Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009: A year in review

I stole this from Natalie's blog... Highlights (and lowlights) of the year!


January:

1) Learned I was about to go through my first layoff.

2) Started another home-improvement project.

3) Enjoyed our very own version of "Things That go Bump" during our first ice storm of the year.



February:

1) In light of being laid off, decided to put baby-making on hold.

2) 1-year Angelversary (RIP Pumpkin)

3) Joined a new, local social network for local moms :)



March:

1) Was taken hostage by a crazy cat.

2) Walked all the way around White Rock Lake for the first time, ever.

3) Officially began job-hunting. Quickly got over it.



April:

1) Decided that we weren't going to actively avoid baby-making, nor would we actively try. Just not trying, not preventing.

2) Put our job search on hold due to timing issues.

3) Renamed my blog. Here's the story behind it.




May:

1) Turned 28.

2) Realized I had been out of high school for 10 years. EEK!

3) Learned I was pregnant... AGAIN!


June:

1) Announced my pregnancy here. Reveled in the fact of having a healthy snowflake (nickname for Jessica before we knew she was a she).

2) Started getting my very own case of m/s.

3) Deciphered Legalese on a wide variety of paperwork after my layoff.



July:

1) Got my severance check and paid off my car!

2) Saw our sweet snowflake in living motion on a u/s!

3) Had my first episodes of pregnancy brain at work.



August:

1) Felt Snowflake move for the first time. Ahhhh, the butterflies!

2)  Scheduled the big u/s... :) :) :)

3) Rejoiced in being in the second trimester.



September:

1) Found out that the baby was a GIRL!

2) Got laid off, again.

3) 2nd wedding anniversary!



October:

1) Started and finished my first Jessica project!

2)  Signed up for birthing classes at our hospital.

3) Third trimester!



November:

1) Entered the first hint of a newting phase.

2) Had my baby shower!

3) Thanksgiving!



December:


1) Got the nursery almost done! :)

2) Enjoyed Keith and my last Christmas as just the two of us. Still totally mind-blowing.

3) Enjoyed my first White Christmas!



That's 2009 in brief review. Obviously, more than that happened but those are just some highlights.



My faves of 2009



Favorite moment of 2009: May 24th, 2009. Seeing the positive pregnancy test at 2:00 in the morning.


Favorite song: Do I have to pick just one??

Favorite CD:  I didn't get anything new in this department til Christmastime! lol

Favorite movie - Comedy: Hangover

Favorite TV Episode: It's hard to pinpoint just one episode, but I still like Simpsons and Family Guy.
Favorite new show: I didn't know I was pregnant. (I'm such a dork)

Favorite lunch while at work: Anything was good as long as I was able to enjoy it with Keith!
Favorite home cooked meal: Veggie Chicken

Favorite homemade Dessert: Cake! :p~

Favorite gadget: My digital camera

Favorite App: Didn't get any apps- too expensive!

Favorite Website: Facebook

Favorite Radio Station: KVIL 103.7
Favorite Ice Cream: Either Cold Stone Creamery, Klondike, Private Selection... it would just be easier to ask me what I dislike! LOL

Favorite Pizza: Dominos', Pizza Hut, Papa John's or Papa Murphy's

Favorite LOL Moment: Simply too many to count.

Friday, December 25, 2009

No Dreamin' Needed

Our snow from last night stuck around long enough for us to officially have a white Christmas! This would be the first white Christmas I've ever seen, well- down here in TX anyway... Not sure about New York- I was too young to remember when I lived up there.





In case you're wondering, all of these pics were taken from inside the house. No way I was getting out in that cold just to snap pics! LOL

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas? Really??

First off, please accept my apologies for my absence. Between work, getting ready for baby and having some computer issues, things have piled up on me! EEK!

My work schedule has been rather crazy, although somewhat consistent. Basically my daily routine is wake up, go to work, come home, have dinner and go to bed. We work a later shift so it feels this way, anyway. However we are grateful to have jobs, so we're not going to complain that much. LOL Besides, lord only knows how much longer I will be working. Since I haven't been there even 3 months as of the due date (1/27, 3-month mark would be 2/2), I will only be eligible for unpaid disability leave, without job protection., unfortunately. I'm not going to stress too much about that; it is what it is at this point. If my job is handed off to someone else I will have six weeks to do a job search within the company and find something else without having to jump through too many new-hire hoops again (blech).

Enough about that front. I am exhausted today as we had a nasty turnaround (working til 8pm and having to be back by 7am!) and those always mess me up (even before I was preggo!). We expected to have chilly precip today with alot of wind, but who knew we'd get SNOW?? That's right- tons of tiny (and big & fat!) little SNOWFLAKES fell today, blanketing much of North Texas with a white dusting, and it's supposed to continue overnight! I'm trying to not get too excited, but a white Christmas would be awesome- no dreaming needed!



As for myself and Keith, we are getting ready to celebrate the last Christmas as we know it. Our last christmas as just the two of us; by this time next year we will (hopefully!) have beautiful Jessica Nicole getting into everything and us chasing her around the house and keeping her away from the tree. :P But let's not think about that now; we've got plenty of time til that happens. First, we need to meet her and enjoy those first several months, and I'm not about to rush that along- it's going to go fast enough as it is.  Her bedroom is coming along nicely, and her fur-sister enjoys it just as much as her mama. ;) We're already sitting at 35w 1d and will start weekly doc appointments, um, next week! Scary and exciting at the same time!


The photo frame will eventually hold a pic of miss JessyNicole. There is caption underneath that reads, "When I count my blessings, I count you twice." That just had Jessica's name written all over it!


Jessica's big-fur-sister checking things out. Eventually, somehow, we're gonna have to train her... EEK.

Jessica says "hi!" and wants to wish everyone a merry Christmas!!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

My Big, Fat Preggo Brain

So... I was thumbing through some old posts on T's blog and noticed her crib posts. That's when I realized that I probably hadn't posted any myself. Checked here and sure enough, my big, fat preggo brain farted on me and I have never even showed off JessyNicole's digs lately!

The first pic is of her complete, convertible crib and dresser, thanks to her Grandma. I put on the mobile right away out of my own excitement (said mobile came from one of mommy's cousins). The toys are still in their packaging (even today) because while mommy's excited to take them out and let them DANGLE, she's cautious about the cats mistaking it for *THEIR* new toy. So up in the bags the dangly things stay, for now. Heck, mommy's already seen evidence that both kitties have done a thorough investigation of Jessy's chariot- they always leave their hairs behind. ;) FTR, the canopies are now closed to investigation.

And without much further ado, Jessy's digs!


These are the letters that I fussed over and worked on for so long... FINISHED!


