A Look Back

It's hard to believe as I look out the window at a sunny, 50+ degree day, that exactly three years ago, I was 35 weeks pregnant and we woke up to an ice storm and no electricity. Rog and I decided not to attempt going to work, so instead we went downstairs to build a fire in the stove and try to keep warm.
My parents' house was also out of power. With no indication of how long we would be without power, and after much discussion and debate, we decided to get in the car and start a trek down to Cape Girardeau to stay with Rog's parents. We stopped before we left town for a late lunch. Throughout the meal, I was feeling tightening and pressure in my lower abdomen. Since I had not yet felt this before, I was unsure as to whether it was actual contractions, or if my stomach was just disagreeing with me.
We were really torn about what to do and were driving down the highway when we came to a split. If we drove south, we would be on our way to Cape. If we drove north, we would head toward the hospital. At the very last second, we veered north to go by the hospital. We were able to walk right into an exam room. The doctor came in, performed the examination, and told us that we would most likely have a newborn in 24 hours. We were terrified. We still had so much to do, nothing packed for the baby, and I had only
begun training my replacement for work, so the first words out of my mouth were "My boss is going to kill me!", and then shortly after, "Thank God we didn't drive to Cape!"
They got us a room, we called some good friends to go by the house and pack some items for the baby, and they proceeded to hook me up to an IV to attempt to stop the contractions. Once the initial shock had worn off, we were thrilled and excited. Later that night, the contractions began to slow down and then eventually stopped. After another exam the next morning, we were told that we could go home. Fortunately by that time our power was back on. We drove home disappointed, but understood that any extra time the baby could stay in the womb would be better for her health.
We made it through the weekend, though I was suffering through some pretty severe back pain, which in retrospect was probably back labor. Monday came, and my office was still without power, so I stayed at home. Rog worked and came home, and that night we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Minion's Cafe. We were enjoying
our meal, though my back was still in pain. I remember shifting to find a comfortable spot and then suddenly felt my water break. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to cause a scene. I quietly informed Rog, who jumped up, ran to the counter and asked for paper towels since his wife's water just broke. (This is how I remember it, Rog, so you can contest if you feel you need to! I love you!) The owners of the cafe were
people that we had gotten to know since we were in there so often and they were thrilled. We left the restaurant, headed home to get our now-more-prepared-suitcase, and drove to the hospital. Once we were in and settled, they had to give me pitocin to bring on contractions. They were much happier that the baby had waited until
the 36 week mark before she made her appearance. Apparently a few days makes a big difference. I'm not sure the labor could have gone smoother. We were checked into the hospital by about 6pm, the contractions didn't really start until 9 or 10, I had an epidural and tried to nap, and Teagan Hope came into the world at 2:10am on Tuesday, December 5, 2006. She weighed only 5 lbs, 11 oz, which made my part really easy, only about 20 minutes of actual pushing. That easy nature has stayed with her, for the most part. She was sleeping through the night at three months and has since then been a champion sleeper. Though the toddler stage has proven to be somewhat of a challenge, for the most part, Teagan has blessed us with her easygoing and comical personality. Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Catch Up

Well, it's been a whirlwind month without much spare time, so this blog has gone by the wayside. Rog got a job, which we are thrilled about, but he leaves the house at 5:30am and returns at 7pm during the week. He also works on Saturdays. I hadn't realized how much I had taken for granted his ability to take Teagan to daycare in the mornings and pick her up at night. My mornings are spent getting an extremely-independent-I-want-to-do-everything-myself-and-oh-yeah-I'm-potty-training-so-I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom-every-10-minutes toddler ready to get out the door and then scrambling to work, then leaving the office immediately at 5pm and fighting traffic to pick her up on time. However, I have been writing funny Teagan quotes on random scraps of paper and finally have a day to compile them! So here are the latest laugh-out-loud moments with which Teagan has blessed us:

- Completely random and brought on by nothing, she tells me: "Mommy, chill out!"

- After telling her to be careful, she replies: "Ok, mommy. I be careful. Are you happy now?"

- "Mommy, I get the mote (remote) cuz I a big gor (girl)."

- "Cheese gor fammich" = Grilled cheese sandwich

- "McDonald's House" = McDonald's (Said with a lot of enthusiasm and pointing every time we pass a McDonald's)

- "McDonald Duck" = Donald Duck

- "Cozen mustard" = Frozen custard

- One day when I asked Teagan to please cooperate, she responded with "Ok, Mommy. I craperate"

- Rog and I started to notice that any compound words with "corn" in them were automatically "popcorn". She called candy corn and cornbread "popcorn" within a couple of days. We corrected her on each account, but a couple minutes after finishing her cornbread, she thought for a second and then asked for "more Pop Bread, please".

