Baby Bobby

Now that I've got my mom's computer I can finally post some pictures...none that haven't been seen on Facebook, sorry.









Both the boys still call him "Baby Bobby" most of the time. I thought it would have worn off when everyone else was calling him Tristan, but apparently not. I think it's just easier for them to say...

The latest big discussion in the house is the possibility of sending Josey to preschool, preferably the Montessori. He's just so bored at home, which leads to really bad behaviour. He also loves playing with kids, but never gets to do it because we live so far out in the boonies (and I'm antisocial). I figure that if he even got a couple of days a week away from us to learn some social skills and independence he might be less annoying and demanding the days he is home. Of course this is all just talk right now, especially since the Montessori school costs a zillion dollars to enroll in. If it does happen, it'll probably be in January once things around here settle down a little.

Must Type Quickly...

The boys are behaving and Tristan is sleeping (on his own - yay!) so I'll quickly post about the latest. On Wednesday I went in for an ultrasound to see what was going on in Uterus Land. After the regular ultrasound, the tech informed me that she was going to do something called a "trans-vaginal ultrasound". Are you kidding me?? Are you aware that I had a baby less than a week ago and I have STITCHES? That I am BLEEDING and don't WANT anything even remotely close to that particular area? Anyway, apparently in order to get a good look at the walls of the uterus this has to be done. The worst part was the stretching against the stitches, but overall it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was, although I did leave the place in a cold sweat. My doctor was waiting in the waiting room and immediately went in for the results, which the tech wouldn't tell me other than "It doesn't look as it should". Wow, thanks. So long story short, there was definitely a piece of placenta still in there and I was booked for a D&C the next morning. We had to arrive at 7 AM, so I was thrilled to wake up at 6:38 and frantically rush around without being able to feed Tristan. Fortunately he slept right through the whole thing in his car seat and even stayed asleep for a while afterwards. Thank God for jaundice - hee hee. The procedure itself went well apparently - I was totally knocked out by the amazing invention that is general anesthesia ("Ok Lindsay, you're going to feel a bit drowsy...not too much" "Oh ok, I feel it a little....whoa, now I'm in recovery. Cool.") They got more than 1/2 a cup of tissue out, which is quite a bit, and I bled a little more than I should have, so I had to stay until 1:30. It was pretty painless, and I would definitely take a D&C over bleeding for 6 weeks anytime. Are we all totally disgusted yet?

The boys have been back with us since Friday, and it was really stressful at first. Josey's behaviour was unbelievably bad for the first few days, and he tends to get Roanen into the act too. The past couple of days have been easier, and I'm feeling more comfortable with having to do it all myself (not that I've had to yet). Tristan is still being pretty laid back, although his eating and sleeping patterns are erratic. He tends to not eat very long, then pass out right away which I'm trying to avoid. When he does follow a routine he sleeps much better and has even fallen asleep on his own in the crib or bassinette a couple of times. He doesn't need to be held when he's awake and alert, which helps a lot when I'm trying to get things done. Hopefully when the jaundice fully clears his system and he has longer awake times things will regulate. He spends about half the night in our bed, but also will sleep in the bassinette if he's in the right mood for it. His favourite place though is in the crib downstairs in the evening, where he'll usually sleep for a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours with us talking and the tv on. So much for "respectfully" keeping him in a quiet room when he's sleeping.

So that's the exciting news. Tristan is up now and the boys are going to start going nuts if I don't give them breakfast, so I'm off to be a good mommy.

Doesn't Everyone Love a Good Birth Story?

All right, here's the story:

