Wednesday, September 30, 2009

5 crazy days

*Oh my* I don't think I can handle another week like this one!

9/30/09 Long post alert!

Oof...waiting for my 800mg ibuprofen to kick in...

Need to gripe for a sec. I am tired. And sore. Those pesky nurses at the hospital weren't satisfied with my drug-free super delivery--they later drew 4 vials of blood, gave me a Rhogam shot in my hip, and then a flu shot in one arm and a tetanus shot in the other. Just for good measure, apparently, to make sure there wasn't a square inch of my body that hadn't been subjected to some sort of torture. So since I've been home, I have had those aches and pains in addition to the stitches, the muscle soreness, the joys that come along with nursing, and headaches from no sleep. Aahhh. Life is great!

However, Luke is a fantastic baby, and I have bonded with him a lot quicker than I did with Madelyn (sorry sweetie, it's true). I think having been a mother for almost five years primed me for baby #2. He is so sweet and cuddly, and is the cutest thing ever when he's awake and looking around with those little almond shaped eyes of his. He usually isn't fussy, but has a frustrating habit of gulping air when he's hungry or upset, so we constantly have to burp him.

We had a lot of visitors over the weekend. Bear with me while I document them for memory's sake.

Meeting Grandmom Kathy Yoder

Grandpop Frank Yoder (the resemblance is rather uncanny, don't you think?)

Auntie Sally Yoder, who has four cute boys of her own

Here's three of them: Noah, Will and Alex. Jake is Madelyn's age and was probably off teasing her somewhere

Auntie Lori Murset, cousin Hattie, Auntie Meg Murset (and Madelyn)

Uncle Kevin Murset

Hattie (18 months) taking a break outside

Auntie Megan, age 14

Wish I could sleep like that right now...

That was all on Sunday, when he was two days old. The next day, he and I spent five hours at doctor's appointments, while my mom stayed home with Madelyn. First was his three day checkup, where we found out that he'd lost six ounces and was down to 6 lbs. 2oz. He has a mild case of jaundice, too, but Dr. Newbold (Mark's colleague at the clinic) didn't think it needed treatment. While we were there, he offered to do Luke's circumcision later that afternoon for free. I was not planning on that until his two week checkup, but decided it would be better to get it over with while Madelyn wasn't there (she's had enough medical drama for the time being...)

But first we had to go over to the hospital for an echocardiogram, which took over an hour. Luke was really good and slept through the whole thing. Dr. Newbold had heard a heart murmur the day he was born, so we were getting it checked out.

Then we headed back over to the clinic, where we got to wait an hour and a half in the waiting room (well, we were in an isolation room since he's so young) before the circumcision was performed. That was not fun for me or Luke, poor dear! I went and sat in Mark's office because I didn't want to watch, but I could still hear him crying. :( The results from the echocardiogram had already come back from Primary Children's hospital, so Dr. Newbold went over them with us. Luke has three small holes in his heart, but they are the type that should close up on their own by the time he's a year old. So we will have to keep a close eye to make sure he's getting enough oxygen, that his circulation is good and that he grows well. I'm sure he will be fine, but we'll have to wait and see how he's progressed when they do a second echocardiogram in a year.

My mom Carolyn was nice enough to stay and be bossed around by Madelyn for that entire day while we were at the doctor, plus the next! Although she loves her baby brother a ton and smothers him with affection, Madelyn is still Madelyn, after all. (Direct quote from today: "I don't like to hold still! I like things messy! I don't like them clean.") She is a demanding little girl and can be hard to deal with when energy and patience are in short supply...which they are right now for me.

Yeah, this picture pretty much sums it up

Luke is Grandma Carolyn's fifth grandbaby!

Somewhere during all the craziness this week, we've managed to have a little bit of time just hanging out as the Yoder's Four:

One-day old Luke helping daddy beat Halo 3 ODST on the XBox 360

Two-day old Luke and Madelyn after their baths

Two days old, checking out Auntie Meg

Four days old on the gorgeous quillt that Auntie Sheila made for him (the kid has like, 12 aunties)

Those Yoder women sure know how to make a quilt! Sheila made one for Madelyn when she was born, too. I'll have to post a picture of it sometime.

And Little Miss Panties here, with her eerily lifelike doll next to my real live one.

Well, I think I'd better go eat something and finish getting dressed so I can go pick up Madelyn from preschool and then take her shoe shopping. It has gotten nippy here in Cedar and she doesn't have winter shoes yet. And I'll just take one of those boxes of Snickers there for me...king size...

Sunday, September 27, 2009

A look back...

