Haircut time

We're taking Nolan to get his first haircut later today. I'll add before and after pictures later.

Grace smiles all the time - except when she's fighting sleep. She is 75 perct. for weight and height and has a tiny 25 pect. head (just like Nolan).

Nolan is a great big brother. He loves helping with Grace. He loves to hold her bottle and feed her. The other day, he fed her baby cereal. She ate more when he put the spoon in her mouth than she did when I tried to feed her.

Blues Clues time. Got to go..

I'm back.

Nolan's not a baby any more or even a toddler. He's a little boy. His hair cut reminds of my the boy in Love Actually (only Nolan's much younger).
On to the pictures...

Before



the hair cut started out ok.


after a few minutes, Nolan was done


Grace wanted to eat, Cary was holding Nolan, and I wanted to take pictures of Nolan, so carseat friend stepped in and helped hold Grace's bottle. She ate like this for about 5 minutes.


after (with the lollipop he got for being so good. His lips where blue from the lollipop the rest of the day.)




Grace and Nolan at my mom's after his haircut



While I was at my mom's we went to Macy's to get a few more gifts. We passed by the baby girl's section and saw a display of really pretty Christmas dresses. Grace already has a really cute dress to wear for Christmas, but we still had to look at the dresses at Macys. The dresses were so cute, that I got one for Grace for this year and next year!
this year's dress... (she'll wear the other dress I had for her on Christmas Eve)


next year...



anyone want to guess how much the dresses cost??
I'll wait..













Anyone guess $4.99? (and my mom had a 15% off coupon!)




I almost forgot about this....

We went to Christmas party at Moo's Saturday. During the party it started to rain. Since I'm such a good mom that I wasn't paying attention to Nolan and realized that he wasn't inside. I saw the open door and went outside to find him playing in the rain. Moo's mom helped get a jacket on Nolan very quickly so he could go back outside and play. He loves the rain.



Merry Christmas!

Hi

someone's been very slack on updating this blog lately.

Where did I leave off?

Nolan had a birthday. A few days later we had his birthday party.



He got lots of great gifts - including money to sign him up for a gymboree/kindermusik/the music class/little gym type class. We haven't picked the class yet. Cary went back to work a few days after I went back to work and now I'm looking for a class to fit into our new schedule.
After his party he kept reaching for the cake and the sandwiches on the table. He had had some chips and some cake, so we kept moving the food on the table away from him. On the way home that night, I realized we forgot to feed him lunch! That's why he kept trying to get the food off the table. Good mom move #14563975.


Nolan is great big brother. He will hold Grace's bottle. If Grace is upset, Nolan will try to put her pacifier in her mouth or will hold her hands. Grace loves watching Nolan. Nolan loves giving Grace kisses and "helping" give her baths (he will splash the water while I bathe Grace).

Nolan has a ton of words now and he can sign a few words (moo loaned us some Signing Time DVDs - he loves them. When I need him to sit quietly, I'll either put in a Signing Time DVD or turn on Yo Gabba Gabba)
His words:
Daddee (daddy)
Yawney (mommy)
Tinkle Tinkle (twinkle twinkle)
Dar (star)
Ap Pul (apple)
Ca (car - don't know where he got the northern accent from)
Be nana (banana)
Papa (grandpa)
Gan mama or ampa (grandma)
Disty (misty)
Oscar (Oscar)
Go (go)
Peek a doo (peek a boo)
Try A Glu (triangle)
Circle
juice
nye nye (bye bye)
nye nye (night night)
wa er (water
no
up
down
dipull (diaper)
bubbles!
yum yum
cookie
cracker
Gigi (Grace - no idea how he got Gigi from Grace, but I love it!)
quack quack
meow
here
please
book
yum yum
door
book
tickle
cheese
shoe
fishy
luv you
thank you
and he barks like a dog (not a ruff ruff or a bow wow, but a full on bark)
He can sign no, rainbow, clean, wash hands, please, and go.
And he's trying to snap his fingers.
His Dr. wanted him to have about 20 words by the time he turned 2. I think he's got that.

Grace is getting big. She's been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now (it's ok to hate us). She is opposite of the boys. She loves to be swaddled - they both hated it. She loves to be held - Nolan was fine not being held. She doesn't like the bouncy seat - Nolan practically live in that seat. She does like the swing - the same swing that Nolan and Caleb both loved. She is drinking 6 ozs every 4 hours - she's a little pig!

What else have I been meaning to tell you?

Grace is now smiling and laughing (her belly and neck are her big ticklish spots)

I have a feeling that by now most of you are thinking "blah blah blah. We want more picture!" So, here are a few more pictures...







That's your update for the year ;)


BTW: Nolan still has not had his first hair cut.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Caleb would have turned 3 today.

I had a whole long post going in my mind, but the kids are asleep now and I'm going to take a nap.

Quick update before I nap:
We just got back from taking Grace to her 2 month check up.
She weighs 11 1/2 pounds and is 22" long.
She is about 50% for height and weight and 25% for her head. (the exact same percentages for Nolan!)

I love my average kids.

Nap time............

home sweet home

Cary came home from the hospital yesterday. After tons of testing, they think he just had something like the flu. But, this trip to the hospital (and the trip in Oct. 2005) has bought him a ticket to surgery. We knew that one day he would need valve replacement surgery. I think we were both hoping it would happen in about 40 years. He has been going to the doctor every 6 months to check his heart for any change. The original plan was that when they found a change in his heart, they would start seeing Cary every 3 months and start about a 1 year prep for the surgery. Now, the plan is to have the surgery sooner then later - maybe this year. Cary goes back to his regular cardiologist in 3 weeks. They will talk about a definite time line for the surgery.

