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My Breastfeeding Badges of Honor

Busy, busy, busy...

9:37:00 AM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »
I've been a busy girl. I decided yesterday to get some cards made that need mailing. I am now going to post pictures because I happen to like them. I will not say who is getting which card...you'll just have to wait and be surprised. :)














Some of the colors appear off in these pictures because I used the camera on my phone. So if the colors appear muted or "sickly" I promise that's not really what they look like. They are all Thank You card except for the yellow one with tiny flowers and the cream and marroon with wedding rings. Those are for two very special people. :)

My Mommy!

9:25:00 AM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »

glitter-graphics.com

I love you, Mommy!

Bed Rest ~ Day 46

10:57:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Oy!

Today has been insane since the yay-hoo called the house at 1:00am.

We woke up with hopes that we would get me to the hospital by 9:00am for my 1 hour Glucose Screen since I have to fast for a minimum of 12 hours before hand. (A very hungry woman is a very grumpy woman afterall!) We managed to get there after a few hiccups by 11:00am. Then the outpatient lab was crazy busy. I drank the stuff at 11:35am (why I had to wait to sit and chug flat pop in 30 seconds is beyond me) and then we hung out for an hour. We did some walking, which is technically a no-no but it felt good to be up and moving. Then they drew my blood for three different blood tests. Two were related to my Heparin injections. The third was the Glucose blood draw.

As it turns out (lucky me) my clotting factors still aren't where Dr. D would like to see them, which means another dosage increase for me. Rob thinks they will simply increase the dose and do it by adding a third daily injection. (double lucky me) I'm hoping that they don't increase the dose and keep it at two injections because that would likely mean moving the location of the injections from my arms to some place else. (yippee) I'm supposed to call on Monday and find out my new dose. Then I see Dr. D on Tuesday and find out that hopefully I'll learn that I've passed Glucose Hell.

Tiny is moving like mad today! (lol) We thought we had a name picked out. Then we changed it. Then we changed it again. Now we can't seem to decide on anything. Oy! Everyday this pregnancy seems more and more real to me. Tiny moves more. Developes more of a personality. This morning I got the snot kicked out of me because I had to fast for that blood work. Then there was some "River Dancing" going on after I was finally permitted to eat. :) And now I've got some "River Dance" going on again but I think it's just for fun. :) lol

God willing, I won't get woken up at 1:00am by the moron from last night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less insane day. Although Gavin is home, so the jury is still out on that one.

46 down ~ 89 to go

For my Mommy & Daddy

10:51:00 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »

glitter-graphics.com
Today is my Mommy and Daddy's Anniversary. Sadly, I am a bad daughter and I don't know exactly how long they've been married. However, I still wish them all the happiness in the world and many more happy anniversaries to come. :)

It begins........

8:06:00 PM Posted In , , , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Gavin came home today...


He wasn't home for very long before the screaming began..........
Elliott made the "mistake" of touching Gavin. That's all he did and Gavin unleashed on him.. Elliott was met with screaming and flying elbows...I had to send Gavin to his room because he was not safe to be around..Gavin then melted down for 20 minutes and was fine after that for alittle while.

It is extremely disturbing how quickly he can turn it on and off. How are we supposed to live like this. How are we going to ensure the safety of Elliott and Tiny without some type of segregation. It has become clear that Gavin and Elliott cannot be aloud to play together. How do we make a 2 year old understand that the big brother he idolizes cannot tolerate him (not that it's Gavin's fault). How is Gavin going to react when the baby gets here. We are forced to look into additional security features for our alarm system to more closely monitor Gavin. We are having to have door chimes installed on his door so we know when he sneaks out of his room at night. We are having to add additional motion sensors through out the house and smoke detectors because Gavin has been known to play with his outlets in the past. It feels like we are living in a prison...

We love Gavin and that is why this is so painful.. When it was just the three of us Lizze and I would just do whatever was necessary because it only effected us.. But now we have an obligation to ensure that Elliott gets what he needs and is safe and happy.I was recently asked about what I see for our future. The truth is I don't see a future, if that makes any sense. We CANNOT continue to live like this. Even though Gavin is doing loads better it is still a struggle to find that balance...

That's all for now. My head hurts and I'm really tired. Thanks for listening..

What the HUH?!

1:28:00 AM Edit This 3 Comments »
It's currently 1:18am. My home phone just rang?! Here's the conversation:

Me: (half asleep and physically exhausted from hacking up goo) Hello?
Unknown Male Caller: Huh? Who are you?!
Me: WHO AM I?! You call me at 1:00am and demand to know WHO I AM?!
UMC: Uh....*click*

Someone explain it to me how he calls my home at 1:00am and wants to know who I am?! Furthermore who calls people, outside of an emergency, at 1:00am?! Fine, he obviously didn't expect me to answer the phone. But what happened to common courtesy? What happened to "Hello, is so-and-so there?" If he calls back again, so help me God...

I'm off to try and hold off the coughing and hacking long enough to fall back to sleep again. Honestly...who am I?!...*sigh*

27 weeks

2:05:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
What Tiny is up to this week: Your not-so-tiny-anymore brilliant baby(about 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long!) is slowly rotating in preparation to “head out.” Obviously, this doesn’t happen overnight, but when you start to feel an unfamiliar pressure on your cervix, you’ll know you’ve got a fully flipped baby locked and loaded for the countdown to their birthday! Even now, at the beginning of the third trimester, their little lungs are already capable of breathing air while the pulmonary vascular system can provide sufficient gas exchange and the central nervous system can generally regulate rhythmic breathing as well as their basal body temperature. For what it’s worth, at this point in a healthy pregnancy a premature child (with intensive care) could easily win on the show: “Survivor: The Early Years.”

Tiny has been a busy little bee this week. I feel the kicks and elbows and flips all the time now. Tiny doesn't seem to have the hiccups nearly as often as Elliott Richard did. The kicks and punches are growing so strong now that my whole belly jiggles afterwards (not in that jolly "bowl full of jelly" way either!), which is really cool to watch. The only problem is that Tiny seems to have a way of watching me. If Tiny is moving and grooving and I uncover my belly to watch, the movement stops. As soon as I cover my belly again, away we go! (lol) In that respect, Tiny fits right in with Gavin and Elliott Richard - independant and strong-willed and already marching to the beat of a different drummer. (lol)

*sob*

1:48:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 6 Comments »
I am so overwhelmed, over-loaded and exhausted. I have coughed my throat and vocal cords completely raw. I can't speak above a whisper without the sensation that my throat is being slit. (At least how I imagine that feels anyway.) I've lost 4 pounds in the last two weeks. Dr. D says I'll gain it back once I feel better but what if I don't have that much time? I have to choke down food to feed Tiny. I can't taste it and I hurts like Hell to swallow. But I suffer through it anyway. I live on ice cubes right now. Trying desperately to stay hydrated because they said Tuesday I was getting dehydrated. The more I improve, the more I cough. The more I cough, the worse my throat/vocal cords get. The worse they get the worse I feel and more overwhelmed I become. I'm so far beyond my limit that all I want to do is cry. Only I can't cry because it stirs up my nose and cough, which again just exacerbates the issues. So I sit here. Feeling completely alone and cut off from the world. Trying to hold it together. Trying to stay sane. Trying desperately to eat and drink enough. Trying not to cry. Patience in my household is a thing of the past at the moment. Everyone is irritating everyone else. I feel like I have no one to talk to. I don't dare turn to Rob. (You've read his posts, he's drowning as it is.) I can't call my mom because I can't talk. And while Elliott Richard is cute, he isn't much for the deep conversations.

I feel as if I'm holding the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm not carrying it because carrying requires me to get up and move around. *sigh* I'm holding it all and I feel as if I'm being buried alive under neither the weight of it. I'm chasing my tail...Go on bed rest. Stay down. Help Rob. But don't get up. Watch Elliott. But don't get up. Keep an eye out for preterm labor. But don't over-react. Gain a lot of weight so Tiny has a better chance at birth. Crap, I lost weight. Gain it back. Can't swallow. Find a way anyhow. Can't talk. Figure it out. Appease your friends. No wait, do what you need to do to survive. But don't forget to call them or their feelings will be hurt. I just can't take it anymore!

