Potty Training Frustrations

Well as many of you moms have been through the trials and tribulations of potty training I'm going to post about the experience we've been having with Olivia. We officially started potty training just after Christmas when she started asking to pee on the potty. We used the age of reward system and everything seemed to be going very well for Olivia. She could even stay dry after a whole day of outings. I was so thrilled. Potty training can be such a nightmare I was so thankful that she was doing well. Then something changed last week. She now cries when you put her on the potty and has been refusing to pee. On Wednesday we had a very rough morning, she had three accidents and I was getting very frustrated. What happened to my sweet girl who always used the potty. So I persisted, started taking her every 30minutes and finally just after supper I was rewarded with a successful pee. Everyone made a big deal and I gave her a toy that we had bought previously and tucked away for when we would need it. The next day she was better we didn't have any accidents and I thought well now's she's back to being the well trained little girl I raised. But today we are back to crying and not wanting to pee again. In anticipation of this I bought a couple more clearance toys to bribe her with, since candy wasn't working anymore, and we've had it sitting on the counter just waiting for her to have a success, but instead she pees on the floor. I'm starting to feel like we are going backwards. What makes a child who was almost completely potty trained revert back? I don't know! Do you? I will keep persevering and hope that we get back to wear we were soon, but in the meantime I will lean on the words from Psalm 46 GOD is our refuse and strength and ever-present help in trouble. I will leave you with this image!

Help MOMMY's having a bad day! Call 1-800-grandma

Family of 4 doesn't suit anymore

Well it's been a few years since I updated my blog. Many things have changed. Emily is now almost 8, and Rebecca who we call Becca is 5 and in preschool, we've added a third child to our family. Olivia was born over 2 yrs ago.

Here's an updated picture of our beautiful family.

 

In the past year many things have changed.

For Emily: Emily started grade 2 this year and although she doesn't love school she is still doing really well. Emily also started her 5th year of skating this fall. She's now in junior star skate and is learning new jumps all the time. Last week she learned how to do the sow cow. I love to watch her glide around the ice. She's currently practicing to complete her first test, which will happen sometime in febuary. She's been practicing very hard and is getting tired of doing the same thing all the time, but if she passes her test I believe that will be reward enough. She also has developed psoriasis this fall, which has been a learning process for us all.

 

For Rebecca: Rebecca turned 5 in December and is full of life and character. She has been attending Pebbles preschool since October and loves going to school. She also started her second year of ballet in the fall, she hasn't been enjoying her ballet as much as she did last year. In January we moved her into a more advanced class in hoped that being more challenged would help her keep her focus, so far it seems to be working some. Rebecca has decided she wants to marry her preschool teachers son, because she wants her teacher to her her mom. Some Mother's might find that offensive, but I don't. I love how much love Becca has to give and the way she adores her teacher couldn't be any cuter. Rebecca is looking forward to joining Emily in Chestor Ronning school next year as she will be starting kindergarten.

 

For Olivia: Olivia turned two this past November and has more personality then any other little girl I know. She loves her sisters and is always willing to give hugs and kisses. Olivia is they shyest of all our children, she doesn't like strangers and won't go to anyone like the other girls would, but once she warms up to you, she will reward you with many cuddles and hugs. We had a few struggles in the last year with Olivia. It started last February when she started to refuse to eat. It took many months and lots of stress to finally figure out that she can't eat gluten. Now that we've been off of gluten for a while she's doing much better and looking and acting like herself again.

 

 

Keith and I: I have been learning lots of new things since Olivia can't have gluten. I bake more then ever before, and try new recipes on a weekly basis. Some turn out well and others not a good. I enjoy staying home with Olivia and Becca now.

 

In the summer we added a dog named Sadie to our family. She's a great companion and love nothing more then playing fetch and chasing the cats. All of the girls love Sadie.

 

Keith has been doing snow removal and lawn care. The summers are nice and relaxing and we enjoy spending many weekends in our trailer. This winter has been a bit strange for Keith. We haven't got a lot of snow, but he spent many days pouring ice melt on the sidewalks and it was very mild this January.

