5-22-06
40 weeks 4 days
Yep, still here. Today is the first day of the Gemini sign instead of the Taurus. I didn't need a bull child
anyway, right? I'm getting pretty anxious though because Jessie birthday is just a week and 4 days away at this point.
These two are NOT allowed to have the same birthday. (Although, kinda weird since it IS the gemini, ie twin, birth sign.
Maybe that would be cool after all. I always said that if I didn't actually HAVE twins I'd make sure I got pregnant
asap after one child was born to create twins.) I am now officially more pregnant then I've ever been in my life.
Gavin was only 3 days over due... well, 4 days if you count the hour and 40 some minutes past midnight that he was born.
My new goal these days is to get through the day without actually killing Kris. He keeps telling me to hurry up
and have the baby and that I should either just start "pushing" him out or that I should be thinking better labor thoughts.
The really sad thing is that I'm pretty sure he is serious. He's not too happy with me because he wanted to get out
of drill this past weekend. *sigh*
5-19-06
40 weeks 1 day
Pay no attention to the ticker at the bottom. Apparently once it hits the due date it just assumes the kid's been
born - which he hasn't. I've been having contractions every, like, 9 minutes for the last few days and it is irritating
as all heck, but nothing seems to be regulating. I was given the option of coming in this morning for an induction but
I passed on it, opting instead to try some less "pitocin" type induction means. Just FYI - while tasty, spicy garlic
buffalo wings evidentally won't put me into labor. So... Ya... I'm a little crabby with my back getting hit with some
painful contractions from time to time and this HUGE belly and honestly, I know he was measuring small but any time I get
overdue I worry about how big that baby really is. That, and as much as I worry about how I'll take care of my nearly
2 year old and the baby at the same time, I'd like to get it at least started so things don't have to be so up in the air.
Also, Tater is creeping up on Jessie's birthday.
So, anyway, just letting you all know. Still here, still pregnant.
5-15-06
39 weeks 4 days
I've made it through mother's day weekend without giving birth. Kinda darn. :) I did want to note that this is
the day, 39 weeks, 4 days, that we lost little Anily. I had kinda a hard time sleeping last night. Not horrid,
but there was a little stress. I did wake up at 3:43 AM. I know it was somewhere around that time that I woke
up with Anily when I noticed the fluid leaking and everything started. I used to know the exact time because I used
to wake up at exactly that time at night and look at the clock. I don't remember the exact time anymore though.
Anyway, Tater was moving around plenty last night so he kept me from getting too worried.
Nothing else really special to report. People have been asking if I've felt baby "drop". I have to say that
for the record I have no idea what that would feel like. My 4th pregnancy and I've never felt anything that I would
describe as a "drop". I guess there's always a chance for a first time... but I haven't as of yet felt anything like
that.
5-12-06
39 weeks 1 day
Baby is still apparently quite comfy in there. I've had plenty of contractions, even some I've considered timing,
but nothing that has stuck. I had my last scheduled appointment today so if nothing happens I'll have to schedule another
I guess. The doc claims that the baby is not near 9 pounds yet, which is good, but who knows how accurate that is.
There was a male med student sitting in on the appointment today - they have med students sitting in on , like, every appointment.
That must feel like such a third wheel hanging on the docs arm as he goes from appointment to appointment all day. Oh,
and I SWEAR I'm going to collect ALL my alternative parenting magazines and drop them off in the waiting room there.
I'm so sick of the garbage they litter the tables in there with. All sorts of formula and bottle ads, articles about
circumcision that are totally false, vaccine hype like crazy and just basically all the junk that spews forth from the annoying
mainstream magazines. yuck.
I did jokingly mention that I'd love to do something to make sure Tater makes his appearance for Mother's Day.
The doc just looked at me all serious and I told him he was supposed to tell me they wouldn't do that. Well, evidentally
he's got someone already booked for his "1 induction per weekend" spot this weekend but otherwise they'd consider it.
