Overall potty training is going well. Sarah is so excited to be wearing big girl panties and using the big potty like Mommy and Daddy. Friday was accident free. Saturday and Sunday she had a poop accident and so far today we have had a poop and pee accident. I was so proud of Sarah yesterday at church. We were about half way through Sacrament meeting when I asked her if she had to go potty. She said yes and I looked over at Kevin. He asked me if she would use the church potties because at home we use the cushy ring that fits over the regular seat. I told him I didn't know and off Sarah and I went to the restroom.
At first she didn't want to go into any of the stalls so I told her to pick one out. She did and of course it was one of the smallest ones. So I made my way in the stall with her. I got her up on the potty and asked her if she wanted me to hold her up there. She said she didn't and she was able to balance herself on the seat. Then I knelt down on the floor in front of her because she likes me at eye level when she uses the potty. It was extremely uncomfortable and felt pretty humiliating but I kept reminding myself that I was doing it for Sarah. She went right away and didn't have any problems. When she was finished she told me she wanted to go out of the stall before I flushed the toilet. She is afraid of the loud noise the public toilets make. It's funny because I hate that noise as well and still get kind of freaked out about it. I have never been able to figure out why. Anyways, Sarah didn't go potty again until we got home after church so she did great.
Today Sarah is starting to go pee by herself. This morning I asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes. I was right in the middle of something so I told her to go ahead and get on the potty and I would be right in. By the time I got in there she had already went. Then about an hour ago she was playing in her play room and I was in the kitchen. All of a sudden she ran past me in the kitchen. I didn't think anything of it because she runs around the house all the time but then I heard her going potty in the bathroom. I peeked in on her with a big grin on my face and said to her, "you used the potty all by yourself and I didn't even have to remind you!" She was so excited and I told her how proud I was of her. We have gotten to the point that I don't have to give her stickers or blow out the candle. Just the excitement of using the potty is enough for her. I am so proud of how fast she is understanding the feeling of having to go to the bathroom and responding to it. We just need to work on the poop area.
It's funny, I have always heard women complain about the many hardships of motherhood and one of them has always been dealing with poop. I have never had a problem with it...until now. Can I just say how gross it is to clean up after a poop accident? I try very hard to hide my true feelings when I am in the process of cleaning one up because I don't want Sarah to feel bad for having an accident. She is just learning. But it is a challenge not to grimace or comment over it.
There is still work to be done but I really feel like Sarah is doing a great job with this whole process. I'm glad I don't have to buy diapers for her anymore. One child in diapers is expensive enough.
Monday, July 20, 2009
More Potty Training News
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Potty Training Update
After Sarah woke up from her nap she was resisting going to the potty but she finally made it and was able to go. Then she went two more times before she went to bed. She only had three accidents today and they were all early this morning. Over all I feel like it was a pretty successful day. It was definitely discouraging at times but she got better as the day went on and each success made her want to keep it up. She has a chart that she is putting all her stickers on so she can see how many times she went potty. She loves looking at it and counting the stickers. I am hopeful that tomorrow will be even better than today. I guess we'll see.
Potty Training
So I have decided that it is time to start potty training Sarah. She is old enough and it is very expensive having two kids in diapers. About a year ago she was really interested and excited about the potty and I tried to start training her and even got her to go on the potty a few times. But then I found out I was pregnant and I had horrible "morning sickness". Potty training went out the window at that point because I was so sick and it lasted the entire pregnancy.
Sarah will be 2 1/2 at the end of this month so it's time to get her trained. I know she can use the potty and occasionally will but it's not consistent and she loves her diapers. After reading a few books I decided the best way to do this for Sarah would be to buy a ton of underwear and just have her wear them all day long. Periodically I will take her to the potty and have her try to go. I expect many accidents but I think going cold turkey will be best for her. I will still use a pull-up at night for a while.
Today is our first day of potty training. So far it has been a long day. When we woke up this morning I explained to Sarah that we were done with diapers and she was going to wear big girl underwear and use the potty like mommy and daddy and all her friends who are potty trained. Of course the underwear I bought was Disney princess and Tinkerbell so she was excited to wear them. Not too long after I put her in them she had an accident. I did not lecture her and calmly took her to the bathroom cleaned her up and put dry underwear on her. Right after breakfast she sat on the potty for a while and went poop! I was so excited for her and made a big deal out of it. I gave her a sticker and then lit a candle, sang a potty song (something I just made up) and had her blow out the candle. She loves stickers and thought it was so fun to blow out the candle.
