End of Maternity Leave

So I go back to work on Monday and Johnny will join Holiday in daycare.  Holly does seem to like the new place and is adapting well.  I hope it won't take too long for Johnny to adjust to the changes as well.  And then there's me...I hope I adjust to the changes soon as well.  Things are completely different this time around.  I'll certainly miss time at home with baby John.  I hope he'll understand that mommy had to go back to work like daddy so we can cover bills and provide a good quality of life for him and his sister.  It will certainly make every moment with my family absolutely precious.  Johnny's growing so fast.  I already need to sort his clothes and get rid of the clothes he's already outgrown...because there's a lot.  I'd say we're to the point where he's grown out of most of the 3-6 months and is a solid 6 month size now.  But he won't be there for long and I anticipate him going to 6-9 month size soon.  He's wearing size 2 diapers currently but probably inside a month he'll be at size 3 I'm guessing.  That's just amazing to me since he'll be 2 months old tomorrow.  Holly was still in 0-3 month size at 2 months old.  Maybe it's because he sleeps so much that's he's growing like crazy.  I just turned 36 yesterday.  I got a foot massager foot bath.  When David asked Holly what to get me for my birthday she said a puppy.  But helping mommy blow out candles and having cake was enough excitement for her.

Lots O Pictures

Yeah, yeah...Mommy's tired.

Super cute shot.

Mommy's new greenhouse that Daddy made for her.

I think I can transplant Sunflowers and Pumpkins soon.

Sleepy boy.

Holiday loves to dance...no, you don't understand.  She really loves it.

Two sleepy boys.

Holiday at a music store in Georgetown during the Georgetown Carnival.  Awesome.

The kids in a Costco shopping cart.

Smiley little pudgling.

Hanging with Daddy.

Close up...waking moments are rare.

What a good big sister.

Notice the bunny toy.  Holiday insists upon giving it to Johnny herself.

This is what you get when you play the Nutcracker for a little girl named Holiday who loves to dance.

Froggie bottom...

...and froggie toes.

Holly seriously loved it, okay.

I'm nearing the end of my maternity leave.  Johnny is growing fast, I weighed him two days ago and he weighs 13.6 pounds.  I have his sizes posted to the right.  On Tuesday David came home and announced that our daycare was closing which was blindsiding.  So scrambling yesterday with perpetual phone calls I got a hit and found a place in our price range that's a little further out that will take both kids.  I feel extremely lucky since most places I talked to don't have space for 2 month olds due to daycare regulations.  One place had a waiting list for infants till 2014...Holy Moses!  When I talked on the phone with our new daycare lady, Marie, I assumed she was French since she had such a heavy French accent.  David came home yesterday after visiting the new daycare with Holiday and told me she's actually Haitian.  That was a big 'duh' moment for me.  There are in fact other countries that speak French as a predominant language.  I forgot that momentarily.  I feel really bad for our old daycare because it seems they're closing for negative reasons.  Many of the parents are upset about it.  The poor staff have to give up their kids, just awful.  But the silver lining that David has referred to is that we'll save a little money with the change up.  Holly does like the new place so she'll probably be just fine.  It's probably better that this happened now so Johnny doesn't have to get used to new people.  

Catching up on baby pictures

Here's a bunch of pictures from birth till about three weeks old.  Johnny is doing really well.  He's already gotten through his first cold and a clogged tear duct that has all since cleared up.  He got through being circumcised like a champ, he even fell asleep.  That's a tough little dude.  He did his first laugh today.  Johnny's favorite thing is to sleep in Mommy's lap.  Breastfeeding is going so well this time...that really helps my stress level.  My doctor has me on Zoloft just in case because I have a history.  I've lost 28 pounds but I think I've leveled off until I start exercising again.  That means I have 30 more pounds of baby weight to lose still.  I'm feeling much better just tired.  David's really tired too. Johnny wakes up 1 to 2 times a night for a feeding.  When he has a 5 hour sleep streak, I feel like I'm about to explode.  That's when I can't wait to feed him.  Johnny is a super pooper even now.  I don't mind the man farts that he does...I'd rather have a farty baby than one that's crying from gas.  David has been really proactive about Holly's potty training and she's doing really well.  She's just getting to the point where she can tell us she has to go so we can get her on the toilet before she has an accident.  Holiday is great with 'baby brother' as she calls him.  Always tucking him in with his baby blankets and baby toys.  Gives him kisses good-night or good-bye.  She's a terrific big sister.  Holly has really been in to dancing lately, so much so that people have asked if she's had lessons.  Nope, she's just that good at it.

And baby boy makes four

So at 3:00 am yI started getting some whopper contractions and they were coming every 5 minutes.  At 4:00 a.m I cualled it in and they said I should come in.  So after that I woke David up and explained the situation.  We called my mom in to babysit Holly.  By the time every was settled we got to the hospital around 8:00 am and I was still having gnarley contractions.  David was hoping this was it where I said it better be or I'd have to slap someone because there was no way I was going to keep that up all day long.  I was dilated 3 cm and after a short monitoring session, the decision was made to proceed with the c-section.  After joking about David's scrubs in comparison to Devo uniforms, I was wheeled into action and given a spinal.  That really hurts but that pain is short lived and they all got to work.  When they pulled Johnny out I heard, "You have a little blonde...well, not little."  Johnny is 9 lbs 3.2 oz and 20" long born at 10:48 am.  Interesting tidbit David thought about his birthdate, 5+7=12.  After going through post-op, we got to our room around 1 pm.  I seem to be coping a little better physically this time around.  Johnny seems more like a red head to me and is just the sweetest thing.  Holly and Grandma Claudia got to meet him today.  Holiday was pretty excited about 'Baby Brother'.  That's a good sign.

No baby yet

Well, I'm still pregnant...and hurtin'.  The contractions are kicking in like they were early Thursday morning, which apparently doesn't mean anything to hospital staff since I wasn't cursing in tongues.  Here I thought 'coping' was encouraged.  Yesterday we had our final OB appointment and everything still looks good.  The doctor thought it might happen this weekend but I think it's anybody's guess.  At least there is a maximum wait in place.

False Alarm

On Wedsnesday I was having tons of Braxton Hicks contractions all day long.  Then Thursday morning at about 3:00 am I started having real ones. I tracked them for awhile and then called it in.  The on-call doctor advised me to come in to OB triage.  So I woke David up about 5:00 am and got a game plan together.  We took Holly into daycare and then went to the hospital.  We would have called my mom in to take care of Holly if it was the real deal...but it wasn't.  I was having contractiowns every 10 minutes and on a scale of 1-10 it was a 7 with about every 10th one a 9.  But since I was able to talk through all of them without screaming 'bloody murder', they sent us home.  I'm having the same contractions even now...every 10 minutes.  This may go on up to my c-section date.  So because it happens so often and hurts so much, I'm officially on maternity leave.   It's going to be a long seven days to surgery.

Maternity Leave Send Off

Yesterday my co-workers gave me a maternity leave send off.  I'm glad I made it that far since I feel like 'any day now'.  They invited David too which was nice.  Basically we went out to lunch in Ballard, that made it convenient  for David to attend.  I'm still having sleep struggles.  I was actually asleep on the couch last night when Vader jumped into my lap scaring the heck out of me, that I immediately had a Braxton Hicks contraction.  That took me about an hour to calm down.  I seem to get Braxton Hicks contractions when I'm stressed out, like if Holly's fussy about something.  It was definitely bothering me last night when she was begging David for dinner and it simply wasn't ready yet.  I certainly don't check my blood pressure while Holly is still up, I have better results after she's asleep, then I can relax.