34 week check up

Everything is going just fine! I showed her a copy of my birth plan and she said she agreed with everything I wrote and handed it back. So that was easy! (I knew she'd be ok with it anyway!) My blood pressure is good, she asked me to take it every day now so there aren't any surprises. The baby is head down, and was facing with her back to my back so that kind of concerns me about the possibility of more back labor when the time comes. Overall it was a good visit, the baby sounded really good and she estimates that the baby is already about 6 pounds!!! So I am thinking I'll have another 9-pounder. She estimated Will's weight at 36 weeks to be 7 pounds, and 5 weeks later he was born at 9 1/2 pounds. So she was right on. Hope things continue to go as well as they are!

Christmas is done for another year...

My poor 2 year old was SO overwhelmed!! He had been sleeping really well for about a week (he didn't wake us up at all for quite a few nights in a row) and after Christmas Eve, he kept my husband up all night! And the next morning, Christmas Day, he finally stopped opening presents and just wanted to sit and watch his new Bob the Builder DVD, he wanted nothing to do with any more gifts! He was just DONE! He had a pretty restless night last night too, but he's got a lot of nasal goop and was coughing and snurfling throughout the night. That was mixed in with him yelling "NOOOO!" in his sleep and kicking the bed! I had insomnia again and once he got settled, I went back to our room (my husband wasn't feeling the best so he slept on the couch) and read for about an hour, finally after 5 am I got back to sleep.

This past week was busy but one wonderful highlight was that I got to see my friend Laura and her little girl (who will be 3 in January). Her husband had been deployed to Iraq with the Army and just got back in November, and they were visiting his family about 45 minutes from us. So my son and I went up to see them for the day and we had a really nice time! I got to see her this summer too, so it was a real treat to see them again. He will be retiring from the Army (technically he's done in 1 1/2 years but due to the Iraq war he will not be able to leave just then) and when they are finished, they'll be moving to Michigan, they've got property all set to build on right near the family they were visiting. So it will be wonderful to be able to see them more often!

I am realizing now that I've got only about 6 weeks left until I'm due. I don't have that much to do, and less to get, but I do need to wash diapers and baby clothes so the poor kiddo at least has something to wear! We also have not picked out a boy's "just in case" name, we keep talking about it and the conversation keeps going down the road of "EEWWW, that's a weird name!" It's so much easier to find names we don't like as opposed to names we like. And we want it to sound good with our last name too.

My husband is off all week and already it's going by way too fast. We knew it would though. I see the doctor for my 34 week check this week, then in 2 weeks I see her weekly until I'm done. It's hard to believe we're already almost to weekly visits. I've got so much cervical pressure so early with this one that I can't imagine I will last to my due date, but you never know, I'll probably be sitting here on Valentine's Day wondering where my little Valentine is...

I can't #*#*@*#*@*# sleep!!!

How cruel is this..... I am 8 months pregnant, my two year old still wakes me up in the night, so what does my stupid pregnant brain do? It keeps me up! My son woke me up at 4 this morning and, yes, you guessed it, I'm still up. Everyone (including him) was peacefully asleep in the house EXCEPT THE PREGNANT ONE... why??? The thing is that I am SO tired I can barely function, yet my brain will NOT let me sleep! I've had about 9 hours in the past two days combined.

I am hoping I can fall asleep with him when he naps in a little while. Yesterday I tried that but could not. Watch, today I can but he'll only sleep 1/2 hour. I feel like I just can't win, and I'm about to start clawing my eyes out in sheer frustration!!!

Third trimester Christmas shopping...

