Madelyn's 19th Month

Oh Beans, how I love you!! (I am switching up how I write this blog. I have been writing about Madelyn - now I am going to write it to Madelyn. I use the same content from the blog to create her annual photo book but the photo book is written to her. I am saving myself time by not having to edit.)

Anyway - you had a pretty big month girl! You are now a big sister and you take that job very seriously. If Ada is upset, you get upset. You are always trying to give her a pacifier and have figured out how to rock her carseat or bounce her bouncy chair. It only took a few days of reminding you to be gentle and now you are a pro! I am so proud of you! Every morning, the first thing on your agenda is finding Ada and giving her a kiss. I love it!

You had another teething spell at the beginning of the month. It was a couple days of laying around and cuddling with mama and then you bounced back. The bad news is the teeth didn't appear yet so we probably have another round ahead of us.

We finished up your Fun at One class this month and started swim class again. Once again, I am so proud of how you have taken to the water. Most of the other parents spend class trying to convince their child to get in the water. We spend class chasing pool toys and blowing bubbles! You love it!

You've been pretty frusterated this month when it comes to communication. I can tell you are on the verge of a language explosion but for the time being, you are struggling to tell us exactly what you want. I usually have you show me what you are trying to say but I know you just want to say the words. We have been practicing words when we take walks in the afternoon. You love repeating after me and your words are starting to get clearer the more we work at it. You have also started yelling/screaming when you are frusterated which I am trying to curb.

You can jump on your mattress in bed but haven't figured out how to jump on the ground. Soon enough.

We have started leaving the doorwall open during the day and you love the freedom of being able to go outside whenever you want.

You have also started coloring a lot more this month and have taken an interest in arts and crafts. Fortunately, I have pinterest and there is no shortage of toddler craft ideas!

All in all, another great month lovely lady! Keep 'em coming!!

Ada's 4th Week

Adarater - let's see, what happened this week?

We are still pretty focused on sleep around these parts. I've found we can break the night up into 3 parts. Part 1 - you go down around 7-8pm and sleep for a good 5 hours. Part 2 - (the wild card) you get up and eat then who knows what is in store for us until around 5am. Part 3 - 5am - you are either still awake from part 2 or are waking up to eat again. I usually bring you into bed with us at this point and we both fall asleep while you are nursing. We then sleep until Madelyn wakes us up around 7-8am. I can handle parts 1 and 3 but we've got to get part 2 under control. Trial and error, I guess.

Daddy has been taking you and Ziggy on late night walks and he swears it gets you back to sleep. He also says you are learning a lot about the neighborhood on these walks.

You've started being more alert during the day and are quite the vocal little girl. You love nekkid time, but who can blame you. Your hair seems to have some red tints to it.

We went to the Hands On Museum and you were very well behaved. We seem to be getting a lot more smiles out of you now. Love it!

Your first playdate. You slept through it.

I'm realizing this post is very similar to last week's so I guess this week brought more of the same.

That or I'm just lacking in sleep and can't remember anything.

Ada's 3rd Week

Oh Miss. Ada - you are keeping your mama on her toes!

We have started keeping her upright for 20-30 minutes after she eats and that seems to help significantly with the spitting. She still spits up but it isn't nearly as bad as before. Another week for her to develop her muscles is probably helping as well. We have also made some progress with the pacifier and that has made a big difference because she is no longer overeating like before.

Flashing her gang sign

Now our big challenge is sleep. We were putting Madelyn down and then dealing with Ada but Madelyn would hear us and know Ada was up which meant she needed to be up as well. We switched and started putting Ada down first and then Madelyn goes to bed. We are able to get a good stretch once Ada goes to bed around 7-8pm (she will sleep until 11-12) but then it's as if she has been drinking coffee all day and her eyes are wide open until who knows when. Sometimes we get her back down around 1-2am but then she's back up at 4am for the day. Yes, for the day. Other nights, she will be up until 4-5am and then she will sleep until 8-9am. Ugh!

I am attempting to keep her up during the day, but I like using the times she sleeps to spend time with Madelyn so it is a challenge. I looked back and Madelyn's early recaps and it seems she was the same way so hopefully it works itself out. Ada also has no interest in sitting back and hanging out. She wants us to be bouncing whatever seat she is sitting in or holding her. Fortunately, I accidently stumbled on a hands off method of keeping her entertained. I laid her on the kitchen table the other day while I was feeding Madelyn a yogurt. She was content for a good 20 minutes to just stare out the kitchen window. I've done it a few more times since then and it seems to work. I will take it!

