Ryan is 2 Months Old!

 

Well here we are, two months in with baby Ryan. I'm happy to report that at two months old he is happy, smiley, content and just a plain ol' joy to be around.

The month sure didn't start out that way though. From about week three until just last week he would just fuss and fuss and fuss in the evenings. During the day he was a happy little mellow guy, but once the clock hit 5pm he lost it and screamed bloody murder every night until 10pm when he'd finally give up and fall asleep. Zach and I honestly thought we were going to lose our minds. Nothing soothed him. It was frustrating to say the least. I thought for sure we had a case of colic and was bracing myself for a rough couple months when one day it stopped. Just.... stopped. Alrighty then!! He's been happy and content ever since. Let's hope I didn't just jinx it!

 Until three days ago he still slept in our room in the Rock n Play. He slept really, really well in that thing. At 7 weeks he slept through the night for the first time (almost 9 hours) and did that for several nights including one 10 hour night! Prior to that he was only getting up once a night after a good 6 hour stretch. Then I decided it was time to get him in the crib before he got much older. He was starting to seem uncomfortable getting to big for it. The transition has been tough but easier than I thought it would be. We are back down to only one wake up a night but we'll see how it goes. He also figured out how to bust out of the Miracle Blanket (I honestly don't know how he does it. David never got out of it and he was a little houdini too!) so we are trying out different swaddles until something works. He can't have his hands out or he will wake himself up. But, overall I definitely cannot complain about his sleeping! It's a dream! I never even imagined such a good sleeping baby! David didn't sleep through the night till he was six months old and even then it wasn't consistent!  Ryan takes good naps too. Usually two long ones in the morning and afternoon then catnaps in-between. He's going to bed around 8-9 right now but will hopefully transition to 7 soon.

He's not a super cuddly baby. If he's awake he prefers to hang out on the floor and kick around. He love sitting up and has amazing head control. I think we will be able to bust out the Bumbo seat soon. If he's upset he wants to be walked around. He does NOT like to be rocked while you sit down. He hates it! I don't even know how he knows we are even sitting half the time! If he falls asleep on you he won't stay asleep very long. Same with the swing. He likes it for about 40 minutes tops then he's ready to move on.  We spend most of the day rotating throughout the house to look at different things. 

Eating still poses some challenges. His Zantac has really helped his reflux and he doesn't scream after eating anymore, but he's still a very picky eater. If he gets startled or has a big burp while he's eating he will freak out and refuse to eat any more. We still hold our breath every time we go to feed him because we just don't know how it's going to go. I finally got him to take the Dr. Brown bottles which has helped with gas, so that's good but I just wish he wasn't a messy eater. We soak through at least 4 bibs a day with all his milk dribbles! 

David still loves him to bits but is struggling some with the lack of attention. He's been acting out a lot more but luckily doesn't take it out on Ryan. Whenever they are both on the floor David likes to show him how his trucks work or put pillows under his head. David has been sick the past week so he hasn't been able to hold him and it makes him so sad. I can't wait until Ryan starts responding to him more, he's going to love it!

 Ryan is definitely a big dude. He's fitting in clothes that David wore when he was 5 months old (and David was a big baby too!). He has lots of neck and arm rolls and some thigh rolls are starting to develop. His doctor appointment isn't until next week but I cannot wait to see how much he weighs! He still has most of his hair and it is so poofy on top. I can't tell if it's straight or curly because it stays however it's dried, but it is so, so soft! I think it might stay dark too, but who knows. His eyes are still dark blue.  He is strong, strong, strong! He's been rolling over from tummy to back for a long time (with purpose it seems) and tries so hard to go from back to stomach. He even succeeded once! I think it's only a matter of time before he's doing it consistently.

I'm really looking forward to month 3. It's the Holidays and my last month of maternity leave. I'm so happy he's finally out of the newborn fussy stage and is starting to be a cool little mellow dude. Here's to the next month! 

David is Three!

This past weekend my sweet baby David turned three years old. I can't believe it! Two was such a good year. I have high hopes for three.

