Category: Me

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Me Planning

Eight Point Two Eight Six Weeks Left

>Well, according to my LMP due date, that’s how much longer I have left until my due date of April 13th. (eight weeks 2 days for the mathematically uninclined) Either way, the end is near, and I find this to be a comforting thing, but also a bittersweet thing, since this is for sure our last baby and therefore, my last pregnancy. It’s been a while since I actually blogged about Oscar or anything in regards to the preparation of his impending arrival, so here goes! Oh and before I start, my last appointment was last Thursday on the 10th, and my weight was at 129.6 which puts my total weight gain so far for this pregnancy at 16 pounds. It’s roughly the same amount of weight I had gained with Ruthie at this point. So seriously, he’s right on target with my due LMP due date if that actually counts for anything.

So, in case you were curious, we did decide to cloth diaper (I just realized halfway through writing this particular paragraph I’ve blogged about this already, but I’ll do it again anyway). I had a cloth diaper store picked out after we decided to have another baby, but before we tried for conception. The store is called Diaper Junction, and they are based out of my hometown of Virginia Beach, Va. I’m not gonna lie to you, this is probably the BIGGEST thing that attracted me to their store. I won’t take back what I said previously; I honestly don’t see myself moving back; however I do have a part of me that will always belong there. Must be beacuse of all that ocean water I accidentally swallowed while swimming; most likely it makes up 5% of my blood content. 😉 With that said, we bought a full stash (25 diapers with 50 inserts; each diaper came with two and one diaper was actually free) back in December; and I actually got the box of diapers on Christmas Eve.. so I consider it a present to myself.. teehee. I should mention though, that Jeff was NOT really on board with it, until I found out that Diaper Junction was carrying Kawaii brand diapers; I got them for $7.95 each. When I found out they were carrying this brand of diapers, and told him how much they cost, and sharing that I was told previously they are pretty comparable to BumGenius -my original brand choice- he finally said “FINE! Get them!” and then replied after that “I’m not really sure what I just said fine to though.” (I should mention this converstation was through chat and not actually face to face) So I ordered my diapers, after sharing the link to them and asking for his input on the colors we should purchase (he said “Everything but the light blue.”) So I ordered six blue, six light green, six yellow and six red. Here’s a picture of part of my diaper stash…

You’ll notice the red diapers missing. Well, I ended up washing the diapers about 3 weeks ago, and discovered when I was stuffing them and snapping them down, that not all of the diapers were snapping properly. So, I called Diaper Junction, and they let me know that they would fix the snaps for me for free, provided I ship the shells back to them at cost, and provided them with proof of purchase from their store; I just went ahead and sent them my original sales receipt. I’m expecting them back today, along with my second order of stuff, that also includes another free diaper; the brand is a mystery though. This will bring up my stash to 26 diapers.. I’m really excited! So, now I bet you are curious as to what I’ve actually spent on everything, right? Well here’s the breakdown.
My original estimation of total cost including disposable newborn diapers and target brand disposable wipes was $719.96.. yes this does include tax. However, this was factoring in buying BumGenius diapers. However, this estimation is now old, and is actually very off. Here’s how it’ll break down now. Of course, I’ll share the previous breakdown.

24 Kawaii Diapers: $190.80 (same ammount of BumGenius would have cost me $406.80)
4 Bags of Rockin’ Green Soap; Hard Rock formula* and scoop: $55.03 (I had originally calculated $53.90 from the manufacturer; however I wasn’t considering the cost of shipping which would have actually put my total to $69.44. Of course, I could have ordered it from Diaper Junction as well, and that would have cost me $67.55)
2 pail liners: $31.45 (my original estimation called for me to get two of the same brand and would have cost me $29.90; however I was trying to pad my order to get a free diaper, so I ended up with two different brands)
2 wet bags: $19.00 (original estimation was $23. I ended up getting some cheaper wet bags than I initially planned to purchase)
*Rockin Green comes in three different formulas; classic rock for normal water that’s not hard or soft, soft rock for soft water, and hard rock for hard water. We have VERY hard water here in Utah, so I have to buy the hard rock formula. If you’re thinking of cloth diapering and using this soap but are not sure what your water falls under, feel free to call your water company to find out. They have a map on their site, but unless you clearly can see where you fall under, then call the water company, that way you buy the right soap the first time around.

