Friday, April 26, 2013

He's Here!!

Porter General Miller
April 25, 2013 10:30 p.m.
7 pounds, 15 ounces
20 inches long

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Paxton Day!

Jared and I decided we wanted to have a special day with Paxton before his little brother came. We planned it for today which just happened to be the day before P2's birthday.

After breakfast and Mickey we headed to Target to get the boys some big brother/little brother presents. Pax picked out the elephant (of course) and we picked a frog for P2.


Then we headed to Hafer Park and took a little walk.


We thought Pax would like feeding the ducks so we brought some bread. Once he figured out that it was just a matter of throwing things in the pond, he was hooked. After he threw his bread, he picked up the little boy's car you can see in the picture and launched it towards the pond. Jared did some crazy football maneuver and saved the car.



(There's P2)




After the pond we headed to the playground.

3 months ago he was terrified of going down slides. Now, he literally jumps down the slides. Even the big ones. He's learned that he can go faster on his tummy because his shoes don't slow him down.



He even learned how to climb back up the slide instead of going up the steps. He went through several years of evolution of playing on the playground at once.


He even enjoyed the slide that looks like it's from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.


After his nap we went to get some fro yo.


I couldn't tell if he was more excited about the yogurt or the sticker that he got from the cashier.


Afterwards he played outside at home. We checked to see if he was ready for Midnight. A rocking horse that was made by Jared's Great-Grandfather. It has been in every Miller boy's childhood for three generations. He's not quite ready but Midnight will be patiently waiting like he's been doing for almost 60 years.


Paxton's last day was bitter sweet. We're excited for the arrival P2 but we'll always remember the days of Paxton getting all of our attention. Watching those two grow up and be best friends will be a rewarding experience.

Monday, April 22, 2013

The Big Brother

Now that Paxton is two, I said I wouldn't keep up with his monthly updates anymore. But, he is 25 months old today and that happens to coincide with his last few days as our only child and I thought it might be nice to document what he's up to as he becomes a big brother.



-He is still not talking as much as he should be and still isn't using pronouns or putting two words together. He has started trying harder (sometimes) to pronounce words correctly. Lately, a few words that used to be "dada" are closer to their correct pronunciation. He now says buh-buh for bubble instead of dada and he can also say "pee" if his diaper is wet or poopy. He tends to over-use this one and asks for a new diaper constantly...and then throws a fit when we change him. He also says baby really clearly and has started making the P sound for the baby's name.


-He has learned all the body parts we can think of to teach him. His newest ones are cheek, fingers and shoulders. He understands pretty much everything we say and has started answering questions with "no" when he doesn't want something. He has also started wearing my shoes around the house a lot.


-He is very active and isn't scared of anything. We had a big thunderstorm a few nights ago with crazy loud thunder (the kind my sister was scared of until she was about 14). Paxton never flinched and went to sleep right in the middle of it with no trouble. He climbs everything and then stands on top of it. He loves to jump too. He chipped his front tooth on the table at McDonald's on Friday while he was trying to climb on the table. He is totally fine and it isn't even a bad chip, but we were really upset because it made us realize that we are really in charge of keeping this little guy safe and we didn't. Nobody else is going to step in if we make silly decisions or put him in danger. It really hit home how big of a responsibility this is.


-Is eating less than he has been. He is also pickier. He will not eat meat unless it's on a cheeseburger. He used to eat Chick-Fil-A nuggets but now he won't. He can't get enough fruit and will still eat PB&J's, spaghetti and waffles consistently. Other than that, he is a big fan of junk food...he likes chips and any kind of cookie or cupcake, fries, and candy.


-Lately he has been asking for which stuffed animals he wants to sleep with. After we put him in bed, he will point to the animal he wants through the crib slats and say "uh-oh". He has been asking to sleep with Scout the past few nights and naps. We weren't letting him have Scout in bed because he just plays with him, but the past few naps and nights he hasn't been playing with him.


-He has been really sweet lately and will give us kisses without us asking. He will also kiss the baby when we tell him to. He gave a little girl at church today several kisses in a row (sorry Blakely!). I love watching him grow up and can't wait to see him as a big brother!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, April 19, 2013

P2

Well, here we are at 38 weeks pregnant.


I went to my doctor today after several sleepless nights spent feeling every tiny flutter from little P and analyzing which body part I was feeling and if he really was head-down. I was anxious as I sat through the boring parts of the appointment, which was probably why my blood pressure was the highest it has been. Then my amazing doctor came in. As soon as she came in, she said "I've been wondering about you all week," which is kind of amazing to hear from someone who sees about 20 pregnant women a day. She checked me and felt for the head. She said she couldn't feel it, so she went to get the ultrasound machine. It was such a good feeling to have a doctor that was just as anxious as I was to find out my baby's position. I definitely missed out on that with my doctor with Paxton and it makes such a big difference.

