36 weeks and counting

Well, here it is: I began to lose my mucus plug last Thursday (at 35 weeks) and more on Saturday.  That's too much info for some, but exciting to the miserably pregnant!  I have been fully expecting this baby to come at any time because with Belle, this happened on Sunday morning and she showed up Thursday morning.  However, nothing has been the same this pregnancy, so I am not really quite sure why I keep thinking things might be the same.  So far, it has been 8 days with no baby.  I have been having some pretty tough contractions that last for about 2 minutes, spaced about 5-10 minutes apart for a few hours at a time, then they just stop.  This has been going on since last Saturday.  Needless to say, I am anxious for this baby to arrive and for things to not be quite so miserable with my body!

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and the good news is, I didn't gain anymore weight! Before I left my appointment, Dr. Leslie said "Happy dilating!" So, she knows this baby is coming sometime soon-ish.  I am hosting a baby shower for my friend Julia this Saturday, so I am now hoping Baby waits until after that.  THEN I'm going to do whatever it takes to get this show on the road! My feet are enormous, my back is sore, my stomach is sore and I can't do half the things I normally would do.  I'm really ready to just get life back to "normal" with a new baby!  I will keep you all posted.  I am very ready to meet the newest Little Lumsden!

33 Weeks

Dang. 33 weeks alread.  Here is the huge belly. I am officially 2 pounds shy of where I was when I delivered Belle.  Good news - in the last 2.5 weeks, I gained only 2 lbs (which is much better than the average of 2 lbs per week that I HAVE been going at for the past couple months).  I am feeling very large and not at all in charge.

As most of you know, I have been having some seriously swollen feet, ankles and legs the past week.  Here is a picture. The right one is so much worse than the left, but neither fit into my shoes anymore! I am resorting to breaking the new dress code at work and wearing only flip flops, because they will actually fit onto my feet.  If I could reach them, I would at least paint my toenails, but I do not see that one happening anytime soon!  Anyway, take a look at the pic... Seriously... That's just not right...

Proud of My Girl

Last week, we officially started potty training with big girl underwear. :)  Here's how it has been going so far:

Day 1 (Tuesday)

• 2 accidents (at daycare, they give them 2 accidents, then put them back in pullups for the rest of the day)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

• Wednesday's are Ms. Dana's day off, so we didn't do underwear on Wednesday because the other teachers seem more overwhelmed by things when Dana is not there and this class had 3 little ones starting in underwear last week

Day 3 (Thursday)

• 2 accidents, back to pull ups

Day 4 (Friday)

• Stayed dry ALL DAY!!! :)  Yay for our Big Girl!
• Had an accident about 7:30pm at home and was very upset about it - trying to hide in my craft room to hide it.  Poor girl.

Weekend

• Little stinker refused to go on the potty ALL WEEKEND. So we stayed in diapers and pull ups all weekend.  She did not go on the potty once! It was a serious attitude weekend, so I am excluding it from our potty training days...

Day 5 (Monday)

• Stayed dry ALL DAY!!! And ALL NIGHT!!!!

Day 6 (Tuesday)

• Stayed dry ALL DAY!!! Had an accident just before bathtime.

Day 7 (Wednesday)

• Had one accident at daycare and one at home. (It was Dana's day off).

I am SO PROUD of my Big Girl! We are going to be truly potty trained before we know it! Hopefully before Little Lumsden #2 arrives. :)

28 Weeks

28 weeks and going strong. I have a little wiggle bottom in my tummy tonight! He/she is wiggling and kicking and moving up a storm.  I have still had some rough days with contractions, but I'm working through it, trying to make sure to stay hydrated and working on eating healthier (with the exception of my afternoon chocolate craving that must be satisfied...)

We had a great weekend visit with Grandma Lumsden and Nick and I got our first chance to get away for a night since before Belle was born.  We made the trip to Atlantic City Friday night.  Nick got to play some craps, I got to do a little shopping and, most importantly, get a prenatal massage!!!  It was heaven!  Why do those 55 minutes always seem to go so fast?! And - I was out cold by about 10:30 pm.  Yeah, living it up.  But I actually got a solid night of sleep AND got to sleep in Saturday morning which doesn't really happen too often now that Little Miss can open doors and is in a toddler bed! :)  Thank you, Gloria for a night out!

So Pretty

Tonight, on the drive home from daycare, Belle said she wanted to go see Grandma.  I reminded her that Grandma had gone home in the morning, but that we would see her again in three months.  BUT in one month, we would see the OTHER grandma's and grandpa's.  I told her "In one month, we're going to see Grandpa Ray, Grandma Orveen, Grandma Vicki, Grandpa Harold, Uncle J...." to which she replied, "Yes. Uncle J so pretty."

I couldn't stop laughing. Silly girl.

Slow it Down!

I feel like I JUST put Belle into 3T clothes (it was early fall) and last weekend, I had to go get her some new clothes in a 4T.  She is just getting so tall and growing up way too fast! All her 3T shirts have become belly shirts and her pants are just so tight the poor little Peanut can barely move!  So, it's up to 4T... at barely age 2.  I'm not too sure I like this!

Fears

So, I haven't really voiced any of this before today, so just bear with me... First, this pregnancy has been really wierd for me.  I don't feel like I have been really that connected to this baby yet and I believe it stems from fears that I am trying to face... First, when I first found out I was pregnant (it was a Wednesday) and I was only about 3 1/2 weeks.  And once again, it happened so quickly that I was very disbelieving, yet, it was real.  However, that following day, I found out that my cousin had miscarried.  She was 14 weeks.  I tried not to panic about that, but that weekend, I started spotting making ME freak out that I was going to miscarry as well.  So, I waited a few days, took another pregnancy test (or 3 - whatever) and they were all positive.  So, it was still all good.  A couple weeks later (before I saw the doctor for the first time), I was spotting a little bit again, causing more stress and anxiety, but the tests still said positive.  When I went to the doc for the first time, she said this was normal, I was still pregnant and not to stress about it because that will just make it worse.  So, I tried not to stress about it, but getting to that 14 week mark was a real bitch.  I mean - it was really stressful and nerve wracking.  But, I finally made it around Thanksgiving and WHEW! A few weeks free of that kind of stress.  Things were going pretty good - except for work which was killing me - stressing me to the max with working late, keeping me from my husband and daughter, etc.  THEN comes December.

 One of my co-workers' wives delivered their baby at 26 weeks.  She was 1 lb 11 oz.  Made me freak out slightly, but I thought "no sweat - this one is staying put! I'm am blessed!"  About a week later, another friend of mine delivered twins at just shy of 26 weeks.  They were both under 2 lbs.  They lost one of them.  At the end of November, another friend was hospitalized at 26 weeks with her first.  Luckily, they were able to stop her contractions and her little guy stayed in to reach full term.  At 22 weeks, I had my first real contractions, brought on by stress from work and working a 36 hour stretch with less than 2 hours of sleep.  Really made me freak out.  I have been having real contractions (with a LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions) several times a week since, but nothing the doctor is worried about because they are not steady.  Needless to say, this 26 week mark has now been absolutely terrifying to me.  I have been having nightmares about having this baby at 26 weeks or earlier.  Now I have made it this far... I am hoping that once this week is over, a huge portion of this anxiety that I have been feeling will melt away and I will be able to get on with enjoying the rest of this pregnancy and bonding with the new Little Lumsden.

 Here is a photo from today.  Our 26 week mark.  Let's hope we make it to the 36 week mark! :)