I'm Baaaaaack!!

Holy crappers has it been a crazy week! Christmas was great, albeit hectic. I was exhausted and not feeling well (I had contractions starting on the 23rd that didn't let up until yesterday evening) but it was really an enjoyable few days.

We arrived at my mom's on Christmas Eve and Jamie's dad, stepmom and brother got there later that day. It was really nice to have them around. And even though they were there, we still had alot less people than usual and although I missed everyone else who wasn't there, it was nice to have a more quiet holiday than we usually do.

The 3 of us were spoiled rotten on Christmas. We all got a ton of stuff (I actually got all but 1 thing off my wish list), but we did our share of spoiling too. Our moms loved the gifts we got them, and that was a huge relief to me. We got Jamie's mom a grandmother's ring that she will be able to add to, and we got my mom a necklace with little boy and girl charms of all her grandchildren. Hopefully she will have room to add to that because only 1 of the 4 of us are done having kids (1 hasn't even started yet) and it's already pretty full.

Addy was spoiled even moreso than I thought she would be. And I was actually incredibly surprised at how well-behaved she was. She didn't get crabby or whiney or anything less than happy and excited the entire day, and it was alot for such a little girl to have to take in. She unwrapped her stocking with me, but after that she kind of lost interest in anything except playing with the paper and Grandma's stocking stuffers.

Boxing Day was spent at Jamie's mom's and the spoiling continued there. Although that day Addy wasn't quite as happy. The lack of sleep caught up to her, I think, plus she started teething again so she was feverish and vomiting alot. Which is still happening today, so I'm hoping that clears up soon and the tooth hurries up and arrives.

Her and I went to see the doctor yesterday. Her because she's constipated and prune juice is not helping, me because of the contractions and some bloody show I had on Monday. She got a prescription and I was told everything was fine with me until they did the pee dip. Although my blood pressure is fine, there was a lot of protein (between 3+ and 4+) so I got sent to the hospital for lots of labwork. No bedrest, though, so that's a relief. I am trying to come to terms with the idea that I am most likely going to have to have a c-section, though. But we will see how the labwork comes back and what my OB has to say about it all when the doctor from here talks to him.

The Vegreville hospital called this morning to book my ultrasound that the OB wanted to send me for. That was just to see if we're okay to go ahead with the VBAC, so I don't know, he may end up cancelling it. It's for January 31st which is about 2.5 weeks before my due date, so if we do have to go ahead with a section because of this protein, who knows, I may already have had the baby by then.

Almost Christmas

Well, we are only 2 sleeps away from Christmas now, and I am finally getting into the Christmas spirit. And I'm almost ready for the day too! lol We've been working on cleaning the house today because it's a huge mess and I hate coming home to a dirty house. Plus, when we come home we'll be bringing all of our Christmas gifts, so that alone will create a mess.

This will probably be my last blog entry until after Christmas. Tomorrow at around lunchtime we're going to head out to my mom's and won't be back until the morning of Boxing Day, and we're planning on spending that day at Jamie's mom's.

We had our washing machine looked at and the seal on the pump is what's leaking. The guy said if we had our washer and dryer in the basement with a drain close by, we could have kept using it that way for years, but because it's upstairs (and on my hardwood no less) with no drain, we can't use it until it gets fixed. Which could be tomorrow (which would be awesome!) but it likely won't be until the new year. So Jamie is at Gary and Verna's right now doing a load of our laundry so we have clothes to pack, and the rest I guess I shall bring to my mom's and get done tomorrow afternoon. As if I don't have enough stuff to haul over there already. Oh well.

I finally got a memory card for my digital camera. It only took a year. I really wanted to get one before Christmas so we can get some good quality pictures of Addy's first Christmas and then we'll also have it for in the hospital when the new baby is born. When Addy was born, we had to use the lowest resolution and the pictures suck. I have some that I took on the old camera, but I underestimated how many pictures we would want to take, so we didn't have enough film. But you live and learn, I suppose.

Well, I guess I should get back to my cleaning. I want everthing to be done today, so tomorrow morning all we have to worry about is getting ourselves ready and doing our last minute packing like toothbrushes and stuff.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Washing Machine Woes

I've always noticed when washing pillows, or if I set the washer to do a 2nd rinse that sometimes it will leak a bit. The drainpipe thingie on the basement floor will also sometimes back up, but nothing serious and that's the only times it's happened.

On Monday, though, Jamie put his insulated work coveralls in the wash and it leaked on the floor. He pulled out the machine and underneath my hardwood had some water damage but nothing much, so we didn't think much of it.

Today I was downstairs wrapping presents and just on my way up the stairs. The washer and dryer are basically directly above the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. As I was walking through there, I got dripped on. I looked up (the basement is only partially finished so there the ceiling is open) and see lots of water and damage to the plywood of the floor. I almost had a panic attack.

So my washer is, and has been, leaking for some time. Jamie called a guy in town to come look at it tomorrow. He figures it's the pump, but will know more when he comes to check it out. I can deal with it being the pump. I can't deal with "Sorry, your washing machine is a piece of crap." And what really chokes me up is this isn't even the new washer we bought when we moved it. That one wasn't as high-end of a model as my mom's, so when she moved and was leaving hers, we switched ours out with hers. It's only about a year older but if I had just stuck with my perfectly good washing machine, I wouldn't have a malfunctioning washer screwing me over right now.

Yaaaaaay!!

It's finally Friday! WOOHOO!!!! I have been waiting for this day all week. Although this morning it still feels like any other day of the week because Jamie is sleeping. But not for long, sucker! lol

Apparently we are going to go out tonight. There's going to be a hypnotist at the bar and Jamie wants to go, so I am being a good wife and tagging along. I hate the bar. I hate sitting there with a bunch of drunk people, struggling to breath through all the cigarette smoke and still put on a happy face even though when I am there I am anything but. But I'm going, so I guess I better just suck it up. I can admit, it will be nice to get out without the baby, but I'd rather be going anywhere but there.

Last night I talked to the lovely Tammy from motherhood about booking a photography appointment for the new baby to get some newborn shots taken. I am so incredibly excited for it! And doing that made it seem so real that there really is a baby on the way and that soon we will have a new addition to our little family. So lets just hope that the baby is cooperative with the date we booked.

