17 weeks

Tomorrow I will be 17 weeks pregnant. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going! It's sad to think that I will probably never be 10 weeks pregnant again, and I will never be just finding out that I am pregnant. Unless I can convince Gregg otherwise, this will be our second and last child. I am trying to enjoy every second of this pregnancy!

Here is a picture of me yesterday. We have our big ultrasound on December 18, but will be waiting to find out the sex of the baby on Christmas morning.

I am feeling pretty good these days. I still have moments of nausea, particularly when brushing my teeth. It almost always causes me to gag! I am finally gaining some weight, although only a pound or two so far.

My family had Thanksgiving at my sister's house which is about 15 minutes north of Baltimore. We had a great time eating, relaxing, and watching the little girls play. Madi's cousin, Chloe, is 8 weeks younger than her and they have a blast playing together. I hope you had a great holiday!

Christmas is just around the corner...I have to finish shopping this week. :) I love a good excuse to get out of the house to go shopping! :)

Madi's entry to this world

For those of you who haven't heard my birth story with Madelyn, I am going to share it with you now! There may be TMI for some of you, and I am going to include a lot of details, so it will probably be long! I could tell the story 100 times and never get sick of it.

My due date was January 24. On January 4, my mom came over for a while to put up the border in Madi's room. Halfway through the day, I went to the bathroom and realized I thought I lost my mucous plug. I was excited. I had been saying for a while, "I just want her to be here!" I couldn't really tell for sure if it really was my plug or not, so I wasn't too excited. My mom didn't tell me this then, but later she said that if I thought it was, it probably was. So I called Gregg at work and first thing I said was, "I think I lost my mucous plug!" He was like, "Uh ok. What does that mean? Should I meet you at the hospital?" He was a little upset with the way I said it. I guess I was just thinking he knew what that meant. A little while later, he called me back and said, "I think you should call out tonight." I was scheduled to work that night at 7pm. I think I was on the schedule yet for another week or so. I didn't really know why he said that. He said, "I just think it's time for you to stop working." At a doctor appointment the week before, I was already dilated 2-3 cm and the dr. said it could be "any day". I felt bad for calling out, especially if it would be days or weeks till she arrived, but I obeyed my husband and called out. :)

I had slept in late that day thinking I would have to be up all night at work. So when Gregg went to bed around 11, I wasn't tired enough to go to bed. The night before I had had some gassy pains and thought maybe it could be contractions but after going to the bathroom, that feeling went away. As I was tucking Gregg in bed this night, I felt those pains again, but didn't say anything to Gregg. Instead I said, "I am going to Wegmans" and left the house around 11:15ish. I had read that raspberry tea can bring on contractions, and with the thought that I may have lost my mucous plug, I was too excited, and wanted to see if the tea helped. So off I went to Wegmans. When I got there, I was still having those gassy pains. They were like mild menstrual cramps, not even as bad as my normal monthly cramps. So I figured I would go to the bathroom and see if that helped. It didn't. I walked around Wegmans for a little while, got some raspberry tea, and the cramps continued. I figured, "If this is labor, I better be prepared. I might not be able to get to the store for a while." I picked up headbands for labor, nipple cream, a magazine, and some snacks for Gregg. When I got home, I made a cup of the raspberry tea and then got into bed.

I tried to fall asleep, but between being excited, and not really being tired, I just couldn't sleep. A little while later I woke Gregg up and said, "I think I am having contractions." All I felt was something different. It wasn't something I could time. There was no beginning or end to it. It was just like, "I feel a little crampy." Gregg rolled over and said, "Are you serious?" I explained what happened the night before and what happened at Wegmans. And he said, "Why don't you call the Dr.?" So I got up and called my OB who said, "I'll meet you at the hospital. What time do you think you can be there?" I wanted to take a shower first, so I replied "1:00".

The whole way to the hospital-- all of 6 miles-- I still felt crampy off and on. I was worried that it wasn't really labor and here I go getting the doctor out of bed and getting Gregg out of bed when he has to work the next day. When we got upstairs to triage, they put the monitor on me and the nurse asked, "You are having pretty strong contractions, do you feel them?" Still, all I felt was slight cramps. When the doctor got there, she said, "You are 4 cm, and this is the real thing. We are going to keep you. Why don't you get checked in , get your IV, walk around a little bit and we will talk about breaking your water if we need to." BREAK MY WATER!!!???? THIS ISN'T EVEN LABOR!!! IT CAN'T BE! That scared me. I didn't want my water broken prematurely and I still wasn't convinced I was in labor, having only slight cramps.

A couple hours later after walking, getting my IV, getting a little rest, and making a few phone calls, the doctor came back and checked me and I was 6 cm. I tried to sleep, but was too excited, so talked to the nurse instead. Gregg tried to sleep in the recliner. He was tired, and barely had any sleep. About 2 hours later, the doctor came back and checked me and I was still 6 cm. She suggested breaking my water, and at that point, I believed I was in labor, so I agreed. I still wasn't having much contraction pain, but once she broke my water, that all changed. I think this was about 7am or so. I wanted to see if I could to without the epidural. I tried it for a little while, but was worried that it would be hours and hours till the little one arrived, and I didn't know if I could make it. So at about 8:00 I got the epidural. I think I slept about an hour, and the doctor came back and checked me and I was 8 cm. My parents arrived at the hospital soon after I got the epidural. Around 10:30 ish, the doctor came back and checked me and I was fully dilated and Madi's head was "right there". She asked me if I felt any urge to push, but I didn't. She got all set up and I started to push. HOW EXCITING!! Up until this point, my labor was a breeze, and I was already thinking, "I would do this again in a minute!" 22 minutes of pushing, and out came our daughter at 11:01 a.m. She was beautiful! She had a good strong cry, and was nice and pink. I just started sobbing, and didn't stop for about 20 minutes. There is no feeling like seeing your child for the first time. What a little miracle she was, and still is!!

