Category Archives: Toddler

Charlie & Henry

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I have thought a lot about the introduction of Henry to Charlie over the past 42 weeks. It’s been unclear as to what Charlotte was truly anticipating with all the talk of Baby Henry, but regardless, she seemed to be excited.

Henry arrived on Thursday and on Friday evening, Charlotte came to the hospital to meet her brother.When my parents arrived at the hospital, we had Mark meet them downstairs and take C to get her a bit more comfortable (aka bribe her with some graham crackers). Then, he brought her up to see Mommy and meet her new brother.

The introduction could not have gone ant better. Charlotte was completely enamored and so deeply happy and excited. The video and pictures say much more than I ever could… get ready for heart-melting stuff…

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Introducing…

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Henry Morris


After nearly 42 weeks of pregnancy and over 2 days of laboring, the little man arrived via repeat c-section this morning at 10:22am.

Wait for it… The “mini” guy was 10 POUNDS, 5 OUNCES and 22.25″ long! Can you even believe that? (Remember… I’m 5′ even)

How did two shorties make another giant kid? 

Henry is perfectly healthy and squishy and squeaky! We are over the moon.💙

Still Alive & Still Pregnant

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My last post was pretty doom and gloom, so I figured it might be nice to share an update.

I have officially survived the worst of the most awful and painful sinus infection in my 31 years (hopefully). I’m three days into my antibiotic (not happy to be on antibiotics, but there was no denying that it was inescapable this time) and already feeling such improvements.

For two days, I was totally unable to sleep or lie down or do much of anything besides take steam showers, smash my face between ice packs and whimper. 

But, things are better. I can almost open my mouth all the way and didn’t have to smoosh my face in ice packs at all today. My sense of smell and taste are still pretty lost, but it can’t be long now!

I am also still very pregnant. 41 weeks, 1 day to be exact.

But, it’s Memorial Day weekend and we’re off to a good start. Hubs and I went for our ramen noodle obsession last night (thanks, Milly!) and today had a nice day with the tot and evening with my parents. 

Here are a few pics…


40 Weeks & 3 Days, OB Check & Continued Bouncing

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I’m sure some of you have been wondering if my recent disappearance is because I’m deep in those first few days of new mommyhood (again). Let me clarify… I am not. Instead, I am taking walks, having induction massages (talk about a dousy), eating dates, drinking red raspberry leaf tea, and bouncing incessantly on my birthing ball.


Photos taken on 5/20/16

How far along: 40 Weeks, 3 Days – Once again, it’s super weird to have this pretty arbitrary (at least in my case) date that you’re counting down to and then have it arrive and pass just like that. I’m not totally sure how it makes me feel. This morning as I was taking a nice long walk, I thought, this is it! I’m here. We did it. But then at moments, I get a little negative or at minimum, skeptical, and start thinking… uh oh… is this happening again?

Meaning, is this baby going to refuse to come on his own like his stubborn big sis?

Honestly, I don’t feel like that’s the case. This pregnancy feels different. But, only time will tell… and until then, I’ll be on my birthing ball bouncing away the days.

Total weight gain: I gained about 1.3 lbs this past week, taking my total weight gain to 33.4 lbs. Woot, woot! Go me! Also, my swelling is almost non existent. It’s crazy. Last pregnancy, I was in a puffy, swollen suit. This time, I still have arches AND bone structure in my feet.

Maternity clothes: IMaybe it was a bit premature, but I’ve started pulling some of my maternity clothes out of my drawers. I’m over it. Ready to wear real clothes again… and by real clothes, I mean yoga pants (that don’t tuck into my bra) and nursing tanks.

Stretch marks: I had SUCH a scare last Thursday. I’m not sure what I bumped into, but I had a nice thick line of broken blood vessels across my belly. I stared in the mirror for about 5 minutes before asking the hubs what the f*** I was looking at. There was no way that my body managed a 43-week pregnancy and 40 weeks of a second without a single stretch mark and than BAM… one right across the center of my belly.

Thankfully, it’s fading. I must have run into something and broke some blood vessels.

Sleep: Sleep still isn’t amazing. It’s not terrible, but not amazing. However, I’ve gotten REALLY good at napping. The past 4-5 days, I’ve taken a solid 2-3 hour nap every day. How great is that?

Although, the toddler was CRAZY last night. Oy. She woke up at 1 or so and was whimpering, then crying… Mark went in, then she was bawling. I talked to her over the monitor, then more tears. I went in… even more sobs.

