World, meet Clair Elise Davis!

Thanks to my sweetie's thoughtfulness, you all know by now that I am now the proud mother of one utterly adorable and completely unpredictable Clair Elise Davis!

We're home from the hospital now and I am exhausted and sore (good GRIEF this C-section incision hurts!) and hormonal and oh-so-happy!

I have so much to say about this labor/delivery/hospital stay/little baby girl -- but Lester covered the gist of it (wasn't that such a cute post? I didn't even know he was going to do that! Awww!) so I'll instead do two things.

First: Thanks and shout-outs and love-grams forever to Beth for coming all the way out to Baltimore with FOOD!!! for the freshly-home-from-the-hospital Davis family and also -- just because she is JUST that awesome -- gifts for Clair, as well as for Cary and Dean!!! Seriously, she wins the blogfriend of the year award with that wonderful move. And honestly, I think it's way past time I stopped calling her a blogfriend, don't you? I'd like to think that she and I are just plain ol' friend-friends now. And I'm so happy and blessed to count her among the many amazing women I hold dear to my heart in that category.
Thanks so much, Beth! My entire family thanks you!

Second: PHOTOS!!

Clair Elise, born 2/16/12 at 11:21 a.m. -- 7 lbs., 14. oz of pure loveliness.



Hmmm. Shall I give Mommy a break and nurse today? Or ever? No. I don't think that I will.



Headed home from the hospital. My first car ride. My adorable hat. My enormous pacifier!



Curve Ball -- curved into a ball. (I love this photo.)



It is not an exaggeration to say that this man has lost his ever-lovin'-mind over this little girl. Lost his mind, do you hear me? Hello, Daddy? Meet Clair's little finger. Then twist yourself right on around it. It's a wrap for you, sir.



Cary and Dean meet their little sister for the first time, two days after she's born. The jury's still out as to what they think about her. I won't get into it here, about how differently they reacted to her -- and me -- on this day. I'm sure there will be many posts about this topic in the future.



Cary, coming in for a closer look.



Contemplative Clair.



Silly Clair.



She's got a lot of personality already, folks. Hold on to your hats! This is gonna be one fun ride!

Big Day in the Davis household!

Yesterday was a big day for the Davises.

After my appointments, the doctor called in the afternoon and said they have scheduled me for an induction on Monday, Feb. 20th!! So there it is -- Curve Ball's birthday already penciled in!

I can't believe it's less than a week away, but somehow it still seems like an eternity. Mostly because I am not sleeping hardly at all anymore, thanks to discomfort and last-weeks-of-pregnancy insomnia. So I'm exhausted all day long, no exaggeration. And consequently, I have no patience for my three guys when I'm at home. They probably think I am the world's grumpiest person.
I also keep going back and forth between feelings of excitement that my baby daughter will be here next week, relief that I will no longer be pregnant, and anxiety about all things induction-and-labor-and-delivery-related, newborn-related, and adding a third child to a family-related, too. My brain is constantly going, going, going, with so many disparate and heavy thoughts.

And of course, I'm still thinking about all the tedious leftover things I have to do. Last night, I had the beginnings of a sugar low, so I got up at 1:30 a.m. to eat a snack, and while eating, I made ever more lists of stuff to do, including things I need to finish at work, and personal things like get Thank You cards written, addressed and mailed, figure out how to put the Bundle Me on the infant car seat, and send out paper invitations to my sister's baby shower. All before Monday.
So, yes, my brain is going non-stop!

Add to the mix the fact that we also got word yesterday that Cary and Dean got accepted into the pre-school we wanted them to go to! HOORAY!! Sooooo exciting! Pre-school!

We have options, too, about how often we want to send them, which makes my brain hurt even more.
We had been considering the 5-days-a-week half-day plan, which would have them in school from quarter to 8 until 11:30., giving them an introduction to school, a steady weekly routine, and giving Michelle a very small break, since she'll also have Curve Ball now to care for.
But because there are plenty of openings, we were told we can also send them three days a week, half-day; or three- or five-days a week full-day (which would end their day at 2:30).
Three days a week, half-day would be cheaper, saving us a little money (which is always welcome, especially during the Year of Austerity).
But to make Michelle's life easier, we're now leaning toward the three days a week, full day.
This way, she'd have three days a week where she is mostly home with only one little baby. And two days a week where she has all three munchkins.

Those of you who have been through the pre-school thing before, what do you think?

• Is 7:45 to 2:30 too long of a day for 2-and-a-half-year-olds? (They'd be starting in the fall).
• Is it better for kids their age to be in school 5 days a week for continuity's sake? Or is it sorta nice for them to transition into school slowly, and still have two days at home with their beloved babysitter? (This is my line of thinking, btw.)
• If you were a sitter of three kids, who was woefully underpaid, which school scenario sounds more appealing to you?

