Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. As far as our life goes things are moving right along. Addyson is doing well. She keeps us on our toes and amazes me everyday. She is a little sponge. And a mirror. It is scary how much she watches us and what she picks up on. She's got a Christmas program at school coming up and I can't wait to see it. She's been practicing her songs on us. I hope she doesn't get stage fright. My mom is coming up next week for a short visit and then Addy will fly back home with her. She'll get to be with the grands for three days before we get there. She is very excited. I think mostly about flying on a plane. She's done it twice before but she was too young to remember.
Micah is doing well. He is growing like crazy. At his two month checkup he was 14lbs. 6 oz. and 23 1/4 inches. He is going to be a big boy. He smiles all the time now. He loves to be talked to. If he's crying all you have to do is talk to him and he stops crying and starts grinning. He laughed for the first time today. He really loves his sister. He smiles at her all the time. Sleeping is going slowly. Addyson slept 8 hours at 8 weeks. Micah will be 11 weeks tomorrow and he sleeps 6-7 hours at a time. Twice last week he slept 8-10 hours and we got really excited but he's back to the 6-7 slot. Hopefully we're getting closer to STTN. He got to play Baby Jesus in our church's Carolina Mountain Christmas Spectacular. It's what it sounds like, a crazy, over the top Broadway style Christmas musical. He did very well I think. It's hard to be held and act like a baby but he did it. We're working on an agent as we speak.
John and I are good. Life has started to get back to normal. I've started cooking and grocery shopping again. (thanks to E-mealz it's not so bad) We had meals brought to us for over a month. It was fabulous but I was ready to get back to work. Church is great. It's kind of the down time before the craziness of spring and summer start. We get to go home for about 10 days in a couple weeks. We are so excited to see family and have them meet Micah.
That's the news, now you're up to date.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Aftermath
OK, I posted the happy details of The Event but in the interest of being GENUINE, I felt the need to post some of the details of how life is AFTER The Event. In an effort to be succinct, and because I am a mother of a newborn and a preschooler, this blog post will take the form of a list.
Things that have happened since we got home from the hospital:
1. Micah was having serious trouble eating- he would start screaming and stop after just a second, then he started throwing up whole feedings. After some diet changes for me and four formulas later we learned he has reflux. My newborn is now on Prilosec. Less throwing up but still has trouble eating sometimes. I have officially stopped nursing too because I just couldn't handle the diet I had to be on. Hopefully we'll continue to see improvement.
2. Addyson has done really well with her brother. I can't say she's as excited as she was but it's not because she doesn't like him, she's just learned he's as exciting as a loaf of bread.
3. After four weeks, I finally have Micah on a schedule that has both kids down at the same time for an hour each day. 3pm-4pm is the most blessed hour of the day. We also have finally perfected bedtime too. By 8:30 John and I have some peace and quiet.
4. We are getting about 6-7 hours of sleep at night. Micah eats every three and half to four but he goes to sleep pretty easily in between the feedings so it's not so bad.
5. I have lost all my baby weight and am back in regular clothes. My husband has also lost 15 pounds that he didn't need to lose. What's truly unfair is he lost his because his workouts have been short and somewhat sporadic. Where is the justice in the fact that working out less causes him to lose weight?
6. My husband continues to overwhelm me with how wonderful he is. He pitches in constantly and tries to give me a break whenever he can. He is such a blessing to all of us.
7. Our friends and family have been so great. Family helped us out so much the first ten days we were home and our friends have picked up where they left off. Meals, gifts, cards, babysitting Addyson... you name it. What's even more amazing is every time I had a truly terrible day there seemed to be a gift on my porch or a sweet card or email waiting for me. I know God was prompting them, it's the only explanation.
8. I know he's only a month old but Micah has starting smiling at me. Maybe it's gas but I choose to believe he recognizes my voice and loves me.
9. I have almost gotten into a routine. ALMOST. I am so close I can feel it. I have managed to be at home with both kids now by myself and there has been no bloodshed and only a few tears. That's got to be progress.
