2013 - Week 43

This week was pretty up and down. Amelia and I were both hit with some illnesses, but we did kick off Halloween festivities this week, and spent some quality time with friends!

Monday, we had another winter snap it. It was FOR REAL. I mean, I left the house this morning and the wind chill was 25. TWENTY-FIVE! Ouch. Gonna have to get a coat out pretty soon, that's for sure! Today, I hit 4-years of being smoke-free, and it still feels just as amazing as Day 1. I swear, I will never, EVER get sick of bragging about this accomplishment. It feels amazing, every day. I still think about it constantly...and when things get hard, or stressful, I do have to bring myself back to reality from that urge, but I would never throw away my hard work for another cigarette. Go me! Other than that, it was a pretty standard day. The girls were off to school, with winter gear in tote. We were off to work, kicking off another week. After I picked up the girls, they spent some time coloring and watching videos, while I got to folding the PILES of laundry I didn't get to this past weekend. Christian whipped up some dinner when he got home, while I finished up. We ate, hung out, and the girls were off to bed. We settled in for some Monday night football to watch our Vikes. It was a pretty painful game though...we were on our THIRD quarterback of the season, and it did NOT go well. I couldn't take the pain any longer, and ended up passing out. It's been a pretty heartbreaking season so far...

Coloring, snacks and videos in their new favorite spot.

Tuesday was a pretty exciting day. Work was pretty standard. Although, I did finally get my 2nd computer monitor today. I always refused it, and didn't really understand why people liked having two monitors. Then I was forced to use a co-workers station last week, and fell in love. It's going to take some adjustment to get used to, but I already LOVE it. Hitting the big time, folks! Christian was on Dad duty tonight...after work, I was off to my friend Gini's house to meet up with her and our friend Michelle. We were off to Carbone's for dinner (delish!) and then off to see "Wicked". Yes, WICKED! Finally. And, it was so worth the wait. I loved it...even though I was out WAY past my bedtime. Such a fun night!

Wicked!!

Wednesday did NOT go as well. I woke up with an all out migraine, and seriously felt like I was dying. I called into work, got the girls up and ready and off to school, and made my way back home for the day. It wasn't long before I threw up and things got real. Thank God I decided to stay home. I spent the rest of the morning laying on an ice pack and resting it away. I spent the afternoon relaxing and watching some TV, finally starting to feel better, but it never did go away completely.I finally took a shower and got ready, not sure when Christian would be getting off work. As I was leaving to pick up the girls, he walked in the door. Alone. I was so angry!! Seriously, he knew what I had been dealing with all day, and the thought didn't even pop in his head to just pick them up. Men!!! So, I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door, angry and still feeling crappy. About 3 blocks down the road, I got myself pulled over. In my rage, I didn't put my seatbelt on (which, YES, I do wear). On top of that, I didn't bring my purse with, so I didn't have my license or my insurance card on me. UGH. The cop asked me why I didn't have my seatbelt on...I honestly responded "Honestly, I've been home very sick all day long, and I was just in a hurry to pick my kids up from daycare and get home". He seemed pretty sympathetic...he ended up letting me off for my license and insurance, and just ticketed me for the seatbelt (which, I honestly think he would've let me off for if I had had my documentation). Ugh, great end, to a horrible day. The girls and I made our way back home, and I didn't leave the couch the rest of the night. We had some leftovers for dinner, and shortly after the girls were off to bed. We finally watched this week's episode of The Walking Dead, and I was off to bed immediately after. Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

This was in my face All.Day.Long!

LOL, a girl and her snack!

Thursday did not really go much better. I was feeling better, and I was back off to work. Which, of course, was crazy after being gone yesterday. I caught up on as much as I could, and had a meeting to go to. I got back to my desk from my meeting to missed calls on my cell and work phones, and an e-mail, from the school. Apparently, Amelia got up from naptime to go to the bathroom, and they discovered she was covered in a fast-spreading rash of some sort. I mean face, arms, chest, back, stomach, legs. EVERYWHERE. So, I packed up, picked them up and we made our way home. She seemed in good spirits. She said they didn't hurt or itch, and they had gone down since they were first discovered. She had a snack, I gave them a nice warm bath, and got them in their jammies. I gave her some Benedryl, to see if it would help, and they cuddled up on the couch together to watch some videos. It didn't take long for her to pass out, so Olivia and I made some dinner. She slept right through Christian coming home, and dinner, so we just put her to bed for the night (assuming the Benedryl wore her out). We were all pretty exhausted, and were in bed soon after. WHAT NEXT?!?

Some pictures of Amelia's rash, the school took.

Aww, sissy fell asleep.