Currently Loves:
-Tractors
-Trucks
-Mowers
-All things lawn care
-Trains
-Fruit Snacks
-Apple Juice
-Wearing "comfy pants"
-The moon
-Papa's Lake House
-Pajamas
-"Hanging out all night" (staying home from daycare)
-Hayrides
-Flashlights
-Breadsticks with dip-sauce
-Playing outside with the kids
-Riding in his Jeep
-Bounce Houses
-The Zoo
-Crazy socks
-His brother Ryan

Current Dislikes:
-Making decisions
-Brushing teeth
-The "Happy Birthday" song
-Singing in general
-Walking up the stairs on his own
-Dinnertime
-Making decisions
-Talking to people he doesn't know
-Having his picture taken
-Vegetables
- Potty training
-Making decisions (no, really)

Overall he's a sweet, shy, smart, spunky little thing and I love him to the moon and back. This is going to be a big year for him. He's adjusting to being a big brother and not the only child. It's hard on him, I can tell, but he'll get there. He's also going to start preschool in the fall and I think it's going To be so good for him. He's so eager to learn things right now and has the most logical mind. The questions he asks blow our mind on a daily basis. I can't wait to see what this year has in store.
 

Happy Birthday, Muffin Man! I love you!

Ryan is One Month Old

Mr. Ryan is on month old! He's growing like a weed and is such a good baby!

He spent much of his first two weeks sleeping. He was such a sleepy baby. He had to be woken up to eat no matter what and would frequently fall back asleep while eating. He's woken up in the past two weeks but still really does seem to like to sleep. He will currently sleep a good 5-6 hour stretch at night followed by another 3 hour stretch. He's still in our room in the Rock N Play so he's all snuggled up. I want to start transitioning him to his crib, but am totally afraid of messing up his awesome sleeping!! I keep thinking it's too good to be true.  Most of his naps are while I hold him (because I want to!) or he will snooze in a bouncy seat. Unlike David he doesn't much care for the swing. I have him in his crib right now but he's not doing much sleeping, just a lot of grunting. But really, I cannot complain about this kids sleeping. We are lucky!!....so far!

He did give us some trouble with eating though. I tried breastfeeding for two weeks, but it didn't work out. It was a constant battle and I wasn't going to let myself feel guilty like I did with David. So, we turned to formula. He was super picky about his bottle. We've tried three and are currently using Tommee Tippee although I wish he'd use the Dr. Brown to help him.  At three weeks old I took him back to the doctor because he was screaming during and after every feeding since he was born. It got to the point where he was only eating 1 ounce per bottle and only taking about 10 oz a day. Turns out he has silent reflux. We started Zantac and even though the doctor said it would take 2 weeks to really take effect we are already seeing awesome results. He is back to eating normally and doesn't cry near as much. I do think I'm going to need to incline his crib though.

Zach had a work training trip that he had to go on the last two weeks. So, I was "on my own" for 11 days. Luckily the grandparents really stepped up and helped us out tremendously. My parents came over several nights and Zach's mom came down for a whole week. It was hard not having any sort of routine and adjusting to having other people help me but we made it. Poor David really struggled but everyone was good about helping keep him entertained. He's a very good big brother and luckily hasn't taken any of his aggression out on Ryan. He loves to give him kisses and hugs and lay with him on his play mat. I think he's going to be so excited once Ryan can interact with him.

The biggest event of his first month was the Royals made the World Series! We spent most of our nights watching all the playoff and World Series games while taking several scream-breaks. It was really tiring staying up late to watch all the games, but I'm glad to have the memories. It's too bad they didn't win, but we are all sure glad they made it this far! It was really exciting!

As far as stats go, he was up to 11 pounds 8 ounces when I took him in at 3 weeks old. 95th percentile! He's already out-growing some of his 3 month sleepers! He's incredibly strong and doesn't protest tummy time at all. He can lift his head and turn it really well and everyone comments on how strong he is. He has a good bit of baby acne but I'm hopeful it starts to fade soon. Otherwise, he's growing, happy and healthy!!

We sure are lucky!

