Happenings

For the last couple days Princess has been REALLY attached to her little New Testament Bible. She carries it all over the house, sits and turns pages while saying things like “I read Bible” “My Bible” “I need my Bible”. It is really cute, but I have to admit that it is frustrating to try to get it away from her for meals. Last night she wanted to sleep with it, so we let her have it in bed. Not sure where it ended up during the night as Hubby got her from her room this morning and I forgot to ask him where it was. He did tell me that she carried it downstairs, and set it on the floor to eat a couple bites, but then became very concerned that she’d lost it, calling out “my Bible, my Bible”.

On a different note, we thought we’d have our little boy in our arms by now as he was due almost 2 weeks ago. However, it seems that he doesn’t want to share his birth month with his sister and has decided to be an October baby. Sharing his birth month with his Granny (who is kind of excited to share her month) and a Great-grandpa (who went to be with the Lord last year).  We had an appointment yesterday that included a non-stress test. He was sleeping so the doctor woke him up. Wow, did he become active then!! According to the test he is still doing well, but as in a couple days he’ll officially be at 42 weeks we have scheduled an induction for that day, if he hasn’t come before then. Sadly, it is not looking like he will. L Then again, Princess surprised us by coming when we thought she wasn’t really close despite being at almost 41 weeks when I went into labor (41 at birth). My doctor can be really funny sometimes. When he entered the room he asked how the perpetual pregnancy was going. It was funny especially the way he said it, but sometimes I feel like I am going to be pregnant forever. Sigh. I know I won’t, but still. So we are waiting. I keep getting phone calls from various family members and Hubby wondering if anything is happening. Over the weekend I was having some contractions, but they’ve basically stopped now. I really tried not to get anyone’s hopes up! Truthfully, I think the contractions this past weekend helped me get to a point so that I can be induced, as I wasn’t at that point before.

Hubby called a bit ago to see how I was doing and ask me if I wanted to go out to dinner tonight if nothing is happening baby-wise. My sister is here to watch Princess if something does happen so he figured we might as well take advantage of this opportunity while we are waiting, as it will probably be a while before we get to go out again! Probably be a nice distraction too. J Though this waiting is hard for my Hubby, I am so thankful for how supportive he has been especially these last 6+ weeks. There for a while it seemed like every appointment thru us a new curve and it looked like a c-section would be our only option. We know we’re still not out of the woods there, and if that is the way it will need to be then that is what we will do for the health and safety of our little guy. (More on all this later when I write his pregnancy and birth story.)

I know Hubby is anxious to be able to hold his son. He is so wonderful with Princess and I know if we were having another girl he’d be just as excited, but let’s face it this is his son we’ve been waiting for. J He says that he won’t stop worrying that little guy is okay until he is in his arms…but I’m pretty sure that won’t end it, but instead change what he worries about. Maybe “worry” is the wrong word “concern” is probably better. I think that about some things he will be much more confident this time around than last time, but there will probably be other things that pop up. Especially as each baby is different and overall Princess was a pretty easy baby. We’ll just have to wait and see how little guy is!! Really looking forward to finding out and to seeing how Princess is with him. She’s been more clingy the last few days and she gets upset at the drop of a hat. Not sure if she is picking up on some tension from the wait or if she is tired of hearing about brother, but not seeing him, or if this is just a phase she would have had anyway. We know that she knows something is going on, afterall, her aunts have been coming up regularly and either watching her for a few hours or staying a few days. She loves playing with them, especially Aunt R, but you have to wonder what she is thinking. Until last week, when Aunt R was here Princess often ignored me in her aunts favor, but now she seems to want to know where I am & what I’m doing often. I’m sure she’ll do okay while I’m in the hospital, but I hope it’s not too hard on her. 

Sayings and doings of Princess: September 25, 2013

Sunday afternoon, Hubby put Princess’s paci in the hand of one of her dolls. When it was time to head back to Church Princess started looking for the paci. Hubby told her that Doll Baby had it and pointed it out. Princess ran over and snatched it up saying “NO, NO, MINE!” She was very upset with Doll Baby. J

Last night my parents brought up my youngest sister to watch Princess during my appointment today and to help out. When it was time for them to go home, Princess waved and hugged Nana, Bapa, and Aunt K, but told Aunt R that she had to stay here! She was very insistent saying over and over “R stay here!” When she hugged Bapa, she said “I love You!” WE had thought she’d said that last week to us but weren’t sure. Last night it was very clear! J Of course Bapa thought that was great!

