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!

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