Two Weeks and Going Strong!

Do you hear that? That's the sound of a 3-year-old and a 2-week-old napping at the same time! How often does that happen?
Gavin and I have been home for about 2 weeks now, and we have a quasi-routine established. This week, we added Big Sister Rachel to the mix. I plan on keeping Rachel home 3 weekdays and only sending her to the babysitter on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the duration of my maternity leave (with the occasional third day, when needed). Some people think I am crazy for this, but I really want to spend some time with Rachel AND Gavin.
So far, Rachel has been great with her little brother. She calls him "My Gavin," and she loves to kiss his head and watch me change his diapers. Yesterday, he started to cry as I was brushing my teeth, and she rushed over to him and told him it would be okay. She has accepted him quickly as part of her permanent lifestyle, and I couldn't be more thrilled!
And I have to say, Gavin is an exceptional baby! I don't know if it is because I know more about being a mommy to a newborn this time or if it is just a difference in temperament, but he is so much easier to care for than I remember Rachel being. It also has helped that my recovery has been so much easier this time around. With Rachel, I didn't feel human again until 3-4 weeks post partum. This recovery took roughly a week--though I can't say I am 100% back to normal, I have been able to get out of the house several times on my own, with very little trouble.
Gavin only cries when he is hungry. I can set him down for a while in his swing and he is content to explore the room with his eyes. He sleeps most of the day, and he naps at night, so we need to get him on the right schedule, but I can't complain about that. He isn't colicky, and as long as he gets his food, he is a happy little guy. He weighed 8lbs 1 oz at his 1-week check-up, and everything is healthy and normal, which is a relief after the NICU scare! He is nursing a lot more efficiently, but we still supplement with some formula, though I can tell he prefers breastmilk.
He is also fascinated with his sister, so I am excited to watch them grow up together.
The only hiccup in the arrangement has been that Rachel wants a LOT of attention, and I just don't have a lot of extra time to devote to her right now. I was working on some freelance when I went into labor, and I have been struggling to finish it up (it is now overdue) so that I can worry about nothing except my kids. And it is possible that Rachel ALWAYS demanded a lot of attention, and I just never noticed because I didn't have anywhere else to devote it. But now that I have a baby demanding prompt feedings when his belly rumbles, it is hard for me to watch Rachel spinning in circles, hopping around, or showing me what she is doing every minute of the day. And it doesn't help that Daddy is traveling on business more than he used to, so she doesn't have him around to roughhouse with her every night. Duane and I have both had some issues in the patience department. I am working very hard to overcome that demon, because she has been such a great little girl through everything, and I don't want to stimey her imagination and love.

It will be wonderful here in a couple weeks because Duane is taking a week of vacation time, and we can take some trips as a family to get Rachel out and about. I think we will visit the Zoo, and possibly make a date with Mommy, Daddy, and Rachel only. Although Rachel might not like that, because she constantly wants to know where her little brother is! But I want to make sure to give her some time alone with us, and I will enjoy being able to have some girl time like we used to.
So everything through these first two weeks is great! I am tired, and I have been catching a lot of Big Brother After Dark (Showtime Channel), but it has been so much smoother than I really expected. I had been so nervous for a while at the end of my pregnancy, wondering how things would be with this new little baby in our lives, but I feel really blessed!

The Birth Story of Gavin Duane

Back in November, when I learned I was pregnant with our second child and I tried to calculate my due date, I decided I wanted this baby to arrive on July 28th.

There were many reasons for this. First, I didn't want the baby to go past the due date of July 31st. Rachel was 4 days late, and it is just frustrating to be waiting around at the end of your pregnancy. Second, and most importantly, I thought the numbers would be perfect. Rachel's birthday is June 23rd, mine is August 23rd, and Duane's is April 28th. How perfect would it be to have a baby with July 28th as a birthday? We would all be perfectly linked together! Finally, my cousin/little brother Mark's birthday is July 28th, which would be just icing on the proverbial birthday cake.

