25 week OB appointment

Whew, what a day! I've literally been on the go since 8:30 this morning, so I am dead on my feet and it's not even 3 yet.

I got Em dropped off at preschool and then had to sit in the parking lot and drink my glucola drink for the diabetes test this morning. Ugh, I can't tell you how much I hate that stuff. I did the fruit punch, which tastes like a weird, tangy version of Hawaiian Punch. Which I guess wouldn't be too bad, except I hate Hawaiian Punch..lol! I managed to get it down, with minimal gagging with 1 minute to spare. I then headed on up to my appointment.

Weight gain.....ugh. For the first time, my Wii actually has me weighing less than the doctors office. What's up with that? I had weighed myself yesterday morning and I had gained .9lbs in a week. So, altogether this month, I had gained 4.6lbs. So, not too shabby. But the doctor office has me gaining 6lbs this week. The bratty side of me wants to justify that extra 1.5lbs with "well, I do have clothes on at my appointment and I DID just drink about 1 million gallons of the glucose drink" but oh well. That puts me at gaining 15lbs altogether, which still is pretty good. I don't think I'll make my 25lb weight goal I set for myself at the beginning of my pregnancy but I'm starting to calm down on this particular point a bit. Baby probably had a nice growth spurt. :)

They brought my back to get my blood drawn and this is where things got tough. I have tiny veins. TINY. It's never been easy to draw my blood and for some reason, nurses can only take blood from my right arm. She tried once and nothing came out. So she tried my left arm...couldn't even find a vein. So back to my right arm again. She eventually found one and took the ridiculous amount of blood they seem to need. At this point I had two puncture wounds in the bend of my elbow and by the time I got back to my room, blood had soaked through the cotton and tape they'd placed on it. So that had to be changed. I'm SO happy I'm not squeamish when it comes to blood..haha. So then the nurse pulls out this super long needle and says "time for your Rhogam shot!" I had _totally_ forgot about it. So, then I had to pull down my pants so she could stick me in the booty. Connor was probably all "WHAT is going on?!"

The doctor came in shortly after, measured my uterus (25cm, so perfect!) and then I heard a sweet 156bpm heartbeat. :) He made fun of me again about my weight (in a nice "you don't weight anything!" way that made me feel good) and said that after my next appointment at 29.5 weeks, I'll be coming every 2 weeks! Wow!! I remembered to ask him about all the yellow discharge (TMI, I know) and he said that with every pregnancy your cervix gets a bit softer, which means it sheds more and more cells, which results in the sort of gross, thicker discharge I've been getting. Since I have absolutely no other signs of an infection or anything, he's just chalking it up to that. So, another worry eased.

4D ultrasound scheduled for April 12th. Only 2 more weeks! I still feel guilty about spending so much money on it, so I've let DH know that when they time comes, we can always cancel if we need the money for something else.

The plan was to then meet up with someone who was buying a few of Em's old clothes and go home for a few hours before picking Em up. But there was a bad, multiple car accident on the interstate and we were stuck in traffic for AN HOUR! Poor C was trying his best to stay patient  in his seat, but it was hard and I completely understood. By the time we got out of that and met that lady, there wasn't any use going home, so we just wandered around town for a bit and then picked Em up early. I'm ready for a semi-relaxing day tomorrow before T-Ball practice. I'm loving my busy life, but wow!

25 weeks! Now with a pic!

I can't believe I only have 15 more weeks until my due date! I admit that the past few weeks have dragged, but I think that had more to do with so much sickness that was going on in our house. We all finally seem to be on the mend, thank goodness. C is still on antibiotics but he's almost back to 100%. Emma still has a small cough and last night was complaining of her ear hurting but nothing about that this morning before PreK. I REALLY want to stay out of the doctors office for a bit since we've been there 3 times over the past month. That wouldn't bother me except we just switched doctors and I don't want them to get the impression that we are there all the time!


Weight gain ~ Eh. I weighed myself on the Wii last Wednesday, which was the 3 week mark on that. I'd gained 3.7lbs at that point, so a little ahead of the l pound a week I am wanting. I have my appointment on Thursday, so I'll know official weight gain at that point. Even if I gain a pound or two over what I want, I'm still going to be quite a bit under what I was with C at this point...and WAY under what I was with Em. So it's all good. ;) Fundal height is measuring right around 24.5-25cm, so perfect as usual. I can still remember way back at weeks 12-13 when I could feel my uterus peaking up over my pelvic bone and now it reaches up to my rib cage. :)


Movement ~ I'm starting to get those types of movement where you can feel them in multiple places in your belly. Like, a kick that I can feel way down by my uterus AND up around my belly button. It's fun, but can kind of shock you sometimes. I find that if I wake up and immediately have to get going, it can be an hour or so before I feel any movements. I guess just all the motion after me being asleep for so long rocks Dec to sleep, although I do have little moments where I'm all "why haven't I felt you yet?". It never fails that once I sit down and rest though, he's up and at 'em.