Friday ended up going better. Amelia slept through the night, and woke up ready to go. She did have a little breakout on her cheek and arms. I gave her a small dose of Benedryl, and they were off to school. I spent the morning playing Dr. Google, and came up with my own conclusion. After reading a ton of stuff, and looking at some pictures, I think she got a hold of Olivia's amoxicillin (not DRANK it or anything, but maybe touched the spoon or bottle and got some on her), and she had a reaction to that. She has only had it once herself, about 2 years ago. From what I read, you can be exposed to something, and not react, but that exposure can "awaken" an allergy, and you may react in the future if exposed to it again. The pictures and descriptions I saw on it really sounded and looked like what she had going on. So, I'm going to mention it to the doctor and see if they can test for a penicillin allergy. She did get through the day, with no more issues though, so that was a relief. Everybody is healthy, and happy and things were looking up for the weekend. Christian ended up going to dinner with his friend, Lorenzo, so the girls and I hung out. Once they were in bed, I caught up on some Hulu, before calling it a night myself.

Olivia helped herself to a bedtime snack...

Saturday was a pretty busy day. Christian was off to work, so it was just me and the girls. They spent the morning getting ALL of their pillows, blankets and stuffed animals from their room and setting then up on little picnics all morning. And, of course, dressing up in some pretty interesting outfits. We had breakfast, played, relaxed, watched some movies, had some lunch and took some naps. Christian came home while they were down for naps, and we got ready for the night. Once they woke up, we were off to the Como Zoo Boo (I won tickets, YAY!). I used to go to this all the time when I was younger, but we hadn't taken the girls to it yet. The weather was nice when we stared out, but got pretty chilly by the time we left. Not too bad though. The girls had a good time, and Amelia was a pretty big hit. They had some free pizza, so the girls had some dinner, and they got plenty of treats and goodies. After that, we were off to our friends, John & Michelle's, housewarming party. Her family, a few of their coworkers and some of our friends were there, so we spent the night catching up, eating TONS of food and laughing the night away. The girls had a blast playing with the other kids and it was a pretty fun night. Finally, we made our way home. The girls passed out on the way, and went right off to bed. We didn't make it much later.

She asked me to take this picture, and send it to Daddy. LOL

Our tree is finally turning colors. It's sad, but beautiful!

The girls and their picnics...

Ready for Zoo Boo!

Sunday, I hit 12 weeks! We were gearing up to go public with the pregnancy, even though I was still pretty anxious to FINALLY hear the heartbeat in a few weeks. Still feeling pretty nauseous, and growing every day, I felt pretty comfortable finally letting the news out.

Otherwise, it was a pretty standard Sunday. I spent the morning doing my usual chores and cleaning up. Got plenty of laundry washed, but folding will have to wait for another day! The girls and I baked and decorated some Halloween cookies before having lunch and sending the girls off for a nap. While they napped, Christian finished up our fall yard cleanup, and I was off to Target for our weekly shopping. By the time I got home, and got everything put away, the girls were walking up, and it was just about time to head off to swim class. The heater at their normal pool was out, so we had class at a different school this week...so, we left pretty early to make sure we could find it OK. The girls were pretty excited that Christian was there to watch them this week. We picked up some Chipotle on the way home and settled in for the Vikings on Sunday Night Football before bed. It was another rough one, so painful.

Baking Some Cookies!

With that, we ended another week. Coming up, HALLOWEEN! Can't wait :)

Until next week!

...Time to Come Clean...

BABY #3 IS ON IT'S WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it's official. Baby #3 is well on it's way! Get ready to read a little "let's get you up to date" novel!

Shortly after Amelia was born (though, some of the HARDEST months I've ever faced in my life), we knew that our family was not complete. We knew we needed one more little one to make our family whole. Once I was back to work, and we were all settled into our lives, I sat down and looked at our budget and what we had coming up over the next couple of years. At the time, we had virtually no savings, lived basically paycheck to paycheck, had some small debt on a few credit cards and our line of credit, we had Christian's truck payment and our big visa debt. Don't get me wrong - we were getting by just fine. We had cable, internet, cell phones...we enjoyed life, went on a small trip here and there. We've never been about being millionaires - we want to LIVE, get by and provide a good life and future for our children. That's ALL we want. But, in looking at everything, we knew it would be some time before we could responsibly bring another child into our family.

So, I came up with our financial plan. Slowly but surely we did away with a few luxuries, and everything was paid down...first the small credit cards and loans, then the truck, and finally the visa. We've been completely debt free now for going on a year, and it still feels amazing. In the midst of all that, we changed our tax withholdings, we modified our mortgage and our income started looking brighter. And, once everything was paid off, we finally started saving.

