A Comparison of Babies

I thought I would give a side-by-side comparison of my two babies, at around the same ages. It's fun for me!

I know I still haven't written Little Mister's birth story (like the name?). I just am getting around to recording it in my journal and that is my next blog post project. I just haven't wanted to revisit the labor!

First picture in the groups of two is Pixie, second is Little Mister. I hadn't thought there was any comparison, but the smiling pictures of Pixie look a lot like Little Mister. Unfortunately, I don't have many good smiling pictures of Little Mister, since his smile goes away when the camera light goes on. :(

Within hours of birth:

First trips to church - 2 weeks:

Around 4 weeks:

Not sure how old Pixie was, but Little Mister was almost 2 months:

Almost 3 months:

So....we had a baby...almost 7 weeks ago!

Goodness, I'm horrible! I kept thinking I would write my birth story down, but I just haven't felt like doing it. I'll do it sometime. Typing is not easy when you only have one hand free!

Our baby boy was born on April 4th, six days before my due date.

I have yet to come up with a blogger nickname for him.

We love him and he's growing like a weed!

Here is a close up of him not long after birth.

A few hours old.

With my mom.

Introducing Pixie to her little brother.

On Easter, 4 days old.

First trip to church- 18 days old

Blessing day, almost a month old.

This is normal when he's not on his mommy! 4 1/2 weeks.

 

5 1/2 weeks

Asleep with Daddy.

6 weeks old

Smiles! He's been giving them for almost 3 weeks now!

Pixie's Tree Mural

 It took me forever to finish, but I finally did it!
Pixie kept pointing out to me that there were a few leaves not painted and I needed to finish it. So yesterday (while dutifully checking my blood pressure in between) I grabbed my paintbrush and paint and got to work on the last few leaves and leaf detail. 

I have never had any type of art instruction, so this was a big thing to risk! Don't judge. :)
I am pleased with how it turned out. I wanted something a little odd and whimsical, but still pleasing and not so imposing. 

Pixie's room is still not finished. The trim will be painted white, the floor will have carpet (as soon as the basement is ready to be laid with it...whenever that will be), I have some pink throw pillows to sew and her pink curtains will have ribbon/fabric rosette tie backs shortly. I also have to fix the curtains hanging on her closet. I haven't been able to pick out special furniture for her room, so I had to use a black bookshelf. Not the ideal color, but I'll keep an eye out for something else to revamp at garage sales this year!
I will post when some of these projects are finished! Of course, at some point, her new baby brother will probably impose on her room for a while. Until we feel comfortable putting one or both in rooms downstairs.

 Here is a picture after I sketched it, then painted it in. Scott wasn't sure about adding leaves, but Pixie was insistent. I was a little nervous, but I knew it 'could' look good. So I did it!

Here it is finished:

 

I still can't figure out if I want to leave the bottom like this, add something at the bottom, or just bring it all the way down to the trim. I've seen them done all different ways.

 

35 weeks....tomorrow.

Here we are: 34 weeks, 6 days.

 

The last few weeks have been rough. At 31 1/2 weeks I got sick, again. This time with a bad strain of the flu. I ended up running a high fever, even on Tylenol (which I had to have Scott go get!), but through self care and blessings, it came down within an hour. Severe muscle aches kept me awake for days.
I had congestion, a cough and a sore throat for over 2 weeks. It's been over 3 weeks now and I still have leftovers from it.

Week 33, just like with Pixie, I started having high blood pressure. I met with my midwife. We added supplements, rest periods and dietary changes that seem to be helping a lot. I have only had a couple of high readings since visiting with her almost a week ago.

Week 34 has just been plain pregnancy related roughness. Sleeping is starting to be a chore (I'm sure all of the sleepless nights with the flu didn't help either!) and getting comfortable is almost impossible. We really need a new bed, ours sags and is much worse when Scott's home and there is less room to spread out to save my back! So many of these symptoms I did not have while pregnant with Pixie. When I went into labor with her at 37 1/2 weeks, I hadn't gotten to that 'I'm done!' point yet. Sure I had a harder time breathing and almost throwing up when I bent over, but I didn't feel so....cumbersome and tired. Of course I only had myself and Nova to take care of then. Scott was rarely home and there wasn't a 3 year old messing up the house and needing something constantly....or a very large 3 year old pup that loves to run outside in the mud.
Moodiness and hormones abounded this last week. It was nuts! 

