Cora Lizzy - 2 years old!

Our sweet Coralie turned two on the 21st. I though it would be fun to document some of her fun, 2 year old self things.

- she loves to drink from water bottles, really whatever she sees us drinking from. I wouldn't recommend sharing with her though, the level of disgusting backwash is amazing!

- this time Last year she was mostly weaned from pacifiers but then she found one in a toy box. When Daddy is around she only gets them to sleep. With me, I'm not up to having that fight so she uses them at will. 

- she picks through her pacifiers and picks her favorite. She'll put the preferred paci in her mouth as she hands off her cast off to me.

- she doesn't like being in the littlest bit of a dirty diaper. She isn't verbal enough to potty train yet but she'll pat her dirty diaper and say "uhhhh, uhhhh" to us. For my Dad, she climbs up into his lap and sticks her hiney in his face!

- she is your average 2 year old with getting into stuff! Just this morning she used a case of water bottles as a step stool to pull leftover cupcakes off the counter & help herself to some for breakfast. 

- she loves music! She dances to some songs, but not all. She has one awesome head bob down! Her favorite is The theme song to Fresh Prince and will shake her car seat like crazy when she hears it!

- Barney is her favorite show! She has learned to navigate to it with our Fire Stick remote in Amazon Prime and Netflix! 

- Tex-Mex is still her favorite food! She's just like her mommy & the way to her heart is through yummy & spicy food! This kid eats chips and salsa like a pro!

- Dolly is her favorite toy and she plays so sweetly with her! 

We kept birthday celebrations simple this year. On her birthday we celebrated with pizza at CiCi's (one of her favorites) and cake and gifts at my Dad's house.

Her birthday cake, far from perfect, is actually a bit of a story in it's self. 

I came across the cake pan in my Dad's attic. My mom made dozens of birthday cakes for us in this Barney pan growing up. I loved sharing this memory with her!

Then over the weekend we visited with John's family and had a small celebration with them.

Coralie's Chipaw made several of her favorite foods: chicken nuggets, tator tots, chips and queso, beans for dinner. We had pie for dessert because John and I were rather tired of cake after she had cupcakes at school and cake for her birthday. It was a week full of sweets! 

 

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!

Count Down to Baby #1 {22 Weeks}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2. 

 

 

Date: June 19, 2013

Due Date: Still set for October 22 - we'll get that confirmed when we finally get our 20 week anatomy scan in a week.

How far along?:  22 Weeks & 1 day!

Weight Gain: Overall, none - I've gained back all that I had lost from my 1st trimester vomit-escapades, but I haven't gained any over my pre-pregnancy weight!

My baby is the size of a:  Papaya (I can't get over how big that is?!? - they're really more referring to the length, but still!!)

Maternity Clothes: I can still fit into a few larger t-shirts but that's it for non-maternity clothes.

Stretch Marks:Yes - I have the same 3 that popped up out of no where early on in the pregnancy. :(

Belly Button In or Out: Out and quite uncomfortable when touched or bumped into things.

Wedding Ring on or off: On & loose - not too much swelling so far!


Symptoms: Some round ligament pain where baby is pushing really hard on my lower belly but other than that not much!! The second trimester is great! :)

Cravings: The other day I was certain that I would DIE if I did not have Ramen noodles & apples with caramel dip. I generally don't crave much out of the ordinary and am not eating too terribly much more than normal, so that was less than fun to feel like the crazy pregnant lady who HAD to have a food!

The husband was very sweet and stopped off for my food on his way home!

Aversions:Chinese food, granola bars, orange juice, milk... that's it off the top of my head - generally anything that I threw up a bunch in the 1st trimester.

Sleep:I'm getting a minimum of 9 hours a night, I prefer to get 10 but when it's time for bed I'm ready to crash!

I am loving: Planning out the nursery!!

I miss: Swimming in non-chlorinated water and being able to stay outside longer than .25 seconds without thinking I'm melting.

I am looking forward to: Moving in 12 days (but who's counting?) and getting to nest!

I'm freaking out about: Nothing comes to mind.

Best moment this week: John is really getting to feel the kicks when they're strong and we can predict where they'll hit.

Worst moment this week: I'm not yet accustomed to how big my bump is and the added weight it puts in front - so I got a little off balance and took a fairly hard tumble. I'm super sore but I was able to somewhat protect my belly in the fall. After 2 hours of laying still for kick counts I was confident that baby was okay and I went on into work (just very late!).

Emotions: Pretty stable - no random jags of crying. I get grumpy sometimes but I think that's more related to being tired than anything. 

Milestones: We're over half way!! 2 more weeks & we will have a viable baby!! :) :) :)

Movement: Yes! Lots! I can't quite distinguish general movement for rolling or hands etc yet - but can register the movement as the baby and not my tummy grumbling. Kicks are the most distinct.

It's a...:GIRL!!