This morning after getting up Princess asked if R was downstairs. I told her that she was. R went to change clothes and I started asking Princess what she wanted for breakfast. Following is the exchange.

            Me: “Do you want orange juice?”

            Princess: “No, I wait R”

            Me: “Do you want cereal?”

Pregnancy & Birth Story: Princess

Since Hubby & I were both older when we got married—he was 31 and I was almost 28—we started trying to get pregnant right away. At first when I didn’t, we were fine with it as he had changed jobs and we moved to another state. I enjoyed getting to travel with him to his conferences. Getting to spend time together and learn more about each other was wonderful and neither of us regret that time at all. However, after a year I began to wonder and worry a little. I had a physical and the doctor told me to keep trying a few more months and if nothing had happened she’d refer me to an OB. Well we were busy, and I admit I was a little annoyed with something she said, and before we knew another year had passed. I called my doctor for the referral and was given an appointment at a clinic in the city about 45 minutes away. This appointment was two weeks after my 30^th birthday.

Here’s what I wrote at the time about my feelings on this.  

            February 16, 2010

My doctor’s nurse called today to say that they are setting me up with an appointment 45 minutes away. I was kind of taken aback, since I thought the plan was to go to an OB here in town to check some things out and then see if we needed to progress to a specialist. Guess she decided it had been long enough and we go straight to the specialist. Not really sure how I feel about this. I know people who have gone through this and I guess I’m still not sure if I’m ready for all the tests and things that we will have to go thru. Doctor’s are not my favorite people and I get really nervous around them. Hubby is going to go with me to this first appointment. That will be a great help I am sure.

After some tests it was discovered that I have a couple conditions that make getting pregnant difficult, including a thyroid condition. However with medication most women are able to conceive within 6 months of finding the right medicine and dosage. It ended up taking six months to find the right medicine and dosage that would work. Three months later I got pregnant!! J

I remember taking the test and then going downstairs to take my thyroid medicine and being sure the test was going to be negative. There had been so many times where I thought I was but the test was always negative. (Also, that month it we weren’t sure if the medicine worked as we hadn’t gotten the positive results earlier in the month like previous months.) I walked around the main floor of our house praying about it and asking God to help us with the disappointment and help us get pregnant nest month. Then I went upstairs to the spare bath and checked the test. It was POSITIVE! J I went in and woke my husband, telling him we were going to have a baby. His response was “What! Let me see that.” He had figured it would be negative too. Since it was Sunday we got ready for Church. He had such a smile and joyous expression on his face I wonder what people thought. If anyone guessed they never told us. J

The next day I called my doctor, but since we were having a blizzard they arranged for me to have the blood work to confirm the pregnancy done here in town. A few days later I had the first ultrasound. It was amazing to hear the heartbeat and see the tiny little baby growing inside me. After another ultrasound two weeks later I was referred to an OB here in town.  

I had a pretty easy pregnancy. I didn’t have morning sickness. For many years I had suffered from headaches and migraines. Since starting the thyroid medication they had decreased 75%. During my pregnancy they decreased to less than one a month. My backaches, which I’d also had for years, went away until the seventh month and then were only bad for a week or so. My doctor told me I was boring!