Irrational Fear this week ~ Nothing! Yay! All my worrying has to do with the fact that we have done nothing - I repeat NOTHING - to get ready for this baby. We have the car seat picked out, it's just a matter of when we want to spend all that money on one. Clothes wise I'm waiting until I get my butt in gear and start going through C's old clothes. We do have one onesie that we got for Declan. It has a big "D" on it and will match Em and C's initial shirts. I'm thinking a photo shoot will be in order in those. I plan on nursing and still have my nursing bras and pump from my last baby. I'm not even going to buy bottles yet as I hope to not introduce them until he's closer to a month. Crib/crib bedding from C can be used, we already have a double stroller, baby carrier (although I do need an infant insert for the Ergo) etc. So, we really don't have a lot to do. Only problem is that we've done squat for the things we DO need to do. 
I'm also worried about getting our 4D ultrasound scheduled. We didn't do it with our other two and I always said that I wanted that experience with our last pregnancy. Only problem - the price. It's hard to justify $175 for some pics of a baby we will eventually see here in about 3.5 months, you know? Sad thing is that that $175 is actually the best deal I've found. 30 minutes, 8 pictures, and the cd of the whole thing. So.......decisions.


This past weekend I got the kids Easter pics done, and while I've only seen a few teaser pics, I am in love with them! I know I'm biased, but my kids are definitely the cutest. :)


Up next: Diabetes test on Thursday. Gag.


ETA: I had totally forgot that I had taken a recent belly picture. This was taken at 24w 5d, but I'm calling it a 25w pic because my belly better not had grown much in 1.5 days! LOL

1st hair cut!

My (healthy!) little boy had a big day today! With Easter pics coming up on Saturday, C needed a haircut desperately bad. He was starting to grow an impressive mullet and he had what I like to call "baby chicken hair". So light and fluffy and blew around in the breeze. :)

My mom had off work this week because of spring break, so she came over to watch E (who is now my little sickie) so that me and the boy could head to the hairdresser.

He did SO well. I kept saying on the way up there "you ready to get your hair cut?" and he's say "Yeah!" all excited, even though he probably had no idea what he was actually agreeing to. So, he had his "slightly concerned, slightly irritated" face on when she started cutting. He sat so still and just stared at himself in the mirror the whole time. Everyone there kept saying how cute he was and how well he was doing, which never gets old to a mama's ears.

This picture doesn't do it justice. We did a little mohawk after getting stuck in the rain, so it's not perfect. I've realized that it's time to learn how to do a little boy's hair! But let me tell you, he looks adorable! I keep telling him how cute he is and how much I like his hair and I think I've embarrassed him. He now refuses to talk about it and yells "no!" whenever I try to bring it up..haha.

24 weeks and an update on the sick boy

I'll get the not-fun topic out of the way first.


Boy, oh boy, has it been a looong 6 days. Poor Connor just couldn't seem to shake whatever virus (flu or otherwise)  he got last Wednesday. He kept saying his mouth hurt, he was getting bloody noses, his congestion was turning a nasty green color, and his cough was vicious. I was thinking croup, strep, even maybe pneumonia since his fever (which had went away Friday night) suddenly made a return last night. So, I packed up the kids and made the 40 mile drive to the doctors office in the pouring rain. Verdict: ear infection and the possible start of a sinus infection. While neither of those things were very bad, our doctor decided that it was time to treat it and he is now on his very first round of antibiotics. I can't tell you how relieved I was to walk out of there with a prescription. 


Bad news is that E definitely has whatever virus C initially had (the doc thinks that all the coughing from the congestion is what caused the ear infection). Luckily, as of right now, her ears and throat look good so we're all hoping that since she is older, it will stay a virus and be gone by the middle/end of the week. At this point C had a 103.5 degree temp and hers is hovering right around 100, so I'm hoping it will just be a mild cold for her. The difference between my 2 kids is almost laughable sometimes. C spent the last 6 days on my lap saying things like "oh mommy" and "hug and kiss?" whereas E is currently on my bed, lights off, watching tv by herself. She requested some chocolate milk once, but other than that, she just wants to be left alone.  The kids have Easter pics this weekend, so fingers crossed all the snot and tears will be long gone by then!


Now on to the baby stuff!


