Another week in the life of Mia

Although I might've feigned myself as one when I was in the third grade, I'm no meteorologist.  But if I may say so myself, let me just declare that summer is here!  I think it has arrived all over the country. I saw Facebook posts from my MN peeps that they were having a heat wave last week, and it was actually hotter than Tampa.  Can you believe it!?!?  I'm being facetious.

Summer is supposed to be lazy, but with a kid sometimes it is anything but.  As I am learning this, I have a new appreciation for my parents who probably rarely got much down-time with us as kids, schlepping us to practices, going to our games, dropping us off at friends' houses, trying (but not pushing) to keep us entertained during those "long, summer months."  How did you do it??  I'm not even at school-age with Mia yet, so don't worry, I'm not freaking out, but I can see how school's being out for summer could seem daunting at times!  But then if you homeschool, it might be a relief for you.  No more papers, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks?  Why do I remember that silly rhyme/hand clap?

Regardless, this past week, Mia's gone to the pool, gone to the park twice, gone with me around town...she's pretty much had an awesome week.  She slept really well too!  Maybe all this busy-ness is what's cooling her jets.  She's not so bored so she's not acting up.  Who knows.  

We live in Florida so we might as well take advantage of the palm trees, the sun, our community center's pool, and the blessed number of christian friends we have around town.  There is almost always something to do, that you could easily be overwhelmed.  Sometimes you have to retreat from it all just to calm down.  But I'm not ready to calm down yet, so here's another onslaught of pictures from Mia's past week, inspired by Greg's post:

Mia making "pawpy" (coffee)

Mia counting eggs (and subsequently launching one, not pictured)
at our food coop pickup

cruising around Publix

chilling on Mommy after a nap
(that straight line by our necks is a colored pencil)

Mia "conga" (colors)

Stealing the last few bites of my yummy lentil soup 

checking out the pool

getting more comfortable at the pool
(that was about the farthest from me I'd let her get!)

an instagram photo of me & Mia

a Mommy/Mia date at Wiregrass, watching the train go by

riding that same train

peering out our cabin

ice cream date with Daddy, a candid picture

modeling one of Mommy's dresses, made by my Mamaw
with detailing provided by an old family friend!

17+ weeks

"Is this our new picture pose??"

A Picture Post

It has been a while since I contributed anything directly to this blog. But there is a backlog of pictures on my phone that I've been meaning to share. Apologies for any duplicates (If Mia is in the picture then it's probably worth a second look anyway right?). Enjoy!

Baseball at Mommo & Papa Jack's house

Everyone in their places for Jackson's graduation (And Megan taking the lead on Words with Friends).

Piano Lessons

Really hard to say whether Mia is celebrating here or if she's about to slam the keys. Either way, she liked the piano!

Cruising in for a new 'do

The payoff

Showing off the haircut to other kiddos at the mall

Poooooool!

Proud to be an American

Niece/cousin Abby

We say Mia has a "helper heart" as demonstrated here. No children were harmed in the making of this meal.

Cheesin' it up for ice cream ("i choon").

And more eating...

Here's what I have and will be making over the coming weeks:

• Spring & Summer Simple Soup - Even though it's already VERY hot in Florida, this looks really refreshing
• Cheeseslave's Lentil Soup - just made this last week and it was fabulous! I was skeptical of lentils, but it's a really yummy soup when you add the optional pork sausage!
• Fermented Pickles (you know, to live up to the "pickles & ice cream" stereotype of pregnancy)
• Egg Salad (I already love eggs and now know how to make the homemade mayo to do it)
• Jessica's gluten-free pizza!!  

The other thing I've been into lately (besides Mexican food, which I also craved with Mia) are black and green olives.  I don't know why, but I love them as a little snack or appetizer!  Maybe it's all the healthy fat :O

And for Lil' Mia, I really want to try making some more homemade condiments.  She loves to dip her foods in creams and sauces, and anything I can do to make them a bit more nourishing with simple ingredients sounds good to me.  I usually try to get the organic versions of ketchup & mustard, but I've found some pretty-easy looking recipes for ketchup & mustard that I hope to tackle this summer!

