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MEMORIAL
WEEKEND MAY 29-31, 2004
We visited the farm, stayed in Otis, golfed, went to a movie, and had lots of BBQs. I mowed the whole big yard in Otis this visit too. It's not like that little yard in Salina. This is a riding lawnmower-for-an-hour-and-getting-sunburned kind of yard. We took some time to cruise in the T-Bird too. Of course with no back seat seatbelts, the babies had to stay with Grandma. It was nice to do that again though.
Terra was home, so we got to have a Nuss family gathering, simply by right of location, not by right of bloodline. Terra was my best friend and next door neighbor growing up. She couldn't miss out on the chance to see the babies again since she is home so rarely. Emily had a fun time playing with all of the little boys there.
Jordyn was at Grandma Jenny's much of the weekend. It was the first time we have seen her since she began to walk this week. Emily didn't realize how wobbly Jordyn was, so she was often knocking her over. All of the little girls look so much alike. I could easily snatch Jordyn and no one would think a thing of it by looking. They all look like Michael somehow?? (That's just not quite right.)
Bethany spit, cried, and cooed the weekend away. And we can't forget peeing through many an outfit. We still brought the swing with us. She isn't free of the scream crying completely. I think it makes a comeback when the environment is so stimulating (which tends to happen during all of these gatherings).
Emily has been doing and saying so many things. Every second it's something new with her. The one that sticks in my mind the most from this weekend is when she put out a ton of effort. Suddenly she went up to Michael and said, “Poopie- I did it!” And, of course, she had. Potty training, here we come! Sentences that actually make sense are coming out of her little mouth now. So are lots of protests and such. I guess that comes with the territory.
Emily 21 mo, Bethany 4 mo, 5/26/04 MAY 24, 2004 Bethany has made it to the 4 month mark. Today she had a well child check. It was her first visit to her new doctor. She weighed 13 lbs 7oz, up almost 6 lbs from birth. That's the 50th percentile. Her height is 25 1/4 inches, up 6 1/4 inches from birth. This is the 90th percentile. On her developmental milestones, she's coming up in the 6-6 1/2 month range. We all know how those things can be so far off though. She's doing spitty raspberries all of the time and does a lot of coos and such. The nurses and doctor thought she was a cutie pie. I had to agree. Emily loves to watch herself on video. Michael had recorded her while I was away on a business trip. She was eating her first ice cream cone and said, "I like ice cream!"- yeah, that's on tape. This weekend she played so cute with her cousin Olivia, just like they were best of friends.
Bethie 4mo 5-24-04 MAY 13, 2004 Michael's Entry: I don't usually post entries, but I wanted to share some thoughts. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family. My two babies are the most wonderful creatures in the world. They bring so much joy and happiness to our lives. I can't imagine my life without them. Emily is changing so much. It's like she absorbs everything and is learning something new every day. And Bethany is such a cute baby. She smiles all the time. It just makes you happy to hold her and stare into her eyes. I love them with all my heart. And I want to let everyone know how lucky I am to have a woman like Jeridy as my partner and as the mother of my children. She's the most responsible and thoughtful person in the world, when it comes to the girls. I don't let her know nearly enough how much I appreciate everything that she does for me and for our babies. She has a very demanding job, yet she finds time to keep the house cleaned up, do the laundry, and wash the dishes. Not only that, she keeps up with this journal and spends a lot of time with Emily and Bethany and family. I just want her to know that I love her very much, and that I don't take her for granted. That's all I have to say right now. -Michael MAY
