One more month...

Today is February 24th...one month exactly until my c-section. 4 short weeks until I have two children. Holy cow...

One more month.

I am so unprepared. It's kind of ridiculous. I mean we aren't entirely new to this, so we have things at home to help us with a new baby, but for the most part I feel lost.

I want my house perfect before this baby comes. PERFECT. And I know that there's no chance of that. I need to make a list. A list of things I need to do/have done before the baby comes and just work on it. One day at a time. No stressing.

At least the floors are done...I think. I'm pretty sure they are, at least. We still need to paint the walls and baseboards and put up the baseboards but the floors are done. We can start THINKING about putting furniture back.

One more month.

Once we can put furniture back, I think I'll settle down a little. I seriously have a small panic attack every time I'm on the main floor. You should see our kitchen. I should take a picture. In our kitchen we have our desk, a bookcase, china cabinet and hutch, dining room table, kitchen table and like 8 chairs. You can't hardly move in there. It's a chore to "make" dinner, which honestly consists of making a frozen pizza right now since I have no room to do anything.

We have all the china from the china cabinet and hutch on the floor in Dominick's big boy room. There is a wine rack on the poor kid's bed. Don't worry he's not sleeping in there yet... :)

One more month.

Here's what I want to have done before the baby comes. If I just make a list, we'll be fine. We can do it! We will do it!!

• Paint the living room/dining room walls
• Paint the baseboards
• Put up the baseboards
• Move all the furniture back in to the living/dining room
• Pack my hospital bag
• Pull out all the 0-3 month clothes and wash them
• Start to transition Dom downstairs
• Pack the hospital diaper bag
• Get the car seat installed (or like have Nick do it since he's now installed and uninstalled a car seat like 5,000 times)
• Finish the main floor bathroom closet
• Go to Time for Dinner and get one more round of dinners before the baby comes
• Re-decorate the nursery for Annabelle (not doing much, just a few little things to make it her room)
• Get a few things for Dommie when he comes to visit at the hospital so it's an easier transition
• Pull out the pack n play's and set one up on each floor
• Finish buying things we don't have and still need (i.e. swing, etc.)
• Set up diaper stations (for both kiddos) on each floor so after the baby comes and I am recovering from surgery, I'm not having to do stairs every time I need to change a diaper
• I'm sure there's more, I just can't think of anything else right now....
  

That's not so bad, right?? I can handle all this, right??

Of course I can handle it...I still have ONE WHOLE MONTH! :)

KITCHEN RAFFLE!!!

Nick and I belong to St. Joan of Arc parish in South City. Their auction is coming up and my neighbor is helping organize it. She asked if I could spread the word about a kitchen raffle they are doing. I told her I would love to.

Here is the flyer:



In case it's hard to read (and I know it is), here are the details:

"In conjunction with Custom Stone Interiors of St. Louis, we are pleased to announce the details of the St. Joan of Arc Auction Kitchen or Bath Remodel Raffle. The drawing will be held at the SJA 2011 Auction on May 7th, 2011. Need not be present to win. Raffle ticket price is $100.00 each with no more than 300 tickets being sold. The holder of the lucky ticket will receive the following:

• $3,500 worth of stock Custom Stone Interiors cabinetry and design
• 250 sq. ft. of flooring with a tile/wood allowance of $1,000, a total installed value of $3,500.
• 3 cm granite counter tops with an eased edge, including a 4" splash made from one of Custom Stone Interior's eighteen in-stock colors worth $60.00 per sq. ft. for a 100 sq. ft. counter top allowance.
  
• The counter tops will include an eased edge and one Custom Stone Interior stock stainless steel under mount sink and stock Artisan faucet, an estimated value of $6,000.
• Removal of existing cabinets and installation of new kitchen cabinets, an estimated value of $2,400.
• If the lucky winner decides to remodel their bath, the flooring, cabinets and labor will not exceed $15,400.
• Remodel must be within a 50 mile radius of St. Louis. Prize must be redeemed by May 7th, 2012"

To purchase a raffle ticket, please leave me a comment and I will email you the form to fill out and the info on where to send the check. Or click on the picture above and print it. The info is also on there.

I think that Nick and I will have to buy a ticket! We need a new kitchen so bad!! I'm done with the metal kitchen cabinets!!

Good luck!!

Udder Cover!

So that name just makes me laugh. :)

Not too long ago, my friend Ashley sent me an email with a promotional code on it to get a free nursing cover from Udder Covers. You only had to pay for shipping which was $9.95. I don't know if you've looked up nursing covers before but they are about $30-45. I had registered for one with Dominick and I got it, but I didn't like it. It didn't fit right and I just didn't like it. So I never used it. I also only breastfed Dominick for 6 weeks.

This time I am determined to make it longer. So I am buying all kinds of things to make breastfeeding and pumping easier to hopefully make this an easy thing.

Anyway, one of the things I wanted to get was a nursing cover. Since she sent me this promo, I figured why not? So I went online and picked one out and ordered it. Wouldn't you know it though, I picked one on backorder...That figures.

So I wasn't sure when I'd get it. But I got it today!! Yay!

I really like the design (even though it's not exactly the same color I thought it was) and I tried it on and it seems to fit ok. Obviously I just tried it on over all my clothes and I don't have a breastfeeding child yet, but I think the fit will work!



The color is more of a yellow than white, but it still looks good with the pink. I'm also afraid it's a little see through, but I think you really have to look to see anything, and it's not like people won't know what's going on under this thing. I think it will be pretty obvious!

Anyway, so today I got my $32.00 + tax + shipping Udder Cover for only $9.95!

A little more progress! Always a good thing!

Some Progress

I got a "few" things done last night...not a lot, but enough that it made me feel a teensy tiny bit better and like we're more prepared.

Last night was a Monday, so we were going to my parents for dinner. Dominick was already there...that's another story. I won't go into the full extent of my hormonal hysterics but basically I brought Dominick to daycare yesterday morning, only to find out that she was taking off for the holiday. Apparently she thought she told Nick that last week, he doesn't remember it, I wasn't ever told, etc. etc. So I bring him (in the rain) to her house and then have to leave with my 2 year old with no where to bring him...

