Relaxed but still on edge

Both Bob and I agree that we've been so much more relaxed this go around with baby Anna. Of course it helps tremendously that she's been a pretty happy baby so far and only cries when she's hungry or overtired. All of those issues that seemed to be a big deal with Jack, like whether to wake him up to feed him, whether he was getting enough milk, whether it was ok to let him sleep longer than 3 hours, whether we could try putting him to sleep on his side or tummy, etc. just don't stress us out. It's more of a go-with-the-flow attitude this time around and that has made a considerable difference in our stress levels for sure.

That being said, with two now the demands are definitely at least doubled...I know friends of ours have said that you get more than double the work with two kids, and some days it feels like that for sure. Despite being more relaxed in some ways, I still feel "on edge" a lot because I'm trying to anticipate my kids' needs all the time...When will Anna need her next feeding? What will Jack eat for lunch? Should I put Anna down to nap first or Jack? Do I have something to entertain Jack if we go out to eat (which isn't very often now)? Does Anna have everything she needs in her diaper bag? Extra diapers for Jack too? You moms know the list goes on and on! Everyday I more or less run through some combination of most of those questions and countless others.

I didn't really realize this though until last night when I was driving to dinner with my mother-in-law. Bob and his dad had the kids in our van, and Cindy and I took her van out to eat. So it was just her and I and....silence. It's amazing how deafening silence becomes to a mom...I literally had a fleeting moment of panic in my head when I realized how quiet it was in the car, like I had forgotten the kids or something had happened to them. There was no crying or talking or banging on toys or pulling down the sun shades on the windows and I didn't know what to do about it!! I'm so used to being in problem-solving mode as a mom (especially with two!) that I'm not good at relaxing and enjoying those fleeting times when I don't have any problems that need solving at the moment. I gotta get better at this!

So true to form, motherhood remains a continuous learning curve. A lot of things I worried about with Jack don't concern me with Anna, but having two has brought on it's own set of new challenges to tackle! Overall though, I'm enjoying it immensely.

A few more pictures

Just a few more pictures from week number two of life with baby Anna...I've quickly found Saturday's are one of the few times when I have time to update the blog right now, so posts may be a little sparse for a while.

Getting a little tired of mom taking so many pictures...

More flashy things...

Jack sharing his number 6 with Anna...

Haley ponding whether she should try to grab a quick lick...

A little hard to see, but she's got her finger up to her mouth like she's pondering deep thoughts in her slumber...I wonder what little ones think about??

My "twins"

Greetings from the land of sleep-deprivation! I can't believe baby Anna has already been with us almost five days. She is such a precious little baby, I don't know why I was so concerned about having a girl because this child is simply wonderful. I've already had visions of fixing her hair and playing dress-up!

Labor and delivery was 110% better this time and I credit that to the many people who prayed for us during this time. I cannot thank you enough...this entire experience has been about as good as it can get. The hospital nurses were wonderful, I really liked my doctor this go around, labor and delivery overall was just easier this time, etc, etc. So far the biggest problem (and it's little in the grand scheme of things) has been some jaundice, but that's about it. Hmmm, maybe I could do this one more time :) No, I've decided to reserve judgement on any more kids until Anna is at least a year old.

I will say so far that I'm really glad we timed Jack and Anna the way we did...it's been a huge help that he can entertain himself fairly well with her at home. I think it would be difficult to have a 12-month old AND a new baby, but I know moms do this all the time.

Anyway...the "twins" crack is because of the amazing facial similarities between Jack and Anna. The first words out of my mouth when I saw Anna were "She looks just like Jack". So to prove my point, I took a picture of her right after we got home from the hospital in the same infant seat we brought Jack home in. See what you think.

T-minus 12 hours and counting....

Well, so far tomorrow is looking like a go for my induction. My doctor told me she would call this evening if things were looking like there wouldn't be a bed available, but so far I haven't heard from her as of about 7:20. We'll know for sure though tomorrow morning at 5AM when I get up to call the hospital.

I hesitate to say I'm "ready", because you're never really ready for another child (or your first), but I do feel a lot more confident this time. I got all of the laundry done, Bob mowed the grass, we hit the grocery store this evening, and my toenails are a pretty shade of pink. Hey, if the rest of me is going to be a mess tomorrow, at the least my toenails can look good, right?

We're trying to enjoy our nice quiet house one last time this evening before heading to bed and getting up early tomorrow morning to start this new journey. I hope I can manage to sleep at least some of the time!

I'll post some pictures when I can...Looking forward to meeting you miss Anna!

Who turned up the tantrums?

Wow. I think in the last week alone something has taken over my child and flipped the volume switch on his tantrum level. It used to top out in the fingernails-on-chalkboard level of annoyance, but now it's to the point sometimes where I want to poke out my eyeballs...

I'm glad I got pregnant well before this stage, because let's just say I wouldn't be too keen on it right now while witnessing the full force of a 22-month-old throwdown in timeout. Yikes.

