A Most Horrifying Experience

But first, some cute pictures!

Hanging out with his girls at the free concert in the park

Hailey loves to hold the baby, they have started having conversations

My new stroller...I need to lose 17 lbs in 3 weeks inorder to fit into my work clothes

Last week was our week of doctor appointments.

Aubrey's ultrasound was uneventful - I still have no idea if anything was found, and am assuming that the pediatrician will have the results and discuss them with me at her 2-month check up (whichis next wednesday - can you believe that!?)

Tuesday was the ENT for Aubrey's ear tag. I haven't talked much about her ear tag - it wasn't anything major (you can see it in some of the pictures Lauren took) but it was weird and we wanted it removed as soon as it could be. I don't know what I thought was going to happen at the ENT appointment, but it was the MOST horrible thing I have had to do/see as a mother so far....

I was about 20 minutes late for the appointment - which is a big no-no here - but the phone people didn't tell me that ENT was at the NASA clinic, so I went to the hospital. I don't know where the NASA clinic is, and the map I was given had been copied so many times, it was unreadable, not to mention the hospital I was in was not on the map. I have no sense of direction anyway, Jon wasn't answering his phone, but I managed to figure it out by leaving the base and driving around to go in the NASA gate. Anyhoo, the doctor came right in and she was super nice. She looked at it and determined that she could just cut it off. I said "Like, right now?" and she said yes, or that I could make another appointment and come back. It is not easy to get appointments, so I went with right now - all the while starting to panic and hoping that Jon would answer his phone and magically materialize to take care of this for me. He did

answer the phone but told me he could not get there, he had to debrief.

The doctor explained what she was going to do, so I was aware of what was going to happen. She gave the baby a shot of lidocaine and she screamed. I hoped that was going to be the worst of it and she wouldn't feel the rest...but that was not the case.

It is upsetting me to even write this.

Next came the clamp which sort of squeezed it flat right where it attached to her head - I have never seen a baby turn that color or scream that loud - mind you I am holding her down. The doctor left at this point to go get someone to help hold her because I was doing a bad job and probably looked like I was going to lose it ( not sure what "it" is but I definitely was very close to tears and throwing up) Now it was time to cut it off, which she did with a very small and very sharp scissor like thing. More screaming - and it wasn't over...the doctor needed to trim it THREE times. I wanted it to look as good as possible, but sheesh. Then it wouldn't stopbleeding so she had to cauterize it, which of course caused more screaming. Its been a week now and it is still healing but looks really good and doesn't seem to bother her at all.

The third appointment was my 6 week check up. I am fine and healed nicely and able to run and swim and...do other things...again. I had developed a very itchy allergic reaction to something around my incision about 2 weeks prior to that appointment. It wasn't bad at first, and Jon kept assuring me that itching was a good thing and meant I was healing. It got worse every day, but I knew I had that appointment so just waited till then. The doctor told me she had no

idea what I could be allergic to - I have no allergies and it didn't start until a month after my surgery. She gave me hydrocortisone. It didn't help at all and by Friday I couldn't stand it anymore. I was contemplating using the spray we use on Rolo when he is itching, so I called and got an appointment with a Flight doctor. That doctor and another one both had no idea what it was but he gave me zyrtec and some other really strong steroid cream. Its getting better now, but still not perfect and the zyrtec makes me even more tired than I already am, which means I am really not a nice person right now!

In other news, the girls are doing great. Hailey had parents night at gymnastics so I was able to go in and take some pictures.

Hailey starts preschool on September 7th and is extremely excited. She is going 3 half days a week. I bought her some workbooks and these BrainQuest card things and we have been doing them at home. She loves them - she asks to do her workbook all the time, and today I finally feel like she is starting to recognize her numbers. She can count and say her ABC's but has had no interest in trying to learn any letter other than H (her letter) and 3 (she is that many). She amazes me at how much she knows and remembers and how quickly she learns.

I got her to start going to bed in her bed again, but it only lasts about 2 hours and then she sleeps on the couch. I will fix this somehow, someday. Our next house not going to have an upstairs. Jon and I were talking about how wrong this house is for us and I pointed out to him that we all live in half of our house - we don't use the upstairs for anything - its a big storage area.

Aubrey is growing growing growing. She smiles now, and we love her smile - it is goofy and crooked and adorable. Her daytime sleep is starting to organize and she sleeps well at night, just not for any significant period of time, and usually by 3 am she is done sleeping in her bed and I have to hold her.

This is our neighbor Martina - we call her the Baby Whisperer - both girls just adore her

She is doing much better on Soy Formula. She spits up less and doesn't seem to be in pain. I hate the way it smells though, so I hope we don't have to use it forever!

