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

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!

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...

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!

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.