Okay, so this two kids as opposed to one thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be. That being said, I didn't really give it that much thought to begin with--half because I was too busy and half because what's the use in worrying about the future if you can't do much to influence it?
Both girls have been relatively great. Nina is a happy baby who loves to nurse and sleep--she is more of a sipper, though, meaning she snacks more than she feeds right now. Lots of snacks. And she loves to be held. Funny how babies sense that--she sleeps the most solidly and for the longest periods of time snuggled next to me or on me. Put her in the bassinet sound asleep and she is up 10 minutes later.
Elena has been... okay? I suppose. Not the picture of perfect big sister, but certainly adapting nicely in that she shows love to Nina and has been doing really well adjusting to having much more Daddy time and less Mommy time. But she's not sleeping well, which makes her cranky, and she is still learning to share. We've also seen a new side to her in the past couple of days--more a new pattern of speech in which she expresses her frustration. The overall pattern is (with furrowed brow and stuck out bottom lip), "I. don't. like. SOMETHING." Very staccato with an emphasis of distain on the last word which she purports not liking. My favorite from yesterday was, "I. don't. like BIDEOS." She has the whole Spanish "v" pronounced as a "b" thing going on. She also expressed dislike for both Josh and myself yesterday at various points. Oh well, I guess that is to be expected. At least she hasn't said that about Nina (yet).
Like Nina, Elena has also been a snuggler from day 1, which was further ingrained through co-sleeping. Since getting her new room and new bed, she's been doing okay. She doesn't like sleeping alone, and will toddle into our room in the middle of the night holding her puppy and sometimes a blanket. Depending on how we felt in the past, we'd either lead her back to bed or just let her stay with us. Now with Nina in our bed, Josh has been taking her back to her room, but then passing out with her until they both toddle back to the family bed around 5:30. So Nina and I are solo in the big bed, which has been working out okay because she's so easy to put back to sleep after nursing (provided that we are touching). Maybe that's why I struggled so much with Elena? Because I'd try to put her back to sleep in the bassinet? Who knows. Practice makes perfect, I suppose, so maybe we should have a third and hope to get things right.
As for me, the naps have been winning out big time. One of my main goals was to make quiche for dinner last night, and that didn't happen. My other goal was to drop off a gift in a given time frame. Another fail. I had showered and gotten dressed in real clothes and everything. Oh well. It's a good thing I have low expectations of myself in some regards.
I've been less of an ugly mommy in the past few days than I had been some days in the preceding months. I'm trying my best to be patient with Elena and give her the special time she needs to know that my love for her hasn't changed. It's hard, though. Josh has been doing the majority of Elena entertaining, and he's been a little.... snippy. Quick to hand out the time outs. It's kind of nice to have him dealing with the frustrations that I've had on all those weekends with him on call, just to see that my reactions weren't unusual. I try to intervene if Nina is at a pausing point for nursing, but like I said before, she loves to be held. So if anyone wants to do something fun and air conditioned this week, let us know--Elena is on vacation from school and is quickly getting bored in the house. In the meantime, it's been a nice change to have Elena whining for Daddy, and to see her cling to his neck to be carried to the kitchen to make breakfast.
On a more superficial note, I'm hoping that my after birth cramping has stopped--apparently these pains get worse with subsequent pregnancies as the uterus becomes more and more distended. I didn't have any with Elena, so when pains so severe that I considered again taking my hands and knees butt-sway position hit, it was a little bit of a surprise. My postpartum bible said they "rarely" last beyond 72 hours, so when I was still feeling them yesterday evening and last night, I was annoyed. They're lessening, though. Patience!
Also in the change department, I could be a triple X model with the size of my chest right now. *Sigh* I know many women welcome the boost that pregnancy and lactation offer, but not me. That's all I'll say about that, except that if you see me in the next few months, try not to stare. It's just not polite.
Today was Nina's big photo shoot with my yoga pal Dan. Hopefully some of her cross-eyed photos came out well. We were thrilled with the pregnancy batch, so these should be a nice compliment. Since I am discussing changes, I will take this opportunity to say that I wore a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans for the shoot this morning. Don't hate me--they were snug with a tiny rim of muffin top, and I really just wanted to see if they'd fit, thinking more that it would be seeing how far I needed to go to fit back into them. Given my ridiculous top heavy look, I'm glad that this time around I was blessed with a rapidly shrinking waistline as consolation.
So that is the story from Sunny Drive. We are hanging in there, but need to be hanging out of the house a bit more to keep Elena happy and from smothering Nina with too much love. Ideas?
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Endorphins vs. Naps.
After coming home with Elena, all I wanted to do was look at her when she slept, and then run and get something to eat and try to "do" something. I remember making a chicken soup from scratch after we had eaten a farmer's market chicken the night before--I made the stock and then prepared all of the stuff to go in it. That particular morning stands out in my mind as a particular waste of my postpartum time. Lucky for me, Josh had a nice chunk of time free of work duties and though those weeks went fast we did enjoy that time.
A friend sent me a message this week via Facebook, which saves all of your past correspondence with others--the last time we had messaged was after Elena's birth, and I remember the morning that I told him about. I had trouble sleeping in that first week, and would wake before Elena and Josh and make some lactation tea and breakfast and enjoy the quiet. I had my tea in the early morning sun, enjoying the heat on my legs. I don't really think that was a waste of time, because I remember feeling perfectly peaceful and deeply happy, and those moments should be savored.
Again I feel this pull between the rush of endorphins post-delivery and the impending overwhelming sleep deprivation. Today was busy--I finished off the batch of butt balm that I had started a couple of weeks ago, shattering a glass in the process. Elena had her first doctor's appointment with Tia Liz, and Mommy snipped her frenulum there (maybe more on that later). Then we went to lunch, got Tia Liz some caffeine as a thank you for seeing us during her lunch hour, and headed home for a quick nap before Elena got home. Elena was her usual energetic self, aligning Nina's diapers in lines around our room, and then placing Josh's loose socks neatly over diapers while we Skyped with my parents. Josh's parents brought us dinner, and Uncle Tio and Isabelle came over after their dinner. I'm beat. And yet blogging as Nina sleeps peacefully next to me.
It's a battle. Endorphins vs. naps. I wish I could say that I will try to help naps win out in the next few days, but there is just so much I want to write about and read about (plus some outstanding patient charts from Monday that need to get finished) that I know I will end up burning nap time in favor of blogs and google searches. Oh well. I'm taking 8 weeks instead of 6 this time, so at least I have that in my favor!
