This, That, and the Important

I am constantly amazed by how much more physically demanding this pregnancy has been than last time. And as I say that I realize that it might not be any more demanding but I have probably just forgotten from last time. (Kind of like forgetting the pain of labor and putting yourself through it again and again-- or so I hear... :) And I also realize that my achy-ness and tiredness is probably more likely linked to having a toddler while being pregnant than just being pregnant.

I'm 17 weeks 4 days today and I'm just so ready for a nap all the time. Everything from my belly button down just hurts. (I swear I'm not complaining... but saving this for posterity. :) I've already had massive leg cramps and I didn't get them last time! The hips and the back- ouch! And the belly? I LOVE IT and it's just there and my bellybutton is almost gone already! And it was still a partial-innie at 27 weeks last time! But really, aside from the part that I don't think I will fit into my maternity clothes much past 20 weeks, I am loving every second.

It feels like this is all going SO fast. I can't believe that I'm over 17 weeks pregnant. 17! Next week will be 18 and then 19 and then 20 and then... it's just passing without slowing. Then I remember that last time at 17w4d I was less than 6 weeks away from bedrest. And I get all panicky because I can't do bedrest again (COLBY!) but I was told today at my OB appt that bedrest is definitely on the horizon, though hopefully more preventative than rescue-minded. And I remember that we still need 2 cribs and names and a bathtub and diapers and... and... the list goes on and on!

And like I already said, I swear I'm not complaining, I just wish time would slow down so I could enjoy this time a little more, give Colby a few extra kisses, and get my butt in gear and figure out where these babies are going to sleep! I know it will all get done. And believe me, I know that not having a crib or a name when the babies are born or diapers is not the end of the world. I know there are SO many more important things, but it's nice to think about the not-so-important and to pretend that the important (like prematurity and viability vs. not) doesn't even exist.

Right now I'm pretty confident that these babies are coming home with me. I'm not saying they'll be in our car 4 days after their born (because I've been back to being told that C-Section will be it, which bums me out a bit, but again, not-so-important) or even 4 weeks after their born (though I sure hope so), but I do feel right now that they will be home with us eventually. (And neither will be in an urn.)

And for those of you who have asked-- we are not planning on finding out the sexes. The real test will be the anatomy scan in a week, but we're hoping to be surprised. And if we do get an accidental sneak, we're still keeping our lips sealed until the big day.

And today, Baby A or B measured at 162 bpm on the doppler. :) And I am about 99% sure that I'm feeling real movement now. I can't wait for it to become constant!

17 weeks 2 days

Honestly, I don't know why I do these anymore because nothing has changed! :) But here we go again... it's my Monday lunchtime routine. It WAS my Monday lunch routine and it's become my Wednesday lunch routine. Except today when I actually did *gasp* planning during my lunch break! Instead of reading blogs and wasting my life away.



How far along? 17 weeks 2 days 17w2d

Total weight gain/loss: It's around 7-8 pounds. 7-8 is probably about the same this time.

Maternity clothes? Always. My belly is very... rotund. :) Yes please!

Stretch marks? None that I see! No

Sleep: Try for 8-9. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 7 usually ish

Best moment this week: No idea... maybe Mother's Day. It was fun... though I feel a little weird "celebrating" it when I haven't had the babies yet. Um, I took a nap for 20 minutes yesterday. That was pretty nice. :)

Movement: Little bubbles now and then... I think it's them and not my food! I definitely think I feel them sporadically.

Food cravings: I just HAD to have ice cream the other day. Other than that, nope! Potatoes again. Mashed or baked. YUM.

Gender: Still 2 boys. We'll know a little more officially on Friday of next week! I think 2 girls, but don't really know...

Labor Signs: No No.

Belly Button in or out? Innie Halfie

What I miss: Nothing! Having energy?