Falling

I have to admit, I am falling behind here in keeping you all updated! I haven't posted a belly picture in over 5 weeks, and there is definitely a change! I am definitely feeling the Little One kicking and flipping in there. It's so nice to have a little companion again. Feeling those little kicks in there makes everything more fun. Even going to work is more fun because I know I get to take him/her with me. I've been enjoying the moment right before I fall asleep, because I am still and can really feel those movements. They aren't strong enough yet to keep me awake or make me uncomfortable. Give 'em a couple months though! In a way it's hard to believe that I will be able to love a baby like I love Madelyn, but I am beginning to understand how it is possible. I am really starting to bond with this one. The further I get in the pregnancy, the more excited I get. I have dreams about the baby...mostly about being in the hospital and breastfeeding. But in every one of my dreams, I am asking Gregg how the labor was and all the details about how long I pushed and everything, as if I wasn't even there for it! In these dreams, he answers something like "Yeah, it went very well." :) I wish all my dreams were about the new baby. I feel so good when I wake up after one!

We have been talking to Madi about the baby in Mommy's belly. She kisses my belly, and when we ask her where the baby is, sometimes she pokes my belly. But for the most part, I don't think she has a clue what we are talking about! She loves her baby dolls, and I just think she is going to be a great big sister. It will be weird seeing her in a new role, and I feel a little sad that she won't be the center of attention anymore, but I am sure she will adjust.

Since before we even thought about trying for kids, we picked the name Benjamin Curtis for a boy. Curtis is Gregg's middle name and his dad's first name. We have a couple girls names picked, but aren't so sure about any one of them. I guess we will have to find out the sex of the baby, and then decide.

We took a bunch of belly pictures last week, and I was going to post them but I guess I should take new ones now. I am really going to try to post them by Tuesday.

Accomplishment

I can barely contain my excitement!!!!! Today Madelyn went peepee on the potty twice! I always knew this day would come, but now that it is here, I can barely contain myself. The first time she did it was after her bath, just like before. The second time was this afternoon I casually said, "Do you want to go peepee on the potty?" She walked to her room, I got her bottoms off, she sat down and I tried to look like I wasn't paying attention, and she peed! If you don't have kids or have never experienced this, you don't know the excitement, and you probably think I am crazy for getting so excited, but I really am! She is getting so big, and I am so excited to think she is actually potty training! She got a reward of a half a small box of Nerds, (from trick or treating) and she was all happy. It's pretty convenient that we just had trick or treating, because I don't have to buy rewards!

I keep thinking I am feeling the baby move, too. I know it's early, and they are not strong kicks by any stretch, but they are little twinges, I guess you could say. I am absolutely loving it and can't wait for the baby kick like crazy!

It's been a great day. I hope everyone is having a great day, too.

P.S. If you are reading this, leave me a comment. I want to see who reads it and who doesn't.

22 months and 13 weeks!

Madelyn at 22 months is a bundle of fun! Her vocabulary is exploding and it seems every day she is saying something new. It's so exciting to wake up every day and wonder what she will say today! I think my favorite new thing she is doing is how she says "Booboo". My hands are very dry this time of year from washing them so much, and I have a couple tiny cracks on my knuckles. When she notices them, so gets real quiet and points to them and almost whispers "booboo". The tone in her voice sounds so much like she is saying "Awww. Mommy has a booboo. Poor Mommy." You have to hear it to really appreciate it, but it is so precious. It's so hard to get a video of her doing or saying stuff on command, but if I happen to get that on video, I would definitely post it. She is really starting to show empathy, and it is soo cute! She also LOVES to squeal! She loves trucks or big vehicles of any kind. When she sees a bus, a tractor, or anything that resembles them, she goes nuts! Her favorite movie is Cars, and she can't even get through the first 5 minutes without squealing! She does the same thing every time she sees an airplane or helicopter. It's so awesome to see everything through her eyes while she experiences so many new things. I just love this age!!!

I am a little over 13 weeks pregnant now. Everything seems to be going just fine. I often think the nausea is gone to find in an hour that it's not. I haven't gained any weight yet, actually have lost about 5.5 lbs. I can't seem to get much of an appetite. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat. I go back to the doctor in another week and a half and I am hoping by then I have at least gained back the weight I lost. I know I should be eating better, but it's so hard!

We definitely want to find out the sex of this baby, and we are very anxious to know what we will be having. I will probably be having my ultrasound a week or so before Christmas. Our plan is to have the tech write the sex of the baby in a Christmas card, and then open it together on Christmas morning. That is if we can hold out that long! I think I will have to have Gregg put it in the safe and lock it up...I like to snoop!

A couple of times I thought I felt the baby moving. Nothing real strong yet, but very gentle kicks. I might just be hoping....but it is an awesome feeling, nonetheless. :) I should be feeling it soon anyway. I just cannot wait! That is what makes pregnancy so fun. I really enjoyed almost every minute of my pregnancy with Madelyn, and I can't wait to feel this baby too! How can you possibly not believe in God once you have experienced pregnancy?? I know he is doing amazing things in my body that I can't see, and every day I thank him for that.

I am on my second day of my three day work weekend, and then I have off for 11 days again! I live for my weekend off.

Lots of love to all our friends and family. xoxo