12, 2004 Tonight Bethany rolled and rolled around the living room. She rolled from back to front, then front to back- always to her left. Michael ran to get the video camera, but only got a few flips. Emily wants me to sing to her when I put her to bed. When she's tired, she says "Bed. Baby." She likes me to hold her like a baby and rock her back and forth in my arms singing: rock a bye and good night go to sleep little baby how I love you, Emily how I love my sweet baby MAY 10, 2004 I don't know where to begin. They are both changing so fast! Emily now says so much. I'll list a few that I can think of: I like it (repeating at least three times in a row) I want it alright (sing-song manner like she says okay) Wiggles (a kids show) Jo-jo's Circus (a kids show) chocolate milk down/up (she uses either as directional words, not necessarily at the right time though) light on dark She indicates possession (daddy chair). She identifies sounds (birds singing, the shower running, dogs barking). She chains words together. It's not like an entire sentence, but pieces that she knows that she puts together. In context, she makes sense. Her receptive language is outstanding. She follows fairly complex directions at times (ex. go to your room and bring me your shoes). We'll also overcome some tantrums by giving simple verbal schedules- "first shoes, then outside". Emily has been closing herself into rooms often. She seemed to enjoy pushing the doors shut, but she could never get them open again so she'd be trapped. Today she pulled a door shut, knocked and said 'mommy', then turned the knob and opened it all by herself! Emily and I go on walks together pretty much every day. I found this cute stroller toy that looks like a car that I can push. She pretends to drive it. She loves the stroller or wagon too. When we take Bethany on occasion, we take the double stroller and she can see baby up front. Grandma Carolyn walked with us on Mother's Day and held Emily's hand. It has been nice for us to spend time together. Bethany rolls over all the time now. She rolls from back to front, but can't roll back over. She gets so mad. That darn arm gets stuck under her belly sometimes too, which frustrates her more. She is so active now too. Whenever daddy or grandma walked by her this weekend, she perked up. It's as if she's waiting for them to talk to her. She does the spitty thing now too. What's that called- raspberries? Oh, I can't forget the biggest accomplishment yet-- she sleeps through the night! She doesn't go to sleep terribly early, but sometime between 10-11. This morning I had to wake her at 7:20 to get her ready for the sitter. How time changes things... and with little ones a short while can make a lot of difference. Mother's day was nice. Michael's parents spent the day here. My mom had some girl time away with her friends that had been planned for some time. I think she wins the super mom award for mother's day though. She happened upon a wreck on the interstate prior to the arrival of emergency services. She performed CPR on one victim until help arrived. She was in Oklahoma, but the people were from near our hometown. I am proud of my mom for her bravery in trying to help try to save someone else's mother. My mom is a strong, brave, caring woman. MAY 6, 2004 How could I have forgotten to add this? The basement is finished! MAY 2, 2004 "Grandma"- yes, the ENTIRE word, slipped from Emily's mouth the other night. Up to this point she has been saying "gra", which is a very strange way to shorten that word. Over the weekend, she got to see my mom, Michael's mom and my grandma Landers so she got to practice her new word a lot. She also started a new physical activity- somersaults (I had to look up that word to make sure I was spelling it right). When she gets tired, she just puts her head on the ground and flops over to the side instead of flipping over. It's cute. The girls' cousin Jordyn turned 1 year old this weekend. She had a big party at Pizza Hut with a lot of friends and relatives. Emily had such fun with the other kids her age. Bethany hung out with Aunt Lila and Tami and actually slept through a lot of the party (which is WAY better than screaming through it). Jordyn came over and played a bit at our house in Otis today. It's so nice to be close to family. Emily had a time playing outside at the farm. Grandpa took her out on the big tractor and she played more on her little John Deere pedal tractor. She's not big enough to pedal it yet, but maybe she will get there later this summer. She also got to watch papa John working on our patio/porch in Otis. The funniest thing had to be this morning when Emily was searching through the house at Otis for Michael. She wandered around saying, "Michael? Michael!" When she found him she said, "hi, Michael." He said, "no, my name is Daddy." funny kid. APRIL 28, 2004 Emily has started saying, "oh boy!" It's so funny. Miss Emily is a copy cat too. If we don't want her to repeat something, we better not say it. I've been shredding a lot of paper. Emily loves to help by running over and handing momma one piece of paper at a time ("here momma") and watching it go through the machine. Whenever we go by the stairs she says, "stairs. paper." She insists on playing outside every evening ("side! side!). We will have lots of cute outdoor pics this month.
Emily playing outside, 20 months Bethany's hair seems lighter and it has some curls cropping up too. She smiles quite a bit and loves to look around. She can still wear her 0-3 month clothes and newborn shoes.
