Ok, one last preggo post

So I didn't sleep so good last night. Not that I'm all that suprised. My mind was filled with things I needed to grab before walking out the door this morning, freaked out a bit about the whole process of labor, and of course sad to be away from Trevor for the next few days. Mostly, way super duper excited to be meeting Jayden very soon. LOL, we still haven't decided for sure how we are going to spell her name yet! Jadyn, Jayden, Jaydyn, or Jaden. I guess we got to decide on that here very soon!!!

I was in bed by 12am, though tossed and turned for only a little bit. I sleep pretty good I think until about 3am. Then I was up a few times to go to the bathroom. Ugggg, I'm not going to miss the up 10 times a night to go to the bathroom! I woke up at 5am with a start, thinking I overslept (alarm was set for 7am!) And lay there for about a half hour trying to sleep. Since I couldn't sleep I decided to get up. I don't think I've been awake this early in a LOOOONNNNGGG time. Probably at least 4 or 5 years.

Anyway... it's time to wake up Trevor and cuddle my sweet boy before we have to leave.

40w2d Final Pregnancy update

Well this is officially my last post before we meet Jadyn. I had my 40 week doctor appointment today and I convinced her to induce me. :o) I’m officially on maternity leave now. Mom came tonight to stay with Trevor over the next few days. We scheduled to go in at 8am tomorrow morning.

I have been very uncomfortable the last few days especially with a lot of back pain and contractions off and on. She has definitely has dropped in the last few days and walking has become quite uncomfortable. Today I was dilated to about a 2 and the midwife said I have thinned out. So all is good and favorable for a successful induction.

I’m happy to know that this time tomorrow I’m likely to be holding my baby girl in my arms. The last week I’ve been very anxious, nervous, and excited. I keep wondering what she will look like, what color her hair will be, what her personality will be like.

Friends came over tonight and spent a few hours with Trevor so Travis and I could go out for dinner. We went to Texas Roadhouse and it was very yummy. I asked for a virgin daiquiri and the brought me a loaded one. Luckily the waitress realized she had ordered it incorrectly as she sat it down at the table. It would have been bad to get boozed up pregnant and the night before being induced as well!

My plan was to be in bed by 10:30 tonight. I’ll have a long day tomorrow that’s for sure. It’s now about 11:30 and my stretch goal is to be in bed by midnight. I probably won’t sleep to good tonight though as my mind is racing.

I tried to spend a lot of time with Trevor tonight. It’s bittersweet knowing that tonight is our last night as a family of three. I worry still about how Trevor is going to react to the events to come over the next few days. ~sniff sniff~ I’m really sad to be leaving him for a few days. I’m going to miss my little guy! We got a little present to keep him busy at the hospital. I got him some crayons and a few coloring books. So hopefully that will keep him out of trouble when he comes to visit.

39w Update

Woo Hoo! My due date is only 1 week from today! Today we went to Travis’ Uncle’s wedding. It was nice to have a Saturday off for once. I don’t remember the last time I didn’t have to work on Saturday. It was a challenge keeping Trevor quiet during the ceremony. We kept shoveling cheerios into his mouth and trying different things to captivate his attention. Luckily the ceremony was short and he hardly made a peep. Everyone commented on how wonderful he was. There were 2 other little ones there that weren’t quite so quiet.

There were some older kids there that entertained Trevor with their antics. One girl especially kept Trevor occupied awhile by standing on the other side of the glass door and making faces at him and when he would put his hands on the glass she would jump back like he pushed her. He laughed so hard, I think he would have played this game all afternoon.

Gosh it was difficult to get some lunch in his tummy! I had him sitting on my lap and tried to get him to eat some chips and ham sandwich and he was doing so so. Daddy decided to add some potato salad to the plate. I had already tried a spoonful of it and he spit it out onto the table and pushed it away. Trevor doesn’t do so well with the spoon yet. He proceeded to pick the salad up with his fingers and deposit it on the table then smeared me with his potato salad hands. So he ate a little bun, spit out the ham, shoveled in the chips, and of course devoured the cake. And of course while I was trying to get lunch in his tummy, I was pretty unsuccessful in getting food in my very hungry tummy! I was happy when Trav brought in his stroller and strapped him in. Finally, I was able to get a little to eat!

During the reception I had a few contractions but it wasn’t anything different than what I’ve been feeling for the last month. The car ride home was another story. I had a few strong contractions. I lay down on the couch once we got home and timed them. They were coming every 9 minutes like clockwork. I’m thinking, tonight might be the night and that it would be pretty cool to have a baby on St. Patty’s day. :o) I called the midwife and put her on alert and she said to go to Labor and delivery if they got to be 5 minutes apart for about an hour. She told me to rest and take some Tylenol.

Contractions weren’t terribly strong or painful, just very uncomfortable. I finished packing my bag (yeah I’m a procrastinator) packed up my bathroom essentials just in case, uploaded pics off my camera so I’d have an empty memory card, charged the batteries in the cam corder and camera, charged our phones, and a bunch of other piddly stuff. All the while contractions stayed at 9 minutes.

