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Friday, December 21, 2012

14 Weeks to Go



That statement right up there shocks me. For some reason this week when my 26 week newsletter from BabyCenter rolled in, the most shocking part was seeing 14 more weeks to go. That seems like to little.

And it should make sense to me that time will fly now. It always does in the 3rd trimester (which I'm only 2 weeks from). And I know how fast it always seems to be from the first of the year to Zachariah's birthday at the beginning of March. It sneaks up on me every year. I think I'm ready, then it's here so soon. This little one is due at the end of March, so why should it be any less sneaky of a date.

The big deal this week was going to take my gestational diabetes 1 hour glucose test. I think I told you about them making me do this really early on. I didn't make it through the test, because I couldn't keep the liquid down. They gave up on that, used my fasting blood sugar number (I still don't know the number & am really curious...I think it's probably not high at all) and decided to put me on a blood sugar medication anyway. It's supposed to help regulate things. Still all my doctors seemed to think I was at a high risk for gestational diabetes. They look at my size, age (I am quite a bit older than I was for my last pregnancy), and the large size of my first baby. This all makes them think gestational diabetes...even though I did not have it last time either.

I was really nervous about doing the test, mostly because I didn't want to deal with having gestational diabetes. (I know plenty of people who have had it, and it's not a big deal. I just didn't want one more thing to worry about, you know.) So when a local number I didn't know popped up on my phone later in the day, I figured it was the doctor's office. I was surprised they'd have results that quickly. I was afraid to answer.

I did answer. It was the doctor's office, they had results. A nurse informed me that they got my lab results. Everything looked good, but I'm a little anemic. What!!?? That's it! Whew! That was a big sigh of relief. I took iron supplements last time, and it's not a big deal. I can deal with that. Yay for no gestational diabetes! You can't believe how relieved I was to hear that. It also kind of wants me to say "Ha ha, told you." to all of my doctors. (Is that bad?)

You'll also be happy to know that my last OB appointment set me at ease about the elevated blood pressure. I am taking medication for it, and apparently now that I'm on it they can still increase it by 6 times (!) before I'm maxed out. Good to know, and it relaxes them and should help the rest of the pregnancy.

So, it looks like things are going well. I'm glad to just have some calm and nothing to worry about. Well, that is unless you consider getting bedrooms switched and ready and all the other things I have to do in the next few months something to worry about. For now I won't.


Monday, December 3, 2012

The Name Game

*Updated to add another of my newest favorite names.*

After reading Sara's baby name post today, I kind of want to talk names a little more for our little guy. Sara is due exactly 1 day before me (and my last ultrasound actually dated me one day ahead), so now I feel really behind.

A little family naming history and thoughts:

I should state up front that most of the names I discuss are one's I've thought about. Matt has not approved or vetoed my list yet.

Matt and I have a difficult time picking out names. We tend to agree more quickly on girls' names, but obviously that has never helped us. I remember going back and forth just like this last time. So far we've both thrown out names that the other mostly shoots down. This has gone both ways. And every name that Zachariah has mentioned, one or the other of us has said no. (It's pretty cute watching Zachariah get involved in the discussions. We've tried to explain that we likely won't rely on his opinion in this matter, but it's fun to hear what he has to say.)

I'd say that our naming style leans towards traditional/biblical. I know when most people see our names- Matt(hew) and Sarah, plus our son's name- Zachariah, they think biblical/religious. That was never our intention. We truly just fell in love with the name Zachariah without really thinking about the religious connotations. That said, we are a Christian family who is very involved in our church, and of course knowing this name has some biblical significance was a nice bond. But I'm not against other names. However, I feel we will have to stick with traditional/biblical, so this name will fit with our strong Zachariah.

Matt's name is Matthew Charles. Charles is his father's name. His brother's middle name is the same as his father's middle name. Our first son is Zachariah Matthew, in the same sort of tradition. If I followed that tradition, our second son would be named Firstname Charles Lastname. While I wouldn't be against honoring Matt's dad like this (or Matt for that matter), I feel like I'm leaving my dad out in the mix. Plus Matt's sister gave her son the middle name Charles, so the name has been honored in the family already.

I wouldn't mind honoring our fathers, but feel I'd have to do both. My dad's name, Mark, just doesn't work well with our last name. They both are 1 syllable and end in "k". It just sounds too abrupt to my ears. If I use Charles Mark Lastname, it honors both dads and flows better. But that means our son will have the same First and Last name as my father-in-law. It's not a bad thing, but I think it would be a bit confusing. Plus Charles isn't a name I would normally choose for my baby.

At this point my preference is that the baby's middle name be after someone in my family. It would either be Mark (after my dad) or John (after my only deceased grandfather). I'm leaning towards John.

