Night owl

Poppy had a coupe times as a little baby when she would sleep for 4-5 hours at a time during the night, and then wake every 2 hours after that. Then she went to taking every 2-3 hours all night long. Now she's waking up ALL.THE.TIME. Lauren's exhausted. Last night she let Poppy sleep on her tummy for a while. It seemed to help Poppy (she slept for an hour straight) but it made Lauren very nervous, especially since Poppy hasn't ever rolled over yet. Hoping for better sleep once she really gets started on solids.

Lolli goes to the movies!

Lauren and Gma Cathy took Lolli to see her very first movie on the big screen today, The Princess and The Frog. They arrived late and missed the previews and beginning of the movie (due to an error on Lauren's part) but Lolli still loved it. She munched on popcorn and fruit snacks but didn't care for her Icee. She was too light to keep the seat folded down so Gma Cathy had to hold it down to keep her from folding in half. Eventually Lauren got her a booster seat and that fixed the problem. Lolli was pretty well behaved during the film. She asked a few questions here and there, and kept wanting to go 'upstairs' but other than that she did great and had a blast!

Applesauce

Grandma Cathy and Rod were heading back to Texas this evening, so for a fun farewell, Lauren gave Poppy a bit of applesauce at lunch. She wasn't too sure about the taste, but she did pretty well with eating it off a spoon. Fun!

Poppy goes bowling

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy went bowling today for Bill's 60th birthday (and Kim's 30th birthday). Poppy spent part of the party in Lauren's ring sling and Lauren even bowled a few strikes that way! Lolli had fun playing with Paige. They loved pretending to drive the car video game. Lolli bowled for the first time, with a bit of help. And Zach won her a stuffed from from the Claw machine. Lolli's super excited about it because she's going to go to see The Princess and The Frog tomorrow.

Poppy eats a banana!

Zach and Lauren couldn't stand it any longer, so tonight they gave Poppy a banana. She did really well at gumming off tiny bites, but probably didn't swallow much at all. She seemed to enjoy eating, though, and didn't appear to have any adverse affects from it. In another month or so she'll be able to really start eating. How exciting!!!

Operation Gym Daycare: A Success!

Since FFF is dirty, their equipment is old and often not working, and their day care has traumatized Lolli, Zach and Lauren have been gym shopping. Upon a recommendation from Matt & Sarah, they joined LA Fitness tonight. Lolli and Poppy both went in the kids club for almost a full hour!!! With no tears :) Molly was there, too, which helped Lolli out a lot. Lauren and Zach really enjoyed being able to work out without worrying that Lolli was having a nervous breakdown like she did at FFF. And not having to drop the girls off at a family members' house before and pick them up after is a huge time saver.

Poppy's 4 month well visit

Poppy had her 4-month well visit and vaccinations today. (She's 1 week shy of 5 months old). She's 26.5in long, weighs 17lbs 4oz, and her head circumference is 17in. That puts her in the 95-99th percentile for length, the 90-95th percentile for weight, and the 85-90th percentile for head. She's large and in charge :) The pediatrician went over safety and feeding guidelines as usual. He examined Poppy's skin and joints and lungs and ears - all is well :) She got 4 vaccines (3 injections, 1 oral). She got a purple band-aid on each thigh, and Lolli got an orange band-aid on each hand (just for fun).

Christmas at the Zoo!

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy bundled up this evening for an outing to Christmas at the Zoo. Lolli wore her pink and brown coat w/ matching gloves, hat and scarf. Poppy for her purple coat w/ built-in mittens and fur-lined hood. She spent most of the time in Lauren's ring sling, all nice and cozy! They looked at the oceans, visited the dolphin dome, rode the train and the round-and-round and had yummy treats in front of a bonfire. Fun!

Mystery poop

Zach was holding Poppy today, then he passed her off to Lauren. Lauren held her for a while, then took her into the bedroom to put her in a cuter outfit ('cause company was coming over). She laid Poppy on the bed and took her pants off her, then walked into the closet to find a shirt for her to wear. Upon passing the bathroom mirror, Lauren noticed this enormous amount of poop on her jeans. Where had it come from!?! She screamed for Zach and they examined Poppy. She had 1 teeny tiny spot of poop on her pants, but almost none on her diaper. Further investigation led them to believe that the poopsplosion occurred while Zach was holding her, but somehow most of the poop ended up on Lauren. Crazy.

Thanksgiving 09!

Today is Poppy's first Thanksgiving, and Lolli's 3rd! The girls wore their butterfly dresses with matching sweaters (Lolli's is mostly green and Poppy's is mostly pink). The family went to lunch at Carmen's and then second lunch at the Pucillo's. Poppy had her first food today - celery! Of course she didn't really eat it, but it sure made a nice teether for her! Lolli had so much fun playing with Paige; they even took a bath together. Poppy was a sweetheart all day no matter who was holding her. So much to be thankful for :)

Poppy's 4 months old!

Poppy's 4 months old and weighs around 16 pounds. She loves bouncing in her jumper, sitting in her high chair and playing with spoons, and playing with her jungle gym. She still hasn't rolled over, but she's happy to stand up (while holding onto something) or sit (but she's still pretty wobbley). She has a bald spot on the back of her head from turning her head from side to side in the swing ha ha. She sleeps in the crib in a boppy (but the crib has 1 side bar taken off and is pushed up against Lauren's side of the big bed). She's a super happy baby who loves to smile and laugh. She LOVES attention and thrives on it. Her feet are her favorite toy and she likes to munch on celery. No teeth yet.

Lolli's 2 year well visit & update

Lolli had her 2 year well visit with the pediatrician today (even though she's almost 26 months old). She is 35 inches tall (2ft 11in LOL) and weighs 28.4 pounds. Both of those are in the 50th-75 percentile. She was very chatty with the doctor and nurse and didn't act afraid at all. Lolli loves stethoscopes and was very excited when the doctor 'listened' to her. When he asked to see in her ears, eyes, and mouth, Lolli cooperated so well and so quickly that the doctor said it was more like examining a 5 year old than a 2 year old! And when the nurse was going over 'milestones' she said that a 2 year old should be starting to use 2-word sentences. Then she paused, looked at Lolli, and said, "Okay, well, she's already talking in paragraphs, so...." :) Lolli has surpassed all of the 2 year milestones and even met some of the 3 year ones!

I stole this list of questions to ask Lolli:

What's your name? "Lolli Pucillo"

What is your favorite color? "orange" (She actually picks pink the most often)

What is your favorite breakfast? "pizza" (peanut butter sandwich or eggs or bananas)
What is your favorite lunch? "pizza" hahahaha (raviolis or cheese or mixed fruit)

What is your favorite dinner? "pizza" wow (Mac & Cheese, yogurt, grilled cheese)

What is your favorite kind of drink? silence (chocolate milk or apple juice, but she mostly drinks white milk and water)

What is your favorite snack? "I got a shoe, Mommy" (Apples and frozen peas)

~Okay, enough trying to let her answer; I'll speak for her~

What is your favorite movie? Snow White

What is your favorite book? The Going to Bed Book

What is your favorite song? Ring Around The Rosies, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old MacDonald, Happy Birthday, Row Row Row Your Boat

What food do you NOT like? Soda

What is your favorite toy? Her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, her 'food' for her play kitchen, her pretend camera, and her harmonica

What do you like to take to bed with you? She has to sleep in her boppy with her pink blanket and her green blanket

Raspberries!

Poppy looooves to blow raspberries and babble. She makes b sounds and g sounds and all sort of other cute little noises. Lolli thinks it's hilarious and always proclaims, "Poppy's talking!"

Poppy's sitting up!

Poppy can sit up all by herself for about 20 seconds now. It's crazy! She still seems to prefer standing (and she can do that for about 20 seconds, too, but only if she's leaning on something. If Zach or Lauren hold her hands, she can stand even longer. She's a jumping bean, too, and LOVES her jumperoo. Such an active girl!

Poppy found her feet!

Poppy's favorite new toy is her own feet! She loves laying on her back and grabbing her toes, especially her right foot. So fun!

Happy Halloween!

Lolli and Poppy were princesses for Halloween. Lolli was Sleeping Beauty (Aurora) and Poppy was Beauty (Belle). Lolli's dress was pink with silver accents and Poppy's was yellow with gold. They both had matching cloth crowns. Lolli loves to stand in front of the mirror and twirl her dress around :)

Poppy's 3 months birthday!

Happy 1/4 birthday Poppy!!!

Poppy is such a sweet girl! All it takes is someone looking at her and her face lights up into a big grin. She's quite a talker. Her favorite words are: "ahhh" and "goo" but she makes other sounds as well. She naps wherever she happens to fall asleep: the swing, the bouncey, her car seat, the bed, on the couch in her boppy, in Lauren's sling... She nurses every 2-3 hours during the day and every 2-6 hours at night. She does great drinking pumped milk from a bottle! She prefers Playtex drop-ins. Poppy goes to bed between 10 and 8 and gets up for the day between 7 and 9. She usually says up for an hour or so and then goes back to sleep. She takes between 3 and 6 naps a day.

Lolli has been a big sister for 3 months today - and she's been absolutely wonderful at it! She's never jealous, she loves to interact with Poppy, and she sleeps right through Poppy waking up at night. Seeing them 2 of them together gives Zach and Lauren so much happiness. Can't imagine life any other way!

A dry trip to Gma's!

Lolli had 1 miss this morning when she fell and hurt herself the pee pee just started flowing ha ha. But after nap time she kept her undies completely dry. They even went to Gma's house and Lolli stayed dry in the car! She used the potty at Gma's house for the first time. Yay Lolli!

Water works!

Poppy's drooling has picked up dramatically today! She loves sticking almost her whole fist in her mouth to chomp on. No teeth yet, though!

"We'll clean it up"

Lauren went to the bedroom to change Poppy's diaper this morning. When she came back to the living room she found Lolli sitting on the potty, which was odd because she had just put some pee pee in it a minute before. Lolli looked up at Lauren and said, "What's that?" and pointed to the floor. 'That' was a big turd, laying right in front of the tv!!! Lauren looked back at Lolli and Lolli goes, "We'll clean it up." ha!

Lots off pee pee!

Lolli put her pee pee in the potty FOUR times today! Lauren was feeling really proud and optimistic, so she let Lolli wear undies over to Gma and Gpa's. Apparently Lolli isn't quite ready for that, 'cause she peed. Oh well - they'll try again!

