I'm here

I know you are all waiting for a birth story, I'm thinking it will be towards the end of the week. I will tell you that we gave a vaginal delivery our best efforts, 26 hours of true labor to be exact. Though she was tiny, she was lodged in my pelvis and there was really no way she was going to come out. She was trying her best though and ended up with a bit of a conehead because of it. :)

The nursing is coming along beautifully. My milk is completely in and she is sleeping SO much better now. She is peeing and pooping like a champ, something that worried me in the beginning. The visiting nurse comes tomorrow (the hospital always sends one about 48 hours after you've gone home) and we'll see how much she weighs. I think they will probably draw another billi on her to make sure it's coming down, but I think it is now that she is actually eating some sustanance. I think her complexion is a bit misleading too. Since she is part Mexican and a bit of Indian in there and Irish and everything else (poor kid!) she has a bit of a reddier color to her. She is still evening out too.

Last night was much better on the sleep. The first few days she had been marathon nursing from about 1am until about 4am. She would fall asleep but as soon as I went to take her off, she would glare at me and scream "that's my boob! Give it BAAAACCCKKK!" So I would be awake dozing but never really falling asleep since I have to still watch her closely so she won't chew me up. Last night she slept two hours, ate forty minutes, slept two, ate forty, yada yada yada it was sheer heaven. We are working ditching the nipple shield and things are great. One breast still has some blisters but they are healing too.

I'm feeling really great, I'm in pain, but not so much that I can't function. As soon as they took the catheter out Thursday morning, I was out of bed and on the go. They couldn't really believe how great I was walking and getting about. I know though that had I laid in bed, I would be paying for it now. I still look at her and can't believe she was inside of me. It really boggles my mind! Erich and I both agree that she is the best thing we have ever made. Erich is absolutely in love (I've been replaced!) and it's awesome to see them together.

Be sure to keep checking fotolog for pictures as I'll try and post a pic everyday cause she is so stinking beautiful! :) I'm trying to catch up on everyones blogs but it is difficult to sit here and not do other things if she is sleeping. I also sleep a lot when she is sleeping because its a rare thing. We really appreciate everyones well wishes and thoughts and it makes us feel very blessed to be surrounded by such great people. I look at her and think to myself, if I had known that I would be in labor for 26 hours and then have a c-section would I do it again? The answer is yes... every single painful minute of it.

Home Sweet Home

I'm home! Magdalena and I just got here. We wanted to beat the storm that is supposed to blow in tonight and I feel great. We were having some latch issues but she is doing wonderfully now (except for some small blood blisters. Ouch!) My milk is coming in and she seems to be eating like every 45 minutes right now. She is down to 5 pounds 15 ounces which they said is okay. She is a little yellow looking but still completely gorgeous. We are going to work on taking naps in the sun (for the jaundice) and eating eating eating! :) More later... gotta go love on her. And we'll post some more pics tonight too. Thanks for everyones well wishes, I'll post a birth story later.

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

I'm almost ready to leave. Need to vacuum the LR and wash the dishes and we're ready. My mom should be here in an hour or so and I hope to hit up Subway on my way up there. I would like a quick nap, but we'll see. She's here! My mom is here!

We are starting the induction tonight at 5pm. Erich will be home tomorrow evening and will post. I'm terrified. Wish me luck!

Another...

picture.

Better late...

than never. Here is a picture for you! And the ring is still there. Just didn't get the right angle.

I hate that!

I've been putting off cleaning the house all day. Nana (one of my grandmas, I have three) is in town and wanted to come over and see the nursery. She said to just call her. Well I was going to clean and then call her up but my head hurts and my crotch hurts so I've just been sitting around doing basically NOTHING. Well, I came down after my nap and started making mac n cheese and someone knocks on the door. Shit shit shit! Yup, it was Nana. I kept saying "sorry I just haven't been feeling well." But ya know, that won't make up for it. Damn.

Oops

Did I leave you hanging in suspense? My blood pressure is coming back down so she is keeping me on bedrest. Baby sounds good, I've lost a pound but baby continues to grow. So on Monday we have the ultrasound and appt. Tuesday I go in at 5pm to start p-gel and labor through the night and hopefully come up with a baby Wednesday early. I feel like someone beat me in the crotch with a bat right now. Ouch. It hurts. Bad. And I'm beginning to wonder if I'll be able to handle doing this without drugs if it hurts this much now. I need to eat. More later. And that pic I've been promising you. Promise.

Blah Blah Blah

That's how I feel. I still have a headache. And I'm worried about my output. LOL Of all the crazy things to worry about but really. I drank about 6 glasses (8 ounces each) of water last night around 5pm and by 9pm I had only gone to the potty once and I would safely say it was no more then a specimen cups worth (around 4 ounces). So to pump myself with 48 ounces of water with only a 4 ounce return bothers me. I only got up to the batheroom once last night with just a couple of drops and so far this morning I've drank a glass of milk with no return. Did I mention that this week I've been dealing with daily nosebleeds? Sooo, I started packing my bag but haven't finished. I need to do that now before I go to the doctor. Erich and I had a fight last night which upset me but I think I am just way to emotional. I need to go to the grocery store too. I really would like to do this prior to my appt (appt is at 3pm). I want to make a pot of baked spaghetti for Erich and then have enough stuff for my Mom and Erichs mom and Erich and myself to make do with next week. (I'm hoping they'll cook some stuff for us. I wonder if I can talk my mom into making me some beef noodles. Yumm.) I'm wondering if she will come take my blood pressure, hear about my peeing issues, and headache and say okay lets see if they have room for you tonight. Then I believe I will sincerely FREAK. Maybe I should sign up for that one free audio blog post trial so that I can call and let you know what's happening. I should be doing a lot mroe then sitting here let me tell you! So off to finish my stuff...

Headache

I have a raging headache. I'm hoping this headache has nothing to do with my blood pressure. **sigh** I'm going to eat some lunch, drink a bit of caffeine, shower, run my errands, come back and "relax" and if it is still raging I should probably call the doctor, eh? Oh and I have been having a lot more ctx. Painful painful ctx. And I owe you a picture. How can one relax when there is so much to do? I haven't packed my bag yet, buuttt I made out the list. :) That's progress, right?

Comments 2

Okay, I added a comment script that I used to use but hated. Hopefully blogspeak will be back up this weekend and I can go back to that. So comment away!

Comments

I didn't intentionally take comments off of the website. The comments are down for everyone who uses blogspeak unfortunately. I'll try and put a substitute up for the time being. :)

I'm here, feeling a bit better, and generally just taking it easy. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and we'll see what happens then. Maybe more later and a pic too...

A Housewife

That's officially what I am... a housewife. I went to the doctor today. All fine and dandy in the waiting room, did my share of waiting, got the confirmation that my new improved better insurance pays 100% of EVERYTHING without hassles of precerts and crap that comes with HMO's. (We now have an EPO-exclusive provider organization- that pays like an HMO but works like a PPO. Erich officially can't change jobs unless they have that insurance plan. heh.) Anywho. I went back and my blood pressure was sky high for me. Technicially it's on the high side of "normal" (whatever normal is) but super high for myself. The bad part was that I wasn't at work or doing anything before I went to the doctor. Just got up, ate breakfast, showered, watched some TV, blogged and left for the appt. So... she took me off of work. And I started to cry. Why was I crying? I haven't the slightest idea. I felt like an idiot sitting on the table in only my bra and shirt, hanging on to the paper sheet (and what good is a see through paper sheet anyways?), crying like a baby. Thoughts of always having worked and now suddenly not working came rushing into my head. Thoughts of stressing my husband out and making him the sole provider swam in my head. She went on to say that she wanted to see me on Thursday to check my blood pressure. I was put on modified bed rest, i.e. take it easy and finish up the things I need to get done before Baby Girl gets here. She said that if my blood pressure is the same and not higher, we'll stay with the course of an u/s on Monday to see exactly how big baby girl is now (side note: I'm 37 weeks 2 days pregnant and baby now measures 40 weeks!) and on Tuesday she is going to bring me in to start P-gel and then hopefully have a baby sometime Wednesday. This also brought on more tears. I know that a lot of people didn't think an induction was the greatest idea, but as I told Rachel in an email, there were certain reasons we were leaning towards the induction. I work in the medical profession and I know all of the pros and cons of induction. The pros being that with my specific situation that an induction may be safer and I would have comfort in a more controlled environment. But with the reasons for the induction changing, I'm more scared. Maybe I'm scared because now it is actually scheduled, in the books, and the maternity center will be expecting me on Tuesday evening. The fact that I will be holding my baby in my arms next weekend also brought on a whole load of emotions ranging from fear to joy and excitement. I'm not spilling protein in my urine, so I'm not too worried about toxemia. She says high bp at the end of pregnancy is normal, but mine went way up. She says it's my body telling her that it is time to move on and get baby out before any harm comes to me or her. I'm feeling the need for a bit of encouragement and hoping that I don't get comments about not having an induction. I value the opinions of everyone who reads this blog and I know they are leaving the comments in caring for my health, but right now I think I need more of a pat on the back and a hug. So with all of this bustle I should pack my bag. Heh.

Oh and if my blood pressure continues to go up Thursday, she said we'd re-evaluate our plan of action. She can't technically induce until I'm 38 weeks unless my blood pressure goes up more. So we'll "wait and see", a phrase I absolutely loathe.

Progress

I made some progress this weekend which is why I've been a bit quiet. As you saw from the last post, Erich is now post-capable. I also worked a lot in the nursery. I decluttered the catch all dresser and put in baby girls clothes. I also organized the changing table. All of her clothes and diapers are washed and ready to go. The video monitor is set up for the day we may use it. Her diaper bag is packed and ready to go to the hospital. We also put the carseat in the car so it's ready to roll in case I go into spontaneous labor. I finished making the curtains for her room, and Erich hung the rod and we hung the curtains. It looks very nice and it excited both of us to see it complete. It's looked sorta complete for a while with extra stuff just thrown in there. Now it looks ready for a tiny occupant. (She'll sleep in our bedroom for a while, but this makes us feel closer to being ready to have her here!)

