A Question NEVER to Ask Your Husband

Me: Do I have stretch marks on the bottom half of my stomach?
Don: *Silence*
Me: I can't see below my belly button so I really don't know.
Don: *Silence*
Me: We should probably just move on....

Hot Days Require Lots of Water

It has been HOT lately (today the actual temp was 98... I don't have the heart to look up the 'feels like' temp). The only way I can stand to be outside after about 10:30am is to have water time. It's 100 degrees outside while only 74 degrees in my house and I am 8 1/2 months pregnant... do you blame me?

Today we started out at the neighborhood pool from 8-9:30am and then the afternoon was spent with the sprinkler going and the turtle pool full.

Come Thursday the weather is going to get a little better and I might actually be willing to go outside without an endless supply of cold water on hand!

BIG

A few nights ago I was rocking Ryan to sleep, his eyes were closed and he was almost out. All of a sudden he lifts his head, pulls away from me grabs either side of my stomach and says "Big"..... Way to make a girl feel good :) Luckily I was laughing too hard to take offense.

Trying (and Failing) to Stay Calm

So I broke, not physically but mentally. On Friday I had my first all out overanxious, soon to be mom of two moment.

It all started when I decided to do my kick count while Ryan was taking a nap and I got a big fat nothing. My doctor defines a kick count as taking 1 hour out of your day to make sure you feel at least 4 kicks (or some sort of movement), if you don’t then you have to drink something cold and sweet and then try it again. I got one kick, and only because I poked her hard in the foot.

I called the doctor, it is at that time about 2:30pm on Friday… the nurses and doctors want to go home, they obviously are not pleased with me calling but what can they do? They have a panicking mom on their hands and they have to do something. While I have been calm throughout all the stuff that has happened throughout the pregnancy I am in a total tizzy over the kick count. There is slight hyperventilation on my part, I am imagining that I get there and get rushed to the hospital because something is wrong; I am imagining that I have run out of amniotic fluid and baby is not doing well. I know all the bad stuff that can happen, and I was going through the list in my head. The nurse on the phone told me to come in right away (I know they had no choice but to tell me this, but I of course take It as a sign that something really is wrong), so I wake up Ryan from his nap (this tells you how much panic I was in… it takes a lot for me to justify waking up a sleeping toddler) and force us immediately the door.

They gave me a non-stress test and after 25 minutes or so they declare everything to be okay. No signs of any sort of distress. This of course could be due to the fact that after dragging myself and my sleepy 2 year old son in 98 degree weather 25 minutes away to the doctor’s office that Audrey decided to start kicking like crazy… but whatever. I must focus on the fact that she did start kick-boxing me, and that is what is important, even if it did make me look like a crazy overanxious mom.

They did discover that my blood sugar is starting to get pretty high, even while fasting so they put me on meds, so if nothing else at least I got that dealt with, that and I am no longer a basket case made going to the doctor worthwhile. I go back in Thursday for another checkup and non-stress test, hopefully I can stay calm and stay away from the doctor until then!

Locked Car

Today Ryan and I were playing with one of his toy cars. The doors and hood open and close on the car which he thinks is super cool. He got really frustrated because the trunk doesn't open, it just isn't designed to. I told him the trunk was locked since there was really nothing I could do about it. He ran off in frustration, I thought that would be the end of it. He came back about a minute later holding out my car keys so that I could unlock his toy car.... There is no getting away with anything with this kid.

Too Hot

Being almost 37 weeks pregnant and the temperature outside reaching 100 is not a good combination.
With 2 days in a row of 95+ degree days (they say the feels like temp is 105 today) and at least 4 more to go I have been staying inside in the air conditioning. The second I go out, even to get the mail I feel like the life force has been sucked out of my body. So until things cool down or I go into labor I don't really think I will have a lot to write about, so that is all for now.

Happy Fathers Day!

I wanted to wish all the fathers out there a wonderfully happy Fathers Day. Ryan (and soon Audrey) are really lucky to have such a great dad. I'm off to make sure Ryan gives Dad a lot of hugs and kisses so he knows how much we love and appreciate him!

