Tuesday, February 23...The Wait

On Tuesday morning, Todd and I were up bright and early (actually, earlier than need be at 5am because his brother Dale starting calling with truck problems. Yeah, it's usually Dale having problems at 5am. I didn't sleep well anyhow...it was like Christmas Eve, except I knew Santa wasn't bringing the gifts....I'd have to deliver it!

My parents came over and we left before Adam woke up. Leaving him was hard, but I felt if I woke him up to say goodbye it would be harder for him. We went to the surgery center as instructed and was admitted. We waited in the delivery room for Dr. Coty. he did an ultrasound to see what was going on and SURPRISE Abigail had flipped back into place...her head was where it needed to be. No painful version and no c-section. It was weird...it wasn't what I expected, but the doctor wasn't particularly surprised. He said he had "a feeling". So...they used a medication meant to soften my cervix to start labor. Often, Dr. Coty had told me, second time moms induce fairly quickly and it all happens in one day. But...that wasn't meant to be.

Todd and I walked the halls...waiting for the medication to take effect. It was a medication that they give you a dose every three hours no more than four times. So at about 10:20am the WAIT began. Walking didn't help; when they checked me no progress. Another dose, another hour of baby monitoring and another couple of hours walking. And...Nothing but a few contractions here and there...but not the painful ones...


Dr. Coty said we'd try one more dose...if it didn't work...they'd give me a new medication that night that works overnight....The last dose did give me a few painful contractions and they got me into the tub. (The tub is amazing with making you feel better during contractions!) But they died out...and as the night shift came on, it was decided I'd be given the new medication. They offered me Ambien and morphine to help me sleep. I usually hate taking anything like that...medicines have such an effect on me...but I knew I needed sleep, recalling how hard labor was with Adam because I had been up for three days. I declined the morphine as I wasn't in real pain and took the Ambien. Todd laid down on the convenient maternity ward Flip-n-**** :) Day one was ending...it was hard to go to sleep having thought we'd have a baby...Dr. Coty said he'd be there all night in case I decided to go...but I didn't.

I was glad to have Todd there with me all day...he kept me from getting too disappointed, teased me when I needed to laugh and kept me reminded of what a wonderful thing was waiting at the end, even though I knew how hard it was for him to have to keep waiting, too.


PS I had been on a liquid diet since the night before and Dr. Coty said I could "eat"...the nurse told me the snacks she had on hand...and I scarfed down two single servings of Frosted flakes, vanilla pudding, & jello and then ate Todd's leftover chips. Todd thought it was pretty funny...he said it was the first time in a long time he saw me act like a starving pregnant woman!!

Baby Bits

It's been so back and forth with this baby! Two weeks ago, one doctor said she was too big to try version....but this week Dr. Coty has said he think because she moves so much....(so much in fact, the sono tech was teasing me about twins. One minute her head was down low and the next..up!). But Monday was never booked so now we have to go Tuesday....felt bad for my mom, because she thought the baby was going to born on her birthday! So I have to be there at 7:30am....Dr. Coty will try to "flip her". If it works, they will induce me right away so she doesn't have the chance to move again. If it doesn't, right into a c-section. At first, because of my personality, not having a "set" plan upset me. But I'm actually OK with going with the flow....which surprises me! But man...I'm ready. So is she....she is putting a lot of pressure to get out...my stomach moves like the movie Alien! The nurses says she is the most active baby they have right now...!

Meanwhile, Todd is teasing me so much about twins, he had me looking for two heads last night. BUT I'm certain with all the tests I've had, they would have seen it by now. Did I tell you he has named them Luke and Leia????

Adam Bits

Early in the week, I stripped Adam down to get in his bath. Usually, he's so busy trying to climb in the tub himself, I don't worry about him taking him. I certainly can't chase him these days. But Daddy was home and in Adam's bedroom...so after I took off his diaper, to discover he had pooped, he ran towards Todd. I tried to warn him, but he didn't hear me and poor Daddy...he was pleasantly surprised when his little boy, usually not a cuddler unless it's bedtime, wanted to climb in his lap in the rocking chair. Oh yeah, Todd's leg got the brunt!!

