PsychoBabble

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Small Successes

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:23:00 +0000

I am such a bad blogger. I have had some time in recent months to write, but when I have that time, I just don't feel like it. I wish I had done a better job of recording Ryan's early months, but alas, I did not. I thought today I'd just write a little update on Stephen and his OT.

Stephen has seen the OT 3 times (the past 2 weeks we've been unable to go since I've been working a lot). I think I mentioned in my last post that the OT told us to do a brushing therapy every two hours he's awake for 2 weeks and then after that we could drop it down to 3-5 times/day or more if needed. She also told us to get him involved in some heavy work type activities (like pushing a cart full of weights around) for 30-60 minutes/day. We have not been so great at that. It's so hard to find the time to do that when you're running him to and from school, trying to feed 2 kids and have them nap. So it just hasn't happened that much.

A couple weeks ago, we started to notice some improvements. Stephen hasn't freaked out about walking in the parking lot. He still asks to hold my hand, but doesn't get upset about standing or walking through the parking lot like he did before. Last week, Stephen requested to have his hair cut and sat calmly in the chair while Trevor did it. That was a huge thing. He has NEVER ever done that. Hair cuts were always a huge battle and we'd wait as long as possible to do them and have to break out big bribes in order to get him to even just sit in a chair so that Trevor could attempt to cut his hair. I can only attribute this change to the OT he's been doing. AND Stephen also ate chicken noodle soup and rye bread with butter. He didn't just take a microscopic bite and then refuse anymore. He actually had a few bites of each. I am so impresses and so floored. He hasn't been that willing to try anything since, but hey, baby steps.

The OT told us that food issues are really hard to work on and that most kids don't improve until about age 6. She suggested that we start by having him just play with food. Her ideas were to have him finger paint with baby food or just make art with different kids of food. We've only been able to do that one time. She also said that our first goal should be for him to tolerate unwanted food on his plate (he does not do this currently). We decided to see if Stephen would eat the fruit and veggie combination packets of baby food since he loved them when he was 18 months old. So we gave him one and he ate it. He still loves them. He's even aware that they have veggies in them and will still eat it. So clearly his food issues are not due to the taste. So bizarre. I have no idea what the issue is then. I will be discussing this finding with the OT to see what she thinks.

So that's my update on Stephen. I'm so glad to see even a little progress. I wasn't quite sure that we actually needed this for him, but it's clearly helping so that confirms my instincts were right. Hopefully some day we can all eat the same thing for dinner!

Sensory Processing Disorder and an Update

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:33:00 +0000

So I kind of fell off the face of the planet again. Sorry. I'll do an update bullet style and I think once you read the update, you'll understand. So let's rehash what has happened since February 19th.

Stephen turned 3! I can't believe I have a 3 year old. He had a Toy Story themed birthday part which was fun.
Stephen also got his 2nd set of tubes 3 days after his birthday. The hole in his ear drum healed so no need to worry about that. The ENT said that a rupture is just a typical ear infection and nothing to worry about, I'm just odd.
Ryan has managed to stay healthy! Woot! That is major!
Ryan turned 6 months on the 19th. He's started eating some solids and we've started weaning him which is going ok. He's not a fan of the bottle with any kind of liquid in it. I'll be asking his pediatrician about that next week.
Ryan decided that only sleeping about 1 eight hour stretch/night starting at 11 or 12 was a good plan so we were forced to Ferber him. It has worked pretty well. Trevor and I really needed some time in the evening without kids so I'm glad that we've gotten a few days like that recently.
I got a job! Yay! It's a very part time job working at a psych hospital. I am just required to work 5 shifts/month and 3 of them have to be on the weekend. So that's not so bad and it pays pretty well. I'm excited that I'll be able to get out of the house and use my therapy skills once in a while.
We noticed that Stephen has started to breathe loudly again at night and is also snoring again. Those were the reasons his tonsils were removed almost a year ago. So I asked him to stick out his tongue and say ahhh and sure enough there are tonsils in there. WTF?! I guess since he had a partial tonsillectomy they can grow back and the younger you are when they do it, the higher the odds of them coming back. So we will be seeing the ENT (again) on Friday to see what he wants to do. I see another surgery in our future. Good grief!
Stephen was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and has begun to work with an occupational therapist once/week. I'll write more about that below.
I now drive a minivan. Ugh. That's really something I was hoping to avoid, but after driving to my parents house and Ryan screaming for 3 hours with us unable to do anything about it, I gave in.
I turned 30. I'm more okay with being 30 than I am with the minivan. Ha! I just don't feel old enough to drive a minivan.

So Sensory Processing Disorder. I should probably start by talking about how we got to the diagnosis. We've noticed that Stephen has struggled more and more with things like walking in the parking lot, he doesn't like to go on swings or down slides anymore, he asks for hugs when he's upset and is a horribly picky eater. He also doesn't like to go swimming, freaks out about getting his hair cut (like major meltdown every time it's done), and freaks out about every.little.thing at the doctor's office. This has been going for a few months (the food thing has been since he was about 1) so we mentioned it to his pediatrician (he was having a meltdown at his appointment) and she suggested we take him to an occupation therapist for an evaluation. So we did. She just basically asked us a lot of questions about how he reacts in certain situations and then had us fill out a standardized assessment. She said based on what we told her, she thought he was on the borderline of needing services so she recommended doing OT 1/week for about 3 months.

We had our first therapy session yesterday so it's hard to say if it will help or not. The therapist we worked with said that the goal is to desensitize him. She explained that in kids/people who have a sensory processing disorder, things that aren't painful are interpreted as painful by the brain. So the goal is to desensitize Stephen so that his body doesn't interpret things as painful when they are not. Our first assignments are to do a brushing therapy every 2 hours while he is awake and to have him do some activities that help with the sensory problems. She had him fill a shopping cart with 2 pound boxes and then push the cart around the building "delivering mail". So we're supposed to do something similar at home to help. She said him requesting hugs is his way of getting the high pressure stimulation he needs to calm down. If that makes sense. It's kind of complicated. I will give updates on his progress (hopefully). If you have any questions about SPD or any advice, I'd love to hear it!

Well the little one is fussing after a not nearly long enough nap, so I have to wrap this up. Hopefully, I'll be back with more later!

An Update

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:18:00 +0000

It's been a while since I wrote a good update on life around these parts. Things got a little crazy after Christmas and I really didn't have a chance to do much at all. I barely got in a shower every other day and fed myself. Thankfully things are less crazy now.

So you remember how I said Ryan was an easy baby? Yeah, you can throw that statement right in the garbage. Apparently, he was sick of us saying that about him and decided to show us. He started to get sick right after Christmas. He'd had a cold when he was about 6 weeks and then right before New Years he was still congested and seemed to not be feeling well. So we called the pediatrician and the nurse said there wasn't anything they could do, just try the humidifier and suctioning his nose. I was annoyed because my instincts said there was something more to it, but it was right before a holiday, so I dealt with it. New Years Eve was horrible. Ryan just cried and cried and wouldn't sleep. It was horrible and of course the pediatrician closed early that day and wasn't open on New Years so we had to wait. I took him into the pediatrician on January 2nd and she said that he had a double ear infection and bronchiolitis (just a respiratory virus). She prescribed amoxicillin for the ear infection and I figured he'd be good as new in a few days. WRONG. A week later we were back in the pediatrician's office and he still had an ear infection so a new antibiotic was prescribed. This had happened to Stephen once so I figured, no biggie, this will take care of it. Yeah, that didn't work either. So we kept going back and kept getting new antibiotics. These may not be a big deal for an adult to take, but boy do they cause stomach problems for a little guy. Poor Ryan ended up refusing to eat after antibiotic number 5 (I think it was #5, hard to keep track of, really) so they decided to give him an injection. He got 2 injections three days in a row and that seemed to finally work.

