Obviously...

I've been gone for FOREVER! I feel so stressed and overwhelmed and have FINALLY had a chance to come up for air. It's short lived as I have 5 tests in 4 days next week but I'm off for a bit today and thought I would catch up.

First things first: School is hard. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I'm always stressed and overwhelmed and always feeling like a failure. I've questioned whether or not I thought I would be a good nurse because I'm struggling with some of the information. Luckily I work at a hospital and my co-workers have assured me that while school is important, I can still be a fantastic nurse without a 4.0 GPA. Thank goodness.

Secondly: Probably everyone who reads this knows already since I've posted on facebook, but if not, I'M PREGNANT. And slightly terrified...

I don't know how it happened! (Ok, I get the whole physiology of how it happened) but seriously we had so much trouble with the first two and were told we wouldn't have any on our own without fertility treatment. Well, there goes that! I'm 16 weeks and 1 day along and things are going fine. The first trimester was AWFUL. I threw up a lot. But now I've actually gained one whole pound and I'm on the right track! (I had lost a ton of weight from being so sick, so being up 1 pound is awesome and I wish it was more actually!). I started checking my blood sugar just to see if my sugars get too high and right now they are ok. Close, but ok.

Here is actually my babycenter update for the week:

Your pregnancy: 16 weeks

 

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)
Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skin contribute to an overall sense of well-being.
Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.


So that's pretty cool stuff.

Obviously I have a lot of changes on my 30x30 to do. We won't be doing as many trips as we were hoping with three kids (3 and under, YIKES!) but I'm hoping to do some fun things before I'm thirty still. I'll get to changing that soon. Any ideas?? Send them my way!

That's all I got for now. Back to studying!!

I'll try to do weekly updates again, if I can.

ChAnGeS

So I have to (for the LAST time I swear) change my 30x30. This time, it's for a really good reason. There are a few things on that list that I literally cannot do now because of money constraints. I want to make my list achievable and something I can do and something I will be proud of or at least happy I did. So I have to change it.

I'm off to a doc appointment but be looking for a BIG update on my 30x30, some pics and a little surprise later. ;-)

Wow...

So a LOT has happened in this past week. Some of which I can talk about and some of which I can't even say yet. It's just been a crazy crazy week.

But let's go ahead and talk about the stuff we can talk about.

Last Wednesday we had to put Brady down. It was a hard decision but one we had to make. One we actually didn't make on our own. The vet took a look at Brady and tried to find something good to tell us but there was nothing good to say. It was his time. The last week of Brady's life was crazy how quickly it turned around. He was playing with a ball again and eating and trying to run even while on the meds. But then something happened. He started throwing up. He stopped eating again. Then he lost complete control of his back legs. Complete control. Nick and I were carrying him everywhere. It was tough. But we made the right decision and Brady is no longer in pain and playing with Yosha in Doggie Heaven. :)

Thursday was an emotional day. It started off sad because we were sad that Brady wasn't with us anymore. Then some other stuff happened which I'm not quite ready to talk about yet and that made me really emotional all day. And finally I had my first lab check off that afternoon. I had to draw blood, start an IV and insert a foley catheter on a practice patient. I was so nervous I thought I might throw up on the mannequin! But I didn't and I accomplished that goal. So it was a nice ending to a crazy day. Or almost nice ending. That night I also got an email from work that since I was hired to work 24 hours a week, I can't cut back to 16 hours a week even though I'm in school full time. So things are about to get even crazier this year...Way crazier...

Friday was another tough day. Bridget came over to do our online test in the morning. We got her test done and she left and when I went to take my test, blackboard logged me off and wouldn't let me back on to finish...I thought I was going to fail! I was freaking out. We decided to get out of the house for a bit and went to Costco and visited my parents for a little bit. That night I wasn't feeling great so I laid down while Nick watched the kids.

Saturday my test was back and available. Nick went hunting in the morning with our neighbor, Jeff, so I was on my own with the kids. When Annabelle went down for a nap, I took my test. I got a 90%. :) Then I got an email from my teacher saying that the grading was wrong and my grade would change...but it went up so I'm ok with that!

Saturday night I still felt pretty crappy so we didn't do much but went over to Nick's mom's after dinner. We stayed there for a bit and then just came home and went to bed.

