Update from today's doctor's visit

Nothing. Next Thursday we'll talk about options for induction dates if I've not delivered yet. Yay. I do have a slight backache coming and going, so there is a glimmer of hope. I didn't even have her check me for dilation today. Not worth the cramping after the internal exam to possibly hear "nothing happening". So no idea if I'm getting closer or not. I figure I'll know when contractions start. There;'s really no way to know when, even if I know I'm beginning to dilate, so why bother?

In other news, my SIL will have her c-section Friday morning at 7AM if she's not delivered by then.

I took my brother $40 today. I woke up at 3AM dreaming about him. Then, at 7:30 when my alarm woke us up for our doctor appointment, I woke up dreaming about Daddy. Little sleep was had last night. I took a 3-hour nap this evening.

I'm off to convince my husband that we need to find a place in Athens to get a big salad with everything in it (cukes, ham, bacon, maters, cheese.... everything.)

Are we there yet?

OK, so I stopped working a few weeks ago. The swelling in my ankles wouldn't go away. Not to worry, as soon as I stopped working it went back to normal pregnancy swelling. We've been filling our days with visiting friends and family, cleaning, and relaxing.

I'm due in 17 days. No progress as of last Thursday. We go back in tomorrow for another weekly checkup, including internal to check for dilation and effacement. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The baby dropped a couple of weeks ago. He seems to really enjoy headbutting me in my nether regions, as well as my bladder. He has actually hurt me so bad that a few times in the last few weeks I could do nothing more than lay on the couch and cry due to the stabbing pain (AKA lightning crotch, since it feels like lightning has struck you in the crotch area, for those that aren't familiar with the term). My poor husband kept telling me one night, during a really good round of headbut-momma-in-her-no-no-spot, how sorry he was that I had to go through that particular side effect of late pregnancy. I swear, my first child NEVER did this to me. I think I would remember the lovely feeling of being stabbed repeatedly up my va-jay-jay, even nine years later.

Had some pain in my lower back all afternoon yesterday and all night last night. Just a dull, not exactly constant, ache in the lowest part of my back. Went away this morning. Had hoped it was a sign of impending (like in the next week) labor. Alas, the back pain is gone. Crap. I was so hopeful yesterday evening, when even rest (sitting, reclining, laying) didn't help.

My sister-in-law will be having her c-section Friday to deliver the twins if she hasn't had them by then. She had a lot of complications having her first child, and has already been hospitalized twice for preterm labor in this pregnancy. Due to the previous complications and the fact that she's having twins, her doctor strongly suggested a c-section whether labor starts naturally or not. She's due in less than 5 weeks, so her doctor says the babies should thrive even at this point. Please pray for her and the girls. We don't expect any problems, but you never know...

My grandfather is having surgery next Monday to correct/patch his hernia. The surgeon will go in through his belly button, patch the hernia, keep him for observation for several hours, and hopefully send him home the same day. Pray for him, please.

Part of me is jealous of my SIL. I got pregnant first, we planned and tried for our baby (her pregnancy wasn't planned to happen this early, she got pregnant before they wanted) and I'm due 10 days before her, but her babies will probably be here before ours. I do feel blessed, though, in knowing that all is expected to be perfect with her babies, no matter when they get here. In the end, the health of our family is all that really matters. As long as all three babies (her two girls and our boy) are healthy and thriving and don't need any medical intervention, I'll be happy. I've worried a lot about her and the girls. She's had a lot of problems, and has had to fight at times to keep them in and baking, as they should be. Thankfully, she has made it well past the date her doctor set as the "we-aren't-gonna-stop-it-if-you-go-into-labor-after-this-day" milestone. We all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. It's been pretty cool, being due so close together. We hit the same milestones at pretty much the same time. We've been able to compare belly size (for the first 6 months, until her two babies outgrew my one). We have belly pics of the two of us together. We were both obviously pregnant for my baby shower, which resulted in some really cool pics, as well as funny conversation.

Her son knows there are babies in Mommy's belly, even if he doesn't exactly understand what that means. She can ask him where his sisters are, and he does the cutest thing. He lifts her shirt to reveal her bare belly and pushes her belly button (or as she calls it, the eject button) with his finger. He'll do it to me when I ask him where my baby is. So cute! He's only 16 months old, and that smart already. He remembers where the babies are. Amazing.

My step-son broke his arm a few weeks ago, on May 23. He's fine, but most of his summer will be spent in a cast. He broke it the Saturday before school ended. Three days of school left, and my kid can't use his arm to write. Thankfully, his class had already finished all their assignments and grades were already calculated when it happened.

The last few weeks have been filled with tragedy in our community. Three deaths in less than 4 weeks.

A dear friend of ours passed away Saturday night, from pancreatic cancer. His visitation is tonight, with the funeral tomorrow. Please pray for his family, that God may guide them through this very difficult time. He had a son (18) and a daughter (around 11 or so). His nephew died just months ago, at the age of 16. The last several months have been especially hard on this family. We may or may not go to his services. The thought of a midday burial, in 90+ degree heat, while almost 38 weeks pregnant does not sound that great to me. It was bad in March when Michael's grandfather died. It sounds worse now. If we do go, we may just do the service and not the burial. If we get out of the doctor's office in time to go. My appointment is 9AM. The funeral starts at 11.

Another aquantance of ours dies late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, from a car accident. His wife was in the truck with him when they wrecked. She had to be flown to Huntsville Hospital. Their truck flipped, and both were thrown (not wearing their seatbelts). The cab of the truck landed on him, and he was pronounced at the scene of the accident. She is expected to recover. We just found out about them this afternoon. His funeral was to be at the graveside this afternoon. Due to the late notice (I stumbled on the news article on the local paper website while looking up the arrangements for the OTHER funeral) we did not attend.

My last day of work, a high school classmate of mine died in a car accident. His wife was injured, but has physically recovered. They just got married last July. At the time of the accident, they had a 6-week-old son, their first child. Truly a tragedy. Their life together had just began. Now she is a widow with an infant son who will never truly know his father. Also killed in the accident was a man who lived not far from us, a man we knew in passing. We weren't friends with any of the people involved, but my heart aches for them. Either Michael or myself knew all three people involved in the accident. This is the first member of my graduating class to be lost since we graduated in May 2001. Hopefully it is the last for a very long time.

As my time draws near to have our child, updates will probably be as sporadic as they have been the last month (meaning, one or two a month) until I get things back together. I just have absolutely no energy to do more than required of me right now. No burst of energy to nest. Nothing. I will be sure to post after delivery some time, and to post a birth story in the (hopefully near) future. More than that can not be promised.