Thanks, Gwammy! (This second pic more accurately reflects the color than the first. And they say the camera doesn't lie! pffftht!)

...and this will be JessyNicole's first crib.

JessyNicole's first "crib" came from mommy's godmother/Jessy's great-aunt. It currently resides at grammy's house but will come home when JessyNicole does.

Let's see here... we have Jessica's crib and dresser, stroller and carseat, some clothes, the highchair, a bassinet for her first few months (she can bunk with us! YAY!), about 4 1/2 weeks til full-term... YIKES on that last one, but yay!!


Saturday, December 5, 2009

Last, but not least...

We had our final baby class today. It was over safety and CPR. The CPR seemed fairly easy and we even got our own dummies to take home w/DVD's and everything so we can practice. However while I practice, I'll be praying that I don't ever have to use it. The dummy is basically an inflatable-doll version of a baby. I couldn't help but to chuckle a bit when the nurse teaching our class said to "blow up our babies." My big ol' preggo belly made it hard to stoop over the table to practice giving the blow-up baby breaths, so I scooted my chair in and out some 500 times between giving compressions and breaths. I made it work, though, and while I wouldn't dare cal myself an expert at this CPR thing I have some of the basic motions down.

We practiced and played with Miss Jessy's carseat and base after we got home. Took about two minutes to literally click it into my car since I have LATCH anchors actually in the seats. Keith's car, not so simple. We tried belting the base into the middle position of the backseat (as picky mommy prefers) but couldn't get it tight enough so we had to move to the side of the car where there is a shoulder belt. BONUS: My car has a shoulder strap in the middle! No tethers in the seats in his car, but surprisingly enough we discovered them above the backseat of his 2001 sedan. Go figure. 2001! The LATCH is in all cars 2002 and after! But when she is ready to forward face, they're there... assuming we still own that car. LOL

Now, if I could only go get off my lazy butt to do some cleaning around the house. If it's Jessica-prep work I'm all over it. But regular ol' cleaning just doesn't appeal to me- and here I am, 32 weeks and 3 days pregnant, living in a messy house! Not good. I know I sure as heck won't feel like cleaning once Her Snowiness arrives, that's for sure.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Speechless Sunday

Today I am speechless. I will be officially 32 weeks this Wednesday, that's 8 months prego!! Yikes!

Needless to say I am entering that nesting phase. I spent the afternoon yesterday Jessica-shopping. Got her some baby hangers (need more! oops!), a sleeper, crib sheets, babyproofing stuff, socks and her travel system (bought with a 20% off coupon for BRU- yay for saving $$!). 



This little chica's going to ride in style!

It was actually between Chicco and Graco. I liked the convenience of being able to buy a Graco double stroller when the next one comes along, however I liked the fold, padding and steering better on this one. That padding is nice and thick supportive for her little body- she's not going anywhere! She can thank her great-aunt Tish for this lovely gift. Another thing I like about this system? Not everybody has it!

Now I just need more hangers- this kiddo's going to be the best-dressed little girl on our block but we need to hang up her clothes! LOL Her nursery is coming along, but more on that later!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

A Thankful Thanksgiving

Wow. Is it really Thanksgiving already? Yet here I sit, preparing to gorge myself into a food coma and looking forward to it. For the past few days I have been reflecting on what I am thankful for and counting my blessings.

I am thankful for my husband, Keith. He has been my rock through the rough situations we have been through. For those who are fortunate not to know, miscarriages are rough. Keith has been here for me to help keep my head together lately, too- getting ready for Jessica is almost like a full-time job in itself!

I am, of course, thankful for our Jessica Nicole, growing, wiggling and kicking inside me. Call me a maochist, but I thoroughly enjoy every kick, punch, jab and stretch- even if it's in the ribs and hurts like... well, you know. It tells me that she is healthy and doing well, growing like she should. At my appointment last week she looked great! HR was 145 and she measured at 31 weeks (keep in mind it was my 30-week checkup). It's so hard to believe that before we know it, she will be in my arms. I'll be counting her fingers and toes, giving her "raspberries" on her tummy, changing diapers and providing her nutrients, and soooo much more. So here we are, 9 weeks til due date (as of yesterday, officially 31 weeks) and 6 til full-term. wow. just wow.

I am also thankful for our jobs. The schedule is a bit of a pain but hey, it racks in the dough- keeps the roof over our heads and the food coming to our mouths. Right now, that's enough for me.

I am thankful for our family and friends. While we may not spend alot of time with everyone, we still cherish all the memories that do come out of our endeavors, outings and get-togethers, when we do have them.

I am thankful for our health. It will enable us to take good care of Miss Jessica.

Lastly, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy your time with your family, if you get together. After this, it's time to bring on the Christmas rush. EEK!


Today I leave you with my 31-week pic to show how our little snowflake is growing so fast!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Wow- what a week!

I am now 30 weeks along. WOOT!

BUT... that means that Her Snowiness is due in (now less than) 10 weeks. 7 weeks til Full-Term. 7 WEEKS?!?! She could be here as early as 7 WEEKS?!?! Holy cr@p!! It seems like almost yesterday I was only 7 weeks along. She'll be here before the next oil change in either of our cars. Yikes.

phew. Now that that's out of my system, on to business. I had my shower this past Sunday and it was totally awesome! Miss Jessy got lots of cute outfits, a new crib and dresser (still in the box as of tonight...), a highchair, blankets, a carrier and lots of other goodies. EEK. We've got shelves to clean and move, a bed to slide over to the other side of the bedroom for now, and new baby furniture to assemble. Between that and the baby care and BF'ing prep classes this weekend, it's going to be a busy one!
Alas, I have no current pics of the nursery, so a couple of shower-decoration and food pics will have to do for now. ;) Enjoy!

Her Snowiness is already fillin' up mama's car!



Friday, November 13, 2009

Pregnancy FAQ's and Musings



1. How far along are you/when are you due?
7 months/Jan 27

2. Do you know what you're having?
It's a little girl!

3. Do you have a name?
Jessica Nicole (Nicknames: Snowflake, Her Snowiness, Jessie)

Good feedback about the name (a good thing, I guess- people don't hate her name. A very good thing- if people hated it she may have issues later in life :/). Most interesting comment was from one lady at work who said I'd be getting alot of comments regarding Jessica Simpson. (Is Nicole her middle name too? LOL) I didn't have the heart to call her out that she so far has been the only one to bring up that topic. I just laughed it off.

