Sittin Up!

So it looks as though Sayda may be even more of a Mama's girl, than Ethan is a Mama's boy! Uh oh!!! The past few weeks, whether my mom is watching the kids on a Thursday night, or if I have to run out for any errands in the evening, and she is with daddy…. it seems that once the evening hours hit, Sayda JUST Wants Mommy!!!… poor Jake & Ahna! We're trying to figure out all the little things that make her the most happy & the most calm, to hold her over until mommy gets home… but wow, she just BEGS for me till she sees me! In fact, once last week, I had a FULL day… teaching class, and then a wedding afterwards… she didn't see me for about, hmm, 8 hours! And when she finally did, she SHRILLED!!

I've been trying to remember and teach mom & Jake some of the things that help out when she's fussy. One of them we call the 'magic trick.' Put her on our bed, lights out, a Baby Einstein on, and if she's fussy, lay your hand on her belly for a minute. She's settles down almost instantly! This also works when she's very tired… puts her to sleep every time, (after she's watched half the video at least). I'm hoping its just a phase though.

She also does NOT like to be PUT to sleep, but only to FALL asleep. If you lay her down in your arms, she gets Angry!!! She doesn't want to feel like you're trying to help her go to sleep, she'd rather just fall asleep sitting up… and its happened many, MANY times!

Sayda's been on rice cereal for almost a month now I think! She has been blowing raspberries for a few weeks too… one of the ways she likes to talk to us. Well, indeed she has combined the two. Blowing raspberries while being fed her rice cereal. And man, I gotta say, I just LOVE getting splattered in the face each day! lol!

She has been rolling over for a few weeks now! She goes both ways- front to back, and back to front. And also over each shoulder, not just one direction, yay! Of course now we have to be extra careful if she's on a couch or bed, cuz she is really becoming mobile! Now, when she plays on her belly, she'll even turn herself (like either direction, still on her belly, to face a different way)… so that she can reach toys, or watch the big kids, etc.

I'm even gonna count today as though she's officially sitting up! She's been so close lately, and today she sat for probably almost a minute!!! Yay Sayda!!!!

Adorable!

Sayda is 5 months now! She's interacting so much, and smiling, and laughing, and playing with toys, and so many fun things!

She's very close to being able to sit up! She'll stay there for a few seconds, and then slowly fall over, but she's getting really close!

She's also ALMOST rolling over. She did it once when my mom was watching her, but it was one of those, 'she was on her belly when I walked out of the room, and on her back when I returned' kinda things. And then yesterday she rolled over on her own for the first time that I saw! But she doesn't do it consistently. Its funny, cuz I know she's ABLE, she just doesn't do it. Really close on this one though too! Both ways, So close!

She's SO drooly! Haha! And she blows raspberries a lot too! It's adorable!

She's still got a big bald spot at the back of her head, hehe, its cute, I always kiss it!

And she was starting to act hungry before she was due to eat next, so before 3 hours. Well, I was NOT going to feed her more often than every 3, so I decided I may as well start on food, to get her more full! The first day or two, I only did a little bit, to get her used to it… and of course she wasn't great at eating off a spoon yet. But even by the third day she LOVED it! She can hardly wait for the next bite! She holds her little mouth open, like a baby bird, haha! And she'll scarf a whole little bowl full of rice cereal like its nothing! hehehe. But I can also hardly get her to nurse for EIGHT minutes! I used to have to push her to go 12 or even 10! Now she goes barely longer than 5! But the solid food seems to be working. Its all good!

Oh, and she does "crunches" better than I do, hehe. From laying position, she tries to sit up & its pretty amazing! (top picture)

It seems as though this is only my THIRD blog about Sayda since she's been born, and she's nearly 4 months old! I always promised myself I'd never slack with keeping track of things with each kid, so I swear I will do them more often!

Well now that she's 4 months old, she's been using her legs SO well for almost a month now! She needs me to help with balance of course, but she fully supports herself standing!

Sayda likes to sometimes grab onto things to fall asleep, like the edge of the blanket, or my shirt, or even her binky at times. Once she began to burry her face into my shoulder on her way to sleep, and her hand was reaching out to grab something, and it found my bottom lip. She grasped right on, and of course I didn't wanna let her down, lol! One of those moments I wished there was a camera nearby! Another time she was laying next to me on the couch, falling asleep, and somehow she found my arm, and grabbed that with both hands & fell asleep… but this time I DID take a pic with my phone!

