Medical Drama

Sunday morning my mom called me at the hospital to let me know that during the night one of our dogs had gotten sick. Since the dogs had been at Grandma's I figured they'd probably just had too much to eat or helped themselves to something they shouldn't have. I told Curt about it but really didn't worry too much. Monday morning Curt woke up to find a big mess in our house. It was pretty apparent that both dogs were sick, Deuce with vomiting and Tahj appeared to be a bit backed up and was possible having some related bleeding. So I called the vet and Curt took them in. The vet ended up keeping Deuce all day for tests and observation, as well as giving him IV fluids. In the end the only thing they found on Deuce was an elevated white blood count. We took in a stool sample of Tahj's where an elevated bacteria count was found. Both dogs are on antibiotics and seemingly cured. Curt has joked that was the beginning of Tahj's weight loss regimen (he weighed 45lbs at our vet visit last Wednesday!).

Our other drama happened on Wednesday (I think - all my days are running together). Curt and I were going to run to Super Target so he had to bring in Deuce's dog kennel so he could be crated while we were gone. As he was walking across the living room he stepped on Bodie's John Deere loader and sliced the side of his toe open. I had a look at it and it was pretty deep so he put a call in to his doctor's office and got an appointment a few hours later. He ended up needing 3 stitches in it, but thankfully it doesn't hurt him and he really can't tell anything is wrong with it.

Our new arrival

Wednesday afternoon I went to my last scheduled prenatal appointment before my Monday, August 4th c-section. I commented to the doctor that I'd been having contractions that day and some of them had been a little painful. She examined me and I was still only dilated 1 cm, but I was 90% effaced, losing my mucus plug, and definitely "had some things happening". She didn't think I would make it to Monday so she thought it would be best to do the surgery at 7:45 Thursday morning - yikes! Thankfully we'd spent Wednesday tying up some loose ends (getting new tags for my car, getting the dogs to the vet for their vaccinations) so we were pretty much ready. We got Bodie's things packed up that evening, and delivered him and our dogs to my parents, who graciously took them all in during our hospital stay. Curt and I finished packing our bag and tried to get some sleep before the big day. I woke up around midnight having some pretty intense and frequent contractions. Since I never experienced contractions with Bodie, I really didn't know at what point I needed to think about going to the hospital. I waited about an hour and a half and at 1:30 asked Curt if we could just go in early (which of course he said it was up to me since he had no idea either). I figured that at least if we went in they could give me my epidural early and let me sleep until our scheduled time. We got to the hospital, checked in, and I was completely thinned and 2.5 cm dilated. Thankfully my doctor was on call that night and she decided to just come in and do my c-section then. It was actually kind of funny when she came in my room and commented that she was afraid this might happen. At any rate, we welcomed Barrett Joseph at 3:30am on July 31st. He was 8 lb 4 oz and 20 in long (just a little guy compared to Bodie who was 9 lb 15.5 oz and 21.5 inches long). He did get a bit jaundiced in the hospital, but never enough to require any therapy (just a little sunbathing when we got home). All in all things are going very well. We feel very blessed to have our new addition here with us.

So far Bodie is getting along very well with Barrett. He loves giving him hug, kisses, and tickles. The other morning Bodie came into my room while I was still in bed. He climbed in the bed and started looking under the pillows for "baby". I found it a bit humorous and then explained that the baby was in his crib. Bodie gets very excited every time he sees Barrett, but I'm sure that novelty will wear off soon enough.

2 year doctor appointment

Bodie had his 2 year doctor appointment yesterday. He was so well behaved at the doctor. Usually when we go he will start fussing as soon as we pull in the parking lot. Yesterday he held it together until we were in the door! Then Curt walked in just a few minutes behind us and Bodie stopped his fussing until they called his name (props to the doctor office here - we didn't even get a chance to sit before we were called back). Bodie did his normal fussing for the nurses as they tried to take all of his measurements. His stats:

Height: 37" - 96th %
Weight: 28lb 8oz - 65th %
Head Circumference: 19 5/8 - 80th %

He's growing well. His weight percentile keeps dropping at each visit but the doctor isn't concerned since his height and head measurements have held steady. He claims Bodie will just be tall and skinny.

Bodie wouldn't really talk to the doctor but he did talk to us while the doctor was in the room, which is another improvement. The doctor gave us some tips on things to do when we bring the baby home to keep Bodie from feeling left out. Bodie did have to get one shot, which he was not at all happy about, but after a few tears he was fine. All in all it was a good visit.