Some good things are that by now the risks of health issues if the baby is born early, are very low. I only have two weeks until being considered full term! I have lots of things ready for his arrival, even if everything I want to be ready isn't. I want him to come before Easter. I love Easter, it's one of my favorite holidays. Also, Pixie's birthday is two days after that (which is my due date as well). I don't really want anyone to share birthdays in our family!

Pixie is getting even more interested in the whole pregnancy and birthing process. She watches the simulated animation movies on babycenter.com a lot. She always wants to know what the baby is doing and how he is growing. I think it makes it even more fun to see the excitement through the eyes of a sibling. It's also cute to hear a young child explaining the process of prenatal growth/birth and using words like 'uterus'.

One thing I have noticed interesting is that if you have a girl for your first, then have a boy, there isn't much hype. But if you have a boy and then have a girl, there is a lot of fawning and extras. Not that I need anything now (thanks to clothes from nephews and some bargain hunting from me!), but I think it's pretty darn exciting to have a boy! I'm so excited to get my boy and to have one of each gender!

I can't believe how much the baby gear has changed just in a few years. We have replaced a few things like our Pack 'n' Play that got destroyed in the lake house flood (thank you awesome Menard's deals!), got a new car seat, splurged on some bamboo swaddling blankets, etc. Very thankful for the hand-me-downs from Rebecca. I think I only had one baby blanket that was suitable for a boy! Over the last couple of years I built up my newborn fitted cloth diaper stash, won a few giveaways that gave me some bottles and yet another nursing cover, so I think I'm pretty set. It was fun hauling them out to finally use them!

I probably need to streamline the baby toys and gear a little more. Now that we know what we use and like this time around. Although....what will this baby use and like? :)

P.S. I'm so happy it's almost SPRING! AH!

24-30 Weeks of Pregnancy and Birth Center Appointments

Here is a belly shot of me in my 24th week, a few days before Christmas.

Here I am this week in my 30th week! 

This was from yesterday. Pixie and I decided to take a trip up to see my mom and dad, while it was 60 degrees and before the thunderstorms came for a few days.

I told Mom not to laugh at my basketball, but she did, and as she did she said "it's a boy carry!"

Yes, I have the classic boy carry. I don't mind. She says I don't look pregnant from the back, which I take to be a good thing!

You can tell he was head down yesterday, from the shape. He prefers the right side of my stomach or being mid-line. It's the first time I have realized he was truly head down.

I'm  not having trouble breathing yet. I did with Pixie, I carried her right up under my ribs.
I can still palm the floor, sit straight up without assistance from my back and cross my legs. We'll see if that lasts. :)
Somewhere between 6.5-9.5 weeks to go! That is, if I don't go over 40 weeks. Maybe the professionals are right. I just might finish my babies ahead of schedule. Who knows!

I am starting two week appointments with my CNM at the birth center. I went in for my glucose test a week ago. It was SO much better than my experience at the hospital with Pixie. I got so sick immediately and for days after drinking that glucose syrup. This time I was sugar/white flour free for three days prior to my appointment, took in higher protein and only protein the day of. Then I drank ten oz. of 100% grape juice before the appointment. It was so much better and I passed the test with this pregnancy as well.

I love attending a birth center. It is way better than my experience even trying to have a CNM in the hospital. I love the one-on-one personal care I get from the same people every time. I am so impressed with the knowledge and solutions I'm given to questions and issues as soon as I ask, and the prompting of me to ask them. Not once has anything been glossed over or ignored, like it has been with multiple other caretakers, and I don't feel hesitant to ask or that I'm taking anyone's rushed time away.

