Just in case anyone was wondering...

we haven't posted in a few days NOT because we've been having a baby. Unfortunately there has simply been utterly no news to share. Hopefully soon...

Baby Update and Starving for Food

I was just reading a few posts back and realized I never posted an update about the hospital situation. I've talked with my midwife and some nurses at the birthing center and was able to do a phone orientation with one of the birthing center nurses last Saturday. We must have chatted for 45 minutes or so as she gave me the rundown of their policies and procedures. Before the phone call I was incredibly anxious about the whole thing. After the phone call I was just excited to be able to birth there and thrilled at their philosophy of birth. I think that our birth there will be very much like the way it was with Adeline in Beverly (almost 2 whole years ago!!). I've filled out all my paperwork which they told me I could just bring with me when I'm in labor and contacted a pediatrician who will come by and discharge Pink Floyd since our pediatrician doesn't visit the hospital. Once again, everything is taken care of, now we're waiting.

Actually, I take that back. Some of you may know that my friend Johanna was going to come be my doula for this birth. She is now pregnant - yay! - but also battles hyperemesis in her pregnancies as I do - boo! So she called a couple of weeks ago to inform me of the joyous news of her pregnancy but to also say that she was not going to be able to come up and be my doula. So the last 10 days or so I've been contacting doulas in the area hoping to find one who was available so last minute. After quite a few emails and lots of no's, it looks like we've found someone who will be good for us and has a reasonable fee (doulas are really expensive here!). I spoke with her on the phone for about 25 minutes today and we'll meet in person on Monday (unless we call her before then to let her know we're in labor ;-). So that's one more load off of my mind. I guess once we meet her then everything will be ready. Although Murphy's Law would indicate that I should have nothing ready - cell phones and camera batteries not charged, no suitcase, nothing but dirty clothes, etc... - and then she would come. But God's "law" indicates that she will come at the perfect time for her and that all will be well, no matter how inconvenient it might seem to me at the time. I guess I'll stick with God on this one.

Finally, Adeline and I find ourselves home alone tonight - "no daddy" as Adeline says. "Daddy at work." (Where's Papa? "at work" Where's Rob? "at school" - so cute :). Anyway, Alan is participating in 30 Hour Famine with his mid- and senior-highers tonight and tomorrow. They have been fasting since after lunch today (12:30pm), are sleeping in cardboard boxes on the church lawn tonight, and then participating in work projects for church members for donations to their cause all day tomorrow before they break fast with a Mexican feast at 6:30pm. It's really an amazing cause and you can find out some incredibly startling statistics on world hunger at the 30 Hour Famine website. Please pray for Alan and his youth groups as they "starve for food" and serve the community tomorrow. And if you'd like to help them meet their goal of saving 10 children this year from the brink of death due to hunger-related issues, click here.

Sister

Some years ago I remember my pastor at Irvine Presbyterian Church, Mark Roberts, preached a sermon where he used an illustration about his kids. The particular point he was making at the time was the joy that God the Father takes in us his children when we love one another. Pastor Mark described the scene in the hospital when his daughter Kara was born. Older brother Nathan, upon meeting Kara for the first time, leaned in, gave her a hug and said, "Baby Kara." This brought tears to Mark's eyes as he witnessed the love Nathan had for Kara.

I always thought this was just a sweet little story and for some reason it's always stuck in my head. It has to have been at least 10, maybe as many as 15 years since I heard this sermon. Yesterday, I got a taste of the proud papa moment that Mark enjoyed in the hospital all those years ago when Adeline and Alan were looking at pictures we have up on our fridge. Adeline pointed to the ultrasound pictures of Pink Floyd and said, "Sister." Now occasionally when we would pass by the fridge together I would casually mention to Adeline that those fuzzy black and white photos were "your sister", but I never emphasized it and didn't really think she was picking it up. But then to hear out of the blue little Adeline look at the pictures of her sister and call her "sister" - not "baby" or anything else - really moved me. And I know she knows that it means something, because she's really beginning to understand who people are and a little bit about her relationship to them. She knows people have names - like Adeline, Beckie, Sophie, etc. - and that we call more than one person "aunt" or "cousin". So now when we point to my belly we don't just say "baby", we say "Adeline's baby sister".