24 weeks! I can't believe I only have 1 more milestone to hit this pregnancy - getting to full term! Only 3 more weeks and I'll be hitting my 3rd trimester. Things have just flown by since I hit 20 weeks it feels like. 


Movement: All the time. He still quiets down around 2pm or so. It's funny, but the time change didn't mess that up at all! It's hard to measure my fundal height myself, since sometimes I can find the top of my uterus very easily and other times it's harder to find. Today was one of those days, so I just measured the highest point where I feel a lot of movements and it's right around 24cm, just like it should be.  It seems his favorite place to move around is right underneath my belly button, which just feels weird since it's the thinnest place on my stomach. Movements also sometimes hurt a bit. He's not really big enough to really pack a punch, but occasionally if I happen to be pushing down on my stomach and he kicks right in that spot, it can sting a bit. I love that it's just more proof he's growing in there. :)


Irrational fear this week: Eh, nothing. I've pretty much now assume that come about 3.5 months I'll have a brand new baby in my arms. I am anxious for my next appointment, because that's the one where they will check and make sure I am not making any antibodies in my blood. If there are antibodies there, it means at some point mine and Declan's blood mixed and he's obviously positive (I am RH -). I'm not TOO worried about it, since I've had 2 successful pregnancies, never developed any antibodies, and have gotten the RH shots on time with both of them. But it's just one more thing to check off my list and not worry about.


Weight gain: I haven't officially weighed myself, but at 3 days shy of 3 weeks since my last appointment, I think I've put on somewhere between 2-3lbs. So, still right on track for the 4lbs a month I'm trying to stick to. I'll pull the Wii out sometime this month.


This got a little long-winded, so I'll wrap it up!

The flu bug has struck our house.

The past 2 days have been draining, to say the least. My 2yr old woke up yesterday morning (after having a perfectly delightful Tuesday) throwing up with a 102 degree fever. We (meaning I) battled that fever all day. As soon as either the Tylenol or Motrin would wear out, his fever would come roaring back. At one point it was 103.5! He went to bed at 8 last night, but it wasn't until after 10 when my husband went to bed with him that he finally really settled down and fell into a deep sleep. I had to give him medicine once more during the night and after that I didn't hear a peep from him, although I strangely enough woke up in 50 minute intervals all night long to feel his head and stand over him like a thermometer-welding monster.


This morning it was only 100 degrees when the medicine ran out, but since I had a doctors appointment for him, I didn't want it to come back while we were in the waiting room, I went ahead and gave him some more medicine. Verdict : the flu. Or some other flu-like virus, so I'm just sticking with the flu. Ears and throat looked good, although she could hear some mucous in his chest. Not much we can do about a viral infection (which is what she's assuming it is, based on how quickly it came about and how high the fever got. I'm guessing bacterial infections tend to linger before turning serious?) but let it run it's course. If he still feels the same by Monday, we go back. MONDAY?! I will seriously flip if my poor sweet boy feels this badly 4 days from now. Luckily she said by tomorrow we should see a bit of improvement, at least on the fever.


His Motrin ran out at 4 and the highest it got before bed was around 99 something. So, I'm hoping at least that part of the sickness is behind us. I had planned on giving him some more medicine before he fell asleep, just so I wouldn't be anal and feel his forehead every 30 minutes but about the time I approached him with it, he started coughing so hard that he threw up a TON of mucous and snot. It probably helped in the long run, since all the gunk isn't in  his throat now. Funnily enough, he threw up in DH's hands! It must have been his super daddy powers or something, because suddenly he was there with two handfuls of vomit. I decided after that that we could handle a 99-100 degree fever for a while and just go to sleep. He's currently been sleeping for about an hour and we've twice had to go in there to cover him back up or pat his back to let him know we are here. It's going to be a looooong night. 


Fingers and toes crossed we have at least a semi-restful night and a baby boy who feels better in the morning. 


ETA: Fever has reached 102.3 as of about 30 minutes ago. He's now got some medicine in him and daddy cuddling with him. Hopefully he'll go back to sleep soon. :(

23 weeks - chugging along!

Some sites list 23 weeks as the week for viability! I'm not one for just halfway, so I'm not counting that huge milestone until next week. But it feels awesome that for the most part, if something were to happen (knock on the hugest piece of wood imaginable) most doctors would do all the could for him. But no early arrivals until at least late June, got it!