After that we went downstairs to watch a movie. I continued to take her to the potty every 30 minutes and she got tired of it very quickly. She didn't want to use the potty and started holding her pee. I tried to encourage her but didn't force her so I kept trying and after an hour was able to get her to at least sit on the potty. She had a few more accidents and finally after lunch she went pee on the potty. I made a huge deal out of it and got all excited and sang the potty song. Sarah got up and danced and tried to sing along with me. She was so proud of herself and so was I. I gave her another sticker and lit the candle for her to blow out again. Right now she is taking a nap and I put her in a pull-up for it. I explained what it was for and I also told her that as soon as she woke up from her nap we would sit on the potty again. After I shut her door she started singing the potty song to herself. It was so cute!
I got really discouraged this morning and started to wonder why I was doing this but we are starting to make some exciting progress so I feel much better about it. We'll see how the rest of this evening goes.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Hailey's Blessing
Today was a very special day for our family. Kevin gave Hailey a beautiful and wonderful blessing. Hailey looked so beautiful in her blessing dress and she was such an angel through the whole thing. Kevin's dad, Ray said Hailey looked up at Kevin almost the entire time during the blessing.
Kevin's parents came out from Kansas and my brother Brian his wife Ann and her mother Carol were able to be there for it as well. We sure missed family that was not able to make it but circumstances just didn't make it possible.
What a wonderful gift it is to have the opportuntiy to bless our children when they are born. I am so grateful to Kevin and his worthiness to hold the priesthood. We are so grateful for Hailey and the love she brings into our home. Her smiles brighten the room and bring us so much joy.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
4th of July
We had a great holiday today. First we went to a church breakfast bright and early that served pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy and lots of fruit...yummy! After everyone was done eating we had a short flag ceremony and said the Pledge of Allegiance followed by singing The Star Spangled Banner. I loved saying the Pledge of Allegiance since it has been so long since I have recited it. It really encompasses the spirit of our country and what we stand for. I wish I had more opportunites to say it.
After that we went home and had some lunch then put the girls down for a nap. While they were napping Kevin and I played cards with his parents who are visiting. One of our favorite games to play is Pinnacle. They taught us the game about a year ago and we love to play it with them whenever they are in town.
When naps were done we went to a fabulous Italian buffet restaurant called Cinzetti's. There are only two locations in the country, one here in the Denver area and one in the Kansas City area. The food is amazing and they have so much to choose from. It's a great place to eat when you have a lot of people in your party.
Finally we went to a fireworks show just south of here. We tried to attend that same show last year but about a minute into the show the surrounding field caught fire and after three minutes they stopped the show. We were so bummed because it was Sarah's first show and she was loving it. This year we have had a lot more rain and we decided to give it another try. It was fantastic and one of the best shows we have seen. We pretty much had front row seats and there was a nice breeze so the smoke was being carried away before it had a chance to affect people. Sarah sat on my lap during the show and I covered her ears while we watched. She loved every minute of it and kept cheering and making remarks like "oh that was a pretty good one". It was so cute. I loved being able to see the fireworks through a child's eye. It makes everything so much more magical. The show got done just before 10pm and as soon as we were in the car heading home Sarah fell asleep. Of course we had Hailey with us as well and she just slept the whole time.
We had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed being together to celebrate our country and the freedoms we enjoy. We are truly blessed to live in this country and have the opportunities we do. I hope we never take that for granted and always remember how blessed we are. More importantly I pray that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the same freedoms we have been able to enjoy.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Our Little Angel
We are proud to introduce our daughter
She surprised us and decided to come three weeks early. You can read about the delivery here. Enjoy the pictures.
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"Ready or Not Here I Come"
We went to bed peacefully on Thursday, May 7th. I was 37 weeks pregnant and was not due until May 29th. I was sound asleep until about 1am when I woke up having pretty painful contractions. I had been having contractions for a few weeks before this but they were never very painful. I laid there for an hour to see if they would go away but they didn't so finally at 2am I woke up Kevin and told him I was having contractions and we needed to start timing them. They were coming about 5 minutes apart and were lasting 30 seconds or so. We called my doctor and told her what was going on. She told me to go to the hospital if I felt like I needed to. After we got off the phone with her I had Kevin give me a blessing and we both felt that we needed to go in. The only problem was that we didn't have our hospital bag packed yet. With all the nesting I have been doing over the past few months I was leaving the hospital bag and Hailey's room until last. Of course I thought I had a few more weeks to get those things done but Hailey had other plans.
