Pregnancy Week 8 (Feb 11-17 2012): Showing Already?

8.5 weeks - 2/15/12

Over the weekend my belly officially started popping out. On Friday (2/10), one day before 8 weeks along, I decided my normal jeans were finished. My belly was already starting to curve but beyond that I was just so uncomfortable. Brian dragged my bin of maternity clothes out of the attic, and even though I thought my butt was going to be too big, all the early stuff fit! We also went to Ross and got a pair of yoga pants and an extra pair of jeans. Sweet relief.

Speaking of relief, every time I think I am getting some I end up being mistaken. Reading back over this blog I see that B is right and I did suffer from a lot of nausea last time too. I keep feeling like it was only the first few weeks and then it was really intermittent, but maybe I am wrong! It's that thing where your memories are all rosy and happy so that you'll go through this whole pregnancy thing again. So this time I have been dealing with major fatigue and nausea, and more vomiting than last time. Any time I get even a little hungry? Nauseous. Lots of smells, sometimes just the thought of food - nauseous. And of course in the morning, and sometimes all day, and even sometimes after I feel fine and eat and get happy and full and then... nauseous. I am looking forward to the second trimester.

Comparison photo - 12 weeks along last time

Which might be sooner than I thought! Like I said, this week I've already started showing quite a bit. The picture posted here (from today 2/15 - 8.5 weeks) is early morning before breakfast, so it's as small as I get. Food/bloating/evening all makes it more pronounced. Come to find out, it's not just my opinion! We had our first OB exam on Monday and he agrees that my uterus is high/large. So there's an ultrasound scheduled for Friday to determine exactly why that is. Could be that I am further along than I think, that things didn't shrink all the way down after Kian, or of course the big doozy that it could be twins. I am not going to freak out until we know for sure, but really anything but the not shrinking version would have its share of difficulties. I know we'll get through anything though!

On the plus side, the cyst/ligament pain is almost completely gone now, other than an occasional little twinge and I am having more good periods and even whole good days with more energy and less stomach upset. We've started chatting about names a little, though B doesn't want to get down to the nitty gritty until we know if it's a boy or a girl.

Kian is very excited and is already telling people he is a big brother. He talks daily about the baby and things he will teach him/her when it arrives. He wants a baby girl and has asked for butterfly wings and a sparkly pink headband if it is a girl. Of course he also asks for two babies (I want TWINS) several times, so hopefully he understands he may not get what he wants.

He is getting so big! We went to get his hair cut this weekend and he requested 'pointy hair' so I have been styling it with a little bit of product since then. It's a big hit but he looks like he's about 8 years old! I get that twinge of 'my baby is getting so grown up!' and then I think again that the timing of this pregnancy is good.

Ultrasound pics in a few days!

Bad Blogger, Take Two!

Well obviously it has been /years/ since I have updated this blog. To some extent Facebook and it's short updates took the place of these longer entries, since things got very busy with a growing boy and then a toddler.

Well, I've decided that FB just isn't permanent enough for some things, and though the internet might not be forever either, this is at least better in some ways. I have been journaling on paper for the last few weeks, but am going to try to update this at least once a week too.

So here goes, a first post for my second pregnancy.

I am about 7 and a half weeks along and we have known for 2 weeks (yesterday). So far it seems a lot harder than it did last time around. The morning - I wish it was only in the morning - sickness is persistent and I am sooooo tired all the time. The last few days I have also had some pretty major pain, which thankfully the doctor thinks is just a cyst or even possibly some ligament stretching stuff. It is pretty difficult to be mobile at all, but as long as B stays supportive I know we'll get through it!

I can already see changes in my body which is crazy to me. I am not even sure we /knew/ when I was this far along with Kian.

Our first OB appt is Monday, so I will plan to post updates about all the fun things then. And probably I will make an announcement on FB then too, so people can actually come read this blog. :)

Rolling over!

So I want to write a bit about Kian's first Christmas and stuff but that will have to wait as he is being very high maintenance today! I just wanted to put in a quick note that yesterday he started rolling over! Mark the date! January 7th, 2008 at just under 6 months.

Now, he's been occasionally rolling one way especially in the middle of the night for several months now. I just don't think it was on purpose. It was like, where is my paci? OMG I am on my back! And then he would scream. Now he's rolling from front to back like, all the time. It just happened yesterday and now he is consistently rolling over and anytime I put him on his tummy he ends up on his back! We're going to work on rolling the other way, and then he will be unstoppable.

He is growing up so fast. *sniff*

Vaccines, Bananas and Water, OH MY!

We've had a busy few days, so no updates!

