Preston has his 2-month checkup yesterday, and it was confirmed that he still is a peanut :). He now weighs 9 lbs 1 oz, and is 21.5 inches long-- which puts him in the 3rd percentile for height and weight for his age. Poor little guy obviously did not get his genes from his daddy, or at least they haven't come out yet! Dr. Meyer is not worried at all, though, since he's been tiny from the start. He has put on consistent weight and is growing longer, so he's a healthy little guy. He got his rotavirus and DTaP immunizations yesterday, too. We will be following the Dr. Sears delayed immunization schedule for Preston. We understand the flack that we may get for doing so, but we are sticking to our guns.**
In other news, SKIP GRADUATED!! What a wonderful thing. Now he has to pass his boards, and he will officially be a nurse! Woohoo!
Our holidays we good. Christmas Eve at Grandma Preston's was very hectic now that there are 28 of us there. But how amazing is it that we were all able to be there together, if maybe for the last time like that?! What a blessing. Christmas morning was low-key like always at my mom and dad's, then we headed up to Racine. We spent a few hours at Skip's parents house, then had dinner over at Gall's. Gotta love the lamb shanks, and Charlie's creamed spinach (I'm still eating the leftovers... :)). We got home and Skip went to work Christmas night, but he basically made a shit-load of money, what with the holiday and 3rd shift pay all in there, so it was okay.
I am back at work. Same as always. Preston's home with his daddy for now, so that makes things a heck of a lot easier, but things will get a little more complicated when we figure out a day care situation for when Skip goes on a shift. That's all I have to say about that for now...
Oh yeah, Scotch is still crazy. :)
**If you know me and Skip (which if you are reading this blog, I assume you do), you know that we are rational, educated people. I have a particular in-depth education and fondness of the philosophy of "the greatest good for the greatest number of people" (i.e. Utilitarianism, a la John Stuart Mill). Therefore, I do not agree with those who choose to cut out vaccines altogether for their children on the basis of "If all the other kids are vaccinated, my kid won't be exposed to anything, so why should I put my kid through them?" (having a legitimate medical reason is another story); in terms of public health, though immunizations and vaccinations have been proven to have eradicated many deadly diseases in our country-- they still exist elsewhere. Therefore, there is still the chance that someone could be exposed and a.) my child could get that disease if not vaccinated against it, and/or b.) could become a carrier for it and unknowingly expose others to it. That's not fair for us to do that to all those other people. Our personal reasoning is that we do not want to inundate Preston's tiny body with a million vaccines all at once (he is running a low-grade fever today-- a common side-effect from the rotavirus vaccine, so we would have hated to have given him any more and risk any additional effects). We have every intention of having him get all the recommended vaccines, just on a delayed schedule. Though we will be following the Sears schedule, we do not agree what he somewhat recommends of "hiding in the herd" and not telling people what we're doing. We are confident that our decision is what is best for Preston, and we will defend it and explain it in order to show that confidence. Though we may not agree with other reasonings for/against vaccinations, we do not judge those who choose to do things differently than us. We've taken time to come to come to this decision through education and conversation together, and by no means should we judge anyone else for doing the same thing, even though their conclusions may be different.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Needs his mommy
I haven't posted in a while, but it's been harder than I thought it would be to get the normal day-to-day things done with the little guy. Not that I would trade it for the world! However, Preston is definitely a Momma's Boy... I'll just start with an update of what's been going on.
We've gotten into a bit of a routine around the house, with Preston usually waking up around 7ish (give or take a half hour), so he eats and then is up and VERY smiley for at least an hour. I try to get a few things done during that time, but I usually just end up sitting there with the little man and we make googly faces at each other for the whole morning :). Or I've managed to make it to the gym a couple of times if Skip is home those mornings. Preston usually eats again around 10:30 or 11, and then naps for a little while. After my lunch (if I'm lucky), he'll eat again around 2, and then again around 5:30. He's a little crankster in the evenings, which is normal (so the experts say), so I tend to try and cuddle him a lot to keep him calm. Our dinners have been up for grabs these days with Skip finishing up school, so I'll try to eat around Preston, but sometimes I'm eating, trying very carefully not to drop rice or something on the little head attached to me... He'll usually eat once again in the later evening, then for his last time around 10ish. We've been lucky in that he either sleeps through the night ('til, say, at least 6) or only gets up once to eat, so that's been nice. Then we do it all again! We've managed to venture out a bit because we're both getting stir crazy, so it's been nice to show him off at the various places I make it out to.
He had a doctor's appointment the other day to check his weight, and he's up to 8lbs 7 oz! Two whole pounds since birth! So that's wonderful, though he still is a little peanut :). My recovery has gone great, and like I said above, I've started back at the gym (thanks to some help from Sarah C. getting me to those step and zumba classes!).
