Tons of fun at Dutch Wonderland!

Every year since Toddler O was born he and I have made the 10 hour journey to my hometown to visit my parents and sister. Because the drive is so long I am constantly trying to figure out ways to break up the trip or, even better, find a driving companion. The first year, Toddler O was a wee babe and just slept and nursed alternately for the entire trip. We stopped in my parents' hometown, where some relatives still lived, and then my parents drove to the Virginia boarder to see us the final three hours.

The second summer was even more awesome. We drove to Philadelphia with Husband who was there for work. Then we drove three hours alone before again meeting my parents at the Virginia boarder. Then my whole family drove with us to New Jersey for a wedding where we met Husband who drove with us the final few hours the following day.

This year we specifically planned the trip at a time when Husband had to be in D.C. and North Carolina for work. We drove to the Virginia boarder to meet my parents, but then Husband drove from D.C. to my parents' house to spend a few days. Then we all drove home together.

It's nice having company on the road and completely awesome when I don't have to drive. Toddler O was a rough driving companion this year because he talks constantly and doesn't stop talking until you figure out what he's saying and acknowledge it.

This is a typical conversation with Toddler O right now:

Toddler O: "Horses! I see horses."

Me: Looking around for horses and seeing none.

Toddler O: "Do you see horses, mommy?"

Me: "Where?"

Toddler O: "In the barn. Horses in the barn: do you see it?"

Me: "Ah yes. I see them." (realizing that in his mind barn = horse)

Toddler O: "Good."

And so on with each and every thing he laid eyes on for the entire trip. Oi!

Husband initially suggested breaking up the trip home by stopping at Sesame Place outside Philadelphia. I did a little research and decided that (1) it was ridiculously expensive: for the three of us to just walk in the gate it would have been $150+! and (2) it wasn't really something Toddler O would be into since it's mostly waterpark. I thought he might be a bit young. I poked around online a little more and came across Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Randomly a girlfriend from high school lives in the Lancaster area so I emailed her to ask if she'd been to Dutch Wonderland and if her two year old liked it there. She emailed back right away that they love this particular park so that was enough for me. We decided right then and there to drive five hours to Lancaster, visit Dutch Wonderland and then drive the remaining five hours home the following day.

Dutch Wonderland was, in a word, adorable. I'd read online that it wasn't your typical amusement park: for example, there's a big ole cornfield at the edge of the park! And most of the rides are geared toward the 8 and under crowd. Perfect!

Outside the castle gates on Friday evening.

One comment that Husband made as we were driving down the main road toward Dutch Wonderland is that he understands now why Disney purchased every acre of land they could get their hands on outside of Disney World. It was very weird to be driving past restaurants, outlet malls, and Amish touristy stops and then *boom* amusement park. One of the first rides we went on was a little boat that basically rode along side the road for a bit!

Anyway, one of the super cool things about Dutch Wonderland is the cost. We paid about $70 for two daily tickets (you can get them for cheaper if you buy in advance on their website): Toddler O was free, but then they offer a "free preview evening!" So for the three hours before the park closes, you can use your daily admission ticket to get into the park and then use your admission ticket again for a full day of park fun! So basically you are buying a 1.5 day ticket, which is awesome!

We got to the park at 5pm on a Friday evening and it was pretty dead. Any ride Toddler O saw, we got right on. In fact, some rides he had to sit for 5 minutes in the airplane (or whatever) while other kids wandered over to get on. No line waiting at all!

As I said, the rides are all relatively tame, but there are still some minimal height and parental supervision requirements. Toddler O ended up being an "Emerald" which meant that he could go on most rides, but needed an adult with him on most. The ride workers all had these cute little color coded measuring sticks that they'd swing around to quickly categorize a kid. Another cool thing is that some rides actually had height maximums so Toddler O had to ride alone. He felt like a pretty cool dude on those rides!