So, during the last 2 weeks of my maternity leave I got a cold, I passed my cold to Nolan and Grace, Cary turned 33, Nolan turned 2, Nolan had his 2-year-old check up and his second birthday party, Grace went to the ER, Cary spent a few days in the hospital, and I found out that my husband will be having open heart surgery soon. I'm so done with this maternity leave!




Back to Grace and the ER. A couple of weeks ago (or was it just last week?) I went to my sister's house to go through the 2T boy clothes. (I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. We all have kids. When our kids outgrow clothes, we load them up and take them to my sister's house. When the next person needs clothes, they go through those clothes. This way no one needs to buy any new clothes for their kids. After Grace and my new nephew finish the clothes, we'll consign the clothes.) Just before we started going through the clothes we started talking about how Grace needed her fingernails cut (I'm sure you know where the story is going...). My sister offered to cut Grace's nails, so I handed her the nail clippers. Then there was a scream. My sister cut the tip of Grace's finger. Not a big deal, people do it all the time. So, why did I take her to the ER? Over 30 minutes after the cut, her tiny finger was still bleeding. I called my dr. She asked if I was close to the drs office. I was an hour away. She told me to go to the ER so a dr could be sure the cut didn't hit any tissue. We went to the ER. Everyone owwed and awwed over Grace. The dr saw her finger and decided it was just a superficial cut. When we got back, my niece asked me what happened at the hospital. I told her they had to cut Grace's finger off. (yes, I am mean. but it was funny!) I just laughed about the whole thing - I have 2 kids, I was bound to go to the ER at some point. Grace is all healed now. (but don't tell my sister, I want her to stay on the guilt trip and keep buying us things.)





Nolan is now 29 lbs, and 34 inches tall.
He now says bubble, balloon, booger, car, triangle, circle, square, papa, GG (grace - no idea why he says GG), twinkle, here, there you go, what's this, and lots of other things. He can sign rainbow (thanks to moo for loaning us a couple Signing TIme videos).
He is now a big danger to the cats.

I found him playing with my cell phone the other day. I thought it was ok. He had the camera on. At least I knew he wasn't going to have a 3 hour call to Japan, so I let him play. A couple of days later, I found about 5 pictures on my cell phone that looked like this:





I just put Grace down on her stomach. I looked back and she was on her back.
She is in the middle of a growth spurt right now. I hope she becomes a chubby baby. I heart chubby babies.



Everyone's asleep. Time for me to sleep!




Thanks for all your prayers and concerns for Cary!! We have and best friends and family (that includes all of you out there in blogland that we have never actually met).

Cary didn't want me to go back to work today

Cary kept trying to talk me out of going back to work today. I kept telling him I need to go back to work - for my mental well being. I think most people with 2 or more kids will agree that work is great escape. Cary hadn't been feeling well all week. I told him I wasn't going to listen to him whining about not feeling well unless he called the dr. He called the dr Wednesday. The dr told him to go to the hospital. I didn't go back to work today.

It looks like Cary probably has another infection in his heart (endocarditis). He had the same type of infection 1 1/2 weeks after Caleb was born. That was fun. I was going from visiting Cary in the hospital to visiting Caleb in the hospital 30 minutes away every day - just 1 1/2 weeks after having a baby 13 weeks early. That was nice and stressful.

A little history for the newbies -
Cary was born with aortic stenosis. When he was 1 he had open heart surgery. The surgery was just a temporary fix. At the time, they predicted that Cary would need another surgery to replace the valve when he was around 25-30 years old. Well, he just turned 33 and hasn't needed the surgery yet. He goes to the heart dr every 6 months to check for any changes in his heart. When there is a change, it's time to start talking about surgery.

Back to now -
Endocarditis can cause damage to the heart valves. Since he's had it 2 times in just a few years, they are really checking him out. (endocarditis can also lead to death. I'm very glad the dr didn't tell us that until after Cary was feeling better last time. I'm not sure if I could handle knowing that Caleb and Cary could have died at the same time.) Cary checked into the hospital Wednesday afternoon and will be here at least one more day. So far they have taking tons of blood, they have done an EKG, TEE, echo, and a CT scan. (you can look those up on webmd - I don't know how to link this from this computer. "Why don't I just get my lazy butt up and walk across the room and switch computers?" you ask. Well, because I'm lazy.) A couple of heart dr have stopped by and a couple of heart surgeons have stopped by. The infectious disease dr (sounds all scary doesn't it?) will stop by later today.

Nolan and Grace spent some time at my parent's house last night and are with Cary's parents now. (Wonder if they will notice if I leave them there for a few days while I go home and sleep for more the 3 hours at a time.)

Any questions?

I know what 1/2 of you are going to say. We will call if we need help. (Rachel will be getting a call in a few minutes and if she can't help, Moo, you're next!)


Cary just got back from the CT scan.

I'll update on Nolan and Grace later. (I haven't forgotten that I need to tell you about Grace's trip to the ER) Wow! Too much hospital!!


Update!
Cary does not have endocarditis. He will probably be going home Friday.

Help, I have a 2-year-old!!

Today is Nolan's second birthday. The big 0-2.
He had magic toast (french toast) and a cookie for breakfast. And we took him to Monkey Joe's this afternoon. He had a great time!