10. My house no longer looks like a bomb went off and I actually did all the laundry AND folded it AND put it away yesterday. Well, except the last load in the dryer right now...oh well....no one likes an overachiever.
Things that have happened since we got home from the hospital:
1. Micah was having serious trouble eating- he would start screaming and stop after just a second, then he started throwing up whole feedings. After some diet changes for me and four formulas later we learned he has reflux. My newborn is now on Prilosec. Less throwing up but still has trouble eating sometimes. I have officially stopped nursing too because I just couldn't handle the diet I had to be on. Hopefully we'll continue to see improvement.
2. Addyson has done really well with her brother. I can't say she's as excited as she was but it's not because she doesn't like him, she's just learned he's as exciting as a loaf of bread.
3. After four weeks, I finally have Micah on a schedule that has both kids down at the same time for an hour each day. 3pm-4pm is the most blessed hour of the day. We also have finally perfected bedtime too. By 8:30 John and I have some peace and quiet.
4. We are getting about 6-7 hours of sleep at night. Micah eats every three and half to four but he goes to sleep pretty easily in between the feedings so it's not so bad.
5. I have lost all my baby weight and am back in regular clothes. My husband has also lost 15 pounds that he didn't need to lose. What's truly unfair is he lost his because his workouts have been short and somewhat sporadic. Where is the justice in the fact that working out less causes him to lose weight?
6. My husband continues to overwhelm me with how wonderful he is. He pitches in constantly and tries to give me a break whenever he can. He is such a blessing to all of us.
7. Our friends and family have been so great. Family helped us out so much the first ten days we were home and our friends have picked up where they left off. Meals, gifts, cards, babysitting Addyson... you name it. What's even more amazing is every time I had a truly terrible day there seemed to be a gift on my porch or a sweet card or email waiting for me. I know God was prompting them, it's the only explanation.
8. I know he's only a month old but Micah has starting smiling at me. Maybe it's gas but I choose to believe he recognizes my voice and loves me.
9. I have almost gotten into a routine. ALMOST. I am so close I can feel it. I have managed to be at home with both kids now by myself and there has been no bloodshed and only a few tears. That's got to be progress.
10. My house no longer looks like a bomb went off and I actually did all the laundry AND folded it AND put it away yesterday. Well, except the last load in the dryer right now...oh well....no one likes an overachiever.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
The Event
Not that many people are following my blog but for those of you who have- sorry for the delay in posting. Micah Porter Leathers has made his appearance in a big way. Life has been hectic to say the least. For those interested in birth stories here it is:
I had been told repeatedly that I could choose to be induced if I chose. I chose. With our family so far away and a three year old at home I thought it would make life easier for all of us. My mom flew in the weekend before I was told I could be induced. At first there was some issues on getting in the hospital but that worked out and Micah's birth was planned for the 23rd. On the 21st I went for my pre-induction meeting with the doctor. I was not going to get to have my doctor- he wasn't on the hospital rotation that day but I was getting my next choice so I was happy. He checked me at that appointment and surprise- no change. I was still only at 1 cm where I had been for three weeks. After my check-up I met with one of the head nurses at my doctor's office. Her name is Donna and I seriously love her. After she went over all the important details- no food after midnight- be at the hospital at 4:45 AM- blah, blah blah- she reached over and took my hand and prayed a serious blessing on my life as well as Micah's life. It was awesome. I was a snotty mess by the time she was done but felt so at peace. I headed home and decided that just to help things along I would wash the car. I've had friends who have mowed the grass or gone up and down stairs and told me it worked so being the clean freak I am I figured washing the car was my equivalent.