Hopefully today's hour-long shopping experience in Wal-mart will help jump-start something. So far, nada. Hopefully, I will hear of news in the dilation/effacement area tomorrow morning. Hopefully, all the hospitilizations in my family's very near future will end very well.

My feelings as the weeks close in on us

Aaaaannndddd, I just sent my bosses an email confirming when I will take my light duty and maternity leave. It feels weird to send that message. Makes the countdown seem that more.... I don't know.... Looming? Pressing? Those aren't quite the words I'm looking for, but they give just about the right connotation, except they aren't joyful enough at the same time as being inevitable. Imminent, maybe? I don't know.

I'm sure you all get where I'm going with this. I'm overjoyed, thrilled, eager, impatient that the time is drawing so near, yet I'm also anxious, doubtful, unsure, afraid. I'm sure anyone who has been in my shoes knows exactly how I feel. Overjoyed at the new life to love, thrilled to be given this blessing, eager to meet our child, impatient for him to be born. Anxious about my ability to care for him correctly, doubtful over my knowledge of children, unsure how to react, afraid we'll make the wrong choices. I mean, I can change a diaper, or feed him, bathe him. I'm not afraid I'll drop him or break him somehow. I've been around newborns before, and helped care for them. But this is different, this one is mine. We have to care for him at home with no help around the clock. I'm sure we'll manage just fine. It's just been so long since I've helped bathe a newborn, or......

I'm sure every new parent has these feelings. I'm sure we'll be just fine. We'll do what parents have done since the beginning of time. We'll figure it out. And if we run across something we can't figure out, we have family and friends who are parents, and we have the internet, if all else fails. After all, it's too late to turn back now. :) Even if we wanted to. (Of course, we wouldn't dream of it.)

These feelings are just new to me. I didn't have them last time. Of course, I didn't have to worry about bathing her that first week, or what to do if she starts crying and won't stop no matter what I do. So of course I didn't have them last time. I didn't have to worry about it. This time is a whole new ball game. Right now, I feel like I'm riding in the first car of the world's tallest, wildest roller coaster. We're paused at the top, a moment to catch our breath and collect our thoughts. Soon we'll be on our way down, and up, and around the track, travelling faster than we ever imagined!



Time to take a deep breath, hold hands, close our eyes, and just sit back and relax! I'm sure we're in for the most intense, most thrilling, most satisfying ride of our lives! I wouldn't trade it for anything, and it hasn't even really begun yet!

Wanna ride with us? Stick around! I'm sure all the ups and down will be posted right here!

Pregnancy Update - 33w 6 d

Tomorrow I will be 6 weeks away from my due date! Sweet, huh? Why yes, yes, it is! That means it could be 3 weeks, or it could be 8 weeks until we have an outside baby (as opposed to our current inside baby)! :) Hopefully more toward the 4-6 week side than 8.... I love being pregnant, but I'm ready to meet him already! (I know, not until he's ready... But still....)

Anyway, I just realized I forgot to post an update after Monday's appointment with Roberta, so here it is:

Baby seems to be head-down (yay!), although no ultrasound to confirm (boo!).
He also is around 17 inches long, head to toe.
Roberta measured Mike's heartbeat at 140 bpm (good, strong heartbeat!).

My BH contractions (Sissy, see this post for a reminder in what those are! j/k....)seem to be OK for now. We did discuss them, she said no more than 4 an hour. Also, an increasing number per day, or seeming to progress (shorter intervals between, more intense, lasting longer, etc....) would be cause for concern. Basically, if they stop when I rest and drink water, then it's OK, which I already knew. (Just wanted Mom to know that I did ask just to be on the safe side. Plus, I figure she needs to know how much they hurt (oh my God, do they hurt!!!) and how often I have them, so she can guage the health of my pregnancy,possible time frame until we start worrying about internal checks and real contractions, blah, blah.....

She also thinks likes I do, baby is putting some pressure on my cervix/bladder, causing some of the intense, stabbing-like pains I feel during a BH contraction sometimes. Again, she said no big deal, see the above regarding BH contractions.....

Back on the 27th at, I think, 10:30 or so, for our next checkup. I think this will be our last two-week checkup. Should start in on the weekly checks after that. Except that my next appointment is on a Wednesday, and I have Mondays off. So I'll need to try to reschedule. If not, I guess I'll work Monday instead of Wednesday that week.

We bought Mike's "dresser" Monday, too. Yes, he has a dresser and an armoire in his room, but this is for our bedroom, for his stuff while he's sleeping with us.



Cheap, functional, small enough for our room but big enough for the main things we need, reusable later as storage for other stuff.... What more could we ask for? We also bought more baby stuff... Teething rings, newborn mittens to keep him from scratching himself, bottles, nipples, wipes....

We also bought a duffel bag to start packing for the hospital. So far it has my new fluffy houseshoes, Michael's new tennis shoes, his two new pairs of jeans, his two new t-shirts, his new pack of socks, and the few snack items (Dum Dum suckers, snack crackers, and spoons) we bought to have with us. Yes, I realise the bag is more for me than him. He has clothes already packed because we bought them Monday, and I went ahead and packed them so I wouldn't have to try to figure out where I put them later. Next Monday I plan on packing my stuff. We may have to buy another duffel bag. This one is only a 24" bag.... What can I say? We don't travel EVER, so we have no luggage.

I guess over the next two weeks, we'll also be installing the car seat base in my car. I can just see my husband, trying to figure out the LATCHes to install this thing without my help, while I sit in the hospital room, waiting for him to finish so we can be discharged to go home.... LOL. I think I'll handle, or at least oversee, this one. I tend to do better with written instructions than he does.

This is my last week working on shift. Beginning next Tuesday, I'll be working four 10-hour days, Tuesday through Friday. This will go on hopefully until the last Friday of this month, at which point I will take my leave. The position I'll be filling on light duty will be a desk job, where I'll be able to get up and walk around if I need to, but I won't have to be on my feet as much as I am some days right now.

And also......

I feel sooooo much better today, thanks. I woke up still sleepy, due to the 5 or 6 bathroom trips I made last night, not to mention the 10+ times I turned from one side to the other trying to get comfortable. But MUCH less general fatigue. I think taking yesterday off did the trick.

Yesterday, we slept until the tornado sirens woke me up. At that point, once I figured out that the sirens were really sounding, I figured I better turn the TV on to check it out. I had been woken up just a little before by thunder. (In response to the [literally] house-shaking thunder waking me up, I promptly turned over and went right back to sleep. Priorities, you know???) Turning the tv on woke Michael up. Of course. So we got up and watched thelocal forcasters broadcast all warnings around us.