So I got in my car and started crying. :) I called Nick and he called his mom. She was busy. I knew my mom was working but I called her anyway and she told me to call my Aunt Lisa, who works for a school and was off. I called her. She could watch him for the morning. My mom told me she could watch him in the afternoon. So I headed out to North County (from South City) and met my mom at her house to get some essentials. I had nothing with me. I got diapers, wipes, toys, and a binky. I brought him to Aunt Lisa's and he ran right in and started playing. Then I headed to work.

Anyway, so Dominick was already at mom and dad's last night. Nick went straight to their house after work since he is working out that way. I ran home after work (which is in North City) to let the dogs out and feed them and then head back North. I got to my parents house around 5:15 ish. As soon as I got there, my mom asked me to run to the grocery store for her to pick up a last minute ingredient. So I did that and then came back and we ate dinner.

After dinner, mom had to go to a meeting, so I ran out to Babies R Us. I have a baby shower that I'm helping host on Saturday and needed to get a gift for that and I wanted to get a few things for Dom and Anna. I got Michelle's baby shower present AND I got two things I wanted to get for Baby Annabelle AND 3 things I needed for Dom. :) Yay!

So I am in NO way, shape or form ready for this baby or anything, but I got 2 more things I needed!

That's some progress and at this point, I'll take it!

35 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How your life's changing:

Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

From here on out, you'll start seeing your practitioner every week. Sometime between now and 37 weeks, she'll do a vaginal and rectal culture to check for bacteria called Group B streptococci (GBS). (Don't worry — the swab is the size of a regular cotton swab, and it won't hurt at all.) GBS is usually harmless in adults, but if you have it and pass it on to your baby during birth, it can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection. Because 10 to 30 percent of pregnant women have the bacteria and don't know it, it's vital to be screened. (The bacteria come and go on their own — that's why you weren't screened earlier in pregnancy.) If you're a GBS carrier, you'll get IV antibiotics during labor, which will greatly reduce your baby's risk of infection.

This is also a good time to create a birth plan. Using our form will help you focus on specifics — like who'll be present, what pain management techniques you want to try, and where you want your baby to stay after you deliver. It will give you a starting point to discuss your preferences with your medical team. Childbirth is unpredictable, and chances are you won't follow your plan to the letter, but thinking about your choices ahead of time — and sharing your preferences with your caregiver — should take some of the anxiety out of the process.

Haha, the baby weighs in at about 5-1/4 lbs.....My last ultrasound guessed that this baby girl is between 6 lbs 2 oz and 6 lbs 14 oz. A little more than 5 lbs 4 oz!! That's ok though. I want her to be big and healthy. Dom was 8 lbs 9 oz a week early and that was just fine by me.

I'm still feeling plenty of kicks and that's great. I love it. I'm actually sad that soon I won't get to feel those kicks and punches anymore. Although, the alternative of getting to hold my baby girl will be much better. But still, it's sad. Nick and I have both always wanted 4 kids but you never know what will happen. We might not get that wish. So this could be my last pregnancy. You never know. I'm trying to savor these last few weeks.

I'm definitely going to the bathroom more. Not so much during the day but night time is the worst. I get up at least 3 times a night to go. I won't miss that! I'm not really sleeping at all anymore to be honest. Between getting up for the bathroom and finding a comfortable position, it's a battle to get sleep. Oh well. Good practice for when I'm up for 2 am feedings!

I had the Group B strep test done last week. You don't need to worry about about it if you have a c-section but since there's still a small chance that I'll have a VBAC, we had to do it. So that's out of the way.

Nothing else is really going on. Everything is going well so far so I'm sure (knock on wood) things will keep going smoothly!

I'm not going to have a birth plan. I didn't have one with Dom either. I understand why people have them, but it's not for me. I don't want to have it in my head that things have to go a certain way. I know they won't. I want to be flexible. My doctor and I have talked and we both are in agreement in how I would like things to go but I'm completely willing to deviate if need be. So no birth plan for me. Have a healthy baby. That's my birth plan! :)

Only a few more weeks to go! 4 weeks from Thursday at the latest.

The Date is Set!!!

It's official!

If I don't go into labor on my own, I will have a scheduled C-section.

Baby Annabelle Jean
Scheduled C-Section
Thursday, March 24, 2011
10:30 am

So we'll see what she decides to do! It's nice to have an official countdown, instead of a countdown to a due date and then maybe go past it. I know, that no matter what, the latest I will have my daughter is March 24th. Which is just 5 weeks from yesterday!!

Scary! Now that we have an official date, we HAVE to get on the ball!

So much to do, so little time!!!

Dr. Updates

I'll start with yesterday's doctor appointment. It was another long one...I sat in the waiting room for almost 2 hours. No fun at all. But at least this time, he was gone on a c-section. I can handle that. When we are 2 hours behind for NO apparent reason, I get annoyed. But being gone to deliver a baby. I'm fine with that.

My appointment was at 11:00 and I got called back to the doctor around 12:45. They weighed me and I'm down 2 lbs from 2 weeks ago. They nurse was concerned but I promised her that I'm definitely eating!! That puts me at a total weight gain of 20 lbs so far, with just under 5 weeks to go. I think I should be able to stay under my doctor's goal of 30 lbs! :) Let's hope anyway! They did my blood pressure, which was good and then listened to the baby's heart rate, which was 145 and perfect.

When the doc came in, I told him about my contractions and he decided to check my cervix. We also did a Group B Strep Test just in case I am successful in having a VBAC. My cervix is still closed, so no dilation yet, but I am starting to efface. I'm almost 50% effaced already actually, but that's nothing to worry about my doc said. He said just keep drinking water and take it easy. But things are going well.

And he said we need to schedule the c-section. I got excited to pick the date but then he told me that I don't pick anything. They look at the OR schedule and look at my doctor's schedule and they schedule it and call me. I was just hoping it was not on a Monday or Tuesday, so I could go to school on Tuesday and try to miss as few classes as possible!

All said and done, when I finally got back to the room, I was in and out. I was out of the hospital and walking to my car by 1:06.

That was yesterday's appointment.

Today I had monitoring and another ultrasound. My appointment was at 7:30. I dropped Dom off at his Nani's house at 7 am and headed to the hospital. I got to the Perinatal Center at 7:34 (a few minutes late) and waited. I didn't get called back until about 7:55. They decided to do my ultrasound first. Everything was GREAT! :) She's looking perfect. Growing fine. Growing BIG actually. I'm 34 weeks 5 days today and measuring around 37 weeks 2 days. She's in the 81% for size. They estimated that she was approximately 6 lbs. 14 oz. That's a big girl!