When I came up with our plan (and, our desire to have a spring baby), we decided we would start trying in the summer of 2013 for a spring 2014 baby and see how it went. I hadn't met my weight loss goal (which actually stalled out over the previous winter), which was really disappointing to me - but I'm hoping that gives me the extra motivation I need after the baby is born (I actually already have a plan written up and ready to go - but that will depend on how my body recovers, and reacts). But, our other requirement, being able to put a LARGE down-payment on a new vehicle for me, should come to fruition in time, so I was feeling comfortable.

Now, here is where things get a little..."technical".

I ended up going off the pill in late-mid June 2013. Amelia was conceived VERY soon after going off, so I was hoping for the same results. My first cycle off the pill came early, just like with Amelia, and I started tracking, assuming a "regular" cycle (since I had nothing else to go off of at the time). So, we proceeded, assuming that was the case, and 4 weeks later I was late. After a few days, I took a test - negative. A couple days later I took another test - again, negative. Took one last one the next day - negative. And, finally, on Day 37 my next cycle started up. I was disappointed - but not because we hadn't conceived right away - just frustrated that our bodies don't just whip back into shape. So, onto the next month we went. I tracked the next month on both a "normal" cycle, and the 37 Day cycle I had just had. And, I started using ovulation tests. Again, not because I EXPECTED things to happen right away, I just wanted to have as much information as I could in case it did end up taking a long time. So, around Day 10 I started using the ovulation tests, and proceeded to for about 3 weeks. EVERY day they were negative (according to the instructions). Both potential ovulation times came and went, with no positive tests. I was getting pretty frustrated about it. I mean, if my body isn't going to work, I don't even have a fighting chance! So, I stopped taking the tests at that point, and just decided to let it happen, when it happens. I actually spent a weekend really debating waiting another year to try again. If we waited another year, we'd be even better off financially, AND Amelia would be starting Kindergarten when the baby started daycare. The idea started becoming very appealing. Then, I realized that I was now late, based on both cycles. Not only that, but I was definitely feeling some symptoms. I was extremely emotional - EVERY little thing that went wrong would make me cry and make me unreasonably upset, I was getting some pretty consistent bouts of nausea and I was beyond exhausted, all the time (my main symptom with both of the girls).

So, on Tuesday 9/10/13 - I took a test, first thing in the morning (my ovulation tests came with one pregnancy test). Sure enough, it was as positive as positive could be. The second line was BLARING through. Of course, I started panicking. Could we REALLY handle 3 kids?!? How are we going to do this?!? I was excited, and happy - over the moon, but very nervous at the same time.

I immediately shared the new with Dawn, my friend from Indiana who left me the happiest, most excited, heartwarming voicemail ever and really comforted me. Once at work, I told my work BFF Brad right away, who was also very excited for us. Over the day, I shared the news with one of my mom's groups on facebook, my "Working Moms" group from Olivia's birth club. It felt REALLY good to have them to talk to all day about it. And, I finally got in touch with my best friend Kari (who, is also pregnant and due in January) in the afternoon. YAY, we're having babies together!

My mind was consumed, and racing all day. Other than being super nauseous all day, it didn't seem real. Once home, I took another test, just to make sure before I let Christian know. Again, sure enough, the positive sign came through loud and clear, right away.

I put Amelia in Olivia's "Big Sister" shirt and had her go up to Christian. He was happy, and excited. And, immediately declared "THIS IS IT!". LOL, that's my man!

Over the next few days, I told a couple of close friends, Kelly and Melissa, at work, who I've talked to before about our "plan" and I told my other January 2009 birth club group. Everybody was really supportive and happy for us. Christian told his good friend Lorenzo, and I cut him off there. LOL

I had some pretty hardcore nausea for the next week or so, and was still pretty tired, but nothing horrible. My heart would randomly race like crazy, for a few minutes, then stop. I had a few stomach aches and a little back pain, but nothing too horrible.

With the girls, I started showing pretty early. And, that was no different this time around. By 7/8 weeks, I would say you could look at me and definitely wonder if something was going on. I was 6, going on 7 weeks when we went to Chicago, so I was a little nervous about that. Everything turned out well though.

On Monday, 9/23/13, Christian told his parents our news. Following that up, I told my mom that Wednesday. Things were getting more real! I don't think our parents were SUPER excited about it, I think they probably think we're taking on more than we can handle...but clearly, they don't know the extent of my planning and preparation. I know they'll love this baby just as much as the girls though, and that's all that matters. Next up, my boss and my Dad and Stepmom.