So my total cost so far? Only $296.28! Had I gone with my original purchases, and assuming I bought everything from Diaper Junction, it would have cost me $527.25! I should mention that my estimation did not cover the cost of a diaper pail.. AKA a standard trash can, which don’t run for more than $12 at the most. With that said, my estimation of newborn diapers and wipes remain the same, which brings up my total estimated cost to $566.60; assuming my estimation for newborn diapers are correct as well as the wipes. This doesn’t include the cost of a pail though, since I don’t know how much it’s actually going to cost yet. I plan on actually keeping track of how many diapers I change, and how long it would take for me to break even. If I wasn’t cloth diapering, I would most likely be buying Huggies. Sadly enough though, their diapers are shockingly thin.. like one diaper folded up is THINNER than one of my inserts.. this is crazy to say the least! And heck, when they are unfolded, they are THINNER than an overnight maxi pad.. and seriously there is something VERY wrong about this in my head.

With that said, clothing wise we are ready! Well mostly. I still need to buy socks, and two pairs of knit pants, and a bringing home outfit and then I’m completely covered for clothes; well for 0-3 month sizes anyway. My sister in law gave me some newborn stuff to borrow, and I was able to score a box of baby clothes that was completely stuffed full of clothes for less than $11… seriously I got a GREAT deal, and I’m baffled as to how she got all of those clothes in such a small box! We supplemented the stash with a few more things too of course.

Room wise, we have the most important thing already; the crib. However, we still need to get two fitted sheets -one to wash one to use-, a changing table, changing pad, changing pad cover -most likely two one to wash and one to use- and a sleepy sack to use instead of blankets. We used one with Ruthie and LOVED it. Oh, and I need a set of bumpers as well. I forsee a trip to IKEA in the near future!

Anyways, that’s pretty much it! I’m really excited about the upcoming arrival of Oscar! Expect a few more posts about birthing related things; including my birth stories with Zoe and Ruthie.

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Holiday Me Ruthie Zoe

The Holidays Are Now Over

>Which means the closing of another year.  Each year between Christmas and probably the first week after the New Year, I always sit back and reflect on the past year, and contemplate the upcoming one.  Unfortunately I have not blogged much this year for various reasons, but I’ll try to blog and highlight the ups -and some downs- of the past year.

First and foremost, due to Jeff receiving a full month paid vacation from working at eBay for 5 years, we were able to drive across country to visit my family in Virginia, Indiana and Illinois. Seeing my family was great, and I was able to spend time with friends and family who I have dearly missed.  And while visiting was wonderful and I was able to share some of my childhood experiences with the girls, it truly made me realize and appreciate living here in Utah. While I will always have fond memories of growing up in Virginia, I can’t go back to live there ever again.  I don’t belong there anymore. In a sense, I felt detached in a way from the whole experience. I’m not saying the trip was negative in anyway or we didn’t have fun or we regretted it, but it really gave me a sense of confirmation that I belong here in Utah. The trip also made me evaluate myself as a person and as a parent.  I admittedly crossed the line a few times when losing my temper, and I saw myself in a light that I never wanted to see myself in. I have resolved to be a better parent, and I have noticed some change and success with this. But it has been an emotionally trying year in that regards, but I can say that I have improved my demeanor, but I still have a long way to go. One of the brighter sides of our road trip is that Jeff and I had A LOT to talk about on the drive to VA and on the way home.. in a sense I think it brought us closer together as a couple.  And of course, because it’s sooo rare that a picture of the two of us is taken (I think more pictures of Bigfoot exist than pictures of the two of us together), I’m sharing a picture of us from his work Christmas party:

Aren’t we adorable?!