This afternoon I plan on Jamie and I finishing all the gift wrapping and then doing some visiting to deliver presents. And I would like to start tidying up the house. Tomorrow will be a busy day. We have haircuts booked in the morning in Veg and then have to do some grocery shopping (would you believe I haven't been grocery shopping in at least 3 months?) and pick up some last minute things for Christmas. So I'm not sure that come Sunday we will feel like having to do all the housework in one day.

I can't believe Christmas is so close. We have the weekend and then Monday we head out to my mom's. Now that it's only a few days away, I am starting to feel little twinges of excitement, but for the most part I still pretty much feel like The Grinch. Although I am excited to make my gingerbread house at my mom's. All the other grown-ups are being buttheads and not doing one, so it will just be Richard and me...And if that husband of mine thinks he gets to help decorate my house, he has another thing coming. lol

I am feeling overwhelmed at the amount of laundry I have to get done in the next 2 and a half days. I suppose I don't really have all that much to get washed, but I have a small mountain of clean stuff to be folded and put away. I guess I better get off to it.

Ooooops!

Duh, I'm a big dope! I told about my appointment and the ultrasound thing twice. It's official, I have completely lost my mind.

One More Sleep!!

Only one more sleep until Jamie is done work for the week and our weekend can officially begin. I could not be more thankful! lol

Actually, we had a pretty good night last night. Addy fell asleep kind of late but that had to do with getting home past our usual supper time because of my doctor's appointment. She had a bit of a difficult time falling asleep, but once she did she stayed sleeping until close to 11:00pm. Which doesn't seem like much, but after the last couple of nights, that in itself was huge. So when she woke up she had a bottle and went right back to sleep until just before 8:00am! If it weren't for the baby living on my bladder, I would have gotten a full night's sleep. lol

She seems to be feeling much better today, so I am really happy about that. Her cough was pretty yucky this morning still, but I haven't heard her coughing since before her morning nap, so I think she is on the road to recovery. And I feel awesome because I got to get some good sleep last night. I was alot later falling asleep that I wanted to be, but that was because one of my favorite movies was on tv and once I started watching it I couldn't turn it off.

So my appointment went good yesterday. Everything still looks great with the baby and with my blood pressure. I go back in 2 weeks, and at that time I should have an ultrasound scheduled for between 4-6 weeks from now. He told me that if we're going to attempt a VBAC that he needs to be sure that the baby is in the right position and isn't too big and that my placenta is out of the way. So it will be nice to get to "see" the baby again, but I'm nervous because there will be alot riding on what we find out that day. Plus, I am so dead against finding out the sex of the baby and Jamie really wants to. I keep thinking it'll be just my luck that those little legs will be spread wiiiiiiiide open and there will be no secrets. But my fingers are crossed that by that time (I'll be somewhere between 35 and 37 weeks) it will be too squishy in there to see any little bits. And I am going to hold my ground and not let Jamie find out. He is convinced he could keep it secret, but he is such a horrible secret keeper and I know he would tell other people and it would just end up next to impossible for someone to not slip up, even if it wasn't him.

Actually, I think it's kind of funny that this time I feel so strongly against finding out. With Addy, I was back and forth for awhile, but once we were there I just had to know, and I can't imagine how I would have gotten through the pregnancy and the bazillions of biophysical profiles (ultrasounds to check on the baby and fluid for those who don't know what that is) and not have found out. Of course, the whole time I was expecting a boy, but that's beside the point. There was no mystery behind it. And this time, I am so excited to not find out until he or she comes out into the world. I can't wait to have that special surprise. And I'm not tempted at all to find out beforehand.

I finally got my Christmas cards done today. All but one are ready for the mail, and that one is just waiting on being addressed. That's actually alot more of a stress reliever than I thought. I'm hoping that while Addy has her afternoon nap today I can get downstairs and get the rest of the gifts wrapped, and then other than delivering them everything will be done. But if not today, it'll get done tomorrow afternoon. And maybe once all that is done, I will feel less anti-Christmas and more excited for the day.

A New Belly Shot

Here are a couple of baby belly pictures. They were taken at 31 weeks and 1 day gestation. I seriously cannot imagine getting any bigger than I am now, but I know it's going to happen. Here's hoping my poor body can handle it and that when I do go for my ultrasound that they don't find 2 little bundles of joy in there!

Is it really only Wednesday?

This has been such a long week and it's only half over. I am so ready for it to be done. Jamie has 2 more shifts and then he is off until January 2nd and I am so thankful for that. I am burning out. Addy is over 10 months old and I honestly can count on one hand how many times I have gotten to have a little break from mommy-hood. And each of those times was only for a couple of hours, and have not occurred since early summer.

Right now Addy is in her crib shrieking like a lunatic because she doesn't want to go to sleep. I don't know why she struggles and fights so much. If someone let me have a nice warm bath, a warm drink and then tucked me into a nice snuggly bed, I would be out like a light. You wouldn't hear a single argument from me. Not her.

I am praying for a good night tonight. The night before last she was up 5 times before morning. Last night, she didn't let me get to sleep until about 1am and that was after I gave up and brought her to my bed. And it is not a restful sleep with her in bed on a good night, but last night she was still up quite frequently so that made it even worse. At about 6am I finally put her back to her bed because she seemed alot better and I needed to get some restful sleep. She slept then until 10am, but I can't even count how many times she was up crying in those 4 hours.

So I am just exhausted and if I don't get a good (or at least decent) night's sleep tonight, I think I might just die. I am trying to be understanding of her because I know she isn't feeling well, but at the same time, she's had her motrin so the tired, crabby part of me is just ticked off that she won't go to sleep.

On a more positive note, we had another doctor's appointment today. Everything looks good and I am going to be going for another ultrasound in 4-6 weeks to make sure we're good to go ahead with the VBAC. My fingers are crossed that it goes well, and that we walk out of there not knowing the sex of the baby. I don't want to find out, and I don't want Jamie to be told and then end up ruining the surprise for me. I love my husband, but he cannot keep a secret.