So there we were completely numb and in shock about me actually being in labor at 37 weeks and we were trying to keep our heads together enough to think about what we needed to bring to the hospital. On top of that I was also working through contractions that were getting more painful. We did a lot of laughing a lot of panicking and a lot of silent praying as we gathered what we needed. (After we got back from the hospital after delivering Hailey I was unpacking our bags and in my things I had packed my Calvin Klein Obsession perfume. I don't know what I was thinking when I packed that, obviously I wasn't.)
We called a neighbor of ours who had told us she would take Sarah whenever I went into labor. By this time it was 3am and luckily we were able to get a hold of our neighbor. She said to bring Sarah on over. So we grabbed our bags and carried Sarah down to the car. I explained to her that Mommy was going to the hospital to have the baby and that I was going to be there for a few days but she could come and see me while I was there. I also told her she was going to our friends house to stay with them for a little bit. She was so great about the whole thing. So we dropped her off without any problems and off we went to the hospital.
We got there about 3:30am and they hooked me up to the monitors right away. They watched my contractions for a bit and then checked me to see how dilated I was. The nurse that checked had a hard time finding my cervix and she eventually had to push down on the top of my uterus from the outside to get to it. The whole process was extremely painful and when she pulled her hand out I felt a big gush of fluid...my water broke. I really feel that the only reason it broke was because the nurse was being so rough. Anyways, I was at a 3 and 90% effaced.
I told the nurse I would like to labor on my own for a while and then when I needed it I wanted an epidural. Instead of staying in bed through the labor I got up and went in the jacuzzi tub for a bit. After I was done with that it was about 6:30am and my contractions were no different than when we arrived at the hospital. Kevin then informed me that he forgot to grab clean garments and he wanted to go home to get some and take a shower. Since I wasn't progressing at all I was ok with him leaving for a bit. After he left the nurse told me my midwife wanted me to start walking the halls to get things moving along. I didn't want to walk without Kevin so I rested in bed for a bit. Then things started happening fast. My contractions doubled in intensity and they got so bad I was screaming and crying. Kevin got back about 7:00am and told me the nurse had told him she wanted me to start walking the halls. I looked at him and told him there was no way I could even stand because they were so bad.
Just then a new nurse came in the room. She had just come on for her shift and she introduced herself. She said she had been listening to everything that was going on and she called my midwife to tell her I wasn't going to do the walking and I needed an epidural now. I was still crying from the pain and I thanked her. I ended up waiting about 10 minutes for the anesthesiologist to show up. By this point the contractions were coming every few minutes and were still extremely painful. I kept hyperventilating and the nurse had to work hard to get me to slow my breathing. Luckily I only had to work through three or four contractions while the doctor was inserting the epidural. After it was in I was in heaven. Kevin and I were able to get some rest and watch the monitors to see the progress and watch the baby's heartbeat.
After a while we noticed with every contraction the baby's heartbeat would drop below what was normal. The nurse came in and said she had been watching the heartbeat as well and told us that she suspected the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. I was pretty worried when she said this but then she informed us she wasn't worried. It happens in about 40% of deliveries and it's usually not a big deal. She told us she would let us know if she did get worried and she had me wear an oxygen mask for the baby's benefit.
Shortly after that my midwife showed up. It was about 10:00am. She had been watching the monitors from her office and decided it was time for her to be with us. She checked my progress and I was dilated up to a five and 100% effaced. I had been at a five for a while so they gave me pitocin to speed things up a bit. At about 11:30am I started feeling like I needed to push so I told my midwife. She and the nurse calmly broke the bed down and got all the instruments ready. We kept the room lights off and just had the natural light coming in from the window. The atmosphere was very relaxed and calm. The nurse reminded me how to push properly and the pushing began. The nurse kept the count while Kevin held my hand and calmly encouraged me. I had the baby's head out in two pushes. As soon as her head was out the midwife affirmed the cord was wrapped once around the baby's neck and she quickly unwrapped it. I gave a third and final push and she was out. It was 11:53am.
They immediately put the baby up on my chest and Kevin and I just looked at her in awe. As soon as I saw her I knew her name should be Hailey. She was very calm and just looked back at us.
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My birthing experience with Hailey was so much more enjoyable and easier. I have been seeing the same midwife for five years but when I delivered Sarah the hospital was not allowing midwives to deliver so I had the on-call doctor from the same practice. With him I had to wait almost an hour to push because he was with another patient and the delivery felt much more rushed and impersonal. With my midwife it was a very calm and relaxed atmosphere and she took her time making sure the baby was positioned right so I didn't tear. She was also there a couple hours before I was ready to puch so she could personally monitor the situation.
Sarah came to the hospital later that evening and was so excited to see Hailey. I asked her if she knew who the baby was and she said, "my sister." She got right up on the bed and gave Hailey a big hug and a kiss.
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