Mother's Day 2010

I am very blessed to be a mother to big boy Eli and little Anna! Motherhood is amazing and the below poem that I post every year sums it up perfectly:

Before I was a Mom
I never tripped over toys or memorized the words to a lullaby
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a child sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping child just because I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry child.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

To all the moms out there, hope you had a wonderful day!

Preparing for Anna

We've been busy around here preparing for Anna's arrival! My to-do lists have been long and I am feeling pretty good about the items I check off each week. Eric has had to do most of the labor, thanks, honey :) Things on my list have included:

1) Baby book/journal: I have a lot of it complete that can be completed prior to her arrival. I will order pictures soon to add to the album and to her first photo album. I started journaling to her once I found out I was pregnant...I will keep that up monthly after she is born and then yearly (just like I did for Eli!)
2) Stocking up on essentials such as wipes, diapers, nursing essentials, batteries for swing, vibrate chair, mobile, etc.
3) Eli's special toys: I bought a few toys and put into a duffle bag to bring out during those times I need him to be preoccupied with something "new".
4) Eli's gift from Anna: Anna bought Eli a special gift for him to open in the hospital when they meet for the first time! Can't wait to see what it is ;)
5) Sanitizing items such as breast pump supplies, pacifiers, bottles & nose aspirators
6) Putting together Eli's "plan" for when we go to the hospital. My mom will come be with him whether we go day or night so that will be great. He is very comfortable with her since she has cared for him multiple times a week since he was 1 year old!
7) Just had her car seat installed today! We always go to the car seat safety checks held by "Safe Kids"...makes me feel good they are professionally installed :)
8) Put together my birth plan (as I talked about in another post)
9) Put up pack-in-play bassinet beside my bed
10) Cleaning my car
11) Cleaning the house
12) Yard work: I planted flowers in my pots last weekend and Eric is working on the yard such as mowing, spraying weed killer, & trimming of bushes

Still on my list include items like packing my hospital bag (I will start to pack my hospital bag in the next few days and add to it as the days/weeks go on) and other items that are more ongoing. It's amazing what hormones do to your desire to organize, organize, organize!!

Also in preparation, I have asked my talented friends to make some items for me (or they surprised with as gifts!). Below you will see the handmade items for Miss Anna:

"Lil Sis" onesie, hair accessory organizer with clips, sleeper with "A", & "Anna" banner for her room:

Nursing cover, 2 wraps, and a sling:

And of course, helping Mr. Eli to be as prepared as possible has been our BIGGEST priority. He knows his sister by name & loves to shower her with hugs & kisses. Now don't get me wrong, he also has a tendency to HIT my belly, but we are working on that. We have been reading books about new siblings/babies, too, which he has been enjoying. He also loves to be in Anna's room and turn on her mobile or "lullabye baby" as he calls it. We talk about all the "stuff" in her room and how she will sleep in mommy & daddy's room for awhile and just "play" in her room. He likes to play with her toys (which used to be his toys), too. We talk about how mommy & daddy will have to go to the hospital when she decides to come out of my tummy & that he will get to meet her at the hospital, too. His face lights up when we talk about that. He has started to say "Anna come out now?", "I want Anna", etc. so he is getting geared up, too. In addition, I purposefully put up the swing, brought out the vibrate chair, installed her car seat, etc. early enough so he can get used to these items being around. He tries to swing the swing too hard, and wants to sit in her car seat, but he'll get the idea soon enough :) Below are pics of Eli with the new items we brought out this week:

Putting Mickey in the vibrate chair and giving him a drink of his water:

His favorite part about the swing is all the buttons he can push & turn:

Wearing Mickey in the sling!:

I brought out Eli's "Big Bro" shirt to show him how he will wear it when Anna wears her "Lil Sis" shirt...he thought that was fun!:

So, while I know the transition will be hard, and that there will probably be issues of jealousy and times of trying to stop Eli from bopping Anna in the head with his hammer, I am looking forward to introducing the two of them in just a couple short weeks. I'm sure there will be several posts about our struggles with this transition, but we'll make it! I'm excited that daddy will be taking 2 weeks off from work to help with Eli. Also, family will be in town and he will love all the attention :) Monday is 38 weeks!!

