I want to be done.

32 weeks today. 8 weeks to go. I don't like to think I'm wishing away this precious time with my little guy inside me - but I am just so darn uncomfortable, the novelty of being pregnant has worn off. I'm miserable.

Had my 32 week appointment today with Molly. (I really hope she's at my delivery because I've seen her the most this time around!)
BP 116/70's
Wt: 175# ... up 9 pounds IN TWO WEEKS! for a total of 41 pounds so far... because of this, I do NOT understand how everyone is telling me I "look so tiny". It's not like I am hiding 41 pounds! My thighs are so huge I can't sit comfortably. My legs up to my knees are swollen as much as they were with Laura - but surprisingly, my feet aren't fat most of the time. Sure, the GET fat if I sit for a long time at the end of the day, but I've yet to actually find pitting in my feet. My legs, those have pitting edema day in and day out doesn't matter if my legs are up and I'm resting or not. I have pitting edema when I wake up in the morning too. My hands are like sausages - my knuckles are white and the rest of my hands are red. My hands feel tight and achey.

I have been finding myself waking up at night lying flat on my back. Actually, what wakes me up is a racing/pounding heart... I have been falling asleep on my side (like I always do - pregnant or not) and then somewhere in the night, I roll to my back - In my non pregnant state, I would just continue to roll over and land on my other side and sleep the night through. In this fat pregnant state though, it's a chore to roll over. I obviously can't do that in my sleep since I need to put forth a huge effort to do that task. So, I'm finding myself waking up with a racing/pounding heart nearly gasping for breath - probably from the weight of my large belly squishing all things internal that are necessary for good blood flow. I feel bad for my little guy - last night when I woke and finally was able to roll over to my other side, he started kicking and punching the heck out of me, kind of like he was doing a dance saying "Thanks for moving mom! I really needed that fresh supply of blood in here!" ... makes me a little nervous I could hurt him if I keep ending up on my back. I sense the couch for sleep at night is in my near future.

How do I feel in general? Other than feeling large all over, I feel good. No problems with heartburn or getting kicked in the ribs or anything.

Laura was with me today at my appointment. She was a good helper. She got to hold the measuring tape when Molly measured my belly - I'm measuring 31 weeks (41 pounds and I'm measuring a week behind!?!) She also got to push the buttons to turn the doppler on and off to listen to baby brother's heart beat. He's consistent ... 145-150 for the rate. Just like he's always been :)

I asked Molly if this guy is head up or head down, because I can't tell. I think I felt him hiccuping once about a week or so ago, but it wasn't for very long and I felt those movements lower left. Most of the kicking/punching movements I feel are top right side... and she said that his back is definitely along my right side with a body part wedged down into my pelvis, but she couldn't tell if it was his head or his butt...

We'll be able to tell for sure in 2 weeks though. I get another ultrasound on January 11th. My placenta was close to the cervix at the 20 week ultrasound, so they want to check and make sure it's moved to allow for a safe natural delivery - so we get another peek at our still nameless little guy :)

Yep, still nameless.

3 hour test

Went in today for the 3 hour test. I was having such a hard time making Laura's lunch today - I wanted to eat a couple huge ripe raspberries as I put them in her lunch. I wanted to eat the skins as I peeled her apple... I wanted to lick the spoon after scooping up her yogurt - but I COULDN'T! That is the cruelest test to do to a pregnant lady!

I asked the lab lady when they changed the standard from 140 down to 135. She said she is just as annoyed with it as I was because it's always changing. And, in this very practice - one of the doctors that used to be there would use his own number, but the other doctors would use a different one - so not even consistent within the same practice. Then she told me how inaccurate the readings are anyways. She told me that she's had a 300 pound lady fail the 1 hour with a glucose of 258 but pass the 3 hour with flying colors... and then have a skinny little white girl (her words, not mine) barely fail the 1 hour and flop the 3 hour... I'm hoping that one is NOT me!

The first hour wasn't bad. By the second hour, I was feeling dizzy. She said that was a good thing because it probably means I was "bottoming out" with my blood sugar - but that I still had to go for another hour. I ended up sleeping on the couch for the last hour and a half since I could barely see straight enough to read a book... When I stood up for the last blood draw at the 3 hour mark, I was bumping into the walls as I walked to the lab - not fun.

Got to drink some apple juice and felt a little better. Made it to the car and scarfed down half my lunch and felt much better! I was given permission to eat whatever I want for the rest of the day - I am thinking I'll make a batch of chocolate chip cookies tonight :) Heck, if I call tomorrow and get the results and they're not good - it may be the last batch of chocolate chip cookies I can indulge in guilt free!

I'll call tomorrow to see where we go from here.

One good thing - I was able to be seen today for my 2 week appointment so I don't have to go back tomorrow. Bad thing though, they had me see the nurse practitioner instead of a midwife - had I known that, I probalby would have just said I'd keep my appointment for tomorrow. Seriously, all she did was weight me, check my BP, listen for the heartbeat, and measure my belly. Didn't have her computer there so I didn't get to ask any of my questions - she would have had to look back in the computer (at my chart) to know the answers... guess my questions will have to wait another 2 weeks. Oh, and I forgot to ask her if he's head down... but I have a feeling he is.

The nitty gritty:
weight 166# ... see that?!?!?! ONLY up 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks! HOW did that happen with Thanksgiving in there!?!?!
BP 102/60something
HR 140's (still very consistent)
Belly measuring 29 weeks. (I'll be 30 weeks in 2 days).

Questions for next time...
Is he head down?
Am I getting another ultrasound to check placenta position? I was told at the 20 week one that I'd get another one around 30-32 weeks. My next appointment is at 32 weeks.
Also probalby should ask about getting the white packet of info ... the book that includes the info for preregistration at the hospital and papers for filling out the birth certificate.

I've failed...

... my 1 hour glucose test that is. Today I got a 139 on it... the cut off is 135. Now I have to do the 3 hour glucose test. I am SO not looking forward to it. I have a hard time making it past 5am without getting out of bed to get something to eat - how in the world am I going to make it to 7:45am without eating anything - then chugging a glass of sugar water - and then lasting 3 more hours? I am going to be so miserable that day. So yeah, like I said - REALLY not looking forward to that.

What really gets me though...? 2 years ago when I did the 1 hour test when I was pregnant with Laura, I got 120. At that time, the cutoff was 140! See what they did? They lowered the range for "normal". I wonder if it really makes THAT big of a difference, or if this is an insurance company thing and now I qualify for more testing so they'll make more money and I have to pay more money.

How did the rest of the appointment go? Fine. I'll be 28 weeks tomorrow. Met the other new midwife who I'd not yet met... her name is Mahrie. She was very nice and now I'm glad I've met all 4 of them and would be happy with any of them attending the delivery :)

The nitty gritty...
Got another rhogam shot today. The nurse told me she'd be giving it in my butt and I said "no, I'll have it in my arm please". ... she told me she didn't understand why since it hurts so much more there, but she did it in my arm and surprise - it didn't hurt at all :) (Just like last time I had it) ... and the time before that.
BP 120/60
Baby's HR: 145 Very consistent! She didn't indicate whether he's head up or down, and now I regret not asking... I'm very curious what I'm feeling where... I think it's a butt I feel on my upper right side.
Weight... 164# .... up 9 pounds since my last visit. Up a total of 30# already! Eek! Marhie didn't believe me when I told her that was my total - until she looked it up herself - then her eyes bugged out a bit and I told her "that's how I do pregnancy ... 10ish pounds a month for the last 4 months". I also told her about my edema more than half way up my calves, and my swollen hands. This pregnancy is going exactly the same as last time as far as that goes.

Speaking of swollen hands... I had to take my wedding ring off a week ago. What do I miss about wearing my ring? The looks and the comments from other people. I could just feel the eyes on me from the other pregnant moms at the appointment today. There were three other couples there and there I was by myself, no wedding band on... I just felt like they were all looking at me differently, if you know what I mean. And then, I go into the room with the midwife, and she asks me a question about my "partner". I informed her I'm married. I hate that word "partner".

