Advice for New Moms

I went to a baby shower for my friend today. We were supposed to bring our best advice. I wrote mine on a scroll. Since I have about 101 pregnant friends, I thought I would post my thoughts...
Here it is as best as I can remember (plus some).

* The day you have your baby will be one of the coolest days ever!
* Take your makeup to hospital. You'll want to feel pretty while you're there.
* Lots of people will see your business. You won't care. Use the mirror - it's cool.
* Don't be a wimpy pusher. They'll tell you "push like you're pooping!" Gross, I know.
* Right when he comes out, that's cue for hubby to start snapping pics and taking videos. You'll want to see them and remember all those special moments.
* While Dad is following the baby around while he's being weighed and checked, the doc will be delivering your placenta and maybe stitching you up. You'll be so proud.
* The baby is gonna look a little funny. Don't worry. His head will go back to normal and the nurse will wipe all the goo off.
* When you take pictures in the hospital bed, sit as strait up as possible and stick your chin out to avoid the double chin.
* His first poop will be black and sticky.
* Your first poop will probably be scary (especially if you tore).
* Around Day 2 you might start to feel a little sad. You might cry and cry. It's ok. It's normal, and it only lasts a couple weeks.
* Nurses are awesome. They'll give hugs if you need one and hubby isn't there.
* Steal as many of the fake hospital panties as you can. (Just ask, and the nurses will give you lots). They're sexy ~ fish net!
* Take all the meds for your area, too. Make an epi-foam/tucks sandwich in your fancy fish net underoos.
* Also take the bulb syringe (booger sucker-outer), and little baby brush - they're better than what you buy. And all the diapers, too. You'll need them.
* You might cry when you leave the hospital. It's ok. I did, too.
* After a couple days your boobs are going to be huge. You'll look like a porn star. Take pictures. (Wear a swim suit or something so you don't really become a porn star).
-----A note to the husband: No, you may not touch the boobs. I know they look awesome, but they're not for you anymore. They hurt. And no, you may not touch that either. Try back in 6, no, 8 weeks. Have a nice sabbatical.-----
* Baby penises are cute, unlike their older counterparts (no offense, dudes). Take care of it - Vaseline in a tube is great. Wash with water (no soap) too.
* Doctor's Orders: take two months off. Keep the baby away from creepers. Make people wash their hands if you want them to hold him.
* Let people help you! Whether it be watching the baby so you can sleep, or bringing you dinner. People love to help a new mom.
* Being a mom is the hardest job in the world. BUT, it is the most important job in the world. And the most rewarding job in the world. You can do it!
* You are going to be exhausted. You will think you are never going to get a full night's sleep again, but you will. And you don't even have to wait 18 years. (They just have to be both 2 months and 10 pounds to make it through the night). It will take work, though.
* Don't use baby powder - it goes in their lungs. BUT, you can put it on after sunscreen to avoid sand sticking at the beach.
* You also don't need to buy those fancy bags for dirty diapers. Just use produce bags from the store.
* Diaper cream that comes with an applicator is awesome. BUT, it was my idea 5 years ago and someone stole it, so give me some credit.
* Even if your baby is dressed in blue or green, he will be called a girl. He's just pretty. It's ok.
* If you ever think your baby has been possessed by the devil, he is most likely teething. Try some Tylenol and Baby Orajel. (If it's not teeth, it could be an ear infection or maybe acid reflux).
* Boys are noisy. It's ok - that's why they're so cool. Girls are actually really noisy too, but their squeals are often so high-pitched only dogs can hear them.
* Always have a snack with you. Always.
* Cargo pants may make you look like a granola hippy, but you can put all your stuff in them: phone, keys, 4 packs of fruit snacks, a binky, and a granola bar.
* Practice running in all sorts of shoes on all sorts of terrain. A good place to start is stilettos on grass.
* Remember, you can do it! You're little baby is a gift from Heavenly Father and you will be so blessed from all your hard work. Being a mom is awesome. Welcome to the club.

Time passes so fast. Take every day in and enjoy every moment, even in the middle of the night when you wish you were asleep. There will be a time when you wish your Kindergartner would let you just hold him and rock him. They grow up so fast!

Week in Review

(I know it's not a great picture, but you can see his cute face and blue eyes...)

In a comment Dani asked how I was holding up, so I'm going to tell you. We're alive. All of us, which I think is pretty dang good!

