Hmmm...This Seems Familiar

December 31, 2007...pregnant with Julianna...25 weeks 2 days

December 31, 2009...pregnant with Baby K...25 weeks 1 day

Birthday Presents & A Big Shopping List

I spent some of my afternoon today working on a timeline for our family. Now that Christmas has passed, we have exactly 3 weeks to accomplish our next few goals. Why 3 weeks? Well the first goal is to finish Julianna's birthday presents, a wooden kitchen made by daddy and Grandpa K & something for it made by me (I can't decide between more felt food or a cute apron & chef's hat), and her birthday is 3 weeks from tomorrow, January 19th.

The second goal is to be completely ready for Baby K by January 20. On January 20th, in case you've been living in a hole and not reading my blog, is when I hit 27 weeks and 6 days, aka the dreaded day. That is when Julianna was born. I am determined to be ready before that day.

So, my afternoon was spent searching the internet for ideas for Julianna's present and finishing up my list of things we still need to buy for Baby K. What might we still need to buy for a baby? A whole crapload of stuff. We have all the big stuff, but going from a little girl to a little boy, there are things we cannot (translation: Joe won't let us) use again.

So, here's what we still need to buy:

crib mattress (we have one, but it doesn't quite fit the crib right)
1 more crib sheet
water proof pad (we still use Julianna's on her bed)
1 more changing pad cover (our pink one was donated to Emma)
newborn & 0-3mos onesies
hats
newborn diapers
size 1 diapers
sensitive wipes
bath sponge (we use this in the big tub instead of a baby bathtub)
baby shampoo/soap
baby powder
nice bibs
newborn pacifiers & a Wubbanub (google it, it's a LIFESAVER!)
nipples for bottles
A few more bottles
1 can of formula (just in case)
bottle brush
gas drops
Dreft (got to wash all those baby clothes)

I don't go back to the OB until January 19, which I am NOT happy about, so I am hoping all these preparations (birthday & baby) will keep me occupied so I don't freak out too much.

Our Christmas

Wow, Christmas just flew past this year! Christmas Eve, Julianna and I went to Joe's family's for our Christmas there (sadly, Joe had to work Christmas Eve this year). She had a lot of fun playing with the cousins, and opening her gift and mine. She was so tuckered out, she was asleep before we left there. Thank goodness for her Uncle Daryl who was able to carry her into the house for bed (we had to hitch a ride since I can't lift Julianna into her carseat).

Christmas morning, she slept until almost 8am! (but this morning was up at 6! what gives???) We didn't wrap her table and chairs daddy made her and she immediately went over to it and sat down. Then she saw the gifts under the tree and proceeded to put them all on the table and then sit down to open them. It was too funny!

Getting ready to open her presents.

She definitely had the hang of unwrapping.

Her face lit up when she realized this one was a Veggietales book.

Yay, she liked her felt food!

Daddy...I mean Santa...picked out some cars for her. She loved those too!

I had several "bed rest victims" this Christmas. Those are the people who unfortunately did not get gifts from me since I couldn't go shopping. Joe was one of them. We actually agreed not to get each other gifts...but he didn't listen. I opened a Snuggie. Seriously?? Yes, a Snuggie. I make fun of them all the time and told him he had to wear it first. When I opened it, there was a new phone inside! He was in so much trouble for getting me a gift! But I LOVE it! So I forgave him. :0)

Joe wearing my Snuggie.

Grandma and Grandpa K and Papa Corn and Grandpa S all came over in the morning and brought Julianna a few more things.

She loves her tea set from Grandma & Grandpa K.

The rest of Christmas Day was spent at my parents with aunts, uncles, my parents, my grand parents, and my sister and her family.

Erin painted Ellie's nails for the holidays.

Julianna helping me open a gift.

The kids in PJ's and cowboy hats (from Grandma & Grandpa H)

I love Christmas time and it is even more exciting now that Julianna is getting older! I can't wait for next year!

Merry Christmas

I still can't believe how big Julianna is getting. This is last Christmas...

She wasn't even crawling yet. And now we can hardly get her to sit down for more than a few minutes. We're very excited to have 2 little ones at Christmas next year!

And speaking of our second little one, today is a major milestone for Baby K. Today, I am officially 24 weeks pregnant and Baby K is now considered "viable"! That is huge!!! If something should go really wrong at this point and he would have to be delivered he has a good chance of survival. I am in NO WAY saying that I would be ok with him being born anytime soon, but just knowing he would have a chance is a big relief. What an awesome Christmas gift!

We have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Julianna is healthy and so far hasn't had any major setbacks due to her prematurity. My IC was caught in time to intervene and let Baby K gestate a lot longer. We have family that has been so awesome and helpful lately. This will be a great Christmas.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Bed Rest Be Gone...At Least for Now

I am sooooo thankful that today's OB appointment went well!