Either way, we are quite excited about our boys going to school in September, carrying little backpacks and leaving their baby sister at home, like the BIG boys that they are!

Big boys in school! New baby girl at home! Life is pretty exciting around this house these days.

I just hope Curve Ball doesn't decide to add any more excitement by arriving earlier than Monday! Please Curve Ball, in this case, don't live up to your name! :-)

1 week or less...

I'm officially working from home this week, thanks to the kindness of my boss, who was probably tired of watching me hobble around the office, looking like death warmed over.

I had monitoring and a doctor's appointment, though, on my first day working from home, then I came home and ate lunch, so now I really do have to work.

But here's the update:

Curve Ball is acing monitoring, so no worries there.

At the OB's I got a cervix check. I'm up to 1 cm. dilated, which means my cervix is "favorable."
That means induction it is!

The docs want to schedule for the day I turn 39 weeks, which is next Tuesday, but I asked if they could do it on next Monday -- one day shy of 39 weeks -- instead. That's because it's President's Day -- and Lester is off, but Michelle will be here working.
So my work-crazy hubby won't have to take a day off and we'll have babysitting covered, at least most of the day. So it just works out. It'd be fine on Tuesday, too, but I just thought I'd ask.

The doc has to check to see if she can schedule me for one day shy of 39 weeks, because there are rules apparently about that. So we'll know later on this afternoon or tomorrow morning if we will be going in for an induction on the 20th or the 21st.

So the countdown is on! Tick tock, tick tock....

(And that's all if she doesn't decide to come on her own before-hand, just to show everyone who is boss!)

One quick thing about each of my children

Quick report on the Davis children:

CARY:Yesterday, Cary pulled up his pajama shirt, pointed to his mid-section and said, "Baby!"

It was adorable! He was so proud!
Despite his enthusiasm, I explained that, no, Mommy is the one with the baby, and lifted my shirt to show him. He rubbed my belly, leaned in a little closer, and then yelled, "OUT!"

My sentiments exactly, buddy. My sentiments exactly.

He said it again -- "OUT!" -- so I had to tell him that the baby wasn't ready to come out yet. To which, he replied, "Toon?" (soon)....

Not soon enough, buddy. Not soon enough. :-)

DEAN: Lester had to stay home with the boys today because our sitter has jury duty (darn civic-minded woman!) and I skipped work Monday because of all our jillion dr's appointments, so I had to drag myself to the office today. While hanging out this morning with them, Lester sent me this photo of Dean, who had just eaten an entire apple, all by himself, without anyone cutting it up for him.
Here's Lester's words about this: I just finished reading a book to Cary when I noticed that the apple was gone. I asked Dean what happened to the apple and he said "eed it." I asked him where the apple went and he stuck his finger in his mouth. He ate everything except for the stem.

My child is such a gifted snacker. LOL. (But seriously, what a milestone. No more chopping every darn thing into tiny little pieces! Hooray!)

That's Cary's pajamed-butt in the shot, FYI.

And you might note that you rarely see photos of Dean these days without Cookie Monster near. Yes, Cookie has become the daytime "lovey." But never fear, Dean is still a complete and total nut for Puppy at night. This reminds me of an old, old song by Mary Wells: "Two Lovers."
In it she sings, "Well, I've got two lovers and I ain't ashamed. Two lovers and I love 'em both the same!"
That's totally Dean. Such a playa!

CURVE BALL: During monitoring this morning, I finally decided to bite the bullet and ask the tech about something that had been bothering me for many, many weeks. Since the gender scan at 19 weeks, not one person in the perinatologist's office -- not even the perinatologists -- will call my baby a girl. They never say "she" or "her" or anything. I know they try hard not to disclose the sex of a baby because so many people don't want to find out these days. But I already know! And they know I know, because they ask me at the start of every sono: "Do you know what you're having?" "Why yes, it's a girl." And even still -- they always call her "baby" or "it" or (my least favorite, because of how grammatically incorrect it is) "they" or "their." As in, "Baby's got their head in the right position!" "Baby's practicing their breathing!" Ugh!

I want to scream every time -- She's a GIRL! And she's JUST ONE GIRL, so how could she possibly be a "their?" UGH!!

It was starting to make me slightly paranoid. I thought: What if she's NOT a girl? What if they just thought she was a girl way back when things were not as clearly formed, but they know now that she's a he, and they don't want to tell me?? What will I do with the girly room? All the girl's clothes? We don't have a name for a boy!!! (I know this makes no sense...)

Anyway, today, I just finally asked, rather sheepishly: Can I take a peek at her girly parts again? I just want to make sure she's still a girl.

The tech quickly zeroed in on her bottom section, and sure enough, girly parts, plain as day!

I have a photo, which gives me great joy (the room can stay covered in flowers and hearts, Yay!), but Lester made me promise not to post "pornographic pictures" of his daughter's private parts. (His words, not mine.)

