New Neighbours, New Hair, New Discipline WOW!

It's been a busy day. A very busy one.
first we had to say goodbye to our neighbours. It wasn't terribly sad, but we liked them and they were good neighbours. So, it was still kind of weird to say bye. But, the good news is that we have new neighbours! With a baby! And they seem nice and normal!
They've been slowly moving stuff in since about 5:30 (quietly) in preparation for their move on Saturday. Doodle has been watching all the action from his bedroom window. And though he's a little excited about new neighbours he's a little miffed that they have a baby and not a 4 year-old. I'm sure he will adjust.
The other excitement in my day was that I got my hair done. I know I usually go to my beloved Bill, but I don't like to go there for colour. I'm sure it would lovely, but it would also cost me a ton of money. And it's a long way away. And it takes a long time to do colour. I like to just relax and read magazines and I'd be so stressed that I was at Bill's. So I found somewhere closer to home. Not only was it not a bad price.
But ... I love it!
And I have bangs! Okay. A fringe. But it's a change. And I love it. And most importantly she showed me how to do the front myself and style it so that if I let it dry mostly on its on it will look nice wavy not scrunched wavy.
Of course, the final topic of the night is Mr. Doodle himself. He's a handful. And lately timeouts just don't work. Today I put him in time-out and he laughed at me. I was furious. So what did I do? I took the closest toy I could see, a spongebob backpack, and threw it in the garbage. Actually, I put him in a clear garbage bag adn told Doodle that if he didn't behave out it went. I have to admit that I'm a little surprised by how shocked and upset he was.
I felt kind of bad. Especially when Spongebob was staring out at me from a clear plastic bag. It was pathetic. So, now he's in the process of earning back a toy and keeping his other toys out of the garbage.
I didn't come up with the idea alone. My sister did this once with my niece and she still tells me about it. So, I think I may have something here. As long as I follow through. And who wants to throw out toys. But, whatever works. It's a lot easier than a garage sale :)
Oh ... and one final thing. I'm afraid to jinx it, but the baby is sleeping through the night some nights and other nights only wakes up once. Life is good.

What Do You Think?

Here's the baby. Take a look at her belly. I think it looks huge. As in African babies who don't get enough to eat huge (I have been and seen those kids - it looks the same). The doctor said it was a distended belly with too much gas. But there's nothing to do. (This article is helpful, but still. Doing a google search not so helpful.)
I'm not so sure.
She sent me to a pediatrician who basically said give her Ovol and she'll be fine.
She's not crying or anything, but she seems uncomfortable all the time.
So, tomorrow I'm bringing her to our naturopath (who used to be an OB/GYN) to see what she thinks. I'm not terribly worried, but I just feel like I need to check it out to make sure everything is okay. You know?
But, look how chubby my little girl is. I love her chubby cheeks! She's now 9 lbs 14 oz, up from 6 lbs 6 oz at birth. Soooo cute.

Love

On Monday my nieces came to visit and helped me play dress-up with the baby. One of my nieces chose the dress and then I delighted them both when I pulled out the sun hat.

It's just so much fun to have a little baby in the house. I feel like I missed so much of the joy the firs time around.


This constant phrase I hear from doodle every day is "I love my baby."
There's a joy and peace in our house that I never expected. I'm so grateful that we decided to have another, and that we're experiencing the enjoyment of having an infant.

The Daycare Debate

A few months ago Phat Daddy and I made the decision to keep Doodle in daycare till the end of May. The decision was based on the fact that I would be recovering from a c-section, I would be tired, and I would want the extra time to bond with the baby.
Fast forward to this past week, and I've been really questionning the decision to keep Doodle in daycare so long.
Yes, I like the daycare. It's a wonderful place. The teachers are fantastic. Doodle has lots of friends, and the parents who I know are great. I have no complaints.
But, Doodle doesn't want to be there anymore.
And, I'm hitting the point where I don't think I need him there.
Of course it's nice to have the house a little quiet. I have enjoyed being able to watch morning tv and taking it easy and often napping in the afternoon. I've enjoyed bonding with my baby and staying in.
But, I've been home for 2 weeks now. I'm feeling fine. The baby and I are well bonded. The nursing is under control. And ... I miss Doodle.
Today I took him to Tim Horton's before daycare. And we had a good time. He helped open doors for me. He listened when I asked him to sit still. And then it was time for daycare. As soon as I went to leave he started to cry. It was that awful moment where I knew he was trying not to, but he really was sad. And then I was sad. So, we were both trying not to cry. (And, of course the baby chose this time to let us know that she was hungry and she started to cry!) And I ended up promising to pick him up after nap. So, all in all it's a pretty short day. And, I'm sitting here wishing that I'd just kept him home. But, knowing that I can't just give in and we're paying and all of that.
So, I think we're giving our 2 weeks notice.
Believe it or not, I'm ready to be a SAHM to 2. Yikes! Scary. I'm not fully sure how I'll handle it, but I'm thinking I'll take it one day at a time, visit the library and playground often, and hope things work out.