Sorry, just irked a little today I guess...

NIghtmares

So, the first time around, I had no fears or worries about labor and delivery. People always asked me if I was getting nervous or worried... and I always told them that No... my biggest worry about the whole thing was finding good daycare for our kidlet - and other than that, I could handle the labor/delivery thing. I didn't do any thinking/planning - I just went in with an open mind, not really knowing what to expect. I didn't want my heart set on a certain "Birth plan" and then be disappointed when it didn't go as planned.

This time around? That's a different story. I KNOW what labor and delivery is like. ... and I'm starting to have nightmares. I had a braxton hicks last night before bed with some cramping - and I'm pretty sure that's what set me into a night long nightmare... I kept dreaming that I was admitted to the hospital and having contractions... strong ones... but that I stalled out and wasn't progressing - and all the other women coming in after me kept having their babies, and then getting discharged - and there I sat - still having contractions and no baby. It wasn't a fun night.

25 week recap...

Above picture taken on Halloween ... 24.5 weeks.
Below picture taken day after Halloween... so technically still 24.5 weeks.
Don't I look a lot bigger in the top picture!?! I know the angle isn't the same, but I think I look bigger there.

Swollen fat sausage fingers.

Belly Button has become a thing of the past.

More stretch marks are forming everyday.

Heartburn.

Backache.

Left hip feels like it's going to go out on me constantly.

And I'm afraid to say, I don't think I'll be able to avoid the cankles this time.

After all that - some may ask ... Do I hate being pregnant? Nope. I love it. Not every little aspect of it, but overall... I do love it :)

Argh! What an inconvenience!

While I was at my appointment today, I noticed a "permission" slip type form at the desk on my way out - I glanced over it as I was waiting for my next appointment to be set up. It said that now that flu season is here, they're limiting the amount of visits for children under 10 to the maternity ward. They're limiting it to ONE visit per child per hospital stay! EEK! If I'm there for 4 days again, Laura can only come see us once!?! That's crazy! The permission slip is so that the parent signs off saying their child is healthy and then the stamp it with the child's name and the date/time of the visit so it's on record once they've used up their one visit.

Should make for some interesting childcare issues the week of delivery - Guess Laura will spend some days a Lynne's (if it's during the week) or with grandma and grandpa on the weekends - or Richie will stay with her, but not be able to be at the hospital.



I guess now I'm hoping that things with breastfeeding this time go smoother than last time and maybe we won't end up staying the full amount of time... we'll see. Oh the joys of being due smack dab in the middle of flu season.

10 Blips about Laura.

1) Her new words are "Burp" and "Poopy Head". Burp means fart in her world. Poopy head - well, I asked her where she heard that and her response was "JJ" ... meaning CJ from daycare. I wonder if by ignoring it, if she'll stop saying it?

2) She is well on her way to being potty trained. For probably 2 weeks now we've had no accidents if she's been clothing free from the waist down. When we've tried putting underwear on her, she hasn't recognized the need to use the potty and we did have a couple accidents with those. However, this week at daycare, she's done superb with the potty! She's been telling Lynne and Jenna when she has to go - and getting there in time to go and still have a dry diaper. One day, she was even playing in the backyard and made it to the potty inside in time!

3) She will not poo in the potty. She has had some difficulty with hard poo lately - and she now says "butt hurt biaper" when she has to go - so we put a diaper on her. Yes, biaper is diaper.

4) She loves money. She takes the change from my purse and puts it into the change jar. Just last week we spent a few days rolling all our change and she "helped"... when we were all done, she kept saying "More money"... I think we've created a monster!

5) She has started to stay in her bed again! Yay! It only took a couple nights of putting her back to bed repeatedly and she got the message that her bed is where she sleeps. In the mornings, she crawls out of bed usually and comes into the hallways saying "Mommy"... and then shortly later we hear "potty" - which is when we strip her down and she usually goes. ... and then the next words are typically "Get Gup Daddy" ... (Get up daddY!)

6) She is forward facing in the car now. She rode rear facing up until just a couple weeks ago. I don't think she minded rear facing, but Richie did! Her seat made it so his seat couldn't go back far enough. Now I get the back of my seat kicked. Wonderful :P

7) She loves all things girly - shoes, dolls, purses, "tutu", "clip" (hair clips)...

8) She knows where her baby brother is and gives him hugs and kisses everyday. I know she doesn't fully understand, but it's cute to see her talking about him and interacting with him already.

9) She is a chatterbox. Not really shy and everyday has new words. The other day we walked up to Lynne's door and Laura started to pound on it saying "knock"... then we went in and she ran upstairs saying "scuse me" to the girls on the stairs - then ran to Jenna saying "JENNA" ... and then proceeded to tell Jenna that it was raining outside.

10) She still talks about Bill a lot. The other night she said "night mommy. night daddy. Bill home" Silly girl.

24 weeks.

Had my 24 week appointment today.
BP: 110/64
Weight... 155 with jeans/sweater/sneakers on - so maybe more like 153? ... anyways - still nearly 20 pounds up by this point! Eek! I think I was like 15-17 pounds up at this point with Laura so I am gaining more this time around... but everyone is telling me it's ALL belly - and that I actually look like I'm carrying smaller this time around. My legs still have a bit of pitting everyday - I don't expect that to get better until oh - about 2 hours after I deliver - just like last time. At least this time, my cankles will be hidden under jeans and not out and about for the world to see!

Baby's HR: 144 He sure is consistent!

We still don't have a name yet.
We're maybe 85% sure on it, but still not committing to it 100%.

How have I been feeling? Pretty blah. My back has been killing me this week. Tuesday night, I actually was hobbling around work trying to finish up a med pour - and I so wish I could have sat down to do it - standing was just aching so bad! I called Richie to see if he could pick up Laura, but he'd been home since 12:30 with a migraine - we were a sore bunch that night! I picked up Laura - we went home and had "fend for yourself" for dinner. (I had cereal and toast, Richie and Laura had ramen noodles)... then for the rest of the evening, thankfully Laura was very cooperative and easy going ... I had a heat pad on my back, and Richie pretty much just relaxed in the recliner. Laura has been pretty happy playing "nap time" in the back room - where we lie down and she tucks us in, says night night, kisses us, gets us pillows etc ... it's really easy to play nap :) So, we did that - and we laid on the bed playing with the kitties ... and thankfully, she was sound asleep in my arms in the chair at 8pm that night. Most nights she settles in closer to 8:30. She must have known both mommy and daddy weren't up for a crazy night.

I felt better when I woke the next morning - but today, my back feels like something is pinched again. I told the midwife (Molly) about it today and she said if I want, she can write me a script for physical therapy. I'm wondering if chiropractor or massage might be a better option though... I'm trying not to lift Laura much - I'm sure lifting a 29 pound toddler isn't helping my back at all. I try to limit it to lifting her into and out of the van - she can climb the stairs herself, and daddy can take her off my lap to carry her into bed. It really doesn't feel like i'd imagine sciatic pain would feel - it's not really shooting - just kinda there.

Other than that though, I'm feeling really good. Occasional heartburn, but nothing severe. I'm getting braxton hicks contractions a few times a week. I'm also feeling this little guy move a whole lot! He is very active in the evenings.

22.5 weeks

I was so happy last week when I made it to 22 weeks and my wedding ring still fits. Then last night as I was crawling into bed, I realized I had the ring upsized since my fingers never got "unfat" after my last pregnancy... ... and then I pushed my finger into my shin to just check and see if I'm swollen. Yup. And so it starts. I was terribly swollen with Laura last time and everyone told me up until now, "It won't be bad - you're not pregnant in the summer this time". I held onto that hope. Now I'm not so sure.

To-Do List

Clean out the big room.
Turn it into Laura's room. (Needs everything done to it except new carpet, new door, and new heater) - window casing, paint, patch sheetrock around closet, trim, buy closet door

Have mom make crib skirt and valence for baby boy's room. I picked out a dark brown with a coordinating lighter shade of brown for trim - no pattern this time. We'll decorate his room with either moose or deer or bear pictures - or something like that.
Buy some pictures to hang up in his room.