Exercise: Nothing specific - but we're packing up the house like crazy and I like to think that I can count that as exercise.

Diet: Pretty normal! I generally eat as I did before pregnancy and I don't eat too terribly much more than pre-bump days.

Upcoming Goals: Get moved & start setting up the nursery. Sand down the dresser, paint and put on new hardware for baby's room. Baby Proof the house as we move in. Wash the clothes we have for baby girl and get them into her closet.

Nursery: We've gotten a crib, decided which dresser to use for her room and changing table, now to just move and start setting it all up!

Coralie - 15 months old

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Now that Cora is over a year old I probably won't be near as consistent with doing updates but so much has changed since her 13 month update that I couldn't not do one this month! Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Weight/Height - At her 15 month well visit she came in at 23 pounds and 5 ounces (78th percentile). This is about the weight she was at her last well visit but the doctor said she wasn't worried since Cora is walking now and is much more active. She's 30 1/2 inches tall (49th %) and her head circumference is 47 cm (84th %).

Unhappy at the doctors office

Health - We have all been sick off and on since the very end of December. It's getting really old! This is by far the most sick she has been ever. It started with a runny nose that I'm pretty sure was allergies but then turned into a full blown cold. I called the doctor right around new years to check dosage on over the counter meds (since you can't really do much for a cold since it's a virus) and were doing all the natural remedies I know, but I'm now thinking we should have just taken her in and tried a round of antibiotics. She was doing so well for about half a week where the nose wasn't running anymore, no more goopy icky eyes and I would go an entire day or so without hearing her cough but after cutting a couple of teeth flaring up the runny nose again she's also got a nasty cough. So... after seeing the Pediatrician turns out that yes she's got the cough and runny nose but she also has an ear infection. So sure enough she's on antibiotics now and I'm really remembering how much I hate antibiotics.

Nicknames - "Pumpkin", "Cor-Cor", "Cora Bear", "Cora Bora", "Cora-lizzy" short for Cora Elizabeth.

While we were both sick.

Teething - Just the other day she started cutting teeth again! (I would just like to interject that she seriously did not appreciate me just sticking my finger into her mouth as she sleeps to confirm the tooth count). 3 teeth on top (front two and the one to the immediate left of her front tooth) and the 4 front bottom teeth.

Clothing - She's wearing 18 month clothes. I think there may be a few 12 months that haven't gotten pulled out of the rotation yet, but they're big 12 month clothes if so! She also has a few 24 month onsies and such in her clothing rotation. My baby is growing up too fast!!

Diapers - We bumped her up to size 4 disposable diapers, I don't know why I put that off so long, they fit her much better! We also learned that she can't wear the cheapie diapers from our local grocery store, she broke out in an epically bad rash (while being sick too, poor baby) that lasted more than 2 weeks. We just got it cleared up! I'm really missing cloth diapers and plan to start using them again asap! We're fighting diaper rash almost constantly in some degree or another, this is something we never had a problem with in cloth diapers and I'm sure it has something to do with the materials/chemicals associated with disposable diapers.

Christmas goodies - headphones, dolly & socks!

Eating - Nursing - She mostly just nurses in the morning now. She will ask to nurse during the day, but that's usually because she can't find where she's put down her sippy cup (or I may have stuck it in the refrigerator and she's thirsty), so I usually offer something else before nursing her. When she's sick or teething I try to be more patient with frequent nursing during the day, but even that hasn't been too frequent of late (thank goodness!!). I'm super ready to wean! We've gotten her to where she doesn't (usually) need to nurse to go to sleep, I'll offer nursing if she asks, which she doesn't always, then John takes her to bed. It has been so nice that he has taken on the bedtime routine! I'm really anxious to finish weaning her, not only because this momma needs a break before I start nursing baby #2 but also, she doesn't nurse for nutrition anymore. It's all a comfort/habit for her so she doesn't do a good job latching (no matter how many times I take her off, put her back on). My poor body is sore from normal pregnancy stuff, her bad nursing habits aren't helping that matter. I hope that we're finished nursing for good by March!

Beverages - This kid can drink huge amounts of whatever we give her! The last two months she has really gotten her first introduction to apple juice (the only juice we've tried so far) to combat several rounds of constipation. She loves her drinks, and is especially anxious to drink when she gets to out of a special big girl cup. So we've got quite the collection of childrens to go cups with straws etc from restaurants and sonic. So far there haven't really been any mess incidents with her obsession with cups and straws so for now that works well!

Solids - This past month in particular she's been finicky about eating a type of food on a consistent basis. Some of it is her beginning to form opinions and express choices but I know part of it is also that she's been sick. She loves cheese! We usually have processed cheeses around for sandwiches and these are her favorites! I've started trying to offer her more nutritious cheese options (string cheese, real cheese from the deli etc) but she really prefers the junk out of the plastic package. She loves eating chicken noodle soup and ramen noodles (she obviously doesn't get the latter very often, just a bite or two of Mommy's). Beyond cheese and crackers, I can't think of any particular food developments since her 13 month update. She will still eat meat, but is very iffy about it. Last night was an epic melt down over whether or not I would put cut up hot dog in her mouth.

