Random Baby Stories

Story #1 - This morning while Dave and I were drinking our coffee and talking and eating breakfast, Ethan was crawling around the house. I realized that I hadn't heard him in about 2 minutes so I went looking for him. Um, yeah...he was on the landing of the staircase. He crawled up 8 stairs by himself in about 1 minute flat. Great...it's a good thing I ordered a baby gate from Babysrus yesterday!

Story #2 - My pediatrician told me at my last visit that I could feed Ethan eggs. He assured me that the most recent studies on food allergies have proven that it is ineffective to wait until after one year old to introduce allergenic foods, as has been the general thought process thus far. So Dave made him some scrambled eggs this morning for the first time. Um, yeah...he got hives, and I was in the pediatrician's office 30 minutes later. I was instructed to wait until after one year old to feed him actual eggs, but not to worry about the eggs in baked goods because he obviously tolerates them just fine.

Story #3 - While at the pediatrician's office for said hives, the nurse weighed Ethan. Um, yeah...he gained almost 3 lbs in one month. He now weighs 17 lbs 4 oz. In fact, it was so startling that Dr Schiavone went back out and weighed him himself and then decided that the weight of 14 lbs 7 oz from last month must have been off. He had apparently dropped into the 5th percentile for weight after being consistently in the 10th and the 17lbs puts him right back in the 10th percentile.

Did I mention that this was all before 10:30 AM?

Baby Dream

Last night I had my first dream about being pregnant and having the baby. I remember having lots of dreams about giving birth when I was pregnant with Ethan, but this was the first time with this baby.

First of all, I was riding around on a jetski all over a world map and through rooms of sleeping babies. Then somehow I was sitting on the "bed" in my doctor's office. This wacked out female doctor who acted like she was on speed came in and started doing an ultrasound while I sat there with my legs dangling off the side. She just kind of sped through the ultrasound and the baby looked really wierd. Then she tried to listen to the baby's heartbeat with some internal monitor and when I asked what the heart rate was, she said, "In the sixteens" which my dreaming brain translated as 160 and being a girl. Oh, and then she started demonstrating what equipment the practice used to give pregnant women colonoscopies. Then my nurse practioner walked in and I started getting really upset because the wierd doctor hadn't given me any pictures of the baby. I started crying and demanding that she go back and get some pictures. Eventually, she did, but she couldn't find the baby on the screen at first. When she did find the baby, all I saw was cartoon pictures of a duck, a penguin and some other wierd animal, and we had this debate over which picture was the most realistic. And then I made my next appointment, insisting that I not have the doctor on speed the next time. Thank goodness real appointments are NOT like this!

Misery = No Central Air

Wow, it's amazing how used to modern conveniences you can get! Last night Dave showed property to some friends who are currently living an hour away. We decided to have them over for dinner afterwards and then invited them to stay so they could go to church more easily. Of course, what happens? Right before they got here, I noticed that the house was getting hotter and hotter even though the thermostat was set at 70 degrees. When they got here, Dave and the guy checked the AC line and sure enough, it was frozen. So we had to turn it off. I felt horrible! It's fine for us to have to deal with, but I want my company to be as comfortable as possible and it was just soooo sticky. It did cool down outside when the sun went down so we were fine, but today was just stifling. Dave and I have been in such bad moods and I just don't even want him near me I'm so hot. No hugs for him today! Finally, we broke down and called Dave's parents who luckily live less than 5 minutes away; we didn't sleep over, but we did get to cool down in their central air. And when we finally came home, the house wasn't so humid and the fans seem to be working quite nicely to get it bearable. It's so frustating though because our AC unit seems to have some problem every single year...I hope that doesn't mean we're going to have to replace the whole thing soon! Ah...the joys of home ownership!

Weaning

July 3rd, 2008
As soon as I found out I was pregnant again, I decided that it was time to begin the weaning process. I know that you're "supposed" to breastfeed for a year at best, but if I followed that "rule" I would be breastfeeding for 2 years straight with only a 1 month break before beginning all over again. Plus, I noticed that my milk supply was declining already and Ethan is so active during nursing that it drives me crazy. Also, every time I sat down to nurse (after the positive pregnancy test), I almost fell asleep, courtesy of oxytocin, I presume. Oh, and having a child pressed up against your stomach is not conducive to preventing first trimester nausea. I decided that it was too draining on my body to sustain breastfeeding, pregnancy and myself.