This kid has no schedule, I swear. She's just like her mama in that regard- hates schedules. She may be quiet for a day or two and then kick and jab up a storm like she has today. She can party and rock and roll all night long for all I care, even if I lose some zzz's out of it- as long as I know she's ok she can do whatever she wants. For now. Once she arrives she won't be able to pull that off anymore- I mean, who wants a baby sticking her fingers into an electric socket to let mommy know she's OK? She'll be restricted to crying and wiggling for at least the first few weeks. Then down the road add rolling over, crawling... *sigh* It'll all be here before I know it.

But for now, I savor the moments of having the snowflake kicking, punching, jabbing, rolling and thumping around in my belly, because once she's here I'm going to miss that feeling. I just know it. Her upcoming arrival is becoming more and more with real every day that goes by. Tomorrow we'll hopefully move some storage stuff out of her room to make way for baby- the big par-tay is on Sunday. I'm actually very excited about it *BUT* worried about one thing. What if I'm too weepy? UGH! Let's just hope I'm not and keep it at that. ;)

Friday, November 6, 2009

Ouch.

I have limped practically all day today to keep weight off my right leg. The pain has gotten gradually worse throughout the day. It started out on Monday and lasted through Tuesday and took a bit of a break on Wednesday. It came back yesterday and again today (but with a vengeance).

It sits in my lower back and shoots down my leg to random places, sometimes the side of my thigh and other times down to my ankle. I stand up and it cramps up on me, causing me to limp. At work. How embarrassing! I had a similar crisis earlier on in pregnancy when Snowflake was about 11 weeks along. Upon my description (minus the shooting pain at that time), my doc diagnosed the lovely sciatica. It went away for a few months and is now back, with a vengeance. Yippy skippy. This time it really kills me when I have been sitting for a while and stand up. Sitting "improperly" in a chair helps it out. That said, I may do some research on chiropractors this weekend. This is crazy- my exercise is now limited b/c of it (I am an avid walker)!

For now, it's pelvic tilts and as many stretches as I can think of to hopefully get this little snowflake off of that nerve. I have to get out of this chair now to check on the chicken. uuuuuuuugghhhhh...

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Hiccup

Today while at work I got some somewhat-unexpected entertainment (with regards to Jessica, of course) on many facets. On my first break, I was asked if I have twins in there by a stranger! WOOT! I'm getting big! (I'm such a dork for getting excited about that, aren't I?) I informed her that there's just a couple of months to go. Only one little baby eggplant in there (this time, anyway)! For comparison's sake, I added a pic from 20w. Only two months ago but it seems like so much longer, I guess because so much has happened since then.



20w


28w even!
After lunch this afternoon, I felt periodic spasms in my belly, sort of like jerking motions. I soon realized that they came at intervals and happened yesterday too- they must be little Jessica hiccupping! It only happens a few times then stops. Guess she realizes she has an audience at that point.

The nasal congestion is still here but a little better and has paired up with a cough. ugh. Hopefully it's even better tomorrow! It's getting annoying!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Teriffic Tuesday

Well, almost anyway... Today was my second day on the job and so far not too bad. Of course, we've only done company-overview, online-compliance (*YAWN*) training stuff, the real stuff kicks in I believe tomorrow. WOOHOO!

Yesterday I was kicking myself for not joining this company sooner. Very strong- they've been in business for over 200 years! I was pleasantly floored when I saw that. Also very innovative- they have basically shaped this particular industry to what it is today. Anymore detail on this and I'd be sharing a bit too much info for my comfort... :)

For the past couple of days I have woke up at 6am- not what I am used to. However, a very special someone seems to enjoy my new routine, as I have been feeling Her Snowiness moving, fluttering and kicking around in there pretty much first thing in the morning. It's such an awesome feeling and tells me that she's A-OK in there! Love that reassurance. ;)

As for the rest of life, I went ahead and got a flu shot (seasonal- that H1N1 ain't coming near me. Too new!) since I was starting this new job. I felt as though the benefits outweighed the risks- especially in my case, being preggo PLUS the stress of starting a new job, which translates to being in close quarters with lots of people for a minimum of 8 hours a day. Um, yeah. However I've been sooooo congested (sinuses- can't breathe through nose for the most part) for the past couple of days that it sucks! One of the ladies in my training class said the same thing happened to her and she felt it for two weeks. GREEEEEAAAAAAAAATTT... There's always a catch. lol

Tuesday night- and I never heard from my doc regarding the evil glucose test. He's a no-news-is-good-news type of doc, so I'll take that at face value. One less thing on my mind now! WOOHOO! Hello, cake and ice cream and candy bars! (I kid, I kid!)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

A Sad Day

I was browsing through my pages on Facebook yesterday and came to a link that I never thought I'd see. Steve Calloway, former GM of Six Flags Over Texas, passed away in his home Friday. Those who worked for SFOT for a considerable amount of time will know him to be a kind man who had alot of spunk.

A friend messeged me later on to inform me that apparently he had been in the hosptial for a heart issue and had just been released. His wife had left the house for an errand and his son came home and found he had gone. He will be sorely missed.

Here's the news article.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! That, of course, means it's... October 31. Yup, the last day of October. As of today, there are only two months left in this year. Where has all the time gone? That in itself is spooky!

Tomorrow will be my last day of freedom from the rat race, for a while at least. The past six weeks have been very enjoyable. One might think that being unemployed and at home is boring, but I beg to differ. My time off gave me time to reflect on not only Keith and myself, but our upcoming, new life with daughter Jessica. I have had an awesome break getting to know her and her every little kick, squirm and wiggle, all while taking better care of myself, a trend that I hope to continue for a very long time.

I still have alot to learn about my daughter, especially her personality. She's alot like her mom, tempramental and energetic, when she wants to be. Earlier today I felt what I thought was a foot between my stomach and ribs, however a quick review with my fingertips dispelled that thought very quickly. It was actually an elbow, knee or even a heel. Something pointy. Soon enough, I am sure I will know without the help of my fingertips what kind of jabs come from what body parts. I can't wait!

This new job will bring new opportunities (hopefully) to the table for us; to learn new things and even re-kindle old relationships with co-workers from Ford. I worked in collections with them for a while before moving to a new team and eventually a new role before briefly losing touch with them. Fortunately we have been able to keep in contact and learn that we will likely be seeing each other at my new job!

Until then, however, I will enjoy my last day of freedom. My last day of total relaxation and sometimes not even knowing what to do with myself. What will I do with that extra time? That is TBD. Guess only time will tell. One thing for sure, though, is I will thoroughly enjoy all my time with Keith. Anything else? Who knows.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Psych!