A friend sent me a message this week via Facebook, which saves all of your past correspondence with others--the last time we had messaged was after Elena's birth, and I remember the morning that I told him about. I had trouble sleeping in that first week, and would wake before Elena and Josh and make some lactation tea and breakfast and enjoy the quiet. I had my tea in the early morning sun, enjoying the heat on my legs. I don't really think that was a waste of time, because I remember feeling perfectly peaceful and deeply happy, and those moments should be savored.
Again I feel this pull between the rush of endorphins post-delivery and the impending overwhelming sleep deprivation. Today was busy--I finished off the batch of butt balm that I had started a couple of weeks ago, shattering a glass in the process. Elena had her first doctor's appointment with Tia Liz, and Mommy snipped her frenulum there (maybe more on that later). Then we went to lunch, got Tia Liz some caffeine as a thank you for seeing us during her lunch hour, and headed home for a quick nap before Elena got home. Elena was her usual energetic self, aligning Nina's diapers in lines around our room, and then placing Josh's loose socks neatly over diapers while we Skyped with my parents. Josh's parents brought us dinner, and Uncle Tio and Isabelle came over after their dinner. I'm beat. And yet blogging as Nina sleeps peacefully next to me.
It's a battle. Endorphins vs. naps. I wish I could say that I will try to help naps win out in the next few days, but there is just so much I want to write about and read about (plus some outstanding patient charts from Monday that need to get finished) that I know I will end up burning nap time in favor of blogs and google searches. Oh well. I'm taking 8 weeks instead of 6 this time, so at least I have that in my favor!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Nina Sofia Malo.
She's here! Nina is a mini-Josh face and a total delight--I am so in love with our growing family.
Elena and I read (or started to at least) Angelina's Baby Sister the night before the delivery. Angelina throws a temper tantrum and trashes her room when she feels she's not getting any attention, and then her mom pours on the love after her parents and grandparents witness her poor behavior. It was about that point in the book where Elena said to me, "I don't like that book. No, Mommy," and made me close it. I guess that explains her initial reluctance to even acknowledge Elena in the first few minutes of their meeting, choosing instead to hang her head over the side of the bed and look at the floor, kicking her feet.
She warmed up pretty fast, however, and was soon hugging Nina incessantly and now can't keep her hands off of her. There were many "I want my baby sister" whines tonight after she came home from daycare. The two nursed simultaneously a few times, and she'd reach out and stroke Nina's hair, or toes, or hands (depending on how they were both positioned). Very sweet.
After Elena's birth, I detailed her birth story in my journal. I guess I'll go electronic with Nina's.
As I mentioned, I had my doctor strip my membranes at my 1:00 appointment on Tuesday. After the appointment I had irregular contractions that evening going on into the night, waking me up some. Elena must have known something was up because she kept waking up as well--a real restful night for all of us! Around 5 am they started to get more regular, and I needed to breathe through them a bit more, but nothing a little yogic breathing couldn't handle. I had a half-schedule of patients that morning, with the remainder of the morning to be spent fielding lab results and calls from the practice's patients. By 6 am, I was still thinking that I could go in and finish my morning session. By 6:30, I thought that wasn't going to be possible, but I could still swing by and sign some prescriptions I had printed the night before. And by 7:30, I let that ship sail as well.
I had called Josh's mom around 6:30, and she was planning to be at our house by 8. By the time she got to our house, I couldn't stand to be in any position but on my hands and knees during contractions. Luckily Josh got there a few minutes after Lynn did, and we were soon off to the hospital. I told Josh in the car that if they checked me and I was 6 cm, then I would try the tub, but if I was 7 cm, "I'm just getting the f---ing epidural." I went on to say, "Yeah, I know the body produces endorphins and all that crap, but come on." I guess rational brain handily won the battle against romantic vision brain.
I was 7 cm when they checked me in triage, and shortly thereafter I was wheeled (on hands and knees) to my room. IV placement, labs, calling anesthesia (and waiting for labs) all took a little bit of time, and my epidural was in some time after 9:45. Just before the anesthesiologist arrived, I was starting to panic with contractions, annoyed at all the tethering (BP cuff, IV, etc) and feeling nauseated and hot. I just don't know how people tolerate even more intensity coupled with actually having to do something during contractions. Post-epidual I was relaxed, nice and cool, and insanely thirsty (and still answering questions from the triage nurse, not even the L&D nurse). In triage I had learned that someone else was covering my doctor's patients (such as myself), and was sort of disappointed, but in too much pain to care. Right around epidural time, my nurse told me that Dr. H was going to come in just for my delivery, which she did, straight from her step aerobics class, headband and all.
Once I had a chance to collect my thoughts post-epidural, I put in my requests to my L&D nurse about skin-to-skin time and nursing during the vitamin K administration. Dr. H was on board with the same mode of delivery with her delivering Nina's top shoulder and me reaching down to pull the rest of her out and onto my chest. She also offered to keep silent if I wanted to claim an unmedicated delivery, which was sweet of her. I do have to say that my epidural wasn't as heavy as my last one (my last one left me unable to control or feel my legs for hours after my delivery), so at least I could claim a 75% medicated delivery? Not that it matters, I'm kidding.
Everything went great--I got to watch Nina's progress in a mirror, deliver her onto my chest at 10:57 am, assist in wiping away her cheesy vernix, and get to have her hot sausage body against my bare skin for nearly an hour. Josh declined the offer to deliver her, but he did cut her cord. She was a pro with latching on to nurse, and even ventured to open her left eye a bit to check out the scene (the right one stayed closed for a bit). That skin-to-skin time was pure magic. Hot, sticky, melty magic. After about 45 minutes we were both satisfied, so I okay'ed the start of her torture. She yipped a bit with the vitamin K, but then went back to nursing. Eye gooped, weighed (7 lbs 7.73 oz), measured (20 in), she then got diapered and given back to us. There was a nursing student there who followed me from triage through trans, and she seemed very appreciative to have been allowed to observe--apparently I was a model patient as my seasoned labor nurse (who I knew from UMC and have seen in my office as a patient) said to her, "They don't all do this well."
I can't explain how nice skin-to-skin is. We did some post-bath skin-to-skin last night, and even Josh got some STS action. She's such a soft little toaster. I'm sad that I didn't do that much with Elena, but so grateful to have experienced its glory now. It totally rivals the awesomeness of the epidural.
She's been great, nursing like a pro (though I think my technique and well-conditioned equipment help), and even had a nice 4 hour stretch of sleep last night. I'm hoping for the same tonight, but we'll see. Who knows, this post got interrupted by Elena waking, needing a splinter removal, demanding a bandaid, going back to sleep, and then waking up again. This should be interesting!
