Nameless No More

It was almost written in the stars. As I lay in bed Wednesday night, I thought about what I had left to wear the next day. Being huge and not having a large amount of maternity clothes (and not all of them could even fit my bulging stomach at that point), nearing laundry day I had few options. The only thing that was clean and weather appropriate was my yellow striped t-shirt. As I realized this, I remembered that it was this t-shirt that I wore to the hospital when I was induced to have Lexie. I thought with a chuckle how ironic it would be if I happen to have the baby the next day. Thursday was also Lexie's last day of school, thus the end of any potential complications with me being in the hospital. I had actually contemplated taking castor oil earlier in the week, but had decided that if I was going to try to induce, I should wait until after school was out so there wouldn't be any complications getting Lexie there. Also, our Home Teacher came by Wednesday night and promised to pray for me to go into labor. Interesting timing.

I woke up Thursday feeling crampy and uncomfortable, but excited because I had my doctor's appointment that morning. While I tried to prepare myself for all possible outcomes, I daydreamed that the doctor would check me out and announce that the baby was on his way and instruct me to walk right over to the hospital and get 'er done. My daydream nearly came true. The doctor first felt my stomach to find the baby's position, and told me I was having a contraction right then and there! Then, after examining me, he told me he wouldn't be surprised if I went into labor that day, if not the next few days. And thus the contractions began.

That first one was at around 10:30am. They started about 30 minutes apart, and were more uncomfortable than painful. They become more frequent but still just uncomfortable over the next few hours. Around 4pm I called the doctor's office to double check that I should wait until contractions were every 5 minutes, but the nurse said that since I was a steady 10 minutes at that point, I should head on over to the hospital. Not wanting to get to the hospital too early, I called Wayne and had him wrap up work, packed a bag for Lexie, took her over to hang out with Grandma and Aunt Suzie, and eentually met up with Wayne and went to American Fork Hospital. My doctor was already there with another patient, so that was convenient.

This delivery was WAY faster than the first, but still scary at times. The anesiologist (I know that's not spelled right, but I can't think right now) looked like he was 12 years old, and that got me terrified. "Time to push" came a lot faster than anyone was expecting, and I should have pushed my pain med button a lot sooner, because I definately experienced pain. But in the end, it was fairly quick and easy, as far as labor goes. I instantly fell in love with the little guy. With Lexie, that took some time, because she represented a world of all new, terrifying things. But this little guy was not so scary, so I got to just enjoy him from the start. The second I looked at him, my mind immediately said "Seth James". I had considered this combo before and didn't like it, but when I saw him, that's just who he was.

He's been a great little guy so far. He's sleeping VERY well (4-8 hour increminents most times!) and eating like a proper Tomlinson should. Heavenly Father knew that if we were going to have another kid, he'd need to be able to adapt to us, because Lexie has a lot of needs, and I think we're getting that kid. We feel very blessed, and I can't wait to take him home and start our lives as a bigger family together.

Seth James Tomlinson

Seth James Tomlinson was born May 29th 2008 at 8:50 PM. He was 20 inches long and 7 lbs 10 oz. He and mom are doing well.

Now at the Hospital

Liz and I arrived to American Fork Hospital at 5:00 PM. Liz was admitted at 5:30 PM. It is now 7 PM and Liz is having regular contractions and more frequently. It is definitley GO TIME!

Tomlinson (and others) Call to Arms!

Today is Lexie's last day of school (for the summer), and mommy is terrified! I feel like she's just started to make progress, and I'm worried she'll regress over the summer. I've had a few meetings with her teacher, Lori Ruth, over the last couple of weeks, and she's really empowered me with a what we need to be doing and working on to get Lexie on track, both with speech and her overall development, both of which is behind on. I have a lot of faith in her teacher and her methods, because I've seen the kids in class and talked to parents and know that it works. So now we need to have it work for Lexie! Lori has suggested that I recruit family and friends to be "in the program" with Lexie, because the more people who are pushing her to do better, the faster she will, and even one person paddling the wrong direction, even someone she doesn't interact with ALL the time, can hurt the process. So here is what we're working on with Lexie. This is most important to be done at home with me, since that's where most of her time is spent, but anytime anyone sees Lexie they can help out by doing these things. Plus, I could really use everyone "being on my case", asking and making sure I'm still doing what I need to be doing for Lexie, even with the new baby.

