Uncle Scott throwing a cannonball, aka Grace, who could not stand to get her face wet
at the beginning of this summer.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
We thought we were having a baby...
My Labor Day evening was, somewhat appropriately, spent in triage at the hospital hooked up to a fetal monitor and an IV.
On our way to a date at IKEA around 11:30am, I mentioned to Steve that I was having contractions every 4 minutes on the dot. By the time we walked up to the cafeteria, I could no longer stand comfortably as the contractions came like clockwork. So, I did the only rational thing and ordered a big plate of IKEA Swedish Meatballs then took a seat! I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions on a fairly regular basis for the past several weeks, and these weren't quite strong enough to make me nervous yet. After four third-trimesters with lots of false labor, I'm completely jaded.
Unfortunately we expedited our tour of IKEA (I could wander around that place for hours!) and went straight for what we needed since the contractions were not slowing down and I was a little uncomfortable. We drove to Mom and Dad Wilson's house where our girls were waiting for us, and I settled in on the couch with a huge cup of water to get the low-intensity cramping under control.
Two hours later and they're still steady at every 4 minutes. I called my doctor and we decided to make the trip back to AAMC to get checked out. We arrived by 4:45 and I was checked into a nice little bed in triage. Soon, the contractions were rolling in every two minutes and extending around my back. I turned to Steve and told him that this felt like the real deal. LABOR. Exactly like it was with Avery-- hours of very consistent contractions that were uncomfortable but not painfully intense.
Thankfully, being 34 weeks along made this whole situation a little less scary than the chance of preterm labor might be otherwise. No one seemed too concerned, and actually I thought to myself "Well, I have my camera, my Burt's Bees lip balm, and my husband... that's really all I need to have a baby...." But of course we really wanted baby to have at least 2 more weeks to grow before an early arrival. The doctor decided to give me Terbutaline shots to stop the contractions. Within 45 minutes (3 shots later) the contractions stopped; I couldn't believe that after all that work I didn't dilate at all.
So, we headed home where I got to experience all the jitters and craziness that Terbutaline is known to induce. What an unexpected adventure!
God is good to remind us that He knows exactly when this baby is going to arrive, and He is holding the baby and his or her mother in His very capable and loving hands! Today the contractions are back, although mostly sporadic and not consistently hard.
Thank you to family and friends who are praying for us, watching the big sisters, and bringing meals... a huge blessing when I was so wiped out from my busy and drug-filled day on Monday!
I guess the Deterding Baby Poll should include dates in September?!
On our way to a date at IKEA around 11:30am, I mentioned to Steve that I was having contractions every 4 minutes on the dot. By the time we walked up to the cafeteria, I could no longer stand comfortably as the contractions came like clockwork. So, I did the only rational thing and ordered a big plate of IKEA Swedish Meatballs then took a seat! I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions on a fairly regular basis for the past several weeks, and these weren't quite strong enough to make me nervous yet. After four third-trimesters with lots of false labor, I'm completely jaded.
Unfortunately we expedited our tour of IKEA (I could wander around that place for hours!) and went straight for what we needed since the contractions were not slowing down and I was a little uncomfortable. We drove to Mom and Dad Wilson's house where our girls were waiting for us, and I settled in on the couch with a huge cup of water to get the low-intensity cramping under control.
Two hours later and they're still steady at every 4 minutes. I called my doctor and we decided to make the trip back to AAMC to get checked out. We arrived by 4:45 and I was checked into a nice little bed in triage. Soon, the contractions were rolling in every two minutes and extending around my back. I turned to Steve and told him that this felt like the real deal. LABOR. Exactly like it was with Avery-- hours of very consistent contractions that were uncomfortable but not painfully intense.
Thankfully, being 34 weeks along made this whole situation a little less scary than the chance of preterm labor might be otherwise. No one seemed too concerned, and actually I thought to myself "Well, I have my camera, my Burt's Bees lip balm, and my husband... that's really all I need to have a baby...." But of course we really wanted baby to have at least 2 more weeks to grow before an early arrival. The doctor decided to give me Terbutaline shots to stop the contractions. Within 45 minutes (3 shots later) the contractions stopped; I couldn't believe that after all that work I didn't dilate at all.