- Mimi and Poppi bought her a new baby doll, which she promptly named "Baby Chappy."

- After a coughing fit, she declared, "I very got the coughes"

- After I complimented her behavior one day she responded with "Yes, I very sweet. I a cutie pie!"

- While putting a thermometer under her arm, she said "I gon take my tentchular." She then pulled it out from under her arm, looked at it, and said "Thirty pounds!"

- And finally, the most recent story that I love telling:
When we go to the store, I will sometimes promise her a mint once we get back to the car, as long as she behaves while inside. One night in the grocery store she was really misbehaving. I walked out with her throwing a tantrum and I put her in the car seat while she was screaming "I want a mint!" over and over again. I told her that until she calmed down and spoke to me politely, I would not be responding. So she proceeded to whine and scream a bit more, then suddenly said, "I don't lush (love) you, Mommy". Again, I did not respond or give her a reaction, I just drove. She said this a few times, and then after a few minutes as I thought she was calming down, she said "Excuse me, Mommy", and then waited for me to answer. When I responded with "Yes, Teagan?" She quickly answered, "I don't lush you." It stung a little, but I had to stifle a laugh, too. She later apologized and assured me that she did in fact love me. Phew...








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All I Want For Christmas

In follow up to the previous post, Teagan has adapted very well to life without a pacifier. Each day was progressively better, but she has officially gone more than a week without one. She seems to wake up earlier now, but that's just something we'll have to get used to, I guess.
I didn't want to post about this until we knew the outcome, but the real motivator behind getting rid of the pacifier was the fact that Teagan had an appointment today for a tooth extraction.
I can't remember if I posted about this or not, but a couple of months ago, Teagan went running into her bedroom and tripped and landed face first against her bed frame. We were so fortunate that a friend of ours, Dr. D, who is a pediatric dentist actually drove over to our house to take a look at her. Teagan likes her and responds very well to her. She alleviated our immediate fears but suggested that we bring Teagan in for an x-ray at a later date so that they could check the roots of the two front teeth. We put it off because after a day or two it didn't seem to bother her, but one day we finally took her in. We were dismayed to find out that she did in fact have an infection that would affect the permanent tooth unless the baby tooth was pulled. Dr. D told us that she would be able to do it using nitrous and a local anesthetic, but that if Teagan didn't cooperate, she would have to refer us to an oral surgeon who would need to perform the procedure under a general anesthesia. We made an appointment with Dr. D and prepared ourselves for the worst.
We came in at 9am this morning and Rog and I were certainly more nervous than Teagan. I'm not sure it could have gone smoother. Dr. D was amazing and so was Teagan. She got to pick a scented mask (strawberry or bubble gum) and she allowed Dr. D to place it over her face. There were a couple of minor mishaps that took place before the actual procedure. After Teagan had begun to relax her arms at her side, she suddenly raised them both up in the air and started talking. The nitrous tank had started to run out and had to be switched (which was done very quickly). Even after it was switched over and some minutes had passed, Teagan remained fairly aware of what was going on and kept trying to make conversation. She never really fought, but she did try to take the mask off and get out of her chair a few times. After Rog and I each took a hand of hers, she seemed to relax enough that Dr. D could inject the local anesthetic and perform the extraction.
Afterwards, Teagan received lots of praise for being so brave and cooperative. She picked out some special toys and then we took her home. As the numbness wore off, she whimpered and cried some on the way home in between nodding off and looking stoned, but when we got her home she watched a few episodes of Dora and finally felt normal enough to eat. She then took a very brief nap, woke up and ate some more, and from there on seemed completely back to herself. Nonetheless, we spoiled her with frozen custard, a trip to the park and a long walk. The day may have started off a little bumpy, but it really turned out to be a great day.

Goodbye, Old Friend

I'm not sure which of us is taking this the hardest. This is so long overdue.

Yesterday morning we asked Teagan to decorate a large envelope. When she was finished, we addressed it to "New Babies at the Hospital". We then stuffed it with her pacifiers, sealed it, added some stamps, and clipped it out on the mailbox for the postman. Fortunately Teagan is not yet aware that the postman doesn't come on Sunday and four cents postage won't get anything anywhere. We told her that she was a big girl now and that there were lots of little babies being born that needed pacifiers. She was very agreeable with the whole process... until naptime came around.
When it was time for her nap, we started our usual routine. Pick out one book, find her blankie, and sit in the rocking chair. Part of that routine is grabbing a passy out of the bucket by her bed, but of course there were none to be found. She turned around and looked at me and said, "I want my passy, please". I had to remind her what we had done earlier. She looked at me briefly with a smile in her eyes as if to say, "I know you're joking, mom, so where's my passy?". When it finally set in that she wasn't going to get it, she burst into tears. I calmed her down, read to her as she whimpered pathetically, and then laid her down. She once again requested her passy, but I told her that the postman had come and taken it away. (He can be the bad guy!) She proceeded to cry herself to sleep.
Bedtime last night was similar and she woke up several times. It's hard to know how soothing a pacifier really is until it's gone. We had a rough night. Then she woke up at 6am and again started crying when she couldn't find her passy. I know it's our fault (mine more specifically) for letting her have it for so long, but it was kind of an addiction for me, too. Being able to see that instant calm in her eyes when she's upset about something, or seeing the eyelids start drooping as soon as she placed it in her mouth was comforting to me as well. I know we'll get through it. I just hope we don't sacrifice too much sleep in the process!

