Stork'd

For The Record...

2010-07-09T07:07:55Z

Oh, Hello blog! The health news edition.

2010-07-01T05:07:53Z

Egads, I didn't even update for Finn's 4 month check up. Well, I can do so now, since I have the follow-up news.

The kid is growing well. 15 pounds 5 oz at his check up, 24.5 inches long and looking healthy and more happy than when I saw her at the 2 month check up. Alas, he had a small heart murmur that we had to go see a cardiologist for.

Going out of town immediately after you get that kind of news is no fun. I sort of shut down from the intarwebs both because I knew I'd try to research it to death and I was super busy packing for 4 people for a week long trip. It took a lot of self restraint to keep myself from overreacting about the need for a cardiologist appointment and it was on my mind a lot. Almost three weeks later we had the appointment, today. The prognosis is good. They think it is merely a functional murmur and everything looks great with his heart..

I actually had an internal conversation with Finn where I had him tell me nothing was wrong and that there was nothing to worry about. I know it sounds silly, but it helped. I think the ultrasound gal looked at me a bit strangewhen I talked to Finn about it while she was working.

I'm continuing to lose weight, but VERY slowly. I haven't kept up with weight watchers, but when I am mindful I can make it with the loss for the week. I have lost 20 pounds since I started almost 3 months ago. I am having more energy these days, which is good, without having to take a nap every afternoon, too!

Everything Old Is New Again... And Stored On Your SD Card

2010-06-08T07:06:24Z

One of the downsides of taking pictures of your kids with a mobile phone camera is that between the fact that your kids are never sitting still or rarely take direction well, and that most mobile phone cameras suck as taking pictures in lower light or when the subjects is moving, wiggling, running, flailing or generally inable to hold still, you get a lot of blurry or not very good pictures as a result.

So if you are going to be stuck taking grainy or blurry shots, why not capitalize on it and give them an artsy/retro look at the same time. Between the iPhone and Android, there are a whole slew of camera apps that "antique" your pictures to make them look like they came from an old Polaroid, or a pinhole camera, or an old disposable instamatic. So with the new phones we found ourselves with, it was time to try on the "hip" filter and see how our kids looked. And the verdict? We won't win any Pulitzers, but they are fun little pictures then you see them in a new light.

Finn and the Killer Smile

2010-06-08T07:06:55Z

Now that we've weathered the storm that was Colic, we are entering a sunny patch in Finn country, where the beaming smiles are out. Oh, what a lovely change it is. Now, if we can only buy a little time between the end of Colic and the beginning of Teething, we might be able to have a patch of pure, smiling-infant bliss.

All that comes after

2010-05-27T09:05:05Z

Finn: Three and a half months old and we are finally getting a sleep schedule. At least for now (ie the past three days) Finn has gone to bed between 9:30-10, slept until 3:30 (or slept and woke and put himself back to sleep), had a bottle and slept until about 6:30-7. I can really feel the difference. He's still a bit cranky in the afternoons, but when I'm not ead on my feet, I can cope with a little crying. Weighed the boy last week and he was 14 pounds! He's working his 3-6 month clothes. I totally love it.He's taking his mid-morning nap now so I get a chance to write and do other things I need or want to get done.

Ingrid: Geeze, she is getting so big. Compared to Finn she's a monster. Compared to most 2.75 year olds she's a monster. She's as big if not bigger than all the 3 year olds in her YMCA class. That's okay, we like Amazonian women in this household. She is thinking she is out of the nap game lately, but the day I decided to indulge her she passed out on her Backyardigans couch in the living room for 1.5 hours. She woke up a right crank, too. When she's in her room she usually sleeps from 2-3 hours. She's almost done with her Y class for the summer and I'm really looking forward to taking her over to the development pool for some splashing. I also hope that we can manage some playgroups with the Y kids this summer. We've already got 1 birthday party and a tentative playdate set up with 1 family.

Post-Partum: I've been working on taking off all this baby weight now that we're out of the baby making game. I can't say that it is easy, but it is easier than I expected it was going to be. I really like Weight Watchers, but I'd warn anyone that was going to use it that you do have to be diligent, though they give you room for error. I'm feeling much more awake having gotten a few nights of decent rest, though last night it was Peter that was keeping me awake at times, tossing and turning. I'm looking forward to summer, but not to the oppressing heat that comes along with it.