They did say next week they'd try if I wanted. I don't know if I really want to though. I'd really like the chance
at that normal delivery. What I'd REALLY like is to have NO IV, DARN that group B strep test!!! And darn it being
possitive for every single baby I've had except Gavin - for whom I was never even tested. I know I know, it saves babies
lives. I just don't WANT an IV. *pout*
5-4-06
38 weeks
We are officially full term today. Note the ticker at the bottom, "If I decide to stay in here my nails will need
to be clipped." Nice. I (finally) got the pics up of Tater's room. If it looks a lot like Jessie's room
did, that's because I was too lazy to take out any of the nails. Everything is hanging up in exactly the same place
all of Jessie's stuff was. It's all just jungle stuff rather then blue florals and butterflies. I'm especially
happy with the vine. I really like the whole thing though. I'm not big on just buying, say, and entire matching
set and making a room that has so much of that exact fabric in it that you want to throw up. (Like the picture of the
zanzibar set that I had up from the company's website. Ick.) I really liked the Zanzibar concept though and I
think it worked out well. The bedding iteself has a combination of textures with the microfiber suade and the corduroy
and all that. For the fitted sheet, I found this luxerious thick fuzzy cotton sheeting that felt like a thick fluffy
lamb! Only softer! The curtains are the same blue with the light block backer that Jessie had with a double rod
put in place to have the valance on as well. The pictures came from the Baby Depot and I was excited to find those rather
then buying the fabric wall hangings that came with the set! The pillows on the changing table did come with the set.
I got some of the animals from Farma, and some from Toys R Us, and the tissue box and waste basket came from Target.
The shelf is just Jessie's shelf with the jungle leaves glue gunned onto it to cover the blue flowers I painted on.
Gavin made the little foam monkey in the middle of the shelf. The basket was a clearance find from JoAnn's with some
green foam and cut up leaves stuck in it. The hanging suns were also JoAnn's and the hats were just kinda hanging around
the house. The hats will most likely stay there, but obviously the outfits will get used. I LOVE those little
shoes on the shelf and dresser too! The vine is a length of hemp rope from Lowes (I asked the sales guy how much I'd
need to hang it from an actual ceiling beam with the right hardware so the kids could actually hang from it and he had no
idea. I had to guess and obviously I guessed much too short. Not too impressed with the "help" I got from Lowes
on that one.) and a leaf swag from JoAnn's. The monkeys are just kinda sitting on the vine so they'd fall off if anyone
breathed on them! : ) The fern swag on top of the valance was an impulse buy - thinking I could use it somewhere.
I tossed it there, but maybe I could put it over the closet or on the other side of the room to balance out the leaf distribution??
Ideas?? I also have a lot of loose leaves left over that I could find somewhere for. Lastly, I'd like to have
a bamboo type mirror or something under the clock and I have some wooden letters for Tater's name that will be stained and
hung (nope, not giving that away! LOL!) I am excited though! I feel like it's really ready! Now if only
Mowgli would stop sleeping in the crib or on the changing table because I've needed to wash those sheets every single week
due to that darn cat! He ALWAYS does that before the baby is born. Kris still needs to get the cradle set up,
or else Mowgli would be sleeping in there too.
As for "Any idea of how soon it will be?" which I am asked a lot. Not really. I've been having a lot of contractions.
Sometimes they will get as close as 15 minutes apart. I sort of feel like it is getting really really close, but honestly,
that may mean nothing. I do know that I'm really glad I'm not due anytime in June this time around. Goofy, I know,
but I don't think I would like to have a possibility of giving birth on 6/6/06. Just too weird for me.
5-2-06
37 weeks 5 days
Well, we are getting close now! I still need to get some pics of Tater's room, but I'm waiting for daddy to get
the bed moved into Jessie and Gavin's room. I'm also waiting for daddy to put together the cradle as he seems to think
we're still "forever" away from needing any of this. Ya, cause DADDY doesn't get the contractions!
My last appointment was pretty lame really. I had to wait FOREVER for the doc to finally get to the room.
