Jack Turned 3!

As Jack's birthday rolled around, we immediately knew what the theme of his party had to be...SUPERHEROS!!  The day turned out great!  We grilled out, had cake and candy and cookies, we got a bounce house for the kids and all around had a good time in the back yard with family and friends!  Jack got spoiled with gifts, as usual!

At his 3 year check up he weighed 29 pounds 6 ounces and was 36 inches tall. Still my tiny little man, but the doctor wasn't worried because he is still on the same steady growth curve he has been on since he was a baby! BUT just as a comparison - I took both kids to the doctor last week together (Norah had Bronchitis and Jack had Croup) and Jack's weight was 28 pounds 7 ounces and Norah's weight was 18 pounds 6 ounces! Only a 10 pound difference and he is 2.5 years older!

The cake tables...with no cake..

I didn't get a good picture of the cake, but this is what it was and it seriously looked just like this!  It was awesome!

Backyard Set up!

The bounce house didn't match the theme, but no one seemed to mind!

Bean being the DIVA that she is!

One of my favorites - Sophia Claire

A little slide time!

Breckin!

Lovin' the bounce house!

Jack, Addy and Breckin - my brother's two kids.

CANDY!

Blowing out the candles!

Momma, Daddy and Bean got Jack a Spiderman Bike!

Jack and Piper - she is future wife material!

Spiderman Pinata!

 

This is my favorite picture of the day!

Bounce House Fun!

 

Norah and Miss Tonya - Tonya is our daycare provider and we couldn't be more lucky!

We also did a little fishing and he caught a birthday fish! Can't beat that!

Two Engagements!

Old Exciting news in these parts!  Two of my favorite people both recently got engaged - not to each other, thankfully!

First, is my brother, Derek!  This is his second marriage, but I think Chelsi is a keeper!  They are having a destination wedding at the Dreams Resort in Cancun!  Yay!  So this is where I will be spending 7 amazing, relaxing, drunken filled days in April!  Be jealous!

Dreams Resort - Cancun

 

Next, is one of my very best, bestie's in the whole world and Bean's Godmother to boot!  Julie has found her man...finally!  :-)  Chris is great, I loved him the first time I met him and Chris and Chris get along great too - always a bonus!  Since I'm so behind on posting this post they actually just had their engagement photos taken and I love them!  They are so cute!

 





Julie's wedding is also in April so it's going to be a busy month...I better get skinny!  :-)



Memorial Day Weekend

Every year we go to Glenpool, OK for the Spear Family reunion (the timing couldn't be worse because it always falls on Jack's birthday...boo!). This year we had an infant in tow so I was on edge the majority of the time. One year we didn't go because I was due with Jack any day, and by the next year Jack was 1 and drinking milk and no bottles or formula to drag along and he was sleeping through the night! Norah however was still getting up every 3-4 hours and I don't trust the water in different towns so I had to fill an empty milk gallon jug up with our water and I wouldn't risk washing bottles in the water either so I had to pack enough bottles for the entire trip. It was a nightmare! The best part, at this time Norah still HATED her car seat and wouldn't sleep in it longer than like 30 minutes without waking up and screaming, but to my surprise she did WONDERFUL in the car and the trip actually seemed like a turning point between her and her car seat! Here are a few pictures of the weekend and in case you are wondering; yes it's at a house in the middle of town, yes they just sit in the yard the whole time, the best part is the 10x10 foot swimming pool at the Best Western we stay at (that has the doors on the outside mind you)...need I say more?

 

Norah - Four Months

**Disclaimer - I wrote this over 3 months ago and I have yet to get the pictures off my camera's memory card so it's a post without pictures...but the info is there and that's the important stuff, right?

One, Two and Three month updates have already been written and now it's time for FOUR months!  I can hardly believe my baby Norah Jane is four months old and is actually becoming more and more fun by the day! She has, for the most part, outgrown the "newborn fussiness" phase which is GREAT!  I feel like now I can leave her for an afternoon with the grandparents and not worry so much about whether she is crying hysterically the entire time!

Jack and Norah continue to develop the cutest relationship.  He really is going to be a great big brother and I can't wait to see how he reacts once she becomes a bit more mobile!  His favorite and "go-to" phrase continues to be, "Hiiiii!  Hiiiii!  Hiiii Baaabbyyyy Nooorrrlaaahhh!"  It's so funny!

Eat - Norah is still eating 7 times a day at this point.  She takes 4.5 ounces at each bottle. Some days she hardly spits up and other days she is an ever-flowing fountain, so we just keep working with her reflux and she will eventually grow out of it and be able to keep more down at each feeding and then, then she will hopefully sleep through the night!  At her four month well baby visit Dr. Mijares said we could start solids whenever we wanted, I plan on holding off until closer to 6 months.  I think Norah is more than ready, but why rush it and why mess with her little belly?  Really, at this point the food is only for practice and I do not believe one bit in the whole "Food makes them sleep theory!"

Sleep - Norah is going to bed anywhere from 6:30 - 7:00pm for the night.  She still wakes to eat around 11:00pm and 3:00am and then is up for the day at 7:00am.  She then usually has a shorter, maybe one hour nap in the morning and then a longer 2.5 - 3 hour nap in the afternoons.  I know some people have already sleep trained their babies at this point using the CIO method or other sleep training methods, but I just don't really get that - at least not at this age.  We never really had to do any sleep training with Jack, but I do know we never let him fuss himself to sleep until he was way past 6 months old and even then it was fussing, not full out crying.  I just can't do that for hours on end, so for now we respond to her hunger demands and feed her when she wakes!  We are also still swaddling Norah at night time and for naps and she is still in her Rock N Play sleeper - I know we need to break these habits, but I just can't imagine messing up her sleep routine and the doctor said as long as the blankets we are using allow her hips to move and for her to be able to pull her legs up or straighten them then it's fine and we use The Miracle Blanket which has a pocket for the feet and then is really only tight around her arms and chest so she said that was fine!  I need to look online and see if there are such a thing as "Arms Only" swaddle blankets/wraps?!?  She is almost too big for the RNP but she really still needs the angle for her reflux, I'm contemplating moving her big crib into our room and using pillows or blankets to create the incline and then using a rolled towel in a "U" shape under the fitted sheet as kind of a seat or anchor for her to "sit" in so that she doesn't slide down the hill?  IDK, until she can't fit in the RNP at all anymore I'm leaving her - she loves it!

