Project: Diet Coke Abatement

We are now two weeks in to Project: Diet Coke Abatement. So far, so good! It hasn’t been too difficult, but maybe that’s because I’m allowing myself one a day instead of going cold turkey.

I think the key has been not to have my one allowed with breakfast. Because if I have it with breakfast, then I know I don’t get anymore the rest of the day and then I get all antsy about it. But if I wait, I feel much more relaxed knowing I can have it any time – and often I end up not having it at all!

Still not sure about giving it up altogether – I have a whole case out in the garage that needs drinkin’. But maybe once I run out of that I’ll wait and see how I do before I buy any more.

Plus, perhaps it’s a coincidence but I’ve lost two pounds since I started this. Not sure that I’ve really seen much difference in my health otherwise besides a general feeling-better. That could be all mental, but whatever works!

Eeek!

A particularly large, Jurassic Park-looking dragonfly got into the house today. I very calmly called for Mr. Fantastic to come get it as it sat on the ceiling. As Mr. F was getting the broom, the dragonfly started to get agitated and bounce around some, so then I started making EEK noises and calling a little more urgently for Mr. F.

And then the dragonfly got REALLY agitated and CAME AT ME BRO, probably because the window was right behind me but at the time it seemed like it wanted to eat my face.

As it was crashing around the kitchen trying to find a way out and/or eat my face, this dragonfly was going BUZZ THUNK BUZZ THUNK which was not the same harmless little bzz tap noise you get with a chubby fly.

So then I leapt from my chair, screaming and flailing, and ran from the kitchen while Mr. F shooed the dragonfly out the window. All while my one- and three-year-old kids were watching from downstairs. Possibly not my best moment as a role model, but I don’t think Mr. F has ever seen me run so fast.

Grace: Two months

9/9

All right, so I had a baby two months ago. I have been a mom of two for two months! And as you can probably surmise, this is why I haven’t written more. The kids are great. Fletch is a wonderful big brother and loves his little Gracie so much. And Miss Gracie is my little rock star. She is doing fabulous. Eating well and sleeping well and growing like a weed.

We had her two month appointment today. She weighs 12.5 lbs – Fletch only weighed 10 at his 2 month! This puts her in the 85^th percentile. And she is 22.5 inches long, putting her in the 54^th percentile for height. And 15.75 inches around her head, which is 79^th percentile. So she’s growing well and doing great in general.

She does have some icky baby acne on her head and chest and arms but the doctor said it’s nothing to worry about and should go away on its own soon. And all four of us have got a cold – already Grace’s second! Jack and Fletch were both sick right when she was born and so of course, she got it too. So she’s been pretty snorty and snuffly since day one but that doesn’t seem to have really bothered her or anything.

Grace also got her first round of shots today. We totally weren’t worried about it since when Fletch got his, basically he cried a little bit, I put him on the boob and he was happy again. Not so much with Gracie Girl. She howled and cried much worse than Fletch ever did, and then when I tried to give her the boob, she wouldn’t have any of it. They also had this sugar water stuff that they normally dip the pacifier into, but since, like her brother, G won’t take a paci, we tried dipping our fingers in and seeing if she would take some that way, but no dice. We just had to hold her and talk to her and bounce her until she calmed down. Then she had some boob and snuffled some more and eventually fell asleep in the car on the way home. She’s slept a lot today which is to be expected.

In general, things have seemed much easier this time around. We are not nearly so jumpy and worried about Grace as we were with Fletch. I have been sleeping in her room so I can feed her at night. But unlike what we did (were told to do) with Fletch, we haven’t been waking her up to eat at night. With Fletch, his doctors told us he need to be woken up every 3 hours at night to eat and he pretty much never learned to sleep longer than 3 hours until he was almost two years old. And that’s only because I finally weaned him after I got pregnant. He is still not a great sleeper and is high-maintenance at bedtime and gets up at least once a night. So with Grace, we decided that once she regained her birth weight, which she did by two weeks, we wouldn’t wake her up to eat. As a result, she is a much better sleeper than Fletch ever was! She’s already going 5-7 hours a night which is awesome for me.

And we are also avoiding the other big mistake we made with Fletch, which is always putting him to sleep with the boob. Which worked like magic but also meant it was incredibly difficult for over two years for anybody but me to get him to go to sleep either for nap or at night. Miss G can fall asleep in a variety of ways, but most astoundingly, I am sometimes able to just lay her in the crib awake (but drowsy) and let her fall asleep on her own – something that Fletch never did as a baby. So I feel really good that we are putting our experience to work for us. And also that I am actually getting some sleep which is totally unexpected and awesome.

Unlike her brother, Grace is not happy at all to have a dirty diaper. Where Fletch wouldn’t even blink at a dirty diaper, GG starts fussing the second she’s even a little bit wet. So hopefully that means an easy road when it’s time for potty training! Also, she doesn’t cry much, even when she’s hungry. Fletch would go to Defcon 5 wailing pretty quickly when he wanted to eat, but Grace mostly starts a low-level fussing, followed by chewing on her hand, which turns to a very loud slobbery chomping on her hand and that is the thing that will actually wake me up at night. So far she is a pretty easy baby, although some of that must be attributed to this not being our first rodeo.

Baby is here!

Baby Grace Kathleen Farley is here! 

Born July 6, 2011 7:55 p.m.,19.5 inches long and 7 lbs 14 oz.

The last week my back and hip were hurting so bad...I was already sleeping in my big comfy chair (thank you Mr. Fantastic!) and I really didn't know if I was going to make a week past my due date like I did with Fletch. So at my last appointment, I discussed with Dr. Owens and we scheduled me for induction on the 6th, 1 day past my due date. 