My MOPS group was discussing the various roles moms take on this morning and which were our favorite and least favorite. I have to say that hands down, at least right now, I really don't enjoy the disciplinarian role at all. Of course I know it has to be done, but it can be mentally exhausting sometimes to fight battles constantly.

But I do love my Jack to bits, and I know this season will pass. My sister mentioned she saw a real difference in the level of tantrums in her daughter around 3 1/2 to 4 years, so the countdown is on :)

The countdown shortens

I went in for my 37 week check up and ultrasound this morning and got some good news...the countdown until baby Anna arrives has been shortened a bit!

My doctor did a few measurements during the ultrasound to estimate her weight, and the calculation came back around 8 pounds as of today. Technically I've still got a little under three weeks to go, so that would make her very close to 9 pounds (Jack's weight) if she was to come on or around her due date. Of course the ultrasound estimate can be off by half a pound, but either way, she should be a nice healthy size. My doctor even said she had chubby cheeks from the ultrasound picture, just like her brother! I'm not really sure how she could tell anything from that ultrasound image though...I could barely make anything out.

So we're looking at an induction date of Monday, November 3rd if she doesn't come on her own before then (and assuming the hospital has a free bed in the maternity ward that morning). Instead of 17 days, now we're looking at only 10!! Whohoo!

I've been procrastinating on getting my hospital bag packed, but this news is providing a much needed kick in the pants. Bob has joked around that I should at least be able to manage adding one item a day, but even that has been a struggle for me the last week. It just seemed like with Jack I brought way more than I really needed, since I spent most of the time in a hospital gown anyway. The one item I will not go with out (they were the first item in my bag) are my beloved Jolly Ranchers, which were a lifesaver when I had Jack and couldn't eat or drink anything. Hopefully I can have them at this hospital too! Anybody else have any favorite must-haves for the hospital?

Top 10 things not to say to a pregnant woman

Ok, there are many more that could be added...enjoy!

10. Any labor horror stories, especially for a first-time mom. I was pretty lucky here in that most of the women I talked with when I was pregnant with Jack were very encouraging and positive about their labor experiences, but I've had friends who have heard some doosies.

9. "Get as much sleep as you can now, it will be worse after the baby comes." Not really that bad, but it just gets a little old. I'm not intentionally depriving myself of sleep as often as possible just to see what it feels like, trust me. I love walking around like a zombie!

8. "Was she/he an accident" or "Was she/he an oopsie?"-Ok, you can maybe get away with this with a close friend (depending on the definition of "close"), but never just an acquaintance and certainly NOT a stranger. I would say "unplanned pregnancy" is a better choice of words than "oopsie" any day!

7. "Watch out, wide load ahead!"-I got this one walking down a pretty narrow hall down in our old church in Virginia. Guess I wasn't waddling fast enough for the traffic behind me....

6. Any phrase with the word "rotund" in it, even it's preceded or followed by some form of the word beautiful/lovely/glowing, etc. I assure you that any other positive comment does not even register with the pregnant woman if paired with rotund. Note: This was from the same person that made the wide load comment, and while I typically avoid gender bashing, I'll leave it to your powers of deduction to figure out which sex it came from.

5. "Please don't go into labor on us now!" I got this one back during Ike after walking into a Chick-Fil-A (and I'm sure it was well-intentioned). It was made all the worse though because I was no where near close to going into labor, which was just another unneeded reminder of how big my belly already was. And believe me, as much as I love the outstanding customer service at Chick-Fil-A, I have no intention of going into labor there.

4. "I'm beginning to see the weight gain in your face."-Ugggg is all I can say here. Again, I assure you that pregnant women are well aware of every square inch of weight they've gained.

3. "Cankles are sexy." I'm happy to say my husband has never uttered anything remotely close to this despite the days when you couldn't tell where my feet stopped and my calves started. You take your ankles for granted until a little thing called swelling hits in the second or third trimester...

2. "How far along are you? ______ weeks. Oh, you're only ______ weeks along?" One of two implications follows:

1. "Geez woman, time to cut back on the ice cream!" OR
   
2. "Geez woman, are you starving your kid?"

Neither of these options are really good, though I guess I would tend to prefer the implication of looking smaller, but I know this is really touchy too for some moms. Both imply some level of abnormality, and no pregnant woman needs any additional ammunition to feel more abnormal or unlike her usual self than she already does. Raging hormones, achy joints, sleep-deprivation, and this little person using your insides for kickboxing practice already do enough in achieving this goal.

1. As the due date approaches, any form of "Still no baby yet, eh?" or "You're still here?"-I got the "You're still here?" a number of times at the end of my pregnancy with Jack when I kept showing up at church on Sunday mornings (I wasn't even past my due date). Ok, remember when I said that a pregnant woman is well aware of how much weight she has gained and where she's gained it? Well, the only thing a pregnant woman is MORE aware of, especially by the last few weeks of pregnancy, is how much time she's got left until the due date. She, more than anyone else, is 110% aware of the fact that the baby has not been born yet. No reminders are necessary.