Then we got dresses and went for breakfast. We stopped by Ann and Randy's to visit for a few minutes. Went home. I fetched the paper and mail, and curled up on the couch with a blanket and the pint of Butter Pecan we bought at S&Z. Michael swept and mopped the living room while I lay on the couch watching. (Hey, he forbid me to do work in the house yesterday.) On a trip to the bathroom, I noticed the toilet could REALLY use cleaning. And the floor needed to be swept.

So, I shook out the bath rug and folded it up to lay on the sink. Then I realized that I was "dusted in" the room. I had shook out the rug all over my socks, and in between me and the door. Smart, huh? So I got the broom, and swept up just enough of the dust from the rug to give me a path from the toilet to the door. I moved the trash can, toilet scrubber holder, and book basket.I swept behind the toilet and sink. Scrubbed the toilet, and wiped it down. Threw the scrubber away (thank God for disposable toilet scrubbing pads), and told my dear loving husband that he could finish sweeping the other half of the bathroom. I did end up eventually putting back the toilet scrubber and book basket. He put back the trash can and bath rug.

After that, I didn't do anything the rest of the day. I refused. I stayed on the couch 90% of the rest of the day. If not for the trips to the bathroom, to get something to drink, now I'm hungry, etc., I would have stayed on the couch 100% of the rest of the day.

Anyway, all that to say, I did almost absolutely nothing yesterday but lay around, and today I feel 100% better. Well, maybe not 100%, but more like I felt five or six weeks ago. Like I can manage working until Sunday evening. Since my next day off is Monday. Which will be spent paying bills, buying groceries, and going to the doctor. Yay. (Actually, yay to the doctor's appointment, boo to everything else.)

As promised: An update on weight gain

My mother is concerned about my health, and is worried I may be eating too much too often. Normally this would cause a "WTF?" reaction in me, but this time it doesn't. My mother is concerned about this for good reason. She has a genetic auto-immune disease, Celiac disease. It is hereditary. She also has been diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity or allergy. (Sorry, pregnancy brain is keeping me from remembering, and I'm too lazy to go through my archived emails on the subject right now to figure out which.)

Since she has both, all three of us kids (myself, my seester, and my brother) each have a 100% chance of having at least one of these conditions/diseases, if not of having both. Celiac can cause devastating effects in pregnancy, in severe cases. We have wondered if I have Celiac, since I exhibit several of the symptoms. My mother is worried that my gigantic appetite is connected to Celiac. (Don't worry, none of this offends me, since I, too, am shocked some days by the sheer amount of food I have to consume to keep my stomach from screaming at me every few hours!)

Anyway, the purpose of my post: my total weight gain for this pregnancy. Yesterday morning, after my trip to the bathrrom and before getting dressed, I weighed myself. I weighed in at: 166.2, for a total weight gain of 21.2 pounds. Pretty good, I think. I still have 13.8 pounds, give or take, that I can gain and be in the "normal healthy weight gain" range. Last time, I gained something more like 40 pounds. Of course, last time I was alotted that extra gain by my doctor for health concerns. So far Roberta says I'm right in range for weight gain, and have been so far the whole pregnancy.

This morning, I weighed 166.6 pounds, but I didn't have a BM yesterday, so I'm discounting that extra 0.4 pounds. :) Even so, that would only put me at 21.6 pounds. Well within the so-called "norm".

And also, the guys at work are now making jokes on how many times a day I eat. They're all good-natured, as they all are married and have kids, so they know what's up with my 5 meals a day. :) Most of them have said their wives ate like this in the last weeks of pregnancy. The women I've talked to at work all say they did, too. I think my Mom was maybe just "abnormal" in her eating and appetite. :) [Just kidding! Love you Mommy!!! XOXOXO]

Update on yesterday

So, yesterday was not a day of rest. We dropped the car off for an oil change and went to St aple's for another filing box so I could work on my kitchen table. Then we went to Lowe's to buy Michael a new skilsaw and saws-all, and me a rug pad for our living room rug (it slides across the hardwood - not too safe).

Then it was off to Jody's Optical to see my seester. She had bought me a present, and she wanted me to come pick it up while we were in town. Guess what she got me.... The book Love You Forever!!! I've been looking for it every time we go to Wal-mart, and haven't been able to find it. Well, she found it and bought it! SQUEEEEE!!!

Then we walked down to Piggly Wiggly for a few items that we had run out of. I just went grocery shopping last Monday, but I've been eating 5 times a day, sometimes 6!!!

Then it was time to go for my checkup at Roberta's. We got there and signed in. I noticed the waiting room was empty except for us, but I thought maybe it was just because Dr. Carlota was out of the office. The receptionist noticed we were there, and told us that Rpberta was out delivering a baby. We could either wait, come back at 2:30 (it was 11:30 right then), or reschedule for next Monday. So we rescheduled. Next Monday it is.

After rescheduling our appointment, we went to see if the car was ready. It was in the garage on the rack when we pulled up, so we waited. After getting our keys from the mechanic, Michael called and ordered us bacon cheeseburgers from S&Z. I followed him until he pulled off there. I went home, got in the mail, and waited on my burger. After eating, he cut grass and cleaned up the yard while I worked on the table.

I got the table half cleaned off before dinner time. I threw away half of the stuff I cleaned off the table. If it wasn't ours, it got thrown away. (We still get junk mail for people who lived there before us, and for Mamaw. It sometimes gets lost on the table.) If it was an old newspaper, it got thrown away, read or not. Junk mail, garbage or shredder. Bills that have been paid, filed. Coupons, stored in coupon organizer or thrown away. All Michael's screwdrivers and stuff he's piled up there, taken back out to the shed with his other tools. Unread magazines, dumped in a shoebox-sized plastic tote for reading or giving away. (Maybe I can use some of them for reading material during my maternity leave and hospital stay?? All I know is, there's no way I'm throwing away Better Homes and Gardens, American Baby, and Michael's Field and Stream magazines without looking through them first.)

I also created temp files in one of my file boxes for crafting ideas, recipes to add to my MasterCook software, paint samples for painting our bedroom (one day, I hope), and stuff like that.

I also cooked dinner last night! Lemon Pepper Chicken, mashed potatoes, shells and cheese, salad, and Texas toast. (Easy cooking with Lawry's Lemon Pepper marinade. I don't marinade - just pour it over th etop of the chicken pieces, add a little water to the bottom of the baking dish, and bake until the chicken is cooked through.)

After eating dinner, I got Aaron to put up the leftovers, I neatly stacked my file boxes and stuff back on the far edge of the kitchen table, out of the way. (Mainly so we could walk through the kitchen around the table this morning!) After stacking everything up there, over half the table was clear! Yay me!