27w 1d today. WOW! Had the evil glucose test today and should find out my results by Monday. The doc will call me only if they are abnormal, so nothing personal, doc, but I don't wanna hear from you! LOL

Actually the test wasn't really all that evil. Since I didn't have to fast I had some eggs for breakfast (golden rule: no sugar)- nice and protein fortified. Then at 8 (my appointment was at 9) I downed the orange stuff in under a minute. My deadline was five minutes. It actually did taste like orange Fanta! I felt a little jittery for a while afterward but Jessica stayed pretty quiet, surprisingly enough!

I was promptly poked by the nurse at 9 for my blood sample which wasn't that bad either. Now I'm funny about these blood draws; I can't watch the needle go in (or stand it, for that matter) but I can watch the blood flow out. Weird, huh? And I'm a blood donor, to boot! (blood banks just love the o+ red juice) Nurse told me that it will be at least tomorrow before I hear anything, Monday at the latest. Let's hope I don't hear anything at all. Not gonna stress, not gonna stress, not gonna stress...

My diet has been fairly decent- nothing like being accountable to your child. Never have I made so much effort to eat so many fruits and veggies, while grains, calcium, etc... usually I just go for whatever's available- forget what I've had all day. And if I breastfeed, it will provide me even more motive to stay on this healthy track! And healthy Jessica is, measuring at 28 weeks, HR of 150 and a mommy who only gained 4#. Woohoo!

Next up: visit in 3 weeks (4 weeks would be the week of good ol' Turkey Day, no visits that week, unless they're to a turkey dinner of course!)- another poke to the arm for my CBC and I get to start peeing in a cup at every visit. After this next visit I graduate to bi-weekly visits! YEAH!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Nevermind!

No planning needed! I pretty much free-handed everything and got the painting finished. Now I just need to figure out how I will hang the letters from the wall. The primary option I am thinking of is using ribbons on each individual letter, but I'm told there's also the option of that tacky, sticky yellow stuff and/or hanging them from a dowel by some thread. Actually, that third option sounds good...

Anyway, here's the somewhat-finished product! ♥♥♥





For some reason, the word "Etsy" keeps coming to mind... Some sort of sign, maybe?

Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Writing on The Wall

So for the past few months I have had a rather crafty desire to make something of my own for Miss Jessica. I have envisioned making individual letters spelling out her name, with different colors and patterns painted on them. I will then find some ribbon to (probably) glue to the back of the letters and suspend them from the wall somehow.



Today I finally acted on it. After Keith and I were finished with our lunch, I dragged him to our local craft store to look at letters. It was my lucky day; letters were on sale. Literally, 30% off (and about $2.50 to begin with!)! I LOVE bargains like that. I had walked into the store intending to just window-shop for now, but walked out about $21 and change later with seven letters and five bottles of craft paint: pink, brown, green, purple and black.

I started phase one of the project right after we arrived back home: painting the background colors on the letters.


And for the worry-warts, I had the paint-and-fumes issue covered. The windows were open and I only used a small amount of paint- no major wall jobs here. ;) Kept the air nice and fresh in there and I still enjoyed the gorgeous weather we had! I would have set up shop outside but it was a tad too breezy.

The next part of the project will require some planning, as I will be adding patterns to the letters. Part of me was tempted to keep the letters as they are now, but that would be no fun!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Quiet



It's cold outside. About 51 degrees F.  And the neighborhood is actually quiet, a far cry from this time last week, when I was ready to go buy some shock collars for our neighbor's dogs who were relentlessly yapping their heads off. Today, silence. My guess is that they're being kept inside because of the cold. When it gets "cold" around here (notice the quotation marks) tings tend to get quiet. Here in TX, the number outside doesn't have to even get that low for it to be "cold" to some people and make them stay inside.

Even Jessica Nicole has been quiet today. Up until I had some knockoff crunch berries for breakfast. She rocked and thumped around for a few minutes then went back to sleepy land. I was starting to become worried when my little girl didn't check in with me (you'll learn this about me if you haven't already- it doesn't take much for me to worry. lol) but a few bites in to my cereal and there she was, thumping around. But even now this little lady is back to quiet mode now.

For now, I will just sit back and enjoy the peace and quiet. Once Jessica is here quiet will be long gone, even if those dogs are shipped off to Bolivia (or insert other random foreign country here). Even the neighbor doing yardwork and running his leaf blower isn't that bad.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Countdown Begins


...less than 100 days left til our Snowflake's due date! EEK!

Even scarier, I will be starting a new job on 11/2. Let's hope November turns out to be my lucky month for employment, as June and July sure aren't! For a little backstory, I started with Ford in NOVEMBER 2004. Employment lasted for nearly five years until I was laid off. Four and a half, to be exact. Missed out on my plaque (punks!)!

I have signed us up for our birthing classes starting next month and they will run into early December. Let's hope we don't forget everything between then and Snowflake's arrival. lol With my pregnancy brain, you just never know. Can't exactly find a pre-registration option on the hospital's web site (that I am now about 95% sure I want to go to), so I guess we'll have to inquire about that when we go to "school."

My next appointment to check on Snowflake is on 10/29 and on that day I have the evil glucose test (bleah). The orange stuff is in the fridge. Please pray that I pass! Wasn't the m/s enough?? Not only that, but my first two weeks on the job are training and 8-5. It'd be a pain in the to get a day off to flood my body with even more sugar and starve for a few hours. But hey, ya gotta do, what ya gotta do. And Miss Snowflake comes first.

Then I believe this will be my last four-week break between appointments, at the end of November I will start with the bi-weekly appointments already. EEK! Where's the time going?

Let the games begin!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Missing You

Photobucket


My dear Pumpkin and Peanut,

I miss you guys so much! Pumpkin, you'd be running around the house probably by now and I wouldn't have the time to keep up with this blog as much as I do because I'd be chasing you around, along with taking care of little Peanut! I know that you guys are doing well, though, in the hands of our Good Lord and your great-grandma. I know that they are taking good care of you both. Mommy misses you both!

XOXO

It is a club nobody ever wants to join. The loss of a child, whether born or not, is horridly painful and forever ingrained in the mind of the parent(s) who were affected by it. My first angel, Pumpkin, would be a year old. Our second, Peanut, would be about a month and a half old. Once Snowflake (AKA Jessica Nicole) came along, Keith and I were terrified that something was going to happen to her. I was initially spooked at the double line on the test but then I felt a wave of confidence that all would be OK.

Even after that wave, however, I still had and have my moments of fear and what-ifs. For instance, I know it's normal, especially at this point in my pregnancy, for a baby to be quiet here and there. When I think Jessie's been quiet for too long, part of me wants to freak out until I feel her move again, then I can relax for a little while. For the most part I am OK about not panicking, repeating the ol' PAL (Preggo After a Loss) mantra: "FAITH OVER FEAR." She WILL be OK.