Toddler O turned out to be a bit of a daredevil like Husband. His favorite two rides would have given me fits at age 3 (or even at age 33!). The first was called the Frog Hopper. This was had spots for six kids and then one adult could fit in the middle. The dad in front of us in line decided to go and I didn't want to risk Toddler O freaking out by having to wait any longer
so I just put him on by himself. He shrieked with delight the entire time and then wanted to go on again when we passed it later! I think it helped that there was an announcement that they kids should "ribbit" like frogs so he was screaming "ribbit" the whole time too! Very cute!

The other ride Toddler O loved I had spotted while we rode the Sky Ride across the park on the first evening: the Kite Flight. I knew I had no intention of going near it but I thought Husband and Toddler O might have fun. We visited it first thing the next morning and I was right: Toddler O screamed the whole time, "I'm flying!"

This year there is a whole new section at Dutch Wonderland called Exploration Island. It had animatronic dinosaurs and Toddler O's favorite, a sandbox. He was a bit nervous about the dinosaurs on the first night but the next day he specifically asked to see them again. He still didn't want to stand alone near them though which is how I ended up in this picture with his favorite dinosaur species: triceratops (which he calls "tops").

Dutch Wonderland also has a whole water park area called Duke's Lagoon but it was randomly 60 degrees the day we visited so it was a bit too chilly to try the water park. We did decide to be brave and went on the Double Splash Fume which got us more than enough wet for the day!

One thing that I wasn't crazy about at Dutch Wonderland is that there is a decidedly carnival feel once you get through the gates. In my mind, I paid my admission so once I'm in I should get to enjoy everything for free. Not so. They had pony rides for $6/ride (luckily I was more into Toddler O riding a pony than he actually was so we skipped it); face painting for $10 and up (!!!?!?), and lots of carnival games. As we passed one game, Toddler O saw a little girl choosing a rubber duck out of a pond. He started screaming: he wanted to choose a duck too. He didn't even care about the prize or know it was a game: he just wanted to pick up a stupid duck. $2 later he had chosen a duck and won this stupid little stuffed animal (it was one of those "everybody wins" games) that promptly went into my diaper bag and he hasn't mentioned since. Ugh - at least it was only $2!

As we left, I just had to hit up the gift shop. I'm such a sucker for gift shops, especially when Toddler O is at his current age of actually starting to remember things. I figure having a souvenir or two to jog his memory is a good thing. I found him a cute Duke the Dragon shirt, a magnet (which we always get when we visit someone), and this adorable Dutch Wonderland board game modeled after Candy Land. All told, I spent about $35 which I didn't think was too pricey.

We also splurged on one last treat before we went home: Dole Whips!

"What?" you might say, "I thought Dole Whips were only at Disney World!"

Apparently Disney World and Dutch Wonderland both appreciate the glory of a Dole Whip. Although I goofed again while ordering and got the orange swirl flavor instead of the pineapple swirl flavor (you may recall that while at Disney I first ordered the Dole Whip sans swirl which, while delicious, is not as glorious as the Dole Whip swirl). The orange flavor was still tasty though and Toddler O was just happy to have a big ole cone of ice cream. We've decided that from now on Dutch Wonderland will be a midpoint stop in our trip to Virginia so maybe by our 7th or 8th visit, I'll finally order the Dole Whip that I actually want to eat!

So if you ever find yourself passing through the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area and you have kids, definitely stop by Dutch Wonderland. It's a really sweet place and Toddler O is still talking about it!

Happy Easter: Baby O meets the Easter Bunny!

Yeah it was crazy-expensive and it's not like he's actually going to remember that it happened, but what did you expect? I'm ridiculous.

Happy Easter!

Love,

Kathleen, Husband, and Baby O

The Story of Baby O's Life

Husband and I welcomed Baby O into the world at 6:22 a.m. on January 18, 2012.  He's an absolute doll (even when he's refusing to go to sleep at 2:30 in the morning) and we couldn't be happier!

Not surprisingly, Baby O made a memorable entrance into the world. Nothing about my getting pregnant or being pregnant had been easy, so I was expecting some sort of excitement at the hospital. I was not disappointed.