Health - Norah faired pretty good this month when it comes to the health front.  She did have to get more vaccines at her well baby visit - 2 shots and 1 oral.  She did great and hardly cried once I picked her up.  I was sure she was going to be a mess for a good 3-5 days following the shots because she was a basket case after the first round, but she did great!  She never really fussed or anything, we did have one night, I think 2 nights after her shots, that she was randomnly awake from like 9:30pm to 2:00am.  She wasn't fussy though, she was just awake and wanted to play.  It was odd and this Momma did not appreciate it at all!

Play - This month Norah is obsessed with her play mat and all the toys that dangle from it!  She has mastered reaching for toys and studying them and then they usually head straight in her mouth!  She is becoming more and more vocal and loves to laugh at her big brother!  The bath tub continues to be another one of Norah's favorite places to play, she loves floating on her raft and kicking her feet and making the water splash!

Learn - Norah has definitely started recognizing familiar faces.  She loves to stare at her Daddio.  I think she is thinking, "I'm pretty sure I know you?  Yup, I do know you!" she will stare at Chris for a good 5 - 10 minutes at a time from across the room.  It's really funny!  She loves to give smiles, giggles, and feet kicks to anyone that shows her attention though!  Still no rolling over (I guess I'm doomed to never have a rolly-polly baby, oh well), but she is tolerating tummy time a bit better these days and can push up really high on her arms.  She also started a new move, when she is on her back, she puts her feet flat on the floor and then pushes up and back and kind of makes an arch, like a back bend, and then scoots back a few inches.

Grow - Norah's official 4 month stats from her well baby visit were 15lbs 4.5oz and 25 inches - she was in the 75th percentile for her age, weight and height!  She is wearing all 3-6 and 6 month clothing.  She is in size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night!  She is growing like a little weed!

My Superhero...

Jack has become obsessed with Superheros!  He loves them, so dress up costumes were soon to follow!  We have Captain America and Batman.  He also has Spiderman PJ's and a matching mask!

 

 

 

 



Catching Up...

I'm going to spend the next 30 minutes trying to catch up on some items on my HUGE backlog of posts. 

WARNING: They will be primarily photo driven posts - I don't have time for words, people!  :-)

Upcoming Posts

I know, I'm adding more post topics and I haven't published any from the original list.  Forgive me, I'm tired! Soon, very soon!

I am seriously behind in my blogging! Work is crazy right now, Chris is traveling alot and it's summer!  :-)

Here are some upcoming blog posts though that are either already drafted and I need to add pictures or that are great ideas and aren't written yet!
1. My Superhero
2. Norah's 4 Month Update
3. Memorial Day Trip to OK
4. Two Engagements
5. Jack's 3rd Birthday and Check Up
6. Double Trouble in the Tub
7. Jack's First Slumber Party
8. Norah's 5 Month Update (Can you believe she turned 5 months last week?)
9. A Bow Addiction
10. New Home Tour - A Year Later
11. Independence Day!
12. Wisdom Teeth Extraction
13. Norah Thinks Jack is Funny!

14. Baptism (Chris actually went to church!)
15.  Norah's 6 Month Update
16. Momma Got  A New Ride!
17. Jack @ The County Fair

Now, I know you are all dying from the excitement of these potential posts BUT really this list is more for me to keep everything straight! Don't think these are all gonna happen in the near future either, but I'm working on it!  All with good intentions!  Life just gets in the way sometimes and it's much easier to post a picture to Facebook or Instagram then it is to type out a post and upload photos!

Follow me on Instagram @ darci_spear since I know you'd love to keep up with our daily lives in a more "real-time" fashion!

xoxo

Norah - Three Months

I apologize this post is so late.  I've had it drafted and took the pictures on her 3 month birthday, but it has taken me 3 weeks to upload the pictures onto my computer.  Mom fail, I know, but better late than never!  And just think this means you will get her 4 month update in just a couple weeks! :-)

Baby Girl is now THREE months old, time is definitely flying by quicker now that I'm back at work.  Her Two Months and One Month update seem like forever ago!  This is when routine is KEY for us and we all seem to be adjusting pretty well.  She is getting such a personality and still growing, growing, growing!  Norah had her second photo shoot this month and the pictures couldn't have turned out any better!  I am thrilled with them!

Jack has decided he LOVES Norah this month and it's so cute to see him try to entertain her and help her.  Peekaboo is his "go to" when he is trying to make her happy.  We were also baby-talking to her the other night and he found that pretty amusing.  He always tries to help when she gets fussy by putting her Button in her mouth, problem is sometimes she doesn't want it but Jack will persist and hold the button in her mouth even as she is shaking her head side to side trying to break away and spit it out!  It's pretty funny, he is finally catching on that she doesn't want it when she does that!  Tonya also says that Jack dotes on Norah alot during the day at daycare - always telling her when Norah wakes up or when Norah is fussing/crying, etc.  What a good big brother he is!

Eat - Norah has been eating 4 ounces 7 times a day.  She takes one middle of the night bottle still anywhere from 2-4am.  I really think we are almost to the point of dropping this bottle but as soon as I do she starts waking up at 2am versus sleeping consistently to 4am.  But it's really not too bad because most of the time she goes back to sleep rather quickly, most of the time.  Tonya and I were just discussing bumping up her bottles another half ounce to see how well she tolerates it - it's not that I don't think she could or would eat more, it's whether or not her tummy can handle that much and if it will cause her reflux to be worse.  We shall see.