After the ultrasound, we headed back to a monitoring room. They hooked me up to measure the baby's heart rate and my contractions. Her heart rate was good, hovering around the mid 140's, but it wasn't accelerating like it should. They had me hooked up to the machines for almost an hour. They gave me some juice and had me try moving around. I could feel her moving fine, but she wasn't "active" enough for them. So they gave up. I failed my first Non-Stress test. They brought in a hand held ultrasound machine and did a BioPhysical Profile. I had to have this ONCE with Dominick...and he failed and they induced me the next day. So I was a little concerned when they started this. Luckily I had nothing to worry about. Her fluid was good (19.3 and they want it between 12-20), so we got 2 pts there. She was breathing immediately, so we got another 2 pts. We just had to see her move sharply and we were done and out of the woods. She did that within 5 minutes, so she's good. Just not a big mover in the morning. The nurse suggested that I make my future monitoring appointments in the afternoon.

So I got the go ahead to leave. I have to go back weekly for monitoring but didn't have to come back for 3 weeks for another ultrasound (like full measuring ultrasound...they do a mini ultrasound each).

I headed to the appointment desk to schedule my next few appointments when my dr. office called. They scheduled the c-section! I'll post that in another post though. Just for fun. :)

I got to make my appointments 3 weeks out so I'm all ready for the next few weeks ahead.

Everything is going perfect! Just a few more weeks to go! Woohoo!

Upcoming Appointments:
Friday, February 25: Monitoring
Thursday, March 3: Monitoring and Dr. appointment
Thursday, March 10: Monitoring and Ultrasound

More house changes

We are doing too much and I can't stand it!!

We are still finishing the floors. They are almost done. Roger was finishing sanding today and doing the stain today. Then tomorrow he's going to polyurethane the floors. I don't know how many coats of that it takes but after the poly is done, we are done...

with the floors.

Then we are going to paint the first floor...yay...

Then Roger is going to do new baseboards around and then we are really done. I know when it's all done it will look fantastic and I will love it. But right now, I'm just ready to do baby stuff. We haven't moved Dom downstairs because all the dining room stuff is in that room. We haven't touched the nursery because Dom is still in it. And our baby is coming in about 5 weeks, ready or not!

So I'll be very thankful when it's done. I guess we have just a few more weeks and our first floor will be almost perfect. I can hold on a few more weeks.

In the meantime, any suggestions on paint colors?? Our living room/dining room are an L shaped room connected. Our dining room furniture is oak wood and our living room furniture is black and tan. Right now the two walls that are just in the dining room are dark red and the other walls are tan. I like them fine and we've done some decorating around them. For instance, our dining room chairs are a red/gold design to match the room and furniture and we love them. So I'm not sure we'll actually change anything but it will be nice to have fresh paint on the walls. But if you have any color suggestions, I'll take 'em!

Rough Night and EXHAUSTED

It's really starting to hit me now...the exhaustion. I spent some time yesterday re-reading my blog from right around when Dom was born and this is the time I started really slowing down with him. Actually, just after 35 weeks is when I was put on bed rest with Dom and that's right around the corner!

Yesterday was tough. I'm not even sure why. I went home and Nick and I started to watch Parenthood (our favorite show). When it got to be 5:00, we left together to go and get Dominick. We picked him up and headed home to let the dogs out one more time and get a few things and then we headed to my sister's house. She had picked up our Fair Shares (organic food co-op) food while we were on vacation and we had to get it.

When we got there, Angela was feeding Addie and so we just came in and sat down. Dommie and Celia (with her little cast and all!) went off to play and we just hung out and talked for a bit. After Addie had been fed, Ang went to go and start dinner and I got the baby. Oh I can't wait!! I love those sweet little baby noises and those sweet little baby smells and those sweet little baby cheeks and feet and everything!! Of course Dom got jealous for a bit but he settled down quickly.

We stayed for a bit until Dom got really crabby. He wouldn't share anything with Celia and he would just start crying for no reason. I guess he was tired, but it was exhausting to listen to. He was crying/yelling until we left. He continued to do that until we got home. When we got home we gave him dinner (and we ate dinner) and we watched a Mickey Mouse Club House episode. Then we put him to bed and went downstairs to relax.

That's when the contractions started. They were pretty intense for awhile there. Coming about every 5-6 minutes and lasting about a minute each. I grabbed a BIG cup of water and laid on my left side and tried to will them to stop. They were getting more intense but further away, if that makes any sense.

Nick told me that I'm doing too much. I guess he's right. But how do you stop doing too much?? I work full time, I have a 2 year old full time, I have a house full time. What do you cut out?? I've already been neglecting the house so now it's either my work or my son. Neither are good options!

I have a doc appointment today so I'll talk to him about the contractions and see what he says. I'm just hoping I don't hear those two little words that I heard last time...

Bed Rest

(or is that one word?? Oh well, doesn't matter!).

After we laid on the couch until about 10:30 last night, we headed to bed. It was hard to fall asleep but once I did I thought I was out for the night. But then Dom woke up at 3:40 screaming. I went into his room and he told me he had a bad dream. I rocked him and tried to put him back down put he clung to my neck and I couldn't get him in his crib. So I finally gave up and brought him into our room. He laid down for a bit but never fell asleep. Around 4:30, Nick brought him back to bed. I told him it would be hard but Nick was back in our bed within ten minutes. I asked how he did it and he just told me that he has "the touch". :) I'll take it!

I had another few hours to sleep in my bed and it was great!

But now I'm back to being exhausted and it's only 8:45.

It's going to be a LONG day!

Wordless Wednesdays

Dominick amazes us again

Dominick does so many things that make Nick and I look at each other and say, "Did he really just do/say that???". He's so smart and he proves it every day.

A few things he did this past week on vacation that made us share that look are these:

1) First off, Dominick is a good counter. He has been able to count to ten accurately for awhile now. He can even count to 6 in Spanish (thank you Dora and Diego). But this weekend he counted to fifteen BY HIMSELF. That's pretty impressive if you ask me.

And what was really cute was after fifteen, he stopped to think about it and said, "Eleven-teen?". At least he's figured out that teen comes after a number! :)

2) Dominick can correctly identify quite a few letters. He's really good at his initials. But this weekend we noticed he could do A, B, C, D, E, M, N, O, R, W, Z. That's really good at just barely two I think!