1. Narrate everything! As we go through our day, narrate simply what's happening and what's being seen, in a clear voice and easy to understand language. Ex: "Lexie, you're looking at a book. That's a book! Who's on the book? It's a dog. The dog says Ruff Ruff!" or "Mommy is making lunch. Here's your milk. Should I pour the milk? Yes! I'm pouring the milk! Pour!"

2. Give everything a sound. Dogs say Ruff Ruff. Cats say Meow. Cars say Beep Beep. Airplanes say "AAAAAAAh!". Balloons say "Up up up!". A lot of things we've already established a certain sound to, so you can ask if you're curious, but ANYTHING can make a simple, easy to imitate sound. Show Lexie the sound and ask her to do it back to you.

3. DROP THE SIGNS! This is a HUGE one. I talked with a mom whose daughter was barely starting to babble at 4 years old. They were very much into the Deaf community, and we having a hard time dropping signing. She finally sat down with Lori, who told her that she really needed to drop the signs, because at this age, the brain can only focus on either visual or auditory, and visual was easier, so that's what it would do. They decided to have faith and drop the signs, and she started making progress in two weeks! Now her daughter is 12 and reads at an 11th grade level! Their family has picked up signing later, since it's a great language and very helpful, but until speech was solidified, the signs had to go. We must do this with Lexie! Right now it's hard, because you say something to her, like "Let's go to Grandma's!", and she looks at you as if you're speaking Japanese. Or Martian. And you know if you could just sign it she'd understand. But Lori explained that a newborn baby doesn't know what "Go to Grandma's!" means either, but the brain naturally wants to organize things and make things make sense. Just like a hearing baby will eventually learn what "Go to Grandma's" means, so will Lexie. We just have to give her brain the chance to figure things out.

4. Make Lexie be more independant! We all treat Lexie different than we would a "normal" three year old, like Mac for instance. I'm the worst! I spoil her rotten, because she's special and precious and life is hard enough for her. But this is why she is behind, because nothing is expected of her. She can't do things a three year old should be able to do, like put on clothes for example. She has the ability, she's just never been asked to do it. We've treated her like a "disabled child", and that's all she's going to be if that's all we expect from her. Her brain is fully functioning, so we need to start treating her like a normal three year old, and she will become one. This is a hard one for Mommy! If you see me helping Lexie with something she should be doing on her own, or in any other way pampering or spoiling her, tell me to knock it off!! I won't be offended, I'll be grateful, because after three years it's sort of automatic.

Thanks everyone for your support, and I know with everyone's help, Lexie can actually progress this summer, and go back to school in the fall ready to learn even more!

Grateful

I have a cute aunt who likes to send along a bunch of forwards. Most of the time I don't have time to sit and read all of them, but today she sent one that I kind of liked, and needed to read, seeing as I'm VERY whiney about my aches and pains right now...

I AM THANKFUL: FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.


FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.


FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED .



FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.



FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE



FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME .


FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM O F SPEECH.


FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.


FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.



FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.



FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.



FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.


AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL

BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
FRIENDS WH O ARE THINKING OF ME.

Car Day!

Lexie's preschool had Car Day today! Yesterday we spent almost three hours making her car out of a cardboard box, and today all the kids got to run around pretending to be cars. But the best part was that Cosmo showed up! I'm not sure what the BYU Cougars have to do with cars, but it seems like they had a lot of fun. And Lexie got a Car Show Award for having the Smallest Cutest Car. I'm going to take credit for that one, I figured she wouldn't want to lug around a big SUV, she's more of a Mini Couper kind of girl...