PT Day 3

Lolli put more pee pee in the potty today! It was especially fun for her because Molly was there to do the pee pee dance in celebration of the pee!

The Great Pucillo Pumpkins :)

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy planned to go to Waterman's today for pumpkins, but it was too crowded. So instead they went to Anderson Orchard. They rode a tractor-pulled wagon to the pumpkin patch where Lolli selected 2 pumpkins - one for her and one for Poppy. After that they all enjoyed apple cider slushies and then Lolli played in the hay. Fun!

Day 2 of the potty

Lolli put some pee pee in her potty again today! It was a very busy day so she was in diapers for most of it, but when Zach and Lauren asked her to pee on the potty, she did it. Maybe it's time...

Pee Pee In The Pot-ty!

Tonight was the Noirot's adoption party at Incredible Pizza Company. Poppy arm-wrestled Mr. Incredible and won 100 tickets! Lolli ate lots of fruits and veggies and played air hockey with Zach. Both girls rode a little merry-go-round (Poppy's first time!). Everyone had so much fun they stayed until 9 o clock!

When Lolli got home, Lauren asked her if she'd like to try going potty in her new pink potty and guess what! She did it!!! They all did the 'pee pee in the pot-ty' dance to celebrate. Yay, Lolli!

Such a snoozer!

Poppy has always been a fabulous sleeper, but it still catches Zach and Lauren by surprise sometimes. Today they were in the bedroom folding laundry and Poppy laying on the bed, with her head on a pillow, just hanging out. The next thing anyone knew, Poppy was sound asleep! no swaddle or fussing or anything; one minute she was awake, the next she was asleep. Wow!

Poppy's 2 Month Well Visit

Poppy had her 2 month visit to the pediatrician today and she got her first round of vaccinations. She got 3 shots in her legs and 1 orally. She did a great job with the oral one, and only cried for a couple minutes after the shots.

Poppy weighed in at 13lbs 14oz (95th percentile) and measured 25in (off the charts) with a head circumference of 15.5in (average). She's perfect :)

First Hayride!

Lauren, Lolli & Poppy went to Stoneycreek Farms today and met up with some friends. They all played on a swing set and climbed a giant haystack. Then they went on a hayride. Lolli thought it was tons of fun and Poppy slept right through it in the mei tai. Fun!

Afterwards everyone went to lunch at Panera. Lauren, Lolli & Poppy were late arriving because upon taking Poppy out of her carseat to feed her, Lauren discovered poop EVERYWHERE! It took a long time to clean up but they did eventually get inside to eat!

Poppy's Runway Debut

Lauren and Poppy modeled a ring sling at the 2009 Babies and Bellies Expo! Poppy did great (slept through it, actually). Zach and Lolli came to watch. Here's the video:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=998949ad28bda2c13955f0&skin_id=1010&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Poppy's Big Baby-Sitting

Poppy has stayed with Gma Great a couple times for short periods of time (the longest being a couple hours while Lauren took her assessment test for school). But last night was Zach's birthday night out at Dave & Buster's, so Poppy stayed at Gma Great's for 6 hours!!! Zach and Lauren dropped her and Lolli off around 5:45 and came back at 11:45 to pick up Poppy. Lolli spent the night and woke up this morning wondering what had happened to Poppy. She didn't even want breakfast at Gma's, she just wanted to come home and see her sister! Such good girls :)

Lolli's 2nd Birthday Party

Lolli's 2nd birthday party was today at Southeastway Park. Her guests included: Lauren, Zach, Poppy, Gma & Gpa Great, Gma Swain, Gpa & Kim, Mama & Papaw & Morgan, Jodi & Alix & Jeremy, Aaron & Annie, Paul & Kim & Paige, Katie & Brian & Will, Sarah & Matt & Molly, Darcey & Hailey, Jaime & Cisco & Elise, Cindy & Brian & Ella, Tom & Mona & Lucas. A musician named Miss Michelle lead the kids in songs and dance for about 40 minutes. There were bubbles and stuffed animals and instruments for the kids to play with and they had a blast, Lolli especially. After the music everyone munched on veggies, chips, fruit, cheese, crackers and cupcakes (that Lauren made!). The weather was perfect (79 and sunny!) and it was a great party celebrating Lolli's 2nd birthday. Many more to come :)

Poppy's a Smiler!

Poppy has been smiling for a little while now, but we finally caught it on camera for the first time!

Poop Me a River

Zach was playing with Poppy when he got home from work today. All of a sudden he heard a rumble and looked down to find a river of poop flowing out of Poppy's diaper and onto his shirt and pants. Luckily Lauren was there to help him out or else there would have been poop EVERYWHERE!

So long, pacifier!

Yesterday we were at the mall and decided to go for it. We went to Build-A-Bear, let Lolli pick out an animal (she chose a pink unicorn) and told her it needed a pacifier more than her and asked her give hers to the unicorn. She said, "Bye, Pacifier!" and tossed it inside! For the rest of our time at the mall, she loved her unicorn (named Pinki).

However, once we got in the car to go home, things changed. She kept whining for a pacifier and we kept reminding her that she's given it to Pinki. She decided she hated Pinki and threw her to the ground. She was really overtired and whined for her pacifier the whole way home, and even stuck her fingers in her mouth a few times.

When we got home, we laid her in our bed for a nap. She refused to let Pinki join her, but she went right to sleep without even mentioning a pacifier. Since then we've gone on 3 car rides without mention of the pacifier! And she went to sleep last night and slept all night without mentioning it, or even fussing more than normal. I'm kind of expecting a relapse since this was so easy - Zach and I are shocked that she only whined for it during 1 car ride and hasn't mentioned it since. We'll see how today goes! (She still hates Pinki this morning LOL)

Poppy's 1 Month Old!

Lauren, Lolli and Poppy went to the doctor's office this morning to get Poppy weighed and measured as her official 1 month stats: 12lbs 6.5oz and 23.5in!!!

"Poppy in! Poppy in!"

Lolli insisted on taking a bubble bath this afternoon. Once she was in the tub, she kept shouting, "Poppy in! Poppy in!" Finally Lauren gave in and stripped herself and Poppy down and stepped into the tub. "No Mommy! Poppy in!" Ugh! So Lauren sat outside the tub and leaned over the side to hold Poppy in the water. Lolli loved it! After Lolli's bath was done, Lauren and Poppy got in so she could get a shampoo. Mmmm, 2 clean babies :)

Poppy Volunteers (while Lolli has fun with Papaw)!

Lauren signed up to volunteer at one of the Lactation Stations at the Indiana State Fair. Since Lolli wouldn't have much fun (and would be hard to corral!), she got picked up by Papaw and spent the afternoon with him and Kim while Lolli and Poppy spent time with breastfeeding moms at the fairgrounds. Lolli had lots of fun and got to pet a 10-day-old kitten! She also went to Snapperz and bounced around on the inflatables. Fun! Poppy was so easy-going at the fair. She and Lauren got to ride in a golf cart from the gate to the tent; Poppy slept through the whole ride! Everyone was amazed that she's only 4 weeks old, since she's kinda huge and holds her head so well. <3

Molly's Back!

Today was Lauren's first day back on the "job" babysitting Molly. All in all the day went pretty well. Lolli and Molly acted like long-lost BFFs and all 3 girls napped at the same time (well, all 4 - Lauren, too!).

Indiana State Museum

Zach, Lauren, Lolli & Poppy visited the Indiana State Museum this afternoon. Lolli had really liked the ever-swinging pendulum that shows the earth's rotation. She was a bit scared of all the dead animals hanging on the wall (and who can blame her!). The highlight of her trip was eating an overpriced yogurt in the cafe but she also enjoyed walking along the canal and looking for fish.

The Sickies

Lolli caught something at Storytime last week and has had a horribly runny nose ever since. Today Lauren started feeling icky and now Poppy is sniffling :(

An outting to the Park!

Lauren, Lolli and Poppy went to the park this afternoon. It wasn't a total disaster as everyone had fun and no one got injured. Horever, Lauren needs to remember to take a sling next time so she can hold Poppy but still have her hands free to help Lolli (who has turned into quite the daredevil climber!).

Dad's home!

Zach got home from his out-of-town work trip today! This marks the end of a 2-week travel period that had Lauren home alone with a toddler and a newborn. Luckily everyone survived and now Zach will be in town for a couple weeks!

Lolli Pucillo, CNM (ha)

Lauren bought Lolli a "Doctor kit" and she loves the stethoscope. She ran around putting it on everyone and everything saying, "Lolli do it. Lolli listen. Lynda listen." (Lynda is their midwife) Very cute! She also loves the fake bandage scissors and keeps giving Otis pretend haircuts.

Poppy & Mommy's Day Out

Lolli spent the afternoon with Gma and Gpa Great while Lauren and Poppy spent the afternoon with Katie and Will (don't tell Lolli!). They had lunch at Qdoba followed by a peaceful shopping trip to Target. Afterwards they had a blizzard at DQ because they were donating $1 to Riley for each Blizzard sold. It was nice for Lauren not to have to be chasing Lolli all afternoon but still Lauren was missing her pretty badly by the time she picked her up!

6 months?!?!?

Lauren put a size 6 month outfit on Poppy today. It fits. :sigh:

Poppy's Debut!

Lauren, Lolli and Poppy went to the Home Birth Support Group meeting tonight. They were late getting there and had to leave shortly thereafter (6 o clock meetings don't mesh well with 7 o clock toddler bedtimes) but they still had time to show off Poppy and drop off some leftover birth supplies that another mama can use.

Big Choo Choo!

It was a lazy day in the Pucillo household and everyone was starting to go a little stir crazy. So they decided to ride the Fair Train (but not actually go to the fair because it's 5790 degrees in Indy this weekend). They hurried to make it to Fishers to catch the 4:15 train but missed it :( So they went to O'Charley's to grab some dinner. Upon arrival Lauren got Poppy out of her car seat and realized her bottoms were all wet. Ugh! So Zach took her to the bathroom and changed her - her first blowout!

Once Zach and Poppy got back to the table, Lauren took Poppy out to the car to change her outfit and feed her. Once Poppy seemed satisfied they went back in and sat down. Thankfully the food had already arrived. Lauren had just started eating when she realized she was leaking milk all over her shirt. Ugh! About that time Lolli started squealing and screeching and generally being obnoxious, so they got the check and some to-go boxes and headed for the train station, hoping their luck would turn around.