3) He can say full sentences. The pediatrician asked if he could do 2 and 3 word sentences and I said yes, because I've heard him do this many times. But this weekend, Nick asked if Dom would come play and he said, and I'm not kidding, "No Daddy, I'm reading the book about the blue truck now". Are you kidding me?? That's a good sentence!

He is getting so big every day. It's hard to keep up with him!

Saturday - Flight home

Saturday was our last day in Park City. It was sad, since it was such a short trip but I was ok with going home. There's just something about going home and being in your own bed, you know??

Anyway, the nice thing about Saturday was Nick didn't ski! :) So we got to have him around the whole time.

We woke up Sunday morning and had some breakfast. We were basically trying to eat all the rest of the food at the condo. We had biscuits, cereal, and granola bars. It was delicious.

We started packing things up and waited for the Guardian Angel people to come and pick up the crib we rented. We were thinking of having Dom just sleep in a bed but the beds are really high up and we didn't want to spend our whole trip worrying and/or not sleeping, so we just rented a crib.

While we were waiting, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures yet, so I went around the condo and snapped a few pics of our place where we stayed:

The master bedroom (with just a queen - we were sad...)

The master had a walkout to the balcony, which we never used!

The walkway to the master bath. The sink was outside the bathroom,
so Nick could shower and I could straighten my hair at the same time.
That was nice! :)

Our dining room area. We didn't eat at this table much but we played cards
quite a few times!

This was our living room/family room area. A nice pull out couch and
a big comfy chair!

Our TV. And of course, Mickey Mouse Club House is on...Dom's new FAVORITE show!

Our little kitchen, which was perfect!

Dom's room. It had two twin beds in there and we rented the crib.

Mom's room. Queen bed with attached bathroom.

It didn't take long and the Guardian Angel people came and took down the crib. After they were gone, we loaded up the car and headed out. We left the condo around 11:30 and our flight wasn't until 8 that night, so we had some time to kill! We went over to Nick's sister's condo to see what they were up to. They were going to meet and have lunch at the ski resort, so we piled back in the car and headed over. We had recently eaten breakfast so we weren't too hungry. So my mom and I split a piece of pizza and a soda, Dommie had a plate of fruit, and Nick had a bag of chips. Yummy, huh?!

We hung out for awhile but everyone seemed a little down. Or stressed. Or tired. So after lunch, Nick's mom headed back to the condo with Jilly. Kate and the older kids headed back out to the mountain and Nick, Dom, Mom and I headed back to the car. We really had nothing else to do so we decided to head towards Salt Lake City.

It didn't take long for Dom to fall asleep so after we got to Salt Lake, we just drove around a bit to let him sleep longer. After we had driven long enough, we decided to just go to the airport and spend the rest of our time there.

And I'll admit, Salt Lake City has a lovely airport! :) We made it through security fine. I opted out of the X-Ray detector thingy's and chose to do a metal detector and pat down instead. And then we were off to our gate. On the way we found a restaurant (Squatter's Express!) and had a real lunch there.

After lunch, we headed to the gate. We set the DVD player up for Dom and then Nick, Mom and I started playing some hearts. We taught Mom how to play hearts on the trip and she was starting to enjoy it (I hope!). We played for awhile and then Dom got restless. Nick walked around with him on his shoulders for a bit and Dom LOVED this. He was so loud! You could hear him from a few gates away! He would call out to everyone saying, "Hi! Hi! Hi!" and of course, the occasional, "Hola!" (thank you Dora and Diego!). When he would see me, he would yell, "Mama!! What are you doing?!?" and I would say, "I'm sitting here buddy, what are you doing?". He'd answer, "I'm sitting here too! Ok - bye!" and then Nick would have to walk off and do it all over again. Everyone at the gate said how cute he was. I was just hoping none of them were sitting in front of Dom's seat...he's not so cute when he kicks your seat for 3 hours!

Finally they called us to board and we headed onto the plane. The good thing about the flight - it was practically empty! Ok, not empty but there were multiple rows around us that were empty. Nick had his own row and the row across from us was empty. The bad thing about the flight - there was a 9 month old behind us who SCREAMED the whole time. Now I'm a mother and know you can't control your kids and at that age they don't know any better. But I was annoyed that the mother and father did NOTHING to help this baby. The baby was in a car seat. They didn't get the baby a pacifier. Didn't give the baby a bottle. Didn't change the baby (when they commented multiple times on how she smelled like she pooped). Didn't pick the baby up. Didn't do ANYTHING. I felt really bad for the baby. Luckily Dom was able to ignore the screaming and watch his movie on the DVD player.

After watching some of his movie, he got out wanted to take turns sitting on my lap and my Mom's lap. He switched for quite awhile until he finally fell asleep on me...about 20 minutes before we were set to land!

We made it back to St. Louis about midnight on Saturday night (Sunday morning I guess technically) and my Dad picked us up from the airport. Luckily our luggage all came out together and we were on our way by 12:20 am.

When we got to my parents, we just put Dom right into the crib and Nick and I crashed in the guest room. We had contemplated going home to be at our own house but that seemed silly. We hadn't told Ben, my cousin and house/dog sitter for the week, that we'd be coming home so we'd have had to have slept on the couches anyway. And that didn't sound fun.

So we stayed at my parents. And it felt great to finally lay down after the long day we had!

That was our vacation. It was a short one and we didn't do anything TOO exciting since I really can't and Dom is still pretty young, but it was nice to get away.

Our last trip as a family of THREE! Our next trip anywhere, will be with two kids...what were we thinking!?


Just kidding. :)

Monkey Mountain and Sleigh Ride

Monkey Mountain!!!!

Dom was a big fan of Monkey Mountain. We needed things to do with Dom and there was a magazine that listed some kids activities. There was a place called Monkey Mountain and it was an indoor rec center for kids. It had things to climb on, slides, and other stuff. We decided Dom needed a break and had to run around for a bit.

He LOVED it. At first he didn't want to go. He wanted to watch his shows at the condo, but we convinced him he'd like it. Then he didn't want to leave! We only stayed about an hour to an hour and a half. That wore me out just watching him! My mom had to chase him, so I know she was pretty worn out too. It was also tough because it was geared at slightly older kids and the kids were kind of mean to Dominick. They kept telling him he couldn't play with certain toys and one kid tried to push him off the slide (where were THOSE parents, I'd like to know!) but we made sure he didn't get hurt and he had fun.

