Sunday, September 28, 2014

I Left My Heart in Portland

I'm out of town for the first few days of this week at a conference for work.  A conference that I really wanted to go to, and had to fight for.  I've been looking forward to it for months.  But then the day came and I didn't want to leave.

I realize that I'm a mom now and leaving my kid and husband is REALLY hard.  I had to do my best not to tear up because I didn't want Emily to get the wrong impression... but, I'm telling you, it was really difficult, and I know that my voice cracked a few times.  Especially when I told her that I was going to go "bye bye for a few days" and she said, "I'm fine.  Mommies come back".

She's been watching "Daniel Tiger" recently and that's one of the songs/themes "Grownups come back"

She melts my heart.  I love her so much.

And, of course, I'm missing Jacob, too.  ;) 


36 Weeks!


Size of baby: According to BabyCenter, you’re about the size of a head of romaine lettuce!

Total Weight Gain/Loss:Remember how I wasn't worrying about my weight and didn't even know how much I'd gained?  Well that's shot to hell now.  =P  At my last doctor's appointment I scheduled out the rest of my appointments (since I'm at a once-a-week visit schedule now).  Since I did this, the receptionist printed out my appointment review sheet (or whatever it's called) as it would show all of my upcoming appointments on one sheet... and, apparently, also show all of my vitals... including my weight.  =P  Well, I am NOT happy about  my weight gain currently.  I have gained more at this point in time than I gained the entire time I was pregnant with Emily.  I"m actually wondering if loosing so much weight right before I got pregnant was actually detrimental... if maybe my body was more than willing to gain it back quickly.  Or, maybe (hopefully) a bunch of it is water weight... I'm having a lot of swelling issues... so maybe that's it.  Ugh.

Maternity Clothes: Yuppers

Gender: It's a BOY!

Movement: As I type this, baby boy has the hiccups.  =)  He's doing a LOT of stretching, too.

What I miss: Sleeping comfortably.  It has certainly been difficult recently.  As has been walking any real distance... including to the bathroom at my office.  =(

Sleep:  See above.  It pretty much sucks.  Having so much pain in my pubic bone area that I can't really lie on my left side at all... and sometimes the right causes problems too.  Last week I slept propped up on the couch for most of the week... and slept better there than I've gotten in my own bed in quite awhile.

Symptoms:REALLY swollen feet and ankles (extending up the calves).  It's actually kind of nice to have an ailment that Jacob can see... I often worry that people think that I'm just being a big baby.  Also a LOT of pain/discomfort in the pubic/pelvic/tailbone region.  I am REALLY ready to be done with that.  Also, this isn't a new symptom, but one that I don't think I've mentioned before... my right eyebrow sweats a lot.  Not really sure what's up with that.  The left one is fine, but, for some reason the right one has issues.  =)

Cravings: Same... hamburgers... yum

Best Moment this week: I think the "nesting" thing is solidly in place.  I'm starting to get stuff organized/put away/cleaned up and am getting my house back from the piles that have been sitting around for months.

What I am looking forward to:This whole thing being over.  ;)  I am NOT a fan of pregnancy, and all of the ailments are just making me grumpy.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Darndest Things

Emily's vocabulary has been skyrocketing these last few months.  It's really been funny/entertaining to hear the things that come out of her mouth.  I also know that she's starting to repeat things that we say... without really understanding the social context (i.e. that she can sound kind of rude. lol).  Some of my favorites words/phrases that she's using so far:

"Friends":  I'm sooo excited that she's learning this one... and that she has so many friends to talk about.  =)

"Just a minute":  This is obviously something that she's repeating from adults in her life, and it can be frustrating to no end if we're in a hurry, but it's still pretty cute.

"No Thank You":  Generally it is great to hear her being so polite, however when it's in response to a request such as "Come help me clean up your room" it can get a little irritating.  ;)

"I'm fine":  Often in response to trying to get her to eat more dinner or try to use the potty.

"Wake up daddy":  She says this to get Jacob out of bed... but also in the car (when he's not driving).  We think he has a reputation.   ;)

"Ex-scuse me":  After she passes gas... which is often.  She takes after her dad.  And then she says, "That's me!"