So when I went to the doctor on July 25th, and she told me I was still only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced, and we scheduled my induction for August 4th, I was discouraged. It isn't that I find anything wrong with being induced per se. I know a lot of people who have had to be induced, and everything turned out fine. But I know a lot of people who have had complications from being induced (e.g., longer labors, problems dilating, painful contractions, stress on the baby, emergency C sections, etc.), so I just really didn't want to be induced if I could help it. I was technically induced with Rachel, because I wasn't having contractions on my own when my water broke, so I knew everything would work out okay no matter how baby arrived. Still, I was hopeful...

So when my sister and mom invited me to join them at the Ohio State Fair on Wednesday, July 27th, I asked my boss if it would be okay for me to leave a little early. My boss is just awesome, and he agreed easily. I left work at 1:30, and I made it to the fair at 2 p.m. I spent about 5 hours walking around in the 90-degree heat with Rachel, my nephews, and my mom and sister. Rachel and I got home around 8 p.m. Duane was working late (luckily in Columbus as opposed to Indianapolis, where he usually spends Tuesday and Wednesday nights).

After I got Rachel to bed, I was laying on the couch, watching Big Brother on DVR. My abdomen was definitely sore from walking so much. Suddenly, I felt a bit of a trickle...

My first thought: "Oh man...did I just pee myself?" Then, I realized that I hadn't felt any urge to pee whatsoever. So as I debated about whether my water had broken and whether I should call the doctor, I was changing my pants, and the question was answered for me...because the small trickle turned into a much larger trickle, and it was pretty evident that baby was ready to come out!

At this point, it was about 10 p.m. I called Duane, but he didn't answer, so I sent him a text and then called my parents.

Around that time, I started having contractions. I had never had any contractions when my water broke with Rachel. Duane finally called back, and I told him what happened and he said he was on his way home. My contractions were about 10-15 minutes apart, lasting only about 20 seconds. When I got to the hospital, I was dilated to 3 cm. My contractions started coming much faster, but I was only feeling about 20 seconds of them. I asked that I be allowed to walk around to move things along, and in no time I was at 5 cm. Then, the baby's heart rate dropped. My contractions started coming 1 minute apart, right on top of one another. So no more walking, said the nurse. I decided it was a good time for an epidural.

The epidural with Rachel was easy and quick. So when it took several numbings and I started having pressure in my head, I was worried. I asked what was going on, and the anesthesiologist said there was a problem. Basically, he put the catheter in too far on the first attempt, which is called a wet tap. I began leaking cerebrospinal fluid, which caused the pressure in my head. He explained this leaking could cause severe headaches that would last 5-8 days, so I should monitor the headaches and he would check in on me the next day (Friday). He apologized profusely.

The pressure in my head moved to my neck and began causing severe spasms. I didn't know how I would be able to push when it was time. I couldn't feel any pain with the contractions anymore, but I could feel pressure. My contractions also slowed waaaaaaayyy down. So after 3 hours with virtually no progress, they started me on Pitocin to move things along.

I went from 6 cm to fully dilated in 90 minutes, and the nurse said she didn't think it would take much more than 1 push. The doctor peeked in and asked if she had time to change into scrubs and the nurse told her to hurry! Ten minutes after I started pushing, our baby was born, and I knew almost instantly that we had a son!

The cord was wrapped around his neck twice, and he was a little stunned and slow to become alert. But he got things moving and I heard him cry for about 5 minutes as they cleaned him up.

Gavin Duane was born at 10:38 a.m. on July 28th and weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches long.

Because he was stunned in the beginning, Gavin's blood sugar was a little bit low, and they ended up taking him to the NICU overnight for a glucose IV. Until he could test consistently higher and feeding regularly, he would need to stay in the NICU. I went down to nurse him every 3 hours, but my neck spasms were still bad, so I had trouble making it down there once. I was terribly upset, but my nurses were amazing!!! Gavin's NICU nurse sat with me and kept me calm, and my nurse on Friday tracked down several doctors in an attempt to get me some relief for my neck pain.