I was really nervous about inducing because I'd heard so many awful things about it - ranging from the Pitocin causing massive painful contractions to labor stalling out and requiring a C-section if you don't progress fast enough. And I've heard stories that most unscheduled C-sections happen on days before holidays or after 4 p.m. because the doctor wants to get home. Thankfully Dr. O assured me that she was on call that night, so had nowhere to go and would be happy to wait however long it took.

We went in at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. Heidi was a godsend, because she came over at like 4:30 a.m. to wait for Fletch to get up, then took him to her house to hang out with Brody and wait for the baby to come. I am so glad I have her in my life. She does so much for me and my family.

We got me all checked in at Rose, and my friend Erin came to meet us a while later. She was awesome too - brought bagels & cream cheese for the nurses. After her long stay in the pre-natal ward when she was on bedrest before she had Flora, she wisely concluded that nurses are your best friend and it doesn't hurt to bring them a little bribe to be extra nice to you.

They got me settled and got the Pitocin going. I was worried about the Pit, but hardly even felt the contractions once I got it. In fact, a lot of the time the nurse would say, "ok, you're having a big one right now! Can you feel that?" and I'd feel like a mild menstrual cramp. I was really surprised by that after all the horror stories I'd heard about Pit making the contractions so much worse.

I was progressing very slowly so I agreed to have my water broken. I did the epidural beforehand because with Fletch, (who was not induced) the contractions were horrible after my water broke and I had to wait for the epidural. I SO didn't want to go through that again. 

The epidural was great. You can't get up and walk around, but for me both times I still had a lot of control over my legs and so was able to move around quite a bit in bed. You don't see the needle or anything they're doing, which for me makes it much less scary. They do a numbing cream on your back first so it doesn't hurt as much. It did hurt but it wasn't unbearable. Like a bad bee sting and sort of a really hard muscle cramp, and very brief.

So pretty much, I hung out in the bed all day with Jack and Erin. The nurses allowed me to have popsicles and water (thankfully I ate a nice breakfast!) so I kept hydrated. They give you a catheter with the epidural so I could drink as much as I wanted and not have to get up to pee every five minutes, which was awesome. Except I think I overdid on the water - later in the day a nurse told me I really wasn't supposed to have water, just ice chips and I think possibly having so much water made things go slower than they would have.

Progress was pretty slow all day and poor Jack was just sure it was going to be the middle of the night when the baby came, like Fletch did. But Dr. O wasn't worried, and every time I saw her, she was like, "no pressure, just relax, I don't have any place else to be," which really did put me at ease. Since nothing much was happening, I told Erin and Jack to go out and get something to eat so they left for a bit.

While they were gone, I had an awesome nurse who was determined to get me to dilate. She worked with me doing some hip rotations, stretches, and turning me on my side. During the hour Jack and Erin were out getting dinner, I went fully dilated  - like from 5 cm to 10 cm in no time at all. When Jack and Erin walked in to the room, the doctor was there and they were setting up for the delivery - good timing! 

They set up the big mirror so I could see, which I'm glad I did, since I didn't with Fletch. It was absolutely amazing to see the baby being born. The delivery was pretty painless and quick, and it took maybe three pushes to get her out. Much less drama than we had with Fletch! And also not the middle of the night - Jack was thankful for the respectable hour.

Heidi brought Fletch to the hospital at like 9:30 or 10 and he got to meet his brand new baby sister Grace. Grace was thoughtful enough to bring Fletch a gift of a big semi & trailer stocked full of Hot Wheels. He loved it and I think it will help pave the way.

They all stuck around to get me settled into my room and then headed home. Erin - what a trooper! She stayed with us all day, and took pictures and did my hair and entertained us and in general was just a totally awesome support for me and Jack both. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends and I am truly thankful to have her in my life too, and to have been able to share this experience with her.

We stayed two nights in the hospital - I think if you deliver after a certain time of day, you get an extra night. Jack and Fletch came to visit, along with most of the rest of the family - except Nana and Auntie Sheila, who were on a little holiday and didn't get to see her until we got home.

Thankfully, this was a much easier time than I had with Fletch. No baby heart rate dropping and getting "stuck" face up, no kidney stone, no dehydration, no extra nights in the hospital. Breastfeeding got off to an easy start and has been trouble-free so far. And we of course are so very, very happy to bring home our darling baby girl!

 

Week 38 of the JellyBean Progression

6/26

TMI Alert: Lost the mucous plug yesterday afternoon. So things are moving! I predict a baby before the 5^th. Maybe the 2^nd?

Pretty quiet week. Saw the midwife Tuesday since Dr. O is on vacation. Dr. O said I was not allowed to have the baby this week because she didn’t want to miss it. She wasn’t on call for Fletch, so she didn’t get to see him until the next day. I see Dr. O again this coming Tuesday.

Midwife said there was a little dilation, maybe 1 cm but hopefully we’re further along now. Been having a lot of prodomal contractions. Not Braxton Hicks – real contractions but they stop after a little while before things actually get going. Right lower back and hip are still killing me so I am still hobbling around a lot. But Heidi took me for lunch and mani/pedi on Thursday and it was SO relaxing. My back didn’t hurt the whole day. I keep thinking maybe I should go and get a prenatal massage but wonder if it’s too late in the game – if anyone would still do it. The good news is that Mr. Fantastic brought up my comfy chair from the basement and it really helps my back. I may actually start sleeping in it since I am waking up every morning pretty stiff even though I’ve got a thousand pillows and things propping me up.