33 Weeks

33 Weeks
Taken 9/30/10

This week has been pretty uneventful, at least compared to last week...which is fine by me! Tony never ended up getting sick thank goodness. I did have an incredibly horrible (worst feeling of my life) back pain in the middle of the night a couple days ago. I seriously have never felt anything like that before and never want to again. I felt like a soreness in my back, near my spine, where it always hurts so I pressed on it to massage it and it completely freaked out. I was clutching the wall while yelling for Tony and writhing in pain. Luckily it only lasted for about a minute and hasn't returned since (knock on wood).

My twice weekly NST's are going fine, nothing weird ever happens, so no news there.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for Oct 19 and that will probably be the last one I have before delivering.

Embry is super cute. She says I love you, which actually comes out 'yuv yoooo!' and she's amazingly gentle (for the most part) around babies. That gives me hope. This whole having 2 kids thing is sneaking up on me way too fast. Ooh, also when you ask what's in my tummy, she will say 'baby Nola' and she'll rub my tummy or give it a kissy. I can't wait to see her interact with her little sister, I might just explode with happiness.

32 week pics

32 weeks

taken 9/25/10

Embry got sick last night. Her fever was about 103, then at around midnight she threw up. I brought her into our bed while Tony cleaned up and went to sleep in the guest bedroom to avoid getting sick and she threw up again. She's been eating pretty normally today and hasn't gotten sick again, but her fever is still lingering so we've been giving her a pedialyte/gatorade mix along with alternating ibuprofen and tylenol. Hopefully she'll be all better by tomorrow and we could all use a good night's sleep tonight.

My next NST is on Monday (I cancelled the one for last Thurs) and I also have another dentist appt on Monday. Joy. Oh yes, so eating a cinnamon roll during MOPS on tues, the back 1/4 of my temp root canal crown broke off and I swallowed it. The remaining portion was extremely sharp and was slicing into my tongue. I called the dentist who got me in 'after hours' on Tuesday to place the permanent crown on. So Monday they'll be drilling etc a tooth on the other side and putting a temp crown on it. Hopefully this one will last longer than 4 days before breaking.

32 Weeks

Wed night I got sick. We're talking like stomach flu kind of stuff. So I thought maybe I was ok and I could tell Tony didn't want to take Embry to our Love and Logic class without me, so I went. Halfway through went to the bathroom and luckily I had thought to grab a grocery bag on my way out of the house because, let's just say, it came in very handy. So we left. Once at home I laid down and was still sick but figured it would pass until I started having contractions. That promted me to call my OB who said I should go to labor and delivery to be monitored and that she would call to let them know I was on my way. I called my mom to come spend the night and Sarah stopped over to wait for my mom to arrive so we could leave. To make a long story short, the monitors showed that Nola was totally fine but that I was having contractions about 5 min apart. They believe this was due to being severely dehydrated. They also think it was food poisoning rather than a virus based on the fact that I didn't have any aches (besides bad back pain with the contractions) and no fever. So they pumped me full of fluids through my IV and eventually gave me some antinausea meds that way as well (apparently their orders were to not give me the anti-nausea stuff until I threw up there, so that's what they were waiting for). After that I started to feel slightly better. My dr was there for a delivery so she stopped by on her way out to see how I was doing, basically said stay hydrated, try the BRAT diet minus the applesauce, and hopefully everything would calm down. They sent me home about an hour later.

Yesterday I was awake for a total of about 3 hours, but luckily didn't throw up anymore. I ate a couple of graham crackers, some crackers and cheese, white rice and gravy, and of course water. This morning I had an OB appt, so I had about a half a bowl of cereal and some milk. Then went to the appt, got an eegee and a sub and took Embry to the playground. I'm still not feeling 'normal' but besides a killer headache, I'm doing much better. Embry had a fever tonight and was obviously not feeling well. Not sure what that's about, but now she's sleeping on the couch and after ibuprofen she feels much cooler.

We had our ultrasound on Monday which went really well. They cysts are still there but the tech said they look more like 'venus lakes' now. I'm thinking the difference is that cysts are fluid filled and venus lakes have nothing in them. I could be wrong, I don't know, but she said they're fine. Baby Nola is 4lbs and the fluid levels look great, so all is well. She was moving all over the place and even did a flip, oh and she kept pursing her lips...so cute!