Erich also started school today. He's taking four classes this semester and then he only needs two more and he will be done!!! YAY! (Then I can start up again. oy.) Anyways, he had some free time and sent me this link to an article that sounds like our life. heh. Who's life doesn't it sound like?

I gotta go to the OB now. Hope for some major cervical progress people. I don't think I can handle much more of this!

If everyone jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge...

What Classic Movie Are You?

Who wants to make some $$?

I'll pay someone... anyone... $25 to come wash my dishes (there aren't that many actually) and pack my bag for the hospital. I really need to get that damn bag packed, but I'm soooo tired. So any takers?

Conclusions

Okay I really don't know how to approach that "big" entry I did a few days ago. I don't usually like to open cans of worms but I know that was a mighty big can. I don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt because I was CERTAINLY NOT lecturing or intentionally trying to hurt someones feelings. I was NOT bad mouthing formula. I was stating that I personally would never use formula unless God forbid something awful happened when she born, unforeseen circumstances, yada yada yada yada. In addition to the many benefits of bf'ing, a major reason we are doing it is because formula is so costly. Sometimes I am amazed we are able to feed ourselves yet alone add formula to the mix, our grocery bill would sky rocket. Being able to breastfeed for a while exclusively, allows us to have this bundle of joy and save for when we do have to put table food into her mouth.

But anywho, as I was cruising through blogs, I came across some writing from Anathea and she pretty much summed up what I was thinking. So I'm going to copy and paste and I'm GIVING HER CREDIT FOR HER WORDS!!!!! :)

" Breastfeeding. Now, we know that it's 'best'. I'm a big strong advocate of the breastfeed. I'm not however a breastfeeding nazi, so if you're not breastfeeding, that's alright with me. I understand that there are countless situations, be it choice or necessity, that cause a woman not to breastfeed." -Anathea

I would classify myself as a Breastfeeding Nazi in my mind because I think it's so awesome BUT I won't lecture, because I HATE being lectured and spoken to like a child.

I'm completely wiped out. SO tired. I'm getting ready to add Erich as a qualified "poster" so you will know when Baby Girl makes her debut in this world. If he'll actually come home and post it, that's beyond me. I probably won't give him a the password and username until we have her though. ;) I'll make sure to give myself a note to remind him though. After that I'm hitting the couch with my book and waiting for my Prince Charming --- then straight to bed. It's exhausting making babies.

Go see

a picture! :)

I'm here.

And still pregnant. I have a feeling that will be a major part of my posts this month. I'm working on an entry to sum up some comments to comments left from the previous entry. Be patient.

Had an appt yesterday with the OB. She took me off full time work, I now work six hours a day. She said that it did not mean that I had an extra two hours every day to get stuff done. hmph.

Keeping Quiet

I tend to keep quiet about the choices Erich and I have made mutually for our upcoming arrival and what we want to see done with our family in general. For instance we will be cloth diapering and practicing extended breastfeeding. These choices are both for medical, mental, and financial reasons. There are other things we tend to talk about but that is not the point of this post.

My point was headed towards the fact that I tend to keep quiet at work about these choices. My co-workers find me a bit crazy about the cloth diapering issue. My boss said, " oh yeah, my sister decided to do that and she only does 450 loads of laundry a day." My other boss said, "are you one of those nazi breastfeeding freaks?" after I pointed out that breastfed baby poop is much easier to clean in diapers. A question that I had to answer yes to. She wanted to get into a heated debate with me, about how she had to use formula because her son wouldn't have eaten. She tried to breastfeed, but because of the breast reduction she had done, she couldn't keep up an adequate supply. A conversation which I just nodded and offered my condolenses. No, it isn't something I would agree with doing, I don't want to use formula period. (I try very hard to get rid of all of those samples of formula they keep sending me just in case we do have some issues at the beginning, I won't be tempted to just give up.) Back to the point, I wouldn't argue with her. I didn't really feel like she should have been so defensive because I wasn't accusing her of anything . I told her that as long as she felt she made the best decisions for her and her family (something of which she said she had) then I applauded her. That's all we can do as parents, right? Hope that we make the best decision for our situations and our families. Now, I don't agree with using formula, but it wasn't my family nor was it my decision. End of discussion.

So last week I'm at lunch with two co-workers. We are talking about choices and in laws and what not but somehow we get to the conversation of breastfeeding. I say that I intend to breastfeed, they ask how long, I say exclusively until she's 6 months, and I'll give her table food when she starts to show me she wants to eat some. They ask, "well when do you plan to wean?" I say, "not until about 2yrs, and only then if shes ready and shows me she wants to wean." So they ask, " well what do you mean by 'when she wants to wean'? it's your decision, it's your body, and you can't do it forever." I say that I believe it will be more of a mutual decision between all of us (Erich, myself, and baby) and we believe she will let us know when she is ready. So this NURSE ( I capitalize this because I couldn't believe the words I heard come out of this woman who is a registered nurse!), tells the other chick we're with that it is only medically beneficial to an infant to breastfeed for 6 weeks. And then she goes on to say that she was watching on a TV show about how women who breastfed beyond one year were getting some sort of sexual pleasure from it. I have to wonder silently to myself if she was watching Jerry Springer or some other very educational show but I didn't say it out loud. This woman and I have aleady had issues about racial comments she has made but that is a different story. Needless to say, I looked like a freak and a pedifile for saying that yes I did plan to nurse beyond one year of age. They didn't want to know about my educated research, articles, and opinions from leading health experts. They didn't want to hear about the anesthesiologist who breastfed her last baby until she was 2 because of the benefits her daughter reaps because of the bf'ing. Oh no, they chose to believe the uneducated, racist nurse who watched a Jerry Springer like show and chose to open her stupid mouth.

So this is why I'm so quiet on these topics. I'm tired of looking like a freak. If you so choose, please discuss in the comments.

Mad Cow

Jennifer provided a very interesting link to an article on Mad Cow disease this morning. Very good/scary article on beef. Kinda makes my stomach turn. The most unsettling part (to me at this point in my pregnancy) of this article was the following:

"And while people in a panic return unopened packs of hot dogs to Safeway, and various nations ban imports of American beef, we might want to pause and consider that only about 150 people worldwide have died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or vCJD, the human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (the human prion disease). You have a better chance of dying in childbirth. "

No really, I'm feeling great about this giving birth stuff. You've all done it right? You're all alive, right? **sigh** We tour the birth center of the hospital tonight. We are getting really close to having this baby.

Summing It All Up

I'm finished washing baby clothes. Yay. Tomorrow I'm going to work on getting everything in drawers and then on a bag for the hospital. I'm not sure if Erich is still going for the job interview, but I think we mutually agree that this is not "the job" for him for a plethera of reasons and it just wouldn't be good for our family right now. Such a sensible boy. Love him SO much. I bought some groceries but the kitchen still feels barren. I think it is just me though. I am working on laundry today and I washed the dishes. I'm tired and exhausted and all of that jazz. Gracy, the older dog, decided that at 4am she needed to go to the batheroom. Damn dog. I couldn't get back to sleep after that until about 6am. Our new insurance which started yesterday throughly rocks my world. It is AWESOME!

I'll try and be good about updating, but I am going to work the next two weeks five days a week. I HAVE TO WORK and I know it's going to kill me, but I think that's it. If I can get one last great check, I'll feel better. Tons better. My head is raging so I'll leave you with that. Not much going on this weekend. We are touring the birthing center on Sunday (mental note: MUST NOT FORGET THIS TIME!) so I'll let you know how that goes. And I'll let you know how my cleaning goes tomorrow. I have a bunch of old flannel pj's from my mom that I'm going to cut into squares and hem the edges for baby wipes and she brought me material to make curtains so I hope to do that tomorrow too. We'll see how ambitious I feel in the morning.

Neglect

Sorry, I've been seriously neglecting my blogging responsibilities. I have no time to post at this moment, but I promise to post before I go to bed. This is just in case someone comes by and wonders. **sigh**

Happy New Year Charlie Brown!

Just wanted to tell you all to have a happy New Year! I'm off to work as sucky as that is and after work I'm going to babysit for some extra $$$ so my New Year won't be to exciting. I'll try and get on during my lunch break to tell you about the stuff I left hanging in the last post. If not, I'll tell you next year. ;) heh. :)

Quickly

I'm here. Had a doctors appt. yesterday. We did group strep B and a NST. The NST was to see how she is doing in there since she hasn't been moving as much, and I had that spotting. She is fine. The little booger started jumping around like a Mexican Jumping Bean soon after we left the office. Since I've been having all of those nasty contractions, she did do an internal check. The "door" is closed, but I'm very soft and very thin. She said her head is RIGHT there so whatever we are "doing" is working. I think we'll need to "do" some more! heh. **blush** She did schedule another u/s for Jan 19. I asked if I needed to schedule an appt for the following Monday and she told me no. :) That kinda makes me happy.

I did mop floors yesterday, did the dishes, and started washing baby clothes. Erich is going to interview for a new job tomorrow so I need to write and tell you all about that. I should also tell about how Operation Clean Out the Kitchen is still on going, mainly because we are frantic to pay off some bills, and keep neglecting the whole "we must eat" situation. I am going to the store tonight though for a few things. A local grocery has milk 3 gallons for $5, so Erich bought some last night. In the last week, the two of us went through 4 gallons! Simply amazing. I really don't care for milk, but bambino must because I've been drinking it like crazy! I know there is probably more but I'm on my lunch break and really need to get back to work. More later.

