Merry Christmas!

Santa definitely loves him!

Sibling love

Well, we did it!! We survived Cole's first Christmas and the first Christmas where Quinn was very aware of what was going on.  Q understood that Santa brings presents, but wasn't overly keen on the thought of some stranger being in her house to do so - if you asked her if Santa was coming to her house, she'd cry and whine and say "nooooooooo!".  When we took the kids to see Santa, Quinn was very excited and chatted up a storm while waiting in line about how she was going to meet Santa and say hi...and then she rounded the corner and was silent.  He did tell her that he was going to bring her a dolly (which prompted a little bit of last minute shopping) and he pulled through!

Cole had just woken up and terrified Quinn.   At least no tears were shed!

Chipper the Elf was a great tradition for us this year.  It was only this morning that Quinn asked where he was and we explained that he's back at the North Pole with Santa and that he'd come back next year when it's Christmastime again.  That seemed to be an ok answer to her.

Quinn the chef

The kids were spoiled by everyone and their closets are bursting with clothes.  I can't wait to see a lot of the new outfits on them!  Seeing Cole dressed up like a little man is just so cute!  There are also lots of new toys, including a play kitchen and easel that Quinn asks to play with every morning.  To say that there is some organizing being done in the house would be an understatement!

Cole is 6 months old today!!! I really can't believe that this time has flown by so quickly.  We moved him into his crib last night for the first time (he was in a playpen in our room up until then, with only naps in his crib).  He had quite a good night and was only up twice to eat before getting up in the morning.  I wasn't sure if Quinn would have woken him up as she likes to make quite a bit of noise before falling asleep and their rooms share a wall.  We also started Cole on cereal today.  He wasn't a big fan of having someone trying to jam food into his mouth and mostly wanted the spoon, but tomorrow's a new day to try again!

So Much To Update!

Wow...I hadn't realized that it had been over a month since I had updated this blog.  Oops!  I'll do my best to cover all the high points and again try to do better with the updates!

Hallowe'en
Hallowe'en was great fun this year!  Cole and I attended a baby party, he got his photos done for "Pumpkin Day" at Superstore (he even smiled!), and then for the big event, Quinn dressed as Cinderella and had a blast going trick-or-treating with Steve.

All set to go pick out a pumpkin

Ewwww pumpkin guts!

Cole the Great White Shark

Ottawa Hallowe'en babies!

Pumpkin Day

Pretty Quinn as Cinderella

All set to go trick-or-treating

November

We made the big transition of putting Quinn into a "big girl" bed (aka a toddler bed).  We chose the toddler bed over a twin bed since Quinn still has to wear her boots for a while yet, and the toddler bed is close enough to the floor that she can easily crawl back into bed if she gets out.  The bed is super cute - it's a white sleigh bed.  Quinn LOVES her big girl room.  It's the only room in the house that we painted a different colour (light blue) and it definitely is girly!  I'll take some pictures later on when it's finished up - there are still some craft projects that I want to do to really "finish" it.

Since we moved Quinn to her room, we also raised up the crib mattress and put Cole's "Monkey Rockstar" bedding on and valance up.  The next task is to take down the sticker mirrored butterflies all over the wall, which will prove to be a challenge as they're quite stuck.  Cole is still sleeping in our room until after Christmas, but we've been trying to get him to have naps in the crib...that's definitely been a challenge as he likes to resist these naps.  More often than not, he ends up napping in one of our carriers.  Thank goodness for baby wearing!!!

Potty training...well, we thought that Quinn was showing signs of being ready and she actually did pee on the potty once (and pooped next to it once).  But she seemed to have lost interest for now and we're not pushing it.  After Christmas is over and the craziness has died down, then we might try to gently push the issue again.

Cole weighed in at 15.3 lbs at his 4 month appointment and is sticking to his curve for length as well.  He's between the 50th-75th percentile for both, which is awesome!

Present Time...

So that brings us up to now.  Quinn's vocabulary continues to grow at an exponential rate.  She now can sing a few lines to many songs and can recognize what Disney princess sings a certain song within the first 15 seconds...super impressive!  She also LOVES to make Cole laugh and he continues to be absolutely mesmerized by her.  Doesn't matter where she is in the room, he'll find her and watch her.

We started the tradition of "Elf on the Shelf" this year.  Our elf's name is Chipper and Q loves to come find him in the mornings.  Chipper even brought a present yesterday of a new Christmas book!  The Christmas tree is up and twinkling...and currently has the coffee table in front of it to ward off curious toddlers. ;)

Making Christmas crafts with handprints and paint

The first appearance of Chipper on November 25th

Quinn giving Cole just a few toys to play with

Having fun with Daddy

Christmas party

Christmas party

It's Been a Busy Month!