Because the doctors were convinced that Baby O was big and because of my gestational diabetes diagnosis, we scheduled an induction for January 17, 2012. When we woke up that morning, there was a dusting of snow on the ground and it was sleeting outside. Lovely. As instructed I called the hospital to ask if we should still arrive at 7:00 a.m. They told us to come in at 7:30 a.m. instead because they were anticipating some of the morning shift to have commuting issues.

We arrived at the hospital and got checked in by 8:00 a.m. Then I had a few different examinations by the nurse and resident, who reported to my doctor how far along I was. We had two options for medications to begin the induction: cervidil and pitocin. I had mixed feelings about which one I preferred: I'd heard that with pitocin, the contractions can come on like a ton of bricks, giving your body no time to prepare for the pain, but the cervidil had to work for twelve hours, which meant we'd have to wait until late Tuesday evening before there was even a possibility of anything happening.

Ultimately my doctor decided to do a round of cervidil, which she administered at 10 a.m.  Then we just sat around all day. I was only allowed to eat clear foods so Husband kept running to the unit refrigerator to get me orange Jell-O, popsicles and ginger ale. I had an IV and two fetal monitors on so getting out of bed to even use the bathroom was a total pain. Husband was helpful when I needed to get unplugged and our first nurse Kelly was very nice as well.

At about lunchtime, the contractions started. Initially they were a good ten minutes apart and were very light. Husband would watch the monitor and ask, "Are you having one?" and I'd have to think a minute before a twinge of pain would hit me. 

Around the same time, the nurses changed shifts, which I was not happy about. The new nurse Kathy was just annoying from the beginning: she came in and asked why I wasn't walking around the unit. I told her that no one had connected me to the portable unit so if I left the room, they wouldn't be able to monitor the baby's heartrate. So then she went on about how I simply had to walk around and then said something about the doctor doing a second round of cervidil which would tack another twelve hours minimum onto the delivery. I was like, "Oh heck no!" I told Husband that I was not a fan of this new nurse and that I thought she was only working until 7:30 p.m. I hoped that was true and that I hadn't just made it up and thankfully it turned out I was right!
After promising me more orange Jell-O like four times (only green was left in the refrigerator) and taking nearly an hour to get batteries for the portable unit, Kathy finally unhooked all my wires and Husband and I ventured into the hallway to take a walk.  Two minutes later a nurse came chasing after us because we had ventured out of the range of the portable fetal monitor. So basically all Kathy's fussing was that she wanted me to be walking a twenty foot length of hallway.

Though as annoyed as I am to admit it, when the contractions were just "uncomfortable", the walking did help take my mind off them.
By the time the new nurse Audra arrived, the contractions were getting more intense and really close together: less than three minutes. It felt better to move around or to lie on my side so I spent most of my time over the next few hours trying to manage the pain. Audra helped me breathe through the contractions which also helped a lot. She then said something that made me like her even more than I already did: that at 10 p.m. I could probably take a shower and have some dinner!

The doctor came in just after 10 p.m. and I was slightly more dialated. It didn't sound like much to me but the doctor seemed pleased and was ready to start the pitocin. I asked about eating and she said that I could have dinner so Husband went downstairs to pick me up a sandwich.

While he was gone, Audra started setting up the supplies for delivery. She explained that she prefers to have everything ready to go in case things start happening fast. After spreading a blue sheet on a steel table, she started arranging all the tools and surgical supplies for the doctor. It was at this moment that Husband walked back into the room with my sandwich.

Husband: Whoa, it just got real in here!

Apparently up until that point, Husband had felt like we were just hanging out in some type of weird hotel room, but seeing all the tools laid out on the table made him realize that eventually there would be a baby arriving!

At 11 p.m. we finally started the pitocin. I was still really nervous about it because while the cervidil contractions weren't terribly painful, they were already really close together. My concern was that if the piticin amped up the intensity of the contractions, I'd basically be having constant painful contractions until the little guy arrived.  We started on the lowest dose and Audra said she'd increase it from there depending on how I was doing.