Sleep - Norah is still sleeping pretty good at night.  She goes down and is usually in our room by 7:30pm asleep.  She is still sleeping in her Rock N Play sleeper next to the bed - boy I'm going to hate the day we have to transition her to her crib, but I'm avoiding that as long as possible.  She still gets a bottle usually from Chris anywhere between 10-11pm and then again anywhere from 2-4am then I usually get her up a little before 7am to eat and get ready to head to daycare!  Not a bad schedule.

Health - We did have our first illness this month. Norah developed a super stuffy nose - no cough, no fever and the drainage was always clear/white. I let her fight it off for 10 days on her own, but after 10 days and no improvement I took her in to see Dr. Mijares. She wanted to give her a few more days to try to kick it and said to bring her back the start of the following week if she wasn't better. Norah overall didn't seem too bothered by the stuffiness except when trying to sleep or when I had to repeatedly use the suction bulb. The next week came and she wasn't any better, so back we went and at that point her oxygen level was 95, still fine but "normal" is 98 or 99. Since babies don't know how to breathe through their mouths she was fighting to breathe through her little nose and just wasn't getting as much oxygen. She also didn't gain any weight in the 6 days between visits and even lost 3 ounces. Dr. decided it was time for antibiotics - 14 days worth of antibiotics in fact and Norah just took her last dose yesterday! She didn't have any reaction to the medicine other than the fact that it tore her belly apart. She takes a probiotic every day which helps with gas and keeping her bowels moving, but it just wasn't quite enough once the antibiotics wiped out all the good bacteria in her belly so she was much gassier than normal, mostly at night, so I'm hoping she will be back on track here in the next few days.  She is also still taking Prevacid twice a day and it seems to be working well for her for now so we will stick with it and maybe try to wean down to once a day around 6 months or so.

Play - Norah has really become more interested in playing this past month and usually can entertain herself for about 20-30 minute sessions (more if the toy has lights AND sounds).  She loves being more upright, I'm guessing so she can see everything.  She loves her play mat though and the mobile on her RNP.  She hasn't fully reached out and grabbed a toy, but she bats her arms around until she catches one and then will hang on to it for a minute or so and let it go and then start batting around again until she finds something else.  She is getting close though! Norah also loves to play in her baths!  Jack and Norah started taking baths together this month so Norah is in the big tub and she just loves kicking her legs and floating on her Pomfitis bath pillow!  It's so cute!

Learn - Norah started giggling/laughing this month which is her biggest achievement.  She still hates tummy time so she isn't even close to rolling over.  She is pushing up higher though on her arms (when forced to do tummy time) and her head control is great.  She can sit in an assisted postion for a long time too, she just needs help balancing around her mid section!  She also noticed her reflection in a mirror this month, of course she doesn't know it's her but she will often stare, smile and make faces at the mirror on her play mat!

Grow - At 12 weeks old Norah weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces and was 23 inches long!  She is in 3 month clothes, but some seem to be getting a little snug.  She is also now in size 2 diapers, BIG GIRL!

Norah and Lenny!

12 Weeks

This is late and is only for my documentation - Norah weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces and was 23 inches long at 12 weeks.

Online Viewing - 3 Month Pictures

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=48091

Here is the link to Norah's 3 Month Pictures. 

Find her name under "Recent Photos" - you might have to hit the "More" option.

The password is "Jane"

Enjoy!  I'm thrilled with how they turned out!

xoxo

3 Month Sneak Peek

She just keeps getting prettier (maybe I'm biased though?)!  I'll post the online link and password hopefully tomorrow once Jayme gets them all done.  She posted this Sneak Peek on Facebook yesterday and I about died!  L.O.V.E.

10 weeks

Norah saw the doctor on her 10 week birthday (we thought she had an ear infection - she didn't) and she weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces and was 22.5 inches long!  Big Girl!

Beautiful Baby Girl

We had Norah Jane's newborn photos taken at 2 weeks old.  Here are just a few of my favorites!

Norah - Two Months

Sweet Norah Jane

Norah Jane turned 2 months old on this past Friday and she is growing like a weed! Her One Month update is here. She is starting to be little Miss Personality, but is also quick to let you know when she has had enough! Norah started daycare on 3/26/12 and the first night was rough, she got way off schedule and ended up being awake from about 1am to 4am! Momma got about 3.5 hours of sleep that night! Yuck! Thankfully, she seems to be adjusting well and we haven't had another night like the first one! We had her 2 month check up with Dr. Mijares yesterday which means she got her first round of vaccinations - 3 shots and one oral vaccine. Needless to say Norah was not a fan. The appointment ran late so she was already ready for a nap and screamed while the nurse checked her out, screamed while the doctor checked her out, then I got her to sleep, then the nurse came back with the shots and the screaming started again. Thankfully she calmed down rather quickly and spent the majority of the day sleeping up on my chest. She did have a couple meltdowns, but recovered quickly and this morning was all smiles!

Jack keeps becoming more and more interested in Norah, slowly but surely. Last night the cutest conversation happened. I was sitting with Norah in the chair, Chris was sitting on the couch and I was telling Jack that Daddy needed to give him his bath early because Momma had to go to work (Bunco - I tell him I'm going to work because he never gets mad or whines for me to stay).

Jack - "No, my Daddy mean!"

Me - "That's not nice Jack, don't you love your Daddy?"

Jack - whining

Me - "You better go get your Daddy!"

Jack - laughing ran to Chris and hopped up on the couch

Me - "See you love your Daddy!"

Jack - "And MY Baby Norlah!"