Each of my appointments have been an hour long and never had any wait beforehand. Not rushed at all! There are toys for Pixie to play with and the whole family is treated with respect and inclusion. I see my CNM, Rachel, and one of her students at every appointment. The casualness of the appointment puts me at ease and makes a great atmosphere for getting to know each other and potential concerns or problems to come up and be addressed.
They check for a wide variety of things when you do the urine test at your appointments, not just the 2-3 things that the hospital does. All lab results are gone over carefully and in depth with you.
She even had me keep a three day food diary to make sure I was getting adequate nutrition. I did very well, thankfully! But I thought I would. I'm cool like that. ;)

I am very impressed with both the natural and modern medicine that is provided by the facility. Everything is well thought out and covered. There are some situations that would have happened no matter where you are, but there are many that would not have. I remember the doctor (whom I had never met and he wouldn't say a word to me) who delivered Pixie did some things that could have been bad. I tore badly probably because of pushing on my back so hard and for so long (no doctor present during pushing), then he didn't offer any support as she was coming out and did something that probably caused the tear. After I had her, he couldn't find where to fix that for a while. Then he pulled on my cord to detach the placenta before it was ready. I would have yelled at him if I was in my right mind, that can lead to excess bleeding. 

Lots of drugs have side effects, but they don't tell you about them when they give them to you. They hit me hard with pitocin for a long time. I only recently have read side effects and potential complications from that.

The birth center statistics say that most women who transfer want pain killers. So it's not an immediate emergency. They have medical supplies (have RNs) and oxygen if it's needed. Emergency is most likely bleeding after the baby is born. They obviously don't do anything to promote that because they take a natural approach, but it can still happen. They have things they can do and give you to regulate it, but they also will make the decision to transfer and that is only a few minutes.
I feel much, much safer not being in the hospital. And safer than being at home.

I'm so happy that I know who will be there when I go into labor. There won't be random nurses or doctors that change with shifts. I can eat and drink -it was almost a day before I had Pixie, how are you supposed to have energy without food? They don't normally put people completely under when having c-sections anymore. That policy is outdated and unnecessary. I can move around without being tethered to anything, which makes for a faster labor.
There will be somebody watching and helping 'me' and not a monitor or a reading in another room, along with a slew of other patients. So many things are missed because they are just stretched too thin and don't have the capacity (or enough training) to watch and help everyone every second.

This is perfect for me. I'm so excited! Okay, baby, wait until 37 weeks so Mama can get what she wants. :)

Pixie's Serenade

Pixie and I are home today, as Scott's always working far away in our old town on Saturdays. 

I got up the energy to start going through Pixie's toys and clothes and start organizing everything. She was helping me a lot (I was hiding the things I was bagging to get rid of!) and she came across the child's guitar that Scott has had for years. 

I took a break and went on my laptop to check something. Pixie decided to take a break too, and serenade me. I quickly went and got the camera, then asked her to sing me another song.

She has a cold, so she isn't as easy to understand and I think her nose started running during the song.

I thought it was cute anyway. Here is what I got from the lyrics of "Pixie's Song".

Pixie's Song:

Is really fun and I really sing a song.
Then I really say sorry.
And I found the castle! When I see the things. And I see the lights.....E,F,G.
And I found that letters are E,S,B and W and H and healthy, Q and S and Q!
And I hear the presents not talking. And when I....when my mom told me to open the presents on Christmas. And my mom told me Christmas is over!
And I see the coats when I was found the coats and singing a really quick song.
How I want to....and I be a...when I found the...when I found the blankets and give it to me, when I was being alone.
When I was singing really of my song

Christmas Day Photos

I'm very late posting Christmas pictures, but here they are! Christmas fell on a Sunday, so Pixie was very good waiting to open presents. Scott gets home exactly when we have to leave and rush to church. I didn't know how she would react, but was very pleased. We took some pictures in front of the Christmas tree before church.

(FYI, I did not ask her to pose!)

I found her Christmas dress on eBay (Hannah Andersson) for a steal. I made the flower clip to go with it.

Scott took a few after we got home. I thought this one was funny because neither of us were ready!

Don't you just love this daddy/daughter photo?

I shopped for Christmas very early, so in my opinion Pixie was spoiled. She opens one gift at a time, then plays with it, before going for another. Opening presents was an all afternoon affair. We even took a break and went back. Of course we saved the really cool presents until the end (you know, like a Rapunzel doll, Littlest Pet Shop, real ceramic tea set, tinker toys, Play-Doh, etc), so we didn't get any pictures of her opening those. We got bored with taking pictures and the battery was dying. She appreciated all of her presents, which was nice. 

Got her own mat to do Pilates with me!

The women in a department that Scott manages, gave her a basket of presents. It was really sweet.

It was a little strange being at home the entire day for Christmas. We did get to go visit my parents the day before, so that was nice. Christmas was very low key and relaxing this time around!