Another Birthday Party

My parents arrived a few days ago to visit and help work on the basement renovation. My mom, Pumpkin Pie, and I went shopping on Saturday and then when we got home I made cupcakes for another birthday cake. My sister had sent a birthday present for Pumpkin Pie with my parents, and she had presents to open from my parents as well. After supper, we relaxed and socialized and then my mom went to get Pumpkin Pie's presents. She did so well unwrapping them. Each time a piece of paper would tear off, she would go put it in a certain place (she may turn out to be a neat-nick!) before she would go unwrap anymore. Pumpkin Pie got a new music box to add to her collection, a walking Cabbage Patch Baby, and a Little Mommy Toddler doll play area with a doll sized slide, high chair, pillow and blanket, etc. She loves her "babies" very much and enjoys cuddling with them. She doesn't have a Little Mommy doll, but we did find one of her babies that fits in the high chair rather well so she set out to feeding her baby with the spoon and sippy cup that came with the set.

Last week, she got a package containing some bib overalls with the mossy oak camoflage pattern and lace trim. Today is a cool enough day for her to wear them. They are a little big, but they should fit her for a while. She seems to have recently gone through a growth spurt as she went from having a chubby tummy to no tummy in about a week. We haven't measured her, but I'd be willing to bet that she's a lot taller.

Pumpkin Pie's Birth Story

Since we're going to have another one soon, I want to get these details written down before I forget them or get the two kids confused. I know that there are a few details I have forgotten, but I'll fill them in as I remember. Thank goodness for the edit feature!

Pumpkin Pie was due to be born on May 15, but being a first-time mom there were a few times before her due date that I had thought I was in labor for one reason or another. With what few complications I had (measuring small, not enough amniotic fluid, my inability to gain weight, etc.) I was certain that I would have her at least 2 weeks early. So when I'm still pregnant 3 days before my due date, I was shocked (and so were my parents)! On May 12, my hubby, my parents (who came to town early so that they would be there when the baby was born and could stay to help), and I went to town grocery shopping. We had a nice dinner ending around 6:30 or so. I wasn't especially hungry so it was a fairly light meal. We did some other shopping and then went to get groceries. I was having backaches throughout the grocery shopping, but nothing too bad. I didn't really notice that they were coming and going. We checked out around 8:45, and I went to the bathroom before we left. I had a little bit of bloody show. Coupled with the backaches which I was now realized were coming and going, maybe this was it. We got the groceries loaded in the car, and at some point, I realized I was having contractions. We timed them for about a half an hour and they were about 5 minutes apart! We'd been there done that with the regular contractions before, but we called the doctor anyway. Because we were in town, we were only 5 minutes from the hospital instead of over an hour. The doctor called back and said to go to L&D where they monitored me for awhile. Around midnight (I think), they decided to admit me and started an IV. I had a dose of Nubain before going to sleep. I woke up around 7AM when the doctor checked me, broke my water, and started pitocin. There was meconium in Pumpkin Pie's amniotic fluid. I labored with pitocin for 5 hours or so. There was another dose of Nubain in there somewhere, but it didn't help very much so I asked for an epidural. Finally, the anesthesiologist got there and prepped me for my epidural. The first time he inserted the catheter (I think that's what did it) I felt some strong pains in my right leg. After some adjustment, it was all in place and made the rest of the afternoon much easier. I dozed off and on for a few hours. About 4:45 my doctor came in to check me, but I hadn't progressed any since my epidural so he wanted us to think about a c-section. He gave hubby and I some time to discuss it. Hubby and I agreed that although it wasn't our ideal situation, we wanted a healthy baby girl by whatever means necessary. About 30 minutes later, my doctor came back and we said we would consent to the c-section, but he wanted to check me one more time. During that 30 minutes, I had started to labor and progress again. I was in transition! I spent the next hour and a half laboring until I got to 10 centimeters and started pushing around 7PM. I pushed for one hour and 19 minutes (throwing up every 15 minutes while in transition!) before my beautiful baby girl was born. She had aspirated some meconium so after a brief cuddle with me, they took her to the NICU for a long 4 hours for oxygen, an x-ray, and some observation. Shortly after midnight, they brought her back to me and she stayed in my room the rest of the time except for a follow-up x-ray on May 14 and a brief hearing test before she could be discharged. We struggled with nursing in the hospital (too much pressure, I think) but did well once we got home. Two years later, she's a beautiful, smart little girl. She may be petite, but she's about as healthy as can be!

