8 Mondays Left

She's very cozy in there

I'm going to continue to count down Mondays as though I'm going to make it to my scheduled c-section. Optimism or what not...

Today was the first of my weekly NSTs. I guess it really started last Friday, but this is the first official full week of NST monitoring. My blood pressure was a bit elevated this morning, but I forgot to take my medication before I left. It went down to a safe 134/78 or something before I left. Before they'd let me leave.

I have my 32 week OB appointment and a growth ultrasound tomorrow. I've been continuously paranoid that Nina is still a boy. Which would royally suck. I will update after the appointment, assuming all goes well and I'm allowed to come home.

UPDATE 9/25:
Had an ultrasound and OB appt with my doctor this morning. I have high fluid again, but without the weird 10lb weight gain over two weeks that I had with Jack. The ultrasound is showing that Nina isn't affected by my blood pressure, or the supposed high fluid levels. She is measuring a respectable 4 lb 7 oz. At this rate, I'm pretty much repeating Jack's pregnancy. I will likely not make it to November 19, but as long as she comes after Halloween, we will be happy. My doctor says that even if I do make it full term, I will probably be miserable. Nina will end up being a big baby, just like Jack would have been had I made it to full term (and like he really was when you consider he was nearly a month early).

My blood pressure was fantastic. 120/60. Looks like the medication, which "isn't meant to lower my bp, but prevent me from having a stroke," is working to keep it low. Good. I am not going to be running around like a crazy nesting mama, but I don't feel so bad if I have to get up and make Jack some lunch. For now, the regimen is the same.  Twice weekly NSTs, ultrasound every 3 weeks to measure growth and fluid levels, and bedrest. 

Goals While on Bedrest

Every couple of years (or maybe once a year, it depends on what else I have going on) I read the Harry Potter series. The last time I read them from beginning to end was the week I got pregnant with Jack. I'm taking my time this read around so that I can stretch them out to last longer than a week. Once I finish them, I'll focus on Lemony Snicket, Hunger Games, probably Twilight. Not the Sookie books, though, because I will want to read them closer to when the next book comes out in May.

I am also going to focus on spending more one on one time with Jack. We've pretty much been doing this nonstop for the last 2 years, but I want to get as much time in with just the two of us as possible. He does get disappointed when he grabs my hand and tries to pull me off the couch. "Go, go, Ma! Go!" and I have to explain that mommy is kind of sick and cannot go go. I think, after the last couple of days, that he's starting to catch on. He's being a tad bit more independent. While he's not incredibly verbal, his imagination is definitely starting to develop. He plays with his trains in elaborate chases, he parents his stuffed animals. He is always tucking Mickey Mouse in on top of the toy box.

He has also been bringing me more and more books to read. This is what the nurses and doctors suggest I do during the day instead of active playtime with Jack. I'm not sure they've met my son. This kid went on a 5 month reading strike. NO books. NO bedtime stories. We were not allowed to read to him. I was barely allowed to read my own books. Try getting a kid to sit still on the couch to read a book when all he does is scream bloody murder when you even attempt to open a book. I'm not sure why he started acting that way. We read to him almost every night from the time he was about a month old. Todd got through the first 5 Harry Potter books before Jack went on the first reading strike. That wasn't so much of a reading strike as it was Jack just wanting some boob and then to be put to bed to fall asleep on his own; he didn't have time for distractions. That was at about a year old. We couldn't get full chapters in. At that point we switched to short kids books. Todd would still read while I nursed and rocked Jack. It worked. Around February of this year though, he just wanted to be placed in his crib and he talked himself to sleep. Now that we've reached the procrastination stage, he tries to bring us books to read. I've (disgusted to admit this) actually said the words "no, Jack, no books tonight. It's bedtime." While Todd doesn't really like to read, we both think it's important that Jack enjoy books and reading. We are glad to see an interest returning.

I like series books. I think my next series is the Divergent series (I think that's what it's called. Insurgent? Supposed to be set in a dystopia like Hunger Games.) Also, Chrome is telling me that dystopia isn't a word. I like being smarter than my internet browser.

