Ultrasound Pictures

Or is it sonogram pictures?  Regardless, here they are.

Prior to the ultrasound I had been trying not to worry about the number of kicks I had been feeling.  I kept telling myself that I could only remember what it was like with Sarah towards the end and that she had been very strong anyway, but I knew that Matthew had felt her kicking before twenty weeks and he hadn't this time.  I had only been feeling kicks right when I laid down at night, but at least I had been feeling them.

So, I was a little worried going in to the ultrasound, but staying calm for the most part.  Almost the first thing out of the technician's mouth, though, was, "Has anyone talked to you about your anterior placenta?"  Basically, the placenta is at the very front of the uterus this time, so it is acting as a pillow when the baby kicks.  That's why I couldn't feel it as much, but there's absolutely nothing wrong.  Now I'm feeling it throughout the day, which is awesome.

We happened to catch it yawning.  It was so adorable.  The first picture is of the yawn, but it looks like a big grin.  I'm hopeful of having a smiley baby this time around as a result.

I found the whole experience amazing yet again.  Watching all of the measurements and seeing the details was fascinating.

Neither of us found out the gender this time around.

Pregnancy by the Numbers, Part B

Well, the second trimester sure flew by!  Here are my stats:

Due Date: 2/9/17

Weeks Gestation: 28

Number of Fetuses: Still 1

Pounds Gained: 16 (Back on Track)

Approximate Length of Baby: 14"

Approximate Weight of Baby: 2.25 LBS

Heart Rate at Last Checkup: 130ish

Size of Uterus: 28cm

Hours Slept Each Night: 9ish - wake up 1-2 times, sometimes for an hour or more

Nights Spent on Couch Due to Heartburn: 2, then I found my old friend Zantac again

Weird Cravings: none

Waist Measurement at Belly Button: 39"

Kicks Felt: Multiple per day and gaining

I'll Never...

It's true.  The only expert parents are those that don't have children.  Here is a list of things I swore I would never do before Sarah was born.  My how times change in less than 18 months.

• Cry it out
• Use white noise for sleep (see above)
• Provide a cell phone before age 1 (it's just a toy one at least)
• Not be prepared
• Go a day without showering - HA!
• Let my child eat in the car - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
• Treat my children differently (How many "bump pictures" do you think the current baby has?)

Eating a banana, of all things, in the car seat.  I left the peel on to slow her down.  It's a long drive from Sioux Falls to Denver...

Halloween 2016

Happy Halloween from SarBear the Grumpy Care Bear!

Symptoms, Part A

Here I am, a few weeks from the end of the 2nd trimester, and I have yet to document my symptoms from the 1st trimester.

So here we go - the most common symptoms in the first 13 weeks according to What to Expect When You're Expecting.

• Fatigue - yes, was taking two naps some days, tapered off between 12 and 14 weeks
• Frequent Urination - no
• Nausea - mild to moderate from weeks 5-12, managed by eating crackers
• Increased sense of smell - no
• Excess saliva - no
• Food Aversions - the thought of chicken, but thankfully we don't eat meat at home
• Food Cravings - none
• Headaches - none
• Dizziness - none
• Others that will not be discussed on the Internet - not really

So almost the exact opposite of what I had with Sarah.

So long, old home

Pregnancy by the Numbers: Part A

Bringing back an old series, here are the crucial stats of the pregnancy this far:

• Number of fetuses: 1
• Heart rate at last checkup: 163 BPM
• Pounds gained: -2 (yes, you read that right)
• Weeks gestation: 14
• Due date: 2/9/17
• Approximate length of baby: 3.5" (lemon)
• Approximate weight of baby: 1.5 oz
• Weird cravings: 0
• Hormonal Hysteric Breakdowns: 2
• Waist Measurement at Belly Button: 33.5"
• Kicks Felt: 0
• Potential names inspired by the musical Hamilton: 1

My Poppy Seed

Written on July 6

She had her birthday and we thought she was such a big girl.  She sat in her new rocking chair all by herself and looked like she was actually reading the cards, then kept up with her boy cousins as they played and rode on her rocking horse.

A month later, she seemed so little again.  She couldn't walk, wasn't weaned, was back to waking up every 2-3 hours at night.  I think the change in perspective had something to do with the poppy seed that we had just learned about.  Not actually a poppy seed, but a new life growing inside of me.  The week we found out it was the size of a poppy seed.  I'm not sure how big it is now*.  Still too little to tell the whole world about, but big enough to start making plans for our family life seven months from now.

