Smiling Through the Rain

Paisley watching over a dog while he was under anesthesia for surgery. Pointing out body parts (she's saying "eye") My happy baby girl

This week it really hit me that I'm on the home stretch now with this pregnancy.  I've crossed the mid-way point and then some!   It's hard to believe that I'm 25 weeks pregnant because I feel SOOOO good.  And I know that makes some of you want to disown me, but I am so happy that it's been enjoyable again. Gained 15 pounds at this point which is a little less than I'd gained with Paisley at this point.  And this little fetus is much larger than she was!!!  I'm eating about 5-6 meals a day to keep the hunger at bay, so I should have gained 50 by now.  :) With her, I had quite a lot of back pain by now and sleep was awful because of my hip and pelvic bone pain.  They felt like they were being pryed apart by something VERY strong.  I still remember the discomfort.  And yet, I thought my pregnancy with her was easy.  I enjoyed it up until the day I delivered.  And even that wasn't as bad as I expected. But this go rou...

Today's OB visit and ultrasound were interesting .  First of all, they are giving me two-thumbs up for travel and are just deciding now whether they think anti-malarials are really worth it since malaria is such a low risk in that area.  And also which bug spray will be safe for me to prevent mosquito bites.  Otherwise, no issues so I'm on my way to the beach!!!   Unfortunately, the bikini body is currently MIA but I'll still be stuffing myself into them. Especially considering that again on ultrasound today, Baby Deuce is measuring over 2 weeks ahead.  I should be 24w and 2d, yet I measure 26w and 3d in EVERY area they measure.  And two weeks ago, I was measuring 2 weeks ahead.  So, Baby is large.  And apparently, so is my belly.   It was the 1st visit where we measured fundal height and are you ready for a shocker? I measure 27 weeks.  Fantabulous.  For those who are REALLY bad at math, 3 weeks ahead of schedu...

Long ago, we booked a trip for the Dominican Republic from May 4-11.  Paisley and my mom will be going too and we've all really been looking forward to it.  (Well, Paisley isn't so much because she doesn't quite get future plans yet!)   A week of lying around on the beach, swimming in the pool and ocean and eating delicious food in a relaxing setting.  What's not to love?!? Except that I'm becoming more and more paranoid about something going wrong with my pregnancy.  No reason for it.  Maybe it's that I have an ultrasound tomorrow to re-check the whole scary nuchal cord business.  And ultrasounds ALWAYS get me freaked out the week before.  All it takes is one horrifying, mind-numbing, heart-breaking ultrasound when you don't see a heartbeat... But the point is, I'd be far from home.  Yet I'm at no higher risk for premature labor than anyone else and my chance at 26 weeks is pretty slim.  That's why she wanted me ...

The 24 week mark was such a relief for me during my last pregnancy and it has proven to be again this time.  I've been feeling so anxious the last couple of weeks with such a ridiculous feeling of dread that something would go wrong.   And knowing that no one would be able to even try to save my child at that point was heart-wrenching.  No reason to feel so much panic.  I feel great.  Still working.  Still playing with Paisley like crazy.  But you know how the infertile mind works.  Especially since the only time things ever go right for us is during pregnancy (with the exception of our 1st one, obviously- that sucked big-time).  So, I feel happy today.  We are one step closer to completing our miracle family with this sweet baby.   We keep getting the comments that maybe we will want another one or questions about if we're sure we're done.  First off, I never wanted more than 2 kids ever.  Aaron wo...

Lately, Paisley's looks take my breath away.  I've always thought she was cute, but her baby looks are changing for little girl beauty now.  She makes the most amazing expressions and has the sweetest, softest little voice.  I feel like she isn't actually made up of our genetic material at all, because neither of us is as good-looking as her!  Now, the only thing I have on her is that she cannot smile for pictures to save her life!!! Last night, Aaron was taking her down the hallway to her bedroom for bedtime and he said tell your mom "good night".  She smiled so adorably at me and said bye-bye while waving her hand like a beauty queen, then blew me a kiss.  For us this is major progress from the days of her throwing up at bedtime because it would make her so upset.  I much prefer this!!!

I've been reminded that I'm doing TERRIBLY at posting pictures of my belly.  Well, there is one simple reason for that.  I'm also awful at taking them!  For some reason, the weeks just pass by too quickly to sneak in one quick picture of my ever-growing bump and a certain 19-month-old is keeping me on my toes!  Also, I just don't feel as cute this time around.  I haven't gained any more weight than I did the first time around and my bump probably looks about the same, but it just feels different.  My maternity clothes seem to look funny now and I never have the time or energy to do my hair and make-up like I did the 1st time.  This is Paisley's belly bump for comparison to now- I think it's VERY similiar. Current Pregnancy!  Up to a 12 pound weight gain after a rapid gain this past week... And Paisley in utero. Notice that I'm too lazy to even tape the sheet up this time.  :) Anyways, I still feel great and I still adore ...

