Baby Lewis #2 {36 weeks}

My baby is the size of a:
Baby. Perhaps a small baby, but a baby none-the-less.
Her length estimate based on all the fun apps etc suggest that she could be about 19 to 22 inches. Cora was 20 inches so it could be that Ada has grown as much as she is going to length wise (my ribs would appreciate it if this is the case...)

Symptoms:
I'm beginning to feel the signs of her "dropping" which mostly consist of additional round ligament pain as the weight puts more pressure on them, the delightful "lightning crotch" (doesn't that term just make you want to be pregnant?!?) and trouble getting up from sitting on anything other than my big exercise ball.
Heartburn is here but could be worse (I've been reading my 38 and 39 week bumpdates (my personal fav horror story from pregnancy) from pregnancy with Cora to remind myself that it could all be worse - and unfortunately may be worse yet...)
Pelvic pain is an issue. It's kind of always an issue for me, even when not pregnant. I'm going weekly to the chiropractor and had considered going mid week because I'm usually *really* ready to see her come my appointment. Today at my Doula prenatal my Doula showed John how to help me do the Side Lying Release (a Spinning Babies Technique that promotes pelvic alignment & balance). I've read about it before but now that I've experienced it first hand I can say it works! My pelvis felt so much better after that technique and it won't replace the chiro but will certainly get me from week to week! If baby is posterior (back to back with me) it will also help her get into position and for her head to engage - I've been suspecting based on movement that she is occasionally posterior and I'd really like to not struggle with back labor so anything we can do to promote prime positioning I'm all for!
I'm having some contractions (likely Braxton Hicks). If I wanted to I could probably time them but I have no other signs of labor and the contractions aren't hard enough that I can't breathe or talk through them so I'm doing my best to ignore them. So far, no sign that I'll experience Prodromal Labor again (and let's pray that is the case!)!

Sleep:
I'm up at least twice a night for the bathroom. I'm a little anxious about labor/birth and that has been dominating my thoughts so when I wake myself up attempting to roll over I tend to think of that and it is hard to fall asleep again. I've put birth affirmations next to my bed where I can read them so hopefully that will help my anxiety about labor.

Weight Gain:

According to my midwife I'm up 8 lbs overall for pregnancy! That's not bad and I'm not complaining. That is down 2 pounds from my 34 week prenatal appointment. 

Maternity Clothes:

Oh yes. and almost none of my shirts are long enough to reach my pants without either my belly showing or the band of my maternity pants showing. I'm pretty much past the point of caring about this too. 

Movement:

She's passing her kick counts. I'm more aware of some of her stretches or jabs than I am kicks/hits. I suspect a few things: that she is just a lot more mellow than Cora was, I'm more accustomed to the movements so I don't notice them as much. The biggest suspicion I have is that although in both pregnancies I have had an anterior placenta (on the front of my uterus so between me and baby), I think it's lying differently this time than last time blocking me from feeling all of the movements. At my last appointment, my Midwife was holding the doppler for heartbeat and we could hear that she was kicking/hitting but I only felt it once or twice. When Cora would do that I would definitely feel the kicks. Then when she went to measure my belly for my fundal height (making sure baby is measuring okay in size) she had trouble getting a measurement because she wouldn't sit still. John and Kathy were commenting on all her movements because they could see her moving as I laid on the exam table but I could feel none of it. 

Exercise:

We walk almost nightly, usually 1 mile and briskly up our hills working to get Ada's head to engage in my pelvis. Tonight we did 2 miles and I hope to make that the norm again. 

John, Pepper (the dog) and Cora on our walk this evening. Cora gave up on the stroller about half way through mile 2. If she is going to walk regularly I'll have to make more of an effort for her to be wearing something other than a cloth diaper ;) 

Cravings/Aversions:

Food is hit or miss for me right now. I'm usually not hungry but sometimes will be really ready to eat come meal time. I'm doing good to get one good meal down a day. Tonight we had spaghetti and I found it horribly revolting for no other reason than there was meat in the sauce. I'm mostly interested in liquids and fruit. 

