Ok, I get it now

I never understood when other women complained about the last month of pregnancy.  Sure it wasn't like I was out running 5Ks with the first two at this point (Yes, there are women that do that - and yes, I do believe they are certifiably crazy), but I certainly wasn't miserable.

This time is different.

This time there is pain, discomfort, other things that no one wants to hear or know about.  It is miserable.

Well, some of the time.

I've been finding myself being sort of a Debbie Downer lately.  Not just about the miserable state of not being able to walk across the house without pain; it has seeped into just about everything.  My patience level is at a pretty remarkable low.

Ohlen is the one that suffers from this the most, I think.  Because being 4.5, he is pretty sure he knows just about all there is to know about the world.  And that really requires a whole lot of patience from a mom. When you hear your 5th "How do you know that??" by 8am, you know your patience levels are going to be tested.  But, my goodness I love this kid.  The rest of the million words that have come out of his mouth from the moment he has woken up have probably been highly amusing, and there has probably been some loving in there too for each of us.

So my goal for trying to beat this negativity has been to try to think of 2 good things for every complaint that comes to mind.

It is SO HOT!  1. We have air conditioning units in the house, and working air in the van    2. We aren't dealing with devastating floods or tornadoes.

I wish I could walk   1. Only 11 more days (or less)   2. Little girl seems to be perfectly healthy

It has really been quite the exercise to follow and remember, but it has been good.  And really I've turned around alot of the negativity in the past couple days simply by stopping asking her to come now.  I was so anxious for her to come over the weekend.  Finally I had to put my foot down and tell myself that I was being a little ridiculous.  So my prayers have been changed.  Now I'm just asking for a wonderfully smooth delivery, whenever she is ready. I do however, have an end date.  The Dr. will be inducing labor on June 13th if she doesn't decide to come by then.  That is another topic for another post.

Sorry for another pictureless post, I know those are always more fun. :)

37

Today I'm officially 37 weeks along. Which means little girl is officially full term. Noah was born at 37 weeks. We were so surprised when he came that early. This time I find myself expecting her to come a little early. Which is never a good idea. I've been feeling pretty miserable in that I can't move around very easily.

The house stuff is coming right along, and I'm getting more and more nervous about the timing of everything. Which is another reason I'm getting anxious for her to be here.

I will probably be induced a little early, maybe 5 days, and I'm nervous about that too. So much to pray about right now, and prepare for.

Boxes are slowly being packed, and it is becoming more real that we are actually moving. It's bittersweet really.

35 weeks

Change is something we're pretty used to around here. And we have a whole lot of it going on.
Today I switched to a different blood thinner. The biggest change with that is that I have to inject twice a day... But it will give me a better chance at getting an epidural, should I choose to get one.
5 weeks.... So close. And she could be here sooner too. Next week starts every week appointments, plus biweekly non stress tests. They monitor baby's movements/heart rate and if I'm having contractions. Not a big deal, except for having to find sitters for the boys. I'm hoping maybe they'll let me do it in the evening.
House stuff is going along good. Slowly packing. Excited about the new place. We picked everything out last week. I'm most excited about the new kitchen appliances and not having to go down two sets of stairs for the laundry (although, that might be the pregnancy talking).
This weekend we are camping (10 minutes from the hospital) and we all can't wait! After that baby girl can come when ever she wants. :) You know, because they listen like that.

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Honeydew or Pineapple

Depending on which site you look at baby girl is now as heavy as either a pineapple or a honeydew.... Not sure if I like this produce comparison - especially as the produce gets heavier and heavier...

Had to edit because I forgot to add - I'm about 33.5 weeks along - so about 6.5 to go. :)

I had an ultrasound last week.  Everything looks great.  She is definitely a girl.  Which was such a relief to see.  And as a special bonus, the tech I saw had a student with her.  They asked if I would allow her to practice a bit. Of course!!  So I got to watch baby for an extra 10 - 15 minutes.  It was great.  I also got to see one of my old Obs.  He was the one that delivered Noah and I just think he is great.  I think all the Obs up there at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office are great.  It was a little worrying to see him, because usually they just send down an ok for me to be able to go. He actually sat down and looked around a little too.  He and the tech talked a little about amniotic fluid level, and he assured her that there was adequate fluids.  So I'm assuming that's why he came down.  The tech was super too, by the way.  She was pretty no nonsense, but she told me everything she was taking measurements of, and what it did.  So very cool. According to the ultrasound measurements she is weighing about 4lbs 3oz, but it's just a guess and can be off either way.  But it seems to be a pretty average weight to me.