If I knew that it wouldn't jeopardize my health or Tiny's I would say forget bed rest. I would do the laundry, the dishes, take care of Elliott Richard, take care of my duties at school, do the shopping and the running around. I would take care of all my jobs that have been dumped on Rob and are contributing to his drowning. Then I could say forget the Heparin shots too. And that would be one less thing for Rob to worry about. I would do all the things that I always did. If only I knew that I could get away with it. If only I knew that it wouldn't be an issue. If only I knew that Tiny and I would make it out okay.

Bed Rest ~ Day 45

11:06:00 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I'm here. I'm alive. Throat is swollen from coughing. Slowing coughing up the goo. Patience is running thin in our household. Will post more later.

45 down ~ 90 to go

Words from Rob

11:09:00 AM Posted In , , , , , , , , , Edit This 7 Comments »
Well I haven't done an update lately so I figured that I would do it now in between loads of laundry.

First off, let me address the story of the bug battle that occurred last night. On our way home from Dr. D's yesterday we had to stop and get some health supplies for Lizze. While there I picked on one of those automatic air fresheners because of the leaking soil stack on our house doesn't always smell good and we haven't figured out how we were going to fix it. I set up this air freshener to spray every 30 minutes. So last night while watching NCIS Lizze took a potty break. While she was gone a GIANT Centipede climbed out from behind her bed and started up the wall. I wanted to take care of this before Lizze even knew about it. So...I used my special technique (patent pending) of rolling up some tape into a ball and sticking the ball onto the insect (in this case the centipede) and the insect cannot get away because it was stuck to the tape....Normally this works and keeps my freshly painted walls free from bug guts. But on this occasion just as I was reaching up to nab this thing (it was about 3 inches long) the air freshener went of behind me. The air freshener makes a relatively loud "HISS". Well as you can all imagine I have been on edge lately so it doesn't take much. At that moment it sounded like the centipede hissed at me and it scared the crap out of me. It fell on the bed and ran behind it. It's actually pretty funny now. Anyways I caught up with it a few minutes later and it was evicted from my house.....

On to Gavin now. Most of you are aware that Gavin has been spending some time at his Grandparents as we try to hold everything together and keep him from going into another manic phase.... He seems to be doing better most of the time....When he comes home he does much better the he was. We seem to have the bi-polar under control for the time being... The autistic symptoms however are another story. He does seem to get along better with Elliott lately which is great because Elliott just wants to hang out with his big brother....Gavin normally won't tolerate him at all. This is very hard on Elliott because he doesn't understand...We are noticing that when Gavin is home Elliott won't sleep at night. He is up about every hour through out the night crying..When Gavin is not home Elliott sleeps through the night without problems. This has happened every time. We haven't figured exactly what is causing this but we do know that Gavin's behaviors are scaring Elliott and stressing him. I see Dr. R in the morning and we will discuss how to handle this. When Elliott doesn't sleep we don't sleep. So we need to figure this out.

Lizze sounds terrible but her cough is becoming more progressive which is good. Hopefully she will begin feeling better soon and things will be easier for her. Elliott seems to be feeling alittle better since the antibiotics so that is also good.
My back has gone out again. But then again it is always out so that is nothing new. But I can't remember it ever hurting this bad. Whenever this happens it take me a few weeks to adjust to the pain and get used to it. So I hope the weeks go by quickly:)

That's all for now....

PS: I also wanted to say hello to the people visiting us from EBay..Thanks for looking at our auctions......

Bed Rest ~ Day 43 Wow, a desktop...

9:35:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Do you guys have any idea how long it's been since I've actually used a desktop computer? A long time. Why am I using Rob's desktop you ask? Because he's fighting (a losing battle) with a bug. So far the score is Bug:1 Rob:0. Oh...wait...he just got it and killed it. Final score is Bug: 1 and dead Rob: 1 and alive. :)

Now that the bug is gone, I'm off to finish watching my recorded NCIS marathon. :)

43 down ~ 92 to go

FYI

5:31:00 PM Edit This 3 Comments »
Lizze's laptop finally died today. She is sleeping now so she doesn't know yet. She will have to post from her phone for now until I figure something. I am passing this on so you guys don't worry if she is not posting as often. I may be able to still fix it but it will have to wait until later. I need to get her a new external usb dvd-rom drive. Her hard drive became corrupt and I can no longer boot into Windows.......I have to repair the master boot record but need to boot from dvd to do it..
.

So please don't worry she is OK.........

She can do almost anything from her phone......

Just wanted to keep you all posted.....

She is resting now so thats good...

Thanks,

Rob

Home

3:35:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »
Dr. D said I should feel better by my appointment next week. I'm exhausted and swollen and struggling to breathe. Off to try and nap. (Please God, help me nap.)

More detailed update later.

Here we go again...

1:43:00 PM Edit This 3 Comments »
Sitting in the waiting room at Dr. D's office.

I still feel like death warmed over. Rob says I look the part too. He says my complexion is gray. No idea what is going to happen. I had to hand Rob the phone while talking to Karen because I was having another coughing fit. He said she heard me coughing and said to come in now. So here I am.

Prayers please.

Apparently...

9:19:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »
So I've started my meds. I took my Tylenol. I still have my fever even with the Tylenol. *sigh* Apparently I'm on the Prednisone (steroids) because I have pneumonia/walking pneumonia. All told, I'll be on the Prednisone for about 3 weeks.

I've done some research into the safety of Prednisone use in pregnancy. The info I've found was split between 2 trains of thought:

1) Prednisone is a Category C drug. (Meaning it hasn't been used enough to say if it's safe or not.)

And

2) Prednisone is basically destroyed upon crossing the placenta and therefore the fetus gets none of the drug.

At this point, I trust Dr. D and I'm placing my faith in the latter belief. From what I've read on Webmd.com, Prednisone is outside of it's typical uses and used in cases such as mine (upper respiratory wise) when the cough is extreme etc. Basically, I'm really sick and the coughing is exasperbating the preterm labor and contractions...so what choice do I have?

I just hope to feel better soon. I'm predicting that tonight is going to be LONG! As long as we can keep my preterm labor under control, I'll be happy to suffer.

My sleeping beauties

4:27:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Bed head! :) lol
I snapped this picture of Elliott Richard after his 3.5 hour nap yesterday. I just love the dazed expression coupled with his bed head! :)

Close-up of my sleeping beauties.
Aren't they sweet? :)
Snuggling sleeping beauties.
And just for fun, my snuggling sleeping beauties again. :)

Bed Rest ~ Day 42 What's worse than half-dead?

3:24:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Welcome to Day 42 and Week 6...

Does anyone know what's worse than "half-dead"? Whatever it is, that's where I'm at today...half-past half-dead.

I feel horrible. I've coughed my throat completely raw. To the point where it hurts too badly to swallow fluids or soup. In an effort to stay hydrated, I'm sucking on (basically allowing them to melt) ice cubes. So far it's working with the added benefit of numbing my throat for a moment or two. My chest is killing me! I don't know if it's from the coughing or what but it hurts to breathe, to cough, to sit here and do nothing. My fever is slowly creeping back up, which isn't a good thing. (I really need to lay off the ice cubes for a second so I can get an accurate temp but the relief on the throat keeps luring me back.) I'm just generally miserable.

I'm currently waiting on Dr. D's office to call me back. I called first thing this morning because the coughing is causing an increase in the number and strength of my contractions. Lori said that Dr. D wouldn't be in until 1:00 pm but she would talk to him then and call me back. She didn't want to call in anything or tell me to take anything without talking to him because of all the medications I'm currently taking. I hope they call me soon.

Elliott Richard is still sick as well. Although he is doing much better than myself. His cough isn't nearly as bad as mine but he's sleeping a lot. He woke up quite a bit last night and finally at about 4:00 am I came downstairs to sleep in "my bed" because it was becoming painful to try and suppress the coughing, which I had to do because it would have woken Elliott up for good. Right now he's napping on Rob's chest (pictures to follow) in the "man cave".