Here are a few pictures of Dom on Monkey Mountain:

Dom and Mom under Monkey Mountain

This was a section for kids 4-12. Dom got up there before we could stop
him but then couldn't get back down! Mom had to climb in to get him!!

Climbing a giraffe

Stump hopping! :)

Playing with the musical toys around the room.

Seriously, the kid was in heaven. I'm really glad we found this place! Depending on when we go back to Park City, we'll have to go back to this place!

Friday night, we decided to do the sleigh ride up the mountain. It was just a quick 20-30 minute ride but something for me to do and a way to get mom up the mountain a little and see some of the slopes. Our reservations were for 6:00 on Friday night so we headed up to the resort. We had to park at the bottom of a slope and walk up a long but not steep hill. Luckily Nick carried Dom on his shoulders the whole time so Mom and I could just walk. However it took me awhile because I'm slow now and had to stop every few feet!

But once we got up, we looked around and took a few pictures. We waited for the horses and Dom was so excited!!!

Funny story: When we were walking up, I asked Dom what color he thought the horses would be and he said, "Brown!". Nick said, "wow, I'm impressed that he said brown. I guess he knows horses are typically brown? He's really smart!" and immediately after Nick said that, Dom yelled, "And Purple!". Hee hee.

Anyway, Dom was very excited when the horses got there and we loaded up on the back of the sleigh. It was COLD but once we started moving it wasn't too bad. We rode up one of the slopes and stopped at an overlook to see Park City lit up. It was beautiful! And my mom got to see some of the slopes that Nick was doing and the only slopes that I typically do! :) It was so pretty. Dom got annoyed after sitting there for too long so we headed back down the mountain shortly after taking some pictures.

We went back down to where we came from and then continued on to another lift at the bottom of the hill. They were going to go back up but we asked if we could get out then since that's where we parked. They let us and we had curb side service basically getting back in our car! That was nice!

Here's a few pictures from the sleigh ride:





It was beautiful! And I think my mom enjoyed it. I KNOW Dommie enjoyed it once we got done and it wasn't so cold. :)

Our last full day in Park City was a success!

Utah Olympic Ski Park and Dinner

Thursday was our first real day on vacation.

Let me go back a second and say the Wednesday night we met up with Nick's family for dinner. It was Nick, Mom, Dom and I, Nick's mom, Nick's sister Kate, her husband Dave, and their three kids, Sophia, Henry and Jillian and Nick's brother Dan. We all met at a restaurant called Squatter's. It was VERY good. We had a few appetizers (Edamame and Fried Pickles...not together) and then our dinner. We ordered Dom a grilled cheese but I think he ate most of Sophia's mac and cheese instead! She was a great babysitter for us that night! We're lucky Dom has such great older cousins (and more great cousins at home too!) and was entertained most of the night.

Anyway, back to Thursday.

Nick wanted to go skiing, obviously, so Mom and I were on our own. We stayed around the house (condo) a lot but then ventured out for a bit. We headed back towards Salt Lake and visited the Utah Olympic Ski Park. It was part of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and it was really cool to see some of the event locations. We saw where they did some of the downhill skiing, some ski jumps, and there was a whole museum dedicated to the winter games. We had a good time! I've been to Park City 3 times and never seen this museum.

Here are a few pictures from the Ski Park:








After the ski park, we talked to Nick and found out he was done for the day, so we headed back to pick him up from the resort. When we got him, he was exhausted! And he was missing the family. He had been in Park City for almost 3 days and we'd been there almost 2 days and he hadn't hardly seen any of us, especially Dom (hadn't really seen Dom since Monday night) so he wanted some down time. We got back to our condo (which was awesome!) and we settled in to relax.

Then Dave called...He was able to make reservations at our favorite sushi place for dinner. He asked Nick if we were interested. Nick told him that my mom and I definitely were but he would probably pass. He was just too tired and someone needed to stay with Dom. Dave said ok. Later Dave called back and said that Kate and Dan weren't going (or any of the kids) and they could watch Dom if Nick wanted to go. Nick asked me what I thought. I asked him what he wanted. He said he missed Dom and just wanted to stay home with Dom. How sweet! How can you argue with that?!?! So I told him to have Dommie and Daddy time and we'd enjoy the most amazing sushi you'll ever eat without you. ;-)

So Dave and Sue (Nick's mom) picked us up and we headed to The Blind Dog, an amazing sushi and steak house. I was a little nervous about the dinner since it was an odd grouping of people. I love Nick's family like my own family but I wasn't sure the 4 of us would be able to keep conversation up, etc. the whole time (dinners at this place are like 2 hours) but I had nothing to worry about! We had a great time!

The food was amazing, as usual, and we all talked the whole time. We never ran out of things to talk about. Dave and I split sushi (Sue and mom aren't big sushi eaters) but we managed to convince my mom to try some. And she loved it! I was so proud of her. She tried Salmon sashimi (just fish, no rice), yellowtail nigiri (fish on rice) and a piece of octopus nigiri. She was very adventurous! We also had a bottle of red wine with dinner (I had a VERY small glass, and it was great) and then we finished with a vanilla bread pudding and a chocolate bread pudding. So good.

After dinner, we headed back to the condos and we called it a night. It was a great first full day though. Lots of fun stuff to see and GREAT food to eat. It was a shame everyone couldn't go, but I know Dom and Nick had a blast watching Thomas the Train and eating goldfish crackers and I hope Kate and Dan and the kids had a good night too! :)

Wednesday - Flight out

Ok, now that I have a second, I'm going to attempt to blog about this trip! I'm sure I won't finish but I'll try to get a couple of things out before I get busy again.

The flight out was a little rough, not gonna lie. Tuesday was CrAzY as I mentioned in a previous post. I barely got to class on time. I was running running running all day long and when class ended at 9 and I went back to my parents for he night, I was exhausted. Unfortunately, Dom doesn't do nearly as well sleeping at other houses so we were in for a rough night. I tried putting him down around 9:30. He usually goes down between 8 and 8:30 and I figured he'd be tired, but I was wrong. I put him in the crib and went to get ready for bed myself.

Having packed all Dominick and my clothes for the week, I wasn't thinking and didn't have ANY clothes for us for the night and/or next morning. So I got to sleep in lovely maternity jeans. Jealous? You should be...

