Sunday, December 30, 2012

DIY projects, Holidays, and a Toddler

This past week has been ridiculous. We,be had Christmas, which I love, birthday parties, which are also great, and we've had HC going everywhere we go. I love the girl to pieces, but she's getting a little flair for the dramatics that I find exhausting.

In addition, we've taken on this massive DIY home improvement project that will be amazing when it's over. We just aren't there yet. I also say we've taken it on like I've had anything to do with it. It's not true. My poor husband has been a work horse his entire vacation.

I'm exhausted, and I know he must be exhausted. I'm hoping we can hold on for a few more days.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

36 Weeks!!

How far along? 36 Weeks (35 weeks, 6 days)

THE CSECTION COUNTDOWN





Only 21 Days or 3 weeks...I'm cheating and typing out this blog while I have time.

Size of Baby: 

According to the bump.com, she's still in the 17.2- to 18.7-inch and 4.2- to 5.8-pound range and continues to beef up.   She's the size of a honeydew melon.


According to huggies, baby looks something like this......








Total Weight Gain/Loss: 
I was up +15 at my OB appointment last Thursday.  So much for not gaining more than 10 lbs.  Oh well, I'm hungry and eating. 


Maternity Clothes:
My wardrobe consists of up sized scrub pants, maternity/up-sized old navy tshirts, and a few maternity jeans and shirts. 

 
Gender:
They keep saying girl, so we're going with it.


Belly Button In/Out:
  It's still in. It is getting tight though. 


Stretch Marks:
  They're here and here to stay. 


Labor Signs:
  I had a few pretty fierce contractions Saturday, but nothing since.  That's ok.  We want a fully cooked baby, anyways. 


Movement:
I've really noticed her slowing down over the last few days.  I still feel her 10000 times per day, but I can tell she's getting crowded.  My organs are getting crowded.  We're just hanging in there.


Sleep:
is getting more difficult.  I'm getting up around 3:30 -4:00 A.M. probably 1 out of 3 nights right now.  Last night was one of them.

Cravings/Aversions:
  Bring on the Mexican food.  Exactly what I never ate while pregnant with HC.  In fact, I was thinking earlier that I hoped the Mexican restaurant was open for lunch.  I then remembered it was Christmas.

Symptoms:
I'm still staying fairly nauseated.  I was convinced I was going to throw up yesterday morning.  Also, my boobs are KILLING me. 


Feeling: I feel ok, but I do have moments where I'm over pregnancy.  Mostly, I want baby girl to be fully cooked and make her appearance when she's ready or on January 15.

Best Moment this Week:  We announced a name to our family, but I haven't decided when to go internet public with it yet.  Also,  HC's Christmas was AWESOME!


What I Miss: Still beer.  And Sleep.


What I am Looking Forward To:
Meeting another awesome baby girl!
  
Milestones:  8 days until full-term.


Next Appointment:  I have my anesthesia pre-op on Dec. 31 and my next OB appointment on Jan. 7.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Mommy Guilt

Today, I had an ob-gyn appointment.  I got up this morning, got HC ready for daycare, and went to work.  I worked until 2:00, ran home and showered, and the hubs and I went off to the ob.  My mom picked HC up from daycare.  My appointment was at 3:10, and we left the OB office probably about 4:30. 

We went to a baby store to pick out baby bedding (unsuccessfully),  we went out to dinner, and we went to Babies R' Us.  I feel like I need to find this girl some crib bedding,  but alas, we had no luck.  In fact, I hate Babies R' Us.  We went in and walked around.  They didn't have much that I was even interested in, and what they did have was very expensive. 

After we left Babies R Us, we went to T.J. Maxx.  That store is much more in my price range.   T. J. Maxx is very hit or miss with things like crib bedding.  The store was busy.  I know! How dare they be busy 5 days before Christmas?? Ridiculous.  There were things out of place everywhere, and no crib bedding in site.  I scoured the baby section which is my normal activity in every store.  I was specifically looking for some newborn clothing.  I rounded the corner, and then I saw it.

One square, clear plastic package.  It was the perfect size to be a set of crib bedding, which was exactly what it was.  Not only was it crib bedding, but it was cute crib bedding that DH and I had looked at online.  Problem:  it wasn't exactly the direction that we had moved in for our nursery.  I may have never told you, one faithful reader, that we actually were moving in a specific direction.  I called hubs over and the conversation went something like this:

Hubs:  Well, let me see that picture of the rug.
Me:  My phone's in the car.
Hubs: I mean, we've looked at it online.
Me:  But will it match the rug?
Hubs: *Scrolls through 100000 text messages, finds picture, and answers with a head nod*
Me: I mean, I really like it.
Hubs: Me too.
Me: But it's not what we wanted.
Hubs:......
Me: But it's $50.00
Hubs: But it's not what we wanted, let's not get it.
                       ***This is the turning point in the conversation.  Hubs has now acknowledged what I was trying to say.  We had made a decision, and this was not part of the original decision.  We should not purchase this.  Now, since hubs has acknowledged my thought process, I completely change my mind. ***
Me: But it's $50.00.  If we get it home and hate it, then we'll just return it.



