Wordless Wednesday...

She's Here!

Lydia Adelane Smith

Friday July 25, 2008

5:31 pm

7 lbs 14 oz 19 1/4 inches

37.5 Week Dr. Appointment Update

So here is the latest update.
Dr. Madden didn't want to check my cervix this morning since I am having a c-section...it doesn't really matter how much I dilate. He told me that he is on call all weekend and that since I am now "full-term" (37 weeks) that if I had the slightest contractions to come in and he would take her this weekend. Of course with my luck, I hold out almost ZERO hope that it will actually happen this weekend.

He also changed my appt for next week from Friday to Thursday so that we can possibly plan a c-section for that Friday (August 1). He wouldn't make any promises, but since I would be 38 weeks and 4 days it is close enough to the 39 week point that he said he would highly consider it out of convenience for us. That would be a Friday and much easier to plan for than during the middle of the week. So maybe....keep your fingers, toes and whatever else you've got crossed we might have a baby this time next week....or sooner if I have another episode.

I am just so miserable at this point that I actually did lose it a little after the appointment. I did break down and cry a little. I am just so uncomfortable and sleep deprived. I miss being able to pick my son up and have a normal life (and body). Anderson has been in school everyday since July 4th which has helped tremendously, but today is his last day. Next week they are off for that one week and then he will start back the following Monday (Aug 4th) for three mornings a week. I am so depressed about next week. I will be here all day everyday with him with no help. I am sick for him because I know he will be bored and I simply don't have the energy to keep up with him. So please pray that something happens this weekend, or that I just hit a burst of energy that will help me keep up with Anderson next week.

Mr. Funny...

Welcome to life with a two year old...here's a little slice of our world right now.

Last night Anderson put up his usual mild yet consistent fight at bedtime. Of course 5 minutes later as we watched on the video monitor he was in bed and fast asleep. Jeff and I went on about our night and thought nothing about his mild protest...until our bedtime when I did my usual "tucking in". As I grabbed the doorknob to his room I quickly realized it was LOCKED!! Somehow the little rascal had managed to bypass the child proof knob insulator and lock the door. I was in shock. I calmly told Jeff...ummm honey....Anderson locked the door. This was followed by several "What?"s and "un uh...for real"s. Finally he believed me and set about trying to pick the lock. Long story short it wasn't one of those simple knobs where you out a pin in and press and release the lock. Oh no...not at our house. Jeff had to actually remove the entire knob with a screwdriver for us to get in the room. Seriously...our barely two year old is already locking us out of his room!

Next story- We have really been working on saying "Please" with Anderson. For some reason this is much more difficult than saying "Thank you". Finally last week when he absolutely refused to say please for a piece of cookie and then proceeded to scream in a full blown tantrum we realized that it is truly an issue with him not wanting to ask for something and just expecting it to be given to him. Well, Jeff and I both agreed to stand strong on that one and MAKE him say please or else he just won't get what he is asking for....Keep that story in mind for this little funny...

The same night that he locked us out, he woke up around 1:30 am and said "I want my mommy". Well since Mommy doesn't really sleep at this stage of pregnancy (I like to say I nap from the hours of 10:00pm- 6:00pm.) I was awake to hear him and decided to go in and check on the little guy. He asked me to get in bed with him...I know....it was a moment of weakness. Once snuggled in his bed he asked in the sweetest voice..."Mommy, hold my hand?" So of course I did. A few minutes later I thought he was asleep and let go of his hand. His eyes popped open immediately and he said very matter of factly..."Mommy, I SAID hold my hand!" Well then yes sir....

Fast forward to the next morning. Jeff and I both stumbled around the kitchen in our sleep deprived states and I jokingly told Anderson that "When we go to bed we stay in the bed ALL night...no asking for mommy or daddy...it's sleepy time...OK?" He looked right at me cut his eyes a bit and gave that sweet mischievous half smile that absolutely owns me and said very simply "You have to say please, mommy"

Lord help us for the next 16 years or so...I have a feeling it won't be the last time he one ups his tired momma and daddy. :-)

Home from the hospital...but no baby yet.

This is from Jeff...For those of you who don't know, we had to leave church Sunday to take
Lindsey to the hospital. Long story short, contractions 2-6 minutes apart for
about 7-8 hours. They wanted the baby to stay in for one more week, and if this
happens next sunday they will just take the baby. Anyway, we spent all
afternoon and last night in the hospital while the nurses used Lindsey like some
sort of Voodoo Doll (5 sticks for one IV). Her Contractions finally slacked off
a good bit early this morning, but could come back with out notice. Also, she
could be fine until August 8th as planned. They don't really know so we are just
playing the waiting game at this point. Her cervix had dialated some2-3 cm, but
they did'nt want to check her again until they were sure it had dialated and she
was progressing. Since the contractions slacked off, they wanted to leave well
enough alone.

