Alexandra Leone Granier

It has been a while but we are excited to Welcome Alexandra Leone Granier! She arrived on 24 OCT at 1951 or 7:51pm weighing 7lbs 13 oz, 21 inches long....I WAS RIGHT!!! Take that Maternal Fetal Medicine! She was not this 9-10 lbs baby they kept threatening I would have...and I kept my blood sugars under control without their meds they kept trying to force me to take....so there you go! Don't mess with an overachiever physiology type!

On Friday, we left the hospital with Alexandra weighing 7lbs 6 oz and slightly jaundice...but nothing that required a photoblanket like last time. On Monday at her first well baby appointment she was at 7lbs 4 oz so I have to take her back tomorrow (Thursday) to check and see if her weight has stabilized and to ensure she is not getting dehydrated....her poop is not the right color and I think the wet diapers are not indicating actual feedings not the water loss following birth and her eating every 2 hrs or so appears to indicated all is well and that Monday morning I was just a bit too early for that appointment as my milk has come and things are progressing.

Must say, this second time around is much better, I guess having done it before helps, having mom here to deal with some things and help with Matthew, and who knows...maybe Alexandra will be a great sleeper....it so far is not as crushingly overwhelming as last time.

In other good news, my final weight before birth was 192 lbs so a 43 lbs weight gain....Saturday morning I was 178lbs and Monday was down to 171lbs...so the excess fluid (and did I mention I had a lot of fluid which was why my labor lasted longer than Matthew....dang fluid) I think has left my system....This morning I was 168....can't believe it....I was in the 160s at the 4 month mark with Matthew....I hovered in the high 170s for a while...but of course I was topped off at 207 so 15 more lbs of weight gain....here is to hoping the weight loss goes easier this time....or at least I get closer to goal weight with minimal effort due to my changed eating habits and busier schedule with Matthew and Alexandra to keep me busy...oh and Queenie too!

My dad arrived last night and met his new Granddaughter...he is here to drive mom home on Friday....I will miss her, but Matthew I think is really going to miss her....she has read and read and read book after book to that kid, bathed him, taken him outside when the weather isn't too terrible and walked, pulled a wagon, pushed a stroller....that kid has had her undivided attention and enjoyed every minute of it....he is going to miss her terribly....Guess she needs to hurry up, find that Vegas house, move and then get back here for another 10 days or so to spoil Matthew....

I hope to get a family picture together one of these days...maybe when Grandpa Joe gets here and when I have time to hopefully get rid of the dark circles and exhaustion written on my face...plus Alexandra gets the yellow mostly resolved...will post when we finally get to it. Until then, here is Matthew with his sister on the first morning here at home.

We are encouraging Matthew to call her Sissy! Alex seems to be the nickname picked up by most folks but I am going to try and do Alexandra until I figure out what nickname fits....

That is about it for now....more to come I am sure in the coming weeks!

24 hrs countdown to new addition

Well, I made it to 39 weeks 1 day and still no action on this baby coming completely naturally. Due to my gestational diabetes my doctor would like to induce to prevent this kid getting too much bigger (8lbs 6 oz as of Thursday 18 OCT) and the head to ab ratio was right where it should be around .93....the problem, I guess the hospital is expecting a lot of C-sections or planned inductions b/c they couldn't get us a dedicated spot for Tuesday morning or afternoon so we have to wait for them to call us and let us know when we can come in....so depending on how tomorrow goes, I will either have a baby tomorrow evening (if this progresses quickly as everyone says the 2nd birth usually goes) or Wednesday morning in the wee hours I guess our new addition will arrive.

If you know me, you know how much I like to sleep and how I do not like my sleep cycle interrupted so I am really hoping for the first option....plus I don't want to be in labor for that long....so keep your fingers crossed that the induction goes off without a hitch, I respond and this birth is uneventful....also pray that the baby is really not 9lbs which the maternal fetal med folks kept hinting it would be despite my ability to keep my blood sugars under control the entire 9 weeks I dealt with this diabetes thing....I would love to say "I TOLD YOU SO" to those folks when they kept giving me eye roll when I told them I just don't believe this kid can be that big...I am not as big as last time and I don't feel like this kid is that big.....well judgement day is right around the corner.

