Monday was back to reality. Back to work (though, it was sure to go fast with how little I would actually be at work), and back to school for the girls. I've still been feeling pretty numb over my grandpa's passing. It's just still so surreal to me. It helps to be busy, and distracted, but with the upcoming funeral, there's no escaping it for long. One bright spot in the day was that all of the supervisors in our office chipped in and bought the office lunch...pizza, fruit, salad, treats. Oh man, it was SOOOO good. I love little surprises like that, really boosts morale! I also scored a good deal on Circus tickets again this year...there was a Steal for $25 for $50 worth of tickets...and, I had $20 in referral cash, so I only had to pay $5 for the steal. Then, I had a $5 of each ticket code, so, we ended up with $15 tickets. With the steal, had to pay $10 out of pocket, so $15 total! Nice!! Saving money and getting a good deal always brightens my day! I picked the girls up after work and we made our way home for the usual...playtime, dinner, baths, hang out. They were actually best friends today, which is rare, but makes life SO much easier. Once they were off to bed, Christian and I settled in for a CRAZY episode of "The Walking Dead"...*spoiler alert, the one where a little girl kills her sister, and then Carol kills her. Officially, in my opinion, the craziest thing to ever happen on TWD. Whoa.
Little BFF's, for today anyway!
Tuesday was not a great day. I was off to the doctor for an ultrasound and check up. I was SOOOO excited to begin the day, I just love seeing the little peanut on that screen. However, things became very discouraging, very fast. As of today, I am 32W3D, and the baby should weigh about 3lbs12ozs. The scan started out OK...checked baby's heartrate, even got to watch baby practice breathing, which was really cool. The baby waved a bit, and nodded at us. Oh man, just melts my heart. Fluid levels were looking good, and baby was head down. Then, things started looking down. She started taking measurements...head, abdomen and femur bone, checking each a couple times. I was watching the screen, and I could see what the estimates were coming in at. While the femur bone measured almost exactly on point with my date, the head and abdomen were both measuring 35-36+ weeks, and they estimated baby's weight at 5lbs11ozs. I just couldn't believe it...basically, I'm measuring about 4 weeks ahead, which is HUGE. I followed up my scan with my check-up, which of course was pretty much geared around those results. Ann, my midwife, did not change our plans or do anything at this point, but I know, chances of letting me go late are pretty much obsolete at this point, and I'll be lucky if they let me go to term if baby keeps measuring this far ahead. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing seeing baby, hearing that little heartbeat, and I'm so grateful for this new life growing inside me, but reality of a possible repeat c-section hit me big time. I held it together until I got to the car, but then I was in tears at the thought of it. So frustrating! But, I was back to work to finish out the day. The evening was pretty much a bust as it's all I could think about. I know everything will work out and everything will be fine, but it all just consumed me at this point.
Kind of strange, but babies picture from today. The tech took a body and a head shot and merged them together for me.
Our surprise flowers!
What a perfect fortune to receive tonight...
Wednesday was definitely not much better. Christian was off work...his work actually gives them bereavement leave, so he was able to take today and tomorrow off, without using his leave time. I however, was off to work 1/2 a day...thanks to my lacking leave time balance. I left around noon, and was on my way home to have some lunch, get myself ready and gather up the girls' stuff. Christian picked the girls up, we got them ready, packed up some snacks/food for them, and we were off to my grandpa's wake. the girls did not come to my grandma's wake last summer, so I wasn't sure how they would do. The funeral home has a pretty cool program, the "star program", where they sit down with the kids, do some activities with them, and explain what's happening. Then, after the adults go in to say their goodbye's, they bring the kids in so they can also say goodbye. The girls did really well, but definitely don't quite understand yet. They were interested though, and not afraid at all. Of course, they had plenty of fun hanging out in the family room with all of the other kids all night anyway, so they were pretty distracted. We were off as soon as the wake was over, and straight to bed.
Thursday was another very tough day. I dropped the girls off at school...I figured the wake was enough for them, and there really wasn't a reason for them to go to the funeral as well. Christian and I got ready, and we were off to the church. I had actually been keeping it together pretty well, up until the service started. Just hearing stories about my grandpa and knowing that this was IT, we were officially saying goodbye, started getting to me. After the service, the church hosted a lunch for the family again, and it was nice to sit around and talk about him, even laughing and feeling almost normal for a little bit. Then, it was off to the cemetery. Again, we were heading to Fort Snelling. This time, the funeral had full military honors though, which was incredibly touching. Pulling up to see all of the service men and women on guard, the 3-volley salute, taps on the trumpet. It was all just so haunting, so emotional. I'd never been to a military funeral before, it was pretty amazing. We didn't get rushed out of the cemetery quite as fast as with my grandma, so we were able to chat and say our goodbyes to each other. He'll be buried right on top of my grandma, so once the headstone is in, we're going to go and visit. Christian dropped me off at home and was off to visit with his parents for a bit, while I rested and even napped for a bit. He picked the girls up on his way home, and I had to do a little shopping...the girls have their school pictures tomorrow, so I had to finish getting stuff for their outfits, and some new shoes (these outfits will double as their Easter dresses). Then, we were all home to eat and RELAX. Exhausted doesn't even cover it at this point!
