8 weeks already?

I have been a very neglectful blogging mother. I guess I can't even call myself a blogging mother when almost two months lapse between posts. I didn't even post to announce the arrival of another cousin, Mr. Nathaniel Robert Buker, who made his appearance June 28 -- 3 days before his scheduled c-section and 10 days before his due date! Here's a photo of Jenni's boys -- William, Jonathan, and new Nathan. When we went to visit, Jonathan kept telling us that "thems babies match." It was so precious.


Motherhood has been quite the rollercoaster, which I knew it would be. Most days consist of just trying to make it through. Now that Aly is awake a lot more, I do my best to keep her entertained. We'll go from bouncy chair to tummy time to this awesome animal tunnel to swing to just walking around and looking at stuff. I wish I could take her for walks during the day, but it's too darn hot!

I took Aly to a company picnic to show her off, and I was asked what surprised me most about motherhood. I didn't have an answer at the time. After the picnic, I went to visit Melissa, who used to work with me at Goodwill, and she asked the same question. After some thought, I came up with an answer.

What surprised me most was the overwhelming emotion that comes over me when my baby is hurt. While we were in Massachusetts for Nathan's arrival, Jonathan was showing Aly a toy. He is always so gentle with her, but on this occasion he flipped the toy out, and the hard plastic hit her in the forehead. Without thinking, I said, "Don't hit her!" and she immediately started to cry. Jonathan went running to his room and cried too. I couldn't go console him and tell him she was fine because I was also crying! I couldn't control it. Aly stopped crying after 30 seconds, but I cried for 5 minutes. I just went into the bathroom for privacy and let it all out. A few days later, Aly had her 1-month checkup and had to get a shot. The shot went in, she screamed bloody murder, and I almost lost it again. I guess it's a good thing Jonathan had accidentally hit her, or I would have lost it in the doctor's office. It is so hard to see your baby in pain, and I had no idea how hard until now. I hear it never gets any easier.

One of my favorite things about being a mommie is seeing my baby happy. She has started smiling and cooing a lot more over the past week, and it just melts my heart. She woke up at 5:30am the other morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, and she was smiling and cooing at everything. I told her she's lucky she's so darn cute, because I sure didn't want to be awake that early!

People often ask me how Aly is sleeping, so I'll touch on that too. Her pattern has been to take a nap around 7pm and then stay up till 2am. When she finally goes to sleep, she gives me a good 5 or 6 hours. She wakes to eat, then sleeps another 2 or 3 hours depending on the first stretch. Since I return to work in 3 weeks, I'm trying to adjust her schedule so that she goes to bed at a more reasonable hour. For two nights, I was successful and she went to sleep just before 10. She wasn't pleased with me screwing with her schedule though, and she got back at me the following night by staunchly refusing to sleep. I finally got her to give me a 45-minute stretch in her swing, then she was awake for 45 minutes, then she gave me the best gift ever: 7 hours and 45 minutes of sleep all at once!! I told her she made me so happy. I wonder if she'll continue with such long stretches or go back to 5-hour stretches. Only time will tell.

Speaking of sleep, it's 3am and she is asleep and I am not. What is wrong with this picture? Goodnight, moon!

Aly has arrived!

My baby girl, Alysse Vienne, was born June 1, at 10:40 a.m., weighing 8 lbs 3 oz, and measuring 20.25 inches long. She has a full head of brown hair and beautiful gray eyes.


Okay, those are the basics, now for the full story of her lightning-fast delivery… (Warning: there is plenty of TMI to go around in this entry.)

Sunday night, I was in the Due in June 2009 chat on CafeMom and getting jealous of the ladies who were getting induced on Monday, so I whipped up a castor oil milkshake and downed it around 11 p.m. I didn't have any trouble with it before I went to sleep. Every time I woke up to pee, however, I also went diarrhea, which came out as easily as pee. Fun stuff. When I woke up at 8:25 a.m., I figured the castor oil hadn't helped me go into labor since I didn't wake up ready to go. Or did I?

I went to the bathroom, then got back in bed, where my water promptly broke at 8:30 a.m.! The water was brownish-yellowish like my diarrhea, so I was confused by it at first and was unconvinced that my water had actually broken. Mom told me to call the doctor, but I wanted to wait to make sure I was really in labor.