*but we don't say her name because we're not quite ready yet for Adeline to spill the beans ;-)

Link & Sick Kiddo

The picture link in the post below has been fixed, so you can see the pictures from the play day at the park now. Or click here.

In other news, we took Adeline to the Minute Clinic at our CVS down the street this afternoon. She hasn't been acting like herself and had a high fever for a couple of days earlier in the week. She's got a terrible cough and hasn't been sleeping - kind of the story of our lives for the last 3-4 months. Sure enough, she still has that ear infection, at least in one ear, so we're back on antibiotics. This time we're trying Biaxin for 10 days. The practitioner at the clinic said this should really do it. I don't feel like she's ever really been well since her strep throat last December so here's hoping this helps her to feel well once and for all.

Strong contractions continue to be a regular occurrence these days, but no real labor. Still waiting.

Also, today Adeline is 22 months old. This was her one year ago today...


Today is also Alan's grandma's birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Surprise Ultrasound

Yesterday at my midwife appointment I got to see our baby girl again. Sarah (the midwife) didn't feel 100% confident by feeling my belly that Pink Floyd was still head down. Apparently recently they've had several babies decide to turn in the final weeks of pregnancy so they're on high alert for breeches! That combined with my telling her that this last week I felt a HUGE thump! in my belly that felt like the baby could have done a complete somersault I think made her a little wary. Pink Floyd is indeed still head down, and we didn't get a look at her face at all which is a good thing because it means she's not in the least bit posterior. Hurray! She's positioned - now she just needs to come down! It's funny to see an ultrasound this late in the game because you're used to seeing an entire baby body on the screen because she's so tiny at the standard 18 week visit. But when she's a full-size kiddo all you can see is her head taking up the whole screen! Sarah moved the wand all over my big belly just so we could take a look at her. I saw her spine and rib cage, and her precious little heart beating. She looks like a baby! :) I can't wait to meet her.

Getting Ready and Pictures

Adeline helped me prepare the infant car seat for her little sister by testing it out. What a good big sister!


And this is just a really cute picture Aunt Beckie took on Sunday morning at church.


And here's a link to some pictures of Adeline and Alan playing at a nearby park. We had a couple of gorgeous days last week so it was nice to go out as a family and let Adeline run around for a while :).

Who says video games aren't educational?

Thanks to Wii boxing Adeline at 21 months can count to 10. Quite clearly I might add.

Who needs Sesame Street when you have Wii??

Rear-facing car seats till 2???

Just read this on the Baby 411 blog. I HATE this idea! I can't imagine still having Adeline rear-facing. Where is she supposed to put her feet?? I suppose if the guidelines change we'll all have to conform, but is this really necessary??

When is the right time for your child to go from rear-facing to forward-facing in his convertible car seat? The current recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (which dates back to 2002) is after your child weighs 20 lbs and after his first birthday.

However, newer studies suggest that kids are actually safer to be rear-facing until TWO years of age. Rear-facing seats provide better support to the back, head, neck, and pelvis. Many parents worry that a child may have a leg injury if a car accident occurs when he is rear-facing. This is more a perception than a reality, based on actual crash evidence. And, leg injuries are much less serious than one to the head, neck, or spinal cord.

While the official AAP recommendations have not changed (revised policy statements take quite some time), the President of the AAP, Dr Dave Tayloe, comments that pediatricians should, “encourage parents to keep their children in rear-facing car seats as long as they do not exceed the size limits of the car seats.”

FYI: We review the latest convertible car seats in our book, BABY BARGAINS (http://www.babybargains.com). If you want to keep your baby rear-facing to age 2, be sure to pick a seat with a higher rear-facing limit (35 pounds is a good). Unfortunately, not all seats work to 35 pounds rear-facing!

[http://baby411.typepad.com/baby_411_blog/]

ABCs, 123s, and Working with Daddy

Mommie wanted me to share with you how well I'm doing on my ABCs lately. I recognize at least a half a dozen letters just by looking at them, and I know that:

• A is for Adeline (I find A's everywhere!)
• B is for Baby (I point to Mommie's tummy)
• C is for Cookie (just like Cookie Monster!)
• D is for Doug (my lovey :)
• Y is for Yo-yo (upside down this one looks like an A, so Mommie taught me what it really is)

I also know how to count to three! But sometimes I get a little confused when I get to two and say "Trojans! do do do do do do..." instead. Mommie says that's okay :).

