PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket

My Breastfeeding Badges of Honor

Bed Rest ~ Day 36

2:32:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
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

8:34:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
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

1:43:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 3 Comments »
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

12:13:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 3 Comments »

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

12:08:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »

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

11:04:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
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

10:47:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »


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

11:43:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »

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...

11:18:00 PM Posted In , Edit This 2 Comments »

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...

7:40:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
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!

6:41:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »

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!!!!

8:54:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
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!

8:34:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »

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

5:07:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
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

2:44:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
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

6:19:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »
In a pretty bad funk. Not in much of a posting mood. Tiny is good. Slade, I now know you got your giving spirit. Will try to post more later.

Update on "The Leak"

10:14:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
My dad and I tore into the wall. The leak appears to be coming from the soil stack..
So as bad as my day was going it got much worse when we discovered it was sewage leaking from the second floor all the way to the basement.. It looks like this has been leaking for a really long time and we didn't know it..... We are not sure how we are going to approach this "little" project. It appears that they built the house around this pipe. Very difficult to get to....I will keep you all posted.....

It's been a pretty crappy day....

Enough is enough.

5:51:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Seriously. God could maybe trust me a little less. Rob too.

I'm having a difficult time believing "if he brought you to it, he'll bring you through it" this time around. As odd as it may sound, I had an easier time putting my faith in that statement when we were told Tiny had Amniotic Band Syndrome. Then it was blind faith I needed. Nothing else. I didn't need to figure out how we were going to pay for anything. Insurance would have covered whatever needed covered. I didn't need to worry about how others were going to help us because there wasn't anything they could do. I simply had to have blind faith that God would lead us all through and Tiny would be okay.

I can't do that now. Or I should be doing that now but I just don't see how. Dad G (Rob's dad) is here looking at, checking out, surveying the damage of "The Leak". Homeowners will not cover it because it is considered "maintenance related". Meaning we should have caught the leak we cannot see, nor hear and fixed it before the house began to mold, mildew, rot and generally fall apart. Homeowners was our last hope. There is no way for us to come up with the money for the basic repairs. And honestly, I don't know that it's even safe for us to be here.

Random Questions

3:03:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
I know a few of you have asked some questions. Only one is coming to mind though. lol So I'll answer it and if you want to ask some more...feel free. :)

Susan had noticed that my Bed Rest countdown is the same as the pregnancy countdown. Basically, I did that to make it easier for me. I don't know when I'll be released from bed rest. I was released at 36 weeks with Elliott Richard but he was born with premature lung disease, which then led to other problems. So I don't know if the goal is 37 or 38 weeks this time. I do know that it's questionable whether or not I'll make it that far so at this point, odds are that I'll go into labor before I'm released. But mainly I just went with my due date to help make the countdown easier for me. :)

Another Day....

11:01:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 4 Comments »
So last night I was doing some laundry... I noticed that the floor was wet. I had always assumed it was the washer. The drain over flows sometimes. I realized that it wasn't coming from the washer...I found a leak in the main drain line in the house. Now this plumbing is over 100 years old. I thought no problem, I will seal it and fix it later.

As I was sealing the drain line I started feeling drips on me. I looked up and the whole ceiling is soaked and dripping. I turns out that the water line for the 2ND floor bath has been leaking for God only knows how long... I looked in our hall closet and found the whole wall is soaked and covered in mold. We NEVER use that closet so I have no idea how long this has been going on.

I did find extensive damage and I am not sure how far it goes or where it is leaking from. My Dad is going to stop by tonight to check it out and see if we can fix it. With the house being so old it's hard to repair because everything is backwards..and very, very old..... There isn't even any water shut offs anywhere in the house. The person that plumbed this house IS AN IDIOT. You have to have water shutoffs to the first and second floor......We don't.....

I really don't need this right now....

Bed Rest ~ Day 30

10:01:00 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I had an appointment with Dr. D yesterday. It went really well. I got there. They 
weighed me (some how I managed to gain another pound in less than a day - without the aid of cheesecake!). And we did all the fun pregnancy tests (different from the "pregnancy test" where you pee on a stick lol) and measurements.

Appointment Stats:
Weight: 179 lb
Tiny's Heartrate: 143 bpm
Fundal height: 25 cm


Then a med student/resident (whatever) came in asked me a few questions. Starting with "So things appear to be going well." I kind of looked at him and cocked my left eyebrow up (which I do when I'm confused or when I want to give someone my best "are you serious" look) and said, "Well, yeah things are fine. Unless of course you count the trip to L&D last night. Or the 3 contractions/hour since Sunday." At that point he started flipping through my chart (from the day before). I just love med students/residents who don't take the time to read the chart before they come in. *eye roll* lol

Dr. D, the med student/resident (whatever!) and Val (one of my favorite nurses) came in a few minutes later. Dr. D said that our next goal is 28 weeks because we have a 60% chance of survival right now. At 28 weeks we have a 100% chance of survival. So 28 weeks is our new 40 weeks. (Kind of like 30 is the new 40 or whatever. lol) For now, that's our goal.