Dr. D's office just called. I don't know what I have. He is calling in a prescription for prednisone and an antibiotic that I've never heard of and can't remember. My fever is coming back and they want me to take Tylenol for that. I should have asked about sleeping but at this point I guess it's a moot point. I did some research on Prednisone and pregnancy. Some sites say it's a Category C, which means they don't know if it's safe during pregnancy. Other sites say that it is rendered basically ineffective upon crossing the placenta. I have found out that with symptoms like mine it's the last drug of choice. So basically when a case doesn't appear to be a good candidate for weaker medications, they go for the big guns. I trust Dr. D and as I said, I'm half-past half-dead so I guess if he feels it's necessary then I'll take it. Too bad he didn't feel a medically induced coma was necessary. (lol) The sleep and rest would be nice, that's for sure.

42 down ~ 93 to go
6 weeks down ~ 13 to go

Random Elliott Richard pictures and My Daffodils

10:15:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Silly Elliott Richard! :) lol
Elliott Richard and Rob were across the street visiting our neighbor after we returned from my jail break. (Details of that are here.) When they got home they had daffodils that my neighbor Michelle had cut for Elliott to give me.

Please ignore my mess on the right. :) lol
One of my daffodils.The Highjacker returned to the scene of the crime! And highjacked my bed again! (lol)

Ah the joys of pregnancy

9:59:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Here we have my view all day, every day. At least from this angle I can still see my feet.
And these motled look disasters are my feet after a trip up the stairs to the bath and then the kitchen for a snack. I'm slowly loosing the difference between my calves and my ankles when I get up anymore.
Ah the joys of pregnancy...

A Couple of My Cards

9:06:00 PM Posted In , Edit This 2 Comments »
I've mentioned a few times that I enjoy making cards. Rob always tells me that I should take pictures of them and keep a sort of catalog of what I can do/have done. I always mean to be never do. So I only have two to show you right now. I just thought I would share these two so you can see what I do. :)

This is one is just a basic "thank you" card. I've seen some cards that are really fancy and whatnot but I prefer the more simplistic approach, which is why my cards are just simple and basic. I like them at any rate. :)

And then this one I made for Rob's youngest brother's high school graduation. His parents got the picture from his high school (I think). It definitely shows Tim's personality. (You can see it a little better if you click on the picture and enlarge it. If your interested that is.)

The quality of the pictures isn't fantastic but you can get the general idea. :)

Care Packages...

8:36:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
So quite a few of my postings are behind schedule because I've been doing battle with my digital camera and my laptop. As I've mentioned before, they are not currently on speaking terms. I don't know why. And despite my best efforts to get them to kiss and make up, they refuse. I may have found a solution, thanks to Nikky. I received a care package in the mail the other day...

Inside I found: a digital camera, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, a Snickers (both for Rob), Silly Putty, Gummy Bugs (both for the boys), Dove Dark chocolate (for me), batteries (for the camera), an adorable onesie and two cards.


Rob was nice enough to share one of his Reese's Peanut Butter cups with me (Yum!) and thoroughly enjoyed his candy. We haven't given the boys the Silly Putty yet because Gavin has to be watched like a hawk with it (he tends to get it permanently stuck on the oddest things). And Elliott Richard has never had it before and we haven't been able to introduce him and watch him with it since he and I have been sick. They loved their Gummy Bugs though! :)






Here's a close-up of the onesie because you can't really read it in the picture above and I felt you should be able to. (lol)


I am simply amazed by the generosity of others. I haven't had a chance to play with it much because I need to get a memory card for it. But I've played with it a little bit. (I can take a picture and see it but as soon as I take another one, it disappears.) I can't wait to use it all the time. No more camera v laptop battles for me! :)

Apples! :)

3:53:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
So imagine my surprise on Thursday when the mailman brought a package to my door. Then I had to try and figure out who the mystery sender was. (I'll explain this in a bit.) After the little mystery was solved, Elliott Richard was more than willing to help me check out the contents of the package.

These are the goodies as they arrived. Cute and beautifully wrapped. This is the "Before" picture. The unwrapped gifts came that way.

Among the unwrapped gifts are: a Pooh Bear rattle and blanket teether, 2 Binkies, an Apple teether toy (one of my clues as to the mysterious sender), a blue Hawaiian onesie and a green Hawaiian onesie.

These pictures are Elliott Richard opening my gifts. He was climbing on the bed as I was trying to take the above picture. Always the curious child, he just had to see what was going on. And what fun stuff Mommy had but wasn't sharing. (lol) No sooner did I have the picture taken than he climbed up and grabbed the wrapped gifts. (lol)

Don't you just love the "Farrah Faucett" flip on the side and his "excuse me?" expression. (lol)

He was quite excited to have gifts to open though. Even if they weren't technically for him. (lol) He took great joy in ripping off a tiny piece of wrapping paper and then throwing it over his shoulder onto the floor. He didn't care where it landed so long as he got to toss it on the floor. (lol)


His face is a little blurry in this one but I love the expression. (lol) When I asked him what it was, his face lit up and he squealed, "A gook!" (a.k.a. "A book!")

And here, to the left, we have the final shot of the opened gifts. The wrapped gifts were: nesting "Caterpillar Spillers" tubby cups/toys (just above the binkies), Sweet Pea photo album (to the right of the tub toy), "Blue like Jazz" book, "Chronicles of the Cross" book.

After opening the gifts and being thrilled over the "gooks" he realized that there were toys included. (lol) He grabbed the Caterpillar Spillers and "forcefully requested" (otherwise known as "demanding") we open them. Then he sat on the floor, in the middle of the wrapping paper he so joyfully tossed on the floor and checked it out.

When I asked him to show the new toy to me, he was so engrossed in checking out the different pieces that he couldn't even be bothered with actually looking up at me! (lol)
Now I want to tell you about the mystery behind the sender. I feel like an idiot but it's actually pretty funny. At least I think it is.
Anyway, the package arrived and it had a return address on it. However, the return address only had the last name. Now it took me a few but it finally dawned on me who's last name it was. The "Apple" teether also helped, although I don't know if that was intentional or not. ;) So my address and the return address was written on an envelope about the right size for a card. I didn't think anything of it. Honestly I just figured that she didn't want to fill out one of the actual labels and went with an envelope for aesthetic reasons. Well today I was writing down everything in my written pregnancy journal (Yes, I have a written pregnancy journal and a pregnancy blog. After all, there are certain things a girl doesn't want to share with the whole world. lol) and it occurs to me that the envelope feels a little thick. So I open it and low and behold there's a card in there! (lol) So I read the card and Ta Da mystery solved. Only it took me about a week to solve it. (lol)
Thank you Apple! The boys are having a blast with the Caterpillar Spillers. I can't wait to see Tiny in the onesies. And Rob used his gift on himself, as promised. :)




Bed Rest ~ Day 41 "The Walking Dead"

8:39:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I was going to post yesterday about it having been 40 days and 40 nights. You know, a nice little Noah's Arc referrence. I didn't get to post that blog.

I'm sick. No more "Dueling Pukers", Thank God. This is more like "The Walking Dead". Elliott Richard and I have both become members. I ran a fever all last night of about a 100-101. Then I woke up this morning still feeling like "The Walking Dead" but without the fever. I just generally feel like...well, like "The Walking Dead". I've got a horrible cough, my whole body just aches as if someone is beating me in my sleep, my head is pounding and nothing will touch it, my nose is runny...I'm just a miserable mamma-jamma. Elliott Richard too. All of that appliles to him - although I don't know about the aches or headache because he's not offering much in the way help. ;)

I just thought I would type up a quick post and let y'all know what's going down here on the HomeFront. Now I allow you to return your regularly scheduled lives as actual living people. I am not going to return to my life as a member of "The Walking Dead".

*holds arms out in my best zombie impression* Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh....

41 down ~ 94 to go

Jail Break!

8:41:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
That's right! I said it, JAIL BREAK!

I'm going stir crazy here and Rob needed to run out to the store. I went with. That's right. I broke the rules and I left the house for something other than a Dr. D appointment or a trip to L&D. All I did was walk from my bed to the car and then from the car to my bed. I was nice to just have the fresh air and have a different view for an hour.

Bed Rest ~ Day 39 There's a Full Moon on the horizon...