Weight gain - I think around 1lb or so. Maybe 1.5lbs. Since I base my weekly weigh-ins on the day of the week I go to the doctor on, I won't officially weigh myself until Thursday. I think I will have probably gained 2lbs by that time, which is fine by me. I'll be thrilled if I gain 4lbs a month here for a bit. Based on my other two pregnancies, I'm more of a 5-7lb a month girl, which is crazy since I am normally one of those people, when not pregnant, whose weight doesn't fluctuate at all, no matter what I happen to eat. My uterus is measuring right at 23 weeks, so that's perfect. My poor belly button didn't stand a chance this time around and has been poking out for weeks now. For some reason, I feel sort of embarrassed about it because it's almost impossible to hide it under tighter fitting shirts...lol

Movements - Getting stronger all the time. I'm starting to be able to feel little hands and feet sometimes. I also think he's still breech, just judging by his movements. 4D ultrasound in almost exactly 1 month! I can't wait to see his precious little face again.

Irrational fear this week: Again, not much. I've chilled out so much as this pregnancy has progressed. Of course I still sometimes have the "is he really healthy in there?" but at this point there's not much I can do besides just wait and see him at birth. With a normal NT scan with normal bloodwork, and then a normal ultrasound, I just have to trust that it's true and move on. I can't believe in less than 4 months we will have another little baby in the house. :)

I also had my first ever sneeze-that-ends-in-pee experience last night! LOL! You'd think by the 3rd go-around that would be old news, but it had never happened before. Luckily I was at home, so it wasn't much more than an "oops" moment. ;)

Off-topic a bit, but I like to occasionally look at see who is looking at my blog. For the most part it's just random google hits or hits from other bloggers. But 3 times yesterday I got hits from a D.ating site?! It made me slightly nervous since I do randomly post pics of the kids. I'm not sure how my blog turned up on this site, but when I clicked on it, it took me to the sign-up page to make my own profile for the online d.ating. I can't seem to find anything about why I would have popped up via google, but I'm hoping that it was a just one time thing. I mean, obviously I can't care too much about strangers looking at this, since at this point in time I have it open to the public, but I just thought it was strange. I'm much more comfortable with people seeing this after using google to research "expanding belly" or "NT scan results". ;)

bunch of randomness

I finally took a belly shot this afternoon before heading out to my friends daughter's birthday party. Almost 23 weeks here.

Definitely have a belly going on now. I'm now at that stage where it's not a massive 9mo belly, yet it's very noticeable and everyone in public wants to comment on it. I'm loving it since this is probably the last time I'll get all that pregnant mama attention! My friend's mom told me that she just knows I'm having one more, but I told her that unless we win the lottery and adopt, there will be no more little S babies. 27mo of my life will have been spent being pregnant after Declan is born. I think that's plenty..haha!


E started T-Ball last week. If you want to laugh until you pee, go watch 11 5yr old girls run bases for the first time. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while. Not AT them, it was just the cutest thing ever and you can't help but to laugh when you watch them. Unfortunately her coach called yesterday and it seems practices won't officially start for another few weeks. I think I'm more bummed than E is. I can't wait to go to her little games! I didn't think to bring my camera, but DH pulled his phone out and snapped one quick pic of her.

She's the one in pink heading toward 1st. I love the newborn and toddler stage, but there is something so FUN about having an almost kindergartner. All the activities, seeing them make (hopefully) life-long friends and get a life that's separate from my own is both wonderful and bittersweet. I'm going to be crying some large, ugly tears come August when she starts school.


My sweet Connor boy makes me smile like no other. He will randomly come up to me and say "Oh, Mama" and give me the biggest hug and kiss. He still co-sleeps which I don't mind at all. I do sometimes worry what our sleeping arrangements will be when Declan gets here, but I'm sure it will all work out. I plan on just camping out in the living room for the first few months anyway, that way all the feedings/changings/crying spells won't wake anyone else up.


C is just SO COOL. Like, I can totally picture him at 16 and he's going to blow me away with his awesome personality. 

22 weeks - and feeling it!

Just a warning, I'll probably be a bit "poor me" with this post. I've been in a blah mood the past few days. I think it's just a combo of being so uncomfortable all the time, the kids sort-of-kind-of being insane (they seriously poured out an entire box of fruit loops into my daughter's bedroom floor yesterday and were then happily crunching them into the carpet with their feet when I found them) and the weather. The gorgeous, gorgeous weather that brings us nice temperatures, but also weekly tornado warnings and omg, I can't handle that right now. So be warned. ;)


Weight gain - Since I was weighed 5 days ago, I haven't really thought about the scale yet. I left the office feeling really good about where I'm at. As long as I don't have an "oh, you gained 11lbs this month" I should be on track for my goal I set at the beginning of this pregnancy. (and believe me, I can gain 11lbs in a month while pregnant. I've done it before..haha). My uterus is right on track for where it should be at 22 weeks, so that makes me happy. Little Declan is growing!


