Happy Thanks-teething!

Wow, it has been a weekend full of discoveries for our little Evie! She continues to work her vocal cords trying new sounds, the most recent a squeal that sounds like choking over a baby monitor--that sent me flying up the stairs yesterday.

Evie's Grandmother Troyer (aka "Grand") came for a visit to join the Crabb side of the family for a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday at Momea and Bapa's house (grandma and grandpa Crabb.) Shortly after the meal Justin reached into Evie's mouth to find teeth. Yes, you read that right, teeth. Not tooth, teeth. Both of her bottom center incisors have breached the surface of her gums.

Her legs are stronger and stronger and we think that she may skip the crawling stage all together, but she's decided that tummy time is not all that bad after all. She's learned to maneuver her way around some while face down.

Another stride taken this weekend is that she has learned that you can put those "puffs" things in your mouth and they actually taste pretty good. That's a good step towards self feeding.

Now we just need to get her sleep schedule back on track so that Mommy doesn't do crazy things with her hair in the early, early mornings...

Dadadadada

Alas, yes, she says "Dada" now. Nope, no "Mama." I'm sure she does not yet relate "Dada" to Justin, but it IS kind of amusing to hear her wake up at 3 a.m. and say "Dadadadada." The perfect excuse for an elbow, "Honey, she wants you." Even if she doesn't know that "Mama" is me, I still want to hear it. I know it will happen eventually and I already feel like she is growing up too fast. Saturday will be 8 months!!! Yikes.

Socks are now a favorite toy. First there is the accomplishment of actually getting it off your foot without falling over backwards, then you get to chew on it and make it all soggy.

Happy Times

As Evie coasts into 7 months with us, we're having so much fun. We started Evie at a private day care provider and have had a scare there already, luckily everything is fine, fine, fine. This scare came on the second day that we had Evie at the new sitter's house and arrive to pick her up to find a police car idling in front of the house. Nothing will stop a mother's heart like that, except maybe an ambulance, which I haven't experienced yet and hopefully never will. Apparently one of the sitter's young children dialed 911 and hung up. (Of course none of the kids fessed up to this activity.) That same day was the first time Evie reached out her arms wanting me to hold her. What a way to melt my heart. (Unfortunately Daddy was holding her at the time, so it maybe made him feel not so warm and fuzzy.)

I also wanted to share this picture of Evie wearing just one sock. On her ear. Let me explain. She woke up at 5:30 that Saturday. And when I say "woke up" she was UP. After her morning bottle, I was hoping she would snooze a bit more (that was just about 6 a.m.) So we got up (let Daddy sleep) and played with balls and cups. Mommy was very tired and was being silly putting Evie's socks on her ears. She seemed to not mind, so I grabbed the camera.

Pumpkin

I just needed to share this picture of my little on checking out her pumpkin. Such concen- tration. We went to the pumpkin patch with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Shane, did the hay ride and corn maze. We also watched some kids go for pony rides, Aunt Jenny petted a bunny, and there were some baby cows. (Calfs? Calves?) Cows are pretty...

Tell Aunt Jenny how you really feel...

I thought I would lighten the mood with a hilarious Aunt Jenny story. Aunt Jenny and Uncle Shane (Evie's God parents) came over to the Troyer house for gnocchi and Evie time Saturday.

After a while, Evie was hungry and in need of a diaper change, and Aunt Jenny volunteered to change the wee one. So, up we go to Evie's room and onto the changing table. Off with jammies and diaper--its wet with just a bit of poo. Poor Aunt Jenny probably hasn't changed poopy diapers in who knows how long... since the babysitting days, I'm sure. She used the dirty diaper to wipe off what was there and upon my urging put a clean underneath to catch anything that might be a latecomer to the party. Well, of course, with a grunt and a grin, Evelyn gave us her best impression of the Play-doh Fun Factory. Mommy and Aunt Jenny were both laughing at this point when Evie showed us one of her other fun tricks. I like to call it "Magic Fountain Evelyn." Silly Jen starts to pull the diaper out from under sweet Evie and asked for a clean one. "No, no! Leave it there! It's already dirty, let it catch this mess, too." The two of us were really laughing it up at this point. So Jen gets Evie all cleaned up, and goes for one more wipe. I jokingly say, "Tell Aunt Jenny how you REALLY feel." Evelyn answered with a sweet little toot. I'm now in hysterics, laughing, stomping the floor. Jenny got a little more... Play-Doh. ;-) We managed to get Evie all cleaned up, changed into a fresh, clean diaper and settled in for a nice supper.