I'm not sure if that was it but about 2 hours later I was sitting at the dinner table, talking to my mom who was washing the dishes. John had just finished mowing the grass and had gone upstairs to shower and Addyson was watching Sesame Street. At first I felt a little wetness and thought, "Oh man, I just wet my pants. Seriously??" Then as I stood up and headed upstairs to change, the flood came. I ran into the bathroom and sat on the toilet. I informed John who was in the shower that I thought my water had broken but I wasn't sure. The reason all of this was confusing to me was I never had my water break with Addyson. They even tried to break my water at the hospital with her and nothing happened. At the time they told me that it must have broken and I didn't realize it. Now, after experiencing it, I can say, it didn't with Addyson. There is no way I would have missed it. We called the doctor and guess who was on duty that night- you got it, my doctor. God is good right? Anyway, he asked some questions and then told us to head to the hospital. We told my mom and Addyson what was going on. Unfortunately I made the mistake of telling Addyson my water broke and she spent quite a while in my bathroom looking for my "cracked water".
We got to the hospital around 9 pm and spent awhile getting checked out and checked in. By this time the contractions had started. I decided at that point I was definitely getting the epidural. We had to wait about 2 hours to get it, the anesthetist was busy in a C-section. By the time he got to me I was in serious pain. Kudos to all you amazon women who go natural. You are amazing. I am a wimp. Once I was feeling no pain, my doctor decided to give me some drugs to speed up the labor. I agreed. I was so tired at this point from the constant prodding and checking, not to mention the blasted blood pressure cuff that went off EVERY 15 MINUTES. Around 4:30am I was ready to push and at 4:52 on September 22nd, Micah was born. To my, my husband, my doctor and the nurses' surprise, Micah weighed in at 9 lbs. and 5 oz. He was 22 inches long. I had only gained 22 pounds with him and Addyson had been 6 lbs. 13 oz. so we just assumed he would be similar. He evidently takes after his daddy who weighed 9lbs. 10 oz.
I'll save you the gory details of after- let's just say 9 lbs. 5 oz. will leave a mark. But other than that, we were good. Healthy baby, happy family. Addyson came the next day and was so excited to see her baby brother. It was so sweet and such an answer to prayer. She didn't seem bothered at all or disappointed. She wanted to hold him constantly. It was seriously adorable. Family and friends were so great. They were supportive and respectful of us and what we wanted and needed. The hospital stay was so much better than with Addyson. We actually got sleep. There was even a rest time each day when the nurses left you alone for two hours. Amazing. We did have a little issue when the pediatrician realized that they forgot Micah's Vitamin K shot but we got that fixed quickly and got Micah's hospital bill comped in the process.
The Event was all we could have asked and prayed for. The aftermath however, deserves it's own post. I'll save that for another time.
I had been told repeatedly that I could choose to be induced if I chose. I chose. With our family so far away and a three year old at home I thought it would make life easier for all of us. My mom flew in the weekend before I was told I could be induced. At first there was some issues on getting in the hospital but that worked out and Micah's birth was planned for the 23rd. On the 21st I went for my pre-induction meeting with the doctor. I was not going to get to have my doctor- he wasn't on the hospital rotation that day but I was getting my next choice so I was happy. He checked me at that appointment and surprise- no change. I was still only at 1 cm where I had been for three weeks. After my check-up I met with one of the head nurses at my doctor's office. Her name is Donna and I seriously love her. After she went over all the important details- no food after midnight- be at the hospital at 4:45 AM- blah, blah blah- she reached over and took my hand and prayed a serious blessing on my life as well as Micah's life. It was awesome. I was a snotty mess by the time she was done but felt so at peace. I headed home and decided that just to help things along I would wash the car. I've had friends who have mowed the grass or gone up and down stairs and told me it worked so being the clean freak I am I figured washing the car was my equivalent.
