Two for two..

Both my kids still like to make their own schedule.. a Wednesday morning ERCS turned into a Monday afternoon section when that morning's appt showcased my timely contractions..

(A last bump pic in L&D before introducing you all to Madeline....)

Obviously, a birth story (girlie scared us with her first Apgar of 5, but her second less than a minute later was 9...) and tons more pictures to follow!

Countdown continues to tick...

38w6days... one day past when Button was born, and BabyGirl is still cooking...

Thoroughly enjoyed my first week of maternity leave (so much done, got out of the house each day too!)

Been walking (the mall, the stairs in the house...)and also started pineapple (oh man, full circle...)
because OWT says it helps ripen/soften your cervix... Dude. I even ate hot wings after our Christmas PJ brunch last Sunday... and that's SERIOUS because I despise spicy like I hate bamboo shoots shoved under my fingernails...

All that to say, she's still tucked away...

(and given the battle about Christmas Day - MIL has planned her regular activities (E's aunt, cousin, and older sister over for dinner) as if nothing else was going on... and basically then expects E to come "for awhile" with Button (as well as my parents, who will be flying in the night before!) so E tells me that, on day TWO of having a newborn daughter and wife in the hospital, he'll be spending "A few hours" at his mom's house that day... SERIOUSLY?! and MIL is all, "and then he'll come back to the hospital to relieve your parents so they can come spend some time [at my house]..."


Uh-huh.  Because my mom would want to leave her baby (me!) in the hospital on Christmas Day to "escape" and have some time at her IL's house...

(another reason I hope Baby Girl's arrival is earlier than the planned RCS on 12/23... hope to be out of the hospital by Christmas Day and avoid that drama!)


Button's about to wake up from his nap, as E is about to get home from hockey...

Will keep you posted on BabyGirlWatch Christmas 2015!

An inside job..

Baby girl is.. still inside, I mean.. contractions all freaking weekend, sometimes 8 an hour, sometimes 1-2..

Dr appt tomorrow at 2:15..

5.5 MOAR HOURS!

IT'S MY LAST DAY OF WORK!!!

5.5 hours left, and counting...

(a just-taken pic from the ubiquitous work bathroom!)

BabyGirl's still cooking... BH on the regular (are they BH? or are they still (slowly) readying cervix for labor? (I'm not allowed to say "ripening," the word just weirds out E lol so we say "readying"))

She's also totally dropped where, even the second I get out of bed and she's usually all up in my ribs from me laying horizontal all night, this morning she was, well:

shawty got low low low low low low low low

 Things are ready (mostly) - got the fabric to the swing washed and dried (I actually need to take off the car-seat liner and wash it - only because it's been sitting in the garage for a year from Button last using it - and no, it hasn't "Expired" yet/still meets safety standards!) 

Got hospital bags packed (just need to get nursing tanks out of a storage bin to be packed...)

And we've got our Christmas PJ Brunch tomorrow morning!

So hold on Baby Girl, just at least 24-36 more hours! 

(Is that enough music/dance GIFs for Friday? lol)

NOPE - it's Friday, and MY LAST DAY OF WORK!!!

 

False Alarm - Ish

And so it begins... lol

Contractions/BH started yesterday around 11:30am, somewhat inconsistently - but about every 30-40 minutes...

By nighttime at home, they were on and off - every 20 minutes or less, but again inconsistent (10 minutes apart for 30-40 minutes, and then 20 minutes apart randomly...)  ((and also not really painful))

We went to bed, figuring if they got painful enough to wake me in the night we'd grab our hospital bags and head over to MIL's to drop off Button before making our way to the hospital...

(Button woke up crying - bad dream I guess - around 2am and I had a Cx the second I got out of bed ((oooo there's one now as I type! lol)) and then I fell back asleep after comforting Button...)

This morning, they were inconsistently regular (lol) sometimes coming every 5-6 minutes for a half hour, and then stopping for 15-20 minutes before picking up again at 4 minutes apart for 20-25 minutes before slowing down again...

I called the answering service (it was before my OB office opened) and after speaking with the doctor on-call, the nurse asked me to call and head into the office when they opened...

