When I was pregnant with Jones, I did monthly updates on all the details of my pregnancy. I'm a little sad I didn't do that with Tiger, but I can do a synopsis of it!
Pregnancy Highlights with Tiger
Total weight gain: Less than 25 pounds. I was so very health conscious during this pregnancy, because my pregnancy with Jones was so eventful, and I wanted to do everything I could to help on that end. This actually started way before I got pregnant - Alan and I really made health our goal in the last 2-3 years, and lost quite a bit of weight, revamped our diet and lifestyles, really made it a priority. None of that changed because of this pregnancy. So that means I didn't eat just a ton, didn't give in to cravings very often, and I exercised every. single. day. Even when I really wasn't feeling like it. I exercised up until the Thursday before Tiger was born (on a Tuesday). I think that's why he was so healthy (9 on the Apgar!).
Maternity clothes: Yes, please! I started wearing maternity clothes at 20 weeks, just because I remembered how awesome they were from my first pregnancy, and I had always sworn that if I was ever pregnant again, I wouldn't wait to some arbitrary mark to start wearing them. You only have a short time to legitimately wear clothes with an elastic waistband, so I say (and said), "seize the day!".
Sleep: Slept okay. Got terrible Charlie horses for a while but, thankfully, those passed after a month or so. Hard to get comfortable toward the end. And I started snoring, so I had to resort to the nose strips (there is no dignity in pregnancy).
Best moment: We got to take Joneser to both ultrasounds - pretty cool!
Movement: Recognized/felt it a lot sooner this time around - probably around 16 weeks. Tiger moved around a lot right up until the end. He liked to get down far in the pelvic region and ball up. It was fun because Alan could definitely feel him when he would get like that.
Gender: We did the early-on blood test for gender (because, y'all, at 35, I was considered a geriatric pregnancy and therefore had the option of lots of fun extra tests and what-not. Let that sink in: 35 = geriatric. I'm telling you, no dignity, no dignity at all.), which I think took place around 14 weeks? I originally toyed with the notion of not knowing, but Alan and I were both forced to admit that we couldn't handle that suspense for 9 months. So we knew really early on that it was a boy.
Labor Signs: Not until the day he was born!
Belly Button in or out? In!
Cravings: I was pregnant during the hot, hot summer (it was hot from May all the way up to the day he was born), so my cravings almost all revolved around things that contained water: green grapes, plums, popsicles, pineapple, water with lime, etc. In the very beginning, I wanted all things pickled, and there was a week or two where I wanted hummus all of the time, and throughout, I would get sudden cravings for chocolate chip cookies but, thankfully, that was really the only thing that I wanted that could truly be categorized as unhealthy.
Symptoms: Snoring? Shortness of breath? I don't know, I didn't really have any symptoms to speak of ... thankfully, a totally uneventful pregnancy this time around!
What I missed: Being able to get cool (again: pregnant in the hot, hot summer). The shortness of breath bothered me, but I got over it. Being able to have a nice cold beer during the hot, hot summer was kind of a bummer, but not that big of a deal. Not being able to ride the rides when we were at Disney World was also kind of a bummer, but not a big deal (more on that trip later on).Weekly Wisdom: If the only prayer you say is "thank you", that is enough.
Milestones: We made all of the milestones with zero drama and trauma! What a blessing!
Some fabulous friends threw me and Tiger a wonderful baby shower. I had a baby shower with Jones, but it happened after I had him, so it was kind of nice to experience a baby shower while pregnant (and without any complications looming).
And now ... the story of how Tiger came into the world ...
Since I had a C-section with Jones, I was automatically a repeat C-section this time around. And that was fiiiiiine by me. I know there are people out there with terrible C-section experiences, but I am not one of them. The surgery and recovery were easy for me with Jones, and they proved to be easy for me with Tiger, so I was in no way upset or disappointed to have to go that route again. The due date was October 18 but with a C-section, they go at 39 weeks. So, that would've been Tuesday, October 11. When we were scheduling the surgery (pretty early on, as there was no reason not to), Alan requested Wednesday the 12th, so that he could take off Thursday and Friday as well, and be at home for an extended time. This seemed fine by me. It was not, apparently, fine by Tiger.
I worked up until Monday the 10th. Tuesday the 11th (which, reminder, was the day we would have been scheduled, being exactly 39 weeks, except we requested the next day ... God laughs at our plans, no doubt), I got up at the usual time, got Joneser off to school, then went and ran errands - paid our personal property taxes, went to the bank, Walmart, etc. I went by and visited Alan at the bank. My mom came over and we spent the afternoon hanging pictures in the baby room, organizing, etc. All throughout the day, I was having contractions but I truly did not realize that was what was going on! I just thought it was random pregnancy crampiness. I had never experienced contractions before! With Jones, we induced and pretty much went straight to a C-section, so I had no experience to draw from to know any better. By 3:00, I was pretty wiped out (and the cramping ... excuse me, contracting ... had gotten pretty bad - like, steal your breath kind of bad). So my mom went off to pick up Jones from school and take him to gymnastics. The plan was for him to spend the night with my parents, since we would be reporting bright and early at the hospital the next day. So we were going to go up to their house that night, say bye to Joneser, etc, after gymnastics. After she left, I decided I needed to lay down - I was more worn out than usual and, again, that cramping was really, ha-ha, cramping my style. I called Alan to check in with him and remind him to pick up Jones at gymnastics, and laid down on the bed. I hadn't been laying there for 5 minutes (and hadn't hung up from talking to Alan for more than 3 minutes), when I had the biggest contraction of the day and my water broke! I mean, like, full-on movie/tv show water breaking drama as in, there was no question of what had just happened. So, I did what every woman does when her water breaks: I panicked.
