Mommy and Daddy's new shoes...
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Big Sister Fun...
Paige can play and pass this Dora game all by herself...
Mommy and Daddy's new shoes...
Mommy and Daddy's new shoes...
Friday, April 30, 2010
First week...
Rose is now 1 week old. In some ways the time has flown by, but in other ways it seems like ages ago that we were in the hospital. Since we have been home we have done our best to adjust. Mike has spent a lot of time with Paige taking her on errands and playing with her, so that she is busy while I am busy with Rose.
Paige has been very helpful grabbing diapers and filling up the diaper stacker. She loves anything to do with peeing and pooping in the diaper. When Rose cries Paige asks if she has pooped in her diaper. And if she has, she always wants to see it. She thinks the whole thing is hilarious. And when Mike pulled the "diaper snake", as we call it, out of the dipaer genie, she was elated. So far she hasn't regressed to any baby-like behaviour as other parents have warned me about. She did have an accident at the park yesterday, which was due to not going before we left. It was my fault though, I should have pushed her more to go before we left. It was our first trip out of the house as a family and I was excited and busy with getting the stroller ready, and making sure Rose was all set. It was Paige's first accident out of the house and she was very upset, and said "We have to go home!". While Mike took her back I waited at the park with Rose who proceeded to have a poo explosion and then be inconsolable. We had to go home too, and met Mike and Paige as they were leaving the house. It's hard to remember what to do with 2 kids!
We took Rose to her first doctor's appointment on Wednesday. She was weighed as 7lbs 8oz. so she has put on almost all of the weight she would have lost. Her head circumference was 35.5cm. Everything looked good. We go again next week for another check up. Paige completely missed the visit as she fell asleep in the car and continued to sleep at the doctors office. She still doesn't believe that we went. When she first fell asleep in the car Rose started to cry hysterically. Paige opened her eyes with a somewhat disgusted look over at Rose and then closed her eyes again and curled in for a nice sleep--and we've been worried that Paige will wake up in the night when her sister cries...ya right.
Paige hasn't shown too many signs of jealousy, although if she has a choice between parents when it comes to doing something she will pick me. I think because she has been spending a lot of time with Mike, she just wants to see me when she can. I have been putting her to bed for the past week which really helps her a lot. Mike has always done this so she thinks it is very special. Paige and Rose and I were outside with the sidewalk chalk, when Rose started to cry in her bouncy chair. I had to pick her up and at that moment Paige asked if I could draw something with the chalk. I think she is testing the limits to see if I will put Rose down, or how I will handle the situation.
Luckily our nights have been fairly good. She has been waking 2 times to eat in the night, with her 3rd "night time" feed being after I wake up in the morning. Basically she continues to sleep after 7:30 till about 10:00 or so. I know it is still the early days, but this has been the basic pattern so far. It has been really nice having Mike off for help in the night. When Rose wakes up I generally have to go to the bathroom pronto as well as change my sweat infused shirt (I have been having night sweats like I did with Paige and losing water weight in the night!). While I do this, Mike goes and gets her and changes her diaper and passes her to me in the rocking chair to feed her. Nice to have a spare set of hands. I'll obviously do all of this myself when he goes back to work, but for now we work as a team in the night!
Rose certainly likes to eat frequently, and I have been feeding her on demand rather than trying to stick to a schedule. I think this is best for her, and what should be done with babies at this age. She is very content when she is allowed to eat on command. The only problem is that if she has a long awake stretch she will ask to eat quite frequently. So far the breastfeeding is way easier this time around as I had more patience for her and I to learn together. So I don't mind the frequent feedings. I have a baby sling that I am eager to use so I can carry her around a bit more and distract her from eating. The only trouble is the sling is too small and I need to exchange it. I think it will be a great tool to use when I bring Paige to classes and go outside, etc.
Anyway, that is a few highlights from her first week! Pictures to follow later. Grandma Val arrives tomorrow for her second week!
Paige has been very helpful grabbing diapers and filling up the diaper stacker. She loves anything to do with peeing and pooping in the diaper. When Rose cries Paige asks if she has pooped in her diaper. And if she has, she always wants to see it. She thinks the whole thing is hilarious. And when Mike pulled the "diaper snake", as we call it, out of the dipaer genie, she was elated. So far she hasn't regressed to any baby-like behaviour as other parents have warned me about. She did have an accident at the park yesterday, which was due to not going before we left. It was my fault though, I should have pushed her more to go before we left. It was our first trip out of the house as a family and I was excited and busy with getting the stroller ready, and making sure Rose was all set. It was Paige's first accident out of the house and she was very upset, and said "We have to go home!". While Mike took her back I waited at the park with Rose who proceeded to have a poo explosion and then be inconsolable. We had to go home too, and met Mike and Paige as they were leaving the house. It's hard to remember what to do with 2 kids!
