35/35

Holy hell!  I am 35 weeks today. How in the world did that happen???

There are times when I have felt like this pregnancy is dragging on forever.  Particularly on these days with temps in the 90's and humidity at 99%.  It's pretty miserable carting around an extra 30 lbs in this kind of weather.  When the weather guy classifies the day's forecast as "super muggy" I want to cry.

Then there are times (like today) when I think "Holy cow - this thing is flying!".  It's gone by much quicker because I don't have the time to sit and dwell on it and obsess over every little thing.  Really, there's no sitting around when there is a crazy toddler demanding attention (and he HAS gotten quite demanding lately.  "Mommy - you sit here!").

I think I've been putting things off because I kept saying 'Oh, we have plenty of time.'.  Well, time is running out.  35 days left.  And that is IF he stays in for the long haul (please god don't let that happen!).  Andrew made his grand entrance 15 days early, so if this little dude follows suit he could be here in less than 3 weeks. Eek! (Yes, I know - it's possible he could try to stay past his due date, but he will be evicted if he tries that.)

So yeah, that is my mindset at the moment.  We're having another baby and he'll be here before we know it.  Oh my!

And on to my 35 week update:

How far along? 35w0d and baby is the size of a coconut.  I've seen some very different sized coconuts so that doesn't tell me much. He should be about 18 inches and 5.5 lbs at this point according to my little Sprout app on my phone.  Right now he's mostly just gaining weight and getting less wrinkly as he plumps up.

Weight loss/gain:  32 lbs. Blah.

Maternity clothes: I've pretty much completely given in to maternity clothes except some of my regular long length tops. I refuse to buy any more clothes at this point so I'll have to make do with what I have for the next few weeks.

Symptoms:  I'm tired and uncomfortable. Occasional hip pain, but nothing unbearable.

Sex (of baby):  It's a BOY!!!

Name: I was finishing up my list yesterday. Maybe we'll talk about it on our 4 hour car ride on Sunday and make some sort of decision.

Sleep: Sleep is as good as it can be at this point I guess.  I am still fighting this damn cold (thanks Andrew) so the congestion isn't helping.

Best moment this week? Another good appt with my OB and hearing his nice strong heartbeat.

Movement: He's a strong little bugger. And I really wish I knew how he is situated in there since I feel stuff all over the place.

Food cravings:  I ingest produce like it's my job.

Belly button in or out?  In, but weird and shallow with a funny little ridge. I think my belly button piercing scar on top and surgery scar underneath (from my gall bladder removal back in '96) have kept it in.

What I miss?  Having energy.

What I'm looking forward to?  We leave on Sunday for our last little vacation as a family of 3. I cannot WAIT to get the hell out of this humidity for a few days. Lake Adger here we come! (And yes, I cleared it with my OB.).

Milestones:  35/35!

What I'm nervous about: Two kids. What were we thinking?!?

And here I am this morning:

And a front shot:

Naps

This past weekend we tried cutting back naps in an effort to see if it would help with the nighttime sleep issues.  Originally the plan was to start naps in his new room, but after a hellish week of getting him to sleep at night we changed plans.

Friday morning at 11:30 I got a call from Andrea that he had thrown up at daycare so I had to go pick him up.  He was fine when I got there, so I brought him home and figured he'd play while I worked.  Well, after about 30 mins I noticed he was quiet and glanced over to see this:

He hadn't slept well the night before so I wasn't surprised that he passed out like that. I was surprised that his nap only lasted 30 mins and then he was raring to go.  On the plus side, that night we got him down to sleep at 9:00 with no resistance.  He did wake up screaming at 10:30 and it made me fear that maybe he had an ear infection, but we got him down again and he slept until 8:00 the next morning.

Saturday we took him to the doctor just to get his ears checked because he wouldn't let me touch them and he said that they hurt (he lies).  After an epic meltdown at the doctor we got the all clear that he was fine. So we went and did some shopping (black out curtains for his current room and a baby gate for his new room's doorway).  He got in a 30 min catnap in the car on the way home. I tried getting him out and laying him down on his new bed, but within two mins he was up and running around.  We went to meet some friends at Blackbeard's Cove (a little family amusement place) and he ran and played for hours.  We went to dinner afterwards and didn't get home until 8:00.  After a quick bath, milk, books and rocking he was in the crib with no protests and passed out for the night.

