The Non-Housewife Wife

eating

2012-01-11T21:42:00.002-05:00

I've mentioned this before but I didn't really expand on it. We are REALLY struggling to get GV to eat. Anything. It's not like we can't get him to eat his vegetables, it's that we can't get him to eat. At 6 months Rhys was in the 90th percentile for weight. At his 9 month he was 75%, 1 year was somewhere around 50%, 15 month was 20% and this past appt he was 17%. To put it another way at 6 months he weighed 19lbs and today he weighs 23lbs. He's still getting taller and is still in the 90th percentile for height so it's just weight. We have to go back to the doctor next month for a weight check.

GV is smart, he's active and he's social. We filled out a development survey for his age at his 18 month appt and the only two places he scored low were talking and stacking toys. But I'm not worried because he scored near perfect in fine motor, problem solving and gross motor.

He just doesn't eat.

And I've tried those high calorie foods but he's not fan of peanut butter and he won't eat meat so most things he eats are only about 35-60 calories per serving. I've googled recipes and I throw out so much food because he won't even try them.

I looked up on the internets how much he should be eating. One site said toddlers should eat around 40 calories per inch of height. GV is 33.75" tall so thats 1350 calories. Per day. Then you add in the fact that we're also trying to get him to gain weight so he should be eating over 1350. I've been tracking what he's been eating for the past week and if I can get him to eat more than 1000 calories, that's a good day. And usually I only hit that number because he's drank a pediasu.re before bed.

I don't know what to do and what's more is that I think Kevin blames me for his poor eating habits. And part of me blames me too. I'm lucky enough to be at home with him and I can't even do this mom duty. I'm constantly offering him snacks and so when meals come around he'll eat some of his food but not all.

I guess I'll just keep trying, keep keeping track of everything he eats. Who knows maybe I'll start keeping track of my calories and I can lose some weight. Seriously.

New Blog

2012-01-05T21:21:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! 2011 just flew by for me. Since having GV I've never really thought that time was flying but I was completely taken aback by the fact that it was the end of the year. Wow.

I've started a new blog with my cousin RR. It's at romyandthewife.blogspot.com. I didn't tell her about this blog and I took it off of my profile. I'm not sure what I'll do with this blog. That blog might just be a TTC blog and this will be a parenting/living after infertility. Maybe. I'm not sure yet.

18 months

2011-12-20T23:32:00.000-05:00

GV has been 18 months old since last Thursday. For 5 whole days I've had to correct myself when asked his age. Part of me can't believe that he's finally this age and the other part of me can't wait for the next milestone. Some highlights:

GV doesn't talk yet. Well not really. He says "Ma" but he calls both Kevin and I "Ma." The other day I told him to say bye-bye to someone and instead of waving he said "ba."
GV does sign though! He knows over 30 signs including eat, milk, more, car, horse, thank you, please, cat, dog, where... We got these DVDs and it's amazing how fast he picked it up. We started around 9 months old.
GV has two best friends, P & T. Probably because I like hanging out with their moms. P is two years old and T is 20 months old. They all seem to like the same toys at the same time so they have some interesting "discussions" sometimes. GV is smaller than P but bigger than T but he'll pick a fight with either of them.
GV has started to be clingy. He got sick around the same time I tried to get a Santa-at-the-mall picture and suddenly he was clingy. At first it was just while we were out. Now it's happening even at home or myParents house. The other day he wouldn't even go with Wiki (his 2nd favorite person behind Kevin) or myDad. It's going to take some getting use to because he's been so independent and non-fussy till now.
GV can jump! He only gets about a centimeter of air (if that) but he loves doing it and says "Woah!" when he does it. It's so cute!
He's become fascinated with buckles and will want to sit in the stroller or car seat w/o being strapped in. He just wants to play with the straps. Sometimes he'll argue with you if you insist on buckling him in.
Last month Mum & Dad visited. GV was apprehensive at first but warmed up quickly. Having them stay with us helped too. He really liked Dad and when Dad would walk away for his smoking breaks (Arg!) GV would go look for him.
GV goes down easily for naps and bedtimes. However we've had a bit of a setback with MOTN wakings. Since the in-laws were here Kevin and I would just bring him in the room with us and he would fall back asleep as soon as his head hit my pillow. We did CIO after they left and it worked until he got sick. I don't do CIO when he's sick so he was back in the bed with us. This weekend we are going away for Christmas so it seems silly to do CIO when he's going to be in the same room with us shortly. New Year = new sleep habits!
We are still struggling to get GV to eat. Today he had milk, a clementine, and 1/4 a waffle for breakfast. Lunch was cheddar bunnies & a broccoli & apple pouch. Snack was milk and another clementine and two pieces of watermelon. Dinner was another clementine, corn, string cheese & veggie straws. He ignored the green beans which he use to love and now won't even allow on his plate. We put a multivitamin in his morning milk but still. He doesn't like meat of any kind and yes loves his clementines. He sees them as soon as I open the refrigerator door and will have a meltdown if you don't let him get one out.
The only show GV likes to watch is Ell.en. I think it's all the clapping. He will eat his fruit and clap along. The 12 days of giveaw.ays were just heaven to him because of all the clapping.

Cooking Club

2011-11-08T16:44:00.000-05:00

Every month the moms group I belong to does a Cooking Club playdate. Second Tuesday of every month and somehow I'm never prepared. I'm either buying things the night before (if I'm lucky) but normally the day of. And then I fail. Like today when I dropped most of the cornbread I made on the floor. Six pieces survived. I signed up to bring a craft project for our monthly social on Friday. Still don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know why I volunteer to do these things, I've got to stop.

Today is CD15. I was starting to get worried cause I wasn't seeing any signs of ovulation but it's starting. Dare I believe that my body is going to be regular? Even if a couple of days late? We want to wait till GV is 18 months before TTC but what if I'm shooting myself in the foot? If it's clearly happening then should we be taking advantage of it? Are we dooming ourselves by choosing to wait? Right after we got married I had three perfect cycles and the whole time we were preventing and then when we chose to go ahead and TTC my cycles stopped. I don't want that to happen again.

A couple of friends who have boys GV's age have told me that they're getting ready to try again (waiting for the new year). One got pregnant easily while it took the other 8 months because her cycle count was off. The first month she adjusted for a longer cycle it worked. I almost feel like I have to try now because if I don't then I'll get upset when they get pregnant and I don't. And then I remember that I have GV and can I really feel lousy that I can't have a second child?

Also one of my BFFs from college called me to tell me she's pregnant. She's due in April. She told me before she even told her mom. She was one of the people we asked to write a recommendation for us for our homestudy. Then the Christmas I was pregnant with GV I told her all about my problems with getting pregnant. That day she had just taken her first pregnancy test but she was pretty sure that she was going to have the same problems as me. After over a year of not getting pregnant she just assumed that she was going to be one of those women that never got pregnant and stopped actively TTC. And now she's pregnant. I'm so excited for her. How is it that when an IFer tells you they're pregnant it's so much better?

Working again...

2011-10-25T16:02:00.000-04:00

Today is CD1. My first AF since September 2009. My first naturally occurring AF since November 2007. I knew this was coming. Last night I was even thinking that it had been about two weeks since I thought I had ovulated. Of course I wasn't sure because it has been years since I actually ovulated on my own. But I was pretty sure I had read all the signs correctly.

There was a little sadness this morning when I found out but mostly I was relieved. Kevin and I have decided to TTC#2 in the new year. I had it in the back of my mind to wait until GV was 18 months. I knew I wasn't going to be one of those women who ovulated while BF'ing so I weaned GV by his 15-month birthday, Sept 15. I was hoping that during this three month stretch I would ovulate on my own. I would view any cycles during this time as bonus. So now I've got a baseline. Hopefully next month things will work like clockwork and then come the end of December we'll be good to go.

Tuesday in the Life

2011-09-06T23:04:00.000-04:00

I know that I don't get enough done during the day. My to do list which should be accomplished in a day takes me weeks and I know Kevin isn't too impressed with my position as a stay at home mom/wife. He once told me how he had to create a log of his day and to the minute account for what project he was working on. This way his bosses knew which projects needed help and which ones weren't as important. I've been seeing this type of post floating around (here, here and here) and I realized that this could help me. So in an effort to account for where my day is going I'm starting Tuesday in the Life. This is my first attempt and if you're feeling so inclined feel free to join in. This week I happened to do today but it can be any day of the week just post it on Tuesday if you can. If I can do it pretty regularly then I'll make a little graphic and link backs. But for now just leave me a comment (please) if you decide to participate. At this point any help on getting more organized would be great!

7:05am - I hear GV start to move around while I'm still in bed (I usually get up at 7:30). He's usually not up till 8am so I'm hoping that he'll go back to sleep. Especially since today I've got a dentist appt at 9 and I need time to get ready before he's up.

7:15am - No luck. Kevin just came in to tell me that he's awake. I roll out of bed and head over to his room.

7:30am - Na.ked time. For GV not us. Kevin came in to help with the diaper change since GV has really bad diaper rash and then a really really DRY backside. I've been putting BUT.TPASTE on it but I think it's making things worse so we switched to Euceri.n. Also I read that we should aim for two 30 minutes sessions of na.ked time a day to help with the diaper rash.

7:50am - Start making GV's breakfast. Today it's banana pancakes since we've got really ripe bananas that neither Kevin or I are willing to eat.

8:00am - Diaper GV and then put him in his highchair with his pancake. He's sitting in front of Kevin who is on the computer. I asked him to take the morning off to watch GV because of my appt but he had a conference call from 8am-10am so he's working from home instead. Yeah, good luck with that.

8:07am - Quick shower. Made even quicker by the fact that we are practically out of body soap. Thanks Kev. I realize that I didn't put my wedding ring on last night after prepping the roast chicken we had for dinner last night so I need to put it on before I leave.

8:18am - Out of the shower and I can hear GV demanding something from Kevin and Kevin telling GV no. I head out there and lower GV from his high chair while Kevin is rifling through GV's toy tote looking for the play cell phone. He finds it and gives it to GV and GV walks around the house pressing buttons and talking to Buz.z Lig.htyear. I'm getting ready to leave.

8:30am - Yes! I'm out of the house on time. I realize as I drive away that I didn't eat breakfast. I get a text from JL, a mom in our Under 2 playgroup, about our playdate today. Except that we don't have one today - it's next week. Then it starts to rain. And by rain I mean pour. The dentist is 3 miles from my house and it wasn't raining at my house. That's FL for you.

8:40am - Find the right building and SCORE - it has a parking garage. Mama's not going to get soaked today!

8:45am - Sign in and start filling out paperwork. First time at this dentist.

9:00am - Finally done! Waiting in the lobby.

9:20am - Called in. After some x-rays I sit in the chair and there's a TV in front of me playing the last half hour of Ava.tar. I haven't seen this movie but the tech tells me it's really good. My phone is dying so I borrow a pen and write out the shopping list Kevin had emailed to me incase my phone dies while I'm here.

11:05am - Finally done and call Kevin. He's just put GV down for a nap so it's okay for me to go to Sa.m's Club.

11:25am - Walk in and immediately buy a hotdog. I am STARVING. As I start walking around I realize I don't have my phone. I must have left it in the car. Good thing I wrote out my list!

12:05pm - After a loooooong checkout line I walk out $92 poorer. Lots of staples on today's list. I arrive at the car and load everything in. I put the cart away and then get in. My phone's not on the seat, or the cup holders or under the seat. Crap! I must have left it on the Cafe counter or the condiment stand. I walk back and scan both areas and don't see it. Then I ask the cafe lady and she says she hasn't seen it and no one has turned in a phone but to ask the floor manager. Nothing from her and nothing from the member services desk. I walk out seriously annoyed with myself.

12:20pm - Rush back home so I can do my "Find My Phone" app and lock it up before someone calls China. Not sure what to tell Kevin since I know he's going to be super mad. So far this summer I have lost our new camera, my credit card (which someone actually turned in!), our old camera (which I found again), my keys (I know I saw them somewhere!) and the battery door to GV's toy car. I've lost other small things as well but these are the big ticket items. I don't know what's happening to me!

12:35pm - I arrive home and after checking the car thoroughly one last time I start to unload. Kevin comes out to help and when I'm walking back to car I remember that I put my phone in my bra when I got to Sam's. I check and sure enough it's there! I'm an idiot. Kevin puts away the perishables while I go to pee.

12:45pm - Kevin and I talk about his morning. He's managed get GV to eat his breakfast, dressed and has changed a poopy diaper (usually a two man detail since the diaper rash really kicked in). He also started our laundry, vacuumed the living room rug and been on three conference calls while watching GV. Some might call that boasting, you know. I call to reschedule Les's vet appt that I forgot about last Thursday. Kevin decides not to go in to work today and just work from home. I check Faceb.ook and blogs.

1:20pm - Goog.le Voi.ce finally has local (to me) numbers so I sign up for it! I get really bad reception here at the house so it'll be nice to get my phone calls on my computer and through WiFi.

1:40pm - GV wakes up. Kevin and I go in to tackle the diaper change. Kevin always complains that he can't really work from home because GV always bugs him (he does, it's so cute!) but instead of working in his office with his door closed and curtain drawn (his office has a sliding glass door to the FL room) he chooses to work from the living room, dining room or FL room (GV's current favorite room). I use the time to clean up the kitchen (I left the pancake stuff out), empty the dishwasher and put away the rest of the shopping. GV wants another banana pancake so I heat that up along with the two I made for myself. As I'm about to leave the kitchen I see the innards from last night's chicken that we boil for the dogs. I cut them up and bottle the broth.

2:20pm - Sit down to eat breakfast while watching Gle.e. I fast forward to the song and dance numbers. These are the bits GV and I like best.

2:45pm - Check Faceb.ook and my news sites. Really upset about what happened in Neva.da. Also read this interesting article about sper.m donors.

3:00pm - Give GV cheese and watermelon. Then we play and I try to keep him away from Kevin. It doesn't really work.

3:40pm - Get back on the computer checking websites again - Facebo.ok, blogs, evit.e (for our playgroups) and then Faceboo.k again.

4:20pm - Straighten up living room and clear off the kitchen counters again.

4:35pm - Check gmai.l, look up tonight's recipe, Fac.ebook, TOT.

4:50pm - Email back TC(they actually want to hang out with us again!) about going to the aquarium this weekend and then look up how much zoo passes are.

4:55pm - Diaper change and na.ked time again. Sweep the house but GV hides the dust pan so I leave the piles of dog hair & dirt till I can find it.

5:30pm - Diaper on! Wiki calls me on goo.gle voice. She's amazed that I answer. I then start the prep for dinner. We're having this for dinner. I love drunken risotto.

6:00pm - Let's get cooking. Kevin finds the dust pan and finishes. Reheat the veg from last night and then Kevin makes GV some cream cheese toast.

6:25pm - Let's eat! We eat together like a family. But we sit at the coffee table. Watching the news. GV won't sit for more that 5 minutes in his high chair but he'll sit in his chair in the living room and actually eat. Right now him eating is more important so we don't fight him on where he sits to eat.

7:05pm - Back on the computer while GV plays. Word.s w/ Frie.nds on FB. I should be cleaning the kitchen but I'm not.

7:15pm - Kevin gives GV a bath. I'm still on the computer.

7:30pm - I join Kevin and GV for story time.

7:55pm - Nurse GV. He's down to 10 minutes a night. He decides he wants to nurse while holding his book. After 10 minutes let's go of the book and I put it on the table next to us. A couple of minutes later he wants it back and so I put him in bed. Kevin has lightly cleaned up the kitchen (put away dinner, stack the dishes).

8:10pm - Help Kevin fold clothes. I then pick up GV's toys and separate the dog's stuff from his. I glance in the kitchen and decide to wash dishes tomorrow.

8:20pm - Kevin goes for a run and I get on the computer. Blogs, Fac.ebook and more blogs. I start to write this post.

9:00pm - Kevin comes back and after stretching reads his course book (he's taking a work class on Wed evenings) while I'm on the computer.

10:55pm - Kevin goes to bed

11:00pm - I finish this post, publish and go to bed too. After I Les-proof the couches of course (yes, Kevin had to remind me again).

So yes Kevin does a lot but he was also home today. GV ignores me for the most part when Kevin is here so I got in a lot of computer time. But truthfully I usually do get in more TV/computer time than I should.

Les Updates

2011-08-28T00:54:00.000-04:00

Les is still not a fan of GV. She mostly stays away from him and when occasionally surprised by him she high-tails it for under the bed.
Les turned 6 years old on the 13th. I guess she's not my puppy anymore. We didn't get a cake because she and Dave had just finished the cake from Dave's birthday (in May).
Since she's white she hides her age better (Dave's muzzle had turned grey by this point). However she got herself sick again (blocked bum gland) and so she's been going to the vet twice a week for laser treatment. She should only have to go one more time. Should.
When you're trialing as an agility dog you earn ribbons for competing. And when you have a near perfect run in the time allowed you Qualify and usually get a rosette ribbon that you can clip onto your collar. But then you get home and all these ribbons go in a drawer somewhere getting dusty and folded and crimped. Recently a fellow agility friend showed us this really cool ribbon holder and we decided to get one for Les. After a lot of delays we finally got it and it's FAB-U-LUS! Fabulous!
It's hanging up in Kevin's office. We were going to put it in the Florida room but then he decided that he wanted it in his office instead. And by the way this thing is as tall as I am. Probably taller since I'm only 5'4".
Whenever we go out we always have to "Les-proof" the couches. Also when we go to bed (although I usually forget). Les isn't too thrilled with this but now that we have guests (myFamily) who visit often we figure they aren't too impressed with getting Les hair all over their clothes. We usually "Les-proof" with GV's toys so that might be adding to her resentment of the boy.
Yesterday Les started limping. I think she's favoring her front left foot but Kevin thinks it's her front right foot. This dog is falling apart!

My son is a thug...

2011-08-21T23:24:00.000-04:00

That's right a THUG. *sigh*

Saturday night we had dinner with a family that we met at my parent's church. We went to Longh.orn Steakho.use (which btw includes a slice of watermelon with their kid's plate which GV thought was AWESOME) and let AC(their 11mo daughter) sit next to GV. Well GV saw a plastic toy that was strapped to AC's highchair that he wanted. He kept pulling and pulling at it but since it was strapped into the other side of the chair it was not going to stretch to his side. I then saw him lean into AC and then AC started bawling! GV bit her! I was so shocked! TC (A's mom) says she didn't see any bite marks and she thought AC was just tired but I was so mortified. GV has never bit anyone before. Earlier that day he was playing with Jez (myParent's new puppy) and when he got mad at her he bent over with his mouth open and I'm pretty sure he bit her. I don't know what's up with him but I hope he doesn't start doing this every time he gets mad. I don't want the child that bites! Tomorrow is our toddler book club so we'll see what happens. *sigh*

14 Months

2011-08-15T11:29:00.000-04:00

GV is 14 months today! I use to be one of those women who didn't get the whole counting your child's age in months instead of years but now I totally get it. Fourteen months is so different than 13 months. And 16 months is probably going to be so different from now.

GV has finally started crawling. Of course he didn't start crawling till he was already walking. That's right, my kid walks! It's so fun seeing him get around and not be frustrated by not being able to get something or be able to explore. He started walking two weeks after his first birthday. For a while he had been walking along furniture and walls but then one evening Kevin was loading the dishwasher and GV loves the dishwasher so he let go of the wall and took two steps towards it. I was so shocked that I couldn't even get the words out to tell Kevin to look around the island so he could see him. By the time I did get the words out GV had fallen. But later that evening he did it again walking away from Kevin. The timing worked out perfectly because GV and I were going out of town with Wiki for a week and a half and I was so afraid that we would be gone when GV started walking. When we came back he was already pretty steady on his feet so he was taking 5 or 6 steps. I think because he never was good at crawling he mastered walking faster. By 13 months he looked like he had been walking for 2-3 months rather than just one.

GV doesn't like eating. Or doesn't like sitting and eating. Usually the only way I can get him to eat is by feeding him while he's walking around or playing. And we've been suffering in the vegetables department. He was such a great eater and then right after his birthday he started not liking certain veg and then not liking any. Right now I've got him back on carrots and usually sweet potato. It's like introducing it all again but this time to a child that can spit it out instead of just eating it and making the disgusted face. We were up to 5-6 tbsp of baby cereal in the mornings and now if I can get him to eat 3 tbsp I'm lucky. Most times it's just 2. I've resorted to giving him a daily multivitamin. And mac and cheese. Anything just to get something in him.

I'm still BFing GV in the morning and at night. During the day he drinks whole milk. But we've decided to wean him this month so that by 15 months he's done. And then at 16 months we're going to start TTC#2. After a horrible start to BFing both GV and I adjusted really well. I'm really loathe to give it up. It's such a special time and he's still my baby while we do it. Once we stop it's like he'll fully be a toddler. An exciting time but also the baby time is gone. I'm not sure how long it will take to have another baby but I would like GV to have a sibling so knowing my body we'll need to start sooner rather than later.

I'm going to try to update more often. I hope. Time's not the issue mostly it's just lack of things to say that aren't GV related. And I'm sure that's not all that you want to read about. If I have any readers left...

Friday Night Leftovers

2011-05-13T22:59:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been reading a few blogs that do this so I decided to play along.