The appointment was at 9:50, I spent a total of ~5 minutes with the doc, and I got back to work after 11. Yuck.
The doc came in and asked if anything was new. I said no. We did the uterus measurement (dumb) and listened to
the heart beat for ~ 1/2 a second (also dumb) and that was it. FYI - uterus measurement = 35.5 weeks, which is down
from last week which is normal at this point to not be growing much more. Heart rate for that 1/2 second was a bit below
150s but listening to the heart rate for that short of a time is like analysing your car by listening to the engine run for
1/2 second as it is running down the highway. Not very informative.
I did want to mention that of course, Tater will also not be getting circumsized just like his big brother. I've
done a lot of research into this. A LOT. Circumsizing a newborn is just plain cruel and there is NO OTHER way
to look at it. There is no reason to do it at that point and it is riskier and more painful then at any other time in
their life. It isn't just cutting off a bit of skin. It is RIPPING the skin off the entire top of the penis since
the skin is attached at this time in their lives like your fingernail is attached to your finger. It is skinning alive
the very area of your son that has more nerve cells then any other part of their body. Since pain relief is not approved
for newborns, docs either do it with NONE (holy CRAP!) or they use pain relief anyway and risk having the child's heart stop
beating. Not to mention that the numbing shot the kids get sting as well. You could even just wait until they
are a year old and the risks and the pain go down and they still won't remember it if you are set on circing - but I would
still think you were being cruel if you did that. Non-medical circumcisions are a violation of a child's genitals without
their consent. It is not your penis, it is his, and he needs to be the one to decide if he wants cosmetic surgery on
it or not. Period. Many insurrances are not paying for it now and I whole heartedly applaud them for this!!
I'm not paying insurrance premiums for them to fund other people mutilating their son's sexual organs because they think an
intact penis looks "gross". Protect your children. Don't let anyone circumsize them - girls AND boys.
4-27-06
37 weeks
My ode to allergies while pregnant or nursing:
Dear Allergies,
You suck.
4-25-06
36 weeks, 5 days
Well, we are now at the point where Jessie would've been born. My appointment yesterday went fine. We redid
the group B strep test although I'm not very hopefull that it will be negative. I'd love for it to be such though since
I hate that whole IV thing. Tater is head down but not engaged or anything. He has been spending more time head
down then the other babies (except for Gavin, who was never anything but head down) so that is good. He has been moving
like normal so all that is fine. The next appointment is in a week I believe.
Since I've been having about 1~3 contractions every hour these days, I've been feeling the need to be more prepared.
Tater's room still has Jessie's twin bed in it (although she uses the one in her and Gavin's room all the time now) and it
had all of Jessie's wall stuff up. I also needed to clean out the diaper basket and clean all the junk off the changing
table as it had turned into more or less a storage table for odds n ends. I put up the three paintings I had for his
room but that didn't really cover the walls well. I headed out to Lowes and JoAnns and I think the result is really
pretty cool! I'll get some pictures up. The one wall has three canvas paintings of animals, an elephant, a giraffe,
and an alligator. The other wall has the window, which I took down the old curtain hardware and put up a double rod
bracket so that I could put a valance over the blue that was already there for Jessie. I also will be putting up some
letters to personalize the room but I cannot show pictures of that or my web savey friends and family will know his name before
they are supposed to! ; ) One of my favorite parts of his room though would be the hemp rope I got from Lowes that has
some knots tied in it and the leaf vine I got from JoAnns that is wrapped around it. That is hanging down the wall with
a little monkey (Actually, it is a tiny gorilla, but I don't think Tater will note the error there) hanging on the vine.