Around 7:30pm I laid down to try take a nap, sure that we’d be heading to the hospital in a few hours as that’s about how long it took for the contractions to speed up with Trevor. I tossed and turned for awhile and finally fell asleep. When I woke up at 11pm I laid there for awhile waiting for a contraction to time. ~Sniff sniff~ they had stopped. Travis said maybe I shouldn’t have lain down and then they wouldn’t have stopped. My thinking is that it’s better if they are going to stop then stopping AFTER we got to the hospital.

So I’m a little sad that we aren’t heading to the hospital tonight but hopeful that these contractions have done something for dilating me. I have an appointment Monday afternoon so we’ll see. Last week I was dilated to 1 ½, the 2 weeks before that I was at a 1cm. I’m hoping for a 3 at least!

Hopefully tomorrow will be my last day of work for awhile. :o) Monday and Tuesday is my “weekend” So hopefully things will happen before I have to go back to work on Wednesday. I especially want it to happen next week as my Regional Manager is supposed to be visiting sometime next and I’d really like to have an excuse to not be there.

A big part of me is really nervous about leaving Trevor for a few days. ~sniff sniff~ He’s only been away from me overnight 1 time and that was long ago and daddy was home with him. He’s been really cranky and throwing a lot of tantrums lately. I wonder if he knows that things are changing or if he’s just entering his terrible two’s a little early. I’m not only nervous about leaving him but how he’ll deal with things. I know it will probably be a small period of adjustment for him and that he’ll grow to not remember life without her. But in the meantime she’s going to rock his little world big time and it makes me a little bit sad for him. :o(

On a lighter note… I typed up a “day in the life of Trevor” schedule type thing to assist Grandma and any other’s who will end up caring for him while I’m in the hospital and it’s nearly 3 pages long. LOL, I guess I went into a lot of detail! I just want there to be as much consistency in his life as humanly possible in the days that follow.

Anyway… that’s enough for me tonight. My fingers hurt from typing this and the schedule and it’s way past my bed time. Think happy thoughts for us!

Pregnancy Update 35w6d

My computer has been messed up and I haven't been able to log into blogger for some reason. So this is something I typed up a little while ago so I'm back dating it.


So it’s probably well past time for a pregnancy update. :o) They started me on weekly checkups a week early (2 weeks ago) because I’ve been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. At the appointment two weeks ago I was just a tiny bit dilated. Heart rate normal and my proteins were good. That has been a concern because they had been monitoring me for pre eclampsia. Back in January I had elevated protein levels and had to do a 24 hour UA… fun times I tell ya! Over a 2 week period around the beginning of January it was high and I was starting to get worried. They were threatening potential bed rest until I hit 36 weeks. That would have sucked pretty badly! But then all was good and I was in the clear. Anyway… I digress. At my appointment 2 weeks ago the main concern was my lack of weight gain (only 8 pounds total) Braxton hicks, and the lovely morning sickness that had returned. My midwife told me to keep an eye on the contractions and if I got more than 6 in an hour I was to call them and either come into the office or go to labor and delivery to be monitored. She said if I started getting them more regularly or I had any more progress in dilation they would likely put me on bed rest until 36 weeks. 2 weeks bed rest would suck but not near as bad as 2 months!

Tuesday I had my 35 week check up and it was pretty much the same as the week prior. No further dilated to speak of. I did gain 1 pound over the prior week, but she again mentioned that I needed more gain. She was a little concerned about the size of the baby and that I was measuring on the small size. Seems crazy to me because I feel like my belly is WAY bigger now then it was when I delivered Trevor. We talked again about the nausea and how I had no appetite and was having a hard time even forcing myself to eat. Braxton Hicks still pretty much the same.

So I’ve been forcing myself to try to eat constantly throughout the day. I’m trying to drink more milk, eat more cheese, and snack on peanuts. So that brings me to current events. Yesterday I really felt like my body was trying to do something. I was light headed and had a bad headache when I went into work at 3pm. I was pretty much feeling yucky. Towards the evening time I was REALLY uncomfortable. I was having a lot more Braxton hicks and she was moving a lot. Twisting and turning and making me hurt pretty badly. It got to the point I couldn’t tell between the Braxton hicks and some of her movements. Also, I couldn’t sit up straight, as it felt like my belly was hitting my lap when I did. I think she dropped quite a lot during the 6 hours I was at work. I came home and took a bath, took some Tylenol and rested and felt a little better; except I was having pretty bad back pain. Back pain is pretty much a usual thing for me and has been for about 15 years so I didn’t think much of it. It kept me tossing and turning most of the night and I noticed that sometimes the pain seemed to be coming in waves although the pain never went away.

So I called my midwife this morning and they wanted me to come in at 1:00 to get things checked out. When I got there they did a non-stress test and she was super active the full 25 minutes I was hooked up to the monitors. I thought I felt 2 or 3 contractions during that time. The midwife confirmed that I did in fact have at least 2 contractions. She checked me and I was no further along than I had been on Tuesday. So it wasn’t a huge concern but since I was not 36 weeks yet I was sent home on bed rest. Ha ha for 1 day! So if this would have all happened tomorrow I wouldn’t have been put on bed rest. Though I’m glad of the timing because I would have rather gone into the office and pay for just a copay on an office visit than to go to labor and delivery over the weekend and pay big bucks! Also we were able to take Trevor to day care and not have to worry about who was going to watch him.

