The last day of one.

Tonight my baby will go to sleep as a one year old and wake up as a two year old. This will occur at 4:23am, to be exact. It’s hard to believe that I’ve had him for two years already, yet it seems like yesterday that he was born. I remember that memory vividly, because it was the best moment of my life. I think in a lot of ways, my life began the moment that I held him for the first time.

I watch him sleep from time to time because he still reminds me of that baby I once held, so innocent and sweet. When he’s awake, he transforms into a little boy.

Wyatt is a playful and cheerful little boy. He loves to help around the house and clean. I always catch him playing with the Swiffer mop, or using a paper towel to clean the floor. He pretends to wash his hands in his play kitchen sink and likes to “wash his hair” when playing in the kiddie pool. He also enjoys brushing his teeth and combing his hair. I can’t believe how much he likes to do “grown up things” and watches us closely so that he can imitate our daily actions.

Wyatt loves to read books and has started memorizing certain books and can recite them accurately, as he turns the pages. He absolutely loves the movie Cars and asks to watch it nearly every day. He now repeats lines from the movie and points out different characters to us to tell us their names.

Wyatt has a play kitchen where he does his best cooking. He often either makes coffee or broccoli. He will pretend to eat his play food by making “nom nom” noises and slobbering all over it. He always shares his soggy food with us too.

One of Wyatt’s favorite toys is a pool hose. It’s about 2.5 feet long and he calls it his elephant. He likes to carry his elephant around and blow out the one end of the hose like it’s a trunk. He often asks us to do the same. He even insisted on taking elephant to daycare with him on morning. It was difficult to explain his elephant trunk (aka pool hose) to his teachers.

Wyatt is starting to understand things like only receiving his pacifier at bed time and during naps. We ask him to remove it when he gets up and leave it in the bed. He is also starting to recognize his body and when he soils his diaper he makes us aware that it’s wet and needs to be changed.

Wyatt loves Hershey Park and all of the rides they have to offer. His favorite is the train and he also likes the rockets and cars. He often insists on Glen riding with him. He’s really blossomed from that scared little guy that hated everything new to somewhat of an adventurous little guy.

Wyatt’s speech blows me away! He is talking in full sentences and is specific with his desires and needs. He had a mosquito bite on his leg the other day and he said “my leg is itchy”. He also asked Glen to “put the elephant on your mouth and make a noise”. He also asks for very specific things to eat and drink during certain times of the day. He is also a super napper! He still takes a 2 hour nap every day and when we tell him it’s nap time, most of the time he walks upstairs and gets in his own bed and put himself to sleep. It’s pretty miraculous, really.

This is the last night that I will sneak into Wyatt's bedroom and kiss the forehead of a one year old. For tomorrow he will be two! I truly couldn't imagine my life without him. 

8 Month Update

These last few months flew by and I hardly noticed that I haven’t been making any updates on my blog. Now that time is quickly winding down, I thought it would be best to give an update.

This little girl has been nothing but trouble. I mean that in the best possible way, of course. It started back in June when I went in for a growth scan and to check on the little cysts on her brain. The good news is that the cysts were gone and she was very healthy. The unexpected news was that she was very small and the doctors were concerned with her below average weight. I met with one of the high risk doctors for a consultation and soon was on my way to having 2-3 appointments per week which included a non-stress test and ultrasound. By the stat of the third week the growth ultrasound showed that she gained enough weight to bring me out of the high risk category. I was so relieved! I went about the next two weeks, happy as a clam and insisting that I will get to meet her in September, right on schedule. I was excited about my birth plan and having a very natural birth. I was anticipating laboring on my own and getting to experience labor without drugs, like Pitocin. We planned our weekends out for the month of August and had our to-do list ironed out completely.

That weekend I was 35 weeks along and had my Mom take a comparison photos of my 35-week baby bellies. After viewing the pictures side by side I noticed something quite apparent. My baby belly is significantly smaller with this little girl. I knew that I had an appointment set up for the next day and I brushed it off, even though I thought that it was quite odd that I seemed to be carrying so much smaller this time around.

On July 29^th I had a routine follow up which involved a growth ultrasound. The growth ultrasound seemed normal and I even got a few profile pictures of her lovely face. At the end the tech ran out to review the results with the doctor. When the doctor came in to review the results of the ultrasound with me I knew something was wrong. The baby was in fact, very small for her gestational age and the doctor was concerned. The doctor then strongly suggested that I be induced at full-term (37 weeks). Instantly tears formed in my eyes and I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But what about my natural birth plan? What about my September baby? What about carrying out those few extra weeks of work and welcoming my baby when I’m really ready?

I asked a few questions and raised a few concerns and she was extremely pleasant and informative. Smaller babies have a greater chance of being stillborn and therefore, they would like to welcome her into the World early and have the opportunity to help her gain weight rather than letting her in there where they are essentially helpless. They assured me that women have babies at 37 weeks all of the time and that most of the time, the babies are not taken to the NICU. She assured me that this truly is the best thing for my baby and although it’s ultimately my choice, that they strongly suggest early induction.

After the initial tears and anxiety wore off, I finally came to peace with it. It’s not exactly what I wanted but all I really want is a healthy, happy baby! If that means meeting her just a few weeks early, then I’m up for the challenge. I’m not ready, but I’ll get ready! We are already on the hunt for some preemie clothes and diapers for those first few weeks and are ironing out all of the necessary last minute items in preparation for our little princess! Now that we are meeting her in just two weeks, we actually turned that fear into excitement. I just can’t stop thinking about what it will be like to hold her, to give her a name, to snuggle with her and to watch her snooze in my arms.

Enjoy some of my favorite 35 Weeks Maternity photos:

Gender Reveal Celebration

Glen and I went to Womb with a View in order to have a gender reveal done at Hershey Park. She kindly sealed it in an envelope and we mailed it off to Kansas to my photographer friend.

The day finally came and we arrived at Hershey Park at 10am and were greeted by our closest friends. I went on a hunt for cotton candy and luckily, two perfectly fresh cotton candy sticks were just put out in pink and blue. I ran back as fast as I could to get the show on the road. We took a few cutesy photos of us holding the cotton candy colors up and then everyone closed their eyes prior to the reveal. The photographer took both sweets away and handed up back the one in appropriate color. We were asked to open our eyes first and I could hardly believe what I saw! I was in complete shock. Everyone else was then asked to open their eyes and Glen held it up high for everyone to see. Screams, smiles, shouts and claps filled the air as everyone started at the PINK cotton candy.

It was such a fun day and we were happy that we got to share it with our friends.