Then I went to bed. I was exhausted. I woke up this morning still tired. I started to cancel my overtime today, but the thought of missing out on duoble overtime made me come to work anyway. I'm going to tell my boss today that I'm canceling tomorrow. It's only regular time-and-a-half overtime, so quite a difference in the amount of money lost by canceling tomorrow instead of today. I may have them cancel one overtime day each week from now on, giving me two days off and five days on. Or I may have them swap me to 40 hour weeks until I take my leave. It depends on how I feel after I work the rest of this week (except tomorrow).

My crazy pregnancy/labor dream

Ok, so I know pregnant women are supposed to have really weird, extremely out there dreams at least a few times while they're pregnant. I haven't had but one or two so far. The one I had last night takes the cake, boys and girls. Fair warning, it's a doozy. Some might even think it's kinda graphic, sick, or just plain TMI. What I'm describing below does have a certain EWWWWW factor about it. If you read what I've written below, don't complain about it later when you can't get the images out of your mind. You've been warned.

The dream went like this:
It was time to be expecting the baby any day now. The bag was packed, carseat installed. Ready to go. And then I went into labor. My water broke. For some unknown reason, I decided to deliver the baby at home, myself, with no doctors or medication or anything. I could feel my contractions mounting, but they didn't hurt. I mean, I could feel the squeezing and pressure from the contractions, but they didn't hurt.

So I was sitting on the couch in our living room, except it was our couch, but not our living room. I had a clock, and we were timing my contractions. The whole family was at our house. I mean whole family as in both my and Michael's sides, plus our friends.... People everywhere, except no one was in the living room except me and Michael.

The time finally comes for me to push. So I sit back on the couch, and the baby's head pops through my.......... Stomach. Seriously, like in Alien. He crowns through my uterine wall, through my abdominal muscles, through my skin, and his head pops out of my stomach, just above and to the right of my belly button. He was face up and looking straight into my eyes, drawing his first deep breaths with no help. He didn't cry, only smiled instead. And it didn't hurt at all! Then, I reached down, grabbed his head, and pulled his body out of my stomach through the hole his head made. There was no blood, no gore, nothing. Just a clean baby and a hole in my stomach the size of a key lime.

Don't ask me how my child's head and body squeezed through a hole in my stomach the size of a key lime. I mean, I know they squeeze out of small, ummm, holes to begin with when you deliver them. I just remember, in my dream it seemed so odd that an entire baby could stretch that little bitty hole in my stomach enough to get out without ripping me wide open.

After I pulled him out, we clamped and cut the cord. Still no pain. Michael held him. Then my placenta began detaching. That's when the pain hit. More a stinging sensation that a stabbing one. Like I could feel my placenta peeling itself away from the wall of my uterus. After it detached, I pulled it out through the hole in my stomach and threw it in the garbage. Then I went to the bathroom, bandaged the hole in my stomach, and changed clothes. The hole left a little jagged scar on my stomach after it healed.

I told you, weird. Funny thing is, today I woke up with my stomach hurting in the exact spot that busted open in my dream. I think he was either headbutting or kicking me in that spot while I slept. It is sore today. Almost like it's bruised on the inside.

32 week belly pics

I realized it's been a while since I have posted any pics anywhere of my ginormous (and still growing) belly. Here you have it. I am exactly 32 weeks today. I went at lunch time and took these in the bathroom mirror at work. It worked out well, considering I wore a navy blue shirt and black belly band, which makes me look more slender. ;)



After I took these two pics, I went outside to email them to myself and promptly sat in water on the bench I chose. Then I called my husband to harass say hi to him. Then, on my way back inside, some random guy remarked to his buddy walking with him that "Her water broke!" Men. {sigh} So smart. I know I look big, but I really hope my water doesn't break eight weeks before I'm due! And if they think I look big now, wait another month and see what they think!!! :)

Today is 30 weeks!!! T-minus 70 days and counting!

From BabyGaga, the crappiest of all pregnancy sites (but a good description of this week's activities, and i haven't gotten any better ones in my email yet):

Week 30: Goodbye monkey baby, hello roly poly!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 30:fetus in seventh month

The light is visible at the end of the tunnel! Your oversized self and amazing growing baby have finally reached the single digits (in terms of weeks till birth)! The fine lanugo hair that has been growing all over their little monkey-like body is going to start falling off this week in preparation for the big day. But don’t be shocked if they’re hairier than you’d anticipated, some babies keep their lanugo until after birth. Still, it’s not any cause to be concerned as it will fall off eventually. No surprises here: your little porker is getting even cuter with increasingly pudgy arms and legs this week thanks to the ever-growing layers of subcutaneous fat. In terms of numbers, your baby should be weighing in at around 3 pounds 12 ounces (or more!) and be nearly 16 inches long.


And how's mom doing? On a very serious note: you should make sure to determine both you and your baby’s blood type. It’s extremely important for everyone. In the case that you and your maturing babe’s blood types don’t match there’s a chance you could produce antibodies that could potentially attack and harm a future fetus. It is rare, but with modern medicine, the problem is easily corrected and little cause for concern if dealt with properly.

As for the ongoing joys of being in your third trimester: your not-so-fun symptoms are just intensifying this week, so it might not hurt to slow down a bit and focus on yourself. If you’re feeling extra fatigued, you’ve probably joined the sleeping shouldn’t be this tough when I’m this tired club, especially if you’re experiencing a lot of back pain and general discomfort. If you’ve been pushing the exercise thing, then this is the time perhaps to cut down on the physical activities and focus more on getting proper sleep (if this means buying a pregnancy pillow, then do it!). Oh and all that moodiness? Just go with the flow emotionally. This doesn't mean letting the hormones win and becoming a complete psychotic. Instead, feel the feelings, but know that the drama you’re feeling is largely a result of increased adrenaline thanks indirectly to hormonal swings—not because things really are that dramatic and merit adult temper tantrums. The clincher symptom for this week: it’s highly likely your libido has gone on sabbatical. This, as far as we’re concerned, is perfectly natural in your condition.

And now for my thoughts on the above info:

Glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As long as it's not a train. Also glad for single-digit week count until D-Day! WOOT!!!!!

Blood type not an extremely big issue here. I mean, of course I'm concerned over it and I truly hope it doesn't create any problems. But I'm a negative blood type, so my midwife automatically gives me Rhogam, at 28 weeks and right after delivery, to greatly reduce the risk of complications should the baby be born with a positive blood type. I also have no idea what my dear husband's blood type is, much less if it is positive or negative, so this could be a potential concern. I've already had my first shot, which cost me $43.00 to pick up at the pharmacy. I almost choked over the cost. That was WITH INSURANCE!!! But, I guess nothing could ever cost too much when it comes to baby's health, so I paid it, and will file it on my HCSA for reimbursement, anyway, so....