Skip is almost done with school, with his graduation next Friday evening. We're all so proud that he's finishing on a great note, and it will be wonderful for him to finally get some quality time with Preston. He's been really studying hard these past 2 weeks, so I know he'll be glad to be done!
Other news: We welcomed our newest niece on November 20th. Megan Louise Harrison was born weighing 7 lbs 3 oz, and is doing great! Sarah had a c-section, so it was a long day, but everything went smoothly so we were all counting our blessings. They have all been adjusting well to the new little one in their house.
Preston has a little cold today, with a cough and watery eyes, and he's only wanted his mommy... Which is wonderful, but also tiring. I had wanted to put up some Christmas lights today, but that didn't happen. I'll try tomorrow... We're heading down tonight to Racine for a few visits tonight, so hopefully Preston will be okay. He's been fussy so we'll see...
Hopefully I'll get a chance to update again before the holidays, but if not, here's our next two weeks:
Saturday the 19th: TubaChristmas; Christmas party at our friends Roger and Kathy's
Thursday the 24th: Christmas Eve in Crystal Lake with the Prestons
Friday the 25th: Christmas morning in CL; Christmas evening in Racine
Sunday the 27th: Delanee Dwyer's birthday party (birthday the 23rd)
All for now!
We've gotten into a bit of a routine around the house, with Preston usually waking up around 7ish (give or take a half hour), so he eats and then is up and VERY smiley for at least an hour. I try to get a few things done during that time, but I usually just end up sitting there with the little man and we make googly faces at each other for the whole morning :). Or I've managed to make it to the gym a couple of times if Skip is home those mornings. Preston usually eats again around 10:30 or 11, and then naps for a little while. After my lunch (if I'm lucky), he'll eat again around 2, and then again around 5:30. He's a little crankster in the evenings, which is normal (so the experts say), so I tend to try and cuddle him a lot to keep him calm. Our dinners have been up for grabs these days with Skip finishing up school, so I'll try to eat around Preston, but sometimes I'm eating, trying very carefully not to drop rice or something on the little head attached to me... He'll usually eat once again in the later evening, then for his last time around 10ish. We've been lucky in that he either sleeps through the night ('til, say, at least 6) or only gets up once to eat, so that's been nice. Then we do it all again! We've managed to venture out a bit because we're both getting stir crazy, so it's been nice to show him off at the various places I make it out to.
He had a doctor's appointment the other day to check his weight, and he's up to 8lbs 7 oz! Two whole pounds since birth! So that's wonderful, though he still is a little peanut :). My recovery has gone great, and like I said above, I've started back at the gym (thanks to some help from Sarah C. getting me to those step and zumba classes!).
Skip is almost done with school, with his graduation next Friday evening. We're all so proud that he's finishing on a great note, and it will be wonderful for him to finally get some quality time with Preston. He's been really studying hard these past 2 weeks, so I know he'll be glad to be done!
Other news: We welcomed our newest niece on November 20th. Megan Louise Harrison was born weighing 7 lbs 3 oz, and is doing great! Sarah had a c-section, so it was a long day, but everything went smoothly so we were all counting our blessings. They have all been adjusting well to the new little one in their house.
Preston has a little cold today, with a cough and watery eyes, and he's only wanted his mommy... Which is wonderful, but also tiring. I had wanted to put up some Christmas lights today, but that didn't happen. I'll try tomorrow... We're heading down tonight to Racine for a few visits tonight, so hopefully Preston will be okay. He's been fussy so we'll see...
Hopefully I'll get a chance to update again before the holidays, but if not, here's our next two weeks:
Monday the 14th: Scotch vet (thought I'd throw our poor neglected dog in this post a little :))
Friday the 18th: Skip's graduation/pinningSaturday the 19th: TubaChristmas; Christmas party at our friends Roger and Kathy's
Thursday the 24th: Christmas Eve in Crystal Lake with the Prestons
Friday the 25th: Christmas morning in CL; Christmas evening in Racine
Sunday the 27th: Delanee Dwyer's birthday party (birthday the 23rd)
All for now!
Friday, November 13, 2009
To his birth weight then some!
Preston had his 2-week doctor's appointment on Thursday, and all is great! When he was first weighed, he came up at 6 lbs 2 oz, which was frustrating to me initially, since his birth weight was 6 lbs 7 oz. Babies are supposed to gain their weight back by 2 weeks, so the doctor and I were going to talk about supplementing his feedings with a little formula. However, when she noticed that the other measurements from what the nurse took earlier were all off, she did them all over. His head measurement is right on track, and he is now just shy of 20 inches, so he's gotten a little longer. His weight is 6 lbs 12 oz, so that means he's gained all of the lost weight back, and then some, which is wonderful! So no supplementing needed-- just a continuance of 30 mins+ at each feeding... But that's okay if he's getting what he needs! Besides, we're really starting to get into a routine throughout the day and night, so it's getting better.
