Black Friday

We braved the crowdsand went shopping on Black Friday. We got some great deals which made it seem woth it. My mom went with us and sat in the van with the kids. I couldn't just leave them with her since J is not on a bottle.

This is what Gigi looks like at 3am. Funny stuff!

Thanksgiving Day

Our Thanksgiving was quiet and intimate, but so enjoyable. We started the day watching the Macy's Parade snuggled up under the covers in bed while perusing the newspaper ads for black Friday's sales. When the parade was over we all got up, washed up and got dressed. Then hubby and I started cooking. Gigi enjoyed smelling everything as we brought it to the table.

It was only the fours of us for dinner - Hubby, Gigi, Baby J and I - and my mother (Mima to Gigi).

My mom made her famous stuffing that I love so much. We both looked after the Turkey. I made mashed potatoes from scratch, corn, sweet potatoes and rolls. Hubby made green beans and an appetizer - his creation that has become a family favorite; pickles wrapped in ham with flavored cream cheese. Might not sound good- but it is!

The table was set with the crafts Gigi had done as decorations.

We said a prayer of thanks to the Lord and then chowed down on our feast!

It was the first time we sat Baby J in his high chair (Gigi's old high chair!). I love our high chair because it reclines and has straps so I felt comfortable putting him in. He was content for a little while, but eventually made it known that he wanted out.

Oh, and here are the kids wearing their shirts that we made. When I made J's shirt I forgot that his pants would be covering the bottom since it is a onesie so I had to pull his pants down for the pic!. Oh well!

It was laid back but just as meaningful as Thanksgiving's past - but without the stress! I truly enjoyed myself.

Baby J meets some relatives

On Wednesday my sister-in-law (hubby's sister) came for a visit with my niece and nephew. This was the first time she saw baby J. Her first comment was how much he looks like hubby. I agree. Everyone in the hospital said so too. Then again, the same thing happened with Gigi.

My niece actually went to the hospital when baby J was born and saw him there, but this was her first time holding him. She is a natural with kids.

My nephew has been waiting twelve years for another boy to be born into the family!

Showing that we're thankful

With Thanksgiving approaching I wanted to have a visual way of expressing our thanks in hopes that Gigi would comprehend the whole idea a little easier.

One thing we did this year for the first time is based on an idea I saw a while back on the Internet. We created a 'Thankful tree". I painted and cut out a picture of a tree and we hung on the wall in our breakfast nook. We then cut out "leaves" from red, orange and yellow construction paper. We then wrote down one thing we are thankful for on a "leaf" and attached the leaves to the tree.

I had my mom contribute a leaf and my sister-in-law, niece and nephew who visited us today as well. (more on their visit later)

My intention was to actually mail out "leaves" to all the family members who won't be able to be with us on Thanksgiving but I didn't do it in time. That will have to wait until next year. We hope to make this a tradition every year.

Gigi wrote out her own leaves - with us telling her how to spell everything. She wrote that she was thankful for carrots and for her brother and her mommy and daddy. I thought that was sweet.

The other thing we did was decorate shirts for the kids. Although I am sure someone, somewhere has done this before - I actually came up with this idea on my own.

We painted Gigi's hand like a turkey and put her print on a shirt of baby J's. We did the same with baby J's hand print on one of Gigi's shirts. Then on Gigi's shirt I wrote "Thankful for my brother". On baby J's shirt I wrote "Thankful for my sister."

I think they came out cute. I will have to post a pic of them actually wearing them tomorrow.

Nursing troubles

So, I have been nursing baby J as I did with Gigi. In the beginning, it was the same as with Gigi, very painful. To be expected in the first couple of weeks. Still, last week things were getting much better. I was only having some minor pain if he didn't latch on correctly.

A few days ago I was faced with something I have never experienced before.

Three days ago I began having some soreness in my breast - it felt like a bruise really. As the day went on it became increasingly painful every time I nursed baby J. Instead of just a sore feeling I was getting sharp shooting pains every time I nursed. By that evening I started feeling strange in general - like I was getting sick. By 9:30 I was having chills and feeling down right nasty.

I checked my temp - 101.1. So, I took some Tylenol and took a nap. At 10:30 I checked my temp again. Now it was 102. I waited another hour and checked my temp again at 11:30 - 102.6.

So now I decide it's time to call someone. Since the pain in my breasts had been getting worse as my temperature rose, I figured I would try the midwife first.

Well, long story short - I have mastitis. Mastitis is an infection of the breast tissue that causes pain, swelling and redness of the breast. Mastitis most commonly affects women who are breast-feeding, although in rare circumstances this condition can occur outside of lactation.
Often, mastitis occurs within the first six weeks after birth (postpartum), but it can happen later during breast-feeding. The condition can leave you feeling exhausted and rundown, making it difficult to care for your baby. Sometimes mastitis leads a mother mistakenly to wean her baby before she intends to. But you can continue breast-feeding while you have mastitis. (Definition is from Mayoclinic.com)

I was given an antibiotic which I started yesterday morning. I have to take it 4 times a day for 7 days and was told to nurse as often as possible - at least every two hours (at least there's no problem getting baby J to nurse every two hours).