Baby Showers!!

I've been lucky enough to have 2 baby showers thrown for me & Miss Anna! So fun to celebrate with friends our little girl. Here are pics:

The first shower was thrown by my playgroup friends. At one point, there were 7 of us pregnant at once, now 3 have had their babies and the rest of us are due within days of each other! Below is a picture of me with another pregger mama, Tiffany, who is due a week ahead of me:

They did a cute idea of decorating laundry baskets and then everyone brought a small gift to put in each basket. There are 3 girls and 2 boys for this shower!:

The yummy food:

And the mamas! From left to right: Chantel (who had her little girl, Leah, just this Tuesday!), Allison with baby Cerise (who will arrive this coming Thursday!), me with Anna, and Tiffany with her baby boy whose name is still undecided:

Here's the mamas with ANOTHER mama who is due in August...right around Eli's birthday!:

The 2nd shower was a more intimate shower for two of us pregnant mamas thrown by some other wonderful mommies. They did an adorable theme of children's books with food to match! Too creative, they are!:

One of my friends does art with paper, paper supplies, fabric, etc. She made this adorable banner with Anna's name. It now hangs in her room:

Eli & I enjoying the delicious food:

Presents! Look at the adorable crocheted hat with flower clip:

Yay! Anna's "Lil Sis" onesie to match Eli's "Big Bro" shirt!:

AND my sling!:

And, and, AND my nursing cover!:

Thank you so much, everyone, for the time spent and creative ideas for these showers....she's spoiled already!

Tales & Trails

This week we attended an event called "Tales & Trails" at a local nature park. Last year, Eli came out to this nature park several times and enjoyed walking the trails. The trails are great because they are wide paths and don't go too far :) This event included walking the trails and stopping to read a story whose pages were posted every so often along the trail. The kiddos loved running down the trails and we all got some good exercise! Enjoy!

And they're off!:

Stopping to read the story:

Crossing the bridge:

And reaching the pretty pond with geese.....

....and frogs!

Heading back up to the center to have a picnic lunch together....yum!

I am going to try my best to do many of the same activities we did last summer with Eli AND Anna in tow. This nature park is a favorite along with the zoo, parks, splash parks, library story time, petting zoo, and maybe swimming lessons. Check out my next post which shows off some gifts I got that will help make our summer excursions possible...homemade wraps & slings!! Oh yes, and the double stroller!! :)

37 week appointment

Today's appointment went well....here are the stats:

Anna's heartrate: 147 bpm
Mommy's blood pressure: good!
Mommy's weight gain: 3 1/2 lbs which brings me to 40 1/4 lbs. gained so far!! I have had a lot more swelling so my midwife says it probably is primarily fluid. At Eli's 38 week appointment, I had gained 42 lbs., so here's hoping my weight gain slows down again :)
Mommy's tummy: 37 weeks
Strep B results: NEGATIVE!!

I decided to not be checked again this week. This time around, it's so much "what's the point?" since even if I am dilated/effaced, it means absolutely nothing! Labor starts when it wants to so why put myself through the pain! My midwife said she does want to check me at either 38/39 weeks which is fine. At Eli's 37 week appointment I was dilated a fingertip, if that says anything :)

I reviewed my birth plan with my midwife and she said what the practice does is have a few doctors look it over and then send over to the hospital so it is on file when I go into labor. I didn't turn in one for Eli, so it's good to know they really look at it! She thought it looked fine and agreed with what I had written.

I also talked with her about my lightheadedness, swelling more on left side, irritated eyes, etc. that I had earlier this week. As an FYI, those symptoms were all gone by Tuesday so that is good. She said the uneven swelling is normal, the irritated eyes could be hormonal or allergy related, and that the lightheadedness was probably just something random as symptoms like these just show up more towards the end. So, all is well and let's just hope not a lot of new symptoms arise before she arrives....especially the PUPPPS I had...boo to itching!