I originally bought the hardware to attach that to the ceiling beams so it was strong enough for kids to actually swing on
- but I don't know. The hemp rope is pretty rough and I think you'd get a lot of rope slivers if you really tried to
swing on it. I also got two really cool sunshine ornaments that look like something you'd find in the garden section
with the greenish copper look. I've got those on the wall to hang outfits and such on and right now they've got my two
favorite jungle outfits and safari hats. I got a little woven basket and some ferns to make an accent sitting up on
the shelf as well as some more fern/leaf pieces to hang around the room. I'd like to glue gun the leaves onto the shelf,
but I have yet to decide exactly what I'll do with the rest. I also managed to very nearly take the skin off one of
the fingers on my left hand while ripping the plastic leaves apart. They have those wires in the middle of them and
while pulling one down I slid my finger along the section of wire sticking up from one I already took off. Yeouch!
The kids were facinated with Mommy's owie though and Jessie kept telling me about how HER finger had an owie all night.
Things are shaping up! I like how it is turning out. We do still need to get that bed out of there though, that'll
really open the place up.
4-17-06
35 weeks, 4 days
ACK! LOOK at that giant baby on the ticker on the bottom of the page! That totally creeps me out. I
just had to post to say that.
4-11-06
34 weeks, 5 days
I had another appointment yesterday. I have one more in 2 weeks and then weekly appointments start. Well,
sorta weekly. My Doc is going turkey hunting the days of May 7th - May 11th so no appointment then. Yes, I know,
I know, doctors get vacations too. (Heck, my OLD doc at the Vadnais heights building was on vacation every other day!)
Still, if I go into labor then I'll be stuck with one of the other docs there and I'm not overly friendly with any of them.
On the plus side, when Jessie was born it went so fast that the doc wasn't even in the room until after she was born so maybe
it won't matter. I'm hoping I can get the duela named Jessica that I had last time. Tater is measuring right around
33 weeks now so he is still on the small side as far as that is concerned. I'm very glad to have gotten those amnio
results back since I'd be worried about that if I didn't KNOW everything was fine. We also decided that since he is
doing such a good job of moving like he is supposed to, we don't have to mess with the NST and biophysical profiles like we
did with Jessie. Unlike Jessica, Tater doesn't give me heart attacks by sleeping/laying still for hours and hours
and hours at a time. We have not specifically decided on a name yet so feel free to keep those votes coming in.
We've also decided to not disclose whatever his name is until his naming ceremony. The whole point of that is to share
his name with everyone and I've always kinda been bummed that everyone knew the kid's name beforehand with those. This
does mean though that we will have to plan his naming ceremony RIGHT after he is born so I cannot really plan it until then.
OH, BTW - not really Tater related, but big brother Gavin would like 2 big ticket items for his birthday which I'm not sure
we'll be able to take care of due to Tater's due date being so close. Feel free to check out his page for more details
if you're searching for ideas for him.
4-5-06
33 weeks, 6 days
I don't know why I'm always posting updates on day 6 of the week. Weird. Anyway, Tater has been certainly
moving around plenty lately! I really need to call and get another appointment scheduled now, I feel bad that I've let
that go but I had two other appointments on the horizen and I just felt like I had enough to remember. Plus, with this
baby moving as consistantly as he is, I'm not nearly so worried about he well being. There's not much the doc can do
that would make me care about the appointment. Now, if he wants to tell me to take it easy due to these contractions
that would be OK with me! I've got plenty to do around the house still, so "taking it easy" from work would free up
the time. I've been debating trying to crochet another blanket like the ones the other two have. I don't really
even know if I can remember how to do it at this point. I'm also not sure I'd get it done in time... but then I feel
guilty thinking about not doing it. I'm sure Tater doesn't want me leaving him out of the blankie collection.
3-29-06
32 weeks, 6 days
Results are back! Baby is chromosomally perfect! (Although still XY - not sure why I even asked on that one,
the ultrasound was pretty clear.) I guess that means Tater is just small and that's normal for him. THAT I don't
have a problem with.
I've been having contractions every day now for at least the last 4 days. Nothing significant, but I can tell they
are there. Makes me know just how soon he will be here! Pregnancy wise - this is fine as I've never been real
fond of those last couple of weeks. I'm just scared about how I'll handle the two little ones. Well, everyone
keeps saying it'll all just work out... I've been counting on that!
