I picked Goomba up from daycare on Monday and I noticed that her face seemed a little rosy. I didn't really think much of it and put it off as a little sun/wind exposure from playing outside. On Tuesday, however, I walked into the Toddler room at school only to be greeted by an 18 month old Bozo the Clown. It probably didn't help that I had dressed her in a fuchsia shirt that day but nonetheless, my child had suddenly morphed into a little Pikachu. Large, red, round circles adorned her adorable little face as she happily ripped a small truck from a playmates hand. The first words out of my mouth were "Oh my god, what is wrong with her face?" I didn't really direct the question at anyone in particular since it was more like a gut reaction but one of the teachers immediately responded with "It's not just her!" Either she was trying to make me feel better or she was trying to stop me from going nutso in the middle of the Toddler class. Regardless, this new red-faced trend the toddlers were sporting didn't seem to impede on their socializing or stop them from continuing to slobber all over each other.
After consulting Dr. Google, Wikipedia, WebMD and BabyCenter, I came to the conclusion that Goomba had Slap Cheek Disease. What is Slap Cheek Disease you ask? Well let me tell you. It is a common childhood virus that passes without much concern and very mild symptoms, except for the Pikachu cheeks. Let me just say that it should be illegal for someone to categorize a mild virus as a "disease". A name like "Slap Cheek Disease" is just asking for mothers to turn into anxiety crazed lunatics. I confirmed my diagnosis with Goomba's pediatrician whom assured me she would be just fine and she would not have to live out the rest of her life as a Pokemon character. The Slap Cheek has now passed and we (our whole house) have now come down with a new bug. Boogers, sore throats and coughs, oh my.
Statistics say that children in a daycare setting can get on average 8-12 colds per year. I knew this little factoid when we enrolled Goomba in daycare. What I failed to realize is that those 8-12 colds would be concentrated mostly during the fall/winter months during Flu season and that the 8-12 estimate would be on the low side for our little over-achiever. So let's break that down. The Flu season can range from 4-5 months long. 12 colds divided between 5 months of the flu season means that our booger filled children will have just under 2.5 colds each month for 5 straight months. Think about that a littler further. If each cold lasts 7-10 days from onset to finish (some are longer) and they get 2.5 colds per month that means that you can count on them being sick 17-25 days out of each month for the entire flu season. 17-25 days of boogers, coughing, vomit, diarrhea, red faces, non-sleeping, cranky little children running through your house infecting the rest of the family for 5 straight months. Add on top of that the worst flu season that we have seen in years and I promise you that by the time spring hits you will be ready to pawn off your little cesspool to the nearest grandparent so that you and hubby can escape to some tropical paradise as far away as possible.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Back on the saddle...
I find it ironic that the last post on this blog was a rant about my work-life balance (or lack of balance) and then I disappeared for over a year. I guess that proves my point.
Well I'm back. At least for now. No promises.
We have transitioned from our cute little cuddly baby into Toddlerhood. Goomba is walking, running, talking, yelling, throwing food, throwing toys, throwing herself on the ground and having complete Toddler sized meltdowns. We try to minimize these meltdowns as much as possible but I'm thoroughly convinced that I'm raising an alien from another planet. No amount of logic or reasoning calms a toddler. Sometimes you just have to hand over the entire box of Cheerios and walk away, knowing that the mess will be much easier to clean up than the hysterical meltdown of your lunatic child. I know this is not a long term solution but as I frantically search for the "right" solution, this method is keeping me somewhat sane. On the flipside, Goomba is sweet, cuddly, gives kisses and hugs often without being asked and she amazes me everyday. She is not speaking in sentences yet but the things she says and does crack me up. I know we will survive these toddler years and in the end they will seem like they flew by in a flash.
At this point Goomba is showing interest in the toilet. I realize that potty training at 18 months is not entirely out of the question but it is a little early for most kids. Since she is in fact interested in the toilet I decided that I would test it out and put her on the toi toi whenever she asks. Which is all the time. And usually at the most inconvenient times, like when you are trying to get out of the house for work in the morning and she has already sat on the pot 3 times in the hour that she's been awake and she is now fully dressed, shoes on, coat on, the whole nine, and she wants to sit on the toilet. Again. Do I tell my little eager beaver no? Of course not. So we strip down, grab her Elmo potty seat, climb on the toilet and sit. And sit. And sit some more. 10 seconds later she gives me her cutest "all-done" hands and climbs down and continues with the routine of closing the lid, flushing and getting redressed. At what point do you decide to forego the games and just commit to potty training?
