Final Countdown...

D-12 Hours...

(Delivery minus 12 hours... but who are we kidding, it will be more than 12 hours)

Baby Poole #2 will be here tomorrow, and I am definitely all nerves at this point.  She isn't due until next Friday, but because of her size my doctor decided to induce me a week early.  I know ultrasounds aren't always accurate at measuring size, but according to one done four weeks ago this baby will be large.  She was supposedly 6.5 lbs (or 96%) a month ago. And given the fact that babies gain a half of a pound per week in the third trimester, I am looking at a BIG BABY.  It doesn't help that Riley was 8lbs 9oz and second babies are usually bigger. Great news for babies, not the greatest news for mom.

Going into an induction is a very odd experience.  Although there are some benefits of labor and delivery being planned (hospital bag will be packed and orderly, flights can be booked accordingly, etc.), I do think there are more when they are unplanned.  At this point I am finally starting to remember the painful details, the uncontrollable emotions, the healing process, and everything else that comes with having a baby.  Yes, epidurals are amazing, but they are also scary and quite painful to put in.  Holding your bundle of joy afterwards is magical, but sending them off to the nursery while you get a handle on pain medication is not-so-magical.  

There is some romance and a whole lot of excitement when you don't know the arrival time of your baby.  It is a bit more sterile with an induction.

The other issue I am dealing with is the Riley issue.  More than the thought of the painful process tomorrow, I am nervous about leaving her behind.  I feel like I'm betraying her. I know a baby will be hard for her to get used to... and she is so young and won't understand why I have to share her attention with somebody else. And I will miss her immensely. I have only had TWO days TOTAL without her EVER (yes, this is a little unnerving but what can I say, I'm attached). 

I just have to remember that the best gift a parent can give a child is a sibling.  All I have to do is imagine life without my brother to know this fact. She is getting a sister.  She is getting someone to play with, someone to learn to share with, someone to learn to fight with, someone to defend her and be her confidant, someone to team up on her parents with, someone to be her rock and possibly her maid of honor one day... I know this is a gift we are giving her.  I just want the transition to go smoothly.  I have been told that a little gift waiting at the hospital for her is helpful - I've bought 10. 

So right now I am trying to just stay calm and remind myself that I got through it once and will do it again.  More than that, I am trying to remember that I got Riley out of it all, and she just so happens to embody pure happiness and love and I'm certain I will feel it again.  I can't believe I'll have another daughter in less than a day.  I keep thinking I'll be having another Riley tomorrow, but I'll be having another person entirely different from Riley.  And I am so excited to meet her, and am praying that she will be healthy and happy... and will be a good sleeper.

And lastly, since this is the last blog I will write before baby #2, I should probably give Riley one last entry that focuses on her. 

Riley - 19 Months

In a nutshell, Riley has started to break out of her shell.  She is becoming this awesome little kid.  The change I have noticed most about her is her growing capacity for empathy and for emotion.  Instead of throwing a tantrum when told no, she gets emotional or worried that she has disappointed us.  She hides her face in her hands and tears well up in her eyes.  Although it is hard to see her feel bad, it is incredible watching her start to build her moral foundation.  She has a guilt complex already!  Now I am starting to think that my job will be to teach her not to feel guilty, but to be a proactively good person who thinks through their decisions ahead of time.  

When somebody is mean to her, she gets confused instead of angry.  It is almost as if she doesn't understand why somebody would take her toy, kick her, or throw something at her.  

We still have a lot of work to do with sharing (she does think she owns the world) and with being nice to the cat... but I'll take that over the tantrums.

Her language development and vocabulary are starting to take off - it is so much fun!  She tries to say pretty much every word that we teach her (although her versions of the words are quite unique and she doesn't necessarily remember them).  A few favorites right now are horse (course), cracker (acker), cloud (cood), dog (god), breakfast (toast), video (ay-oh), Sofia (ay-uh), flower (ow-uh), etc.

This age is tough because of the strong will, but it is sheer entertainment and joy.

She has become tall and lean - all of her (adorable) baby fat has melted away.  It makes me miss the squishiness of babyhood, but I also love knowing that she is an active, healthy, growing toddler.

Well, I think that is all I have the mental capacity to write down at this point (still all nerves for tomorrow) and I'm just going to add a few random pictures (in no order, unedited and primarily from my phone).

... the next post will be of the baby!!!!

Here we go again!

 This is Riley's "funny face"

 She loves pointing our her "eye eye"

 And "mou"

Slightly disturbing kids ride, but I had to put it up...