I'm not sure if that was it but about 2 hours later I was sitting at the dinner table, talking to my mom who was washing the dishes. John had just finished mowing the grass and had gone upstairs to shower and Addyson was watching Sesame Street. At first I felt a little wetness and thought, "Oh man, I just wet my pants. Seriously??" Then as I stood up and headed upstairs to change, the flood came. I ran into the bathroom and sat on the toilet. I informed John who was in the shower that I thought my water had broken but I wasn't sure. The reason all of this was confusing to me was I never had my water break with Addyson. They even tried to break my water at the hospital with her and nothing happened. At the time they told me that it must have broken and I didn't realize it. Now, after experiencing it, I can say, it didn't with Addyson. There is no way I would have missed it. We called the doctor and guess who was on duty that night- you got it, my doctor. God is good right? Anyway, he asked some questions and then told us to head to the hospital. We told my mom and Addyson what was going on. Unfortunately I made the mistake of telling Addyson my water broke and she spent quite a while in my bathroom looking for my "cracked water".
We got to the hospital around 9 pm and spent awhile getting checked out and checked in. By this time the contractions had started. I decided at that point I was definitely getting the epidural. We had to wait about 2 hours to get it, the anesthetist was busy in a C-section. By the time he got to me I was in serious pain. Kudos to all you amazon women who go natural. You are amazing. I am a wimp. Once I was feeling no pain, my doctor decided to give me some drugs to speed up the labor. I agreed. I was so tired at this point from the constant prodding and checking, not to mention the blasted blood pressure cuff that went off EVERY 15 MINUTES. Around 4:30am I was ready to push and at 4:52 on September 22nd, Micah was born. To my, my husband, my doctor and the nurses' surprise, Micah weighed in at 9 lbs. and 5 oz. He was 22 inches long. I had only gained 22 pounds with him and Addyson had been 6 lbs. 13 oz. so we just assumed he would be similar. He evidently takes after his daddy who weighed 9lbs. 10 oz.
I'll save you the gory details of after- let's just say 9 lbs. 5 oz. will leave a mark. But other than that, we were good. Healthy baby, happy family. Addyson came the next day and was so excited to see her baby brother. It was so sweet and such an answer to prayer. She didn't seem bothered at all or disappointed. She wanted to hold him constantly. It was seriously adorable. Family and friends were so great. They were supportive and respectful of us and what we wanted and needed. The hospital stay was so much better than with Addyson. We actually got sleep. There was even a rest time each day when the nurses left you alone for two hours. Amazing. We did have a little issue when the pediatrician realized that they forgot Micah's Vitamin K shot but we got that fixed quickly and got Micah's hospital bill comped in the process.
The Event was all we could have asked and prayed for. The aftermath however, deserves it's own post. I'll save that for another time.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Are you there God, it's me, Heather...
So I totally ripped off Judy Blume for that title. Did you ever read Ms. Blume when you were younger? If you didn't you missed out, especially if you were a girl. I loved her. I re-read so many of her books and when I started teaching I read some of her things to my kids. Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, come on, seriously good stuff. There was a point to the title though....
Addyson has become very interested in God lately. We've been talking about Him since her birth but it's finally becoming a topic she is curious about. She is especially curious about talking to Him. And Him talking to her. We pray with her every night and have since she was born and I think she has started to wonder about this person she can't see.
First we had to clear up a few things. For some reason my daughter was convinced that God was a woman. She kept calling Him she. This caused quite a stir in my household (and rightfully so) with my husband especially. It's a good thing he went to seminary and has that Master's degree in divinity. Too bad he didn't learn how to explain it to a 3 year old- we had to fall back on "because He is a man. We said so. Trust us."
The other thing we had to clear up was He wasn't deaf. I think because she hadn't heard Him talk back she felt she had to shout at Him. At all times. Kind of cute at first but at the park, in the pool, in Target she would just start shouting, "GOD? CAN YOU HEAR ME??"Reminded me of the first time I got my license and went through a drive thru. I can still hear the person saying to me through the loud speaker, "First of all you don't have to shout..."
One of the cutest things that has happened though since this interest in prayer began was a couple of weeks ago at Target. There was a woman stocking shelves or something and she had one of those walkie talkies on her belt and someone started talking on it. Addyson perked right up and said, "God? Is that you God?"