While Zach was buying the tickets (Lo and Pop rode free, woohoo!), Lolli charmed some women at a Key Bank kiosk and they gave her a beach ball and a glow stick, which she loved. Lolli was a little bit timid when the train arrived but she was still excited to get on board. The seats were very comfy and Lolli liked looking out the window and waving before the train departed.

They were on the train for over an hour and 15 minutes, since they didn't get off at the fairgrounds (just rode it there and back). Poppy did great, sleeping for the first 10 minutes and then just hanging out awake for the rest. Lolli had a blast playing with her beach ball and glow stick and walking around on her "train legs" (which are like sea legs, only on the railroad). The girl has great balance!

The Incredible Pizza Company

Zach, Lauren, Lolli & Poppy met up with Tom, Mona and Lucas for dinner and fun at The Incredible Pizza Company. Lucas played lots of games and got 120 tickets! Lolli liked the rides the best. She rode the carousel twice, the race car once, and spent the rest of the time playing on some computer thing. Fun times!

Shopped Til They Dropped

Lauren and Poppy went shopping this morning while Zach and Lolli went to the zoo. Z & L had a blast, especially in the sprinkler park where they got soaked. L & P were out and about for *5* hours and Poppy was such a good shopper, only fussing when she wanted to eat. Hooray!

Squirt Gun ha ha

Zach, Lauren, Lolli & Poppy went out shopping for a few necessities this evening and then had ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. When they got home, Lauren took her bra off and milk started squirting out, at least a good 9 inches. She ran to Zach to spray him, which she thought was hilarious but he found to be very disturbing. Lolli thought it was funny, too :)

Dad's home!

Zach came home today - the girls officially survived their first 3 nights on their own (which is good, since they have to do it again next week, but for *4* nights).

11 pounds, 4 ounces!

Lauren went for her 2 week check-up with Lynda today. Since the scale was there, they decided to see how much Poppy weighs. 11 pounds 4 ounces! At just 2 weeks, 1 day old. What a healthy girl (and as Lauren's dad put it, her milk must be high-octane, definitely not unleaded ha )

Just the girls...

Zach left for Bowling Green, KY today and won't be home until Thursday! That means Lauren is on her own with both girls for 3 days straight, at only 13 days postpartum. Ahhhhhh!

The Results of Poppy's CF Sweat Test

NORMAL!!! So she's just assumed a carrier, but definitely does NOT have CF! Zach and Lauren will both get tested to see who's the carrier and to make sure it isn't both of them. Hooray!!!!

Poppy's CF Sweat Test

Zach, Lauren and Poppy went to Riley Children's Hospital Outpatient Center this morning for Poppy's sweat test to check for Cystic Fibrosis. Aaron and Annie met them there. The woman who performed the test was very nice and informative. Lauren got to hold Poppy during the test, which was nice. The tech applied a special medicine to Poppy's arm and then placed electrodes on it. Poppy fussed a little bit when the electrodes were turned on but Lauren let her nurse and that calmed her right now. In fact she fell asleep! After 5 minutes the electrodes were removed and a sweat collector patch was applied to her arm. That was wrapped in a hot pink ace bandage and then a hot pack was wrapped around that. She put on one more layer of the ace bandage and Poppy was good to go. The collecton takes 30 minutes, so Zach was given a timer and told to be back there when it went off. So everyone went to the Riley Lobby and ate breakfast at McDonald's. They got back to the sweat lab right as the timer expired. The woman removed the bandages and hot packs. Everyone was relieved when she confirmed that Poppy had sweated enough to process the results (20% of newborns don't). The tech said she'd fax the results to Poppy's pediatrician this afternoon, so now it's just a waiting game.

Going Krogering

Zach, Lauren, Lolli & Poppy went to the grocery store this afternoon. Poppy slept in the cart the entire time! Lolli was still a handful, but somehow everyone made it out of the store in one piece ;) Poppy woke up right as they were checking out but calmed right down once Lauren got her out to the car to feed her. And Lolli is so patient about waiting for Poppy to eat - such a great big sister!

First Ped's Appt

Poppy had her first appointment with Dr. Roscoe this morning. The whole family went and Lolli had fun talking up a storm in the waiting room. Poppy weighs in at 10lbs, 5 oz (up 9 ounces from Monday!) and measures 22 inches long. Her head circumference is 14.5 inches and she checked out perfectly! Her next appointment will be when she's around 2 months old.

1 week visit

Lynda came out today for a 1-week check-up. Poppy weighed in at 10lbs, 3 oz and her lungs sounded clear. Lauren's BP is back to her low normal, 104/60. Everyone is doing great!

Lolli held Poppy!

Lolli finally wanted to hold Poppy today. She sat in Zach's recliner and Lauren put the boppy on her lap and showed her how to hold her arm under Poppy's head. It was so cute and Lolli did a great job. She gave Poppy a lot of kisses and laid her head on hers for a long time, just to cuddle. Such sweet sisters!

Newborn Screen Results

I just got a call from our ped's office. Poppy had her newborn screen done on Friday and I guess the ped got the results this evening. Her test came back abnormal for Cystic Fibrosis. From what I understand, this can mean one of 3 things: 1) nothing; 2) she's a carrier for CF (which apparently is true for as many as 1 out of every 30 people); 3) she actually has CF.

To get a conclusive diagnosis, Poppy will have to go to Riley for a sweat test. It should take about an hour and doesn't involve anything that will cause her pain; they'll just make part of her sweaty so they can collect and test the sweat. (People with CF have unusually high amounts of chloride in their sweat.) We should get results the next day. Someone from our ped's office will be calling Riley on Friday to schedule the test.

I know it's likely a false alarm but please keep her in your thoughts between now and when we get those test results back. Crossing our fingers that Riley gets us in soon.

(Zach and I never had the screening done to see if we're CF carriers because when it was offered to us during my pregnancy with Lolli because it was presented as a test only necessary if there was a history of CF on either side of the family. Plus we wouldn't have done anything with the results anyway (termination would not have been an option for us regardless of the results). While there is a chance that we're both carriers (which would be necessary for Poppy to have CF), the odds are in our favor that this is a false positive OR she's just a carrier and does NOT have the disease)

http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/AboutCF/Testing/NewbornScreening/AbnormalTest/Newborn%20Screening-My%20baby%20had%20an%20abnormal%20test.pdf

An Evening at the Fair

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy went to the Marion County Fair this evening. Lauren strapped Poppy to her chest in the Moby Wrap and Poppy slept the whole time! Zach and Lolli rode the carousel and went down the Super Slide. Lolli rode free since it was Ladie's Night, ha ha. Lolli tried to ride the Nemo ride by herself, but got scared. Thankfully she was the only one on the ride and the carnie stopped it to let her off and even gave her her tickets back! Zach tried to get Lolli to pet a pig and a pony and a goat but she wasn't interested. Finally she said she would like to ride the pony but after paying and waiting her turn, she freaked out. She got her $ back for that one, too!

Visiting Day!

Poppy had a lot of visitors today! And one of them, Rachelle, brought a mail scale to weigh Poppy on. She weighed in at 10 pounds, 3 ounces. So back up above her birth weight - hooray!

Poppy's weigh-in

Lolli spent the day with Gma Pucillo today so Zach and Lauren took Poppy to the ped's office to get weighed. She tipped the scale at 9lbs, 12 ounces! So she's working her way back up to her birth weight!!

Picture time!

Zach, Lauren, Lolli & Poppy ventured to the mall today for Poppy's 5 days pictures. They didn't have an appointment but were lucky enough to walk right in. The photographer was actually the same one who took their maternity photos, which was weird because those were taken in Greenwood and they went to Castleton this time.

Poppy was a real trouper and hardly fussed. Lauren fed her right before and right after the pictures, which helped. Lolli colored during the photo shoot and only got mildly upset when she was told that she was not allowed to be naked and get her "boobies out" like Poppy :)

Afterwards they all went to the food court for ice cream. Poppy just snoozed in her stroller the whole time! Lolli had a dilly bar and loooooved it.

Poppy's cordless!

Zach opened up Poppy's pajamas this morning to change her diaper and the cord stump fell out! He turned the light on to examine and her belly button looks great! Lauren couldn't believe her cord stump fell off at only 4 days old, but maybe that's par for the course when a baby is 13 days overdue ;)

Newborn Screen

Lauren, Lolli, Poppy & Gma Cathy went to Lynda's this morning so Poppy could get her blood drawn for her newborn metabolic screening test. Apparently Poppy is a very good clotter (despite not having goten a vitamin K injection at birth), because Lynda was only able to fill 1/2 of 1 circle with blood after pricking her heel. There were 5 circles to fill, so they decided to get more agressive with an IV in Poppy's hand which hurt less than squeezing the crap out of her foot. Even that wasn't working so well, so Lynda pulled the IV thingie out and just let Poppy bleed for a few seconds from her hand. So now she has a bruise on her tiny hand, but she didn't seem to mind. She was nursing and actually fell asleep!

48 hour visit

Lynda came today for Lauren and Poppy's 48 hour check. Zach and Lolli were at the zoo, so they missed it. Anyway, Lauren's blood pressure was good and her perineum is healing nicely. Her uterus is shrinking back just like it should and everything looks normal as can be! Poppy looked great, too, and weighed 9lbs, 4 oz, which is down 11 ounces from her birth weight (Lolli also was down 11 ounces at 48 hours, to 7lbs 11oz) and is totally normal.

First outing!

Zach, Lauren and Lolli ventured out of the house for the first time today - Poppy was just around 28 hours old. Poppy had an appointment with Dr. Nancy, the chiropractor. She got a very gentle adjustment that she didn't mind a bit. She had a hot spot in her neck, nothing serious, but she seemed to like getting it adjusted! She goes again on Friday.

The Story of Poppy's Birth

I was awakened around 3am on Sunday, July 19th (41 weeks, 4 days pregnant) by a contraction that felt different than any I’d felt before. I didn’t feel it at all in the top of my uterus, although it was rock hard to the touch. Instead I felt this contraction down low; I could actually feel it working to open my cervix. I stayed in bed a few hours longer and a few more contractions woke me up during that time.

After getting out of bed I watched tv and timed my contractions just for fun. It was obvious I wasn’t in active labor, but something was going on. They varied from 8 to 13 minutes apart. After Zach and Lolli got up we went to the zoo. My contractions lost their consistency while we were there, despite the stern talking-to I gave the resident stork. Upon getting home from the zoo I tried to nap but the contractions were waking me up every 10 minutes or so and I got frustrated. Zach and I went to see The Hangover that evening, hoping to laugh the baby out ;) It didn’t work, but the contractions kept coming and getting a bit stronger as the hours went by.

