12 Weeks

Week Twelve Status:

Weight: 142.6 lbs.
Estimated Baby Size: Lime

Seven weeks with no posts is testament to how busy I have been with trying to balance night classes, two babies, a job search for Andy, church activities and finding time to enjoy the really nice weather we've been having before it gets too hot for us pregos to enjoy.

Despite how hectic my schedule may sound, it has really been a nice first trimester so far. Apart from three days where I was feeling the nausea, I haven't had any serious morning sickness. I have had the unquenchable thirst and the zombie-like fatigue bouts, but now that they have subsided, I hardly remember them as being very bad. I am happy. Happy that I am graduating in the spring, happy that I am adding another bundle of love to our brood, and happy that the excitement of a transition lays in our near future. I have no clue where God will bring us in the coming year, where Andy will end up with his job, or if we will move. All I know is that I have lived through some bleak conditions in my 28 years of life, and God has sustained me and brought me out of them all. Our humble abode is the largest house I've ever lived in, and if we have to downgrade our square footage or neighborhood quality, trailer parks and Philadelphia ghettoes have prepared me.

At my first appointment, I fully experienced Wooster for the first time. I can't believe how excited I was after doing this for the third time, it really is just so awesome to see that little heart beat going at 176 bpm. The U/S tech said everything looked great, and the midwife told me I was approved for future appointments at the Midwifery Birthing Center where I have been hoping to deliver! Yay! No more military teaching hospitals for this mama!

Exercise and baby bump have brought my weight up to a less freakish level as well. Moreover, to help matters, I have been enjoying cooking with and especially baking with Sebastian lately. Izaak is a little too young to join in just yet, so it is our special time together. Both he and Izaak are gaining quite the vocabulary. Izaak just moved in to share his big bro's room this week, as Andy and Sebastian pulled some Bob the Builder time putting together the toddler bed our friends gave us a while back. The boys seem to be handling being roomies really well. The first night, they both slept in way past the time they normally do in the morning, unthinkable! The second night, Izaak fell out of bed and it rather ruined the whole night for him; he had to join daddy in bed. Earlier today, however (day 3) he crawled into bed and fell asleep on his own for a nap. Ha! Talk about the antithesis of Sebastian. That boy would stay up 'til 3 am absolutely exhausted and delirious if we let him.

School got a little bit crazy for a bit, as I had the most insane study guide ever for a midterm in my Russian Politics class. It was so overwhelming that four straight days of pure studying and rote memorization left me feeling helplessly underprepared. Despite my insecurities (I was sure I did terribly) I received a 199/200, practically perfect! Thanking the Lord for that one :) I still have two ten-page papers to write and two final exams to take before May 7th, graduation day. I am determined to enjoy my spring around the chaos though. I have my next appointment this coming Thursday, where I'm hoping to get another estimate on the due date. They switched it on me at my first appointment, from Oct. 4th to Sept. 29th. That would put conception right around the time our entire household was in the grips of a nasty stomach flu, sooooo...yeah. Sorry. I don't think so, haha! I am guessing the date is closer to Oct. 2nd. It will be wild if Wooster arrives on the 1st to share big brother Sebastian's birthday. I'm not sure how he will feel about that... I can hear it now. SHARE! Share share share....

Anyways, here's hoping I find the time to get on here again before Chewy arrives. Toodles! :)

Pregnant Again! Week Five

Week Five Status:

Weight: 131.8 lbs.
Estimated Baby Size: Poppy Seed 

When I posted in May 2010 that I was "following in my mother's footsteps and having my second child a mere 16 months after the first. And I used to call her crazy." I never came close to imagining I would continue to follow her path.  Yet, surprise surprise! I'm pregnant again! And, I'm most certainly mimicking her pregnancy timeline. My mother had my older brother Joshua Ryan on September 23, 1980. Sixteen months later, my older sister, Rachel Sarah came into the world on January 25, 1982.  Yours truly, arrived only nineteen months later on August 16, 1983.  In similar fashion, I had Sebastian Lawrence on October 1^st, 2009, then came Izaak Atlas on January 24, 2011, about sixteen months apart. If I am correct in my calculations, Wooster  aka Chewy (yes she/he already has a womb name) is due around October 4, 2012. That would put her/him around 20 months after Izaak. Mom, you beat me by 42 days! Ha! Probably more if Chewy decides to be late like her/his big brother Izaak.