In desperate need of some "How the hell do you raise a toddler" advice, I have downloaded any and all self-help books I can find on iBooks or Kindle. The problem is, with a toddler there is absolutely NO TIME to read the damn books!
** Baby G will now be referred to as Goomba. I find this appropriate for a few reasons. "Goomba" has been a nickname that my mom has used to refer to the children in our family for years, even before Baby G was born. Goomba is also the little mushroom creature with bushy eyebrows and fangs from Super Mario Bro. that wander aimlessly around and upon seeing Mario, attempt to crash into him. Very strong resemblance to Baby G here. Goomba is also known as an Italian friend of the Mafia. Again, very strong resemblance in the sneaky little stinker department.
Well I'm back. At least for now. No promises.
We have transitioned from our cute little cuddly baby into Toddlerhood. Goomba is walking, running, talking, yelling, throwing food, throwing toys, throwing herself on the ground and having complete Toddler sized meltdowns. We try to minimize these meltdowns as much as possible but I'm thoroughly convinced that I'm raising an alien from another planet. No amount of logic or reasoning calms a toddler. Sometimes you just have to hand over the entire box of Cheerios and walk away, knowing that the mess will be much easier to clean up than the hysterical meltdown of your lunatic child. I know this is not a long term solution but as I frantically search for the "right" solution, this method is keeping me somewhat sane. On the flipside, Goomba is sweet, cuddly, gives kisses and hugs often without being asked and she amazes me everyday. She is not speaking in sentences yet but the things she says and does crack me up. I know we will survive these toddler years and in the end they will seem like they flew by in a flash.
At this point Goomba is showing interest in the toilet. I realize that potty training at 18 months is not entirely out of the question but it is a little early for most kids. Since she is in fact interested in the toilet I decided that I would test it out and put her on the toi toi whenever she asks. Which is all the time. And usually at the most inconvenient times, like when you are trying to get out of the house for work in the morning and she has already sat on the pot 3 times in the hour that she's been awake and she is now fully dressed, shoes on, coat on, the whole nine, and she wants to sit on the toilet. Again. Do I tell my little eager beaver no? Of course not. So we strip down, grab her Elmo potty seat, climb on the toilet and sit. And sit. And sit some more. 10 seconds later she gives me her cutest "all-done" hands and climbs down and continues with the routine of closing the lid, flushing and getting redressed. At what point do you decide to forego the games and just commit to potty training?
In desperate need of some "How the hell do you raise a toddler" advice, I have downloaded any and all self-help books I can find on iBooks or Kindle. The problem is, with a toddler there is absolutely NO TIME to read the damn books!
** Baby G will now be referred to as Goomba. I find this appropriate for a few reasons. "Goomba" has been a nickname that my mom has used to refer to the children in our family for years, even before Baby G was born. Goomba is also the little mushroom creature with bushy eyebrows and fangs from Super Mario Bro. that wander aimlessly around and upon seeing Mario, attempt to crash into him. Very strong resemblance to Baby G here. Goomba is also known as an Italian friend of the Mafia. Again, very strong resemblance in the sneaky little stinker department.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Work-life balance?
Work-life balance. What does that even mean? It surely can't mean that there would be an equal distribution of time spent on work activities and personal activities because unless you are Super Mom, Super Employee and Super Annoying, I just can't fathom that achieving this is anything beyond a miracle. Plus, let's face it, who wants to spend the same amount of time on both. If I had it my way I would spend my days lying on a beach, sipping cocktails while I listened to the giggles of my husband and daughter while they built sandcastles next to me. Work wouldn't be a factor in my ideal work-life balance equation. BUT the reality is that I wouldn't be able to do any of the things that I love (including vacation with my family to this tropical paradise I wish I was in today) without actually working and bringing home some bacon. Plus, I kind of like my job. Don't get me wrong, if I won the lottery tomorrow it would be hasta la vista (in my best Arnold voice) and I'd hit the ground running, but since I've been told that my chances of being struck by lightning are greater than winning the lotto (plus I'd have to actually play to win) I won't hold my breath that I will become a multimillionaire anytime soon. So while I wait for my winning lottery numbers to be picked I need to figure out how to do this whole work-life balance thing. I thought I had a pretty good balance before Baby G was born but looking back on it I really don't think it was balanced fairly at all. I produce my best work when under pressure and have tight timelines and since my job can be done from almost anywhere I tended to put in my 'normal' daytime hours and then go home and work more. At times I was working every night and on the weekends and I still never felt like I was caught up. My husband rarely complained but at one point he did ask if we could have a night that we could watch TV together that I didn't have my computer on my lap. Looking back on it, I don't think that was a fair balance at all. Not fair to him anyway.
