Famous last words...

As you read in my last post we were feeling very confident about this parenting two kids things. Settling into a groove and patting ourselves on the back. HA! That is always a recipe for disaster, right? 

First, let's rewind back to all the FUN happenings and then we will get to the not-so-fun part. To begin, Allie came to visit!!! It was such a treat to have her in California. Unfortunately she had to leave Eli, Jillian, and Justin at home, but it made for a very mellow trip of getting to catch up and love on her baby, Cora. We didn't really do much other than hang out around Menlo Park and relax. Once the babies are a bit bigger we will get them all out here and conquer the Bay Area one attraction at a time. The only real bummer about her trip is that it came to an end and we had to send her back to St. Louis. Noah loved having Allie here (she is fantastic at playing!), and I just wish with all my heart we lived closer. There is nothing like a childhood best friend. 

How cute is Miss Cora?!

Love her!

The day after Allie left we got more visitors! My parents and Katie both landed the following day. Katie and I set to work immediately to plan last minute details for her bachelorette party that weekend. While I wasn't able to leave for the entire weekend (a two month old, breastfeeding, baby pretty much makes that unrealistic), I was able to sneak away for Friday day/night in Napa to celebrate Kate! It was a seriously fun day of wine tasting and adult conversation. 

I failed to mention that my parent's visit started with a trip to urgent care for my mom (foreshadowing?!). She got stung by a bee (foreshadowing?!) the day before they flew and the above was the situation when they landed.

Favors ready for the bachelorette!

A quick little side note about that Friday...I almost stayed home. Friday night was rough for my little Cooper as he had a really stuffy nose and a bit of a cough. I was really nervous to leave him but Scott gave me the kick I needed to go. I am glad I did as he did great while I was gone and seemed much better when I got home. Famous.Last.Words.

Pumping on the way to Napa. I am sure the people stuck in traffic next to me were a bit confused! I might have also scared some of the ladies on the trip who don't have kids yet with the constant pumping!

All the ladies with our limo!

After a few days of fun with Grandma and Papa, Tuesday arrived. We went to Cooper's two month check up at the pediatrician and got his first shots. He still had a bit of a cold but the doctor said his lungs sounded great and he was his happy, smiley self. He rocked his shots and had no noticeable reactions after coming home. No extra fussiness, fevers, etc. Just business as usual. We gave Coop his bottle and sent him off to dream land at about 9:30. At 11pm I awoke to him seriously a mess! He was making horrible breathing noises, coughing, and was super congested. These early minutes are a bit of blur but I know after trying to nurse, cuddle, rock, walk, I decided I needed to get him into a steamy room so I had Scott turn on the shower so we could sit in there and hopefully help some of the gunk clear out. 

It begins...fun in the bathroom.

Success! After sitting in the bathroom for 15 minutes he seemed much better and fell asleep in my arms. We were both pretty toasty so we left and I laid him back down. The happiness lasted for about 5 minutes before the horrible sounds came back. Mostly he sounded like a seal who couldn't breathe (clincal name: stridor). Truth: I started to panic. I tend to be fairly calm in "emergent" situations but I looked at Scott and said, "I don't know what to do". He was cool, calm, and collected (as usual) and told me to call my mom over. She came over and after a few more minutes of all of us trying to sort out what was wrong we decided it was time to see a doctor. 

This was far and away the worst part of the night. My mom and I scrambled into clothes (Scott wasn't able to come as he was predisposed with a medical prep that required him to stay close to a restroom...I'll leave you to your own conclusions there!) and we then attempted to get Coop into his carseat. It.Was.Awful. He freaked out, cried harder than I have ever heard, couldn't breathe well, was foamy at the mouth, his mucus was out of control...it was just plain bad. 

We made it to the Stanford ER and they wasted no time getting us into a room. Side note, the ER at 1am is a not-so-fun place. You don't go to the hospital just for fun at this hour :-(. ANYWAY, we immediately started seeing doctors, nurses, interns, med students, etc. Standford is a teaching hospital so for every one person you see, you see about four. We recounted the night's events and timeline of Cooper's cold at least 10 times while in the ER. During this time, they also did deep suction (that royally pissed Coop off, but it made a huge difference), and hooked him to up to heart and oxygen monitors. His heartrate was pretty high at this point but oxygen sats were great (a relief after hearing how labored his breathing was). 