Phew!  This past month has been such a blur!  We took our first mini family vacation to Annapolis, MD to visit some friends at the beginning of the month.  Unfortunately it was during the partial US government shutdown, but we definitely made the most of it!  We checked out the National Aquarium in Baltimore, walked around Washington, DC, and also toured around the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.  We had GORGEOUS weather the entire time (think 30+ degrees with humidity) and had a great time seeing our friends and their 8 month old son.  Our kids were actually very good on the long drive to and from Annapolis.  Minus some heavy rain and a thoroughly "poopsploded" PJ incident with Cole, we made quite good time considering that we had to stop every so often to feed Cole.  The trick to keeping Quinn occupied included colouring books, the iPad, and a kids Android tablet that a friend loaned us.

After the US trip, we were only home for 3 days until the kids and I jetted off to NS for a baby shower for my sister.  There was definitely a lot of spoiling done by the grandparents on both sides...and it was nice to be able to have someone else take Q outside to run around.  It wasn't a really relaxing trip since there was a lot going on, but it was really fun!  It was also Cole's first time on a plane!  On the way to Halifax, I flew alone with both kids, but Steve was able to accompany us to the gate.  That made such a HUGE difference!  The Porter flight attendants were amazing help as well - for example, when we got to the bottom of the jetway, one of the flight attendants took Q onto the plane for me while I folded up the stroller (I was wearing Cole) and she took Q to meet the pilot and see the cockpit.  Now you can't get Q to stop talking about planes and pilots!  Both kids were good as gold on the way to Halifax...on the way back, Quinn wasn't so keen on sitting in her seat, but luckily my sister was with us on that flight to help me out with holding Cole.

Milestone-wise there are some new things to report!  Cole rolled from tummy to back on Oct. 1, and then from back to tummy on Oct. 9.  He has seemed to have forgotten how to do the tummy to back roll now though...but the second the you put him down on his back, he rolls onto his belly.  Quinn has become pretty adept at using the iPad as well.  There are a couple of child-friendly games that we downloaded and she has them figured out quite well.  One requires baking and decorating cupcakes (she loves to put "BEANS!!!" aka Jelly Belly beans on them) and the other is doling out birthday cake and juice.  Watching her figure out how to drag items around on the screen and what areas to press is just mind-boggling.

We seem to be struggling through Cole's 4 month sleep regression right now though, which is extremely tiring.  It has seemed to have reached a peak the past couple of nights...so hopefully that means that we're getting through the worst of it!

Next up for the Oakey kids...Cole's 4 month vaccinations and Hallowe'en! Stay tuned for pictures! :)

Growing Like Weeds!!!

I can't believe how quickly the time goes by.  I just looked at the date of my last post (Sept. 2!!!) and find it crazy how I never seem to even have 5 minutes to update a blog!  I'm determined now to take 5 minutes (at least) far more often to update this!

Quinn is starting to say hilarious things.  For example, every time that we get her dressed into a dress, she exclaims "Oh beautiful dress!".  That even goes for seeing me in a bath towel - "Oh Mommy! Beautiful dress!"  The other day we asked her to say the 'magic word' (aka 'please') and we were instead responded to with "Meeska! Mooseka! Mickey Mouse!" (aka the 'magic words' from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).

Quinn also peed on the potty for the first time on Thursday!  We're starting to train her and letting her take the lead as to when she wants to sit on the potty.  So far we've only had the one success story, but it's a start!  She loves her princess potty though and every time that she "flushes" it and hears the music, she says "Sleeping Beauty!".  I guess the sound reminds her of the movie.

Cole has been doing well also!  Eats like a champ...but definitely isn't sleeping like one!  I guess that I jinxed it when I was bragging about how he only would wake once a night to eat.  The last little while it's been at least twice a night.  Even though he only takes about 10 minutes to eat and put back down, it is very frustrating since he's obviously not STARVING if he can eat and go back down so quickly.  Naps during the day are still a struggle to have them do them on his own.  The last couple of days he will sleep in his bouncy chair...but only if you're constantly bouncing it with your foot.  The second that you stop, he wakes up!  He's actually in his chair right now while I bounce it, smiling away!

I'm hoping that he'll go to sleep soon and I can pop him into my Boba wrap to give my quads a break...and that he'll hopefully sleep for a longer stretch!  I LOVE my Boba!! I've pre-wrapped myself and am just waiting for a sleepy baby!

Steve's parental leave has been AWESOME so far!! He has only been off for about a month and we have a great system going!  Having him on leave makes it possible for us to go to Washington, DC to visit friends this week and also for going to Arizona in the spring for 2 weeks.  Yay for not having to clear vacation time!!!

Q is 2!!

