Two more days!

Then we are heading north. :) I picked up a few things at the grocery store for our trip, such as diapers, wipes and snacks, mostly.

We celebrated Christmas as a family this morning. Noah enjoys his new little armchair! He also loves this O-ball that we got for him:

Then he got some boring things: Shoes, pajamas and socks. He'll get more exciting stuff from Santa on Christmas Day. :P

I got Matt all clothes! Four new dress shirts, two new ties, two tees and a pair of jeans.

Matt got me Your Shape Fitness for Kinect, Avatar on Blu-ray, a sweater, a tee, a scarf, arm warmers, a yoga mat and a yoga block. :) All kinds of good stuff!

As for my glucola test, I am getting that done tomorrow. They actually gave me the drink to bring home on Friday so then I can just take it at work tomorrow morning and get my bloodwork done an hour after that.

25 week checkup.

All is well on the prenatal front. I actually was a little bit too early to take the glucola to test for gestational diabetes so I'm going to go in for that next week. Now, watch me get a call right before Christmas saying I failed and have to go in for the three-hour test. That would suck.

Baby's heart rate was in the 140's and my fundal height measured 28cm. That means that the size of my uterus was measuring a little ahead (on schedule would have been 26cm) but not so much as to worry about anything at this point. I think I'm just a fatty. My midwife said it could just be the way the baby is positioned or it could be indicative of too much amniotic fluid (rare, I think). But, like I said, it's not so much of a concern right now... it probably would be if my fundal height was like 30cm or something.

I can't believe it's going to be Christmas in two weeks, yay! We're being much smarter about our travel plans this year by breaking it up into a two-day trip. We'll stop in Columbus, OH on the way up and Blacksburg, VA on the way home. I'm pretty excited about the road trip, I just hope Noah does okay with it. The last road trip we took was to Charlotte and that's only about four hours but he did pretty good with that one. It will take about 10 hours to get to Columbus and then only another four-ish to get to Grand Rapids the next day.

Sooo speaking of Christmas and traveling, we also decided to lighten our load a little bit (on the way up, at least) and do our own little family Christmas on Sunday the 19th. But all of Noah's presents from Santa are being shipped directly to my grandma's house where he will open them on Christmas morning. :)

Well, I'm out of stuff to write about... how boring am I?

the best cure for heartburn.

Thanksgiving was good. I ordered some yummy food from Fresh Market and cooked a little bit more. We ended up with a ton of food, of course. Noah loved turkey. I loved sweet potatoes. And rolls.





I feel like I'm going to blow up like the Conan O'Brien blimp by the time this pregnancy is over. Pregnant + the holidays? Psh. Yeah. This one has covered Noah's first birthday, our wedding anniversary, Halloween and Thanksgiving so far and has yet to cover Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day. All celebrations that come with dining out, lots of sweets, gigantic feasts...! Ahh! I'm scared to step on the scale at my next appointment (next week). And hoping that my diet doesn't affect the outcome of my gestational diabetes test (also next week). :x





Did I ever share Noah's picture with Santa?








It's pretty sweet. And he's rockin' the Lloyd Christmas cut. And his left pantleg is scrunched up, revealing the fact that he's not wearing socks. It's awesome. But the argyle trumps all of that.

bedroom.

Okayyy so I may have changed my mind about Noah's new bedroom design (so sue me). I was going to do Dr. Seuss and then decided... no. I want to use THIS

as my inspiration. Kind of a funky, mod, animal "theme" if you will. So I ordered these

to put on the closet instead of the plain white knobs that are on there right now. They are on clearance at PBK for $7 (for a set of two). What's a girl to do? Buy them, of course. $12 after shipping but they were originally $16 so I still saved $4 + shipping costs.

Those cute piggy banks (elephant & giraffe) shown in the top picture are from PBK, too, but alas... they are no longer available.

That's all I shall reveal for now. I'm loving it so far.





Wait. One more thing.


