Brooklyn's First Week & 10 Year Anniversary

Hard to believe Brooklyn is already one week old yesterday. I already feel guilty over not taking more pictures of her. Everyone warned me this would happen with #2.

Things are going pretty well so far. Her weight when we left the hospital was 9 lbs. 10oz. and at the 4-day postpartum follow-up she was already back on the upswing at 9 lbs. 12oz. (Losing up to 10% of their birthweight in the 1st week is considered normal.) So needless to say, she's a good eater! Nursing has not been as easy as I thought, though. If I am lazy about getting her latch good, it is so painful! And the engorgement is worse than I remember, too. She wants to nurse about every 2 1/2 hours, so it's a round-the-clock milk factory here! She spits up just like Hayden so the burp cloth is going to be a permanent wardrobe necessity for months to come. But I love all the cuddling and bonding we have been getting. She is so warm and snuggly. I could stare at her all day. The little squeaks and coos she makes melt my heart. It's hard for me to share her with anyone else who wants to hold her, or put her down.


My mom and step-dad arrived on Thursday to meet their new granddaughter. My mom and sister have been cleaning my whole house and it has been an incredible blessing. Not just the vacuuming and wiping down the counters clean, but the deep-down, scrubbing on hands-and-knees kind of cleaning my home has never seen before! My mom is cleaning the grime off our blinds and windowsills even! While they've been cleaning, Phil and my step-dad have been organizing and cleaning up the garage. A project we've had on our list for over a year!

Hayden has had a bit of a rough time adjusting. But not in the way I expected. I thought he'd be jealous and get upset when I hold Brooklyn. In fact, it is the exact opposite. If Brooklyn even starts to whimper or make any noise at all, Hayden says in a concerned tone, "Hold her" and he won't stop saying it until he is practically in tears, despite our reassurance that she is ok. If she starts to cry, Hayden starts to cry, too. It doesn't help that ever since Wednesday, he has been running a fever (101!) and today has a scratchy voice. He was sobbing last night around 3am and crying so hard he couldn't catch his breath. He finally calmed down enough to go back to sleep around 4am, after much cuddles, consoling, and signing from exhausted Mommy and Daddy. This is so unlike Hayden and we are trying to be very sensitive to him during this transition. He can't really express in words what he is feeling, and it's hard to know if it's the new baby or him feeling sick that is causing the anxiety, whining, and tears. I hope this phase doesn't last.

Today is also our 10-year wedding anniversary. On August 14, 1999, when I was just a few weeks shy of 19 years old, Phil and I said "I do".





Ten years later, we have an amazing 2-year old son, a brand new baby girl, live comfortably in our own suburban home in the beautiful NW, have fulfilling steady careers, good friends, and close family. What more could we have hoped for? But I have to admit, it's not exactly how we imagined celebrating the Big 10 Years. We had always talked about going to the Bahamas, especially since our honeymoon was at the not-so-tropical Cannon Beach. Now I think a romantic trip to the Bahamas is still a few years away, if ever. Instead, we're going to enjoy a nice, but quick dinner at Sip, a wine bar/restaurant about a half mile from our house, while my parents babysit. In a few months, we are going to have a nicer, longer celebration dinner at Canlis (I got gift certificates as payment for some design work I did for them), but I'm not ready to leave Brooklyn long enough to enjoy that multi-course dining experience yet.

And sorry, Phil, it's not going to be anything like our honeymoon night tonight! I'll make it up to you in a couple months. ;)

Although, as my friend MaryBeth pointed out, popping out a daughter is a pretty good anniversary present!

Brooklyn's Arrival

Disclaimer: The following birth story may be too graphic for some. Read at your own will.

On Wednesday August 5th I went to the doctor for my 41-week check-up. I had survived triple-digit temperatures the week before and was now combating a nasty sore throat/cough, that eventually morphed into a head cold. The doctor's office had me wear a mask so as not to hack my germs on all the other expectant moms. Fun times.