Oh, Gravity... How You Tyrannize Us When We Are Young

2010-05-02T12:05:30Z

Finn is making a valiant struggle against the forces of Gravity, but it is certainly hard work for a boy of nearly three months

Mash-up

2010-04-05T03:04:30Z

Has a month really gone by so quickly? I guess so. Time tends to do that to you when you don't get much sleep.

First of all, I just want to preface all I say here with, I really love my children and my husband. My life would be far drearier without them and they each bring me certain joys that I would never be able to have without them.

Okay, now that that's said... Can I have some sleep please? Finn's the colicy one. I get frustrated because to me it's obviously colic, but people always want to find a fix for it. I want a fix for it, too, but there is no cure for colic besides time. No, I don't enjoy listening to a child scream for several hours a day. Finally I am starting to be able to close my ears to it since I can't do anything about it. I could shove a nipple in his mouth, but feeding a baby 24x7 is not a great idea and making him sleep in the day just because I don't want to listen to crying does no one any favors at night.

Finn is eating a lot and growing a lot. He's in 0-3 month clothes now instead of newborn, which is cool.

Ingrid is doing so well with Finn, but she's really started in on the terrible two's. Everything is NO NO NO NO! It was really making me mad until I read that that's a child's first response, but if you give them time to think they often are more amenable. I've been very zen about it the last 2 days.

I have been fighting off, or not fighting off as the case may be, sick after sick. First I got a UTI. Then, my dad came at the end of February and we all got sick for a few days and it made a wave through the household. last week I had an intestinal bug that knocked me completely down for a day, to the point that I didn't take Ingrid to pre-school because I couldn't get up and get her ready to go. So Easter brings on another UTI which I caught early enough that I could go to the walk-in clinic instead of to the ER at 3am. Last night with the no sleep my throat started to hurt and has continued into today. Today starts the period resuming.

I have not been pregnant for less than 2 months and it's back? Really, come on now. Gimme a break, body! :(

I do not recommend having 2 children within 2.5 years of each other, but I wouldn't trade my kids for the world, either.

Long Overdue (oh, the irony!)

2010-03-22T08:03:57Z

Well, it's been 5.5 weeks since Finn made his appearance and it feels like 5 years and a week at the same time. I was really worried about him for the first few weeks on account of his jaundice and being early and the like. He recovered from that well with some formula feeding and some sun exposure. Then I was on antibiotics that and formula fed him some more. He was so sleepy early on. At week 2 my dad came into town. Then we all got sick. The fevers, the snotty noses, the hacking coughs. I was surprised that mine only lasted a couple of days. I was really worried about Finn for a few days when I was waking up every 30 minutes to suction out his nose. Well, okay, so I wasn't waking up, I was already awake. That lasted a few days but when I started to see improvement, I was happy. Two and a half weeks later, Ingrid finally was used to my dad enough to play with him, just in time for him to leave 4 days later. My dad got home with pneumonia.

Now my dad is gone, we all feel better, and the days have been lovely. we had 3 days of 70+ degree weather and even though today it's raining, it's supposed to be warm again. Ingrid and Finn are keeping me pretty busy and what little time I'm not busy with them, I'm either knitting or trying to sleep. I should just be trying to sleep.

I've given up on exclusively breastfeeding. He's just not satisfied with it and I get NO sleep. We're doing formula at night and a little in the day. Ingrid has been really funny about the breastfeeding stuff. Yesterday she found my hand breastpump and started trying to use it on herself. Then she used it as a trumpet. Then she wanted to put my breastpads on. I got some Lilypads, the reusable silicone shields that make you not leak milk all over.

When I got the lilypads, I also stocked up on some overdue items. I got Ingrid some larger shiurts and stretchy pants. She hates jeans. I also got Finn an infant and toddler rocking chair. he's currently in it having a bottle. I have also put him in the Baby Bjorn for shopping. it's nice to have options.

I got a chance to clean the living room a bit yesterday and feel less crazy about being in here. I put almost all of Ingrid's toys in her playroom, except books and a magnetic drawing pad. She still manages to make a mess, but not a complete disaster area.

The natives are getting restless so I have to cut this short.

Oh HAI, World!

2010-02-21T01:02:32Z

Birth story part 1 (not for the queasy)

2010-02-19T02:02:59Z

So, as many of you know, the like 3 people that read this, I mean ;) we has the storm of the century here in Maryland last week. It started on Friday the 5th and blasted us over the weekend. We dug ourselves out and then got hit again on Monday the 8th. It was about 5 feet of snow total and the second threw/blew about 3 feet of snow along our whole street. We're at the back part of the culdesac, so it was a block worth of 3 feet of snow.