My Throwback Thursday photo today was, of course, a photo with my Grandpa (and my cousin, who is 6 days older than me).
From Grandpa's funeral...the flag, which goes to my Dad, his three volley salute, a red rose for me and a white rose for each of the kids.
Friday started off a little touch and go. It was my Friday off, so obviously that was pretty exciting. Christian dropped Amelia off at school, while Olivia and I were off to her dentist appointment. Today, she was getting the first of 3 fillings. I did now know what to expect, whatsoever....from the procedure, or her. I didn't tell her much about what was going to happen, I just told her she has a little hole in her tooth and they're going to fill it in so it doesn't get bigger and hurt. She settled into the chair, and she was seriously perfect as can be. She did everything they asked her to do and cooperated to a T, never a single peep, cry or anything from her. I will say, their dentist is so awesome, he is amazing with the kids. We were in and out in 20 minutes, and she left smiling away, like nothing had ever happened. I was wondering how she would react to the laughing gas and all that, but she didn't get too crazy. She was making some pretty hilarious faces, waiting for the feeling to come back, but that's about it. We stopped at McDonald's so I could get her some oatmeal to eat on the way home. I wasn't sure if she'd be able to, but she was doing great, so she was off to school. I made my way home...spent the day catching up on some shows, relaxing as much as I could,. I did manage to get most of our laundry done throughout the day, and did a TINY bit of picking up, but that's about it. It was a ME day! The girls and I stopped at Target quick on our way home, and the rest of the evening was pretty standard...dinner, movies, some play time. Christian had to work SUPER late tonight, so he was pretty exhausted when he arrived home.
My baby girl, ready to head off to the dentist
Haha, oh the joys of being 3 & 5!
Baby's bed is up and ready, I just love it!
Saturday kicked off another cold snap, hopefully a short one. We started the day off with a "feels like" temp of -11. Seriously, IT'S SPRING, it's the end of March, this is so unfair! Christian was off to work, while the girls and I hung out at home. They have a couple of weeks off swim class before their new session begins, so it was a pretty relaxed morning. I finished up some picking up around the house. My mom stopped over to pick the girls up for the night, just after Christian arrived home. We had some lunch, and started getting ready for the evening. Tonight we were off to celebrate Christian's birthday (early) with our friends, and we were so excited! We were off to Buca's for dinner, then met everybody at our old stomping grounds, The Glockenspiel. We used to spend just about every Friday and Saturday there, at least a quick stop. Seems like a lifetime ago, and it was kind of strange being back. It was so fun though...catching up, chatting, laughing the night away. Sure do miss those days sometimes! I made it until about midnight, and just couldn't hold out any longer. This pregnant lady had to hit the hay!
See, no lie. BRRRR!
Ready to take my giant baby out on the town!
Cuddles with baby Brittany at dinner!
Sunday I REALLY slept in, until 10:00AM! Never thought I'd see the day that would happen again. Although, it was a really late night, and of course, I was up plenty throughout the night, so I say it doesn't really count, in my defense. I finished up my laundry, and since I'd been working on my chores the last couple days, I actually got to take it pretty easy most of the day today. The girls were pretty antsy when they arrived home, so Christian took them over to his parents for a while. Worked out for me because I actually got in a few hours of work, to make up for some of my time off this past week, so that was pretty awesome! Gotta save up every hour possible. By the time they arrived home, it was pretty much time for baths and bed. Another weekend quickly came to an end. This week is either going to fly by from catching up on work from this past week, or it's going to draaaaag being a 5-day workweek. Only time will tell!
Welcome home cuddles with my babies!
Today also marked 33 weeks. I updated a bit on how things are going earlier this week. I'm still pretty anxious about how everything is going to pan out, but I'm trying my hardest to not focus on that, and just enjoy this home stretch with my last little growing life. I've been feeling more and more exhausted every day, more and more uncomfortable, but of course that all comes with the territory. We're all getting very excited though, with every passing day! We just can't wait to meet this final piece of our family puzzle.
Until Next Week XOXO