So now that I've finished justifying my reasons for feeding my child formula, even though I don't really need to (Darn the Mom Competition!)...I had a plan. First, drop from four feedings to three and increase solids slightly. Once that was accomplished, I replaced the lunch time feeding with a bottle. That worked ok...for a few days, until it occurred to him that this bottle thing was not a temporary situation. So he went into a mild bottle rebellion, refusing to drink from it at all. Sometimes, he would push it away, turn around, grab at my shirt and nuzzle into my chest...killed me! I felt like I should just surrender and say, "Ok, Ethan...I'm sorry! You can nurse again!" Eventually, once we worked out a feeding schedule where every meal was spaced out, he settled right into the bottle routine. We then dropped to only nursing at night and then I could really tell he was hardly getting any milk. Tuesday night was his last nursing ever and I definitely cuddled him more than usual. I don't really enjoy nursing that much, but it was kind of sad to know that he would no longer be getting any sort of sustenance from me. I have been a little worried that he is going to be upset when I am no longer nursing at night, since I think it's more of a comfort thing, so I have enlisted Dave. Dave's job is to take over the bedtime feeding for a few days until he is used to it. The past two nights have gone well, so here's to hoping that continues!

First Doctor's Appt

After waiting what has seemed like an interminable length of time, I FINALLY got to go to my first OBGYN appointment for this new baby. I'm always so nervous until I go and see the baby on the ultrasound because I just want to know that everything is ok. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long and went right into the ultrasound room. One thing about my doctor's office that I love is that it's very personal, and my nurse practioner actually remembered Dave and I from when I was pregnant with Ethan...I know, it was only 8 months ago, but still...she also connected that I'm friends with one of her other patients. We got to see the baby who was moving around a lot and who has a healthy heartbeat. The ultrasound dates me at 11 weeks and 2 days, which is a few days ahead of where I thought I was...fine by me if it means I get to be pregnant for a shorter amount of time (the end is just miserable). I am officially due February 8, but I will have a scheduled c-section about a week before that, so the baby will be delivered at the end of January/beginning of February. Seeing the baby makes me feel so relieved; Dave said I was practically glowing after the appointment. I just know that so much can go wrong in the first trimester and that once you see the heartbeat and the baby moving around, it is highly likely that the baby is healthy. So now I get to stare at the pictures all day and dream of holding this one in my arms in about 6 months!

Deep Creek Lake Part 1

This year's Spence Family Vacation was to Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. I think it was the best vacation we have had as a family so far. We had gorgeous weather, and the whole vacation was a good mix of relaxing and fun activities. First activity was swimming in the lake...here are some pictures.

Ready for the lake.

And the water was a little cold for Ethan!
But Mommy worked on convincing him that it was ok.
Grandpa tried too, by pretending to be a fish...or something...
What a sweetheart!

The Smell of Death

Yesterday, Dave, Ethan and I returned from a wonderful vacation at Deep Creek Lake, Maryland with the Spences. It's always such a bummer to come back and have to unpack and get back to real life. But we came home and started working away at putting all the gear and clothing back in order. At one point, I walked into our half bath on the main floor and thought, "Hmm, it doesn't smell so good in here." I checked the toilet, the back of the toilet, behind the trash can, the sink, etc. Nothing. And then I remembered...we have been watching birds fly in and out of the bathroom vent, obviously making a nest. Must be a dead bird rotting in the vent. We tried just turning on the fan and lighting a candle for the time being. Eventually, the smell got so bad that I gagged walking into the bathroom (I know, not saying much for the 2 1/2 month pregnant woman to gag at a smell, but trust me it was HORRIBLE!). So finally, Dave tried to borrow a ladder to clean out the vent, but it wasn't long enough. His other thought was to go borrow his parents' air compressor and try to blow out the dead bird from the inside of the house. I was a little skeptical, but willing to try anything at this point. Instead of coming back with the air compressor, he came back with a leaf blower and said, "Oh yeah, we're blowing it out!" and instructed me to go outside to watch to see if anything came out. Sure enough, after two tries, a big nest and a rotten bird popped out and fell two stories onto the deck. HALLELUYAH!!!! We were triumphant! Here are a few pictures from our adventure:


P.S. More about the magnificent vacation later...

The Grocery Store

So, I decided it's a dangerous situation when a pregnant woman goes to the grocery store. She is either 1) so nauseated by everything she sees that it is absolute torture or 2) drooling at random food items and obsessively purchasing enough food to feed an army. Last night while nursing Ethan, all I could think about was mandarin oranges. It seemed like Ethan was taking forever to finish nursing while I salivated over the thought. I knew that Dave had a soccer game in 20 minutes and I wanted to get to the store before he left. Luckily, Ethan fell asleep nursing and I rushed downstairs, grabbed my keys and took off to the store. Here's what I ended up coming home with:

- two cans of mandarin oranges
- 4 pk of cranberry-raspberry flavored applesauce
- 4 pk of pomegranate flavored applesauce
- large jar of unsweetened applesauce (for Ethan)
- nectarines
- 1 carton cranberry/blueberry juice
- 1 carton cranberry/Pacific raspberry juice (and yes, it was the "Pacific" raspberry part that struck my fancy....I have no idea if Pacific raspberries taste any different than any other raspberries, but it sounded really good)


And then today, I took a trip to Big Lots to see what they had there and this is what I came home with:
- Ginger snaps (it's a bad nausea day)
- Chef Boyardee meat ravioli (1 can...I'm learning that pregnancy cravings pass as soon as you eat the craving, so it's best not to buy a lot.)
- Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream pies (Dave's going to KILL me!)