Adjustments and Changes

As I finished up my 35th week of pregnancy yesterday and am charging into my 36th week lots of things are occuring. For one, my somewhat under control hormones have blown into full swing again. I watched Lucy get married on Seventh Heaven yesterday and I was a mess. In the show, her parents kept having flashbacks and seeing her as a baby and a toddler and a little girl. I was bawling thinking that I too would be there someday (hopefully in like 40, heh). Sheesh.

Also, I've told Erich that I am completely filled with awe, joy and extreme anticipation yet at the same time, I am completely scared shitless. Never in my life have I ever felt this way before. I'm sure he feels the same way. He says that if he were me he would just be scared of the way this baby has to exit my body. That isn't so much what is scaring me. The fact that I am forever responsible for this tiny perfect creature and that my flaws could rub on to her terrifies me. I'm sure this is normal and everyone feels this way, right?

In addition to Erich and I feeling the pressure of change and the very close arrival of our first born daughter, we realize this is a huge change for the rest of our family... mainly the dogs. It's funny how these dogs become such an intricate and important part of our families. Gracy, the older brown dog, will have no problem with this baby. I know that Gracy is very good with babies/kids and is just not interested in having our undivided attention anymore. She is old, set in her ways, and quite content just napping by our side. :) Ella, who thinks that she is our first born daughter, is going to have a bit more adjusting to do. And just like Gracy had to learn to be with kids, Ella now has to learn. I have no fear that Ella will be great with this baby and that they will be life long friends. I just want to make sure we do this right.

My mom and stepdad bought us the 4 in 1 play yard and also the boppy for Christmas. She also got us another sleep sack which I think will be great at night. The play yard has a bassinet and that is what we will be using in our room. Erich set it up in the nursery the other day, and today we moved it into our bedroom. We figured it would give us time to adjust to having it in there and moving around at night. It will also serve to help the dogs adjust and prepare. We took out a baby doll that looks "life like" and let Ella smell her while we held her and talked to both of them. Hopefully this will get Ella used to having a baby around, and we set the baby doll in the bassinet. We'll see what happens.

Other than that, not a lot going on around here. Just a lazy day. Yesterday we went down to Erichs brothers house and he helped him clean out the barn. MIL and I went to an outlet mall thirty minutes away. I bought Erich three pairs of pants. I also bought two baby outfits from the Carters Warehouse. MIL bought baby an outfit and a Christmas baby doll that was on clearance. (Now lets just see if she can find it next year!) She bought me a nursing shirt (yay my first one) and I bought myself a nursing bra (yay! also my first one!). Now I must go continue being lazy. :)

Is...

anybody in there?

What time is it?

I'm here and awake. It's 6:45am and I'm at work. **yawn** It must be a death wish. I'm sooo tired. Nothing really new here. After work, I have to stop at WalMart **shudder** and then I'm going to bed for a bit. Sooo tired, have I mentioned that? And I think baby is dropping into my pelvis or something. Strong shooting pains in my hips and cramping oh and some spotting. TMI? Okay to work...

Feliz Navidad!

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas...

Here Comes Santa Claus

Track Santa on his journey December 24th! :)

A long needed update...

So I did update my blogroll as I mentioned I needed to the other day. If you find incorrect links and stuff, please let me know. I think I've fixed them but I'm not perfect.

Erich helped me set up a webpage this last weekend. We automatically get space from the cable company with our subscription to internet, so I figured I could post more pictures then one a day and be able to gush over my baby (not that I won't do that here too) for family. If you would like to see this webpage, please leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you a link. I'd like to know who is going there, since the url does contain our family name. :) Oh, and if you do go, please bear in mind that I am html stupid, so this is also a learning and growing process. :)

Let's see. We had Xmas with Erichs side of the family on Sunday. It was okay. One of my New Years Resolutions is to not be so hard on my MIL. So hold me to it, okay? The dinner was at my SIL house, and they are in the process of remodeling the kitchen. BIL and SIL were both very tired combined with SIL and MIL don't get along, it was interesting. There was no tree up so it made it a bit unfestive. Erich and I were joking later because SIL decorated excessively for Halloween/Fall. There were tons of decorations, yet nothing for Xmas. Just comical to us, considering we do nothing except pumpkins for Halloween. :) Since I did Thanksgiving this year, I want to do Xmas next year. I want to do it for a couple of reasons, I don't want to go through the unfestive, no tree thing with a toddler. I want Baby Girl to remember Xmas with his family as fun and festive. I know she won't remember this at 11 months old but **I** will and there will be pictures, yada yada yada. Secondly, I don't want to drag Baby Girl all over on Xmas. I'd like to have a Christmas Eve dinner for all of us and then Xmas Breakfast and open presents from Santa. My family always had Xmas Breakfast and I would like to keep that tradition going. My grandparents are coming Thursday but I'm not going all out seeing I'm so tired and so pregnant. :) I imagine that our parents (Baby girls grandparents) will want to come next Xmas morning for Santa and such. We'll see. Oh, so SIL doesn't want to flip holidays every year, so I said I wanted Xmas for the rest of eternity. Later Erich agreed with me that it wasn't very festive and he would have liked to see it be more personal and festive at our house. It made me feel good, because I got the impression that he thought I would have accomplished this better. I think Thanksgiving was a HUGE success. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of tough work. It was also smart of me to do that this year being 30 weeks pregnant and NOT doing Xmas this year, cause truthfully I don't think I would have been up to it.

Okay moving on...Oh! Friday I was given VTO (volume induced time off) so I worked around the house, cleaned, and MOPPED THE FLOORS! :) Notice the comment in this post from my wonderful husband. Of course, it is starting to look like I should redo it and the carpets need vaccuumed but that's the way it goes. I was give VTO tomorrow, Xmas Eve, so I will do it most likely then. I was sent home yesterday early and today early and tomorrow I have off and who knows what will happen Friday. There were only five cases scheduled tomorrow and 12 scheduled on Friday. My next check is going to look pitiful. I really wanted to work more too in case DR does induce in the middle of January. We'll see. I'm sure we'll be fine, I'm just going to miss those checks! I think I'll be much happier when Baby Girl is here and I'm holding her. I won't even think about the missed checks until I pay bills! hahaha!

Erich and I went to the library on Saturday. He rented "The Shining." If you knew E, this would be surprising because he is not one for scary movies, but he enjoys Stanley Kubrick. We watched in on Sunday and it was very scary! REDRUM! REDRUM! creepy... I borrowed Xmas cookie cookbook and Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I just finished flipping through the entire 700 pg Good Housekeeping book and jotted down 30 or so recipes I'd like to copy and keep. I'll put them on recipe cards tomorrow.

Yesterday after work I came home and cooked! I made salsa, spanish rice, chx rice "stuff", baked spaghetti, and a pizza. I want to make cornbread muffins tomorrow and some drop sugar cookies. I'd also like to try my hand at some basic muffins, we'll see. :)

So I'm in my 35th week of pregnancy, and I'm exhausted. Sleep continues to be a rough thing to get. Just not comfy. And I have to go to the batheroom so often. The worst is when I wake up and have to go really bad but I don't want to get up because I know as soon as I stand Baby Girl and all of her five and half pounds combined with gravity will come crashing down on my bladder making a very painful feeling. And I'm so stiff that it takes me a minute to get going. I look like a little old lady getting out of bed in the nursing homes! It makes me think of all those night shifts I worked where I made them get out of bed to go instead of using a bed pan! I realize now why they wanted a bedpan, cause they ache! But I still hold that was better for them to get out of bed because if you can get up you should. The more mobile you are, the longer it sticks around.

Anywho, baby is getting bigger. Everyone says so. She keeps her foot stuck up in my left side that it feels like she is poking my left boob. I don't think my mom thinks I will make it much longer. She keeps implying that I will go into labor soon after the New Year. And when I call her on the phone, the first thing she asks is if I am in labor.

Oh and a huge thank you to Allison. A card is in the works, but she made me a beautiful baby blanket. I'll post a pic soon. It is gorgeous and way considerate. Thank you so much!

I think that's about it right now. I'll post more tomorrow. :)

Sleeping Beauty

Some love sleeping baby pictures, I also love sleeping doggie pictures.

Last minute giver?

Give the gift of blog!

MIA

Sorry I got away from my every other day posting. I meant to post last night then became way to busy and forgot. Just dropping in to say that I'll have a real post of what I've been up to tonight. I'm off to work now, tired, after a "full" nights rest. ( I say "full" because anyone who has ever been 35 weeks pregnant knows that sleeping a full night is a gigantic joke.) But ya know, another day, another dollar, and all that other jazzy crap. Have a good day, more tonight...

Buddha

I know this isn't a real post or anything, but thought you may want to see me naked. Not completely you pervert, just my belly! 34 weeks. Inducing in 38 (hopefully!). Anyone else ready to meet her?

PS If I'm in a favorites list on your fotolog, this picture looks way funny and distorted! :)

IOU...

a real post. I'm tired, achy, sore and just plain not wanting to think. Sorry. I'll get you that post soon. Just so you don't have to leave empty handed, how about a picture? This is a picture of the triplets over Thankgiving weekend.

Blog Roll

I really must must must must MUST edit/fix my blogroll. It's pathetic.

Growth Spurts

Very interesting appointment today. So let's get down to it. Here is where Babycenter says baby should be at this point:

This week your baby weighs about 4 1/4 pounds and measures 17 inches long. By now, she's probably head-down in your uterus — most babies are at this point — although she may continue to change positions. Her skull bones are still pliable and aren't completely joined, to ease her exit through the birth canal.


That's not exactly where our baby is. The ultrasound was tons of fun though, it is definitely a GIRL! She is head down and has lots of hair! You could see it on her neck. Those are knees that keep pushing into everything, and like I suspected she has her feet hooked in my ribs. Here is where it gets interesting. Baby girl weighs.... five pounds two ounces!!! She is measuring 35 weeks 4 days. (I'm technically 33 weeks 2 days.) Go take a look at her beautiful face. I know it's just me, but she is the most gorgeous baby I've ever seen. So with that we went on to see the doctor...

