Monday, September 20, 2010
New Blog!
You can catch it here: http://jillandbridget.blogspot.com
Hope you enjoy it!
A Birth Story, Part II
Mommy, Daddy and Jillian woke up early on Friday morning and started getting ready for the big day. Grannie Woodruff stopped by at 6:30 am to pick up Jillian for the weekend, and of course, she was very excited about that. Mommy and Daddy then made the drive down to Southwest W
shington Medical Center for an 8:00 am check-in time. When we got there, Mommy remarked about how strange it was knowing that in just a couple hours, we would be holding a new baby. Mommy was put into Room 102, and got into her gown and made herself comfortable in the bed. Our nurse for the day would be Annette, and she was very nice and helpful. The paperwork started coming, along with IV hookups, drugs and monitors on the baby. Auntie Greta and Dany showed up during the prep time, ready to go. We had met with several OBGYN doctors leading up to birth-day, but it ended up that the one doing the procedure would be Dr. Chang, who leads the entire OBGYN program at SWMC. He came in to introduce himself, and made us laugh the entire time; he had a great sense of humor. It was obvious, though, that he knew what he was doing, so we felt good about that.
At about 9:30 am, it was time to head to the operating room. We walked with the nurse, and Mommy went in to the room to get her spinal anesthetic while Daddy waited outside. Once all of the doctors had shown up and were ready to go at just after 10:00 am, Daddy went in and sat next to Mommy. The music was blaring, and the doctors started moving fast with the C-section. The anesthesiologist kept us up-to-date on what was happening as he watched over the curtain. When it was time for the baby to come out, the first thing he said was “Whoa, that’s a big baby!” Shortly after that, everyone in the room said “Look at all that hair!” Little Bridget Evelyn had arrived!
Bridget then moved over to the respiratory therapists. They were amazed at how quickly she had “pinked up”, and immediately gave her an Apgar rating of 9 out of 10. They cleaned her up and suctioned her out, while Daddy took photos and showed them to Mommy. About 5 minutes later, they gave her a full rating of 10. They measured her at 21-1/2 inches long, and weighed her in at a big 8 lbs 7.3 oz. After a quick wrap job, they put Bridget on Mommy’s chest. Mommy was so happy!
The doctors finished up the procedure, and moved Mommy to a new bed. While holding onto Bridget, she was wheeled out of the operating room and placed in the recovery room with nurse Annette. We spent the next hour there while both Mommy and Bridget were monitored by the nurse. Both Mommy and Bridget checked out great! Eventually, we got to leave and head back to Room 102, where Auntie Greta and Dany were waiting. Mommy announced to them that the baby’s name was Bridget Evelyn. Mommy had always liked the name Bridget, and the name Evelyn was her Grandma Peterson’s middle name. Auntie Greta and Dany were thrilled to finally meet Bridget, and enjoyed holding her!
While Auntie Greta and Dany went to get lunch, Mommy and Bridget rested in the room. One thing we found out was that Bridget was a pretty mellow baby, and she liked to sleep. She did cry when she was hungry, but other than that, she stayed pretty quiet.
At about 2:00 pm, big sister Jillian showed up with Grannie and Papa Woodruff. Jillian came running into the room yelling “Mommy, did the baby come out?” When Mommy said yes, Jillian then yelled “The baby popped out!” Bridget was laying on Mommy on the bed, so Grannie held Jillian up so that she could see her. Jillian was all smiles, and was very excited to see her little sister, giving her a nice kiss. But when Bridget started crying loudly, Jillian tried climbing up Grannie’s head trying to get away. She was a little spooked by the crying. After Grannie had held Bridget, Jillian was asking “Can I hold the baby?”, so she sat with Daddy on the sofa and got to excitedly hold baby Bridget for the first time. She was a little wary though, saying “Baby’s crying” if Bridget even made a sound or wrinkled up her face.
Many more visitors began showing up. Cindy Stephenson arrived, and then Auntie Greta and Dany returned. They had brought a cake from Olive Garden, so everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Bridget. Later in the afternoon, Grandpa Ken, Auntie Sheryl and Cousins Meagan and Adam showed up. Cousin Adam got to hold Bridget, and was also a little scared when she started crying. After that, he was content to just watch. Grandpa Ken was celebrating his birthday right along with Bridget, so it was a very happy birthday for both of them!