We're watching a LOT of TV. We watched plenty before, but now it's on CONSTANTLY. Combined with Jack's love and genius regarding navigating the Netflix and YouTube apps on my phone and he's been watching a surprising amount of what I would consider "educational" videos. There's this color video on Netflix that he absolutely adores. He's learned to say "brown" and "orange" this past week, so I'm encouraging that particular show. He is excellent at identifying his colors. He can say red, blue, green, yellow, brown, and orange. I am trying to figure out if he knows more colors, because they're coming faster than any other words. He will especially tell you the colors of candy. Yummy, delicious candy. He knows that when I go to the OB office he gets a lollipop. He points out the color he wants and then he can have it. Right now we're pretty much at the point where we will give him anything he wants if he asks for it directly. Identifying by colors works. The only thing he doesn't get on demand is Cars fruit snacks. He is limited to two packs of snacks a day and only after he eats the majority of lunch. He is gaining more weight now that we've cut out the snacks.

Last week, as we were walking in from the car, he looked up at the sky and said "I see cowds!" His language is certainly improving. It's a little garbled, but we're getting to the point of being able to understand about 25% of what he's saying (for reference, at 26 months, non-caretakers should understand closer to 50+% of what he's saying). I've been working on getting him to sign or say help, please, but he's not having it. His "help me" whine is obnoxious. Am I supposed to admit that? Can I expand with he's really not terribly whiny in general, and this is really the only behavior issue we've been working on lately? He does normal toddler stuff, like throwing toys that shouldn't be thrown. We worked on that over a couple of weeks and he's much better now. It's just this one whine. Every time he starts, Todd or I emphasize on him saying "help, please" and sign help to him. I suppose I would say this whine is his worst character flaw, and for that I'm thankful.

Nina is still extremely active. I'm excited to start the once a month ultrasounds. I can't wait to see her again. I desperately want to meet this little girl who keeps me up at night and NEVER EVER stops moving. EVER. Kick counts aren't even necessary because she just never stops. I notice when she doesn't move for 30 minutes. I keep reminding myself that we have to keep her in for X amount of weeks (5 weeks at the time of this post) and then she is free to come. I'm hoping to make it to my c-section but I'm not 100% confident that's going to happen.

This whole post went somewhere beyond goals. I just can't help bragging about my kid. I'm sorry about that. I keep saying this whole bed rest thing would really suck if Jack had a different temperament. As I'm writing, Jack decided he was done with his breakfast plate. He put it on the coffee table and I said "sink, please" so he picks it up and says "uh oh! okay!" and put it in the sink. He's excellent at following directions.

I'm sorry. I just can't stop. It's mommy blogger word vomit. I will be done now. Look for an all new exciting update tomorrow complete with NST report and belly picture. I will probably update tomorrow's post on Tuesday, so make sure to come back and check for some ultrasound pictures!

Day 3 of Bedrest

The walls are closing in....

Just kidding. In all seriousness, my days are somewhat normal. With the exception of being able to get on the floor and roughhouse with my two-year old, our routine hasn't changed too much. There's a lot more TV and video games, but it's for the good of the family, I guess.

I went into my doctors office for my NST today. Nina is much more well behaved than Jack ever was. She moves more, is feistier, but at least she doesn't play hide and seek from the monitor. Her NST was perfect.

I saw my least favorite NP today. She's just not very personable. I suppose it's good from a medical standpoint that she is all business, but it doesn't really make for good bedside manner. Our conversation revolved around what kind of bedrest I'm on. She wants me to lay on the couch all day, of feasible. Sure. That works, but how much activity can I do? Please remember I have a two year old at home. "oh, you can't do bedrest with a toddler!" Todd and I agreed. Then she explained that they usually recommend full time childcare or bringing in full time help. Thankfully, my mother in law is coming up and I will have help. But, what if she couldn't come? We can't afford full time daycare. Also, I would have to change daycare providers because our current daycare provider is M/W/F. I don't want to change. Jack is happy, I love his daycare, and it just wouldn't be fair to throw even more change at him right now.

I am being placed on a blood pressure medication. On top of the twice weekly NSTs, I am having growth ultrasounds every 3 weeks. Maybe they'll give me pictures of her toes finally. I'm sorry, but there's nothing cuter than fat little ultrasound toes. Then I can imagine nomming on them until she finally gets here. I am aiming for November 5, at least, before they take the baby out. I will be about 37 weeks at that point and she will be considered full term. Assuming the BP issues don't affect her growth or fluid levels, I hope to keep her in even longer. Jack was born at 36w5d, making him a late term preemie. I found out the earliest they'll deliver at my hospital is 35 weeks so long as the baby appears to be fine via ultrasound.

My first ultrasound is Tuesday. I also see my actual OB instead of an NP or an on call doctor. I'm thankful for this. She has a way of presenting information in an official manner but still making me feel comfortable and not terrified. I don't know why it seems like they're handling this pregnancy so much more intensely than Jack's. I want to find out why. All I know is this is my last baby. We had talked about the idea of a third eventually, but I am done.

