Stories of the Swiderski Sisters (and their parents): Update

I must admit, I feel a bit guilty - not having yet written a blog post about soon-to-arrive #2! After a year of ups and downs trying to get pregnant, I had a hard time letting myself believe that we would make it to this point.

Now, 5 days before "go live" (as Ryan says), I figured it was about time for an update :)

This has been the pregnancy of pancakes, grapefruit juice and Edy's double fudge ice cream - not necessarily together. At the very beginning I craved bloody mary mix (that only lasted about 2 weeks). Then the cravings went in phases - about 2 weeks each - going between the 3 above listed foods. I definitely craved more chocolate this time than with Claire. I bet that means she'll be sweet!!

So, here is a brief recap of the last 9 months.

We found out I was pregnant while living in our apartment. We sold the townhouse in Spring and by June (closing) hadn't yet found a house we liked. So, we made the move to a 2-bedroom apartment in Eden Prairie. It wasn't so bad, you could start the laundry while laying in bed! And whenever the elevators went out, it gave us the chance to walk up (or down) 3 flights of stairs. The best though, was when Kristin, Dan and the kiddos were visiting from VA. The power went out and we got to haul their suitcases, 2 kiddos (Thomas in a car seat) and the carry ons down a pitch black stairwell! I think they are excited about coming to visit us again...

Ok, back to baby.

At 20 weeks we found out we were having a 2nd girl - yeah! Ryan surprised me by saying that he too was excited about more estrogen in our house. He told me, "I know what to do with a girl now, it would be weird to have a boy".

Here is the 3-D ultrasound from 12/6/12. Exciting aspect - her eyes were open (very rare I guess). Not so exciting aspect - it looks like she has horns...better eat more chocolate ice cream.

Shortly after we found out the sex, I told my students at school. I couldn't just tell them though, that would be boring. Instead, I gave them a math problem. I recounted what Dr Block had told me - for every female in a man's life, he will live 2.5 years longer. That means Ryan will now live 7.5 years longer than he would have without all of us. They caught on pretty quickly :)

It was also at about this time that we started thinking of baby names. Wow, slightly harder with a 2nd girl! Good thing I have dedicated students who helped out by giving me lists of girl names. One student (Ali) gave me a list of 287 names! Some of the highlights: Sunshine, Cressida, Sapphire, Rue, Willow...(there were quite a few normal names as well!).

We also had some help from Pop Pop again. :)

Now is the time! I have scoured the world (actually, I only searched French names) looking for the perfect girl name. And I found it!!??

In alphabetical order:

Cerise

Charlotte

Claudette

Clio

Devona

Game

Geva (so both girls can have a name of my parents)

Ila

Juliette

Kendall

Laurette

Markie (after you-know-who)

Perlette

Riva

Rodin

Sophia

And the NUMBER ONE CHOICE:

Cluwe (a slight deviation, but it goes so well with Claire. And it is the top choice of gamers, gays, and Vikings fans)

I can’t wait to hold the new joy and whisper her wonderful name.

Good luck and good health to all.

Hi Claire, I love you.

Pop Pop

You'd think this would have helped us decide on a name by now...nope.

The Nursery - Part 1: Paint Job
Surprisingly, Ryan has had quite the opinions about decorating since we moved into our new place. I was a bit confused, as this was not the same man I married. He explained he had been saving all his opinions for now....clever lad.

I love how the nursery turned out - all Ryan's idea! He did thick, vertical stripes of light and dark pink.

Here is his helper.

The dr wanted to keep an eye on the baby's growth (and check out a small white spot they saw on the heart) so I got monthly ultrasounds. Part of me was nervous about that, but mostly I loved being able to actually see her each month!

Here is the 3-D ultrasound from January 7, 2013. Ryan said he didn't really want to know what all the "stuff" around her was. I told him to think of it as a cozy blanket. I also showed my students this picture. Half responded "woah", half "eeeeeewwwwww!!!". I'll take those as compliments.

This is the 2-D from the same January ultrasound.

At the February ultrasound, she gave us a little smile!

I didn't put the March ultrasound on because it looks like a giant smear. Apparently eating a smoothie right before the session makes this little one move!

Finally, here is our last ultrasound from April. Crazy! I asked the dr why her nose was so big (that obviously didn't come from me). She said the baby was smushed right up against my stomach, hence the schnoz. The "hook" looking thing by her right eye is part of the bone in her arm. They also said she has a lot of hair - just like big sis!

I had my last dr appointment this week. Since the beginning, this baby has been high up in my tummy. It felt like I was swallowing feet half the time! At the 2 prior appointments, the dr checked on the baby and kept saying "she's way up there!". But this week she said the baby had dropped and my cervix was thinning. This got me a little anxious for several reasons:
1) I kind of never let myself think we'd get to this point
2) No labor for me - repeat c-section. Labor is not in "the plan"
3) I had not yet even remotely thought about packing a bag
4) We still had to find the bases to the car seat - not to mention the actual car seat. (Not to worry, I found them today in the most practical spot - the downstairs bathroom closet. What??)

I had to call Kristin K to talk me off my labor ledge :)

No baby today, things seem back to "normal". I have to say, I'm excited to meet this little kiddo, but a bit terrified to have 2!!! I feel like I totally forgot what you do with a baby!!

I also don't feel like I've ever hit my "nesting" stride. Clothes? Clean enough. I'm sure I washed them after Claire outgrew them. Diapers? Check, thanks to an amazing surprise "sprinkle" thrown by Trisha (where everyone brought us a pack of diapers). Milk? Well, my body will figure that one out!

Nursery - Part 2: accessories
It works out pretty well to already have almost everything we need! We lost a few crib screws in the move, but Ryan took care of that. Claire has also done a "safety check" on the crib by crawling in and out several times. In addition, she put a few stuffed friends in there under a blanket. She, of course, left room in-between for her new sister :)

Claire is a super helper these days. Sometimes it might feel as if this extra help slows the projects down...but it's all worth it! Here she was helping me put together a bookshelf for the baby's room.