Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!!

Alleluia!  Jesus is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed! 



Happy Easter from all of us! 
We hope you all had a Wonderful holiday like we did, Blessed to spend the day with our Family.  


As you can imagine, the boys really got into all the Easter holiday traditions this year.  They were both excited to wear their new dress up shirts, and couldn't wait to see where the Bunny hid eggs for them.  

This was the first year that Sam was really into it, he was quite good at finding eggs.  

Chris didn't stop moving though, he still found More Eggs, as he would proudly tell you...

But they both had a ton of fun finding them.  

Handsome boys digging into an egg or two while we wait for breakfast.  
Daddy made his holiday specialty: honey flakey biscuit egg and cheese sandwiches.  
I don't know why we love them so much, we just do.  

Love these little yahoos too.  


I had to take them outside for a little Easter photo shoot, even though I didn't have a lot of energy.  
Lucky for me, my boys are so handsome, it's hard for me to take a bad picture of them.  

Simply Dreamy. 


And who can resist all my Boyz!?!  They are mighty Dreamy too! 


Then we used the chair I was sitting on to set up the camera to take some family pictures of all 4 7/8 of us.  



  They turned out OK, but I hate looking at my ankles.  I feel like this weekend, I just Ballooned.  My ankles just won't calm down, I can't find my anklebones, and by the time we were done with getting dressed, eating, and pictures, I had to lay down.  Typical for Sunday mornings, but disappointing.  I do so love to go Worship with my church family, and Easter is one of my favorite Faith Celebrations.  It's the cornerstone of our faith, that Jesus rose.  It's the Reason for the Season, the Reason for the Party!  And I felt crummy that I was missing out on the party.

Blessedly, my Dad brought the Party to us.  He and my Stepmom brought a full dinner to our house, turkey pie (my fav) with ALL the trimmings.  And Easter baskets for the boys.  They couldn't wait to open all the goodies.  One of the goodies they really were excited about was Sam's birthday present.  Since Sam had been sick on his birthday, Oma and Opa carried the holiday over, and brought Sam his own basketball goal!   True Hoosiers! 


Both boys got a big kick out of playing basketball, and the black cake that went along with it. ;) 


It was an Eggs-hausting and Wonderful day.  So great to see the family this weekend, and have the Easter celebrations brought to us.  Everybody left us the leftovers so we'll be eating well all week.  As high as my BP has been all day, and I can't find my ankles, I don't really mind, because I got to spend time with my family, and that's simply I wanted most out of this holiday weekend.  The holiday weekend may have been a bit downplayed and mild compared to past years, we didn't participate in the church services, barely attended, but the boys had a wonderful time, and we're all happy, and mostly healthy.  We have Plenty to be Thankful for.  Hope you all enjoyed your Easter Celebrations too!  

A Little Egg Dying

Yesterday, the Fam came over for Easter.  Usually, the Saturday before Easter we go up to Marion for Willman Extended Family Easter, but this year we didn't.  This year they came to us, well, at least some of them did.  Mom and Dad Willman went a little crazy, and brought a whole ham dinner with all the trimmings.  We made Green Fluff, a throwback to the Marion days.  It was a really Yummy spread!    Mom also brought some Easter Baskets and eggs for the boys.  She and Karl hid eggs in the living room, and the boys went Buck Wild hunting for them.  


This is the first year Sam has kept up in the egg hunt with Big Brother.  


Mom also brought them a couple exercise shirts and candy, not too surprising.  
This was Christopher as he tried Pop Rocks.  I think they've had them before, but on cookies, this was straight Pop Rocks, and he loved them!  

 
After egg finding and easter basket raiding, the younger boys all played Jolly Octopus, a new game the boys love that Nana sent Sam for his birthday.  



After a little game play, Eric and his Mom set the boys up to dye eggs.  


Sam of course, was not inclined to do any color than Green.  
In case you didn't know Green is his favorite color. 


Christopher was really working his Artistic streak.   This year, only Chris and I ended up with blue fingers. ;) 


The boys were pros at dying eggs.  


Of course, they had a lot of great Help.  We couldn't have done it without them.  

We're Ready for Easter now! 