Out of the blue

My long lost friend Omar Toro contacted me via email over the weekend. It's been ages since we've been able to talk to each other, I cannot wait to hear back from him and to get back in touch.

Omar was a foreign exchange student at Dublin High School my sophomore year and we became close friends that year. I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Chile for a visit in September of 1999. Here's hoping that my next post is about how we've caught up on the last 9 years!

First laugh

Yesterday, we heard Evie laugh for the very first time. Of course she was done laughing by the time I grabbed the camera and put it in movie mode, but she and Daddy were have a good time playing on the swing.

Tongues!!!

One of Evie's favorite games is tongues. She will mirror you sticking out your tongue. We're working on hands next, but she hasn't quite figured out that she has those yet.

I've gone back to work (as of May 19) and that was harder than I thought it would be. I know I was missing work, the folks there and the adult conversations during the day, but I sure miss my little one!

More pictures!

We've started a new album for pictures of Evie post-hospital. You can check them out here.

The long story of Evie's birth...

Since little Miss Evelyn was nearly a week late, I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, March 21. I was admitted just after 8 AM. Upon first examination, I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, posterior and Evie was at -4 station. This all means that my cervix needed to dilate another 9 cm and Evie needed to drop another 4 cm before she was "engaged."

At 10 AM, a Foley catheter was inserted to dilate my cervix and pitocin was started. Every half hour the pitocin was increased so that my contractions would become more regular and stronger. I was having a good contraction pattern and Evie was tolerating them "beautifully." Around 6 PM the Foley came out and I was 3-4 cm. Close to 6:30 PM, medical staff ruptured my bag of water and again began increasing the pitocin. After an exam close to 10 PM, I was still at 3-4 cm and I asked for some pain relief hoping for sleep, relaxation, and of course dilation. I was administered 2 doses of Nubane which made me feel loopy, but didn't seem to take the edge off the contractions, so I was only able to sleep in 2 minute bursts between the contractions. At 2 AM, I was still at 3-4 cm!!! The contractions were nearly unbearable, so I broke down and asked for an epidural, again hoping that relaxation would lead to quicker dilation. I was finally able to sleep through most of the contractions. They stopped the pitocin in the night in the hopes that nature would take over, which it did but the contractions weren't as strong or regular as they needed to be. By 8 AM, I had not passed the 3-4 cm dilated mark, so we began talking c-section.

I really did not want a Cesarean section, but 24 hours after being admitted and 22 hours into labor, I was ready to meet my little girl. The doctor was called at 9 AM with the decision to go ahead and he was on his way in. I was wheeled into the operating room at 9:40 AM, Justin joined me by 9:50, and Evelyn was successfully evicted at 9:59 AM weighing in at 7 pounds 9.4 ounces, 21 inches long, and absolutely beautiful.

I cried at the announcement that it was a girl and cried even more when I heard her crying. Justin was able to take some pictures in the operating room and Evie was able to stay with us even in the recovery room.

So far, Evie has been a peaceful child for the most part. It is taking us some time to get used to her various cries and needs. She sleeps more during the day than during the night, a habit that our pediatrician has advised us to try to break sooner rather than later. (We were extremely grateful for the 4 hour nap she allowed us Wednesday afternoon.) We have found that she gets fussy just before she dirties a diaper.

I've been breastfeeding which is a very interesting, sometimes painful experience. We did break down the second night in the hospital and asked for a pacifier. She has not had any nipple confusion. We have supplemented with maybe a grand total of 4 oz of formula at times when I was too sore to provide that consolation. (Note to new moms: do NOT allow yourself to be "mommy binky" no matter how much it soothes your baby.) My milk seems to have come in today, so now when Evie burps there is some liquid to them and that's oddly reassuring. She is a voracious, but lazy eater. There have been several occasions when she has fallen asleep at the table, so to speak.