30 down ~ 105 to go

6 down ~ 12 to go

9:15:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 4 Comments »
Lisa just left a little while ago. It was a pretty standard appointment. Although for some reason this shot burned like mad when she was done!!! I can't even lay on my left side it burns so bad. I'm not sure why because she didn't do anything different and I haven't had this problem with any of the other injections. *shrug* I have an appointment with Dr. D in an hour and a half and I still need to take a quick shower so here are the morning stats:

BP: 110/70
Tiny's Heartrate: 143 bpm

***Side note: Blogger isn't liking this Opera internet browser Rob put on my laptop. So if my blogs are all wonky and formatted wrong, take it up with Opera or Rob. You're pick. ;) lol ***

Bed Rest ~ Day 28

9:10:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
I guess I jinxed myself with that post yesterday.

Since yesterday morning I've been having 3 contractions an hour consistantly. Meaning I don't have more than 3 an hour but I have 3/hour every hour. Some of them even woke me up last night.

So then today I was talking to one of Dr. D's nurses about my Heparin (we had a heck of a time finding it for my refill) and I asked her about them. More out of curiosity than concern because I figured I wasn't having 4-6/hour so I was okay. Well, she talked to Kelli, the nurse practioner, and they wanted me to come in. 

My mom met us at Dr. D's office and picked up Elliott Richard. I went in and they weighed me (we won't go there! lol) and all that good fun stuff. Then came time for the NST (non-stress test). I had 2 contractions about 15-20 minutes apart. But 
before the contractions were even registered Kelli talked to Dr. D and he said for me 
to go straight to L&D.

Of course, once in L&D I was still having contractions only they weren't showing up on the monitor the way they were at Dr. D's office. *sigh* They monitored us for a while and ran some tests. The big test being my fFN, which was negative. (Yay!) So that means we should have another 2 weeks before going into preterm labor.

I have a regular appointment with Dr. D in the morning and my medications are all kicking in so I'm going to get to bed now.

Thank you so much for the prayers and positive thoughts!

If you are interested, here are the stats from the day:

Dr. D's Office
Weight: 178 lb (that's what 1 - 8 inch Junior's cheesecake does! lol)
Tiny's Heartrate: 133 bpm via NST

L&D
Weight: 175 lb (I love the variations between scales. lol)
Tiny's Heartrate: 143 bpm
BP: 100/61


28 down ~ 107 to go

OK. We are finally home....

8:15:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 6 Comments »
Thank you for all your prayers. They worked. We are home again and trying to relax. All the tests came back negative (which is good). It looks like we will make it through another day. Just wanted to post an update. Lizze will probably post more later. Thanks again...


Rob

Waiting

5:42:00 PM Edit This 4 Comments »

We are still waiting to get the results back. Not sure if she will be admitted. Hopefully we will be going home soon.

We got a room

4:29:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »
We have our room and are waiting for the doc. Thanks for the prayers..


Rob

Start Praying

4:20:00 PM Edit This 0 Comments »

We had to go to see Dr. D for contractions and we were sent from there to L&D. We'll update later..

Bed Rest ~ Day 27

6:44:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 5 Comments »
It's been a quiet weekend. I'm struggling to get enough sleep and to simply get comfortable when I'm awake. Gavin was home all weekend and things went really well. There were even a few moments when Elliott Richard was able to interact with Gavin without a major issue. It was nice.

27 down ~ 108 to go

Generosity

4:03:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I have been posting pictures of each and every gift and care/sanity package I have been blessed enough to receive. However, upon consideration I am coming across in manner I had not wished to. Anyone who knows me, knows it was never my intention to come across as seeking gifts. I am simply very grateful and I live my life as an open book. I was merely trying to express my gratitude.

I am posting this so that you know, I am very grateful and in the process of making thank you cards for each and every one of you.

I've seen some people leave truly ugly comments on other blogs because gifts were shared with everyone. And I don't want anyone to feel that I'm asking for more. I'm grateful for everything I've received. :)

So please know, that I am very grateful and I feel very blessed to have each and every one of you involved in our lives.

Thanks! :)

***Side note: this blog/post has been changed from it's original form. Originally I asked for opinions as to whether or not it is tacky for me to post pictures of my care packages/gifts. The only comment this post received was in response to that blog. Not the one you find above. I have closed comments to this post because I am not looking to start a war here. :) That is all.***

A Tribute To My Wife........

