"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller
It's time to retire The Mis-Adventures of Captain Poopy. But I'm not going away! I'm just giving the blog a makeover. It's been an adventure for me, too, but it's time to change the focus now that there is more than one Captain Poopy. (In fact, mini-Poops could very well get the title "Captain" for all of his little baby explosions and subsequent outfit changes.)
So my return to the blogosphere won't be here, it'll be at my new home, Baby Tea Leaves. It's not quite finished yet, but it is up and running and we're getting there. So please stop on by! I've missed everyone so much!
The ship has officially sailed. I'm finally taking a breather. But a quick one, because the little one's gonna be nipping at the boob any second. I remember now why people always say God makes you forget the bad stuff about the whole labor/newborn thing because if we remembered it all we might choose not to continue to procreate. Not that I'm not loving life right now, it's just hard to see through the fog that is sleeplessness, sore boobs, patched "parts" (and by the way--every girl part I have has some sort of ointment-slash-pad on it) and unwashed hair. But seeing that I remember very little about Aidan's labor pain and infancy and as I look at those tiny toes poking out from underneath the blanket in the bouncy chair, I know that this too shall pass.
Little Ryan isn't latching well. It got so bad that I had to call in the milk maid support people to come help me. A lactation consultant sat with me for hours yesterday looking at what is happening, and apparently the little guy just doesn't want to open up wide enough. We have spent hours and hours trying. I hit my breaking point over the weekend when Evan walked in and saw me bawling during one of our terrible nursing sessions. He sat down and immediately tried to console me and start helping me fix things, and with a very caring and helpful look said, "Do you want to call a lactologist first thing in the morning?"
A lactologist! I stopped crying for a second and burst out into hysterical laughter while he just sat there with a blank look on his face and I know he was thinking, "what on earth did I say?" Leave it to him for some comic relief. That's why I married him.
So it's been one day and he's still not latching perfectly but I already see an improvement. I am so thankful. Needless to say, it has been an incredibly busy couple of weeks. Evan was home with me the first week and my mom was here for about a week and a half. This week was the first time flying solo and it's been surprisingly nice and peaceful. I took my first trip out with both boys on Monday (just a quickie to Target but a trial outing nonetheless) and it went smoothly. We went out Christmas shopping this morning. Of course the real test will come when Poops has a complete meltdown while we're out, but so far he's been pretty good.
This has been a trying time for him, apparently. Unfortunately, he is having a bit of a difficult time getting used to another Poops in the house, he has done some lashing out, he gets this crazed look on his face, the pursed lips and evil devil eyes and I think "Where did my angel go!!!!" It has been somewhat of a struggle. I feel like I definitely didn't do enough research on this ahead of time. He has learned to turn on the breastpump, however, which is both funny and not funny at the same time. So they're both napping and I think I will too. Sleep is just too rare these days. I hope everyone's doing well and having a happy holiday season!! May everyone get their shopping done before Christmas Eve!
Oh, the birth story this time around is quite different from my the birth story of my first. Thank you for all the wonderful thoughts and well wishes. I can't believe I'm not pregnant anymore, it feels so weird! In a good way of course. So it wasn't quite the labor and delivery I had in mind, but the coming home part was nothing short of a miracle. I have lots to write, but my chotch hurts and I'm beat. But here are pictures from the weekend.
So here's what three hours of pushing looks like. Yes three hours. He didn't get the memo that the second is supposed to be easier. Here he is: Ryan James, 7 lbs. 8 oz.
Poops meeting his baby brother and loving him.
A sleepy boy.
Going home day.
Does life get any better than this really?
My water broke! My water broke! (Yelled in the tone of Jerry Seinfeld's dad yelling 'my wallet's gone!' when he couldn't find his wallet at the doctor's office.)
We're headed in. See ya on the flip side! Wish us luck!
XO
Would you look at that ticker! ZERO day left! We made it!! At last check last Wednesday I was already 4 centimeters, I guess the "Braxton Hicks" I've been having have actually been productive. The problem is, I had them again (faker!) on Thanksgiving and again last night, ten minutes apart (faker! faker!) but they eventually tapered off and I fell asleep. Again. I worry though that if these sporatic contractions are actually working, that I'll be driving down the road at 8 centimeters and have the baby on the side of the road. What to do! I'm about as big as a house now and haven't felt much like writing or doing anything much for that matter, so Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope everyone had a wonderful dinner, wonderful bird, and wonderful family time!
We had a good old fashioned Publix Thanksgiving dinner, didn't really make anything except for a couple a sides and a pie. We just re-heated an already-cooked turkey and all the fixins from Publix and we had mostly paper plates and cups. I know, so very redneck sounding but the key was to lay low this time and if there's any year to do it, it's this one for me. We'll dust off the china next year. So now the waiting. I have to say, if I had to choose between early arrival and waiting, I'll wait. Thank God my little guy hung in there. I figure while I'm feeling brazen I'll post a picture of the alien belly.
And we'll offset that crazyness with pictures of the nursery. I did end up going with Dr. Seuss and it was so fun! I still want a small rug for the center of the room and I still want to paint a small little something over the crib, but other than that, it's done!
It's a few weeks after we made it to the pumpkin patch but I was so excited about it this year because last year Poops was teensy and the pumpkin patch meant nothing to him. But this year, he had a blast running around in the pumpkins. We ended up carving the pumpkins a week before Halloween which was nothing short of disastrous. First, the Poops Pumpkin, which was of the smaller variety was too hard to carve. You couldn't even get a knife in it. We got as far as carving off the top, but drawing on the face. We call it "Sylar Pumpkin" (which makes sense if you're familiar with Heroes and what the villain Sylar does to his victims).
Anyway, we successfully carved the Momma and Daddy pumpkins which were very large, and we used a tiny gourd for the tiny baby and put the whole family out on the wall in front of our house. Of course, it hadn't rained in months, but it rained the night I put out the pumpkins and two days later we had pumpkin mush running down the wall. The pumpkins began caving in a day later and sadly, never even made it to Halloween. Oh well! Note to self: put out pumpkins the day before Halloween.
I can't let this month go by without mentioning that again it is Prematurity Awareness month this month. Ironically for me, or God granted, it is also the same month that I am will be having a full-term baby. Something that at one point in my life I thought would never ever happen. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God and all my angels for the people, the love, and the beauty in my life. Especially for my little preemie and his little brother who will grace our lives soon.
And as I reflect on Prematurity Awareness month, I think about the dear friends and family I have who also have preemies, or once were preemies themselves. I am saddened that millions of other families have and will endure this experience. That a mother must experience the pain and the overwhelming guilt that, for whatever reason, her body didn't hold out for the whole length of pregnancy. That a mother has to fear for the life of her precious baby for however long. That a mother won't get to hold or see that precious little face when it joins this world. That a baby must endure pain and surgery, arriving too early for its little body to exist without it. That a baby must spend its first hours, days, or months alone, in a tiny isolette, without being held or comforted by its parents. I mourn for these families' pain and their personal losses, whether it's a baby or the experience of having a joyful birth experience. I pray that the mommies will realize and accept one day that it was not their fault. I pray that one day we will find out why more babies are coming into this world too early and that one day we can stop it. All of these families are in my prayers this month and every month, every day. Please say a prayer for them today.
