has, but really I've just been depleted of energy and motivation.  And that's ok.  But I don't want a big gap in our digital history, so here's a snippet of life this summer.  In photos.  And commentary. 


This kid.   She's 2 in one week and it's been amazing to me to see her grow up before our very eyes.  (Look for sappy, long post coming soon).  This is her to a T - always in motion, cheeser grin, snack in hand.


She will kiss my belly sometimes.  Usually she blows kisses, like she's doing here.  It's perfect.  Pretty sure she has no idea why I request it, but she knows it makes mama happy.


Such old news, I know... but 4th of July happened and Harper had a BLAST at our local parade.  Seriously, it was like her best day ever.  I worried she would be restless and want to run in the street or would fuss and we'd have to lock her in the stroller.  But instead, she was fascinated and sat/bounced excitedly in our laps the entire hour plus.  (side note: I'm never going to be able to break the finger sucking habit...not that I've tried yet or anything....)


She's big on trucks ("chaRUCK") these days, so when the fire truck came through AND sounded it's siren, she about died.  And honestly, I was glad I had sunglasses on because I shed a few tears.  I know it's hormones and whatnot, but seeing her so excited and so grown up was more than I could take.


With her Mimi



Just chilling in her little tiny person chair.


Papou and Mimi


Awestruck


She's very patriotic. 


We've spent some summer pool days with her cousins Ava and Isaac too.  Harper is meh about the pool.  She wants in but doesn't want to be in a float and doesn't want to be held but can't hold herself up in the life vest.  So she whines and wants to run around the pool on the burning concrete and risk falling in every five seconds.  Basically, it's exhausting.  Definitely not "fun" - but we're MAKING MEMORIES! 


She's so into copying these days.  She sees us do something once, and she's all about doing it herself. 



She's the muscle of this operation.


It's certainly been a task to keep her entertained and busy every day this summer.  I'm just huge and hot and going outside is not what I want to do - but of course that's all she wants to do.  


Or read her books.  Every.day. they all get taken out like this.  I love that she's a bookworm!


Rare pool fun.


She loves to sniff flowers.  Dramatically.


I've been trying to soak up little moments with her, knowing this one-on-one time is short-lived.


We picked blueberries!


Well, mom and dad did. 


We went to a splash pad.  Much more ideal for pregnant mom that pool chasing.


She's alllll about helping.  


And laying in random places.


Summer is winding to a close, which is hard to believe.  Life's about to change for us big time.
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