Then I went on maternity leave. I took off 3 weeks before G was born. I thought I would get bored at home but by that point in my pregnancy I was tiring pretty quickly and still trying to wrap up last minute things in the house and nursery before I went into labor. I would run a few errands, take a nap, put away any new items I had purchased that day and then start dinner before my husband would get home from work. I got into a pretty good routine and never got bored once. Baby G arrived on 8/2/11 and I was fortunate to be able to stay home with her for 3 months. My husband was home for the first 7 weeks after she was born and just as we started to get into a good balance he went back to work. I spent the last the last 5 weeks of leave at home with G by myself and just as I thought I was getting into another decent routine (aka being able to take a daily shower) I had to prepare to go by to work. I have been back at work since the beginning of November and even though I have managed to keep up my daily showering (thank god!) I now have to figure out how to juggle many, many more activities. My daily schedule roughly looks like this; get up at 6a, nurse G, do hair & make-up, load the car and head to the sitter, one hour after I leave my house I arrive at work (roughly 8:30a), work until 5ish and pick up G, arrive at home one hour after I left the office (6p), nurse G, start dinner, bathe G at 7:15p, eat dinner, nurse again, put G to bed by 8:30p, make bottles, pack the diaper bag, shower, blow dry hair, in bed around 10:30p. Lather, rinse, repeat. At almost 5 months old my daughter still nurses for 45-60 minutes every time so if you were actually paying attention to the timeline above you will notice that there isn't much time for anything else. My husband is usually stuck doing anything that doesn't fit into this timeline (grocery shopping, dinner dishes, trash, bottle washing, etc.) I barely have time to eat my own dinner.
SO, how in the hell are you supposed to have a balanced home life let alone a work-life balance? Since I've been back to work I have spent 6 days away on 3 different business trips. Coordination of these was nothing short of a miracle. Thank god for my husband and my mom for helping out tremendously. My workload is insane but nothing I haven't been capable of handling in the past. The difference now is that I am unable to do any work at home, AT ALL. I've tried. Most would think that's a good thing but when you can't possibly get into the office any earlier or stay any later, when do you catch up? Do you know how many times I have tried to write this single blog post over the last 4 days?!? My co-worker says "You will never be able to get everything done. Something always has to give and you just have to rotate what it is so you don't go insane".
Pandora just cued my exit with Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain". It must be a sign. My husband will be checking me into the nearest Looney Bin before the end of FY12.
Then I went on maternity leave. I took off 3 weeks before G was born. I thought I would get bored at home but by that point in my pregnancy I was tiring pretty quickly and still trying to wrap up last minute things in the house and nursery before I went into labor. I would run a few errands, take a nap, put away any new items I had purchased that day and then start dinner before my husband would get home from work. I got into a pretty good routine and never got bored once. Baby G arrived on 8/2/11 and I was fortunate to be able to stay home with her for 3 months. My husband was home for the first 7 weeks after she was born and just as we started to get into a good balance he went back to work. I spent the last the last 5 weeks of leave at home with G by myself and just as I thought I was getting into another decent routine (aka being able to take a daily shower) I had to prepare to go by to work. I have been back at work since the beginning of November and even though I have managed to keep up my daily showering (thank god!) I now have to figure out how to juggle many, many more activities. My daily schedule roughly looks like this; get up at 6a, nurse G, do hair & make-up, load the car and head to the sitter, one hour after I leave my house I arrive at work (roughly 8:30a), work until 5ish and pick up G, arrive at home one hour after I left the office (6p), nurse G, start dinner, bathe G at 7:15p, eat dinner, nurse again, put G to bed by 8:30p, make bottles, pack the diaper bag, shower, blow dry hair, in bed around 10:30p. Lather, rinse, repeat. At almost 5 months old my daughter still nurses for 45-60 minutes every time so if you were actually paying attention to the timeline above you will notice that there isn't much time for anything else. My husband is usually stuck doing anything that doesn't fit into this timeline (grocery shopping, dinner dishes, trash, bottle washing, etc.) I barely have time to eat my own dinner.
