I am a homebody

I really like being at home, even if I'm doing housework. So today, I'm expecting my brother and his family to come over and hang out at our house. I was away from home most of the day yesterday. Well it's 1:00 pm, and they still haven't come. I just want to stay home in my comfy clothes and do some laundry, do some organizing in the nursery, and be here in case Nathan needs something. I actually need to do a little shopping, but I don't want to fight the traffic and the crowds. I might go out this evening or tomorrow. I need a curtain for the nursery, maternity dress for shower next weekend, and some random things. I'm trying to decide what kind of camcorder we should get. I'm leaning towards the DVD recorder or mini DVD because I don't want to have to put it on the computer and burn a DVD. Plus we don't have a great computer or a DVD burner. I also like the ones that record on DVD or on the memory stick. Any advice?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got all the prep work done yesterday thanks to my brother's help. Now I'm just popping each casserole in the oven for it's turn to cook. Then when everything is done, I'll put them all in the oven on low temp to stay hot till it's time to go. Nathan is on the roof working because it's supposed to rain tomorrow. He really thought he would finish yesterday, but there was a lot more rotten wood than he thought. He doesn't think there is a great way to fully protect the little room from rain. I'm sure he'll do the best he can. I just feel bad that he has to work on the house on Thanksgiving. His dad is here helping him.

So as I sit and wait for the food to bake, I have a moment to reflect on my life and what I'm thankful for.

Thank you God for giving me loving parents that brought me up with good values and prepared me for the big world. Thank you that they were able to send me to a good college. Thank you for giving me a big dose of motivation to finish college and get a great job. Thank you for placing Nathan in my life. Thank you for allowing us to be parents to one of your newest children.

Thank you for all my friends and family out there reading this message. I pray that everyone has a great day and takes a moment to share what they are thankful for.

Crazy Day Ahead

My massage was so great yesterday. Then I went and bought some new bras. I hate spending the money when I know they won't fit for long, but I did go up on the band size, and I just can't be miserable all day. Then I went to HEB (grocery store) to use a gift certificate Nathan got from work for a free turkey and other food. As soon as I walk in the door, who do I see but my mom! There are 1000 people in that store, and I never go in there. I just went because of the gift certificate, so it was funny! We asked about what all we got from it, and I gave it to mom. She's cooking the turkey anyway.

So today should be a pretty crazy day too. I'm "working" till 11:30, meeting my friends for lunch, going to the grocery store (ughhh) to fight the crowds, then cooking broccoli cheese casserole, cornbread dressing, green beans, and broccoli salad for tomorrow. I will probably do all of the prep work and some of the cooking today and bake everything tomorrow morning. My brother and two of the kids came in last night from San Antonio, so maybe he will come hang out with me while I cut up millions of vegetables and cook. Hopefully I don't wear myself out too much. Last night, I was tired and hungry on the way home, and I had lots of BH contractions.

I hope everybody has a great day today getting ready for tomorrow! I will try to post tomorrow, but if I don't, Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for friends and family that make my life fulfilling and keep me busy!

Maternity Pics

Here goes nothing! Here are my maternity pics! http://amberhamiltonphotography.com/maternity.html

Kind of scary seeing me all out there, but I really wanted to share the pics to help Amber get more maternity clients. She did such a great job. I really like the pics with the baby shoes.

Dr Appt

Yes, I know, I go to the dr a lot! But I actually learned a few things today. Nathan went with me, which is nice. It makes it less miserable to have to sit and wait forever. We got their at 2:30 and didn't leave until close to 5:00. The tech tried to do the 3D u/s again, but the baby is not in a good position to see his face. Then we did the NST (non-stress test - where they hook my belly up to a monitor to watch the baby's heartrate and watch for contractions). We will be doing these every week now. And - I learned that I get to pay $30 every week for these. Great. All for one little boy... Then the dr came in and said our NST looked great. We talked about my contractions and pains, and she said it is a preview of labor. I also asked about timing of labor. She said that she would let us go into labor as early as 37 weeks. She said that they would try to stop labor at 36 weeks, but if he really wanted to come, they would let him. Then I asked what was the latest we would go. She said that she wouldn't let us go past our due date because of our risk factors. So it sounds like we could be having a baby as early as 36 weeks, which is December 24! Or 37 weeks, December 31! And January 21 at the latest! Of course I don't want him to come early, but it's just nice to know what the dr's plans for me are.

Today Nathan is working on fixing the flat roof that has been leaking. I'm thankful that my husband is big and strong and knows how to work on our house. I know he doesn't like doing it, but I'm glad he is willing to. I'm also thankful that we got our sewer problem fixed. I think another problem is coming though. It seems like our water from the tap had dirt in it. Yuck! If it's not one thing, it's another. We got our cat fixed yesterday, the little orange one. He is my little baby, so I was worried about him, but he is ok. He was still drugged up when we picked him up yesterday, but this morning, he was back to normal and wanting to be petted and loved.

