No More Stump

If there is one thing I (wes) don't like about newborns is the stump. It's just nasty. So now it's gone and my Amelia looks normal....for a Gerbick anyway...

Amelia Anne Video

here is a little snippet of the gerbick life during the past 5 days:

and here's the story how we ended up with little amelia a few weeks early:

i went for my regular 37 week appointment with the midwife & thankfully remembered to mention that i seemed to be a bit more 'leaky' but i thought it was just the mucous plug slowly letting go. the midwife also thought that's what it was, but just to be sure, she gave me the good 'ole cough test...within 5 seconds, she looked at the test results on the q-tip looking thing & said "oh, well, not what i expected, but you will probably be going to the hospital today!" then she looked at wes & i with our panicked faces (he had arrived at the appointment late, but he made it just in time for the shock) & patted my leg & said calmly "okay, breath, this is okay, breath..." we were shocked! the nursery wasn't finished! we didn't have any baby booties! our bags weren't fully packed! i was totally floored but after i started breathing again, i was ready. wes, on the other hand, was still a bit shaky (he doesn't handle surprises well, which is understandable).

apparently, 5 days earlier, my water had ruptured at the top of the uterus, so i didn't get the normal gush of fluid...more of a barely noticeable slow leak. according to the midwife, not a good thing to let go for too long! i was also 3 1/2 cm dilated & 80% effaced (i think that's the right word), so they also considered me in labor. i guess those strong contractions i was feeling at night were not 'nothing' as i thought...

i went home to finish packing, wes went back to work to wrap things up there & we met at home with the troops: my brother in law, cal, swiftly arrived to entertain addy, my sister arrived to help out with packing & join us at the hospital, & my friend christine was already here watching addy while i was at the appointment, so she also helped to pack. when wes returned from work, he was ready to get this baby out of me & was full of jokes & helped me calm down. we ordered pizza, my last food for however long (hospital policy), packed the car, & set off for the long trek one mile down the road to the hospital...of course, it was during rush hour, so it took about 15 minutes. crazy columbus traffic.

did we mention that the baby doctors didn't have a midwife on call on tuesdays?! (yes, this was monday, but they count tuesday starting at 6 p.m. on monday night) so i was without the midwife, left to the care of the nurses & would deliver with a doctor from the practice who i may have never met...which i was okay with, but very still a bit peeved about it all! i mean, why say you offer midwifery services, but only if you don't deliver on a tuesday?!

after checking in & getting set up in the labor & delivery room it was about 6:30...i started walking around in the lovely hospital gown, setting the time record for 'the lap' around the maternity ward. i was barely having contractions & could hardly tell when contracting...not good. after several nurse changes, one of which attempted to talk me into an epidural (which really annoyed me), we finally hooked up with one who understood the situation: hypnobirthing-no-pain-meds-slow-laboring-mama meets hospital setting that's used to pitocin, epidurals, & c-sections.

however, around 9:30, it was decided that i should be started on pitocin. i tried all the hypnobirthing relaxation techniques & natural contraction inducing methods & was still only at 4 cm. so pitocin was started, which made me strapped to the bed & the monitors...the thing i wanted to avoid the most. BUT, thankfully the relaxation techniques worked & i was calm & accepting of it. however, the pitocin wasn't helping; i still didn't know when i was contracting (i guess i have a high pain tolerance?) & i was only around 4 1/2 cm at 12:30 a.m. so the next step was rupturing the rest of the sac from the bottom...we had to wait for the floor doctor to get out of a c-section, which took about half an hour, then there was the GUSH of fluid. the nurse said "i'm getting all the delivery stuff ready b/c i think when you start, you're just going to GIDDY-UP!' (translation for all non-midwesterners: move fast).

things quickly picked up. within 30 minutes i had dilated to 6cm...THEN we didn't see a nurse for an hour & a half. 90 minutes! i was REALLY feeling these contractions & although calm & in my 'hypno-mode' & i was getting a bit worried about not seeing my nurse. so wes pressed the nurse call button 4 times, all of which resulted in no one showing up...my sister came in & said that she had also asked at the nurse's desk to send a nurse down (as it turns out, my nurse had been called into an emergency c-section & no one really knew who my nurse was at the time). we waited for a nurse & my contractions kept getting stronger & stronger... i asked for my sister to call my mom down to the room for she is a woman known to make grown men cry with just a single glare...something that was needed when dealing with this nurse's desk, apparently.

