boys are "fun"

I thought it was 'snakes and snails and puppy dog tails', but apparently little boys are made of:

Two large pizzas,

Two pitchers of lemonade,

One bag of microwave popcorn,

And half a bag of oreos.

At least, that's what 3 ten-year-old boys have consumed in my kitchen tonight - SO FAR.

My son Knucklehead is having a sleepover (though I am pretty sure they're not CALLING it a sleepover, or a slumber party, or anything GIRLY like that...)  He and two of his buddies are alternating between playing videogames, eating everything in sight, and randomly jumping over large pieces of furniture.  As long as no one gets hurt, I think I'm better off keeping my distance tonight!

It is just past midnight as I write this, and the monkeys in my living room show no sign of needing sleep - so I have retreated to my bedroom to enjoy some peace and quiet (interrupted only by my littlest monkey beating me up from the inside).

*sigh* another night to reflect on the JOYS of raising BOYS!

:)

I WON!!!!!

I have battled insomnia for 20 years now, but last night I WON for the first time in a long time.  The war is far from over, of course, but at least I finally won a single battle.  I can't even come up with words to express how great it feels to wake up from a full 8 hours of sleep!  OK, maybe supercalifragilisticexpialadocious would work?  (does anyone know how to actually SPELL that???)

I've been so frustrated over lack of sleep lately, that right now I feel like I won the freaking LOTTERY.  Or at least a Gold Medal or something.  A trophy, maybe?

YES!!!! SLEEP! 

Of course, in addition to the stress/anxiety related insomnia I have had since first becoming a mother, I've got the pregnancy-related sleep issues AND am dealing with deployment right now. 

Trifecta.

It's a wonder I ever sleep at all, but most nights I usually get between 2 and 5 hours.  8 hours feels so incredibly refreshing after months like that!

By the way, while I am on the subject, what idiot coined the phrase, "Sleeps like a baby"????  Don't babies normally wake up every 2 hours?  Not very restful...and I can say that with some authority because my bladder normally wakes me up at least that often at night.

But not last night!  I think I only got up to pee ONCE, around 5 AM, and went right back to sleep afterward!

WOO HOO!

Winner winner chicken dinner! I won, I won, I WON!!!!!

It's like birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. 

At Disneyland.

And I can fly.

MAJOR crib recall

This recall effects the crib that was given to me - check yours to see if it is also included!  The website is http://www.cpsc.gov/ and includes several brands of cribs. (drop-side models, and a few stationary side cribs)

In some cases, manufacturers or retailers will give you a refund for the crib, but in most cases, they will send you hardware to modify it, locking the drop-sides permanently in place.

I need a makeover!

Mrs. Gambizzle is having a BLOG MAKEOVER GIVEAWAY...check her out here!

I so want to win a whole blog makeover for this blog - especially since my Deployment Blog now has a snazzy new look (three columns, a blogroll, and even a cute button!)

My baby blog is feeling a little left out.

If you use my link to visit Mrs. Gambizzle's page, leave a comment and tell her that I sent you - it will get me an extra entry into her contest!

THANKS

drama

Today I had my first 'false alarm' of this pregnancy...and one of the biggest scares I've had in a long time!

I took my ten year old and his friend to the beach for the day, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.  The weather was gorgeous, a full 30 degrees cooler at the coast than at my house.  When it was time to go home, I packed up the gear in the car while the boys showered and changed into dry clothes.  Wanna guess who was done first?  Oh yes, even at 6 months pregnant, I can make THREE trips to the car carrying all of our crap before those boys can pull themselves away from a nice warm shower.

So I sat on the bench outside of the restroom to wait for them, and decided to enjoy a quick snack.  I was almost finished eating my almonds when they boys emerged, clean(ish) and dry.  The car was parked about 100 yards away, and we had walked halfway there when something truly bizarre happened: I CHOKED on an almond!

Seriously choked, as in, airway blocked, can't BREATHE, holy crap CHOKED.  I coughed in an attempt to dislodge the almond, and simultaneously peed my pants a little (amazing, since I had JUST been to the restroom 5 minutes prior, and would have sworn that my bladder was empty).  I stopped walking and coughed again - and peed my pants a little more. 