They gave us the option of staying today for more monitoring in the hospital, or
going home and coming back if they got worse. We chose to come home as she can get better rest here than there and we can be back in
minutes if necessary. So we just got home after a comfortable night at "La Casa
de DCH".

I'll be hanging out here today looking after her and trying to get some sleep,
but if everything goes well today I'll be back in at work tommorrow for some hearings
that are scheduled. I'll keep you posted if things change. She is not on "bed
rest", but they wanted her to stay inside, off her feet and stay hydrated. She
is sleeping now, so no calls until tonight please.

Keep us in your prayers, we will need them as this could be a long week of
"touch and go" trips to the hospital if she decides to keep up the off and on
contractions.

Thanks,
Jeff

Is Lydia ready to make her (early) grand entrance?

Yesterday I noticed after I ate lunch that Lydia wasn't moving. Usually when I eat she moves a lot, but yesterday she was completely still. I didn't get too concerned, but decided I would lay down on my side and drink a cold bottle of water (another thing that usually gets her going). Still nothing. By then I was getting a little nervous. It had been almost an hour with no movement. I grabbed a regular coke and downed it and still nothing. By then I was panicked. I called Jeff and told him to come and get me to go to the hospital. Then I called the nurse, who agreed that I needed to come in for monitoring. Jeff and I both worried about Lydia, but tried to stay calm. Jeff was better at this than I was.

Once I got to the office they took us back to hear the heart tones. Luckily we happened to pass my Dr. in the hallway and he pretty much dropped everything and came with us. I love my Doctor...he has become a friend to me and Jeff, and I always feel so taken care of. He even gave us his personal numbers in case I go into labor when he isn't on call, so that he can come in a do the c-section himself. Anyway, instead of letting the nurses handle it he found the heart tones himself, which was music to all of our ears...but she still wasn't moving. They gave me a Mt. Dew to drink and after that she still wouldn't move. Then they put me on the monitor for a NST (Non Stress Test) where they monitor her heart rate for 20 minutes to make sure it has regular peaks and lows. For the first several minutes it was just a straight line, which is not what they wanted to see and then FINALLY she started to move and the test showed some variation in her heart rate. My Dr. looked at the tape and said that it was then textbook normal and healthy. Thank the Lord. She scared me to death, and Jeff was convinced that they were going to carry us straight over to L and D to have her delivered that afternoon. Thankfully that was not the case. Dr. Madden said we did the right thing and that no movement for a long time like that definitely warrants monitoring. During the NST we also learned that I was contracting and totally NOT feeling it, which is sort of weird. The body is a strange thing...

Several hours later I was home and my back started really hurting, so I got in the bathtub. The pain came in waves and was severe enough to bring me to tears a couple of times. It didn't take long for us to realize that they were contractions. I apparently was experiencing back labor...NOT FUN! They came every 10-15 minutes for about an hour and a half. At this point Jeff started running around charging cameras, packing his bag and getting my toiletries together. Finally about 10:00 they started tapering off. I continued to have them through the night, but they were much lighter and more spread out. This morning I have felt nada, zilch, nothing...so they have stopped completely.

After doing a little research we think that yesterday she may have changed positions and that is what caused the non-movement incident and the back labor. Apparently if babies go into a "posterior" position it can result in back labor. So my guess is she is now head down sunny side up. We shall see. I go back and forth between thinking that these are all signs that her arrival is coming soon and thinking this is just my body preparing for labor 3 weeks from now. Who Knows? Only Lydia knows when she will be here! I go back to the Dr. Monday morning and after last nights contractions I am betting that I will be dilated even more. Please join us in continuing to pray for Lydia's safe arrival.

Patiently Waiting...I've never been pregnant this long!

Well, the carseat is ready and bags are packed...so now we wait.

We went for my 36 week appt. on Monday, and it was fairly uneventful. I was 1 1/2 cm dilated, but she is still fairly high...of course all of this could change quickly. I go back again next Monday morning. I did have some pretty severe contractions Friday night, but they never got close enough together to go to the hospital.

He said that unless my water breaks or I have contractions that stay consistently strong every 4 to 5 minutes they will not take her before our scheduled 8-8-08 c-section even if I do dilate to 3 or 4 cm. in the next three weeks.

Anderson was here by this time when I was pregnant with him, but it was a complete miracle that he was big and healthy that (nearly 5 weeks) early. Dr. Madden said that if Lydia was born at this point she would most likely need a ventilator and would be in the NICU for a week or so. Hearing that made me feel a little more patient about her arrival. We certainly do not want a ventilator or any time in the NICU! Please continue to think of us and pray for Lydia's safe arrival.