SO, how in the hell are you supposed to have a balanced home life let alone a work-life balance? Since I've been back to work I have spent 6 days away on 3 different business trips. Coordination of these was nothing short of a miracle. Thank god for my husband and my mom for helping out tremendously. My workload is insane but nothing I haven't been capable of handling in the past. The difference now is that I am unable to do any work at home, AT ALL. I've tried. Most would think that's a good thing but when you can't possibly get into the office any earlier or stay any later, when do you catch up? Do you know how many times I have tried to write this single blog post over the last 4 days?!? My co-worker says "You will never be able to get everything done. Something always has to give and you just have to rotate what it is so you don't go insane".
Pandora just cued my exit with Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain". It must be a sign. My husband will be checking me into the nearest Looney Bin before the end of FY12.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
17 days?!?!
Our estimated due date is in just 17 days?!? That's it?!? Where did the last 9 months go?!?!? Holy....
In preparation for the baby we have narrowed down our list of names to three, packed our hospital bag, washed and put away any clothing, blankets and bedding we think we might need for the first few weeks, organized the nursery, attended baby classes, stocked the freezer with food and we have loaded up on toilet paper and basic household necessities that we won't want to run out to grab once Baby has arrived. This weekend Brett installed the car seat in both cars, assembled the Pack N' Play, the Swing and the Bouncer and I trimmed our out of control rose bushes and plants in the front yard while Brett mowed the lawns. Did I mention that the house has been remodeled? The nursery, the master bedroom and the family room officially have new paint, door and window trims, floors and baseboards!
So what's left?? Clean the house, bathe the dogs, wash the dog beds, clean the house, load the DVR with shows for midnight feedings, get a pedicure, did I mention clean the house? Oh, and we kind of need a baby at some point to make sense of all of this madness! Just not today, I still have a lot to do!!!
In preparation for the baby we have narrowed down our list of names to three, packed our hospital bag, washed and put away any clothing, blankets and bedding we think we might need for the first few weeks, organized the nursery, attended baby classes, stocked the freezer with food and we have loaded up on toilet paper and basic household necessities that we won't want to run out to grab once Baby has arrived. This weekend Brett installed the car seat in both cars, assembled the Pack N' Play, the Swing and the Bouncer and I trimmed our out of control rose bushes and plants in the front yard while Brett mowed the lawns. Did I mention that the house has been remodeled? The nursery, the master bedroom and the family room officially have new paint, door and window trims, floors and baseboards!
So what's left?? Clean the house, bathe the dogs, wash the dog beds, clean the house, load the DVR with shows for midnight feedings, get a pedicure, did I mention clean the house? Oh, and we kind of need a baby at some point to make sense of all of this madness! Just not today, I still have a lot to do!!!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Life Happens
A lot has happened since my last blog post. I have been wanting to write something creative but I just haven't been able to focus on one specific thing. Who needs focus? Why write about just one thing? Screw it. Here's a quick recap of what's been happening around here.
Family:
My mom is engaged! Congratulations! Her and Ken are getting married on Oct. 1st which means that our family is continuing to grow! I am really excited for them and I am excited for the path this will take all of us down and especially for what this means to my mom. Fingers crossed I can lose some baby weight by the time I need to squeeze into a dress! The Army has relocated my brother Steven and his family from Ft. Rucker, Alabama to Ft. Campbell, Tennessee. Although Ft. Campbell is almost exactly the same distance from California as Ft. Rucker, for travel purposes it is much easier to get to which is going to be very nice for all of us. Especially since they are expecting their 3rd baby this August! She (yes, I will have another niece!YAY!) is due on Aug. 7th, only 4 days after my estimated due date.
Vacation:
Brett and I went to Cancun in March and spent 6 days relaxing on the beach. The trip was dual purpose and was a combination vacation/babymoon and a wedding celebration for Nicole and Lou. We were looking forward to this trip and we were not at all disappointed. The weather was perfect and the wedding was beautiful. The wedding was a little bittersweet for me since I was watching my once sister-in-law get remarried but I am extremely happy for them. The uniqueness of our situation and the fact that I was there to witness this union, never one time crossed my mind as being strange or odd or abnormal. Bittersweet, yes. Strange, no. I realize that this was the union of two families that are not technically mine and I'm not sure if other people find it as 'normal' as I do that Brett and I were there to celebrate it with them. BUT to me (and to my family) they are our family, regardless of the details on how it all came about. My brother has been dead for 6 years, Nicole and Lou are in love and Lou is an amazing father to my niece. What more do you need? I couldn't be happier for them and I am thrilled that we were able to be there to celebrate such a happy moment with them.