Wow!  Where does the time go?  On August 30th our little princess turned 2 years old!!! It's so hard to believe!  We had a big Elmo-themed party on the 31st including grandparents, aunts & uncles, and lots of friends.  Thank goodness that the weather cooperated since there were around 30 people here, including 10 kids running around!  Q definitely had a great time and is one spoiled little girl with all of her amazing gifts!  I had fun organizing the theme, all thanks to Pinterest ideas!  With Susan's help (my BIL's fiancee), we "Elmo-fied" plates, cups, and goodie bags and also made Dorothy plates (Dorothy is Elmo's pet goldfish).  There was also an Elmo cake that I decorated (those classes at Michael's are paying off), an Elmo face made out of strawberries, a Cookie Monster face made out of blueberries and blackberries, and an Oscar face made out of broccoli and baby carrots.  The BBQ was in full swing with delicious hot dogs and hamburgers and we had yummy "sangria" punch!  It was so great to have Steve's parents, his brother, and his brother's fiancee here to celebrate, along with my mom and step-dad.  There were lots of snuggles and cuddles to go around, plus it allowed Steve and I to relax a bit.

We also took Q & CJ to the doctor for Q's check-up and CJ's 2 month vaccines.  Our doctor is very impressed with what Q is able to do - recognize most letters of the alphabet, count to 13, and her general vocabulary.  To say that our heads got a little bit bigger would be an understatement!  Q weighed in at 26 lbs (50th percentile) and is 82 cm tall (10th percentile).  CJ, of course, is growing like a weed - he weighed in at 13.3 lbs (90th percentile) and is 60 cm long (75th percentile).  Worrying about CJ gaining weight during the first two weeks of his little life is now just a distant memory!

I've also started my journey to get back to pre-pregnancy size.  We've decided that our family is definitely complete with our sweet girl and boy, so I would like to get back to the size that I was when we got married.  It will definitely be a battle, but I'm sure that I can get there!!!

The cake!! I rented the pan from Bulk Barn and did the rest myself! So fun!

The decor

Dorothy Plate

Elmo Plate

Elmo Cup

The cup that Quinn made...we called him "Special Elmo"

Oscar veggies (with ranch dressing to dip)

Cookie Monster fruit tray (with cheesecake dip)

Elmo fruit tray

The whole spread

Having fun with her new water table and slide

Friends kicking back in the new Adirondack set

When Did We Grow Up?

I know how old I am and what I have accomplished, but really, when did I grow up?  It seems like all of a sudden I became a Mommy...but yet it feels like I have been someone's Mommy my whole life.  I love it when I go into Q's room in the morning and see her face light up when she says "Mommy!!!".  I love watching her learn new things.  I love seeing how Cole seems more alert every day and how I'm able to calm him down by holding him close.  These are just a few of my favourite "Mommy" moments.

Back on Canada Day we went to our friends' for a party (we normally host, but since Cole was born only 3 days prior, it wasn't feasible for us to host this year).  When we got there, we realized that every couple there, save 2, either had kids or were expecting.  There were kids EVERYWHERE!!! And what's crazy is that none of these little ones were around 5 years ago when all of the couples were either just getting together, just getting engaged, or just getting married.  How our parties have changed too - we've gone from pre-drinks at 10pm to going to calling it a night at 10pm.  Actually just last night I suggested to Steve that we watch a movie.  He said, "Naw, it's getting late".  It was 9 pm.

I wouldn't trade my life for anything.  My kids are my world...but I wish that time would just slow down a little bit.

Why I Chose to Breastfeed

As I mentioned in my most recent post, I have decided to branch out with this blog.  I'm going to definitely keep posting updates of how the kids are for our families, but I also wanted to add in some of my own thoughts and ramblings, as well as home projects.  Please keep in mind that these are my opinions and to take them with a grain of salt.

In light of this week being World Breastfeeding Week, I thought that it would be appropriate to say to the world why I made the choice to breastfeed my children.  I know how hot button this topic is, especially with a lot of cafluffle surrounding breastfeeding in public.  So again, I urge anyone reading this to realize that what I'm posting are my own personal thoughts and feelings surrounding this issue.

When I was pregnant with Quinn, I always said that I wanted to breastfeed "unless there was some reason that I couldn't".  I don't know how many times I said those quoted words.  Every time I said them, whomever I was addressing would usually say "I'm sure that you'll be able to".  Well, no one really prepares you for what breastfeeding is really like...and by that, I mean how hard it is to start and the learning curve associated not only for you, but for your baby!  The feeling of your baby suckling, the engorgement, the frustration surrounding your baby's latch, potential breast infections/blocked ducts/cracked nipples...all of these things can make any new mom (or a seasoned veteran) lose even more sleep.

I had my share of issues when I was breastfeeding Quinn.  Things started out well until my milk "came in" - cue the chest watermelons (aka engorgement).  When this happened, Q didn't have a clue what to do anymore and this resulted in us syringe-finger feeding her pumped breast milk, seeing a lactation consultant, and attending a breastfeeding drop-in.  I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't give up until I had tried absolutely everything to get breastfeeding to work.  Luckily things clicked and I successfully nursed Q for 53 weeks.  (My goal was to make it a year and I was so happy to have achieved that)

Now with Cole, I have made myself the same two promises: 1) To not give up until I had tried everything to make it work, and 2) To nurse Cole for a year.  I've already touched on my challenges with nursing Cole and am happy to say that things are definitely going well now!