He seemed a lot happier for a while and we thought we could finally get on with life. This was after about 4 weeks of dealing with the infection. My family visited and my nephew had a cold which Ryan ended up getting. He started coughing quite a bit so we took him back to the pediatrician only to discover that he had another double ear infection. We started antibiotics again. A few days later we went back to the pediatrician because he was wheezing and got to do breathing treatments for a few days. The day after that appointment he had an appointment with the ENT (we figured since Stephen needed tubes and Ryan couldn't shake this infection completely, it wouldn't hurt for him to see the specialist). The ENT looked at his ears (which still had fluid in them) and said he wanted to do tubes. He said that the infection would just keep coming back otherwise. So he prescribed amoxicillin for Ryan to take until he had the surgery and said his nurse would call to set up the surgery. Two days later we got the call to set up the surgery and they said they couldn't do it until March. This was not acceptable in my book, I was not going to deal with a super crabby baby for another month. So we asked if another surgeon could do it and they were able to squeeze us in the next week with our doctor. Thank the Lord this would all be over soon. A couple days later, Ryan was super crabby again and ended up getting another antibiotic injection because his ear infection was back.

I'm pretty sure February 7th to February 13th was the longest 6 days of my life. Ryan was so not happy and his eating and sleeping were affected by his discomfort. So on the 13th he got tubes! The staff at the hospital was surprised that such a young baby would need tubes. I guess he just got bad genes. He was a little crabby that day, but has gotten progressively better since. His ears don't hurt anymore and his tummy seems to be getting back to normal. Eating and sleeping (well at night anyway) have gotten much better. During the whole ear infection debacle, he wouldn't take a bottle so I never got a break longer than like an hour. He's back to taking a bottle (although he's not that great at it) so I get more time off! Yay!

I seriously don't know how people with kids who are ill long term do it. I didn't get a break during that month and a half and was about to lose it. It also took a toll on my relationship with Trevor because we never got time to ourselves and there wasn't much Trevor could do to give me a break. He did his best though.

The night of Ryan's surgery, Stephen was having trouble sleeping and told us that his ear hurt. So we decided we'd take him to the doctor the next day. He had school that morning and I didn't want him to miss his Valentine's Party so we made the appointment for after school. When I picked him up from school he said that his ear was dirty and when I looked there was a LOT of drainage dried on the outside of his ear. He also told me on the way to the doctor that his ear felt better. I just assumed he didn't want to go to the doctor and that's why he said that. The doctor looked at his ear and said there was a lot of drainage and debris in his ear. She prescribed some ear drops thinking that was the ear he had a tube in (one ear has a tube, the other ear does not because it fell out). She also gave me a prescription for oral antibiotics and told me to fill it if his ear wasn't better in a couple days. So we do the drops when we get home and then the pediatrician calls. She said that she was re-reading the ENT's notes and the ear that was infected was not the ear with the tube in it. She said we needed to start the oral antibiotics as well. I asked if this meant his ear drum had ruptured and she said probably. She said that it should heal by his 3 year (!) appointment in March and she'd look at it again then. Now, this same thing happened to me and I ended up needing surgery to patch the hole. So I immediately called the ENT and we will be seeing him next week. I'm hoping Stephen is in the lucky majority where the hole heals on its own and no surgery is needed. I was also hoping that Ryan would avoid all the ear stuff too and look where that landed us. I asked the ENT what the odds of Ryan having the trouble were and he said about 40% where the general population is about 5%. Lucky Ryan.

So the last almost 2 months have been spent on the verge of insanity dealing with sick kids. I really cannot wait for winter to be over. Then this ear stuff will go away for a while! That's pretty much all that has been going on lately. Today Ryan is 4 months old. I cannot believe it! And in less than a month Stephen will be 3. I can't believe that either! I've been working on planning his party which has been a nice reprieve from dealing with the sicknesses. Here's some pictures of my boys. Hopefully, I will be back to blogging with more regularity and my boys will stay healthy!

4 months old!

The boys

Valentine's Day

Waiting for surgery

More Pinterest Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:41:00 +0000

I realize I am terrible at blogging. Life has been pretty chaotic lately. Hopefully, I'll be able to right an actual update on the craziness that life has become soon. I thought I'd do another Pinterest post because I've been trying things I find on there quite frequently.

Good:
Keysocks- I was highly intrigued by these when I saw them on Pinterest. I have sweaty feet (gross, I know), so going sockless in ballet flats or any shoes other than sandals is not a good choice for me. I have worn regular socks with ballet flats, but feel like it looks a little silly. So I bought these and love them. I will be investing in more of them soon.

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti- This was pretty good. It came out a little dry, but that could be fixed by adding more sauce. It was a good, easy alternative to regular spaghetti. We will probably make it again.

Creamy Tortellini Soup- This was also good. It was basically tomato soup with tortellini, but that's fine. I still liked it. I'm not a fan of regular old tomato soup, but this was good.

Beef Tips in Mushroom Sauce- I have been loving crockpot meals lately. It was a lot easier to get dinner on the table when Trevor worked from home and we only had one child. Now it's a little trickier since Trevor is the cook and he doesn't get home until 5:30. That's beside the point. This was pretty good. We served it over egg noodles which worked well. One thing I will say about it is that the sauce was runnier than I would have liked. Thickening up the sauce would make it much better.

Tebow Family Pizza Pie- This was okay. I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce, but that's fixable. It was easy and pretty good. I think we'd make it again.

Caramel Apple Cookies- I didn't actually make these, my sister did. They were REALLY good, but they spread out so there was a hard piece of caramel in the middle of them. They were kind of hard to chew, but still good. I would definitely make them again and hope that they didn't spread again.

S'Mores Bars- You can't really go wrong with s'mores in my opinion. These were really good and made eating s'mores without a fire possible.

Not So Good-

Paula Deen's Crockpot Potato Soup- I was looking forward to this because I love a good potato soup and a good crockpot recipe. This soup was very bland. We will not be making it again. We accidentally left the soup in the crockpot all night and weren't disappointed that we missed out on having leftovers.

Tex-Mex Casserole- This was also bland. I think you could probably dress it up a bit if you wanted and it would be better. It was very difficult for us to find the Southwest Cooking Creme, so I don't think we'll be making this one again.

Unbelievable Pumpkin Cake- This was okay. I'm not a huge pumpkin fan, but you couldn't really taste the pumpkin in this. I'm not sure why I didn't like it more, I just wasn't the biggest fan

Randoms

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:41:00 +0000

I know I should write something as I haven't in over a month, but I'm lacking brain power right now. My 6.5 week old son has decided he is 2 days old and doesn't know night from day anymore. Or he's going through a growth spurt. Let's hope it's the latter because I don't know how to fix the former. Either way, sleep has been elusive the past 3 nights. Nice of him to sleep really well on the weekend and then start some sleep shenanigans on Sunday night. So here are some random thoughts.

I am really exhausted, but for some reason have lots of domestic motivation. It makes no sense. Yesterday I made oatmeal brownies and baked oatmeal for breakfast and I got a crock pot dinner going. Today I have been decorating the tree and getting stuff ready for St Nick to come tonight. I should probably be napping since I got like 4 hours of broken sleep last night, but no.

My kitchen and living room are really irritating me, too. I definitely won't be tackling the kitchen as that's Trevor's domain, but I might just pick up some toys. Or not. I feel like that's pointless because there's a little boy who will just destroy the living room again as soon as he wakes up. I fail at being a domestic goddess.

Stephen has a cold and it seemed really awful yesterday, but it's better today. I am REALLY hoping I can avoid it, but with the sleep deprivation, I don't see how that will happen. I have a feeling sleep deprivation + breastfeeding + sleep hating baby = death. Okay, maybe not death, but close. I may want to choose death if I have to experience all of those together.

Ryan slept awesome until Sunday night. When we brought him home from the hospital we had to wake him up every 3 hours. If we hadn't, he would have just slept and slept. He's gotten to be more awake, but up until Sunday night he was giving us a 6 hour stretch. It was awesome. He'd go down for the night somewhere between 10-11 and then wake up at 4ish and be up for the day somewhere around 9. Can he please start doing that again? Sunday night he was up until 4 am! WTF?! I don't remember Stephen's 6 week growth spurt killing me like that.

Doing anything that requires you to be kidless is infinitely more difficult when you have a 2.5 year old and a newborn. We've been wanting to put the ornaments on our tree since the weekend after Thanksgiving. We pretty much have said we're going to do it tomorrow night every night since then. We finally started last night.