As for me, I've been feeling pretty good.  Well over the weekend I was feeling great.  I was out all day Friday - first to the zoo with play group and then hiking with our small group.  (There really wasn't that much hiking)  And I was feeling really good.  Didn't feel too bad Saturday either.  However, Sunday and yesterday were a different story.  I was feeling some pretty sharp pains when I would stand from sitting, and occasionally when walking.  So that was no fun.  But I took it easy and today is alot better.

I'm feeling so very useless as far as all this house stuff goes.  Jonathan is already running around moving around some things - getting ready to move all his tools over.  And I can't help at all.  I'm hoping to get a few things boxed up here and there while I'm still feeling good enough too.  I figure I can box up alot of our decorative things, and other things that we don't really use that often.

I really have some sewing things that I want to get done - I just really don't know when it is going to happen.  There are 2 in particular that I really need to get done, and really want to get done before the baby gets here, but between that and packing, I really don't know when it will happen.

Sane?

We have a new piece of lawn decor...

Yep, our house is on the market...again...  This will be the third time we've attempted to sell a house.  The first time we were hugely successful.  The 2nd... not so much. We're hoping and praying that this time goes smoother.


So yes, we're moving.  No overseas aspirations this time.  Nothing Earth shattering.  Nothing my mom will be distraught over the thought of. (love you Mom!)  Several months ago we purchased a plot of land from Jonathan's grandma.  The land is part of the property where Jonathan's dad grew up.  His grandma and Uncle's family live right there as well.  They will be our only real close neighbors.  Luckily, we all like each other (so far, right? :-D)  Ohlen is super excited and is insisting that our new house is going to be blue.  Noah has no clue, but I have a feeling that living next to his great Uncle that will give into his requests for "Brrm Brrm Ride (brrm brrm = tractor) will be fine with him.

How do I feel about it all?  I'm excited.  I love my house, the land, and our neighbors.  But change like this doesn't scare me anymore.  God is with me where ever on this planet we live.  And as long as my family is coming along - that's home to me.  I'm excited about having more trees around, and building a tree house with the kids.  I'm excited about picking out colors and things for the new place.  I'm excited about saving more money, because we are downsizing.  I have to admit, when Jonathan first mentioned putting in a manufactured home, I was very skeptical.  But, the more we researched, the more we really fell in love with the idea.  The one we are looking at will have about the same square footage as our house now.  The outside walls will actually be thicker.  AND they include a new appliance package with the house, and can I just tell you how exciting that is.  (such a nerd)  Plus - Jonathan will be closer to work.  We will be closer to church.  And we will be closer to family.  We'll have to learn the balance there, you know? But I think we'll get it.  There is so much I can learn from the women that will be living steps from my front door, about life and about other things like canning, gardening, and other various things of that nature.  And I hope I will be able to bless them in return as well.  And hope that my children don't drive them all insane.

Ok, so this is getting long, feel free to skim right over. :)

As for the question of sanity.  As most of you very well know, I am currently 32 weeks pregnant.  If we sell tomorrow, we would be moving into our new place in about a month and a half (there abouts)  That's about two weeks before I am due...  Allow me to remind you that  Noah came 3 weeks early.   If the house sells in a month...  that will be terribly interesting.  We sell in 2 - 3 months, we'll be trying to pick new house things with a newborn.  Sell in 3+ months we will be showing the house with a newborn, attempting to keep the house all cleaned up with a newborn, toddler, and preschooler.  Pray for us - pray hard. :-D  But really, we've been here before.  We moved into this house when Ohlen was about a month old.  We had to paint all the walls and stain all the woodwork.  None of that this time (THANK goodness)  I am wiser in the ways of babies this time, and in the ways of keeping myself sane and healthy, so I know my limits.  I am well prepared for months of box living if we have to.  I'm prepared to allow others to come in and help and put my things away, even if they might go places that I wouldn't first choice.  I'm prepared to allow Jonathan to organize the kitchen if I am too busy dealing with a newborn.  I will have plenty of time to reorganize things later.

This insanity also is what had me up at 6am Monday morning finishing the touch up painting. And then cleaning  and staging the entire house for pictures.  It was quite the morning.  Needless to say, I did not do much the rest of the day, and decided to take today off, for the most part, too.  I did some wonderful outside reading while the kids played outside.  It was pretty glorious.

