7/6/10 - Finally, Some Good News!

I had my ultrasound and weekly check with Ann (my midwife) today…and finally got some news, some GOOD news! The ultrasound confirmed that baby is indeed HEAD DOWN, and she is in fact a SHE! I almost broke into tears when I heard she really was head down, it’s so unreal to me. People actually look at me like I have two heads over my excitement to “go natural”. It amazes me that people really do think having a c-section is “easier” or in fact “taking the easy way out”…to the point where they think I’m crazy for wanting to actually give birth to my child. Honestly, a c-section is a major surgery…yes, common, but still major. They can, and often do, lead to major complications, for mother AND child. But, it’s not the surgery itself that I want to avoid. I can handle surgery, and I’d obviously know what to expect from it. But, it’s the recovery. Who has time to recover from a major surgery when taking care of an extremely active toddler AND a newborn baby?!? No thank you! I’d rather get home and live life like normal, no “take it easy” and heal! So, here we are. I’m scared to death really…I mean, I’ve had a kid, but it’s almost as if I am a first time mom when it comes to this. I only know slightly what to expect from my experience with Olivia, otherwise, I’m completely in the dark and a bit freaked out! I have to tap back into our childbirth preparation class from last time….A Woman’s Body Is Made to Give Birth…and keep repeating that to myself!

The check-up went well. My blood pressure was completely normal and my swelling had gone down a bit. I didn’t gain any weight this week…Ann was very happy about all of these points. Baby’s heartbeat was spot on and I’m measuring just right. Now, we just wait. Now, we just hope she decides to come by 41 weeks; otherwise my VBAC is taken off the table! Come on little lady, you officially have 4 weeks to get out!

I would have loved to share an ultrasound picture today…unfortunately, baby had her face completely buried in her hands the whole time, fast asleep! So, I’ll do a flashback to Olivia’s 6 month photo shoot last year…so cute!

7/5/10 - It's Monday, but Not Really!!

Seriously, I don’t think there is anything better about Monday Holiday’s! Staying home, being a “day behind” the rest of the week, making it fly by that much more. So wonderful! Unfortunately, Christian doesn’t get to join in my excitement…his work does not share the general public’s view of Holiday’s, so hi-ho hi-ho, off to work he went. BUT, he was able to duck out a few hours early, so we did get a little extra time together! The entire house was pretty exhausted after a LONG, busy, HOT HOT HOT weekend, so we took it pretty easy. Olivia was pretty low key today, slept in a little bit, took a nice LONG nap. The cats and dog all slept all day. Christian took a little nap when he got home from work. I had some alone time to get pictures uploaded from the camera, clean up a little bit and get ready to head back to work tomorrow. In the early evening, I was overcome with some nausea, an upset stomach and a headache, so I ended up taking a late nap as well. Ugh, this heat! I think we’ll be heading to bed shortly after Olivia for a nice long night of sleep. A nice thunderstorm rolled in tonight…much needed rain and should make for some nice soothing sounds for bedtime. That was a welcomed shift in weather! Now, I’m anxiously awaiting my morning appointments, hoping for some good news…well, hoping for some news period!!! We’ll see very soon what’s going on with this little lady I’m growing!

7/4/10 - Happy 4th of July!

Its the 4th of July….it’s hot, VERY humid and we’re exhausted!!! It was a LONG day. Fun, but almost unbearable at some points throughout the day.

The morning started pretty low key, we ate some breakfast, picked up the house a little bit, and actually tricked Olivia into taking an early nap! We have a long day ahead of us, and wanted to make sure to get at least a little one in. And, it worked! Go us. Around 12:30 my mom, Christian’s Parents, the Madrid’s and Kari showed up for the local parade. Our city has a pretty big parade every year; it’s actually a really good parade. In fact, you have to go out the day before and “reserve” your spot; otherwise you are stuck in the back! It’s ridiculous if you ask me. None the less, I sent Christian over yesterday to get our spot! We made the walk over to our spot, and we were all exhausted and sweaty, just from the short walk! We set up and settled in. The kids took their seats on the curb and the parade started. The parade seriously lasts for about 2 hours…and we just couldn’t make it. Poor Olivia was beat red, sweaty as can be and looked semi miserable. I was absolutely miserable, so finally we packed it up and headed home a little early!