1:14:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 5 Comments »
It's Day 39 and the full moon will be here on Sunday (according to some fancy program Rob put on my phone lol). I'm not usually a believer in this whole "full moon" thing. Although I do know from experience that L&D seems to be busier during a full moon. But my household seems to have collectively gone insane and the only answer is the pending full moon. Allow me to show you my "evidence"...

First, we have "The Burn". Now I have burned myself a lot over the years. However, I usually only suffer 1st degree burns (ie no blistering). Never have I suffered anything more than a 1st degree burn from a plate, until now. I went to pick up my dinner plate last night and it was apparently hot. I burned my right ring finger, middle finger and thumb. My middle finger and thumb are fine today. I suffered a 2nd degree burn on my ring finger. (what the heck?!)





Next, we have "The Straws". We have some curly straws. I have no idea what happened but one of these straws is not like the others. I don't know how it happened or even when exactly. But while washing bowls for lunch, I found the purple straw at the bottom of the sink. (It's supposed to look like the green one.)

Third, we have my "Funky Feeling". Not to be confused with "my funk" that I suffered a week or so ago. This is pregnancy related. I just feel "off". I'm not having timable contractions. My cramps haven't gotten any worse. My water hasn't broken. It's nothing definite like those thing. I just feel funny and off. I'm nauseous, no appetite, fatiqued...I just feel off.

And finally, we have "Cleo". She is my cat. She woke up this morning a spaz. She has been a spaz all morning/afternoon. She stalks through the house "crying and howling". She attacks anything that dares to move. Then once she pounces on it, she howls as if she's terrified of it and dashes away. Only to come back 5 seconds later and do it all over again! (lol)

I'm telling you...it's all just craziness! (lol) And just so you know, I'm mostly kidding about this post. These are just some odd and crazy things I've noticed today. :)

39 down ~ 96 to go

Daddy of the Year!

5:21:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »

I took this picture with my phone the other day. I was just playing around with the phone/settings and happened to catch this picture. I just love it!
And I'm sure there are plenty of Daddies who deserve the title but in my book he's "Daddy of the Year". Hands down.
He sacrifices everything for us. His career. His hobbies. Sometimes even his sanity and health. He has been doing the jobs of both of us for 5 weeks now and he doesn't think he's doing a good enough job. I don't agree.
He is currently upstairs "playing" Connect Four with Elliott Richard after he made us dinner and gave Elliott Richard his bath. (I would join them but Elliott ordered me out. He's all about Daddy right now.) He went grocery shopping and not only does he manage to stay on (or under) budget but he got everything I asked for and the stuff I forgot to ask for. He gives me my injections even when it kills him to do so.
He is my hero. I love him to bits. I am so grateful for everything he does and is. And I wanted to share.

My bed has been HIGHJACKED!

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This is my view multiple times during the day.

Cleo laying on/at my feet. Elliott Richard lounging across my lap while he watches various Noggin shows. (lol)

While the bed is great because it gives me more space. It's also horrible because it gives them more space to highjack! lol

Let's Talk Tiny and Bed Rest at 26 weeks...

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What Tiny is up to this Week: At long last, your little swimmer can see the womb! Your miracle’s little eyelids have finally separated (they were fused closed previously) and they’re probably having their first moments of sight as you read this (or maybe it already happened while you were brushing your teeth or watching Oprah or something). In addition to seeing their little studio in your belly, they’ve recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” in rudimentary sign language as they can now move their head back and forth. This is also the time where your little super star’s head hair is starting to grow! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head. Also, their toenails have grown in and you little raisin continues to slowly pile up fat beneath their still-loose skin. Most importantly, brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace, increasing their (genius-level?) brain activity and will continue to function at accelerated levels for the first seven to eight years of childhood!

I've been thinking a lot about my bed rest lately. And I know I've covered this topic before but there are some things I didn't think to post last time. There are things I do while on bed rest that I never would do "in real life". Things that I took for granted but now I miss.

Things I Miss
~ taking a bath or going to the bathroom without my cell phone. (I never answer it but I always take it so that if (Heaven forbid) anything should happen, I can call Rob for help.)
~ picking Gavin up from school and talking to the faculty. (I miss you all so much!)
~ going to the grocery store.
~ the days of not having to worry about "was that preterm labor" etc.
~ being able to feed Cleo without my back screaming in more agony.
~ life without injections.
Things I'm SO Grateful For
~ all the love and support I've received through this blog.
~ my darling husband, Rob.
~ everyday that Tiny stays put.
~ my parents and in-laws who are helping with Gavin.
~ the faculty at Gavin's school for being so understanding during this difficult time.

My Life Over the Past 2 Weeks
~ I've finished 125+ word search puzzles.
~ I received 32 injections.
~ Swallowed 81 pills.
~ Had 2 doctors appointments.
~ Had 2 Matria nurse appointments.
~ Drank at least 1,400 oz of water.
~ Spent 8-10 hrs/day on the internet. (That's 112-140 hr total, in case you are wondering.)
~ Felt more kicks, punches and rolls than I can count.
~ Felt Tiny's 8 cases of the hiccups.
~ Managed to keep Tiny inside for 2 more weeks. :)

Bed Rest ~ Day 37

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On the bright side, after the "Dueling Pukers" episode last night there have been no more duels. Elliott Richard and I did a whole lot of sleeping last night and this morning. He spent most of the night going between sleeping with me and sleeping with Rob. He's spent most of today going between snuggling with me and clinging to Rob. His fever seems to be slowly breaking. And we're keeping him hydrated but he does not seem to be all that interested in food. As for me, I'm starving! (lol) Tiny seems to have come out of it okay too. :)

I can't believe I'm 26 weeks today! Only two weeks to go until 28 weeks! (Yay!)

37 down ~ 98 to go

Yuck.

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Elliott spiked a fever this afternoon of about 100-101. We figured he had a cold or something as equally annoying. A few hours later, he's puking on my bed, my clothes, my blankets. A few minutes after that, I was puking with him. Just call us the "Dueling Pukers".

Bed Rest ~ Day 36

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We are in the "home stretch"! Well, relatively speaking anyway. And if the home stretch is once you've reached double digits left on bed rest rather than triple digits. At this point, I'll take what I can get.

I had a really good appointment with Dr. D this morning. :) He says we may actually make it full term, which is awesome news. It scares me though. It scares me to hope that we may make it. As strange as I'm sure it must sound, I'm more comfortable with the short term goals. I'm more comfortable thinking that we may not make it full term. Then if we do make it, I'm surprised. Rather than thinking I will make it full term and being surprised with another premature delivery. Overall, he said that things look good so that's something a least. I guess it's the small victories at this point, right? In 2 weeks I'll be 28 weeks pregnant. At that point Tiny will have a nearly 100% chance at survival. So for now, 2 weeks is my goal.

Appointment Stats:
Weight: 177lb (which I'm pretty sure means I lost 2 lbs in a week)
BP: 108/68
Fundal Height: 26 cm
Tiny's Heartrate: 138 bpm

I don't have another appointment for 2 weeks. But he sent me for physical therapy 2 days/week for my back and sciatic pain. He said it's only going to get worse and he doesn't want the pain to stress me out or jump start anything else. So now there are two more weekly appointments for poor Rob to worry about. I feel like everytime he reaches his tipping point, I have to dump something else in his lap.

36 down ~ 99 to go

7 down ~ 11 to go

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Another Tuesday, another 17P injection. Fun. Fun.

Lisa just left. Rob made to observation that our visits are getting shorter and shorter. I'm not sure why that is other than I know she has other patients/clients and I don't want to throw off her whole day. Plus I'm just exhausted today (but that's another post). I'm happy to report that this weeks injection doesn't burn like last weeks did. It was actually pretty painless. :)

It took us a few minutes to find it because Tiny was not in the mood to play along. She would find the heartbeat, Tiny would run/flip/turnover. lol At one she asked "Where is that baby hiding?" and Elliott Richard was kind enough to point to my belly and say, "Right there!" (lol)

Here are the stats:

BP: 110/70 (Just an FYI: This is actually 20 points high for me. I typically run 90/60. I assume it's high because I have to have the injection because it's consistantly this high every Tuesday.)
Tiny's Heartrate: 135 bpm
My Pulse: 82 bpm

Now we're getting ready to take Elliott Richard to Gram's (Grandma G in this case.) so that we can go see Dr. D. I'll update more later on the Dr. D appointment and my extreme lack of sleep for the past 3-4 nights (which is making me very grumpy). Plus everything else that's taken place in the past 24 hours or so. :) (I know. I know. You can't wait! :) lol)

Bed Rest ~ Day 35

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Today is the beginning of Week 5. Oy!