The thing that drives me crazy is that I had no idea if they were contractions or just muscle spasms and they turned out to be contractions. I probably wouldn’t have even gone to the doctor today if I wasn’t feeling so crummy yesterday. I’m completely freaked out that things are going to happen quickly and I’m not going to get to the hospital in time. Grrrr especially if I don’t know for sure if I’m having contractions. They say things move faster the second time. Jeez they moved pretty darn quickly the first time! I can’t imagine it going much quicker. Well, except for the pushing part. I’m concerned now that I’m going to have back labor with this one and I’ve heard it’s REALLY bad.

So, tomorrow it’s back to work I go unless I’m feeling totally crappy, or in real labor. Bring on the snow baby!!! I’m wishing for crummy weather as it will make the day slow and thus easier on me. Plus, if it’s slow I can get caught up on some paper work which I really need to get done in order to peacefully go on maternity leave and not leave a total mess for the girls (or myself when I come back.) The weather is getting pretty yucky so I imagine there’s a pretty good chance of things being quiet. We’ve been getting freezing rain, thunder, and lightening since about 4 this afternoon. It’s supposed to turn to snow tonight and we are supposed to get 6-12 inches! My midwife said I’m not allowed to go into active labor this weekend. She’s got a couple of ladies laboring already plus she’s handling extra patient load from the other midwife who went out on maternity leave herself this week. So I guess she’s on call pretty much 24/7. I feel bad for her.

She also told me that when the other midwife comes back she is moving away. :o( But that will be after I deliver at least. Crazy thing is that the doctor that delivered Trevor moved away too. Maybe I’m scaring them away?!?!?!?!

Blah… time to get off the computer and get back to my bed rest. I had to get up. I was so tired of lying around and my back was hurting from lying down.

Bit of a scare

Sunday night I went to bed feeling a little bit of pain in my abdomen. I really didn’t think much of it, thinking it was just round ligament pain. When I woke Monday morning I was still feeling it but not concerned. At work the pain continued to worsen and I noticed I hadn’t really felt that much movement. The pain was kind of a strange one, not like the sharp round ligament pain that felt like a pulled muscle and happened only from time to time. This was a constant pain, but more like a strong ache. So I called my midwife and the other thing that it made me think of was what I felt the few weeks before having Trevor when he was “dropping.” What concerned me the most was that I hadn’t felt movement that I could recall all morning. I was pretty freaked out about it.

Emily, my midwife, called me back promptly. She said that she didn’t have office hours but that she was in the office catching up on paperwork and that she really wanted to see to check everything out. So I called G (one of my associates) to come in and run the store. Thankfully she was able to get there pretty quick as Emily said she could only stick around for about another hour.

While we were in the waiting room of course I started feeling just a bit of movement so that made me feel a little bit better. Once in the room she listened to Jayden’s heartrate and it was normal. Thank God! And she said that it was odd symptoms that I was describing. She said that if (and it was very unlikely) I was miscarrying that there wasn’t much they could do this early. She said that I needed to take it easy for a few days, to rest and drink a lot of water. She said it could be that I was a little dehydrated or coming down with something. She also said it could be that it was muscle cramping from round ligament pains… kind of like if you have a pretty bad Charlie horse and your leg aches all day.

So for the rest of the day on Monday and most of the day on Tuesday I was back and forth between the computer and laying on the couch reading magazines. And I was constantly drinking water. She didn’t move much at all during the day on Monday. Until I laid down to sleep of course. Then she was moving like crazy. And maybe I should have been thankful that she wasn’t very active throughout the day because oh wow did it hurt when she was moving like that! I was doubled over in pain anytime she was moving. It felt like she was doing jumping jacks!

I was feeling the need to get ~something~ accomplished so I worked on organizing my desk which was a huge mess and still needs a bit of work. I did a ton of filing, some of the stuff in my to be filed basket was from before we got married! I’m a total slacker when it comes to filing, but I have been a lot better with putting stuff away when I’m done with it. I sorted through mass piles of junkmail and bills. And I started to balance my checkbook.

Today I’m feeling a lot better, almost back to normal. And she’s back to moving like she was before Monday. Hopefully, I will be alright when I go back to work on Thursday.

Only I...

Can break a window with my butt! So I finally decided to get my lazy butt off the computer and do some work up in Jayden's room. I was trying to move this tall set of drawers and enlisted Trav's help. He was pushing and I was pulling from the bottom. And I backed my butt right into the window! Luckily Trav was able to get a new pane from True Value, they cut it to size and it was only $8.

In a way actually kind of funny and something I'll probably remember for a long time to come. But I can always blame it on my pregnancy clumsiness, right?

Pink, Pink, and more Pink!

Saturday I made my first baby girl purchase. I found the cutest 6 piece mix and match set at the store where I work. It was normally $30 but on sale and after my discount I got it for $13! Yea for sales!!! I've been frequenting ebay alot too. I've lost out on quite a few lots but I got plenty of time to get the best deals.

My first girly clothes win came today and I was really pleased! I got a lot of stuff for $34. The pictures didn't do them justice. It makes me so happy when I get something that exceeds my expectations. It's kind of strange seeing girl clothes in this male dominated house. Someone told me not to go crazy buying pink "cuz you never know, they could be wrong" My response was "I'm NOT wrong!!! It IS A GIRL!!!" :o) At least the ultrasound tech said there wasn't a doubt at all.