Hostage

I am being held hostage in my bedroom by my 3 yr old. She refuses to sleep in her bed, so she is sleeping on the couch, which means that at approximately 8 pm each night, we have to either go to bed (not usually a problem considering the lack of sleep) or hang out in our room - which, given the circumstances - means we fall asleep. The whole couch conundrum is stressing me out. Hailey has never been allowed to sleep with us unless we are on vacation. I don't mind snuggling her, but Jon hates it, so she has always slept in her room. Over her 3 years we have had a handful of sleeping problems, but my trusty sleep book has guided us through all of them. Jon is ok with the couch set up, because she isn't in bed with us. I don't like her on the couch because I cherish the two hours between her bedtime and mine, and really don't want to be confined to my room. She says she just doesn't like the upstairs anymore, and I understand that she wants to be downstairs with us and the baby, but I still don't like it, and I am not sure how I am going to fix it! My book does not address this issue very well!

This does give me time to update my blog, so this is what is going on here!

Jon is TDY. Its been a long two weeks, starting last Tuesday with a very long overnight flight that turned into 3 long work days for him, and then he had to work all weekend to get ready for his current TDY. (He was TDY when I wrote this, but again, it takes me about 3 days to finish a blog, so he is home now.)

We tried to have the baby's pictures taken again. I can't remember if I ever wrote about the first attempt - it did not go well. Aubrey was 2 weeks old for that one, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with that picture lady and her camera. Lauren ( the photographer) is a magician or a genius or something, however, and managed to get a fantastic picture of both of my my girls. Unfortunately it was during the taking of that picture that we accidentally helped poor Aubrey's umbilical stub thing fall off, which made her very very upset and we had to leave. I decided to try again this past Friday. I managed to get all of us in the car on time, only to discover that the GPS that has Lauren's address in it was not in my car. At the time, I thought Jon took it and had it in his car, but I later learned that it was stolen. It was of course like 110 degrees with 200% humidity, but I ran inside and mapquested myself to an address that I thought might be Laurens and then proceeded to be lost for about 45 minutes. When I finally arrived I realized that the bag with the wardrobe changes for the girls was still at home on the kitchen table, which would have been sort of ok, except that due to the heat, I had dressed Hailey in part of two outfits that did not even remotely match.

Aubrey did a little better this time, and Lauren got a few more pictures, but Aubrey still didn't really like it. So, we left again, and I got lost on the way home too. The following is the link to Lauren's blog which has some of the photographs on it. I am having trouble making it just take you there, but if you copy it and paste it, it should work for you...I hope so because the pictures are great.

http://laurendunlapphotography.blogspot.com/2010/08/introducing-baby-aubrey-hampton-roads.html

While I am off work this summer, I signed Hailey up for gymnastics, soccer and swimming. She is currently in a 2-week swim session where she goes Monday thru Thursday from 9-9:30. I managed to get all three of us there all four days this week. I am generally not out of pajamas, and Hailey's hair is rarely combed, but its at the YMCA and she is swimming so I decided not to care and just be happy that we left the house. She is a great little swimmer and we finally got the good teacher, so it is going very very well.

Her gymnastics class is fantastic and she LOVES it. I haven't been able to take any pictures because I don't actually get to go in with her - she does it all by herself and I can see her thru a window. Its in a real gymnastics center and has all the real equipment. She is so adorable and learning a ton. I had to bribe her the first few times with Dairy Queen, which is on the way home, and now she thinks she gets it every time. I love DQ = DQ every Tuesday for dinner!

Soccer is parent/child soccer and Jon takes her. He says she doesn't love it and would rather play on the bleachers. They didn't go today and are outside doing lawn work instead. She must be learning something though, because the other day she set up a line of baby dolls on the floor and told me to "drivel the soccer ball through the cones".

This upcoming week is a week of doctor appointments. Monday the baby has a hip ultrasound and its at the Navy hospital that is about 30 minutes away. Because she was breech and a girl she needs to have her hips checked. Hopefully everything will be fine, because I really do not want for her to have to wear a brace. Tuesday is Aubrey's appointment with the ENT. She has an ear tag, which is basically an extra piece of skin right by her ear. When I had her all the doctors and nurses assured me that its no big deal and they could just "tie it off." At her two week appointment, a different pediatrician told me that they won't do anything about it until she is at least a year old because it is cosmetic. She also told me to put rice cereal in my newborns bottle to help with her spit up problem. I was not happy with either of these answers and she begrudgingly gave me the ENT referral. I am hoping for easy answers on Tuesday. Aubrey gets fussier and gassier and acts like she is in more pain each day. I don't think its acid reflux, but I am covered in baby spit up all the time, and she screams like she is pain a good portion of each day. Yesterday I decided (because my sister told me to) to try soy formula. She seems a little better today, but I think its because Jon is home, and she always acts better when he is around.

