Norah News: Bring it on!

As many the mom has posted, it's harder than you think to blog while on maternity leave. Having done this before, I know I need to keep myself busy, but the reality of a 5 week old baby is that you never really know what your schedule will look like. I nixed some plans for the past couple of days to simply take it easy after our White Mountain adventure, and it's just as well as young Rod was all over the map schedule wise! Regardless, today I'm looking forward to a lunch date with an old friend - who is actually bringing me lunch - kudos Keith!

There have been a lot of changes over the past few months, some obvious, and some not so obvious. A not so obvious one that I've been struggling with is my evolving relationship with Norah. She continues to be very kind and caring with her little brother, and can absolutely be a joy to be around. She is also a two and a half year old who has experienced a lot of change in the past few months and she's testing the limits, and her parents! I'm told this is good and normal and it's up to us to set and enforce the limits, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant - suffice to say I've come to understand how a single teenager can affect the dynamics of an entire household. Couple this with my own physical and hormonal changes not to mention the logistics of nursing and caring for a newborn, and you have yourself a challenge!

I feel as though, until recently, I'd been not quite myself since the beginning of summer, between the polyhydroamnios, just being 7, 8, and 9 months pregnant in one of the the hottest summers on record, and now of course also being Roddie's mother as well. In the meantime, Norah decided she wanted to wear underwear, seems to have grown at least a foot, the relationship between Matt and Norah has evolved, and even though I didn't recognize it - so has the relationship between her and I. Mornings used to be a leisurely and very special (to me at least) time that we had together, where she'd mostly do what I said, and if not I could easily pick her up and make her. Now, it's a lot more chaotic, and tinged with a little guilt as I return home after dropping her off at daycare as she moves up to preschool (a decision made in less emotional and more rested times!)

The fact of the matter is, until recently, I wasn't sure I could handle her and Roddie on my own. There, I said it. As I grow stronger and we all get into our new groove, I'm learning how to relate to this new Norah, the one who seems to have grown up so much over the summer. It caught me by surprise, the idea that I had to figure out how to relate to my own kid again, but cutting myself (and her) a break once in a while and a little patience has gone a long way. I still see glimpses of my baby girl, who needs a hug now and again (on her terms, of course) and she's come around to bonding with me again - a little learning on her part as well I guess. I also see a very smart, caring, determined, and independent little girl, who will no doubt continue to challenge us as the years go by.

Bring it on Norah, I'm ready!

White Mountain Adventure

This past weekend, we took the kids to New Hampshire, on a bit of an adventure. We stayed over night, and went to a mountain top and on a hike, saw some waterfalls and even stopped at a favorite pub for refreshments on the way home. The weather was perfect, we slept like logs, but were up too early, the trail was not crowded, we saw the glider in the notch closer than ever before, and the leaves were just starting to turn. Just like the old days, when Matt and I were courting, right?

Well, we stayed in a hotel, we had movie night, we took a tram to the top of a mountain we've both hiked and skied, one pack was heavy, but not with gear, with kid. The other pack was worn on the front, not the back, the hike was under 2 miles, including the paved path from the parking lot, and the refreshments included milk in a covered cup, not a single Pigs Ear, and our arrival at home was heralded by many tears of an overtired toddler and a hungry baby, rather than unloading the car and crashing on the sofa.

It was great!

We got a few funny looks about taking a baby so young on such an adventure, and to be honest, I am not sure how much Roddie really got out of it, as he was asleep much of the time (love this carrier!!) but Matt, Norah and I really enjoyed ourselves, and I think it was good for the family as a whole - not to mention a great story for Roddie when he grows up - 5 weeks old, at the top of a mountain! For me personally, it was great to get out and use my muscles again - it's been so long! At 5 weeks post partum I feel better and more physically able than I have in months!

Here is Matt and Norah looking out the window of the tram

At the top, overlooking Franconia Notch and the mountains where we used to play!

Norah doin' her thing...

Mom and Roddie near the top of Cannon Mountain

Norah with the glider in the background

Family Foto Day 1: Overlooking Franconia Notch

Mom and the kids chillin' in the hotel after a long day

Family Foto Day 2: Hike to Kinsmans Falls

Sibling Love

Slowly but surely, we're getting into a routine around here. Norah is a very proud big sister, and Roddie is getting bigger and more alert by the day, and will surely be giving her a run for her money before long. Monday night they both looked so adorable in their jammies that I had them pose for a couple of pictures. I think they look even cuter together!

By the Numbers...

As we pass wee Roddie's actual due date, I thought it might be useful to take a quantitative look at how we are doing :

• First, since I know you REALLY want to know how Roddie is doing... we went to see the pediatrician yesterday and he's up to 8lb 11oz, or about 9oz over his birth weight. He's eating like a champ (oh, how much he's eating!!) and overall doing well - if he'd only start taking his long snoozes at night instead of during the day, we'd be all set!
  