Names that have been mentioned:

Here are some names that I've considered for first name position. I'm not completely in love with all of these names, but they are starter ideas.

  • Carter
  • Ezra
  • Harrison
  • Isaac
  • Isaiah
  • Joel
  • Josiah
  • Tyler
  • Lincoln
  • Nolan
  • Simon
  • Peter
  • *Daniel
So far Matt has said no to Joel and Josiah. He doesn't like anything that sounds like "Joe". He thinks Ezra (which was one of my first favorites, but I'm losing it now) is too "girly" sounding. Most of the rest he hasn't said anything, or I haven't share with him yet.

Zachariah's current pick is Leo. I don't mind it, but Matt doesn't like it at all.

Matt's pick is Johann. Johann Peter to be exact. While I didn't think badly of it at first, it's really rubbed me the wrong way. It would be pronounced "Yo-han", and I think that would be a little too "uppity". He was looking at names in his German heritage like Johann, Franz, Conrad, and some others. I said no to pretty much all of them.

How we name:

This list is not the end. I have a feeling it's only the beginning. I really want to pull some more ideas and thoughts out of Matt. I don't have any strong favorites at this point. I'm hoping we'll com across a few that work for us.

With Zachariah, and with this one too, I didn't want to name the baby until I saw him. We went into the delivery room with 3 favorites, which all worked with Matthew as the middle name. Last time our list was Jamin, Zachariah, and Ryan. We both agreed on all of them, but the first was my pick and my favorite. When he was born one of the nurses said, "What are you going to name this big boy? He needs a big, strong name." I knew right away she was right, and Jamin just did not suit him at all. He was a whopping 9 lbs 11 oz and needed a sturdy name. Zachariah just suited him.

I'm glad that I waited to meet him to make the final decision. Otherwise we would have scrambled to choose something else since my top choice didn't work.

We did not tell our family or friends all of our favorite names. I remember throwing a few of our ideas out to my mom, but I never gave any indication of what we might choose from those. It kept the opinions down. So when our baby was born, we presented them with the name at that time. It was his.

I'd like to take the same approach this time. I would like to have a few top names or name combinations (if we don't completely settle on a middle name before that). Then I want to name our baby when we first meet him.

Opinions:

OK, I've shared a LOT here. I think I needed to get it all out. Out of the names I've mentioned what do you like? Or do you have other ideas based on these here? I'd love to hear them. I'm open to anything.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Personality Preview

I'm curious about something. This is my second pregnancy, so of course I compare it to my first.

This baby boy is very squirmy and wiggly. He's been this way since the first ultrasound we had at 12 weeks. He didn't completely cooperate for our 20 week ultrasound. And as soon as I started feeling him wiggly and kick inside, at about 15 weeks, I haven't stopped feeling him.

Day and night this little guy is moving. Fortunately he's not big enough (or maybe strong) enough to wake me up at night with his movements, but if I'm awake I feel him. I tried to sleep in Saturday morning, but was rudely awaken by a baby bouncing on my very full bladder. I literally jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom (good thing it's not far).

When I was pregnant with Zachariah, I felt him often. But he didn't squirm all the time like this. He seemed then as a laid back, relaxed baby. And he pretty much lived up to that after he was born. It's funny, because I felt like I already knew his personality. Zachariah is still a pretty laid back kid. He takes things as they come and really has been a pretty easy child to parent.

Does that mean this one will be my active, rowdy boy? (Are we in for it this time?)

What has been your experience with how a baby "behaves" in the womb versus their personality after they are born? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

23 Weeks

The belly...it's getting BIG!


*Obviously I'm bot blogging every day in November. The beginning of November was crazy for us. We've spent the last 3 weekends in a row traveling back and forth to my parents' house for various things. This will be the first weekend we're actually staying home.

*For those who have been waiting on pins and needles (ha!), I do apologize that I didn't post the BIG REVEAL yet. We are having a BOY! As much as a little girl would be fun, I'm kind of relieved that it's another boy. I feel like I know boys now. And I kept all of Zachariah's clothes (out of all things that I actually kept), so we're all set there. Since Zachariah was born in March too, the seasons should line right up for us.

*I've been dealing with some pregnancy problems. I really haven't talked about them much, though. At my last appointment my blood pressure was up a little. This concerned the doctor. She started me on medication and sent me home with instructions to check my blood pressure twice a day. Even with the medication my bp was still up a little. So they increased my meds. That helped a little, but it still was not as low as she wanted. Now I'm on a double (from where I started) dose. My bp is better, close to where it should be, but not under it all the time like she wants.