Movements - Yep. He still has quiet days and he seems to go off the radar around 2pm everyday and pick up again around 8-9pm. Kid has a very odd sleep schedule right now. When he wants to get moving, it can be pretty intense. He'll sometimes stretch and I'll feel him both at the very top of my uterus - about an inch above my belly button - all the way down to my cervix/bladder area. He'll also do some sort of roll or something and it will instantly put me into a braxton hicks contraction. He's going to be quite the kicker when he gets a bit of meat on his bones. A few days ago he got a little hand/foot _right under_ my belly button and it was the weirdest thing watching it move up and down and seeing a little body part underneath my skin. I'm definitely cherishing these moments. 


Irrational fear this month - nothing much. I still keep meaning to call about the discharge but I really don't think it's anything, so I keep forgetting. I've had it since the beginning and it's obviously caused no problems with my cervix or anything. I've also been getting some round ligament pain. Mostly toward the end of the day and my bedtime I feel like a cripple. My hips can really start hurting and I'll get these dull pains mixed in with a few sharper ones along my muscles supporting my expanding belly. Constipation has also set in yet again, so I have this constant feeling of "needing to go" yet I NEVER GO. GAH! Oh, and morning sickness has made another appearance. I start my 6th month next week and I'm still dry heaving/puking 5 days of the week.


So like I said, poor me this week. About the time I start thinking "was I crazy to have another one? I am miserable!" I feel my sweet baby moving within in, I'll take a good look at my belly (which I love), some stranger will comment on my pregnancy, or I'll hear of someone who is having difficulties having a baby, and I realize just how lucky I really am.  I've had a tough week but I wouldn't trade these next 4 more months for anything in the world. Declan hasn't even made his appearance, yet I feel like he's already completed our family. :)


I'll try to take a picture here today or tomorrow. You'd think by now I'd learn to take one before I actually made a post. ;)

21 week OB appointment

This morning was my appointment, and like most appointment mornings, I woke up and threw up. Not sure if it's because I purposely schedule my appointments for first thing in the morning right after I drop E off at prek (therefore making it where I only have 1 child to chase around). This means that I have to jump out of bed and immediately start getting ready, which just makes me sick. It's either that or just nerves. Because I still get nervous before appointments.


I usually just have a light snack before going in and then eat afterward but this morning I was starving! I tried munching on some crackers and some of my fizzy orange drink I've been drinking lately, but that wasn't cutting it. So me and C stopped off at Steak N Shake right before my appointment so that I could eat something real quick. I might have also bought a chocolate milkshake before 10am as well...... ;)


Weight gain....4lbs this month. I'm very pleased with that since I'm supposed to be gaining 4lbs a month right now. This means I have gained 9lbs altogether so far. My doctor kept saying things like "you weigh next to nothing" and "I saw you in the waiting room and thought "she's still so tiny". He just kept on and on, to the point where I was thinking "ok, does he want me to gain more? Just tell me!" and then he goes "your health and weight are perfect!" so I guess all of his comments were just compliments?? 


Heartbeat was 150 and it sounded so loud and beautiful. Dr. S didn't measure my uterus this time around but I'm anal and have been doing it at home. It measures right around 21cm, so right on target. Declan must have decided to turn in a different position, because all of his kicking has been right at, or above, my belly button. Not sure if he's transverse, so I'm getting both hands and feet, or he's head down and kicking up. Speaking of Declan, my doctor loved his name and said he's never delivered a baby with that name yet. :)


Next appointment is March 29th and that is the dreaded glucose screening. I got to go ahead and take the drink home with me, that way I can drink it on the way to my app. C has already noticed it in the fridge, so I'm going to have an angry 2yr old on my hands for a month who doesn't understand why he can't drink that koolaid looking stuff. Trsut me son, it doesn't taste good. I'll have 1 more appointment 4 weeks after my next one and then I start going every 2 weeks! That is insane! I really can't believe how fast time is going right now. Em told me last night "Mama, I really wish it was summer so that you would have the baby. I want to see him PLUS I don't like your fat belly"....haha! Love the filter of a 5yr old. She later came and told me that "I love you anyway, even if you do have to wear different clothes right now". Such a sweetheart. 


Of course, I forgot to even mention the discharge with my doc. Since it's not all the time and no signs of any sort of infection, I'll probably just wait until my next appointment. Since I've had it since the very beginning of this pregnancy, have had no cultures/bacteria in any urine sample, had a normal pap, plus had a normal culture that he did because of the discharge, I'm assuming it's just what's going to be "normal" for me this time around. 


And with that TMI paragraph, I'll end this. :P