Grace is now 9 lbs, 6 ozs.

I have lots of stuff to tell you (like about Grace's trip to the ER), but it's 9:45 pm and my day is finally done. I'm going to bed. I'll try to update soon.

Free time

Grace is asleep and Nolan is watching an annoying show on TV, so I actually have a free second!

Grace has been to 2 check-ups at the doctor. Her last visit was Thursday. She was up to 7 lbs, 10 ozs, and 20 inches long. She loves to eat. She is about 35% for weight, and 50% for height.

Nolan has started noticing Grace more now. He is usually pretty good around her. He has had a few times when he would be playing by himself perfectly happy until he saw me with Grace in my arms. Then he would turn into a jealous, whiney, 2-year-old. He rarely does that and it's just for a few seconds - it usually happens right around nap time. From 10-11am is a very hard time. Nolan's tired and doesn't want to take a nap, I'm tired and am very ready for a nap, and Grace will want to eat and have awake time. She doesn't know that when Nolan goes to sleep, everyone is supposed to go to sleep.

I didn't know that everyday I would have to decide if I want a shower, to clean the house, or take a nap during Nolan's nap. The shower usually loses. The nap usually wins. The house gets cleaned after Nolan goes to bed at night - if I can stay awake past 8 pm.

Grace likes doing this thing were she'll eat a full 4 ozs then cry for an hour becuase her belly hurts. That usually happens right after Nolan goes to sleep. I'll rock her and burp her and beg her to go to sleep so I can go to sleep.

Nolan has started his 2's. He is really trying to push us. He will start to do something he knows he's not suppose to do. He will look at us and say "no, no" and smile and do it anyway. I really don't know what to do when his like that, especially since right now all I want to do is curl up on the couch and take a nice long nap.



Grace is up. Time for me to go back to mom-duty.

pictures of Grace

We came home Friday evening. We are adjusting to having 2 kids and no sleep.

Nolan is doing great adjusting to having a new baby at home. We have had a couple of rough spots with him, but he's back to his perfect self within a few minutes.

Cary and I were watching Dr Phil the other day. The topic was about parents pressuring their kids to be perfect. Dr Phil made a comment about how there's no such thing as a perfect child. Cary and I looked at each other and laughed - Dr Phil has never met Nolan. He is the perfect child (with perfect hair - he still hasn't had his first hair cut!). (of course I'm knocking on wood while I type this...)

It's a...

(BTW I am mad at all of you who gave away the big news in the comments!)

The baby's here! We got to the hospital at around 8:30 this morning. They started me on pitocin to help increase my contractions at around 9 (it was a very low dose- 2 drops an hour). A little after 11, my dr broke my water. Around 11:30, I got an epi. It took forever for the epi to fully take effect. When I did finally stop feeling the contractions, I started feeling a lot of pressure. Around 1:30 the nurse came to check on me. It was time to push! Grace Rose arrived at 2:08 p.m. She weighs 6 lbs, 12 oz, and is 19 inches long.
Since it took so long for the epi to take effect, I didn't feel anything during the delivery! This was by far my easiest delivery - almost makes me want to do it again someday. almost. (but, I'm not that crazy!)

I saw my one of my drs when I was being moved from labor and delivery to mother/baby. She stopped and talked to Cary and me. She told me that every week her and the other dr talked about how surprised they were that I was doing so great and wasn't having any complications. They are thrilled that I made it to 39 weeks.

Grace is beautiful! Can't wait to share pictures! (Cary has all the pictures on his cell phone and I just sent him out to get me food!)

Grace is named after Cary's grandmother (Grace was her middle name) and my grandmother (Rose is her middle name).

Hi! Welcome to my labor.

That's right the labor has started. I'm in the very early stages now. My SPAC have turned into real, productive contractions. At my check-up this morning, I was 2-3 cent. dilated and 80% effaced. The dr keep saying the "baby's head is right there." The plan is for me to go to labor and delivery between 6-7 am tomorrow. The dr will break my water to give my labor a little push. If needed, she will give me a low dose of pitocin. Her plan is to start all of this in the morning and for the baby to be here by tomorrow evening. (we'll see what the baby has planned.)

She did strip my membranes while I was there. I have to say everyone who has whined about that hurting - you're all wimps. It was like being licked by kittens compared to having a cerclage removed!

Now, we really need to get moving on picking a boy name! (Girl name is picked - and I'm still not telling you what it is!)

no change

Thought I'd give you a quck update before I started getting the phone calls and emails. There's no change. We did go last night and had the eggplant parm. that has supposedly put many people into labor (I don't beleive it)*.
I go to the OB tomorrow at 10:30.

I'll update again in a couple of days, hopefully by then I'll have a real update (maybe with pictures of a baby).

*they have this wall of baby pictures. It's crazy how many babies have been born after the mom ate the eggplant. If this baby comes within 48 hours of us eating there, they will give us a $25 gift card and a little onesie for the baby. And the eggplant was yummy.

I have been having contractions, but I'm pretty sure they are just more SPAC.

6 more weeks of winter

The fluid level is back to normal. It actually doubled in the past week! I asked the dr how that happened. He said the baby peed. So, if the baby had waited just a few minutes to pee I would be holder him/her in my arms right now.

Now, we're back to waiting for this baby to decide it's time to come out.

If there is no change by Tuesday morning, I will schedule a c-section for the end of next week.