Since I was "overdue" they also had me do a Non-Stress Test for about a half hour. The NST is where they strap a fetal heart monitor to your belly and give you a clicker like the Jeopardy buzzer, and every time you feel the baby move, you click the button. Then they can see how the heart rate is responding to periods of activity and rest to see if the baby is healthy or in distress. Brooklyn was doing great. Lots of movement and responsive heart rate.

So the doctor talked to me about my options. I was induced with Hayden and I guess I'd say that labor went pretty well (2 hours of labor, no other medical interventions than the pitocin drip to induce labor). But because of the uncertainty of my due date, it was possible that my very original due date of August 6th was accurate and I wasn't overdue at all and the induction this time was unwarranted. I was worried that if I wasn't really 'ready' that the induction would not work as well and possibly lead to a longer labor and all kinds of other medical interventions. I didn't want to be induced if it wasn't medically necessary. On the other hand, if my due date really should be July 28th, as indicated by a few UltraSounds at various stages of my pregnancy (one even dating to July 25th), then I could be significantly overdue.

There are several concerns with an overdue pregnancy. First, the placenta starts to age rapidly and no longer provides adequate nutrients to the baby. Also, the amniotic fluid level becomes lower (which was the case with Hayden). But also, the last few weeks of pregnancy, the baby is basically fully-developed and just putting on weight, so the more overdue you are, the bigger the baby, and the harder the delivery, which if the baby is too big, can result in a C-section delivery.

I didn't want to make the decision lightly, but my gut was telling me it was time to get this baby out (my gut, LITERALLY!!). I was already almost 3cm dilated, and the doctor said he was really shocked I hadn't had the baby yet. He said the cervical conditions were ideal for an induction. So he called into the hospital to get me on the induction list and then gave me instructions to call the labor & delivery unit at 6am the next morning. When I was induced with Hayden, it took 3 days for the hospital to have "room" to get us in, so I knew that it was likely that we wouldn't actually get in that morning. But just in case, I decided it was best if Hayden spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Lott's house that night. Phil met me over there after work, and we said our goodbyes and Hayden was happy as a clam staying with them.

On Wednesday night I could hardly sleep. Sure, I was excited at the possibility of having Brooklyn the next day (and also worried), but mostly due to the awful coughing fits every 45 minutes or so. With my abdominal muscles already stretched to full capacity, each cough was excruciating, and the thought of coughing after delivery didn't sound much more appealing.

Thursday at 6am sharp I called the hospital. The L&D receptionist said they were super full and to call back at noon to see if any rooms had opened up, but realistically it was probably going to be more like evening/night before I could get in. My friend Lisa (who was our doula with Hayden and we wanted present again with Brooklyn) called around 6:10 as discussed on Wed to get the scoop. She was on vacation at the Oregon Coast but was willing to drive up to be here for the delivery. It's about a 5-hour drive away, and she'd probably hit morning rush-hour somewhere along the way, so she decided she'd wait a few more hours since it was going to be at least after noon that I even get admitted.

Just as Phil was pouring a big bowl of Cheerios at 8:30am, the hospital called and she said they were able to get me in after all. Right now. She wanted us there within a half hour. It took us 45 minutes to get ready, and another 45 minutes to get tot he hospital. Good thing I wasn't actually in labor!

We arrived at Overlake Hospital at 10am. After the standard admittance procedures and paperwork, my nurse ("Candy" - we loved her) took my vitals and strapped a couple monitors to my belly. I'd been having a few mild contractions on my own, but nothing strong or regular.


My doctor arrived around 10:30 am and checked my cervix. Still almost 3 cm. Knowing that I was hoping for as natural childbirth experience as possible, he suggested instead of inducing labor with pitocin, a drug that requires an IV and constant monitoring hooked up to machines, he suggested we try things the old-fashion way: breaking my water.

He broke my water at 10:37am, using a rubber glove with a little spike on the fingertip. I was surprised that it wasn't a whoosh of water, just a warm trickle, like I'd peed the bed (the nurse promptly changed the bed pads). He also noticed when he broke my water that the water was slightly brownish-green, meaning there was meconium in the water. Meconium is the baby's first poop. It's common in overdue babies especially, and means that immediately after the baby comes out, they have to do a really good job suctioning out the baby's nose and mouth because meconium aspiration can lead to difficulty breathing. The doctor left and said he'd be back in a little while to see if that got things going.