The other highlight was getting pregnant for the third time in July.. of course we didn’t confirm the pregnancy until August! The miracle and blessing of being able to get pregnant is still just as fresh and marvelous with Oscar as it was with Zoe and of course Ruthie too. This past year or so, I’ve had family and friends who have lost their pregnancies at various stages, and even one friend who lost her child just mere days after the baby was born. There’s no words to describe the sorrow and heartbreak of these situations.. while I’ve never experienced the losses they’ve gone through, that doesn’t mean my heart still didn’t break when hearing about each loss. Each one of the women are all fantastic mothers, and it’s really not fair they’ve had to deal with the losses they’ve dealt with. I admire each and every one of them for their resolve. I’m grateful for every kick, poke and yes even the muscle pulling and popping because I know what the alternative means.  This pregnancy has been a double blessing, because I have been able to finally get answers for all of the inexplicable aches and pains and weird falls and other episodes that I’ve experienced for most of my life with the diagnosis of my Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’ve got a friend who has it, and I contacted her and she gave me an emotional boost and some advice as well as the title of a book that she recommends reading; I’m going to have to buy it soon.

I’m also grateful for Jeff finally agreeing to cloth diaper Oscar; in fact we got the diapers in the mail on Christmas Eve!  As weird as it sounds for being grateful for extra loads of laundry, I really feel like this is the best thing that I can do for him as well as the environment. My only regret is not having the resolve and education to do it with Zoe and Ruthie; but at least I’ll be able to do it for him.  Jeff really is an amazingly supportive husband and friend; there’s not enough words or sentences for me to express how grateful I truly am for him being in my life. He has made me a better person, just by accepting me for who I am and of course instilling good habits in me.. although it did take me 6 years of us being together for me to stop biting my fingernails. *wink*  Here’s the box of diapers…

In addition to the blue and green diapers, I also have red and yellow. And one crazy lime green one.

This past year too the girls have grown and changed so much! Zoe’s now five, and it’s kind of scary/thrilling knowing she’s going to start school next year! We had her birthday party at the Sandy Living Aquarium, and she LOVED it, and in addition, I’m so grateful to all of our friends and family who took the time out of their schedules to come and make the party more exciting for us.  Ruthie has also grown in leaps and bounds, and her personality of sweet, spunky and a bit sassy is starting to show. While it is at times trying, I’m glad that she’s developing her own personality. The girls started sharing a room not too long after we got back home from our trip, and they both LOVE it! The girls will pick on each other and tease each other, but they really and truly do love each other.. and I’m so glad that they are able to share that experience with each other. Both girls are extremely smart! Ruthie’s learning how to count; and when I mean count I mean she’ll see a number of items, and she’ll stop saying numbers when she’s run out of things to count.. no recitation of numbers just for the sake here! Ruthie’s also recognizing most letters of the alphabet. She’s a bit later than Zoe on this -who knew the entire alphabet by sight 2 months after her second birthday- but it’s still great! I need to sit down with her and figure out exactly which letters she recognizes and which ones she doesn’t, but I’m pretty sure she recognizes most of the alphabet. And of course, Zoe’s learned how to recite the numbers from 1 all the way to 100! When we’re in the car for longish drives, and she’s still awake, she’ll start reciting the numbers.  She gets stuck on 40, 50, and 60 but with hints she’ll get through them just fine.  And another thing she’s taken up doing is ADDITION. She’ll sit in the car and stare at her fingers and then randomly say something like, “Does 2 and 5 make 7?” and then we’ll say yes and then ask her other ways to make the number that she asked about.  We’re trying to teach her how to read, but because I’m not sure how I learned, and Jeff’s not consistent with sitting down with her and trying to teach her how to read phonetically, it’s slow going.  But she does know how to read a handful of words, and she’s recently become very interested in asking how words are spelled… in fact last week when we were planning our grocery list, she got a pencil and a paper and made a list all on her own! She also can recognize both uppercase and lowercase letters. Zoe aside from not really being able to read has pretty much already exceeded the requirements of kindergarten in the sense of the goals they are supposed to reach by the end of the year; so it’ll be interesting at the very least when she’s tested for entrance into Kindergarten next August. Here’s the girls on Christmas by the way.. it’s the most recent picture of the two of them together:

They are fairies!