Ada also loves being outside so I've been taking a lot of walks with the girls. A lot of walks.

Unfortunately, Ada had a funeral in her first month of life as well. I told Nick it depresses me that both girls have worn the same newborn sized funeral outfit. Sucks.

We finally bathed this baby! I decided to skip the whole bath scene and just go straight to the shower with mom method. It worked so well with Madelyn and Ada seems to love it also. Poor girl gets some serious cowlicks going post bath and they seem to stay even several days after. She still has all her hair and it is still growing. Her sideburns are over her ears now. I need to start pinning some ideas on how to organize hair bows and headbands because they are going to be out of control in this house!

Her fingernails are also growing like crazy - I have cut them once a week since she's been born. Madness, I tell you!

She seems to have pretty decent vision already. Nick and I have caught her focusing on objects and she has a pretty intense gaze. Great head control as well.

I being a mean mama and trying to catch her little cry on video. It is the cutest stinkin' thing I've seen and heard. She gets the lower lip quiver and sounds like her world is just terrible. Hopefully I can share a clip soon.

Ada's 2nd Week

Oh boy this week has been challenging! Miss. A has got her days and nights mixed up. Combine that with Madelyn's teething and this mama is one tired lady!

When we went back to the pedi for Ada's weight check, I asked the doctor about her 2-4am party time. She wakes up, eats and then just wants to keep sucking. The problem - she isn't hungry so everything she eats comes right back up...all over me. Fun! This kid is going through 3-4 pairs of jammies a night because of this. She also seems to fuss way more and is harder to burp at this time of night. We have tried getting her to take a pacifier but she is fighting us and a lot of the time is seems to make her gag.

The good news - she is weighing in at 10lb 3oz already so she is clearly not starving. Her doctor agrees, she just wants to use me as a pacifier at that time. She suggested trying to keep her upright longer to help with the fussing and keep working with the pacifier. And hopefully, it will be a fleeting phase.

Earlier in the week, both girls woke up around 2am. Nick was taking care of Madelyn in the livingroom while I fed Ada in our bed. Once Ada was fed, she started her eat/puke routine. Around this same time, Madelyn broke free of Nick and hightailed it to our room, wanting mom. Nick and I traded kids and I was able to get Madelyn down within a few minutes while Nick got Ada settled a full hour sooner than she settles with me. My best guess, when boobs aren't an option she will settle for a pacifier and is able to calm down faster since she isn't stuffing herself.

Crosses her feet just like her big sister!

We are going to keep trying this method and see if it works.

In other news, her umbilical cord fell off at 6 days but it didn't quite look right. I had her doctor look at it and she said it fell off before her belly button had completely closed and healed so we are still waiting for that to happen before bathing. She is also a peely mess - poor kid looks like a snake!

Quirky little things - she makes even more facial expressions than Madelyn. And she has a serious mad dog face. Lots of smiles - probably from gas but I'll take it.

She loves to bounce in her bouncy chair but doesn't like the vibrating feature. She also likes her swing. The car magically puts her to sleep.

She is officially out of newborn clothes - that lasted a whopping 2 weeks.

Ada's 1st Week

Miss. Ada is already a week old. Having Madelyn makes this experience with Ada even more emotional. I know how quickly the time goes by and I just want to keep her little forever. On the other hand, I can't wait to see what an awesome little girl she is going to become. Ugh - hormones....they are making this mama weepy!

Anyway, we only spent 24 hours in the hospital. We could have stayed a second night but those hospital beds are not comfortable so Nick and I decided to head home. I don't know if it is a 2nd baby thing, vaginal birth thing or provider thing but we had significantly fewer staff visits during this stay than we did with Madelyn. We also had the same nurse immediately after Ada's birth that we had immediately after Madelyn's. It was pretty cool that we remembered each other and she was happy to see that I was able to VBAC Miss. Ada since she tries to keep her c-section rates low with her patients. One of the students I saw early in my pregnancy was also our nurse at one point and she enjoyed seeing the finished product, if you will.

Hospital visitors included grandparents, my brother (poor Molly was working after having rearranged her schedule for the past 2 weeks waiting for Ada's arrival), friends, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and most importantly - Miss. Madelyn and Ben.

My mom kept Madelyn and Ben on Friday night so it was just Nick and I at home with Ada that first night. She did a great job and we were all able to get some sleep.

Day 2 brought more of the same - sleepy newborns are fantastic! It was also our first day with the whole family back.