Thoughts on Number of Babies - Updated

Updated to make correction: I said I was pro-life, but hate abortion. I meant that I am pro-choice, but hate abortion. Thanks Nancy for helping me clear this up.

Nancy and Jewels had posts last week about implanting embryos and abortion that were very thought provoking. I can't help but share my thoughts.

For those unfamiliar with terms and situations for selective reduction, let me explain. Selective reduction is basically ending the life of a fetus, usually using a chemical solution, usually done in the first trimester. This can be done for a variety of reasons, including a terminal pregnancy where the infant how little or no chance for survival, and high order multiples.
For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_reduction

High order multiples (I'm defining as more than two fetuses) can occur for many reasons: naturally, after transferring embryos, after insemination, or with the use of fertility drugs and intercourse.

In transferring embryos, there are statistics that predict how many transferred embryos will implant and grow. For instance, a woman could transfer three and be told her chances for no pregnancy is 60%, singleton is 20%, twins is 17%, and triplets is 2.9%, and the chances of an embryo splitting to have quadruplets is .1% (made that up). She would have to make the best decision she could. Her decision would probably changed based on her age, financial situation, quality of embryos, and her thoughts on how many children she could handle. Hard decisions.

For an insemination or timed intercouse with the use of fertility drugs to stimulate the ovaries, things are different. A woman may be told, you have 3 follicles that could produce eggs. She has to decide if she is ok with possibly having 3 embryos form. Or she could be told she has 4 follicles. She has to decide where to draw the line and say no. That would be hard to say after she has invested time and money into a cycle.

It's hard to say what I think is right and wrong. I think there is a line to draw. To me, a small chance of quadruplets would be a good place to draw the line. More than 4 embryos to transfer or more than 4 follicles for IUI or intercouse seems like too much for sure. I don't think I would transfer more than 2 embryos because of our history of transferring two and getting two to implant.

But, who am I to judge people for their decisions? Selective reduction sounds so much more acceptable than abortion to some people, but really, it's the same, a life lost. But then again... what about our frozen embryos? What if we are not able to transfer all 9 of our embryos? I like to think life begins when the embryo attaches to the uterus. But some people may define life starting at conception. It won't be an easy thing to do for us to let them go if we have to, but where does that rank on the terrible people meter?

I'm pro-life, but I hate abortion. I hope we can concentrate on how to help women avoid having to do selective reduction and abortion by having adoption programs and having REs counsel women on the dangers of high order multiples. I've actually seen women post on message boards about using some of their leftover medications on their own, not supervised by their dr!! That is horrible! That could result in high order multiples or OHSS (ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome) which can result in severe pain and even death for a woman.

Bottom line, this is a very sensitive topic, and decisions of this nature should be given much thought and should be guided by a competent doctor.

Nursery

I'm so excited to have stuff for the nursery! I'm going to try and get the bedding washed and put in sometime today! I've got one load of baby clothes, sheets, blankets, and towels in the wash with about two more to go. I went online to BRU and they must not do a very good job updating the registry. I went in one day last week to check on their stock, and I bought the boppy tummy mat because they only had one, and it wasn't even in the right place. I went online this morning, and it was listed as not purchased yet. I got a couple other things yesterday that weren't counted as purchased too. I already know after one baby shower I'm going to get way too many clothes and blankets, but unless I know where they came from or have a gift receipt, I'll probably keep them. If I don't use them all, I'll give them to someone who needs them. Dinner is in the crock pot. We're going to church in a little while. Hope everyone has a great day.

Baby Shower

The baby shower at church was today. It was very nice! There was a small group of ladies from the church and little girls and cake and punch. I had the little girls bring the presents and they were so cute. One little girl sat right next to me and watched me open all of the gifts. Maybe it is her dream like it was mine to be a mother. I'm so thankful that in about 2 months my son will be here. It's a dream come true for me. I'm thankful for the ladies who gave the shower and gave up time that I'm sure they could be doing something else for me and my family. We got a lot of baby clothes, towels, and blankets. Mom bought my baby bedding! I put it in the bed, and it's adorable. I need to wash and arrange a lot of stuff!

My friend Britton had her baby on Friday, and I'm hoping to go to the hospital tonight and see him. She had a planned c-section due to previous uterine surgery. The baby was over 9 lbs! Can't wait to meet him and see how she is doing.

Dr. appt update

We are home from the dr with good news! Baby boy measured a couple days behind but still on track with normal growth. His size is in the 43% percentile for his age, which is normal. He weighs about 3 lbs. 12 oz. He seems plently big enough for me. I already knew his head was very low and the dr commented on that. I asked if it was normal, and he said that there really is no normal. I asked if it was ok for him to be so low. He said as long as he stays in! LOL! Baby's butt has been right up in my right ribs the past few days (OUCH!). Dr said that could be a problem. As long as I can breathe I guess it's ok. So I'm thankful that our baby is growing strong. We go back in 4 weeks for another scan.