Adam loves going up and down stairs. If you help walk him down the porch and don't keep his hand, he will turn right around and crawl up them again! Even though he's rarely around stairs....last weekend, Todd let him in the front foyer only to have Adam take off up half the stairs in 60 seconds! Yesterday, we walked across the street (he was so proud) to my friend Erin's house to see his buddy Daniel who is only two months older. They have two steps up to their door and not only did he walk them himself, he proceeded to knock and call out....(BTW the only time Adam doesn't wiggle in getting dresses is when the shoes come out. And if I put his hat on, he rips to the backdoor...he loves to get out!! But when we come home....he's so happy to see his toys:)

Bailey has a stuffed toy she likes you to play tug of war with her...Adam has figured this out and picks it up and tries to jam it in her face. She looks suspicious and scared...worried she might get into trouble. To Adam, it is officially Bailey's dee-dee!

Valentine's Day

I go back and forth on Valentine's Day. There's the part of me that says it's simply a Hallmark holiday unnecessary for Todd to prove he loves me. But the romantic side of me loves it! Nothing over the top....not particularly Keen on going out out to eat, for instance, because they change the menus, up the prices and the last thing I want is a long wait with my wiggly son....

..so I bought a cupcake pan with heart shapes and made Todd heart shaped blueberry muffins and made him a little gift bag...gave him a kind of mushy card to let him know how happy he makes me....and I told him to get back in bed and take a nap..usually he's up Sunday mornings with Adam.

Todd had flowers delivered to the house. Red roses with white daises...really pretty! I was running out the door to pick up a RX at Wayne's and there was a man mumbling as he combed through arrangements in a van...I stood there till he pulled mine out...he said "Mrs. Butler"? and I smiled and said that's me!! I knew Todd hadn't forgotten as we had been discussing having our daughter on that day, but I didn't know what to expect. It was romantic to know he planned something out ahead of time that would surprise me and make me smile. As a sentimental fool who felt sick yesterday, I dragged them to whichever room I was in (living room or dining room).

But...that's not the end of the story. What do you think was attached to my flowers?? Balloons!! They were delivered as Todd was trying to get Adam to settle and watch Shrek before his nap. He was crying with a broken heart as I ran out the door because he couldn't get down and play with them. When he woke up he went looking for them....three latex and one heart shaped and he was mesmerized.

Yesterday(Monday) the helium in the latex ones was out and Adam spent the morning running around dragging the whole mess with him. I ended up having to seperate them because he got himself so tangled he fell over! He was in the kitchen when I heard MAAAAAAA and I ran in and tried not to laugh because he was crying...he was on his knees because they were tangled 'round his legs. The last picture is him running off after I rescued him :)

And I swear, the reason he couldn't nap was he knew those balloons were out here! He even held onto one while he was settling down. His love and devotion is clear...! (pics coming soon!)

House Keeps Changing!

I put one of the handmade Amish quilts we bought on our bed and it looks really nice. I actually like it more now than I even did before! When we were honeymooning in Amish country, we thought getting a quilt for our room would be the perfect "souvenir" from our special weekend and it is. Romantic and practical...my favorite! :) It really makes the room for me. I'm hoping to find curtains to match it. (the first picture is from out first night in the room)

Todd took a part the big bird cage to move to the room behind the kitchen only to find it was starting to rot on the bottom, so we're hoping to donate it to the bird rescue we used to foster birds for. But, there is NO more bird cage in our wonderful new room :). And luckily, Orrie has adjusted really well to his temporary home upstairs. We'll move him to his permaneant home in a month or so when the back room warms up a bit.