Coop was in great hands with Grandma.

We were all so tired and Coop kept trying to sleep and even kept trying to smile between all the people checking him out. He truly was a perfect little patient. At some point they wanted to start an IV as his heartrate was still a bit high for their liking (which can apparently be a sign of dehydration). It wasn't mandatory at this point and so I decided to decline and just keep nursing him in hopes we could avoid a stick for our boy.

All hooked up in the ER.

By 4am they had made the decision to admit us and we were off to Lucille Packard to get our room (I made the decision that if they still wanted to start an IV upon seeing him upstairs, I would say ok). After a slight detour to the wrong wing, we got settled into 3West and started meeting our team. Again, teaching hospital, lots and lots of people! After seeing a doctor, or four, I went ahead and sent my mom home to help with logistics there and to make sure she got some rest. 

A sight for sore eyes.

And then it was just Coopie and I. We did a lot of snuggling. And, luckily, no one ever mentioned an IV again. His heartrate would get slightly high but nothing crazy so we were able to avoid the stick! PHEW!!!! Early Wednesday morning the decision was made to go ahead and give him a dose of steroids as the leading theory (among about 25...RSV, pertussis, structural abnormalities, etc...) of what was wrong was Croup. It looked like Croup, and sounded like Croup, but apparently it doesn't really start showing up in kids until they are six months so they were all a bit perplexed. 

He looks so small :-(.

As the steroids began to kick in, we saw marked improvement in Cooper. He was resting better and nursing better as well. He still wanted to be snuggled so we spent most of the day in the recliner. I got a few minutes of sleep here and there but was thrilled to see Scott walk through the door at about 4:30pm that afternoon. Not only did I get to get a little sleep (still hard with staff constantly coming in and nursing), but it was also just nice to have him back by my side and be in it together. My parents delivered dinner later that evening and I finally got to see my big boy. I felt so bad that I just disappeared in the night so it made my heart so happy to get to see him, even if just for a couple minutes in the car (Coop was in "isolation" so Noah wouldn't have been allowed in the room). 

Resting. A fun fact, that night Scott and I shared that little bench bed. A far cry from our king sized bed at home!

This is already really, really long, so I'll wrap it up. The steroids were a miracle worker. They kept us overnight Wednesday night for observation (I was very happy about this as Coop tended to get worse at night and I didn't want another ER trip) and we were discharged Thursday morning with a loose diagnosis of Croup and instructions to give him some TLC and follow up with our pediatrician. 

Best part of the week...a cupcake date after school with my big boy...just the two of us!

Check.Check.Check. Follow up went great. As the steroids have worn off his cough has come back a bit, but nothing compared to that first night. He pretty much just sounds like a baby with a cold now. 

A few take aways from the whole thing:

1. We were SO lucky my parents were here. I seriously don't know what we would have done otherwise. It was invaluable to have my mom with me (both for support and her nursing experience) and my dad back at home to keep Noah happy (Papa is his absolute favorite person). They were able to jump in and help with all of the logistics of the house, drop offs, pick ups, meals, etc. Someone knew what they were doing having all of this happen when it did. 

Noah's hero.

2. We are also incredibly lucky that Stanford is 10 minutes away from our house. To know that we were getting some of the best medical care in the country (as a result of geography!) was reassuring every step of the way. It was also kind of fun to feel like I was in an episode of Grey's Anatomy when the team did their rounds and talked through Cooper's chart! 

3. I am so grateful that our stay at the hospital was as short as it was, for supportive care only, and that we made it out without so much as an IV (steroids were given orally). Being on the pediatric floor of the LPCH made us count our blessings that was got to walk out of there after only one day with a healthy baby boy.  

So, now we have our first ER visit crossed off the list. Not exactly a fun thing to "accomplish" but probably something we were going to encounter at some point. I am just glad it all has a happy ending. Also, this all sounds extremely dramatic but, honestly, once we got past the rush to the ER portion, it wasn't all that horrible. We were in great hands and it was really just a lot of snuggling our little guy and allowing the medicine to do its job. Again, we are very fortunate.