I've got a horrible migraine. I've already taken my meds but they aren't helping. *sigh* It feels like there are tiny, little men with jackhammers in my head. I wish I could convince them to go work some place else.

The Claims Adjuster is coming tomorrow at 1:00pm check out "The Leak". She's probably going to tell us that they won't cover it but I figured it couldn't hurt to have it checked out just in case. Our insurance agent called and said that if we receive even $1 towards this claim our premium will go up by about $100+ a year and we will have to increase our deductible. :( Odds are they won't cover any of it anyway so it doesn't matter. But I would rather know for sure that they won't cover any of it, rather than guess and assume.

I also have my weekly standing appointment with Lisa tomorrow morning. Then I have my weekly appointment with Dr. D at 9:30am.

Gavin was home for the weekend and things went really well. Of course it helped that we had satellite installed in his bed room. (lol) We set it up so that he could only cycle through the various Nickelodeon and Disney channels. He was loving it. :)

I was going to write more but I think I'm going to lay down and try and get rid of my migraine.

35 down ~ 100 to go
5 weeks down ~ 14 to go

24 week Belly Pictures

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Okay so I'm almost 26 weeks, which makes these pictures a little late. But I've been fighting with my camera and my laptop (apparently they still aren't on speaking terms - I don't know why) so now is when they are getting posted. :) lol


You can't really see my belly in this picture but I just love it!





A more recent belly bump with Elliott Richard. He just loves my belly! When he saw us taking belly pictures, he had to get involved.

I love how we are looking at each other while holding Tiny within my belly.

And here's the actual belly picture for the 24th week. :)

I'm not sure it does justice to the size of my belly. Of course, it feels much larger to me than it seems to appear to everyone else.

A Set of Bruises to Call My Own

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That's right, folks! For the low, low price of twice daily Heparin injections you too can have your very own set of Bruises!
Sadly enough, these are nothing compared to some of the bruises I was sporting during this period of Elliott Richard's pregnancy. I had one bruise from a nursing student that was easily the size of my closed fist! It was horrible! lol

MFoP 24 weeks

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Many Faces of Pregnancy at 24 weeks! :) lol


Relaxed

"Hello, Chipotle? Yes, I'd like to place an order. Yes, I need one of everything. And a large order of your nacho chips."




Excited
"Yes, I'm sure about that order. No, I'm not having a party. No, I'm not feeding a herd of elephants. I'm pregnant and on bed rest. The only food this child wants is YOUR Mexican. Are you complaining!?"
Flabergasted
"It's going to be how much?! And you don't deliver?! Oh...come...on!"

Elliott Richard

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Rob took Elliott Richard grocery shopping with him the other day. We figured he would fall asleep on the way to the store. But he made it through the store and into the car. Clutching his box of Lucky Charms the whole way. Then he passed out cold on the way home. He never let up on that box of Lucky Charms. :) lol
I took this picture the other day. Elliott was really fussy and couldn't figure out what he wanted. He didn't want to watch cartoons. Or hang out with me. Or hang out with Daddy. Sometimes he'll snuggle with me and watch me play my DS. I offered to do that and declined. Then he took my DS and began to play all by himself. (lol)
He was playing my "Sims 2: Castaway" game. There's a mini-game where you go spear fishing. The whole point is to try and catch as many fish by spearing them as possible. He never actually caught any fish. But he could still try and spear empty water. Every time he would poke the screen and his spear would appear, he would laugh and laugh and laugh. I have a short video clip that I want to post. As soon as I can get my digital camera to play nice.

Elliott Richard's New Digs

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These are Elliott Richard's new digs.
We used to have Rob's Bowflex thingie over there but we moved it so that we could set up this play area for Elliott within my line of sight.
He has his kitchen in the corner. (I seem to have raised a bit of a "foodie". lol)
Between the end table and the kitchen is the toy box. It's really cute. It has a mouth on the blue portion and to eyes on the yellow portion/lid.
Flipped over on the floor in front of the toy box is Elliott's wagon. It came filled with those huge toddler-safe Legos. Now he puts toys in it and carts them around the house, which was honestly the whole reason we bought it. (lol)
And then we've got the tent. It used to be Gavin's but as the Autism took over he became afraid of it. Elliott Richard wasn't too sure about it at first. Then I made him a little bed with his blankets from the NICU and the quilt that our neighbor's mother hand stitched for him. Added a few toys. And now he loves it in there. :)

Because I can...

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And here we have a picture of Gavin. Just because I can. He's playing a game that his godmother/aunt brought over for him and Elliott Richard. It's called "Piranha Panic". It's all marble based, which thrilled Elliott Richard beyond all belief! lol
Gavin has been playing with it all weekend. lol Please excuse his puffy eyes. He was "blessed" with my allergies and when we started to tear into the walls to get to "The Leak" it stir up all sorts of dust and fun things. Our allergies have been going crazy all weekend. :(

I had this all planned out...

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But you know what they say about the best laid plans...I don't remember what they say. But they say something. lol

Anyway, I had this all planned out. I took new pictures of my bed rest haven. I took pictures of my book/DVD shelf. I was going to take a page from Julie's book and label all the parts of the pictures. Show you exactly where everything is. I was even going to use pretty colors and text and arrows like Julie did. But I can't. I don't have a single program on this stupid laptop that will allow me to add text!!! Except for Paint and it's just a pain in the butt. So without my pretty text and arrows...here's my bed rest haven!

To the left, we have my book/DVD case. Top row: my DVDs. (We used to have a ton of DVD's until "The Great DVD Purge of 2006". Don't ask. lol) 2nd row: small paperback books that have been sent to me in various care packages. 3rd row: My beloved (well-worn) Harry Potter books (books 4 and 6 are upstairs - I'm not sure why) as well as the tall paperback books that have been sent to me. 4th row: on the left you can just see the edges of my magazines and puzzle books (also sent to me by my loving friends), on the right the few CD's I still actually own.

In the window you'll see my elephants. :)

My blankets on the bed. Along with Elliott Richard who is very much alive, just pouting because I wouldn't give him his way. :) lol Along with my lapdesk, laptop, pregnancy pillow and beanbag chair for added support.

To the right, we have my Sterilite box on the floor (filled with snacks - both healthy and not). On top of the box, we have my black bag, which holds all of my pregnancy journals and calendars and pens.

On the table, you'll see my sippy and Elliott Richard's sippy. Plus some other random things.

Those are my new and improved digs. :)

Gift Basket!

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Did you know that you can ship a gift basket? Well, you can! On Tuesday Rob and I returned home from my weekly Dr. D appointment there was a box on the porch. I was confused at first because the return address label said it was from a basket company but surely you can't ship baskets. Ha! I was wrong! :) Of course, it was much more beautifully put together before I pulled everything out. And of course it didn't occur to me in my excitement to take the picture first. (lol) Inside I found biscotti, a little green photo album, a scented candle (which Rob promptly scooped up and lit), a loofah, and scented bath oils and things. It's all incredibly relaxing. And I just love it!

Thank you so much, Slade's Mommy! :)

I'm sorry. This dies here.

5:31:00 PM Posted In Edit This 5 Comments »
I don't know what to write here. I've upset Rob because of my last post. He wishes I hadn't posted it. I wish...I don't know what I wish. I wish that people could either say something nice or not say anything at all.

Did she mean something cruel by her comment? I don't know. It was her opinion. Right, wrong or indifferent, I should not have lashed out specifically at her in my last post. Odds were that she had not posted to Chrissy's blog. And as she states in her comments, she had never read Chrissy's blog until now. I'm sorry that I had to bring attention to Chrissy's blog in this manner. I'm sorry that I had lumped her together with the commenter on Chrissy's blog. I should not have done this.