The other day I had some serious cravings, more than the passing "that sounds good" verses "that's revolting". I texted John I was craving Sushi (california roll so preggo safe!), Chili Cheese Fries and a snow cone. I fully expected him to either tell me to go get it myself or some passing "that's nice" comment. He was very sweet and came home with this surprise for me! My favorite snow cone place was closed on that day so we subbed in a sonic slush and I have to say that was an adequate substitution :) 

I'm looking Forward to:

My Chiro adjustments and Doula Prenatals. They're kind of my weekly highlights at this point.

 I miss:

Rolling over in bed without discomfort.

Best moment this week:

Tuesday was a very productive day, I had a chiro adjustment and my Midwife appointment. John worked from home so he could attend both (and wrangle Cora through them!). Then we made a huge payment on the Birth Center (our FSA card finally decided to arrive!), 

Wednesday, Doula prenatal where I learned to get some actual relief from pelvic pain that I can do myself. We had lunch with Lauren today which was really nice! She and I have been busy and haven't seen each other in a while, I'm realizing that my socialization time will be limited here soon so I need to make use of the time with only one child in tow while I can!

Also my brothers and John have done a lot of work on the house and property the last couple of days and made lots of progress! (If we hadn't had so much darn rain (though we are grateful for our full lakes!) earlier this spring we wouldn't be so far behind on some of these projects and I could actually be of help. Robert asked me to go grab a tool "real quick", about the same time Jacob started walking to the same destination as me for a different task - he went the long way and still beat me to the storage building. Literally, everything takes me about twice as long these days... I'm lacking in the hurry or "real quick" departments. 

Emotions:
I'm nervous about labor/birth. Mostly about the length. No one wants to power through the contractions for hours on end. I think in some ways I'm more anxious than I was with Cora simply because I know exactly what I'm signing on for in labor in terms of feelings/sensations. I also have more time to dwell on it, all the stress from work kept me pretty occupied last time around and filled my stress/worry quota.

 I'm nostalgic about Cora being little and how much she has grown up, especially this last 9 months or so. She's just not a baby anymore! I'm a little anxious about the lack of sleep I'm about to experience with a new baby, nursing again (I find that honestly more demanding than labor/birth) and my biggest point of anxiety is how Cora will receive Ada and how to balance my attention and time between the two of them. 

Some of my birth affirmations.

Goals for the upcoming week:

Make it to 37 weeks pregnant!! As soon as we make it to Saturday I'm officially cleared to deliver at the Birth Center verses the hospital (before 37 weeks there are concerns about lung development).

Here are my goals from the past couple of weeks updated to reflect that I actually do get some stuff finished but the list is ever-growing. Honestly though, I can't think of any reason that we're not "ready" for her if I went into labor tomorrow. I'm always going to have things to do, Ada isn't going to care whether or not I had time to go buy new bedroom curtains and get them hung. ;) (and this moment of clarity is brought to you by a 2nd time mom... 1st time around I would have flipped out about curtains!)

OLD LIST: Tidy House ~ Finish putting new elastic in cloth diapers (worked on it some this week, can only do it while Cora is sleeping because she tries to help too much) ~ talk to birth center re. estimated payment ~ Get Cora's pool aired up & a temp fence installed around it (worked on it, but filling this sucker with a hand pump is proving to be a chore!)~ Pre-registration forms for hospital (just in case of transfer emergency or not) ~ Make Essential oil bug spray ~ Finish packing birth center and  back up hospital bags ~ Wash van & vacuum ~ Re-install Ada's carseat ~ Swap out some of Cora's toys ~ Move everything from one shipping container to the other ~ Clean Master Bathroom out & organize ~ Repair Shower drip ~ Finish up Thank you cards & mail ~ Update Ada's baby book with gifts ~ Plan out Freezer meals for postpartum ~ pack new diaper bag for 2 kids (almost finished). ~ Finish Cora's baby book & put all her keepsakes in a box to store away ~ Make a couple of freezer meals so I have my postpartum meal for birth center ready ~ Finish Ada's name art ~ Order final couple of Essential Oils I need for birth/postpartum ~ Finish Birth Affirmations/Bible Verses ~ Make a Birth Playlist ~ Finalize birth plan with Doula ~ Meet with birth photographer ~ Start removing bad trim on front of house ~ Mow yard~ Clear out Ada's Crib (it's full of her stuff/baby gear, I just need to find real homes for the stuff).

NEW LIST: Buy curtains for master bedroom & bathroom ~ make my rice sock for labor ~ Get master bedroom "guest ready" ~ Child proof the kitchen cabinets and drawers

...at least the list isn't rapidly growing!

