Rebecca at 2 months

Well, by now it's actually almost 11 weeks, but at least I'll get this post in before she hits 3 months ;)

Here's her 2 month picture:

 

 

We had her 2 month checkup last week.  The pediatrician was pleased with Rebecca's growth and development.  She weighed in at 10lb 12oz and measured 23in long.  By comparison Daniel was 11lb 10oz and 23.5in.  I thought she felt bigger to me than I remembered him being but turns out she's a little smaller. 

 

Right now she's in the 41st percentile for weight and 65th for height on the CDC charts but if she follows Daniel's path she'll becoming increasingly light for her age.  Given that the CDC charts include formula-fed infants as well, who tend to put on weight more quickly for a number of reasons, and that long lean babies run in our families, neither we nor the pediatrician will be concerned if she's on the lower end of the chart so long as she is eating well and developing properly.

 

Rebecca is eating quite well.  She nurses 6-8 times a day and is starting to spend more time on a side and in a total feeding.  Daniel was regularly getting a bottle or two a night for his early weeks but because of her wonderful sleep schedule from day one, I'm able to nurse her for every feeding.  I think we could count the number of bottles she's gotten on one hand.  That's about to change soon though-next week is my last week of maternity leave then Kevin will be home with her into late July.  But I'll be pumping at work, and have over 200 oz of milk stashed in our freezer, so she'll still be getting breast milk even when I'm not there to physically deliver it to her.  Daniel adjusted well to taking bottles and I have every reason to think she will too.

 

I feel a little guilty to even admit this when so many of my friends' babies don't sleep well, but Rebecca's a wonderful sleeper.  She regularly sleeps 10-11 hours at night.  In the evening she'll usually nurse on one side for a very long time, close to an hour, then drift off to sleep for a bit, then either she wakes or we'll wake her to change and swaddle her and let her nurse on the other side.  She usually falls asleep doing that or shortly after, and then she's down for the night.  She sleeps till around 8-9 most mornings, which has been awesome for me while I'm on leave but doesn't mesh well with my work schedule.  So this next week we'll cut out that last feeding at night and change and swaddle her before the long feeding then put her down.  Ideally she'll be waking around 7 so I can get ready then nurse her right before I leave.  It's nice that my biggest baby sleep worry as I head back to work is having to adjust her schedule so she won't sleep so late!

 

She had been napping for about an hour and a half in the morning and 2-4 hours in the afternoon but for the last week or so she had been napping more fitfully and often waking after only 45 minutes.  Since we wanted to start transitioning her from napping in the bouncer seat to napping in her crib anyway, it seemed a good time to introduce a swaddle for naptime to see if that might help her sleep a little longer and consolidate her naps.  A few days in it seems to be working well.  Today she napped twice for over 2 hours each lying swaddled with her head on my nursing pillow (a good transition from the upright position in her bouncer to lying flat in the crib). 

 

The swaddle is just a short-term tool.  Within a few months she'll be rolling over and we'll switch to sleep sacks, but Daniel had no problem with that adjustment so I'm not anticipating a problem for her either.  It's amazing how much the first kid sets the expectations.  Daniel was generally an easy baby, so we expected him to adjust to change well, so we had the confidence to do what worked in the short term without the fear that we were setting up a long term habit he'd have to unlearn.  That worked well with him so we're doing the same for her.  Of course they are different kids so what worked for him won't always work for her, but it gives us our default plan.

 

One thing we haven't had need for with either kid is the pacifier.  We offered them to Daniel a few times and he didn't have much interest or need.  So far Rebecca seems the same way.  I think we may just be blessed with two kids who are exceptionally good self-soothers with little need for attachment items like pacis, lovies, or a favorite blanket.

 

Another thing we learned from our experience with Daniel was that he hated bathing in his baby bathtub but loved when one of us sat in the tub with him and held him in the water.  That's all we've done for Rebecca and she loves it.  Daniel's a poky eater so while he's finishing his dinner I'll take Rebecca up and we'll sit in the tub together.  She loves for me to drip warm water on her tummy and she especially likes having her hair washed.  When Daniel comes up he likes to help bathe her.

 

Rebecca is not much of a crier.  As long as she's fed, rested, and clean she's usually a very content baby.  But she does get lonely if I set her down and go to the other room for very long.  And thus far, she's very partial to Mommy (no surprise as she spends far more time with me).  She can sit in my lap, perfectly happy, but then I hand her to Kevin and within minutes she's crying.  Once they've been home together for a few days though I know they'll find their groove.  She adores Daniel and likes to look at him and smile but being a toddler, he doesn't always love on her as gently as she'd like.  He likes to give her kisses though!

 

Just like Daniel, she loves being worn in a carrier.  For the first 8 weeks or so I exclusively used my ring sling but now that she's got better head control and is a little bigger I've been using my beco carrier to distribute her weight more evenly over my shoulders.  We went to the Dallas Zoo last Saturday and while Daniel excitedly looked at the animals (a topic for another post), Rebecca slept most of the day away in the beco.  We fit right in with the marsupial mammals in this picture!