We took Rose to her first doctor's appointment on Wednesday. She was weighed as 7lbs 8oz. so she has put on almost all of the weight she would have lost. Her head circumference was 35.5cm. Everything looked good. We go again next week for another check up. Paige completely missed the visit as she fell asleep in the car and continued to sleep at the doctors office. She still doesn't believe that we went. When she first fell asleep in the car Rose started to cry hysterically. Paige opened her eyes with a somewhat disgusted look over at Rose and then closed her eyes again and curled in for a nice sleep--and we've been worried that Paige will wake up in the night when her sister cries...ya right.
Paige hasn't shown too many signs of jealousy, although if she has a choice between parents when it comes to doing something she will pick me. I think because she has been spending a lot of time with Mike, she just wants to see me when she can. I have been putting her to bed for the past week which really helps her a lot. Mike has always done this so she thinks it is very special. Paige and Rose and I were outside with the sidewalk chalk, when Rose started to cry in her bouncy chair. I had to pick her up and at that moment Paige asked if I could draw something with the chalk. I think she is testing the limits to see if I will put Rose down, or how I will handle the situation.
Luckily our nights have been fairly good. She has been waking 2 times to eat in the night, with her 3rd "night time" feed being after I wake up in the morning. Basically she continues to sleep after 7:30 till about 10:00 or so. I know it is still the early days, but this has been the basic pattern so far. It has been really nice having Mike off for help in the night. When Rose wakes up I generally have to go to the bathroom pronto as well as change my sweat infused shirt (I have been having night sweats like I did with Paige and losing water weight in the night!). While I do this, Mike goes and gets her and changes her diaper and passes her to me in the rocking chair to feed her. Nice to have a spare set of hands. I'll obviously do all of this myself when he goes back to work, but for now we work as a team in the night!
Rose certainly likes to eat frequently, and I have been feeding her on demand rather than trying to stick to a schedule. I think this is best for her, and what should be done with babies at this age. She is very content when she is allowed to eat on command. The only problem is that if she has a long awake stretch she will ask to eat quite frequently. So far the breastfeeding is way easier this time around as I had more patience for her and I to learn together. So I don't mind the frequent feedings. I have a baby sling that I am eager to use so I can carry her around a bit more and distract her from eating. The only trouble is the sling is too small and I need to exchange it. I think it will be a great tool to use when I bring Paige to classes and go outside, etc.
Anyway, that is a few highlights from her first week! Pictures to follow later. Grandma Val arrives tomorrow for her second week!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Rose's story...
Rose Lilian came into the world on April 24 at 7:10am!
Here is her (long) story....
In the night on the 23rd (after 12:00am) I began to have some contractions. Nothing major but they seemed about 10 minutes apart. This was after eating a meal of Chinese food, which I was told by 2 ladies at the dentist office would bring on labour. I was thinking, "woah! this really worked!". The contractions kept me up from a bit of pain, but more excitement. I was able to sleep for a couple of hours, but basically was up in the night thinking we would be going to the hospital in the morning. I let Mike sleep so he would be alert. When the morning came and I had put the grandparents on call, the contractions completely subsided. I tried walking, lots of water, resting, etc. I talked to the hospital and they told me this was ok, and I should rest since I had little sleep the night before, in case I went into labour later. The day went by, but at around 5:00 I started to have contractions again, and this time they were present if I was sitting, walking and lying down. they were about 10 minutes apart. But because of the night before, we continued to be normal, eating dinner, etc. I soon realized that this was the real deal and we called in Grandma to come get Paige for the night. Paige was picked up at around 8:30, which was kind of sad, knowing that it was the last time we would see her as an only child. We made sure everything was packed up into the car and started to watch a movie on tv. The contractions started coming on very hard around every 8 minutes, and then eventually varying between 6-8 minutes. I called the hospital and they said it was a bit early, but we could come if we felt like it. Knowing we are about 20 minutes away from the hospital and there is a long bumpy construction road leading to the highway, we decided to go. It was getting pretty unbearable as well.