It's a girl!!!!

We are soooo excited to find out that we are having a girl! I cried when they told us. And the ultrasound tech was *POSITIVE* that we having a girl. The 3D ultrasound was pretty cool! It was amazing seeing her move around. Everything so far looks good and she appears extremely active and healthy. She has a strong heartbeat and all the measurements appeared to be "on schedule." She weighs approx 10oz and heart rate was 151. They said based on measurements EDD would be 4-2-07 (1 day after my birthday!) But since it's so close they are leaving it at 3-25. Jadyn Cierra will be the most wonderful birthday present I could wish for. We'll have a bunch of birthdays around the same time. Trav's birthday is April 17th.

Trevor watched pretty close to what she was doing to my belly and when Trav picked him up he tried to put his fingers in the "stuff" on my tummy. He had a tough time during the appointment because he was pretty tired and cranky.

I'm so happy we don't have to come up with a boy name! Last night before the appointment I had a dream that we went for our appt and they didn't have one scheduled for us. When they told us that we would have to wait another 2 weeks for ultrasound and I freaked out on them. I was glad when Trav told me that they had called the night before to confirm the appointment.

Now I get to buy baby girl stuff! I'm bidding on a few lots of stuff on ebay. I think since we are having a girl and not sure if we are going to have a 3rd we are going to weed out Trevor's clothes and just keep some. Trevor had enough clothes through 9 months to clothe 3 babys in each size! I'll just keep enough to get us started if we have another boy and of course to keep some for sentimental reasons. I'd like to make a quilt someday with the kid's clothes. I'll sell some lots on ebay and use that money to buy girly clothes! :o)

So here's some ultrasound pics. :o) I think she looks like she is blowing a kiss in the last one.

Baby Movement

For the last 2 weeks I've been feeling flutters. When I'd put my hand on my tummy I couldn't feel it on the outside. Just feel "her" moving around on the inside. It's such a great feeling. I spend alot of time laying on the floor in Trevor's playroom with my hand on my tummy while Trevor plays around me (or on me)

Last night when I first layed down I felt the movement but alot stronger. I could feel the movement for the first on the outside. Trav was in the bathroom brushing his teeth... I was thinking "hurry please" I wanted to share the moment with him. But I couldn't holler for him in fear of waking Trevor. And I didn't want to get up.

Thankfully when he finally came to bed "she" was still moving around. Trav got to feel her for the first time too. It was a great moment. I wish that I had a blog or a journal when prenant with Trevor. Because these moments are ones to be cherished. But, I don't remember how it was with him. :o(

Anyway... it was a great finish to a really sad day. (Problems with my doggie, post to come later on that)

* I use the term "her" for the power of positive thinking. We still don't know if we are having a girl or a boy. But we find out next week!!!

Misc ramblings

So I guess I should post what's been going on around here lately. Last week we were planning on going to a fall festival thing at heritage farms. The weather put a damper on those plans. It was cold and rainy. I was pretty disappointed. They had hay rides and pony rides and all kinds of other fun stuff.

Last week I had my 16 week checkup. All is going well. I lost a few pounds probably due to how sick I had been. Next month is the big ultrasound! Yes, we plan to find out if we're having a girl or a boy. Hopefully it's a girl. I would love to go shopping for some little girl clothes.

Thankfully, I'm starting to feel better. Still not my usual self but at least I'm able to eat and not getting sick all the time. I still feel pretty much exhausted though. That too seems to be getting at least a little bit better. I think I had a touch of the flu on tuesday. I felt really crappy.

Gosh, it's hard to believe that it's almost halloween already. Trevor is going to be tigger. We're not really going trick or treating. But we will go to the mall and do the things they got going on there. I'd like to take him to get pictures taken in his costume if possible. That was what we did last year except the picture thing made us miss all the goings on at the mall because walmart photography was so slow and annoying!!! We never went back there after that experience.

Trevor's been feeling crummy for the last 4 days. Poor babe... he hasn't eaten very good in 4 days! A friend watched him Sunday night so Trav and I could go out for our anniversary. She said he was awful tired and cuddly. LOL, I didn't specify with feeding him that he pretty much feeds himself and so I think she spoon fed him. The funny thing is he really hasn't eaten very well since except for a nibble here and a nibble there. UNLESS, we spoon feed him. Out of desperation the other day we spoon fed him some yummy yougurt and pudding and he gobbled it up, after refusing what was on his tray in front of him. Last night I relented and actually bought a couple of jars of babyfood. Spoonfed him last night and he ate it all. This morning I put cherrio's in front of him and he wouldn't touch them. Until I put them in his mouth or handed them to him one by one. Silly boy! Trav and I joke that my friend spoiled him by feeding him and now he things he's a king or something. But I know he just isn't feeling well. He's been cuddly and clingy all week long.

Hopefully he's past it. He's seeming to feel better and daycare said he ate a good lunch today. Hmmmm maybe I should call and ask if he self fed or spoon fed. I didn't think to ask them. :o)

Other cuteness... Trevor has learned to spin in a circle (kind of) when he's dancing. He tilts his head and hunches up his shoulder to put his ear to his shoulder and then somewhat turns in circles. Then he loses his balance and falls over, laughs, gets up and does it again.