I am increasingly nervous about what to do with Anderson in any of the million scenarios that could happen if I were to go into labor on my own. I can't labor for very long at all without causing complications for the c-section we will be having. So I am under Dr.'s orders to go straight to the hospital if my water breaks or I have consistent contractions. This makes me so nervous since everyone lives at least 30-45 minutes away. We had to come up with several "Plan-B's". Last time with him we just got in the car and went to have a baby...this time it is so different. I am so sensitive about how we handle things with him so that he is the most comfortable and that his regular routine remains as regular as possible.

• If I go into labor in the middle of the night our superstar babysitter, Chandler -whom Anderson ADORES has offered to get the middle of the night phone call and come right over. That way he wakes up to someone he knows and loves, but my mom and sisters can still be at the hospital with us.

• If it happens during the day, he will most likely be at school and we will just leave him there to finish the day and then my mom can go pick him up. She will be staying at our house with him while we are in the hospital.

• If it happens on a weekend then we will most likely call Chandler again or possibly our neighbors who we have regular play dates with.

So that's the plan for now...I'll let you all know what we hear when we go back on Monday.

****And by the way...How cute is this adorable carseat cover I got?? Our carseat fabric used to irritate the back of Anderson's legs (he had super sensitive skin). so we wanted to find a cover this time around, but they were all either $100.00 or more or so obnoxiously pink that I couldn't stomach it. Then I found this one on http://www.2littlemonkeys.com/ I love the butter cream minky dot fabric. It's so soft, and the paisley awning is just enough pink!

The nursery...

...is finally done. It is not pink, as I am not really a "pink" kind of girl. Feminine? Yes please, pepto bismol...no thank you. I was going for a lilac and white crisp shabby chic, and I am pleased with the way it all turned out. I pretty much painted everything in the room. The iron piece over the chair was black. The two tin frames were yellow and I repainted the mats in the frames on the wall as well as recovering the hatbox on top of the book shelf. We changed the light fixture to a chandelier and replaced all of the dresser and changing table nobs to crystal ones. It was a lot of work, but I love to just sit in there now. I still can't believe we are having a girl!! The night I finished it Anderson was watching me as he sort of ran in and out. The next morning when he woke up he ran in there as soon as his feet hit the ground and said "Baby Sister?" It was hilarious! It was like- OK it's done...where is she??

All that has to be done is to add her name, birth date, weight, etc...to her birth banner above the changing table and I can't paint that on until after she gets here. Speaking of arrival dates, I have posted a poll to the side of the blog, so vote away!

Progress at Swim Kids

We are still doing swim kids two days a week. Anderson has made so much progress. I am so proud of him!! Check out these videos! They are all very short and show a different skill.

Diving for Rings


Getting to the ladder


Swimming for toys...with the cutest smile. He was so proud of himself!

The Big Boy Bed Update

What a time of change in our household. Not only are we less than a month from having a new baby, but we have also undertaken several major changes with Anderson as well. Probably the biggest change being his transition to the "Big Boy" bed. We took the plunge two weekends ago and moved Anderson to his new big boy room. We started on a Friday night just in case we were in for an all-night battle...good thing we did that! Friday night was BRUTAL! He has been playing in his new room for weeks now and was quite used to it, but that is very different from sleeping in it. I basically left no toys or books in the room so that he would not just stay up for hours after we closed the door. I also child proofed everything. We secured the bookshelf and the dresser to the walls with anchors, put child locks on the dresser drawers so he couldn't drag all the clothes out or try to climb up open drawers, literally nail gunned the pictures and letters into the wall, put a lock on the closet door, and replaced the plug covers with the kind that slide a cover over the outlet automatically if you unplug something. I even got an automatic cool touch night light...just in case he should try to torch the place! HA! We took he video monitor we got for Lydia and put it in his room for now so we could check on him without opening the door. We watched as he got up and down up and down...played in the floor, etc...

He refused to settle down and we sort of enacted a version of the Ferber method where we let him cry for 5 minutes then went in to check in on him...the next time was 7 minutes...then 10 minutes etc... during this process I sent Jeff to the drug store for something and I listened out for Anderson. Almost immediately his crying just escalated. I knew something was wrong so I went and stood outside the door. He was full out screaming by then and saying "Spooky mommy...too dark....spooky...I want my mommy" Sure enough I checked under the door and not one shred of light flickered. My fancy "automatic" nightlight went out for no reason whatsoever. I slung the door open and there was my baby boy curled up in the floor (my guess is he couldn't see how to get to the door) in the pitch black dark screaming so hard I thought he was going to stop breathing. I cried...he cried and then I just took him back to his bed and got in it with him. Jeff comes home to find me in the bed with Anderson. He was like..."we said we weren't going to give in to this". Then I started crying and telling him what happened. Well about 2 1/2 hours later and lots of bedtime stories and reassurances from mommy and daddy he finally tuckered out. We went to bed and thought it was done...not so much...at 2:00 am he woke up screaming. I flew out of bed and we started the process all over again. He went to sleep at 4:30am...ugggg. I swear I think it was the nightlight. If that hadn't happened I don't think he would have been so scared, especially in the middle of the night. The next night he still had a hard time settling in, but eventually went to sleep around 9:00 and slept all night. By the third night he was in bed asleep by the normal 8:00/8:30 time frame and has slept well every night since then.