THEN, i started to feel the need to push. not just a 'hey, this might be a time to push' more of a 'HEY I NEED TO FREAKIN PUSH!' so wes rang the nurse call button again & said "my wife feels like she needs to push" ...within a few minutes a nurse came down, checked my cervix & flippantly said "you're only 7 cm" & started to walk out of the room, which totally sent me to the moon (read: very upset/angry). so then laboring heidi gets a bit pissed & i start asking questions about why do i feel the need to push, what can i do to help back labor pains, what can she recommend, etc...& she curtly responds "you tell me what's comfortable..." at any rate, "adrianne" got an earful from me after that. a few minutes later another nurse shows up, checks me & says i'm 8 cm. we tell her the last nurse just said i was 7, so she says "well then you must be a 7" ... i explain to her that i feel the need to push & that with my first delivery, i didn't dilate or efface fully & that i was having pretty severe back labor. then i had a contraction & i don't remember what happened, she just sort of left the room.

i know this is a long post... i think i am just REALLY missing that birthing center in nampa, idaho.

within a few minutes, another nurse walks in...Amy. she sort of exuded calm & somehow she caught up on the story of things, checked my cervix & told the other nurse who had just said i was probably a 7 "we need to call the doctor now." she looked like an angel... then she gave me breathing tips for back labor, which helped significantly. (now i realize that the breathing was similar to the breathing when you need to stop pushing...that may make sense to laboring moms...you know when they tell you to stop pushing to suck out the nose, etc or turn the head? that was it). soon the doctor arrived & i didn't have my glasses on, so she just sort of looked like a blur of heavenlyness. amy looked at me & said "now you can start pushing" & with the next contraction, off i went...

the doctor stood near the door, observing my pushing abilities or something & started to walk out after a few seconds. then amy, who was bedside, loudly said 'you need to get your gloves on' & the doctor quickly came back into the room. i gave the 'ole heave-how again (this was a very long contraction, mind you) & everyone's faces looked totally shocked. this is when i loudly said the quote of the whole entire event: "AM I TAKING A BIG CRAP OR AM I PUSHING OUT A BABY??!" b/c it REALLY felt like i was taking a crap (back labor really sucks) b/c the pressure was all in my butt. WEIRD. (i'm sure some of you don't care to know all of this, but you may stop reading at any time ;o) then everyone sort of responds at the same time: "you're pushing out the baby!" these contractions were extremely long at this point, so i took another deep breath, pushed again, & apparently the doctor sort of pushed the head back in a bit & the contraction ended. suddenly things were pushed around, pads put under me, newborn equiptment adjusted & turned on, then quickly the next contraction came...one push & the head **& one hand** popped out with the cord wrapped around both...the doctor turned the head around (she was head down instead of head up; hence the back labor) & unwrapped the cord, told me to push again & out came little amelia. beautiful.

in the hypnobirthing book, the author talks about how sometimes the nursing staff don't really believe that HB women are as far along as they truly are & how HB women are sort of 'put off' my the staff b/c they don't think things could progress that quickly... i didn't think it would be me in that situation, but there i was! if nurse amy hadn't entered the picture i truly think that wes would've been catching amelia!

so that's the story. i find it exciting, of course. i also find it disappointing that the 'best maternity hospital' in the columbus area gave such precedence to c-sections that they basically ignored or dismissed a natural/vaginal delivery as they did... also note that tuesday night was called "baby boom" in that hospital, so they were also understaffed a bit...from midnight until when amelia arrived at 3:41 a.m., 10 babies had been delivered (2 apparently by c-section, which is, i guess, more important than vaginal deliveries?). obviously, i'm a bit fired up about the institutionalization of birthing here, with all the rules & assumptions already in place before i even entered the hospital...i'm sure i'll get over it eventually but for the time being, i'm allowing myself to be upset about it.