I just want my Pumpkin and Peanut to know that they will always have a place in Keith and my hearts and they will never be forgotten. Ever.

Godspeed, little fellas.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Blanks

*crickets chirping*

I don't know why but the past few days have found my mind pretty blank. As in writer's block. UGH!

There's not too much to report here, except that I have three interviews in a two-day period (two of them with the same company) for jobs, so let's hope for the best! Two of them are for collections positions (yeehaw, but ya gotta do whatcha gotta do, right? The company I am interviewing with is a very stable company, after all, and my interviewer today did an awesome job of selling me the job...) and one for customer service (for a separate mortgage company).  So who knows, by this time next week I could be preparing to start a new job- we'll see!



Last, but definitely never least, I seem to have popped pretty good over the last week if you ask me! 25 weeks officially today- WOOT!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Days Go By...

It's October. That has had me thinking alot of the first pg loss that Keith and I had to deal with. Pumpkin would have most likely been due yesterday(or hereabouts). I'd have a one-year-old. But I know this kid is in good hands. I'm not as emotional as I had thought I'd be; I think that's because Keith had a half-day scheduled at work so it felt like a weekend. His being around me was a pleasant distraction. So was our weather change; we made an impromptu trip to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for chili, which I promptly threw into the crock pot when we arrived back home.

Then I baked a cake. Yes, it's something I swore the other day up and down I wouldn't do, but here I am doing it. The cupcakes I had bought just didn't cut it. (sorry, no pics of the cupcakes..) I've been craving cake lately and thought I could get by on the cupcakes and wanted (and still want) to be a miminalist when it comes to junk food. Yeah, go figure- the month before my GD test is the month when I crave all this stuff big-time. I've been a good girl (tried to, lol) for the most part so this shouldn't throw me off, right? Ah, wait- if it's there, it's there, nothing can throw it either way (well, maybe stuff could throw it to a false pos.)- it is what it is. Ah, that's the expression I was looking for.



And now, the infamous cake.

Looking for a legit, work-at-home job that's not an MLM! Prefer no sales or phone work (computer's too slow and can't afford a new one right now, and don't even mention our neighborhood's obnoxious dogs).. ;)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Winds of Change

Our weather here in DFW, TX is finally turning around- yesterday I actually had to ware a light jacket! Today? Much different- shorts and *PHEW!* it's nasty out today! Very warm and humid- wind added itself to the mix earlier today. T-storms are in the forecast and I wouldn't be surprised if they get ugly around here tonight as the sun has been poking out off and on. Along with the wind, today I can hear the electric meter buzzing away, mocking me. To it I say, ":P, ththgbbbbhhhttttthhhhh!" We'll see who has the last laugh. (insert sadistic laugh)

Looks like today might be the last warm day for a while, though... that's good for this poor little tree in our front yard, who is apparently a little confused:

Our poor pear tree is flowering along with turning its leaves. Of course, if I was a tree in this weather I think I'd be a little confused too!

The job front is tragic. Nothing but sales (no thanks! don't want anything that will raise my BP!!) or jobs that entail dressing up in a chicken suit and waving a sign at oncoming traffic (C'mon, you know you can see me doing it). Shoot, nevermind. I just realized those are gone too! Oh, well... I know we'll figure something out... any baby contests out there for the unborn? I think Miss Jessica could qualify.


See what I mean? That GORGEOUS little face?? OK, OK I'm a little biased, I'll admit it. But just a little!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Counting My Blessings

I'll be 24 weeks tomorrow. So far, everything is well (*knocks wood*) and I can't complain. Jessica is seemingly healthy and thriving, DH and I are blessed with his job, our house, two vehicles, a wonderful family... the list goes on and on.

I saw a posting on Natalie's blog today that really got me thinking about all this stuff going on. Yeah, there's a lot of crappy stuff going on in my life right now, but there's much more good stuff going on in our lives right now. Reading it after an encounter with our stubborn, selfish dog really put things into perspective. DH and I have decided that is probably a step-parent complex. I was caught out and about in an unexpected rain shower and it was raining pretty hard. Luckily I managed to get home just in time, before el doggo managed to get himeslf all muddy. However after I ordered him into the house, he proceeded to run back into the backyard! I had to chase after him though b/c the rain was coming down pretty good and I was going to be even madder if he ran around the yard and got himself all muddy in the process. And I thought dogs lowered your blood pressure?? In my personal experiences, they raise it. Guess he thinks he doesn't have to listen to me since he's known DH longer. But old animals are stubborn animals, I guess...

But here I sit, unemployed and not finding any real, decent-enough paying work, somehow managing to not be too stressed out. Guess it hit home the very night my recruiter called me to tell me that the axe had fallen on my head. Ever had one of those it-could-be-worse moments when something crappy happens to you?  That kind of thought passed through my mind and while it got me crying (it was about Jessica, AKA Snowflake), it put things into perspective. I can stress over things that are largely out of my control, or I can focus on my blessings and what really matters. Fortunately, I have been doing a pretty good job of doing the latter.

My Blessings, in no particular order:
1. I have an awesome DH, who I love more than anything; he's my best friend. I hope he knows this.
2. I have a sweet baby girl growing and thriving in, kicking and punching at me and I'm loving every second of it.
3. Our Family. Yes, even that stubborn dog and those goofy cats (see picture below).
4. Our health. Mine, Keith's and Jessica's.
5. God is awesome. He has His reasons for doing things, having them happen. Sometimes we are privvy to know these reasons, sometimes we're not.
6. I AM ALIVE. And loving it.


Yes, that's Keely in a plastic bag. LOL She likes to crawl into the things- guess she likes the feel of 'em. Silly girl.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

23w 1d, time sure flies!

I had my latest doc appt this morning and it went beautifully. Nice and boring; my B/P was good, had a nice Q&A with the doc and we found Jessica right away on the doppler this time- guess she doesn't have the room to dodge so stealthily anymore! HA HA, kid! Her h/r was 155 and sounded beautiful!

In my attempt to help reduce our spending, I cooked up yet another flavorful recipe for homemade chicken fajitas- in the crock-pot! (Can you guess what my fave cooking utensil is?)

What I used:
2 huge, plump chicken breasts; cut into strips. It's a pain to cut 'em raw but it worked out well anyway..
2 tbsp taco seasoning
2 tbsp flour (don't know what for but the recipe called for it, so...)
1 each red and green bell peppers, sliced up
About a cup of fresh, chunky salsa.
1 small bag frozen corn

Mixed together the chicken strips, seasoning and flour, then added the rest. Cooked on high for 4 hours and voila!