So, this weekend I plan on doing absolutely nothing. Todd is going to have to manage everything before his parents get here. He has a list to do. I will lay on the couch and watch movies with Jack. It'll be great.

Day 1 of Forced Bed Rest

Well, the walls aren't quite closing in on me yet! Jack is, as always, awesome. I get to get out of the house today to trudge over the hospital to give them my jug 'o pee. Yeah. I'm not going to focus on urine every blog post, but having a doctor approved outing is a plus today, regardless of the icky circumstances.

I broke the rules and prepped all of our meals for the week, with the exception of cleaning and trimming meats. I will let Todd handle the rest.

Big things that I'm unable to do:
Laundry (which I rarely do unless I'm out of underwear or clean towels)
Clean bathrooms (I've delegated this Todd's job since my right leg falls asleep when I'm bent over too long, so about 2 months, and I've never done the downstairs bathroom while pregnant because of the kitty litter)
Bathe Jack (see above, bending sucks)
Vacuum (HA! Like I did it before [okay, I did, once every couple of days under the highchair])
Cook (this isn't so much of an "unable" as a "it hurts my back to stand for too long, and I get contractions, so I'd rather not" thank the maker for freezer meals)

I really don't do much, especially with the pollen count being as high as it has been. It's just different when you chose not to do something versus being told you cannot do something. I'm a stubborn person and like to make my own decisions. I figured we have to keep this baby in the oven until at least November 5. She's still pretty active (by which I mean VERY active) so as long as she keeps moving and feeling like there are 2 babies in there, I'm not worried about her growth. I'm sure I'll have at least one ultrasound before she comes to do a biophysical profile on her to check for lung development. I remember these with Jack and they were always my favorite ultrasounds because they show so much more detail.

Until told otherwise, I've put myself on modified bed rest. The doctors are going to have to live with it, because I have a tiny dictator that demands things like food and diaper changes. The office is working with me to schedule my NSTs while Jack is at daycare. We decided to enroll him for a third morning starting in October. I'm not going to worry about the toy mess, the stairs, or the state of our closet. I can sit back and tell Todd what to do and where I want things. I just have to remember not to take over.

Days like this are when I am most grateful that I have a low key toddler. He is happy to sit and play with his trains for a while. I can hand him my phone and he plays his games for as long as we let him. He's learning hand-eye coordination with his Jake and the Never Land Pirates app. He does puzzles and is learning shape recognition. We've invested in some toddler friendly apps and he seems to be really enjoying them. If he gets bored of games, he knows how to put on Netflix and choose a "tchoo-tchoo" video to watch. He's been really into this weird coloring video. Yesterday he started saying "brown" and "orange" so I know he's learning something from my negligence. iPhones are excellent babysitters. Yes, he does real art, and plays with real puzzles. He likes to build with blocks and play with Lincoln Logs (although the longer logs usually turn into swords), and he still likes to play with his play food. The iPhone is an excellent distraction for the 8,000 times a day when I have to pee. It's also good for when I just need a minute to myself.

9 more weeks?

I have nothing to write. My brain is on vacation. Here, enjoy a belly picture :)

UPDATE 9/18:

So much for having nothing to write...

As of this morning, my "borderline" blood pressures have gone up to put me in a danger zone. I'm officially on bed rest. I start twice weekly NSTs, I'm sure with 24 hour urine collections and blood work. I have an NST and follow up appointment with my doctor on Friday, at which time I want to discuss the possibility of medication before forced bed rest.

Let's face it, bed rest is NOT conducive to life with a two year old. Jack's next two months are going to be filled with movies and a lot of independent play time. This week, Todd and I have to figure out a schedule that works for us. He can't take any time off to take care of Jack, so I'm somewhat on my own until help arrives. We're going to handle this in much the same manner as we handled bed rest while I was pregnant with Jack, with some minor tweaks (like getting Jack to daycare). At least I will have another person to talk to this time around. Two, once my mother-in-law arrives. 

The doctor I saw at L&D today didn't put me at ease. She brought up steroids, which Jack never needed, and talked about how hmmm....she wasn't going to deliver me today and that she wants to keep Nina in for "at least" 3-4 more weeks. I upped that estimate to at least 6 more weeks, until she could be considered full term. She advised me to remain optimistic. I am a bit surprised by how she approached the situation, considering she'd just told me how good my blood work was. My blood pressure had dropped to an acceptable 130/80 (with Jack, as soon as I rolled to my left side, my pressures dropped to the 110/70s, so this is a bit high for me). 