The in-law's trip here went well. GV did work his magic with them but not with Kevin. He was flying off the handle with every slightest thing. But to be fair, they do make the same comments/ask the same questions about everything that is different about here from over there. It can get old and for Kevin it has done.
GV is still doing the stupid army crawl. He won't use his knees and lift his tummy off the ground. Reminds me daily how I don't swiffer enough when at the end of the day his shirt is dirt-dirty and FULL of dog hair. Arg! However he is cruising a lot now! From coffee table to couch to chair then he'll "crawl" into the kitchen and use the cabinet door handles to cruise around our kitchen.
myParents bought a 2-person kayak to go with Wiki's single kayak. Wiki's single kayak that she bought shortly after she moved back early last year and didn't use until a couple of weeks ago when we took the in-laws kayaking. Good grief!
GV is 11 months old on Sunday! Holy Heck! I gotta start planning what to do for his birthday. Should I have a party here at the house or out on the beach (like everyone else does). Should I invite just family or friends or family friends? Because of the moms group I'm in we know kids his age but they aren't really friends are they? When do babies start having friends?
I was asked to be a VP for the moms group. I declined but decided to do treasurer. Kevin laughed when I told him because he doubts my monetary ability. Hello! Who was in charge of a huge college yearbook budget & ran her own business?!? This person right here!
The in-laws think they might want to come over for Christmas. Which I'm totally okay with. But I've warned Kevin that he should warn them that it's Christmas with myFamily not Christmas in the USA. As in we will be hanging out with myFamily a lot — Mum commented to us over Christmas last year that when they visit us (now that we live 35 minutes away from myParents & Wiki) they don't want to have to share us with myFamily all the time while they are visiting. Occasionally is nice but not everyday.

Preparing

2011-04-18T10:20:00.000-04:00

We're in super organizing, cleaning mode right now. Kevin's parents and sister (& her boyfriend) are visiting for the next two weeks. They get here Tuesday. We spent Christmas in England staying at Mum & Dad's and while I was ready for our usual rocky visit it actually went really really smooth. I guess GV was the missing piece. He made everyone get along. Hopefully he'll do the same for this visit. Last time SIL came (for our wedding) it got really bad and we actually had to separate Kevin and SIL.

GV is 10 months old! Holy Heck! He's still creeping not crawling. I don't know if he'll ever get on all fours. He can move around the house though! The other day the sprinklers went off in the middle of the day and so I went into the garage to figure out what was up with the timer. Suddenly the dogs leashes started rattling and I turn around and GV is in the garage playing with the dog leashes! I had left him in the living room! Les came running out of the bedroom convinced she was going for a walk. When she saw that it was just GV she sulked all the way back to the bedroom.

At his 9 month appt he was 30 inches, 20 something pounds. Only one pound heavier since his 6 month appt. His ped said she'd be concerned if he hasn't gain more weight by his year appt. I was shocked that he had only gained a pound (he feels so heavy sometimes!) and that his next appt was going to be at 1 year old! That's only two months away now! Anyways since then I've been more consistent about offering food after every nursing session. Before I just did it if we had time or a lull in our playing.

Great news! GV is sleeping through the night! It took a while and quite a few bad nights. I'll write more about it later. But he is sleeping from 7-7:30pm to 7:30-8:00am. Yay!

Okay I'll update more soon...I hope.

Rolling

2011-02-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

At 12 days GV rolled from his tummy to his back. We even managed to catch it in photos as it was happening. At 5 weeks he could do it over and over again. Then he would do it off and on but around 3 months he stopped. It wasn't like he would try and try and never get it, he just wouldn't try. About 5 months he could roll from back to tummy. A few weeks ago he started rolling to his tummy when he didn't want to go to sleep and then he'd do it in his sleep and wake himself up. Or he'd roll to his tummy to get to a toy.

But he hasn't been crawling. It's not that I want to push him to crawl (I'm not sure I'm READY for a mobile baby) but most of his friends at playgroup are crawling now and he looks so sad when they all crawl away and he's left sitting there with his toys - or worse they crawl away with his toys. So I've been working to get more tummy time in each day. He's still no closer to crawling but today he was a rolling fool!

We were playing on the bed and suddenly he rolled away from me. A complete roll - front to back to front. He smiled at me and then did it again. I had to hurry up and get up and stop him from banging his head into the footboard. I picked him up and put him by the pillows again and he rolled all the way to the footboard again. He did this for about 10 minutes, he was just having a ball. I tried putting him on his play mat and he just laid there. Maybe a couple more days on the bed and he'll be ready for his play mat.

Sleep Update: He slept from 7pm to 4:15am last night. He made a fuss around 11pm but when I was finally ready to go in he fell back asleep. After a quick feed at 4:15, he slept in until 7:50. And while 9 hours is great hopefully he'll continue to stretch it out to 7 or 8am.

Baby Foodie

2011-02-16T22:50:00.001-05:00

Today GV got to have acorn squash for the first time today. He loved it! For the first time as soon as he was done he had his mouth wide open ready for the next mouthful. Normally I have to seize mouth openings to get food into him.

So far he's tried avocado, sweet potato, brown rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, carrots, pears, bananas and apples. Avocado was his first food. It was during Thanksgiving. He was ambivalent about it but would eat it. Then sweet potatoes (that were really white!) over Christmas. He wasn't too fond of them and his guts went off so we stopped. Then when we got home we tried normal colored sweet potatoes again and he liked it more than avocado. Then brown rice cereal and I couldn't get more than the first spoonful in. Then oatmeal and that was better.

I tried banana but he hated the mashed up texture. He loved helping me eat my banana so I bought these and while they worked in theory, he'd get banana all over himself, then the banana would disappear in the holder bit and cleaning it was a pain in the a$$ because the mesh doesn't come clean. So now that he's 8 months I smash it between my fingers before giving it to him and he eagerly eats it now. Pears and apples he didn't seem too fond of but I mix them with oatmeal and he'll usually eat them all up.

Green beans were a horrible fail. Carrots were by far his favorite though. If I mix carrots with something I can get him to eat anything (like green beans). A mixture of green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes were his favorite though. BTW in case you can't tell I make all of his food (besides the rice cereal and oatmeal) using this machine. I love it! I got it for my birthday and it rocks! I got these from IKE.A (the pink ones) and they are the perfect size and shape for freezing food.

So today was acorn squash. Personally I hate squash so I was fully prepared for him to hate it too but he didn't. I did mix it with a bit of carrot though so I'll have to see if tomorrow he'll eat it when it's just squash. Next up is yogurt and then I'm hoping to find some peaches. I've been trying to buy organic. The popular grocery store here has a horrible organic section but Swee.tbay rocks. I've found nearly everything there. According to WholesomeBabyFoods.com other fruits we should be trying are apricots, mango, nectarines, papaya, plums/prunes and pumpkin. We'll see though. I do want to try these though as food seems to be the only thing he doesn't instinctively put in his mouth right now.

Sleep training update: GV woke up at 3am the other night and needed a 10 minute feed to go back to bed. He then woke early at 6:30am (he's normally up at 8am) but since I had a dinner last night at 7pm I just adjusted his schedule. He was in bed for the night by 6:50pm (feeding started 30 minutes early) then woke up at 9 and Kevin had to give him a 4oz bottle to get him back to sleep. He slept till 1 and then another 10 minute feed but then he slept till 7:40am. Tonight he went to bed at 7pm and other than a few fusses has been sleeping quietly. Also his naps are now tummy naps. He finally likes them.

Sleep Training

2011-02-14T23:14:00.001-05:00

So my parenting style would not ever be called AP. Some people might think it is. I cloth diaper, I babywear and I even slipped up and co-slept. But still if you consider AP to be on one side and Ba.bywise to be on the other I will admit that I'm closer to the Babyw.ise side of the scale.

To me cloth (and hybrid) diapers make sense. You're doing laundry anyways so why not diapers. Plus Kevin was on board with the whole thing from the beginning so it made it so much easier. That's not to say that GV hasn't ever been in disposables. He has. But only because of extenuating circumstance.

I have a Babyh.awk Mei Tai that I love using with GV. Well when he likes it. Again, it just made sense. Sometimes GV would not be put down and I had stuff that needed to get done (like his laundry) and it was so much easier when I could "wear" him. It was like being pregnant again. Everything was a little more awkward but I could get around and get stuff done.

I guess where I really differ from AP is sleeping. At one of the first ped appts for GV Dr. G (the ped not the RE) told us not to let GV go longer than 3 hours w/o feeding. If he was asleep then to wake him up and feed. Even at night. Then it was no longer than 4 hours at night, then 5, then 6. And so we kind of stumbled into sleep training. I read Babywi.se and this blog and the whole eat-play-sleep cycle made sense to me so we implemented it. Tried to do that whole dreamfeed thing (which didn't really work for us, I couldn't really ever wake him up enough for it and disrupted his night time sleep even more). At 10 weeks I stopped trying to do a dreamfeed and GV started sleeping from 8pm to 7am. We didn't because we'd become use to waking twice a night, but he was "sleeping like a baby". Sometimes he would wake but would settle himself back to sleep.

Then we went to England for Christmas. And stayed with the in-laws. In the same room as GV, across the hall from Mum & Dad and SIL and her boyfriend. Maybe we could tune-out GV fussing but we didn't think they could (they are seriously the lightest sleepers in the world!!) so anytime GV woke up I nursed him back to sleep. We even co-slept most nights because it was the quickest way to get him quiet again. I'm not a fan of co-sleeping because I am a deep sleeper. I was always worried that I would roll over him. Once after nursing he actually rolled forward into me (he was asleep and I had fallen asleep and then woke up with a start and then panic). So anyways our nights started with GV going to bed around 7pm, then being woken up by Kevin and I going to bed at 11 and being nursed back to sleep and then he'd wake up again around 3 or 4 to fuss (like he normally does) but I'd nurse him back to sleep.

And once we got back from England GV wanted to continue with the nursing twice a night again. Kevin and I tried everything I could think of. I'm not a fan of CIO but I was seriously at wits end (I should mention that me minus sleep is a horrible horrible version of me). So we tried once. We let him CIO for five minutes before we went in. And then it took us an hour to calm him down. Then I fed him and he went back to sleep within a couple of minutes. So that went out the window. Then GV got really good at rolling onto his tummy. Which he didn't want to sleep on. And he discovered sleeping on his side. Which he loves. But he hasn't mastered that perfect balance yet so the crying bouts were getting worse and more frequent. Then naps started to slip and finally bedtime became nonexistent. And then nursing was only lasting for a couple of minutes before he fell asleep. But he would wake up as soon as I put him in his bed. And I became desperate. Kevin and I would reach different breaking points. When he was ready to re-try CIO I would go in and feed GV and when I was ready for CIO he would go play with GV.

But then last night GV woke up at 9:30. And after reading a few sleep training blog entries I decided this was it. So I went and patted him on the chest and gave him a couple of kisses and then I walked back out. And sat in the kitchen for 7 minutes listening to him cry. When time was up I went back in and flipped him back onto his back and walked out again. I folded his clothes for 9 minutes listening to him cry. Then I went in and flipped him back onto his back, fixed his blanket and walked out. Eleven minutes later Kevin went into his room, flipped him back over and walked out. For the next 13 minutes we sat in the living room listening to his crying turn to fussing and sometimes 30-45 seconds of silence. Then we both went in and I fed him. Two minutes later he was asleep again. And he slept until 8:15 this morning. I woke up twice to go check on him and he was sleeping on his tummy (shocking!).

Tonight GV went to bed at 7 and then woke up at 9pm. Kevin and I went in right away and I was able to get him to quiet down rather quickly and so I tried putting him back in his crib (the normal point he starts to cry) and he fussed a bit but then once he had his blanket he went back to sleep. This is the first time in a long while he's gone back to sleep w/o nursing. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be posting that he slept through the night again.

One Year

2010-10-10T23:15:00.002-04:00

I realized this morning when I was in mass that it was a year ago this weekend that I got my BFP. Well I got three BFPs because I tested on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was such a surreal experience that weekend. Remembering at mass was perfect time and place to thank God for the miracle that is my son. Sometimes I forget to take time in my day to thank Him. But I never fail to cry a happy tear that I have GV. But especially at these times I remember all of you that are still waiting for your BFP. Please know that I'm still praying for you and wishing that you'll get your BFP.

Today GV giggled for the first time. We were eating lunch at myParent's house and GV woke up from his nap. Wiki was holding him across the table from Kevin and I. We both started talking and smiling at him and while he was looking at Kevin he made a giggling noise. We all started laughing but then something upset GV so we had to stop. I'll be waiting for next time.

3 months

2010-09-19T22:57:00.000-04:00

So GV is 3 months old now! Wow! He's 13w5d today. Last time I weighed him he was 17.5 lbs already! Yes, I have a "healthy" baby. Our RIC pediatrician told us it would take 9 months to double his birthweight and GV is going to do it by 4 months probably.

He smiles all the time now (it took him till 7 weeks to actually smile) but of course we couldn't get one out of him when he did his 3 month pictures last Wednesday.

He still hates pacifiers but will happily suck/chew on his or my fingers.

He loves sleeping but hates falling asleep. His morning nap is the surest. He fall asleep on his own and sleep for about 2 hours around 95% of the time. His noon nap is about an 80% probability that he will fall asleep on his own and sleep for 2 hours. His afternoon nap is about 50/50. Sometimes he'll sleep and sometimes he won't. Sometimes he'll put himself to sleep and sometimes I have to hold him (very still) till he falls asleep. Sometimes he sleeps for 2 hours and sometimes I can only get 1/2 out of him. This one is the most annoying because usually I'm trying to clean up and make dinner before Kevin gets home. And then it doesn't happen because I'm entertaining the kid or holding him and walking around the kitchen island in circles. His evening nap only has about a 5% success rate. Sometimes I don't even try. I just wait till 9pm when I KNOW he'll fall asleep. I know I should make his bedtime earlier but when I did it backfired hugely on me and he was getting so upset that by the time I got him to calm down and actually relax enough to fall asleep it was 10:30pm. So we're sticking to 9pm for now. But once he's down for the night it's usually till 5 or 6 the next morning. This past week he even made it to 7:30 (his usual wake up time) a couple of times.

I'm doing good. At 3 weeks after GV was born I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I want to work on losing some weight between GV and the next one (hopefully!) but I'm waiting till he weans. And yes I'm thinking I'm going to let him self wean.

We are still looking for a house. Maybe I'm just pickier than I thought but I seriously didn't think that it would be this hard - 4 bedrooms, 1800+ sq ft., nice kitchen, garage/off street parking, nice neighborhood, enough yard for the dogs (not that much really) and 30 minute max. commute to work for Kevin. It's got to be out there somewhere.

300

2010-09-02T21:17:00.001-04:00

Hello Friends. Yes it's me and I've been a bad blogger. Both reading and commenting. A few days I can blame on not having an internet connection at home but not really since I have an ip.hone.

Things are going well. We're in St.P now in our furnished luxury apartment. We've got the place for the next 30 days, possibly 60 days if we can't find a house in time. Hopefully we will. I'm a bit worried about our realtor though because she seems like and expert in St.P but when it comes to TPA she is woeful. As in when we said South TPA she gave us Rivervi.ew. Rivervi.ew is 20 miles away!!! So right now we're concentrating on St.P and if we can't find anything we might ask for a new realtor that specializes in South TPA.

GV is doing fantastic. He's asleep right now, which is great because it's the first time since we moved that he's actually gone to sleep at his bedtime. Of course first he had to nurse for 50 minutes. We haven't had one of those since the first few weeks. He usually only nurses for 15-20 minutes.

The best though is that he's sleeping through the night! Yes! I know I'm jinxing myself by telling you all but I'm super excited about it. First he dropped his 2am feeding at 6 weeks. Then he dropped sleeping between his 8pm and 11pm feeding. At 9 weeks I got him to sleep again between the 8pm and 11pm feeding but then he would only feed about 5 minutes at 11pm and reintroduced the 2am feed. Then when we stayed at the hotel (10 weeks) after the movers came he was sleeping so deeply that I didn't want to wake him for his 11pm feed. So I let him sleep. And he did! Till like 5am! Woohoo! So he's now gotten rid of the 11pm and 2am feed. Now we just need to work on the last one, the 5am feed. Then we'll be going 8pm to 8am! Almost there! The other night he woke up at 2am cause his legs got caught between the slats in his crib and wouldn't go back to sleep w/o a feeding and I was worried about him reverting but nope, he's still sleeping to about 5am to 6am. Here's to hoping that it stays this way!

BTW, this is post #300.

Today Today Today Today

2010-08-12T16:36:00.002-04:00

Today is myMom's birthday. She's turning 57. I'm 32. When I'm 57 GV will be 24. If he waits as long to have kids as I did (plus thanks to IF it took a longer than average time to happen) then I will be 65 when I get my first grandchild. It's so weird to think that far in the future. My prayer is that both of us are still around in 2034.

Today is my 2nd Blogoversary. Yep! Two years ago today Dr. P and I came up with a plan to fight PCOS (which I didn't have) with weight loss (didn't happen) and clomid (which worked but 15 months later). My life is so different now. Even from a year ago. Sometimes it's still a bit surreal. Sometimes I just want to hug GV a little bit longer and harder than necessary because I still can't believe he's real and he's here and he's mine (ours). When will that feeling stop? Do I want it to?

Today the furniture people called and said that they're for sure delivering tomorrow. After 15 weeks it has arrived in the RIC and is on it's way to my house. Of course the owner of said furniture store called and tried to get me to make that first payment again before he would deliver the furniture. See I disputed the original charge with VISA after the third time they postponed my delivery date. I then conferenced the CC company who told him that he HAD to deliver the furniture before VISA would release the funds they seized. She very nicely explained that I was not holding onto the money, VISA was and that VISA would release only on proof of delivery. So anyways, GV will finally have a crib and dresser! And he only had to wait till he was 8 weeks old! As a side note the owner of the furniture store was the original owner of my house (it was built in 1992). Small world.

Today they put the FOR RENT sign on my house. That makes me a bit sad to think of moving out of this house. This is our first house. The house we chose together, the house we got engaged in (literally), got married in, struggled with TTC in and then welcomed GV home to. Even though I gripe about this house sometimes, I don't want to leave.

So about the whole DH job situation, Kevin's last day on the job was July 30th. Fortunately about a week after we got back from Chicken's wedding (June 26th) a recruiter called Kevin and asked him if he would be interested in a job in Ta.mpa Bay (I don't think I've mentioned where in Florida I grew up but it's Tam.pa). Well the job is in St.P which is just across the bay. So he said sure and a couple of phone interviews later they wanted him to travel down for a face to face interview on July 22nd. He was only gone overnight (I did fine on my own with GV) and by Friday he had a verbal offer. So we're moving. I'm excited to be moving back to family and friends. I wanted GV to grow up with family. But I'm not excited about going back to Florida. I don't like the heat, the humidity, the beach or the traffic. But I like having an income, I love my family and I really love that with the new salary Kevin is getting we can afford for me to stay home with GV. My goal is to start freelancing again when GV is about 6 months old.

This weekend is GV's baptism. We decided to do it at the church we got married at here in RVA. My grandfather (who is my confirmation sponsor) and Wiki are going to be the godparents. They along with my parents are coming up this weekend. On top of that Mum & Dad are here (till the 22nd) so we're going to have a full house! Well only during the day. Gpa, Wiki, myMom and myDad are all staying at a hotel. Not a normal thing for my family (we usually cramp into the house no matter how many people) but we only have one bed at the moment (Kevin and I are sleeping on an air mattress) so we made an exception.

I promise the next update will come sooner. I'm still reading, mainly on my iph.one which doesn't lend itself to posting or commenting very well, so keep me updated too!

Sleepy Baby

2010-07-24T22:26:00.000-04:00

So I finally got GV to sleep in his playpen without waking up. The past few days he's been waking up almost as soon as I put him down to sleep. While I love that his favorite place to sleep is in my arms, I'm doing my back in from holding him. So I ordered a mei tai from BabyHawk. Now I'm chomping at the bit to get it. I knew there were instructions here to make your own but considering that it's taken me 6 weeks and I'm no where near even at least half way done crocheting GV's blanket. I think pulling out the sewing machine and going to the store for fabric would be just too much.

GV is doing fantastic. His one month checkup was on Tuesday (5 weeks). He's now 24" tall - 98%tile, 11 lbs 14 oz - 90%tile and his head is 15.5" - 69%tile. He got his HepB shot too. That needle was huge! He did not enjoy it at all and let everyone know with a big wail. But he calmed down real quick with a big hug from me and some comforting words from Kevin. The ped noticed some stiffness in his neck when turning his head to the right, which is why he's more prone to look/rest his head to the left rather than right. She said it wasn't a big deal but we have to do a chin to shoulder stretch and an ear to shoulder stretch. He does not like the ear to shoulder stretch.

In other news, this is my first post from my new MBP! That's right, I got a Ma.cBook Pr.o! So exciting! It's my new mom gift. It was between that and a ip.hone 4. But since I'm not an early adopter type of Mac fan I went with the MBP.

Also some more exciting news: Kevin got a job offer! It's only a verbal offer but the letter is on it's way (hopefully!). Yes it means we're moving. Out of state. I don't want to jinx ourselves though so I'll write more about it on Monday since we should get the letter then.

One Month

2010-07-15T11:23:00.002-04:00

Dear GV,

Today you are one month old. Wow! How did we get here? You are such a special baby. Your daddy and I love you so very much. You were worth the wait.

You've had a great and busy month.