as for amelia...she is perfect & beautiful & so so tiny! we are really loving this little lady. she is very different from addy personality-wise, but their newborn pictures look nearly identical (just add two pounds to amelia to see the resemblance). she sleeps so much...we are used to the newborn who slept maybe 10 or 12 hours a day & now we have the other end. the kind that you have to wake up to feed & when she cries it's unusual & cute. (not that addy's cries weren't cute, they were just very frequent :o) we have many pictures to post, so be ready for them!

things are going well here, except for a severely engorged-breasted mama (maybe my body has a memory chip of how much milk a newborn needs from addy's first weeks & is now extremely OVER producing for amelia who so far eats much less). so i've been walking around for the past day with ice packs on my chest...good times! amelia will be taking her first walk with addy, daddy, & griswold later today & everyone is very excited about that.

addy LOVES amelia. she is delighted when she squeaks or peeks her toes, fingers, legs out. she loves to pet her head (full of hair!) & play with her toes. it's really beautiful to see the two together.

more later! gotta wake up a baby to nurse before i explode...

She's Here!

Heidi and Wes will be coming home with the newest addition to the Gerbick family on Wednesday afternoon. Amelia Anne Gerbick was born at 3:41 a.m. early Tuesday morning.

She weighed 6 lbs, 7 ounces and was 18 inches long. Amelia is perfect and healthy.

Mom Dad and Amelia are doing great. Addy came to visit today and she fell in love with her little sister.

Here are some pictures from our visit with Amelia...

Off to the hospital

In one hour....

a new low as parents

we have no pictures to go along with this post. it is sad & it will happen to every parent; at least that's what we are telling ourselves...

my mom (heidi's mom, aka: karen, gram-mum) stayed with us from wednesday night until tonight. it was SO WONDERFUL to have her here to help finish the nursery (hhmm, did i say help? i guess i mean, to DO it... thanks mom!) & also to provide addy with endless entertainment that moves faster than i do these days. (we hope to get pictures up tomorrow of the finished nursery...just a few more things to do).

SIDENOTE: my mom also let wes & i go off for a friday night on the town. we ate at mongolian BBQ & then i became very nauseous (i was attempted to kickstart serious labor w/ spicy food, not a good idea) & so we sat & watched the fountains at easton for awhile; then we went to see "vicki christina barcelona" which is a woody allen movie recommended by my sister...we found it very funny, especially since it was the first movie we'd seen in a theater in almost a year. anyway, my mom managed to clean our house (dusting & vacuuming!) while we were gone & apparently addy helped. amazing things. we walked into the house after the movie, both of us saying "why does it smell so...clean?!" it was nearly miraculous.

so addy has enjoyed this visit with grammum...she was taught how to 'let mama take a rest' by patting my leg & giving me this pitiful look of 'oh no, mama!,' how to wash walls & launder baby clothes without trying all of them on, & also how to eat non-stop...her favorite thing to do when grandparents visit. addy also picked up a cold virus along the way this week, so having a buffer for her grumpiness was very handy.

today my dad came to pick up my mom & help wes brew a 'fresh hop' batch of beer...they picked a terrible day, it was 91 degrees outside (wes brews in a turkey fryer outside to avoid being killed by me b/c the house smells--to me--like rotten trash, but really is just hops & such). anyway, i'm getting a bit off subject here, but it's past my usual bedtime, so please excuse the rambling.

after a dinner of sonic burgers & tots, we sadly told addy that "grammum & pop pop are going home now..." addy gave me a total look of understanding & without hesitation, she grabbed her milk sippy cup off the table & sort of stood there with a look of 'i'm ready to go!' then a light bulb must have gone off in her head & she went over to her heavy diaper bag & started dragging it over towards me, mumbling something along the way...most likely it included 'i'm ready to go with them, i have my diaper bag & sippy cup...all the important things are here...' she appeared very determined to go home with them & not to stay at home! it just broke our parental hearts & warmed the grandparents' hearts all at once.

i know things have been a little boring around here for her, but i had NO IDEA it was this bad! however, we quickly recovered our status once we promised to take her to the park after g-mum & poppop left...we know how to manipulate our child, have no worries of that one.

the daddy has a blog

everyone must add another blog to your list of reading material... http://gerbickengineered.blogspot.com/
that would be wes' blog about his adventures in life & home maintenance. he didn't want to continue to disrupt the flow of 'addy & griswold' information. really, i think he just wanted a blog where he could talk about nothing but brewing beer!