We also talked about how my contractions have increased just this week. While they are not the real painful kind, they are more uncomfortable. She said that my contractions should increase and they will become more intense just because my uterus is contracting so tight in prep for the big day. We also discussed starting to drink Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and she thought that was a great idea. I'll start next week as it does bring on more contractions (not labor contractions, but it's like your uterus is lifting weights for the big day :), it helps tone your uterus and keep things movin' when your body decides to be in labor.

So, there's my update....2 1/2 weeks until due date!!

37 weeks-FULL TERM!

We've made it! Anna is now full-term which is so exciting! It's wonderful knowing that she will be here anytime from now to 4 weeks (41 weeks). If Eli has any say, he wants her to come now! Yesterday he started to say that he wanted Anna, wanted to hold Anna, and wanted baby to come. He hasn't said that until now...so maybe he's on to something! In celebration of her upcoming arrival, I went with 2 other pregger mommies from playgroup to get a pedicure. I decided to get pink to represent a girl and got pretty flowers painted on the big toes. It was great fun to hang out for a couple hours and talk about pregnancy, babies, and our toddlers! Thanks Allison and Tiffany!:

When I was full term with Eli (see here), I wondered about when and where he would decide to get on his way. I worried about my water breaking at the store or at work and had thoughts of rushing to the hospital. It was totally different than that as my labor started slow with slight cramping over night, an already planned doctor's appointment at around 3pm the next day, and then the contractions slowly picking up over a few hours time. The doctor had to break my water for me and Eli took about 12 hours to get here once I was dilated to a 4!! No big scene like you see in the movies. I had time to pack everything I needed, call family, and get to the hospital. So, we'll see what this time with little Anna holds!

I see my midwife on Thursday again this week and will get my results of my Strep B test. Hoping it's negative but if positive, all it really means is having antibiotics administered during delivery. I may or may not get checked, we'll see how I'm feeling :) I will bring my birth plan to go over with her and hear her thoughts about our decisions. I'll also talk to her about my feet swelling more and my left swelling more than my right along with some slight lightheadedness I had this morning, irritated eyes and overall soreness in the thigh, pelvic, groin area. My research says it's all normal, but just want to keep her updated. I think the eye irritation is more due to allergies and I read pregnancy hormones can affect your eyes and make them drier. I don't remember having these symptoms with Eli (besides slight swelling) so if I continue to have strange lightheadedness or swelling, I'll call in before Thursday, but I'm thinking having my legs up more and not sitting with my feet down for long periods of time will help.

Fun 37 week fact: "Happily, as far as internal organs go, they are now developed enough to function in the outside world although the oh-so-important immune system is still developing and will continue to do so after birth. With a large boost of antibodies provided by breast milk when nursing begins. Fighting infection and staying healthy should be well within their physical capacity when your little fighter is born." (babygaga.com)

And my 37 week picture:

This week we will get her car seat installed, put up the pack-n-play bassinet, pack my & Anna's bags, clean the house, do some laundry, organize & clean up the basement (again now that we have so many boxes of clothes!!) and THEN enjoy a nice Mother's Day on Sunday :). Have a great week everyone!

Trip to the Fire House

A couple of weeks ago, our wonderful playgroup friend arranged for some of us to take a trip to visit the Oak Grove Fire Department. While it was a rainy day, we didn't let that dampen our spirits. Her house is just a few short blocks from the fire house, so we decided to walk. Too fun to walk in the rain with a group of 2 year olds...no really, it was! Here's our little parade:

The guys at the fire house were really awesome. They spent a lot of time with us and let the kids explore like crazy:

They even had fireman outfits their size to dress up in (there were pants & boots, too, but Eli didn't want them):

For some reason, the boys enjoyed the little fountain in front almost as much as the firetrucks themselves. They could have cared less that it was raining!:

AND, they gave us ice cream bars to eat! Obviously some of the men were daddy's so they had no problem cleaning up their faces, hands, and mess on the truck.

They also stopped traffic for us when we had to cross the main street to get back home. They were so awesome!! Eli LOVED it and I'm sure we'll have to return sometime! Mommies were slightly exhausted once we returned home, but it was worth it!