 

 

I've enjoyed my time at home with Rebecca.  She's such a mellow, happy baby and quite the little cuddler!



 

Daniel update

As Daniel gets older his personality is becoming more and more developed.  It's fun to watch!

Bath time fun

I mentioned last time that he has started doing more imaginative play.  The latest development on that front is that now during bath time he likes to pretend he's having lunch at school.  I was in the tub with him one night and he said it was lunchtime and pretended to hand me a sandwich.  The sandwich course was followed by juice, oranges, yogurt, and tomatoes.  We also sang the grace song the kids sing at school ("God our Father, God our Father..."). 

I asked him what we do after lunch and he showed me to throw away our trash, zip up our lunchboxes, put them on the counter, then lie down for nap time.  I was also reminded that "we don't talk during lunch, we eat during lunch!"  He proudly described his red fire truck lunchbox and then as I named his classmates he told me what they have.

 

It was cute to see him acting all of this out with no props but his imagination.  He was so excited when I joined in.  It reminds me of how, when he starts to sing a song and I join in, he gets this look like "wow, Mommy knows it too?"  It's like he landed in a foreign country and was delighted to find the locals understood him.  Interesting to see how his mind works.

 

Now "lunchtime" is a part of our bath routine.  Also part of the bath routine: bubbles, fizzing color dye for the water, and tub crayons.  If he says he doesn't want to come upstairs for bath time I just say, "what color bath should we take?" and he suddenly wants to take his bath! (Mommy Jedi mind trick)  He also likes making "bubble beards" and when I gave him a big white beard of bubbles he said "Ho ho ho!" 

He loves for me to get in the tub with him and I'm glad for the chance to get some one-on-one time with him.  It won't be long before he's too old to bathe with Mommy so I'll enjoy it while I can.

Using his words

He continues to speak quite well and is starting to use pronouns.  He used to always refer to himself in the 3rd person but now he'll use "I".  He doesn't really know the word "me" yet so he'll say "Mommy help I" or "sit by I".  When I take Rebecca to the changing table he'll say "her pooped."

He still can't quite say "car" correctly but now it comes out more like "cow".  And when he wants us to unplug something he'll ask us to "plug it out" (which in fairness does seem like a reasonable opposite to "plug it in").  Pajamas are still "palamies" too.

Lately he's been asking more questions too and using inflection at the end of the sentence.  The funniest example was tonight.  We have some wire hung up by the back door with binder clips to hold up and display Daniel's artwork.  It fell down the other day but this afternoon I put the art back up.  I told him that at dinner and he responded "you did?" with this excited voice.  It was really cute :)  When we do something for him he'll enthusiastically say "there you go!"  We aren't getting the "why" question yet but I'm sure it's not far off.

Overall, he's just a lot more communicative and conversations feel increasingly like a two-way street.

Independence
More and more he wants to do things himself.  He'll say "Daniel do it!" or sometimes just "Daniel!"  He can turn the lights and fan in his room and in bathrooms on and off by finding something to stand on.  He also likes to open his toothpaste (aka "Thomas" because it has Thomas the Tank Engine on the tube) and brush his own teeth with his Darth Vader toothbrush.  (How do you get a toddler to brush his teeth?  Have his toothbrush command it in a deep voice!)  He's also learning to take off and put on shirts, though that's still a work in progress.

Big brother

He's usually very sweet with baby Rebecca, or "Bay Abucca" as he calls her.  He gives hugs and kisses, asks to hold her and tries to nurse her.  The other day he was looking at her and said "I love her" as if he'd just realized it.  But he has also hit and pushed her a few times too.  Fortunately those moments have been the exception to the rule. 

I think he'll enjoy her even more once she's old enough to crawl and interact with him more.  He likes to lie on her jungle themed activity mat with her and hold her hands and tries to show her how to kick the toys on it.  For her part, she adores him.  She loves to look at him and smiles.

 

 

Friends
He has also enjoyed some fun birthday parties and play dates this month with his buddies Alejandro and Noah.  The boys were all born in 2010 and their little sisters were born in late 2012/early 2013-perfect playmates for Rebecca!

 

Here's a picture of the boys when they were babies.  Daniel was about 2 months old and Ale and Noah were 6 months. 

 

I remember how huge the age gap seemed then, and especially since the kids were on on opposite ends of the growth chart so my little 2 month old looked even littler next to big 6 month olds.  But now the boys play wonderfully together.

And here's a picture of the girls.  Note that we preserved the Rangel/Williamson/Elborai order as before.  And notice how strongly Rebecca resembles Daniel.  Seriously, switch the clothes and you'd be hard pressed to tell which is which!

Montessori Night
Last week Daniel's school had a Montessori Night when the parents were invited to come up to watch the kids do the projects ("works") they work on during Montessori class time.  Here are some pictures of Daniel showing off his skills:

Bug bowls: He had 3 colored bowls with matching tongs and matching small toys.  The goal was to use the appropriate-colored tongs to pick up the toys and place them in their respective bowls.  Some of the toys were pretty small so he had a hard time with the tongs and would instead grab them with his hands.  Creative and pragmatic, but doesn't develop the fine-motor skills like the tongs do.  This one is a good challenge for him right now.