The scary part was at the appointment when she explained some things to me. She started me on the meds right away, because they can't start them after 24 weeks...and that's where I'd be by the next appointment. And if it continues and doesn't regulate, I could be diagnosed with preeclampsia. (I know a little about it, but I've refused to google & research it. I know it will stress me out more, and I don't need that right now.) If I am diagnosed with that, I'm looking at bed rest as early as 28 weeks. That is what scared and upset me.

I never had issues like this last time. I am 7 years older this time. And I weigh more this time. I think my body forgot how to do this. For now I'm doing what the doctor tells me, trying to eat better (that's been tough this month), and just trying not to worry too much. In the end I want a healthy pregnancy and a healthy little boy out of this. That's really all that matters.

*Other than all of that I am feeling good. I have more energy now (which still isn't a lot), and it feels good to not be sick. The baby is growing and developing well. And I'm already 23 weeks today. I can't believe how quickly this is going.

*We are still working on the big room switch-over. It will get there. I think we have most of the necessities for the baby. Eventually I will have Matt draw the clothing out of the attic, so I can sort and wash. I think I'll wait until we have the rooms switched, though, so I have somewhere to put everything. I ordered our first diapers (Black Friday sales). I need a lot more, but it's a little start. I wanted to get a few different kinds/types to start with. I also ordered some cute baby legs (another good sale) and can't wait to put them on our little guy.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Vote Here...Boy or Girl?




Today is election day. I hope that everyone who can gets out to vote. I was able to vote early, so my vote has been counted. Even if you're canceling out my vote, I would love to see that you voted. GO VOTE!

Now, let's do something more fun. You can vote right here.

I am 19 weeks pregnant!(20 on Thursday) Tomorrow is my big ultrasound. We will be finding out whether we're having another boy or a girl. Most of my family has a strong leaning towards girl, but maybe that's because we already have a boy.

I wanted to do a gender reveal party with my family, but Matt spoiled that idea when he informed me yesterday that he will tell everyone at work when he goes back in after the ultrasound. So we will just tell everyone right away, I guess. I still have a strong urge to not find out. Mostly I'm doing it because Matt really likes to know, and my family is so excited to know too.


What do I want? I honestly don't care either way. I've had so much fun being the mom to a boy. I was completely unprepared for a boy the first time, but now I wouldn't change it for a thing. (I grew up with two younger sisters & always babysat for girls). So I know what it's like and what to expect with a boy. Plus I still have all his baby clothes...which is a TON. That would help and we wouldn't have to buy much more.

If it's a girl, it will be fun to have one of each. This is especially true, because this might be our last baby. It would be nice to have another female in the house, as I'm outnumbered now. And all the cute girly clothes would be great! (I'm sure I'd spend way too much on clothes!)

So, either way is fine with me...really!

What do I think it is? By now in my last pregnancy I knew that I was having a boy. I'd had a dream a few weeks before our ultrasound that we had a boy. I couldn't get over the idea, and I just knew it was. I was right.

This time I don't have that strong of a feeling. My guess is girl. That is mostly based on how this pregnancy has been pretty different from the last. I was very sick and for longer than last time. Only in the last few weeks have I stopped taking my anti-nausea medication. It was a rough start. So, no big reason to thing it is a girl, but that's my official guess.

What do you think? This vote is way more fun than the political ones. What is your guess for me? Boy or girl?

If you want to ask questions to help you decide, you may do so in the comments. I'll answer them there for you. Then when we know what we're having, I'll be sure to announce it here for you all to share in our happy surprise. :D

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Thinking About It

Here we are already in the 4th day of November. (How did that happen?) I'm sure most of you have noticed that it's National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo. I know several of my blogging buddies are doing it again this year. I have participated in it every (or is is almost every?) year since I've had this blog.

There are years that I just haven't blogged much here, but I still find that it's fun to participate in NaBloPoMo. It's a good challenge to blog every day. It helps me reconnect to my bloggy friends and meet new ones. Since I've actually been blogging here a few times a month lately, I'm thinking this might be a bit easier this time.

Still it's blogging every day for a whole month. I'm already behind. I posted one other time this month already, but I missed two days now. I will probably backdate some short posts to catch up. Then I'm going to give this a try. I believe every time I've participated before, I completed it. This time I'm a little nervous that may not happen. But you'll be kind and understand, right?

Goodness knows I'll have plenty to write about anyway. I'm almost 20 weeks pregnant, so exciting things are coming up. I also need plenty of advice and help getting prepared for this baby. And...we have our big ultrasound reveal this week. Then we can talk baby names a bit. (I say a bit, because I normally hesitate to share. I like to keep names to myself.)