Two nights ago as Jeff was putting him to bed Anderson kept telling him there were animals outside...as in big scary animals. Jeff told him the only animal outside was Atticus, our dog. Then Anderson looked up at him and said "Daddy...Atticus scares the animals away?" Jeff, of course, said yes that Atticus was there to protect him from the animals. Anderson just kept repeating "Atticus will scare the animals away" over and over again like it was his little mantra. Then the next morning it was the first thing he said again. Bless his heart I think his imagination is really developing and going into overdrive!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all had a great holiday! We sort of had a lazy day today...I went into nesting overdrive and pretty much completely finished the nursery yesterday. I literally went and shopped until I found the last couple of items I needed to fill up the walls. I had no idea exactly what I wanted, but knew I'd know it when I saw it. Of course when I saw it...I had to alter it. Why is nothing easy?? After shopping for a couple of hours and finding what I needed it I re-painted 3 of the pieces and then we hung everything last night...whew...I was one tired pregnant lady. I still have a couple of things I want to fix before I post pictures, but I promise it will be soon.

At any rate, this morning we ran to Target for a few things and then tonight we had dinner at Miss Susie's house. Miss Susie is like Jeff's honorary mom in Tuscaloosa. She is incredibly special to us, so I thought she deserved her own blog post!

Jeff met Miss Susie through one of his army buddies, Henry. Henry was from Tuscaloosa and told Jeff towards the end of their army stint that he planned to return there to go to medical school. That was Jeff's plan too, although he had planned on attending Tennessee for undergrad. Henry needed a roommate and the rest was history. On a very short stay home while enlisted Jeff came to Tuscaloosa to enroll for the following year. Bless his heart, he was so broke that he slept in his truck outside of Rose Administration waiting for them to open the next morning so he could get all of the paperwork filled out. That morning he saw all of these beautiful girls everywhere walking back and forth to class. He thought "I am sooooo going to school here"...little did he know that he was parked right by sorority row! Of course all he saw were girls!!

Henry knew Miss Susie because she was a Microbiology Professor at the University and he had worked on a project with her while he was still in high school. From that point on she just sort of took him under her wing and was like a mom to him. So naturally, when Jeff moved in with Henry, Miss Susie took him in as well. She had never married or had any children, so as far as she was concerned these were her two boys...an odd looking little family they were. Jeff and Henry were both big strong young guys, but Jeff was white and Henry was black and the there is tiny little Miss Susie....they must have looked a little odd all together! She provided meal after meal for these guys and encouraged them both to follow their dreams in school. For Henry that resulted in an MD in Rheumatology (he livesand practices in Dallas with his wife Stacy now) and as for Jeff he obviously switched gears from medical school and decided to go to law school instead.

Fast forward several years and Jeff ended up becoming Miss Susie's neighbor. Her mother lived in the house next door to her, but after she passed away Jeff had just gone through his divorce and needed a place to live. He bought it and moved in. He was a bachelor, so Miss Susie kept him fed and he cut her grass and fixed things at her house all of the time. When I met him, I think I was more nervous about meeting her than his real parents because she lived right next door! Luckily, we hit it off and she now has accepted me as "deserving" of her sweet boy. However, I think when I had Anderson I gained major brownie points!! HA! We moved from that house just a few months after we married and we do miss her as our neighbor. We just needed more space...she wasn't happy, but eventually forgave us!

She has been a huge help with Anderson and truly loves every bone in his body! She is quick to offer to babysit and calls to check on him regularly. He loves her too and we love to hear him talk about "Miss Sooosy". We never worry about him getting around any germs...I mean...hello the woman made a career out of studying and teaching all about germs! What more can you ask for in a babysitter!

The pictures are from her dinner party tonight. It was very yummy and like all Miss Susie meals and gatherings...very well decorated! Seriously the first time I went for "dinner" at her house it was Fall. She had the table set with fine china and crystal (this was like a random Wednesday night by the way) and our places were labeled with pressed wax leaves with our names calligraphed in gold....the woman loves to entertain!