I do feel extra fatigued. When I get off work today, i will have worked 50 hours this week, so no wonder. my boss is threatening to cut me back to 4 10-hour shifts a week until my leave. I hope he waits a few more weeks, at least, so i can try to get in at least some of my overtime for the outage first. The extra money would be nice in savings. :)

Moody? ME???? Surely not. I'm never moody. I don't know what they're talking about.

Libido? What's that? I'm more interested in a full night's sleep at this point.



With all that said, I would like to point out that the pain I was having yesterday continued until I went to sleep last night, off and on. Doctor said not to worry, unless it gets worse or has signs of labor associated or something like that. Then I should call right away and/or go to the ER. The pain has been pretty much abscent today, except for a couple of times, but the baby was moving then and I think he caused it.

I'm hoping for a quiet weekend. Tomorrow I have pre-registration, haircut, grocery shopping, etc. to do in town. Hopefully the rest of the weekend we can relax and chill, just the two of us. Starting Tuesday, unless my boss gets his way, I'll be working 75 hours a week, at least for a few weeks. Mondays will be my only day off. Joy. I may work the extra hours a few weeks and then go to 40-hour weeks. Who knows? It all depends on how I feel each day.

To Do List and general update

Yay! More stuff done!!!! My shower is done. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who came , and for all the wonderful gifts! I am so grateful that so many people love our child and are so excited for us, that they would take time out to come to my shower. I never imagined we would get so many beautiful, nice gifts! Thank you cards are coming soon!!

Now, for my To Do list:

1.) Debbie (bless her) got bored at my house while Aaron was trying to fix Dave's computer one evening, and she scrubbed my microwave!!! Can you believe it? I could have kissed her!
2.) I filed all my 2008 HCSA receipts, and have gotten reimbursed for them. I managed to file enough receipts to use up everything in there from last year. I also went ahead and files some from this year, that I could find. Since I filed them, I have made a manila envelope to hold receipts until they're filed, so I can actually find them when I need them.
3.) Michael had Aaron clean the carpet upstairs. He had to clean his room, since it was his dog that peed and pooped in there, so he cleaned the little 4 foot by 5 foot landing at the top, too.

Really, in all actuality, I only personally completed ONE thing from my list, but I'm still counting it all. Hey, a pregnant gal takes credit for everything she can, right??? ;)

Also, I have discovered Google Documents. Totally awesome! I mean, I've known about it for some time, but never used it. Today, I have begun uploading documents to the site. Now I can access them from any computer with an internet connection. Good thing, since I have docs scattered across the desktops of most of the computers at work. I'm trying to gradually get them all loaded onto Google and sorted into folders and deleted from the hard drives. One small step towards being organized. I'm also doing the same for my email, since I'll frequently make a personal document and email it to myself so I have it at home and work. This will help clean out my inbox. :)

My glider came in that Michael's parents and sis/bil bought for us. We're going to put it in the living room for now. We'll be getting that put together this weekend, if he didn't do it today. Add that to the to-do's. Also, thank you cards for the gifts we've received, ordering my breast pump, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, pre-registering at the hospital, and buying larger bras (again). It never ends.

My breast pump will probably be the Lansinoh double electric pump from BRU. I have a 15% off coupon for any pump, and it looks to be the best-rated for the money that they sell. My coupon isn't good until April 17, so I have to wait until then to order.

Grocery shopping won't be that bad. I'll be working every day except Mondays, beginning next Tuesday (April 21) until I decide that I'm crazy for trying to work the outage while this pregnant, or until my doctor says otherwise, or until my bosses force me off shift due to my advanced prenatal state, or until my leave starts the first of June. Therefore, groceries will consist of stuff like pizza, fries, chili dogs, bagged salad mixes and fresh veggies to make side salads, stuff for me to eat at work, and such. Stuff the guys can cook without oversight by me. Because if I have to come home and oversee dinner prep, I'll eat cereal or a sandwich and go to bed.

Since groceries will probably come from Walmart, getting the bras and thank you cards won't be such a big deal. As long as I remember to buy them.

I'll get my hair cut and pre-register at the hospital Friday before shopping. I say Friday because there's rain in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Boo.... It figures it would rain during my last weekend off for a while.

Chris will be staying with us one night this weekend. His visit last weekend got cancelled because Pooh went into the hospital again, so we had to rush to Huntsville.

Monday will bring another doctor's appointment. Can you tell it's getting closer to delivery day? The every-other-week appointments have started. This one should be just a regular check-up.

In other news, Pooh and the twins are hanging in there. So far, so good. They've stayed put a few more days. Her OB believes all would be well if they were to come now, but would still prefer to keep them in as long as possible. The mag seems to have done the trick. At last check, she was back off the mag and on just IV fluids, and her appetite is back. She's been craving baked potatoes. :)

Lori's mom made it fine through her back surgery. They had to completely remove the damaged disk, and "screw" her spine back together. She is home and in some pain, but fine otherwise.

Chris had a baseball game Saturday, that we got to go to. His team lost, but they played really well. Most of their practices last month got rained out. They didn't get to practice as much as they had scheduled, but the kids still did realy well considering this is self-pitch instead of coach-pitch. One boy on the team has never played before this year. He did really well, too. Our pitcher started out throwing his pitched over the batter's head, but he quickly settled down to pitch a good game. He struck several players out. Chris has just enough team mates for the team to play a game (9 players are required). If even one boy misses a game and a sub can't be brought in from the other team at the school, then they have to forfeit the game. Saturday we had one sub player. Chris did well in the game, too. He has really improved over the level he played at two years ago. He didn't play last year, because he lived with his mom and didn't want to play there. It seems to have instilled more confidence in him, which is great. As long as it's confidence and not arrogance. He is quick to point out himself the areas he could improve in. He is also quick to acknowledge his teammates' improvements, good plays, etc. All in all, the boys had fun, and that's what we're all there for.

That's all I can think of for now. Not much, is it??? :) That's what I get for neglecting my blogging like I have the last week or two, I guess. Hopefully I will be able to update more regularly. I had gotten into the habit pretty good, but I let that slip with all we did this past week and weekend.

Holy Braxton Hicks, Batman!!!

These Braxton Hicks are killing me! I know that's what it is, because it starts up while I'm doing my routine at work, and stops after I sit down and put my feet up. Also, I can feel my uterus tightnening when it happens. I remember having them last time, except not in the area of my abdomen where they are now, and certainly not this sharp and stabbing-like..... Holy crap!

Either that, or I have a bladder infection or something similar.

Not to worry, a call will be placed with my doctor's office, as soon as they came back from lunch, around 12:30 or so. I would have called earlier, but I didn't think about the bladder possibility, until after they had already transferred their phones to the answering service, so now I can't get through to someone who actually knows something about pregnancy (although bless those answering service operators, they're always so nice when I don't stop to realize that it's lunch time).