You started in the NICU but did so well that you came out in less than 24 hours.
When you came home both Dave and Les were infatuated with you. Dave watched over you and Les was unhappy with us anytime you fretted or cried.
You got your first bottle from Daddy at 4 days. Mom & Nina went out during your 2pm feeding so Dad took care of you.
Even though we had a rocky start to breastfeeding, you became a champion and it only took you 6 days to get back up to birth weight.
Your first road trip (to Florida for Chicken's wedding) was at 6 days. You were a great traveller!
You met Chicklet for the first time at 8 days! She gave you a big hug!
You rolled over at 9 days! All by yourself. Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Nina and I were all there watching you do it.
Your first party was at 10 days. Chicken & J's rehearsal dinner. You slept through the whole thing.
Your second party was at 11 days. Chicken & J's wedding. You and I had our first mother-son dance. I cried because I was so happy.
First beach visit at 12 days. We only spent about 5 minutes there because you and your mommy got really hot.
Second road trip at 13 days. Back home. Also, you pooped on your mommy. So much poop that it came out of your diaper. Ugh!
Grandma and Grandpa arrived for their visit when you were 17 days old. Nina missed you so much that she came too.
Your first 4th of July at 19 days. Grandma was so excited you had three(!) outfits to wear that day. You lost your umbilical cord today.
You met your Uncle E at 20 days. You also went out to eat for the first time. You did great! Also you pooped on your Dad while he was feeding you. Ha! Ha!
Because your ped was on vacation when you hit 2 weeks you didn't go for your 2 week checkup till you were 3 weeks old. You rocked the scale at 10lbs 1oz. Someone is a great nurser!
That day you finally started using your gpants. Mommy wanted to get a picture of the g on your bum, but you didn't want to. So you rolled over. Again and again. About 6 or 7 times.
Your first bath was at 22 days. You liked it at first but then wanted to be dry again. Like now. We took way too long to pat you dry.
Our first day on our own was at 29 days. Nina had gone home long ago, Grandma & Grandpa has left a few days earlier and Daddy went back to work. We had a great day and were very excited when Daddy came home for lunch and at the end of the day.

You are such a good baby. You only get upset when you're hungry. Much like your dad. Also you don't like having your diaper changed at night. We're hoping that having a wipes warmer will make this a much more pleasant experience. You don't like being hot but you love being outdoors. You don't like being strapped into your car seat but love being swung while in your car seat. During the day you like to be awake after feedings for about an hour or so and then you're ready for a nap. You get the hiccups, a lot. "They" say they don't bug you, but they bug me. You don't like pacifiers. You have 8 and you don't like any of them. I think it's because you don't see the point of them.

Daddy and I love you so much. You are the best part of us.

Love,
Mommy
xxx

The Day Between

2010-07-14T21:43:00.003-04:00

So I've been holding onto this post for the past week. There are so many things that I want to write about but between all the stuff happening, my innate laziness and all our visitors this post is taking forever to finish. So I will hit publish at the end of this moment of silence and we'll see what happens.

First, GV is a fantastic baby. According to sources he looks exactly like me. He has Kevin's ears though. Pointy Spock ears. He also has Kevin's wrinkled forehead. But he has my eyes and nose.
The gdiapers are going okay. We used the tiny gpants once we got home from the hospital but then switched to disposables on the way down to Florida and while in Florida. Then it was just easier to stay on them (myMom bought a huge box that we still haven't gone through yet) but finally decided to save them for trips out and about since it's easier. Now we're using size small little gpants. A couple of leaks and but at least we haven't had poo leaks like we've had with the the 'sposies.
Breastfeeding is going great. I have a post coming about it.
We had our first ped appt the day after we came home from the hospital and GV was doing great. He has a blocked tear duct on his right eye. He weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz. She thought it was the lowest he'd get. She also wants us to time feedings during the day to about 2-2.5 hours apart and feedings at night to 4 hours apart. We often had to wake him up for his day feedings and magically we had to wake him up a couple of times for his night feedings.
Our second ped appt was at 6 days (Monday). She wanted us to come in on Tuesday but because we were going down to Florida we had to do Monday. GV was up to 8lbs 10oz. His birth weight! Also we got prescribed something for his eye. Putting that in was painful, not for GV, for us.
The trip down to Florida (Monday-Tuesday) went well. Originally Wiki was going to fly back down to Florida on the Saturday but she didn't so that she could drive down with us. We had to stop every two and a half hours to feed GV but he did well. We stopped in SC overnight and Kevin had a job interview that morning. It went well (we think) but we're not sure what's going to come of it. Right now there's not actually a position, but they're interested in Kevin. We got to Florida around 1am. After a quick feeding GV got to spend some time with his grandparents.
I had my first tear filled meltdown when we started the drive down to Florida. Everytime we got into the car I was really freaked out about how GV's chin would rest on his chest. I thought for sure he would stop breathing and worse I would be sitting right next to him and not know till it was too late. I tried explaining my concern to Kevin and Wiki but the weren't as concerned as I was and so I burst into tears before we even got out of RVA. But I texted Chicken and she had the same fears I did so she told me to use receiving blankets to prop up his head. I could breathe after doing that.
I seriously thought there was going to be a throw down between myDad, myMom & Wiki over who would hold GV first after feedings.

Okay fretting. More later.

Hello My Son, part two

2010-07-07T09:53:00.000-04:00

When GV was born he didn't give out that lusty cry (he was making noise though). They cleaned him up while he was on me and then after a short while moved him to the baby station the check him over. Because he wasn't giving that lusty cry they were concerned that he wasn't clearing the fluid out of his lungs and fully opening the air sacs in his lungs. They still couldn't get him to cry out and the decision was made to NICU. Meanwhile Dr. P was seeing to me (2nd degree tear). They eventually let Wiki back into the room (she left when I started pushing) so we all got to see him until they took him away.

In the NICU they gave GV an IV and started him on antibiotics. Apparently when they stuck him he gave the yell but because they started the IV they had to finish it up. Which is messed up because they gave him the IV because he wouldn't cry out.

Around 4pm they transferred me to the postpartum room but we got to stop by the NICU first. GV was so precious and little in that special bed but then you'd look at the other babies next to him and he was a giant compared to them. We weren't allowed to hold him then but they said when he got moved to the other NICU room then we would get to hold him. We were told that we could visit with him whenever we wanted but that at 9pm he would have a feeding.

We went to the room and updated family and made phone calls and such. Also the postpartum nurse brought the hospital breast pump so that I could start pumping since I couldn't breastfeed right away. The amount I got was pathetic considering I had those things on my boops for 15 minutes. But they said it was a good amount. The NICU nurse had said to send anything down and they would add it to the formula he would be getting at 9pm. When Wiki dropped it off they had already moved him down to the other room. We went down for his feeding (we missed it by a few minutes) but I finally got to hold him. He was so quiet and with such huge eyes. Kevin got to hold him afterwards. Wiki went home after the visit and the NICU nurse said that I should pump for the next feeding but then we would try to get him to latch and nurse for a bit after his midnight feeding.

Hello My Son

2010-07-02T11:35:00.002-04:00

On Monday morning, June 14th, around 3:15am I woke up with a bad AF-type cramp. It passed after a few minutes and I fell back asleep. Then about 30 minutes later I had another one. That was the pattern for the day. A cramp every 30-45 minutes, nothing bad, just uncomfortable. So I was looking forward to my OB appt & NST because I thought for sure I would be more dilated or something. I even warned Kevin that I might be calling him after my appt and having him meet me at the hospital.

My appt was at 1pm. Dr. P was at the hospital with a delivery so I saw the on call OB instead. He was horrible. Let's just say that he wasn't the gentlest of doctors when doing the cervical check. I was still at less than 1 cm. The NST was okay. GV didn't really move that much but I had a couple of cramps while hooked up on the machine so I was able to see those and his reaction to them. Afterwards Wiki and I went to a couple of stores and then met Kevin back at the house for a late dinner. Before dinner, around 7pm, the cramps started to get more frequent and hurt a bit more. They were about four to five minutes apart. Wiki wanted me to call the OB but I wanted to wait. Since I hadn't had any Braxton-Hicks, I wanted to make sure these weren't them. I knew eating/drinking and lying down could help relieve them so we had dinner and afterwards I laid down on the couch. They slowed to around 8 minutes apart. But then the cramps changed to contractions. The pain was low (under the belly) but then would move around to my lower back. Plus they went to being 3-4 minutes apart. So finally around 10pm I called the OB. It was the same OB I saw in the morning. Grrr. But he did say that I should go in to the hospital. Kevin finished off the hospital bag and then we got in his car while Wiki drove my car.

Somehow my purse ended up in my car with Wiki so when we got to the hospital they wouldn't do anything because I didn't have my ID or insurance card. Kevin kept explaining to them that my sister had my stuff and the lady kept saying that I needed it before I could go to L&D. They accused Kevin of "freaking out" which he got really annoyed about. Finally Wiki showed up right when the L&D nurse did so she told them she was taking me back while Wiki finished off my registration. What was especially annoying was that I had pre-registered and gone in on Friday to finish off my registration (in case of induction) and they still wouldn't let me in until they saw my ID and insurance card and asked me tons of questions which I had already answered multiple times.

I finally made it to the room around 10:45pm. I got the first cervical check around 11:20pm and was 1-2 cm. They told me since I had made progress since my appt that afternoon that the on call OB said I could have an epidural as soon as I wanted. The pain wasn't that bad so I told them not yet. It wasn't that I didn't want an epidural, it's just that I had a fear of them sticking something in my spine. I knew the pain was going to have to be bad enough that the fear was negated. Anyways they gave me something that took the edge off but around 1am it wore off and I was ready for the epidural.

They let Kevin stay in the room with me but made Wiki leave. They did the first part of the epidural (where I think they numb you up) and then when the anesthesiologist tried to do the second part I got a shooting pain that wrapped around my left lower back. I yelled. They tried getting me to explain the pain and I couldn't very well. So he tried again and I yelled in pain again with the eyes watering up. He asked me if I had any back injuries and I told him no. He tried once more and this time it was more of a scream with tears falling. So finally he decided to try a different location. I didn't feel a thing this time. Later while I was thinking about it, I do have this thing with my back sometimes. If I'm sitting and I stretch sometimes I'll trigger a pinched nerve in my back (pain on the left side). So I think he found it. If I have more kids I'll have to find out which vertebrae they should not touch!

Shortly after the epidural (1:30am) they checked me again and I was 3-4 cm. At this point they told us we could get some sleep since we were just waiting for the dilation to happen on it's own. With the epidural in this was possible so we sent Wiki home and Kevin coverted the couch to a bed and settled in. The nurse came back around 3am for another check and I was at 5.5 cm. Then when the on call OB showed up at 6am they checked me again (boy was I glad for the epidural when he had to check me) and I was at 6 cm and GV was at -1 position. They decided to break the sac to help aid in dilation (figuring the pressure of GV on the cervix would help). Right after they broke the bag though I got hit with a sudden wave of nausea and my dinner came back out. It was the first time I lost any meal during this entire pregnancy.

Dr. P came in around 10am and I was at 7-8 cm. The nurse was guessing that I'd deliver before noon. But then the infection came. I got the shakes real bad and my temperature started rising. GV's heartbeat shot up above the normal range. They gave me oxygen hoping to bring his heartbeat back down but it wasn't doing anything. So they gave me some antibiotics and kept a close watch on GV. They also started talking about possibly having to do a c-section because of the infection but when they checked me again just before noon, I was at 9.75 cm but with an anterior lip. By this time Dr. P was around. They needed the lip to go away before I could start pushing. So we waited a bit and after about half an hour it was gone so I could start pushing. But then GV turned from being face down so Dr. P had to help him reposition. But in less than an hour GV was born. They placed him on me and Kevin and I got to say hello to our son. He was born at 1:20pm, 8 lbs 10 oz and 22.5 inches.

Down but not out

2010-07-01T09:40:00.005-04:00

GV is in his playard, being quiet, but not sleeping. He got the hiccups right after his feeding which woke him up from his feeding induced nap. He's gotten rid of them but now he'll be lying there awake most of the interval between feedings. At least he's not crying. Okay, now he's starting to make noise...

Last night was actually one of the best nights we've had since we got back home from Florida. He woke up to nurse, nursed and then went back to bed twice. With at least three hours between feedings. Then after the third one he stayed up a bit. Kevin has been great about getting up and seeing if he can get him to go back down before waking me up. Kevin has been great about a lot of things. But more on that later.

Okay you can't tell but there was an hour break there because GV started fussing a lot. So I had to take him upstairs to his swing. But I did manage to get his room back in order. Since his birth we've just been dumping everything in his room. It stayed a mess because we're not really using his room yet. Once we get his furniture in (still not around!) then we'll start using the room more.

And it's time for his next feeding. Gotta go wake him up now. Well get him up, I can hear him stirring. Can I just tell you how much I love this kid? A lot!

GV is here

2010-06-15T15:30:00.000-04:00

Admitted

2010-06-15T00:13:00.001-04:00

We're in the hospital, hooked to the machines, contemplating an
epidural. GV is on his way!!

Wiki Weekend

2010-06-14T09:34:00.000-04:00

First, GV is still in. He is one day late.

This weekend was pretty low key. Friday we watched the world c.up game then went to lunch. Cousin E left afterward and Wiki and I went to my appt at the hospital. I had to fill out some forms, answer some questions and then give some blood. They are all ready for me on Tuesday. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping and running errands.

Saturday was more wor.ld cup games and of course the England vs. USA game. Big game in the house. Kevin thought it was going to be a England over USA 5-0. Wiki was hoping for USA over England 2-1 and I thought it would be a 1-1 tie. Then when England scored in the first 4 minutes, Wiki and I got a bit worried. But we were able to come back. Maybe next time we'll get the win. We finished out the night with a visit to Col.dstone.

Yesterday we went to church (after catching some more world cu.p games) and then hung out here. I'm sure it's gotta be pretty boring for Wiki (who's an always-on-the-go kind of gal) but she's been holding up.

Today I've been up sporadically since 3 am with menstrual type cramps. They could be labor pains but I'm not sure. I've got an appointment at 1 so they can tell me then. myDad is excited because today is the day he picked in the baby pool.

Wiki has landed

2010-06-10T17:27:00.000-04:00

Wiki is on her way to RIC now (probably after stopping for food though). She flew in Norfolk because Southw.est doesn't fly here. My cousin who lives in Va Beach (who I very rarely see) is driving her into town because Kevin wasn't too comfortable with me driving out to get her (around a 2 hour trip each way). Luckily my cousin was actually free this afternoon.

I still haven't cleared out the office yet. Maybe she can sleep in GV's room for tonight. I did clean the kitchen floors though! Which was the one thing Kevin asked me to do. He mentioned vacuuming but then didn't bring the vacuum downstairs (it's really heavy and I'm not so good walking downstairs when I'm not pregnant) this morning. So I'll just wait till he gets home or do it tomorrow.

I also managed to finish addressing the birth announcements. I had them preship the envelopes. I also ordered 5 extra in case of really bad mistakes (I believe in white-out as long as you get the name bit right) but somehow my order of 55 + 5 turned into 67. Yeah, not sure about their math. But I'm going to have to order more because of myDad's side of the family. I'm sending it to his brothers and sisters (plus my cousins who actually live on their own) and aunts and uncles but not his cousins. It was still a lot though.

Okay I gotta get back to cleaning.

Appointments and Plans

2010-06-08T16:01:00.001-04:00

Today was my 39w appt. Weight was down 3 lbs but Dr. P is not worried about it because the past two weeks I've had some swelling of the feet/ankles/hands and this week not so much. Next was doppler time! The nurse was able to find his heartbeat pretty fast. 136bpm. Everything else is looking good. Dr. P did another cervical check and the good news is that I'm no longer closed. I'm not quite to 1cm, but at least it's open now.

We also talked about next week. The plan is that on Monday I'm going to go in for an NST to make sure that everything is okay with GV. Then Tuesday evening I'll go into the hospital to start the induction process (she mentioned gel) with the hope that I'll deliver on Wednesday. She said that if everything was okay on Monday and I didn't want to induce we could wait until the week after but that in her opinion it was better to induce between 40 and 41 weeks.

Kevin has been talking to GV nightly, reminding him that he's suppose to be coming out now. His preference is that GV is born by Wednesday night, that way we might be home in time for the start of the World Cup. And deffo by the England v. USA game.

BTW, work called me again today. Again a quick fix. 2 for 2 so far!

Two Phone Calls

2010-06-07T17:37:00.000-04:00

So the first was from work. They called around 4 pm. Apparently Cupcake couldn't get my printer to work. As soon as he was describing the problem to me I knew what was up and was able to tell him how to fix it in a matter of minutes. But I did give him flak about not being able to get through an entire day w/o calling me. Even though I told him he could call me. It was still funny.

A few minutes later I got another call. This time from the hospital. Apparently my OB has scheduled me for an induction on the 16th. At my 38w appt, Dr. P said that she didn't want me going past 41 weeks. Since I hit 41w on a Sunday she would schedule it for the week before on a day when she was on call. I guess that day is Wednesday. Anyways, they told me I'd be coming in Tuesday evening. Plus I have to come in for a bloodwork & paperwork appt on Friday. So I guess I know GV will be here in a week & a half at the latest!

I'm not sure how I feel about induction. I know it can work but everyone I know who's been induced has ended up with a c-section. I really don't want a c-section.

Updating...

2010-06-06T13:45:00.001-04:00

So I am still here, still pregnant and impatient for GV to make his appearance. People ask me if I'm ready to not be pregnant and really the answer is no. Not that I loved being pregnant, but physically, it hasn't been a huge adjustment for me. I didn't have any of the yucky symptoms that usually come, I've only gained 16 lbs and I'm still just as mobile & agile (with a few extra pains). Mentally it's been a tough nine months. The anxiety and worry have been hard to deal with. Especially since normally I'm a positive happy-go-lucky kind of person. But I've only flipped out so much that I had to call the doctor once. Since then I've been able to talk myself down from the ledge.

So a few changes:

I'm now on maternity leave. Friday was my last day of work! Because of Kevin's job situation I don't know if I'm going back. I haven't decided if I want to be a SAHM, WAHM or what. For now we need the insurance coverage so as far as work knows I'm coming back.
We have decided to do hybrid diapers. This is where you use an outer cloth with a disposable insert. The inserts are all natural so you can compost them (or flush them down the toilet). The brand we're using is gdiapers. They are seriously the cutest thing ever. I managed to score an awesome deal with ama.zon for earth day so I have about a 4 month supply sitting in GV's room.
His furniture has still not shown up. Officially they said 10-14 weeks, unofficially she said it'd be more like 6-8 weeks, but I was hoping it would be here by now. Yesterday was the 6 week mark.
I finished organizing the kid's room yesterday! It no longer has stuff piled everywhere. I managed to find most everything a spot. Don't know how long this organization is going to last but I'm hoping a little while at least.
The office is still is a disaster zone but at least everything that is suppose to be in there is actually in there. I have until Friday to actually get everything put away.
Why Friday? Cause that's when Wiki is coming! She's heading up here for a week and a half. Hopefully GV will show up earlier during her visit.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll post more later.

37 Weeks

2010-05-24T13:46:00.000-04:00

How far along: 37 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs.
Stretch marks: Yes.
Belly Button: In
Maternity clothes: I got some new yoga pants. I really want shorts, but I guess capris will do.
Sleep: Over the weekend I actually managed to stay up until midnight (thanks to movie watching and the Los.t finale) and slept like old times. Maybe I should rethink the whole "going to bed earlier because sleeping has been crap" theory.
Food cravings/aversions: Cantaloupe. At the store. Not so much when we get home with it though.
Gender: Boy!
Movement: My OB wants me to do kick counts in these final weeks. Kick counts stress me out. Really stress me out.
Best moment this week: The nurse finding the baby's heartbeat right away on the doppler.
What I miss: Is it possible to miss coaching because I know it's going to end soon?
I am looking forward to: Ultrasound!! I'm pretty sure the baby is back in the correct position. Hopefully it stays that way until birth!
Weekly Wisdom: As the length of time between OB appts decreases, the anxiety experienced during the time between OB appts increases proportionately. How did I make it 4 weeks between appts for so long?
Milestones: Full term!! Any day now!

36w OB appt

2010-05-21T11:27:00.002-04:00

Back to early morning appts. At my 34w appt, I decided to try doing a later time and it was horrible. I had to wait in the various waiting rooms forever!! Have I mentioned that I hate waiting? Anyways this appt, I went back to the 8am slot. Everything checked out. My weight has stayed the same, but Dr. P isn't concerned about that. They have me as +17 lbs so far. BP was fine, no contractions yet and urine test came back normal.

A normal appt except for the fact that I had a sheet around me from the waist down. Yep at 36 weeks we start checking the cervix. I also had my strep B test. Before she did the check I mentioned to her that I thought GV was breech again. I then had to explain that I can feel the difference in his positions because he's either kicking my bladder or shoving his feet under my ribs. Dr. P was hoping he was punching my bladder but that still doesn't explain the ribs being left alone. So she checked. And while she wouldn't confirm that he wasn't head down she didn't seem to think he was. So she wants to do another ultrasound next week (btw, I'm at weekly appts now!) before my 37w appt. Then she mentioned the whole c-section thing. I really don't want one. I've never had major surgery or hospital stays so far and I'd like to keep it that way.

Kevin has been getting a lot of meetings and training appts - in preparation for the outsourcing - in the mornings lately so I knew I had to make the appt in the afternoon if I wanted him to go. So next Thursday expect pictures!

36 Weeks

2010-05-20T13:27:00.000-04:00

This is from yesterday. All caught up now!