I don't know if I will for sure use this one but the mobile in my inspiration (copycat) nursery (you can't see it in that pic) is the MiGi Splash mobile which I can't find anywhere because it's been discontinued and this is the next closest thing MiGi is coming out with. I'm sure I'll be able to find other options. I just thought this one was really cute.

If we have a girl, Miss Thang is just going to have to be down with some blue and green for a while until we move and she gets her own room.

stocking!

Looky what I just ordered. :) I let go of my Bucilla wishes. They are way too expensive.

names. weather. etc.

Well, today is entirely too warm for November. Sixty-nine degrees at the buttcrack of dawn? That is no good for me. I want my falls back. >:( The REAL fall. Like the kind you find in the midwest. :)

I still got a peppermint mocha anyway. I couldn't resist.

So I found this old family tree that I did in eighth grade and finished putting the info onto ancestry.com. I discovered that Sophia kind of COULD be a family name because my great great grandmother's name was Sophie... which is like the familiar form of Sophia. So that works?

Noah slept through the night last night. Those are always good nights... although it felt like he was crying but I was paralyzed in a dream and couldn't move. I ended up getting out of bed inside my dream and found Noah on the floor in our bedroom. It was really messed up. I don't know if he was truly crying in real life or if it was all in my dream but it seems like I could hear the monitor vibrating. Except I couldn't move despite having every intention to get up and check on him. But I'm sure he found what he needed (pacifier) or else he would have kept on going and I would have woken up eventually. It was just a very strange occurence. Kind of creepy. I fully woke up a little bit later on and checked my clock to see what the chances were that he really woke up. It was 5:00am at the time so, yep, chances are pretty good but like I said... he must have taken care of it himself.

Well, I've been pondering how many kids I really want in life, lol. I guess being pregnant with #2 while taking care of a 14-month old causes me to question my sanity about wanting four? Hahaha. That's still not entirely out of the question but I am (right now) thinking that after this one, we will wait until 2013 to try for more. That will give us a good break to enjoy our little family of four for a couple years and then decide where we want to go from there.

I should probably get to work! Until next time... (oh, and I'm getting my hair cut & highlighted after work today... like THIS:)

time for a new little entry.

What's new? Hmm, it has been confirmed that one molar on each side, both top and bottom (that's four molars in total) has broken through the gumline in Noah's poor little mouth. And, of course, this all had to commence last week while Matt was out of town. Yep. So that's that.

I had a prenatal checkup yesterday afternoon. Nothing too exciting happened! The baby's heart rate was in the 140's. I'm pretty sure I gained like eight pounds, bahaha! Well, I think I did lose a little bit in my first tri, too, so that had to be made up. Yeah. That's what I'm going to use as my excuse. ;)

My next appointment will include the lovely glucola beverage for my gestational diabetes test. I had a chiro appointment today, also. Apparently, my joints are loosening up and I've improved greatly since my first visit! I will go once next week and then probably go down to once a month or once every two weeks after that. I think once every two weeks would be good because the massage table and adjustment feels so nice!

Here's something: I fixed a leaky pipe under our sink tonight! I'm such a handywoman.

So I had the day off for Veterans Day today... greatly needed! I took Noah to daycare this morning and then took a nice three-hour nap. I can't believe I slept that long but yes I definitely woke up at 12:30, lol. The only productive things I accomplished were grocery shopping (milk, Frosted Flakes, trash bags, chicken nuggets and ketchup, if that counts as grocery shopping), laundry and fixing a leaky pipe under the sink.

Mmm, speaking of Frosted Flakes, Tony the Tiger is calling my name.

hey, big spender. make that saver.