I'm going to go walk a few hundred miles now. Then jog a few more miles. Then go to a bounce-house. Then I'm going to the resturant with the chicken parm. that supposedly makes you go into labor. Then I'm going to eat some spicey food.

possible eviction date

Everything went well at the OB Tuesday. My blood pressure was borderline. Strangely, I lost weight. Not sure how that happened. I didn't schedule a c-section like I said I was going to. Why? Because the baby might be kicked out Friday. I go to the perinat Friday morning. If the fluid is still low, my OB wants to go ahead and do a c-section Friday.

My appointment is 8:30 Friday morning. I should be able to update by late Friday (either with news of a new baby or news of more pregnancy). If the baby doesn't come Friday, I will schedule a c-section for late next week.

Funny- When I first got pregnant I remember thinking how neat it would be to have this baby in August. Then my kids birthdays would be in August, September, and October. I never thought I would be this close to actually having the baby in August!

The possible eviction day is: August 1
(just possible date - not 100%. baby could change it's mind and stick around for a little longer)

*sigh*

still no change.

I have changed the name of Braxton Hicks to SPAC (Stupid Pointless Annoying Contractions). I've been having SPAC for over 10 weeks now. They are driving me crazy.

I did get to squeeze in 2 more trips to labor and delivery this week - for nothing. At work on Wednesday, I started to feel really light-headed, so I called someone to check my blood pressure. It was 154/90 (they like the bottom number to be below 80. 90 is not good). I called my dr. She told me to rest for about 15 min, take my blood pressure again, and call her with the number. 15 min. later the number was something over 86. I called my dr back. She sent me to labor and delivery for monitoring. My blood pressure was great while I was at labor & delivery. I spent about 2 hours at the hospital. My dr did check my cervix again because I was having a lot of contractions. But, the contractions were all SPAC. My cervix hasn't changed (still 1-2 cent dilated, 50% effaced).

Trip 2 to labor and delivery was yesterday for a non-stress test. When I went to the high-risk dr Friday afternoon, my blood pressure was high again! I also found out that amniotic fluid level is low. (it was low with Nolan, too) Since my OBs office was closed by the time my dr visit was over, my OB told me to go to labor and delivery some time Saturday for a non-stress test. Everything looked great. My blood pressure was borderline when I first got there, it dropped to normal before I left.

No one knows why I keep getting these episodes of light-headedness and high-blood pressure, but at this point it's not a big concern. It's more just annoying - just like the SPAC.

I go back to the OB Tuesday morning and to the high-risk dr Friday morning. I hope not to make it to either appointment. ;)

I did put a cookie in front of my belly tonight and told the baby that if it wanted it, it would have to come out and get it. I went shopping with my sisters yesterday. We did a lot of walking. This baby is stubborn.

Oh -the baby is 6lbs.

blah!

Baby is still nice and comfy in the womb. The cervix that has given me issues for for my last 2 pregnancies has decided to become the cervix of steel. I've been 1-2 cent. dilated and 50% effaced for about 2 weeks. My contractions are doing nothing but annoy me.

I go back to the high-risk dr tomorrow for another ultrasound. I go back to the OB Tuesday. If this baby is still stubborn Tuesday, I'm going to talk to the dr about scheduling a c-section the first week of August. I would prefer not to have another c-section, but this baby is being kicked out in 2 weeks one way or the other.

term

I'm term and done. The baby's cooked. It's time for the baby to get out. If it doesn't leave on it's own, it will be kicked out in about 2 weeks (the first week of August).

I gained about a million pounds last week. I've had more stupid comments said to me (I know people mean well, but when I'm standing front of you do you have to ask if I'm still at work?). My ankle is swollen. I can barely put weight on it, which doesn't help with my walk. I now waddle and limp. (stop laughing at me!)

I'm done. I did my job. I carried the baby to term. Now, it's the baby's job to get out. Cary and I both told the baby this morning that it's ok to come out now. We want to meet him/her.

Anyway - the list. I went to amazon.com and put some stuff on a wish list.


Please don't feel like you have to get us something because I made this list. It's really just to give you ideas if you want to get us something.
There are things on the list for Nolan and the baby.
Nolan loves books. He actually reads so much that some of his favorite books are now in pieces. (some of the ones that are in pieces: The very quiet crickett, The going to bed book, Goodnight moon, Owl babies) (remember this for his birthday!)

We have all the basics for this baby. If this is a girl, we do need some preemie or newborn clothes. We have plenty of hand-me-down clothes, but most of my family has bigger kids, so there aren't many newborn girl outfits. We're set for boys newborn and preemie.

We have bottles, but we do need some new accesories.
We have a Bumbo, we need the Bumbo tray.
We have a boppy and a boppy cover, I would like one more cover.
It's all on the list.


My contractions have started to come back. I hope this baby has listened to us and will make it's grand entrance soon. But my mom's out of town* until maybe this weekend. I know she would like it if the baby stayed in until she got back. I'm not sure if I can wait. I'm having a hard time just smiling when people look at me say "Wow! You're really all out there. Really, you're all out there. I mean all out there." or "Wow! That's going to be a big baby." (By the way - it's not a big baby. They baby is about 5 lbs 5 ozs.)


*My grandmother is really sick. She's 91 and her heart is barely working. The doctors don't think she will make it much longer. My mom and dad are with her and some family in Mass.

Still no change

Everyone who guessed I was going to have the baby this weekend was wrong. (unless something pretty drasatic happens in the next few hours)

My contractions, strangely, have actually calmed down since I got the cerclage out! I might end up begging my dr for c-section in week 39.