Sunday night I didn’t get more than 45 minutes of sleep in a row. By the time 3am rolled around the contractions were waking me up every 10-20 minutes and I was getting kind of sick of it. I’m not sure how this got started, but I was singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” 1 ½ times in my head through each contraction. Focusing on that helped me a lot. I got up at 5am, showered, shaved my legs, and hung out in the living room timing contractions at 8 minutes apart until Zach and Lolli finally woke up. I napped a little bit during that time, but only in short increments.

Later that morning I saw some pink on the toilet paper when I went to the bathroom. I was so excited! I had been losing my plug for 2 weeks but it had always been clear up to this point. Shortly after that I had actual red gunk coming out – bloody show! At that point I allowed myself to hope that this could really finally be the start of my birthing time. I told Zach what was going on and to prepare himself to stop working on a moment’s notice in the next few days.

Since I couldn’t just sit around waiting without going crazy, Lolli and I went over to Katie’s to hang out. It was more apparent to her than it was to me that I was definitely in the early stages of labor. Mentally, I was prepared for this to go on for up to a week; I think she could tell I was going to be having a baby much sooner than that. While we were there I talked to my midwife on the phone, trying to get suggestions to either slow this down so I could sleep, or to speed it up so I could get it over with and then sleep. She suggested I go to her office later that afternoon. Before long Lolli was starting to get a bit concerned about me “shutting off” every 7-8 minutes, so we went home. Zach quit working and we dropped Lolli off at my grandparents.

After that we had lunch at Panera (I had a Strawberry POPPYseed Salad) and killed time wandering around Once Upon A Child and Toys R Us. I wasn’t aware, but Zach was timing my contractions at 7-8 minutes apart. Finally it was time to head to Lynda’s (our midwife). We sat and talked for a while about what I was feeling. I mentioned my concern about the lack of sleep I was getting as the birthing time got nearer and she suggested some herbs to calm my mind and body. We also discussed the pros and cons of a cervical check and sweeping my membranes. I decided to go for it. I was easily 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. The baby’s head was sitting right on the bag (no cord or fluid in between) and Lynda was able to easily and gently sweep my membranes. We hoped the prostaglandins released by this process would speed things up a bit.

After stopping by the health food store to get my relaxation herbs (the clerk assumed I was in search of blue cohosh, ha ha), we went home for a nap. The Skullcap and Rescue Remedy did calm me down, but each contraction still woke me up, so it was kind of futile. We decided to go to Best Buy to exchange my new computer in for one that actually worked because we were hoping to Skype the birth to my mom who lives in Texas. By this point my contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart and I had to laugh imagining what the other shoppers thought each time I closed my eyes and leaned on Zach, swaying and singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” 1 ½ times to get through the intensity.

Since my contractions were still pretty spread out and I was still just in early labor, we decided to go get Lolli from my grandparents instead of having her spend the night. I wanted to have one last night of just the 3 of us in our bedroom before we added a little one to the mix. However, once we got to Gma’s, Lolli insisted that she didn’t want to come home and would rather spend the night. Since I was exhausted anyway, we let her stay.

The 12 minute car ride home from Gma’s included 2 contractions that had me swearing I was NOT going back into a moving vehicle until the baby was out of me. (I do not envy those who are strong enough to wait until contractions are 2-3 minutes apart and then drive all the way to the hospital. I think I would die, LOL.) Once we got home I set up my new computer while Zach mowed the grass. This was incredibly frustrating to me because I had to stop every 5-7 minutes and take a minute-long time out. And I felt the urge to pee at the end of each contraction, so bathroom trips were distracting me as well. Finally I got sick of it and went upstairs to listen to my Hypnobabies in the birth tub while Zach cleaned the downstairs.

I was sooo comfy in the tub! I gave up singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and instead focused on the Hypnobabies tracks. I got super relaxed and still my contractions were coming 5 minutes apart. The best part of the tub is I could pee in there, so I did. Like, every 17 seconds, LOL. After a half hour or so I headed downstairs to tell Zach I was pretty sure this was really it and that we would be birthing a baby sometime in the next 24 or so hours.

I really wanted to play Yahtzee but sitting at the kitchen table was too uncomfortable so we set up the card table in the living room. I sat down on the birth ball to start the game but immediately had to stand back up. My back started hurting with each contraction, which I hadn’t been expecting since I knew baby was in a great position for birthing. All of a sudden my contractions were coming 3 minutes apart, so sitting and playing a game between them seemed futile. We gave up on Yahtzee and called the doula and midwife to alert them that they might be summoned later that night.

I put on the same dress that I had worn during labor with Lolli and scampered around the house trying to get comfy but wanting to do a million things at once. I was standing in front of the kitchen sink making myself a spinach salad when a strong contraction hit me and I peed all over the kitchen floor. I was mildly amused at myself (and actually proud of myself for relaxing my bottom so well, ha ha), but also annoyed since I had just been to the bathroom 2 minutes earlier. Zach tried to construct a diaper for me out of a pair of his underwear and a towel, but I kindly refused. Since I had a dress on and no undies, we decided to go for a walk outside where I could pee freely (I realize this sounds really uncivilized now, but at the time, I did not care one bit, especially since it was dark outside).

Before we could make it out the front door I changed my mind and wanted back in the tub. We headed upstairs where we stayed. The tub was again wonderful. I listened to my Hypnobabies tracks and started moaning out loud during contractions while still singing Twinkle Twinkle in my head. DH made me some hot red raspberry leaf tea when I got too cold and pressed on my back during each contraction. He tried to verbally encourage me but I found that horribly annoying for some reason. Finally we decided to call in Charity, our doula, when we realized the contractions were coming less than 3 minutes apart.

Charity arrived around 11:30 and we chatted in between contractions. I was still in the tub and she held the pillow I was burying my face in with each contraction and allowed me to really relax completely. Since this was really our first time doing this whole natural labor thing, Zach and I were unsure of when to call Lynda. During a contraction, I was 100% sure it was time to call her, but in between I felt it was too early because I literally felt perfectly normal. (This is how labor is supposed to be, and it was so awesome! None of that non-stop pain I had on Pitocin with Lolli). Then my body started wanting to push, despite me telling it not to. I was certain I wasn’t anywhere near 10cm, and this was frustrating to me because I did NOT want to swell my cervix. I was certain I hadn’t even started transition yet! We decided to call Lynda and have her come over.

During a particularly strong contraction at 1:18am I felt a popping sensation and was pretty sure my membranes had ruptured but I didn’t notice any difference in the sensations of contractions after that. Since I was in the tub, I wasn’t 100% sure and was excited for Lynda to come check me to let me know what was going on. Lynda and Terry (the birth assistant) arrived around 1:30. They scurried about bringing in and setting up all the birthing equipment. I didn’t pay much attention to any of that; I just focused on relaxing.

Soon Lynda was ready to check my blood pressure and the baby’s heartrate. Everything was normal. She tried to check my cervix but my positioning wasn’t great for it (I was on my hands and knees in the tub and she couldn’t reach). Zach was in the tub with me, so I leaned back on him and my pelvis floated to the top of the water. Lynda was better able to check me in this position and declared me 8cm but stretching to 10, and 80% effaced. While I was pissed because my body was trying to push before my cervix was all the way gone, I was also completely amazed that I was at 8cm because the “pain” had been so manageable. It was 1000 times more painful getting to 5cm on Pitocin with Lolli, so I was thrilled! Lynda put some Arnica gel on my cervix to encourage it to melt away, but said if I felt like pushing them to go ahead. She also confirmed that my bag of water was no longer intact.

Zach made phone calls to immediate family, telling them it was time to come on over. I wasn’t very nice about it when he was on the phone when a contraction came and he ended up hanging up on Grandma. Oops! I had planned to call several other friends and family members but didn’t care enough at the time to remind him to call them. It’s interesting what you think is important beforehand and then don’t care about at all during actual labor. I was irritable during this part of my labor because I had zero warning that a contraction was coming. I would feel 100% fine and relaxed and then all of a sudden WHAM! I’d be right at the peak of the pain. They subsided much more gradually but I remember vocalizing several times how pissed I was to not have time to prepare for each one.

And so I labored away, not purposely trying to push, but not fighting my body if it wanted to. I never had any very long urges to push, just short little spurts that I guess helped move the baby down. I don’t remember a whole lot about this time because I was so relaxed. I just floated in the tub, leaning on Zach and squeezing his hands with each contraction. Between contractions I was lucid and I remember laughing at my floating, gravity-defying boobs. I could hear family start to arrive but didn’t invite anyone up. It was a very calm atmosphere, with Charity, Lynda, and Terry just kind of hanging out. I remember being proud of Zach and I that we weren’t needing a whole lot of support, but also kind of feeling bad because I didn’t feel like I was being very nice to Charity since I preferred Zach’s touch over hers (which I know doulas consider this a good thing, but for some reason I felt bad about it). I remember Lynda shining a flashlight in between my legs with some contractions, checking for baby’s head I guess. I was starting to feel like the baby was never going to move down far enough if I didn’t get off my back, but I liked floating too much to make myself move.

I have no idea how much time had passed, but eventually Lynda suggested I get out of the tub and I wholeheartedly agreed. My contractions had spaced out considerably and I remember being so relaxed and hot that I felt like I was on drugs. Endorphin overload! I stood up in the tub and there were gobs of gunk coming out of me. I literally pulled ropes of it out of me before stepping out of the tub. I remember seeing stuff floating in the tub but I didn’t care to ask what it was.

I made my way to the bathroom and pushed on the toilet for a while to see if I could get the baby to move down. Someone made me some toast and I tried to nibble on it. The light was bothering me and I wanted the door closed, so Zach and I were in the pitch black bathroom all alone. I told him over and over how I was tired and the baby wasn’t ever going to come so we might as well just quit.

I had just decided to head back to the birth room when Lynda asked to check the baby’s heartbeat (she had been doing this intermittently throughout my labor but I don’t remember how often or how many times). I sat in a rocking chair while she listened (normal as always). But that rocking chair HURT so when someone suggested the birth ball, I agreed to give it a whirl. I sat on it with Zach behind me. One contraction on that thing and I was DONE. Sitting during labor just does not agree with me, I guess.

