can you say potty training regression?

I think today may have been the worst parenting day we have had yet. I know the stress of this pregnancy and the impending change the new baby will have on our family has been building up for all of us, but today it came to a head for Liam. 
It is so strange and out of character for him because he's really been such a wonderful kid so far. We often marvel at how easy we have had it with him. He has slept through the night (as in 10-14 hours) since he was 7 weeks old, he happily eats anything we put in front of him, he asked to start potty training at 18 months and did so without so much as a bribe. Then recently, after being potty trained for nearly a year without much trouble, he has decided to stop trying whatsoever. It began with him using his bodily functions to get out of doing things he didn't want to do. If he doesn't want to go to sleep, he poops his pants and then admits it so that he will get to stay up a little longer while we clean him up and change him. If we put him in timeout for some reason, he wets his pants in retaliation. We tried ignoring it and making him sleep in his messy pants, but he developed a terrible diaper rash. We tried taking away Elephant, his comfort companion, on the nights he wouldn't go on the potty, but he stopped caring. We tried positive reinforcement, praising him for the times he didn't have an accident and giving stickers for every successful potty trip. Still no luck. On Monday I shared my frustrations with some friends from church and was given the suggestion of cleaning him off with a cold shower every time he deliberately went in his pants. This is day two of that experiment and so far today he has had five cold showers (plus two yesterday). Each time he defiantly looked us in the face and told us what he was doing, then cried as we led him to the shower. It's been a long day and now he's finally in bed (with a diaper on) and my wonderful husband is mopping the entire house while I wash disgusting laundry for the second time today. I really don't have the energy for this. I can't even bend over anymore let alone wipe up the floor, lift Liam into the shower, and make him change his clothes five times a day. I know it's just a power struggle and he is testing his limits because he's stressed about the baby coming, but I don't know how to deal with this. Do I continue with the cold shower method? It's only been two days. Do I give up and put him back in diapers until he's ready to be a big boy again? Please, any ideas would be appreciated.

Oh yeah, and this is what he did today instead of napping - that's three full packs of wipes. 

The cute face is deceiving, he's stocking up on watermelon so he can pee on the floor two more times in the next hour.

counting down the weeks

We have made it to 30 weeks! (or 31 depending on how you calculate). The baby's lungs continue to grow and everything else looks stable. They are going to start extra doing extra tests (NSTs) at each appointment to monitor the baby's heart rate, activity level, and any contractions just to get a better idea of how everything is going. In mid-June we will have a consultation with the NICU pediatricians to discuss what to expect at delivery and how long our baby will possibly need to be in the hospital. Everything seems really encouraging so we are just praying that the test results continue to improve each time and still hoping for the chance of a normal delivery with no extended hospital stay. Thanks everyone for your continued prayers and encouragement!


Also, we got to have a 3D ultrasound this time! Check it out...

Hand in front of the face
(and no that's not a horn - the image just distorts at the edges) 

I think someone looks like their big brother...

Liam at 1 week old

a reason to celebrate

Things are looking up! I endured and passed my full day glucose test, and we got encouraging news at our ultrasound this week! When the doctor came in to tell us the results she had a surprised look on her face. “It looks better!” she said. She was so excited she brought us back into the vidiology room where they have all the screens to compare images. She showed us the difference between the new images and previous ones. Right now the fluid around the lungs appears to be just a thin rim, instead of large pockets like before. The lungs have grown considerably and filled in most of the space where the fluid was. The fluid around the belly and the extra amniotic fluid are the same as before but those issues aren’t as concerning because they aren’t interfering with the development. They thoroughly checked all other areas of the baby and still none of the other problems commonly associated with this condition appear to be showing up. So, for now that is great news! They are going to continue with the weekly appointments and bi-weekly ultrasounds to make sure the fluid doesn’t return. But it looks like we are fitting into the 20% chance they gave us of the condition improving without intervention! Thank you to everyone for your prayers! They are working!

It was the perfect day to receive such good news because Phil and I had already planned a post-appointment date night since my parents were in town anyway to watch Liam. It’s been a really long time since we had a date night, I actually can’t remember when the last one was. Better yet, we had several gift cards to be used so it was a date free from guilt for spending too much money. We started with an early dinner at Chandler’s Crab House on Lake Union. Since it was 5pm on a Wednesday, we were the first people there and got the best table in the house, right by the window overlooking the lake at the end of the pier. We watched sea planes take off and enjoyed uninterrupted conversation with each other. It was wonderful. After dinner we met up with some cousins at the Sounders vs. LA Galaxy game, a Christmas gift we had all received from Phil’s aunt and uncle. It was a fun game and a great way to celebrate the positive doctor’s appointment.