My due date came and went—she wasn’t ready to come. At 40 weeks and 5 days (it was a Thursday), I had an appointment and a non-stress test. My doctor said that things were fine and we should just keep waiting as he didn’t think I was a good candidate for inducing. I would need to come back the next week for non-stress tests on Monday & Thursday, and we’d see where things were then. That evening as Hubby & I were watching a DVD I started having contractions. I didn’t pay much attention at first, but after a couple hours we started timing them. At about 5-6 minutes apart we called and were told to go in. By the time we got to the hospital, which was about 15 minutes away, they were 4 minutes apart…then they slowed way down. A couple hours later my water broke. By 8 am the next day I was only a 3.5 and they discovered meconium. I was told that if she wasn’t born by the next morning, I’d have to have a c section. It was my doctor’s day to be out of town so one of his partners was covering for him. She offered to give me Pitocin, but we decided to wait. I really didn’t want an epidural and was trying to go without one. (I was worried that I’d have problems with my back later as that can be a side effect.) After a couple more hours and no progress we decided to get the Pitocin. They gave it to me at half the normal rate as I was still trying to avoid an epidural. About 3 hours later I got a shot for pain. That helped some, but I was still progressing slowly. About 7:30 that night I got another shot. This time it didn’t really help at all. By 9 pm I was still barely a 7 and very tired. Did I mention that Thursday morning I had woken up at 2 am and not gone back to sleep except for a 30 minute nap Thursday afternoon???  So by now I’d been awake for the majority of the last 41 hours. Anyway, we gave in and asked for the epidural. It was an hour later that it kicked in, and an hour after that I was told that I was almost a 10. There was just a little more to thin out. So just after midnight Saturday morning I started pushing. Princess got a little stuck and ended up with a slight case of shoulder dystocia, but made her arrival at 1:13 am on September 17, 2001!!

While they were finishing up with me, Hubby watched them weigh and measure Princess and called my mom as she had told us to call at any time. (We hadn’t told anyone that we were in labor—yes, I’m still getting grief about that from my family.) After a few minutes he gave me the phone. I was also handed my baby girl. A few minutes later Hubby told me that he was going to go home and get some sleep. After I finished my phone call, I asked the nurse if Hubby had gotten to hold Princess.  She said that she didn’t think so and she would make sure to let the next nurse know that he got to hold her first thing! Hubby later told me that he was halfway home before he realized he hadn’t held here and that he spent most of the drive home worried that I would drop her or fall with her. Then telling himself that the nurse was there and that they wouldn’t let either of us get hurt. J  

I admit it was very special when he got to hold her the next morning. He sat down on the bed and I put her in his arms. It was just us, so a really special moment. I took a picture so we’d remember. A couple weeks ago we showed Princess that picture and told her that that was the first time Daddy held her. She was excited about Daddy in the picture but not sure about that baby! J

So, my pregnancy was easy but my labor was hard. It was 30 hours long on very little sleep. Really hoping that doesn’t happen again!

Two on Tuesday!!

September 17, 2013: Two on Tuesday!!!!

So for the last week or so Hubby has been telling Princess that she will be two on Tuesday. He says it in a sing song voice and makes her giggle like crazy. SO, today it is Tuesday and she is two!! How the time has flown by. It doesn’t seem like it’s been two years since she was born after 30 hours of labor…I should post her birth story soon. She has done so much these last two years…growing, crawling, walking, talking, etc. Looking forward to her next year and how she will get along with baby brother.

About once a week or so lately she has been waking up around 2 or 3 in the morning and talking and or singing off and on for a couple hours before going completely back to sleep. We aren’t sure if she sleeps during the quiet times or is just quiet. Well last she woke about two singing at the top of her lungs. She sang and talked off and on until 5:30 when Hubby went in and told her it was still night time so she needed to go back to sleep. While in there he noticed that she had been messing with her night light so he took it away, since he had told her before bed that he’d do that if she was playing with it. She started crying then for about 10 minutes and then a few sniffles and cries until 6 when she went back to sleep. She then slept until 10:30am!

I had made a special breakfast for her of sausages and eggs, so I heated them up then. When I got her out of bed the first thing she asked was if Daddy was downstairs. I told her that he was at work but would be coming home for lunch. Every little bit she would turn to me and say “Daddy work??” I’d tell her yes. He came home a bit later then I had expected but since she had such a late breakfast that worked out well. She was so excited to see him! She is such a daddy’s girl J. Later after we put her down for a nap I left to run some errands as Hubby had decided to take the rest of the day off. When I returned home he told me that she never went to sleep. After about an hour he had gone up and let her come downstairs to have a little more to eat. She asked him where I was. He told here I was at the store. She responded “mommy work?” He replied “no Mommy’s at the store”. They went back and forth like this for a few minutes then she said “I store?” (Now, she thinks Mommy goes to the store and Daddy goes to work if one or both of us aren’t home with her!) Anyway, though she was back in her room when I got home, she didn’t stay there long and didn’t get a nap that day. She helped us finish getting the house ready for Nana, Bapa (Grandpa), her aunts and uncles to come for supper to celebrate her birthday. She loved seeing them and playing with her new toys (yep, she made out like a bandit!) She had so much fun she wasn’t sure what or who to play with! Hubby had been telling her for weeks that he was going to get her a puppy cake for her birthday. She requested that it be chocolate. She loved it and ate almost a whole piece…the most she’s ever eaten! (The next morning she wanted chocolate cake for breakfast, but Mommy didn't let her have it…mean Mommy I know!)  

