Home for the Holidays

Here are pics from the day Carter came home (12/10/10).

Adjusting

Now that I am out of the hospital and Ari's dad has arrived to help us out, since I am still limited on what I can do after the c-section, we are getting into a routine... sort of. Ari and I are finding it much more challenging to have a NICU baby the second time around because Claire certainly needs our time and attention. When she was born, we lived at the NICU, however this time around we are in the NICU while she is at daycare or after she goes to bed. I have to say that being away from Carter so much has been emotionally draining on me.
Despite our best efforts to preserve Claire's routine, she has noticed the change as well. She is very emotional. For instance, last night she cried because she didn't like trying on her new snow boots and then cried for a good five minutes during dinner that she wanted them back on. Certainly, she is displaying some 2 year-old behavior but I think the last weeks events have taken a toll. Regardless, there is still a lot of laughter and playing at our house. In the picture above, she was hamming it up for Opa. After he took every picture, she wanted to see it.
Medically, our guy is doing great. I am sure you can tell he is a bit jaundiced, though nothing serious. He is on a heart monitor, but no pulse ox, and the only tube he has is his NG for eating. They have already started him to eat by mouth. He takes about 30% of his meals by mouth and the rest goes down the tube. He is also allowed to nurse twice a day which I think is good for both of us.
So now it is a waiting game. Carter has to prove that he can eat 100% of his milk by mouth and continue to gain weight. Hopefully, he will be home well before Christmas.

Introducing Carter Griffin Leib

This is just going to be a brief introduction to our son, Carter Griffin Leib, as today is my first day out of the hospital after a semi-emergent cesarean section and I am exhausted. Like his sister, Carter decided that he wanted to be delivered early. The way he entered, the world, however, was completely different than Claire. I had an OB appointment Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving). I got the scary news that I was dilated to 1 cm despite being only 32 2/7 weeks pregnant. They sent me straight over to the perinatology office where I got a dose of steroids to mature the baby's lungs just in case I went into labor. Thanksgiving morning I woke up early and was having some mild contractions, certainly nothing painful. I decided to take it easy and take a quick shower. Well after the shower, my water broke. Here we go again, I thought. Claire was born just an hour and 50 minutes after my water broke so we quickly threw some things together and left Claire with Papa Pope and Grandma Lily and headed to the hospital.
At the hospital, our first nurse and resident did not make a good impression. They asked me why I had come in and when I said it was because my water broke and I was in labor, they asked if I was sure. Well, let's see, I am a doctor and I have been through this before so yes I am sure that I am in labor. They acted surprised when this was confirmed on the monitors and exam. Seriously?! After that, my doc came in and said that we were going to try to stop my labor since I was only 2-3 cm dilated and that would allow us to get another dose of steroids in. He wasn't sure it would work given my history, but thought it was worth a try. As it turns out, they were successful in stopping my labor for 24 hours. What a horrible 24 hours, though. I was NPO (no food) and bored, scared, and intermittently contracting. They had mercy on me late that night and gave me some processed food to eat which I was sooo grateful for. I am not joking, when you have not eaten for 25 hours, anything tastes good!
So the next morning, they stopped the meds that were slowing my labor and guess what, I didn't contract! Ha! So then they gave me pitocin to start the contractions. I hadn't slept at all so I was pretty irritable. Unfortunately, the baby did NOT like the pitocin and started having late decelerations in his heart rate when I would contract. Despite not wanting an epidural, my OB talked me into getting the catheter put in just in case a c-section became necessary. So the catheter was put in without medicine and the baby continued to not be happy with the contractions and I was only 5 cm dilated. Within 30 minutes of all this becoming clear, I was in the OR getting a semi-emergent cesarean section. Let me tell you, it is so strange to be awake while you are being cut open. Thankfully, they were able to get the baby (a boy!) out, he was stuck face up in the canal, and that little rock star had apgars of 9 and 9.

So much for brevity! More on our little man soon.

EnterTrainment Junction

This and the next few entries will be out of order. Prior to Carter's arrival, we found a place called Entertrainment Junction while searching for new and exciting places to have outings with Claire. This was perfect since she is really into trains. The place has an enormous model train set up which goes through multiple rooms and many scenes. There are buttons for the kids to push to interact with the train set. There is also a large scale train for the kids to play on, they can shovel coal and everything. If that wasn't enough, there is also a huge jungle gym and a smaller area with trains for toddlers.
Needless to say, Claire was in train heaven. She loved every section. We will have to go back soon!

Better Cooked!