By the third cough, I had a sudden memory from CPR class... you know how they always say not to attempt the Heimlich maneuver on a pregnant woman?  I panicked a little, because in addition to my son and his friend finally realizing that I wasn't walking with them (they had gone about 10 steps ahead by now but had turned around and were looking at me funny) there were a couple of Marines nearby loading gear into a car, and they both looked ready to run to my rescue.

So that third cough (and third gush of pee....sorry if this is TMI but I was coughing THAT hard to try to clear my airway) was followed quickly by a fourth one, which was also accompanied by a loud and very embarrassing gag/burp combo that finally moved the almond - at about the same time that my son figured out that he should be worried about me.

I was really panicked by the inability to breathe, but was even more scared that someone would 'save' me, but in doing so would harm the baby.  Crazy, right? 

As soon as I could breathe I started walking again - FAST - and when we got to the car I threw a towel on the seat so I could sit down in my now-pretty-darned-wet pants.  I wished I had extra clothes with me, but knew I could make do until I got home.  I cleared my throat a lot and chugged some water before I reassured the boys that I was fine, and I drove toward home.

This is where it got REALLY fun....

The drive from this particular beach to my house takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on traffic.  About 20 minutes into the drive, I noticed a persistent cramping sensation....kind of like the braxton hicks contractions I have been 'enjoying' for several weeks, only, well, PAINFUL.  At first I figured I must have pulled an abdominal muscle with all that forceful coughing.  It wouldn't be the first time that's happened.  But soon I saw a real pattern in the pain.....a FIVE MINUTUES APART pattern!  Yikes.

Contractions.

I kept driving, knowing that I needed to get to my own doctor or hospital if this was something serious, and hoping the whole time that it was nothing.  By the time we got home, the contractions were TWO minutes apart, and the pain had increased...though I suspected that the heightened pain was at least partially due to my very full bladder.  That water that I had chugged after choking an hour earlier was virtually sloshing around in there.

On a scale of one to ten, ten being actual childbirth, the pain was probably at a 4 at this point, and when I ran waddled inside my house to pee, it dropped to a 3....but continued, every two minutes. I knew already that if I called my OB, she would ask me lie down for 20 minutes to see if the contractions would stop, so I decided to go ahead and try this without calling her.  I remembered the cool apps on my iPad for timing contractions, so I took my iPad to bed and held still as much as I could....focusing on relaxing.

(duration of contractions shows on the left, and frequency of contractions on the right)

The first 20 minutes of this saw no change, and I had a sudden fear that the gush of 'pee' I had felt when I choked *might* have been amniotic fluid.  Would I know if my water broke?  The only time my water ever broke before was with #2, and it was a slight high leak.....but I knew what it was, even then.  Just when I was about to pick up the phone and call my OB, my friend called me.  I told her what was going on and she talked to me for a few minutes, noting how hard it was for me to talk during the short contractions....I talked to her for almost fifteen minutes, during which time the contractions finally began to spread apart a little.

Two breaks of almost 4 minutes each, and then another 2 minute cycle, but the actual contractions seemed to be getting shorter, too.  I finally told my friend that I was going to try to nap - knowing that if I could SLEEP through them, then they were definitely not 'the real thing'.  I hung up the phone and went into some good relaxation techniques, and another contraction hit.

I pressed the 'begin' button on the labor tracker app.

And woke up about 8 minutes later to the sound of my dog barking. 

Yes, I actually FELL ASLEEP mid-contraction, and never stopped the app!  It's funny, there is a graph showing the pattern of contractions, most of them 25 to 40 seconds long, and then the one where I fell asleep showed 506 seconds long!  Dang, that would have been one SERIOUS contraction.  So glad it was just me dozing off!  After that I timed a few more, happy to see that they were much milder and becoming shorter and more sporadic.

Since my OB's office waas now closed for the day, I chose not to bother her answering service over what I now know was a false alarm.  I will call in the morning and let her know what happened, in case she needs to see me before my next appointment.

But, if you've read the birth stories I posted (check the archives if you missed these) then you know that I have BEEN to this circus before.  A FEW TIMES.  False labor is just another part of pregnancy for me!  This is the first time I've ever had anything THIS INTENSE happen THIS EARLY in pregnancy, but at least I know I can deal with it.

And in the future, these able-bodied boys are carrying all the beach gear to the car.  And of course, no more eating and walking at the same time.  In fact, I may just boycott almonds altogether.