Time For A Vent Session

I have 2 options right now, I can either throw my version of a tantrum (which would entail lots of things getting either broken, damaged and/or ending up on the floor, more screaming than I care to admit to and the stupid moron dog I have locked outside getting beaten) or I can vent here.

Today has been a difficult day. Addy was up so many times last night and my sleep was so interrupted that by the time morning rolled around, I already knew I was not going to be a happy person. Then Addy's bad night continued on to a bad day. She was whiney and fussy and crabby all day long.

Joey has been even more infuriating today than he usually is. He has always, always, always been a difficult dog. If I wasn't such a firm believer in following out your committment when you take on a pet he would have been long gone about a week after we got him.

So poor Addy has a hell of a time falling asleep tonight because she has a nasty cough and it's obvious she isn't feeling well and she wakes up crying about an hour ago. So I go into her room to find a crib full of barf. I don't do barf. I can handle spit up, I can handle poop, I can handle anything but barf. And not only is her bed and bedding covered in it, she is covered in it. So I take her out, get her cleaned up, get the crib stripped and the grossness into the laundry hamper and I take Addy into the living room to try to calm her down and get her comfortable.

When I finally get her to a point where I think she can fall back to sleep, I go into her room and what do I find? I find Joey, the sheet half pulled out of the hamper and a big hole chewed into it. This is the second time he has done this. And he couldn't chew holes in any of the old dayhome sheets I have that don't properly fit the crib. Noooooooo, he chews holes in the good sheets. The pretty ones. The ones that match the freaking nursery. So now I only have one good sheet left, it doesn't match the nursery, it isn't overly pretty and it's one from the dayhome so it is well used, to say the least. So now I get to go shopping for more crib bedding which infuriates me even more because I was planning on moving Addy to a toddler bed in a few months and getting the new baby his/her own bedding so I have to buy Addy new sheets that will get used for only a couple of months. And that's if the dog doesn't chew those ones up too.

I am getting to the point with this dog that I have no patience. I am mad at him all the time, even when he is actually being good, because even if he's good for the time being, there is something he has done in the recent past that has me pissed off at him. I am so mad at him right now I am shaking. I am so frustrated I could cry. I don't know what to do with this dog. He just never learns. He really needs obedience training but I just don't have the time for that.

And don't even get me started on Casper. I disappear for 1 hour for a stupid, measly bath and the little shit pees 3 times in the house. 3 times! I'm pregnant, even if I drank 10 litres of water in 2 minutes I couldn't pee 3 times in an hour. And I let the stupid dogs out to pee before I got in the tub so he shouldn't have had to pee at all.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

It Feels Like A Monday

Last night was a rough night. Addy was up 5 times. Yep, count 'em, 5 times. I am just at a loss as to what to do. Our sleep plan is working great as far as getting her into bed at naptime and in the evening at a good time and her self soothing herself to sleep, but it seems that whenever we seem to be making progress with how often she is waking up in the night, it all goes to the crapper and we go back to where we were before (or, in the case of last night, worse than where we were before). I am absolutely exhausted today.

Addy woke up this morning about the time Jamie got home from his night shift and he gave her a bottle so I didn't have to get up. She was happy enough with the bottle for about 20-30 minutes, but then started to fuss. I told Jamie to turn off the monitor so the noise didn't keep him up when I got up with her, which he did, but then I thought, "Just a couple more minutes," and I fell back asleep for like 40 minutes while she was in her room pissed off. Bad Mommy.

I need to get the Christmas cards done and in the mail today. And I really don't have that many to do, it's just a matter of getting my ass in gear and taking a half hour or an hour, but I just haven't been in the Christmas-y spirit for the last little while. All the anticipation for the day has gotten to me and now I am just sick of all the preparations and everything and want to be done with it. And I don't think I've ever felt this way before. I'm especially surprised by it because it's Addy's first Christmas and I thought I'd be more into it this year than usual. I guess the problem is I've also been looking forward to it for longer than usual. Now I just feel like the grinch.

Blah Blah Blah

I don't have anything interesting to say today. Not that I'm overly interesting any other day, but today I'm definitely not.

Jamie is back working close to home, and he is on nights this week so he was home for the day. I wish the bugger would have slept, but he didn't. Unless you count an hour long nap at about 4:00pm, which I do not. He is going to be one tired man tonight at work. And I feel especially bad because when Addy got up this morning I made him get up with her because I figured I could sleep in and he'd take her for the morning, and then he would be able to sleep all afternoon. Which he could have, but he did not. Oh well, his fault, not mine.

I just smashed my head against the chair rail in Addy's room and ouchies! Unplugging her fibre-optic angel my mom bought her. Why the damn angel does not have a switch, I do not know. So while trying to unplug it (and wouldn't you know it the outlet is behind the dresser), I smash the top of my head on the chair rail. But from the sounds of it, she's sleeping now. It's a little early, but she was tired and I am done for the day, so it works. Now if only I could get the kitchen to clean itself and put away supper, and the bottles to magically become clean.

I see the doctor again on Wednesday, so we'll see how that goes. I've been bad about remembering to take my heartburn pill, but the pain has stayed away so that's good at least. I need to get back into the habit of taking it before bed. I think my body has begun the long journey to labor, but I won't share those details with all of you. We'll just wait and see what my doctor has to say.

Good-bye, Weekend!

It turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable weekend, although I can't honestly say I'm 100% recovered from my bug.

Saturday we did a small, small amount of shopping in the city, before going over to my in-law's place. We had a little visit, got ready to go out and left for the ballet. Addy wasn't the best girl for her Grandma (poor teething baby), but I think Velvet enjoyed her evening with her anyways.

We went out to dinner at Chianti's and just barely made it from there to the Jubilee in time for the ballet. We were seconds from missing the first act, but we made it and the 3 of us enjoyed in immensely (although it was sweltering hot in there).

We spent the night in the city because we were all tired and didn't feel like a long car ride home. Plus, the idea of waking a sleeping baby in the midst of teething was not exactly appealing.

This morning we had a big breakfast at Jamie and Velvet's (or I guess I should say Addy, Mom and Jamie did...I was still not feeling very well) and then hit the road. We stopped in Veg at Walmart to do a bit of shopping and were home by mid-afternoon.