Elena and I read (or started to at least) Angelina's Baby Sister the night before the delivery. Angelina throws a temper tantrum and trashes her room when she feels she's not getting any attention, and then her mom pours on the love after her parents and grandparents witness her poor behavior. It was about that point in the book where Elena said to me, "I don't like that book. No, Mommy," and made me close it. I guess that explains her initial reluctance to even acknowledge Elena in the first few minutes of their meeting, choosing instead to hang her head over the side of the bed and look at the floor, kicking her feet.
She warmed up pretty fast, however, and was soon hugging Nina incessantly and now can't keep her hands off of her. There were many "I want my baby sister" whines tonight after she came home from daycare. The two nursed simultaneously a few times, and she'd reach out and stroke Nina's hair, or toes, or hands (depending on how they were both positioned). Very sweet.
After Elena's birth, I detailed her birth story in my journal. I guess I'll go electronic with Nina's.
As I mentioned, I had my doctor strip my membranes at my 1:00 appointment on Tuesday. After the appointment I had irregular contractions that evening going on into the night, waking me up some. Elena must have known something was up because she kept waking up as well--a real restful night for all of us! Around 5 am they started to get more regular, and I needed to breathe through them a bit more, but nothing a little yogic breathing couldn't handle. I had a half-schedule of patients that morning, with the remainder of the morning to be spent fielding lab results and calls from the practice's patients. By 6 am, I was still thinking that I could go in and finish my morning session. By 6:30, I thought that wasn't going to be possible, but I could still swing by and sign some prescriptions I had printed the night before. And by 7:30, I let that ship sail as well.
I had called Josh's mom around 6:30, and she was planning to be at our house by 8. By the time she got to our house, I couldn't stand to be in any position but on my hands and knees during contractions. Luckily Josh got there a few minutes after Lynn did, and we were soon off to the hospital. I told Josh in the car that if they checked me and I was 6 cm, then I would try the tub, but if I was 7 cm, "I'm just getting the f---ing epidural." I went on to say, "Yeah, I know the body produces endorphins and all that crap, but come on." I guess rational brain handily won the battle against romantic vision brain.
I was 7 cm when they checked me in triage, and shortly thereafter I was wheeled (on hands and knees) to my room. IV placement, labs, calling anesthesia (and waiting for labs) all took a little bit of time, and my epidural was in some time after 9:45. Just before the anesthesiologist arrived, I was starting to panic with contractions, annoyed at all the tethering (BP cuff, IV, etc) and feeling nauseated and hot. I just don't know how people tolerate even more intensity coupled with actually having to do something during contractions. Post-epidual I was relaxed, nice and cool, and insanely thirsty (and still answering questions from the triage nurse, not even the L&D nurse). In triage I had learned that someone else was covering my doctor's patients (such as myself), and was sort of disappointed, but in too much pain to care. Right around epidural time, my nurse told me that Dr. H was going to come in just for my delivery, which she did, straight from her step aerobics class, headband and all.
Once I had a chance to collect my thoughts post-epidural, I put in my requests to my L&D nurse about skin-to-skin time and nursing during the vitamin K administration. Dr. H was on board with the same mode of delivery with her delivering Nina's top shoulder and me reaching down to pull the rest of her out and onto my chest. She also offered to keep silent if I wanted to claim an unmedicated delivery, which was sweet of her. I do have to say that my epidural wasn't as heavy as my last one (my last one left me unable to control or feel my legs for hours after my delivery), so at least I could claim a 75% medicated delivery? Not that it matters, I'm kidding.
Everything went great--I got to watch Nina's progress in a mirror, deliver her onto my chest at 10:57 am, assist in wiping away her cheesy vernix, and get to have her hot sausage body against my bare skin for nearly an hour. Josh declined the offer to deliver her, but he did cut her cord. She was a pro with latching on to nurse, and even ventured to open her left eye a bit to check out the scene (the right one stayed closed for a bit). That skin-to-skin time was pure magic. Hot, sticky, melty magic. After about 45 minutes we were both satisfied, so I okay'ed the start of her torture. She yipped a bit with the vitamin K, but then went back to nursing. Eye gooped, weighed (7 lbs 7.73 oz), measured (20 in), she then got diapered and given back to us. There was a nursing student there who followed me from triage through trans, and she seemed very appreciative to have been allowed to observe--apparently I was a model patient as my seasoned labor nurse (who I knew from UMC and have seen in my office as a patient) said to her, "They don't all do this well."
I can't explain how nice skin-to-skin is. We did some post-bath skin-to-skin last night, and even Josh got some STS action. She's such a soft little toaster. I'm sad that I didn't do that much with Elena, but so grateful to have experienced its glory now. It totally rivals the awesomeness of the epidural.
She's been great, nursing like a pro (though I think my technique and well-conditioned equipment help), and even had a nice 4 hour stretch of sleep last night. I'm hoping for the same tonight, but we'll see. Who knows, this post got interrupted by Elena waking, needing a splinter removal, demanding a bandaid, going back to sleep, and then waking up again. This should be interesting!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
This Is It!
*Blog title of course sung to the tune of Huey Lewis and the News' song*
I don't know if this is it, but it sure feels like early labor. I had an appointment today and my doctor said I was 4 cm dilated already, which I just don't believe because I think I would have been having more contractions. Either way, I asked her to strip my membranes since she is on call tonight (and then not again until Thursday night!). So we'll see.
Either way, I don't think I've explored on my blog my ambivalence about "a birth plan", and I wanted to do that before having the baby. Last time, I was also ambivalent. My mom had three "natural" childbirths, and despite her tight set jaw when one of my friends told her how easy her delivery had been with an epidural, I still felt (feel?) like having an unmedicated delivery was something that I wanted to experience. Or at least an unmedicated labor for as much as I could stand--let's face it, I don't have the highest pain tolerance. With Elena, I had excruciating back pain that began about 8-10 hours after my contractions had started up... and I was only 3-4 cm at that point. On one of my last ultrasounds of Elena, my doctor noted that she was "sunny side up", meaning the back of her big ol' head was wedged right up against my sacrum. I think Elena stayed that way until she turned at the end... or at least I hope that was the case. Otherwise, I really am a wimp because I could NOT stand the pain, and was so thankful to finally get my epidural after getting totally stoned with IV pain medication (when really I wanted to try the jacuzzi room, but was in too much pain to think of it). I called my mom and sister after getting my epidural when I wasn't so high to tell them that the Stadol I had been given "was like smoking 10 joints." I giggled so much during that conversation--which was good, considering I was giggling in between contractions and crying with back pain during them prior to the epidural. (I apologized to the anesthesiologist for "messing with his area" in putting IcyHot on my low back...)