Work:
Blah! KIDDING. Sort of. Work is crazy. I'm exhausted. I know how lucky I am to have a great job and as crazy and hairy as it is on most days, I enjoy it. I also enjoy my co-workers which makes it so much easier to deal with the ambiguity that so often surrounds me everyday. We are in the middle of our busy time so let's just say that the vacation I mentioned above couldn't have come at a better time. The next 'vacation' I will get from work is when this baby is born!
House Remodel:
Somehow we thought it was a good idea to start remodeling parts of the house in the midst of the pregnancy. Naturally it all started with the need to convert our office into the nursery but instead of cleaning the carpets and slapping some fresh paint on the walls, we decided that we would gut the entire room (floors, baseboards, door trim, window trim, etc) and start fresh. Go big or go home right? Apparently that wasn't quite big enough so we also decided that if we were going to replace the floors and baseboards in the babies room then we should do the same thing in our bedroom and the family room so they all match. Now if you are going to rip out the floors then it would be stupid not to paint while you're at it and if you're going to replace baseboards in 3 of the main areas of the downstairs then you also have to replace the baseboards in the connecting hallway, adjoining bathroom and laundry room. AND if you're going to all that trouble and already have barren rooms, then you might as well do a little upgrading and do all new window and door casings and add a touch of wainscoting right? RIGHT?!? This IS the natural progression of a home remodel right?? Well apparently it is in my house. I just thank goodness that the layout of my house allows for a logical stopping point in the floorplan so the madness ends somewhere and I'm not living in construction dust for the next 2 years! We (just Brett) have started on the babies room and are kicking ass so far. I feel like we (him again) just started and he's almost done! I can't wait to see the finished room and to start on the other rooms! Let's just hope that he can keep up this momentum through the rest of the project! My goal is to have everything 100% complete by June 1st. I do not want to deal with a construction disaster in the middle of a hot summer while 9 months pregnant! No thank you!
Baby:
She is doing great! We had our 20 week ultrasound before we left for Cancun and our 45 minute appointment turned into 2 hours. The tech wasn't able to get all of the necessary measurements because the baby was bouncing off the walls! By the end of the appointment, I had peed at least twice and my back was killing me from lying on the table for so long but we walked away with a ton of new pictures and it felt good to spend so much time watching her move around in there. I had started feeling her move about a week before the appointment and to see her kick and wave so much was awesome. Since then, I can feel her moving almost constantly and I am starting to know when she is most active. I officially look pregnant instead of like I need to cut back on the beer and ice cream, although I should definitely cut back on the ice cream I'm eating, and I've noticed that my once cavernous belly button is filling in and and it might be an outie before I know it. Overall I've only gained about 5lbs which is great but my sudden need to have dessert every night might increase that significantly if I'm not careful. As much as I should tell Brett to stop surprising me with It's It ice cream sandwiches, I just don't think I can do it yet. They're just so damn good!
Family:
My mom is engaged! Congratulations! Her and Ken are getting married on Oct. 1st which means that our family is continuing to grow! I am really excited for them and I am excited for the path this will take all of us down and especially for what this means to my mom. Fingers crossed I can lose some baby weight by the time I need to squeeze into a dress! The Army has relocated my brother Steven and his family from Ft. Rucker, Alabama to Ft. Campbell, Tennessee. Although Ft. Campbell is almost exactly the same distance from California as Ft. Rucker, for travel purposes it is much easier to get to which is going to be very nice for all of us. Especially since they are expecting their 3rd baby this August! She (yes, I will have another niece!YAY!) is due on Aug. 7th, only 4 days after my estimated due date.
Vacation:
Brett and I went to Cancun in March and spent 6 days relaxing on the beach. The trip was dual purpose and was a combination vacation/babymoon and a wedding celebration for Nicole and Lou. We were looking forward to this trip and we were not at all disappointed. The weather was perfect and the wedding was beautiful. The wedding was a little bittersweet for me since I was watching my once sister-in-law get remarried but I am extremely happy for them. The uniqueness of our situation and the fact that I was there to witness this union, never one time crossed my mind as being strange or odd or abnormal. Bittersweet, yes. Strange, no. I realize that this was the union of two families that are not technically mine and I'm not sure if other people find it as 'normal' as I do that Brett and I were there to celebrate it with them. BUT to me (and to my family) they are our family, regardless of the details on how it all came about. My brother has been dead for 6 years, Nicole and Lou are in love and Lou is an amazing father to my niece. What more do you need? I couldn't be happier for them and I am thrilled that we were able to be there to celebrate such a happy moment with them.