So now I am on my 2nd day of the antibiotics and already feeling immensely better. It has stopped hurting when I nurse now which I am very thankful for!

I hope to never experience this again!

Lazy Sunday

It's 1:30 in the afternoon and I am still in my pj's and in bed. What a life! Hubby is sitting next to me mowing down some buffallo wings and watching football. Baby J is nursing while I attempt to type with one hand. Gigi spent the night at her Mima's house (my mom) and is still hanging out over there.

So I'm sitting here thinking about all the things I could be and should be doing but not really getting motivated enough to take action. There are clothes in the dryer that need to be folded and put away, I have birth announcements that need to be printed and stuffed into envelopes and of course the house could always use a good once over cleaning. Yet knowing all this, I choose to sit here on the computer.

I think I'll take a nap.

Tomorrow's another day.

Foam Pilgrim

Gigi completed her second Thanksgiving craft. I picked up this kit from the dollar section of the "Joann Fabric and Crafts" store.

I did help a bit but Gigi put most of it together just by looking at the picture of the completed project. She did get pretty frustrated with it at one point because the glue was not working well and pieces were sliding off soon after she had connected them. I think I need to invest in a bottle of foam glue.

I helped by cutting up the brown pom-pom to use as his hair and I drew on the face - crooked somehow.

I think he is cute!

Trail Walking

Yesterday we decided that cabin fever was setting in and we needed to get out in the fresh air. We visited a state park that we just discovered was only a few short miles from our home.

It's a really pretty park with lots to offer. There are lots of picnic tables, a short walking trail (which is what we did), a 6.5 mile hiking trail along the river, horse trails, a playground, a canoe launch and camp grounds.

The weather was gorgeous. Gigi ran ahead of us at times but mostly lagged behind when something caught her eye.

She collected different things that interested her and even had daddy collect some things for her.

She saw some animal tracks on the ground at one point and decided to leave her handprint behind for someone else to find.

We weren't out that long, but it was nice to be out of the house. Baby J slept the whole time, but I was grateful for that. It allowed me to really enjoy nature which may have otherwise been difficult if he was screaming. :)

In the end Gigi had collected some pretty nice "treasures" to bring home. I only wish I knew more to be able to tell what they all are!

I guess I will have to do some sort of craft with these in the near future. Any ideas??

2 Week check up!

Today we took Baby J to the pediatrician for his 2 week check.

It was a standard appointment but we did bring up a couple issues we have been concerned about.

For starters, two days ago I happened to notice that the pupil in his right eye looked larger, more dilated, than the left. Hubby noticed as well, as did my mother so I know I wasn't crazy. We mentioned it to the pediatrician this morning. She looked and said that right now it just looks as though he may just have one larger than the other. His retina looks good and healthy and she didn't see any signs of cataracts. She said she will check his eyes at each visit just to be sure, but baby eyes can do "strange" things until they are 4 months old. Once he is four months, if they still don't look right, we will see an ophthalmologist.

The second concern we had was his navel. Yesterday his umbilical cord stump fell off. What was left looked odd to me. It was still gooey looking and a little red. Plus, the part that fell off was rather small looking to me, as if it were missing something. I remember Gigi's looking much different. Once hers fell off she had a normal cute little belly button. Baby J's looked strange and kind of gross. Sure enough, there was a part still attached that should have come off but didn't. The pediatrician put some silver nitrate on it and said that will make the extra piece fold into itself and tuck away so he will have a normal looking navel. She said it may take two to three applications of the medicine, but it doesn't hurt and is only a cosmetic issue.

Other than that, he is doing really well. His skin color is great, the shape of his head is perfect and he is gaining weight like a champ.

He now weighs 7 pounds 9 ounces. Almost a whole pound gained in one week!

Paper Plate Turkey

I'm slowly trying to get back to our routine here but it's a process. I'm not going to set myself up for failure by planning any full out lessons just yet. I've started by preparing some Thanksgiving crafts to do over the next two weeks. If that goes well, i plan on re-introducing our lessons one subject at a time.

My ultimate goal is to be back to our regular routine with full lessons by February. I'm hoping this is a realistic goal. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, Gigi and I have completed our first Thanksgiving craft. A paper plate turkey. This craft came from another of my favorite sites, www.dltk-kids.com

It was great to be able to do something with just Gigi. She had fun and was able to work on some great skills at the same time. When doing this craft she had to follow instructions, color, practice her scissor skills and paste. She did a good job!

Daddy time

Gigi and Daddy had some one on one time the other day. It gave me a chance to nap after I nursed Baby J.

They didn't go far, just to the lake in our backyard. Gigi picked out her own lure and according to hubby, has really improved on her casting.

She caught a leaf! No fish were biting that day.

It was some good bonding time for them and some good quiet time for us!