Fundal (uterus) height is up. Usually you grow two centimeters in two weeks which is what I have been doing. This week though revealed that I grew 3 centimeters in 2 weeks! Dr. says we will do another ultrasound at 37/38 weeks. If baby is still big, and my cervix is favorable, she will induce. So we are looking at having a baby around January 17thish. So we'll see. That was my exciting morning... now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Snow

It's snowing. It dropped at least two inches on the ground between last night and this morning. Tomorrow is our ultrasound! yay! I really don't know why I'm that excited, but I am. I want to know how much she weighs and to know that she definitely is a she. I had a dream the other day that it was a boy instead. In the dream I had gone in for the ultrasound and ended up actually having the baby then. Which would be fine by me. :) (As long as shes healthy of course.)

I bought her snowsuit yesterday. It's very cute, not exactly what I wanted, but it will work. My mom called to tell me that for xmas her and my stepdad decided to buy us the playpen/bassinet. That is what I'll be using in our room. She said she also through the boppy on to the order but didn't tell my stepdad. heh. She said he may be a bit "surprised" when he gets the bill. Things seem to be coming together, maybe because I had an absolute meltdown with my mom the other day about the stuff that I still need and such. I guess she'll always be my mom and take care of me, huh?

We're going to their house now, so I'll update tomorrow after the ultrasound. :)

Jury Duty

I just received a letter stating that I am a "prospective" juror for the fourth quarter of 2004. Couldn't they have picked me for first quarter? Then I could say that I was pregnant/in labor/caring for a newborn. Bah. It's inevitable that I will have to be on a jury at some point. And why didn't Erich get a letter? Oh and it says please fill out the application and return it to the court within 14 days or we will hold your ass in contempt of court (those are the exact words! I swear!). Anywho, this letter is dated... November 1st. Sweet. At least they sent me an envelope with a stamp on it. Heaven forbid they try to pry 37 cents out of my fist for their jury duty. heh. I'm going to bed.

Wanna cookie?

I posted a picture over at fotolog. I thought I would share. :)

**insert clever title**

Okay so I never mopped the floors like I wanted to. And there is a sink full of dishes at home. I'm at work, and the fact that there are things that need to be done at home is driving me bonkers. I did however get to wash a load of my laundry last night, so I now have clean underwear, which makes me extremely happy! If you knew me, you'd know that I tend to wash Erichs laundry first, mainly because he is seen in public in his clothes. I just come into work and change into scrubs, so why should I look nice? heh. So I have clean underwear. yay!

Jeromy, my friend, is doing ten million times BETTER! Thank goodness. I went and saw him twice yesterday and he was up walking around, talking to me, and laughing. He agrees that I am all belly and very cute still which makes me glad because he is back to old self. They are talking about letting him go him in a couple of days. He'll be off of work at least a month, and when they feel his body is better recovered, they are most likely going to remove his spleen. (Which will put him off even longer.) I promised to keep him company and told him he could start taking me to lunch again. heh. ;) To explain that I'm not an evil wench, we used to have lunch about twice a month. He would pay one time, I would pay the next. Well, I was always so broke that I generally convinced him that it was in fact his turn to pay... every single time. hehe. We always laugh about it now. And we almost always went to Olive Garden to get alfredo dipping sauce for our breadsticks, something we call heartattack in a bowl. :)

I still have a box to mail, emails to return, yada yada yada yada. Today is Must See TV though. Maybe I'll go home early and GET THINGS DONE! Oh and I need like oh $250 dollars to buy some baby stuff that I seem to think I need RIGHT NOW. Like the little snowsuit. And the diaper bag. I'd like to start packing my bag also with stuff everyone keeps telling me not to forget, like hairties, and tooth paste and a toothbrush. I think I may go to the dentist office and ask if I can have a toothbrush to pack in my bag. :) I'm sure they'd give me one too. Oh and I must must must remember to pack Erichs swim trunks. (So if I decide to labor in the shower or tub he can be there with me and help me stand and such.) So hey why don't you guys help me out. In the comments, leave me notes telling me things that I should remember to take or things you forgot and wish you had, yada yada yada. If you'd do that I'd love you all more then I already do.

Dangit I have to go back to work...

Progress

The laundry is started, the floors upstairs have been swept. I need to mop the master bedroom but I'll do that when I mop all the floors downstairs. I can't do that currently because I'm having ctx and it's raining outside. ( I like to put the dogs outside when I mop so they don't track.) I'm getting hungry so I should eat something. Really all I have left to do is the mopping. Oh! And I finished washing diapers so they are ready to go! I changed the password on fotolog so that Erich could post a picture from the hospital whenever she decides to arrive. :) Now I just have to create a user account on my blog for Erich so he can post "progress and news" from the hospital. I'm feeling ready for this baby. I am missing a few things. I'd like some liners for the diapers. I need the boppy. And I need to buy a snowsuit, but I'll buy that this weekend. The u/s is on Monday so maybe I'll just do it on Monday after the u/s. I am hoping my mom would want to shop after the u/s and buy us some things. :) I can wish, right? Erich is done with school, his finals are on Friday, so he gets to come to the u/s! I'm excited and I think he is too. The last u/s he saw (besides the taped one at 20 weeks) was at 7 weeks! So I'm pretty sure he'll think it's cool. Just about 7 weeks left. yay!

Buddha

I posted a picture for you viewing pleasure. You can compare this picture to one taken a while back on August 6. I'm home today from work so I'll try to post again later. I've got more laundry to do and floors to mop, dishes to wash, the list never nnds it seems. First I'm going to try my hand at Monopoly Tycoon on the computer. I can't seem to beat the current level I'm on (to be worth $40,000 first) and it's seriously driving me mad.

Goodbyes

No don't panic, I'm not going to stop writing. I would have updated yesterday, but I helped a friend type a paper over my lunchtime. Then after work I was feeling a bit bummed and blogger was apparently feeling stupidly slow so I gave up. One of my greatest friends in the world is very very very sick. Apparently they called in his family Friday night thinking that he wouldn't make it to see Saturday morning. He is such a bubbly upbeat person when he isn't sick that seeing him like this and knowing full well that there is a great chance that he could die is practically ripping my heart out. To think that I may never see the bubbly Jeromy that used to want to date me or tease me or hang out, it hurts. He's such a good guy, and hasn't really had time to live his life. He's young, under thirty. He works with me at the hospital but on a different floor. It's hard to get up to see him when he was at work and it makes me mad at myself right now for not going and seeing him more when I really could have. He is in the hospital where we work so at least I'll be able to visit him everyday and check in on him. I had to call my cousin last night who also worked with him years ago, at the same place I met him, to tell him that he is really sick. I figured she should know that before I had to call her and tell her that he died. Maybe he will get better. I'm praying that he is. I lit a candle for him. I feel so helpless. I want him to see my baby. I want him to hold her before he goes. It dawned on me last night that they could be the two passing links in my life. He could die at the time that my baby is born. One person leaves and and another one comes. I'm sorry I can't type anymore.

I know!

I know I should have posted on Saturday but time got away from me. Sunday blogger was being a booger. Right now I'm headed to work, but I'll plan to post on my lunch break. :) I promise!

Aunt Jemima

I made the pancakes this morning from scratch. They were a bit too sweet so I’ll either try a different recipe or cut down on the sugar this other recipe called for. We have batter left so we’ll being having sweet cakes in the morning. Heh. We also fried some potatoes. I had Erich cut the potatoes while I was making pancakes and he only cut up one potato. I am longing for another fried potato. I think that is what I will make for dinner when I get home tonight. Yum. Other than that, I’m very proud of myself of not buying a mix to make pancakes. Erich says he wants buttermilk pancakes so maybe when I do grocery shopping this weekend I’ll pick up some buttermilk. My mom left here last night saying I was crazy for getting up before work to make a big breakfast. I really enjoy it though. I enjoy making things from scratch. I enjoy the money we are saving, hehe. It makes me feel as though we are starting our morning off “on the right foot.” And if we can keep it up, I’ll enjoy making breakfast for our babies in the mornings and sending them to school with a full meal in their stomachs, not just cold cereal. Since my mom always worked evenings, she was too tired in the mornings to do that for me. She’s an excellent cook but getting up at the crack of dawn to make huge meals isn’t her forte. Though I don’t hold it against her because when my dad died she was forced to work three jobs. She was tired. I just want something different for our children. I think I’ll enjoy staying home and being there when they come home from school. I’ll enjoy sitting down as a family to eat dinner. It’s the small things that I’m looking forward to. Okay I have to shower and get to work now. I realized that I have no more than 8 weeks left working. Wow.

Isn't it January yet?

I’m so tired. I’m not sleeping well at all these days. It really isn’t baby moving, though she does move an awful lot. It’s more my back. I want to go to the chiropractor but when it comes time, or the cash becomes readily available I just don’t go. I justify it by buying something else that we “need” or doing something that should be done. Really if I could just pop my back on my own I would be so happy. When I twist myself to do this though, my huge fat honking uterus gets in the way of my “twist” so I’m never fully able to go far enough around achieving the pop I so desperately desire. **sigh** It’s very frustrating to wake up in the middle of the night to a husband who is sound asleep along with both dogs.

I’m going to make a conscious effort this month to blog every other day. While Jennifer has pointed out that some are vowing to blog everyday, I find this vow an unrealistic commitment for myself. Maybe next month I’ll try for everyday. Won’t you all be in suspense if I start missing days in January? :) I’ll post a picture for you all on Saturday when I get all dressed up for Erich’s Christmas party.

Have you ever felt like there is so much to do, yet can’t think of a darn thing that needs to be done? I’m feeling like that right now. I find that I get all of this energy and I do so much around the house and such, but then I lose my energy and feel only like laying down for a couple of years. Then everything I have done during my energy spurts goes unattended and I spend the next energy spurt trying to make up for my lacking days of energy. It’s a viscous cycle I tell you!