Other than his doctor updates, everything is going well. I'm feeling pretty healed, though I'm still really tired. I'm starting to get used to it, though, and getting better at functioning on less sleep... Ha, I managed to do some crunches today, too, which was interesting-- I felt my muscles starting to ache only like 5 mins after I did them! I guess that's to be expected after not having done them for ~6 months (plus having my ab muscles all jacked up from expanding so much). I figured I can start doing little things at home, then start back at the gym in December (got a wedding in September to start getting in shape for!)
Skip is doing well, but has had a couple of busy weeks since Preston was born. With school and work, he's running on only a little more sleep than me, so he's exhausted. Thank goodness his school is done next month, and then we can really focus on building our little family! Not that we aren't now, it's just a different dynamic. He's doing okay in his classes and clinicals/internship, though, so that's good.
So that's the update for now!
Other than his doctor updates, everything is going well. I'm feeling pretty healed, though I'm still really tired. I'm starting to get used to it, though, and getting better at functioning on less sleep... Ha, I managed to do some crunches today, too, which was interesting-- I felt my muscles starting to ache only like 5 mins after I did them! I guess that's to be expected after not having done them for ~6 months (plus having my ab muscles all jacked up from expanding so much). I figured I can start doing little things at home, then start back at the gym in December (got a wedding in September to start getting in shape for!)
Skip is doing well, but has had a couple of busy weeks since Preston was born. With school and work, he's running on only a little more sleep than me, so he's exhausted. Thank goodness his school is done next month, and then we can really focus on building our little family! Not that we aren't now, it's just a different dynamic. He's doing okay in his classes and clinicals/internship, though, so that's good.
So that's the update for now!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
2 Weeks
So, it's been a crazy two weeks! Here's the update, from birth to today:
On Friday the 23rd, I had my 40-41 week doctor appointment. Dr. Barnabei stripped my membranes a little bit, just to see if that would get things moving at all. Well, for most of the day, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable. Not really having contractions, at least not timeable, but I could tell things were starting. Skip and I ran some errands, then I took Scotch to the dog park out in Brookfield. We walked quite a bit, then came home and relaxed as best as possible. By the later night, I was feeling things much stronger, and decided I better go to bed and try to get at least a little sleep. I woke up around 3:30 with real contractions, maybe about 10-15 mins apart. I took a bath and shower, then parked myself on the couch while things really began. By the way, there's not much on tv and 5am on a Saturday morning... So I watched the Eukanuba dog shows... Anyways, around 7, I woke Skip up because my contractions were about 6 mins apart. He got ready faster than I'd ever seen him get moving before! We left the house and were at the hospital by around 8:30. They got me into a room right away, and my water broke right then-- nice timing, huh?! After that point, my contractions were one right after another, and very painful. I was dilated to 6cm, so things had progressed really well on their own. I ended up getting an epidural, because I was starting to have really bad back and side labor in the latest contractions, and knew I wouldn't be able to continue breathing through them enough to have the strength to push later on. The epidural went really smoothly, and after that point I was a lot more comfortable. I pushed for about an hour starting at 2:30, and Preston was born at 3:30! He was a little stunned when he first came out and needed oxygen, but as soon as he started breathing, he started crying, peeing and pooping! Glad to see all the systems were working!
My first thought when I saw him was 1.)get him breathing, 2.)he's tiny (he was 6 lbs 7 oz), and 3.)he looks just like Skip! He seriously is a mini Skip. But he's got a little of me in him, too, so he's a little individual :). He took well to feeding right away, and the rest of our stay in the hospital was uneventful. We were discharged on Monday early afternoon, and were glad to be going home. Scotch took to Preston well: Pretty curious, but sweet. He still doesn't quite know what to do with him when he cries, but he's learning to just ignore him. We've worked on keeping his dog park trips consistent, and were grateful to our friend Steph from the d.p. for taking him on a couple trips while we were getting Preston used to being home.
In the past couple of weeks, we've been adjusting well. My recovery has gone quite smoothly, and Preston sleeps well at night. Not completely through, but he's had a couple nights where he's given us a good solid 5 or 6 hours, of which we can't complain! The feedings are going well, as he takes after his father and loves the tatas... His first doctors appointment was fine, everything progressing perfectly. He has his 2-week appointment on Thursday, so we are curious to see how much weight he's put on. He had only lost 2 oz in the hospital and 1 by his first appointment, which is great, especially considering he didn't have much extra!