Work:
Blah! KIDDING. Sort of. Work is crazy. I'm exhausted. I know how lucky I am to have a great job and as crazy and hairy as it is on most days, I enjoy it. I also enjoy my co-workers which makes it so much easier to deal with the ambiguity that so often surrounds me everyday. We are in the middle of our busy time so let's just say that the vacation I mentioned above couldn't have come at a better time. The next 'vacation' I will get from work is when this baby is born!
House Remodel:
Somehow we thought it was a good idea to start remodeling parts of the house in the midst of the pregnancy. Naturally it all started with the need to convert our office into the nursery but instead of cleaning the carpets and slapping some fresh paint on the walls, we decided that we would gut the entire room (floors, baseboards, door trim, window trim, etc) and start fresh. Go big or go home right? Apparently that wasn't quite big enough so we also decided that if we were going to replace the floors and baseboards in the babies room then we should do the same thing in our bedroom and the family room so they all match. Now if you are going to rip out the floors then it would be stupid not to paint while you're at it and if you're going to replace baseboards in 3 of the main areas of the downstairs then you also have to replace the baseboards in the connecting hallway, adjoining bathroom and laundry room. AND if you're going to all that trouble and already have barren rooms, then you might as well do a little upgrading and do all new window and door casings and add a touch of wainscoting right? RIGHT?!? This IS the natural progression of a home remodel right?? Well apparently it is in my house. I just thank goodness that the layout of my house allows for a logical stopping point in the floorplan so the madness ends somewhere and I'm not living in construction dust for the next 2 years! We (just Brett) have started on the babies room and are kicking ass so far. I feel like we (him again) just started and he's almost done! I can't wait to see the finished room and to start on the other rooms! Let's just hope that he can keep up this momentum through the rest of the project! My goal is to have everything 100% complete by June 1st. I do not want to deal with a construction disaster in the middle of a hot summer while 9 months pregnant! No thank you!
Baby:
She is doing great! We had our 20 week ultrasound before we left for Cancun and our 45 minute appointment turned into 2 hours. The tech wasn't able to get all of the necessary measurements because the baby was bouncing off the walls! By the end of the appointment, I had peed at least twice and my back was killing me from lying on the table for so long but we walked away with a ton of new pictures and it felt good to spend so much time watching her move around in there. I had started feeling her move about a week before the appointment and to see her kick and wave so much was awesome. Since then, I can feel her moving almost constantly and I am starting to know when she is most active. I officially look pregnant instead of like I need to cut back on the beer and ice cream, although I should definitely cut back on the ice cream I'm eating, and I've noticed that my once cavernous belly button is filling in and and it might be an outie before I know it. Overall I've only gained about 5lbs which is great but my sudden need to have dessert every night might increase that significantly if I'm not careful. As much as I should tell Brett to stop surprising me with It's It ice cream sandwiches, I just don't think I can do it yet. They're just so damn good!
Monday, February 21, 2011
We're having a...
...GIRL! We had our appointment at Tate Diagnostic on Saturday and they were able to tell us that a little girl is baking in my belly! We are so excited! Most places won't tell you the gender of your baby until closer to 20 weeks along but if you know me, you know that I can be extremely impatient! I figure that if there are places out there that will let you know at 16 weeks, why should we wait until 20 weeks? Plus, I hadn't had a picture of our little munchkin since I was 11 weeks pregnant and at that point she still looked like a little blob. A LOT has happened in the last 5 weeks! I couldn't imagine waiting until 20 weeks (even though that's only 3 weeks away)! She has turned from a blob with little nubs for arms and legs into a little baby. She is still very small at less than 6 inches and less than one pound but the pictures we saw yesterday actually look like a little baby! Here is a picture of our little girl :)
It looks like she is trying to suck her thumb but she is actually moving her hands up near her head. At one point she had both arms up and it looked like she was holding her head. My guess is that she is already fed up with us and is covering her ears saying "What have I gotten myself in to?!?"