OK, so now to my initial reason for this post - my reasons for breastfeeding.  Most people will automatically say that they chose to breastfeed because of the health benefits provided to the baby (improved immune function, easily digested, etc).

Well, here are my top 3 reasons why I have made the choice to exclusively breastfeed my children:

1. It's convenient
1. I love the fact that when we're at home or out in public, that I can provide food for my baby in a split second.  No heating up of bottles or planning ahead to have enough formula in my diaper bag.  I can't forget my boobs at home, so that's easy.
2. It's free
1. When we had to supplement Cole's feedings with formula for those couple of days, we actually saw how expensive formula is!  Wow!  And babies go through cans of that stuff so quickly that it doesn't take a math genius to conclude that it's expensive in the end.
3. It provides health benefits to my children
1. Who doesn't love health benefits?!

I won't completely get into my opinions on the whole "Breastfeeding in Public" debate.  You can guess what side I'm on.  It's the only time that I really get up on a soapbox about breastfeeding.  I dare someone to say something to me when I choose to nurse in public.

Finally, I came across the following link yesterday...check it out for some powerful messages.  It talks about how all mothers should support each other in whatever choice they make surrounding how they feed their children. --> I Support You

 Nursing in the car...see? Convenient!

Busy Busy Bees...

Phew!!! Having 2 kids is EXHAUSTING, but I'm loving every second of it.  We've all been getting into a pretty good routine since Steve has gone back to work.  I know that if I had tried to actually set a schedule that it probably would have blown up in my face, so I really lucked out when a schedule happened to emerge on its own.  Especially since it usually involves both kids napping at the same time in the afternoon, or at least having their naps overlap for a bit so I can have some down time to myself.

One thing that I'm looking forward to is that Steve is going to able to take 9 months off of work!!!  One of the benefits of me being a SAHM for the time being is that Steve then becomes entitled to all 37 weeks of parental leave, so he'll be home with us from the beginning of September until the middle of May!  I love that we'll have this time all together as a family.  We're planning on taking a trip to Washington, DC to visit friends this fall and also will probably take a longer vacation in AZ in the spring to truly take advantage of not having to have any vacation time approved!  Now I just have to get through the next 4.5 weeks on my own until Steve is home!

First off, here's the Quinn update!  Today marks Q's 23 month mark.  I can't believe that she's going to be 2 years old a month from now.  The planning has already started for her birthday party (it's going to have an Elmo theme).  The words that this kid is saying just blows my mind every day.  Her sentences are getting longer and she is consistently having an easier time communicating what she wants or needs.  This is going to be helpful when we start potty training her (that's a fall project).

Some of the new Q things:

• she recognizes almost all colours now, including gray, white and black.  She only mixes up blue and green, but when asked to "try again", she gets the colour correctly
• she recognizes probably half of the letters of the alphabet (capital letters) when she sees them written down.  Sometimes we can coax the letter out of her with a small cue.  She has an alphabet puzzle that has each piece is covered with a picture of a representative object.  So sometimes when she sees a letter written, for example a "P", she'll say "piano" because that is the picture on the puzzle piece.
• she recognizes the following shapes - triangle, square, rectangle, circle, star, heart
• she's working on recognizing numbers.  She can pretty consistently recognize 3, 5, and 7.
• counting to 10 is child's play for her now, and she can sometimes get to 13 before messing up or throwing in some letters
• she asks to "listen Elmo" in the car (I have an Elmo album from iTunes)
• she always gives Cole a kiss on the head goodnight and will say "love you Cole"...this just warms my heart every time!  She also says "s'OK Cole" to him when he fusses and she's my lookout when we're in the car - I'll ask her if Cole's sleeping when it's quiet and she lets me know :) Although sometimes I'm wondering if she's actually telling the truth or not (since she's not so reliable when we ask her if she'd pooped or not...but we can smell it)

Cole is doing great!  We've definitely had our share of breastfeeding stress though.  With Quinn, we had some issues with engorgement, syringe/finger feeding, and having to use a nipple shield before things really clicked and I successfully nursed her for a year.  This time, with Cole, I unfortunately got mastitis when he was 5 days old.  I tried to kick it without meds for 48 hours - tried "airing out", cabbage leaves, potato slices, ibuprofen, breast compressions, frequent nursing, etc.  When that didn't work, I began a course of antibiotics and things cleared up completely within the next 48 hours.  The really unfortunate side effect of having mastitis was that it really negatively affected my milk supply.  Cole stopped gaining as much as he should have been gaining, even though he was eating every 3 hours.  My milk just wasn't giving him enough fats.  So first I went to a breastfeeding drop-in to see a lactation consultant.  She noticed that Cole had a lip tie (this can sometimes affect breastfeeding), but that his latch wasn't too bad.  She gave me some pointers and I left the drop-in feeling confident.  That confidence lasted about an hour until we saw the doctor and she said that she was concerned with Cole's rate of weight gain.  She asked for us to come back to see her 4 days later to check his weight again.  

