Monday, January 27, 2014

I. HATE. WINTER.

Everyone better back me up on how horrible this winter has been when I am telling S this! Really, I mean every winter baby is born in a blizzard, right? While walking uphill both ways to school...

But really. This winter STINKS. Every time I breath easier thinking I've gotten through one snow emergency, another one pops up...

Because of which, my OB appt for tomorrow got cancelled. They tried to reschedule the ultrasound...for Feb 3rd. Uh, she's going to fail her BPP horribly on Feb 3rd, because THERE WILL BE NO BABY IN THERE. Two tried later and I am finally rescheduled for a BPP on Wednesday. But I am SO over the snow, and all the anxiety that comes with it. NEVER AGAIN will I do this 3rd trimester in the winter non-sense. 

And for prosperity's sake, a local meteorologist posted this today. See, Scarlett, I am not being a drama queen. This winter REALLY is that bad. 

"Through January 26th, the average temperature at South Bend is 17.3 degrees*, which is 7.1 degrees below normal. Also, South Bend has seen ROUGHLY 70 - 75 inches of snow so far this season. The average for the ENTIRE season is 66.6''. The most snow we've had in a winter is 136.3" in 1977 / '78. The meteorological winter runs from December 1 - February 28th, so we have just over a month to continue to destroy the average... "



Sunday, January 26, 2014

Family day

So Saturday we took the time to have a little family day at home. We needed to have some time to enjoy our last weekend of being a family of three and a fluffball. It still makes me tear up a bit knowing that I won't be able to devote all my time and energy to my Ellie-bean.

So what did we do?

Well, had family cuddle time in bed and watched some cartoons. Then yummy waffles for breakfast! And then Ryan wanted to do some maternity pics. I was skeptical. I felt WAY cuter when I did maternity pics with Ellie. But he insisted and I am glad he did. We got some super cute pics of Ellie and I and the bump. Ellie cooperated really well. I guess all my days of asking "Where is baby Scarlett" paid off, because she knew exactly where she was and where to give kisses! Oh, and some cute pics of Ellie too. She takes my breath away with how beautiful she is. Sigh.

Kisses for baby sister!

Can we feel kicking?



After the photo shoot, we enjoyed some yummy chicken noodle soup that Ryan had made. Ellie is a big fan of Dad's soups, and then made a little blanket and pillow fortress and watched Beauty and the Beast. Truff joined the snuggle time too.


Then, before bed, it was a little glowstick party in her bedroom. She had so much fun with them, and we were able to count and make lots of shapes and have lots of belly laughs. 


Overall a great day with my favorite people. <3

Saturday, January 25, 2014

The final countdown...

I cannot believe that now I am in the last week of this pregnancy. Seriously. This. is. nuts. Where did time go???

It has been a CRAZY week since last time I blogged. The weekend was a marathon!

But we'll start with my OB appt on Friday. Long story short...I had Evil Nurse again, who wanted to chat about how my 'unneccesary induction' last time lead to my c-section. Uh, no, moron. ACOG is pretty clear that going over 39 weeks with gestational diabetes is risky. I did not ask to be induced, and did not do the "squee...I am hot and tired and don't WANNA be pregnant" thing. And honestly, I have ZERO regrets about having the c-section. You won't convince me that I missed out on part of the birthing experience. But really. So of course my blood pressure was higher. Luckily the appointment was with my doctor, so I totally trust that he wanted to put me on meds. And he wanted to do an impromptu BPP just to make sure that she was OK in there. The good news is that everything looks great with Miss S and I totally convinced my doctor to just see me the rest of the time and skip NSTs, opting just for BPPs when I need them. After a number of horrible NST experiences with Ellie and being SOCLOSE to the finish line, he agreed.


So then, the weekend was a marathon. We were in GR for the state competition. Of course we decided to go up Fri night to get some additional rest but Miss E had other plans. Yup, she was up from 1:30am on. What. the. heck, kid! So that rest was a big joke. I had to judge the majority of the day, and do some credentialing tests, so it was packed. About 4pm, I hit a wall. I was tired, and my blood pressure started going bezerk, so I stepped out of judging a couple divisions to rest a bit. Luckily the Bean had a super fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, being a fishy in the pool. 