The day after the lines turned pink, I realized that we'll have two rear facing car seats.  We'll potentially have two high chairs at our table a year from now and two cribs in our house.  I'm so excited but also more nervous than I thought I'd be.  The past year has been wonderful, but harder than I thought it would be at the same time.  What will I do when there's two of them?

If the new baby arrives on its due date, they'll be exactly 21 months apart.  That will be two years apart in school.

Sarah did finally start walking (on my birthday!) and we're working on weaning and hoping the sleeping through the night will come soon.  She'll be a big girl soon enough - we can just let her be our baby for seven more months.

Solidarity with Daddy during the Go Ruck Challenges

Reading her birthday cards

One of the last pictures of our family of three

New baby due February 9!

*Update August 8: Baby is the size of a pea pod now!  Sarah has been consistently sleeping through the night for a few weeks and will be completely weaned this week.

To the New Stay at Home Parent

It's been a little over a year since my last day working 8-5. In any previous job, I've felt competent by now. Twice, I even got promoted after only a year. I recently realized that it's ok to not feel competent yet. A year ago, I was a mom to a newborn. Then I was a mom to a 3 month old, a 6 month old, an 8 month old, and lately to a 13 month old. It keeps changing. So in all my vast experience, here's my advice to anyone that is just starting out at this staying at home gig.

• Take a parental leave. If you recently gave birth, you need to recover physically. If you didn't just give birth, you still need to ease in to your new life. Don't try to take on all of the household chores at once.  I didn't start mowing again until last July.  I didn't start cooking regularly until October.
• The crock pot is your friend. Somehow it's easiest to get dinner ready in the morning.
• Get out of the house. Find a routine that involves going somewhere – every day. Alternate the gym with grocery shopping. Plan one day a week for a 'field trip' somewhere around town. Visit older relatives. Just leave the house.
• Lower your standards. Then lower them again. The dishes won't be done every night. The laundry may need to be rewashed once in a while because you forgot to move it to the dryer for a couple of days. It's ok. Keep sight of what's actually important. Does your kid feel loved? Are you and your partner connecting from time to time?
• Reset the coffee pot. I don't drink coffee. But every day, I try to reset the coffee pot (empty grounds, refill water) for Matthew. It takes two minutes. Some days, this is the only thing I have done besides keep me, Sarah, and Casey alive. But it's my way of telling him that I care, even if he comes home to a frazzled wife, a screaming child, and a messy house.
• Find some people. In Nebraska at least, this is easiest if you are a 30-something Christian female. If you don't fall in this demographic, it will be a little harder, but still find friends that are available during the day.  I didn't have luck with MOMS Club due to their weirdly strict geographical boundaries, but I did join Faith Full Moms at a church in town.
• Take some 'you' time. In the early days, I would schedule two hours of Angie Time on the weekend. Now, I spend one of her naps cleaning the house while the other one is devoted to catching up on my shows and crafts.
• Your partner knows what they are doing. Just because you spend more time with the baby does not make you a better parent. I still find myself hovering when Matthew is watching Sarah and she starts to cry. I'm learning to just walk away.
• The 'M' in SAHM stands for MOM, not maid. The 'D' in SAHD stands for DAD, not domestic servant. The minute you catch yourself dusting the plants instead of playing with your baby, you've gone too far. Keep the house clean enough to be healthy, whatever you deem that to be.
• 5:20 is the worst time. It doesn't matter if it is AM or PM, 5:20 is a horrible time. In the morning, it's the time when you wonder if you should go back to sleep again. In the evening, it's those last few minutes by yourself where the baby starts to get fussy from hunger and tiredness.
• Go ahead, call the doctor. Wondering if you need to flip your baby over on her back in the crib once she learns to roll over? Did your hand slip when you laid her down for a diaper change and she fell the last three inches to the floor?  Worried that her brain development will be stunted because she's been sleep deprived for the past three months? Don't know what to do about that rash that won't go away? Not sure what to do the first time she gets a fever? Can't figure out why she's fussy for a week even though she is sleeping? Go ahead, call the doctor. You won't be the first person to do so because I already made all of these calls.
• You get to be ONE parent. You can make Pinterest worthy crafts. You can go to the gym every day. You can volunteer a lot. You can cook gourmet meals. You can write a blog post every day. BUT, you can't do all of these things. If you want to get really involved, go ahead, but something else must go.
• Seriously, lower your standards. Those pictures you see on Pinterest and Facebook of your friends' perfect houses and smiling babies are their highlights. Don't compare that to your bloopers.