I had yet another ultrasound (and found out I will continue to have them at every appointment since I have the cerclage). Joe's mom took me to the appointment today since I still wasn't allowed to drive, and she got to see the ultrasound. I was glad she got to see the little guy (the tech even printed an extra picture for her to have). He looks really good. He did a complete flip during the ultrasound. He is measuring one week ahead and his estimated weight is a whopping 1lb 9oz!

The ultrasound revealed my cervix is now 2.6 cm. That means the cerclage has helped lengthen my cervix about 0.7cm. That is really good. Had my cervix measured less than 2.5cm today, then I would have had to remain on bed rest, but luckily I just squeaked by! SO, NO MORE BED REST!!!!! I still have some funneling, but Dr. O said he isn't too concerned because it hasn't gotten worse.

I still have some restrictions. I still can't pick up Julianna or anything over 15lbs. I am supposed to take it easy when I can. Keep an eye on any contractions or other symptoms of pre-term labor. Oh, and I am not allowed to run any marathons. Those are all things I can live with. I am just so excited to be allowed to drive and lead a semi-normal life again!

Almost Done!

I have posted about making Christmas gifts every year, and promised to post my felt food once it was done. Well, I am almost done, so I thought I would take a break from my bed rest sewing marathon today to post some pictures of the final product.

I started out simple with some sugar cookies. No pattern needed for these goodies. Sew the cookie, stuff and finish sewing. Woohoo, super quick treats!


Next I tried a cupcake. I searched and searched the internet for directions on a cupcake, but alas, since I didn't have ink for my printer to print out the templates, I had to create my own. Luckily it wasn't too hard. Another super easy treat.


I was finally ready for something more tricky. I found a really easy tutorial by Megnificent Made for cake slices here, and just put my own spin on it (I used a sewing machine for a lot of my seams instead of hand stitching-much faster!) I also did some different decorations and such. This is Julianna's finished cake!


I just used a ribbon, velcro and a matching flower button to hold the pieces all together. I altered the directions from Happy Zombie to make the "whipped cream" for the top of the cake.

Julianna will be able to "slice" her cake and serve it to friends (aka Mommy and Daddy). I am so excited to finish the last of her desserts tonight and have her start playing with them on Christmas!

Santa!

I was feeling much better yesterday, so Joe let me go to the PTFD kid's Christmas party..."AS LONG AS" I sat down the whole time and upon getting home, immediately lie down. I did as he said, because I really wanted to A) get out of the house, and B) see Julianna see Santa.

They had some different stations set up so the kids could decorate sugar cookies, watch Rudolph, write letters to Santa or just color on the tables. Julianna chose coloring on the tables (not that we let her choose. Hello? 2 yr old and colored icing and sprinkles? That would be nuts!).


As soon as Santa arrived the kids went nutso! But then immediately all sat in a circle on the floor waiting for him to call their name so they could sit on his lap and get a gift. Julianna sat on daddy's lap waiting.


She was not a huge fan of Santa, but at least did NOT cry. She was much more interested in the present daddy was holding than the guy in the big red suit.

She very quickly unwrapped her gift...2 new wooden puzzles...ooohhh...aaahhh. Daddy only had to help with the ribbon. *So Santa, please don't use ribbons on Julianna's presents for Christmas morning. Thank you, her Mommy*

And then proceeded to play with them for all of 5 minutes before deciding it was way more fun to run up and down the small ramp in the front of the room.

She had a lot of fun and SO DID I! It was so nice to get out of the house even if it was just for an hour or so. I got to have adult conversations! And see some friends we haven't seen for several weeks (or months actually...really sad considering they live less than 5 minutes from us).

Every Year

Every year I decide to make many of our Christmas gifts. Our nieces and nephews always get something I make, and this year Julianna is getting a mostly homemade Christmas. I have managed to finish all the gifts that will be leaving the house, but poor Julianna's gifts are severely lacking. I wanted to make her some felt desserts....I have one cookie done. I wanted to make her a cute tablecloth and placemats for the table and chairs Joe is making her(which still need painted)...not even started.

Christmas is exactly one week from today, and I am sooooo unmotivated to finish her gifts. This happens every year. I make a huge list of gifts I am going to make and I start early. I get a whole lot done very quickly...and then completely fizzle out. Then the last week before Christmas (ok maybe the last few days before Christmas) I have to totally cram to get it all done.

I assumed this year since I was on bed rest, I would have lots of time to get things finished...but nope...I am going to cram to get the gifts done...just like every year.

Sick Kiddo

My sick kiddo :0(

Feeling Like a Crappy Mommy

Julianna started getting pretty cranky tonight after dinner, cranky would be an understatement, sobbing horribly would better describe her. I ended up sitting on the living room floor with her while Joe did the dishes (since I'm not allowed to pick her up and all she wanted was for me to pick her up). I noticed she felt really warm. So, out came the thermometer and a temperature was taken. 102.4

Crap. We have managed to keep her germ free for a little over a year (minus a minor cold earlier this fall), but with a temp that high, we knew she must actually be sick. So she got a quick bath (by daddy) and put in some comfy fleece pj's (thanks daddy). Then daddy sat down to cuddle with her and I said NO!