(The weirdest part of the whole labor was that towards the end, after each contraction I would feel my vagina sort of expand and contract (kind of felt like the motion a fish makes with its mouth). It’s the same thing I feel after having an orgasm, only I felt much more “open” during these. I don’t know if this had something to do with the baby’s head pushing on my g-spot or what, but it was definitely interesting.)

At this point I was so tired (not physically, but mentally) and had given up hope of ever birthing the baby. In my head I went over the pros and cons of going to the hospital and having them suck the baby out (a completely irrational thought, but it kept popping into my mind). I always ended my mentral argument by reminding myself how badly I did NOT want to be in the hospital after this baby was born. And so I decided to just lay down and take a nap (again with the irrationality…).

As I was walking across the room to the bed I was hit by a giant contraction. I dropped to my knees, buried my face in the birth ball, squeezed it into my chest as hard as I could and pushed for a good long time. Another contraction followed that one and soon I could tell the baby was really moving down. I was re-inspired and decided that I was going to skip my nap and just go ahead and birth this baby (LOL). Zach was sitting in front of me and after a few more pushes I looked up at him and managed to gasp, “If you’re going to catch this baby, you’d better get back there!”

So back there he went. Charity grabbed the video camera and was filming from in front of me and I worried she’d miss the good shots. So she moved around to the back and Terry took a few pictures. I pushed a few more times and after one long series I thought maybe the head was out, but it wasn’t. I had a long rest period after that one, and even had a few contractions without feeling the urge to push (so I didn’t). Finally my body decided to bear down like crazy and I could feel my perineum stretching. I don’t remember feeling actual burning, although I may have at the time. I remember feeling my perineum stretching very clearly and in my head I was picturing what it must’ve looked like. The weirdest part was feeling the stretching going forward and for half a second I was afraid I’d tear towards my the front, but I didn't.

Lynda asked if I wanted to touch my baby’s head and I declined. I didn’t want to let go of the birth ball and I was afraid I’d fall over if I tried to reach all the way back there. Then I heard Lynda say, “she’s being born in the sac, Lauren” and at that point I absolutely did not care (although now I think it’s awesome). I'm still not exactly sure how this happens, since my water was broke (maybe it was broken up higher? I need to ask Lynda). Zach said Poppy looked like her head was in a bag, completely covering her head and face. Lynda asked for some scissors and used them to cut the caul and remove it from Poppy’s head. The cord was around Poppy’s neck once, so Lynda moved that as well.

After that I got the urge to push again and out came the rest of the baby. It felt like something longer than a baby was coming out, I think because I felt each appendage separately. One arm, then the other; then one leg and the other. It happened very fast but I felt it all so clearly; it was amazing. I heard Lynda say something about terminal meconium and later clarified that Poppy pooped just as she was coming out – NOT in utero which I was expecting since she was born 13 days past my EDD! Poppy started to cry and we heard applause and cheers from downstairs. We checked the time - 3:50am.

Although Lynda had to help remove the sac and also remove the cord from around Poppy’s neck, Zach was able to catch the baby just like we’d hoped. I had no desire to move after she was out of me; I just kept leaning on the ball and making noises (it's true what they say about women making the same noises to get the baby OUT as they did when they were making the baby, LOL). Eventually Lynda told me to sit back and she passed the baby to me through my legs. Even though she’d been cleaned off with receiving blankets, she was so slippery! I held her and looked at her and whatnot, but I was very hyper and not feeling particularly mushy towards her (the same way I felt after Lolli was born, oddly enough. I had blamed it on the epidural, but it must just be the norm for me). I remember wanting someone else to hold her so I could get up from the floor, but of course she was still attached to me through the cord so that wouldn’t work!

After a few minutes the cord quit pulsating and Lynda clamped it. I cut it myself and Lynda emptied it into a pot. I remember hearing Lynda say I was bleeding pretty heavily so she wanted to get me to the bed to assess it further. We bundled Poppy up in a blanket and a hat and handed her off to Zach. I made my way over to the bed where Lynda checked me out and, 30 minutes after Poppy was born, I pushed out the placenta (which felt much bigger than I’d anticipated!). She examined my perineum and said I had a mild 1st degree tear that was more like a v-shaped scratch, likely from where I had stitches with Lolli. She gave me 2 options: she could put a stitch in it, or I could just literally keep my legs together for a few days and it would heal naturally. Since a stitch sounded painful and time-consuming, I opted to keep my legs together (although I still say she’ll put herself out of business with advice like that LOL). Lynda declared my bleeding to be within normal limits, so no further action was required.

I got Poppy back and she nursed for a while. Most of it was her just playing with my nipple but she latched on a few times. Then we decided to weigh her before inviting family up to meet her. Lynda got her naked and laid her on the scale. We all made guesses (I said 8lbs, 12 ounces). Lynda and Terry had a good laugh when they looked down at the scale – 9 pounds, 15 ounces! I was floored when they told me. Even though the “pushing” stage of my labor had been long, when I finally decided to just get it over with, she came out so quickly. I hadn’t imagined her to be much bigger than Lolli was, especially since I didn’t really even tear. Zach went out to the loft and yelled down to the family how much she weighed; it was hilarious to hear their responses of disbelief and shock.

Zach had one more thing to take care of before the family came up. He bundled Poppy up again and carried her out into the loft with “Circle of Life” from The Lion King playing in the background. The entire family gathered downstairs and looked up into the loft as he held Poppy up for them to see (just like Rafiki with Simba in the movie). I didn’t get to see it since I was stuck resting on the bed for the time being, but I’m sure it was absolutely hysterical (and kind of awesome at the same time).

After that we allowed the family members to come up 2 at a time and meet Poppy. Earlier in the labor I had sent a cake mix downstairs and they’d baked it, so we all ate cake to celebrate Poppy’s birth day. Someone told me the cake got done baking and the oven timer dinged just seconds before they heard Poppy’s cries coming from upstairs, which I think is so awesome. And now we finally know what Poppy was waiting on – her birth day cake!

We stayed upstairs a while longer while I chugged Gatorade and chowed down on eggs and cheese. Poppy got her newborn exam and everything checked out perfectly. Her breathing was still a bit rapid but 1 puff of air from the oxygen machine helped her out tremendously. I got a little pale and Lynda kept reminding me to take big deep breaths, which really did made me feel much better. I was still kind of hyper from the exhilaration of the birth, and had to be reminded several times to relax and breathe. About 2 1/2 hours after Poppy was born, our birth team left. Zach, Poppy and I headed downstairs where we sat and chatted with family before kicking them out so we could get some sleep.

And that is the long story of the birth of Penelope Lynn Pucillo. It was absolutely the best birth experience I could ever have hoped for and I wouldn’t change a thing (except maybe to remember to call the rest of the people I’d wanted to be here for it, especially Lolli). I am so glad we did the Hypnobabies, because I believe it’s what got me through the 3-9cm stage of labor without even realizing I was doing it! I feel much better physically after this birth than my first; probably because I had a 2nd degree tear and stitches with Lolli. The immediate post partum experience has been infinitely better than after Lolli’s hospital birth. Granted, part of that has to do with Poppy liking to sleep (Lolli hated it ha), but an even bigger factor is being able to recover in the comfort of our own home. There was no better feeling than laying down with Zach in our own bed, with Poppy in the co-sleeper next to me, just hours after the birth.

Welcome, Poppy!

Penelope Lynn Pucillo, *Poppy*, is born!!!

41w 1d

Still going strong! Lauren had her weekly visit with the midwife a couple days ago and everything is perfectly normal with her and the baby. Just waiting it out :)

Since she'd already tried everything else short of castor oil, Lauren went to see an acupunturist yesterday. It was an interesting experience, and the woman was very cool, but so far it doesn't seem to have gotten anything going.

Tonight is the pitch-in picnic to benefit the Indiana Midwifery Taskforce. Zach, Lauren and Lolli will be going. Hopefully Lauren doesn't end up in labor right then, because half of the attendees at the picnic are also supposed to be at Lauren's birth - the picnic would be a bust :(

40w 4d

Lauren has officially carried this pregnancy longer than she did Lolli's. Today is a sad day for everyone because Lauren's mom leaves town, so it's now official that she won't be here for the birth. Lauren and Zach tried many things to encourage baby to come out (evening primrose oil, sex, nipple stimulation, black and blue cohosh, even having her membranes swept twice) but nothing worked.

Lauren's doula suggested that all the supplements and red raspberry leaf tea (full of vitamins and nutrients for pregnancy) may have actually slowed the demise of her placenta, so Poppy isn't getting the message that it's time to come out. Lauren's going to cut down on the vitamins and supplements, and stop drinking the tea. Maybe then Poppy will get the hint!

More Mucus

And spontaneously leaked colostrum for the first time!

40 week appointment

Lauren, her mom, Zach and Lolli went to see Lynda this morning. Everything is going great! Lauren's urine strip was fine, her BP was 102/64 and her fundus actually measured 40 weeks, which is a first (measuring on schedule). Since she's getting kind of antsy for a baby at this point, Lauren asked Lynda to check her cervix: 2.5cm and 30% effaced. Which is nice, considering Lauren was dilated to *1* when she arrived at the hospital 24 hours after her water had broken with Lolli. Next appointment is Tuesday

Happy Due Date to ME! (2)

Today I am officially 40 weeks pregnant! Come out when you're ready, baby, I'm yearning to see you and kiss you and feed you and and hold your sweet little booty in the palm of my hand

I feel very fortunate that both of my pregnancies have made it to the 40 week mark. Even though I get a bit antsy as the EDD approaches and passes (just like anyone would!), I know that my baby will come when she’s ready, and I accept that.

It’s been 35 ½ weeks since I saw that little plus sign in the CVS parking lot. After 10 calendar months of TTC, I was both shocked and elated. I immediately called to schedule an appointment with my OB (Dr. Soper, whom I love). Zach and I spent a few weeks exploring our different birthing options (hospital vs. birth center vs. home). By the time we heard a heartbeat at Dr. Soper’s at 10w 5d, we had officially decided to switch to a CNM (Andrea Dixon, whom I also love!) and plan a birth center birth.

Being a client at the birth center was an awesome experience because I was given control of my pregnancy. I was in charge of testing my OWN urine with the little dip sticks and I got to weigh and record my own weight in the privacy of the bathroom. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but being given that little bit of trust and responsibility was empowering for me.