Ben's been back at work for over a week. The day he went back to work was the first day my headaches were better. (Thanks to a tip my mom got to drink 2 liters of water in one sitting, followed by caffeine). It would only hurt if I bent down to pick up a toy or something. Now they're totally gone!

Lucas has been watching entirely too many movies, but that's just how it's gonna be until we can get out more. And I don't think we'll be getting out much with RSV and seasonal flu starting. My doctor told me to be really mean and make sure I witness people wash their hands before they touch him, so doctor's orders: I have to be a meanie - sorry.

Lucas got a cold and passed it onto Evan while my mom was still here. We're still battling sickness, but now Lucas has ear infections and a sore throat, and last night Ben and I got sore throats. Evan seems uncomfortable, but I don't know if it's gas or if he's sick. He's still got boogers in his nose that I have to try to suck out every night, which isn't fun. I can't wait until we're all healthy!! The biggest challenge has been getting Lucas to take his meds. It stresses me out to no end. Yesterday after bribing, threatening, trying to force, he finally took it by himself, so I thought we were good. Last night I eventually hid it in tapioca pudding, which worked. This morning he wouldn't eat his pudding. grrrrr. I'm off to buy OJ soon.

Evan has his two week checkup this week. Here are his stats compared with Lucas's:
Evan at 4 days:
8 lb 15 oz (80%)
20 7/8" (85%)
head: 36.6 (70%)

Lucas at 3 days:
7 lb 13 oz (25%)
21 1/2" (90%)
head: 34 (25%)

Evan at 18 days:
10 lb 8 oz (90%)
22" (90%)
head: 38.3 (52%)

Lucas at 14 days:
9lb 7 oz (75%)
21 7/8" (80%)
head: 38.8 (75%)

So, Evan is quite the big boy. He looks great, though, and is very cute. He has reached the stage where he gets a bit cranky at night due to his underdeveloped nervous system, so getting him to relax between 9 and 11pm is a challenge.
Evan loves the bath tub and the shower, and he is starting to like the swing, but he much prefers being held. The only thing better than being held for him is eating, at which he is obviously a trooper.
Let's see... Ben has been working his bum off and probably got less sleep this week than I did because he's been dealing with Lucas waking up, plus staying up late to work on freelance. Hopefully he can get some good rest this weekend. I think we'll spend V-day staying home trying to recover. Maybe we'll hold hands at some point when we're not wiping boogers from our kids.

Oh, and I forgot to mention my Bad Mom move of the week. Thursday morning Lucas got up a bit before me. I assumed Ben fed him breakfast because he kind of smelled like cereal, so I never asked the poor kid if he had eaten. At 10:00 we headed to the fire station for a tour and he asked for a snack. I told him to wait, but finally buckled and stole some fruit snacks from Jeana while we were on our tour. When I talked to Ben later he said he didn't feed Lucas breakfast either... good one, Mom. Poor kid. I guess he just has sweet smelling morning breath!

Sleeping Boys

Welcome...

EVAN THOMAS!
9 lbs. 1 oz & 20 inches long

Sorry for the huge delay in the blog post -- things have been a little crazy!
Let's start with last week... (if you feel like reading a short novel)
Monday night my mom was supposed to get in at 11:30, but instead was delayed a few hours, so I retrieved her from the airport at 1:40am.
Tuesday we went to my last OB appointment and he stirred some things up for me, so I was hoping to go into labor on Wednesday. Instead I was sore all day and ran around at the park trying to put myself into labor. I pulled lots of muscles that I still feel :).
Thursday morning Ben and I headed to the hospital for my induction at 6:00. It was early and dark. Ben wasn't happy that we had to be there so early. I drove while Ben shaved.
7:30 - I was hooked up to my IV and learning how to use the interweb on the TV, dilated to 5 cm. The nurse said, "We'll have a baby by lunch! If not, by 3:00 for sure."
8:00 - they had started my pitocin to get contractions going stronger. At 8:30 the doctor came in and broke my water, making contractions even stronger. He said he be back at lunch to get the baby out.
8:45 - I was hurting and asked for my epidural.
9:15 - epidural in place.
9:45 - still not fully numb. Nurse says anesthesiologist can come try again.
9:45 - nurse checks me b/c baby's heart rate is telling her something. Dilated to 10. Game time. Call Mom and tell her to come. Call anesthesiologist and tell him never mind.
9:50 - A whole crew of nurses come in with all sorts of carts and equipment. Oh, it really is game time! Mom won't make it in time. Doctor shows up way before lunch.
9:59 - All prepped ready to push. Doctor ready to catch baby. Push through two contractions.
10:04 - Evan is born.

