27 October 2009

15 month update


Our little man
Dada had to have this Jimi Hendrix shirt, so stylin'!
Posing with prego mama
Silly face!


I am way behind on my blogging! Maddox had his 15 month checkup 3 weeks ago, hehe. Here are the stats:
Height: 30 3/4 inches (50% percentile)
Weight: 25 3/4 lbs (50-75% percentile)
Head circumference: 19 inches
He is just an average boy, but is growing at an even rate!

He got some vaccine boosters and a flu shot. They weren't going to do the flu shot as they were short on them, but since I am pregnant and about to give birth, they gave in and gave it to him. He was not too happy about the shots, really cried hard, but recovered quickly. I think he will remember that next time we go to the doctor unfortunately. Not much else to report other than he is on track for language - he has a few words that he says which is normal. He says "da da", "bus" and "car". He LOVES buses, cars and trucks and is always pointing them out and saying "Bus", which actually sounds like "Dus". He thinks most everything on the road or in the air is a bus though. But, he recently started say "car" or "ga". He is trying! He probably says a lot of other words too, but we just don't understand as his pronunciation is not very good yet. He also says "dis", which we think means "what's this?" because he is constantly pointing and things and saying "dis?". He has not really said "mama" at all, sometimes he says an m sound which sounds like ma ma maaaa but I don't think he knows that I am Mama. :-( One of these days!

I really feel like Maddox is growing up so fast! He looks more like a little boy now, not a baby. He is still very baby like, but also very grown up. He can run around the house, cackling like a little monster chasing the dog around. His little cackle is hilarious, I hope to catch it on video soon. He loves playing with the dog, thinks she is so funny. He can wave bye bye, give lots of kisses and points at everything. He is getting a little wild at the dinner table, he bangs his plate and sippy cup on the table when he is done or wants attention. He also doesn't always want to start eating right away, he has to do it on his own terms. Or, I have to sneak something in his mouth and then he will eat when he realizes, hey, this is good! He is still a really good eater, eats almost anything. Loves vegetables, fruit and meat, but especially loves bread and pasta of course. He always wants what is on our plate, even though we give him exactly what we are eating 99% of the time. He has started eating bigger chunks of things like bananas or string cheese. He can bite off pieces and eat them and prefers to do this because it is more like a big boy.

He loves to play - his favorite toy is a ride on bulldozer that he zips around the house on, bumping into everything and the dog. He likes to play with non-toys too - kitchen utensils and tupperware, empty boxes, bags/packages of food like granola bars, anything crinkly. He loves the mason jar screw on lids and puts them on his arms like bracelets, so funny. He also loves buckles - he is constantly buckling his tripp trapp chair buckle, then yells for someone to unbuckle it so he can rebuckle it. He also will sit on the floor for quite some time playing with the buckles on my backpack. He still wears our shoes around the house or just likes to carry them around. He likes to just carry things around and put them in other places too. We find things in the garbage, or in his bag he takes to daycare, or in the cabinets and drawers.

He can only say a few words, but it seems like he understands everything we say. The other day I asked him where his motorcycle was - we got him this little motorcycle toy to play with. He bends over and points under the chair. I looked under there, and there it was! I was shocked he even knew where it was! We can ask him to get things like his coat or shoes and he will run over to them if they are nearby. He seems to understand things like "be gentle" or "don't touch", although mostly ignores the "don't touch" requests. He is so fricking cute though, it is hard to be serious when asking him not to do things. I am just amazed at how smart he is and how much he has grown in such a short time on this earth!

He still sleeps through the night pretty much like clockwork. Goes to bed around 8 or 8:30 and goes down awake with his monkey and blanket. We usually cover him with 2 blankets and if we only put one on him, he points to the other one and does his "eh eh" thing. He says "eh eh" a lot and we are trying to break that habit. Ha ha, probably won't be broken anytime soon! He has taken to doing a lot of screaming lately too. He is LOUD! He does it when he is bored and wants attention or to get out of his high chair or car seat. We have tried ignoring that one, or saying please stop, but that hasn't worked yet. We turned his car seat around to face forward finally - wanted to give him some time alone like that rather than doing it right after the baby arrived. He likes being able to see out all the windows now and is pointing at all the cars and trucks and buses. We are afraid he is trying to give up one of his naps, we really don't want him to yet. But, he is inconsistently napping in the morning now - sometimes will play in his crib forever and won't go to sleep. Sometimes he conveniently poops his pants after we put him down, and he will not go to sleep with poop in his pants. If we change him quick enough, he will go to sleep afterwards. But, a lot lately he is not napping at all, then takes a long afternoon nap, or no nap at all which makes him very crabby. The last couple days he has taken a really long later morning nap and no afternoon nap. Not sure how to handle this development yet. He still naps at day care at his normal times, albeit short naps and sometimes the morning nap is nonexistent. He has also starting sleeping a little later in the morning, which is our fault. We just let him sleep in until 7 sometimes, or if he wakes at 5:30 or so, we wait until he goes back to sleep.