In an ideal world it would also have things that I just find unrealistic right now, like finish painting our bedroom, stain the kitchen and master bedroom floor, re-roof the house etc. I just know those things aren't going to get done before Ada and I'm just going to have to have a peace about what we could/couldn't get done before her arrival.

Belly Pictures:

Past Pregnancy:

36 weeks pregnant with Cora

What's Up Wednesday - June

I'm linking up with Mel, Sheaffer and Shay for ... 

The last Wednesday of each month we answer these questions...

What we're eating this week... it's summer so I try not to cook much in the oven so dinners are really simple. I made a huge batch of chicken and dumplings on Sunday (per John's request for Fathers Day) and I have frozen a large casserole dish worth for my postpartum meal at the birth center (all this pregnancy I've just known I want that to be my first postpartum meal, hope it still sounds good after baby comes!). After we ate on it for dinner Sunday and froze a bunch there was still a lot left so that has been many of our lunches and dinners this week.

What I'm reminiscing about... I'm thinking a lot about my pregnancy and birth with Cora. I've referenced so many of my posts about the end of her pregnancy here of late trying to remember if certain things are normal or not.

What I'm loving... these final days of Cora being an only child.

What I'm dreading... well I wouldn't say I'm dreading it, but I'm getting pretty nervous about labor and birth. I've been focusing a lot recently on my birth affirmations. I've posted them in our bathroom  on the mirror and on the cabinet that sits right next to my bed so I can read them as I lay in bed.

What I'm working on... we've gotten so much work done on the house, both inside and out. There are still plenty of projects to do but honestly for every single one you can walk in our house and say "oh such & such needs to be done" there are at least 10 other projects that also need our attention and some of them may be less obvious but more pressing. I'm a little nervous about the fact that we'll have a bunch of guests soon with Ada's birth. Everyone that will be at our house knows it's a work in progress but of course I want to present it the best I can. So, that's pretty much dominating our "working on" list.

What I'm excited about... meeting our new baby girl! Not being pregnant anymore!

What I'm watching/reading... I'm currently reading Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth and John and I just started watching Game of Thrones (after Cora goes to bed for the night of course!).

What I'm listening to... well nothing quite yet, but one of my to-do tasks for this week is to create my birth playlist so I'm about to be listening to all the music I think will be uplifting and encouraging during labor/birth. I envision my play list having lots of praise and worship songs if you have any recommendations please let me know!

What I'm wearing... I'm wearing maternity clothes that aren't really fitting anymore. I find it so frustrating that so many of my maternity shirts aren't long enough to cover my ever-growing belly but I'm sure not going to be spending anymore money on a maternity wardrobe just to get through the next 1-6 weeks.

What I'm doing this weekend... Lots and lots of housework!
Friday I'm going to a class with our local babywearing group to make a mesh ring sling that can be worn in the pool. I figure it's about the only way Ada will be in the water this summer is if she is worn since she'll be so tiny.
Saturday morning we're going to a hospital a couple of towns over to tour the maternity ward. We are still planning to deliver at the birth center but if I go past the 42 week limit, need to be induced, need a non-emergent transfer (maternal exhaustion etc...) we will transfer to a new hospital as the practice my Midwife is in is changing hospitals. The rest of the day will be spent working on stuff at home.
Sunday we will go to church, a friend's baby shower and then we'll be at home working on the house more. :)

What I'm looking forward to next month... Ada's birth! That pretty much sums up our month of July. We have kept the calendar as clear as we can. I figure we can always make short term commitments if I'm feeling up to them but we've made no long-term commitments or plans.

What else is new... really very little. I'm feeling very pregnant & that about sums up our life right now!

Bonus question: What are we doing this July 4th?... right now we don't have any plans. I'm thinking about going to the parade in town that morning if it isn't horribly hot. It was pretty hot & miserable last year and I wasn't 38 weeks pregnant like I'll be this year (38 week bumpdate from last pregnancy). Beyond that we have no plans (see the question about July plans) and if we do much of anything it will be close to home or involve chlorinated water I can swim in. I'd like to take Cora to see fireworks. Just taking any and every opportunity to soak up the last of our time together as a family of 3 but staying practical that I'll be very pregnant and July 4th is usually very hot.