Find a new dresser for baby boy's room since Laura will be taking the white/pink one with her to her room.

Picked out yarn for his coming home outfit... blue with flecks of white in it.

Find/buy a bouncy seat.

Fiind/buy a double stroller. Really love our single Maclaren so really thinking about the double.

Buy boyish crib sheets (tan?), buy boyish changing table cover.

Boy clothes - I think we're set in the 0-3 month size and totally set on sleepers up to 6 months.

Car Seat - we're set for the bucket seat, but will need the convertible one when he outgrows that.

Maybe find someone to trade our pink bumbo with for a more neutral color?

Borrow a swing from Debbie.

We're set on cloth diapers! Also set on disposables ... been finding really good deals and stocking up with a couple in each size range (for overnight).

Would like to dye a handful of our burp cloths (prefolds diapers) to boy colors - reds, yellows, greens, blues - don't think he'll appreciate the pink and purple ones we have for Laura!

Oh, and he still needs a name...

The toddler who doesn't want to sleep in her own bed...

Well, we've had a rough week here so far. Started last Friday... Laura was up in the night about 5 times within an hour and wouldn't stay in her bed. I was exhausted - brought her in with us at about 3am.
Saturday we were up to Megan's house and Laura went all day without a nap. Amazingly, she slept through the night that night! :)
Sunday night: near repeat of Friday
Monday night: ditto.
Tuesday night and Wednesday nights: she slept through the night.
Thursday night: She refused to stay in her bed past 11pm... so she slept with us. Richie and I didn't get any sleep.
Friday night: She went to bed at 8:40. At 8:55, she came out of her room. I put her back. She came out crying. I put her back. She came out screaming. I put her back. She came out yelling. I put her back... get the idea? Repeat 21 times. She was asleep at 9:25pm and slept through until 6:10am (our weekday wakeup time). I let her come in with us to snuggle until 7:40 this morning.

Whoops... taking a break from typing - she's out of bed... (It's 9:27)

I figured I couldn't "do" the repeated putting her back to bed thing on a work night - hence why we waited until Friday. We just didnt' think she'd start it so soon in the night!

We'll see how tonight goes, but for now she's quiet (It's 9:29)

Feeling good!

Did I forget to mention that I'm 21.5 weeks and still fitting almost all my nonmaternity shirts and my most super favorite pair of jeans that are also non maternity?!? Yeah, that's a way to feel good about myself - even if I am up 13 pounds or so!

21 weeks

I'm 21 weeks today. Maybe I'll get a belly picture tomorrow. I stayed home sick today - had a fever last night and have a sore throat, stuffy nose, headache and all that funk. I feel really bad that I haven't taken a single belly picture since a few weeks ago! I gotta get better at it!

I'm definitely looking pregnant now. But some days I still don't feel pregnant - until I feel the itty bitty baby moving around. Richie was finally able to feel the baby moving a few days ago. I'm feeling him moving around all the time. I kind of forgot how much I absolutely love that feeling :)

I've been surfing the net looking at a bunch of baby boy clothes... but haven't bought anything. We did go to Kohl's this past weekend to use a $5 off coupon and our 30% off code - got lots of great things -
Richie: Sneakers, 2 jeans, 2 tank tops, watch
Laura: Pink sheets for twin sized bed, 6 pack white socks, black allstar converse sneakers (for Christmas), another pair of sneakers for next summer/fall
Baby Boy: a cute little blue and brown sleeper with a fuzzy bear on it
Me: maybe I'll get something next time...

You know all those girly clothes I had? (HAD!) ... I had a friend come over last weekend and she took it all. I'm headed to her house this weekend to take all her blue stuff. Her son is 6 months older than Laura, and she just had a baby girl last month. Perfect! I did go through and pick out about a laundry basket full of stuff that I just couldn't part with - or things I'd like to pass to Neleh or maybe another neice some day.

Tomorrow I'm going to meet up with my mom and Neleh... we're going to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrell and then do a little browsing/registering/shopping. I know you're all reading that saying "What? She's registering for baby #2?" Yes. I have a coupon for a $10 GC to Babies-R-Us if I set up a registry. So that's why I'm doing it. I'm sure I'll put maybe 5 things on there just to say I did it and get the GC. I keep waiting to get lucky and get one of those "create a Target registry and get a $20 GC" things in my mailbox, but no luck yet - if anyone reading this gets one and won't be using it - send it my way please!!!

Bathtub fun.

Laura absolutely loves to "help" her daddy shave. He'll go to the sink and get out the can of shaving cream and she could be in the other room busily doing her own thing, but she just senses that the cream is out and it's time to play! We have decided on a few occasions to just let her play with it in the tub and she has had a blast!!!

This picture was taken August 28, 2009.

It's a BOY!

It was SO obvious on the screen that our little munchkin is a boy! The tech put the wand thingy on my belly and immediately I could tell it was a boy. I said, "Looks like a boy to me" and then she asked if we wanted to find out. It was so clear though, that even if we didn't want to find out, there was no hiding it.

He was moving around a LOT and it made it hard to get a few of the shots she was looking for, but overall she got some great ones :)

We took Laura with us to the appointment because she had her visit earlier in the morning. She didn't do too well and screamed through half of the scan and then was scared when we went into the office to see the midwife (Molly). I think she either thought we were there for her, or that they were going to hurt me (remember, she had 2 shots, flumist, and 1 finger prick this morning). Add all that to the fact that it was definitely nap time - and it just wasn't a fun place for a 2 year old (or anyone else in earshot of said 2 year old!)

Everything on our scan measured just right, except my placenta is low ... so they're going to repeat another ultrasound between 30-32 weeks (I think that's what she said!) to make sure it's not over the cervix. I really want to do a natural delivery so I'm praying really hard that it moves up!!!

Other stats:
My weight: 147# (That's a total gain of 13.5 pounds so far!) Eek! 8 of that was in the last 3 weeks! I think I'm going to say it was 146# though since I had jeans, sneakers and a sweatshirt on... :) ...so that means just 7 pounds the past 2 weeks for a total of 12.5# That's how I do it though - 8 to 10 pounds a month from here on out won't suprise me one bit.
My BP: 108/62 (that's low for me)

Baby boy's HR: 140's (see, lower IS boy!)
Baby boy's weight: 14 oz.

The top nub is the umbilical area - and the bottom nub - well, that's the boy part!
Upper extremities - the round on the left is his head, looking down onto his arms.
Knees. legs and feet on left, belly on right.

And my favorite of the day... their new machine does 3D!

This weekend's chore - sort through eight 18 gallon totes of pink and get it down to just one tub of special outfits to keep - sell/donate the rest and start buying BLUE!

Update on today's appointment.

Laura had her 2 year well visit today.

Saw Dr. S again. We love that guy! :) So friendly and nice!

Laura weighed in at 28pounds and a few ounces and is 35 inches tall. Still on the same growth curve she's been on all along, no spikes or dips.

She was really good at the appointment, but got 5 jabs ... first the finger prick for a CBC and lead level... then HIB and Meningitis vax, and then 2 shots of the flu mist - one for each nostril. She was not a happy camper. And they didn't even have any stickers out today :( (Or at least I didn't see them!)

Her CBC showed that her hematocrit and red blood cell levels are the very low end of normal. Not low enough to start a supplement, but low enough we need to concentrate on high iron foods ... I'll have to get a list together. Maybe I'll hit Kris up for a copy of the spinach brownies recipe...

Other than that, clean bill of health and they'll see her back in one year for a 3 year well visit. I can only hope there are no sick visits in between.




...oh, that wasn't the appointment update you wanted? Sorry - you'll have to wait a little while longer for that one!

2 days left!

Well, more like a day and a half at this point -
The poll shows 27 votes now. 13 for boy and 14 for girl. I'm surprised it's so close!

I have been able to feel this new baby moving around a LOT the past week or so. And a few days ago I was able to finally feel it from the outside too! It's starting to feel much more real now. (So, for the record - felt outside movement at 19 weeks and a few days.)