Some of the sayings and doings by Princess this year

Be warned, this is long. J Most of these were posted to FB at some point during the year, but there are a few new ones. She is growing, learning and changing so fast. I know I haven’t recorded a fraction of her moments. We are amazed at how well she speaks for a not quite two year old. Most of her words are clear without dropping syllables, with a few exceptions like she says “hungee” for hungry, and says “’sic” for music. J

For quite a while she has been folding her hands to pray for meals. Sometimes if she really likes something she’ll do it multiple times during the meal. J Lately, she has mumbled words that we haven’t been able to catch when we are praying. We recently got her a book about Daniel and the lion’s den. She likes to hear it every day and always points out when Daniel is praying as well as the puppy and kitten on some of the pages.

This morning, after Hubby left for work, she decided she was still hungry so we sat back at the table with some grapes. I wasn’t really paying attention to her but was reading my ereader, when I hear “help mommy, help mommy”. I turned around and she was sitting with her head bowed and hands folded repeating over and over “help mommy…snack…grapes…help mommy, help mommy” and other words I couldn’t identify. She then looked up at me saying “I praying Mommy, I praying.” Before bed when her Daddy prays with her he has been asking for a safe delivery of baby brother. Last night we saw my parents and my Dad prayed about that during his prayer for the food. I guess she’s been listening! J

About three weeks ago, Hubby was holding Princess while asking me a question in which he used my name. Princess looked up at him and then over at me and you could see the realization that Mommy had another name. She then called me her version of my name. She’s been doing that at least once every day since. At first we corrected her, but now when she says it I just ignore her until she calls me Mommy.

A few days before that, Hubby was getting ready to head to work, so he was holding Princess for a few minutes. She grabbed him by the shoulders and attempted to manhandle him into his recliner, all the while saying something about staying here. He decided to humor her and sat down. She immediately patted his cheek and said “good boy!”

I think this happened the first part of August. I put her down for a nap and she started screaming and having a really hard time. This was not like her at all, so after a few minutes I went into her room, picked her up and sat in the rocker. She was so worked up that she was shaking and had a hitch in her breathing. After rocking her for a few minutes the baby started moving around. She had her hand on my belly and started patting it. A couple minutes later she looks up and says “brother kick me, brother kicking me.” He had now stopped moving, and she spent the next few minutes patting my tummy and telling him to kick! I told her he was probably taking a nap and maybe he’d be ready to kick her again after she got up from her nap. She didn’t seem enthused about this, but did allow me to put her back in bed for her nap.

Other sayings and doings:

Sept 8, 2013

On the way home from Church Princess would ask for and then give back her paci to me. After the third round in three blocks, somewhat exasperatedly, I asked her if she was ever going to make up her mind about wanting the paci or not. Her reply: “NO, yes!” She then kept it the rest of the way home.

Sept 2, 2013

So, I'm sitting here at my computer and I hear "Mama I sit in box!" I turned around and found Princess sitting in an old diaper box. After dragging the box all over the room she comes back to my chair and climbs back into the box. 
Me: Do you need kisses & hugs Princess?
Princess: No, I sit in box!

Aug 29, 2013

So, Princess has been saying "yeah" for yes, affirmative responses for awhile. Last week we saw my parents a couple times and Mom was asking her if she could say "yes" instead. On Monday, Princess started saying "yeah, YES....", then on Wed she started saying "Yes, dear" and Yes, sir". Not sure where she got that especially the sir!! 

