Koala! Her Birth and First Weeks

Whew!! I'm not pregnant anymore!! My tiny, adorable, sweet, calm, wide-eyed, beautiful, darling daughter has arrived!! Koala joined our family at 10:04 pm on Tuesday November 30th, 2010. She was a tiny 7 pounds 10 ounces. Not my smallest baby - that was Tortoise at 7 pounds 2 ozs, but MUCH smaller than the other 4! Zebra was a whopping 9/13! - I tell ya! delivering a 7 pounder is easier by far! ;-) She was 21.25 inches and has black hair and DARK clear Blue Eyes. She's gorgeous ~ but I'm not biased or anything!

Lion holding me through a contraction...

             Our 5th Home-Birth went off without a hitch... if you ignore that my Mom Eclectus was unable to make it (oh she tried!! she left my home state Tuesday morning and BOOGIED for 13 hours straight to get here on time, but missed the birth by a scant 2 hours *frown*). And Lemur was sick so was also unable to help as a birth assistant to Stork, but Stork had help in the form of a midwife-in-training (who will not receive a zoo name), who was pretty awesome :)

Me meeting Gorgeous Koala for the first time :)

My Beautiful Koala - just 1 hour old

My Mom Eclectus meets Koala. She is 2 hours old here.

          The next morning, Koala's brothers and sisters got to meet her for the first time....

Here she is!! Your new baby sister!

Vixen is a Big Sister!! And she LOVES it!! ~ I know this picture doesn't LOOK like she loves being a big sister, but she NEVER misses an opportunity to kiss Koala and ALWAYS wants to help by throwing out her diapers. :)

Hello Baby Sister!

Silly Monkey got to hold her "All By Myself!"

Zebra was fascinated by yet another baby sister :)

Biggest Brother Elephant holds Tiniest Sister Koala

Tortoise LOVES her sister on sight!

           Koala's first week was a bit trying as she developed a pretty severe case of newborn jaundice (both Tortoise and Zebra had it as well - both required bili-lights). After 5 days and nights under Stork's Bili-lights (thank God we were able to have them at home!! - unfortunately the lights had the added side-effect of migraines for Mama, but we dealt as best we could. Lion and Grama Eclectus were awesome taking care of me and helping give me a break holding tiny girl for a few hours at a time under the lights. You guys ROCK!)...

Koala under the Bili-lights - the mask is to protect her eyes

Stork finally pronounced her well enough to forgo more lights and get some clothes on :)

    

  Other happenings the first few weeks...

Koala learns she CAN sleep on her own.

We all marvel at Koala's Itty Bitty Little adorable feet. :)

She gets her First Bath - yes I know my hand is in the way - but you can see her eyes!

Nap Time! ~ Check out that HAIR!

Pretty Profile

First Car Ride ~ yes we went to Walmart :/

Great Grampa Badger Meets Koala

        All-in-all a WONDERFUL 3 weeks! 

Busy Busy Busy

Where oh where to begin! 

     So much has been going on! I spent 3 weeks feeling really really bad (so bad that my Mom flew in from my home state to help take care of me and the kids - we seriously thought I'd end up in the hospital with the crazy symptoms I was having, and the severe lethargy that is completely unlike me in the 3rd trimester or pregnancy). After many many blood tests, ultrasounds (of organs and baby - hence the new ultrasound pics posted recently), and doctor visits, with no real diagnosis, I finally started feeling better all on my own. Really though, wouldn't it have been easier, and nicer!!, to have given my some antibiotics to clear up whatever infection I had. It WAS determined I had an infection of some sort as my white blood cell count was elevated, I was jaundiced, was throwing ketones, couldn't stay awake for more than 3 hours at a time, and my hands itched so badly that they developed a rash, swelled to twice their normal size, and were quite painful to touch (it's been weeks and they are still recovering from whatever had them all messed up). Despite the fact that the doctors KNEW I had an infection that was not clearing up in "the normal amount of time" they would not prescribe medication to ease any of the symptoms or make me feel better in any way. I just don't get it... aren't they supposed to want to help?! Or is society in general so worried about lawsuits and malpractice that a doctor can't help?? *sigh* anyway, it's over now. My mom took me to the local health food store and got loads of herbal treatments for infections and such and then took me home to sleep. :) Love my mom! The meds tasted awful but they DID seem to help, and being able to sleep when I needed to and not have to worry about who was taking care of all the kids was a tremendous help! THANK YOU MOM!