So you'll just have to take my word for it.

She's a she. Yay!

Post-consult update

Lester and I spent the morning in consultations with the perinatologist and the OB.

Here's the deal:

Curve Ball is doing great! She's doing amazing during the monitoring sessions; her weight is good and my pressure is good. There's plenty of fluid; she's moving around. The docs aren't worried so much about her size -- the computer has her at about 6 lbs. 12 oz. (give or take 20-percent).
Everything looks wonderful.

Which means that the doctors are no longer as worried about her as they once were -- and also that it was a really good thing I stopped being a wimp about the insulin and just did what needed to be done. I'm so happy I don't have to worry (as much) about her as I did before. I really do feel lighter after hearing that news. My baby's OK! Yay!!

But all this over-achieving that my child is doing makes the delivery situation a little more complicated. When the docs were thinking she might be the size of a baby hippo at birth, they were pretty sure by this point, they'd be talking C-section or induction pronto.

But now, both doctors agree that I can continue to gestate for two more weeks -- at which point I'll be 39 weeks. If I haven't gone into labor naturally by then, they both independently suggested induction.

Two things to note about what I just wrote. 1) The docs are thinking I can deliver vaginally! This was pretty much out of the question a couple months ago! And I may still have a chance of going into labor on my own! This is great news to me. 2) TWO weeks is all I have left. TWO weeks!

Curve Ball is due on Feb. 28, but 39 weeks will be Feb. 21 -- the day after President's Day. Lester is leaning toward delivery on President's Day because, ever the practical one, he's thinking about the fact that we'll both be off work, but Michelle will still be working. I suppose that is a pretty good idea, actually. Curve Ball?? Listen to your Daddy!!

Two weeks, people!! The countdown is on!

So much to do!!!!!!!!!! Gotta pack my bag; gotta figure out the child-care situation. Gotta wrap stuff up at work. Gotta wash her clothes, fold them and put them away. Gotta make some dinners and freeze them! Gotta find a stupid baby store that sells baby hats!! (Babies 'R Us says they're sorry, but they're getting ready for spring, so no hats for your infant's daughter poor exposed head. Target doesn't have any either. My child is going to freeze to DEATH!! Ugh!)

One more time for the record: TWO WEEKS!

Showered with love!

Yesterday, my Mom and two of my good friends threw me (and Curve Ball) a little baby shower.

I had hoped to post some of the great pictures I took at the shower (using my actual camera, and not my phone, for once) but of course, I left my camera at my Mom's and who knows when I'll see it again. Sigh.

So this is the only picture I have, sent to me by my sister from her iPhone:



She's 6 weeks behind me, but you could never tell that by looking at us. She's huge!! (And I mean that in a good way!) I have the feeling her son and my daughter are going to be best of friends. They're probably in there in this picture, talking to one another, plotting to take over the world (and our hearts).

It was soooo nice to be around good friends and family and to open up the most adorable little dresses and sleepers for my soon-to-be-here daughter. I had SUCH a good time, I can't even tell you. And I truly, truly am blessed because you have no idea how many lovely things Curve Ball got. I was expecting a "sprinkle" and got a full-fledged shower!!

Everything was just beautiful, but a couple things just really touched my heart:

My friend Kelly bought me this book, which she said always makes her cry when she reads it to her daughter -- a sweetiepie who is exactly a month younger than Cary and Dean.


I read it today, when I had time to really sort through her things, and got all choked up. I mean, with lines like this, how could I not?

Words can be worrisome,
people complex,
motives and manner unclear,
grant her the wisdom to choose her path right,
free from unkindness and fear.

UGH!! Talk about tear-jerker verses. I love it.

Then, my friend Stacey gave me four soft-as-can-be onesies that she personally embroidered, with sayings like, "Sweet" and "Darling." Look at this oh-so-sweet gray one, which says "Love"! Oh, yes, more tears ensued when I opened these.


And THEN, my sister hand-painted wooden letters to spell out my lovebug's name! The letters are adorably whimsical and made-with-love and are absolutely perfect. This is the last letter in Curve Ball's name -- R -- and on it, Tahira (my sister) wrote her a little personal note. Isn't that the sweetest???


I'm going to put the letters up on the wall in Curve Ball's room, in the empty space you see here, between the crib and the changing table-dresser-thingy. I'm thinking vertical. Anyone have thoughts on that?


And here are a couple other photos of Curve Ball's room, which is, finally, basically done. Yay!
It's hard to get a good angle of the whole room, because it's small and configured in a way that is not photo-friendly. But you get the gist.


Here's the reading/rocking nook. The frame on the wall holds two of her sonogram photos, and has space for three of her newborn photos, when we eventually get those done.