Counting puzzle: He had to connect the puzzle pieces by counting up from 1 to 10.  This one was also a little challenging for him but he was able to finish it.  When he did he looked up proudly and said "I did it!"  He looked over at us but also at his teacher, Ms. Becca, when he did.  Clearly he was happy to see approval on all 3 faces.  It was another nice little sign of how attached he is to her and how much he enjoys being in her class.

Another puzzle: This one looked like it would be a challenge for him with so many pieces but he whipped through it with confidence.  Clearly it wasn't his first time doing this one.  It must be a favorite (he even smuggled home one of the puzzle pieces the other day!)

Frog clips: This is another work that focuses on fine motor skill development.  Ms. Becca said this is one where she's been able to see a lot of improvement with Daniel.  Today he was able to arrange all of the clips around the bucket lid, but a few months ago he couldn't.

Metal inset tracing: This is a Montessori classic.  He first traced the inside of a metal shape inset like the circle at right.  Then he copied over the tracing to learn how to draw the shape on his own.

It was fun to watch him show his skills.  He obviously enjoyed the works and is learning a lot.  It was fun to see the beaming smile of "I did it!" after he'd finish one.  Makes me wish I could be a fly on the wall in his classroom every day to see that.

Next week we have our spring parent-teacher conference.  I'm so amazed at all of the changes we've seen in Daniel since his first day of school last July and look forward to seeing what lies ahead. 

Postpartum analysis: parting thoughts

It’s been 6 weeks since Rebecca was born (yes, it has flown by) and I’ve had the threads of this post in mind for a while but it’s taken this long to put them in writing.  Now that the pregnancy is over and baby is here I’ve been thinking back over decisions I made along the way and how they’ve played out.

Staying active during pregnancy:

My goal was to be as active as possible.  For about the first 18 weeks I was great about that and Rebecca can already boast of completing a sprint triathlon, half marathon, 15k, and 10k, as well as many runs and bike rides.  Then August came along bringing ragweed pollen and with it, allergies, a sinus infection and a terrible cough that hurt my ribs.  All of that kept me sidelined for several months and once it finally resolved I was far enough along to be quite limited and when I couldn’t run I lost my motivation.

I was in good enough shape beforehand that it carried me through and I felt okay throughout the pregnancy but in hindsight I wish I’d made more effort to exercise toward the end, even if just by walking.  My intentions were good and I started strong but didn’t keep it up as well as I’d have liked.

Oh well…at least I’m making up for lost time now.  I got an adapter for my jogging stroller to hold her car seat and Rebecca and I have already gone on a handful of short runs.  So far I’m pretty slow but I can feel improvement every time I go out.  I’ve had my sights set on December’s Dallas Marathon since before the pregnancy and I look forward to being greeted by both my kids as I complete my first marathon.

Not finding out the gender:

Before we even tried for a second child I knew I wanted to let this baby’s sex be a surprise.  I thought it might be hard to wait but honestly, it wasn’t.  Maybe it would have been harder with a first child; this time around I didn’t focus nearly as much on being pregnant.  We already knew our birth plan and had our baby gear so we weren’t spending hours researching everything.

The payoff came on the big day.  I’ll always remember kneeling in that hospital tub, having just caught my child in my own hands.  Slowly lifting the baby away from my body as first the face and then the tummy were revealed.  Then Kevin’s voice from over my shoulder, full of excitement, saying “We got a girl!”  Then hugging my daughter to my chest and kissing her.  Unfortunately our photographer wasn’t there yet to capture the expressions on our faces but even if I’ll never know how I looked in that moment I’ll always remember how I felt.

It was also fun to be able to imagine a boy or a girl throughout the whole pregnancy.  Naturally, after savoring both possibilities for so long it was a little sad to close the door on the boy dream.  I think of those Daniel’s outgrown clothes in the attic which we won’t get to dress another boy in and the boy name we won’t get to use.  If we’d had a boy I’d have been sad to close the door on my dreams for a girl and knowing that we’d never have a girl might have been harder.  But of course we were eventually going to have to close one of those doors and it was fun to enjoy a few extra months of having it both ways.

Not inducing:

If you’re looking for a way to get attention from co-workers I recommend going to work the week after your due date.  Every day I was asked several times: “you haven’t had that baby yet?”, “shouldn’t you get induced?”, “is it safe to go past your due date?”, and variations on that theme.  Many were surprised that my care provider had “let me” go past my due date and thought it must be dangerous for the baby, as though my uterus was a landlord that would shut off the utilities at precisely 40 weeks.  Several were shocked that I hadn’t requested induction myself; wasn’t I uncomfortable and ready to have this baby?

Of course I was quite uncomfortable and mentally exhausted from sitting around waiting for the watched pot to boil.  And if there were any signs that baby was no longer thriving I would have induced.  But having watched Daniel spend his first days in the NICU I wasn’t about to take any actions that might increase the likelihood of complications for this baby. 