So I have now officially cooked baby number 2 longer than I cooked Claire. Yeah!! I am 31 3/7 weeks pregnant and everything so far is going well. I get checked by the doctor weekly and so far nothing is changing. The baby is low and my doctor predicts that once I start contracting, there will be no stopping things. I am prepared for that because that is how Claire came into the world. For now Ari and I are thankful for every day that I remain pregnant because we are one less day in the NICU if the baby comes early.

Chicago: Part 3

The final leg of our trip was a visit to our friends Dan and Amber in Evanston. We definitely wanted to make sure that we got to meet their new daughter Adeline. We arrived around lunch time and the boys graciously braved the cold to get us lunch. We enjoyed a couple of hours of catching up and then it was time for everyone to don their Halloween costumes (except me, the Grinch of Halloween). It was a bit chilly, but Adeline was snug as a bug in her pea pod costume. This was the first time that Claire officially trick or treated. She was initially confused by walking up to strangers' homes, but once she realized that she would get candy at each stop her enthusiasm soared.
Above you can see she got quite a few treats. Her favorite by far, however, was her pink lollipop. She was really more interested in holding it rather than eating it! Too soon, it was dark and it is was time for our family to head home to Cincinnati. Claire did great in the car again and soon we were all tucked in our own beds. A big thank you, again, to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to see, entertain, and/or feed us!! We love you all!

Chicago: Part 2

The second leg of our Chicago trip was spent downtown. We were so glad that my mom was able to take off work early on Friday so that we could go explore Navy Pier with Claire. In the picture above she was waiting to take her first CTA bus ride. She LOVED the bus. For the rest of the weekend when she saw a bus she would shout, "My bus!" Unfortunately a cold front had moved in, so the pier was a bit chilly. That didn't stop our girl from enjoying a carousel ride with daddy and steering a sailboat in a little pond. She also got to experience her first taste of Garrett's popcorn. Surprisingly she liked the cheese better than the carmel corn, just like daddy!
Grammy always has her place stocked with Claire's favorite foods, so in the picture above she was sitting on the counter watching Grammy cook her sausage for breakfast. Yum! After a hearty breakfast, we were off to the park. It was fun, but still chilly. Soon it was time to head back because our good friends Andy and Tara from Milwaukee were heading down with their daughter Olivia (the lion below). Both of our families plus Grammy and JJ then went to Daley Plaza for a Halloween celebration where we met up with Kristen and Larry. Celebration is a bit of an over statement. We were promised a celebration and were very disappointed. The best part was probably the fountain they had colored orange. We definitely had more fun once we went to dinner at Portillo's. Mmm, italian beef. The kids did great and we all had a good time catching up.
On Sunday morning, Grammy made another great breakfast. Kristen and Larry came over again to get some last minute visiting in with Claire. I put in the picture below because all weekend, people were inadvertently showing up in the same outfits. On Saturday, Grammy and JJ were matchy-matchy in purple shirts and black jeans then Sunday Larry showed up and mirrored Ari's yellow sweater and jeans. Weird!

Chicago: Part 1

We decided to take a trip up to Chicago before I was placed on travel restriction with my pregnancy. Our first stop was in Naperville. We left right before dinner on a Tuesday night. When we stopped at McDonald's for dinner, Claire quickly became enamored with a young boy sitting in the next booth. Before he left, Claire told him she loved him. Yipes, we have a heart-breaker on our hands. After dinner Claire quickly fell asleep and we made great time up to dad's house. We had a lot of fun in Naperville, especially at the Dupage County Children's Museum. The picture above shows Claire playing with an enormous "Lite Brite." It is actually dark in the room and all the rods glow in the dark. It was a blast. We also played in the bubble room and with giant tinker toys.
We were so glad to spend some quality time with dad and Lily. We also were fortunate enough to work in visits with my aunt Kathy, uncle Bruce, and cousins Sarah and Jason. We had a great Thai meal where Claire made friends with all the wait staff. Our last night in Naperville I made dinner for dad, Lily, and Ari's Aunt Ellen and Uncle Kenny. Boy were they a hit with Claire - they brought her a new baby doll with lots of accessories. We are so thankful to all of our family for making time to visit with us!!

No Change!

Quick update: went to the doctor today and I have shown no sign of progression. Baby #2 seems to be staying put for the time being. I can go back to work as long as I use "common sense." I promise to lay low and keep you all updated on a hopefully uneventful pregnancy for the next 10 weeks. Thanks for all your support and well wishes!

