Very Acomplished

Well I had to unexpectedly change my day off to Wednesday because when I picked up the kids Tuesday night Alina was acting really strange - moody and tired and quiet (what?) and Beverly said she had been acting that way for the last hour or two even though she'd had a long nap.

She slept for a while on the way home. Then she threw up.

And again and again and again for about 2 hours. Repeatedly. Anything I gave her to drink came right back up. I put her in bed at about 9:30 when she had kinda stopped puking every 5 minutes. She slept well and didn't throw up again.

But I opted to keep the kids out of daycare on Wednesday. My mom had a rule of thumb about being puke-free for 24 hours before returning to the normal public, and I apply that to daycare for the sake of the other children. Turns out that it was just a 5 or 6 hour bug... probably what I had on Saturday because Brent got it on Monday and almost got sent home sick, but was fine by dinner time. So the kids were a lot of fun all day Wednesday.

They played together in Alina's room alot. I got everything cleaned. We got up and got dressed and went out to the family dollar store by our house (ok 15 minutes but it's the closest thing to us) and I spent about $30 on things like dog food, a new mop and cleaning supplies (as if I didn't already have alot I just wanted a few different things like pine sol).


Alina and I spotted this porcelin tea set for $5 and bought it. (turns out that was a great deal - its $13 on amazon!) I'm very excited about this because she's been having tea parties in her room with a plastic set she got for Christmas in the morning before we wake up. Problem being that she gets water from the bathroom and makes a mess. It's just water, but it was getting to be a problem. So she was really excited because it's a "real" teaset instead of plastic. She told Raziel that he could not play with it because he would break it and she would cry. I made her wait till the end of the night to pull it out, and we've made its proper place up high where she can't get it (even with a chair) because she is to use it only with mommy and daddy's permission. She was super mad about that this morning. I caught her pulling the highchair around the kitchen this morning (she hadn't realized it was too high up yet) and I told her she was not allowed to get her teaset down by herself and she threw a royal fit. But, I think it's better this way. She's not interested in having tea parties in her room anymore, and that's a for sure plus.


Altogether, I cleaned, swept and mopped every room in the house. I washed all the laundry and all the dishes and the kids got baths. The house is BEAUTIFUL. I even went through our file box and re-organized everything (Raziel got into it the other day and I got there just in time to take my marriage liscense from him). I filed the things we needed and got rid of old stuff we didn't need anymore (like old electric bills from the apartment -- why did I even have those?) I tried to move around my husband's bowflex attachments to a more convienant storage space and that was a for-sure negative. I pulled on the first piece and said "yeah those don't look so bad where there are" because man - they were heavy.

And, my theory didn't work. I was hoping that with all the moping and cleaning and such-what-not, I would go into labor. I hear lots of stories of women whose water breaks when they're scrubbing baseboards. No such luck. Oh well. Tuesday it will be.

But it was a nice day altogether. I put Raziel in bed around 8 and then Alina and I made chocolate chip cookies (well we baked the premade stuff) and had a tea party and then she went to bed. Then, I made fajitas and laid out a nice dinner - candles and tablecloth and all - and had it ready just as Brent walked in the door. He'd had a bad day, and I wanted him to be able to relax. I even rubbed his back whenever we laid in the bed. He was pretty happy. I was glad.

So I really feel like yesterday was a very acomplished day. I took care of my kids, hubby, and cleaned my house. My back hurt by the end of the day and I was glowing with sweat and exhaustion, I'm sure, but that's okay. Everyone was well provided for and I'd be proud to have anyone visit my home today. That's the way it should be.

In the Meantime

So we have a date... in the meantime;

I can't sleep
I'm sick to my stomach
I'm tired
I'm grumpy
I have to work
I want to be in bed
I need to clean my whole house
I need to relax some
I'm lightheaded
I'm grumpy again

I don't know what I'm supposed to do really... waiting around like this is miserable because I still know I could have Judah before the 16th and I still know the induction might be awful. I feel nauseated but am not puking. I feel like it could be any day, he's setting so low.... I'm about to explode. Every tiny little thing is irratating me and I'm likely to loose my mind.