I feel so badly that I can't pick her up and play with her like I did even a week ago. I've noticed she already has quit asking me for things, and asks daddy instead (sad). So I was very clear that I wanted to comfort my sick baby girl. After some arguing with Joe (he said no because he didn't want me to get sick and I countered with the fact that I have been around her for the last 2 days and I've already been exposed) he finally let her sit with me while he finished tidying up the house.

My mom is coming over tomorrow to take care of Julianna since Joe has to work and I am not allowed. I feel like such a crappy mommy. I felt crappy before she got sick, but now I have a sick baby girl and I can't do anything for her. I feel like a really crappy mommy. I just need to keep telling myself, that as crappy a mommy as I feel to Julianna right now, I am being a really good mommy to Baby K by staying horizontal. I just wish I could feel like a good mommy to both my kiddos right now.

Making My Blog Better

Today was my first day of bed rest with absolutely no one else in the house (but day 4 of bed rest). Julianna spent last night and today at my sister's and is spending tonight at my parents, and Joe is on shift until tomorrow morning. So, I decided I would make a goal for me today (I am a very "need to do things" kind of person, so bed rest in general is a completely foreign idea to me). I would spend my horizontal time making my blog better. I have wanted to change my blog and make it more appealing and fun, so today I did just that (well I started the process).

First thing I wanted to to do was make a button for my blog. I have been so jealous of other blogs that have cute buttons you can add to your blog. I started searching for easy directions on how to make my own button. I was so excited when I found A Heart for Home. There was a super easy tutorial on how to create your own button and then add it to your blog. After only 15 minutes I had created my own button! (This is where you stop reading and add my button to your blog...*not-so-subtle hint*)

My next task was to change the format of my blog. I have wanted 3 columns, but had no idea how to change the HTML to make them. I came across Three Column Blogger which is a blog specifically written to tell you how to make 3 columns in blogger. Wow! I used this tutorial to make 3 columns, and even though I know NOTHING about HTML, I was able to add another column to my blog in just 10 minutes! I am still working on getting the margins fixed (sadly, I think my left column and the main text are kind of squished and I can't seem to get it fixed!).

I then visited Shabby Blogs to get my new background and the fun little tags (the titles for things in my sidebars) to match. I am far from being done with changing my blog, but I was very happy with my progress today. I would say I met my goal...well got a good start at least...and I still have 10 days of bed rest left to keep working on it (fingers crossed I don't have to stay on bed rest!).

An Official Diagnosis and Our Trip to L & D

I now have an official diagnosis...both for me and for Julianna's premature birth...I have an incompetent cervix. This was suspected when Julianna was born but because I was so far into labor with Julianna when I got to the ER, there was no way of really knowing if I dilated and that caused the pre-term labor or if pre-term labor caused me to dilate. I have felt strongly that it was a cervical issue being that I didn't have any of the usual symptoms of pre-term labor with Julianna, but really hoped I was wrong.

It is bittersweet having this diagnosis. I am so happy that we all know and now steps were taken to hopefully prevent Baby K from being premature (aka my cerclage). But I am so sad and frustrated that if we had only known about this with Julianna, then the same steps could have been taken for her. I am so sad that she had to suffer in order to help her baby brother.


For those of you interested, here's how our trip to Labor & Delivery went on Wednesday (by the way, it was the first time I had been there since Julianna was born and that alone almost sent me into a panic). Joe and I got to L&D around 7am (we later found out we were supposed to be there at 6, but the nurse never called to tell us). So I had a rushed hour before my cerclage. Blood work, and excruciating IV was placed in my wrist and lots of questions to answer and papers to sign. Dr O. came in and said things were looking good and the cerclage itself would only take 5-7 minutes to be placed (it would have taken less, but he was going to be teaching a resident).

Then the resident came in and I felt better already. Into my room walked Dr. S (now Chief Resident in L&D), the only doctor I actually remember from Julianna's birth. He was the one who first examined me and told me I was going to have a baby that day. He is such a nice doctor. He has a very calming vibe. And he remembered Joe and I! He immediately stopped and commented that he remembered us and asked all about Julianna. I felt a little bit of relief, but was still getting more and more nervous.


At 8:14, I was taken back to the OR where I had an awful experience getting the spinal block. I had a spinal with Julianna's c-section, but from the little I remember it wasn't that bad. Apparently, for a cerclage the spinal is put in much lower in your back, and I have very tightly spaced vertebra in my lower back...oh and a slight curve to my spine. Those two things together made it very difficult to get the needle in, and it was NOT fun. Then, I waited on the table for 30 minutes because they didn't have the right suture! A problem I think should have been addressed before I had my spinal and was strapped down to the table!

