Updates…

Jacob: He’s wonderful. He wants to walk so bad, but he’s just not quite there with the balance thing. He’s still not interested in crawling, at all. He’s allergic to something but we haven’t figured it out yet. He’s got some eczema on his legs and diaper area that gets worse when he eats certain foods. I’m suspecting it’s anything tomato based, so we’ve spent the last couple days avoiding anything with tomatoes in it and it seems to be working. I was also suspecting strawberries, but he had some strawberry banana yogurt yesterday and was fine.

Ryan: He seems to have developed “cough-variant asthma”. He has an inhaler and he thinks it’s cool because Jason also has one. He’s enjoying soccer and scoring lots of goals. I think the record so far is 5 in one game.

Austin: He’s doing great. He’s playing tackle football this year and the games are a lot of fun to watch. Way more fun than flag football ever was. He’s kind of slacking off on his school work (especially math), but I laid down the law and threatened to get rid of video games and possibly football if he didn’t straighten up. Seems to be working so far.

Jason: He’s loving his job. He gets to go to a conference at Penn State and he’s pretty excited about that. I wanted to go, but couldn’t get the time off of work. Oh well, maybe next time.

Me: Still pregnant and so far so good. My bursitis has flared up, but my doctor agreed to let me get a steroid shot in my hip, so that should make things better. I can only get a limited number of shots though, so I want to make sure one is really needed before I go in. I think I can only get 2 shots total. I’d hate to get one now and have it flare up even worse later in my pregnancy and not be able to get another one. The pelvic separation is acting up, but so far it’s not too bad. It’s worse when I’ve been more active, so as long as I take it easy, I’m fine. The bursitis isn’t so nice and flares up for stupid reasons, like walking around Ikea or the mall. Ugh, I love being pregnant, but my body hates it.

I need to update more

You have to watch this youtube video...I'm dying.

The creator of the video won't let you embed it, so you just have to click the link. Jerk.

I Suppose...

I'll start updating this again now that I'm pregnant again.

That's right. I'm pregnant. Again.

How did this happen, you ask? Well, being the good Catholics that we are, we tried the whole NFP thing. It's kind of hard to do when you haven't had a cycle since you gave birth to a baby 5 months ago though. So we did the best we could. Apparently, it was in the cards for us to have another baby right now, so here we are.

Jacob is getting big. He's learning to sit and can roll over both ways. He's scooting on his belly both forwards and backwards too. Not too shabby for a 5.5 month old.

Austin just finished up his baseball season. He made the all-star team for the second year in a row. He got into a little bit of a hitting slump, but seems to be doing better. He's found his niche at 1st base. Now it's football season...

Ryan played soccer in the spring and scored two goals. We were pretty proud of him considering he was the smallest kid on his team. He's already telling people that he's not playing t-ball next year because he's too good. He has a point. We took him to the batting cages and he hit about 10-12 balls in the slow pitch baseball cage. The balls still go 40-45 mph which is faster than the machine pitch that is used for Austin's league. He can hit like it's nobody's business. Plus, he has a great arm and can catch. He's 4...

Jason and I are doing good. We're adjusting to having 3 kids, but so far, it's been pretty easy. We went to the new Ikea store in Canton and decided that it is our new favorite store. We had so much fun there that we went back the next day with the boys and bought them new beds and accessories. Who knew that a twin sized loft bed, a full sized loft bed, a twin sized mattress, two comforters, a bunch of other accessories, etc. would fit in the back of the van when all 3 kids were back there. You have to love the efficient way they package things. The only drawback is that you have to put the stuff together yourself and they provide you with cheap screws.

We'll, I've updated.

I've made a website for Jacob

Jacob's birth story

Ok, here's the story really quick while Jacob is sleeping...

I was having contractions 5 minutes apart for a couple of hours and Jason came home from work early. I called the doctor and told the nurse about my contractions and she told me to stay home and rest and if they started to get painful or closer together she wanted to know. She told me to call her back in an hour and give her a status update. So we got in the car and drove towards my doctor's office since it's 45 minutes away just incase they wanted to see me. We got half way there and I called and gave them the update and said they were still 5 minutes and still weren't really painful. She said to stay home and lay down and drink lots of water and take a hot shower and see if they go away. The whole time I'm thinking, yeah right, like I want them to go away. So since we were out, we decided to walk around downtown to see if that would help get them going. I knew it would hurt because of the pelvic separation and bursitis, but at that point, I didn't really care. We walked to a store that a friend of ours works at and talked to him for about an hour. While we were there, I noticed that the contractions were 3-4 minutes and still didn't really hurt. We decided to go to the student union and get some chinese food to see if something spicy would kick start the contractions. They were still 3 minutes and the pain was just a little sharper by the time we left, but they still didn't really hurt. I called the doctor's office and talked to the on call doctor and told her about the bloody show a couple of days earlier and about the contractions. She told us to get to l&d right away.