So cute! The whole "My Daddy mean" thing is Jack's clever way of trying to get me to do everything for him so we've been working on that. Frustrating to say the least, but Chris and Jack have been spending more time together than ever before and Chris is really starting to grow on Jack. They "work" in the garage or in the yard. They play baseball and go "fishing" in the front yard. They wrestle in the living room and go hunting in "Daddy's Office." I love seeing their relationship develop because for so long Jack refused Chris and only wanted me for everything, so it's nice to see them interact and enjoy spending time together!

Okay, back to Norah - here is her 2 Month Update!

Eat - Norah is currently eating 3.5 ounces 7 times a day! That means only ONE middle of the night feeding! Yea! We had a bit of a hard time getting her volume increased because it seemed to make her reflux worse and she would have trouble napping during the day. We tried a couple times and just started slowing adding more bottles a day at 3.5 ounces versus 3 ounces and it just seemed to finally work out. I still think she could easily take more at each feeding, but she seems content and isn't wanting to be fed earlier than her 3 hour schedule so we are sticking with where we are for now. We will probably try to bump her again closer to her 3 month mark.

Sleep - Norah is sleeping much better at night than she was a month ago. She usually is half awake during her middle of the night feeding and goes right back down to bed. We started a bedtime routine around 7 weeks and it has seemed to really help. She takes her "bedtime" bottle between 6:30 and 7:00pm and is usually asleep by 7:30, maybe 8:00 at the latest. I feed her again before I go to bed at 10:00pm and then she sleeps until anywhere from 2:00-3:00am and eats, then back to bed until 6:30am. Sometimes she goes back to sleep for an hour or hour and a half after this feeding and sometimes she doesn't. She is still sleeping in her Rock N Play Sleeper beside our bed. The RNP is angled up at a 30 degree incline so it helps her not reflux at night and she seems to love it! I'm already dreading the day she outgrows it! We even have one at Tonya's that she takes all her naps in. Norah has started fighting her naps which is frustrating, but she usually gives in fairly easy, but lately I've been having to put her sleep by rocking or holding and patting or else she will stay awake forever!

Health - This month has gone rather smoothly, we did have to double her Prevacid dose around the 7 week mark and it's really seemed to help. I don't feel like she is refluxing as much as she was a month ago or even 2 weeks and I'm hoping that she might already be starting to grow out of it! Fingers crossed! Norah is still a Gassy Girl, but it doesn't seem to bother her much but my girl can let 'em rip for sure! Dr. Mijares said she looks great, I did ask her about whether we will or should do anything about the Ecogenic Focus that was seen on her heart in utero and she said that they typically don't unless there was an indication of a problem. She said her heart has sounded great and her heart rate is always strong, no indications of murmurs or anything like that so she doesn't feel we need to do anything unless something changes.

Play - Norah is starting to play, well as much as a two month old can. She is starting to tolerate her swing in small doses better and we tried out the Bumbo chair this month (that didn't last long because the pressure on her tummy made her spit up). She has decided she HATES tummy time so that's a challenge. Oddly enough though, she likes to lay on her back and just move and groove, moving her arms and legs like crazy, - odd because usually reflux babies hate being on their back, this gives me hope that transistioning from the RNP that is angled to her cradle or crib will go smoothly. Norah has started batting and swinging at toys on her playmat, it's funny to watch her get excited!

Learn - Norah has started recognizing my voice and will turn the direction it's coming from. She started really smiling around 4-5 weeks and will generally flash her pearly gums at just about anyone. She started cooing maybe a week or so later and has developed multiple sounds, screams, coos throughout the month! I think she is going to be a talker like her Momma! She also is very interested in faces, she loves to stare at you and just observe, mostly your mouth as you talk to her. Little Miss Piggy has also started recognizing her bottle and will promptly start smacking her lips when she sees it, it's kind of cute!

Grow - Norah weighed 11 pounds 3.5 ounces (75th percentile) and was 22 inches long (just over 50th percentile) at her 2 month check up. She outgrew her newborn clothes around 6 weeks and is already fitting very nicely into her 3 month clothes. She is also wearing size 1 diapers and seems to be outgrowing those quickly, too bad I just ordered and received a HUGE case of size 1 from diapers.com. :-(

Norah and Lenny - Month Two

Big Girl

Norah turned 7 weeks yesterday! We had a check up today for her reflux and she weighed 10 pounds 8 ounces and was 22 inches long! Starting to chunk it out!

I'm also going back to work this next Monday! I'm ready, but I'm not. You moms know how that goes! I'll give a full report!

Norah - One Month

My Little Diva Doll Baby!

This post is about a week late, but better late than never! I've been thinking back about the last month and I honestly think I was on complete auto-pilot! As most new moms know, you do what you have to do to survive on an ungodly lack of sleep. The first few weeks were hard and I felt like a first time mom because I couldn't remember how anything went or was when Jack was a newborn - it was like experiencing it all over again. The good news...we survived! Norah is a much more laid back baby than Jack was, but that's not to say she hasn't been challenging - she has! We are starting to get on a bit of a schedule, which is nice but I'm really not trying to hard yet because I will be going back to work in 3 or 4 or 5 weeks (I haven't fully decided yet) and I know her whole routine will change at that point and a new schedule will develop. Norah will be going to the same daycare Jack does, Jack has been going to Tonya's since he was 9 weeks old and we couldn't have gotten luckier to have found her! I feel great about Norah going to Tonya's and I know she will be well taken care of it, but still there is that little bit of sadness inside that I won't be the one taking care of her everyday! But I also have to be honest and say that I'm a bit excited to go back to work and get back to my "normal" - you know, putting fresh clothes on every day, showering every day, putting on make up, brushing my hair daily and wearing it down instead of in a ponytail, having conversations with adults, going to the Y at lunch to step class or for a run through the park, etc. etc. etc. Enough about me, let's get to Norah's One Month Update!

EAT - So far Norah seems to be a bigger eater than her brother was. She is eating 3 ounces every 3 hours day and night. Hopefully we will be able to bump her up some over the next month and she will sleep a little longer at night! There have been a few nights where she slept 4 hours, but for the most part we are pretty much on a 3 hour cycle 24/7!