Maternity pictures turned out great! Amber Hamilton is the photographer. She is super sweet and did a great job. As soon as she gets the gallery up, I'll let you all know, and you can see the pics!

We had a plumber come out, and he thinks the problem is not cracked pipes under the house, but plugged line and bad installation of a clean out. That's the good news. Price to fix is $585. Not anything super high, but a little more than we thought. So we may get another estimate and decide what to do.

Finally Friday!

The maternity pics went great. Hopefully there are some good pictures! We are off to see the perinatologist. I will update when we get home.

Thankful Thursday

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm going to share each day a few things I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my husband and the fact that he is loving and caring to me even when I complain every day. He's becoming more sympathetic and gentle. Maybe it's the paternal instinct kicking in. I'm thankful for my family for just being there for me and the joy I get from being there for them. I'm excited to see how the new little boy will fit into the family. I'm thankful for my job. I work with friendly caring people, and my hours are very flexible.

I really struggled with taking my maternity pictures without Nathan, but I'm going to go ahead and do it today. I'll probably feel a little less insecure without him there and be more open to what the photographer wants to do. Plus it will be a surprise when he sees them.

Tonight is our last baby class. It's the baby care class. I don't expect to learn anything completely new, but like I've said before, I'll take all the help I can get. Tomorrow we're heading to Houston to the perinatologist for our level II scan for growth. Hopefully little boy is growing big and strong.

Wrong Wednesday

I'm calling today Wrong Wednesday because so many things seem to be going wrong. Of course they are little things that really don't keep me up at night, but they are a pain in the behind. In no particular order...

First of all, I forgot to pay Entergy (electric company) this month their $267. So yesterday I quickly sent an e-payment to them (so I thought). BUT I somehow accidentally sent the money to Centerpoint Energy (gas company) who I already paid this month, and that bill is only about $30 a month. I called Centerpoint, and they got my money, but it will take 2 - 4 weeks to get my refund. WHAT??!! We'll survive, but now I get to pay Entergy their $267, plus the next bill is due $256 on Dec. 5. Guess I should pay more attention next times.

I planned on coming in to work late today because a plumber was supposed to come and pump out the nasty sewage water from under our house and see what is leaking. I saw him get to our house around 8:00, got dressed, and was about to go outside to see him, then he was gone. Nathan called me to tell me that the guy tried to call him, but wasn't answering now. Apparently, the guy decided that he is too big to get under our house. Ummm.. Duh! Saturday when he came he said he would send "his guys" over to do the work. Either he doesn't have any guys, didn't pay attention Saturday when he saw how much room was under our house, or he just doesn't want the job. So back to square zero on that. Yes, there is raw sewage under our house, and yes, at times we can smell it in the house.

This was technically last night, but I'm counting it for today. Nathan finally got a hold of the insurance adjustor. We are trying to settle our claim for damages to our house during Hurricane Ike. Damages aren't major, but they do need to be fixed. She said that she tried to call us previously and left a message (Um, no you didn't) and that roofers came to our house and inspected our roof. They supposedly found quite a bit of damage to the main part of the roof, so she is including that in our claim. She said that they were not going to cover the only part of the roof that actually is leaking (WHAT??!!), but they are covering the ceiling under that part of the roof (OK?). So, if you've never had a big insurance claim, you would think, "ok, so fix what needs repair and don't fix what you don't want to mess with." BUT, (as we say in TX) this is not our first rodeo. We had extensive damage after Hurricane Rita, so we know how this goes. The insurance determines how much money the damages will cost, then (since we have a mortgage) they send a check to us written to the bank. We send the check to the bank, and the bank cuts us a check for a portion of the money (50% or 30% maybe). This takes an extra few weeks of course. Then after we are 50% done with the work, they send another check. And they do come out and inspect the house. Then after 100% completion, they send the rest of the money. So I'm not sure how this will work. If we don't fix the roof that may or may not be damaged, we might not get all of the money. Maybe we can talk to the bank and see what they think. Or maybe our roof is more damaged than we thought. The roof on this house is 3 years old. It's very steep (VERY) so difficult to climb on. What's next here?? Not sure yet.

I slept pretty bad last night. My pubic bone hurts bad. I think this kid has horns on his head... My belly is hurting today and the BH contractions are crampy. I woke up sleeping on my belly this morning. Yes, my belly is too big to sleep on. That did not feel good at all for an hour or so.

My photographer called and she can't take our maternity pictures on Friday afternoon. So she is coming tomorrow afternoon, which means I have to leave work really early, and Nathan won't be able to be there. I struggled with if I should do it tomorrow or not, but I decided to do it. We have a good camera, and I can get a friend or Mom to take pics of us together. I just want a professional to take pics of me that will be good memories of how my body looks all big and pregnant (ok, so maybe not so big, but definitely pregnant). I thought about waiting till I'm bigger, but with holidays coming, it might be difficult.