I went to Belk's "early bird" (I'm like an old person) sale this morning at 7:00am. I was kind of debating whether or not I should go but Noah woke me up at 6:11 and I was about to get back into bed to sleep a little more (until Noah for sure woke up) but I thought to myself, "Well, I don't want to go later and have everything that I want be gone because then it would be pointless to even go at all." So then I turned the shower on and decided that I was just going to go as a greaseball in a hoodie instead so then I turned the shower back off, brushed my teeth, got dressed, wiped the excess/smudged eyeliner from beneath my eyes (because I don't wash my face at night unelss I take a shower... which I didn't = MAJOR greaseball), fed Noah, told Matt he was going to "babysit" and off I went.

So I got some pretty great gifts (at least I think so) for some family members and a ton of new clothes for Noah (he made out the best in all this). I spent $150 but... I SAVED $175. Wow... I just impress myself sometimes. I got $325 worth of merch for over 50% less. Woohoo! Sorry, I just had to ... brag a little.

Oh, how about this? When I was changing Noah's diaper this morning, he took off naked (as usual) when I finished wiping him off and he starts peeing on the carpet (pretty typical). I swiftly pick him up and take him to the potty so he could finish peeing there. Well, I've noticed lately that he likes to play with his pee stream... not the most tidy hobby I've ever seen. THEN later on I put him back on the toilet after a nap and he sat there for a good five minutes, no activity occurring. He starts trying to scoot off the seat so I take him down and go to grab a new diaper. In the meantime, he just pees on the bathroom floor. So that's two floor pees in one day... I think that might be a record. Lots of pee adventures today. I just thought I would share.

I also finally have some evidence that all of Noah's devilish behavior lately has been a direct result of... teething (molars). I SAW one today! Thank the Lord. It's about time I see some fricking progress. At least then I know that that's one less molar he has to cut. Ugh!

the latest & greatest.

Pardon the blur. That's me at 20 weeks & 6 days.

crazy dream.

I dreamt that I gave birth and was really hoping it was a girl... but Matt announced it was a boy... but then was like "Wait, I can't tell," LOL! And we couldn't figure out if we just had a boy or a girl. Pretty funny if you ask me. I would love to have a girl but the thought scares me a little bit. Plus, I feel like another boy would be so great for Noah! I'm torn! I hate it when people ask me if I prefer a boy or a girl.

Okay, and I really hate venting but I just have to get this off my chest. What kind of a person would publicly admit that they put in earplugs while letting their babies CIO? HONESTLY?! I mean, I don't know if it can get anymore selfish than that. Please don't divulge your terrible advice out to others when it involves blatantly neglecting your children. Kthxbai. /vent

Sicky-Pooh

Daycare called me at work this morning to let me know that Noah was running a fever. It was at 101.1 there and I checked it at home right before he took a nap and it was 102.6. Now he is snoozing and if it hasn't gone down when he wakes up, we'll have to administer some good ol' acetominophen (Triaminic). And what perfect timing because Matt is out of town until Friday... so I'm Noah's sole caregiver this week, which means I can't go to work if he's sick~!

I also set up my first chiro appointment for tomorrow afternoon so I'm hoping Noah's fever miraculously diminishes by about 2:00 and stays gone so I can go to that. I'm really looking forward to seeing a chiro regularly for the second half of my pregnancy! It can really help to open up the pelvis and just getting regular adjustments helps your body stay in balance as the belly expands and puts pressure on the spine.

Noah's second Halloween was fun... we attempted to trick-or-treat at one house across the street but she wasn't home so that was a big fat fail. Noah was pretty pissed about that. Maybe next year he will have a better understanding of trick-or-treating and we can actually go around the neighborhood a little bit. :) He was Winnie the Pooh and it was oh so cute! If we have a boy for the next one, then he can be Winnie the Pooh next year... the costume might be a little big but it could be so adorable! I also ordered this cute pumpkin-shaped trick-or-treat bag from PBK and it has Noah's name embroidered on it (see above).

Noah has been bringing home so much artwork lately, I don't know what to do with all of it! He made a bumblebee and a pumpkin out of paper plates, a footprint ghost and a button monster. It's the cutest stuff ever; I just don't see how I am going to store it all but I better get it figured out soon! I guess I can Google something I can use to start keeping all his masterpieces in.

