Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
One Year Ago, from right now...
At this moment one year ago the car was packed and ready to go to the hospital. The pack and play was set up in the master bedroom and the house was as ready as possible for us to leave for the hospital. Dave was asleep and I was taking cat naps in between my contractions. They were coming every 10 minutes and lasting 45- 60 seconds. I would then fall back asleep for 9 minutes and wake up to go through it all again. I eventually just got up around 5:00am to shower, eat breakfast, and go for a walk around the neighborhood before needing to meet the doctor at the hospital at 7:30. (I was determined to help speed up the labor and delivery process by walking around the neighborhood before leaving home.) Unfortunately, my walk didn't happen. In the hour I was getting ready, packing last minute items, and eating a protein filled breakfast (a hint from our doula) my contractions jumped from coming every 10 minutes to every 6 minutes. So, instead of heading around the neighborhood for a walk we headed to the hospital. Thankfully there was no traffic, so we were early for our check-in. Thankfully the nurses didn't seem to mind.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
One Year Ago Today
It is amazing how much life can change in just the course of a year. One year ago today was my last day in a classroom. I had administered a first quarter formative assessment and taught through the day. I left school that afternoon to head to my weekly doctors appointment not realizing I wouldn't be standing in front of my students the next morning. During my visit we learned that Carly was low (like really, really low), seemed to not be showing any signs of growth from my appointment a week earlier, and I was continuing to dilate without anything stronger than a Braxton Hicks contraction every so often. The "stress tests" monitors showed that Carly's heart beat was strong and I was contraction free for the most part. So, the doctors sent us home with the impression that I could go into labor at any moment. I was told to keep track of her movement, to keep an eye on my Braxton Hick contractions (in case they turned into real ones), and to return in two days- if we hadn't gone into labor yet. So home we went.
Upon returning home I completely freaked out on Dave. I didn't know how I was supposed to monitor Carly's movement, my contractions, and give the final formative assessment. Plus go to a morning appointment in two days and have all of my grades for the quarter submitted by the end of the week. Needless to say, I took two "sick days". One to monitor Carly and me, while grading from the comfort of my own bed. And a second to go my follow up doctor's appointment - which the office sandwiched at that perfect time where I couldn't just take a half day off of school.
I guess things have a funny way of working out. We found out at this appointment that Carly would be making her appearance sooner than later, and I would not be returning back to work until after she arrived.
Thinking back to my last day of work, I can't help but wonder - "Would I have done anything different that day had I known it was my last?" And honestly, no. Towards the end of my pregnancy I treated each day like it was my last, especially if a doctor's visit was involved. I made sure to have fun with my students, praise their hard work and accomplishments, and make sure they left each day knowing how much I cared for them.
There are moments in my day when I miss teaching, but then I watch Carly and can't imagine missing so many special moments with her. I am truly blessed to have such a supportive husband who understands how happy these moments make me. Even if it does mean we won't be going on vacation anytime soon, and that he needs to continue to drive around his 9 year old truck while many of our friends have upgraded to newer, shinery models.
Upon returning home I completely freaked out on Dave. I didn't know how I was supposed to monitor Carly's movement, my contractions, and give the final formative assessment. Plus go to a morning appointment in two days and have all of my grades for the quarter submitted by the end of the week. Needless to say, I took two "sick days". One to monitor Carly and me, while grading from the comfort of my own bed. And a second to go my follow up doctor's appointment - which the office sandwiched at that perfect time where I couldn't just take a half day off of school.
I guess things have a funny way of working out. We found out at this appointment that Carly would be making her appearance sooner than later, and I would not be returning back to work until after she arrived.
Thinking back to my last day of work, I can't help but wonder - "Would I have done anything different that day had I known it was my last?" And honestly, no. Towards the end of my pregnancy I treated each day like it was my last, especially if a doctor's visit was involved. I made sure to have fun with my students, praise their hard work and accomplishments, and make sure they left each day knowing how much I cared for them.
There are moments in my day when I miss teaching, but then I watch Carly and can't imagine missing so many special moments with her. I am truly blessed to have such a supportive husband who understands how happy these moments make me. Even if it does mean we won't be going on vacation anytime soon, and that he needs to continue to drive around his 9 year old truck while many of our friends have upgraded to newer, shinery models.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Boo-Boo
Carly really took a tumble today. This wasn't her worst looking tumble, until she got up from the floor. A few weeks ago she tumbled while playing outside. When I picked her up I was expecting to see a face scraped up, instead there was just a little red spot on her forehead. Today was the opposite. She was "running" towards me with a new book in hand when she tripped. As she fell towards the floor the board book turned so that the corner of it scraped her forehead. I wasn't expecting there to be much of anything there, but she looked up and my heart melted. I felt so bad.