So Button went to daycare, I finalized the hospital bags (filled travel-size bottles with shampoo, conditioner and my face wash, grabbed mittens for BabyGirl, etc) E packed an overnight duffel for Button in case MIL or SIL needed to pick him up from DC later, and then packed a bag for himself.

Off to the doctor's we went, to discover (after a painful cervical check - with a speculum! did he need that?!) that yes, I was totally having contractions (Dr was in the middle of palpating BabyGirl when one kicked in!) but were they BH or early labor?

Apparently only time will tell: as of this morning, I'm 1cm dilated, with a "kind of softish" cervix...

the game plan now is to wait and see if Cx get more regular/painful (right now they're only bordering on being slightly uncomfortable...)

so I'm at work now, seriously trying to wrap stuff up to be ready at any second to hand off the baton and say, "See you in 12 weeks guys!" (ha, yea right... I'm totally getting calls in the first month...)




and as excited as I am/was for her arrival to have begun, there's things I had scheduled for next week (my week off) and this weekend!

The Christmas PJ Brunch!

And next week, getting my car fixed! and maintenanced by Kia due to a recall! and then clean house! (the guest room, where my 'rents will be staying for 10 days is a DIH-SAS-TER!)

HERE WE GO!

Truckin' Along...

37 weeks yesterday, nothing new to report besides the same old... (to be honest, the last few weeks there's no change in the "weekly updates!")

lower back pain was SO KILLER after Saturday's WalkerStalkerCon (which was fun, and would have been funner if I had a scooter or wheelchair, and if one didn't have to pay like $400 to take a picture with Norman Reedus...)

(DH totally snuck a picture of him through the crowd horde at his photo-op booth...) will have to get those pictures...

Anyways - by the end of the convention, I could barely stand (walking was better than standing in place) and some residual back pain lingered last night...

There's been lots of BH (nothing regular, timing-wise, but definitely probably an average of 6-10 a day, depending on physical activity...

She has gotten pretty low (nurse made a comment at today's appointment... during which, BP/weight/urine was all pretty good...)

And I can tell: there's been some increased pelvic pressure, some hella-bad RLP (in trying to turn from side to side last night, I nearly couldn't do it due to crotch pain... oiy!)

All this to say, my last day of work is Friday - BabyGirl if you can at least hold on until Monday the 14th so I can get some time off of work (unlike when your big brother decided to come two days "early" - in fact, at 38wd5d - mere hours after I left work...)
(and yea, I know - just because she's low and I get frequent BH - that does not mean labor is imminent or any such thing...)

And as I hormonally ranted to DH, bitching (I'm sure) about a co-worker or someone who was still not directing questions to the correct staff who will be taking over during my leave - which is FOUR DAYS AWAY!! - he had the perfect casual chat-response:

KEEP CALM AND PREGGO ON...

A Tale of Three Stories...

As the EDD just passed for my first pregnancy (11/30 in fact... I didn't even realize it had come and gone until the night of December 1st, as I was sharing facebook pictures of my brother's new baby boy, born on 11/30...)  I began remembering the days I told E I was pregnant - three different times, three different styles, each pretty appropriate, I think, to the situation...



The big exciting BFP #1 was on Monday March 19, 2012... We had celebrated St Patty's Day the Saturday before, where I honestly can't remember if I drank at all or not... I probably had a beer or two (versus my usual party of drinks and shots) I remember sitting on our front stoop that Sunday evening (in unseasonably warm March weather) munching on a leftover cookie, thinking it tasted a little funny... (ooo a pregnancy sign??)
I tested that Monday morning after E had gone to work (I think 12DPO).  I grinned at my little secret all day at work, and that night E and I went into NYC to The Aspen Lounge for a white party (something like that: everyone wears white...)
As we sat waiting for our friend to meet us there pre-party, I slid my phone to E on the bar, with a picture of the positive digi pulled up (which E had at first thought was a picture of fBFF's recent +HPT (which had ended in a CP 2 days later)).
So, we were thrilled/excited - 10 months after going off of BCP, we finally got pregnant!
We were also cautious, having just vicariously lived through fBFF's CP a week or two prior...
We enjoyed sneaking me mocktails (cranberry & seltzer) all night as we kept our little secret between the two of us...