Next week will mark the one year anniversary of us having Casey. I can’t even begin to express how.. interesting it’s been with him in our lives.  It’s certainly enriched it for sure!  He’s a GREAT dog.. even when he gets stuck on the roof at my inlaws’ house or runs up the street and comes home with a rawhide bone he didn’t have before -for the record he only did that ONCE-. We don’t have a fenced in yard… but that doesn’t matter. We can let him out by himself and he won’t run off -well he’s done that twice in the last couple of weeks but he always came home after calling for him- and he ALWAYS stays in the yard when we’re outside. He’ll find himself a patch of ground and lay out and just watch and observe, and of course he’ll play if we got his stuffed duck or a few tennis balls outside.  He NEVER dug in the garden, and with the exception of digging a very small hole once this summer to bury a milkbone, he doesn’t dig up the yard or anything. I think the truest test of his character was back in November, when he somehow sustained a 5-7 inch gash on his back/side that went all the way down to his muscle. We’re unsure how it happened, but we think he was trying to get under the chain link at my inlaws’ house, and it went unnoticed because their female had tended to it by licking it and it had started to close up and scab over. We didn’t realize anything had happened until the next day (Monday) when Ruthie had leaped on him and reopened the wound.. and shockingly all he did was cry out in pain, look at her and walked off.  I didn’t think anything of it, until Zoe said “Mommy, Casey stinks.” and then about a minute later “Casey has something on his fur.”  Looking at it from about 12 feet away it looked like he had rolled in poop -something he’s never actually done, but there’s always a first time for everything- and it wasn’t until I saw the pink flesh of his muscle that I knew something was wrong. I told Jeff he had to come home IMMEDIATELY and I took a picture and sent it to him via picture messaging. One stressful trip to the vet and $400 later, he was put under for surgery, stitched up and given a good bill of health. What was alarming though was the rate of necrosis.. the vet said that it was consistent with a week old stab wound.. despite the fact that the injury happened within the previous 12-16 hours of him getting medical attention.  He is probably the best dog to have around kids, because the girls are constantly pulling and laying and just generally rough with them and he hasn’t ever really snapped or bit them.. and I think most people say that about their dogs, but when the dog has a big gash on them and a kid that weighs about 30 pounds comes flying and flopping on them, even the most mild mannered dog will retaliate by snapping at them or even biting them.  The vet was shocked when we told her what his reaction was.. or lack of one really.  Jeff and his dad inspected the chain link fence that he was trying to get under, and they found a VERY sharp piece of fence that we think he cut himself on. When the weather gets better, they will be going and clipping the fence to make sure it doesn’t happen again with Casey or any other dog.  I’d insert a picture.. but I’ll spare you from regurgitating your last meal/snack that you ate; it looked pretty bad.

And I feel horrible about slacking on the pregnancy belly pictures.. honestly I haven’t been feeling well enough to do it, but I FINALLY had Jeff take on on Christmas! Hope you enjoy! and of course, I’ll be taking more.

I promise I’m not grumpy, just EXTREMELY tired. This pic was taken on Christmas after all! I’m 24 weeks and 5 days along in this picture.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the update with pictures! Hope you guys had a good holiday and that you’ll have a GREAT New Year!

Categories
Me Oscar

My Appointment, Ultrasound and Other Things

>Well, as you all saw in my last post, we’re having a boy!  We’re both excited, and of course our family is excited for us as well.. although Jeff’s excited because as he put it, “[I] won’t nag [him] to have anymore kids.” Oscar looks great internally and the ultrasound technician said that his heartbeat was really strong, which is a relief. It was so great to see his profile and try to imagine what he’s going to look like once he’s born; I think he’s definitely going to favor Jeff! I especially hope he has the red hair that Jeff had when he was born as well as my three youngest nephews had at birth.

As for my last OB appointment on November 18th, it went well. I weighed in at 114.6 pounds which means I gained a bit over a pound since my previous visit and my bloodpressure was fine.  Unfortunately, there was a mixup with clerical work, so the referral to the Rheumetologist was never sent or received back in October, but Dr J (my OB) was proactive and personally sent the fax herself. And since I was due for my Quad Screening blood test, she went ahead and also did a full run on my thyroid.  After I left the lab, I went ahead and called the Rheumetologist office, and after persisting they check their faxes, they confirmed that they recieved the referral, and I called back the next day and set the appointment to be seen on November 30th, which was this past Tuesday. They also requested that I personally bring in the results from my thyroid tests, so I was able to get those the day I had my ultrasound; thankfully my thyroid is in normal range and I passed the Quad Screening tests with no problem.