His new favorite game is chase. We run around his play room chasing him. Then we run from him and he chases us. He thinks its really funny and when he "runs" he breathes really loud like he's out of breath, in an exaggerated way.

His other habit he's picked up since he's gotten a stuffy nose is to scrunch up his face, tip his face and breathe in and out through his nose. He does this when we are watching him and he laughs so hard at himself that he will fall over.

And that I think it just about it except for the fact that it's been a really busy week for me at work. I'm getting ready for inventory, have inventory friday, Regional manager visit today, and Saturday I have to work the Cedar rapids store so she can do inventory. Yee haw! I'll be glad when this week is over. My mom's coming to visit Saturday night through monday and we are going to the craft fair at the UNI dome. That should be fun! Hopefully I can convince her to leave Trevor with daddy so I can have some free time. :o)

Yucko…

Pretty much sums up how I’ve been feeling the last few weeks. My “all day” sickness has not let up in the slightest. Actually it has probably gotten worse. I’ve lost 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks. The worst part is that I’m hungry ALL the time, yet I can’t make myself eat. I have tried nearly everything to tempt my tummy to no avail. Everything I eat turns my stomach. And it is all day long. So I put in a call to my midwife and she called in an RX for Promethazine.

I’ve been taking this med for about 4 days now and today I feel a little better at last. I was able to eat at least a decent lunch and dinner. And no getting sick today. :o) So that’s a start. I’m not holding my breath though. The biggest drawback is that it makes me incredibly tired. The first day I took it was luckily my day off. I slept pretty much off and on all day. I barely even had enough energy to sit at the computer long enough to check my email. And the last 3 days have only been slightly better. So hopefully the tiredness goes away soon and so does my morning sickness. If this doesn’t work she’s got a few other things to try. I just don’t think I can handle another week of being this tired and having to chase after a busy 1year old.

I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that there will be no more babies. Well, at least until Trav is out of school, with a good paying job, and the ability for me to at least cut back to part time hours (if not stay home.) This is just way too much for me to handle. I’m really scared to see what it’s going to be like when I’m 8 months pregnant.

Trevor’s having a bit of a rough week, he’s got bronchitis and a mild ear infection. He coughs a lot at night and constantly sliming me with his yucky nose. Ahhhh the joys of motherhood! He seems to be getting better though. Oh my poor little cranky boy.

Earlier this week (Wednesday I think) we went out and played in the leaves on the deck. He had never done this before and wasn’t too sure at first about the crinkly stuff under his feet. Trav piled them all up around him and threw them up in the air and then he thought that was quite fun. I took a ton of pictures of course but none that I’m completely thrilled with. He was so distracted by the leaves he wouldn’t look at the camera for the most part. And when I was trying to get him concentrating on a leaf he would come running towards me. After awhile he thought we should clean up the deck or something because he started bring me leaves one by one. He also was tossing them between the railings and stuffing them between the deck boards.

Let’s see what else has he done this week? He has just started trying to walk backwards and sideways, he thinks that’s pretty funny. I’m pretty sure he is now saying “Love you” although it sounds more like “uuubbb ewwww” in a cute little sing song voice. I tell him “love you” countless times throughout the day and even if I’m in the other room I’ll holler “love you Trevor” and it seems that is the tone that he is mimicking. And he usually does it when I’m in the other room and smiles when he knows he’s gained my attention.

He has just started trying to dance although it isn’t too coordinated just yet. He mainly just bends his knees and bobs up and down. He also sings when the radio is on, it sounds like he’s yelling though. :o)

That’s about all I can think of for tonight. I’m pretty much brain dead! Anywho… I’m off to bed

Long overdue

 

Ok so now that I’ve got all of the blog stuff moved over I suppose it’s time for me to take a few minutes and give an update on the happenings in our household.

Not really much has been going on lately. Trevor’s birthday party was a lot of fun. He really seemed to enjoy himself. Well except that he got a little cranky and I laid him down for a little nap in the middle of all the happenings. I new there was no way he was going to make it through the whole thing, especially since he didn’t get a nap before the party started. And he got a little cranky when I put his party hat on and snapped him with the elastic. Bad Mommy!!! I felt awful. Well actually he snapped himself with the elastic when he was tugging at it but I was right there and should have seen it coming. It left a pretty nasty red mark under his chin. :o(

We got him his own little cake to tear into. Yeah, I'm one of ~those~ moms who let their baby eat all the cake they wanted. :o) I was worried that it would make him sick or that it would make him only want to eat sugary stuff from now on. So far so good. :o) He didn't get a tummy ache and oh my gosh did he eat alot of cake!!! It made my tummy ache watching him. I just couldn't bear to take it away, he was having so much fun. My best friend demonstrated putting a plate on her head and he followed her lead with the cake platter. Man, icing is not fun to wash out of hair. I think I shampoo'd his hair 3 times and it was still greasy 2 baths later.

He enjoyed teaching his Uncle Jim how to play the game of pickup. :o) I think Trevor won. Though Jim was a good sport and played the game for probably 15 or 20 minutes.

We had about 25 people at our house. I'm glad the weather cooperated so we were able to spend most of the time outdoors.