Good news - We did get an estimate from a local contractor for the damages to the house (not including the possible roof damage), so that will help move along the insurance claim. And I think Nathan is going to fix the part of the roof (small flat section) that is leaking into the nursery.

Hope everybody has a great day and not a Wrong Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Samuel

Happy birthday to Samuel, son of Sara, born 11/19/2007. Samuel had a very short life here on earth and now resides in Heaven. Please pray for Sara, her husband, and their families on this day of remembrance, celebration, and sadness.

Quiz Results

I finally took the quiz. I couldn't do it at work for some reason. I just answered how seemed best, but I'm a little surprised at being a Joan. She doesn't seem very nice... A lot of it is true, but some is a little too harsh for me. Or maybe not...

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Joan!

You are a Joan -- "I need to succeed"
Joans are energetic, optimistic, self-assured, and goal oriented.

How to Get Along with Me

* Leave me alone when I am doing my work.

* Give me honest, but not unduly critical or judgmental, feedback.

* Help me keep my environment harmonious and peaceful.

* Don't burden me with negative emotions.

* Tell me you like being around me.

* Tell me when you're proud of me or my accomplishments.

What I Like About Being a Joan

* being optimistic, friendly, and upbeat

* providing well for my family

* being able to recover quickly from setbacks and to charge ahead to the next challenge

* staying informed, knowing what's going on

* being competent and able to get things to work efficiently

* being able to motivate people

What's Hard About Being a Joan

* having to put up with inefficiency and incompetence

* the fear on not being -- or of not being seen as -- successful

* comparing myself to people who do things better

* struggling to hang on to my success

* putting on facades in order to impress people

* always being "on." It's exhausting.

Joans as Children Often

* work hard to receive appreciation for their accomplishments

* are well liked by other children and by adults

* are among the most capable and responsible children in their class or school

* are active in school government and clubs or are quietly busy working on their own projects

Joans as Parents

* are consistent, dependable, and loyal

* struggle between wanting to spend time with their children and wanting to get more work done

* expect their children to be responsible and organized

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Jealous...

I'm a little jealous that Nathan is going to take vacation all next week. I sure would like to not work, but I'm saving my vacation for when the baby comes. Plus I really won't be working that much next week. But it is different working half days and not working at all. Half of the work is getting up and getting ready.
I will be off this Friday to go to Houston for our ultrasound. Then Friday afternoon, we are getting maternity pictures taken!! I'm excited. I've been wanting to do them, but I don't want to spend much money. I found a local photographer offering a great deal for a one hour session and about 15 prints for $60. That's just what I wanted, a little book of pictures for us to look back on. And she's going to come to our house! We'll do some outside and some inside, some just me, and some me and Nathan.
Next week I will work Mon, Tues, and Wed. I have an appt Mon, so I will be leaving early. I'll probably leave early Wed too to go to the grocery store before it gets too crazy and crowded. I can't believe Thanksgiving is practically here!! Then Christmas, then another birthday for me (Jan 1), then BABY TIME!!

The Boots

I slept pretty late this morning (normal for me) because I didn't sleep very well. I thought I would try to be cute today, so I wore my purple dress and tall black boots. This morning was quiet at work. Then Nathan called and wanted to see if I was going out to lunch. So we met for lunch, and he got there a minute before me. First thing out of his mouth... "Why are you wearing those ugly boots?" I think it was one of those speak before you think moments because he felt bad immediately and apologized. We don't have the same taste in shoes for sure, but HELLO! Be nice... Momma always said

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say nothing at all." Words to live by.

Nice Weekend

This weekend has been really nice. I've had plenty of time to rest and relax and get some things done around the house. Last night we grilled some steaks and had yummy mashed yams with butter and cinnamon and sugar... MMMMMmmm... Just the two of us. Today we went to church, and then mom cooked fried chicken. MMM.... Then Nathan got a wild hair (I've been asking him to do this with no results) to clean out his closet and get rid of stuff. It feels good to do some organizing. I'm weird, I know. Then, my husband who never drinks alcohol, decided he wanted some spiked hot chocolate. He's digging around, hoping I have something stashed. All we have are a few beers and a bottle of vodka. He actually took a drink of it from the bottle! Too funny!! Then he decided to try it in his vodka. It actually turned out ok. Then I decided that roasted marshmellows and smores sound good. I think I'm about to go get some marshmellows. MMM... I'm really into sweets these days. Not good for weight gain, but it sure makes me happy!

Waterfall

Some situations in life are like a waterfall. You jump off the edge not knowing exactly what to expect, and the ride is nothing like what you dreamed of. When you get to the bottom, you crash and cry out in fear. Then as you float down the river and look back, it's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life.



What exactly am I talking about? I could put this to a few situations I've been in. I was just looking through my pics trying to find one to share with you and these thoughts just came out.

This is a waterfall we went to in North Carolina somewhere along the Blue Ridge Mountain highway to nowhere.


