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!

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!

Kicking off 27weeks with a ... Splash?!

We had one of the busiest weekends I can remember for awhile...

Friday I got stuck at work until 6pm (why is it always Fridays that are the craziest day of the week for me at work?!) and ended up running like a mad-woman once home to get a dinner cooked because a friend was coming over to view engagement pictures I shot a few weeks a loooong time ago, earlier this summer...

She ended up staying until a little after nine (note to self: just because you, as an "artist," think a style or font/color for a SaveTheDate looks horrible, remember: The Customer has her own taste, and it's always right! lol YUCK!)

When we came upstairs (from our basement office) Button was still awake and crying in his room (he's usually asleep by 8:20 or so!) And E shared his night: that doggie #1 had gotten on the table (during a potty trip with Button) and eaten the rest of dinner (homemade chicken fingers) and then proceeded to vomit it all over the living room carpet (all while E kept trying to get Button down for the night...)

A little mommy-magic, and Button was asleep...


Saturday morning we decided to visit a local petting zoo/market/Greenhouse and Button got so excited to see the animals!

They had goats, a baby cow, lambs - all to hand-feed! - pony rides, bunnies!! (Bunnies seem to be magical for Button - he just loves them!)

Before we left, we visited their market (freshly grown produce and meats!) for some snacks (yogurt raisins) and lunch (chicken pot pies and fresh quiche!) as well as a cute Halloween lawn ornament (Button picked out a giant bat).  And as we were checking out, a woman walked past us, looked back at me and smiled and said, "It's a girl!" and then turned back around and walked off...

I was like, "uh - wha - um... huh?!"



After Button's nap, we drove an hour south to our friends' house for an End-of-Summer Tiki BBQ (great idea, fun decorations - but we were all in long sleeves and pants! brrrr!)

(clockwise - having fun with his cousin, me having fun with new baby cousin and baby cousin's mommy, the boys enjoying a bonfire (not visible due to flash), and me practicing the whole 2nd child thing - I've got this!)

((Also at this BBQ was Mr and Mrs Potato Head, our good friends - who, during the Ex-BIL drama beginning, had shared with me she was afraid she'd be the reason they couldn't get pregnant, due to a long history of issues.  The updates were that, as of August, they would be doing IUI because Mr. PH had tested on the lower side for a SA (motility? count? not sure the specifics).  And then as of Labor Day, it was actually going to be IVF, on advice of their RE/Dr (not sure if they're officially at an RE, I would assume so...) but as of this past weekend - the latest was that on one of the first cycle ultrasounds, they found a polyp that needs removal and so surgery is set for late October, and after that it's - repeat the cycle start, another ultrasound, and hope there's no more polyps.  I can't even imagine the frustration at all the time spent waiting... I love the PotatoHeads and hope things this fall/winter ultimately end up with a healthy pregnancy!))


But anyways - I tell you that fresh air WORE BUTTON OUT, because this kid - who hasn't fallen asleep in the car for MONTHS no matter what time it is, was ZONKED OUT within the first 5 miles of the hour carride home... In fact, he never even opened his eyes through the arrival home, the journey into the house and up the stairs, and through an entire outfit and diaper change...


Sunday morning we woke up late (past 8:30!) and so I let church slide (we would have had to haul ass to get there on time...) Instead - we spent the morning at a nearby lake/preserve on their lakeside trails.  Button loved it ("I see WATEH!" and "no that tree no bite you...") and again the fresh air helped (or he just digs his routines!) because naptime was (is!) such a breeze...

After nap, we headed out to Palisades Mall in New York (a little bit of a drive at 45 minutes) but - but but - it has THIS:

And it has a ferris wheel! and a carousel! (Button rode it twice!!)

And a Dave'N'Busters:

At this point, I was aching (yay RLP) from walking/standing all weekend long... We made it home in time for dinner and a bath (grandma gave it while I helped SIL (still in highschool) with her math homework).

MIL and SILs headed home, we got Button to bed, and we caught Fear the Walking Dead (only one episode left!!!)

Sunday night as usual, all the way up to the 10pm bedtime and reading myself to sleep...


Except, about 10-15 minutes after falling asleep, I woke up totally uncomfortable, thought it was just Baby Girl on my stomach or intestines... minute by minute it got worse, E was up (playing SimCity on his phone lol) and was all, "ummm are you ok? should you be by the toilet?!")

By the toilet I went, because then I felt something like gas pains and thought a good fart (ha -- the glories of pregnancy) would help... but then!

Vomiting!!