9/27/09

I thought it'd be fun to take a look back on my pregnancy self-portraits:

3 months (feeling pukey but trying not to let on)

4 months (look--there's kind of a bump there)

5 months (with my portable EKG monitor--and I was doing Maria's wedding, and we were moving. Lovely memories...)

6 months (in our new home! Unpacking!)

7 months. Whoa. Something happened here. Hugeness.

7 1/2 months (or 34 weeks or whatever. Depends on if a man or a woman is asking. "34 weeks" just gets blank stares from men, but "7 1/2 months" they can understand.)

8 months, and starting to get excited! Madelyn already loving her baby brother. A month to go before my due date of Oct. 4th.

38 weeks and 4 days--one week before my scheduled induction date (Oct. 1st), but in actuality, it was the day before Luke was born! Can you tell he had dropped? I was feeling a lot of pressure down there.

Yay!!!!!!!! Two-day-old newborn Luke, and we couldn't be happier. I am so glad I'm not pregnant anymore! This little man is 100 times more fun now that he's out of my belly. Can you believe he was inside there since January this year? What a LONG ordeal that was!! Thanks for coming along on the journey with me!

Friday, September 25, 2009

HE'S HERE!

9/25/09

Wow--do I have a wild story to tell. Please welcome:

LUKE TOY YODER
September 25th, 2009
6 lbs. 8 oz. 19 inches
6:32am

So I was lying in bed at 3:30 this morning, not really able to sleep, when I thought the baby had punched me in the bladder again. There was a rush of fluids, which I thought was pee, but after I got up and went to the bathroom, I realized that my water had broken! No contractions had started, but I thought as long as I was up, I'd pack for the hospital. (I know, I'd kept saying I was going to, but I just had never gotten around to it...) I didn't want to call anyone or wake Mark up because it was so early and I thought I had plenty of time. I got my bag, the diaper bag and the cameras all packed (and folded some laundry, and did my hair and makeup...hey--I had just seen some very unflattering video footage of when Madelyn was born, and I wasn't about to look like that again). In the meantime, contractions did start--not very noticeable at first, but eventually they were strong enough that I had to stop what I was doing. Soon, they were coming on faster and faster at an alarming rate. Finally at 5:30 I woke up Mark, informed him I was in labor, and that my water had broken two hours earlier. ("What??") Then he asked me if I was okay with today being the 25th because I hadn't wanted to give birth on an odd numbered day (like it mattered at that point). I was steadily becoming more agitated, and was very impatient indeed waiting for him to get dressed, load the car, and get Madelyn up. My folks weren't answering their phone, and there was no time to have someone else come and watch her, so away we all went.

After a bumpy (I was very grouchy about the bumps) ride on the back roads to get to the hospital, we pulled up (parked in the emergency lane, which was stupid because it was at the opposite end of the hospital where we needed to be, and then didn't have the camera or any of our stuff with us, and Mark had to dash out afterwards to move his car), grabbed a wheelchair and zoomed down the corridors and and checked in at around 6:05 AM. I was doubled over with pain and begging for an epidural. They had me in a gown in about two seconds, and when they checked me, I was almost dilated to 8 cm!!!! Then the baby flattened one of my nerves on his way down, and the whole top half of my body was tingling like it was asleep. I was shaking because I was in shock and hurting like H***, and hyperventilating because OH MY GOODNESS THERE WILL BE NO TIME FOR ANY DRUGS. Dr. Sanders came speeding in, and I was complete and ready to push!

Then there was a lot of hysterical screaming.

Luke's head appeared after the first push, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. So they told me to stop pushing. (Me: "I can't!! AAAAAAAaaaaa......") Dr. Sanders, who is not one to mess around--that's why I love him--clamped and cut the cord off instead of trying to wiggle it off, one more push, and Luke was born! A half hour after I'd gotten to the hospital! With (did I mention?) NO drugs whatsoever besides the lidocaine injection before my episiotomy (and then more of that afterward for the stitches, but I could still feel him sewing me up.) He was going to do a local block of the whole area, but then the baby came shooting out. The on call anesthesiologist arrived just in time to watch the birth and hold an oxygen mask over my face. Thanks, doc.

*Whew*

Madelyn, poor thing, spent most of the time crouching on a chair in the corner with her blankie over her head because she was just a little freaked out. Her comment later was that it was "scary" and "bloody." Mark was too busy getting his hands crushed by me during my contractions to be with her. But she is a champ and now just cheerfully tells everyone that, "Dr. Sanders took the baby out of my mom and she was screaming." She is absolutely in love with that baby brother of hers. She is very sweet with him.