 

Well there's an update from me to you. I'm hoping to post more often about our daily journey. The struggles and the blesses of raising my family.

 

 

Poll: Cutie Patootie Contest - Voting

Poll: Cutie Patootie Contest - Voting

Everyone, I've entered Becca into this Cutie-Patootie Contest, so please go to the link above and vote for Becca. Only one vote per household, voting ends May 3. Go to Bellas Bowtique fan page to see all the pictures. There's a link to the fan page on the blog site.

xoxo
Kate

Becca rolling over!

Well I haven't had much to post lately, but a few days ago Becca overcame a milestone. It's been so nice to not have to worry about her going anywhere, but that is no longer true, as this week she learned to roll from her tummy on to back. She was so happy about being on her back that when I put her on her tummy again she didn't even wait long enough for me to turn the camera on before she was back onto her back again. I was so proud.

Sometimes I wonder are things less exciting with your second child then the first. Because you've already seen it before, but there i was laying on the floor trying to get her to do it again so that I could get it on video to show to everyone, because I was so proud of her. I am still very thankful that she's not as active as Emily was and am looking forward to not having her mobile for a while, but on the same token I can't wait to watch her learn new things to feel the pride and love I feel when I see her growing up.

There are some things that are different with your second child at least for me. I found with Emily I was always wishing she could do more things. Like when she learned to roll over I then wanted her to be able to move around. When she learned to wiggle her way around I then wanted her to be able to crawl, and once she was crawling then it was walking. I'm thankful that I got that out of my system and am able to enjoy Becca being little and I don't in any way want her to be able to do more than she already can. It seems unbelievable that she's already able to roll over and she loves sitting up, so i know it's won't be to long that she'll be sitting on her own, but secretly I'm hoping she takes her time, because this portion of her life is so short and I wasn't it to last as long as possible.

xoxo Kate

ps. If you want to see a video of Becca rollig over go to my facebook profile page, since I can't seem to get the video to upload here.

Holiday

Well on February 7th at 4:30 am, Keith and I started on the 8 hour journey to Regina to visit our best friends, Caren, Jordan and Penny Gray. We decided to start early because we wanted the girls to sleep most of the way, and Rebecca usually got up around that time to eat. The plan worked for Rebecca, I woke her up at 4am and fed her, and then changed her put her in her car seat and she slept until we got to Biggar, SK. Emily on the other hand didn't sleep at much as we would have liked. She woke up when Keith put her in the car and was awake most of the way. She did have a couple of small naps in the car, but I think she was just simply to excited to sleep anymore. So we drove straight though, except for lunch and gas in Saskatoon, getting us to Regina around 2pm.

We spent most of the week in a nice relaxing way. Keith got to go to work with Jordan almost every day, which meant they both got to spend more time together. Also, Keith really enjoys working at the Stripe Shop with Jordan, and even got offered a job. I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Caren and the girls. We did got out shopping both Monday and Tuesday mornings. We spent a lot of time chatting and drinking tea. Emily loved being with Penny, and most of the time they got along. Penny was very possessive of her stool, and so there was problems anytime Emily got her stool. Of course Becca just loved being there, she spent the whole time being held which she loved.

Thursday, Caren had to work from 9-1, so Keith stayed home with me and we went shopping. We went to Urban Planet and got Keith some very cheap clothes. Then we just drove around and looked around. We also went and got me a new winter coat for 50% off. This made me very excited, since I have not got a new coat since I was in early high school.

Friday morning a friend of Caren's came over with her children. I thought Emily would have loved playing with a girl more her age, but both her and Penny didn't much want to share the toys. They still enjoyed themselves.

Then Saturday, we stayed home while the boys went to see Avatar in 3D, they really enjoyed the movie. It was nice for them to be able to get out and doing something fun together, since up to this point they pretty much went to work and then came home and watched a little TV before bed. Then Saturday afternoon we went swimming. Emily really wanted to go swimming since we got there. Caren's mom, told us about a swimming pool that was good for younger children. It was great. Penny could touch in most of the pool and had fun playing with boats and making 'tea' for her parents. Emily of course had a blast like always. She could touch in the whole pool except the deep end, and loved it. There were 3 different slides and she went on them all. The largest slide was a little big for her, and she needed to be caught at the bottom, and even though a couple of time she almost didn't get caught she still loved it. Rebecca did very well also. She spent around an hour in the pool. Not really enjoying herself but not crying either. I did have to get out and feed her at the beginning and then an hour or so later she was tired and I got out her towel and just carried her around in the towel. She soon after that fell asleep.