The next BFP (#2) was on November 12, 2012 at 11DPO.  Again, I tested after E had left for work (I think I preferred him not knowing I was actually testing, and waiting outside the door for either heartbreak or nervous excitement...)
Again, I nervously patted my secret little sweet-pea all day at work, and when I got home later that night, couldn't keep a grin off my face when in the kitchen with E... and upon seeing my goofy grin (and knowing we were approximately at test time) he started smiling, and said - "What? Why are you smiling like that?" (I think he knew what was coming...)
And it was a nonchalant, "I tested this morning, it was positive..."
So there we were again, excited - but nervous as hell after the last disastrous experience where we made it all the way through the first 8-9 weeks. and thought we were nearly out of the first trimester, only to start all over again at 3w4d...



The most recent BFP (#3) was on Tuesday April 14, 2015 at 9DPO!  (I still can't believe I tested at 9DPO... not even with FMU!) I had gotten violently ill with a (mercifully quick) stomach bug Monday night, and so was home sick Tuesday...
Something made me go POAS around lunch time (I think it was the fact I was ravenous after having just had a stomach bug, and it usually takes me a day or two to get back to my regular appetite).  Nothing showed up within the 5 minute wait time, but then when I checked it hours later (wait - you don't save your pee sticks for hours? how about DAYS?!) I convinced myself I saw a shadow of a line...
And lo and behold, the next morning FMU provided a barely-there squinter (that showed up in the recommended wait time!)
I didn't even tell E until Thursday night (after two more days of every-so-slightly darkening HPT lines... why did I wait? I didn't want him to get excited only to have it ripped away within hours by a CP...) but then I felt the giddy excitement from our first BFP - while I knew there was a long way to go, I wanted to find a cute way to tell him...  (which ended up not even working as E wasn't paying attention, so I ended up shoving a positive digi in his face... classy. at least the cap was on the pee end!)

But his reaction?
Way better than any of the prior BFPs... he got little-kid-before-christmas excited, tossed Button in the air, yelling, "You're gonna be a big brother! You wanna be a big brother?!"
(And Button just fed off his daddy's excitement, whatever it was for, and started squealing, "YEA!")



Each experience was so unique, so clearly remembered - as well as the experiences when the pregnancy ended: Feeling stoic while waiting for surgery to remove "products of conception" at what was supposed to be 12weeks...
Feeling the is-this-real?! as we sat in the hospital watching contractions hit every 4 minutes and learning Button was coming now and not in his scheduled two days...

And now... one week left of work (that can't pass quick enough) and then, days (how many?!) to nest with this little girl, as numerous BraxtonHicks make me wonder if she'll decide to jump the gun on her scheduled eviction date just like her big brother...

clever title here...

(apologies - I started this two mornings ago...) So this Monday morning started rough - E decided to clean just his bathroom sink (we have side-by-side his/hers) which really, I thought was just so NICE of him, considering I'd just cleaned the (disgusting) bathroom mirror (EVEN IN FRONT OF HIS SIDE!) over the weekend, and  - well, when have I EVER cleaned just "my" part of ANYTHING?!

And then - I tell E as we're scrambling around the house (a whole 'nother complaint - we could have negative three minutes til we have to go, and he will stop and play toys with Button...) that Button needs his winter (bubble) coat, as it was currently like, 38 degrees.
As we start to walk out the door, I see Button has a CORDUROY JACKET on...

so, long story short - Button and I are in the car heading to daycare and I'm just complaining, saying "Daddy doesn't listen to Mommy, and when he doesn't listen it makes Mommy mad..."

and you know what he says back to me?


"Mommy blows hot air..."


oh yea? Daddy says that? (Button says, "yea...")

ASSHOLE (of course this was said silently, because - holy REPEATING EVERYTHING stage...)