With Andy getting out of the Marine Corps soon due to an injury to his shoulder, and the future being quite unsettled, it goes without saying that Wooster was not planned.  However, despite the initial shock, I am excited to welcome her/him into the world, secure in God's plans. Also, it gives the grandparents reason to hope again that their will be a little girl in the family.  We shall see… I'm sure, as we will, the grandparents will be happy no matter the gender.

So far, things have been a breeze, I am five weeks and a day at the moment, and I have no nausea, only intermittent fatigue and mild cramping.  That said, I have already broken out the pregnancy clothes, the pants anyways…because they're so comfortable, ha ha!  I think because of lack of exercise, my weight is a little freakishly low, despite the fact that I have more around the middle than I did pre-babies.  I definitely need to build up some muscle mass over the next couple months before I have a bowling ball weighing me down.
           

Sebastian is old enough now to understand that a baby is growing in Mommy's belly, and it's incredibly cute that he seems to be excited by that fact.  Izaak may not feel the same, he is a cuddly mommy hog, who wouldn't dream of sharing me with yet another child, but I'm sure he will grow more independent as the time approaches.
             

Thankfully, I am in my last semester of school, and only taking three classes: Russian Politics, Inter-religious relations of the Middle Ages, and my Undergraduate Thesis.  My thesis is pretty much complete, in fact I go today to get my advisor, Dr. Linda McGreevy's comments and suggestions for wrapping it up. The other two classes meet in the evening from 7-10, which is difficult with the fatigue, but much less stressful than dealing with the horror that is Hampton Roads traffic at all other times.
             

Things may get a little more complicated if Andy gets a job he applied for in Charlottesville. If he is so blessed, it will mean he will leave for Charlottesville for work, while I become a single parent, and our friend Rachel watches the kids on the nights I'm in school. Needless to say this will cause a fair amount of stress, but I am going to do my best to give it to God, and take it in stride. We should find out if he got the job very soon.
             

Well, I guess that's it for now! Welcome to the womb Wooster!

The Conservatory: Elisha and the Widow

The Conservatory: Elisha and the Widow

The Conservatory: Learning Grace Through Ice Cream and Waffles

The Conservatory: Learning Grace Through Ice Cream and Waffles

Happy Birthday Izaak!

I realize that it has been months since I was last on here, and after several complaints, I have finally acquiesced to requests for an update!  I forget that some of the people who read this blog don't have any personal contact with me.  To be honest, I don't really write it with strangers in mind, so I often forget the fact that there are women reading it who value hearing about others' experiences. Ironically, such were my initial reasons for starting this blog back in 2009, so I apologize for the gap!

I left off right before what should have been my Christmas post and my final post before Izaak's due date.  However, the holiday season, as I too often let it, took things by storm (figuratively and literally) and the business of it all left me with no time or desire to pursue this hobby. Therefore, I will recall it all to the best of my ability:

Christmas was spent between two houses, ours and my brother and sister-in-law's down in NC, and it was filled with good food, gifties for the kiddos and quality time dwelling on the meaning of the season.  It was also filled with the unexpected excitement of a blizzard!

When we left my brother's house to return home, Andy and I were surely being guarded from above, as our nearly bald tires on our truck had us on pins and needles until we could get to a Wal-Mart to get some new ones.  More than a few times we almost careened off the road or found ourselves sliding backward down a hill. New tires relieved some of the tension of driving on ice, but the eight hour drive down US-58W that usually only took about 2 and a half hours, is testament enough to the chaos spurned by the winter storm...cars were spun off the road everywhere.   My parents (who were driving back to Swannanoa at the same time on I-40) and Andy were praying all the stress didn't send me into an early labor.