I spent the next 4 days trying to stay positive and feeding Cole every 3 hours, at least.  When we went back to the doctor, I wasn't confident that he had gained enough and unfortunately, that was the case.  Our doctor suggested that I supplement every feeding with formula to top him up after I nursed.  This was a huge blow to me because it made me feel like my body was letting me down, even though the doctor said that it was just temporary and that it was because of the mastitis affecting my milk supply.

Our doctor gave us a sample of ready to use formula (8 bottles) to go through.  When I first tried to top Cole up with formula, he acted like I was trying to feed him poison laced with knives or something...he just wouldn't take the bottle!  He'd only want to nurse...which is all well and good, but I was willing him to get fat!  One of my "June Mommies" (more on them in a later post) suggested that I pump and add some breast milk to the formula to see if he'd take it.  That seemed to do the trick!  So now on top of taking 40 minutes each feeding to nurse, I also had to pump about 10 minutes before hand to get some milk to add to the formula and then feed Cole the formula-milk mixture until he was full.  And even when that was all done, he'd usually want to nurse/suckle for a few minutes and then fall asleep.  So the feedings almost doubled in time!  And even then, sometimes he'd be full after just nursing, so I'd try to get him to stop nursing just so that I could feed him some formula.  And after all the formula prep (3 oz of formula + 1 oz breast milk), he'd only ever drink an ounce of it!  Frustrating!!!

I had been researching how to get babies to take more of the hindmilk vs foremilk and ultimately it all pointed to how the baby was latching.  I decided to contact the lactation consultant that I had seen at the drop-in, and who also had helped us during our time with Quinn, Beth MacMillan - www.bethmacmillanlbclc.com.  She came to the house on the 3rd day of supplementing to check everything out and help me with his latch.  I had been watching videos on YouTube of Dr. Jack Newman (he's THE breastfeeding guru) to try to help me out and actually was having more success with getting Cole to latch better.  When Beth got to the house, she weighed Cole pre-feed and said that then we'd get him to eat and weigh him after to get an idea of how much milk he was getting.  She was wanting to rule out Cole "tricking us" by looking like he was swallowing a lot, but maybe he really wasn't.  So ahead we went with the feeding, and she helped me with latch issues along the way...luckily there weren't that many!  After he was done eating, we popped him back on the scale and he had gained 100 g over the course of the feed (which is roughly equivalent to 3 oz ingested)...and that was exactly how much he should be getting based on his age at the time.  I was THRILLED!!! Not to mention that he was weighing in at 10 lbs 14 oz that day.  Beth said that I could stop supplementing since he was obviously getting enough milk and that I should see what the doctor said the next day.  She also said that I should continue pumping and not stop cold turkey to just make sure that my supply stayed up.

The next day, we went back to the doctor for another weigh-in and got the OK to completely stop supplementing.  Woohoo!!!  Let me just say that I'm not against formula feeding babies.  Breastfeeding isn't for everyone and it's definitely a learning curve that requires a lot of commitment.  As long as babies are fed and thriving, it doesn't matter the source!  I just knew that I wanted to try everything that I could to continue breastfeeding since I enjoyed it so much with Quinn.

OK, so after that novel of a story about breastfeeding issues with Cole, we are now in a great place!  Last week Cole weighed in at 11.4 lbs and is doing great!  I only pump once a day now (after his morning feed at breakfast time) and I'm able to get 4 oz in a very short period of time.  I'm getting a good freezer stock!  Cole also has started smiling, although Steve is much better at getting the smiles than I am. :P

I'm thinking about taking this blog in a different direction - I'm going to keep posting updates on the kids for sure, but I'm going to also post "opinion" posts and other info posts I think.  Just basic "Mom Stuff". :P  So bear with me while I transition to this new version!

Cuddling with my kidlets

"Mustache!!!" (it's a clementine segment)

Looking chubby in his Mamaroo

This girlie LOVES smoothies!

Wearing my new pajamas and doing some dancing

My men <3

Cole @ 1 month old

Super-Cole!!!

Cole's Birth Story

It's been 8 days now since we welcomed our newest addition to our family and this is the first chance that I've really had to sit down and write out CJ's birth story...so here goes!

Thursday, June 27, 2013
We head to the hospital around 3 pm to get things started for my induction.  First we have to have a NST to make sure that baby is happy.  This takes around 20 min.  Then Grace checked to see how dilated I was to make the induction decision - I was still only at 2 cm (and that was barely), so the induction method was going to be cervidil.