Pumpkin Painting

In the past, we have always carved our pumpkins using the awesome stencils that are now available. This year, we decided that sharp objects and a two year-old don't mix so we chose paint. Ari covered the floor with plastic and we all put on old clothes. Claire loved it. She started with her favorite color (pink, of course!) and then moved on to the glitter paints. I am not sure which she enjoyed more, stirring the paints with her paint brush or actually painting her pumpkin!
This is Ari's pumpkin. He actually used one of the carving stencils for the design and then painted it. Very creative!

Pumpkin Patch

I guess since I have all this time on my hands, I might as well keep the blog up to date! I am a little worried today, though, because Ari got a fortune cookie that said, "Your dearest wish will come true within the month!" Well our dearest wish right now is a happy, healthy baby. The ideal timeline, however, would be in 2 1/2 months. I guess we will just have to be patient and see what happens.

On the the more happy things. This year we decided to take Claire back to the Burger Family Farm for pumpkin picking. They have so many things for the kids to do, it is really an all day event. We got there around lunch time and Claire enjoyed her hot dog and french fries. She then got to hold a baby chick. She was so gentle! She also got to participate in a puppet show and dance the hokey pokey. We visited farm animals and also filled a dinosaur shaped container with different colored sand.
Finally we got on the hay rack and went to pick some pumpkins. Claire picked a small one for herself then Ari and I each picked one. We also picked out some interesting gourds to take home. Needless to say, our girl was pooped by the end and took a three hour nap. Yeah Halloween!

Down But Not Out (Literally)

Well friends and family, as my sister has put so eloquently, I am not the best hostess on the inside. After an absolutely wonderful and whirlwind trip to Chicago last week, I had an OB appointment today. I won't go into to the details, but there is evidence that baby #2 wants to follow in the footsteps of his/her older sister and make an early entrance. Ari and I were able to meet with a perinatologist after we received the news and were reassured a little bit. From the information we know at this point, there is an 18% chance that I will deliver before 32 weeks (I am 29 weeks now) and a 37% chance I will deliver before 35 weeks. Claire was born at 30 1/2 weeks. She reassured us that we are doing everything right and she is glad that I have been getting progesterone shots since early in my pregnancy. So for now it is a week of bed rest, more progesterone and a check up on Thursday. The Thursday appointment is key because it will let us know how rapidly things are changing. The new doc thinks there is a chance that I can even go back to work next week. Don't worry, though, we will follow all the doctor's orders to ensure the best chance of a full term delivery. We will keep you up to date!

The Park and Spaghetti

I think that some of the best days are those that aren't over scheduled or preplanned. Last Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to our favorite park, Ault Park. It is beautiful there and all the trees are changing. Our favorite part, though, is that the playground has two large play areas, one for the toddlers and one for the bigger kids. Claire has always enjoyed the toddler area as well as the swings. Recently, she has shown more and more interest, however, in exploring the big kid area. We indulged her last week and quite frankly were shocked at how much she could do. Certainly her petite size impacts some of the activities and makes mommy nervous because she could easily fall through cracks other kids couldn't. She had such a great time exploring the new area!

(Sorry I couldn't get these photos in the order that I wanted!) We were really hungry after the park so we went to Noodles. Claire had spaghetti and meatballs which she thoroughly enjoyed (as evidenced by the picture!). Our final destination was Toys R Us. Ari and I haven't gotten bored with her toys so we decided to pick up a few new things. We got more Mega Blocks; Ari and I love to build "castles" and Claire enjoys destroying them and building her own. We also got her a Little People Firehouse and Fairy Treehouse. We love playing with the Little People. I especially love watch Claire make them talk to each other! As you can imagine, after that Claire was beat. She took a 3 hour nap. What a great day!!

Sunflower Festival

Two weeks ago we decided to take Claire to a local sunflower festival. The farm offered plenty of sunflowers, a hayride, and a petting zoo, what a fun day! We started in the children's garden and smelling some zinnias. We then waited (very patiently, I should add) for the hayride which took us up to see the farm animals. There were chickens, roosters, sheep, cows, goats, and turkeys. The turkeys were so noisy and Claire learned that they say "gobble, gobble, gobble." We actually read and talk about animals a lot but not usually turkeys, they were definitely something new.
After the animals, we ate a quick bite and then went to the sunflower field. It had already been a long day so Claire was not the most cooperative for pictures. It was also getting cold. We did pick a few stems of flowers to take home with us, though. Claire also picked out a baby pumpkin to take home.

