First Family Trip - Success!

Breastfeeding Humor

Recently we took our very first family trip since our first was born. Off to Stone Mountain, Georgia with my parents. My baby girl was amazing during the entire car trip from central Florida. My oldest was able to watch movies and play on her itouch so she was as good as a 3 year old that does not want to sit still can be. It was just so much fun to just get out of town. Violet just loved staying in a hotel. The hotel pool was awesome and since it was the hottest day on record in Atlanta since records have been kept everybody was in the pool. Because it was freakin hot!!!!

Ready for the Laser Show

Lily is now 9 months old (8 months in the picture). Yet again time is flying by. In fact it is flying by even faster than with my first. She is crawling super fast now and likes to pull up on stuff but she is a little timid so walking is several weeks away yet. She will take steps with her push toys but not independently yet. I am constantly saying how did I get this lucky???? Nothing beats being a mom. Lately Violet has been telling me she wants to grow up and be a super hero doctor mommy. I told her that would be just awesome.

Sisters on top of Stone Mountain, Georgia

Getting a picture of them both together without my oldest throwing a tantrum or poking her younger sister is next to impossible. So here you have it. Both are relatively happy. For some reason Lily took to this particular pacifier during this trip so this picture is Maggie Simpson style. Upon return home she will only take a pacifier in the car or in bed.

Lots of stuff going on in our family lives. Big changes in the future. Right now I will settle for evening swims in our pool and impromptu beach trips on the weekends. Days spent sleeping in as a family (all in the same bed plus a giant dog and a cat). Loving how simple life is right now. I am one lucky mama.

How I Wash Cloth Diapers in My Front Loader HE Washer

When making the switch to cloth diapers by far my biggest concern was how am I gonna wash these diapers and keep them clean? I googled the issue more than humanly necessary. For every blog and/or article I read on how to wash them I found another one contradicting it. I am writing this post on how I do it. I will preface this by saying that every mom is going to do it different. It all depends on your washer/water type and so on.

I start with a simple rinse and spin cycle with no detergent on cold/cold. This is to get any loose poop off.

I then do a normal cycle hot/cold with detergent and I press the button for an extra rinse. I also set it to heavy soiled to give it maximum water levels. This gives it a very long wash with hot water to kill bacteria and get them clean. You want lots of water so that it can get them clean. HE washers use less water than top loaders so to me this step is key.

You will read everywhere to use as little detergent as necessary. I find this to be wrong. I bought and tried a multi pack of many different all natural detergents. They all work just fine. For me I use powdered Tide original formula. The enzymes in it keep the whites white and the bacteria away. We have had zero stink issues and my diapers look like new. I am well aware that this is the opposite of natural and crunchy but I completely OK with that. I use a scoop full up to the 1 line.

I then do an extra rinse and spin cycle on cold/cold to make sure to get all of the suds out of there. This helps to prevent buildup. Buildup can make your diapers repel liquids. If there are still suds I will repeat this step.

I hang all my diapers on a small rack in my laundry room. I stick all the liners in the dryer with 4 wool dryer balls. The dryer balls are to help reduce dry time by absorbing liquid and mine have a scent called hint of baby which makes them smell nice but not overpowering.

I wash mine every 3-4 days. I use a diaper pail that looks like a basic kitchen garbage can. I use a reusable diaper pail bag that I wash along with my diapers and hang dry. I shut my lid after putting each soiled diaper in but I leave the lid cracked a very small bit (like a millimeter). I find this keeps the diapers from smelling too bad and I never smell anything near the changing pad and I am cursed with a very strong sniffer.

I do use bioliners for a majority of the changes. They are basically a thin layer of biodegradable material that catches poo. I just wipe and throw away. I also use a diaper sprayer to get a majority of the poo off for when I don’t use a liner or when it does not contain all the poo. All the poo does not need to be removed. Just the big stuff.

When it is nice and sunny out I line dry my diapers outside. This is not very often because I am busy and a wee bit lazy. It is important not to leave your diapers in the sun too long or the strong heat can break down the laminate in your diapers. It should be 2 hours max unless you live in a strong heat climate like Florida and then you should leave them in the sun for no more than an hour. inserts can stay out longer.