I've found that dealing with things like a growth spurt and baby who doesn't want to sleep at night is much easier the 2nd time around because I get it. It's much more difficult though physically because I have to get up at 7:30-8 no matter what time I went to bed due to Stephen. Luckily, Trevor's job is flexible and he was able to work from home on Monday, but he can't do that every day.

Oh yeah, Trevor got a new job. He works downtown now. I'm not sure if I wrote about that or not. Being home alone with 2 kids is not as hard as I thought it would be. Although, talking to a 2 year old when you're running on 4 broken hours of sleep is not fun. Neither is trying to get said 2 year old to do anything he is supposed to, but doesn't want to. I may bribe him a lot with candy and/or tv. My sanity depends on him cooperating. You do what you have to.

Does anyone else's 2 year old make them repeat every.word.they.say? Like Stephen will say "There's a red bird!" And I'll say "Yeah." And then he will repeat "There's a red bird" until I say "There's a red bird." I hate repeating myself, like really hate it. It irritates me to no end when I have to do it with adults. It's super irritating when I have to spend my day parroting my 2 year old. Especially when I'm exhausted and brain power and words are used sparingly. When will he move beyond this?

I hate the claymation Christmas movies like Rudolph. Like I really hate them. My husband and his family LOVE them. I don't think they know I hate them, but they may now. We have several ornaments of characters from those movies (who they are, I have no idea because I refuse to watch those movies) and I kind of want to break them. I realize this is wrong and I wouldn't really do it, but I really want to. I'm not sure why I have such a hatred for these movies, but I do. Anyone else? I know my sister is with me on this.

We also have a bajillion fishing ornaments. Seriously. It is ridiculous. There are bears fishing, Snoopy fishing, penguins fishing, Santa fishing, etc. I do not like fishing. My husband's family is a tad obsessed. This also irritates me. My tree is taken over by fishing ornaments and leaves little room for my ornaments or mine are just hidden by all the fish. And soccer balls. Someone needs to be a little more creative. I used to think my sister in law was kind of mean for having a separate tree for my brother in law's ornaments, but I'm starting to get it. My husband does not need a fish ornament every Christmas.

I am not looking forward to Christmas with a 2 month old. All the traveling all over Southeastern Wisconsin sounds exhausting and not fun. I don't like breastfeeding/pumping in other people's homes. I don't like being secluded from people to feed my baby. Although, on the other hand, I don't really want to play pass the baby. People are germy and I don't want a sick newborn. Plus, I feel like people just kind of ignore me and steal my kids. I'm not an attention seeking person at all, but I do like to be acknowledged/talked to. I feel like it's rude and disrespectful to be like "Oh hi, let me steal your kids and go over there while you sit alone."

I'm exhausted, have I mentioned that? That may be why so many things irritate me right now. I fully acknowledge that my brain is not functioning at it's normal level. I'm running on fumes and caffeine. But there is not enough caffeine and I'm afraid to increase the amount I've been drinking for fear of sleep hating baby sleeping less. I would go crazy. Seriously.

I hope to write an actual post that's cohesive in the near future, but if my baby continues to hate sleeping at night (he naps really well during the day), I will probably not be writing. Although, exhaustion seems to mean motivation for me, so who knows.
Here is a picture of sleep hating baby for your enjoyment:

Wordless Wednesday: Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:45:00 +0000

Ryan's Birth Story

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:36:00 +0000

This is a bit late. It's taken me a lot longer than I thought to find the brain power and time to write this up. Things have been going well so far. My mom was here for the week helping out which was nice. Stephen has been okay. He had a rough time at the beginning/middle of the week, but seems to be doing better now. He seems to really love his brother which is nice. He's just been a little weird with me which is understandable. I'll have to write another post about this some time.

So the birth story. As I said in my 40 week update, my doctor said that they would not let me go past 41 weeks pregnant which would have put me at being induced on the 22nd. I asked to have it moved up to Friday due to Trevor's complicated work situation. My doctor scheduled my induction for Thursday the 18th at 11 pm. He said he wanted to start with a cervical "ripening" agent and they do that late at night. He also stripped my membranes and said there was a good chance I'd go into labor before Thursday.

When nothing happened Wednesday, I'd resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be induced. I knew there was still time, but kind of liked that it was planned when things would happen. I'm a planner so it helped my anxiety until Thursday. I was able to do more fun things with Stephen and run some last minute errands. I got to make sure that everything was done. Part of me thought that I'd go into labor before my induction because that's happened to many people I know and that's kind of what happened with Stephen. No such luck.

Thursday was a good day until it got closer to induction time. Then I got anxious. I was super afraid that the induction wouldn't work and I'd either get sent home or end up with a c-section. I have a lot of guilt about doing an induction. It was kind of elective since I asked for it to be done sooner than later. I also think that my due date was 2 days later than the doctor said which means my induction was only 2 days after my due date. I would really have liked to have been able to wait to go into labor naturally, but things worked out okay.

So Thursday night we got to the hospital at 11pm and I got set up in a room. The nurse went over some paperwork with me, started my IV and explained how things were going to work. She said that they were going to start by placing a pill (Cytotec) behind my cervix. She said this would help my cervix to soften and open and they would do this 3 times 4 hours apart. So I'd get it at midnight, 4 am and 8 am and then at about 9 am they would start pitocin. My doctor told me the goal was to have a baby by noon on Friday, but after hearing the nurse's timeline, I felt like I was in for a long labor and this kid would be born in the evening. Anyway, the nurse checked my cervix (I was still 2 cm and about 50% effaced) put the Cytotec in and hooked me up to some monitors (contraction and baby's heart rate) and I was supposed to sleep. Sleeping with 2 monitors on your belly and an IV in your wrist (weirdest place for an IV) is not very easy. I think I maybe slept 2 hours.

At about 3-3:30, I started to feel some painful contractions. The nurse said earlier in the night that I'd been having contractions, but if I wasn't feeling them they didn't mean much. She came in the room at about 3, I think and told me that if the contractions I was having were too close together, they wouldn't do the 2nd dose of Cytotec at 4. I woke Trevor up at 4 because the pain was getting to me and I wanted company. The nurse didn't come back for another dose. At about 5:30, another nurse came in and said that she would be taking over for the next 1.5 hours. She said she'd be back around 6 to give me another round of antibiotics (I was told I was group b negative, but then my doctor said I needed the antibiotics anyway so I got them).

At about 6:30 the contractions started getting more painful and I was starting to think about an epidural. The nurse was supposed to come back to shut off the IV since the antibiotics were done so I just waited for her to come. She came back a little before 7 and I asked about an epidural. She said she needed to check because she knew there were some c-sections scheduled and didn't know when they'd be able to do it. So she left to check on it. A few minutes later, a doctor (not the on-call one or my doctor, but the 1 doctor from my practice I hadn't met) came to break my water. She checked my cervix and I was at 3-4 cm. That did not make me feel good about having a baby by noon. My contractions were pretty painful at this point, but still tolerable. After she broke my water, they pretty much became instantly unbearable. I had to breathe through them and couldn't get comfortable. A new nurse came in as the shifts had changed and said that they needed to give me a bag of fluids before I could have the epidural. She said that would take about a half hour. So she started that and I continued to have super painful contractions. She realized how bad they were getting so she found a way to push the fluids through faster.

I think it was about 8 when I finally got the epidural. It was pretty much instant relief. My epidural was different this time from last time as I could still move my legs pretty easily and still felt pressure in my bottom when I was having contractions. I think about 8:30 they checked me again and I was dilated 5.5 cm. So things were moving along a little better. At about 9:30 or 10, I started to feel more pressure so the nurse checked me again and I was 9 cm! At 10:30, I was 10 cm and ready to push. My epidural started to wear off at about this point and even after pushing the button to boost it. While pushing I felt the contractions, but think it was actually helpful as pushing made it feel better if that makes any sense. After pushing for 40ish minutes, Ryan was born. He had some issues with breathing when he was first born so a respiratory therapist had to come in and work with him for a few minutes. It was kind of scary, but she got him to cry and everything ended up okay.