Finally, we just let her whine it out, but she literally kept waking up randomly with the loudest shrieks. Oy. As a result, she’s got her spice on today.

Best moment of this week: I had such a great weekend with the family. The weather was beautiful, we didn’t have much we had to do… it was just nice. And Charlotte was a little doll.

Miss anything: I’m not really in “missing mode”… although, I’d be really happy if little man would arrive. This momma is ready to meet her man.

Movement: Yes! He’s still poking around in there. And hopefully making his way down the rabbit hole.

Food cravings: I don’t know… I’m getting pretty full pretty quickly these days.

Anything making you queasy or sick: My toddler and husband? Sorry to throw you two under the bus, but I’m over this cold! Thankfully, the worst seems to be behind me (knock on wood). I’m still VERY congested, but the exhaustion and sinus pressure/pain isn’t even a tiny fraction of what it was. I’ll call that a win.

Have you started to show yet: I’m at the point where everyone gives me a weird smile. I haven’t quite defined it, but I think it’s a cross between, “please don’t break them waters in my presence” and “aww, look at the wobbling weeble.”

Gender: Mister man.

Labor signs: I don’t know. I mean… baby’s still in there, so no?

Belly button in or out: I’ve gotta hand it to my belly button… it’s really doing some crazy things these days. Who knew it could manage such shapes and SUCH pressure. Do your thing, belly button.

Wedding rings on or off: So, I am still wearing my wedding band, but have taken off my engagement ring. It just became too much at night.

Happy or moody most of the time: I think I’ve been happy! Maybe a little crabby and “woes me” during the height of my cold, but generally happy. Shit… I’m about to have another baby! That’s happy stuff. Plus, I really can’t complain about my physical comfort. I’m really feeling good. My weekly chiropractor visits are paying off!

Looking forward to: I wanna meet my baby!!!!

OB CHECK UPDATE

Weight Gain: 1.3 lbs from last visit, 33.4 total

Heart Rate: 96 bpm

BP: 106/64

Baby’s Heart Rate: Ranged between 138 (where it sat most of the time) to 154 when he got excited

Baby Bump: About 39-40 cm

Other: I had a nonstress test on Friday, too. After nearly 2 hours, baby is not stressed. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I am to do ANOTHER one tomorrow… oh yay.

40 Weeks with a Cold…

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Illness has been spreading through our house for weeks now and up until recently, I’ve managed to stay healthy. HOWEVER, now just one day from my due date, I’m battling a full-blown cold.

I’ve got that stuffy nose and head, sneezing, scratchy throat, non-stop running nose, coughing feeling like crap thing going on and I’m not happy about it.

I’ve literally been CHUGGING tea and water in hopes of flushing this beast of a cold out of my system, but for now, I’m just deep in it. I’m leaving to pick Charlotte up from school soon and will be spending the remainder of the day in my bed, which hopefully will help. But oy.

A cold at 40 weeks pregnant is just mean.

Hopefully it will pass quickly and I’ll be healthy and strong again soon to take on the marathon that is this impending labor.

Wish me luck!

39 Weeks, 3 Days & 39 Week OB Check

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I took this photo on Monday, but haven’t had a chance to post. I’m going to skip my weekly update and say generally speaking, week 39 was pretty good. I had a great acupuncture appointment and chiropractor appointment that left me feeling pretty darn comfortable, all things considered.

My mood was generally stable. And of course, I turned the big 31.

OB CHECK UPDATE

As for my OB check, it went really well!

Weight Gain: I actually went down a few ounces… I know… I’m so skinny. Still sitting at right around 32 lbs total weight gain.

Heart Rate: 96 bpm

BP: 122/58

Baby’s Heart Rate: 135 – chill little man.

Baby Bump: Measuring around 40 cm

I now have another OB check scheduled for tomorrow. I still have not had a cervical check or anything of the sort and we have not discussed any interventions at this point. My hope is that we can continue down that path for one more week and discuss next steps at 41 weeks. I will; however, have a Non-Stress Test tomorrow to check on the little bugger. Based on how I’m feeling and how he’s continuing to splash around, I think all is good.

“This is 31…”

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“This is 31…” That was the theme of this year’s birthday celebration. Don’t worry… I’m not being a negative nelly. It was said (many times) in laughter (and sometimes maybe with tears).