Can we say, OW? Oh my, I think that was my last big shop until much into next year. I got a couple of hours to myself last night to go to the mall and get a few things for my husband and son. By the time I left, I was so sore I could barely walk... between pelvic pain, my ankle bugging me again (darn joints), and my back hurting from hauling around the jacket I knew would be off in the first 5 minutes and my purse that does not stay on my shoulder, and the bags of gifts, it was just kind of tiring!! Now today I just feel bad, I think I did too much last night. Ahh well, I remember this feeling from before... it will just keep getting worse until after the baby is born. Nothing much you can do about it, pace yourself and that's about it. It was kind of nice to not shop with my toddler who now hates the stroller and wants to do nothing but ride the rides at the mall (and run away from me) but it was still very tiring hauling myself around with my stuff. Although I do enjoy getting gifts for people, I really have begun to intensely hate Christmas shopping, I think it's mainly because of all the other people out. I think people need to do more hunting (like hunt and shoot their own meat) because maybe they would get it out of their systems and not be so hell bent on finding "the perfect gift" for all the 1,000 people they are shopping for. Christmas is way too commercial anyway and this year I was extra crabby to be a part of that. Ugh.

Funny how this post started out by me complaining about feeling sore and then it changed to me hating how commercial Christmas is, there is just TOO much crap out there!!

32 week check up

I am happy to say, things are going very well! My blood pressure was totally normal (it has been at home too), and the baby sounded really good. I am measuring 33 cm (should be 32 at 32 weeks) which is a little big for now but she was not at all concerned about it. I have gained a total of 23 pounds. I expect it will probably wind up being between 25 and 30 - as I get bigger I won't be able to eat as much. I set up all the OB appointments I will need from here to the end - I actually made them through 41 weeks, being the eternal pessimist that I am! If I go before then, I can use one of them for the baby's check up and someone else can have any other(s) that are left! I will be seen in 2 weeks at 34 weeks, then in another 2 weeks at 36 weeks, then it's weekly until the birth. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. The only thing I REALLY want is to go into labor on my own, without any inducing drugs at all. From there, I know I can handle whatever comes next.

Today it is raining. All the snow we got over a week ago is now melted. Today after the doctor's I went to Yasmeen's (Middle Eastern store in Saginaw) and got some baklava, stuffed grape leaves, a huge jug of olive oil and a few other things. I just love that place! Tonight I am going back to Saginaw for some La Leche League business. My son is napping right now and giving me a little quiet computer time. I try not to do any work while he is sleeping because I need a break too when I can get one, but it is tempting especially when I have a mountain of dirty dishes in the kitchen... I'll feel better once that's all taken care of!

Owie Owie Owie...

OK, this stinks. I'm getting to the point where I'm just sore a lot more now... especially later in the day when I've been up and doing stuff! I do NOT like this part! I wish I could take off my belly and give myself a break, then put it back on. 31 1/2 weeks is too soon for the baby to come, but it hurts... all I can do is take Tylenol and try to change positions. Laying down feels the best, but then when I get up, I've got pubic symphesis pain from the pressure on my hips. Just can't win!! It feels like I'm aching in different places this time, more along the sides of my belly than the last time. Not happy at all! :(

Something funny...

I saw this in someone's siggie on a message board today:

Deep thought: Some people are like slinkies - They don't really have a purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

LOL

Does anyone read this?

Or am I just blowing a lot of hot air? LOL

If you have stopped by to read this, please leave a comment so I know I'm not just prattling on and on to nobody...

31 weeks and my blood pressure is NORMAL!!

I am SO relieved! I made it this far with normal blood pressure - also no episodes of tachycardia that I've noticed! It was right at 31 weeks during my pregnancy with Will, that my blood pressure was high enough to start medication, and I would have sudden, unexplained what my doctor thinks was supraventricular tachycardia - an abnormal, too-fast heart rate. The meds I took both lowered my blood pressure and kept my heart rate under control. I have been waiting for today, because I really was hoping to make it this far without needing medication!

One thing I noticed this time is that my blood pressure has stayed about the same. The last time, it started creeping up a month or two before it actually got high enough to cause problems. I am not sure what the rest of this pregnancy will bring, but I am hoping my body will hold out and that I won't need meds or monitoring at the end. I'd love to finish out this pregnancy in peace! I'm not going to hold my breath, there is always the possibility, but it sure would be great. I'll be checking it a few times a week just to be sure.