Cry Beth, 3 months APRIL 26, 2004 We had a fun time this weekend. Jennifer, Chris and Matthew came to help us finish painting the basement on Saturday. We also had other visitors- Uncle Matthew and Grandma and Granpa Oetken stopped by. Emily liked seeing them. They all said how Bethany had changed so much in such a short time. Sunday I got up at 5:30 again just to be able to get some stuff done. We ventured out to Lowes and Walmart, which is just no fun with little kids. I wanted to throw something by the time that trip was over. When we got home, we were all tired. Since the babies were sleeping, that gave us the chance to do basement stuff. We finished putting the finishing touches on the bathroom in the basement. We hung the bathroom hardware and decorated with the matching bathroom set. It looks very nice. We also put up every light switch and outlet cover since the paint had dried. I was worn out and had to finally crash. Emily calls Bethany 'baby' for the most part, but when she does call her by name, she says Bethie. I think it's cute, so I've started to call her Bethie too. Emily is doing really well with her speaking. She says 'go' when we're stopped at a stop light in the car or when I am pushing the stroller and have to stop to help baby. She uses a lot of two word phrases all of the time now. She moved from her high chair to a booster seat last night. She likes to use her spoon and eat her meals herself now too. If we try to feed her, she'll scream like a little banchee. Speaking of screaming- As for Bethany, she continues to cry. She likes to be held, not sat down. She wets through her outfits so much that I do laundry nonstop. She likes Similac formula and will spit up Enfamil. She only eats about 4 oz bottles still. She still wakes up at least once during the night to eat. Usually she's okay just eating my baby juice, but sometimes needs a bottle. Maybe I'm a bad momma, but I really don't think I can stand the scream time one more night! UH!! APRIL 22, 2004 THREE MONTHS!! Oh, here is my little Bethany. She is growing and growing. I just can't believe how she changes before my very eyes. She is so alert. She always turns to see and hear when daddy comes into the room. Aunt Joni gave us so many adorable little outfits to add to our own collection from Emily, so we're able to don new outfits daily on this cute little creature. She's my little dolly.
As for Miss Emily- she had an all new adventure last night. She was in her crib and was not happy with us at all because we have taken away the pacifier (which daddy is not 100% behind). She cries and cries when we put her to bed now, which wasn't the case up to this point. Last night she didn't cry so long. After a bit, Michael went back to change into his night clothes and heard Emily talking like she does when she plays. He peeked in her bedroom door only to see her sitting on the floor 'reading' her books. She looked up at him and smiled. She's a little escape artist! I put her back in her bed to see how she managed to do it and she just flipped that long leg right up over the rail and proceeded to slide right on over. It's quite a drop, so I wonder how she landed the first time? Needless to say, Michael and I spent the late evening removing the bumper pad, soft mattress pad topper, and adjusting the bed to the very lowest notch in hopes that this plan would cage our little monkey. It worked-- so far. APRIL 19, 2004 Just look at my pretty girl! She is growing up so fast. Still, she's just a baby too- she's not even two yet. I found her a work bench this weekend. When I walked in the door with it, she just went wild. There's an engine block that makes noise and other cool stuff. The best part was sitting under it though. Silly girl.
Emily 3/04, 19mo- Photos by Jenkins Serene Photography Yesterday Michael got out the video camera (after months of my bitching). I would have messed with it myself before, but I'm afraid I'll tape over some precious memory that wasn't properly marked or something. We've missed out on capturing so many moments. He let me know that I've captured them on camera. (He must think I take too many pictures?) Emily was dancing to 'The Wiggles' yesterday, so he finally broke down and fiddled around with the camera. As he was previewing tapes to see what was on them, we got to see Emily back in her coo/scream/squeal stage, tootling around in her walker, and playing in her exer-saucer. That just happened not so long ago and I had already forgotten. I'm so glad to have it taped! Now the camcorder sits out on the cabinet charging so that I can grab it at any time. My only problem will be- take a picture or video?? Nah- I can grab both! I just love my little babies. APRIL 16, 2004 I haven't felt right all week. First it seemed like the flu, but now I don't know. I think it must be something viral. I just know that it sure is messing with me. Here are a few updates on the girls: Emily is doing this new thing now. She says 'readit' as she tries to hand us a book and take a seat on mommy or daddy's lap (usually daddy's). She hates Michael holding Bethany. If he tries to feed her or anything, Emily tries to climb right up there, I imagine to take over 'her territory'. Emily