When I got there, they hooked me up to the monitor and I was contracting every 2-3 minutes. They checked me and I was dilated 4-5. They asked me if I wanted to stay and they would break my water and get things started. I of course said yes. They sent us to one of the l&d rooms and broke my water at 9:10 pm (EST). I started having some painful contractions and opted for my epidural. They did that at about 10:15 and it was such a relief. At 11, they checked me again and I was still only dilated 4-5 so they gave me a bit of pitocin to get things going. Around 1:00 I started having some contractions that were coming through the epidural a little and I could feel the pressure, but also a little pain. Not too unbearable though. At about 1:20 I started feeling pressure like I had to poop so the nurse called for the doctor. The doctor came in and checked and I was fully dilated. At 1:30 am I started pushing and at 1:39, he was born.

The pelvic separation is definitely better. The bursitis on the other hand seems to be inflamed. I don't know if it's because I'm retaining water or because I slept on the hard hospital bed. At least I can take motrin now, which does help.

Here are a couple more pictures:

Jacob is here. I'll update more after I get some sleep. For now, here's a pic.



We loved this hat, unfortunately it was hospital property. Anyone know how to knit?

Still no baby. I'm getting very impatient.

I have a feeling it will be sooner than later, but who knows. I thought I was having this baby weeks ago. I have another appointment on Thursday, but I'm kind of hoping that I don't even make it until then. I just want him to be here!!

Sorry to leave you hanging for so long, but I still haven't had this baby. I have an appointment in a couple of hours, so we'll see what happens.

My feet are swollen and I can't wear my shoes anymore. It's a pain, literally.

I'm 37 weeks, 4 days right now so this baby can be born any time. The sooner the better.

Still no baby. Maybe tomorrow, I just have to be dilated to 4 and they will keep me. Keep your fingers crossed. I kind of have a feeling that won't be the case, but we'll see. I haven't had many contractions since the day before yesterday.

I was home with a sick kid all day today. I think Ry has croup. He's got that barky cough and a fever. He's such a little trooper when he's sick though. I had to keep Austin home today too because he had a dentist appointment this morning and had to get a tooth pulled and a couple of fillings. I wanted to make sure when the numbness wore off that he wasn't hurting, plus the dentist wanted him to take it easy so he didn't start bleeding again or get a dry socket. Austin didn't think the dentist thing was a big deal at all. He's so not like me or his dad. He said yesterday that going to the dentist is his second favorite thing to do besides go to the movies. There's something wrong with that child...

Hehe, no baby.

Not many contractions either. So I went into pre-term labor and now I'll probably go past my due date. It's just a waiting game now. I really wish I could get out of the house and walk around to let gravity do it's work. I do have to go to the mall this weekend to get nylons to wear on Sunday for Matthew's baptism so maybe I can try to walk around there. I know that walking around Target for 20 minutes usually kills me and that was before the baby dropped. Now, I'm having more problems with my pelvis (bones rubbing together, not fun) so I don't know that I'll be able to manage it.

I still need to get a diaper bag. The baby can't be born until I find one that I like, so it might be a while.

Still no baby. I did go to L&D on Saturday night, but they sent me home. It was just my irritable uterus acting up and they weren't real contractions. They did check me though and I'm now dilated to 3!! One more cm to go and they will keep me in the hospital and break my water and get things started. Yikes. It could be today, it could be 5 weeks from now. We just have to sit and wait.

The baby has dropped though and it's making my pelvic separation 1000 times worse. I can't wait for this pain to be gone. My hips haven't been too bad lately. I don't know if it's because I'm resting more or if I'm just getting used to the pain. At any rate, I haven't had to take meds before I go to sleep in the past 3 days. It's a record...

We found out yesterday that our new neighbor used to be a midwife in her old country. I think she's from Cambodia. That's good to know in the case of an emergency. We're talking a "the baby is coming right now" type emergency though. I know a midwife in Cambodia is totally different than a midwife in the US, but she would still know more than I would when it comes to delivering a baby, ya know.

In other news...

Austin was selected to be in Junior Great Books this year. He was one of 3 people picked from his class. It starts today and he's really excited about it. I think it will be good for him. He has to read books and then they meet after school twice a week to discuss the books. It's supposed to be for kids who need the extra challenge and will improve his reading and comprehension skills along with improving his vocabulary. I'm very proud of him!

Ok, I lied. Not about the baby, but about the contractions.

They are back and seem to be getting stronger. I'm going to call the doctor when Chad gets here to pick the kids up.

Looks like I'll be in L&D again tonight.

Still no baby.

