Babies

I have babies.

One is currently eating orange slices and watching Jon Stewart. The other is in my belly, developing its neural tube and circulatory system.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'm pregnant. Declan is going to be a big brother!

I'm going to do weekly pregnancy updates, so I won't go into details here, but we are thrilled to be expecting another little baby.

Before I Forget

Tidbits for me to remember, whether in the near or distant future:

- 15 months is an amazing age. He can take some commands (I think he "gets" most stuff, he's just obstinate.) He can kind of express himself. He's so extraordinarily funny. And friendly. He cracks himself up. He is still baby-cute, but with toddler capabilities.

- Next kid, don't forget about the Graco Bumper Jumper. It popped into my head today that this house, with its abundance of doorway molding, would be perfect for it.

- ...

- I guess that's it. I thought of those two things and figured I'd think of more as I wrote, but I really need to clean up a little before I go to bed, so I have to abandon my mission.

Medical Mystery Drama

Yes, I'm turning my life into a TV show.

A few weeks ago, it would have been a sitcom - the trials and tribulations of dealing with a hyper toddler and a husband who has the maturity of a ten-year-old. But now, it's much more along the lines of House.

As background info, the nursing home where I work is currently under quarantine due to the stomach flu. Pretty much everyone is getting it. The symptoms occur in this order: diarrhea, fever vomiting, fever breaks, patient is well within 24 hours. Trust me, I've seen in play out in about 60 different people over the last week, and it always goes that way.

Well, my version has played out like this:

Friday night I felt a little nauseous, but I was staying up too late watching scary movies and I'd eaten a little too much pizza. So I blew it off as being over-full and tired.

Saturday I went to work, cleaned up vomit for 8 hours, came home, and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, I started getting ready to go out for my sister-in-law's birthday, but I was quickly returned to the couch care of a crippling bout of nausea. I thought for sure I was coming down with the tummy bug - I called my SIL, cancelled our plans for margaritas, and laid on the couch moaning for a few hours. No diarrhea, no fever, no vomiting, but I just *knew* it was all coming. Then, around bedtime, it went away. I felt fine. I thought that maybe I was okay.

Sunday I had waves of nausea on and off, and I noticed that it seemed to be better after I ate. But it was never anything like Saturday night, so I figured I was just getting over it.

Monday, I woke up feeling fine, but within an hour or so, I felt like throwing up. I was so queasy that I couldn't even dress one of the residents at the nursing home, because she was coughing up phlegm and it was making me gag (normally I have an iron stomach, people call me in to deal with gross thing that they can't handle.) Anyway, that nausea lasted until about 11:30. At that time, I ate a couple Starburst, drank a glass of water, and felt totally fine. I came home, ate lunch, and sat down to relax. Then in the evening, it came back, though not as strong. But this time, I felt very feverish - achy, shaky, and my eyes were burning. Unfortunately, the thermometer is lost. SO I'll never know whether or not I ran a fever that night.

Tuesday, I felt great. Mostly. There were some random spells of nausea, but nothing strong enough for me to avoid eating like normal. Wednesday was the same. This morning I feel okay, but when I went to eat my scrambled eggs, something strange happened. I took one bite, and it was delicious, yummy, I wanted more. I took another bite, and my body totally rejected it. I knew that if I swallowed that bite, I was going to puke. It was like my throat closed up and wouldn't let any more food in. So I spit out the eggs, and put my bowl in the fridge. Within minutes, I ate half a blueberry bagel with no problems.

HOUSE! Solve my mystery!

It's obviously not the 24-hour virus that is going around, since it's been almost a week now. BUT, the strongest of the nausea seems to be over (Saturday night and Monday morning), so maybe it was a watered down, drawn out version? But I've had stomach viruses before, and the nausea is usually relentless, at least until you throw up, because that's your body's way of getting the germies out.

For those of you readers who are like, "Uh, DUH, you're pregnant!" - that's not what this is. While it would be stupid of me to deny that the thought had crossed my mind, I've had it confirmed by multiple experts (my mom, who's had morning sickness twice, and my SIL, who's had it four times) that nausea on day 19 of my cycle (aka, only 4-5 days after hypothetical sperm met hypothetical egg) could NOT be related to pregnancy. Plus I don't have any other symptoms (early symptoms with Declan: cramps, sore boobs, peeing more.)

If this doesn't get totally better in a few more days, I'll be making a doctor's appointment. I wish it could be with House, but he'd laugh me out of the hospital. So I'll have to settle for our local family doctor. I don't know what he'll tell me - an ulcer? an allergy? a tumor? - but at least he can give me some Zofran or something.

Just kidding about the tumor, by the way.

Oh, What?

Declan's new favorite thing is not listening.

A few seconds ago:

Declan, reaching for the knicknacks on top of the bookcase

Mama: "No, Declan."

Declan looks over his shoulder and grins, reaches higher and grabs the owl

Mama: "Declan, NO NO. Leave it there."

Declan pulls the owl down with a squeal of delight

Mama: "DECLAN RIVER. I said NO."

Declan, turning around to face mama: "Wha dis?"

Mama: "Declan, give me that. That's a no no."