ZZzzzzZZZ Sleeping - Sleep has been going much better. She is sleeping through the night more consistently (hopefully this is a development with age and is permanent?!?) and usually sleeps a solid 12 hours. It is nice that she's flexible, I can handle routine and appreciate it but also am very grateful that she adjusts as we need her to. If we have a later night out and she doesn't get to bed until 9 or 9:30, it's no big deal. I just know that the next morning she will sleep until 9 or 9:30 and I can't have anything planned early morning. The same goes for earlier bed times and later bed times - if I give her 12 hours to sleep she's good to go!

The one area of sleep we've still got work to do in is her in her own bed. We had a set back with some plumbing issues at our house so we're at my Dad's again (should be fixed this week!). In bed with us is really the only option here. I'm working to remind myself that this is a season and this too shall pass. I know one day I'll look at my little girl and wish she wanted to crawl in bed with us.

One thing that is new & I want to always remember is how attached to her Daddy she is! She likes to lay where she can reach out and touch one of us to reassure her that we are there. If we move, she reaches and doesn't find one of us she will sit up and look for us and move to where we are in the bed. She did this with me for months but has really started doing it to John more. John isn't a cuddler when he is sleeping, he likes his space, so he'll run from her in his sleep. He'll move from sleeping at the head of the bed to being "backwards" with his head at the foot of the bed. Then after she finds him, relocates to riiiiggghhht next to him or on top of him they'll sleep a while. This little dance of him moving, her following goes on all night. I've been struggling with pregnancy insomnia so I've been awake to watch quite a bit of these maneuvers at night. I never want to forget how adorable they are sleeping side by side.

Right after she went down the slide on her own!

Our Little Socialite - This month in particular Cora has really developed in her play skills! She independently plays well in the morning and will occasionally ask to have a book read to her or a toy played with (she asks by bringing it to you & setting it in your lap). When we take her to the park she loves climbing up and down the stairs, walking all over the place (she is still very proud of her walking skills!). She's starting to try to run but usually topples over. Last night at the park playground she took the initiative to go down the big slide by herself! She was about to go head first but backed up, got on her tummy and went down feet first! I was "upstairs" with her, fortunately John was handy "downstairs" to catch her. She slid down several times after this, she's very proud of this discovery!

Likes-She loves her Doll that was a Christmas gift. This has by far become her favorite toy. It's beautiful that without any prompting or showing from us, she knows how to nurture and care for her "Dolly". She's going to be a great big sister! Her Dolly is also the only toy we can say "Where's Dolly?" and she will seek it out.

Dislikes -Getting dressed... or undressed for that matter. Blowing her nose (which is still a work in progress) or me wiping her face. Wearing socks or shoes, they are taken off the moment I put her in the carseat!

New - She has started regularly calling me "momma" which is nice because although she could say it, she usually just referred to me as "dada" too. :) She loves taking things out and putting things in the trash, we're all ready for this phase to be over! We've found cell phones, remote controls, food, all manner of things that shouldn't be in the trash there thanks to Miss Cora! She started walking without prompting from one of us back in mid December. I wish I could remember exactly when but it was very close to her 14 month mark. She was in Sunday School and as we picked her up I noticed that there was a little boy about her age walking around her classroom. Seeing another child her age and size be able to walk was the trigger! That afternoon she started walking on her own!
In December right before Christmas we had to put our Boxer, Clyde, down. She had learned to say "Dog" and the week he passed away she started saying "Cwyde" in the mornings as he'd wander out of his bed and ask to be put outside. She loved her "Cwyde" very much. I never want to forget all their cuddles and how good he was with her!

Fun things we did since 13 month update - 
~Early Thanksgiving celebration with John's grandparents in Austin
~Seeing Josh off at the airport for his two years of service in Okinawa, Japan
~Thanksgiving with my Dad's family
~Meeting Santa Clause
~Helping move her Grandma and Chipaw
~Joining Mommy & Daddy at the Doctor to see the new baby!
~Christmas & announcing the pregnancy to family with her fancy new Big Sister shirt! 
~Uncle Jacob & Aunt Stephanie's Wedding!
~A visit from her Great Grandparents
~ Mommy's Birthday (that we all spent laying in bed sick...)













On the 20th we went to the Midwife for another check up on baby 2.0 and Cora went along too (John was there to help corral her). She was being fidgety and a little noisy the whole visit up until my Midwife had the heartbeat on the Doppler. Cora was so quiet and interested in listening to her baby brother or sisters heart beat. It was the sweetest thing! She just sat in Johns arms with her mouth open slightly looking very interested in what was going on! 