I've got a big job ahead of me - I cleaned Laura's room this weekend and realized I have eight 18 gallon totes of clothes that she's outgrown - EEK! Time to purge and make more room. I also have 2 totes that size of sizes 3t/4t/5t waiting to be grown into. I figure if new baby is a boy, I'll downsize to just one tote of special outfits of Lauras and the rest will GO. If this one is a girl - I'm going to selectively go through and weed out a bunch. We just don't have the space for it all. I'm on call this weekend coming up, so I figure since I'll be stuck around home anyways - might as well give myself a job to do - and I'm sure Laura will love "helping" sort through things.

She's TWO!

Where did the past 2 years go? It feels like we just brought a newborn home and we were the new parents who had to figure out everything from feeding to diapering to keeping up with the house to figuring out how to balance parenthood/marriage/working full time... and it all did work out and I can honestly say that the past 2 years of my life have been the best 2 years of my life (so far.)

We had a family party for Laura Saturday... Grandma/Grandpa, Grammie/Papa, Great Grandpa, Aunt Megan and Uncle Matt, Rachel and Eric and Logan, Larry and Karla. It was a smaller group than last year, but a fun day for all. Laura really enjoyed opening her gifts this year and was trying to rip into them as soon as people started showing up. She has played all day on Sunday (her actual birthday) with nearly everything she got - her Elmo hands, her 2 kitty books, her new kitchen accessories and food, her new trike, the hopscotch mat, she loved her new crayons in the tub, sat with daddy and colored with her other new crayons, and is now sleeping in her new pj's.

Aunt Megan and Laura...

Rachel and Logan being silly!
The tractors are always a big hit!
Laura is imitating the kid in the book lapping up the kitten's milk...

Just like last year though - she had no interst in eating her cake. She blew out the candle (with a little help from mommy) and then wanted nothing to do with the cake.

This boy knows how to eat cake!

Uncle Kevin, Aunt Amy, cousin Hunter and Mason, Aunt Dawn and Uncle Kevin and Neleh - WE MISSED YOU GUYS!

This was taken Saturday night - the last night Laura would ever be our little 1 year old girl.

Sunday we had a really relaxing day. It rained all day. Laura was up in the morning and we all lazed around for a few hours - Laura played with nearly all her new toys (see above) and she loved her little 4 minute DVD that demonstrates how to do the "elmo dance". I think we replayed that thing 7-8 times before daddy was really sick of it.

Naptime today was from 1-3ish and then in the late afternoon, our neighbor friends came over for a little party. Laura and the 4 kids had a ball playing with every single toy they could find! The house was a mess but it was great to see them all playing together :) We had apples and dip and cookies and cake and hot mulled cider. (I'd share more pictures, but I'm not sure if their parents are okay with it or not.)

This time, Laura actually ATE some of her cake. I set a piece in front of her and she went to town cutting it with her fork and poking the frosting - and then she stabbed a piece and ate it. Just one piece, but she actually tried it.

Thanks to everyone who shared in the joy of Laura turning TWO this weekend!!!

Laura Kimberly's birth story

Warning - gory details to follow - I don't believe I ever shared this on the blog. This is the events of the night Laura was born - as I recall them. I typed it up when she was 3 weeks old. I thought some of my readers may want to read it, but I realize not everyone wants to hear the gory birth details, so if you don't want details - feel free to skip this post. It's raw and real. I read through this last night and it just felt like it was so fresh in my mind. ... also kind of scary that I realize I'll be giving birth again in just 4.5 months from now...

Wednesday September 26th - (excerpts from my blog that day)Not feeling great this morning. Headache since I woke up. Took tylenol at 7:30. Hasn't really done much. BP was 134/98 an hour or so ago, layed on the couch and tried to sleep and just retook it... 154/76... I hate to cry wolf...so I'm on the fence about calling... I'm headed back to the couch for now with my pillow, a glass of water, and Harry Potter... (I never did crack the book - just ended up dozing!)

I ended up trying to sleep on the couch the rest of the morning, but every hour when I'd wake up/roll over my headache was still there. (I had taken tylenol around 7:30am) My BP isn't terrible, but it isn't pretty either... 151/87 last check. I took more tylenol at noon just before calling...

We're headed to the hospital. Graham decided to have me come in - do more bloodwork and monitoring as well as start cervadil to nudge things along and discuss possible induction tomorrow or friday (unless the cervadil works on its own!!!) My platelets from yesterday are stable and my H&H (blood levels) are good.

So I told Graham that it'd be probably an hour and a half before we could get to the hospital. Richie was still at work and had to wrap up a few things then head home, quick shower for him and off we went. We got to the hospital at around 2pm and we were set up in room 314. I wasn't admitted - just put in as "observation" status at that point. They set me up with another 24 hour urine jug. Graham came in and discussed the plan. She explained to us that cervidil ~can~ kickstart real labor if the cervix is ready. If it's not ready though, the cervidil may not do much... so, she was really telling us that we could end up with a baby really soon - or that we could end up needing to do pitocin late Thursday or Friday - or, that I may be sent home after the 24hour urine and we could still have the baby the next week! We took that to mean "don't call family and have them all rush here yet". We did call my parents and Richie's parents to let them know the plan though.

The cervidil was put in at 3pm. I was "a good 1cm" - same as the day before when she stripped my membranes at the office. Amazingly - as soon as we got to the hospital, my BP was fine! Better than it'd been in months! (hmmm.... maybe I was able to relax knowing that things were getting going!) I was hooked up to the monitor and baby's heart rate was wonderful! The machine had a hard time keeping the reading when I was on my side though and all I wanted to do was curl up and relax.

At around 3:45pm I started to feel some pretty constant dull achey menstrual type cramps and some low back ache. This continued pretty much through the evening - I tried watching the monitor to see how far apart contractions were, but I couldn't really see the strip from where I was. I remember we ate dinner and watched the Dallas Cowboy reality show on MTV. After dinner my back was really starting to bother me. I was afraid I was in for a long back labor. I had Richie set me up with one of those disposable heating packs and it helped a lot!!!

Richie's mom stopped by really quick to bring us some muffins and to see how we were doing. While she was there I remember watching a lightening storm go across the lake... It rains on all of our big days I guess (Yes, it rained on our wedding day and my baby shower day!)

At 8pm Richie started watching a Mets game. I remember saying that at 9pm I wanted to switch it over to watch "Criminal Minds" but by 9pm I was so involved in just trying to stay comfortable during and between contractions that he kept the game on until it was over at 10pm. I was laboring in the rocking chair most of that time. It was a hard wooden chair and I remember that the darn thing creaked everytime I rocked and that creaking was just grating on my nerves!

At a little before 11pm, Gisellse (our evening nurse) went off shift and we met Jeanne. Jeanne did her beginning of the shift rounds - checked my vitals - all looked good. Checked the contractions and baby's heart rate - all looked good. Then she shut the light off and left Richie and I to rest. Richie had changed into his lounge pants and pulled out the uncomfortable bed for him - he read some of his Chronicles of Narnia book while I was working through the contractions.

I remember looking at the clock at 11:30 when this one really hard contraction woke me up and at the same time Laura must have kicked really hard - I woke up crying and shaking. I remember thinking that if ~this~ wasn't real labor and that they were really going to send me home to come back next week .... that I didn't want to come back!

I had really strong contractions from 11:30-12:45. I was shaking and/or crying through nearly all of them. I don't even know how long they were, but I know I wasn't getting much of any rest in between them.

At 12:45 I asked Richie to go get Graham because I was absolutely miserable! I wanted drugs. [Now, just as some background - in one of my appointments with Graham at about 28ish weeks when they start asking you about labor options I told her that I'm a wimp when it comes to pain and that I wanted drugs... I was thinking intrathecal] So, Richie goes to get her and she comes in awhile later (was busy with something) and she must have checked the strip and seen how strong the contractions were and she decided to check me. I remember someone making a comment about how I wasn't showing the typical "wimp" signs and that I was tolerating the contractions really well. So she checked me and I was 4cm. She took out the cervidil and said that I was being admitted because I was in active labor! YAY!