Okay I’m going to go eat some ice cream and put a pizza in the oven for Erich. He should be home soon, and when he’s finished eating, we’re going to bed! I hate going to bed before he gets home. I feel like I miss out on time we could have spent together and I’m sure it’s frustrating to come home and find me in bed. Tomorrow morning I am going to make pancakes from scratch and probably some fried potatoes. I realize that this is a lot of carbohydrates, but doesn’t fried potatoes sound delightful? Plus my mom got potatoes at the grocery store – buy one bag, get one free. So she gave me a bag. It’s really rough having that many potatoes with just two of us. I feel the pressure to eat the 10lbs of potatoes before they start “growing.” Last night I cut some up in tiny pieces, put them on a cookie sheet with some veggie oil, and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. They were very yummy. :) Okay now on to that ice cream and bed…

32 Weeks or something...

Well, there was a doctors appointment this morning. Two centimeters in two weeks, still measuring two weeks ahead. I'm officially 31 weeks and 2 days so I measure 33 weeks. Baby is head down (yay!) and I gained 1 pound. :) That's all baby is what the doctor said, considering baby gains about 1/2 a pound each week. :) I've gained 12 pounds total. Blood pressure is fine and I'm not spilling sugar or protein. :) Next appointment is December 15 with u/s!!! And the appointment after that is December 29! Did you hear me? DECEMBER 29!! Then we start weekly visits. This baby is going to be here NEXT MONTH! I'm starting to kinda freak out.

I have lots of 3-6, 6-9 clothes, but not a ton of sleepers for newborn through three to six months. We have an old house, it's going to be freaking January in Indiana so I feel like we do need just warm warm sleepers. I need to buy the snowsuit but I saw that Babies R Expensive have them 40% off right now. I want one with the little holes in them for the carseat.

I picked up the pre registration stuff for the hospital today and signed us up for a tour on Sunday at 6pm. :) I need to get my list started of things to pack for baby and things to get done for baby. Not to mention print off my registry and see what things I absolutely need for baby and what things I can do without. I also need to get a list of names for birth announcements. If the u/s in two weeks confirms little girl, then I'll go ahead and purchase them. If not, I'll get unisex ones. I'm feeling a bit like things need to get done in the next couple of weeks for a couple of reasons. 1) It's the holiday season. Things are going to get crazy and I just don't want to deal with it after. 2) I'm going to be so big, so tired, and so umcomfortable in a few weeks and I'll still be working so I don't think I'll want to do this stuff next month. And who wants to worry about it at the end? 3) If I tell everyone what I still need maybe they'll send me an xmas present. heh. (that was meant towards family ya know.) ;) 4) It's going to be snowy, icy, and frigid in the next couple of weeks. I don't want to be shopping in that nor do I want to be out of the house in that. It's going to be bad enough coming to work!

On another note, I worked Thanksgiving. We did three cases and had time to goof around afterwards. So guess what we did? Ultrasound of course! :) Big fat Erich feet in my right ribs (Erich wears size 14 shoes! Of course, he is 6'4". Dr. says that babys like that space under your ribs cause they like to push against something hard and there is a bit more room under there) And she had her legs open, but not being u/s techs we didn't know how to look from the front. From below and up though we saw no evidence of a penis floating around in there. In fact it looked a lot like a hamburger bun. heh. So I'm still saying girl.

Erich bought me my Christmas gift. Actually it's Xmas, Anniversary (from Aug. 10th), Happy Baby, and Happy Birthday all in one. It is my anniversary band that completes my set. It's a band with a row of diamonds (1/2 carat!). My wedding band is just a plain platinum band and my engagement ring is a platinum band with a princess cut diamond with princess cut side stones. The anniversary band now sandwiches my engagement ring and it is absolutely beautiful. It made me so happy and it sparkles so much. I really haven't gotten gifts this year, and I haven't really bought clothes because of my buddha so it's nice to know that I'm appreciated and loved. :) My ring and Erichs planer that I bought for him for his xmas is really the last major things we'll get to buy ourselves before we hit the "baby crunch." Erich is going to start looking for a better job in January. He fulfills his contract then and they are "making changes" at his work. He is afraid they may just eliminate his position or knock him down to part time which we can't do with me leaving work and becoming a SAHM. So he is looking for something closer to home with the same pay or something with better pay at the same distance. Wish him luck! That reminds me I need to take his suit to the dry cleaners. :)

Well, that was a hideously long entry. I have to get back to work. I'll write more some other time! :) Take care!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm off to work now. :( Isn't it wrong that I have to work? All those people stuffing themselves full with belly aches and then realizing, oh somethings wrong maybe I should go to the hospital. What? My appendix needs taken out. Bah. Have a good one, I'll think of you all while I'm working. ;)

It's the most wonderful time...

of the year! It's snowing! The first snowfall in Indiana! :) And you know what that means, right? IT'S COMING YOUR WAY RACHEL! And it also means the time for baby to arrive is getting very very close! We are all bundled up now and I have to pack some sandwiches in my purse then we are off to the Saturn dealership (without an appointment) to wait all day in hopes of them fixing the mysterious squeak. I figure while I'm paying the fee for them to look around, I'll have them plug the antenna back to the radio (it falls off all of the time leaving you with static) and have them check the brakes. Not that I'm made of money, I'm sure capital one will enjoy the business though. It's better to get this fixed now while I can pay for it with that check I make every two weeks then say, oh Feb. 1 when I no longer have a job.

PS How do you like this two entries in two days thing? :) Belly picture tonight, when I find the camera. As I was staring in the mirror this morning, before my shower, I've noticed I'm really starting to point out! Funny.
'

On to Christmas.

Well, with that we bid Thanksgiving goodbye. We had Thanksgiving dinner today. I actually work Thanksgiving day from 7am to 2:50 or so. The shower was yesterday, and I'm completely exhausted.

The shower was great, we received tons of gifts including an IU onsie from my best friend Phoebe. I hung it in our high chair, heh, for my stepdad to look at over dinner today. :) He is a Purdue alum so I expect to see something from Purdue coming soon! Phoebe got to feel the baby move. She is absolutely amazed that I am pregnant. :) So after the shower I came home and kept working on the house in preparation for today. We also went to Kokomo to get the oil changed in the Saturn (which by the way is making a funny noise, so I must take tomorrow off and haul it to the dealership in hopes of a small small minute repair that requires little to no money. heh) Erich got his xmas present. He is using it right now. heh. I'll wrap the box and stick it under the tree which I hope to put up tomorrow or something.

I was up until 1am last night baking bread. We ended up with 32 pounds of it. Some in 1 pound containers, others in 2lb loaves, and in my desperation last night at 12:00 with batter still left to be cooked, I made muffins with it. heh. It's amish friendship bread so its sweet and we can eat it in the mornings and such. The menu today was:

Spiral Glazed Ham
Stuffing with chx (made by my mother)
Sour Cream Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole (you've seen the TV commercials, right? I felt like a hostess failure not to provide this "tradition")
Corn Casserole
Wheat Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Dutch Apple Pie
Ice Cream

They troops rolled in around 1230ish and we ate around 1ish with desert around 3ish. My MIL and FIL , who own a gardening business, brought 400 bulbs to be planted. (yes you read that right 400.) They planted those after desert. (yes all 400 of them) All 'those people" left at around 4:30 and Erich and I climbed into bed at 5! We are up now after a two hour nap. Erich is downstairs "playing" with his xmas present. (oh, it's a planer) I'm about to sit down for Charmed and enjoy the first leftover ham sandwich with other leftovers.

I'm feeling incredibly pregnant and can't believe that I actually did all of this baking and cooking today. Baby is creeping farther and farther into my ribs and my breathe is leaving me. When I layed down after dinner, I was actually having ctx. I really over did myself. They had to be braxton hicks, but I was at the point where I almost called the doctor since they hurt so bad. I waited until after the nap though, and as I thought, they have left. I really should take it easy, huh? She is welcome in 7 weeks when I will be term. I'm telling her punctiality is overated, that being early is the best kind of person to be! :) Okay picture later. Charmed now. :)

Another Apology

Once again I find myself sitting down to write how sorry I am for my lack of updates. I do feel bad, and feel as though it is my obligation to those (if any of you are still out there) who read (or used to read) daily. Things have been quite hectic as I enter into the ten week countdown. The baby shower is this weekend. Phoebe will be here all day Saturday and then Sunday I am having around 16 people over for Thanksgiving. I'm thankful, believe me. I have a wonderful husband and this awesome little creature growing inside me. It's just that lately things seem to take a ton of energy to do. I have so much to do and the urge to do it, but my new found roundness makes accomplishing these tasks a bit difficult.

I do find my "roundness" amazing. And I seem to get rounder and rounder everyday. I always thought I would bask in the wonder of my protruding belly, which I do. I always dreamed of being pregnant and loving every minute of it, which I do. But as the days pass, I find myself leaning more towards being anxious about the birth of our child. I want it to be right now . I think this happens with every Mom. And I do believe it is the natural progression of life. I seem to find the parallel in death. ( I know this sounds odd, but run with me for a minute.)