What I am looking forward to: More movement, decorating the nursery... all that good stuff! Movement, making it past 30 weeks

Weekly Wisdom: SLEEP really is your best friend! Oooh I like that one.

Milestones: I've gotten this far! :) I have to be boring and stick with "I'm here!"

16 weeks 2 days

16w2d - Jan 19, 2011

How far along? 16 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: HA. Up a lot. I'm thinking... maybe 7 pounds? It still fluctuates, but I have officially gone where I have not seen my weight go before. A little scary, but also VERY cool. I'm just guessing... but probably 5-8lbs?

Maternity clothes? Yes. I am currently wearing a materinty top. Instead of wearing maternity pants, I decided to give my bella band a workout today. I hope it's up to the challenge. Always. It makes me laugh that at 16 weeks last time I could still use the Bella Band. There is no way that would work now.

Stretch marks? I still think no... but maybe faint puple lines are starting to form on the underside of my belly. Time for cocobutter perhaps? Amazingly no.

Sleep: Never enough. :) Usually 8-9 hours, but I wake up all achy all the time. I've been in bed at 9:30 the past 2 nights! So... 8 hours!

Best moment this week: The doctors appointment on Tuesday when we saw the little guys. Oh and the fabulous weekend away with my hubby! Friday's appointment was pretty good... the babies look great and they're growing evenly.

Movement: Not that I'm feeling! Maybe faint movement...?

Food cravings: Grapes! Grapes again. And then anything no good for me...

Gender: I guess 2 boys. :) I'm still not entirely sold on Baby B's sex though. I'm back to two girls for now.

Labor Signs: No No

Belly Button in or out? Innie Half and half

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Feeling movement! School being out so I can just enjoy these guys and getting ready for their arrival! Movement for sure

Weekly Wisdom: If you're trying to keep the sexes secret from your dad, who does NOT want to know, do not allow your husband to send the ultrasound scan. He might write something like "Look at my son! He's as handsome as daddy already!" Kind of gives things away... ...

Milestones: Constant backaches and heartburn. :) Fabulous milestones, dontcha think? Oh, and we picked out the bedding and new paint colors. That's kind of neat. Just being here, I'd say!

High risk Appt

The high risk appt today was uneventful. :) I'm still measuring long and closed at about 4.15cm. Whew. But then again, I measured over 4 cm until the 23 week appt when I went down to .9cm. (I was over 4 at 18 weeks and then about 5 weeks later I had dropped over 3 cm, so...) The cerclage looks good as do the babies! We didn't measure them, but got to peek at them to check their stomachs (is this normal? I don't remember waiting to make sure they swallowed fluid at 15 weeks last time...) and their heart rates. Baby A was at 153bpm and Baby B was at 157bpm. Both were super active.

The weird thing is this time last time we found out we were having 2 boys. I think I got a peek... but I didn't want to, it was totally the angle of the ultrasound while we waited to see the stomach. But I'm keeping my lips sealed. We'll see if I'm right in over 20 weeks! Oh, and there's the fact that I don't really know how to read an ultrasound (it might take until my 15th kid to really understand all that I'm looking at...) so it's possible that I'm totally wrong and what I thought I was looking at was really a hand or the umbilical cord or something! :)

15 weeks

15w2d -- Jan 12, 2011

I tried to choose an outfit this time that I could wear the whole pregnancy so the changes would be noticeable, but I think the tank I wore last week must have been a maternity tank because this one isn't fitting nearly as well...

Tomorrow is already a snow day at school (yay!) so I know I won't get to the computer to do my weekly survey thing-a-ma-bob because I always do it at lunch and tomorrow I'll have Colby (yay again!). So a day early... and I'll try to add a picture tomorrow.

How far along? 15 weeks 2 days 15 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: About 3 pounds up. Though I swear this fluctuates daily. 5 or so up

Maternity clothes? Yes, my fabulous parents bought me me tons of maternity clothes. :) And I wear them happily. I had a gift certificate from my brother and his girlfriend from Christmas so I went to Motherhood and spent it on a whole bunch of pants and a few shirts.