PROJECTILE!

And I crawled back from the toilet bowl, on all fours, seized by a stomach cramp, thinking, wait is that a stomach cramp? or a LABOR CRAMP?! OMG DO I NEED TO GO TO L&D?!
I'M ONLY 27 WEEKS TODAY!! BUT I'VE READ OF BABIES COMING THIS EARLY, THERE'S NO WAY THIS COULD BE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!

 (I also thought, god-DAMMIT if this is like full on labor/full contraction/whatever, this SUCKS SO BAD!!!)

AND THEN!

(as E is standing with me in the bathroom, providing a wet cool cloth alternating with a bottle of water) I was all, "um - I think I have to go to the bathroom..."

so out he went, and OUT IT CAME...

and now I'm trying to think about Button, and if I call the doctor they'll most likely advise me to go to L&D and who would we get to come stay at the house while he slept, and E has work the next morning so unless I really think something's wrong, calling and going in would be a big fat night of no sleep and nothing wrong...

I tried to lay down once more, and got wracked with more intestinal - "activity" let's say... and after that?

Everything totally quieted down... I read for a bit waiting to see if it was really gone, and then finally went to bed...

and I have been fine ever since....

food poising?! Baby Girl playing BounceHouse on my stomach and intestines?!

I'm trying to drink more water than usual to rehydrate, and I lost two pounds (which means I got a day of pigging out!!)  but other than that, no worse for the wear...

but holy - "I'm not ready for her yet!" wake up call!

I'm now hammering out finite return-to-work schedules and day-care start-dates for Baby Girl... Shit's getting real!



(oh yea! the 27weeks part! A separate post...)
for now, a cute comparison of last year's (early Spring 2014) Neighborhood Watch and this year's New and Improved Fall 2015 version:

Paranoia, Paranoia - Everybody's Coming to Get me!

I'm officially a card-carrying member of the dreaded TTC Babyhood Watch.

You know - your ever watchful eye is on a constant roam, looking for girlfriends - heck or even just female strangers - that are sipping gingerale and cranberry juice while the rest of their girls' night posse is toasting with martinis.

You note, and then pore over and inspect, the bathroom schedule of your coworker, wondering why she just peed three times in the last hour.

You get suspicious when a female family member under the age of 40 passes on the sushi and seared-tuna appetizers - is she watching her mercury levels??




Or like me - you just know it's about your pregnant assistant when another coworker, and close friend of your assistant, asks at lunch of another mother "Did you get an amnio done?"

Or when same coworker and friend of assistant asked yesterday at lunch, "Is it bad for someone's sugar to go to ###?" (I completely forget the number, and I have no clue what's normal - so it'd be silly of me to even guess...)

And my mind goes to pregnant coworker who has diabetes.  And is overweight.






 

It just might be a major case of Green Monster-itis that has me watching her every move.

She just spent 10 minutes in the bathroom and now seems to be sniffling.  I wonder if she's spotting.

Please don't think that I'm sitting here in our office thinking, Miscarry! Miscarry! Misery loves the company!

As always, it's just an epic battle between Good & Evil.

 

Of course you hope for NOTHING but the best for her - don't you remember being in those early weeks, full of giddiness and wonder and awe that there was a second heartbeat inside of you?

So the fuck what.  This bitch doesn't even WANT to be pregnant right now.  She complains all the time about having to go to doctors' appointments, at which she probably gets an ultrasound every time for reassurance.  Go ahead and wonder why she hasn't had any morning sickness yet!

Speaking of morning sickness, neither did you - I'm just saying...

You wonder who wins?!

I see-saw back and forth about the possibility of being pregnant this cycle too.   Hours of phantom symptoms like nausea and dizziness first thing in the morning (had that when I was pregnant.)  Followed immediately by hours of utter despair that we have to go another cycle because I am NOT pregnant.

"Only try to realize the truth..."

What truth?

"There ARE no symptoms..."

There are no symptoms?!

"Then you'll see, it is not the phantom symptoms that are crazy, it is YOU that's crazy!"

 

******

Eric's surprise pary is coming along well - 24 people will DEFINITELY be there.  Which is probably better than any other turnouts we've had for our previous annual Palooza's.  So SIL and I are meeting Saturday while E is on a rafting trip to call the caterers and chair/table rental place. 

I only hope that until this party, I can pull off little white lies alot better than last night:

I purchased a dress for $50 and wasn't planning on telling E how much it was.  So when he flat out asked me how much I spent?

WHAT chocolate cake?!

P365

"This, too, shall pass..."