Aug 23, 2013

This morning at the breakfast table...
Princess: Want meet baby now!!
My sister: Did she say that she wants to meet the baby??
Me: I think so.
Princess: Meet baby now!
Hubby: I know it's hard, but we need to wait a little longer for brother to be ready to meet you.
Me: Yeah, at least 10 sleeps, though 14 or more would be better.
Hubby: You say that to someone who has no idea how long that is. She doesn't understand more than two.
My sister: Well she might know up to six, because she knows when one of her bears are missing.
Me: She isn't counting them; she just knows she's missing one because she knows which ones she has.

June 24, 2013

So Princess has been doing some really cute things lately. Here are a few of them:
She was playing with her pop up toy, stopped to get a drink and then put the straw up to each animal while saying "Dink, Dink", then she took another drink and offered it to me before again offering it to the animals! 
This afternoon she lay on the floor with a bear, got up and put the bear on a folded sheet (that she'd taken from the couch). Walked away for a minute, then returned, pointed at the bear and ordered "NAP, NAP"! ... I asked her if the bear was supposed to be taking a nap. She replied, with a resigned voice "yeah, nap!!"…Guess I know now what she thinks I sound like! J

Mar 24, 2013 (from Hubby’s posts)

At McDonald's today for lunch, Princess was picking up the fries and handing them to me one by one so that I could eat them. I made the comment that Mommy wanted some fries too. She immediately snatched the fry she had just handed to me and handed it to Mommy instead.

Mar 20, 2013 (From Hubby)

HoneyBee: I think that I am losing my mind.
Me: Don't worry, if you lose it Princess and I will help you find it. Princess can you find Mommy's mind?

Princess thinks for a while, runs off, and comes back holding a pot holder. She show's it to mommy before hiding it behind her back saying "mine, mine, mine." Oh well, so much for getting our mind back when it is gone. J

Jan 23, 2013

Yesterday was a big day for Princess. First she conquered the slide at the play place ALL BY HERSELF!!! I had looked away for a minute and when I looked back she was heading down the slide backwards on her tummy...apparently this is the only way to do it!  Later, she decided that she could handle our steps too. She crawled up them over and over with Daddy following so that he could take her back down the steps to start over. 

Beginning my blog

September 1, 2013

A couple years ago I thought about starting a blog, so I wrote some things down in my word processing program. I didn't end up starting one for various reasons, however, lately I've been thinking I’d try again to do a blog or at least a log of things. Princess has done and said so many things, I wish I had recorded them earlier. Someone recently asked me if I had been keeping a written record of them. I really wish I had. I don’t remember all of them or the time frame they occurred in. I decided that I should start now with Princess and then I’ll hopefully be able to catch these moments for our little one when the time comes for him. As I remember Princess’s past sayings I’ll try to record them too. I know I posted a few to FB so I may try to find them and put them into a post here.

Yesterday, Princess wanted something, but kept flip flopping as to what it was. I was starting to get frustrated when my husband came in and asked Princess “are you trying to drive your Mommy crazy?” Princess replied, “Yes, I am!” We aren't sure if she really understood the question or not but her timing was good. :)

September 2, 2013

At breakfast, Princess asked for lunch. I told her it wasn't lunchtime. She replies: "Chicken nuggets??"
Me: "No, you can't have nuggets for breakfast." I started asking her if she wanted various other things. She picked one. Then, around 10 am she starts saying "lunch?? lunch?? I want lunch." My husband tells her that it's not time for lunch and asks her if she wants a snack. She says: "lunch! Lunch!! He says: "what do you want for lunch?" Princess replies: "Supper!!!"....So, apparently she wanted supper for lunch around breakfast time. Crazy girl! :) 
Princess sure keeps us hopping. recently her vocabulary and imagination have been taking leaps and bounds. For awhile now she has been pretending to change her dolls diaper. Now she feeds her doll and last week she started wrapping the doll in a shirt and patting its back like you would to soothe a crying baby. She must have seen that in the nursery at Church. Though, soon when baby brother arrives she'll get to see Mama doing it a lot! :) 
I hope that I'll be able to keep this blog up to date in the coming months. I guess if I get stuck on what to write I can always post something I wrote a few years ago...actually that might be fun. :)