Goings on with Mommy & Daddy - Working on the house, being sick for a couple of weeks in a row, recovering from the holidays. Mommy has been struggling with normal first trimester stuff plus a bought with the blues so we're looking forward to getting past all of that and to a fun and exciting end of winter & spring!

Looking Back: Expectations vs Reality of Natural Birth in a Hospital

Looking back at my Natural Birth and Birth Plan, I'm very happy over all with everything and the outcome. When Susan, our Doula, met with me at 2 weeks postpartum she asked if I'd do a natural birth again? Without hesitation I replied "yes!".

Honestly, the day Baby Girl was born I was ready to do it again! Not in that moment, mind you. I was certainly still recovering but the effort was absolutely worth it and having a sweet baby in your arms at the end is the best prize in the world!  (Fair warning - if you're squeemish, this post probably isn't for you.)

Several things about the whole process of birth surprised me. In all honesty I was pretty delusional about what I would be like and what I would want in my labor/birth. Some of the things I packed for my Labor & Delivery bag for the hospital not only went unused, they were downright ridiculous when it came down to it. If I hadn't started the process at 4 cm dilated and had spent those first hours laboring 1-4 cm they may have been useful then, but by the time you're making it to 5-7 cm things like a head massager, gum, sleep eye mask, neck pillow, music & headphones to name a few were totally useless. I was glad however that I had packed multiple bags, I had a bag for L&D, a bag for postpartum that included clothes for John and a separate bag for Cora's things. This cut down on how much junk had to be drug into the hospital in the middle of labor and how much unnecessary stuff had to be in the postpartum hospital room.

I always imagined that we'd have these cute snap shots of us parking and walking into the hospital to deliver our daughter... umm no. The idea of stopping to take a picture on our way in the door of the hospital was idiotic (mind you I was at 7 cm)! My goal was to not have a contraction between the door of the van & making it to L&D. Surprisingly enough I made it! After my last contraction in the parking lot my next one was in front of the nurses asking idiotic questions at the L&D desk.

Speaking of idiotic questions, I have no clue why I had to fill out so much paperwork in pre-registration for the hospital because they ask SO many redundant questions that they should have on file. Annoying yes, but when they're asking questions and looking at you for responses when all your thought process can contain is how to breathe through the contraction and embrace the intensity it officially becomes idiotic! I highly recommend you have your husband in the room for these idiotic questions, despite all the paperwork I filled out they had me down as being RH negative (I'm not, they had the wrong blood type on file!). In the middle of contractions I was trying to tell them that yes I am "positive that my blood type is AB+", I even had John dig my Red Cross blood donation card out of my wallet and show it to them with my blood type. That was the only big mistake in all of that, everything else was small - they thought John's name was Mark or some other wrong name and their file showed that this was my 2nd child.

I'm such a vocal person. Sitting in a room and to not participate in an ongoing conversation is just not me at all. When I was in labor, I would hear the whispers between Susan and John or one of them and my nurse, Jessica. Several times I had some quip or comment that was just ready to come bubbling out of my mouth but each and every time I did speak it took such effort to leave my "quiet place" inside my mind I found myself resisting the instinct to speak more often than not. I was amazed at how unimportant the things outside my quiet place became to me. I was able to let go and simply exist from contraction to contraction. 

When we watched videos of labors I was mortified by the groans & moans I was hearing. I could not imagine sitting there and listening to myself moan through contractions for hours upon hours. I created this fantastic playlist with songs I knew well, uplifting Spiritual songs that I grew up with. I imagined myself thinking through the lyrics so I wouldn't focus on hearing myself moan. Reality - moaning wasn't really a reaction to pain, it was a way to work through the contraction. To emotionally work with my body as it labored. When I was in labor the quiet allowed me to completely concentrate on what was going on and to rest between contractions. Susan suggested music, remembering that I had expressed this concern in one of our prenatal visits, I declined the offer and recessed back into my own little quiet world.

I'm usually a pretty modest person. Everyone told me that by the time I'm about to deliver that I wouldn't care about my modesty anymore. I didn't really believe them and the very small part of me that really considered what they were saying to be true thought that while I may not care about my dignity and modesty at that moment, I would regret it later on and wish I had insisted on it in labor. I was wrong about this too.
I have a story about that...

When I was 34 weeks pregnant I made a trip to L&D for what I thought was preterm labor with Braxton Hicks and broken waters. Turns out I just peed my pants... but I was horribly mortified at the lack of modesty forced on me by the on call doctor which shaped most of my expectations for labor. Making a long story short, nurse came in told me I was good to get dressed again. I changed clothes back into my jeans, OB on call comes in and wants to do a cervical exam just to be sure no dilation etc, I pull my pants off under the covers on the bed assuming she'll just pull them up creating a little tent of sorts protecting my modesty (I mean after all, I went to all that effort to take my pants off under the covers!). Nope, OB yanks the covers off, I'm sitting there stark naked from the waist down with a nurse, head nurse, a random someone I have no clue who she was that wandered into my room during this experience and a sono tech all watching and chatting away during my exam. I was really ticked off and marched myself into my Midwifes office at my next appointment insisting that I would wear my own clothes to labor/deliver & that was that. So now that you have some back story, back to what reality looked like in L&D...