I'm going to order a dust ruffle for the crib and obviously we're going to put sheets on the crib mattress, and a Boppy cover, and put the hot pink changing pad cover back on, after they're all washed. But other than that, this is pretty much it. I'm pretty happy with it. I hope she will be too. :-)


P.S. Speaking of washing, this is just ONE of the baskets of Curve Ball-related stuff I have to wash, fold and put away before she gets here. I think I need to take a week off from work!

OK -- gotta go. The Super Bowl is over and my husband is demanding the laptop. And I need a snack!

G'night!

Uh-oh...sibling rivalry already?

I don't usually post twice in one day, but I just remembered that I needed to get this down before I forgot.

Two nights ago, I'm sitting on the sofa, while Cary and Dean are crawling all over me and the pillows, being busy as usual.

I had my shirt pulled up and the elastic maternity-waistband thingy on my pants pulled down, giving my poor, itchy skin a breather. So my belly was on full display.

Cary spied this, came speed-crawling over, and yanked my shirt down.

"Close!" he said.

"You don't want to see Mommy's tummy?" I asked, thinking maybe this distorted, stretch-marked monstrosity grosses them out (because Dean does the SAME thing, whenever my stomach is exposed.)

"Noooo!" he said. "No baby! Noooooo, BABY!"

So...apparently, it's not the gross tummy he's opposed to. It's the baby inside he's got a problem with.

Uh-oh. And I thought Dean was gonna be the problem.

On talking, reading, singing and talking some more

Last night I had an appointment after work, so on my way there, I called home to talk to Lester and the boys, who were playing a little before getting ready for dinner.

Lester put me on speaker-phone so I could talk to the boys. Cary just wanted to push the buttons and giggle, but Dean had something to say:

Dean: Hi, Muh-muh.

Me: Hi, Deanie!!

Dean: Mo racka? (Lester had given them crackers to tide them over before dinner, and Dean wanted more. Lester had already said "no" a thousand times. So now he's asking me.)

Me: You want more crackers?

Dean: Pre-pees. (For some reason, he always says "pretty please," even though no one seems to recall teaching him that.)

Me: No, sweetie. Daddy said the crackers are all gone. It's almost time for dinner.

Dean: Dinner. Ah-mose.

Me. That's right. It's almost time for dinner. Do you want some good dinner? Daddy's gonna give you dinner soon.

Dean: Nooooooo! No dinner!

(Lester, in the background: "Cary, do you want some dinner?" Cary: "Noooooooooooo!! Nooooooo! Pway! [play]")

Me: Ummm, OK, babe. Talk to you later. (I felt meltdowns coming on any second and, to be frank, the radio was rockin' in the car, and I much preferred some sweet tunes to the cacophony of screaming toddlers.)

I recount this little scene to point out that I had a fairly intelligible phone conversation with my not-yet 21-month old baby, the one who is actually the least talkative of the two.

This just goes to show you Moms of infant twins or twin-Moms-to-be (you know who you are, DCAngel and Wiley) that all the books that tell you that twins will likely be speech delayed, and that boys will likely be speech delayed, and that preemies will likely be speech delayed -- all those books don't know diddly.

Now, I'm not saying don't read the books. I read them and I continue to read them. I just ordered the next in the series of Ames books to help me understand year 2 for the boys. The books ARE helpful. But they are not the end-all, be-all.

YOU know your kid(s) better than anyone. And you can defy the odds (barring any actual developmental issues that need outside intervention) just by doing what comes naturally to you: loving your babies, reading constantly to them, talking to them not at them, repeating things 800 million times, etc. etc.

It fueled me every time I read that twins were likely to get HALF the attention that a single baby would get. It drove me to say, That's what you think, baby books! My boys are going to get DOUBLE the attention. Ha! Take that!

And so I made it my mission. I made my sister read to them in the NICU when she came to see them. My Nana laughed at us that we read to them at one week old. "Will you look at this?!" she cackled. "Reading books to them already!" We never designated a "storytime." Anytime was a good time to read. We play music (kids' songs) everyday, regardless of how sick we get of hearing them. We sing to them ALL the time. They see TV in the mornings, when we're getting ready for work ("Noose!" they demand, if we don't have the Today Show turned on fast enough) and during football games (Lester insists). But other than that, no TV. We are with them, doing things and talking about what we're doing, explaining and expounding and then explaining some more. It's exhausting, if I'm being honest. But it's important.

(Two months old, already dreaming about books:)

And I'm not patting myself on the back here -- there are a million things I could and should do better as a parent. (Oh, yes, sooo many things!) I'm just saying that we were determined to make their early years language-rich, and so we try really hard not to let ourselves lapse in that area.

It goes to show you that determination can pay off!

Now...enter Curve Ball in a few weeks.

Will we have the energy to do it all over again?? Seriously, when I say that all that talking/reading/repeating/explaining/singing is exhausting, I mean it. How will we ever muster the energy to do this all again??