Tired but oh so happy to be home.

Kind of. HA! We got home Thursday, and Friday my parents flew home. That night we were having dinner and the back door was open. We saw a fly buzzing around so I grabbed the fly swatter and sat back down. We saw it again and Scott got up to get him. Before he could, we noticed it was actually a bee. At that point it flew right into Cooper's head (in his rock n play) sat there, and stung him. I was literally two feet away from Cooper and couldn't get it off in time. SERIOUSLY?!?! What are the odds of this?! Coop screamed bloody burder and we immediately began Googling "bee sting in infants". Luckily he didn't have any kind of reaction but I spent the next few hours examining every inch of his little body for any sign of anything that indicated otherwise! 

That white dot is the baking soda paste we put on to hopefully draw out some venom.

So, that concluded our crazy couple of weeks. Hopefully things can settle down a little bit now and we can resume our life as "a settled family of 4"!

Grapefruit Retchless: Week 16 {and other random happenings}

I am only a touch late this week, and that is because of a computer malfunction (which magically fixed itself, hooray for Macs) so I am calling this post a win! 

I hopped on this scale this morning and it is looking like I am up about 6 pounds total so far. This is exactly the amount I had gained with Noah at this point so I am really happy about this. I actually went into this pregnancy about 5 pounds lighter than I did with Noah but expect to round out at about the same final weight. I have a weird theory about lighter people gaining more weight during pregnancy...it is based on exactly zero medical facts so I will keep the details to myself! BUT, I believe I will gain closer to 25 or 30 pounds with Grapefruit versus 22 with Noah. 

In other news, I feel great! My energy is 100% back and I feel strong and motivated. I have been true to my posts and have upped the hiking/walking while continuing to go to Bar Method regularly. Noah has, thankfully, embraced sitting in the Bob while I huff and puff around the Dish for an hour! My eating has been so-so but I am sort of embracing that. I don't indulge much when I'm not pregnant (wine is my empty calories), so I am taking the caloric deficit the wine left to enjoy a few more special treats.

Pushing this guy up hills is no joke. Kristina, please come take over!!!

Well, that was boring...weight and food. What else? We have been busy now that the holiday season is officially upon us. Holiday parties, Christmas shopping, preparing for travel, and regular day-to-day life has kept us hopping. The good news is, I feel up for all of it (aside from a few too late nights which made for a cranky, sober, pregnant wife!) and I am looking forward to the crazy that awaits in St. Louis. 

A few lot of pictures from some recent fun. 

We took Noah on his first real train ride. He LOVED it and wasn't happy about the getting off to get lunch part.

He looked so big sitting by himself in his seat.

We visited Santa (before Thanksgiving...the shame!). No hysterics but he still isn't a fan of the big guy.

We played in Mom's boots. He gets super silly in the evening and we have so much fun watching his antics.

I turned 30 and was spoiled rotten!

Lunch at the Rosewood. Love these girls.

We took selfies in the mirror. Ps-my Invisalign is done, and my teeth make me happy!

We learned how to dip the animal crackers right in the peanut butter jar.

We hosted Thanksgiving and I got some very special snuggles in with baby Leonardo!

We took our annual day after Thanksgiving trip to Napa. That sweater looks like a tent...and I thought it was all "chunky and cute".

We immediately took down the turkeys and put up the Christmas! Noah was a huge help ;-). Also, toys are taking over my house...we are going to have to move to make room for all Noah's stuff!

Nana is tired of being told she can't eat the decorations.

Noah had his very first school pictures taken. My heart actually can't handle the cuteness.

These two continue to make my life brighter every day.

Yet another annual...we made our trip to San Francisco for some delicious lunch and shopping.

2011. Noah was all of about 4 weeks old.

2012.

We braved the craziness that is Union Square pre-Noah as well but failed to document it as we lived there and didn't really think much of a quick trip downtown ;-).

Well, I think that about gets us up to date. Hope your holidays are off to a great start!

**I'll add in a 16 week bump picture as soon as my photographer gets home from work! 

***a friendly reminder that I am much better at keeping up with Instagram so if you would like to find me there, I am Steffy7210.

