November 2, 2007

It's Friday and I'm on the verge of another weekend.  I love weekends.  I get to spend time with my family, whom I miss terribly while I sit in my office all week long.

Just a few months ago I didn't like weekends much at all.  Asher was still little enough so that he was crying ALL the time.  Avery wasn't adjusting well to having a new baby in the house and her whining and crying was incessant.   They are older now. Avery isn't so upset with Asher, and is being nicer to him.  Asher is older, and a happier baby.

It's crazy how quickly things change.  Watching these kids develop has been the joy of my entire life.  Asher started crawling this week.  I swear it's to get away from Avery's clutches... but whatever the reason he seems so pleased with himself that he can get around after weeks of rocking back and forth on his heels, frustrated that he couldn't reach whatever toy was in front of him.

Avery talks more and more every day.  Even sentences like "no, I don't want that" which should irritate me based on their content fascinate me because she's learned to string FIVE words together.  She started singing this week.  I realized a few weeks ago that she wasn't singing along with me when I was singing If You're Happy and You Know It... it had never occurred to me that singing was a developmental milestone.  Sure enough, this week I was singing the ABC song and I heard her little voice hold a note or two in a row while she was dancing around.

Halloween was this week.  I made Avery a tutu, which was supposed to be a bunny costume but since I couldn't find her ears that night I put a tiara on her head and called her a princess.  Asher was a little ducky, but had a cold so he stayed in with me and we passed out candy.  Jamie got a fire call that evening, so I was alone with the kids to feed them, change them into costumes, and pass out candy.  Donny was pretty helpful, and ended up taking Avery trick or treating which was nice.  After all the crap he has put us through in the past couple months, I suppose it is the least he can do.

Wow, a year has gone by

My friend Melanie has been trying to get me to start posting again.  Finally, I've decided to do it.  The past year has brought a lot of commotion around the Lehman house.  Since I last posted we have gotten married and had another baby!

Our little boy was born on 23 March.  I'm so glad I have a little boy.  I loved Avery so much that I wanted another baby girl just like her.  My little boy rocks!! 

Poor Asher, I have so many of things documented for Avery... I need to start keeping track of things for him! 

Asher is going to be five months old soon.  He weighs nearly 20 pounds, and is so much bigger than Avery ever was!  He is just starting to reach for things and grab them.  Mostly he brings them to his mouth.  To be honest, I am having a hard time not comparing Asher with Avery.  She was so advanced with everything she did, and Asher just isn't.  I worry about him and really want him to be okay.  I am sure he will... but I hate the worrying.

On a positive note, we got a little bit of video last night of him laughing at Avery at the dinner table.  That was fun!  He is starting to sit up a little bit and is sleeping through the night most nights.  I'm still exclusively breastfeeding him, and am going to wait til he's 6 months old to start feeding him solids.  Lord knows I don't need this child to get any bigger than he is.

I feel a connection with Asher that I don't remember having with Avery.  I don't love him any more, but it's a lot different.  I feel like he's more LIKE I am.  He seems easily agitated, but once he is settled he is very content.  I think he looks a bit more like me than Avery does (not hard, since Avery is a Jamie-clone). 

I am having a hard time with Asher in daycare.  I don't feel as badly about Avery as I used to, because now she is in a place and is learning and playing with other kids.  Jamie got me a little digital frame that flashes pictures up every 30 seconds and I spend all day looking at the both of them and can't believe how blessed I've become.

There's a whole bunch of things that have gone on over the past year.  It would take me all day to write them down.  But, I expect if  I continue to keep writing it'll all come out eventually

Asher Skye is born

It was Friday afternoon, and I was wrapping up things in my office just in case I went into labor over the weekend.  I was to be induced on Tuesday, but was hoping something would happen before then on its own.  I was going to go home early but kept getting last minute things to do and ended up leaving at my regular time.  I stood up to go to the bathroom one last time and felt a small gush.  It didn’t feel normal, but it wasn’t enough to seem like my water had broken.  I went into the bathroom and found that I’d started bleeding bright red blood. 

I tried to stay calm, phoned Jamie and told him I was going to the hospital right from there.  He met me there, and the doctor decided that things weren’t very serious, but I wasn’t going to leave the hospital without a baby.  Jamie went and picked up Avery and took him to the neighbors’ and came back.

When I checked in around 4 pm, I was almost 4 cm dilated and fully effaced, so I was getting pretty ready on my own.  At 6 the doctor broke my water and my contractions started to get a bit more regular and stronger.  When they became really painful at around 8 I got an epidural, and then they gave me a ‘whiff’ of pitocin to move things along.  I was at about 6 cm at that time, and got stuck there for a while.  Every time I heard the epidural pump go off to give me a dose of the medicine I felt a wave of nausea.  I was getting really uncomfortable because they wouldn’t let me sit up a bit because my blood pressure was low.  The nurse tried to empty my bladder to give the baby room to move down, but when she tried to put the catheter in the baby’s head was in the way.  So… the baby wasn’t moving because my bladder was full, and my bladder couldn’t be emptied because the baby wasn’t moving.  Interesting.  :P 

Finally things gave way and once my bladder was empty I started dilating pretty quickly.  I was concerned because the epidural hadn’t completely numbed me, especially my perineum.  I mean, what’s the sense of getting an epidural if it didn’t work, right?  So, they gave me a bit more of the medicine.  I got even more nauseous and noticed my blood pressure was something like 58/36.  I was getting sicker and sicker, and finally started throwing up.  Soon after that I woke up on my side with three nurses and a doctor standing around me waiting for me to come around.  I had passed out!  Freaky! 