Halloween Trick or Treating

Okay, another delayed posting but better late than never, right?

So on Halloween I was at the hospital so hubby went home to take Gigi out trick or treating in our neighborhood.

She was Cinderella, which was a costume chosen by her months ago. Unfortunately with her dad in charge of getting her ready, things were not quite done the way I would have done them.

But she was still able to go out and brought us back some great candy! Yes, I said brought US back candy. We very much limit the amount of candy she can have, well the amount of sugar in general. So most of the candy will be consumed by us.

Hubby said she had fun and all the neighbors "oohed" and "aahed" over her. Wish I could have been there. Silly, I know, but it kinds broke my heart that I had to miss out on dressing her up and watching here scream, "trick or treat" But I was busy watching after my own special Halloween treat. Good times.

Our growing boy

Baby J had his first appointment with the pediatrician on Monday November 3. He weighed in at 5lbs, 13 oz. So, he lost a little weight but it's normal.

He had a weight check yesterday November 10. He is now up to 6lbs 10oz. A whole 3 oz past his birth weight and just under a pound gained in one week! So he is growing well and obviously getting enough milk.

He goes for a follow up appointment next week on the 17th.

Just had to share

These were just too cute not to share:

Bringing home baby

Well, I know these posts are long overdue...let's just pretend it's still November 1.

Baby J was circumcised on Saturday morning. It took literally 10 minutes and he came back to me sleeping. After that he and I were given another once over and then told we were clear to go home!

At 4pm we were discharged. I was so happy to be going home!

We dressed him up in his going home outfit - which of course was too big even thought it was for newborns.

Once he was strapped securely in his carseat he slept the whole 35 minute drive home.

When we got home, my mom was already there waiting with Gigi. She was just as excited to see her brother as she was the first time.

Now I can enjoy both my babies!

It's good to be home!

Gigi meets her baby brother

Here is our little man just moments after birth. with the exception of the hair, I think he looks just like Gigi did at birth. Gigi had lots of dark hair. I'll have to post pics side by side for a comparison.

Since he was born at 1:12am, Gigi was sleeping so we had to wait to introduce her to her little brother. That afternoon, my mom brought her by. Gigi was so excited! She asked for her brother the second she walked into the hospital room. She was fascinated by him.

She wanted to hold him right away, and of course kiss him.

After a little while of letting the two bond, we gave Gigi her gifts. One bag from her brother and one from Mommy and Daddy.

She decided that she wanted to put her gifts to good use right away. Daddy helped.

I think it was a great first introduction.

He's here!

Baby J has made his debut!

Wednesday night at about 10:30 I began having contractions. Since I had been having contractions for a while I didn't think much of it at first.

When they hadn't let up by midnight, I began to wonder. They became quite painful over the next few hours. I used the breathing tecniques I had been practicing and even sat in the warm tub for relief. By doing these things I was able to cope for few hours on my own while hubby slept.

By about 5 am I woke hubby and asked him to start timing the contractions. They were 6 minutes apart. I had been told to wait until contractions were 5 minutes apart, but being that we are so far from the hospital, we decided to leave at 6am.

At 7:30 I was admitted. I was 4 cm dilated, 100% effaced and baby was at 0 station.

I labored until 5pm with no medication. At 5pm I had progressed to 7cm. At this point I requested an epidural. By 6pm I was numb to the pain! I requested a low dose epi and so the anesthesiologist obliged. He started me on a high dose and said that it would wear off in a few hours and when it did, the low dose he programmed would kick in.

For the next 4 hours I relaxed and waited. I slowly began to get feeling back in my legs, but the epi was still taking the edge off the contractions.

At 10pm I was 8cm. My water still had not broken. Since I had already gotten so far on my own, I asked the midwife if she could break my water to possibly speed up the last 2cm. Keep in mind it was 10pm on Thursday, the 30th. I was desperate to not have a Halloween baby. so my water was broken then. Unfortunately there was thick meconium in the fluid, which meant I would not have the baby handed to me immediately after birth.

At 11:30pm I was 9cm. Now I knew I was going to have a Halloween baby.

At this point I stopped watching clock. The high dose of epi was completely wore off by now and I had only the low dose to get me through. well, the pain was pretty much unbearable. I hit the self administer button for more epi probably 5-10 times in a row but it did nothing!

The good thing was, I knew when it was time to push. I called the nurse and she said the baby's head was right there and ran to get my midwife.

When my midwife came in i wanted to push immediately. The urge to push was unmistakeable and unrelenting.

With each contraction I pushed three times. I felt my baby's head come out and the rest of him just after the 4th contraction. After only about 10 minutes total of pushing, my baby was here!

Baby J was born October 31, 2008 at 1:12am weighing 6lbs 7 oz and 18 inches long. Only a one ounce difference between him and Gigi.

The meconium in the end had no effect him and his apgar scores were 9 and 9.

Yes, I was in pain - but it was all worth it! I had atempted a vbac and was succesful!

I'll post more later along with some pics of my little man.