30 Weeks Pt. 2

I really can't believe I'm going to be a mom again in 10 very short weeks. It's crazy to think I'll have two little ones to love. I'm sure it'll be difficult at first but I know I'll get the hang of it fairly quickly. Especially since I've got such a caring family to support me.

As for events and updates, this week wasn't very exciting. I suppose the biggest news is that I had my glucose test which wasn't much fun at all. That sugary drink really made my tummy upset. And not to mention the fact that it's been super hot the last few days. Thank the Lord for central air. I don't think I'd be able to survive this heat and humidity without it.

Oh wait... what am I thinking. There has been one huge development this week and my pregnant brain has just seemed to forget it, until now. Pauly is walking! Ok maybe not all by himself all the time but he can do it. He just lacks some courage to get up and go so, if you encourage him and make a fuss, he'll do it. And what's the best encouragement for my son?
"Pauly, where's your ball? Go get the ball.". And off he goes. It's the cutest thing ever.

And what else has happened....??
Oh, we're having Jody back as our doula. Paul and I were so happy having her with us the first time that we didn't even think about it the second time around. It was more like "I'm more than halfway through my pregnancy, do you think Jody's available?". And we were so glade when she said she was.

And now that I'm 30 weeks along I'll be seeing the midwife every two weeks. And of course the nursery is nowhere near done. There isn't too much to do but I still don't want it to come down to the wire like last time.

It seems this post is headed in all sorts of directions but hey, that's the way my mind has been the last couple of days. And I'm trying to sort it out lol!

At 30 weeks my lil' bean is weighing in at about 3lbs. roughly the size of a cabbage. There is about a pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounding him/her, which will decrease in volume as he/she gets bigger. The soft lanugo hair that was protecting the skin is now starting to fall off. This lil' bean is keeping active by moving around and this can be seen and felt. And I can assure you this one will probably be just as active as Pauly. There's no stopping him/her. Breathing movements are also being practiced by moving the diaphragm which could lead to hiccups.

29 Weeks Pt. 2

What a busy few weeks I've had. To start (in no particular order)...my little man is now a whole year old. We had a great time celebrating his first birthday and the weather was fantastic. We took the kids to the splash pad and I couldn't believe how much Pauly loved it. After some fun in the sun we all headed back to the house for lunch, Birthday cake and presents. It was amazing to see all the kids playing together.

Loving the splash pad

Another big event is my return to work. I really don't know where the time went. It just seems like yesterday that I was sleeping in a hospital bed with my newborn son next to me. Anyways, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In my mind I was picturing long days, too much overtime and a whole lot of me missing the little man. It actually was somewhat comforting to be back to my regular routine. Don't get me wrong...I missed my son A LOT. But being around adults and having adult conversations was refreshing. That being said, I can't wait to be off again :)

This summer has also started great. We've done a few family outings and I've loved every one. There was Pioneer Village for father's day, Springridge farm, strawberry picking and the zoo.

Happy Daddy's Day

My first pony ride

Off to the strawberry patches

Waiting in line at the zoo

And now for my lil' bean. This week he/she weighs 2 1/2 pounds, about the same as a butternut squash, and is 15 inches long. The bones are fully developed but will stay malleable in order to get through the birth canal. The lungs are maturing along with muscles and of course he/she is still gaining fat. The head is also getting bigger to accommodate the growing brain. Only 11 more weeks!

24 Weeks Pt.2

As I sit here and think of the past week I realize that my maternity leave is quickly coming to an end. My first day back at work will be June 20 and it's creeping up on me fairly quickly. To tell the truth, I'm not looking foreword to it. Mostly because things weren't ideal when I left and I don't know what I'll be going back to. The actual job is great but procedures and job responsibilities will probably be different and I'm not sure I'm going to like the new set up. The two things keeping me optimistic are
#1 - I'll only be there for 3 months before I'm off for another year.
#2 - I don't have to deal with dayshift bullshit (I'll be back on an afternoon shift).

What's kept me from thinking of work is Pauly's 1st birthday. It's 2 weeks away and I just sent out invites a couple of days ago. What's on the agenda you ask? Some time at the local park, including a simple splash pad, playground, a small beach, and lots of grassy field to run about in. Then lunch back at our house followed by cake and presents and of course...PICTURES!!!! I'm sure Paul will love playing with all his cousins and stuffing his face with cake...lol. But let's face it, this party is more for Paul and I than it is for Pauly.