After giving me some medicine to make my blood pressure go up, and another couple liters of IV fluid I had completely dilated and was ready to push.  I pushed through two contractions and the nurse told another nurse to go get the doctor because baby was ready to come out.  He had gone next door and suited up there because someone else was pushing there.  The doctor came in and kept telling me not to push because baby was ‘right there.’  I felt a lot of pressure, but no pain, which was actually kind of cool because with Avery I didn’t feel anything at all.  On the fourth contraction I pushed and little Asher was born.  Well, at 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches, he was hardly little for a newborn.  My first words to him were ‘hey little dude,’ which is when I asked the nurse if he was, indeed, a boy.  Jamie cut the cord and they went and cleaned him up a bit.  I got one stitch and after that the doctor looked at the placenta and determined that it had pulled away a bit, which was causing the bleeding earlier. 

Soon thereafter all the nurses and the doctor left and it was just Jamie and myself in the room with Asher.  After half an hour I tried to nurse him and he picked it up really well.  He wasn’t very hungry, but he did eat a little before falling asleep.  Jamie and I kept wondering where everyone went.  When Avery was born the nurse stayed with us and showed us how to bathe her and made sure he was nursing.  This time we were alone for over an hour before anyone came to check on us.  It was almost as if Asher wasn’t as big a deal as Avery had been, and I felt sad for him.

We went into our recovery room, and Jamie went home to be with Avery.  It was just me and Asher.  I looked at his little face, all bruised from coming into the world a bit too quickly, and cried.  What did I do to deserve for this little soul to be mine?  Asher Skye is indeed a big deal… he is my big deal and I can already not imagine my life without him. 

Wednesday

This Wednesday is SO much cooler than last Wednesday.  In fact, last week the final swallow baby in the nest on our porch died.  I lamented for a moment before knocking the stupid nest down with a window scraper from my van and wondered whether I would have to wash the poop off the porch or whether it would rain first.

Very excited today because Jamie landed a really big job.  It'll probably take him the better part of three months to do it, but the money's really good and believe me when I say we need it.  He is at his old house now clearning it out, finally.  I think after today we'll both be officially all moved in.  Finally.

Also getting excited about the wedding.  Not the wedding, per se, as much as the fact that everyone's going to be there.  Angie and I haven't been up there together in probably 7 years.  I'll get to see Kim and Greg, and Michelle and Neal, and see my family and Jamie's family.  Big fun to be had, I tell ya!

I'm starting to realize that I might live around a bunch of rednecks.  Jamie rented a movie last night for us to watch which was nice because we haven't spent a lot of time together lately.  Kris came over to return the tractor half an hour before it ended.  Jamie walked up the stairs and that was the last I saw of him for an hour.  I finished the movie, fed and changed Avery and put her to bed, got my jammies on and laid on the bed watching TV when he came in to see if I wanted to go outside to drink beer.  Um... blah.  I said no thanks, and he came in after midnight!  I felt a little slighted, and ended up getting miffed enough to where I didn't sleep last night.  Of course,  he slept like a baby and I'm a zombie...LOL!  Anyway... these guys stand around drinking beer and talking and they remind me of the characters on King of the Hill.  I think there were a few gals out there last night, and I heard dancing was involved.  I'm just not into that, I guess.  Never have been.  But poor Jamie has gone so long without friends here that I'm sure he loves the chance to get out and talk with someone besides me.

Friday night we're going out just Jamie and I for the first time since Avery was just a few weeks old.  I'm going to leave her with Sunny.  I'm a little nervous.  Not about Sunny because I totally trust her... but I'm just worried because Avery can be a quirky little gal when it comes time to go to bed.  She hates being on her back and needs her blanket all up around her face.  You have to give her a binkie and keep putting it back in if she gets upset and spits it out.  Sometimes she cries a lot, but if you just keep on giving her the blanket and the binkie she'll fall off.  Few people have mastered this.  LOL.

Here we go!

Okay... Avery's officially crawling!  The past few days she's been scooting and taking a bit of distance here and there, but today she was moving all over the floor.  She's not very coordinated yet, and mostly crawls on her left knee and right foot... but now we're going to have to watch her!