In other news, sometimes I like to help out Daddy at work. I do some work at the computer...

and I answer the phone...

And here's a little picture of my curly bed head. When I wake up from my afternoon snooze my hair is almost always super curly! This was after a 3-hour marathon snooze today!

Mommie has some things she'd like to say, too, so I'm going to let her type now. Mommie says...

For those of you wanting the baby update, obviously there's no news to share yet :). We are two weeks and 3 days from our due date, but of course I'm still hoping for April. I learned this week at my midwife appointment that the hospital where I was planning on birthing has some policies that don't thrill me (kind of anti-natural childbirth) so we're pursuing the Alternative Birthing Center once again. I have to see if they'll let me birth there without having gone through their orientation process. Hopefully since I've done this before - natural childbirth and everything - they'll let it slide.

I've been having rhythmic contractions several times a day for 60-90 minutes at a time, about 15 minutes apart. Here's hoping they're actually doing something. They are getting fairly uncomfortable, so I'm hoping this means real labor is not far away. Next midwife appointment is Tuesday, if I don't have a baby by then (wishful thinking!). Alan's preaching on Sunday morning, so those are the only two hours or so in the next few weeks that being in the throws of active labor would be a bad thing!

Stay tuned...

More Easter Pictures

Beckie has posted her pictures from Easter in Michigan in a Picasa album too! Enjoy!

Adeline LOVED playing with her cousins, Sophie and Abby, yesterday. They chased each other around and played with their Easter gifts together. It was so fun to watch Adeline interact with older girls. I think all three of them were just eating each other up :).

We headed over to Holland from church and were there by about 2pm. Some friends from Mom and Dad's church, Mark and Trisha, joined our family for a lamb, mashed potato and green bean feast (and Jello eggs!! :). After dinner Peter, Sophie and Abby came over and we just all played and enjoyed one another's company. We're a loud bunch, but we love it and each other and wouldn't have it any other way :). Not too long from now one more will be joining the craziness!

Today Amma, Beckie, Adeline and I went on a little adventure in and around Holland while Alan and Papa stayed home and got some work done. We drove all the way up to Grand Haven (while Adeline snoozed in the car) so Beckie could see Lake Michigan. Then we came back downtown for some lunch at 8th Street Grille and visited Amma's friends at Moynihan Gallery. We got home to Amma's just in time to head back home. Our visits together are never long enough but I guess that makes us enjoy them all the more :).

I hope you had a wonderful Easter celebration with your family and/or friends, too!

Easter Pictures

Family Easter pictures can be seen here. Am I on top of things, or what!?! :)

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Just an update to let you all know we are all well in the Conrow Household once again. It's so nice to have my little girl back :). She's really fun.

There's still some snow outside, but the temp is climbing so hopefully the piles will disappear soon.

Tomorrow (Friday) we get to see Amma again and maybe even Papa! Saturday Aunt Beckie is coming to town and we're going to dye Easter eggs together. Sunday morning we're all going to church where I am singing an offertory solo. After church we're heading west to Holland to spend the day/night at Amma and Papa's house, and Uncle Rob will be there too :). Uncle Peter, Sophie and Abby are also coming to visit for a few hours. Then on Monday Aunt Beckie will head back down to Indiana and we'll head back home too. We're all looking forward to a fun, eventful, family weekend :). Oh, and we'll be full term on Easter Sunday!! (still 3 weeks till the "due date", but the kiddo is considered fully 'cooked' ;-)

It is my sincere hope and prayer that you have been able to fully identify with the misery of your human condition during this contemplative season of Lent, that you have entered into Christ's death which we remember tomorrow, so that you may fully enjoy and celebrate the resurrection of Christ with an abundance of joy on Easter Sunday morning!

I'm Dreaming of a White Chr... er, Easter???

No these are not old winter photos that I'm just now getting around to posting. These were taken this morning. I have no words...

Thermometer

Time for a new thermometer in the Conrow household. Adeline's not having any more of this "bottom" temperature thing, if you know what I mean, and I hate doing it to her too. We've tried underarm and I just can't do it well enough to get an accurate reading, especially with a squirmy toddler.