Sunday was Valentines day. We started the day out by going to Celebration Church, where Caren's dad is the pastor. Due to the fact that it was love Sunday, they had a brunch set up, and tables and chairs in the sanctuary. It was a little distracting and I was a little sad that it was so hard to concentrate during the sermon. I always look forward to Pastor Brian's sermon's when we are visiting Caren and Jordan. In the afternoon Caren and I went to see Valentines Day. It was a pretty good movie we were a little disappointed that it was more romantic, it was a little sad. Though it was nice for Caren and I to get out without any children for once. Then in the evening Caren's parents Brian and Sharon Smith came over to babysit the children while we all went out for a romantic dinner. We went to very nice restaurant and enjoyed great food and company and then after supper went to Earls for dessert, before going back to the house. The girls all did very well with Caren's parents and everyone was asleep when we got back to the house. Rebecca also had a great evening, Caren's dad loves baby's and held her the whole time. She slept with him pretty much the whole time except for waking up once to eat and get her diaper changed, which was the only time did Brian lay her down. Brian made a comment about Becca that made me so happy. After we got home from our night out, Brian said that Rebecca was the gentlest souled baby he had ever met. Which is saying a lot since he's met a lot of baby's. If you know Emily, you will understand why this made me so happy.

Monday morning we went to the Saskatchewan Legislature building to get a tour from Caren's brother Troy. It was fun spending some time with Troy and learning a little bit more about Saskatchewan. After that we went out for lunch and then there was a very teary goodbye, before the long drive home.Saying goodbye is always hard for us. I keep thinking that the longer we live away from them the easier the goodbyes would get, but it seems that every time we see them the good-byes get harder, and this one was no exception. We made the drive home in record time. It only took us 7:30 to get home, and we only made quick stops, didn't even stop for supper just had snacks in the car.

Well that was what happened in our holiday. We can't wait to see our great friends again and home it won't be so long between visits.

xoxo
Kate

Rebecca 2 Months old!

Rebecca turned 2 months old yesterday and so today we had to go get her first set of shots. As a Mother going to get your child's shots has got to be one of the worst things there is. You must inflict pain upon your child. Yesterday also marked a week since she was to the doctor and put on formula. So I was very curious as to how much weight she has gained since we had her into the doctor's. It was amazing! Rebecca went from being 8lbs 12oz last Monday, to 9lbs and 15oz today. She gained over a point in a week. So my question of whether or not I should continue breastfeeding has been answered. There is no doubt in my mind that she is better off with formula. Don't worry I am still planning on nursing some, maybe once or twice a day, but I don't think that will last very long. Since she's been on formula she no longer really enjoys breastfeeding. She still will take it, but doesn't nurse for very long and still wants a bottle when she's done. It does make me sad to think that I will no longer be able to nurse her, but her being healthy is far more important than me nursing.

Here's the changes Rebecca has made in 2 months

Rebecca December 1st, the day she was born! Rebecca 1 week old, December December 7th!

Rebecca 24 day's old Christmas Day!
Rebecca 35 days old, January 9th!
Rebecca 2 months old January 31st!

Well that's all for now, hopefully she'll have no reactions to the shots, and well have a great week.

xoxo

Kate

The next stage of the process!