She also still has her arms up by her head a lot, just as she did in the womb! Even when she's awake sometimes, little fists up on either side of her head, its adorable.

She's got a little light patch in her hair, right on the top of her head. Its cute!!! She was born with dark hair, just like the other two kids, and I'm sure hers will lighten up as theirs did, but for now, she's got one chunk thats significantly lighter than the rest, and I kind hope it stays, its unique!!! Oh and also, on both of her feet, her second toe is shorter than her middle one! I think Jake's are kinda like that. She's got her daddy's feet, haha!

Ever since the beginning, Sayda has only taken to one specific kind of binky. The other two kids were really only ever given one kind, and always liked it, so maybe we just got lucky. But we had to try a few different shapes till we found one that Sayda would take. She didn't love the binky at first like the other two did… we really had to strongly encourage it for her. She loves it now tho! But only the one kind. Funny!

It was so fun to watch her when she first started to reach out for things on purpose. Like when she was placed in her chair and would touch pig, cow, and lamb! She's starting to play with things! Its exiting! hehehee

She's also starting to rub her eyes when she's tired. Love that! Its a good indication, rather than just crying & we have to Guess whats wrong!

She's SUCH a finger eater! She found those fingers & we've gotta constantly pull em away from her mouth! This makes her very drooly too. We're almost to the point where she needs to wear a bib all the time, little slobberer!

She's VERY smiley, like Ethan was! And its this big, wide-mouthed smile too! SO cute!

Sayda is also becoming quite talkative! She has the most adorable voice too! I remember she's been like this for a while now! probably even almost 2 months, I think?

Jake said the other day, and I love how he worded it, "I think she's gonna be a super advanced robot, jus like Diella was." … its a line from Transformers, and I must say, I agree! She just seems as though she'll learn fast and be advanced for her age. Cant wait to see her continue to develop!

I've been SO blessed with 3 angel babies! And if I or anyone thought that my first two were good sleepers, well then along came Sayda!! She started sleeping 7 hours at night at 7 weeks old! She has since gradually added on a hour, after every few weeks or so, and is now sleeping about 11 hours at night! My big kids hardly do that now!!! She still also takes about 3 naps during the day, a few short ones, and one longer one. She is an incredible baby!!!

Sayda is 6 weeks old! How have I not written anything in that long?

Well, I've made my judgements about what I think my kids will grow up to be. Diella's I called before she even was born, a dancer (even tho now we think maybe dancer AND also CEO of some place, ha!), and Ethan I'm still thinking maybe chef, and also an intelligent one, reading books. But ANYway… Sayda!… she got her nickname in the womb, like the other kids did as well (Diella was fetus, and Ethan was tadpole), Sayda's was "Butt-kicker." So from then on I made my guess that this one would be a football player, whether male or female, haha! So really, I think she'll be some kind of athlete. And then when we found out how long she is, it confirmed it for me! Athlete it is!

I love how much you learn about a baby, so fast! Even within the first 2-3 days, you can start to tell what they do like, what they don't like, how they prefer to eat, and lay. Its awesome!

Sayda had some trouble nursing on the left side for a few weeks. It was frustrating for both of us, but she finally got it. Strange how it was only on one side, not both.

She LOVES to be on her belly! Neither of my other two kids did. It seems she takes the best naps when she's on her belly. And she needs to go on her belly after each feeding, (when she's gassy), she calms right down!

So the minute she was born, both mom & Jake said she looks identical to Diella as a baby. I thought, yea similar, but not identical. She DOES have a very different nose from Diella, but when we look at pix of D as a baby… yea, they're almost identical. Most faces Sayda makes look just like D. But she has occasions where she just looks all her own!

So she wasn't thrilled about taking a binky at first. Definitely doesn't like it as much as the other two kids did. She takes it happily now, but for quite a while we had to really encourage her to.

She is SUCH a gassy girl! She's always got either toots, burps, or hiccups. Poor chica. We had some problems with it too… not crying, or affecting her eating or anything, but just so gassy that she'd be very wiggly and a bit grunty, after every feeding. I tried to see if it was the amount of milk I was drinking (cuz i was NOT eating chocolate or broccoli), and we think that may have been the issue, but its hard to tell. She also needs her diaper changed a million times a day. I mean, I can count on one hand how many time I've changed her and there WASNT poop. Goodness, lady! But she really is doing better now!