I can tell you that things went much faster this time around even with being induced. Everything took about 1/2 the time it did with Stephen and we didn't have any of the issues with heart rate drops or threatened use of foreceps. I had just a small tear this time- no episiotomy! While I was laboring and pushing, I was seriously wondering why the heck I agreed to do this again. The recovery has been okay. I haven't had any pain associated with the tear, but my lower abdomen hurt a lot afterwards. It felt like the muscles got a really tough work out for a few days. It was difficult to do much moving around, but I felt better after a couple days. I feel like it didn't take as long to feel somewhat human again this time. Of course, the sleep deprivation doesn't help. But Ryan has been a very sleepy baby and we actually have to wake him up to eat every 3 hours. He'd lost about a pound at his 2 day check up so his pediatrician said we need to wake him up to eat until he is back at birth weight. I'm hoping that happens at his 2 week check up. Waking up every 3 hours when I don't really need to is annoying.

I'd heard that breastfeeding was easier the 2nd time around, but this was not true for us. Ryan had a lot of trouble latching initially and has been very sleepy. It took a couple days for him to finally figure out how to latch on correctly, but now he's doing it like a champ. The biggest issue is getting him to wake up to finish eating.

I will write another post about big brother and how that's been. Overall, things have gone pretty well. We've had some struggles, but are figuring things out. My mom was here for the 1st week which was helpful as she was able to occupy Stephen so Trevor and I could take care of Ryan and sleep.

He's Here

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Just wanted to let you all know that Ryan Victor arrived Friday morning. He's perfect. I will update more later with a birth story and such. Right now my brain is too fried. Here's a picture though.

The answer to your question

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 00:15:00 +0000

http://haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com/

40 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:09:00 +0000

How far along? 40 weeks

Total weight gain: 20 lbs according to my doctor appointment. I guess my weight is fluctuating a little. Hopefully that weight loss is a sign that baby is coming soon!

Maternity clothes? Yes. I hate clothing right now. I have like 2 outfits that look good and are appropriate for leaving the house. Super annoying.

Stretch marks? My legs and butt are still a mess. Getting more on my belly.

Sleep: Sleep has still been pretty good. I usually have to get up twice to go to the bathroom, but haven't been having as much pain.

Best moment this week: My doctor's appointment today probably or going to see Argo with Trevor on Sunday.

Miss Anything? Still missing regular old coffee with creamer. Having a glass of wine with dinner. Playing with my kid on the floor and not feeling all lame. Feeling normal and being able to do normal things without feeling uncomfortable or having people comment on it.

Movement: Oh yes, lots.

Food cravings: Not really.

Food aversions: None this time!

Gender: Boy.

Labor Signs: Not a whole lot which is a bummer. I've been having contractions and some have been mildly painful, but nothing that has lead to labor. I was 2 cm dilated today and my OB stripped my membranes. Fingers crossed that works. I've been losing some mucous plug.

Symptoms: Loss of at least some of my mucous plug. Most mornings I have period-like cramping. Contractions, swelling, frequent urination, exhaustion at times.

Belly Button in or out? In, but getting very flat. I'm hoping it stays in, it never popped with Stephen.

Wedding rings on or off? I haven't been able to wear them lately. Stupid swelling. I miss my rings.

Looking forward to: Having this baby. We have an end in sight! I'm scheduled for an induction Thursday night at 11pm. My OB said the goal is to have a baby by noon on Friday. I can handle that. I don't want to be induced at all so let's hope that membrane stripping worked!

Day 13: Last Date?

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 03:14:00 +0000

Well, I'm still pregnant and there are no real signs this baby has any intention of being born today. I woke up with some period like cramps and more of those non-painful, kind of uncomfortable contractions. We had planned to go to church and Stephen was super excited about it so we went. I thought about not going because I was in some pain, but we went and the pain went away. Kind of a bummer than it didn't turn into anything more, but what can you do?

Trevor and I had planned to go see the movie Argo on Friday, but then I was sick and didn't want his parents to get sick so we canceled. We figured I'd be better by today and I was so we went to the movie today. It was good to have something to distract me. The movie was also good. I had consistent contractions all throughout the movie and dinner, but again they weren't painful. So annoying and such a bummer. Eventually, I just gave up on paying attention to them and I'm not sure if they stopped or I just didn't realize I was having them.

After dinner, we hung out with Trevor's parents for a little while and then watched the Packer game. They finally won which is a good thing. So it was a pretty low key day. Stephen was really good all weekend. It was nice. I enjoyed spending time with my first born. Here's hoping that tomorrow is the magical day my second born decides to come! My mom would not be thrilled because she told me that was not a good day for her to have to drive here. Too bad, Mom.

Day 12

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:20:00 +0000

Today was pretty low-key. We just hung out at home this morning and Stephen watched none other than Toy Story 3 (seriously don't understand the obsession). Then he napped and I went to Starbucks (my addiction has gotten out of control) and then Trevor ran some errands. The Starbucks thing is only bad because they tell you how much caffeine is in their beverages online and it's under the daily allotment if you tweak them a little so I indulge a little too frequently.

Trevor and I toyed with the idea of having his parents come today so we could go to a movie as I was/am in need of some distraction, but we figured it was better not to do that since it would have been very last minute. I pretty much sat here and over analyzed every pain I felt this morning. I'm going to drive myself crazy doing that. I am pretty proud that I haven't timed any contractions thus far. I know that until they're painful, they don't mean anything so there's no point in timing them. I decided since we weren't going to go to a movie today, we should do something. We ended up just going to the mall and walking around for a little bit and then letting Stephen wander the children's section at Barnes and Noble. He was soooo excited about being able to do that. He was really good all day so he deserved it. Walking definitely did something, but it didn't last long. I had one slightly painful contraction and started feeling pressure lower, so that was something.

After walking the mall, we came home and had chili for dinner. It was a bit spicy, but not too bad. I wasn't a huge fan of it because it was a chipotle chocolate and the chocolate just made it weird. We'll see if all these old wives tales I'm trying out today do anything. I've been feeling pain in my belly, but again it's not really associated with any contractions, so it's useless to me.

We figured out today that if I have this baby this weekend or before the 16th, Trevor can avoid going on unpaid probation. No pressure on my or anything. Ha! Trevor keeps telling me that, but it's kind of hard to feel that way. Plans for tomorrow include church, a movie and more walking. I may invest in an exercise ball too. I hear they can be good to help things along. It's really too bad that it's so rainy and yucky this weekend. It would be a good time to go to the zoo.

Oh! I'm feeling better, so hopefully this cold will be behind us soon! And Stephen has had no symptoms today. Yay! Maybe he'll be able to visit his brother at the hospital after all. And since this baby probably won't come until the end of next week, Stephen should be completely healthy.

Day 11: Sick

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 01:12:00 +0000

Today has been pretty lame. Like I said in a previous post, I woke up Wednesday morning and knew I was getting a cold. Yesterday I had a little bit of a runny nose, but otherwise felt okay. Today, I'm more congested and tired. So that's no fun. Stephen also has a cold which means he probably won't be able to meet his brother at the hospital. That kind of makes me sad, but I know it's for the best. Although, the way things are good we'll be super healthy by the time this baby decides he's ready to make his entrance.

Trevor took a vacation day as advised by the HR lady, so he was able to do a lot with Stephen. That was nice for me. I've pretty much been a couch potato all day, but I figure I need to rest and get better now since things are going to get much harder in a matter of days. Yesterday I had wanted to take a nap, but Stephen refused to sleep until after 3 and Trevor had an allergy appointment so me napping wasn't in the cards. Today, I got my nap though! Trevor was going to mow the lawn one last time, but I was able to convince him me napping was more important. Stephen decided to forego the nap today and was quite naughty instead.

Trevor went grocery shopping tonight since we're out of food and while he was there his phone died. He said he'd had it plugged in all day and all last night and it still died. Annoying. So I told him to go ahead and upgrade since we're eligible, but it'd be expensive. If we wait until November 1st then we can upgrade through a 3rd party and it costs a lot less. But he insisted his phone would last until the 1st and he could make the battery last longer by turning it off to charge. Then I was giving Stephen dinner and my phone froze. So I tried to turn it off and that didn't work. I took out the battery and the phone decided it just didn't want to turn on anymore. This is the 4th MyTouch 4G I've had in 2 years. And I've only had it since the end of August or beginning of September. They are such a piece of crap. So Trevor is out shopping for a new phone for me now. Ugh, not really budget friendly, but an almost 40 weeks pregnant woman kind of needs a phone. I could just have them send me a 5th MyTouch, but it wouldn't get here until Monday and I really don't think being without a phone is a good idea right now.