Here's the photo break down:
1) girl parts
2) feet
3) foot
and:
1) 3D with hand in front of face
2) 3D with hand and foot in front of face (yeh I know, looks like she's wearing an eyepatch)
3) profile with pursed lips
Today at the OB she asked what we planned to do after having Nola, as in, having another baby etc. So I said with our fertility stuff we just planned on letting whatever happen unless by some miracle I decided I did want a 3rd baby and then we'd actively 'try'. I did mention how long I bled after having Embry (16 weeks) and she recommended using the mini-pill which she said would not affect my ovulation. I'm highly skeptical of any hormone use since it's not 'natural' and tends to affect lupus symptoms quite a bit. I highly doubt I'll be going that route.

Oh this is a big deal. I made the matching dresses! The piping part could have gone a lot better, but hey, whatever.
Ok so, not feeling so hot. Headache is getting worse, going to bed. I'll take and post belly pics tomorrow. I know, the suspense is killing you.

31 Weeks

31 Weeks

Taken 9/16/10

Geez, the weeks are just flying by now. I don't know where the time goes! What I do know is that I am not getting nearly enough sleep. I'm having an issue taking naps because I just lay there and have hot flash after hot flash and sweat all over so I can't sleep. At night I sleep fine except I usually don't get to bed until later than I would like (because once Embry is asleep, I can do crafts uninterrupted) and then once I'm in bed I'm getting up at least twice a night to pee. Not that any of this is really horrible, I'm just saying what's going on. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm getting some vericose veins on my right upper thigh. The other day I woke up and had to peel the bottom of my stomach off of my thigh to stand and it hurt real bad, so I did some investigation and saw some not-so-pretty veins in that area.

I've become one of those moms that drops their kid off in the nursery without having fed them breakfast. I know, I'm horrible. Getting up and trying to shower at 7:30 when you have to be somewhere by 8:30 is a really bad idea. I barely had time to get out of the house much less get any food for anyone. So I sent her to the nursery with a bowl of dry captain crunch and a guilty conscience.

I have to have a root canal tomorrow. I thought about lying to the dentist and telling him the tooth was fine so he would just put the permanent crown on it, but then I figured I might as well just get it over with. It's my last molar on the bottom left. I've had one root canal before and it was pretty much one of the worst experiences of my life. I don't ever want to go through that again. I asked if they could sedate me for it, but they said no. Ewwww. I hate the dentist, I hate the smell of the office, you can even start to smell it getting off the elevator and you're not even inside the door yet. My pulse is racing just thinking about it. So, wish me luck. I might die of a panic attack before they even get started.

I'm starting to get scared about having 2 kids. I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do. I could go on and on about all my fears, but I'll sum it up with a convo I had the other day with Tony:

While I was about in tears, I said to him
L: 'I don't know how I'm going to manage with 2 kids. I'm going to need a lot of help.'
T: 'well I'll help'
L: 'yes, I know, but you're at work all day, what am I going to do then?'
T: 'well how does everyone else do it?'
L: 'everyone else doesn't have lupus.'

About a year ago, I would have never dreamt of uttering a statement like that. I feel like it places me in the 'victim' role, but that's not the point. I've come to accept that I just can't do everything that everyone else can. I have limits and I'm pretty sure I've reached them. Shortly after that convo, I asked Tony's mom to seriously consider moving down to Tucson. I admitted that I need help, which is an incredibly huge step for me. I got very excited about the idea of having someone else around, another pair of hands, to help with the kiddos. After some recent developments I've given up hope of her moving anytime soon, so I'm at a loss. My mom has been incredibly helpful with Embry, especially recently with my twice weekly NST's and all these dumb dentist appts etc. She even lets me run errands afterwards, without a kid! Do you know the excitement that fills my heart when I can go pull any shopping cart ouf the line without checking all the straps to make sure it will work?! It's rather thrilling. So, in closing, being a hermit is looking more and more appealing. ;)

Oh, went to the OB, I have a yeast infection. Now I'm on antibiotics for the root canal which cause more yeast growth...fun times.

Nola is doing great. The NST's are going fine. We have an ultrasound on Monday which I'm looking forward to. I'm feeling kind of like there's not a whole lot more room for her to grow in there, but I know I must be mistaken.

My 27th Birthday...

Is coming up!