The pains have stopped for now, and I will call Roberta's office again after lunch. An update will be posted after that. Also, I will be taking it easy and drinking plenty of water until then. Hopefully, it's BH contractions, and all is well. Hope it's not an infection. Those suckers hurt!!!

28 weeks

T-minus 84 days and counting.....

Although I hope I don't make it 84 more days.... :) More like anything over 70 but less than 84 days.

Another way to look at this is, 12 more weeks or less (hopefully not more) to go!

My Week 28 milestone: I actually updated my registry and added almost everything we still need to it. I'm sure my family will be shocked, awed, and amazed. And there's still 2 shopping days left before my shower! LOL.

(For those reading who don't know me in real life, I only say this because all of my family and close friends have been calling and emailing to ask where I am registered at, what do we still need, etc. I'm not grubbing for gifts here. I'm making a joke out of my procrastinating self finally having finished my registry. I have only told those who asked directly about my registry, or what we still need. I have not done anything drastic and greedy, like emailing a list of requested items to people who haven't asked. Anything we get at the shower is fine, even if it's only a "Congratulations" card. Being thought of is better than nothing, and if a basket full of cards is all we get, then at least we know we are loved and our child will be loved by our family and friends. So don't go leaving me any snarky, idiotic comments calling me greedy and telling me what a horrible mother I am for fishing for presents. Again, for the reading-impaired, I only gave this info to those who DIRECTLY requested it. Hopefully, another fiasco like some of the comments left on this post, over a simple remark about circumcision, will not occur here about my registry. If it does, rest assured I will be here to curse someone out next time. Just kidding. Maybe.)

Another week 28 milestone: While I can still wear my scrub bottoms to work, I have had to abandon the matching tops, due to the fact that it is becoming really difficult to get them off once they're on me. And I only have 3 pairs of scrub bottoms that still fit me comfortably.

Also, my beloved Calvin Klein jeans my grandmother bought me for Christmas over a year ago, are about to be stored in the back of my closet. Even though they are low-cut, and were ever so slightly too big for me pre-pregnancy, tonight they feel like I may never peel them back off of my body. They feel so tight on my lower stomach. I had to wear jeans because I didn't wash any of my scrub bottoms for tonight, and I also didn't ask Michael to wash any, either. When I woke up, I found that they were all dirty. So I washed them, and he dried them. No blue jeans for me tomorrow night! Although the extra support under my belly would be great if these pants weren't just a little too tight.

Controversy on my blog????

It seems I had a little controversy on my blog over a recent post, which included my statement that I let my husband have the final decision over circumcising our unborn child after delivery. Here's my reply to the controversy:



For YOUR MOTHER, who says I'm too lazy to do the research:

WE did the research TOGETHER. WE read everything we could find on the internet, books, magazines, medical journals, etc. Obviously, and for good reason, we gave more credence to what doctors had to say over anyone else. IF YOU would take the time to READ my post, you would have read that I have left some decisions up to him entirely, OR have given him a 50/50 say in decisions. I never said we didn't research this decision before making it. You assumed we didn't give any thought to this other than, "Daddy is, so Junior shall be".

Your mother, as far as my mothering skills are concerned, you can kiss my big pregnant behind from here to eternity and back if you don't like what goes on in my house. If you don't like it, don't come here and bother to read it and then leave useless comments on my blog about them. If you do comment, at least leave something useful, other than just calling me a bad,lazy mother. I'll be sure to give you the same courtesy. Maybe next you can comment on my massive to-do list, and how it must mean that my house looks like a landfill and is unfit for adults to live in, much less children. How about going to child services and showing them my list in the hopes that my house will be deemed a health hazard,and therefore should be condemned.

You could learn something from the fact that a father (my husband) is willing to do hours of research on a topic before just saying "yes" or "no". Maybe yours didn't care and let you make all the decisions during your pregnancy and the care of your children. Maybe you're mad because you wish you had done some little thing differently now that you look back. Whatever the reason, I don't think name calling is going to get you anywhere with me.

A more effective method to go about trying to change my mind would have been the one obbermi used in her comment, offering more research material in case I hadn't already seen it.

Now, in regards to everyone:

Thank you, obbermi and K, for having more class than "your mother" had when she came here berating me and calling me names.

And just so everyone knows, the discussion regarding my blog at mothering.com was removed, without my asking or knowledge, due to copyright infringement of my blog. I did not know my blog was being discussed at such length, and sadly did not get to read any of the discussion before it got deleted by the site admin. Pity. Some of it might have been informational, instead of mindless dribble calling me lazy and pointing out how bad of a mother I am. I'll never know now. I was going to post this there, but since it's gone, I thought it better to post here than start controversy over on that site with a new thread.

I realize this is a public blog that anyone can read. I realize I have left comments unmoderated on my blog the interest of free speech and everyone being able to express their opinion. I would hate to have to moderate comments or restrict viewing to invited people only, therefore I probably won't. I like reading other people's blogs if I find a post there on a subject that interests me. I like being able to respond to comments when I read them. Sometimes this could create a wonderful debate on a subject. However, there is no need to call people names and judge them.

Information is always welcome here. Some of it I have seen, some of it I may not have found. Those who just come here, call names, judge others, and generally just make a pest of themselves need to find better things to do.

Momma and Sis, love you for having my back while someone tried to stab me while I wasn't looking. Thanks.

Obbermi and K, have a nice day. Thank you for encouraging research, providing links to research, and for the congratulations you sent me. I pray you are blessed today for being such nice people.

Your mother, just plain go the heck away if you don't like what I say on MY blog. Or at the least, offer more information rather than just name-calling and random berating of me for how my husband and myself chose to raise our children. You can look forward to calling me a terrible mother again on my next post, which will be about how I am leaving 75% of the decision on when to have our next child up to my husband, since he will be a stay-at-home dad.

The third trimester is rapidly approaching!

That's right, when I arrive at work Monday night, I will still be in the second trimester. When I go home Tuesday morning, I will be officially two thirds of the way done with being pregnant with this child!!!!!!!! ***SQUEEE**** I just looked up the exact day for the "swap" and it is March 24. I can't wait to tell my darling husband. This news is sure to instill heart-stopping fear in him for a moment, just like it did me. LOL. Not fear of birth, or raising a child, not even fear, really. More like a, "Holy crap, it's almost done! Soon I'll be at home on maternity leave, doing our final prep for baby! Yay!" kinda heart-stopping moment. For Michael, I have the feeling that when I tell him he's going to give me that deer-in-headlights look, like, "Oh crap, what have we done?!?" That's the look I got when I told him we were halfway there. Then again when we had four months left. Then again when... You get the picture.

