The Longest Days and Shortest Week!

Moving from one to two kids has been quite an adjustment! The house is a mess, but the I've been able to stay caught up on Laundry. I forgot how much laundry a little person goes through! He's added an extra load of laundry per week so far. I'm sure it will only increase from there.

This has been a better recovery than with Logan. I tore really bad with Logan and it took 3 months before I felt 100% again. This time I only had two tears and am already feeling so much better. I've already stopped taking Ibuprofen. So hopefully I'll be feeling better soon.

It's been difficult for Logan to learn to share my time with another little guy. He's been having accidents again. Most of the time it's when I'm feeding Dustin. We're working on it a little, but I'll focus on it more when Dustin is sleeping better through the night.

Because I'm totally sleep deprived! That's one of the hardest parts for me. I was holding Dustin with one hand and playing cars with with Logan and totally fell asleep! I get between 4 and 6 hours of sleep total a night and one nap (1 - 2 hours). The interrupted sleep is not as good, but better than nothing!

Dustin is doing great. The pediatrician was a little worried about his weight loss, so we brought him in again Monday just for a weigh-in. In a week he is back up to his birth weight. Usually the goal is to get back up by two weeks, so he's done fabulous! He's such a happy little guy. He only cries when we change his diaper/clothes. He's so alert too.

As for what we've been up to, Saturday my family had our Thanksgiving Dinner. So we headed over to my Sister's house for a few hours of food and talking. Logan had tons of fun playing with his cousins, and just getting out of the house. It was nice to see everyone, and for them to all meet Dustin.

Monday night when Dave got home we ventured out to Target for a few baby supplies. Oh man, Logan and I went a little crazy in the $1 section! I got a few stocking stuffers for him (wooden whistle, slinky, stickers, socks...). So I'm officially don't shopping for him for Christmas. I need a few stocking stuffers for Dave and Dustin, and then we're done! Well, we need to get Dave and my big gift still (a couch for the basement), but that's scheduled for this weekend.

Dustin Glenn Plastow

Tuesday, November 19th at 6:07 pm Dustin Glenn Plastow joined our family! He weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and measured 19 inches long. 

Dave was a huge help with the whole labor process, got to cut the cord, and give Dustin his first bath.

Dustin is such a happy little guy! After each feeding (during the day) he is awake for a half hour to 45 minutes just looking around checking out the world!

He loves to snuggle and only cries when we get him dressed (yup, we have another nudist on our hands...) or if he's not getting food fast enough.

He sleeps like a champ! No day and night confusion for this little man, although he does wake up every 3 hours to eat. He also is a great nurser, which is such a change from Logan.

We were released on Thursday and headed home to spend lots of time resting and snuggling with Logan.

Logan just loves his "liggle brother" or "Mr. Dustin"! He requests to hold him, he peaks into his bassinet to make sure the baby is ok, and will tell me when it's time to feed him. Once he told me "It's time to put Dustin to bed and Mom play with Logan." Fortunately it was just after feeding, so I could easily comply and give Logan the attention he needed.

He had a real hard time coming home (from Grandma & Grandpa's house), and has had quite a few accidents. But we'll get it together. He woke up and asked "Where is baby Dustin?" I heard him tell Dustin a few times "I love you so much Dustin!" So we're getting there. It will just take some time to get used to a new member of the family.

Playing the Waiting Game

I swear this week has been all about waiting. We've just been waiting for this little baby to join us. I had my weekly Doctor's appointment this morning, and an Ultrasound. I guess over the past 3 weeks the baby hasn't grown as much as he should. So we had the Ultrasound to make sure everything is ok.

The Ultrasound showed everything is fine. He's measuring in the 35th percentile (approximately 7 lbs 2 oz). Head to body ratio is normal, the amniotic fluid is the right amount, and the umbilical cord is working appropriately. So no emergency, but we decided to schedule an induction for this Saturday.