Well we at the doctor's again today and the news was not good. The doctor is concerned about her weight so after her 6 week check-up when she was only on the 10th percentile the doctor asked me to continue as before and then bring her back in two weeks. The 2 weeks was up today and so we went to the doctor's today. Two weeks ago she weighed 8lbs and 3.5oz and today she weighed 8lbs and 12oz, which was not enough for the doctor. I know I need to do what's best for Rebecca, but it was still hard to hear. So the doctor says that for the next to weeks I need to give her formula when feeding. Then we will take her back to the doctor and see how much she gains. If she hasn't gained enough weight then we will have to explore more options, because then there is something wrong with her not what she's eating. So when we came home from the doctor's today we bought Formula and she ate well. I've been in this place once before with Emily and I'm sure I know how it ends. I don't like how it ends, but I know I need to do what's best for Rebecca.

xoxo
Kate

Emily's making friends

Over last few months we've been taking Emily to Sunday school and she's started making friends with the other kids in her class, but today was the first time that I've really seen her play with someone other than her cousin's. It started before church started, there was no one in her class today, so she was just running around playing. One of the times she can by me she was with her 'friend' Julia, and I noticed they were holding hands. I thought "isn't that cute," but then dismissed it. Then just after we sat down for church Emily wanted her apples that we had taken for her, and shortly there after I noticed Julia eyeing up Emily's apples, so I called her over and asked if she wanted to share Emily's she said yes. She slowly started to eat the apple and was just standing there quietly and so I asked her if she wanted to stay with us, and she said yes. This was the start of a fun filled church service for Emily. Her and Julia played through the whole service without fighting or arguing. I had needed to nurse Rebecca during their service and had layed my nursing cover over the chair in front of us when i was done. Emily and Julia used that nursing cover as a tent, sometimes they were underneath it as it draped over the chair, other times they both stuck there heads out of the head whole. It was the cutest thing to watch. Near the end of the service the girls got a bit rambunctious and Julia's mom came and took her back to there seats, but just as soon as church was over and Emily was allowed out of our row she was off to find Julia and we had to drag her out of the church when it was time to go home. Just like all toddler relationships they sometimes fight, but it doesn't hinder there friendship. Watching the two of them play together made me sad and happy at the same time. Sad because it showed me just how much Emily was growing up and happy to see her making friends outside of family. It's amazing how quickly the time passes and they seem to grow up overnight.

xoxo
Kate

6 weeks

Yesterday marked 6 weeks since Rebecca was born. The time has seemed to go by so quickly, and yet she's accomplished so many little things in such a short time.

Here's a list of what she can do now.

-first of all she's got herself into a routine, which has her awake in the morning and evening and sleeping most of the afternoon.
-second she's started responding to people and things around her
-third she has started smiling and even giving a little giggle every once in a while
-last but probably most importantly she's started sleeping through the night. This one may not last, but I'll take whatever I can for as long as she's willing to do it.

It's hard to believe that such a new baby could get that much accomplished is such a short time, it's amazing really. So all around everything very well.

Today was the day we had our 6 weeks appointment at the doctor's. It was a bit of a sad day, since we didn't get to see our regular doctor for the first time since she moved. She's such a great doctor it's hard to see anyone else. Everything went great at the doctor's except that the doctor doesn't feel she's gained enough weight since birth, so we have to go back in 2 weeks to make sure that she's continually gaining weight. If she does not gain enough weight, then the doctor will make me supplement, which is not what I want at all. Breastfeeding did not work with Emily and I really want it to work with Becca at least until she's 6 months old.

I'm so excited to see what the next 6 weeks hold for Rebecca, since she's accomplished so much in the last 6 weeks.

Kate

Finally potty trained

Well I'm proud to say, Emily is potty trained. What was the turning point you may ask, well today while we were eating supper Emily got up to go potty and then came back and announced that she pooped on the potty. I went to confirm of course, and it was true she had indeed went poop. This was the first time in a very long time. Ever since we started training Emily when she needed to poop she would run and hide. If we caught her before she did go, then when we got her to the potty she no longer needed to go.

It's been a long and frustrating few months trying to get her trained. I really wanted her trained before Becca was born, and so I started training her in August, and at first I looked like it would be easy. And as long as we stayed home she did very well, but as soon as we had to go somewhere for any length of time, then she would pee in her pull up. It seemed the closer we got to the due date the worse she got. It didn't help that I was so tired all the time and didn't have the energy to be running with her every 1 hour to take her. When she wasn't trained by the baby's due date, I thought it is going to be impossible to do with a new baby.