She came back with the ultrasound and once again started at the bottom. This time, as the wand slid up my left side, my heart sunk. I knew what it meant. She turned the screen towards me and with a look of disappointment showed me his sweet little head. Still up by my belly button. Still on my left side. She also showed me my placenta, which of course is in the worst possible position to attempt a manual flip of the baby. She said that she had consulted with one of her partners (which again was such a nice thing to hear...she was thinking about my pregnancy and discussing it with another doctor while I wasn't even in the office) and that if my placenta was anterior (which it was), I would be at the highest risk of having a placental abruption if they tried to flip the baby. She said that the fact that he hasn't moved at all, even with the Webster technique and a week passing meant that the cord is very likely wrapped around his neck and he is unable to flip. Before she said it, I knew what it meant.

So now on Thursday, I'm scheduled for a C-section instead of an induction. I am disappointed. However, it is a huge relief to just know what position he is in and that he will likely stay. It is a relief to have a concrete plan in motion. It is a relief that it's just biology causing this situation and not anything I could have done differently. I have to admit, the chiropractor had me feeling a little guilty when he told me that sometimes babies don't flip due to stress or due to imbalance when I walk. I'm glad those doubts were alleviated.

I'm also a little nervous. I was feeling very confident about my induction. I knew exactly what to expect. I knew what the process would be, I knew what everything would feel like and how bad it would hurt and what the recovery would be like. Now I don't know anything.

Now that some time has passed and I have had a few hours to come to grips with what is happening, I'm feeling a little better. No, I don't know what to expect but there might have been surprises with an induction too. There are no guarantees in labor except that the baby has to come out. A year from now it won't matter at all how this baby joined our family, all that will matter is that he's healthy and loved. That's what I'll focus on.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mustache Bash and the Last Days as Three

Jared's office threw him a Mustache Bash shower for P2 and it was adorable.


There were mustaches everywhere. And mini bundt cakes which were delicious.


We got tons of diapers and wipes!

Now we are just enjoying our last few (six) days as a family of three. We went downtown for lunch today with Jared for the last time without P2.


We have a busy weekend planned, but are definitely going to try to enjoy only packing diapers and snacks for one.

And Paxton is reallllllly enjoying all of the attention he's getting in his last few days as an only-child.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Updates

Here's what we've been up to lately:

-I went to the chiropractor yesterday afternoon to try out the Webster technique. After feeling around, he said that he is about 90% sure that P2 is head down. We won't find out for sure until my ultrasound on Friday, but I am very hopeful that he was right and that P2 stays head down.


-We have hit the ground running getting ready for P2's arrival. His crib is assembled and ready, his tiny clothes and socks are clean and put away and now his bassinet is ready. Pax even put his firetruck night night in there to test it out.


-We also got the MamaRoo cleaned up and ready. Pax was never a huge fan of this, he preferred a real swing, but now that he's bigger it's his favorite toy. It only took him a few minutes to plop Scout into the swing and figure out how to work it. I turn this thing off about 23 times a day and every time I walk past it, Scout is back in there swinging.


-My sister threw a sprinkle for us this weekend and we were so excited that Granny Pat got to come! She's home from the hospital which makes us all happy! We got pretty much everything that we were needing, so aside from a few last minute purchases, we are just trying to get everything put away and ready!


-Next Thursday's forecast is officially on the 10-day now which means we are getting really close to meeting our little boy. It looks like a really pretty day!


-I have been soaking up every minute with this little boy. I know he's in for a big change that he doesn't understand or expect, so for his last few days as an only-child he's definitely getting spoiled.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, April 12, 2013

Not Ideal

I had my 37 week appointment for P2 yesterday and he is still growing right on track. His heart rate was 138 bpm. I had dilated a little more but am still not quite a one.

Right before the doctor left the room, I asked if we were just assuming P2 was head-down since I have been feeling most of the movement up by my ribs. She said she thought he was but we could do an ultrasound really fast to make sure. I was kind of excited because we haven't seen him since the 18-week ultrasound. She brought the machine in and scanned where his head should have been. She said "hmmm" which I was assuming meant the machine wasn't working right. Then she started moving up. It turns out that P2 is not head-down at all. He is transverse with his head on my left side and his feet in the middle and on my right side. At 37 weeks, this isn't what I wanted to hear, although I can't say I was really surprised. I have kind of been feeling like he wasn't head down, which is probably why I asked her for the ultrasound.

Since Paxton was big, we are assuming that this baby will be big too. She was not expecting him to turn on his own. She doesn't like to do the manual turning since it can cause a placental abruption. She referred me to a chiropractor who specializes in the Webster technique. Now I am usually one that is a little skeptical of the holistic approach, just when it comes to big medical things like delivering a baby, but she said that this chiropractor and this technique have really good results for flipping babies. So, I scheduled an appointment with the chiropractor for Monday, and another appointment with the baby doctor for Friday where she will do an ultrasound to see if it worked.

I have never been to a chiropractor before and am a little nervous about the whole experience. It is also not covered by insurance, so hopefully it works. In the meantime, I have been googling ways to get the baby to flip and even positioned myself upside-down on an ironing board propped up on the chair for 20 minutes last night (but only after Paxton went to bed because when I tried to do it while he was still awake, the poor kid burst into tears and would not stop crying until I was safely upright).