I can't believe I'm only about 2 months from my due date. It just seems like it shouldn't be coming up this fast. Now the next big hurdle (after seeing what happens with my BP) will be going into labor on my own. I am going to dig in my heels and refuse induction unless something is really going wrong with either me or the baby, but I won't consent to it just because I'm late. I simply can't be away from home that long this time. And it was a miserable experience, I'm sure I caused us much more grief than I needed to by being so impatient. Either way I am sure it will be a totally different labor this time, they all are, especially once you've already done it.

I have been talking to Will alot about babies getting nursies - he gets really excited when we go through all the list of animals that nurse and then I'll tell him that the baby in my tummy will nurse too. And that there will be plenty of nursies for him! I can't wait to see what he thinks when suddenly I have milk again!

30 week check up

Everything is going fine - my doctor told me, "I can't find a thing wrong with you!" My blood pressure, thankfully is just fine, I am going to watch it closely from here on out though, because the last time I was pregnant, I had to start medication at 31 weeks. Plus, I was having abnormal heart rhythms and had to see a cardiologist. I am really hoping that my body copes with this better this time, so I won't need any meds or anything else. My 1 hour glucose test was great at 85 and I'm not anemic or anything so that's good too. The baby is head down and measuring just as it should. Every now and then, I can feel something bony (maybe a shoulder or elbow?) digging into the right side of my pelvis, it doesn't hurt but I don't remember Will doing that. It must be comfortable that way because it happens a lot.

I will post a link to a belly shot as soon as I can get my husband to take one!

What a miserable week...

Last weekend, we were all sick. Throwing up, diarrhea, it was lovely! I threw up for the first time in probably at least 10 years. We were all just so miserable! Other people in my husband's family had it also, Will got it first and we got it later. We are still not quite back to normal, it has been hard to eat and for a couple of days it seemed like I lived off Gatorade and crackers. Not at all fun, especially being 29 weeks pregnant!! I still have a little nausea on and off, and last night had a bad headache and had to go to bed. Will even puked yesterday morning - even though he'd gone a few days keeping everything down. You can just tell by watching him that he's not feeling completely normal yet either.

Clane has this whole weekend off for Thanksgiving - 4 days in a row. It's always nice when we are all here together! We had Thanksgiving dinner at his parents' house, it was the first Thanksgiving that his sister was home in about 15 years. The food was good but none of us could eat much! And Will was just not his playful self. He usually jumps right down and wants to go find the dog and play with his toys, but yesterday he clung to me and would not look at anyone or let anyone touch him for a while.

I made sweet potato pie from the American Test Kitchens cookbook. It came out really good, it's not heavily spiced so you could really taste the flavor of the sweet potato. You also blind bake the crust, and while it's still hot, you sprinkle brown sugar on the bottom before putting in the filling. It was great (in fact pretty much everything I've made from that book has been really good) and will probably be the recipe I will use from now on for that pie. I enjoyed it even though I could not eat much, just had a small piece with real whipped cream too! Mmmm.

Everything with the baby seems to be going well. I am getting more pain in my pelvis now, as the joints all start to soften up. I had my 1 hour glucose tolerance test last weekend, and my doctor's office does not call you with normal labs - so I am assuming it was fine. I'll see them again on Wednesday. I'm going every 2 weeks now, isn't that weird? It doesn't seem like I should be that far along already. Yet it still seems like I've got a really long wait til the end. I'm sure the holidays will make that part go fast, but January into February will probably be the slowest part, and nothing much happening to break up that time. Guess I'll be doing a lot of knitting. My blood pressure is good too, but it was OK until 31 weeks with Will... I'll be watching it closely from here on out.

Happy Birthday Will!