It looks like she is trying to suck her thumb but she is actually moving her hands up near her head. At one point she had both arms up and it looked like she was holding her head. My guess is that she is already fed up with us and is covering her ears saying "What have I gotten myself in to?!?"
Saturday, February 12, 2011
And baby makes three...
We've done it. We have officially made a baby! Well technically we made the baby months ago but I'll spare you those details. The exciting news is that on November 27th we found out that we are going to have a baby!!!! This wasn't a huge surprise since we had stopped taking birth control a few months earlier but I truly thought it was going to take much longer than it did. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy that it didn't and I know how lucky we are that we were able to get pregnant as fast as we did.
Here's a quick recap of how we found out:
Aunt Flo (aka that time of the month) was due to arrive on Thanksgiving and since we had a house full of family and we spent the day cooking, entertaining and enjoying ourselves, I didn't think much when she didn't show up. I also didn't think much about it when she didn't show up the next day either. I was cramping and feeling like I would be riding the crimson wave at any moment. On Saturday, November 27th, Brett and I slept in, made breakfast and took a lazy approach to our Saturday chores. My goal was to finish cleaning the house from Thanksgiving, put away the fall decorations, pull out the Christmas decoration and put up our Christmas tree. In the early afternoon Brett decided he wanted to take his truck to Les Schwab to have the tires rotated so I followed him there in my car. He made a few jokes through the morning about how he thought I was pregnant but I kept telling him that Big Red was going to rain on his parade any second. On the way back from Les Schwab he suggested that I should take a pregnancy test and I nonchalantly shrugged it off. When we got home I went straight to the bathroom and peed on a stick! I put the test on the counter behind the box so one of us (me) couldn't 'accidentally' see the result before the other one. Brett came into the house a while later and I told him that I had taken the test and asked him if he was ready to find out if we were going to be parents. We walked to the bathroom and grabbed the test. Two pink lines = PREGNANT! According to our timeline this was a 30th birthday present to me! The rest of the day (and weekend) was spent in a state of excitement and shock. It seemed completely surreal and on most days, it still does.
Since then we have been to three doctors appointments. The first one was at about 9 weeks along and we were able to see a picture of our little blob on an ultrasound machine and listen to the heartbeat. Our second appointment was at around 11 weeks and we were able to see that our little blob had grown arms and legs and was waving its little nubs around. Watching the baby move was pretty amazing and I can't wait to see it again! Our third appointment was on Feb. 11th and knowing I wasn't scheduled for an ultrasound, I was prepared to beg (or cry if necessary) my way into seeing our baby. I arrived for the appointment and checked in with the nurse. I was told that for this particular appointment there wasn't a co-pay and I had a seat to wait my turn. I thought it was a little strange that I didn't have to pay but I wasn't going to complain. Once I got in the room I realized why I didn't have to pay. The appointment lasted a total of about 10 minutes. I can sum up the appointment pretty easily; 3 minutes were spent chatting, 3 minutes I was waiting for the Nurse Practitioner, 3 minutes were spent searching (yes, searching) for the babies heartbeat and the last 1 minute was spent by the NP reassuring me that everything was okay. Apparently we have a wiggle worm on our hands! Now I don't know if it took exactly 3 minutes to find a heartbeat but it seemed like it took FOREVER. The nurse lubed up the magic wand, stuck it on my stomach and started moving it around. Nothing. She moved it again. Nothing. She pushed harder. Nothing. She went lower on my stomach. Nothing. Now since I didn't have a monitor to look at during this process and I was only hearing static on what appeared to be the 1980's CB radio they were using to find my missing child, I could only stare at the nurses blank face. After she moved the wand around for quite a while she finally started to reassure me that things were fine and that the baby was still pretty little and could be hiding in there. Hiding in there? Really? Do they suddenly decide to jump the uterine ship and camp out in my butt cheek? HIDE? Come on. So the nurse kept looking and went a little lower and pressed a little harder and there it was, the sound of the babies heartbeat. Apparently this kid likes to play games because as soon as we heard it, it was gone again. So the NP moved the wand, found that beautiful sound and determined that there was a solid heartbeat in the normal range. And then it was gone. Every time the NP pressed down, the kid would move out of the way. This avocado sized jumping bean of a baby is officially on its first time out.