I'm completely scared of death. I think some of this may go back to my fathers death and some just because I'm so young. I have so much to accomplish still. So many things to do, children to have, time to spend with the love of my life. Years ago when I worked in a nursing home, I found a very valuable friendship in a lady named Irene. I adored Irene and spent the little down time I had giving her "extra" love. I gave everyone extra love because I'm that kind of person, but she intrigued me. She and I talked about death once and she told me she wasn't afraid. She welcomed it. She was tired and had lived a very full life. She had accomplished the things she wanted to and had come to find peace with the world around her. She was ready to pass on. I miss Irene terribly now, but I find peace that she was ready. She had lived her life and maybe I will find her again someday, wherever we "end up." I think she would love to hold my baby and parts of me think she already has, as silly as that may sound. Anywho, back to the parallel. At the beginning of the pregnancy I wanted only to hold on to the fact that I was pregnant and wanted to stay that way. Towards the middle I have painted the room and have made room in our home for this new addition. We've talked about her. Named her. Thought about what she may be and what we want her to learn. And now, in my new huge roundness and umcomfyness, I have found peace that my body can nurture a child. That my body knows how and my mind has now moved beyond staying pregnant, to wanting to hold our baby in our arms. To smell her hair and kiss her tiny toes, that sounds "del-ovely>" (You do remember that song from Anything Goes by Cole Porter, right?) Even though we may not have all of the baby stuff, we are ready to greet her.

Okay, well I had mopped the kitchen and cleaned the downstairs batheroom, and I was writing this as the floor dried. I'm sure it's dry now and I should get off my bum and keep going while I have some steam still. Friends was good this evening and Scrubs will be on in a few minutes. Not to mention Prince Charming should be coming home and I can't wait to see his handsome face again. It's funny how much love I feel in my heart right now. I loved him more then life itself before, for bringing greatness to my life, for completing me. I never dreamed I could love him even more then I already did, but I do. He gave me this baby. It's our love and determination that created her and I can't wait to see him hold her for the first time. I think it will be a moment I will never forget. The two greatest loves in my life, holding each other.

**sigh**

So did I mention anything about the GTT test results a few weeks ago? I DON"T have gestational diabetes and still have hypoglycemia when not controlled by.. well. .. eating constantly. They were like "good news no diabetes." surprise surprise. I knew that, so did we really need to waste my time? :) But they did a CBC and it turns out I'm anemic. Gee, maybe that's why I feel like I've been hit by a dump truck. Combine that with major cleaning around here since Phoebe is coming all day Saturday for the baby shower and Sunday we are having the most people we've ever had in this house for Thanksgiving, I've not been online much. I'm wondering why I agreed to cook a HUGE thanksgiving dinner at almost 31 weeks pregnant. (Measuring about 33 so I'm just going to start saying 33 weeks pregnant because dangit I feel like that. heh.)

I've got to go shower for my doctor appointment. I'll update about that when I get home. No work today, they cancelled me. whee. It's horribly foggy outside so I should probably leave early and this baby is a mad woman this morning. I'm very uncomfortable and it really isn't my belly. Hmp. I kinda have a headache, wonder what my blood pressure is like. No swelling though at all. :) That really brings me joy. Why yes Mr. so and so I'm eight months pregnant spend eight hours + a day on my feet lifting and pushing and I"M NOT SWOLLEN. NEEENER NEENER NEENER. Okay enough of that. Off to the shower. I'll post more later.

Bah

Why must McDonalds sell breakfast until 1030? Dangit I want lunch. Why can't they serve both all day. **pouts**

Wheres Waldo?

Where did Lili go???? :(

Good news around here. Erichs insurance will pick me up in January, pregnant and all. Yippee! :) Since my insurance had changed and instead of paying nothing like we had planned we were going to have to have to pay 20% which was seriously downing my mood as of late. Erich's insurance will pick me up and they pay 100%. I also found out that I can take short term disability (read= maternity leave) and get money then quit my job and NOT have to pay back the benefits. Whoopee. :) So yeah that seriously brightened my day.

I'm getting bigger and slowing down majorly. There is a friend that wants to see me but I'm so tired after work that I can't seem to possibly do anything. I feel bad though since in a few weeks it won't be just me anymore and they want to see me pregnant. **sigh** I'm just SO tired these days. Oh and surgery is picking right back up. I think everyone is using their insurance while their deductibles are met and they have lower insurance rates since the new year will bring higher insurance rates. Let's see if it continues. Off to work.

Oh and does anyone else think it is UNFAIR that Erich gets to spend the day at home because it is veterans day? Freaking bank holiday. I work Thanksgiving DAY for crying out loud and he get Veterans Day off. The world is not right man.

Surprise!

I came home on Friday to find a surprise on the front porch! Go look at it! :)

Buddha!

To see Buddha go here!

Big Fat Jerks

Why is it that I am not allowed to say I am uncomfortable or that I hurt? I have a bruise on my belly that hurts worse than any other bruise I've ever had in my entire time on this Earth. I think it hurts so bad because my uterus is now pushing on it from the inside and my waistband pushes on it from the outside and my muscles just get so tired by the end of the day. Someone asks me, "so how are you feeling?" And I say, "honestly I'm not feeling great. this bruise on my belly hurts and my hips hurt something awful." This person responds with, " Well, didn't you want to get pregnant? Didn't you actually physically seek getting pregnant?" I respond, " yes I did." She answers, "then you shouldn't complain."

WTF? Why is it that every other pregnant woman on this planet is allowed to "complain" but because I struggled to get pregnant and took a little clomid I'm supposed to be some damn friggin' saint who doesn't mouth a complaint. I am SO happy to be pregnant and I LOVE every minute of this somewhat hellish pregnancy I've had. ( We do remember that unlike the average pregnant woman I lost 22 pounds, puked every day multiple times for over 12 weeks, battled a stomach flu and kidney stones, and was admitted to the hospital for dehydration, right? OH and lets not forget being hit by a 300lb motorized cart directly in the belly.) SO yeah, I love being pregnant, I tried to get pregnant but it's taking its toll. The average pregnant woman isn't spending 8+ hours on her feet constantly pushing, pulling, and lifting fat asses off of surgery tables (sorry I really am a compassionate person. ) :(

I am at the point where I feel like I've been pregnant forever and I feel like I have forever left. OH and at what point do I go from being pregnant to "that pregnant." To the MALE anesthisiologist who made me run for a lightwand, "SCREW YOU JERK!" The story behind that is: we put this patient on the table and he put him to sleep then decides he wants a light wand ( an instrument that is a long thin stick of sorts with a light on the end of it. They use it during difficult intubations to shine a light directly in the throat then thread the tube in the throat.) So anyways, he realizes he has no lightwand in the room (gee, think you should have thought ahead?) then looks at me and says "run and get me a lightwand from the anes. work room. And I do mean run because he is out completely." Okay so me and my belly and almost 3lb baby go running down to the work room (on the other side of surgery) then run back with the lightwand and obviously when I get back I'm huffing and puffing (did I mention there are feet or arms in my ribs?) and joke with the nurse saying something like, " I don't think pregnant women are meant to run like that. heh." He responds, " well you are not THAT pregnant." Excuse me? Let me have you run your ass off all day long after not sleeping the night before. I'll pump you full of hormones then shove a 3lb baby up you with placenta and amniotic fluid etc etc etc and see how well you run and how you like it. Ugh.

I don't like being like this. And the hostility makes me even more hostile if that makes sense. I just want compassion from other people. I'm gosh darn tired, why won't anyone acknowledge that? I know of people who aren't working who are pregnant and say they are tired and people go, "oh I'm sorry you must be." But if I say I'm tired (after having worked a shift) they respond with something like, " well you wanted this." or " you made your bed, now lie in it." Jerks. I'm sick of it.

Oh and thanks for all of you who said you read. I'll try and be comical and bright and funny and witty. Operative word= try since I don't think I achieve that now. Heh. I'll be happier tomorrow. I'm spending an entire day with my Prince Charming. He is going with me to the hospital to do the GTT and then we are going to see the Matrix Revolutions. (we opted to not do it tonight and see a cheaper matinee tomorrow.) I'm also going to clean and relax. I need it.

Does Anyone Still Read This?

Sorry for lack of updates. I've been having a few sickly days combined with losing all of my energy and having feet poking into my ribs. I had a doctor appointment yesterday. I've gained 3.5 pounds bringing me up to 9.5 pounds total weight gain. Fundal height is almost 29! Maybe this baby will be ready to come early, or maybe she just has long legs. Heartbeat was 136 bpm ( I think she was asleep) and I start two week appointments now! My next one is 11/17 and the one after that will be 12/1! December! Wow!

It's freaking hot around here. Yesterday it was in the eighties which is just bazaar. I'm off to work. Tomorrow we are going to see the premiere of "Matrix Revolutions" after work and then we both have Thursday off. Yeehaw. I am doing the GTT on Thursday and having my blood drawn to check for anemia. I'll try harder to update more often. ** I hear the snickering laughs.** Just so tired.

Oh, we painted our bedroom this weekend. We are also getting rid of all of the "crap" furniture we have. Ya know, stuff you got in college that was a piece of junk, but hey it was furniture. It's time to move into being "real" adults. Heh. Whatever that means. I'll try and post a picture though Erich took the camera to work.

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Operation: Clean Out the Kitchen

I've been on a mission to get the kitchen "ready for winter" and I've been frantically cooking to get rid of all the crap in the pantry. I've also wanted to make more meals on the weekend so we can take for our lunches during the week and not eat cold sandwiches everyday.

I started out Sunday and invited my grandparents over for breakfast (they will eat anything) and served them pancakes and oatmeal. :) For lunch I made 3lbs of sloppy joe (so E can reheat and make sandwiches for dinner the remainder of the week) and I also made sour cream potatoes, peas, green beans, and corn. All of the vegetables came from little packages in the freezer that were never enough to make for both of us, so just got shoved to the back. I also put pot roast, carrots, and potatoes in the crock pot and let it cook all day on Sunday. For dinner Sunday, I made baked spaghetti and garlic bread. I also made two loaves of cinnamon bread. I'm thinking I'll make another loaf tonight and put applesauce in it to make apple-cinnamon bread. :) I also have some chicken thawed in the fridge and some shake and bake bbq glaze that I think I'll cook for E tonight and put in the fridge for leftovers. And I have biscuits to make Monkey Bread. I'll make that tonight so we can eat it during "Good Morning Miami." So am I a cooking fool or what? :)

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?