Sunday we stayed at home, but he was outside running around while J cut the grass and I picked the garden.  We figured we'd keep him up for the day since he was showing no signs of slowing down.  That is, until 4:30.  He had been playing and jumping on the couch until he all of a sudden got quiet.  That's when I found this:

He napped like that for an hour while J and I made dinner. I was just about to wake him up when he started stirring.  He was in a good mood after his little nap and he went down that night at 9:00 with little fight.

Yesterday he woke up at 6:10 (we normally get him up at 7:00) and I had barely slept so I decided to work from home. Good thing since I got a phone call around 11:30 that he had thrown up again.  I blame the fact that we all have this stupid summer cold and all the mucous running into his stomach is most likely aggravated by drinking milk. I went and picked him up and he was fine all day.  I asked him several times if he wanted to lay down and he, of course, always said "No!".  He did relax with me for a little while and found that his baby brother makes a good pillow:

I tried getting him to lay down with me in his new room, and he did for all of ten minutes, but then he was ready for playtime again.

Then 5:30 hit.  He kept running into his room, trying to climb into the crib and shouting "I go to bed! I go to bed!".  I felt so bad, but I couldn't put him down that early.  If I did I knew he would be up by 4:00 AM.  We did our best to distract him for a little while.  He got an early bath at 6:00 and then we gave him a little something to eat (dinner is normally before bath). While he was sitting in his high chair he was struggling to keep his eyes open.  I finally took pity on him and decided we weren't going to make the 7:00 goal.  J took him in his room and read to him while rocking in the recliner.  By 6:50 he was out like a light and into the crib.  He made some noise at 5:00 this morning, but fell back to sleep until 7:00.  12+ hours of sleep - something that hasn't happened in quite some time.

So I guess if the past few days have taught me anything it's that he is not ready to get rid of naps altogether yet.  I think we are good to shorten them, though, and 30-60 mins seems to be the magic time.  He still needs to recharge his batteries a little every afternoon, but we don't want to let him get fully charged with a long nap.  This parenting thing really is trial and error, huh?

Exhaustion at 34 Weeks

I am freaking tired. No matter how tired I am it still seems to take me an hour to fall asleep at night. And I don't stay asleep - I feel like I'm up every hour or hour and a half to pee, or because my hip is killing me, or because I hear a noise.

On top of that, Andrew's sleep has gone all to hell. We used to be able to get him to bed by 8:30 at the latest.  Lately he is resisting. He's not wanting to go to sleep and when we put him down he spends 30 mins to an hour playing in the crib or fussing and crying.

Last night was the worst night yet.  I could tell he was tired. His eyes were red and you could see just by looking at him that he was sleepy.  But he still didn't want to go to bed. I red some books with him and rocked him, but he wouldn't settle.  Rocking him is getting increasingly difficult for me because he squirms and digs his knees into my belly. I get frustrated and upset and can't deal with it for long.  Last night I had him in the crib at 9:00.  He played for a little bit and then we heard him start crying.  J went in to rock him for 10 mins or so.  He was nicely settled, but as soon as he was put back in the crib he started crying.

I refused to go back in there because I feel like he is just doing it so we'll go to him. I figured he would cry and fuss for 10 mins and then go to sleep.

I was wrong.

He cried for an hour before he gave up.  So he didn't fall asleep until 10:30 and then we had him up at 7:00.  I know he has to be tired, but he's currently running around like a madman driving me crazy (because I am exhausted).

What happened to my great sleeper?  I miss the kid that was easy to put down and who slept 11+ hours at night. It's gotten to the point that I absolutely dread bedtime, because it's a constant battle.  No wonder I'm having anxiety about moving him to his big kid bed...

And on to this week's check in:

How far along? 34w0d and baby is the size of a butternut squash. He should be about 18 inches and 4.5 lbs at this point.  His pupils react to light and his finger and toenails are growing longer.

Weight loss/gain:  31 lbs. Ugh.

Maternity clothes: I think all pants are maternity with the exception of some yoga pants and pj pants.  Shirts are 50/50 and I still fit into some regular dresses.

Symptoms:  I'm freaking tired.

Sex (of baby):  It's a BOY!!!

Name: I started my list and then got distracted. We really need to get on that.

Sleep: MY Sleep is ok, but Andrew's is not and it's taking it's toll.

Best moment this week? I guess setting up Andrew's big boy room.

Movement: A lot. I almost wish he would drop so he would get the hell out of my ribs.

Food cravings:  I ate an entire watermelon this week by myself. And I want more.

Belly button in or out?  In.  Slightly shallow, but I don't see it popping.

What I miss?  Feeling good.