When we arrived to the hospital we got set up in the examination room where the baby and contractions were monitored and I was examined. I was about 3-4 centimeters, and at the time the baby was low. We were able to be admitted and got set up in our room. I decided to go for as long as possible without the epidural. We went from sitting on the bed to pacing the halls. It was nice as I was the only one there and it was the night, so some lights were out and it was much more relaxing. Also we had lots of attention as there were 4 nurses there. When the pain became unbearable and I was at about 7 cm, I opted for the epidural. At this point, it was about 2:00am, and I had only had the 2 hours of sleep the night before. I was worried I couldn't physically handle the demands of the rest of the labour. After this was set up I was able to rest my eyes and would start to dream, but never actually slept. Mainly because what followed demanded my attention. With every contraction, the baby's heart rate would drop from 150bpm to 60. I was put on oxygen and instructed to take deep breaths. The doctor (who happened to be my own OB who was on call) was getting very worried by the heart rate drop. She was saying that she couldn't watch this for much longer and I would have to go in for a c-section if it didn't improve. I was scared stiff by this. They tried to reposition me a number of times, and it was also discovered that the baby was not descending and was very high up, as well as face up. The doctor realized as I was lying down in the position that was best for the baby's heart rate, she was also so flopped over to the side (because my stomach was so torpedo shaped) that there was no way for her to descend. The nurses had to hold my stomach up, which almost instantly improved the situation. But still she just wouldn't go down very far after a couple of hours of pushing. Finally, when she got far enough, the doctor said that she would try a vacuum extraction 3 times, and if that failed it was into a c-section. With the first try at the vacuum, little Rose pretty much flew out at 7:10am, 14 hours after the beginning of the labour! I got to hold her right away as they cleaned her off and Mike cut the cord. As grueling, frightening, and tiring as the whole experience was, the care from all of the nurses and the doctor was amazing.
Rose was weighed as 7lbs, 11oz. and 20 inches long. She was in great shape when she came out, except for a little squished nose...which I'm assuming happened during the labour and the "sunny side up" delivery. Like Paige she came out with her eyes open, looking at the world.
We had a great 2 days at the hospital. She slept quite a bit and we were able to either hold her or put her in the bassinette. As we were so tired from no sleep, the nurse recommended that Mike went home for the night of the 24th so her could sleep. The nurse would take Rose for as long as I wanted while I slept and she would bring her in to see me to nurse her. Mike left at about 8:30 and I was able to get some glorious sleep, and the nurse brought her back in at 3:30. She offered to take her back after that, but I opted to keep her in the room the rest of the night. We were in a semi-private room, but there was no one else in it. I was able to have all the curtains open in the big room and have some bonding time with Rose. During the day it is easy to let everyone do things for you, but it forced me to tend to her, and myself without any assistance. I needed to experience that. So, it was nice, despite being tired. Mike came back early at 7:00 and we had another great day with her. The nurses had to do a hearing test, and blood work. Both came back fine, and in fact the nurse told us the blood work was the best she had ever seen! This was for jaundice and something else. She said it just means that everything is working really well. Pooping, eating, etc. We decided to go home that day at 5:30. Although I was still in pain, we figured that going home would be fine and that Paige could do with coming home. She came to visit us 3 times while we were there and it was quite confusing for her. We felt that bringing her home with us would be the best thing for her as well.
So far Rose has been very easy for us in her first few days. Of course we are much more confident parents, but she is a lot sleepier than Paige was, and the nursing is going much better. She doesn't take to a soother very well, which is fine since my milk has come in and the nursing is easy, and I need to do it to relieve the extreme engorgement. We have been able to put her in her crib right away and she is sleeping very well as long as she is in a nice tight swaddle. Again, unlike Paige who liked to be free, and would break out of any swaddle. We are averaging 5-6 hours of sleep a night, which I would say is realistic. I thought it would affect me much more, but I think the whole thing is so exciting that I don't notice being tired. This time around I am appreciating this stage much more, and I don't want her to get any bigger. Paige likes looking at Rose a lot, and so far is being quite good around her, and in general is taking quite well to the new family situation. I would say that so far we feel a lot different then we thought we would. It's not as stressful, demanding, or tiring as we thought it would be. We are loving every single second with our bigger family.
Here is her (long) story....
