Piper the Chunk

With the exception of when Piper was sick, this kid pretty much eats every 2 hours like clock work. She eats very well, and when I have seen my milk it looks like heavy whipping cream. So it is no surprise to me that she is in the 98th percentile all around. She has rolls upon rolls, over all she is a chunk.

I can’t help but compare Piper to Addison, and I’m surprised sometimes when there’s a big difference. I was super excited to have another girl in February because then the clothes would be the right size for the right season, well the joke was on me. Addison was always pretty average as far as clothes go, when she was 3 -6 months, she wore 3-6 month clothes. Well, as of this morning Piper is just over a week away from being 4 months old and I had to purge all clothing smaller than 6 months. Today she is wearing a 6-9 month top and 6-12 month pants. Perhaps the clothes I have won’t be so seasonal after all!

I’m also enjoying comparing pictures to see how they looked at the same age.

Piper at 3 1/2 Months

 

Addison at 3 1/2 Months

Harris’ in Oregon

This post is coming a couple of weeks after the fact, but better late than never.

At the end of March, we bought our new van, which I love by the way. Upon buying it, we decided we needed to take a road trip to Oregon.

John is a huge soccer fan, we are season ticket holders for the Real Salt Lake MLS team. This year Portland got an MLS team, and the first game of Real vs the Portland Timbers was going to be on April 30, so we thought that sounds like a great weekend to drive up to Portland. This was going to fall the weekend after our good friend David’s birthday. My first thought was we should surprise David for his birthday! But then I thought better of it, as David is NOT big on surprises. John suggested we instead surprise my best friend, David’s wife, Jenny. It wasn’t her birthday, but she is one of those people who is so extremely animated that her reaction to a surprise is just as good for everyone else as it is for her.

Real Salt Lake was in a huge tournament that was going to fall on Wednesday night, and John had to be there.

So we planned on leaving immediately following the game, which meant we would hit the road to Oregon around midnight. Anyone who has small kids can attest that driving at night with kids is the BEST, because they sleep most of the way.

This was an awesome trip, I loved coming into Oregon and seeing how beautiful it was, we did the obligatory Multnomah Falls photo op.

We stopped by my old work and had lunch with some good friends. Stopped by John’s old work and saw that they were doing well, which is great because the company was struggling when we left. We took Addison to her old daycare, so she could see her friends. She didn’t remember them, but after a few minutes of warming up to each other they had a great time!

Jenny was so surprised, this is the only time I have ever seen her speechless, which she says has only happened one other time in her life (I totally buy that).

We spent the weekend hanging out, going to the Oregon coast our favorite place, visiting with family that still lives there, watching the royal wedding and going to the soccer game.

The only bad part of the whole trip was coming home, which was long and sad because we were leaving our friends and the place we love. But it was such a great time.  

Addisonisms Regarding Piper

 

“Piper, it’s me, your big sister” 

“She’s so cute!”

“I’m such a good big sister”

“Piper…Piper…Piper”

“You’re my baby sister”

“Don’t cry Piper, your big sister is here”

“I love my baby sister”

“I think the baby likes me”

“Mom you teach me lots of things and then I will teach Piper”

“She’s crying, I think she’s saying ‘Mama, mama’”

“I think she’s hungry” (this is said anytime she is crying)

“Babies eat and sleep a lot”

She also sings to her, to the tune of the Chipmunks “Christmas Don’t be Late” she just sings the word ballet, over and over again.

But the best part of all of this is that Piper will calm down if crying when her big sister starts to sing or talk to her, she loves her big sister.

 

 

 

I’m Going to Jinx Myself

Addison around 6 weeks

Piper turned 6 weeks old yesterday. To commemorate this she slept a lot, last night she slept from 10-2:30 woke up and ate and then slept from 2:45-6:05. I’m not supposed to say anything about her sleeping because that probably means she won’t sleep at all t0night.

She is getting so big, we had a ton of newborn clothes, I don’t think she wore the same thing twice and still we didn’t use all of them. She is now in the 0-3 month clothes, which John calls 0-1 month clothes, because she’s not going to be in them much longer.

It’s amazing how different she looks from Addison at the same age. I don’t know why I thought they would look alike, my brothers and I don’t look alike, but John and his brothers do, so maybe that’s why I thought they would look alike.

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but Piper has darker hair and a darker complexion than Addison did. Maybe this means that she is going to look more like John, since Addison obviously gets her fair (or pasty white) skin from me.

Piper 6 Weeks

They’re both pretty cute kids though, I must say I like them and I think I’ll keep them!

My Girls!

The last post here I was impatiently awaiting the arrival of our new addition. So I will catch you all up:

The day of the c-section was Feb 9th, we arrived at the hospital, got prepped for surgery and went in at 7 am. My doctor shares his practice with several other OB’s including his wife, who was assisting him in surgery. Their practice is at another hospital so they don’t frequent the one we were at, so the nurses seemed all excited that they were both coming. Which I found odd and funny.

They prepped John and then took us into the OR. I was totally not nervous having done this before, I figured I was a pro.

They put me on the table and did my spinal block, again, I have done this before, it didn’t bother me. Or so I thought. Laying on the table I began to have a panic attack. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I was crying and freaking out, the anesthetist adjusted the drugs being administered to me, and that was it, I was fine.

One of the nurses asked about the stool by the table, and the other one replied that it was for my doctors wife. When she came in we saw why, she’s just a little person and had to have the stool to reach. John watched as they did the procedure, and at exactly 8 o’clock they pulled out the baby, they showed her to me, unfortunately I didn’t have my glasses on so she was just kind of a blur. John went with her to get cleaned up and weighed. He brought her back and put my glasses on, the first thing he did was pull up the hat they had put on her to show me her dark hair. Addison barely had any blonde hair when she was born, I was shocked at the dark hair on this kids head!