Shortly after my water broke, I began feeling very intense, timeable period cramps. I had expected contractions to hurt all over — not just low in my abdomen — and I thought I’d be able to see my belly getting hard and going lax. When I realized the cramps were coming and going, I thought I’d better time them. I used a web site called Contraction Master because I couldn’t focus on a clock and remember details. I soon found my cramps were lasting 45 seconds to a minute and coming every two minutes. At this point, I realized I had to call the doctor.

I made that call at 9:15 a.m., and they got me an appointment to come into the office at 10:40 a.m. to get checked out and make sure I was progressing. I didn’t want to get to the hospital only to be told it was false labor or to come back later when I’d progressed more. In any event, the contractions got stronger and stronger, and I decided I couldn't wait for the appointment. I told my mom we needed to go, so she was rushing around getting everything we needed to take with us and I was sitting on the toilet refusing to move. It was the most comfortable place to labor.

We left the apartment around 9:45 or 10 a.m. (I’m not sure, as I was preoccupied with the pain), and my mom drove at 85 mph the whole way, with my contractions getting worse and worse all the way. Mom was telling me to breathe through it, and I was screaming at her that I couldn’t and to stop telling me what to do. That reallyfreaked Mom out, because she realized I was in transition.

We were still 15 minutes from the hospital when I felt the urge to push and wasn't able to pant through the contractions. I was screaming and hanging from the oh-shit bar, totally freaking out my mom, who was going faster and faster and passing a cop! The cop ignored us (probably because he saw I was in distress or maybe he wasn’t on duty), so we just kept on going. My mom almost stopped at the side of the road to deliver my baby, but I screamed at her to keep going.

As we pulled up the entrance, my dad was walking up to the hospital (my sister had called him) and my mom asked him to park the car so she could get me upstairs. She was planning to abandon it at the door if he hadn’t been there. She got me a wheelchair and got me into the elevator, and then accidentally got off on the wrong floor. She was looking all around going “Where do we go??” and other people realized I was in labor and told us to go up one more floor. They even rode in the elevator with us despite the fact they were going down.

We got to the desk around 10:30 a.m., and they gave Mom paperwork to fill out. They saw me bearing down during a contraction and wheeled me off, leaving Mom at the desk. They wouldn’t let her back with me until she’d signed everything, and she still has no idea what she signed. I was by myself in the room with the nurses, who were trying to get me to get out of the chair and into the bed, but I was in the middle of a contraction. They were screaming at me, pulled the little lamb I was choking to death out of my hand, pulled my shirt and pants off, lifted me onto the bed, draped a gown over me, pulled my legs back, and checked me. I was complete, and they told me to push. My mom got there at that moment and held my left leg, while the mean nurse held my right leg and some annoying other nurse was stroking my head and telling me “You’re doing great, ma’am.” I wanted to swat her away, but I was too busy grasping the rails and trying to push.

I told them I wanted an epidural, but they said it was too late. So I pushed with two contractions and got her head out, and the doctor told me to stop pushing. My baby wasn’t crying and I didn’t know what was going on. They were trying to suction her, but someone hadn’t put the suction thing together correctly. She also had the cord wrapped around her neck once, which they had to remove before I started pushing again. I was so freaked because I didn’t know what was going on, but I was relieved at the same time because her head was out and that insane pain was gone. Finally they finished suctioning and told me to push, and with my next contraction, she was out! They put her on my tummy only for a second, and then whisked her away.

I was so confused. Why didn’t they let Mom cut the cord? I kept saying, “But she wanted to do it…” and they said they had to get her checked out right away and there wasn’t time. There was meconium in the amniotic fluid, probably because of the castor oil, and she needed to be thoroughly suctioned and evaluated. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they brought her to me and I got to see my angel for the first time. I think my heart stopped — she was just the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and she was mine!

I really think my grandmother had a huge hand in making Aly's birth possible. She passed away June 1, 2008, so it is a very important day to me. She had labors just as quickly as I did, and she didn't even need to push when she had my dad. She just uncrossed her legs in the wheelchair with my dad and out he popped. They had to cut off her stockings to get him out! She would have gotten a kick out of my birth story and how much it was like her. I’m sure she’d be telling everyone she met for years to come about Aly’s grand entrance, and she probably is doing just that wherever she is, and smiling down on me and my beautiful little girl.