I do not know the sex, really, we made it through the pregnancy without finding out, I am super excited to find out but don't ask if we settled on a name b/c well we haven't....we narrowed it down at least on the boys side but the girl side is not even close....it may really be the last minute before we figure out what to call the kid....if you know me, that is so not my way but I am actually ok with not having the name figured out (surprise)

I will officially weigh myself tomorrow morning so I can get a final figure of total weight gain and take a measurement of my belly so I can then start goal setting for the post pregnancy fun of losing the weight and getting my body back....while I have been really good on my diet, I am sad to report I might go a little crazy for a week or two when I can finally have halloween treats, cookies and other delights I have denied myself for the last 9 weeks...the baby needs the fat b/c they still have a developing nervous system and well I don't care if I actually gain a few pounds, after the denial and torture of the blood sugar regulation and the crap I put up with for the maternal med folks...I am going to enjoy a splurge....I am pretty sure I am not even close to 200 nor 207 which was my weight the day I went to the hospital for Matthew so I have a few lbs to let myself enjoy a treat after the job well done the last 9 weeks. At least I am telling myself this so don't give me a lecture or anything b/c I DON'T CARE, I WILL EAT WHAT I WANT FOR A LITTLE WHILE TO GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM.

My mom is finally here and already Matthew is having a blast, first Lara visited and he was enjoying her company and spoiling, now Granny is here and already he is getting her to do whatever he wants...so it appears he is going to probably enjoy the next few weeks of visitors and family....maybe it will cushion the blow that mommy will be a shared item in a few short hours.

Well, I am hopeful that it all goes as I think it should in my head. If you need an update look for facebook updates if I get a connection at the hospital, or Jay, Mom or my Nannie (Aunt Pat) to be in the loop.
Thanks for all the support, prayers and fingers crossed....
Elizabeth

Oct 14th, 20 months celebration and 38 weeks prego

Well, it has been a while since my last blog-post. I have been busy, I started back teaching a class which has been great b/c it has helped me feel like I contribute again to this great big world and my family fiances....I have been prepping for the baby and while I got Gestational Diabetes this time and had to see yet another set of doctors and nurses for blood sugar monitoring and baby growth monitoring, it has been a busy few weeks.

We are finally settled into Ballwin MO....The piano is fixed, it has new pedals and I plan to get the guts redone for Christmas....in case you don't know, this piano has been in my family for years, it is the piano my Grandmother Winnie Dimiterchik bought back in the 1950's so my mom and Aunt Karen could learn to play. Then Mom had it for Leone and I to learn to play on and somehow it has ended up in my house (finally) and I am not trying to do some work on it since it has been a while since it has had major work done to make it somewhat re-furbished and truly a family heirloom for my grandkids to possibly learn to play on when it is their time.

As you can see, Matthew is already pretty excited to "Tickle the Ivories" and show off his impressive hand pounding skills!

Also since my last post, family has visited, Matthew has now been to the St Louis zoo quite a bit and we have seen all or almost all of the exhibits. He likes the elephants, the sea lion tunnel and basically anything that gets him really close to the animals but doesn't force him to touch them. He was not a fan of the sting-ray and shark tank, he did not want to touch them nor stick his hands in the water.
Grant's farm was a pleasant surprise: We went with our friends the Hotard's and really enjoyed it. He helped feed some goats, checked out some birds, of course there were Blue ones so he was in heaven and the birds of prey show/animal show he really enjoyed but the best and what he still signs/talks about is the elephant education class we watched. He loved watching the elephant eat and orange, blow up a balloon and spray water all over.
Of course we have also done the Bird Sanctuary again, which is another treat for our bird-loving boy. Grandpa Joe visited and they did that (again) which of course allowed him to see and get up close to some amazing birds.

So 20 months on the 14th. Matthew is weighing-in on our home scale at 25lbs. He is still in 12 month pants as that is what fits his waist, the 18 months are just to big in the waist...problem we now face is many of the 12 months stuff are "high-water" or at his ankles....so hopefully a growth spurt (outward a bit in the waist) will occur soon so we can get him into his 18 months stuff....who would have thought, he would be in 12 months pants since well March....all the cute shorts and summer outfits we bought just got worn for the tops, and not the bottoms....luckily we got some winter/fall stuff from Aunt Jamee and Uncle Johnny so we have 18 month long sleeve stuff plus a few sweaters....