Like normal when Becca first came home it got worse. Then last Sunday I decided that it was time, and that since so far nothing was working that we (Emily, Becca and me) would be staying home until she got trained. No visits with grandparents, no trips anywhere, and it worked. Within a few days she was going pee most of the time. Then this last couple of days we went almost all day without any accidents. Then today she went poop on the potty too, and I knew that it had finally clicked. She still has accidents sometime when she's busy and forgets to go, but I believe that we've finally got over the hill and it will only get better from here.


I'm the PROUD MOTHER of EMILY JAYNE CHRABASZCZ who is POTTY TRAINED!


Kate

Emily dancing

We've known for a while that Emily is some what musical, but lately any time there's good music on she's got to dance. Take new year's eve for example, Keith and i were watching my 3 nephews for the night and my parents wanted to take all of us to the movies, so we went to see the sweakwell, and at the end there was some pretty great music and Emily wanted to go dance in the ille at the movie theatre so bad that she thru a tantrum when we wouldn't let her go. It was super funny. Then just today she was watching a tv show and this is what she looked like. It was so cute.

Rebecca May 1 Month Old

Well yesterday marked 1 month since the birth of Rebecca, it's been a great month. The beginning of December was a little rough with many trips to the hospital to make sure that Rebecca's beliruben levels were going done. Then once that was under control then we had to start getting ready for Christmas. I hadn't even started my shopping yet, so there was a lot to do.

In my mind the month pasted much to quickly. It was great having a new baby in the house for the Christmas season, but it was a little hectic, getting used to having a baby in house while trying to get all the things that we needed done for Christmas. It was so special sharing Rebecca with everyone who we saw during the Christmas season. Though I am glad that it's over and we can get into a routine at home.

Rebecca has been such a blessing to our house. She's perfect, she still sleeps a lot, but it spending more time awake. She's so great, Emily loves her she and loves to spend time cuddling her and helping Keith and I take care of her. It's been such a blessing watching Emily love her little sister. I was a bit concerned that Emily might not like having a sister, but i had nothing to worry about, she's the best big sister anyone could ask for.

Rebecca has went though many changes in the first month of her. When we first bought her home she spent almost all her time sleeping, which was wonderful at, night, she would sleep 5 or 6 hours during the night, then she started waking up about every 4 hours which meant that I still only had to get up once at night. Then for about the few day's she's been eating much more, I believe that she's going through her first growth spirt. She's usually sleeps most of the day, and then is awake during the evening, eating every 2 hours, then at night she gets up every 3 hours or so, which mean that she gets up around 3 and then around 6, and then will sleep for a while. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to make it so that she sleeps more during the night and less during that day, but for now I don't get a whole lot of sleep, but Emily is such a good big sister that she lets me have a nap more afternoon's if I need.

I can't wait to see what the next month hold for me and Rebecca, it will be a great adventure I'm sure.

Kate

2010 New Challenges and New Beginnings

So what's in store for 2010, well it's going to be lots of changes coming in 2010. First of all there's the new challenge of being a mother of 2, the new addition of Rebecca has brought many changes to our life, and after a month of having her home with us, I feel that I'm finally getting the hang of having 2 children in our house. The extra laundry, getting up at night, having 2 children to get ready instead of just one. Still doing all the cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house and Keith. It's a lot more work then I thought it would be, but I'm glad things are getting into routine.

The second change is that I've decided to be a permanent stay at home mom. Since I've been home since July I've realized that working and making my own money isn't as important as I thought it was. I thought I wanted to be independent and one of those successful and powerful women, but after the last job I had I was so thankful being at home that I didn't know what to do with myself. I never understand why I couldn't find a job that fulfilled me. I was so confused, but now I finally understand that the job that I was looking for was right here all along, at home, taking care of the people who mean the most to be, my husband and children. After discussing this with Keith, I realized that he to much preferred having me home too. So after a lot of thought we then had to figure out a way to make up some of the income that I will loose by not going back to work next November, so after a lot of thought over the last few months I've decided what I will be doing.