At 4:30 pm Grace inserts the cervidil and I have to be hooked up to the fetal monitor for the next hour to make sure that baby is handling things well.  At this point she heads out to talk to the OB on call since I'm having to have a medical induction.  When she comes back in, she said that the OB commented that he was afraid that I could potentially progress quickly since I had had such a short active labour with Quinn and that he wouldn't want me to go home and then give birth in the car on the way back to the hospital.  I just kind of laughed and said "I hope that he's right!".  Fast forward a few minutes and I'm started to have some contractions.  Grace goes out to talk to the OB again, comes back in our room and says "You're getting your wish.  The OB wants you admitted".  Whoa...OK...wasn't planning on this outcome, but I'll take it!  So we take the next little bit to let our families know the update and I'm quietly upset on the inside since I didn't really say bye to Q like I had wanted and now this was going to be my first night not sleeping under the same roof as her since she was born.

We are admitted and head to our room to get all set up.  I change into a comfy nightdress, Steve changes into comfortable clothes and sets up his bed, and we meet our nurse.  She has to come in every hour to listen to the baby, but at least I'm not hooked up to anything!  I'm starting to have more contractions at this point, so we decide to try to get as much rest as possible in prep for a long night.

Friday, June 28, 2013
...and long night it becomes!  Starting at around 2 am I start having contractions really close together.  We're talking every 2-3 minutes.  I'm toughing it out, but with not being able to really sleep, things are getting harder to endure.  By 4 am we asked a nurse to check for any progression...now I'm just a "good 2 cm".  WTF!  By this point I looked at Steve and said, "when Grace gets here this morning, we're going to discuss an epidural because I don't think that I can do it naturally".

Grace gets to see us at around 7:30 am and I tell her that as soon as I'm able to, that I'd like to have an epidural.  I originally had wanted a natural delivery and Grace is trying to facilitate my wishes for that as much as possible.  She calmly says that we should just check to see where I was dilation wise.  I was now at 4 cm so Grace could break my water.  Once she did that, I went to 5 cm and my contractions were stronger in intensity, but still every 2 minutes.  I tried to endure them for as long as I could, even tried the nitrous gas (which I hated), but I didn't progress past 4-5 cm.  At this point we called in the anesthesiologist for my epidural.  I also had to be hooked up to IV fluids and then oxytocin to try to help things along.

Once the lovely anesthesiologist put me into epidural bliss, both Steve and I got to have a good rest.  It was nice to know that even though the oxytocin was giving me super contractions, that I wasn't feeling them and could get my energy back up.  After a little while, Grace checked again and I still wasn't progressing that quickly.  She also found another pocket of water.  She decided that the baby wasn't in the right position to come down, so she adjusted my position on the bed (no easy feat when you can't really move your lower body).  Within a couple of minutes, I started feeling pressure and things really progressed from there!

At 4 pm I was ready to push and after only 18 minutes of pushing, Cole Jordan Oakey was brought into the world!  His cord was short, so he could only be placed on my belly and not my chest, but it was the best feeling.  Cole weighed 10 lbs 4 oz at birth!!! I never thought in a million years that there was a 10 lb baby in my belly!  He also measured 21" in length and is the newest light in our lives.

The only snafu was that Cole's blood sugar didn't test that great post-birth.  We had to stay overnight in the hospital and a nurse had to come and prick Cole's heel before every feeding to check his blood sugar.  The level had to be above 2.6 to be OK, and at one point Cole's level was 1.9.  So the nurse checked with Grace and the pediatrician on call to see what the plan of action was to be.  We were told to supplement each feeding with formula until the sugar levels were satisfactory.  We only had to supplement 2 feedings before everything was normal and we could be sent home!  (The alternative treatment would have been IV in the nursery, so luckily all that we had to do was the formula)

Just new!

Little baby butt

Quinn meeting her little brother while wearing her "Big Sister" shirt

Heading home from the hospital!

Induction Day!!!!

I have reached the "10 Days Overdue" club.  Ten days overdue is the earliest that you can be induced without other medical reasons.  Yesterday we had an ultrasound to make sure that baby was happy and that there was enough fluid...passed that one!  It was definitely weird having an ultrasound where you really couldn't see much but a few flickers of a spine here and there and seeing the heartbeat.  We did get to see Yoda taking some practice breaths (although he/she was being lazy about it) and that was kind of neat.

So this is it - induction day!  Grace called this morning and said that we should be heading into the hospital around noon, but that she would be calling us later on with a more specific time and instructions.  We were all hoping for an earlier time to go in, but the ward is kinda crazy at the moment with a mother of twins requiring an emergency c-section.  The big question is about how dilated I am at the moment.  If I'm at least 3 cm, Grace will break my water and we'll go from there (probably utilizing a breast pump to try to stimulate contractions to start).  If I'm still only 2 cm, then it will be an induction via cervidil and then we'll go back to the hospital later on for hopefully my water to break.

Can't wait to meet our new addition!!! I'm actually remarkably calm (for me anyway) today...here's hoping that it continues!

Post-Dates...*sigh*

Well, here it is.  I'm 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant.  I guess that Q spoiled us by coming 10 days early - by that token I've been feeling overdue since I hit the 38w4d mark.  To say that I'm uncomfortable is an understatement.  To say that I miss the simple everyday tasks (like drying off after a shower easily) is an understatement.  To say that I'm still amazingly excited to meet this little procrastinator...is also an understatement.  Impatient, yes.  Excited, definitely.  Scared and anxious, 100%.