I called Alan, panicky, and he, to his credit and my eternal gratefulness, was totally calm. He had nagged me into packing a bag weeks ago (based on our previous experience with Joneser, where we were unprepared to go to the hospital, he was determined that the bag, at least, would be ready to go at any time) and he was obviously right about that - I just had to grab it and go! Well, change my pants, grab it, and go. We drove straight to the emergency room and were escorted up to labor and delivery. And I'll go ahead and tell you, at this point, I'm still panicking! My greatest fear was that we wouldn't be able to do the C-section and that was the plan, dang it! I like to stick to the plan! And it hurt! Like, for real, HURT! Alan will tell you that I have a high threshold for pain and I'll agree; but those contractions were painful on any threshold. I was dilated to a 4 and the contractions were coming every 4 - 5 minutes. Again: HURT! We got a wonderful surprise when Dr. Nelson showed up - he wasn't on call, so technically it should have been the doctor on call that performed the C-section, but Dr. Nelson happened to be there, for which I will always be thankful, just because we had developed such a good relationship with Dr. Nelson throughout the whole journey (and familiarity is always nice when you're panicking). So, they took Alan to get him suited up, and they took me to get me hooked up/drugged up (at last: relief!). One of my good friends is a nurse anesthetist, and she was supposed to be in my surgery ... the next day! I had texted her (and other friends) when we got to the hospital, and she called the on-call anesthesiologist and told him to be nice to me, ha! He told everybody else in the operating room ("Regina said we had to be nice to her!") and we all had a good chuckle over that (everybody loves Regina). So, it was a pretty jolly atmosphere in the operating room. And that anesthesiologist, bless him, did a fantastic job - relief kicked in pretty quickly and, just like that, we were off and running.
C-sections are very quick procedures - the actual retrieving of the baby takes, like, 15 minutes. And they've got the drape up, and you're numb, and the anesthesiologist is distracting you, so it doesn't feel like any time passes at all until you feel that weird form of pressure that you just know is some form of pushing and pulling centered around your internal organs and then, ta-da ... just like that, we're a family of 4!
 |
When Dr. Nelson held him up over the drape, one of our first reactions was, "He looks just like Jones!"
I still think they look a lot alike, but Tiger does have his own look.
I think it'll always be obvious they are brothers, but they won't be identical.
|
 |
| New big brother checking Tiger out! |
 |
| All of my favorite boys in one picture |
James is Alan's middle name, and we've both always liked it. Tiger ... while I was pregnant, we alternatively referred to him as "Junior" and "Tiger", just to have something to call him. And the longer we did it, the more we were like, "Tiger ... hmmm ... you know, that's pretty cool. Different. Strong. Cool." Everybody, of course, thinks we named him after Tiger Woods, and we do enjoy golf (especially Alan) but he's not named after Tiger Woods. We have determined that there is a really big generation gap when it comes to names. All of our friends/people our age that we tell the name to think that it's cool (and I truly believe that they think that ... I don't think they're just humoring me/being nice). Our parents' generation thinks we're nuts.
 |
| James Tiger Ward |
 |
| I think this picture is HILARIOUS! The look on Joneser's face! Like "What am I supposed to do with this?!" |
 |
| This is a sweet memory - Jones was, apparently, worried about me. He was really happy to get to see me after the surgery (this is in the recovery room). I had explained to him, forever ago, about having the baby - he had asked how the baby got out of my tummy and, thinking it best to be honest, I told him that there would be a surgery, the doctor would make an incision and pull the baby out. I showed him the scar from my C-section with him. He was forever fascinated with that notion, and repeatedly asked me if it would hurt. The two times we had ultrasounds and he was with us, he asked, "Is the doctor going to use his knife today?" I thought it was funny ... Alan was appalled. "Why didn't you just tell him it's magical!?" I really don't know, I think I was just focusing on being honest, and was just grateful that I didn't have to explain the alternative way that babies exit the womb. |
After that, it was a short two days and we were discharged and home to begin the real adventure. I didn't have any trouble bouncing back, and recognize that this makes me lucky, and I'm extremely thankful for that.
We have really enjoyed the newborn phase - we are less terrified this time around of doing anything wrong (or doing anything with a newborn baby period, like we kind of were with Joneser). I love to just hold him, feed him, look at him ... everybody always tells you that with an additional child, your heart grows bigger to make room for all of the extra love, and that's so true. I spent the month I took for maternity leave pretty much just sitting and staring at Tiger, soaking it all in ... and it is, of course, helpful that he's an extremely easy baby.
 |
| First bath! |
 |
| Everybody wants to know how Jones is handling having a new baby brother. I can honestly say: "Great!" He loves Tiger, and he is the biggest help! He loves to hold him, feed him, hang out with him. He's very affectionate with him, and we haven't had any trouble at all with the adjustment thus far. I think a lot of it is the age gap, and the fact that Jones has a lot going on so he doesn't feel like an afterthought or lost in the shuffle (kindergarten, he has his own buddies, church activities, gymnastics, soccer, tee ball, piano lessons, etc.) and we've really made the effort to continue to do the same things we did before we had Tiger, and give Jones one on one time with both of us and with grandparents as well. |