Gavin returned from the NICU Friday afternoon, and we were discharged from the hospital on Saturday. The anesthesiologists couldn't figure out the neck spasms, but they didn't feel they were related to the botched epidural (despite the fact that they started right after).

I started having headaches Saturday, but they weren't terrible. But by the afternoon on Sunday, they were so bad that I couldn't see straight. So I called my doctor and she sent me to the ER at St. Anns. I was in extreme pain, and the ER doctor was not encouraging about the availability of an anesthesiologist to do a blood patch. However, in about a half-hour, the original anesthesiologist returned to do my blood patch, which clots the hole that is leaking fluid with blood. The headaches disappeared instantly, but I had to wait until the IV was done before I could leave. I was thankful that the anesthesiologist prioritize my case, because I was spent emotionally, I didn't want to be away from my little girl and my baby boy anymore!

I was sent home on bedrest for 1-2 days, which was rough with a newborn. But after a day, I was fully recovered.

The recovery since then has been smooth and easy compared to what it was with Rachel. Other than the low blood sugar and the wet tap problem, I have had no issues! Gavin is already up to 8 lbs and sleeping and eating well. I have been able to get out of the house a couple of times, and I am slowly learning to balance 2 kids. My mom helped all week, and Duane was even able to take some time off of work to help too. My back is still a bit sore, and I am not 100%, but I can't believe how quickly I am bouncing back this time.

So that is the long story of how we became a family of 4!!

Final Plans...Check!

Months ago, my sister and I began planning the birthday party to celebrate Rachel's third birthday and my nephew Owen's fifth birthday. Unfortunately, though their birthdays are June 23rd and 26th, respectively, the local parks were booked up. So we slipped 2 weekends into July (the 9th, to be exact) before we could get the party planned. I was a little wary of this, but it was the best we could do at the time, so I made a deal with baby to have him/her respect big sister and stay in until at least July 10th.

Normally we hold the celebration at Blacklick Woods, but this time we went for a park in Gahanna called Friendship Park. It turned out to be a really nice shelter, very close to the playground (maybe a little too close, considering the little ones had trouble focusing on anything BUT the playground), and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

And little brother/sister honored the deal and stayed put through the party.

This was my last set of plans before my due date. Everything else is loose and tentative, just in case this kiddo makes an early appearance.

Speaking of early appearances, it doesn't look like the kiddo will be making one. I am not 37 weeks (which is considered full term), but the doctor reports that I am still only about a fingertip dilated and not effaced at all. The baby's head is down and in position perfectly, but apparently my body is not giving up this pregnancy thing anytime soon.

I am not complaining too much. I remember the sleepless nights after having Rachel, and while I am none-too-eager to return to that level of zombie-hood, I am kind of done being pregnant for a while. I feel really large (despite everyone's comments about how small I still look for being so far along), and the pressure/pain in my pelvis is getting pretty old. Plus, I would really like to meet my new son/daughter!!

So for now I wait. I told my doctor I would like to let things go until August 4th or 5th before we talk induction, though I am hoping something happens before then. And chances are, it will, given Rachel's dramatic entrance into the world. I just might be one of those women who doesn't have contractions on her own -- I will wait around until my water breaks or whatever.

As for Rachel's party -- it couldn't have gone much better, with the one exception that the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake I made for her kept dismantling in the heat. It looked great while it lasted though!! And the kids had so much fun.

Next year we will have to see if we combine this little one's birthday with Rachel's!