"My [fill in the blank]":  Usually reserved for people such as "my mom", "my dad", "my [friend's name]".  It puts a smile on me face when I pick her up from daycare and hear her say "My mommy!" with a giant smile on her face.

It really is so great that she's able to communicate with us better now.  She can tell us when she wants/needs something ("mommy, I need chocolate chips"), and when she doesn't want something.  She can tell us when she has an owie, and she can have mini conversations with us about things that happen at day care.  (She bit a kid the other day, and we were able to talk about it several hours later with her understanding that her actions were wrong).  She also "sings" to us in the car sometimes.  =)  I'm loving this stage.  Each new stage gets more and more interesting.  =)

Saturday, September 13, 2014

34 Weeks!


Size of baby: According to BabyCenter, you’re about the size of a cantaloupe!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've made a conscious decision this time around not to keep track of my weight.  As long as my doctor doesn't mention any concerns, I'm not going to be concerned either.  I'll deal with losing what's left after the little guy gets here.  But it's not worth stressing about it now.

Maternity Clothes: Yup... definitely in those at this point.  =)  Bought a few more tops today as I'm getting sick of my current selection.

Gender: It's a BOY!

Movement: Not only do a feel it, but I see it, too... as do other people!  =)

What I miss: Being able to eat whatever I want to try at sushi restaurants. lol  I've also been missing hard ciders... which is weird because it's never really been something that I've craved.  But seeing everyone else with a nice cold beer on a hot day is kind of making me want something, too.  I'm also missing the cooler temperatures!

Sleep:  For the most part, sleep has gotten better... but I'm still getting up at least once (usually more) throughout the night to use the bathroom.

Symptoms: Swollen feet/ankles.  Kind of difficult to walk some afternoons as I can barely bend at the ankle.  Still having the pelvic pain/discomfort, and I'm exhausted.  Yesterday I stayed home from work due to nausea and dizziness as well... I'm hoping those two pass.

Cravings: I think that the theme of this pregnancy is "Give me a hamburger". lol

Best Moment this week: The nursery looks like a nursery!  We also got some "last minute" items from our baby registry with our discount so that we now have what we need (and also a few of the things that I wanted).  In terms of supplies and space, I think we are now officially ready to go.

What I am looking forward to: Getting out of town for the weekend with Jacob this weekend to see a concert.  Not sure how I'm going to fare sitting on the grass, but I'm looking forward to a mini baby-moon.  =)  Also have another "baby shower" next weekend.  Looking forward to one more celebration!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Aches and Pains

This pregnancy has been a lot harder than my last.  I'm not saying that it's been horrible, as I know that other women go through much worse than I have, but compared to the first time around, this time has kind of sucked.

I don't know it if it has something to do with the long labor/way that Emily came into the world (sunny-side up after 21 hours), but my pelvic area has bothered me for months--relaxin and pelvic separation stuff.  On bad days it feels like I got off a REALLY long horseback ride.  I'm really sore and I can barely walk and/or lift my legs without a lot of pain/discomfort.  On good days, it's like nothings wrong... and then I'll be waddling around and get a sharp pain in my ass (literally) and all of the discomfort comes back.

I'm 34 weeks tomorrow and really hope that this little guy decides to come sooner rather than later.  I figure, Emily was a week late, this one owes me and should get here a week early!  Then I only have to suffer through this for another 5 weeks (ugh).

I've been seeing a chiropractor pretty much from the beginning and I've been doing prenatal yoga to help.  Both have been helpful, but now both can be pretty painful, too.  Sometimes it helps to sit on a heating pad while lounging on the couch, but I don't necessarily feel comfortable shoving a heat pack between my legs at work.  ;)

I'm also a bit concerned about what the labor is going to be like this time around.  If I'm already having such awful discomfort in that area, what's it going to be like when I'm in labor?  I don't feel like I got the "true" labor experience last time around  Between the awful back labor, the hours on the toilet, the pain killers and the epidural, I don't feel like I know what "normal" labor feels like... and then add on this pre-pain... I'm a bit concerned.

Any other mama's out there delivery vaginally after suffering from this pelvic separation stuff?  I'd really love to hear how it went (assuming that the answer is "just fine". lol).