3-20-06
31 weeks, 4 days
The amnio procedure went well I guess. No contractions or anything from it so that's good. They were
doing the ultrasound while extracting the fluid so you could see the needle and the baby and everything on there. It
was very odd because I could feel the needle touching my uterus much like when the baby kicks. I don't remember that
from Jessie's amnio. Anyway, Tater decided to shove his body right up against the spot where the doc was trying to get
the needle in just as he was inserting it. That freaked me out a little - don't really want to spear Tater here.
The doc waited for him to calm down though and then thankfully he left the space there again to draw the fluid. I was
kinda nervous that Tater would move again once the needle was in there but he didn't. The doc said that the fetus reflexes
if they DO touch the needle are really fast - faster then ours would be even and they jump away pretty quick. I won't
get the results back for about 2 weeks now though so that's all I have to share about that. Oh, and ya, this is a boy.
I told the US tech that if she saw anything that said otherwise to let me know but there was a shot that was so clear I even
saw that it was a boy. The US tech said "Ah, ya, this is a boy." and I kinda laughed and said "Yep, I caught that one."
I did my first NST at my last appointment, and then I had one at the amnio as well. They haven't set me up with
regular times for that so I'm not really sure what the schedule will be. They also never called me back with the gestational
diabetes results so I'm assuming they were just fine.
We've got Gavin and Jessie's closet all set up and I moved Jessie's clothing into there so I could put all of Tater's
clothes in the nursery. There's still some stuff to be done to consider it "done" but it's really not that bad.
The biggest thing is more of something that needs to be done to Jessie and Gavin's room. Once the painting is done in
there, I can move the bottom bunk bed out of the nursery and into their room. To be honest though, it's kinda nice having
that bed in there. The only down side is that there is NO ROOM to walk or anything with the bed and crib.
BTW - Ebay has this 5 foot tall stuffed giraffe that I TOTALLY WANT for the room! They are charging anywhere from
$85 to $109 or so for it depending on which auction you look at (why would the same person have all the auctions for different
prices anyway?) so I don't think we'll be springing for it. *sigh*
3-13-06
30 weeks, 4 days
Kris and I went out to Grand Superior Lodge this past weekend, just us and TaterBabe. We didn't see any moose -
bummer on that but I don't think we went far enough north. Tater behaived himself very well while we were up there.
:) I had my first NST on Thursday which went fine. I'm also set to have an amnio soon - I need to call the hospital
back to schedule that. I know I'm probably just paranoid over nothing. I'm just nervous that this baby is measuring
so small. At the follow-up ultrasound he was still about a week behind which is so odd for my kids. Specifically
his arms and legs are measuring smaller (of course, the noggin is right on track!) so I'll just feel better having the amnio
and knowing for sure that there aren't any chromosomal oddities.
3-6-06
29 weeks, 4 days
I've decided to stop looking at names because it is driving me crazy. I put Asher up which I've liked all along,
but it is between those three now for sure. To be honest, Asher seems to be pretty popular on the site I've been using
for meanings. That seems odd to me because of the whole Pokemon reference. Then again, Gavin is as Pokemon crazy
as I've seen and he didn't make the connection or think it was weird.
This baby is a mover! My whole pregnancy with Jessica a big part of my insanity was because the girl never moved!
I'd have HOURS where I'd feel nothing from her. Having lost a baby before - I just couldn't deal with that so I was
in the hospital having NST and BPP tests done a LOT. They never really did see any reason for Jessie to have been so
quiet other then her short cord. Granted, she's been a pretty laid back kid, but it was still weird. Well, THIS
baby doesn't have that problem and it makes me feel good on two accounts, and scared on one. For the good part, A) I
don't have to worry that this baby is dead all the time - that's a very big plus - and B) It tells me that I was not actually
insane while pregnant with Jessica, she really DIDN'T move like a normal baby. For the bad part, if the way Gavin moved
as a fetus and the way Jessie moved as a fetus correlate to temperment, I may be in for a heck of a first year!