        Next!! The Fox Enclosure has arrived!!! Darling Lion flew to my home state to pick up our friends, help them finish packing up, and help drive the UHaul home to Giggle's Zoo. 

The Fox Enclosure (all Fox names are temporary):

Fox - Lion's best-bud buddy from the Military

Kitsune- Fox's Wife

Red Fox- Fox and Kitsune's little boy

Kit Fox- Fox and Kitsune's unborn baby girl

They lived with us for a couple weeks and then found a place not so far away to get the heck away from the craziness of Giggle's Zoo. Not that I blame them... I wouldn't have wanted to live in the spare room - with no furniture (very little privacy), and a toilet that clogs almost every time it's used (and they shared that bathroom with ALL the Giggle Zoo kids)!! YIKES! I really enjoyed Kitsune's company and she was an awesome help in the kitchen!! Tortoise got spoiled cause Kitsune kept doing her kitchen chores for her, and had a rude awakening when they moved out and she was responsible for them once again! Little Red Fox is going to school with our Zebra, and seems to enjoy it. Kitsune is pregnant with a little girl and due in February -- SO EXCITED to meet little Kit Fox!! Fox is working with Lion currently, but after the birth of little Kit Fox will be leaving for Army training... and leaving Kitsune, Kit Fox and Red Fox here until he receives orders for their permanent duty assignment. Hopefully I will get to spend a lot of time with Kitsune, I really REALLY enjoy her company and it's SO nice to have a friend! -- that sounds a bit pathetic! LOL

           What else.... hmmm... am now almost 36 weeks with little Koala! She's not as big as some of the other babies have been (considering Zebra was 9 pounds 13 oz at 2 weeks early, that's NOT a bad thing!!), and is doing GREAT. She really hates the sonogram though... poor Stork has to chase her around my belly to get a heartbeat, and even then she only holds still for a few seconds... funny that, considering she's not nearly as active as Vixen and Monkey were! She's just more forceful when she IS active! Lion was commenting just last night how she looked like she was "kicking the crap out of me" LOL. If I set my laptop on my belly while she's kickin it literally JUMPS off my belly! -- 

         I wonder what she will look like?? Obviously we KNOW she's a beauty! :) but will she look like big sisters Tortoise and Vixen? Or like our Zebra? I KNOW I'm not *supposed* to have a preference, but I'd SO LOVE IT if she looked more like Zebra! Or maybe a redhead this time around?!! Certainly there's precedent for a redheaded baby! Both my Grandmothers AND Meerkat (Lion's Mom) are natural redheads... surely ONE of our babies will have red hair. I still dream of a black haired green eyed baby, so maybe little Koala will have black hair and GREEN eyes? *sigh* won't be long till we find out! If "tradition" holds out she'll make her appearance sometime between December 5th and the 10th (my due date is December 19th, but ALL 5 of Koala's brothers and sisters were born within 5 days after 38 weeks). Unfortunately, Lion's college finals are the 6th- 10th!! YIKES So I'm going to see what I can do to get her to want to come on the 4th or the 5th. *wink* anytime AFTER Thanksgiving is great for me! 

       We're having family Thanksgiving HERE at Giggle's Zoo this year!! The body count is 32 so far!! AHHHH! This is gonna be fun! Seriously! I am SO looking forward to it! I'm making a ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, homemade bread, monkey bread, and ohhh geez I've forgotten what else!! I've got a list somewhere! I'm sure I'll post TONS of pictures after!

        Tortoise AND Vixen's Birthday is ON Thanksgiving this year!! I can't believe my Tortoise is turning 10! And my baby Vixen is turning 2! Where does the time go? So we're having a dual birthday party on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (so I can get their gifts on Black Friday Sales!). 

        I'm also taking a Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Michael's this month!!! THANKS Meerkat for the classes!! The first week was how to make icing - how to thin icing, etc... SOME of which I already knew - but the thinning the icing part was illuminating! The second Week we brought an 8 inch cake and icing to class, then layered, filled, and iced it via Dimensional Icing! Pretty cool! I finally figured out how to get icing to smooth out cleanly onto a cake with a minimum of fuss (knowing how to thin the icing was key - that was a Duh Mama Roo You're an Idiot for Not Knowing That moment! :) but I was pretty pleased with the results (other than the freakin cake crumbs in the icing!!! - apparently a side effect of chocolate cake - difficult to keep the crumbs out of it). Next week we are bringing cupcakes and learning how to make flowers!! I'm super excited!