I’ll just include a few pictures of his birthday as I ~hope~ to get those scrapbook pages done on my next days off. Then I’ll share the scrapbook pages.
 

                
We got his 1 year pictures done at Penneys. They usually do a decent job and their prices can’t be beat. We had his 4month pictures done there and they did a really bad job and our family picture was a lot of Trav and I and just a tiny bit of him (shoulders up) at the bottom of the picture. We decided to give them one more shot and the next time was much better. :o) 
 
Of course he also had his 1 year checkup awhile back and we’re a bit concerned about his weight gain. Or rather, lack of it. My little peanut’s stats were: weight 19 lb 7 oz (5-10%) Height 30” (50%) Head 47 (95%) I’m guessing that’s CM because the last chart was marked 18 ½ inches and I really doubt his head more than doubled in size! The lack of weight gain is troubling. He lost 7 oz between 6 and 9 months, then gained 7 oz between 9 and 12 months. I know he is small but I think they really got his weight wrong at the 9month because he does seem a lot bigger and heavier than he did at 6 months.

It was pretty annoying because the doctor after running tests was a little harsh in saying that we weren’t giving him enough to eat. After they ran tests to make sure he was otherwise healthy. He was eating A LOT. He’s always been a little piglet! Shortly before the doctor appointment I even asked Trav if we were feeding him too much. He would eat a lot in a sitting, I was nursing frequently, and he was snacking. I compared to what the portion recommendations were and it did seem like normal if not more than normal. I told the doctor what he ate on an average day and that I didn’t see how I could get more into him and asked what foods would be the most high calorie and best choices to feed him and she just said, high calorie foods. And that I needed to stop nursing and give only whole milk. I gave up and left pretty upset and pissed off. I was actually worried I’d be getting a knock on my door from DHS!

I was very mad because since Trevor first started eating I made his own baby food from fresh fruits, veggies, and wholesome foods. I’ve spent countless hours on the net surfing to find the best things to feed him. I’ve read books, articles and joined mailing lists. Grrrrr! And she made me feel like a bad mom. Till then I felt like a super-mom. And that I was doing more on that front than many do. Sooooo I’m not going back to that Doctor anymore. Trevor didn’t like her anyway. And I could tell she was anti-breastfeeding because every time we came into an appointment she would ask, how much formula is he taking? And everytime I told her none, and that I nurse. You’d think she’d get the point. I should have switched doctors in the very beginning.

Trevor is just a very very active little guy. He started scooting along around the middle of January (5 months) and hasn’t stopped moving since except when he’s asleep. Little guy won’t sit still, ever! He started crawling around Easter. He started walking about 5 or 6 steps middle of July. And about 2 weeks before his 1st birthday he was walking from one end of the room to the other without falling. Now he can walk from one end of our block to the other! Pretty darn good for 13 months!

After I told the doctor how he would eat pretty much anything and as much as we would give him. That same week he became a picky eater! Now he won’t eat veggies for the most part and what he likes one day will turn his nose up the next. So now it’s really a battle getting his tummy full. Lucky he likes pediasure and whole milk!

Unfortunately, we aren’t nursing anymore. :o( Not that I had planned to follow Dr’s orders on that one. I knew nursing was the BEST thing for him bar none! And that even adding whole milk into his diet didn’t mean I had to stop nursing. About a month and a half ago he was nursing in the early am and sometimes in the evening if he wanted to. Then a month ago he was down to just the early morning nursing (4 or 5 am ish) then co sleeping until I wanted to get up. A few weeks ago he apparently just decided all of a sudden that he would sleep through the night in his own bed and that he didn’t need to nurse anymore. It makes me a little sad, but also my OB told me that I should stop nursing too. Especially since I’ve been feeling as lousy as I have been and having a lot of morning sickness. She thought as many calories as possible should be going towards “feeding” my other baby. :o) Funny that 2 days after that appointment was when he stopped. He was there at that appointment; it makes me wonder if they understand more than we think. Though, it’s surely only just a coincidence.

So for a pregnancy update… Our due date is March 24th. Hopefully an early birthday present for me as my birthday is on April 1st. :o) Not that I’ll wish for even a day overdue by that point but it would be pretty cool to have this babe on my birthday. It would make for some pretty funny phone calls to family and for future April Fools Day pranks!

I’m feeling pretty lousy and have been for about 2 months now. This morning sickness is kicking my butt! And I’m crazy tired. It takes all the energy I have just to take care of Trevor and go to work. Housework… forget about it!!! Lucky for me I have a hubby that is good about helping out. So now that I’m in my second trimester I want the relief that it due to me! :o) I only had a week of respite when pregnant with Trevor between my morning sickness and when the back pain started. And it was five months on morning sickness and the rest of pregnancy in physical therapy. I just pray that it lets up soon.

I’m still having neckpain on a daily basis and it is rather perplexing because I never did anything to my neck. But it seems to affect everything that I do, though it is not as bad as it was shortly before I had my MRI. It definitely affects my sleep. Between the neck pain, numerous potty trips through the night, and middle of the night morning sickness I can honestly say I have not had a decent nights sleep for 2 months. And before that there was the months of Trevor’s middle of the night wakings, and before that of course I was pregnant and had the same problems I have now. LOL, I haven’t had an uninterrupted night of sleep since ohhhh December of 2004. That’s kind of a sad thought. No wonder I’m so sleepy all the time!!