When I arrived at the hospital in labor & the nurse (who hadn't yet read my birth plan) asked me to change into the hospital gown, I considered refusing but then the idea of possibly having to change later (when I was about to push per hospital policy) was so daunting I just agreed. Sure enough, hospital gowns are awful for modesty. My tooshy was showing to the entire world and I couldn't give a darn! My sweet nurse tried to keep it covered for me, but generally (in my mind, never verbalized) I'd rather her leave my toosh exposed because she was distracting me as she'd cover it. I delivered with my toosh hanging out facing the direction of the oh, roughly 20 people that flooded my room to watch "the lady that's doing it without meds" and nursery staff and I just didn't give a darn (and still don't today). In fact, my modesty was gone through that whole hospital stay, I am woefully lacking in pictures that I'm comfortable publishing here on the blog from the hospital stay because in most of them I'm topless! I couldn't figure out how to move my shirt out of the way to breastfeed and I had all these nurses and LC's helping, so shirtless was just easiest when it came time to feed.

Poop. It seems like every pregnant momma worries about pooping in delivery. While pregnant I really didn't give it much thought. On the occasion that it came up I just figured there's nothing you can do about it so why worry, I'd just deal with it if it happened. Well it did! In my quiet mental place I slightly cared, but not all that much. It started as I squatted bedside working to shift Cora's head to fix a lip of cervix that hadn't moved out of the way after they broke my waters. I used the energy to mention that "I feel like I'm going to poop", my nurse was very sweet about it and said that it's baby's head moving down that I was feeling but didn't confirm that yes indeed I was pooping on the floor. From John's account by the time I said this, I had already started (and pooped on his foot as he squatted behind me) and not two minutes later her head crowned & I experienced the ring of fire (about the only time I screamed out in labor, not as much from pain {though it burned like a not-so-nice word!} but from surprise!). (Details of that whole episode are in my Birth Story Part 3) If you're worried about this too, check out this article! They discuss how poop is normal & a good sign in labor - it's item #1 on the list!

Being a first time parent is like walking off a ledge into a pit of darkness... Okay so that's probably a bit dramatic, but you really don't know what to expect. Even though I'd planned out what I thought to be every single detail of my natural hospital birth and what I did and didn't want in newborn procedures etc, we were still completely blind-sided when Cora developed respiratory problems after birth. You never can be 100% prepared for everything. Now that I've done this once there are still things I'm unsure about for our second time around! For our second child we're planning to deliver at a Birth Center and I wonder how the different location will change my experiences in labor. Although we can't predict the future, I hope that this post will help you if you're planning an unmediated birth in a hospital! Please feel free to ask any questions!

The Cost of a Baby in our Experience: The little Things

When we were expecting Cora, there were so many things that were uncertain. I think that's the case for most new parents. Everything in your world is changing and you have no point of reference to compare it to. One of the things we spent lots of time discussing and thinking about was what will this baby cost us? 

Many things contribute to the cost of having a child, from insurance benefits to your particular tastes in baby gear and clothes. Everyone will have different experiences & find different price points depending on your situation & location. Even though I can't guarantee you'll spend xyz, I figure this sure beats those articles you see online that scare the bejeezers out of you suggesting that you could spend upwards of a bazillion dollars in the baby's first year of life. Here are our real life experiences in the cost of having a baby.

Right off the bat, You should know, this won't be what you spend if you want a lot of brand new items for baby. The way I see it is... the baby will use this stuff for less than a year. And in some cases, a month or less! WHY buy new things when there are gently used items that are in perfect shape for 70% off or more???  ( I will also note, that we did make some splurges that in all honesty are totally unnecessary or there was a cheaper way to get what we were buying at full price.)


The first thing we bought was prenatal books. We went to our local second hand book store and loaded up. In the end we compiled a library of 12 great books and the total cost was roughly $60.00 In retrospect - this was a totally unnecessary expense that I wouldn't make again - there is just so much information out there on the internet that I ended up using more than my books. BUT, if you want the books, they're out there & you can find them a lot cheaper than we did!

    Anything & Everything -  I quickly learned about the wonderful world of Just Between Friends sales. If you haven't been to a JBF sale before and you want to have a baby on a budget... GO! Well worth your time and money!! (check it out if you have older children too! They really do have anything & Everything!)