SLEEP - Norah is starting to stay awake for a little while in between feedings - she is usually awake 1 to 1.5 hours then naps the other portion of the 3 hour span. She usually does fairly well at night...she seems to have a little bit of awake time after her 10pm feeding which is her last "planned" feeding of the day before we let her sleep as long as she wants during the night, but it's never too much more than an hour or so - some nights though she won't settle down until 12:30am! Ouch! I'm hoping we can continue to work on only having one feeding in the middle of the night and get that pretty much routine before I go back to work! She is currently sleeping in a Rock and Play Sleeper right beside my bed, this sleeper keeps them at a 30 degree angle which is recommended for reflux babies - she seems to like it.

HEALTH - I think we have been to the doctor every single week so far! She was jaundiced (like Jack) so we had to make 3 trips to the doctor within the first week and a half to monitor it, then she started displaying signs of having reflux (like Jack) so that took some more doctor appointments. We tried Norah on Zantac first and it didn't seem to control her pain, so we are now on Prevacid Solutabs (like Jack) for her reflux. We haven't quite been on it for 2 weeks, but it's been a life saver - Norah went from crying constantly and only being able to sleep about an hour at a time before waking up from the pain to sleeping 3 hour stretches and being a happy baby! She does seem to be awful gassy, but usually doesn't have too much trouble passing it - every once in awhile she will need a tummy massage or some leg work to help get the gas to pass, but she is nothing like her brother was when it comes to gas! We are on a "gentle" formula and seem to be doing great with it.

PLAY - Norah doesn't really play yet and she doesn't really like any of her toys yet either and prefers to be held when awake. This is difficult with an almost 3 year old, but I'm getting better at knowing Norah is fine if she whines a little and Jack is getting better at waiting patiently - sort of! We have started Tummy Time which Norah will tolerate for about 2.5 minutes, she sometimes will lay on her play mat for maybe 3 minutes, and the swing lasts maybe 3.5 minutes! We are going to have to keep working on getting her more interested in toys other than Momma's arms! It seems like every time I put her on her play mat or we do tummy time or I attempt to get her to swing in her swing she spits up (dang reflux) and then gets the hiccups and it's pretty much over from there. I've been wearing her alot in the early evenings after we get home from picking Jack up from daycare because he is always needing/wanting something and she of course doesn't want to be put down!

LEARN - I think the only thing Norah has learned at this point is how to wrap her Momma around her little finger! No really, she does pretty good at self soothing and putting herself to sleep the majority of the time. She focuses on faces and has starting making her first sounds! She is also really strong, she can hold her head up for a few seconds and uses her little legs to try to stand in your lap! She also started smiling right around the one month mark and it's so cute! She knows Momma's voice and tends to calm down if I talk to her from across the room.

GROW - Norah weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 21.25 inches long at her one month well baby visit! She is wearing newborn diapers and still fits (semi-nicely) in her newborn clothes.

Norah and her Lamb, Lenny!
xoxo

My Little Guy

This post is more for my documenting purposes, I took Jack to the doctor last week because he had a head cold/sinus infection and he weighed 28 pounds even! Still just a little guy, he weighed 24 pounds 2 ounces at his 2 year check up back in June - I'm hoping he can pack on a few more pounds before his 3 year appointment. He doesn't eat much at one time, he is more of a grazer and is very picky. I'm affraid we are needing to start giving him vitamins and those supplement drinks that have all the vitamins and stuff in them - he is so small! I guess we will just see what the doctor says when we go see her in a few months!

xoxo

2 Week Well Baby Visit

Norah was back up to 8 pounds 3 ounces at her 2 week well baby visit!

She was 7 pounds 15.6 ounces at birth, 7 pounds 7 ounces when we left the hospital, and 7 pounds 12.5 ounces at her 1 week well baby visit! She is packing on the pounds nicely! :-)

We did have to start Norah on Zantac, she seems to have the same reflux problems as her big brother - poor girl. It seems to be helping for now, so we are keeping our fingers crossed! Jack had to go on Prevacid which is an acid blocker - while Zantac just nuetralizes the acid so that it doesn't hurt when she refluxes. I'd prefer Norah to stay on Zantac, but we will do whatever she needs to be comfortable. Reflux is particuarly bad for infants the first 6 months or so of life because they are constantly laying down! :-(

She is still pretty unpredictable with her sleeping. She likes to have her fussy time anywhere from 6pm to 2 or 3am - she will usually pass out after 3am on most nights and then sleep until 10 or 11 am (eating every 3-4 hours, but going right back to sleep). She is definitely a night owl at this point! Yikes!

xoxo

Big Brother...

Jack holding Norah for the first time!

Jack has handled the addition of Norah Jane to the family better than I had anticipated. The first couple days home were rough, he did not like that Momma couldn't jump at every beck and call like usual, but he adjusted rather quickly!

While we were in the hospital we kept asking him if he wanted to hold Norah or give her a kiss and he would politely reply, "No...no thank you!" At least he was nice about it, right?

Now he likes to help Momma out by throwing away diapers! He also likes to give Norah kisses and to tickle her, but I think he mainly does it because he likes the attention and praise he gets from Momma and Daddy for being nice to his baby sister!

All Dressed Up...

And Headed Home!

Norah Jane's Birth Story

Oh girls, where to begin! I think that everything that every pregnant woman fears happening when it comes to labor and delivery happened during Norah Jane's induction. This post is probably going to be the most TMI post I've ever written to date, so I apologize in advance BUT you have been warned!