Napa. Packing. DIY.

We packed a lot into our three day weekend! So much it actually felt like a nice little vacation. Don't you love it when that happens?

Katie managed to swing another trip out to the Bay Area and of course we made another trip up to Napa. I took on my new role as designated driver and off we went!

Kate and me at Gloria.

Maxi dresses. God's gift to pregnant women (I am sure I will continue to echo this as I grow - I actually look bigger than I really am in this picture).

We actually stopped at a few new wineries and unfortunately Kate witnessed her first bad day of weather in Napa. It rained all afternoon but it didn't damper our fun and the skies parted just in time for dinner.

Rain in the distance from Joseph Phelps. It was actually very dramatic and pretty.

Our picnic at Montelena. Looks great but we were actually rushing as the storm was looming in the background.

Our Saturday itinerary:

• Gloria Ferrer
• Oakville Grocery to pick up sandwiches
• Chateau Montelena (we made Kate watch Bottle Shock Friday night) - picnic
• Mumm
• Joseph Phelps
• Redd for a glass of wine while we waited for dinner
• Bottega - capped the night off with an early dinner

Heaven.

Sunday we got Kate off to the airport and headed down to Menlo Park to visit our new neighborhood. We strolled Santa Cruz street, drove by our cute house and then headed back to the city for a day of R&R. 

Of course, too much R&R makes my mind race with projects I need to start so Monday was filled with just that. We went to Menlo again to sign papers and made a stop at Home Depot on the way home. This place is going to be my new BFF. Why I have decided that two weeks before a move is the time to start DIY projects is beyond me. 

Current projects include:

• Spray painting frames for my "wall o' stuff" in the new house (inspiration here)
• Repaint the dresser that lives in our room that will become the baby's dresser/changing table
• Packing

The frames were easy peasy but the dresser is going to be a chore. Katie Bower makes it seem so easy but getting nice smooth lines is something that is going to require a little practice. 

Frame before (we have a zillion of these).

A little spray paint.

and viola!

My helpers. Lola was dancing around in the garage with us too.

Matching paint swatches to the crib.

Test drawer painted with one coat. I will take a picture of the entire dresser before I go any further so we can see the before/after.

The doctor gave me to ok to paint as long as the area was well ventilated but we went ahead and got a few masks for me to wear just to be safe. I look hot!

I have also come up with one heck of a moving system. These movers don't know who they are dealing with! 

Each room will be color coded. Each box will have an index card indicating which room it belongs in. Of course I will also be writing what each box will contain. All furniture will also have an index card taped to it so the movers know just where to take it. Hopefully this makes it go smooth as silk!

Ok, time to get back to the working world. 17 week update coming up next.

Week 16

This week you get the weekly pregnancy update first as the weekend was so fun and wonderful I need more time to put it together. So without further ado...

How Far Along: 16 weeks (+1 day).

Size of Baby: Size of an avocado. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 pounds. Right on track according to the doctor. Feels more like 15, just for the record. 

Maternity Clothes:  Still my clothes. Definitely ready to do a little in-between phase shopping. Some of my old clothes will be great when I have a real belly but this pudge needs to be tented in the meantime ;-).

Movement: Nope but the doctor said to expect it in the next month! I can't wait!

 
Symptoms: Still dealing with my face being a wild and crazy monster. Other than that, nothing new to report other than the normal growing pains. 

What I Miss: Regular people medicine: Advil and benzoyl peroxide are the ones I miss most. Sorry, but Tylenol just doesn't do a darn thing.

I actually wrote this before going to the doctor today. She gave me the go ahead to use benzoyl peroxide which made me want to do back flips with excitement. Watch out zits...you will be zapped!

Also, as a follow up to a note I made a couple of weeks ago I got the ok to sleep pretty much however I want. Hallelujah! Come week 20 I can't sleep completely flat on my back but she said a small pillow prop would be all I need to be safe and sound. 

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out on June 17th.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nope. 

