I don't rememeber being this miserable...

Last night I was just so tired of being tired and nauseated and the loose stools and the soreness and a crampiness.
So David and I called my mom to stay with Seth and off to Labor and Delivery we went...
I was still 1 cm dilated and my cervix wasn't doing anything either but I WAS having contractions, most likely Braxton-Hicks though since they weren't doing anything. The nurse said it was most likely due to the diarrhea I was having. Apparently there is a stomach virus going around and they believe that is what I have.I was there for about three hours and recieved a bag of IV fluids ( since I WAS quite dehydrated) and they monitored me and sent me home with a sleeping pill ( Which worked quite nicely, I might add)
So now I am not very nauseated but everything I eat or drink goes right through me, and the diarrhea is all liquid so I can't imagine it will be long before I am dehydrated again, if I am not already. I am trying and trying to drink but my stomach hurts so much. And my legs are so weak, I just feel so tired.
David has been wonderful taking care of everything so I can rest alot but tomorrow when he goes to work it's going to be hard to manage Seth in my current state. I swear that boy is driving me nuts with his constant destruction throughout the house, I just can't tolerate it right now. I sure hope I feel better in the morning.

Will it be a weekend baby?

At my last appointment on Wed. I was still 1 cm., 50% effaced. Still no progress. My next appt. is scheduled for March 2 for the Dr. to strip my membranes so I can avoid the awful Pitocin crap.
I have been feeling crappy for the last two days. My appetite has been extremely poor and I was feverish a couple night ago. Very achy yesterday. Today I awoke feeling alright but passed a big glob of icky mucus this morning and have been feeling occasional discomfort in my lower belly and lower back. Does it mean something or doesn't it? I guess I just have to wait and see.
I honestly just don't feel right so I think somethings up.

I can't imagine where he gets it from..

Picture it: the rock station is playing on the digital cable. One cute two year old boy dancing and bopping his little head while he pretends to play a very small plastic toy guitar.
If you are picturing it like I saw it, it's quite an adorable site. He loves music, and he's watched Daddy play his guitar and sing enough times to want to imitate him. I am very proud of my boys, especially since my family is musically challenged. That's not to say we don't enjoy our tunes but don't ask us to dance or sing. It's certainly not pretty!
That aside I am feeling large and slow more and more by the day. I have three work days left until my leave begins and I am ready!
baby is squirming and stretching all the time. I am not having any contractions or even Braxton-Hicks contractions lately. I kinda wish I would because I am becoming anxious to have my energy back. And I wouldn't miss having to urinate constantly either. THAT got very old months ago. I don't enjoy spending half of my day in the bathroom.
I have this fear that I will go a week beyond my due date and I will have to be induced anyway. My mom is predicting Feb. 25 or 26. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict March 1st just for the heck of it.

37 week appointment

First of all.. Happy Valentines Day!!! David and I recieved a gift card for Outback Steakhouse for Christmas so we used that last night for our Valentines day dinner. It was very nice. Heather watched Seth for us. Unfortunately there won't be any nookie for David this Valentine's since I am so very large. Yes, I know many women do it until the day they give birth but I just can't think of a proper way to do it that wouldn't be very awkward. Plus, I get winded even thinking about it,LOL!
Anyway, baby heart rate was fine. My BP was fine. My urine showed some WBCs so they are going to send it to a lab to see if it grows anything that would require me to take some antibiotics.
I also found that my cervix is about 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. No big deal. About any woman that ever gave birth has a 1 cm dilated cervix.
I think I have dropped a bit more though.
My check from my 401K loan has arrived at my work!!! So David and I will just have to go and sign for it and then I will deposit it into the bank. Now I can get caught up a little and get the blinds and lighting for the baby room. No worries.

Sean Elijah it will be...

If it's a boy, of course. We finally decided on the boy name after many long months of not being able to agree on a middle name. Jillian Ruby or Sean Elijah, I am ready for you.

Nursery is almost complete!!!!!!!

All I really need now is some blinds for the window. The crib is set up, the baby clothing and blankets are all washed AND I have my hospital bag packed. I have a mobile and a bouncy seat from my sis. The swing and the cradle are set up and ready. Now I am not freaked out anymore about things not being ready is the baby comes early.
Now I just need to make it through seven more days of work until my time off begins. Some days are better than others but I am feeling bigger and slower every day. I feel like I am half as effective as I was a few months ago.

My 36/37 week appointment.