I just finished roasting the rest of the pumpkin seeds we obtained yesterday... yummy! Our pumpkins turned out quite cute, too. Anyway, I think I'm done blogging for now. By the way, I'm about halfway through this pregnancy already! I can hardly believe it myself.

copy: Noah's one-year checkup.

(I accidentally posted this on my old blog first...)

The big man is weighing in at 25 lbs... and I don't know what his height was since I didn't take him to the appointment and Matt doesn't remember. Anyway, new vaccines this time! We actually had them delayed because Noah was already down with a cold and the MMR vaccine is a live virus. So he will be going in this Friday for his ProQuad shot (assuming that's what they use... the MMR/varicella combo). I am having his Hep A vax delayed until he is two years old. That was actually the old recommendation... and then it changed for whatever reason. Oh, and he'll also receive his flu shot if they have them in... as long as it's the mercury-free (trace amounts, really) kind.

ALSO... apparently, Noah has an iron deficiency. They "like to see it at 10.5" and his was at a 10.1. So they instructed me to buy some iron supplement drops and give him one dropperful three times a day. So I found some at Babies R Us... uhh, excuse me? That's 10mg of iron in one dose (that is, one dropperful)... 100% of his daily value of iron. Did you know that iron overdose is one of the leading causes of death in children under six? Do you really think I'm going to give him 30mg of iron (that's the recommended amount for a PREGNANT woman) per day? No. I don't think so. Lesson learned here... trust your instincts. Doctors don't always know everything. By the way, that iron supp turned his poop almost black... it was pretty gross.

Now, obviously this is the most appropriate time to talk about food. I was looking to make some cheesy potato casserole last night and the recipe called for some cream of chicken soup. In my miniscule attempts to lead a pure and healthy lifestyle, I thought, "Why don't I make my own cream of chicken soup from scratch?" So I did. And it was awesome. The recipe made about two cans' worth so I used half and froze the other half. And this recipe was WAY easy. It smelled divine and looked just like the picture when I finished. http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_cream_chicken_soup

And the potato casserole turned out flawless. I also used fresh potatoes instead of frozen potatoes (the recipe called for frozen).

Now let's back up to Saturday. I decided that Saturday was the day to participate in some Halloween activities so we headed to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins and strolled around so Noah could look at all the animals. It was a little more exciting than last year when he was not even two months old and had no clue what was going on. I am sure next year will be even more fun. After that, we went to Babies R Us and bought Noah his Halloween costume that he will wear to the fall festival at Childtime this Friday (and also on Halloween). He is Winnie the Pooh! I had him wear the costume yesterday morning and it was so adorable.

Well, I will leave you with a random thought I had this morning. Are there certain things that you would get busted for as a kid but love to do as an adult just because you can? I chuckle to myself (in my head) every time I find that we have at least three boxes of cereal open at a time because I'm pretty sure my parents never liked us to have too many boxes of cereal open at one time. I love it when we have like five boxes of cereal open just because there's no one to scold us for doing so... hah! Love it.

names.

Matt and I had a chance on Friday afternoon to hold a name conference. My list has been greatly whittled down to eight names! I guess that's a good thing. Only one of those is a boy name though, lol. So right now we have:

Adalyn (American; noble),
Ariella (Hebrew; lioness of God),
Lilah (Persian; lilac tree),
Matilda (English; battle strength),
Khloe (Greek; verdant & blooming),
Isla (Scottish; island)
and Evangeline (English; messenger of good news) for the girls.

The lone boy name is Emery (English; work ruler).

I am stumped for potential middle names so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment! It can't be one syllable. That's my only strict stipulation because our last name (Hales) is one syllable... but if you think you have the greatest one syllable middle name EVER, I will at least consider possibly thinking about it.