loves to eat pizza and chicken nuggets. These are two wonderful things for a girl who won't use utinsils and for parents who won't use a kitchen. It was funny, the other day we were driving past Pizza Hut. When Emily saw the sign, she exclaimed, "EAT! EAT!" oh my... Bethany still has this issue with wetting through her diapers. It doesn't matter what brand. Maybe it's the person putting the diaper on? I don't know. I just know that I do a heck of a lot of laundry. She is doing less scream crying these days- not to say that she doesn't cry though. We've discovered that she likes being held facing outward while resting her back and head against one's chest, preferably daddy's. (maybe she can feel his heart beating?) Our hungry little girl likes to eat little meals fairly frequently. The most formula she drinks is 5oz at a time and she likes to do this every three hours or so during her waking hours. At night, she'll still have some 'baby juice' but there's obviously not enough there to satisfy her so now she has a bottle at night too. Her crib is pretty much unused. We still have her in her pack-n-play in our room, mostly for our own personal convenience. That wonderful swing we borrowed from Aunt Joni is some sort of God-sent blessing. Joni asked for it back for her sister-in-law. Well, let's put it this way, she'll have to fight me for it! Our first family photos with Bethany just came in the other day. We did several individual shots with Bethany then Emily and then mommy/Bethany and a few with Michael and Jeridy together. My favorite one is a shot of Bethany's little tiny feet with just a peek of her little bottom at the edge of the photo. It's just too cute to see these tiny baby features. Most of the pics are black and white. They turned out nice. I think Michael might try to include some on the site sometime soon. APRIL 14, 2004 I woke up to the sound of water running. By the sliver of light coming from the closet, I could see Michael making baby a bottle. The clock read 4:30am. I saw him gently pick up Bethany and hold her as he fed her. Then he burped her and changed her with the expertise that only comes with experience. He did it all in silence and baby was the same. When they were all finished, he laid her back in her bassinett and he laid in bed. They both fell right to sleep. How beautiful.
APRIL 11, 2004- EASTER What fun we've been having! Yesterday we took pictures with the bunny at the mall. We spent the weekend with both sides of the family and even got to see more extended family that hadn't met Bethany yet.
Emily hunts for eggs while Daddy, Gpa Dellane and Bethany watch.
Emily, Aunt Jaimee, and Cousin Jordyn ride in the Barbie Jeep.
Daddy and Emily play at the park 4/10/04 APRIL 8, 2004 You know when you write something with a pencil and make a mistake? You try to erase it, but it's still there so you erase harder and harder. No matter how hard you erase, there's still at least a shadow of that mistake. That, or you've torn the paper and you have to throw it away and start over. Everyone has made mistakes. I have a number of them that I'd like to have been able to erase completely, but in life you don't get the chance to just toss the paper. Too much of the story is already written on it to have to start over completely. Right now I'm pressing the pencil down hard to write right over the top of those shadows. Maybe if I press hard enough, only I will remember that the mistakes were there in the first place and everyone will only see how things turned out. I'll keep working on that. MARCH 29, 2004 Today was Bethany's two month checkup. She has really grown! She is 23 inches tall (75th %ile) and 10lb 11oz (65th %ile). She's fine and healthy and right on target with everything she's supposed to do. The doctor said her screaming is most likely colic. Our insanity during her scream time really is justifiable... He said it would go away soon. I can't wait. Emily is saying a lot of stuff now. I just say stuff because even as a speech therapist, I'm not a mind reader and what she is saying only SHE can know. It's fun to see her have little conversations and bellow out commands and talk to herself. It's a far cry from the little coos Bethany squeeks out every once in a great while. I thought it would be fun to write down some of the funny things I say. I remember some of the stuff my parents said and I just thought it might be fun to remember. Dad always called me 'bocobutt'. Here is just a list of some of the creative things that our babies hear coming out of momma's mouth: 1. "crapichola"- a form of cursing without actually saying what I want to say 2. "what do we do with a drunken sailor?"-something I say when we're in a bad situation and I really have no clue what to do 3. "big baby"/"little baby" or "bitty baby"- AKA Emily and Bethany 4. "little demons"- used when they are both screaming or otherwise doing something I don't care for 5. "jackass"- that's my pet name for Michael when he leaves me with both kids and takes off to do some 'project' or when he gives me the baby in the middle of something that I have to do (like payroll) 6. "baby juice"- Emily calls every drink juice. She has seen me pump and say that is for baby, hence the name 7. "dammit dog"- the kids will probably think this is our dog's name. We've had Princess for nearly a year now and she is quite the trouble making yipper. 