I told Richie right away to call my mom and dad... they were 2 hours away and we thought it'd be best if they headed to our house for the rest of the night and then we could call them when we were closer to delivery (our house is only about 20 minutes from the hospital.) He also called his mom to tell her to come, and my sister just to let her know things were happening.

At this point, someone asked if I wanted to use the jacuzzi tub. I was all for that! They went to start filling it and in the mean time I was given the birthing ball to try - that didn't do anything - I just felt akward. I think I only used it for 2-3 contractions. As soon as the tub was filled we walked down the hall to that room. I got in and it felt so good... between the contractions. During the contractions though it just felt weird - like I had no leverege and couldn't do anything but float. I was in there for a short while and Richie was getting me super cold cloths for my forhead and my chest - I was sweating terrible. I asked the nurse to go get Graham because I WANTED DRUGS! I really didn't think I could endure anymore ...especially if ~this~ was only 4cm... Well, Graham got in there and between contractions she was asking me if I recalled how the different drugs work etc... (I think she was stalling hoping I'd decide I didn't want them!) ...

The contractions at that point were different than they had been with the cervidil. The ones with the cervidil were one on top of another. These were coming really hard for one - then a not so hard one right after (or maybe it was just the end of the same one!?) And then I was getting a few minutes (I don't know how long really, but it felt like forever compared to the cervidil breaks!) I was getting a few minutes between and I was actually able to drift off to sleep. Each time, I'd wake up and open my eyes and I was stunned each time when I realized that it wasn't just a painful bad dream...this was real! Real labor! Really a baby at the end of it! One of the contractions at this point felt different and I said "I either have to poop or push out a baby!" ...Graham told me to follow what my body was telling me. So with that next contraction I pushed and Graham was like "That was a real push - we have to get you out and check you". I think I had maybe 2 more contractions in the tub while they were getting me a wheelchair and towels. I was wheeled down the hallway and I remember thinking that the cold air felt SO GOOD!

I got in the room and Graham had me sit on the toilet - not really sure why at the time. I told her I didn't have to pee. She said that the natural pushing position might help out. IF the toilet wasn't made for a giant and my feet actually touched the floor, that might have been true - but I was just uncomfortable there so I asked to get back into the bed. As I was sitting there, I remember the sweat literally running off of me. I also remember that all the way through labor they were offering me sips of water or juice - but I was belching so much that I didn't want anything in my stomach. I wanted to limit the possibility of puking!

So, off the toilet and back into bed to be checked - Graham said she couldn't even find my cervix! I was complete already... I say already because I glanced at the clock and it was only 1:45am! Only an hour since they last checked me! They figure that I went from 4-full in the time I was in the tub which was only about 25 minutes! So... needless to say - no time for drugs! She asked if my water had broken - but I didn't know. I hadn't felt a big gush so I didn't know. She told me that either she was feeling the bag of waters or my baby was bald...Richie called my parents back to tell them to skip stopping at our house and to just come directly to the hospital, but that they were going to miss the delivery. They were in a dead zone so Richie had to try back a few other times before reaching them. Richie's mom was at the hospital by this time.

So I technically started pushing at around 1:45am. I started out in bed and either Jeanne or Graham was holding my right leg up. My left leg was just kinda flopped over on the bed. Richie kept getting me cold cloths I was still able to fall asleep between contractions. I remember saying how surreal the whole ordeal was.

Everyone was telling me how great I was doing - that my pushes were all being very effective and that I was very efficient. I think efficient was the word of the night... Then Graham asked if I wanted to try squatting as the gravity could help speed things along. I thought that was pretty crazy and I wasn't going to do that... I was enjoying my mini naps too much! A little while later she strongly suggested I get up and try the squatting to speed things along - so I did... and it was amazing how fast it made things go! I think maybe 4-5 contractions squatting by the bed and then I was told I HAD to get back in bed or there'd be a baby on the floor... so, back in bed and they got all the sterile stuff ready ... When the baby was crowning we found out that Graham must have been feeling the sack of waters earlier - because there was a ton of hair! I had already told her I didn't want to see things down there, but she asked me if I wanted to feel - no thanks.

I ended up delivering Laura's head and body in one push at 3:22am on 9/27/07. She was quickly put onto my chest and I was bawling... I asked if it was a girl because there was no "big announcement"...and Graham told me to look...so I pawed through the few blankets until I found her little purple legs and looked ...yes! All GIRL!

They asked if Richie or I wanted to cut the cord - but we opted not to -Richie cut it later when it was cut closer to her body. They were going to let the cord stop pulsing before it was cut, but they wanted me to deliver the placenta so they could stop my bleeding. Laura was able to stay with me on my chest the whole while I was getting stitched up. Laura was screaming the minute she came out. Her cord was really thick - must be her momma was feeding her well!

My mom and dad arrived at the hospital at around 4am - they missed the birth by about 45 minutes. My dad waited out in the hallway while I was getting stitched up and as soon as my mom came into the room I started bawling all over again!

I had torn in 2 places ... 2nd degree and also a pretty deep labial tear. Not sure how many stitches I got, but it's been 3 weeks and they're still there...still bugging me!

My dad was allowed in after I was stitched up and he came right to us and bent over Laura and said "can you say papa?" It was so cute!

NYS law says that the babies need the vit k shot and the eye goop within 1 hour of birth, but it was more like an hour and 15 minutes by the time they got to that. When they did do the eye goop, she didn't like it going in the left eye - she really fought it... so much so that she peed on me TWICE while they were trying to get it in. I first thought that her cord had fallen onto my belly, but then realized it was pee.

It was about this time that they took Laura off of me to get her weighed and measured.... 8#8.6oz. 19 3/4 inches long. 14 inch head circumference. The next while was spent passing Laura to her daddy, grandmas, and grandpa.

Then at 6:30 Jeanne took Laura to give her the first bath. Richie was right with her and watched and took pictures. She didn't like the bath at all!!!

I remember talking with jeanne and telling her that I bet when she got report on me at ~10:45pm that she probably thought she had a pretty easy shift ahead of her - especially since I was tucking in and getting ready to sleep when she first came in at 11pm...

I tried to get up and use the bathroom at around this time and I was too dizzy to get there. They asked if I wanted to try a commode - but I didn't want to do that with everyone still in the room. I decided to roll over and try to rest while everyone was leaving. Just after everyone was out of the room, I rolled over and felt the urge to pee again - so I called in the day nurses (Anita and a student nurse). I said I'd like to try the commode and they helped me stand - then sit again because I was dizzy. Then stand - then sit ... then stand - then quick to the commode while I felt okay... then i didn't feel so okay. I remember Anita standing really close to me and pulling my head into her hip and telling me to keep talking to them...next thing I know I was waking up smelling that god awful smelly stuff... I had passed out. There were 3 nurses there by that time and I was hoisted back into bed. Poor Richie had walked out with our parents and he had just come back into the room just before I passed out. He said that really scared him!

Once I was back in bed my feet were put up and I had the cool cloths on me again - and I had the shakes really bad! They ended up bringing me breakfast and I was instructed to eat that and drink lots before trying to get up again - The next time I was up was much better! I did have headaches for a few days afterwards and was dizzy on and off. Also had racing/pounding heart that next week... My hematocrit had dropped to 24 and they think I may have lost a bit more blood than they thought.

All is better now though So, I ended up with the perfect labor and delivery. I can't think of one thing I would change! I will definitely use the midwives for our next pregnancy. They were all wonderful!

It's a tie.

See the little votey thing to the right sidebar? I've been watching it each day - and so far, it's a tie! It started out heavy to the boy side, but now evened out. 10 girl, 10 boy. 5 days :)

Towel

Laura wants to name the new baby, "Towel".

Dreaming.

I had a dream about a week ago and another dream just this weekend that we're having another girl. Not sure it means anything, but during the day my brain thinks boy, but my subconscious must be thinking it's a girl.

9 days!

Winded at 18 weeks.