Dom was screaming in his room while I went to my parents bathroom to borrow some toothpaste. After a few minutes Dom stopped crying. I should've known my dad would be in there holding him. After I brushed my teeth and took out my contacts I went back to the other side of the house and saw that they were in Dom's room but Dad was holding him. Not good. We tried putting Dom back down but he figured it out. He started screaming screaming screaming.

Dad bailed...

I asked Dom if he wanted to sleep with me and he said yes. We've NEVER done this before so I wasn't sure what to expect. And there's a reason we don't do this. It doesn't work for us!! Dom was kicking and moving and talking the whole time. I kept telling him it was bed time but he didn't care.

In the mornings when I wake him up, I tickle his back and sing "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" softly to him. Tuesday night in bed, he was tickling my back and singing "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" to me!! I kept trying to get him to settle down and by 11:00 pm I quit. I brought him to his crib and decided I'd just let him cry it out.

He cried for MAYBE 3 minutes. I should've tried that an hour ago...

The alarm went off at 5:05 the next morning and we got up to get ready. Our flight was at 8:05 but we wanted to get there the full 2 hours early in case we had problems with anything. We got dressed and loaded the car. Then we got Dom up and got him dressed and headed to the airport.

I think Dad felt sorry for us when he dropped us off seeing us struggle with all our stuff! It was me (an almost 8 month pregnant chick) and my mom and Dom (an energetic 2 year old) with a LOT of stuff. We had the car seat, Dom's carry on, the diaper bag, my carry on, my purse, my mom's carry on, my mom's purse, my mom's big suitcase to check on the plane and all of our big coats. We were a sight.

We were able to drop one bag when mom checked her suitcase but we still had a ton! We struggled to get to security...and then we struggled to GO through security! It didn't help that Mom hasn't flown since basically 9-11 and was doing all the wrong things. :) She was going in places she shouldn't go and touching things she wasn't supposed to touch. I think the TSA people were worried about her! But we made it though and headed down to our gate. Mom and Dom left to get breakfast (Dunkin' Donuts) and I settled in on the floor since the gate was packed. After they got back and we all settled in to eat, they announced our gate had changed...great. So we loaded all our stuff back up to move down a few gates.

Luckily we didn't have much longer to wait. We got to pre-board since we had a small child and had to get the car seat set up and we needed every spare minute we got. We got all settled in and waited. We boarded about 7:30 and didn't actually leave until about 8:20. Dom was restless.

Luckily Nick's brother and his wife lent us their portable DVD player (GENIUS invention by the way) and we were able to calm him down quickly.

God bless Dora the Explorer...honestly.

After we got in the air, it was pretty smooth. Halfway through, Dom decided he didn't like the headphones and we had to play it with the volume low. And a few minutes after that, the battery died, but we had plenty of puzzles, books and granola bars to keep us occupied.

We still looked like crazy maniacs trying to get all our stuff OFF the plane when we got there, but we made it and Nick was waiting for us when we got our checked bag.

Somehow, someway, we all made it out. In one piece.

Thanks GOODNESS for my Mother!! Would NOT have made it just me and Dom. No way...

And that was our flight out to Park City, Utah.

Thankful for my Mom ♥

I wanted to make sure to do a post about my Mom and how amazing she is. I know everyone thinks their mother is the best. But mine really is. ;-)

My mom did so much for me this past week and I want her (and everyone) to know how thankful I am. Without her going along on this trip, I would have been miserable. I wouldn't have wanted to even go, I'm sure!

The flight out to Park City was rough. We had SO many bags and things to keep track of. I would have lost my mind if my Mom wasn't helping out.

And with Nick skiing so much, I would have been lonely and stuck hanging out at a condo alone with Dom until he got back. It was so nice to have someone else to help with Dom and to do things with while he was napping or otherwise occupied.

My mom helped with getting Dom ready, putting him to bed, keeping him entertained, feeding him, holding him on the plane and so much more. I was exhausted a lot of the time so this was even more helpful than you can ever know.

I'm sooo glad that she came. I hope that she was able to have some fun and get to do some things and see some things that she wouldn't otherwise get to do or see. And I hope she had enough fun that someday she'll even consider doing it again! :)

Thanks for everything Mom! You are the best and I hope I can be as good a Mom as you are. ♥ ♥

34 Weeks!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

How your life's changing:

By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy.

If you notice itchy red bumps or welts on your belly and possibly your thighs and buttocks as well, you may have a condition called pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP for short). Up to one percent of pregnant women develop PUPPP, which is harmless but can be quite uncomfortable. See your practitioner so she can make sure it's not a more serious problem, provide treatment to make you more comfortable, and refer you to a dermatologist if necessary. Also be sure to call her if you feel intense itchiness all over your body, even if you don't have a rash. It could signal a liver problem.

Slide your way to slumber "In the third trimester, turning over in bed is a nightmare. The solution? Big satin pajamas and even satin sheets — the slipperiness of satin helps tremendously!" — Carrie

34 weeks and exhausted!!! Part of the exhaustion is probably from the trip we just took, but I don't remember being this exhausted at 34 weeks last time. I kind of remember actually having energy and then being told I had to do bed rest and was going nuts! This time I might actually welcome bed rest! (ok, not really...).

Things are still going extremely well. I feel good (except the tired part), the baby is moving a lot, and things in general are good. I go back to the doc this Thursday for my normal appointment and at this appointment we'll schedule the c-section.

We've decided to take VBAC off of my chart. I don't know if I blogged about this before or not, so this might be a repeat. But VBAC stands for vaginal birth after caesarian. I wanted to try for a VBAC this time and not go straight into the elective c-section. We originally put that on my chart. However, if I choose to do that, we can't schedule the c-section until the last minute. I'll get a bad time and potentially not even my doctor. If I don't put it on my chart (which I have now taken it off) and I go into labor on my own (you can't induce with a VBAC, you have to start labor naturally) then I can choose to do a VBAC or the c-section. Either way, and at least I'll already have the c-section scheduled. So that's our plan. And I pick the date on Thursday.

That's all that's going on, I think. No other news. :)

Happy 34 weeks Baby A!

Upcoming appointments:

Thursday, February 17 - Dr. Appointment

Friday, February 18 - Ultrasound and Monitoring

It's good to be back

I love vacation, I really do. But sometimes I love coming home more than I love heading out. It's just something about being back at your own home, in your own bed, with your own comforts. We got back into St. Louis Saturday night, but stayed at my parents since our flight got in around midnight. We got back to our house around noon yesterday.