The bassinet and carseat came back down and ready to go and Todd has been purging his old clothes like crazy (he had an admirable 1980's sweater collection!!!). He even put a new shower head in the bathroom "pass through"...really starting to feel like we're "ready"! :)

Adam Wipes Out

Yesterday morning, I was disgusted to see that Bailey had peed on the kitchen floor right in the middle...if she does so because no one's home to let her out, I totally understand...but in the winter she has a bad habit of not wanting to get cold and sometimes falling back on what she considers her "spot"....no matter what else is there.

Adam was in the other room and I quickly sprayed cleaner on it and before I could get on my knees to clean, Adam raced into the room...STOP ADAM! I said but of course...he ran through the mess, wiped out and hit his head. He was crying his eyes out and his back was covered in Bailey pee and green clorox cleaner *sigh*. I tried to clean him and comfort him and of course doing both created quite a scene! Bailey even sent herself to her "room" for punishment. It was pretty gross...but I figure I'll have grosser moments to come! (And maybe I can embarrass Adam as a teen with this??)

Adam and Balloons

This morning on my way back from Target we were stopped at the intersection of Oneida and 481 in Fulton. There is a floral shop where The Medicine Shoppe once was and to promote their Valentine's Day "sale" of $48 roses (SALE??) there were balloons attached to the sign. Adam, half asleep, suddenly pulled his bottle out of his mouth and his whole face lit up. Mama!!he said and made all sorts of cute noises. I pulled up as close as I could for him because nothing delights him like balloons...

We first noticed it when we took him to the state fair last summer. He was interested in the chickens and half-interested in the cows, but when we were waiting in line at the concession sign he started laughing and smiling...we followed his gaze to the balloons tied over our heads to the top of the tent. He was riveted and smiling. Usually, he gets very serious when he is interested in something...taking it all in...like when I walked him in the Harborfest kids' parade with is cousin Peyton all the other kids were smiling...but Adam liked everything so much...he just focused. But not for balloons.

For his first birthday, I got him an Elmo balloon that was the light of his life for days...in the picture on Halloween, he was so sick, but one of the few smiles I got out of him was of him looking up at his balloon:)

And on Christmas, Todd's birthday, we got Todd a balloon and for Adam...everything else was secondary...you can see in the picture he just got his sit-on Thomas which he liked...but he was looking up at the balloon!!

In January, I took him to a Red Robin restaurant in Webster to meet some friends...the table across from us got sung to and balloons as it was some one's birthday. Adam was so certain those were for him he tried to get down and was standing on me yelling for the balloons...so loud they noticed and gave him one. He was soooo happy...

Even at the furniture store last week, the balloon given to him was the only thing that would make him focus...but it blew away when we were going into the house. That's Ok...I'm sure he'll get more out of his mom and dad! If he still loves balloons like this in the fall, I know I'm going to do a balloon extravaganza for his birthday...:)

Baby Is a Gymnast...And Adam's Kisses are like GOLD

Baby induction was set up for the 22nd...missed my Tuesday appointment and they rescheduled me for today...had to get the sono at the hospital lab ...there's is much better and I could really see her. But she's breech again. And weighing in at 9 pounds. So...they are scheduling a c-section. I have mixed feelings about this...but if it's what's best for us both...then they were all so surprised that she turned as I get to 38 weeks! But seeing her in the sono, she is clearly OUT OF ROOM!!! I think she's just trying to get comfortable! Feels like she could come at any point...actually, Todd wants a Valentine's Day baby...so he's promised to strap me in the car all weekend and ride over every bumpy road imaginable!

My parents came over and watched Adam and Dad was so proud...after Adam sat on his lap he reached around and gave him a big wet kiss. Voluntary kisses from Adam are a commodity. I got one last weekend at the furniture store for the first time in weeks. He just reaches up with a big open mouth and kisses! Todd had gotten one a few weeks ago while Adam was sitting on his lap eating Garafolo's banana bread (both my boys love it!). It's a moment I will never forget...they were sitting at the table and Adam was loving the bread and feeding his daddy and he reached around and kissed him!