What I'm looking forward to?  I found out this week that our awesome photographer who has done our family pictures twice is having a special on newborn photo sessions, so I booked one for this little guy. I'm so excited to get some good newborn photos instead of just the ones that the photographer at the hospital does (Andrew's came out great, but there weren't many options). I'm debating on the maternity photos still.

Milestones:  6 weeks (or hopefully less!) to go.

What I'm nervous about:  The exhaustion of dealing with a newborn on top of dealing with my hyper toddler.

And this week's pictures.

And the head on shot:

How is it Possible?

This past weekend while setting up the new room for Andrew I was also going through his old clothes to find all of the newborn and 0-3 month size stuff for the new little guy.  In the one box I found the little fitted sleeper that Andrew came home from the hospital in. I was taken aback as just how small it is.  I mean, how is it possible that he ever fit into this:

The one on the left is the size he fits into now, although we have stopped with the footie pjs for the time being.  The one on the right is what he wore home from the hospital. And it was big on him at the time.  It seriously blows my mind that he was that small.  Especially when I look at my rambunctious little toddler tearing through our house like the crazy Tasmanian devil that he is.

What blows my mind even more is that in 4-6 weeks we are going to have another little munchkin that will hopefully fit into those little newborn clothes (yes, I would like for this kid to be about the same size as Andrew just for my ease and comfort).  It's really hitting me nowadays.  Holy cow - we're having another baby!

Progress!

No, I'm not dilating or having contractions or anything. I'm talking about finally making progress on Andrew's new room and preparing for baby.

We finally emptied everything out of the closet in the former guest room and got everything out of the dresser in there.  I don't really like that dresser, but I guess I'll concede on it for now (it's J's grandfather's so it's an antique and it's not like we can just pitch it).  We also pulled everything out of the walk in closet in the old master bedroom to reorganize and purge - goodwill hit the jackpot this weekend.

Anyway, I am happy that we finally made some progress. Andrew's new bed is all made up:

Yes, that's right. We're crazy and planning on moving Andrew straight from a crib to a queen size bed.  We still have the bed rails to put on to hopefully keep him somewhat contained and plan on getting them on sometime this week.

Andrew seemed happy to lounge on his bed watching some cartoons yesterday morning:

Even though I hate the dresser we're still using it, but with the drawers lined and the bottoms soaped to help ease the sliding it's not awful:

I spent yesterday morning moving all of his clothes from his current nursery to his new dresser and closet. I even got Andrew to help with the socks since he loves to put socks away.  And he has so much more drawer space in his new room that they look kind of empty.  That just means I can get him more clothes  :)

Once he went down for his nap yesterday we went to work putting up the curtain rod for the curtains and black out panels.  Those things rock - his room is pitch black when they're closed:

We also, against my better judgement, mounted the tv that was in there to the wall..  I don't think he needs a tv in his room and I'm sure we'll be judged to high heaven for putting it in there, but for now at least it's there.  We need to get shelves to fit underneath it so I will be on the lookout for some.  For now there is a chair there for the cable box, but that obviously is not staying once he is actually in the room:

We also still need to hang the little animal pictures things on the wall. For now they are resting on the headboard and Andrew sees it as a challenge to jump on the bed and knock them down:

So it's not done and he isn't really in it yet, but at least we've made some progress.  And so far Andrew seems to like it:

Now to figure out how to get him to actually sleep on the bed and not just dance/jump on it!

Under 50 (33 weeks)

That's right folks - less than 50 days until this little munchkin is scheduled to arrive.  And if Mother Nature takes any pity on me whatsoever it will be less than the 49 days until my EDD.  

Dealing with the heat and humidity the last couple weeks have been brutal. This past Sunday Andrew wanted to play outside.  We had the jump castle set up and we played in there for a little while, until I couldn't take it any more.  I dragged out his pool and got the hose to fill it up.  Andrew was upset when I made him go inside so we could change.  I told him that if he wanted to stay outside we had to go in and put on our swimsuits because if I was going to be outside I had to be in water.

Unfortunately our back yard doesn't have that much in the way of shade trees - just palms - but I was able to put the pool in a little bit of shade which made our 30 mins outside bearable.  Now if only I could get him to agree to sit in the pool with me for the next 5 - 7 weeks...

And on to this week's check in:

How far along? 33w0d and baby is the size of a durian.  WTF is that, you ask?  It's this:

He should be about 17.5 inches and 4 lbs at this point.  His bones are hardening and he's keeping his eyes open when awake now.

Weight loss/gain:  30 lbs. Blah.