I am starting to get uncomfortable. My ankle has been killing me for days. Cary said it's because of all the extra weight I'm carrying. (he then took his foot out his mouth and apoligized about a million times for saying I am carrying extra weight.) It's great that I'm free, but I'm too tired to do anything! And it's 100 degrees outside!

One of Cary's friends asked me today if I am bigger then I was with Nolan. Umm, yeah. I've never been this pregnant before. At 35 weeks with this pregnancy I had gained less weight than I had with Nolan (but cookies were buy one get on free at the grocery store and now my weight has caught up - plus some). At 36 1/2 weeks with Nolan, he had been home for over a week. At this point with Caleb, he was about to have his third surgery, I had been back at work for weeks, and, little did I know, I was about to get pregnant again. That won't be happening this time. This will be my last pregnancy.

The list - I'll work on that now. I'll try to post something tonight or tomorrow night.

I'm free!

The cerclage is out and I'm off all my restrictions! From this point on, I'm just a regular pregnant person.

Got to go - Nolan expects me to make him breakfast. I need to teach him how to work the toaster-oven. ;)

I'll tell you all about the removal later.

36 weeks

I'm still here and still pregnant. I'm now 36 weeks and a day or two. I never thought I'd make it this far. It's so strange. It's like being pregnant for the first time! I have no idea what to expect for now on (until the labor starts - I've already done 4 times! 2 times each for Caleb and Nolan.)

I go tomorrow afternoon to get the cerclage taken out. It's a big deal that I made it this far, but the actual removal (from what I've heard) is not a big deal. They will remove the stitch at my perinat's (the high-risk doctor) office. The doctors says it's like a long pap smear. I have talked to others who had their cerclages removed this week. They say that it's just a few minutes of discomfort (some have had some pain) and you're done. The actual removal will only be about 5-10 minutes. There is usually a long wait (up to an hour) at my perinat office and I get another ultrasound tomorrow. I'm guessing that I'll be done and leaving the office at around 5. I hope to go out to eat with Cary after. When I get home, I'll update (I'll update Friday morning at the latest).

I'm more excited about making it this far then I am nervous about the procedure. I am annoyed at Cary (surprising, I know). He was making a big deal about the removal. I finally convinced him that the procedure isn't a big deal. Now I'm annoyed that he's acting like it's not a big deal!

Cary thinks I'm going to go into labor as soon as the stitch is removed. I think he's crazy. Many people have gotten their stitch removed and have still gone full-term. Some have even had to be induced! Sadly, when I told my dr and nurse what Cary thought, they agreed with him. I don't like it when people agree with him. I'm always right, Cary is always wrong. Simple.

I think we should start a poll. When do you think I will have and baby? Do you think it's a boy or a girl?
I don't want to know how much you think the baby will weigh. I have to push this baby out! I don't want to even think about pushing out a 9 lb baby.
The winner will get nothing!
Oh - and if you could also guess the baby's name, that would help. We still don't have a name. We have a girl's name narrowed down, but we have nothing for a boy. (No, I'm not going to tell you the possible girl name.)


Some people have been asking what we need for the baby. I'm working on a list. I'll post it here soon.

Now what?

Do you see on my ticker that I'm in week 35? You know what that means? This is the longest I've even been pregnant!!

Today, after being annoyed at everything and everyone. My sister warned me that you spend your last month just being annoyed. Thanks for warning - a couple of days late.

Poor Cary is driving me crazy. He does sometimes deserve it. But, sometimes, he's just in my way - I need to be annoyed at some one and he the closest person.
Tonight he offered to go get me Sonic. I've been wanting a chili cheese pup (or 12) from Krystals. Cary thought a Sonic chili cheese dog would be the same. It isn't. I yelled at him for offering to get me Sonic instead of Krystals. (the nerve of him. not wanting to drive over 20 minutes 1-way just to get me a few chili cheese pups.) But, when he didn't go to Sonic, I yelled at him again for not going to Sonic. (it's basicly the same thing as a chili cheese pup. dah!)

He just needs to learn to read my mind.

He's also in trouble for leaving a wipes container and a carseat at his parents house. He explained his logic. But, whatever, that's not what I wanted! I want the wipes container and the car seat here. Why? Because that's what I want!

I'm still getting contractions - which annoys me. Still not enough to call the dr...again. I get about 1 to 2 good contractions an hour.

My feet are the size of watermelons. My belly is the size of about 5 watermelons. My feet hurt, my back hurts, my contractions are annoying. But, I'm kicking pregnancy butt! Over 35 weeks!


Enough whining...
I've had some interesting comments made to me. I thought it would be nice to use them as a guide for every one. Here is what not to say to a pregnant women:
(All of these have actually been said to me - surprising, all by women!)

Wow! You've gotten big!
Wow! You've swollen!
My daugther is due in 2 weeks and you're much bigger than her.
My friend is having twins and she's 1/2 your size.
Did you get bigger over the weekend?

person A: how much does the baby weigh now
me: around 5lbs
person A: (looking at my belly in shock) That baby weighs a lot more then 5 lbs.

person B: when are you due?
me: August 13
person B: (looking at my belly in shock) There's no way you're making it that long.

While I was trying to walk to the bathroom with a full bladder and a baby kicking my full bladder and not pee on myself. Some one looked me a said "you remind me of the opening scene of March of the Penguins."



People no longer talk to me looking at my face. They all look directly at my belly.