We've had visits from the grandparents, of course, but also a bunch of family and friends, so a lot of people have gotten to meet the little guy. He accompanied me to Sarah's baby shower yesterday and then to Harrison's for dinner; though it was a long day for both of us, he was a champ and did really well out with all the people! Today was his first trip to church, and he slept right through :) (Wish I could do that sometimes!)
Tomorrow we plan on just hanging around the house, since we had a long weekend. It should be nice. If all is well, I plan on going to band rehearsal on Weds night, which will be a nice change of pace for Wednesday night. Other than that, no big plans, but I'm sure we'll find things to do!
On Friday the 23rd, I had my 40-41 week doctor appointment. Dr. Barnabei stripped my membranes a little bit, just to see if that would get things moving at all. Well, for most of the day, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable. Not really having contractions, at least not timeable, but I could tell things were starting. Skip and I ran some errands, then I took Scotch to the dog park out in Brookfield. We walked quite a bit, then came home and relaxed as best as possible. By the later night, I was feeling things much stronger, and decided I better go to bed and try to get at least a little sleep. I woke up around 3:30 with real contractions, maybe about 10-15 mins apart. I took a bath and shower, then parked myself on the couch while things really began. By the way, there's not much on tv and 5am on a Saturday morning... So I watched the Eukanuba dog shows... Anyways, around 7, I woke Skip up because my contractions were about 6 mins apart. He got ready faster than I'd ever seen him get moving before! We left the house and were at the hospital by around 8:30. They got me into a room right away, and my water broke right then-- nice timing, huh?! After that point, my contractions were one right after another, and very painful. I was dilated to 6cm, so things had progressed really well on their own. I ended up getting an epidural, because I was starting to have really bad back and side labor in the latest contractions, and knew I wouldn't be able to continue breathing through them enough to have the strength to push later on. The epidural went really smoothly, and after that point I was a lot more comfortable. I pushed for about an hour starting at 2:30, and Preston was born at 3:30! He was a little stunned when he first came out and needed oxygen, but as soon as he started breathing, he started crying, peeing and pooping! Glad to see all the systems were working!
My first thought when I saw him was 1.)get him breathing, 2.)he's tiny (he was 6 lbs 7 oz), and 3.)he looks just like Skip! He seriously is a mini Skip. But he's got a little of me in him, too, so he's a little individual :). He took well to feeding right away, and the rest of our stay in the hospital was uneventful. We were discharged on Monday early afternoon, and were glad to be going home. Scotch took to Preston well: Pretty curious, but sweet. He still doesn't quite know what to do with him when he cries, but he's learning to just ignore him. We've worked on keeping his dog park trips consistent, and were grateful to our friend Steph from the d.p. for taking him on a couple trips while we were getting Preston used to being home.
In the past couple of weeks, we've been adjusting well. My recovery has gone quite smoothly, and Preston sleeps well at night. Not completely through, but he's had a couple nights where he's given us a good solid 5 or 6 hours, of which we can't complain! The feedings are going well, as he takes after his father and loves the tatas... His first doctors appointment was fine, everything progressing perfectly. He has his 2-week appointment on Thursday, so we are curious to see how much weight he's put on. He had only lost 2 oz in the hospital and 1 by his first appointment, which is great, especially considering he didn't have much extra!
We've had visits from the grandparents, of course, but also a bunch of family and friends, so a lot of people have gotten to meet the little guy. He accompanied me to Sarah's baby shower yesterday and then to Harrison's for dinner; though it was a long day for both of us, he was a champ and did really well out with all the people! Today was his first trip to church, and he slept right through :) (Wish I could do that sometimes!)
Tomorrow we plan on just hanging around the house, since we had a long weekend. It should be nice. If all is well, I plan on going to band rehearsal on Weds night, which will be a nice change of pace for Wednesday night. Other than that, no big plans, but I'm sure we'll find things to do!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
40 + 2
Waiting... waiting... waiting...
There has been a realization coming out of the wood works that a couple different people have pointed out in the last two days, and that Skip and I have realized: I am a slow poke. Always have been. "Come on, Ellen," has been the story of my life. Hey, what can I say? I like to take in the scenery :). Skip is the same, and even tends to be more on the "better late than never" side of things.
So, we've all decided, why would this little one be any different? Things are coming along, it's just taking its time to enjoy the scenery! (Although I can't imagine how interesting the scenery is right now, considering it's been swimming in it for 9 months already...)
There has been a realization coming out of the wood works that a couple different people have pointed out in the last two days, and that Skip and I have realized: I am a slow poke. Always have been. "Come on, Ellen," has been the story of my life. Hey, what can I say? I like to take in the scenery :). Skip is the same, and even tends to be more on the "better late than never" side of things.