2:19:00 PM Posted In , , , , , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I put this together as we close out the miracle of 24 weeks. For those who don't know, we made it to 24 weeks last Wednesday. We have been so blessed with all of your prayers and thoughts. I wanted to take a few minutes and thank my wife. So I put together a small movie that chronicles the past 24 weeks..I trully credit her with us making it this far. She has given up everything in order to bring Tiny into this world. I couldn't be prouder or love you more... Your Husband PS: I finally found your Champagne Rose :)

Speechless...

12:31:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 4 Comments »
I have this blog I've been working over in my head and I was trying to type this morning. About how overwhelmed I am. How I feel as if I'm failing in everything I do. How it just isn't enough.

Then, in that special way she seems to have, I receive mail from April. I'm sitting here crying because she wrote me a beautiful letter (it's okay that you typed it - I love it just the same!), two magazines and a beautiful handmade blanket. (Pictures are coming!)

April, thank you! Thank you for somehow knowing just what to say and do. Thank you for being you.

I'm just so touched by the support I'm receiving from everyone. The care packages, the cheesecakes, the handmade gifts...it's all so wonderful. I can't wait to tell Tiny how much love and support we received during this difficult pregnancy. I'm so excited that Gavin and Elliott Richard are able to see the unconditional love and support of friends. So few people are able to witness these things these days. And the fact that my sons get to see it on a regular basis...it's one of the best lessons they'll ever learn. Thank you for helping me to make that lesson available to them. Thank you for each and every thing you've done for us. Your prayers. Your positive thoughts. Your emails and comments. I cherish each and every one of them.

From the bottom of my heart, to each and every one of you, thank you.

Bed Rest ~ Day 26 Welcome to the Dumping Ground

10:54:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Okay, I know I hide it well but I've been pretty grumpy the past day or so. No particular reason, just a little bit of everything. I've been struggling to put my feelings and whatnot into words. And so the blogs I have posted have felt rather...disconnected. So here's what has been going through my head...


Bed Rest

Bed rest is starting to get to me. The shots are getting to me in a major way. I know they are getting to Rob but I need him to do that for me. I don't think I could handle it if I had to give them to myself. I can't describe the emotions I feel at 8:00am and 8:00pm everyday. It's exhausting emotionally and physically. It's draining. I just want to run and hide and scream "no no no". I'm tired of being strong. I'm tired of doing what's right. I want to do what's easy for once. I won't, I know I won't because it's not what's best for Tiny. But it would feel so nice. To get up and get dressed and drive to Wal*Mart, by myself. To wander the store and not worry about contractions or pressure or over-doing-it. To just have some time to myself without being in bed or taking a nap. The side effects of the medications are getting to me. The Procardia helps to hold off the preterm labor but it also gives me horrible migraines. The Darvocet helps with the migraines but it makes me loopy and sleepy. Rob is a huge help but then I feel like I'm not doing enough. I'm not pulling my fair share. There's just so much that I feel I should be doing, could be doing and I'm not. I'm dropping the ball.


I feel like even in taking care of Tiny, I'm dropping the ball. I'm staying down. I'm eating right. (Except for the cheesecake but like Nikky pointed out to me last night, it's not like I'm going to be living on cheesecake for the rest of the pregnancy.) I'm drinking more water than I'd care to. I try and lay on my left side. I count the contractions. I try and figure out "was that a contraction?" or "is that something I should worry about". I do everything I'm supposed to do. I keep my appointments. I have the tests run. I take my medications. I endure the injections. I'm doing everything I can do and it still feels like it isn't enough.

This is a public service announcement...

2:01:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 6 Comments »
I am pregnant. I am grumpy. And I'm just plain not in the mood.

If you email me and I don't email you back one of a few things happened...

*either I didn't get the email.
*I didn't feel I had anything intelligent to say in response. (That's not me saying your email wasn't intelligent. That's me saying I couldn't come up with a response that didn't sound completely lame so I just didn't respond.)
*I'm just not in the mood to respond right now.
If you call me and I don't call you back one of a few things happened...

*I forgot to call you back. (Sorry, it happens. I'm only human.)
*I'm just not in the mood to call anyone right now.
If you have called, emailed or otherwise sent me smoke signals and I haven't not responded...
*It is not personal.
*I'm not trying to hurt your feelings.
*I'm not avoiding you personally.
*Odds are I'm avoiding life in general and that just so happens to include you..."life in general" is a rather broad scope afterall.
If you send me a care package, watch my children, make/bring me food or otherwise do some random act of kindness for me...please know that...