Fifteen minutes later, around 10:55am, my contractions were strong enough to need my full concentration and breathing techniques. Boy, breaking my water really did the trick! If I had been home or anywhere else and my water broke naturally, we would have really needed to rush to the hospital! Interestingly my labor with Hayden started around 11am also (after a pitocin drip started around 9:30am).

The pain of the contractions progressed very rapidly. I was having a hard time finding a 'comfortable' position, but thankful that I wasn't strapped to anything and could move around the room and in the attached bathroom freely. Phil was doing his best to soothe and encourage me, rubbing my back, telling me I was doing a good job, offering his hands to squeeze and leaning on him when I was standing. Knowing my history of a quick delivery, the nurse got everything ready and it was exciting to see it all set up, ready for her arrival.

While I labored in the bathroom for several contractions, Lisa called on Phil's cell phone to say she was stuck in traffic still in Oregon. Phil told her how I was doing (I'm sure she could hear my moans and breathing in the background!) and she suggested Phil find out if the anesthesiologist would be available or unavailable during certain times, just in case I changed my mind about wanting to get an epidural. The nurse informed Phil that he was about to head into a c-section and wouldn't be available for an hour so I'd need to get it now or wait at least an hour. As much pain as I was in, I was determined to go at least as long as I had with Hayden. Since my labor with Hayden was only 2 hours, my new plan was to get my cervix checked after 2 hours, and if I was still less than 7cm dilated I would probably go ahead with an epidural. If I was more than 7, I would go all the way without one. I had the nurse check me to see where I was, and at first she said I was "complete" (10!) but then said, "oh wait, no, I went right over it, you're at about a 5". So I was a little disappointed, but happy to be halfway there and it had only been about 30 minutes of labor.

By 11:30am, my contractions were coming one right after the next, with barely even a break to change positions or catch my breath. The nurse even said with a sympathetic tone, "Wow, they're really coming on top of each other." About 10 minutes later, I told the nurse I was really feeling the pressure to push. She quickly checked me again and said I was only at 7 cm. I needed to "pant through" the urge to push until my cervix was fully dilated. I remember with each contraction moaning "no, no, no, not again" and trying to stay in control of my breathing. We had planned on videotaping some of the labor, but with Lisa still driving up from Oregon, and Phil my only coach, I needed him by my side. But I'm curious what I looked like and sounded like in labor. I think I did better this time than with Hayden's delivery. Still, I probably could be heard out in the hallways!

A little before noon, I grunted at Phil and the nurse that I HAD to push and then screamed "OH MY GOD, I AM PUSHING AND I CAN FEEL HER COMING!!!! OWWWWW!! OWWWW!!!" Suddenly Phil is dashing to get the video camera, the nurse is dashing to get the doctor! Luckily, a crew of nurses and my doctor all swooped in just in time. My doctor was very calm and that helped it not feel as frenzied as Hayden's delivery (the nurse didn't have anything ready, and they couldn't find a doctor!). He wanted to help me minimize any tearing and calmly talked me through pushing a little slower. Within about 3 agonizing pushes I felt her head completely out. A couple more pushes and I felt the rushing whoosh and instant pressure release of her full delivery. Phil was able to capture it all on video. All 1 minute and 40 seconds of it. Don't worry, I'm not posting the video! :)

The doctor briefly showed her to me and I could see she was alive and starting to turn pink! Yay! The nurses had to take her to the heat lamp table and get her nose and mouth fully cleaned from the meconium, but she was crying and everyone was saying how big and healthy she looked.

I joked with the doctor, "I told you I go fast!", how the water breaking really did the trick, and that I'm sure glad we decided to induce labor when we did! I told Brooklyn, "Well, Brooklyn, you beat your brother's time!" The nurses said I made it look easy and I told Phil I was definitely done having kids! I joked that we should get a partial refund on our hospital bill for such a short delivery, and for making the nurses job too easy. We also thanked them for their quick scramble!

