Dear Rolaids.....

You have one job.  Just one.  Get rid of my heartburn.  You suck, you are a total failure.  Your backwoods cousin Tums suck just as hard. 
They say that if you have heartburn when you are pregnant, your baby will have a lot of hair.  Reilly is going to come out with a big, giant red afro.  So big, that if straightened it would come down to his ankles.  Maybe I should ask for a refund on my Rolaids and put the money toward a kicky little baby-sized afro pick.

Today marks 31 weeks.  I am now 3 weeks away from my first goal of 34 weeks.  I'm starting to get nervous about my c-section.  This may not be my first C-section rodeo, but having had one before doesn't seem to make it any less frightening.  When Boyd was born, he was whisked away and I didn't get to see him for hours.  They just kind of flashed him at me while taking him out the door.  Everyone and their great uncle twice removed got to see him before I did.  I was the last to hold him.  Boyd was born with a lot of fluid in his lungs and low blood sugar, both common in babies born to diabetic moms.  I am guessing the odds are pretty good that we will get more of the same with Reilly.  If he is born early, he will automatically be taken to the NICU for evaluation.  More than likely he will be fine and not have to stay, but there is always a chance that he may not have perfected the sucking reflex or has jaundice.  Either way, whether born at 34, 35 or 36 weeks, he has an awesome dr and the hospitals around here are top notch so we will be in good shape.

Before I sign off..... I'd like to share a list of some of my favorite and least favorite things about pregnancy..

Favorite:
*I can no longer reach into the washer to put clothes in the dryer... If I can't finish the job, why start it.  James is pretty awesome at laundry :)

*Nobody gives you the side eye if you dose off every time you lay your head back.  It's not lazy, it's preparing for baby.

*People at the grocery store are a lot more likely to offer to load your groceries for you if you are pregnant.

*You can say what's on your mind and instead of being a bitch, you are hormonal and it will pass.         

*Getting the crap kicked out of you while you are trying to sleep.... just baby's way of saying... soon, sleep will be no more.  It's a pretty awesome reminder.

My least favorite:

*heartburn, heartburn, heartburn

*heartburn

*not knowing which step I take is going to be the one where my legs don't work (aka... sciatica) and a fall might happen.

*having to rely on people to do things for you, such as reach for anything on the second shelf of higher because the belly is so big I can't get close enough to reach.

*being uncomfortable all the time

*going to the dr all the freakin time and trying to pee in that itty bitty cup.  You know, the one that seems to get smaller the bigger you get.

*jabbing myself in the stomach 6 times a day.  I feel a little like a pincushion.  Totally worth it, but OUCH!

*having to do anything that required bending.  There is planning involved in anything that requires bending.  I have to decide how long it should take so I know how deep of a breath to take beforehand.  I can't bend and breath at the same time.

All that being said, I can't wait to meet him and see what kind of personality he has.  Time is winding down......

My son is a smart a$$

Literally.  Parent teacher conferences were last night.   Boyd is doing really well in 1st grade.  He has already tested out of 1st and 2nd grade sight words and is doing 3rd grade AR reading.  Now she has to make a special math curriculum for him.  All the other kids  are learning 1+3 and he is bored so she is going to pull out some 2nd and 3rd grade math to challenge him and let him do some work at your own pace math on the classroom computer.  She is a great teacher and is going above and beyond to keep him interested and challenged.  She said the only thing she really has to say is that his handwriting is atrocious. 

The kid is going to be in 3rd grade and doing math that is smarter than me.  I'm so proud of my little smarty pants. 

"You need to get your $#*! together by about 34 weeks"

That's what my OB told me this morning during my 30 week appointment.  After checking me out, talking to me about our upcoming C-Section, she said that her opinion is that we are going to have this baby in the next 4-6 weeks.  Probably closer to 4-5.  We are hoping to make it to 38 1/2 weeks but she is really doubtful that will happen.

HOLY CRAP!  I am so not ready for this.  1 more month...... 4 weeks and we could go from a family of 3 to a family of 4.

Odds are that if he is born at 34 weeks he will get to come home from the hospital with us and will be perfectly healthy.  Every day after the 23rd of October will help make sure of it.

I have nothing done... nothing ready..... I'm a little bit shocked and freaking out.

Other than that, the appointment went great.  I got my iron and throid rechecked since I was diagnosed anemic last appointment.  We discussed where she was going to slice me open.  She decided to go a little higher to make my recovery easier.  I can't wait to get gutted like a fish (can you hear the sarcasm?  I get that particular talent from my mother)


Other than that... Dr B. is so getting a pregnant lady lap dance and I might just rub his balding head.  Melatonin ROCKS!  Night 2, Boyd was asleep within 10 minutes of going to bed.