I almost don't remember this from last time - two days this week (Tues and Fri) - I felt like I could not catch my breath all day. I'd walk from my car into the building at work and have to deep breathe and try to catch my breath - felt like I'd just got done exercising, when in fact all I'd done was taken a short leisurly stroll. I'm guessing it's increased blood flow? I dunno. I just know it was kind of unsettling to feel that way.

No other symptoms to report - still feeling baby moving around everyday. I keep putting my hand on my belly to try to feel the movements, but I can't yet - so that means Richie hasn't felt it yet either. Soon though, hopefully soon.

11 days until we know pink or blue! :) Eek! I'm getting so excited!

Hair and a Boo Boo.

Boo Boos. Many things can be boo boos... might be a real boo boo - might be a mole - might be a piece of dirt. Until proven otherwise though, Laura assumes all of these things are boo boos.

Tonight, Richie was sitting in the recliner with his arm stretched above his head. She looked across the room at him and exclaimed BOO BOO! We weren't sure what she was talking about. We asked her to show us what she was talking about. She got down from her chair at the table and ran to her daddy and pointed to his arm pit and again exclaimed BOO BOO! Her daddy corrected her and told her it was in fact hair, not a boo boo.

Can you guess what she did next? She came back over to the table where I was sitting (wearing a tank top) and insisted on looking at my hair. I think she was either disappointed that there wasn't any there - or just confused by it. She kept looking and looking. Then she went back to her daddy to check out his - and then back to me.

It was the funniest thing watching her and her little brain try to process the differences between males and females - and I'm sure it'll only get more and more interesting as the years go on.

Cut your grocery bill!

Ok, so I've had a bunch of people asking me how I'm getting the great deals on groceries and household goods...

Thought I'd share a couple of my favorite places to search for deals.

www.vocalpoint.com If you're a mom - you really have to go here and sign up. They mail you coupons for great amounts off products or even free products! I got a free 18 ounce box of Rice Krispies from them as well as 5 $1 off rice krispies coupons, and I got a full size box of kashi honey sunshine cereal for free as well as 5 $1.50 off coupons for that product as well.

www.wickedcooldeals.com This blog is awesome. Enough said. Michelle is a blogging momma in the northeast and she points out a whole bunch of savings, coupons, and even coupon matchups for stores so all you have to do is print out/gather your coupons - and go shopping.
The stores she outlines on a pretty much weekly basis are: Price Chopper, Target, Rite Aid, CVS, and Shaws (a grocery store, but none near us). It's amazing. Check it out!

www.afullcup.com This site is a bit time consuming and takes awhile to figure out how to get around it - but once you figure it out, again - a wealth of knowledge with the deals/coupons that are out there. I especially like checking out the Rite Aid, CVS, and Target forums.

www.target.com Did you know Target has their own store coupons? Did you know you can "stack" a target coupon with a manufacturer coupon on the same item? Did you know Target price matches?
This is how my "deal" went down last week:
Walgreen ad had all general mills cereals on sale for $1.99.
Take Walgreen ad into Target.
Pick out 4 general mills cereals to match up with the coupons I printed from www.coupons.com
Use one manufacturer coupon and one target $1/1 GM cereal coupon on each product. I brought home those boxes of cereal for prices ranging from 24cents - 44cents per box. Easy Peasy.

More about Target - where to find those coupons - If you go to their homepage, you can scroll way down and on the left hand side in small print it says "grocery coupons". Click that and you can print off whatever you want as many times as you want. The coupons say "one per transaction" but that really is up to each individual store to limit - I usually use 2-4 at a time and don't have any problems, but I bet if you walked in with 10 or so, they'd look at you funny and probalby limit you. Those coupons are posted every 2 weeks on Sunday mornings. If you want more of those coupons after that time period, you can still get them! Many sites have "target coupon generators" that you can print off lots and lots from. Try www.hotcouponworld.com and click on their Target Coupon generator link. I like printing from there because you don't have to be a member or logged in. www.afullcup.com also has a target coupon generator, but you have to be a member (free) and logged in to be able to print from there.

www.coupons.com Already mentioned, but so worth checking out - each month the put up new coupons to print. Some can be printed twice from each computer, some only once.



This week's deal for me - more cereal. (yep, you heard me!) You know those 5 Kashi coupons I said I have? Well, Target has a deal this week where if you buy 5 kashi products, they'll give you a $5 target gift card. The cereal is on sale for $2.88 at Target. It's on sale for $2.50 at Walgreens (See where I'm going with this?!)

Price match Walgreens ad for $2.50 (limit 4)
$2.50x4 = $10
One more box at the target sale price of $2.88
Minus 5 $1.50 off coupons ($7.50)
Pay out of pocket $5.38
Get back a gift card for $5...
I pay essentially 38cents for 5 boxes of Kashi :)

Hope that helps someone out! It's really all just a game of hide and seek - they hide the deals and you have to find them. It's fun :) And makes your grocery bill DROP!

17 weeks

Had another appointment today. Saw Kate.

Up another couple of pounds putting me at 139#. The baby's heartrate was 150's again. Pretty constant in the 150's range. Talked about the flu shot today. I will be getting the seasonal flu shot. I will not be getting the H1N1 when it comes out. Way too new and I don't want to be their guinea pig. No.Thank.You.

I started craving cereal again - this was my downfall last time ... and this week I stocked up! Got 23 boxes of cereal for a total of $8.80...and it's yummy stuff... honey nut cheerios, cinnamon toast crunch, kix, kashi honey sunshine, rice krispies etc... should be good for ...oh, about 23 days now! ha! I ate 3 bowls today... eek! I see 52# coming again... (and tomorrow I'm picking up 5 more boxes before the great sale goes off!)

Feeling baby move all.the.time now. I love the little flutters :) They make me smile.

Laura knows where "baby" is - she points to my tummy when asked. Sometimes she misses the mark and points to my thigh or my boob, but she gets the general idea!

When I ask her if she wants a baby brother or a baby sister - she indicates both. ... there is only one in there though, so we'll see ... in just 18 days! I put up a poll on the right hand side if anyone wants to take guesses :)

(I have taken pictures each week ...except this week!) ... haven't posted though because my computer is bogged down from having so much on it since we lost our external hard drive. I'm in the process of going through and deleting the terrible pictures I'll never print to free up space - then I'll dump stuff to flash drives - then be able to upload the newer stuff.

Weekly bedtime/naptime update.

I am SO so happy to report that we only had one week of rough bedtimes/naptimes after the toddler bed transition. Last weekend, I was worried she wouldn't nap well, but she did - went down on Saturday for her nap and woke up 1.5 hours later - whined and fussed to herself for about 2 minutes and passed back out for another 45 minutes! And then Sunday, she slept soundly for nearly 3 hours!

Overnights - now - I don't want to jinx us here, but for the past 4 nights, I haven't had to get up at all with her! She's awoken once each night long enough to make one little squalk and go back to sleep. So, she's been going down (easily) at about 8:30pm and getting up between 6:45-7:30!!! :) YAY!

...oh, but now that she's sleeping through - I'm needing to be up to pee overnight. That hit me about 4 weeks ago - once everynight - twice some nights. Oh well, I'm still enjoying the middle of the night quiet :)

Ick.

16 weeks 2 days - and now I'm getting heartburn. Lovely.

My daughter has a crush...

On the man next door... His name is Bill. Right now he is standing in the driveway talking to Richie and she's sitting in the window next to me yelling "Bill Bill Bill Bill" over and over and being all giggly. She has been asking for "Bill" since we got home an hour ago. Last night when we were in the yard, she spotted Bill in his backyard with his 4 kids and she ran squeeling over towards the fence yelling "BILL!" It's cute because most of the time it comes out sounding like "Beel". Last weekend, I opened the garage door to leave the house and she saw neighbor Bill outfront with his 4 kids - and I thought for sure she'd yell "Cole" (Nicole - his youngest who is 3 months older than Laura), but nope... Bill. These days, it's all about Bill.