Maybe induction would have been successful and Rebecca would have been perfectly healthy; I’ll never know.  But if she had had any complications I would always have wondered if the induction had caused it and I couldn’t justify introducing that risk just for my own comfort.  I reminded myself that if the baby was still inside, it was for a reason, and compared to the 10 months I had already waited, another day or two (or eight!) wasn’t so bad.  The easy labor and healthy baby that awaited me at the end of the pregnancy made the longer wait worth it, and I’m thankful that my midwife didn’t try to pressure me to induce.

Deciding when to leave for the hospital:

We went to the hospital that afternoon for my scheduled 41 week checkup.  I wasn’t in labor then, or at least, I didn’t yet know I was.  By the time it was over though, about 5PM, contractions were well established but still at least 8 minutes apart.  We could have hung around the hospital to wait for labor to being in earnest but we chose to go home and spend the evening with Daniel.  We expected the baby to come very late that night or in the wee hours of the morning.

At home I tracked my contractions using an app on my phone.  They were certainly becoming more frequent and intense but didn’t fit the textbook definition of active labor (occurring at least every 5 minutes, lasting at least 1 minute long, for at least 1 hour-5/1/1 for short).  We decided to give Daniel his bath, read him a story, tuck him in, then head for the hospital.

As it turned out we cut it closer than we intended.  Around 8 I picked up the phone to call our midwife to see if we should come in.  Just as I was about to call I felt my water break so we set out for the hospital.  I called Maria from the car and told her we were going in.  She noted that I still seemed relaxed and able to talk easily and joke so she wondered how far along I was. 

While I wasn’t too anxious, Kevin apparently was.  After we arrived he admitted he had worried the whole time that we’d be having the baby on the side of the road!  We arrived about 8:30 and Rebecca was born at 9:20, so suffice to say we definitely didn’t err on the side of being too early. 

In hindsight it might have been better to leave sooner or just hang around the hospital after the appointment.  But I’m glad we got to spend Daniel’s last night as an only child with him.   He was already down for the night when we left so even though we stayed at the hospital two nights to him it was as if we were only gone for one (and my mom, whom he adores, was staying with him).  It was important to me to know that even as I was working to bring my second child into the world I was giving as much time and attention as possible to my firstborn.

Natural birth:

This wasn’t a decision, it was the default.  We knew all along we wanted the same midwife to deliver this baby at the same hospital and with the same doula as we’d had for Daniel’s birth.  The only question was how much preparation we needed to do this time.  We did a 6 week Bradley class the first time around but having already been there, done that we didn’t feel like we needed the classes again.  We did read back through the class materials to refresh our knowledge and remind us what to expect.

We also did some relaxation exercises where I’d lie in bed and Kevin would squeeze my ankle and I’d practice lying still, relaxing, and breathing deeply through the discomfort.  And when I remembered to do it I practiced tailor sitting and squatting, but to be honest, I wasn’t very diligent about that.  I didn’t do very much physical preparation for labor this time.  But I did spend a lot of time visualizing it and remembering Daniel’s birth, getting in some “mental reps.”

This labor was so different from the first one that the Bradley techniques still helped but in a different way.  The first time the physical preparation was a lot more important given the 37 hour duration.

This time labor was so short that the physical part was easy.  Between the shorter time and my body already knowing what to do (which of course contributed to the shorter time) this labor wasn’t really physically taxing.  The drive to the hospital was uncomfortable because I couldn’t adjust my position and the transition stage was really intense as the contractions came one on top of another but all of that together was maybe an hour.  Most of the labor passed relatively painlessly at home as I played with Daniel, ate dinner, packed our last-minute items, and even addressed valentine cards.  It wasn’t the most comfortable evening I’ve spent but it wasn’t really physically taxing.

The real challenge this time was staying calm and confident through the quick pace of it.  From what I’ve read online many women with fast labors describe the experience as being traumatic, excruciatingly painful, and scary and talk about feeling out of control as the birth happened to them in a blur.

I have no basis for comparison so maybe my contractions were unusually mild or I have an unusually high pain threshold.  But I suspect much of the difference in women’s perceptions of their birth experience has to do with mental preparation, and to me that was the real value of the Bradley teachings for this birth.

I expected the contractions to be uncomfortable so I practiced pain management techniques and as a result, they felt easy.  I also think the Bradley classes did a good job of explaining what’s going on during the stages of labor.  I knew that the transition stage was when the cervix dilates the final few centimeters and while it’s the most intense stage, it’s also the shortest.  Knowing that and being able to remind myself of it in the moment kept me calm and focused.  Knowledge is power.

I don’t know how much information other birth classes give but I can imagine that a woman who didn’t know what to expect in transition, whose pain management plan consisted solely of getting an epidural, would find a fast labor to be scary.  But I didn’t find the short labor scary at all.  In fact, after 37 hours the first time, it was nice for things to move so quickly! 

The biggest advantage I had this time was the experience of having done it before.  I didn’t just know the textbook definitions of the labor stages, I knew how they felt.  Despite things progressing so quickly I was actually able to think about what was going on more than I remember doing with Daniel.  Kevin and Maria were there to support me physically, and their presence was certainly comforting, but I found that I didn’t really need encouragement and emotional support as much this time because I had my own well of experience to draw from.  I was my own labor coach and cheering section.

