normal sinus rhythm

We are not dead.

We are, however, busy!  Life with two girls is a chaotic blast.

I would love a winning lottery ticket so I could stay home for full-time fun.  Alas, I went back to work when the baby was eight weeks old.  I went back to a different job, which has also been crazy.  I'm still nursing exclusively and pumping at work - my days are packed.

Dare I type it - my nights aren't that bad.  The baby goes down around 7pm when my big girl goes down.  She wakes up to eat between 2-3am and again between 4-5am.  The big girl comes to our bed every night around midnight.  I never want to get up in the mornings. :)  Today my morning started at 5am.

The baby is four months old and my big girl will be four this weekend.  It's a fun time.  My down




Time warp:  I thought I posted this two weeks ago, yet here it is, unposted.  That's how crazy things are now, and the good news is that everybody is fed and mostly clean.  It's crazy and it's good.

And since I forgot to post this let me update that now the baby is going down at 7pm and not waking to eat until 4:30-5am.  It is marvelous.  I'm a rested, happy Mommy.

I hope you are well and that you had a great Easter with your family.

new additions

Thursday, 11/8 @ 1636

8# 4oz  20"

Big Sister is still excited.

Little Sister is well.

Mommy is tired.

Daddy is running around crazy, taking care of everybody.

And so begins another chapter in our lives.

a little art deco (ration)

No real changes this week to report on behalf of my insides.  Still 2cm/75%, but she's moved down a centimeter - so that's something.

Been having contractions lately, but they're not much to write home about.  Fortunately I only notice them if I'm being quiet - which doesn't happen very often in the company of a three year old.

The neat thing about being pregnant at some point the last two elections is obviously posing for baby book pictures that some family members would croak over.

And the neat thing about being pregnant with a three and a half year old is washable markers and an ever-growing canvas.  ("But, Mommy, some of the pink lines didn't wash off!")

Sciatic pain is annoying, but they've given me some muscle relaxers to help keep me from hobbling around like an old man.  I've also noticed this weekend that my heartburn is getting worse - still not as bad as last time, but definitely worse.  I'm on the upswing - we'll have a baby here soon!

all about my insides

Disclaimer:  This post is going to talk about my girl parts and upcoming labor.  It won't be incredibly gross, but if you're not into reading about it then just skip this post.

Went to the doctor today for my 37 wk checkup.  Everything is measuring par for the course.

I knew he would do a vaginal exam today and I was both really looking forward to it (finding out if any progress has been made) and really not looking forward to it (not pleasant at all).  (Last warning to go read something else if you don't want to know about my insides.)  Turns out I was thrilled to hear the news.  I'd been preparing myself the last couple of days to expect no progress but be happy if I'd already dilated a centimeter.  And I'm already 2cm!  But the news gets better - I'm also 75% effaced.

He thinks I'll probably go into labor before my due date, but there's no way of knowing for sure until she comes.

All that said, I'm glad to know the end is in sight (pun intended).

The Dorks were here last weekend and helped me get everything in the house together for the baby.  The crib is with Baby's toddler bed in her room and the bookcase was moved to the playroom.  The little clothes have been laundered in special baby detergent.

I miss my ankles, but I know they'll be back a few weeks after baby is born.  I can patiently wait.

32 and holding steady

I'm 32 weeks today.  Eight more to go... unless she comes early.  Of course my OB says she's not coming early and laughed at me when I asked if he thought I'd go just a little early.  Everything measured well today at my appointment.  Incidentally I measured 33 weeks instead of 32 weeks - if this keeps up she may come out a linebacker.

Shortly after my last post I heard back from some lab results and found out I was anemic.  I just laughed when they told me - that explained so much!  It's amazing how much better I feel now than I did a month ago (Iron:  it does an anemic gal good!).  Once we've addressed that and some sleeping problems I was having pregnancy is back to being a piece of cake.

It's a soupy cake that has swollen feet at night and occasional back/hip pain, but ten thousand times more easily tolerated when I'm not a zombie in the day and I'm able to rest at night.

Baby is doing great with preschool.  On the days that she doesn't collapse when she gets home out of pure exhaustion she is bubbly and talkative.  She's really into super heroes right now - especially Spider Man and The Avengers.

Speaking of super heroes -- the anemia put a major halt on projects, but as long as I monitor my energy I think I'm going to be able to jump in again.  Tonight we put a few last sprawls of paint on what will be the super hero picture.  I may glue them on later tonight after it dries.  Then all I'll lack is spray-varnishing them (and hanging them, of course).  I go back and forth thinking about making some kind of garland for their room, but for now at eight months pregnant I'm sticking with less is more.  We still have a lot of other work to do (organizing mostly).

He asked if I was having any contractions.  I reminded him that with my pregnancy with Baby I was never aware of any of them until I had the pitocin going for five hours.  I asked if he could make that happen again and he laughed.  He said we'd both be really rich if he could figure out how to make that happen.  So for now I'm just thankful for pain that I can handle and contractions that I can't feel.

I'm working on getting all of my paperwork together for FMLA.

I've not packed a bag to take to the hospital with me yet, but I do know what I think I want to pack.  (That's got to count for some kind of partial credit, right?)

Runt seems way more laid back than Baby did in utero.  Either that means she'll be chill - or it means she's saving up to make us crazy after she's born.

weary

I am so tired that I feel hungover, but I assure you that I've not had anything to drink in months.

I'm rolling into my third trimester without much poise or grace.  I can feel the chronic fatigue starting to set in, and although I know from experience that this, too, shall pass, it's really hard to focus on that when you're in a fog.

Being tired makes me cry.

When I yawn my eyes water.  This is not pregnancy-related; I've done this all my life.  I looked it up once, figuring I was just plumbed wrong.  Turns out there are little muscles in your eyes that contract when you yawn, wetting your eyes with tears.  Mine must be the most tone muscles in my body because it ends up making my eyes drip tears all day long.

Some people flex muscles and look amazing.  I flex muscles and it looks like I'm crying.  (I think this is irony, right?  I'm too tired to access that nook of my brain right now.  I think it's cosmic irony, which artsy-fartsy literary types argue isn't really irony at all.)

I've been up since about 2:30 with Baby.  I made every effort to stay in my bed until about 4am, at which point I was just mad that I couldn't sleep and moved to the living room couch to try to rest.  This wasn't one of my brighter ideas, but you can't expect genius when your exhausted brain is running on fumes.  I tossed out here for about 45 minutes before I decided to forget it and just be up for today.

I learned in my last pregnancy to just try not to look at the clock when this happens.  Looking at the clock just makes me mad because I roll over thinking that it's got to have been 30-40 minutes since I last looked at the clock, only to see that it's only been about three minutes instead.  I know this, but I looked anyway this morning.  I can't make a direct correlation that this was the only reason I'm awake, but I am well aware of its contribution.

PSA:  The most stupid, insincere thing you can say to a pregnant lady who is exhausted is that this is good practice for being tired after the baby comes.

I read an article once that said pregnant lady brains actually shrink in the third trimester.  I can't remember if it was hormone-induced or fatigue-induced, but it was verified with MRIs.  It wasn't a huge shrinkage, but it was real and it was documented.  I remember after my last pregnancy Baby was about 5-6 months old before it hit me one day that I felt normal again.

By my calculations I've got about 12 more weeks of sleeping poorly related to the pregnancy.  Then the baby will be born.  Afterwards I'll still sleep poorly, but I'll be better rested and sleep better when I do get to sleep.  Then by May-June of next year I may feel human again.

Time to wake everybody else up.  This morning it will take a conscious effort to do this task with kindness.