Lizzy here to update you all on our favorite Atlanta blogger. I am so pleased to announce the birth of Liza’s baby girl.
Josephine Rose was born at 10:28 a.m. this morning, weighing in at 7lbs, 10oz and measuring 19 inches. Mommy and baby are both healthy and happy.
Please join me in congratulating Liza, Jill, and proud big brother Noah.
Not only is it 3:31 am, it is also the day we go into the hospital to have Esmerelda Freugenspeigel.
Apparently my body thinks that the only way to give birth is while sleep deprived. I’ve woken up every 1-2 hours since going to sleep around 10:30 pm. The last 2 times were with hideous reflux.
However, I’m amusing myself by the fact that I was able to pull on my favorite t-shirt from college, yes college!
We had them made as a fund-raiser to go to the 1989 March on Washington for Women’s Lives. It reads “Not Government Property” on the front, and while visiting Carrie a few months later, I attempted to tie-dye it. My mostly unsuccessful efforts now look like a soft mix of light blue and pink.
OK, going to go visit with my future BFF the couch and see if I can eek out another hour or so of sleep before getting up and heading hospitalwards.
In approximately 36 hours, we’re going to have a new baby!
Noah has been explaining to anyone who will listen that he is also going to the doctor’s this weekend to have his baby sister taken out of his tummy. Also, his baby sister is a boy, whose name is “Noah’s Baby Sister.” At day care pickup this afternoon, 3 other toddlers informed me that they had babies in their belly buttons too.
That was right after Noah admitted to biting Savannah while they were fighting over a book. Noah did say he was sorry, and he and Savannah had a hug.
Between now and 9 am on Saturday, I have my exit interview from work, a last pregnant lunch with the boss, my ex-boss, and a few of my co-workers, Grandma arrives, and Jill goes to see the Regeneration Tour.
And day care is closed tomorrow, so all I’m doing at work is going in for the the above — I expect to leave the house around 11 am and be home by 2. I also expect to do a light dinner at dinner time and another one shortly before bedtime, since I’m not allowed to eat anything at all including water after midnight. Crank. Crab.
Speaking of cranking and crabbing, I have a post up on the Deep South Moms blog about unsolicited medical advice provided by Starbucks employees.
Also, I hate the new Google Suggest feature, where suddenly my screen is filled with the most popular things people have searched for that start with the same letters I’ve just typed. Fortunately, you can turn it off under preferences if you login to use Google. But I think if you search anonymously you’re SOL.
Painters painted our bedroom and bathroom yesterday, and are coming back for a second coat plus some smaller spaces downstairs today.
The paint fumes exiled both of us from the room, me to the fold out bed in the baby’s room, and Jill to the soft couch of sweaty sleep downstairs.
Also, since Noah managed to leak through 4 or 5 layers of sheets and pads this week, I had to re-make his bed and took the opportunity to mix-n-match some of the absorbent between-sheet layers between his bed and the crib. So I stripped and re-made the crib as well as remaking Noah’s bed.
Layered sheets is my absolute most favorite parent hack ever!
Changing wet or vomited-on sheets in the middle of the night is tiring and awful and slow. Pulling a layer of wet or gross sheets, or even two layers, takes much less time and much less work, particularly in the middle of the night.
We have two “really” waterproof layers, both lanolized wool. One is on the next-from-the-bottom layer, both to protect the mattress and to provide the alert that there can be no more putting off remaking the bed.
The other layers are more intended to be absorbent, so they can protect the next layer down of sheet. We use some of our many, many, many cotton flannel and jersey receiving blankets. I try to make sure there are two layers of fabric in the middle of the bed where leaks are most likely to happen. This is medium-effective. The wool is VERY effective. (One of the wool pads from Noah’s bed needs to be washed.)
Remaining must do tasks before Saturday morning around 6:15 am (when we leave for the hospital):
Thing I am contemplating doing but will probably not do unless I *really* can’t sleep:
Very excitingly, we found out yesterday that one of our friends who moved away will be back in town from Weds evening until Saturday afternoon! So she will get to meet Esmerelda Freugenspeigel! And take pictures back to her adorable twins, who met Noah when he was still just a few weeks old! I suspect they will all be surprised to find that “baby Noah” now outmasses both of the almost-4-year-olds by 5-10 lbs.
I am having one of those nice mushy moments of feeling grateful, as I listen to Michelle Obama at the DNC.
Some of the things I am grateful for:
It is so strange to think about — this was our last weekend as a family of 3. Next weekend, there will be 4 of us. I’ll be in the hospital, Grandma will be visiting, and we’ll all be plunged into the crazy chaos of life with a newborn.
We tried to make this weekend fun. Saturday, Noah and I went to the mall and bought him Big Boy Shoes, read stories at the bookstore, ate treats at the food court, and then hit Targ*t for diapers, diaper pails, soap, and a few other odds and ends. Including a train, because I am a sucker.
