12 weeks!

Yesterday Baby Pit turned 12 weeks old.

WHAT a rush it has been.

He is mostly sleeping through the night (though last night he was up at 4am because he had wiggled out of his swaddle blanket and scooted himself into the corner of his crib so he wasn't a happy camper) Otherwise he's been sleeping from about 10pm-7am and we couldn't be happier.

He is a REALLY happy baby too. He loves to be held but is also really content in this bassinet or bouncy seat just watching the world (or his big sister who just fascinates him). He just smiles and smiles and only really fusses when he's hungry, has a dirty diaper or right before he wants to take a nap. I have managed to get him on a pretty good schedule and for that I am proud. It makes life a lot easier when everyone knows what to expect and when.

As for Little Pit, she is doing really well as a big sister. She is still her funny, pesky, energetic self and still has the daily "I'm 2" tantrum, but for the most part she is just great.

We had a really nice Christmas here in PA after a week in Lake Placid, NY with Mr. Pit's parents. It was a snowy winter wonderland up there and we had a fabulous time relaxing at the resort and catching up with his family.

We came home the 21st and were thrust into the go-go-go of the season. Part of the madness (and fun) was that Baby Pit was the baby Jesus in our church's Christmas pageant. He was really good too and only fussed for the first couple of minutes and then slept through the rest. We got lots of rave reviews on his 'performance' and I was so pleased with how it all turned out. I was very proud the whole afternoon.

We then went to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner (filet, yum!) and then came back to our house to set up for the next morning. Little Pit was pretty blown away by all the presents, and thankfully she LOVES all her presents, especially her LeapPad2 which was her big gift. She is playing it as I write this and she's so enthralled it's great. I feel like it's much better than TV, and though is a screen I feel as if she's still learning. (at least that's what I'm telling myself!)

I made out like a bandit on Christmas as my parents spoiled me rotten with tons of clothes from C.Wonder and Lilly as well as a new duvet, shams and a new headboard for our new bed. It looks so great, I'll take pictures eventually.

So, we're all happy and healthy. Lots of apologies for not blogging sooner, life with 2 is crazier than I thought it would be, but also MUCH better.

Here's some recent pictures :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

He's finally here!!

Hi all!
Baby Pit is here! Paul Tillman came into the world, fast and furious at 12:21 pm on October 4th. He weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds and was 20 1/2 inches long. Looking at him now I have NO idea how I carried him for 41 weeks!

Last Thursday was the most insane, intense and awesome day in a long time.

A rundown of our day...otherwise known as the fastest 5 hours of my life!

6:00am I woke up to call the Labor and Delivery department to make sure they had a bed available for my induction. They did and after a light breakfast and a quick goodbye to Little Pit (she stayed at my parents house for the day and we had all slept over the night before) we were off.

7:30am We checked in to Labor and Delivery and got all hooked up to the contraction monitors and heart rate monitor for the baby. The doctor was performing a C-Section at the time, but we'd been told she'd be in shortly.

8:30am After lots of paperwork and prep the IV with the pitocin finally gets started. I had been having absolutely NO contractions that morning before this, so they were unsure how long the whole process would take (keep that in mind in a few paragraphs)

9:30am The doctor finally comes in to check on me and up until then the contractions were very mild and Mr. Pit and I were happily watching LIVE! With Kelly and Michael and chatting away. The doctor did a quick check and before I knew it she broke my water and then things REALLY got started.

10:30am The past hour went by really quickly with my contractions getting stronger by the minute and they were coming faster and faster. I luckily knew I wanted an epidural and had requested one around 10, knowing that in short time they would be really painful. At this point when the anesthesiologist showed up it was perfect timing as the contractions were impossible to talk through or practically breath through.

10:45am The epidural has kicked in and I can't feel a thing. Bliss doesn't even begin to describe it. I try to take a small nap since I am now overwhelmed with a sleepy feeling.