What are my favorites, you ask? Well, obviously I don't have much of a choice about my favorite boy name right now... so it's Emery. And my favorite girl name could change, depending on what kinds of middle name possibilities I can come up with but right now, by themselves, I'm going to have to say Evangeline and Isla for the girl names.... maybe even Lilah, too.

Wait. I lied... I do have a couple of middle name ideas. Emery Nolan being one of them (Nolan is a surname from Matt's side of the family). I also thought of Evangeline Sophia. Sophia is not a family name (that I know of) but it kind of has a nice ring to it. Also, Khloe Marcella. I found Marcella on Matt's family tree... it was his great-grandmother's middle name. Matilda Colette... my maiden name is Cole so I would love to use Colette as a middle name for a girl but it doesn't flow well with many of the names we have right now. I think that's about all I have.

I give you Baby #2

And I thought I would do a little comparison because they look so similar! lol The ultrasound was great yesterday although the little peanut didn't want to really cooperate for Amy (the tech). He/she was just sitting there all bundled up in a little ball but it was actually quite cute. It was fun to see! Amy found out the sex (we weren't looking) and then sealed it in an envelope... which is actually in my purse right now. Want me to open it? Too bad. :)

We went to Charlotte over the weekend since Matt had a job interview (for his old job, lol) on Monday morning. We went to have dinner with some friends and then went to IKEA the next day. Neither of us had been to an IKEA before but I really like their stuff! It looks way better in person than it does online. So, while Matt was interviewing, I took Noah to get lunch in downtown Charlotte at Buffalo Wild Wings. I was so scared to take him by myself but he did really good.

Also, I forgot to give some additional stats from my appointment: heart rate was in the upper 130's/140's and Baby2 weighs approximately 8oz!

Chinese food.

Despite my unpleasant experience throwing back up the first half of my dinner last night, I went back for more, determined to enjoy it. Well, I did, darn it. Because I really wanted Chinese food and I was going to have it. So take that, stomach. Can't mess with this.

I also decided that I will officially say that yesterday was the first time I felt the baby move. I was feeling faint flutters in the last week or so but yesterday, it was obvious. So there you have it. Quickening has commenced.

Oh, and Noah pooped in the hotel bathtub yesterday, heh heh. We went to Lynchburg, VA for the weekend. Nothing special happened... Matt and his friend just went to an anti-child/baby wedding. Noah and I went to Macy's and ordered room service at the hotel.

sleep!

So this is never a consistent thing but I'm just excited to report that I didn't have to wake up for Noah at all this morning (he usually gets up somewhere between 2:30-5:30). The only time he woke up was around 9:30 when I was relaxing in bed with the laptop (sometimes I have to do something before I fall asleep if I'm not super tired) but I let Matt take care of him, since he usually takes care of Noah if he wakes up before he goes to bed but after I've gone to bed. Matt tried to get out of it though, claiming Halo as a legitimate excuse. Hah! That's a laugher.

footsteps.

Noah took his first unassisted steps yesterday! I was pretty much taken by surprise. He hasn't really been standing unassisted for long periods of time so when he randomly decided to try walking yesterday it was pretty unexpected!

So he gets pretty excited when he sees his reflection and he can see it in our fireplace so he took a few steps toward himself. That was the first time I saw him take more than one step before falling. So cute! And so weird! I can't believe he will be walking soon.

I'm also feeling some faint flutters in my belly here and there. Nothing strong or consistent but it seems Noah's little brother or sister is also trying to take some footsteps. I think I'm finally starting to show a little although no one else has really said anything besides Matt. It's getting pretty obvious to me but to strangers I probably just look like I need to do some ab exercises. Still waiting to hear the first "So when are you due?" Most people are too scared to ask that question but it does happen!

gastroenteritis.

We all had it yesterday... it was poopy (quite literally). I got a call from daycare at about 11:00 so we went to get the poor bebe and bring him home. I also felt not so great myself but I went back to work since I wasn't exhibiting any horrible symptoms (yet). Then it struck at about 1:19pm and I had to go hooommme. As soon as I got home, blehhhh, my french fries were peacin' out. That was the worst throw-up experience I've ever had.