8. "silly little bean dip" - either Emily or Bethany when they have done something silly or cute 9. "mike S" - refers to the funny lisped 's' Emily makes when she's talking now Cute Things Emily says (that we can understand): "princhez" = Princess (the dog). She says this as she tosses food to the floor during meal time, whether we are at home with the dog or not. "cwakaz" = crackers, cookies, or other snacks "papa" = Grandpa (or other old guys, Noah doll in her Noah's ark set, etc) "daddy"= Daddy (or any other guys around daddy's age, also what she says when she wants to randomly say something, request anything, or get attention) "okay" = yes. This is what she says in answer to anything she DOES want to do when it's presented to her as a yes/no question. It is always said in a sweet, sing-song manner. "gra" ("a" as in hat)= grandma. I don't know why she doesn't just continue with the 'ma' part "poosh" = pacifier. no one knows why "cry" = the baby is crying, stop her please. "Geg" = Uncle Greg, Aunt Joni, or their baby Jordyn. They're all Greg for some reason. "day" = Aunt Jaimee- her favorite aunt so far "cowdz" = clouds. This is generally said while pointing to the sky. There are so many more... she's just a silly little bean dip.
MARCH 23, 2004 Everyday seems, well, hard. Maybe I'm still just in the adjustment phase? That's my hope. My house is a mess. There's a king size mattress set in the living room. It's for the basement "grandparents' sweet" which was just painted today. I think it's safe to assume it'll set up camp here for awhile. There is a clean laundry mountain on my couch. The smell of paint drifts up the stairs and mixes with the carry out pizza aroma. It's not a good mix. Crazy Emily just finished her bath- given by Daddy. Momma is on scream duty with Bitty Baby. The swing seems to be working its magic for now. Thanks be to the swing gods. That's a snap shot of tonight. I don't know if I want to save it or toss it?
Bethany, 2 months- the eyes are blue and she seems to be too with all the screaming she has been doing lately.3/22/04
Here's Michael's new baby, BIL. MARCH 18, 2004 It has been two months since baby Bethany was born. (two months!!) I've been back to work two weeks now (two very long, hectic weeks). Obviously I haven't had nearly as much time to update the journal. Time doesn't seem to be on my side. I keep remembering something one of my English teachers told me a long time ago- 'Everybody has 24 hours in a day. You choose what you do with them.' I've been in survival mode, constantly just trying to catch up. What exactly is it I'm trying to catch up with? Do I HAVE to have the laundry done? Do I NEED to make the bed? I think what I'm saying here is- what can I fit into a day now? I'm making compromises. Do I NEED a shower this morning? Nah, I'll feed the baby and dress her so that Michael can be to work on time- who am I kidding- 10 min late instead of 20. How about an update on the kiddos? Bethany has started to coo, using some vowels every once in awhile. She will smile at us when we're interacting with her. She has also started to scream cry again. It always happens when you don't want it- but really when IS a good time to listen to a baby scream? She does well at the sitter's house. That's good- it makes me think it's better that she's there instead of at home where she likes to scream. Maybe I'm being resentful because mommy isn't the all-important one now. She doesn't need MY milk in particular since she gets formula at the sitter much of the time. She doesn't need MY touch to calm her. I am no longer the answer. In two short months I have gone from the 'host' for my little parasite, to "mommy? oh yeah, THAT lady". Such is life. Emily has her very own language now. She has little conversations and such, but no one really understands what in the heck she's saying. This makes her VERY displeased, which of course leads to more tantrums. Grandpa Dellane hit the nail on the head when he said, 'I think she has a jump start on the terrible twos.' In watching Emily, Bethany and my niece Jordyn (who is smack dab in the middle age-wise between my two) I've discovered that I'm totally amazed by the normal progression of things. I'm a speech therapist for christ sakes and I marvel at NORMAL. Emily putting two word phrases together tickles me pink. Bethany cooing is absolutely amazing. The fact that Jordyn held her own bottle and furniture walked was just SOMETHING since she was JUST born. In reality, my sister noted that Jordyn is coming up on 1 year already. Stupid me. I KNOW that, but I'm still in awe.. You are really good at this stuff, God. How do you do it? I'm not a church-going gal, but as the song on the radio says, "I look at my daughter, and I believe." Take that times two. MARCH 1, 2004 "It's March" I said as I stared blankly into the mirror at my ever-changed momma body. Michael shut off his razor and looked at me quizzically and just said, "yeah." He went on getting ready for work as usual while I felt a little sad. To me, it means the end of this long transition into being a mother of two. In one short week I get to toss work back into the mix. It's happening all too soon. Sure, there are nice laws that allow moms (and dads) a longer transition, but in these times, the reality of this happening is outweighed by the mortgage and the car payment. Yes, kids are important- that's why we both work. Daddy's
