Still here . . . part 3

This is going to be short and sweet.

I have two reasons for that.

1) Elsie is asleep.

2) Abigail is asleep!

(Therefore, I should be sleeping!)

I'm alive. I ended up having to get my infected cyst drained (yuck) at the ER on Wednesday night. It had gotten significantly worse and I probably should have gone in sooner. Oh well. The draining itself was fairly tramatic, as the ER doctor pretty much did surgery on my left breast while I sat there and watched.

I'm fairly squeamish about these things too.

Elsie and Andrew were waiting for me in the lobby (they don't let kids into hospitals these days) so I was by myself for the procedure. After the drain was pulled on Friday afternoon, I began to feel much better.

The site is still very sore and hasn't healed yet but I don't have the stabbing pain or fevers that came with it before. The redness seems to be clearing up, although keeping a bandage on it is irritating my skin a bit. Oh well.

My apologies if there are tons of mistakes in this post. I am not taking the time to read over any of it because I need to be asleep!

Elsie is only sleeping in 2 (sometimes) to 3 hour stretches and this mommy is tired!

Here is a taste of the fun we've been having around here! :)

Still here . . . part 2!

I guess it is a good thing that I feel good enough to blog today, instead of just lay in bed.

I had two doctor's appointments yesterday. The first was actually for Elsie (who is 10 lbs now and looks great - doc said) at our family physician. I saw him as well since the pain in my infected area had increased and I had very strange temperature fluctuations. He didn't know what else to do for me, so he suggested that I go to see my OB/Midwives.

So after driving down to Finneytown to the doctor, I drove up to Vandalia to the other doctor - with baby in tow the whole time. Anyway, the midwife I saw prescribed a new antibiotic (that was $70!!!! - wowzers!), hot compresses, cabbage leaves, and lots of rest. She told me yesterday that if it hadn't improved by this morning, I was to take myself to the ER in Dayton (where they would treat me).

I didn't ask what they would do for me in the ER but I'm assuming some sort of surgical draining will occur.

This morning rolls around and my temperature has been consistently lower (between normal and 100) so I called the office to see if I could hold off a while. I got the okay from the midwife to not make a trip to the ER for another 24 hours - IF my temperature did not spike above 100 - or if they breast area did not get worse. However, if the breast area has not significantly improved in 24 hours, we're supposed to go to the ER - on Thanksgiving Day. A major bummer. I'm not sure how this will work with my breastfeeding baby.

This thing is like wearing a knife stabbed into my chest 24/7. It is difficult to do things like hold my children and get out of bed. Makes for one guilty feeling mama. I'm so tired of feeling bad at this point. There is no real comfortable position to sleep in. Sleeping on my back is probably the best, but still quite painful.

Well, I'm hoping for significant improvement in the next 24 hours.

We'll see.

P.S. What a HUGE blessing it has been to have my mom here. I have no idea how I would have managed without her here. She has taken care of Abigail constantly from the time she got here (which is when I started feeling bad) and has done lots of cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I am so incredibly blessed to have a mom like her and to have her here at this time!

I'm still here!

I'm still here . . . barely.

On Friday, I started getting a sore spot on one of my breasts and then a cough along with it. It has progressively gotten worse and today my temp hit 102. I finally called the doctor and was prescribed an antibiotic for mastitis.

I may also have a cold, although I'm not sure.

I have to admit though, today I felt absolutely terrible. I haven't felt this sick in years. I remember having the flu right after we were married and I think that's the last time I have had a fever like this.

I'm spending much of my waking hours hoping and praying that I am not passing any bug on to any of my family members, although particularly the two girls. I have been very careful not to touch Abigail without clean hands (and Elsie too) but with breastfeeding, it is hard to keep my distance.

Ugh!

This week!

This week has had its share of moments that were so much easier than I expected and moments that were way more challenging than I expected. Today is my second full day home alone with both girls. It really isn't going too bad. Here are the challenges that I had not expected ahead of time:

- How whiny Abigail would be! This is probably my biggest challenge. She is getting to the place where her verbal skills are good enough to be able to communicate what she wants. However, she still resorts to whining a lot of the time. I know this is just a phase but it is tiring. She doesn't do it in response to the baby really, just when she wants something. I'm not talking about when she was sick either. Whining while that sick is understandable!