They finished sewing me up and wheeled me back to my room. Where I got to hold her. This is the biggest bummer about having c-sections I think, is that I have to wait to hold the baby. One of the first things I look at is her pinkies. It’s a family trait on my dad’s side to have crooked pinkies, and just like Addison and me this kid had crooked pinkies.

I had insisted we not bring more than 3 names with us to the hospital. As we looked at her we both agreed that she looked like Piper, which even my doctor told me later that when he first saw her he thought she looked like a Piper. So there she was, Piper Irene, and pretty much perfect.

Anyway, here we are 5 weeks later, after 3 days in the hospital (and 2 miserable nights) 2 weeks of dealing with jaundice, talk of her being tongue tied and should we do anything about it, and a big sister who loves to hold her and help, and sometimes have emotional melt downs that she knows all to well are because she’s not the center of attention anymore.

In the midst of the new baby, Addison had a birthday. My kids are almost exactly 4 years apart, which so far I think is a good age difference. We had 2 low key birthday celebration with each side of the family, and I think she was satisfied with that.

When I was pregnant with Addison and we found out it was a girl I was so intimidated, I didn’t know what to do with a girl! It had been John, Devion and me for almost 6 years, I only had brothers, John only had brothers. I was perplexed, but I’ve found I love being the mommy to a girl. It’s pink and hair ponies and frilly dresses and princesses, but it is so much fun. When I got pregnant with Piper I thought she was a boy, I was ecstatic that it was another girl. I was excited not just for me, but for Addison. I always wanted  a sister and still do. I know grown women who are so close to their sisters and I’m jealous of that. Also John loves his girls and he’s so cute with them, I love it!

Anyway, life is good, I’m working a little (sad side effect of being contracted, no maternity leave, no work=no money), but it’s a little bit at a time. Trying to establish daily routine, which is a feat in itself. It seems a little chaotic, but I couldn’t be happier with my girls!

4 Years Ago, When I Was Pregnant…

Being this pregnant I have been thinking a lot about 4 years ago, the last time I was pregnant and the circumstances that surrounded Addison’s birth. When I was pregnant with Addison I was due on February 15, my doc said if I didn’t have her on my own he would induce me on the 19th. I loved having that date, it was like it was actually going to happen.

The 15th came and went, no baby.  My mother-in-law came into town on the 18th, was going to stay for a week to help with Devion and meet the new baby, it was going to work out perfect. I went to the hospital the evening of the 19th, they hooked me up to all the machines got the pitocin going, I was up pretty much all night with contractions. The doctor came in around 6 am and said that I was not dilating or effacing at all and he sent me home.

I was devastated, I couldn’t believe that after going in for an induction that they sent me home with no baby. My doc said that if I didn’t have the baby on my own that on the 26th they would induce again, and if the same thing happened that he would do a c-section. So I waited, I was done at work and just sat home waiting for this kid to come. On the 25th my mother-in-law was going home, it was a Sunday, we were getting ready for church. As I was getting ready I was noticing some mild contractions. On our way to church I told my mother-in-law this was terrible I was going to have the baby the day that she left! After church we went to lunch and took my mother-in-law to the airport, contractions gradually getting more frequent and stronger.

That night John went to bed and I stayed up, the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. About 1 am I woke John up and said it was time to go to the hospital. We got to the hospital, got all checked in, I was progressing well. Not on any meds, I was focused, I was determined to do this, I was even ok with no drugs. After about 4 am I was dilated to a 7, but the doc didn’t like that the baby’s heart rate was dropping so low during each contraction and wasn’t recovering as quickly as he would like. He was concerned that the cord was around her neck, so they decided to do a c-section. They gave me a spinal block and took me into the OR. At 4:56 am, we had our baby 8lb, 20 1/2 inches long, Addison was here. She was perfect. It was such a long and crazy process, but it was so worth it the first time I saw her and held her.

People joked when Addison wasn’t coming that she was stubborn, and when she came on her own terms they said she had a mind of her own. The hilarious thing that she is stubborn and she has her own mind, always doing things on her terms. Which makes me wonder about this baby, I keep having bouts of really strong contractions thinking that it’s finally time, and then they go away. So what is her personality going to be like? I told my mom yesterday I think she’s a smart Alec! She says she thinks she’s just indecisive, she will take an hour to order at McDonald’s. I know that one way or another I will be holding her one week from today and I will have the rest of my life to find out about her wonderful personality!

Waiting, waiting, waiting….

I am not an extremely patient person, but sometimes waiting for something is just as fun as what I’m waiting for. For example, I enjoy the entire month of December leading up to Christmas almost as much if not more than Christmas day itself. It’s just such a fun time of year, the lights, the music, the food, buying presents and getting excited about how the gifts will be received. But by like 4 o’clock on Christmas day the whole thing is over and it’s kind of a downer.  Or waiting for a fun vacation, the anticipation is killer, but so much fun to get all excited about it. The vacation is usually great, but then it’s over, and again kind of feels like a downer.

I am NOT enjoying the waiting right now, probably because once the baby gets here it’s not a downer, it’s the most fun EVER! I’m having contractions, not consistent, and as John will tell you I’m over analyzing all of them, and he assures me it won’t be happening soon… but I WANT it to. I have a contraction, and I’m such a dork I time it, then I sit, and sit, waiting for the next one, and it comes like 25 minutes later. I’m probably still a ways away from anything actually happening…yet, I’m waiting, waiting, waiting…