So, we've all decided, why would this little one be any different? Things are coming along, it's just taking its time to enjoy the scenery! (Although I can't imagine how interesting the scenery is right now, considering it's been swimming in it for 9 months already...)
Monday, October 19, 2009
BabyCenter says I have a newborn...
So, apparently BabyCenter knows something I don't, because it says in my status that I have a "newborn." Um, I could have sworn this baby was still in me as of today, made quite obvious by the foot that I'm looking down at kicking my belly button... from INSIDE. I suppose I will now be getting updates on information regarding my little newborn, even though I have yet to birth this child! Well, I guess the info will be useful, just maybe not for a couple of days yet.
This was a tough weekend for me. Long about Wednesday night I started to get a sore throat and a little cough, which turned into a full-blown nasty cold on Thursday. I went for a walk around campus with my boss, which was a bad idea, because I think I jacked something up in my back from the heels I was wearing. So, I left early from work because I was totally dragging ass, and went home and slept for a couple of hours. I ate some dinner, then basically went back to bed. Friday sucked, too. I had my 39-40 week doctor's appointment in the morning, and I'm 1 cm dilated, but that's about it. So essentially nothing big going on. But like I said, that's okay. It's just that I wished I wasn't as sick as I was, or that my back didn't seize up every time I moved. It seriously took me 5 mins to walk to the bathroom (normally 30 seconds), just because I had to hold onto the wall-- I almost burst into tears. I left at my lunch hour to go see my friendly neighborhood chiropractor (i.e. Andy), and he seriously is a miracle-worker. I had been in so much pain, and after he did some pressure work and ultrasound, I was essentially fixed. Thank the Lord. As for my cold, I went back to work and crabbily made it through the rest of the day (sort of snapping at my boss in the meantime...oops), then went home and crashed. I had a temp of 100 at one point, so I was watching myself pretty closely so that I didn't bake the poor baby...
Saturday and Sunday were pretty much sit-on-my-ass days, which was okay. My cough was terrible and really making me sore. I think the only thing I did out of the house was go grocery shopping, and even that kicked my ass (I called the hospital on Saturday evening just to make sure they didn't want me to come in, and they said to just keep monitoring myself, and if things got above 100.4, then come in). However, I was able to do a little cleaning and putzing by Sunday evening, so I feel a little productive. This morning I'm feeling a ton better, though still trying to get all this crap out. I just want to make sure I have all the strength I can muster to push this little one out when the time comes! I think after how I'm feeling today that I can see being fine... whenever the heck this kid decides to make his/her entrance! We're ready for you when you are ready to come out! :)
This was a tough weekend for me. Long about Wednesday night I started to get a sore throat and a little cough, which turned into a full-blown nasty cold on Thursday. I went for a walk around campus with my boss, which was a bad idea, because I think I jacked something up in my back from the heels I was wearing. So, I left early from work because I was totally dragging ass, and went home and slept for a couple of hours. I ate some dinner, then basically went back to bed. Friday sucked, too. I had my 39-40 week doctor's appointment in the morning, and I'm 1 cm dilated, but that's about it. So essentially nothing big going on. But like I said, that's okay. It's just that I wished I wasn't as sick as I was, or that my back didn't seize up every time I moved. It seriously took me 5 mins to walk to the bathroom (normally 30 seconds), just because I had to hold onto the wall-- I almost burst into tears. I left at my lunch hour to go see my friendly neighborhood chiropractor (i.e. Andy), and he seriously is a miracle-worker. I had been in so much pain, and after he did some pressure work and ultrasound, I was essentially fixed. Thank the Lord. As for my cold, I went back to work and crabbily made it through the rest of the day (sort of snapping at my boss in the meantime...oops), then went home and crashed. I had a temp of 100 at one point, so I was watching myself pretty closely so that I didn't bake the poor baby...
Saturday and Sunday were pretty much sit-on-my-ass days, which was okay. My cough was terrible and really making me sore. I think the only thing I did out of the house was go grocery shopping, and even that kicked my ass (I called the hospital on Saturday evening just to make sure they didn't want me to come in, and they said to just keep monitoring myself, and if things got above 100.4, then come in). However, I was able to do a little cleaning and putzing by Sunday evening, so I feel a little productive. This morning I'm feeling a ton better, though still trying to get all this crap out. I just want to make sure I have all the strength I can muster to push this little one out when the time comes! I think after how I'm feeling today that I can see being fine... whenever the heck this kid decides to make his/her entrance! We're ready for you when you are ready to come out! :)
Monday, October 12, 2009
Just about ready...