Once the sutures got there, it really was like 5 minutes and it was all done. I spent the next hour in recovery, where, as my spinal wore off I could feel more and more cramping. I was given Motrin and told it was normal. Once I got back to my room, Joe and I just got to hang out for the next 4 hours until I was discharged. During that time the cramping got so bad I had to call the nurse and ask for something else for pain. Now, those of you that know me well, know I don't take drugs normally and especially when I'm pregnant, but it was really bad. Amazingly I was given Vicatin...I had no idea you could even take that while pregnant, but yep you can, and it was WONDERFUL! I was surprised that I felt really good by that evening.

If I am up to much I get more cramping, but as long as I stay off my feet and relax it goes away (I was told that could last up to a week). So for the next 2 weeks, I am on modified bed rest (no picking up Julianna or doing housework, stay off my feet as much as possible, no driving, be up no more than 15 minutes at a time, and some other restrictions). After that I have a follow-up appointment, and hopefully will be taken off bed rest.

I am very hopeful that the cerclage will keep Baby K warm and toasty in my belly for many more weeks. It has an 85-90% success rate and that is great! Thank you to everyone that sent good wishes and kept Baby K and our family in their prayers! Thank you! Thank you!

The Not-So-Happy Post About My Cervix

I had an OB appointment this morning...and it did not go as well as I would have liked.

My appointments for the last 2 months have been pretty much the same. Ultrasound to check out Baby K & the tech tells me what a cute baby I have gestating...ultrasound to check out my cervix & the tech tells me things look good and what my measurement was...then see Dr. O and he says things are good and he'll see me in 2 weeks. Today did not follow the pattern.

Today: ultrasound to check out Baby K & the tech told me I had a cute baby gestating and that he had fat feet (he really does we even got a pic of them!). Then, ultrasound to check my cervix & the tech said nothing. I could see the screen and saw that my measurement was under 2 cm. Then I saw the funneling (basically dilating from the inside out) and I knew it wasn't good. As we waited to see Dr. O, I told Joe things were not good and to expect at least bed rest.

Dr O. came into the room and didn't speak...not good...he made some funny faces too. Then he told us he wasn't happy with my cervical measurements...no kidding...I wasn't either. He said we could do nothing and my cervix could hold up with just bed rest or things could go downhill fast. There is no way of knowing. So he decided to take action.

Tomorrow morning I am getting cerclage. Sigh. I've known since before I was pregnant a cerclage was a possibility and I was OK with it (I'm not going to explain it...you can look it up if you really want to know). Now that it's happening tomorrow I'm not so sure I'm still OK with it. There are some risks, but it has a great success rate, so I am trying to be positive.

Please keep me and Baby K in your thoughts tomorrow morning! This kid really needs to stay put for at least 13 more weeks (I'd be happier with 15!).

Recycled Crayons

Each year I try to make the gifts we give to our nieces and nephews. In past years they have gotten hats, scarves, fabric dollhouses/barns, and other handmade items. This year, I am making felt food for the little girls (pictures of that coming at a later date) and Ian is getting homemade crayons and other art supplies. I used this blog for inspiration and the basic instructions. I changed a few things as I went. A few people have already asked me how to make the crayons, so here are my instructions...

1. Start with old broken crayons, I had a bazillion from my years of teaching, and choose your colors. Then peel off the wrappers (this was by far the worst part of the project! And if you were wondering, yes, you can get a paper cut from a crayon wrapper).
2. Sort the crayons into a muffin tin by color (or mix colors if you want a rainbow crayon). Instead of a regular muffin tin, I bought a silicon shaped muffin "tin".

3. Bake the crayons at 280 degrees for about 25-30 minutes (this is the time in my mold, a metal one will be different). This pic is mid-melting.

4. Once the crayons are completely melted, take them out of the oven and set aside to cool. Since I am NOT a patient person I put mine outside in this chilly weather and they were set in about 30 minutes.

5. After the crayons are cooled and set, turn the tin over and pop them out.

I love how these turned out, but wish the red, orange, and yellow had a little more marbling to them. The green is by far my favorite. The blog I got the directions from suggested adding glitter to the crayons before baking, but I didn't have any. I plan on getting some for my next batch! I also read elsewhere online that you shouldn't use really cheap crayons because the wax and coloring will separate. My crayons are a mixture of Crayola and cheapy ones.

The mold I used is the perfect size for toddler and preschool sized hands! I really hope Ian loves his crayons!

The Dreaded Eye Appointment

Julianna had her eye appointment this morning(by the way, eyes are the only bod part she will regularly point out-I think she just really likes saying it). She gets them checked regularly since preemies are so susceptible to eye problems. She was not a fan of the eye drops to dilate her pupils or when myself and an aid had to hold her down so Dr. B could check her eyes. She did like the little barking dog they had for her to look at. She has no developmental issues and her prescription looked good. YAY!!! She doesn't need to be rechecked for 2-3 years, as Dr. B put it...before she starts kindergarten.