(July 4 last year - Cora's 1st 4th of July!)

Baby Lewis #2 {35 weeks}

Date:
6/17/15

How far along?:

35 weeks 4 days

My baby is the size of a:
Large Cantaloupe

Symptoms:
Getting up to go to the bathroom several times a night. The other night I got up at 11:00 when John came to bed and noticed that there were people with flashlights in my front yard?!? I'm sure anyone else would have been alarmed, but I knew that it was likely my brothers and sis-in-love working on finishing up the plumbing repair they'd been working on the day before (I was seriously doubting the plumbing fairies had shown up, though that would have been nice!). The next day my brother Robert was asking how I'd known what time they left the night before, I said well I saw y'all at 11 when I came to talk to you. I was up again at midnight for the bathroom, again at 1:00 am and saw the lights both times but then at 2:00 it was dark. So, see - running to the bathroom all the time lets you know when your night-owl siblings finish a plumbing project!

Still swelling some, but not bad. My joints won't pop :( Seems silly but by the end of pregnancy I seriously miss my fingers and toes popping.

Muscle cramps which I'm solving the same way as last time - with calcium supplements. I've been able to take them better this time around but apparently I wasn't taking enough.

Heart burn has raised it's ugly head. I had trouble with this last time too! I can get heart burn from a glass of cool refreshing water. It is ridiculous! I have not yet thrown up from this, so there's something to be grateful for! In fact, though I have been sick in my 3rd trimester, I can't actually recall the last time I threw up - so yay!!

I do have some pelvic pain and pressure but Looking back at my bumpdate from Cora's pregnancy at 34 weeks I specifically remember how horribly miserable I was on our babymoon stay-cation  & I'm no where near that miserable! I think part of that is she hasn't dropped yet (and I've read that sometimes subsequent babies don't drop until labor?!?). I think the weekly chiro care is helping that too. Last pregnancy, work kept me from going weekly so I was usually going bi-weekly and I think that's part of my pain/issue.

Sleep:
Well the frequent trips to the bathroom don't help... but beyond that it's okay I guess. It really helps this time around that I can nap during the day with Cora and here of late she is occasionally taking a morning nap again, so yay for that! I have trouble rolling over in bed and you're not supposed to lay on your back (I do until it's uncomfortable) or on your right side (again, I do until my body says stop) but my hips and pelvis are having issues with much time on either of my sides. I'm missing laying on my belly which is totally out of the question even in the little modified, piled up on a pillow format I used well through my 2nd trimester.

Cravings:
Snow cones! Fruit and smoothies. I don't have much of an appetite right now and am doing good to eat one solid, big meal a day. Food is just pretty unappetizing and doesn't interest me. Fruit and fruit juices I could eat/drink pretty much all the time though! I'm not sure if this is entirely pregnancy related (since baby hasn't dropped she's pressing on my stomach and it takes next to nothing to make me "full") or if it is just that it is summer and it's hot. I'm generally not really hungry in the heat.

Weight Gain:

Eh. I'm assuming it's the same as it was last week. I hope!
I'll know for sure Tuesday at my next Midwife appointment.

Movement:
She's been a little more still than before but is still passing her kick counts just fine! She's just getting big for the space she's in.

Exercise:
In addition to chasing Cora around... We go on nightly walks of about a mile.

I'm looking forward to:
Tomorrow we're going out as a family for "All About Cora Day" to spend some quality time as a family of 3 before our poor girl's world is turned upside down ;) We're planning to take her to the aquarium and out for ice cream. I'm not sure what else we might do while we're out.

Emotions - 
I'm feeling very nostalgic for the days of Cora being little-bitty and I'm just beginning to be overwhelmed with what life will be like with two babies.

Best moment this week:
I realized today that Saturday I'll be 36 weeks along and at 37 weeks I'll be considered full term and if I go into labor they won't do anything to stop it (and I'll be eligible to deliver at the birth center!). I kind of freaked out about some of the stuff I haven't gotten finished. I know there will be plenty of projects that I wanted finished to still do after Ada comes but I turned my focus to the "essentials" and bought the last of the stuff I need for the birth center and am finishing up my bags for both the birth center and back-up bag for if we end up at the hospital.