On the upside, our church chose to shower us with diapers. We were given 2 jumbo boxes and about 4 regular packs of sizes 1, 2 and 3. This is great because not only am I stocked up for Judah, they were also considerate enough to include diapers for the older ones. Darien says there's more coming, too. Wooohoo! Diapers are so expensive!

Anyways. In the meantime, I'm moody and irritable and trying hard to be a nice person but it can be so hard. I'd really like to post a sign that says "no the pregnant girl didn't have her baby yet, but she's due any day now" so I don't have to answer that question anymore. I'm tired of having way-too-personal conversations with everyone in the world about whether or not I've had any gushes of fluids or bloody shows or contractions or dialation or effacement. I personally don't care what you do for a living, I still don't want to talk about my personal areas - like my cervix and birth canal - with you, some random lady who I will never see again, I'm sure.

I'm tired of being told 5 or 6 times a day that if I really want to have that baby then do xyz. Believe me, none of your home remedies are working. I researched online and have tried EVERYTHING! The only stuff I haven't tried is the stuff that is specifically old wives tales that are discredited due to possible health issues... Like I haven't tried that herb... black something or other... because they say not to use it if you have an iron deficiency, which I do. But yes. I've tried walking and spicy food and all your other way-too-detailed ideas and it's not working so stop trying to help!

Ech. See? This is my mood lately. It's tough not to be mean to people.

March 16th is the day!

Ok so I went to my OB today for a regular appointment (though I think I've been seen 2x in between - once at the office and once at L&D). Here's the latest:

I've lost 7lbs (yes, LOST) in the last 3 days. Not good.
Baby is healthy. Hearbeat is strong, he's still moving around. Good.
I'm still 3cm. *sigh*

Dr Stucky went ahead and scheduled to induce me. YAY!!!

Ok so I wasn't sure if I wanted to be induced until today but in light of loosing 7lbs between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, I think it's a good idea. I had a bit of a stomach bug on Saturday but I ate decently and I ate all right on Sunday too... I don't know why I lost 7lbs. The nurses and such seemed to think it was just the tummy bug but it wasn't that bad and didn't last that long and its hard to believe 7lbs was wrapped up in a little bit of diarrhea... I am prone to think something else is up and so that provokes me to want to make sure the baby comes on along before we have more issues. If I loose any more weight, it'll be bad... I've only gained about 25lbs this whole pregnancy.... its not like I have alot to work with.

So baby's due date is now March 16th. We check into the hospital at 6am to start the induction and it might be a nasty labor but it'll be quick I'm sure... my body knows what it's doing, we just have to convince it to really go into labor instead of playing around... and we're waiting a long time too... 39 weeks guestation - that's a pretty lengthy pregnancy really. Plenty of time for baby to develop fully and he already weighs like 7lbs anyways (according to the ultrasound on Friday) so he's gonna be just fine.

I hope it's not as bad as everyone says.

Sunday I couldn't get out of the bed, though, I was in too much pain. Contractions all day long.... and no progress (still at 3cm this morning). I'm exhausted really, and can't physically do this another 2 or 3 weeks until Judah decides to come along. We've tried everything possible to induce naturally... every trick in the book, believe me... nothing is working.

They're still telling us it could be any day.... I tend to laugh at that now. I've resigned myself to plan for his arrival on Tuesday and schedule everything around it... becuase he doesn't seem interested in coming any sooner than that. So, this week I work Monday - Saturday with Thursday off. I may or may not work Saturday, depends on how I feel really. I'm gonna get my house all clean (its not too bad right now) and get all the trash taken to the dump and the laundry and such caught up. I'll go grocery shopping and prep some meals. Then, Monday I'm taking it easy, going to bed early, and we'll go in first thing Tuesday and have him bright and early... be in the hospital till Thursday morning probably and come on home to a clean house and pre-made meals and enjoy a week with my hubby and new baby and my mom (who's coming to stay for a few days too). The older kids will go to daycare during the day and let me rest, and come home to hang out with the new baby.