Her comment upset me. I don't know why it upset me so much. I've always been the kind of gal who wears my heart on my sleeve. This applies even more when I am pregnant. I take things very personally. I always have. It hurt me when she insinuated that Tiny is not motivation enough for me. Gavin, Elliott Richard and Tiny are the reasons behind each and every thing I do.

I am very sensitive when it comes to my children. Rightfully so. I have spent years fighting on behalf of my children. I will spend the rest of my life fighting for them. But when I feel attacked as a mother, to me that just feels below the belt.

Would I have taken the comment any better if she had left her name? Probably not. It was the simple fact that I felt attacked and questioned in my motives.

In all honesty, what triggered that post was the post on Chrissy's blog. The trigger was not the comment left a week or so ago. Although what I should have done is asked her, if she truly felt that I seeking outside motivation? And why? Tiny is motivation enough for me. When Rob gives me my injections, I think of Tiny. I feel the movements and I think of how it's only a little pain for the good of our child. When I am in L&D feeling like a heel because my contractions aren't showing up on the monitor, I think of Tiny. I think of how maybe I think it's nothing but it could be something and I would rather know in time to stop it.

What I should have done was reacted intellectually and not emotionally. I should have seen the opportunity to try and make a new friend. Rather than twisting the opportunity to make an "enemy". That's not to say I have that much of an impact on her life. Merely that I didn't take the opportunity offered. I twisted it into something else.

I do not apologize for my thoughts or feelings. I do, however, apologize for lumping my anonymous commenter together with this other. I was wrong to do that. I was merely venting my anger at negative anonymous commenters. Those happened to be my two recent examples. However, we leave our blogs and ourselves open for comments and as such should be prepared for the good, the bad and the ugly.

This is not what I wanted for my blog. This is not the way I want to portray myself. Nor is this how I wish to portray my family. So I am sorry, Anonymous Comment Leaver. (Yes, I am aware that "leaver" is not really a word but it works here.) I would email you and apologize one-on-one but I do not have your address. So please, if you happen to read this, know that I am sorry for lashing out at you. I've handled this poorly and for that, I was wrong.

I've said my piece. As far as I'm concerned this dies here.

Dear Cowardly Anonymous Female

2:37:00 PM Posted In Edit This 2 Comments »
Dear Cowardly Anonymous Female Commentator,

You've been a busy girl. First, you had your hit and run on Chrissy's blog. Then you swung by mine to cast your negativity around. Granted, I asked for an opinion. You gave your opinion. However, you just couldn't resist leaving your scathing, "I, too, was on bed rest and my unborn baby was motivation enough." Well, this is for you. Because I can. Because Chrissy won't. Because this is my blog and I will not be silenced by the likes of you! (or anyone with similar motives to your own)

I'm sorry that it is so easy for you to do the Devil's work. I'm sorry that you seem to get a thrill out of posting mean and horrible things to people you don't know. Obviously the lesson of "if you don't have anything nice to say" was lost on you. I'm sorry that you are unable to be grammatically correct in your comments. What seemed so vitally important for you to share has now come across as rude, crude and unrefined. Not to mention uneducated. Not to say that you are uneducated, you just appear this way because of your total disregard for grammar and correct spelling.

I'm especially sorry that you leave your comments anonymously. I would so love to know you. To see your profile. Read your blog. I pray that you are only the serial negative comment leaver on you bad days. God-willing those bad days are few and far between. The world is ugly enough, it does not need your help. I pray that your heart finds peace. I pray that at the very least, you find the courage to at least leave your name on your negative comments from now on. Afterall, you are proud enough of the comment to leave it. Surely, you must be proud enough to sign your name and take credit as well.

Bed Rest ~ Day 34 Ahhhhh the Insanity!!!!

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I still have many more pictures to post. However, I wanted to give a brief update on things here.

Let's see...I didn't get any sleep again last night. I lost track of how many times Elliott Richard woke up. Mainly because he had kicked his blankets off - again.

My back is still killing me. Problem is that the position I found to lay in that doesn't hurt my back, gives me a headache and neckache. My sciatic nerve is all out of whack and causing me some major issues.

Rob had a guy out to check out "The Leak" last night and give us an estimate. Would you care to guess? Go on. Guess. How about $3800?! *ack* We are going to get some other estimates but I honestly don't know that they will be all that different. *sigh*

We had Dish Network out to set up our satelite yesterday. I find myself confused. With Time Warner Cable, we had Noggin 24 hr/day. However, with Dish Network, Noggin stops at 6:00pm so that they can run the tween/teenie-booper "soap operas". Why if it's the same channel is it different from one service to the next? And why in God's name do tweens/teenie-boopers need soap operas?! Have you ever tried to watch them? If not, I don't recommend it. Unless you like to lose brain cells purely by being annoyed into stupidity.

I'm thinking of starting an Etsy store for my cards. Rob always says I should write a book and sell my greeting cards. Well, the book is out of the question seeing as how I don't have any inspiration for a book at the moment. (Although this would definitely be the time to write it.) So I figured I would look into selling some of my greeting cards. I think they are pretty simple but everyone else seems to like them okay. I guess we'll just have to see. (Maybe I'll post some pics of the cards I have - like the graduation announcment/invite that I made my brother-in-law Tim. Then you guys can decide if I should persue the store or just continue making them for fun and friends/family.)

Other than that, my day is going to be filled with folding laundry and working on Rob's business website. Hopefully making some cards, assuming I can get Elliott to play along. lol

Ah the exciting life of the mother of two, pregnant with one stuck on bed rest. I'm sure y'all are on biting your nails with anticipation! lol

34 down ~ 101 to go

I *heart* surprises!

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So over the weekend I received a pleasant surprise in the mail from my dear friend, Slade. I was so surprised and touched at her kindness. Rob was as well. This is Tiny's first official baby related baby gift. Rob and I haven't even had a chance to purchase anything specifically for Tiny. lol Her gift was so generous! She sent a green t-shirt for Gavin, which is his favorite color. He was so siked! She also sent the cutest set of pajamas for Elliott Richard that say "I like to collect bugs!", which are so fitting for our "Tiny Twitterbug". She also included two cards. One for me and one for Rob. (Poor Rob is so neglected these days.) He was so touched that she had remembered him, too. :) It was so cute when Elliott Richard became confused over the diapers. He couldn't figure out how we had diapers that weren't for him. lol And the penguin tubby-toy was intended for Tiny (Slade wrote "Tiny" on the package to clear up any confusion. lol), however, Elliott Richard felt it was his duty as the big brother to test it out. He approves. :) lol

Slade, thank you so very much! You truly are so a kind, generous and wonderful soul. I am lucky to have found you as a friend. *hugs*

(On a side and kind of funny note, I just ate one of the delicious Dove Dark Chocolates she sent me. For those of you who don't know, on the inside of each foil wrapper is a saying. The saying on my last chocolate said, "You're allowed to do nothing." lol If only they knew.)

Auntie Sharon's Surprise & A Little About My Fam

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My Mommy is one of 6, kind of like my hubby. She had 4 sisters and 1 brother. I love each of my aunts. Each of them has a special place in my heart for a different reason. (I'm going to have to go find pictures of my Aunties to post with this blog.)

My Auntie Paula is the oldest of the six. She is the sweetest, most down-to-Earth woman I've ever known. She works as a Court Services Officer. At least that's what I call her role based on my television legal lingo. :) She works for a judge here in town as his secretary and a little bit of everything else. Her special place in my heart is filled with memories of her scratching my back, arms and face until I would fall asleep. (When I'm really stressed I'll go to her and she'll still do this for me.) She took Gavin and I and allowed us to "hide" when we moved home after I left Nick. When I was married to and living with Nick, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She handled it with such style and grace. I hope I am able to handle my life in such a way. She's caring, compassionate and so generous. She is an amazing woman and I feel honored every day to know her and have her as my Auntie.