They put him right up on my tummy and we were all amazed at his size. Evan immediately started putting his hands in his mouth. They eventually took him off to weigh, measure, and scrub goop off. When he came back he was ready for some grub. We were delighted to meet our new little man.

It was seriously such a wonderful experience. I know it's gross and bloody and messy, but still so cool. Best feeling in the world!

My mom got there around 11:00 to meet the little man. She left Lucas with Jeana and he came back later in the afternoon. Lucas was excited to meet his new brother. He told me, "Thank you, Mom! And you're not fat anymore!" After meeting the baby, Lucas enjoyed juice from the nourishment room along with movies on his DVD player and library books.

Thursday night Wendy and Blair stopped by. Ben and Blair were gonna take the kids out for dinner, but he decided instead to go put Lucas in bed. He was exhausted. Mom and I stayed at the hospital and had a fun night of remembering life with a newborn.
Because of his weight, Evan had to have his sugar levels checked a lot. His poor little heels have about 12 poke marks on them. He always did great, though. He also tested Coombs positive (because my blood is O- and his is A+), which meant he was much more likely to develop jaundice. So, he had to be tested for that also, but instead of a heel prick, they had to get blood from his little baby veins, so he has a little bruised hand and bruised foot now. Poor baby.

Anyhow, Friday was a new day and Mom and I slept in the room until about 8:45. We had no windows, which was weird, but allowed us to pretend it was night time. Evan continued to poop and pee like a rock star and did well on his blood tests. That afternoon the Rothes came to see us and then Ben and Mom took Lucas out to dinner while I stayed at the hospital. Lucas was crying when he left and that of course made me cry. Welcome to town, Baby Blues. I cried a lot that night, but the nurses were really nice to me. Later I was so relieved when Ben walked in the door to stay the night. It was nice to have him to cuddle with when the nurses took Evan away for more tests. Ben watched a movie while I slept and I'm sure he slept great on his little bed.
That night my awesome nurse offered to take Evan for me so I could get a nap in. He just didn't want to sleep in his own bed, so she took him from about 2-5am, which was great. Apparently he enjoyed listening to Michael Jackson at the nurses station.
Saturday Evan had more tests. My doctor came to release me. I told him that I had a headache and the meds weren't helping. I neglected to tell him about how it was better when I would lie down... I really thought it was from all the crying and didn't think too much of it.
Evan was released from the hospital as long as I agreed to bring him back Sunday for another blood test to check his jaundice. Agreed - 10:00, Sunday.
Ben, Lucas, and I headed home. Mom took the other car to IKEA, where she luckily didn't get too lost, and then to the grocery store.
Evan decided that night he preferred to be in bed with me as opposed to the portable crib next to my bed. I got more sleep that way, though.

Sunday morning we got up to take Evan to the hospital. I immediately knew then that my headache was much more serious that I previously thought. By this point it had started down my neck and shoulders. I called my doctor and he agreed that it sounded like I had a complication with my epidural, where they punctured through to the spinal fluid resulting in a leak. No spinal fluid = pain. So, my doctor arranged for us to all be treated in the ER. The anesthesiologist performed a blood patch, where they draw blood from your arm and put it in your back really close to the original epidural spot. The blood clots the hole and replaces the fluid giving often instant relief.

I felt better after. By that night I was feeling great, aside from the backache.

Monday morning I woke up to get Evan to his doctor's appointment. I was getting ready when suddenly something happened and the headache was back instantly.
Ben and I continued to the doctor, who said Evan looked grrrrreat, and I called my doctor on the way home. I told him I would try to manage it with pain meds for the day and call him in the afternoon. When I talked to him again he said I probably needed to come back in to the ER, but he would leave it up to me.
By 9:00pm I couldn't take it anymore and Mom and I headed to the ER. We were there from 10:00 - 1:30am. Another doctor performed the same procedure, but poked me twice due to bad placement the first time. This time I felt immediate relief. The had me lie down flat and raised me up slowly over the course of an hour. On the way home Mom and I pulled over at a car dealership to feed Evan and we made it home around 2am.
Tuesday I stayed in bed most of the day to try to avoid screwing up my back again. Staying in bed is lame. TV stinks. I found myself wanting to watch Dora and Arthur even though Lucas wasn't in the room. Ben took Lucas to a free class at Gymboree and they had lots of fun.
Last night Evan slept the best he has thus far. From 12:00 - 3:00 in his bed, then I fed him in my bed and put him back in his bed where he slept again from 6:00 - 8:30. His favorite new place to sleep is on the Love Sac. Who can blame him? He likes to sleep with his arms up around his face, and he's so cute!
Today has been a good day. My back still hurts, but not as bad as yesterday. I'm still trying to take it easy. Mom and Lucas went with Jamie and Anna to another class at Gymboree - a music class this time. I think it was a little noisy for Mom, but she survived. Lucas came home with a new cool puzzle that he enjoys.
Well, I guess that's about it... We're doing well. I'm so grateful to our wonderful friends and family who have supported us during this transition. My mom has been such a trooper, as has Ben. I couldn't have survived without them.
We'll keep you posted as we keep growing big and strong!