And with that I’m going to sign off and go to bed. It’s well past my bedtime and all this talk about sleep has made me sleepy!

My latest news

I'm pregnant
I decided to create a blog of my 2nd pregnancy because looking back I realize I did not keep a very good record of my first one. I wish that I would have. It's a piece that's missing out of my son's baby book that I can't fill in.So here goes... I took a pregnancy test on Tuesday 8-15 and yeah (!) it came back positive. Some of my friends think I'm crazy to be happy about being pregnant so soon. Trevor turns 1 on August 24th.

I really am not positive of what the conception date is. Since I breastfeed, I haven't had a regular cycle. I had my first period on June 18th. When I was about a week late I took a test and it came back negative. The lactation consultant said that it was very possible to have irregular cycles, and for it to go away and come back months later. She set my mind at ease and I didn't think about it anymore.So for the last 2 weeks (at least) I have been unusually tired. Hubby would say that I'm always tired, and I can't disagree. I'm a napper, what can I say. Well with the tiredness I just chalked it up to stress at work. It's been even more stressfull than usual the last few months.

Combined with the fact that I've been having neck problems that I've been in physical therapy for and taking some meds that make me very sleepy.Saturday I felt very yucky all day. I mean, couldn't eat without turning green kind of yucky! I thought of the possibility of pregnancy but not terribly seriously. I was thinking maybe I just had a bug or something. So Saturday evening I wake up at about 3 am running to the bathroom. Yuck! Reminded me of the many times I spent time being sick during my first pregnancy. Thought maybe I should get a test.

Sunday, pretty much same all day. I came downstairs in the morning to my brother making coffee. I LOVE coffee in a big way, and especially love the smell of coffee perking in the morning. Yeah, not so much. Made me sick. If that makes this girl sick, somethings going on. Still didn't go get a test. Monday, sick most of the day but crazy hungry for pancakes. My last pregnancy I craved pancakes like mad. Thought again, maybe I should get a test. But I didn't.

Tuesday I go to work, man was I feeling nasty and the night before was pretty lousy. I went and got a test on my break and took it. Big fat positive! So now the questions arise... When did we conceive? I'm pretty clueless on that one, sounds crazy but I'm just not sure. Likely that it was back in June and when I took the test maybe I took it to early, I dunno. The other possibility is that I ovulated the next month and just didn't have a period. Which I hear is possible. I've heard of nursing mothers getting pregnant the 2nd time without having a period. It'd be pretty damn cool if the conception was the first time around because then I'd almost be over with the first trimester, which from what I hear is the worst and that it gets better in the 2nd trimester. I wouldn't know, the first time I was miserable all but 1 week of the entire pregnancy. Morning sickness ended at about month 5. Had a wonderful week and then I had a pinched ciatic (sp?) nerve and horrible back and hip pain for the rest of the pregnancy. I spent 3 days a week in physical therapy.

So, I can only hope that this time around I get a break... I've served my time right?The other thing that makes me think that it was in June is my pants aren't fitting. I feel like I'm already starting to show. I looked in a full lenght mirror yesterday and thought, "Holy cow, how could I not know I was pregnant!" I'm getting the rounded tummy. For the last month (well actually longer) I haven't been happy with my body. I've got some extra flab around the middle but the last month I've been annoyed with the beer belly look I've got going on. Again, duh that I didn't take a test!My main cause for concern right now is that last week I had an MRI for my neck. I check the box "no" that there was no possibility that I was pregnant. Now, a smart girl who was wishing to be pregnant might have taken a pregnancy test before having a MRI. But not me, I guess now I can just chalk it up to those pregnancy hormones that make you dumb right?

Combine that with the pills I've been taking that one should not take while pregnant. I'm a bit worried. The doctors office said not to worry about it and that everything should be ok. But deep inside, I'm still a bit worried. I guess it's too late to do anything about it now. As they say, no sense crying over spilt milk.It sucks that I can't take the "good stuff" to help me sleep at night anymore. My neck hasn't been quite as bad as it was, though it's still sore. Hopefully it continues to improve and not take a turn for the worse. At it's worse I went to the emergency room it was so bad! That was about 2 months ago.So I suppose that about covers it up til now. Hopefully tonight goes better than last night! Last night I spent 2 1/2 to 3 hours in the bathroom! I was going to take my pillow and blanket and campout.

Trevor's birth story

Birth Story of Trevor

On Monday, August 22nd I went for my 40 week check up with Dr. Versteeg. My due date was the next day. She asked if I would be ok with scheduling an induction for that Wednesday. Because I had been having pre-labor pains for almost 4 weeks, I was happy to make Wednesday the day we would welcome you into the world.

Dr. Versteeg set everything up for 8am and sent me for an ultrasound. The ultrasound tech said everything looked fine, that Trevor appeared healthy, and weighed approximately seven pounds. We went home happy to soon be welcoming our bundle of joy into the world. And I was very happy to be starting maternity leave.