That evening, Mommy worked on getting Bridget fed while trying to recover from the surgery at the same time. It actually went pretty well, as Bridget latched on pretty quickly and fed for 10 to 20 minutes at a time before getting tired and falling asleep. Her internal clock was a little off, though, as she was awake and demanding food throughout the night. Eventually, she settled down at 4:30 am and went to sleep for a few hours.
On Saturday, all the activity must have worn Bridget out, because she was very sleepy throughout the day. She continued to receive visitors, including Cousin Tierney, Uncle Clark, Beverly, and the Johnson family (Uncle Kevin, Auntie Julie, and Cousins Cale, Ty and Brock). Big sister Jillian also visited again, giving little sister Bridget a card that she had made herself. Mommy continued her recovery, getting up and moving around, and even getting a chance to shower. Nurse Maria worked the night-shift, and was someone that Mommy had gone to high school with. She was very nice and helpful.
On Sunday, Dr. Chang visited and said that everything looked good with Bridget and Mommy, and that if they wanted to leave that evening, he would discharge them. So, we agreed to leave later that day. Sunday was a pretty restful day, and Bridget continued to eat and sleep and snuggle with Mommy. It was becoming apparent that Bridget was going to be the sleeper and snuggle buddy of the family, as Jillian was already our active little go-go girl. There were many more doctor visits, including a lactation nurse who had some great advice. After Aunt Lee was our final visitor, we packed up our things and put Bridget into the carseat and got into the car. Bridget was a great little traveler, sleeping the entire way home.
When we arrived home with Bridget, we got things in order, and then big sister Jillian showed up an hour or so later when Grannie and Papa Woodruff and Cousin Tierney dropped her off. Once again, Jillian was very excited to see Bridget, wanting to hold her many times. It was a very happy reunion for all of us, and a special night as a family of four. We are so excited to have Bridget!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Bridget Evelyn
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Scheduled Birthday
The nurse checked Heather's blood pressure, and it was high again. When Doctor Fox came in and did some other checks, she provided some options about what to do next, but she also said that she highly recommended that a C-section be performed sooner rather than later, to avoid any problems that come with going past the due date. And when she said "sooner", she actually meant in the next day or two. We weren't quite prepared for that, but Heather said that if Friday was open, then she'd like to do it then. So, the new baby will be born on September 17, and share a birthday with her Grandpa Ken and Auntie Karen.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Interesting Day
Sunday, September 12, 2010
New Stuff XXIX
1. The Puma and the Polar Bear : If you want to see Jillian get all excited and run around like a wild-girl, just mention "the puma and the polar bear" to her, and then step back! We have no idea where it came from, but whenever she talks about the puma and / or the polar bear, she immediately starts screaming, and maybe even hiding or wrapping herself up in blankets. She also wants us to get involved, either running away with her, or saving her from them.
2. "Rojo" : So, red is not just red anymore; now it's rojo. When we come up to a stoplight, Jillian starts yelling "stop Daddy, it's rojo". Yet another Dora influence.
3. The Wrestler : Another way to get Jillian all worked up is to lay on the floor where she can attack you. Then, it becomes a big wrestling-fest. Jillian will begin by throwing herself at you just like in WWF, so it's best to keep a close eye on her. Her next move is to grab you by the head and squeeze. Meanwhile, she screams and laughs. Lastly, she loves to jump up and do the "knees to the stomach".
4. The Good Mommy : When she's not destroying things, Jillian is nurturing her little baby doll that she calls "Apple Dumplin'" (from Strawberry Shortcake). She wraps the doll up in blankets for night-night, and takes the doll for walks in her little shopping cart. And of course, the doll gets to go to bed with Jillian.
5. "Save Me!" : Not only does Jillian like to get tickled, she also likes to yell at whoever's nearby, saying "save me". Once she gets saved, she goes back and says "tickle me", which is immediately followed by another "save me", again and again.