Later in the week, things got a little challenging. Miss. Ada decided that eating every hour would be a great idea only at night. Madelyn also woke up during the night and was not happy that Mom couldn't cuddle her and had to finish feeding Ada first. It seriously broke my heart and poor Nick couldn't really do anything for either of them.

We are still working out the kinks but have found that if Nick tends to Madelyn (when she wakes up - hasn't been every night) she tends to have an easier time. We have also found that she doesn't sleep well if we bring her into bed with us but actually tosses and turns and can't get back to sleep for several hours.

Other than the one night of constant feeding, Ada has been giving us pretty good stretches of sleep. I have been told it is a "big baby thing". Whatever it is, I'll take it!

When we left the hospital, Ada had dropped to 9lb 3oz and at her doctor's appointment she was up to 9lb 5oz. so we are on the right track. One thing we are getting used to is the baby vom. Man alive, is this girl a spitter. We can easily go through 4-5 outfits and 2-3 blankets a day. Finally, we wised up and have been putting a bib on her but we have officially become those parents that are covered in baby vom. all day long.

I've also discovered that I am going to be abandoning projects halfway through for awhile. Saturday afternoon, Nick headed to the store to pick up some things we needed and I stayed home with the kids. I started to put the car seat adapter on the stroller so we could walk later and about 20 min in, Madelyn decided she'd had enough of playing with Ben and came in for a snack. While I was getting her organized, Ada woke up and needed to eat. Then Madelyn started melting down since she had played about an hour past nap time so I put her to bed. Then Ada....then Madelyn....etc...etc...etc.... it was a good 3 hours before I even went near the stroller project again. Sigh...we'll figure it out.

The girls had their photo shoot on Wednesday afternoon. Ada's newborn and Madelyn's 18 month. I can't wait to see the pictures. Ada did NOT want to cooperate but Amy was amazingly patient and I think we got some great shots.

Sadly, Miss. Ada's cord fell off just before we started the shoot so I don't have any pictures with it. I was really surprised it fell off so quickly since Madelyn's took over 2 weeks to fall off.

Madelyn just loves Ada and is doing a great job with her. Other than the one night of jealousy, she seems to just be fascinated by her. We are working on gentle and soft touches and trying to keep her little fingers out of Ada's eyes and mouth but considering it has only been a week, she is doing a great job. She loves to give her kisses and love. I was interested to see what would happen with the pacifier since Madelyn can only have her's in bed. At first, she took Ada's pacifier and put it in Ada's bed. Now she will give it to Ada but she doesn't seem to want it for herself.

In terms of recovery - c-section vs. vaginal, I will take vaginal all the way. Granted, you are still sore but you're functioning. I was pretty much useless after the c-section for a good 2-3 weeks. Plus, I couldn't imagine not being able to pick up and play with Madelyn.

All in all, a pretty good week. 

Side note: I think it is going to get harder and harder to separately keep posts for each girl. I am going to try but already Madelyn is all over Ada's post. I guess that's life with 2 babies!

Ada's Birth Story

41 weeks and 1 day! That is how long this little girl took to grace us with her presence. I really thought I was going to be pregnant forever!

I started having early labor/false labor on Sunday morning (Mother's Day) and Nick and I really thought we were going to be heading to the hospital later that night. The contractions kept up throughout the night but subsided Monday morning. Monday night was a repeat of contractions about 15-20 minutes apart with nothing continuing during the day. Once again, they came back on Tuesday night and actually stayed throughout Wednesday but were always 15-20 minutes apart and not incredibly painful. I was desperate enough that I actually tried using the breast pump to get some action but nothing happened.

I had my 41 week appointment on Wednesday as well as a NST. Baby looked great and still seemed to be in a good position. My midwife said I could try castor oil but also warned that is a nasty nasty way to labor. I told her I wasn't that desperate yet but I also didn't think I would try the breast pump either so we will see. Later that day, I went to Meijer with Madelyn to pick up some castor oil and talked to my doula on the way. She agreed that while it is effective, it is not exactly a pleasant experience and to make sure I was really willing to labor with stomach pains. I bought the castor oil and figured if I made it through the weekend, we would give it a shot on Sunday night.

Fortunately, the baby must have heard all this going on and decided she didn't want to be born that way because my contractions kept up all night long. I was able to sleep sitting up on the couch in 20-30 minute increments. In the morning, the contractions were still going but had gotten to more 10 min apart. I told Nick he wasn't going to work that day and called my mom to come get Madelyn. We decided to send Ben to school and figured we would have Caleb come get him when we needed to head to the hospital. Around noon, the contractions were 5 min apart and Nick and I were running out of ideas and things to do. I found that if I sat down, the contractions would space out but if I was up walking around or standing, they got closer together. We called our doula and she decided to head over. Around 3pm, I decided to try getting in the shower again just for something new to do. The contractions were 3-5 min apart with the weird spacing when I sat down.