Sleep.... ahhhhh

Hello old friend

Ahhhh, sleep.  Yep, we finally got some sleep in this house.  My dear sweet lovable 6 year old son is an insomniac.  The last 2 months have been especially bad.  Some nights we are lucky if he gets to sleep by midnight.  Most nights it would be 1 or 2 am.  He has to get up for school at 6:30, so needless to say, we've all been tired and grouchy.  He went to the Dr yesterday for a check-up for his ADHD and ASD.  I mentioned that they boy is getting no sleep.  This wonderful doctor said a few words that made my heart sing.  Melatonin.... over the counter..... natural.  He told us to try to give him 3 mg of melatonin an hour before bed and if he wasn't asleep 30 minutes before bed to give him another one.  1 hour 15 minutes after giving him 1 pill he was out like a light.

I'm thinking really serious about going to the Dr's office and giving the Dr a big ole pregnant lady lap dance.  We all got enough sleep last night that I don't even think my husband would care. 

If you are reading this Dr B.... I'm coming for ya!

Next time I title a post hello old friend, maybe I will be talking about my feet.... now those I haven't seen in much longer than a few months.

29 weeks

It all started on April 1st..... April Fools Day.  My wonderful husband looked at me and said, "Honey, you're pregnant" while pulling out of the Target parking lot.  I gave him the side-eye and said "ha, ha!  Not a good April Fools joke"  He said he was serious.  I started thinking... hmmm.  He's never been wrong before, so on the way home we got a test and low and behold, he was right.  Most people would have been jumping up and down excited.  I was scared.  This is my 7th pregnancy.  No, I don't have a house full of screaming rambunctious children.  I have 1... a 6 (almost 7, mommy... on November 5th, as he would say) year old son. 

My first pregnancy lasted 5 1/2 months.  She was taken away from me in a most heinous manner, but her loss changed my life in a way that I can never be grateful enough for.  She made me grow up and realize that my life at the time wasn't what I wanted, nor what I deserved, and without her I never would have met my wonderful husband.

My second pregnancy  gave me my beautiful son Boyd.... my BIIIGGGGG (24 inches long and a Quarter pounder shy of 12 pounds), healthy boy.  It happened so easily that I never would have thought we would have problems giving him and brother or sister.

2 years later, we found out we were pregnant for a 3rd time.  I went to my first OB appointment and found out during the ultrasound that the baby measured 6 weeks ( I was supposed to be 8 weeks) and there was no heartbeat.  I had a D&C a week later and was heartbroken.

Then came pregnancy #4.  I had high hopes, but it wasn't to be.  I had a miscarriage.  This one happened before I even had my first Dr's appointment.

We found out we were pregnant a fifth time and the first ultrasound showed a missed miscarriage.  My OB told me over the phone in the ultrasound room.  Pretty heartless, I thought.  Especially since we were across the parking lot from her office.  We again had to have a D&C.

A few years later, we found out we were expecting again.  Scared witless, I decided that I HAD to find a different OB.  One would wouldn't deliver bad news over the phone like she was telling you the weather forecast.  I found my current Dr.  She got me in right away and sent me straight over for blood work and and ultrasound.  I lay there in the ultrasound room, nervous and anxiously waiting my ultrasound.  The tech came in and started..... there it was.  A flicker on the screen.  It was slower than they liked, but definitely a heartbeat.  I measured 8 weeks.  She got my blood work back and my beta numbers we low, but still within normal range, so she had me going in every other day for the next week to see how they went.  I had an appointment scheduled for a week.  My numbers got higher, but didn't double.  Off to the ultrasound room again.  Sometime during that week, we lost yet another baby.  That was 2 years ago.  We figured that maybe we were just meant to have one.

Back to today....

I woke up this morning, the 1st day of my 29th week of pregnancy with the realization that in 7-9 weeks we will be in the hospital delivering our son.  That after this hospital visit, we will leave with a beautiful baby boy, not empty arms.  We have surpassed all pregnancies, with the exception of the pregnancy that gave us Boyd.  Each milestone brought us a sigh of relief.... we made it to 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks... the start of our 3rd trimester.... Here we are.... 29 weeks.  It is now becoming real.  What is also becoming real is that the nursery is nowhere near ready.  At the end of the day, we have a car seat, a bed and a boatload of love.... oh, and some diapers.  Other than that, what do you really need?