2 more days!

Exactly 2 days from now, I will be at the dr's & hopefully hearing the baby's heartbeat! I was right; I'm getting more nervous as the day draws nearer. Thankfully I have faith that no matter what happens, God is in control, but I still wish that appointment would hurry up & get here so I know if the baby is o.k. or not. I don't feel very pregnant anymore & keep thinking I should be feeling some stretching pains if the baby is supposed to triple in size between 9-12 weeks. On the flip side, I felt kind of sleepy this afternoon & was able to take a short nap & my stomach feels a little off, so maybe all is well.

The kids keep me plenty busy though, so that makes the time fly by. Joshua is now crawling like "normal" (as opposed to his paraplegic drag--using his arms & dragging his lower body along behind him) & it's fun to watch, but now I really have to be careful since he's getting into EVERYTHING. Time to do a double-check of the babyproofing throughout the house.

I'm also experiencing some shoulder pain. I have a feeling it's the rotator cuff. It's painful when I do something as simple as unload the dishwasher. Anytime I have to lift my arm up or forward, it hurts. I think I've discovered the main cause of it today though--getting the baby into his carseat seemed to be the most painful. I'm short, so lifting him up into the van but tilting him back a little so he doesn't bonk his head on the top of the van as I put him in turns out to be challenging & apparently is damaging my right shoulder. I discovered that I am actually good at vacuuming left-handed. I might have to tell my husband though, that doing the dishes & cleaning the bathrooms is just too much for my poor arm to handle!;) Yeah, right! Here's hoping it resolves on its own because between all the kids' appointments this upcoming month (Joshua has his pre-op appointment on the 19th, surgery for his blocked tear duct on the 21st, Nathan has his 5 yr well visit late June) and my OB appointments, it's crazy around here & the last thing I have time for is fitting in another dr's appointment for myself. More than that, it's finding someone to watch the kids for me so I can get to an appointment...that is the hard part!

Nothing to report

There has been nothing going on. Just waiting for my appointment (only 6 days away!) and hoping all is going well!

9th week

I hit 9 weeks yesterday...I cannot wait til June 1st when I can hopefully hear the baby's heartbeat & can finally relax & enjoy the pregnancy! Once again I'm excited for that appointment, but I know as it draws closer I am going to be a nervous wreck. Usually my blood pressure is a little higher for that appointment & I explain to the nurses why that is...and they usually do their very best to try to find the heartbeat as soon as possible to put me at ease.

Tomorrow is my 8th wedding anniversary...and to celebrate, I'm getting my bloodwork done. Yippee! I asked my husband what he was planning for our anniversary & he tried to throw it on me--"Isn't it your year to plan something?" I told him, "Well, since you didn't do anything for Mother's Day, I figured you could plan something for our anniversary instead!":) Actually, I know we won't be doing anything as we don't have a babysitter. So maybe we'll get the kids off to bed & get Applebees to Go or something like it. No matter what, I can tell you that I am not going to be cooking a meal!

I probably put on a few pounds over the weekend. I wanted Arby's once again & so Bryn ran out & got exactly what I wanted: TWO cheddar melts, curly fries and a vanilla shake! Oink, oink! And I ate it all even though I was pretty full after just one sandwich. I paid for it with a too-full stomach for the next 3 hours...I forget that food digests more slowly when you're pregnant! Or maybe I should say, I chose to ignore that fact and then had to deal with it later!

I also learned on Friday night that a good college friend of mine passed away. It was a blessing though--due to a car accident our senior year, she had been in a vegetative state. 9 & 1/2 years is a LONG time to be in that condition. Although I miss her, I'm happy that she is now in heaven & no longer stuck in a wheelchair & unable to communicate. Love & miss you, Lori!

Growing!

Well, this week the baby is supposed to grow from about 1/2" to 1" & I think s/he has done all that growing in the past 12+ hours! I have been feeling growing pains consistently since a little before dinner last night & all through the night & even this morning. Of course I find it reassuring, so I don't mind the pain!:)

Shared the news with my family!

And it went much better than I'd hoped. I had my mom read my little poem. At first she didn't want to, but I asked her to please just read it. So she began to read & when she got the part about, "surprise, there's one other!" she said she was thinking, "Well, which name did she forget to include?" Then as she got a little further she realized what it meant & kind of stumbled on the last little bit of the poem as the news sunk in!:) They all congratulated us. Mom said that she is very happy for us, although she does have her "concerns" about it. I told her to just relax & enjoy her role as grandma. Leave the worrying to us. Dad joked that this Christmas will be different, but that mom can prepare one less serving of dinner because I'll be eating hospital food. Ha ha. I informed him that I'm always induced a week early, so this babe will arrive BEFORE Christmas & I will definitely be eating dinner with them & I will definitely NOT be hosting Christmas at my house!;)

Overall Mother's day was really nice. My "present" from Bryn was sleeping in til 8:30 when I felt good & rested. He apologized because he didn't get me a card or anything. I told him that was o.k.--after all, he didn't get me a card last year, either. (What's up with this crap?!) Oh well, I value sleep more than a card. He DID write me a little poem (aren't we just the creative couple?!) that was really nice & I appreciated that. It was good to see my brother & sister-in-law & their 2 kids. My sister-in-law gave me some of her maternity clothes. Wow, so between the gal at church, my friend Sara, and now my sister-in-law, I might not have to pull out any of MY maternity clothes!;) It's great how generous they've been with me & I hope they all realize how much I appreciate their helping me out!