Oct 10th we're planning a trail ride with Pantano Stables. I got the OK today from my OB to ride a horse when I'm 8 months pregnant, probably helps that she's a horse rider herself. Anyhow, whoever would like to come is more than welcome! It will be $25/person for an hour trail ride either on Oct 9 (sat) or Oct 10 (sun). So if anyone is interested, let me know asap (and which day works better) and I'll make a reservation. Woohoo, so much fun!

30 Weeks

30 Weeks

Taken 9/9/10

Embry has started lifting up my shirt to give 'baby Nola' a kissy. This makes me the happiest person in the world.

I can't believe I'm already 30 weeks pregnant, seems like it took so long to get to this point when I was pregnant with Embry. I guess having a toddler really does make time fly! This week was also the start of MOPS (tues), Love and Logic parenting class (Wed night), and Women's bible study on Revelations (Thurs)...so all that made my week just zip by! I've also had some appointments: Tuesday I had an NST (non-stress test) and I also had one today. Both were totally fine and apparently they only measure the fluid levels every other time, so once a week. First time it was 16 and this time it was 11. Anywhere from 6-22 is good. My blood pressure always seems to be higher when they measure it there, like 135/75 instead of the normal 115/70. Then Tony's mom was down Sat-Tues so we did lots of fun things like going out to eat, going to Mt. Lemmon, playing games, shopping, and grilling out.

Embry is becoming much more vocal and even tells me what it is she wants now instead of just whining all the time. Don't get me wrong, she still whines a lot, but there are more and more words everyday. She also has learned to say 'Pweese' (please) and 'Dank oooh' (thank you) a lot and mostly at appropriate times which is completely adorable. She also likes to say 'cheese' and show all her teeth when you take her picture too. This is a great phenomenon for me. :)

I have an OB appt tomorrow. It was supposed to be on Monday, but it got moved to tomorrow because I'm pretty sure I either have a UTI or a yeast infection. She's gonna check it out and hopefully give me something to fix it. Then next week I have a dentist appt on Monday to put the permanent crown on my tooth and an NST. Tuesday I have a craft meeting for MOPS. Wednesday I'm getting my hair cut/highlighted (hallelujah) and we have Love and Logic. Thursday is Bible study and another NST. I think I kind of panicked and tried to fit in everything possible before I became the mother of 2...not sure if that was a good idea, but I'm guessing the next 10 weeks will go by rather swiftly.

29 Weeks

29 Weeks
Taken 9/2/10

I went to the OB on Monday. She said the cysts in my placenta are insignificant. They'll continue to do monthly ultrasounds to make sure Nola is growing on track and that will tell us if the cysts are causing any problems. Most likely all will be well. My feet started swelling on Sunday (I'm guessing from the deep bathroom cleaning I did) and she just said to keep them elevated or go swimming. My blood pressure was totally fine, like 114/70, so no worries there. My weight was up to 162 according to their incredibly skewed scale. I started my Non-stress tests today. They'll be every Monday and Thursday at 3pm till the end of the pregnancy. I've been having some contractions (I'm guessing just braxton hicks) and we'll see how that gets translated in the NST. I didn't really have any today while I was there. Basically they take you into an ultrasound room, do a very quick u/s (like 2 min) and measure the fluid levels in 4 quadrants and look at the heart. Then you go into another room with about 5 recliners and monitoring computers and you get the 2 stomach belts strapped on to monitor the baby's heartbeat and contractions. You sit there for 20 minutes and the nurses are looking for at least 2 accelerations of the baby's heartbeat within a 20 min period. That is what happened today and it was actually pretty relaxing for me. I told them I'd be coming in everday just to rest. :) Oooh, next ultrasound is scheduled for Sept 21.

I called my insurance co and they said that the hospital wasn't supposed to charge me the $80 extra for the ultrasound. Hopefully they can get that straightened out without a lot of hassle. I'm now wondering if my trip to the ER was actually supposed to be $50 (like it says in the insurance book) instead of the $205 they ended up charging me. I should probably look into that.

The house refinance went through, so woohoo! We did pretty well keeping to our budget in August except for the fact that we had unexpected car repairs and I got a crown on my molar, so those things combined put us in the red once again. Sept should be good since we don't have to pay our full mortgage payment this month. Hopefully we can put all that we get back from our escrow account into savings.

Speaking of money, I got some cute matching outfits for Nola and Embry at Target. One is a sweatshirt/onesie/pants combo with elephants on it and the other is cute gray tights with a purple ruffled shirt. I can't wait to dress them up and take pictures, argh, such overwhelming cuteness awaits!