Enjoying "kangaroo time" with Aly.

Mammie and Jonathan say hi to Aly.

Aly spends some time with her grandpa.

Aunt Jenni is totally in love with her new niece.

Aly has Uncle Rob wrapped around her little finger.

Getting instructions from a doctor.

Aly gets her first bath.

She doesn't enjoy baths very much.

Mammie did a great job bathing Aly, even if Aly doesn't look happy about it.

Teaching Aly to surf the web.

Welcome, cousin Michael!

Well, Aly's twin cousin Michael wasn't supposed to say hello to the world until June 3, which is when Aly is due to make her appearance. But, well, nature had other plans. Amniotic banding caused his right arm to stop growing after his elbow, and lately it was cutting off his nourishment from the placenta. If he'd stayed inside his mommie even one more week, he would have died. Thank goodness for modern medicine. The little miracle baby was born six weeks early and is obviously a fighter!


Michael Allyn Dimock joined this world on April 22, 2009, weighing in at a whopping 3lb 11oz, and measuring 16 inches in length. He was breathing on his own, but it was labored, so he is getting a little supplemental oxygen. He started getting jaundice today, so he's under powerful heating lamps with his little baby goggles on (it's like he's in a tanning bed). He's feeding through a tube, but his intake has already doubled per feeding since yesterday. He's a good sucker and loves his pacifier. His mama, my sister Rachel, will be leaving the hospital tomorrow, but Michael must stay in his current accommodations until he holds his body temperature on his own, feeds without a tube, and breathes without oxygen. It'll probably be a few weeks yet, but I'm positive he'll be just fine. He's such a strong little guy. I can't wait to meet him!

Third Trimester Pains

I have always been a huge whiner, and people get sick of it, so for the most part I've tried not to whine to excess during this pregnancy... but... UGH! I am in so much pain!!

I think the relaxin and the weight gain have finally caught up with me, because my knees, hips and back are killing me! My knees are especially noticeable for the first time today. I have bad knees (had surgery on the left one when I was 15), and the last time they felt this bad was when I was in Ireland in September after walking around Dublin for a week (just ask Meg about all that whining!). I feel like I need to get a brace for both knees and apply heat therapy to all my joints. Tylenol never works for me, so I'm not bothering with it.

I REALLY hope this pain does not last the remainder of the pregnancy. I may only have 5.5 weeks left, but that is 5.5 weeks too long to go without narcotics for this kind of pain! Somebody shoot me!! I think I'll start researching ways to self-induce...

Baby shower fun! x2

I had my second baby shower on Friday, which means I'm all done now. Next week I'm going to hit the baby stores with my dad (who hasn't gotten me anything) to pick up items I still need... like more bottles, bath time stuff, diapering accessories, etc.

I had such a blast at my party. I had one of my pregnant sisters in attendance (the other is on bed rest in Illinois), my 3yo nephew, my grandmother, my mother, my bro's gf of 6 years, and my three best friends from different eras of my life (high school, college, and my first job). I enjoyed the intimate gathering, the games (and I usually hate baby shower games), and of course the gifts. I got quite a haul considering the size of the party. Below is a sneak peek of one of the games we played. You can see all my pictures on facebook.

Fun Photoshoot!

A freelance designer I work with on and off is also a part-time photographer, and she wanted maternity shots for her portfolio... so I got tons of awesome artsy photos taken of me for free! So far she's just sent me a few of the photos, but I love them. I can't wait to see more and more and more and more! Too bad she has more to do with her life than sift through all the pics and retouch them. I suppose I'll get all the good ones within a few weeks, but these were my sneak peeks. :)

I'm 31 weeks, 4 days.

View more photos on her blog.

Baby shower fun!

Well, I had my first baby shower over the weekend. It was thrown by my coworkers, and spouses and rugrats were welcome. It was sooo much fun. There were five children, but I swear it seemed like 20, especially when two were screaming at the same time. Seeing all these little ones, when two years ago only one of them was even born, made it really hit home for me that I'm going to have my own little girl very soon, and she's going to grow up very fast! Here's a link to my facebook photo album. Check it out to see how much fun it was. There are plenty of cute baby pictures to oo and ahh at. :)

Below are a few of the gifts I received. I loved everything I got!