In the night on the 23rd (after 12:00am) I began to have some contractions. Nothing major but they seemed about 10 minutes apart. This was after eating a meal of Chinese food, which I was told by 2 ladies at the dentist office would bring on labour. I was thinking, "woah! this really worked!". The contractions kept me up from a bit of pain, but more excitement. I was able to sleep for a couple of hours, but basically was up in the night thinking we would be going to the hospital in the morning. I let Mike sleep so he would be alert. When the morning came and I had put the grandparents on call, the contractions completely subsided. I tried walking, lots of water, resting, etc. I talked to the hospital and they told me this was ok, and I should rest since I had little sleep the night before, in case I went into labour later. The day went by, but at around 5:00 I started to have contractions again, and this time they were present if I was sitting, walking and lying down. they were about 10 minutes apart. But because of the night before, we continued to be normal, eating dinner, etc. I soon realized that this was the real deal and we called in Grandma to come get Paige for the night. Paige was picked up at around 8:30, which was kind of sad, knowing that it was the last time we would see her as an only child. We made sure everything was packed up into the car and started to watch a movie on tv. The contractions started coming on very hard around every 8 minutes, and then eventually varying between 6-8 minutes. I called the hospital and they said it was a bit early, but we could come if we felt like it. Knowing we are about 20 minutes away from the hospital and there is a long bumpy construction road leading to the highway, we decided to go. It was getting pretty unbearable as well.
When we arrived to the hospital we got set up in the examination room where the baby and contractions were monitored and I was examined. I was about 3-4 centimeters, and at the time the baby was low. We were able to be admitted and got set up in our room. I decided to go for as long as possible without the epidural. We went from sitting on the bed to pacing the halls. It was nice as I was the only one there and it was the night, so some lights were out and it was much more relaxing. Also we had lots of attention as there were 4 nurses there. When the pain became unbearable and I was at about 7 cm, I opted for the epidural. At this point, it was about 2:00am, and I had only had the 2 hours of sleep the night before. I was worried I couldn't physically handle the demands of the rest of the labour. After this was set up I was able to rest my eyes and would start to dream, but never actually slept. Mainly because what followed demanded my attention. With every contraction, the baby's heart rate would drop from 150bpm to 60. I was put on oxygen and instructed to take deep breaths. The doctor (who happened to be my own OB who was on call) was getting very worried by the heart rate drop. She was saying that she couldn't watch this for much longer and I would have to go in for a c-section if it didn't improve. I was scared stiff by this. They tried to reposition me a number of times, and it was also discovered that the baby was not descending and was very high up, as well as face up. The doctor realized as I was lying down in the position that was best for the baby's heart rate, she was also so flopped over to the side (because my stomach was so torpedo shaped) that there was no way for her to descend. The nurses had to hold my stomach up, which almost instantly improved the situation. But still she just wouldn't go down very far after a couple of hours of pushing. Finally, when she got far enough, the doctor said that she would try a vacuum extraction 3 times, and if that failed it was into a c-section. With the first try at the vacuum, little Rose pretty much flew out at 7:10am, 14 hours after the beginning of the labour! I got to hold her right away as they cleaned her off and Mike cut the cord. As grueling, frightening, and tiring as the whole experience was, the care from all of the nurses and the doctor was amazing.
Rose was weighed as 7lbs, 11oz. and 20 inches long. She was in great shape when she came out, except for a little squished nose...which I'm assuming happened during the labour and the "sunny side up" delivery. Like Paige she came out with her eyes open, looking at the world.
We had a great 2 days at the hospital. She slept quite a bit and we were able to either hold her or put her in the bassinette. As we were so tired from no sleep, the nurse recommended that Mike went home for the night of the 24th so her could sleep. The nurse would take Rose for as long as I wanted while I slept and she would bring her in to see me to nurse her. Mike left at about 8:30 and I was able to get some glorious sleep, and the nurse brought her back in at 3:30. She offered to take her back after that, but I opted to keep her in the room the rest of the night. We were in a semi-private room, but there was no one else in it. I was able to have all the curtains open in the big room and have some bonding time with Rose. During the day it is easy to let everyone do things for you, but it forced me to tend to her, and myself without any assistance. I needed to experience that. So, it was nice, despite being tired. Mike came back early at 7:00 and we had another great day with her. The nurses had to do a hearing test, and blood work. Both came back fine, and in fact the nurse told us the blood work was the best she had ever seen! This was for jaundice and something else. She said it just means that everything is working really well. Pooping, eating, etc. We decided to go home that day at 5:30. Although I was still in pain, we figured that going home would be fine and that Paige could do with coming home. She came to visit us 3 times while we were there and it was quite confusing for her. We felt that bringing her home with us would be the best thing for her as well.
