January began with the growth of our family. After trying for a few months, we got a positive pregnancy test. I suspected that I had been pregnant for a little while because I was starting to feel nauseous and knew the clear cut signs of the onset of HG for me. Regardless of the difficulties that would come from pregnancy, we were thrilled and the phone calls to everyone we knew started right after I called Bill at work with the good news. After I got my prescription for zofran, HG started at the end of the month and the "NO POOPING" sign went up on my bathroom door - where I would be camped out for hours in the evening (along with the couch). We began looking for a bigger home to move into and Logan had his HUGE 2nd birthday party with 17 kids and their parents crammed in our small house. Good times!
February was rough. HG was kicking my butt. I was on the highest dose of zofran I could take (8mg every 3-4 hours) and it wasn't enough. I still felt like I was dying. The silver lining that kept me going was that I was mostly sick in the evening, so I tired my damnedest to keep up with Logan's activities for him. He started preschool prep classes and LOVED it. We made it to every playgroup even if everyone thought I was going to die on their couch. I was so very thankful for our friends this month - massage friend who did our move-in and move-out cleaning and Bill's co-workers who helped pack and move us. I was incapacitated and Bill had the flu. We were a mess and were fortunate to have such great friends to help us out. The best part of the month was when our troubles with The Insurance Company ended and after a year of hard work we got all of our money back and then some. I was very proud of my effort and determination to fight against a multi-million dollar company and win. I still have our news story saved.
March started with Logan's 2 year check-up. He weighed 27 pounds (38%) and measured 36 inches tall (91%). I brought up concerns about his language development and we got a referral to see a speech pathologist where a few weeks later we found out that he was 3-5 months behind in vocabulary and expressive language skills (responding). We were given some homework and I had his teachers at school help him out too. I was still very sick, but photographer friend and I went to Cheesecake Factory because I was starving. I didn't care if my lunch didn't stay down, I just needed to eat. We still joke about how it saved my life. We also got to hear the baby's heart beat, which made me cry and made every sacrifice worth it. Both Bill and I celebrated our birthdays, Bill's being his 30th where he had a "surprise" party with all of his friends there. It was a lot of fun! Easter wrapped up the month with us painting wooden Easter eggs together - a tradition we will continue for as long as we can.
In April, the weather began to warm up and we played at the park often and Bill started playing Disc Golf regularly. The baby was growing bigger and I felt kicks for the first time and finally started to show. Logan's temper tantrums were driving me insane as he went through a very difficult time. He continued to stick random things in his nose - this month being an eraser head that was discovered at an IHOP dinner.
May was full of fun adventures with a trip to the Butterfly Pavilion and weekly belly picture taking. We had a lot of fun with these. I planted my Mother's Day garden with the family, was elected as our MOMS Club chapter's co-president and the most exciting part of the month - we found out that we were having another boy! We were quick to agree on the name Carter. We also started potty training (unsuccessfully), narrowly missed a tornado in town and I dealt with horrible pregnancy nightmares.
June began with me discovering that once again, Logan stuck something up his nose. After a trip to the Doctor, we all gasped when a Sponge Bob band aide was extracted. He never again got another band aide after this. Later in the month he stuck another pea up there that I had to dig out with a bamboo skewer and then at the end of the month, a rock. This only came out because I made him cry it out. We gave up on potty training and I thought Logan's cough was the beginning of asthma (thank god it wasn't). I went in for my gestational diabetes test and almost passed out in Target from the blood sugar drop. I was also getting very antsy about getting ready for Carter, with nesting kicking into high gear. I was getting bigger and more uncomfortable because I was carrying Carter so high, later to discover that he had popped out a few ribs. We took Logan our to play disc golf for Bill's Father's Day celebration where he impressed us with his throwing skills. Bill and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary, which was bittersweet. We were going through a very difficult time and it was the year (the only year?) that I never gave him a card or even really cared. It was pretty bad.