HOLY CRAP! She'll start kindergarten in just over 3 years! The past 2 years have absolutely flown by! I can't believe we only have a month until she's 2. I think she has really grown up in just the last few weeks. She has become much more independent and her speech is really getting better. Potty training is still going slow (thanks to mom's lack of effort-she's ready to go), and she no longer uses her crib for naps (we took it out of her room and that was that). We're so proud of her!

My Little Girl

I know I haven't been posting many pictures on here lately, so I decided that today I would just put up a bunch of pictures of my little girl.

Julianna loves dressing up. She usually can be found wearing a necklace, a hat & a pair of my shoes.

She now says cheese when you take her picture...too cute!

She wanted to wear an apron just like mommy when I was baking for Thanksgiving, this was the best we could do for her.

Happy Thanksgiving! I think she looks so grown up in this picture!

Hanging out with Grandpa H watching Veggietales.

Finally...A Belly Pic

First, I want to say that I am still at home and Baby K and I are both fine. My 2 day absence from the online world spurred several e-mails and a few Facebook messages asking if I was ok. Joe teases me that I am obsessed with being online and said all the worry from friends just proves that I am online way too much if they noticed my absence. I said it just shows that people love me! :0)

Joe was home all weekend and we decided that since it was nice we would try to do some Christmas decorating and get some much needed deep cleaning done around the house. All in all it was a very productive weekend. Our Christmas tree is up as well as most of our inside decorations, and we have some of our outside things up (we still need to put lights in one of our trees).

I have also had several friends (mostly other pregnant mommies) wanting to see pics of my belly. I have been pretty leery of posting any because after looking at their pictures, I am HUGE in comparison! I always measured a little bigger than what I should with Julianna (about a week ahead) but this kiddo weighs about 2 weeks ahead in the ultrasounds. He measures right on track (measuring head and bones), but his estimated weight is more than his gestational age. Luckily it's not a concern.

So, with much hesitation, here is a picture of 20 weeks and 5 days pregnant me (sorry for the sad little cell phone self portrait).

Snow!

Julianna really noticed snow for the first time this morning. I opened the front door and she stood there amazed yelling "noo!" (translation: snow).


When I closed the door (it was getting chilly in the living room!), she ran over to her chair and pushed it up against the window and climbed onto it so she could see out the window. The only thing that was able to pull her away from the snow were waffles...food will get her attention every time.

Booooring

Not much to write about lately, life is pretty boring, and I LOVE it! As long as life stays boring that means there is nothing exciting (aka bad) happening.

Just your average everyday happenings. Julianna slept late again...yippee! Sewed some more of her felt food for Christmas as well as some for Ellie (maybe Emma too). Spent some time thinking about Thanksgiving and all the yummy desserts that come with it. I did some laundry today. Washed my dishes. Went to the grocery store and bought some more flavored decaf coffee. Picked up Julianna's toys only to have them all scattered again in a matter of minutes. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner...as well as several snacks. Yep, boring.

I'm enjoying the boring.

Hallelujah!

Since the time change 3 weeks ago, Julianna has been getting up anywhere between 5:45 and 6:30am. Before the time change, she would sleep until 7:30 or 8am. Yesterday, Julianna slept until 7:40am! As if that wasn't fabulous enough...today, she slept until 8:10am! It was amazing to wake up on my own when I was ready and not to "mom, mom, mom, mom" at 6am.

I am hoping her sleeping late will become an everyday thing! Fingers are crossed for tomorrow morning.

Baby Boy Update and the Rantings of a Paranoid Pregnant Woman

Baby Boy update...
I had another OB appointment this past Tuesday. We got the routine ultrasound and Baby Boy K looked good, although he wasn't being very kind to the inside of my body...seems he thinks some of my organs and such are his personal kick boxing dummies. He is currently breech, but that isn't an issue since I'll have a c-section anyways.

And now the ranting...
I thinned only slightly, but still measured 2.8cm when you round up. But what concerns me is that my OB has decided to make my cervical checks every 3 weeks instead of every 2. As if waiting 2 weeks doesn't scare that crap out of me as it is...lets add another week of worry and stress. On top of that, he said that after 24 weeks he is going to put me back on a monthly appointment schedule. He said his concern of IC would pass at 24 weeks...I am not convinced.

So I will have another appointment at 22 weeks and then at 24 weeks...then I don't have another until 28 weeks. 28 WEEKS!!! You know the week after the week Julianna was born. Yeah, let's make the woman who is going to be the ABSOLUTE most paranoid between Christmas and January 20 not have any kind of peace of mind and be totally in the dark about possible dilation and pre-term labor.

I think I would be calmer about the whole thing if I had known I was in labor with Julianna...but I didn't! I had NO idea what-so-ever! I didn't know I was dilated! I didn't feel any contractions! I had NO inkling that I was in active labor! I wouldn't have even gone to the hospital except for a nagging feeling something was "off". What if I don't know this time either? I can't trust that nagging feeling...I get it every other day this pregnancy.