Ryan's Birth Story

This is ridiculously long, but I wanted to be sure to document Ryan’s birth story so I can remember it.

My due date was September 27^th. I was absolutely convinced this baby would be coming early, so imagine my surprise when I finished my last day at work on the 26^th. It was probably around that time that I started “early labor”. I couldn’t exactly explain it, but I just didn’t feel right. I wasn’t having painful contractions, but I was absolutely uncomfortable.  I only stayed a little bit that day and headed home to take my seat in the recliner and wait things out. I was pretty disappointed it hadn’t happened yet.

At my last appointment my doctor scheduled me for an induction the morning of October 2. It was both really exciting and a little depressing. Going into labor spontaneously with David was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life, so I was hoping for a repeat.

That weekend was miserable. I was so uncomfortable and so tired, but made myself keep doing things. We took David to Oktoberfest in Downtown Lee’s Summit Friday night which totally about did me in! Something that really surprised me was how awful I truly felt the further along I became. Every day I would think there’s no way I could feel any worse and then the next day I would absolutely feel even more terrible. Saturday (my due date) we took David to a birthday party across the street and everyone was shocked to see me there. Yep, still pregnant!!  I don’t really remember doing much else that weekend. I was hot and just wanted to try to rest and be comfortable. Sunday night we did watch the Royals clinch the wild card and that was pretty darn exciting!

Monday I decided to kick off my maternity leave with some shopping and walking around. I went to about 4 stores and then just couldn’t take it anymore. Walking was so painful and I was exhausted. I headed home, took a nap and then picked David up from the sitter. I noticed this day that I started having some bathroom issues that were….questionable and indicated that perhaps things were getting going. The Chiefs were playing Monday Night Football and Zach was working the game. I went into labor with David the day after a Chiefs Monday Night game so I was thinking it would be cool if we could repeat! While watching the game I noticed I was having contractions. They weren’t super painful or anything but I could tell they were more than the Braxton Hicks I was feeling. My parents offered to come pick up David but I said no, it was likely nothing. I couldn’t even really time them. Well, the Chiefs won and I went to bed and the contractions totally stopped.

Tuesday I got up and hung around the house. I sat in the recliner and watched TV and was having contractions again. This time they started to hurt. I was timing them and some got as close as 6 minutes apart but then others were up to 12-15 minutes apart. I took a shower and everything stopped as I was drying my hair. I was so disappointed. I decided to go get a pedicure and some ice cream. The pedicure was awful, they didn’t even scrub my feet! I was getting really mad but did notice I was having a few contractions here and there. I was massively uncomfortable and was mad at myself for wasting the money. My Sheridans concrete on the other hand, was freaking fantastic. I got home and contractions started again. They weren’t super close together, but they were getting really painful.  I picked David up from daycare and ordered pizza for dinner. Delivery even because the thought of doing anything more than opening the door and getting out a couple plates was more than I could handle.  Zach worked a little later than normal that night and by the time he got home I was in a horrible mood and had just HAD IT. 

We turned on the Royals game as they were playing their wild card game and it was all anyone could talk about. Around this time I noticed I felt like I was needing to go to the bathroom a lot. I didn’t feel like my water had broken like it had with David, but I still felt a little tiny bit leaky. At the same time my contractions were picking back up and were about 6-8 minutes apart. As Zach was giving David a bath I decided to have my parents come pick him up and we should go get checked out. I was 95% positive that we’d be sent home and I felt stupid even calling the doctor, but she said to come in (the same doctor that delivered David!). My parents got here at 8:30pm and I thought David would get upset about having my parents come get him, but he seemed excited to go, so that made me feel a lot better. The drive to the hospital was alright. My neighbor totally saw us leaving and got really excited. Ha! The drive to the hospital was pretty calm. We listened to the Royals game and I kept telling Zach he didn’t’ have to drive so fast. I had 4 contractions on the way there. They were about 6 minutes apart and REALLY hurt, but I was able to get through them alright and still thought we’d be sent home.