The visit went well, I gave a through personal medical rundown of everything I ever had -I got Cat Scratch Disease when I was a junior in high school.. something that’s really rare so I must be special- and all my various aches and pains.. talked about when I sprained my ankle when I was 13 -jumping and slipping off a pile of logs, I won’t do THAT ever again- and of course my family history. I mentioned in the paperwork that my dad has Rheumatoid Athritis, and apparently my grandfather had Muscular Dystrophy in his eyelids. He did a full examination and concluded that I have Trochanteric Bursitis, or in other words I’ve got bursitis in my hips. He told me he felt that my chances of having Rheumatoid Arthritis were very slim, however because of my family history with one parent having it, he went ahead and ran the two blood tests they do for RA.  I didn’t really think much of it, and figured the bursitis was the reason why I’ve been having pain and whatnot, along with pregnancy, although it’s not really normal to have the ammout of hip pain I’ve been experiencing in the first and second trimesters, it’s supposed to hit later.

Well, I got a call today and was told by the nurse that one of the “Tests came back positive for RA, but there were no other findings.” which basically means I DO have it; however due to various factors, I have not had the onset of clinical symptoms. Dr G told me that generally speaking with RA, pregnancy actually suppresses the symptoms, and talking with a friend of mine with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) is also suppressed by pregnancy; I guess it’s something that’s shared with all auto immune diseases; which is why there’s studies currently being conducted to test the effectiveness of using pregnancy hormones to control the symptoms.

I’m not going to lie, there was a bit of a nasty shock when I hung the call up, and I did have the momentary urge to cry, but it passed, and I started to think positive. I’ve had the symptoms for years.. some which include depression and anxiety along with sensitivity to cold, and tiredness and of course body and joint pain.  It’s a relief to know that I do NOT have clinical depression; that the occasional depression I do have is really a symptom, not the actual thing I have. It’s nice to know that I finally do have the answers, and I genuinely do have a lot of things going for me. I’m young, it’s apparently been caught early enough that I do not have the onset of clinical symptoms of swollen, red hot joints -which is why he initially thought I didn’t have it, since I don’t have this yet- and I’m short and I have never had issues with excessive weight gain.  I’ve fluctuated up and down, but it’s always been in the range of normal for my body type and height.

Obviously there’s not much they can do for me now, I can only just manage the pain when it gets bad with tylenol, and I avoid doing that unless it interferes with getting to sleep. My plan is to of course follow up with Dr G after I have Oscar, and to avoid the heavy medications for as long as I can. My dad was diagnosis with it at 29, and he has yet to start any of the RA medications because he exercises regularly, has a good diet and of course maintains a healthy weight, something that I plan on doing as well.

I’m fairly optimistic about this, I really am. I realize now too that it’s a great thing that I got pregnant again, because I honestly don’t think I would have been proactive enough to go to a GP doctor and saying “Hey I’ve got joint pain, can we set me up to see a Rheumetologist?” and who knows how long it would have been before we found out.

Categories
Me

My Appointment on 10/21/2010

>So I saw my doctor again yesterday. I was planning to discuss the whole due date thing, but right before my appointment, I grabbed my old phone that I had taken a picture of my postive pregnancy test with, and noticed the time stamp as August 11th, not the 5th or the 6th like I thought. So, it’s possible her estimation is correct, but I still stand by what I saw with baby’s limbs and whatnot. I’m not going to worry about it anymore (see further down why) and didn’t bring it up at my appointment. I will however still go by my initial due date estimation for my personal records; I see nothing wrong with doing that, teehee.