Today has been way too lazy on my part. I have 3 tests this week and 1 test a week from tomorrow. I've done next to no studying. I just still feel like crap. I have NO motivation to study at all. Nick keeps telling me to grab my stuff and just leave to go somewhere else to study and I might have to. He's watching the kids downstairs right now so I can study...and what am I doing?? Updating the 2 people who actually read this on what's going on in my life!

Well I better get back to studying, but will try to upload our new pictures from this year so far and post those this week.

Brady

I'm on a super quick break at school right now, so I thought I'd write a quick post about Brady.

He's not doing well...at all. He's been struggling to walk recently. And not just kind of struggling, but like NOT walking. Nick carries him up the stairs at night and I have to help him get up to go outside. Nick took him to the vet a few weeks ago and got him some meds, and he did great right after we started those. He was like a whole new puppy! Running and playing. But after a week or two on those, and he's right back where he was. Worse even because now he's also throwing up. No walking, no eating, and now throwing up.

I hate to think about it. I love this dog so much. And we might have to put him down. We will never let our dogs suffer. When Yosha got really sick, we hated to do it, but we had to put him down. We thought it would be YEARS before having to think about doing that again. But here we are just 3 short years after putting Yosha down.

I think we need to sit down today and talk it out. But I won't let him suffer. Poor puppy.

Say some prayers for Brady! I think he really needs them...

Dommie's THIRD birthday!!

Dominick is THREE????

How the heck did that happen??? My baby is getting to be so big.

He's amazing, first off. Completely amazing.

He's completely potty trained now. Even at night. He gets up on his own to go potty if he has to.

He's in school full time and loves it. His favorite thing to tell me about is what he ate for lunch. Haha.

He can count to 30, he says hundreds of words I swear, and he is just getting smarter every day. He's hilarious and constantly making me laugh.

Today, for instance, we were walking to the car and he has a bit of a cough. He was coughing the whole way down the front steps to the car and when we got to the car, the wind started to blow. He coughed and then stopped and looked at me. Then he said, "Mama? You shouldn't cough in the wind...NOT a good idea". I just started cracking up. He's a riot.

He loves his baby sissy more than anyone in the world and can't wait until she is big enough to play with him.

I took a few pictures at his party but haven't uploaded them yet, but I will soon.

Happy THIRD Birthday, Dommie!!! You are so amazing and I love you more every day. I'm so thankful to have you in my life. Even when I have a hard or stressful day, you make me laugh and make it all worth it. I love you!!

Exhausted

I'm so tired...I hate just constantly saying it, but it's constantly on my mind. I'm exhausted. I just want to sleep ALL THE TIME. I know it's all for a good reason. I know it's all going to be worth it. But it's rough.

Every day I go to school.
Mondays from 8-2:30
Tuesdays from 8-5
Wednesdays from 8-12:30
Thursdays from 8-12:30
Fridays from 8-5

Three days a week I work.
Every Monday from 3-7:30

I work every third weekend Saturday and Sunday 7 am to 7:30 pm.
And if I don't work a weekend day, I work that Wednesday and Thursday from 1-7:30.

Did any of that make sense??

Anyway, I'm gone a lot. I'm tired a lot.

Nick is amazing through all this. He's home with the kids or dropping them off or picking them up. I've been trying to make dinner every night if I can, but sometimes it's hard. We have great team work going on right now and we have to keep that up.

I've already learned a ridiculous amount in just two weeks. This week I learned how to check blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and temperature. Just yesterday I learned how to test someone's blood sugar, how to draw blood, and how to insert a catheter. Next week I learn how to start IV's. I'm learning a TON.

I'm so thankful for this opportunity to go back to school and I'm loving my classes so far. I'm just scared. I know that it's a long way until December 15th (graduation day - And just 10 months and 16 days away, not that I'm counting) and that I have a lot of work to do in the mean time.

I hope that Nick and I can continue to be strong and work together so that I can get through this next year and do what I want to do. BE A NURSE! :)

Say some prayers. We could use them.

Bigger boy bed!

We moved our old queen size bed into Dom's room. He's in heaven. He now has a queen sized bed all to himself...and he's not even three yet. :-)

What a lucky boy! I'll have to get a picture of him. He looks so little in it! But on the upside, Nick and I will never have to move in another bed. He can have that bed until he gets married and wants to buy his own! haha. But let's not even start thinking about that yet!

What a big boy. I can't believe I have a potty trained almost three year old sleeping in a queen sized bed. I am truly blessed.