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Worth a busy Good Friday

This day just snuck away from me.  That just seems to happen on busy days, and this was one of our busiest lately.  We got started first thing this morning...or rather second thing this morning.  I couldn't sleep from 4-6:30 am, when I finally fell back asleep, no one else in the house woke up until 8:45.  It was 9 before we got downstairs, and I realized there would be no time for breakfast.  We were behind the 8 ball for the rest of the day.  We got everyone dressed, and into the car, and opted to drive thru McDonald's on the way to Mom's.  She was kind enough to watch the 3 of us, Chris, Sam, and I, while Eric had a CT scan for his head this morning.  He didn't get to choose the time, he was told when to show up, at 10 in Avon.  And I knew bringing the boys into a doctor's office, with Me in charge was unwise.  So we went to Mom's.  Only once Eric got us settled then got there and got all his paperwork in order, they told him it was going to be an hour wait.  Not going to happen, we had to be in Carmel for an ultrasound at 11:45.  So back to Mom's he came, with a follow up appointment for 2:30.  Although not originally in the plan, Mom offered to watch the boys while Eric and I headed north.  For once we were actually the specified 10 minutes early for our appointment.  Not that it mattered, there was an hour wait there too. Boo.  Luckily, I'd had a huge breakfast at 9:30, and packed a giant gatorade.  
The tech that was sick and mean on Monday wasn't there, that made our visit much more pleasant. 


I mean, who can resist, This profile?! 


And his face, that little nose, elflike, the gal said.  We just thought he looks like his brothers.  


Gimme kiss baby!  


And a little smile from Mr. Mona Lisa.  


Once again he had a hand and a foot by his head, our little contortionist, love these little monkey toes.  Yeah, he's going to be just like his brothers all right! 

The best part was that he weighed in at an estimated 5 pounds, 12 ounces!  They are only estimating weight every 2 weeks, because it can fluctuate up to a half a pound in either direction, but still over 5 pounds already, that was Great News!  News I'll take.  His heartrate was great, but he didn't feel like moving as much as usual.  I don't blame him, I was feeling rather gross myself, had to actually roll over and lay on my side a bit at the end of the ultrasound, and started getting hot flashes again.  The tech went for some sort of Stimulator, that is supposed to vibrate on my belly to get him moving.  He wasn't really feeling like moving.  I guess it was as simple as that.  She used it, and he was totally and utterly unphased.  He did eventually do all the tricks that they want, but on his own time. 
 Little Trickster Indeed! 
My BP was a dash high, 130/100, typical to what I've been seeing at home on the new wrist blood pressure cuff Eric had gotten me, but not enough to worry the doc.  We kept the meds the same, and my urine was still clean.  She did order some bloodwork to check that All things were OK.  Haven't heard back, so we figure they are fine.  
Once we were out of the OBs, we called Mom to check in, thinking we would have enough time for lunch, we opted to go eat at the Panera by the Trader Joe's, thinking we could pick up some red 40 free items for a certain sweetboy for a holiday weekend.  The crowds in the parking lot were insane, so we Trader Joes' first.  Apparently, Good Friday is a Good Day to go to the doctor and the store, because everyone was out on the roads.  We got the Very Last box of Jelly Beans in the place.   And the lines to checkout were so long, we realized we weren't going to have any time to go sit for lunch, before Eric's naptime CT scan. So we bought a box of peanut butter granola bars while we were in line, and ate them in the car on the way to the CT place.  Mom held on to the boys, and Eric did not drop me off, our plan was for all of us to go home and rest.  Nope.  We ate granola bars for lunch in the car.  And I learned the ride from Carmel to Avon is just a bit more than I can handle.  Mom's to Carmel I could handle, but not all the drive back.  I did OK in the place, since it was just me, Eric parked me with a magazine and got his test.  He has a follow up next week.  We snagged the kids and didn't get home until almost 4.  And I was so done when we got home, that I was the only one that napped.  And I've spent the rest of the night on the couch, because my ankles were so swollen by the end of the day, that the swelling is literally overlapping my heels.  So gross, and absolutely exhausting.  But at least the Baby is still OK, and looks like he's going to keep baking a little more.  Time to celebrate Easter weekend at our house! 

Happy Birthday Sam!

Happy Birthday Samuel Elijah!!