Jamie goes on nights this week, but Friday is their last day before they go on break for Christmas. Addy and I will have him all to ourselves until January 2nd.

Speaking of Christmas, it's only 9 days away. I am no longer enjoying the anticipation. It seems like there has been a ton more work that usual this year, and I am just ready for the day to come already. I'm looking forward to spending this Christmas at my mom's and not having to play the part of the hostess. Jamie, Velvet and Richard are coming out too, so that will be nice, and it sounds like Charlie might be there too, which would be great.

Tomorrow I will be 31 weeks into this pregnancy. 9 weeks from my due date, although I have a feeling this baby will be arriving before then. I am beginning to feel very done with this pregnancy. That may be due to the rough week I have had, or it may just be that I have basically been pregnant for a year and a half and want to not be pregnant for awhile. Each time a stranger (or someone who just doesn't know) says to me "Well it won't be very long now!" I groan inside (or sometimes aloud). I feel very large. This baby belly of mine is protruding like crazy. My poor body is definitely feeling the strain of the pregnancy. Is it done yet?

Just My Friggin' Luck

So, things had been going surpringly well around here lately. No sickness (which is a big thing around here), no real stress (other than the usual holiday stress), just relaxing and enjoying things going well.

Wednesday night when I went to bed I was feeling a little queasy but I didn't think anything of it. I just rolled over and went to sleep. But at 5:30am I wake up with this incredible pressure in my chest and the odd stabbing pain right around the diapragm area. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep and was actually successful for awhile, but then the queasiness came back and all of a sudden out of nowhere, full on stomach flu. Yuckies.

So at about 11am I decided to go up to the hospital because I was still having the chest pains. My mom came over to watch Addy and I went up. The chest pains got chalked up to just being related to the tummy woes and all the lovely cramping, but I was so dehydrated I had to spend the entire day in the ER on that stupid uncomfortable bed/stretcher thingie hooked up to an IV. And I forgot to tell the nurse that I'm allergic to the medical tape so now I have a big ugly rash all over my arm everywhere the tape was touching. And I developed a fever while I was there. Well, technically, I already had it seeing as my normal body temperature is around 34-35C and it was 36.something when I got there, but by the afternoon it was up in the high 38C range.

Today I feel alot better, although definitely not fully recovered. But now Addy has a nasty fever and is not feeling well. She also has a bit of a bum rash, so at this point I'm just going to assume teething. I just really hope she doesn't get what I have/had because she's so tiny I'm sure she'd end up in the hospital.

The ballet is tomorrow and although I think I should be fine to go, I'm a little concerned with my girlie. She is supposed to go to her grandparents' house but if she's sick and not feeling well I don't know how I feel about leaving her in a strange environment with people she isn't overly familiar with.

Growing Impatient

For these last few weeks, I have been able to keep my mind off the excitement and impatience of the baby coming by concentrating on Christmas. I have been quite successful at it, actually. But now that the shopping is done, the wrapping of presents is almost completely finished, the baking is done and the decorating is done, I don't have anything to concentrate on except counting down the days. And counting down the days to Christmas isn't nearly as exciting as counting down the days until my due date.

I can't wait to meet this little baby, see if it's a brother or a sister for Addy, to cuddle him/her and see what kind of personality it will have. I know of a few mommas who have either just had babies or are about to, and seeing them is making me so incredibly excited (and impatient, very impatient) for my time to come to have this little one.

I woke up this morning able to breathe and with a very differently shaped belly. I'm pretty sure the baby has dropped already. Seems very early to me for the baby to drop (I'm only in week 30) but I feel so much more comfortable so I'm not going to complain.

Last night Addy was again only up once! She was sleeping by 7:00pm and slept right through until 6:00am. There were a couple of times when I heard her cry out and fuss in her sleep and I thought she might wake up, but she didn't. When she woke up at 6:00am she had her bottle and went right back to sleep until 9:00am so I am a very well rested momma today. Which is good because I was a slacker yesterday and my kitchen is a mess and I'll need my energy to make it look habitable again.

Jamie thinks he might be home tomorrow night. They're moving their equipment to a new site (the one close to home) and they're starting to take everything down tonight. Which means that at some point tomorrow he should be working at the new site and will get to come home after his shift. Yay!

Aaaah, sleep!

Last night Addy only got up once. Once! I couldn't believe it. She was sleeping by 6:45pm, and she was up at 12:30am, and then not again until 8:00am. I'm almost scared to say it and jinx myself, but I think we are finally on the road to sleeping through the night again! There have been a few nights lately where she has only been getting up twice, and the very odd one where she's only getting up once, so I guess we will see how it goes tonight. My fingers are crossed that she won't get up at all, but I don't know if I should expect that. She usually sleeps from between 6:30-7:00pm until 8:00-8:30am (with her awakenings, of course) but that seems like an awfully long time to me for a baby to go with nothing to eat. I would be happy with a consistent 1 awakening per night so I know she isn't in there with a hungry tummy.

I got so much done yesterday I can't even believe it. Laundry galore, cleaning and lots of baking. I also made rice krispie squares and it has been not so easy to stay away from them. lol

Today I have about 2 loads of laundry to do, and 1 still from yesterday to fold. I also have to take out the garbage, package up a Christmas parcel to mail and I still need to add the chocolate layer to my nanaimo bars and that is it on my to do list. Lots of free time to play with Addy, maybe wrap some presents, but that is it.

It's Monday! *groans*

Actually, although I usually hate Mondays, today is not so bad. Jamie is back to work but everything seems to be going smoothly. The house is clean (and decorated for Christmas, I might add), Addy is napping after a very happy morning and those aren't always found in an abundance around here, I am feeling pretty good today and the sun is shining! I love winter, and I think it's so pretty when it snows, but sometimes you just need some sunshine.

I do not know where this weekend went. Which is surprising because it was actually less busy than usual, but it seemed to just fly by. I had my prenatal on Friday, and that evening we had dinner at my mom's for my brother's birthday. Saturday was spent finishing Christmas shopping. That was not exactly a picnic, but I was by myself so that helped to speed things along a bit. Yesterday we cleaned and decorated the house, went to the community Christmas concert and had my mom over for dinner. And at 6pm when Addy went to bed, I was ready to join her, but I didn't want to be up for the day at 3am.