As far as labor goes, I'm pretty sure this kid is just going to be late. Which is fine from a health standpoint since I would like to be healthy while going through labor and delivery, but from a monetary standpoint (due to Trevor's job situation) it is not the best thing. I have tried quite a few old wive's tales and they have (obviously) all failed me. I still have quite a few painless contractions (I'm not sure what the difference between painless contractions and Braxton Hicks is if there is one) in the evening and a few during the day. I feel like they may be getting more intense, but who knows. That could just be me being overly hopeful. I've also been having some cramping and a tight feeling, but my belly doesn't get hard during those periods of time so it probably means nothing. I keep reading on my birth month board about people having intense contractions for hours or days and then tapering off to nothing. I really hope that does not happen to me. I don't think I have the patience for that.

I guess that's about all I have to say right now. We were supposed to go to a movie this afternoon, but don't want my in-laws to get sick so we canceled. Right now we're planning on going on Sunday. We'll see. Hopefully, I feel better by then. We don't really have any plans for the weekend which may be a mistake. Staying busy while waiting to go into labor is usually the best idea. I guess this just allows me to get over my cold (hopefully very quickly).

Days 8-10: The Rollercoaster

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:01:00 +0000

I'm a little behind on this because I was in no mood to blog yesterday (aside from my weekly pregnancy post which really doesn't require much though). So I will just write about Tuesday-today in one post and then I'll finally be caught up. Let's hope I can stay caught up until this baby decides he wants out.

Let's see Tuesday, I was in a much better mood than Monday. We didn't do a whole lot. I let Stephen watch Monsters, Inc which he seemed to like. I'm hoping to get another movie in the mix (the only ones he watches really are the Toy Story movies with a strong preference for the 3rd one). We'll see if Monsters, Inc made the cut. I actually felt up to doing some shopping so I ran some errands which was nice.

I also started to lose some mucous plug on Tuesday which made me hopeful about the state of my cervix. I was really hoping for some good progress at my doctor's appointment on Wednesday and that labor would be coming soon. Ha! I know, I know, babies come when they're ready and losing your mucous plug means very little.

Trevor got information about the health insurance plan for the job that gave him an actual offer. Initially, it seemed really good because he would have to pay like $400/year for insurance, but that wasn't the family plan. He requested more information so that he could get an idea of what the family plan would cost and it turned out that it would be about double what we pay now. Not good. So pretty much the bump in pay they were offering would be wiped out and he'd end up losing money due to the insurance premiums. So that put us in a pickle. He also scheduled an interview for a new team at his current job for Wednesday afternoon. And he heard from the other place he thought was going to get an offer from that they weren't ready to make an offer and wouldn't be in time for him to make a decision about the place that made an offer. Trevor was kind of disappointed about that.

Wednesday was not such a good day. I woke up with that scratchy feeling in my throat and knew that I was getting a cold. Great timing. So we went to my doctor's appointment and got the news that no 39 week pregnant woman wants to hear, "you'll probably make it to your appointment next week and then we'll talk induction." Ugh. I had made some progress from the last appointment and baby's head was lower (although not engaged), so that was good. My OB said he would like me to be having more contractions to get baby lower. I think he thought I said I wasn't having contractions, but I really said that they weren't painful. So maybe that would make a difference in his opinion? Who knows. He said we would talk induction next week and I'd probably be induced Wednesday of the following week (so two weeks). I'm hoping I can convince him to induce me at the end of next week instead. We'll see. Hopefully I don't make it that long and don't have to worry about it.

After my doctor's appointment, Stephen and I met a friend and her daughters at the mall and did some walking. Walking was pretty uncomfortable, but I know it can help jump start labor so I powered through. It's always nice to spend some time out of the house with another adult. We didn't last very long because Stephen got bored and my friend's daughter who is 2 months old got hungry. After the mall we headed home and hung out here.

Trevor had his interview for the position at his current company and we'd expected he'd know immediately if they would take him. That was not the case. He was told they would get back to him in a couple days. I was so fed up at this point that this news pretty much ruined the rest of the day for me. It feels like we think we'll have things figured out and then a wrench is thrown in the system. He e-mailed the HR person he has been working with to see if she could move things along a little faster since time is running out on Trevor's pay. She ended up saying that she would try to get him an answer on Thursday. But Trevor promised the place that made him an offer a response by the end of the day. He wasn't comfortable accepting the offer know that he'd rescind it if he got the position at his current job because of the healthcare costs. I told Trevor to call the recruiter and let her know his hang up with accepting the offer and he did. That fortunately bought him some more time as the company wanted to either increase their offer or figure out how to make healthcare more affordable. I was still feeling distraught about the lack of progress on the baby front as well.

Oh! Trevor also heard from the company that hadn't made an offer. They said they were 60% sure they wanted to hire him, but needed to interview one more person since she had more experience in one area and that interview couldn't happen until Friday. So Trevor told them he was still interested and to let him know what they were thinking after the interview.

I felt so bad for Stephen yesterday because Trevor and I were so stressed out. I just had the worst attitude and Stephen seemed to pick up on it. While Trevor was making dinner, Stephen tried to interact with me, but I was not in a good mood so he ended up playing by himself. It really broke my heart that he was playing alone because his mom was too crabby (not too mention as big as a house). A big part of me wanting this baby to come ASAP is so that I start feeling like myself ASAP and I'm more able to play with Stephen. That has to be one of the hardest parts of being pregnant when you have a toddler.

So today I woke up in a better mood. I feel like it's an every other day thing for me. I definitely have a cold, but I'm hoping that it stays as mild as it has been today because I can deal with it if it stays like this. I also hope that Trevor doesn't get it. I'm pretty sure Stephen has. So if I go into labor tonight or tomorrow, Stephen won't be able to visit his brother in the hospital. Sad face. Hopefully he gets over his cold quickly!

Trevor heard almost right away that they wanted him for the position within his current company which is good news! He doesn't really want to stay at his current company, but it seems to make the most sense for our family right now. He will have to go to Boston for a week at some point in the near future, but we'll figure that out. It would just be too big of a change for him to start a new job while adding a baby to the mix. He seemed hesitant about turning down the other position because they were so willing to work with him and he liked the company. He ended up talking with the recruiter who was very understanding about it. He also sent the company owners' an e-mail explaining things and got a nice response. So that's good.

Trevor also talked to the HR person where he currently works and found out that while he'll be moving to the new group on Monday, he won't be on their payroll until the 29th. So that means as of Tuesday, he'll still be unpaid. The HR person suggested he take more vacation time next week so that he's able to push out the date that his unpaid time starts and he's still able to use sick time. He also found out that he gets 3 days of paid paternity leave. So that's good. The HR person said that he should take vacation next week, but still do work so that when the baby comes he's technically working, but won't have to do any work because he did it during his vacation. Kind of confusing, but she's trying to help us out which is nice.

I was hoping that by Trevor staying where he is, he wouldn't have to deal with the unpaid stuff, but that is not the case. So come on baby! We need you to get here ASAP to avoid monetary issues. I would totally be okay with waiting as long as possible to schedule an induction in normal circumstances, but when it means Trevor losing pay, I have to push to have it sooner. It would just be really nice if this baby would decide to come before Tuesday! We'll see, I guess. We've been trying some old wives tales such as walking, spicy food and French onion soup. Okay, so the French onion soup thing may only be me. I ate it the night before Stephen was born. My grandmother told me that they used to suggest eating onions and other things that would upset your stomach because that can cause contractions (she was a nurse). This is why castor oil works, but I'm not trying that. Tonight we will be having Taco Bell for dinner because my good friend, Rebekah says it worked for her (she also had her membranes stripped that day, so maybe it was that) and her friend. We will see if this baby comes tomorrow!