My actual delivery was wonderful--2.5 pushes, got to deliver Elena up onto my chest and watch with a mirror. Easy breezy. But she did take a while to come back to me after they toweled her off. That part I would like to change, but we'll get there.
I still have this ridiculous notion of having an unmedicated delivery--"natural childbirth" is just so romanticized, and before I was pregnant I thought maybe I'd look into HypoBirthing or something. My rational brain keeps telling me that there is no prize for forgoing medication, but my emotional brain keeps thinking of my mom and my friends who had their babies "naturally". I keep using quotes because my rational brain realizes that a vaginal birth is natural, yet somehow the addition of medication negates that experience in the minds of many, sometimes even my own. But the more I think of it, the more those stories just sound terrible--wrenching, burning pain; hours of suffering through contractions... Who wants to go through that when you don't have to? Hence my ambivalence, because I'm still curious.
I have been addicted to this one website, SpinningBabies.com. Basically, the creator of the site (who does workshops and the like and has midwives from all over emailing and calling her for advice) outlines a bunch of maneuvers/exercises to keep babies in the OA position (back of the head towards the pubic bone) to facilitate an easier birth. Have I been doing the exercises? Of course not. Have I contacted a doula who might be more helpful than the deer-caught-in-headlights husband I had when I was paralyzed with pain with Elena? Sort of--I emailed her last week, but didn't follow up with a phone call which is really what I knew should be done. Either way, SpinningBabies.com is pretty cool, and the source of the rebozo comment that I made on Facebook a while back (Josh did help me with the pelvic release the other night, so maybe he'll warm up to the rebozo after all).
So, meds or no meds, that is the question. But I would really like to labor in the jacuzzi room (our tub at home is too shallow and a little narrow). I would also like to hang on to Nina for an hour or so, doing skin-to-skin uninterrupted during that time and allowing her to nurse. I would also like for them to administer the vitamin K while I am nursing, since nursing during vaccines seems to help Elena tolerate them very well (she's only cried the one time she wasn't nursing due to the nurse's preference in positioning!). That whole painful association with nursing thing is totally bunk (in my opinion which I will not research at this time) since an AAP supported use of pacifiers in the first month is for painful procedures. Sucking and being close to mom are immensely comforting. And then after the first hour they can do the eye goop and weigh her.
So that's my birth plan. Read it and weep, St. Joe's nurses. :) Anyway, we'll see how good of a doula Josh will be this time around, seeing as he just peeked over my shoulder (and doesn't otherwise read my blogs).
Ugh, let this be labor! I don't want to work my stupid half day tomorrow!!
I don't know if this is it, but it sure feels like early labor. I had an appointment today and my doctor said I was 4 cm dilated already, which I just don't believe because I think I would have been having more contractions. Either way, I asked her to strip my membranes since she is on call tonight (and then not again until Thursday night!). So we'll see.
Either way, I don't think I've explored on my blog my ambivalence about "a birth plan", and I wanted to do that before having the baby. Last time, I was also ambivalent. My mom had three "natural" childbirths, and despite her tight set jaw when one of my friends told her how easy her delivery had been with an epidural, I still felt (feel?) like having an unmedicated delivery was something that I wanted to experience. Or at least an unmedicated labor for as much as I could stand--let's face it, I don't have the highest pain tolerance. With Elena, I had excruciating back pain that began about 8-10 hours after my contractions had started up... and I was only 3-4 cm at that point. On one of my last ultrasounds of Elena, my doctor noted that she was "sunny side up", meaning the back of her big ol' head was wedged right up against my sacrum. I think Elena stayed that way until she turned at the end... or at least I hope that was the case. Otherwise, I really am a wimp because I could NOT stand the pain, and was so thankful to finally get my epidural after getting totally stoned with IV pain medication (when really I wanted to try the jacuzzi room, but was in too much pain to think of it). I called my mom and sister after getting my epidural when I wasn't so high to tell them that the Stadol I had been given "was like smoking 10 joints." I giggled so much during that conversation--which was good, considering I was giggling in between contractions and crying with back pain during them prior to the epidural. (I apologized to the anesthesiologist for "messing with his area" in putting IcyHot on my low back...)
My actual delivery was wonderful--2.5 pushes, got to deliver Elena up onto my chest and watch with a mirror. Easy breezy. But she did take a while to come back to me after they toweled her off. That part I would like to change, but we'll get there.
I still have this ridiculous notion of having an unmedicated delivery--"natural childbirth" is just so romanticized, and before I was pregnant I thought maybe I'd look into HypoBirthing or something. My rational brain keeps telling me that there is no prize for forgoing medication, but my emotional brain keeps thinking of my mom and my friends who had their babies "naturally". I keep using quotes because my rational brain realizes that a vaginal birth is natural, yet somehow the addition of medication negates that experience in the minds of many, sometimes even my own. But the more I think of it, the more those stories just sound terrible--wrenching, burning pain; hours of suffering through contractions... Who wants to go through that when you don't have to? Hence my ambivalence, because I'm still curious.
I have been addicted to this one website, SpinningBabies.com. Basically, the creator of the site (who does workshops and the like and has midwives from all over emailing and calling her for advice) outlines a bunch of maneuvers/exercises to keep babies in the OA position (back of the head towards the pubic bone) to facilitate an easier birth. Have I been doing the exercises? Of course not. Have I contacted a doula who might be more helpful than the deer-caught-in-headlights husband I had when I was paralyzed with pain with Elena? Sort of--I emailed her last week, but didn't follow up with a phone call which is really what I knew should be done. Either way, SpinningBabies.com is pretty cool, and the source of the rebozo comment that I made on Facebook a while back (Josh did help me with the pelvic release the other night, so maybe he'll warm up to the rebozo after all).
So, meds or no meds, that is the question. But I would really like to labor in the jacuzzi room (our tub at home is too shallow and a little narrow). I would also like to hang on to Nina for an hour or so, doing skin-to-skin uninterrupted during that time and allowing her to nurse. I would also like for them to administer the vitamin K while I am nursing, since nursing during vaccines seems to help Elena tolerate them very well (she's only cried the one time she wasn't nursing due to the nurse's preference in positioning!). That whole painful association with nursing thing is totally bunk (in my opinion which I will not research at this time) since an AAP supported use of pacifiers in the first month is for painful procedures. Sucking and being close to mom are immensely comforting. And then after the first hour they can do the eye goop and weigh her.