For halloween, I found another Monkey costume at Old Navy so this year again he will sport his monkey gear. I searched for a bird so some sort but could not for the life of me find a bird costume for my bird loving boy....as it is, angry birds stuff usually doesn't come in stuff less than 24 months or 2T and that is still a bit big...and Rio the movie he loves but is old doesn't really have gear to buy either....I am actually hoping that we can get the finding Nemo DVD and get him on Fish here in the future to just change it up for me at least...gosh Rio in the car, Rio at home....we watch this movie everyday....it does finally get old!

As for me, the baby is coming on the 22nd, at 39 weeks 1 day if not naturally sooner. As I got gestational diabetes and despite my best efforts on the diet, exercise routine and everything else, I supposedly will have this huge baby, which isn't the end of the world, but from the last ultrasound at 36 weeks (4 OCT), what is worrying the OB and the Maternal Fetal Med folks is the hip/shoulder/belly size compared to the head. Supposedly my kid has taken any and all glucose I have provided (which hasn't really been much as I feel like I am eating almost an atkins type of diet so low to moderate carb intake) and put it straight to its' belly....so the fear is I could push out a head but the baby would get stuck making a very big emergency situation that could lead to shoulder or hip problems for the baby that could be long-term or an emergency C-section surgery....so you labor for a few hours and end up with surgery and all that drama anyway....
So this week, the 18th is our decision day to look at the ultrasound, hope that the error that occurs at this point in measurements is on our side and the baby is really not that big, the belly/shoulder/hips are not really that huge and inducing a delivery is possibly....I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes naturally before Monday so I can possibly experience "natural" labor pains and not the chemically induced ones...I mean if you have 2 kids and you can't say you ever really experience a normal labor pain, that just doesn't seem right to me....

Still no idea on the gender, we are I think almost settled on a boy's name but the girl first name is not even close...we looked (again) at the baby book of names for ideas but just can't seem to agree and settle on something we both like....so don't ask, we don't know for sure the name....guess we have until Tuesday or Wednesday next week to figure it out as that is usually when those birth certificate and social security people come knocking and bothering you right??


Here area  few pictures of Matthew and one of me at 38 weeks.

 Sporting his 20 months sticker, he is 25 lbs and officially 20 months old as of 14 OCT

 So some of our baby gear is out and about in prep for the new arrival but Matthew likes to try and utilize it as well, this is him in the bumbo seat, he also likes to get into the baby's car seat. I think he is in for a huge adjustment once the newby arrives. Luckily our great friend Lara is coming to visit this weekend who was present at Matthew's birth to help entertain and spoil him and then Granny Julia is coming on Sunday for 10 days or so to really give Matthew some attention while I deal with the fun of a newborn.

I just can't believe I am really carrying this monster baby inside me, I don't feel as big as last time, I haven't gain as much weight, I am not as swollen and I can still see my feet and for the most part, put my socks, shoes and pants on without any problems....I really think I have that measurement error in my favor and this baby isn't as big as the ultrasound predicts...we shall of course find out in a week. The good news, at 190 or so lbs, I am 17 lbs less than last pregnancy. 190 was were I started my weight loss journal post Matthew so already I am ahead of the game for this post-pregnancy weight loss....I can't wait for spring to get back into biking, running and hopefully Tri's!

Well, it is a pretty long update but that is what is going on with us. Jay is enjoying the aspects of the job, of course he is still figuring his way through things....the commute is much like Richmond, about 30-45 minutes on a bad day....25-30 on a quiet or early morning or late coming home day...I am planning to start stalking a few of the college websites for St Louis to hopefully find a teaching job for next August...I would even settle for adjunct if it was a day teaching position and not night or weekend school....but hopefully by next August I am going to be back into the work-force.

I guess I shall try to update this again next week once we get home and have pictures of our newest family member.
I am thinking of trying to get family pictures taken around Mid to late November so Christmas/Holiday cards can go out with pictures of the 2 kids for everyone to enjoy....bear with me if that doesn't happen as I have this really great plan in my head of getting all this done but this kid could have other ideas and make accomplishing these goals difficult....

Thanks for reading and of course, keep an eye on facebook or in-touch with my mom, Lara or Jay for more information in the coming week.
Happy Halloween, I am somewhat disappointed this won't be a Halloween baby as it would be cool to have a Valentine and Halloween holiday baby...makes it easier for folks to remember as well. Oh well, the 22nd is a special day as it is my God-mother/Nannies Birthday and well the 22nd of March is my birthday so 22 can't be a bad number.

ok, I am really done, now!