I can't believe my Baby is 4! How did this happen?  I mean, I know I've got another baby on the way and all, but Sam is my Baby, and I blinked, and Poof he's 4!   This year, on the actual date of his birth, our celebrations were let down a bit, because Sam got sick on Monday night.  He threw up in the late afternoon, and then in the middle of the night, he developed a fever.  He crawled into bed with me, and tossed and turned most of the night.  Chris wasn't 100% either, he had a cough, that had gotten a little crunchy.  So we cancelled the Birthday Party for Sam's school, and Sam's Chuck E. Cheese Birthday party until the boys are better.   It was definitely the Best decision for the boys.

Sam woke up a little after 8.  Now normally, he Bounds out of bed, to go get breakfast.  Here's how much he didn't feel well.  He just stayed there, and stared at us.  We were all telling him Happy Birthday, and he didn't really seem to care too much.



But Chris felt good enough to be really excited about Sam's birthday.  He scoped out the whole house for Sam, finding out where the presents were.  So Chris brought Sam's Pig Present to him, and Sam opened it up right there in bed.  He was pretty excited...to get it out of the box.  And once he realized his Hot Wheels toy was not conducive to being played with on the bed, well, Then he got out of bed.


Sam made it about halfway down the stairs, before Big Brother struck back with new presents to "help" Sam open.  But Sam said he was OK with Chris helping.  Actually, I think he was feeling so poorly, he welcomed the help opening presents.  This Transformer Rescue Bot - Chase made him so Happy.  And he didn't have to Open it at all.  


Then Chris brought out the blue present that he had picked out for Sam, and helped Sam open it.


It was Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.  The boys were both equally thrilled.  And Sam asked to have it put together right away.  


Sam couldn't move the last present, and Chris was having trouble lifting it.  It was a rather unruly box.  But Biggest Brother had no problem ripping into it.  It was a Transformer Rescue Bot Optimus Prime Firehouse.  


Sam was So Excited.  He came around and hugged me 3 times.  Then he asked Eric to get it out of the box. So he did, and Sam started really smiling for the first time all day.

 

When he got that Firehouse out and all put together, Sam was so excited.  :) 
 

It was so cute, the boys actually played together for a while.  Happily.  


The boys spent the day in their pajamas, a rather welcome treat.  Neither of them had had an all jammie day in a while.  Chris's cold didn't get any worse, and Sam started perking up after naps.  He told us for his Birthday Dinner, he wanted Cottage Cheese.   I figured he'd ask for Chick Fil-A or McDonald's.  We would have driven thru anywhere in town (or near town). But no, he wanted Cottage Cheese.  Cottage Cheese and Fruit Snacks!  I know it sounds weird. Those are his favorite foods, and for a boy with an iffy tummy on his birthday, cottage cheese and fruit snacks were his perfect idea of a birthday dinner.  So that's what he got! 

And even though it was very low key, it was still a Special Day.  We got to Celebrate Sam, we got to spoil him a little bit rotten, and just sit back and watch him play.  It was relaxing, which was good, since no one in the house had any kind of energy.  The healthiest one in the house is Princess the dog.  So a mellow day/week was just what we needed.  