So that's my birth plan. Read it and weep, St. Joe's nurses. :) Anyway, we'll see how good of a doula Josh will be this time around, seeing as he just peeked over my shoulder (and doesn't otherwise read my blogs).
Ugh, let this be labor! I don't want to work my stupid half day tomorrow!!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Final Countdown!
Phew! Two full clinic days down, one to go. Next week I just have two half days of clinic. I half-wish that following my last clinic session (or even during it), I go into labor to maximize my time off. I would entirely wish that if Josh wasn't scheduled to be on call the weekend before my August 3rd due date. Dumb scheduling person.
I've been having a ton of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately. At night it seems like any time I change positions, things get all tight in my belly. Nina was a little quiet the other night, and I started to freak out a bit, thinking that I hadn't even felt her have hiccups lately--after an hour of worrying and wondering what I was going to do with Elena since Josh was out of town, she gave a stretch and proceeded to hiccup. And today I've been feeling her little knees in my ribs all day. Squirmer.
Poor Nina. I think I may have mentioned already that I'm having guilt over not being more attentive to this pregnancy than I was to my last. I know that having a kiddo to run after gives you a great excuse for not practicing yoga regularly like you did last time, but even taking prenatals has been a struggle for me. I also stymied myself a bit by being taken in with the concentrated nature of Nordic Natural's liquid fish oil. There is SO much EPA and DHA in just a small amount... But I haven't taken it more than a handful of times, unlike the handfuls of capsules I was downing with Elena. Ellen is right--that stuff is nasty to take on a regular basis. All of this led to Josh's conclusion that "we should just stick a propeller beanie on Nina right when she comes out". I just can't get the damned propeller beanie out of my head these days. Hopefully lots of love and post-natal DHA, extended nursing, and wanting to be like her sister lead to development similar to Elena.
Anyway. I can't wait to have some time away from work. Between squeezing in end-of-the-year make up clinics in June and hurry-up-maternity-leave-is-coming squeezing in of clinics in July, I am totally spent. No more clinics!!! I felt really rusty last week seeing patients--I fell WAY far behind early on, in part due to blanking out mid-sentence and also in large part due to the complexity of my patients' social issues. I get so jealous of some resident clinics that have visits for otitis media or well child checks. I think I need to diurese my patient panel a bit to make room for more straight-forward visits. Oh well.
Enough rambling. I'm being kicked in the bladder and my mush-brain needs sleep.
I've been having a ton of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately. At night it seems like any time I change positions, things get all tight in my belly. Nina was a little quiet the other night, and I started to freak out a bit, thinking that I hadn't even felt her have hiccups lately--after an hour of worrying and wondering what I was going to do with Elena since Josh was out of town, she gave a stretch and proceeded to hiccup. And today I've been feeling her little knees in my ribs all day. Squirmer.
Poor Nina. I think I may have mentioned already that I'm having guilt over not being more attentive to this pregnancy than I was to my last. I know that having a kiddo to run after gives you a great excuse for not practicing yoga regularly like you did last time, but even taking prenatals has been a struggle for me. I also stymied myself a bit by being taken in with the concentrated nature of Nordic Natural's liquid fish oil. There is SO much EPA and DHA in just a small amount... But I haven't taken it more than a handful of times, unlike the handfuls of capsules I was downing with Elena. Ellen is right--that stuff is nasty to take on a regular basis. All of this led to Josh's conclusion that "we should just stick a propeller beanie on Nina right when she comes out". I just can't get the damned propeller beanie out of my head these days. Hopefully lots of love and post-natal DHA, extended nursing, and wanting to be like her sister lead to development similar to Elena.
Anyway. I can't wait to have some time away from work. Between squeezing in end-of-the-year make up clinics in June and hurry-up-maternity-leave-is-coming squeezing in of clinics in July, I am totally spent. No more clinics!!! I felt really rusty last week seeing patients--I fell WAY far behind early on, in part due to blanking out mid-sentence and also in large part due to the complexity of my patients' social issues. I get so jealous of some resident clinics that have visits for otitis media or well child checks. I think I need to diurese my patient panel a bit to make room for more straight-forward visits. Oh well.
Enough rambling. I'm being kicked in the bladder and my mush-brain needs sleep.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
One Man's Laundry Bed is Another Man's Kitchen Table.
While Josh lives it up in Chicago with med school friends (wedding), I am with Elena in our swampified cool home (the repair guy accidentally switched plugs, but now all is right in the world). Next weekend is MINE. I am planning yoga, pedicure, and maybe even a half glass of wine--all unbeknownst to Josh, of course.
We had a busy day yesterday of early park time with Maya and GiGi, followed by a bunk trip to pick up the $1300 of breastfeeding supplies I bought for the clinic, and a nice nap. Lunch meeting with my two intern advisees followed by her school's end of the year show, then to TJ's to get salad fixings to bring to Patricia's for dinner. Phew!
The end of the year show was something else. I love Elena's school and teachers. Let me just say that before I search frantically for a way to sound non-judgemental, or at least not so frankly non-judegemental. One of the... more prominent figures? at the school is... someone I wouldn't expect to have dedicated their life to Montessori education based on appearances. Now, appearances are just that, and so I'm trying to be open. But I also know that this figure of the school is intimately involved with the choreography for a bulk of the show. Holy crap. The sound track to the show was... really bad. Not so much the "celebrate the world" numbers that each classroom did, but more the intro and repeated interlude song choices. Even using Daft Punk's Around the World was a little odd to me for an infant through 3rd grade show... The interlude song really made everyone want to stab their ear drums repeatedly with sharpened pencils--if you haven't heard ATC's All Around the World, listen on the link, and then imagine hearing it like ten times as the "set" changes at your toddler's school's show.
I didn't bring Elena to the show last year--she was in the infant classroom then, and I thought there really wouldn't be much point. But she's been singing her little butt off to and from school, and practicing her jumping at home, so I thought we'd give it a try. As I handed her over to a stranger (the school has two locations--none of the eastsiders were manning the kid drop off point), she looked at me with panic in her little eyes and started to cry, "I want my mommy!" I felt bad about that, even though that has become a common refrain in our household. And then once the show started and that awful music started blaring, I had to ask myself why the hell I had brought her to this piece of crap show. I started to get teary myself, and was thankful I was in the back row with a buffer of empty seats next to me with the lights dimmed.
Elena's number was showing off how they can walk on a balance beam, go up and down stairs, and then jump over a pole. I have every second of it on film, in case you want to see. Really thrilling stuff, which further made me feel a bit guilty for bringing her since half the time she was just staring at the audience with a deer in headlights look on her face.