I am currently 15 weeks and 3 days pregnant and we are due August 3rd. I have experienced very little morning sickness, minimal fatigue and overall I feel pretty good! My normal clothes still fit and I haven't gained any weight up to this point. My lower stomach has finally started to pop out a little and when I lie flat on my stomach, it feels like there is a hard ball in there. Like I said, overall I feel pretty good and I can't complain at all! Ask me again in July when I'm 9 months pregnant in 105 degrees and I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune so I'll enjoy this while it lasts!
Here's a quick recap of how we found out:
Aunt Flo (aka that time of the month) was due to arrive on Thanksgiving and since we had a house full of family and we spent the day cooking, entertaining and enjoying ourselves, I didn't think much when she didn't show up. I also didn't think much about it when she didn't show up the next day either. I was cramping and feeling like I would be riding the crimson wave at any moment. On Saturday, November 27th, Brett and I slept in, made breakfast and took a lazy approach to our Saturday chores. My goal was to finish cleaning the house from Thanksgiving, put away the fall decorations, pull out the Christmas decoration and put up our Christmas tree. In the early afternoon Brett decided he wanted to take his truck to Les Schwab to have the tires rotated so I followed him there in my car. He made a few jokes through the morning about how he thought I was pregnant but I kept telling him that Big Red was going to rain on his parade any second. On the way back from Les Schwab he suggested that I should take a pregnancy test and I nonchalantly shrugged it off. When we got home I went straight to the bathroom and peed on a stick! I put the test on the counter behind the box so one of us (me) couldn't 'accidentally' see the result before the other one. Brett came into the house a while later and I told him that I had taken the test and asked him if he was ready to find out if we were going to be parents. We walked to the bathroom and grabbed the test. Two pink lines = PREGNANT! According to our timeline this was a 30th birthday present to me! The rest of the day (and weekend) was spent in a state of excitement and shock. It seemed completely surreal and on most days, it still does.
Since then we have been to three doctors appointments. The first one was at about 9 weeks along and we were able to see a picture of our little blob on an ultrasound machine and listen to the heartbeat. Our second appointment was at around 11 weeks and we were able to see that our little blob had grown arms and legs and was waving its little nubs around. Watching the baby move was pretty amazing and I can't wait to see it again! Our third appointment was on Feb. 11th and knowing I wasn't scheduled for an ultrasound, I was prepared to beg (or cry if necessary) my way into seeing our baby. I arrived for the appointment and checked in with the nurse. I was told that for this particular appointment there wasn't a co-pay and I had a seat to wait my turn. I thought it was a little strange that I didn't have to pay but I wasn't going to complain. Once I got in the room I realized why I didn't have to pay. The appointment lasted a total of about 10 minutes. I can sum up the appointment pretty easily; 3 minutes were spent chatting, 3 minutes I was waiting for the Nurse Practitioner, 3 minutes were spent searching (yes, searching) for the babies heartbeat and the last 1 minute was spent by the NP reassuring me that everything was okay. Apparently we have a wiggle worm on our hands! Now I don't know if it took exactly 3 minutes to find a heartbeat but it seemed like it took FOREVER. The nurse lubed up the magic wand, stuck it on my stomach and started moving it around. Nothing. She moved it again. Nothing. She pushed harder. Nothing. She went lower on my stomach. Nothing. Now since I didn't have a monitor to look at during this process and I was only hearing static on what appeared to be the 1980's CB radio they were using to find my missing child, I could only stare at the nurses blank face. After she moved the wand around for quite a while she finally started to reassure me that things were fine and that the baby was still pretty little and could be hiding in there. Hiding in there? Really? Do they suddenly decide to jump the uterine ship and camp out in my butt cheek? HIDE? Come on. So the nurse kept looking and went a little lower and pressed a little harder and there it was, the sound of the babies heartbeat. Apparently this kid likes to play games because as soon as we heard it, it was gone again. So the NP moved the wand, found that beautiful sound and determined that there was a solid heartbeat in the normal range. And then it was gone. Every time the NP pressed down, the kid would move out of the way. This avocado sized jumping bean of a baby is officially on its first time out.
I am currently 15 weeks and 3 days pregnant and we are due August 3rd. I have experienced very little morning sickness, minimal fatigue and overall I feel pretty good! My normal clothes still fit and I haven't gained any weight up to this point. My lower stomach has finally started to pop out a little and when I lie flat on my stomach, it feels like there is a hard ball in there. Like I said, overall I feel pretty good and I can't complain at all! Ask me again in July when I'm 9 months pregnant in 105 degrees and I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune so I'll enjoy this while it lasts!
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