A New Car for Our Expanding Family

Ari has had the itch for a new car for a little while now. I kept balking and telling him that we didn't need one. With the new baby on the way, however, and the reality of two carseats and a double stroller, I had to finally admit that maybe his sedan could use an upgrade to something bigger. Ari did all of the research to figure out which one would be best and decided that a Hyundai Santa Fe would be a great fit for our family. Interestingly enough, this all happened after I received notification that I was being honored as a Hyundai Scholar for the Hope on Wheels campaign. For those of you who don't know, the dealers at Hyundai a few years ago decided that they would choose one cause for their philanthropic endeavors: childhood cancer. Since that time, they have given tens of millions of dollars toward the search for a cure. The coolest part is, when they give an award they bring a white Hyundai Santa Fe to the hospital and cancer patients get to put their handprints on it. So when I received my award a couple of months ago, my patients got to put their handprints on the car. The generous people at Hyundai also offered us a friends and family deal so I took this to be fate. It gets better, though... When we called to make an appointment to see the car we wanted, it turns out it was the exact same car that was at the Hope on Wheels event. The kids put their hand prints on with washable paint but then their hand prints are taken on another piece of paper and reproduced into clings that can just stick on the car. We were so excited when they pulled the car around, they had left the clings on just so we could see it. Now this was certainly serendipity and we bought the car and are loving it! So if you are in the market for a new car, I cannot recommend a Hyundai enough; not only for the excellent company it has become but also for the dedication of the dealers to fight childhood cancer.

Our Big Girl

I know I say this almost every blog, but I just can't believe how fast time is flying by and how much our beautiful girl seems to learn every day. Claire is getting to be a great communicator. Now that two to three word sentences are the norm, her personality is really becoming apparent. It is also so nice to know what she wants or needs most of the time. She continues to work on her colors and clearly can identify pink (of course!), red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black. She struggles with orange and brown, but this season will be the perfect time to work on those. Her favorite number is two. I don't think she knows any other numbers despite us working on them. She will hold up two things in her hand and say "it's two!" It sure is, but then you point out four of something and she will call that two also! She continues to love to color but now instead of just scribbling happily she will actually tell you that she is drawing an airplane or an owl. I label them as we go for reference later! She now runs in the cutest most girly way and is trying desperately to jump. She has also continued to bloom into the most girly of girls. She loves to play with her babies; pushing them in a stroller, putting them to bed, feeding them, and bathing them. I am hoping this maternal instinct will be in our favor when the new baby arrives so that she will understand all the things you have to do for a baby. She also is very vocal about what she wants to wear each day. I can usually talk her into something reasonable but daddy gives her free reign. Her teachers can all tell when daddy dressed her for the day!! The one baby habit she keeps is her pacifier. She loves her "nee nees" and thankfully only uses them early in the morning until we get to school, at bedtime, and some fussy times in between. I just don't know how to break the habit. She will also put her fingers in her mouth if I don't give it to her and I definitely prefer the paci. I am just worried about how she will handle the baby's paci. I guess we will find out soon enough.

Dress Up

The other night after her bath, Claire and daddy had a good time rumaging through some of her baby things. She wanted to try many things on like old baby bibs and her baby shades. Then daddy had the ingenious idea of tying a towel on her head like a do-rag. Claire loved it. I think we are getting glimpses of how much fun we will have playing dress up when she is just a little bit older.

Splish Splash

While previous posts and pictures may have led you to believe that our girl is a "girly girl," a fact I am certainly not denying, I am proud to say that she isn't afraid to get wet and a bit dirty in some puddles. We have been vigilantly watering our newly installed landscaping due to the near draught that has struck Cincinnati this summer. The other night while we were adjusting the sprinklers, Claire happily occupied herself by sitting in the puddles and splashing with her hands and feet. Needless to say, she needed a good bath afterward.

Another Month Flies By

So another month has just flown right by us! Ari and I have kept busy at work, as usual, and Claire has been learning so many new things. First, as you can see above, she has decided to participate in Water Days at daycare!! One day one of her friends took her hand and led her into to the sprinkler and we have been having fun ever since.

Despite being only 20 months old, Claire is developing the spirit of a two year-old. She is into "no" and "mine" more than daddy and I would like. She is certainly exerting her independence and trying to find the edges of her boundaries. I think this is just the beginning!

Her vocabulary is amazing and she often puts two and three words together. I am not sure if her favorite phrase right now is "I did it!" (which she says after almost every accomplishment or "My turn" which she says when she goes down her slide, though no one else is in line! She has become the ultimate mimic and really is interested in doing what we do and saying what we say. Mommy and daddy really have to watch their mouths... this morning I called someone an idiot in the car and was thankful that I didn't hear it repeated in Claire's sweet little voice!