Today I am vowing to stay caught up with the laundry (my hubby got me caught up on Saturday...Woohoo Jamie!), and I think I am going to make nanaimo bars and if I really feel ambitious, I might make a batch of Tollhouse Cookies too. Yum! And then that will be the finish of my Christmas baking.

Another Weekend Here Already

Yesterday I had my second prenatal appointment with my ob/gyn. It went extremely well. Everything looks good and he doesn't foresee me having any problems with my blood pressure seeing as I'm almost 30 weeks along and haven't had any signs show up to indicate that there could be trouble. And I now get to go have a prenatal every 2 weeks instead of once a month, so I guess things really are progressing along.

Today was not as fun of a day. We went out for breakfast and then I headed to Veg to finish up my Christmas shopping. I was in a very busy, crazy Walmart for at least 2 hours trying to find everything I needed. By the time I got home I was tired, cranky and just plain miserable. I don't even know how I'm not in bed right now. But I'm done. Until next year anyways.

Tomorrow we're finally going to decorate the house for Christmas. I am very excited about that. And the community Christmas concert is also tomorrow afternoon. Savannah and Alicia are in it and asked if we would come watch so we'll be going to that too. As long as Addy doesn't have a change in schedule tomorrow, it shouldn't interfere with her afternoon naptime, so that's good news.

Monday morning Jamie is back to work but it's his last week in Camrose until spring, so we're both thrilled about that. The only downside is that when he is on nights, he's going to have to sleep through the daily household noise. And we got new blinds in our bedroom that don't keep the light out very well, so he'll have to deal with that too. But he will be home at some point every day, and that's the most important thing. I imagine it will be a big adjustment for me having him home during the week but once we get into a routine, it will be great.

Welcome back, Braxton Hicks!

Yes, my lovely friend Braxton Hicks has returned to my life yet again. This morning I have been plagued with BH contractions. Not as bad as I know they will get, but bad enough that I still know they are there. However, after experiencing real labor (and back labor at that) I know these are nothing compared to what I am hoping to be able go through, so I shall smile, suck it up and hope that in a few short weeks they turn into the real thing and I get to push this baby out!

It is naptime once again at our house and I am vowing to never mess up our sleep plan again! Addy has been having a tough time getting back to the point where she was at before the weekend when she was putting herself to sleep so easily. Although, last night I decided to be tough momma with the bottle, and when she woke up at 11pm I tried getting her to go back to sleep without it. I wasn't successful at that, but once I did give her it and then put her back to bed, she slept straight through till 5am, and I think the only reason she woke up then was because she heard me get up to pee. But not having that middle of the night awakening was such a treat!

Tomorrow morning my hubby will be home! I can't wait. And then he only has one more week in Camrose and he will be working close to home again, and will be home every night (or day, depending on his shift). So that is very exciting.

Today is my baby brother's 19th birthday! I find it hard to believe he is that age already. I know I've grown up, but I don't know when all these other people did. I hope you have a happy birthday, Charlie Man!

Happy Humpday!

Only 2 more sleeps until Jamie comes home!! This is only the second day without him here but it feels like forever. I am definitely aware I am in my 3rd trimester because I have had to go back to napping in the afternoons in the last week. It seems I had just gotten past the point after Addy was born of having to still nap (still as in from the 3rd trimester with her) when I got pregnant again and was in that lovely phase of exhaustion that comes along with the 1st trimester. Oh well, at least I got that little break in the 2nd one, right?

So yesterday Addy stood all on her own. She was digging through a drawer and pulled out something especially interesting. So interesting, that she felt the need to let go of the drawer and use both hands to check it out. She stood there totally balanced for a good 10-15 seconds before she just plopped down on her bum, like it had been no big deal. It seems as though every time I turn around she is doing something new that she couldn't do the day before. It's really exciting to watch her grow and develop and learn new things, but at the same time it does make me really sad because it seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that she was born. Sometimes I just don't understand where the time has gone and how she has transformed from this newborn who didn't do anything but eat, sleep and poop to this little girl that she is today. And this is only the beginning. I'm only going to be shocked more.

Right now I am struggling with her to get her back on the sleep plan. She did so great last week with putting herself to sleep on her own, but after the hellacious weekend we had, she is having troubles again. It's taking her alot longer to fall asleep and I'm not entirely sure if she is just overtired or if she is choosing to fight it again. The only good thing that seems to have come of it this week is the fact that once she does fall asleep at naptime, the naps tend to be longer than they were last week, so that's good. She's still getting up way too much in the night, though. Once before I have gone to bed, once in the middle of the night and once in the early morning. I could understand the early morning wakening because that's about 12 hours after bedtime and it makes sense that she would be hungry (assuming, however, she weren't waking up to eat 2 other times in between), but the other 2 are just flabbergasting me. What happened to my baby who slept through the night since 4 weeks that she is getting up 3 times in the night now? I am so desperate to get this worked out and get her sleeping through the night again because I am becoming increasingly aware of my approaching due date and I know that I will be up with the new baby every 3 hours for feedings and if Addy is also waking up 3 times in the night, I don't know how I will cope.

*Yawn*

This past weekend was insane. Jamie always ends up with a long weekend at this job because if he's coming off nights, he's home for the weekend Friday morning, and if he's going onto nights, he doesn't go to work until Monday night. And it is really starting to take a toll on me.

Saturday was his birthday and he really wanted to go to the waterpark at West Ed. Normally I wouldn't have been thrilled with the idea what with it being so close to Christmas and me being so pregnant (who wants to get in a bathing suit when you're this pregnant?), but it was his birthday and it was what he wanted to do instead of getting a gift from me (although it didn't end up happening that way) and I figured I could take the opportunity to get some more Christmas shopping done, so I agreed.

We shopped and shopped and shopped. And we only spend about an hour in the water park because it was freezing in there. The air, the showers, the pools...All icey cold. Not great for a baby. And to top it off, I was so cold when we headed back to the change rooms that I decided to skip the ice shower and I ended up with a red, itchy, incredibly painful rash from head to toe that is only now going away.

