Day 3.. and it gets worse

I woke up at 2:00am thinking about how that moment was the worse I had felt so far, but not to be outdone Ryan woke up at 3:00am with a 102 fever. He laid in bed with us for over an hour before asking to go back to bed. It of course happened the day after they recalled all brand name children's medicine used to lower fevers. Luckily Ryan just wanted to snuggle and drink water, and then went back to bed without a fuss.
This morning was rough for everyone. Ryan is congested, with a fever and seems to be slightly losing his voice. But Ryan and I are determined to spend the day watching movies and generally relaxing and enjoying some downtime as much as possible. We are drinking lots of liquids and taking vitamins. Hopefully this is a quick bug (the fever is already down to 100) and Ryan and I will be feeling better by tonight.

Day 2 in the Quest for Health

Day two of antibiotics - still no improvement. If anything I feel more mentally and physically exhausted then I did yesterday, impressive considering I have spent all day in bed watching home improvement shows.

Pregnancy Has Not Been Kind

If you have tried to get in touch with me in the last few days and found me MIA there is a reason. I apparently have had a bladder infection. Now normal sick is fine, but pregnancy sick takes it to a whole new level. It's hard to differentiate between what is a normal third trimester symptom, a non-normal third trimester symptom and a sickness. So the stress level goes way up, it feels like anything could be wrong and there are two people at stake.

The problems started Wednesday night and have been on and off ever since. Whenever it would be convenient to go to the doctor I would feel okay or at least no worse and the second it hit "the office is now closed" time I would be hit with another wave. I felt nauseous, my stomach hurt in a crampy way and I was exhausted... now exhausted is par for the course with pregnancy, it is the other two symptoms that were the head scratchers. Last night Don finally made me call my doctor on call, apparently three nights in a row of me telling him I felt like death were enough. The doctor at 10pm on a Friday night was concerned but aside from me packing up and heading to the hospital there wasn't a lot he could do, it didn't feel like labor to me so he said just to keep an eye on it and if it got any worse or if it started to feel like labor to come in. That's the thing when you are not at your due date and having any sort of pregnancy issues, it could be a sign of something BAD... but it isn't easy to tell what exactly is going on.

So after my phone call with him I went to bed, I had a fairly uneventful nights sleep except my mind was racing even when sleeping about what could be going on. When I woke up I was convinced I had a bladder infection. I don't know why, but I was convinced. I have never had one before, nor did I really know the symptoms but I knew. So I did what every sick person does (whether they admit to it or not) and googled 'bladder infection during pregnancy' .. most of the symptoms matched. Don called my general practitioner who could squeeze me into her Saturday hours (yes that's right I have a doctor with Saturday hours). She tested me and promptly put me on antibiotics for a bladder infection. the good news is that it was caught early enough that it didn't turn into a kidney infection which could have posed a serious risk to both me a baby. Maybe I should have gone to medical school instead of law school....

Hopefully I am on the mend now. Between the regular pregnancy symptoms (exhaustion, nausea, hunger, constant peeing etc), my thyroid (which thankfully has not gotten worse during pregnancy), my ever fluctuating blood sugar/ gestational diabetes, and now a bladder infection I feel like my body has been put through the ringer with this pregnancy. Hopefully the rest is uneventful and the labor goes smoothly! 11 more weeks.

TRYING to sleep in

Poor Ryan has been trying to sleep in for a few days now but alas something always happens to stop him. He usually gets up super early so when he sleeps in it's because he really needs it. Unfortunatly the universe has conspired to keep him awake. The first day we had to wake him up to go to school, we let him sleep as long as possible then we had to rush him out the door.
This morning we had no where to be so I thought it would be perfect, the clock hit 8:20 and Ryan was out, he wasn't even rolling around in his crib. Then the smoke detector in his room decided it was low on batteries and started beeping! I mean really how often does that happen... once a year? Maybe tomorrow.... though I think at this point he probably won't try again, sometimes things just aren't meant to be.

Strawberry Picking

We were sitting around this afternoon and decided to go out and do something summery. What's better then strawberry picking? Ryan loved it! He picked them right off the bushes and was in charge of carrying the bucket. Of course he won't eat the plain strawberries but this didn't stop him from having a great time. No worries Jess we will be ready to go again in about a week when we run out :)

When we finished picking we got some homemade ice cream that they make right there at the farm. Ryan got 'birthday cake' flavor and ate the whole thing, he didn't even want to throw away the container when he was done because he liked it so much!

What will he Become?

I wonder what Ryan will be like when he gets older? Kid's develop a personality right away, it's interesting to think that those things that come out in the first few days might actually be a part of who they are always. I want to be able to look back and see if there was anything that I could have predicted... so here is my version of what Ryan is like now at almost two.

1. He is cautious: He was one of the only babies I have met who wouldn't put things from the floor in his mouth. In fact it has caused somewhat of a problem because he almost outright refuses to try any new foods because he doesn't believe they are food. He is also cautious when it comes to heights and anything else risky. He wants someone to hold his hand or he wants a handrail whenever anything seems risky.