Ahhhhhhhh,,, Quiet (for now)

It's almost 4pm.
In 5 minutes I have to go upstairs and wake my boys up. (I'll let the baby sleep). I sent them both upstairs for "quiet time" aka a nap to get themselves ready for Doodle's birthday party tonight.
Then I fed the baby and once she was asleep I put her in the bedroom also, so all three of them are asleep in one room.
And I'm sitting here, in the quiet, with the tv off, enjoying the peace for just a few moments before I wake everyone up, start bath time for Doodle, and get Phat Daddy packing the van for the play place where we will hold Doodle's party.
I think we have everything ready. Yesterday my mom came over and filled lootbags with me. Phat Daddy made an AMAZING arial firetruck cake. We have ordered pizza and of course sent out invitations. I'm not sure of the exact number of people coming tonight. It was a little dumb to send out invitations the week I was giving birth. Phat Daddy would sit in the hospital checking our voicemail and say "Robert is coming" and we'd be happy, and then neither of us would write it down.
So, we have a guesstimate, and I've hired a couple of babysitters to help curb the madness, so we should be set.
And then tonight, well, I'd say we'll all sleep well. But, I will be awake every hour or 2 feeding the baby. But, hopefully in between feedings I'll sleep well.
The important thing is that tonight Doodle enjoys his party. He's been incredible with his baby sister. He kisses her all the time and hugs her, and always wants to help in some way. And, there's been a lot of change in the last few weeks.
So tonight I want it to be about him and his friends. Maybe I've gone a little overboard (as usual) trying to make it perfect, but truthfully, I want him to know that no matter what he's special to us. I think he knows that. But, I like to remind him as much as I can.
Gotta go wake him up. And, I have to find him matching socks. Both of those could be huge feats in themselves.

And I was worried

I have heard lots of horror stories about siblings not accepting a new baby.
I knew Doodle was pretty excited about having a sister, but I was a little worried about what would happen once reality set in around here.
Afterall, we're paying a lot of attention to the baby, and Doodle has had to be patient while I've nursed the baby and couldn't do something for him immediately. He hasn't said much, just been his normal happy self.
So yesterday we were all sitting at the doctor's office and Doodle told me he thinks we should have another baby. Another girl.
I asked him why. He said "it's just that I love our baby so much I think we should have more."
We've always discussed 2 children. We once debated 3, but that was before Doodle came along and we realized how hard this parenting thing can be. I'll admit that this baby is pretty easy, and there have been a couple times this week when I've been cuddling and nursing and enjoying the joy that is having a new baby, and wondered if this is for sure the last time.
And then I realized that really I think 2 is it for us.
But, at the same times these feelings of having so much love and enjoyment that I'd consider it again are so so so welcome in my life. I struggled so much with Doodle at first, not bonding, feeling like he didn't love me, sobbing and crying over the physical and emotional pain that it's a totally incredible emotion to feel this calm happiness.