While I was at the store I ran into a lady that kept Cora in the nursery at church while I was in Bible Study. Turns out she is going to be my Birth Assistant (basically the nurse) at the Birth Center! I'm so excited that I'll have a familiar face in that role (I think it's awesome that I'll literally have no strangers at the birth!) and I know she is a Christian and that is important to me in those who are helping me with labor/birth! 
 

Goals for the upcoming week:

From last week's list, I've marked through the few things that actually got done. I can't complain much because they were big projects and that was far more than could get done in a week but I also know we're running out of time for this stuff. I've also added new projects to the bottom of the list.

OLD LIST: Tidy House ~ Finish putting new elastic in cloth diapers ~ talk to birth center re. estimated payment ~ Get Cora's pool aired up & a temp fence installed around it (worked on it, but filling this sucker with a hand pump is proving to be a chore!)~ Pre-registration forms for hospital (just in case of transfer emergency or not) ~ Make Essential oil bug spray ~ Finish packing birth center and  back up hospital bags ~ Wash van & vacuum ~ Re-install Ada's carseat ~ Swap out some of Cora's toys ~ Move everything from one shipping container to the other ~ Clean Master Bathroom out & organize ~ Repair Shower drip ~ Finish up Thank you cards & mail ~ Update Ada's baby book with gifts ~ Plan out Freezer meals for postpartum ~ pack new diaper bag for 2 kids (almost finished).
NEW ITEMS: Finish Cora's baby book & put all her keepsakes in a box to store away ~ Make a couple of freezer meals so I have my postpartum meal for birth center ready ~ Finish Ada's name art ~ Order final couple of Essential Oils I need for birth/postpartum ~ Finish Birth Affirmations/Bible Verses ~ Make a Birth Playlist ~ Finalize birth plan with Doula ~ Meet with birth photographer ~ Start removing bad trim on front of house ~ Mow yard (really more of "John, mow the yard") ~ Clear out Ada's Crib (it's full of her stuff/baby gear, I just need to find real homes for the stuff).

Past Pregnancy:

34 weeks with Cora
36 weeks with Cora

Breastfeeding Diaries Guest Post

When pregnant with Cora, I was absolutely determined to give breastfeeding my all! Before she was born, I insisted that no formula be in the house. If I was going to give her a bottle of formula, I wanted to think about it and be sure in my decision all the way to the store. I won't lie, most of my determination was based out of being cheap! I really didn't want to add the cost of formula to our budget. All in all, we had a very successful breastfeeding journey but it certainly wasn't picture perfect, especially at first.

Read more over on on Julie's blog, The Girl in the Red Shoes where I'm guest posting for her series Breastfeeding Diaries!

Baby Lewis #2 {33 & 34 Weeks}

My baby is the size of a:

Pineapple - 19 to 22 inches and about 4.9 lbs. 

Symptoms:
I'm big! I've hit the point I feel like I can't really get much bigger but I know I will. I'm waiting until
about 37 weeks to do my belly cast and record my belly measurements for her baby book.
I've started having some pelvic issues unrelated to pelvic positioning that I had been seeing the Chiro for. I've just gotten big enough and my ligaments are loose enough that things like rolling over, sitting for long periods of time etc are painful. I began seeing the Chiro weekly again and will see her at least weekly until delivery to encourage optimal positioning for delivery.
I'm also beginning to swell. I was cleaning house today and from being up on my feet most of the day both my hands and feet are swollen. It's not awful yet, but very uncomfortable.
I was about 28 or 29 weeks and I was all excited that I was so excited (and smug) that I wasn't having to run to the bathroom constantly at night. Yeah, well I spoke too soon because I'm making up to 4 trips a night. :(
I have braxton hicks contractions, not terribly painful or regular at all, but of course not fun either.

Weight Gain:

According to my Midwife I have gained exactly 10 pounds this pregnancy.
My records show that I'm actually only up 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight (I had been being sick for a while before seeing her for a "starting" weight). That gives me 5 more pounds I'm "allowed" to gain this pregnancy and about 5 1/2 weeks to get through. We'll see how that goes...
Weight gain is something that all pregnant women struggle with. It's hard to see those numbers rise and be okay with it. I was kind of frustrated about the *1* pound I gained in the last 2 weeks because honestly I was more active in the last 2 weeks than I've been in a while (simply because we had sunshine and no rain to get stuff done!). I just assumed I had lost weight. Since I started this pregnancy smaller than I did my last I'm getting more "normal" pregnancy weight gain and I won't lie, it kind of stinks! 

