Life after Thanksgiving

Whew! The turkey has been stripped, the pies have been eaten, the stuffing is gone...
And, of course, we don't want to think about how much weight has been gained!
We had a good Thanksgiving. We gathered at Uncle Doug's house with some of Aunt Joan's family. It was a great dinner, and everyone got to see our new baby. She's doing somewhat better now, sleeping about 3-4 hours at a stretch.
Sadly, that is partly due to the fact that she's on straight formula now. My body simply refuses to produce enough milk for her, so I've stopped breastfeeding. I may have better luck next time, I don't know, but I have all the indicators for a genetic condition called "hypoplastic", which means that I don't have enough milk glands. That being the likely cause, I may never be able to nurse properly.
Well, I tried. For a week and a half, I tried so hard, and my supply just dwindled. I'll just have to leave it in the Lord's hands from here. Esther was more or less the same situation, and she's healthy.
On a brighter note, Christmas is coming. Time to pull out the tree! Esther loves lights, it's going to be fun to see her watching them glitter. We have lights that race around, some that play music, and some with bi-colored bulbs. Gift shopping will be a bit sparse this year, due to financial concerns, but we'll do our best to make sure no one is forgotten.
Esther is getting into mischief again. She's getting a bit bolder about her sister, a few days ago she bit her on the toe. I'm not sure why, she probably thought it was a game since we pretend to nibble toes and stuff. It's so hard to tell her "no" when she's just trying to play. I don't want to turn her off completely from playing with her sister, but I can't just give her free rein, either. It's all a balancing act, and I definitely have more respect for moms with lots of kids. I am not the most patient person in the world, I guess this is supposed to teach me otherwise, eh?
I think that's all for now, sleep deprivation is making my brain fuzzy.

Welcome Home Taemarin!

Gotta make this post quick, baby just woke up!
My newest bundle of joy, Taemarin Lily Calkin, was born on November 8, at 10:30 am, after a mere 2 1/2 hours of induced labor. (She has since made up for the short labor by keeping me awake most of the night!) It turns out I was already 5 cm/80% effaced when I went in, so it likely would have happened soon anyway!
She was 7 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches long, and looks a lot like her sister, except for a fine layer of dark hair. What color it will turn later, we have no idea! Could be red, like Jeff's family, or it could go blond and then dark when she's older, like my family.
Mom and baby are doing well, aside from some exhaustion. Esther is...well, mildly curious and occasionally jealous, but she's handling it well, and so far hasn't tried to hurt the baby or even touch her beyond a few light pats on the head.
I'll post more later as/if time permits.

Almost there!

I look at the calendar, I look again, and I can't believe it's November. As of tomorrow, it will be one week till my due date.

It's not like we're not ready. We're just not quite "ready". We have her clothes arranged in the drawers and hung up on the rack, we have a bassinet in our room, we still have to dig the car seat out of its box and get the base strapped into the van, but it's at least accessible. The "ready" part, however, doesn't account for emotional readiness. I already have one baby to care for, and she's quite a handful! Jeff is busy with school and work...still, we knew it was right at the time, and it's still right. This little girl is coming to our family, ready or not!
At the moment, however, we're not sure when the blessed event will arrive. Yeah, I know, nobody ever is. Except when you're induced, of course. That's the confusing part, here. My doctor gave me a list of dates. The 5th, 8th, and 15th of November. Initially I took the 5th, (hey, five days early ain't gonna hurt!), but doing it on a Monday would interfere too much with Jeff's work and school schedule. So I set it for the 15th, a Thursday, which means he would probably miss class but not miss work since I'd be in the hospital all day Friday anyway.
However, for the last week I've been noticing more and more contractions, not to mention the fact that the baby's head has been dropped into position for almost a month. She is clearly ready, it's just my body that's not doing its job.
So, I called the office again to see if there were any openings for the 8th instead. Just my luck, the doctor wasn't in today, and the nurses can't find her schedule book.
Drat.
So now I'm waiting until Monday to see if the date can be moved. If not, well, , what's an extra week?
And there's nothing that says she won't kick hard enough to break my water before then. In which case I'll be in the hospital muy pronto! We keep joking about the most embarrassing place for it to happen. At the store? Yes, that's embarrassing. But I think the worst would be right in the middle of sacrament meeting. Sitting in church, and suddenly my water breaks all over the pew.
THAT would be embarrassment!
Well, I think that's all for the moment. Short, I know, but Numb3rs will be on shortly and I don't wanna miss it.
Yes, I'll post again as soon as I know more about the date, and of course I'll post full details when Taemarin makes her debut in the world.