Well, Friday evening I went after my job to babysit. I was extremely tired and was yawning when I put the little boys pajamas on him. He is about 3 and adores Erich so he says to me:

"Suzanne, when you go home I want you to promise me that you and Erich will take a nap."

Me: "Okay."

Him: "Is the baby in your tummy sleeping?"

Me: "Yes she is I believe."

**pauses and thinks for a minute**

Him: "Is there a bed in there?"

Me: (holding back laughter) "No, not a bed. She is sleeping in a warm bubble of water."

Him: "oh. when is she coming out again?"

Me: "remember how we talked about how she would come after xmas and santa claus?"

Him: "yeah." **pauses** " Will she still be in the water?" :)

blood

I've been awful about posting. Sorry! :) I'm tired and not sleeping well at night. Plus I feel like I'm doing even more nesting and trying to stay sane enough that I can keep my job at least through the end of December. The money is way to nice right now. The word is that they are looking at the people who occupy my type of job and seeing who they can eliminate. Jerks.

Erich is going to give blood tomorrow for the triplets. They will need it next week and then they are planning on taking all three home the first week of November. I volunteered to stay a night or two sometime in November to help with nighttime feedings and such, but to be honest I don't know if I'll be able to do it. I'm so tired and seem to be getting rounder by the day! So keep Erich in your thoughts, he hates needles and blood (I know the delivery might be quite entertaining) but he is braving it just for the boys. :) Isn't he sweet? I'd give except they want O type blood ( I have A+) and they wouldn't take it from me cause I'm pregnant.

Speaking of pregnant, there are only 98 days until my due date! Everyone at work says Jan 15 and the guy I work with who never gets gender wrong says girl. So we'll see. I have to go back to work, my break is over. I'll try and write more but busy weekend. Tonight I'm babysitting after work (12 hour day at least! Yipes!) then we go tomorrow to give the blood and then babysit in the evening, and then Sunday I'm going to clean like a mad woman. I'm tired just typing it! Have a great weekend.

Diaper Days

My mom just ordered my diaper package from Earthbaby.com. Yay! One less expense for me. The next big expense I anticipate is the co-sleeper. :) She is giving me the diapers for my baby shower which is November 22. You are all invited though I doubt you would be able to make it to the midwest. :( I have my registry started and there is a ton of stuff on there. Erich put a lot of stuff on there too. I can't help but think that there is something missing from it. Boo. I also have a small registry at Pottery Barn Kids.

Bleh

It's one of those days. I just don't want to be anywhere...

Belly Dancer

I just spent the last twenty minutes or so watching my belly "dance". My mom would have killed to have been here for that. She is dying to feel the baby move, but she is always around when I am eating or when I just get off of work, which are usually down times for baby.

I was lying on my back on the couch and when I am on my back, I put my hand on my belly because I know baby will start to move and I'll feel her. Well I decided that I would lift my shirt and and look down and sure enough my belly ring started moving along with the rest of my stomach. It looked like a little alien stuck in my body trying to get out. Ella, my puppy, even saw it and cocked her head to the side in awe I believe. :) It's so cool. I'm glad she is okay and getting strong. I can't wait to meet you baby and hold you in my arms.

MIA

Sorry I've not been around lately. Busy week last week. I was hit by a 300lb motarized endo cart and pinned to the wall. Baby is fine. I sat in maternal fetal medicine for about 4 hours while they monitored her heartbeat and they did an ultrasound. She is sitting frank breech in there and still keeps her legs closed to see well enough, but they are still saying girl. I have to get back to work now. Enjoy your day and I'll try and write more.

Ultrasound Pic

The pic is up! :) Go here to see baby.

When You Wish Upon A Star...

Well, things look a little better. I went and got the directory of physicians for the dirt cheap insurance that pays 90% (opposed to my next to dirt cheap plan that will only pay 80% beginning in January). My PCP is covered in that insurance plan as is the hospital I plan to deliver at. So, if nothing in that book changes, I'll be able to get cheaper insurance and get more paid for. Who would think that the less you pay the more it covers? Weird. So that is my good news for the day. I scanned the pics of the ultrasound from yesterday but fotolog wouldn't upload them this morning. I'll try again when I get home.

Stress

I'm a bit stressed right now. It seems for every two steps you take forward, you always take one back. I'm stressed about money. The hospital just came out with the new insurance plans. Instead of the I don't pay anything my HMO pays 100% that I have now, my plan changes to 80%/20%. (me paying 20% with a deductible.) Someone said, it's just like everyone else who doesn't have hospital insurance, but I say thats crap. People that generally pay 20% aren't limited by networks. I'm not going to freak out about this right now. I know in my heart that things will work out. Heh, maybe I should stick a paypal button up "help me deliver my child!" I'll worry about it when E's insurance stuff comes out. Maybe if I wish really really hard, one of his plans will pick me up pregnant. One can hope, right?

A highlight of today is that I saw baby. :) It is really slow in the OR so Mel and I went and played on the u/s machine. She's in there alright, and I'm still saying she because we saw a head, spine, a butt, two legs, two arms, some fingers, and some toes and NO penis. :) She does look a little cramped with those long legs though. She had her feet around her ears. :) And she's head down. She sucked her thumb and we saw her doing the "mimicking" breathing, which was way cool. When we took the probe and poked it into my tummy, she promptly gave us swift thump right at the probe! When we talked to her, she responded to our voices. It was really great. We printed a lot of pictures but only two are really great. One of her beautiful spine ( I love seeing all those vertabrae!) and one of her head and toes! Those tiny toes! And she has gotten so big since just 6 weeks ago. I fall more in love with her everyday and I just can't believe it.

Anywho, if you get a moment, send a silent thought our way that things will work out like they are supposed to in January. I'm sincerely scared, and working full time isn't an option. I'm going to try and babysit once a week and take baby with me. I'm also going to try and get a house to clean biweekly. Hopefully that will pull us through. I just know in my heart that I need to be home with baby, and E doesn't seem to be as worried about the $$. The thought of having to pay 20% is a bit daunting at this point though. This is boring to you guys, I know. I'm sorry.

I'm going to go fold some baby clothes that a lady I know gave us and set them on the changing table. I think laying them and seeing what I have and need will help. I'll wash them in December. I'm getting ready to order my clothe dipes pretty soon too. Official nesting has begun I believe. Night night, sweet dreams, and don't let bed bugs bite.

Just call me Buddha

I lost the nursery pic I took so I'll take another and upload that tomorrow. But I did upload a picture of my belly. :) Man I feel huge. So how do I look?

Guess what I'm doing...

I'm painting the nursery! I'm painting the nursery! I'm painting the nursery! Yaaay! Yaay! I'm painting the nursery! Okay enough of that. :) I got my butt in gear and started finishing the job I started oh a month ago. My mom came at 6:30 and started doing the high trim for me and went back to work to put her timecard in. She'll be back in about a half hour. :) Then we are going to do the writing/painting on the wall. :) I know some of you don't do "God" but Erich and I do just not in an over the top way. And remember that the theme is "my friend the moon" (that link goes to a picture of the quilt and bumper I bought.) So the writing on the wall above the rocking chair will say:

I see the moon,
the moon sees me;
God bless the moon,
And God bless me.

It will be cute, I'll post a pic tonight after Erich gets home. (He has the digital camera yet again.) I'm thrillled! :)

I'm alive... barely

I'm here. I have Erichs horrendous cold now. All I want to do is guzzle a bottle of NyQuil, obviously I can't do that. I have the day off, for now. I was a bit ticked yesterday. Went into work and picked cases for the next day. I saw that Friday was not busy, so I asked for it off (they always put you off if we aren't busy, so I figured I save myself the hassle of driving in, especially since I feel like crap). Anywho. I asked, it's always been to my understanding that the first person who asks is the first person who gets it off. Well, I asked and she said she would let me know. I then caught her asking someone else if they wanted it off, they did (who wouldn't it's a Friday for crying out loud) and so I asked her, does that mean I can have it off too? She says, " well I think you can, but call in the morning and see if they need you." Grr... Didn't I ask off first? Yup. So I call just now. They don't need me right now, but please call back around 3 in case anybody calls in. So basically, don't get to wrapped up in painting the nursery Suzanne because you could still have to go to work. I told Erich it was like if he asked his boss Can I have tomorrow off? And his boss said well, "Anybody else want tomorrow off? No? Okay Erich you can have it off then." Those people can drive me mad.

I picked up a baby for surgery yesterday that was born at 24 weeks gestation. Born at 1lb 12oz and 12 inches long. That's where I'm at. Scary to think that that baby came out now, hopeful to think they could be able to save her if she did come out, freaky to think that big of a baby (although he was really tiny) is inside of me! A 12 inch baby inside of me! It boggles my mind. Okay I'm off to nap and then start the nursery. They better not need me at 3 dang it.

**Insert Clever Title Here**

I had a title thought up last night, but for the love of something I can't remember it. Boo. Work is going well. I'm still REALLy exhausted at the end of the day, but that is expected for anyone who is 6 months pregnant and spend her entire day on her feet. They have announced that there will be no bonus (called Share the Vision, which I refer to as Share the Allusion). It's gone. Did I mention that I also didn't get a raise? So if I was planning on staying, which I'm not, I definitely would have changed my mind after that fiasco. But I hear I'm not the only one. **shrugs** They've also taken away the call I used to fulfill so all of us are a bit pissed about that. And they shortened our week. PCTS used to work 40 hour weeks, we now work 37.5 (which is the "norm" in healthcare but it still sucks). I heard they are taking away ECMO call also (different form of call). We no longer get bonus time (a incentive to stay and help when they are in a pinch) and if we get any overtime, we are in trouble. Next thing they'll be saying they are taking away our retention bonus. They have this problem with retention they said. That of 400 nurses they hired last year, they had to replace 350 because of them quitting. Hmmm, so do you think taking away year end bonuses and call and all of the "extra perks" is helping? I don't think so. Anyways enough about work.