Thankfully, it did not. And little did I know that Izaak was, in fact, not even close to making his appearance to the world.  Believing what the nurses at Portsmouth had told me--that I was likely going to go into labor at any time based on my dilation and effacement--my mother took time off of work and drove up a week before my due date of Jan. 13th.  Two weeks later, she sadly packed her things and drove back to work, without the expected blessing of holding her new grandson. While she was here, she got some quality time in with Sebastian, I taught her some crocheting, and  I am pretty sure we walked every mall within a 40 mile radius! (Around Hampton Roads that is A LOT of malls!)

The hospital would have been happy to induce me during her visit; in fact, they pretty much tried to force me into it, with as many fear and manipulation tactics as they could muster up.  But I wanted to let Izaak take his time if I could.  According to ultrasounds and non-stress tests, he had plenty of fluid and he and I were both doing beautifully.  So, needless to say, I was a little peeved when some nurse, who for one, had never had a baby, came in the room telling me that waiting any longer might kill mine.  Not nice!  Anyways... At 41 weeks and 3 days my husband and I weighed our options and caved to an induction, otherwise my sister would have come and gone as well, and the hospital staff really began to lay on the fear thickly...I could tell it was not only stressing me out, but every one else in the family as well.  I will always wish I could have been in an environment that was more friendly to natural methods, but I can not live with regret. Especially when all turned out well enough in the end.


Back to the story: around 4:30 pm we came in to the hospital for our induction as they instructed.  Little good that did us, since we sat around for the next four hours waiting for a room, all the while I could have been much more comfortable, and could have eaten. :) No more food once they hook you up to the IV! Finally, after once again being mauled by the nurse trying to get an IV in my arm, I got to a room, and what do you know? Yep, more sitting around.  It wasn't until 10:30 pm that they finally started the induction. I remember not being very gracious over those few hours, as time seemed wasted, and they were the ones who had told me only an hour before I came in, that I should get there at 4:30 pm...so forgive me if my recollections of impatience seep through. In hindsight, I know I was blessed to have a happy baby boy no matter what trials were required of me to arrive at that happy conclusion.

Thankfully, the nurse who was inducing me was very respectful of my initial birthplan which was very strictly natural. So she was willing to try and let the Pitocin work similar to natural labor, which meant the lowest dosage for an hour, and then up a number every hour or half hour.

It was a very long night, with my sister, my husband and I all trying to sleep through the induction and intrusion of medical personnel. I braved the smell of pizza, as I didn't want them to starve as well, and they slipped me a few taboo bites! Pitocin wasn't too bad until I reached 12 (not sure what the number means, but I remember it distinctly), because it was the point at which a terrible pain on my left side became unbearable and I finally agreed, through the advice and encouragement of my sister Rachel, to have an epidural. Unfortunately, the epidural only worked on the right side above my pelvis...so the pain stayed...although the rest of me was so numb, I was certain I wouldn't be able to push.  Unhappy, I asked them to turn down or off the epidural. I was dilated to 8cm at this point and it was around 7 am.  Finally, feeling came back. And although this meant pain...I was in pain anyways. And it wasn't something I hadn't lived through before, my first baby was born naturally after a much longer labor.

During the last few hours of labor I constantly had to be moved around, because Izaak's heart rate kept dropping due to umbilical cord compression depending on my position.  And progress seemed incredibly slow.  However, with the epidural flushing out labor progressed a might quicker, and by 10:15 I was ready to push.  Well, I was actually ready much earlier, but had to wait for the doctor to come back.

Pushing was easier than I remember the first time around...and in a few minutes, at 10:22am, on January 24th,  2011, Izaak was born! All 10 lbs and one ounce of him! Praise God! The same birthday as his Grandpa Harper! (Although this is a matter for debate for him...his mom tells him one thing, his birth certificate says another--either the 23rd or 24th...but it's been the 24th for all my life).