"Yes, CurveBall. That's a spoon. A spoon. Do you see the spoon? You have a blue spoon. We eat with a spoon. Mmmm. Eat! Do you want your spoon? Cary has a spoon. Dean has a spoon, too. Let's hold your spoon. Do you want to read the fun book we read yesterday about the dish running away with the spoon? Let's get the book and read it. Book. Mommy will go get the book. Mommy LOVES to read books. Do you like books?"

Lordhavemercy. I'm tired just thinking about it.

I pray I have the energy, the strength, the wherewithal to do for my ONE child what I did (and continue to do) for the two first-borns.

Which is why I ordered ... two books about that! :-)

Curveball photos (as promised)

Sooo much going on at work the next couple weeks, I am seriously dizzy from trying to keep it all straight.

I'm in between conference calls right now, so I thought I'd just post these two photos really quickly, since I promised to do it yesterday.

First, Curveball at 33 weeks, 6 days:



I think she looks like Dean, but Michelle (our babysitter) thinks she looks a lot like Cary. Go figure.
Lester said, "Why does she look angry? Is she going to be an angry baby?"
Lord, I hope not. I am praying for "quiet, sweet, compliant, happy and loves-to-sleep" baby. Is that too much to ask?

And here is the centerpiece of the design of Curveball's room. This took me about 90 minutes to do, and I didn't even put up all the pieces. There are other decals that I will eventually put strategically around the room, in bare spots -- along with some framed photos, etc. -- but I don't want it to look too junked-up with stuff, so I'll have to think carefully about where everything goes.

Once the valance is up, and I have her bedding, and the other decals are in place, I'll take shots of the full room, so you can see the whole thing.
But for now -- the Tree of Happy Babyness!

I realize now that I probably could have put it up a little higher, as there are leaves and flowery-things that get hidden by her crib. But I have mentioned here before that I am short, so this was as good as it was gonna get, without a ladder. And I was in no mood for ladders on Monday when I did this, especially not with a head cold and a baby on my bladder.

Anyway, despite it being too low on the wall, I think it turned out pretty cute, eh?
I can't wait until the whole thing is done!

OK...that's all I have time for today, except to say again how much I enjoyed my brunch and conversation with Beth on Sunday. I hope 2012 brings more meetings with more blogfriends! If you all are as awesome as Beth, I am in for a TREAT!

Weekend re-cap

I left my cell phone at home and Lester gave me his cold over the weekend, so I'm discombobulated and out of sorts and that means this blog post will be super short.

Weekend re-cap:

Saturday, my sugars were out of control and I felt wiped out the entire day, so I stayed on the couch most of the time and found creative ways to entertain the boys from there.

Sunday, I met up with Beth!!!!! We had brunch and dished about marriage and babies and life, and it was so much fun. She's sooo great. I'm so glad I started this blog so I could meet people like her! Did we take any pictures, you ask? Ummm...of course we did not. We were too busy stuffing our faces and laughing.

Sunday, late evening, I started feeling like I was getting sick. I tried to ignore it. Then, as I'm lying in bed watching Fair Game (a movie about the Valerie Plame story), I started having back-to-back Braxton Hicks. By the time I started counting them, I got up to NINE in an hour.
So I called the on-call doctor, who said to drink a ton of water and watch it for two more hours, and if there were six or more into the third hour, to come to Labor and Delivery. The next hour there were six. And the next hour, I have no idea, because it was way past my bedtime and I fell asleep. I don't think there were that many, though, but I did have to get up and pee 8,000 times because of all the water I drank. 15 contractions in two hours? Weird, right? I have no idea what that was all about.

I was glad that I had monitoring the next day, so I could get a cervix check.

Monday, I was full-blown sick. I went to my monitoring session at the perinatal center feeling headachey and sore-throaty and generally sore. I slept so hard through monitoring, I actually snored. (Embarrassing!) But at least my cervix looks good (nice and closed) and the baby seems fine. I even got a new picture of her where I think she looks like Dean.

Did I bring the picture to scan here? No, of course I did not. Sigh.

Being sick was annoying because I had big plans for Monday, including finally taking down Christmas decorations and putting up some of the decorations in Curve Ball's room. But I slept most of the day (this is the benefit of having an awesome husband) and when I woke up, I was feeling sluggish and unmotivated.

But... Lester took the boys to the grocery store and I just couldn't waste that alone time, no matter how poorly I felt. So I rushed, rushed, rushed and took down just about all the Christmas decorations (don't ask if they're packed very well) and managed to straighten up the toys and miscellaneous stuff around the house while they were gone.

And then, when the boys went to sleep, I did manage to put up what will be the main centerpiece of decor in Curve Ball's room. It took more than 90 minutes to do, and there was a lot of reaching and bending and standing, so I gave up around 9:45 and came to bed.

I watched the last half of the Republican debate with Lester and afterwards was out like a light. And there's my weekend.