12:00pm Nurses begin to come in and set up the room saying that I am really close to being ready. I have felt NOTHING in the last hour or so, so this is all news to me! They keep asking if I feel like pushing and I keep saying no, that I can barely feel my legs and feel none of the contractions. They say this is fine, but I will be having the baby soon so get ready!

12:15pm The doctor comes in and tells me to push. I can't feel anything, but apparently I am pushing well and his head is out in 2 tries. Turns out the cord is around his neck, so the next seconds were blurry and scary but then all of a sudden he was out and screaming.

12:22pm The baby is placed on the scale and no one can believe how big he is and how on earth I carried such a big baby without gaining too much weight (total weight gain was 24 lbs, it was closer to 40 with Little Pit). I can't tell you how, it wasn't anything I did on purpose (and if anything I felt like I took a lot of dietary short cuts and didn't eat all that well the last trimester). Anyways, we were overjoyed that he came out healthy and that the doctor was able to get the cord off with no lasting damage.

By 2:00pm I was up in recovery devouring a turkey hoagie and red gatorade (my two biggest cravings after Little Pit too!) and life has been insane ever since!

Today he is 5 days old and he is a very chill little guy. He definitely has his days and nights mixed up and does NOT like his crib or the bassinet and would much rather be held to sleep, but we'll work on it. Mr. Pit is home all week which is awesome, and right now is he at Gymboree with Little Pit and BP and I are just chilling, trying to get some tidying done, but mostly we are just resting. I know that next week real life will really kick in, so I am trying to take the time to let my body heal (let me tell you, when the epidural wore off I could absolutely feel that I delivered a rather large baby, but it gets better every day).

So, here is a picture of our little man. We couldn't be happier. Little Pit is being an AMAZING big sister too, she has been very helpful and only a little whiny which is impressing all of us.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Yup, still here...

...and still pregnant.

I know I have nothing to complain about, I am only 4 days late, but I tell you, unless you've been late with a child that you are MORE than ready to meet, it seems like an effing eternity. Not to mention running around after a 2 1/2 year old the entirety of this pregnancy. Between LP's terrible two's (which, I thought were over, and BOY was I mistaken) and this seemingly ENDLESS pregnancy, I am just OVER it.

Some of the things driving me crazy today...

Our dishwasher. It's so loud you think it was doing an industrial size load of dishes. Does it have a shiny stainless steel front? yep. Is it the WORST dishwasher on the face of the planet? yep. Is it so loud that I can't even sleep because it's on? You betcha. I am so mad at it and various other things I want to rip it out from under the counter and bash it with a baseball bat.

Our floors. They are the original hardwood that was installed when the house was built in the early 50's. They squeak like NONE other. We have been told the only way to remedy the problem is to rip up all the carpet and floors and start from the studs and re-do the whole floor. Guess who doesn't have money for that kind of project (nor the time or availability to evict all 4 of us from our bedrooms for god knows how long). So, every time I go over a squeaky bit of floor (which is EVERY TIME I walk around up stairs at all) I get madder and madder with every squeak.

Mr. Pit's ability to fall asleep almost instantaneously upon his head hitting the pillow. I used to be like that. In college I could practically sleep standing up. But no, since I had Little Pit, I can't sleep. I have only been sleeping the last few months with the help of Unisom, and once BP arrives in 48 hours or less, I feel like I'm never going to sleep again. Take tonight, I 'went' to bed an hour ago. I took Unisom an hour ago. But the damn dishwasher and Mr. Pit's deep breathing kept me up and now I'm wide awake and none too happy about it.

My doctors. I know I consciously made the decision to leave Friday, but I am still steaming about the miscommunication or noncommunication between my doctors. PLUS, I found out earlier this week that a woman I know who's due date was yesterday got induced by the SAME doctor that told me to go home...ON FRIDAY. So, she sent ME home on my due date and then induced someone else 4 days before hers. I am really hoping there's more to the story than that...but once I heard that I almost went off the deep end. Plus, it doesn't help that I have been hearing stories about everyone else (celebrities included) having their kids in the past 3 days.