The end is in sight. And no matter how many people say "oh just wait and see, you'll schedule this induction and your water will break tonight" I don't think he's coming until the 16th.

And I'm okay with that.

Life of a Working Momma

Today at Kelly's Korner we're doing Show us you're life: Your Typical Day

First, for my new-comer Kelly's visitors;

This is Alina. She's 3 years old and very intelligent and articulate but is very small for her age group. (28 lbs)

And this is Raziel. He's 18 months and short (5th percentile) but almost as big as his sister (25 lbs). He doesn't really talk yet, but I think that's mostly because his sister does it for him!

And we also have me and my husband Brent and we are 38 weeks pregnant with a baby boy we are going to name Judah Aiden. My hubby and I both work full time jobs. I'd love to be a SAHM but we can't afford it yet (I get paid more than Brent does...)

So, here's my typical day!

7:30am the alarm goes off the first time.

8:00am ish (LOL) This is when we roll out of the bed. By this time, Alina and Raziel are already awake and playing quietly in their rooms. I stumble into the kitchen and make a bottle for Raziel who happily greets me, throws me the empty bottle he had last night and takes the new one. We then shower, change diapers, get dressed, brush hair, teeth, and put on shoes, socks and jackets.

8:30am we load up into the car. Brent goes to work alone and I take the youngins to Beverly (the sitter/daycare lady)

10:00am I arrive at work (yes I drive about an hour an a half every morning... I will be moving to a better location after maternity leave and only drive about 30 minutes in the mornings.)

10am -- 6pm I work at a Sprint store. I sell phones to some people, and fix other people's bills. Mostly, I am a service and repair technician. I'm the one that takes your phone apart and fixes the insides. It's really a cool job!

6:30pm I arrive at home and start making dinner. Sometimes I start a load of laundry, or straighten the house up while I'm doing this. Brent gets home with the kids by 7ish and we have dinner together at the table (sometimes) or watch an episode of Dora or something of that nature, depending on what kind of mood everyone is in.

8:30pm The kids go to bed. I make breakfast for Alina (usually crackers and juice) and leave it in her room because she wakes up so early and it's better if she has food readily available than when she goes into the kitchen on her own. Both of the kids go down really really well. Raziel will drink a bottle and just relax and go to sleep on his own. I kiss him when I put him in his crib and that's usually the last I hear of him. Alina has particular things she has to have to fall asleep happily; the fan/space heater has to be turned on, she has to have her pacie, and she has to be in pajamas. If all these are right, she'll fall right to sleep as well.

9:00ish Brent and I settle in for the night. We usually watch an episode of Prison Break, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Naruto, or Psych and talk for a bit before actually going to sleep. Sometimes Brent will stay up late and play video games instead. We usually are asleep by 11pm. I love these 2 hours of the night because we get to spend them together and just relax.

I'm not crazy

This is from lunch the other day.... I thought it was adorable :-)

Anyways:
Good news: I'm not crazy
Bad news: I'm still pregnant

I went to the OB this morning because I was hurting - really hurting badly. It wasn't contractions, but the pain was sharp and different. The best way to describe it was that Judah has a little knife in there and he's sticking my cervix or whatever else is down there with it.

So, Cheryl wanted to make sure everything was okay. So, she checked everything, baby's heartbeat is good and strong, and of course, no signs of labor and no more dialation or effacement. We went ahead and did an ultrasound too because she wanted to check all my fluids and the baby and such - which are all perfect, placenta is good and consistent, everything's perfect. We got to see him really really well too... here's his little face -- you can see his lips and nose very well.