- How hard it would be to have Abigail so sick. I hate it when my kid (now kids) are sick but it is even worse when you have a very new baby you are trying to keep healthy. Today is Abigail's second fever free day (I think - she was a little warm last night still) and so I think we're in the clear as far as contagiousness goes.

Here are the things that have gone better than expected:

- Even though I feel like I'm having a slow recovery, with a lot of pain and achy"ness" leftover from the birth, I'm still able to do lots around the house. Laundry doesn't take long and as long as I'm sitting down to do the folding, it doesn't increase my pain. I was also able to make dinner last night (heated up a frozen meal, actually) but that felt good.

- How much I love being home with my girls! I enjoy interacting with both of them and managing the business of the home. I'm looking forward to doing more and more of this when I am able to physically.

Since Andrew has gone back to work, it feels like my "materity leave" is over. Days of staying in bed, not cooking, not cleaning, etc. However, yesterday my mother-in-law took Abigail all day (she spent the night actually) and the day was quite restful and productive. I got a nap in, got to take a bath, did laundry, and cleaned out the dishwasher. All are big accomplishments!

I also keep forgetting that . . .

My mom is still coming to help!!! :) She is coming on Friday and I am so looking forward to her visit! I can't wait for someone else to help entertain Abigail and hold Elsie (I would say "when she is fussy" but that is a pretty rare occurance at this point). Hopefully with her here to help, I can continue to get some sleep during the day.

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Elsie is still doing fairly well at sleeping. She had several 2 to 3 hour stretches last night, which isn't bad. The thing that makes the nights go so much better is when she goes back to sleep easily. When she cries for food, it takes me about 1/2 hour to do the feedings (both sides) diaper change, and swaddling. If she goes back to sleep right away, then I have only lost a little sleep and can head right back to bed. It's when, after that 1/2 hour, and I'm back in bed, if I hear her crying, I know it will take me a while to get her back to sleep.

Okay, sorry for writing a book. Most of this is just for my memories sake. I wish I had written more after Abigail was born so I'm trying to do better this time. I'll hopefully have more interesting things (like pictures) and well written things to post later!

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Oh, and P.S. For some reason I'm having a very difficult time keeping up with all the old blogs I used to read. I may have to go through them and only keep the people I know and the ones that are really interesting. I think I have 1000 unread blogs by this point. Yikes!

Fresh Baby

I thought I'd share the video of Elsie's first few minutes of life. Obviously we didn't film the birth (if we did, I would NEVER share that in a million years - you all wouldn't want to hear me yelling) but Andrew went with Elsie after she was born and getting cleaned up and checked out, while I made my way out of the birthing tub.

Enjoy!

I'm still here!

We've had kind of a rough weekend with Abigail. Her fever broke on Saturday but returned on Sunday and is still lingering today. I called her doctor this morning and he recommended an antibiotic. This will be her first antibiotic ever. I'm kind of sad. I wanted her to never have to have one, unless an extreme situation, but she is pretty uncomfortable and I really do trust her doctor, so I'll be picking that up later.

Today is our first full day home without Andrew. It is 12:20 and so far things have been great. I have really enjoyed spending time with my girls so far. Abigail was a bit of a stinker during lunch but the nap factor (and having a fever) was coming into play.

She has been so sick lately, so I am starting to suspect that her food allergies are playing a bigger role in her health than we previously thought. I have read some about how eating foods that are allergens can suppress the immune system, which would be one reason why she seems to catch every cold that comes along. I decided to try to eliminate one at a time and see if it made any difference. So, I'm starting with wheat.

She had oatmeal and pears for breakfast, a spelt muffin for a snack, and rice, carrots, and peas for lunch. I hope I can keep this up. It will definitely be a challenge! It will be easier once I am physically able to do more (like shopping trips). I'm still a little slow getting around.