I haven't gained any weight since last week, still 155lbs.
Everything was fine ( as usual). My U/S results were good. They are going to check for dilation and effacement next week. I told them that I do NOT want to be induced unless it was absolutely necessary medically.
I did find out that my Dr. will be on vacation during the last week in Feb. so I am hoping that I don't have this baby early. Mostly due to the off chance that my former OB would be on call and have to deliver the baby. I truly dislike him so I don't want anything to do with him.
Seth is really trying me these days. He is absolutely exhausting!

My last U/S (ever)

Baby is in the correct position, heart rate is fine, size is fine. The estimated weight is 5 lbs 15 oz right now. The U/S tech had some trouble finding a good pocket of fluid without cord in the way though since my uterus was so full of baby. I'm hoping it's okay though.
My mom brought Seth to see the U/S, he didn't care. He wanted to run throughout the hospital and say "hi!" to everyone and ,of course, touch everything. My poor mom was exhausted by the time we were through.
Then Seth and I went to Walmart to price some baby items. I found a decent crib for $120 so I think David and I will be going to get it in the next couple days. I also found a set of dresser drawers for $84 that I'd like to get for Seth's room.
The nursery is ready, just needs furniture now. I just might have it all together before this baby comes!!

Almost 36 week appt.

Originally my EDD was 3-2-07 ( by conception date) My Dr. office changed it to 3-4-07 ( by U/S estimate). I tell everyone it's March 2, close enough. So my calculations make me 2 days more pregnant.
Anyway, my appt. was good. Everything was good, baby heart rate ,BP, measurements ,etc. Monday is my U/S appt to check baby's position and all.
Today Walter's wife was induced. Apparently he says that she was having such violent contractions that she was vomiting. I hope to God that I don't have to be induced. I want it to happen naturally this time.

I am super preggo bitch!

Poor David. I really am quite the nag lately ( just refer to my previous entry) and I do feel quite badly about it but I just want stuff done! You see, then I won't have the room to worry about. I can move on to worrying about something else. And ,yes, there are plenty of things to worry about. Only one wall of the nursery needs to be painted yet and that would be done if I didn't run out. I will have to wait until pay day to purchase more so in the mean time I would like to shampoo the carpet, that's tomorrow's task of the day.
I had a baby shower at work today, a lovely surprise. It was mostly for this other pregnant girl that I am friends with but I suppose they included me to be nice. I honestly did not expect anything,this being baby #2 and all. I got alot of onesies and blankets. I have sio many receiving blankets it's absolutely ridiculous! And nice pretty soft ones as well. There is no way I will use all of them!!!
I told David to ask Walter if he might need some blankets for his upcoming addition. They are nice and brand new. I also gave David a stuffed lamb to bring to the hospital if he goes to visit Walter's baby after he's born tomorrow.
Right now I feel pretty good. Haven't had any backaches lately. More like feet and leg discomfort..and feet swelling. Not severe, but uncomfortable anyway. Also the occasional braxton-hicks contractions, mostly when i am very anxious or upset. My little ones head seems to be doing a number on my bladder though. I have to urinate so frequently and today at work, it felt like I was having actual bladder spasms. Once I emptied my bladder I was okay though. Strange. I seem to have the occasional cervical twinge and I wonder whats actually going on way down there.
Being a nurse I wonder what every little pain and discomfort means, if anything. I don't jump to conclusions and get freaked out but I wonder just the same.
Oh , and I got a $25 American Express gift card today today so now I can afford my bouncy seat that I want so much. Hee Hee.:)

2 year old + painting a room = frustration for all

I have this horrible fear that this baby isn't going to wait until it's due date and nothing will be ready in time. So therefore I have gone into near panic mode, I need to have everything ready and set for when the time comes. Unfortunately, limited finances have made this a slow process. The only really big thing I need is a crib, but really, I do have a cradle that the baby can sleep in until I get one. So it's not like the baby won't have somewhere to sleep. It just feels like a nursery isn't complete without a crib.
About the painting though. We are painting two walls across from each other green with ivory stripes and the other two walls will simply be ivory.Attempting to paint with Seth around is a horrid nightmare!! He wants to " help" paint, but he wants to paint ivory on the green walls and vice versa and himself in the process *sigh* And if just one of us is in the room with it locked he fusses and fusses to get in. And even trying to organize the baby things with him around is difficult. He keeps insisting " open it" or " have it".
He hasn't been listening to us lately and has been extra crabby. I am wondering if he is more aware of this whole new baby thing than we know. Maybe he is already starting to get upset with the whole idea of having competition for Mom and Dad's attention. Sometimes he seems to be far more observant that we give him credit for so I wouldn't be so surprised. Poor little guy. He won't be my only little boy anymore.
David isn't very motivated at all. He has a hard time understanding that my due date is March 2. He claims that since this child was conceived June 9 that the due date should be March 9 instead. I tried to explain that it is calculated in weeks , 40 to be exact, which is really 10 months of pregnancy and that includes two weeks BEFORE conception because pregnancy is dated by last menstrual period.
That just confused him more.