I'm putting my faith in my doctor and in the chiropractor she recommended. I definitely wish there was a medical procedure we could do that could flip the baby, I don't like that this is pretty much my last hope to avoid a C-section. I know that the most important thing is for P2 to come out and be healthy, so we will do what we need to do to make that happen.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Photo Shoot

Yesterday after Paxton's nap, he wanted to go outside. I realized that Jared and I haven't been very good about using the real camera lately, so I took that out with us.

For some reason, Paxton and Sticker are besties. Paxton likes Scarlett but he LOVES Sticker, and against all odds, Sticker likes Pax too.


Paxton also likes flowers. He is pretty gentle most of the time but definitely likes to touch.





After about ten minutes of playing outside, he couldn't resist the pool any longer. He hopped in, clothes and all before I could stop him.


He thinks the hose is the neatest thing ever.


I love these moments where he's all little boy. Sometimes I cringe at the thought of the laundry I'm going to have to do later, but this is what being a little boy is all about, so I take a deep breath and laugh with him as the freezing water from the hose splashes his face...and I try not to think about how next summer, there will be two of them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, April 8, 2013

It's Finally Spring!

By this time last year, Pax had already gone through half a pack of swim diapers from playing in his baby pool and water table! This year, we have only filled up the water table twice and his pool was still in its box...until Easter weekend!

The Saturday before Easter was our first warm day this spring. It got up to 75, so I had big plans to set up the kiddie pool Pax got for his birthday from Aunt Teig and Aunt Mal. Jared was busy all morning helping his dad out on his land, and then Pax went down for his nap, so it was evening before we got the pool out. It turned out it needed an air pump to be blown up so we had to go buy one.

By the time we got it set up, the sun was setting and it was a little chilly for hose water, but Paxton was too excited to wait.





He had so much fun splashing around and going down the slide. He didn't even need pool toys. The weather hasn't really been warm enough to get back in, but every time Pax goes outside, he tries to hop in, clothes and all.

He got a sandbox for his birthday from Gramsy and we've been trying to get him to play in that...but our child who will splash through mud puddles and hop into his pool fully-clothed hates the sand. I guess we should have seen this coming since he is just now getting over his grass aversion (still if he falls in the grass he will just sit there for a minute before putting his hands in the grass to get up), but we weren't expecting it! After lots of coaxing, he will now dig in the sand with the shovel and stand in the sandbox with shoes on, but he will not touch the sand. If he accidentally comes in contact with it, he says "yuck yuck yuck" and brushes it off.





And this weekend when I was filling up his water table, he decided to hop right in. I thought it was hilarious since he had never tried that before. Now he's up there every chance he gets.


I have a feeling we're going to be outside a lot again this summer!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, April 5, 2013

36 Weeks!

Yesterday, P2 and I hit 36 weeks of time together. We celebrated with a little trip to the baby doctor. His heart rate was 148 bpm and he is still measuring right on track!

My blood pressure has been under control with the medicine and I haven't had any signs of preeclampsia, so we are still set for having P2 on April 25!


I am starting to get a little uncomfortable at this point. My biggest issue is not sleeping very well. I have been waking up several times a night lately. Other than that, things are good. I love having an induction date set. I thought that I wanted to wait this time and go into labor naturally to see what that felt like, but I think Jared and I are too prone to procrastination for that to work. Once my doctor set the date, we both realized exactly how little time we had left and were able to get busy.

In the last week we have cleaned out the boys' closet (Jared), gotten all the newborn clothes washed and put away, installed the carseat base, got the crib (thanks Granny V) and assembled it, and organized the nursery. We are feeling a lot more prepared now.

We are getting excited to meet little P2 in 20 short days!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Easter

Jared and I are pretty big on holiday traditions and that is something we definitely want to keep going with our boys. We have always dyed eggs together the night before Easter (Easter Eve). We did it for both of Pax's first two Easters as well as this Easter.





He might have been a little more into it this year if we hadn't waited til a few minutes before bedtime to start...


We thought this might be the year we could do an egg hunt with Paxton...it wasn't.

This is the only picture of him and an egg. He picked up one egg, held it for a few seconds and then threw it at another egg and cracked them both.


After that, he only cared about watching the cars drive past so we thought we would be more successful in the back yard.


In the back, he was intent on getting into his pool...he wasn't happy when we wouldn't let him.


So we headed inside to show him his Easter basket.


He was really excited about this box of construction trucks. He wanted them opened immediately.








He even gave one of them a kiss.





We also cooked out at my mom's house with my sisters and Aunt Mal, but I took zero pictures. Paxton ate about four peanut butter cookies and tons of candy in his Easter basket over there.

We stopped by Granny V's on the way home too and Pax got an Easter basket from her too.

Jared ended the evening by installing P2's carseat in my car which caused us both to have a mild panic attack.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad