Oh yeah, I forgot to say that Jacob is in the Frank Breech position at 30.5 weeks. The doctor says that there is still time for him to turn, but I have this sneaky feeling that he wont due to the pelvic separation. I'm still googling it, but from what I see, babies go into that position a lot when there is an abnormality to the pelvic area, like pelvic separation. One good thing is that if he does decide to stay in that position, I still have a good shot at a vaginal delivery since that's the most favored of the breech positions. Btw, Frank Breech is butt down. Here's a pic, it doesn't look very comfy.

So, Jacob still has all of the same problems that he had before, but they don't think there is anything to worry about. They did confirm that he has a double collecting system in his right kidney so he will have to have an ultrasound about 6 months after he's born. He weighs 3 pounds 12 ounces.

My regular doctor's appointment was today too and they are going to help me get a temp handicap parking permit and they gave me a script for vicodin!! We also talked about labor and she said because of the pelvic separation she really wants me to have an epidural. She doesn't think I'll need a c-section as long as I have an epidural. I told her I wouldn't deliver without one anyways. She thinks that due to the severity of the separation that I will be quite sore for a while after delivery, but it shouldn't be as bad as it is now.

She also wants me to appeal the decision about the physical therapy and she wants me to talk to my pm&r doctor and have them see if they can expidite the process. The appeal process normally takes about a month and she said I can't wait that long. She also wants me to talk to my pm&r doctor to see if there are any labor options that they can suggest as far as positions that will work with an epidural.

Christmas was good, but now the house is a mess. It will probably be that way until the kids go back to school and Jason goes back to work. Darn toys.

I got a letter yesterday that my physical therapy will not be covered by insurance even though two separate doctors prescribed it for me. I might try to appeal that though. They say it's not covered for chronic illness and the rehabilitation of that. We'll I would think based on the fact that I have bursitis, it wouldn't be covered, but since the bursitis is a result of my pregnancy, maybe it will be covered since that wouldn't be considered chronic. I guess it's worth a try, but by the time I get my answer as to whether or not it's covered, I'll probably have had the baby. They say it goes through 2 appeal processes and the first one is 15 days. By then I'll be 33 weeks and if it has to go through another process that's also 15 days, I'll be 35 weeks and by then, is there really a point to the PT? I was in tears about it last night. It's not easy living with constant pain. We went to Target yesterday because I wanted to get out of the house and by the time we left there I was hurting pretty bad. We were there for about 25 minutes and trust me, I walk slooooowww.

I have another ultrasound today to check on Jacob's kidneys and heart. I'm excited about that because I want to see if it's resolved itself and plus we'll get to see him again and see how big he's getting. I have a regular appointment after my ultrasound too. I have a whole list of questions to ask for her...

1. Is there anything she can prescribe for the pain? There has to be something safe to take.
2. How am I going to deliver a baby if I can't open my legs? Sorry, too much info...
3. What can I take for heartburn? I had it last night pretty bad and I don't know if it's something I ate or if I'm just getting to the heartburn stage. I had it bad with Ry and just suffered through it.
4. Can I get a temporary handicap parking permit? My physical therapist wanted me to ask. They don't want me walking any more than I have to.

I think there was more, but I can't remember. I should write these questions down before I forget.

I'll update after my appointment.

Bath Salts

Are done. I made 4 containers. One for Corinne, my mom, Jason's mom, and Denise.

I made vanilla lavender and camomille. I had some left over so I can take a bath tonight and test them out. Jason's mom should like them because she can add it to the hot tub if she wants. It's just epsom salt, sea salt, and baking soda with some fragrance in there.

Those gifts are going to be from the kids.

I also got the rice krispie treats done. I just have to dip them in white chocolate tomorrow. Yay! I'm almost done.

Scarves

Matthew's blanket

I have a million things to do today and tomorrow. I need some serious motivation.

I have to:
Make a blanket for Matthew
Make a blanket for my mom
Make 2 scarves
Make rice krispie treats
Dip plastic spoons in chocolate
Make bath salts
Wrap presents

I'm going to try to get it all done today. Good thing is that most of that list can be done from the comfort of the recliner and won't be much effort. The thing that will be the worst is the wrapping. I can't sit on the floor and it hurts to stand too long and sit too long. I'll just have to speed wrap. I hope no one pays attention to detail.

I really hope that people don't mind getting home made gifts. I'll take some pictures of everything when I'm done.

I don't know why I let things bother me. I just don't know what I did to deserve the silent treatment. It hurts when people you thought were your friends won't return instant messages and emails. Oh well, enough about that, I have more important things to worry about.

Physical therapy went ok but I was a little sore when I left there. We really didn't do anything since this was just an evaluation, but she did have me try some stretches that I can do at home. There were a couple that she really wanted me to do, but my pelvic separation wouldn't allow it. She told me that she wanted me to talk to my doctor about getting a handicap parking permit for days when I do have to drive myself places. She really doesn't want me walking any more than I need to. She also said that she would like me to limit using the stairs to once per day. That will be impossible, but I can try not to go up and down as much. I have physical therapy twice a week until the baby is born. This Friday they asked Jason to go with me so they can show him some massage tecnhiques for my hips.

Kara called this morning to say that Brett was sick and throwing up so I have the kids with me today. So far, they have been good, let's just hope they keep it up. Austin is acting a little weird and I'm freaking out that he's going to be sick too. He was with Brett all weekend and all day yesterday. I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and he didn't want to eat them. I also asked him if he wanted some chocolate milk and he said no. He loves blueberry muffins and chocolate milk, so I don't know what's up with that.

I start physical therapy tomorrow morning. I've never been to physical therapy before and I'm a little nervous. I have to go so that they can stretch my hip and strengthen it but I'm afraid that when they do that it will hurt my pelvis. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I don't know if I slept wrong or not, but I am in so much pain today I can't stand it. I've done nothing all day and every time I get up I want to cry. It's not so much the bursitis but the pelvic separation that's causing the pain. The bursitis seems to have gotten better since the steroid injection and the rest is really helping with that. I just wonder why I seem to get bursitis so easily. It seems like it's something either old people or really athletic people get. I've had it in my shoulder and now both hips in less than 2 years. It's just weird. I'm only 30. I could see if I was still running a lot or something, but even when I was running, I wasn't running all that much. Oh well.

So much for the work restriction. I'm totally off of work now. I went to see the physical medicine doctor on Tuesday and was diagnosed with pelvic separation (SPD) and bursitis in both of my hips. I had a steroid injection in my right hip because that one was so bad. They aren't going to do the other injection until mid January because it's the same steroid that they use when you go into pre term labor to make the baby's lungs develop faster and they said they didn't want to "push mother nature". There's nothing that they can do for the SPD, that won't get better until after the baby is born and my body stops producing the hormones that are causing it in the first place. They told me that I need to rest often and preferrably on my left side. Well, that's the hip that hurts, so that doesn't happen too often. I start physical therapy on Monday for the bursitis though. Hopefully it helps.

When I went into my appointment I told them that I was currently on a restriction for work and they told me that they were taking me off of work until after the baby was born. They said the more active that I am, the more pain I will be in. Since there's nothing that I can take for the pain besides Tylenol, they need me to rest as much as possible. They said not total bed rest because that would just cause problems of it's own, but basically for every hour that I'm active, I need about a half hour of rest. I also can't drive. That's going to be a pain.

I went into work yesterday to fill out my timesheet and drop off some paperwork to my supervisor. I was going to clean off my desk but Steph said that it was already taken care of. I emailed a coworker to thank her and appologize for the mess. She replied with "sure". I'm glad that people think I'm faking this to get out of work. I'd gladly work over the feeling of someone stabbing me in the crotch with a knife every time I move my legs.

Well, I’m on a work restriction for Pelvic Separation (also known as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction or SPD). I can only work 4 hours a day and the rest of the time I am under strict orders to be resting. I’m not allowed to pick the kids up or do housework or anything. Luckily Jason is really understanding about all of this and very supportive. I have to go back to the doctor next Thursday so they can reevaluate me and see how the restriction is working as far as my pain and comfort go. The pain won’t get better until after I have the baby, but hopefully I can keep it from getting worse so quickly by resting. I swear it’s worse every day.

I'm dreaming of a light Christmas

Here's a little holiday cheer for you.

Here kitty kitty

We got two kittens last night for the kids. They are sooo cute.

This is Austin holding Ryan's cat. After much deliberation, Ry finally came up with the name Sammy, in honor of Sammy Sosa.





Here is Ryan holding Austin's cat. Austin decided to name his cat Albert after Albert Pujols.

Watch out male models of the world

My kids have been absolutely rotten this weekend. All they want to do is fight and I'm sick and tired of listening to the fighting, tattling, whining, and crying. Nevermind the fact that I'm absolutely exhaused lately. My house is a disaster and that's driving me crazy too. Needless to say, I've been a hormonal bitch lately.

Anyways, Ry has this thing for sweaters lately. We went shopping on Friday and I bought him a new sweater that came with a matching hat. He thought he was hot stuff because he got to wear it today. I got some pictures of him modeling it. Yes, he has his new mittens on too.

I'm invisible and I don't like it.

I’m so glad I’m not in high school anymore, or maybe it’s middle school. Either way, it’s annoying.

I need to get a stat counter on here to see if anyone actually reads this or not. My guess is not.

Jacob's room

Here is a pic of one of the walls in Jacob's room. The green color on the walls is a little darker in real life. I think the flash makes it look a little washed out and I tried to adjust the color so it looked right, but didn't have any luck. I won the quilt on eBay. It's a handmade "rag" quilt and it has blue gingham and little frogs on it. I have decided that we are doing a frog theme in there (I only say I decided because Jason seems to go along with whatever). We are doing green gingham bedding that matches the walls. The quilt will hang on the wall above the crib and I plan on making wooden letters covered in blue gingham fabric to spell his name. That will hang on the wall opposite the crib above the book shelf. I know it's hard to visualize, but I'll post pictures after all of that is done.

Other than that, there isn't really anything new going on.

Jason and I are going to see Jeff Tweedy solo at the Michigan Theatre tonight. I can’t wait. Almost equally exciting is the fact that we’re going to Grizzly Peak for dinner before the show to get mushroom burgers and sweet potato fries.

Did you know that Beavis and Butthead watched a Wilco video once? It was in the steamroller episode and the video was for Box Full Of Letters. Beavis and Butthead seemed to enjoy it. Also in this episode is Bjork’s “Army of Me” which has to be one of my favorite Bjork songs. Enjoy.

Grounded for life

My doctor called to go over the findings from the ultrasound today. I had originally thought that only one of the kidneys had 2 problems, but it’s each kidney has one problem. The left kidney is the one with 2 arteries and the left kidney is the one with the double collecting system. Neither is serious and neither will cause any sort of problems. That’s good to hear. She also said that they found an echogenic focus on his heart. Basically what that is, is a bright spot that shows up on the ultrasound. It’s an area that has mineralized or formed a calcium deposit. It’s not a problem and will not cause any damage or anything but can be considered a low risk indicator of Down’s Syndrome. Dr. O’Leary said that by looking at the rest of the baby, they do not think that he has any sort of chromosome problem and she didn’t even mention additional testing. She said it’s not something to worry about at all. He’s still being grounded when he’s born for making me worry though.

In other news, I got a Moses basket just like the one I wanted (except in green) off of eBay. With shipping it came to $49 as opposed to the $69.99 plus shipping from Target. So I bid on a really cute diaper bag to eat up the difference. Yay!

Conferences

We had conferences last night for Austin and they went really well. Apparently he is at the top of his class and there are no concerns. He seems to love math, reading, and social studies or at least he does well in those subjects. She showed us his last two math tests and he got 100% on them. The lesson was different types of graphs and how to read them. She even showed us a trick question she threw in there to try to stump the kids and he got it right. That’s my boy!

Ryan’s conferences would probably go much different. They’ll be telling us that he’s the class clown, he’s good at gym, and he likes girls a little too much. He’s a smart kid, but he likes to try to fool you by giving you the wrong information because he thinks it’s funny. He also thinks it’s funny to show off his naked butt. That’s Ryan for you…

Girls Go To College To Get More Knowledge. Boys go to...

So, we found out that we are having another boy. Now I have the itch to go out and go shopping to get all of the stuff that Jacob needs. Yes, that’s his name. Jacob.

I think the first thing I’m going to buy is this Moses Basket from Target. I can’t wait for it to get here. It’s the cutest thing ever.



We have so much to get since I didn’t really save anything from the boys. Oh well, the stuff would have been outdated 4 years later anyways.

Life In General

Not much new is going on with me.

We went to the pumpkin patch in Dundee the other day and took the kids through the corn maze and bought a couple of pumpkins and some corn stalks to decorate the posts on the porch. It looks really cute. Here’s a pic…



I’m having a MK/Cookie Lee/Tastefully Simple open house at my house tomorrow night. I’m kind of nervous about that and hope that some people actually show up.

Saturday is Sweetest Day. Jason and I will have been together for 2 years. Wow, how time flies when you’re having fun. I don’t know that we are doing anything special, but we’ll have to think of something.

We tried to install the blinds in Austin’s bedroom last night and one of the screws broke and is sticking about a quarter of an inch out of the wall and until we figure out how to get that out of there, we can’t install the blind. How the heck does a screw break? Maybe I had the torque up too high on the drill? I don’t know, but either way it pissed me off. I ended up going downstairs and falling asleep watching tv at about 8:30 or so. Jason woke me up sometime after 9 and I went back upstairs and went to bed. I’ve been so freaking tired lately. I know that taking my prenatal vitamin will help, but every time I take them I feel sick. I just need to make sure that I’m getting enough to eat. I still haven’t gained any weight. None, zero, zip, zilch…

Ugh.

I'm hungry

I really hate when I go to the kitchen at work to get my Lean Cuisine and find that it’s missing!!