The first few days Sayda would get the shivers. I had to always keep her in layers. Actually I still do. I mean, it IS winter, but none of my other kids ever got so chilly (ok, they weren't born in winter, I get it, hehe), but she just Loves having a blanket on all the time. It comforts her, just the weight of it I think.

She doesn't really fit in newborn size, at least nothing with feet. She'll fit into NB onesies, but not jammies. Maybe she got the tall Heinrich women gene!

She's also got cute, long toes! But almost no eyelashes…. I know thats normal for a newborn, but both other kids had/have Killer lashes! … but she DOES have great skin! Both big kids, as babies, got that zitty chin from nursing, and other small imperfections on their faces, but not Sayda! She's got clear, beautiful skin!

The first week or so, Sayda would get up twice at night to eat, and go right back to sleep, which was fine! Now its usually only once each night, and she's been sleeping about 5 hours at a time at night! The other night she did 6! During the day, she would be fine without eating for about every 3 and half hours, which is great! The past few days though, she gets hungry just Before 3 hours, Booo. But still, she's eating and sleeping very well! She's even filled out a lot! Getting those chubby cheeks and double chin, like all our babies do!

A few people have asked how Sayda got her name. Well, actually I was watching What Not To Wear, and there was a shot where they were in NYC, shopping, and there was a store called SAADA, and I thought I liked that for a girl's name, ran it by Jake, he liked it too, and walla! We have a girl's name!

Ok, so Sayda does this one thing that Diella used to do as a baby (and I think maybe Ethan too?). Even if she's just woken from a nap, whenever we are in a loud public place (the store, at church, etc.), she closes her eyes…. and whether she's actually sleeping, or still awake, closes herself off from all the commotion. D did the same thing. It's like "Woah, WHAT is all this? I'm outta here."

And two days ago, Jan 17th, Sayda showed us her first REAL smile! She was looking RIGHT at my face when she did it! And she did once last night to Papa at his house! And then once again today! YAY! Its like Ethan's smile as a baby, wide-mouthed, jaw open! SOOOO Adorable!

Sayda Elizabeth is here!!!

So just a few short (we'll-skip-the-gory) details. So on Thursday, December 9th, we went int0the hospital, scheduled to be induced at 6am. When we heard of the two doctors that were on call for the day, there was one we're were hoping for, over the other. One of them was the man who delivered Ethan, (and we're weren't thrilled with him) and the other was a doctor that I loved! We shortly later found out that he called in sick, and that the doc coming into to take his place was Dr. Warner, another one who I LOVE! She was SO great!!! (we just feel bad that we prayed he wouldnt be there... cuz of course we never wanted him to get sick!)

The pitocin was started at around 7:45. I'm now a little upset with myself for anticipating a short delivery. I was hoping for around 3 hours, and by the time we got to 4 and half hours, I was mad at myself. But, nonetheless, she came just under 6 hours later, at 1:30pm.

I only pushed twice!!! The doctor was so impressed, she suggested (jokingly) that I consider becoming a surrogate, haha! Once again, I didnt tear at all!!! So delivery did go pretty smoothly, but it was afterwards that I had some problems. I had been passing a decent amount of clots, so they had to first take care of that, and then they also had to cath me to relieve some of that jazz as well. I had LOTS of pain afterwards, and then I was even having some chest pain. It was strange, and I even lost my breath once, where I had almost a panic attack, but I was alright, that didnt happen again. The chest pains would come with each contraction. It was weird. They finally gave me this medicine in my IV to take care of it. It made me SO loopy! The room was spinning for like an hour! It was nuts!

Again, Jacob & my mom were both a tremendous help!!! There were some interesting things we tried this time for comfort. One of them being where I was on the bed, on my knees, and leaned over onto mom & jake, who were also leaning down on the bed. It was almost humorous. Also, I asked for the mirror to be put up during delivery (like I did with both other kids), but I forgot to look at it even once!