Tossed into some corn tortillas and YUM! Now, to decide what to do for dinner tonight... Off I go!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A Busy Weekend

Keith and I had a whirlwind of a weekend! We did some housecleaning (badly needed, and still needs more work!), replaced a leaky faucet, and, oh yeah, did I mention cleaning house? That includes Miss Snowflake's room. And we picked out a name for her! :)

I tried another new dinner recipe- Chicken Cacciatore in a crock-pot. It turned out well, but next time we'll be using the boneless chicken instead of bone-in. The original recipe didn't call for cooking the chicken in the crock-pot, but I did anyway. ;)

1.5-2# of chicken, 1 red and 1 green bell pepper, a 14-oz can of tomatoes (recpie called originally for crushed but the only can sizes they had were twice what I needed, so I substituted petite diced. They worked very well.), half an onion (chopped), a couple of handfuls of mushrooms were among some of the ingredients. Threw it together and crocked it for four hours. Served over rice and yummmmmm!! (Sorry, I was too hungry to take a pic of the finished product.. LOL)



After that, we polished off our tasty grub with the classic, Puppy Chow (AKA Muddy Buddies).

Lastly, we can now see the floor in Snowflake's room. We hadn't been able to see it since our layoff back in June. ;) Little JESSICA NICOLE'S room is starting to shape up, somewhat!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Six More Weeks??

I am 22 weeks today with my kickin' little girl. 22 weeks already. Wow! It came to my realization that I have six more weeks until the THIRD trimester. There's so much to do!!! I haven't picked out a name yet (It's sooooo hard!! But I know it will come to me. Eventually.), the room isn't near ready yet. In fact I'm not even going to show a picture of it righ tnow b/c there's still so much crap in there, along with the twin-sized bed! Hmmm... I really need to get cleaning.

This stupid job search is getting in the way! Ugh! I hate selling, including the product I know best, myself. I just do. However, I did find a bunch of halfway-promising-looking stuff on CareerBuilder. (The work-in-TX search site sucks, BTW. CB, Monster, etc all provide much bigger pictures of that a job is really like, along with better company info.) I haven't heard from back from the Big Company who I interviewed with on Monday yet, but the lady who interviewed me did say it could be the end of this week/no later than next week before I heard anything back. So we'll see! While I'm confident the interview went well, I don't know- there was only one position available for hire and lots of applicants. But isn't it that way everwhere?

In miscellaneous news, during the Cowboys game this past Monday (? I think it was... my days are running together! yes, already), Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was busted on national TV picking his nose. My guess? His specialty.

I leave you, for your viewing pleasure,...

Friday, September 18, 2009

Wow, what a week!

It's been quite the week in our household! Even though the house isn't as clean as it should be, considering I have been home all week, I will still call it a productive week! I have a job interview with a certain large company on Monday so I'm hoping for the best there...

But let's rewind to this past Tuesday- Keith and my second anniversary! Two years already- in one way it feels like time has flown by yet another it feels longer! lol How could that be?!?! No matter how I look at it, though, it has been two of the best years of my life. And in spite of not being able to go on our little road trip, it was still an awesome celebration. We went to Cheddar's for dinner (and I gorged on the infamous Cookie Monster for dessert), came home, danced to our wedding song then looked through our album and reminisced a bit (once I located the thing.. LOL).

I can't forget the BEAUTIFUL roses that Keith surprised me with that evening either!


Yes, our cooktop is a dinosaur, but it works!

The next day I officially hit 21 weeks prego. Just a little bit over half-baked!


This is me at 20 weeks, for comparison.



Now, 21 weeks... I swear, is it the shirt I'm wearing or am I a tiny bit bigger? :)

Yesterday and today my belly has been itching me, and I'm not gonna complain, since means stretching and growing, right? Especially with what seems to be a fairly quiet kid on board, every little bit helps. Of course, my mom tells me that I was quiet as well, so this is probably retribution for me.


Saturday, September 12, 2009

Life as we know it

I am building a canoe as we speak- it has now been raining for nearly two days here! I'm not going to complain, though, as we NEED it first of all, and secondly I like this kind of weather! Rainy, wet, watery, cloudy and perhaps all electrical and thundery too. The light shows in some of these storms have been either scary or spectacular. Yesterday it was a mix of both, as I was at work and able to see the show in my periphery when the bolts actually struck something and positively glowed momentarily. Miraculously, it didn't seem to come near us in our 22-story building as far as I could tell. And we didn't have a tornado. Thank you, Lord! :)

On the other hand, my contract-to-hire job has been abruptly ended. While I'm not going to publish too many details here for obvious reasons, I am going to say that part of me feels angry (used, anyone? taken advantage of, anyone? (overtime reference) screwed over, anyone?), but part of me feels somewhat relieved. After having an elevated BP reading at the last doc's visit (with a normal reading the weeks before and after), I certainly blame the overtime for that and my lack of energy the past few weeks. My resolve this month was that if my BP was affected again like that I was going to ask for a note from the doctor to cut out the overtime. Or perhaps we could keep it to the minimum that I was led to believe, by word choice in the way it was presented to me, it was in the first place ("a little mandatory OT at the end of the month"= a couple of days, right?? I have asked around and others would have interpreted the same, especially since we're not accountants balancing books or anything like that!). I can have a clean house (well, no excuse not to! :D), I can relax, exercise like I had been and should be... the list goes on. May as well see the silver linings, right? ;)
Need the silver linings to bounce off of the bad part- Keith and I were going to go on a road trip to H-Town but we had to cancel that, needless to say. :(

I am going to try my hand at looking for WAHM jobs for the most part (of course I'm open to leads outside of the home). Just not sales please! LOL (we need a steady, reliable income source)

As I have sat typing this, little Miss Snowflake has been wiggling up a storm in her home; she must like a relaxed mommy. :) At least, I'm pretty sure the pops I'm feeling are her! LOL (Although, in the past few days I have felt movements and things that were unmistakably my daughter in there!♥♥)

Oh, here comes the rain again, watering the yard and going to force poor Keith to mow the lawn again in a few days! :D (Wait, actually two lawns since he helps with my mom's too...)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Quiet

...is just one word that can be used to describe me these days.

My new job, to put it positively, has me on my toes, and just too exhausted to get on the computer sometimes. The "Mandatory overtime" has had me running bonkers and trying to decide what to do once our Snowflake arrives in January. Hopefully I won't have to go back to work- I completely despise the idea of putting little SF in a daycare, and so does Keith. I am currently looking for a work-at-home gig that I could start out part-time with and doesn't care how many (or few) hours I work (at first, anyway).