So, now we have crib bedding that looks like this.

I've totally digressed from the point of this blog.  We got home about 7:00, and my mom was at our house with HC.  She was very excited to see me, but was much more excited to see her dad.  She's a worm like that sometimes.  We played for about 30 minutes, but it became highly obvious that home girl needed to go to bed.  We started our bedtime routine.  When the teeth were brushed and the diaper was clean, we laid her in her crib to sleep.  We read her a story, and started her mobile, and her sleep sheep.  We gave her kisses and we left her room.

She cried.  This isn't totally unusual.  We give her 10-15 minutes to wind down before we intervene.  It's hard.  It seems like so long to let her cry, however, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to go back and get her at the end of her cry period.  After that, I was cleaning up the kitchen and the hubs was standing with me, and he said, "You know why she cried right?" and I said, "Of course, because it was bedtime and she didn't think she was ready."  He said, "It's because we haven't been home all night."

OH EM GEE! Cue massive mommy guilt.  Why don't I think about these things?? I miss HC like crazy when we're not with her.   I drop her off places so I can get things done, and then 15-20 minutes after drop off, I start contemplating pick up.  I love that little girl with my whole heart.  Of course she misses us.  My fanatical crazy parent side says, "Why do we leave her?  That's not fair to her.  We should keep her with us forever and ever all the time. "  I start to believe my inner crazy fanatical parent, but then I remember practical mom.   Practical mom understands that the ob-gyn office is not the best place for a 14 month old to hang out.  Practical mom knows that the hubs and I need to have dinner without her.  Practical mom knows that taking her in and out of the car in the rain would be a huge pain in the ass, but fanatical mom wants her permanently attached at the hip.  It's like a crazy internal struggle with attached guilt trip.

I guess it's probably motherhood. 

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

35 Weeks/35 Days Until Due Date

How far along?  I am 35 weeks pregnant with baby number 2.  This pregnancy has literally flown by.  I'm also super exhausted.

THE CSECTION COUNTDOWN




Only 27 Days.  Those days include Christmas, New Year's, and my 3rd wedding anniversary.  I'm sure that those won't speed time up any or at all. OH. WOW.

Size of Baby: 

According to the bump.com, this baby is the size of a coconut.
He's about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. From here on out, he won't get much longer, but he's plumping up. He's now about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds, and he'll put on a pound or more of baby fat before birth.







According to huggies, baby looks something like this......







Total Weight Gain/Loss: 
Time is starting to run together, but I guess it was last night before I went to bed, I got on the scale and it said +16.  Will stop eating as soon as baby comes, but for now...I'm starving.

Maternity Clothes:
My wardrobe consists of up sized scrub pants, maternity/up-sized old navy tshirts, and a few maternity jeans and shirts. 

 
Gender:
  I'm finally wrapping my head around it.  This baby is a girl.


Belly Button In/Out:
  It's still in.  I swear my belly button is like a crater.  I'm not totally convinced it has a bottom.  


Stretch Marks:
  They're here and here to stay. 


Labor Signs:
  If you had told me I was going into labor Monday, I probably would have believed you.  I was sore all day with constant Braxton Hicks contractions.  Miserable, I tell you.  The hubs thought I might have to go to the L&D, but I woke up Tuesday feeling much better. 


Movement:
is constant.  It's awesome. 


Sleep:
I'm exhausted, but sleeping fairly well.  Well, today I got up at 3:30, but other than that, I've been ok.

Cravings/Aversions:
  Food hasn't really tasted good the last few days.  Maybe I have some kind of mild illness or something.  I'm starving, fix a huge plate, sit down to eat, and nothing is good. 

Symptoms:
More pressure.  More aches and pains.  More braxton hicks contractions.


Feeling:  Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm tired.

Best Moment this Week: 
Realizing how close we are getting.  Choosing a name.  Choosing a nursery theme.  All awesome :)

What I Miss: Beer. I'm also really missing getting down and playing with HC, holding her as much as she wants to be held, and treating her like my little baby instead of emphasizing what a big girl she is.  My back and body just can't handle it.