After a few minutes, they brought her to me and I was so happy to finally meet her!


Her face was so squishy and swollen from the beating she just took down the birth canal, but I knew that was to be expected. Because the pushing was so quick, she didn't even have a chance to get a cone-head! Also, her fingernails were super long. We joked that she got a manicure in the womb before making her big debut. And I just had a feeling that she would have dark hair. Hayden's hair was a reddish light brown, and Brooklyn's is very dark brown, like my dad's.

What was most shocking to me was how big she looked and felt. I asked the nurses to weigh her. When they put her on the scale, the numbers went up and up, past the 8 lbs, 7 oz,. mark of her big brother, all the way up above 10 lbs plus before settling down to 9 lbs, 15.7 oz! Well, since 15.7 rounds up to 16 oz, and 16 oz is 1 lb, the final, official birth weight is 10 POUNDS, 0 oz! Wow. I have to admit, it felt pretty awesome that I delivered a 10 lb baby in just over an hour, without any pain medications at all. I should win some kind of medal, don't you think?! ;)

OFFICIAL STATS:
Brooklyn Nicole Lott
Date of Birth: August 6, 2009 @ 12:03pm
Weight: 10lbs, 0 oz.
Height: 20.5 inches
Overlake Hospital - Bellevue, WA

I called Lisa with the news and she was sorry to have missed it, but stilled planned on continuing to come and give us big hugs and meet Brooklyn. She arrived around 1pm and we laughed about my crazy delivery story.

Little did I know, there are a few extra concerns when babies are born this big. When inside the womb, the umbilical cord is providing all the glucose the baby needs, but when the cord is cut, a 10 lb baby requires extra glucose or their insulin spikes. So in a healthy baby, glucose levels should be around 70, and 50 would be the minimum acceptable level, but Brooklyn's was 28. Despite my desire to exclusively breastfeed, the nurses informed me that they needed to give her a little formula to get her glucose level up. Of course, I wanted them to do whatever they needed. They let me nurse her first, and she latched on great and began sucking really well, so that helped ease my concerns about giving her formula from a bottle.

After she chugged 2 oz of formula, her glucose levels rose up to 72. Yay! Over the next 24 hours, they continued to monitor her levels closely and while I nursed her as much as I could with whatever collostrum she was getting from me, we also supplemented with a little bit of formula (about an ounce, twice.) When we discharged from the hospital, her glucose number was 55, but above the crucial "50" level, so we were able to take her home.

Also because she is so big and immediately requiring the calorie intake she was getting in the womb, the nurses were also concerned that jaundice might become an issue. And also it could be an issue because my blood type is B-negative and Brooklyn's is O-positive, and there can be red blood cell contamination issues. Before we left he hospital, her billirubin level was on the high side, so we had to take her back into the hospital the next day to get that checked again. Thankfully, everything is all normal with that now, too.

In the evening after Brooklyn's birth, we had all our family come visit and had a "Birth Day" party for Brooklyn in the hospital room. I had made a batch of pink cupcakes and a Big Brother present for Hayden. Hayden was too excited about his SUV toy from Grandma's house to really care much about meeting Baby Sister, but he definitely liked the cupcakes, singing Happy Birthday, and getting the Douglas Train from the Thomas the Tank Engine set (his middle name.) And when I asked him "Where is Baby Sister?" he pointed to the bassinet where she was, and not to my belly like he used to. So hopefully he gets it, on some level.



Recovery has been different this time than with Hayden, too. The afterpains of labor are stronger, and the doctors and nurses confirm this is common with the 2nd babies. The contractions help to shrink the uterus back down to normal size continue a few every hour, and are super intense during breastfeeding, which releases oxytocin hormone and causes contractions.

My milk came in last night and Brooklyn is eating like a champ! She is latching and sucking beautifully! And she's already had 6 poopy diapers since birth! I have a feeling her double chin and rolls on her arms and thighs will be here for quite some time! :) I love healthy, chunky babies!!! In fact, she was too big to fit in her going-home outfit and is already in Size 1 diapers instead of the Newborn size!






