9/15/08-9/25/08

Monday 9/15/08 – I had my final doctor’s appointment today and then left work early. I took a bus home and was happy that I was able to sit down for the ride this time. After work I made cherry cake with Lijah. He had cherry stains all over his hands and chocolate all over his face and arms – it was a great time.

Tuesday 9/16/08 – Yesterday was my last day of work so I have 2 days left of just Lijah time. This morning Lijah and I went to the thrift store. We didn’t find much but some Cat Fancy magazines and a new remote control bulldozer. Then we headed to WalMart, but on the way to WalMart there is a little pond and as we drove by I saw that it was filled with ducks so we decided to stop. We walked down to the edge of the water and the ducks were coming right up next to us. I remembered that Lijah had some graham crackers left over in my purse so we fed them to the ducks (and the 2 geese). Lijah was smiling the whole time – he loved it! At WalMart I bought him a bag of suckers for when he is a good boy. I got a call from the hospital tonight to go over some admitting stuff and the woman informed me that I had to be at the hospital 3 hours early instead of 2 hours early. Cherie is coming over to watch Lijah and cannot get here until 8:30, the exact time I need to be at the hospital. I asked my neighbor Margaret if she would come over for half an hour and she agreed (she’s such a nice neighbor). Since I already am halfway done with the book I intended to bring with me to the hospital, Lijah and I went to the library to find a new book and some stuff for him.

Wednesday 9/17/07 – It’s the day before Clark arrives and I spent much of the day packing my bag and getting everything ready to go.

Thursday 9/18/08 – Margaret came over about 10 minutes before 8am. Lijah wanted to show her all of his toys so it was easy to distract him. I slipped out and waited in the car and then Jason slipped out a few minutes later. I don’t think Lijah even realized that we were gone. The 35W bridge opened this morning so we took that to the hospital. It was much much faster than driving through downtown to get there! When we got to the hospital we checked in and went to the Maternal Assessment Center, where we would sit and wait for 3 hours. They took blood, put in an IV and started fluids, and hooked me up tp the stress monitor, but besides that it was pretty much just waiting time. Jason was being goofy and making me laugh – every time I laughed it made it look like I was having crazy contractions on the monitor. Then when it was time to go we walked down the hall to the surgery room. I sat on the table and they gave me a spinal block, laid me down on the table and waited for me to go numb, and then started pinching me real hard everywhere to make sure the spinal block was working. It took about 20 minutes to get through my scar tissue and to the baby and he was born at 12:34am (10.5oz 22 ¾ inches). Then Jason went with the baby and I laid on the table for about 45 more minutes while they sewed me back up. There was a few times where my blood pressure dropped and I had a hard time breathing, but besides that everything went much better than I had expected. During the surgery I could not stop thinking about wiggling my toes but then I could not feel my toes – it was driving me crazy! By the time they were wheeling me to the recovery room I could wiggle my toes though. I waited in the recovery room for 2-3 hours while they waited for a bed to open up. During that time I was able to hold Clark and eat ice chips. I had to fast for 6 hours before the surgery, I could not even drink water, so ice chips at that point tasted delicious. After Lijah’s nap Cherie came up with Lijah. Lijah seemed pretty weirded out when he first walked in the room. I suppose it’s pretty scary to walk in a weird room and see your mommy in a hospital bed with all kinds of tubes attached to her. He wasn’t very interested in the baby while he was there. When it was time to leave he gave me a kiss but would not kiss the baby, but then when they were walking out the door he started making kissing sounds and came back in to kiss the baby goodbye. Angie also came up with her kids and Abbie. It was pretty crazy in my room for awhile and I was pretty worn out and in a lot of pain. I was happy they all came, but also happy when they left and I could relax. We found out that Jason’s cousins daughter (who we did not know before today) had a c-section at 9:30am right before me and was 2 doors down!

Friday 9/19/08 – Celia and Lee came by in the evening, and Jason and Lijah were there at the same time. This time around Lijah was really excited about the baby and gave him kiss after kiss after kiss. I am not in as much pain as I was yesterday and the nurses are surprised at how much I am moving around on my own. There was one nurse tonight who would not let Clark sleep in bed with me. She practically ripped him out of the bed and put him in the basinnet since that was hospital policy. In the middle of the night my door slammed (yes, from that nurse) and I woke up terrified because the baby was not in bed with me like I was used to. I immediately thought that someone had come in and stolen him and started crying, but then I saw him next to me. It did take me awhile to calm down though because when I woke up I had woken from a nightmare as well….. When the next nurse came on I asked her if she was also going to yell at me. She said it is official policy but she would never tell on me and that Clark could sleep with me if I wanted.