Big Girl on Her Birthday

Loves Playing with the Big Kids

Smiley moment during one of her many sleep strikes

Example of Lower Standards - 1 inch short on the wrapping paper - "Old" Angie would have gone out and bought new.  New Angie put it on the back and called it good.

Took advantage of the library's toy library to borrow some hats!

Baby vs. Dog

We heard somewhere that a dog has the average intelligence of a 2 year old child.  I think we made my sister and brother-in-law mad when we would tell them that our dog was smarter than their baby.  Now we get to run a side by side comparison of our own.

• Comes when called: Dog
• Reacts to simple commands: Dog 
• Knows how to walk: Dog
• Can go down stairs alone: Dog
• Can be left alone in the house: Dog
• Sleeps through the night: Dog
• Recognizes self in mirror: Neither
• Knows place in social pack: Dog
• Eats without making a mess: Dog
• Potty trained: Dog
• Object Permanence Stage: Baby, 4; Dog, 5
• Eats off the floor: Both
• Knows which toys are hers: Dog

Looks like Casey is currently winning in every aspect.  Check back later for the rematch!

My Dog is Judging My Parenting Techniques

Excerpt from an Email Dated 1/21/16:

Hello More Experienced Parenting Friends!

I'm seeking advice on how to get a baby to sleep. Sarah is in a routine where she takes 2 naps per day, each usually 35 minutes long. She wakes up 4 times a night, approximately every 2 hours. Last night the longest stretch she had was 2 hours 38 minutes. This has been going on since approximately Thanksgiving. Matthew and I are both stressed and don't know what else to try.

Things we have tried (in no order):

• Schedule - super strict for the past 2.5 weeks 
• Hold/rock until super asleep - frequently wakes up when we lay her down in the crib though 
• Let her cry - started checking on her every two minutes, now I let her go for 10 at a time before sleep and if/when she wakes up from a nap in less than an hour 
• Feed more during day 
• Add more solid foods 
• Routine prior to sleep - eat, diaper change, 2 books, song 
• No diaper change during the night 
• Quiet time for 1 hour before bedtime (dim lights, quiet sound, moderate activity) 
• Sleep log - I just started this week. The first day she got 11 hours and 48 minutes of sleep in a 24 hour period. From what I've seen, she should be getting 14-15 hours. 
• New sheet - kind of a velour rather than standard cotton 
• White noise - doesn't seem to make much impact 
• Heating pad under the fitted sheet - didn't see an impact, so stopped this 
• Cosleeping - she went back to sleep easier the two nights she slept with us, but didn't get any more sleep overall 
• Started reading the No Cry Sleep Solution - I'm only about 1/3 through, but so far we'd already implemented most of the suggestions, but do need to finish it for any more. 
• Early bedtime/wake up - 6:30PM to 6:30AM 

Suffice it to say we were pretty desperate a couple of months ago. The worst part was that she was never happy and I was overwhelmingly stressed with dealing with a fussy baby all day and never getting a break from it. Beyond the waking up every couple of hours in the night, it was taking close to an hour to get her back to sleep most times. We finally committed to the dreaded "cry it out" method for naps because we were waking her up too often when we laid her in the crib and would have to start all over again.  Also, this is what the doctor recommended.

The first couple of days of this technique were rough. I sat right next to her crib, where she couldn't see me and cried as well. After a few days, it got easier. It took a couple of weeks (I think) before we started seeing consistent results. Key to this technique was that if she woke up from a nap in less than an hour, we had to leave her alone (again for 10 minutes at a time) until the hour was complete.

Enter Casey. Casey, the dog who shows very little affection to any person other than me, including Matthew, who she has known almost as long and lived with for over 80% of her life. Casey, the dog who barely acknowledged Sarah's existence when we brought her home. The first few times that I let Sarah cry upon waking up from a nap 32 minutes in, Casey looked at me like I was crazy, ran and stood by the door to Sarah's room, and continued to be agitated until I finally went in to the room. She rushed over to the crib and put her paws up on it to check that Sarah was fine, then went back to ignoring her.

As if I didn't feel guilty enough about letting the baby cry...