The other names of people she's started saying in the past month or so are:
Hunner (Cousin Hunter)
May-May (Cousin Mason)
Lynnie (daycare)
Beany (Simon at daycare who everyone calls Bean)
Zachy (Zach from daycare)
Claire/Clara (This one is going to be hard for her - two new girls started at daycare this week...one is Claire - a couple months younger than Laura and the other is Clara - less than a year old)
Bill and "Cole" as mentioned above

Of course, we still hear mommy, daddy, papa, gramma, grampa a lot too... not so much grammie yet - but I'm sure that one's in there too!

Tales from the Toddler bed...

This was taken a couple weekends back - on that super duper hot weekend in August. 90-100 degrees... hence the reason she's got nothing but a diaper on... but she refuses to fall asleep without "banket" on her... Anyways - I realized after the fact that this is the last picture of her sleeping in her crib. (not that you can even tell she's in the crib though!)

I would have loved to keep her in the crib longer - but my growing belly had other plans. When it got to the point where I was squishing my belly putting her into the crib at night and then getting cramps - that's when we decided to make the move. It was either that, or have daddy do all nighttime duty - and she would SO not be okay with that!

The crib we got does not have a drop side, so I was reaching over it each time to lie her down in it. Never was a problem until the belly. Would I buy a non drop side again or recommend it? Absolutely! This crib has been so sturdy we love it! Did I want to go buy another crib or a toddler bed? NO way! Glad we got a convertible bed too :) All we had to do was take one side off and turn it into the "day bed" but toddler sized.

Our first night was last Friday. We've survived a week so far, but let me tell you how the first few nights went:
Friday:

7pm: Oh, she's getting fussy - let's switch her crib to the toddler bed and give her an early bedtime.

8pm: rocking her to sleep - she took her milk... and then vomited all over me... and Gigi (reference picture above, Gigi is the giraffe). So, outfit change for me, outfit change for her, Gigi goes on vacation to the washing machine.

8:30ish: She wants both her mommy and daddy by her - we go lie down in our bed with her inbetween us. She drifts off, but then starts BEGGING for her "juice" (milk). I give her some. In hindsight, NOT a good idea. She got all calmed down and then rolled over to face me... started whining "mommy mommy mommy"... I moved out of the way just in time - but she needed a bath, a new outfit, her hair washed, we needed new sheets on the bed... and this time, Bunny didn't make it out alive. (Reference picture above for cute little bunny rabbit). Bunny is now on vacation in the washing machine with Gigi.

10:30pm: After her bath, she wouldn't let me lay her down - so we both fell asleep in the recliner in the living room. Woke up covered in sweat at 10:30 and I went to put her in her bed and Rich and I finally crawled into bed... hoping for a quiet rest of the night. Did I mention we decided to do this while I was on call? During the puke incidents I think I had 4 phone calls I had to deal with... ugh!

11:30pm: She's crying. She fell out of bed. Soft landing on pillows though. Put her back in and she went to sleep a short while later.

1:30am: She's crying. Fell out again. Went back in fairly easily.

2:30am: Guess what - fell out again. This time, begging for bunny and gigi... I gave up and brought her into bed with us and we all slept until 6:30am. Best 4 hours of sleep in a long time!

Saturday:
She took a 45 minute snooze on the way home from getting groceries (and rescuing daddy since his truck died and had to call AAA to get it towed) - anyways - we got home and Richie put a 3/4 length bed rail on the bed. I was surpised the toddler bed didn't have a bedrail, but we didn't really think it'd be that big of a problem Friday night... we were wrong. So, he put a bedrail on and left about a foot or so of space at the foot of the bed where she can crawl in and out, she can't fall out that small of a hole, right!?!

Saturday afternoon she refused to take a nap in her bed. Guess the 45 minutes was enough for her.

She fell asleep in my arms Saturday night so that made it easy to get her into bed that night. ... slept fine until 1:30am... fell out! You've got to be kidding me! This time, I found a thick big book and shoved that in the 1 foot space trying to block the exit. Set up a row of big stuffed animals by the book so it was a bit more of a barrier. Thankfully, that did prevent any further falls (till this point anyways!)

1:30-3am - I was trying to get her to fall asleep in the bed, but she was just crying everytime I'd leave the room. I'd go back in and hum her to sleep nearly falling asleep myself, but being that I wasn't comfortable - didn't want to fall asleep there. A couple times I got up to leave the room to use the bathroom and she crawled out of bed and came after me. All I said to her was, "where are you supposed to be?" and she turned right around and ran (screaming) back into her room. It was not a fun night. Finally at 3am, I called for Richie and asked him to sit with her so I could go back to bed. She was sound asleep in the next 20 minutes and he was back in bed soon too.

Sunday:
She fell asleep in my arms for her nap and I laid her in the bed - she stayed for 1 hour and then was up - refusing to sleep in it again. Richie brought her in with me and she napped with me for another hour.

Sunday night:
I believe she was up once for a drink of milk and otherwise no incidents.

Each night this week has been about the same. I've let her just "cry it out" at bedtime and again in the middle of the night when she's waking up but seriously it's all of 2 minutes of fussing and she's sound asleep again.

I just laid her down for her nap this afternoon and we'll see how it goes. Before the change from crib to toddler bed, her weekend naps were lasting 2-3 hours consistently. I certainly hope she goes more than an hour today!

14 weeks

Well... here's my first of (hopefully) weekly belly shots. This is about when I started with Laura too... but this time I'm already bigger than I was this far along with Laura. Guess it's true - everything was stretched out before so now it just pops out faster. I definitely "popped" out over this past week.

Not the best picture - but that's what I could get using the self timer this evening - Laura kept trying to play with the camera so we quick snapped a few - I still haven't figured out how to get myself in focus with the self timer... I guess I need to do manual focus, but that is hard with a toddler around...

Totally felt it!

Yep, that was baby! I just felt it again sitting here again :) Yay!

Had my appointment today too - saw Molly again (I really like her!)

Weight: 137 (up 1/2 pound since last week)
BP 120/70

Heard baby's heartbeat right away this time! It was 154... I'm thinking boy? I don't remember that Laura's was ever that low - I'll have to read back through my pregnancy book to double check that though. Oh, and this little one also was moving all over the place - she had to keep "finding" it again - but she let me listen for a good long time and commented "that's the best sound ever".

I go back in 3 weeks for the last part of the sequential screening (bloodwork) and an appointment with Kate.

Then on SEPTEMBER 30th is the BIG day! The day that hopefully this little one will cooperate and we'll know if we'll be decorating in pink or blue :)

I think I felt it!!!

I think I felt baby move! I'm 14 weeks today and as I was sitting here typing - I'm partly bent over (I know, bad posture!) but I felt a little twitch that felt like baby movement... I'll have to wait to feel it again to be certain, but from what I remember - that was baby... not gas! I was 15 weeks last time, so definitely not too far fetched to think I'm feeling it this time so soon :)

What to stock the freezer with...

When I was pregnant with Laura - I made it a priority to have about a months worth of meals in the freezer so that I wasn't stressed when dinner time came around and I'd not even gotten a shower in for the day, let alone think about making a meal. I ended up having 21 (or so) meals as well as quick breads and a few desserts in there.

When I lost my hard drive... I also lost the list of foods I had - so I'm starting over trying to make a list and want to have a place to jot things down as I think of them... if you have any ideas of meals (and recipes!) that freeze well, let me know!

Entrees:
Spaghetti Pie (Mona and Jim's recipe)
Mushroom Turkey Tetrazini (From Light & Tasty Magazine)
Sloppy Joe (mom's recipe)
Lasagna
Stuffed Peppers (I need a good recipe for this!)
Pie crusts (for quiche's and such)
Pork Apple Burgers (since it'll be nearing grilling season when my maternity leave is up!)
Meatloaf (Richie's favorite!)
Turkey/Stuffing/Mashed potato roll ups with gravy
Shepherd's Pie (need to find a recipe!)
Chicken Pot Pie (need to find a recipe!)
Apple and Onion Chicken (Jenn's secret family recipe!)