He has 11 teeth now - 4 on the top in front and 4 on the bottom in front and 3 molars coming in on the sides. He has been waking up in the night sometimes and we think it is the teeth coming in. Although, he seems to have a little cold coming on right now - excellent, just in time for the baby!

We have a lot of exciting things happening in the next week! Maddox is oblivious of course, but we are interested in seeing how he handles his new sister's arrival. Mamie (grandma) arrives on Saturday for three weeks, we are all going to be vampires for Halloween and do some trick or treating, then Tuesday is the big day!

A quick update on me. I have been dilated to 1 cm at my last three appointments, yahoo! I think I will make it to my scheduled day, but who knows. I am very uncomfortable and not sleeping very well right now. I have been having some sharp pains every once in a while where my incision is, kind of worries me but the doc didn't think it was a problem. It is just stretching the skin there and I think it is ligament pain personally - when I move or bend the wrong way, I get sharp pains in the front and sides of my belly. Oh joy! My belly is just getting too big! I am having an H1N1 vaccination tomorrow finally - had to pull some strings to get it before the baby arrived, but felt it was important. It is a little nervewracking to give birth to a newborn in a hospital in the middle of a nasty flu season. I have my last doc appt on Thursday with the doc who is delivering me.

I will post an update after the baby comes as soon as I can!

12 October 2009

C-Section Scheduled

I have officially scheduled the birth of my baby girl. It is strange to say that, but also nice to know when it will happen and to plan for it (and count down the days, hours, minutes...). Of course, things don't always go as planned, but I am scheduled 5 days before my official due date, so I doubt very much that I will go into labor ahead of time.

So, we are scheduled for November 3rd at 7:30am! That also happens to be my birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! I had a choice between the 3rd and the 4th and figured, why not have the same birthdays? If they are one day apart, we would still celebrate at the same time anyway, so I might as well bless (curse) my daughter with my birthday. I think it's kind of cool. I hope she doesn't mind!

Coming to the decision about doing a c-section was a little harder than picking the due date. I considered doing a vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean). However, there are some risks involved and my doctors thought that I had a low chance of it actually happening that way because of how it went last time. I never dilated past 8cm. They don't know if that is because the cord was around Maddie's neck, or if I just don't have room for a baby to come through my pelvis, or a combination of factors. My doctor said he is an aggressive vbac-er and still was leaning towards the c-section. If I go with the c-section, the risks to the baby are minimal and are higher for me. If I go with a vbac, the risks to the baby are higher. I don't want to risk anything with the baby so feel more comfortable with the c-section. Also, last time, we went through an entire night of Maddie having heart decelerations and my blood pressure dropping very low, and I definitely do not want to go through that again. If I did go the vbac route, I can't be induced. Which means no pitocin and I would have to progress through labor naturally which could take a long time, then end up with a c-section anyway. I don't want to be utterly exhausted when I finally have this baby. I was so tired and worn out by the time Maddox was born, I could barely keep my eyes open in recovery to hold him the first time and breastfeed him, it was not fun. I also feel that I don't remember as much as I wish I did. I am hoping I will be much more alert and involved this time and will have the strength to recover more quickly.

Getting a c-section is major surgery and not much like giving birth the old fashioned way. But, I am determined to make it as wonderful an experience and closer to the regular way as I can. I have asked the doctor to make sure that I get some time with my baby after she is born. Last time, I only saw him for a few minutes and they sent Rudy to recovery. I want to spend the whole time in there with Rudy and my baby, not alone! I also want to see her right as she is being born. So, they will let me watch the c-section - as much as I want! Yikes! My doc said he has put up a mirror before to allow the mom to see it all. I don't think I want to do THAT, but I am going to have them lower the curtain so I can see more of what is going on. I want to see them pulling the baby out and watch her cry for the first time, etc. I missed it all last time, I only heard. I probably won't be able to watch the entire surgery or anything, although Rudy did watch the whole thing last time, ick! I am a little squeamish when it comes to myself and blood and all that, but I think I can handle a little bit of it to see my baby! We'll see how I feel that day I suppose.

I am in the home stretch, but am full on miserable. My back hurts every day now and the nerve pain in the front is back. It is exacerbated by the baby liking to hang out on the right side with her feet up in my ribs right where the nerve pain is. I am sore all over and some days can't walk too good. I also have heartburn which I didn't have last time. But, I am taking it one day at a time. Only 21 more days, 3 weeks of work, 3 more weekends to get ready, won't be long now. I can't wait!