So, we headed home where I got to experience all the jitters and craziness that Terbutaline is known to induce. What an unexpected adventure!
God is good to remind us that He knows exactly when this baby is going to arrive, and He is holding the baby and his or her mother in His very capable and loving hands! Today the contractions are back, although mostly sporadic and not consistently hard.
Thank you to family and friends who are praying for us, watching the big sisters, and bringing meals... a huge blessing when I was so wiped out from my busy and drug-filled day on Monday!
I guess the Deterding Baby Poll should include dates in September?!
Monday, August 27, 2012
7 Months
The photo for month 7 is a little fancy, thanks to an impromptu maternity session in my backyard.
I'm at 33 weeks and now that we're balancing Kindergarten, Pre-K, and a busy month at work for Steve, I think that the next 7 weeks are going to fly by!
I'm feeling well, although it's getting harder and harder to keep up with the three big sisters. We're still trying to find the perfect name in case this is a girl...
Cravings: Ice cubes, ice cubes, and more ice cubes. Yes, I'm slightly anemic.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Back to School 2012
I came across the idea to have a special back-to-school dinner and introduce a family theme for the school year. It turns out I was feeling motivated enough yesterday to pull a little something together! We had a candlelight dinner, lemon ice cream from the Creamery, and our theme is "Encourage one another daily..." (Hebrews 3:13). We talked about how encouraging others means "spurring one another on toward love and good deeds" and how they can do that as daughters, sisters, and classmates. Their ideas were helping with dishes, saying "good job", and sharing, so I think we're off to a good start!
Here's our preschooler. She is in Mrs. Schmidt's class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings:
Our Kindergartener. She's in Mrs. Beall's half-day class of all girls, every morning of the week:
It's just me and you three mornings a week, Avery girl!
Birthday time for Leah!
The night before Leah turned four, she requested a donut breakfast for her special day. It seems like we've created a family tradition: birthday breakfasts mean Annapolis' legendary Carlson's Donuts. We all think this is a great idea. Leah also requested that Grace and Steve go out to the shop to pick them up, so that she could be surprised by their choices. Then she told them exactly what kind of donuts she wanted! She still thinks it was a surprise, though!
She also opened the gifts from our immediate family. A felt purse chosen by Grace:
And among other things, new doggy lunch box for preschool from Mom and Dad:
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Leah is Four!
Today we're celebrating Leah's fourth birthday, and I've never heard so many giggles! She is SO happy that her birthday is here. If you're a grandparent, you'll probably receive a phone call from Leah today so that she can tell you all about it!
A little about Leah Anne as a four year old:
-- She loves to call people on the phone, especially her grandparents. She has their phone numbers and Poppy's cell phone number memorized and we're starting to find that she's calling them, having a conversation, and then hanging up before we even realize that she's been on the phone.
-- Her favorite creative activity is coloring. She'd print coloring pages from pbskids.org or disney.com and color them all day long if she could. She's very particular and very careful and always stays in the lines.
-- She is very polite and is always thanking us for things.
-- She has a sweet spirit that is easily crushed, and we can still have a hard time reasoning with her if she starts crying. She also has a temper that comes and goes, so she can be very "hot" or "cold" in her temperament. Mostly, she's just sweet!
-- She is completely ready to go to school next week. She is very smart, very verbal, and will thrive in a classroom if she can remember to raise her hand before speaking! Hehehe. She loves to write down family names (from memory, all by herself) and often lists names on paper. She can write all of her capital letters, and more recently has learned to write numbers all the way up to 29. It seems to me like she pretty much taught herself how to do this, it didn't take much effort on our part! She is very self-motivated.
-- Her favorite color is orange, her favorite food is strawberries, and her favorite song is the National Anthem (or so she says; I taught it to the girls during the recent Olympics so I think it's just fresh on her mind! Too funny.)
-- She is a natural mother and is drawn to younger kids like Avery and her cousin Kip.
We're excited to see how she does in school and what role she'll take as the very big sister to the new baby coming in October. What a year this will be for her! Thank you, God, for giving us Leah Anne and Happy Birthday to our girl!
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