At least I'm not craving chocolate...yet...

Symptoms

June 23, 2008
I know the typical questions that people ask when they find out you're pregnant. 1) When are you due? 2) How are you feeling? So, to answer the second question...


I feel about like I did the first time. I keep trying to exercise, but I just cannot drag my legs fast enough. It feels like someone injected them with a tranquilizer. I am so so tired...I make it until about noon and then I am just fighting sleep until Ethan goes down for his nap. If I don't take a nap, then sometime around 6:30pm, it hits me like a Mack truck and I cannot keep my eyes open and function. I have had several days where I felt vaguely nauseous all day, although I am also absolutely starving! I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that I am also still breast-feeding Ethan (although working on weaning) and using a ton of calories per day. Sometimes I have a hard time napping because all I can think about is what I am going to eat next...the other day, I was obsessively thinking about meat. Ribs, steak, you name it, I wanted it. Vinegar has been my greatest pleasure recently. Other cravings...potato skins and mandarin oranges; of course, I had to have these things THAT SECOND!!! If I didn't get them, the thought of the food item just kept pulsing through my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about them! Last time, I only "got sick" early in the morning before I had anything in my stomach. This morning was the first time that happened. It was also the first time I have had to talk my prenatal vitamins down my throat and will them to stay there. Of course, it probably didn't help that I was taking them with ginger ale; soda is not the best choice, I'm sure.

July 13, 2008
Since I wrote this a while ago, let me update...as time has gone on, I have felt much more nauseous this time around. Usually, I can make it one half of the day without a nauseous feeling. If the morning is bad, the afternoon/evening will be great; if the morning is great, the nausea will be coming. Ginger ale is my friend...And my cravings are much more in the salty range, as opposed to last time, where I couldn't get enough sugar and chocolate. I'm not sure which is better and I really couldn't care less. This pregnancy, I'm just eating whatever sounds good since it's hard enough to not be grossed out. If it happens to be healthy, great!

Telling the Families

Last time we announced our pregnancy, Dave had t-shirts made: a blue one that said "Boy?" and a pink one that said "Girl?". We came into both our family's homes wearing them and waited for the reaction. In both instances it was a lot of fun. This pregnancy was so unexpected that I just didn't want to make a huge creative fuss about it. It was funny telling them this time too because no one was expecting that announcement!


My parents
Phone conversation with my mom:
Mom: "Hi, honey! How are you?"
Me: "Well, I'm pregnant."
Mom: (silence) (laughter) "Are you serious?"
Me: "Yep, I'm serious."
Mom: (laughter) "Are you serious? Oh my goodness!"
And then she told my dad, brothers, and sister who were all completely thrilled and have already decided that I'm having a boy to be Ethan's buddy.


Dave's parents
Sunday dinner hanging out in the kitchen. Rosemary is up getting a glass bowl from the top shelf of a cabinet.
Dave: "So, guess what?"
Rosemary: "What?"
Dave: "We're pregnant!"
Rosemary: (mouth drops open, eyes go wide...looks at me for confirmation) "Are you really? Wow!"
Me: "Surprise! This was not planned."
Rosemary: "Well, I guess God decided to interject His plan!"


When we told Dave's brother and sister in law, we were all celebrating Father's Day. Dave requested to do the prayer before dinner and somewhere in there thanked God for the new addition to the Spence family. Janelle immediately clapped her hands and said, "Yea!" Brad said, "What?" and looked at Janelle. Janelle's response was "Well, don't look at me!" So, now all our family knows and it's exciting.

Yea! I'm pregnant!

June 16, 2008

This morning, I was watching the movie "Juno", which for those of you who haven't seen it, it's about a 16 yr old who gets pregnant and gives her baby up for adoption. It got to the part where she has the baby and like a true pregnant woman, I had tears streaming down my face as she delivered. It hit me that I really really really want this baby and I am so excited about being pregnant. It just took a week of processing it to come to where I should have been all along.

I have forgotten to tell you also that I think my due date is around Feb 12, but I don't go to the doctor until July 22 so I'll get a more official date then.

The Next Day

June 23, 2008

This morning, I woke up and the shock had worn off. I nursed Ethan and came downstairs and started crying. I know that being pregnant is a blessing and that I should be so happy and grateful that I can even get pregnant. I know that there are people who try for years and years and can't conceive. It is just so soon after having Ethan and it feels overwhelming right now to know that I will have a 14 month old and a newborn. 6 months in between pregnancies is not much of a break! Plus, I just lost my baby weight and got back in shape. I'm also worried about how my body will handle this so soon after having a c-section not too long ago.