So that brings me to the third change. I'm going back to school, well I'll be taking an online course so that in a few months from now I can be a medical transcriptionist and work from home. The course it quite extensive and will take me almost a year to complete. Then after I've completed my course then I will be qualified to take and create reports for medical companies. I've very excited to take the first step into becoming a work from home mom again. I know it's going to be a lot of work to completed this course in the amount of time that I have, but I will be using my two beautiful children as my motivation to keep going, because not only do i not want to go back to work, but I don't want to have to put them into child care again.

The forth change is becoming a more active individual, after only a month since Rebecca was born I'm very anxious to get rid of this excess weight that I've put on in the last few years off and get back into shape. I know it's going to be hard to get on that treadmill every day and go for a run. But I don't want to feel overweight anymore, so today marks the second workout of the new year, and I hope to do one everyday.

So that's what new in 2010 for me and our family.

Kate

Christmas at the Chrabaszcz

This year Christmas at our house was a bit different, with the addition of Rebecca. We spent the days leading up to Christmas, busy taking care of Rebecca, with no real special plans. We got to spend a wonderful day with Keith's mom, and siblings on the 20th. Where we all helped make a wonderful turkey dinner and then opened presents. Though I would have to say the best part of the day, was just spending some quality time visiting with Keith's family.

Then we got a special treat on the 23rd, which was seeing Keith's grandparents for the first time in a long time. We didn't have time to visit for long, but it was a wonderful Christmas gift.

Then on Christmas even we went out to the Christmas eve service at ferry point church. This service is one of my favorite things about Christmas. For those who don't know, Ferry Point is an old Lutheran church that closed down years ago. Now it only has 2 services a year, and one of those services is the Christmas eve service. This service is made special because it's at 10pm, on Christmas eve, it's also candle lit. It's also unique because it brings together a very wide range of people, some from the Lutheran church near by, some from the Meeting Creek church, and then also a lot of strangers who come from far and wide to comes and experience the unique service. This year we were even more lucky to share the Christmas eve service with Keith's dad, and his girlfriend and he son and his girlfriend. I always enjoy sharing my special traditions with new people.

Then Christmas morning, my parents came over for breakfast and afterwards we opened presents with Emily and Rebecca. We had great time opening presents and I loved seeing the look on Emily's face no matter what is was she opened, from socks the a dollhouse. This is the first year that Emily really understood what Christmas was about, well the Santa part at least. She was so excited about Santa coming, she even put cookies out. We tried to explain about Jesus, but she's to young to understand that whole part. We did a devotion Christmas morning, but like it is with most kids, she was more excited to open the presents. Each year she'll understand more about Jesus, and we plan to keep Christ in Christmas no matter how hard it is. Then Christmas afternoon we went out to my sister's house to spend the rest of the day together. We spent the day visiting and eating and playing cards. It was the perfect way to spend Christmas.

Then on Sunday we got to spend the day at my parents house, having our Christmas celebration. We started the afternoon enjoying one of my mom's amazing Christmas dinner's. Then the afternoon was spent opening more presents and then playing some fun Christmas games. It was a great day, for the first time in a long time the whole family was there for the whole day. My brother in law usually works on holiday's but this year he didn't have to work and therefore got to spend the whole day with us.

And so that's Christmas at the Chrabaszcz house, we still have one more Christmas celebration on January 10th, with Keith's dad. I am glad that we get a break before the last Christmas celebration.

We had just a great Christmas this year, and are so blessed this year. We got to share this Christmas season enjoying a new baby. She's such a blessing to us.

Kate

Family Names

I decided to find out what our family's name mean and where the name originated from.

Keith- means-warrior desending
-origin -Celtic
Allan-means-handsome
-origin-Celtic


Kathryn-means-pure
-origin-Celtic

Jayne-means-Gracious or merciful
-English

Erna-means-Ernest
-origin- German

Emily-means-Admiring
-origin-Latin

Jayne-means-Gracious or merciful
-origin- English

Rebecca-means-Servant of God
-origin-Hebrew

May-means-From Mary-Bitter Heart
-origin-Latin

Chrabaszcz-origin-Polish

I find it very interesting discovering what our names mean. We did not pick either Emily or Rebecca based on what the name ment, but I do like both meanings. Do you know what your name means? Leave me a comment letting me know what your name means.