As I've mentioned before, I love my midwife, Grace.  She really feels like a member of the family.   I could be in a completely foul mood on my way to her office and she can get me out of that fairly quickly because she just knows what to say or what not to say...or what look to give me.  Which lately has consisted of a head tilt and a laugh when I come waddling into the office as a "less sparkly Ash".  I've also said how much I love midwives in general.  Ever since I reached the 39w2d mark, Grace has been doing sweeps for me to try to get things going.  We've been doing them every couple of days and you just wouldn't get that from an OB.  I'm talking that she comes in on days when the office is closed and on the weekend to do them.  She just knows how anxious I am for things to get going and since I'm  still gunning for an all-natural birth, she knows that I can handle a little "uncomfortable".  So I have had 6 of these procedures (most recent one today) and am hoping that it will kick start something.  Everything else down there is favourable and ready to go, but the baby keeps bopping his/her head in and out of my pelvis, so there isn't consistent pressure on the cervix to get things going.  Apparently this doesn't happen often with first babies because the uterus hasn't been stretched before, but with second babies and so on, they have a bit more room.  So what we have gleaned from this is that there is a defiant little bugger in here that likes to play games.  Mama is not amused little one...

Grace suggested today that I should try to do as many things upright as possible - bouncing on an exercise ball, long walks, etc.  Well it was around 40 degrees with the humidity today, so a walk was out of the question.  I did pick up an exercise ball though and have been bouncing on that as much as I can.  Q calls it "Mama's Ball" and likes to try to climb it while I sit on it...not so safe there, Q!  I also had a reflexologist do a house call today to work on the points that can help to induce labour...so fingers crossed that something will happen soon!

The next steps are for us to have a Biophysical Profile ultrasound tomorrow.  At this ultrasound, they will determine that the baby is still "well" (scoring an 8/8 on a scale that I'm not sure of) and that there is sufficient fluid.  The results of these parameters basically mean that the pregnancy can continue on for another 48 hours without any foreseeable complications before having to be induced.  I have chosen, though, to be induced on Thursday regardless of what the ultrasound says (unless it's not a great ultrasound in which we would be sent for an induction tomorrow).  Grace said that what we might do for an induction is a "controlled rupture" of my waters at the hospital on Thursday and see if that would kick me into labour.  I had jokingly (ok, half-jokingly) said today that while she was doing the sweep if she wanted to break my water that I would be cool with it...she had replied that she probably could break them easily, but would feel more comfortable if it was in the presence of an OB aka "controlled rupture" since the baby's head isn't fully engaged yet.  Basically, I'm hoping to avoid having pitocin for an induction since that's crap and I didn't respond so well to it with Q.  Fingers crossed!

I'm really trying hard not to complain about going overdue as I know that I have friends who have had trouble conceiving, had difficult pregnancies, and that there are also far worse things in the world than going overdue.  It can be difficult though when everything has been about this pregnancy for the past 9 (almost 10) months and it's all that I can focus on.  I know that in the next 48 hours I will either go into labour on my own, or be induced...so it is all coming to an end and soon we will be holding our newest Oakey addition!  Can't wait!!!

Full Term!!!!

Well I hit 37 weeks on Monday!  Full term for Yoda!  Now it's just the impatient waiting game to see when he/she is going to make their big entrance into the world!  I'm onto weekly midwife appointments now until the birth and it's hard to believe that it's already time for that.  I also find it hard to believe that today is June 1st!

How far along? 37 weeks 5 days
Total weight gain: Well, I've decided to stop weighing myself now.  Figure that I'm close enough to birth and also don't feel like the scale would be accurate with the amount of swelling going on...
Maternity clothes? Always (unless it's my yoga wear).  And I can only jam my feet into flip flops now, and even some of my sandals are uncomfortable due to swollen feet.
Stretch marks? Yes! :(  They reared their ugly heads the other day.  I have a few near my belly button and a couple more along the side of my belly.  Not too happy about them, but what can you do?  I've been slathering on the vitamin E like nobody's business.
Best moment this week: Having a great midwife appointment where both Yoda and I are healthy!
Miss anything: My stretch mark-free belly :(
Movement: Still a lot of movement, especially when I'm lying down at night to relax.  Lots of rolling movements from side-to-side and lots of hiccups lately.
Food cravings: Sugary things
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender: Team Green
Labor Signs: Getting more Braxton-Hicks now, increased pressure, and menstrual-like cramps occasionally
Belly Button in or out? The alien-like belly button has made an appearance.
Wedding rings on or off? Off. :(  It's become really humid here and that solidified the fact that I can't wear my rings anymore.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy I'd say.  I'm trying to take advantage of all my "Q and Mommy" time before the baby makes their appearance.
Looking forward to: Labour! :P

Now on to the Quinn news.  She's starting to string together lots of words to make sentences now and also has little sayings - like right now she's saying "oh yes" as she takes her toys out of a toy bin.  She also says "oh dear" which is hilarious.  She's learning the "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes" song and can do the "eyes, ears, mouth and nose" ending without any help.  It's quite cute.