On Tuesday Peter dug out the jeep for a just in case, and since I heard we were going to get hit again I slowly and without strenuous strokes, dug out my car, since he wasn't planning on doing it. I then parked the cars both in our driveway. The blizzard was ferocious but blew over on Wednesady evening and Thursday was clear. I did some minor house picking up, but even scooting around the kitchen on my desk chair and bending slightly to get stuff wiped off the floor was apparently too much. .. Cue the mayhem.

I went upstairs with Ingrid to put her down for her nap as Peter was getting on a call at about 2pm. As I was sitting there reading her a story, it felt like I wet my pants slightly and I jumped up to go to the bathroom. There was a pink tinge and they always tell you to call the doc if that happens, so I did. I got through to the RN at about 2:25pm and she said to lay down do a kick count, call back in an hour or if there was red blood. After my hour, everything was okay but I had instructions to call/ go to the hospital if I had red blood. Within the hour I dropped my mucus plug. It's a pretty disgusting thing that I didn't really experience before. Last time since my everything came out at once while in labor and I was too busy trying tro not push Ingrid out on the floor to notice what all was there.

I had Peter call and schedule a cab while I got downstairs, because our car was blocked by several feet of snow deep and about 40 feet in length to the nearest open space. He helped me walk through that 3 feet of snow for a block so that the cab could get to us and sent me on my way to Frederick Memorial Hospital alone while he tried to figure out how to deal with the situation and Ingrid.

I got to the hospital at 5pm and checked in at the registration desk. They wheeled me back to Labor and Delivery Triage where I'd had my stay when my knee went out. They hooked me up to the monitors and finally had enough data by 5:30 to let me walk. They told me to walk for 30 minutes and come back to get checked. While I was standing at the locked door knocking, my water broke. Not the gush and splash like last time, but the I feel like I just uncontrollably peed myself kind. They had me clean myself up, and a gal came over from Labor and Delivery and took me to a real room.They checked me and I was 3cm dialated.

I was starting to fret. It was 6pm, Peter hadn't figured out to do with Ingrid and I felt like I was going to be going through the whole process alone or over the phone or something. I laid down and didn't want to get up for the life of me. I think that's partially why it went so fast the last time. I was standing all through labor. While he and I were on the phone at about 7pm, his boss's wife called and offered to watch Ingrid. He still had to sort the logistics. He had to get he and Ingrid to the hospital which involved lugging a stay bag, a toddler and a carseat a block through the snow in order to get to a taxi to bring him to the hospital and Kim would meet him there and get Ingrid. I think he arrived around 9pm and Kim showed up a little bit after. That taken care of, he could focus on helping me focus. I think it was either right before he got there, or while he was out handing off Ingrid that a nurse came in and checked my cervix again and said it was 5 1/2, but then immediately left got another nurse to check me who said I was 7-8 cm dialated. Um, big difference folks! And shoving your hand in a laboring woman's vagina is not the most comfortable thing to do to her, so you might want to get someone who can do it right the first time, eah? Peter was a good coach, again and helped me breathe through the contractions. At a little after 11pm the contractions changed flavor. They were lower numbers on the monitor, but way higher intensity and so I knew he was coming, when I started muttering and crying about just wanting them to stop. I told the nurse that he was coming and she checked my cervix (the same one that got 5 1/5 when I was 7-8) and said I was at 7. Then she left the room. I really wish people would listen to me. I felt movement. I had Peter call the nurse and as they were out there not believing me, I had a huge surge and I felt him push down the birth canal and Peter saw him crowning. They rushed in, the nurse held him in! until the doctor could get into the room and I was trying to hold back. With that big surge, I shat all over the table. It's the grosest feeling.

More later since this has taken me 5 days to write...

So much for that! Welcome Finn!

2010-02-14T12:02:49Z

Went ahead and gave birth to the little man, a month early, on the tail end of one of the biggest blizzards I've ever seen. I had to walk through 3 feet deep snow to get to the hospital. How many people get to say that? I'll type out the whole grueling ordeal after Ingrid goes for her nap aI get a little housework done.There's a mountain of laundry, a large pile of dishes, and far too much recycling in the entryway because services were pretty much not all last week.