2. He is really good at reading people: He knows what sort of people are going to give him the most attention and he goes for them first (if he hears the word 'grandma' he goes directly to that person). This applies oppositely for people who aren't comfortable with children/ aren't nice. He is also good at reading moods, if Don and I are having a tense moment Ryan makes us hug or kiss. He also knows exactly how far he can take something by reading our facial expressions. He can see when he has a chance of getting his way and when it is better to leave well enough alone. Good quality to have.

3. He is a huge fan of routine and predictability: If I take a different way home he tells me about it. If we do something two times in a row that is then how it is done. For instance we now read a book before Ryan's bedtime because we just happen to do it 2 nights in a row.

4. When he is comfortable he is very social: Sure he is cautious and quiet when he is in a new situation, but when he gets comfortable he can take charge of a room. For instance when we started taking art classes he wanted to sit in my lap the whole time... now that I have been taking him for almost a year he practically tells the teacher what to do. He knows all the songs and activities and stands up to do them in front of the class, he even helps the teacher set out carpet squares.

5. He is Super Protective: He's protective of me in particular and freaks if he thinks someone is trying to hurt me (dentist, doctor etc). Hopefully this extends to his sister!

He is such a great kid, I am excited to see how these traits develop and how new ones emerge. I guess only time will tell.

My Little Cabbage

Baby Audrey is a little over 2 pounds at this point and she is apparently the size of a Chinese cabbage.

Everything seems good, she has found a nice comfy spot directly on my bladder. My cravings have come back, but they are nothing I can eat... sushi, bread and sugary frozen coffees.... but I will stick to my lean meats and green veggies (at least for now).

Durham Bulls!

We went to our first Durham Bulls Baseball game of the season. Ryan loved it, he cheered for the team and wanted to meet everyone around us. He even liked the mascots!

He lasted for about 2 hours, then looked up at us and said he was all done then turned around and waved at everyone in our section and said "bye." This is the first game we have tickets to for this season, hopefully next time Don and I can get our act together to bring the camera.

Relax.. or at least try

Free time. I can't even tell you how much I have thought about free time since having a child. Before Ryan was in school I would make up to-do lists in my head of all the things I would do IF I ever went anywhere without him and then fantasize that I would actually get to do them.
When Ryan first started school I was hardcore, I didn't sit down the whole time he was gone. I raced through my list. After 3 days of him being out of the house I was done. I had completed what I could complete... let's face it I am not going to be carrying the dresser upstairs by myself, but everything else was done.
Now I sit panicking that there are things I should be doing, or that I am not being efficient enough with my time. When you have a kid you start doing things as efficiently as possible, after 2 years I have it down to a science which is great except I cannot do things inefficiently even if I want to. My heart starts racing if I need to drive 20 minutes to do only one little thing, especially if I will be in the area again within the week. It's a problem, I mean honestly I have almost 4 hours off I can afford to be a little bit inefficient if I want to right? And don't even get me started on justifying going to a coffee shop to just sit and read.
I have trouble just sitting and relaxing when Ryan's gone. I feel like I need to be ON all the time. I am working on it. When I talked to Don about it he said that I have trouble adjusting to change and I would eventually chill out, and if I didn't... well Audrey is coming soon and then I won't have any free time again. I guess only time will tell if I can take a chill pill before the window of opportunity closes.

Quick Pregnancy Update

I went to the doctor's office today and everything is continuing to go well! Being on the cusp of the third trimester I have graduated to appointments every 3 weeks (as opposed to 4). My belly is getting bigger while the rest of me seems to be getting smaller, hopefully this continues :) Nothing much else to report which is the way it should be... uneventful is the goal at this point.

94 days until my due date which means only 73 days until I am considered full term! That might sound like a long time until you realize that a pregnancy is about 280 days!

Spring Day at the Park

Ryan learned how to blow dandelion spores which is probably a skill we will regret teaching him.

Ryan loves his daddy, look at that face!

26 weeks

Road Race Season

Dad ran in a 10K road race today, it was an exciting (and early) morning for Ryan, this is the first race of the season and luckily Ryan really enjoyed it!

Ryan had a whole snack set up for himself which was good because it was a lot of work to cheer everyone by from where we were watching. Ryan clapped and even yelled "go, go, go" he was a very good spectator.
The most exciting part of course was when we were able to find dad after the race was all finished.

The Third Trimester Creep-up

I feel the 3rd trimester creeping closer and closer... less then 2 weeks now. My energy level is already decreasing while my uncomfortableness is increasing.
Luckily I have a toddler to make sure I rarely get to sit and just veg out.... Hopefully I can finish up the nursery in fairly short order so that I will lose that excuse to fill every free minute I have with baby preparation.
You know what I want? I really big frozen sugary coffee... I am having focus issues can you tell? Well anyway..
I am going to go drink my water and eat my green veggies and dream of that frozen goodness that will be coming my way in less then 4 months.

Baby's Name

To celebrate 100 days until my due date I am posting baby's name. Yes we have decided She-ra probably wouldn't work out in the long run haha, so after much discussion we have decided our little girls name will be:

Audrey Elizabeth