Thursday, September 1, 2011

Crazy Girls and Sweet Life

I can't believe that my little big girl is a month old already! On the 26th we took her to her 1-month ped appt. She was already up to 11#6oz (up from 9#7oz two and a half weeks prior)! The chunky monkey was 22 inches long (up from 20.5). At this rate, this child will outgrow her bassinet in the next month/month and a half, and her carseat at 6-7 mos old! eek! But I'm not complaining... I'm grateful to have a healthy little porker on my hands!!



And it's September already?! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday in some ways and years ago in other ways that I was at my new job a month already, a year ago today. I guess because I have had so much going on it makes time even more hard to discern. Started a job 8/2/10, 3.5 mos later found out I was prego again, got Jessy baptized, celebrated Jessy's first Christmas, first birthday, found out we were having another girl... it just goes on and on!

Now I must get attempt to get Natalie into at least somewhat of a routine before I return to work, probably sometime middle of/later this month. This little lady likes to eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and pee, and eat, and eat, and eat, and poop, and eat, and sleep... Oh, and did I mention- she likes to eat? Some days it seems continuous. Which is okay, except... a babysitter won't be able to juggle the other kids with her this way! So the routine thing isn't going too bad, except Miss Natalie seems to be in a growth spurt, so she's eating and fussing a bit more than usual, and at 5 weeks, that's to be expected. I have began to give her mostly bottles during the day to help her transition, which has had an unexpected side effect- the two days I have done this so far she has STTN. Yup, STTN at a month old! I'll take it! I just hope it doesn't completely kill my supply (I have been pumping whenever I get the chance to- usually when the girls are napping, during the day). Hmmm I may exclusively nurse her over the weekend to hopefully save my supply ;) and perhaps give me an idea of what I am in for if I indeed pump while working. (besides the $$ savings)

Which brings us to another topic- who to send her to. We may have a slot at Jessy's old daycare. Jessy enjoyed it there, we get along with the lady, and Jessy seemed well taken-care of (she had a helper; there were alot of kids there). I also have a friend who is willing to take on my girls for what will amount to about $100 less per month and she has less kiddos. She's closer to our house and the one Jessy has been going to is closer to my work (keep in mind I live about 9 miles from work, so that's not a huge factor...). hmmm...

And now work! FMLA was no help to me, so my position isn't guaranteed. However, my boss stated that when I was ready to go back, to simply send in my resume to her recruiter to begin the process again. I really hope I can go back to where I was. Since I have to go back (didn't hit the lottery this time, either, lol), I may as well go somewhere where I enjoy the people and the company. The work can be a tad stressful (customer service) at times, but hey, it pays the bills and my co-workers rock (boss rocked too!). Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Next week I have my 6-week checkup with my OB. already. eek. I anticipate that I will be cleared for normal activities (YAY! Finally be able to "legally" lift Natalie and Jessy- technically shouldn't be lifting more than 10# per dr's orders) then and will be able to let the weight-loss games begin.I have at least 30# to lose- lots of work ahead but with the weather cooling off here hopefully soon (this monster heat wave we have been in has to break... right? RIGHT????) DH and I will be able to resume our walks. Hello, double stroller! No pic yet, but when we get it I will definitely post one!

Methinks Jessy will wake up here very shortly... better get ready. ;)

Monday, August 8, 2011

Natalie Grace, The Birth Story


We woke up at 4:30 am since we had to drop Jessy off at SIL’s house for the day, and had planned to be at the hospital between 6:30-7am, per the instructions we had received at the doc’s office a couple of weeks prior. Of course, being the non-morning people we are, we didn’t get out of the house til about 5:30 (we were supposed to be out of the house by 5). We stopped at McDonald’s on the way out and I got myself a sausage biscuit with egg (didn’t want cheese hanging on my stomach). I nibbled it down- hey my 5am 530am appetite just doesn’t exist. LOL

Jessy was surprisingly calm when we dropped her (and her car seat, bag and play yard) off at SIL’s. We kissed J goodbye and headed back (yes, we backtracked, lol) to Plano to get our little show on the road. As the sun came up we noticed something very unusual for this time of year- it was overcast. We quickly speculated whether it meant rain or not- overcast conditions are very rare in July in N TX.