People I'm not that big! My weight gain is right on track. I'm days away for being 9 months pregnant (wow- that's crazy!). I'm supposed to have a belly. No need to point it out. I know it is big. It's about the size of a baby, a placenta, and aminotic fluid. Imaginge that.

Great, now I'm annoyed at myself for being annoying. Where is Cary? I need someone to be annoyed at...


Oh yeah, my cerclage removal has been scheduled for July 17. After that, the baby (who still does not have a name) will be free to escape.

bump

I had a post all ready to go about how I'm about to hit 35 weeks and how I haven't been to labor & delivery yet.

Then, we hit a little bump (actually a couple of bumps).

My nurse came Saturday to give me the P17 shots (to help prevent preterm labor). When she was listening to the baby's heartbeat, it sounded irregular. She recommended that I go to labor & delivery just to get things checked out a little more. The baby's heart looks great. They think that when the baby would take a practice breath it would shift just enough to where on the doppler and heart monitor looked like the heartrate skipped but it was really just the baby moving. While I was there on the monitors, they noticed I was having some contractions. They gave me a couple of shots to stop the contractions and sent me home.

Sunday, the contractions came back. Monday morning I finally gave in and called my dr. She told me to go to labor & delivery for observation. By the time I got there, I was having contractions every 3 minutes! After laying around in the hospital for a few hours, the contractions settled down. My cervix is still long and I'm just a fingertip dilated so the dr sent me home. I'm on bed rest tonight and I allowed to go back to work and do my regular activties tomorrow.

Not sure how much longer this baby is going to stay in. But, it's ok. The hospital has me listed as being 35 weeks, 1 day today. Nolan was born at 35 weeks. If this baby ends up coming out this week, we'll probably end up with another cute, tiny, healthy baby.

Back to the post I started working on last week...
here is the most recent 3-d image of the baby
and a shot of my basketball-belly

33 weeks!

just a quick note to let ya'll know that I'm still pregnant.

This is the longest I've ever gone without pre-term labor. Maybe I will make it to term....

3-D baby

Everything is still looking great. Maybe I will make it to term (knock on wood).

Thought you'd like to see a 3-D picture of the baby.
We're still not finding out the sex of the baby.





And a bonus picture of Nolan in his baby pool.



OMG! I'm going to have 2 kids at home!
Time to panic!

2 weeks? or 9 weeks?

I went into labor with Nolan for the first time at 32 1/2 weeks. I'm 30 1/2 weeks now. So, will I go into labor again in 2 weeks or will I make it to full-term?
No one knows. The drs are doing everything to get me to term, but with a history of 2 premature births my chances aren't good.

The stress is really starting to get to me (Cary will tell you - my emotions are everywhere!). I keep thinking about everything I need to do and I might only have 2 weeks left to do everything. Or I might have 9 weeks left. If I make it term, I'll have a scheduled c-section in week 39. The dr told me that at my last appointment. Then added that our first goal is to get me to 37 weeks or at least 35 weeks.

I told my drs I'm having 2-3 contractions a day. They were thrilled. How many people make their drs happy when they have contractions at 30 weeks? They were thrilled that I'm having only 2-3 contractions a day.


Nolan is still growing. He's quickly approaching his terrible twos. I'll try to post pictures of him. Cary got some good pictures of Nolan at the pool a couple of weeks ago. (I'm not allowed to go to the pool, so we got Nolan a baby pool. He plays in the pool and I sit next to the pool.)

Boring is good

I went to the doctor yesterday. It was another nice, boring appointment. I love those. The baby is about 2 lbs, 13 ozs. Everything looks great. We still don't know the sex!!

I go to the OB next week and back to the perinat in 2 weeks. I hope things continue to be nice and boring.

I'm *almost* enjoying my boring pregnancy.

Circle

We all know Nolan is a genius . Thought you'd like to hear the latest genius thing he did:

Saturday night we were at a friends house. He looked up in the sky, pointed, and said "circle." I turned to see what he was pointing at - there was a circle-shaped moon.

A couple of weeks ago we were at another friends house. Nolan was playing on my friend's son's toddler bed.
He would get up on the bed, crawl around, lay down, and get back down. One time when he was getting up on the bed, he stopped, turned to us and said "I get up here."

The dr told us he would start putting 2 words together. She didn't mention anything about 4 words! What really impresses me is how clearly he saids his words. Most of his words, anyone can understand. He only has a few in baby language (i.e. "gaa" for ball)


Pregnancy is still going great. No changes. I go to the OB every other week and to the perinat every other week. I'm still getting my weekly 17P shots (they help prevent preterm labor).
I have now made it past the gest. age when I delivered Caleb. That was a great day. In the next couple of days, I will start my 3rd trimester.

We still haven't found out the sex of this baby! Cary thinks it's a boy, I think it's a girl.
We do have a girl's name picked out. We had a boys name picked out until I mentioned another name I heard. Now we have 2 names for a boy.

Nolan's week

I'm still here and I'm still pregnant.
Everything is still going perfect with the pregnancy. Starting next week I'll be seeing a dr at least once a week - either the OB and the perinat (the high-risk dr).

Here is post I wrote weeks ago, but never posted. I'll add pictures later. I'm so tired - between working full time, chasing after a 1 1/2 year old, and being about 3000 weeks pregnant, I'm exhausted.



We went to the aquarium Thursday (April 24). We make a point to spend the anniversary of Caleb's death together as a family every year. We had fun. Nolan enjoyed the fish. His favorite was the beluga whales.