Baby is in there kicking away. A gal I work with always talks to my belly now. She assures me this is so baby will know her when she gets here. heh. I told her yesterday to tell baby to get off Mommys bladder. Baby thinks this is a cool place to hang out while I'm on my feet. So I constantly have the urge to pee when really all I can squeeze out is a few drops. Of course I may not have much in there since everything leaks when I sneeze, cough, or laugh. Oh the joys of pregnancy! I'm starting to have to roll out of bed, E helps a ton with that. Getting up is getting a bit harder by the day and I'm still all belly. (Of course I've only gained 6lbs or so so really I am only baby!) I promised you a picture but no one has been here to take one of me. Sorry. I know you are dying to see my beautiful self. ;)

I did cook a lot on Monday. Pot roast, carrots and potatoes in the crock pot and I made green bean casserole and corn casserole. And it must be the baby but I really don't care for green beans. I'll eat them on occasion and I REALLY don't like musherooms. In fact I hate them but guess what. I've been eating this green bean casserole and craving it. If you aren't familiar with green bean casserole, the two main ingredients are green beans and cream of musheroom soup. Go figure. I've got to pack my lunch now. PB and jelly sandwich, grapes, and (you guessed it) green bean casserole. Weird. Love to all. More tomorrow. :)

My girls

I had my 6th month appointment today. Wow. Where does the time go? I'll have a belly picture later on today, Erich took the camera with him. One more 4 week appointment then we go to two week appt. :)

I measured right on target and I have gained 3lbs since my last appointment. A total of 6lbs has been gained this pregnancy! :) She told me she wanted me to gain 4lbs, but she could live with 3. Baby sounds great, 148 bpm heartrate. I will have to do the GTT :( at 28 weeks and be checked for anemia, but I can live with that. She says my blood sugars look awesome. :)

WARNING! THIS NEXT PART QUALIFIES AS TO MUCH INFORMATION.

I woke up the other day to discover that "my girls" work. My poor breasts are leaking. Which this "milestone" would explain the many breastfeeding dreams I have had lately. It kinda makes me giddy, because I was worried that for some reason "they" wouldn't work, but they do. So I'm a bit relieved, though I still don't know why I was worried. Erich thinks its gross and I think he'll be staying away from them for a while. heh.

I had a dream last night or the night before that I had boy and girl twins. I think my subconscious wants to know what this baby is! :) Maybe Wednesday we'll be slow at work and Mel and I can look.

Surgery is as exciting as ever. I love being back at work with the humdrum. It really wears me out though, but I sleep better at night. It's a lot harder to tote the two of us around that place instead of just me. I think it was the right decision and it fulfilled some much needed companionship. I've had a lot of laughs. Melvin keeps coming into the storeroom and sees me picking cases and yells out stuff like "Suzanne is back! :) " Everybody is laughing and says it's like I never left, but they said they all missed me. :) That makes me feel special.

I do have the day off today. I have pot roast, potatoes, and carrots in the crock pot. The house is starting to smell really good. It should be ready when my mom comes for dinner. I'm also going to make green bean casserole and corn casserole for the rest of the week. And I may also make some sloppy joe mix for Erich to make sandwiches at night with. Thats about it.

I'll try and blog more. Since I'm back to my old shift (11a to 6:50p) it'll take some time to get adjusted again. I promise to try and get blogging back into my schedule so I do it daily. I am keeping up with everyone else though. :)

I'm alive!

Well, I'm back working in surgery. It sincerely kicked my butt so much that I couldn't stay up for ER! I had to tape it and I'll have to watch it tonight, which is a big deal for me. Man. So that is where I am, I'm loving it and staying busy and it's nice to be with friends again. :) I'll update more this weekend, though I have big plans to get that dang nursery painted! Sheesh. :)

The Judges Are Out

Well, yesterday (as I was leaving work early) I decided I couldn't take this anymore. Erich seems to be fine with me being jobless in about four months. And this is what I really want to do. I want to stay home and take care of my baby and clean my house and be with my doggies (one of which, Gracy, gets closer to death every day I believe). I want to go and help Teresa out during the day and hang out with her because I miss her and two sets of hands works TONS better with four babies (her triplets plus mine.) It's just that me being jobless scares the living crap out of me. The thought that I won't be contributing. The thought that even though things are tight now, they will be even tighter. I know I don't have to worry about clothes and such for baby. My mom and my in-laws will be over joyed and throwing me clothes. (hopefully) and I'm thankful for people like Rachel who give me stuff. (As a side note, she really rules. I really should drop her an email and see how she is doing.)

I think I'll miss my job. I know that I used to whine a lot about it, but I find myself actually missing the drama. Right now I really need human interaction, like you would never believe. And I really just don't get that here in the library. I am a person who needs to be occupied . I'm sure I won't be bored when baby arrives because she'll keep me busy and occupied and when she naps there will be meals to prepare and diapers to wash, etc etc etc. I think going back to surgery at this point will help the last part of this pregnancy past faster in a more entertaining way. And I think I'll feel better at that point leaving my job having spent time with my co workers (and pocketing some more cash, since I can't leave early as much up there!)

So as I was saying, on my way out of work yesterday I called the OB office and asked that my lifting restriction be lifted to save me from dying of boredom and loneliness. The nurse said she wasn't sure if the doctor would actually be thrilled with that idea, but I think I presented a strong case and I said I wanted to go back. I think she'll let me knowing that I am making this decision of my own free will.

I haven't heard back from the FMLA people yet. I need to call that lady. With FMLA status, if I'm back in surgery I'll be able to take a sick day (even though I don't have any left) in case I'm not feeling well. And it will also cover doctor appointments.

The PTO book also came around to me. Most people took their vacations in June and July. Not me. Knowing that I won't be here in the summer, I thought that was pointless. So knowing that babies in my family don't come early and that I plan to work right up until the end (without taking maternity leave as I would have to pay it all back when I didn't return to work) I took my vacation the last week of January and the first week of February. Baby has until February 14 to come out (though God please don't do that to me, however sweet a Valentine baby would be). I figure if she hasn't come out by the first week of February, I'll return to work and the extra walking and such will just give her a bit more shove to come out. :) Also that two week vacation will also give me time for last minute preparations and some relaxation. So does that sound like a plan?

In webpage news, I haven't heard back from Blogspeak saying it is okay to put comments back up. I'll go check on that now.

Oh and wish me luck that the doctor calls this afternoon and says it is alright to go back to work today. I really want this! (And if she calls before 4 I can go to Associate Health, get cleared, and be in my department with Melissa this afternoon until five! **which means we will head to that ultrasound machine!**)

The Three Little Pigs

I forgot to tell you.. my cousin had her babies! They were born on Friday 6 minutes apart (vaginally! woot!). She said she woke up around 4am and felt like she was peeing her pants, when it didn't stop, she realized her water broke. They left for the hospital around 6am and the boys came one by one the right way at 8:53, 8:59, and 9:05am. :) They are

Mason Andrew
9:05 am
2lb 9oz 14" long

Evan Patrick
8:59am
2lb 12 oz 15" long

Jonathan Avery
8:53am
3lb 16" long

Go here to see a picture of them! :) Oh, and please pray/send good thoughts their way. They will be in the hospital a minimum of 4-6 weeks. They have to weigh at least 4lb to leave the hospital. They are doing well at this point though, and breathing on their own, which is the most important thing.

Book!

My book came in the mail today. The last page made me cry, it said:

"You'll find that this world's
a great place to begin,
but it could use some help ---
which is where you come in.

So now, as my voice
burble-urps in your ear ---
with a bump-thumpy sound
that is not very clear---
the words I am saying
you hear in your heart,
and know that I wish you
the very best start.

It's a scrumptulous world
and it's ready to greet you
And as for myself. . .

well. . .

I can't wait to meet you!"

--"Oh the Places You'll Go! A Book to Be Read in Utero" adapted by Tish Rabe from the works of Dr. Seuss

Blah

Not feeling to chatty lately. Kinda feeling out of it, and just a deep longing to be home cleaning my house, cooking foods that make the house smell of crunchy leaves and good eating. heh. I love fall, especially with my personal heater strapped to my belly, we like the weather.

People have started to refering to me as two instead of one. At first I thought this may be because I feel huge (though I hear I'm not). Now I just think it is because everyone else is coming to the realization that there is another human being trapped within my body. When ordering at the deli yesterday, the guy at the counter said, "you two are hungry huh?" Yes, yes we were. Weird.

I'm learning how to keep my blood sugar up. :) It makes me feel very nice. I love this non constant feeling of nausea. :)

I'm debating about asking to go back to my department. They've had me on a lifting restriction because of my threatened miscarriage way back at the beginning. I have an appt. on Monday and I want to ask to go back. I'm tired of going home early and the measly checks it brings me. I miss my friends/ acquaintances. I miss just the feeling of being around people and seeing neat things and guts hanging out of bellies. I miss the occasional person you get to take to surgery that is pleasant and nice. I miss helping the little babies. I miss doing what I do best-- taking care of people. And I know that when the baby is here I won't be able to work in healthcare for a while. I figure if I go back now, I'll be able to have a bit of fun and do what I love. It will also help the time fly by seeing as it is October now. Leave me a note and tell me if y ou think it sounds like a good idea.

(The comments will be down until later tonight. Blogspeak is having some issues.)

Mutterings

Yet another week of Unconscious Mutterings.

1. Herpes:: syndrome
   
2. Freddy:: cougar
   
3. October:: the hunt for red...
   
4. Hunting:: deer
   
5. MSN:: messenger
   
6. 36:: 6 times 6 is
   
7. Hotel:: towels
   
8. Travesty:: ?
   
9. Health:: condition
   
10. Conditions:: outside
    

Dum Dum Dum Dum

Congrats to Allison!