Quick Quote

Oh this child absolutely cracks us up!

Josie to Lou and I at bedtime last night: "We need to go to Target tomorrow. I'm gonna need some new toys. Venus (the cat) scratched mine all up. You should see all the holes in everything. She put holes and scratches in all my toys with her claws. Don't worry, Target has new ones." (Sidebar -Venus has never laid a single paw on one of her toys.) "We really need to go Old Navy too! I need all new clothes. All of my clothes shrank. You can check! They shrank all the way down to size Zero-T!! That's too small for me. But Old Navy has 5T so we can get all my new stuff there."

(With convincing arguments like these, she just might follow in her dad's legal career footsteps.)

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Tears, Fears & Focusing on Four

This is the look we've been seeing the most on sweet little Posie's face lately: total worry. The poor thing. Seriously, she's been a deep thinker since the day she was born. She always has big questions (just this week asking where all the dinosaurs went, how long she's going to be alive, where she was before she was in my tummy, etc) and she worries. A lot.  Sometimes it's about little things (like last night when she asked me if she really could turn into an apple from eating too many apples at snacktime at school) and sometimes it's about big things (like if she is still going to be able to cuddle me when Roly Poly is here).  All told, I really hate to label her but she's an emotional kid and that's just who she is.  It's the reason she's never been a good sleeper, but it's also the reason she's a beautiful, empathetic three-year-old who genuinely just wants everyone around her to be happy. Someday I have no doubt that it will be these exact traits that make her the amazing human being we are watching her continue to grow into.  But for now, always chewing on something, always with that worried little look in her eyes...we know she's processing big thoughts in that little mind.  And we know that she's afraid of the changes to come. And we know she can sense we're a little afraid to.  And so we let her into our bed a little sooner than we would've a few weeks ago. And so we take turns pulling her close to us at night. And so we sneak in every smooch we can get. And we love as much as it is possible to love anyone - just waiting for the moment soon to come when the three of us get to experience loving someone new just as much - together.

Mystery Diagnosis

It took exactly four rounds of me getting the "stomach bug" over the last month for us to finally figure out what the heck has been going on. We doubted that it was just the typical stomach virus for a few reasons - it hit me at the exact same time (about 2 am) each time, it was almost exactly a week apart each time, no one in the house ever got it, the first time I had it I was still on bedrest and not really exposed to many germs, the symptoms were the same each time - vomiting & diarrhea, whole body aches & pains, exhaustion & lethargy and what I even described as "feeling like I had been poisoned."  And it would come, hit me like a ton of bricks, render me useless for 24 hours and then be gone.  Very strange indeed. Four times in four weeks.

We finally figured it out!! It was an allergic reaction to the prescription omeprazole (prilosec over the counter) that my doctor prescribed me for my massive heartburn. I was taking it about once a week - right before bed. The night before last, I took it again and woke up four hours later with the exact same "stomach bug" symptoms I had the other three times. The bad news - I spent all day yesterday feeling like I wanted to die again and will spend all day again today trying to feel human again. The good news - it has to be the omeprazole (the most common side effects, said to be experienced by 1% of all users, are the exact symptoms I had) AND since I definitely won't be taking that stuff anymore I likely won't have to go through this mess ever again!

39 weeks & everything that comes with that

39 weeks pregnant

The emotions of being 39 weeks pregnant are no laughing matter.  I remember feeling very overwhelmed, confused, scared to death and lots more when I was a week away from my due date with Josephine. Multiply all of that by about a billion and that's how we're feeling right now.  It's a crazy enough time already, but add to that the reality of being convinced we would deliver prematurely, still trying to get my body functioning properly again after bedrest and the complex emotions surrounding the losses we've had and the miracle that is this pregnancy in the first place and well, things are just a bit of a mess around here.  (Not to mention the guilt I feel every time I even come close to complaining or feeling frustrated. Getting here to "Four Schneiders" has been such a long road and I feel awful when I start to take this pregnancy for granted - especially with some many people close to us struggling with infertility themselves.)

I am trying very hard to stay focused on this enormous blessing instead of getting overwhelmed by the emotions of it all, but it's tough. (The dreaded 39 week dr's appt today didn't help matters. I really, really didn't want to go and promised myself the whole way there that I wouldn't get upset or let the results of "the 39 week check" bother me, but I failed miserably and had an epic meltdown on the way home.  Long story short...no change since last week...talk of an induction next week which we want to avoid at all costs...sarcasm about our plan for a natural delivery...UGH!)

With that, I promise I'll stop complaining but I did want to give you all a quick update. In other news - I have definitely moved out of the "nesting" phase and feel myself moving into what we've been referring to as the "mama cat" phase.  As I told Lou today, I'm ready to go find a quiet isolated place under the porch and have my kittens. In other words, don't be surprised (and please don't take it personally) if I don't answer your calls, return your emails, etc. I'm trusting my instincts and starting to turn inward.

I'll leave you with one of the out-takes from the shots I was trying to get of my belly. As I was scanning back through the pics, this one cracked me up! Notice how my belly, the mirror, and the vase are all oddly similar.

Notice any similarities?

Coming soon...an update on how Josie is handling all of this.  She's a little trooper but her tiny reserve of patience is definitely running low. Keep sending those good vibes everyone.  :)

The Girls' Bedroom

I know, I know... it took me MUCH longer to get these posted than I said it would. So, thanks for your patience.  :)
As I think I've mentioned, Josie & Roly are going to share a bedroom. This came about for a few different reasons: 1) We wanted to keep the playroom. 2) Josie really doesn't do anything besides sleep in her room anyway (when she actually sleeps in there & not in our bed but that's another story altogether). 3) Josie begged & begged for us to let them share a room. 4) It was much cheaper and easier than creating another nursery. 5) As soon as I found out that Land of Nod started selling crib-sized versions of Josie's garden bedding, the universe had practically made the decision for me.  