We arrived at the hospital at 6am on Monday, January 3oth. With Jack I had the most wonderful nurse, the second our nurse walked in the room I knew it was going to be a LONG day. She just had that "I hate my life" look on her face, definitely not welcoming at all! She also had really long hair, like almost to her butt and it was just hanging down everywhere LOOSE. I remember commenting to Chris that her hair was freaking me out b/c it was everywhere, haha! Let me tell you she not only hated her life, but she soon made me hate mine as well. She was the ROUGHEST individual I have ever been "checked" by - like I thought I was going to die and she kept wanting to check me and check me and check me and each time was more painful then time before.

Anyway, a little back story - the whole reason we induced was because Norah Jane was not engaging into my pelvis at all and I was dilating each week. When we checked in the hospital I was 3 cms, but Norah was still just bouncing around. Dr. Shaw was concerned that with her still being so bouncy that if my water broke on it's own that we would run the risk of having her cord or a hand slip out with the gush of the water breaking. I had never heard of this before, but a friend of mine confirmed the theory when I told her about it (she had just had a friend that the exact thing happened to a couple weeks before and her friend had to have an emergency c-section). So I was told that the plan was NOT to break my water, but that we were going to start the Pitocin and hope that I would progress without my water being broken - they were hoping that they could break my water right before delivery (spoiler - this did NOT happen).

We started the Pitocin and the contractions started coming. With Jack, Dr. Shaw broke my water and immediately called for anesthesia so I actually never really felt any contractions - this time I was NOT so lucky. Dr. Shaw didn't want to give me my epidural right away and wanted me to try the IV pain meds, to which I refused (because of all the horror stories I've heard about them). The Pitocin started at 7am and I made it to about 1:30pm before I was definitely ready for my epidural...contractions suck! I also had only progressed to 4cms by this time so I figured it was only going to get worse and be a long day!

The anesthesia guy came into the room and at this point I was having some pretty intense contractions. So he gets set up and explains everything and then gets started...I was having contractions and curled in a ball and trying not to move - they kept saying "Oh you are doing good, doing great, almost done..." to only then say "I'm going to have to move up a level"... ugh! So basically he had to do the epidural twice and it sucked...by the time he was done I was dripping sweat and my nurse thought I was going to pass out! I assured her I was fine, it was just the contractions and being curled over for so long and having my hair all in my face. I guess there are 2 different options for getting the epidural medicine as well, they can put it right in your back when they do whatever it is they do or you can run it through the little IV looking machine -which obviously takes a little longer to work. Well my blood pressure had been dropping lower and lower all day - at one point it was 90 over 43 (and no I never got a good answer on why it was doing that), so they said the only option was the IV route for getting the epidural meds b/c the other way causes your blood pressure to drop and since mine was so low already it wasn't an option.

So if you are keeping score, here is where we stand...
1. Mean/Rough Nurse
2. Contractions, Contractions, Contractions
3. Two Attempt Epidural
and it only gets better from here, keep reading...

My nurse said that she had a meeting at 2pm so she was going to give me about 10 minutes and then she would put my catheter in once I numbed up some. Well when she came back in I told her I could still feel quite a bit, I couldn't feel my contractions, but I could feel my legs and even lift them a little bit. She thought I was nuts, but I showed her how I could lift my legs. She then said well let me check you and I told her I could feel her, but not like I could before. She said, "Well I will be in my meeting for an hour so if I don't put your catheter in now and you pee the bed don't be mad at me!" I said OK. Not 5 minutes after she left I was talking to Chris and laughed and proceeded to pee the bed a little. When my mom came back in I asked her to help me change the pads under me. So her and Chris had to roll me side to side like they do the really old people in nursing homes and as soon as they started to roll me to the first side I started laughing, thus peeing and not just peeing a little, like full on pee. Chris was like, "Darci stop, its coming off the bed!" Haha! So my mom just stuck a pee pad right in between my legs and pretty much left it at that! When my nurse came back she got my catheter in and cleaned up my bed a little bit.

I was still pretty much 4cms all afternoon, about 5pm my nurse said she wanted to check me again and then she was going to call Dr. Shaw and see if she wanted to come break my water or what the plan was going to be. She checked me and said I was maybe 5cms at that point. She said Norah's head still wasn't engaged at all and she could push her head away. She kept saying, "Oh yeah, we can't break your water with her head like this...no way." Then she said "Well let me see what she does when you have a contraction if I can still push her away" As she was waiting on the contraction she commented on how bulging my bag of water was, then I got a contraction and she said, "Oh yeah, I can still push her away, there is no way we can break your water like this" and that's when I felt a huge gush! She had put her finger through my water bag and broke it! The look on her face was the classic "Oh Shit!" I knew she was freaking out, but I tried to just remain calm. Chris on the other hand jumped up and asked if she needed him to do anything and she said "Towels, towels - we need towels!" Chris moved faster than I've seen in years. Luckily, the nurse didn't jerk away when my water broke, she kept her hand in there to act as a "cork" and then slowly every couple minutes let a little more water drain out, this was to ensure the cord didn't come out - which was what we were trying to avoid! After what seemed like an hour she assured me that all the water was out and Norah's head had already engaged and everything was fine! What A Relief! Chris was pissed, pissed that the nurse was so rough and pissed that she wasn't friendly and pissed that she broke my water! Haha!

At 5:30 my nurse checked me again and I was 6cms and she said she had also called and told Dr. Shaw that my water had broke. Dr. Shaw came in a couple minutes later and said she figured another couple hours and that she was going to run home and feed her girls dinner and then head back. Around 5:50pm Norah's heart rate started dropping with each contraction, at first the nurse wasn't too concerned b/c she figured the cord was just being compressed during the contraction because it rebounded after the contraction ended. Ok, I can buy that - but the stupid monitor alarm kept going off after each contraction and was so annoying. Finally the nursery nurse came in to check the alarm and asked when the nurse last checked me and I said she was supposed to come back at 6:30pm to check me again - I looked at the clock and it was 6:20pm so I said in 10 minutes. The nursery nurse said, well I'm going to go ahead and check you - by the look on her face I knew something was up, she said "Well I'm pretty sure you are complete!" Before she even got out of the room she was on the phone with Dr. Shaw. My regular nurse didn't believe the nursery nurse that I was complete - I went from 6cms to 10cms in under an hour.