When I was nearing the end of my 2nd trimester, I had the privilege of attending a home birth, acting as doula for one of our very own IMLMs. Wow – that birth changed me! I loved seeing how hands-off the midwife was. I loved seeing a woman laboring safely in her own home, with no IVs or monitors or things that go “beep.” I loved seeing her, her newborn, her husband and her 2 older children all hanging out in bed together just hours after the birth. It seemed so right, so normal and not at all scary. I was sold!

And so we switched care providers again, to another CNM, Lynda Barton-Kirch, who catches babies at her client’s home. And so began the most interesting part of our journey! We had supplies to buy, closets and rooms to organize, decisions to make, and so much to plan for! We’ve been to 5 different health food stores looking for various supplements and herbs. We’ve filled up an entire dresser with birth supplies in the room we’ve converted into our “birthing suite.” We had the pleasure of hosting our midwife, birth assistant, doula, and friends and family at our house for the official “home visit” around 37 weeks. And now we’ve got a giant birthing tub filled with water upstairs, just waiting for someone to labor and/or birth in it.

In addition, we’ve spent 18 hours in Hypnobabies classes and 30-45 minutes each day “practicing” my relaxation. I’ve been to the chiropractor weekly for the past 2 months. I’ve spent countless hours reading and re-reading (and sometimes re-re-reading). I feel so prepared for this birth, emotionally and mentally. Just waiting for my body to get the memo :)

More Gunk woohoo!

More mucus :)

Helloooooo Birth Cork!

***Lauren lost a little bit of her mucus plug!***

It sounds like something silly to be getting excited over, but she doesn't get prenatal cervical checks so this little glob of clear gunk is the only verification she has that something is going on down there. Definitely going to be birthing a baby here in the next few weeks!!! Woooohooooo!!!

Splish Splash!

The birth tub has been delivered! Lynda's husband, Jeff, brought it over this morning. Zach and Lauren filled it this evening and hopped in to try out different positions for when the birthing time arrives. It's awesome!

Last Prenatal Chiro Appt!

Lauren went to the chiropractor this morning. She took one look at Lauren and knew the baby had dropped :) Since Dr. Nancy will be out of town next week, she didn't even bother with having Lauren schedule her next appointment, because it'll be a POST PARTUM one, AFTER baby is born. How exciting!

Placenta Brain

Lauren's phone rang today and the caller ID said "Lynda Barton-Kirch" (the midwife). The first thing that popped into Lauren's mind was "Oh my gosh, is it time?!?" Of course she immediately realized that her labor would not begin with the midwife calling HER to tell her it was time ha ha ha. When Lauren told Lynda the story, Lynda blamed it on Placenta Brain. Sounds like a good excuse :)

Wetting the bed

This post is NOT about Lolli, ha ha ha

It's about Lauren. Zach had to travel 2 1/2 hours away for work on Monday and stay overnight. Lolli and Lauren decided to tag along to take advantage of his hotel pool.

So anyway, Lauren peed before bed (around 10) and then woke up to pee around midnight. Apparently she got super comfy in the soft hotel bed after that, because the next thing she knew it was 5:45am and she was peeing IN THE BED!

She sprang up as quickly as is possible for a 38-weeker and ran to the bathroom. Luckily she was sleeping in terry cloth shorts, which apparently are super absorbant. She somehow managed not to leave a trail of pee on her path to the commode, despite not being able to turn the "faucet" off (is it possible to do a kegel while running?!). She made it to the toilet and continued to pee for what seemed like forever. Maybe she drank too much before bed?

So anyway, she cleaned herself up, changed clothes, and stayed awake until she got a BH contraction, just to make sure she hadn't mistaken amniotic fluid for pee. A couple weak contractions came and went and nothing leaked out of her, so she had to accept the fact that she's just a bed-wetter.

GBS Test Results

Lauren swabbed herself for Group Beta Strep at the home visit on Monday. Lynda sent it off to the lab and called Lauren with the results today - Negative! Woohoo! GBS isn't really a big deal, but testing positive would have meant deciding between doing nothing, doing a cleanse and re-testing, or just accepting antibiotics during early labor. Since the result was negative, Lauren doesn't have to do any decision-making at all! Awesome!

Lolli did great going to the chiropractor with Lauren this morning. She sits in her stroller and munches on M&Ms she buys from a machine right before going back to the room. She knows that the chiropractic care is becasue of the pregnancy so she says, "Poppy" a lot in the waiting room and the actual chiro room. She says "Whoa!" every time the chiro table goes up and down; it's hilarious! Dr. Nancy says Lauren's sacrum isn't buckled at all, which will make for a great, easy birth. Love it!

Home Visit & Pregnancy Update

The home visit went very well! Here's a brief (or maybe not-so-brief) re-cap for those of you who couldn't make it (we missed you!)

Midwife: Lynda Barton-Kirch, CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) Lynda was a L&D nurse at Community North and Wishard for years before earning her Master's in midwifery. She's been involved in home births for over 13 years, including having one of her own babies at home.

Birth Assistant: Terry Blankenship Terry is a massage therapist, birth doula, hypnodoula, and she taught the Hypnobabies classes we took. Her main role will be to assist Lynda with whatever she needs, however she can also help Zach and I with our Hypnobabies stuff as a bonus!

Doula: Charity Reine Charity is a birth doula and her 3rd baby was born at home using Hypnobabies and having Terry as her Hypnodoula and Lynda as her midwife. She's also assisting Lynda in her office part-time this summer in order to eventually become a Birth Assistant and hopes to someday become a midwife herself!

That's our superstar birth team :)

The first part of the home visit was spent on introductions and a Q&A type of atmosphere with Lynda about home birth and with Terry about Hypnobabies. Then we went upstairs to the "birth suite" and Lynda took my blood pressure (98/64) and everyone got to listen to the heartbeat through the Doppler (high 120's to mid 130's, baby was calm). She didn't even bother measuring my fundus since at this point it has so much to do with baby's position that it can very by as much as 8cm just depending on how baby lays from 1 minute to the next! She's able to tell through palpation that fluid levels are fine, which we like to hear!

Then we went through the list of home birth supplies we've collected (towels, receiving blankets, peroxide, fish net, witch hazel, heating pad... lots of fun stuff) and showed Lynda where everything is being stored so she won't have to ask during the birthing time. She gave us a few supplies (sealed in sterile packaging of course) like the cord clamp (sooooo cute), bulb syringe, gloves and whatnot. Then we showed her around the rest of the house and made sure to point out the washer and dryer (they'll start a load before they leave, woohoo!).

After we all came downstairs Lynda gave me the Group Beta Strep kit and I swabbed myself (which was definitely nice than having to undress to let someone else do it when I'm totally capable!). We'll get those results sometime this week. If it's positive, I can opt to have an IV or injection of antibiotics once the birthing time is coming, or I can do a cleanse to get rid of the bacteria and test again. And we turned in our consent forms for baby care in the first 48 hours (in case anyone is curious, we're consenting to the vitamin k injection but refusing the antibiotics in baby's eyes, as those are to prevent infections in case mom has an STD, but I am STD-free, woohoo! We'll also be doing the standard metabolic screen at 48 hours).

That's really all there was to it! I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow (Wednesday), so we've got the green light to go ahead and get to birthing whenever baby is ready. Lynda attends home birth up to 43 weeks gestation, although I *doubt* I'll go that long. Lolli was born at 40 weeks, 4 days, not that that really means anything at all! Zach and I have a concert to go to in Cincinnati on June 29th, and I don't wanna miss it, so I don't plan to give birth before I hit 39 weeks :) Ha ha, we'll see what baby says about that. Our birth tub should come sometime in the next 2 weeks!

So anyway, everything is going really well and is as normal as can be. We got our house all in order and all of our big projects out of the way and we feel so prepared for the birth and having a newborn (well, as prepared as anyone can be!). I'm getting very sappy at the thought of having a tiny baby again; just the thought of holding her little baby booty makes me melt :)

HypnoBabies

Zach and I just finished up our 6-week Hypnobabies class. Since most of you probably don't know what Hypnobabies is all about (we didn't before this pregnancy!) here's a little info if you're interested in learning about what'll be going on during the Birthing Time. We've got our "birth suite" upstairs, so friends and family are welcome to come to the house and hang out downstairs during the birthing time without worry of disrupting me. It'll probably be kind of the same scenario as we had at the hospital for Lolli's birth, with people coming in to visit in short shifts during the birthing time and in the waiting room (which is our downstairs!) for the rest of the time. We realize not everyone may be able to make it depending on when baby decides to be born, but we really hope to have family and close friends here to meet the newest family member when she arrives :)

http://www.hypnobabies.com/
What is Hypnobabies" Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis"?
Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis is one of the excellent techniques that sets Hypnobabies apart from other natural childbirth programs and helps our Hypno-Moms to truly enjoy childbirth. It originally comes from master hypnotist Gerald Kein’s exploration of exactly what women wanted in childbirth as he sat down with a group of them and they gave him their invaluable feedback.. “I don’t want to be relegated to a hospital bed, only lying down to maintain my relaxation and focus! When I’m giving birth, I don’t want drugs, and I want to be physically comfortable doing what comes naturally! I want to be able to move around freely, change positions, eat, drink, communicate, shower, squat and as I do, I want to be completely relaxed, calm, confident and completely comfortable!” Not asking too much, did they?

Actually, NO. Gerald Kein set about to create exactly what they asked him to - a way for women to use hypnotic childbirth while being supremely mobile, able to easily move into upright positions that aided in the descent and position of the baby during birthing, while still allowing the mother to enjoy childbirth comfortably. These hypnosis suggestions were built right into his Painless Childbirth scripts, reinforced many times and very powerfully created exactly that. He called it, “Eyes-Open Childbirth Hypnosis” and we decided to use it in Hypnobabies, which Gerry is very proud of, and the rest is.history.

Eyes-open, self-hypnosis the way Hypnobabies teaches it, gives mom all the control over her hypnosis during her birthing time with a drop of her finger literally. Practicing our finger-drop/eyes-open childbirth hypnosis technique for instant self-hypnosis and anesthesia, allows you to be mobile and even open your eyes throughout your birthing time, and not be rendered dependent upon passively listening to deep relaxation and guided imagery, which has been a major concern of many expectant mothers who have done other natural childbirth programs.