Well, both girls are sleeping so I should be too. (What am I thinking. . . blogging during the naps?!)

Daily Update

Boy, my titles are original. Ha! Oh well.

We survived the morning without Andrew. Actually, it went quite well. Abigail is feeling a bit better (more on this later) and so she played most of the morning. Instead of asking to go down for a nap like yesterday, she fought it with all her might today. I got a few loads of laundry done and emptied some trash cans.

Abigail's temp was around 100.6 all morning. The main thing is that she acted WAY better than yesterday. Her appetite is still pretty small but she played and enjoyed watching videos with me this morning. She didn't want to lay on the couch or take a nap. In fact when she laid down for a nap she kept crying and saying "play". Hopefully her body will continue to fight of whatever this nastiness is.

Elsie is still a great baby - except for sleep! I have been tracking her sleep since we've been home and the longest stretch was last night from 5:30 am until 8 am. Of course, I got up at 7:30 am because Andrew had to leave. Most of the time she wakes about every hour or 45 minutes to nurse. Lately she has been difficult to get back to sleep too. I will get her settled in her bouncy seat or crib and go back to bed and 5 minutes later she will be crying. She definitely has her days and nights turned around so I hope they right themselves soon! Last night was the first time that I really felt very overwhelmed and weary during the night. It didn't help that Abigail was up some too. Andrew was with her but I was still awake through it all. Thankfully I have done this before and know it will pass. I just hope it is sooner rather than later.

Okay, I'm off to nap!

Oh my! Part 2

Well, we are dealing with a pretty sick toddler at our place. She had a 100 degree temp when she got up and then proceeded to take a 2 hour nap (from 8 to 10 am). It was at 102.9 when she woke up. The main problem is that her doctor is not in on Thursdays and said they are also very busy tomorrow. Yikes! They suggested we get her checked at an Urgent Care, so we may be heading to one after lunch.

She feels miserable and has just been sleeping, not eating, and watching cartoons (which she rarely does) with Daddy this morning.

We are keeping the girls apart as much as possible. Elsie is staying upstairs today and if I have contact with Abigail, I'm trying to wash as thoroughly as possible before touching her.

My heart is hurting because I want to take care of both my girls but that's hard to do without spreading the germs. I'm so thankful that Andrew is home. Maybe we'll figure out what is up with Abigail later today.

Oh my!

The day started out with Elsie's doctor check-up. I'm happy to report that everything looks great. Her jaundice levels are fine, she is gaining weight back, and everything else checked out. We had a nice relaxing day at home following the appointment.

However, Abigail has been quite whiny and clingy and she felt just slightly hot to me tonight when I put her to bed so I took her temp. It was around 102. Yikes! She has been battling this cough/cold for a long while now. It's sad to say this but I hope it's just an ear infection or some other sort of infection and that she doesn't have a new bug. Poor girl.

We were hoping for a quiet day at home tomorrow but if Abigail wakes with a fever tomorrow, we may be making a run to see her doctor.

I am praying tonight that this is something very minor (maybe she'll wake up fine) and that if it is a bug, it stays away from our new little 3 day-old bug - Elsie. That wouldn't be good. She seems to have been slightly out - of - sorts for a few days now, with weird naps and a bit clingier, so she may have been running a slight fever for a while.

Well, I've got a sleeping baby in my chest and so I'm going to try to turn in early and get a bit more rest tonight. Elsie was up every hour or two last night so I'm hoping for a few good stretches tonight.

Goodnight!

Calm

Things were calm here today! My mother-in-law had Abigail most of the day, which really helped us to relax and sleep when needed! Thank you so much, Susan!

Here is a picture from today!

We had to have Elsie's jaundice levels checked today but the report back is that they are within normal range, so nothing needs to be done. That is wonderful news.

We had a very good day. Elsie had several awake periods where she just sat and looked around at us. So far (knock on wood) she seems to be a very mellow baby. She really doesn't fuss much, except when hungry, and has periods of time where she is just awake.