What a great night

Lately Bodie has been a very challenging toddler. I am not sure if it is the whole "terrible twos" or he is still recuperating from a couple of sick days last week, but he has been very very whiny. He keeps whining about all of his "ouies" (that looks completely spelled wrong but sound it out and it'll make sense). Morning and night he has ouies. I'll ask him where his ouies are and he'll just give me a blank stare (except for 2 instances - once his toes had an ouie and another time it was his teeth). It has been making Curt and I very nervous that Bodie is hitting this stage right as the baby is coming, since we figure his behavior probably will not be the best when we bring a new baby into the home. Anyway, tonight was a really good night. Bodie got home from school and wanted to eat applesauce. We are usually eating dinner within about 15-20 minutes of getting home thanks to Curt getting things started when he gets off work, so I told Bodie I would let him have applesauce with his dinner. I arranged on Bodie's plate, broccoli, potatoes, pork chop, and a side bowl of applesauce. Dinner time has been another struggle at our house so I didn't know what Bodie would do with this food (we've learned asking for a food is no guarantee he will eat said food). Bodie ate the bowl of applesauce and declared himself all done with dinner. We asked him to try his other foods and he responded with no bite. I put broccoli on the fork and fed it to him and then he could not get enough. He ate every piece of broccoli I had cooked. Then he topped it off with trying a bite of potato, and getting seconds on his applesauce. He never tried his pork chop but this is probably the most he's had at dinner time in awhile, so we were very excited.

Then we went outside to enjoy what turned into a descent night, not as hot as it has been. Bodie played very well, only crying about an ouie once (which was justified since he fell down and told me his ouie was on his knee). Then we decided to head to our local ma and pa ice cream stop for a special treat. This kid can put down ice cream like no one I know. We came home, went for a short walk, took a bath, played and laughed. Definitely one of the more enjoyable nights we have had lately. It also made me a little sad, thinking of how happy Bodie was, and how good of a time we were all having, and wondering how all of this will change soon when the baby comes. Hopefully we will still be able to find a good happy balance for our family.

I did have another doctor appointment today. Somehow over the past week I've lost 3lbs (which is why Curt decided we should go out for ice cream tonight). Even with that loss the baby is now measuring a week ahead (he'd been measuring ahead by ultrasound but my belly measurement was always right track for the number of weeks I was). One funny moment came when the doctor was trying to find the heartbeat. She'd found his butt at the upper left side so she checked for the heartbeat at the lower left side. She couldn't find it there so she moved to the lower right side where she was able to pick it up. She commented about how he must be a pretty big baby to have his heart so far from his butt. She guessed he'd be around 9 lbs or so when we delivered, which made Curt pretty happy since that is his guess for the baby's size. Otherwise no real news from the appointment. I've dilated to 1 cm and my cervix has thinned a bit more than last week.

My Sister-in-Law

I have 2 sisters-in-law, Curt's sister and my brother's wife. They are both pieces of work in their own ways. Curt's sister lives in Boise, so thankfully I don't have to deal with her too often (caller ID is a wonderful thing). My brother's wife lives just an hour away so I end up seeing and talking with her fairly often. She is very nice but really says some crazy things. There is usually something from those encounters that leave Curt and I shaking our heads. A few gems:

When we registered for gifts while pregnant with Bodie she checked out our registry and wanted to offer some advice (she was a mom for 6 whole months before we were so I'm sure her knowledge was at a level I could only hope to achieve someday). When we registered I did a lot of research (I highly recommend the book Baby Bargains when it comes to picking out baby goods) about which products and brands I wanted to register for. We ended up registering for the Jeep stroller. Her advice - "are you sure that is safe for infants?" As if I am dumb enough to register for a stroller that will be useless to me the first 6 months of my son's life (it is safe for infants and Bodie really enjoyed his walks in it).

Shortly before my niece was born, my SIL quit her job to take on her new job as a stay at home mom. Once she remarked to me that she would like to work outside of the home but just didn't have anyone to watch her kids. I'm not even sure what to say about this. I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything to her face when she made this comment to me. Of course I have come to learn she really doesn't "get" quality daycare...