That was early in the show--then I had to sit through all of the older kids, which was rough. I kept looking to the front rows that were reserved for the kids who had done their thing already, and couldn't find Elena--I think she was on the opposite side of one of her teachers and so I had trouble seeing her. And then she left her seat and started her jumping and dancing, and I softened. I also busted out the video camera again. It was so cute to see her and her friends cutting loose. So what if Turner pushed her a couple of times--she was trying to hug him. The last number was a parent-participation freeze-dance, and she was so happy when I came and got her to dance. So all in all, the stupid show was a success.
Today we ventured out with the dogs to the dog park. For the record, taking a toddler and two dogs to the dog park is just as challenging as doing it with a newborn. Poor dogs. They'll never get any action until they're too old to participate. Elena, Neko, and I had pool time while Isaac hydrated and passed out on the tile, and now the bug is sleeping.
Which brings me finally to my subject. Since we converted our guest room to Elena's room, we lost our clean laundry pile storage. We stink at laundry folding. The first few loads were easy, and I questioned why the task of folding laundry had ever defeated me in the past. And here we are, Josh having worked three weeks in a row only to fly off to Chicago, me 37+ weeks pregnant and recovering from getting in extra clinics in June before the new academic year July 1st, and then getting in as much clinical time before maternity leave. And my Chica (I think her mom retired?) got cancelled because of the swamp cooler last week and is on vacation next week. That is why our kitchen table has become our new laundry storage spot. It's a nice height for folding and so conspicuous that I thought it might lend itself well to getting the laundry folded, but alas, now we have a mountain in our eating space.
Ugh. At least I'm washing the diapers... One school load had sat outside for the two weeks we weren't living at home--yay pregnancy for getting me out of processing those! Bug is up. Time to entertain. Glad I have the YouTube link for All Around the World...
We had a busy day yesterday of early park time with Maya and GiGi, followed by a bunk trip to pick up the $1300 of breastfeeding supplies I bought for the clinic, and a nice nap. Lunch meeting with my two intern advisees followed by her school's end of the year show, then to TJ's to get salad fixings to bring to Patricia's for dinner. Phew!
The end of the year show was something else. I love Elena's school and teachers. Let me just say that before I search frantically for a way to sound non-judgemental, or at least not so frankly non-judegemental. One of the... more prominent figures? at the school is... someone I wouldn't expect to have dedicated their life to Montessori education based on appearances. Now, appearances are just that, and so I'm trying to be open. But I also know that this figure of the school is intimately involved with the choreography for a bulk of the show. Holy crap. The sound track to the show was... really bad. Not so much the "celebrate the world" numbers that each classroom did, but more the intro and repeated interlude song choices. Even using Daft Punk's Around the World was a little odd to me for an infant through 3rd grade show... The interlude song really made everyone want to stab their ear drums repeatedly with sharpened pencils--if you haven't heard ATC's All Around the World, listen on the link, and then imagine hearing it like ten times as the "set" changes at your toddler's school's show.
I didn't bring Elena to the show last year--she was in the infant classroom then, and I thought there really wouldn't be much point. But she's been singing her little butt off to and from school, and practicing her jumping at home, so I thought we'd give it a try. As I handed her over to a stranger (the school has two locations--none of the eastsiders were manning the kid drop off point), she looked at me with panic in her little eyes and started to cry, "I want my mommy!" I felt bad about that, even though that has become a common refrain in our household. And then once the show started and that awful music started blaring, I had to ask myself why the hell I had brought her to this piece of crap show. I started to get teary myself, and was thankful I was in the back row with a buffer of empty seats next to me with the lights dimmed.
Elena's number was showing off how they can walk on a balance beam, go up and down stairs, and then jump over a pole. I have every second of it on film, in case you want to see. Really thrilling stuff, which further made me feel a bit guilty for bringing her since half the time she was just staring at the audience with a deer in headlights look on her face.
That was early in the show--then I had to sit through all of the older kids, which was rough. I kept looking to the front rows that were reserved for the kids who had done their thing already, and couldn't find Elena--I think she was on the opposite side of one of her teachers and so I had trouble seeing her. And then she left her seat and started her jumping and dancing, and I softened. I also busted out the video camera again. It was so cute to see her and her friends cutting loose. So what if Turner pushed her a couple of times--she was trying to hug him. The last number was a parent-participation freeze-dance, and she was so happy when I came and got her to dance. So all in all, the stupid show was a success.
Today we ventured out with the dogs to the dog park. For the record, taking a toddler and two dogs to the dog park is just as challenging as doing it with a newborn. Poor dogs. They'll never get any action until they're too old to participate. Elena, Neko, and I had pool time while Isaac hydrated and passed out on the tile, and now the bug is sleeping.
Which brings me finally to my subject. Since we converted our guest room to Elena's room, we lost our clean laundry pile storage. We stink at laundry folding. The first few loads were easy, and I questioned why the task of folding laundry had ever defeated me in the past. And here we are, Josh having worked three weeks in a row only to fly off to Chicago, me 37+ weeks pregnant and recovering from getting in extra clinics in June before the new academic year July 1st, and then getting in as much clinical time before maternity leave. And my Chica (I think her mom retired?) got cancelled because of the swamp cooler last week and is on vacation next week. That is why our kitchen table has become our new laundry storage spot. It's a nice height for folding and so conspicuous that I thought it might lend itself well to getting the laundry folded, but alas, now we have a mountain in our eating space.
Ugh. At least I'm washing the diapers... One school load had sat outside for the two weeks we weren't living at home--yay pregnancy for getting me out of processing those! Bug is up. Time to entertain. Glad I have the YouTube link for All Around the World...
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Mixed Monsoon Emotions.
Our house is hot. In planning this blog, I had planned to use the F-bomb to clarify just how freaking hot our house was at that moment. Pretty f-ing hot--our crappy thermostat gauge was reading 90 when Elena and I got home today... There was no relief from the heat when we stepped into the house, and as soon as the sun started to go down, it really felt cooler outside than in.
For those following our swamp cooler drama, it took nearly two weeks for someone to come fix the stupid thing. We had gone through our home warranty company, who contracts with various companies that come and evaluate and fix (if appropriate) the problem. It's worked out well for us in the past--we got a "free" dishwasher out of the deal, for instance.
This incident, however, really made us crazy. Like, really crazy. Or at least it made ME really crazy. And yelly/snappy, mostly at Elena, which is totally not fair but given her unpredictable meltdowns, there has been no fairness for anyone lately.