Monday, March 25, 2013

Baby is fine, but hysterical crying doesn't really work for me

Now, back to going to the OB twice a week.  Ugh.  I'm really not a fan of this.  Mostly because, I don't like having to get out of the house.  Most of the time, it just isn't worth the pain and discomfort.  I was giving exception to OB visits for a very long time, because I LOVE to see the Baby, and Love to see him doing so well.  Well, he's so big now, it's real easy to feel that he's doing just fine.  Still, I do enjoy seeing his sweet little Sweetboy face on screen.   
And this week, I thought it would be Swell, because Chris is on Spring Break, so it would be his first time to see his Baby Brother on screen too.  Two weeks ago was Sam's first time.  I feel better about taking them, when I am pretty sure that things are fine with the baby.  When it was touch and go, I didn't want the boys there, in case things were Not Fine.  Neither Eric nor I consciously said we were worried about it, or not wanting the boys there, just in case, but we didn't we didn't want them there.  Now it's OK.  Or at least, more OK.  
I hit 34 weeks this week, and he's getting bigger.  :)
Our appointment today was at a lovely time, 10 am, we could make that with everyone, not on a school day.  We just didn't take into consideration that we got 6 inches of Snow overnight.  Eric shoveled us out, and I got the rest of us dressed and into the car, we were pulling out of the driveway at 9:30...it would have Just worked out.  Except for the pickup truck that was stuck on our street.  And Eric, being wonderful, hopped out to give this guy a hand.  Only, it wasn't just a guy.  It was a kid.  A kid in a pickup, that he clearly was having issues with driving on the snow.  So Eric spent 15 minutes trying to get this kids truck off and running. Not happening.  So I called the OBs office, and told them we were going to be late.  I figured this was more kind than the treatment they gave us telling us they were running an hour behind (10 minutes before our appt time) not calling us until we were in the parking lot.  
So I called them.  I asked if other people were having trouble getting there with the weather too.  They said they were booked up, as long as we could get there before 10:30.  I didn't see that being a problem, so we continued on.  And we got there about 10:15.  Apparently while I was in giving my urine sample, the tech came by and grumped at Eric about being late, told us we'd have to wait a bit.  That was fine, we had all of us together, so it wasn't like last week when we had to get home to the kids.  So we went and waited for a while, they squeezed us in at about 10:45.  Then the Tech lost her every loving mind.  She got me on the table, gooing up my belly, then stood and lectured us for 15 minutes.  I was like, If you just DID THE TEST, we'd be long gone by now, and you wouldn't have to gripe anymore about how Late I'm making you.  I kept saying OK, I understand, just to shut her up.  Only it didn't.  And she started in on Eric...Again.  And she was not listening to what we were saying.  It was clear she wasn't feeling well either.  And I think she'd lost her filter.  I was polite.  It took everything I had to keep being polite.  
Only it started to affect me, and that's when I started to lose it.  It had been a long day for me too.  
I'd woken up at 5 a.m. to Sam tossing and turning in my bed, and I couldn't go back to sleep...I played on the computer a bit, and Sam woke up for the day at 6:30.  He and I talked, giggled, but then I started getting a little dizzy and went to lay down. Only the dizzy got worse.  I had to call Eric to tend to Sam, and they went down for breakfast...that was 7:30....I woke up at 9:15.  Yeah, I fell flat back to sleep.  I don't do that.   That's so not normal for me.  And then I scrambled to get the kids out the door too.  All that rush to get lectured about my tardiness?!  And they didn't even Bloody take my Blood Pressure!  I was mad.  And when I get upset (these days), no good comes of it.  My belly gets painfully tight, I get light headed.  Crying is really bad, because it so moves into hyperventilating, and contractions.  It's bad.  So I try really hard not to put myself in situations where I cry.  This may make me seem like a selfish bitch, because it may seem I'm not thinking about anyone but myself.  People pushing me to dwell on how our situation impacts them, and how selfish we're being.  Well, I'm not.  I'm thinking about my baby.  Me and the Baby, and that's about it.  That's my job right now, that's all I can handle.  

And I don't do well when I get pushed.  And the tech pushed.  And I started getting light headed.  I had Eric give me the rest of my gatorade, and I ordered her to start the test before I passed out.  She did.  But she was not Joyful.  And of course, the baby wasn't as up to doing all his Cute tricks, he knows when Mommy isn't doing well.  

At least we got these:  


Sweet baby boy cuddled up to the uterine wall.  


He really loves to keep his hand in front of his face.  

Chris asked why his hand was in his face, I said that's how Baby J liked to sleep.  Chris asked why Baby was Gray? (Just like Sam did a couple weeks ago) We explained that's how they take pictures.  The boys were cute for about a minute.  Then they started nit picking, fighting over the same chair...probably because she'd taken so long in getting the test started.  They were over it, I was over it.  I put them in Timeout. I started to get really light headed.  I could feel the Heatwave that comes with one of those vasovagal episodes.  Sweat broke out.   This one was surely set off by laying on my back for so long AND being upset.  So I made her hurry up for her counts and whatnot, and then I called for ice water. All I wanted in the world was to get Out of that room.  I wanted to take All My Boyz home.  

Once we were outside, once I was seated, drinking some water, I started to feel better.   But I had thought we'd have this great visit to the OB, all 4 of us watching the best show on tv ever, and then we'd go to a lovely family lunch.  Yeah, didn't happen.   It was more of a "Lot of stuff happened and I cried all the way home sort of visit", without all the crying, because I need to be an insensitive bitch. 