*I appreciate each and everything that has been done for me.
*I'm trying to send thank you cards but I prefer to make them myself and that takes more energy than I have at the moment.
*I don't expect you to do anything for me, however, I'm very grateful that you have.

If you are eyeing my cheesecake...

*I assure you that the calories are good for Tiny and myself. (The more I eat the more Tiny gains and a fat Tiny is a healthier Tiny should a premature birth take place.)
*I can also assure you that I am doing my best to balance the cheesecake with healthy foods like fruit and veggies.
*Unless you are my mommy, go eye someone else's Junior's cheesecake. :P

Hopefully this public service announcement will help to clear up any misconceptions out there.

Goodies, goodies everywhere!

10:18:00 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
The mailman is probably trying to figure out why and how I became so popular virtually overnight! lol But I don't care what the mailman thinks because I've GOT GOODIES! :)

I received another care package from my Due Date Buddy Merrilee. (I have a few due date buddies for those who are confused by frequent referral to them all. :) lol)


Here's the first bunch of goodies: strawberry sour punch straws, a pretty green bag filled with different chocolates, Nicholas Sparks - "A Bend in the Road", and the white rectangle is a battery powered fire engine toothbrush. Elliott Richard was very happy to take the toothbrush off my hands. lol Now he's obsessed with brushing his teeth! If we let him, he would allow us to brush them all day long. lol

More goodies! :)


We've got the books (I need to go take a better inventory.) which includes Lipstick Jungle, Trading Up, With This Ring and a few others I can't read/don't remember at the moment (Sorry.). In front we've got the candy - Reisens, the Sour Punch Straws, a Hershey's Cookies and Cream candybar and my little bag of chocolates. (You guys should have seen the look on Rob's face when he saw the Reisens! lol) You can also see Elliott's prized toothbrush next to the strawberry sour punch straws. :) Next to the toothbrush are some perfume samples. :)


And here we have the last of the goodies that Merrilee sent me. Yum. Yum. Yummy. Luckily she sent two packs of Riesens because Rob ate one pack himself. lol He was excited to see the Mamba's too. I've never had them before but they're really good. Kind of like softer starburst. :)

Thank you, Merrilee!

Are they precious?

10:15:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Aren't they sweet? I caught them napping in the "man cave" the other afternoon. Just wanted to share. :)



24 weeks

9:51:00 AM Posted In , , , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
What Tiny is busy doing this week: This is another big week for your magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”. What’s that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist the your baby's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you’re curious, your submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. By the end of this week, your child will be weighing around 2 lbs and 14 inches long. Your cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near their full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!

Well aside from the usual daytime hobbies of kicking mom, sucking thumbs, kicking mom some more and napping. lol We're almost in the third trimester now...Now we just bake, bake, bake and pack on the pounds. That's why the cheesecake (that my mother so graciously keep trying to save me from) is so important. It keeps me happy, sure. But it will also help me to pack on some pounds to Tiny. The bigger Tiny is at birth the best chances Tiny has at life outside of the "kiddie pool". It shouldn't be too difficult to get Tiny to pack on the pounds. Gavin weighed 8 lb 15 oz at birth - 4 days overdue. Elliott Richard weighed 7 lb 8 oz at birth - 4 weeks early. So I only make big babies. Hopefully this will hold true for Tiny as well.

I'm having a lot of contractions and cramping today. So I'm going to go watch some "mommy TV" and count the contractions to see if I should be calling Dr. D or not. Luckily Elliott Richard loves the baby shows I record because I can only take so many Noggin shows before I start to feel my sanity quickly draining away. lol

Bed Rest ~ Day 25

9:01:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Another day, another...well, day. lol

Rob let me sleep in for a little bit again today. Then I had two pieces of cherry crumb cheesecake for breakfast. That's right, I said 2 pieces! :) At this rate, Tiny is going to be huge by the time it's all said and done. lol

Now I'm just hanging out. Watching television. Getting ready to work on pregnancy journals and whatnot. Which is so much easier now that I have my lap desk. It also makes life with my incredibly hot laptop much easier.

I'm just in a grumpy mood today. Something just feels...off and funky. I hate days like this. I can't very well call Dr. D and say, "Hey, guys. I'm contracting but no more than usual but I just feel funky and off." There's nothing that can be done about funky and off. *sigh* I think today is just going to be one of those grumpy, hormonal, pregnant kind of days.

25 down ~ 110 to go

Bed Rest ~ Day 24

4:49:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 3 Comments »
Today started out so well. Ah well, all good things must come to an end eventually I suppose.

I've got a horrible, raging migraine. One of those migraines that cause your eyes to water and blur. It sucks.