I try to keep him up-to-date on how quickly this is approaching, because quite frankly, I have to stop every once in a while and think about how soon this will come to a close on the pregnancy chapters. It's amazing to me how quicky this is passing. To think, by the time Mike is here, it will have been a year since this whole thing started for us. Seems like yesterday we were calling everyone to share the good news. Then yesterday that we were seeing him for the first time, and hearing the heartbeat for the first time, then finding out the gender.... I'm ready for him to be here (on time, not this early!), but at the same time I don't want the pregnancy to be over.

I enjoy this. Right now, I am the only person on earth that knows every move he makes. He can't move without me knowing it (if I'm awake). I am the one he depends solely on for nourishment, oxygen, and so much more. I can sit at work and rub his head if I want. I feel bad that Michael can't possibly know what this feels like. I wonder if he's jealous of the fact that I get to participate so much more in this pregnancy than he can. I try hard to make sure he's as included as he can be. I have left some decisions, such as circumcision and decor of the nursery and the name, entirely up to him (or at least just as up to him as it was me), since I have no real preference and I hope it makes him feel more involved than just providing the sperm that got our child here.

For instance, he decided he wants our children circumcised. I let the decision entirely up to him. Our son will be circumcised in the hospital, before we go home. The nursery ended up blue and brown, after Michael saw how beautiful the baby stuff at BabiesRUs looked. We had decided on crimson and white, but when he saw the blue and brown and asked in the store if we could get that instead, I told him yes. (Besides, blue and brown is one of my absolute favorite combinations!) I told Michael I wanted to name our son after him, but that if he didn't want to, we would chose a different name. He insisted we name him Junior, so Junior it is.

I digress. Second trimester over. Third timester starts Tuesday. Wow. How cool is that? Somewhere between eleven and fifteen weeks from now, and our son will be here. (Hopefully no sooner than that, but within that range, the sooner the better!)

Belly pic - 20 weeks 2 days

Been meaning to post this for over a week now. Lori took it on Feb. 6 when she was at my house. I'm going to be huge by June! Makes me glad I haven't bought a bunch of maternity clothes yet. They wouldn't fit by the end of this pregnancy.

Without further ado, my glorious, already big belly. And don't even try to say it's not. I have already misplaced my toes. So don't even try to lie and say I'm not that big yet. Trust me, this picture does not do my belly justice. It's obvious to strangers, even when I wear a t-shirt, that there's more in there than Quizno's and chocolate cake. Lori's mom predicts a good eight pounder or more if this keeps up. At least it appears he'll be a good healthy weight at birth.


Today, I am 21 weeks and 4 days along. This leaves 129 days until my due date. This morning, my weight was 155.8. This makes a total weight gain of 11.2 pounds. According to the American Pregnancy Association, total weight gain so far should be 9 to 19 pounds, so I guess I'm right on track. I'm not holding my breath, though. I bet I make up for being in the lower half of this "normal" range before delivery. :) As long as I'm somewhere in this band, and Roberta says all is well, I guess that's good enough. This also means I can continue with my daily chocolate cake time, too.

Out of the last 8 days, I've worked in the baby's room for at least a few hours a day (most days, several hours) every day except Valentine's day. I was tired, so we took the day off. So far, we have washed the walls (Michael has become OCD about this. He's washed them once with me, and probably three more times solo.), cleaned the carpet I hate so much (want to put down hard wood if we have the money in the budget right now), put together a shelf/drawer set we bought at Lowe's, put together the changing table, hung new curtains and blinds, organized all our baby stuff in the furniture we have so far, put up a new ceiling fan and light in the dormer, put up a new light in the hall at the top of the stairs, hung a shelf in the bathroom upstairs, and painted shapes (circles, stars and ovals) to go on the walls. Today we hung most of the shapes. I kept several to use to fill in the walls after we pick up our armoire (waiting at Wal-mart right now) and crib (somewhere in "shipped" land, between the warehouse and store) and hang the wooden letters we bought to spell out the baby's name on the wall above the crib. Tomorrow we will go grocery shopping and pick up our 140 pound armoire that has to go upstairs before we put it together. Hopefully I can convince my husband that we need to open it and take it up a couple of pieces at a time. Michael and Bobby had a rough time with getting the changing table upstairs in the box, and it was 30+ pounds lighter.

Well, time for bed. I don't have to go back to work until Friday morning. 14 days off is nice. :)

Quick update - AKA my 17w3d "Almost halfway there" freak-out

I have almost reached the halfway point of this pregnancy. Wow. Halfway there. Five more months. Considering I will work one of those months in "outage mode", then that really only leaves me with 4 productive months to get EVERYTHING done... Oh CRAP! We've bought a few onesies and a couple of cases of diapers and a few other things we KNOW we're gonna need, but that's about it. I've picked out my nursery furniture. Then I checked and half the set is on back order, so I may have to pick out something different just to make sure it gets here on time. We know what theme we want to go with, depending on whether the baby has a penis or a vajayjay. I haven't registered, picked out bedding, painted, cleaned out the nursery, bought baby clothes, or anything like that. There's still carpet to clean, walls to wash, a glider and ottoman to pick out, a house to organize, clutter and "stuff" to go through and trash anything I can, boxes to unpack from when we bought our house eighteen months ago, Chris's scrapbook to work on, the baby scrapbook to start as soon as the gender is revealed to us.... OHMYGOD! Four more months is not enough time. Not with the way I work, days this week, nights next week...... For Pete's sake, I just ordered my first few pieces of actual maternity clothes today. I'll have to buy more ASAP. My scrub tops for work are almost too small in the belly already. I guess sooner or later I'll resort to wearing maternity jeans and t-shirts to work, just so my belly will stay covered.

OK, freak out over. I feel better. I know it'll get done, if I get off my butt on my days off and do it. Lately I have had no motivation to do anything other than eat and sleep. I'll have to change that. I think my work/sleep schedule has a lot to do with it. My poor body doesn't know if I'm coming or going, on top of being invaded by a foreign person with whom it has to share everything. I have to work nights next Tuesday through Thursday night, but then it's 3 weeks of day shift. Hopefully then I'll take on a more regular schedule and I'll feel like actually doing something during the day other than sitting on the couch watching TV and surfing the internet.

The good news is, as of January 6, I've only gained about four pounds the last 17 weeks. I want to gain a little more than the minimum recommended weight, but I want to stay away from the upper end of "recommended", and I definitely DO NOT want to gain over the recommended amount. I think 30 pounds, give or take one or two, would be good. I gained over 35 pounds last time, but I was a teenager, so it was recommended for me to gain a little extra then. Not this time. This time I get 25 to 35 pounds. Period. And I intend to aim for closer to 30 than 35.