And by the time we got out of the mall, we were both exhausted and it was starting to rain, so we decided we'd just spend the night at Jamie's dad's place. We stopped at Walmart to pick up toothbrushes for the 3 of us and pj's for Addy and by the time we got out of there the ice fog had set in, so we knew we had made the right choice to stay.

I was supposed to go to Veg on Sunday and get a birthday present for Jamie from Addy and groceries to do the big family birthday dinner that night, but we figured we might as well do the grocery shopping ay Stupidstore. Still had to stop at Walmart in Veg, though, to get the gift from Addy, but somehow I got coerced into getting Jamie his aquarium, which was supposed to be his Christmas present. But oh well.

Then lots of company for dinner that night (my kitchen has still not fully recovered) and we went over to the firehall for a bit because the food drive was also that night. Which, by the way, created a whole other mess at our house because when I asked Jamie to get the stuff ready for when they came past our house, he said they don't come down our street. Which they do (and I knew that) and they came down our street first, so in the rush to get the stuff for the food bank together, an entire bottle of olive oil got spilt on the kitchen floor.

Yesterday is kind of a blur. We had to go back to Veg because we forgot to buy formula for Addy, and of course Jamie had to get fish for his aquarium. And the afternoon was spent in bed sleeping by all.

Is it Friday yet because I need another weekend to recuperate from this one?

I was supposed to have a prenatal in Viking tomorrow but Jamie really wants to go to them, and he obviously can't tomorrow, so I rescheduled it for Friday afternoon. Which I'm glad I did because I am way too tired to make the trip by myself and have the joy of figuring out what to do with Addy while my belly is poked and prodded.

I am now in my 29th week. Only another 76 days to go, which is starting to stress me out. I made up my list of the things we need to buy for this baby, which is really quite short seeing as we have practically everything baby-related from Addy. I just keep thinking, though, that I could have this baby in as little as 8 weeks, which scares the hell out of me. I am not ready.

Come next Monday, the pregnancy will be 3/4 of the way done. But I am also not ready for that. I know the last 10 weeks will be tough. Christmas should distract me from it, but once that's over, I will still have, at the very least, 5 more weeks to go (8 till my due date) and I know they will be long and uncomfortable, but at least Jamie will be home every night.

Finally Friday

Although this week has flown by, I have really missed Jamie so I am really happy it's finally the end of the week. Plus, I'm pretty excited for this weekend too.

Addy's new sleep plan has been going really well. Today was the first time in a couple of days that I had to go into her room while trying to get her to go down for her nap. I blame that on us sleeping in a half an hour later than usual and then me pushing the nap back that extra 30 minutes. I think we should have just stuck with the usual 10:30am naptime, but oh well. She's sleeping now.

I have determined that we need to buy a new baby gate. Seeing as Addy has been hating being confined to the playpen while I get stuff done (and when I'm too tired to chase her around the house), yesterday I started putting her in her room to play and putting the baby gate up in the door. But then this morning while I was tidying the kitchen I heard her grunting and groaning and getting frustrated, so I go to peek in on her and the little butt is climbing the gate. How in the world a nine-month-old baby can climb a freakin' baby gate, I do not know, but she can. So it's time to invest in a different gate that she can't climb. Hopefully we can find something.

Today there is lots of laundry to be washed, folded and put away, so that should keep me pretty busy. Plus I need to bake Jamie's birthday cake too. Hopefully I can keep Addy occupied long enough to get it all done. Maybe I should go get the other baby gate from downstairs and double them up, then she shouldn't be able to try to climb out.

Big Changes

There are have been some incredible changes around here this week. As I mentioned before, we started the empathic sleep teaching technique and I have tweaked our sleep plan and it is going so well. Addy is going down easily in her crib with very little crying and fussing. Now we just have to work on lengthening her naps and getting her sleeping through the night again. I think, though, that that'll come with time as she gets used to being back in her own bed at every nap and each night and relearns how to self-soothe and put herself to sleep.

Another big change is my expanding belly. It seems to me that it is getting bigger every day. I can barely get my winter boots on, not because my feet are swollen but because I can barely bend over to pull them on. I may be back to runners soon. This baby is also very active and I am always getting kicks but they are usually always directed at my ribs or my bladder, so it's very rare that you can feel them from the outside with your hand or see them.

My nesting has also kicked in hardcore. I notice something being dirty or think "I haven't cleaned or organized that in awhile," and I can't not do it. It will just eat away at me until I get it done. And I have been baking and actually cooking every day, which is unusual for me.

I won't be going to visit Jamie this week at work. It's been snowing like crazy there and he doesn't want me coming down if the roads might be crappy, so no visit this week. That's maybe a good thing, though, seeing as we're working really hard on the sleep plan and I don't want to jeopardize our progress with a night away from home.

A Lovely Weekend

This weekend was surprisingly un-busy. Usually we don't stop all weekend, so this was a nice change. We did a little shopping, got some stuff done around the house, went swimming today, but for the most part we just enjoyed having a lazy weekend and I think we all needed it. Especially because next weekend will be hectic. It's Jamie's birthday so I'll have a big family dinner to take care of, I'll have to have the house clean, we'll have to do his shopping for the work week (and possibly finish up the Christmas shopping that weekend too) and it's Christmas decorating time. It will be busy for sure.

As I said, we went swimming today and Addy loved it! We've taken her swimming a few times before and she's always enjoyed it, but never as much as today. She was splashing around, trying to blow bubbles in the water (not to mention drink the water...lol) and moving around like crazy. It was alot of fun to watch her enjoy herself so much.

Well, I have been complaining about Addy's sleep issues for some time now, and knowing it was time to do something about it, I checked out Darcie French's ebook on Empathic Sleep Teaching. I really love the principles it teaches. I find that letting Addy cry it out is too aggressive of an approach that is detrimental to her, but always comforting her and basically parenting her to sleep is way, way, way too passive. This method lets you comfort baby, but still teach him/her to self-soothe and fall asleep on their own. So I read through the book and we now have a sleep plan that we are working on and it's been really good. Only one difficult bedtime so far. The one problem we have with her, though, is the parenting her to a drowsy state. Jamie not as much, but it seems that whenever I'm around, the horns come out and she refuses to be calm and relax like she needs to. But we'll get there. She is still waking up in the night sometimes, but not all the time and not nearly as often as she had been (knock on wood). Hopefully we'll get past that in the next few weeks (days would be ideal, but I'm not going to be naive about it).