While the pain might have been intense for a few moments the memory of that had already faded by the next day, but I’ll always remember how strong and capable I felt that night.  By the time 2013 closes I’ll have become a marathoner and I hope by the time I’m 40 I’ll have become an Ironman but even those achievements won’t match the excitement and sense of accomplishment I felt on the days my children were born.  Childbirth wasn’t something that happened to me or something I endured, it was something I did.

 

Birth announcement: sneak preview

I just ordered our birth announcements and am looking forward to seeing the finished product.  In the meantime you can see a preview here:

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

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Imagination

Lately Daniel has really become creative and imaginative in his play.  The other night he was eating a cookie for dessert when he held up the half-eaten cookie and declared that it was a fire truck as he "drove" it around his tray.  Then when a small piece fell off he decided it was a wheel.  Sometimes he'll turn up his nose at "broken" food but when I told him the wheel jumped off to hop in his mouth he found that explanation satisfactory and ate it!

 

Then tonight as we read "Goodnight Moon", when we got to the page about the bowlful of mush he called it yogurt (which, as he has noted for months, it does look like) and pretended to eat it and then feed me from a spoon.  Then he decided that we needed coffee with it so he pretended to taste my coffee.  Usually when I'm drinking coffee he'll dip his finger in to taste it (after I make sure it's not too hot, of course) so he did the same thing with our fake coffee.

 

After "Goodnight Moon" we read "Pajama Time" to finish our night and as he pointed to different characters on the pages he told me who they were.  At first I was a bit offended when he pointed to the giant hippo and said "that's Mommy!" but later I was a little bunny so that was better ;)  Daddy, "Alejandro's daddy", his teacher Ms Becca, and school friends were all included.  Then when he saw the chicken character on one page he pretended to eat it as a snack...hmm, random coincidence or has he connected the dots between chicken he eats and pictures of chickens?  A few months ago when we were eating turkey he quoted the line "trot like a turkey" from the same book.  Dinner could get interesting if he starts recognizing his barnyard friends on his plate.

Speaking of animals, whenever we go up the stairs he insists that we crawl up on all fours "like a kitty."  (Fortunately for Mommy he waited to start this game until after his little sister was born!)  As we crawl up the stairs he'll meow like a cat.

It's fun to see him using his imagination so much lately.  It certainly made for an entertaining story time tonight!

2 weeks old!

Two weeks ago this morning I was at home still not in labor, still wondering when this baby was going to come.  But by later that night I was holding our daughter.  She took her time on the inside but once she was ready to go she was ready to go!

 

So far, so good

Rebecca has followed up an easy labor by being an easy baby.  I thought Daniel was an easy baby but at this rate by comparison we'll look back on him as the difficult one!  So far this girl likes to sleep most of the time, eats well, and seldom cries.  She loves being held and will snooze contentedly in my ring sling for hours on end, which means she can nap as I run errands. 

 

Speaking of errands, I've felt much more comfortable leaving the house with her than I did with Daniel at this age.  With him I thought what if he cries?  what if he needs to eat?  what if he needs to sleep?  With her, I pack a nursing cover and just feed her where we are and let her nap in the sling.  The other day I was even brave enough to take both kids to Target by myself.  She slept in the sling, he sat in the shopping cart seat and was my shopping helper.  I remember being really nervous my first few times taking Daniel out but with her it seems easy.

 

The only real "problem" Rebecca has is a tendency for out-of-diaper poop experiences.  Apparently she likes to hold back most of the mess until the old diaper is off then unleash it all as soon as she's been cleaned.  Even though I change many more diapers than Kevin (since I'm the one home with her during the day) somehow he's the one this always happens to!  The first few times it surprised him but now he expects it.  But, diaper change surprises notwithstanding, she's an easy baby.

 

We've actually been in a pretty predictable night time routine almost literally from day one.  She eats around 10-11 at night then sleeps until somewhere between 3-5, eats, then sleeps again until 8-9.  Yes, our 2 week old is already sleeping 5+ hours at a stretch and only waking once during the night to eat!  The first few nights I thought, this is great but it won't last.  It wouldn't surprise me if she changes up the script once she starts having alert periods during the day but so far it's nice to have such an easy night schedule.  With Daniel, Kevin and I took shifts and I pumped bottles for Kevin to feed, but with Rebecca only waking once I've just been nursing every feeding and we've only given her one bottle.  I'll start working in 1-2 pump sessions a day over the next week or so now that nursing is well established so she can get used to taking a bottle and I can leave her with Kevin to run weekend errands.

 

She lost her umbilical cord stump when she was 6 days old so she's had a few real baths now.  She seemed to like the bath fairly well.  I sat in the tub and held her, remembering that Daniel much preferred that to the baby tub we tried for him at first.  He hated his first bath, as shown here (and, as you can also see, Rebecca looks quite a lot like he did as a newborn):

 

Big brother

Speaking of Daniel, he's handling the adjustment from only child to big brother quite well.  He is definitely a little clingier to me and wants more Mommy attention.  For a long time he wanted to sit on the recliner chair arm during nightly story time but now he insists on my lap every time (of course, it's also easier to sit in my lap now that there's not a big baby bump there!) and he runs up and wraps his arms around my legs when he sees me and is much more liberal with the hugs and kisses.  But he hasn't shown much jealousy except in the evenings after I pick him up and before Kevin gets home, when I'm nursing Rebecca and he wants my attention too. 