Adam's stomach is off (WARNING body fluid mention)...last night he projectile vomited and today..poor thing had diarrhea...he was embarrassed so he hid under the dining room table while he was going...poor kid I've never seen a "modest" 15-month old! I had to crawl down there after him...he didn't want to come out!

A lot going on trying to get the house ready...Todd's niece Holly came over Tuesday night and took our old bed, two of the old dressers and Todd's old computer desk...and I've been busy getting stuff into our room and our old room is ready for my dad to work on for Adam whenever he's ready....pics of new furniture coming soon :)

Our New Room (Sorry Orrie!)

We've been working on getting our new room ready for several months...we'd always talked about it, but baby #2 pushed it along! What was the bird room for Orrie and two foster birds when I moved in was a BRIGHT turquoise which I didn't hate...but wasn't bedroom color..with that special 70's burnt orange swirl carpet is now on its way to being the bedroom I always wanted. My dad and brother painted it a nice blue that Todd picked from a bunch of samples I threw at him in frustration with my own indecisiveness and dad sanded down and painted the trim and they re-painted the gorgeous tin ceiling white.

You can see Adam was very intent on helping his daddy re-hang the curtain rods....(with the old curtains...I'm looking for white ones that block out the sun still). Carpet came last week..a neutral grey...and today...I'm so excited..the furniture comes!

Saturday night we went to Value City and Raymour's clearance center (the regular Reymour's is OVER priced). They had a couple of things we liked at Value City, but nothing that screamed at us (except Adam, who ran away from us as much as possible and had NO fear being far from us!). At Reymours, Adam was just as wild, but the salesman gave us a balloon that we used like the pied piper to make him follow us...seriously he was entranced with that thing and it helped us keep our sanity...but we found two really solid wood sets we liked(as a carpenter's daughter, I'm always partial to real wood) and chose a cherry set with two dressers and for Todd...a nightstand 'cause he loves storing his ,odds and ends':) Now for me, it is VERY exciting to own a dresser as I have not since I was in high school and my sister Sarah inherited my childhood dresser. Seriously. Not exaggerating...!

Adam keeps looking in the empty cage for Orrie...I told him he's on vacation! (Temporarily upstairs, being relocated to room being the kitchen). Moving on Orrie may be hard at first, but I think he'll like his new space as he'll see us more.

Todd goes Shopping....aka Getting Ready for Baby

I am so exhausted and so...shall we say awkward walking around...the thought of going to a busy grocery store with Adam (Who spent my entire trip to Wal-mart last week throwing things out of the cart) was exhausting. Todd offered to take us after work last night. He kept Adam busy while I tried to get as much on my list as possible (stocking up for the month ahead hopefully). He hates shopping and I think the last time he went to the grocery store was right after I had Adam :)

Last Saturday, we went hunting for a crib set for baby and at Babies R us we couldn't find something that wasn't pink thrown up on with purple stitched with butterflies. (Todd HATES babies-r-us testament to his love for me or his daughter he went with me??) We liked pink for a little girl, but basically it was all A LOT...and at $160 a pop just for the sets...there wasn't anything worth it. Of course, it took us an hour of back and forth before we realized that we agreed on that:). We went over to the much less prominent "separates" aisle and got light pink sheets, bumper with a chocolate brown dust ruffle and a fuzzy pink blanket with a big brown heart on it. And because we like the monkeys on the nursery wall, I found some receiving blankets that were pink...with monkeys (harder than you think...it's hard to find girl stuff with animals that aren't butterflies or similar). I wasn't sure I'd like it, but when I got home, I was happy with our choice. We didn't overspend on something we didn't love! Of course, I do want her to have a big blanket and I'm eying a quilt with yellow birds at pottery barn kids...Todd says let's make sure she's a girl when she comes out...then *sigh* I can go crazy...I love his sigh he knows I can't help myself when it comes to my kids:)

Two & a Half Weeks....