On Wednesday the 12th I was feeling pretty crappy, although not really labour-ish; I was getting the usual amount of annoying contractions, but they tapered off in the afternoon. At about 8:30 that night I started getting them again, not much stronger, but a little more regular so I decided to time them. They were between 9 and 11 minutes apart for 30 minutes or so, then 7 minutes apart but still not any stronger. Remembering how quickly I progressed with Roanen (less than 3 hours from the first minor contraction to him being out) I called my mom to have her come over just in case. I went to lie down when she got here and dozed for about an hour. I only got 3 contractions in that hour but one of them felt real enough to get me pretty anxious. When Russ came to bed at about 11:30 the contractions came back, still not very strong but closer together at 5 minutes. We ended up calling the hospital at around 12:30 to let them know we were coming in and we arrived around 1:00 AM. In the car the contractions were about 2 minutes apart, but I was still feeling good and talking through some. Once we got to the hospital I immediately felt better anxiety-wise, mostly because I hated just lying around at home trying to decide if I really was in labour or not.
The nurse checked me and determined that I was 5-6 cm dilated and having contractions 1.5 minutes apart. I still felt really good and walked the halls for 15 minutes before my doctor showed up (or rather came blasting through the doorway at full speed because he didn't make it in time for Roanen's birth and knew he'd never hear the end of it if he missed this one), checked me, pronounced me 5 cm ( I liked the nurse's assessment better) and broke my water with a little difficulty since the baby's head was incredibly low. We just hung out for half an hour or so and the contactions got stronger but still bearable. I was checked again - 8 cm - and then the contractions got quite a bit stronger so I stopped talking and definitely stopped smiling. 5 or 6 contractions later I had to push and the head came out 1st push, body came out 2nd push at 2:37 AM. I opened my eyes to check it out and immediately spotted some very familiar parts. A BOY? How did that happen? Russ then confirmed that he was QUITE a boy (very important evidently) and we got to examine him and send him over to the nurse for weighing, etc. 6 lbs, 10 oz, 20 1/2 inches long, and apparently a little premature, despite my beliefs otherwise. We didn't have a name for a boy right away, but (I) eventually decided on Tristan Craig, a name that Russ and both my parents had agreed was british and faggy. Too bad.
Anyway, we came home on Friday night after almost no sleep, a bed that constantly adjusted itself, and 2 days of nauseating hospital food. Tristan is not a good nurser, is very sleepy, and mostly refuses to sleep by himself which should be a lot of fun once I'm home alone with all the boys. We're looking forward to the next year :) Sorry, no photos at the moment because my computer sucks and doesn't have enough space left to upload them. He's cute though ;) Looks just like a skinny version of newborn Roanen, but with Russ' nose.

*STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT REALLY GORY DETAILS*

Things have been pretty crazy since getting home. On Sunday morning we brought Tristan in to the hospital to get his weight checked and he had only lost 50 grams, which was ok, especially since I couldn't seem to get him to nurse more than 2 minutes at a time before he passed back out. He didn't seem too jaundiced to the doctor, so we were just told to bring him in to the office for another check on Tuesday. We then proceeded to go grocery shoppping, where I began to feel really sore in my hips and sacrum and crampy again. By the time we got home I felt just about as bad as when I was pregnant and decided that I had pushed myself a little too much (although I didn't really think I went too crazy with the activity). *GROSS PART BEGINS HERE* I then noticed that I had passed what looked like a small piece of the placenta. The doctor had mentioned that there was a spot that didn't look like it had separated very cleanly, so I assumed it was that and didn't really worry. However, I did notice that the cramping that I got when I nursed that had gone away after the first day returned, but no big deal. On Tuesday morning, after a rough night with Roanen (Tristan has been much easier to deal with at night since he's been sleeping in bed with us - go figure) I woke up with horrible cramping that felt just about as bad as end-of-labour contractions, but in the smaller area that my uterus is now in, and a constant pain rather than coming in waves. I called for Russ to get me some Tylenol, then ended up asking him to call obstetrics at the hospital to see what I should do. They told us to immediately go into emergency since I could start hemmorhaging - fun! Russ had to get all the kids ready and into the car since I was pretty much just doubled over in pain, then we got going. The tylenol had kicked in by this point so I was feeling better, but still concerned. We spend 2 1/4 hours at the hospital getting blood taken and having - get this - an INTERNAL pelvic exam (totally the best thing to have 5 days after giving birth and getting stitches) to be informed that I'll need an ultrasound and that I have tissue blocking my cervix that won't let my uterus tighten and close. Ultrasound is this afternoon and the doctor informed me that I may have to get a D&C tomorrow if it hasn't cleared up. So fun. Anyway, we had to go from the hospital to the doctor's office for Tristan's check, and he had only gained a little bit of weight and was looking more jaundiced so we had to go BACK to the hospital for blood tests for him. Meanwhile the kids were exhausted and Josey was completely freaking out about everything. Russ was totally stressed and for once looking forward to going back to work. We had a pretty low-key afternoon and were relieved to hear that although Tristan's bilirubin levels were high, they were below the point at which he would have to be readmitted to the hospital to bask (or scream) under the UV lights. We still have to get him another blood test today, but he's not as sleepy and is nursing for longer periods so I'm assuming that things are getting better. He even spent from 5:30 to 7:30 in his own bed this morning, and had a half-hour nap in there as well. Hopefully things will get on track soon and I'll feel a little less stressed.
I'll try to update soon, but no promises.