26 weeks, 3 days

I know I've been a bad blogger lately... I've been (lazy/tired/sick/busy/insert-excuse-here)

After nearly a full week without posting, I have quite a mix of things to post - starting with this cute joke:

An expecting mommy was getting dressed when her 3 year old walked into the room and commented, "Mommy, you're getting fat."  The mother patiently replied, "Yes, sweetie, remember I have a baby growing in my belly" The precocious child piped up with, "I know Mommy, but what's growing in your BUTT?"

ha ha ha

It's funnier when my ten year old tells that one  :)

My pregnancy is still going well, though I have finally started to gain a little weight.  As long as I can keep that to a minimum, it's no big deal (pardon the pun) but I've still got 13 1/2 weeks left.....even if I only gain a pound a week the rest of the way, THAT'S TOO MUCH!

I'm working to get the nursery ready - it still has some 'guest room' leftovers in it, as well as much of the nursery stuff, mostly unassembled.  This week's task is to empty the room completely to prepare for painting (my sister-in-law is coming over to help me paint in a couple weeks).  I'm also going to freshen up the paint on the used crib and changing table before I put them back into the room.

Baby clothes are WAY too much fun....I have received a ton of used clothes, so little Thomas won't need any clothes for at least the first three months - and then he will only need a few specific things for the remainder of his first year!  Still, I have caved in and bought a few things.  I am in love with all the adorable monkey clothes - little embroidered monkeys on shirts, monkey's printed on pants, and even little slippers made to look like monkeys!  I'm also loving striped stuff, so I was thrilled to find this adorable little outfit with both monkeys AND stripes:

Baby will wear this one home from the hospital. :)

I'm also counting down the weeks until I can go to the 3D/4D ultrasound place, I can't WAIT to see what this little guy looks like so far! (please please please let him have his daddy's nose...)

NEEDLES? NO!

I had an OB checkup today, and got some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that my weight is still holding, and I am *almost* done with my second trimester!  The bad news is that my "no I.V." birth plan is no longer an option.

At my last checkup, my urine sample tested positive for a specific bacteria, so I was treated for a Urinary Tract Infection.  Today my doctor told me that the bacteria in question is 'group B strep' and is dangerous to the baby during birth.  I have no 'symptoms' to speak of, but have apparently been COLONIZED with it.  Yup, that's the actual term!  I don't even know HOW I got it, since it is not sexually transmitted, and lives, well, down there.  So, what, did I ingest this bacteria?  Or swim in it? Yuck.  So, to treat the baby PRIOR to birth, I will be hooked up to intravenous antibiotics.  MANDATORY.  I can still have an unmedicated birth, as far as pain meds go, but will still have to have these antibiotics no matter what.

:(

I'm so sad, and not just because I hate needles!  I do, of course, hate them with a passion, but what's really upsetting me is that as soon as they hook me up to an I.V. it will limit everything else I can do.  It's hard to even go to the bathroom hooked up to one of those!  I guess that's why some places insist on a catheter at that point?!  That's absolutey NOT going to happen with me, I will throw a fit if I must to keep from that particular brand of torture.  I worry that I won't be able to walk around with the IV hooked up, and as soon as I lie in a bed, my labor will slow down, leading to more complications, which will require more intervention, ending in even more complications.....its all a vicious cycle.  One that I had hoped to avoid.

Oh well. As long as the outcome includes a healthy baby, I will do whatever it takes.  Even bite the bullet and offer my veins back up to those vampires that masquerade as L&D nurses.

8 inches (?)

Hey gutter-mind, I wasn't talking about THAT!  (but maybe in another blog?)

Today I got a much needed haircut!  8+ inches later, I feel so much lighter!  And I actually think I look a little younger, so that's a bonus.

BEFORE

and then....

AFTER!

Hubby will not be happy, as he likes my hair long - but since he is gone for at least 6 more months, I decided my own comfort through the rest of this pregnancy is more important than his aesthetic preferences.  I will keep getting it trimmed for the rest of the pregnancy, and then after I have the baby I will start growing it out for my hubby again.  :)

which one?

I am going back to The Price Is Right again in a few weeks (for my 15th or 16th time, I think?...I've lost count)

I need help.

Not that kind.  Well, okay, I do need psychiatric help, this is a RIDICULOUS obsession, but anyway, that's not the kind if help I need from you, my readers.  I need help choosing which shirt to wear!

