This Pregnancy and other Happenings

THIS PREGNANCY:

36 weeks - 2-22-14

For the past couple months, I lie in bed many nights and mornings…and sometimes even in the middle of the night thinking of this blog post. When I’m driving to/from work, I think I should get a voice recorder so I could get some thoughts that I could type up later – but that has been the issue is finding the energy to just sit down and type it all up. Even before I was pregnant, I haven’t had the mental capacity to just sit down and focus on my thoughts and now that I have the exhaustion that comes with growing another human, any time I have to think of writing an entry is fleeting.

As I start this post, I’m sitting next to Mary on the couch while she watches one of her new favorite movies (more on that later). I’m caught up on work, taxes are done – I could be cleaning or tidying up the house, but – well, that job may never be done.

So! This pregnancy. I suppose since the post about coming to peace with just one, it may seem strange that I am pregnant. I will be honest, we tried for a bit. I felt it wasn’t meant to be, but at least we could say we tried. About the same time the reality of money was starting to hit me, the cost of pre-school, ballet, other activities for Mary, plus needs that house was having. I felt comfortable where we were. The next month, I was pregnant. SURPRISE!

I had mixed feelings at first. Same as I did with Mary. But I realize that clearly this little soul is meant to be since she beat all odds and come to be when we weren’t even trying…we are taking measures that there are no more miracles in our house :)

At times I feel sad that Mary won't remember this time when it was just the three of us and she got all the attention - but at the same time, i think it is a good thing that she will always think it's been the 4 of us. I try to shower her with as much attention as possible right now and she is definitely drinking it up!

Just as with Mary, everything has been pretty text book. Second trimester, I felt great – lots of energy, worked a bunch. When the third trimester rolled around, I was shocked that it all seemed to be going a little fast.

I had my last ultrasound this week and this baby girl is measuring the exact same size that Mary weighed when she was born. This makes me a little nervous. At the time I was 35 weeks, with 6 weeks left and she could gain half a pound a week…so I may actually need some pain killers after this one is born.

I just started getting pretty uncomfortable the past two weeks and really, really uncomfortable last week. Sleeping, eating, breathing, getting out of the car has all become difficult. Heartburn is an always occurring – if my stomach is empty: Heartburn, if I eat too much: Heartburn. At work the agency is on two different floors – this last week, when people say “come on up and see me.” I ask if there is ANY chance they could possibly come down to my desk instead.

I constantly remind myself how after Mary was born, I missed being pregnant, so I’m trying to enjoy all the positive things. This little suger-booger is quite the wiggle worm and seems to be pretty opinionated about how I’m sitting. She Hates when I cross my arms and rest them on the top of my tummy, she kicks like mad until I move them. When sleeping, if I’m lying on a side she doesn’t approve of, again, she wiggles and jabs until I move. I was talking to a co-worker and got a jab so startling, I jumped mid-sentence. For a few weeks it seemed she always got the hiccups at 4am, which I think is pretty cute.

I’m starting to get nervous about her arrival – I need to get my hospital bag packed, download some more music for L&D. Brian is working feverishly to finish the downstairs office/guestroom. We figure baby girl and I will spend some time in that room when she first arrives so Brian and Mary can sleep a little better and leave Brian with the energy to deal with a toddler all day.


CHRISTMAS 2013:

Christmas Morning 2013

I have to say, Christmas 2013 was one of the best I think I’ve ever had. Mary was fantastic. She really “got” the whole thing, from Jesus to Santa, but what was nice is she didn’t get out of control, crazy-hyper about it. It was a wonderful discovery. She absolutely loved the carols and learned all the words to Rudolph and Jingle Bells – two months later, she will still break out into one of these songs in the middle of the grocery store.

NEXT in line to see Santa after a 1 hour wait!

We visited Santa, I wasn't sure how that was going to go, so we wrote a letter just in case Mary didn't want to sit on his lap. After an hour wait in line, she was very excited and actually sat on his lap...not sure if she was thrilled about it at the time, but that is all she talked about for the rest of the week :)

Big Girl bed in the living room - she warmed up to it as the day went on (and she got the other presents she wished for)

 Mary got a big girl bed from Santa, which I thought she would be a little more excited about, but it turns out she really only likes her “tiny bed”. The big girl bed is all set up in her room with pink Hawaiian sheets. Mary thinks it’s great to jump on, but when it comes to sleeping or even reading, she only wants the tiny bed. I’m not going to push it just yet, she has lots of changes coming.

We had our Holiday Open House again this year, and it was a lot of fun. The last time we had it, we really didn’t have any friends of our own yet and it was really just a way for all of my parents friends to come see the house. We had it on a Sunday night for two reasons 1) I wanted people to be able to come and holiday schedules fill up so quickly, I thought Sunday was the best bet and 2) Even though I wanted people to come, I didn’t want them to stay late J. Thinking people would go to work the next day, I thought they would all scoot out – but at 10:30, we still had 12 or so people and I had to excuse myself to bed.


THIS WINTER:

To say the least this winter has been a little trying – in fact, it downright sucks. We started having below zero days before Christmas. A little early in my mind. In the beginning of January we had our first “Polar Vortex” – the first I had ever heard that term in all my time growing up here. -45 degrees with the wind chill. Schools were closed, trains delayed, cars not starting, It was damp the day before, so when it all of a sudden dropped so dramatically, it led to really just disgusting conditions. Thankfully our power stayed on – we stayed inside for two whole days. Since then we have had two other “polar vortex” spells.

On top of that we are in the top 5 in the history of snow accumulation. I think the novelty of snow-blowing has worn off on Brian. There is literally nowhere to put all the snow – Mountains of snow in parking lots and the end of driveways probably won’t melt until April. Unfortunately it hasn’t been fun snow – it’s all powder that turns into ice, so no snowmen inhabit our yard…

In addition to the weather, we have been a pretty sick family since Christmas. Not fun when I’m pregnant and can’t take anything that would really help me. Poor Mary was reeeeeaaally sick a few weeks ago. She got a fever in the middle of the night one night, we gave her Tylenol and she was fine. As soon as it would wear off, her fever was worse than before. This trend continued until the Sunday before her birthday when she woke up with 105.2 fever. Scary for mom, the doctor came into the office for us that morning, but of course, by the time we got there, she had her Tylenol and was feeling fine…mystery! Even though she had been eating/drinking normally, her throat was red and swollen…yet she tested negative for strep. We went back a few days later and the doctor said it may have even been Mono! What? I guess it has different symptoms in little ones than in teens. She is feeling much better now, but has a gross cough that we can’t shake.

Also this last week, I had a head cold so horrible, I finally took time off work. Instead of logging in from home, like I normally would, I told the office I need coverage. After that, I’m finally feeling better and Brian’s throat starts hurting….We are all looking forward to spring!


MARY IS 3!

Special Birthday Breakfast!

 While we had a big party last year, I thought this year we could just invite a few little friends to a Birthday Playdate. The plan was to go to the Rainbow Playcenter Showroom (the big redwood swing sets that are in so many backyards around here). They allow kids in to play during the day – I thought that would be fun and then we were going to Country Donuts (Mary’s favorite). Unfortunately since she was so sick, we had to cancel. I still plan on rescheduling, but her cough is so rough if she runs for 5 min, she coughs for 10…soon we’ll celebrate.

YAY! All of us in one picture!

On her actual Birthday, it was her Valentine’s party at pre-school making it extra fun! That night, we had Marmee and Grampy over for pizza, cake and presents. It was really perfect J

I think we’re mostly caught up now…onward.