 

He's generally very sweet with her, asking to hold her, giving hugs and kisses, and getting very concerned when she cries.  He also burst into tears once and kept sobbing "baby!" while watching Kevin change her diaper.  She wasn't crying so I'm not sure if he was worried for her or his sense of propriety was offended by her failure to use the potty!  Yesterday when I was changing her he came over, unprompted, and offered me a clean diaper for her.  He likes being Mommy and Daddy's helper!

 

One nice perk for him has been that as our friends have come by to meet Rebecca Daniel has enjoyed having playdates with their kids.  We've had a few "teaching moments" about sharing his toys but for the most part he does very well with it.  And with the nice weather we've had this "winter" (is 70 degrees in February nice or an ominous sign for the summer?  we'll see...) that has meant several chances to go to the playground near the house.  He's gotten several thoughtful "big brother" gifts too which have helped him feel special.

 

Now that we have a baby in the house again I can really appreciate just how much Daniel has grown and what he can do.  2 1/2 years ago he was a newborn baby and now he's an active toddler who knows lots of books and songs, can count to 10, eat on his own, use the potty, and speak in complex sentences.  Sometimes I have to remind myself he's still a little boy too because compared to her he seems so big and mature.  Every time I pick him up now I think, wow, when did you get this heavy? 

 

Being reminded of how much he's grown makes me even prouder of my little guy.  It's so fun to see his personality develop and now to see him grow into the big brother role.   It'll be interesting to see how much Rebecca takes after him and in what ways they are different.

 

Body by baby

All told, I gained about 35 pounds during my pregnancy.  So far I've lost about 15lbs of that and can once again wear regular pants without an elastic waistband, albeit 2 sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy wardrobe.  It's nice to pack up all my maternity clothes and be able to easily reach my feet to put on shoes.

 

Here's my last belly shot during pregnancy (39 weeks):

 

 

 

And here I am one week postpartum:

 

 

 

I've missed being active and am eager to get back to running as soon as I can.  Hopefully between that, nursing, and eating well I can get back or almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time I return to work in May.

 

I've been feeling pretty good since we got home from the hospital.  For the first few days sitting was a little painful but that got better quickly and I've had no discomfort since.  Thanks to Rebecca's easy night schedule I feel plenty rested without having to nap during the day.  My back gets a little sore if I wear her for a long time during the day but that's about all I can complain about physically.  I have to remind myself that I am recovering from just having had a baby, because I feel pretty good and have plenty of energy.

 

So far, having 2 kids has definitely been easier than I expected.  We'll see what the coming weeks and months bring but we couldn't have asked for an easier start.

It's a girl!

We have a daughter!  Rebecca Lynn Williamson was born on Monday, February 11 at 9:20pm.  Now we have a beautiful girl to go with our beautiful boy!

 

Here's a picture of her in her going-home outfit.  Since we chose not to find out the gender ahead of time we had a neutral outfit, but on the chance we had a daughter I had bought a maroon headband so she'd have something "girly" to wear home.
 

So far she looks a lot like Daniel did as a baby.  Her hair is a little darker than his was but a similar reddish-brown shade.  Her eyes are the dark blue of most newborns.  It'll be fun to see as she gets older who she favors more.  Daniel is my little mini-me; will she be blonde and blue-eyed too or take after Kevin's coloring?  Whose nose, chin, fingers, etc. will she get?  When I look at baby pictures of Daniel I think he looks "more like himself" the older he gets as his features become more distinct.  I'm sure in a year or two as I look back at Rebecca's baby pictures I'll think the same thing as, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see the little girl she's going to become in her newborn pictures.

Birth story

I delivered Rebecca at the same hospital where Daniel was born, Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, with the same midwife, Cecily, and doula, Maria.  And as with Daniel, I delivered naturally with no epidural or any other medical interventions.   Other than those common elements though, the births were quite different.  If Daniel's was a marathon, Rebecca's was a 5k!
 

The weekend before

Since we still had no baby, we made the most of our weekend, attending not one but two birthday parties for Daniel's friends and visiting the Sea Life Aquarium.  I also took advantage of the chance to see the Les Miserables movie with my mom for a last girls' night out.  Throughout the weekend I was feeling Braxton Hicks contractions but otherwise nothing to indicate labor was imminent.  But by Sunday evening it definitely felt like the baby was starting to move lower.  I knew that for second babies dropping generally happened once labor was imminent.  As I had every night for a week, I went to bed wondering if I'd wake up in labor at some point in the night but Monday morning came with no new developments.

Early Monday
I got up when my alarm went off and prepared to go to work but decided not to go in.  Between the dropping feeling that seemed even stronger than the night before, the fact that I had a checkup scheduled that afternoon anyway, and the dread of facing another round of "you still haven't had that baby yet?" questions, I decided to stay home from work and see how the day progressed.