Sunday was more of the same, although we were able to sleep that night. I tried to stay 'down' s much as possible while chasing my 4 teams around. Needless to say, getting in the car and heading home felt REALLY good. 

Monday we spent time recouping from the weekend, and I had another OB appointment. Good news, S was doing great and my blood pressure was down. Yay!

Tuesday we ran some errands and continued to try to recoup. Well, at least I did. Ellie is always raring to go. Silly girl!



Wednesday we were at the gym as usual, and E had a blast playing with her friend Jack. He LOOOVES his tool kit and they both play with that constantly. E had to try on the safety goggles. Too funny!


Thursday early morning was a bit scary. I woke up at 1am seriously dizzy. Like, I couldn't walk down the hall without hanging on to the walls. I downed a bottle of water and a special K shake to see if it was a dehydration of blood sugar issue, but neither made it better, so I put a call in to the on-call doc. Luckily, he didn't seem too concerned, and told be I could avoid a L&D trip (wooohooo! So far: NONE!) and just call the office in the morning. I did, and they wanted me to come in. Baby sounded great,  blood pressure was fine, so no clue why I am dizzy, except for maybe the meds I am on. 

Friday, I had another OB appointment (I bet they are now getting sick of me!) and another BPP. Ryan came to get what we thought was our last peek at S as an inside baby. Nope, turns out I have 1 more BPP to go. But anyways, S rocked it out as always. She was sleeping though, so they had to get the buzzer out. Now they had to do that once with E too, and she went NUTSO the first time they buzzed her. Not S! They probably tried to buzz her about 15 times before she actually woke up and started moving. Might this be my deep sleeper? Might we have a baby that does not wake up when Daddy's ankle cracks while he is trying to put her in the crib? 

So today, we are enjoying our last weekend as a family of three and a fluffball. Yes, I've been an emotional basketcase about this. I was full-on sobbing Friday morning that it was Ellie and my last Friday morning just the two of us. I am so excited for S, but I just have so much fun with my girl, and I don't want to lose that for a second! 

How far along:  38 weeks, 2 days. 6 days to go.
How big is baby: The size of a celery bunch. 19.6 inches and 7 pounds.
What I've done to prep for baby: The nursery is almost finished. Got the crib skirt done, and the wall cabinet is together (although not attached yet. Maybe today.)

I am in love with how it turned out. Perfect! 
Truff has been prepping for his big brother times 2 duties by helping in the nursery too. 

Oh and Ellie 'helps' with the nursery too. By climbing on things (her new favorite thing) and trying to look out the window. Little stinker! 


I'm getting clothes out, washed and put away too. And hospital bag is packed, along with Ellie's bag. So really, the "must-do"s are pretty much done. Now I'm filling in all the "nice to have done" things. 

Best moment of the week: Getting a peek at S, and seeing some of her personality. 
Food cravings: Still loving rice krispie treats. I did get sick the other day after breakfast. I can't complain too much, though. At this point, with Ellie, I was sick pretty much every single morning. 
Symptoms: S is still giving me back problems. I have heating pads on my back pretty consistently. 
Movement: This goes in spurts. Her movements are smaller, so it is usually harder for me to notice when I am chasing Ellie throughout the day. But then from time to time...LOOK OUT!
What I’m looking forward to: More family time this weekend, and seeing S again Tuesday.
Next appt: Tuesday! Last OB appt this pregnancy! Woooohooo!



Thursday, January 16, 2014

37 weeks

Well, since we are getting down to it, I am really trying to make some special time with my girl and really treasure the Mommy-and-Ellie solo time we have left. Unfortunately, this weekend was not very conducive to that. I was in the gym all weekend, so Ellie was with Daddy on Saturday and then Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday. So, of course I missed her terribly and was really looking forward to Monday. 

Uh, surprise. Monday was a NIGHTMARE. I don't know if she was making me pay for being away all weekend or what. It started with a screaming baby who woke up over and hour earlier than normal. Yay. THEN, we had a mega-diaper blowout. But heaven forbid I put her down. I mean, she could literally climb up me if I tried.  So the bathroom ended up being coated in poop, and we both were. Of course I was smart enough to grab clothes for her, but not for me, since I was not planning on taking a shower. We got cleaned up (without me putting her down. Ever.) and I was able to get her dressed by letting her watch "George" on the tv in our bedroom, while trying not to get her soaked since I was still dripping (and still had no clothes. Sigh.). We nursed, and she calmed down a little. Had breakfast, took Truff out, and I got ready to let Bubble Guppies do a little babysitting as I was EXHAUSTED from the weekend when...POOF...the tv goes out. Are. You. Serious. The TV repair guy was here Friday fixing it, and it is out again, when I need it most for a little break. Arg!!! And Ellie is pointing at it and yelling "Bubble, Bubble". Calgon, take me away, and it wasn't even 9am. 