So that is the excitement of our house at the moment.  We would appreciate prayers as we forge ahead.  And if you know anyone in the market for a house..... :-D

Milestones of sorts

Two milestones of sorts this week.

Less than 10 weeks to go until this little girl comes.  (I can say that pretty confidently as they usually say they won't let me go past my due date.)  It always seems like a big deal when the week count goes down to a single digit.  (Today is actually 9 weeks and 5 days, counts right?)  If she is like Noah, though, I could only have about 6 and 1/2 weeks.  At this moment that sounds a whole lot better than 10.  I'm starting to feel really off balance and clumsy, not to mention all the weight gain and dwelling on the task of losing it.  I have good days and bad days about that whole issue.  Let's just say today is not a good day.  One of those days when you want to just go to bed to get the day over with.  The frustrating part is that it has nothing to do with anyone else, it's all self inflicted craziness.  BUT - even as I sit here I can feel this little girl moving all around and it does give me a sense of confidence and determination to be a good role model for her. (and the boys too)  Plus, I want to be able to be active with them.  I want to live a long and healthy life with my amazing husband.  I just know I have a long road ahead - and one that I'm going to have to be going down my whole life.  I'm not one that will be able to lose it all, and then slack off - because it will all come back. It is going to take a complete life style makeover that will have to stick - and that is daunting, and days like this it seems to come crashing down on me.  I know I need to lean on God for this.  I sometimes forget, He cares about this stuff too.  And I think He wants me to be all healthy too.

Ok, on to something more fun.  Another milestone here at our house.

Ohlen has ditched the training wheels!!!

I try very hard to not be the boastful, bragging parent.  But I have to tell this story.  And know that he does not get his balance, determination, fearlessness from me.  He is about 95% his daddy.  :)

So, Saturday afternoon Ohlen decides he wants to try to take his training wheels off.  I thought this was more of a daddy job - especially when mommy is 30 weeks pregnant - but Ohlen was pretty determined.  So out we went.  I took the training wheels off and headed to the grass.  It was a little mushy from some rain, so it wasn't going too well.  I was trying to hold onto the back, but it was hard for him to pedal on the grass - and I was having a bit of trouble with the whole bending and running.  So I told Ohlen we should wait until daddy gets home.  He again insisted that he try on the gravel drive.  So we go over and I try one time to hold on to the bike, definitely not working.  So Ohlen says he will do it by himself.  So he takes his bike to the very end of the drive - and rides it to the garage!  I couldn't help myself -I was just laughing.  Have you ever just had to laugh out of pure joy?  The happiness is so great it just bubbles out?  He was too - laughing the whole way.  And that was the end of my intervention.  From there on, he was riding.  Sure he has taken some falls and spills - but, yeah, so proud of my little boy.

Now the pictures - I hadn't even thought to take my camera out right away - but this was just a little later.  I so should have forced him to do a posed big smile picture.  Maybe I can get one of him swinging a hammer at his training wheels - or throwing them in the trash. :)  He would probably like that.

Had to throw in a random Noah picture.  He can't reach the pedals on his tricycle yet, poor guy, he just needs to shoot up a little more. :)

Finished Project

First off, third trimester is finally here!  Only about 11 1/2 weeks to go.  (Yikes)  And, actually, if she decides to be like big brother Noah - she would be here in about 8 1/2 weeks...  That's only 2 months.  I'm still feeling pretty good.  Heart burn is horrible and nasty.  Getting off the floor is not easy.  I've limited my shoe choices to those that do not include bending over to put on.  :)  Other than that - it's been great.  My energy level is still pretty high most days.  I can get around fairly well.  Sleep, when not interrupted by heart burn (yes, that is the WORST way to wake up) has been really good.  I'm enjoying seeing and feeling all her movements.  I think she is head down - at least that would be my guess, but we'll see what the Dr says.  I have an appointment next week - and then I think I will be on to the every two week appointments.  OH - ha - I guess I did forget the one little snag in this whole process.  I did fail my one hour glucose screening test (Again! - I did with Noah too) so I have to go in Saturday for a 3 hour test to see if I have gestational diabetes.  I passed the 3 hour with Noah, so I'm hoping for the same results.  We shall see.  And according to the, let's compare your growing baby to a food guide, baby is as big as an eggplant.