In July we had Logan re-evaluated for his speech development and we were thrilled that he was all caught up. However, I've never laughed so hard in my life when I got video of him calling grasshoppers "assgrabbers". We watched the City fireworks with the in-laws and spent entirely too much time with them and minor drama ensued. I was quickly pulled out of my funk after their visit by a hilarious night out with my friends (one that I will never forget!). We went to the zoo, went to a viewing party at photographer friends house to watch the reality show that we were on together and had a 3D ultrasound where Carter hid the whole time. I caught Bill lying to me about smoking (again) and the stress sent me into preterm labor, complete with a trip to the hospital to stop the contractions. Not fun.
August started with another visit from the in-laws where Grandpa L thought it was a good idea to smoke around Logan. I had to have an extra ultrasound because I was measuring four weeks behind, which turned out to be fine. Logan got stung by yellow jackets and I was still sick. We cuddled on the couch talking about Carter who Logan insisted was a baby sister. Logan developed an intense dog phobia, completely freaking out around them and my OB and I talked about the possible development of postpartum depression since it happened after Logan was born and I was under a lot of stress. I went back to the hospital for preterm contractions and the next day I had my baby shower, which was so much fun. Photographer friend took my maternity pictures and at the end of the month, I got another ultrasound of Carter flexing his bicep. So fitting!
September brought us Carter with one of the most intense labor and delivery stories you could hear. He was almost born in the car, came out in three pushes with me not being able to get my epidural. He had the cord wrapped around his neck and swallowed muconium, leaving him in bad shape - so bad that he needed some help coming to. But, I never knew how bad it was because I was in total shock and the nurses were very reassuring that he would be OK. And he was, weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces and 19 inches long. Recovery was easy and I was on cloud nine for a week. Breastfeeding was so natural again and Logan was the sweetest Big Brother. Things were going so great that we got right back into our schedule, attending playgroup four days after Carter was born. Logan did go through a difficult transition, throwing more tantrums and even smeared poop on his wall. Nasty.
October was a blur of sleepless nights. We went to the zoo with The Club and Logan was so good, we stayed for hours afterward just by ourselves. Very brave, I must say. The in-laws came back for another visit where they lied to us about Cousin B being sick when Carter was only 4 weeks old. This started massive issues that still continue today. Logan got so sick with a high fever that almost made him pass out at the kitchen table and it almost ruined his Halloween. Carter got sick where he had to sleep upright in his bouncer so he could breath. Everyone did recover in time to enjoy Gramps' and D's visit and all of our Halloween plans, carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating. Logan had so much fun! I had my 6 week postnatal check-up and began my post-baby body transformation.
In November we started potty training again and it worked! In a few short days, Logan was in his underwear, only wearing diapers at night. The in-laws continued their insanity and Carter was so fussy we thought he might have colic. Logan began sharpening his skills as a photographer when we let him have our old digital camera to play with. We went on a tour of the post office and I have a fabulous time with friends on our night's out. Carter continued to grow faster than I ever thought possible and we had a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving dinner.
December was one of the most difficult months we've had. Our bank account was drained of every cent we had and we still had to pay rent. I tried everything I could with the help of MANY friends to get enough work to make up for it. It never happened. Bill went in for his vasectomy and recovered very easily. Bill and I were still going though a very difficult time in our marriage and I ended up starting medication for postpartum depression/anxiety. Bill and I worked very hard on getting our relationship back on track and the hard work was paying off. He helped push me to the gym every night when I wanted to sit at home and veg. He took over the stressful issues in our home, mostly some of the finances. During this, Logan had his first preschool prep Christmas performance, which was the cutest, most adorable morning ever. After much consideration, we decided to spend Christmas without the in-laws because of the stress and this started some insane emails calling me all sorts of horrible things. We did have a nice Christmas without them anyway and Logan was so excited about Santa and opening his presents. It was awesome.
2008 was a very challenging year with some fun and amazing times in between. There were so many highs and lows, I don't think the worlds best roller coaster has anything on us. In the end, we started to take our family in a new direction for a fabulous 2009. I have high hopes that it will be the best year for us yet.
1 comment:
What a great recap! You have a wonderful family and it is good to see that after all the ups and downs, the year was a success :)
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