 

I stayed productive by taking a walk, cleaning out the file cabinet, closing on a refi loan for our house (and wondering as I signed and dated a huge stack of papers whether that date would turn out to be a memorable one for us!), and helping Kevin jumpstart his car.  When he tried to leave for work that morning he discovered that his battery was dead.  Knowing that a drive to the hospital was in our near future he got it replaced right away.  As it turned out this was very fortunate timing!

Our last prenatal checkup 

My 3:10 checkup time came and Kevin and I headed to the hospital.  I had researched induction and even downloaded an app to my phone to calculate my Bishop score so that I'd be prepared for a conversation about that.  Our intention was still to wait as long as possible to allow labor to start on its own.  In the car on the way there I remember telling Kevin I felt a contraction but wasn't sure if it was Braxton Hicks or something real.

 

At the appointment I learned that I was 2cm dilated, 80% effaced, and in early labor.  Not only was the induction conversation now a moot point, Cecily said we'd be back that night to have our baby!  We had planned for a sonogram that day to check the amniotic fluid level so we stuck around for that to make sure there was no reason I needed to be admitted right away.

We had to wait about 45 minutes for the sonogram and I started timing my contractions around 4:00 as they were becoming more regular.  They were lasting roughly a minute and the interval between them steadily decreased from 15 minutes to 8 over the next hour.  The sonogram showed a healthy baby (I reminded the sonographer that we didn't know the gender-I wasn't about to wait that long only to have the surprise ruined at the last minute!) and adequate fluid levels, but baby was sleepy.  I guess she knew what was coming and was getting her rest while she could!

Laboring at home 

We left the hospital about 5:15 planning to spend our evening at home with Daniel then leave for the hospital after he was in bed.  By the time we got home contractions were coming about every 5 minutes but they weren't really uncomfortable.  I stood and swayed side to side and was able to talk through them so I thought we were still in the early stages.  After all, Daniel's labor had taken 37 hours and it had only been about 2 so far.  I didn't want to be the girl who cried labor too early and get sent home again!

 

I started to make birthday cupcakes for the baby (like I did for Daniel) but then outsourced that task to my mom so I could address Daniel's valentines for his class party.  I decided to eat while I still could in case I had a long labor ahead of me so I made some tortellini with red sauce and opened up a Powerade (carb loading!).  After dinner Kevin bathed Daniel while I packed last-minute items into our hospital bags. 

By the time I went in during story time to hug and kiss Daniel goodnight the contractions were intense enough that I had to stand up and couldn't easily talk through them.  I definitely thought we were in active labor but wasn't sure how far along we were.  The contractions were strong but didn't seem to last more than about 30 seconds before I'd get several minutes' reprieve.  They didn't seem to fit the 5/1/1 rule about when to go to the hospital: contractions at least every 5 minutes lasting at least 1 minute for at least 1 hour.

 

Nevertheless I thought it was time to call Cecily and check in.  I picked up my phone and was about to call when another contraction started.  During this one I felt a little "pop" sensation and then wetness.  I ran to the bathroom to check and discovered that my water had broken and we had bloody show.  With Daniel things happened fairly quickly after my water broke so I told Kevin it was time to go so we hopped in the car and sped off a little after 8:00.  Thank goodness my mom was with us and already knew Daniel's routine so all we had to say was "we're off!"  And thank goodness we'd replaced his car's battery just that morning.  That would not have been a good time to discover a dead battery!

 

 

 

I called Cecily and Maria and they set off for the hospital too.  I also called our birth photographer and she asked us to call back once we were there and I had been checked.  Kevin drove like a man possessed and we made it to the hospital at around 8:30.  He later said he was afraid I'd be having the baby on the side of the road.  I knew we weren't that close-having been there done that I knew we had not reached the transition stage yet.  That said, the contractions were coming frequently and felt pretty intense, but probably worse because I was stuck siting down rather than being able to stand and move through them.

 

We got admitted to L&D room #1, just catty-corner from the room where Daniel had been born.  The nurses hooked me up to a series of monitors to check baby's heartbeat and the contractions.  I opted to stand by the bed rather than lie down and I continued to sway through the contractions.  Cecily arrived right behind us and checked my dilation.  I was 6cm along and definitely in active labor now.  Maria arrived shortly thereafter and our dream team was in place.

 

I wasn't able to talk during contractions anymore so I told Kevin to call our photographer to let her know to come ASAP.  He called and said "this baby will be here tonight, probably within a few hours."  What I wanted to say was, "that doesn't impress upon her the appropriate sense of urgency, you need to be more specific" but all I could get out was "no, she needs to come NOW!"

 

By now every time a contraction hit the pain was intense enough that I needed Kevin to rub my lower back to provide counter pressure.  In the little time he'd have between my contractions he was busy grabbing a wet washcloth to wipe my forehead, bringing me Powerade, and filling the bathtub with water, just in case the birth tub didn't arrive in time.