It's funny though because I realized that for the past two months, I've had these recurring thoughts that I wanted to be pregnant and have another baby. I kept talking myself out of it and telling myself that I wasn't ready and to stick to our plan of waiting 18 months before starting again. I kept reminding myself to enjoy Ethan and not look ahead to the future. And then, God decided that He was going to give me the secret desire of my heart. And He must think I can handle it so I will have to trust that.

We're Pregnant!

No, I'm not kidding! Yes...on June 7th, after realizing that my runs had been very lethargic just like they were when I was pregnant with Ethan, I randomly decided to take a pregnancy test. I thought, "Well, it's probably negative, but it would just make me feel better to know for sure." So I took it and as I saw the first line appear, I waited anxiously for that to be all I saw...but, then, the second line appeared and I was totally in shock. Immediately, I picked up the phone to call Dave at the office (luckily, Ethan was napping because I was shaking and panicking). The conversation went about like this:

Me: "Hi. Are you sitting down?"
Dave: (oblivious) "Yeah, why?"
Me: "I'm pregnant. "
Dave: (Silence)
Me: (shaking) "Dave, I can't do this. I just had a baby 6 months ago."
Dave: "Calm down, hon...it's ok...can I call you back in a few minutes from my car? There are people in the office."
Me: "Sure." (More staring at the pregnancy test in shock, sort of expecting the second line to disappear. More reading the test key to make sure two lines means pregnancy.)

A few minutes later, the phone rings again...

Me: "Hi"
Dave: "DUDE!!! YOU'RE PREGNANT!!!! THAT'S AWESOME!!!!"

And then, I felt ok about it.

The Mom Competition

My friend Anne and I were recently discussing how it feels like you have joined an exclusive club when you become pregnant and have babies. Lately, I feel that, upon joining the Mom Club, I also entered a Mom Competition. I'm not sure it's a real competition, but I find myself constantly justifying my parenting decisions to other friends and family - maybe because I want to know if I am doing the right thing? It's not that I have people questioning my judgment or giving me skeptical looks when they watch me with Ethan (lest someone reading this think that you are the one giving me a complex); I think I just must not be completely confident that God is going to give me the grace to be a good mother. Maybe my complex comes from being one of the last of my friends to have a baby and feeling that somehow that makes all of them the experts that I should compare myself against. Part of my problem is that I read too many baby care and parenting books/Internet sites and when Ethan doesn't fall into the "norms", I think I must be doing something wrong. I sort of know that this is silly - my son is an individual and just because something works for one family doesn't mean that I have to do it too. But I still feel like I owe people an explanation for things like...

- not following Gary Ezzo and the Babywise books/methods
- feeding Ethan yogurt
- feeding Ethan fruits before veggies
- not using infant cereal anymore
- letting him cry in his crib at naptime and bedtime
- breaking down and buying some babyfood instead of making it all from scratch
- refusing to completely rearrange my house in order to "baby proof"
- how our feeding and sleep schedule works
- why Ethan has patches of eczema on his skin
- not buying only organic food for Ethan
- why I'm not breastfeeding anymore

And the list goes on...I wonder if I'm the only mom who does this. Is this just the curse of a perfectionist?

AAAHHHH!!!!

I'm going crazy. My son will not go to sleep. For naps. For bedtime. Drives me nuts.

This started last week, soon after he started crawling. He just crawls around his crib, plays with his toys, and, more recently, tries to pull himself up on the side of the crib. It can literally take him an hour to fall asleep. I tried just giving him one nap a day, thinking he just wasn't tired, but he does it for that nap too. And he does it at night when we put him to bed, no matter how sleepy he is when we lay him down. I don't know what else to do. Is separation anxiety the problem? Does he not like being alone in his room? It's just not possible that he's going to give up all naps at 7 1/2 months old. I don't think I can handle that and I really don't think he could either. Talk about disaster.

AAAAHHHH!!!!!! Help.

Office Visit

About a week ago, I took Ethan into Dave's office to drop off his real estate key thing. It was pretty fun because before I even made it up the stairs to Dave's desk, all the women in the office came over to see Ethan. And of course, he totally hammed it up after pretending to be shy for about 2 seconds. He cracks me up...

Am I weak?

This is a baby food grinder. It doesn't look difficult to use, does it? You just put food in the "stem" and push down while turning the handle. Well, I thought I was in good shape - I run, I lift weights. I must 1) have done something wrong or 2) be really weak because grinding green beans was my biggest arm workout of the day. I can literally still feel a slight ache in my tricep. What a wimp I am...apparently I need to build up my "food grinder muscle" because I'm going to be using this thing a lot more.