Routines

So, it only took two kids, a third on the way, and J starting preschool to finally get some sort of scheduled routine around here. Mondays and Wednesdays are pretty much free days, which usually involve not leaving the house because I just don't feel like it. ;)

Tuesday/Thursdays are J's school days, so we're out the door by 8:45, drop her off, grab a coffee at the DD, hit home or the grocery store, hang for a bit with E, then pick up J at 11:30.

Friday is gymnastics day. J's in the "big girl" class, and I was conned into signing E up for the mommy & me class. Big mistake. I'm too tired and getting too big to keep up with him, and he's just too young to focus on it all right now. I'm counting the weeks until the end of the session, but of course I'm going to feel super guilty signing her up and not him for the next session, because he's going to be running to the door to join in. Bah.

Our afternoons are pretty much all the same: lunch, naps, playtime...if we're lucky, playtime involves going outside with the neighborhood friends, without whom I'd probably be going insane. It definitely helps the kids to get out and run around, and with the new 11 year old girl living next door? Built-in kid-chaser, so we don't have to worry about our under-4-year-olds running down the street or around the corner out of sight.

I am definitely valuing the great neighbors we have, and hope that if and when we ever move, they'll move right along with us and live next door. ;)

Wrapping it all up...

Since this is "Bitter and Pregnant" and I'm no longer pregnant, we'll be moving everything to do with all the kids back over to Bitter Mom.

To fill in some blanks over how the whole labor and delivery thing went, here's the 'birth story' as I retell it:

Friday night I was having irregular contractions, maybe one or two an hour, and figured it was the start of a long process (as it was the last time). By midnight or so, the contractions started becoming more regular, coming every 15-20 minutes or so, and I still figured it would be a while, so I tried to get some sleep.

I woke up around 2 with contractions that felt like they were right on top of each other, so I started timing them, and they were coming every 2 minutes at about 45-50 seconds long. After maybe 10 minutes of contracting, I woke D up to help me time them and to start getting ready. I woke up my mom to tell her we were leaving, and we were out the door by 3 a.m.

I called the doctor in the car, knowing that no matter what I was heading to the hospital. Thankfully I knew what the hell I was doing, because she actually never called me back! She didn't get the message from her answering service because her pager was on vibrate and she didn't hear it - and if she doesn't answer a message, the service is supposed to call her. They never did!

Anyway, on the way to the hospital, I told D that if we decide to have anymore kids that we need to think about moving to the Towson area. :-)

We got to the hospital by 3:30, where D just pulled up to the ER entrance, and a lovely nurse who was leaving saw me and grabbed a wheelchair (though it was just more painful to sit through contractions, but it was a lovely gesture). She wheeled me in while D parked - one of the ER triage nurses came out and thought I drove myself to the hospital!

I filled out some paper, got wheeled up to the L&D triage, got undressed, peed, and got checked out. I was 4 cm, and the nurse and midwife congratulated me, as I could get the epidural right away! (YAY!) I walked to the L&D room (soooo much easier to beat feet between contractions than sitting) then they started their process of asking me every medical history question under the sun, getting me hooked up to an IV, and (finally) calling the anesthesiologist...er, the drug guy! They kicked D out while he get me all set with the epidural, and when he was able to come back in the room, and it was starting to work, he said I was a changed woman. :-)

I think the epidural was in and I was feeling good by 4:15 a.m. D called his mom, who was shocked to hear that it all happened so fast! She got ready and drove up - but she had to stop by our house, because we totally forgot our camera! D & I rested for a while, his mom arrived with his grandparents, we hung out, and they finally decided to check me around 10 a.m. - I had felt some pressure in my butt, which the nurse said was good.

Like I described before, the nurse had me set to do a push, and he was right there, so she made me stop so she could call the doctor in. She also asked if there was anyone else we wanted to be in there, so I had D call his mom (who at the time was looking around the hospital for a blueberry muffin for him!) - she bolted right up and made it just in time!