Soups:
Split Pea with Ham
Lentil
Hamburger soup (mom's recipe)

Quick breads/muffins:
Banana bread
Pumpkin bread
Blueberry muffins
Apple "cake" (George family recipe)

Desserts:
Cupcakes (from a box mix) <--- Richie loves these!
Pumpkin/chocolate chip cookies
Apple pie fillings
Pie crusts

Other stuff:
Applesauce
Apple Jelly

Coming Home Outfit

February in NY is generally cold. It'd be a safe bet to say something like this would make a super cute coming home outfit, right? Knit out of super soft wool and paired with a long sleeve tshirt with handmits.

I guess I have 1/3 of the outfit completed - I bought a 2 pack of the tshirts on sale the other day at walmart. It was my first purchase for this new baby. I'm trying to be good and NOT buy a lot until we know gender. If we end up with another girl - we won't need a lot of stuff... at all.

So - now I just need to find a pattern, some wool... and ask my mom to whip up a pair of pants and a hat ... she's retired now - think she can find time to do that? :)

(Pretty please mom?) :)

Fat.

I got told yesterday that my nose is already getting fat. I think she was joking. At least I hope she was joking...

Laura's 2nd birthday will be coming up next month. I'm having quite a few people ask me what she wants for her birthday.

I know what she does NOT want... MOON SAND! Someone suggested this stuff to us and when I saw it in the stores, I thought "No way am I paying that much for it!" ... so when I saw a brand new package at a lawn sale for $2, I grabbed it!

Whoever invented that was off their rocker! Where are you supposed to play with this stuff? It goes everywhere! Sure, it says it cleans up easily, but it's not like she could play with the red moon sand and then just use a wipe to come clean - it took a whole bath to get it off her hands, her legs and her creases. And I've yet to get it all off the floor!

appointment updates

July 1st - Saw Molly - she's a new midwife with the practice and I really liked her.

7 weeks pregnant

weight: 134.5 pounds! I'm starting this pregnancy just 2.5 pounds up from my last one. Not too shabby! I certainly don't have the same shape, but I'm happy the overall weight is back in the normal range for me.

At this appointment, there wasn't anything really exciting to do - peed in a cup - had an internal - scheduled a dating ultrasound - updated my medical history in the computer. I do recall that Molly informed me I'd gain 25-35 pounds during this pregnancy - I looked at her with wide eyes and said "Really!?! That'd be great! Last time I gained 52 pounds!" ... I think that took her by surprise and her response was something like "well, you don't have to gain that much this time, but some women are preprogramed to gain more than others"

July 10th - First Ultrasound (see previous post for picture)

July 22nd - second appointment - saw Molly again. Also had first set of bloodwork drawn - They tested for imunity to rubella and fifth's disease. I declined the toxoplasmosis testing - I figure it won't change anything - Richie is changing the cat litter now anyways.

10 weeks pregnant.

Weight: Up 2 pounds. Eek! I didn't gain this early on last time! I hope this doesn't mean I'm in for another 52 pounds...

Got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! It took Molly a few minutes to find the heartbeat and it felt so long waiting and waiting for her to find it. Once she did find it, it wasn't easy to keep - baby kept moving out of the way. Heartrate was 172 - I'm thinking it's another girl! Up until this point, I was getting very strong boy feelings (for no particular reason) - but once I saw the rate, I'm pretty sure it's a girl... we'll see though.

August 3rd - Appointment for Nuchal Translucency scan. Bloodwork and Ultrasound. (See previous post for pictures)

11 weeks 5 days

August 12 - well, you all read about that appointment in the previous post

13 weeks

Weight: no gain, no loss! Yay!

Next appointment: Thursday August 20th with Molly again. Looking forward to hearing a nice strong heartbeat again!

I have toyed with the idea of renting another doppler like I did with my first pregnancy for peace of mind - but being that we're following the dave ramsey financial plan pretty closely - "it's not in the budget"... not that we can't afford it, but we're choosing to pass on it this time.

Meet baby #2

First off... help me come up with a better name for this baby I'm growing instead of #2... #2 just makes me think of ... well... #2 ha ha ha! So, what shall it be? Right now for us it's just "the baby"... nothing cute yet like peanut or bean or anything like that. Can't be pumpkin - that's what we call Laura since she was supposed to be our October kiddo.

This was from the first ultrasound on July 10. For some reason they had it in the computer that I was 10 weeks along. I knew I wasn't that far. I had figured I was 9 weeks. ... but based on measurements they said I was a little past 8 weeks. We could see a strong heartbeat, but other than that, does not resemble a baby in anyway to me. I was just happy to see the heart beating. Richie was able to go to this appointment with me and see the little thumpy bumpy heartbeat too. :) After this ultrasound is when they officially changed my due date from (what I thought was Feb 12 to Feb 17th).


Our second ultrasound was supposed to be the third week in July but based on the size at the first ultrasound, I had to call and change the date for this one. We had this one done when I was 11 weeks 5 days along. This ultrasound was the one to determine likelyhood of chromosome abnormalities. NOT that we would have done anything other than carry on with the pregnancy, but it would help us prepare for what we might need to know to care for a special needs baby. In just a little under 4 weeks, look how much the blob from above looks like a baby in this picture! Amazing! Again, strong good heartbeat, but Renee didn't tell us what the rate was. Can you all tell what the parts are? Head on the right, back is along the bottom and you can see a leg on the left sticking up and the umbilical cord in the middle coming up.


This is the ultrasound I did not expect to get. This is from yesterday morning. I'm 13 weeks along... should be into the "safe" second trimester. I woke up feeling just fine. Normal day. Went to work and we were at a breakfast meeting just downtown. Finished my breakfast of bagel and eggs and homefries when all of a sudden - I felt it ... gushing.

I freaked.

Ran to the bathroom and saw any momma's worst nightmare - red everywhere.

I don't want to be too graphic, but I'll just say it was a mess and I'll be surprised if my jeans actually come clean. I started shaking and crying. I ran back to the table - grabbed my purse and books - and took off... The poor ladies I left at the meeting all felt helpless they told me afterwards. I drove home (luckily only 1 mile!) and got cleaned up - still gushing. Large golf ball sized clots (okay, so I said I wouldn't be graphic - sorry - it's my blog - I guess I can be graphic if I want, huh?)

Anyways - called the midwives and they took my message and said they'd call me back. I called Richie who was out of town with Laura and his parents to the Farm Show... he felt helpless over the phone as I was sobbing telling him I thought we'd just lost our baby. I told him I'd call after I knew more.

The office called me back a few minutes later and said they could see me in an hour. I think the time from 8:30 (when it first happened) until my 10am ultrasound was the longest stretch of time ever. So many thoughts raced through my mind. I don't care to recall those thoughts - they can be put right out of my mind forever for all I care.

I was lying on the ultrasound table and I could feel the hot tears pouring down my cheeks expecting to see no activity on the screen. Much to my delight, there was a bouncing baby AND a strong heartbeat of 159 beats! Renee did the abdominal ultrasound and then also did an internal to check the cervix and placenta. She said everything looked perfect.

I waited for 45 minutes and then saw midwife Marie. She said she could see no reason for the bleed. I think she almost didn't believe how much blood there was until she did the internal exam and saw for herself... She still could find no cause for it. By this time it wasn't gushing anymore. I got a rhogam shot since I'm B-negative. And then I got sent off with no real diagnosis or reason for the bleeding - but was told to come back at my regular scheduled appointment next week to make sure the heartbeat is good and strong.

Can you make out this picture? Head is on the left. Baby is facing you. Belly is the "blob" on the right. That's a hand up above the belly :)


And this is a butt and legs shot in case you couldn't tell. And no - we still can't tell yet if this little one is a boy or a girl. ...any guesses based on this???


Marie also gave me the results of some bloodwork - I'm not immune to Rubella (again). She said I can elect to have another MMR after the baby is born, but since I didn't convert after I had it with Laura, most likely I'm just a non - converter and it won't take again.

So, today I went back to work...but once word reached Cathe's office (my boss) ... she called me and told me to go home and not come back until Monday.