Today is officially one week from my due date. I think we're ready for this baby to get here! I've set myself up thinking that it will come a couple of days late, so that way I won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen in the next week. As of Friday, I was around 50% effaced, and the baby has dropped, so there are definitely some things going on in there. However, being a first time mom, the doctor doesn't seem to think anything will happen early, which is okay. She thinks the baby is on the small side, so "cooking" a little longer is okay with me.
As far as other things going on, Skip and I spent some time last weekend with the Eckels and Prestons, so that was nice. We went down to CL on the 3rd to visit with my mom and dad on Saturday, and had a really great dinner with Pat and Grandma, too. On Sunday, Mom and I bummed around CL for a few things, then got Mr. A's for lunch-- I haven't had that in so long, and it was SOO good! We went up to Woodstock for my uncle Mike's 50th birthday party, which also was a good time. On Monday we met Skip's parents down at the Yacht Club to visit for the evening, and did some light canoeing in the harbor before going in for dinner and the Packers game. We hadn't seen Mannings in a while, so it was nice to catch up. Tuesday night we had our Baptism class, which was nice and touchy-feely... It was actually okay, though, because one of the girls from my water aerobics class was there, and we came to find out that they go to the same church as us. So it was nice to make some new friends!
I made it to yoga and band on Wednesday, but that may be it for band for the next couple of weeks. It's hard to carry my tuba on my back, not to mention everyone thinks it's absolutely hilarious to watch me (no, not HELP me), so I think I may take a break now until after baby is born. We'll see. Thursday I made it to water aerobics and then Steph came over for dinner. We had a great visit, as we hadn't really had a chance to catch up in a couple of weeks. Plus I got to show off all the things we've done around the house to get ready for the baby. This past weekend was essentially uneventful, with nothing planned. We went and celebrated our friend Pam's birthday on Saturday night, but that was about it. Two mornings of somewhat sleeping in was a nice bonus-- I figured it was probably the last opportunities we'll have to sleep in for a long long time, so I didn't feel bad at all doing it!
Now, to try and stay focused and get through this week.....
As far as other things going on, Skip and I spent some time last weekend with the Eckels and Prestons, so that was nice. We went down to CL on the 3rd to visit with my mom and dad on Saturday, and had a really great dinner with Pat and Grandma, too. On Sunday, Mom and I bummed around CL for a few things, then got Mr. A's for lunch-- I haven't had that in so long, and it was SOO good! We went up to Woodstock for my uncle Mike's 50th birthday party, which also was a good time. On Monday we met Skip's parents down at the Yacht Club to visit for the evening, and did some light canoeing in the harbor before going in for dinner and the Packers game. We hadn't seen Mannings in a while, so it was nice to catch up. Tuesday night we had our Baptism class, which was nice and touchy-feely... It was actually okay, though, because one of the girls from my water aerobics class was there, and we came to find out that they go to the same church as us. So it was nice to make some new friends!
I made it to yoga and band on Wednesday, but that may be it for band for the next couple of weeks. It's hard to carry my tuba on my back, not to mention everyone thinks it's absolutely hilarious to watch me (no, not HELP me), so I think I may take a break now until after baby is born. We'll see. Thursday I made it to water aerobics and then Steph came over for dinner. We had a great visit, as we hadn't really had a chance to catch up in a couple of weeks. Plus I got to show off all the things we've done around the house to get ready for the baby. This past weekend was essentially uneventful, with nothing planned. We went and celebrated our friend Pam's birthday on Saturday night, but that was about it. Two mornings of somewhat sleeping in was a nice bonus-- I figured it was probably the last opportunities we'll have to sleep in for a long long time, so I didn't feel bad at all doing it!
Now, to try and stay focused and get through this week.....
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Patriotic Bathing Suits
I remember when I first started water aerobics about 5 months ago that I thought all the women who were far along seemed lazy, and I swore I would still be working really hard when I was that far along. Ha, now that I'm at that point, I'm totally eating my words! It's been a chore to even get into a damn bathing suit! However, it's good that I'm still going and keeping myself busy. Otherwise I know I would be sitting (or putzing) at home just anxious out of my mind... Oh, and there was a guy that got out of the pool last night that looked like Ron Jeremy and had American flag swim trunks on. NO ONE else in my class seemed to notice the hairy back climbing the stairs and the stars and stripes strategically bulging and creeping into nasty places. That's one flag I don't think I could salute...