Stretch marks? I still maintain NO No

Sleep: Back to school... I am SO tired. Always exhausted- I need more and CANNOT wait to nap with Colby tomorrow.

Best moment this week: I got to relax like crazy last week. It was so nice. And our appointment last week was happily uneventful. Living through the cerclage. And though I didn't get to see the ultrasound, because of my awkward position on the table, I was told that the babies both were super active and their heartrates were in the 130's the day of the procedure.

Movement: Not yet. I think so every now and then

Food cravings: I still haven't really gotten an appetite yet. So, no. :) Not really- I am not usually hungry yet.

Gender: Still thinking 2 girls. I have no idea. At first I was sure a boy and a girl and then I thought two girls- and since this is exactly what happened last time, now I'm thinking it must be two boys.

Labor Signs: No NO and I was still perfectly closed the day of the cerclage.

Belly Button in or out? Innie It's already weird and on its way out.

What I miss: Nothing! Sleep? But to get that I'd have to go back to before Colby....

What I am looking forward to: Tomorrow's appointment! Movement. And, though it's not pregnancy related, finishing my class! Friday's appointment as reassurance that the stitch is perfect and the babies are still doing great.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't do too much at once! I am so worn out! Uhhh

Milestones: Maternity clothes (they're so comfortable!) Cerclage and I'm alive!

Post-Cerclage

Last night I came down with a fever and chills, so I called the on-call doctor at the hospital because I was worried that I was coming down with an infection due to the cerclage. She told me that it was probably just a bug that is going around. I was skeptical, but listened and took tylenol and then settled down to watch a movie. She's a genius because 3 hours later I lost all of my dinner. And continued to feel crappier and crappier... so that's where I am right now.

2 hours later Colby woke up crying and since we didn't get to him fast enough, he ended up vomiting all over himself. ALL.OVER.HIMSELF. (He does this if he's crying and then starts coughing, so luckily it doesn't happen too much.) Johnny is not good with vomit, so I had to get up and help clean Colby up-- which is really, really hard when you can't pick up the crying baby! But we did it. And then Colby desperately clung to me as he fell asleep. (He's a total Mama's Boy when he's tried or sick or hurt.) So we had a long night and Colby ended up in bed with us because he wouldn't go down when Johnny would put him down and I can't lift him or bend to put him down.

So... I'm tired. :)

Cerclage

I lived.

It was a long day. The spinal hurt and was a bit tricky and almost made me die. (Well, not quite that serious, but it wasn't good and I needed extra meds to pump up my blood pressure and pulse because the meds made them drop dangerously low.) But the cerclage itself was good (as good as having your cervix tied up can be). Dr. K said it was a great stitch and he's very happy with it. (Have I mentioned I love my doctor?) Poor Johnny was told it would take 45 minutes to an hour before he saw me. I was gone for over 3.5 hours waiting for the Spinal to wear off.

But I lived.

And both babies are still kicking around.

And I'm not in labor.

So, it was a good day. I'm SO excited to sleep all day tomorrow.

14 weeks and other randomness

14 weeks 2 days

Unfortunately I didn't realize how see-through the shirt was...

Another week come and gone...

How far along? 14 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Honestly, I don't know... I think about a pound, but I'll know for sure on Thursday morning when I go back in! :) I was up about 5 pounds on Monday afternoon.

Maternity clothes? Yes! I got jeans and khakis and a bunch of shirts. Yes, though I have to bulk up on my pants wardrobe! The jeans aren't working for school too much... I need to dress up a bit more.

Stretch marks? No- and I'm sticking to that! Nothing new,.

Sleep: I'm not quite as tired as I've been! Yay for Trimester 2! I am SO exhausted all the time. I would do almost anything for more sleep...