Abigail seems to be having a little challenge adjusting. She loves the baby and wants to hold and pat her but HATES it when the baby cries. She just howls herself, poor girl. I know she'll get used to it. She is cranky at some small stuff but this is a big adjustment for her.

Well, I'm going to go check on my little family now.

More later!

We're home

Jaime here:

We arrived home at 6:30 pm tonight. Elsie has already eaten twice and is sound asleep so I'm off to do the same. (I've already eaten as well). :)

Abigail is enthralled with her baby sister and wants to hold her hand, pat her, and hold her and gets very upset if she can't do that. We'll have to spend some time doing that tomorrow.

Elsie has to have her blood drawn again tomorrow to check her billirubin levels (jandice) because they think she might look a little jaundice. Hopefully all the eating (and subsequent pooping and peeing) will help her.

We'll post pictures, probably tomorrow, when things calm down a bit.

Elsie's First Pics

Welcome

Andrew here, Jaime is resting comfortably on the bed while feeding the girl. Oh, by the way, the new addition to the family is:

Elsie Joy Schechter
Born on 11/8/2009, 2:53pm
Weight: 9lbs 2.2oz

We arrived at the hospital at 11:10am, got checked into our room at 1:30 (due to a bunch of other people having babies at this birth center), and then pushed out a baby.

Elsie has been eating for 30 minutes straight, I guess it takes a lot to keep 9+ pounds going through the first few hours of (air-breathing) life.

I'll stop now, Jaime will post later, including pictures.

Is it time?

This will be short and sweet, depending when/if another contraction hits. However, I just wanted to write this down, since I can.

I woke up with a mild contraction at 2:30 am. I decided just to try and wait it out in bed so I spent most of the night waking every 30 minutes to a contraction.

I finally got up at 7 am and took a bath. I woke Andrew at 7:45 am to get Abigail (she was awake) and to tell him that I was having some pain.

He made french toast for breakfast and fed Abigail.

They still aren't real close together but are fairly strong. We sent Abigail over to the grandparents because she gets a little freaked out when I have a contraction and I need Andrew to time them (otherwise I could go somewhere else).

We'll see what the day holds!

I forgot

I forgot to mention that my belly is measuring at 41 weeks (hello - big baby!). The midwife said it is just an estimation and still within a normal range. I was told before that I had a lot of amniotic fluid and so that could also be the cause of this size of belly.

No wonder I feel SO HUGE!

39 week appointment

I had my 39 week appointment this morning. I'm actually not 39 weeks until tomorrow, but who is counting. :)

Everything looks good. I'm so thankful!

• Blood pressure normal
• No swelling
• No weight gain (whatsoever- yeah!)
• 3 cm dilated (2 cm last week)
• Baby has now dropped and is engaged and ready to come. The midwife didn't actually give me what "station" the baby was at but from what she said, I would guess it to be a -1 or 0.

So for now, we wait until the little miss decides to come. The appointment took over an hour because she had to leave for a while to deliver a baby. I'm so thankful that my gracious mother-in-law could keep Abigail for me, so I didn't have to worry about her during the wait.

Today is also day #1 of my new job - being a stay-at-home mom. Who knows, this job may last years or may last a few months but I'm planning on enjoying raising my kids without being divided by work, while I can.

Here is a self-portrait I took about two weeks ago. We're going to try to take more pictures this week, with Abigail, if possible. At least I have these self-portraits, just in case she decides to come tonight.

Happy Friday!

This is it!

No, I didn't title this post after the Michael Jackson movie (although it was very good). . . I'm talking about the fact that this is my last day of work.

Scary!

If I think about it too much, I get a little sad, such wonderful people here, so I'm just not thinking about it.

Anyway, I know I'll be back to help out and also I think I may join the MOPS group here, since one is not going at my own church, so I know I'll be around.

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I was immensely blessed last night when the majority of Andrew's family came over and cleaned my house! Seriously! What an amazing gift. Now I can rest and get ready mentally (if that is possible) for the new baby without having to worry about my dirty house. There are still areas that need work (the kitchen! - hello!) but much of the heavy duty stuff is done. I feel like I am one of the most blessed mama's around!