Beach Weekend

We decided to have our last 'before baby' trip, so we escaped to Wrightsville beach and Wilmington. I was told by the doctor not to travel since my due date is so close but I did... and I didn't go into labor so already the trip was a success. When we first got in we went straight to the beach. Ryan got to swim in the ocean for the first time, he actually really enjoyed it until the water splashed in his face... then he tightly mouthed let us know that it was time to go back to the beach.

In this picture he was trying to collect water without getting his feet wet... it wasn't working very well.

Ryan, who gags at everything, was willing to play with seaweed on the beach. This kid literally gags when stepping on cracker crumbs or at the sight of chedder cheese. I am now completely baffled at what his standard is for gaggability.

I must warn you that at the beach my camera ran out of batteries, so between the beach pictures and the museum pictures we had lunch on the waterfront, checked into our hotel, walked around the harbor in Wilmington and then went out to dinner at a cool pub with great outdoor seating. The next morning, we went out to breakfast, walked through a farmers market and then finally ended up at the museum where these pictures start again.

In the play kitchen/ restaurant Ryan cooked up a pancake meal and made Don sit at the table. It was super cute, he even pretended to wash the dishes when the meal was done.

They were having some sort of water day at the museum, we didn't know that so Ryan got to play in the water in his clothes. His favorite parts were giving the baby dolls baths (hopefully this is a good sign), and driving the school bus that was in the background of this picture.

Overall the trip was great, everyone had a super time, when we got home Ryan fell asleep for the night at 5:30! I'm glad we were able to go and I didn't go into labor 2 1/2 hours away from the hospital. Now it's time to rest, relax and wait for little Ms. Audrey to arrive.

Tick Panic

This morning I found a tick on Ryan's back. Now for all of you who live in the woods this probably seems like no big deal..... I freaked out. First of all it was really latched on there (it took both Don and I to get it off) and second of all I have known 2 people to get lyme disease and would really like to avoid knowing a third.
After a successful removal Don was carrying it into the kitchen in the tweezers and he dropped it! Did I mention I HATE ticks, I freaked out again... I would rather run into a spider or a snake then this little bugger. Don was unable to locate it so after he left for work I vaccumed EVERYTHING but I still have a major case of the heebee jeebees.
I called a friend of mine who is a nurse to ask if there was anything else I should do, I of course freaked her out also because it was 7:30am and she thought I had gone into labor. So exciting morning for all of us!

On another note.... baby Audrey is due in exactly one month from today!

Race for the Cure 2010

Don ran in the 2010 Race for the Cure on Saturday. The race started at 7:00am so we had to leave our house at 5:30am to get there on time but it is our tradition (Ryan has now been 3 years in a row) and we all ended up having a good time. There were 25,000 participants in the race this year! Last year Ryan and I did the race, this year with me being 8 months pregnant we were cheerers :)

We got to ride on a school bus to the race location!

Don getting ready to run.
Ryan insisted on wearing Don's race t-shirt... it was a little big but he looked awfully cute. Ryan drinking just like dad. He watched EVERYTHING Don did the whole morning and is still running around with the chip that measures start and finish time for the race, he acts as though he is running his own race.

They had an ambulance and helicopter that they were allowing people to get in and talk to the drivers. It took a little convincing to Ryan but he eventually got in and ended up having a good time.

Ryan sitting in the LifeFlight Helicopter

VIDEO: Ryan and Puppy

Here is a video of Ryan playing with a new puppy! And before you ask, no we didn't get a puppy, he belongs to a friend of ours. Enjoy, the video is pretty cute if I do say so myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj3h77wRpw4&feature=player_embedded

The Glow is Gone

I am officially not glowing with this pregnancy. I will be the first to point out that I am incredibly blessed that nothing that has gone wrong in this pregnancy has caused any detriment to the baby. That being said this pregnancy has kicked my ass.

At first there was the nausea and mind numbing tiredness which subsided (at least for the most part) after about 14 weeks. Then I got the stomach flu which made me lose so much weight in two days that they put me on the medicine they give chemo patients.