Another task taken care of

2010-02-08T04:02:34Z

I finally got the guest bedroom situated the way that I want it, and the final steps are to get the box of old girl baby clothes and my filing box downstairs, vacuum the floor, and buy a blanket for the bed (it has sheets).

I've been really irritated that I can't do too much. If I do a lot of activity I start having contractions. I'm not willing to give birth before Feb 27th at the earliest. My dad will be here by then to help take care of Ingrid.

Thirty Days And Counting: Time For The Predictions

2010-02-06T03:02:28Z

With less than a month to go before our newest arrival makes his debut, the wild speculations in the household have been flying. My wife and I decided to put our money where our mouths were and post them online to see who gets the most victory points come D-Day. What the winner of our running bet will get is still up for debate, but the gauntlet is definitely thrown down.

Our Prediction Categories:

Date our child is born
Time of day our child is born
Number of hours in labor
How much he weighs
Hair color
Eye Color
Eyebrows (Daddy's or Mommy's)
Torso Length
Whether Mom gets pooped on in the delivery room (Ingrid set the benchmark)

According to Mom:

March 2, 2010
Around 8:30 pm
1.5 hours from contractions to delivery
8 lb., 4 oz.
Hazel
Blonde (Black at birth)
Mom's eyebrows
21.5" long
Gets pooped on

According to Dad:

March 3, 2010
Around 2:30 pm
3 hours from contractions to delivery
8 lb., 10 oz.
Brown
Brown
Dad's eyebrows
22.5" long
No poop, but possibly peed on

More things crossed off the to do list

2010-01-30T05:01:57Z

This morning I went on a recon mission. I have been looking for inexpensive bed options. I popped over to Ollie's and found a twin set and a twin matress. Two beds for 450 is not so bad. The mattress only I will be putting on Ingrid's bed so that she has a filled frame, once I can get to the store to get some twin sheets. Of course, right now, we have several inches of snow on the ground and it was so slick coming back from breakfast this morning when it started dumping snow on us, that we almost ended up on the plant median turning into the housing development.It's all of about 18 degrees out there and the snow is pure powder. If we were on a hill and snowboard worthy it might be fun.

Ingrid really wanted to play in it, but I really can't risk falling right now with my bum leg and the 8 month pregnant belly, so I couldn't take her out. Peter's been busy taking care of us inside.I think she's going to be very happy with her new bed once it gets situated upstairs.

I have had really bad back pain all last night and this morning on account of my hips being out of alignment. After breakfast I came into the house, it was almost noon, and went straight upstairs, took some tylenol, put the massager on my back, and got a little nap. I wish I was with my Reiki peeps so as to get hot Reiki hands all over me.

Pregnancy brain dump

2010-01-29T02:01:50Z

Six weeks and counting. The really anxious pregnancy dreams have started. I remember dreaming a lot about forgetting the baby or losing her after she was born when I was pregnant with Ingrid. Last night featured Peter not coming to the hospital with me, me not being able to get a room in the labor and delivery part of the hospital, but instead in some open area near the cafeteria, someone coming and taking my baby away without me knowing because I had to go to the bathroom so bad and couldn't carry HER. The final crazy was that I actually had a girl instead of a boy and didn't notice until many hours later, which might have been because in my dream I had no idea how I got to the hospital and no recollection of giving birth at all.

Peter was gone for the first half of the week, to Phoenix, and my paranoia was ramped up. I was totally anxious about going into spontaneous labor and having no one at all I could have help me and fretting about what would happen with Ingrid if that did happen. Ingrid missed him terribly, and was crying for him a lot. Yesterday, she wanted to have lunch with daddy and was very sad when we couldn't.

Had another ultrasound yesterday. The young man has flipped into the upside down position, which pleases me and my chiropractor. We were unsure whether he was going to have an easy time of it, because my hips have been all out of whack from my knee injury and the limping that has ensued.

My body has been aching so much, and my fingernails have been brittle and my voice hoarse, so I talked to my doctor today. He was ready to not make any changes to my thyroid meds, because the level was JUST within range of the labs report of range. But, since I have done my homework, I know that Endocrinologists have a much lower acceptable level and I am well beyond that. So he doubled my dosage and I'll get some more bloodwork done in 6 weeks. Hopefully that means I will start feeling better soon. My legs have ached so bad in the same sort of way they did before I started getting treated.

I can't wait to meet this little man and to start losing some weight and be able to thoroughly diagnose my knee and feel better. Only slightly over a month to go.