I started my leave the next day to take time to finish packing, rest, and finish preparing the home for our new baby. That day Travis did a lot of cleaning while I rested. I was too excited to sleep. My mind raced of thoughts of what the baby would be like and how I would be as a mother. I was very nervous about labor and delivery. I was a little scared to be induceda s I had heard it makes labor longer and harder. I was also trying to imagine how much our life was about to change.

That evening we went out for dinner at Village Inn. Dinner was not a good experience. The service was poor and we were served the worst scrambled eggs known to man.

We laid down at 12 am to try and get some sleep as we knew we were going to have a very long day. At 12:10 am I felt the very familiar labor pains. But this was the first time I had felt them when laying down. We laughed because we had been joking that day that Trevor would probably decide to come before the scheduled time.

I noticed that there were a couple close together so we started timing them. They were about 5-7 minutes apart, so we called the hospital. Since they weren’t all that close together and I was having no trouble talking through them they told us to wait and try to get some sleep.

Travis fell asleep but I could not sleep at all. They started getting stronger and by 2:30 am I was really starting to hurt. I woke Travis up and we timed again. Still at 5 minutes, but I could no longer talk through them.

We called the hospital again and they told us to come on. We arrived at the hospital at 3:30am. My first check was at 4:25 and I was 3cm dialated. A second check was at 6:55 am> I was at 5cm and in quite a lot of pain. It seemed I had forgotten everything I learned in Lamaze class. I was holding my breath with each contraction. Travis had to remind me to breathe everytime. We had brought a stuffed Tigger as my focal point. I didn’t use it because with each contraction I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for it to end.

By 7am I was asking for the epidural. The anesthesiologist showed up at 7:15. That 15 minutes seemed like an eternity. I was very happy to see him! I was very scared to get the epidural. I had seen the needle in Lamaze class and it was huge! I hate needles. But I was so ready to take the edge off of the pain.

Mostly the process of getting the epidural is a hazy memory, maybe because It was a pretty bad experience. I do remember having to sit very still hunched over with Travis on 1 side and the nurse on the other. It was so hard to sit still through the contractions. I got sick a few times during the procedure. Travis freaked out because it was red (yuck I know) but I had just eaten a red popsicle! The whole process only took about twenty minutes, but it seemed like forever. By 7:45 I was feeling no pain. Actually I couldn’t feel anything from the chest down! My legs were pretty much useless. My right leg kept flopping off the bed and Travis would pick it up and put it back on the bed!

Sometime after the epidural Trevor’s heart rate dropped. The nurse changed my postion to try to get the heart rate to return to normal. When that didn’t work they started me on oxygen. The oxygen mask was a bit of a pain but not near as much as the blood pressure cuff. The entire time I was laboring the blood pressure cuff automatically inflated about every ten minutes. It seemed very tight and the next day I had a bruise on my arm where the cuff had been. I don’t remember how long I was on oxygen but it seemed like for a very long time. Intially I was a little worried that things might be heading the wrong direction. Luckily after a while, heart rate returned to normal and the mask came off.

I was checked again at 8:05 and was shocked to find that I was at 8cm. The nurse was shocked as well. She said I was progressing faster than most second and third time moms. She also said it was likely that we would be proud parents very soon, possibly even before noon! She said that Trevor had a full head of hair and that you were bigger than the 7 pounds the ultrasound tech had thought. She was betting you were at the very least 8 pounds!

I could only feel light twinges of the contractions. I kept asking Travis and the nurse if I was having a contraction! My forth check was at 9:40 am. I was at 9cm and at a +2 station. The LDR nurse said it won’t be long now. I was getting nervous/excited/scared about the whole pushing process. I was also very excited knowing very soon I would be holding my baby in my arms for the very first time.

The last check was at about 10:55. She said that there was just a rim and that I was ready to start pushing. The contractions were still too far apart so they started Pitossen to bump the contractions up a notch so that my pushes would be more productive.

Earlier In labor, my nurse had asked if a coup of high school students who were interested in pursuing a career in nursing could watch the birth. I had always been somewhat of a modest person, funny how laboring completely took away my modesty! I told her that I would be fine with them watching.

Intially, pushing was difficult for me because I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t tell if I was even doing anything. Trevor was still facing the wrong direction, so with each push they were trying to turn him. He would start to turn the right way, then when Travis would start counting for me, he would turn towards Travis. We joked that maybe Travis should crawl under the table to count!

Then the epidural began wearing off. It started with feeling my toes, then being able to move my legs. Then the contractions started hitting me. I had been pushing at this point for about an hour. I couldn’t take it and begged for the anesthesiologist to give me more to knock out the pain. They thought I still had a ways to go and the Doctor told me she really wanted me to be able to feel the pushing so I would progress faster.

Travis told them to please give me more meds for the pain. After pushing for awhile longer and getting to the point where I didn’t think I could push one more time the anesthesiologist came in. Boy, was he a sight for sore eyes! He gave me another dose. I’m sure he has have a big ego because if all the ladies are as happy to see him as I was… he surely must have a God complex. :o) He gave me another dose and it didn’t take long to kick in. Though I was completely exhausted I was ready to be done.

I pushed for a bit longer and Dr. Versteeg said that Trevor was right there ready to make his entrance with just a few more pushes. There was a flurry of activity around the room as a bunch of nurses came into the room. She had me push as hard as I could several times and Trevor still refused to come out.