When I picked her up from daycare, Barry told me how far she'd crawled and Lola mentioned she's pulled up to standing on Barry's lap.  Well, I hadn't seen her crawl that far, but had seen her stand up.  Sometimes it frustrates me that they are so quick to tell me something that she's done without thinking that it's something that I might want to discover she can do on my own.  No, Lola, I don't want to come pick my daughter up after having been away from her all day long for you to tell me that she's said her first word or taken her first step.  It's not a contest... let me enjoy  my daughter's milestones in the perhaps false belief that I'm the first one to have seen them. 

Anyway!!  She had swimming classes tonight and did really well.  I could tell whe was tired though.  I need to mention that the other day when we had swimming lessons, I went into a bathroom stall, used the toilet, completely undressed and put my swimming suit on all while holding Avery.  I didn't even have any buttcheeks or boobies hanging out when I was finished, so felt pretty impressed with myself.

Workwise... I'm writing up the diquat study that Stacy and I did last summer.  I would like to have it in our in-house review before going to Michigan in a couple weeks.  The results aren't earth-shattering but I think they're interesting enough for a medium-sized journal.  I have to think of what that might be.

I need to mention how hot it is.  My God, the heat.  The absolute temperature (as shown on my official new-van thermometer) was 104.  The heat index, I was informed by the radio, was 115.  The humidity was oppressive.  There is a nest of swallow babies on our porch with as many as 4 babies in it.  I was hoping they would fledge soon because the parents are dive-bombing us every time we go out front.  Well, I think three of the babies succumbed to the heat, as there was only one left last night (one was dead on the porch, and I saw the momma bird trying to pull one of the others out)... sort of sad.  Tomorrow, cooler weather should prevail.  Yippee!!

Avery's update

It seems like Avery's made so much developmental progress lately I wanted to write it all down!

She now has two bottom teeth.  The second one began coming up a week or so after the first one.  She didn't drool or get fussy or anything... they just  sort of appeared.  Now she spends a lot of time feeling them with her tongue and making a funny clucking noise!

She can roll over onto her stomach pretty easily.  I find her laying on her side in her crib in the mornings.  Once a few nights ago I went in to find her on her belly with her two legs protruding between the bars in her crib.  I put her on her back and centered her in the crib, and Jamie came in and woke me up an hour later to say that she was on her belly again.  I said, she's okay, just flip her over if it makes you uncomfortable... he said he did three times.  I tried to convince him it was okay, but he didn't seem very convinced.  I went in and found her on her tummy again and could tell that she was trying to snuggle the blanket underneath her, because I forgot to put her favorite one on top of her.  She doesn't sleep well unless she pulls the blanket close to her face, and sometimes over her head.  I think that's even more important than the binkie!

Avery waves at everyone now.  Even Turbo.  Even the refrigerator from time to time.  Sometimes she'll just extend her arm, others she twists her wrists around like a princess.

She's not crawling yet, but she's getting really close.  She's pulled herself up to standing when she is sitting near something tall.  She'll also get on her hands and toes and it looks like she's going to do a pushup.  I think by the time we go home in August she'll be a lot more mobile.  Mostly  now she scoots around and goes backwards and grunts a lot while she's doing it.

All in all she's doing really well.  She wakes up every morning with a smile for me, and it starts my day out right.  I am not sure what I did without her as she truly is the light of my life.

Auntie Angie and Uncle Greg and Alex and Anna surpised all of us with a visit from Denver.  We drove to St. Louis and met them in their hotel and took them to breakfast.  Greg and Alex and Daddy went to the Cardinals game and me and mommy and Auntie and Anna went shopping for a wedding dress.  Mommy needed help from Angie because last week Mommy cried in Dillards when trying on dresses.  Something about being fat.  I sometimes wonder if it's my fault she feels fat, but she tells me that I'm worth it and I believe her. 

We found a new dress for the wedding, and it's really pretty.  I can't tell you what it looks like in case daddy reads this because it's supposed to be a surprise. We also found shoes and shawl and an outfit for me!

Uncle Greg had to go back to Denver that evening, but Angie, Alex and Anna came back to Millersburg.  Auntie Angie thought she was going to die because of the humidity, but thankfully she didn't. 

The next day we went shopping for paint colors for our new house, and we went grocery shopping.  We bought stuff for crab fondue and burgers to grill out.  Again, hot and humid and I'm glad the Harrants didn't die.  That evening the neighbors shot off fireworks and it was pretty.  Anna was jumping up and down because she thought they were cool.  She caught her first firefly and thought that was cool too.  Her mom, again, wasn't so cool and was sitting in front of the fan in her room.  

The next day they all went back to St. Louis to go home.  It was a short visit, but I'm really glad they came.  It is a lot of traveling, but I am growing so fast that I think they don't mind because I would change too much otherwise.  My cousin Anna really loves me, I can tell.  She fed me peas and prunes and carried me around a lot and played with me. Auntie Angie holds the record (behind mommy of course) in the number of kisses given to me in a single day.  I love pulling her hair and honking her nose. She always gives me such pretty clothes, and I can't wait to write thank  you notes once I learn how to write.