So, two weeks staying at The Vortex, followed by a repair on Sunday which I really don't think fully addressed the issue. Sunday Elena and I sweated out the afternoon at home as opposed to seeing a play in air conditioning. The guy who came was nice enough, and I giggled when Elena said, "He's back!" after the repairman went to Naughton's to get us a new motor. But that night didn't feel particularly cool to me (Josh may disagree), nor did last night. Only this morning felt a little comfy, but we also had near-record lows in the 70's last night. This evening, however, it was clear that all was not right in the Malo-Pettit swamp cooling world. Josh found a faulty pump, which has led to yet another claim to American Home Shield... so we shall see. Luckily there are two pumps that contribute to the system, and we'll just be getting cooled by old water air for a day or so due to his switch-er-oo.
But let me just put this whole thing in perspective:
--Me: Worked 13 days in a row, just had Sunday off which was spent 10:30 am to 3:30 pm in a sweaty house with a non-napping child who was sleep deprived, 8 months pregnant
--Josh: Still working his three weeks in a row... We haven't really spent time together in...?
--Our family: Staying with Josh's parents for almost TWO WEEKS during this mess
--Elena: Not responding well to sleeping away from home; missing out on 1-1.5 hours nightly of her usual sleep; melting down at drop offs, pick ups, and lunch/pre-nap time at daycare; creating her own entertainment at Grandma and Abuelo's by opening all drawers and messing with their Flavia packets, fondue skewers, stone drink coasters, hitting the dogs
--Tonight: Cooking dinner in 90 degree house, Elena steps in dogs' water dish AGAIN after being asked not to, water gets spilled, two minutes later she runs towards me and slips and falls and hits the back of her head on the floor
I've had it. I cursed at Elena, "reasoning" with her that she only slipped because she spilled water after doing something I asked her not to. I really hope she doesn't start to incorporate the F-bomb into her vocabulary as a regular adjective--I fear that if our cooling situation doesn't resolve, it might. I think she said to me tonight after getting a diaper change (mega poop) and bath, "I did a crap." What? I don't think I use that word regularly.... Anyway--a caution to be extra careful near sponges.
I feel a bit better after working on a breastfeeding project. (Yes, I'm changing the subject--I'm done with our hot house.) I did some content work for DynaMed on their breastfeeding section last year, and they e-mailed me today saying that based on that content, they've written a bullet point type refresher for clinicians that they would like my input on. Since I edited/contributed to the content, they are naming me as an author, AND there is a "small stipend" associated with it. Sweet! I love how this passion just keeps on giving and creating its own opportunities. Also today a colleague emailed me to let me know someone had e-mailed him about some grant funding availability that had to do with breastfeeding. Since I'm so crazy over nursing, I tend to spend a lot of time with moms/babies on the postpartum floor when I am attending our Maternal Child Health service. I got a nice e-mail yesterday (which was also cc'ed to my department head!) from one of the UMC admin people thanking me for my care on the postpartum floor, which was noted by one of the nurses. Anyway--all of this has been really refreshing and has helped me not lose my mind.
So back to my mixed monsoon emotions. This time in Tucson is so magical--we've had some great storms already this month, and I hope the rains continue (though not too much on the fire-ravaged so now flood-prone areas of the state) to cool and nourish the desert. One of Josh's buddies from intern year who had lived in Tucson for a long time said June was the most depressing month due to the incessant sun that had been present for the several months before that. I get it now. The rains are just wonderful, as are the clouds that dance across the sky. I love the stringy gray clouds that fade at the edges, the puffy white ones, the low hanging clouds that cover the mountains, the lighter ones that dance above the peaks... and the soaking rains that sent Elena and me shrieking into the house as the rain came at us under the Malo's patio are just delicious.
I just wished evaporative cooling worked better during July and August!
For those following our swamp cooler drama, it took nearly two weeks for someone to come fix the stupid thing. We had gone through our home warranty company, who contracts with various companies that come and evaluate and fix (if appropriate) the problem. It's worked out well for us in the past--we got a "free" dishwasher out of the deal, for instance.
This incident, however, really made us crazy. Like, really crazy. Or at least it made ME really crazy. And yelly/snappy, mostly at Elena, which is totally not fair but given her unpredictable meltdowns, there has been no fairness for anyone lately.
So, two weeks staying at The Vortex, followed by a repair on Sunday which I really don't think fully addressed the issue. Sunday Elena and I sweated out the afternoon at home as opposed to seeing a play in air conditioning. The guy who came was nice enough, and I giggled when Elena said, "He's back!" after the repairman went to Naughton's to get us a new motor. But that night didn't feel particularly cool to me (Josh may disagree), nor did last night. Only this morning felt a little comfy, but we also had near-record lows in the 70's last night. This evening, however, it was clear that all was not right in the Malo-Pettit swamp cooling world. Josh found a faulty pump, which has led to yet another claim to American Home Shield... so we shall see. Luckily there are two pumps that contribute to the system, and we'll just be getting cooled by old water air for a day or so due to his switch-er-oo.
But let me just put this whole thing in perspective:
--Me: Worked 13 days in a row, just had Sunday off which was spent 10:30 am to 3:30 pm in a sweaty house with a non-napping child who was sleep deprived, 8 months pregnant
--Josh: Still working his three weeks in a row... We haven't really spent time together in...?
--Our family: Staying with Josh's parents for almost TWO WEEKS during this mess
--Elena: Not responding well to sleeping away from home; missing out on 1-1.5 hours nightly of her usual sleep; melting down at drop offs, pick ups, and lunch/pre-nap time at daycare; creating her own entertainment at Grandma and Abuelo's by opening all drawers and messing with their Flavia packets, fondue skewers, stone drink coasters, hitting the dogs
--Tonight: Cooking dinner in 90 degree house, Elena steps in dogs' water dish AGAIN after being asked not to, water gets spilled, two minutes later she runs towards me and slips and falls and hits the back of her head on the floor
I've had it. I cursed at Elena, "reasoning" with her that she only slipped because she spilled water after doing something I asked her not to. I really hope she doesn't start to incorporate the F-bomb into her vocabulary as a regular adjective--I fear that if our cooling situation doesn't resolve, it might. I think she said to me tonight after getting a diaper change (mega poop) and bath, "I did a crap." What? I don't think I use that word regularly.... Anyway--a caution to be extra careful near sponges.