When the "big kids" came to visit her later that night, at first, they just stared (not in fear at all, just amazement I think). It was sweet! Then right away, Ethan wanted to hold her! That surprised me. But of course after about 20 seconds, he said "all done." hehehe. Diella was very excited about meeting her new sister, but also surprisingly, at first she did not want to hold Sayda. A little while later, I told her that Sayda was waking up & opening her eyes.... and THEN Diella was ready to hold her. So for some reason, that changed things for her, and when she held her, she fell in Love!

We had a few visitors. The first night, Kayla Edwards came! And then later, Pastor Jack & Pam came too! The following day, Joel & Nichole came to visit! When we brought her home, we had a few more visitors. Courtney, Jon Hamilton, Ryan Abbot, and Jen young & her kids! Oh and also Denny & Lynn stopped by!

Well, we were thrilled of course to have our second little girl! She was born at 7 lbs. 15oz. and she was 21.5" long!!! We're home now, and she is doing so well! She woke up twice last night to eat, 2am, and 6:30am, not bad! She's just so beautiful & we're really enjoying her!

Hospital Visit

So on Wednesday, Ethan got sick with a yukky stomach bug, throwing up a little, and diareah. He seemed to get a little better, then worse, then better.... I was at Chi Alpha the next night (due in 4 days), feeling totally fine, and then it hit me like a wall! I had major stomach pain, went home, and puked my royal guts out... and then the diareah came too. This pain was severe, crying out, doubled over kind of pain. So I was trying to stay hydrated with ice chips... just kept throwing up over & over, til I was empty! No fluids left in me at all! So I ended up going to the ER, they sent me to labor & delivery, not to have the baby, but to monitor the baby while they treated me. They said that a few other pregnant women had also come in with the same GI bug. Thing is, it causes contractions... not labor, but contractions... and CAN throw you into labor... so that it was safer for me, being later in term, than to come in like 6 months pregnant. So there I was, in the hospital bed, with an IV, and getting blood work taken, trying to sleep (it was 2am when we went in), and having contractions, but not labor. It was NOT fun. Plus, since I was dehydrated, they had a hard time getting a vein for IV, ouch! ... I also had to take 2 giant potassium pills. Good thing was, I got the IVs, got replenished, got some medicine, and the contractions stopped... so I left there feeling quite well! .... of course then I went home to Jake and both kids, who had also gotten the bug... so I spent the day taking care of them, hehe. What an experience!

Full Term

So today I'm 38 weeks and 2 days. Three weeks ago the doctor said I was 1.5 cm dilated, and today I went in for another appointment, and.... no change. I'm not too surprised though. This happened with both other kids. Today he said he's pretty sure he'll see me back in a week... which is fine, I mean, I'm not anticipating going early... plus, I'll for sure have a December baby like I wanted!

I wanted to write a little about some things I've been going through this pregnancy, a bit different from my others. Well, this was pretty common at this stage with my other two as well, but I'm to the point where I dont sleep all too well at night. Its mostly just being uncomfortable, but I've also had tummy pains... almost like to where the baby feels like its trying to crawl UP and out my neck! It gets up SO high, even to like an inch below my sternum. It hurts!

I've also been having a few random episodes of different kinds. Like a few weeks ago, after I sang worship in Chi Alpha, I sat down in my seat when we were finished, and I got really dizzy, and pretty hot, and a little blurred vision. It was strange because it wasnt UNTIL I sat down that I felt it. I just sat a bared it for a few minutes, then went to drink some water, and was better, but that was a bit strange.

Then last night, another random episode. About an hour after I fell asleep at night, I woke up, sat straight up in bed and Could. NOT. Breathe! I couldnt get breath at all, I was gasping, it was very strange! Jake woke up and asked if I was ok, I just shrugged. He asked what was happening & why, I just shrugged, as I continued to inhale air at all! I finally, slowly caught my breath, and even fell back to sleep rather quickly! But there was yet another Weird random episode of some kind.

I dont remember feeling this miserable with the other two. I feel like with my other ones, I "rocked it" up until the day I delivered. But this time, I'm just getting my butt kicked. There are plenty of times where I feel great, and my energy is up, but I just often feel like doing NOTHING but sitting. Either way, we'll go one or two more weeks, and baby will be here! Thats no time at all! I'm pretty cranky most days, but still very excited! We got the crib up & most of the baby things out... so we're ready to meet our THIRD little angel!