On a more entertaining note, last week we had our 19-week appointment, big u/s and everything looks good! Baby measured (at the time) 19w 5d, approx 11 oz. (Aww! Little almost-can of soda!) in weight. The tech moved the wand around like crazy, snapping pics and taking measurements while I prayed that all was OK. And OK it turned out!

The best part? We're having a...

Look at that cute little booty! lol
...Already charming us with her good looks!
That clear money shot was difficult to obtain, though.. she kept crossing her legs before said tech could get the picture snapped and even tried to kick the wand off my belly (waay too cool!). She did provide a decent view otherwise, though...
Now, to pick a name... I always knew in my mind what a daunting task that is, but now that it's here... EEK! I never realized HOW daunting!
And WOOHOOOOOOO for being half-baked! YEAH!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Quick Update

Before I went to bed I just wanted to update y'all- the lady who I was referring to in my previous post whose b/w (AFP test) came back positive for Down's (T21)- her baby is OK!!

There have been several more false and hopefully-false positive results with the thing... SO not worth it. Still glad I turned it down.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

My Dear, Sweet Life... How time flies!!

I can't believe it's the middle of August already, and that being said I'm 16 1/2 weeks along already. The big U/S is set for 9/2 (not 9/4, as I probably originally reported) and hopefully we'll find out then if Snowflake is a little Miss or Mr.

I did have a dream the other day that Snowflake was a healthy baby girl, so we'll see how that goes! Historically, these dreams have been accurate for me... at least on others. Two of my aunts had babies whose sex was predicted accurately by a dream I had about them, and recently a cousin, so we'll see!

So here I sit, in awe with Snowflake and trying to decide what to do for dinner; Keith and I are horribly lazy today. The weekend has gone too quick and I won't have another real weeked for Lord-knows-how-long: I ahve to work Saturdays again. :( That's 4/5 this month (but I'm not the only one who has this kind of rotation)! Hopefully some of the perm folks there will speak up about it, though, as I don't feel very safe talking it up since I'm *just* a contractor right now. We won't go there. ;)

As for my dear Snowflake, I'm pretty sure I felt him/her move today. I was driving down the road (fortunately with DH, so I got to brag right then and there) and the band of my shorts was jabbing into my stomach a little, in just the right place where Snowflake would be. It felt like butterflies in there- it was so cool! There are a couple of other times I may have felt the LO but I'm not sure if it was just gas or not, but this one SOOOOO didn't feel like gas. YAY Snowflake!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Crazy Snowflake at it again!

So I had my 15-week checkup today and all went well! Weight gain will not be published but BP was good. We visited with the Dr. D's assistant today since Dr. D was out of town this week and things went smoothly. Of course, Snowflake was in a froggy mood and decided to dodge the doppler once again, so after trying on a nervous me we retreated to the u/s room.

Once we got past my full bladder, we were able to see the little snowflake moving around in there and s/he even gave us a wave! Then it was on to thumbsucking- sooo awesome! The heartbeat looked good and strong.

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Nothing like a moving, wiggling, waving snowflake to make my morning bright!

I was offered the infamous triple-screed bloodwork which screens for possible birth defects, such as Spina Bifida or chromosomal issues such as Down's Syndrome (AKA T21), but I turned it down, since there is a HUGE rate of false positives associated with the test. Even the PA mentioned about the false positives and the staff were very respectful about my decision, which I liked. There has already been one lady on our expecting club board who had a false-positive for SB, and another whose b/w pointed to a strong chance of Down's (she's having an amnio tomorrow- her odds came back at like 1/7 or something like that).

Monday, July 20, 2009

Pfffffffttt...

...goes the pregnant brain.

Monday, Monday can't trust that day (as the song goes)

Of course I had two HUGE brain farts today...
#1- Lunchtime. I finally made up my mind and went to Chipotle for lunch. After waitning in line and grabbing my order I headed to the fountain for my drink: Orange Fanta. Filled up the cup, snapped on the lid, then grabbed a straw, napkins and "silverware," tossed them into my bag and left. Got back to work, found a spot and realized.... my drink was still at Chipotle, sitting at the fountains! And the straw in the bag.

#2- 4:55 pm. Need I say more? Got a meeting notice for tomorrow afternoon- from 3 to 6. My schedule tomorrow is not 8-5, but... I promptly replied that I'd be on break at 3 and going home at 5. Took me the entire trip home and sitting here at this computer to realize that one (I'm there from 3-6).
 
Of course, then there's the one I had back when I first learned I was pregnant; I took a day off from work (scheduled before I found out I was preggo, ironically enough) but went to meet Keith for lunch. I was halfway down the highway when I realized my feet were awfully cozy... I still had my house shoes on!
 
hmmmm... what else was I going to say?? Or was that it?

Sunday, July 19, 2009

mine, Mine, MINE!!

Yesterday it finally happened... Keith and I got our severance checks in the mail! Since my check is more than enough by itself, I'm going to take care of first things first, by paying the big, silver thing sitting in my driveway OFF, ENTIRELY!

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YEAH!! Finally, we are done with car notes for hopefully a long, long time. **KNOCKS WOOD**

In other (big) news, I am now 12.5 weeks along. This means that I'll be 13 weeks this Wednesday... and in my SECOND trimester! Six months ago I wondered if I'd ever see these days. So far so good.

The puking seems to be letting up, but I still have nausea and queasiness here and there. I hate water. The taste of it, everything. I know I need it so I have to pretty much force it, but wisely. A few days ago I had a day off from work and went and got a snack from the local chicken restaraunt. The snack (three strips and mashed potatoes) went down soooooooo good. YUM! Baby and I both LOVED it. However when I took a sip of water after that, things changed right about after the third sip... I suddenly had indigestion. I was fine until I had the stupid water! argh. And this morning, food first THEN water, and so far no puke. hmmmm... I wonder if my morning sips right after I wake haven't been triggering the m/s I've been having lately. Oh well, I guess only time will tell at this point. :)

Now if I just had the money to hire a jet (or even a helicopter) to take me to work so I'd be able to avoid the crappy commute (and DH too, of course)... oh, wait- if I that kind of money I wouldn't need to work. LOL

Friday, July 10, 2009

Crazy Updates and Sweet Pictures

So this blog has once again become a little neglected, thanks in part to a new job, exhaustion and good ol' m/s.

Keith and I both started our new jobs this week and love them. (*yawn*)

But today my stupid left eyelid has been twitching on me all morning (took a break this afternoon) then again all evening... uggggghhh. over and over again, it's so annoying! Anyone have any fishing weights and string I can tie to my eyelid via my eyelashes to FORCE the stupid thing to stop already? ;) j/k. (*sigh* Kim, is this the best you can do?)