He holds the owl out and toddles over, like, "Oh, what? You want this owl? Okay! Well, it's a good thing I got it down for you, Mom."

Must-Haves.

Now that Declan is 14 months old, I guess I'm officially through the "mom of a baby" stage. I mean, he's still a baby to me, but I think technically he's a toddler now. So I'm going to compile a list of the things that were most helpful to us during Declan's first year.

Keep in mind that we did things a little "offbeat" - co-sleeping, no nursery, cloth diapering for 6 months, etc.

1. Carriers. I'm lumping these together because I found each of them to be most helpful at different stages of babyhood. For newborn Declan, there was nothing better than the Moby Wrap. I wore that thing alllll the time. It cuddles and cradles them, plus it's super comfy. When he was a little older (and the weather was hotter, making the Moby Wrap suffocating) we used and loved both the Ergo and the Kokopax backpack. He still fits comfortably in the backpack, and I recently got a regular old sling (on mega-sale from SevenSlings) and it is awesome for carrying him on my hip.

2. Pacifiers. Before you click away because you're anti-paci, hear me out. I was anti-paci, too. Before Declan was born, we had exactly one pacifier, it had been a gift from my doctor's office. It was hidden away in a drawer somewhere; I fully expected to never use it. For the first 6 weeks or so, we didn't use a pacifier. At that point, I was on the verge of absolutely going nuts. Declan was nursing every 30 minutes to an hour, basically back-to-back. Someone suggested trying a pacifier, to see if it was just the sucking that he wanted, and not milk. It was the golden ticket. He started nursing every 3-4 hours. My preferred pacis are Avent Freeflow, but we've used everything from Nuks to Soothies.

3. A great stroller. For the first few months, I didn't use the stroller much, because I always wore him. But as he got heavier, and when we moved to a small town where everything is within walking distance, I learned to love my Jeep Liberty 3-wheeled stroller. It's a breeze to steer and push (I've pushed other people's strollers - there's a huge difference!), it's comfy for baby (can lean all the way back), has plenty of storage space, cupholders, and best of all, speakers that you can plug your iPod into! I would buy it again, given the same budget. If I had unlimited money, my dream stroller is the Bumbleride Indie.

4. Boppy. You may find it strange that the Boppy is so high on my list, but the fact is that we've used it since he was about 4 hours old, and are still using it today. In the early days, it was great for supporting my arm while I cradled him, whether nursing or just holding him. When he was a little bigger, I started using it to prop him up during naps - it was the only way he'd sleep for more than 15 minutes outside of my arms. I still put him in it for naps, although he does sleep okay laying flat. When he falls asleep in my arms, I like to lay him on the couch next to me rather than in the bed in the other room, and I feel safer laying him on the couch in the Boppy, so that he can't fall off.

5. Baby food grinder. It was awesome to be able to just stick some of the food that I made for us grown ups into the `, rather than buy jars of separate (and questionable) baby food. Of course, I did buy baby food sometimes (like when we would travel, or if he needed prunes), but I loved having the grinder there when I needed it.

Been A While

So while my spaghetti-covered toddler is turning the bathwater a lovely shade of pink, I figured I'd catch up on my blog.

Declan is 14 months old, and growing like a weed. I swear every day he is taller and thinner and more toddler-like than the day before. He says words now - "Mama" and "Dada," obviously, but also "wassat?" (what's that), "hi," "bye," and "hot." He has a billion teeth. Well, twelve. But it feels like a billion when he bites you.

He's a pickle. I swear. That boy. He's smart as a whip sometimes, but other times you'd think he was deaf. He has already perfected selective hearing. As in, he doesn't hear the word "no."

We've moved to a new house, about 6 blocks away from our old house. And six times nicer. I'm really happy with it and I have a huge list of DIY projects that I want to do. The old house was so not inspirational at all, but this place has potential. It has its flaws, but nothing that I can't live with.

Plus it has a laundry chute. That's my lifesaver. Our bedroom is tiny, and my clothes could easily overtake it if given the chance, but no! Down the laundry chute! Easy peasy cleanup.

If only I could figure out a good laundry system after the "Down the chute!" part. Wash, dry, then... how to get a big ol' load of laundry up the basement stairs *AND* carry Declan up? We'e been here a week and no clean clothes have left the basement yet. Ha.

Anyway, life is good. We had an amazing Christmas in Texas with my family, came home, moved, bought a car... things are really going well. Knock on wood. Aaron has been super nice, my friends and in-laws up here have been great, and work is going well. I have been pretty tired - haven't quite recovered from the travel-pack-move weekend that almost killed me. But I'm catching up.

2011 will be a great year. Aaron turns 27 tomorrow, I'll turn 22, Declan will turn 2, hopefully we will make our house pretty, maybe trade in the truck for a nice family SUV, get a kick-ass tax return, no fighting, no moving, no upheaval or stress... I can't wait.

What do you think that Natalie Portman will name her baby? I am so excited to see what she chooses, I think it will be awesome.

What do you think that Natalie Portman will name her baby? I am so excited to see what she chooses, I think it will be awesome.

Answer here