Maternity clothes: Pretty much all pants are maternity, except for some shorts with elastic waists and my pj pants.  I got a bunch of tall length shirts from Old Navy and they came in this week. They work perfectly and give me a little more variety with shirts at least.

Symptoms:  The cherries and tea combo is working wonders on the constipation.  Now I'm dealing with hip pain, especially when I get up in the morning.  I asked my OB about it because I was worried since the hip pain didn't start with Andrew until right before he was born.  She said that with subsequent pregnancies things happen earlier and that it's just my body remembering.  If I feel any real pressure or contractions I should call, but for now I shouldn't worry.

Sex (of baby):  It's a BOY!!!

Name: Still haven't made a decision. Ugh.

Sleep: Sleep is ok - not great but not awful.  I wake up a lot but normally fall back to sleep with no problems.

Best moment this week? I guess that would be having another good appt and hearing his heartbeat again.

Movement: He moves all over the place.  It makes me nervous how active he is at nighttime because I wonder if that means he'll be that active at night once he's out, too.  The other night J had his arm draped across my belly when we went to sleep and the little dude was doing a jig in there. He asked "How can you sleep with that happening?".  My response?  "Why do you think I'm so tired?!?"

Food cravings:  I ate two cantaloupes over the past couple days.  And there is an entire watermelon sitting on our kitchen counter waiting for me to cut into it. I love fruit.

Belly button in or out?  In.  Slightly shallow, but I don't see it popping.

What I miss?  A good hard workout and being able to move around without groaning.

What I'm looking forward to?  We've planned a little vacation for the end of this month when our daycare is closed.  We booked a little cabin on Lake Adger up in NC and I can't wait!

Milestones:  As stated above - less than 50 days! Eeeek!!

What I'm nervous about:  Starting to worry about what we'll do when I go into labor. It was easy the first time around - just get up and go to the hospital. Now we have to think about who is going to watch Andrew while we're in the hospital.

And this week's pictures.  I feel huge.

Giant Long Weekend Photo Dump

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after being out of the office all last week (I worked from home Mon-Wed) and I don't have the mental capacity to do anything in depth to talk about our nice long holiday weekend. Instead I'll just show you what we've been doing the past 5 or so days:

We went to the beach to hang out with friends:

And braved the crowds for the 4th of July:

We shoved as many kids as we could into the jump castle:

I hit 32 weeks:

We went to see the Angel Oak (estimated between 400 and 500 years old):

And passed out for a nap after a big lunch:

Had some down time watching le Tour (and some Mickey):

Found out the munchkin can still squeeze himself into the Bumbo:

Took a bike ride to Hampton Park:

And fed the ducks a bunch of goldfish crackers:

Even this creepy looking little guy:

It was a great 5 days filled with friends, food, sun, rain, tantrums and naptime.  We didn't get much accomplished besides relaxing (and canning even more tomatoes), but we had fun.  Now if I can only get through an actual 5 day work week we'll be ok.

I hope you all had a great 4th filled with family, friends and fun!

Growing Up

There is no denying it, my little munchkin is growing up.

In my head he is still the fuzzy headed little little guy crawling around getting into everything that he can. Or the wobbly legged little cutie taking his first faltering steps.

In reality he is a full blown two year old with his own ideas and opinions.  He knows what he wants and what he likes (or doesn't like). He's funny. He's demanding.  He's sweet - and about a million other things. The one thing he is not anymore is a baby.

It strikes me every time I look at him.  When I see him standing there looking like a little boy, like my own little Dennis the Menace:

Every time I think that a certain age is my favorite, he grows even more and does something different and I change my mind and think that that is my favorite.  He seems to learn something new and different every single day. He constantly surprises me with the things that he says and does.

The other day we went to the grocery store. Harris Teeter has  mini shopping carts for little kids.  I never in a million years would have thought that letting him push one around the store was a good idea, but it was.  He was happy as a clam to follow mommy around the grocery store, shopping like a big boy.  And I only had to chase him down once  :)

He's become this little person.  He has conversations with me and tells me what he wants to do.  Of course he's also become a full blown two year old as far as the tantrums go, but that's another post for another day.

So yeah, he's not a baby anymore. He's turning into a big boy right before my very eyes.  There's nothing I can do to stop it or even slow it down.  So instead I'm going to take it all in. I'm going to enjoy watching my little guy turn into a bigger little guy  And in less than two months I'm going to enjoy seeing him take on another role - big brother.  If he is anywhere near as good of a big brother as he is a little son he is going to be amazing.