Soy formula spit up smells way worse. Plus I don't think I can call what Aubrey does "spit up". Its way way worse than that. My ENT referral is not for this issue, but I figure an ENT specialist might have some insight on this matter.

Wednesday is my six week appointment. Hopefully that will mean I can use my brand new Schwinn Arrow Double Jogging Stroller and start losing the rest of my baby weight!

Well, this blog is getting long, so here are some pictures..

This is what your 3 yr old does when daddy isn't watching but should be....

Aubrey spending some quality time with Dad and learning the importance of video games

Being entertained by the ceiling fan

Hailey getting splashed by a ride at Busch Gardens. We ventured there last Saturday with both girls. It went ok, and Hailey was happy.

Aubrey spent most of the BG trip in my brand new Baby Bjorn that I got with all the gifts and giftcards from my friends and Nana and Papa. She loves this thing, which is good because she hates the car seat, and she spends a lot of time in it when I am trying to do stuff with Hailey.

We got out the play gym for the baby because she likes stretching out. Big sister immediately crawled in too. Disregard the fact that she has no shirt...Hailey doesn't feel the need to wear any clothes most of the time.

On my Own

It's been 4 weeks since I had Aubrey and the time seems to have gone by fast. It is certainly a big change to go from one child to two, but overall we are surviving. The hardest part for me is not the baby - its Hailey and being with her all day. I love and adore her, but I am not used to entertaining her all day, answering "why" all day, and most recently dealing with her new-found love of throwing massive tantrums...

My good friends who have 3 kids often tell me that one to two is hard but two to three is no problem. I do not intend to find out if going from 2 to 3 is no prob...I will just accept my beloved big sister's word on that...you can just let me know, Sister!

My mom was here for the first three weeks and it was a huge help to have an extra set of hands. By the time she left I think we were nervously ready to handle it on our own. We had a lot of company (3 weeks straight starting less than 24 hours after getting home from the hospital) which we enjoyed and appreciated, but I felt like I needed to do everything myself to accept that I am capable.

I keep reminding myself that everybody else has two kids and manages, and also that I need to enjoy Aubrey as an infant because we have no intention of having another baby. (I reserve the right to change my mind, but really don't think we will. And yes, I know I said that Hailey was going to be an only child...but I mean it this time - 2 is enough and sisters are perfect) Reminding myself to enjoy Aubrey really works - if I find myself getting frustrated because I can't get anything done while holding a screaming/sleeping/eating infant I just think about that and enjoy how tiny she is instead! I have also started doing everything that needs to be done (cleaning, dishes, wash bottles, laundry, play with Hailey, take a shower...) at the first opportunity instead of putting it off till later. I am not worrying about it then, but I also pretty much never sit down...unless I am feeding the baby!

I think Aubrey is a relatively normal baby. She cries when she is unhappy and sometimes just because, and prefers to be held at all times, especially at night. Jon and I have developed a sleeping routine that works well for us...I go to bed right after we get Hailey in bed and sleep for about 3 hours while he cares for Aubrey in the living room. Between midnight and 1 am I switch with him, and go sleep sitting up with the baby on the couch and he goes to bed. It is a great plan, till you throw in the wrench called Hailey. The munchkin has always been a great sleeper, but has taken to getting up every hour or two for an array of reasons that she cooks up. It is extremely frustrating for me to successfully get Aubrey to sleep in her bassinet thingy and be in the middle of my 2.5 hours of desperately needed couch sleep and have to get up multiple times to return Hailey to her bed. Not to mention, this means Hailey is not sleeping well, and Hailey needs her sleep. She still takes a 2 hour nap everyday and is ready for bed by 8:30.

I am very thankful that I have a rare 3 yr old who needs and wants her naps.

Because Hailey is waking up every 1-2 hours, she isn't getting proper rest and has been more than difficult to manage during the day (which is the cause of the massive tantrums). I need to read in my sleep book about the effects of a new sibling and also about toddler nightmares. I put it on the to-do list. We think it is a combination of these things, and also the fact that Hailey is an extremely light sleeper and wakes up when she hears the baby crying and us moving around downstairs.

Last night Jon and I switched sleep times and he went to bed early and took the 2 am till morning shift on the couch. When I got up this morning I found him sleeping sitting up and holding a very happy and snuggly little Aubrey in one arm and a sprawled out Hailey fast asleep on the couch next to him. He says he decided it was better to just let her sleep on the couch than have to keep putting her back in bed. Survival. If I had done that I would have been subjected to one of his parenting book lectures. It has taken me three days to write this entry and since the first day we have given up on Hailey and just let her sleep on the couch with the rest of us. Its a good thing its a really big couch :)

I am very thankful for my husband. He is a wonderful father and extremely supportive. His attitude through all of this has been great and he is still managing to work a standard 11 - 14 hour day.