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!