The Doctor said we could go until next week Tuesday, but if we waited she wanted me in every two days for no stress tests. I did these every other day with Logan and they take about an hour a piece (if the office is running on time). So we decided it would be better to schedule an induction than having to deal with that and finding a baby sitter every other day.

So we'll have a baby for sure by Saturday. I'm really hoping to have him sooner, I would prefer to go into labor naturally. But whatever happens at this point. Logan and I went to the store and bought some more milk and cheese, so we are ready (again). I swear all month has been spent stocking up the fridge and cabinets. I'm glad the end is in sight. I hate shopping.

Leaves and Food

Logan's been singing like crazy lately! He loves singing church songs, but he also has been making up his own songs. My favorite, and coincidentally he's been singing a lot lately, is one he made up in the car driving through blowing leaves:

Leaves, leaves falling down

Down, down on the ground

Leaves, leaves falling down

falling down, but don't eat them!

This was the same day we raked up the leaves in the back yard and we had several conversations about not eating the leaves. Apparently it made an impression!

This week I stocked the pantry for the 3rd time in anticipation for the baby being born. Every week Dave sees all the food I've put in the pantry and chows down on it! One week we went through 4 cans of corn and 7 cans of beans! Kinda crazy, but I'm hoping we're done stocking this time. I'm tired of shopping so much every week.

Friday night we had a $20 date night. It's what we call it when we set a dollar amount and spend it frivolously. We got a Costco chicken and ended up going to Trader Joe's to blow the rest on snacks (Dave's Choices - Pine Nut Hummus, Jalapeno Lime Salsa. My Choices - Mango Sorbet, Gouda Cheese). It was fun, and surprisingly not too un-healthy. 

Since we decided on the chicken the day before I had prepped some mashed potatoes to go with it. I discovered a really quick and easy way to make mashed potatoes via the crockpot. I just wash 8 of them and throw them in the crockpot and fill it up half way with water. Then I let them cook all day. When it's time to make them, just throw the potatoes in the Kitchen Aid, blend them up and add the butter, milk, salt and pepper. No chopping or peeling, just easy.

Today I had another Doctor's Appointment. The baby has dropped down this week, but I'm still at 3 cm. My blood pressure was a little high, but nothing the Dr is too concerned about. They'll check me again next week if the baby hasn't joined us yet. Still could come any day now. 

We're ready. Well, Logan and I are ready. I have a week left, and statistically 50% of women have had their babies by their due date. So chances aren't bad. Logan has started asking "When is that baby going to come out of your belly?" He's even prayed for the baby to play with him soon. Dave has a shotgun shooting activity with the EQ this Saturday, so he would prefer waiting until after that's over. 

Be Prepared

We've been keeping ourselves busy around the Plastow home. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and have progressed to 3 cm dilation. My doctor says most women don't get past 3 cm before going into real labor. So we're trying to make sure we're ready for a baby any day now!

This morning Logan and I mixed up some gluten free flour and made 6 different gluten free mixes (ex. cornbread muffins, waffles, brownies). I wanted to have some of these on hand for after the baby is born so I can easily bake. I'm not so great at following a recipe when I'm sleep deprived, and since I make all the GF stuff from scratch, this will be a big help.

I want to re-arrange the freezer this afternoon, and after that I'm pretty much ready for the baby. Well, and I have a quilting class on Saturday that I would prefer to go to before the baby comes. We have diapers and wipes. The baby clothes are washed and put away. The nursery is decorated and the bags are packed.

We've had a lot of fun this week too. We rented Monsters University from the Redbox for FHE this week. Logan had so much fun watching it and even insisted that we "make popcorn!" to go with it. It wasn't as good as Monsters Inc, but it was a fun one time watch. 

Wednesday I had a Relief Society meeting and Dave had Scouts. Since Logan was having a super grumpy day, Dave took him to Scouts. They were having a lesson on how to make fires and Logan had so much fun around the fire and roasting marshmallows. When I got home he told me "I ate two marshmallows!" He was covered in a sticky mess and stunk of campfire, but was really happy.