I stopped at the grocery store after class to pick up a few things, and when I was walking out I got thinking. The air was really "fally" and it was really calm, and I kind of took a few deep breaths. I, by absolutely no means, resent this baby coming and I am so excited to finally meet him or her. However, if you know me, I am a pretty independent person, and I can't lie that I'm nervous about losing some of that independence. Will I be able to just drop everything at the flip of a switch and run out to the store, go for a walk, go rollerblading by the lake anymore? Probably not. And it makes me a little nervous/sad. I've never been one to handle big changes with ease, and this is probably the biggest change of my life to this point. It's hard to imagine being one of only two people in the entire world that this little being is going to be totally dependent on. Will I be up for the task? I think so? People keep telling me that this baby will adapt to the lifestyle that we have, so I hope this little one is ready to take road trips, go to the dog park, listen to loud music of every type, watch the weird TV shows that his/her daddy watches, talk politics, play sports, do scouts... I know we'll adapt to our little one, too-- it's just hard because there's only so much we can do to prepare.
I stopped at the grocery store after class to pick up a few things, and when I was walking out I got thinking. The air was really "fally" and it was really calm, and I kind of took a few deep breaths. I, by absolutely no means, resent this baby coming and I am so excited to finally meet him or her. However, if you know me, I am a pretty independent person, and I can't lie that I'm nervous about losing some of that independence. Will I be able to just drop everything at the flip of a switch and run out to the store, go for a walk, go rollerblading by the lake anymore? Probably not. And it makes me a little nervous/sad. I've never been one to handle big changes with ease, and this is probably the biggest change of my life to this point. It's hard to imagine being one of only two people in the entire world that this little being is going to be totally dependent on. Will I be up for the task? I think so? People keep telling me that this baby will adapt to the lifestyle that we have, so I hope this little one is ready to take road trips, go to the dog park, listen to loud music of every type, watch the weird TV shows that his/her daddy watches, talk politics, play sports, do scouts... I know we'll adapt to our little one, too-- it's just hard because there's only so much we can do to prepare.
Monday, September 28, 2009
36-37 weeks and Buddy Walk
This was just a really nice weekend. I had a doctor's appointment on Friday morning, and everything looks good. My doctor said I am effaced a tiny bit, but to not expect anything too soon. She said I am measuring well, and the baby's heartbeat sounded fine. So, time to just start twiddling my thumbs and wait...
I got to hang around the house on Friday night and do some major nesting, with my weird dog following me from room to room all evening. He's been acting so strange lately. I'm sure he knows something is up, and he has been very good and sweetly protective of me all the time. When we're at the dog park in the area with the other dogs, he'll just stand right next to me with a big grin on his face and keep his eye on everything going on. He never used to do that before-- frankly, he'd barely listen to me when his "friends" were around. His barking is beginning to get under control, which is a great thing because a.)I don't want any more neighbors pissed at us, b.)No pissy neighbors = no more police at our doorstep, and c.)He will know when to be quiet when the baby comes. So anyways, I cleaned the house for like the 4th time in a week, then vegged until Skip got home from clinicals.
Saturday morning we got up and met with a realtor to see what our options are in regards to maybe maaayyybe buying a house soon, so that was interesting. Still have some more research and thinking to do about all of that, but not until after the baby comes. Then we went to Target and bought a shit-load of baby stuff. We got sheets and a cute crib skirt-- since these days that's pretty much all you need for the crib. No blankets, no bumpers. So we saved some money on that, not to mention the crib skirt matches the colors and wall paint in the baby's room perfectly. We got home, and I took the pup to the dog park for a couple of hours while Skip mowed the lawn and started cooking a chicken on the grill for an early dinner. It turned out really good. After dinner we headed up to Glendale to Oktoberfest to see my tuba-friend Roger play, as well as hang out with some of my Knightwind friends. Note to self: Get a DD next year because both of us will be bombed from the wonderful beer. They had like 15 different Oktoberfest beers, so Skip was happy (I even had a little bit)-- and I also got a brat on a pretzel bun, so I suppose I was satisfied :).
Sunday we slept in and had a leisurely morning, then we went over to the zoo for the annual DSAW Down Syndrome Awareness Walk. We met the whole fam over there in time to start the walk, and it was a good time. I, however, realized that walking causes contractions. At least mild ones. I was a little uncomfortable for the rest of the afternoon because my body was doing all kinds of weird things, so we were starting to prepare ourselves for what could have become a long night... However, after we left Sarah and Andy's, I got home a put my feet up, and everything settled down. I can't lie that I wasn't a little disappointed that nothing happened last night, but at the same time I'm glad because now my maternity leave from work isn't all messed up. I've got it planned down to, essentially, the day, so 3 weeks early would not have gone well with my plan! I didn't sleep too well last night because of the nerves and anticipation that I now totally have more than ever, so I'm a little tired today. However, the weekend overall was very nice, and it was good to see the family yesterday.