girl Emily Over the weekend, I've realized a few things: 1. We can go on a car trip with 1-2 screaming girls and still manage to keep singing along with the song on the radio. 2. Our basement will be done someday. I see the finishing touches sitting and waiting at the bottom of the stairs. 3. The bills will get paid- sooner or later. 4. Emily is a daddy's girl and Bethany is a momma's girl (so far). 5. Six weeks slip by so quickly... Now March is roaring in like a lion with the fierce winds that Kansas can bring. Hopefully it will stick to the old addage and take pity on this emotionally staggering new momma and go out like a lamb. March brings with it a new beginning- spring. While we all watch the tiny sprouting buds turn into the beauty of summer, I'll be looking at nature's majesty right in my own house as my own little blossoms bloom...
Jeridy with Emily (18mo) and Bethany (5wks) FEBRUARY 25, 2004 Oh what a difference a month can make! Baby Bethany has grown so much. I have no idea what she weighs or how long/tall she is, but she has grown out of some of her little newborn outfits. I see her every day (and night), yet even I can tell that she is filling out. Those bird legs and that little tummy are getting some meat on them now. Her eyes are still that mysterious gray color, but I think they are leaning towards blue. Time will tell. Both girls seem to have recovered from last week's sickness madness. Emily is still in tantrum mode. We're trying to deal with it as well as we can, but it's a challenge. At least I've had dealings with behaviors with my own little sisters and through my work in the schools. Michael hasn't had any, so he is at his wits end at times. Bethany and Momma went to the farm and to Otis to visit family yesterday. She finally got to see Uncle Matthew, Uncle Greg, and Great Grandma Landers for the first time, along with lots of 'revisits' to other family. Little cousin Jordyn had fun grabbing that spikey little hair on Bethany's head too. This was momma's first big trip alone with baby Bethany. It took extra outfits, extra planning, a lot of extra time, and several unplanned stops but it was worth it.
FEBRUARY
18, 2004 Yesterday was a super fun one, complete with being puked on, pooed on and peed on. Between the two of them they got me good.Once yesterday Emily had finally fallen asleep in her crib. I was in the living room feeding Bethany. Emily started her coughing (the start to the puking espisodes). I ran back there with baby still attached. I was leaning over the side of the crib trying to get the towel to emily's face before she spewed everywhere. Baby was hanging off of me, balancing on the crib rail. Of course she couldn't stay attached so she started crying. Emily was crying AND puking. I was able to maintain my puke-catching stance while single handedly safely dropping baby into the crib next to Emily as she continued her puke duty. Once the episode was over, I was standing there half naked, a towel full of ick in my hand, and had two crying babies laying in the same crib. Oh my! Today Emily was so raw that I slathered her bottom with diaper rash cream and let her run around with only her socks on. See, she had kept her breakfast down so I thought we may be in the clear. WRONG. She stood right between the living room and dining room and did a juicy toot. First reaction should be panic, but I'm all paniced out. I calmly said, "it's okay" and proceeded to pick her up as she stepped both of her little feet right into the puddle she had just created. What is a little more mess on mommy? We managed to get the socks off, a diaper and pj's on and momma now has a rug to clean along with the mountain of messed clothes and towels from today and yesterday.That's enough. I'm tired. Maybe they'll both fall asleep at the same time so that I can sleep! Sure, like that would happen...Jeridy
Emily in her make shift 'sick bed' FEBRUARY
17, 2004 This weekend we helped my older sister Jennifer move into the house they built. It was due to be finished on Bethany's due date, but Bethany came early and their house is finally completed enough to move in. I wasn't much help since I was watching Bethany and chasing Emily, but Michael contributed a lot of muscle to the cause. We also had more visitors. Aunt Jessie stopped by and so did Kassy and her family. Today is a not-so-fun one. The sitter called me only an hour after Emily got there to let me know that Emily had thrown up repeatedly. I got to load Bethany and trek over to bring Emily home. I know, I know, I'm home so I should be able to take care of my own kids. SURE- but I'm pretty new to this mother-of-two stuff, the whole vomiting thing is a chore in itself, and throwing a new baby into the picture isn't much help either. pity, pity. Really I'm just hoping that Bethany and I don't get sick too!