How far along: 36 Weeks 3 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +14.5 lbs. It took me four days to remember to weigh myself in the morning before my shower so the weight might be a little off. But still, down half a pound since last week. Arg!
Stretch marks: Yes. We might get pregnancy photos done this or next Sunday. I'm not planning on any bare belly shots, but if we do I'm photoshoping those suckers out! I don't need these photos to be that accurate.
Belly Button: In
Maternity clothes: I've given up on some of the pants because they just won't stay up. But I've still got a good selection left. Also I'm amazed that my $10 walma.rt track pants that I got years ago would adjust so well to having a baby bump. Who'd have thought?
Sleep: The tossing and turning is not as much as it use to be. Now it's just fighting being hot all the time.
Food cravings/aversions: I keep smelling pancakes and syrup in the mornings...Maybe that's a sign?
Gender: Boy!
Movement: It's become more stretching and pushing rather than kicking and punching. But occasionally the baby gets a good punch/kick in.
Best moment this week: Two surprises in one week! Dave getting cake on her b-day and the baby shower the agility ladies threw for us on Monday.
What I miss: Nothing this week
I am looking forward to: OB appt this week! That's right! Heartbeat on doppler time again! Breastfeeding class on Thursday. Also Kevin is going to a Daddy Bootcamp this weekend.
Weekly Wisdom: Somehow visiting a hospital and going on a tour of Labor & Delivery makes it more real.
Milestones: 90% downloaded finally! Only four weeks to go! Less than a month!

35 Weeks

2010-05-19T10:07:00.000-04:00

This is dated May 11, 2010.

How far along: 35 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs. I read in the "What to Expect" book and in the Mayo's that weight gain should slow down or even stop in the final month. But then other women tell me that their weight exploded in that last month. So we'll have to see what happens. At this point I'm just gonna eat what I want. As long as I get my protein, calcium, & vitamin in everyday I'm not going to worry about it.
Stretch marks: Yes. There might be more now. Still only in the one area.
Belly Button: Still in. I don't think it's going to come out.
Maternity clothes: My selection of T-shirts that still fit me has been going down. I'm now rotating through about 5 or 6 of them.
Sleep: Okay-ish. Only 5 more weeks!
Food cravings/aversions: Ice cream. But I let Kevin pick it out. Surprisingly he didn't choose chocolate chocolate chocolate. He went with vanilla chocolate chocolate.
Gender: Boy!
Movement: So the little feet have found a great nook under my ribcage. Ouch!
Best moment this week: Getting our diapers from Ama.zon! They are sooooo cute! Also of course hearing the baby's heartbeat on the doppler.
What I miss: A reliable car! Well I guess my car is back to being reliable now that it's got a new battery and tires.
I am looking forward to: Dave turning 10 on the 12th! Also we have our hospital tour this week.
Weekly Wisdom: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs are not enough to fill up on! They're an appetizer at most.
Milestones: Mostly everything is washed and put away!

34 Weeks

2010-05-18T09:51:00.001-04:00

This is dated May 3, 2010.

How far along: 34 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +15 lbs. I was a bit freaked out about last weeks weight gain since it wasn't one to begin with so I might have gone a little crazy with the food. But it puts me back on track.
Stretch marks: So I've accepted those 5 red marks as stretch marks. What is weird is that it's on the one part of the belly that isn't rock hard or stretched like the top of my belly is. I'd have expected SM there if anywhere.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: I've discovered that if I put the L-shaped pillow by my feet Les sleeps on Kevin's side of the bed. Score! Gonna have to use this one sparingly though or I'll have an upset husband and dog on my hands. Also an upset me when my hips start acting up again.
Food cravings/aversions: IHOP for dinner last night! Yum-O!
Gender: Boy!
Movement: I freaked out a bit on Friday about the absense of kicks and punches so my wonderful OB office let me come in for a non-stress test (NST). And the baby passed with flying colors! So I've accepted that the moves are just different now.
Best moment this week: The baby defying me at the NST and totally kicking up a storm. Yes even those knowing grins when I told the NP that the baby wasn't moving half an hour ago!
What I miss: Seeing Dave at agility. Apparently she did well (but didn't Q), best performances she's given in a while now.
I am looking forward to: OB appt this week so I'll get to hear the baby on the doppler again! Plus we're finally meeting with pediatricians in the afternoon. Half day at work! Woo hoo!
Weekly Wisdom: You usually have more things for the baby than you think you do.
Milestones: 85% downloaded! Almost to full term

33 Weeks

2010-05-17T09:38:00.001-04:00

This is dated April 26, 2010. I know it's a bit late but I've got to catch up. And I'm totally using this as today's post.

How far along: 33 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +12.6 lbs. Down almost a pound from last week. I weighed myself multiple times and couldn't get a number to come up the same twice so I just averaged.
Stretch marks: Those red marks are still there. If it was just a skin irritation (I've got very sensitive skin) then I would imagine they would be gone by now...
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: It's getting better. Slowly.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy! We're starting to call him by name now. Although since for the past 7 months we've been calling him by other nicknames it's a bit weird coming off the tongue.
Movement: Yes! Lots! There's even interaction when I push on my belly.
Best moment this week: Seeing the baby again! The ultrasound was awesome! Also having the new carpet installed! It's so nice!
What I miss: Being able to finish a meal in one go.
I am looking forward to: Agility trial this weekend! Dave is competing again but only on Friday when I'm not there. Maybe this will help keep her focused on her human in the ring and not freak out about her human not in the ring.
Weekly Wisdom: New paint and carpet makes any room look awesome. You don't even need to put anything else in there!
Milestones: More baby books!

Progress

2010-05-16T22:40:00.001-04:00

Today I managed to get more done! I finally went through everything that was left in the dining room and threw away what needed throwing, recycled what needed recycling and took everything else upstairs to the GV's room. So our dining room table is now clear. Also the dining room. GV's room needs work though. Maybe next weekend I'll finish that off. I've already given the office over to Kevin to finish off. Everything is in there, it just needs to be put away and organized.

While Kevin went climbing this afternoon I headed to the store and finally picked up our travel system. I managed to put together the stroller. I know you're suppose to wash everything before use but I can't figure out how to take the washable stuff out and be able to put everything back together again. But I figure I've got a little time before those have to be done. Hopefully Kevin will install the car seat this week and get it inspected. That's the only part I'm worried about since at my last OB appt, Dr. P said that at this point if I go into labor, they wouldn't stop it. We need that car seat in!

Unrestful Night

2010-05-15T21:10:00.000-04:00

So lately I've been waking up around 3 or 4 am and haven't been able to fall back asleep. I wake up and my brain is just filled with worries, hesitations and thoughts of the future. It happened again last night around 3am. Took me over an hour, TV and a book to eventually fall back asleep.

But then I had an early start today. Soccer game. 2nd to last regular season game. We're also doing a tournament Memorial Day weekend. It always gets me here how tryouts are before the end of the season. Our team has tryouts Monday but we've still got 4, possibly 5, more games and two weeks of practice left. It's all good and well when a player chooses to leave a team but what about those who get cut? I think it's a lot to ask of little girls to suck it up and keep going. And I'm not usually one of those "Everyone Wins" type of people, in fact the opposite. Oh well, I'm missing tryouts/practice this week because of baby stuff so it should be interesting at next weekend's game.

Okay, it's time for Doc.tor W.ho so I'm gonna get going. Hope everyone had a great Saturday!

30 days!

2010-05-14T15:21:00.003-04:00

That's right only 30 more days to go. Hopefully it flies by. Probably not. But I can hope.

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately. It's not just from posting but commenting as well. I have been reading this whole time though! I promise to do better. In fact I've decided that I'm going to post something at least once a day from here to birth. It might not be interesting but it will be something. Also I need to publish my weekly updates. I've been holding on to those for some reason.

Just in case you were wondering, the new office is still filled with boxes but most of the stuff is in there. The nursery has most of the nursery stuff but some is still on the dining room table. So we're farther along but not quite done yet. Maybe in 30 days?

The Carpet is In!

2010-04-23T09:55:00.001-04:00

The carpet is done! It actually happened quickly once we got off our bums and did it. First we took out a 6"x6" piece from our closet. Then went to various stores on Saturday to find something close. We had two contenders so we scheduled premeasuring for Thursday to get final price estimates. The much nicer carpet ended up only being about $100 more so we went with that. Even though the salesman warned us it could take up to two weeks to get our carpet in, they were able to come on Wednesday. It looks beautiful!
And of course, pictures!

So the ugly grey walls are gone and the horrible mustard yellow walls were covered up.

The room door and bathroom door. We're replacing the outlet covers too.

The nook area.

A better shot of the carpet.

And the current star of the room - the new carpet!

So we're almost done! But the exciting part is that we get to start moving things out of GV's room and into this room. Which means we can move GV's things into his room and out of the dining room. So we can start eating in the dining room again! Score!

~~Guest Room~~ Office:
1. ~~Get rid of the bed.~~
2. ~~Put away bed rails.~~
3. ~~Get rid of the headboard.~~
4. ~~Get rid of the dresser.~~
5. ~~Get rid of the nightstand.~~
6. ~~Get rid of the current tacky $20 Ta.rget book shelves.~~
7. Replace the TV. — We've decided to hang on to this TV until closer to our moving date. Or when Kevin finds a new job.
8. ~~Clean out my great-grandmother's armoire.~~
9. ~~Paint.~~
10. ~~Replace the carpet.~~
11. Figure out what to do with the PS2 and all the rock band/guitar hero stuff.
12. Move the office furniture & supplies into the room.
13. ~~Buy a sleeper sofa.~~ — Because we don't know what the third bedroom in any new place will be like we're not going to invest in any new furniture. We've already gotten rid of the bed (which was a must!) so any guest that comes to visit us between now and moving date will either be on an airbed in the office or the sleeper sofa in the living room. But at least they get a choice, right?
14. ~~Install nice bookcases.~~ — We're not doing this either. I know it only adds to the value of the house but I don't want to go through the hassle and expense of installing bookshelves in a house we're leaving in a few months.

32 Week OB Appt (and ultrasound!)

2010-04-22T16:28:00.000-04:00

So at my 28w and 30w appts, Dr. P was a bit concerned about my uterus measuring a bit large. Especially since my weight gain (+16lbs and +18lbs) didn't correlate with me having an overly large baby. She also noted a growth spurt between those two appts. So she scheduled an ultrasound for the 32w appt to check the size of the GV and measure the fluid around him.

So I had Kevin go with me this morning (it was sooooo hard to convince him ;) ) and we got there slightly late. But then the tech came in and she told us she'd do the checking and measuring first and then would show us him and take some more pictures. Of course Kevin just leaned over so he could watch the screen the whole time. Once she was ready she confirmed that he was a boy (which was slightly hard because he had his legs crossed under him) and also told us that he was in breech position. That explains the number he's been doing on my innards the night before and that morning (and since). Because he was breech, we got a good profile shot of him.

We got to see his hair too!

It's the white stuff all around his head. Then we got to see his heart beating away (she told us the rate but I forgot) and his spine. And then his little feet!

She also showed us his face but the photo for that wasn't good. But we did get another profile shot!

Next was the regular OB appt. Everything is good, no more bloodwork needed. GV is measuring 4.5lbs which is right on target, the uterus is still measuring large so that's probably just me and fluid levels are normal. Next appt in 2 weeks!

BTW, I'm not sure if I said but I passed my GD test! Yay! So we celebrated by going to Col.dstone :). Also thyroid levels are normal and Dr. P thinks I can come off them 6 weeks post birth.

32 Weeks

2010-04-21T10:53:00.002-04:00

How far along: 32 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +13.5 lbs. On track for a total 20lb weight gain! And because I'm a dork, I've done a graph...

Stretch marks: I'm not sure. Under my belly I have these four little red marks (two on each side of the belly) that were skin irritations and now kind of look like stretch marks but Kevin says they're not indented so I don't know if they're stretch marks.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: After a really painful night (which was also bad because Kevin and Les bedrailed me) I was ready to go back to the couch. But since that night it's been good.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! Because of the job situation we're not going to paint his room or put up the wall border that matches his set. I want to save it for the new place.
Movement: Everyday! I can tell the difference between him moving around and kicking/punching. Also I think he's turned inward because he's regularly making my innards feel beat up on.
Best moment this week: Well the nicest was being invited to join a mom's group by one of the bunco ladies that apparently is by invite only. Also I ordered our diapers from Amazo.n at a great deal. Things are happening!
What I miss: My normal lunch spot (a grocery store)! It's closed for refurbishment and I'm lost w/o it!
I am looking forward to: Ultrasound this week! Kevin is going with me. Also the carpet is going in this Wednesday!
Weekly Wisdom: Stock up on diapers!
Milestones: 80% downloaded! Also we got two after birth baby books from the library - What to Expect in the First Year (which I got at the shower but somehow didn't end up in my suitcase) and the first Babyw.ise book.

31 Weeks

2010-04-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

How far along: 31 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs. I weighed myself four times today and got four different weights. Arg that bathroom tile. It's so un-even.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in, but Kevin has said it's looking rounder. It feels shallower.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: Only 9 more weeks and then I can at least sleep on my back.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!!
Movement: Everyday! One morning "Ice Ice Baby" came on the radio and I turned it up. GV then started punching and kicking. I wonder if he liked it or not?
Best moment this week: Finally going to the carpet stores to pick something out! Oh and hearing GV's heartbeat :)!
What I miss: Having a full appetite at dinner. I think I'm just so tired from the day, I just don't have the energy to eat.
I am looking forward to: Bunco is finally back after a month and a half. Also carpet premeasuring is this Thursday!
Weekly Wisdom: Everything is done in small steps, but they add up fast!
Milestones: First bi-weekly appt! Also because Kevin's agility schedule has changed I think we can actually do the hospital tour during the 6-8 week window they want you to do it in.

More Changes

2010-04-09T14:14:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I put in a prayer request because Kevin had a job interview. He ended up not getting that position. But there was still hope. There was going to be a retained position in the organization that was very similar to what he is currently doing. Kevin was very positive about this position. His interview was 3/31. On Tuesday we found out that he didn't get the position. That means that as of 7/31 my husband no longer has a job. This has been a huge shake-up for both of us. One of Kevin's characteristics is that he likes taking care of people. This impacts his ability to do that. Yeah, he might complain about the things he does but he really does love taking care of everyone. For instance, everyday he makes sure to hand me my synthroid and prenatal vitamin. It's his part of making sure GV is taken care of.

So what does this mean for us? Right now it means that we're mostly likely moving this summer. Kevin has a very specialized job in a very specialized industry. So much so that he's doubtful anyone else in RVA would have the same job need. So we would need to move to wherever the next job is.

Our biggest dilemma is our house. See we bought our house in the peak of the boom in 2006. Since then house prices have plummeted in our area. Since we were planning on living here for at least 3-4 more years (until we ran out of bedrooms) it wasn't a big deal to us. Well, now it is. We can't sell the house. We're not underwater or anything, I just refuse to sell if we can't even break even.

A sort of melancholy has come over the house. I'm praying that Kevin is able to find a job soon and that we don't have to move too far away. A few months ago when this was all hypothetical I told Kevin that I didn't want to move farther north or back to the mid-west. I'm still holding out hope that we can stick to it, but the closer it gets to 7/31 I know those areas become possibilities. We've got 113 days.

Generosity & Progress!

2010-04-08T15:07:00.002-04:00

I forgot to mention that Sunday evening (while I was at the airport) our neighbor K came by with two brown paper bags full of baby clothes and a "My Br.est Friend" pillow. This is the neighbor that had a boy last April. The clothes were so cute. I talked to her a few days later and she also mentioned that they had a swing, excersaucer, baby hangers and a hanging baby jumper that they were done using. After two boys, they're not going to have any more kids so she's clearing things out. Oh, and she said that she'd give us their breast pump and leave it to us to decide if we wanted to keep it or not. I guess once you get to that stage you just want things out.

I was actually on the phone with Kevin when she came by. He had called me because he had just started re-painting the guest room and realized the color was really really close to white. We had been thinking that some of the butterscotch color would bleed through to make it look darker, but nope. The new paint went on really thick. So he stopped and called to confirm that I wanted him to keep painting. Since I was hundreds of miles away I told him to stop. When I did get home it was really light. My solution? Go back to Low.e's and get the darker color on the swatch card and mix them up. Then this past Sunday he painted. It's done! Finally! The color is beige. I'm so glad that's over.

Guest Room:
1. ~~Get rid of the bed.~~
2. ~~Put away bed rails.~~
3. ~~Get rid of the headboard.~~
4. ~~Get rid of the dresser.~~
5. ~~Get rid of the nightstand.~~
6. Get rid of the current tacky $20 Ta.rget book shelves. — These are in the attic awaiting the neighborhood garage sale on May 15th. If I can get someone to sell it for me since I've got a game. Or Kevin agrees to do it.
7. Replace the TV. — Still have the old TV. I got a few interests in it but our schedule has been so crazy that I couldn't ever meet up with people. I'll relist it for this weekend.
8. ~~Clean out my great-grandmother's armoire.~~
9. ~~Paint.~~
10. Replace the carpet. — The owner before us replaced the carpet in the master, current office and landing. But not the GR for some unknown reason. Now that we're replacing it, we want it to match the other rooms. But according to all the carpet places we've called, in order to do that they would need at least a 6"x6" sample of our current carpet. They want me to rip up my nice carpet! I'm struggling making myself do it. But I know I've got to this weekend or this room is never going to get done.
11. Figure out what to do with the PS2 and all the rock band/guitar hero stuff.
12. Move the office furniture & supplies into the room.
13. Buy a sleeper sofa.
14. Install nice bookcases.

Sunday Shopping

2010-04-07T16:27:00.002-04:00

Wow, I know, I've been slow in getting posts up. But eventually I'll catch up. Or at least give up. Today it's try to catch up. Okay so day 3 of Florida trip:

Sunday

Woke up bright and early to get ready for church. myDad had to work Sunday so he was gone by the time I had gotten up. Kind of a bummer but that's what you get when your dad works in a hospital. Anyways as soon as we arrived for church, I saw J walking towards us. After mass we went to Crack.er Barre.l. Not really my favorite place but as it's the only "breakfasty" restaurant between church and the house that's where we usually end up. Brunch lasted about two hours and was really great. The last time I saw J was right before she moved to NO - March 2008 or so..

Afterwards myMom, Wiki and I made a quick trip to Bu.yBuyBa.by. That place is huge! It's got everything you could possibly need! Too bad there's not one in RVA. Anyways we then went across town to Chicken's dress fitting. After about half an hour, I picked this dress (Chicken picked the color).

It looks a lot different on me than the model but she's not nearly 7 months pregnant so I think I'm excused. I have to wear this dress two weeks after GV's due date so it should be interesting. The remaining hour and a half at David's was spent giving advice to the other 4 bridesmaids on their dresses. Finally at 3:30 we were all done and I was off to the airport.

We had one last meal together (in which I ruined my printed boarding pass and had to run around the airport to get another one) and then I was back on a plane RVA-bound.

All in all a great trip home but a LOT of running around. I don't think I had the chance to rest really. One huge side effect though!

Monday

So I noticed Sunday night that my ankles were looking a little pudgy. I didn't think anything of it until Monday morning. Yeah, I bypassed the cankle stage and went directly to the huge huge ankles connecting my calves and feet. It was so bad that walking in shoes felt off. So at lunch time I went to C.VS to buy some compression socks. Dude they are expensive! It was $17 to buy one pair! I got these:

It took two days of wearing them from as soon as I got up till I went to bed but eventually I got my ankles back. Chicken has warned me that closer to delivery I will probably have to say good bye to my ankles until up to two weeks after delivery. That I'm not looking forward to.

30 Weeks

2010-04-06T12:57:00.001-04:00

How far along: 30 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +11.5 lbs. Yeah I lost a bit of weight this week so I was concerned. According to the doctor's scale I've gained 1 1/2 lbs since my 28w appt. Dr. P says I'm still ideal though so I'll go with that.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: Nothing new.
Sleep: The only thing that seems to help has been sleeping on the couch once. I still tossed and turned just as much but there was no hip pain. But Kevin doesn't like this arrangement though so I've not repeated it.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! We might start working on his room this weekend!
Movement: Everyday! I've been concerned that they don't feel any stronger, but I can see them on the outside. Kevin has taken to telling the baby to wake up so that he can feel him move. And the other day GV responded! Kevin just had the biggest smile on his face.
Best moment this week: GV reacting to Kevin's voice.
What I miss: Sitting at my desk comfortably. I think GV is positioned so that his feet(?) are right next to my rib cage. It can hurt if I start to slouch!
I am looking forward to: Finishing up the office/guest room.
Weekly Wisdom: I swear GV has a personality already!
Milestones: 75% downloaded!! Time to start getting the big stuff!

Saturday Running Around

2010-04-01T07:13:00.003-04:00

Thursday night before I left my friend J emailed me to tell me that she was going to be in Florida this weekend. She lives in NO but her in-laws and stepson's mom live there. She asked if I wanted to get together for an lunch on Saturday and I told her that it would be kind of tight but that I would try. We texted back and forth Friday night and had tentative plans for an early lunch.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early for breakfast with Chicken, Chicklet and fiance J. Then Chicken and I went to get facials. It was okay, but like a professional massage it's something I never have to do again. We also got manicures at the same place. But they only had one manicurist and one facial(ist?) so we had to alternate instead of doing them together. That was kind of a bummer.