newsworthy!

this morning was the 36 (i'm 36 1/2 weeks) week appointment with the midwife. i have continued to have contractions these past two weeks, nothing major or painful, more uncomfortable. so when the nurse said that the midwife would want to check my cervix b/c of the contractions i was just thinking 'this is annoying b/c nothing will have changed & i will have an exam for no reason...' lo & behold... i am 1 cm dilated! YEA! i'm not sure if that means i will go earlier than the 39-40 week mark, but it does make the contractions a bit more enjoyable (b/c they are actually doing something productive). and then the midwife said that if i start to have contractions that i have their permission to encourage them along.

we are very excited that this is starting already. but i will not be fooled into thinking this means an early delivery, i'm just happy to know all is at least starting to progress.

now if we would just finish that nursery...wes' job in the nursery is complete (painting, chair rail, blinds, etc) so now it's all organizing & cleaning. my mom is coming this wednesday thru saturday to help me do that, thankfully. go contractions! (oops, go "surges" as they are called in hypnobirthing).

gobbling food

addy has never been one to go easy on food; she just loves to eat in general. the funny thing is what food she chooses to devour & what food she snubs...sweet treats are generally snubbed but offer her fruit & it's gone...if she wasn't the only one in the birthing center after her birth, i would seriously start to wonder if they somehow switched babies & there is a blonde, blue eyed toddler girl in boise who devours sweets, chocolate & ice cream like she will never get it again...

recently she has become a bit more picky, but usually letting her dip the questionable food in ketchup will solve that problem (judy, addy's 'fake mama' {b/c addy loves her that much} taught us this wonderful ketchup trick). so last night, we had t-bone steaks for dinner (& asparagus & asparagus risotto & ketchup). we really think addy ate more steak than wes or i. she would literally shovel it into her mouth with her hands, throw her head back, laughing & clapping, then chomp on the steak like a wild animal...& if her plate lacked steaks bits to eat, she would give us a very sour look & give her best attempt at saying 'more please NOW.'

here is a picture of addy after all the steak from everyone's plate was eaten...she finally decided to eat the rest of the meal. she kept pointing to the Grissel (sp?) like she even wanted to try eating that...we didn't let her get that desperate, though.

and then below we have some blueberry pancake lovin'...nearly as fast as the steak disappeared, so did these pancakes this morning. it was amazing to watch...she ate 4 large cakes, while wes & i only had 3 each & that filled us completely. she really enjoyed popping the blueberry & eating it, then eating the pancake, then smearing the blueberry juice all over her face & hair.

this is her big smile/laugh that she had while eating this morning.

these may not seem like such important events to blog about, but she was really so joyful while eating both meals & we just had so much fun watching her enjoy eating. what a kiddo.

What's Eating Your Pepper Plants?

All week we've been watching our pepper plants turn into snack food. What was odd is that it was the tops of the plants and they weren't knocked over. Well this morning I found out. Addy and I were at the computer and heard a rustle in the back. Low and behold this is what was making all the noise. Who said the suburbs weren't interesting....

maternity pictures, part 2

so these are a bit jumbled up (the order) but you get the gist...big belly w/ baby inside.
my last round of maternity pictures (with addy) were done at 6 1/2 months (b/c that's when i was visiting ohio & judy was able to do the pictures) so when i see these, the belly just looks huge in comparison. it's almost over, though. we are hoping to do another photo shoot to get a cute 'belly poking out of door' picture (you will understand once you see it). and we are still working on updating the nursery, but once we are finished, we will post pictures of that also.

proud parents

i just think this picture is funny b/c addy loves to push in my 'pregnancy outie' belly button. she soon thinks it's very silly & pulls my shirt back over the belly...this is a daily thing.

maternity pictures, part 1

taken by a wonderful friend & accomplished photographer, judy! (she is the author of "say what" blog)...these were just taken last night & already she has them trimmed up & ready to go. WOW. and she's 33 weeks pregnant. enough about judy's amazing energy levels... these are the newest & greatest. more to come (b/c i still can't figure out how to get picasa to let me upload more than 4 photos at a time...)
these are at 35 1/2 weeks (meaning that friday, i am 36 weeks! i can start trying to jump start the labor now...spicy foods, long walks, bumpy car rides, visualization...that's about all i'm up for at this point)

'i can't see my feet for sure now...'

addy the big sister. the only way we could get her to kiss the belly was to ask her to 'kiss mama's belly button!' sibling love...