The day didn't get much better unfortunately. But Ryan came home and send me to hide out in the bedroom while he took care of the kids and made dinner, which I am eternally grateful for. I needed that!

Tuesday was a MUCH better day. We stuck around home for the most part. And I got TONS more smiles and giggles. 


Probably her new favorite thing? Sticker fights. She gets stickers, walks around, and puts them on my back. So I randomly have stickers EVERYWHERE. Hey, if it keeps her happy...


Wednesday she was up early again, so I thought we'd try to catch story time at the library. That didn't go so well. We got there and she was happy to look around and check things out, but then when the actual storytime started, the book they read was "The Going to Bed Book." Uh, most 16-month olds (including mine) have the cognitive ability to understand that it is about bedtime. Which, at 9:30am makes mine go beserk. She was not happy that someone was trying to make her go to bed that early. So we didn't make it the whole time. Oh well. We picked out a couple books and headed home. 

She was a real crab that evening too. While I was in the shower and Ryan had just finished dinner with E, he brought her in and said "Uh, remember how you were saying that molars are really uncomfortable for them?" Yup, felt back there and her upper left molar is through. Poor baby. So we're keeping up on the tylenol.

In pregnancy news...well, nothing much. Which is OK by me. I made it through half of my marathon (this past weekend with practices and our show-off) and now just have this weekend in front of me to keep S baking. Through 2 full days of competition/judging/testing. No problem...I hope! 

It is weird, I start having contractions if I sit a certain way. Not sure what that is about. Okay, here is the official update:

How far along:  37 weeks. We get to meet this little one in 15 days, max!
How big is baby: The size of a leek. 19.1 inches and 6.5 pounds.
What I've done to prep for baby: 
Ryan has been a rockstar in getting the nursery stuff together. All furniture is put together except for the wall cabinet, and the decal is even up. It definitely was another "moment" for me whe we got the decal up. Just seeing my girlies' names above their cribs gets me all misty. 




I still need to finish the crib skirt tonight and the trim that I am making for the storage bins. But other than that, it is really getting there. 

Best moment of the week: Nursing Ellie and seeing S kick her, and just remembering to take that all in and imprint it on my brain. 
Food cravings: Food is hard. Nothing sounds good. But again, Ryan is a rockstar. He found these breakfast sandwich things that I LOVE. Those have saved me when I don't want to eat. Oh, and the bad craving...rice krispie treats. Oh. My. Goodness. Yes. I'm totally ambivalent to chocolate but give me all the rice krispies, please!
Symptoms: Sciatic pain is SO bad. With Ellie, she had moved off of it by now. No, not this one. Last night, I had to skip dinner to just go in the shower and try to get it warmed up and worked out. And then I only got a couple of hours of sleep because the pain was so bad. I'm sure it is worse since I am lugging around E, but wowza. I am totally to the point that I. Am. Done. 
Movement: It seems to have picked up again this week. So that is nice. 
What I’m looking forward to: This weekend being over. State competition this weekend has been a major stress point, so having that behind me will be huge. 
Next appt: Tomorrow. Since I am going out of town, I am guessing that this will include an internal check. Blah. 

Friday, January 10, 2014

36 weeks


Whew! Well after the snow day Monday, things went a bit downhill. My girl does NOT do well being stuck in the house. With the windchills as they were (-20 and colder!) we didn't even let her go on walks with Truff, so she had major cabin fever, and by Tuesday afternoon, it was pretty apparent that we needed OUT of the house ASAP! We had already done all the coloring, play-doh-ing, etc that we could for the week!


So, we ventured out to the mall on Wednesday. That definitely did her highness good! She was much happier after being able to run around a bit, and I was happy with the good nap I got out of her. Well, except for the fact that she got ALL snuggled up in her car seat on the way home and decided to start the nap a bit early. Silly bean!