What they did find is that Judah is VERY low (of course, I coulda told you that). Cheryl says he is "stationed" low and pretty much won't have to travel very far whenever he decides to show up. But, his little head is pressed up against a pelvic bone and has probably pinched a nerve in between. Basically, every time he shifts, turns, sneezes, anything -- he pushes against that nerve a bit more and that causes alot of pain and therefore (in a stressful situation) will kick me into false labor along with it. The positioning of him against that bone won't be a problem in labor (thank God) but will be uncomfortable and painful in the meantime.

I told Cheryl that as long as the baby's okay, I'm okay with waiting. I don't want him to come too early. If he's not here, he's not here and that's okay. It's silly to be impatient to the extent that I can't wait for my baby to be fully developed and such so I'm trying to keep that additude and avoid inducing the medical way.

I will, however, be trying accupressure massage this weekend. 93% of women go into labor within 48 hours after an accupressure massage. So, it's worth a try. And, if my body isn't ready, I won't go into labor. If they break my water then we HAVE to deliver him regardless of who's ready or not ready. I really want to avoid that... although I may feel differently about it in a few days, you never know. Really, if I have gone through natural labor 2x with no epidural then surely I can hang on another week or two without dying. And, it's kinda silly to be so die-hard about not using an epidural and then saying "oh, ok, let's just dump pitocin and other foreign chemicals into my body to induce labor because I'm not comfy anymore."

Pray he comes soon.... I'm still hurting regardless of the newfound explinations!

Nope, Not Yet

Still waiting.

On what? Judah, of course. I've had 2 or 3 good days where I was comfy and got things acomplished and so on and so forth, but I am exhausted today. We went to bed last night at 10 but I was wide awake till midnight... Brent fell right asleep but I didn't at all.

Today I hurt, I'm uncomfortable, I'm tired, I'm achey and my stomach (like the food and digestion part) hurts like I haven't eaten but I have and I'm not hungry. Nothing is appetizing. Nothing is comforting. Nothing feels good. I didn't get out of bed well this morning. I was awake at 7:15 when Brent got up to work on his car, but I couldn't (litterally couldn't) get up until about 8:20.

If I don't start feeling better I'm gonna call the OB and see what I need to be doing to help myself out here. We've tried every single home remedy we can think of and Judah just isn't coming. They're talking about breaking my water to induce the labor, but I just am not sure I want to induce because there's probably a reason he's not here yet - he's not ready. If he was ready he'd be here.

I'm trying to be positive and such... I'm really trying. Today is harder.

Another OB Appt

Bright and early to the OB at 8:20 and boy was she suprised to see me, still pregnant, waltzing through the office to see her. OK, I have to admit I'm suprised too. But, baby's heartbeat is strong, blood pressure is normal, negative on the strep B test.... and checked at 3 cm and the cervix is much more presented than it had been last week. (they always complain about how hard it is to reach before I'm ready to deliver)

Cheryl says I'll have him soon. She's suprised I didn't have him the other night when I went to the hospital for 6 hours. I was too. She said that if I make it to next weeks appointment, she'll go ahead and schedule an appointment at the hospital to break my water. Since I'm already a 3rd of the way there, why not, right?

Brent and the kids are coming to have lunch with me today at work. I'm excited. I love having lunch with the fam when I'm working. I scoured the house top to bottom yesterday - Brent says nesting must have kicked in. I even dusted the ceiling fans and brushed away cobwebs from the ceiling. I figure it was my last chance to really clean. All the dishes, all the laundry, even old cuboards I'd avoided cleaning out for the last 6 months. It's all clean now.

Today I'm sick to my stomach. I must've eaten something that isn't setting right. Or I'm in labor. Never know. I am at 3 cm after all. I'm hot then cold too. Wonderful, right? Still just waiting. I'm not gonna sit at the computer much today - the stool has no back. I'm gonna have to sit in the chairs in the service center because they have support. I feel pretty crumby right now but I hope that's the start of a good thing.