         *sigh* I think that catches everything up. Here's a synopsis of how crazy the next month will be:

Next Thursday (less than a week away) - Thanksgiving and 32 people in my house!!

Friday - Black Friday Christmas Shopping

Sunday - Tortoise's 10th and Vixen's 2nd Birthday party

around the 1st of December - My Mom arrives for Birth of Koala

sometime between Dec 5th and 10th: Birth Day for Koala!!!

Sometime between Koala's Birth Day and Christmas: Caterpillar's Birth Day (Platypus's midwife is thinking on inducing the first or second week of December)

Then My Family arrives from my home state for Christmas

Christmas!!

New Years's!! -- and extended Family Christmas!

WHEW!! then we get to settle down for a little bit!

And as promised!! Here are the Family Portraits Penguin took!!

 

New Ultrasound Pics!!

              Yes, yes, I DO realize how long it's been since I blogged... and a LOT has happened in that time, so there will be a long post (maybe Monday or Tuesday) on the Giggle Zoo goings-on... from the Fox Enclosure, the finishing of editing of the Giggle Zoo Family Portraits, a visit from my Mom (Eclectus) and the reasons for these pictures being available, the Nursery being (almost) finished, and (as of this Sunday) Diaper Party fun. Anyway!! I wanted to post these ultrasound pics of my darling Koala.. she is doing AWESOME, right on track for development, and only 1 day over due date for size :) only about 4 more weeks to go!! 

Things I Love About Having Kids

None of us lack for a hand to hold.

My hands are rarely ever idle.

 I rarely feel Lonely.

So Many Beautiful Pictures!

Knowing that one day those pictures will bring back so many beautiful memories.

 

 Watching Tortoise and Elephant reading to Zebra, Monkey, and Vixen.

Seeing an older brother or sister helping a younger one without being asked.

Seeing knowledge bloom in their eyes 

and knowing that they just learned something new.

Seeing the world through their eyes.

They make me be a better person, simply by BEING.

Knowing that God trusts me to take care of these little bodies and glowing souls.

Always having someone available to “help” me make cookies 

– and eat them.

How they already love their unborn baby sister.

Never run out of reasons to get a Blizzard.

Christmas! Really, any Holiday! 

They're ever so much more fun with kids!

Listening to them playing happily together puts joy in my heart.

 

Seeing the joy on their faces when I tell them tales of “when they were little” 

like they’re already all grown up.

 

Knowing that their kids will enjoy the same stories.

I get to watch Spongebob without feeling like an idiot.

 Getting to swing on the swingset and not look like feel like an idiot.

There’s never a lack of someone who needs, or is willing to give, a hug. 

Watching my wonderful husband in Daddy-mode. 

Seeing such an amazing display of so many different personalities living together 

and not going crazy. 

-- there is some debate on whether or not we already ARE crazy though!

All these little people that look somewhat like me but act so very different. 

 

Holding my newborn baby and realizing that there never has been 

nor ever will there be 

another person quite like the tiny person I have in my arms.

 

And Knowing that oh-so-very-soon, my newborn won't be a newborn anymore.

The feeling of an unborn baby kicking. 

So many tiny clothes (I really lament this one when it’s time for laundry).

Baby Shoes and socks. They’re SO CUTE 

Bedtime stories

 AND Eventually – GRANDBABIES!! 

and I bet, a whole BUNCH of ‘em too!

Time to Give Credit Where Credit Is Due: Credit to Aunt Penguin aka Aunt Faith for taking all the pictures!! AWESOME job! *I* edited these but on her website are some of these same pictures with HER edits, and she's awesome!

P90X, Gestational Diabetes, and Meal Plans OH MY!

         My life is getting too complicated. *sigh* had a Pre-Natal checkup with Stork yesterday. I was somewhat expecting another lecture on not drinking enough water, however Stork said we were all go in that department. As a result of NOT (apparently) being dehydrated, I was not throwing ketones anymore, AND my liver enzymes were apparently "not wonky" anymore. YAY ME! However, since I'm now 30 weeks, we decided to test my blood-sugar levels - needless to say, a simple pin-prick and a tiny amount of blood on a test strip can seriously screw up a diet plan. 