So that has been the last few days in a nutshell. Kind of a rollercoaster of emotions, but I think things are finally figured out. I really hope so. I guess there is a chance that the new team Trevor is going to be working on will change his salary, but we're hoping not. There is still another job offer that might be out there, but it would have to amazing in order for Trevor to take it.

Hopefully, I can get back on track with blogging (or not because that would mean that baby is here).

39 Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:08:00 +0000

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain: 21 lbs according to my doctor appointment. I guess eating what I want is adding on some weight. Oh well, at this point, I'm so done with everything pregnancy related.

Maternity clothes? Yes. I hate clothing right now. I have like 2 outfits that look good and are appropriate for leaving the house. Super annoying.

Stretch marks? My legs and butt are still a mess. Getting more on my belly.

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good for being 39 weeks pregnant. I wake up a couple times to pee and have to switch sides sometimes, but otherwise I sleep okay. There have been a few days where I wake up at 6 to pee and then can't fall back to sleep which is annoying. Feeling more tired some days.

Best moment this week: Ugh, I'm in a mood so coming up with a best moment is difficult. Shopping with my sister was fun.

Miss Anything? Still missing regular old coffee with creamer. Moving without pain. Having a glass of wine with dinner. Playing with my kid on the floor and not feeling all lame. Feeling normal and being able to do normal things without feeling uncomfortable or having people comment on it.

Movement: Oh yes, lots.

Food cravings: Not really.

Food aversions: None this time!

Gender: Boy.

Labor Signs: Just Braxton-Hicks off and on. I think I lost some mucous plug last night. My OB estimated that I was dilated 1.5 cm and said that baby's head is still high, but lower than last week. He predicted I would make it to my appointment next week which does not make me happy. He said they would induce me in 2 weeks so it'll all be over in 2 weeks. I want to be done now though!

Symptoms: Loss of at least some of my mucous plug. I just feel achy all over most mornings. Braxton-Hicks, swelling, frequent urination, exhaustion at times.

Belly Button in or out? In, but getting very flat. I'm hoping it stays in, it never popped with Stephen.

Wedding rings on or off? I haven't been able to wear them lately. Stupid swelling. I miss my rings.

Looking forward to: Having this baby. Seriously, I will be very, very irritated and unhappy if I am still pregnant this time next week. I'm just done. He just needs to come out like now.

Day 7: Pregnancy is Neverending

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:23:00 +0000

Today was the day we were supposed to get some answers about the job situation for Trevor. I woke up feeling hopeful, but after no one had provided anymore information to Trevor to help us make a decision, I started to get discouraged. I ended up feeling really crabby and just frustrated with life.

It didn't help that my mom spent the weekend telling me that there was no way the baby was going to come this week. I also didn't feel any different or that this baby had an intention of showing up any time soon. After my mom's insistence that it wasn't happening and my disappointing doctor appointment last week, I was feeling pretty defeated. This also didn't help my mood.

We didn't really do anything today either. I was too crabby and tired. Stephen and I spent the morning hanging out and playing and then we both took naps. That really was all that I did. Kind of lame. I felt too defeated to even try any old wives tales such as walking. I was just that crabby. So much fun.

Trevor found out that he could possibly move to another group within his company which would mean that he would be off of probation. He would be working on something that seems to interest him somewhat, but he says it may not be the best thing professionally. Although, he would be able to keep his vacation and benefits which to me is a pretty big deal. He isn't really sure what he's going to do at this point as he is still waiting for information about benefits from the company that actually gave him an offer and waiting for an offer from another company. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to make some kind of a decision.

This post is kind of lame, but so was my day. Hopefully things start moving on the job and baby front. I'm over being pregnant.

Day 6: Big Brother Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 19:15:00 +0000

Okay, so I admit, I'm a little behind on this 31 Days project. I think that's what happens when you are busy and pregnant. Exhaustion just wins most of the time. Hopefully in the next week, the pregnancy part will be over. :)

Anyway, this post is about Sunday. We didn't really do much on Sunday. My family was here in the morning so we spent time with them. I got a little preview of what Stephen is going to be like as a big brother this weekend. He did pretty well. Stephen loves his grandma and she is the only person that matters when she is here. Mama who? So after Parker was born, it's been a little tricky. My mom was not so good at dividing her attention at the beginning. She has been kind of a Parker hog from the very beginning. It's kind of weird that she's that way with him because she was so good at sharing Stephen. Anyway, I think this time was better because Parker is a little older and can sit on the floor and kind of play with toys. Stephen did get a little jealous Sunday morning when my mom took Parker after she had been playing with Stephen for a while. He wouldn't let Parker have any toys, but after some encouragement he changed his mind and shared the toys. He was really good at letting Parker play with things other than that one incident. I think most of the time Stephen just really ignored Parker, which is fine. Stephen really doesn't have much use for him. So that makes me feel pretty good about his big brother capabilities.

After breakfast, my sister and I headed out to do some shopping. That is always good. We didn't go anywhere too exciting, just Kohl's and Target, but we got some cute things for our boys. When we got back we watched some of the Packer game and then my family headed out. The Packer game was not so good. Trevor and I (kind of) watched the rest of the game and then got ready to go to a friend's birthday dinner. Stephen refused to nap. I don't understand why he naps sometimes and not others. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

We spent the evening at our friends' house eating good food and spending time with friends. I didn't really feel like going before hand, but once I got there I was glad we went. I will say that I am feeling rather large these days. I am also getting sick of the comments about how I should be sitting on the couch and how tired I must be, etc. I know they are true comments, but I don't really need reminders. I just want my body back!

So that was the end of our weekend. It was a pretty good weekend and I'm hoping it's our last weekend without baby #2, but we'll just have to see about that.

Day 5: Dresses

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 21:21:00 +0000

So this is not really being written on Saturday, but I knew it would be hard to write it during my family's visit. So better late than never.

Today was pretty relaxed. We all just hung out in the morning and then my mom, sister and I got ready to go dress shopping for the first time. My aunt came over to meet my sister's son and then we all headed to the dress store. Megan (my sister) is not the most decisive person in the world. They are having trouble deciding on which year they will even get married, so we knew dress shopping would not result in any purchases. She really didn't have any idea what she even wanted. I think we did a good job of figuring out what she wanted or at least narrowing it down. She looked awesome in the fit and flare/mermaid style which my mom wasn't too big a fan of. She also liked slimmer a-lines and lace. We have completely ruled out ballgown as that thing just swallowed her whole. I would post pictures, but I know she doesn't want her fiance to see before they get married. Actually, maybe I'll just post pictures of the top few dresses from the designer's website.

Hmm, so I'm having trouble getting the pictures to come up so I'll just post links (even better for discretion) of the top 5 dresses. You can decide if you want to go look at them or not.
Casablanca 2068
WToo Phaedra
Allure 8634
Maggie Sottero Anniston
Maggie Sottero Adorae

I feel like it was a successful first trip dress shopping. It kind of made me want to try dresses on again. When I got married (4 years ago) the mermaid/fit and flare style wasn't very popular. I tried on a mermaid dress just for kicks and it looked like a flamenco dancer dress. So had I not been pregnant, I may have slipped one on just to see if it was flattering on me as it was on my sister. She is a little taller so they may just work better on her. And let me tell you, being the helper when you are 39 weeks pregnant is no easy task! Those dresses are heavy and bending over is difficult.

After dress shopping, we went out for coffee and then headed home. Trevor and I made dinner and dessert for my mom's birthday so we enjoyed that and then spent the rest of the evening being entertained by Stephen and Parker. Here's a picture of my mom reading them a bedtime story. Too cute! Parker has to be the happiest, easiest baby (although you can't tell by the pictures).

Day 4: Hope and Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 01:16:00 +0000

Today has been an okay day. I have been struggling a lot this week with the timing of Trevor's "probation" at work and the arrival of our 2nd child. It's been frustrating to not have any control over what happens and to have no idea what is going to happen. I was hoping for some good news yesterday at my OB appointment and didn't really get it. So I've been kind of down lately.