Thursday Kian had his 4 month vaccinations. One gave him a red welt (which is fading but still there) and the other two gave him a huge bruise. It was bad enough that I think they actually may have accidentally hit some sort of blood vessel. Poor kid. He was so brave though, and only cried for a few seconds. The tech who gave the shots is the same guy who did them last time, so I was prepared to grab the gauze myself and didn't bring him in good clothes since the last ones got all bloodstained. >: He also squeezed way too much of the oral vaccine out at once, leaving Kian spluttering and spitting it out all over. I could have done a far better job myself. Oh well.

He was a little feverish and tired and fussy all day but not too bad. The next morning he felt warm so I checked his temp and it registered at 103 degrees! I totally freaked out and dialed the Dr but then I realized that he didn't feel that warm or even close, so I took it again. 101.3. Still a fever, but nothing to freak out over. A third try showed the same temp so I relaxed and decided to take his temp more than once before panicking in the future.

Brian came home Friday night and it has been so great to have him home. I'm to the point now where I don't need nearly as much help to retain my sanity with Kian, so the help he does give me is just like, a total bonus. And of course I missed him SO MUCH.

Saturday night we put Kian in his own bed, but at 2am he woke up absolutely screaming. I went in and he was really cold, so I snuggled him in my blankets and put him back in his Pack and Play. We turned the heat up the next night and tried again, but this time I was up constantly giving his pacifier back. My mom suggested I just get him off the paci, but I don't think he's ready for that. And I'm not ready for several sleepless nights ATM. Plus, I really miss him when he's not in with me. So for now he's back in our room. I am such a wimp.

Sunday we did some shopping and went out to lunch. Kian was so very good, and he fell asleep in the restaurant, and when I put him in his car seat he stayed asleep. So we had dessert! It was really fun, it almost felt like a date :). It makes me feel like we might be approaching something like a normal life again, which is a relief.

Tuesday was a BIG DAY. I added bananas to his rice cereal and we ate in the morning. The doc said when we introduce new foods we need to do it in the morning so I can watch him all day for an adverse reaction. So we're doing breakfast and dinner now! Woo! He really liked the bananas. The first bite his eyes got all wide and he looked like he wasn't sure what to think about the taste party going on in his mouth. After that he really snarfed it and hardly spit any out which was good. I also got him a sippy cup and we tried that on Monday night, but he had a hard time with it. So Tuesday morning we did a bottle with the handles instead, which worked better. That night he was not real thrilled with plain rice cereal, but he was tired and hungry too which could have been part of it. He has to do the bananas for a few days before we can have it at night time so he just has to deal :).

This morning he did great with the bananas again and the water too. He seemed to still be hungry so I gave him some plain bananas without cereal mixed in and he did great with that too. When he was done I let him have the water bottle and he had a great time chewing and drinking and playing with it for a few minutes. When he burped up water I took it away and he totally conked out. I like breakfast! :D

Quiet days

The last few days have been pretty quiet. My stuff is basically unpacked. I am a terrible procrastinator and have been snitching things out of a half empty suitcase for days. Bad me! I did some cleaning today, mostly vacuuming. Because of the smaller, hairier, sheddier of my 2 dogs the vacuuming is always an enormous chore. I emptied my vacuum 4 times between my bedroom and the living room, but I did a really good job and I feel better about life. I still need to clean the rest of the house but at least it's a start.



Kian was fantastic today. He spent a good half hour in his playpen watching his soother, and another half hour in his jumperoo exercise deally. Today he loved 'this little piggy' and squealed and laughed every time I did it with him. He's so funny! He's totally into his feet if I sit him up on the floor. I think it's because he basically has to fold himself in half to stay upright, so his feet are right there :). I keep filing his nails down because he holds onto them so tight they have these little scratches all over. Kitten claws I'm telling ya! I couldn't figure out what was causing all the little cuts unti today when I saw how savagely he was yanking on his feet, right after he about yanked my eyebrow off. Oh! Maybe I should file those nails again ;).



The last 2 nights he's done really well with his rice cereal. I'm making it thicker now and he seems to do better than when it's all smooth and liquidy. Though last night he was getting upset and doing his little open mouth baby bird thing and fussing no matter how fast I shoveled the cereal. I realized he was hungry but wanted to suck when I offered him his pacifier and he was like "Finally woman! What's a guy got to do to get some milk around here?" So he had to have some milk both before and after his bath. I am kind of crazy and I'm all worried he won't want to nurse anymore because he'll just want 'real food' so in a dumb way it made me feel pretty good :). He's growing up way too fast!



We got to talk to grammy both of the last two days which is always good. We miss everyone so much! He's still pretty fussy at bath and bedtime and I'm convinced he's wondering where the family is. Hopefully when Brian gets home it will be better.

Well, though the kidlet is snuggling and drowsing right now it's time for rice cereal, storytime, bath time and bed time so I should go. Hopefully some new pics will be uploaded in the next few days!