We always considered bed rest a possibility. I'm pretty sure I wrote about it, and our contingency plan. I'm going to hope that this pregnancy will end like Jack's, with baby being pretty much unaffected by the high blood pressure. So far, she has been showing no signs of growth issues, so that's good. Despite the high blood pressure, a 2 week period of high fluids, and being delivered 3.5 weeks early, Jack was a healthy 7lb 4oz baby. We're expecting the same of Nina.

To Build or To Buy?

Jack has reached the age where he really wants to help cook. He always wants to flip pancakes, stir pasta, etc. So, we've been talking about getting Jack a play kitchen. I don't want a giant plastic monstrosity, so I've been scouring all of the toy sites for an affordable wood option. I think I've settled on one, but I can't be sure. I kind of like the idea of making one from a refurbished entertainment center. I'm pretty sure I've been on Pinterest for too long.

I talked about it with Todd this morning. He reminded me of how unhandy he is when it comes to building things. Sure, we can put together something that has directions and putting part A with part B, but we don't have a good track record of building stuff from scratch. Back when we first started dating, Todd took a TV stand and attempted to make it taller. With boards, screws, and nails, he failed. The TV was more than slightly slanted. We're special people, that's for sure.

But, I still feel like this is something I can do. I can sand and prime and paint something. Then Todd asked me about the sink. What would we use for a sink? Well, most of the examples found online show a round sink using a stainless steel bowl. Todd laughed at the idea that we'd have to jigsaw a circle. I told him that if we're smart, this could save us quite a bit of money (rough estimate is about half of the cost of the play kitchen I found on Amazon), to which he responded we'd end up with some ghetto jagged edged kitchen that most definitely wouldn't be safe for kids. He actually encouraged me to spend the money and buy a properly made kitchen set. Thanks, honey! I love spending money. 

10 Mondays left!

29 weeks 2 days (official timeline)

Hey all! So, this week has been exciting. Actually, not really. I've been trying to take it easy.

My OB appointment today revealed I haven't gained weight in the last 3 weeks. We've been eating healthier, with smaller portion sizes, so that's probably some of the reason. Believe me, the smaller portion sizes aren't taking anything away from the munchkin in terms of calories. I'm still probably eating more than I should be, but we're trying to be healthier in general. My blood pressure is meh. It's borderline, but under the danger zone, as it has been lately. I'm beginning to believe there's probably a bit of mild chronic hypertension coming. 

Nina's heartbeat was fantastic, and went up appropriately after some movement as she attempted escape from the Doppler probe. I've been a bit more comfortable today and I'm crediting that to the fact that she's FINALLY in a vertical position. After weeks of being horribly uncomfortable, I can finally sit down without her entire body in my lungs and ribs. Even though I was reminded that it really doesn't matter because of the c-section, I'M more comfortable. And a comfortable mama is a happy mama.

We mostly relaxed this weekend. Todd did wake up and clean the upstairs bathroom. He also picked up our bedroom and moved the bassinet from the entryway to the bedroom. It fits, is out of the way in the next couple of months. The cats love laying in it, so I threw a sheet over it. As Ninatime approaches, I will lay some aluminum foil in it to prepare the kitties understanding that it's not their bed. It worked with Jack's crib so I'm hoping it works with Nina's bassinet. I will probably put a kitty bed underneath the bassinet for Zelda's protective instincts.

Confession: I am secretly a girly girl. I'm just too lazy to actually do anything about it. I also think I look silly in dresses, for the most part. Because of that, I'm preparing miss Nina for a babyhood of dresses and ruffles, of big bows and flowers, of tights and Mary Janes. I had so much fun dressing Jack in the early days, when 4-5 outfit changes were necessary. I can't wait to do the same with Nina. 

I do have a couple of projects up my sleeve in the coming months. Or weeks. I don't know. Whenever I have a free minute. I need to find a scrapbook for her. Her ultrasound page is going to be a bit less padded than Jack's, but I have far more pictures of my belly than I did with Jack so I figure they're about even in terms of documenting their individual growth. 

Potty training has stalled in the last couple of weeks. We're going with the theory that this developmental milestone is going to be similar to every other milestone. He'll let us know when he's ready and then all of a sudden, he'll just be potty trained. I'm not anticipating the overnight solution, as potty training is a bit more involved than weaning and transitioning from crib to bed. But I am anticipating a big interest soon.

