A Dog Update

Posted in Dogs, My Family by Katy

It’s been a couple of months since I gave an update on our two pups and how they are doing with our new addition.

Our rat terrier is still apathetic towards the little boy. I think the only thing she realizes is how much he encroaches on her snuggle time with Michael. Any time he is sitting on the couch, holding our son, she insists on getting up there with them. She will even let the boy give her a few pats on the head if it means she can be sitting on Michael’s lap.

Our blue heeler has taken a more active role. When I’m feeding Sam, he comes into the nursery just to check on us, then goes to sit on his chair in the library (it has become his chair). He has gotten a bit adventurous with the kisses (and I have wipes on hand now). He mostly loves to go for the hands, and Sam has responded by attempting to grab his tongue. Yes, lots of handwashing and monitoring during these interactions.

Sam obviously is responding more to the dogs. He notices when they walk in front of him or sit beside him. He’s still hesitant to reach out and touch, but he has been pretty gentle so far. I look forward to teaching him the right ways to interact with these puppies. I continue to hope he loves them as much as I do.

Some A’s for the Q’s

Posted in My Pregnancy Loss, Pregnancy 2017 by Katy

The past few months since our son was born, I’ve gotten a couple questions asked that I thought would be good to address on here as well. Having a child after pregnancy loss tends to color the world just a little bit differently, and seemingly innocuous questions may end up being more awkward than intended. So, here’s my perspective.

Is this your first?

I have gotten this question at the pharmacy, Wal-mart, walking on the trails, at the car service place. Just about everywhere. It comes up right after “Oh, he’s so cute!” And it’s usually a stranger who doesn’t know my story.

Even people who do know my story refer to Sam as my firstborn which is a weird conundrum. Because he’s technically not. I literally gave birth to two precious girls in the hospital. But they were stillborn.

I know this has been a problem for several pregnancy loss moms because this comes up on the forums at least once every 6 months. We want to honor our children who passed away, but somehow, it’s controversial to do so. And awkward. And we don’t want the other person to feel bad for asking such a simple question.

Basically, I say, “I had two stillbirths before having this one” and leave it at that. Sometimes it opens up the most beautiful conversations, sometimes it doesn’t. But that’s okay. (I know that for some moms this is really hard to talk about, especially around anniversaries. So if you don’t mention your other kids sometimes, that’s okay too.)

Are you going to have more children?

I was dumbfounded the first time this topic was brought up because I hadn’t even physically recovered from having my son yet!

The short answer is not right now. We are still figuring out this little boy. I’m still dealing with postpartum anxiety. We are taking this life day by day, enjoying the good moments and surviving and learning from the bad ones.

Even if we go other routes to add children to our family, like adoption, nothing is easy and nothing is guaranteed. And all of it is emotional. And there is so much more processing and working through my emotions that I need to do.

Do I want my son to have a sibling on this earth (in addition to his two sisters in heaven)? Yes. Do I know how or when that will happen? No. But I can confidently say not today.

If you get pregnant again, will it be high risk?

So, again, short answer, yes. Even if I never had pregnancy losses, I am now in the Advanced Maternal Age category, so they would all be a high risk anyway.

But I realize that the question is really, “Is it over?”

And the answer is no. This last pregnancy gave no answers to why I lost my two daughters. Perhaps it is a gender thing, but it may not be. The reality is that it could still go either way. It is another reason I need to spend some time getting emotionally ready if we do decide to try again for another baby.

Of course, these are my answers to these questions. Other moms could have different answers. And my answers could change in the future. I know that these questions come from a place of love, but be careful how you ask and be ready for the mom not to answer. And I would also suggest not asking complete strangers these questions, but instead just tell them they have a beautiful baby and that they are a beautiful mom. That’s really the best thing you could do.

18Jul2018

The Farmer’s Market

Posted in Outings by Katy

I love going to the Farmer’s Market. I hadn’t been yet this spring or summer because of the baby, but I finally went last weekend. And I took the little boy with me. Granted, it was during the normal time of the day that I take him for a walk in the stroller, so he slept through this experience as he does most stroller rides, but I see this as only the beginning to a fun tradition.

It seems bigger, which I think is great. And it’s so much more than vegetables. There were people selling jewelry, apparel, lotions, hot foods, even a bookseller (which I managed to resist this time, but I don’t know about next time. They were children’s books, though any book tends to be my kryptonite).

But there were a lot of vegetables and fruit. And the fruit was aromatic. After making one trip around the entire market, I settled for the biggest fruits and vegetable booth, mostly because they were selling okra. But the fruit smelled so good, I ended up buying some of them as well.

This was my haul. I also purchased a cranberry raisin walnut bread and a pain au chocolat from a bakery booth. The bread was a perfect balance and excellent warmed up with a little butter. And the pain au chocolat was ridiculously delicious. The croissant part was buttery and the chocolate center was perfect. Plus, the fruit was perfectly ripe.

Michael wasn’t able to go with us this time, so I know we will be back again at least one more time this year (though it’s open every Saturday until November, so it will probably be more than just one more time). I’m so grateful to have access to these food options, and I look forward to my next visit!

12Jul2018

My Experience with PostPartum Anxiety

Posted in My Pregnancy Loss, Pregnancy 2017, Rambling Thoughts by Katy

I waited five long years. Through miscarriage and stillbirth, I finally gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. I crossed the finish line.