The contractions have settled down but I'm still feeling crampy. Other than that, nothing new to report.

I was having contractions again today and was feeling crampy and my back was hurting. I called the doctor and they told me that I needed to be seen. When I went in, they checked me and i was dilated 1-2 cm and 50% effaced. The doctor sent me over to the hospital to be monitored and I was having contractions about every 5 minutes or so. They felt different than the BH contractions. They told me they were the real thing and gave me two shots of terbutaline to stop them. They also said I was a little dehydrated and gave me an IV to give me some fluids. The contractions stopped and they checked me again and I was dilated to a solid 2. So they sent me home. But now, the terbutaline is wearing off and I'm feeling the contractions again. It can't be because I'm dehydrated because they just gave me the IV and I had 3 huge glasses of water at the hospital and 2 since I've been home.

I'm going to take a warm bath and start timimg the contractions again.

I'm so sick of having contractions. It's an all day, every day thing now and I'm so bored with it. It was like this at the end of my pregnancy with Ry too. I went to the hospital at 38 weeks because I thought I was in labor and they sent me home. I went back at 39 weeks and it wasn't the real thing either, but they induced me anyways. I don't remember it being this consistent, this early though. Maybe that means I'll go early.

I've been drinking all morning and have been sitting with my feet up all morning. They aren't painful and they aren't regular, so I know they aren't real. They're just annoying.

CB is supposed to come over tomorrow to hang out with me. I may see if she wants to go out to lunch so I can get out of the house. Not that I wasn't out of the house last night, but still. We went to El Chaps for dinner for my birthday. I ate way too much, but it was sooo good. I ended up with a belly ache and terrible heartburn so I didn't sleep well last night. I can make up for it tonight since the kids are with their dad. Just no spicy food before bed.

Happy birthday to me!! And Justin :)

My 34 week appointment

I just got back from my appointment. Everything is fine. I gained 5 pounds though!! In 2 weeks! Makes up for losing weight and maintaining it the prior month. I'm up 28 pounds right now.

My bp is still good at 124/78.

I told her about the contractions and how I thought I lost my mucus plug. She said that Just because I lost my mucus plug, doesn't mean that I'm going to go into labor anytime soon. I already knew that though. She was a little concerned about the contractions though. She said that if I start having a lot of them again to drink a lot of water and lay down and if they don't go away or slow down within an hour to call. I told her that's what I did and it took about 1.5 hours but they finally went away. She said she didn't want to check me because I had already had contractions this morning and she said that it could cause me to have even more. She said they will check me at my next appointment.

I also asked about being induced and since it wasn't my regular doctor, she wanted me to talk to my regular doctor about it when I go back in 2 weeks. She thinks they will probably induce me but probably not until 39 weeks unless I'm starting to progress before then.

Ryan learned how to grind on Tony Hawk Underground 2. He does this move on the airport level where he can get over 90,000 points. I tried to get a picture of him landing it, but my battery died in my camera as I snapped the pic. By the time I changed the batteries he was sick of doing the move. I got a pic of him landing the move but it was only 44K points.

My mom took me shopping for baby stuff today. We went to Babies R Us and to Target. She got me the stroller that we wanted.



She also got us the Fisher Price Take Along Swing which is kind of like a bouncy seat and a swing in one. She also picked up some little things that I needed. I took her out to lunch as a thank you for buying all of that stuff. I was shocked that she spent so much. I planned on getting the stroller and when I went to pay for it, she said she wanted to buy it. I still have a few more little things to get and then it's just sit and wait for him to get here. It shouldn't be too much longer. I doubt I'll go to my due date and I'm 34 weeks now.

Evan had day 2 of chemo today and will have a day of radiation tomorrow and then should be good to go for the transplant on Monday. Hopefully his body doesn't reject it. His cousin donated the stem cells today. They had to put her under and take a hollow needle and get it from her pelvic bone. She said it wasn't so bad. I'm just glad things are going well so far.

I've been having contractions a lot lately. I don't know if it's the whole irritable uterus thing or stress or being too active or what. I had them all night after I went to WalMart with Corinne and then I drank lots of water and rested and they went away. I didn't have many yesterday, but I really didn't do much. Today I've had them all day and I really haven't done much, but I had a long talk with my mom which stressed me out and I don't know if that did it or what. I've been drinking tons of water and I've been resting since about 6:30. I'm still having them but they aren't regular and they don't hurt. My back has been a little achy for the past couple of days and I think I lost my plug a week and a half ago or so. My friend Liz said she thinks I'm having this baby early because she's noticed a certain "edge" to me lately. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. I just don't want him to be born so early that he will have to spend time in NICU because if that's the case, he'll be transported to U of M after he's born and I'll be at St. Joe's. Stupid insurance.