This morning Trevor got a call from a guy he had done a project for this summer. He said that he wanted to do a full time project and wanted Trevor on it. If that were to happen it would mean Trevor would be off probation and would have a job at least as long as the project lasted (probably 6 months). The guy told Trevor there may be some travel to Boston or California involved, but for the most part, Trevor would be working from home. That would be our ideal situation since then Trevor is able to help a little during the day and I wouldn't feel overwhelmed trying to take care of 2 kids. Like I also pointed out to Trevor, it would probably be better for Stephen since he wouldn't have the change of Trevor going to work everyday to deal with along with a new brother and less attention from me. This gave us some hope that things would work out. Trevor said he would feel a little guilty telling the recruiters he's been working with that he was staying at his current job a little longer, but it seemed to make the most sense for our family. He called the HR person he's been working with and she wasn't sure how soon it would get him off probation and needed to talk to the project manager about it.

Trevor also had a 3rd interview this morning for a position that would require him to work downtown and the project he was working on wouldn't be ideal. He really likes the company, though. He said the interview went well and there was the possibility of working from home in the future. This afternoon he got a call from the recruiter for that job saying that they were putting together an offer for him and he should receive it soon. No more than a 1/2 hour later, he received the offer. It was pretty good. He'd be making more money, but have 2 weeks less of vacation time. They also said they understand that with us having a new baby, Trevor needed some flexibility so they were willing to have him work from home 1 day/week. They didn't really give him any other benefit information. So he talked with the recruiter and told her that he was still waiting to hear from another company about an offer and also let her know that he needed healthcare information and would like more vacation time. She said she would talk with the company and get back to him next week.

There is one other place that Trevor has interviewed at and liked. They let him know that they would have a hiring decision by the middle of next week since there were other candidates being considered for the position. This company would be pretty close to home and allow a little more flexibility in Trevor's time, plus it would be a project Trevor would really like. So he e-mailed the recruiter there after receiving the other offer and let him know about the offer. The recruiter called him immediately and asked for information about the offer. He said he would talk with someone else and get back to Trevor about whether they could provide an offer probably on Monday. Trevor knows that this company offers 3 weeks vacation your first year and then 4 weeks after that. So it sounds like we'll have to make some tough decisions next week.

I'm not really sure what Trevor should do. Part of me really wants him to stay where he is for the time being because it would mean stability for our family right now and be one less change to deal with right now. But I understand him thinking that since the offer is good, that now might be a good time to make the change. And for him, it may be, but I have to think about the whole family. I also wonder about how this will impact me finding a job. I don't know if Trevor starting a new job and not being home anymore, having a new baby and then me starting a job and not being home all the time would just be too much for Stephen. The offer Trevor has for the new place is slightly more than what he makes now, but not enough to make up for me not working. Me working would be very helpful not only financially, but for my sanity. I guess we'll have to pray about this and see what happens next week. Things are definitely still up in the air with every situation here. It is nice to have some hope that Trevor will have a job.

Other than all that job stuff going on, today hasn't been very interesting. We went to my friend's house this morning and Stephen got to play with her daughter for a little while. It was nice to talk to another adult for a while. Stephen refused to nap even though he needed it in the worst way. He was soooo naughty during his nap. He pulled clothes out of his dresser and threw them in the garbage. He ran around. And when I finally gave up on him sleeping, he handed me a screw. Not sure where he got that from. We put him to bed early and he through a huge tantrum about every little thing. I'm actually kind of glad he went to bed early because my parents are coming and should get here around 9. If he's awake when they get here (which is known to happen), there's no way he'll fall asleep without a fight. So let's hope no one wakes him up!

I am so excited about dress shopping tomorrow. I really hope it lives up to my expectations, ha! I really don't have any expectations, but to enjoy watching my sister put dresses on. I also have to say that I may not be able to write tomorrow since I'll be busy with family stuff, but I'll have a post about tomorrow on Sunday if not tomorrow.

Day 3: The Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:44:00 +0000

Today hasn't been very interesting. The highlight of my day was probably my doctor appointment. I wrote about a bit of it in my weekly pregnancy post, but I'll recap again here. Last week, I was a finger tip dilated and 60% effaced. I was hoping for some good progress this week since I've been having more Braxton-Hicks and it would be really really nice if he came next week. So my doctor did the internal and seemed to really be reaching. He said he thought baby's head was by my hip, but he wanted to make sure baby wasn't breech rather than be surprised in the delivery room. So I got an ultrasound out of it. We got to see baby's face and he was in fact by my hip. I was tempted to ask if baby was still a boy, but it was literally a 2 minute ultrasound so I didn't.

I asked my OB about how to know when to go to the hospital since when I got to the hospital in labor with Stephen, my contractions were 1 minute apart, but I was only 2 centimeters. I really don't want to spend 13+ hours in the hospital before baby comes this time if I don't have to, but I also don't want to wait too long and have a baby on the side of the road. He said that there's no good way to tell, but when contractions are 3 minutes apart, I need to go to the hospital. He also said that if I'm unsure of things and it's during office hours, I can just call and they'll check me there. So that's nice. I potentially could just go to the office and make sure I'm far enough along to be admitted rather than having to go through triage. He also said that if I deliver during office hours, I can pretty much pick which doctor I want to deliver me. My OB is part of a group practice and you're required to see all of the doctors because they only deliver when they're on-call. He said outside of office hours, you can't really pick who delivers you (which I totally understand). I've seen all of the doctors in the practice except one (and I've heard bad things about her) and have liked all of them except one. So if I go into labor during office hours, I'll request my doctor first, but say that anyone other than the one I don't really like and the one that I haven't met is fine.

I'm feeling pretty frustrated about baby's position. I asked if I had made any progress dilation-wise since last week and he said he thought I was 1 cm, but it was hard to tell since there was no resistance against my cervix. He also said if he had to guess how big baby was at this point, he'd guess 7 lbs just based on how big he is head to rump. He said he's about the size of a sack of flour which weighs about 7 lbs. As long as he's about Stephen's size or smaller, I'll be happy. I really wish that this baby would decide to come next week, it would just make life so much easier for our family. I have thought about requesting an induction for the 12th or 15th (due date), but really don't want to. It also doesn't seem to make sense given baby's position and my lack of dilation.

After my appointment we decided to go to Target quickly and pick up a few things. While we were there, we decided it would be good for Trevor to get his flu shot. I wish we hadn't done that. It took quite a while for him to actually get it since they tried to get a hold of insurance and got put on hold. I was walking around with Stephen who did okay initially, but then got antsy. We picked up everything we needed and even got a Woody from Toy Story pumpkin thing, but Trevor was still waiting. So then I decided to go look at the baby stuff which would have been okay, but it's across the aisle from the toys and a certain 2 year old had it in his head he had to look at toys. So I got to push a screaming, crying 2 year old around for a few minutes until Trevor showed up. He calmed down a little, but then started the tantrum again when he saw his Woody pumpkin thing on the conveyor belt. I ended up having to walk him out of the store. Ugh, 2 year olds are so unpredictable.

The rest of the day has been spent just hanging out at home. Stephen decided not to nap until 4 and then was a super crab when I woke him up at 5. He was supposed to go to swim class tonight with Trevor, but adamantly opposed that idea, so he skipped. I don't really think anything else happened today that was all that interesting.

I'm just hoping for some good news tomorrow and a baby next week. My family is coming this weekend which should be a good distraction. We're going wedding dress shopping with my sister which I am very much looking forward to. After that appointment, it's on as far as natural ways of inducing go. If you have done something that has worked for you, please let me know. I wouldn't normally be so gung-ho about getting baby out, but with Trevor's job situation, I have no choice!

38 Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:05:00 +0000

How far along? 38 weeks

Total weight gain: 19 lbs according to my doctor appointment (meaning I gained back a pound). My doctor said my weight gain is right on track or a little less than what's recommended, but that's better than too much. So I'm glad to hear that! I will continue to eat what I want.

Maternity clothes? Yes. My non-maternity options are very limited at this point. And I'm starting to "outgrow" some maternity clothes.

Stretch marks? My legs and butt are still a mess. Getting more on my belly.

Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good for being 38 weeks pregnant. I wake up a couple times to pee and have to switch sides sometimes, but otherwise I sleep okay. There have been a few days where I wake up at 6 to pee and then can't fall back to sleep which is annoying.