Right after he came out, they put him skin-to-skin on my chest/belly, which was neat - I didn't get to do that with J - and he warmed up and we just looked at each other. They eventually took him to the other end of the room to weigh him and check him out, while I got stitched up. No episiotomy, but I did have a 2nd degree tear.

Because he came out so fast, he still had lots of fluid in his system, which was suctioned as well as possible, but was a small issue for spitting up and such while we were in the hospital. Also, because of his large size for his gestational age, they had to check his sugars every hour or so for a few hours after he was born, and then before each feeding the first day.

Oh, but besides that it did take us a while to decide what we were going to name him! All drugged up, I couldn't figure out what name he looked like. But obviously, we went with our first choice. :-) We'll be calling him Ethan or EJ.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm going to go wash my hair, and I think we're all going to get out of the house this morning! By 'all' I mean, me, J, EJ, and my MIL - D's back to work today! :-(

Just achy and over it all...

So, really, nothing's new. I like to flip from side to side when I sleep, and frankly that's just become incredibly difficult and painful to do. If I sit too long, when I get up, my muscles right above my hoo-ha are cramped up and I can't stand up straight.

The kid was just pushing himself around in there last night and hurting the crap out of me. But, I ate two kinds of queso, so I'm hoping that has some effect within the next 12 hours.

My mom's been great with entertaining and watching J, but if this baby doesn't come by Sunday, she's not going to get a chance to meet him, at least until May!! Really hoping the queso works...

No munchkins :-(

I got up, J wanted some Cheerios, and that sounded good to me, so I had a bowl, too. Now I want some munchikins. I might go out tomorrow and get some.

So, I'm obviously still here. Nothing new to report on the status of my uterus. I did wake up with a sinus headache, so I flushed out my nose, took some tylenol, and I'm waiting for it to go away.

One of my best friends from college is coming up to visit this afternoon - we haven't seen him since J's birthday party, and we're meeting his new girlfriend. Should be a good time. :-)

My mother in law is also in town - just down at the ocean right now, until Tuesday or until something happens, whichever comes first.

Nothing new.

Just checking in for my daily update. Absolutely nothing going on.

It took me forever to take a shower this morning, and even longer to get "started" for the day, which really just involves changing into clean pj's and throwing my wet hair in a bun. I did pull out an outfit for the kid to wear home from the hospital, emptied J's closet of things she's grown out of, and put said things into a bin for storage.

Now it's almost time for a nap! After I change a poopy diaper. Oh, joy of joys.

STILL HERE!

Sorry to lead anyone on...I totally took a nap when J did this afternoon, so this is the first I've gotten downstairs to get online.

And she's being left to her own devices upstairs while Curious George is on, so who knows what I'll find when I head back up there.

Poll time!

I added a poll on the right! I'm just throwing the names out there for opinion at this point. Feel free to comment here, too, if you like.

I've been set on the middle name Jacoby, and we thought we were set on Ethan Jacoby for a while, but now D's rethinking it, and leaning towards Dylan. But he doesn't like it with Jacoby. (BTW, it's pronounced "Jah-coe-bee" if you've never heard of the Red Sox player with that first name.)

Rounding out our top 4 names were Gavin and Cole. I like Gavin, D likes Cole, so I don't think those are even really on the table.

Naming a child is hard. Like, he's going to have this name for the rest of his life...At least if we messed up with J, she gets to marry into a new last name if she wants to.

Unrelated: D killed the bug! Yay! I can now return to the basement. But now D's doing laundry for me anyway, so I don't have much reason to go down there tonight.

Ow

No progress to report, but I did get out to the mall today with Ann, and came home to just collapse on the couch barely able to walk. Seriously. So much pain. I can't lift my legs on my own anymore - I have to grab the cuff of my pants to even pull my leg up on the couch to stretch out.

Oh, but at the mall, we let the girls play in the crazy fun and crowded play area, where there was another little girl, no more than 4, who was a TERROR. Even other moms were talking LOUDLY about how awful this girl was being, well within earshot of the kid's grandmother. This girl would push down a child - J included - and wait for the kid to get up just to push them down again. And again! Kids way younger than her! It was getting out of control, and they finally left - just as we were leaving, though.