After a nap for Mommy and quiet time playing in his room but not napping for Noah, the whole family went out for pizza at a local place with a fountain. Noah got soaked, cleaned up, ate pizza, and then we all went for ice cream.
Today, everyone slept in — for the first time since Noah was born or at least close, Jill got up before anyone else! We all went to church together, and we all stayed for lunch after church.
Afterwards, Noah went down for his nap as close to willingly as he gets, and I did too. Jill continued working on the house. We had a quiet late afternoon of Handy Manny, Noah’s favorite television program du jour, and a relatively easy bedtime. Not that Noah is sleeping yet. But at least there was minimal screaming and crying.
Esmerelda Freugenspeigel’s room is ready enough to be functional. There are a few more details to work out, but we’re 90% there. We showed Noah her room today, and explained where she’ll be sleeping when she first comes home. He was sweet, and curious, and claimed two of the toys that were there for her. I think the next step is to ask him to pick a few toys for her.
Speaking of Esmerelda Freugenspeigel, she’s certainly been making her presence known all weekend. She’s kicking the hell out of my side, leaving me uncomfortable and breathless. The BH contractions are in full swing on a regular basis.
AND we finally have an emergency backup plan just in case she decides to appear before Grandma arrives. Some friends from church offered today, even assuring us that they already have an extra car seat installed in their car. Icing on the cake, they are barely out of the way between our house and the hospital!
In the face of my recent layoff, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to economize. And that in turn, also has me thinking about some of the things where spending money is worthwhile to me. I think I’m going to make this a series, since I keep thinking of totally unrelated things.
Top 5 Things I’m Glad We Spent Money On: Baby & Kid Edition
Family Museum Membership: Our son is dinosaur obsessed, so we picked the museum of natural history. In our climate, an indoor activity is essential during the summer.
A family membership is $85 per year, occasionally discounted to $75, and allows admission for up to 2 adults and 4 children per visit. Regular adult admission is $15, and even though I only bought our family membership this summer, we’re already at under $10/adult/trip.
Even if we move on the fastest imaginable timeline, I know we’ll have gone often enough that we’ll only have paid an average of half-price for adult admissions.
BPA Free Food/Drink Storage: Recently, I got rid of an estimated $50-75 worth of still usable baby bottles. It was painful. But knowing what we now know about the risks of BPA plastics, I couldn’t keep them and deliberately use them to feed baby #2, nor could I justify selling or donating them to someone else.
Fortunately, we still have a dozen or so Mother’s Milkmate bottles that are BPA free, so we are worry free on that front. We’ll need more when I return to work, but there’s time enough to figure that out.
Crib Mattresses Made from Organic Materials: Before Noah was born, we became concerned about the kinds of materials used to make and manufacture crib mattresses. After all, babies and toddlers spend a LOT of time in bed! So we invested in an organic cotton bassinet “futon” and a crib mattress made from organic materials.
Since getting a “freebie” mattress with Noah’s toddler bed frame, I’ve become convinced that his mattress is both more comfortable AND safer. Although these mattresses are more expensive than the average, we consider it money well spent. Esmerelda’s is a slightly different design, but meets the same criteria.
Shoes (At Least Sometimes): It really does seem worth it to make sure that small children’s shoes fit well, especially after they’ve started walking. Post-Robeez and pre-effective communication about things like, “is that comfortable on your toes?” this is not easy.
Buying from shoe stores that specialize in children’s shoes makes it a little bit easier.
I had that idea vividly reinforced when I took Noah to the mall today. I parked, unfortunately, at the opposite end of the mall from the specialty children’s shoe store. But just a few stores in, there was a discount shoe store!
Note to owners and managers of discount shoe stores: At least, teach your employees how to use the shoe size measuring devices, even if you focus on no other aspect of customer service. Thank you!
I walked in with Noah, found my way to the kids section, and was greeted by a friendly shoe salesman.
“I’m looking for shoes for my son here.”
“Ok, what size?”
“Well, I think he’s a toddler 9, with wide feet, but I’d like to have you measure him to check.”
The salesman wanders off to find a foot measurer. When he returns, he and I persuade Noah to take off his sandals and stand on the funny metal thing.
Then the salesman declares that Noah is nowhere close to a 9, but is in fact a 6. He directs me to a low set of shelves along the wall. I beg further assistance, what with the whole being gigantically pregnant thing.
Two pair of shoes meet the criteria of being easy to put on and either a 6 or 6.5 wide.
Noah’s feet do not fit into them. The salesman apologizes, and I thank him for his time, oddly relieved, and return to plan A.
At the children’s shoe store on the opposite end of the mall, the charming and efficient saleswoman does not ask me what size Noah needs. She pulls out the measuring device and measures both of his feet.
“This foot is just over a 9, and that one is a 9.5. I recommend that you try on 10s so that he has some room to grow into them.” We discuss the options, and she returns with 4 pair of suitable shoes. Noah loves the first pair, hates the second pair, and we decide not to bother with the next two.
That’s only 4. I can’t think of #5. What’s on your “whatever you do, don’t cheap out on this” list?