Gender:

It's a girl and if you haven't heard, her name is Ada Mayme :)

Maternity Clothes:

Oh yes, everything is maternity clothes these days. I'm most comfortable in dresses and skirts, my favorite are loose so they're nice and cool for these hot days. I have abandoned all sense of fashion (not that I had a ton before) and am fully embracing wearing tennis shoes with my dresses now! Toms would probably be just as comfy but mine died getting wet repeatedly in all the rain we've had this year! I did squeeze myself into a non-maternity skirt the other day, it had a zipper and everything! I was very impressed with myself!
I have to be careful that my shirts meet my shorts, I don't know why they don't make maternity shirts longer but it was about this time in the pregnancy last time too that I noticed having trouble making sure my belly isn't showing.

Movement:
I am having to do daily kick counts just to make sure she's moving enough. She really does move plenty, I'm just so easily distracted with Cora and everything I don't notice the kicks unless they're really strong/painful. We've been working outside a lot and I feel her stretching when I'm bending over too much more than anything.

Sleep:
I'm still sleeping decently. Several trips a night to the bathroom most nights but over all nothing to complain about. My fingers are crossed that it is this "easy" and smooth through to the end of pregnancy but I'm not holding my breath.

Cravings/Aversions:
Tex-Mex is about the only real food that sounds good pretty much ever. That or pizza. Snow cones and cold drinks are about the only other thing I want. I'm forcing myself to make sure to eat 3 meals a day because otherwise I would be happy surviving on liquids alone.

 I miss:
Sleeping on my stomach. Not being restricted in what I can do. We're working hard on the house & property and it gets frustrating that I just physically can't do what I would normally. I think I constantly worry John & when we're out working it seems like every few words are "stop that, you'll hurt yourself". I'm trying to recognize my limits and not over-do it. I rest and drink lots of water as I need to. Really I'm just so grateful that I'm physically able to do things right now that I want to get as much done while I still can - Make Hay while the sun is shining! I know that as soon as she drops (that could be any day) and I have all that pressure I struggled with at the end of last pregnancy plus normal end of pregnancy exhaustion etc about all I'll manage is moving from the couch to a chair etc.

Best moment this week:
It was actually a few weeks ago but she is head down! It has been the best moment of the 3rd trimester! I went to my appointment at 30 weeks and she was still stubbornly head up. Kathy wasn't really worried about it yet but I wanted to know what my options were so we started talking about whether or not they would do a breech delivery etc. I really upset myself with the whole thing. She flipped literally 2 days later and though she occasionally likes to lay transverse, she's been pretty good about staying head down. 

Goals for the upcoming week:

Directly off my "This Week" to do list sitting next to me:
Tidy House ~ Finish putting new elastic in cloth diapers ~ talk to birth center re. estimated payment ~ Get Cora's pool aired up & a temp fence installed around it ~ Pre-registration forms for hospital (just in case of transfer emergency or not) ~ Make Essential oil bug spray ~ Finish packing birth center and  back up hospital bags ~ Wash van & vacuum ~ Re-install Ada's carseat ~ Swap out some of Cora's toys ~ Move everything from one shipping container to the other ~ Clean Master Bathroom out & organize ~ Repair Shower drip ~ Finish up Thank you cards & mail ~ Update Ada's baby book with gifts ~ Plan out Freezer meals for postpartum ~ pack new diaper bag for 2 kids.

Sadly - the only things from my "Nesting List" that made it to the list of to do for this week were finishing up the diapers, thank you cards, and diaper bag. My Nesting List is needing some attention.


Belly Pictures:

28 weeks (visiting family in Lubbock)

32 weeks - my non-maternity skirt!

Past Pregnancy:

A 34 week update from pregnancy with Cora.

Coralie - 19 months old

Snap shot from February

It's been about 4 months since I did an update on Cora and so much has changed!

March

Weight/Height - At her 18 month old well visit she weighed in at 23 lbs (56%) which is the same weight she was at her 15 month visit (actually 5 ounces less than she was then). Her Pediatrician isn't worried about this at all, she's just loosing some of the baby fat. She's 31 1/2 inches tall (40%) and her head is in the 90% at 48 cm.