Settling back in

I'm going to try to do daily or almost daily updates for the next little while. This is for you, mommy!

So we're home after a 2 week trip to see Grammy and Papa and Aunt Jaime. It was a great trip as always and really nice to have some help and just relax!

He was an absolute angel on the plane ride home, fussing a little when his ears bugged him on the descent, but I would have fussed too if I thought it would help :). We're settling back in now, doing laundry and unpacking and dealing with attention starved puppies. I think he really misses Grammy, Papa, and Aunt Jaime because he keeps crying for no apparent reason. He doesn't have a fever or anything and his nose/cough seem to be getting better so it's the only thing I can think of. He had a really hard time going to sleep last night and I just know he's missing his Grammy time. He even cried through his whole bath and I had to cut it short!

We've had a pretty quiet day today outside of periodic screaming for no reason. He was fantastic and didn't poop at all on the airplane (thank goodness) so he made up for it with 2 poops today! Big, smelly, rice cereal poops at that. They were all contained by the diaper, but I tell you I am missing the breastmilk only non-smelly version right about now!

Grammy taught him to lift his chin so she could chew on his neck, and then how to give her yummy slobbery open mouth cheek kisses after. I got him to do it for me in Colorado, but now he just simply refuses. I ask him for kisses and I swear he turns his head away, sometimes with a little frown. Grammy told him not to share her kisses, and I think he's listening to her! Shoot. I liked those slobbery little kisses. Maybe he'll forget and start obliging me one of these days.

We read stories today and he still really likes them, even though we didn't have much in the way of real storybooks in Colorado. He also played in his Baby Einstein jumper thing for a while 2 different times. I don't think the toys on it are as fun as the ones at the ExerSaucer in Colorado, but he still did a good job. He also played on his tummy time mat for almost 30 minutes without a peep! I think he missed his rattley elephant. :)

In less pleasant news, I can't believe I almost forgot! Last night at around midnight I was slammed awake by huge banging noises outside and the dogs went crazy. I snuck out to see what was going on, and was greeted by something that looked like a hurricane outside my door! OK, it wasn't THAT bad but it was pouring rain and the wind was lashing the plants around like crazy. We have this huge (8 feet long I think) rubbermaid plastic chest that we put our pool toys in, and the wind caught it and slammed it into the fence and broke it apart! It does come apart but not easily, and all the pieces and contents were all flung around. The wind and rain were pelting me with these little icy droplets and it was freezing so I left it and went inside to see if there were any weather alerts. We had a flash flood warning - not watch, warning - for our area until 2:30 so of course I utterly panicked. I don't do well with foul weather, which is why I like Tucson so much. I called our closest friends (geographically close) even though it was midnight and luckily they were very cool about it, but they weren't even having much wind. It must have to do with the wash behind our house and how the wind moves down it. I ended up calling Brian after that and like, freaking out and bursting into tears. He calmed me down and assured me it would be OK and told me to check and see if the pool was overflowing and put a towel in front of the front door because our entryway doesn't drain well. The pool is several inches fuller than usual but still below the edge, and there wasn't even water leaking in the front so I relaxed a little. I left the TV on so I would hear any further warnings and stayed up for a few hours unable to sleep. This morning we were still here and the house didn't float away so I guess it's all good. Man, I hate the weather!

MIA!

So, obviously it's been a long time since I've updated. I was trying to go through and catch up on stuff and it's just too overwhelming. If you know me, you know my instinct is to want to do things perfectly and when that's too much I just get overwhelmed and don't do anything. So instead I'm just going to say this:

He's 4.5 months old now (Holy cow!) and he's getting to be so much fun. In the last month he has found his hands and is using them to hold onto things, move them around, put them in his mouth, all sorts of things. He babbles more (mostly oohs and ahs and goos and a screech like someone stepping on a cat's tail) and he smiles and laughs all the time. He can bear all of his weight standing up if you help him balance, and he's getting close to sitting up by himself. He already does an OK job but if he didn't have such a fat tummy and fat little thighs he'd be folded in half! Does that count? The week of Thanksgiving we started him on rice cereal. He loves it and does a great job, but he can't always remember how to work his tongue and swallow and a lot of it ends up on his shirt! He also had formula for the first time when we visited Grammy and Papa James and he sucked it right down.

His daddy is away at training and has been for about a month. He'll be back in a week, but that means there's been a lot of time when it is just us two. We do pretty well together and are working on a routine, but some help would sure be welcome most days! :) He went through a stage where he hated his carseat and would scream bloody murder the entire time he was in the car, but Grammy helped us and he's doing better with it. He sleeps through the night now, from about 8-5 or 6 and then for another few hours after that most days. Phew!

I think that's a decent catch up anyhow, and I'm going to try and do better about regular posting!