Elliott Richard is in a "terrible two's" mood today. Everything is "no", "I don't know", "why" etc. It's a good thing he's so cute or I'd be calling the nearest group of gypsies to come and pick him up! lol

Gavin is doing well. He's hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa G's until Grandma W comes to pick him up sometime in the next hour. He's huge into writing letters right now. Problem is that he keeps writing letters to my ex-husband (Gavin's biological father) asking why they don't want to see him anymore and why they won't do their homework. (When Gavin asked why Nick and Pam (Nick's mom) stopped coming we told him that they had homework that needed to be finished before they could see him again. The "homework" being the paperwork that needed filled out at the visitation location.) We tried to explain to him that we don't know where he lives, because we don't. He was upset at first. Then we explained that he could write letters to me and I would write him back and mail them to Grandma G's and Grandma W's for him. Now all is right with the world again. *sigh*

I don't know if it's the migraine, my migraine meds or just "mommy brain" but my memory is completely shot today. I am trying to fill in my new pregnancy journal but I keep screwing up the dates. This journal is going to end up equal parts ink and white out. *sigh*

Then to add salt to the wounds of the day, I've been contracting pretty regularly today. Nothing timable but they are definitely stirred up over something. *sigh* I think I'll go and try and figure out some dinner now. (Is it wrong that Elliott is eating cold mac & cheese? It was hot but he wasn't interested in it then. It just seems wrong that he's eating cold. I don't know why.)

24 down ~ 111 to go

A morning FULL of deliciousness!!!!

8:20:00 AM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 3 Comments »
Yum. Yum. Yummy.

It is 8:21am here. This has been my morning full of deliciousness...

Elliott Richard slept through the night! This does not happen very often but when it does my body, mind and soul are very grateful.

Rob got up with Elliott Richard and allowed me an extra hour of sleep.

I checked Nate's blog to find that while I was sleeping through the night for the first time in ages, Tricia's surgery was a complete success and she is currently in recovery with her new lease on life!

I was able to start my morning with a slice of chocolate ganache Junior's cheesecake. Absolutely heavenly. Even Elliott Richard is par-taking in the deliciousness.

So now, tell me those aren't the makings of a delicious morning. :)

I'd just like to say...

10:11:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 4 Comments »
That Junior's cheesecake is AMAZING!

Oh.my.gosh!

I did in fact have it for dinner and I'm thinking of having another small piece for a snack.

Yum. Yum. Yummy!

Kick those prayers into hyper drive!!!!

6:25:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Nate just posted! It's a go! There's still a slim chance that they may get as far as the operating table and find it's a no-go. But let's think positive thoughts!


Bed Rest ~ Day 23

5:07:00 PM Posted In , , , , , , Edit This 5 Comments »
Okay, so I woke up this morning exhausted! Partly because Elliott Richard isn't sleeping well. And partly because it was next to impossible for me to get comfortable because of both hips being sore. Every time I would move, I was "rewarded" with a sharp, stabbing pain. *sigh*

So I drug myself out of bed. Came downstairs with Elliott Richard and got him breakfast. Then I just sort of zoned for a while. Rob woke up. And he gave me my morning Heparin injection. (Fun. Fun.) We all hung out for a little while before we got ready to take Elliott to Grandma G's. She was kind enough to watch him while Rob took me for my second Celestone injection. We dropped Elliott off and hung out for a bit.

Then we made our way to Dr. D's office at about 10:30am. I received my injection. And while the injection itself didn't hurt nearly as bad as yesterday's...it hurt worse afterwards because it was the same side as my 17P injection this week. My poor butt is a mess of band aids at this point. lol The nurse felt so bad when she saw them all. (I left them on so that she would know where my other two injections had gone. That way we could avoid any double pokes.)

We left Dr. D's office. I cried some more. (It hurt!) And Rob surprised me with Taco Bell for lunch because he said I had earned it. Then we hung out at Mom G's for a little while before packing up Elliott and heading home.

Now imagine my surprise and confusion when I return home to find an orange and white box (not this box but similar) on my front porch. Granted, I'm expecting a few packages from things I've ordered with an Amazon.com gift certificate I earned in a beta test. But I didn't order anything that would come in a box like that!

Now imagine my shock and elation when I read the box and saw it was from none other than Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecake!!!!! Yeah baby!