Paisley has finally gotten a spot in the Mother's Day Out program that we love!  In fact, it's the only one we even liked enough to consider.  One of those places that just makes your heart feel good when you walk in.  The teachers had all of their teeth and appeared to appreciate good hygiene, the toys and facilities were clean and updated, they even have a well-put together learning program for each of the age groups. Playing at a birthday party!  Not easy to maneuver through playgyms while pregnant... Snuggling her kitty, Squirrel. But probably what speaks highest of them is that we have been on the waiting list since Paisley was 7 months old.  That was a LONG time ago.  People don't leave this program once they get in.  But lucky for us, a summer spot is open so she'll be starting in June.  :)  Loving on a patient at the clinic. Running quite an efficient egg-dyeing facility. Dyeing Easter eggs- we bought 4 dozen e...

For those of you who were concerned that I am having too lovely of a pregnancy, worry no longer.  Not only am I on antibiotics for my bacterial vaginosis (gross every time I say it), and possibly have a nuchal cord issue- the doc's office gave me what seems like my daily phone call of crappy news to let me know that I'm Group B strep positive. Which is totally not a surprise considering I was last pregnancy too and had to be given IV antibiotics during labor to reduce Paisley's chances of getting sick from it.  So I figured I would be again, but still ....  Just one more thing to add to the list of things to worry about creating complications.  I'm pretty sure I'm not a great candidate for a home birth even if I was anti-hospital care.  (Which I'm definitely not- I want as much monitoring and support available as humanly possible.  In fact, if you'd like to admit me at any point during pregnancy just to keep an eye on things, I'd be all for it)....

Hey friends, Sorry about my pity party I was in the last couple of days.  I guess I had forgotten how terrifying pregnancy can be since Deuce has been so content in there.  This is the first time this pregnancy that I've had anything to truly worry about, even though they are both situations that affect alot of pregnant women and both have mostly good outcomes.  It's that mostly that stops my heart. But, today I feel that everything will be fine.  I'm taking it easier than I have been, napping every chance I get, working less, and not working out at all.  Just savoring the sweet baby kicks and loving my growing belly.   I've done this before (bacterial infection and all) and have a perfect baby girl to show for it.  And guess what?  I'm going to succeed again.  It's just almost too good to believe that we are going to have TWO amazing kids after all we've been through...

My urine culture came back fine, but apparently I have bacterial vaginosis again.  Yeah, I know- YUCK .  I had this throughout my pregnancy with Paisley but it caused a bit of a smelly discharge then.  This time around, it isn't causing any of its typical symptoms which means that either a.) it's really early on that we caught it  OR   b.) it's been there for a while because it's being sneaky.  Either way, I'm almost positive the antibiotics won't treat it again and it will continue to be there until Deuce is born.  After I had Paisley, it just went away on its own.  But of course, it carries with it that ever so frustrating increased risk of premature labor and rupture of membranes.  And I've been having that stupid irritable uterus feeling for the past 3 days.  (Less now than Thursday's trip to get an ultrasound, but still enough to terrify me.) And if you do the math, I have either 11 days or 9 days until viability....

Yesterday morning at work, I felt a tightening in my stomach that was coming and going.  It wasn't painful so I didn't think much about it until it was staying consistently like that and beginning to become uncomfortable.  I texted my OB (who works upstairs from me) who told me to come up immediately.  Which I figured she would.  Both the OB and NP met me and did a quick exam which showed a nicely closed cervix and did a fetal fibronectin (shows likelihood of labor within 2 weeks) which soon came back negative.   They did a urine culture which is negative and a vaginal culture (pending).  They sent me to the hospital for an ultrasound since our tech was out sick.  Bad luck.  After waiting forever lying down, my abs-of-steel relaxed and felt fine.  Baby Deuce was moving around like crazy and kicking hysterically at the ultrasound probe.  Measuring 24 weeks now so this little peanut is a bit larger than Paisley was.  Als...

When do you all find time in a day for yourself?  I never thought this would be so difficult, but it really is.  24 hours suddenly seems SO short.  The minutes fly by and even things that NEED to get done, just don't.  And when I do capture that special rare hour when she's asleep or busy with Dad, I can't decide how I most want to spend it. Do I relax and take a nap or bath?  Should I be useful and catch up on chores?  Maybe exercise? I have found that I can make a lot of things happen in a very short period of time since having Paisley.  When I do find a free second, it's amazing what I can accomplish now since I have no time to procrastinate.  If it isn't done that minute, it probably won't ever get done. In the 2 hours she was with Aaron the other day, I organized all of her baby clothes in case we have another girl, cleaned out the drawers in our study, fed the pets, hung up my laundry, went through my maternity clothes, and ordere...