Little Pit has a cold. I know, something I can't exactly be MAD about, but of all the weeks in the world,   REALLY? She has to get a cold THIS week? Today she was SO cranky and tired and she can't sleep that well since she can't breathe, and she can't blow her nose because apparently that's just beyond a two year olds grasp.  At this point beyond a humidifier there is nothing we can do for her besides let her rest, encourage her to stay hydrated and hope it goes away. She was a complete nightmare today and I just hope she doesn't have a fever tomorrow (she's yet to have one with this cold) so she can go to school.

Anyways, otherwise I'm doing just dandy besides wanting to take a sledge hammer to my dishwasher and my creaky floors.

Tomorrow LP has school, hopefully she'll come home and nap and then we're all staying at my parents house tomorrow night so we're nice and close to the hospital Thursday morning for round #2. I am not leaving that building without a baby this time.

Sorry to get you all riled up and complain the whole time, I just needed to vent and figured there was no better forum than this.

Hope everyone has a great night, I am just waiting for the effing dishwasher to be done (it's been on for an hour and twenty minutes and isn't even rinsing yet) so I can try to sleep on the couch.

I'll update you with Baby Pit info as soon as he/she arrives!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Or not...

So, the induction on Friday didn't happen.

We went at 7:30, I got all ready and hooked up to monitors and that's when the doctor on call came in and things went haywire from there.

Some background first. In my OB-Gyn practice there are 6 doctors and one nurse. Throughout your pregnancy they like you to meet with various doctors so you get a feel for everyone and will recognize a face when you go into delivery since they are all on-call in the hospital for labor and delivery on different days.

The last two times I went to the doctor (weeks 38 and 39) I saw Dr. "B". Upon examination both times, Dr. "B" thought that I was days if not hours from going into labor on my own. I then asked to be induced on the due date since that way I could schedule my in-laws to be in town since my parents have been in Scotland on vacation (planned WAY before we even thought about #2). Anyways, Dr. "B" was happy to schedule me for the induction as she felt my body was already well on it's way.

Fast forward to Friday morning when Dr. "S" is on call and asks numerous times why I am there to be induced. After explaining that Dr. "B" thought that it was appropriate given my progress and it being my due date and all..Dr. "S" was still 100% skeptical.

She went on to explain the risks of induction to me and why she didn't feel comfortable putting me on pitocin and starting me down the path. She said my risk of C-Section went way up because though the pitocin does start contractions, it doesn't guarantee that you efface and dilate. She didn't think my progress was far along at all to guarantee it would work. She also said, based on the babies heartbeat and relative size, that there was no need to medically intervene for the health of the baby. She said if anything the forced contractions could lead to complications with my otherwise healthy babe.

After about 10 minutes of her talking (and me forcefully holding back tears) I decided it was best for the health of both the baby and myself to let my body progress farther on it's own.

The weekend was completely normal other than the fact that I was still pregnant, in fact, we got home in time on Friday to take LP to school and pick her up. I have had a few random contractions here and there but otherwise don't feel any closer to labor than I did last week.

At this point the doctor wants me to see how the week goes and if nothing has changed by Thursday (41 weeks) she will induce me then. She explained that at 41 weeks it does become medically necessary due to the healthy of the placenta affecting the health of the baby.

Needless to say it's been a complete roller coaster of emotions and logistics and the whole thing. All I know is that while I am pretty much mentally done with being pregnant, my body isn't and I am really hoping it will tell me BEFORE THURSDAY that this baby is ready to meet the world.

My parents are back from their trip (thank GOODNESS) and now we have more than one option of where LP can go if things happen in the middle of the night or some other unfavorable hour.