One of the reason Kevin didn't come with me on this trip was because he was running a 10K Saturday morning. It was his first road race ever and I was kind of bummed out that I didn't get to be there. But I had knew it was a possiblity since he decided to run in it. Anyways his wave was suppose to take off at 8:42 and he called me at 8:30 saying that he was in touching distance of the parking garage but had been stuck in race traffic for over an hour. So he missed his flight. Luckily they allow you to drop down in waves so as long as he made it to the start line by 10am he would be okay.

Right as I was going in for my manicure J texted me to say that they got in really late (like 3am!) so could we reschedule lunch to the Sunday. Which was good because there's no way I was going to make it out of the salon before 11am.

Kevin had signed me up for race notification to be texted to my phone when he reached the half way point and finish line. They didn't come through so I got more and more worried during the manicure that he didn't make it to the start line. But while I was waiting for the facial to start he called and left me a message letting me know that he had finished with a time of 46:29. Pretty good for his first race! Even though I had warned him about the other people running the race, he was surprised by how much it affected his run.

After we were done at the salon we went back to Chicken's and I hung out there till it was time to leave for the shower. It wouldn't have been worth it to drive all the way back home. The shower was held at a beautiful park on a hill next to a lake. More food (Yay!) and more games. Of which we won two of them! We being me, Wiki and myMom. We got to use our phones for one of the games to get answers and my ipho.ne worked better than Wiki's iphon.e 3GS!

When we got home I laid down on the couch for a rest and then GV started moving and kicking. I called myMom over to feel and we waited. After a few seconds GV gave her a good kick. As soon as myDad walked in the door (from a church function) she boasted about being able to feel GV. So then my sister and then myDad tried. Luckily GV cooperated for all of them and wasn't his usual stubborn self. I guess only Kevin has the hands of calmness. Hope that's true after GV is born!

That evening Wiki and I went back to Chicken's for a hair and makeup party. Chicken is wanting to do both herself (or have a friend do it). So we got together for some pizza and experimentation. Friday night I had gone through all the gifts and figured out which ones I would need right away and which could wait a month (when myMom and myDad drive up for their visit). While we were at the party myMom got everything to fit into one suitcase. And it was under 50 lbs!

So another 11:30 bedtime. But I did get to talk to J and we decided to go to mass together and then brunch the next day.

Friday Surprises

2010-03-31T07:18:00.029-04:00

Wow! What a weekend! There's quite a lot to document so I'm breaking this post up by days.

Friday

Because of AirT.ran's stupid luggage fees, myMom and I decided that I would come down with only a carry-on and then they would lend us a suitcase to take all the baby stuff back with me. So I packed Friday morning and Kevin took me to the airport. I was one of the last ones to board and so when I got on the plane the flight attendant told me I would have to gate check my bag because there was no more room in the overhead bins. I said okay and after I made it to my seat realized that I had forgotten to take out my snacks. I was getting kind of hungry so when the FA came through with the drink cart I asked for several of the biscuits they handed out. We landed in Atlanta and I stood waiting for my bag back. Someone came in with a stroller (not me yet!) but no bags were being brought. So I asked the FA and he said that my bag was checked through all the way to Florida! My lunch was in there! I tried asking at the counter but the lady said that since it was only an hour to my next flight she doubted my bag would make it back to me in time. So I had to spend $9 on a sub, fries and lemonade. What a rip off! But both my flights ran on time and they had a promo for free inflight WiFi so that was good I guess.

myDad and Wiki picked me up and they were hungry (it was around 3:00 when we got to our side of town) so we went to eat. I wasn't hungry yet so I had a cookie. Then we went to Sea.rs because Wiki and I needed Chicken's bridal shower gift. They didn't have anything! myDad had to go to his favorite stores, Starb.ucks and the Appl.e Store. Then we hit Targ.et because that's the other place Chicken had registered with. I couldn't see anything I liked there either so that was annoying. Wiki bought Chicken some wine glasses.

After Target we drove home. As I walked in the door, there were all these people standing in the office and when I looked towards the kitchen there were more people! myMom and Wiki had thrown me a surprise baby shower! I was deffo surprised, I had no idea. Of course I looked like a scrub after traveling all day, partly because I knew I was traveling and had no plans for Friday night so I made no effort Friday morning. Wiki had made me a t-shirt that said "Somebody's kicking me" and then had two footprints over the belly so I changed into that.

I tried to straighten my hair a bit but with putting it into a ponytail/bun thingy in the morning while it was still wet and then dealing with Florida humidity I had to give up after a few minutes.

We played a few games: baby bingo, word scramble and word search, TP diapers and this drinking from a bottle game. BTW, if you do this one don't fill up the bottles like myMom did. Only put a little amount. This game is harder than it looks.

Then it was on to the presents. Thanks partly to Wiki and myMom there were quite a few ones! Apparently Kevin was in on it and so we video chatted him in during the gift unwrapping. I think we're all set for clothes!

Also Wiki made me an awesome cake topper - a little mini-me!

We had cupcakes instead of a normal cake.

The party wrapped up after that. After everyone left, we watched a bit of TV and talked. I had told them what name we had picked when I first got home (while trying to make myself presentable) and then swore them to secrecy. I didn't get to bed till about 11:30 which is a rarity for me these days. But I had a jam packed Saturday ahead of me!

29 Weeks

2010-03-30T12:27:00.000-04:00

How far along: 29 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +13 lbs.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: myMom got me 3 or 4 outfits which is what I wore all weekend. Also I bought compression socks, but more about those later.
Sleep: Still interrupted. The hips have been really bothering me.
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! So we've got a name I think. We decided before my trip so we could tell Wiki and myParents. I've told a couple of friends but everyone else can wait till birth or closer to it.
Movement: He's been moving all sorts now. I think I can tell the difference between punches and kicks and just general movement. Last week we went to a concert and I could tell he was awake and moving. Then when they put on a James Brown medley between bands he was kicking hard! Kevin was wowed!
Best moment this week: Seeing everyone at my surprise baby shower! (more later)
What I miss: My ankles!
I am looking forward to: Getting the guest bedroom done finally! It's been ages and I'm ready for it to be done!
Weekly Wisdom: Sometimes it takes a while to fall in love with being pregnant. Feeling movement frequently helps!
Milestones: A normal pregnancy symptom - even if it is swollen feet and ankles.

Last Monthly Appt

2010-03-24T12:45:00.003-04:00

The OB's office was really busy when I showed up. Usually my appointments are first thing in the morning but this one was at 3:15. They sent me back to the lab to drink the stuff they give you. It tasted like really really really sweet fruit punch. I had to be back by 4:20 in order to draw my blood, but in the mean time I would see Dr. P for my 28w appt.

First I got weighed in. +2 lbs since my last appt, +16 lbs total weight gain. The nurse did the usual and asked the usual questions. Then it was doppler time. I've noticed that I've relaxed a bit about the doppler. I use to get really anxious right before my appts because my fear would be that we would hear nothing. But now I know GV likes to be difficult so it will take a few attempts to find the heartbeat. Maybe it's because I can feel the movement so I know he's okay in there. Anyways, the nurse finally found the heartbeat and after a few seconds there was a loud "whap" and I could feel GV hit the doppler probe. She moved the probe to find it again, did and a few seconds later "whap" again. GV did not like that probe poking him! And she wasn't pressing that hard so he must just be sensitive. Eventually she found a spot that didn't disturb him and we got the measurement. 138bpm. She said as long as it was above 120bpm then everything was fine.

Dr. P came in shortly after that and said everything was going great. My thyroid bloodwork we took at the last appt was normal and my weight gain is "perfect." She measured my uterus and it's measuring large. She said at my next appt, she would measure it again and if it's still large then we'd do an u/s to figure out what's up. She said she wasn't that worried because my weight gain doesn't suggest a large baby. My next appt was set for April 6th! That's right I'm now in the biweekly appts zone!

Afterwards I hung out in the lobby till it was time to get my blood drawn. The sugar must have really hit GV then because he got so hyper! Finally 4:20 rolled around, I got 3 vials of blood drawn and then left. They're also checking my thyroid one last time and Rh something or other. The lab tech said that the results should be in today or tomorrow. While I'm worried about GD, I'm hoping that I've done a good job with my diet so far that I don't have it. Both types of diabetes run in my family and I know that if you get GD you're at a higher risk for getting Type II later in life.

I told Kevin about how I was measuring large and he immediately hypothesized that GV was hiding "Pyramid View" and that's why I was larger. Ummm, no! No twins for us. I think we'll have our hands full with just one. Next he theorized that GV is taking after him, tall and skinny. I like that theory better.

28 Weeks

2010-03-22T22:33:00.003-04:00

How far along: 28 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +12 lbs. Back on track finally.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: It took me an hour and about 8 different dresses from the maternity and plus size racks in Koh.l's but I found a dress that didn't rely on the cuteness of a belly bump as its main decorative piece. Some of us don't have cute belly bumps, we just look like we've overindulged. Plus the dress is springy enough that it will work for Chicken's picnic themed bridal shower and Easter! Score!
Sleep: This past weekend the constant waking up has returned. I'm not sure what's waking me up but it's really annoying!
Food cravings/aversions: None.
Gender: Boy!!! Still no name yet. And no, we're not any closer. We've kinda shelved the discussion. Don't tell myMom though, she really really really wants to know.
Movement: More movement and Kevin has felt some! He was surprised at the different intensities of the kicks. I think he thought they were all going to be tough punches and kicks instead of sometimes only being a soft flutter.
Best moment this week: Realizing GV has a schedule and "knowing" when he's gonna be active.
What I miss: Nothing!
I am looking forward to: Trip to Florida! Seeing Chicken and Chicklet and my family.
Milestones: 28 Weeks! 70% downloaded!

Sunday Confession

2010-03-18T12:51:00.003-04:00

Sunday I admitted to Kevin that I hated the wall color I picked out. I'm not sure what happened but when I went paint shopping, I wanted to get a light beige. After 5 minutes or so, I picked it out, bought 2 gallons and then went home. Sunday as soon as Kevin started, I realized that it was not light beige at all. He finished the first coat (it really needs a second coat) around 3 or 4 and was planning on doing the second coat but I asked him if he liked it and he said no. So then I told him I didn't like it either. Tomorrow we're going to go to the store together and pick out another color. We're gonna go with a lighter color than originally because I don't want him to have to prime again. This way if the first coat bleeds it won't be so bad.

Side Note: The color is only a tad darker than the color of our bedroom, which I love, but apparently Kevin doesn't like that one either.

Next weekend is my trip to Florida. The main purpose of the trip is Chicken's bridal shower and bridesmaid dress choosing/fitting. But I also get to see my sister! Last month Wiki and her boyfriend (of 4 years) broke up and Wiki moved back home. The past year has been really rough on her (she got laid off of work in Feb 2009, lost her coaching gig in September and now this) and she's taking some time to regroup. I've dropped hints about her moving here so you never know!

Last night was my first spring soccer practice. I told the parents I was pregnant two weeks ago, but last night I told the girls. Some of them knew already. One girl asked me when in June because she thought maybe GV would be born near her birthday. But since her birthday is the 26th, I hope not! Practice went well and physically I was fine. That was my biggest concern.

I do need to talk to my "co-coach" though. He helped me with the team last fall because of the cruise and towards the end of the season he started showing up to practice and trying to take over. He was there yesterday and while I understand that he's going to take a bigger role because we don't know when I'm going to stop coaching, I just felt like the whole time he'd rather I was doing something else. He's going to practice tonight and before he left he started talking about how he knew what he wanted to work on. I usually have a practice plan before I show up so it's a bit disconcerting and distracting when he just shows up and wants to start doing things. If I know he's coming or has something in mind then I can have a plan for that.

27 Weeks

2010-03-16T21:40:00.001-04:00

How far along: 27 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +13.5 lbs. I've been watching what I'm eating more. Trying to make healthier food choices.
Stretch marks: Nope.
Belly Button: Still in.
Maternity clothes: I just realized that this weekend is Wicked and that I probably don't have a dress to wear.
Sleep: Les has been sleeping in her pop-up crate the past few nights which has been nice.
Food cravings/aversions: Since pasta has been popping up in our meals so much lately I decided to cook it out of our Prevent.ion cookbook. So instead of splitting 1lb of pasta 4 ways, it's 8 oz usually.
Gender: Boy!!!
Movement: The past two days he's been really active. Also I've been getting these weird "quivering" movements. I wonder if they're hiccups or BH?
Best moment this week: Telling someone I was in my third trimester. It's finally here!
What I miss: Being able to sneeze and not petrified that I'm going to pee my pants.
I am looking forward to: Soccer practice starts this week, we have a tourney this weekend and Wicked on Sunday!
Milestones: Third trimester!!

Guest Room Conversion

2010-03-14T10:05:00.002-04:00

On Thursday I had someone email me about the TV we put on craig.slist. We made arrangements for them to come see it on Friday. But Friday evening came and went and they didn't show. However Friday another person emailed me about the TV so I emailed them back yesterday. Hopefully they still want it. Still no bites on the bookcase.

My plan was to finish packing up and clearing out the guest room by Thursday so that we could do the prep on Friday and Kevin could paint on Saturday. Yeah, didn't quite work out. I didn't finish packing and clearing till Saturday morning, then I went to get the supplies (sandpaper, roller refills, TSP and of course primer and paint).

So here's the room we started with:
Side Wall:

Back Wall:

Inside Wall:

Front/Inside Wall Section:

Little Alcove/Front Wall:

To the left of the alcove is the closet. No it's not that deep! There's crawl space storage in the back and then a standard closet in front of it.

We spent most of the early afternoon cleaning and patching the walls. The previous owner had painted 2 1/3 walls a dark grey color. Even though the room has three windows because we have so many trees, it doesn't really get that much light. The other 1 2/3 were left the builder's white. I'm not sure if they did this on purpose, only had one can of paint (the room needs about 1 1/2 gallons for all the walls) or didn't want to mess with the awkward angles of the alcove. They didn't really do a good job painting so after we moved in I had to go buy more paint (they left the can in the garage) and fix the edges and clean up the trim. They hit the ceiling quite a few times! There were also tons of little nail holes in the wall.

Anyways Kevin didn't start priming the walls till about 4 or so. It's a bit awkward priming because part of the room is unpainted (well hasn't been painted since the builder did it) and the other part has a glossy dark paint.

And it's been killing me to be downstairs while Kevin gets to paint. I actually enjoy painting and am quite good at it. Kevin really doesn't like to paint so I'm sure he wishes we could switch places too.

So progress as of this morning:
Side Wall:

Back Wall:

Inside Wall:

Front/Inside Wall Section:

Closet/Little Alcove:

The real paint goes on today and then it's carpet shopping!

26 Weeks

2010-03-09T13:36:00.001-05:00

How far along: 26 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +14.5 lbs. Woah! 4.5 lbs in one week! I guess all those pasta dinners, sneaky Sprites and croissants & muffins are catching up with me.
Stretch marks: None that I can see and none that Kevin has told me about.
Belly Button: Still in but definitely shallower.
Maternity clothes: myMom told me she was going to go shopping for me and I told her not to, I wanted to see how much more weight I put on. Then on Sunday she told me to bring an extra suitcase when I come down at the end of the month because she bought me stuff. Moms!
Sleep: Interrupted sleep still.
Food cravings/aversions: I guess pasta because looking at the past week I've noticed that it's on our menu more. Maybe I need to start buying the whole wheat kind.
Gender: Boy!!! We've gone with this theme for his room.
Movement: Everyday and I can regularly feel it on the outside. Kevin is still pouting because every time he tries to feel something, GV quiets down. Confession: Yesterday during our class (around 7:30pm) GV was kicking and punching up a storm. Then for the rest of the night I didn't feel him. Not while watching Amazing R.ace, eating yogurt (shocker!) or when I got into bed. Those are usually his active times. So during one of the many times I woke up in the middle of the night, I gently moved my belly and then pressed in on a spot he usually goes for. A few seconds later he pressed back! I had this big smile on my face and was able to sleep a lot better!
Best moment this week: Last night when GV responded to me.
What I miss: The sleep of the dead I use to have.
I am looking forward to: Third trimester in 3 days!
Milestones: 65% downloaded!!

Neighborly News

2010-03-08T10:07:00.002-05:00

So remember last year when we had our annual snow storm? While having a good time with my neighbors I found out that 3 of them were pregnant and due in the next couple of months? Well yesterday I went to go talk to #27 (who had a boy last April) to find out pediatrician recommendations (and to let them know we were expecting). While we were talking #36 stopped to chat, so I let them know as well. They let us know that while #42 (who had a girl last May) were going to wait another year before trying for kid #2, #43 were pregnant again! With twins! They had a girl in late May/early June. Wow! So three new kids last year and three new kids this year. GV is gonna be right in the middle of the pack. And I was figuring he was gonna be the little one always tagging along with the older kids.

98...

2010-03-07T21:52:00.006-05:00

192 days ago I started provera to end another anovulatory cycle.
180 days ago I started clomid.
149 days ago I found out that clomid worked and we finally had our prayers answered.

The past 149 days have been the slowest of my life! People told me that the first two trimesters would be the quickest. But I'm hoping that it will be the opposite for us. Since we've been waiting on preparing for GV's arrival and now we're in full swing hopefully the next 98 days are going to fly by.

In g(uest) r(oom) progress we took the bed to the dump and Kevin has agreed that he'll paint the room next weekend if I have the room completely packed up and mostly moved into the office. I should be able to do that.

The Guest Room

2010-03-06T21:02:00.005-05:00

In our house we've got two extra bedrooms. When we moved in, I turned one into my office (I was working from home at this point) and the other one into the guest bedroom. Once I quit my home business and got a full time job, I redid the office so that Kevin would have his own space. My plan when we got the house was that we would use the guest bedroom (which is almost as large as our bedroom) for any kids that we'd have.

However the guest bedroom is over the garage and as such is way unreliable in either keeping warm or keeping cool. We always have to have a surplus of blankets for any overnight visitors during the winter and during the summers the overhead fan is always on when someone is in that room. So I had to revise that plan and knew that when a kid was coming and we started to work on the nursery it would need to go into the current office and the office would need to start sharing a space with the guest bedroom. I guess the good part is that the guest bedroom can accommodate both uses without being too cramped.

Back in January when I would talk about preparing for the baby to Kevin, he would be anxious about doing anything too soon. But in the past few weeks he's actually been talking and interested in shopping for GV. Every time we stop by Targ.et or Walm.art he always helps me check out the sales rack to find things for GV. So last weekend I made a list of everything I wanted to do with the office and guest bedroom to get them ready. The guest bedroom stuff will need to get done first.

Guest bedroom:

1. Get rid of the bed.
2. Put away bed rails (we're planning on getting a convertible crib so we'll need the bed rails again eventually).
3. Get rid of the headboard.

4. Get rid of the dresser.

5. Get rid of the nightstand.

6. Get rid of the current tacky $20 Ta.rget book shelves.

7. Replace the TV. The current TV is 27". We're thinking of mounting it to the ceiling or wall so it would needs to be an LCD.
8. Clean out my great-grandmother's armoire. We're moving it into GV's room. Right now it houses my candle making supplies, jewelry, dog supplies and some crafting items. I'm planning on moving all that stuff into the five-drawer cart that is currently in the closet. Yes, that cart will need to be cleaned out too.
9. Paint. I don't know what color yet, but the room doesn't get a lot of natural light.
10. Replace the carpet. When we first moved in, Dave went through a peeing-in-the-guest-bedroom phase and not all of the stains came out.
11. Figure out what to do with the PS2 and all the rock band/guitar hero stuff.

12. Move the office furniture into the room (a desk (or two) and 2 file cabinets). Also all the office supplies will need to get moved over.
13. Buy a sleeper sofa.

14. Install nice bookcases.

Progress:
1. Moved the bed and box spring out. Kevin is going to rent a Low.e's truck tomorrow and take it to the dump along with some bookshelves not worth giving away and the cuttings from the crepe myrtle out front.
2. Bed rails got moved into the attic today! Along with our Christmas decorations (don't judge!) and other odds and ends that needed to go up.
3. Listed the headboard on crai.gslist for $25 and sold it! Cool fact: That's how much I paid for it 10 years ago!

4. I bought the dresser 10 years ago at a scratch and dent outlet.

The side was broken and I never got it fixed.

Then over the years I managed to stain the top.

So I listed it for free on cra.igslist. Within 10 minutes of my posting this guy emailed me. He just got custody of his twins and need to get furniture for their room ASAP.
5. I listed the matching nightstand for free too.

One of the drawer pulls is missing and the leg was broken when I bought it.

Never fixed that either. I told the guy that wanted the dresser that I wanted to get rid of both pieces together. He said okay. By the time I finished talking to him (maybe 30 minutes after listing it) I had 15 more emails from people wanting the dresser and nightstand. I ended up having to pull the listing.
6. I listed the bookcase too. It's currently priced at $15. But no takers yet. If no one goes for it we're gonna put it in the attic and wait till the next neighborhood yard sale.

7. I listed the TV too ($50). No takers either.

8. Cleaned out the armoire and drawer cart. Now I need to sort everything out and get rid of stuff that we don't need.

Not bad for one day's work, eh?