Gorgeous hand-made quilt from Andrea:

Hungry Catterpillar stacking rings was the hit of the party with the kids:

I am going to have to get a smaller size of this adorable 3T dress. I can't wait 3 years to put Aly in it:

PINK butterfly dress. Mom will love putting Aly in this:

And we're in the final stretch!

Yesterday marked the start of week 28, which means I have begun the third trimester. It's true what they say: Pregnancy really does go by faster than you think. I still feel like June will take forever to get here, but hey, I do have two thirds of my pregnancy behind me. What's one more third?

This morning I had to take my 1-hour glucose test to find out if I have gestational diabetes. Aly really enjoyed those first 10 minutes after I drank what tasted like a flat Sunkist. She was bouncing off the walls of her little home, and I swear I heard a teeny "wahoo!" from under my skin. Then, my tiny little child with way too much sugar in her system did what all kids will do — she crashed. I didn't feel her for the last 50 minutes of waiting or while I was being drained of blood. I only felt her after I got home, because she got the hiccups. Now she's sleeping again. Poor little sugar-filled baby.

I don't think I'll know until my next OB appt. (next week) about whether I have gestational diabetes. I don't think I do, but the test will tell for sure! (Or it will tell for maybe, and I'll have to go back for a 3-hour test.)

Maternity Tour

Today I had childbirth/infant care class, followed by a tour of the maternity ward at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. I'm very impressed with the private mother-baby suites. There currently are 12 rooms in which mother labors, delivers, and recovers, and there will be many more ready by June or July.


At Shady Grove, they never separate mother and baby (unless you do C-section, and then it's only for a very short time), so the baby even sleeps in the room. They have jacuzzi tubs in every room, which you're welcome to labor in. They can equip the rooms with squatting bars if you want to attempt giving birth that way. They also allow you to control the lights (high vs. dim) and play any music or dvds you want to in order to keep yourself relaxed.They have birthing balls (just a few) if you want to use those to keep relaxed, but suggest you bring your own in case they're all in use. All in all, I was very impressed and am looking forward to giving birth there.

Basically, the environment is much like being at home and you have freedom to labor in any way that you'd like to try. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try both the jacuzzi while laboring and the squatting for delivery. I'm really happy I chose this hospital and am looking forward to a "pleasant" birthing experience. Of course pleasant is in quotes, because I do know the reality of the pain and hard work involved!

Nursery's complete!

I finally received my glider, so I decided it was time to finish up the nursery. I finished putting stuff on the walls, organized the book shelf, and of course vacuumed the floor. It looks so great. I can't wait to sit in there rocking my little girl. I tested it out with the Pooh bear that's in the crib, but it wasn't the same.

The Pregnancy Lull

Well, it's more than halfway over. I'm 23 weeks. In an ideal world, that means I only have 17 weeks to go! I know I'm having a girl, her room is mostly ready to go, there are clothes and other baby items accumulating, but all in all it's a slow time. The next big things to look forward to aren't for another month. In March, I have my birthing classes, my hospital tour, my first baby shower, and a fun belly photo shoot for a designer/photographer's portfolio. But what do I do in the meantime?

I need to get my bed into storage so I can bring in a smaller bed for my room and have room for a bassinet. I also need to take a chair from Aly's room to storage so I have room for the glider I'm itching to buy. But taking furniture to storage requires outside help. I'm not supposed to be lifting heavy objects. I asked my best friend if she and her boyfriend could help, and she said they could, but I haven't heard from her about when. My bro and his gf said they could help, but who knows when they'll actually be free. Besides that, the storage unit is a disaster area and it needs to be reorganized before I can start shoving everything in. Ho hum. I don't even really want to think about the logistics, I just want it to happen.

So, I'm in a pregnancy lull. Nothing exciting going on, except that my mom got to see my belly dance this morning and feel her kick for the first time. I've been wanting her to feel it for a month, so it was about time! Now, I have to find some way to pass the time. It feels like it's going slow right now.

Aly's New Crib

Aly's crib arrived today, and I am sooo excited. Originally, the plan was to use the crib Mom bought when Jonathan was born, but I really wanted a crib that matched the other cherry furniture in the room. I was stubborn about it, and even though I could spend my money on other necessities, I got the darn crib!