So that is how I wash my diapers. Like I said everyone is different but this is the method that works for me. There is a lot of information out there on washing diapers and it can be very confusing. In this household I do all the laundry and I actually enjoy making my diapers fresh and clean each time.

Hatred of the Squinkies

I despise squinkies. They are small and easy to loose, they are expensive for tiny pieces of plastic and I hate the ball that is so easy to step on and break. If you have no idea what I am talking about then consider yourself blessed. My daughter had asked for them a time or two. I said no that she was not old enough. She accepted this which she always does to the age reason. So of course my Mother in Law bought her a pack. I was absolutely FURIOUS!!! The main reason is they are the perfect choking hazard for my 5 month old soon to be crawling baby girl.

So of course having one set my age reasoning went out the window. The only thing in the world she asked of the Easter bunny was squinkies. He of course had to comply. Each plastic egg that was placed in the back yard had a disney squinkie inside. Of course she loved them. But in the next month I will have to take them away until baby sister is much older. Husband and I have actually done really well keeping the choking hazards out of the house.

I also hate all things tiny and made from China. When she gets them at school or parties or from mother in law they immediately go in the garbage. I know many might think it is silly but this is one thing that husband agrees and supports me 100% on. We just hate crap!

Here are Violet's Easter Funnies:

Upon going through her Easter basket she had quite a few funny things to say. When seeing that she got a ballerina umbrella her full of attitude and slowly stated response was "I don't need another umbrella." Upon seeing a package of disney panties she replied with "all I really wanted was squinkies." By far the best was when she picked up a Melissa and Doug sand bucket set to pretend to make sand ice cream cones. She picks up the bucket with one finger cocks her head to the side and says "an ice cream bucket.....really?" Looks like Santa better watch out!

Birth Radomness

I was reading the blog My OB said what today and it got me thinking about my daughters' births.

I was particularly thinking about my 2nd daughter's birth and how the epidural had not yet taken affect for the pushing. After she was born the doctor was down there checking everything out when I started feeling a warm watery sensation. I asked him what that was. Apparently my labor went so fast there was no time to cath me and I had a full bladder so he emptied it for me. I definitely felt everything down there this time around but since I had an epidural I do not get the badge of honor so to speak of a no epidural birth.

With my first it was a really large birthing hospital. Like 9 floors large. Right before push time it was my husband holding one leg, labor and delivery nurse holding the other leg, student labor and delivery nurse standing next to her (looking quite nervous), the doctor standing between my legs, pediatrician standing by the incubator and like 5-8 people rushed in last minute to stand behind the doctor and watch. Of course I could reallyy care less at that point. I felt a ton of pressure and wanted her out!

With my second daughter at a small local hospital it was a labor and delivery nurse holding each leg, my husband holding my hand while standing next to me and the doctor between my legs. That was it. It seemed a little more calm with less people in the room.

With my OBGYN practice I recieved nothing but great care from the nurses, doctors and midwife. The nurses at the hospital were amazing and very compassionate. Since my husband and I chatted with the head nursey nurse so much she even came and hugged us goodbye before we left. The discharge nurse sat in my bed with me while we went over discharge paperwork and chatted and it felt so natural.

With my first daughter my delivery nurse was AMAZING but other than that the staff was nice but they just went about their business. Maybe it felt that way since it was such a big baby hospital and with my 2nd it was a small local hospital.

With both I also did cord blood banking through CBR. Sure it was expensive but thankfully it was a gift from my parents and we pay only the yearly storage fee. The research out there on cord blood banking is amazing and I know in the future it will only get better. I know it is a luxury most cannot afford but it is definitely something worth looking into.

I would say around 80% of the time I feel completely done having kids. Then once in a while I think it would be nice to have one more. I was packing up all my pregnancy clothes this past weekend and trying to fold them nice and neat into a big bucket so I could sell them. When I told my husband this he said we should hang onto them...just in case. I was very surprised to hear this. There will be no surprises this time around since I now have an IUD in place. In a year or two we will decide if we will be trying one more time. I am 30 now and if by 34 I am not pregnant then we are more than done. Maybe the husband will get the big snip snip.

Each Pregnancy is Different

I already wrote the birth story of my two girls. Then I wrote a post on their differences and similarities of the birth itself. Now I want to post on my pregnancies carrying them.