When Bodie was just over a year old we went to visit SIL and to see our new nephew. When we walked in their (new) house Bodie had a bit of a melt down. He is definitely a shy boy and back at that time he did have a tough time when we would go to new places. She remarked that it was odd he acted like that since he went to daycare - you would think he'd be used to lots of people and different things. Well...at our daycare Bodie is in the same room, with his same friends, and same teachers everyday. It isn't like they are all thrown in a room with random people coming in and out all the time.

Finally we got our last gem at Bodie's birthday party. She asked if Bodie had learned any naughty words at daycare. Um...at the time he had been in a room with 18-24 month olds. None of their vocabularies really expanded much past the things they needed to meet their basic needs, let alone saying anything of the naughty variety.

This weekend is my nephew's birthday party. Hopefully I will get some great material from her at the party to share.

Baby Update

I can't believe that 2 short weeks from today our new arrival will be here. Of course last week I was getting so frustrated with work I told a co-worker I may cut the baby out myself just to get me out of there (joking, of course). Anyway, slowly but surely we are getting ready. We've washed all of Bodie's 0-3 month clothes and put them away in his room. We moved the crib into our room - which is making me a little nervous. Once the baby is sleeping through the night the boys will share a room, but until then the baby will stay with us. I just hope that having the little guy in our room doesn't somehow backfire on us, or cause the baby not to be a good sleeper. Bodie was sleeping through the night around 8 weeks, about the same time he started at daycare. Of course we aren't expecting this baby to follow suit, although it would be really nice if he did. I also bought and have started painting the letters to his name, that we will hang up in the room he is not sleeping in. We still need to get out a few baby gear items - car seat, bath tub, bouncy chair - and get them cleaned up and ready to go. Ideally (because I am totally nesting) I want to shampoo the bedroom carpets and also the stairs. I am thinking of taking a "work-at-home" day on Friday if all goes well, which should let me get somethings done here.

I had a doctor appointment last week with an ultrasound to check my placenta. It finally has moved up and shouldn't be an issue for delivery! Also at almost 37 weeks the baby was estimated to weigh 7lb 3oz. At this same point in my pregnancy with Bodie, he was estimated to weigh 10lb 1oz, so I am pretty confident this guy isn't going to come out as big as his older brother. Bodie came 10 days after that estimate, weighing 9lb 15.5oz. I told Curt I think the new guy will be a good 8.5 lbs, but Curt really thinks he'll be over 9lbs. We'll have to see who is right on that guess (but as they say - mom's know best!).

Happy Birthday

My little guy turned 2 last week. Curt and I took the day off from work and took Bodie up to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Bodie had a great time, and was very well behaved for getting so far off of his schedule. I can't believe he actually petted the animals. At the Lincoln Zoo the petting animals are behind a fence and Bodie won't get near them. I think he must have wanted to do it because Curt was and encouraging Bodie to do the same.

Bodie was not at all fond of this peacock though. We sat down to give Bodie a snack and Curt purposely fed the peacock a cracker and then the thing wouldn't leave. Bodie was not impressed at all and was sure to keep the rest of his crackers close at hand so the bird might leave him alone.

We had a small birthday party for Bodie this past weekend and Bodie received a new tricycle from his Grandma and Grandpa. It was definitely the hit of the party.

Bodie loves riding his new bike, although I had to declare it and "outside toy" because Bodie already has a riding toy in the house and, well, trikes are more suited for outdoors, in my opinion. He also kept riding over Deuce's paws and legs, which Deuce would never move and never seemed bothered by (although I was bothered watching it happen).

With his turning 2, he has moved into the 2s room at daycare. This has not gone well at all. Monday was the first day I dropped him off in the new room, or I should say attempted to drop him off. I had let him walk down the hall to his room and when we got to his old room he was set on going in there, eventually melting down and crying on the floor. His new teacher told me to go ahead and drop him off in the old room and they would move him after breakfast. This morning we tried again, but this time I carried Bodie down the hall and into his new room, when he immediately started crying. The teacher from the 3s room kept peaking over the half door at Bodie, which finally got a smile out of him. I handed him off to his teacher and he started crying again. As I was walking out of the door I heard him cry "maaa maaaa" and it just melted my heart. They assured me that when they bring him to the 2s room he is completely fine after a few minutes and seems to enjoy being in there. I've know with our past room moves it takes a few days for Bodie to adjust, but hopefully he will love it as much as he loved his old room.