J can take a fall, as I've mentioned before, but even she just got tired of being continually pushed down by this kid. After the third consecutive knock-down, she just laid there and cried. :-( I was about to go push the kid myself, if only I wouldn't have potentially gotten arrested in doing so. Grrrr.

Nothing new

Still at 1 cm. Zero progress. I did get some formula samples at the doctor's office, so it wasn't a complete waste! Woohoo! I'm hoping next week she'll give me some more! :-)

Sorry I was offline all day. If you saw my FB status last night, you'll know there was one of those ugly bugs in the basement, and when I know there's one on the run, I just don't go there. I think the first time I saw one, I avoided the basement altogether for 2 months.

I will, however, now go down there with D. I think that's progress. Or someone that can kill the bug when it decides to attack me.

Once again...

Still here.

I don't get it, though. I get up with J around 7/7:30. By 10 a.m. I'm exhausted. I barely make it through to lunch, hoping to get a nap in while she naps, and now I'm not tired.

Today's a long one, too, because D has class tonight.

Doctor's appointment tomorrow morning! Woohoo!

Question for 2+ time moms...

How many baby monitors do you have? Not that we have to rush out and buy another one yet, but it's really the last thing I'm even remotely worried about not having right now.

How long do you keep the monitor in your older child's room? With J's seizure thingie, I know I'll be overly paranoid and want to have a monitor in her room until she's 12 or something.

Anyway, I got lots of great stuff from my girls today! Thanks so much!!! It's all going to come in very handy!!

I hope this doesn't make me an awful mom...

But I'm not cut out for the sentimental pregnancy crap. This kid moves, and it hurts, and I want to cry. I have feet stuck under my ribs, it hurts, and I want to cry. I have heartburn all the time and I want to cry.

I really just want this kid out. I know it's going to be more work. It's going to be EXHAUSTING. But I'm exhausted now. I can't hold J for very long. I can't do much around the house - at least carrying laundry up and down stairs. I can't do much when J is awake anyway because she just wants to mess shit up, get into what I'm trying to put away, or get into cabinets that she shouldn't be in - that should be babyproofed by now (hint, hint, honey - yes, the cabinets in our bathroom). By the time it gets to her naptime, I just want to sleep, or just veg.

Maybe I can occupy my thoughts by opening up one of those baby pools. I really just want to cry, though.

Ha!

I guess as it goes with having kids, you can't plan anything. We've been trying to make sure we have our bases covered, like if I go into labor and D's mom isn't here yet. The plan was to rely on D's grandmother to watch J if that were to happen. That was even what my MIL said, that Grandma would "fill in" for her until she gets here.

Yeah, D's grandparents are leaving later this week to go visit his parents basically until his mom comes up here. Ha!

I know we have tons of people to rely on. Basically all of D's aunts were offering to take J if I go to the hospital.

I talked to my mom today - her solution? "Well, D will obviously have to stay with J and watch her!" Um, NO. I'm not having this baby ALONE.

When so many people are out of town, this is the drawback of not knowing when you'll have the baby. Still, I would prefer not to be induced, not to be scheduled for anything.

---

J's new room is almost done, I think - all doors throughout the house have been painted and rehung and moulding's been painted. I'm sure the decorating and such will be a work in progress for a few months, and probably won't even be started until we get the furniture.

Now, for me to feel 'ready' I just need to get all the crap off the top of my dresser, set up a changing station, and clean up my side of the bedroom of a stack of books and bags of yarn, so I can move the bassinet into place.

For now, I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to go to bed. Maybe clean up some yarn. ;-)

Clothes, clothes, clothes!!

As if J's 5 bins of clothes weren't taking up enough room around the house, this yet unborn boy now has more clothes than J, thanks to Becky, Ann and Sarah...

J's bins of clothes consist of everything that doesn't fit her anymore, that are waiting for a place to go (either to D's sister if she has a girl, or to my grandfather's house for more long-term storage). Her clothes that she has yet to grow into (in sizes up to 4T!) are mostly hanging up in her new room's miniscule closet.