This weekend we're going to experiment with a home office/playroom type setup in the dining room. That should be fun. There's nothing I love more than rearranging furniture! I'm sure Todd agrees, he just doesn't know it yet.

Sideways Baby

Right now, and for the last couple of weeks, Nina has been transverse. She's basically lying sideways. It's making for a very uncomfortable mama. She needs to switch her position in the next couple of weeks. Ultimately, it doesn't matter because I'm having a scheduled c-section, but I imagine I'd be more comfortable if she were breach or head down. Right now, when she moves I have contractions. I can directly tie these contractions to her movements, so I don't worry. It took a while to figure this out, but my brain has completely quit working over the last couple of weeks.

I am here to publicly admit that I am beyond spacey. I lose words and their meanings. I am constantly pausing in the middle of sentences while Todd's interruptions of "what's that thing?" and "yeah, finish what you were saying" and then I just lose it. It's frustrating and annoying. I have lost items, put clothing on inside out or backwards. I misplace my keys, phone, purse, etc. Thankfully, I haven't lost the outside baby yet and inside baby is impossible to lose considering she's still, you know, attached to me and whatnot.

Jack is now addicted to my iPhone. We're considering getting him his own iPod Touch for Christmas, but might have to reconsider the timeline and invest in one "from Nina"

We finally closed on our refinance. To celebrate, I purchased some new burp cloths, a new diaper bag, pink binkies, a ladybug Boppy cover, and since BRU had a sale on Pampers we picked up some newborn and size 1 diapers. We're about ready for Nina to come home. Her crib is now "Ninafied" with her bedding and mobile. I would post pictures, but I've been known for posting things "too early" (read: EVERY TIME I POST A CHRISTMAS TREE PICTURE BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE) so you're all going to have to be patient. 

I think I mentioned last week that I got the car seat and swing/bouncy seat covers washed. This week was focused on getting home improvement jobs finished. We hung new curtain rods for the living room. The others had a nasty tendency to fall down and the curtains didn't really glide very well. After a hefty Ikea trip, we now have three new rods, blackout curtains for our bedroom, a rod for our bedroom, a light for the kids' room, and some new storage bins.

I love our curtains. They're chocolate brown, so they complement our bedding. They hang along the back of our bed so they look like an accent wall. The problem with Ikea curtains is they come in 96" lengths and needed to be hemmed to 84". Ikea is great because they give you hemming tape. Todd and I suck because we fought the entire time hemming was done. Our third curtain was the only one done right. The 4th "just in case" curtain was the breaking point. Thank the maker we didn't need it, because I laid the hem tape down the wrong way and melted it to my iron. My favorite iron. The best one I've ever had. We accidentally touched the tape once or twice and it's easy enough to get off, but I've been lazy for the weekend.

These are actually from a couple of weeks ago when Jack helped me make cupcakes. 

My kitchen is much cleaner now.

We're trying out another week of prepared freezer meals. The only one I'm not confident enough freezing is pot pie. I will make the ingredients ahead of time and assemble them at cooking time. After this week's exploding lasagna disaster, we're a bit hesitant to use the oven (because it still smells like burned tomato sauce and cheese) but the weather is supposed to be nice enough that I should be able to open the windows as the pie bakes. The coming menu consists of pot pie, turkey meatloaf, Yankee pot roast, salsa chicken, meatball sandwiches, baked spaghetti, and lemon chicken (plus various sides). I'm excited. Most sites that have recipes list enough ingredients for two or more meals. We're cutting them in half for one meal to try out how we like the plan ahead cooking. It's also for portion control. In order to ensure leftovers, we have to force ourselves to cut back on the amount we eat for dinner. So far, we're 6/7 on successful meals. We're focusing on crock pot meals to avoid a huge cooking day. The exception to this is my giant vat of red sauce. I will freeze it in preparation for meals and throw some in with some frozen meatballs for said meatball sandwiches.

Todd took a belly picture! 11 Mondays left!

11 Mondays left! YAY! We're getting prepared and very excited. Mama can't wait to sit/sleep/stand comfortably again and Daddy can't wait to meet his princess. Jack rubbed my belly today at the grocery store. I had to stop what we were doing in order to remember the moment. When my firstborn acknowledged his sister by feeling her. He usually won't hold his hands long enough on my belly to feel her. It was a big moment. The 5 other people in our aisle just had to huff around my little family as I basked in this big brotherly attention.

I wonder what I'll decide needs to be done next weekend. Probably the storage unit. YAY Todd! It's time to enlist some buddies for the big furniture moving you're going to be doing in the next few weeks.