 

I knew from our Bradley classes and past experience that we were now in transition-the intense stage of labor where the cervix dilates from about 7 to 10cm.  It's the most intense and unpleasant stage of labor but also the shortest.  But just like pushing through a tough stretch in a race, it's really more about mental strength than physical.  I reminded myself that the very fact that I was in pain and wondering if I had it in me to do this again was proof that I was near the end and would be holding my baby soon.  And having done this before with Daniel I knew I could do it again.

 

One hallmark of the transition stage is grouchiness.  It's good I wasn't vocal at this point because I was certainly having grouchy thoughts about the nurses and techs with their questions and blood draws and having to stay on the monitors.  Fortunately I skipped one of the other hallmarks of transition-throwing up!  So apparently a hearty pasta dinner is a good choice just before active labor...no ice chips for me!

 

By now I was feeling the pressure that I knew meant it was about time to push.  All I wanted was to get in the water so I asked to get off the monitors.  As we headed for the bathroom, the nurse presented me with a stack of forms I needed to sign.  I didn't even pretend to read them and just scribbled signatures, so after the first few pages she said, "just go!" and we went to the tub.

I knelt in the tub with my hands on the side walls and Kevin took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his jeans, and stood in the tub behind me.  Cecily and Maria stood by.  I felt the urge to push and started to but apparently a tad soon, earning myself a tear.  Cecily told me to slow down, take a few breaths, put my hands under me to catch, and then push again when I was ready.

I don't recall how many pushes it took but it can't have been more than 2 or 3 before our baby's head emerged.  Cecily told me to push one more time to get the shoulders out and then I caught our baby in my arms.  I heard Cecily ask the nurse in the main room for the time-9:20.  I looked down and saw our baby's head, then, with Kevin looking over my shoulder, I slowly pulled the baby up and out from under me. 

After 41 weeks of wondering it was time to find out if we had a son or daughter.  Finally we could see and Kevin called out "we got a girl!"  Having now done it both ways I have to say, it was great to find out in that moment by looking at her instead of just having a sonographer point to a screen to show us.  I'll always remember that moment and the excitement in Kevin's voice as he called it out.

"To finish will leave you feeling like a champion and positively change your life. "- Runners World inspirational quote for 2/11/13

From this point on our experience was brand new compared to last time.  When Daniel was born the NICU team tended to him immediately and after I got to hold him for only 2 minutes, he was taken to the NICU wing.  This time though, we actually got to experience the post-birth rooming-in experience that Baylor tells expectant parents about on their tour.

With umbilical cord still attached we made our way back into the room and I got into bed for some cuddle time with my baby girl.  Cecily gently pulled the placenta out (just like with Daniel I didn't need any pitocin to deliver it) and stitched up the tear.  Meanwhile Kevin was calling family and friends to spread the news that we had a healthy baby girl.  Our photographer arrived too late to catch the birth itself but got some wonderful pictures of Rebecca and us over the next few hours.  Maria took some too with my camera. We didn't get those early hours with Daniel so getting to experience them and get pictures this time was great.  Here are a few of them:

Rebecca briefly went over to the warmer for measurements and to warm up then she was swaddled and brought back to me.  I got dressed and sat in a wheelchair with her in my arms to go up to recovery (I was able to walk but for baby's safety moms are wheeled). 

The recovery room was much like the one we had before but with an important difference.  Where a hospital-grade pump had stood last time was a bassinet for Rebecca.  I didn't need a pump.  My baby wasn't down the hall in the NICU available only at certain hours.  She was right here in the room and I could hold her and feed her anytime. 

It hadn't really hit me how much I missed out on with Daniel until I visited friends in the hospital after their babies were born and saw bassinets instead of pumps in their rooms and thought, that's because they aren't separated from their baby like I was.  When we toured Baylor's L&D area last month the tour guide told the roomful of expectant parents about Baylor's rooming-in option and said that those early hours and days are so important for bonding and you can't get them back.  I looked around that room and thought, none of these women is imagining right now that she'll be the one who misses that because her baby is in the NICU; when we took that tour the first time I certainly never thought it would be me.  But I also knew now from experience that those first hours and days, special though they might be, don't determine everything.   An hour is an hour and a day is a day and if the first ones didn't go as planned, there were plenty more to follow.  I didn't want to do that again but knew we'd be fine if we had to.

That said, it was wonderful to have Rebecca in the room with us and to be able to hold her whenever we wanted.  At one point that first night she couldn't sleep after a feeding so I fell asleep sitting up in bed holding her close, something I couldn't have done with Daniel.  For the most part she was a quiet baby, content to sleep a lot (still true now that we're home!).

The next day brought visits from family and friends.  Here's a picture of Daniel meeting his little sister for the first time.  He was very sweet with her wanting to give hugs and kisses.  Then Aunt Katherine and Uncle Scott gave him a toy truck and he discovered that toy trucks are more interesting than baby sisters!

Wednesday morning Rebecca and I were both discharged as patients and it was time to go home.  Since then we've all been adjusting and settling into life as a family of 4.  So far it's actually been easier than I expected, knock on wood.  I suspect that will change as she sleeps less and is alert more, but I'll enjoy easy while we have it!

We're so blessed to have two wonderful, healthy children!