Once at the hospital they brought us back to a room and everyone we talked to was sure we were staying even before checking me out. Apparently if you waltz into the hospital after your due date they just go ahead and keep you. Oh. OK.  They did a quick test for my water and it was “faintly positive” so they started admitting me at 9pm. After about an hour I got up to use the rest room and my water definitely broke. At the same time I had my first very intense contraction that lasted over a minute. I couldn’t talk through it and it really hurt. They noticed my blood pressure was very high at this point too. The nurse chalked it up to being nervous but I normally have pretty low blood pressure so I was a little concerned. The doctor finally came and was even more concerned because there was also protein in my urine. She diagnosed me with preeclampsia and mentioned I’d be starting some medicine after I delivered. I was bummed, but didn’t think much about it at that point, figuring delivery was ‘the cure’.

I told Zach he could turn on the TV to watch the Royals game. All the nurses were talking about it and I was curious what was going on too. Several people asked if we were at the game and I mostly just looked at them like they were insane. Around this time my contractions started getting SUPER painful. I couldn’t talk through them. I couldn’t do anything besides try to stay calm. Zach kept offering for me to squeeze his hand, but that made it worse, all I wanted to do was relax everything I had control of relaxing. The nurse said I could get the epidural anytime I wanted and I remember saying “yeah, might as well, this is stupid” ha! 

At 11:30 the anesthesiologist placed the epidural and it started working really fast. I was really trying to focus on the Royals game but I could hardly keep my eyes open and forming clear thoughts was out the window. I noticed they kept mentioning how low my blood pressure suddenly was and kept checking lots of stuff. They started me on some oxygen. After a few minutes I mentioned that the right side of my face felt droopy and my eye was blurry. I also was noticing my arm was numb. That alarmed the anesthesiologist quite a bit and they turned down the epidural and leaned me over to the left with some pillows. At 11:57pm the Royals won (Zach kept detailed notes for me, lol!) and everyone was really excited. I was all “Hello! Having a baby over here!!”  They finally got the epidural about right but the anesthesiologist stayed in the room and kept a pretty close watch on me because my blood pressure was still pretty low.

I was very much looking forward that glorious epidural nap and was feeling very comfortable when the doctor came in to check me. She announced that I was complete and ready to push. WHAT?! So they got everything ready and I started pushing. With David I had an overwhelming urge to push, not so much this time. I could barely feel contractions and had to force myself to push with them. I could tell the baby was still really high and had a bad feeling I’d be pushing for a long time again.  I pushed and pushed and pushed. Around 12:40am the nurse called everyone in to prep for delivery! I got really excited thinking it was almost over! The room flooded with people and I pushed and pushed some more.  Then…. Everyone started leaving. One by one. This really discouraged me and I got really frustrated. I knew I had lots more work to do. More pushing and pushing and pushing. I was getting really frustrated but finally started making some progress once I could feel the contractions more.

Finally I felt the head start to come down. This is a feeling I could never describe. All I know is that I NEEDED THE BABY OUT NOW. I started kind of freaking out and saying “someone needs to get the baby out now. Get it out now” over and over again. Zach kept telling me that it was going to happen but I was totally kind of freaking out at this point.  A few more pushes and the head was out! I wanted to keep pushing but they made me stop to suction him out. Then finally I was able to push him all the way out.

They lifted him up but I couldn’t see the goods. I hollered at Zach “what is it!?” and after what felt like a thousand years he said “It’s a boy!” I knew it!!!! I was so incredibly relieved to have him out. Everyone kept saying “wow that’s a big baby!!” He actually didn’t feel as heavy as David did when they put him on my chest but he had some shoulder rolls and the chubbiest cheeks! After they wiped him up a bit they took him over to be weighed and measured. 9lbs 7oz, 21 inches long. I guess he was a big baby!!! Everyone was also quite impressed with all his hair! I thought he was super cute and I was so happy to finally have him here!

