Thankful

We are now 11 days away from the big day!! I spent a lot of the weekend feeling impatient and sad that Andrew was not here yet. Saturday was the day I had guessed for his arrival. I must admit that I tried to cheat a little. I went to On the Border and had some super spicy jalapenos and I walked around Babies R Us for a while. Brian took Jacob to run some errands, so I had a lot of the afternoon to myself.

I had a decent amount of energy on Sunday. Brian let me sleep in both days which was so nice! I did a few things around the house and then took a nap when Jacob went down. Then he and I got ready and ran an errand or two. And then we all went to dinner as a family. I'm trying to eat up these times because I know it's all about to end for a little while.

This morning I woke up and knew I was going into work late. Brian mentioned to me that he thought Jacob had pink eye. I had noticed it the day before but didn't say anything to Brian (I work very hard to not be the over-worried mother). When I saw how crusty Jacob's eye was, it was the first time in a long time that I was thankful Andrew had not been born yet. So we kept Jacob home from school, and I took him to the doctor this morning. When I took him last week, they told me that he had an ear infection in his left ear. We chose not to give him the meds they prescribed for it because we've read and heard from the pharmacist that medicines for ear infections don't work most of the time. I don't remember any other details about it, but Jacob NEVER complains about his ears. That was another reason we decided to not medicate him for it. Anyway, it turns out that the drainage from his eye is actually from the gunk in his ear. It's the way his body is relieving the pressure from his ear. Crazy, huh? So we got a stronger prescription for his ear and nothing for his eye; it is pink eye, but it's not pink eye.

Anyway, after the doctor visit, we went to Target to get his prescription filled. He had a blowout like no other while we were there. It's been a while since that happened to me while we were out. After I cleaned him up we picked up a few new clothes, a bag for him to take to Matthew's house, and a ball for him to take to Matthew's house. Oh my goodness...he was so excited about going to Matthew's house, and I tried to make it clear that he probably wasn't going until Baby Andrew arrived. He is still talking about going to Matthew's house! It's really pretty sweet. Then we came home, had lunch, and took a nap together. Then it was time for us to get ready to see my doctor. He was a huge hit at the office! I will go back in a week, and I think my doctor said it was my last visit. How exciting! Anyway, I've only grown 1 cm since my last visit, and I'm now up to 170lbs. I think that's almost 40 lbs I've gained. It's all belly and water weight. I cannot wait to bust out the Wii Fit when Andrew is born! After my appointment Jacob and I came home, started some laundry, and cooked dinner. Then Brian came home and I completely pooped out. My feet are so swollen tonight! But Jacob and I had the best day! He only fussed a little when I told him he could not color until he picked up his blocks. That didn't happen until I was cooking dinner.

A note for the family: The closer we get to the 11th, the less likely it is that Andrew and I will make it to Easter. I'm starting to hope that he waits until the 10th because then the nurses can take care of me while Brian and Jacob head out there for a few hours on Saturday. PLEASE feel free to come and visit us at the hospital. I will be there for a few days. I'd say I'll be up for some visitors starting Friday evening thru the rest of my stay. My surgery is scheduled for noon, and I know it will be 3:00 or so before I get to try to feed Andrew for the first time. I'd like to see all of the out-of-towners and I want you to know that you're more than welcome to come visit! On the other hand, I know that hospitals suck so I understand if you don't want to spend your time in Texas at the hospital. :)

What a Week!

Monday morning around 3:30, I started having contractions. So we started timing them. For an hour they were almost exactly 6.5 minutes apart. YAY! Then we decide to try to rest for a while. Well, I couldn't sleep at all. I started thinking about work (I had my computer with me), so I got up to send a couple of emails. Then I took a shower. The contractions were still coming. The day before I had false labor off and on all day, so I knew the ones I was having Monday morning were real.

We took Jacob to school and went to the hospital. We got there around 9:00 I guess. They hooked me up to all of the machines and asked me a million questions. They monitored my contractions for 2 hours and determined it was false labor again. :/ The contractions were not hard enough or quite consistent enough.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I decided to take Jacob to the doctor for this cough he has had for a couple of weeks. He woke up at 4:30 yesterday morning and it took him over an hour to get back to sleep because of the cough. I conveniently scheduled the appointment for the early afternoon so that I could work half of the day and be free the rest of the day.

Today I was hoping to wake up in horrible pain so that we could meet Andrew. No such luck, but the day is young.

Officially on Baby Watch

Jacob and I went to Red Oak last night to hang out at my parents' house. I was tired yesterday, but all in all I felt pretty good. The weather has been really nice around here, and I love to let him run around at their house. So we played outside for a couple of hours last night. He had a blast! I was looking forward to letting him run around again this morning (we spent the night).

He woke up at 3:30 this morning (sadly I was already awake). I put him in bed with me because I was sure I could get him right back to sleep. No such luck. He didn't go back down until 4:30. Then I woke up at 5:30 and 6:30 when he had a dream and started kicking and whining like crazy. It's funny...at 6:30 he actually said, "stinky." We got up for good at 7:30.

At 6:30 I was extremely uncomfortable. I felt all of this stretching around the front of my hips. Then it would move to the back of my hips. It didn't feel like contractions at all, but it didn't really go away until 9:00 or so this morning. I've had the same discomfort throughout the day. Andrew feels extremely heavy, and I know that there is only so much further he can fall before he falls out. So I tried not to do much of anything today.