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:45 and got signed in- slightly detoured due to construction at the hospital, but no biggie. I quickly texted Kirsten (our awesome doula!) and my mom at 6:53 to let them know we were there and getting settled and our room number. 



By 7:18 I was on the monitor and Miss Natalie was, as always, living up to her nickname and dancing around for us. My blood draws and IV’s were started, followed by my first round of abx (GBS+). Dr. D came in to check and I was *still* 2cm, 70%, -1 and a posterior cervix (same as the week before). Pit was started at 2 units at around 8:20 am.

I laid low in the beginning since I had slept horribly the night before, just sat in the bed in a semi-tailor sit (the best I could do considering that there was a (almost literally!) bowling ball in my lap. :p However, the Firecracker danced around so much that we were having a hard time tracking her on the monitor, so I had to lay down on my left side for a while, which unfortunately ended N’s acrobatics show for the time being. At this point my ctx were not very painful; they felt slightly stronger than BH’s. No biggie. The nurse increased my pit to 4. In the spirit of conserving my energy, I decided to try to nap a bit. I think I may have dozed off a bit for a while. My pit was increased to 6 and Keith decided to go for a walk. By the time dad came back from his walk, my pit had been upped to 10 and I was finally back to sitting up- yay!

I decided to take a virtual walk and hop online for a few minutes for a different kind of distraction. I poked a couple of friends on FB (lol) and was going to update my status but never had the chance… N was back to her acrobatics again and dodging the monitor so the nurse came back in and instructed us, once again, to lie on my left side for 20 minutes so she could get a good reading of Firecracker’s heartbeat. My ctx were about 2-3 mins apart and still not too painful.

About 13 minutes later, I felt a minor gush of something and speculated aloud about what it might be. Having had the exact same sensation at one time while in labor with J and it turning out to just be my mucus plug, I initially refused to get excited. Instead, I just reported that there was stuff coming out. However, this “stuff” continued to come out! Maybe it is actually my water??? Kirsten ran to get the nurse, who confirmed that my water had indeed broken, about an hour and 23 minutes after the pit was started. The water was once again stained with meconium (as it was with Jessy, I think we have a family tradition going here! lol), earning us some extra people in the delivery room when the special time came.

I was soon allowed to sit back up and resume my regular coping strategy. SIL was on the phone and I got to talk to Jessy for a few minutes, just before grandma arrived. The first couple of contractions were easy, but needless to say they became more intense after a while; at about 11:20 they required more of my attention to stay on top of them. I sat on the exercise ball for a bit while Kirsten applied some counter pressure on my back, which helped tons! We moved back to the bed after that and I knelt over the ball, which felt pretty darn good until my legs decided they didn’t like supporting me and my ginormous belly, so I shifted backwards into a throne position so I could prolong the comfort.

Once I switched back to sitting up, I ordered up a grape ice pop and ate on it between contractions. SO refreshing! Totally hit the spot. (lol) Right after I devoured my last bite of popsicle I was checked again and was 5-6 cm and we all cheered! The ctx intensified and I began shaking through them. I had gone into the hospital with a mindset that I would hold off as long as I could before asking for the big E, avoiding it if I could. Since I was at the point where I was literally shaking through the ctx I caved and asked for the epidural. It seemed to take forever and a day to get the epi in but once it was in I was a happy camper once again. They checked me and I was at 8cm at the time the epi was given- WOOT! Since I was once again comfy I decided to rest and try to nap again. I may have dozed off (can’t remember! Lol) after the new nurse arrived and Keith went for a walk at about 3:01.

At 3:37 I was checked again and found to be complete and at +2 station! I asked for my phone and called Keith and told him he “had better get back up here!” Minutes later, he returned. By 4:05 things began to heat up again- our nurse began setting things up and calling in the NICU team and Dr. D. I labored down for a little bit more and just before pushing time the nurse felt my belly to determine what position Natalie was in. Her back was arched “like a cat” and she was facing my right side. At this point I resigned myself to another long pushing session. (J was OP and I pushed for nearly 2 hours with her!) I did a quick practice push and was instructed to hang out- only needed one! Once Dr. D arrived I pushed twice more- and out slid Natalie! Little firecracker had one more trick up her sleeve- she must have turned at the last second! She did have her had up by her face- waving at everybody as she came on out!