Throughout this whole process, I'd been really unsure about getting an epidural. I have a decently high tolerance for pain and because I tend to get anxious, the idea of not being able to feel my lower body really freaked me out. Earlier in the day the anesthesiologist came in to do a consult with me and she had assured me that my legs wouldn't be totally numb. I'd also spoken with a good friend who had just been induced at the same hospital last year. She said that getting the epidural actually helped her relax and she ended up dialating really quickly afterwards (apparently fighting the contraction pain was taking so much energy that her body forgot to actually get ready for labor!)  Armed with all this information, I figured I'd just play the whole thing by ear and see how I felt.

Almost immediately after we started the pitocin, the contractions began to get much more intense and as the night went on, they got progressively closer together too (remember they were already three minutes apart with the cervidil!). Husband tried to get some sleep and I did too, but by 1 a.m., I was in too much pain to just breathe through the contractions. Audra suggested we get in the shower. While the warm water definitely felt nice, I felt really unstable on the chair she set up (just a rolling stool with some pillows around it). I was afraid that I was going to fall when the contractions really got going so I told her I wanted to get out. At this point, they were coming about a minute or so apart and lasting nearly a minute. In the span of my getting out of bed and going to the bathroom, I was having four or five contractions.

At 2:15 a.m., I said to Audra, "I think I'm dying." She smiled and laughed a bit (after having been her only patient for nearly seven hours at that point, she had learned that I tend to be prone to hyperbole). I looked her in the eye and said, "I'm not kidding." I was really miserable at that point as evidenced by the fact that I promptly threw up all my dinner. Awesome.

Me: How do you stand being a nurse? I'm disgusted with myself right now and I'm me!

She gave me some sort of explanation about how everyone is good at different things that made me feel better (partially because I was too miserable to care about how gross I was!). I asked if it made sense to check how dialated I was and she asked, "Well if we do that and you are farther along, what's the plan?"

Without even thinking, I responded, "Epidural."

She checked me out and I was up to four centimeters so she immediately put out a page for the anesthesiologist.  He arrived almost too quickly because I hadn't gotten up my strength to make one last trip to the bathroom! Luckily he was willing to wait and soon I was perched on the edge of the bed. At that point, Audra had turned off the pitocin, which has a really short half life so it didn't take long to get out of my system.  Unfortunately the half life was just long enough to last as I got the epidural and so every minute or so the anesthesiologist was kind enough to stop working and let me deal with the contraction. Somehow I managed to breathe through the one portion where he couldn't stop and I had to stay perfectly still and I got to lie down in bed as my lower body gradually got more numb.

I think I ended up with the perfect epidural. I could still feel my legs, but they just felt heavy and any pain just felt like pressure. A few times Audra asked me to reposition my legs and with her help, I was able to do so. I definitely didn't feel like my legs were gone forever, which had been my biggest fear. At one point I was feeling pain on my left side so the anesthesiologist topped me off with a second dose and the pain was gone after ten minutes or so.

The anesthesiologist left my room at about 3:15 a.m. and I tried to get some sleep. Then about an hour later, it felt like a water balloon popped between my legs. I called Audra and told her I thought my water had broken. She came in and confirmed that it had.

At that point I was worried that I wouldn't deliver by 7am. Both my doctor and nurse were scheduled to change shifts at 7am and I really didn't want to have to deal with two new people halfway through the actual giving birth process. Audra told me that if I was really close, she didn't intend to just walk out so I was glad to know that at least I'd have one familiar face in the room with me!

She left me alone to try to get some more sleep. Then at about 5:15am I started feeling some pressure. I speculated that it was labor-related because it seemed to occur every few minutes which lined up with when the contractions were happening. Audra came in again to check me and confirmed that I was fully dialated and the pressure was Baby O's head ready to come out!

It turned out to be really smart of Audra to prepare the delivery supplies in advance because everything happened crazy fast at that point! My doctor poked her head in (no doubt thinking that she was going to get to finish up her 24 hour shift without delivering one last baby!) and Audra told her that I was fully dialated.

Doctor: What? Really?

They told me that I'd start to push at about 6am and left the room to make last minute preparations. I woke up Husband and told him that we were getting ready to have a baby and he woke up really fast! I'd been worried about how Husband would deal with labor since he tends to get a little woozy when we're going through medical procedures. Audra suggested that he go get some cranberry juice to increase his sugar so he left the room.