Tonight I lined up a middle of the night contact...my sister! None of us have seen her change a diaper, but she says she's not really afraid of it. :) So now I have someone to call to come over and stay with Jacob should I go into labor in the middle of the night! I don't have much figured out after that, but we'll work it out eventually.

You have all officially been put on Baby Watch Notice! I'll keep you posted!

Baby Update

You may have read in previous blogs that I am very swollen these days. I do not remember feeling this bad during my pregnancy with Jacob. And really the worst part is the swelling in my hands.

Saturday I had a great day! Brian pretty much took care of Jacob all day, and I got to rest a lot. We had a wedding to go to that night, so I wanted to be sure I did not overdo it during the day. We went to the wedding with some friends, and then we went out to eat when we left. I wanted Mexican food so bad, so we stopped at On the Border on our way home. It was so good! I was seriously thinking about getting another chicken burrito to go so that I could have it on Sunday for lunch. It's a good thing I didn't. I woke up Sunday, and my hands hurt so bad! I could not do anything! I was seriously out of bed for a total of maybe 2 hours all day. At times, it felt like my hands were going to crack open because of the swelling. It was horrible! And I could not believe it! I felt so good Saturday night! I had a sudden burst of energy, and I did not want to go to sleep at all. So I soaked my hands in epsom salt that evening, and it relieved the swelling for all of 30 minutes. Then Brian and I discussed changing my diet to try to cut down on the amount of sodium I have each day. We didn't have much at the house because we've been buying all of this stuff to make life more convenient. Convenience = High Sodium. I went to the store yesterday and I looked at a couple of things. A Lean Cuisine meal has 45% of your daily intake of sodium. The most shocking was a sandwich that is sold with the lunch meats....64%. Holy Crap! So I have become a rabbit for the rest of my pregnancy. I can have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I can also have 1-2 Tbsp of Queso dip and 15 target brand organic tortilla chips. I am half Bereuter....I gotta have chips somewhere in my diet! And, surprisingly, Coke does not have a lot of sodium in it! So I still get to enjoy 1 or 2 each day. I'm counting down the days until I can have another Oldtimer with cheese. :)

I went to the doctor yesterday, and I was so excited when I left! He walked into the room, started talking immediately, and got to work. First he measured my belly. I have grown 4 cm in the last 10 days (and I only gained 2 lbs). So now I'm at 39 cm at 35 weeks. He said, "Do you feel like your baby is growing because you should. He's had quite a growth spurt." Then he said, "Let's see...you're scheduled for surgery on April 10. Do you think you're going to make it?" I told him no, and immediately asked him if he thought I would make it. He said, "Well, based on your history and your size, I would say no. Don't hang your hat on that, but I would really be surprised if he stays in until April 10." He has said this once before, but I had not had a chance to bitch about my hands or my discomfort, and he was just different about it this time. We made our next appointment for March 30, but he said he would not be surprised if I had the baby before my next appointment! SWEET!!!

Getting Organized

Last weekend my mom came over for a little while to help me do some things around the house to get ready for the new baby. I just cannot keep up at all these days. I feel like I have a ton of energy, but it is zapped out of me in no time. Very frustrating!

So we worked to declutter a little bit around the house, and we washed all of the baby clothes. I had forgotten about the "new baby smell." This weekend we are going to run a few errands and work on more organization in Jacob's room and our closet. We have so much stuff that we can take to Goodwill, but I never make it to the closet when I start working around the house. Oh! And we're going to finish my bathroom, too! I cannot wait!

And yesterday I had a maid service at the house to deep clean. They did a pretty good job. It was not perfect by any stretch, but they served their purpose, and it wasn't too much money. I never thought I'd do that. I got to catch a quick cat nap while they were there.

I have modified my hours at work. I'm going to take off 2 afternoons a week to help me slow down a little. I started it this week, and it worked out pretty well.

Jacob is doing really well in his new class. Last night at dinner, he was naming his teachers for Brian and me. It seems like he has been jabbering a lot more since he started in that class. We received a note from his old teacher (the one who is not his friend) and she says she will miss his dance moves. Jacob can feel the beat in music, but I think he has some major white boy moves. He just looks so funny to me when he dances! My mom told me this week that he really can dance and we should nurture that. I guess I hurt her feelings by making fun of his dancing. :) I dance every morning while I change his diaper and most of the time he will bob his little head along with the beat.

There really isn't any news about Andrew. My belly measures 35 cm. I only gained 1 pound in the last 2 weeks, which thrilled my doctor! I am retaining water like crazy! My right hand is almost completely numb, and my left hand is starting to get sore while I use it. I am sporting those lovely cankles, and my face is starting to swell. Everything is fine, though. My blood pressure and other stats are perfectly normal. My doctor assured me yesterday that I'll drop the water weight quickly when the baby is born; I did not drop it quickly with Jacob. I've gained 32 lbs. total since I got pregnant which is just a little more than I gained with Jacob. I did enroll BOTH boys in daycare for the fall and summer this morning. It was a little strange because Andrew is not even born yet.

Alright...enough blabbing for now. Can you tell it is Friday and I'm just not that into working?!?!