So far Rose has been very easy for us in her first few days. Of course we are much more confident parents, but she is a lot sleepier than Paige was, and the nursing is going much better. She doesn't take to a soother very well, which is fine since my milk has come in and the nursing is easy, and I need to do it to relieve the extreme engorgement. We have been able to put her in her crib right away and she is sleeping very well as long as she is in a nice tight swaddle. Again, unlike Paige who liked to be free, and would break out of any swaddle. We are averaging 5-6 hours of sleep a night, which I would say is realistic. I thought it would affect me much more, but I think the whole thing is so exciting that I don't notice being tired. This time around I am appreciating this stage much more, and I don't want her to get any bigger. Paige likes looking at Rose a lot, and so far is being quite good around her, and in general is taking quite well to the new family situation. I would say that so far we feel a lot different then we thought we would. It's not as stressful, demanding, or tiring as we thought it would be. We are loving every single second with our bigger family.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Oops!
So yesterday I was all ready to go to the grocery store when I got a phonecall from my doctors office asking me where I was. Apparently I had missed my appointment. So Paige and I got dressed and ran! I was eager to hear what the doctor had to say and was relieved to not have to wait until Thursday. So to make a long story short...there is dilating, and the baby is low (obviously). She is sending me for an ultrasound and non-stress test, which will be on Thursday. If there is no baby by tuesday I'm going in for
an induction. I'm definitely glad there is a plan but would prefer to go into labour naturally before Tuesday. Everyone cross your fingers!
an induction. I'm definitely glad there is a plan but would prefer to go into labour naturally before Tuesday. Everyone cross your fingers!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Wipe outs and other
On the way home from Boston Pizza last night, Mike had the idea to stop at the park. We got out of the car, walked a few meters into the park area and Paige fell and scraped her knee and hands. Lots of crying and hugs. Later in the visit, she climbed up these stairs that are shaped like feet, got to the top, lost her balance, fell, hitting her back on the foot step, and fell to the ground. It was quite the wipeout, and quite the scare for her. It reminds me that my intuition about her has always been right and she isn't the kind of kid you can just watch from the sidelines. She is still a bit unstable, and needs to be monitored closely. Another reason why I can't walk to the park with her too easily since it involves standing and watching when we get there.
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Paige's 3rd class of On My Own was another success. This time I left right away and told her I would see her after. She was fine and I frequently spied on her, seeing that she was doing great. She does have a problem understanding that she has to join the group when it is circle time or parachute time. I'm really not concerned about this at her age. She'll learn.
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I think because we have been preparing Paige that her baby sister won't talk, walk, etc. until she is bigger, Paige is really hung up on all of this. Until Sunday, a friend's little girl, Belle, was 1. Paige knew that Belle was 1, and to her this was a baby. Being 1 means a lot of things. But if you are 2, well then you are so much more capable in her mind. Belle came over yesterday and was being quiet and shy. Paige said, "She can't even talk!!". I had to tell her, "No, Belle can talk, she's 2, she's just being quiet". Then at the restaurant Paige saw another baby in a high chair. "She can't even eat!!", she exclaims. I'm glad she thinks these things, which hopefully means she knows that her baby sister isn't an insta-friend.
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Paige's 3rd class of On My Own was another success. This time I left right away and told her I would see her after. She was fine and I frequently spied on her, seeing that she was doing great. She does have a problem understanding that she has to join the group when it is circle time or parachute time. I'm really not concerned about this at her age. She'll learn.
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I think because we have been preparing Paige that her baby sister won't talk, walk, etc. until she is bigger, Paige is really hung up on all of this. Until Sunday, a friend's little girl, Belle, was 1. Paige knew that Belle was 1, and to her this was a baby. Being 1 means a lot of things. But if you are 2, well then you are so much more capable in her mind. Belle came over yesterday and was being quiet and shy. Paige said, "She can't even talk!!". I had to tell her, "No, Belle can talk, she's 2, she's just being quiet". Then at the restaurant Paige saw another baby in a high chair. "She can't even eat!!", she exclaims. I'm glad she thinks these things, which hopefully means she knows that her baby sister isn't an insta-friend.
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