While our peanut is certainly growing and boy does she eat, she still is too small for a tricycle. It is so sad because she will sit on the trikes at school and make the peddling motion without being able to reach the wheels! For now it is all foot on pavement power; hopefully she hit a good growth spurt soon.

Ari and I are just enjoying being her parents and hoping that the transition from one child to two goes smoothly (yeah right!).

Cheese Face

This is Claire's "cheese face." If you want to take a picture of her, all you have to do is tell her to face you and make her cheese face. It is ridiculously cute, in my very biased opinion. Just had to share it with you.

The Zebra Room

Our little bear has now been in her new toddler room (the "Zebras") for about a month. I think the change has been a good one, with two exceptions. Despite clearly enjoying her new friends and teachers, she cries most days when I leave... this breaks my heart. She also has picked up a few not so good habits from her fellow toddlers - standing on chairs for one. These hardly outweigh the amazing things she is doing now. She is getting so independent! She loves to do things by herself - she rarely wants me to feed her, she has gotten so good with a spoon. She can climb up and down stairs, just using one hand on a railing or banister. She runs and likes to test her boundaries. In her new room, the kids really enjoy music. She has been honing her dance skills and really likes when you sing to her. The song she likes to hear me sing most is "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" that's my girl!! She has become so inquisitive and her favorite question is "what's that?" I can't wait to pick her up each day and see what she has learned. Another nice thing about her room and teachers is that they take tons of pictures of the kids and then send them to the parents. I just can't get over how old Claire looks in the picture above.

Summer 2010

The summer is flying by so I thought I better blog and post some pics before its over!! Stay tuned for more pics, I am continuing to have issues with Kodak gallery. This summer in Cinci has been H-O-T HOT! To keep cool, we have been taking Claire to this awesome family aquatic center in northern KY. She was a bit apprehensive at first, despite the fact that the place really caters to young kids. Now that we have been a few times, however, and she knows the lay of the land, she runs around like a wild lady! I am not sure what she prefers more: running through the water that shoots up from the ground, playing with toys in the shallow end, floating down the lazy river with daddy, or that silly starfish that is pictured above. Needless to say, she is certainly becoming a water baby. Except on Wednesdays. What's Wednesday you ask... its water day at daycare. Claire has categorically refused to take part in any sprinkler activities at daycare despite her boldness at the water park. Every Wednesday if I ask her if she going to get wet, she is all talk and says, "yeah!" Then I ask Miss Becky and she just laughs. Oh well!

Our girl is getting big fast. I am proud to announce that she is starting to put two and three words together!! Our favorite, of course, is "I love you." Which she will do on command when grammy and Auntie Chicken are on the phone. She also says "I get you," "I tickle you," and is very polite to include, "up please," "help please," and "more please." When she was painting the other day at school she said "thank you" every time she dipped her brush in the paint the teacher was holding. What a cutie! While she understands colors, she often gets them confused but if you ask her what color something is she will at least answer you with a color even if it is wrong. What I have noticed this week is that she seems to be starting to comprehend numbers. A couple of times I have said "one" and she then said "two." She also has held up two items and said two. Hmm... maybe she is on to something!

Popsicle

This week I gave Claire her first popsicle. As you can see, she didn't enjoy it at all! She loved every last drop of it and was really captivated by the fact that it came on a stick. Since I bought banana popsicles (my favorite), though, she now equates "banana" with popsicle. Uh oh.

Milwaukee

A few weeks ago, we packed ourselves up and took a trip to Milwaukee to visit some old friends. I was most apprehensive about the plane ride. Now that Claire is 18 months, she is more spirited and mobile than when we last had her on a plane in October. Luckily, the plane ride was short, and our girl was well behaved as is her norm. Andy came to pick us up and we couldn't wait to get back to their house to meet their new baby Olivia (and see Tara too!). We spent the whole weekend enjoying the company of so many people in the area that we miss. On Saturday, a whole troop of us headed to the zoo (6 adults, 4 kiddos). It was a blast, but it wore me out!! The first trimester of pregnancy is so exhausting, especially when you have a little one to run after. Tara and Andy then hosted an amazing bbq. It was raining, but we were all cozy in their garage with a ton of good food. Before we knew it, the weekend was over and we were heading back to Cincinnati. Thanks Andy and Tara for all your hospitality!!