34 week OB update

I am up to 155lbs. so I am gaining more and more and more. I need to put the brakes on this nonsense and start eating salads for lunch instead of quarter pounders!! My BP is good, urine neg, fetal HB is great. Baby is moving around all the time. The Dr. stated that the head is down now, she placed my fingers down near my pubic bone and told me that I was feeling the baby's head. I felt something but my untrained fingers couldn't tell a baby head from a full bladder!
At least now I know why I have to urinate every half hour though! The head is probably compressing my bladder to the size of a thimble.:)
She was going to do my group B strep test this week or next but I reminded her that I was positive last time so she said we could skip the test and they will give me antibiotics during labor anyway, since I most likely am still a carrier. I do have to schedule my last U/S in the next couple weeks, my mom is going to go with me and bring Seth along so he can see the baby.
I will be going every week now until the end. I can't believe it's almost here!!!!! A little scary actually.
I have been having alot of pelvic discomfort lately, in the back and especially in my pubic bone area. ( Again, easily explained by the baby's head down position) Alot of pressure as well. Very annoying. My mom is predicting that I won't make it to my due date and her husband is predicting Feb. 19. I don't know what I think. Seth made it to his due date and I would have gone past if I wasn't induced so I am not thinking I will go early.

We are in the process of painting the nursery. Then we will shampoo the carpet and we will be able to set up the furniture. What little furniture we have, of course. I have a glider chair and a changing table and a swing.I just need a set of drawers and a crib. Wow! I can't believe it's almost time!!!!

Good fortune occurs when you least expect it

I haven't ever been the most religious person around. I believe in God but I don't attend church nor do I pray often. Somehow He has been good to me all of these years, maybe I have a guardian angel or perhaps just a bit of luck.
This week has been super tight as far as finances go. I mean we are talking about $25 until Friday tight. But we received a check in the mail today from our mortgage company today for $248! Apparently our escrow account had a surplus...AND as of March 1st our mortgage payment will be reduced from $821.00 to $755.00!! Every little bit counts, you know.
See what I mean about guardian angels and luck? You may think I'm crazy, but I truly believe someone upstairs is looking out for me.:)

Florida winters are ridiculous!

Today it was in the high 80s with the heat index. I was so very hot! I would LOVE a few days in the snow , I'd probably strip my clothes right off and run around in the cold. Ok , not really. But I bet that would be refreshing!!!

Another bump in the road...

Of course, will it ever end? And my mom wonders why I'm such a nutcase these days.
David has a slow work week (again) next week. So I paid the mortgage with my most recent pay check and the next one I would like to get back on track and pay it early. How am I going to pay all of the other crap that's due, you ask? Good question. I have about $600 bills due for the rest of the month..not including credit cards. My credit card is majorly over limit due to late fees and interest and the minimum due is $ 522.00!!! I think I am going to have to suck it up and take it to a credit counseling agency because the interest and fees are eating me alive!!!
I was hoping that I could pay the rest of the bills with the paychecks David recieves in the next couple weeks but if they are slow I am out of luck. David says that we could get caught up with our tax return but i had to remind him that the tax return will need to keep us going for the 3 months I am out of work because I may not get my short term disability check until near the end of my leave.
Oddly enough I feel better having written all of that, sort of like i have transferred my worries onto someone elses shoulders, even though I haven't.
At least while David is out of work he can clean the baby room and prepare it for furniture. He gets awfully irritable when I nag him about it and financial issues but I need to remember that he is probably more stressed out than me. It's not HIS fault his work is slow and he is well aware that it's the worst time for this to happen. He wants to be the good provider that takes care of his family but things aren't seeming to work out this way.
I would like to have the room clear and ready for my baby shower stuff on Saturday. I need somewhere to put my stuff and set up the swing and all. If I don't have a crib yet it's okay since I will be getting the cradle back from my sis and baby will be sleeping in that at first anyway.
I need to get a set of drawers to put the baby clothes in. I suppose that I could always use a couple of Seth's empty drawers in his room for now. So the furniture will be a little sparse..eh, it's small room anyway.