I'm looking at the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer and the Braun Thermoscan (mostly for ear). I don't think she's ready for the oral method just yet, and ideally I'd like to get something the whole family can use - even Pink Floyd when the time comes. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on either of these?? Or know of a less expensive tympanic thermometer that's known to be reliable and accurate? Adeline really dislikes her ears being touched so something with a quick readout would be ideal. Come on Moms - help me out here! :) We've all had sick kiddos!

By way of update, Adeline is doing better today. Fever has come down and the runny nose is not as bad. She is, however, a little monster. I don't know if it's the drugs making her loopy or if she just doesn't know what to do with herself being so sick and in pain - probably a combo of all of the above - but she has sudden fits of uncontrollable screaming and flailing. It's actually quite scary. Continue to pray for her little body. We're on antibiotics for 9 more days...

As for me, I've stopped taking Tylenol as I'm pretty confident I'm no longer feverish, but we'll see how today goes. Aches and pains are back to regular pregnancy aches and pains, so that's good (???). Throat still hurts and head feels like it's in a complete fog. I can't hear very well and don't dare try to talk above a whisper as anything with any voice behind it sends me into coughing fits (which then freaks out Adeline who, depending on her mood, will either come over and pat my back, telling me "You're okay...", or she'll scream and run for Daddy because Mommie is scary sounding). I do feel like I'm getting a little better, but really wish I could take a decongestant. I'm anxious to get out of the house today - it's been 5 days! - so I think that might consist of a little errand to get some throat lozenges which the midwife assured me were okay. A little trip to Target can always make you feel better, right?? :)

Sickies :(

Not a whole lot going on this week, other than that Adeline and I are both sickies :(.

Amma came over for a visit on Monday and we went out to lunch and fooled around for a while. That night whatever this bug is - cold, flu, something - hit me like a ton of bricks. Adeline had had a mild fever for a couple days that we had brought down with drugs so we didn't think much of it. She seemed to continue to do okay until the last 24 hours or so. Her fever spiked twice and could only temporarily be relieved with some Motrin. As I type this Alan has her at the doctor's office. Hopefully they'll diagnose something and give her drugs to take. The last couple times we've been to the doctor for her she's been so sick - fever, aches, lethargy, runny/stuffy nose and coughing - they've basically just told us to wait it out, which I found more than mildly irritating. Not that I want her to have an ear infection or something dreadful, it would just be nice to know that all of this is not meaningless.

As for me, the achiness in my whole body but especially my joints rendered me useless on Tuesday. At my midwife appointment that morning she did take a strep culture just to check, but we were both pretty sure that wasn't it. But being to close to my due date we need to get me on drugs to get rid of whatever this is if necessary. They also took my temp - 99.9. They really don't like you to be feverish when you're pregnant, so I'm on a steady diet of Extra Strength Tylenol to keep the fever at bay. I'm pretty confident as of today it is gone. The last two days have been absolute misery - I seriously cannot remember the last time I was this sick. My mom came over yesterday (with her friend Cathie who's in town from CA) to help take care of Adeline and me so Alan could actually get some work done this week. This morning seems to have brought a little relief, but I'm still quite sick. I'm now going in for my regular pregnancy check-ups weekly till the end, and this coming week a midwife was not available so I'll be seeing an OB. If she's still concerned about how sick I am then I will seek out a primary care provider (don't have one yet because I haven't needed one, being pregnant and all!) and see what they say.

Once this latest series of illnesses pass in the Conrow household we are sanitizing EVERYTHING! No stuffed animal will go unwashed and no toothbrush from this period of time will remain. It is very important we get all signs of sickness out of this house before Pink Floyd comes, because I do not want a sick newborn.

Anywho, despite my being sick the midwife did say that the baby is still doing quite well. Her heart rate was a little elevated which apparently is not uncommon when Mom is sick, but it is still well within the "normal" range, so no need to worry there. Pray for healing and continued wellness, and pray that the fever is indeed gone. Also pray that I don't have to end up on any antibiotics or anything, because I have such severe reactions to most of them I'm worried what a doctor will feel like putting me on to get me well even though I'm preggers. There seem to be a few in category B that I could take if necessary, but I really don't want to.

So that's the current news from the Conrow household. Hopefully there will be more, and better, news soon.

Much love,
Meredith


**5 minutes later... Adeline and Alan just returned from the doctor. Adeline has a double ear infection. She's never had one before, and of course the first time she gets one it's not one, it's two! Pray for her little body that she heals and feels better soon.