Now allow me to insert some back story here...I love the Food Network. One of my favorite shows is "Throwdown with Bobby Flay". (I *heart* Bobby Flay! Even more since I found out he's married to one of my favorite actresses from Law & Order: SVU!) For those of you who don't know, Throwdown is where Bobby takes on a "master" in making their signature dish. In this episode, it was Bobby vs. the owner of Junior's. (Apparently, Junior's is known for having the best cheesecake in NYC.) So I innocently (I swear, I meant nothing by it!) sent a text message to my best friend, Laura, who happens to work in NYC. (I do this every time there's a Throwdown with an NYC based food because I want to know if she's had it and if it's really *that* good.) She said that it was in fact that good. I told Rob that some day I want to visit NYC to see Laura and try all these foods I see on Food Network. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this!

In the box, I found a CHEESECAKE!!! :) It's a Junior's cheesecake!!! It has chocolate ganache, original NY cheesecake, raspberry swirl, and cherry crumb.

I was so touched and excited, I admit it, I cried. :) Hey, I'm pregnant. It's Junior's Cheesecake. I think I was entitled to cry. :)

It is in my fridge as I type this. I've already had people willing to take it off my hands. They claim Tiny and I don't need the calories! Hrmph! lol

My problem at this point, where do I start? The owner of Junior's said his favorite of all their flavors (of which they have many) is the original. And I must admit that "plain" cheesecake is usually my favorite as well. However, they are all calling out to me.

In fact, I think I may have cheesecake for dinner. :)

23 down ~ 112 to go

Tiny's 24 week ultrasound pictures!

4:48:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 3 Comments »
These are the ultrasound pictures from my ultrasound yesterday. (Which means I'm almost caught up with posting pictures! :) Woo hoo!)

In this picture, we have Tiny doing what Tiny does best...sleeping and thumb sucking! :)

Although you can see more of Tiny's profile and little fist in the mouth! (Very cool.) The white line running down Tiny's profile are the bones in the face. You can also see the little hand and arm bent at the elbow. Even in utero this kid is CUTE! :)

In this picture, we have Tiny's tiny little face. It doesn't look quite like the alien look Tiny was sporting a few ultrasounds ago. :)

The oval under the word "face" is Tiny's right eye. The gray part just above that oval is Tiny's forehead. The black spot below and to the right of Tiny's left eye. The short white line in the middle are the bones in Tiny's nose. There's a small grayish-black line just under the nose, that's Tiny's slightly open mouth. I think the two circles under the chin are Tiny's elbows because during the ultrasound Tiny had the left hand and arm tucked under the head. And the right hand and arm were tucked similarly on the opposite side of the face. (Think the famous "Home Alone" scream, without the open screaming mouth. ;) lol)

And last but not least, Tiny's last 24 week ultrasound picture!

In this one Tiny is just sort of hanging out. I believe this was taken either just before or just after I was kicked really hard for allowing the "evil Barb" to poke at us again. ;) lol

On the left side of the picture, see that circle with the dot in the middle? That's Tiny's knee, like I said I was either getting kicked or had just been kicked. lol The odd shape to the right of the word "body" is Tiny's hand/arm, I'm not sure from which side. And then you have quite possibly the most beautiful profile shot I've ever seen in a 2D ultrasound. The white line just under the word "face" are the bones in Tiny's forehead. Then moving to the left, you've got Tiny's nose. (So cute.) Then Tiny's top lip. And Tiny's bottom lip. Go on, tell me my child isn't adorable! :)

Barb also put Tiny's estimated weight on this picture. Based on all the measurements, Tiny appears to be about 1 lb 7 oz, which is in the 55% for the gestational age. :)

23 weeks Belly Pictures

4:30:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
And here we are in week 23. More belly rubbin's going on in this picture. Tiny just seems to be all out front. At least to me that's how it seems.

How observant are you? Did you notice the hospital band still on my left wrist? That would be because we took these pictures just after we returned home from the hospital on Saturday, March 29th. ;)

And here we are from the side.

Sorry about the cheesey grin but it's gets difficult smiling for all these belly pictures. :) lol Plus Rob inevitablly does something to make me laugh, which then makes it just that much harder for me to smile a normal smile.

You can't really see the hospital band in this shot but know that it's there. lol

On a side note, my hair is getting really long! As seems to be my way, I had my Auntie Sharon perm my hair a few months before I found out I was pregnant with Tiny. (The same thing happened with Elliott Richard.) My wonderful, talented Auntie does all of my hair cuts and I was hoping to snag her on one of her precious days off over the weekend. Then I ended up on bed rest and now I can't go over there. :(

Looks like I'm doomed to have split ends and hair in desperate need of a trim for the rest of my pregnancy. *sigh* ;)

22 week Belly Pictures

4:23:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Well, here we are. Only a few weeks late. :) lol

I had to post at least one black and white, since we all know how much Rob loves the black and white photos. :)

These pictures were taken on Easter Sunday. I figured I might as well take advantage of the fact that I was all dressed up. Since most days I just hang out in my comfy clothes and they aren't very fashionable. ;)
And here we are from the front. Okay, so I have a funny look on my face but I seemed to have a funny look on my face in all of them. Oh well, c'est la vie. ;)
I was sort of trying for the heart over my belly button with my hands. But at this point it was becoming more of a belly rub.
I love that shirt. One of these days (when I haven't been poked and stabbed) I'll have a maternity fashion show and show off all of my cute maternity clothes that most will never get to see me wear. :) I'll even have Rob take pictures and video clips so you can get the full, cabin-fever, bed rest bound effect. ;) lol

Tiny's 20 week ultrasound pictures!