FEBRUARY
09, 2004 Bethany dealt with the situation in stride. She fussed a little, but Momma was there to comfort her while Daddy corraled Miss Emily. Bethany was looking healthy and has grown quite a bit in her two weeks of life. She weighed 8lbs, up 5oz from her 7-11 at birth. The amazing thing was her height: 20 3/4 in. I realize that babies are pretty scrunched up when they come out, but I think maybe they mis-measured Miss Bethany (birth=19in). She couldn't have possibly grown 1 3/4 inches in two weeks, could she? Both girls are doing okay and will be taking antibiotics for a little sinus infection. We have been getting a lot of visitors and well wishers. We had family over visiting all weekend. We have gotten out of the house to do things as well. Momma hasn't been just lounging around the house. I have been up and dressed, complete with makeup. All of this has helped with that baby blues stuff. FEBRUARY
06, 2004
FEBRUARY
04, 2004 JANUARY
29, 2004 Bethany's Birth Story | Wed-Thurs Jan 21-22: I didn't realize that by saying 'baby will be here soon', it would mean that labor would kick in on THAT day! Wednesday, Jan 21 I worked all day long finishing up some final details before my leave was planned to begin on Thursday. Michael's parents arrived around noon to continue working on the basement. They had planned to stay over to watch Emily and take her to the sitter since we were scheduled to go to the hospital at 6am. Michael took the afternoon off to do some last minute things and to help his parents some too. I spoke with my parents to let them know that the entire day had been pretty uneventful, but baby would be here Thursday since we had the planned induction. My friend Jessie called around 7:30 when her night class ended in Topeka. I told her that we had finished supper and were just watching TV- no signs of anything today at all. She said she'd be to Salina in a little over an hour. Michael and his parents went back to work some more on the basement as I prepared Emily for bed. That's when pain kicked in. At first I thought it might be a false alarm like the previous Saturday. Both started out the same. I just kept playing with Emily, reading her books and getting her ready for bed time. I let Carolyn know I wasn't feeling so well. I was really glad Emily was in bed. The pains continually worstened. I mentioned to Michael that I thought it might be the real thing. They all kept on working in the basement. By the time Jessie arrived, I was having regular pains at decreasing intervals. I joked about telling her nothing was happening and then being in labor when she arrived. She visited with me and showed me all the cute little baby clothes she brought for new baby as we waited on contractions. Pretty soon I started recording the times. It became our only focus. Michael, Carolyn, and Dellane all came upstairs and got to watch the changes. Carolyn timed the duration of the contractions and Jessie kept track of the intervals. Daddy prepared the bag and loaded the car. Grandpa Dellane just looked very uncomfortable with the whole situation. We got to 5 minute intervals rather quickly. By 11pm, I decided it was time to go. On the way out to the car and into the hospital, the contractions came very hard and very quickly. I called my parents to let them know we were headed to the hospital, so baby may come sooner than expected.On the ride upstairs in the wheel chair, I let them know that I wanted to go ahead and place my order for an epidural NOW. I was very serious. They checked me and I was dialated to 6cm. They came right away to hook up the IV, but they let me know that they had to get a bag of fluid in before they could do an epidural. By the time they did get the epidural in, I was at an 8. This was all before midnight!