It was the Worst OB appt we'd had.  Didn't even see a doctor, just the tech, and she was pissy the whole time. It was bad.  I see my doctor again on Friday, but if the same tech dares to say one word that isn't I'm Sorry, she's going to get an earful.  

But the Baby was OK.  And I feel him moving around, and I Know he's doing OK.  I have to focus on that.  Big Picture Right?  Perspective, Yo.  


Five Things that don't necesarily suck about being on bedrest

Now finishing my 4th full month of bedrest, I found I needed to sit down and find a few perks of this situation.

5.  Church Lady home cooking.  The last couple months the Bell Choir has alternated bringing us a meal once a week.  I'm talking homemade Fluff Salads, brownies, casseroles.  And you know church ladies, it's never just one meal's worth.  It's been a Godsend.

4.  Freezer Cooking! Cooking is really hard right now.  After working all day, and keeping us alive, Eric doesn't have the energy for it, and I'm useless.  But one weekend a month, he'll cook up a storm for our freezer cooking group.  We make 7 copies of the same meal, buying in bulk, and then go to the meeting and Trade, and we have a freezer full of 7 different meals.  Now I haven't felt up to always going to the meetings, but when I do, it's good to feel normal and bond with my gals.  And 7 meals lasts longer than just 7 days. This crew and the church folks have kept us Fed for the last 4 months.  Other wise our budget would be all kinds of blown by going out. The kids love McDonald's.  Along the same lines of how we don't feel like cooking, we've inadvertantly started a trend of going to McDonald's after church on Sundays and often during the week.  I didn't think I'd ever get tired of McDonald's after our early Riley days with Chris.  But we do.  Thank goodness for the Freezer Cooking gals.  Their goodies are keeping me sane!

3.  Just Say No.  After 4 full months of this, I'm getting really good at saying No.  If I think I'll feel worse at the end of doing something, I say No.  And it's OK.  It's taught me a lesson.  I can Say No.  I can say No, and the world won't end.  My kids won't suffer long term damage because we didn't go to the late night school Thing, or because we didn't take that third class, or because we all didn't pack up to be tortured at that other activity.  I stopped caring how it makes You Feel.  I've spent the greater part of my life being unconfrontational.  Don't rock the boat.  Be a good girl.  Don't be mean.  Don't add to any fights between already existing fights between people you care about.  I was once accused as a teenager of only thinking about myself, "Self! Self! Self!"  was what this yelled at me.  Looking back on it now, Duh, I was teenager.  That was Nothing. But looking back on it now, I cared a whole lot more back then about what other people thought about me, and I didn't want to hurt their feelings or offend them. I spent much more time worrying about it than I do now.  For once in my life, it IS all about me.  Actually, it's all about this Baby.  And as hard as it's been for me to not be sensitive to others, I can't get worked up about it any more.  It's taken me a while to see this as a Good Thing.  I felt Insensitive that I was having to choose between what's best for this baby and my body, and my family and doing what someone else wanted.  Getting upset, crying hysterically, is So Bad for me right now, it's not even funny.  I had a hysterical crying fit last week, when someone I cared about suggested we put someone else's priorities before our own.  It made me sicker to get upset about it, and to try to figure out logistics in our current situation of prioritizing someone else than to just ignore them and say No.

2. I don't Have to get up.  When the kids wake up, loud noises, bad dreams, they all set my uterus to contracting immediately upon waking.  So Eric gets up with them.  It was very hard to get used to not popping up whenever someone cries, or wakes first thing.  But now that I've relinquished that control, I have begun to enjoy that I can (need to) lay there a while before climbing out of bed.  And the kids have both learned to come to me when they need comfort.  The best mornings are when I wake to children, and start tensing up, and can lay there, and even fall back to sleep for a half an hour or so before getting up.  Makes me calmer in the mornings.