Then I took a nap. And then felt like butt for the rest of the night. Luckily, I feel better today though!! And I'm actually eating real food for the first time in over 24 hours. It's a nice feeling. I like to feel almost normal again.

So I'm hoping we're all getting over this icky bug and we can resume our normal activities (well, not that they consist of much more than watching TV and running some errands... we lead very exciting lives).

cue 2nd tri.

So this morning sickness can end any day now! Are you listening to me child? It's time to behave. Please.

Chicken Fingers FAIL.

This is me at lunch:

And that didn't end well.

12 week checkup.

This morning:
Me: "Do you want to come to my checkup?"
Matt: "Sure"
Me: "Okay, I'll pick you up around five after or ten after 11:00."

... three hours later...

I pulled into the driveway and tried to call Matt to let him know I was there and it went straight to voicemail. Bad sign. I decide my next best option is to run inside and get him. Much to my surprise (or not), Matt is hanging out in his basketball shorts and cut-off tee playing Rock Band.

Me: "Ready?"
Matt: "For what? Oh, your appointment!"
Me: "I'll go by myself." (leaves immediately)

So there's the intro.

Anyway, I only weighed in at 147. That is certainly no more than I weighed last time (probably less but at least not by much). Nobody mentioned anything so that's good.

I finally heard the heartbeat for the first time! :D I was looking forward to that since it was too early at my last appointment. The heart rate was in the upper 140's/low 150's.

Good checkup! My next one will already consist of the "big ultrasound". This pregnancy is going so much faster than my first.

Noah is turning one!

I can't believe tomorrow is Noah's first birthday. We had his party on Saturday in Michigan at the cottage. It was great! The weather was crummy but we made the best of it. Indoor space was limited but at least all the bodies in the cottage kept it warm! It was nice to see friends and family again on our trip. Noah did really well on his plane trip. On the way up, he slept part of the way from Raleigh to Chicago and then the whole way from Chicago to Grand Rapids. On the way back, he slept the whole way from Grand Rapids to Atlanta and then didn't sleep at all from Atlanta to Raleigh. That last part was a little challenging but he still did well. I think the hardest part about flying with a baby is keeping them entertained during the layover. We have to find an area at the gate to sort of barricade off so that Noah has a little area in which to crawl around. Of course he wants to go everywhere! Ahh, it is definitely an energy drainer.

Anyway, Noah got lots of cute gifts at his party thanks to the generosity of our family and friends. His cake turned out really cute and it was just a $20 cake from the Shop 'n' Save in Beulah, haha. Needless to say, our options were limited but it was fine. I set out "treasure chests" filled with "treasure" (candy... like Paydays, 100 Grands, Ring Pops, Lifesavers, chocolate coins) and hung a little pirate-themed Happy Birthday banner on the porch. It was pretty simple but pretty darn cute. I also made chocolate cupcakes to compliment the cake and put little skull & crossbones picks in them.

I've been feeling pretty good all week and then I get home and throw up everything I ate today (which wasn't a whole lot)! What the heck?! Please let this be the last time. I hate feeling queasy and throwing up. :/ I just made some coffee... hoping that helps to ease my tummy. We finally told everyone about expecting #2. My 12-week checkup is on Wednesday! I have no reason to believe anything is less than perfect, I just hope I haven't lost any weight. I certainly don't feel like I have so I doubt that will be a problem, lol.

Back to work tomorrow (I'm not really that excited... I miss the cottage)!

it would be nice...

if I could keep my first attempt at breakfast down... really nice. I don't get how pregnancy = stomach flu? lol That makes no sense. So anyway, since my relationship with Rice Chex (or, technically speaking, Kroger Rice Bits) has failed, I'll make an effort to keep down my blueberry bagel. I've never thrown up my second breakfast so I'm feeling pretty optimistic that this will end up in my favor.

betas.