Well the water must have triggered something because within 10 minutes of being in the shower, I was climbing the walls. The contractions were on top of each other and I was finding it about impossible to manage them. Our doula came in and said it sounded like we needed to head to the hospital so she sent Nick to get Ben and was going to help me get ready to go. I told her there was no way I could get out of shower and she told me I could and had to. I ended up getting out of the shower and sitting on the toilet. I remember begging her to tell me this was transition because if it wasn't, I couldn't take anymore. She said she was going to grab a glove from her car and check me because she believed I was past transition and needed to decide whether or not to get to the hospital by ambulance or car. After checking, turns out I was at a 10 but the baby was high enough she felt safe getting there by car but she was going to ride with us just in case. She also called ahead and had a stretcher waiting for us at the door.

The ride to the hospital was ridiculous. Our poor doula was literally riding in the trunk space of the car because we had all the carseats in the back seat. She is trying to coach me to not push while Nick is trying to navigate Ann Arbor traffic to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, the staff helped me onto the stretcher and off we went. Sort of....

UofM built a new women's hospital and it has only been only since March. Well, they are still working out the kinks and I ended up on a roller coaster ride throughout the floors of the hospital. One of the elevators didn't fit the stretcher. Another one of the doors was locked. Meanwhile, I am lying on this stretcher going back and forth through the lobby while the nurses are running TV style. I am wearing my sunglasses. Yes, I am. And still trying not to push, which is not a quiet process. Poor people stuck watching this charade.

Finally we got up to the room, skipping triage (yay! no 20 min strip for me!) and I can start to push. At this point it is around 4pm.

I remember a few things from pushing. Once, the midwife started talking to me about the HepLock and giving me some story about just in case. I told the nurse we could do it in between the next set of contractions and then told her the same thing a few more times. She told me later she realized the IV wasn't going to happen so she just gave up.

They also had a hard time getting the baby's heartrate when I was standing and kept wanting me to lay down. I wasn't opposed to laying down and it actually ended up being the way I delivered but I couldn't figure out how to actually get myself into that bed. They tried telling me that they were going to do an internal monitor on the baby's scalp if they couldn't get a good reading. Apparently, the honesty in me was flowing full force and I told them that was NOT going to happen. I'm trying to get a baby out, you're not about to start sticking things up there.

I also remember my water breaking and freaking out over what it was. There was meconium, but I figured that would be the case since I was over a week late.

The student midwife kept telling me that this was a safe place and the pooping was a natural part of childbirth. I told her, I understand and I am not afraid of pooping - I am actually trying to!

Finally, the baby started crowning and I was able to get the head and neck out but her shoulders were stuck in my pelvis. Fortunately, I was in my own head at this point and didn't realize what was happening. Our doula said that the midwife had called to whoever the expert baby removing team is and they were on the way but by shoving what felt like an extra 10 hands into me and shoving on my belly and pelvis, they were able to get the baby out in about 45 seconds and the team wasn't necessary.

Baby was born at 6:10pm. It was such a relief to not be pushing that it took me a minute to even ask what we had. Finally, I asked Nick. What is it? He gives me this look of shock and says "it's a girl". I said "girl?" He goes, "yeah". I then say, "we don't have a name!"

She had pinked up and started crying before the pediatric team had even gotten her to the warmer so I got her right back for skin to skin.

I ended up with with 3 second degree tears but it is still way better than a c-section recovery.

Stats:
Ada Elizabeth Barish
9lb 10oz
21"
6:10pm

Madelyn's 18th Month

My sweet girl is already a year and a half! She is amazing me everyday with all her accomplishments.

She is still loving books and music! Favorite foods right now are falafel, blueberries, bananas and yogurt.

I found a play structure on Craigslist and she has already mastered climbing the ladder and loves going down the slide. I've got a fashion diva with constantly skinned knees - love it! She is the right combination of little girl and tomboy!

She loves baby dolls and her new ball pit as well. We usually hit up the library playgroups a couple of times a week plus we have her Fun at One class on Thursdays. Her favorite part of class is the bubble song. Her independence is shining through and she won't stand next to me when we move around the circle - she is going to do it on her own.

Bonus! Molly finally got her to say that a cow says moo! We've been working on that one for awhile - her answer was always "rar" or "meow".