Our Pet Caterpillar

One of our favorite books to read to Teagan is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", by Eric Carle. We recently were able to see a metamorphosis up close and personal, which all three of us found to be a fascinating experience.
A couple of weeks ago, the three of us went outside to hang out on the porch so Teagan could enjoy a popsicle. We noticed a very large caterpillar resting along the siding on our house. We pointed it out to Teagan and talked about it some, but then went on our way. By the time Teagan was finished with her popsicle, the caterpillar had begun to hang upside down.



We checked on it periodically through the evening and on in through part of the next morning, and it hung like that for somewhere between 17 and 23 hours. Rog said he saw it still hanging upside down at about 11 am the next morning, but by the time I got home at 5 pm, it was safely enveloped in a shiny green cocoon.



We kept an eye on it daily just to see if we could notice any changes, but for about two weeks there wasn't much to see. This morning we finally noticed that the cocoon had cleared up, allowing us to see straight inside.



We left the house for a couple of hours to go play at the park, and by the time we came back, we were thrilled to see that our fat little caterpillar had turned into a beautiful butterfly.


It rested for a few hours, allowing its wings to dry, and the final time I checked I saw that it had left us. It made me just a little bit sad to see it go, but I will revel in the fact that we were able to personally see something like that for the first time and share it with Teagan as well.

Down and Out

A little over a week and a half ago, I got called to Kansas City for a work trip. The day that we were finishing up and I was supposed to head home, I received a call from Roger who told me that he was looking for a Walgreens in which to buy a splint since he was pretty sure he had just broken his finger with a hammer.
It turned into a day long event for him since after he found the splint he decided to go to urgent care to have it checked out. With some help from my mom, Teagan was picked up from daycare and Rog was seen by a doctor, fitted with a larger splint, and referred to an orthopedic specialist the following week. After the visit to urgent care, my parents had some dinner waiting for him at their house and I was able to meet up with the entire family there upon my return from KC. Teagan informed me that Daddy had "a big, big, big baind-aid" on his arm.
After his visit with the specialist on Wednesday morning, he returned home with a big, big, bigger "baind-aid", a cast covering his entire arm below the elbow and orders not to use that hand for two weeks. Later that same night, Teagan was playing and ran into her room. She managed to trip and land face first into the frame of her bed. Neither of us actually saw it happen, but the immediate wail following the rather loud thump caused us to get into the room pretty quickly. It was our first real semi-emergency situation involving Teagan and a notable amount of blood. We ended up calling everyone we knew to figure out how concerned we needed to be and if we needed to get to the ER, consult a doctor and/or a dentist. We have been very blessed with good and knowledgeable friends who called us back quickly and offered their advice and expertise while we waited for a return call from the doctor's exchange. One of our friends from church, a pediatric dentist, actually insisted on abandoning her evening plans to see Teagan for herself. She came to our house and quickly put our minds at ease after earning Teagan's trust and being allowed access to look inside her mouth. She told us Teagan would be sore for a few days and needed to eat softer foods, but that we really didn't need to be very concerned and she should heal nicely. After a somewhat rough night of intermittent sleeping, she woke up in some pain and I decided to stay home and keep an eye on both of the patients. (Mostly the little one. The bigger one handles himself pretty well.) We spoiled her with popsicles and jello, and by the end of the day she was mostly back to her regular self, with just occasional episodes of tears and soreness. So, it's been a rougher sort of week, but if this is as bad as it gets, I think we've been pretty fortunate.

A couple of funnies from the mouth of Teagan to end with:
caterpillar = pallapitter or pillacatter

Singing what she calls "The Barney Song":
I lub shoes (I love you)
I lub shoes (You love me?)
Eh fam-i-lee (We're a happy family)
Gig hug an inna kiss from me to you (With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you)
Shu say you lub me too (Won't you say you love me too?)

To Chappy:
"My mommy Aimee and my daddy Rosher. What your name, Dappy?"

New Game

Teagan discovered this new game this weekend. Her inflection at the end of the video makes us laugh every time.