Once the placenta came out we noticed that the membranes were quite stained from the meconium, indicating it had been there a while. Good thing we got this kid out when we did!

Little Natalie Grace arrived after just two pushes- 9# 9oz, 20.5” long at 4:24pm on 7/26. <3 I ended up with two small tears- first degree (as opposed to my second-degree with Jessy!). At around 5pm I was finally able to nurse Miss Natalie, after the NICU team finished with her. J Poor kid had been screaming to eat pretty much since she came out and was finally happy.




Saturday, August 6, 2011

Natalie is here!!!

Natalie Grace arrived at 4:24 pm on 7/26, 9#9oz after 2 pushes! Full story to come very soon. Until then, enjoy some squishy pics!!





Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Ticktockticktock

Still pregnant! And I'm not surprised. Jessy went to 41w 2d before we kicked her out, so why wouldn't her sister want to try to one-up her?

As much as it stinks to have unpaid maternity leave and to be staring induction down the barrel again (well, ok- it's not til Tuesday and anything can happen, but still...), what doesn't stink and is totally priceless? Having quality, one-on-one time with Jessy. I feel like this is an opportunity to make up for the time with her that I was robbed of when Jessy was a tiny baby. (I was forced back to work with she was 6 weeks old- barely enough time to physically recover from the birth! Never mind QT with the baby...)

As each day passes by, I treasure it more and more as it is one day closer to her no longer being our only little girl. She will always be our princess, our snow princess, our snowflake... well, you get the idea. But once our little firecracker arrives, our dynamic will be forever changed. We will have to make an effort and arrange to have any one-on-one time with each kid.

Sure I have my anxiety about having to split my time between two little princesses AND a full-time job (let's face it, I'll have to go back to working unless we hit the lottery. We haven't been playing, sooooo...), but I know it will work itself out. God never gives us more than we can handle.

Yesterday I had my 41-week checkup (will be 41w on Thursday- tomorrow. EEK!) and all is well. Gained 2 pounds (#@$%& Klondike bars!!), BP good, pee in a cup, NST! Yeah, since we're at that point now, we did an NST to make sure Natalie is safe and sound in there. In her usual stubborn fashion, she kept us on our toes. She slept through the first half of it, so I got to drink some OJ to hopefully rouse her. OK, I chugged the stuff- I did NOT want to go to L&D unless I was in labor! ;) About 5 minutes later, the partying began as our firecracker danced around, and continued to do so for the rest of the morning. She went on top throw another party this morning, and not invite me. But I'm not complaining- at least I know she's ok!

The countdown is on!

The big sister, just 9 days old herself. Here we go again! <3

Friday, July 15, 2011

Crazy Summer!

Wow, have I been slacking!

Unfortunately, just busier than I should be... First, J got sick, then she passed it on to both K and I. Thanks, kid! She sure has a funny way of showing her parents she loves them, doesn't she? ;)

When I caught it, I ended up with a mild ear infection. Go me. Fortunately I was able to get away without antibiotics- it took a little longer but I am not going to complain. Especially since I could have this baby at any time- and I am going to have to be treated with abx in labor b/c of my GBS status this time around! (lucky me!- you know you wanna be me!)

Speaking of babies, as I stated it could be any day now. N was due yesterday and I am still pregnant, even after much speculation from my co-workers that I wouldn't make it. Imagine their surprise when I told them I got the same thing when I was preggo with Jessy and still went past- and it looks like her sister is going to be the same way. Of course, I'm not going to label this little girl stubborn yet- there is a full moon tonight and one of the ladies in my July baby group said that most full-moon babies are born the night before, of and after the full moon. So if I make it through tomorrow night, then I will officially call this kid stubborn and raise her rent. If all else fails, eviction is set... for 7/26. I'd have set it for this coming Thursday but the doc will be on vacation until 7/26, so....