Everything seemed to kick into high gear at that point, the nursery nurse was setting up for Norah, my nurse was getting everything set up for Dr. Shaw. I kept saying I felt like I needed to push and they were like, just wait Dr. Shaw will be here any minute! Dr. Shaw walked in and it was "go time". I had been joking all day that I had alot to live up to because I had Jack in one contraction with only 2 pushes. Norah Jane took 2 contractions (4 pushes the first contraction and 3 pushes the second one). Chris informed me that I did indeed poop, again... while I was pushing. I knew I was going to so I wasn't surpised! Ha!

So here is the final score...
1. Mean/Rough Nurse
2. Contractions, Contractions, Contractions
3. Two Attempt Epidural
4. Peed The Bed
5. Nurse Broke My Water - Unintentionally
6. Pooped the Bed
7. Our Recovery/Permanent Room had clogged drains and the Engineering Men (fancy for Maintenance Men) had to come and snake the drains TWICE!

When they put Norah up on my chest it was love at first sight! I could tell she was bigger than her brother was for sure. And it was wonderful to see her healthy - all of our fears and worries had been for nothing! We sure are blessed and so very thankful for her to be here and join our family!

We love you Norah Jane! xoxo

Introducing...

Norah Jane Spear

born: 1-30-12, 6:43 pm

weight: 7 pounds 15.6 ounces

length: 20.5 inches

...

It's Sunday night at 8:50pm, we have to be at the hospital at 6:00am tomorrow morning. Today has been a whirlwind, I've been extremely tired and spent the majority of the day on the couch. I think we are finally "ready" to go. My bag and BS2's bag is packed, Chris is half-packed and Jack's bag is packed. The house is clean and laundry is done and folded.

I have to admit I'm starting to get anxious/nervous...there are just so many "unknowns" when it comes to labor and delivery and I feel in our case there are a few extra "unknowns" that have started weighing heavily on my mind this past week. I think knowing a week ahead of time of our induction date has almost hindered me in that I've had too much time to think and dwell and I'm not really liking it.

Tomorrow will no doubt be a long day, but also a telling day. Will BS2 be healthy? Who will she look like? Will she have hair? Will Jack hate her at first sight? Etc. Etc. Etc.

Our last weekend as a Family of Three had been enjoyable for the most part, but my emotions have taken over a few times and I've been angry and mean and anxious so I'm just ready for tomorrow to come and finally get the answers we've been wondering about for the last 4-5 months.

I'll update as I can, I added Twitter back on my blog since the tweets will post automatically to my sidebar. I'll also be on Facebook I'm sure, especially if the day moves SLOWLY! I'm going to miss Jack alot while we are at the hospital and I'm going to be so ready to come home BUT then I'm already having anxiety about how life is going to be so different with a newborn and Jack. I already have guilty feelings that Jack will feel replaced or like he isn't as important - he is quite attached to his Momma and I'm very attached to him. This also makes me nervous about how I will do with her, will I love her just as much or will I prefer one over the other? I know people have multiple kids and it just works and you love them both just as much as the other, etc. but I still can't help but wonder...I think that's understandable!?

So wish us luck, I can't wait to see my little girl tomorrow! xoxo

January 30, 2012

I had my doctor appointment with Dr. Shaw this morning. She checked me again and said that I was a good 2cm and still a little thick, but that I had definitely changed/made progress from the week before. So she said, I think we can for sure induce you next week..."How does Tuesday sound?" I was like sure thing! She told me she needed to call over and make sure she could schedule it for Tuesday, well when she came back she said, "Well you are in luck, you get to go Monday!" I guess they already had 3 c-sections scheduled for Tuesday!

So we are to report to the hospital @ 6am Monday morning...January 30th!

On a side note I lost another pound (last week I had lost 2 pounds) and I even had my big fake ugg boots on! That brings total weight gain to 18 pounds! Much better than the 55 I gained with Jack!

Little girl seems to be running out of room lately and is really starting to develop patterns, she is extremely lazy or increadibly active these days! Although it seems she is active when I'm quiet, laying down or watching TV - this could be a bad sign! :-)

Oh, and on another side note - Jack has his first flu! He woke up around 9:30 last night and had thrown up all over the bed! Chris threw him in the bath (the 2nd one of the night) and got him all cleaned up and we made him a little palet on the floor. He only threw up 2 more times, the second time was just stomach acid stuff. The third time was water that he insisted on drinking after he threw up the second time!

He hasn't thrown up today, but I can tell he feels crummy. He drank maybe an ounce or two of water and had a hand full of fruity pebbles (that was Dad's doing), but he hasn't thrown up. I picked up some Pedialyte on my way home from the doctor so I'm hoping once he wakes up a little he will drink some of it! He has to get better before BS2 gets here! :-)

xoxo

37 Weeks...

Yesterday marked 37 weeks! The plan has been to induce at 39 weeks (at the latest) so here's to hoping only 2 more weeks at most! I had my weekly appointment with Dr. Shaw on Monday and she checked me and said I was 1.5 cm dilated BUT that baby was still VERY high! She assumes because of the extra fluid she isn't being forced to drop and is just as happy as a clam still bouncing around. She is head down, but not dropping into my pelvis or whatever. So...this leads to a whole new set of things to consider. If she doesn't drop then we might need to consider a c-section, there is concern that is my water breaks on it's own or if we induced and Dr. Shaw broke my water and her head wasn't engaged yet that the cord could get under her head and come out first or be compressed as the head did come down - neither of these situations are good.

I had never heard of this before, but when I got back to work I was emailing with a couple friends and one of them said that this just happened to a girl she knows. That when her water broke the cord came out so they had to do an emergency c-section! Scary! So I'm not sure how we are going to proceed. I have another appointment on Monday and Dr. Shaw will check to see if I've made any progress or not and probably make a plan then, so be on the look out for an update Monday!