1.  You learn who Really Loves you.  Since this has all happened, I really have found out who my friends are. The ones that still call or write, months later, even when I'm not up to doing so, or doing anything in return, they still call, they still check in, they still offer or just come by with some sort of help.  We've been blessed with people bringing food, Still, and people offering a simple hour or two of their time to move shit around or do laundry, just sit and talk with me, and make me feel like a friend too, like a functional member of society instead of just a mooch.  Friends or family that borrow the boys so that Eric can actually get some work done while he's supposed to be 'working from home'.  In the beginning, we were overflowed with offers of Help.  But then a lot of those "helpers" failed in follow through.  I know their intentions were Good.  I know mine would have been, but after getting stood up, 2, 3, 4 times, I stop trying.  I can't obsess about this. This has been one of the Worst times in my life, and frankly, I don't have the time or energy for half time friends.  Suddenly, I find my inner circle smaller, filling it only with people that have helped us out more than once, or people that Get It. If you don't have time to love me, or help me, or check in with me,  I don't have time for your fakeness, and I certainly don't have the energy for you.  And doing that has actually eliminated a lot of stress in my life, and make me take note of who really cares for me, for us.  And I Thank God for those people. So much so I really realize how Blessed I am.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Let's Go Bulldogs!

Now, if you know anything about me, you know I'm a Butler Bulldog, and I bleed Blue and White.  I'm also a wee bit wacky when it comes to my superstitions during the NCAA tournament.  Every year during tournament time (well, since Butler made it to the NCAA) we go to our friends Mike and Kathleen's to watch the game.  We eat Queso and chips, and York Peppermint Pieces (because they are blue and white).  And if the team starts losing because someone stood up, or sat down, or stopped eating, then we Quick, change that behavior.  Yeah, we're a little nutty.  But it only is weird if it doesn't work. ;) 
Which lately, it does.  
So on Thursday, I was feeling historically good enough to drive.  My team was playing at 12:45.   So I drove to Kathleen's after Sam got out of preschool.  I had an afternoon appointment at the OB, and had to save my energy, so I relied on friends to get him in and out of the car, and we drove thru for lunch, and that drive was All I could handle there for a couple hours.  Blessedly, once I got there I could lounge on their couch for a while, and Just Chill.
Our friend Bohl took a long lunch, and met us to watch the game.  We're both Expecting, about 3 months apart, and both of us are having little baby bulldog boys.  So please excuse the Dueling Bellies picture.  I just can't resist.  



My friend Melissa got me this adorable onesie for Baby, and I took it with us.  After all, this game, was the closest we've gotten to going to a game all Season.  We usually try to make it to a game at Hinkle every year, but this year, with me on bedrest, it was just happening.  And during the regular season games, every time I turned on the TV, we'd start to lose, so I stopped watching, to not jinx the team.  You're Welcome. 
But we figured, the jinx was over for tournament play.  So I could go and watch. 


So I brought Baby's First Bulldog shirt with us, and put it as close to on him as it would get. 
And we won!

So, we made it to the next round, and on Saturday, Butler was playing at 7:45 pm.  Notoriously NOT my time.  Evenings stink for me.  And I haven't been able to travel very far.  But I wanted to try.  It would have been so depressing to watch the game at home alone.  And it might have jinxed us too.  Blessedly, my friends reserved a large cushy spot for me to take over their couch if I needed to, even inviting me to stay the night, in case I couldn't make the trip home.  So we packed up all our yahoos in their Butler garb, and went over to continue the good juju for Saturday's game.  

The boys were adorable in their Butler garb.  

Just like me, they firmly believe that Butler is the Only Team to root for.  


Chris and Emily became our Cheerleaders during commercial breaks.  
And I have to tell you, they were so much more entertaining than the halftime honeys we used to have back when we were in the Pep Band.  I'm not biased, our kids just Rock.  

But many things went wrong there at the end, and we just couldn't fix it.   And I didn't go into labor, or have terrible contractions from the stress of the game, and we made the trip back home safe and sound.  I did eat myself into discomfort though, because as long as I was stuffing chips and queso into my face, we were doing well.  But my belly has limited capacity, and I had trouble there at the end.  Whether it was because I wasn't eating enough queso, or Eric was left standing in the kitchen too long, or the collective gasps in the arena changed the air pressure enough so that the ball just wouldn't go into the basket, I don't know what it was.  We just lost. By 2 points.  Snarf.   Not all our happy juju could undo it.  But we gave it a good fight, just as we always do. Sorry.  

Back in my day, Butler was a little no name school no one had ever heard of, now we're not so much the Cinderella, Underdog story so much anymore, and we push the limits Every Year.    Our hearts are still like the little Engine that could.  And one day, we will prove it, all the way to the Top.  We don't just think we can, we Know we can.  