I think I'll have plenty of things to say this month, so let's get this show on the road. Are you doing NaBloPoMo? Will you join me? Be sure to comment if you are, because I want to be sure to follow along and comment on your blog. Here we go!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Trick or Treat


All of our Halloween activities were the week before Halloween this year. This worked out really well in our favor, because it was nice and warm. It was almost 80 degrees, and that was in the evenings when we were out and about. So much better than on Halloween, where we had cold temperatures and snow on the ground the day before. Brr.

Normally we let Zachariah choose one activity to participate in for Halloween. It's not a holiday that we go crazy about here. Our church did it's 3rd annual Trunk & Treat. This is always a fun event, and Zachariah's chosen one for the last 3 years. He chose this right away. We went early and had a good time. They had about 1000 kids (that doesn't include parents) come through that night. They have decorated cars that hand out candy in the parking lot, then inside (it's a gym/activity center) they had snacks, drinks, and bouncy houses. It was pretty fun...for him. We just follow him around, doing whatever he wants to do.

However, this year Zachariah somehow (if he just weren't so darn cute) talked us into taking him Trick-or-Treating too. Since the weather was nice and we had nothing else to do, we decided to let him go. This is the first time that he's ever done door-to-door trick-or-treating. You see, we live along a fairly busy street, no sidewalks, and not many young kids in our neighborhood. It's a good neighborhood. We've lived here for 11 years, but we've never once had a trick-or-treater come to our door. I always leave the porch light on, and I always make sure I have some kind of candy in the house. Even though no one comes here, there is a housing development behind us. The road to it is a few houses down from ours, and we often go back there for walks. There are sidewalks, children, and they do participate in trick-or-treating. So we headed that way and let him walk around for about an hour.

Between both of these events, we were tired. Zachariah had a plastic pumpkin brimming with treats. He really hasn't gotten into the candy big time. (He won't.) But he has managed to eat all of the Reese's cups already (his favorites), and he had 1 or 2 a day for several days.

It was fun watching him have a good time this year. And I'm already thinking about coordinating a baby costume to his next year. Fun! Shaggy & Scooby Doo. Darth Vader & Yoda. So many possibilities. And the baby will be too little to care.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Show Off

I can't help it. I must show off these hats I made!

Yesterday I came across a pattern for adorable owl hats that you can make in any size. Well, I know that Sara is a little addicted to owl things. And since she just found out the sex of her babies, I knew I had to make these. (Eeee! So excited for her! And only 1 week until we find out what we're having too!)

I had enough scrap yarn to quickly make a few newborn size owl hats. They turned out so cute. Now I just need some black buttons for the eyes. I can't wait to make one for my own little baby. Although it's hard to imagine a hat small enough to fit into these little things. So tiny.

Zachariah saw the little blue one this morning and requested one be made in his size. How can I refuse that?!! I might even make one for myself.


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Baby Gear & Gift Registry for 2nd Baby

Taken @ 16 weeks. Just starting to pop out a little.

We will have a 7 year gap between our "babies". I can't believe that Zachariah will be 7 years old when this baby is due to be born. This was not the plan, but it's reality. We have a big gap.

The problem with having a big gap between children is that we've either gotten rid of baby gear or it is too out of date to use. We have some things, but we were missing some really big imporatant items. We got rid of our crib, infant seat, and car seat just a year ago. I realize now that the car seat would have been ready to expire by now anyway, so we needed a new one.

We found a car seat/stroller travel system at a local home improvement store. They don't often carry things like this, so there was one left that kept getting marked down. We checked it out and it was a decent one that would work for us. When Matt bought it, we ended up with a great price plus a $20 rebate. Score!

Last weekend we picked out and bought a crib from Target. Nothing fancy, but it's nice (probably nicer than the old one was new). And Matt had a $100 gift card from a prize he won that we used towards it. I also had a few Target gift cards (from various blogging things), so with all of those combined we paid VERY little for the crib. Yay!

Now that we have the crib and car seat/stroller, there isn't a lot more we need. I kept our bouncy seat, play mat, pack 'n play, baby bathtub, and a few other things that I used with my nephews/niece.

I think the obvious thing would be clothing...but only if it's a girl. I still have all my boy clothes. My sister has been borrowing them as needed, but she never needed things until about 12 months or so. So most of the little baby clothes haven't been worn since Zachariah was little. If this is a girl, we'll have to start over with most clothing.

The other major thing we will need are diapers. We've decided to cloth diaper this time. This is all new to me, so we're starting from scratch. I haven't decided exactly what type(s) I want to use yet. But I see that Amazon.com has some available there.

And that brings me to baby gift registry. I feel a little funny doing a registry since this is our 2nd baby, but I know there will be at least one big shower for my family/friends. Since I already have quite a bit (more than I originally thought), I think it might be necessary to register for what we actually do need. I'm thinking of setting up a registry on Amazon and maybe Babies R Us. Mostly on Amazon for the cloth diapers I can register for.