April - She stole Mommy's reading glasses

Health - Last month (18 months old) was a bit of a roller coaster for us. She was fighting allergies pretty badly right before her well visit, but I knew they were just allergies. When I picked her up from childcare at church from Bible Study the teacher mentioned that she had some green snot (lovely right?!) and her eyes were puffy like it was beginning to be a sinus infection. I saw what she was talking about and we were seeing the doctor the next day for her well visit so I figured we'd take care of it all then. (I didn't notice any other infection signs after that, back to normal allergy symptoms) Next day we go to Pedi and the doctor agrees it's just allergies & recommends some over the counter allergy medicines. That weekend we went to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Lubbock and on Saturday evening she suddenly spiked a fever and had a febrile seizure. She had been kind of lethargic that afternoon, but we were attributing that to a late night followed by an early morning, a short nap and a busy day. All her labs came back clear that there was no infection so whatever made her suddenly get a fever was viral. We stayed the rest of the weekend in Lubbock and traveled home the following Monday and went straight to her Pedi. We've learned lots about febrile seizures in the last month and though we know there's not much we can do to prevent one, we're still very nervous about any potential fevers or bugs she may have. She's healthy as can be though! Still some occasional days of allergies that Claritian clears right up. 

Cuddles with Aunt M

Once we get our "sea legs" with this whole seizure thing I hope to find some more natural options to keep fevers controlled so that we're not constantly chasing her around with Tylenol/Ibuprofen if we're concerned she will start running a fever. This will be particularly important with  her starting Mothers Day Out in the fall, the teachers won't administer meds. I hope that I could convince them to put an oil on her feet or chest and hopefully that would tide her over in the event of a low grade fever until I could get there with meds and keep her seizure free (Let me know if you have any natural fever remedies! Everyone recommends Peppermint Oil or Theives but they aren't recommended in the concentration/dose for her age)

Teething - She has a mouth full of teeth! She hasn't gotten her eye teeth yet and we can sort of see where they are behind the gums but aren't cutting yet. She doesn't seem bothered by them most days, but other days she is biting and chewing on things and I'm guessing the teeth hurting is the root of the issue. She's become picky about wearing her Amber Teething Necklace and doesn't always want it on anymore. We've starting only using it when she seems to have a particularly rough teething day. (The ER staff took it off of her when we went in for the seizure & since then she is just much more aware of it and will pull at it asking to have it taken off)

Birthday Dinner for Auntie Kim

Clothing - She's wearing 18 month clothes, she fits best in 18-24 month size but that's tricky to find so we just make do with what we have. She does have some 24 month items that she wears but they're generally a little too big on her.

Uncle Jacob Graduation

Diapers - Size 4 disposables. We're back to using cloth when we're at home! This is the first time since last fall that we're regularly using cloth & I'm so glad to be back at it! I can tell a huge difference in her excema/psoriasis and she never has a diaper rash when primarily in cloth! I need to order a size up in cloth prefolds, she has officially outgrown them but she still fits in our pocket diapers, I just don't have enough of those to last more than one day at a time. I just purchased some that need their elastic replaced, if that project goes well I can probably do 3 days of cloth before running out of diapers so we shall see...

Eating - Nursing - Cora is weaned from Nursing! She weaned in March (which was my goal time frame!) when I dried up. I was glad that provided us a natural ending to nursing and it made weaning tear-free! Once the milk was gone, she didn't mind being redirected away from nursing. John taking over bed times helped a lot with this process too! I nursed her for about 17 months, it came out to 506 days of nursing! I'm sharing our Journey with Breastfeeding on The Girl in the Red Shoes Breastfeeding Diaries as a guest blogger next week, check back for a link to the post!

Beverages -She drinks whatever. She has figured out what sodas are and would very much like it if we would let her "sneak" sips more often. Juices I still try to dilute about 50% but I'm not super particular about that and of course milk and water.

Solids -She eats like a champ. Some days she will love something and hate it the next but that's just toddler for ya :)

ZZzzzzZZZ Sleeping - Cora sleeps about 10.5 to 11 hours a night. She had been sleeping 12 full hours a night up until about 18 months old. She has really established more of a schedule for waking up in the mornings (7:45 - 8:15 most days) regardless of when she went to bed. This has really forced us to be more particular about her going to sleep on time since she isn't sleeping in as well as she had.