Hayden is doing pretty well, too. When we eat, I put Brooklyn in a little infant seat next to the table, and when she even whimpers, he tells me "hold her" in a very concerned tone of voice. The first night home, he cried as Phil sang him his favorite bedtime song and wanted him to keep repeating the last line, "mommy and daddy, we love you, yes we do, we love you". In the morning, instead of his normal soft talking he broke out in a full, hard cry and I rushed in to console him. He's been a little whinier but so far is keeping a safe distance from baby sister and respects our need to hold her, nurse her, and give her attention right now. I'm hopeful things are going pretty smoothly.

Welcome to our family, Brooklyn!

Passing the time

To avoid going absolutely crazy awaiting Brooklyn's arrival, we have tried to continue keeping busy and enjoying some one-on-one time with Hayden.

On Friday, Phil's mom and I took Hayden to the zoo and had a wonderful time. The weather was finally at a more reasonable mid-80s and since we were there in the morning it was even cooler.

Friday night we enjoyed a pizza dinner at Zeek's, which is literally across the street from our house. Surprisingly, this is only our 2nd time going since they opened mid-June. Good pizza, and I even had a slice with spicy Italian Sausage to try to get labor started (people swear that spicy food does the trick) but no luck. Just bad heartburn later. :( But I am so proud of Hayden and how well-behaved he is at restaurants. He is so easy and I hope we're not in for a big shock with #2.

On Saturday, Phil and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to a park on Mercer Island to watch the Blue Angels Air Show with Hayden. Before the show began, Phil and Hayden had fun kicking a little soccer ball around. Hayden is getting really good at kicking and was laughing so hard and having so much fun with Daddy. Once the Blue Angels show started, Hayden got really upset by how loud they were. He was really scared, crying and shaking and covering his ears. We were doing our best to calm him, but the planes really were incredibly loud where we were. On the bright side, Hayden said the most complete sentences he's ever uttered thus far: "Blue Angels way too loud." and "Let's go home." So we packed up our stuff and headed for the car about halfway through the show. He calmed down as soon as we got back to the car.




On Sunday we took Hayden to get his 2nd haircut. We went to Kids Cuts in Issaquah, and it went even better this time. He sat in the airplane barber seat and watched an Elmo movie. He sat relatively still and even tolerated the clippers around his ears and the back of his neck. He looks like such a big boy with such a clean, short haircut.


In the afternoon, I went to a friend's bridal shower, which I was thankful to attend, considering I originally thought I have to miss it if Brooklyn was already born. It was pretty fun to see everyone's eyes pop out when I say I'm 5 days overdue! And then of course everyone wants to share their labor story (or someone they know) and how HUGE their babies are when they were overdue. Thanks. That's making me feel much better. :)

So despite all the failed attempts at inducing labor naturally (and I've tried almost all the tricks in the book!), I just have to keep reminding myself that God is in control. Phil has a big manager's conference the first part of this week, so I guess it's also a good thing that Brooklyn is holding off on making her big entrance. Also, I've come down with a scratchy throat/cough/hurts-to-swallow kind of bug and I'm hoping that all clears up before she comes, too. Although, I am super sad that it looks like my good friend Lisa, who was my doula when Hayden was born, is not going to be able to assist in Brooklyn's delivery since she is now on vacation with her family on the Oregon Coast for the next 2 weeks. She said if I was scheduled to be induced, she could probably make the drive back up in time, so we'll see. Might just be me and Phil this time, though.

As I type this post, I've had several contractions. Maybe tonight will be the night afterall! Or not.

Pregnancy Update Part 2

Well, it seems as though my original due date of August 6th might be more accurate. Brooklyn still hasn't even dropped and I'm only 2cm dilated (I was 2 cm dilated for 3 weeks before Hayden was born). Since everything looked good on the Ultrasound last week - amniotic fluid level and placenta were normal - there's no rush to induce. I'm having about 2-3 Braxton Hicks contractions an hour, but nothing strong enough to even get me excited.