And a few pregnancy pictures for Baby #2

7.5 Months

8.5 Months

9 Months (yesterday)

A Vacation and Half Birthday

Oh, how I love the sun.  Life has been exponentially more enjoyable now that the thermostat is turned off and parkas are put away for good.  There is so much more to do with this wonderful weather, and of course a busy toddler is a tired toddler, so sleep has been much easier to come. Riley is by no means a poster child for sleep, but we are all feeling much more rested at least!

Riley hit another half birthday, so we are officially turning that corner towards the much anticipated age of 2.  It is definitely true that the older these babies get, the trickier they are behaviorally... but they are also so entertaining! Riley is playful and stubborn and very communicative.  Her vocabulary continues to grow, but she is very selective of when and where she chooses to use her words.  It seems as if she puts her words on the back burner once they are mastered. While looking back at the words she was using during my last post, I realize I haven't heard almost all of them in a while - just her new ones!  My favorite words of hers right now are uh-oh (uh ho), no (nuh uh), outside (ow-sigh-sigh) and cat (cat-tat). 

I am doing well, but starting to get a little anxious about our new arrival!  However, I am anxious for all different reasons than I was with Riley.  My number one source of concern is actually Riley - she and I are pretty much inseparable, and I don't know how either of us will handle the massive change and inevitable distance between us.  My heart is already a little bit broken when thinking of saying goodbye to her when we head to the hospital. I am fully confident that within a month or two of her little sister's arrival, we will have a hard time imagining life without her... but for now I just feel like I am betraying Riley.

I am also struggling to wrap my head around logistics.  How will I put two babies down for naps, or manage Riley while feeding a baby, or go grocery shopping with two?  There are so many unknowns.  I'll figure it out, but I can't imagine it yet.

I can't believe I am already 9 weeks from my due date - I truly don't know where the time went (which is a blessing). I feel well, just large and tired.  It is funny, when I look back at my first pregnancy it was so well documented, and I haven't taken a single belly picture with this one.

On another note, we went on our first family vacation earlier this month. We ended up going to Captiva Island off the coast of Florida. It was beautiful and we finally got a chance for some quality family time and vitamin D, but we quickly realized that it was more of a "trip" than a "vacation."  Traveling with a toddler is quite a bit of work.  

And just getting to Captiva was a bit of an ordeal.  Riley came down with a double ear infection and eye infection a day before we were supposed to travel to the Dominican Republic, and after a very chaotic 36 hours filled with canceling and rebooking, we ultimately ended up staying domestic. And once we were there, we did have a few hiccups (all involving Riley of course).  For example, Riley, who just loves to shut doors (er, slam them in our faces), got herself locked in one of our bedrooms.  The door had a button lock, which she pushed, and we could not get in.  I frantically called the front desk over and over (ultimately threatening to break their door down if they didn't get there fast enough) while Charley tried to break in.  It was the longest 15 minute period of my life - I was imagining her playing with razors, shoving things in electrical sockets, climbing up and falling off the bed, etc.  When the locksmith finally got the door open, she was just standing on the other side, grinning ear to ear.  That little dickens.  

And then the next day, Riley took quite a fall and landed face/forehead first onto concrete (my stomach still turns thinking about the image and sound).  She only cried for a minute or two, but the bruise on her head was so sad.  We were on concussion watch for a bit that night.

Traveling with a toddler was quite a bit of work!  She is so much fun though and was quite the trooper.  She has gotten so much better at eating out at restaurants (or maybe we've gotten better handling her at them?), and has become very adaptable when it comes to sleeping in strange places or being stuck on airplanes.  

And we did learn that she can't stand the feeling of sand on her feet.  

Here are a few pictures of the vacation - I think they capture a few things: Riley's hilarious facial expressions, her refusal to look at the camera, the fact that neither Charley or I are lounging in a beach chair, the fact that Riley got to lounge in a beach chair, how insanely cute pot-bellied toddlers in bathing suits are!

Sorry the blog is more of a photo-drop than an actual update.  I'm curious to see how I manage it with two babies!

We signed Riley up for an art class offered at the resort - she just wanted to wear the smock and pretend to play video games

Hopefully others will find this as disturbingly comical as I do

Gotta love that pout

Ouch...

This happy restaurant moment lasted about two seconds - that cup of milk ended up spilling on that slice of pizza, which all ended up on the floor following a big, unforeseen tantrum for who-knows-what-reason

Apparently licking salt off of shells is delicious

And we discovered the elevator button - one of life's simple pleasures