What's been your latest kitchen experiment??

What's been different

16+ weeks

Indeed, I am pregnant, right?  Occasionally we all forget and sometimes don't remember which week it is.  Wait, am I in the first or the second trimester?  Ahh, yes, the second.   Crazy as our child has been this past week, we are happy & looking forward to having another baby.  Perhaps because we're "addicted to birth," but that's a whole 'nother story!!

I wasn't sure if I could fathom feeling different the 2nd time around in pregnancy, as before I was even pregnant I wanted nearly everything to be the same so that it seemed like I was enjoying (or not enjoying) all the new aspects of  impending motherhood. But alas, things go by faster this time around as time is relative, I'm more distracted because there's a 2 year old on whom to keep tabs, and since "I've done this once before," my mind isn't so wholly focused on learning all the ins and outs of pregnancy, although I do like reviewing the vast prenatal/pregnancy/childbirth literature out there from time to time.  Mostly I like reading what's going on with the baby and my body this week, and reading really good birth stories.  I could get addicted to that.

I have already felt the baby move a bit over the last few days, which has been exciting, and a positive reminder that things are going as they should.  I'm not sure I'm showing tons more at this point in time as I was with Mia, but I definitely know I have some baby belly so there's no question why my waist is widening or why I can't wait certain pants anymore.  :-S

We get asked how we're feeling, or what we're thinking Mia will be like as a big sister, or if we want a boy or girl or if we have names picked out.  As for now, Greg & I are feeling good about this, and have been since the beginning.  We have observed Mia of late with wee little ones (5 months or younger), and she has tried to be quite the helper with the babes, so we're thinking/hoping she'll be interested in her baby sibling and want to help out.  I'm thinking she might want to help out too much sometimes and try to hold the baby on her own or feed it foods when I'm not looking!  We're planning on finding out the sex in a couple of weeks, and we'll probably share with the world at large once we've told all the VIPs first :P
If we can hold fast to our goal, we will not be sharing the name until he/she is born.  People always want to know 1) what you're having and 2) what you're naming the lil' bean.  I say if we give them 1 for 2 they can't complain.  What can I say, we just like at least some element of surprise!

The main thing that has been different this go-round is whom I see for my prenatal care.  As alluded to several times before on this blog, I delivered Mia at the Labor of Love Birth Center and had a fabulous experience.  I really enjoyed my prenatal visits, the midwives and my actual birth experience.  I'm seriously not lying!  I was definitely nervous about giving birth, in and of itself, but when it came down to it, my experience went well.  I had a great doula who worked alongside us as well and really helped us as first-timers figure out what was "big-deal" worthy.

However, as also alluded to before, I had a totally unexpected blood clot about 2.5 weeks after Mia was born.  I say totally unexpected because while pregnant women are at a higher risk for clotting, I have no known clotting disorders or anything that runs in my family that could explain this.  The best explanation one of several doctors could share with me was that it was an autoimmune response to something in my system, hence why I've made some radical diet changes within the last year or so to decrease the amount of inflammation and irritation to my system.

All of this led to me being forever labeled as "high-risk" for future pregnancies.  I learned this weeks after Mia was born and dealt with my grief at the time and then moved on. The birth center was a great option for me and still is for many others who are low-risk. But high-risk? Okay, let's figure that one out too!

I found a group highly recommended that delivers at Tampa General Hospital that has regular OB/GYNs, Certified Nurse Midwives, and high-risk OB/maternal fetal medicine specialists all in one.  It's the USF Health group and so far I hear they have a good track record.  I've already met with the high-risk doctor who confirmed a prophylactic dose of Lovenox is what I should be taking throughout this pregnancy and the 6 weeks following to prevent miscarriage, blood clotting, and allow the placenta to do its thing.  Lovenox is a subcutaneous injection I give myself nightly in my belly fat (not because that's where the baby is, but because of the love handle situation!) that I basically look at as a little extra insurance for this pregnancy.  Sometimes it hurts to give the shots, but as an old pro recently shared with me, eventually you build up enough scar tissue that it doesn't hurt anymore, and after 2 months of shots I think I've already gotten there!