What do you think? Is a registry acceptable for a 2nd baby? Did you do it? Does it make a difference that there is a big age gap?

And I'm still working through what other baby gear I need. It can be overwhelming, but at least I've done this before and know where to look. What baby items are must haves for you?

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

16 Week Update

I know it's been a while since I updated. Sorry. After talking to Sarah (she has the cutest little baby, by the way) for a while on Sunday, I figured I better update how I'm doing. (She said she had to stalk me on Twitter to make sure I was still doing OK. Which works because I post there A LOT! Ha!)

I will be 16 weeks pregnant on Thursday. I had my 16 week check up with my OB today. It was a quick, easy, and good appointment. We went over some general questions, talked about getting enough calcium in my diet, and listened for the baby's heartbeat. The LPN we saw gave me this whole speech about how for some reason she finds it very hard to hear heartbeats at 16 weeks. She speculates it's something to do with the growing uterus and small baby. As she finishes telling me this, just in case she can't find the heartbeat, she finds the heartbeat. Well, that was easy. It was so good to hear our little baby again. The heartbeat was around 142 this time. (Last time it was 180, so quite a difference.)

I have been feeling better overall, but I am still dealing with nausea and vomiting (once in a while). No fun. I tried to stop taking the Zofran, because I was feeling better. I quickly learned that I'm not ready to stop taking that. I have a lot less vomiting when I'm taking it...still, unfortunately.

The same week I stopped taking the medicine for a few days, I had some other bad issues too. I ended up with a terrible yeast infection. I've only had 1, maybe 2, ever, and this was terrible. I used the recommended treatment from my OB office, and it started clearing up within a few days. That was a rough few days.

While that was clearing up, I had to up the medication I'm taking to keep my blood sugar levels good. They told me to do it gradually, so that's what I've been doing. When I increased it, I started having diarrhea  That lasted for about 3 days off and on all day. I had to try hard to keep some food down and get lots of liquid. No fun.

What a bad week that was. I'm glad to be past all of that. And it helps to have great friends to listen to me complain and send fun care packages to cheer me up. Thanks, Sara! I can also thank Sara for my newest craving- Jolly Ranchers. They are good to have especially when I'm feeling a bit nauseous.

15 going into 16 weeks is starting to look better for me. I have more energy to get things done, and I'm glad I'm not feeling down all the time. Looking back I can see time is passing quickly already with this pregnancy. Only 4 more weeks and I'll be half way there. I want to treasure each moment, like the little flutters I'm just starting to feel.

Friday, September 14, 2012

What I Didn't Mention

OK, there are some things that I didn't mention in my last post. I had a few pregnancy related problems that we talked with the doctor about.

Remember that glucose test that they wanted me to take? I went to do it, sat there for an hour with the orange stuff in my belly, then my belly rejected it. I was sent home. After a week they told me to go retest.

Since I haven't been feeling great, still, I have not gone back to be retested. The doctor mentioned at this appointment that my fasting glucose level was "a little high". (I'd like to see the numbers.) Therefore, they are putting me on medication that will help with that. And after a while I will just do the regular 1 hour glucose test to check for gestational diabetes.

I'm hoping this will help and there is no other reason for concern. But honestly, I'm past being upset about the conclusions everyone jumped to, and just ready to do what I need to do to have a healthy pregnancy.

The other issue was a little infection from my ...uhh... female check. So I have to take antibiotics for a week too.

I'm now on 3 medications plus a prenatal vitamin. I hope this doesn't all last.

At least we have a healthy little baby growing inside just like it should!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

12 Weeks - A Sneak Peek

I'd like to be able to say that now that I'm 12 weeks pregnant the "morning" sickness has completely disappeared. Unfortunately I can't. The medication is helping, but I've still had a few rough days. It's not completely helping, though, most of the time I can function better with it.

Today I am officially 12 weeks along. I can't believe it! The baby is about the size of a lime, and I had my 2nd OB appointment. This time I got to see one of the doctors, and Matt was able to join me. I had my pap smear (which was long overdue) and some other fun such things. (I'll come back to that.)

The best part was that they tried to listen to the baby's heartbeat on doppler. After searching for some time, the doctor and nurse both reassured me this was normal and if it couldn't be found they could do a quick ultrasound. OK, fine. She tried and tried and couldn't get it. I just smiled and said OK. After the doctor said we'd move to another room for an ultrasound I mentioned this happened with my last pregnancy. The doctor laughed and said, "Now i understand why you're smiling and not crying. You've done this before."

Had this been my sister, she would have been really freaked out given her past experience. But I knew that it could be hard to find a heartbeat and honestly wasn't worried yet. And I was secretly (or maybe not so secretly) excited that I finally get to see my baby!