VOILA!  Here it is - the girls' bedroom!

This was the first arrangement (adding the crib to where the dresser used to be because Josie refused to move her bed):

Matching bedding! :)

 Finally...after some creative parenting (that involved using Josie's fear of the closet to our advantage and suggesting that she'd love sleeping under the windows so she could hear the birds better in the morning and could look out and see the sun shining from her bed)...we got the arrangement we wanted.  And we are all SOOO happy with it! 

The Crib, where the head of Josie's bed used to be

Josie's Bed in the window corner

The Baby's View from her crib

The Closet Solution (no more doors, lots more shelves)

And here are a few pics that I captured while trying to get the room pics over the course of a couple of days:

Josie - actually wanting to be in a crib - for the first time ever...

Posing in the crib...

The next day, Posing like Venus...

Trying out the new bedside lamp while simultaneously making a huge fashion statement...

And here is the playroom that necessitated the shared bedroom in the first place...

And last but not least, what would a blogpost be without a random shot from the week? This is Josie the morning of her school Valentine's Day party about ready to explode with excitement (after asking me to take her picture for Valentine's Day).

One final thought: I really do promise to make my best effort not to always lump our two little darlings into "the girls" category forever - knowing full well the importance of fostering the individual development of each of them (I'm a little obsessed with reading and learning more on this topic at the moment) - BUT - I sure am having fun with it at the moment. :)

Stranded (oops)

Rescued (Thanks Daddy!)

It has been beautiful in Cincinnati and we still have a whole lotta neighborhood to explore. It has been a good combination - no school for Josie, no more bedrest for me and lots of unexpected February sunshine.
Yesterday we decided to try a new route for a bike ride and walk. It sounded good - in theory - until we realized a little too late that the street I thought we'd take back didn't have sidewalks - which left me holding Josie's hand on one side and carrying a tricycle with the other - and both of us heading another block away from home than we originally planned. And that's when Josie declared she was done. Uh-oh! It was too far to go back the way we came without a break. We kept going one more block to a little park where the plan was to have a snack and some water then head home. Yea - not happening. Josie looked at me and said: "We are never going to get home because I am not riding my book anymore. I am too tired." She wouldn't go another inch and I certainly couldn't carry her and a trike home in my 'big as a house' condition.
And that's when I sucked it up and made the "MAY DAY MAY DAY" call to Lou. I know he was ready to kill me but he came to rescue us anyway. (Thank goodness we only live a few miles from his office.) The funniest thing - Lou pulls up and Josie yells out "I am crying tears of joy!" I think she was a little freaked out that we were actually stuck. It was pretty hilarious but lesson learned. I won't be that ambitious again.

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Quick Quotes

Josie, directly to my tummy this morning: "Okay Roly Poly! You can come out now. Poke, poke, poke. Come out today. You can come and meet ME now....mom squeeze."

Lou to me last night as he was cuddling Josie on the couch and looked over to see me empty-handed: "Soon we'll each have one!"

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38+ week update

I gotta say folks...I never thought I would see 38 weeks. We were so convinced she would be premature that getting this close to our actual due date never really occurred to us. So...there are some issues that come along with this but obviously we will take a healthy full-term baby without too much complaint over the money spent on the newborn-sized wardrobe that will likely get sold as "never worn" on craigslist, etc.
Since Josie has been crazy-sick, I had to reschedule my 38 week appt and see another obgyn than Scott. Truth is I really liked the guy, even though the first words out of his mouth included his pitch for an induction by the end of this week. (You can read about our thoughts on medical interventions in childbirth in the birth story & resources tabs above.) Anyhoo- he was more than respectful of our decision to let Roly Poly declare her own showtime and then issued a big "well...nevermind" as soon as he checked me. The stats: 2 cm, 70% effaced & +1 station. The prediction: "I give you about a 20% chance of making it through the weekend without a baby!"
Here's the deal - I was told for two weeks with Josie that labor imminent & that it was going to be a quick one. After over two weeks of off & on contractions and one false alarm that sent me & the whole family to the hospital, I finally let them strip my membranes on my due date and endured 18 hours of active labor at the hospital (sans epidural because that is really important to us). Suffice it to say, I have been chirping happily for 38 weeks and 3 days that Roly will come when she's ready and that I will sit back and patiently wait for her. Yea, well...so not the case anymore. Hear this my friends: I am done. It has been a looooong tough road and I am ready to greet our light at the end of the tunnel.
That said, I am not ready to compromise our beliefs and beg for the pitocin but I certainly ain't sittin' with my legs crossed either! ;)
Those of you who've been around awhile know that I feel this baby belongs to all of us. She is here because so many of you didn't give up when we did. So - if I could have one more teeny tiny favor from all of you...let's put that collective will to work again and make some wishes come true.
Here's my "if things could be perfect wishlist": friday labor and delivery. (Bonus: full moon & she makes the aquarius cutoff. Just sayin...) Saturday would work too. My family all has Monday off of work so everyone wins. While you're all at it, I will take a smooth-sailing delivery without any of the complications that turned Miss Josie's birth into a marathon. And if you've got a little more time set aside for making wishes, it would be great if everyone who wants to be at the birth is miraculously able to pull that off. And one last thing - pray for my sanity. The curse of the "any day now" from the obgyn has a long history of making women crazy (just ask Tia).
Thanks to all of you for your continued well-wishes and support!

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68! what?

Great afternoon for a long trike ride and stroll up and down our street. (And so trying to get this labor going, but more on that later...)

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*this* time of year...ugh!

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