On Friday, 9/27/13, I ran into some issues. I woke up in the middle of the night, cramping really bad. The pain would go away for 15-20 minutes, then come back for a minute or two, and continued all day. In all honesty, it felt like contractions. I was at work, pretty miserable. I finally called the BabyLine, who sent a message to the clinic nurses. They talked it over with the doctors, and by 1:30 they asked that I come in for an ultrasound, mainly to rule out an ectopic pregnancy. I was pretty nervous at this point. I was holding it together, but it was pretty scary not knowing what was going on. They didn't have any open appointments, so I just had to go and wait...until they had time to squeeze me in. They must have just finished their lunch break when I got there, because they immediately brought back 3 appointments. I thought I was in for a long afternoon, but one of the girls was in and out in maybe 5 minutes, so they got me in right away. Thank God, she immediately found baby, AND the heartbeat. Everything was good, strong (163!) and right where it was supposed to be. She checked my ovaries and everything else, and didn't spot any cysts or other issues, so I was on my way. I was still in a lot of pain, all night Friday, and then all day Saturday. I still had a few episodes Sunday and Monday, less and less each day. They said it could be stretching and natural growing (though, I've NEVER had any of this with the other two), it could be dehydration, they aren't sure. In the end, I honestly think I had the stomach flu. I think because I'm pregnant, my mind went right there, but by Friday night, I realized that I was having a lot of the same issues and symptoms that I'd had with the flu earlier in the year. I felt kind of dumb for going to such extremes, but I guess it's always better to be safe, than sorry.

On Monday, 9/30/13, I decided to tell my boss at work. It's early still, 8 weeks, but I want to make sure she has all the time she can to plan and prepare for my leave. Explore as many options as possible for picking up that slack. She was of course very happy for us and needed to know all the details, which was great, but I could tell it was just one more thing on her plate to stress over and deal with, and that makes me feel pretty bad. Luckily, again, my super organized self will come to the rescue and have everything in tiptop shape by the time I go, so it's easy to pass on.

8 Weeks (9/29/13) - I started showing EARLY with each girl, and this time was no different. I swear, I start showing the second a baby is conceived in this body. 

9 Weeks (10/6/13)

On 10/9/13, just over 9 weeks along, I took the girls out to take some "announcement pictures". Seriously, it's sad that I'm able to take an announcement picture at 9 weeks! Ugh. The girls thought it was pretty fun, and we got some picture pictures. I put together a facebook cover to post as our big "public" announcement. But, at this point, I figured we'd just wait until after my first appointment...hopefully hear the heartbeat and get that extra comfort, so it would still be a couple weeks before we post.

10 Weeks (10/13/13)

On Saturday, 10/19/13, I finally made my way over to my dad's for a visit...not only to catch up, but with the main intention of letting them in on the big news. I held off until now, not for any bad or worrisome reasons...I just 1) wanted to tell them in person, and life is WAY too busy, and 2) I knew my stepmom wouldn't wait long to tell my sisters, and it would spread like wildfire through the family. My Grandpa and aunt ended up being there for dinner as well, so we let them all in on the secret. Everybody seemed pretty excited and happy for us, which felt really great. My Grandpa seemed particularly excited...I'm sure the only real good, exciting news he's received since my Grandma passed away a few months ago. It felt good, and relieving to finally have all of our parents in on the news. My first prenatal appointment was coming up in a few days, so we were getting anxious to let the world in on the excitement.

11 Weeks (10/20/13)

On 10/22/13, I finally had my first prenatal appointment. I was originally scheduled for a few weeks earlier, but I had something come up at work, and had to reschedule (and, my midwife is only in the clinic one day a week). So, I decided to just to push it back a few weeks, in hopes of hearing the heartbeat. So, appointment day was finally here. It started with the pile of paperwork. Next up, a nice long meeting with the nurse to hear all of the stuff I've heard twice before all over again. And, take my blood pressure, which of course, per tradition, was high (the retested before I left and it was normal). Then, I met with my midwife for a while. We basically just caught up and went over the basics. I didn't need an exam or anything, so that was nice. And, she did mention that the midwives, and our hospital, now do water births, which is kind of exciting and I'll be looking into that more. She checked for the heartbeat, but we still weren't able to hear it. She said 10-123 weeks is typical (I was 11 at the time), but that it really depends on when the baby moves above the pelvic bone, because the doppler doesn't read through bone. So, no luck this time. She wasn't concerned though, and said my uterus was growing, so I'm trying not to be concerned about it. After that, I stopped into the lad to donate a million vials of blood, and I was no my way. Everything came back normal and so far, so good. I'll be heading back in 4 weeks for a check-up, to FINALLY hear the heartbeat, and for the quad-screening. I already feel like time is flying by!

That same day I let in a couple close friends on our secret, in anticipating of officially going public in the next week or so. Things were getting very real, and we are getting more excited with each passing day.

And, with that, you are up to date on Baby #3!