My last day of work was a week ago in anticipation of this kid coming at any time. I didn't want to go into labor or have my water break at work- EEK! Even though it was just down the street from the hospital (literally!)- it would have been too traumatic. The last day was way more emotional for me than I thought it would be. I worked a half-day and cried my eyes out as I said goodbye to my co-workers. I hate hormones! Unfortunately, FMLA, as it didn't last time, has no teeth for me, so I am not guaranteed a position. However, my boss has told me once I am ready to come back to e-mail in and hopefully there will be something- I really want to go back to this company! They have treated me very well- even threw me a baby shower for this little girl. Yup, this is the same company that threw the office a Christmas party at an off-the-chain Italian restaurant and paid for all of us. It is a smaller company, so FMLA may not have applied anyway, but I'm not complaining. It's a good company that hopefully I will be able to return to in a couple of months here. Fingers crossed they have space for me! (I swear I will cry if they can't- the schedule that K and I have worked out over the last 11.5 months has worked out very well, between my schedule and his. I can't go back to working the same hours as he does b/c that will put J in daycare for too many hours per day again, and not to mention we would have to find another daycare to put her in as well.)

Just keeping my fingers crossed that all works out- my motto is that God never gives you more than you can handle- and if he leads you to it he will lead you through it!

My big, "fat," preggo belly at 40 weeks! C'mon N!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Skipping!

This AWOL blogger has been totally exhausted lately. Lugging around a July firecracker, a crazed, hyped-up toddler AND dodging the heat- well- they're full-time jobs in themselves. Add my paid FT job and well, you get the idea. ;)

The weather around here has been absolutely nuts, as in Mother-Nature-needs-to-be-committed-crazy. About a month ago we were immersed in sprummer- officially it was spring but the weather dictated otherwise. Then, we switched to sprinter- again, officially spring but the weather that time dictated winter-like temps.

Now, officially the Solstice hasn't officially landed upon us yet, but once again, tell the thermostat that. It is effing hot around here! Sadly, my office is effing cold sometimes, so yes, I actually go beyond crazy myself and ENJOY going outside. Usually for less than five minutes, these outside visits are short because I start to melt beyond that five minutes. I braved it a bit today and took a brief walk outside because, let's face it, pacing the second floor in my building just gets old. Not to mention I just drag myself around there these days.

As much as I hate the extreme cold, I just want to skip the rest of this summer already and head straight into winter (we don't usually have good falls around here- just straight from summer to winter)!

This is starting to look good attractive sweet again already...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

32 weeks!

32 weeks?? Uh, I'm not going to explode any time soon right?
 
I'm speechless. I can't believe I'm already 32 weeks along with this one! With Jessy it felt like forever- like I was preggy for 20 months instead of just 10! I had my 32-week checkup as well today and all is well. BP is great (woot!), weight- not for public consumption- surprised I didn't break the scale. ;) It was a decently boring appointment- had what will hopefully be the last of my bloodwork (read: last poke til the birth), measuring and chatting with the doc. Goofy here forgot to ask for the fundal height (last time I was 2w ahead, as I was around this time with Jessy) but the heart rate was a good 168 (Thanks, OJ!)- the kid was bopping around in there like crazy! Even the doc had a bit of a hard time homing in on her with the doppler.

I'm not sure I've mentioned it here, but we have picked a name out, Natalie Grace. So far, Natalie is on track to be expected around 7/14/11!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sappy Sunday

It has been an eventful week. Tornadoes have ripped through much of Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi and killed more than 350 people. They have also been confirmed as having touched down her in Texas but fortunately did not kill anyone. Houses have literally been ripped off their foundations. My phone died, my job messed up a paycheck.

It's times like these that we are reminded of how truly blessed we are. Not to say that those people weren't blessed, but it puts things into perspective. Have bills that need to be paid off and that's why you work instead of staying home with the kid(s)? Have aches and pains that just won't go away? How about a job that doesn't pay reliably? Or being stuck in a monotonous job with nowhere else to go b/c the job market sucks?