Just one of the many topics I'm sure we are going to encounter as parents that are so hard to explain to a child. It's hard for adults to understand this whole concept on prayer. Through this though, I have discovered two things.
First, it's the most rewarding thing to have your child dialogue with you on your faith. I love that she is starting to understand and ask questions about God and who He is. I hope and pray she will always be this interested in her heavenly Father.
Second, she has challenged me in the area of prayer. Even though she has begun to accept that she might not audibly hear God, I can tell if one day He did speak out loud to her, she wouldn't be surprised. I can tell by the way she talks to Him, she still expects it. I began to think the other day, why don't I talk to Him with the expectation she has? In my much longer life I have seen Him answer more prayers than she has but for some reason she expects it more than I do. It's humbling. It's changed the way I pray lately. To be honest, it's shaken me out of a rut I had gotten in. I pray with more expectancy, enthusiasm and wonder than I have in a long time.
I look forward to the next talk Addyson and I have about God. Who knows what she'll teach me next?
Addyson has become very interested in God lately. We've been talking about Him since her birth but it's finally becoming a topic she is curious about. She is especially curious about talking to Him. And Him talking to her. We pray with her every night and have since she was born and I think she has started to wonder about this person she can't see.
First we had to clear up a few things. For some reason my daughter was convinced that God was a woman. She kept calling Him she. This caused quite a stir in my household (and rightfully so) with my husband especially. It's a good thing he went to seminary and has that Master's degree in divinity. Too bad he didn't learn how to explain it to a 3 year old- we had to fall back on "because He is a man. We said so. Trust us."
The other thing we had to clear up was He wasn't deaf. I think because she hadn't heard Him talk back she felt she had to shout at Him. At all times. Kind of cute at first but at the park, in the pool, in Target she would just start shouting, "GOD? CAN YOU HEAR ME??"Reminded me of the first time I got my license and went through a drive thru. I can still hear the person saying to me through the loud speaker, "First of all you don't have to shout..."
One of the cutest things that has happened though since this interest in prayer began was a couple of weeks ago at Target. There was a woman stocking shelves or something and she had one of those walkie talkies on her belt and someone started talking on it. Addyson perked right up and said, "God? Is that you God?"
Just one of the many topics I'm sure we are going to encounter as parents that are so hard to explain to a child. It's hard for adults to understand this whole concept on prayer. Through this though, I have discovered two things.
First, it's the most rewarding thing to have your child dialogue with you on your faith. I love that she is starting to understand and ask questions about God and who He is. I hope and pray she will always be this interested in her heavenly Father.
Second, she has challenged me in the area of prayer. Even though she has begun to accept that she might not audibly hear God, I can tell if one day He did speak out loud to her, she wouldn't be surprised. I can tell by the way she talks to Him, she still expects it. I began to think the other day, why don't I talk to Him with the expectation she has? In my much longer life I have seen Him answer more prayers than she has but for some reason she expects it more than I do. It's humbling. It's changed the way I pray lately. To be honest, it's shaken me out of a rut I had gotten in. I pray with more expectancy, enthusiasm and wonder than I have in a long time.
I look forward to the next talk Addyson and I have about God. Who knows what she'll teach me next?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
38 weeks and counting....
OK so tomorrow I will be 38 weeks pregnant. At 39 weeks my doctor said he will induce so in a little over a week I will begin a new stage in my life. Mommy of two. Family of four. Mommy to a little boy. Back to nursing, no sleep, spit up, scheduling my life around 2-3 hour increments. There is a reason why John and I waited three years to do this all again. Don't get me wrong. We love our daughter but the first year was tough. Really, the first 8 weeks was tough. It got better...once we got some sleep. I'm a little scared. Everyone assures me it's so much easier but I prefer to be cautious, not overconfident.