At the first JBF sale I went to, I picked up several items totaling out at $71.00!! (Portable changing table with cover that will fold, Boppy pillow with cover, a baby carrier, a couple of toys, drawer & cabinet latches, space saving high chair, blankets, piddle pad, spoons and other baby kitchen supplies, a few basic onsies in gender neutral colors, passy holder, diaper bag, & a bath ducky that checks water temperature). When I got home, I did a few Google searches and found some of the bigger items I'd purchased - we had saved over $113.54!! And all of this stuff were things I would be buying at some point anyway!!

Before baby girl came we went to two more Just Between Friends sales (in neighboring towns) - for both of those sales, we spent a total of $50.00! (items included Boppy infant positioner with cover, kitchen items for feeding toddlers, table bumpers & child safety items for around the house, various clothing items, a diaper bag - new with tags on it, two more child carriers, Johnny Jump Up & a couple of stuffed animals.) I didn't do the comparison against what it would have been new this shopping trip, but that comes out to roughly $3.50 each if you break it down per item - obviously some were more than others, but killer deals all the same!


Clothes, clothes & more clothes - I know I will sound like a broken record here, but I can't preach it enough! It is so handy knowing people with kiddos, really it is a blessing! We got tons of hand-me-downs!! What we couldn't use (wrong season, etc.) we passed on to others. Cost? Free! If you don't have access to someone for hand-me-downs you should seriously visit your local consignment stores (ie Kid to Kid, Once Upon a Child etc). They always have great deals, but around here they often run deals - as in every single holiday, no matter how insignificant. Even 15% off of already deeply reduced prices makes for an amazing deal!
We bought some clothes for Baby Girl, because how could we resist?!? Other than her Texas Tech gear (which I'm so ashamed at how much we spent, I won't even tell you here - feel free to ask if you're really curious!) everything we personally bought was from second hand stores and a couple of garage sales some friends of friends were having. I didn't do an excellent job of keeping up with those receipts, but looking back at budgets it looks like we spent about $60.00 (keep in mind, that bought us roughly 20 - 30 outfits, coming out to about $2 and $3 each!!).
As time has passed and we've needed to expand Cora's wardrobe with the seasons, I've learned that while these resale shops can offer great deals, I still greatly prefer consignment sales like Just Between Friends! Towards the end of their sale days, they run 1/2 off days on most of their items. This is when we stock up on clothes! We will pop into the sale early on, pick up whatever big baby gear and items we need that will likely be gone by the end of the sale. If I'm looking for a particular item of clothing for her, I'll quickly look through the clothing sections (which are very big!) but we save most of our clothes shopping for half off days!

 Diaper pails! We decided to go with the Diaper Champ rather than the Diaper Genie. Reason? You can use regular trash-bags in the Diaper Champ - the Diaper Genie requires special bags, an added expense once baby comes. They retail for about $30, we bought ours for $10.75 in perfect condition from a local resale shop! {And if I'm being 100% honest, we bought another one for $10 at a garage sale to keep over at my Dad's house, obviously not an essential expense, but my point is - this was not a one time, can't ever find that great of a deal experience!} To save even more? A trashcan with a lid would work just fine! Really the key here with any system is to just take out the trash often!

Cora on the knock off Boppy.

Nursing Pillow - I had gotten a Boppy with a cover at a JBF sale ($10-$15 range), but I knew that I'd like another one to have in our bedroom (and my friend swears it is really handy in postpartum recovery to sit on!). If you're pregnant, I'm sure you get the promotional emails for free Nursing Covers, Nursing Pillows, Carseat Covers etc., you just pay shipping! It is a great deal, but just be warned... their Nursing Pillow is not exactly like a Boppy! It's smaller and not as wide and it's cover doesn't come off to wash. If you have larger hips, like me, then it is a tight fit to use it as it is intended. Was it worth $12.90 (the cost of shipping and handling) to get a nursing pillow? Yes! Just be aware it isn't identical to the Boppy.

Bottles - We picked up a gallon zip lock bag full of the bottles we chose (Platex Drop in System) at a consignment sale much like Just Between Friends for $5.00! There were 10 bottles in the bag, bringing the cost down to $.50 a bottle! We also got some drop in liners in a brand-new, unopened box for $1.00. This only left us needing to buy new nipples for these bottles (they had them at the sale, I would just prefer to buy this item new).

The total we spent on the items besides furniture, pack and plays etc for our first child; Roughly $300.00. Now that we're expecting baby #2, most of those items won't need to be purchased again. We're anticipating that our largest expense for this child (outside the cost of prenatal and birth...) will be clothes!

In the end, I can admit that I'm afraid to think of what the cost of some "smaller" items would have added up to without the generous gifts of friends and family. Crib sheets, blankets, Dreft detergent, bottle sterilizers, Bumpo seat & tray, nursing covers, carseat covers, diapers, wipes, bibs, shoes, clothing accessories, toys, burp rags - all of these are things we didn't have to buy but all of these things are items I see at JBF sales & resale shops all. the. time. My point? Don't buy new until you have to!! 