Then it was to the gym that night. We had practice with one of the teams, and it was SO funny, because she got to be in the gym, when she usually hangs out in the lobby. She was in HEAVEN. She REALLY wants to dance with the big kids. Like, a lot. She is SUCH a ham. 

Thursday, she was a CRAB in the morning. I tried to get her down for a nap, and that didn't go so well. In fact, the second time I attempted, I hear her babbling a couple minutes later "Mom. Sock. PULL!" Yeah, she can now unzip her sleep sacks and so she pulled her sock off. She was so proud of herself, but of course, that meant no sleep! She went off to Grandma's that afternoon though, while I had my OB appointment, and they managed to wear her out a bit more. 

This morning, I am happy to say she is back to herself. Or maybe herself-plus! She is a hoot. Talk about energy! She picked out a headband and proceeded to do laps around the kitchen. Hmmm. I wonder why I am so tired by the time I put her down for the night? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPMeZ2MlL8Y

Ah, but I love those squeals and giggles. She is just too much. I am trying to soak up every last bit I can before number 2 comes along. Although I know Ellie is going to do great with the transition. She LOVES reading her big sister books, and will put her finger up to her lips and make a "shhhhh" sound every time we go in S's room. How sweet! I just love that girl to pieces and hop her sister is just as cool!



How far along:  36 weeks, 1 day. God-willing, three weeks from today I will be holding our newest little one! <3
How big is baby: The size of a coconut. 18.7 inches and 6 pounds.
What I've done to prep for baby: 
The nursery is really getting there. Ryan assembled the crib and dresser Tuesday evening. So now I can actually start getting stuff put away and get the crib bed skirt done. I'm so excited to see it start to come together! 


Best moment of the week: Our family snow day! And having another good, no-stress, no-drama appointment!
Food cravings: Still loving citrus-y things. My nighttime ritual of a bath and lemon ice is pretty much what keeps me sane! 
Symptoms: The beginning of the week sucked because she was sitting so high that I was out of breath. Now, I think she dropped a bit, so that has relieved itself, but I also am having more back and pelvic pain. Oh, and the rash that I had last time and would give anything to avoid? Yeah, it is back. A good excuse to take lots of oatmeal baths, I guess.
Movement: Yes, but lighter. Not as many belly-jumping kicks. Much more in the way of just "pushes" so it is harder to feel when when I am up and around, which, of course freaks me out a bit. 
What I’m looking forward to: Getting the nursery more put together. And the decal up. I cannot WAIT to see that! And getting my hair done next week. Baby S cannot come before I get my roots touched up. I made that mistake with Ellie. NEVER. AGAIN. 
Next appt: Next Friday. And it is with my doctor, so I am guessing we'll go over a final "c-day" plan. Cannot wrap my brain around the fact that I am there already. It really does seem like just yesterday I found out. 

Monday, January 6, 2014

Snow Day!

Well, here I am, worrying about everything getting done with Miss S's nursery, when Mother Nature decideds to give me a bit of a helping hand.

That's right, we got clobbered with a bad snow storm Sunday, which meant no gym time on Sunday, and then even Ryan's work got cancelled on Monday so we had two full days around the house to play, have fun, keep warm, and get some stuff done too!

Sunday, Daddy was able to finish up the painting after church, while I attempted to keep the two little "helpers" from getting purple-ified.


I am so, so happy with the way it turned out! And SO relieved to have the painting in their done!


Monday the progress continued. We got the carpet all cleaned and the closet organizer in. So now it is ready for all the prep work to start. Crazy! Ryan will be starting to put together furniture now. I'm hoping he can knock out about a piece a night. Crossing my fingers!

Ellie had quite the fun day too. We played with play doh a LOT. She loves the set we got, and does her deep belly laugh when i squeeze it through the machine to make "spaghetti"



And, we had to do a couple fun snow day activities, like color mixing with snowcones and snow ice cream. Ellie LOVED mixing the colors (and eating the snow). I forget that she's never had juice, so that is kind of the closest she's gotten. Either way, that activity was GOLDEN...it bought me an hour of happy, entertained baby (plus a happy baby during bath time after). 


I must admit, I'm sad that we don't get another snow day (especially since I got to sleep in too...thanks honey!). I could get used to this!