Once we got home, we started the grill, started preparing all of the food, the kids and dogs took over the yard, we ate lots of yummy food, tried to relax to stay somewhat cool and just hung out. The parents all headed home for the night, and around 9:00 we packed up the kids and headed down to the local park to watch the city’s fireworks display. I’ll say it wasn’t the most impressive display I’ve ever seen…but even at 10:00 PM it was still 85+ degrees, 90+ degree humidity and just gross, it was hard to enjoy anything really.

Finally, after the fireworks, everybody headed home, and we were passed out shortly after. It was a good day!

7/3/10 - Celebrate Good Times!

Well, today was a pretty long day. Christian headed outside to do some yard work, in the scorching heat and humidity none the less, while Olivia and I hung out inside. After her nap we all got ready to head to the local “carnival” for the evening. The Madrid’s showed up around 5:00, and it was STILL hot and icky out! But, we packed it up and headed down to the carnival. It was actually a very fun night!! We took the girls on a few rides. Olivia was in heaven, she wanted to go on all the “big” rides that we just couldn’t take her on. Poor thing. After some rides, we headed over to the petting zoo and pony rides. And, they actually had a very cool petting zoo…donkey’s, ducks, llama’s, a yak, goats, bunnies…all kinds of cool animals. Olivia loved all of them, she ran right up to them, even the big yak and llama’s, to say hi and pet them. She is definitely an animal lover! After the petting zoo, Christian took her on a pony ride! She always thinks those are pretty cool. She holds on, looks around…she thinks SHE is pretty cool up there! After the animals, we checked out the fire truck and ambulance, and headed over to the “kid’s zone”. They had a big dance party going on for the kids, and Olivia was in heaven, shaking her little groove thang! We finally pulled the kids away from the fun and headed home for the night. I dropped Christian and Olivia off so she could get her bath and get to bed, and I headed to Target to do some grocery shopping for the BBQ tomorrow. By the time I got home, it was dark, but still so hot and muggy out! So gross! We finally packed it in for the night and that was that. I tried to catch up on a few shows, but just couldn’t stay awake. So, I’ll be packing it in early tonight!

7/2/10 - 18 Months

Today was my Friday off, usually spent at home with Olivia. But, today my mom offered to come pick Olivia up for the day so I could get some MUCH needed rest. So, once Olivia woke up, my mom was on her way to pick her up. I spent the rest of the day, feet up, snuggling with Chuy, watching some shows and just relaxing. It was NICE! I got the bills paid and got some paperwork around the house taken care of. It was actually a productive, resting day for me!

My mom met me at the clinic with Olivia because she is 18 MONTHS OLD TODAY!! Hard to believe. She had her appointment today to check up on her growth and all that good stuff. Her doctor was more than satisfied with her in every way. She is 25lbs (only up 1lb since her 12 month check), which puts her at 62% and she is 32.5” (up only .25” from her 12 month check), which puts her at 67%. She took quite a dive in her height stats, but they used the “baby scale” rather than having her stand against the wall, so I’m not sure how accurate that was. He was impressed with her physical skills and activity, and happy with her motor skill development. Her heart murmur is still there, but was back to being very quiet and “insignificant” this time, so he was comfortable letting it go this time. We’ll just have to keep monitoring it and check it again at her 2 year appointment. Other than that, she’s happy, healthy and perfect as can be!

I think it will be a pretty early night for us. We’re all pretty exhausted, the weather has been taking it out of us, and we have a long weekend ahead of us! So, should be a pretty low key night in our household!

7/1/10 - Hello July!

WOW, it’s July! Not only are we halfway through 2010 already, but I’m due…THIS MONTH! It’s funny, you find out your pregnant, figure out your due date and that month seems like it’s SO FAR away. But, here it is…July. It’s hard to believe.