Our son turned 2 today! I can hardly believe it's already been two years. Most of it has gone by in such a blur, I think mainly due to him being such a poor sleeper until recently. We had a pretty good day. This morning we picked up his cake (Hamilton's Bakery in Midland, MMMMM do they make GOOD stuff!) and then it was off to Toys R Us in Saginaw to shop for his presents. (Talk about last minute!) That place was a zoo! We wound up getting him a bouncy horse, a toy airplane, an Aquadoodle and some Sesame St. Aquadoodle accessories. Aquadoodle is cool, and the accessories are neat too, just get them wet and the colors appear! Very neat! The only problem is, he keeps insisting on chewing on the tips of the makers!!

Once we got home, we started getting ready for our little party. I made some sloppy joe mix and put it in the crock pot, we had baked beans (just Bush's) and chips/dip, raw veggies/dip, cheese and sausage and crackers. It was work getting things together but I always like having people over for this kind of thing so it was nice anyway! Clane helped out a lot because I was so sore the past couple of days, I could barely move! I'm better today now, I think it was partly the weather, and partly that a couple of days ago it was really nice out and I probably did too much.

Will had a good time opening gifts as you can imagine, and had a REALLY good time with the cake! He blew the candles out easily and wanted "more" so I had to light them again for him to blow out a second time. Then he ate cake and it got everywhere of course, we got some great pictures of that! It was just a really nice time. Once everyone left we watched the movie we made of the party and then dug out the tape from the end of my pregnancy wit him. I was huge and could barely move! Of course I burst into tears several times today, managed to hold it together while everyone was here and got all hormonal again once it was all over. It didn't help that we watched old tapes of him as a newborn. And the house on the tape when I was pregnant - it was so CLEAN!!! You can tell I wasn't chasing a little one around! The baby slept straight through the whole party tonight, even slept through my eating a corner piece of cake with a mountain of frosting on it. She woke up when everyone left. I am hoping she's a better sleeper than our son!

Overall it was a really good day! I also want to wish our friend Ella a happy 3rd birthday - it was way cool that Will was born on her birthday even though the labor lasted WAY longer than I'd wanted (about 50 hours), it was still really cool. And happy first anniversary to Chris and Sarah!

Third trimester...

Here we are at 26 weeks, it seems like I shouldn't be this far along yet! We are starting childbirth class (BradleyMethod) tomorrow, I remember talking with the instructor at the beginning of summer and asking her to put us on her class list. She said we'd start the beginning of November when I'm starting my third trimester, and now here we are! I think having another child to care for has made this pregnancy go by very fast!

I really feel pretty good. I get a little achey at the end of the day, sometimes my ribs, back and belly hurt. But it's not every day, and it's not constant. Generally I have some energy and feel fine most of the time! Will wants to wrestle but I just don't want to be jumped on! Other than my legs swelling ALREADY, I really haven't felt awful like I did when I was pregnant with Will. We are still watching my blood pressure (I should go take it just to see) since I started medication at 31 weeks the last time. I was definitely happy to be having a baby when I was pregnant with Will, but wasn't real happy being pregnant because I just didn't feel good for most of it. But now, I'm happy to have another baby, and happy being pregnant too, I just feel well most of the time and that helps!

Not much else to add except I got news about Lisanne (the link to her blog is on the right!), she had her daughter last night, way to go Lisanne!! I can't wait to see pictures! Reading your hubby's update made me cry, hormonal wreck that I am! :)

Good chance it's a girl!

We had another ultrasound today, and although the tech didn't get a perfect view, she was reasonably sure we're having a girl! So I went out and got a bunch of girl clothes (been waiting to see, so I knew how to shop), now watch it's a boy anyway! The tech who did Will's ultrasound was not totally sure he was a boy either, but she turned out to be right... so we are thinking our hunches were correct this time. We are pretty excited!! :)

My cat is allergic to fish!!