A Little Embarrassed

You know how after you have a baby and you've gone through labour you tell everyone (or at least think) "I will never forget the pain of labour"????
well, apparently that phrase did not hold true for me because on Wednesday night I thought I was in labour. Alright - I'll back track just a bit. I was having Braxton Hicks. But, they were weird Braxton Hicks. They were consistent and painful. Not super painful, more like pressure-filled and uncomfortable. And I felt kind of nauseous. I decided to wait it out. From 6pm-3am I waited it out. Phat Daddy went out to a meeting which was fine with me.
I put Doodle to bed, slept for a bit, and then woke up at around 10, still with the Braxton Hicks and still uncomfortable. Finally Phat Daddy got home.
He sprang into action putting the car seat in the van, helping me get all the hospital stuff in order and then went to bed. While I timed things.
I tried to sleep but I couldn't. Between adrenaline and nerves and feeling like crap sleep was not coming.
Finally at 3 am I called Labour and Delivery. I explained that I thought it was Braxton Hicks, but the doctor told me he wanted me to come in because some people don't fine labour as painful as others. And he said the consistency was concerning.
Great.
So, I woke up Phat Daddy whose first question was "are you sure."
I didn't know how to answer him. With Doodle it was WAY different. I was in excruciating pain. Forget about calling the hospital, I could hardly string two words together. So, no, I wasn't sure.
To add to the frustration is the fact that we have Doodle.
It would be one thing for the 2 of us to hop in the van and go check it out. It's a whole other thing to then call and wake up my parents or sister and bring Doodle over, and hope that Doodle goes back to sleep.
But, since we'd been instructed we sprang into action. Within minutes the van was loaded, Doodle was at Grandma's and we were en route to the hospital.
And what happened?
NOTHING.
They hooked me up to monitors for what seemed like forever. And ... the Braxton Hicks stopped. Forget about contractions there was nothing. The baby fell asleep or something. And I got more and more annoyed as absolutely nothing happened.
Eventually the doctor came. She was really really nice. She discovered I was 1 cm dilated (which I could have been for months). Her advice was to go out for a couple of hours, see if contractions pick up and then come back.
Of course by this time I was in tears. I was tired, annoyed, frustrated, and sore.
So, Phat Daddy and I did what she suggested. We stopped for coffee and then went for a really long walk.
Because the hospital happens to be in walking distance of where my old apartment is and the university we met at and both went to school, we went for a walk around the campus and the surrounding area. I knew the baby wasn't coming, but we figured it was still nice to walk. And, at 6:30 in the morning, what else is there to do?
It was actually kind of neat because we haven't walked in the area for years. I mean, we've gone to the nearby shopping centre, but not just wandered the campus. For the crappiness that was the morning the walk was nice.
We finally made our way back to the hospital for about 8am. I had Phat Daddy call my mom and explain that because I was only 1cm I was going home.
As I was sitting there feeling sheepish for not knowing the symptoms the nurse came in and said she found someone I would be happy to see. Having never met this nurse, and having no energy to figure out who she meant (my hairstylist? a celebrity?) in walked my own ob. I love my ob, and pretty much everyone loves her. She's an amazing doctor, and very very kind. Plus, she knows I struggle with depression and emotions and seriously remembered our previous conversations. She had come into the hospital to check on some of her patients, and when she saw my name she decided to examine me herself instead of the resident doing it.
I was still 1 cm.
The good news is that the baby was doing really well and was healthy and active (I knew that). And the other good news was that despite the excitement and exercise my blood pressure was fine. And she told me not to be embarassed.
But still ... I am.
we made it home. And slept.
I have a week to go. This is totally do-able. But really ... Grrr! I'm such a knob.

My Fear Today ...

At this point in my pregnancy I'm almost 35 weeks along. Good news except for one thing. Today I am completely paranoid that I'm going to go into labour.
Don't laugh!
Do you know what today is? February 29th. That's right. A leap year. I do not want a leap year baby. I think it would kind of suck.
I know a couple leap year babies. They aren't thrilled.
I mean, of course there's always the musical Pirates of Penzance to fall back on as a great reason to be born on a leap year (there are no musicals about may 20th babies), but ...
Of course, my doctor freaked me out completely this week by telling me that in case I go early I should have my bags packed. I really really need to clean my office and organize my files before I can have this baby.
And ...
I don't want a leap year baby.
I told Phat Daddy my concerns, and he said that he's pretty sure that I'm fine. I called my sister and she reminded me that considering the length of my last labour (23 hours not including "early labour") even if I did start having contractions today I probably would wait it out till March 1st. Excellent point.
Plus ...
Today is the day that my mom and I go to the Steven and Chris show. How fun would it be to have your water break LIVE ON TV???
And then I'm coming home and we're going for a weekend trip to Buffalo. I really would like one more meal at the Cheesecake Factory before this baby makes an appearance.
So, as I've been saying all day, "be comfy, Baby."
Anytime after next week game on. Got ideas for speeding up a baby's arrival feel free to send them my way. I just want to hold off till next week - Tuesday preferably - and then we're good to go!