What I am Looking Forward To:
  I'm very excited about meeting this baby girl.  In fact, if she wants to make her appearance 2 weeks from today, I will be a-ok with that. I'm also very excited about not being pregnant anymore. 


 Milestones: 14 days until full-term.


Next Appointment:  Tomorrow.


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Just rest.....

Today, I am 34 weeks and 4 days
pregnant. I have 38 days until my due date and 30 days until my RCS. I have a pre-op scheduled on my 3rd wedding anniversary.

I'm tired. I'm grouchy. My back is killing me. I get up 4 times/night to pee. I have heartburn that makes me want to spit up.

I have an amazing 14 month old daughter. She's happy all the time and she loves so much. She gives the best hugs and kisses. She slips crackers to the dogs when she thinks we're not looking. She's an amazing part of my life.

I feel incredibly guilty. I feel like I'm not ready to give up her being my "only" child, and I'm afraid she's not ready to give up that role in our lives. When I think about this, I cry. I feel like we are cheating our dear, sweet baby girl out of an important part of her childhood by having another baby too soon.

At the same time, there are preparations that need to be made for this baby. For one thing, this baby has no room. We finally started that yesterday. This baby has clothes that need to be washed and diapers that need to be purchased. This baby is also going to make us poor. That's a whole other post. The point is, there are things that need to be done. I also need to keep working. I need to keep my income up as much as possible in order to help with maternity leave. Christmas and home renovations are also not helping the budget.

The point of this post is that my husband and I have about 10000 things going right now, but people just keep telling us to rest, like its that easy.

Trust me peeps, if I could, all I would do is lay around and let people wait on me hand and foot.

At this point, I'm just trying to keep my head above water.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

34 Weeks

How far along? I am 34 weeks pregnant.  That is a really important milestone for me because I was put on bed rest with HC at 34 weeks.  The first time I had issues was at 28 weeks.  My BP was 140/90ish at my appointment and I did a 24 hour urine catch.  I was in L & D for 3 hours.  I went back at 30 weeks and everything was good.  At 32 weeks, my ob started expressing concerns about how low HC was.  Her head was way down in my pelvis, but don't worry, her feet stayed all up in my rib cage.  At 34 weeks, it was back to L&D.  My BP was elevated, and my 24 hour urine catch came back with elevated protein levels.  The writing was on the wall.  Mild pre-eclampsia was the diagnosis.   I was sent home on bed rest.  I started twice weekly appointments with AFI checks and NSTs.  Baby girl always checked out perfectly.

THE CSECTION COUNTDOWN



The countdown is actually off a day because I'm typing this Tuesday night.  Sorry guys. 

 

Size of Baby: 
According to the bump.com, this baby is the size of A BUTTERNUT SQUASH.  At less than two months to go, she weighs in at about 4.2 pounds to 5.8 pounds and measures about 17.2 to 18.7 inches.






According to Huggies, baby looks something like this......





Total Weight Gain/Loss: 
I'm not currently brave enough to step on the scale.


Maternity Clothes:
My wardrobe consists of up sized scrub pants, maternity/up-sized old navy t-shirts, and a few maternity jeans and shirts. 

 
Gender:
 I still had my doubts, so I went to visit a friend for a off the record ultrasound.  She still thinks it's a girl.  I'm starting to wrap my head around it a little better.  We still aren't set on a name.  Suggestions appreciated.


Belly Button In/Out:
  It's still in.  I swear my belly button is like a crater.  I'm not totally convinced it has a bottom.  


Stretch Marks:
  They're here and here to stay.
Labor Signs:
  Nope.  During my u/s, my friend said her head was really low.  I'm getting more pressure, but the BH contractions I was having have pretty much quit.


Movement:
Baby girl continues to be a mover and a shaker.  She moves mostly in the evenings when HC and I are hanging out.  She already gets excited by her big sister being around. 


Sleep: I'm exhausted, but sleeping fairly well.  In fact, when my alarm went off this morning, I felt like it should be 2 A.M. 

Cravings/Aversions:  Nothing really.  I'm starving, but have no new aversions or anything.
Symptoms:
I've had a couple of days this week where I was really puke-y feeling.  Today I was starving! 


Feeling:  Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. 

Best Moment this Week:  We saw our little girl and she was measuring a little on the small side.  I keep momentarily freaking out about this, but then I remember that these ultrasounds aren't all that accurate right now. 

What I Miss: Enjoying time with my husband.  It's so uncomfortable.  
What I am Looking Forward To:
  Meeting this baby girl. but I do want her to keep cooking just a wee bit longer. 


 Milestones: 3 weeks to term. 35 days until my csection.


Next Appointment:  Next Thursday. 35 weeks. GBS testing.  Whoo-hoo.