I have done my best to include all the items I can think of in this category - if you have a question, please feel free to ask! I would love to share any information we may have on finding these items at reasonable prices!

Count down to baby 1 {9 weeks}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2.

Date:

3/19/13 - I'm combining a couple of weeks here, I just haven't had the energy to keep up with it like I should.

Due Date:

It moved! We're now due 10/22/13

How far along?:

9 weeks!

Weight Gain:

I'm still down a few pounds. Not keeping food down isn't helping this.

My baby is the size of a:

Green Olive!

Maternity Clothes:

I wore my first maternity dress last week. Not because I needed to, but because I had thrown up on all my other clean clothes and I was desperate! 

Stretch Marks:

None. 

Belly Button In or Out:

In.

Wedding Ring on or off:

On & loose.

Symptoms:

Exhaustion and Nausea/Vomiting are my primary ones.

Cravings: 

Food is pretty revolting to me right now.

I'm really enjoying Clementines though!

Aversions:

Food, lunch meat stinks to me. My sense of smell is amazing, and it's incredible how much I think things stink!

Sleep:

Better than it was, but I'm quickly growing accustomed to the fact that it will never be the same.

I am loving:

Telling Our Family & Friends!

I miss:

Dr. Pepper!

I am looking forward to:

Our next appointment next week.

I'm freaking out about:

How much this baby is going to cost us.

Best moment this week:

It was 2 weeks ago, but our first sonogram!! We got to hear the baby's little heartbeat!

Worst moment this week:

All the vomit escapades! 

If driving and throwing up were an actual skill, I'd be a professional! 

Emotions:

Pretty stressed, we had several unexpected expenses pop up in addition to making pre payments on delivery etc. I'm worried about the fact that we still need to buy a car & a house not to mention the nursery...

Milestones:

The baby is now a fetus! We heard the heartbeat, so statistically our chance of miscarriage dropped dramatically! 

Movement:

None that I can feel but my baby can start moving this week!

It's a...:

Fetus!! We're moving up in the world!

Exercise:

Less than fabulous - I'm really lacking in the energy department!

Diet:

It's good when I can eat & keep it down.

Goals for the upcoming week:

Nothing really baby related, we've got some car repairs that need attention though! *eye roll*

Nursery:

We bought a bassinet! 

Count Down to baby 1 {Week 7}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2.

How far along?:

7 Weeks and 6 days

Weight Gain:

None.

My baby is the size of a:

Blueberry!

Maternity Clothes:

Not yet :)

Stretch Marks:

nada.

Belly Button In or Out:

In.

Wedding Ring on or off:

On.

Symptoms:

Right now the most prominent one is my Morning Sickness.
And whatever moron named it "morning" sickness needs to be kicked in the shin because it's more like "all day sickness".

Cravings: 

Food in general is disgusting to me right now.

Aversions:

Food.

Sleep:

eh, so so. I'm getting lots of it though. I'm sleepy all the time!

I am loving:

Having the secret.

I miss:

Not being sick all the time.

I am looking forward to:

Telling family & close friends.

I'm freaking out about:

Telling my bosses!

Best moment this week:

Going to the doctor.

Worst moment this week:

Nothing really comes to mind...

Emotions:

Pretty stable, I feel kind of overwhelmed by everything going on and all the changes coming.

Milestones:

First Midwife visit!

Movement:

none.

It's a...:

baby.

Exercise:

Some walking.

Diet:

Decent - for what I can keep down...

Goals for the upcoming week:

Make it through another week.

Nursery:

We're going to start looking for a crib soon!

Count Down to Baby 1 {week 6}

For posterity sake I wanted to post this. I wrote out many more bump updates than I actually published for Cora. Usually because I was too busy or tired to take pictures of my growing bump in the first trimester and I usually wouldn't post if I didn't have the picture. It's been fun for me to look back at these posts from my pregnancy with her verses baby #2. 

Date: 2/24/13

Due Date:  
Well we're still estimating because our midwife cancelled our appointment... grr.
So we guess 10/14/13

How far along?:

Roughly 6 weeks.

Weight Gain:

It's fluxuating but, overall, I'm down 1.8 lbs.

My baby is the size of a:

Sweet pea!!
And our sweet pea is beginning to develop facial features & it's blood is circulating!!

Maternity Clothes:

None - but my pants are quite uncomfortable.

Stretch Marks:

None yet - I'm holding John to that promise of rubbing coca butter!

Belly Button In or Out:

In.

Wedding Ring on or off:

On.

Symptoms:

I've got them all
The worst is the delightful cramps that like to sneak up from no where and leave me doubled over in pain. Try keeping a pregnancy secret when you're bent over moaning!

Cravings: 

Dr. Pepper - but since I can't have that I've been settling for (and greatly enjoying) Sonic Cherry Limades and Oceanwaters!