After delivery they noticed that I was bleeding quite a bit more than they like to see. It freaked me out quite a bit because I could feel it gushing out at points. After lots and lots of painful pushing on my stomach they felt like it was under control. At this point they also let me know I was going to have to start a 24 hour round of a magnesium drip for the preeclampsia. I was told that I’d be stuck in bed the entire time and of the side effects which included feeling very hot, extreme muscle weakness, blurred vision, slurred speech, confusion and nausea. Oh yay! It started to take effect pretty quick and by far the most annoying part was the muscle weakness. I couldn’t even move my leg and I was horribly, horribly, horribly uncomfortable in the hospital bed. I was hooked up to so many different monitors and was being pumped full of fluid, I was miserable.

They continued to watch my bleeding and it wasn’t getting better. The nurse seemed really concerned and left to go talk to the doctor, mentioning surgery is a possibility.  She came back and said they were going to try an injection first. This should help the bleeding but came with a risk of horrible bathroom issues as a side effect. Seeing as how I couldn’t get out of bed this was really concerning for me. I avoided eating to help minimize my risk and luckily nothing ever happened. But it all certainly made for a pretty miserable first 24 hours. I only let my parents, David and my brother come see me. I felt so out of it all day and had trouble even answering questions at points. I was really upset that I didn’t get to be more involved with David meeting his brother and it’s all kind of a foggy memory at this point and I’m a little upset that I don’t remember much of that first day, but at least we are both healthy now.

We stayed in the hospital 3 days because of the preeclampsia. It was a better experience than with David, we had consistent nurses and they pretty much left us alone aside from helping when I asked them and the occasional check in.  We headed home on Friday and things have been a little crazy ever since. David is adjusting but I can tell he misses being the center of all my attention and it breaks my heart a little bit. Luckily he adores Ryan and is always very gentle and loving toward him.

So, here we go. Our family is complete and I’m looking forward to getting out of the newborn fog (it’s not my favorite phase quite honestly) and getting into our family of four routine. Should be a fun ride!  

Oh BOY!

Introducing.....

Ryan Curtis

October 1, 2014

2:20 am

9 pounds 7 ounces

21 inches

I'll be back soon (hopefully) with his birth story and updates. As it turns out, having two kids is a bit time consuming... :)

Baby Two ~ 39 Weeks

 

How Far Along:  39 Weeks - Cannot imagine getting any bigger or more uncomfortable. 

Boy or Girl: Had two vivid boy dreams this week. Everyone else still insists it's a girl. I hope they aren't too upset when it comes out totally a boy. I'd personally be thrilled either way.

Maternity Clothes: Pants are the enemy.

Sleep: Nope. We are done with that. I'm up at least every half hour and am having a hard time falling back asleep. I'm also not feeling very tired, I just lie there wide awake.

Best Moment: I took David out to breakfast this morning and he was SO excited about it. He's been having some rough mornings so I thought I'd surprise him with a special trip before I took him to daycare before my doctor appointment.  We also all went to my cousins wedding this weekend and it was nice. I didn't think I'd be up for it (I really thought I'd be home with a newborn honestly...) but it was good to get dressed up one more time and go out for a bit. 

Worst Moment: Pretty much anytime I'm getting up and having to walk. I feel like my hips are being ripped apart, the right one especially. I'm OK once I get going, but the initial minute or so of walking is torture. I feel so ridiculous. 

Miss Anything: I miss everything but being able to walk without pain and having feeling back in my hands would be up there at 1 and 2.

Movement: Not a ton anymore but when baby does move it's really in there punching. I keep hoping for a really big water-breaking kick!

Cravings: Pizza. All the time. And lemonade. And diet coke.

Aversions: Ground beef and fried foods

Oh, I remember this: I feel like I constantly have to be "ready". I'm currently hauling around most of my life in my purse including cell phone charger, makeup, snacks, hair ties, notebook and everything else. I still force myself to shave my legs every single day and do my hair every morning. I try to keep the house mostly tidy and clean, laundry kept up with and dishes washed, when I really just want to say forget it. Major thanks to Zach for pulling most of the weight in the cleaning department right now.... I'm pretty worthless when it comes to that right now.

Well this is new: This pain. I do not remember being in this much pain at the end last time. Then again I've never been THIS pregnant before. Sigh.