2011 - Year In Review

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Well, I've been pregnant before, but this is the first time I'm pregnant with a baby GIRL!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My 2011 resolution was to "Enjoy The Moment" and stop stressing over the little things...well I'm not sure that really happened. This year has seemed to be FULL of stress - selling a house, buying a house, getting pregnant, not having a very stress-free pregnancy, etc. If I had to make another resolution for 2012 I'd say 1. Deliver a happy, healthy baby girl, 2. Stop using horrible language in front of Jack, 3. Complete the Warrior Dash in May, 4. Enjoy my family, 5. Get back in shape. I actually saw a picture of a FB friend's yesterday that said "Work Hard, Eat Clean, Talk Dirty" - that might be my motto for 2012 as far as getting healthy and working out.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, Kortney had Saylor in June and Brandy had Preslee in August.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness.
5. What countries did you visit?

Zip, Zilch, Zero
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Zero credit card balances - this is definitely a big goal of ours this year.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I'm stealing this from a friend, May 22nd - the day of the Joplin tornado.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting out and making new friends. I was invited to join a Bunco group after we moved to Frontenac this past summer and I was hesitant at first, but now I love it and I've gained 11 new friends!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Probably using the TV as a baby sitter for Jack. I've been so tired and on edge this whole pregnancy that it's just easier to let him watch cartoons all night then for me to be an active participant in his play.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Our new house! Love it...although we might be having a bad tile job issue that has just cropped up, ugh - it's always something!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

IDK
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Who cares...I definitely learned this year that relationships should not be one sided and if they are they aren't worth your time - so I've moved on.
14. Where did most of your money go?

House, Bills, Decorating
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Getting pregnant!
16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Any of Adelle's songs, she was ALL OVER THE RADIO
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Happier, Fatter, Poorer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Sleep
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worry
20. How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Eve in Columbus, Christmas morning in Columbus, Christmas Day in Chanute
21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

Not really...
22. What was your favorite TV program?

Criminal Minds (still - I love that show)
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don't hate anyone, but I have evaluated some relationships and decided they weren't worth it.
24. What was the best book you read?

The only book I read this year was Jaycee Dugard's book - it was pretty good.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

IDK
26. What did you want and get?

We sold our house and bought a new one in the exact neighborhood I wanted!
27. What did you want and not get?

A million dollars.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Oh gosh, we watch so many movies I couldn't pick a favorite.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I honestly can't remember, probably didn't do anything on the actual day - probably dinner on the weekend.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

The year has been pretty good, I can't complain too much.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Maternity Clothes, ugh!

32. What kept you sane?

Friends - the few that are always available to talk (meaning text or email - who actually talks on the phone anymore?) and listen - they are the best!
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Kind of funny, but I love the crew of the Kidd Kraddick morning show! Haha!
34. What political issue stirred you the most?

I'm not really informed about politics much, but I guess the whole "The War Is Over" and all the troops coming home would be the one I heard about the most?
35. Who did you miss?

Charlie and George, we gave them both away to new homes, great homes - but I still miss having a little dog around for company!
36. Who was the best new person you met?

Cassie - at work, she is great!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Time is precious, don't waste a minute.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I'm going to claim pregnancy brain and say IDK?

KC Appoinment

Yesterday my Mom and I went up to KC for what I thought was my last appointment at Childrens Mercy (more on that later). Chris had to be in Tulsa for meetings so I asked my Mom to go because I thought she would find it neat to see the ultrasound and stuff.

The scan went well, nothing really new to report. The ecogenic focus on her heart is still there and it might stay forever or it might dissolve at some point, the key point is that it isn't effecting the heart's function and it never will. It won't get bigger as she gets bigger either. The other item we have been monitoring is my amniotic fluid levels and they were still just above the "normal" cut off, but definitely at a lower level than it was earlier in my pregnancy (which is to be expected b/c normally as the baby gets bigger there is less fluid). The level isn't anything concerning either. Dr. Bennett just explained that it makes him a little nervous/concerned b/c there are a few things that have shown up, but that he can't find a reason for any of it and I think that drives him crazy!

BS2 is a big, chunky girl with hair! :-) Well she at least has hair on the back of her head, I'm not sure about the top! She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was measuring exactly one week big. I was 35 weeks and 4 days and she measured 36 weeks and 4 days, although some of her measurements were in the 37 and 38 week range - her belly and her head - which freaks me out b/c those are like the biggest parts! Eeek!

Dr. Shaw and I talked last week about when we should get her out (of course this was initiated by me) and she said she would be fine with inducing at 39 weeks again and that I wasn't going to be able to talk her into anything any earlier, but then she did say she would be interested in seeing what Dr. Bennett thought after my appointment with him. So I presented the question to him yesterda and he asked how big Jack was when he was born and whether or not I delivered him vaginally, so when I told him Jack was 6 pounds 15 ounces he kind of laughed and said, well I think if you have made any progress by 38 or 39 weeks that I think that it would be fine to go ahead and induce at that point. I must have smiled pretty big because then he said, well I'm going to say 39 weeks because I know you will tell Dr. Shaw I said 38! So we might just end up with a January baby after all!

We got a few more 3D/4D pictures, like we do everytime and I just haven't shared any of them on here, but she has ALWAYS had her right arm up in front of her face so we can never get a clear shot. I have tons of half-face shots and it drives me nuts! Maybe after she is actually here I will post some of the pictures and compare them to her actual pictures after she is born and see how close they look!

That's about it for now, I have my weekly bio-physcial profile at Dr. Shaw's office next Monday so we will see what she says about inducing. Oh, and Dr. Bennett scheduled me for one more visit with him on January 30th, but also said - I doubt I'll be seeing you though! :-)