Once I got the epidural, things slowed down significantly. Michael and Jessie got to sleep awhile even. I think I may have dozed off a few times throuhout the night. My water broke around 2:30 on its own. By 6am, it was time to push. We discovered that there was another bag of water. This little news scared Michael and I- thinking that there may be another baby. This was not the case luckily. The doctor thanked us for waiting and letting him sleep through the night. He was not pleased that the delivery bed would not raise up high enough. The nurses couldn't fix it, so we ended up switching beds right before I pushed. That was interesting since I was numb from the waist down! We all just had to laugh a little. In the move, the epidural came unplugged and they didn't hook it back up. I pushed for less than 15 minutes before baby came into the world. She didn't fuss much. It was a joyous occasion. We all laughed and cried a few happy tears. Her APGAR score was 9. Bethany was born at 6:37am on Thursday, January 22, 2004. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long. She hada full head of dark hair and no cone head! Jessie and Michael captured the moments on camera and video. Family stopped by to welcome Bethany throughout our two day stay at the hospital. Jessie, Michael's parents, and my mom have helped us with baby and the recovery since our leave from the hospital.
JANUARY
21, 2004 We have the crew all lined up to help us- my friend Jessie will be there to help with everything from snapping pictures to helping me simply get out of bed (and just to be there when Michael can't be). Daddy Michael will be there for moral support, to fill out all of those lovely forms they require, and to accompany baby to her first bath and such. The grandparents will be in town to watch over Emily. All of our siblings and the grandparents are lined out to come see baby when she arrives as well. I'm scared- anticipating the pain. I've gone back and looked at the hospital pictures from Emily's birth. I have been thinking through it. It wasn't really that terrible or anything. It's just scary not knowing what's going to happen this time. Family and friends will be coming in tonight and tomorrow to welcome baby. WHEW- we'll see baby soon!! JANUARY
12, 2004 JANUARY
8, 2004 The other day I slipped and kind of banged up my insides a bit. My doctor was gone, but the nurse was able to check me over. Things are progressing in preparation for baby's arrival. The cervix is starting to dialate and has thinned to over 70%. Baby is down very far with her head still in the right position. All of this was good news! Momma was a little sore, but has recovered with time and some mild pain relief. DECEMBER
31, 2003 I eat ice like a mad woman. There are actually three bags of different ice shapes in the freezer to fit my chomping mood. We have found the places that sell pellet ice so that we can get that too. Michael thinks I'm nuts since it's winter and I go through so much ice. I'm sure his parents do too since I carried my bag of ice over to their house when we were there over Christmas. It's better than some weird pickle craving I guess. Baby moves around as much as it can. Mostly it sticks out up top near my ribcage and also out the side. I can actually feel it move its head though sometimes too, which isn't the most comfortable feeling since it's really low. Emily loves to touch my belly and say 'BABY!'. Of course, she points to her belly and daddy's and says the same thing. The other night she rested her head on my big round belly and rubbed it with her hand as she sat with me. It's so cute. We'll have to wait and see how she deals with baby once she's actually here.
DECEMBER 25, 2003
Merry
Christmas 2003 DECEMBER
12, 2003 New baby has been flipping around a lot. It really sticks out and you can see it moving under my shirt. It's very active.Tonight I had to have Michael go out to get me something I've been craving for the first time. I didn't do it at all with Emily and I thought I'd make it through with this one too, but I didn't. He had to go get some ice. It's freezing cold with snow all over the ground and ice in our driveway and I wanted to chomp on ice. Specifically, I have glasses full of ice with a little grape juice to flavor it. I've considered just making ice cubes from the grape juice, but haven't done it yet. It's weird. I guess it's good to stay hydrated- as long as I don't end up cracking a tooth or something DECEMBER
4, 2003 Here is Jeridy and baby at 32 weeks/8 months. I compared my pic of now with when I was this far along with Emily and I look basically the same. I guess we're right on track so far.
DECEMBER
1, 2003 NOVEMBER
21, 2003 NOVEMBER
14, 2003
NOVEMBER
11, 2003 We went to BabyWaves in Wichita and had 4D sonogram today. New baby looks like she'll have some big lips and a fat nose! She looks pretty filled out and is already positioned with her head downward. I think she's running ahead of the game. I'm sure she'll hang around for a few more months though. We're already to the last trimester now. It was just pretty amazing to see the baby look so real and to see it move as I felt it! Check out the pictures. We picked out a new crib for baby today while we were in Wichita and put it together tonight. Mommy did it this time with just a little help from Daddy. Last time Michael got stuck doing it all. OCTOBER
27, 2003
OCTOBER
7, 2003
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Bethany 1 month 2/22/04