This kid's stash of clothes? Three FULL bins - one each of newborn, 0-3, and 3-6. Then another bin of 6-9 and above.

D's actually finishing up J's new room this week - it's all painted pink, and he's just doing the trim painting. We went to look at the furniture I found online, and I think it's a go, but we're still not going to get it until after the baby arrives. I will be excited, however, to actually have places to put all these clothes once I can start moving J's stuff over to the new room - I'm not looking forward to living out of bins for a few months!!

Oh, sweet lord...

Let's get this baby OUT!

I had another doctor's appointment today, and it was a pants-less one. Group B Strep test, and while she was "down there" she decided to give the cervix a quick check. Nothing going on down there, but the cervix is "soft", so I'll take it as something...

I'm so miserable. Maybe it's the fact that J has been jumping all over me today, and pushing off the belly. Maybe it's the heartburn. Maybe it's the set of legs jutting themselves upward into my ribs.

The doc said I could come back in one or two weeks, so I opted for two, just to save me another drive next week. I may have to plan a night out to Nacho Mama's soon though...while pregnant with J, we went there for dinner on Saturday - my actual due date, I think - and I started having contractions on Sunday evening. It's certainly worth a shot, and the queso is amazing...

More complaining...

Sciatic nerve pain sucks. I seriously cannot walk at times.

Heartburn still sucks. More and more everyday. I chewed my first Tums EVER yesterday, figuring it might be good relief between the Zantac pills.

I'm fat. Even before this pregnancy - I just scanned through some old home videos from last Christmas, when I wasn't pregnant, and I just feel disgusted. Disgusting. And then I polished off the remaining cookie dough ice cream.

After the baby, I'm determined to reclaim my chin, waist and skinny jeans.

This baby is just hurting...my uterus is hurting, almost like mild cramps, but not quite contractions. Certainly nothing regular. But I'm not going to complain if he wants to make an early debut. I'm going on 33 weeks - 36 weeks is fine enough for me. I just don't think D's mom is planning on coming back into town until March.

Little soccer player

Every time J starts stirring in the morning, the little guy in my belly starts kicking. It makes it really hard to get those few extra minutes of sleep in the morning.

He really does go to town on the kicking and punching at night, too.

Doctor's Appointment

I had my usual 4-week doctor's appointment yesterday. One pound gained. Baby's fine. Next appointment is the day before Thanksgiving! I also got the form to do the glucose test in 2-6 weeks. Oh how I can't wait for that.

We listened to the heartbeat, and when the doctor finally got it (he was being tricky, I think, and punching/kicking right where she was holding the doppler), J started making the same "whoosh, whoosh" heartbeat noise. So cute!

While the days still have their ups and downs, I just try to get through every day by making small plans, and still taking time for me. Today, it's an exciting trip to Target after I can get a shower. Which I should go do now, while J is entertained with a diaper, a book, and a couple of rubber duckies.

New stage

I've DEFINITELY reached the "feeling fat" stage. And not by actually feeling fat (any more than usual anyway), but by actually feeling very PREGNANT.

I've actually been thinking, and as of today, now saying out loud, "Is it February yet?" (And I'm just hoping that this kid decides to make his debut by coming in February rather than March.)

I'm tired. I'm dragging. Quite literally.

We went to the pumpkin patch/farm place thingie today, and I really felt like I was dragging myself through the place. I sat to take pictures of J in the pumpkin patch, and she got up to go back to Daddy, and I didn't even make an attempt to get up until she was strapped in the stroller, and D had already turned to stroller to the exit.

So. Tired. I think I'll be dragging myself to bed shortly.

Well, I don't think it's appendicitis!

J had diarreah on Sunday and once yesterday. Luckily that's been it with her, but yesterday I could barely make it home from a visit to Ann's...As soon as I walked in the house, lunch came right up. Don finally called to say he was on his way home, and it turned out he was feeling pretty crappy, too.

So, yet another day that I was going to see the twins that fell through...ugh!