Brooklyn can't come soon enough. Today is supposed to hit record-breaking temperatures in Bellevue and Seattle. My car read 106 degrees at 2pm today when I was on my way home from the doctor's office. Phil, Hayden, and I are staying cool at my in-law's house. They have a heat-pump so their house is much cooler than ours. Around 74 right now and even cooler in their basement living room. I had a pretty good night's sleep last night and my toes even got chilly under the fan. :)

It's actually a good thing that I didn't have her on my due date because the hospital apparently lost power until about 1pm yesterday and was running on emergency back-up systems, which didn't include the AC! Phew! Good thing we weren't there then!

The other nice thing about staying with my in-laws is that Hayden is getting more comfortable staying here. We even have him sleeping in the twin-bed ("Big Boy Bed") with guard rails, which he seems to enjoy. So when the time does come for him to need to stay here for a night when we're in the hospital, I'm not going to worry about him (as much!). And their community also has a swimming pool so we've gone up there in the evening to cool off and Hayden LOVES the pool now. I am so thankful for my in-laws!!

So the game plan is... wait. I have ANOTHER doctor check-up scheduled for next week, August 5th, and at that point, if she still hasn't arrived, the doctor said we can put me on a waiting list with the hospital to be induced as soon as they have an opening. But since it still would be considered "elective", I'd be at the bottom of the waiting list and it could still be a few days after that before the hospital can get me in. Ugh! I almost wish they never even changed the due date from August 6th, because then maybe I wouldn't be so DONE already!

Brooklyn, everyone is so excited to meet you. Please come soon!

Update: The official temperature in Bellevue on July 29th was 108 degrees, breaking an all-time heat record.

Encompass Evaluation

On Tuesday last week was Hayden's evaluation by an organization called Encompass, referred to us by our pediatrician after I mentioned some concerns I had with Hayden's speech development at his 2 year check-up. When the pediatrician asked if Hayden had at least a 50 word vocabulary, I couldn't definitively say yes. If you count the words Phil and I understand, then yes. But a stranger would recognize? I wasn't so sure. So Encompass has a special program for 0-3 year-olds that helps with any developmental concerns parents have (paid for 100% by insurance, state grants, and other grants). So I thought better to get it all evaluated now.

Between the time I scheduled the evaluation and the actual date the 2 evaluators (a speech therapist and an occupational therapist) came over for the 1.5 hour in-home evaluation, is when Hayden's vocabulary suddenly exploded! Of course. Prior to the appointment, I filled out a huge packet of questions and could already tell that there were only a few small areas that Hayden might be a little behind.

I actually called a few days before and said I really wasn't having concerns anymore, but they insisted on following through with the evaluation. To qualify for therapy services, the child has to be scored in the bottom 25th percentile in one or more categories: Cognitive, Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Social-Emotional, Adaptive Behavior, Receptive Language and Expressive Language. The only category I had any concerns with was the "Expressive Language" area. Within about 5 minutes, they both said they could tell Hayden would not qualify. But they still were very helpful in giving me some suggestions on helping Hayden with some of the words he pronounces unusually, and also eased my worries that some of the sound substitutions he was making were very common. For example, he says, "Ba" for "Fan" and the speech therapist said the "B" for an "F" sound is a very common substitution. And also that picking up on the last sounds, almost speaking "Backwards" like he does sometimes is also very common as children learn to connect their hearing with verbal communication.

While the occupational therapist brought out an assortment of toys, puzzles, and books to administer "The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development", the speech therapist observed his language and asked me questions about what he says and how he communicates. The first puzzle the OT presented was a simple wood board with 3 pieces: circle, square, and triangle. She dumped the 3 pieces out in front of Hayden and put the board in front of him. She turned to grab her stop-watch and a pencil and as she turned back to Hayden, he was just putting the last piece in the puzzle. She and the Speech Therapist both laughed and were like, "OK, clearly no problems here." The next puzzle had 9 shapes in a 3x3 grid and as Hayden put them all in their proper place, he also counted 1-9 ("one, two, free, fah, figh, sixess, neneven, eight, nine". Again, the therapists were pretty stunned. And I apologized for wasting their time! But they said it was helpful and encouraging for them to see children at the other end of the spectrum since they are so used to seeing children with developmental delays.