• As for me, I'm doing well also and at the 10 day point, or just about at his original due date, I have managed to drop not only the 8lbs of baby, but an additional 30 lbs or so! Don't get me wrong, I still have a baby belly, but I just feel so much more like myself than I have in months! Still about 15 lbs to go to pre-Roddie weight and another 10 to pre-Norah, but one day at a time - I'm just happy to see my toes! Here are what I promise are the last belly comparison shots... first here I am on his actual due date - I hope to NEVER wear these shirts again!

Now, here I am just before we went to the hospital - my facial expression really doesn't convey how HAPPY I was to be getting on with things! Bye, Bye Bellay!

In case you had't heard... Brudder is here!

Here is the bottom line:

And here's the background on how it all went down... I went for my weekly scans at 38.5 weeks, and my fluid levels were now off the charts at a staggering 56! The ultrasound pictures showed a little baby head with all kinds of space/fluid surrounding it - not the cozy cocoon we'd expect to see at this late date. I was initially scheduled to go to the hospital to be induced on Monday (week 39) with strict orders to get to the hospital ASAP if my water were to break, but after my doctor consulted with a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist I was ordered over on Friday.

We got to the hospital around 2pm to find out that I was already 4cm dilated (from 2 on Monday) but Brudder was still quite high in the birth canal, but we were optimistic things would move along nicely. (and very happy we were at the hospital and not waiting around at home!!) They gave me a low dose of pitocin and the epidural right away (pitocin to keep things moving, epidural as a precaution since we were anticipating complications) So for 6 or so hours Matt and I just hung out, I didn't feel much of my contractions but we could see that they were getting closer together.

Around 10:30, Brudder's heartrate spiked to around 200 and wasn't coming down. Then, while the doc was in my room, my water started to 'leak' I felt the pop and a gush of fluid, but nothing huge - so she checked me again, the amniotic sac was still intact, so it was likely a puncture somewhere and also Brudder was still high and I hadn't dilated any more. So basically at this point I had the polyhydroamnios of unknown cause, baby high heartrate of unknown cause and now leaky water. It took her about 15 seconds to conclude the baby had to come out ASAP and about 15 minutes later he arrived via C-section.

It turns out his cord was wrapped around his head several times, so if my water had broken it surely would have been a really bad situation. In addition, because of the epidural and the way everything went down, I didn't push once (vs 20+ hours labor with Norah) and it all happened very fast! Honestly after the summer with so many false alarms and everything else, I don't know how much strength I would have had to push anyway! The doctor said she has never seen anywhere near the amount of fluid I had, and my uterus was stretched to the same point as if I had triplets, so as you can imagine, one 8lb 2oz little boy had a lot of room to spare in there.

Anyway, the great news is that other than a floppy belly, neither he nor I seem to have suffered any ill effects from the high fluid. He is a champion nurser, and had latched on within a couple of hours and my milk came in over the weekend. He eats like crazy and twice now has granted my 4 hours sleep.

I am feeling very blessed that everything happened the way it did - there is so much that could have gone wrong that didn't! Overall feeling well and much more 'normal' than we did at this point with Norah. A C-section is certainly different from the vaginal birth, and I'm thankful that I didn't essentially end up doing the work (and having to recover) from both experiences.

So, that's the scoop! Matt's home with for two weeks and then my parents for a couple of weeks so hopefully I will be mostly healed by that time. Norah is doing really great, has decided she likes him (her words) and has continued with the potty like a champ! I put a bunch of pics on facebook and updated the baby pool. More later, a really cute little guy needs me :)

Missed Blog-iversary!

I can't believe I missed my 2-year Blog-iversary! August 6, 2008 I began sharing my thoughts on working motherhood, Norah's progress and a variety of other topics. Sometimes it was therapeutic for me, sometimes it was an easy way to share news with my family, sometimes it was a way to document a milestone of some sort for future posterity. 379 posts later, we're anxiously awaiting Brudder's arrival!

Ironically, one of my very first posts was about my grandparents, whose 69th wedding anniversary would be tomorrow, August 11th. August 11th always had some good memories - we often got together with extended family to celebrate the love Nanny and Papa shared, as well as the many summer birthdays among my 20 paternal cousins (one in particular, of course - you know who you are!) We never went back to school until after Labor Day, so there still seemed to be plenty of summer left. Often the ocean, that had been warming all summer, got kicked up by some off-shore storm as hurricane season began, resulting in great surf and a lot of fun for us at the beach where we spent so much time.

So Brudder, having missed the Blog-iversary, Nanny's birthday, and the somewhat auspicious 8-9-10, how about doing your Mom a favor and showing up on the 11th? It's a good day, and my family has a history of sharing dates - anniversaries on Halloween, birthdays on Valentines Day, weddings on Birthdays and birthdays on anniversaries

Besides, I think everyone is getting tired of my blog posts about waiting and now that your sister seems to be on the brink of mastering the potty, I need some new material!

Norah News: Potty Prowess!

Check this out:
For those of you who don't have kids in daycare, you may not recognize this as the official record that our little girl managed the entire day at school with her underwear on! The one mishap was her BM, mid morning, but other than that, she kept her panties dry and peed on the toilet the entire day! Yay Norah!