I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Becoming a Parent

For the past few weeks, it’s really hit me that I’m going to be a parent. A little person is going to enter our home, and we are responsible for his development. The focus of trying to conceive was always to have a child, but the main goal was getting pregnant. Then the focus of pregnancy is to be healthy and deliver a baby and learn how to feed and care for the baby. But there’s so much more to come soon after that, which I know of course, but reality is setting in, and I’m thinking about that a lot more now.

I’ve been reflecting a lot on my childhood, the good and the bad parts, and thinking about how Chesley’s childhood will be. Me and mom were always very close, and I know my kids will be close to her too. Just seeing the way Mya’s eyes light up when I mention Mimi (my mom) makes me excited for my child to feel that way. I grew up with a lot of love, but also a lot of anger from my dad. I know that has affected me and my brother. Just the thought of being a parent makes me think about certain situations, and I shudder to think that I could get so angry at my child. On a more positive note, I was very close to my grandparents. I have so many happy memories with them. Grandma passed away in 2003, but Grampa is thankfully still with us and doing well. I’m sad when I think that my kids will not know my Grandma, but her love for me and my brother added so much to our lives and will not be forgotten.

What kind of mom will I be? Here are my feelings about that now. We will revisit this after he’s born to see what I stick with and right and wrong this is!

I know I will be anal about germs and being gentle with him when he is newborn and very young. He will not be in large crowds of people for at least 6 weeks. It will make me very nervous for children to handle him. I won’t like people kissing him all over, (MOM…). I’ve already told Mom about my no kissing rule, one kiss on the forehead is good. Ok, so very anal.

I will breastfeed hopefully for one year, so he probably won’t get to spend the night away from me till he is weaned. I can’t see myself trying to pump in the middle of the night to relieve my breasts while he is away. Hopefully when he gets older I’ll chill out and let things slide.

I will not be anal about solid foods. He will get French fries, cookies, ice cream, and sweets. He will also get fruits and veggies, but I want him to enjoy food and learn moderation.

It will be hard for me to let him make big messes. I’m sort of a clean freak. I will not let toys take over my house.

He will not sleep in the bed with us. The risk for SIDS is enough to scare me away from that. Plus Nathan throws elbows around, so it wouldn’t be very safe. I’m planning on trying to keep him in the playpen for a few weeks until he sleeps at least a few hours at a time. Then we’ll move him to his bed.

Only time will tell…

I Have Not Forgotten

Ok, so I had this on my heart to write about, and I just saw that Nancy posted on the same topic. I guess we were both thinking about it.

I have not forgotten what a struggle I went through to get pregnant. I will never forget how it feels to want a baby and not be able to get pregnant on my own. I've already given all of the details in one of my first posts, so I won't go into all of that.

I sometimes feel bad about complaining too much about the pregnancy. It really is difficult to carry around and make a baby. God promised us after the fall of Adam and Eve that it would be difficult. But I am extremely thankful that I am given the opportunity to bring one of God's children into my family.

Since I was very young, I've always loved babies and children. I've always known that I wanted to have a baby. Getting married was very exciting for me because I knew that the time was coming where I could have a baby. We started trying after being married a little over a year with no luck. I saw friends and family have babies, planned and unplanned, some after the first try or a few months of trying. That is so hard to see, but I resolved myself that I would be joyful for the families for their new babies. I would not let my IF (infertility) make me bitter. I truly loved every child that I held, keeping my jealousy at bay. Not to say it wasn't hard. After holding a new baby or going to a baby shower, I would go home and slip into a brief depression. I'm glad that Nathan was there for me through that and was always good to me. Baby showers were so hard. I really enjoyed them, but I always dreaded when people asked me, "When are you having a baby?". I didn't realized how hard baby showers were for me until I attended one about a month ago and had such a great time and felt so excited for the new mom-to-be. It was a completely different experience that I had ever felt.

I never really gave it much thought as to what kind of pregnant girl I would be. Here are the two main categories of pregnant women (according to Hollie).

The Fragile Flower - This pregnant girl loves the idea of being a new mom and having a precious child, however, she complains a lot, is always tired, always at the dr or calling the dr worrying, and has a hard time being pregnant. She likes to stay home and rest.

The Warrior Woman - This strong woman thinks that all woman should carry on with life as normal through pregnancy, keep exercising, cooking, cleaning, working, doesn't experience many painful symptoms, and if she does, she doesn't worry and doesn' t complain.

Most ladies probably fall somewhere in between. Let's say Fragile Flower is a 0 and Warrior Woman is a 10. I would give myself... about a 3.5. I do work, clean, cook, but not as much as normal. I go to the dr a lot, and I certainly like to stay home and rest as much as possible. Something is always hurting. I thought I would been more of a Warrior Woman, but I'm not. I don't feel like I can help it. I do possess a slight glow of pregnancy. I like talking about the baby. I like rubbing my belly and feeling the baby move.