Other than that, all my other visits have been pretty standard.  Things will start to speed up towards the end when I have more fetal monitorings and a few extra ultrasounds to check the growth.  Since Mia was low birth-weight, they'll be monitoring the growth on this one as well.  I have learned one low-birth weight baby does not equal all subsequent babies are low-birth weight, so beyond doing what I can on the outside of the womb, we're just praying all things are going as they should inside the womb.  Getting the extra monitoring is a mixed bag of blessings.  It will be nice to see how things are progressing, but I would be lying if I didn't say I am a wee bit nervous about finding all these "extra things" that really wouldn't make a big difference but nonetheless add stress right at the end of pregnancy, which wouldn't be fun.

My birth plan as of now is still the same as it was for Mia, which is that barring any unforeseen complications, to do it all naturally, meaning no epidural, no pain medication.  We're using the same great doula again, who has allayed many a fear about birthing in a hospital (mainly because I've just never done it before, not because I'm hospital-wary) and has me feeling empowered that natural birth is totally doable (again)!

It's all still a ways off, so for now we're just enjoying the ride.  If you made it this far, muchas gracias for reading all the updates on life & pregnancy the 2nd time around!
What was different with your second/subsequent pregnancies?  What did you learn?

In the land of the unknown

Sometimes, it seems like it always revolves around the nap.  I never knew sleep was so crucial until I had a kid. I could tell you myself I always feel much better the more rested I am, and the more regular my schedule is, but it seems to be even more paramount with a child.

Ever since our trip, which was totally well-worth it, well, things around here have been a little helter-skelter.  The days are getting longer with the sun rising earlier and setting later, and Mia's bedtimes have gotten later & later.  We had not intentioned to not honor a strict bedtime for her, but it just wasn't happening how it normally does.  Then this week, she had a really high fever two nights in a row, and woke up extremely warm and uncomfortable.  She ended up sleeping with us the rest of those nights and slept much more soundly.
Yesterday she even slept past 9am, which is a rarity for her, and took a good afternoon nap and after she woke up, fell asleep on me on the couch for about another hour.  That (her sleeping on me outside of her room) never happens either.

So on a day like today, when we had a birthday party playdate to attend and you'd think all the commotion and even the sugar high would send her crashing this afternoon, she is instead thrashing in her crib, rolling around shouting "Noooo!" from time to time.  Now, I sit here blogging so I'm able to piece some sentences together, but when she acts like this, I feel like I can't get anything done, or truly relax, until I know she's asleep.  Does anyone else feel like that?  Am I the only mom whose successes for the day sometimes hinge on the completion of a good solid nap?

I feel fickle being so focused on this nap-thing, and when I talk to other moms, especially those with more than one child, it just sounds like something of which they eventually have to let go.  Either their children have long since stopped napping, or they have too many to coordinate perfect nap schedules (baby sleeps in AM, toddler in PM), or once one goes to sleep, they have to wake them up to pick up an older sibling from school.  Knowing how crucial it seems for Mia now to get good sleep (especially after being so feverish earlier in the week), I don't know what I'd do if she didn't take a nap.  Probably acquiesce to her demands and let her watch Elmo while I try to get something done. For real. I hate to say it, but it's true.  TV is sometimes a crutch when it needn't be.

What is different about these pictures??

So my question to other moms out there is, what do you do when you've tried all your tricks (diaper changes, extra drinks, soothing, etc.) and your child doesn't nap? How do you handle it and how do you keep yourself from turning into a crazy-angry-zombie mom??  Is this just a bunch of much ado about nothing?

And now, while after I vent, and have said a quick prayer (yes, sometimes I pray about naps), she is asleep.  *Sigh* 

Children.  Don't know how to live with 'em sometimes, but can't live without 'em, it seems.  Always a blessing.