 
Cravings: Same as all previous weeks. Only aversions. I have officially banned ice cream from the house on weekdays. It is now a weekend treat only. I have also decided that I needed healthier snacks (Cheez-Its and Goldfish are great for sodium but that's about it...and who needs extra sodium?!). Sitting on my desk is a nice snack of apple and peanut butter. Hopefully I can keep this healthy snacking trend up. It's easy at home, but tough on the go when this baby decides it needs food, NOW!

Best Moment This Week: Going into contract on our house (more on that in the weekend update), and hearing the little one's heart at the doctor today.

16 weeks. Next week we will try to avoid the finger in the flash and shadow on the wall. Or I could learn how to use photoshop...

Week 15

Warning: This post seems to have come off a bit on the complaining side of things. It is just that kind of day today but really I couldn't ask for a better pregnancy thus far!!


How Far Along: 15 weeks (+1 day).

Size of Baby: Size of an apple, about 4". 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I will be weighed in again next Tuesday.

I do feel like I am gaining a little weight in my upper thighs/hips. Scott says I am crazy but it feels like it. Pretty much I just feel like a blob this week. Again, this isn't a pregnancy thing really...I am a mental case. BUT, it might be time to lay off the ice cream as I don't think I am growing a baby in my legs. 

Maternity Clothes:  Nope. Still buying more dresses in preparation. Something tells me I might write off all denim in the coming weeks. I look forward to the extra closet space!

Movement: Nope.

 
Symptoms: My face is officially out of control. I look like a teenager going through puberty. There isn't really anything to be done about it so it looks like Stila Cosmetics is going to do well during my pregnancy!

My nose is also a mess. I learned today that a stuffy nose or nose bleeds are actually a pregnancy symptom due to estrogen levels and extra blood. I am on the nose bleed side of things. No actual nose bleeds but it feels like it could happen any moment of any day! So dry and agitated it actually wakes me up at night.

What I Miss: Nothing really new I am missing this week. Looking forward to finding about about sleeping at the doctor next week!

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out on June 17th.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nope. 

 
Cravings: No cravings, just aversions. As I mentioned above, I think am going to have to stop indulging my sweet tooth. That and throw in a few extra Bar Method classes.

Best Moment This Week: Finding the house we are hopefully going to be bringing our little one home to! Not ready to share details on that yet as it is far to pre mature but exciting nonetheless!

Baby Retchless is growing! 

14.1

I am officially mad at blogger. It went down last week and wiped this post out. I will add the picture back in ASAP.



How Far Along: 14 weeks 1 day (Monday is just not a good day for a new baby week posting!)

Size of Baby: Size of a lemon or fist. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I will only be weighed at the doctor so this will be updated monthly. I have never really been one for scales. If my clothes fit, and I feel good, then nothing to worry about. If the aforementioned start to change, then I make a change. I figure my clothes are going to stop fitting with the baby anyway so I don't need to weigh myself weekly. 

Maternity Clothes:  Nope. I am starting to feel really uncomfortable in "real" clothes though (could have something to do with how little I actually wear them). They all still fit, but I just like my Lululemon outfits and PJs the best. This isn't really a pregnancy development...I've always hated jeans.

Movement: Nope.

 
Symptoms: Tired (please read "what I miss") and still a little crazy. I feel like the crazy is calming down but I definitely have a short fuse for pretty much everything.

My face is crazy. Ever since day 1 my face has been breaking out. It seems better this week. Hopefully the trend continues. 

What I Miss: Wine. Still. I got the need for sushi out of my system at The House on Mother's Day. I didn't eat real sushi but the Fried Salmon Roll and Unagi appetizer hit the spot! 

I also miss sleeping however I want. I have been trying to adjust to sleeping on my left side and it is like torture. I am going to consult with my doctor just how critical this is because the trade off is lack of sleep! 

 
Girl or Boy: We'll find out on June 17th.

Belly button In or Out: Innie

Stretch Marks: Nope. 

 
Cravings: Same story on cravings as last week but the aversions are getting stronger. I was ok with sliced meat as of last week but have quickly learned that pretty much all red meat is out of the question. It looks funny, tastes funny, and just makes me generally grossed out. 

Best Moment This Week: My first Mother's Day! Looking forward to celebrating with the little punkin next year :-).

Purple shirt was dirty. It will be back next week :-).