Thankfully Matt was able to make this appointment, so we were quickly ushered into another room where we had a quick ultrasound. She found the baby with no problem and we were able to heat the steady, strong heartbeat. The heartbeat was around 180 (faster than I ever remember Zachariah's being). The baby was kicking and moving around a LOT! It was great to watch. The doctor wanted to get a measurement while she was looking, but baby just wouldn't cooperate for that. There was not a good view from crown to rump to measure.

So, we walked away with smiles and our first baby picture. (It's a rough picture, I know. Like I said, baby was being uncooperative.)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Good Medicine

I finally gave in last week and called my OB about getting a prescription for my nausea. It was getting bad. I was throwing up a meal at least once a day...and not always at home. I'd had enough. Nothing else seemed to work for me.

Fortunately the practice I'm going to had recommended the prescription and readily called it into my pharmacy. Unfortunately when I got to the pharmacy I found they only had enough medication for a 3 day supply. I took it, knowing it would at least get me through our weekend away.

This stuff rocks. We drove all the way to Columbus without me getting sick or even feeling like I needed to get sick. I was able to keep down food and even eat a bit more. It was easier to drink things and keep my prenatal vitamins down too. Ahh, relief.

But I knew my time was running short. When I took my last pill Sunday afternoon on the way home, I called the pharmacy to see if they'd filled the rest of my prescription. They had not. And since Monday was a holiday the shipment wouldn't be in until Tuesday. I asked about filling this somewhere else. Maybe even the same pharmacy on the other end of town. No. They had to keep it to give me the rest of the partial.

Ugh. Knowing that I'd had 3 days of relief, then had to go through 2 more days of feeling sick was not a great though. But it didn't seem there were any other options.

Sure enough by Monday afternoon I was feeling blah again. And yesterday was a really rough day. I got sick once and felt terrible all day.

Matt stopped in the evening to pick up my prescription and they hadn't filled it yet. He had to wait for an hour in the store while they filled it. I don't think I can thank him enough. Now I'm back on the medication and hoping that I can function again. It feels good to be feeling a bit better. And I think in a few weeks I'll be past this tough phase anyway.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Testing Fun

My new OB, or rather the LPN that I saw at my first appointment, ordered me to get some blood-work done before my next appointment. I have no problems with all the blood-work.

Here's what the problem is...she also wants me to go through the 2 hour glucose test now. This typically happens later in pregnancy to test for gestational diabetes. Usually they do a 1 hour test and depending on results they may order a 2 hour test.

There are some reasons why they want to do this now:
  1. I had a BIG baby last time. They are worried that I'll have another that big. And she seemed shocked that I delivered (vaginally) a 9lb 11oz baby with no complications or major episiotomy.  (I did need one, but it was minor, and I healed really quickly.) Does it help knowing that I never even took a drop of pain reliever after I had my son. Nothing. I felt pretty good.
  2. I am overweight...obese in fact. I think they are worried that I have diabetes issues without pregnancy that could cause problems. This has never been a known problem, but I understand the concern.
Here's why I don't want to do this:

  1. I have to fast. I don't do well when I don't eat these days.
  2. I have to sit there at the lab for 2 hours.
  3. I'm in the midst of terrible "morning"/all-day sickness.
  4. And eww, I'll probably have to drink that nasty orange stuff. Not even sure I will keep it down.
  5. I have to go in the mornings, when it's hard to get around when I'm feeling like this.
I think I'll be luck if I make it through the whole thing without throwing up or passing out. I did decide it would be best to take someone along, for back up if I do get sick, or for a ride if I feel faint. Matt offered to take time off from work, but I asked my mom to come down. I figured if anyone can distract me for a few hours it would be her.

I'm just praying that all goes well. I want to have the test done to see if there really is a problem. I want a healthy pregnancy, and if I have to do this to have one then I will. Of course I hope the results are good with no further problems. (Then I won't have to do the glucose test again for a while...and only the 1 hour one next time.)

Have any of you had a hard time with the glucose test when pregnant? Any tips for me. Think of me in the morning if you will. Thanks!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Oh Baby!

I'm still having a bit of trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that I'm actually pregnant. Of course the morning all-day sickness is a sure tell, but I'm still in a little shock. Don't get me wrong, we were trying to get pregnant, and I'm thrilled that I finally am. It's just that I had come to a point where I really didn't think it was going to happen. I didn't think it was a possibility, and I was already accepting of that when this news came. It's all very exciting!

Since we thought we may not have more children, we got rid of a bunch of our baby items last summer. We no longer have a crib, car seat, stroller, and more. At first this started to panic me, but I'm realizing that I do still have quite a bit. And since this is most likely our last baby, I may just try to borrow certain items from family and friends. Plus when I think about the baby things that I do still have, we have a good start.