It's a 4-in-1 Convertible, so it will eventually become a toddler bed, a day bed, and a full bed. A frame and mattress will be needed for the full bed, but that's a couple years off.

The crib took me the duration of Rent to put together (and I did it all by myself, thank you very much!), and I am so happy with it. I am paying the price though... my back is in total spasm. The Thermacare isn't helping much, but it's better than nothing.

Getting stronger

My dear little Aly is getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. Up until now, I wasn't sure if I could feel her moving from the outside, but now I know I can. 

Last night, I was sitting on the couch trying to listen to her heartbeat with one of Mom's stethoscopes, and my sweet girl decided she didn't want me to hear her. After a few seconds I felt the stethoscope get pushed away and was totally surprised. I moved it over a little towards where I figured I would find her chest, and she just pushed it away again! She did this four times; it was so amazing!

Sheesh, I'm so in love. It's hard to believe how much I can love someone who hasn't even been born yet, but it's true. I can't wait to meet her!

Registry Fun!

Friday evening, a few friends from work and I all made our way over to Buy Buy Baby to register me for all sorts of fun baby stuff. I requested two scanners so we could divide and conquer, but what I didn't expect were 42 pages of items! That's the equivalent of just over 300 items. 

I had one of the scanners at first, but I gave it up when I went to the bathroom and never asked for it back. I figured I'd be headed back to the bathroom over and over (and I was right, of course), so I just kept holding things out when I wanted them, and the ladies had fun scanning all over the place. 

Because I don't have 300 friends and can't imagine needing everything on the list, I cut it by two-thirds over the weekend. I mostly removed clothing and blankets because people will get me those types of things whether or not I'm registered for them, and the ones I really want I can just go back for and buy myself. 

One of my favorite items though, which I left on the registry, was a pair of furry boots for the winter time. They're $38.99, but I really hope someone will buy them. There are so many items on my list that I also really want, but I just can't pick my favorites. Maybe this adorable elephant humidifier that Lauren told me I just have to have. Retail price: $34.99. Or this chocolate diaper messenger bag for $109.99. Oh, I definitely want this sage baby papasan swing, which is $89.99. Hmm... either I have expensive taste, or preparing for a baby is expensive! I'm gonna go broke unless my dear friends and family are feeling very generous.

Anyway, you're welcome to view my full registry and buy me all the expensive things you want. I also have a registry at Babies R Us, which has around 40 things I need as well. Happy shopping!

Introductions

So, introductions...

I'm Katie, and the baby in my belly is Aly.

I am naming my sweet angel for my grandfather, who passed away in July 2002. His name was Alfred, but we always called him Aly. He was truly one in a million, and I miss him every day. I only wish that my little Alysse Vienne could have known him as I did. If only he had lived to be 120 like he promised me. I will be sure she knows him though, through photos and of course his memoirs and Emond Stories. (I really do need to get around to editing those.) I hope she will understand what an amazing person he was and why she was named for him.

I learned I was pregnant with Aly in September after I got home from Ireland. I had just broken up with her father, and I was in a bit of shock the morning I took that pregnancy test. I let him know about her, but it seems he won't be involved in her life. I'm going to be a single mother, and I'm okay with that because I have an amazing support system in my family. I am living with my mom at the moment, and she's excited about becoming a daddy. She can't wait to have a little fairy princess in the apartment!

My sisters Rachel and Jenni are also pregnant. Rachel is having her first, a boy, and she is due June 3, just like me (twin cousins!). Jenni is having her second, also a boy, who is set to arrive around July 8. It's a baby boom in this family, and we can't be more excited! Little Aly will be the first granddaughter, and I'm so thrilled about that.

Okay, what else do you need to know about me? I'm 27. I live in Maryland, where I was born and raised. I have a bachelor's degree in public relations and journalism (blech) and a master's degree in publications design. I work for Goodwill Industries International as a production specialist and editor, and I absolutely love my job. Oh, and of course the most important fact of all: I can't wait to be a mommie! I've wanted this my whole life. The circumstances aren't ideal, but what will be will be. I'm already in love with this little girl, and I can't wait to meet her!