Next in line is my Aunt Carol. Ever since I was a little girl, Aunt Carol has felt more like a friend than an Aunt. She's funny and gives amazing hugs! When I was a kid she lived "far away" (I was convinced that she lived like 3 hours away. In reality, she lived maybe an hour away. lol) so I didn't get to spend the night at her house as much as I would have liked. They lived in the country at the time and had gobs of land, which I thought was very cool. I remember once she got my cousin Sam and I gifts from Odd Lots. I was so impressed with Odd Lots I couldn't wait to shop there when I grew up. (lol) Sadly we still don't live "close" to one another. She's still about 45 minutes away so I don't get to see her as often as I would like. However, she does work in the hospital where I go to delivery my kids. Which usually means she gets to see them first. ;) lol She even got to see Elliott in the NICU. (I think. Those 10 days are kind of hazy.) She is super sweet and funny and affectionate and I just love her to bits!

My Mommy is the next in line. :) Since I'm writing about everyone else it only feels right to include Mommy. Let's see...my Mommy a wonderful mother. Although sometimes I don't think she believes this. She is such a peaceful and beautiful soul. All that I am that is hippy, I got from her, a fact she's proud of. My love for reading and books, I got from her influence. She always nutured my love of books, although at times she seemed confused by the fact that her tween/teenager would rather have books than anything else. (lol) She is an amazing grandmother to my children. She has a very special bond with Gavin. In part because she helped me to raise him until Gavin and I moved into an apartment with Rob. They also have a special bond because she was my birthing coach. She helped me to bring him into the world. And that is a gift I am forever grateful for. (I'm tearing up just thinking about it.) She is such a generous soul. She loves to bake (and is by far the best baker I've personally ever known) and she does so for birthdays for friends and family all the time. In all honesty, I don't know that I would be the woman I am today without my Mommy.

Half way there! :)

Fourth in line is my Auntie Sharon. The lady who started this whole blog/post in the first place. (lol) My Aunt Sharon and I tend to be a lot alike. We are both free spirits and very outspoken about our beliefs, opinions etc. We've had pretty similar life experiences as well. There has been a time (more than one) when we clashed horns and had a battle of the wills. (We're both incredibly stubborn.) Sometimes she just drives me insane but I still love her. I have a special place in my heart for her because we are so much alike. She has certainly be dealt an interesting hand in life but she just rolls with the punches. Some how she always seems to come out on top, at least to me. (lol) She also always seems to find a way to be generous and make others feel special.

This elephant paperweight is a gift from her. When I was little I loved elephants, I don't know why. She remembered that wanted me to have this paperweight. It's of what I like to think are a Mommy and baby elephant. Elliott loves it because of the bubbles in the glass portion, which is why it's up high in the window. This way I can enjoy it and he can't break it. (lol)

Fifth in the list of siblings is my Uncle Mark. This blog is all about the Aunts though so I guess I'll take about my Aunt Terri here. She is my Uncle Mark's wife. Honestly, I don't know her very well. She very sweet and kind. I know that growing up she was really close to my cousin Maddy. But I just never really got the chance to get to know her.

Last (but certainly not least) is my Aunt Susie. Susie is the youngest of the six. She is also a mother of seven. (Brave woman!) I honestly don't know how she does it all. Six of her seven children are still in high school through grade school. My Aunt Susie just amazes me (yes, they all amaze me in different ways) with everything she manages. All of the different balls she keeps up in the air. I have nothing but the utmost love and respect for her, as a woman and as a mother. She's just phenominal!

And those are my wonderful, amazing aunts. This started out as a blog about the beautiful, thoughtful gift my Auntie Sharon gave me and somehow it's morphed into this. :)

April's Craftiness

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That's right folks, poo on the nay-sayers! (as Beth and Julie put it) I am going to post pictures of my care packages! :)



In this lovely package from April, I received a handmade blue and gray blanket for Tiny and two magazines for me. :) I just love this blanket! It is super, duper soft and snuggly. I can't wait to use it for Tiny.

And before the rumors start, blue is my favorite color. April and I have known each other for years and she knows this. Sorry folks, no hints at Tiny's sex here. ;)

If you like April's craftiness, she has a whole Etsy store full of crafty things she and her friend have made. Go take a gander! :)

*Tapes eyelids open*

2:21:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
I'm fighting to stay awake. Literally. At this point I'm even considering taping my eyelids open. (Hense the title. lol) That is the only reason I am posting this now - to stay awake. (I apologize if this makes little to no sense.) Elliott Richard is anti-nap today and Rob is really struggling. So I need to stay awake. Here's the run down of Day...what is it now, 33?

I slept horribly last night. Elliott did not want to go to sleep last night. Then when he finally fell asleep at 10pm (2 hrs past his bed time) he didn't want to stay asleep. I was up with him every 10 minutes for about an hour before I cried uncle. Rob then brought Elliott to bed and the only way Elliott could find to be comfortable was with this head on my butt/hips. I woke up at about 3am in excruciating pain from sleeping in a contorted position. I tried to shift positions and get more comfortable. No luck.

So I woke up this morning with a migraine from lack of sleep and a horrible backache from sleeping funky. I killed the migraine with my medications. I can't seem to get rid of the backache for anything.

Then I spent the morning taking picutres and uploading them and whatnot. Which was a pain in the butt because my digital camera and laptop seem to be upset with each other. So that's been a struggle in and of itself. As soon as I'm finished and everything is all organized I'll post a bunch of picture posts/blogs.

The insurance company called. They are claiming that we should have had someone out here and had "The Leak" fixed within 3 days. If they come out and find mold, mildew, rotting etc. they won't pay for anything. She wanted to know why when we found the issue we didn't have it fixed on the spot rather than playing phone tag with our insurance agent. I would like to strangle this woman. Maybe because we aren't made of money? (Gasp!) Or because we thought this is exactly the type of situation that we've been paying for home owners for? (The nerve!) Or because we thought home owner's would cover it, we wanted to make sure we did things "the right way"? (How dare we!) Maybe we waiting because we didn't know what the heck to do? (Can you imagine?) Ooooo...I'm just so irritated right now. (I'd be angrier if I could stay awake and keep my eyes open. lol)

As much as I like our insurance agent, I hate State Farm's claims adjusters. It almost feels like when they look for claims adjusters, they advertise looking for the rudest, meanest people with the world's shortest tempers. (Nice, compassionate people need not apply.) I have yet to have a kind claims adjuster while dealing with State Farm.

Okay, now I'm so exhausted my eyes burn. Rob is on the phone with Uncle Rick and pacing. Oh to have a nap...*sigh*

Random Thoughts

11:41:00 AM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
How desperate is Jaime Lee Curtis that she is endorsing a poo-regulating yogurt?

How do peanuts get salted by salting the shell?

Why if ABC, NBS, CBS and PBS are the universal stations nationwide, do I have to pay $5/month go watch them?

Why do they always say "the butler did it"? Why the butler? What's so horrible about this poor butler?

How do they come up with the names for cities? And who gets to pick the name?

Why is our country so litigation happy? When did life become about what we could get for free and who we could ruin to get it? Is this the new "American Dream"?

Bed Rest ~ Day 33 Let's do a quiz...

10:25:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
I've found a new blog (I know, you're shocked!) that I love. I'm in the process of reading it from beginning to now, however, in the course of my reading she had this quiz posted. I've decided to steal it and fill it out for myself. I'm preparing an actual post here in a bit and I will formally introduce y'all then. :) Until then, here are my answers to the stolen quiz...

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
Okay, I'm lazy and to get the book I would have to move the laptop and crawl to the end of my bed. So let's just pretend I don't have any books near me and since I'm on bed rest, I can't get up and get one. :)

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. Do you catch air?
If I go straight out, yes all I touch is air. If I go out to the left and down, I touch my Heparin injection waiting for Rob to poke me.

3.What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Lazy Town.

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
11:00 am

5.Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
10:56 am - It's lunch time and I'm starving!

6.With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Elliott Richard hopping/skipping through the house and laughing as he plays Sims 2: Castaway on my DS. Gavin playing Piranah Panic.

7.When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
I last stepped outside on Tuesday, April 8. I was coming into my house after coming home from my Dr. D appointment.

8.Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
I honestly don't remember.

9.What are you wearing?
My rapidly shrinking yellow "Please keep your order out of my chaos" t-shirt and my fuzzy red and white candy pajama pants.

10.When did you last laugh?
A few minutes ago.