Anyway, I was weighed (of course) and I now weigh 113.1 pounds.. I was 111.4 at my last appointment so I’ve gained two pounds. The weight gain has to be from my expanding uterus, as well as my breasts.. I don’t know what it is about this pregnancy, but my breasts have doubled in size since getting pregnant; if not more! This never happened when I was pregnant with Zoe or Ruthie; I didn’t experience growth until my last trimester. I’m scared to know how big they’re going to be by the time the baby’s born! My blood pressure was 121/58. I ride low with my blood pressure; this is quite normal, although that is much different than what it was at my last appointment, 90/64. I think the difference was due to yesterday being a bit stressful, and I was engaging in a serious conversation with a friend of mine right before my appointment. That, and I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, and she did my pressure over it, so it’s possible that affected my reading somewhat.

Dr. J came in and we checked the baby’s heartbeat with the doppler.. it took her a few seconds to find the heartbeat, but we were able to hear it.. a little woosh-woosh. She said the heart rate was perfect, and then she of course asked how I’ve been feeling. I’m less fatigued, but I still have a noticable level of fatigue which I think is normal, considering I’ve got 2 kids already.. who wouldn’t be tired running around after them and doing stuff for them all day? I told her that I’m not as down and sad as I was in my first trimester so that of course is good.

However, I did mention that I’ve been experiencing joint pain while laying in bed at night, and it was causing difficulty with me falling asleep; which is true but it doesn’t happen every single night. I told her that I’ve been having pain in my shoulders hips and knees, and some of the time the pain isn’t on the side that I’m laying on, but it’s the opposite side.. which I find to be really odd. She asked if it’s a problem that started with this pregnancy, and I told her no; I’ve been experiencing joint pain off and on for sometime now.. the worst situations are when I wake up with stiff hips and then I try walking, I will sometimes fall over because of my hip giving out from under me.. this actually has happened a few times; usually when I’m trying to walk downstairs or even right when I get out of bed; thankfully it hasn’t happened in the last few months that I can recall, although I have had some weird episodes involving my knees recently. So, now she wants me to see a Rhuematologist, to rule out the potential of having Rhuematoid Arthritis. Keep in mind, while in the sense that it’s the same as ‘normal’ arthritis in the sense it affects your joints, RA is a systemic autoimmune disease.. it will eventually affect the whole body, and it can trigger at any time; it’s not exclusively something that is onset by age. I knew it ran on my dad’s side of the family and I told my doctor this; however, after talking with my dad, I found out that it’s primarily through his mother’s side of the family; and my dad actually has it. I had to call Dr J’s office this morning to let them know the local Rhumetologists will not see a patient or even allow appointments to be set without a referral and so I told the receptionists to leave a note that I spoke with my dad and that he has it, and so Dr J can put it in my file.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that it’s not RA, but it could be my thyroid instead; the symptoms tend to mimic each other, so it’s just a matter of eliminating one over the other; although they can occur at the same time. I know from talking with both of my parents it runs on both sides of the family; I have one aunt from my mom’s side of the family with hypothyroidism and a few aunts from my dad’s side of the family; and it’s possible that my sister has it; she’s planning on going to an Endocrinologist sometime in the next month to see why despite a healthy diet and regular healthy exercise she’s not losing weight like she should. However, due to the pregnancy hormones and their affect on the thyroid hormones, I was told at my last appointment that I have to wait until my second trimester. I reminded her again of it, and because I’m having my quad screening test done next month (blood draw), she’s going to go ahead and order that the thyroid testing gets done with the same batch of blood. While some joint pain is normal during pregnancy, I don’t think it should be occurring this early; nor should I be falling over from joint pain when I’m not pregnant.

Other than that, everything has been doing better! I’ve started experiencing round ligament pain -joy- and I’ve been feeling more energetic, but still not quite where I was before.. not that I had a ton of energy to begin with.

And yes, I’m finally starting to show! I’ll have to have Jeff take some pics this weekend.

Categories
Me Oscar

>My Pregnancy So Far

>Well, today I’m exactly 10 weeks pregnant.  So here’s the summary of how it’s been so far.

No morning/afternoon/evening sickness.  However I have strong aversions to certain smells, and certain foods.  The idea of eating tortillas for example.. totally grosses me out like nothing else.  I’ve been craving red meat, cookies, spicy foods and sour/salty stuff.