3:20:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Tiny's big 20 week debut!

Technically this ultrasound was performed at 19 weeks 6 days. But we'll just round it up to 20 weeks. :)

In this picture, Tiny is doing some thumb sucking. Trying to get comfortable while Barb was pushing on my belly with the ultrasound wand. Tiny hates that. lol

On the right of the screen there's the faint outline of a long oval - that's Tiny's leg. The long thin gray oval like shape at the top is Tiny's arm. The hand is the bend oval on the left end of the longer oval. There's a white line towards the bottom, that's Tiny's spine. The black circle above the spine is a kidney or maybe the bladder. It's black because it full of amniotic fluid Tiny has swallowed. If you look you can see where Tiny's profile would be on the big gray circle on the left end. And on top of his profile is a finger. Thumb sucking is hard to do in the dark. ;)


This one is Tiny stretching. I'm not sure if the stretch was just a stretch. Or more of a "get a life and go bug someone else" kind of stretch. lol Probably more of a "get a life" kind of stretch.

That bumpy looking dotted line is Tiny's spine. The little black dots above that are various organs. The little circle on top of the oddly shaped circle on the left of the picture is Tiny's hand. Can you see the thin black line just above where Barb typed "head"? That is the back of Tiny's throat. The black oval to the left of the word "head" is where Tiny's brain is. (Yes, it's there. We've seen it. We just don't happen to have any pictures of it.)


And now, after some stretching and kicking to try and get the "evil Barb" to leave me alone, Tiny has given up. Back to the thumb sucking and a nap. In this picture you can see Tiny's profile. See the top lip just above Tiny's thumb? You can even see a few of Tiny's fingers because the hand is open rather than a fist above the face. Then the line going off the hand to the right is Tiny's arm and elbow.
And just so you know, the gray that is above and below Tiny is my uterus (below) and the placenta (above). And the black surounding Tiny is the amniotic fluid.

I *heart* surprises! Part 2

3:05:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »


I've said it before and I'll say it again, I *heart* surprises! The other day I was sitting on my couch. Minding my own business. Just another day of bed rest, until the mailman came. :) He had a surprise for me. (I think Rob is getting jealous.) It was a box of goodies from my due date buddy Beth! I had no idea she had done this. She's so sweet.


Inside I found: 2 coloring books (1 pirates, 1 dinosaurs), 2 packs of 8 count crayons, 5-6 Jolly Rancher suckers, a box of Dove Dark Chocolates (Yum!), Chicken Soup for the Women's Soul, Nadia's Song, a romance novel and a card.

The card is already tucked away for Tiny's hat box. As you can see in the picture, Elliott Richard is trying to make off with my dark chocolates. lol (Chocolate is mine, Elliott Richard and Tiny's favorite!) And although I'm not sure Beth realized it at the time, the coloring books were the perfect choices because Gavin is huge into pirates and Elliott Richard is huge into dinosaurs! They were thrilled! :) Although Elliott has already managed to scatter the crayons throughout the house. He stashes them away and then retrieves them when he wants them. lol
This is Elliott Richard with a sucker from the care package and one of the packs of crayons, before they disappeared. :) lol

Cupcakes, yum! Take 2

3:01:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »

Remember my "cupcakes, yum" post? Well, I posted that from my phone while my laptop was being finicky so I wasn't able to post pictures. Now, I can. :) Aren't you thrilled? lol Here they are. The delicious cupcakes Gavin helped pickout. Yum yum yummy. What can I say, it's the little things right now. :)
And for the record, the two missing cupcakes were not mine. Elliott Richard ate one. Gavin ate the other. In fact, Elliott Richard was so excited that he started to eat it paper and all before I could get the paper off! lol

The New and Improved Bed Rest Haven

2:41:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »

Recently Rob made the decision to bring the bottom bunk of Gavin's bunk beds downstairs for me to lay on. The couch was comfortable but not nearly supportive enough. This is my new bed rest haven. I've got my bed, maternity pillow, the red bean bag chair helps to support me when I'm sitting up rather than lying down. I have the TV tray table between the bed and couch to hold my laptop and sippy. The Tupperware box on the floor holds all of my snacks and whatnot. It's actually a pretty nice little setup. I haven't been able to sleep on it yet because it just feels odd. It definitely allows me more room, which comes in handy when Elliott Richard is wanting to cuddle or snuggle. Not to mention Cleo, my cat, feeling the need to be on top of me again now that she has room.
This is my new view from the front window. It's nice because I can see who is here when they knock, rather than having to get up and/or move around to check. Of course, I can't see the squirrels anymore, which kind of stinks. But I guess I can't have everything. On the bright side though, I can now see out the side window as well. Before it was blocked by the television but we had to move the television into the corner to make room for the bed. Unfortunately, the view from the side window really isn't anything to write home about. I can see the neighborhood "kids" walking up and down our alley. I can also see the side of my neighbor's barn if I sit up. But all in all, it really isn't much of a view. See? There's the big, red barn. The TV tower in the front of the picture has been here forever. It's rusted through in parts but it's so tall that it won't be easy to bring down. When it's windy, we can hear it banging up against the side of the house. That sound used to scare me when we first moved in. Now I don't really notice it unless I'm trying to get Elliott Richard to sleep. Even he sleeps through it now.






Prayers are needed!!!

1:56:00 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
Not for me this time.

Nathan has posted to his blog that Tricia may be undergoing her double lung transplant today!!!! The transplant team have a set of lungs in TX that may be a match. Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray that this isn't a "dry run" (aka false alarm). Pray that Tricia comes through the surgery with flying colors. Pray for the donor. Pray for the donor's family during this difficult time. Pray! Pray! Pray! Today is also Nathan's birthday - what a gift! :)

I just IMed Julie. She is at an impromptu OB visit. I don't know what is going on but please pray for her and Baby O. Pray that everything is as it should be. Pray that Julie and Baby O are okay. Pray! Pray! Pray!

Borrowing an idea from Julie

8:54:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
I love Julie. She is truly helping to keep me sane. I can't explain the weight that is lifted because not only do we share the same due date; we are also both on bed rest. It just makes things so much easier. I can't really explain it.

I was checking out her blog, something I do everyday. And at the bottom of her page she has the running stats on Baby O's pregnancy. I've decided to borrow this wonderful idea. Please see the bottom of the blog if you ever need a reminder of where we stand at any given point. :)

A message for my Grammie/Auntie Sharon

8:45:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Mom is having troubles posting comments too. I'm not sure why except that Blogger says it's a crazy, random bug they are experiencing. Hopefully they will have it fixed soon. I got your last two comments. :) All I can say is keep trying! :)

Love you guys!

My 3 Things

8:14:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 4 Comments »
I got this off of Shannon's blog. And much like her, I'm posting a disclaimer first. :)


These are things that I would change only if I knew that they would not greatly effect the course of my life after that point. If it is an all or nothing change, meaning I make the changes and my life is completely different, than I pass and I'll leave things as they are. If, however, I can change these things and simply have them erased...then where do I sign. Without further ado, here are...

My 3 Things

1) My first "marriage" ~ I would simply follow my instincts, rather than ignore them, and not say "I do". Had I done this then, there's a very real chance I would not be $25-50,000 in debt for legal fees incurred during my divorce and custody battle.

2) I would take the job offer made to me in November 1999. I was working at Blockbuster Video. My assistant manager offered me a position as an Assistant Manager in her new store in Alliance. She also offered to allow me to stay rent free with her and her husband (as long as I was working and in school) so that I could attend Mount Union College (one of my top 3 college choices out of high school that I couldn't afford tuition and room & board for) without commuting or having to try and pay room & board. There's no telling how different my life would be had I taken this offer.

3) I would have taken more time to enjoy the little things in life. I also would have taken more time to journal my experiences in life. I'm told that I'm somewhat of a "statistical anomaly" and I think it would come in handy for my kids to know about that part of my life when they are old enough. I also would have taken more time to journal during Gavin's pregnancy and infancy. Things were so crazy and chaotic that I didn't do these things as much as I would have liked. Now I wish I had.

Bed Rest ~ Day 23 WE MADE IT!!!

8:03:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 2 Comments »

We are officially 24 weeks!!!!!

We did it! We did it! We did it!

Since I can't dance from bed, here's a clip from "Perfect Strangers" of Balki and Larry doing the dance of joy for me! :)

23 down ~ 112 to go

Newer Posts
Older Posts

Ah...true love...

Daisypath Anniversary tickers Daisypath Wedding tickers

***My Baby Boys***

Lilypie Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers

You are *here* too!