Now on to the crafty side of things. I finally finished one of my "secret" projects.  A baby quilt for my sweet nephew, who will be 2 months old tomorrow.  I started it before he was born, shortly after they showed off their nursery.  I don't have many pictures for it, and I don't have a finished picture. Lame I know....  This is a result of putting the final stitch in the binding a few hours before taking it to give them while they were in town visiting paired with my horribly addled pregnancy brain forgetting to get my camera out and take a picture of it.

I found the pattern at the Moda Bake Shop.  However, instead of using a precut pack, I bought yardage.  So there is a bit less variety in the fabrics.  The middle row I had accidentally got things turned around and had put the sides and tops/bottoms on the wrong place.  So the middle squares would have been off, if I had lined up the borders correctly, and lining up the middle squares correctly would have made the borders opposite of the rest of the quilt.  So I decided to try to have the middle squares correct, and just let the border be off....  I didn't think it would make a difference... boy did it ever.  It was pretty horrible.  The corners were so far off...  So it was off for some seam ripping time.  What quilt/ blanket of mine would be complete without a little seam ripping time loss....   So I got that taken care of.

Then I realized that I really wanted to add a border?/strip? (my quilting vocabulary is not very extensive) between the pieced together squares and the border.  I didn't really think much about how wide to make it, except to what I thought would look nice.  Well......  I realized after I added the white border that had I done a little math, I could have made it so that I just could have added an extra square or two to the border, when in reality, I was going to have smaller rectangles on the ends now.... because I didn't think that far ahead.  But I didn't think it really mattered all that much, and it really didn't.  I think it looks ok still. Then I realized that it went further than that.  Adding the white border also meant that my backing was no longer big enough.  D'oh. But that was a simple fix with a row of squares on the back.  I was actually glad for this mistake because I really like having it on the back like that.

So that was all the glitches I dealt with...  Other than that, it was a fairly easy quilt to piece.  As for the quilting, I hand quilted it.  It really didn't take all that long.  I just quilted in the ditches (I think (and hope) that's what it is called.)  Basically around all the piecing - except for in the border.  For the binding I didn't have enough of one fabric, so I just alternated the dark orange fabric and the blue branch fabric. I have been promised to be sent pictures of it - since it is now currently about 2 hours North of me - and soon will be heading its way to TX.  As soon as I get those pictures I'll post them as well.

Baby Update - 26 weeks

I have to say - this pregnancy has been great lately.  I haven't been feeling too bad.  My energy level is pretty good.  My two main complaints are the heart burn and the fact that walking fast/jogging on the treadmil becomes painful way too fast and I end up walking pretty slowly.  Keep reminding myself that it really is better than nothing.  But I know better than to "push through the pain" when exercising at this point.  Not a great idea.

So I'm 26 weeks along.  14 more to go - 96 days until my due date.  It seems far away - but the weeks are really going by fast.  I have the glucose tolerance test that I need to get done - but my Dr. told me that I need to wait until my cold symptoms are gone for a week....  Hopefully that will happen soon - I've had this cold for about 2 weeks now and it is still hanging in there.  I'm hoping I can go in next Saturday for the test.

Then the next "big" thing will be another ultrasound at 32 weeks - if they are going to go ahead with it.  I'm not really sure if they are going to or not.  So, that would be fun. :)

I'm starting to get clothes together.  For whatever reason there is still this (very small) nagging feeling that somehow they were wrong and it really is a boy.  Probably why I really want to have that extra ultrasound. lol.  As for a name - still not decided.  There is a short list of about 5 or 6 names, but we haven't really talked about it to narrow it down.

She is kicking/punching me like crazy these days.  Nothing painful - just highly amusing.

I realized today that I really have only taken 2 "belly shots" this time around.  At 18 weeks, and today.

What a difference 8 weeks makes.  She is definitely growing.  (Puh, me too...)

Blah Week

Did you ever have one of those weeks that just kind of drifts by.  Not much gets done, besides what is absolutely necessary. (Like feeding oneself and children and husband (and sometimes not him.), oh and cleaning dishes - so there is something to put the food on...)

This has been that week.  Now, I should give myself a little credit.  I did actually get some things done.  I cleaned out/up a couple closets, but really, that was about it.  At least from Wednesday to today.

The culprit: Nasty head cold (that is migrating to my chest - joys) + pregnancy.  Not a fun combo.  I was getting really good about getting some walking (and even an occasional jog) in, but that has completely been put on the back burner.  I can't be doing much active for very long before I feel that I need to sit down. It doesn't make for very productive days.