Today was my official first day of “part time” work. I went in to work this morning, got all of my printing, scanning, routing, etc. done, then headed home around 12:00 to work for the afternoon. This working at home stuff is going to take some getting used to! I don’t have access to all of our databases and programs from home, so I have to make sure to e-mail myself everything I might need for the documents I write at home. Then, working on a laptop!! Seriously, you’d think I’ve never worked on a computer before! That sucker is hard to get used to! But, I’ll get the hang of it. I just need to get used to everything and get into a new rhythm! I like it though, it’s nice to get home, get in my PJ’s, and snuggle up on the couch with the laptop and work, uninterrupted! It’s like a whole new world!

After work, Christian got home with Olivia and we started on our latest landscaping project! The bench we found a few weeks back is finally done and ready! So, that meant “we” had to finally pull up the hideous bushes in the front and get the space ready for the bench. That turned out to be much more work that anticipated…apparently the bushes were older than we thought because they had some MONSTER roots going on! Of course we didn’t really have the tools for removing huge roots, so Christian was out there for a LONG time hacking away at them with the shovel (with Olivia’s help of course). He did finally get them out though, very impressive! He then got the rocks re-laid and got the bench all set up! I’m so excited to have it all done and have a new look to the entry! Now, we just need some colorful flowers for the flower stands next to the bench, and we’ll be all done (for now anyway!).

Christian’s parents also sent home a little bike for Olivia today…her first bike! She seemed to really like it. She figured out the pedal brakes right away, and thought it was hilarious to use them randomly! It was pretty entertaining. She’s getting so big, and this picture proves it!

6/30/10 - 36 Weeks = 9 Months!!

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Yes, you read that right. I am officially 9 months pregnant!!! Holy crap; that came really, REALLY fast! So, 36 weeks…1 week until I’m full term (hello, that’s SEVEN days!), 4 weeks until my due date. I just can’t even believe it. I provided most of my pregnancy/baby updates over the last few days. Like I mentioned, I haven’t been feeling well lately. Lots of back pain, on and off nausea, extreme exhaustion. I’ve been really hot, ALL the time. I don’t remember any of this stuff from Olivia (probably why I’m being put on part time work I suppose). Baby is still VERY active, all the time. I keep waiting for the storm inside my belly to slow down, I mean come on, there’s not very much room in there anymore! But, no, she kicks and punches and twirls up a storm in there. Still though, it’s an amazing feeling.

We’re not really any closer to be ready than we have been. Most of what we do have done is only because of Olivia anyway. We have clothes because we’re either reusing hers, got some hand-me-downs and because we had to go shopping for Olivia’s 24 months clothes anyway. We have the crib and the room rearranged, because we wanted her to have plenty of time to adjust to her new room before baby gets here. We still have no name…we don’t even have a final list! So frustrating. No double stroller yet. We haven’t packed any bags yet, surprisingly I haven’t even made a list or anything yet! Time just keeps slipping away!!! We need to get in gear VERY soon here!

6/29/10 - Baby Update

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Today was my latest prenatal appointment. I was very anxious and excited, looking forward to hopefully making some decisions.

I haven’t been feeling well, tired and sick to my stomach. I actually threw up this morning and Ann (my midwife) was not happy about that. My blood pressure was elevated, but the weird thing was my bottom number was high as well this time, and that’s never been the case. She said my leg/foot swelling is getting pretty bad, so that concerned her as well. They did a urine analysis to check for signs of preeclampsia and/or dehydration. Luckily no protein and no dehydration, so, she doesn’t know why I'm not feeling well. I wasn’t supposed to go back for another appointment until 7/20, but now she wants me on weekly appointments. She also scheduled an ultrasound for next week because she still couldn't confirm baby’s position without a doubt. So yay, we get to see baby again! Finally, she did an exam...no progress and baby has not dropped. So nothing exciting to report there!

Everything actually baby related is going well though. She found her heartbeat right away, and it was strong. Ann asked what Olivia weighed at birth, 7lbs7ozs, and said she guesses this one will be right around the same. I’m still measuring right on target, and moving right along. So, overall, things are going well.