...And sure enough, he looks exactly like Mark. (Who thought the birth was awesome because it was so fast--none of this waiting around for 12 hours like with Madelyn. I wanted to hit him when he said that.) Hopefully I'll get some more good pictures of Luke soon, when his swelling and bruising have gone down a little. He's been very alert, has eaten well, and already pooped three times this afternoon. It does sound like he has a small heart murmur, though, so we'll bring him back in on Monday for an echocardiogram just to be on the safe side. We'll see if jaundice is going to be a problem, too. It runs in Mark's family and Madelyn had it pretty badly when she was born.

I am so glad that he is here safe and sound. Today has been very surreal and I am pretty darn tired. But the anticipation and long wait are finally over! Welcome to our family, baby Luke!!!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

One week left!


9/24/09

Oh my oh my oh my. I only have ONE WEEK LEFT! My induction has officially been scheduled for next Thursday, Oct. 1st, at 4:00am, so ready or not, this baby is coming!

Actually, as I mentioned before, I'm already dilating (3cm) and effacing (80%), so I will be rather surprised if I make it till next Thursday. At my appointment yesterday, I was assured that this would be an "easy" and quick delivery that should only take a few hours. I sure hope so.

There was a little bit of a concern over the baby's size, so I went in for an ultrasound on Monday night. My uterus basically stopped growing about three weeks ago, so they wanted to follow up. After Dr. Sanders concluded that he was healthy and just "small for gestational age" (as opposed to growth restricted like Madelyn was), they hooked me up for a non-stress test just to be sure. It records the baby's heart rate and my contractions, and his pulse is supposed to get up to 165 bpm at least twice. Well, my little boy was in the middle of a sleep cycle, and wouldn't move around like they wanted him to. So after about an hour, they sent me over to the hospital for another go at it. He was still nonreactive, so then they did a biophysical profile ultrasound to look for movements. After about 20 minutes, they finally got what they wanted, so they let me go home. It was 10:00pm by then.

So that was kind of a pain, but I was having to do testing like that every single week (or every few days) the last month and a half of my pregnancy with Madelyn. I'm just going to make sure that next time I bring something to read and some snacks!

Anyway, the verdict is that I am considered "constitutionally small," with a uterus and pelvis that simply won't support big babies. Fine with me! He is dropping lower, and I can tell things are slowly starting to happen. Hopefully this will be the last pregnancy post I have to do. Wish me luck...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Nothing like a deadline to kick things into gear...

9/22/09

Funny how when I have something big coming up, i.e. a baby, a wedding, a move across state lines, Christmas, etc. I decide to take on these gigantic projects. It happens every time (ask Mark). So these past 2-3 weeks, after my 2-3 weeks on a sewing blitz, I decided to create a fall collection for my jewelry website, which has more or less been ignored all year. I have several boxes of beads that I brought back from New Mexico, so all I needed to do was make some stuff.

And by "some stuff" I mean 21 necklaces, 7 pair of earrings and 2 bracelets for my website, and then another 2 necklaces, 7 big bracelets, 3 pair of earrings and about 37 baby bracelets for gifting purposes. You know, just the typical low-key thing I'm used to doing...

Then I had to take pictures of it all and list it on Etsy, which has taken me almost another week and required that I further neglect my house and family. I finally finished yesterday, so now I'm just trying to spread the word. For more info, visit my website at:

www.desertraindesigns.etsy.com

Or you can click on the name of the piece and it should link you directly to the listing. Bear with the multitude of pictures...

36-inch gold and freshwater pearl necklace

Red jasper pendant
(Oops--SOLD already! Whee!)

Multi stone long necklace

Faceted carnelian necklace

Bloodstone and pearl necklace

Southwestern jewels statement necklace

Russian jade and labradorite necklace

Faceted coffee jasper long necklace with earrings

Earthy naturals mixed stone necklace

Smoky quartz and pearl necklace

Copper crystal choker and earrings

Silver mist freshwater pearl necklace and earrings

Bloodstone necklace, bracelet, and earrings set

Carnelian and red jasper station necklace

Chunky moonstone necklace

Flaxen gold citrine necklace and earrings

4 strand cultured freshwater pearl necklace

Autumn ambiance freshwater pearl necklace

Really long necklaces are still popular right now (well, hopefully they are). So are the ones that have each bead on hand-looped wire, a technique that takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I charge a little more for those because of the labor involved. And I almost exclusively use semi precious stones, which makes the pieces a little more special than just fashion jewelry. So take a look-- there's even more to see on my website. Tell your friends and family, and buy lots of jewelry!

Let me know what you think! Gotta go get Madelyn ready for preschool.