She is still sleeping in bed with us. :( We had put our foot down and started really working on her being in her own bed the week she had her seizure. After that I was just too nervous to have her away from me for about 2 weeks. We're comfortable with her going back to her own bed again (not that we had exactly been successful with that endeavor) but she's just not cooperating. If we do any part of her bed time routine in her room she resists sleep because she's clearly afraid we'll leave her in there alone after she's asleep. We have tried putting her down in our room & transferring her to her own bed after she is asleep but then she has an epic meltdown when she wakes to find that she is not with us when she stirs/wakes during the night. In bed with us, those periods of restlessness as she rolls over etc are quick and she self soothes herself to sleep (it wakes me up though...). If she wakes to find she is in her own bed there is at least an hour of hysterics after she's come to us/I've gotten her and she's in bed with us.

First trip of the year to the splash pad

I'm honestly out of ideas and energy fighting this. I don't really want her in our room once Ada comes in July but I don't see that our situation will change before then. My current plan is to take it one day at a time and figure it out as we go. Several moms of older children said that around 2 years old when the child can understand and communicate a little better convincing them that sleeping in their "big girl bed" is exciting etc the transition will go better. I hope they're right.

Our Little Socialite -

Likes- Dolly her doll from Christmas is still her favorite toy. At Grandpa's house she loves pulling her little orange plastic wagon around and collecting things to be in it. Some of the things are her toys, others are random trash or mail. If something goes missing around there, her wagon has become a prime suspect place to check! She can also sit and play with her piggy bank (a Christmas gift from her Uncle) with my Dad for up to an hour! She loves putting coins in the slot and taking them out of the door in it's belly. She has a favorite pair of shoes, her orange "dragon" crocks! They had cute eyes on them to look like the face of a dragon, but she has worn them soooo much the eyes have fallen off. She would wear them every day if I would let her but I don't because boy do her feet stink in those things! ;)

Dislikes - She's gotten better about socks and shoes which was an issue in the last update. The big thing she gets upset about with right now is being left with Grandpa. She's fine being left in church nursery or similar settings but she does not like the concept of being left at Grandpa's house & is exhibiting some serious separation anxiety over that. Sarah, our doula, mentioned tonight that this may be one of those pregnancy hormone things where she is recognizing that something is different and that's how she is exhibiting it. She is also extra clingy to me making it hard to get things done around the house.

New - She will surprise us with new words here and there. Her favorites are "get" "that" "this" but she can also say "juice" "cup" "dog" "cheese" "duck" "here-ya-go" (all crammed together) and once we think she said "love you". She'll occasionally pull a word out of the blue and we're amazed that she had picked it up because we would have never known she had learned that word. Non-verbal communication is still her preferred way to talk to us. She will tap her diaper when it needs changing, goes to the refrigerator and points when she wants in it for a snack or drink etc.

Fun things we did since 15 month update - 
~ First trip to Chuck E Cheese for Miss Juliet's 2nd birthday party
~ First Easter Egg Hunts and 2nd Easter
~ A trip to Austin to visit her Great Grandparents
~ Trip to Lubbock to visit Aunt M & Uncle B and see Tech play baseball (this is the trip she had her seizure on)
~ Uncle Jacob's college graduation
~ Baby Sprinkle for Little Sister Ada
~ Rangers game with Amber and Payton
~ Rangers game with family
... plus countless playdates and fun with friends in between.

Goings on with Mommy & Daddy - We spend a lot of our time trying to get ready for Ada! My brother Jacob and his wife Stephanie were able to come out and help us with various projects a couple of weeks ago, that was seriously like 3 days worth of work had John and I tried to do it ourselves! Robert has helped us with a couple of big projects we had been putting off but the crazy amount of rain Texas has gotten put new urgency in the projects and I just couldn't physically help John with them. I've gotten all the big stuff done for Ada's arrival (cleaned & prepped all the gear and clothes etc), there are about 2 more "big" projects on the house that we would like to get done before her arrival, John's cousin Drew is going to come help him with one of them in the next few days.

In two weeks we have planned an "All about Cora" day and we're going to have a fun filled day all about celebrating her as an only child before Ada comes. I can't wait to share about it!