Kate

Rebecca's First photo Shoot

Well here's some pictures from Rebecca's First photo shoot. We wanted some pictures for christmas cards and such so we got her all dressed up and took over 100 pictures. Here's a few of my favorites.




Little finger's

It took awhile but we finally got a few pictures of her awake

My little Angel!
All curled up



These are my favorite pictures.

Kate

The Birth Story of Rebecca May Chrabaszcz

I know what you might be thinking, that I had a scheduled c-section so how excited could my birth story be. Well not everything went according to plan, and I want to share it, so here it is. It may be a bit graphic for some people for read with care.

My doctor(who is amazing), scheduled me for my planned c-section at 38 weeks, which was December 1st, 2009. So on November 30, I got us all packed and ready to go, my parents came and picked up Emily, and took her to there house, while we were in the hospital. Then Keith and I went to bed early, as we knew that we had a big day ahead of us. But true to form as soon as I lay down, the baby started kicking and rolling and I couldn't get to sleep. So when 4:30am rolled around, I didn't much want to get out of bed, but up I got. Keith went and had a shower and I finished packing the last minute things, and then we were off to the hospital. Well with one small detour.......Tim Horton's, of course I couldn't eat, so just Keith got coffee and breakfast. We arrived at the hospital at 5:40am, we were a little early. The nurse led Keith and I to our room, and then proceeded to get me ready for the surgery. They started by giving me my IV, which only took 2 tries to get in, which might be a record for me. Then my catheter, which hurt more than I thought, as last time I had drugs in me before the put it in. After that we just waited as they filled me with liquids to help keep my blood pressure up.

Just before 8am Dr. Fouche arrived at the hospital and came to check on me. Then the OR nurse came and we were ready to go. They walked me to the OR, which even though I had been in there once before, I still didn't remember how to get there. Once in the OR they prepped me for the spinal, which is pretty much the same thing as an epidural, except there is no IV attached, it's just a needle into the spine. I was very nervous about the spinal, as when I was a teenager I was given a lumbar puncture and it was very painful, also when I got my epidural with Emily, I had problems letting the doctor put it in. Once I was prepped for my spinal the doctor, told me he was ready to proceed, I was still really nervous, but had been preparing for this moment for months and was ready to over come my fears, and I did. When the doctor first touched my back with the needle, I pulled away, but then I told myself that I needed to push against the needle for this to work, and I did just that, and within seconds the freezing was in. Then when they did inject the spinal I didn't even feel anything.

It's now around 8:30am, and the surgeon has just arrived, so they get me strapped to the table, literally. My arms are strapped spread eagle style and they have a belt around my hips. They then tip the table so as to take off the pressure. True to form, not long after the spinal kicks in, my blood pressure drops and I start to feel sick, but the doctor was watching me closing, and quickly gave me a intervious injection of something to counter the drop in my blood pressure. Now finally the surgeon gets into the OR, and we're ready to go. Just before she starts she lets me know that she was about to start, and then after asks me if I can feel anything, which thank goodness I couldn't. So they get you all open and then they have to stretch out your muscles so that the whole is big enough for the baby to come out of. Which Keith was watching, and he said the 2 doctor's were pulling as hard as they could to stretch my muscles. Then once that was all done, they had to turn the baby. Oh did I forget to mention that she was breech. So they spent a good while trying to get her turned around, and thank goodness for the belt around my hips, because if it wasn't for that belt I would have fallen off the table. Finally, in order to get her out, one of the doctor's had to push down on the top of my uterus, while the other turns her. The doctor was pushing so hard that I heard my heart rate drop and it was hard to breath.

