More Easter

I just realized I never posted Tommy's Easter outfit photo (compliments of my sister!)-yes, the hat was necessary.


And another momentous milestone in our household: Patrick ate his very first Peep, and LOVED it.
But it was the Easter Bunny at Baba's house that stole the show with a surprise grill (just like Daddy's). Patrick has been grilling up hot dogs and hamburgers ever since.


On this Friday, our household is enjoying a relaxing morning routine. Tom helped out last night with a bottle feeding while I got so much needed sleep. Tommy woke up around 6:30 and we enjoyed an hour-long breastfeeding session while the royal wedding aired. Patrick didn't wake up until 8:00, and Tom should have a short day today, home by lunch? Our lawn is in desperate need of a mowing, so my fingers are crossed that the rain wraps up by 11:00 like the weather channel predicts.

Dear B-Mama, How Do you Do It?

I have a friend, B-Mama, who also blogs (much more religiously than I manage) despite having FOUR little ones to look after at home. So when I was faced with my first solo run of watching after both Tommy and Patrick- no grandparents, no Daddy, just me- I realized I was a little anxious and my thoughts went to B-Mama. How does she get anywhere even close on time, and was she ever nervous about her first outing alone with 2, or 3, or 4? Today has been fine despite no naps for mom (Tommy fell asleep finally after Patrick woke up), but it seems silly to be anxious. After all, I used to tote a gun and badge. I have executed search warrants, taken down criminals, and gone undercover, but this mom to multiple kids is a little intimidating. What to do when they wake up at the same time, want fed at the same time, won't nap at the same time? How do I get showered (because I didn't yesterday)? I know I'll eventually find my routine, but in the meantime, B-Mama has all my respect.

More importantly, for your viewing enjoyment, here are a few photos taken when Tommy refused to fall asleep this afternoon. He is growing, back up to 9lbs,12 oz after dropping to 9 even the day we left the hospital. Yesterday was also a big milestone for our guy: I had his tongue tie (a webbing that connected the underside of his tongue to the bottom of his mouth) clipped and we were able to resume breastfeeding! We still have a long way to go before we are out of the woods-my milk supply is low and has to be built back up, and Tommy needs to become more efficient at latching on. But progress there has been!
You'll notice that Tommy doesn't have Patrick's baby blues, so I am curious whether his hair will remain dark like mine, or lighten like Patrick's did a few months after birth (Patrick had the same dark locks originally)

P.S. This morning, I was delighted to discover that my ankles have decided to move back in. Still a little swollen (I tried immediately to squeeze into my blue suede heels just to see), but still hopeful they did not grow ANOTHER size with this pregnancy.

Easter with a Family of Four

This mom is happy to be back blogging after a great night of sleep (almost a six hour stretch) and a three hour nap thanks to a sleepy baby and a Mimi who entertained P while we slept. So here are some belated photos from our Easter festivities. Patrick dyed eggs for the very first time and loved every minute of it, as did we. He did better than we imagined and has been eating his colored eggs like a champ.

And earlier that day, we had a visit from P and Tommy's D.C. cousins-too bad P slept through their whole visit, but at least Tommy enjoyed some undivided attention.


By Easter morning, we were a little brain dead and exhausted, but I was proud to see to see my little boy looking not-so-little in his seersucker Easter suit and very first tie (somehow I missed a photo of P wearing his matching suit jacket).

And of course the obligatory Easter family photo after we returned from Mass (Tommy stayed home with Baba while we took Patrick).

Now that I am at day 8 of postpartum recovery, I am definitely noticing a huge difference-much less pain getting up and down, and most of my back ache has disappeared. I can finally get out of bed without Tom having to give me a hand up. My feet and legs are still extremely swollen and I am waiting for uterus to shrink up so I quit looking pregnant, but the weight is coming off-181.5 today from my high pregnancy weight of 204. What a difference a day and night of some sleep makes.

"Do You Need More Briefcases?"

Exhausted. Tom asked me about the briefcases yesterday as he put Tommy in his bassinet. Huh? He didn't even remember saying it. Thus, no posts, we are just treading water. Lots of breastfeeding issues that we hope to get remedied soon. I am not throwing in the towel yet! And guess who is warming up to his brother, even dishing out kisses and hugs?

Tom is doing an AMAZING job. I could not make it this far without him. He hugs me when I need it, which is a lot. On this Easter, I am overly blessed.

Tomorrow, I promise to post more photos, some more details about the birth and what is going on with us, but for now, Happy Easter!

Annoucing Thomas Paul Pohl

Tommy arrived April 17th at 11:46AM weighing in at 10lbs, 3 oz. He has gotten a clean bill of health and we are all on cloud nine, with the exception of Patrick who was quite apprehensive about the whole meeting. He had just arrived at our hospital room when he glanced over at Tommy and said "Bye". We asked him "Bye who?" and he responded "baby". I am sure he will come around soon.

I'll post my birth story when I am not so groggy and falling asleep as I type this, but we ended up with another c-section after an hour of pushing and no further progression. Tommy is picking up breastfeeding like a pro and I am recovering from a pretty rough c-section experience. More later...

On Time (For Once)

Even if I would start having some contractions right now, I doubt baby would arrive before midnight which means we could potentially have a baby on our actual due date. I am not having contractions necessarily, but my belly has gotten hard as a rock several times today (not consistently) and my stomach has been weird for the past two days. I feel like something may happen soon and am hoping the same for Elizabeth who is probably about to re-grout her bathroom if her baby doesn't make an appearance soon (she is one week overdue and has been keeping quite busy with home improvement projects).