Unfortunately, Miss Charlotte has been sick for the past week. We were supposed to have a kid-free day/evening on Saturday to celebrate my 31st, but things changed. Because C was sick and didn’t end up napping on Saturday, we ended up picking her up around 6:15 on Saturday night so we could get her in bed at home.

Despite not being a very sexy birthday celebration (I mean, what was I expecting at 39+ weeks pregnant), I really did have a great time.

After Charlotte tortured us on Saturday morning with her evil “I’m sick” antics, we brought her over to my parents’ house. We had a delish lunch (from my favorite restaurant) WITH an ice cream cake and then headed out to go see Money Monster. The movie was great, the popcorn was tasty and it was just nice to get out.

When we got out of the movie, we went to my new obsession, Tochi Ramen, for takeout. We picked up the yummiest of ramen, picked up Charlotte from my parents’ house, put the crankster to bed and then enjoyed. It wasn’t a fancy dinner, but it was great. We curled up on the couch, ate excessively, and watched iZombie (currently my favorite show).

The next morning, we were ZOO BOUND! Now, anyone who knows us knows that my husband is Mr. Anti Zoo. Luckily for me, he was feeling guilty for his lame lack of “special” on Mother’s Day, so he bit the bullet and took us to the zoo (something I’ve been asking for forever). Despite Charlotte still being decently under the weather, we had a blast! We saw the monkeys and the elephants! We fed goats and got to ride on the train.

All in all, it was a blast!

Then, during C’s nap, Mark and I relaxed, packed our hospital bag and enjoyed our Sunday. Dinner was nice and low-key at home.

And now, here I am… nearly 40 weeks pregnant with my second baby… 31 years old… feeling good and feeling grateful.

Cuddles with my Girl

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As some of you may know, we are not co-sleeping people and are actually quite strict about sleep. This translates to C sleeping in her bed about 99% of the time (with the occassional car nap thrown in).

This also translates to zero cuddly nappy moments… until this morning!

Little Charlie woke up around 6 (which is early) and was crying, but still face down in bed. We tried our normal tactics (talking to her through the monitor, playing lullabys through the monitor, waiting it out, praying she falls back to sleep)…nothing worked.

So, I decided I’d go into her room and rub her back in hopes that she’d go back to sleep or at least settle down. Mark’s been sick, so I was worried she wasn’t feeling well.

With that, I crept into her room and plopped down in bed next to her (have I mentioned how much I LOVE that she’s in a full-size bed??). This began the best two hours ever. My little sweet pie wrapped her arm around my neck, climbed up on top of my belly and we cuddled – going in and out of sleep – for the next couple of hours.

It was amazingly perfect. Definitely much needed, as the guilt of new baby and the upcoming demands he will bring are setting in.

Mark took some pictures of us through the video monitor…

Sick Cuddles 1Sick Cuddles 2Sick Cuddles 3Sick Cuddles 4Sick Cuddles 5

Best. Morning. Ever.

What You’ve Missed…

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I’ve definitely been MIA from the blog-front. Things have been so incredibly busy this month. I can’t believe we’re only 1.5 weeks from the big due date and just how fast time is flying by. Which reminds me… I’m in my final days as a 30 year old lady… woof. 31 with two kids. My younger self would definitely call me old.

Anyway, I digress. In attempts to get all caught up, this will be a post filled with pictures of all our many activities lately.

Enjoy!

Passover Sedar & More Visiting with Mark’s Fam

Passover Sedar with My Fam

Charlie spent a lot of time with me at work while on Spring Break…

All dressed up for C’s BFF’s Baby Naming

 

Charlie loves laying on her brother.

Finally, I did a little freezer meal cooking for post-baby time. 36 breakfast sammies!

Dinner with friends (and enjoying the amazing weather)

Munchkin eating her challah on a stick.

Flowers for her favorite teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week

Charlotte got to hold her bestie, Charlie, at school.

Sun shine makes for two happy gals.

This cutie pie lovie keeping me company while I make dinner.

More baseball (my parents’ friend took some great pics!)

Rain or shine, she loves to be outside!

Naked baby!

Afternoon bubbles with Nana.

Despite being 38+ weeks preg, we still managed to host Mother’s Day Brunch!

Nature walking in the backyard with Grampie.

Kitchen snuggles with Nana.

37 Weeks, 3 Days & My OB Check

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How far along: 37 Weeks, 3 Days! Holy crap. I’m about 2.5 weeks from my due date. How is that even possible? I know I say this every SINGLE week, but time is seriously flying.