Funny, four pounds gained equals a belly so big people at work are starting to notice it under my scrubs. Good grief! I'm going to be a lot bigger than last time, I think..... :)

Update on OB appointment and Granddaddy

Great news from my last appointment, which was Tuesday. The baby's heartbeat was 150! That is in the upper range of good, strong, and normal. Blood pressure is good, so no problems there. I have gained 1 pound since my last appointment. Which means more cake and ice cream for me this month! LOL. My next appointment will be Jan. 29 at 9:30 AM. Let's all hope the little bug shows off the goods, so paint and bedding and gender-appropriate cothing and such can be bought!

This child is already practicing to be a gymnast, it seems. Especially when I am trying to sleep. Kinda like his/her big sis was. I started thinking I felt the first flutters two days before Christmas, buut thought it might be gas or my horrid constipation/food digestion. Now it's obviously a baby. Still can't feel it from the outside, but I can sure tell when the baby gets all fired up and ready to turn cartwheels.

I bought a home heartbeat monitor at Walmart this week. It says it may not work until the third trimester, which is still more weeks away than I care to try to count at 5 AM. Thursday marked 16 weeks completed for me, so give or take two more months until then. I tried anyway, but wasn't too surprised when all I heard was the rumbly in my tummy. A small moment of good future parenting for you: The monitor takes a 9V battery to work. Guess where the only 9V batteries in my house are. If you guessed smoke detector, you are correct. With the assistance of a chair from the kitchen table, and the 9V battery from the detector in the living room, I heard my own stomach. Then I re-packaged the monitor and had Michael put the battery back where it should be.

I also bought a body pillow to keep me from leeping on my stomach. It doesn't hurt yet, it's just uncomfortable. So I slept with it. The next morning I woke up with my knee hurting me. It hurt so bad, it hurt to touch it. I don't know what is up with that.

Granddaddy was discharged from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, with an oxygen machine for home use and portable tanks for the car. We picked up the glass for his car yesterday. Then we drove to town to pick up his car and drop it off to be repaired. (Thanks sis!) Granddaddy had his PET scan yesterday. I will call this afternoon before I go to work to see if he got his car back and if his test results are back.

Time to get ready for bed. I have to put my blankets back up on the bedroom windows so I can sleep today. Poor Michael has been asleep on the couch all night. he wouldn't go to bed without me. I bet he sleeps on the couch all weekend. That's his usual spot when I have to work night shift. Poor guy. He says he can't sleep in the bed without me. Personally, I love the few days a month when I have the bed all to myself. He puts off too much body heat. And, every once in a while, there's nothing like a king sized bed all to yourself. Especially considering I sleep diagonally in the bed. And there's no one putting off more body heat than an oven. Or stealing the covers.

Update from the lazy pregnant lady....

Since I haven't blogged in FOREVER.



Last prenatal appointment was Dec. 3. Had our first ultrasound. We have A baby with A heartbeat. (Thank God, no twins that we know of! For those that don't know me IRL, I have a very strong family history.) Picture from ultrasound below:

AWW, how precious! We were so excited! Our next appointment is January 6. I will be 15 weeks and 5 days. Probably too soon to tell baby's gender. Which means the earliest we will probably know is February 6. BOO! :(

Now for a shout out: My mom finished her NaNo novel by the deadline. I have read the first half of it, and it rocks! Way to go, Momma!

Morning weight yesterday morning was 148.6. This afternoon (when I woke up to go to work) I weighed 147.2. Whatever.

WARNING, slightly TMI follows: I do know that when my 6-day straight run of constipation finally ended, I lost 2 pounds in a matter of a couple of days. All I can say is YAY for Minute Maid Orange Juice Plus Calcium (the "high pulp" variety). It saved me from certain unpleasantness and pain, amongst other possibilities.

OK, TMI moment over. Other pregnancy symptoms are surprisingly absent for the most part. I still tire easily. I try to take care to not overdo it on the physical activity. I had ordered a prenatal yoga DVD from a seller on Amazon, only to have my money refunded due to the title not being in stock like they said. I had hoped to get into it. I have read that prenatal yoga will make carrying the baby during the later stages of pregnancy easier, and also helps make birth easier for most women.

I have been getting headaches a few times a week, too. Nothing too major, a Tylenol or two makes them go away relatively quickly. I'm sure it doesn't help that I can't take my beloved sinus pills during pregnancy. Roberta told me my faves were no-no's. I tried saline nasal spray, but it makes my throat hurt when I use them. Considering a neti pot, but I really hate having water up my nose, so we'll see. Momma and Grandmother swear by their neti pots. I'm not entirely sold on the idea. Even though during the summer I can always breathe more easily for a couple of days after a nice swim in the pool.

I got all my Christmas decorations up while I was off work. That was a major undertaking, even though I put up less decorations than usual, I think. There's lots of stuff I left boxed up in our closet. I put up the tree last Friday with Michael's help. I decorated it Saturday. I put up houses and other decorations through Monday. Took Tuesday and Wednesday off, pretty much. Wrapped all the presents we have so far except for 4 or 5 Thursday night while I tried to stay awake as late as possible. That was a feat! I wrapped between 20 and 30 presents in 3 hours. Of course, I cheated. They all went into either bags or already-decorated boxes. I've decided to take it easy this Christmas and conserve my energy for more important things. Like procrastinating against doing all the decluttering and organizing of all my "stuff" that I keep promising Michael I will do soon. I really have to start getting it done. At the rate i'm going, it's going to take until after my maternity leave is over next August just to get my kitchen/dining room done!

On a brighter note, it's almost time for me to go home and sleep! Yay!!!!

Oh, while I'm still here: ROLL DAMN TIDE!!! I'll be awake today just in time for kickoff! I'll get to see most of the game before work.

Update for 11/2 - Oh Crappy Day!

9:07 AM
I still feel nauseated every time I eat. And that extra hour of sleep last night didn't help. I read somewhere that a pregnant woman laying on a couch watching television burns more calories and expends more energy than a man at the gym doing bodybuilding workouts. It must be true, because I'm exhausted.

My sinuses are killing me. It is making my head hurt. And my neck. I want a nap so bad right now..... Stupid job, stupid work. Interfering with my ability to nap all day.....

3:34 PM
I feel a little better. Not as nauseated. My sinus have loosened a little. That has lead to my neck and head not hurting anymore. (For now.) Still want a nap. I've already told Michael that dinner will be frozen pizza or corn dogs, I don't care which as long as I don't have to cook for more than 10 or 15 minutes when I get home. Then it'll be a shower, and bed.