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Sweet Baby Boy

This week we've Upgraded.  Upgraded to going in Twice a week.  Twice a week we drive up to Carmel to be seen, do an ultrasound, biophysical profile, and make sure Baby and I are doing OK.    My BP was a little funky when we went in on Tuesday, for me of late anyway, it was 95/70, which is not bad, but as my doctor says, that's WHY we're watching, still a little low.  And I've been feeling pretty swirly.  We upped the meds last week, going from 200 mg 2x a day, to 300 mg 2x a day.  And now I think it's bringing it too low, because I'm feeling Swirly.  I thought the 600 wasn't working.  So I discussed it with my doctor, and we decided to bring me down to 500.  I was worried I might be too high that way, but she said, better to be a little high then low.    

And we checked the baby, who, as always, was doing wonderfully.  They counted his breath movements (who knew that was a thing?!), made sure all his limbs were moving, counted the amount of liquid space available, it was wild.  


And he was Cute.  Even the tech commented on how Good a baby he was.  

I loved that, he's such a good baby and he's not even here yet.  


They got some pretty neat pictures for us, his cheeks are starting to fill out.  


He looks so much like his brothers.  First, he looks like Sam, then in another angle, he looks just like Chris.  
This is the Product we make.  

On Thursday we went back in, our visit wasn't quite as wonderful.  We were arriving (with Sam) in the parking lot, when we got a call, that they were running At Least an hour behind for ultrasounds.   I blew up.  I lost it.  It was bad enough our appointment was at 3:30, Clearly we didn't have much choice on that.  They said they didn't have anyone in on Friday, and it was Thursday or Thursday.  Those are the 1 day Eric's supposed to work - so they can include him in meetings.  He had a 9, 11, 1 oclock meeting, and I had to kidnap him to have him in Carmel by 3:30.  Oh yeah, we were peeved.  Sitting there parked in the parking lot, convinced the baby was fine, we almost left.  Graciously (and obviously accustomed to dealing with crazy, nap-deprived pregnant women) the staff offered to give me a non-stress test instead of the ultrasound, so we did.  We were already all the way up there.  And Sam and I were being deprived of our afternoon naps, we might as well make use of it.  So we did.  
We went in and they hooked me up to the machine.  My BP was OK, like 130/90, I think, nothing terrible. It's a lot easier to find him in my uterus now, and we listened to his heartbeat, and watched him on the monitor.  They gave me a little clicker with a button to push every time I felt him move.  To sum up an awesome half an hour, he boxed me 57 times in 30 minutes.  He's a Maniac!    And Sam thought it was hysterical every time I pushed the button.  He was doing fine.  And a doctor popped in, and we talked about if we need to tweak my meds, but my pee was still clear and she thought my BP was not anything to worry about.  I'm glad, because I was actually having a pretty decent week, I had felt good enough to drive.  TWICE!  On Tuesday night, I felt good enough to drive myself to Freezer Cooking Night, and on Thursday, I drove myself (and had help picking up Sam) to Kathleen's to watch the Bulter game.  Check me out, finally feeling good enough to get out of the house.  Gotta make hay while the sun shines.  Gotta get out while I feel good, because there are still plenty of icky days, so we need to take advantage of the good ones.  And luckily, this week was full of good ones. 

Most importantly, the Baby was doing well.  All is Well.  

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Watch the Birdies

A lovely Top Ten of the Birds that have started coming around this week.  

1.  Jackie - When I was little I named the cardinal in our yard Jackie, and Jackie used to come around a lot in the Spring.  I was probably in like 3rd grade before it occurred to me that it could be Different Cardinals. 


2.  I spy a Bluebird! - I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I spotted this little fella bopping around from tree to tree in the backyard.  


 3.  Nope it's really a Bluebird!



4.  Caught our little bluebird friend amidst the frosty raindrops.  


5.  Our new neighbor, Perry, the Peregrine Falcon.  As in , Where's Perry?



6.  I could have sworn I saw a bluebird bopping around the yard, but when I broke out the camera yesterday, I found this little one first.  


7.  Well, as it turns out, it's a Female Bluebird!  



8.  Here's Mr. Bluebird!  


 9.  Why Yes, Yes I did sing "Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder"....it's the Truth.  It's Actual.  Everything is Satisfactual.


10.  Going to enjoy having Mr. Bluebird be our neighbor too!