Yesterday I went to the doctor...the baby was moving so much they nicknamed her "wild child". Fortunately, she re-flipped and is no longer breech soooo I don't have to think about them "flipping" her in-utereo as the doctor had mentioned the week before. Every woman I mentioned it to was like mmmm...with a sympathetic look so I knew it had to suck! For the first time, I was able to see her face. You know they all look half-possessed in a sonogram, but I could still see..she looked like Adam, but like a girl! And i think she has more of her daddy's nose, but it was hard to tell since it's "squished" in the photo. I admit, I got a little teary to see her. I can't wait to meet her. My only real worry in life once she's here...giving both my very young kids the attention they deserve! I know moms balance it all the time...but it's important to me they both feel important....

Daddy came home to stay with Adam while I was at the doctor....and when he woke up, Todd gave him his water and milk cups...(he likes a choice :). He walked off double-fisting them. Todd put a shortbread cookie on the table so if he were hungry, he could eat...Todd said he walked up to the table and didn't want to put either sippy cup down...so he grabbed it with his mouth and walked away like that!!

Adam's 15 months

Grandpa and Uncle Bobby stopped by first thing this morning to pick up my dad's glasses...Adam loves them both and he couldn't let them leave without getting a push on his Thomas!! (Mommy can't do it anymore!) I LOVE this picture...

And..Adam went to the doctor today...he already didn't feel good so I knew how things would go! He's too big for the baby scale...so he had to stand on the big people one:) He got upset at first but he did it...30.5 pounds! He then allowed the nurse to hold his hand and walk him down the hall, looking back to make sure I was there, of course. He's 31.5 inches tall...and healthy all-around...cried through his two shots and said MAMA after, which makes me want to cry...but then he recovered enough to try and pull over their trash, open their cupboards and drawers and climb on the step on the table :)

Flashback: My Wedding Day...Before the Wedding

(I've started this blog so I can remember things better...so I'll be including posts about things that have already happened for myself...I wanted to write about my wedding day...before the wedding :)

I woke up that day less stressed out than I thought I would be. Always nervous about "events", I had gotten worse in the last couple of years. But we started out our day with me...running out to Tim Horton's! For Adam donut holes (OK, and for us, too!)...a variety of other things for us...and when the cashier said "Have a great day....I said "I will...I'm getting married today!" It's a moment that sticks out in my mind because it seemed to really dawn on me AND it made me feel so happy to say it.

Todd got dressed...and we dressed Adam. I didn't put his sweater on over his dress shirt...and I guess I should've cause it never made it :) Todd took his son...(who of course had refused to nap properly and left). Tammy had gone to the foundry with her gorgeous place cards...and called me with some last minute seating concerns. I dusted off the old curling iron and did my hair...turned out better than I thought...then Tammy came over and did my make-up (we had made a previous trip to the MAC counter at Macy's ...expensive but worth it!). Tammy...I consider her my personal make-up artist. She not only knows what she's doing but she knows me and knows what I want to look like!

Then Tammy & I drove to the foundry. Still cool as a cucumber! We went into the "back room" which turned out to be the store room HA...where my bouquet awaited me. I loved it.

My sisters both came in...Carolyn had been assigned the task of bustling my dress and Sarah ended up lacing me up. They wanted me to open their gifts right then as they would be driving back to VA after the wedding...Carolyn had put together a pre-made scrapbook and Sarah had had a frame engraved.

Tammy touched up the make-up...of course! I hadn't been able to find my camera that day so I asked her to take some.

Mom came in and so did my soon to be mother-in-law Kathy. Mary, who runs the foundry came in and out...chrissy the photographer came in and got a few shots...(wish I'd had her come in early and get more!) Sarah had asked for crackers and cheese as she had just announced she was knocked up....and of course had to be a bit of a diva...and before I knew it...it was almost time...and a couple minutes past three...I told them to play "At Last" my-pre wedding March song...and at the last minute...I asked my dad to walk me down the aisle...I had one moment to pause and reflect and then...I was ready!