Keith recently got into a job where there's more bonus potential. My job? Well, it's a job, but my boss and co-workers rock.

At least we have a safe home to go to. We are alive and healthy. We have jobs. We have a beautiful, healthy daughter with another on the way (who we hope will keep baking until at least June 23rd. ;)). Jessy walks, eats, talks climbs and is even in the process of learning to run! She's (*knock wood*) only been sick enough to keep her home literally a couple of times- pretty good for a kid in daycare from what I understand.

I have some creative juices that I just want to figure out how to apply, so maybe I can get out of the ratrace nice and soon. I will also be in the driver's seat as far as going back to work when this baby comes. That, however, is a whole other post.

Off to go enjoy my husband and daughters.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Out of The Cave!

...and the sun shines bright! Yes, I have stepped out of the cave and made my very first purchase on Amazon. Just recently. I guess I have been in the very very dark ages, as I have heard that there are decent bargains on the site, but never actually bought anything. Until recently. However, I didn't buy anything too terribly exciting, just a phone battery.

A little backstory: My phone decided to go *pop* last July without any reason or notice. Guess it was just too stressed out, as was I at the time, but that's beside the point. At first, super glue did fix the thing. However, its efficacy wore off way too quickly, about a couple of months later. Needless to say I just started winging it, replacing the little piece of plastic whenever it cracked out of line. It worked. Until Wednesday evening, that is. Earlier in the day it started acting a little weird; not closing correctly a couple of times, but I had been able to pop the plastic back into line when it popped out.

I placed a call to the DH and after that it was all over. It didn't close correctly again, in fact, the little silver ribbon connecting the display to the rest of the phone tore! The display quit working altogether, and I eventually learned, with the help of DH's phone, that mine had quit working, period. I attempted to call myself using his phone, but all that happened was the keypad would light up for half a second then nothing. Even if the ringer had been inadvertently silenced, the keypad should have stayed lit. fml. Here I was, without a phone and very importantly, without an alarm clock. (It's not very often these days that I wake up without the thing.) fml. What was I going to do? A search of the house for a spare clock came up fruitless. fml.Was it time to run to the store to grab the cheapest one on the shelf and use that?

A brainstorming sesh over dinner revealed a little-before remembered fact: I had another phone lying around. Found it. Charger? Check. Used DH's phone again to call customer service and 7.5 minutes later I had a semi-new phone that worked. TG!

Fast-forward to the next day, when it was *supposedly* fully charged. Eight hours later, the message my phone had so proudly displayed proved to be a boldfaced lie. The thing died, when I was trying to call the DH. Go figure. A quick search of the phone manufacturer's web site proved fruitless; they wanted fifty-someodd dollars for an extended life battery and probably more for a new battery door that wouldn't have matched my phone anyway. Um, no thanks, dudes. A quick search of the internet pointed me to some havily discounted sites. I bought the exact battery I wanted and needed, for about 98% less than what those other guys wanted. With shipping, I paid a total of ten bucks and change for a new battery, with expedited shipping.

Hopefully, in a few days' time, I will have a phone battery that actually holds a charge reliably. Tonight, it seems OK; it is currently going for the record at 12+ hours strong (the past couple of days we've been lucky for it to hold a charge for 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours.), but we'll see what time tonight it wakes me up with its low-battery beep. Nah, it won't. Knowing my luck, it'll wait until we're in the car or already at grammy's house to decide it's tired and wants its recharge.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Happy Sprummer, Folks!

Since I live in Texas, I practically live by the saying, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." And some of us know that it is all too true. In fact, lately, we have experienced spring, summer and winter, all within the same three-month period.

In fact, I'm not even sure that Texas has any real seasons at all, if ever. We may experience fall here and there, winter here and there, even spring here and there. However, they last only about a week or so, tops. But summer, all five million hot and balmy days of it in fact, arrives early and stays late.

The flowers are blooming beautifully as if it's spring. Our rose bushes (yes, even the new ones!) have tons of radiant pink roses on them. The bulbs that I planted three years ago bloom brightly once again. Our pear trees have already bloomed and shed their beautiful flowers, leaving their signature fat, light leaves in their wake.