Best moment this week: I got a surprise ultrasound today. My OB was checking for dilation and couldn't feel baby's head. He said he thought the head was by hip instead of in my pelvis, but he wanted to make sure it was a head and not a butt so there weren't any surprises at delivery. I got to see baby's face for a minute today which was cool. My OB printed a picture for us and gave it to Stephen who thought it was the greatest thing ever, it was cute!

Miss Anything? Still missing regular old coffee with creamer. Moving without pain. Having a glass of wine with dinner. Playing with my kid on the floor and not feeling all lame.

Movement: Oh yes, lots.

Food cravings: Not really. Chocolate, but that's not really anything new.

Food aversions: None this time!

Gender: Boy.

Labor Signs: Just Braxton-Hicks off and on. My OB estimated that I was dilated a centimeter, but said it was hard to tell because there was no resistance due to baby's head being so high. He said if I were a first time mom he would be concerned about baby's position, but because it's my 2nd time, he wasn't. That doesn't sound so good to me.

Symptoms: I've noticed less pelvic pain lately which is nice. I just feel achy all over most mornings. Braxton-Hicks, swelling, frequent urination, exhaustion (although I've been surprised I haven't felt tired enough to nap lately).

Belly Button in or out? In, but getting very flat. I'm hoping it stays in, it never popped with Stephen.

Wedding rings on or off? I haven't been able to wear them lately. Stupid swelling. I miss my rings.

Looking forward to: Going wedding dress shopping with my sister on Saturday, seeing my family and nephew this weekend, hanging out with friends on Sunday. Giving birth soon. Please come next week baby!

Day 2: Frustration

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:55:00 +0000

I knew that I wouldn't feel like doing much of anything today after going to the zoo yesterday. I also didn't sleep well last night (what else is new, right?) and Trevor was going to be busy on phone calls this morning so I decided today was going to be a movie day. Stephen picked his favorite Toy Story 3. I'm not sure why the kid loves that movie so much, but he does. If you let him pick a movie it is always Toy Story and most often the 3rd one. I am getting a bit sick of it, but whatever, it let's me off the entertaining hook for an hour and a half.

While Stephen watched Toy Story, Trevor was talking to the HR person at his current job about his situation. We figured it would be a short call since Trevor hasn't found another project for himself to work on and we were pretty sure the HR person hadn't either. It was actually a pretty long call. And it was not exactly what we wanted to hear. The HR girl said that Trevor's last paid day at his job was the 12th (3 days before my due date) and that he will have 46 hours of vacation to use, not the 100 we thought. She said that he can use sick time as long as he's not in the unpaid part of his time. So that's annoying. Basically, if baby doesn't come next week, Trevor only has 1 week of paid time off. HR told him that he could take a vacation day tomorrow and that would push his last paid day back to the 15th giving him more of a chance that baby would come and he'd be able to use sick time. So he's going to do that. I'm not very hopeful about this baby coming in time. I'm somewhat tempted to ask to be induced on the 12th, but I really don't want to play God. I know that there are risks associated with induction and don't feel like I should force baby out unless medically necessary. It is tempting, though. My doctor told me that he'll induce people after 39 weeks if they request it, but he doesn't really recommend it. Plus, I was only a finger tip dilated last week and I don't think that's enough for a successful induction. So that news was not good.

This afternoon was a little better. Stephen actually napped! Hallelujah! Him not napping is never good for my mood and I was already feeling crappy about Trevor's work stuff. Trevor went to an interview for a job this afternoon. He actually interviewed for the same company about a year ago, but then accepted a job in Minnesota instead. He said it went well and he feels like it would be a good place to work, so that's good. They are interviewing a few other people and there is only 1 position, so who knows if he'll get an offer. I sure hope so! While he interviewed and Stephen napped, I researched wedding reception venues for my sister. She still isn't sure when they'll get married, but asked me to look for venues for her. I happily obliged. I love wedding planning. I have offered on several occasions to plan her wedding for her, but she doesn't think I can handle that with 2 kids. We'll see. It was a nice distraction.

I feel so helpless with this stuff going on with Trevor's work. If I weren't pregnant, I could look for a job too and I wouldn't feel so much pressure about money. I think the hormones don't help either. HR did tell Trevor that there may be a job coming up that he could work on, but I don't think it would be ready to go next week so it's pretty useless. I am really hoping he gets one of these jobs he's been interviewing for. He has another interview on Friday and the place he interviewed with today should get back to him by early next week. I am not good at dealing with things that are unpredictable so this whole job situation plus the impending birth of #2 is a bit much for me.

I think that's about it for now. We're back to shoving books in my face, help me. I really can only look at and repeat books so many times before I go nuts. Thank goodness Trevor is able to take over for a while.

Day 1: The Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:47:00 +0000

I have been trying my hardest to get out and take Stephen somewhere fun during the week. It's gotten harder and harder the more pregnant I get. I have given up on taking him any place that requires him to walk because it usually means that when it's time to go, I have to carry a screaming toddler out. That is just not possible at this point in my pregnancy, it hasn't been for a while. The zoo and walking the mall have been my options lately (well along with "I'm-going-to-pull-all-my-hair-out-if-we-don't-get-out-of-the-house-so-let's-drive-thru-Starbucks). Yesterday we had to go to the doctor to check out a diaper rash that won't die and so I figured today would be a good day (plus the weather today was more promising than the other days this week) to go to the zoo.

I woke up this morning exhausted and feeling not so great because I didn't sleep well last night. Big surprise, right? 38 weeks and not sleeping well, who'd have thunk? I was tempted to forego the zoo today, but decided that I might as well suck it up and go because it may be the last time I get to do it with just Stephen. So to the zoo we went. And let me tell you, it probably was the last time with just Stephen. I just can't handle all of that walking. Our zoo is pretty hilly, too which isn't fun. I got home and felt yucky. I don't like feeling that way. It does make me sad that the days of Stephen and I packing up some snacks and spending an hour walking around looking at animals are probably over. I wish I could do more with him, but it's just too physically difficult and exhausting. I am so looking forward to not being physically incapable (although exhausted will probably still be in my vocab for quite a few months).

Stephen was pretty good all day which was nice. He didn't complain when he was only able to watch 1 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse before his nap, he just went straight to his room. He didn't nap, but wasn't crabby after nap. He happily played by himself after his quiet time. That was not happening last week. Last week I had books shoved in my face all.day.long. He didn't want them to be read to him (he would walk away if I tried), he wanted to point things out and have me repeat every.thing.he.said or he would repeat it until I did. That was very annoying. I'm glad we've moved beyond that.

Trevor got some promising leads on a new job today, so that was good too. He was told last week Tuesday that he has 3 weeks to bill at a higher rate at his current rate or they'll stop paying him. If he doesn't find some project to work on in those 3 weeks, he'll be unpaid for 4 weeks and then they'll let him go. Awesome timing, since that was 3 weeks before my due date. They know and they don't care. The best part is that the company he works for is supposed to find projects for him to work on and so it's not really in his power to come up with a better paying project. The HR woman he talked to told him about a couple of things, but they would require travel and that's just not a good idea when your wife could give birth at any moment. So things have been a little stressful around here. Luckily, the technology field is always looking for people, so Trevor has found a few leads. He'll probably have at least one offer by early next week. None of the jobs he's finding are ideal, but we'll take what we can, I guess.

Hmmm, I guess there's not much else to say right now. I'm hoping this baby decides he wants out next week so that Trevor still has 1 week paid at work plus his 2.5 weeks of vacation after baby is born. We'll see if baby cooperates with that plan. After Saturday, I'm trying all of the old wive's tales. None of them worked with Stephen, but maybe it will this time. One can hope!

31 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey Anne) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:46:00 +0000

No, I don't have 31 days of pregnancy left (more like 13). I decided to link up with The Nester for the 31 Day of blogging challenge. I initially thought it was bad timing given that I'm due in 13 days, but I decided I want to do a better job of documenting our life and how we spend our days. In college, I had a livejournal and would write about all the things I did. It's nice to go back and look at that and remember when certain things happened. I feel like this is going to be extra tough given that I'll have a newborn soon, but it will be extra special if I'm able to pull this off. I'm joining the fun a little late, but that just means I'll have to do a few days in November to catch up!

I'll try to start with my first entry a little later today, but we'll see if that actually happens.