Yesterday we had our 11-week doctor's appointment. YAY for sonograms! It wasn't part of the original plan, but the doc couldn't find little Snowflake's heartbeat this time around (except for a split second, whose reading of 16x I caught a glimpse of). So off to the u/s room we went! We're lucky in soo many forms, this one being that the doc himself does the u/s and interprets them and all that jazz, right there on the spot. No waiting, no awkward tension with some tech (no offense, u/s techs) who's not allowed to say anything.

Anyway, we get in there and sure enough we saw Snowflake, plugging away. Our little Houdini :) then jumped for us a couple of times, turned to the side and RAN (yes, ran) for us! That's about when I informed Keith he's going to be getting a new running partner in a few years. The view, just awesome. My heart still melts thinking about it! No explanation as to why the doc couldn't find the HB, but Dr. D pronounced everything normal ("looks good," in his words) and we shrugged it off. I bet it was the kid's activity.

Without further ado, I proudly present.... SNOWFLAKE (11w, 1d at time of pic)!!
The pic doesn't do this LO much justice compared to what we saw in the office. *sigh* My sweet, sweet little Snowflake. Mommy and Daddy love you very much!
We go back in 4 more weeks... so hopefully the m/s will be gone and I will be realllly bustin' outta my clothes! WOOT!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

We Came, We Saw, We Conquered...

...and now it's done. After a teary-eyed, anxious wait, we were led into the conference room as a group, given our speeches and finally our packages. Now I have to figure out how to decipher Legalese and get that waiver mailed in... the sooner they get it the sooner the stupid 7-day recission period passes (Why would I rescind? I have stuff to do with my money! Giveittome!) and I can get my severance check. The check (or the bulk of it anyway) will then be returned to the auto finance company in exchange for the title to my car. Free and clear, baby- WOOT!

Thanks to this layoff, no more car payment. I get to pay off some debt. I get to get a new job. I get to start a new adventure with my Beloved. BRING IT!!

After about 30 minutes they finally released us and we traded our badges for our info packets. Good times. We then caravanned on over to IHOP and made then earn their paycheck. They gave awesome service to us, especially considering we were a huge party of oh about at least 50, lots of separate checks. Extra tip for putting up with our rowdiness. :) Yummy breakfast, more good times. We then (more tears) split and went our own separate ways, many or us keeping in touch on Facebook.

For now, I look forward to my upcoming 5-day weekend before starting a new adventure.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Pickles and Ice Cream

...what else for a preggo mama on a too-hot, summer day? I ate them separately, of course, but they went down so. GOOD! A little too good, if you ask me. ;)

After puking for two weeks- starting with every couple of days or so then moving to daily, a possible breakthrough has been reached in the m/s department. Discovered accidentally Friday morning, the practice was deliberately used for Friday night and the results were indeed reproduced. Hmmm... It's definitely counterintuitive, but not eating (or drinking!) anything at night seems to calm the tummy down for the morning so I can get a halfway-decent breakfast down. My guess is that the digestion, already slowed down enough by hormones, slows down even more (naturally) while I sleep. Anymore explanation of this theory would not only be too technical, it would be TMI. Trust me. So far only one one-half of a phenergan has been needed.

Cravings, so far:
Pickles
Ice Cream (trite, I know but they're soooooo good!)
Tomatoes
Salsa (Pace or restaraunt)
Guacamole (briefly)
Ramen Noodles (thank goodness they make a low-sodium version of this stuff! mmmmmmm...)
Pasta
Macaroni and Cheese
Potatoes (Baked, mashed or fried)

Dinner tonight? Lord only knows. And it's getting late! argh.

I still can't get over that we actually heard the heartbeat Thursday. That. Totally. Rocked. Oh, and did I mention that little Snowflake nearly quadrupled her/his size? WOOT!

Friday, June 19, 2009

I'm Back! :)

I know it's been a long while since I posted- almost a month. Yikes! But... I do have a little list of excuses.. C'mon! You know you wanna hear 'em!

So, without much further ado, I give you:
Top 10 Excuses For Not Blogging Enough Lately

10. Fatigue
9. Laziness
8. The dog ate my computer
7. The cat scratched up my back-up hard drive after #8
6. The neighbor's dog shattered my window and I had to move quickly to keep heat from entering our house
5. Sore Boobs
4. Vomiting
3. Doctor's appointment
2. Stress

And the #1 Excuse for not blogging enough lately is...



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TWO PINK LINES!!!

During the wee, wee (get it?) hours of the morning of May 21, AF was still MIA. Unusual. A little backstory here: My chart showed a possible O-related thermal shift a little later than the date that was actually flagged as O, so I allowed for that to possibly be O and waited it out a few extra days. Still no AF. So there I sat, test saturated with my two-hour-old "FMU," watching the dye move across. A skinny line immediately appeared in the "test" area, before the dye even made it over to the "control" area. "Nah," I thought to myself, "that's just the test developing.. it'll be gone here in a minute."

I set the test down on the counter and finished up. I looked at the test again (so much for waiting a minute) and there they both were- both lines sitting brightly in all their glory. Holy Sh*t! Shocked, I cradled my forehead in my hand, took a breath and stood up. I looked over at the test again. Even brighter. Wow. Still stunned, I washed my hands, grabbed the test and headed back to bed. Except, I couldn't get to sleep. Imagine that.

Keith was slightly awake and stirred when I got back into bed and set the test on the nightstand. "How you doing," Keith's sweet voice rang out. "Not too bad," I replied. "I'm pregnant."
"Are you serious?"
"Yup," I replied, taking the test to show him while using my phone as a flashlight.
"Oh wow. I can see that one from here!"

Needless to say the excited pair did not sleep for the next two hours. A doctor's appointment was scheduled the next day for the next week. At my first sono I would measure 5-6 w, with only a gestational sac showing. HCG was 19k. A week later a baby showed, measuring 6w1d- 5mm CRL, HB of 150!

Two weeks later (yesterday) the little bean we have nicknamed Snowflake now measures about 8w3d with a HB of about 167, CRL was 19mm. S/he nearly quadrupled his/her size in two weeks!! The doc said everything looked good on the u/s. M/S was kicking my butt and I had tried pretty much all the natural treatments so it was on to the phenergan, which I was convinced helped me hold down my lunch yesterday. Haven't needed it since then, so we'll see.

Because of our previous experiences, I had been sooo afraid to make an announcement on here about this, out of fear that Snowflake would fly off to Heaven as did the others. We're not out of the woods yet of course, but we're getting there and things are still looking good. I am now past the point of both previous losses. *crosses fingers on both hands* Needless to say we're praying it stays that way and Snowflake continues to grow and thrive until we meet him/her in January. Who knows, I just may have a Super Bowl baby!
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