So, my point... I'm not really sure. I just wanted to share how I'm feeling and to say to my friends who are TTC (trying to conceive) that I've been there, and when I say that I'm thinking about you and praying for you, I really am. I really want each of you to get pregnant, soon. My meager advice, if you are the praying type, pray a lot. Go see the RE (reproductive endocrinologist) or your OB. Take all the help you can get. I'm thankful I was in a clinical study, and we did not have to spend a lot of money. But I would if I had to. I say to go for it. Your best chances are when you are young. You don't want to pass up your best chance and then decide later that you do want to get help from the dr. Have a support system, internet friends going through the same things as you, church, family, friends. Keep your husband close. And for the most part, take any advice you get (including mine) and put it to the side and follow your heart.

If you are not TTC and are just a friend reading my blog, take heart for your friends who are TTC, and remember that you never know who is sufferering from IF. They don't always tell people. So try to be sensitive when you ask people when they are having babies.

For my fellow pregnant friends, here's to each of us, with all of our differences and likenesses, may our children be healthy and our husbands stick by our sides! And just for fun, give yourself a score on the Fragile Flower - Warrior Woman scale.

Dr. appt

We saw the dr today and everything is good. I told her about my contractions and how some of them are getting strong and painful. She checked me, and everything is closed up, so my contractions are just part of how my body deals with pregnancy. Great... 10 weeks of contractions. I had some painful ones last night and this morning, and I slept horrible last night, so I'm feeling a little crappy and tired today.

We were supposed to get the 3D u/s today. I've been really looking forward to it, but the baby was not in a good position to see his face. The tech looked at him in 2D when we first got there, and he was head down on his tummy. Then I saw the dr, and she looked again. He had flipped over, and we could see his face profile in 2D, but when she turned on the 3D, it didn't look very good. We could see his face in 3D for a second, but with being head down, face wedged in, no fluid around his face, the picture quality is really bad. So we will try again in two weeks, but I think we might just have to wait to see his face until he comes out, and I'm ok with that.

I hope everyone is having a good day.

My Girl

She is really cute here! I didn't even put her in that pose
We're a pair!
Here's the belly shot!
Here's all three of us!

Breastfeeding Class

I went to Breastfeeding Class last night at the hospital. Nathan didn't go, but my friend Rachel was there so I wasn't alone. The class was pretty good. I didn't hear anything that I've completely never heard of before, but it's nice to put everything together. The nurse talked about the benefits of breastfeeding and the fears we have of breastfeeding. When she was talking about the benefits - higher IQ, less chance for allergies and sickness - she even went as far to say that she thinks it is child abuse not to breastfeed. OK, so I was caught off guard with that one. I think that is taking it a little too far. But more positives - I'm looking forward to the bonding time I will have with my son by breastfeeding. He will pretty much be attached to me for 30-40 minutes, 8 times a day, that is alomst 5 hours a day. Then with holding him and changing him and rocking him, which I will share with other people, we will get to spend lots of time together. And breastfeeding is good for me too! It will help me recover and lose weight quickly. Nurse mentioned that fat stores up during pregnancy for the purpose of feeding the baby. So the fat storing up on my thighs and hips actually has a higher calling! She really downplayed the negatives, such as soreness, pain, and problems latching on, but I know that those are real problems. She gave us her phone number to call her, and my pediatrician also has a lactation consultant. So I think I'm about as ready as I'll ever be!

We are having a contractor come to give us a bid on our hurricane damage at our house today. That will be nice to get us on our way to getting our claim money from the insurance and get things repaired.

Tomorrow is the 3D u/s!!!

Whew!!

What a weekend! I babysat Mya most of the weekend. She is such a handful. I really don't see how some of you moms our there have a 2 year old and are pregnant. There were moments where I almost could not get up to chase her around. She was going up and down the stairs 100 times. I love her, but I don't think I can keep her by myself anymore. Maybe if it's your own kid, you are more used to it, or maybe if the kid has her toys and things she's more occupied, or maybe not, and you're just as worn out as I was. Then, I thought I was smart for giving her a bath, and that she would play in the water and I would get a break... Then I hear, "POOPY!" I thought, "NO WAY!!" Well, for real people, poopy in the bathtub. I was so mad, but couldn't really get mad at her. I know she didn't do it for meanness, but I told her it was not good to poo poo in the bathtub. It certainly was not fun to clean up that mess, clean her up, clean the tub, soak the tub in bleach... Then finally mom and Micah came to get her at 7:30 pm, and I told them what happened and mom said, "You poo pooed in the bath tub? Good girl!" Mya smiled and nodded her head. C'mon mom. Let's not teach her that.

I got some cute pics yesterday that I will post later. Tonight is the breastfeeding class. So hopefully it will be good.

