Thursday, September 30, 2010

Pants?

You may be aware that Sabrina has refused to wear pants for, oh, about three months. I've tried, I promise. But putting pants on her results in screaming, crying, hitting, and ultimately, in taking off the pants by Sabrina. Today, we may have had a breakthrough. She has been wearing shorts for SIX HOURS!!! I got them on her, then almost immediately put her in the car to take Sasha to the doctor. She did try to take them off at the doctor's office, but I managed to distract her. I pray we have turned a corner.

In other news, it took an entire hour to get through Sasha's two-week checkup. Really? The nurse weighs and measures him, the doctor looks at him, the nurse tortur...er, pricks his heel and gets blood for the PKU test. Poor baby screamed the whole time, although he was very brave during the doctor-looking-in-his-ears part. 10 minutes of contact with health care professionals, 50 minutes of sitting and trying to keep Sabrina's pants on. Then to Target for diapers, milk, and juice (the staples), then the bank, and the gas station. I'm tired. I just had major surgery, after all. However, it feels good to get out of the house and drive and stuff. I am an independent woman again! And if I were editing this paragraph for my students, I would ask, "What is the thesis for this sentence? You have too many subjects in it!" So I guess it's time to quit.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Things I Love

Things I Love

1. Baby Sasha

2. Big Sister Sabrina

3. Being able to wrap a towel around my body

4. Losing 10 pounds in four days

5. My Relief Society bringing meals every other day to reduce crazy amounts of leftovers

6. My Relief Society bringing me so much food, so many presents, and so much love to a two-month member of their ward

7. My reduction from a beachball belly to a size 4 soccerball belly

8. Bending over

9. Moms, moms-in-law, sisters- and brothers-in-law for taking care of me, Sasha, and Sabrina

10. Naps

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Updates

I swear I will get some pictures up soon! But for now, you must be content with the written word.

Mom's presence continues to be a joy. Let me give you an example. I have changed about four diapers since getting home! Also, I have yet to do dishes, get myself a meal, or get my husband a meal. This is partly thanks to the Relief Society and my wonderful visiting teacher, who brought enough food to feed an army, but there is something to be said for someone else warming up the lasagna in the microwave.

Sabrina has been very sweet with her new brother. Most of the time. She does sometimes (often) just ignore him, but alternates with "I want to hold it--Baby Sasha." I'm working on human pronouns with her.

Sasha just had his first doctor's appointment yesterday. The doctor confirmed what we thought. He is perfect. He is only two ounces down from his birthweight, which is likely attributable to his fantastic eating skills. He is a sweet, cooperative baby. At least, this is how I feel since Mom takes care of him for much of the night! Zane asked her if she wanted to make the position permanent.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Since Birth

Ever since the C-section, everything has been perfect. Sasha is perfect (okay, he likes to be awake starting at 10 pm, but if that's his only flaw...). He sleeps well, eats well, his blood sugar is great, his bilirubin is "low risk," his circumcision went well. There have been no complications.

As far as me? My incision is healing well, the nurses were impressed with my walking skillz, my pain has been well controlled. Oh, and mom coincidentally has three days off that she could spend in Washington D.C. but thought it would be more fun to spend in Eden. As she says, these are all tender mercies.

BUT. WHY oh WHY do they encourage breastfeeding, tell you how wonderful it is, congratulate you on doing it, AND ONLY HAVE HOSPITAL GOWNS THAT OPEN IN THE BACK!!??!! This is what I would like to know. Today I'm rebelling and wearing the gown backwards, but it gaps in front, and with the elders coming to bring me the sacrament (another tender mercy), I have to wear two gowns to keep decent. Women, we must agitate for breastfeeding-friendly hospital gowns!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Honk

It turns out I was not pregnant forever! I now have a beautiful, 9 lb. 2 oz. baby boy, Alexander (Sasha) Joel Froerer, born on September 16. He is perfect, calm, a great eater, and as sweet as can be. His nickname is Honk. As in "That's a big, honkin' baby." Fits well with "Tiny," doesn't it?

I went in for my induction and progressed quickly to 9 cm dilated. Then, I stalled. I was at a 9+ for about three hours. It turns out, Sasha had the cord around his neck, which caused some problems with his heartbeat as well as not allowing him to descend into the birth canal, which meant I did not ever get to a 10. At about 6 pm, my doctor told me he was suggesting a c-section, and by 6:29 I had a baby! Sasha is doing great, I am doing great, and I get an extra day in the hospital to have other people change his poopy diapers and bring me food.

Sabrina has been cared for by both sets of grandparents and has been, according to them, practically perfect. Quite a statement about a 2-year-old! She was very concerned about Mommy's tubes and, presumably, Mommy's swollen and tired face. She asked, "Mommy, okay?" So cute. Mommy great. Mommy so excited to have two babies to love!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The last day of one kid...I hope

I know, it's been a long time since I posted. My only excuse is EVERYTHING seems to take SO MUCH EFFORT! I think it's partly because I went over my due date (okay, that was just Sunday) and I was pretty depressed about it. There's definitely a psychological strain that comes with the passing of that arbitrary date-in-the-sky pulled-out-of-the-air DAY your doctor gave you seven months ago. Add that to the fact that Sabrina was born on her due date and, well, everything takes more effort. But tomorrow? I get induced. Until my due date on Sunday I didn't really believe that impatience was a medical necessity. I hereby recant that belief.

So, today I've been busy cleaning, doing laundry, packing my hospital bag, and I just need to buy some (ahem) necessities that I forgot about until an hour ago. The work hasn't put me into labor, but hey, that's what Pitocin is for.

I also cleaned out the disaster we call a car today. It's primarily my car; that is, I'm the primary driver. Here's the breakdown of who left stuff in the car:
Molly: 10% (not including garbage. Let's face it, 50% of the garbage was mine.)
Sabrina: 50% (not surprising. She spends a lot of time in the car, and I usually have so much to bring in, including her, that her stuff gets left behind.)
Zane and Spencer: 20% each. This is what gets me. WHY do I have four pairs of Zane's socks in the car? Two pairs of pants? Random metal pieces that are VERY IMPORTANT but have been sitting there for weeks? Spencer's geode that he desperately wanted when we were in Southern Utah but never took out of the car? Three pairs of Spencer's shoes? Grrr.

I felt good for cleaning out the car, and was all set to put Sabrina's old carseat in there for the babe, but then I looked at it. Where were my eyes when I put my sweet, clean baby on that filthy seat? So, I'm washing it right now. And yes, it's girly. I feel, however, that my boy will be adequately masculine that he will overcome the obstacle of a pink and gray infant car seat.

I'm sure I have many more amusing and clever things to say, but this is already a novel and I need to finish making sure I have adequate entertainment (books and Alias and Pride and Prejudice, BBC version) for tomorrow.

Oh, and happy birthday Nora and Meredith last Saturday! (People remember your birthday when you're born on 9/11.)