Sleep Woes

2010-03-03T18:45:00.004-05:00

Last night I was absolutely miserable. Sleeping has become a chore. I use to be a good sleeper, I've always been a good sleeper. I started sleeping through the night really quickly. myMom was worried about me so one night she stayed up watching me in the room and realized that I was waking up, but then going back to sleep all on my own. As a toddler, I would rearrange my covers and then fall back asleep. When I got to first grade I was absolutely devastated when told there was no nap time. Even the mockery of my classmates didn't stop me from campaigning to have it. I could fall asleep anywhere (and have!) and at any time of day. Sunshine? No problem. Lights on? Pfft! Alarm clock blaring? Annoying "car alarm" in my dream, but nothing to wake up over. I love sleep and sleep loved me.
But it doesn't love me anymore. I wake up so many times during the night. Not to pee, not for leg cramps or heartburn or indigestion, nothing pregnancy related. I wake up and most times it takes me a while to fall back asleep.
My new sleeping position doesn't help. I use to fall asleep on my tummy. If I didn't then during the night I'd move onto my tummy. My next favorite position is my back. The one position I don't like? My side. Sleeping on my side hurts. I wake up with my hips hurting. The hip on the bottom hurts from all the weight pinned on it and the hip on the top hurts from the "awkward" angle my leg is being kept at. My knee on my upper leg hurts because of the same thing. Unless I put a pillow between my legs. Which is another reason I wake up. Not being able to switch from side to side with minimal barely-waking effort. It becomes something I must wake up to do. Also my bottom arm either falls asleep or if I extend it straight out, aches from hanging off the bed.
Also Dave has decided that she's gonna start sleeping on the bed. Which is very different from Les sleeping on the bed. Les is 10lbs lighter and so she is easy to move if she's in an inconvenient spot. Also if you move too much near her she gets up and jumps off the bed. Les wakes up a lot and moves to different spots on the bed so while I might wake up once and she's below my legs, an hour later she might be between Kevin and I. Dave sleeps like her "Mom." Once she falls asleep, she's not moving till morning. If you kick and move your legs she's less likely to move or get off the bed. Since she's heavier, she really weighs down the covers and it can be impossible to adjust them in a sleep induced state.
So what does this all mean? I sleep less and less comfortably. I can't do anything to make sleeping better. And it's likely never going to go back to how it use to be.

25 Weeks

2010-03-02T22:36:00.001-05:00

How far along: 25 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +10 lbs.
Maternity clothes: I think I've got a good handle on it now. Any extra pieces are just that.
Sleep: I wake up several times a night. The baby books all say that heartburn, leg cramps, bathroom runs and the belly are all to blame but really I'm having none of those issues. I just can't seem to stay asleep.
Food cravings/aversions: I got to go grocery shopping by myself this past week and this preggo lady stocked up on plums and ice cream. Not to be eaten at the same time, but those foods don't usually appear on our shop list.
Gender: Boy!!! Still no consensus on the name yet.
Movement: Everyday and can regularly be felt on the outside.
Best moment this week: Hearing GV's heartbeat on the doppler. They had a hard time tracking it down at first but the best feeling was when they did get it.
What I miss: The sleep of the dead I use to have.
I am looking forward to: Feeling GV interact with things outside his world (prodding, waistbands, dogs barking). Also going down to double digits!
Weekly Wisdom At some point this is going to feel like it's going fast, right?
Milestones: Last full week of the 2nd Trimester!

Baby Basics II

2010-02-23T15:08:00.005-05:00

Last night was our Baby Basic II class. This one didn't seem as full but the sign up sheet had everyone checked off so maybe it's because we showed up a little early instead of right on time. The pediatrician was there and she spoke for about an hour. Kevin was totally shocked that people here go to see their pediatricians every year until they're 18 or 21! He claims that after he got past the age of three, he only went to the doctor when he was sick. I reminded him that the health care system over there doesn't really work like ours does. Also we take our dogs to the vet every year for a wellness check, why wouldn't we take our kid?

Anyways she was nice. Our class is a quiet class for being so big so we didn't really have that many questions. Some guy did ask about the MMR/autism link and she said flat out that the original report was severly flawed and that it's never been proven since then. She did talk about Thimerosal in vaccines and said some practices (like hers) only stocked Thimerosal-free vaccines and that we should deffo ask pediatricians about it if it's an important issue for us.

The next hour was the same nurse from last week. She showed some slides of babies and common non-emergency issues that can arise after birth. Then she talked about circumcision. Kevin is adamantly opposed to it so he was fidgeting the whole time. In fact most of the guys looked uncomfortable. Then was baths and that was it!

When we showed up to the class, there were handouts on diapering options and I was hoping that she would go over it some but she didn't even mention it once! Oh well. Oooh, she did say that peoples clothes are positively teeming with bacteria which is why you should always wash your kid's clothes seperately and when people come to visit should lay a receiving blanket between their clothes and the baby. She said you can use the excuse that you don't want that person's clothes to get ruined if the baby spits up and that most people are thankful rather than offended that you want to cover them up. I never realized that's what parents were doing!

24 Weeks

2010-02-22T13:46:00.002-05:00

So somehow my 23 Weeks post ended up not publishing and getting stuck on Save mode. So I've published it now. Check it out here!

How far along: 24 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +9 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Black pants are still horrible. Also the weather is getting really nice so I might be able to skip getting a jacket and sweaters so that will be good.
Sleep: Had another "woke up in the middle of the night on the tummy" episode. It's so frustrating!
Food cravings/aversions: Nothing different.
Gender: Boy!! Over the weekend Kevin said that we could use the name I really like. The only problem is that I don't want to combine the one name we agreed on last week and this name. I want both of them to be the first name! So I think I might have to give up on the name I like. Maybe for the next boy. Ha! Ha!
Movement: It's been slowing down a bit which has got me really nervous. However a couple of mornings ago I noticed GV was hitting me in the same area so I grabbed Kevin's hand and waited. GV punched/kicked and Kevin felt it! He said that it felt like a muscle spasm.
Best moment this week: Kevin getting excited about buying GV clothes. He doesn't even get this excited about shopping for kitchen gadgets or work shirts.
What I miss: Nothing.
I am looking forward to: Kevin being able to feel GV move again. We haven't been able to repeat it since that morning.
Weekly Wisdom I was kinda annoyed that Kevin didn't seem more in awe of feeling GV for the first time. However since then first thing in the morning he reaches over to see if GV will kick his hand again. I guess I should remember that I shouldn't underestimate how excited he really is.
Milestones: 24 Weeks! According to the books, GV has a 50/50 chance of living if he's born anytime after this. Of course I'd like for him to wait till he's full term, but still.

B-O-B-I-E-S

2010-02-19T20:20:00.002-05:00

Pronounced "bo-bees". It's Kevin's word for going to sleep. I'm not sure where he got it from but he uses it almost every night. Speaking of bobies: Crib Bedding. I finally got tired of not seeing anything I liked at the usual places like B.RU or Po.ttery Bar.n. myMom loves shopping, especially anything for GV. She's been bugging me to register so that she can start buying stuff. So I put her on the mission to find crib bedding that I would like. I wasn't really feeling the whole sports or pastel blue themes. I did like the ones that featured the alphabet and/or numbers, but hadn't really seen anything to catch my eye. I did tell her that I was trying not to paint the office walls. So she came up with some really good options. Kevin and I looked through them and we agreed on one that met all our demands. And then we kept looking. Oh no! So this is what we've got now:

Okay this next one is a little too theme-y but being from Texas how could it not catch my eye? It reminds me of Andy's room at the beginning of To.y St.ory.

With our adorable dogs, I was thinking that I might like something puppy-themed. But I couldn't find anything that was just puppies. Till I found this:

And since I did mention liking alphabet-themed ones, we did see this one. And yes, this is the front runner so far.

So the original bedding we agreed on? Yeah, it's not one of the ones above. And yes we realize that these choices mean that we would have to paint the walls.

It's Pancake Tuesday!

2010-02-17T09:52:00.001-05:00

Last night was our Baby Basic I class. There were more people attending than I thought would be. As an intro, we went around the room saying our names, our due date, OB and other stuff. Since we were told to take the class at 20 weeks I figured everyone might be due earlier than us. Was I wrong! Most of the couples were due in March or April! There were only three that were due in June. One at the end of June, us and then the last couple having a boy due the same day as us. That was pretty cool.

This session was two hours long. The first hour was all about breastfeeding vs. bottle. There were pretty good arguments for and against both. I even learned quite a few things. They also went over proper positioning for feeding and burping. And touched on introducting solids and new foods. Next week is the second class. A pediatrician is coming in to talk to the group. I'm glad we took the class. Kevin even wondered if there is something similar for adoptive parents. We would have been lost if not!

A good thing about the class is that Kevin and I talked about if we wanted to breastfeed or do formula. He and his sister were breastfed and cloth diapered. Mum has been very odd whenever we mention formula or disposable diapers or anything that wasn't how she did it. So I figured Kevin would be totally gung ho about breastfeeding. But it turns out that he's not. He wants to do a combination (that would be mainly breastfeeding) that would allow him to feed GV occasionally and give me breaks. Sounds like a plan to me. Also because of Chicken's wedding we would need to figure something out for that evening. Next is the diapers dicussion.

Even though I knew Lent was coming up, I completely forgot about Pancake Tuesday. Ever since Kevin came here we've been celebrating it. Luckily we remembered before we left for our agility class so we were able to get the pancake batter done. Part of the fun of making the pancakes and trying to flip them in the pan. I don't always make it, but I'll get another try tonight!

23 Weeks

2010-02-14T19:02:00.001-05:00

How far along: 23 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +8 lbs.
Maternity clothes: I got some black pants from Ta.rget but they're horrible! They're the kind with no waistband but a really long tummy panel. It does nothing to keep the jeans up so I'm constantly having to pull them up. I got two shirts from Ta.rget as well and they're good so far.
Sleep: I woke up the other night and was on my tummy. I had pushed the pillow out of the way. I turned over and my tummy felt really funny and I was having a hard time breathing. It took like half a day to feel normal (both my tummy and my breathing).
Food cravings/aversions: At my last appt my OB recommended protein bars since I was off meat and don't really like beans. I got these:

They taste kinda funny, but they're palatable. Except that claim about being filling? Yeah, they're not! Not to a pregnant woman anyways.
Gender: Boy!! We've agreed on one name. We haven't decided if it's going to be the first or middle name yet. Traditionally men in my family aren't given middle names so that their unofficial middle name can be their mother's maiden name. So yes I'm considering that.
Movement: Everyday! Although since the "tummy" night, they've been less. Starting to freak me out.
Best moment this week: Buying some stuff for GV. It was so cute and of course had a soccer ball on it.
What I miss: Peeing at a normal speed! It takes me so long to do so little!
I am looking forward to: Kevin being able to feel GV move.

22 Weeks

2010-02-08T07:16:00.000-05:00

How far along: 22 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +7 lbs. They're starting to stack up!
Maternity clothes: I'm switching between the brown ones that myMom got me for Christmas and the jeans I bought a few weeks ago. I need at least one more pair. Also I need shirts! Right now I'm constantly having to pull down the shirts I have so that they cover the belly band area. The weekends have been a washup lately because of all the snow so I think I'm going to have to go after work (which I hate doing).
Sleep: For some reason I've started waking up about 4am and stressing about various things. I can't break this habit! Funny story, last night I couldn't get comfortable because Les was sleeping where my legs & feet usually go. I finally got fed up and just pushed my legs where I wanted them to go and Les ended up falling off the bed! She landed on her feet and just stood there in shock. Eventually she walked to her bed and settled down. Then by morning she was back on our bed but this time sleeping between Kevin and I.
Food cravings/aversions: TMI but my gag reflex is at super high! If I've got food in my mouth and even slightly think about gagging I have to physically fight to keep my mouth closed. Last night was the worst. Also it doesn't matter what I'm eating.
Gender: Boy Boy Boy!! We are getting closer to a name in that I've picked out a name. It got an immediate no from Kevin but I'm fighting for it! The other day he used it in passing so I think I'm winning! I think I might have to give up on claiming the middle name too and let him pick that name if I get my first name.
Movement: Everyday! I've been really lucky that he's so active. Last night while watching the Superbo.wl I was wearing some elastic track pants (which were a little tight by the end of the day) and whereever I put the waistband he would push against it. Lower, higher, in the middle, it didn't matter. Eventually I had to just switch them out for pajama bottoms.
Best moment this week: Seeing GV on the screen! Especially his face.
What I miss: Nothing.
I am looking forward to: Kevin being able to feel GV move.
Weekly wisdom: Prayer works. No matter how small or great the request, just give it up to Him and He'll tell you what you need to know.
Milestones: 55% downloaded.

Still a boy!

2010-02-03T12:19:00.001-05:00

This morning's appt went well. I've noticed that after I eat a yogurt, GV gets really active so this morning I ate a yogurt right before driving to the OB's office. While we were waiting, I told Kevin. He just rolled his eyes at me. Then the u/s tech came in and after getting a good look at his heart and finishing off the measurements they didn't get last time she just looked at different angles of him. She confirmed that he is still a boy. This time I could feel him moving and she even commented that he was an active little boy. We got a few more shots. I'm sad that this is the last we'll see him until he's born.

Here's a good profile view of him:

His face (looking at you).

Another profile.

Kevin and I have been going through our calendars because it's time to start signing up for classes! We're taking a Baby Basics and Labor Basics class. Paul's taking a Boot Camp for New Dads class and I'm taking a Breastfeeding class. Then we'll have to tour the hospital...lots of stuff to schedule!

Oh, I told the DOC at my soccer club that I was expecting. I think he was a bit shocked but he recovered quickly and said congratulations. They've had a few other women coaches get pregnant during the season and he said each one has handled it a different way. I told him that I wanted to keep going as long as possible but that I did realize that soon I might not physically be able to keep up with the girls. Luckily I have an asst coach already who will be able to get more involved this season. As for next fall, well, we'll figure that out sometime over the summer.

I Told Work

2010-02-02T12:45:00.003-05:00

Well not everyone. I told my boss and the HR lady. Cupcake had known for a while now. It's strange that the more you open up about the struggles you have the more people open up about their struggles. One is six couples deal with infertility and somehow we're suppose to keep it secret from the real world. I remember when I would tell close family about my issues, they would immediately blame my age, weight, stress and I would just think about those of you who don't have those issues and still struggle. It would make me mad when the RE kept going back to my weight as a cause and while I agreed that my weight didn't help matters, the problems I had were there before I became overweight so I had to push for him to find another reason. Still, I'm not completely satisfied that we know what's going on in there. Maybe we found a fix, but we didn't find a cure.

Even though I was rooting for GV to be a girl I was apprehensive about it actually being true. Infertility runs in on myDad's side of the family. My grandmother had multiple miscarriages and of her three daughters: Tia T also had miscarriages (but did have 7 children), Tia E was never able to have kids (she adopted) and Tia C never got married so who knows what would have happened there. The problems I have are very similar to what I know my tias went through. I know my sister is just as irregular as I am and the few female cousins from Tia T that I've shared my struggles with have similar problems. So when the tech told us that GV was a boy I just felt this relief.

And then the realization that I had no idea how to deal with a boy came over me. I mean I've had boy cousins, but most of them never lived in the same city as I did. The ones that did were roughly the same age as me so I didn't deal with them as babies. I think I'm going to have to fake my way through it.

Also I have a confession to make. I've never changed a diaper. Never. In my life. I didn't really do a lot of babysitting and most of those kids were potty trained. My cousins that did need changing always had a sister that was my age so they just did it. I moved away from extended family when I was 13 so no more baby cousins to deal with. I worked in a day care twice and the first time I wasn't allowed to changed diapers (because of my age) and the second time the youngest kids I watched were 3-4 year olds.

When I think of GV as a toddler I'm okay. When I think of him as a newborn it scares the crap out of me.

21 Weeks

2010-02-01T07:54:00.001-05:00

How far along: 21 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +6.5 lbs
Maternity clothes: I've made the switch to maternity pants. Technically I can still fit in my normal pants, but after about 5 minutes in them I'm ready to take them off. I do need to invest in some longer shirts though.
Sleep: Going much better! I think I've figured out a system that works for me.
Food cravings/aversions: Nothing major or different from last week.
Gender: It's a boy!! I'm getting more and more excited about this. I did look at some bedroom sets and I didn't see anything I liked. I'd prefer not to paint the room (it's currently a turquoise color) so I think it's going to take a while to find something that will go with those walls.
Movement: I'm pretty sure what I'm feeling is GV. I feel something at least every day so I'm so grateful for that. Now it's just waiting for them to get strong enough that Kevin can feel them.
Best moment this week: Seeing GV on the screen!
What I miss: Nothing.
I am looking forward to: Seeing GV again!
Weekly wisdom: Nothing here...
Milestones: I'm finally telling my boss about GV today/this week. I'm kind of nervous because I still haven't decided how long I want to take off and if I want to even come back.

20 Week Ultrasound and OB appt.

2010-01-28T21:34:00.000-05:00

After checking in with the main office, I was sent to the u/s suite. I met Kevin there and we actually got called in about 5 minutes early. The whole ultrasound part took about 45 minutes. We got to see a lot of GV moving around and Kevin kept asking me if I could feel it. Then came the time for the u/s tech to ask us if we wanted to know. We said yes and she looked in that area. It's a boy!! He was lying on his tummy and didn't want to move. The u/s tech tried moving him by pushing in but he wouldn't budge. She had me flip onto my left side and then my right side and still nothing. Then she told me to empty my bladder and still nothing. He was not budging from his tummy. Kevin said he was already acting like me because I'm impossible to get out of bed in the mornings. Everything looked great - two arms, two legs and a nose. We got to see the heart beating and it was in the 140s. He's actually measuring ahead when they measured - usually in the 21w range. He's 14oz already and in the 75 percentile. Since he didn't want to move we didn't really get good shots of him till later on in the ultrasound.
Here he's got his arms up in front of his face.

And then a sort of profile shot we were able to get (that circle above his tummy is his fist).

Then we got to watch him move his arm up over his head and turn away from the "camera."

The OB appt went well. They have my weight gain as 10lbs which is right on target for the first trimester. All my tests came back okay and no blood drawn at this appt. Oooh, I have to go back in a week for another u/s. Because he wouldn't roll over they didn't get all the measurements of his heart. They said nothing was wrong with the measurements they did get, but they have to have a complete set before they'll sign off on him.

20 Weeks

2010-01-25T09:07:00.001-05:00

How far along: 20 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +5.5 lbs. Yesterday was a big eating day. After mass, we stopped at I.HOP and then we had a late dinner. Speaking of weight gain though, when Les went in for her teeth cleaning she was 39.6 lbs! Two weeks ago when she went in for her yearly appt, she was 36.2 lbs! And last month when she went in for her rabies shot, she was 34.8 lbs. That dog is gaining weight faster than I am!
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes, although my maternity jean are really comfy. I think another couple of weeks and I'm going to have to switch over completely.
Sleep: I'm torn between sleeping with the L-shaped pillow and without. With is easier and more comfortable when I am asleep but since I toss and turn at night I wake up more when it's around. Without it I don't relax completely because I'm paranoid about sleeping on the tummy, but I don't wake up as much.
Food cravings/aversions: Nothing major or different from last week.
Gender: 2 days till we might find out.
Movement: So I think I'm feeling movement in the mornings before I get out of bed, in the evenings while watching TV and sometimes when I settle down for the night in bed. It's strange because I want to feel GV so much and then when I do feel something I'm like "oooh, what was that" and then like 5 seconds later I realize that it was probably GV and then I'm sad because I didn't realize it when it was happening.
Best moment this week: Movement!
What I miss: Nothing.
I am looking forward to: Seeing GV!
Weekly wisdom: Nothing here...
Milestones: 20 weeks! Half way there. In Kevin speak - 50% downloaded!
Special Request: Kevin's job is most likely going to be outsourced this summer (great timing, right?!?) but they're not being told for sure yet. He has decided to go for another position in the company that isn't in danger of being outsourced. His interview is today so please please if you could spare a little prayer for him, we would really appreciate it!

Updating...

2010-01-22T10:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Les got her teeth cleaned. Apparently her gums were really inflamed. They put dogs under when they're doing deep cleanings. When I got home (Kev and Dave were at agility class) she greeted me at the door but she wasn't her usual jumpy excited self. Her tail was down, her ears were down and she had these big glassy eyes looking up at me. So after I put my stuff down, we had a bit of a cuddle. Which was nice because she isn't usually a cuddly dog. Anyways she was kind of out of it the rest of the evening. Hopefully she'll be more like herself today. They put an IV in her so she has a shaved bald patch on her leg. Her skin is very spotty! Like a dalmation! Who knew she had spots under all that white fur.

Less that a week to go till I see GV! I'm excited but a bit apprehensive. Before our first ultrasound we saw Marl.ey & Me on TV. Yeah, the ultrasound scene really scared the crap out of me...that's what put the whole blighted ovum thought in my head. Then last night we were watching the latest episode of Ugl.y Bet.ty and it was the same thing! While we're watching it, Kevin tells me "Don't pay attention!" because I think he knew just how crazy M&M got me.

Most mornings after we wake up and I take my levothyro.xine, I usually have to pee. Afterwards I get back into bed and Kevin and I lie there listening to the radio station. Sometimes if I'm very still I think I feel GV moving. I'm not sure if it's real or just my stomach rumbling but I'm choosing to believe that it's Garden View.