Did I take any pictures of Curve Ball's room? No, of course I didn't. But I'll post again tomorrow and I'll have a photo then. I promise.

So...tomorrow, a picture of Curve Ball and a picture of the progress I'm making in her room. But no picture of me and Beth. You'll just have to take my word for it that we both looked FABULOUS!

32 week check-up for Curve Ball

I had a marathon morning.

First stop, a growth scan (ultrasound) at the perinatologist. Then, fetal monitoring, also at the perinatal center. Then, an OB appointment.

I'm sleepy from all that doctoring!

Here's the long and short of my visits:

Curve Ball is still big -- plenty big. She's looking on the ultrasound to be about 4 lbs. 13 oz., which is insane. At this point, most babies are somewhere around 3 lbs. 8 oz., which is about what she was last visit. Four weeks ago.

(And that is already bigger than either Cary or Dean were at birth!)

I keep getting visions in my head of the Stay Puft marshmallow man growing in my uterus. Oy.

The good news is, somehow, the doctors said that her rate of growth appears to have slowed a tad, and her abdomen (although still large) isn't AS large as it was, proportionately speaking.

So, the insulin is working! Now I just have to keep it up, so that her growth slows even more. Let's hope I'm able to pull that off.

Fetal monitoring was uneventful. I started a new book and dozed a little bit while it was going on.

And the OB and I had a good discussion about possible scenarios around delivery of this baby, since she is a chubster.

Although the doctor used words like "avoiding an obstetric catastrophe," which still are bouncing around in my head, actually she didn't stress me out or make me worried. I think that's the sign of a good doctor.

The bottom bottom line is that we'll know more about how Curve Ball is likely to be delivered around 36 weeks. But it's pretty unlikely they'll let me go into labor naturally. It's looking like either an induction, or a C-section. And possibly between 37 and 39 weeks.

How curious is it that I delivered TWO babies vaginally, but will probably have to deliver this ONE baby by C-section?

This is yet another thing to file under the "You Just Never Know What Life Has in Store for You" file.

That file in my house, by the way, is overflowing.

Back in the saddle, but my horse is moving slowwwwwly

Happy New Year!!

I'm back at work with a ton to do, of course, but I wanted to get back in the saddle with a lot of things, including testing my sugars more regularly and blogging!

So this'll be short-ish.

I had two weeks off from work, with my family, and it was AWESOME. I spent a lot of time with the babies, and I swear I witnessed them developing right before my eyes. Their language skills are exploding; sometimes they string together three or four related words, helping Lester and me to know much better what they're thinking or wanting. This is lovely, let me tell you.

They're still amazingly whiny and tantrum-y, but at least there are way more moments where I can say, "Oh, you want to hear 'Hot Cross Buns?' OK. Let me play that for you!" or something along those lines. And everyone is happy when communication is clear!

The boys got wooden musical instruments from my sister for Christmas, and it only took Dean two days to figure out how to work the harmonica (which, parents of babies will know is a big thing, because they don't usually get "blowing" until later on, I'm told).

Here he is, making a little tune (and tapping his feet, which you can't see). He was so proud of himself!



My little musical prodigy!

Lester and I began our talks about what to expect in 2012 with a third child/newborn in the house, which is good. But we haven't had our talk about our more general 2012 goals and dreams (other than financial), so we are planning to do that this week.

I'll let you know how that goes.

Meanwhile, we made a plan to go to a birthday party this coming Saturday for a friend's 2-year-old, and then I'll take the boys afterward and go to my Mom's for an overnight visit, giving Lester time to paint Curve Ball's room! Yay! Progress!

I picked a color for her room called "Aloe Vera," which is less minty than I had imagined in my mind at first, with a bit more yellow in it. And now I'm nervous that this will look puke-y or Mountain Dew-ish on the walls. Which is NOT what I was going for. So keep your fingers crossed for me that it is a pretty shade, and perfect for my little sweetie.

Speaking of my sweetie, I am 32 weeks today and I go back on Thursday for another ultrasound to see if she's slowed up her growth at all, thanks to the insulin. I really hope so, but it's unfortunate this insulin business came about smack dab in the middle of sweet potato pie season! (Yes, Mommy splurged a little...) I honestly think she's growing like a weed, if her powerful punches are any indication. Good grief, this girl is strong. And wild! Ugh!

I also start fetal monitoring twice a week, beginning on Thursday. How I will get all my work done at work while running back and forth to the perinatal center, I don't know. But I can't worry about that.

It's 2012 -- the Year of Curve Ball. I'm worrying about her (and the other Davises) and honestly, not much else.

Curve Ball, has a name by the way, but I won't be sharing until she's born. Some of my family members know, and there have been ...how shall I say?....mixed reactions. Which is why I don't usually share in the first place. So I've decided to stop sharing until her name is what her name is, and it's plain rude to criticize then.