Last week, one of our kitties (we call her P but her name is Panthera) was hiding out in the basement. For those of you who know her, she is gregarious, always underfoot, always yelling for something! And she and Will love each other, he mauls her all the time and she loves it. So I went to find her and see what was going on, since it's unlike her to hide, and she was covered in scabs!! Like all over her body! So I called the vet the next morning and got her an appointment, and in the meantime started reading... and found out that scabs all over is a huge sign of food allergies! AND, it just so happened that Meijer was out of their regular Iams food, so I got them something different... I thought, "Hmm, salmon! That would be a nice change!!"

So the vet checked her all over, gave her a shot of cortisone (which made her better literally in 1-2 days) and gave me some antibiotics to give her. Unfortunately she needs them for 3 weeks (the skin problems are kind of like a staph infection but not contagious) and I'm having a heck of a time giving them to her. I have to towel her and she drools out half of it. She's also on some hypoallergenic food for now. The vet recommended some new food, I got some and it's got all kinds of stuff in it - sweet potato, blueberries, rosemary... they like it though!

I have to bring her back in on Friday for another check up, and to get more antibiotics. I really wonder how much of it she is getting, since she drools out half of it now. Usually they have you mix it with tuna, but since she is allergic to fish, I have eliminated all fish from their diet right now. I just don't want to take steps backwards at this time! Poor kitty.

Will peed on the potty!!!

We were sooo excited!!! He was in the bathtub and he looked over to the potty and pointed and said "pee." This isn't anything new, he's been saying that a lot, since he comes into the bathroom with us reguarly. So I asked him if he wanted to pee on the potty and he said yes. I got him out of the tub and sat him on the potty (we have a baby bjorn seat that fits on our toilet.. our bathroom is kind of small for a little potty chair) and at first, nothing happened. He's sat on the seat several times since we got it, but nobody really expected anything to happen. I've also been making small straining sounds to get him to try out those muscles... and tonight, when he did it, he actually peed! He looked kinda surprised, looked down to see what was happening, then got this huge smile on his face! We were all so happy and proud of him! I told him anytime he wanted to pee on the potty he could come get us and we'd help him.

Since he's only 22 months old, I really didn't expect him to do this, and I'm not sure when it will happen again... we are really positive about it though, whether he goes or not, we always make a big deal of sitting on it. And he could sit in a wet/poopy diaper for a long time and not care! So we'll see where it goes from here. What a big milestone!

20 weeks and all is well

I had my 20 week checkup (that's halfway already!) the other day and everything is going just fine. I won't get another ultrasound until about a month from now, but I really have a feeling it's a girl. I've only had one dream about the baby, and in the dream it was a girl, but I thought Will was a girl too and I was wrong. I just feel so totally different this time, it seems like my pregnancy with Will was a lot more intense and I felt a lot worse. Even my skin was broken out more. This one, it's a lot more mellow, I have more energy, the baby moves but not as active as Will was. It will be interesting to get to know him/her and see how different they are! This is such a trip!

Here is a picture of me at 20 weeks. Just for comparison, here's 12 weeks!

20 weeks and all is well

. stupid blogger...

Middle Eastern grocery in Saginaw!

I am SO happy!! It's only been open for a week, it's called Yasmeen's and it's on Bay Rd, across the street and kitty corner from the Olive Garden. Their prices are really reasonable, and they even have Halal meats... which I'm sure nobody else in the area sells at all... there aren't many Muslims here but I'm sure they will be very pleased! The owner was very friendly and helpful too. I'm going to be shopping there as much as possible, they are going to be opening up a deli soon too. This is great! :D

Remembering 9-11

May all who lost someone on such a horrible day find peace in their hearts... even if it's just a little more than last year. I watched the coverage on TV today and was reminded of the enorminity (hope that's a word) of it all. I saw a display at a bank today as a tribute to FDNY firefighters and got so choked up I had to leave. What a sad day.