Once he was gone, Audra suggested that I start pushing. I asked when the doctor would come in and she said that once he was crowning, she'd call in the doctor. Until then it would just be me, her and Husband. So we went ahead and pushed once and as Husband was coming back into the room, Audra grabbed the intercom and paged the doctor! He was crowning already!

Our doctor came in and I pushed two more times. Then I heard one of the nurses say, "Triple nuchal," and the doctor told me to stop pushing for a second. It seems that in all the excitement, our little guy had gotten his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times! Our doctor was totally calm and just snipped the cord off and Baby O was fine. Then I pushed another time and he was out!

Ultimately I ended up pushing for about 20 minutes (even less if you consider that the 20 minutes included the few minutes that the doctor was dealing with the umbilical cord situation). The nurses immediately put him onto my chest and my first thought was, "This is a tiny baby! There is no way he's 8 pounds!"

They weighed him and I was right: he was 6 pounds, 14 ounces and 20 inches long. Everyone was shocked and still can't figure out how they misestimated his size so much.

Luckily we'd received quite a few Newborn size clothes and diapers at my shower and from a girlfriend whose son was born in August. I was so convicned that we'd be bringing an enormous baby home that I only bought clothing 3 Months and bigger! As it turns out, the Newborn outfit that I brought for Baby O to wear home was absolutely swimming on him! Even now with his one month birthday right around the corner, he's still exclusively wearing Newborn sizes!

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and I hope I haven't kept everyone in too much suspense waiting for a birth story! As you can probably imagine, having a new baby is pretty exhausting and as I type this, I know I'm on borrowed time since he's waking up from a short-lived nap! Husband and I couldn't be happier though or more in love.

Happy New Year: Bump Photo & Finished Nursery Pictures!

There wasn't much doubt but now it's absolutely certain that our little guy will be a 2012 baby.  I had jokingly told Husband that he'd agreed to come last night because he was officially full term (37 weeks) and we'd be covered by our 2011 insurance, but the evening turned out to be completely uneventful on the baby front.

The last few months have flown by! A few hours after my last post, we got a freak October snowstorm and lost power for more than a week! We ended up evacuating to my grandmother's house a few hours away where we managed to keep warm, get some work done, and, most importantly, find a generator for next time (thus ensuring that we'll never lose power in our house again!)

I returned home just in time to receive notice that one of my cases was ready to start the appeal process. That meant 40 straight days of frantic reading, researching and brief-writing which took me straight through Thanksgiving and Christmas.

36 Weeks: Christmas Eve

My brief was sent off in the mail on Wednesday of last week and I have to say my motivation to go back to work decreased pretty significantly at that point.  I know this sounds crazy, but I've loved being pregnant even though I've been completely miserable about 80% of the time. My doctor offered to write me a note for bed rest a few weeks ago, but honestly it's not comfortable being at home either so I told her I might as well go into work and be productive. I'm reconsidering that decision right now because at least while sitting at home, I can be in jammies!

The biggest issue has been a nagging pain in my upper right abdomen. It started off as sporadic and only after I did a lot of moving or standing. Then it progressed to every afternoon, regardless of my activity level. And now it's pretty much constant, with a pain that radiates around to my back included for good measure. It's next to impossible to get comfortable anywhere and most nights I end up in tears because I can't relax to get to sleep.  Husband has been so helpful around the house though: cooking, cleaning, and last night he rubbed my back until I fell asleep. I'm so lucky to have him around to take care of me!

Speaking of Husband, his hard work in the nursery finally paid off a few weeks ago when our furniture arrived! We rearranged it a few times before settling on a floor plan and then Husband got to work installing shelves in the changing nook. I'm so happy with the finished product and now all we need to make the room complete is our little guy!