'oh, baby, the troubles you've given me...'

& here i'm thinking 'i can't lift her up anymore!'

addy's (unknown) treasure

this morning as i was reading cnn news online, addy was racing her 'butterfly girl pink rider' up & down the length of the house & life was good. she was laughing & entertaining herself & i was catching up on the news without toddler interruptions. suddenly she stopped & tilted the bike over & appeared to be looking into the storage under the seat. i didn't really pay attention b/c i didn't really imagine that anything exceptional could be in there (except for some missing socks & week old sippy cups). then i saw brown pieces of something flying threw the air & addy laughing delightfully. i look over to see mulch & small twigs & dead leaves dumped onto the carpet...and addy was so very pleased with herself. the funny thing is that this isn't our mulch...

then i put it all together.

friday night, our friend's 6 year old son, owen, had a birthday party & we had been invited. so we decided to take a toddler toy for addy to play with outside (she has a special knack for annoying owen lately & we wanted him to be as happy as possible at his birthday party. we hoped bringing addy's own toy would decrease her need to follow him around, throwing his toys & sticking them in her mouth, etc). addy somehow got out of the sight of all adults present (maybe a dozen?) & filled her little bike/rider seat storage with mulch from our friend's gardens... then she may have forgotten all about it since we were gone for the weekend. i'm sure at one point in the morning, as she was pushing her bike around the house, she remembered the mulch & thought of the perfect time to dispose of her treasure.

at first, i was stunned b/c mulch just doesn't show up on my carpet or get tossed around inside the house. addy must have read my mind b/c she stopped her celebrating & very quickly started putting it all back into the seat storage. but...i couldn't help but laugh. what a sneaky little lady to get it in there...& then her joy of finding it again. it was just very cute & hilarious. i have yet to vacuum it up, almost 7 hours later, & it does bring a smile to my face when i walk over it...i'm sure i'll get to it sometime today.

the partially picked up mulch on the carpet

inside of the seat: mulch treasure

weekend w/ gerwigs

our weekend!
sunday...(i'm going backwards, i guess)
every year my grandpa & grandma gerwig host a 'fish fry' & sunday happened to be the day this year... you guessed the gist of it: eating fish & sweet corn from my grandpa's fields (he is a 'snowbird' farmer) & thankfully they take pity on me & serve some chicken for the single anti-fish eating person of the entire family (me!). sometimes the fish are from the gerwig men's cananda fishing expedition (they are known to weigh down the plane they fly in on with more beer than fishing & camping supplies, however!), other times the fish are more local (like my grandpa's pond or maybe lake erie). as some may know, i'm not too keen on fish or fishing, but wes loves fish & apparently addy does also. generally, the guys in my family enjoy fishing...but i guess my grandpa decided since he didn't have many great-grandsons, that he would teach the love of fishing to his great-granddaughters...with a small fishing rod in hand, he showed addy how to hold it (with the help of mama & daddy) & addy fished for the first time. amazingly, she was good luck! every fishing pole she held onto caught fish! she helped catch maybe 6 fish total & she even touched the fish! she pointed to the eye & said 'eye' & squealed & then proceeded to sort of pet the fish. i don't think she enjoyed the worms too much (but who does?).


addy & wes caught a (small) fish!

will they get another one?

