Monday, October 24, 2011

18 months and growing....

Audrey had her 18 month check up today, and apparently she is well ahead of the curve. The pediatrician actually recommended doing as many activities that range in the 2 year old category as possible. He says she will decide if it's too difficult or not, and what is acceptable for her in terms of development. He was quite impressed with her vocabulary and dexterity. That made me laugh a little, because I was worried her speech would be a little delayed in lieu of the million ear infections and tubes, apparently that worry was for no reason. Looks like she is going to be a brainiac, and that is more than ok with this momma!!! I also found it ironic, considering we just moved her up to the 2 year old room at dayccare, and she LOVES it. Originally we were trying to avoid several biters in the toddler room, and decided to try it to see if it helped with the boredom....Viola! It did!

She weighs in at 23 lbs and 31 inches tall. She doesn't break the 30th percentile in either category, and her head circumference is even smaller. At 45 and a half centimeters she is only in the 18th percentile. Like I have said before, she is apparently just going to be a little petite.

At this point, Audrey is a handful in her own little way. It isn't that she misbehaves a lot, or doesn't listen; although she does have her moments, she is just in to EVERYTHING! She wants to see how things work, what they do, or how to operate them. Keeping her entertained is proving to be our biggest challenge at the moment. Boredom strikes this kid fairly easily. Books are currently our refuge...She LOVES books. It is, at this point, the only way to keep her still for 20 minutes. She still loves her Mickey mouse, but we try to limit T.V. to 30 minutes a day. I do not want her to be one of those kids who sits and stares at the television for hours on end. We color, draw, play outside, create fun "activities", etc to keep her busy so I am always looking for fun ideas and stuff to do with her. She is VERY close to being ready to potty train, but I don't want her to endure too much change at once, considering we will be bringing her baby sister home soon. So I am probably going to wait until we have a decent family routine in place, and go from there.
I can't wait to see how she interacts with her new little sister. She is GREAT with other kids, so I am hoping she doesn't act out alot when we bring the baby home. Hopefully....it will be a fairly easy transition.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The waiting game.......

That's where we stand right now with baby girl #2.... We wait!

The doctor has threatened to induce me. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of modern medicine and will definitely follow doc's orders, but the thought of being induced is not something I am ok with at this point. At my appointment Friday he offered (or "strongly suggested") to go ahead and schedule it this week, but also gave me the option of waiting one more week, until my "actual" due date. I opted to wait, thinking mother nature knows best. I went into labor on my own last time, so hopefully that will happen again. Induction creates more stress on the  baby so I am trying to wait it out....I hope it's the right decision.  If there are no signs of active labor this week, I have no other choice, as he told me. He will not let me go any closer to 41 weeks than possible. When I go back to the doctor this Friday, I will leave with an induction date, and it will most likely be ASAP. BLAH! Don't get me wrong, I am beyond. ready. to. have. this. baby., I just want to do it in the best way possible for her. After this Friday, I know induction will be best, but I really hope it doesn't come to that.

As much as I love being pregnant, this pregnancy has been quite a bit more difficult than the last. The low iron, whacked out blood sugar, work schedule and chasing a toddler has prettly much left me exhausted. all. the. time. That's the secondary reason the doctor started talking about induction. He is worried that my blood sugar will crash, and I will not have the energy to endure a long labor, and the low iron may prevent a speedy recovery.  So, we compromised... "light duty" from here on out, no more working for me, and induction before 41 weeks.. I am perfectly fine with that!!!

I am so ready to meet our little girl and see what she's like. I can't help but wonder if she's going to be the complete opposite of Audrey or if we will have 2 peas in a pod. I constantly wonder how the heck I am going to pull off taking care of 2 kids under 2 and maintain the house, work schedule etc. The best advice I have received so far was simply "you always find a way". I am trying not to stress out about it, I am just going to figure it out as I go I guess. Hopefully it works ;)