And Then There Were Three

Not a single Braxton-Hicks or true contraction to report here. Just biding our time. P and I were outside in the sun a lot today and neighbors stopped by to help pass the time. It is 9:00pm and I am exhausted and heading off to bed. Tom thinks Saturday will be our day, but right now, that seems so far off. Even Patrick is getting impatient and says "out" anytime I refer to my belly now. So more waiting...

Four to Go

Still waiting. No changes. I will go to sleep tonight thinking "maybe this will be the night". Come out and play, Baby Pohl.

Spring Showers

It has been raining ALL day long, but the good news is that everything in our yard is in bloom-the trees, the bulbs, the bushes. Sunday was a different story though and here are a few photos from our park trip. I used our new camera, but had to stick with the auto setting until I learn my way around the dials.

(Seriously-could my belly be any lower in this shot?)

I had my last doctor's check-up today and a little progress was made-my cervix is soft and beginning to efface (sorry if that was TMI for you) and baby's head has dropped a little to -1 Station. After my appointment I met up with my sister and we tried to walk baby out at the mall, quite unsuccessfully. I did find P the cutest golf shirt in the world though and Patrick was able to play with his cousin Jack. Was this my last outing for a while? I hope so, because I am tipping the scales today at 204!

One Week to Go!

The end of the weekend is here, and as much as I was ready to to welcome this baby, not much is going on besides some serious nesting. I was scolded (and rightly so) by mt husband for some excessive housework, but our bedroom was DUSTY and needed a good cleaning. We took Patrick to the park as our one of our last single child family activities and then wrapped up Sunday with a dinner out-just the three of us. My back is feeling better and better, and I am feeling pretty well despite an enlarged right foot (much more swelling than my left which is not uncommon). I tried out our new camera at the park and my project tomorrow is to download the pictures and start learning more of the features. The priest at church today gave me a special delivery blessing, so we are all set! Tuesday is my next check-up. My friend Elizabeth passed her due date this weekend, so it might be wishful thinking, but would be fun to deliver on the same day.

4:31 AM

I can't sleep, for no particular reason. I'm not in any pain, I went to the bathroom, no contractions. I just don't FEEL tired. Very frustrating. Thank goodness for Sex and the City reruns because this has been going on since 2. I had a good day though thanks to barely any back pain. I don't even think I took Tylenol today. I left Patrick with my sister and even drove to Target for a while. Heaven. My darling sister Karen not only did my dishes in my absence, she also vacuumed and tidied up. She's the perfect kind of sister who shows up with the "Big Brother" t-shirt and baby's first Easter outfit. I think Aunt Karen will have no problem entertaining Baby Pohl when he arrives so P and I can hang out together. Big plans this weekend: Getting a pedicure Saturday morning!

Milestone!

Guess who took their first nap in a big boy bed at 22 months? That's right, Patrick slept for two hours, which will make my life a lot easier since I am still not picking him up due to my back issues. It took him an hour to fall asleep, but hopefully that gets better with time. Go P! I had to risk waking him up to get this shot...

My sleepyhead waking-

Update: Tom had to work late that same night, so I put Patrick to sleep for the night in the bed again and he slept through the night until his usual waking time. Could it be this easy? I am sure Baby's arrival is going to throw off some of this progress.

Progress

Happy to report that last night I had a decent night's sleep, even if I did have to wake to use the restroom 3 times. My back is feeling better to the point that I haven't taken a single dose of my Tylenol with codeine since yesterday just before my check-up. Regular extra strength Tylenol seems to being doing the trick. Now that I can more easily get up and down off the couch/toilet and bed, it is becoming harder to make myself just sit and rest my back all day, but I am behaving. My feet are still swollen like balloons, but luckily I have nowhere to go. If I go past my due date, my c-section has been scheduled for April 18th. Only 13 more days max before we meet baby! Today, I had a good friend drive from the other side of the city to entertain me and help with Patrick which made the day go by much more quickly. I am slowly starting to get a little anxious to meet this guy...

38 Week Check-up

Today I had another check-up and can report that absolutely nothing is going on with Baby-no dilation yet. This is completely different from my pregnancy with P-with him I was 3.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced at my 38 week check-up, but P was still not early. With this one, I suspect there will be little activity until he decides to pop out, and I suspect this guy might be a week early. I tipped the scale today at 200, but had great numbers for my BP. My back is slightly improved, but now my elephant ankles are making their end of pregnancy appearance. Sleeping sucks due to my back discomfort, and today I was also up at 4am with a terrible stomach ache that I credit to the narcotics. I would say I was ready to have this kid, but my camera hasn't shipped yet and I really want to have the new one with us at the hospital. Good reason, huh?

Lucky

Despite the pain of the last few days, I count myself lucky that Baby and I remain healthy for the most part. Thursday was my worst day- about 20 minutes before my physical therapy session my back started spasming which sent pain down my back and around my ribs. I managed to drive myself to therapy only to be told they could do nothing for me due to the late stage of my pregnancy. I cried in their office. I tried to endure the pain hoping it would go away, but after an excruciating night and morning, I called my doctor and am resting better thanks to some drugs. Still not sleeping great, but better. So until baby comes, no driving, no lifting Patrick, no housework (no tears shed over this one!), and lots of resting for the back. It is hard to sit still when every bone in my body wants to nest! My hope is that my back recovers enough where I feel I could labor, but also that baby comes a little early so I can get back to living our life. Tom is already so overwhelmed by work and taking care of a sick pregnant wife that I hate that housework is being dumped on him as well. Perhaps Baby Pohl will arrive a little early-despite what the books say, this kid has most definitely dropped and I am sure at my check-up on Monday the doctor will verify that. I started dilating a month before I had Patrick, so I am curious if I will follow the same path with this one. I am also annoyed by blogger-my paragraph breaks have decided to disappear and I have tried everything without success to fix the problem. I give up for now.