I like the 'Hot Mama' shirt, because it is easy to read from a distance (and has plenty of bling-bling which could help me get noticed and get PICKED to be a contestant)

ON THE OTHER HAND,

I love the "Pregnant is the new skinny" tank top, because, well, its a TANK TOP.  And its funny.  But it is way more snug on me, and is a little harder to read than the other one.

What do you think?

Please comment here or email me privately, I seriously do want everyone's input!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

maternity SHOES (?)

I recently posted about my comical attempt to give myself a pedicure.  I have accepted the fact that my growing baby belly makes this impossible, and am now including 'real' pedicures in my budget for the rest of the pregnancy.  I mean, I have to have pretty toes to get away with wearing nothing on my feet but flip flops, right?

Flip flops are the ultimate 'maternity shoe'...you don't even have to BEND over to put them on!

However, my job will not allow me to wear flip flops while at work, for safety reasons.  I have to wear closed-toe, closed-heel shoes. (YUCK)

I've found a few cool options already in my closet, and for now (and hopefully for at least a little longer) I can still at least tie my own shoelaces, so my tennis-shoes work well most days.  When that ends, I am still covered.  The best shoes I found in my own collection are these cute Skechers:

I have two pair, one in black and one in white, and I LOVE the fact that they breathe, almost as much as the fact that they close with VELCRO.  On the SIDE, so I don't even have to try all that hard to reach the little strap to open/close them.  I'd rather be wearing flip flops, but for work these will do - I can wear them with shorts, a casual skirt, jeans, whatever.

L.O.V.E.

So, now I am wondering, are the shoe companies missing out on a major marketing gimmick here?  Should they be selling easy-fasten and slip-on shoes in the maternity department of major stores?  Should the Motherhood store (Motherhood Maternity is NOT my best friend but that's another blog post) be branding these and marking them up for all of the pregnant women out there who just realized that they can't even SEE their own feet, much less actually TIE their own shoes?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.....

24 weeks...

I planned to post a belly pic with this, but don't have one from this week.  (SORRY)  I will get right on that.

Before I get into the compaining part, the past week or so I've finally seen some real patterns in baby's activity levels, and he might actually turn out to be a NIGHT PERSON (like me)! YAY!  The whole pregnancy I have been waking up early in the morning, usually my best time to sleep, and I took this as a sign that this baby, like Knucklehead (my ten year old) is going to be a morning person.  But his most active time now seems to be around 10 PM, much like mommy.  His kicks and movements now are actually visible from the outside, which makes Knucklehead laugh.  The other night I had my iPad balanced on my belly and was trying to show my son a video, but the whole thing kept jumping and tipping wildly with my baby-belly movements.  It was pretty funny.

OK now for the complaining part (feel free to stop reading here and come back another day for more happy smiley stuff)

This whole 'irritable uterus' thing seriously SUCKS.

The contractions still don't hurt, other than mild pain if I am gassy or constipated, or have a full bladder.  But they are ANNOYING and a pain in the butt.  Not literally, of course.

Now I am finding that ANY activity stimulates these contractions.  Obviously any kind of abdominal exercise does this (including the whole sitting-up-to-get-out-of-bed workout).  Having a bowel movement stimulates contractions.  I guess this is one area that I should be grateful for hubby's current deployment, because sexual activity also gets the contractions going.  (But ooooohhhhh I do miss sex almost as much as I miss my hubby!  Sorry if that is TMI)

Yesterday I was laughing while watching my son play at the beach and....yup, you guessed it - this set off more contractions.  LAUGHTER!  Really?

Walking on the beach yesterday really strained my low back, which has already been bugging me this week.  So I tried to do some stretches this morning to ease that pain, and.....YUP.  More contractions.

This is so exhausting!  Now I wish I could go back to just peeing my pants every time I sneeze/laugh/jump.  That was nothing compared to these contractions.

Am I really going to survive 16 more weeks of this?????  I mean, physically I know I can make it, but MENTALLY....that's another matter altogether.

School is out in one week - which means I have only 5 days left of my very part-time crossing guard job before the summer break.  I'm grateful to have a paycheck, even such a SMALL one, but am even more grateful for the break!  The heat has been (finally) hitting us, and it makes the job a lot less fun.  At least the job itself is not causing more contractions!  If I get tired and choose to sit down on the shift, just the act of sitting down or standing up does bring on a contration, but standing and walking still seems to be OK.