Crib, Munire Essex Collection (purchased at USA Baby)

Leachco Teether Guard (Amazon)

Best Chairs Storytime Series, Rena (purchased as USA Baby)

Kids Line Jungle 1-2-3 Lamp (Amazon)

iPod dock (Brookstone Outlet)

Table (Christmas Tree Shop)

Blanket handmade by friend

Glow Worm (in crib) (gift from my sister)

Monkey (in crib) (gift from Husband's sister)

Kids Line Jungle 1-2-3 Hamper (Amazon)

Munchkin Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail (Amazon - Christmas gift from Husband)

Closetmaid 3 Shelf Organizer (Target)

Koala bins (Babies R Us)

Little Boutique Night Light - Monkey (Babies R Us)

Changing Pad (Pottery Barn Kids)

Carter's Changing Pad Cover (Babies R Us)

Crane Humidifier (Amazon)

J.J. Cole Diaper & Wipes Caddy (Babies R Us)

Dresser, Munire Essex Collection (purchased at USA Baby)

Hutch, Munire Essex Collection (purchased at USA Baby)

Assorted books from Wishing Well at Baby Shower

Rabbit figurine from when Husband was young

Sherling Sheep Blanket (Costco)

Willow Tree "Home" Figurine (gift from sister)

Kids Line Jungle 1-2-3 Switch Plate Cover (Amazon)

Obviously we haven't used any of these things yet so I have no idea whether they are useful or practical or helpful or anything, but I think the room looks pretty darn snazzy and I have high hopes for most of the items as they were highly recommended by Baby Bargains, an absolutely amazing pregnancy shopping book that I picked up months ago!

Although my due date isn't until January 21, we have an induction scheduled for January 17. Our little guy is already very big (6.7 pounds at the 35 week ultrasound) and I happened to develop gestational diabetes so they don't want me to go beyond my due date. It's very exciting to think that in just a few weeks, our little guy will be here!

Happy New Year everyone! I have a feeling 2012 is going to be awesome!

In My Room: Nursery Progress and a Bump Photo!

Today officially marks the beginning of my third trimester! Yay!

In celebration, I thought I'd share some progress photographs of the work that Husband has done in our nursery.

To be clear, Husband is not a handy person. He'd be the first to admit that. I had my heart set on wainscoting and after checking a few books out of the library and speaking with an associate at our local home repair store, Husband seemed pretty convinced that he could install it himself.

And to my total delight, he did an amazing job!

Here's a shot of what the room looked like beforehand: all bland and wainscoting-less. Terrible!

But after Husband putting in a weekend of work wainscoting and Sister-in-Law coming over the following weekend to assist with painting, look at the lovely after photo!

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out. There are a few bald spots that Husband needs to touch up with paint, but otherwise the room is ready for furniture (which unfortunately is not going to show up until around Thanksgiving, even though we ordered it over Labor Day weekend. Good thing we're major planners and ordered so early!)

Because I couldn't wait to get my decorating on, I asked Husband to install the Roman Shades and valances I had purchased so the room would feel more "homey". Even though window covering-installation has been the bane of our existence in this house, he did a great job and even hung up/fluffed out the valances for me!

Obviously we're going to have to get something to wrap the long cords around, but the window came out exactly how I imagined it! I can't wait for the room to start filling up with more stuff!

And because in my last post, I was complaining about not having a baby bump yet, I thought I'd share a photo (from two weeks ago) because I have seriously "popped". Overnight I went from, "Hm she must have had a big lunch," to "Holy moly, she's having a baby!" Clearly I'm very pleased because now I can eat a big lunch and people don't think I'm a piggy, they are well aware that I'm eating for two! Sadly, I wasn't feeling my greatest when this photo was taken, I'd been hunched over all evening in an uncomfortable chair and was experiencing wicked round ligament pain! Ouchers!

And if anyone is interested, the leggings are from Old Navy (available here) and the tunic is from JCPenney (available in stores only) (their respective maternity collections).

I'll try to post again with more nursery updates and bump photos, but I have to be honest, this pregnancy business is wearing me out. I go to work, get home and then almost immediately get into bed! I guess I should enjoy my sleep now before this little guy arrives in January!

Speaking of January, it's snowing outside right now so stay warm everyone!

Happy Saturday! And Happy Third Trimester to me!!!!