I think part of why this pregnancy isn't sinking in as quickly is the way this new OB does things. Since I am confident of my last period, they see no reason for a dating ultrasound. They are going by my dates, and there will likely be only one ultrasound at 20 weeks. By 10 weeks in my last pregnancy I had already had 3 ultrasounds. We saw a lot of the baby and heard the heartbeat often. Although, a lot of that was because of an early medical issue. I suppose I should just be thankful that I haven't had any major issues this far, and hold tight for a few more weeks.

I am 9 weeks pregnant today. My next OB appointment is at 12 weeks, so only 3 weeks away. They will listen for a heartbeat at that appointment. I can't wait! Before my appointment I need to get all the necessary blood draws. I could have done it before now, but they've also decided to send me for a 2 hour glucose test at the same time. I do not want to sit in a waiting room for 2 hours with Zachariah, so I'm waiting until he goes to school. My mom is coming along with me, then I can have all that done next week. I'm taking her along, because I'm worried about not eating all night, then most of the morning. I'm worried about getting sick while there, or passing out (which I almost did once this week already).

So far I've had a lot of morning all-day sickness. Some days have been better than others. Last weekend was rough for me. I got sick several times (once in the car on the way home) and had heaved so much that my stomach muscles were cramping. It was miserable. But by Monday I felt a lot better. Unfortunately while in the waiting room for Zachariah's ENT appointment, I almost passed out. I felt it coming. I thought I'd be OK, but then I got shaky, weak and really light-headed. I asked them if I could lay down, so they got me back into a room and reclined a chair. That seemed to do the trick. After I cooled off, drank a bunch of water and ate a few crackers, I felt better. I still called Matt to come pick us up, because I didn't want to drive while feeling like that. Fortunately I haven't felt that way since. (Passing out caused a lot of drama for me early in pregnancy last time, so I really don't want that to happen.)

I seem to be feeling a little better since then, though. I still don't feel 100%, but I can say it's gotten a little better. I'm hoping it will all go away in a few weeks like it did before.

Baby names! I realized this morning that I've done very little thinking about baby names. I usually love to think about this from the start, and last time I was still thinking about it when he was born. Maybe it's because we already have a girls name we really like. I don't know if it's worth looking, because I think I'll find others I like better but I don't think I'll get Matt to budge on his pick. We had a hard time agreeing on boys names last time, so I don't really want to deal with that right now. I suppose this is why I haven't really dug into baby names. It will come. Maybe if/when we find out what we're having in a few months, I'll be a little more into names.

What a crazy few weeks it's been. Between doctor appointments, other activities and getting ready for school we've been a little nuts. My feeling sick all the time has really hindered getting things around for back to school too. I didn't buy a bunch of new clothes this year. (I know to start he'll wear summer clothes anyway.) I have most of his school supplies. Did I mention that our Open House for school is Sunday...and school starts Tuesday? I think he has enough to start Tuesday, and I'll get the rest organized and ready as I can. We can already see how this new little one is changing our lives. And I know there will be so many more changes to come. I can't wait!!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Surprise...Our Big News

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know. For the rest of you...





SURPRISE! I'm pregnant!



We just shared the news with our family this weekend. They are just as excited for us. I thinking wondering if we'd ever be able to have more children at all makes this to much more surprising and exciting. 

Baby #2 is due March 28th. I am 7 weeks pregnant and feeling all the nausea I should (or did last time at least). Zachariah can't wait to be a big brother and meet his new little sister or brother (he says he prefers sister).

Friday, August 3, 2012

Busy Busy Busy



I actually do think about blogging here from time to time. It just never seems to happen. ;)

How have you all been? I feel a little disconnected. I do appreciate those of you who are on Twitter a lot, because I am too. Then I know what's going on from day to day. Not that my life is really that exciting. It has been a really busy summer, though. Here are some of the highlights.

End of school (Zachariah finished Kindergarten)
Vacation (Panama City Beach, FL)
Power outage (3 full days!)
My birthday (32!)
Week with my parents (due to power outage & stayed for 4th of July)
T-ball
Tearing out & putting in new kitchen flooring (still not quiet finished)
Got a new camera (Nikon 5100)
Anniversary trip (12 years ... Shipshewana, IN)

That pretty much brings us to the present. The t-ball season is finally over. It got drug out an extra week due to one week of high temperatures and storms that cancelled all the games. This makes it seem less hectic, since we don't have to be away several evenings each week.

Matt's been riding his new bicycle a lot this summer. He's participated in a few charity bike rides and other things too. This weekend he's riding 50 miles in a local ride. He enjoys it, but he's usually beat after all that riding.