Now to stop talking about it...calm down...and try to relax...sigh...

Baby Boy is still good and that's what is really important...as it was so eloquently put to me once I am just the "vessel".

Fight for Preemies

*I meant to post this yesterday, November 17.

500,000...half a million...that's how many babies are born prematurely every year. That number is staggering considering all the medical advances these days. That's 500,000 babies that didn't get enough time to develop and grow before birth.

Some will grow up to have no side effects or indications that they were preemies, but many will have lasting scars. Many premature babies will have physical limitations, developmental delays, and even learning problems once they reach school age. Premature babies are more susceptible to illness. Maybe not getting the illness itself, but to complications from getting sick. I have written more than once about Maddie, a little girl in CA, that even though she was healthy, she developed complications from a cold and died. Prematurity was listed as one of the causes of death on her death certificate.

Prematurity is a problem that can follow a baby all the way through school and into adulthood. March of Dimes is currently doing a campaign to end prematurity. We organize a team to walk in the March for Babies each spring to help raise money for MOD. Please visit their site to see how you can help.

500,000...half a million...Julianna was one of those 500,000 in 2008 and I am fighting to make sure Baby Boy K doesn't become one of them in 2010.

Hmmm...

Once I pass the day after Julianna's birthday (the day I hit 27 weeks 6 days) will I breath a sigh of relief and worry less about this pregnancy?

Paw-ee

I haven't really been applying myslef to Julianna's potty training lately...ok, or at all. It's been a pretty random occurance for her to use the potty. We tend to put her on it before her bath or before a nap, but haven't really been trying yet. I just haven't had the energy I need to put forth a good effort.

Last Monday morning, Julianna said "paw-ee" to Joe (translation: potty). So he took her up to the bathroom and she went potty. I was impressed, but still not putting a lot of effort into her training. She repeated the request and action on Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and yesterday. But that was it...just once a day...in the morning.

This morning, Julianna has told us "paw-ee" three times and has used the potty all three times. She is definitely ready to be potty trained. I decided my energy issues need to be put aside, and effort will now be put into potty training.

Paw-ee...It's on!

Being in the NICU Again...

Last night, I went to our monthly preemie parent support meeting at the hospital where Julianna was born. I go every month and have since she was born. It's always really nice to see the moms we were in the NICU with, talk to the moms who are there now, and basically do a lot of networking to get any advice or help that Julianna might need. These meetings are held just inside the NICU in their family lounge, but you don't actually go into the NICU, where the babies are. I haven't been back there since Julianna was discharged. Last night, I went back there.

I found out yesterday (through FB), that a friend of mine from high school had her baby early. He was born 7 weeks early. I decided that since I would already be at the NICU, I would see if she was there and maybe say hello. She was there, and asked me if I wanted to come back and see Baby M. Of course! And then it got a little weird for me.

I scrubbed in, for the first time in almost 20 months.

I walked though the inner door and followed her to Baby M's room.

And then I peeked through the door to see a little baby in an isolette, and I got choked up.

I wasn't expecting it. I figured it would be easy because I was seeing someone else's baby, it wasn't my baby. But it wasn't easy. And I was flung right back to when it was my baby. And then I took a deep breath and started answering the questions, she and her family had.

It felt good to be able to use my NICU knowledge to help someone else. To explain the monitor, to let her know that Baby M having some brady's is ok, to show her where some things in the NICU are located. More than once she said, "Lindsay's little girl was born at 27 weeks and she is doing good". I am glad that something that once brought us such heartache is helping someone else feel better.

I am terrified that we will be there again come late winter. I had originally set a goal of 34 weeks for this pregnancy. I just wanted to make it to 34 weeks. But last night showed me that I don't want anything less than "full-term" (full-term meaning no NICU stay). I'll be happy as long as I have a healthy little boy, but will be even happier, ecstatic, if he gets to come home when I do.

I am happy to say Baby M is doing fabulous! And I hope he continues to grow and thrive!

O-H-I-O

Yesterday, Joe and Julianna and I went to Columbus with his family (his mom & dad, Sandy and her girls). It was a whole day trip. We left about 8:30am, drove a little while and stopped for breakfast, then drove the rest of the way.

We went to the OSU campus first (Sandy is a proud OSU graduate) and walked around. We went into the newly renovated library, down to Mirror Lake, and then to the amphitheater. We finished our campus trip at Long's (of course) and got all the girls some OSU paraphernalia. Julianna got her first buckeye necklace, a Brutus finger puppet & then daddy of course had to get her a mini OSU football.

After getting a late lunch, we headed south to the Veteran's Memorial Center to watch the OSU Marching Band's season concert. Julianna LOOOOOOVED it! You could definitely tell which songs she knew (Fight song, Carmen Ohio, etc..) because she got really excited and danced like crazy. After every single song she would clap wildly and yell "yay!". The concert was really good!