With V it took me over a week to realize I was pregnant. I did not really follow my time of the month. Then one day it just hit me. I might be pregnant. My husband was actually out of town for a bachelor party but I called him and let him know that I might be pregnant. As soon as he got back I took a test. It said pregnant almost instantly. I was suprised and a little nervous since this would be my very first baby. After the first visit to the OBGYN and getting that first ultrasound everything was confirmed. One little baby and one little heartbeat. We were excited but nervous.

With V that first trimester I just felt full all the time so I never really ate. I did not gain a pound until 14 or 15 weeks. Heck I did not even go maternity clothes shopping until that time too. We announced on facebook at 12 weeks after hearing the heartbeat on the doppler for the first time. During the early 2nd trimester we even flew to DC to visit my brother for a few days. I did throw up in an air sick bag on the way there which was beyond gross. During the late 2nd trimester I gained a hefty 10 pounds in a month. At around 20 weeks I found out it was a girl despite us both thinking boy. The whole family thought she was a girl and they were all right. Cue lots of baby shopping for cute little things. We get some decent 3D images at a just for fun ultrasound place.

Here is a picture of me going to a college football game at something like 34 weeks preggo.

My pregnancy with L was completely different. When V was in the hospital for a concussion the techs were placing her on the CT scanner when the woman asked if I could be pregnant. I was literally about to say no. I mean the n was already being formed in my mouth when I just stopped. My period was due that day or the next and I said something along the lines as it could be possible. After a whirlwind of doctors, overnight stays, and finally getting home I took a home pregnancy test. I did not think much of it and after peeing on it I took it in the shower with me to watch for the results. It took forever so I really did not think I was pregnant. A few minutes later there it was as clear as day...the words Pregnant. I immediately called my husband in. After I told him he just smiled and said it looks like we are going to have another baby.

We told the grandparents right away this time. Then I told some of my closer friends. First OBGYN visit included an ultrasound. One little baby and one little heartbeat. How exciting! This time the first trimester was not so easy. I was nauseas all the time. Threw up several times along the way. This time around I did not gain any weight until the start of the 2nd trimester again but I got out my old maternity clothes by 7 weeks. I started showing much much earlier this time around.

We opted in for extra testing so at our 11 week ultrasound everything looked good except a hematoma that would need to be watched. The 14 week ultrasound looked great. I was surprised to find out at at this appointment we were having a girl. We just knew it was a boy. Our little girls are tricksters they are. At the 17 week ultrasound everything looked good except the hematoma was still there. Around 18 weeks we make the big announcement on facebook. At around 21 weeks it was gone and all still looked good. At the 25 week ultrasound is when when the pregnancy stopped being fun. I had extremely high fluid levels. Of course I was at this appointment all by myself and I left in tears.

The librarian in me means research. I did so. I googled till my eyes hurt. It did nothing but scare me more. At the 27 week ultrasound one of the tubes to her kidney is slightly enlarged. More panic and more googling. More tears. I beg for a echo of her heart from my high risk doc. He said no. My regular OBGYN said yes. So my high risk doc scheduled if for me. In one valve or chamber I can't remember which the blood flow is not as strong as it could be. This leads to a 2 hour echo of her heart from a pediatric cardiologist. Finally some good news...everything looked good.

I do not like the way my high doc talks to me or treats me or basically anything about him so we change high risk docs to another one 2 hours away at a top notch birthing hospital. My OBGYN is behind me 100% with whatever I want to do for my high risk care. Multiple ultrasounds at the hospital show that everything looks really good. We even go to a fun 3D ultrasound place and get some amazing pictures. The rest of the pregnancy is uneventful. I still worried until she actually got here.

This picture is literally days before my 25 week ultrasound. I am extremely happy and excited in this picture. All I could think about was next year at that time I would be able to take both my girls to the beach.

Each Birth Has A Unique Story

Ever since Lily was born I find myself comparing the births of my daughters. As time passes I think about it less but it is something my husband and I enjoy chatting about. Both birth stories are posted below but I wanted to write about the similarities and differences between them.