We had a great time! I have so many things to post about. I'll try to get that done today.

I'll do a bunch of posts with pictures soon.

This

'This' by Darius Rucker is one of my new favorite songs. I love it. I'm the type of person that I listen to words when I listen to music. Nick can't hear the words. He chooses not to. Even when he loves a song and sings along, he has no clue as to what he's singing. You ask him to repeat the words he just sang and he can't.

Anyway, I listen to the words and I really love a song that I can relate to. This is one of those songs.

Here are the lyrics:

Got a baby girl sleepin' in my bedroom
And her momma laughing in my arms
There's the sound of rain on the rooftop
And the game's about to start
I don't really know how I got here
But I'm so glad that I did
And it's crazy to think that one little thing
Could have changed all of it
Maybe it didn't turn out like I planned
Maybe that's why I'm such, such a lucky man

For every stoplight I didn't make
Every chance I did or I didn't take
All the nights I went too far
All the girls that broke my heart
All the doors that I had to close
All the things I knew but I didn't know
Thank God for all I missed
Cause it led me here to this


Like the girl that I loved in high school
Who said she could do better
Or the college I wanted to go to
Till I got that letter
All the fights and the tears and the heartache
I thought I'd never get through
And the moment I almost gave up
All led me here to you
I didn't understand it way back when
But sittin' here right now
It all makes perfect sense


Every stoplight I didn't make
Every chance I did or I didn't take
All the nights I went too far
All the girls that broke my heart
All the doors that I had to close
All the things I knew but I didn't know
Thank god for all I missed
Cause it led me here to this


Oh I cried when my momma passed away
And now I got an angel
Looking out for me today
So nothing's a mistake
Every stoplight I didn't make
Every chance I did or I didn't take
All the nights I went too far
All the girls that broke my heart
All the doors that I had to close
Everything I knew but I didn't know
Thank God for all I missed
Cause it led me here to this

Led me here to this

It really makes you think about how everything that has ever happened to you, makes you who you are. Everything. Nick and I were watching a basketball game this past weekend on TV. The Iowa Hawkeyes were playing. I almost went to Iowa. I loved it. I loved the campus. I loved a lot of things about it. But I couldn't go that far away. Had I gone to Iowa, I never would have met Nick. I never would have Dominick. Or an Annabelle on the way.

If it weren't for me and my friend Ashley wanting to stay out of our parent's houses so bad, I never would have gotten an apartment the summer after Freshman year. If we hadn't gotten an apartment, I never would have needed a summer job to pay utility bills, etc. If I didn't need a summer job, I wouldn't have worked at the Oyster Bar and I never would have met Nick. Again, no Nick, no Dominick, no Annabelle.

If I didn't know Nick, then I wouldn't know Mike. Mike is my boss and one of my close friends. I would be in a completely different job, with a completely different husband, and completely different kids. A whole new life. Assuming that I would be married right now had I made some different choices. I could be a single woman living somewhere. Who knows?!

It's just crazy, how these little things shape who you are. I bet Ashley didn't know that she was making a major impact on my life by getting an apartment with me Freshman year, but that's just what happened. My life is forever shaped because of those decisions.

Every single decision means something.

And it all led to this...

Nick and I on our honeymoon in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Dinner at sunset on the beach.

Our little Dommie 'Salami' on his 2nd birthday, clapping for the singing. :)

Our baby Annabelle Jean, around 24 weeks pregnant.

Not so ready

So I was emailing my friend Leslie today and she asked if the nursery was almost ready....

HAHAHA

No. The nursery is not ready. In fact Dominick is still in the nursery and not anywhere near his big boy room. That's our fault right now.

If you know us at all, you know we can't sit still around our house. We love where we live and we love the idea of our house, but our actual house? Not so much. So we've been making changes. A lot of changes in the last few years.

Right before Dominick was born, we added the fourth bedroom upstairs. We added a wall, ran new lighting and made sure he had enough heat in the winter and cool in the summer and made the nursery right next to our room.

Then, after Dom was born and right before his baptism, we redid the basement. We rebuild the entertainment center, re-carpeted most of the basement, re painted everything, and added ceramic tile by the laundry room and bathroom.

For Dom's first birthday, we needed a bigger kitchen for the big birthday party...so what do you do when your kitchen isn't big enough?? You knock down a wall of course! So we knocked down the (load bearing) wall between the kitchen and our guest bedroom and made a big kitchen (which is normally my favorite room in the whole house now, FYI).

For Dom's second birthday, we redid the first floor bathroom. It had been gross and now it's beautiful.

So in theory, we had until Annabelle's baptism to do anything new to the house. But we couldn't wait. We are currently refinishing all of our first floor hardwood floors. We wouldn't have started this project except that when we redid the bathroom, Nick pulled up the tile outside the bathroom and discovered beautiful hardwood floors underneath. They just needed to be sanded. Hence the beginning of this project. So far, the living room and dining room are completely sanded and getting stained today and this week. Then after we get back, we'll move the furniture from the entry foyer to the finished dining room/living room and do that last little section. Then we'll have perfect hardwood floors!

Anyway, I got off track. Since we are redoing the hardwood floors, we have the stuff that was in the living room/dining room either in the entry foyer or in Dom's big boy room. The main stuff in Dom's big boy room is all of our china from the china cabinet, so Dom's not really allowed in there right now. Since Dom's not allowed in his new room, he's still in the old room. So the old room is NOT ready for a baby.

It's weird. I keep thinking about how much time we have, and thinking that we have an eternity. We have time to get the room ready. We have time to move Dom downstairs. I have time to pack my bag. I have time to get all my work stuff done before I leave for 8 weeks.

Time, time, time. I have plenty! Right?

WRONG. This baby will come, whether I'm ready or not, in about 6 to 6-1/2 weeks. Um, that's not very far away at all.

So I guess after this vacation, we better get our sh!t together and start preparing for this baby girl!

6 weeks. Holy cow.

33 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

How your life's changing:

As your baby fills out even more of your belly, lots of things might start to change: Whereas before you were sashaying, you may find yourself waddling. Finding an easy position to sit in — let alone sleep — is becoming more of a challenge. And bumping into chairs and counters is par for the course.