No, I’m not showing yet.  The only thing that’s changed about me physically is that I’ve been breaking on my face more than usual, getting the gross under-the-skin-with-no-head pimples and my bra size went from a normal B cup to a D cup in about 4 weeks.  And they are growing.  As of 6.5 weeks, if I express, I’m already making colostrum which would account for the rapid growth in bra size.  I also had cramping during weeks 5 and 6, but I didn’t have any bleeding so I wasn’t worried at all.  I was also only cramping when my bladder was super full.

As weird as this sounds, I’ve already felt the baby move.  At least once.  It was kind of a rocking sensation with a soft little poke, and lasted about 10 minutes.  I contribute this to several factors… I’m extremely sensitive to what goes on in my body.. for example I feel my intestines digest on a regular basis -not painful just weird-, I think the baby is situated high in my uterus, and my bladder was exceptionally full at the time, so I think it was pushing my uterus up higher and since we were driving in the car at the time and I had my seatbelt on, the belt was putting pressure on my uterus so.. yeah.  I know I’m not crazy, since this is my 3rd pregnancy and I’ve been through the motions already.  With Zoe and Ruthie though, I didn’t feel them move until around 13-14 weeks, which makes me wonder if I’m carrying multiples or something.  I was getting this sensation of something hard next to the movement that wasn’t moving as well, but it could have been my bladder and so.. yeah who the heck knows.

Physically, emotionally and mentally, this pregnancy is really taking it’s toll on me.  I’m so tired all the time, which is not good since I’m a stay at home mom to two kids, and up to 4 times a week, I’ve got a third here.  Fortunately, I won’t be watching her much longer, so hopefully that’ll help a bit.  I’ve been more prone to outbursts, and I haven’t been handling my emotions as well as I should.  I feel bad beacuse the girls are having issues with handling their feelings and expression themselves, and I realize it’s my fault but… I can’t seem to help it.  I’ve been all over the place emotionally and I realize I’m probably suffering from some type of pregnancy induced rage or something.  Which makes me really think I’m having a boy, since I was not like this with my first two pregnancies.

It especially sucks, because I had to switch to a new doctor… something I really didn’t want to do, but I’m having to be realistic.  The OB I was seeing when I was pregnant with Ruthie is super awesome and amazing… he’s an Osteopathic doctor, and I loved that.  Unfortunately, he no longer delivers at the hospital I had Ruthie at, and the hospital he does deliver at is 30 minutes away, assuming we hit every green light on the way, and I go into labor at 2 in the morning where there’s no traffic on the roads… which is highly unlikely.  So, today I had to find a new doctor.. who’s an MD -which is fine I guess- and who’s a she.  Totally okay with that I guess, it’ll be interesting to have a female OB/Gyn.  The other thing too is that she’s just barely coming into practice.. according to her fact sheet on our insurance website, she finished her residency earlier this year.  Which is I think a good thing.. some people prefer experience, but I prefer someone who’s fresh out of med school, and who’s got the up and up in what’s new in medicine.  Plus, I think doctors that are newer in the field tend to be less stuck in antiquated thoughts and mindsets.  I guess on the bright side of seeing this new doctor, I get in two days sooner than I would have otherwise.. I get seen on the 21st instead of the 23rd.

Well, that’s my update.. I’m 1/4 the way done with my pregnancy.. yay!

Categories
Me

Adventures at the Gas Station!

>After lunch today, Jeff and I came home, switched the carseats out of the Saturn and into the Mazda so I could practice driving.  Our first stop was to the library.  Considering we’re about two blocks away, it wasn’t a big deal.  I had to straighten out and park again, but other than that it was smooth.  Ruthie kept pulling books off the shelf, but otherwise it was an uneventful trip.  As we were leaving, I realized that the fuel light was on, so we went and got gas.  That was interesting to say the least!

At first, I had pulled too closely to the pump station, so I had to back out and straighten out a bit.  Then, after debating with Jeff, we decided that I need to learn how to put gas in the car.  So, I got out, inserted my debit card to pay, and that went smoothly.  Then, I got out to put the nozzle in the car and squooze it, but nothing was coming out.  After trying a few times, Jeff finally got out of the car to see what was going on, right around the time the nice lady on the other side of the pump came around to help out.  Apparently, I forgot to select the fuel I wanted!  Kind of embarrassing.  Anyway, after picking the fuel and everything, I then had learned  about the awesome clip that holds it in for you!  So I was watching the fuel and the total for the gas was $20.02!  We only put in $20 at a time.. and that honestly doesn’t really get us alot of gas, I felt impressed with myself that I got it just two cents over!