A Week Later...And NOTHING!

Here I am, a week after my last blog, and still sitting here knocked up. I am getting quite a few contractions today though, but nothing even worth timing or calling Russ about. After I didn't go into labour over the weekend like I thought I would I got pretty resigned to the fact that it hasn't happened yet. It helped that the boys were in Ottawa for a couple of days so I wasn't too sore and desperate for it to come out. Although I'm not going to complain if it happens now, apparently the maternity ward at the hospital is full so I don't mind waiting until it quiets down. When Josey was born I was stuck in a room at the other side of the hospital while he was under the UV lights so it was kind of a pain to have him so far away. Also, we lost a couple of the clips for the infant seat so it would be best to find those before needing to bring a baby home... That's why the baby's not coming. It knows we're not ready. Right?

Ok, Anytime Now...

I just went to the chiropractor for an adjustment, so everything is properly aligned and the baby can come out now. Just as a teaser I've actually gotten quite a few contractions in the last little while, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm achy and sore again, plus I've been sick to my stomach since last night so I'm totally done with pregnancy again. Bring on sweet epidural-free labour.

A couple of nights ago I was in our bedroom upstairs while Russ read the boys their bedtime stories. Roanen has gotten quite annoying lately while he's listening to Josey's stories, constantly asking "What's that?" and commenting on the pictures. Russ told him to stop talking a few times, then while he continued reading I heard a little voice say "One...two...three...four...five...six". I wasn't sure who it was since Roanen's voice is exactly like Josey's when he's clear, and when I asked Russ if Josey had just counted out loud he said no. Roanen then repeated the numbers, adding "Nine...Ten!" at the end. He's definitely a genius. Or just really good at mimicking Josey, who counts out loud all the time. Who needs seven and eight anyway?

I don't know if I posted this earlier (and am too lazy to look back through the blog to find out), but as an attempted solution to Josey peeing himself we've been giving him a quarter every morning to put in his bank. If he stays dry he's allowed to keep the quarter, but if he pees himself he has to give the quarter back, plus one more as a penalty. It's been working pretty well and he's earned enough to buy a couple of Hot Wheels Cars, some Smarties, and last week he used his money to buy Annabelle some cat treats. Oh, and he also gets a loonie every day that he doesn't get a time-out, which we thought we'd never had to pay out, but he succeeded 3 times last week. Eventually when he's staying dry all the time we'll give him some chores and he can earn the money that way. The novelty may be wearing off though. Yesterday morning we were getting ready to go to the cottage and Josey was watching a show on the evil tv while I got stuff together. I was in the playroom when I heard him go into the kitchen and say "I'm peeing on my hand and on the floor!" I walked in to see him hanging out of his pants and standing in a huge puddle of pee. I was seriously annoyed because when he watches tv he doesn't want to miss anything and often ends up peeing himself, so we'll have to cut our kids show watching down from less than an hour a week to NONE if he can't tear himself away long enough to go to the bathroom. After that he peed himself twice more yesterday so needless to say he didn't get his quarter. Or post-bath playtime with Daddy. Like he cares about any of that.

No, Not Yet

So apparently when you start telling people "Anytime now" a month before your "official" due date, people expect you to have the baby by the next time they see you. I don't think I was being premature with the statement considering the due date I was given was at least a week too late and I've gone early in both previous pregnancies, so don't roll your eyes at me ;) I was pretty sure that I was going to go into labour on Sunday night because I realized on Sunday morning that I felt really good, with not much hip and sacrum pain and without the feeling that I was carrying a bowling ball around in my pelvis. This was the way I felt the day before having Roanen that I assumed meant that the baby's head was engaged. Surprisingly enough Sunday night brought NOTHING and here I still am on Tuesday morning, still not feeling horrible, but still hugely pregnant. I've been faithfully taking my evening primrose oil and twice-daily doses of raspberry leaf tea, but I didn't REALLY expect that to instantly throw me into fits of contractions... It did last time, but really, I'm not complaining...

On a fun note, I got my maternity pictures yesterday and I LOVE them! There are a bunch of Josey and my belly that he is so gorgeous in. Seriously, I have the most beautiful child in the world. Check this out:



And this one:



And she took an unposed picture when my mom was reading to the boys:



I'll post some others of the belly when I have more time. I'm going to have a really hard time decided which ones to enlarge and frame. Ok, so I'm off to a doctor's appointment. My last one. Really.