Seriously, who has the balls to eat someone else’s lunch?

Stuff

I've been having fun sewing and stuff lately. I've decided to make these cute little burp cloths and sell them on eBay.
I'm waiting to see how well they do, but I plan on making them for boys, girls and then gender neutral. If I can find some collegiate flannel, I'd like to make them out of that because I think they would do quite well. I'm off to the fabric store after my doctor's appointment today, so I'll have to check it out.

Let's help the Red Cross and the hurricane victims

I've decided to do a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser to help those in need. I'm seriously not trying to promote my business or anything, but I'm dying to help. I don't have the resources right now to just send a donation down there, so I was thinking that any orders placed on my website from now until Monday, September 5th, I'll donate my entire profit to the Red Cross. That would be 50% of all my sales.

If you would like to help, long on to my website and place an order. http://www.marykay.com/cmwelch

I'll keep you updated on the total amount that I send! Thanks for helping.

Mary Kay

So, I'm a Mary Kay consultant! I'm hoping I do well with this since it seems like it will be pretty profitable and a lot of fun. We had our first meeting last night and I got to meet a lot of the consultants. They were all really friendly and had lots of advice to give.

I have a website too...http://www.marykay.com/cmwelch

If you feel like it, fill out the profile thingy and I'll send you the new catalogs when they come out.

Mr. Charles Taylor

I got me a pair of new sneaks today.

Announcing my new Chuck Taylors...

What's Happening

Jason is the proud owner of a brand spanking new iBook and because of that Austin is the proud owner of a brand spanking new iPod Mini. It's green incase you were wondering.

Before you wonder what the heck we are doing buying a 7 year old an iPod, I just want you to know it was free AND it's not allowed to leave our sight. He's proud of it.

We close on our house on Monday. I can't believe that we are finally moving in!

I am officially a Mary Kay lady and NO, I will not be driving a pink caddy anytime soon or anytime ever.

I'm still pregnant and I am starting to feel the baby move. It's such a cool feeling. Camie brought me 3 pairs of maternity pants that she bought on eBay for herself. She bought the wrong size so she gave them to me instead. I don't think I'll have to buy any new pants for a while. I do need to get a couple of skirts for the MK thing, but that can wait for now.

Ok, goodnight, toodles and all that...

Austin is a music nerd

Austin is turning into a music nerd. He has pretty decent taste although he is in love with Beverly Hills by Weezer. We introduced him to the Blue and the Green album and he likes those, so maybe there's hope yet. He's really into Green Day too, which is ok. I love their older stuff and a couple of he songs on the new album. So kill me. He and Jason are sitting at the computer trying to make a mix cd, but they can't find a Green Day song that is decent without a cuss word. I'm not so much worried about Austin hearing that, but he wants to give a copy to his cousin.

The mix (disc one):

Expo '86 - Death Cab For Cutie
Emily Kane - Art Brut
My Little Brother - Art Brut
Take the Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Bethoven
July, July - The Decemberists
16 Military Wives - The Decemberists
The Engine Driver- The Decemberists
Robot - The Futureheads
Running Out of Time - Hot Hot Heat
Goodnight, Goodnight - Hot Hot Heat
You Owe Me An IOU - Hot Hot Heat
Float On - Modest Mouse
Cut Your Hair - Pavement
To Be Young - Ryan Adams
Let It Ride - Ryan Adams
In The Meantime - Spacehog
Last Night - The Strokes
I'm A Wheel - Wilco
The Late Greats - Wilco
Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes
My Doorbell - The White Stripes
Since You Stole My Heart - Saturday Looks Good To Me
Beverly Hills - Weezer

They are still working on disc two. Details to follow...

Car for sale

Well, the Mustang is officially up for sale. We listed it on Autotrader.com for $17,000.00. It would be soooo nice if it sold quickly.

In other news I've decided that I'm going to start selling Mary Kay. I use the stuff all the time and it's expensive, so if I sell it, I get a discount...makes sense if you think about it. I'm going to have a website too. I figure that if I can make a few hundred extra a month I will have enough to tide me over when I'm on maternity leave. Plus, it might be fun.

I have another doctors appointment tomorrow and should have another ultrasound. I swear I have been feeling the baby move since yesterday. I'm only 10.5 weeks so it seems awfully early, but I know that feeling.

I'm back

I’ve been told my more than one person that I need to start up a blog again. We’ll here it is.

I got sick of the old one because I had been going through some health issues and it seemed like all I did was whine about it and it got really mundane. If you were wondering what was wrong, I had the influenza virus from January-May. Yay, 5 months of the flu!

So now here I am, expecting a baby in March and getting ready to move into a new house.

I’ll keep you updated…I promise.