We took 2 pictures before our camera batteries died. Just before we left, we got some batteries at the gift shop and went back to the places Nolan really enjoyed for pictures. But, he was done. We took a couple of pictures and left. Nolan was asleep before we were out of the parking deck.

He has learned so much this week. He is a little sponge.e
He now says "no, no, no" and shakes his head.
When he hears "yes" he will node his head and sometimes say "yes."
He makes a fish face.
He makes elephant motion.
And he started saying "apple" and "circle."
All this week! (which was actually a couple of weeks ago)

Nolan stories

These stories have been building up waiting for some one (cough me cough) to tell them to you. So, here are some Nolan stories.

The other day Nolan was playing with a reese's easter egg. It was time to start making dinner. While I was walking to the kitchen I shouted back at Nolan ( jokingly) "You can have it if you can open it." I didn't think anything more about it. Until Cary said "Did you just tell him he could have that?" I said "Yay, if he can open it. Why? "
Cary: "It's in his mouth."
Me (while quickly going into the living room to see what Nolan was doing ) : "The whole thing?"
Cary: "Yes"
I walked into the living room to find the empty wrapper on the couch next to Nolan and the whole reese's egg in his mouth. I looked at him and said "You ate mom's candy." He gave me this look like "You said I could have it."
The boy loves his candy and I did say he could have it..



The other day Nolan and I were in his room playing. A couple people walked by outside talking to each other.
Nolan looked at me and said "Who dat?"
I guess Cary's been teaching him ebonics.



He got an ABC puzzle for Christmas. If I ask him to show me his ABC's, he will go sit on the puzzle. If he hears someone singing the ABC song, he will "sing" with them.




Nolan's words:
lalana = banana
daa = ball (some times gaa)
who dat = who is that?
what dat = what is that?
what dis = what is this?
kitty cat = kitty cat
mama = mommy
daddy = daddy
gone gone or all gone = all gone
panting or barking = dog
eow = meow
isty = Misty (one of our cats)
Inka = Minka (Cary's parents' dog)
oom oom = vroom, vroom - every time he sees or rides in a car you will hear oom oom
ka ka cake, ka ka cake (with clapping) = patty cake, patty cake
issy issy ider = itsy bitsy spider
Hi = hi
book = book

I'll add to the list as I remember words - he has a lot!! He is a verbal freak. He has more words then the average 1 1/2 year old. (of course, you knew he would have some freakness - he did come from Cary and me. ;) )


note: my computer does strange things with letters while I type on blogs. I'll correct any typos later - on a different computer.

videos

I should put words and stories to go with the videos, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll tell you about them tomorrow.


Nolan vs Oscar from eachoc on Vimeo.


Nolan and big ball from eachoc on Vimeo.

Oh - and I went to the dr today. Baby looks great.

Little One

So, I was cleaning off my computer and found this picture.

It's been on my computer all week waiting for you to look at. What took you so long?

The little one at 19 weeks:


A real post with more words and pictures of Nolan coming soon.

I'm all stitched up

The surgery went well. It was my first time at this hospital. It's a new hospital _ I think opened in 2006. The staff was great. My surgery was scheduled for 12:30. The surgery started at 12:49. How often is a hospital that on-schedule?

The baby was to wiggley for them to get the heartrate on the dobbler, so they had to do a ultrasound. When the ultrasound machine arrived, it was followed by about 5 nurses and my dr. The nurses rarely get OB patients in the outpatient surgery area and they all wanted to see the ultrasound of the baby. We were all a little disappointed when the dr got the heartrate right away and started to turn the machine off. After the collective disappointed "awww," he looked at the baby a little more.

The surgery lasted about 10 minutes. They gave me a spinal instead of an epi. A spinal is basicly a shot and lasts for a set amount of time. The epi is connected to a IV and can be added to for an unlimited amount of time (which is way it's preferred for labor). When I had the epi for the cerclage with Nolan it hurt so bad. I was dreading that needle in my back again. The spinal didn't hurt nearly as bad and started working immediately. It was great. I loved the spinal.

Cary dropped me off at the hospital yesterday morning. I made him leave at 11. There was no need for him to set around the hospital for 5 hours. Cary and Nolan spent the rest of Friday at Cary's parent's house. My sister picked me up from the hospital at around 4, took me home, and got my meds for me. I slept the rest of night - except for a few minutes when I woke up when Cary and Nolan got home to tell Nolan "goodnight."

Cary got up early this morning when Nolan woke up. Cary changed Nolan's diaper and brought him downstairs. Cary put Nolan in his highchair, I fed Nolan breakfast, and Cary got him out of his highchair. Then, I sent Cary upstairs(after I promised him I would be ok) and Nolan and I played until my parents got there. My parents took Nolan for a day with grandma and grandpa's. They brought him back at bedtime. My mom put him in my lap, I read him a bedtime story, and my mom picked him up and put him in his crib. It worked out great - I got to do my normal mom things without picking up my not-exactly-small Nolan.

Moo stopped by with donuts and diapers (I didn't realize there was a baby out there with thighs bigger then Nolan's). My friends from down the street stopped by to check on me. Cary had plans today and left shortly after Moo stopped by. It actually worked out really well. I was able to sleep all day (and have full control over the remote). And after I over did it this morning while playing with Nolan (after I promised Cary I would be ok), I realized it was best for me to do nothing but sleep today.