Finally after what seemed like forever, they tell me it's coming, and at 8:44am, Rebecca May Chrabaszcz was born. But wait it's not over yet. So the doctor announces that it's a girl and hands her off to the scrub nurse. They then take her over to the little bed that they have there. After a couple of seconds the 3rd doctor asks the nurse if she's happy. She says yes, but not a second later, she tells the doctor that she's not happy. The doctor then goes over to where Rebecca is laying, and starts working on her, it takes a few more seconds and she lets out a small cry. Then after a little while longer, she finally starts crying like she should. By this point I'm very worried and am also crying. I keep looking at Keith for reassurance which he gives, telling me that everything would be OK. So after a agonizing 24 minutes, the nurse finally tells Keith that he can come look at her. So off he goes, and he gets her and brings her to me.

By this time the other 2 doctor's have me all stapled up and we are ready to go to recovery. In recovery they give me a shot of benydril for the itching. The nurse has just got back with Rebecca after getting her weighed and measured. They tell me that she was 7lbs and 6oz and 19 3/4 inches long. I was amazed, Rebecca was born a full 3 weeks before Emily and was only 2oz smaller at birth. The nurse asks me how I'm feeling and if I want to try breast feeding. I get excited and eagerly say yes. So we get all ready and lay Rebecca next to me, and she has no interest, which was disappointing, so we just have some skin to skin, until they take me to my room.

Once in my room Keith and I start making the phone calls to let everyone know that she was born.

I wanted to tell my story, because it was a much better experience then what I had with Emily. With Emily, I don't remember anything for the first 6 hours after she was born. My body was in so much shock and pain that I couldn't stay awake. I also got very sick in recovery, and didn't actually get to hold Emily until the next morning.

Kate

Baby Becca

Rebecca May Chrabaszcz Born December 1st

at 8:44 am

weighing 7 pounds and 6 ounces

and 19 3/4 inches long

The End!

Well today marks the end of my pregnancy. It's sort of a bittersweet day, because on one hand I know that tomorrow I'll have a new baby, which is so exciting, but on the other hand I know that I'm trading my pain in pregnancy for a different type of pain due to the c-section that I have to get. I can't wait to meet this little person who's been growing inside of me for the past months. Though, I am a little anxious not knowing the sex. With Emily I felt anxious until I found out what it was, and because it was what I wanted I then relaxed. I thought it would be cool to not know, but now I'm anxious, because i don't know how I will react if it's not what I think.

Emily is going to my parent's house tonight since we have to leave town before 6 am. She is so excited to have a sleep over at her Nama and Papa's house. She's also very excited to come and see the knew baby. I'm not sure how she'll feel once it's accually here. I'm not expecting to much problem's with her, but a little ajustment time is to be expected.


Well hopefully tomorrow goes smoothly and there is no complications with the surgery. And if everything goes well we should hopefully be home thursday and will post pictures then.

Kate

Braxton Hicks Contractions

I don't know who's decided that braxton hicks contractions weren't painful, but there are full of it. I know that not everyone has painful braxton hicks contractions, but unforunately I am not one of those lucky people. With Emily they started much sooner during my pregnancy but were only painful once, and that was before I knew what they were and how to handle them. With this pregnancy they didn't start until a week ago, but they are so painful that sometimes they cause me to stop and wonder if I'm accually in labor. They usually happen during the evening or when I'm been active, but not always. They come on so quickly and painfully that i have to stop whatever it is I'm doing and just think about breathing. Usually I then go sit down and within a few minutes they go away. It's getting very annoying because I can't do the things that i want to be doing without having these braxton hicks contractions. I've had to stop mopping and vacuuming and just walking downstairs to get the laundry can be very painful. I find if frustrating because I'm finally not feeling sick anymore and want to get everything ready so that when I come home from the hospital the house is clean and the laundry is all caught up so I won't have those things needing to be done when I can't accually do them. I know that the time is running short and so I want to keep busy and get everything done, because since July when I've been home I have got into a pattern and keeping the house clean has become very important, because I realize that if you just keep it clean all the time, it doesn't take long, as when you let it get a mess then it's so much harder to get caught up. I'm so thankful that I have my mom in town and that she will come over as often as I need for a long as I need after the baby's born and help me with the house cleaning and cooking. If it wasn't for that I don't know what I would do. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but for the next 9 days, it's going to be slow going.

Kate