           For the last 3 weeks, I have been following (mostly) Lion's P90X Diet - 1 (serving of) carbs, 2 fruits, 4 vegis, 2 dairy, and a freaking TON (his is 8-10 servings, but I was cutting back to between 5-7 servings) of Protein (he also gets 4 snacks which include protein bars and "recovery drinks" which I did not need and simply ignored). In order to keep Lion on HIS diet, I have been working off of a meal plan and cooking his meals in advance so that he would never have to resort to fast food (ie FAT food). I thought that by going on a extremely low-fat and low-carb diet, I would help my chances of not developing gestational diabetes (I had it with Vixen in the last trimester - but not for any of the others). I was seriously bummed when the blood-glucose screening came back with 155. :/ And that was an hour and a half after having had nothing but my (granted heavily sugared and creamered) coffee. Bummer.

       SO! Stork sent me home (after much talk on local politics, Giggle Family News, and the marriage of her son over the previous weekend) with a Blood/Glucose Meter and requested I test my Blood/Glucose Levels (hereafter BGL so I don't have to keep typing it!) first thing in the AM and 2 hours after each meal. Unfortunately, the BGLs I have been getting all day yesterday and today have not been promising. Of course, I haven't changed my diet yet either. All day yesterday, the BGLs stayed above 135. My fasting BGL this morning was 105 (good news there) but it spiked right back up to the 150s after each and every meal today. So apparently, a diet change will be necessary. Google here I come!
      Here is what I have learned: Baby Koala and I *do* need carbs and (can you believe it?!) FATS! Whodathunkit? "It is also helpful to get 45 to 60% of your calories from carbohydrates, 15 to 25% from protein, and 20 to 30% from fat."   :/ I guess the extremely low-carb and no-fat P90X Diet will simply have to be thrown out for me. ARG! That means I must work up *2* different (!!) meal plans! *sigh* what a pain in my backside. ***Mama Roo tells herself: It's Good for you, good for Koala, and Good for Lion, you can do this, you can do this, don't get pissy, you CAN*** So, here goes: this is roughly what I need: link source here

2200 CALORIE SAMPLE MENU A sample of a 2200 calorie gestational diabetic diet is listed below.

Breakfast: 3 carbs (2 breads: 1 cup bran cereal or 1 cup cooked oatmeal and 1 dairy: 1 cup skim milk, 1% milk, or nonfat sugar-free yogurt), 1 ounce meat or protein (like 1/2 cup scrambled egg substitute or lowfat cottage cheese), & 2 fats (like 2 tsp margarine) **I DON'T eat margarine!! - no way no how**

Morning Snack: 1 fruit (1/2 large banana), 1 oz. meat substitute (2 Tbsp peanut butter) - **Peanut Butter and banana?? What Am I Pregnant?**

Lunch: sandwich with: 2 slices whole wheat bread, 2 ounces meat or protein, 1 vegetable (2 lettuce leaves with 2 slices of tomato), & 1 fat (1 tsp mayonnaise or 1 Tbsp salad dressing) PLUS 1 fruit (like 1-1/4 cups fresh strawberries), 1 vegetable (like 1/2 cup vegetable soup or 1 cup carrot sticks), & 1 dairy (like 1 cup sugar-free nonfat yogurt) **that's a lot of freakin food!! - I usually don't eat much for lunch!**

Afternoon snack: 1 starch (like 3 squares (2-1/2 inch) graham crackers

Dinner: 5 carbs (1 lg baked potato or 1 cup pasta, 1 dinner roll, 1 Fruit, 1 dairy), 2 vegetables (1 cup steamed asparagus and 2 cups tossed salad), 3 ounces meat or protein (grilled chicken breast or fish), & 2 fats (1 tsp margarine and 2 Tbsp lowfat salad dressing)

Evening Snack: 1 carb (1 slice whole grain bread, 6 whole wheat crackers), 1 meat or protein (1 ounce lowfat cheese or 1 ounce lowfat ham), & 1 dairy (1 cup skim milk or nonfat sugar-free yogurt)

Totals For The Day: About 2180 calories: carbohydrate about 47% of calories, protein about 23% of calories, & fat about 30% of calories.

