A Taste of the Future...

Yesterday I had a taste of how horrible it can be with two babies... wow. Ethan is a happy baby and a pleasure to watch. He has been here before and it has always gone just perfectly - no tears, simultaneous naps, two happy babies, etc. etc. And truly, it wasn't so bad yesterday because Maria was expected to pick Ethan up only about 30 min after it got *really* bad, but I was still almost in tears. I was completely paralyzed because I could only hold the two crying babies and no limbs left to fix anything. I had a 22lb baby on each hip and couldn't even sit down with them... I tried a few times and had to get back up with them both still in my arms - I'm still sore. It would have been different if Maria had not been on her way, because I'd have had to put one down and just take care of highest priority first. But Ethan just needed his mommy - which I obviously couldn't fix - and Ellen needed a bottle and a nap, which would have taken too long to leave him with Maria on her way so we all three just rode it out. And DS was kicking the entire time, just to tell me that in three months this is gonna be my life.

But anyway, yesterday Ellen's atime was 415 instead of 330 because of all that and she took a 2hr and 20 min nap - which she woke up from at 1.5 hrs b/c her mosquito bites were itching (I watched her wake up) and then when I picked her up, thinking her nap was over, I found her diaper had leaked BAD. I must have put her diaper on wrong, because it wasn't even wet - only her clothes and sheets. So I changed her [i]as[/i] she fell back to sleep, and then had to hold her for the next hour b/c I couldn't put her back in her wet crib Mostly I enjoy the times when I can hold her while she's sleeping, but I do like to be prepared with a comfy place to sit, possibly a book, and whatever else I might need readily available...

But anyway, today she had almost her 3 1/2 hr atime and only took a 50 min nap, so I guess it's time to up it again. I'm wondering if the 4:15 was closer to what it's supposed to be now but I'm not gonna make that much of a jump that fast, even if it is what she ultimately needs. I'm going to probably go up to 3:45 tomorrow and see what happens. I did love the 2:20 nap. Or would have if I hadn't had to unexpectedly hold her for half of it

Yesterday was not a very pleasant day. A day like that ends in a trip to the grocery store for ice cream and candy bars. I just ate some ice cream and I think I might go have another bite even though I keep telling myself I really need to start watching my sugar intake.

Ellen just amazes me every day. She loves to climb on anything and everything and has no fear... even when she should!! We've been putting the couch cushions on the floor in front of the couch so she can climb from them to the couch and then back down by herself. When going down, she wriggles down head first and tries to do so even when the cushions aren't there and it's a long drop from the top of the couch to the floor. Last week I started trying to get her to go down backward - I'd say "go down backward" and turn her around and show her how. This morning, she did it all on her own. It *looked like* she did it on purpose, but I wasn't sure if it was or if it was just coincidence, but she has done it all day. Here's the funny and amazing part: If she's on top of the couch with no cushions to step down onto, she will go down backwards. Then, when there are cushions there, she will go down forwards (head first) onto the cushions and then turn around and go down backward from the cushion to the floor... even though it's the same height from the couch to the cushion as it is from the cushion to the floor. So that means that she associates getting down from something to the floor with going down backwards. I guess it would be better for her to associate getting down from any significant height to anywhere with going down backwards, but I'm still amazed. I'm actually really amazed too that she learned it so fast - I kept showing her but felt like she wasn't catching on, but apparently she was!! So smart my baby is.

And my belly has popped!! It snuck up on me, I'm not sure when it happened, but I definitely feel pregnant now. Baby boy wriggles a lot but not quite as much as Ellen did. However, I think I can feel him and his body parts through my belly more clearly than I could Ellen. Maybe because her placenta was attached in front and his isn't?

The Second Ultrasound...

So we went back to the Women's Center where we had Ellen's ultrasound done and had another one for DS so we could get better pictures and a video. They were SO much better! They told us what they were looking at, they were very friendly, they gave us lots of pictures, and thankfully the video tape worked. YAY!!

They did give us some bad news though. DS has fetal renal pyelectasis... which basically means his kidneys are holding too much fluid. They were measuring 5mm and anything over 4mm is not good. Doesn't sound like much, but if you think about it, it means his kidneys are 20% larger than the maximum they should be. However, neither the ultrasonographer nor the midwife were very concerned. They both told us that it was a fairly common occurrence, especially in boys, and that most of the time it resolves itself spontaneously either before birth or just after. They scheduled another u/s for 30 weeks just to keep an eye on it and make sure that it's not getting out of hand. If the condition continues into his first year, they may have to do surgery to correct it, but it's highly unlikely. They will only do any in utero treatment (surgery) if the kidneys are measuring over 20mm so it would seem we have a pretty mild case, thank goodness.