Besides, there have to be some surprises in this world, no? With a blog where I share just about everything, this is one thing that I can keep you all guessing about!

(Hey, I gotta find my fun where I can, folks.)

28 week check-up

I went today for my 28-week check-up at the perinatologist (and a follow-up at the OB, too).

Here are the highlights (or the lowlights, as it were):

Curve Ball is showing signs of being in a "diabetic environment."
This is new. At my last check-up at 19 weeks, she was not.

What does that mean, exactly?

Well, for one thing, her little abdomen is measuring in the 97th percentile. That is pretty darn big.
By contrast, at 19 weeks, it was measuring in the 50th.

The big belly indicates that she is storing sugars and fats in her tummy, which is exactly what she is not supposed to be doing.

Also, she is 3. lbs. 6 oz. -- almost a full pound heavier than she should be (no wonder she packs such a wallop!)

This means that -- if she puts on half a pound a week, as babies can do during the third trimester -- I could be in danger of having a nearly-10-lb.-baby. Holy macaroni.

The doctors have stressed that there are many reasons why having a huge baby like that is not good for me.
1. I am 5 ft. tall, and a size 2. OK, a size 4.
2. Shoulder dystosia is a real concern at that size.
3. Therefore, dreams of an uneventful, vaginal birth (which I had with the boys) might be blown to smithereens.
4. Babies who are big because of being grown in a sugar-rich environment are not just cute and chubby normal babies. They are big in different ways: in the bellies, for one thing, and especially in the neck and cheeks and jawline. This can mean Curve Ball might get stuck trying to come down the birth canal and out of my body into the world. Very dangerous.
5. Again, vaginal birth = bye-bye.

In addition, Curve Ball is now at risk of having low-blood-sugar at birth (when they cut her from the placenta) and she is also officially at risk of developing diabetes as an adult.

To say that I am bummed would be severely under-selling all the sadness and anxiety I feel right now.

The good news is, I have been monitored since early on and will continue being monitored (now, even moreso) until she's born. My doctors assure me that all this monitoring means she should be just fine, in the end.

On the way back from my appointments, I put in the prescription for insulin, which I'm to take three times a day. I've already been taking it at bedtime (did I forget to mention that?) so I've got the needle-part down. But now I'll have to mix two kinds together (a fast-acting and a long-acting), so I do have a bit of adjusting to do to this new regimen.

But I'm totally prepared and willing to do it. I really do not care anymore about what I have to do. I will do whatever it takes, for however long I have to do it. Anything to help shrink Curve Ball's little Buddha belly, and get her to not be the size of a small turkey at birth.

I also have to go back to the OB every 2 weeks now instead of four, and at 32 weeks, I go back to the perinatologist for another growth scan and to start twice-weekly fetal monitoring. My boss is going to LOVE this!

On the bright side, everything else about her looked great today -- and the sonographer even broke the rules and gave me 3D photos of Curve Ball. I'm not a huge, huge fan of the strange-looking 3D photos, but we got them -- without asking -- for Cary and Dean. We put the pics in a frame, and those photos crack us up now because of how you can really see Cary in there and Dean in there, all smushed and water-logged, but still very much themselves.

So we begged the sonographer to give us pics of Curve Ball, even though they've changed the rules in that office about doing them, ever since too many crazy parents (not us, this time!) called in panics after getting their 3D pics home, thinking surely something must be wrong with this alien-skeletor-hole-in-head baby I'm carrying.

Truth be told, Curve Ball does look a little Twilight-zone-music-esque in the pics. And they're not as clear as C & D's were, because of the way she was lying.

But ... here she is, her first glamour-shot:


I have no idea who she looks like.

And, the last bit of bright-side news is: Regardless of whatever is going on in my sugar-soaked womb, little Curve Ball seems happy about it.

The sonographer and I both cracked up at this picture of her, which shows my little sweet treat looking just like she is in there just laughing her head off:


Awww. My sweet, happy little baby girl.

Now who wouldn't do anything in the world they had to do to make sure she stays that way? Certainly not me. I'm in hook, line, and sinker! Insulin -- here I come!!!

What's in a name?

Lester and I STILL don't have a name for our baby.

I am 26 weeks today, and I know we have plenty of time, but it just seems so weird because by this time in my last pregnancy, we knew who both babies were and called them by name. (In the house that is. We kept their names a secret from the world until they were born).

Cary's name came from Lester's mom-- who died when he was just 19. Carrie (his mom) was the only parent Lester had, and she was his very best friend. They were seriously inseparable; even after he went away to college, they talked on the phone just about every day. She died of a heart attack, alone in her house, on Lester's birthday weekend before he could get home from school to go spend the weekend with her. :-(
I never got to meet his Mom, but I could tell from the stories he told me, and from Lester's amazing character and capacity for love, that she was a truly, wonderful woman. Even before we got married, we said if we ever had a baby boy, we'd name him Cary, after her.