I’m improving with my driving too… learning how to start turning before I’m ready to turn so I’m not having to do 90 degree turns and cranking the wheel too quickly.  We didn’t drive for very long today because Jeff wanted to come home and take a nap; since he went in and worked a bit of overtime so he could catch up.. when there’s only 4 people on his team and there’s supposed to be triple that.. there’s a tendency to fall behind!  I’m proud of Jeff and his team, they seem to be doing a decent job keeping their heads above water.

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Me

I’m Turnin’ the Wheel!

>The steering wheel that is.  After putting it off for who knows how long, I’ve finally got my learner’s permit!  It’s part scary, part liberating and part scary.  I mentioned that already didn’t I?

I better back up a bit.  About 2 weeks ago, we purchased plane tickets to fly my mom and brother Tommy out for Thanksgiving.  At that point we kind of realized us + my mom + my brother + the Saturn = Clown car and Bad Idea.  We started looking for a larger vehicle.. that is to say a mini-van.  We were wanting something that could sit at least 7 people, something that has a sports rack, and a bonus would be a hitch.  And we were looking the free to $2,000 range.  Yeah.. long shot but whatever.  Anyway, last Tuesday, Jeff was presumably bored at work so he was apparently surfing the local classifieds and came across a vehicle.  If I recall correctly he said it was PERFECT for us and that he wanted me to see if it’s still available.  I clicked on the link and the first thing I thought was, “It’s $2,800!”  In other words, about $800 out of our price range.  So, I ended up calling the guy and asking if it was still avaliable, and it was.  Then I asked him about the history and he gave me a very detailed history, and I asked about the mechanical work, and he rattled that off.  Then I typed out to Jeff and condensed everything for him and he said “Ask if he’ll go down to $2,500.” which I did, and the guy said he’d take $2,600.  At that point, I told him we were very interested; however we want to make sure that it would be a good investment and that I’d call him back.  And we researched, and found out it’s a FANTASTIC vehicle.  So, then Jeff had me check our financial spread sheet, and we discovered that we’ll be able to afford it, which is GREAT.  We had the money to pay for it full in cash, and still get by until this Thursday when Jeff gets paid.  Thank goodness he got an extra paycheck this month.  So, I called him back and made arrangements to go and look at it.

Anyway, long story short we have a second car.  It’s a Madza MPV, and while it’s technically considered to be a mini-van it honestly looks more like an SUV, which for me is a plus.  In addition to a sports rack, it also has a hitch and even a sunroof.  That was Tuesday.  On Wednesday, we insured the car, and because we changed the coverage, our premium or whatever it’s called only went up $12 a month.  Which is fine, our insurance will probably be about $70 a month if that.  Then on Thursday we went to the DMV to register it in our name, and earlier that day on impulse I told Jeff “Well, we’re going to the DMV might as well as take the test to get my permit.”  So I studied the manual and quit 2/3 the way through from boredom.  So we went and I PASSED!!!  got 40 out of 50 questions right, which was the minimum requirement.  Then afterward, we went to the library.  However, when we came out we realized someone did a Hit and Run on us!!!  When we parked at the DMV, we were parked next to this HUGE white truck, who decided our vehicle wasn’t worthy enough for them to be careful.  The rear passenger side door is all dented in, and their mirror scratched the last passenger side mirror.  So, driver of big white truck, I HOPE KARMA TAKES A DUMP ON YOUR LIFE.

We went driving on Saturday and Sunday, which is a start.  I’m kind of a crappy driver; however it is something I’m going to have to get adjusted to and hopefully once it finally “clicks” it’s smooth driving from there.  The Madza handles VERY well, so I’m glad I only have to be light on it rather than a lead foot.  And of course, I’m learning to drive defensively.. no crazy nut here!