Was thinking about what kinds of new baby stuff we're going to need for this kid. We'll need a new infant carseat as I believe they recommend you only use them for 5 years before replacing them. We'll also need to get another crib as Joshua will not likely be out of his crib at 17 months of age. I know there are some nice cribs at Babies R Us for about $100; we don't need anything fancy, just something that functions & is safe. And, if it's a boy, we are going to need to buy new boy clothes since my 2 other boys were summer babies. I kind of hope that it's another girl so that she can wear all of Megan's clothes...save us some money!

Part 2

There is a living baby inside of me!:) At first I didn't see the heartbeat & my heart just dropped, but the ultrasound tech showed me that there was indeed a small flickering heart beating away! What a relief! 156 beats per minute. I measured 7w4d & was given a new due date of 12/24/06...so I was really close with my guesstimate! As always, the baby will be induced sometime in the 39th week...it'd be fun if it was on the 20th. Then my kids' birthdays would be in various months, but have consecutive dates: 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st! We shall see. For now I'm just focusing on the fact that I really do need to absorb this pregnancy in my mind (seeing the baby made it more real than just 2 lines on a pregnancy test!), and feel releived that he/she is doing o.k. at the moment. My OB is great. He joked about how I alone was keeping him in business. He's always been so professional, but during my last pregnancy he joked around more & today it was kind of like seeing an old friend; a very relaxed yet professional relationship. I'm supposed to go back in for bloodwork at some point in the next couple of weeks & then go back to see him in about 2 & 1/2-3 weeks to listen for the baby's heartbeat. I was a bit surprised that he thinks we will be able to hear the heartbeat at 10 weeks along, I was under the impression that until you hit 12 weeks it's more questionable that you'll hear it.

The garage sale was a joke. It is so cold here today that barely anyone was out. I think we made about $30. Let's hope Saturday is a bit more promising. (I'm not running it tomorrow on my own.)

DH was so wonderful last night. After I finished pricing our garage sale items, I told him I was craving Arby's. He went out at 9:45 & got me a roast beef n' cheddar melt along with some curly fries. Mmmmm, did that hit the spot! Tonight we're going to have pizza after we put the kidlets to bed! I'm off my "sweet" kick at the moment, now "wholesome" meals like Arby's & pizza are sounding great! Oh, that reminds me, the dr said one of the reasons why I might be so hungry is because not only am I growing a baby, but I'm also nursing my other baby...between all that & taking care of the kids, my body needs as much energy as it can get.

Part 1

Well, my appointment is 2 hours from now & the anxiety has kicked in! Last night I felt nothing but excited for my appointment. This morning I woke up around 5:00 & was unable to go back to sleep due to nerves. I don't know why I am getting so anxious--even with the baby I miscarried, I would've seen a heartbeat at this stage, but that doesn't seem to comfort me right now.

We're having a garage sale today & the weather doesn't look too promising--very windy & cloudy. Just as long as it doesn't rain!

ALL the kids slept through the night last night without waking up one single time. It was heaven!:)

I'll be back to post my update in a few hours! Appreciate any thoughts & prayers!

Two days & counting!

Not much longer until my ultrasound! I'm getting really excited...and of course a little anxious. A couple nights ago I had some stretching type of pains so I do believe all is well in there, but until I see it for myself I guess I won't believe it.

My appetite has been ridiculous lately. I'm probably about 7 or 7 & 1/2 weeks along by now, so not very far. I can't say I've been starving during the day, but by dinnertime I am usually pretty hungry & eat until I am full. Tonight, just 3 hours after finishing dinner, my stomach started to feel bad & I realized that it was rumbling & growling away like I hadn't even had a meal recently. Nothing sounded good, but I knew I'd feel better if I ate & I was obviously hungry from the sound/feel of it. So I ate 2 bowls of cereal & now feel better. 2 nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night with an empty, hungry stomach, which also has never happened in any of my other pregnancies. I don't know if I'm eating less in general throughout the day that it's hitting me or what the deal is. Doesn't seem I should be that hungry when my pregnancy has really only just begun! Guess it just goes to show that each pregnancy is different!

I'll post ASAP after my ultrasound on Thursday!

A week from today...

and I'll know when my baby is due & will be able to see that (hopefully!) everything is going fine with him/her! The time really flies when you've got other kids to keep you busy & distracted, so I know next Thursday will be here before I know it.

I think tonight I'm going to work on decluttering my house a bit. I am SO ready to move to someplace just a tad bit bigger. We're still in our starter home (3 bedrooms, 1 closet for each bedroom) & we're definitely not "starting out" anymore! My dream home would be a 2 story with all the bedrooms on the upper level. But, since that's a dream, I'll be happy with any 4 bedroom, 2 bath home...and one that has enough room in the kitchen for the family to eat, compared to the gymnastics I have to perform with pulling the table away from the dining room wall for meals & pushing it back so we can walk from the kitchen through the dining room. It's getting OLD! I know, be thankful for what I have, and I am, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to think about what I'd like to live in eventually!

I must have a slurpee!!!!

I can't tell you how badly I want a slurpee! It hit me last night, but it was too late to run out & get one. I went online & was able to find a recipe that apparently closely resembles 7-11's cherry slurpees...only thing is, I need to purchase some of the ingredients to make it, so I still haven't been able to satisfy my craving. Liquidy things are what sound good to me right now for some reason. So slurpees, popsicles, soup, fruit...that sort of thing sounds great.

Last night I had a modest dinner; it's strange not feeling hungry yet your body is telling you otherwise. Later that night I had 2 Hershey Kisses (normally I sit down with the whole bag & enjoy them) and that was more than enough for me. Didn't have anything else the entire night & didn't feel so good when I went to bed. Again, it felt like I had a REALLY full stomach even though I know that wasn't the case. Woke up this morning still not hungry, but forced myself to eat a scrambled egg & a piece of toast so I can keep up my energy!