At about 20 weeks I became, or at least became aware that I had gestational diabetes. I had to give up bread, potatoes and anything with sugar which when you are pregnant and HUNGRY is not a fun prospect.

Everything was chugging along fine there until I had the 2 weeks of double ear infections and bladder infections. I apparently have the bladder infection that won't die so after 2 rounds of antibiotics they are essentially giving up declaring it mild enough it should be fine. Luckily the pain that was waking me up every 1.5 hours during the night is gone and hopefully will stay that way.

Now I have a rash that not only itches like nothing I have ever experienced, it spreads like wildfire and blisters thus giving it a nice stinging itch. Of course it started on my face so now I look like I have really bad acne scaring/ I am a burn victim. I took a pictures to post here but they actually kinda grossed me out so I will save your eyes those little gems.

I am growing more and more mentally and physically exhausted every time something new comes up. I am trying to stay positive but I can feel it fading. I just need to keep looking forward, Don and I have deemed my goal for everyday is to "keep the misery at bay." Not exactly roses and sunshine, but it's working to get me to where I need to be. As of Saturday I will be at 35 weeks and the doctors are all set for me to have the baby. 5 weeks which I will take one day at a time. I promise the next post will be happier.

*Update... it's poison ivy. I went to the dermetologist, now I'm waiting on my OB to approve the medication they prescribed. The good news is that they were able to remove the weird blood blister thing so I wouldn't have to come back like I was planning on doing anyway after Audrey came.

Making News

Here is an article about my family focusing on my brothers recent graduation from law school!

8 Months Pregnant!

I am now going to the doctor weekly... which means that we are getting super close. In fact my doctor told me that in 5 days if I went into labor their reaction would be congratulations because they don't worry about earliness as of 35 weeks.
Ryan is starting to acknowledge babies more. In fact when I was playing with him in his classroom this morning he took the baby doll on a walk through the classroom, then gave her milk and then put her to bed. He really wanted to show me how well he was able to take care of the baby. While I think he is a little young to really understand that there is a new baby coming to live with us, we are trying our best to tell him about her. No more then 6 weeks (hopefully) and we will find out what his reaction actually is!
On a side note, Happy Birthday Don! It looks like he won't be sharing a birthday with Audrey :)

Nursery Pictures

We finally finished the nursery!

2 Year Old Classroom

Today when I was dropping Ryan off at school I gave him a little extra time to show me around his new classroom (he moved up to the 2 year old classroom this week). It was really fun watching him. He fed the babydoll who he had put in the play highchair.. he even made eating noises for the baby. He then put the baby to bed when she was done. Just another step in his quickly developing mind...

It's crazy that in just the one full day that he has been in his new classroom you can see the new things he has learned and his langauge is already improving. He even asked if we could say "Bye Bye to Barbara" (his last teacher) when we were leaving school Tuesday. I love watching when he goes through these rapid growth weeks.

Pregnancy Update

With 45 or so days until my due date things have been falling apart physically for me. Last week my doctor caught what she said was the beginning of another bladder infection... I couldn't feel it so I went on antibiotics and thought nothing of it. Then on Saturday my stomach started cramping like it had with my first bladder infection. Since Saturday I have woken up about 5 times a night because of being so uncomfortable (I usually get about 7-8 hours of sleep at night so you do the math at how often I wake up). I went into the doctor yesterday because the pain has continued and they wanted to rule out that I was going into preterm labor... they told me that the pain was not the bladder infection since that had gotten no worse, but I also wasn't dilating so it wasn't "real" contractions either..... so the conclusion is that it is probably Braxton Hicks contractions and there is nothing that they or I can do about it. 45 days seems a lot longer after writing out that story... The good news is baby is moving well and her heartbeat is what is should be so we are just waiting now.

Picnic/ Memorial Day Pictures

First I'd like to point out that I am due next month!!! AHHHH
Okay, but now to the post with pictures from my very delayed mothers day picnic (i was sick for the real day).

...and pictures from our last minute Memorial Day cookout