So several months have passed. This past month has been my favorite because she is so smiley and excited until just before nap or bed time. She is up 1-2 times per night, but goes right back to sleep. I'm back in my bed within 11-15 minutes, usually. Her naps are usually 60-80 minutes long, sometimes a little longer. She does not sleep more than 35 minutes in the car, but if she has one bad nap, she can usually make up for it with the other one, and more importantly, SHE IS HAPPY!

"Please let me out of this thing.  Also, I don't know how to lay back down."

This is nothing compared to the time we found her sleeping with her legs out of the slats and tipped over on her side.

Books before bed - now Matthew reads to her because one night he did and she slept better.

Smiley girl!

Enjoying life!

A+ Parenting Moment

My friend Jess just started a blog called A+ Parenting Today.  It's all about how academic overachievers may be in for a shock (and quite a few failures) once they become parents.

So today I had a great "A+ Parenting" moment.  We were at Bag & Save, because avocados were on sale (because that's pretty much the only reason to do mid-week stock up shopping at Bag & Save).  As we were almost done, Sarah began grunting.  I'm sure most parents would recognize THE GRUNT.  You know, the one that signals that there is a special surprise waiting for you later.

A+ Parenting Moment 1: I thought to myself, "I'll finish shopping, pay, load her up and drive home before I deal with that." (We live about six blocks away; the only other reason to shop at Bag & Save.)

At the checkout, however, I could see that it was not waiting, as there were two giant spots on her pants that were growing.  I paid, asked the cashier if I could leave my cart up front while I changed her diaper, and gingerly carried her towards the back, trying not to touch the growing spots.  As I walked back, I hoped there would be a changing table.  Since I'm a woman, there was, albeit a little grungy.

Luckily, my diaper bag came with a little mat for changes, so I put that down on the changing table, then laid her down.  (Actual A+ Parenting Moment.)

A+ Parenting Moment 2: The wipes packet felt like it had about two wipes left in it, and I had a feeling this was at least a six wipe job.

A+ Parenting Moment 3: I could only find the shirt of the spare outfit I thought I kept in the diaper bag.  I remember before I had a baby, hearing about situations like this, and thinking, "How hard is it to keep a spare outfit with you when you leave the house?"  Let me explain how it happens: I put the spare outfit in the bag several months ago, when she had just started wearing size 6 month clothes.  She is now in 9 month clothes.  I did not switch out the new size.  Also, it was a T-shirt.  It's now January.

A+ Parenting Moment 4: Sarah is at this point screaming because she's naked, tired, and hungry.  Did I mention we're now late for lunch and nap?  And remember, she's the World's Loudest Baby.

I got her cleaned up as best I could, luckily the wipes lasted.  I crammed her in to the shirt (fortunately it was a regular shirt, not a onesie) and carried her out of the bathroom, wearing just a shirt, diaper, and socks.

We got back to the front of the store, and I looked in the diaper bag one more time.  Jeans!

A+ Parenting Moment 5: I laid her down on the area where you used to actually have to bag your own groceries right at the front of the store and put her jeans on.

A+ Parenting Moment 6: Her coat was in the car, because it's a fairly warm day and she was originally wearing long sleeves and I draped a blanket over her when we went in.  Now, I had to get the cart out and she's in a T-shirt (but at least she had pants on).  I just draped the blanket around her in the cart again and out we walked.

So that's my A+ for the day.  Oh, but remember?  We use cloth diapers, so I got to take the whole mess home with me!

Chatty Cathy

Loud.  Talkative.  Enjoys meeting new people.

These are not things that describe me.

Sarah, on the other hand, seems to be trying to take the title of World's Loudest Baby away from my sister. Her initial cry on waking up can be heard anywhere in the house. I also swear that she makes her sneezes extra loud just because she likes the sound. Matthew thinks she doesn't do it intentionally and just has super loud sneezes.

Last week she discovered that she loves to "talk" as loud as she can while grocery shopping. I think she likes the echo. At Costco we were at the picnic tables, resting, and I was having a snack. Honestly, it'd been a rough day and since she wasn't crying, I wasn't trying to quiet her in any way.  She was just babbling away, so loud that people at the check out lines were looking and laughing. She did the same thing all the way through Whole Foods three days later.

This brings me to the "enjoys meeting new people" attribute. Every time I go anywhere these days, I have to talk to far more people than is necessary to complete my errand. "Oh, she's so adorable!" "How old?" "She's quite the little talker!"  In the time it took to me to put on her coat the last time we were at Costco, two middle aged men, shopping alone, came up to me to tell me how beautiful she was.  I think we're going to be in for some trouble in the future with this little heart breaker.