It was actually really fun to see Hayden do some of the tasks so well, even impressing me with things I didn't think he'd understand or know how to do, like sort colored pegs into different clear cups, and mimic unusual hand gestures. At one point the OT asked him to match her hand, which was the "OK" sign, and Hayden not only did it, but said "F" because that is also the sign for the letter "F". I explained to the her that he knows almost the whole sign language alphabet and when I showed them, as I did the hand signs, Hayden said almost all the letters correctly. Noting that he makes a connection with visual and verbal communication, the speech therapist suggested I use more signs with words and try to do them closer to my face as I say the word out loud, so he is watching both my hands and mouth. She was able to get him to say "Trailer" much more clearly than I've ever heard before just by motioning her fingers by her face a few times as she said the word (and it doesn't matter if it's true American Sign Language, as long as there is a hand gesture with the word that helps him see it together with the word.)

Another trick the Speech Therapist suggested to work with Hayden on the words he says unusually, is to print out some pictures from the Internet and hold the pictures up near my face, saying the word with very intentional mouth movements. "FFFloWer"

By the end of the evaluation the Speech Therapist scored Hayden in the 70th percentile for receptive language (Age equivalent = 32 months), and 30th percentile for expressive language (Age equivalent = 22 months). So he didn't qualify for any therapy. The therapist said that if the issues he is having with expressive language (consonant substitution and deleting the beginning or ending or words) are not resolved by age 3, to get him evaluated again. Just as I have been working with him over the past week with the suggestions she recommended, I am already noticing a lot of improvements.

The final summary of the evaluation was:

"Hayden is a charming 25-month old boy. Based on today's testing, Hayden demonstrated age-appropriate skills in all areas of development. Encompass's Birth-to-Three services are not recommended at this time."

Pregnancy Update

Anyone who followed my blog with Hayden might remember that I was getting pretty annoyed by the end of my pregnancy with the lineup of questions by EVERY SINGLE PERSON I come in contact with. Whether it's at the grocery store, restaurant, the Mall, gas station, or anywhere, pretty much the first thing out of anyone's mouth when they see me is, "When are you due?", and then the rest of the conversation is just as predictable:

ME: July 28th
THEM: "Oh, wow, that's coming up soon! Do you know what you're having?"
ME: "Yup, it's a girl."
THEM: "Oh, how perfect, one of each." (if Hayden is with me. If he's not, then there's also the "Is it your first?" question right after "When are you due?")
ME: "Yup. We're very blessed."
THEM: "How are you feeling?"
ME: "Great! I'm excited to meet her."
THEM: "How old is your little boy?"
ME: "He turned 2 in May."
THEM: "Oh, that's a great age difference. He's going to be a great Big Brother."
ME: "Yes, I think so."
THEM: "Well good luck with everything."
ME: "Thanks."

(Now can I walk 10 more feet without the same conversation happening again?!)

So the script goes. Multiply that about 5-10 times a day, depending on how many people I see, and that is my day. Some days I don't mind so much. But other days, I just don't feel like going through the whole script again, and I try to signal with my tone of voice, quick answers and no eye contact that I'm not in the mood to be chatty. They must think I'm such a hormonal bitch. Yes, some days, I am.

Oh, and I also get the occasional, "You're so tiny!" or "You're so big!" (yes, on the same day) and "Where are you delivering?" One woman even told me she knew I was having a girl because I was carrying so high. And down the next aisle at the grocery store a different woman asked if I carried my 1st child so low, too. HMMM... Yes, everyone is an expert. Sigh...