Best moment this week: I have a huge bump! :) Haha. And we learned that one of our best friends are due only a month after us!!!!! How cool is that?!?! I'm still here and so are the babies, so that's good. :)

Movement: Not yet- though I am anxiously waiting! I think flutters...

Food cravings: Not really right now. I can't really stomach eating lately.

Gender: Still thinking 2 girls. I think girls, but I thought girls last time too...

Labor Signs: No No, and I'm so nervous that when I go in tomorrow they'll find a really short cervix or that the cerclage will send me into labor...

Belly Button in or out? Innie In

What I miss: Nothing! I love where I am

What I am looking forward to: Thursday's appointment, seeing Becky and Roy!!, enjoying vacation... things are just GOOD right now. :) Being back in my own bed after the cerclage, knowing the stitch is good and the babies have an obstacle to get through!!

Weekly Wisdom: I don't know...

Milestones: Maternity clothes (they're so comfortable!) No real milestone this week...

And so the cerclage. Is tomorrow. And I'm a little terrified- I'm not going to lie. I think I'm most worried about the spinal. When I had the Csection, I was told at about a half hour before I went in that I was going in and at that point I was in survival mode. (Up until then, natural was an option until we found that Colby had flipped AGAIN and was breech) So, I just grinned and took everything as it happened because my babies lives were on the line. This time? I have had a really long time to think about it and I am not looking forward to it. And then I'm scared that the cerclage is going to kick start labor or make me miscarry or something. I know the risk is minuscule, but then again, we've totally been against the odds since the very beginning here.

I find it interesting how different this pregnancy has already been. I know, I know... every pregnancy is different. BUT I didn't expect it to be this different. I popped way earlier... but that's because I was already stretched from the boys. But then there was horrible sickness for the beginning. With the boys I was only sick a handful of times, this time I was sick every night for a long time. And this time my car sick tendencies have dramatically increased too. And this time the ligament pain and back pain and inability to sleep comfortably hit about 4-6 weeks earlier than last time. And I'm constantly tired all the time. This is probably more Colby's fault, but I wasn't this exhausted last time. And this time I've already gone up 2 bra sizes which is crazy because I didn't go up at all last time- even after I had the boys and I was pumping constantly.

Oh well... I'm off to bed. :)

Every little thing he does is magic...

Life is just so busy right. The blur of the holidays and a flurry of appointments and work... and well, life. It's enough to make me lose my head and make me want to crawl in bed.

But Colby keeps me grounded.

He's 17 months old and a ball full of energy. And he's perfect.

I stare at him at random times and get that tingly feeling of "I can't believe I'm his mother." Sometimes I have a hard time believing that I'm 26. That I'm not a kid anymore. (And sometimes I really can't believe that other parents trust me to educate their kids!)

But, oh, Colby. :) I am his mom and he is perfect. Did I say that already?

But because it's late, and that perfect kid will be up in a bit for some cuddle time I'm sure... we'll make this short and sweet.

1. He's a full-blown walker/runner. He's a bit clumsy though and takes a lot of spills into things. He's got a tough head though!

2. He LOVES shoes. He has 2 pairs of sneakers, a pair of Skidders, and a pair of rain boots. He'll grab a pair, walk over to you, drop them, plop himself on the floor or on your lap and stick out a foot.

3. KISSES! He's been giving kisses for a long time now, but he's now puckering up and making the "mmmm" kiss noise. Too cute and melts my heart every.single.time. And his hugs? To DIE for. But he saves those for the middle of the night and when he's getting told no and he's upset.

4. He's off the bottle now. I waited until 17 months because I thought it would be torture because he loves his bubba. He didn't care. At all. As long as he has milk in some form, he's as happy as a clam. The sippy cup is just fine.

5. He says mama, daddy, doggie, banana, bottle, milk, more, up, love, bread, birdie, book, bye bye, hi, baby, and sticker (because Johnny's goal is to teach him random words). I think there are more... but I can't think of them.