Anyway, this post is for me. It's something I want to reread when I am in the middle of the, "holy cow, will this ever get any better?" stage. You see, while I am truly thankful that I have easy pregnancies, that I am even able to get pregnant when so many of my friends are desperate for a baby, I am a terrible pregnant woman. I don't get that glow. I don't love every part. I do enjoy some things like when you feel your baby move for the first time but at this point when he's banging on my ribs wanting out, it's hard to remember. I've decided that I may need a reminder of some things I was looking forward to when I was in these last days to get me through the first few weeks. So here it is- my top ten list.
10. Be able to wear a belt. Maternity pants just don't want to stay up on me. I am constantly pulling my pants up. It's annoying.
9. Stop snoring. I promise, I only snore when I'm pregnant, especially at this last stage. I hate waking up alone because my husband has fled to the spare room.
8. Be able to get up off the floor without holding onto something to hoist myself up. With a preschooler, this has made playing with her hard.
7. Be able to pick up Addyson without worrying about hurting the baby. Be able to put her in my lap again.
6. Stop having to pee three or four times a night. Of course, I will be getting up three to four times for a different reason...
5. Be able to sleep on my stomach or my back. I am usually a side sleeper but now that I'm forced to sleep that way I find myself wanting to sleep in any other position.
4. Eat a HUGE greek salad from Apollo Flame with tons of feta cheese on it.
3. Be able to see the veins in my feet again- haven't seen them on a regular basis for about a month now...
2. Be able to wear my wedding rings again.
And last...
1. See Micah's sweet face and count his fingers and toes. I hope he looks like his daddy!
Anyway, this post is for me. It's something I want to reread when I am in the middle of the, "holy cow, will this ever get any better?" stage. You see, while I am truly thankful that I have easy pregnancies, that I am even able to get pregnant when so many of my friends are desperate for a baby, I am a terrible pregnant woman. I don't get that glow. I don't love every part. I do enjoy some things like when you feel your baby move for the first time but at this point when he's banging on my ribs wanting out, it's hard to remember. I've decided that I may need a reminder of some things I was looking forward to when I was in these last days to get me through the first few weeks. So here it is- my top ten list.
10. Be able to wear a belt. Maternity pants just don't want to stay up on me. I am constantly pulling my pants up. It's annoying.
9. Stop snoring. I promise, I only snore when I'm pregnant, especially at this last stage. I hate waking up alone because my husband has fled to the spare room.
8. Be able to get up off the floor without holding onto something to hoist myself up. With a preschooler, this has made playing with her hard.
7. Be able to pick up Addyson without worrying about hurting the baby. Be able to put her in my lap again.
6. Stop having to pee three or four times a night. Of course, I will be getting up three to four times for a different reason...
5. Be able to sleep on my stomach or my back. I am usually a side sleeper but now that I'm forced to sleep that way I find myself wanting to sleep in any other position.
4. Eat a HUGE greek salad from Apollo Flame with tons of feta cheese on it.
3. Be able to see the veins in my feet again- haven't seen them on a regular basis for about a month now...
2. Be able to wear my wedding rings again.
And last...
1. See Micah's sweet face and count his fingers and toes. I hope he looks like his daddy!
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| 35 weeks |
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| 36 weeks |
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Here we go again
Here I am again. It's been about 2 years since I started a very simple blog on our Mac account. The purpose then was to keep family and friends up to date on our families adventures in our new home in North Carolina. Fast forward a little- toddler becomes preschooler, life becomes very busy, and facebook totally transforms everything about keeping in touch. The need for a blog seemed to fade. I enjoy other friends' blogs but just didn't think I had the time to keep one of my own. In two more weeks, I will probably be very busy again with the birth of our son, Micah Porter but for some reason I have been really wanting to attempt the blog again. To keep our family up to date of course but also because I feel like God is doing some incredible things in our lives and even if no one else reads or cares, I want to share it. So here it is. My thoughts. Mostly about family, but some other things may come out- some pretty, some not. But like the title of the blog says, genuine. That's who I want to be.
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