On a completely different note, I've been really coveting a diaper sprayer. I've always thought I'd be using one once Pauly started solids but I haven't yet. Mostly because our upstairs bathroom is non-exsistant. With only one toilet located downstairs, it'll be inconvenient to go all that way just to clean a poopy diaper. I can sense the question that's rolling around in you head right now...so what do you do with the poop now? Well, I use a disposable liner. And even though I've been doing this for roughly 6 months, I'm getting tired of it. For more than one reason.
#1 - It makes more garbage for the landfill, which probably wouldn't have bothered me before Pauly was born but being "green" is something I think about since deciding cloth diapers was the way to go.
#2 - I could have paid for it with all the money I've been spending on disposable liners.
#3 - They stay wet so the fleece lining in my pocket diapers are redundant. This causes Pauly to get diaper rashes occasionally.
So in conclusion, I think I'll be getting one in the near future and just putting the diaper pail in the bathroom. Or I could use 2 diaper pails, one next to the diaper station for wet diapers and one in the bathroom for soiled diapers. I'll still keep the liners for outings though, that way I won't have to carry poopy diapers in the wet bag.
And finally, with only 16 weeks left until this lil' bean arrives I'm feeling a lot more movement. He/she is now the length of an ear of corn and weighs just over a pound. REM sleep is present when the lil' bean isn't dancing about and it may include dreams. The bones of the inner ear are starting to harden so all the noises outside the womb will be familiar and there'll be no need to worry about the barking dog or the train. He/she is gaining a little more fat and the lungs have started to develop surfactant. This will allow them to expand once he/she is born and there's also blood vessels forming in them. White blood cells have started production in order to fight infections and diseases and the brain is growing quickly. Fingernails are now completely formed and eyelashes have started to grow.

21...22...and 23 Weeks!

So I've been busy. I've got a lot going on but I promise, you won't have to sit there and spend an hour reading. I'd like to start way back on Mother's Day. I was 21 weeks along and it was officially my first. I got to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday (luv u Paul). Ate a delicious breakfast that I didn't have to make and of course spent time with my little man. I also got to see my own mom and mother-in-law.

A few days after that, Paul and I went for our second (and probably last) ultrasound. Traffic was bad so we were about 15 minutes late. Not such a big deal but it meant that I didn't see our usual technician. I can't recall her name but she was a little more personable than our last. We chatted for a while during the scan and it made the time pass a little faster which was good because this was the big anatomy ultrasound and it took about 45 minutes before Paul could come in. We had a good look at our lil' bean and saw him/her put a had to his/her mouth. We saw a kick, the heartbeat and of course a tiny foot. But, dun...dun...dun, the gender is still unknown. At least for me it is. That's right. Paul had the technician write down the gender and he alone knows if we're having a boy or girl. I thought it would eat me alive but it hasn't been that bad. The only thing I've really been concerned about is having a healthy baby and being prepared for a not so short labour. We'll see how long I hold out ;)

The first piece of big news at 22 weeks is that Pauly finally got his first tooth. One on the bottom of course. It's weird though. I've spent 11 months seeing a gummy smile and now that this tiny tooth is emerging my little man doesn't look like himself. I'm sure I'll get over it soon. Maybe it's just the realization that he's growing up.

I also had a midwife appointment which went well. All results were normal and the lil' bean's heartbeat was music to my ears. My mother-in-law came with me since Paul couldn't make it so I was able to bring Pauly with us. Basak, the midwife who delivered Pauly finally got to see him again. I had stopped by a few times with him but she was never in the office. Everyone was smitten with him.

One thing that has been a constant pain is my mom's gallstone. It was discovered a couple of months ago and she had it removed recently. Unlike kidney stones, a gallstone must be removed by surgically removing the entire gallbladder. It wasn't a very complicated surgery and took all of 20 minutes to do. The hardest part was the recovery. Four incisions around the abdomen made my mom mostly dependent on help for a few days. She was alright when it came to walking but sitting, getting up or any kind of twisting would cause intense pain. So for the first four days of her recovery my sister and I took turns spending the night. And we were usually both there during the day. I'm glad to report that my mom is doing much better. And although she still needs to be careful about how much weight she lifts and how she turns her body, she is healing up nicely.