11.What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Mint green paint, pictures of my family, a clock, a huge mirror and my security alarm keypad.

12.Seen anything weird lately?
Weird? I have two small boys...my life is nothing if not weird! lol

13.What do you think of this quiz?
It's not bad. It's killing the boredom a bit without asking incredibly personal questions.

14.What is the last film you saw?
Film as in physically IN the theater? Um...August Rush. Film as in on TV? I think I recorded Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last week.

15.If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
A bigger safer brand-new house, a van, pay off my debts and start splurging on the family and everyone else who has helped/supported us over the past 7 years. (I would also probably spend some of it burying those who have made it their mission to "destroy our lives" in the past 7 years.)

16.Tell me something about you that I don't know.
I was in gymnastics for 8 years and I actually screwed up my right knee in a gymnastics meet. I'll have to have it replaced someday.

17.If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would take the children from abusive parents without regard for the parents - I would put the children first. I would also try my best to see to it that children without parents were paired up with a safe, loving set of parents.


18.Do you like to Dance?
I love to dance but I'm not very good. lol

19.Imagine your first child is a girl. What do you call her?
Caislyn Joy or Lorelei Rose

20.Imagine your first child is a boy. What do you call him?
Gavin Alexander :)

21.Would you ever consider living abroad?
Only if I could take my Mommy and Daddy with me. :)

22.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
I knew you'd make it. I've been waiting for you.

Momma said there'd be days like this...

7:58:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
pregnancy cartoon">

Today has been...odd. Not good. Not bad. Just odd.

We had a visitor this afternoon. Her name is Annie and she's a part of the Help Me Grow program. Basically her focus would be Elliott Richard. She would come and hang out with him for a little bit, stuff like that. I know this probably doesn't make any sense but I think this is a good thing. Right now with everything that's going on with Gavin and what with me on bed rest, Elliott sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. I want him to have a little time set aside for him and no one else. He gets that with us but I just want something just for him. Annie is super nice and down to Earth. She's the visitor I referred to in my last post. She's the one who reminded me of why I started this blog.

Then Dad G and a friend of his who used to be a plumber stopped by to survey the damage and whatnot with "The Leak". It wasn't good. He said we should get it fixed ASAP if not sooner. Crap.

They left and I called Dr. D's office because I had my maintenance blood work done to check my clotting factors while on 5,000 units BID of Heparin. Apparently my numbers aren't where Dr. D would like would like them to be. *le sigh* So starting with my a.m. injection tomorrow I am now on 7,500 units BID. No more injections than before. Just more fluid to be pushed. (Ow.)

Rob called our insurance agent and asked if there was any way the home owner's would pay for the repairs. She called back and I spoke with her (Rob was trying again to get our switch to AT&T ironed out.) and asked a bunch of questions. In the end, we decided to file a claim and allow the claims adjuster to come out and check out the situation. There is a chance that insurance may pay for it all because it isn't coming from your typical leak under the sink that leaves some sort evidence as a red flag. So here's hoping that they will cover it and we can begin getting this taken care of!

To top off the day, Elliott Richard was not having bed time tonight. I don't know what it was but he fought me tooth and nail! I tried for an hour (from 8 to 9) and then gave up. We watched Noggin until 10 and then I tried again. He finally gave up at like 10:30. Insanity I tell you!

Other than that, it's life as usual. Whatever usual is anymore. Time for my shot. (Fun. Fun.)

25 weeks

7:53:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 1 Comment »
What Tiny is up to this week: Your little grower’s physical proportions are evening out at this point and most of their remaining development will largely be weight gain and lots and lots of nervous system development. The good news is: if your child is born premature now they’ll be more likely to survive without too much trauma as their lungs began to produce “surfactant” last week, which means their tiny respiratory system is getting stronger with each passing day. Yes, now’s a good time for a minor sigh of relief and a quick pat on the back. All that hard work and conscientious living is really getting your child prepared for a healthy delivery. Keep up the fabulous work mama! This week they’ll be scootching slowly out of the old breech position and start rotating (already!) into a better position for exit during their birth. Their head and feet are slowly rotating so that the head is pointed down towards the birth canal. Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask)—just (still!) 14 weeks left before you can go back to being a single-resident human.


I can't believe I forgot to post this for the past two days. lol So here it is, What Tiny's been up to this week. Tiny has been a busy little bean lately. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole "single-resident human" part. As crazy as this may sound, I'll really miss sharing my body with Tiny.

Bed Rest ~ Day 32 I've been thinking and Now it's time to share...

3:06:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 7 Comments »
I'm trying to figure out what all I've updated you guys on. And what all I want to share...

I've been in a pretty bad funk the past few days. It's been a combination of things really. Between the shots daily (and weekly). The bed rest. The stress of not being able to help Rob. Now "The Leak". My ex-mother-in-law trying to have me thrown in jail. The list goes on and on. It was just more than I could handle at the moment.

My funk is slowly lifting. It kind of ebbs and flows. I figure by Monday I should be back to my happy, go-lucky, sarcastic self (Lucky you! lol) in spite of all the crap. (No pun intended but if you find it funny, by all means laugh. lol)

Honestly, a large part of what caused my funk is this blog. I had posted a blog asking for opinions on the fact that I was posting pictures of my care packages and gifts. That was my mistake. I should not have done that. In all honesty, I knew what I was doing when I posted it. However, I had the naive belief that everyone who reads this blogs knows me or has come to know me and knows that I'm not like that. I'm just very easily excited and I love to share. Obviously I can't physically share my gifts and goodies with anyone besides Rob and the boys. (Although I would if I could!) Posting pictures here was the next best thing in my book.

I was not asking for more gifts. Nor was I hinting that I need things to make my best rest worth while. My bed rest is worth while because it helps give Tiny the best start at life possible. As exhausting and stressful as bed rest is, if I could be pregnant and on bed rest and have it not effect the rest of my family, I would have more children after Tiny. Every day is worth it. Every night I pray to God. I thank him for this day, one more for Tiny to grow and develop. So please do not believe for a moment that I need gifts or care packages to make this time worth my while. That could not be farther from the truth.

I appreciate all of my gifts and care packages. Each and every one. I treasure them all. I keep the cards so I can show Tiny someday how loved and cherished and supported we both were. I keep track of every thing because that's the kind of person I am. If I didn't receive another gift or care package for the rest of my pregnancy, I would be okay with that. True, I would miss seeing the mailman with his confused look (lol) but I would be okay. I would still appreciate every one that we've received to date.

I've spoken with friends about these "issues" at great lengths lately. And I've decided that this is my blog. I will post what I feel comfortable with. If you feel that I'm asking for gifts and care packages, I'm sorry. That couldn't be further from the truth and my friends and loved ones know this. I will trust in that fact and trust in my friends a little more from now on.

I am proud of the love and support we've received. I'm proud of the fact that in this day and age when things are so technical and sterile, there are still people out there who believe in power of human kindness.

I am just as proud of those things as I am of the fact that people I'll likely never meet who pray for us. When I try and imagine all of the people who must be praying for us, some who tell us so and some who pray silently; it just floors me. It brings me to tears every time to know that all of those prayers are going up to God on our behalf. And I appreciate every prayer just as I appreciate everything else. The emails. The cards. The letters. The phone calls. The text messages. They all mean the world to me. I only wish there were a way for me to chronicle the prayers so that someday I might show Tiny those as well. I suppose I'll just show Tiny the story of my pregnancy and hope that the fact that I am able to do that will bare witness to all those prayers.

Please know, that I am not trying to start a war or crusade. I am simply trying to do what I set out to do when I first started this blog. Something I was reminded of this afternoon by our visitor. She reminded me that I had started the blog to be honest. To show people a glimpse into the life of a mother who lives so far outside the box that I can't even see the box anymore. I set out on this blogging journey to be honest with myself first and foremost. And to chronicle everything for Gavin, Elliott Richard and Tiny. That is what I am doing. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Please think of my blog as you would an AA Meeting (or any other 12 step meeting for that matter - and don't ask how I know what those meetings are like because that a whole different blog in itself lol)...

Please take what you like and leave the rest.

32 down ~ 103 to go

Ah...true love...

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