If I were to write another birthplan, this would very likely be my least ideal labor experience, but I am still happy that I didn't require a C-section, and we all know there are worse things that could have happened.  It turns out the cord was wrapped around little Izaak's neck, which slowed things down considerably. Also, my ovary was extremely swollen, somehow it got bruised during labor. Thus the pain in my left side throughout labor.

But in the end, we were all happy, and healthy!  Andy went home to retrieve Sebastian while Izaak got his bath and was put in the warmer, and I rested.  Two days later we were sent home, and although we were instantly put through the unpleasant experience of a stomach flu for those first 24 hours (I kid you not!) we were so happy to have our little family under our own roof.

Pictures and Videos of Izaak's Birthday!

Month Eight

~Amanda

Thirty-Five Weeks Status:
Weight: 178.6 lbs.
Estimated Baby Size: Honeydew Melon (>5.25 lb. & >18in.)


Well, the past few weeks have not been all too exciting on the baby front. Of the two appointments I've had, neither yielded ultrasounds or anything more than what seemed like a social visit designed to simply see how much I've grown. I have grown larger, of course, and I've grown increasingly less comfortable. I swear over the last few days, Izaak has dropped so low that his head (at least I hope that's his head) is giving me a bruised feeling on the top of my pelvic bone where it's resting. This has not been helped by recurring bouts of sickness...one which I began telling you about last time, some sort of stomach bug that came and left after a week, only to be followed a week later by another awful head cold, and many muscle cramps. I am blaming most of these ailments on my inability to keep up my prenatal workout regimen with all the schoolwork I've been juggling on top of sickness. I am still dealing with the residual effects of said sickness...blech.

In any case, I need to start thinking about packing my bags for the hospital. Considering I didn't use more than a quarter of the junk I lugged to my first birthing experience, I doubt it will take me very long. With a mere five weeks to go, unless of course Izaak is early (as so many people are thinking he will be), I should probably start thinking of doing a lot of things. Somehow I need to make room for all the infant stuff that has miraculously been stuffed in every nook and cranny unimaginable to me even now. No way I shoved stuff in the attic, right? No...

Anyways, it's getting closer, and while I'm in no hurry--things are usually much more peaceful and calm when the little tikes are in the belly--I can't say I'd be too disappointed by an early arrival. As long as he's healthy, I'm more than happy. Andy, no doubt, would be most pleased by the tax exemption, ha!

In other news, since last I wrote, I successfully pulled off hosting my first Thanksgiving at our house. It was a ton of fun, and it wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it was going to be. Thank you Alton whatever-your-name-is from the Food Network, for the awesome turkey brine recipe! Andy helped too, making his famed Sweet Potato Casserole...yes it deserves all caps. Soooo sooo yummy. We didn't get to have family up, but we had our close friends the McSherrys and Osterfelds and their children. Sebastian loved having other kids to play with, and so did we adults.

Other than that, Andy and I have been toiling with term papers, presentations, and other fun projects related to our edumacation. I would say we both had a good semester, as we should maintain our straight A's into the new year. (taking a bow) Hmm...what else. I also took a trip down to NC to see my brother and his wife and my nephew, as well as my parents. The grandparents chipped in and got little matching Adidas track suits for the cousins, which was occasion for some cute photos. I think other than that, and a trip to Monticello Andy and I took to celebrate my one week sans-illness ( I say this only because I got sick shortly after it and was only well for a few days before it) that was it for recreational activities.

Well, next posting will probably be the last one, and with Christmas coming and a break in store for us, it will hopefully be a cheerful one. I will attach a few photos of the last month below.

'Til next time!

Thanksgiving Spread

Kids enjoying each other...

Turkey!!!













Wii was an integral part of our Thanksgiving...

Boops and me at Monticello.