She also is getting better at telling me exactly what she wants.  The other day she took me for a "walk" to the pantry, where she pointed to the door and said "crackers"?  Her pretend play is also awesome - she'll cook her food in her little oven (and say "oven hot" while she does it) and then serve it to me or to her dolls and make them "eat" it.  She also likes to put her dolls in her booster seat and push the chair to the table.

Q also has learned the names of most of the Disney princesses.  We have a Little People Disney Princess Castle that she got for Christmas and have most of the princesses (just not Jasmine or Sleeping Beauty).  She says the following: "Lella" (Cinderella), "Ariel", "Belle", "White/No White" (Snow White), "Tana" (Tiana), "Erkick" (Eric), "BEAST" (Beast...but she really enunciates), "Pundle" (Rapunzel).  She also will ask to watch those movies too and was really into "The Little Mermaid" last night...and anytime that Ariel wasn't on screen, she'd wonder aloud "Where Ariel go?".

Q and Dad sing "Elmo's World"

Yoda has the hiccups

Almost 36 Weeks...Getting There!!!!

It's hard to believe that this pregnancy is almost over!  It feels like it just has flown by.  Maybe it's because we haven't had to have any specialist appointments and extra ultrasounds as we did with Q.  We have only had 2 ultrasounds this entire pregnancy (a dating one in December, and our anatomy scan in January), while we had 7 ultrasounds with Q (2 for dating, 1 for anatomy, and 4 for her foot including a Level 2).

I don't know if I'm already starting the whole nesting process or what, but today I definitely felt some renewed energy and have been doing laundry, errands, and right now a batch of blueberry muffins are in the oven.  Next up are going to be cookies and granola bars (if I have all of the granola bar ingredients).  At my midwife appointment on Monday, after describing my lower pressure symptoms, my midwife (Grace) confirmed that the baby's head is in my pelvis and also got me to do my GBS test now as opposed to around 37-38 weeks.  The test is a swab that determines whether or not you have to have antibiotics during birth.  Fingers crossed that it comes back negative!  I'm trying to be optimistic that I won't have to have an IV this time (for induction, antibiotics, or epidural).  My birth plan continues to be that of a natural plan - exhausting all non-pharmaceutical forms of pain management before having an epidural.  It's not that I'm afraid of an epidural, as I had one with Q and it was definitely a life saver...I just feel like my body would be capable of having an all natural childbirth.  I also want to be discharged from the hospital ASAP post-birth.  Obviously babies have their own agendas and schedules, but there's always room for optimism!

How far along? 35 weeks 5 days
Total weight gain: 42 lbs
Maternity clothes? Definitely...although my jeans have gotten a lot less comfortable to wear, so thankfully it's warm weather time now!
Stretch marks? *knock on wood*
Best moment this week: Finding out that Yoda is still head down and is descending into my pelvis already!
Miss anything: My skinny feet
Movement: Quite a bit still.  Mostly rolling-like movements or he/she sticks her bum out which makes my belly lopsided.  Yoda also is liking to punch me way down low, which isn't so comfortable.
Food cravings: Donuts
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender: Team Green
Labor Signs: Getting more Braxton-Hicks now and also feeling pressure "down there" whenever I'm sitting
Belly Button in or out? I'm going to say "out" now, although I don't have the weird alien looking belly button.
Wedding rings on or off? Only my wedding band. :( Had to take off my engagement ring on Tuesday because of swelling.
Happy or Moody most of the time: This week was a moody week.  I'm definitely getting uncomfortable and my feet and hands have swollen.  My feet look like sausages come the end of the day and are throbbing!  Sometimes it feels like my skin is going to split...not fun.
Looking forward to: Getting as much social time in with friends the next couple of weeks, including a date night with Steve!

Quinn is doing AWESOME and is as cute as always.  Her vocabulary is still expanding and she tries to repeat certain things that we say.  Lately she's been saying "Zat?" which appears to mean "what's that?".  For example, today she said "Zat?" when Steve was carrying a ladder.  We said "it's a ladder, Q" and she repeated back "ladder".  What amazes me is that after a few days she'll just say "ladder" or other words that she has randomly learned.  Sometimes it really surprises me with what she retains.  She's such a little sponge!

Q's also having fun with Pretend Play.  She'll sit her stuffed animals in a row and "feed" them food, always putting the food on a plate first.

Another one of Q's favourite activities is blowing and chasing bubbles.  She loves to shake the bubble wand and also is loving the chase...although sometimes the chase takes her around the side of the house and I'm not so fast at keeping up with her.

Well, that's it for now as Q is waking up from her nap and I can hear her calling for me!  Until next time! :)