I feel a bit better after working on a breastfeeding project. (Yes, I'm changing the subject--I'm done with our hot house.) I did some content work for DynaMed on their breastfeeding section last year, and they e-mailed me today saying that based on that content, they've written a bullet point type refresher for clinicians that they would like my input on. Since I edited/contributed to the content, they are naming me as an author, AND there is a "small stipend" associated with it. Sweet! I love how this passion just keeps on giving and creating its own opportunities. Also today a colleague emailed me to let me know someone had e-mailed him about some grant funding availability that had to do with breastfeeding. Since I'm so crazy over nursing, I tend to spend a lot of time with moms/babies on the postpartum floor when I am attending our Maternal Child Health service. I got a nice e-mail yesterday (which was also cc'ed to my department head!) from one of the UMC admin people thanking me for my care on the postpartum floor, which was noted by one of the nurses. Anyway--all of this has been really refreshing and has helped me not lose my mind.
So back to my mixed monsoon emotions. This time in Tucson is so magical--we've had some great storms already this month, and I hope the rains continue (though not too much on the fire-ravaged so now flood-prone areas of the state) to cool and nourish the desert. One of Josh's buddies from intern year who had lived in Tucson for a long time said June was the most depressing month due to the incessant sun that had been present for the several months before that. I get it now. The rains are just wonderful, as are the clouds that dance across the sky. I love the stringy gray clouds that fade at the edges, the puffy white ones, the low hanging clouds that cover the mountains, the lighter ones that dance above the peaks... and the soaking rains that sent Elena and me shrieking into the house as the rain came at us under the Malo's patio are just delicious.
I just wished evaporative cooling worked better during July and August!
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Love-Frustrate Relationship with Toddlerdom.
Elena became "willful" as Josh and I liked to say a bit before her first birthday. Overall, she has been great (remember my comment yesterday about her flushing the toilet for me after I puked?). But the past few weeks have been challenging. Mornings have become wrought with tears, throwing herself down on the floor and refusing to go into her early care classroom (which was a barrier we had just overcome a short time before then), and lots of meltdowns upon returning home (if not in the car).
To be frank, I'm not in the mood. In the past week I've developed some annoying twitchy type pain in my low belly which has caused me to walk a LOT slower than usual and with a bit of a waddle. I've got just enough energy to grab her shoes and sit down and say, "Come put your shoes on please." And that's it. I just repeat my plea, becoming more and more desperate each time. And she's listening less and less.
I still love her, and giggle even at her observations that, from anyone older, might be insulting. For example, she was rubbing my heels a while back and looked up and said, "Mommy crunchy." True. And a few days later she was rubbing my armpits, suddenly getting a furrowed brow as she whined, "Owie! Owie!!" I guess she tells it like it is... I just thought it wouldn't happen before her second birthday.
Anyway, back to this new stage of toddlerdom. I think people give advice to ignore tantrums because by the time tantrums happen, parents are just so fed up it's just about the only thing to do. I get Parenting magazine (mysteriously, since I never subscribed to it), and the other day came across a new issue whose cover featured the story: "The Terrible Twos: A Myth?" The actual headline on the cover was lacking in the question mark and made it sound like it was definitely a myth. The article basically says that it's more of 1-4 that is terrible, depending on your kid. Great.
So in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy the sweeter moments of toddlerdom, like the way she clings to certain things that I've said. We read Toot & Puddle every night, and I must have said something in the way of a warning to Toot as he lounged in the water with a bunch of hippos in Africa. Each time we get to that illustration she says, "Watch out! Hippos bite you!"
After reading, I turn the lights off and tell her stories from my childhood. She's gotten sick of stories about "the little girl" and opts more for stories of "the little boy" which are modeled after my brother Neil's experiences. I've told her about the GI Joe Notarianni yard finger smash story (for days after she kept saying, "Boy hurt finger. Rock."), the time when the babysitter lost Neil, the time when we lost our hamster in the yard, Neil's baseball career playing for Buco Insurance, the murals Neil painted in high school, and a few other gems. The one she likes the best is the story of how I brought home the chicken pox (I just made Neil's reaction really dramatic to make him the star of the story). In reality, I've only told it twice. But the other day we were driving home from school and she told me, "I scratchy." I asked her if she meant that she was itchy and she replied, "Chicken pox!" I hope not--she just got her first varicella vaccine a couple of weeks ago.
5 more weeks of my baby being my baby before we get a new baby. I'll do my best to tune out all the tantrums, and bask in the fact that she can enunciate quite clearly, "I don't like it!"
Toddlers.
To be frank, I'm not in the mood. In the past week I've developed some annoying twitchy type pain in my low belly which has caused me to walk a LOT slower than usual and with a bit of a waddle. I've got just enough energy to grab her shoes and sit down and say, "Come put your shoes on please." And that's it. I just repeat my plea, becoming more and more desperate each time. And she's listening less and less.
I still love her, and giggle even at her observations that, from anyone older, might be insulting. For example, she was rubbing my heels a while back and looked up and said, "Mommy crunchy." True. And a few days later she was rubbing my armpits, suddenly getting a furrowed brow as she whined, "Owie! Owie!!" I guess she tells it like it is... I just thought it wouldn't happen before her second birthday.
Anyway, back to this new stage of toddlerdom. I think people give advice to ignore tantrums because by the time tantrums happen, parents are just so fed up it's just about the only thing to do. I get Parenting magazine (mysteriously, since I never subscribed to it), and the other day came across a new issue whose cover featured the story: "The Terrible Twos: A Myth?" The actual headline on the cover was lacking in the question mark and made it sound like it was definitely a myth. The article basically says that it's more of 1-4 that is terrible, depending on your kid. Great.
So in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy the sweeter moments of toddlerdom, like the way she clings to certain things that I've said. We read Toot & Puddle every night, and I must have said something in the way of a warning to Toot as he lounged in the water with a bunch of hippos in Africa. Each time we get to that illustration she says, "Watch out! Hippos bite you!"
After reading, I turn the lights off and tell her stories from my childhood. She's gotten sick of stories about "the little girl" and opts more for stories of "the little boy" which are modeled after my brother Neil's experiences. I've told her about the GI Joe Notarianni yard finger smash story (for days after she kept saying, "Boy hurt finger. Rock."), the time when the babysitter lost Neil, the time when we lost our hamster in the yard, Neil's baseball career playing for Buco Insurance, the murals Neil painted in high school, and a few other gems. The one she likes the best is the story of how I brought home the chicken pox (I just made Neil's reaction really dramatic to make him the star of the story). In reality, I've only told it twice. But the other day we were driving home from school and she told me, "I scratchy." I asked her if she meant that she was itchy and she replied, "Chicken pox!" I hope not--she just got her first varicella vaccine a couple of weeks ago.
5 more weeks of my baby being my baby before we get a new baby. I'll do my best to tune out all the tantrums, and bask in the fact that she can enunciate quite clearly, "I don't like it!"
Toddlers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)