In the process of being at my mom's, my sister and I came to realize that she's got a lot of junk collected in her basement. It's mostly just things that once had purpose but have now been replaced for various reasons. Or that my sis and I stored while we were living there and never took with us when we moved. While in the process of sorting, repurposing, and donating, I inherited 3 planters. They're the big clay ones and I can't wait to fill them with flowers. If the rain holds out I might be doing that this weekend.

As for the lil' bean, at 23 weeks he/she is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. About the size of a large mango. His/her sense of movement is well developed and can feel you dance and sway. Blood vessels in the lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the ears are picking up on noises from the outside world. Things like the dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner become so familiar now they probably won't faze him/her when they hear them outside the womb.

20 Weeks Pt. 2

Although I'm happy that I've reached the halfway point of this pregnancy, I'm also a little sad. Mostly because I don't think Paul and I will have more than 2 children (never say never) and that this will potentially be my last time being pregnant and delivering a child.
I'll never have 1st trimester morning sickness again.
I'll never hear that first heartbeat again.
And I'll never feel those first flutters again. But even if I never experience these things again, I'll always be able to reminisce.
I sometimes wonder if my children will enjoy hearing about their births?

Speaking of...my newest nephew was born last weekend. We went to see him and he is just adorable. I was holding him for a while and it made me remember what it was like to be a new mom. I enjoy being pregnant but I can't wait to hold my lil' bean. It's an amazing feeling that you can't compare to anything else. So congratulations to my sister-in-law and her hubby on the safe and healthy arrival of their little angel.

As for things on the home front, we acquired a new BBQ just in time for the season. It's actually pretty monstrous. I haven't taken a picture of it yet but I will. It looks like two BBQ's welded together. One side is for propane use, and the other is strictly charcoal. It really is a man's grill. And of course the food that comes off it is delicious!

And with a good BBQ dinner comes dessert. Sour dessert! Only I didn't get to enjoy my daily grapefruit for most of the week because I didn't end up going to the Citrus Truckload Sale in Bolton. At the time I figured it really wasn't worth it but now I'm beginning to regret not going. I was at the grocery store and saw that their grapefruit wasn't nearly as big (or juicy?) as the ones off the truck. I left them there in hopes that another store would carry larger (and juicier?) ones.

So as Paul and I sat down in front of the TV for the evening (me sans grapefruit), he put in a movie and that's when it happened. Our Blu-ray player got busted. So sad, I know. The only hope for us now is moving the Playstation from the bedroom to the living room every time we want to watch a Blu-ray on the couch. I don't know exactly what to do with the player now. I'm sure we could get it fixed but is it really worth fixing? Maybe buying a used one would be a better option instead of getting a new one? Who knows, but for now we'll be using the PS3.

Towards the end of this week, I began really feeling my lil' bean moving around. It's what I've been waiting for since I found out I was pregnant and to me, it's a huge part of carrying a child. Usually during the first trimester you have to remind yourself that you really are growing a little human. And that the morning sickness isn't part of some illness you've suddenly come across. But those first few flutters that lead to more definable movement really makes it all worth it. So when the lil' bean starts moving I'm really trying to enjoy it since it will most likely be my last time feeling it. And all this movement made me remember that I haven't taken any decent belly shots. So some time in the following week I have to make time to do it. I find myself looking back to Pauly's belly shots and comparing them to my now growing belly. Sometimes I can't believe how different things are this time around.

Speaking of my growing belly, this week my lil' bean is about 6 1/2 inches crown to rump. Before 20 weeks the little one had it's legs curled up and it was hard to measure them. Now...he/she is big enough that the legs are included in the measurements. So the new length is 10 inches head to heel! About the size of a banana. He/she is swallowing more which is great practice for the digestive system. The amniotic fluid being swallowed contains old cells, lanugo, bile and other things the baby has excreted. All this won't hurt my lil' bean but instead causes meconium to start building up in the bowels. This will go on for the next 20 weeks and his/her first poop will be this build up of meconium. Sounds yucky but I got lucky the first time around. Paul was the one who changed Pauly's diaper for the first week so by the time I got to it, I wasn't changing any meconium filled diapers! Maybe this time my dear husband will be kind enough to help out in the same way (wink wink!) :)