I always like to think that God won't ever give you something you can't handle, but i am a little more sensitive to my surroundings than most. I like to think God knows that. But I also think that God may not be too pleased with me, I still blame him for things that go wrong. David consistently reminds me that I shouldn't do that. I rarely bring myself to pray because I am so bitter over the circumstances in my own life. I seem to think I am special and that I deserve better and wonder why I am being punished after I have worked so hard to get where I am. Did I not work hard enough? Is it because I am a moody and anxious person? I suppose God made me that way and he doesn't make mistakes , does he?
Has He given up on me? Is it because I wonder how some people are born into extreme wealth and don't have to lift a finger and they aren't good people? How is that fair when I struggle? I guess I feel like I want to give up at times.
God has given me a wonderful family and if you could survive on love I would be in excellent shape. I have the most adorable, sweet kid ever ( don't know how that happened!) A husband that thinks I am the hottest woman ever even when I am big, pregnant and stretchmarked. He always says the right thing. And a family that would do anything for each other. Even when we tend to get on each other's nerves at times!
I guess that I do have wealth of some sort, but I sure wish it would help me pay the bills.

If anyone out there finished this entire entry, I apologize wholeheartedly for my ramblings. But thank you for taking your time. Maybe say a prayer for me. :)

He's just a little guy:(

While we were at the playground today Seth was running around saying" hi!" to all of the other kids ( and their moms too) He happened to really like this other boy that was around the same size as him, his mom said that he was 18 months old! Seth is about 27 months old and was the same size as this little boy. So I look up all of the growth charts and all and I see that he is in the 10-25% for weight and 25% for height, and that's just barely. He is 25lbs. and 34 inches. Just a little guy.:( I worry about this. But the Dr. said in October that Seth has always been on the small side so he's consistent. And that even a kid in the 25% averages at about 5'8" at full height.
I guess Seth will be little like us, I was hoping that he would get tall genes from my dad's side of the family. I am 5'5" and David is 5'6" and neither of us have ever been heavy, actually in our younger years we were both a little underweight. Oh, well. I just don't want him to be the shortest kid in the class when he gets to school, you know?
Otherwise he's developing quite normally talking , running, climbing, and his social skills are excellent. Now if I could just get him to stop using the bottle!! He adamantly refuses to drink from any other type of cup, he throws it down and won't have anything to do with it. I don't want him to end up dehydrated!

Seth loves Soundgarden??

As we were cruising along listening to my Soundgarden CD I looked back and Seth is bopping away to it. Now, he does this most anytime he hears music at home but it's usually songs on his TV shows, not Soundgarden of all things. Weird, but he does try to sing along to my Hinder and Killers CDs. Not sure if that's a good thing come to think of it.
But I just can't bring myself to listen to kid's music in the car. Nope, can't do it.
I brought the car in for repairs this morning. I ended up with a Ford Focus rental, piece of crap if you ask me. My car is far better kept up and much nicer on the inside and outside. I wasn't ever foolish enough to believe that my Chevy Cobalt was a luxury car or anything but next to the thing I'm driving today it may as well be. The Focus is quite basic and boring..and automatic. My Cobalt is so much better, at least it's only for a couple days.

It's all coming together..

This weekend David worked very, very hard. He cleaned and painted the garage, AND he moved all the furniture into the garage from the future baby room. So now everything is set up in the garage and it's actually quite nice and homey. We have to let the other room air out a bit and David is going to get some carpet remnants somewhere so we can have some new carpet in there. Then I will just need to fix it up and set up the baby stuff. I need to get the cradle from my sister and some time in the next 7 weeks we will get a crib. I have a swing and stroller and changing table and well, the basics. But I will be getting some stuff at my baby shower on the 27th. I love to have less to worry about.
David's work is picking up beginning this next week so we will have some money again!!! Yay!!! I think it's going to be a-okay.

My flippin' vanity is a horrible thing!

I don't like being big, granted I'm not overweight, I am pregnant but I would much rather be normal again. My feet ache because I weigh so much and my back aches due to my big belly and supersize boobs. I feel so slow and heavy at all times.
I like to be thin and energetic so I can run and play with my son. So I can out in public and feel good about myself and look healthy. And ,of course, I like to feel like I look good when I go places. Instead of thinking that I look like an enormous blob.
I want my energy back.

33 week appt.

Everything is normal. I weigh 150 and my BP is 100/68. I told the ARNP about my lingering anxiety following the accident and the excessive Braxton-Hicks contractions I was having afterwards as well.As long as the baby is still moving all around she wasn't worried.
My back is still a bit tender in areas but it doesn't consistently hurt.
The damage to my car is estimated to cost $750.00. I am going to drop it off next wed. and pick it up the following day. I also will be getting a rental car-hopefully something cool.


The picture is of David and Seth watching "The Lord of the Rings" last night. I think I will keep them both, they are awfully cute!