You may be feeling some achiness and even numbness in your fingers, wrists, and hands. Like many other tissues in your body, those in your wrist can retain fluid, which can increase pressure in the carpal tunnel, a bony canal in your wrist. Nerves that run through this "tunnel" may end up pinched, creating numbness; tingling, shooting or burning pain; or a dull ache. Try wearing a splint to stabilize your wrist or propping your arm up with a pillow when you sleep. If your work requires repetitive hand movements (at a keyboard or on an assembly line, for instance), remember to stretch your hands when you take breaks — which should be frequently.

33 weeks and still feeling pretty good! I remember when we first planned this vacation and I saw that I'd be 33 weeks when we left. I was thinking, "Am I even going to be able to do this?? Will I be feeling ok??" and I'm thankful to say, I still feel pretty good! I know that going on a vacation will be tough and I'll be exhausted I'm sure, but I'm happy to be feeling good at the start.

I definitely bump into things a LOT, but luckily no damage yet! I honestly still forget that I'm pregnant sometimes. I guess not forget that I'm pregnant but forget that I'm 33 weeks pregnant. I think I can squeeze by tables and chairs and I can't. I think that I can run up the stairs, two at a time, and then get winded about halfway up. I forget that I should slow down and relax more because our lives are about to get flipped over!

I'm not sleeping very well these days. It's not just the getting up to go to the bathroom but I have restless leg syndrome SO BADLY right now. I feel like my legs are tingly and I have to get up and stretch. I don't know how to make this go away but it's been bad so far. Hopefully I can start to get better sleep soon.

It's crazy to think that we only have a few more weeks to go. In about 6 weeks, we'll have a daughter. A new baby girl. I'm so excited and scared all at the same time. More excited than scared though. :)

We still have a lot to buy/get ready before this new bundle comes. Hopefully after this vacation, we can really start to get this stuff done. I want to have everything ready by the first week of March. That's my goal anyway! We'll see how that works out.

Happy 33 weeks Annabelle!

Busy Busy!

Today is one of those days...was one of those weekends actually. Where I know 100% why I named my blog, "So much to do, so little time...". I am swamped.

We leave for vacation this week. On the outside, we have everything ready. We have house sitters coming to watch the house and the animals. I have my letter written out so the house sitters know when to feed the animals and how to work our alarm system, etc. I have Dominick's carry on packed, stuffed with snacks and puzzles and books. We have borrowed (well asked, and hopefully getting it today) a portable DVD player for Dominick so he can watch Dora and Thomas to his little heart's content on the flight. But that's where the readiness ends...

I haven't packed. I haven't packed Dominick yet. The house is NOT ready for house guests (especially since we're redoing our hardwood floors right now and our entire dining room and living room area is wedged into a 9 x 9 foot area by the front door.

I guess I just need to relax and trust that it will all get done. And if it doesn't, oh well. People aren't going to stop being my friend if my house is perfect while they are there. If I forget something, I can buy it there. As long as I have enough stuff for Dom, I'll be fine. And thank goodness my Mom is coming along. I'll have extra help!

Today is about getting stuff ready at work to be gone. I'll be at work tomorrow but it will be crazy busy. Tonight I'll get the packing done. Everything will be fine. Tomorrow is the CrAzY busy day before leaving since I'll be at work all day, then rush home to get Dom, then rush out to my parents to drop him off, then rush off to class, then go back to my parents for a slumber party and then out to the airport at 5:30 am on Wednesday...But it will all be fine.

Somehow everything will get done. And we'll have a fabulous time.

32 week Doc Appointment

Let me just say that today was an ANNOYING appointment....

My appointment was for 10:10 am. I left work at 9:35 and got to the doctor's office at 10:07. I got called back to the room at 11:45 am.

**The thing that annoyed me the MOST at this point, was the fact that another girl was in the waiting room at the same time. She got there at 10:03 and her appointment was for 10:50. I got there at 10:07 and my appointment was at 10:10...(we have to write in the time we get there AND our appointment time so I know these are the numbers on the sheet) she got called back before me...That pissed me off. What's the point of even making appointments if you get called back in the order you get there??? I'm going to start going in at 9 even when my appointments are for 11 so I don't have to deal with this again! I was NOT happy at this point.**

After going back to the room, the took my blood pressure (126/70 or something like that...they said it was good) and they had me step on the scale (at 22 lbs gained so far...eek! but if I'm supposed to gain about a pound a week and I have 7 more to go, I'll still be under 30, in theory!). Then they pulled out the doppler to hear the baby's heart rate. She's a mover! She didn't like the doppler at all. She pushed on it every time the lady pushed down on my belly. But she got a reading. Her heart rate was UP today, at 160 bpm!

Then I went back to waiting....and waiting and waiting and waiting. I lost it at one point. I called Nick crying. I was texting Mike while crying. It was a very sad time at the doctor's for me...

But then my doctor came back and we started talking. I got to ask all my questions and got all of them answered.

No restrictions for the vacation except take it easy, no carrying any luggage and no carrying Dominick (thank goodness my mom is coming along!!).

The numbness in my leg is completely normal...who knew?

I am on prescriptions to get rid of this cold. Thank God!

And finally, no scheduling the baby's birthday today. Next appointment we get to do that.

So everything is looking good and I have the green light to enjoy myself next week! Woohoo!

Sick...AGAIN

So I was doing good for awhile there. Feeling healthy and great and things were perfect. Then Nick started feeling a little sick. He noticed this on Saturday night. Sunday morning he felt awful. Runny nose, scratchy throat, the whole bit. Sunday night he took some Nyquil to get some sleep. We accidentally slept facing each other for a bit. I say 'accidentally' because neither of us like to face each other. Since I roll over so much lately, we both end up rolling over all night long making sure we are always "spooning" without actually touching (I'm not a fan of touching when I sleep either - yes I have sleep issues!). Well during our accidental sleep facing each other, Nick let out a HUGE cough...3 inches from my face. It woke me up from a deep sleep and I rolled over immediately.

But the damage has been done...I'm sick. scratchy throat, runny nose, sneezing, can't sleep, yucky sickness. And it's been getting worse since Monday...

I talked to my doc today about it. He has me on a regimen to get better and I'm hoping it works and FAST.

Today I start a Z-pack.

In the mornings, I take 12 hour Sudafed.

In the evenings, I take 25mg Benadryl.

And this should make me feel better....oh I hope it works! I'm so sick of this winter and being sick!!!!