Momma's appointment

As much as I LOVE going in for these (and I really do), it's kind of annoying because I wait and wait and then the actual appt is like 3 min long. Seriously. But, all was good. The heartbeat was great (love that sound), my belly is measuring right on track, my BP was 106/68 (woohoo)....and my weight....well....gulp....it is up 20# (it varies so much, and on my home scale, it's more like 15-20#, depending on the day). Either way, I compared that to my weight at this point in my last pregnancy, and last time, I was only up 11-12# at this point. That being said, I did start this one off 20# lighter, but still, I was hoping for the same 30# result in the end. All in all, the weight doesn't really matter. All that matters is a healthy baby. I can handle/deal with the weight gain later.

I did my glucose tolerance test that day too. Had to drink that "yummy" sugar drink and have my blood drawn an hour later. Should have the results back next week. They usually won't call unless there is a problem, but I like to know the actual number, so I'll call later and get that. I'm hoping that this was good. Last pregnancy, I had no trouble, but this time around, I was having some low blood sugars early on, so I'm kinda worried about the results of this test. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sure.

My next appt is Jan 26th. That is the start of my WEEKLY u/s. Now, I knew this was coming....I AM old, afterall (not that I really consider 35 all that old), but when she said weekly u/s, I envisioned a quick u/s right there in her office. Yah, not so much. Each and every week from then on out, I will be seeing the specialist (in the clinic upstairs from her) for a full anatomy scan (like the one they did at 20 weeks for all of the measurements and gender), and then I'll have a f/u visit with her. That's 2 hours of missed work EACH WEEK!! I'm not gonna have any time left for maternity leave!!! They are planning them as late in the day as possible to help, but I'm sure to still miss some work. I'm lucky that I have the option of flexing my time and coming in a bit earlier so I can leave earlier, but it just usually doesn't work out (I can't take Jake to daycare until a certain time anyway). But, whatever comes, I'll just deal with it. I just kinda felt like it was overkill to go in for WEEKLY appts!!! But, I also want a healthy baby, so I'll listen to my OB.

This pregnancy has definitely not been as easy on me as the last one. Granted, I'm 3 years older, and "of advanced maternal age"....but I was really hoping to enjoy it since it will be my last. With Jacob, I LOVED being pregnant. And, don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying it, but this one is definitely accompanied by more pains. Probably because I'm still having to chase a very active 3-year old around, eh?!

Christmas

This was such a fun Christmas for us. This was the first year Jacob really "got it". He was all about opening his presents (and helping mommy and daddy open their's too). He asked about Santa (and still is a month later). He loved helping decorate the tree and was the first to plug in the lights each time we came home. He even went up to our nativity set and pointed out baby Jesus. It was a great time!

Some fun things that happened:
Christmas Eve, we went to our church candlelight service. We just assumed that childcare would be provided, but it wasn't. So that meant taking a 3-year old that had not napped into the service with us. Not too many worries because everyone else had their kids there too, but somehow, our's seemed loudest...haha.

Jacob has this thing about people singing. For whatever reason, he doesn't like it. He usually shushes me if I'm singing along with the radio. For a while, I thought it was just my singing (ha), but then I noticed that he does this to everyone. Well, he was no different Christmas Eve. As the congregation started singing, he was shushing them. I could hear the laughs from behind us. Finally, he gave up and tried to join in. It was actually pretty cute.

So.. good, we make it through the first song. Maybe the coast is clear. Nope. As soon as the song finishes, Jacob loudly askes, "done?....Done???" Again, we hear the snickers from behind us. Several songs later, he is still doing this after each song!!!

So, here's the clencher. We make it to the sermon part of the program. No music to drown out Jacob's ramblings. During what had to be the most quiet part of the program, Jacob proceeds to tell me (and everyone within a 10-ft radius) that he had pee'd in his pull-up. I actually snickered at that one, so I missed the laughs from behind us.

All in all, we didn't really get to enjoy the service, mostly because we was trying to contain our child and keep him from ruining the experience for everyone else. But, at least we got a few laughs.....haha.

And out of all of the BIG gifts he got, his favorite was a toss up between the harmonica that he got in his stocking and the packing peanuts that were in one of his gifts.....LOL. So, it really is true that they go for the box vs the actual toy, huh?




Here's a few more pics from our Christmas!



In honor of Dad and his favorite sweet, we all enjoyed a chocolate covered cherry



Jacob's new dump truck



Christmas morning



Jacob starting the opening frenzy

Jake's appointment

Today was Jacob's 3-yr check up.