Saturday night with the folks

My SIL called me at 11:00 this morning to tell me my brother was leaving at 12:00 today to come see us. He recently got laid off from his job, and he is going to try to find some work here temporarily. So all plans got put off, which is ok. I haven't seen him in a couple of months, and he's bringing my favorite little girl with him, so it will be a fun weekend. They just came to my house for a little while, and now we are all going to mom's to hang out. I'll probably end up bringing her back here to spend the night. I guess I can't get enough! Hope everybody is having a great night. Try not to wear yourself out too much...

Big Bend

I decided to do another vacation post today. In May 2007 we went to west TX, way way west to Fort Davis and Big Bend National Park. We took Laura, exchange student, and her friend Kelly with us. What a trip... two teenage girls. I was 26 at the time, but I might as well have been 50 for all of the difference between me and them. It was fun though. We left Beaumont, drove through San Antonio, 5 hour trip, visited my brother and his family for a couple of hours, then headed west to Fort Davis, about a 10 hour trip. We stayed in a nice little house in Fort Davis where we could look out from the back yard and see mountains. We did a four hour horse ride which was awesome. We drove the 3 hour trip south to Big Bend and spent one day there. It is so beautiful and remote. I've seen a lot of mountains, and they are all beautiful, but there was something special about the desert mountains. Oh, and it was hot! It was about 105ºF that day in Big Bend, about 10º hotter than in Fort Davis. I'm going to have to do a slide show for this one since there are so many pics. Enjoy!

Kitty Update

The internet is great! I had emails and phone calls from people this morning wanting to come and get the kittens. Two ladies are supposed to come tonight and get them! Now if we can only catch the third kitten and give him/her away too... Nathan was actually a little sad that the kittens are going so soon. He is a big time cat lover.

Things I didn't know about pregnancy

Here's my list so far of things I didn't know about pregnancy. I'll add to it and we'll see how long it gets. I read just about every book I could get my hands on too! This is just how I feel, so not everyone will have the same experience. I don't mean for this to come across as complaining rather me sharing the things I've experienced that surprised me at the time.



1. 1st trimester "morning sickness" is really "all day sickness" and is not just nausea. It's feeling completely horrible 24/7 from your head to your toes.

2. The nausea also translated into major food aversions. I couldn't hardly eat meat, definitely no steak, chicken, pork. I basically lived off of nachos, chicken nuggets, french fries, sandwiches, mac and cheese, cereal, and pizza. I think my cravings were basically me wanting only one of the few foods I liked at the time. This lasted till about 20 weeks.

3. I have slept pretty bad since day 1 of pregnancy. Combination of progesterone supplements, using the bathroom every hour or two, discomfort, and just plain ole insomnia.

4. Braxton-Hicks contractions have affected me much more than I ever thought. I knew about them, but a few weeks ago, I started getting them regularly, about once an hour during the day, and many more at night. The ones at night are painful, like bad cramps. It makes me nervous about pre-term labor. I think if I get more than 5-6 an hour for two hours, I will probably make a trip to the hospital. And of course it's at night because if it was during the day, I could just see the dr in her office.

5. The amount of worrying that I do is much more than I thought! From getting the BFP, to the first beta, second, and third, then the first ultrasound (that was a big one!), then each milestone, now I worry about pre-term labor, there is so much to worry about. I'm trying to trust God to take care of us. I just want to pay attention to my body and do the best I can to follow drs orders.

6. The nesting instinct is so strong! I bugged Nathan so much until he got the baby bed, and now it just gets to collect dust for a while. And it's killing me to wait another month for a baby shower. I want his room to be ready now! So strange...

7. The joy and anticipation of his arrival is also very intense. Sometimes I close my eyes and picture him laying in my arms, and I get tears of joy from the excitement.

8. My husband - on some things he's responded a little worse than I expected, but for the most part he's been great. It's really neat to see him talk to the baby in my belly and get excited to feel the baby move. Seeing him in the childbirth class doing the dumb breathing exercises with me was pretty fun too. I can't wait to see him as a dad holding his son!

9. The tiredness... I guess I never knew I could get so tired after sitting at a computer all day.

10. People touching my belly uninvited!

11. People (men and women at work and family and church) making stupid comments to me and asking dumb questions. I had a guy at work the other day say, "There's chubby." Another guy yesterday asked, "Still pregnant? Hahaha." Uh... I said, "no" and walked off. It's so annoying.

12. The amount of time I spend thinking about pregnancy and baby! 24/7! It's really hard to concentrate on anything else. I wonder if it will be better or worse once he gets here.

Sweet precious kitties

Ok, there aren't too many things I love more in life than baby kitties. These were born across the street from us under a vacant house. We try to catch the strays and get them fixed, but the momma is kind of wild. We're still trying to catch her. We've been trying to catch the kittens for a few weeks, but she's kept them hidden until this week when she decided they need to eat dry cat food. So if you live in southeast tx and want a cat, here you go! We have a great website here where we usually have no problem getting homes for pets, so I think we'll find someone. In the meantime, we'll enjoy them. If we don't find homes for them, we'll keep them in the house for a couple of weeks and send them back outside. At least they'll be tame enough where we can get them fixed and try to stop the breeding cycle.