Almost Full-Term

It occurs to me that I really haven't done justice to Baby #2 in my blog posts. I realized this last week when I got back from the doctor. I had been experiencing an unusual amount of discomfort (even pain) since going to the Zoo on Rachel's birthday, so the doctor did an internal exam a week earlier than normal. During the exam, she discovered that Baby's head is very low. She also determined that I was just shy of 1 cm dilated. So I went back to figure out (from blog posts) how far along I was at 35 weeks with Rachel. That made me realize that I haven't been nearly as descriptive about the pregnancy with Baby #2. So I will have to try to make up for that in the remaining however-many weeks I have left!
To start, I had my mini-shower for Baby #2 on June 25th! My friends Kim, Lawrene, and Jen (also my SIL) organized this for me and I can't thank them enough! I had such a good time and got some nice things I needed for Baby #2. I had started a registry for Baby #2 with various small things (and a couple bigger ones I intended to buy myself) that you have to re-purchase when you have a second child. My awesome family and friends were so generous that I really don't have much left to get! I even got enough gift cards to get the glider I want. With Rachel, I always used a rocking chair, which was okay, but I remember being very uncomfortable at certain points, and I thought it would be really nice to have a more comfortable chair for the late nights with Baby.

The shower was a lot of fun. It even included a game centered around the gender of the baby. Apparently most people think this baby is a boy. I still waiver back and forth, but my inclination is leaning toward boy. I don't have a reason really, other than the difference in how I am carrying this pregnancy. I have gained less weight (28 lbs so far as compared to 39 lbs by this point last pregnancy), and the majority of it is in my belly (36-week picture posted below). But I have talked to a few moms who had this happen with babies that ended up both being girls, so I guess this doesn't hold much weight (no pun intended).

So anyway, as I mentioned, I have been in some pain since June 23rd. The best way I can describe the feeling is that it feels like I imagine a guy would feel after getting kicked in the balls, after the initial sting has worn off. It just feels sore and achy, like I pulled a muscle. The doctor seemed to think the baby being so low contributed to this feeling, and chalked it up to normal discomfort.

I was still feeling this at my 36-week appointment on Tuesday, and the nurse practitioner mentioned that if I am in a lot of pain at 37 weeks, they can try to strip my membranes to induce an earlier labor. It isn't guaranteed to work, but she said it might help. I haven't had any contractions that were noticable, and I didn't progress past the <1 cm from week 35, but I don't know if I will ask for the membrane stripping or not. I am in no real rush to get Baby out -- I guess I just hoped to make some progress from week to week to encourage me that the pain I was feeling had some purpose. My main goal was to get past this Saturday (July 9th) because we are having Rachel & Owen's birthday party that day. Once I am past that, I have no plans to do much of anything, so if Baby makes an early debut, I am fine with it. I have work in a pretty stable situation...the only issue is in a promotion I am hoping to interview for something this month. That's a whole other story though.

I feel pretty good about where we stand with baby-readiness though. I washed the carseat cover and installed it in my car. I ordered the extra carseat base using some gift cards we got for cashing in rewards points. I washed the bottles, the cover for the swing, the crib mattress pad, and some smaller gender-neutral clothes we had from Rachel, and the nursery is fairly clean. I even pre-paid the majority of our hospital bill.

Tune in next week for the latest news on Baby #2. I hit full-term on Sunday!

Happy 3rd Birthday Rachel!!

It seems like just yesterday I was sitting around, waiting to have contractions so I could go to the hospital and meet my little girl. Maybe it feels so familiar because I am only 5 weeks away from my due date with the new baby. Three years ago, on June 22nd, at 11:45 p.m., my water broke and we went to the hospital knowing that we would soon get to meet our daughter Rachel. Almost exactly 13 hours later, we welcomed Rachel Louise Wood into the world.

I didn't know what to expect from having a baby. There were certainly a lot of people offering advice and wisdom. There were definitely sleepless nights. There was a big learning curve. But more than anything, there has been a LOT of laughter and a ton of love.
Rachel is such a joy to be around. Her smile lights up any room. And as she has grown up, her personality has developed into such a hoot! She has a great sense of humor, she is a social butterfly, she is intelligent, and she is sweet. I am not saying the kid is perfect (we have recently hit a phase where listening has become an issue), but she amazes me each day with how great she is.