Why choose a natural, easier birth using Hynobabies? The benefits are many:
● The Hypno-mom will use fewer drugs or no drugs, which means less risk of side effects for mother and baby, due to elimination of the Fear/Tension/Pain Syndrome, and using post-hypnotic suggestions.
● Most Hypno-mothers have shorter labors since there is less resistance of the birthing muscles when pain and fear are minimized or eliminated.
● The birthing woman generally has much more energy throughout first and second stage, due to a total relaxation throughout the birthing process.
● The birthing environment is much more calm and peaceful when the natural childbirth mother is comfortable.
● Breech and posterior babies can be turned using hypnosis.
● Blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature can be lowered and nausea, back and hip pain eliminated with hypnosis during pregnancy and labor.
● There are fewer interventions for failure to progress and therefore fewer fetal and maternal complications during labor.
● The deep relaxation in Hypnobabies sessions has also helped many a nervous birth partner to enjoy their partner's pregnancy and childbirth, and the skills that the Hypno-couple learns for relaxation and hypnosis will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
● Our Hypno-couples are "deprogrammed" from the usual negativity of childbirth stories and scenarios they've always heard, by way of training in Hypnobabies classes and audio CDs which have positive messages and hypnotic suggestions. This automatically allows for a positive attitude and much more confidence in birthing.

How you can assist the Hypno-family
We are all very suggestible and the words we use have specific connotations to them. Many of the words commonly used regarding labor and birth have negative associations to them in the minds oif our expectant mothers, so we have changed some of them to create a positive association. If you can use them as well, it would be very helpful and very much appreciated.
*Birthing Time: in place of “labor”
*Pressure Wave: in place of “contraction” or “labor pain”
*Pressure and Comfort: We do not use the word “pain” at any time; we instead use “pressure” and we create comfort with our minds. Please don’t ask her if she’s in pain, since our Hypno-mom is in hypnosis and the mere suggestion of pain could cause it to happen!
*Birthing: Our word for “delivery”; our aim is a gentle, confident birthing, not for someone to intrusively “deliver” the baby

Preparation!

Zach, Lauren and Lolli spent the past week getting the house all ready for baby. This meant rearranging the bedroom to fit: a king-size bed, a full-sized crib, a dresser, a chest, 2 night stands, a dog bed, a co-sleeper attachment, and an Amby baby hammock. Whew! They also organized Zach's office to fit the futon in there, which meant moving one of his desks to the loft and getting rid of Lauren's old computer cart. Then they set up the twin bed in the birthing room and hung affirmations on the wall. All of the birth supplies are organized in a dresser, just waiting to be needed! The upstairs bathrooms got a new massaging showerhead as well as a new shower curtain liner. The garage was cleaned out and de-junked. As of this morning, the entire house is clean, all at once - they even scrubbed out the fridge and replaced an old toilet seat. All of Poppy's sheets, clothes, blankets and prefolds are washed and ready to go. As soon as her diaper covers arrive, everything will be complete! But don't come yet, little baby, because Zach and Lauren are going to a concert in Cincinnati in 2 weeks!

Pregnancy Update

Zach, Lolli, Molly and I went to see Lynda yesterday. The short version: everything's going great! If you're bored, feel free to read more ;)

I got the results of the 1-hour glucose test I took on May 1st. I had been so sure I would fail it, I even ate some chocolate the night before the test because I didn't even see a point in trying. I had tested my own glucose levels a couple times with Dad's glucomometer and my 1-hour level had been high (230's, I think?) but my 2 and 3 hour levels had been fine, so I wasn't really concerned about Gestational Diabetes, just sure I would fail the 1-hour test and have to take the dreaded 3-hour test. That morning I ate breakfast then a few hours later went to the lab, drank my 20 ounces of 100% purple grape juice (apparently midwives don't make their clients chug that Glu-Cola stuff, hooray!), and 1 hour later they drew my blood. I needed to be below 140 to "pass." My score: 106!!! Woohoo!

So anyway, yesterday I was 32 weeks 5 days. I was measuring 33.5 centimeters, which was actually lower than we'd expected (have been measuring 2 or 2.5 cm ahead consistently). That's because the baby is moving down lower into my pelvis! Which I knew, because I'm peeing more often now :) The baby's heartrate was high 130's, low 140's. My blood pressure was 106/168, which is good.

Lynda helped Zach feel the baby's rump (easy to find!) and follow the curve of the baby's back (which was on the left side for a change!) down to the head (not as easy to find). Zach was able to "hold" the baby's head in his hand, which I am a bit jealous of because I can't really reach. It was fun to watch him get to "hold" the baby again (he found the head one other time when we were doing belly mapping for fun).

Lolli knows the drill now, and starts saying "baby baby baby" as soon as I hop up on the table in the exam room. She loves hearing the heartbeat. I hope she's not disappointed when the baby comes and there's no more "whoosh whoosh whoosh" in mommy's belly :)

We also got a list of basic supplies to have available on our birth day. Most of it we already have (large bowl for placenta, receiving blankets for baby, towels, etc). We'll get our official Birth Kit Supply list in a week or so, and then get to go shopping for the things Lynda doesn't bring with her. Our next visit is June 3rd and after that it's time for the Home Visit on June 15th!

We're 1/3 of the way done with our Hypnobabies classes and so far we really like it. I have scripts on CD to listen to every other day and Zach reads me scripts on the other days. I also have a wonderful "Joyful Pregnancy" affirmations cd that I listen to in the car and I love it! The ultimate goal of Hypnobabies is pain-free birth, so we'll see. My analytical mind is still skeptical, but when we're doing a session, I feel soooo relaxed that I'm starting to think it may be possible to train my mind to feel only pressure, not discomfort. Even if I don't get good enough to feel no pain, I am 100% sure that doing this will help me relax, which is what I was unable to do during my last labor (I think). Wish us luck!

I went to the chiropractor for the first time on Friday. I'm hoping that getting adjusted for the remainder of my pregnancy will really help baby in the birthing process to come out quickly and effeciently (and hopefully comfortable for her!). At the very least is took away the pain in my left hip, which hadn't been bothering me terribly, but it's nice to have it gone! I go again on Wednesday.

I'm still drinking my RRL, alfalfa, nettles and peppermint tea every day. And drinking my 100 ounces of water and adding chlorophyll to 1 bottle. Taking my vitamins and being sure to get boatloads of healthy proteins. I've been on a fruit kick lately but have been trying not to fill up on it too much so I can fit in all the other stuff I need to be eating. I blame Farm Fresh Delivery ;)

Our "birth suite" is ready, except for the tub which won't come until I'm about 39 weeks. I still need to work on getting food in the freezer. The baby's clothes are washed and put away, ready for baby! We still need to get a pack of disposible diapers for the first week and then our cloth stash for after that (the smallest we had for Lolli fits 15lbs and up). I wanna clean up the car seat a little bit and wash the sheets on the Amby and Co-sleeper, so that whichever one we decide to use will be ready to go. I really feel like this second baby thing is easy to prepare for, 'cause we already have almost everything we need. I'm sure there will be things we'll realize we need after baby is born, but getting out of the house is good for us, so a-shopping we will go :)

Prego survey

How far along? 32 weeks, 4 days



Total weight gain/loss: 24 lbs



Maternity clothes? Mostly, although I still wear some non-maternity shirts.



Stretch marks? The ones I acquired while growing Lolli are just now starting to get a little big longer. Not too bad, though.



Sleep: I am incredibly tired. I never sleep for longer than 2 hours in a row and since we get up early, I'm only in bed for about 8 hours a night. I'm exhausted!!!



Best moment this week: Hmm... Watching how excited Zach was when got to feel the baby having hiccups.



Movement: Pretty active, but usually stays in the same spot. Arm and hand movement is felt way down low and the legs kick up in the center of the top of my belly.



Food cravings: Lately it's been fruit



Gender: Sex is female, hoping the gender is, too, but I guess we won't know that 100% for a couple decades!



Labor Signs: None, really. Having lots of pressure waves, but no actual sign of the birthing day coming any time soon (which is good)



Belly Button in or out? Getting close to flat



What I miss: Sleeping. Being comfortable (even laying on my side is totally uncomfy at this point). Being able to have a glass of wine at night. Being able to bend over without pain.



Weekly Wisdom: Babies come on their birth days, not when a doctor decides



Milestones: Started Hypnobabies class last week! And in 3 more weeks and 3 days, I'll be full term (36 weeks) and eligible for home birth!



Next appointment: Tomorrow. I think we'll get our list of supplies to buy for the birth. Fun!

18 Month Well Visit

Lolli's 18 Month Well Visit was today, even though she's coming up on 20 months old. She measured 32 inches tall, weighed in at 24 lbs 12oz, and has an 18 inch noggin. She's right at the 50th percentile for all of those. She's met all of the developmenal milestones expected for an 18-month old and has even mastered many of the 2-year old ones, so she's right on track!

She cried when she had to be laid down on the table to be measured, but other than that she was very brave. She loves the fish in the waiting room and had blast pointing out all the different colored fish. "Purple! Blue-a! "Ish" (orange) "Yellow!"

She showed the doctor where lots of her body parts are and repeated many words he said, which led the doctor to say to Zach and Lauren, "Ooohhh, you gotta watch what you say around this one!" Ha yes, they are very aware!

Stringing Words Together!

Lolli is really starting to string words together. Last night she and Lauren were at Papaw Swain's. They were all sitting outside and Lolli was eating ice. When her bowl was empty, she picked it up and said, "More ice! More ice!" Then later, after feeding the donkeys celery and strawberries, she said, "Bye Donkeys!" Woohoo!

Getting ready!

Lauren washed all the NB and 0-3 months clothes in "free" detergent, dried them without fabric softener, carefully folded them, and placed them in the drawer that used to hold her socks. Now Poppy's wardrobe is ready and waiting for her :)

All night in the crib!

Lolli went to bed at 8 last night without a peep. When Zach and Lauren went to bed at 10:30, they decided to leave Lolli in her crib to see how long it'd be before she woke up and wanted to come to bed. Well, it's now 7:06 the next morning and Lolli is STILL snoozing in her crib! So tonight is the first time in her whole life that she slept all by herself all night long. She's all grown up! Luckily Lolli's crib is still in Zach and Lauren's room, so they were able to hear her breathing so they weren't up all night worrying that she'd died in there or something!

Zach and Lauren will probably try again tonight, but who knows if lighting will strike twice ;)

"Baby!"

