A birth story (so skip this if you don't want to know!)

Avery's due date probably should have been May 16. May 16 came and passed, as did the next several days. We were a little surprised by this because I was convinced she'd come early. I had been having contractions for weeks and they were getting stronger and stronger, and even my doctor said on May 5 that she thought Avery might come that weekend. Well, she didn't. Finally we made the decision to induce once she was 6 days late.

We packed our bags, kissed Carter goodbye and headed off to the hospital expecting a long day. We checked in at 7am, started pictocin around 8am and the doctor broke my water around 9am. I was about 2 cm then. By 11:34, I was 4 cm. Todd showed up around 12:30 and Seth went with him to go get some lunch. At 1pm I was up to 5cm. In fact, I texted my mom at 1:01pm to say I was making slow progress.

Soon after that, Avery started taking longer to recover from the contractions and started worrying the doctor a bit. Seth and Todd came back from lunch just as the doctor was about to add some fluid to help her. Seth stayed and the doctor looked up at me and said "oh, well, you're fully dilated. that's why." Things happened really fast then as the nurse and doctor got ready. I did a practice push and was quickly told to stop! A few minutes later, everything was ready and I started pushing. After about 4-5 pushes, she was out. I went from 5cm at 1:01pm to holding a baby at 1:36pm. My mom missed the whole thing. Seth came back just in time or we would have had to track him down in the cafeteria.

We've learned that Avery is a strong willed little lady. She was just going to stay right where she was and once it was time to be born, she was going to do that exactly how she wanted as well. But she's here! And we're soaking in the moments with her.

She's Here!

Avery Elizabeth Jobin
Born May 21, 2011 at 1:36pm
7 pounds, 7 ounces
20 inches long
















More to come on her birth story and her fast and furious entry into the world and the battles since then...

Soundtrack to an almost two year old

These are the things we hear constantly from our sweet little interrogator:

"What dat noise?"
"Mama!! What you doing?"
"What dat called?"
"What happened?" (usually with much concern)
"Why?" times a billion.

And his most recent response to just about everything "Because why." Which is funny, because we've never used "because I said so" or anything along those lines, he just decided "because why" would be his default answer.

oh, and also...

Why does toddler bedding have to be hideous? I don't want my kid's room to look like nick jr. threw up in there. I refuse to buy diego or backyardigans or yo gabba gabba or something even more atrocious. I just want something cute, a little bit more grown up than a nursery set, and maybe not cost $500.

Bad timing

When I first found out I was pregnant, we had about a million things to figure out. Many of these decisions came from the reality of adding another child without adding another bedroom. At first, the baby will be in our room and eventually she and Carter will share a room. We decided a few months ago that we would wait to transition Carter to a toddler bed until he adjusted to the baby, not wanting to overwhelm him with changes. After all, that was the one and only place we could really contain him and that is quite appealing with a newborn in the mix.

Apparently, Carter is not at all concerned about overwhelming us with changes. During yesterday's nap, Carter crawled out of his crib. We heard banging on the door followed by maniacal laughter and we knew right then we had a serious problem.

We're holding off the bed transition since today is technically my due date and any day now we're going to be spending a few nights in the hospital, leaving Carter with someone else. Our boy is wildly independent and stubborn and I have a feeling that crib to toddler bed transition is going to be tough. We don't want to send in someone else for that battle.

Fortunately, I bought a video monitor last week in preparation for the bed transition and the new baby. Serendipitous timing really, because now we can spy on him and make sure he isn't about to break free. Last night, he fell asleep just fine in his crib. Right before I went to bed, I went in to check on him. He was in bed, but he had somehow managed to wriggle out of his pajamas and was stripped down to his diaper. So, you win some, you lose some.

Trend setter

For us, one of the hardest things about having children is naming them. Seth and I like very different types and styles of names, but we do both prefer less common names.

When Carter was born in 2009, the most recent name lists were from 2007. Carter was #80. By 2009, Carter was up 30 spots.

So now, our top choice is Avery, which was #52 a few years ago. Then it was 38, then 32. The stats were just released for 2010 and now it's #23 for 2010. But still in the 70s for California. We sure know how to pick the rising stars in naming trends.

Full term!

How far along? 37 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I’m thinking about 30-35 pounds, but I haven’t actually been weighed recently because my doctor likes to cancel my appointments. It’s been 16 days since my last “weekly” check up.

Maternity clothes? Yeah, but only the ones that still fit.

Sleep: Fitful, anxious, not enough.

Best moment this week: Easter and spending a special day with Carter. When Seth photoshops some of my chins out, I may share a family picture from Easter.

Food cravings: I may have eaten ice cream for dinner. In an opaque bowl so Carter didn’t know/ask for some.

Labor Signs: Nothing new, just lots of irregular contractions

What I miss: Space in my house, the baby gear is starting to take over.

What I am looking forward to: Being done with work (which is tentatively planned for next Friday). I feel very, very done but I still have much, much to do.

Weekly Wisdom: Sometimes a little ice cream is a good dinner.

Milestones: I’m officially full term today! But hoping little miss stays put a few more weeks.

A moment.

Yesterday as I was getting ready for church, Carter wanted to chat with my belly. I asked him if he wanted to wish his sister a happy Easter.

He very sweetly hugged my belly and exclaimed "Happy Eeesir baby sista!"

He then proceeded to bolt into the bathroom on a mission and yell, with escalating excitement, Happy Eeesir toilet!"

I'm that mom.

I'm slightly militant about the amount of sugar I let Carter have (or, not have, really). He doesn't even drink juice.

Yesterday he spotted a bag of freeze dried yogurt melt things I bought for his Easter basket. He asked for "couple of those guys?" with the sweetest little face. Not to mention he was sick and I had just picked him up a little early from daycare where he was couped up in a highchair to avoid spreading germs, so I gave in.

His eyes lit up and he said. "Yummy! More candy please!"

Yup, my kid thinks yogurt is candy. Someday he may totally rebel and dive head first into the chocolate river ala Augustus Gloop, but for now I'll embrace it.

New expression.

Carter has embraced a new response. It goes something like this:
"(Gasp/Sucking in air)!!! Wow! That's cool." If you remember Skeeter, the best friend/sidekick from old school Nickelodeon's show Doug, that's pretty much exactly what he sounds like.

He's really into asking "why?" and "what are you doing?" right now. I've gotten this response to various things, including changing a diaper, cutting up your potsticker, washing the dishes.

It's nice to have such a supportive audience.