I was in a lot of pain when I got home last night. I'm much better now. My discharge orders said I can go back to normal activities tomorrow. I hope my pain agrees. Tomorrow's supposed to be beautiful and I would love to take Nolan to Moo's playground (but, no driving while on pain killers!).

I go back to the doctors (the OB and perinat) Tuesday morning. My perinat (the one who did the surgery - BTW it was the same dr who did what my OB's called the "cerclage of steel" with Nolan) said I can go back to work Monday morning.


I have ultrasound pictures of the little one and a video and pictures of Nolan, but I'm a big slacker and haven't posted them. I'll post them some time - between now and when little one arrives (July 9 is my goal - August 13 is my due date).

slacker

ok, so I'm been slacking on updating.

Nolan has a million teeth. He's walking like he's been walking for years. . He has no idea what's going to happen in a few months...

On the new baby news:
The little one weighs about 4 oz. Everything looks great. We're still not going to find out the sex of little one.
My cerclage will be placed tomorrow at 12:30. (I can't eat after midnight tonight!!!)
The cerclage is a stitch that will be placed around my cervix (kind of like a drawstring) . The stitch typical gets removed at 37 weeks (but we all know I probably won't make it that long).

I will start weekly P17 shots next week.

I'll post links at P17 shots and cerclage later today so you can go read about them.


My belly is getting very big, very fast. Guess that's what happens with #3.

An update!

I promise I have a good excuse for not updating, but first things first, I still haven't finished telling you about Disney!

Nolan and I had a blast. He loved the Dumbo ride (his first ride!). I was easy on him to begin with. Then, I slowly raised our Dumbo car and waited for his reaction. He laughed. The higher we went, the more he laughed. We rode It's a Small World more times then I can count. He loved waiting in line watching the clocks tick.

The first day there, we went to a character lunch with Pooh and friends. I don't like Winnie the Pooh. There was no Pooh in our house. Pooh and pooh things were not welcomed in our home. Nolan had never seen Pooh before. A few characters came up to us. Nolan smiled. Then, Pooh walked up to us. Nolan turned around, looked at Pooh, and smiled the biggest smile I have seen. He loves Winnie the Pooh!




I couldn't decide on Nolan's souvenir. One of the last days, we found a big Pooh. He was cranky, so my mom handed him the Pooh to entertain him while we walked through the store. When we were done at the store, I decided he needed that Pooh. I went back into the store the got him the Pooh. When I handed Pooh to him, he gave Pooh a big hug and kiss.



We heard Pooh, Tiger, and Eeyore where at Epcot for a character signing. We had to go. Nolan was getting tired and cranky. He wanted a nap. He was just started to fall asleep when I picked him up and took him into the room to see Pooh and friends.
His reaction:


He loves Pooh!


We did a ton at Disney. I got to ride all the roller coasters. Nolan got to play with his cousins and ride all the kid rides. We had a great time. I'm ready to go back. We all had our digital cameras there and ended up with hundreds of pictures (plus the Disney PhotoPass pictures!.) I'm guessing there are close to 700 pictures of our trip floating around. I'll put mine in flicker one day so you can look at all of them.



Now, on to Christmas: Nolan wasn't really into Christmas this year. When we started to open the last present at the last party, he started to get interested in unwrapping the presents. The biggest Christmas news is that he started walking on his own! He was walking for months holding a hand or two, but not by himself. On Christmas day, by brother looked at Nolan and asked him if he could show him how he walks and Nolan started walking. He took about 5 or 6 steps on his own and walked on and off the rest of the day.

Now, he's walking fool. He loves to walk. We went to the grocery store tonight. When we got back, I got him out of the car and put him down so he could walk to the door. He turned around and started walking down the street! (it's a very low traffic street - our town home is next to the end unit and the end unit doesn't have a car) When we go somewhere, I open the door and he walks to the car. It's great. He is such a big boy now. He has about a million words - mama, dada, kitty, mea (meow), inka (grandma and grandpa Locke's dog, Minka), grandma or grandpa (we're not sure which one he's saying), quack, tickle, gone, dank u (thank you) - I don't remember all of his words! He calls the cats. They will hear some one calling them, come running, and stop just short of Nolan when they realize they are about to fall into the Nolan trap. He is really getting into a great age. It's so much fun watch him walk around exploring. He loves to laugh and to read. His newest favorite thing is to walk around with a calculator in 1 hand. He loves my calculator.




Anyway, my excuse for not posting. Any guesses? Pretty sure you just guessed right.
Cary got me pregnant again.
(ok. so it took 2 of us. but, whatever I can totally blame him since he will never read this!)

I'm due August 13, so I'm expecting to meet the little one in July. July 9 will be 35 weeks, anytime after that will be ok for little one's entrance (or would it be exit?).

I've already seen my OB and my perinat (the high-risk dr). I've had an ultrasound. I saw the little one's arms and legs and head and heartbeat. I go back to see both of my drs Feb. 4. At that time, my perinat will schedule my cerclage (remember from last time? the cerclage is a stitch they put around my cervix to keep the baby in) for that week or the next. I will get weekly P17 shots again starting at 16 weeks. My drs assure me this pregnancy will be more like my pregnancy with Nolan.
I will be 12 weeks Tuesday. I'll add ticker at the top of the blog so you (and me) will know how far along I am.


How's that for an update? Did I leave anything out?


(By the way: I'm tired and don't feel like proofing this. Sorry for any mistakes, but I need my beauty rest!)