Labor. With V I got to the hospital at 8cm and although at that point I felt every contraction they were tolerable and I would just close my eyes through them. I could not sit so I would stand through them. With V there was no pitocin but since L was an induction there was pitocin from the start. Let me tell you that the word on the street is true...contractions with pitocin are 10 times worse than normal ones!!! I was in pain and with every contraction I would squeeze my husband's hand and would find myself screaming Matt, Matt, Matt very very loudly. They came fast and furious!

Pain relief. I got an epidural with V and it was not too bad to get other than my flinch when the catheter was placed. I just breathed through the contractions. Then my last few hours of labor were very peaceful and we just watched tv and chatted. With L getting the epidural was pure hell. I kept flinching and I could not get my back to curl just right and every contraction hurt so very very bad! I was near tears. I thought I was only a few centimers dilated so I seriously wanted some relief. Of course by the time it was push time the epidural was still not in affect and did not start to work until I was pushing and by then it was still only the tingly leg feeling of numbness, not the full blown feel nothing like with V.

Push time. With V I felt no contractions so they told me when to push. I did not like this. Pushing those 40 minutes was the hardest part. With L I still felt every contraction so I told them when I wanted to push. I actually liked pushing with L, I had the urge to push and until the doc got there I actually had to not push, no real pain just pushing with the contractions.

She is here. With V I screamed once when I pushed her head out and then the doc sort of turned her and she just slide out the rest of the way and I did a mild scream then. With L I did not scream when she came out. I pushed her head was told to then wait a second and then I pushed out her body. Both were placed on my chest immediately.

First look. With V my first thought was of pure relief that this human child was now out of me (did I mention I really hated pushing her out). Then I looked at her in pure disbelief that I now had a baby girl. It was very surreal. I just kept looking into her eyes that were looking at everything in the room while she took it all in. With L the first thoughts and feelings were of pure happiness and love. Not that I loved her more it just felt like I was more prepared this time around. I kept kissing her all over even though she was covered in goo.

Breastfeeding. With V she immediately latched on like a pirrana. It hurt! Chomped down as hard as she could. She breastfed great but those first few weeks were hard. I was tired, she hardly every slept unless she was nursing. I had the bruised and cracked nipples but I kept going and after that our breastfeeding journey was easy going for 15 months except for thrush around month 14 that was easily fixed. With L she immediately latched on gently and it never hurt. I did suffer from some awful thrush week 2-4 but we worked through it and it has been easy sailing every since. I do have to pump every morning before work so she has something to eat in the mornings but so far so good.

Sleep...so far. V has never been a good sleeper. From the beginning things were very HARD and my husband and I were very very very tired. Around month 9 I brought her to bed with us and I nursed her laying down on my side and we finally started getting sleep. L has been a great sleeper from day 1. Slept 5 hours a night from the day she was born and around week 6 she moved it to around 6-10 hours a night. Such a huge difference. We are not tired and feel very refreshed.

Overall V was a very difficult baby and a lot has to do with her sensory processing disorder which I did not know about till 18 months. Looking back there were lots and lots of signs (for a different post one day). L is so incredibly easy. She will play with toys, lay on her back and enjoy looking at toys of which V did none of. L is incredibly easy to take out and with V we did not take her many places for over a year...it was just too hard.

I still enjoy going over their birth experinces in my head. It is like this specialy memory that only I have and it always makes me feel good when I think about them.

I Now Have Two Flowers!!!!

Lily Cora
October 20, 2011
11:14 am
8 pounds 1 ounce
20 inches
Born at 39 weeks

The past few weeks of my pregnancy consisted of daily migraines. For me that includes extreme nausea, mild headaches and extreme auras that make it so I can not even see anything for about an hour. I had gone in several times to my OBGYN practice to get my blood pressure checked and it was always great. So they just began monitoring me closely. I even had a non stress test (NST) at once when she did not move during the appointment. The test ended up just perfect. The migraines were not getting any better and my vision started getting blurry as well. Although migraines for me are not unusual the frequency was what was alarming and more than anything just annoying. When visiting the midwife (whom I just loved) in the practice she told me if I was favorable then we could schedule an induction because they did not want the migraines to turn into anything more serious. I was 2-3cm dilated and effaced (although I don't know how much). Despite wanting to go natural I decided to go ahead with the induction at 39 weeks.