After the concert, we got back on the road, stopped for some dinner, and got home about 9:30pm. It was a fun day, but I learned I probably shouldn't push myself that hard. It's been awhile since I've done that much walking and spent that much of my time on my feet. I got home and my back hurt, I was having BH contractions, and was just overall exhausted, but it was so worth it just to get a picture like this...

O-H-I-O!

Jenna, Julianna, Marissa & Kayla in the OSU Amphitheater.

1 Down...18 More To Go

I had my first P17 shot today...the initial shot itself wasn't bad. My OB set it up for a visiting nurse to come to our house every week and do a maternal-fetal assessment (take my temp, blood pressure, listen to my heart & lungs and then listen to the baby's heartbeat with a doppler) and then give me my injection. The nurse that came today was really nice.

The meds, syringes and anaphylactic kit(in case I have an allergic reaction to it) all came by Fed Ex yesterday. The syringe has a really small needle, which is great, unfortunately the progesterone is mixed with an oil, so it is really really really thick. It took a good 30 seconds once the needle was in my hip for the nurse to inject all the meds. After the first 10 seconds it started to burn. After the next 10 seconds it really stung.

It's been about an hour since I got the shot, and I don't feel too bad, my hip's just a little sore. But I will deal with whatever I have to in order to avoid another NICU stay and have a full-term baby boy!

1 down...18 more to go!

I'm going to countdown my shots on the right side of my blog.

It's A.........

BOY!!! Julianna is going to have a little brother come springtime!

So after a super anxious morning (made my self nauseous thinking about what could happen), we had a great OB appointment. It was our big ultrasound where they checked out the baby and made sure it was growing ok and stuff. All is good on the baby front! Developing normally and quite the mover! I have been feeling some rolling sensations and a kick or two, but holy cow he barely wanted to stay still!

On the cervix front, I have not thinned anymore since my last appointment, which was a HUGE relief. I am not out of the woods by any means. Weeks 16-24 (I am 17 today) are the most critical for people with IC (incompetent cervix) and since we still aren't sure what caused Julianna's early birth, I could still have issues and end up with a cerclage. I now go back every 2 weeks for a cervical check and ultrasound. We are continually praying that things go well! And want to say thanks to everyone who has been saying a prayer for us and BABY BOY K!!

Just like we did with Julianna's pregnancy, we have announced what sex the baby is, but we are not going to be sharing any of our name choices until he makes his arrival. Although Joe has dubbed him BJ (I am not going to share with the world his reasoning for the name BJ-you really don't want to know).

Please keep a fellow mommy in your prayers too. Melissa (a friend from my mom's group) is due a few days before me and is carrying twin girls (she knew Baby A was a girl but found out Baby B was a girl this morning too!) and is high-risk for complications. I haven't talked to her yet, but I know her appointment this morning didn't go as well as mine did. So please pray for the three of them!

Here's the pics from today's ultrasound!

I refer to the face picture as the creepy skeleton face (I said the same thing about Julianna)

This one is pretty self explanatory. The u/s tech (who is AWESOME) just drew an arrow because she said it was so obvious. I have to agree!

Let's Get Ready!

It's odd. Today, I got this sudden excitement over getting ready for Baby K. I mean, I have been excited about the baby and our growing family, but today, I got all let's look at baby things and start picking out names (nope, we haven't even thought about any yet) because we have a baby coming...YAY A BABY!

Not sure what brought it on...

Maybe it's because we didn't really get ready for Julianna. The first baby thing I ever bought wasn't until Christmas (a bib for Joe that said "I love daddy") and that was less than a month before she was born. We had bought, fixed up and painted a changing table. But that was it. We didn't get anything else ready, then she was suddenly here. I kind of feel like I missed that excitement of getting ready, so I want it this time.

Maybe it's because tomorrow's OB appointment could be a BIG one for us. I am hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst. If my cervix has thinned much more then I will most likely end up with a cerclage and be on bed rest (at least for awhile) and not be able to prepare for the baby (except via lots of internet shopping) and I would sadly miss out on it again (but if that's what it takes for a healthy baby-I'll take it!) So maybe I just want to spend what could be my last "free" day to get some things ready.

Maybe it's because we will hopefully be finding out if Baby K is a boy or a girl tomorrow too! Then I can really start preparing! If it's a girl, we're set, we have everything from Julianna (the right seasons too! Their due dates are only 1 day off). But if it's a boy...here we go a shopping! Erin has somethings from Ian she said we could have, but if she's having a boy then she will need them.

Maybe it's because if this baby is a boy then we will probably be done with kids(it all depends on how smoothly the rest of this pregnancy goes) and this could be my last pregnancy. I want to enjoy it as much as possible and do all the fun pre-baby things.

Maybe it's simply because I have energy this morning. This is the first time in months that I don't feel like I need a nap by 9am. I am in a shopping mood, and that is unusual for me lately.