3-1-06
28 weeks, 6 days
OK, the next US is scheduled for Tuesday March 7th at 9:15 so hopefully the baby will not show any more signs of any
chromosomal issues. I've decidedly got WAY TOO MANY 0-3 month sized outfits now but that's nothing new for me. :)
I'm trying to not get too much blue for the same reason I didn't want too much pink for Jessie - it irritates me that it is
nearly the only option. I haven't seen any baby boy pink stuff yet. I think this baby will be owning a lot of
green. Thankfully, I like blue so I'm not 100% avoiding it, but diversity is a good thing.
OK - so here's a little secret. I'm DYING for work here to hold a baby pool or do SOMETHING fun for this baby.
I've never had anyone ever have a baby pool on guessing when a baby will be born or how big it will be for me. Yes,
I get it that this is baby #4 and generally not qualified for those types of things - but what - just because the people that
you are working with when you are pregnant with baby #1 don't do something that means you miss out on it forever? Plus,
it's a pretty small place here that I work and no one else is pregnant and no one has been pregnant for awhile so you'd THINK
they'd be kinda excited to do something. Ahh - the life of a woman working in a mostly male field. I wonder if
I can start leaving annonymous post it notes around the office...???
2-27-06
28 weeks still
I've pretty much decided that baby's middle name will be Tate. I just cannot pass up the opportunity to call the
kid "tater" for most of his life, but I'd like a two sylable first name. Torey is out because Torey Tate is weird.
That leaves me at mostly Rorik or Keifer. Rorik would honestly be called Rory 99% of the time but I like Rorik as the
official name because of the meaning and because I just do. I have found myself calling the baby Rory a lot but that
can always change. I had found a few names that I'd like to think more about in this baby book so many I'll update the
poll sometime soon with those. The only one I can think of now is Berrit but now that I write that down the kid would
end up being called "Berry" from the relatives just like one of Kris's uncles and that would get annoying.
While out at Target the other day, I found a bunch of stuff for a jungle themed bathroom. I was pretty excited
because the little monkey tissue box and the giraffe trash bin were perfect! They also had a cute froggy tissue box
that is set on it's side and the froggie has the tissues coming out of it's mouth for the kid's bathroom. Walgreens
even had this puffy stuffed giraffe toy that unfolded into a pillow that would've been great, but I've got pillows and it
was $10. Now I just need a crew of people to come over for free and put together all these ideas for the kids' rooms.
Who has the time anyway?
I'm still waiting to hear back from the doc regarding the follow-up Ultra Sound. On one hand, I'm glad he seems
to be actually TRYING to find someone that can do cord analysis but on the other I wish he'd communicate with me more.
Weeks have gone by and I have the sinking feeling they are going to just tell me they can't look at the cord. Hmm -
"Sorry, we know you've had 3 prior heart attacks however we can't find a doctor skilled enough to run any tests so we're just
going to ignore your heart at this point. Good luck though, we really hope nothing goes wrong."
2-24-06
28 weeks
OK, I feel huge! Things are getting ready. I've asked Kris to put together the cradle for at the foot of
our bed but he insists that there's still "3 whole months!" left so he doesn't want to do it. Whatever. With Jessie
on her way out of the room, I'm hoping to get Kris to re-do the big room closet so I can move all of Jessie's stuff into there
and get the closet and the room and such set up for the baby. I have realized though that assuming this baby is in the
cradle about as long as Jessie was, there is still about half a year before the baby really needs to claim Jessie's room and
half a year is a lot of growing for a little 20 month old. I've been finding good deals on baby clothes where I can
and I'm noticing that this kid has a LOT of jungle-type things. OK, monkeys are cute, but they can't be the ONLY cute
things for boys. When I was out picking up the basket liner (which doesn't fit and will need to go onto Ebay now I think)
I also wanted to look for a nice dress for Jessie and I found a little horsie outfit and a pirate outfit for the boy.
Variety! YES!
I haven't heard back from the doc regarding the follow up ultrasound to check on the baby's size and the cord composition.