addy fishing with her great-grandpa

saturday
my immediate family decided after we moved back from idaho that we would have a 'family dinner' every month, just to make sure that we see each other on a regular basis...but really, it's so gram-mum & pop-pop (heidi's parents) & the aunts & uncles can see the kiddos (3 girls so far). somehow july was missed, so we had a weekend shin-dig (par-tay!) instead for august. each family takes a turn hosting & making the meal...this time it was my parent's turn. my dad loves to cook & bake & grill & eat, as most of his kids do also (on a sidenote & so i don't get in trouble: my mom also is a very good cook, but she is currently taking a slight vacation from her 20 years as the main cook for the fam). the menu is usually very thought out & the recipes mostly come from 'gourmet' magazine & such tv shows.
last weekend's dinner menu: fresh garden tomato antipasti platter for appetizer...chilled corn soup & chilled tomato bisque to perk up the stomach...pressed chicken w/ yellow squash & tomatoes...grilled hot dogs w/ chicago style toppings...a summer squash, feta, & corn baked dish (my mom is very good at thinking up recipes like this)...& sweet corn...dessert: chocolate dulce de leche bars. drinks included margarita's & pina coladas (not from a mix) & beer (some wes' brew). as you can see, my family loves to cook & eat! i had to go through the entire menu b/c my dad just gets very into planning family meals out, so this is just a post to thank him for the very tasty foods.
my squished stomach couldn't eat much more at this point

addy & the twins (chloe & zoe)
they really enjoyed playing with each other. addy helped them grab food, they shared sippy cups...it was all good. the twins are 14 months old (i am TELLING you, gerwig babies are just big & adorable!) & are babbling away. addy really likes to play with their hair & point out their body parts...eyes, belly buttons, toes, etc. the twins seem a bit in awe of addy at times, closely watching her walk (they are very close to walking!) & especially enjoying it when she feeds them parts of her snack...(which choked poor zoe at one point this weekend).

i think this is zoe pushing chloe?? i have a very hard time telling them apart!

No More Tests!

It only took 16 weeks but the great State of California finally decided to publish results for the spring examination and I passed. I am quite happy with my accomplishment although it only required getting 183 out of 300 points (61%) on the other hand only 37% passed so go figure. As Heidi put it....'how does a profession survive with stats like that'....I wish I knew!

a few stories & pictures to share

addy kissing the baby belly @ 35 weeks

the baby belly in all its glory, 35 weeks

so we are at 35 weeks now. it seems like not too long ago i was saying that we could finally do a countdown to L-Day (labor/delivery day) on two hands & now we are down to one hand! (social workers aren't known for math skills, i have learned to count with my fingers & it works well, a very good visual). this is the dress i have been wearing almost every day during this humidity spell here in o-hi-o. addy enjoys using the dress for play; it's a tent, a hiding place, something to try to hang on...so it works well for both of us. from what i know, wes has no opinion about it, other than it lessens my complaints about how hot i am, so it's good for him, too, i guess.

our pizza creation: almost all homemade (no, we are not amish)

on this pizza: basil from our herb garden, roma tomatoes on top from our garden, the sauce is made of a few beefmaster tomatoes from our garden w/ shallots also from our garden. the fresh mozzarella cheese we made last sunday (or saturday?) from milk from our cow...no, just kidding, the milk was from the farmer's market. but we made the cheese! pretty cool, we think. using the kit wes gave me for my b-day, it was really pretty simple (http://www.cheesemaking.com for those interested...i don't know why it won't let me link it, you'll have to copy & paste i guess). i didn't get around to making pizza dough yesterday, however, so the dough was purchased. ah well, we can't be too home-makey.

addy's 'junior' chair...she is such a big girl!

addy has been throwing the most delightful tantrums during meals b/c she no longer wants to sit in her highchair. as a saying goes 'what hill do you want to die on...' or something like that, we chose not to make sitting in a highchair the hill we want to die on with addy at this point. in fact, it may help b/c J2 will need the highchair in 6 months or so & this eases the transition even more smoothly. so we went out on a little date wednesday night (thanks kristi!) & bought a junior chair for addy. she has already learned to crawl up on it & seems VERY proud of herself to be sitting at the mama & daddy table. she is also proud of herself to be eating adult cereal now also! for those who don't quite know what a junior chair is, it's just a combination of a high chair & an adult table chair (up higher, has a footstool, has arms to hold her in & sits right under the table). it's very wonderful thing. then we went & got ice cream & watched everyone else manage their kids while we sat & ate in quiet!