Luckily for Carly the boo-boo bunny was able to save the day. And thankfully the boo-boo bunny only needed to give Carly's hands kisses. She wasn't interested in putting the bunny on her forehead, or letting me put it there. Oh well, I guess it bothered me more than it did her. Go figure!
Luckily for Carly the boo-boo bunny was able to save the day. And thankfully the boo-boo bunny only needed to give Carly's hands kisses. She wasn't interested in putting the bunny on her forehead, or letting me put it there. Oh well, I guess it bothered me more than it did her. Go figure!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Playful Fun!
This weekend we all went down to Atlanta for some family fun and to celebrate Carly's Papa's 60th Birthday! In addition to getting to celebrate with her Papa, she also got to have a lot of family fun!
Playing at the park on Friday afternoon:
Going down the slide!!
Snack Break!
Discussing who is boss!
Snack Break!
Discussing who is boss!
The REAL Play Time Begins:
Samuel jumping right into the fun! (And Carly being open to sharing, this was a positive surprise.)
Benjamin isn't too far behind!
Helping Uncle Jamie!
"Petting" the universal baby "hello" and idea of acceptance.
"Carly are you coming?"
"Don't worry Samuel, I'm right behind you!"
Carly was REALLY glad Benjamin and Samuel were willing to share their stroller!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Taking Baby Steps in a Big Girl's World!
As Carly's first birthday approaches (OH MY!) Dave and I have been trying to transition her into more table food (or as much as you can with a toothless infant) and into using her sippy cup.
Last week we started to make some progress with her sippy cup. I found a toddler water bottle that looks similar to her neighborhood friends' bottles that she took to quickly after playing at the park. She then was willing to use her sippy cup more and more. (I'm using the cup for milk and the water bottle for water.) However, she wouldn't drink more than 2 ounces at a time. When she should be drinking 20 - 24 ounces a day, I thought we had a LONG way to go until she would be done nursing. Then, yesterday Carly drank 4 ounces from her cup with no fuss. And honestly, she probably would have drunk more had I brought more with us to the library. The afternoon and evening only brought 2 ounce sittings again, but I was still holding out hope with the morning's success.
Today Carly ate her breakfast as usual, went to check out new books at the library (it is too busy on story time days for us to look for books and get new ones checked out), and came home for her morning snack. She ate a few random items of table food while drinking from her sippy cup. She drank just over 2 ounces, which had me slightly distraught. UNTIL - we went upstairs for nap time. The doctor and I had spoken Monday about needing to give Carly some "tough love" soon about milk from a cup and eating table food. So, I turned on her musical seahorse and stood over her crib rocking her. She let me rock her for a few minutes before starting to squirm, at which point I placed her in the crib. She fussed for about three minutes and was asleep!
I know that tomorrow may not bring such success with her going down for a nap without nursing, but maybe she'll drink more than 2 ounces in a sitting from her sippy cup. We have a long way to go before she is a full time independent sleeper, eater, and drinker, but I'm not complaining. I chose to stay home to spend time with Carly during these early moments and milestones, I don't want to hold her back from the development she needs to make but I'm also not going to push her into growing up faster than she needs too.
Last week we started to make some progress with her sippy cup. I found a toddler water bottle that looks similar to her neighborhood friends' bottles that she took to quickly after playing at the park. She then was willing to use her sippy cup more and more. (I'm using the cup for milk and the water bottle for water.) However, she wouldn't drink more than 2 ounces at a time. When she should be drinking 20 - 24 ounces a day, I thought we had a LONG way to go until she would be done nursing. Then, yesterday Carly drank 4 ounces from her cup with no fuss. And honestly, she probably would have drunk more had I brought more with us to the library. The afternoon and evening only brought 2 ounce sittings again, but I was still holding out hope with the morning's success.
Today Carly ate her breakfast as usual, went to check out new books at the library (it is too busy on story time days for us to look for books and get new ones checked out), and came home for her morning snack. She ate a few random items of table food while drinking from her sippy cup. She drank just over 2 ounces, which had me slightly distraught. UNTIL - we went upstairs for nap time. The doctor and I had spoken Monday about needing to give Carly some "tough love" soon about milk from a cup and eating table food. So, I turned on her musical seahorse and stood over her crib rocking her. She let me rock her for a few minutes before starting to squirm, at which point I placed her in the crib. She fussed for about three minutes and was asleep!
I know that tomorrow may not bring such success with her going down for a nap without nursing, but maybe she'll drink more than 2 ounces in a sitting from her sippy cup. We have a long way to go before she is a full time independent sleeper, eater, and drinker, but I'm not complaining. I chose to stay home to spend time with Carly during these early moments and milestones, I don't want to hold her back from the development she needs to make but I'm also not going to push her into growing up faster than she needs too.
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