I know the last I talked to him he had not found someone in MN that was trained at looking at cord stuff. This is very
irritating to me. I have had THREE babies all with cord dangers, one of which died from it, and I cannot find a doctor
that is willing to even CHECK on this one. Gavin was born with the cord around his neck, Anily had the velamentous insertion,
and Jessie's cord was extremely short. The velametous bit isn't known to repeat, but the other two ARE. And the
medical profession wonders why I think they are all off their rockers when they get so upset that I don't need them to weigh
me every time I go in!!! Sheesh! Stop worrying about the most useless bit of pregnancy data in the history of
the world and start paying attention to the real issues that show a history of importance. Oh, they are also upset with
me because I don't want to do the "pregnancy labs" to check my blood type (like that spontaneously changes from pregnancy
to pregnancy) and to to a hepatitis check. (Also not something that is going to spontaneously change from pregnancy
to pregnancy.) They claim that if I refuse both the blood test and the vac shot for the newborn that they are going
to call CPS on me and I say go ahead. Honestly, the world is so upside down I can't understand why my blood pressure
doesn't go through the roof just with me walking into the clinic. Real dangers??? Let's ignore those. Stupid
hospital policy that does not apply in any way shape or form to me and this pregnancy??? Let's spend all our time worrying
about that! And don't even get me started on the dumbness in their 5 second heart rate test at the standard appointment.
Other then verifying that there IS a heart rate with that - it does NOTHING to assess the baby's health. If you don't
listen for MUCH longer then 5 seconds it is a total waste of time. That's like listening in for 5 seconds as my car
drives down the highway and telling me that you can make any indepth kind of assessment for my car from that. You miss
all the acceleration / deceleration, and any variations from how the baby is moving and living with such a small snip.
2-1-06
24 weeks
I've been really feeling the baby move a lot today, which is nice. Usually it is just a little feeling here or
there, but not consistant. I did break down and am drinking some cherry coke (YUM!) which I don't drink often, pregnant
or not, so maybe that's why. I've modified the poll now to cut the options down and to add Torey. I went to look
up the name for meanings and such and to be honest, I didn't like most of them. Most of the meanings for Torey point
to a derivation of Thor and really, do I NEED someone in the house who is named after thunder? Then again, I've noticed
that most little boy names mean things like "brave" or "warrior" or "major energetic pain in the butt" etc. I can't
help thinking that these parents were either planning on bording school before the kid was born, or they were insane.
Why ask for that kind of trouble? I want a name that means "really laid back and content to sit on the couch and stare
into space". Why aren't there more boy names that mean THAT??? Anyway, I had my "confirmation" appointment not
that long ago and I got to learn all sorts of new things like what a contraction feels like and what signs to look for before
calling the hospital and what kinds of medications are OK to use while pregnant. Ya, I totally needed to waste that
time. At least that is out of the way. The OB and I chatted a bit about the level II ultrasound results and he
didn't feel an amnio was called for even though the baby was measuring a week behind. I guess that's OK but in the back
of my mind I'm still thinking "downs" and I really really hope that is not the case. The OB was talking about risk factors
and these words ACTUALLY came out of his mouth: "Well, you're not an old lady or anything like that are you? Where's
your chart?" Nice, I can't wait until Dr Lawson comes back from his surgery... which is actually tomorrow when I have
my "first" OB appointment with him.
1-23-06
23 weeks
OK, so I've been possessed by the body snatchers or something because I just couldn't have this baby boy use Jessie's
flower bedding. I've been wanting to do a jungle thing for awhile now and Gavin's kinda getting too old for it, so I
decided to look around and see what I could find. Well, I'll put the photo up but I've bought the Kid's Line brand bedding
for baby's room. It is really cute with the little animals and the material is that super soft microfleece that feels like
suede leather! I'm in the process of putting together the accessories and such. My mom and her hubby came over
a couple weekends ago and put in the overhead light so no more lamp!! YAY!!! We're still working on names.