addy the hipster in mama's hat

addy trying on mama's hat, it was just a cute picture

and, final story. addy has really taken to imitating me at times & trying to do & have things that i do or wear. she absolutely loves it when i wear a hat, so when she spotted this on the stairs to be taken back to my room (i wore it on date night due to a very bad hair day), she quickly snagged it & hid it under her slide, where she found it again the next morning (thursday) & then proceeded to put it on & walk around the house talking/babbling. i'm assuming she was trying to say what i say or something, or maybe she was making fun of me, even, who knows. but i almost always have both shoes on.

those are some recent stories to share. the past few days have been very emotional for me for some reason...i blame it on the hormones. hopefully things will level out soon & i will be back to my normal moderately grumpy pregnant self for the duration of the j2 pregnancy.

addy, 1 year ago OR rough day, must remember

today was a very rough day for the mama of this house. the emotional & hormonal roller coaster that is pregnancy struck me hard! addy & i both ended up crying throughout most of the morning, sort of feeding off of each other in certain ways. of course, i feel so guilty that i spent the morning crying, which made addy feel sad that she would then cry. then i would gain control of the waterworks & addy would be fine for a short while, then she would throw another stupendous tantrum for 10 minutes or more & i would again feel like a terrible mama & would cry again...it was pretty miserable around here!

thankfully, wes came home for lunch & gave me a pep talk & helped addy get some energy out (i tried to play outside with her this morning; after being outside only 5 minutes i was sweating so bad i had to change clothes & was getting a little lightheaded...i decided we needed to stay inside until the humidity lowers & my patience is a bit higher). then he put her down for an early nap, which she welcomed b/c she was exhausted (crying does that to a lady!).

while she was napping in the afternoon i was looking at pictures from a year ago. it is so amazing to me how much she has changed. then there are the pictures that have her current 'look'--a bit mischievous & sweet all at once. i know a year from now i'll look at pictures & probably laugh at the rough days & thank my lucky stars that i'm not pregnant (at least i better not be pregnant a year from now!!!). and it all starts again with j2... so here's some pics of addy in late july, early august 2007. there are some pics of wes & i also. it is also nice to look at pics of me almost a year after being pregnant with addy; they give me hope that i can lose this weight again!

ALSO: if another blogger could please tell me how to get the text above the pictures, i would greatly appreciate that! i am just not so computer savvy, but i know i'm not computer dumb...

J2!

today was the 34 week appointment. we're almost to the end, but it still seems so far away! UGH. but i just thought i could give all my blogger friends an update of the state of the uterus (i just crack myself up!!).

i have done my job the past few weeks at putting away fat stores for j2's future meals. the midwife asked today if i was worried about my weight gain (30 pounds) & i just sort of laughed & said 'no, that at first i was worried i wasn't gaining enough...addy made me put on nearly 50!'

j2's heart rate is 150 beats/minute; i forget if that means boy or girl (i think girl, according to the 'old wive's tales'). j2 is also head down now! in prime position for leaving it's cozy home. and the baby belly is measuring 34 cm, which means it's at the correct length & weight & all that great stuff.

the past 5 or 6 days i have been having some intense (at times) braxton-hicks contractions. the worst was last wednesday when my sister & i were waiting at the cheesecake factory for 70 minutes to be seated (it was their cheesecake sale day, we HAD to eat there) & that's when it all started...contractions every few minutes, but not consistent, then the back pain came, then the pelvic floor felt a bit pushed on... apparently, i should have gone to the hospital or at least called the midwives for a consultation. but i wanted some cheesecake! so i decided to wait it out. when i got home, i did some relaxing techniques & timed the contractions & they were all over the place, so i just thought it was okay. i mean, if i was going to go into labor, i would know within a few hours, so i just thought i might as well sleep while i could. the midwife didn't really like my explanation, however... ah well. so now i have some rules to go by according to the midwives at this practice. (i am just crossing my fingers hoping this means i may just have a baby earlier than 40 weeks!). no worries, i am not dilating & j2 is still snug in the cocoon.

addy likes to give j2 a 'good morning' kiss sometime in the morning & she also likes to pat the belly throughout the day. a few times when i've been talking to her about being a big sister & how we will have a baby in the house soon, she really seems to get it...she will look for confused or thoughtful for a moment & her eyes will get bigger. that's about as far as it goes with her though. she does enjoy changing her doll's clothes, diapers, & pretend feeding it. i think she will really enjoy being a big sister. however, when my shirt has popped up over the big baby belly, she does feel it is her job to pull my shirt back over the belly & then usually nods her head, as if she's thinking 'mama, don't be so indecent!' sometimes i just pull my shirt up to see what her reaction will be & it's usually the same. funny girl.