6. "Do you see my little tear?" : Jillian asks us this after she has been crying.
7. The Prayer Book : One of the baby shower gifts for little Jillian was a book called "Baby's First Prayers", which contains over a dozen small prayers for kids. We've read this off and on for quite a while, and apparently Jillian was listening, because now when we read it to her before bedtime, she'll recite every prayer. Not only that, she recites them loudly, so that everyone in the house can hear her!
Four Days to Go
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Potty Independence
Mommy and Daddy are very happy with their little Sweetie-Pie, and the timing couldn't be better with another little hunny bunny on the way.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Play-doh Time
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Beach Trip, Part II
Whenever we talked to Jillian about going to the beach, there were always 3 things that came to her mind: the beach, the pool, and ice cream. And Jillian got to enjoy all 3 of those during the latest kid trip. Some of the memories include:
The cool pool : It didn't seem to bother Sweetie-Pie that all of the pools were kind of cold, since she wanted to stay in the water for more than the 1-1/2 hours we were there. One thing that changed was that Jillian had better "sea legs"; she rarely fell down when wading around in the water.
Wake-up time : As tradition goes, this is one that the older cousins would rather not see anymore. Bright and early in the morning, Jillian woke up and immediately said that it was "time to wake up the kids". First was Tierney, then Brock and finally Ty, who she proceeded to jump all over.
The big moat : Normally, Jillian doesn't want much to do with the big sand castle that the kids stand on, but this time she thought it was pretty cool to stand on it way up high and watch the waves come in.
Jill the Destroyer : Jillian borrowed this from the original destroyer, Ty. We all played a game of who could build the biggest stack of poker chips before Jillian destroyed it.
It was another great kids beach trip. It's too bad it only comes twice a year.
Kids Days at the Beach
The next day turned out to be great weather, sunny and nice in the morning without wind on the beach so everyone headed out early to build the traditional moat. Jillian finally got to play in the waves. After a picture on the moat (Jillian smiling for a change), the kids went up to the dry sand to get warm from getting wet in the water. They played baseball while Jillian again got to play in so much sand. After another trip to the beach and a wiener roast and smores, the tired troops headed for bed. On Monday we finally got the bad weather so we made our trip to Funland where Jillian got to try some games before heading home.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Training to work at Starbucks
Friday, September 3, 2010
Two Breakfasts
For quite awhile when it was nap time I would spell n-a-p so she wouldn't get upset right away when I was talking to someone. The last couple of times when I spelled n-a-p, she shouted out, "I don't want to take a nap!". It's hard to keep ahead of her sometimes.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
New Stuff XXVIII
1. "Probably" : Jillian will throw this into her sentences now and then.
2. "I'm not tired" : When we're getting Jillian ready for bed, such as during story-time, she tells us this since she's never wanting to go to bed just yet. She also says this right after having her night-time milk, and then sits up, knowing that if she stays laying down, she might fall asleep.
3. "I'm too busy" : If we ask Jillian to come somewhere or do something, she'll sometimes throw this one at us.
4. "... eat it up all" : Sweetie-Pie gets the "all" switched around, and uses it at the end. We know what she's saying, but it's funny to hear.
5. Boys & Girls : Jillian knows pretty well who is a boy and who is a girl. If we ask her about someone, she'll tell us if they're a boy or girl.
6. "How was your day?" : This is a nice little greeting from Sweetie-Pie.
7. Sad, Mad and Happy : Jillian likes to talk about these emotions, and who is sad, mad or happy. Typically, she'll say "I make Mommy sad", "Mommy makes me mad", "Adam makes me so happy", and "Grannie / Mocha be so happy to see me!"
8. The Deep Voice : If you want to hear Jillian's deep voice, just talk to her in your own deep voice, and she'll respond the same way. It's pretty funny.
J C Hammer
Busy Day Inside
I brought out the pounding toy that Jillian hadn't seen for awhile and she wasn't very good at using the hammer at first, but she has super determination so after awhile she was furiously hammering. She could pound down all 6 posts in no time. We told her that she was ready to help Daddy build on the new house.