Election...

Ok so I'm pretty depressed about the election. I had a feeling Obama would win, but I held out a tiny sliver of hope. Then after seeing some early results, the sliver melted a little. Then around 10:30, Nathan came to bed and told me Obama had won. We were both pretty down about it. I'm fine with the fact that we will have the 1st minority president. I don't like the ideas Obama has about redistributing the wealth and heading towards a socialist government. I believe that capitalism works. People should HAVE to work hard for their money. Socialism does NOT encourage that. I do think that some of Obama's followers believe that his policies will buy them a free life and make all their dreams come true. They are in for a rude awakening. I don't think things will go that far. I just think that people should be able to keep their hard earned money.

I did not feel very good last night. I've been doing a lot lately. I think I'm going to try and do as little as possible tonight and be lazy. Maybe that will help. My BH contractions get so crampy and painful at night. Maybe tomorrow my post will be a list of things I never knew happen during pregnancy. I thought if I read every book out there nothing could catch me by surprise. Boy was I wrong!

Another exciting Tuesday

Wow. Nancy has quite a hot topic on her blog today - vaccinations. There are so many different views on this subject. Personally, I trust my pediatrician and the state of TX. I don't do a lot of research into it. I have heard of things going wrong and problems with the vaccines, but so many lives have been saved. You could even say that the course of our country and our lives has been shaped by vaccines. We don't have to live in fear of catching something terrible. Ok, so it's still possible, but not as likely as it was 100 years ago. I did get the flu shot, and I plan on getting all of the reccomended vaccines for my son.

CPR class was very good. I encourage any parent/aunt/uncle/grandparent to take a CPR class if you will be spending time with children. Hopefully no one ever has to use it, but it's a good feeling to know that you know what to do if something does happen. The nurse who taught it was very good, maybe not as funny and silly as the nurse who taught our other class, but it was good.

Go vote!! I did it this morning on my way to work. To my surprise, there was no line.

I just discovered mobile blogging. I'm very excited about it! I can send a text message and it will post to my blog! That easy! It's exciting because if I'm out of town or not by a computer and when we're getting ready to have the baby, I can still post! I'm pretty computer dumb, so this is great for me, especially since we don't have a laptop. I want one but can't justify spending the money right now. So thanks blogger people!

In my head

Nothing too exciting to report today, so I'll just let you into my head for a minute. I'm sitting here at work, a little bored. I'm waiting for people to do their part on my projects before I can really do anything. I hate sitting here being bored. I guess I'll start a new project and see how that goes. I'm getting an earache, which freaks me out because I had a super bad infection in this ear a few months ago that was some of the worst pain in my life. I'm a little sad that there was a family dispute yesterday on when we should call and have everybody in the family come to the hospital to see the baby. I thought it would be good to call when he's born. I really want a little time to ourselves and a minute to recover my senses. I think I'm going to stick with that. Tonight is CPR class, which I'm happy to be going, but my laziness would rather stay home. Tomorrow I'm going to vote in the morning by myself. Nathan wants to go at night, but I have plans to do Main Dish tomorrow at 5:30. It's a local business where you prepare meals in containers of either 3 servings or 6 servings. You freeze them, and then when you want a nice hot dinner, pop it in the oven, and dinner is served. It's really great. We really need to eat a little better than chicken nuggets and pizza and fast food. I like to cook about once a week, but the rest of the time, I'm tired or don't feel good. So this will be great.

Ok, enough rambling. I hope everyone has a great day!

Childbirth class

Here is me in my Halloween shirt. Umm... I guess we grew from when I made it two weeks ago. The pumpkin was on the baby, but now it's a little above. People thought it was cute. We had 30 or 40 trick or treaters from 7:00 pm till I shut off the lights at 8:45 pm. I saw lots of cute little kids, but nothing too crazy this year.

We had our childbirth class yesterday. It was really good. The L&D nurse who taught the class did a great job. She kept things interesting and fun and she really was hilarious. Nathan did NOT want to go. I almost had to drag him out the door. But once things got started, he was ok. The nurse talked, asked questions, then would show 10-15 minutes of a video, keeping things changing. The videos were something else... Nathan saw all the boobs and vagina he wanted to see (or not to see). This was not the Discovery Channel PG version of childbirth. I tried to warn him, but he didn't really think that would show all that.

My friend Rachel and her husband Freddie took the class with us. There were four couples, and we were the only ones having a boy! So I was the only one asking about circumcism. After lunch, we took a tour of the L&D floor. I've been there many times to visit friends and family, but it's different when I'm the one having the baby. Then we watched more vidoes and saw more births and a c-section. Then came the fun part. We got to lay on the floor and practice breathing and relaxation techniques. The nurse was great and demonstrated for us. She wasn't afraid to look silly, so we weren't either. Nathan did great and played along. So, we learned a lot and had a good time. Next up, CPR class on Monday night.