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I feel ready now to have this kid. Much of the time I feel like I want to go ahead an have her now. Everyone in my house is healthy at the moment - Abigail is on the mend from her cold anyway. She hasn't been up at night coughing lately (now that I say that she'll wake up tonight). I have a slightly stuffy nose but I've felt like this for weeks and nothing has come of it. I'm just packing in the vitamins and getting plenty of rest (and praying, lots and lots and lots!).

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Thanks for taking part in my baby poll. That was fun - for me at least. I am looking forward to seeing who wins. I'm also tempted to give out clues about the name - perhaps one a day - but I don't know when to start doing that. I'll have to consult my husband on that one. :)

Have a wonderful day!!!

Baby Poll

So, no baby last night . . . no contractions yet today. Yeah! :) I am taking mercy on my hips and legs and seeing the chiropractor today. I am in such agony at night that I wake up about every hour (seriously). The only thing that relieves the aches in my hips and legs is to get out of bed or to sit up, propped with some pillows. I do both . . . a lot.

Abigail woke up coughing at 5:30 am. Andrew took care of her (thankfully). The unfortunate part is that his alarm goes off at 5:45 am so he missed his last 15 minutes of sleep. He got her cough calmed down pretty fast, though. She slept until about 7:15 am.

I think it would be fun to hear from some of you when you think this baby will come, what her name will be, and how big she will be. So, please leave a comment! :)

Here is my guess/intuition: She'll be born 11/6/2009 @ 2:12 pm. 8 lbs 2 oz, 20 inches long. Ha! I'm not telling you the name though.

Oh, by the way. The person who gets the closest in all categories will win a lunch date with me and baby #2 (maybe Abigail) at the Red Onion (when we feel like getting out) or something of equal value (if you live far away).

Drawing Near

Today was the first day of my last week of work - make sense? Thursday is my last day. I'm trying not to freak out. I hope we made the right decision (I know we did) and that we can live on the meager little budget that I have put forth for my family(with his additional income being counted on).

Trust and faith . . . right?

In other news, Abigail's cold seems to be ever so slightly improving. She still has a nasty cough and runny nose. I am wondering if she'll have a cough until next summer. Seems like she's had one forever. Perhaps staying home with me will help that situation some.

She has also been fairly challenging lately especially when home alone with mama. The girl knows that her mama is physically unable to do much. She has been doing things that have always been off limits in our house (cell phone, remote stealing, etc) and is doing it with an attitude! She grabbed my cell phone from me tonight and when I asked her to bring it back, she yelled at me "no". Oh dear!

She got up a few times at night this past week because of her cough. Thankfully her daddy took those and I was able to stay in bed. I was awake but still it was nice not to have to trudge downstairs and do lifting and fetching of water and cough remedies. I really hope this clears up quickly for her. It would be nice to only have 1 baby awake at night.

The little baby? . . .

I had a few very mild and irratic contractions this morning at work. I was able to still work, think, type, and answer phones so I knew it wasn't the real thing.

However, I did stand up to take one call and . . . .whamo! I was hit by a huge contraction. I thought my legs were going to buckle. It was one of those that hurts clear to your knees. I was sweaty and shaky and it lasted about 1 1/2 minutes.

Then . . . it was done. No more for the rest of the day.

We never really know when she's coming. Contractions could start any time or it could still be weeks (please, please, please - let it still be weeks away - I'm not ready!).

I'm not ready. Babies are so much easier to care for on the inside. I'm not sure I'm ready (or will ever be) for the intense sleepless nights, marathon breastfeeding, and caring for a toddler all at once - and all the emotions that come with that. As uncomfortable as I am right now, being 38 weeks and 3 days, I know what is coming. Yes, a sweet precious baby (who I can't wait to meet) but also lots of work. So, for now, she can take her time.

When I think that she could possibly come tonight - I get very nervous!

Okay, I'm off for my regular bath and bed routine. I have noticed much more significant leg pain and cramps at night if I don't take a bath before bed. I won't get this luxury much longer (for a few months anyway) so I'm enjoying these nightly baths.