19 Weeks

2010-01-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

How far along: 19 Weeks 3 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +3.5 lbs, although I feel much heavier lately...
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes. A little snug but technically they still fit.
Sleep: The L-shaped pillow is working for the most part - preventing me from going on my tummy. However it's annoying to switch from side to side because you have to move the whole thing and it's super bulky under the covers.
Food cravings/aversions: Still like potatoes, still avoiding beef for the most part. Although I do like spag and meatballs so we have them every week! Good thing Kevin is running a 10K in March!
Gender: 1 week from today Kevin and I will be standing there trying to decide if we want to know...
Movement: Nothing yet. Chicken tells me I shouldn't worry because she wasn't sure of movement till she was 21 weeks. The other morning I thought I felt two "flutterings" but I still think I might be making it up.
Best moment this week: Les titling!
What I miss: Not having a sore ute. Especially since I've been moving around more because of indoor soccer and agility. Last night Kevin had to take over at agility class because I couldn't run comfortably.
I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby move!!!
Weekly wisdom: Nothing here...
Milestones: My ute has reached my belly button! Hopefully I'll start looking pregnant soon!

Trial #4

2010-01-19T18:15:00.000-05:00

Sunday night Kevin, Dave, Les and I headed down to Cary/Raleigh, NC for our fourth agility trial. It was a three day trial but we decided to only compete on Monday. After the fiasco that was Day 2 at our last trial (too long to explain), we decided against a second (or third!) day. Les was signed up for her usual Standard, Jumpers and Snooker events as well as a Pairs course (first time without Dave!) and for the first time a Gamblers course. Dave did Standard, Jumpers and Snooker.

First up Snooker. Dave ran first, she wasn't too distracted so we managed to score 18 points but we didn't finish the closing so no qualification for us. She did finish 4th in the class, one place away from a ribbon! Les did well, scoring 45 points, but another team scored 46 points and a second team was slightly faster than Kevin and Les so she ended up in third. But she qualified and it was her third qualification, so she titled!

Les is now a Performance I Snooker dog! This means that she'll move up to Performance II Snooker courses in future trials. The courses will be a little more difficult and the time will be a little shorter for her to do it in.

Next up was Gamblers. This was a Les only event. Kevin and Les did well in the opening (and Kevin learned how long 25 seconds really isn't) but couldn't finish the gamble in the time allowed so while she was able to score 13 points, it wasn't enough to qualify or place.

Then we had Standard. Dave was the second dog to run and she did really well! She had a bit of a problem laying down on the "table" but her weave entry was really good and she did all 12 of them first time through! We finished strong but she was 3.08 seconds too slow so no qualification. She did place third though. Les went a little later and also had a good run. A little hiccup at the weave poles though but luckily she finished well in time and so she qualified again! This is her second qualification. Only one more to title!

Pairs was the fourth event of the day. We decided to retire Dave from Pairs competition because we thought it was taking too much out of her to do so many events. So Les paired up with a cute Chinese Crested dog we met at the trial. Les was first up and for some reason jumped off the teeter before it had hit the ground so she was marked off for that. The other dog ran well too, but since this course is scored by time + faults, they were over the qualification mark. They did come in first though! Of course that's because they were the only dogs in the class.

The last event of the day was Jumpers. Since Dave and Les were the only dogs in their class we thought for sure that we had locked up first and second. However half way through the course Dave got the zoomies and ran out of the ring. Luckily she stopped quickly and we were able to get her back on her leash. Next was Les. She ran it perfectly (could have been a little faster though) and so she qualified! Her third one too! So she's now a Performance I Jumpers dog!

Kevin is trying to figure out how to officially change her name to Les, PKI, PJI. We had to wait around half an hour after her run so that we could collect her ribbon and certificate, thus the empty arena behind her.

Hypo, Not Hyper

2010-01-12T15:04:00.000-05:00

So at my 13 week OB appt when Dr. P was going over my blood work she said that my TSH levels were kind on the high side of normal, but my actual thyroid levels were normal. She said that it wasn't anything to be overly concerned about but that we would want to do another thyroid check at 16 weeks and then again at 28 weeks. This didn't really bother me because my mom has hypothyroidism so I know it's manageable.

This past OB appt, they took blood at the end. I thought it was just to check the thyroid levels again but I somehow ended up agreeing to get the alpha-fetaprotein test as well. Not that I didn't want to get it but I had to look it up afterwards because I had no idea at the appointment what they were talking about. Anyways, they called me yesterday with the results.

The alpha-fetaprotein test came back negative so the baby is healthy so far. However my TSH levels were over the normal range. So Nurse J told me I had hyperthyroidism. NP/Midwife C was gonna call in a prescription for me and I was to start taking it right away.

When I got to the pharmacy (which was suprisingly efficient) and saw the name of the drug(Levothyro.xine) I texted myMom. She replied that she takes the same stuff. So I was confused. Because if my mom was hypo and I was hyper, why were we taking the same stuff? I even looked it up on WebMD and it said that drug was used for hypothyroidism. So this morning I called Nurse J back to ask her and she tried telling me that hyperthyroidism was not enough and hypothyroidism was too much. I knew this was wrong and so I kept arguing with her until eventually she got NP/Midwife C on the phone right before I was going to ask to speak to her. NP/Midwife C goes into detail the test and how high TSH levels mean that I have hypothyroidism. So I asked her to repeat herself and then told her that Nurse J was saying the opposite and that is why I was confused. But seriously, you're a nurse and you don't know the difference between hyper and hypo?

So anyways now I'm on a new drug and hopefully everything will be okay with the baby. I was reading this article and kind of freaked myself out about the developmental delays and lower IQs for the babies seen in mothers with hypothryroidism but then on the next page it said that the baby takes over thyroid function at 12 weeks. I was normal pre-pregnancy and was tested at 8 weeks and was still normal so hopefully GV will be okay. NP/Midwife C thinks it's pregnancy related and that I'll be fine again after birth.

18 Weeks

2010-01-11T12:39:00.004-05:00

How far along: 18 Weeks 1 Day
Total weight gain/loss: +1 lbs according to my scale. Kevin is starting to freak that I'm not gaining weight. We took a belly picture of me yesterday and compared it to when I was 12 weeks and it looks the exact same. I think I'm kind of freaked too.
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes still. I wore some maternity pants to church yesterday and I felt like a fraud. I totally don't need them at all.
Sleep: I finally broke down and bought an L-shaped pillow. It worked, kind of. When I didn't throw it off the bed.
Food cravings/aversions: Potatoes! A craving finally! I can't get enough of them. Fried, baked, roasted or boiled, it doesn't matter, I want it. Hashbrowns, fries or tater tots work too.
Gender: 2 weeks ... still waivering.
Movement: I think I was overreaching on the quickening post. Although a few nights ago I was on my back when I first got in bed and then moved to my left side. Shortly after I felt a weird thing. It felt like I was being poked from the inside out. Soft, gentle, quick but deliberate.
Best moment this week: Thinking that I felt movement.
What I miss: Not having a sore ute.
I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby move. Especially now!
Weekly wisdom: Everything happens in it's own time.
Milestones: A lot of the blogs I browse/lurk had miscarriage news on them. I think I read like 5 or 6 different ones on Friday from 5 weeks all the way to 18 weeks. That's kind of scary. So my milestone this week is that I made it to 18 weeks.

Run Baby Run

2010-01-08T10:02:00.002-05:00

Kevin has decided that he wants to run a 10K the last weekend in March. He has 11 weeks to train. This past weekend, we went to the mall to get him new running shoes. He just started on Tuesday. As a former long distance runner, I've been offering lots of tips and tricks. I've warned him that even if he doesn't want them, he's gonna get them. And not just from me, but from myDad and Wiki too. See, myDad was a long distance runner. In high school he was the best long distance runner at school. He won races all the time. He won city races, county race, tri-county races. Had he not given up his running career because he got married and had a kid, who knows what he would have done in his Junior and Senior years of high school. Wiki was a long distance runner. She ran road races with myDad from a very young age. In high school she was the 2-mile state champion in track her Sophomore and Junior years. Her senior year, an injury kept her off the team. Wiki is also very small. She'd be around 4-6 inches shorter than her competitors but none of them could keep up with her.

And then there was me. I was a long distance runner. I ran my first race when I was 7 years old. My PE coach, who was also Wiki's PE coach, realized that I might be a runner after she saw Wiki win a race. So she recruited me to the track team. A track team made up of 4th-6th graders. I was in the 2nd grade. But I could keep up with them. Then when I got to the 4th grade, I was placed on the middle school team (then 7th & 8th). Every year I competed in 1500m races as part of a school team. In high school I was a miler. And a pretty good one. I wasn't state champion level but I was always the best on the team. Then I got recruited to the cross country team. That's when I really started running. Some days I'd clock between 8-10 miles a day. I went running in the morning before school, went running after school at practice and then when my dad got home around 8pm, went running again. Always with my dad right next to me. The bane of my dad's existence at that time was that I ran just to run. I wasn't focused on being the best. After years of training Wiki he had me to deal with (polar opposites). Finally after a year in college I retired. I've gone running occasionally since then, but I haven't run a race in over 13 years. Which shows. Since I quit running I have gained 80 lbs, most of it in the 3 years after I quit. Yeah, I still ate like a runner.

So add this all up and Kevin has joined a family of runners and then decided to run. Oh, and have I mentioned that we're all coaches as well? Good luck Kevin.

A New Post!

2010-01-07T17:08:00.001-05:00

And one that isn't a weekly update. I've sort of fallen off the wagon when it comes to posting lately. Part of that is due to setting up a new blog. This one is for friends and family. It isn't nearly as interesting as this one (or will be once I start posting again).

So when I read blogs that are on my blog list, often I'll look at other's blog lists and click through to a few of them. I've found some interesting ones and have been tempted to leave comments. However I don't know if I should. As a pregnant IFer, is it cool for me to comment on someone still going through it? It's one thing if I've always commented on their blog, but another if it's my first comment. I feel like I should just stay a lurker. I'm not sure why though.

So I think I might have felt quickening. It felt like when your tummy rumbles but instead of being a series of pops, it's just one, maybe two pops. With no noise. And I'm not necessarily hungry. I felt some two nights ago when I first got into bed. Some more last night as I got into bed and then some today at work. They are in the area of where my stomach growling usually comes from, I thought it would be much lower. Of course I might be imagining it all as I'm very anxious to feel GV move.

Last night I was putting away all the Christmas decorations (which I didn't finish, bad me!) and realized that I can't bend forward if my legs are in front of me. When my belly tries to go into my legs, it can't and I feel all sorts of uncomfortable. I still don't think I'm showing yet though. The only time I can feel a bump is when I'm lying on my back (only for short whiles!) and the area below my belly button doesn't sink down. It still sticks out like I'm standing. So I have a nice rounded bump. But that's the only time you can really tell.

I have been feeling my uterus more. It's sore a lot. Especially after I've been standing or walking around. It started a few weeks ago while we were in Florida. But it's okay because since it started that's when my lying down bump showed up. I'll take it.

17 Weeks

2010-01-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

How far along: 17 Weeks 2 Days
Total weight gain/loss: +2.5 lbs according to my scale. +7.5 according to my OB's scale but +4.5 if you consider that their original weight of me was off by 3 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes. I'm building up my maternity section. I'm going to have to concentrate on shirts & sweaters. Also I'm going to need a new coat.
Sleep: Les got a new bed for Christmas which means that she sometimes doesn't sleep on our bed. On some nights. Sometimes.
Food cravings/aversions: It seems that I have gone off beef and pork. And sometimes chicken. Which means more beans for me! Yay! Pfft!
Gender: 3 weeks till we might possibly find out...yes I'm waivering here.
Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat and getting to set my next appt. for 3 weeks instead of 4.
What I miss: Not having mood swings.
I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby move.
Weekly wisdom: This pregnancy is going to throw us for a lot of loops. It's best just to go with it.
Milestones: According to Kevin I'm 42.5% downloaded.

New Years Day +1

2010-01-02T19:53:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a great New Year's! We didn't do much of anything. Kevin doesn't really like going out(side) for NYE and we didn't get invited to any parties this year :(. But seeing as I only lasted until 11:15pm it was probably a good thing. Kevin made it all the way to midnight and woke me up to let me know but then I fell straight back asleep.
We did some shopping yesterday and I bought maternity jeans! Can you believe it?! Now I own three pairs! Anyways I tried them on at the store and I was kind of surprised how low the belly band came down. I don't think I'll be able to wear my regular shirts/blouses with them. I saw some cute stuff on sale but pessimistic me didn't want to commit to anything other than the jeans until after Monday's appt. I find right before my appts my doubts and fears get even stronger. Especially since I still have no outward signs that I'm still pregnant. Even the hunger has subsided for the most part even though all the books say it should be growing.
Today I had our first indoor soccer game. We lost 6-3 but I had three different girls scoring so that was nice. Also the girls I had in goal aren't usually goalkeepers, but they both played really well. So did the whole team actually. Next week's game is at 7:00 AM! Yikes!

16 Weeks

2009-12-28T11:32:00.002-05:00

How far along: 16 Weeks 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: +3 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Today I'm wearing maternity pants but not because I had to! myMom got me two pairs for Christmas and this morning when finding an outfit for work they were the only clean non-wrinkled ones in the house. They feel weird!
Sleep: While at my parents house the alarm went off in the middle of the night and I woke up Kevin to deal with it (not that he could) and then went back to sleep. The next morning I had no recollection of it even going off! I guess I'm getting back to normal!
Food cravings/aversions: Nope!
Gender: 4 weeks till I find out!
Best moment(s) this week: Spending time with my family and friends from back home.
What I miss: Not having a cold!!
I am looking forward to: Finishing off this cold!
Milestones: 40% done!

15 Weeks

2009-12-20T22:02:00.001-05:00

How far along: 15 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +2.5 lbs
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes still but the fit is different.
Sleep: Not perfect but getting there!
Food cravings/aversions: I've been drinking more water which has helped to curb the appetitie a lot. I feel like I'm in control again.
Gender: 5 weeks till I find out!
Best moment(s) this week: Seeing all the snow falling on Friday and Kevin remarking that GV might be around for the next one!
What I miss: I feel a bit off today and normally I would take a bunch of stuff to fight off the cold I feel coming on. But I can't this time. I don't want to be sick! :(
I am looking forward to: Two day work week! Christmas in Florida.
Weekly wisdom: No matter how hectic your life is, it's amazing how quickly it can come to a stand still.

It's Cold Outside

2009-12-19T20:51:00.000-05:00

Very cold! Yesterday around 4:30pm it started snowing and didn't stop until sometime in the early hours of the morning. When we went to bed there was deffo 8 or 9 inches already. Today we didn't get to do much because of all the snow. The Liv.erpool game was a on early in the morning so Kevin was watching that. Then some neighborhood kids came over to find out if they could use our hill/driveway to sled down. Les came down later and you could clearly tell that she wanted to go outside. But not on her own. With Kevin. So she kept bugging him and then bugging me. I eventually guilted him into taking her outside. They played outside for about 20 minutes and then she was ready to come back inside to warm up. Then about an hour later Kevin wanted to clear a path in front of his car so we all suited up and went out front. Different kids were going down our driveway. After a while we went for a walk and hung out some more and then came inside. Other than that it's been watching TV and watching kids sledding. Even now I can hear the kids outside.

Birthday Week

2009-12-15T16:53:00.000-05:00

Lots of things have happening in the past week. Let's start at the beginning:
Monday: Because of the new agility schedule we couldn't skip our Monday class. So we went to class. At the end of the class the ladies asked me if I was going to get a cake and I said I didn't know. Well when we got home there was that baking scent in the air. Sure enough in the kitchen was a cake that Kevin had baked. Seems after I left that morning, Kevin changed into his work clothes and drove to work (he usually bikes to/from work so he packs his work clothes so that he can change at the office). Then at lunch time he came home to bake me a cake from scratch! It was delish! Although now we have to try to finish it off before we take off this weekend.
Tuesday: OB Appt! Simple compared to last time. They asked me more questions and told me the results of my bloodwork from last appt but the best part was listening to the heartbeat on the doppler! Heartbeat was 158bpm.
That night I had a bunco game and as I was on the way home, my Nino(Godfather) called to congratulate us. Guess myMom took "after the appt" seriously and started telling family right away.
Wednesday: We finally went to Red L.obster to have my traditional snow crab dinner. No more birthday stuff till next year, I guess. I talked to myMom and she gave me the list of people she's already told. She's not slacking!
Thursday: In the morning Kevin sent me an email:

From: Kevin
To: The Wife
Subject: FW:

It's a baby boom.
________________________________________
Subject: RE:
From: J.H. (Kevin's best mate)
To: Kevin

Bun>oven update… Both the Vs and the Gs are expecting new babies next year. The Vs are due in April and the Gs are due in May.

C.J. is also expanding his family and S’s (J.H.'s wife) brother will be getting married in September so it looks like Hallmark will be making a nice profit from me next year!

All the various mentions are guys that Kevin grew up with. They all went to secondary school together so they've known each other since the about the age of 11. This is the second baby for all of them. The Gs have a 1 year old (2 in May) and the Vs have a 2 year old (3 in May).

So Kevin decided to go ahead and let the Hs know about us too! Other than his family they're the first people he's told. I don't know if he's planning on telling the rest of the boys though. We'll see.

14 weeks

2009-12-14T12:21:00.005-05:00

How far along: 14 Weeks 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: +2 lbs according to my scale this morning. Last week at my appt though, they had me at +6 lbs. However I think the NP wrote the wrong weigt on my chart(I clearly saw one number on the scale and then was surprised to see her write a number 3 lbs less than what I saw). Then they took my weight first thing at the appt before I had removed my sweatshirts and heavy coat. I weighed myself when I got home and it was in the normal range.
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes however some of my elastisized pants hurt by the end of the day. Also I can't wear my pedometer because it digs into my side no matter what pants I wear. I think I'm gonna have to move on to other pants soon because I've only got two work pants left and they're getting a little snug in the waist.
Sleep: I'm getting better at sleeping on my side. I wake myself up though when switching from side to side. Kevin checks when he wakes up during the night to make sure I'm not sleeping on my stomach. If I am, he'll nudge me so that I move.
Food cravings/aversions: Last Friday we had this and I couldn't eat it. The guacamole and bacon just didn't sit well in my stomach at all. Yesterday we had the leftovers and I told Kevin to leave off the guacamole and bacon but then I couldn't stand the chicken.
Gender: 6 weeks till I find out! I'm trying to curb myself from calling GV she or her. If I'm wrong I don't want another habit to break.
Best moment(s) this week: Tuesday when I heard GV's heartbeat and Saturday when Dave had a fantastic Snooker run.
What I miss: Being organized about sending out Christmas cards. I still haven't got them done. Tonight!
I am looking forward to: Two day work week next week! And our trip to Florida.
Weekly wisdom: Even though you don't think your husband is as excited about the baby as you are, sometimes his actions will give his excitement away. You just have to look for it.
Milestones: 35% done!

A Wicked Birthday

2009-12-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

All last week Kevin had been asking me what I wanted for my birthday. I usually give him lots of clues pretty early on but this year, I didn't really see anything that I wanted. Until Saturday when he opened the newspaper and in a quick flash I saw a full page ad for Wicked: A New Musical. I've been wanting to see this show for several years, but when it would come I never went. So on a whim, I told him that I wanted tickets to see Wicked. I wasn't really expecting him to get them, but he did! He's such a wonderful husband! It's not till March though. But still another countdown to add to my list.

For those that aren't soccer nuts, next year is the World Cup in South Africa. On Friday the draws came out. Group C is USA, Algeria, Slovenia and....England. Now I'm not much of a MNT fan, I've watched a few games and they just frustrate me to no end. I prefer to watch the WNT. So anyways on Friday, Kevin sends me an email that says:

From: Kevin
To: The Wife
Subject: South Africa 2010

England's world cup group fixtures:
12 June v USA, Rustenberg
18 June v Algeria, Cape Town
23 June v Slovenia, Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth

Winner on the 12th gets to pick the name?

I quickly responded with "Heck no! Our men’s team is crap!" I'm sorry but I'm not risking the name of our child on a team that is 2-7 against England with the only wins happening in 1950 and 1993.

13 Weeks

2009-12-06T21:50:00.003-05:00

How far along: 13 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +3.0 lbs
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes.
Sleep: A lot easier now. I'm not waking up to pee anymore. Still falling asleep around 9:30pm on average. Also Operation Don't-Sleep-on-Stomach is still going horribly.
Food cravings/aversions: My stomach has seemed to even out. Kind of a craving has been Cry.stal Li.ght Fruit Punch. I'm normally a lemonade/pink lemonade kind of girl, but the past few weeks I've only wanted the Fruit Punch (which I normally don't go for).
Gender: 7 weeks till I find out!
Best moment this week: Putting up all the Christmas decorations.
What I miss: Having a normal appetite. As in, being able to sit and eat a meal rather than grazing and eating so slowly that everything cools down by the end (not very nice).
I am looking forward to: My birthday! My traditional steamed snow crab legs dinner! OB appt & hearing the heartbeat!
Weekly wisdom: Drink water!
Milestones: I'm not sure.

Normal Again

2009-12-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up with the worst dehydration/hunger headache I've had in a long time. I'm thinking it was dehydration mainly because I can't stand being hungry so I eat all the time. I had an extra cup of milk with breakfast. The drive in was horrible because the whole time my head was throbbing. Of course it didn't go away fast enough. Not till about an hour after lunch. But if nothing else, it's forced me to drink a lot of water today.

So Chicken knows now. I called her three times during the first weekend that Mum and Dad were around but she never called me back. Monday I left a message on Chicken's FB page telling her to call me. That seemed to work as she called me when I was on my way to the airport to see Mum and Dad off. I told her about the baby and that it was due 2 weeks before her wedding. I was pretty sure she wasn't realizing the timeline. Anyways we talked for a bit and she had all kinds of advice.