within the next week, we hope to get maternity photos & we will for sure put some up for all to see. only 5 1/2 more weeks!

where is addy?!

addy hiding & eating in her cupboard

addy has really taken a liking to hiding the past few weeks. when we say 'it's time to get ready for a nap' or 'it's time to go' or 'it's time for lunch'...she hides. her favorite spots so far have been under her indoor slide, behind griswold's chair, behind her mini rocking chair (that has wood slats on the back--not very good for concealing a toddler!) & also in the corner of our closet. she has even hidden in our shower & behind the 1/2 bath toilet, both of which times i could not find her temporarily & began to worry; however, griswold is very good at spoiling her fun as soon as i ask him 'where's addy?' so apparently inside her kitchen cabinet is her newest spot. although, it's very apparent when she is in there b/c she has to take all the items out of the cupboard first , including a few 2 gallon pitchers, lunch bags, smaller kitchen items that addy likes to bang around, & usually a few unique items that addy temporarily hides from us for whatever reason...i have found everything from sunglasses to trash she's taken out of the can, to few days' old milk sippy cups in there. anyway, when she decides to hide in there, the kitchen floor is covered in this stuff, so it's really a no-brainer. but it's still cute. just the phase of her thinking that if she can't see us, we can't see her.

she loves the chase of it all...us saying 'where is addy?, have you seen addy?, where can she be?...' that usually illicits a giggle or a head quickly popping out of hiding. the best is when we don't say anything at all; she hates that! it's like she did all this work hiding & we aren't even looking for her?! she'll usually come out of hiding within a minute, try to get our attention, & then attempt to hide again, in the same spot most likely.

the other hiding times include the 'eat & hide.' she grabs some food somehow & then run to eat it somewhere, like we're going to take it from her (if you've seen addy, you KNOW we don't keep food from her, bless her little leg rolls & all). the only negative aspect is when she decides that 'eat & hide' isn't so fun anymore & then just leaves the food or drink laying there...for griswold & then if griz decides not to go for it, the ants will.

this morning she took her cheddar cheese curd (the yummiest cheese around, at least at the westerville farmer's market) & milk & decided to sit in her cupboard. wes felt a little nostalgic of 'the christmas story' when ralphie's little brother would hide in the cupboard & thought it was just wonderful that she chose to hide there.

besides a minor cold, that's what's up with adeline today. and thanks to benedryl, she has been sleeping wonderfully through this illness.

E-N-E-R-G-Y ADDY

addy on her 'pink rider'

pushing the pink rider after griswold

this has been quite an energetic week for adeline. she just sort of bounces around, looking for something new to play with. it's a lot of fun to watch her get so very excited over such little things, like an ant on the slide (she loves them!), or spying griswold sleeping on the floor where she can tackle him. of course, this means that mama & daddy have to be on their toes even more & right now daddy is a bit better at that than 8 month prego mama!

wednesday morning, wes took griswold to the vet for his annual checkup & shots. addy was devastated! she sobbed watching griswold get loaded into the car & was completely inconsolable for a good 10 minutes. she was probably thinking 'mama really did it, she's going to sell griswold to the arab traders & i'm next...!' (that is our threat: if you don't stop, we'll sell you to the arab traders!' we will not use this threat when she gets it...).

today she seemed even more full of energy than usual. she wanted desperately to go outside & was disappointed that we didn't go to the mall like i said we were due to canceled plans. i still had to go to target (to buy some sort of band aid for her big toe blister that won't go away) & she pointed to every playground along the way, sort of saying 'go!'...she even pointed to the mall as we passed by it & gave a good cry when i said we weren't going there now. it was a sad day for her & she let me know the rest of the time in target!

we've had a pretty uneventful week; it's so blasted humid outside that we only expose ourselves to the elements after dinner or before 10 a.m., so addy is very nature deprived right now, & you can tell! so my plea is this: god please please PLEASE send us some cooler weather so addy can play outside!