Taken on 4/29/16

Total weight gain: Weight gain is 3 lbs since my last appointment (2 weeks ago). Being that I had just eaten my delicious egg burrito breakfast, I’m okay with that. Total is 32lbs. Can I stay below 40?? Time will tell 🙂

Hopefully at minimum, I can stay below the 55+ I gained with Charlotte.

Maternity clothes: I’m rocking nothing but… but super excited to switch to my normal clothes! And thankful I’ve really only needed one season of clothing (cold weather).

Stretch marks: Way to go, skin! Still no stretchies!

Sleep: Sleep isn’t my strongest skill these days. My hips and my back and my shoulder get so damn sore. But it’s not terrible. With some solid tossing and turning, I still manage to sleep until about 615/630 every morning.

Best moment of this week: Be grateful that I waited until today to write this update. I was a bit cranky this week. BUT, now I’m back to happy so I can answer this question.

Highlights include more progress on the nursery…

 

Another Charlie poop on the potty! And also 4 farts! Yes, we had to strip down 4 individual times so the tiny gf could fart. She was proud.

More family time with the cousins!

And oy! Charlie’s first baseball game. It was SO much fun. She was just so incredibly happy. Nothing makes me happier.

Miss anything: Don’t judge, but yesterday morning, I woke up thinking about white sangria… at 630 am. How tasty does that sound?

Movement: The tiny man is such a mover and a shaker. I can’t even believe he’s going to be here soon. I haven’t spent a lot of time envisioning his tiny face, but I’m starting to. I see a mini Mark in my head.

Oy! I just want to squeeze him and smother him with kisses.

Food cravings: I ate so much at the game yesterday. I’m in “eat it while you’re still giant and getting more giant” mode. I had a hot dog, cheese curds and a giant soft pretzel. Whatever.

My point is that there isn’t much to crave when you’re eating everything.

Anything making you queasy or sick: My chiropractor actually helped a lot with my acid reflux. It’s definitely much more manageable since I went. But my back and hips. Oofta. They are having a hard time supporting the GIANT belly I’m rocking.

Have you started to show yet: Yesterday at the game, I was walking back to my seat and as I slipped into our row, my belly knocked the dude’s head in front of me… while I was carrying a giant soft pretzel dripping in butter.

I just shrugged.

Gender: Mister man.

Labor signs: I feel like my BHs contractions have slowed down. Speed up, contractions! Time to get ready for the show!

Belly button in or out: I laugh every time I see my belly button in the mirror.

Wedding rings on or off: Still on! Last night they were really tight, but back to being okay today.

Happy or moody most of the time: I am not going to lie… I’ve cried probably 5-6 times this past week and have found myself in an enraged state at least 4-5 times. So, I guess moody would be the overwhelming mood. BUT, today I feel happy and positive and good.

Looking forward to: I’ve got a lot of little things I’m looking forward to…

  1. Making more progress in the nursery! I just want everything hung up already.
  2. Checking more household tasks off the list and packing my damn hospital bag.
  3. We’re meeting with our doula tonight, which I’m excited about.
  4. Nice weather that’s in the forecast.
  5. We’re having dinner with friends (and their kiddies) on Friday!
  6. Mother’s Day is THIS Sunday! We are hosting brunch for the fam, which I’m excited about. I’m thinking of doing waffles again. Who doesn’t love a waffle bar?

OB CHECK UPDATE

Weight Gain: 3 lbs from last visit, 32 total

Heart Rate: 88 bpm (high, but way better than the 96 I was sitting at)

BP: 110/66

Baby’s Heart Rate: BOO! I forgot to ask, but she said it sounded perfect.

Baby Bump: Measuring between 37 and 38 cm, which she said likely means baby hasn’t dropped yet. However, she said that’s very common for second pregnancies. Many women don’t drop until they’re actually in labor or even right before they’re about to push. So no worries.

Other: I had my Strep B test today. Hopefully we’ll get some good news there (with a negative result). Also, I stayed strong and didn’t do the cervical check, which I feel good about. It really is such an insignificant test that literally makes you feel like shit or gets your hopes up without any validity.

On my way to the doc, I called my doula to keep me focused. Of course, I’m human and I want to read into something, so I started second guessing whether I should skip the cervical check or not. After speaking with her, I was really set in my decision. It helped me remember leaving the doctor’s office in tears last pregnancy when my cervix hadn’t changed. At this point, there is no need to read into anything. I just have to keep on going and just trust my body and see what happens!