*In the class picture, Lexie is on the bottom right corner, and that's Lexie from behind in the top right picture. Her car has a Ski Utah liscense plate. You can click on the picture to see it bigger. This is just the newsletter that was sent home today.

The end is SET.

So now my whining from yesterday is unnessesary, because a for sure end to this pregnancy has been set. Unfortunately, it's June 6th. However, it was my choice. Odd, huh? Here's how the story goes: This morning I went in for my doctor's appointment and learned, sparing the intimate details, that I've made a big progression from last week. So it seems my body is definately gearing up to kick this baby out. The doctor then gave me the option for when to schedule an induction, if nessesary. Being my second pregnancy, I could opt to do it as early as a week before my due date, but no later than a week after, for the baby's safety. The "week early" option seemed VERY tempting, but something held me back. I think that, despite my burning desire not be pregnant anymore, part of me still wants to find out what it's like to go into labor naturally (Wayne will be on the couch watching tv or reading the newspaper when I suddenly enter the family room, luggage in hand, and calmly announce "Honey, it's time". Just like in the movies, right?). And seeing as I'm making some headway already, there may be a chance that nature will take it's course. So, that in mind, June 6th is also a fun birthday (6/6), and the doctor I like best from the practice is on call that day, so it just seemed right. Well, there you have it: though hopefully sooner, Nameless Baby will be coming by June 6th.

Labor, please!

I realized today I haven't written anything for a while, which is odd considering I check everyone else's blog almost every day. I think maybe I've been waiting to have something really big to write about... you know, the really big something. But alas, no baby. I'm very very anxious to have this kid. It seems like everyday the pain and discomfort is so great, there's no way my body can make me go through it for even one more day. And yet, it does. The little more than 2 weeks to go seems like an eternity, and even though my due date is June 6th, the thought of entering June still pregnant is so depressing I can't even fathom it at this moment. I keep thinking that I haven't gone into labor yet because there are things that need to be done, but events and tasks keep getting checked off and still no baby. Hair appointment so I'll look fresh in pictures: Check. Nursery completely finished: Check. All nessesary baby supplies bought, received, or cleaned and ready from storage: Check. AWESOME baby shower thrown by Korbie: Check. Hospital bag packed and ready: Check. I've even gotten in some helpful non-Nameless Baby related appointments, like a couple of meetings with Lexie's teacher. The only thing coming up is an audiology appointment for Lexie on Tuesday, but I keep trying to reassure Heavenly Father that Wayne would have no problem handling that one. Sigh... all pregnancies do end sometime, right?

Korbie took this picture of Lexie before everyone arrived for her birthday party. I just had to post it, for one because I love the composition and the clarity (man, do I need a better camera), and also because it just seems to capture so much of Lexie's personality. Yes, boys and girls, we are drama. But ain't we cute?

The Tomlinson Trio

I thought I should post a couple pictures of us as the Tomlinson Trio, before we become the Tomlinson Trio plus One. We took these last week when I remembered at the last minute that Lexie needed to bring a picture of herself with her immediate family to school the next day. Since I'm usually the one holding the camera, we had nothing, so we took a couple of quick shots with Wayne holding the camera out. Well, here we are, scraggly and squirmy and tore up at the end of the day...

a big birthday party THANK YOU!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came to Lexie's birthday party for making it such a fun event. You may or may not know this, but I hate having birthday parties. I stopped when I was about 11-12. I just stress out about everything and it's no fun, hense why Lexie hasn't had one until now. But thanks to everyone, it was great and stress-free (once everyone arrived. I wouldn't be me if I didn't stress about timing when to cut the cucumber for the veggie tray just right), even with so many little ones running around my house! The cats probably thought we were trying to torture them. Little Low-key Lexie seemed both thrilled and overwhelmed to have so many friends around, it was a great experience for her to help her shake up her comfort bubble a little. We're so grateful to have such awesome friends and family. You all rock!