6. He signs milk, more, please, thank you, and birdie.

7. He's developing a temper. It's so cute though!

8. He is a sneak! This weekend we were at my brother's girlfriend's parent's house. Colby desperately wanted to get up the stairs. So he would give a "present" to someone (a book or random toy) and then, when they were distracted, he would make a beeline for the stairs!

9. He's a monkey. He will climb on anything. Chairs, tables, stools, stairs, tubs, safe deposit boxes. You name it, he's on it!

10. He's still a peanut... he's still in 12 month sizes, but I actually packed most of them away because he has so many cute 18 month clothes and most of the 12 month stuff is more short-sleeved summery things. And it's the dead of winter here! Size 4 diapers.

11. He's not a very good eater... I thought he was pretty good until we babysat a friend's daughter. She was like a vacuum whereas Colby takes only a few bites. He won't eat meat still, most pasta is touch-and-go, eggs and potatoes are a no-way, but he LOVES fruits and veggies. Carrots, green beans, peas, cucumbers, watermelon, bananas, apples, oranges, ... you name it, he loves it! I worry about protein a bit though.

12. He loved being in the snow for the first time last week!

13. He patted my stomach and said "baby" today. Ahhh... bliss.

14. Our house has become the Colby Palace and I love it. :)

15. Despite being obsessed with fruits and veggies, Colby has a mega-sweet tooth. He has been known to scale the kitchen chairs, crawl on to the table, dig through a basket, and find a bag of sour patch kids. And we may or may not have used them to bribe him during the difficult moments of our trip this past weekend.

16. He's very methodical. He's going to be an engineer...

17. He loves to dance. To anything. Anywhere. Any time. Except when we're trying to show off his dancing skills. Then he looks at us like we're crazy.

13 Weeks

I'm a few days later than usual... it's easier to remember to do these things when I'm at school on my lunch break!

How far along? 13 weeks 2 days 13 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: Up 1 pound! I think it's still the same... Up a few pounds, but I'll know for sure on Monday.

Maternity clothes? Bella band and one maternity shirt. Unfortunately I can no longer button my "big" pants, SO I guess it will be off to to stores soon! Yes, definitely pants... which is unfortunate because I have only 1 pair of pants I can wear to school... I'm huge. And yes, I know, I need pictures... :)

Stretch marks? I don't think so, but the other night Johnny oh-so-nicely said to me "You know how you keep answering "no" to stretch marks? I think you have to start answering "yes"." He claims I have some on my back, but I think he's crazy. Nothing new, and I'm stretching again so you can't really tell I have the old stretch marks!

Sleep: Usually 9 hours. And naps occasionally. But even that is not enough! It would be plenty if I wasn't up every hour! 7 or so depending on Colby...

Best moment this week: We told lots of people, we did some hard-core looking at Babies R Us for double strollers (options are so limited!)... it's been a good week. :) Just relaxing all week, taking naps, being with my family...

Movement: No! Anxiously waiting...

Food cravings: Oh yes, they come and go. Johnny is so good about filling them, too! Nothing specific. I've been really craving something, but I can't figure out what it is. I try different things but they never seem to be "it". And, yes, I know that sounds weird...

Gender: I still think 2 girls. And we're going out on a limb and painting the nursery pink, so hopefully we're not completely wrong! (We need to choose a color for the painters before we move in and we both think they're girls, so we're taking a gamble!) 2 girls I think...

Labor Signs: Noooo Nope, and I'm PRAYING that everything checks out on Monday!

Belly Button in or out? Innie Innie, but it's already feeling weird.

What I miss: Nothing! I love where I am

What I am looking forward to: Registry, the next appointment. Monday's appointment

Weekly Wisdom: I've lost too many brain cells to be wise. I hate this question... I might just start deleting it...

Milestones: 13 weeks!We're officially "out" with everyone. :) Not that it wasn't completely obvious with my belly!