I'm re-reading what I just wrote, and just realized - HOLY COW, 16 WEEKS?!?!  That's all I have left?!  I better get crackin on that nursery!

Awwwwwww.....another blog award!

Thanks so much to Sarah over at Diary of a Navy Wife for giving me this Versatile Blogger Award!  If you have not read her blog, you should definitely go check her out.  :)

The rules of this award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award

2. Share seven things about you

3. Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs that you think are fantastic

4. Let your nominees know about the award
 
 
Seven things about me:
 
1. I am the fifth out of eight children, and for the most part I think I was lucky to grow up in a large family.(and I totally AM the stereotypical 'middle child'!)
 
2. I am a complete slob.  I need to know where things are, but if that happens to be in the bottom of a stack or a pile, I am totally cool with that.  As long as I can find it when I need it.
 
3. I am notoriously thrifty, but over the years have learned the joy of splurging on something just for fun (like a pedicure or lunch with a friend.....things that are not 'necessities')
 
4. I love yard sales!  I love shopping at yard sales, and I have at least two sales a year at my own house to get rid of the junk as it accumulates.  And I drive a hard bargain, too. :)
 
5. I would spend every day barefoot if I could - I am the opposite of a 'shoe person'.  And since shoes are kind of necessary most of the time, more than half of the shoes I own are FLIP FLOPS.  Next best thing to being barefoot.
 
6. I am not entirely sure that this pregnancy will be my last......
 
7. I am a 'stamper' but have not taken much time to do any kind of craft stuff lately.  Cardmaking will be happening SOON though, for OWH (Operation Write Home - check them out here)
 
 
And now I am passing this award along to:

Ann Marie at Household 6 Diva
Sara at When In Rome
Melissa at New Girl On Post
Megan at A Little Cate Family
Marine Wife at Dragonfly
Jessica at Learning As We Go
Shea at Loving every minute of it
Lucky Dimes and Dog Tags
Erica at The Ingalls Clan
Ines at The Few, The Proud, The Wife
Kate at The (Mrs) Adventures of a Marine Aviator's Wife
Casey at The Ever Changing Life of a Military Wife
Gretchen at The G Spot
Kirsten at Requires Heavy Lifting
Allie at My Marine and Me

little by little

Today I (finally) bought the paint for the nursery.  And a bunch of other painting stuff -you know, dropcloth, rollers, etc etc etc

I spent about twice what I expected/hoped to spend, but now I am getting excited to actually WORK on the baby's room!

Of course, it took me several weeks just to choose a paint color, so at the rate I am going, I should have the nursery completed by the time Thomas is, oh, say, 5 years old...

before/after pics coming SOON!  OK, might not be all that soon, but hopefully before September rolls around.

Don't blink, you might miss it....

My daughter turned 20 years old on Sunday.  In addition to making me feel really OLD (and sad, missing my 'little girl') this really highlighted for me just how quickly childhood flies by.

Seriously, it seems like just YESTERDAY that I was holding her in my arms, marvelling at the incredible beauty of this tiny little human being.  I know people say that all the time, but it really is true....seems like YESTERDAY!

Just yesterday I changed her first diaper, gave her that first bath, gave her her first haircut (being careful to save a lock for the baby book).  Just yesterday I waved goodbye on her first day of school, saved her first lost tooth for 'the tooth fairy', and hugged away her tears the first time her friends hurt her feelings.  And then, just MOMENTS ago it seems, I put her hair into a complicated updo for her first boy/girl dance, gave her that first terrifying driving lesson, and commiserated with her over the first boy who 'broke her heart'.  Not really, of course, but she was always so dramatic.  Little drama queens grow up to be big drama queens, and it all happens in the blink of an eye....

And already now, baby #4 is growing and developing faster than I had ever imagined he could.  Faster than I remember, anyway.  But then, my memory is not so great, since I am so OLD now! LOL 

Wow.  I have a 20 year old.  WOW.

I wonder what it will feel like when THIS baby turns 20?  By then I really WILL be old - as opposed to just feeling old.  Right now, I feel so old, I think I am going to have to do something to look/feel younger.  Can't do tattoos during pregnancy, and I'm not really masochistic enough to do a new piercing, so I am thinking I have to either color my hair, or cut it - or BOTH.  Whichever I decide, I will be sure to post before/after pics here.

But seriously, DON'T BLINK, you might miss something important!