Looking forward to: LABOR. Come on now, anytime. I had my last doctor appointment today. The next time I go in is to have a baby. An induction date has been set, but I'd really prefer to go on my own. Not much progress has been made since last week. 2.5 cm but still only 50% effaced. I was pretty disappointed, but the baby will come when the baby will come, right?

How's David: He seems to be getting a little impatient too. He asks where the baby is every time I pick him up from daycare. He's also started asking if he can give the baby hugs and has been wanting to play toys with the baby, so he'll hug my belly and then hold toys up to it and ask if he likes them. Ha! Oh and he's also started saying it's going to be a brother. 

Baby Two ~ 38 Weeks

 

How Far Along:  38 Weeks - Baby is the size of a pumpkin, or you know....a baby.

Boy or Girl: All of a sudden this week I've had lots of girl thoughts and girl dreams. I've kind of been freaking out a bit about it and have totally started re-looking at names and everything. Picking a girl name has been really hard! It'll still probably end up being a boy though.

Maternity Clothes: I have exactly two pairs of work-appropriate pants that are still even remotely comfortable. Thank goodness for the maxi skirts I got!

Sleep: Eh, it's been a rough week in the sleep department. I seem to convince myself that my water is going to burst every time I roll over (which is every half hour now) and I have to get up to use the bathroom a ton more than I have been. Add to that the fact that I've been having to wear wrist braces on both hands. They are starting to really bother me and I end up taking them off halfway through the night leaving me with one completely numb hand and a locked up wrist on the other. Sigh.

Best Moment: Zach was home all weekend and we got a lot done around the house. It is mostly clean and organized now. I even managed to get my fall decor out! I've been making sure to keep it clean and organized too. Definitely nesting.  I also got to see the movie that our team at work has been working on. I didn't think I'd make it long enough to see it! It was pretty cute!

Worst Moment: I am so worn out and struggling a bit mentally. I completely though I'd have the baby by now. The date I'd been throwing around in my head was today and Zach and my moms dates have already passed too. My dr offered to induce me at 40 weeks but I declined. As much as I want to be done, I want to give baby a chance to come on their own. David was born at exactly 39 weeks, but at this point I'll be shocked if this baby come early.

Miss Anything: I cannot wait to workout again.

Movement: Mostly at night now and lots of big pushes.

Cravings: Sweets, lemonade, cheese.

Aversions: Still ground beef. Bleh.

Oh, I remember this: I'm lucky to have made it this far without my feet hurting, but now they do. Boo.

Well this is new: Since my water broke with David, I find myself always thinking that it's going to happen that way again, so I'm always thinking it's just going to happen with every move I make, I kind of miss the ignorance of first time labor!

Looking forward to: Going to the hospital to have a baby??? Also, having a beer or something.

How's David: He still asks every day if the baby is going to come out today. He seems to be excited about the baby riding in the car in the seat next to him. He's been a lot better about playing on his own and is really starting to show his imagination, which is awesome and hilarious. Next we are trying to work on decision making. Everything "yes, I want this" then "no!" then "but I really want it" then "NO I DON'T WANT THAT!" and then back to "but I want it!!!"  It's maddening! I have a feeling that the rumors that three is worse than two might be true in his case. At least he's ridiculously adorable, right?! :) 

Well that's a wrap on week 38... will I have a 39 week update? We shall see....

Baby Two ~ 37 Weeks

 How Far Along:  37 Weeks - officially "early term"

Boy or Girl: Probably a boy.

Maternity Clothes: Down to just a few things that still fit :(

Sleep: Can't complain. I've been really lucky to still be sleeping so well. I do wake up all the time, but have been able to fall back asleep without much trouble. I am enjoying all the sleep I can right now, that's for sure.

Best Moment:  My work team threw me a little shower on Friday. It was very cute! I really enjoy working on this team a lot and am kind of sad that it's a possibility I won't be coming back to that team after the baby comes. They are pretty great and really spoiled baby TBA, that's for sure!!