For some reason, Lolli calls Molly "Baby." This morning around 6:45 (when Molly usually shows up) Lolli woke up, said "Baby?" and then went back to sleep when Lauren told her Molly isn't coming today. Haha!

Lolli Can Read!

Lolli got a new book and it repeats, "Ooooooooo snuggle puppy of mine" on every other page. Lauren had only read Lolli the book twice before she figured out the the "Oooooooooooo" was the part that made of "oooh" sound. Now she flips through the book all by herself, pointing to the "oooooooo" and saying "ooh ooh." Lauren's been sleeping in a t-shirt that says 2007 Lactation Station and Lolli likes to point to every 0 and o on the shirt and said "ooh ooh." And today at Grandma's, Lolli was coloring with markers. She started writing circles and saying, "ooh ooh." Very impressive!!!

ROA

Based on where she's feeling bulges, flutters, and kicks, Lauren believe the baby is head down in a right occiput anterior (ROA) position!

ROA (or maybe ROT or ROP)!

Zach and Lauren did a quick "belly mapping" of Lauren's tummy this evening. They both agreed the baby's back is definitely on Lauren's right side. Lauren feels the most kicks in the top right of her tummy, as well, so they think the baby's back is turned slightly towards Lauren's back. Zach was even able to find the baby's head and hold it in his hands by feeling around right above Lauren's pubic bones! Awesome :)

Water Wings!

Zach and Lauren took Lolli to the gym to go swimming this evening. Since she's getting closer to age 2, the age her water wings are recommended for, they decided to try them out. Even though she's not quite even 17 months, Lolli did GREAT! She loved having the freedom to "swim" without sitting in a floatie or having Lauren or Zach hold her. At first she could only float on her tummy but after a few minutes she learned to get her feet under her and "tread water." She had a lot of fun and it was soooo cute!

"Baby"

Lauren was changing clothes this afternoon and Lolli was "helping." When Lauren pulled her shirt up to take it off, Lolli started making the sign for "baby." She definitely understands that there's a baby in mommy's belly, although she probably doesn't understand that it's going to come out some day, ha ha.

One Last Hoorah?

Lolli woke Lauren up around 1 or 2 in the middle of the night, trying to lift Lauren's head off the pillow. So Lauren sat up and Lolli started trying to get the pillow onto Lauren's lap - she was asking to nurse! So she did, for about a minute, before deciding to go back to sleep. Her latch was a little bit painful for Lauren which isn't surprising since it's been almost 2 weeks since Lolli last breastfed - she's forgetting how!

When is your SON due?

Zach, Lauren and Lolli went to the museum today. After playing hard for over an hour, they headed to the cafeteria for a snack. The Cafeteria worker asked Lauren how old Lolli was and after Lauren answered her, the lady said, "And when is your SON due?" Lauren was kind of creeped out by this woman inferring that she had x-ray vision into her uterus, so Lauren just said "SHE's due in July" and started walking away. The lady then said, "Looks like a boy to me." What a weirdo!!!

But, it was the first time that a stranger has acknowledged that Lauren is pregnant, so it was exciting in that aspect!

"Poppy"

Lolli can say Poppy! And she says it crystal clear! It's so cute. But funny, since Lolli still can't even say her own name, ha ha.

It's a Girl!

I had my standard diagnostic ultrasound today! Zach and Lolli went with me (of course!) and everything went great! Lolli liked looking at the baby on the screen! And the baby is perfectly healthy and normal; in fact she's measuring exactly 18 weeks, 5 days - which is how far along I should be, to the day! Woohoo! And yes... I said SHE! Lolli's getting a little sister and we couldn't be happier! After the U/S we had to go to the Ped's for Lolli's final round of vaccinations until Kindergarten. She wasn't very excited about it, but she survived. Then we headed to the mall where we got these pictures taken and had the first one made into a Valentine's Card to send to relatives to let out the big secret! Lots of fun!

Lolli's a Weaner!

Lolli has slept completely through the night for 3 night in a row now! For a couple of weeks she was sleeping through the night about every other night or so and still waking to nurse the other nights. But now she seems to be sleeping through the night consistently so it seems that she's weaned herself.

Lauren is glad that Lolli is developmentally ready to sleep through the night, and feels good about letting Lolli get there at her own pace without sleep training. And she's happy that Lolli didn't wean herself even earlier than this, since she quit day nursing MONTHS ago! But Lauren had hoped to continute breastfeeding through at least winter (18 months was the goal) and was completely comfortable with tandem nursing, so she's a little bummed that Lolli won't be getting any more mama milk. She knows it's common for toddlers to wean themselves in the middle of their mom's pregnancies and Lauren's 18 weeks, 4 days today so.... that's almost the middle!

So anyway, Lolli's a big girl now :)

Prenatal Appt

I was 17w 5d yesterday when we went for our second appointment at the birth center. We got to the birth center right on time and Lolli went right to playing with the toys. While Zach kept an eye on her, I went to the bathroom, peed in a cup, stuck the test strips in it, and matched the colors up. All 3 tests were negative - woohoo! Then I weighed myself - I've gained 3 pounds with this pregnancy, which I already knew from weighing myself at home. I wrote the test results and my weight in my chart and turned it back into the front desk.

After that we went in with the midwife. She talked about how we'll schedule our ultrasound (I get to call the lab tomorrow to make an appointment for sometime in the next few weeks!). Then she asked if I was having swelling (nope) or if I'm feeling any contracting when Lolli's nursing (I'm not!). She marked down how often I'm feeling movement. She offered the Alpha Feto Protein test - we declined. After that she took my blood pressure which was 106/68, so that's all fine and dandy.

Then I hopped up on the table and Lolli freaked out for a moment because she's afraid of the crinkly paper (it reminds her of getting her vaccines at her ped's office, LOL). After Lolli calmed down, the midwife verified that my uterus is 1 finger-length below my belly button, right where it should be.Then she busted out the gel and doppler and searched for the little one's heartbeat. It was hanging out waaay down low. The baby was kicking up a storm, too, which was funny to hear. Anyway, the heartbeat was 158-160.

So all-in-all it was a very routine, not-too-exciting appointment, which is what we like at this point in a pregnancy! Next appointment's in 4 weeks on March 2nd :) I called this morning and scheduled our ultrasound for Friday the 13th - ha! I'll be 19w 2d. That day was open for Zach and I don't have Molly that day so it's perfect... as long as the kid isn't wearing a hockey mask! I wonder what Lolli will think of it... I hope she doesn't freak out again if I have to lay back on crinkley paper ;)

First appointment at NMI

We had our first prenatal appointment with Nurse Midwives of Indianapolis today. It went very well! We went into this feeling unsure if the birth center was really the right place for us and this baby, but we left being 100% convinced!

Upon arriving at the birth center, we were excited to see that it's really just a house. From the outside would could see a screened-in porch, a picnic table, a glider swing, beautiful mature trees and lots of play equiptment for kids - swingset, slides, playhouse, etc. The good thing about being due in July is that Lolli will be able to take advantage of that play equiptment (barring any rain I guess) while I'm inside (or outside, I suppose) laboring away! After we entered the center I filled out the usual paperwork while Lolli and Molly played with all the toys in the waiting room. Lolli liked the play washer and dryer the best and Molly liked the lego blocks.

The receptionist showed me to a bathroom with real hand towels (you all know how I hate the paper stuff...) where I was to pee in a Dixie cup and stick the test strips into the urine all by myself and mark the results on my chart. I know this is nothing complicated and anyone could do it, so it felt great to be "trusted" and made part of my own care that way! The scale was also in the bathroom so I got to weigh myself in privacy. It felt very comfy and homey.

Next we went on a quick tour of the birth center. There's a kitchen with all the appliances available for use by the laboring woman and her friends and family (except the oven - that's gotta be kept available to heat the blankets for the baby!). There are 2 labor/delivery rooms, both of which have large comfy-looking beds. The main room also has a shower and jacuzzi tub. In the event that 2 women are there at one, but one closest to delivering gets the tub room, but can move to the other room (across the hall) after birth if need be. There are 2 exam rooms at the birth center, one upstairs and one downstairs, because there are 2 midwives, Barb and Andrea.

We met upstairs with Andrea today. She went over how the birth center operates, costs, philosophies, medical history, health and nutrition during pregnancy, how to get ahold of them 24/hours a day, all that good stuff. She also encouraged us to question her if we ever feel like she's treating us as just another patient, or if we don't understand why things are happening or if we have ideas about different ways to do things, etc. She believes midwifery care should be high-touch, low-tech, which is awesome. She believes in empowering women through education to take charge of their own health care, bodies, and pregnancies. I think I love this woman, ha ha.

We learned that during the pregnancy I will meet both her and Barb, because Barb is on call every other weekend so there's a chance she could be the one attending the birth. We also learned that my chart will be reviewed by Doctor Soper at 28 weeks and again at 36 weeks. Other than that, Dr. Soper won't see me during the pregnancy unless a complication arises and/or the midwives have a concern. At that point, I can either transfer care to Dr. Soper if necessary or she and the midwives will provide team care. Either way, Dr. Soper is available for consultation with the midwives throughout my pregnancy and delivery. I love that I already know, like and respect the backup doctor! The birth center is 7 minutes away from Methodist's front door in case the need should arise for emergency transport (which is rare due to the care taken to find out about possible complications during the pregnancy and taking action then!).

After going over everything, Andrea used the doppler to listen for the baby's heartbeat. It took several minutes to find it, and every time she did, the baby would move away. Must be a wiggle worm :) Anyway, she finally got the baby to hold still for the standard 15 seconds so she could count heartbeats. The heartrate was 150, which is kind of middle-of-the-road, and is what Lolli's usually was. Then they took my blood pressure (good!), scheduled the next appointment (February 2!) and that was that!

For those of you who may be wondering about the qualifications and exprience of a midwife, Andrea is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Nurse Midwife. She became a CNM in 1987 and did home births in Northern California for several years as well as managing a local birth center. She's served women from there to the St Thomas Hospital, US Virgin Islands, and a Missouri Birth Center! She came to Indy in 1997 and worked at the Birth Center as well as Methodst. She left and went to Planned Parenthood for a few years before returning to the birth center and is once again also delivering at Methodist. Her bio says her pet peeve are "midwives using power over women and the medicalization of birth." She's currently treasurer of the Indiana Midwives Association and is an active NRP and CPR instructor.

Anyway, Zach and I are so excited to have settled on a care provider and birth place! I'll update again next month!