I really wish that the baby was already hear, but I can't argue with the health of the baby. What I do know is that this baby will now be a LOT bigger (even Mr. Pit thinks my belly has gotten bigger in 3 days) and therefore a bit more difficult to get out, but I'm hoping that since this is my 2nd it won't be horrible.

Anyways, I'll keep you guys updated on any progress, otherwise we're just waiting for another induction Thursday morning. I'm going to call the office tomorrow morning and try to talk to another doctor to see what her thoughts are (I also find it weird I don't have to go to any other appointments in the mean time) but whatever.

Anyone out there that wants to give any sort of advice on this sort of thing I'd love to hear it!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

xo
Mrs. Pit

Today is the day!

Good Early Morning Campers!

Today is INDUCTION day!!

I am 40 weeks today and for the last two weeks have been 3cm +, so my awesome doctor said that I could be induced this morning! I am normally not one for such intervention, but the fact that my in-laws are here until Monday night taking care of LP makes me feel SO good that I just have to take advantage of the offer and get the new baby here on their due date :)

I called labor and delivery at 6 and they told me to come in at 7:30...so I'm trying desperately to not freak out in the mean time, figure out what the heck a 'light breakfast' entails and waiting for my parents to call from Scotland to say hi. They've been gone since last Thursday and it absolutely kills me that they can't be here today, but they fly back Sunday afternoon, probably around the time we'll be getting released from the hospital anyways, so I'm good with that.

So yeah, in a few hours (or up to 12 I've been told) I'll have a new baby and our family will be 4. HOLY MOLY!

I have a lot of motivation though, one, I can't WAIT to see what this new creature looks like. LP looks a LOT like me when I was little so I can't wait to see if this one looks more like Mr. Pit or is a mix or what. I also am HIGHLY motivated to see if it's a boy or a girl! I've had my money on boy lately, only due to how a lot of people have commented that I'm carrying, but who knows. People said they swore up and down with LP that she was a boy too. Oh well. Whatever it is, as long as the baby is healthy is good for us. After a crazy year of ER visits for us that's really all we want. Plus, we've both learned in 2 1/2 years of parenting LP that ANYTHING can happen any given day, so we just want a safe, healthy delivery of a healthy baby.

Anyways, I'll update to let you know stats as soon as #2 arrives!!

Have a great Friday!!

xoxo
Mrs. Pit

Ha! This was too funny not to post

If any of you out there are mothers, as I am, you will know that strangers and non-strangers LOVE to give unsolicited parenting advice...this article that I found on DOOCE sums it up PERFECTLY!

Oh, and if you don't already read  DOOCE  , you should. She is so truthful and real and I adore her. I only wish I lived in Salt Lake City so we could be friends in real life.

Anyways, here is the parenting snippet...HILARIOUS.

HELLO STRANGER ON THE STREET, COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO TAKE CARE OF MY BABY?