I foresee a few small problems with this diet: I don't eat that much food! Maybe without the snacks... but everything I read says that I need to eat between meals to maintain BGLs... don't know if I can eat that much. Also, this food is expensive!! On top of the crazy amounts we are currently spending on Lion's P90X foods, this is just plain lunacy. *sigh* I'll give it a spin and see how it works with what I've got for the week. If the BGLs don't normalize, then I guess Stork and I are gonna have to get together to figure out what to do. And I need to test the paradigm of regular exercise helping to normalize BGLs. I haven't been able to do my Yoga for several days due to getting other necessary things done in the house (laying flooring in the Spare/Craft Room, installing the ballisters  on the kids' room porch, massive amounts of laundry, running errands etc). 

              OH!! Before I forget!! All Photos in this Post were taken and edited by Aunt Penguin!! I gave her discs today so that I can get copies of both the originals and her edits of my maternity pics, and the pics of all by beautiful Giggle's Zoo Babies, so look for an up-and-coming post with all of those pics!!!

ZEBRA!!

My Zebra is 5 Years Old!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to Zebra!!! Happy Birthday to you!!

    

      I can hardly believe it's been 5 years (and a week - cause I'm slow blogging about the birthday) since I looked like I look now while preggers with Zebra. 5 years ago, I was sitting around thinking.. I can't wait to meet our newest baby. I didn't even know yet if baby was a boy or a girl. We had names all picked out and ready, the baptismal outfits all sewn and ready (one for a boy, and one for a girl). My mom was visiting in preparation for the birth. Elephant and Tortoise were debating on the gender of their new sibling. Tortoise desperately hoping for a sister just like her (she got part of that wish, Zebra was a girl, but nothing like Tortoise - funny how personalities vary so much between siblings - but that's another post for another time), and Elephant loudly proclaiming his need for a brother. 

     And now my Zebra is 5!! We've done the waiting for a new brother/sister drill twice over since then, and are in the process of the third! Life seems to rush past so quickly, with very few moments where you stop and really THINK about how quickly the time flies by. Zebra's 5th Birthday was one of those moments... 5th birthdays always seem to be a moment to pause and reflect. I can't imagine my life without Zebra.  

       Aunt Penguin took pictures of the kids and I yesterday. The above pic of Zebra and I is one of my favorites. Penguin did a great job with the colors! She's been having loads of fun experimenting with photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom; hence my requesting she take maternity pics (I'll include more shots from that "session" on another post). I am oh-so-thrilled that Penguin was able to get this shot!

Happy 5th Birthday My Beautiful Zebra! 

No matter how old you are, you'll always be my little girl.

"11 years of a Dream"

             Thursday was Lion & my 11th Anniversary! Wow, 11 years. Seems like a blink ago we were engaged, in my home state, having the above picture taken. My favorite engagement picture, and so very US, even now. Especially now. 

              In 11 years we've been blissfully happy. Lion has been there for me, for every moment, for every good day, and every bad. He's held my hand through every birth:

We've been God's instruments in bringing 5 beautiful babies into this world 

(and another come December)

Aren't they beautiful?!

                 They are the living proof of our love for each other, and I Thank God and Lion for each and every one of my little Giggle's, for the life growing inside me, and or the love and happiness that Lion gives me each and every day of our lives together. 
              It's not perfect mind you!! He drives me completely nuts sometimes, he throws stuff, kicks furniture, screams, has a fit, or punches walls when he blows his top gets angry at the inadequacies of electronics, or electricity, or whatever he's working on that isn't working right (never seems to lose his cool with people though.. never have figured that one out) which can be scary even though I *know* he'll never hurt any of us... and he has mentioned .... commented .... been frustrated by ... (whatever the right word is!) my inability to accept constructive criticism (or just a casual comment that I take as criticism when it obviously wouldn't have been viewed as such by any reasonable person) without getting ticked .. annoyed ... whatever. I'm sure he wishes I were a better housekeeper, and ... well, I'm sure there's more (!!) but all-in-all these are small frustrations in an overwhelmingly joyful marriage. 
             I am so very glad  ... happy ... elated ... thrilled (having trouble picking the right words today... the word I'm looking for is all of those and ever so much MORE) that Lion chose me, wanted wants me, loves ME, married me! ME! And even after 11 years, he hasn't changed his mind! I'm oh-so-happy I found Lion, love Lion, married Lion, and that we are still making each other so blissfully happy after 11 years!! Here's to 50 more babe! 

I Love You Lion.