I bought him some shoes today - little leather moccasins for when he's learning to walk. I know it's early, but I bought Ellen some today and I just couldn't resist...

Leaps and Bounds!!!

Ellen just amazes me every day!!! She's been waving for some time now and this weekend she started clapping and showing that she recognizes words. I asked her if she wanted water when she wasn't looking at me and she turned her head toward me with her mouth open. Then today I asked her where the moon, caterpillar, sun, and butterfly were in her Hungry Caterpillar book and she pointed at all of them. Well, she didn't actually point with one finger, but put her hand on the right picture each time. Wow!!!

This weekend we went to the cabin again. John got a new toilet and a water heater installed, Claire got the lawn mowed, and I installed all the insulation we had. Ellen took pretty good naps but her night sleep was NOT good and Saturday night she had a full 2hour night waking!!! Argh!! I think she's starting her 2-1 transition and it's not going as smoothly as I pictured it... of course. It's not too bad though and I *think* I have figured out my strategy, so all that's left is putting it into action and making it work.

We also put an air mattress in her play room and put some pillows on it for her to play on. She LOVED it. She was climbing all over it and throwing herself down and just romping all over. She had SO much fun!!

And I'm so excited about the new baby too. With Ellen I think I had no idea what was coming and I was excited to hold her yes, but looking back I think I was more excited to just not be pregnant anymore. This time I am just so excited about having the baby on the outside and getting to know him!!! There's not much time left... I'm already 22 weeks!! Where has the time gone????

Boy names, hospital trips, and Ellen

Well I've been trying to think of boy names for our little bean. Not so much a little bean anymore - he's over 11 inches now!!! And kicking up a storm in there!! I keep thinking about him as tiny little newborn and I'm so excited to see him and hold him!! I wonder if he's going to be a big baby like Ellen, is he going to take after me or John, will he have blue eyes or brown, will he have hair... oh all kinds of things I can't wait to find out!! But I love Ellen's name and think it's so perfect for her so I want to find just the perfect name for DS too. (That's short for dear son). I'm sure it will come to us eventually - Ellen's didn't come til two weeks before she was born and wasn't for sure hers until we signed the birth certificate!! I've been feeling pretty good, all except my SI joint. My headaches are dwindling, my nausea is all but gone, and my appetite seems to be on it's way back up. Yay!!

My mom had a stroke earlier this week and it has been crazy busy. Thankfully it was a fairly mild stroke and she'll regain most, if not all, of her mobility and ability. She is still in the hospital for inpatient rehab and is doing really well. I spent the first couple nights with her in the hospital - I was really lucky and glad that Ellen has been sleeping through the night so I was able to do that. And I've been watching Ethan this week since Mom and Dad have been at the hospital. Ethan is really good and very laid back as well, so it has gone really well. They even napped at the exact same time both times he was here. It's given me some sort of inkling as to what it will be like when DS is finally here... I know some days will probably be pretty rough, but I think once we get into the groove of it, it will be just peachy. I can't wait!

And Ellen is pulling up on EVERYTHING. The only thing I really have to watch out for is that she'll pull up on things that aren't stable - boxes, toys, and especially her high chair, which is on wheels. She's doing really great and is happy as ever. She's babbling a lot more now and constantly on the move. Her naps have been a little off this week b/c we went to the property last weekend I pushed a nap too far and got her OT. I think we are finally getting back on track. I'm really surprised it took so long.

We bought a property near West, Texas. 10 acres and it has a home already on it that I'm just going to call a cabin. We are going to live there temporarily while we build our permanent home. It will take us a few years to get that house built, and before we move down to start, we have to make the cabin livable. The water heater in it burst and flooded everything so there is a lot of work to be done. John went down yesterday just for a day trip (we didn't go for the weekend b/c of my mom in the hospital) and got the plumbing capped off in all the necessary places so that we can finally turn the water on to the cabin. YAY!! That's a huge accomplishment and relief b/c til now we've only had well water and we've had to run a hose into the house through the window for all our water needs... toilet, dishes, baths, etc. It was a major pain in the you-know-what and I'm so glad we will finally have running water!!!

So far we have spent two weekends down there and we have found one scorpion, one HUGE black widow, and one baby copperhead. Yikes!! I hope once we get situated there all these venomous critters will decide they don't like our company and will relocate!!! I'm not so worried about John or I, more about Ellen and DS when he comes - what could be just painful/hospital trip for us could prove fatal for one of them if we're not careful!! We will just have to be very vigilant and super careful.