Flashback to July

My dad emailed me this picture the other day. It's from back in July when we bought the CR-V in ABQ and drove her home to Austin. I was 12 weeks pregnant and all I can think when I see this picture is "wow, what waist definition!" I forgot what it's like not to have a belly...

Speaking of the belly. The other night we had some friends over and I was lying on the floor. Lucas wanted me to get something off a shelf for him and I whined a little and told him to ask Dad. He went over to Ben and said, "Dad, are you fat?"
Apparently I've used the excuse, "I'm too fat!" a little too much lately. But it's true - things are harder with the belly!

More Adventures...

We've had a few adventures the past couple of weeks, so I'll get you caught up.
First off, Lucas generally doesn't take naps in his bed anymore. I can only get him to nap if he falls asleep in the car. Then I just park the car in the garage with the windows rolled down and the door open to the house, and I try to nap on the Love Sac until he wakes up. Sometimes we can bring him in and he'll fall asleep again on the Love Sac. He's very cute...

On another note, we're planning on losing the binkies after Christmas. He only uses them when he's sleeping, but he loves them and it breaks my heart a little to take them away. Let me know if you have any advice... poor little boy.

Last weekend we went to the San Antonio Temple. We got a couple cute shots of Lucas there. He mostly was excited to find nuts on the ground and have me step on them with the heel of my shoe. He also liked playing in the fountain.

This past Saturday we had wonderful weather so we decided to take a trip to Mt. Bonnel - the highest point in Austin - at a towering 785 feet. Basically you "hike" up lots of stairs to get to the top, where you enjoy a beautiful view. We had a little picnic and then walked around. It really was pretty and Lucas loved looking down onto the lake and watching the boats go by, wishing he could go for a ride. On the other hand, Ben and I looked down at the multi-million dollar houses and wished we could have one of those.

Pretty, right? Check out the shadows of the birds on Lucas in the shot on the bottom left. Pretty freaky looking...

And that's about it. Now we're preparing for our trip to Florida this weekend. We'll be driving - two days in the car - a toddler, a pregnant lady, and Ben. It's sure to be an adventure. We plan to spend a day at Clearwater Beach, Disney World w/ my mom and dad, and the rest of the time we'll be at my Grandma's farm outside of Gainesville. I haven't been in 10 years, so I'm really excited to go see where I spent the majority of my childhood vacations!

As far as a baby update.... I 'm 30 weeks now - 10 more and we'll have 2 kids! I feel fat, but I know it's gonna get so much worse. I passed my glucose test with flying colors, had my shot for being RH negative, and enjoy feeling this kid break dance inside of me. Lucas likes to talk to him through my belly button, "the baby's inside that hole" he says.
In other news, we were looking on Family Search the other night for cool family names. Instead, we discovered that genealogy work has been done for one of the lines in Ben's family all the way back to the year 6 AD. Insane, right? He's also related to Charlemagne, King Henry I, and royalty from practically every other European country. Pretty cool. We didn't find a baby name, though.

Name Game

Anyone have any cool baby boy name suggestions? We only have a few months to decide (but if I were Andrea, I would only have a week)!
Leave a comment :).

