Thought I'd do a quick update on baby #2. I've reached the point where I now understand the intense desire many women have to GET BABY OUT. I never felt that way with Libby - I LOVED being pregnant the first time around and was in no rush for it to be over. I am still in awe of the miracle of pregnancy and so grateful that I get to experience it, but I'm kinda done with this one. 4.5 more weeks till I'm full term and then it is go time. I am going to walk that baby right out.
Last week I was having some really obnoxious and worrisome back pain and upper abdominal pain. I called my midwife and she recommended I go see my family doc. He recommended I go see an obstetrician. She wasn't available for an appointment, but recommended I go get an ultrasound. Good news? It was not pre-term labor. Bad news? Baby was pushing on my ureter and my right kidney was backed up. After spending a few hours on my knees and elbows and sleeping on my left side with my hips elevated, baby must have shifted and the pain went away. I did take the opportunity to confirm with the ultrasound tech that baby is indeed still a girl.
I've been trying to talk to Libby about the baby a lot lately. I don't think it makes much sense to her that there is an actual baby in my belly. But, I did ask her if she wanted a baby to come live with us and she grunted her approval (we're still working on the word "yes").
One of Libby's favorite things to do lately is look for bugs. We have
had great success finding grasshoppers in our front yard this past week.
Libby spent a good 20 minutes admiring this little guy and letting him
crawl up and down her arms.
I love when I walk into a room and discover Libby doing something adorable and surprising, like yesterday, when she was just hanging out in a chair wearing my glasses.
Since I can't get the song "Oh, what do you do in the summertime?" out of my head, I thought I'd share a few things we've been doing lately.
Clockwise from top left:
1 - Watching the Olympics. This photo was actually taken at the beginning of July, so we were probably watching the Olympic trials. Or Wheel of Fortune. We only get 2 channels, even with the fanciest antenna money can buy (the fanciest available at Walmart, anyway). Thank goodness NBC is one of those because I LOVE the Olympics!
2 - Trying to convince Libby to go to bed. She's a master procrastinator.
3 - Eating watermelon, the favorite summer fruit in our house.
4 - Dressing up in winter gear even though it's in the 90s. Hats and gloves are just too fun, apparently.
Top left: Seeing the animals at the 4H fair and contemplating how soon we can get Libby into 4H. Also trying to convince Jared we should get a goat.
All other pictures: Playing outside with the boys. There are 3 other moms that I meet for park play dates, who happen to all have boys. They love playing cars and Libby fits right in.
I keep forgetting how far long I am, and when I consulted the calendar this morning and discovered I was 26 weeks, I thought "wow, that is really close to 30. And 30 is really close to 40. And holy cow, I'm having a baby!"
Baby girl is moving all the time lately. I found out at my ultrasound (back at 22 weeks) that I have an anterior placenta, meaning the placenta is attached to the front part of my uterus (closest to my belly button). This is a normal variation and there's nothing wrong with it, but it means that I don't feel this baby's "forward kicks" as strongly as I felt them with Libby. I do feel her kick and stretch out to the side and jump on my bladder, so I know she's in there!
I took the plunge and purchased the Hypnobabies home study course to prepare for the birth and I am so glad I did. I love it already. Most of the written information is old news to me, having had a baby already and especially after having taken a Bradley course. But the hypnosis tracks are WONDERFUL and I can already notice a difference in how I feel about this pregnancy and birth (more optimistic!).
And the deal clencher? It's helping me sleep. I have serious problems when it comes to sleep. As in, I literally did not sleep a wink for a full 48 hours after Libby was born and ever since then, have had awful bouts of insomnia where I sleep only a couple of hours a night. Oh, and that advice to sleep when the baby sleeps? Does not work when you absolutely positively cannot nap during the day. But since beginning this course a couple weeks ago, I have been falling asleep faster than ever at night and even power napping during the day. It's the best thing ever.
These are my own opinions and experiences; no one has asked me to write this.
At 22 months, Libby weighs 23.5 pounds. I don't know how tall she is, but she did finally grow out of her infant car seat. I'll have to start measuring her against a wall to keep track of her height.
Other physical characteristics: She has impressive fine motor skills. For as long as she's been coloring, she's always held pencils and crayons correctly and can draw very small circles. She runs and bounces everywhere and likes to dance in circles. She is great at taking her shoes and socks off and can sometimes get her shoes on without help, depending on the shoe. She hasn't figured out how to undress yet, which is probably a good thing, but also means I think we're a ways away from potty training. No rush on my part, though...I'd rather not deal with potty training while taking care of a newborn.
She has a great vocabulary and is starting to form simple sentences. She likes to identify everything, so she's constantly pointing and naming things and describing what's going on around her. Recently at breakfast, she said "Mommy egg all done" as I took the last bite of my egg.
She's using her hands more as she "talks" which is downright adorable. She does know some sign language, but most of her gestures are made up and have no meaning that I'm aware of. Today, she happened to be signing rain and thunder (unbeknownst to her, of course), so I pretended that's what we were talking about:
[I've been trying FOREVER to upload the video, but my internet might possibly be slower than dial-up and tells me there are 374 minutes remaining. Come back in about a year and there might be a super cute video here.]
[Update: It only took about 8 hours, but the video is finally up!]
Things she likes: pom poms (the fuzzy balls used for crafts), hair elastics (she calls them headbands), pebbles, or anything else small and round that she can roll between her fingers. She also likes to carry marbles in her toes, like a monkey. When I got Libby out of bed this morning and she started walking around, she kept saying "ow." Upon examination, I found marbles in the bottom of her footie pajamas. She likes to go for walks in the stroller, play at the playground, and look for bugs.
She has been going to a swim class for toddlers for about 6 months now (it's more of a "play in the water" class than a "learn to swim" class) and LOVES to jump in the pool. She can kick her legs and stroke with her arms, and can float on a noodle unassisted for short periods. And just a couple of weeks ago, we had a big breakthrough in which she finally let me hold her in a backfloat position. I've dunked her a couple of times, which she has hated, but she doesn't mind getting water in her mouth anymore and is so much more confident in the water.
Current favorite foods: greek yogurt with jam, oranges, bananas, fruit leather, cereal, berries of any kind, tomatoes, pickles, olives, and cheese.
Libby and I have started playing a game after her naps where she throws all of her stuffed animals and babies out of her crib and then I throw them back. She especially loves when I hit her on the head with the soft ones. (I haven't ever hit her with a hard one, but something tells me she wouldn't like that as much.)
The first time I did it, I counted the animals as I threw them back in, and Libby has picked this right up.
Anytime she counts, she starts at eight and goes to nine. Then repeats. Also, sometimes "eight" sounds like "ice."
