Dos Meses

My little Anna girl is two months old today! She is such a sweetheart! Other than the fact that she has had a cold for going on for weeks now, she is a pretty darn easy baby. She is starting to sleep through the night, and she takes great naps during the day. The car puts her right to sleep, so getting out of the house is pretty easy. She is starting to talk to us and smile so much, though I have yet to get a good picture of it. I feel like I should be saying "I can't believe it's been two months already", but the truth is that it feels like she's always been part of our family. I just love my Anna!

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Princess Potty

I currently find myself with a clean house and two sleeping children. A rarity, obviously, as noted by my lack of posting. And while there are piles of laundry I could attack, I would much rather blog.

Today I took Olivia to Target and we picked out her very own potty chair. I in no way did this intending to potty train her now. I just wanted to get her used to having it around. When we got home and opened the box, she sat down on it, and without much dialogue from me on its purpose, started saying "pee pee...poo poo". And then she said "poo poo" again and went "poo poo" right on the potty. Of course, she was wearing her diaper, but still. I was very impressed. So what do you think, moms? Should I go for it now, or wait awhile longer?

Invincible

Anna is six weeks old and still has been waking up every 2-3 hours at night. Until two nights ago. We had her sleep in her car seat because she was so congested the night before that she could hardly breathe (or so it seemed to her parents), so we wanted her to be more upright to help with her breathing. And a miracle happened. She slept 5 hours straight! And then, after a feeding, slept another 3 hours till morning. Equaling 8 hours of nearly continuous sleep for mommy. She did the same thing last night, and it's made such a difference that today I feel invincible. Here's what I did today before nap time...fed the girls, got them dressed, cleaned the house, went to the gym, showered, hosted a playgroup, fed the girls lunch, and went grocery shopping. No promises that I'll keep this pace, but it is really incredible what a good night's sleep can do for a girl!

Anna's Birth Story

This is a bit overdue (kind of like my babies), but I'm finally posting to story of Anna's birth

December 28^th, 2010 started out quite peacefully, though I had a bit of a headache, which made me nervous. I tend to develop migraines, and I thought that a migraine on top of labor would be much less than desirable. I had been to the doctor the day before and was already dilated to a 4, and she had also stripped my membranes, so I felt confident that this labor would be much faster than my first.

We headed to the hospital for our scheduled induction, having passed my due date the previous day. My sister Diana and her husband Jon were staying with us (yes, both of our husbands are named Jon), so we left before Olivia woke up, totally confident that she would be well taken care of, which was a huge relief to me, since that was the one thing I had been most concerned about. We left for the hospital at 7:44 am, but had to pull over a minute later to scrape the windshield, because it was just a little bit too frosty.

By 8:09am I had been checked in, and just over an hour later, I was hooked up to my IV and ready to start pitocen. I had had come fairly serious contractions the night before, so I was hoping to be dilated to at least a 5, but when they checked me, I was still at a 4. Jon and I passed the time by playing 20 questions and updating the world on my progress (or lack thereof) on facebook, while we waited for over an hour to start pitocen, which finally happened around 10:45 am. Dr. Rogers allowed me to eat popsicles and Italian ice, which was fantastic, and Jon and I put on a movie (North and South) to distract me from the pain. Around noon, the contractions were getting really hard, and the nurses told me they thought I was progressing very quickly, and that if I wanted an epidural, I should probably order it. So even though I was still coping with the pain quite well, I went ahead and ordered it. An hour later, I had my epidural and felt much more comfortable, but when my doctor checked me shortly thereafter, I was still at a 4, and she seemed to think that since I already had an epidiral, things might not progress as well. I was frustrated with the nurses and with myself, but just kept hoping that things would move along.

After three long hours, my doctor checked me again, and I was finally at a 5. She decided to break my water, and it was the most hilarious sensation! I laughed and laughed, which made the gushing even stronger. Even the nurse was surprised at how much fluid there was. The breaking of the water must have done the trick, because an hour later, I was at an 8. The epidural seemed not to be working on my right side, and the nurse was going to order another dose. I could feel every contraction, and then felt the strangest sensation of burning and movement. I asked the doctor to check me again, and I was at a 9. I said I was sure the baby was coming very, very soon, and told the nurse not to bother with the epidural. I was in SO much pain, but I just wanted the baby to come, and I didn’t want anything to slow that down. Seconds later I felt the most amazing(ly painful) sensation, and told the doctor I was ready to push. Sure enough, I was at a 10. I pushed 3 or 4 times, and literally, within 5 minutes, Anna was born, at 5:18 pm, weighing 6 lbs 9 oz. She came out screaming her head off, but it was the sweetest sound to me. They laid her on my chest immediately, and of course I was crying with joy and relief.

It may sound strange, but I am actually really glad that my epidural stopped working, because it was the most amazing feeling to feel what was happening. Not sure I’m ready to commit to going through labor completely on my own, especially since I don’t think my body knows how to go into labor, and I may have to be induced every time (pitocen contractions are painful), but I really loved experiencing the pain with the delivery. There was something special and magical about it.

A couple hours after Anna was born, Jon and Diana brought Olivia to the hospital to visit us, and it was so sweet to see the two sisters meet. I absolutely adore my sisters, and I am so excited to watch their relationship develop and grow. Olivia gave Anna a kiss, and was really excited about the “be-bi”, which made me so happy.

We enjoyed our peaceful time in the hospital with Anna, but wanted nothing more than to take her home, and were so blessed that she was healthy enough that we could bring her home just over 24 hours after she was born. When she came home, we put her under our Christmas tree, our perfect Christmas gift, just a few days late.

New Toy

We had visitors last night...my aunt, uncle, and cousin, Eva, Wade, and Tim stayed with us at the end of their trip to DC. It must be the Haynie blood in him, because Tim wanted to check out an East Coast thrift store. Jon went along and picked up this beauty for Olivia for $4! She is totally delighted!

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Anna Girl

Anna turned one month old on Friday. She is such a sweetheart! She is starting to sleep better at night...pulling three hour stretches instead of just one, which is a welcome change. Olivia is a sweet sister, helping get diapers, giving kisses, and making a very concerned sound whenever Anna cries. Anna is just getting cuter and cuter every day. Today she wore a dress that Liv wore when she was tiny, and it was so fun to remember. They don't look much alike, but they do look like sisters! Here's Anna today, and note the new side-by-side one-month photos on the side bar. Happy Sunday!

Oops...

Today I gave Olivia some m&m's in the car to keep her quiet. In the future I think I'll stick to smarties when I resort to bribing my children.

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