Jamie has sold the Cavalier. I am sooooooooo happy! That thing has been sitting and sitting and sitting ever since we got the Fusion (which was the beginning of August...Ugh!), but that was mainly because he has been lazy about advertising it. I made him fliers to put up close to a month ago (at least) and he finally put them up about a week ago and I also posted it on Facebook and Kijiji as well and now it has a buyer. Finally! Tomorrow it will go to its new home. Jamie is being kind of a baby about it, but I guess that's just a guy thing, being attached to their cars. Although, I don't understand how having a shiny new car doesn't make the imaginary man pain of selling the old car go away, but apparently it doesn't.

Anyways, I'm off to enjoy the rest of the evening with Jamie because bright and early tomorrow morning (actually, it won't be bright yet, but it will certainly be early) he's off to work for the week. Bye for now.

Bored and lonely...

As Addy becomes more independant and wants to play and discover things on her own, I am becoming more lonely. I'm not able to play with her, and being this pregnant I just don't have the energy (or the back) to chase her around all day. Which makes for a loooooooong day because she is not usually happy to play in her jolly jumper, exersaucer or playpen.

I suppose it doesn't help that I'm stuck home alone all day. And to make that worse, I don't really like going anywhere. It's a pain in the ass to pack up all of Addy's things, get her in the car and go to someone else's house that is even less Addy-proof than my own. I see my mom most days at lunch, but other than that it's just the baby and me. Jamie is gone during the weeks, his mom once in awhile comes to visit but she usually just wants to take Addy for a walk so I don't get much adult interaction there.

I have to say, I really am hating living in this town. I don't really know anyone here and I kinda feel like the people I do know never think to include me. Just because I have a baby and am pregnant, doesn't mean I don't still like to go out. No, I can't drink, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the company of others. Yes, I have a baby but I am still the same person I always was, I am just also a mom. It really ticks me off that people don't seem to get that. I guess all I'm saying is it would be nice to live somewhere where there were people I have things in common with and who aren't just looking for another drinking buddy.

And it'd be nice to have my husband home more often than just on the weekends. Only a few more weeks, I guess.

Thank goodness for moms!

Today was a rather hellish day. The dogs (mainly Joey, but the other 2 are not blameless) and the cat have been monsters, tearing around the house and driving me nuts. Addy is still feeling yucky from teething so she was challenging today, either wanting to be held or else crawling around on the floor getting into anything and everything.

Late this morning I decided to bake muffins for Mom and I to have for dessert after our lunch. I preheated the oven and made the muffins but when I opened the oven door to put the muffins in, smoke came billowing out. It turns out that when Jamie was refilling the flour cannister on the weekend and had spilt more of the flour than went into the container, he also somehow managed to get some into the oven and it was burning and smoking and just plain nasty. So I spent about an hour with the kitchen window open turning the house into an igloo and getting up and waving the teatowel under the smoke detector (at least I know it works good) every 5 minutes.

Then there was the matter of my doctor's appointment. I haven't gone anywhere in the truck after the big snowfall on the weekend. So 15 minutes before I have to be at the clinic, I go out, start the truck, get Addy into her carseat and start looking for the snow/ice scraper. Only it is nowhere to be found (I also should mention that I wore my runners so my feet were wet and freezing after 2 minutes out there and I had to come in and squeeze my soggy and swollen feet into my winter boots.

So no scraper. I had to wait almost 20 minutes for the ice to loosen up enough that I could use my bank card to scrape it off. This was, of course, after I had to knock all the snow off the windshield by hand because the wipers were frozen solid.

So I was late for my appointment. And when I got there my blood pressure was up (which was no surprise) but I also had some protein in my urine, so off to the lab I was sent.

Fortunately my mom came over after work, brought supper and watched Addy for a couple of hours for me. I was able to go to the post office, the bank, the store and the lab all without a baby to contend with, and then I came home to a clean kitchen, laundry in the washer and the opportunity to have a nice, long soak in the tub. She even bathed Addy for me before she left.

So now even though I had a hellish day, I feel much better thanks to my mom!

Today is my pity party...

This morning I'm not so sure that I agree with the name of my blog. Life is seeming more miserable than wonderful. Addy is either sick or teething again and I am well aware that I have entered into my third trimester.

Pregnancy really is a cruel thing. You have your first trimester and you're sick, you're exhausted, you're an emotional roller coaster and about a million other things I won't go into (if you've been pregnant, you know, if you haven't been, my continuing could quite possibly keep it that way...lol). But then your second trimester rolls around and you feel great. Those annoying early pregnancy symptoms disappear and you have energy again, you feel great and it really is a nice time.

Enter third trimester. IT SUCKS!! I have another 13 weeks to go and already I can't breath (although the good news is that the baby likes to be in my rib cage so much that perhaps that means we won't have the struggle with him/her in the crib like we do Addy...It already likes the bars). And I just feel rotten. Achey, tired, heartburn, the sciatica has returned...

Okay, I'll stop the pity party.

I was bad last night. I brought Addy into my bed. Bedtime was more hellish than usual and with the teething I just knew she would be up alot in the night (and I was right) and the idea of getting out of bed to go to her room every half an hour was not appealing. But of course today I regret it because I know that come bedtime tonight she is going to be really pissy when I put her in her crib and she'll cry and whine and throw a tantrum because she thinks (or maybe knows is the better choice of words) that Mommy will bring her into her bed.

Is it Friday yet?

I need a break!

This weekend was loooooooooong. It's only 8:00pm and I am ready for bed. Yesterday we spent the entire day shopping in the city. We were out of the house by 9:00am and not back until about 9:00pm. Today wasn't as busy and I did get to sleep in, but it still drained me.

Addy is becoming, it seems, increasingly difficult in the evenings. She is crabby and it's very obvious she's tired, but she fights it and refuses to sleep or even play in her crib. I'm hoping really badly that we gets her sleep issues straightened out before this new baby is here because I don't know how I will deal with a baby who is a monster at bedtime and naptime (and is up 1-2 times a night at least) and deal with a newborn. Not happening.