So Cary got to be Cary -- as a result of being Baby A -- and all we had to do was come up with a name for Baby B.

Over the course of a week or so, we tossed out a few options, and vetoed most of them. (Funny: Both of us liked the name Grant for a boy, but you can't name one baby "Cary" and then name his brother "Grant." I mean, come on.)

But pretty much right after the gender scan, when we knew we were having two boys, we settled fairly quickly on Dean. I thought it sounded smart. Lester agreed and said it had the added benefit of sounding strong. So Dean it was. Just like that. (And we were right on the money with that one. Dean is SO Dean...)

Later on, after they were born, many people told us that the names sounded "Old Hollywood" to them, but we honestly hadn't thought of that when we named the boys. But now, when people ask us how to spell their names, we always say, "Cary, like Cary Grant. And Dean, like James Dean (or Dean Martin)."

Anyway, so now here we are with a girl child growing inside me. We did have a list of potential girl names picked out for Baby B when we didn't know what his/her gender was. But for various reasons, none of them work anymore. (We don't want to name this baby a family name, for one thing, because Cary has a family name, but Dean doesn't. No need to perpetuate the "middle child syndrome.")

We have tried to think of elegant-sounding "Old Hollywood" names, since we inadvertently started a theme here with the boys' names. But the only ones I like -- Ava, Grace and Lana -- won't work either. There are too many Avas these days (it's on all the most popular baby names lists, in the top 10, no matter which one you check); Lester doesn't like the name Grace; and my sister's youngest girl is named Alahna, but we just call her Lahna, for the most part.

And we've pretty much settled on short, one- or two-syllable names, so that eliminates hundreds and hundreds of perfectly good names out there.

Sooo...we're stuck.

To be truthful, we have agreed on three names, off and on, throughout this pregnancy. But then I always decide I don't like them anymore -- and I honestly can't tell you why. We'll just start calling her by the name we think we've decided on and then one day, it rings hollow in my ears.
"That's not her name anymore," I'll declare, pulling the covers back to get into bed at night. And Lester will look at me, sigh, and groan.

Yesterday, as I was doing the dishes, looking at her sonogram picture on the refrigerator, I just flat out asked her, "What is your name, child?!?"

And just like a girl, she is being coy. She won't tell me.

I'm hopeful that at some point -- soon -- she will. Until then...Curve Ball it is.

Using my blog to force myself to be accountable

Blogging has many perks.
I get to vent. I formulate my thoughts.
I'm recording events/photos/memories for posterity's sake.
I get advice, support and encouragement from friends, new and old.
And now, I'm adding "accountability" to the list of good things about blogging.

Lester and I share Google docs about all kinds of things: our budget, invites to activities, letters we're co-editing, possible names for Curve Ball, etc.
We've had a doc listing the things we need to do to get ready for our daughter's arrival for weeks now, and neither of us has made one attempt to do anything about any item on the list. We're pathetic.
I keep reminding Lester that soon -- and very soon -- I will be too pregnant to be of any help to him whatsoever in this department (save ordering things online, which I can do VERY well), so if he wants my help, we need to get on it. Then I figured maybe if I get on it, he'll follow suit.
Problem is, I never get on it.

So...I decided to post our entire doc here, so that is now in the public domain. My hope is that by putting it out there for all the world to see, I will feel more compelled to act.

Yes, I'm using you blogosphere. No shame in my game.

So here's the list. My goal is to have this all done by early January, since Curve Ball is due Feb. 28! (Yikes!!)


Things to Do Before the New Baby Comes

1. Organize and streamline basement storage area to prepare for guest room stuff coming to live there

2. Move guest room furniture and racks of shoes to basement storage area

3. Paint guest room

4. Move boys’ cribs and furniture into guest room
Little table and chairs possibilities:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A165793011%2Ck%3Atoddler%20table%20chair%20sets&page=1

5. Paint boys’ room (now the new baby’s room)

6. Buy furniture/decor for new baby’s room

Possibilities:
http://www.amazon.com/RoomMates-RMK1439SLM-Scroll-Stick-MegaPack/dp/B003NGTNFG/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1318860787&sr=1-1

http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/kli/kli5024bed4.html

http://www.nurserydepot.com/cribbedding/productdetails.asp?id=1-10001834-10001836-148224-4-2&id2=602-0-0-0-0&


7. Move furniture into new baby’s room

Baby Stuff We Will Need

1. Single stroller
2. Triple stroller
3. Crib
4. Booster seat
5. Playmat
6. Clothes
7. Diapers
8. Crib mattress pad and sheets, comforter etc. (bedding)

Also will need ONE additional convertible carseat (for one of the boys) -- hopefully donated!


So there it is...the list of things to do before Curve Ball arrives.

And we can add to that list: SETTLE ON A NAME FOR CURVE BALL!!! Gracious, we're pathetic.