Worst Moment: i am so sore. So, so, so sore. Baby has definitely dropped and it is so hard to walk as he/she seems to be pressing against my right hip, causing all sorts of pain. Sitting is also not very fun either. Basically, I'm massive and uncomfortable, no two ways around it. Also, my hands are very swollen and numb. My right hand is so numb that I can no longer feel if things are hot or cold. It's pretty obnoxious.

Miss Anything: Everything. Mostly my energy though. I just can't keep up and it's really frustrating.

Movement: Just little shifts here and there. Definitely running out of room.

Cravings: Lemonade. Pizza.

Aversions: Same ol.

Oh, I remember this:Have officially entered the "was that a contraction" phase of things. I over-analyze every little twitch right now.

Well this is new:  Having to keep up with a toddler at this stage is really, really hard. Zach's been gone on the weekends for football stuff so I've been solo David wrangling and as much as I love spending all my time with him, it's exhausting.

Looking forward to: Being done. Had an appointment today. No progress in the last two weeks besides baby seeming a little lower. Bummer.

How's David: He's two going on three. When he's good, he's a total sweetheart angel baby. When he's bad, he just pushes, pushes, pushes. I try to be patient with him but there's been a few times where I just wave the white flag, turn on cartoons and sit down. I will say that he always seems to be concerned with how I'm feeling. He asks all the time if I'm OK and if I feel good. He's very, very sweet to me.

Baby Two ~ 36 Weeks

How Far Along:  36 weeks - not sure I can get much larger....

Boy or Girl: Back to boy for me. I could totally know right this very instant if I wanted to. My Dr. gave me my medical records to take with me to the hospital (standard protocol) and I was starting to flip through them when I realized that the sex is totally in there because we had DNA lab work done early on for other reasons and the sex is one of the outputs. I remember the genetic counselor telling me not to look if we don't want to know. I quickly put them at the bottom of my hospital bag and I need to get it in my car so I am not tempted every time I walk by the thing!

Maternity Clothes: Ready to be done with them.

Sleep: Pretty good still, even though I wake up every hour pretty much. I get so excited when I wake up and it's been longer than an hour.

Best Moment: I feel mostly ready now. Everything that HAD to be done is done and now it's just a bunch of little things that I'm not too stressed out about. I also found out that I get a F-R-E-E brand new breast pump via my insurance, so that should be here any day. Woo! OH! And I was supposed to serve Jury Duty today but it got canceled. I've always secretly wanted jury duty, but not right now, so I was pretty pumped.

Worst Moment: I was still really sick all week. It was the worst over the weekend. I hadn't felt that bad in a really long time. Finally caved and got an Rx for a sinus infection and finally started feeling mostly like myself today, even though I still sound really stuffy.

Miss Anything: I miss so many things but right now I think I miss being able to hold David on my lap the most. I am really starting to get overly emotional about how little time we have left with him as the baby. All the feels....

Movement: Slowing down some because I'm sure it's getting tight in there, but now the big movements feel REALLY BIG and kind of stop me in my tracks.

Cravings: Flavored water. Ice cream. Pizza.  

Aversions: Same ol.

Oh, I remember this: Standing up from sitting is the worst right now. Once I get going I'm totally fine, but the initial stand up and first few steps are horrible. So much pressure!

Well this is new: Definitely been having a few contractions here and there. Mostly at night. Several times I've woken up from a dead sleep thinking "this is it!" because I'll have a couple that are actually painful. I always manage to fall back asleep so I know it's nothing, but whew! Not fun.

Looking forward to: Meeting this baby! Although I've kind of gone from "definitely going early" to "definitely gonna be late" all of a sudden this week. Just a feeling...

How's David: He asks every day if the baby is going to come out today. I think he's getting excited.  He insisted on wearing some footie tractor pajamas to bed earlier this week and had trouble falling asleep because they were too tight on his ginormo feet. Zach finally went in and put him in his normal pajamas and he said that "the tractor jammies are for the baby". He's also still telling the babysitter that he's going to have a sister. We shall see! 

puffy and sicker than a dog, but just happy to be hanging out with my big guy. soaking up these last moments with him as my only baby.