There have been quite a few things I wanted to blog about too.  A really good Bratwurst tip I found.  A recipe for some baked "french fries" I've been making.  The progress on the B.O.M that I actually did do some work on. (Some fixing mistakes work - but it was a pretty easy fix - thank goodness.)  A giveaway win and prize received.  Hopefully - I will get those things up soon.

Until then I will share one of the side effects of pregnancy + cold.

An addled brain.

This is the white board on my refrigerator.  Yes, I wrote that. Yes, I took this picture quite a while after I was done writing....

Yes, I shall have a weekend visitor.  His name shall be Time Chang.  Maybe a relation to Chang from Community....

The worst part - I didn't realize my mistake for 3 or 4 hours - and I KNOW I looked at it within that time frame.  And I think I left it that way...  What kind of life is it if we can't laugh at ourselves.  :)

On the subject of time change - I still think the whole process is silly - the fact that we go back and forth.  And as the mother of small children - it can be downright infuriating.  However, this should be the "good" one.  The kids should sleep until about 8 next Monday - instead of 7.  We shall see. :)

Now for Something Completely Different

Tights
Pillowcase Dresses
Dolls
Doll Clothes
Pink and Purple
Skirts
Headbands


Just a few things on my mind this morning.

The plan was to wait.  To wait to find out the gender of this baby until she was born.  But I'm a sucker (or just nosey...)  Yesterday was our ultrasound.  Everything was great.  And we found out we are having a little girl!!  I'm still processing.  :)  For whatever reason, I was convinced it was going to be another little boy.  Which would have been fine.  But now!  So many fun projects to think about. :)

Here she is:

I love her little nose!  She was trying to be all modest and was keeping her little legs crossed, but the tech managed to get a few good looks. :)

Now starts the search for a name.  This should be fun. :)

Oh yeah, for an update on me.  18 weeks.  A few pounds gained.  Feeling good most days.  Although, not usually very motivated to do much.

The Ugly Truth

This is how I feel about being pregnant:

 (Well, ok, infinitely more happy than getting a Doxie calendar... but yes, very happy. :))

This is how being pregnant is making me feel:

 

Small confession - these pictures are both 6 years old.  I had to dig them out because I knew there would be good ones to display the bluh side of things - and I didn't want to take staged ones at the moment... 

Trimester 2 will be here in about 2 weeks - I'm hoping and praying it brings some relief from this nausea.  It usually does.  Until then, don't be surprised to see the above look on my face.  :)

I have more posts I would like to write.  This week is looking to be crazy... so hopefully someday they will make up here to the interwebs.

PA, HP, HB

This weekend I traveled with two other ladies to PA to visit my best friend!  We had so much fun.  There was lots of talking, shopping, and relaxing.

The big event for the weekend was going to see Harry Potter.  There was a brand new IMAX theater in town, so we saw the movie there.  It was amazing.  I love the books - and to me, this one was the best adaption from book to movie yet.  I loved it.  Now, my husband, he saw the movie this weekend too - because some of his friends wanted to see it. He hasn't read the books - and he just thought it was ok.  And I can see that.  I'm not sure how I would feel about the movies if I didn't love the books so much.  I'm so excited for the final movie.  Although it is slated to come on in July of next year.  About a month after my due date.  Should be interesting trying to get out to the theater. :-D

Also - one of the previews that was before the movie was for Cars 2!  I think we have a good second movie for Ohlen to watch at the theater. He is going to be SO excited. :)  I think that one will be out in June... so looks like it will probably be a Daddy date for that one. :)

Tonight I jokingly told Jonathan that I bet that as soon as the nausea goes away the heart burn will start.  And guess what?  I had a slight bout of heart burn this evening.  Apparently I have jinxed myself...

I'm officially 10 weeks along now.  Baby is growing finger nails - and has all its vital organs.  Just such an amazing miracle life is.  Just have to keep reminding myself that through the nausea - it's all happening for a wonderful reason.

Also got to see my brother and sister (in law) tonight!  She is expecting - due in 2 months.  I'm so excited for them, and can't wait to meet my very first nephew!

I love my family. Immediate and extended.
And my friends.
So thankful for all of you!

Now on to Thanksgiving week. Lots of cooking to do.  A long road trip for Noah and I. Then back for some more cooking/baking and a few more family gatherings.  And sometime in there it will be time to get the tree all set up and the house all Christmased up.  I LOVE this time of year!