Justin has been a great daddy, really stepping up in having to care not just for one new person, but for two people as I recover from the C-section. I have to remember to take care of myself first when it comes time to take my pain medication so that I'm not too sore to sit up or move about.

I'm recovering well from the C-section, but have decided that upstairs is better/easier than downstairs and I probably will not go down again for a few days, after I've recovered more. This means that I get served breakfast in bed, but I can shower. Our bed is easier to get in and out of than I had thought it would be given how high it sits off the floor. The bed rail serves as a little step and I'm able to climb in with relative ease.

We continue to post new pictures to our photobucket account, so check there often for the baby pics!

She's here...FINALLY!

Evelyn Jolie is here!


Pictures and a video are available at the links below.


Pictures

Video

More to follow...

Last picture???

I'm due the 15th and it is after 9 PM on the 13th, so is this the last belly shot?

:-)

Cruel Joke

As a general rule, during the third trimester of pregnancy, experts recommend sleeping on your left side. It has something to do with improving circulation as your biggest artery and your biggest vein run up your back and the weight of the baby can cause blood flow to be diminished.

However, if you have heartburn at night, and BOY do I have heartburn, experts recommend that you sleep sitting up in bed to alleviate the pressure on your stomach and hopefully less acid will take the reverse route.

In addition to the heartburn, I'm experiencing edema. Edema means swelling and is completely normal in pregnancy. My feet and ankles are bearing the brunt of the swelling, but my fingers and arms are slightly swollen as well. I haven't worn my watch in over 3 weeks and decided it was safer to remove my wedding band and engagement ring before either reached a point where they would threaten to cut them off. They recommend elevating the swollen entities above the heart, especially at night, to relieve the swelling.

So picture someone sleeping on their left side, sitting up with their hands and feet above their heart. I don't believe even the most experienced Yogi using a Craftmatic (tm) adjustable bed could pull that off.

As a side note, the swelling is making my left ankle hurt. I'm not sure why because its my right ankle that I've broken once and sprained twice. When I get out of bed at night to use the ladies room as required (about 2-3 times) I'm unsteady on my feet because my left ankle tweaks just a bit. I know I am the MOST graceful person you all know (hehe, yeah right) but add to that the front-heaviness of being pregnant. I've given myself a nightly scare of almost falling for the past few nights, making it that much more difficult to get back to sleep.

Nursery Pics.... as promised, but delayed

The furniture looks darker in the pictures than in real life. I cannot wait to share pictures with a baby in the crib.

Three Guesses!!!

No, it's not a photo of the lunar eclipse, but Evie is working on giving mommy an outtie! I have just a little lip at this point, but there have been jokes in my house about a turkey timer... I cannot believe that I'm to the point of counting down by days rather than weeks!

Yesterday was Megaconference Junior, and it was a great success. It was a very long day yesterday and I was pretty sore when I got up this morning. Luckily two Tylenol and a tall glass of water and all was good. That and plenty of sleep.

I know it's been too long

Okay so here's a 34 1/2 week belly shot. In the last few weeks, I've had my baby shower (thank you Christi, Ingrid, Michelle and Jen) and Evie came out of it with soooo many way cute outfits. Justin and I took delivery of our new bedroom furniture and Evie's room is almost photo ready. I'll try to get photos of both rooms up here after the weekend once everything has settled.

Good gravy, I know I walk around with it all day long, but I just cannot believe how big my belly is!!!

Me and my big mouth...

On Friday, I opened my trap to say that I didn't have any stretch marks yet. Well, low and behold, Justin discovered one hiding under my belly. It was in a place that *I* couldn't see, but God bless husbands for being able to see in places we cannot. (He gets to trim my toenails as well now because it hurts to reach them.)

In other news, Saturday is my baby shower and I'm getting really excited. There will not be a ton of people there, but hopefully some that I haven't seen in a while. I'm exercising GREAT restraint in NOT checking on my baby registries (Babies R Us and Target) as I anticipate the big day. If one of you out there see this message and find that I need to fluff the registry some, please let me know.