Pink highlights, anyone?

The calendar dictates to us that it is currently spring. However, the hot and balmy weather we've had lately states that it is summer. The temp has hit 90 degrees already several times. We've also experienced several scary spring storms, with hail, high winds and the whole nine yards- yes, even confirmed tornadoes. So it's definitely not spring, temp-wise, but it's not summer, calendar-wise. It's officially sprummer, folks!

BTW, did I mention that the pic was taken in late February? Yes, the same month in which we had tons of snow, just three and a half weeks earlier.

Friday, April 15, 2011

I swore I wouldn't.

10 years ago I would have said "no thanks" (while thinking "hell no!"). "Ew" was my favorite word for it. I would have used the words "cumbersome" and "gaudy" to describe it, perhaps. My stuff would have gotten lost in it.

What is it? The oversized purse. I have usually carried midsize or smallish purses, up until now. My small-midsize bag that I have been using has worked OK, but not anymore.



Diapers, a sippy cup and a few toys, plus my wallet, cell phone and misc junk which I MUST carry with me at all times just weren't getting along in the same bag anymore, let alone fitting. And I refuse to carry a purse AND a diaper bag around multiple places with Jessy. No way, no how. Uh-uh. Nein. Nunca.

I strolled through the aisles at Wal-Mart and a few candidates caught my eyes, but I just wasn't sure. Target had some cute ones, but I just couldn't see plunking down $2900 (read: $29 Hey, I'm on a tighter-than-shoestring budget here!) for a purse which would double as my compulsive-hoarding enabler AND a diaper bag, which will surely endure countless episodes of being tossed around, chewed on, dragged around, having milk and cheerios spilled into it, ah heck, the list goes on and on. Needless to say, once I saw that price tag on the cutie, I kept walking.

Flash forward two days and I am at work. My co-worker walks up to me and asks me which one I want, while holding up two of these purses. One was the perfect size. Exactly what I was looking for, for far less than I was expecting to spend. Hell yeah. It needs a little super glue to fix a small glitch, but once that's done, it will be perfect. Not too big, not too small, juuuuuuust riiiiiight. Off to go bleach my hair blonde and change my name to Goldilocks.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sweet Sensations

Those who know me know that I like chocolate. No, scratch that- I don't like it. I love it. In fact, if there wasn't such a stigma tied to sugar, carbs and calories (ahh, the good stuff), I would devour one small solid milk-chocolate bunny every single day if they were made year-round.

I'm sure we all know about the various research studies pointing to the many health benefits of chocolate, mainly with the heart. Not only that, but who doesn't feel soooo good after having some? Many like the dark variety, without the sugar and milk sweetening it up. In fact, that one is supposedly healthier. However, I just like mine with th emilk and sugar. The dark kind is a little too bitter for my taste.

In fact, I wonder if that is why the babyjess is such a happy girl... The only time I see her unhappy is when she is sick, tired or hungry... or tired of sitting wherever she is at.
Her second smile, at approx. 1 month and 5 days old.

And yes, this mama ate quite a bit of chocolate while preggo with her.

Now off to eat some chocolate for Jessy's little sister (still yet nameless...). ;)

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Losing my mind!

It's official. I have lost my picture card reader for my camera. fml. About six months ago my camera's plug-in port stopped detecting when the thing was plugged into the computer. What a pain. I made a trip to Radio Shack and found a basic one for about $15 and it worked beautifully. That is, up until a couple of weeks ago, wehn it disappeared.

Keith and I were doing some cleaning and both remember temporarily placing it on the kitchen table, so that Jessy couldn't munch on it as she liked to do. And then it happened- we never saw it again. We looked in the couch cushions, the first most likely place, and it wasn't there. We have checked literally everywhere, well, almost... we haven't made the trip to the trash dump- perhaps we accidentally threw it away.

Oy, vey... I have a confession to make. Since I have gone back to work, I have indeed shed a few brain cells. Among them, the one that allows me to keep up with stuff. :p

In the meantime, here are a couple of pics of Jessy being sassy, from a few weeks ago.



Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Pregnancy Random Thought #498,352

I've heard the old wives' tale about how heartburn in pregnancy= lots of hair for baby. The more heartburn that mommy has while pg, the more hair the baby will have. Supposedly, estrogen is to blame, as it encourages hair growth??

All is fine with that, except for one minor, little issue... I've, well, had much more heartburn in this pregnancy than I did with that of Jessy.

For reference, this is Jessy on her first day out of the oven. Y'all see all that hair?? Um, yeah... how could a newborn baby have any more?? According to the ol' WT, I may birth a little Sasquatch in July... hmmm...

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Murphy, will you please...

...go find someone else to bug?

I swear, since I have resolved to do two things before Firecracker's arrival, I have met probably every obstacle to getting them done. Why? Because, as everything else on this planet does, they cost money. I have decided that I want to start some sort of home-based business ;) and get new glasses/contacts.

Jessy has begun to attempt to pull my nearly-two-year-old glasses off my face several times, damn-near succeeding on several fronts already. They may just break in half, as did my last pair at the two-year mark. I swear the things have timers on them or something! Secondly, I need. my. contacts. back. These glasses, although I have worn them nearly two years straight, are starting to drive me batshit. Need I say more? Since I have been pregnant, my nose has become more like that dreaded, invisible oil slick we don't see on the road when it's lightly raining after a loooong drought. Translation? The things slide down like it's going out of style in the next five minutes, resulting in them being constantly dirty. As in, I just wiped off the lenses not five minutes ago and they're... muy sucio again. Yeah, no thanks.

And now, the other point: starting a business. Any way I go about this, it's gonna cost dough. Whether I go Mary Kay or I go craftiness, there is an upfront investment. The latter may have a lesser investment, but probably a little less profit as it would take time to fill one order. The former, however, may require parties, as my current housing situation severely limits my ability to entertain. (We Three Musketeers live on our own in a single-family home, but it's a bit tight. We need more s-q-f-t's!)

So what's the big deal? The fact that I have again had to miss work, this time twice in a week. As if Jessy's flu two weeks ago wasn't enough, the snowball caught a stomach bug, so I stayed home with her for a day. She was better by the next day so I went back to work, but that evening (same day Jessy was better) I started puking. Ick. Fortunately daddy made some arrangements so that I could stay home and rest and he took her to the sitter. Not a horrible deal, however I don't get paid for any time off at all, let alone sick time. The irony? I have been plotting taking a day off with Keith to tackle the house, maybe a Friday to send the babyjess to the sitter's house and we can hit it hard.

With this little cutey-monster leanring new tricks, cleaning house is hard work! But we don't mind. ;)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Firecracker, Firecracker...

Boom, boom, grow! I can't believe I am 23.5w along already in this pregnancy. Where does the time go?!

We found out the gender (about a month ago- somebody slap me for not talking sooner!) and JessyNicole will have a little sister this summer.





My belly button has popped somewhat. If I'm sitting down it's all the way out, but if I am standing, it mysteriously takes on the shape of Dallas City Hall. I think this child is sitting higher than her big sister, as I didn't have this effect when I was pg with Jessy.

Trying to pick a name has definitely been harder this time around. If I remember correctly, the name Jessica hit me across the face about two weeks after finding out Jessy was a she. However, this one, is entirely different. I sit, stumped still, a month later and counting. The name Julia has been at the forefront of our minds, but there's part of me that worries that people will think I named her Julia b/c she was due/born in July. :/ I am rather sensitive to what I name my kids, as I know it can and does influence a person's life.

Other names we have considered/are considering are Joanna, Natalie, Jana, Keira, Kara, Jillian, Jill, Kaitlyn, Brianna, Gianna, and Victoria.My only concern of another K name is that Jessy may feel left out if we don't have anymore kids after this one (for those who don't know, DH's name is Keith). Hmmmm...

If anyone has any input on names, please feel free to spill it! ;)

That all being said, whatever I name this kid, I do plan on painting letters of her name, just as I did with Jessy.