Ann does want me to move to limited work though…part time to be exact. This of course threw me into a panic because I do not have the time to take off before baby gets here, and we just can’t afford for me to go without pay. And, thanks to my heart disease, I’m not eligible for Short Term Disability. It was really frustrating and of course that stress was not going to help me. This afternoon I met with my supervisor and a co-worker to discuss my leave and work on our plan a little more, so I brought it up to her. She immediately started throwing out options and working with me to figure something out. Thank goodness for understanding supervisors! In the end, we decided that I will come in, every day, like normal, but only for half a day. Then, I’ll be working at home for the afternoon. This way, I don’t have to use my time, there’s no extra burden on my co-workers and I can still keep myself busy until baby comes. We’ll see how everything goes, but I think this will work out perfectly! Now, I just have to wait for the office laptop to be ready, and I can start anytime! YAY!!

In other events…Olivia has a new fascination with airplanes. Living so close to the airport, maybe it’s a good thing! She loves to run after them and point them out…every single one…and one goes by about every 2-3 minutes! Lucky girl :)

6/28/10 - Puppy Update

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Monday, Monday. Well, it’s over! The household is doing well over all, just busy, busy, busy!!

First of all, I don’t think I mentioned it, but we did finally name puppy over the weekend. Puppy is Chuy, Chuy the Chihuahua :) He loves it. Olivia is absolutely in love with puppy now. She can’t get enough of him. She loves to carry him around (he actually accommodates it…with a REALLY annoyed look on his face), she likes to lay down so he can jump all over her and lick her (ick) and she gets REALLY upset when we put him downstairs or outside and she can’t get to him…REALLY upset! It’s pretty entertaining. The cats are starting to adjust…Chloe doesn’t instantly hide anymore, but still won’t go near him. Frank goes near him…just so he can bat at him and hiss at him and show him who’s “boss”. Rico is getting more and more interested. He’ll check him out, but will pretty much just leave him alone now rather than try to pick a fight. So, it’s becoming more peaceful and Chuy is fitting right in!

However, we have bathroom issues. And Christian and I are just about at the end of our rope with that! I spent my lunch at work skimming through Craigslist for a kennel. It took forever, but I found the perfect one! We wanted something way oversized so that he was comfortable in there for long periods of time; something completely “open” so he had plenty to look at while he’s in there. I found the perfect one, and it was only $15.00!!! Definite score. Christian picked it up after work, washed it out when he got home and we set up Chuy’s bed, blanket and toys in there right away. He ran right in and made himself comfortable, so I think this is going to work out very well! Thank goodness, I couldn’t take much more!!

6/27/10 - Sunday, Already?

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It’s true, it’s Sunday…already. It’s hard to believe how fast it comes. Silver lining…ahead of me is a 4-day work week, 4-day weekend, then another 4-day work week, so, that’s not SO bad!

Today was another pretty busy day. I was feeling much better today. Still had sporadic back pain all day, and minimal pressure, so maybe not being so hot and so busy calmed things down. I’m anxious for my appointment Tuesday to see if anything really is going on.

After getting to sleep in (well, I don’t really sleep all that well these days, but I didn’t have to get out of bed, so to me that counts as sleeping in), I was up cleaning and picking up the house and Christian cut the grass. Then, it was time to get ready for the day. My mom dropped Olivia off around 11:30 and I was SO excited to see her! She ran up the stairs and gave me a huge hug when she got home, it was so wonderful. Even though it was nice to “sleep in”, at was very awkward not having her home. Shortly after my mom left, the Madrid’s showed up for the afternoon. Kelly and I were off to Let’s Dish…I’m so excited to have a freezer full of yummy ready-to-cook meals for after baby comes! Once we got home, the girls took their naps and we watched the Mexico World Cup game. Unfortunately, they lost…poor Christian. After nap time, the Madrid’s headed out, and I started on laundry. Only got a few loads done of course, so looks like laundry will be a weeklong event again this time. Boo.

Now, the weekend is over, and it’s back to reality. Maternity leave looks better and better every day!