Thursday, January 2, 2014

2014, my beautiful girl, and 35 weeks


Well, now that Christmas is over, things are at least a bit back to normal. We couldn't resist taking some Christmas pics of our gorgeous girl. Sigh. If her sister is even half as gorgeous as she is, we are really in trouble. 


She is so much fun. I can't believe how much she grows and changes every single day. And I know I'm always saying this, but her vocabulary is just out of control. She's now added 'shoes' and 'socks'. And since girl is obsessed with shoes that is probably a good thing. Even moreso now that she has light up princess shoes. Goodness, I have got to get a video of this child in those shoes. She is obsessed with them. Like, walking into walls because she is too busy watching her feet, obsessed. She sure thinks she is hot stuff.

Edited to add: Got it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgb_K97Mg1E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 She's been able to point to most of her body parts for awhile, but now she's starting to say the names too. 'Nose' is of course the favorite!

She's also a climbing monster. I still have the double stroller sitting in the living room, and she loves crawling up in it and reading a book. Thank goodness she has now learned how to get down safely.


She's still having a blast playing with all her new Christmas toys. She can identify most of her zoo animals now. And she has to take rides around the living room nightly with Daddy in both the cobra and the bike. 

We did have a very low-key New Year's. In fact, none of us made it to midnight to watch the ball drop! BUT, we did enjoy some good family time and played a lot. Oh, and Ellie had her first fondue experience. We weren't sure how that would go since she doesn't really do well waiting for food, but she did awesome. Of course, she loved the sauces more than anything. She got to have ranch and ginger sauce together in one meal which makes my girl very happy. 

In all, I've just been trying to take extra time and cuddle with her. I can't believe in less than a month she's going to be a big sister, and I'm deathly afraid that will change our bond in a negative way. I know, I know, all my friends that are moms of 2+ have already talked sense into me, but it is still hard knowing that I'm not going to be able to dedicate myself 100 percent to this little girl. Sigh. 

Okay, onto other updates...

An update on my latest Dr.appointment:

I started my weekly appointments this week. I cannot believe that I am far along for that nonsense. But, I was a bit concerned since my blood pressure was a bit high last appointment. Luckily, at this week's appointment it was better. No problems, everything is still on track. I did get yelled at for not having an up-to-date titer done. Whoops. I had one done in November, but forgot in December with everything going on. So after the appointment, I went over to have that done. Better late than never.

Okay, now the regular S update:

How far along:  35 weeks. Only 29 days until we meet our next little princess. 
How big is baby: The size of a honeydew melon. 18 inches and 5.25 pounds.
What I've done to prep for baby: Oh, oh, oh, I have something to add here, actually. Woot! The wall color inn S's room is DONE. Ryan is working on sanding the trim, and then we'll be getting that painted. Then, it is just a matter of doing the stripe and painting will be done. I am itching to get the closet done because I really want to start organizing. I am feeling all nest-y. Speaking of nest-y, yeah, I am also into packing for the hospital. Or, more precisely, I am packing for Ellie when I am at the hospital. Me, whatever, but I am having panic attacks that she won't have everything she needs. It is silly, I didn't bother packing for the hospital last time until I had a check-in time. But now? No, I am psycho about this. 

This packing mania HAS highlighted a few things I still need to get though. For example, today I got some slippers for $4 on clearance at Target. Score! Even if I want to trash them after the hospital...no guilt there. I am still looking for fuzzy socks with grippers that I can wear in the hospital, as I might not want to be getting slippers on every single time I go to the bathroom or something when I'm there. Those are ridiculously hard to find, strangely enough. 

So basically there is still a lot to do, but at least we are making some progress. 

Best moment of the week: Getting a 'real' start on the nursery!
Food cravings: Eh, nothing really. Or at least nothing new. Citrus is still good. And cheese. No idea where Ellie gets her cheese obsession these days.
Symptoms: Nothing new here. Sleep still stinks, and I am up a bunch. I am getting into the "shortness of breath" time. I forgot how fun it is to feel like you've run a miles when you are sitting down. 
Movement: Lots! I got a bit scolded a couple weeks ago by the doctor for not doing formal kick counts, so I started doing them and so far she has made her 10 kicks in no more than 6 minutes. Crazy girl!
What I’m looking forward to: Getting the nursery done soon. 
Next appt: Next Thursday