Now that we're 3, we're a BIG GIRL!

Lexie's birthday is today! Since she's started opening doors, Lexie now wakes up in the morning sometime between 6:30-7am, comes in our room, walks over to Wayne's side of the bed, he lifts her up, I turn on the tv, and she sits inbetween us and watches Disney Channel and snuggles with us for a few minutes while we wake up. But today, apparently, was a new day. A Big Girl day. We heard her open her door, followed by the usual pitter patter of little feet coming down the hall. But instead of coming straight in, she decided to stop and play with something in the hall for a few minutes. Then, when she did come in, she did not go over to Wayne. Instead, she headed over to the dresser, found a small stack of dvd's on top, perused, picked the one she wanted, reached up and pressed the "open" button on the dvd player, put in her selection, then closed it. She then pressed the power button on the tv, and waited for her movie to start, not once looking back for any parental involvement. Of course, I still had to change the tv to "video" mode with the remote, but other than that she had everything under control. That's right, 3-year olds are Big Girls.

Total bummers.

It's funny how sometimes you'll get bombarded by a slew of little things to just totally bum you out, like a line of little gray clouds that decide to come over and float above your head for a bit. I was having a perfectly nice morning, until I read Lexie's daily note from her teacher when she got home. Lexie is behind where she should be in communication progress and has a lot of work to do. Well, this is of course not at all news, but every time it's just such a bummer to hear. I'm getting so tired of hearing from every therapist at every appointment how far behind Lexie is. I've been working so hard with her for over a year, and she's just barely starting to do the things she should have started 4 months in. I feel like her therapists must think I'm lying when I tell them that I do everything they tell me to, that we work on communication every day and practice the techniques they're showing me all the time. I mean, why else would she not be progressing? This is just one of those times when I'd love for Heavenly Father to give me just a little window into the future, show me Lexie somewhere down the line when all this hard work pays off and she's no longer "behind". All I'd need to see is one "Lexie is doing great!" report, and it'd have a finish line to reach for at this moment.
So I'm already totally bummed out by this little gray cloud, when #2 comes rolling in. I get an email from my agent calling for anyone interested in being an extra for High School Musical 3. Now, this really shouldn't be that big a deal, especially in the grand scheme of things. But I was supposed to audition for a couple of actual roles on this film several months back. In fact, the casting director had specifically asked for me, which is cool. Unfortunately, Nameless Baby had made his unexpected arrival in the soon-to-be-world, and pregnant women can not pass for highschool students. Well, at least not in a Disney film. So, the extra call just reminded me of another disappointment in my life. Double bummer.
So I decide to read a friend's blog to cheer me up, because she's a good writer and always enjoyable. But today she shared with the world a clever little "kids say the darnest things" moment she had with her kids. Which of course reminded me once again that Lexie cannot say such clever little things because right now the only thing she can consistantly say is "Meow", and even that in dwindling and becoming less of a word as she gets lazy and the novelty of talking wears off... Triple bummer.
Oh, and it snowed! On May 1st! I mean, come on! I'm usually a big enviromentalist, but even I'm starting to doubt this whole Global Warming thing. Just for those stupid flakes of snow, I'm not recyling a darn thing today. I was going to save and reuse the 2 plastic Walmart shopping bags I got today, but now I'm going to go throw them straight into the trash... and maybe eat some icecream or something...

The Van: Part 2

Yesterday when Lexie got home, she cried when she had to get off the van. I thought she'd be excited to see Mommy, but nope, all she did was cry and reach out for the van as it pulled away, signing "friends!". I guess I won't be offended and just be happy that she had a good time.

Today when I put her in the van, one of the straps on her carseat was stuck on something, so it took me a few extra minutes to get her in. She was grinning from ear to ear the entire time, and after a while she got impatient with how long I was taking and started gently pushing me away, big smile on her face. When I was done, I waved and said "Bye bye, Lexie!". She happily waved back, and out I went. So, I guess the van is a big hit.