Aversions:

When offered food, I either love the idea of that food or absolutly hate it.
I've just been going with my gut on what to eat.

Sleep:

Horrible. And I feel awful for saying that because I know it's going to get worse.
I am exhausted but just can't get comfortable enough to sleep.

I am loving:

That it's all still a secret! I'm not ready for it to be out of our little bubble.

I miss:

Just about everything I can't have!
Ice Cold Dr. Pepper, sleeping under a heated blanket, and for some reason I really want a Monster!

I am looking forward to:

The re-scheduled dr appointment

I'm freaking out about:

The dr. appointment - not a fan of going to the doctor.
And I'm not really fond of the idea of breaking the news to anyone, particularly the grandparents and my bosses.

Best moment this week:

Running a budget and figuring out that we can (kind of) afford this little Sweet Pea!

Worst moment this week:

The dr's visit being cancelled last minute.

Emotions:

So-So. They're hit or miss. I had a complete meltdown Friday night but for the most part I'm pretty okay. I think my grumpy times are closer related to being tired all the time than my hormones.

Milestones:

Another week passed!!

Movement:

None.

It's a...:

Baby!

Exercise:

Not so hot this week - I've got to get better about this!

Diet:

Pretty good. Though I'm hungry all the time!

Goals for the upcoming week:

See the dang doctor!

Nursery:

Not worried about that yet.

Coralie's Christmas List

Last Christmas I really struggled with what to get Cora for Christmas because she was only 2 months old. I couldn't imagine getting her nothing, because it was her first Christmas but everything that Mommy & Daddy got her were essentials. 

This Christmas I'm so excited to shop for my girl, she's old enough to (sort of) open the gifts herself and participate in the holiday fun! We follow a modified version of Want, Need, Wear, Read. We add in Stocking because of course Santa will bring her wonderful stocking stuffers. Santa, we choose to do Santa with our family so he will bring her something fun! Pajamas, a family tradition from when I was growing up that we want to continue is that on Christmas Eve after Chruch and Dinner you get to open a gift and it will have cute winter/holiday pajamas that you wear that night. Homemade - this one is hit or miss. If during the year I have pulled myself together to make everyone a handmade something then great, they'll get a handmade gift, but I don't put too much pressure on myself for this one.

Without further ado,Coralie's Christmas List - 

Want - 

I have several things on this list so that when family asks for inspiration, I have ideas ready to go.

1/2/3/4

1. Cell Phone! Hopefully Coralie having her own will keep her paws off mine and Johns! :) 

2. Foam Floor Mats - She isn't quite old enough to use these yet, but I thought it would be nice to have them for when she is ready. It would also be a nice soft place for her to play in her play corner.

3. Trampoline - we've gone back and forth on this one. I'm nervous about her getting hurt but she loves jumping! She's about to outgrow her jumparoo so we thought this would be a nice transitional toy. I like that it's small enough it can be inside when it's cold or outdoors for nice weather!

4. Mega Blocks! She enjoys playing with her traditional blocks but also likes putting things together and taking them apart. I like the classic colors so they aren't so girly if she has a brother one day down the road. 

Need - 

Of course all of her needs are fully met, so this is more of a Mommy & Daddy want list right now - the Ergo! We borrowed a friends for the State Fair and loved it! John felt much more comfortable wearing her in it than in a wrap. I love that you can back wear with it (I don't feel comfortable back wrapping yet) and she's about to out-grow the Moby Wrap.

We purchased one from a friend, but it's this style

Source

 

 

Wear - 

I saw this one day when I was buying wipes at Walmart. We usually don't buy any new clothing for Cora, she just can't get enough wear out of it to justify the price difference but this is just so cute and it's Christmas so we made an exception!

Source

Read/Homemade - 

I don't have any pictures here - we have picked up a few fun board books for her recently. I also picked up the pannels of fabric at Hobby Lobby recently to make her a cloth Christmas book. I haven't made it yet, and it's not looking promising so that may get packed away to make next year. 

Santa 

Santa Clause will be bringing little Miss a baby doll this year! We had a playdate at a friends house and she loved playing with the dolly. She picked it up and held it like a baby and patted it on the back. I knew then that she'd be getting a doll for Christmas. 

I like this particular doll because it's designed to go in the bathtub with her. I figure if it's okay for a bath, then it will be more durable and stand up to the gross that it will be exposed to by a toddler!

Source

Stocking

 I want to stay away from sugary foods, so we will keep with my Mom's tradition of fruit and nuts in the stocking along with a few fun toys. This year I want to start collecting some movies for Cora and I couldn't think of a cuter movie than Frozen. She doesn't sit and watch TV yet, but she will before too very long. I thought the bathtub crayons would be a new fun thing for her since she just recently starting "coloring".

1/2

What are you all getting for the children in your family?