My last meal was waffle house because in my small town literally nothing was open at 6am. Then it was off to the hospital at 7am. After waiting in outpatient and doing some paperwork we were called upstairs around 8am. I was immediately put in a room and they started the IV and getting all the paperwork signed and blood drawn. I was still 2-3cm and around 90% effaced. Around 9am Dr. Ross started me on a very low dose of pitocin to start contractions. About 20 minutes later he came in broke my water and hooked the baby up to an internal monitor. He told me he was going back the office and he would check on me later that afternoon. I have heard my share of horror stories with induction so I was mentally prepared for the long haul. Husband was even doing work on his computer. About 40 minutes after he broke my water contractions came out of nowhere and they were strong and powerful. I immediately told my husband if I was in for a day of contractions of that intensity then I needed my epidural and I needed it right now! The two nice nurses started setting my room up for the epidural. I was literally squeezing my husband's hand with all my strength at each contraction. At one point I asked the nurse if I should go to the bathroom and poop before the epidural since I knew I would be unable to get out of bed once it was in place and I had a silly fear of pooping on the delivery table. She told me I was fine and it was probably just the baby's head putting pressure down there. At this point all I could picture was the epidural and how I wanted some relief. I remembered from my first pregnancy how amazing it could be to relax once it was in place (although with my first it was only in place about an hour before push time).

The epidural part was the worst part of the whole birth. I was experiencing the most painful contractions I had ever had while he was working on my back. He had to keep re-threading the catheter in my back because he was unable to get it between the bone. Probably because I was not curling my back in the right way because I was seriously struggling through the contractions. It felt like he had to do it a dozen times although my husband said it was more like 5 times. Finally in place I laid down and waited for relief.

This is when crazy Katrina decided to come out. I started screaming at the anesthesiologist that he needed to re-do the epidural because it was not working! I was getting contractions about a minute apart and they were so strong. He told me it would take time but I was so very impatient. The nurse and anesthesiologist tried to tell me it was fine and that it just needed time to start working. I started telling the other nurse I needed to poop again. She said she would go ahead and check me. She said I was a 7. I was thinking awesome at least I was getting progress. What she did not tell me was I was actually a 9-10 and that she did not want to scare me since my doc was not at the hospital. She told me she would go call the doctor so he could come back for delivery. While this was going on I was still telling the anesthesiologist it was not working and I needed more meds and I needed them NOW. They upped it in the IV and said relief was coming.

I heard the two nurses whispering and I asked loudly what they were talking about. She told me that a doctor from another practice had just finished delivering a baby and he was going to wait until my doctor got there just in case he did not make it. Had I been thinking clearly this would have tipped me off. Instead at the time all I could think was I am at a 7 and he is 20 minutes away and that would be plenty of time. At this point the contractions were so painful and I started screaming my husband's name at each contraction saying...Matt Matt Matt Matt over and over through the pain. I was having the most intense urge to push. My doctor got there and he said lets have a baby. I am squeezing my husband's hand and the two nurses help me hold my legs. Finally the epidural started working (in that tingly leg fall asleep way) but at this point it was practically pointless! Dr. Ross told me to just push whenever I felt the urge. I liked being able to push when I was ready instead of being told to. Less than 5 minutes of pushing and out she came! They put her on my chest and I was able to just stare at this little baby girl that had been growing inside of me for 9 months. I just stared while I took it all in. They let me hold her for quite a while until I told them they could take her away to clean her up and check her out. It was no more than 15 minutes later when she was given back to me and I got to breastfeed her for the first time. Latched right on. I was able to just hold her and breastfeed her for as long as I wanted before they took her to the nursery to be officially checked out and cleaned up. Everyone at the hospital told me how lucky I was to have an induction and labor that only about 2 hours and I do feel extremely blessed. No tearing or ripping and no pooping on the table. Recovery has been much easier and quicker this time around. Another birth for me to treasure in my memory for the rest of my life. My heart feels swollen with so much love!

She was named Lily because we love the idea of having two girls with flower names. Her middle name Cora is also her Great Great Great Grandmother's name. I have a hard time believing that I actually gave birth to two amazing little girls. I feel like one extremely lucky Mama!