I got to hang around the house on Friday night and do some major nesting, with my weird dog following me from room to room all evening. He's been acting so strange lately. I'm sure he knows something is up, and he has been very good and sweetly protective of me all the time. When we're at the dog park in the area with the other dogs, he'll just stand right next to me with a big grin on his face and keep his eye on everything going on. He never used to do that before-- frankly, he'd barely listen to me when his "friends" were around. His barking is beginning to get under control, which is a great thing because a.)I don't want any more neighbors pissed at us, b.)No pissy neighbors = no more police at our doorstep, and c.)He will know when to be quiet when the baby comes. So anyways, I cleaned the house for like the 4th time in a week, then vegged until Skip got home from clinicals.
Saturday morning we got up and met with a realtor to see what our options are in regards to maybe maaayyybe buying a house soon, so that was interesting. Still have some more research and thinking to do about all of that, but not until after the baby comes. Then we went to Target and bought a shit-load of baby stuff. We got sheets and a cute crib skirt-- since these days that's pretty much all you need for the crib. No blankets, no bumpers. So we saved some money on that, not to mention the crib skirt matches the colors and wall paint in the baby's room perfectly. We got home, and I took the pup to the dog park for a couple of hours while Skip mowed the lawn and started cooking a chicken on the grill for an early dinner. It turned out really good. After dinner we headed up to Glendale to Oktoberfest to see my tuba-friend Roger play, as well as hang out with some of my Knightwind friends. Note to self: Get a DD next year because both of us will be bombed from the wonderful beer. They had like 15 different Oktoberfest beers, so Skip was happy (I even had a little bit)-- and I also got a brat on a pretzel bun, so I suppose I was satisfied :).
Sunday we slept in and had a leisurely morning, then we went over to the zoo for the annual DSAW Down Syndrome Awareness Walk. We met the whole fam over there in time to start the walk, and it was a good time. I, however, realized that walking causes contractions. At least mild ones. I was a little uncomfortable for the rest of the afternoon because my body was doing all kinds of weird things, so we were starting to prepare ourselves for what could have become a long night... However, after we left Sarah and Andy's, I got home a put my feet up, and everything settled down. I can't lie that I wasn't a little disappointed that nothing happened last night, but at the same time I'm glad because now my maternity leave from work isn't all messed up. I've got it planned down to, essentially, the day, so 3 weeks early would not have gone well with my plan! I didn't sleep too well last night because of the nerves and anticipation that I now totally have more than ever, so I'm a little tired today. However, the weekend overall was very nice, and it was good to see the family yesterday.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Bebes y pinatas
So, I just wanted to write a little about the wonderful baby shower fiesta that was thrown for me today. Steph, Sarah, and Jes planned a whole soiree of Mexican and South American fare, complete with taquitos and a taco bar! We all visited for a while and snacked, and played "pass the babies" with Delanee, Lucas, and Natalie. It was so wonderful to sit back and watch my girlfriends who I knew as kids, essentially, become such wonderful mothers! And to watch all the others step in and take their turns holding and playing with the three of them. It makes me excited to add another one to the bunch! We opened some presents, then ate some more-- SO much food!! Then out came the pinata... Apparently Lindsay had this old pinata that she had gotten as a kid, so they filled it up with authentic Mexican candies, and let me take my shots at it. Well, the only blindfold was a pillow case, which I decided would work best just over my head, so here I was swinging a plastic yellow bat at a pinata hanging 8 feet off the ground-- I think people got some good pics, maybe even a video in there... The damn pinata was SO hard, and I ended up hitting it down from the garage rafter where it was hanging. So we moved it to the end of a shovel, of which Sarah held the opposite end while I continued to swing away. The damn thing STILL wouldn't break! So, I took a metal shovel to it. That broke it! We had some really great laughs pulling it apart the rest of the way, and then Linds finished it off with some deep-seeded childhood beating on the thing. Damn amusing, if you ask me!
We sat down for a while longer outside, and just talked and visited. I'll reiterate again that I was just so happy to sit there and talk with everyone and see everyone all get along so well and be so grown up. Baby Natalie was trying pretty hard to fight sleep and stay up with the party! We moved into the house and continued our conversations, complete with reminiscing from me and the Hams into our amusing high school lives... And a pretty good bashing on some others. Damn we're mean sometimes... But that's what you get with us girls, but we were having fun! The party ended up going until almost 10pm, which was not what I planned, but such a great time nonetheless. I am so appreciative of everything the girls did to celebrate this baby and everything to come in the next month. I really count my blessings every day for the people in my life who I have grown up with and continue to stay close to, and I can't wait for us to keep growing together and making wonderful memories like those today!
Thanks, girls!!
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