He was just plain hateful today. Not sure if he wasn't feeling well (he's had this monster cold for 3 weeks now) or if it was because he got his nap interupted. Probably both. Whatever it was, he was showing his true 3-year old colors. It was kinda funny. When his pedi walked in, right away she said, "Well, I see he's a normal 3 year old"...lol (she had heard him before even coming into the room...yikes!). We had delayed a few of his vaccines and were going to go ahead and get them taken care of that day, but due to his hatefulness (that's a word, right?!), the pedi recommended that we wait until next year. Fine by me. He refused to get on the scale or stand up to be measured, so our best guess (with him wiggling around and protesting the entire time) was that he is 38 inches tall and 32#. Both of those measurements put him in the 60th %'ile. His head...well, that's a whole other story. His head measured 52 cm, which is in the 95th %'ile. I believe we have a walking stick figure on our hands.

The pedi actually said, "I don't know how he doesn't fall over more"...as she was laughing.....HAHA! I think it's funny (does that make me a bad mom?!). And, um, I have the lovely c/s scar to prove it!! But, I just say, "more room for all those brains!". I know he'll grow into it, so that's why we joke. But yeah, both Kyle and I measured our heads and poor lil Jake's head is only 2 inches smaller!

All in all, he's growing normally and she had no concerns. Even his speech is dramatcially improving!!! Yay for a healthy boy!!!

Jacob's 3rd Birthday

So, our baby is no longer a baby.....sniffle. Our lil' man turned 3 this past weekend. Seriously, I know that everyone says this, but, "Man, where has the time gone?". Seems like just yesterday I was changing his diaper. Oh wait, I was. LOL, yah, we're still potty training. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about. A co-worker said it best...."Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster is goes". Well, hopefully we're not that close to the end, but it's definitely moving at lightening speed.

To sum up the 3-day event......
Friday: I made cupcakes for him to take to daycare. He chose the cake and frosting, so it was funfetti cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting and sprinkles, of course. He had a fantastic day there and was given a Diego backpack by his teacher, Anna. He loves it, obviously..it's Diego.

Saturday: He woke up singing "happy birthday".....LOL. I'd say he definitely "gets it" this year. This was the day we held his party at our house. We had family and a few friends over to celebrate with appetizers, cake and ice cream. I say that he "got it" this year, but that also means that his friends did too. So, he had some help opening his presents and blowing out his candle. He actually did ok with that, much to my surprise. He is very into trains this year and got a very cool train table from his Mema and Papa, and a train set from momma and daddy. He got another train and some games. Overall, he had a ton of fun and behaved himself pretty well, even with no nap.

Sunday: This was the actual day of his birthday. We took him out to McDonalds for a chicken nugget happy meal. Hey, kids are easy. HA!

So, his BIG day was stretched out over 3 days. Not too shabby for a 3-yr old. Especially when you consider that he'll be doing this again next week for Christmas (he'll probably have 4 Christmas's with all of the family stuff we have to go to). Oh, what a fun time of year.

Here's a few pics from the party......


Prior to the party, Jake wanted to put on make-up like momma



Family



Jake and his uncle Randy




The cake



Jake and his cake



Blowing out his candle



Cake face



Kinder with a mouth full of cake



Jackson



Opening presents...with help



The train and train table



Daddy and Jake working on the train



Chloe

Half way there.....

Well, we are officially over the hump. We're over 1/2 way "cooked" and we're on the downhill slide. The next 4 months are going to fly by and before we know it, we will be a family of 4. Tuesday 12/2/09 was our 21 week ultrasound. This was the BIG one. This is the one that measures everything. And, this was the one where we found out whether Jacob was going to have a baby brother or baby sister.

All was perfect!! Baby measured right on track...to the day!! Baby was very active, kicking and waving at us. Got some great pics. They estimated the baby to be 15oz...right on track. Heart rate was 146... normal. My cervix was "very long" and closed...good! Placenta was great. My wt is up ~12#...average. However, my current weight at 21 weeks pregnant is actually just about the same weight I was when I first got pregnant with Jacob, so that's REALLY good...my running before I got pregnant really paid off.

All PERFECT and we couldn't be happier!!
We are so blessed.

Here's our beautiful LADY bug.....

RESTING HER HEAD ON HER ARM


CROSSED LEGS--BEING LADY-LIKE ALREADY


A FOOT


AN ARM


PROFILE PIC


Oh, and on a side note, Jacob told me that he wanted a baby sister. When I asked him what we should name her, he said, "Diego". LOL!