BY WENDY MOLYNEUX

- - - -

Oh, hello, person I have never met before! I am so glad you ran up to me on this street where I am walking with my baby. You did not scare me at all with your very loud voice and the way you grabbed my arm! In fact, I am super relieved because I have a series of questions about my baby that I hope you can answer, and I am going to ask them because I know you would never ever offer me unsolicited advice.
First of all, should he be sleeping, ever? If so, should it be at night? Should I keep him in a bassinet or crib or should I let him just sleep in the yard, or the toaster? And when he sleeps, should I just let him sleep as long as he wants, or should I wake him up every fifteen minutes or so for a “baby party” where I give him hard candies and play loud music? Being a new parent is confusing, and there aren’t any books or internets about it, that’s why I have to rely on kind strangers like you.
Yes, he IS crying, isn’t he? You are right. He’s probably hungry. Should I feed him? And if so, where do I put the food? His eyeball? His butt? What kinds of cuts of meat do babies like? Should I not give him hot peppers? How much salt is too much, and when can I expect him to use a knife? If he spits up, should I have him put to sleep? There are just so many things I need to know, and that is why I rely on total strangers like you who happen to be experts on child care.
Oh, that rash on his face? Well, the doctor told me that it was just baby acne that would go away in a few weeks and that it’s incredibly common. But I really appreciate you pointing it out! I hadn’t looked at his face yet! Probably because I couldn’t tell which part of the baby was the face. Is his elbow his face? Is his onesie his face? Thank you!
Oh nice lady, you are probably right! I should definitely cover his face always so he doesn’t get sun on it. If he is exposed to the sun for even one moment, even as I am simply walking from the mechanic to a coffee shop where I have to unexpectedly stop to feed him because my car broke down, he will probably immediately get sun disease or burst into flames.
I am so glad you stopped me! I can’t wait to hear more about your grandchildren. What cuts of meat do they like? Were they ever babies, or did they start out as cats or dogs? And what did you start out as? A regular human being who was generally respectful to others or a nosy monster who is about to get kicked in the neck by a woman with a Baby Bjorn on her chest? What? No! Don’t walk away! Please! We were just getting started! I have so many more questions! Am I still pregnant after the baby came out? Can they play with tigers? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! When is it okay for him to go upside down in his carseat!?!

RIGHT? Hilarious? LOVE it. 

By the numbers...

Hi all!
So, here's a quick update of what's being going on in the Pit house as of late.

32. The age I turned yesterday I still feel 22 and am amazed that anyone thinks I am old enough to have a mortgage, credit cards, a car and (almost) 2 kids. Turns out I really am even though it surprises the heck out of me and especially my parents who still think of all of us at around age 8.

37. The number of weeks pregnant I am with #2. A few weeks ago I was having tons of contractions every night but they would subside once I was in bed. The past week I have had some Braxton Hicks, but nothing severe. So, every minute I think this baby will be early my body tells me 'not so fast!' and every time I think it will be late or I'll be pregnant forever I'll feel a tiny contraction. Basically, the baby will come when it comes and I have to focus on Little Pit and what she needs for her school and the rest of the fall. I am still very much counting down to the 28th though, I can't wait to meet the little guy or girl!

9. The amount of hours Little Pit will be at school during the week starting the 17th.  3 mornings. 3. 9 hours total. It doesn't seem like a lot, but when you have spent almost every minute of with your almost 2 1/2 year old for the past 2 1/2 years, 9 hours is a DREAM. Of course, with #2 coming it won't exactly be snooze central over here, but still, I'm looking forward to it. Also, she'll love it. She LOVED camp this summer and has been asking about school for months now.

1,294,475. Things we still have to get done before #2 comes. The nursery is at best 50% finished and we pick up the glider tomorrow. Once we get that in the house we can put everything in it's final place, I can do all the neutral colored laundry and actually start decorating the room.

0. Number of things in my bag for the hospital. I told you we had a lot to do!

74. The high temperature forecast for Sunday. I could NOT be more excited for cold weather. Being THIS pregnant in this kind of awful, East coast heat and humidity has done a number on me this summer. Poor LP and Mr. Pit have felt a lot of the wrath of that as well. As the temperature goes up my patience level goes WAY down. Needless to say, we all are wishing for cooler temperatures around here.

12. The number of people that are meeting us to go apple picking this Sunday. We threw it out there thinking NO ONE would say yes, but my entire family and some friends are coming to join us. I am so psyched! I think LP will get a huge kick out of it, and hopefully it won't be as crowded as an October weekend (and Honey Crisps are available, my favorite!!)

3. The number of hours I hope LP naps this afternoon so I can tidy up the basement (which is almost finished, the contractor SHOULD be done today!!) and then I can start moving our computers and all that fun stuff over to the new desk and then repurpose the old table for LP.

So, that's that. Mr. Pit is playing in a golf tournament this afternoon and won't be home until late, so LP and I have to think of something fun for dinner...maybe the diner and then ice cream? We'll see!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

xoxo Mrs. Pit