For her 3rd birthday, we took the day off and went to the Zoo. We were lucky to have Duane come with us, and I could really tell that Rachel enjoyed it more when he was there to share experiences with. We saw monkeys, elephants, a tiger, some lions, and a various other animals. But I think the biggest hit of the day was when we let Rachel ride the carousel. She had been on one at Cedar Point last summer, but this time, she seemed to enjoy it even more.

We managed to escape the Zoo without getting rained on, and we headed home to enjoy the rest of our day. We got pizza for dinner and a Dairy Queen Reeses Blizzard Cake for dessert. Rachel enjoyed both, but I think she really just liked blowing out her candles. She asked for 4 candles, and when she blew them out the first time, she requested that we relight them and let her blow them out again, for good measure. (Hey, it was her birthday...)

And her birthday wasn't complete until her cousin and best friend Caden paid her a visit. I think that just topped off the whole day.

This morning, we went for her 3-year check-up (which for some reason required a urine sample), and she checked out remarkably. They really enjoy her at Dr. Dan's office. She is advanced in her speech and right on track developmentally. She is also advanced socially. She came in around 35th percentile for weight and 23rd percentile for height. Previously she had been in high percentiles for height, so I guess her genes caught up with her! Sorry kid!

Then we went for her 3-year pictures. She couldn't have been better. She was super excited -- I couldn't get her to stop running around, jumping and smiling. It seems like last time we were there she wouldn't smile at all!

I managed to limit myself in the picture selection, since I figure we will be getting more pictures done in about 6-7 weeks, but it is still amazing to see how much she has changed throughout these 3 years!

Baby's First Concert

When I was little, I remember my mom talking about some things that she did/happened to her while she was pregnant with each of us. It particularly stands out to me that she fell off a snowmobile while she was pregnant with my sister Julie, which I must say...explains some things. =) But the story made me think about what I have done since I have been pregnant.

When I was pregnant with Rachel, I got the opportunity to go to the National Championship game featuring my Ohio State University Buckeyes versus LSU. While the outcome wasn't what I had hoped for, it was a memorable experience nonetheless, and I was thrilled to share in it with my mom.

So what could I possibly do while pregnant with Baby #2 that could ever compare? Unfortunately, we didn't have the money to send me to the Sugar Bowl featuring my Buckeyes this year. However, when my friend Lawrene asked me if I wanted to go to the Bon Jovi concert when they came to Columbus, I readily agreed! I have been to 3 Bon Jovi concerts, and even though I am not an avid concert-goer, I love Bon Jovi. I can't say I have heard a song I didn't like.

When we planned to attend this concert, we were about 3.5 to 4 months pregnant. So it seemed quite far off, imagining our 7-month preggo bellies at a rock concert. Lawrene even made shirts for us that said "Future Bon Jovi Fan" in big, glittering letters. So when the concert arrived last night, we sported our shirts (and bellies) quite proudly.

Although we had a bit of a traffic hiccup, we made it to the concert in just enough time, and Baby #2 definitely enjoyed all the sounds he/she heard from the womb, because I felt a lot of movement throughout the night. I danced, I sang, I had a GREAT time. By the end of the night, though, I was DEFINITELY exhausted.

So looking back, I hope one day my Future Bon Jovi Fan will see these pictures and think of them fondly. If not...well, I still had a good time!

March

So again, I have neglected my blogging for about a month. Not much has really happened. I have had to make a LOT of cakes lately. One for a very special 3-year-old boy named Aiden. Normally Aiden's mom requests a shamrock cake every year, because his birthday is very close to St. Patrick's Day, but this year, she decided to go for a Mickey Mouse-themed party. Luckily for me, they make Mickey Mouse pans. Shaped pattern pans are truly the best for me as far as decorating goes, so this cake went very well for me.