Saturday 9/20/08 - Nathan and Becca Robison stopped by and brought some marigolds from their garden. I spent most of the day watching cable TV. I cannot count anymore how many shows about buying houses, flipping houses, baby stories, and Jon and Kate plus 8 I have watched, but I think I will be TV’d out by the time I leave the hospital! Cherie stopped by after work too and we walked down to see Jason’s cousin and her baby Andrew. He was only 6lbs5oz and was tiny. It was crazy seeing Clark next to him since he was 4 pounds heavier! Someone from church brought over dinner (pizza, salad,and cookie dough) and Jason put it in the fridge so we could make it when we got home from the hospital tomorrow.

Sunday 9/21/08 – Once my doctor and the pediatrician came by I was able to leave the hospital. Throughout my stay I saw a lot of the same nurses that were there when Lijah was born – it was nice to see familiar faces. The one nurse that I specifically remember, Fayba, still worked there but I did not run into her – so that was a bummer. Jason and Lijah came to pick me up. Lijah had one last romp in the bed with all the fun buttons – he loved making the bed go up and down and changing the channels on the TV. It was a nice sunny day outside,but a bit warm. On the way home we stopped at CVS to get my pain meds and we also bought Lijah a new remote control car, which he played with for the entire evening.

Monday 9/22/08 - Sabrina Peterson brought over dinner tonight. She made French bread pizzas, salad, and yogurt. She even put some meat on Jason’s pizza (how nice!). We just hung out at home all day and I slept when Lijah took a nap. Clark is doing really good sleeping and he does not cry at all. When he is hungry he just stirs. We thought Lijah was a calm baby and thought for sure that Clark would be fussy, but he is actually even more calm than Lijah was.

Tuesday 9/23/08 – Rossi and Astrid Clem stopped by in the morning. The kids got to play while we hung out and talked. Rossi is having her baby on October 15th so I told her all about what happened at the hospital (she is having a c-section too). Then Monica and Amelia Rawhouser came over to bring me a peanut buster parfait and to wish me a happy birthday. They also brought a tie-dyed shirt for Lijah and onsie for Clark and also 3 other onsies for Clark and a gingham shirt for Lijah. Lijah through it was great to get to play with two different kids in one day! After they loft I took a nap and that’s about all the excitement for the day. It was great weather for my birthday – on the colder side and rainy – it was great weather to wake up from a nap to (it’s my favorite weather). I had planned on going out somewhere for my birthday but then I just didn’t feel up to it so we will probably do something later this week. Clark is starting to spit up a lot after eating. Lijah never spit up so it is weird getting covered with barf after almost every feeding. The nurse called and said he is probably eating too much since my milk just came in. Hopefully he doesn’t do it for long! Jason went to see a dietician today and she gave him a lot of good information to help him figure out how to eat healthy. I am excited for him and he is ready and willing to make changes. Once I get over my post-diabetic binge I will follow the same type of food guidelines as he is – but I am giving myself a little bit of slack for a bit.

Wednesday 9/24/08 – We had our first outing today as a foursome. We went to Target to get some groceries and diapers (Clark is going through about 12 a day!!!). I remember going out when Lijah was 5 days old and I could barely walk. Today Clark is 6 days old and I am getting around just fine. About halfway through our Target trip I did get a little sore, but that was probably because I was also wearing Clark in the sling – but I was surprised at how much better I am doing compared to last time. I also took some pictures of Clark today and put them up on Flickr. The Rawhousers made us falafel for dinner tonight and it was delicious!

Thursday 9/25/08 – Today Lijah decided that he wanted me to make his new car spin in circles and when I did he started twirling around with the car and then fall down from dizziness – he thought it was a lot of fun. This morning I was up at 7am and went to open Lijah’s door so he could come out. I went to lay back down, expecting Lijah to come in. But then I woke up to Lijah coming into my room carrying the cat saying “Hi” and it was 8:30. It was great to get some extra sleep! Lijah and I finished off the tube of cookie dough after we had breakfast. We had intended to bake cookies, but who can resist a tube of raw cookie dough – especially after having to be on a diabetic diet for 4 months! After my shower today I got on the scale and it says that I am already just 10 pounds over what I was before I got pregnant. I checked the other day and I was 15 pounds over – so I must be losing the extra water weight quickly. I’m excited to see how much more comes off before my doctor’s appointment next week. With Lijah I was exactly at my pre-pregnancy weight at my 2 week checkup and I am hoping to have the same fate this time around.