I forgot to report back after my beta results. My first draw was 60,000 and my second was 80,000. They like to see them double every 48 hours but since I was far enough along (7 weeks) that my levels were tapering off anyway, they weren't worried about it. They were just glad they increased at all.

In other news, I'm feeling a little bit better in general each day. Less nausea and fatigue. That is a relief. I know it could come back at any moment but I'm hoping that doesn't happen. I still have some serious food aversions though... meat (gag) being the biggest one. I can't even write about it because the thought makes me want to throw up.

Next... I started trying to sleep train Noah a few days ago and that has been going pretty well. He is getting better at putting himself to sleep. There is some crying involved but never by himself. I think it's cruel to shut a baby in its room to cry alone. Noah mostly just whines and fusses which is no big deal but if he gets hysterical, one of us will go in there to comfort him. I usually just stay in there with him until he gets quiet enough that I can sneak out!

So anyway, I'm just going to lament for a second now. I'm sad that I won't be able to make Noah's birthday party like I originally wanted now that our income is about to significantly decrease. :( I think now I will just get the bare minimum to make it look pirate themed and that's it. A banner, some cupcake decorations and a treasure chest filled with "treasure". I suppose that should be good enough. I was going to get some balloons, tattoos, favors for the kids and some fancy shmancy pirate napkins, too, but I'll just have to get over it!

a "halestorm" indeed

Well. I certainly can't WAIT to reveal the impending arrival of #2 right after we discovered that my husband lost his job. (note the sarcasm) That should be interesting, lol. I was planning on a fun little reveal at Noah's birthday party but now I really don't even want to tell our families.

8 weeks, 4 days.

This is the day that morning sickness gets the best of me. Oh, yes... what a pleasure. What does this baby have against me already?

I'll give it this much - I had cinnamon coffee cake for breakfast so at least it didn't taste too bad coming back up.

the fatigue.

Is KILLING me. I feel like I'm on the verge of death by lethal injection every day.

Everyone teases you about not getting any sleep once you have a newborn but what they FAIL to mention is the fatigue that you suffer through during first tri REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH SLEEP YOU GET!

I have felt better after a sleepless night with an infant than I do now after having eight hours of sleep.

I am so tired of being tired all the time. It has to be worse this time around than it was with Noah. That is for SURE. And now that I have to take care of him on top of it... it's definitely worse.

/vent

round two!

I had my first appointment on Thursday. I'm not sure why but I had these underlying feelings this time around... like something would be wrong. I never made these feelings known because I didn't want them to be at the front of my mind. Maybe it's because I already had one completely healthy, normal pregnancy that surely something wouldn't go right this time. Well, actually everything looked just fine! The only thing is that I was measuring five days earlier than what I had predicted based on my Fertility Friend chart.

The ultrasound was measuring the fetus at 6 weeks and 5 days. Therefore, I had to have ovulated on June 25 or cycle day 26 (the last temperature dip) instead of on June 21 or cycle day 22, as FF thought. That matches up with exactly where the ultrasound was measuring. So since I ended up in there so early, my midwife gave me the option of returning next week to have my betas drawn (they should double every 48 hours) so I'm going to go in on Monday and Wednesday to have that checked just to ensure that everything is progressing normally.

So there's the itty bitty bean!

In other news, Noah has graduated to the Infant II classroom at Childtime! Yay for Noah! He will be happy to crawl around with the other "big kids" now.

And happy 27th birthday to Matt today. :) I bought his favorite Starbucks coffee and had it ready for him this morning (even though he admitted to breaking into it last night). I also got him a book, "The Road to Serfdom", and some cologne and a graphic tee from Express. One of his favorite meals is in the slow cooker right now (homemade spaghetti sauce) and I'll make strawberry angel food cake (per his request of course) for him later. I'm really excited for that part because I found a recipe that looks amazing from Allrecipes.com.