On Tuesday, she emailed me and confirmed that she "totally misunderstood the birth date in my excitement." She gave me an out if I didn't think I could be her bridesmaid. But I told her that unless this baby chooses to show up late, I would be there. She's sending me her copy of "What to Expect." She also said that I should get my dress around the 6th month since the baby books tell you to pack those clothes for after the birth.

I've given myParents the date of the 8th (after the appt.) for being able to tell anyone they want. It was hard enough to get them to agree, I didn't think I could make them wait out the holidays. I think I might send out Christmas cards this year that I sign, "The Wife, Kevin & Baby M (due in June!)" That's not too tacky right? Of course most would know by then because of myParents.

Tonight my youth team starts practicing for indoor. The league doesn't start till January and we're only practicing one day a week. I know I probably need to tell the DOC before I tell my team. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do for the spring season. The winter season(indoor) lasts January-February and then the Spring Season starts in March and goes through Memorial Day(May). I've decided I'm going to do as much of the Winter season as I can. I will be 26 weeks the first week of March. For anyone near that or that can remember, how mobile are you at that point? I'm encouraged because physically, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy thus far, but you never know.

In-laws & Out-laws

2009-12-01T12:23:00.003-05:00

It's crazy for to think that it's already December. I really like December because we've got my birthday at the beginning of the month and then Christmas at the end, but it feels like it was just yesterday that it was January. I went back and read my blog posts from last December, and man oh man was I a mess! It didn't help that I was in the middle of some bad RE drama. Plus dealing with the in-laws.
Speaking of in-laws, Mum and Dad just left. They were here for 10 days this visit. We had some fun, some laughs, some aggravation and annoyances. Normal for any visit with them. myParents showed up on Thursday which helped keep some tempers (not me this time!) in check. A couple of things which I might (or might not) write about later:

Mum told Kevin and I that while she was happy that we are pregnant that she's not going to allow herself to get excited about the baby until the baby is actually born. That she's not interested in any details or u/s pictures because if anything goes wrong, it will be that much harder to deal with.
Mum called the dogs "daft dogs" a few times. Finally I said something to her about my dogs not being stupid so I'd appreciate it if she didn't call them that. She then tried to convince me that "daft" was a term of endearment. I maintained that it was not. She tried to show me different examples of how it was, but quickly realized that usually the term connotated my meaning more that hers. She didn't call them daft dogs for the remainder of her visit.
Dad smoked. A LOT. Always outside, but then he would dump his ashes/cigar butt in the trashcan so the whole mudroom (house) would STINK!
Kevin lost his temper a few times with his parents pretty early on. I think he was hurt by Mum's pronouncement and was lashing out.
Kevin let his parents drive his car around the neighborhood. Apparently Mum kept flooding the engine (his car is a manual) and Dad almost crashed into cars parked on the other side of the road because he kept trying to drive on the wrong side of the road.
I got upset with Kevin because he kept excluding Dad from things. He would think of things to do with Mum in mind and then instead of asking Dad if he wanted to do these things, he would ask "you don't want to do this, right?" That's not really inviting, is it?
When it came round to doing Thanksgiving dinner, I was still smarting from last year's "snub" so I wasn't going to ask Mum for any help. Kevin asked me to include her so I relented and asked her to help me prepare this dish. Not only did she do it wrong but she asked a bazillion questions! Dude, you're cutting up vegetables, how hard is that? After that I recruited myMom to help with the rest of the dinner prep.
myMom wanted to do a round of "What I'm thankful for" after myDad said the prayer. I vetoed the idea because I knew she'd go on and on about the baby and with Mum sitting across from her, I didn't want to start dinner with tension or awkwardness. Wiki thinks I might have hurt myMom's feelings so I guess I'll have to apologize for that.

Okay this post is long enough. I guess I should post more often, huh?

12 weeks

2009-11-29T21:28:00.002-05:00

How far along: 12 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +1.5 lbs
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes although sometimes by the end of the day, they're getting tight.
Sleep: The past few nights have been an adventure. With everyone in the house, Kevin and I are sleeping on an air mattress in the office.
Food cravings/aversions: Pretty normal week actually. Which is good because I would have hated having to give up Thankgiving dishes!
Gender: Still thinking girl.
Best moment this week: Having my parents around and being able to talk about future plans for us & the baby. Not that I don't love talking about this stuff to Kevin, but it was nice to have someone else share in our excitement.
What I miss: Normal pee breaks. I will feel like I really need to go and then when I do go, hardly anything comes out.
I am looking forward to: December! My birthday and Christmas!
Weekly wisdom: Even if someone doesn't want to share in your excitement about your pregnancy doesn't mean that you can't still be excited.
Milestones: 30% there! Woohoo!

11 weeks

2009-11-22T10:52:00.004-05:00

How far along: 11 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +1 lb
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes.
Sleep: Almost back to normal.
Food cravings/aversions: No cravings, just aversions. If Kevin mentions that something tastes off or is slightly weird, then I can't eat it. I can't convince myself to put it in my mouth, no matter what it is.
Gender: Don't know, but I think I'm deffo gonna find out. Kevin still reserves the right to make his mind up at the 20w u/s.
Best moment this week: Kevin telling me about his spreadsheet that tracks countsdown, counts up and tells us the percentage done we are. Even when he gets excited, he does it in his systematic logical way.
What I miss: Being able to eat breakfast like a normal person. It just takes me so loooooong to eat a bowl of cereal.
I am looking forward to: Two day work week this week!
Weekly wisdom: Even if I don't think I need to visit the lady's restroom before I start my commute home, do it! You never know when you're gonna hit traffic and the 35 minute drive turns into over an hour!
Milestones: We finally got a pregnancy book. We went for this one:

BANG!

2009-11-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

Les is anything but restful during the night. Usually she starts her night on the bed in the guest bedroom. Then sometime before midnight she moves to her actual bed in our bedroom before moving to under the our bed. Then around 3 or 4 am she comes out from under the bed, shakes herself a couple of times, stretches and then jumps on our bed to either sleep between my legs or in the crook of Kevin's bent legs. There she'll stay until morning when Kevin gets up to shower.

Last night however things were different. After we had already settled in we heard a loud BANG from downstairs. After confirming that we both had heard the noise Kevin was elected to go check what it was. He got up and as he was on his way out the bedroom door, Les came running in and immediately went under the bed. Ha! Some watch dog you are! You're suppose to run towards the noise, not hide behind us!

Our laundry soap that normal sits on a shelf above the washing machine fell and hit the washing machine. It was completely random. After we got back in bed, we had a few chuckles at Les' expense.

10 weeks

2009-11-15T09:15:00.005-05:00

So I'm moving these types of post to Sunday instead of Tuesday now that the EDD has been moved up.

How far along: 10 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: -2 lbs according to the scale at my OB's office.
Maternity clothes: Normal clothes still.
Sleep: Kevin made me go back onto my side of the bed. However Les has started jumping on the bed right after my middle of the night pee break so if I move my legs around she goes and sleeps on Kevin's side.
Food cravings/aversions: No cravings but I've had some aversions. The other day we made turkey burgers and then when I sat down to eat them I didn't want it.
Gender: I've convinced myself that I'm having a girl. I've read random sites that tell you how to predict the gender of the baby based on HCG numbers and heartbeat. So I'm thinking GV is a girl. 10 more weeks till we might possibly find out...
Best moment this week: Deffo hearing the heartbeat!
What I miss: Normal dreams! Last night I had 3 separate bad dreams about hiding out from some bad guy.
I am looking forward to: Mum & Dad visiting this week! They arrived in Miami last night. After a few days in the Sunshine State they head here to RIC on Friday.
Weekly wisdom: I realized that I need to schedule my appts for early in the week. Waiting for the week to show up is bad enough, but having to wait till the end of the week is even harder!
Milestones: I'm 25% there! Woohoo!

The 13th

2009-11-13T07:10:00.002-05:00

Our appt was first thing in the morning yesterday so Kevin and I drove separately to the office. Dr. P has moved since I last saw her in Aug 2008 so I wasn't quite sure how to get there so we took off a little early. Ended up showing up for an 8:30 appt at 8:04! Eager beavers, I guess. The new office is very nice and spacious. When we got there the first thing I had to do was check in and reconfirm all my information. We had to fill out a questionnaire that included asking what race we were. As I was going down the list for each race there were additional follow up questions about some medical tendency of that race. When I got down to Hispanic there was nothing! Kevin's had a question about Cystic Fibrosis.

We got sent to the u/s suite first. When they showed us to the room the tech told us that we were going to do a vaginal u/s and asked if I had ever had one before. I just smiled and said yes. So then she tells us that she's going to check first and then she'll let us see. And she was forever! I started to get scared. Kevin was sitting right next to me and he kept craning his neck over to see what she was looking at. Finally he turned to me and whispered that he could see the heartbeat. I was so relieved. A little while later she finally turned the screen and showed us GV. She measured from crown to rump (2.68 cm) and then showed us the heartbeat. We then got to hear it! It was the best sound ever! It measured at 171 bpm. She found another good angle of GV and printed us a picture. GV is measuring 9w4d which is 2 days ahead.

After that we went back to the main waiting room. A little while later, we got called into exam room. The nurse came in and asked us a bunch of questions, measured my height, weight and blood pressure. Then she gave us a bag with some books and prenatal vitamin samplers in it.

Next they ushered us into the NP's office. Who happens to be a midwife too. When she came in, she asked us more questions. She then told us about the different testing they can do to screen for Down's, cystic fibrosis and other stuff. We decided to decline the tests. Even if something was wrong, there's nothing that can be done about it so what's the point of stressing ourselves out about it? Kevin is in the camp that less is more and I didn't really care one way or another so it seemed the best choice for us. She reconfirmed that I was sure of my last cycle start date. She asked if I had normal cycles so then I explained all about how I don't ovulate on my own and that we were seeing an RE. She asked if it was Dr. T and I said no way. I told her that I stopped using met before this cycle and did she think that I should go back on because of my risk of GD. She said nope. I told her that I took baby aspirin. I then had to confess that I took it w/o telling Dr. Grrr. Kevin's always been quite hesitant about me taking it so he asked if it was safe for GV. She said I could take it till week 12 but then I should stop.

After all that we went back into the exam room and I had a normal exam. She then told me that they had a stock of H1N.1 flu shots and highly recommended that I get one. I agreed so we waited a little longer for it to show up. After that I got four vials of blood drawn, set my next appt (Dec 8!) and I was done. Took about a hour and a half.

Our next appt is at 13 weeks. They won't do another u/s until 20 weeks, which is next year! Oh, they moved up GV's EDD. Since she measured 2 days ahead and it coincides with my last cycle start date they are saying the 13th. 7 months from today! Wow!

9 weeks

2009-11-10T12:35:00.003-05:00

So I'm 9 weeks. Wow! First, I never thought I'd be able to write those words. Sure I went through all the motions, but I didn't really believe that I was ever going to get pregnant. And now here it is. First though it hasn't flown by. Not in the usual sense. I mean I'm almost a quarter of the way there but time has just been passing. For someone who lived her life in 2 week intervals for the past 15 months not having that anymore somehow makes time go slower. I wonder if I'll feel this way at week 19.

Kevin tells me several times a day "You're having my baby." To which I almost always reply "Maybe." It's not that I want to put a damper on things, I just don't feel pregnant still. I talked to myMom and she said that with Wiki she didn't start showing till she was around 6 months along (this was when she was thin (around 120 lbs). With me, she didn't show until half way through her 8th month. Wiki says she doesn't remember myMom looking that pregnant either (KIM she was 4 years old).

How far along: 9 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +1.5 lbs. My weight has been holding steady-ish. Kevin wants me to be more pro-active about exercise, i.e. go for walks and do the elliptical machine.

Maternity clothes: All my normal clothes still fit me. Last week I had one pair of pants that were snug, but nothing uncomfortable.

Sleep: The past few nights I've swapped locations with Kevin because Les was making me miserable. I was waking up with hot legs but cold arms and shoulders because she was sleeping between my calves and pulling the blankets down. I'm still sleeping on my stomach but I'm working on moving to my side. I always start that way but then wake up on my stomach. On good nights I wake up around 3am needing to pee. On bad nights, it's like 5:50am (I wake up at 6am) if at all.

Best moment this week: Telling the family about GV! Also finding out someone from my CISG is adopting a boy!

Food cravings/aversions: Constant hunger is still my frenemie. Kevin made me a big pot of chili for my lunches and it's been a savior. I've found I can't eat craisins or raisins anymore. Also, I still struggle with water. Ooh, the other day I was hungry on the way home from practice. All I had was dried prunes and apricots. I popped a prune in my mouth and instantly thought I was going to hurl all over Kevin's car. I managed to get it down but it was a struggle.

What I miss: Sleeping soundly through the night. I don't even mind the waking up cause I need to pee. I'm very good at falling back asleep. However I've become a light sleeper now! Kevin woke me up twice the other night because he was "making noise" and then later he was snoring! I didn't know Kevin snored!

I am looking forward to: Ultrasound on Thursday! I really hope we can hear a heartbeat at this one.

Other stuff: I've been having cramps for the past week that are kinda sharpish. Not sure what they are. Also I think I can feel my uterus through my lower abdomen when I'm standing. This grosses out Kevin, but there's deffo a firmness down there that wasn't there before.

Kevin says I'm much faster to get annoyed and lash out now. Kevin is quite pedantic and usually I find this amusing and funny, however lately not so much.

The whole family knows...

2009-11-09T12:27:00.004-05:00

Mum & Dad

Thursday around 11:30am or so Kevin calls me and tells me that Mum is going to call me and that I'm suppose to conference him in. Two seconds later Mum calls and I place her on hold and call Kevin at the office. After the 3rd or 4th ring, I realize that he probably wants me to call him on his cell phone so that he's not sitting in his cubicle and telling his parents that they're going to be grandparents. So I hang up on him and then call him back on his cell. Once we're all on the phone, Mum tells Dad to open the envelope (backstory: We made copies of the scan (a nice 5x7 photo) at Targ.et and then mailed it to our parents. Kevin wrote "Call us before you open this" on the photo mailer in four separate places and then dropped it in a another envelope). So anyways, Dad opens the envelope and for a second thought it was a weather map (WTH??), but when Mum saw it she dropped the phone in her haste to get to the picture. So we spoke to Dad about it first. Mum finally got back on the phone and wanted all the details. So we told her about the drugs and when we decided to test and then the long wait for the scan. She got "upset" with Kevin that she had spoken to him several times since October 9th and he hadn't let anything slip.

She got the envelope around 8am so she had to wait around all day for Dad to get home. She said she figured it was an u/s picture or a picture of the baby we were planning on adopting. After I got off the phone with them she called Kevin again and was asking all sorts of questions. They're not going to try to time their trip with GV's due date. Last minute international tickets are expensive, Mum will still have a month of preschool left and with Kevin and I trying to make it down to Florida two weeks later for Chicken's wedding, it might be too much. So they're going to come in July. For a month! Wow! I'm excited because then it will mean that I'll have lots of help.

Wiki

Friday I called Wiki on my way home from work and left a message. Finally around 8:30 when she hadn't called I called her again. She was at her BF's house but he was on the phone with his mom so she could chat. We talked about a few things and right when I was getting ready to tell her, her BF got off the phone so she tried to hang up with me! So I told her that I had something to tell her real quick but first she had to promise me that what I was about to tell her would not cause her to spend any money (Wiki loves spending money by buying people unexpected little gifts but seeing as she's been unemployed for the past 9 months I was worried that the temptation would just be too much). Of course this caused her to immediately know what I was talking about and she asked me if I was pregnant. A proper amount of excitement and details followed. She "told" me that she was going to tell the BF and then asked if she could tell his parents too. I said no. Then she said something about how it might slip out at Thanksgiving and I again told her no. I told her that his family is not our family and that there were other people who were much closer to our family that I hadn't told yet and that I wanted them to know before non-family members knew. Of course this led to her wanting to tell her BFF (who I've known since I was 6) and again I had to tell her no. Not that her BFF isn't on the list of early notifications, but not this soon. Hopefully she can keep our secret.

SIL

Saturday morning I had a soccer game at 10:30am, which meant that I needed to be out of the house around 9:25am. So I tried to get Kevin to call his sister around 8:30am. Not that I was going to be on the phone with him when he told her but I wanted to be able to eavesdrop and then talk about it with him afterwards. So 8:30 rolls around and Kevin is nursing his bowl of rai.sin b.ran and reading the paper. I ask him to make the call and he gets all upset and says he will AFTER he finishes his breakfast. Seriously? So I sat patiently in the chair staring and sighing at him and finally around 9:00 he makes the phone call. SIL had just gotten back from the gym. They engage in small talk for about 10 minutes and then finally he tells her that come June she's going to be either an aunt or uncle (some weird family joke about the gender of the child). I think I heard her shout something over the phone that might have been congratulations. They talked a bit more and then right around the 20 minute mark they hung up. He claimed the call was long enough. Huh?! I will never get them and their relationship. I then had to scramble to get everything together in five minutes and get out the door.

So I think we're good for now. At least until the next u/s and appt. Which is this Thursday!

First in Jumpers!

2009-11-04T12:44:00.003-05:00

On October 24th Kevin got up at 4:30 in the morning, packed the car with way too much stuff, grabbed Dave and Les (well they get themselves in the car really) and headed to Misty Mountain Campgrounds (1.5 hours west of us) to compete in their first agility competition. Me? I slept in till 7:00 then got up and ready for my soccer game (which we lost :( ), coached and then got in my car and headed out to meet them. By the time I finally got there, Dave & Les had run their first event, the Jumpers course. Les knocked a bar down at obstacle #14 so she didn't qualify, but Dave ran a perfect run (minus the sniffing stops) and not only qualified, but came in first place! Go Dave!
I got there around lunch time. The rest of the day was wet and drizzling but it cleared up right before their Standard course. Les was up first and had another awesome run, however when she got to the table she forgot to stop so Kevin had to get her back on the table. This is an automatic NQ. Dave was next and she ran well. Well not really. She stopped to sniff several times, she tried to go through the tire jump the wrong way and wouldn't lay down when she got to the table. This all culminated in a time that was 42.06 seconds over the qualifying time. Oops. However between Les' faults and Dave's super slow time, they managed to get 1st (Les) and 2nd (Dave)! Okay, there were only 3 dogs competing in their class and the third dog didn't even finish the course, but that's besides the point. My dogs locked up 1st and 2nd!
Now Kevin is totally hooked. The next trial is Thanksgiving weekend. At first when he was told about it he didn't want to do it. His parents would be here and they wouldn't want to trek out to somewhere to watch us and a bunch of other people running around with their dogs. This was his assumption, not that he actually asked them. Well after the trial, he started thinking that maybe we could go and do a half day - a standard course and another nonstandard course. Well he finally talked to Mum and she's all for spending a day watching so now he wants to do the whole shebang, a standard course plus jumpers, relay and snooker. Yeah, he's hooked.

myParents know

2009-11-02T10:07:00.003-05:00

We told them on Friday. myMom was super excited, asked me if I'd told Wiki, Chicken, anyone yet. I told her no. Asked if she could tell her work friends, I told her no. That she had to wait till after my b-day. She pretended like I was killing her in making her wait to tell everyone. So we told them to at least wait till we told Wiki, SIL, but most importantly Mum & Dad. She "agreed." I'm going to assume that she's not going to tell anyone, but myMom is worse at keeping secrets than I am.
myParents have always maintained that I was the easy baby/toddler and Wiki the difficult one and then we switched and I became the difficult child and she the easy child. Apparently this started with pregnancy. When myMom was pregnant with Wiki, she was constantly sick (as in she had to take a bag with her every time she got in the car), felt run down and fatigued and gained a lot of weight (of which she didn't lose all of it). With me, she never had morning sickness, only gained about 10 lbs (she wasn't overweight at that time) and lost it pretty quickly afterwards. I don't know if some of that had to do with having a 3-4 year old (Wiki is 4 years 4 months older) around. But it did make me feel better about the lack of symptoms so far.

So the things I'm struggling most with are drinking water and the constant hunger. First the water. I really really really don't like the taste - or lack of taste - of water. I'd rather drink nearly anything else, even beer. I don't drink a lot of water to begin with, usually opting for iced tea or lemonade. Well since being pregnant, lemonade tastes "off" to me and iced tea is out because of the caffeine and sweet-n-low. I bring a water bottle to work and usually I force myself to drink at least one bottle full, but at the end of the work day my stomach feels awful, full of water and all "sloshy" if that makes any sense. Once I get home, I just never get the urge to drink. Not that I don't get thirsty, I just don't want to drink anything.
Now the constant hunger. Every three hours like clockwork. Sometimes every two hours. Yesterday around noon, I ate a two slices of pizza (leftover from dinner Friday night) for lunch and I was still hungry afterwards. It took like half an hour for my stomach to settle down. And then at 3 pm I was starving! I made Kev buy me a muffin so that I could eat it on the way home from grocery shopping. Of course this started a whole argument with Kevin about how I'm suppose to gain ten lbs during the entire pregnancy not the first month and if I kept eating the way I was I was going to gain too much weight. I wanted to hit him. Really hard. It took everything in me to turn around and not say anything back. I appreciate his concern, but Kevin has a tendency to come across as an a$$ and yesterday was not a good day for him. I'm just tired of being hungry all the time. It's like a constant ache in my stomach that won't go away no matter how much I eat or drink. Like today, I've brought cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cheerios, oatmeal, half a muffin, yogurt, cottage cheese and a banana to work to eat. Those in bold are things I've already eaten and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be enough. I don't know what else to do, I'm at wit's end.