I also made various birthday cakes and a shower cake for a co-worker's baby shower (a teddy bear shaped pan). Then came the robot cake for my nephew Noah. I can't believe he is 7 years old! The robot examples I found online used candy and donuts for the pieces and parts of the cake, and Noah was really excited to have donuts and cake together! I think I definitely hit the sugar quota in this cake, and the kids were all really excited to get pieces of candy with their cake.

Finally, my sister-in-law requested a WWE cake for her nephew Landyn for his 8th birthday. This presented the most significant challenge for me, because he wanted it to have a WWE championship belt, which has a lot of detail to it. I knew I wouldn't be able to replicate all of the detail work, but I used the pictures below to come up with a cake for him. The picture doesn't show it, but I used fondant, which I painted with gold dust, and texturized the center badge to make it look like authentic gold. I was really worried about this cake because I have no idea what the WWE belts really look like and I didn't want to miss any key elements, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Baby #2 is doing great! It is moving around in there quite a bit these days. Sometimes it wakes me up in the morning with little knocks on my belly. I love feeling each kick, and Duane can even see him/her moving in there now. He has felt the baby kick a couple of times, and he is very excited to meet the baby. We had our 20-week ultrasound on March 16th. It was really exciting, but the ultrasound tech would not let us take video. She said she would give us all the photos we wanted. The ultrasound itself was great. I could identify the baby's parts on my own at times. I could see the baby's eyes and mouth and even counted the fingers on one of its hands at one point. We held strong in not finding out the gender, and the ultrasound tech told us to look away when we got to that part. She did use a pronoun for the baby at one point, but we aren't sure if that was a generic pronoun, so we are basically calling it nothing. She informed us that she wouldn't put the gender in the chart either, because there was nothing wrong with the sex organs, so there was no need for the doctor to be alerted. So I guess the only one who knows for sure is the tech (and God of course!).

But at the end of the ultrasound, the tech only gave us four pictures, and three of them were really blurry. It was very discouraging, because the ultrasound itself was so clear, and Rachel's 20-week ultrasound pictures were so much better than these, and I don't want our second baby to feel short-changed one day when we look back at the pictures. Even the nurse practitioner admitted the photos the tech had given me were not very good. So I scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound with an independent ultrasound place, which I had been hesitant to do because we are worried about finding out the gender. However, the woman assured me that they are very careful to respect the wishes of parents who do not want to learn the gender, so I thought this would be a great way to give Rachel a chance to see the baby before it is born too.

I also decided to send some feedback to the doctor's office, because I was very discouraged about this ultrasound experience, and I learned that a couple of my friends who go to the same doctor also had a negative experience. So I sent some feedback via the internet form, just generally expressing my disappointment.

I received a call this week from the office offering me a complimentary ultrasound to get some better pictures. They claim the ultrasound machine at that particular office has been having trouble for a while, and they encouraged me to attend the other office. They even offered a 3D ultrasound this time. My appointment was supposed to be Thursday (March 31st), but when I arrived, the waiting room was packed, and I could tell there would be a long wait. Apparently the doctor has been using the machine for a while, so I was the seventh person in line for the tech. I rescheduled for this Thursday (April 7th). I am really eager to go, but I have to be very careful to have the technician hide the gender from me.

On the name front, we have a girl name picked out, but we have decided not to share names before the baby is born. We want to introduce our new baby to our families when they meet him/her for the first time. We are close on a boy name, but Duane is still searching for an Italian boy's name that I actually like. Strange that I (the Italian one in the relationship) don't like any of the Italian boy names. We are pretty sure we have the middle name, but it hinges on the first name, of course.

Rachel is doing really well. Her speech is very clear now, and she is starting to take some interest in the potty, though she still hasn't really gone on the potty. She talks to my belly and pats it sometimes. She tells the baby she loves it. I am not sure she knows what is coming, but I think she will be a great big sister.

Things are busy for both of us on the work front. Duane is traveling a lot for work, and his motorcycle racing season is fast approaching, which means 1-2 weekends a month on my own. It also means baby will be here before we know it! I bought coming home outfits of both genders!

So maybe there has been more going on than I realized...