Anyways, I'm off to maybe sneak into bed or at least get a rest in.

Is it the weekend yet??

Today sucks. I feel yucky. Not enough sleep last night (Addy is lucky she's so cute), the drive home from Camrose this morning and some bug are ruining my day. Fortunately Jamie thinks he might be home as early as 6:30pm so that won't be so bad. Better than 8:30 or 9:00 anyways.

I almost had a heart attack this afternoon. I had gotten my glucose screening done earlier in the week (you know, the test that indicates whether or not I have gestational diabetes) and today the doctor's office phoned. Thankfully they just wanted to know if I had had any prenatal bloodwork done this time around (which I have not, so I imagine I'll be getting another lab req at my next appointment...Yay me...Bleagh) but as soon as I saw the number on the call display I thought "Oh crap!" But false alarm. I've dodged that bullet for the time being. I could handle the whole diabetes thing if it were diet and exercise controlled, but if I had to take insulin...That I could not deal with. And I was already told that if anything goes "wrong" this pregnancy (ie high blood pressure, baby gets to big, gestational diabetes, etc) then I have to have a c-section and I don't want a c-section so I will not be happy if my results come back abnormal. I so badly do not want one a section that I will cry if they tell me I have to have one. Those women who schedule c-sections because they are afraid of the pain of labor are nuts. I had 12 hours of labor and a c-section, the c-section is way worse.

Anyways, I'm babbling again.

I wish it would snow this afternoon. Then I would be happy. I want some snow already! And not just a little bit, I want lots. It's ugly and grey and everything looks dead outside. Maybe I'll go dig out the Christmas decorations and start decorating the house...That would make me feel better. Is it too early to turn the outdoor lights on?

Catch-up

Apparently I am not a very good blogger. I have been doing updates in my pregnancy journal, which really is more a journal while I am pregnant because it isn't just about the pregnancy, but I shall try to update here too.

Anyways, this has been a fairly busy week. I am now 26 weeks and 2 days along with this baby. So as you can imagine, I am tired, I have heartburn, my hips, legs and back are killing me, I am dealing with sciatica, I have to pee what seems like every 5 minutes because there is a baby on my bladder and I have hormones with a capital H, but I am loving it. With my last pregnancy, I just felt rotten all the time because of my blood pressure troubles, but this time it has been totally different. Yes I am dealing with those "normal" pregnancy symptoms, but those are to be expected and are fairly easily dealt with. I am getting to experience a healthy pregnancy and am able to enjoy all the wonderful parts of it without them being overshadowed by something very serious, scary and just plain sucky.

Okay, I got side-tracked. Busy week. Jamie is working away again so I am home alone with Addy. Because of Remembrance Day, Jamie didn't go to work until Tuesday morning. I don't even remember Tuesday, to be honest, other than I had to go do my glucose tolerance screening. Yoi. For anyone who has done that, you remember the orange drink. I remembered the orange drink. As I took my first sip of it I though to myself "Hmmm, this isn't as bad as I remember." I got through the first 1/4 of it fairly easily, and then I also remembered thinking the same thing as I had started last time. IT IS THAT BAD! It is gross and sweet and so thick it is like syrup. Yuck. Anyways, I got through it, they took the blood and now I get to wait and see if everything is normal or if I have to go back and drink more of the nastiness.

Yesterday the dumbass by-law officer showed up over Jamie's stupid car. Yes, the plate is off it, yes, I will get it back on. Now go annoy some other person. But nooooooo. So I got to deal with that crap all afternoon. And to top matters off, just as he showed up Addy was dozing off for a nap and I so badly needed a nap but he had to show up, screw up my only opportunity to sleep and ruin my afternoon. So by the time we had to go to Veg I was tired and annoyed and crabby and it was not pleasant for anyone around me.

Today we're going to see Jamie. I need to get away and have some help. Everyone always says "If you need help just call," but it isn't the same as having your husband. So I am glad we're going for our visit.

Tomorrow I get to clean the house. It's neat and tidy, but when Jamie is home it goes to hell (sorry, hunny!) so I like to have it as clean as I possibly can before he comes home because then come next week there is less to do to make it presentable again.

Saturday is my momma's birthday! Her, Val and I are going to spend the day Christmas shopping in the city and then meet up with Jamie and Addy for supper at the Olive Garden. Yummy.

Speaking of Addy, I hear her babbling away, so naptime is officially over. I'm off for now.

Revelations

Isn't it funny how when you become a mom you start to feel guilty for all of the things that you put your mother through? I think about some of the things I said and did when I was younger, and I can't even imagine how heartbroken I would be if Addison were to treat me that way.

And then there are the funnier things. When I was a kid and my mom was sick I still for some absurd reason thought that she should continue on as if life were normal. And now I am a mom and I am sicker than a dog, and I feel sooooooooo rotten for bugging my mom all the time when she was sick. Addy is only a baby and she doesn't bug me, she just requires attention and that is hard enough. I'm surprised my mom didn't tie me to a chair and put duct tape over my mouth when I used to bug her all the time when she was sick. Poor Mommy.

Yesterday wasn't so bad because Jamie was also home sick from work, but today I'm here all alone and I am way worse than I was yesterday. Thankfully it's Friday so he will be around all weekend to help me. And my fingers are crossed that by Monday I will be starting to get better but I just don't know. I thought it was just a cold, but apparently it is sinusitis (says the doctor from yesterday). The doctor today says it's irritating my lungs which is why I have no voice and can't inhale. So I am on antibiotics, a nasal spray and 2 inhalers (which, by the way, could potentially dry up my milk).

I think I may just have to have a pity party.

The Evil Sucky

I have spent most of my day today walking to Addy, putting the soother back in her mouth and walking away only to hear her squawking and whining for the soother a minute later because she has spit it out. It's times like these where I wish she could talk so I could ask Why do you spit it out if you still want it? or Are you only doing this to bug me? The irony in it is that this is one of the very reasons that I didn't want to give her the soother in the first place. Number 1: Didn't want a nasty habit to have to break. Number 2: Didn't want to spend my days (and inevitably my nights) putting the soother back in her mouth when she has spit it out or dropped it.

But the thing is, I wouldn't change it for the world. Funny how that works.