Zachariah is enjoying the summer. We've managed to squeeze in trips to parks, movie theaters, and much more since he's been out of school. I can't believe that he's finished with Kindergarten and starts first grade in about 3 weeks. We've been stocking up on supplies and looking for new clothes to start the year. (His shirts that fit a few months ago are suddenly too short on him!)

And right now we have lots to look forward to. Some other trips we'd like to take. School starting. Family happenings. A camp-out reunion next weekend and more!

I know I'm busy with my other blog - PS Mom Reviews, but I'm going to try to post here a little more. Be sure to check back, so I can share other things going on. How has your summer been? What's been your favorite part?

Monday, May 7, 2012

Recent Happenings

I haven't purposefully abandoned this blog. I am still blogging (all the time) at PS Mom Reviews. And if you really want to keep up with me Twitter and Facebook are the best places for that. Or my other blog also has links to my fan FB page, Pinterest, G+ and more that I do keep up with.

I think I've found it too much to keep up with two blogs. But the hard part is that I don't want to give up this blog. This is where I started. This is like the old house I don't want to sell. It's where my son grew up. It's also where I feel I can share things that I don't want to post on my other blog. So, even though I don't use it much, I still keep it around.

And I still value you, my friends and readers. I may not comment as often on your blogs, but I do visit from time to time to check in on you. And if you're connected with me on Twitter or FB I chat a lot there.

Zachariah is finishing out his kindergarten year now. He has just over 3 weeks left now. I can't believe that he's practically a 1st grader now. He's been through a lot this last year. Most of it pertaining to illness. If you've been around for a while, you know that my son has been a VERY healthy child. Up until Dec 2011 he had never been to the doctor for being sick.

When December hit he started coming home with various things from school. He had an ear infection, then after the first of the year it was tonsilitis or strep throat. And there was another ear infection in there too. Then more strep, more strep, more strep. Every time he came off an antibiotic we were back at the doctor again. It got so bad, I could count how many days until our next doctor appointment.

After this went on for months, they finally decided he'd been seen enough times to see a specialist. We were off to the ENT. They scheduled surgery rather quickly. We were mostly concerned about his tonsils, but learned that his ears were worse than anyone had realized. So he had his tonsils and adnoids removed, as well as tubes put into his ears.

Since the surgery...we have a new child. He's back to his old healthy self. He healed quickly. His follow up ENT appointment revealed that one of the tubes had already come out (the fastest she's ever seen in her 30 year career), but it looked clear so it was good. Now that the tonsils are gone the strep and tonsilitis has stopped too. No we just spend this summer keeping his head out of the water since he still has one tube left.

Zachariah was great through all the illness and surgery. It just got to be too normal. But he's doing so great now. I'm glad to have my happy, healthy guy back.

And now...he's got his first loose tooth. Or as he woul say, finally! I think he's one of the few in his class to still have all his baby teeth. But he just turned 6 in March, so really he's on course. I just think it makes him seem so grown up.

At school the past month has been a bit crazy. Their teacher (who we adore) sent home a note a few months ago explaining that her father had cancer. It looked bad, but he was going to receive treatment. She knew that she would be taking some time off to be with him through some of these things.

She missed a day here and there. A few weeks back she needed to take a whole week off, because her father had suffered major problems from his cancer treatment. Then 1 week became two, then turned into 3. I knew he had to be bad, but there was little communication from her or the school. They were great about reassuring us that the class was being taken care of, learning lots, and adjusting well to the many substitute teachers they've had.

Today we got a note home. Her father passed away from complications from his cancer treatment. So sad! :( I don't know how old he is. I did meet the teacher's mom, and she's probably close in age to my parents (who are in the early 50s). The teacher is my age, so that makes sense. I'm guessing her dad was 50-something. How terrible for her and the family. Her parents were divorced, and I don't know if he was remarried. But it's still terrible for her and her siblings and the rest of their loved ones. I am definitely praying for her.

Through this all Zachariah's class seems to be handling things well. I do feel sorry for them being away from their teacher so much. It would be different if she was taking maternity leave and had prepared for that. But this has been really unexpected. She's been into school a few times to get things organized and ready, so I know that's helped. But I do have to feel bad for these kids too.

The note we received today says that she is expecting to be back in the classroom by next Monday. I'm sure there is a lot to deal with this week. But I'm sure she would like (and probably needs) to finish out this school year with her students. I wish things could have ended differently for her. It's such a sad loss. (And I guess it hits close to home with the age too.)

Not a great note to end the school year on, but I'm sure everything will be OK for the kids. Zachariah understands what happened and seems to be taking it well. If you don't mind, please say a prayer for Mrs. Davis and her family this week.