SO, here are my REAL answers, for those of you who want more than the script:

Due Date:
My original due date was August 6th, but after a couple Ultrasounds had her measuring on the bigger side, it was changed to July 28th. Due dates are tricky when you have early pregnancy bleeding. But really, due dates are meaningless. According to the doctor today, I could deliver tomorrow, I could deliver in 3 weeks. The only thing certain is that if she hasn't arrived by August 6th, they will induce me. I am already 1 cm dilated, her head is down, but she hasn't dropped. The doc said with 2nd babies, my body knows what to do and things can happen quicker, so to be prepared for her to come any day now. No long distances away from a hospital, husband instructed to keep cell phone on at all times, install the infant car seat, and get the hospital bag ready. If I had my say, I'd want to have her after July 31st, so that Phil's 5-week paternity leave will carry through Labor Day weekend, when we have a big Lott Family retreat at the Oregon Coast. Otherwise, he has to go back to work for a few days, then use holiday pay to take the extra days off that week.

How am I feeling?
Well, in case you can't tell from my opening rant... I feel irritable. For starts. Poor Phil is having to hear me constantly complaining, whining, or asking him to get something for me. Phil is my sounding board and therapist.

Also, my back is really hurting now. Shoulders, middle, lower, tailbone, you name it. Phil is my masseuse, bender, and lifter.

I have an insatiable sweet tooth, so I'm stuffing my face with ice cream, brownies, cookies, ice cream, donuts, ice cream, candy, and did I mention ice cream? I ate so much better when I was pregnant with Hayden. I feel guilty.

I've gained 35 lbs so far this pregnancy. I think with Hayden, I gained 25-30, but my starting weight was higher, so I think I weigh about the same now as then. My ankles are swollen. My face is rounder and jaw line less noticeable. My upper arms are chubbier. Even maternity clothes are starting to be too small.

And one of these days after the "How are you feeling?" question, I am going to tell a perfect stranger, "Hemorrhoids suck."

The house is as ready as we need to be. Since Brooklyn will be in our room for the first 2-3 months, we haven't totally gotten everything ready in the room. I think it might be a better transition for Hayden anyway not to have his room change too drastically overnight. But all that's left to do, really, is to repaint the accent wall green from blue, and replace the curtains. I think it will be best to paint sometime when Hayden can have a sleepover at Grandma's so the room can air out anyway.

More than anything, I'm nervous about how Hayden will react to his baby sister. More specifically, how he will react to Mommy not always being able to pick him up or give him attention immediately when he wants it. I know this will be a good lesson for him to learn, but I can only imagine what that feels like from his perspective. It breaks my heart that he might feel rejected, displaced, unwanted, or unloved.

But he did the sweetest thing the other night. He kissed me goodnight and started up the stairs with Daddy as usual, and after about 2 stairs up, he stopped, turned around, ran back to me, and kissed my belly good night. (We have been asking him to give baby sister a kiss occasionally, but this was totally on his own!) Phil and I just stared at each other in awe of what a thoughtful thing that was. On another side note of something sweet Hayden did... he noticed a little scab on the back of my ankle I got the other day at the pool, and he pointed to it and said "Boo Boo Knee" (which is the phrase he says anytime any body part gets hurt) and then he leaned over and kissed my boo boo like I kiss his!! How adorable is that?!

For fear of going off on another rant, I'm going to leave this blog post on that high note.

Mariner's Game

We took Hayden to his first baseball game yesterday. I was a little nervous since I got the tickets from a guy on Craigslist, and because the game started at 1:10pm and that meant Hayden wouldn't be taking a nap that day. Fortunately, everything turned out great.




The seats were excellent for the price - 300 level, row 1 (right on the railing!), on the first base side. I was pretty paranoid at first about the railing, but by the 3rd inning or so, allowed Phil to loosen his death grip on him a little, as long as he was always in reach and being watched (I don't think I watched much of the game, actually!).



And even though Hayden didn't get a nap, he was so good and had so much fun. He loved all the different music and clapping parts. I don't think he understood at all what was happening on the field, but he sure enjoyed people watching, eating (mmmm... kettle corn!!), and cheering. And the airplanes that would fly overhead, the trains blowing their loud horns, and the roof opening were pretty exciting too.



We made it through the Seventh Inning stretch ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game!") and decided it was time to head home before Hayden got cranky. Oh, and if anyone cares, Mariner's won 5-3 over the Texas Rangers. :)