Thomas, Painting, and ACL - a big fat 200th post

Alrighty then, it's time for some updates on this blog.
Lucas has been sick now for about a week and a half. I took him to the doctor last week suspecting H1N1 -- in the back of my head fearing that I would get it, be put on bed rest, steal my mom from the rest of my family, have to deliver early so I wouldn't die, etc. Luckily, Lucas tested negative for flu and strep. Friday night he woke up croupy, but we all managed through the night so that we could go see Thomas the Train Saturday night.
We bought tickets a few weeks ago and if Lucas filled out his chart, Thomas was his reward. Lucas was a trooper and got a star every single day. We drove 1.5 hours to Burnet where the big event was being held. It was a little cold, but it was fun to bundle up.
We had an hour to kill when we got there before our train ride. So, we got to play with toy trains, stamps, a little petting zoo, and a hay maze. Finally at boarding time Ben and Lukie went to get in line and I headed to the HEB right next door. (We weren't about to pay an extra $20 so all three of us could ride). I did some shopping for Sunday dinner AND managed to get a flu shot all before they even departed. After their 20 minute ride, we hung out for a few more minutes at the little petting zoo. Lucas was quite intrigued by the little bull's nether regions (as were some parents who were less educated in livestock), but Lucas still tried to feed him lots of hay that he stole from the hay maze.
We then headed to a small-town diner where Lucas just about lost it due to exhaustion. By 7:30 we were on the road and Lucas was asleep. AND he slept until 7:30 Sunday morning!

Monday night for family night Ben was brave enough to venture into the craft drawer and get out the watercolors. Lucas enjoyed painting more than any other crafty thing we've ever done. One of his masterpieces is hanging on the fridge now. My face (and his face) became his other canvas.

And let's see... I'm 25 weeks now with BBB2. Things are going well. My only complaints are that my hip hurts and that I wake up 3 times to go to the bathroom at night. I think it's Heavenly Father's way of helping you get used to waking up three times to feed a baby. Here's what I look like now, as well as a pic from a year ago. Remember when I was blond?

In other news, I had a really rough couple of weeks when Lucas decided to stop taking naps. I've decided to accept it now and move on. After all, an 8:00 bedtime is more fun than a 9:00 bed time.
Ben's childhood BFF, Chris, came to visit and attend the Austin City Limits Festival. They had a great time together. They got to see Kings of Leon, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, and many other bands. Sunday night when they got home from PJ at 11:00, they were as giddy as 10 year old boys. They stuck a pizza in the oven, ate other junk and played video games until 4:00am. When Ben finally made it to bed my last words of the night were, "You're such an idiot." He agreed, and was exhausted the next day, but wouldn't take that time back for anything.

The first pic is from Day 1, which was dry. The second is from Day 3, after it rained for 2 days. It was a muddy nightmare at Zilcher Park (that brown stuff in the background used to be beautiful grass).

Future Soccer Mom

Well, folks, the results are in. Lucas will indeed have a baby brother! I am destined to a life at the soccer/baseball/football fields... and hopefully the swimming pool, too. (These boys will have perfect swimmers bodies, you know).
Ben, Lucas and I went to the doctor this morning for the ultrasound. Lucas sat on the floor and quietly watched a DVD while the doctor did the ultrasound. Ben and I watched big globs move around on the tv screen and occasionally recognized what appeared to be a head, hand, or foot. It was quite obvious that he was a boy once we got to that part of his body. The doctor actually thought it was a boy when I had an ultrasound at 12 weeks, so I wasn't too surprised.
Lucas didn't really pay much attention to the ultrasound - Word Factory was much more interesting.
This whole time Lucas has been saying that the baby was a girl named Ella. And when I said it might be a boy, he said it would be a boy named Ella. When we went out to the car we told him that the baby was indeed a boy, he then proclaimed that he needed a snack. Later he asked what that boy's name was gonna be - glad to see we've moved past Ella.
Today I am 21 weeks, 3 days along, and the average of all the measurements were exactly 21 weeks & 3 days, he was also 45th percentile, which is good. His little heart, umbilical cord, hands, lips, and nose, are all perfect. I'm sure he'll be a supermodel when he comes out.
After the doctor, we headed to IKEA to return some stuff, then headed home/work. After lunch I became a real actress. More on that later....

Pink or Blue???

We find out the baby's gender in two weeks from today. You can take the poll to the left to tell me what you think we're having.

On another note, I got to hang out with these fine folks last night:
Clay and Andrea were kind enough to let Wendy and me tag along for a visit to the NICU to meet the babies. I got to scrub in like a fancy doctor, watch Clay change the sweetest little poopy diaper, and hold the cutest 3 pounds ever. The boys are very attractive, just like their parents; although, they're a little more wrinkly. You should see their legs - so cute!

My Life....

will never be the same again... arriving Jan 2010.