To be honest, the ones in the poll up there are not really current for what we're thinking of at this point. (We is
really ME since Kris doesn't get much say with this kid - he got to name Jessie after all.) It is so sad to throw out
all my cute girl names but I'm getting used to the idea of a boy. Granted, I'll miss out on all the cute girl stuff,
but I still have Jessie to indulge all my "girly" needs with. Plus, I'm hopefull that the boy/girl combo will come with
less sibling rivalry if I'm lucky. SO, lately I've been thinking of Tory, which I KNOW is a "girl" name but really,
is it so very "girly"??? I've got Terik or Torey or Torel or something sorta like that in my head. I still
really like Keifer, but I can't get my head around calling a person that for the rest of their life.
1-17-06
22 weeks
Yes, I had the US today. We have found out that we are having a little boy! I'm not sure exactly how much
desire I have to change around the nursery room based on that so he may have to deal with having blue flowers. Also,
we don't have much left that is useable from Gavin's old clothes so I guess we'll be investing in some new boy items.
I was really hoping that we could re-use all of Jessie's old stuff since we have so MUCH of it and it is so cute! I
also was hoping to have the two little twin girls and all that. Ah well, Gavin will be totally happy! Other then
gender, things looked fairly normal. The baby is measuring a week behind which the doc was asking about quite a bit.
I'm not really suprised as it was measuring behind back at 12 weeks as well and my normal cycle dates don't mesh out into
due dates very well. I just have no desire to explain that because A) the doctors never listen to me anyway so it'd
be a big hassle to try to get my point across and B) I tend to have big babies at full term so I'm not really motivated to
have them push my due date back any. The only thing is that they were talking Downs a little and fretting over baby's
nose length measurements which they were not getting very clearly and then with the other measurements being behind I guess
that prompted them to bring it up. They didn't seem too concerned though.
SO... I guess the next appointment is on Friday. And ya, it's a boy.
11-9-06
21 weeks
Hello. As far as I know, things are going smoothly with this pregnancy. I've been pretty nauseated, which
is totally unlike me during pregnancy but I figure a little throwing up isn't a bad thing, especially when it helps keep any
growth in check. I was not in pre-Jessica shape before getting pregnant anyway so honestly I don't think I need to gain
anything. As it is, at 21 weeks, I'm still able to wear my "big" jeans that are not maternity pants although they are
loose enough that I have to keep pulling them up through the day. I'll resist as long as I can, but you know the
joke, by pregnacy #3 your regular clothes ARE your maternity clothes - ya they might as well be. Four pregnancies in 7 years
is rough on your system.
I've been much more laid back about this baby during this pregnancy. Truth be told, most of it is because I'm about
as nervous about what I'll do if we actually get to bring the baby home as I am about what I'll do if we do not. The
idea of two little ones, now that I'm really faced with it, is terrifying. On the plus side, it makes me better able to have
the "what will be will be" attitude this time around, on the downer side, I feel pretty guilty about that. I sold my
doppler on Ebay before I got pregnant so I don't have that to obsess about regularly either.
On the growth side I don't know much yet. I haven't gotten my level II ultrasound yet so there's not much to report
about baby. People keep asking me gender questions and some get quite agitate that I don't know yet which I think is
funny. They can blame it on my lame Dr office which has decided no one is allowed to see a doctor for any pregnancy
without first attending an hour long session that is either called a "confirmation" appointment or an "educational" session
depending on which Allina office you talk to. Either way it is massively insulting to require this even after you've
had a whole pregnancy with the same doctor and they already KNOW your history. Who has an hour to waste following their
insulting red tape anyway??? So anyway, I have yet to have this dumb appointment before I'm allowed to actually see
the doctor. They have graced me with agreeing to refer me out to the level II US tech at a hospital without this dumb
visit but that was last week and I still haven't seen any results of anyone actually scheduling anything. I'm just hoping
to get the appointment before the baby is actually born. I figure, if I go into labor they probably won't admit me because
they haven't confirmed for themselves that I'm actually pregnant yet. They'll make me wait for the results of the pregnancy
test before letting me give birth.