Or so I had thought.

When I reached that finish line, I looked up and saw I had several more laps to go. And, guys, I was exhausted. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. Not even considering the following weeks of sleep deprivation and hormonal letdown. Anxiety was still present.

But I chalked it up to the baby blues. I waited until the hormones leveled out more or less. Michael took the night shift so I could get more sleep. Even after that, I still had those nights when those thoughts wouldn’t leave me. The thought that wouldn’t let me sleep.

“Your baby is going to die tonight.”

It was terrifying. I would be up every hour checking on the baby, even if I woke him up. And we knew that this wasn’t sustainable. Even during the daytime naps, I was constantly checking to see if he was breathing. In those moments, it was as if he knew because he always seemed to kick or sigh in his sleep when I looked over at him.

There were other issues as well. I didn’t trust my intuition. I was convinced that I was going to hurt him in some way. Was I feeding him enough? If his head fell forward or fell backward unexpectedly, was I forever damaging him? I felt like he was safer in other people’s arms than in my own. And I wasn’t bonding with him at all.

So, I talked to my therapist. She told me that all of these things were quite common in a lot of pregnancies. Bonding with the baby wasn’t going to be instantaneous, just like falling in love with someone happens slowly over time. However, my PTSD from losing my girls was definitely playing a part, and after I talked to my OB, I got some medication to help.

And it has helped. It doesn’t make everything perfect, but it quiets the thoughts and gives me a chance to learn to trust my gut. And I’m bonding with the little guy more and more each day.

There is this pressure to enjoy motherhood. To soak up every second of every day because it goes by so fast. And because I have waited so long for these moments, the pressure feels even greater to appreciate every second. I love my son. And I look forward to the snuggles every day. I even think some of his cries are adorable (and when he sticks out that lip, I just want to snuggle him).

But I have to take care of myself. I need to make sure I’m as healthy as I can be so that I can take care of him. Post-partum anxiety is real and nothing to be ashamed of. And it’s not forever, so for now, I will just take each day as it comes, giving myself grace, and be grateful for the support and love that surrounds me.

11Jul2018

Our Family Trip

Posted in My Family, Outings, Pregnancy 2017 by Katy

Last week, we traveled for the first time with a baby. The ride there was pretty uneventful. He slept the entire way. And throughout the visit, he was sleeping and eating at regular intervals, despite being completely off of his schedule.

The reason we traveled with Sam so early was that we wanted him to meet Michael’s dad. His dad has Alzheimer’s disease which has progressed to the point that he can no longer travel and needs full-time care. I didn’t really know what to expect.

Honestly, both he and Sam slept through their introductions. But he seems to be happy and well taken care of where he is, which I am very thankful for the people who love on him on a daily basis.

The rest of the trip was spent with Michael’s mom, his brother and his wife and their daughter. It was really a great time. We walked around the local college campus. We chatted about raising our kids and all the ups and downs. We watched the two cousins interact (well, as much as a two-month-old and an almost one-year-old interact).

Michael’s mom’s church threw a baby shower for Sam. And there were lots of ladies there who cooed and snuggled Sam. We are so thankful for the love and prayers from that church. They have become a part of our amazing extended family these past several years. I am so thankful for such a wonderful visit with family and friends!

27Jun2018

Birthday

Posted in Holidays, My Family, Outings by Katy

So, this month, I turned another year older.

Of course, this birthday was super special because I had a precious little boy to snuggle all day (although to be completely transparent, the boy was quite a grump on my birthday, but I still managed a snuggle or two).

Michael also fed my insatiable book habit with six new books. Two of them aren’t showing in the picture below because they are preorders that will come out in September and October (The new Deborah Harkness book and the new Ransom Riggs book).

And then, Michael came home early on my birthday, and I went out alone to get my nails done. I didn’t take any pictures because I was seriously just enjoying the moment. I got a package deal that included an amazing neck massage with the manicure. Simply divine.

And then last weekend, Michael’s coworker watched Sam while we went to dinner. It was the first babysitting experience outside of family and, honestly, it was wonderful. Michael and I ate steak and had dessert. And we ordered things on Amazon for Sam from our phones. Ok, so we were still thinking about him and our conversation was all about him, but baby steps, right?

Overall, I would say this was a pretty amazing birthday. I’m so grateful for this last year, and I look forward to the adventures this next year will bring!

20Jun2018

Showering The Baby

Posted in My Family, Outings, Pregnancy 2017 by Katy

As I mentioned in Week 18 of my pregnancy, we decided not to have a baby shower before Sam was born. But we did have a celebration last weekend for his arrival. To see it all put together was very overwhelming to me. I didn’t know if I would actually get to this point, but here we are.

One thing I know for absolute certain is that Sam is loved. And there were so many who have been waiting in anticipation to celebrate this arrival. He was held and cooed at and loved on the entire time. In fact, one little girl, the daughter of one of my friends, followed him around as he was passed from one loving set of arms to another, just fascinatingly smitten.

Another special part of the shower were the people there. Especially these four girls. I hosted some of their showers when their boys were born, and now they were here to celebrate my son.

I have an amazing community. I am so grateful for the people who have celebrated this little boy’s arrival both near and far. We have been just incredibly touched by those who have sent cards or other items, encouraging notes, and sweet messages. Thank you for loving our little family and for providing such an amazing welcome for our son.