((yay for 36w pregnancy hormones...))

oh speaking of, THIRTY-SIX WEEKS?!

holy COW, there is less than two weeks of work left, and three weeks (as of Wednesday TODAY!) until baby girl's RCS date!! (NO... no set name yet, the one I am absolutely in love with now? E changed his mind on liking at all... GRRRRRRR!)

A quick summary: I'm super uncomfortable (is she still head down?!) getting LOTS of RLP (I think that's what it is!) and pelvic pain, and pain at part of my incision site that ached after Button was born.
And I can possibly kill livestock with the gas I get... and sleep? now I've got a slight bout of pregnancy insomnia, beginning with staying up til almost-midnight the past three nights in a row...

Weight gain has completely stalled the last month+ (in fact, my last appointment two weeks ago I'd lost a lb...)

Clothes, blankets, sheets and burp clothes are pretty much washed (nothing's been sanitized yet - pacifiers/bottle/pump parts) and a hospital bag is still yet to be packed (does it count that about 75% of the stuff I want packed is in piles on the guest bed?!)

While some sites say 36weeks the constipation can get worse, I am experiencing quite the opposite (especially for a gal whose "usual" is every few days!)

**Tuesday's doctor appointment went well, bp was fabulous, etc.  I had to get the GBS test done (a nice "Q-tip" swab of  ye olde vagina, which hadn't seen the light of day (or night) in so long, the dr had to basically unclench my knees...)
He palpated baby's position (yes, still head down - butt/back over to my left, and FEET/LIMBS having a ball on my right side...) and then (I guess?) did a cervix check? (he shoved two fingers so far, and was so uncomfortable...)

She seemed to have surprised the doc with how low she is (He 'tapped' his fingers against something, said, "feel that? that's HER HEAD!") but then answered my, "uh well - am I dilated at all?!" with a "Nope."
(We're also on weekly appointments now, HOLY COW!)
((and the differences between subsequent pregnancies - last appointment, 34 weeks, I totally thought I was 33 and the doctor came in and was all, "ok so you're 34 weeks..." and I literally said outloud, "I AM?!"))

 HORRIBLY overdue bump shots...

aaaand apparently I start to get lazy, taking photos only while getting into the shower. lol

(whoa, totally does look like she dropped a bit in the last pic!)

Hormones are touch-and-go (see above bitch-fest!) but nesting is going well, including crocheting adorable stuff like this sweater (ONLY NEEDS TWO BUTTONS before it's DONE!)

(I also started a stocking-hat last night, am planning on a matching diaper cover for newborn photos!)
something like this:

although I think my yarn's a little too stiff, or something - I've started on the pom-pom end and it's not exactly flexing... It actually kind of looks like a schlong-sleeve right now... (use your imagination on that one. lol)

We've scheduled ourselves SILLY these last few weeks before BG arrives:
this Saturday (12/5) we're going to Walker-Stalker Con! (Ha let's see how long I last at this...)
another Doc appointment on Monday (12/7)
a dermatologist check-up on Wednesday (12/9)
Next Friday is my LAST DAY OF WORK!!! (12/11)
and then Saturday morning we're throwing (what's hopefully) our first ANNUAL Christmas PJ Brunch!

I ordered these PJ's (on sale!)((they fit PERFECT)) and I have a cheery red tank to layer (which will hopefully peek out between pants and top!)

We'll be having four other couples, along with FIVE little boys (ranging from 5months to 4.5 years) so we'll have to get a little kids' table set up =)
((Is this crazy to be hosting so close to, well - EVERYTHING this holiday season and only one day after my last day of work?! OF COURSE IT IS! I CAN'T WAIT!))


**Also - this past Saturday November 14th my awesome SIL, MIL, DH's aunt+cousin put together a great Sprinkle for me, which, as I mentioned, a friend had kind of ruined the "surprise" but I was still surprised, as I totally didn't expect it that day! And there were more HUGE SURPRISES in store once the party got started!!
It totally deserves its own post, so next up - Sprinkle pictures (a few, no people/group shots really...) as well as pictures from the 3D ultrasound we got that evening (it was a crazy busy exciting day!)

Considering this post took me four days to get posted, hopefully I get shower stuff posted before BabyGirl comes!!