Stay tuned! 

Friday, February 25, 2011

Snowy Daze

Jessy celebrated her first birthday on 2/5. Um, where did the time go?? Anyway, we had planned/envisioned having her first birthday party ON her birthday. How sweet would that have been? Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans:

Instead, she dumped tons of snow on us, instigating Snomageddon 2011.
Dude, where's my driveway?

While most of this cold, wet stuff melted off by the big day, we still voted to move the party up by one week, simply because of the sheer volume of the frozen stuff that hung around. We usually don't get this much in NTX, so this was a huge deal. HUGE, as in Dallas and Fort Worth (and needless to say, surrounding areas') schools closed. Those two cities never close their schools, unless Mother Nature is having major PMS. End of story.

We finally had the babyjess's party a week later, when there was nary a sign of any of Mama Nature's antics from the week before. It was a bright, warm and sunny day. Typical for Texas weather, if you don't like it, just wait a few minutes. It'll change.

Without further ado, The celebrity babyjess!

Is that a toof?

...but...but...but daddy!

Is this what I am supposed to do? Mommy, you're laughing awfully hard...

The unsuspecting cakes before

3 generations, engrossed in Jessy's toy drum.



Saturday, February 19, 2011

Mama in Hiding??

Nope, just very busy. After Jessy celebrated her first Christmas it was time to start working on her... yup... first birthday party! That, however didn't come without good ol' trial and tribulation.

That's the trouble with a hiatus- so much can happen and then you end up with so much to talk about that you don't know where to start.

Since there was nothing special about New Year's, as usual in our house, I'll skip to mid-January, when things got- just a little crazy. As you may recall, my pregnancy with Jessy was quit uneventful. Once I hit 13 or so weeks, the m/s disappeared and it was smooth sailing for the rest of the pregnancy. However, this one has been different. My m/s was a little more intense with this one, necessitating a new friendship between myself and Zofran. It was several weeks before I was finally able to go off of it, but it helped me to function.

The m/s was naturally still with me a bit at 13-14 weeks, hitting me upside the face here and there. On top of it, however, was another issue which made itself very well-known on my break at my job. I had a massive bleed at 13w 2d, no pain, that sent me to the ER, since as my luck would have it my doc was out of the office until 1- and head just left. Go figure. By pure luck my husband happened to be at home- he had come down with a stomach bug and ended up coming home from work a few hours after getting there. I called my husband from the bathroom stall and warned him of what had happened. He was on his way to get me promptly.

About 15 minutes later DH was there to take me to the ER. Thankfully, my place of employment is only a couple of miles from the hospital and wihle it felt like an eternity, we got there minutes later. I was brought back the minute I walked in and told them what was going on. At that point it was hard to not experience deja vu, as the waiting room was laid out the exact time I was there the first time- for the loss of my first pregnancy.  Needless to say, in addition to the fear instilled in me from what I had seen about 25 or so minutes earlier, I had some sad memories going through me. Pregnancy Hormones +Bad Memories +Bad PAL Brain =Total Basket Case.

Another eternity later I was wheeled back to the u/s room to find out the fate of our little firecracker. When I first saw that bleed about a hundred-thousand things crossed my mind at once, including SCH and m/c. The tech placed the wand on my tummy and it revealed a beautiful, healthy and happy kiddo who was throwing her own party (more on that later ;)). The bleed was indeed caused by a SCH, or subchorionic hemorrhage/hematoma. The prescription? Bed rest and no Jessy-lifting. The bleeding tapered off rather quickly (but spotting hung around) and my regular doctor put me at ease.

I stopped bleeding for about a week then the spotting started up again; coincidentally after a growth spurt (I could literally feel the stretching). We went in to the doc again to be safe, and while we confirmed the SCH was still there, we got some beautiful pics of the firecracker. I was convinced the kid was a boy and asked to know the gender, but the firecracker was a little stinker and kept crossing his legs.

Behold, Firecracker at 15w 4d!!


Related Posts with Thumbnails
ss_blog_claim=7bdcf7d9922247ff48543614eed23e54