Maybe it's because Julianna has kissed my belly like 20 times already this morning. I love that when I ask her where the baby is she kisses my belly & today I haven't even asked...she just keeps kissing my belly. She is going to love her baby brother or sister!

Not sure what I am going to do today, but it will definitely be something to get ready for Baby K!

A Ghost Story for Halloween

Since it's Halloween, and after reading an inspirational post by my friend Sarah (and some encouragement on her part via facebook), I have decided to follow in her footsteps and write about some of my own personal experiences with the paranormal.

Some of you may know that I grew up in a very old house...I'm talking 150 years old (pretty sure it was built in 1852?). My family no longer lives there, but the stories we have from the house still get told frequently.

My parents bought the house before I was born for a ridiculously low price. It had been sitting completely empty for almost 20 years, but there was not a single broken window or sign of any vandalism, which they thought was odd. The day they moved in, the neighborhood kids asked my parents if they had seen him yet? The "him" they referred to was the "doctor". My parents thought nothing of it.

My mom had a just a few experiences before she had my sister and I, mostly just odd noises and such, but it wasn't until I was a little bit older that things really started getting spooky. My baby pj's would be laid out after my bath, even though my mom hadn't gotten them out. I would tell her about the man outside my window (on the second story), the man that could climb up our walls (I would see him when I was with her and tell her), and the biggest was my imaginary friend Cumminger.

Cumminger was (as I described him) an old man with a white pony tail, short pants, a ruffly shirt and buckles in his shoes. I would play games with him and have conversations with him. But one day when I was 4, I became scared of him. I'm not sure why, I don't remember much of him, but my mom said suddenly I would refuse to go into my room when he was there, and I didn't want her to leave Erin upstairs when he was there. My mom said that didn't last long, eventually my imaginary friend went away.

My sister also saw him when she was older. She told my dad one night that she was afraid to go to bed because of the man that was always sitting on the end of their bed when she walked past their room. She described my imaginary friend, Cumminger, perfectly. This kind of spooked my mom (ok, so she had been spooked for years by then), so she decided to do some research into our house. She learned that a Quaker doctor used to live in the house (our home town used to have a lot of Quakers) and that his name was...dum dum dum...Dr. Cummings. She also found a picture of him and guess what...his white hair was in a pony tail and he was wearing a ruffly shirt.

There are more stories than I have have enough room to write about...but there's always next year

Apple Core...Baltimore...

So yesterday I mentioned that we have some big trees in our backyard, well we have an enormous oak tree in our front yard. It is right beside our driveway next to our neighbor's fence. These days it's obviously dropping a leaf or two...or bazillion!

This is what I found when I tried to get in my car today!

The neighbors to our north are an older couple, who have been less than neighborly to us since we bought the house. We wave and say hello, in return, they turn away. At 6:00 in the morning, he is outside working on his old car (that apparently needs a new exhaust) and wakes up Julianna. After we mow our yard, they come out and sweep their driveway, even though we are very careful not to blow grass on it. Since we have owned the house (which is 6 months) they are the only neighbors we have never even talked to.

Well, our giant oak tree seems to be the latest battle in our little feud. Before I go into recent events, I need to make it known that there are no branches in the north side of our tree...none. Before we bought the house, they cut off every limb, branch and twig that crossed the property line. So our gorgeous oak tree is really only half a gorgeous oak tree.

For some reason silently feuding over a tree and it's leaves reminds me of Donald Duck and Chip and Dale. They of course are grumpy Donald and Joe and I are the ornery Chip and Dale. I have seen her outside sweeping leaves off of their driveway and mumbling under her breath. Joe actually said hi to her the other day while she was sweeping and I think she grunted and turned away.

Today I could hear them outside doing more mindless yard work (they seriously sweep their driveway at least twice a day). When I went outside all the leaves that had fallen in their yard from our tree had been raked up and dumped into our side yard. Seriously?!?! I mean, who does that? Is it really necessary to give us back the leaves that the wind blew into your yard? I really want to go out tonight and spread them (along with a few others) all over their driveway. But I am a bigger person than that, and will just deal with their rudeness.

But we all know who wins in the end of every Chip and Dale/Donald Duck cartoon...

Apple core

Baltimore

Who's your friend?

SPLAT!

*Sorry for the giant run on paragraph...blogger wouldn't let me space paragraphs tonight.

Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere!

Our backyard has several large trees...and I mean one is freakin' huge. Due to these large trees, we have an overabundance of leaves. They're everywhere! Yesterday, we took Julianna out and raked up a pile for her to play in. She had a lot of fun.

She loved when we would throw leaves in the air.

The neighbor has already cleaned all of the leaves out of their yard. We're such slackers.

Joe isn't really fond of my camera. He doesn't like using it, because he says it's too complicated and he's afraid he'll break it. I have taught him the basic point and shoot setting on it and I think he did an excellent job taking all these pictures! They're great!