Growing Up Too Fast

Today makes 9 weeks and counting until baby #2 is due. I know that Pumpkin Pie will be a great big sister, but it amazes me how quickly she is growing up. She received a giftcard in the mail earlier this week from her aunt, uncle, and cousins (Thanks!) and we spent it last night while we were in town to see my doctor. The baby is growing very well (HB=157), and I've actually gained 4 pounds in the last two weeks. That's the biggest jump I've had so far in either pregnancy. It still only has me at a net gain of 4 pounds, but maybe I'll actually gain a little more weight with this one. Pumpkin Pie got 3 new puzzles, a Mr. Potato Head, and the parts to make Mr. Potato Head into Mrs. Potato Head fairy princess style. Mr. Potato Head stays put away until school is out so that there are no little pieces left out for Daddy to step on, but we got out one of the puzzles this morning. It only took her a few minutes to figure out, and she played with it for quite awhile - dumping the pieces out and putting them back. Did I mention that the puzzles were marked for ages 3 and up? My Pumpkin Pie may be too smart for her own good. She figured out that all she had to do was match the picture on the puzzle piece with the picture in the empty space and POOF! - we have a match!

We also got a new DVD player last night. Our old one didn't want to open anymore so we couldn't play DVD's in it. We hadn't used it in awhile because Pumpkin Pie figured out last fall how to open and close it. When we had the cabinet pulled out for hubby to do some wiring, I moved the DVD player to the top where Pumpkin Pie can't reach it, but it didn't work anyway. The new one is a 5-disc changer and will upconvert to HD if we ever get an HDTV. It was on clearance, probably in anticipation of a new model or the new bluray technology. I also got an external hard drive last night so I can have a back-up of all of my pictures of Pumpkin Pie. I have them saved on DVD, but can't always get my computer to read them so now they are on the external hard drive. I may delete them from my computer and hope that the free space speeds up the computer and makes it last a little longer. I have a 60GB hard drive in my laptop and 320GB so lots of space to fill. :)

Potty Training?

Pumpkin Pie is just now willing to sit on the potty longer than the half second it takes to sit down and stand up. Having a book to read certainly makes it easier to sit there (her grandma would say she is just like her mommy that way). She has been taking off her diaper cover for awhile and will put her covers and diapers in the diaper pail. Tonight she told me she was "poo-stinky" which is what we say when she is poopy. She was walking and crouching a little funny so I took her to change her diaper right away and she was right! Of course, whatever progress we make after school is out and we really start training will be great, even if there is some regression when the baby is born - the background knowledge will be there.

Introduction and Pumpkin Pie's 2nd Birthday

I can't believe my baby is 2 years old today. It seems like just yesterday that she was born, and now she is a walking, talking, toddler tornado. She has grown into such an amazing little girl already. We always rock briefly before she goes and climbs into bed, but last night when she crawled into bed, I called her back so I could rock her a little more.

Last week, she was playing in the kitchen while I was fixing supper. Her basketball fell down the basement stairs, and of course she started crying. My hubby and I each said that we would go get it in a few minutes. After just a little fussing, she said, "I do. I get ball."



She is also learning the motions to "Pat-a-Cake" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". However, in spite of all of her babbling and her large receptive vocabulary, the only part of "Pat-a-Cake" she'll say is "baby" ("put it in the oven for baby and me"), and she won't say any of "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She sure is cute doing the hand motions though.



I am a twenty-something mom to my pumpkin pie. I also teach music full-time in a school 30 minutes from my home. I have been married for almost 7 years to my wonderful husband who is a great stay-at-home dad to our little girl. We are expecting our second child in July. Add Pumpkin Pie's best friend - a female black lab and husky mix - and we are going to have a houseful and our hands full.