Still here...

Yes...I am still pregnant. My due date came & went on Sunday but this little girl is snuggled up still. I swear, I must have the most comfortable uterus ever. This morning was my last doctor's appointment. They did an ultrasound to check things out and make sure she's still good to go in there (she is) and even the tech said she was curled up, almost on her side and seems quite content. That was not exactly the news I was hoping for. I was hoping I would go in and they would say, "Wow...how did you not notice that you're in active labor? You should just walk on over to Rex right now." Yeah yeah...I knew it was a long shot. But I was at least hoping they would tell me I had made some sort of progress since last week! But I have not. I'm about 1 cm dilated and that's about it. The doctor said there's nothing they can do to help me out because of my previous c-section and she wasn't super encouraging that she thought anything would happen before my scheduled c-section on Tuesday. So that has me pretty bummed. I know that I am ridiculously upset about my looming c-section. Troy keeps pointing out that lots of women opt for c-sections and say it's so much better the second time. But I am very bitter about it and wonder if I'll even be happy on Tuesday when they're prepping me for surgery that I will get to meet this baby or if I'll be so upset at another major surgery that I won't even be excited until it's all over and done with. Yes...I realize I'm sulking. I'm honestly trying to focus on the fact that she seems perfect and healthy and that she will be here one way or another in less than a week. I wish she would just come already and put me out of my misery! So keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for me. Hey, there's a full moon tomorrow so anything could happen!

Let me at least end on a high note...here is a picture of me from this morning so you can see that I am certainly ripe!!

Housekeeping!

I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow and nesting is now kicking in around here. Although, I think Troy is doing the bulk of it. As I sit on the couch in yoga pants typing this, he is outside mowing our (dormant) grass. He just really needed to do some yard work I think. But he has also been cleaning out the cars and hopefully shuffling/adding the carseats. Now that I work about 10 minutes from home, I've been driving the 4Runner and he has taken the Honda for gas mileage reasons. This is fine except that I always kept my car pretty clean and that 4Runner is just...gross. He rides with the windows down all the time and there is a layer of grime and dust in there that he really needed to address. So hopefully it is clean now and he'll move Lainey's car seat to the side because I don't think I can keep throwing her into the middle of the backseat. It is amusing enough watching me hoist myself into the driver's seat but seeing me try to get her into the rear-facing middle of the backseat is...interesting I'm sure.

So back to the getting ready part. We are really doing stuff now. All the baby gear is out and ready. I'm washing the newborn stuff and putting it in the drawers this weekend. I even went this morning and got a pre-hospital wax (some maintenance is just not as fun as other stuff). I think we're about all set. I told the baby that she needs to wait just one more week and then she can come any time. I have a little shower at work on Thursday and a hair appointment next Saturday and then I'll be totally ready! :) But I seriously need to make that hair appointment. Just like with Lainey, my hair seems to be much darker now and these roots are out of control. And maybe this time around I will not think that chopping my hair off into a nonsensical bob is the way to go if I have lovely golden highlights. You hear that? Don't let me get some ugly Mom cut this time around. :-P

As for Lainey, she still doesn't really get what's going on. She was super excited that we got all of the baby stuff out. I think she's used that swing more now than she did when she was an infant. She loves to run over to the swing and the pack 'n play and turn the music and vibration buttons on and dance. She was also getting a bit too obsessed with her bunny & paci so we've scaled back the paci and she seems to be doing great. We only let her have it in the crib when she's napping or sleeping and she's actually been less whiny. Troy wants to have her totally off the paci before the baby arrives but I'm not so sure how that will work out.

So not too much longer now! We actually scheduled a c-section for 4/10 but I'm still hoping to go into labor on my own before then. I just really don't want to do a repeat c-section but we'll see what this little girl's plans are for entering the world. Troy is convinced that she wants out and thinks it will be any time now but he thought that about Lainey too and she certainly has not turned out to be a speedy thing, in any regard (totally got that from me). But I will of course keep you all posted. Hopefully it will be soon!

Day-to-day

I ran out of deodorant this week. This isn't a big deal...I had the forethought to buy another one during my last shopping trip. The alarming thing about this is...all I could think when I took out the new deodorant was, "This is the deodorant I'll be using when the baby arrives." Y'all, we are getting so close!

Also, another realization I just made: I HAVE STRETCH MARKS. I did not get any with Lainey and I used cocoa butter lotion every day. But they say that stuff doesn't work so I slacked off and haven't used any this time and now I HAVE STRETCH MARKS. Ugh. They're on my belly so it really looks like I'm going to just burst wide open.

But here we are folks...I'm halfway through my 36th week. I went to the doctor today who informed me I'm "fingertips" dilated (which means less than a cm). So not much going on although she's now definitely in head-down position. When I go from a sitting to standing position, it feels like she burrows her head way down into my bladder. So then I make the uncomfortable waddle to the other end of my work building to go to the bathroom. I think I'm going to have to just move and set up shop in the big stall soon. Other uncomfortable symptoms include back pain, calf cramps, heartburn, Braxton Hicks contractions and tiny limbs jabbing me from within. Yet despite all that, I do enjoy being pregnant. :) There's something so bizarre about the fact that I'm growing a little person inside of me that it's just too fascinating not to be pretty excited about it. I can no longer tie my shoes, lean over things or see certain areas of my own body. But when I look at the weird bubble growing on the front of me when I'm about to get in the shower every morning, I do tend to marvel a bit.

34 (and a half) weeks

I've seriously got to get better about sitting down with my laptop in the evenings. By the time I come home, feed all the animals and put the bald one to bed, I'm about worn out though. I'm trying to be better...see?? New blog post!

So...here we are...nearly 35 weeks. I can't believe we only have about another month before we'll have a newborn in the house again. Of course this time, we'll also have a not quite as small but equally demanding little person running around! We're excited though. And scared. But excited (mostly scared...).

So who wants to see what 34 weeks looks like?? Here you go...



I seem to have turned into someone's Grandma, complete with waddling, heartburn and slight incontinence. I feel that I'm about the same size that I was with Lainey but I seem to be getting less rude comments. Actually, it seems to be the opposite this time with people often telling me how great I look and that I have that pregnant glow. Apparently my coworkers at my new job are better at lying than my old ones!

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. My job has been kind of crazy lately (my company was sold and I had to wait to find out if I even had a job, then we moved into a new office space and have started a new bank...you know, a few little things going on). That has been a bit exhausting. It got to the point where I came home sick and exhausted one day but since then, I've been trying to make a conscious effort to take it a little easier. I'm still working on that...chocolate helps.

One thing I will say...I guess I'm just too busy to be as anal and prepared as I usually am! I haven't even gotten started on my lists to prepare for the baby and we all know I love a list. Granted, we already have most everything we will need for another girl. But I have not done anything in the nursery. Thank goodness Troy moved Lainey into her new room and put together the new nursery furniture or I'm not sure anything at all would be done! Now I just need to drag out & organize all of Lainey's old baby stuff and put it away in the nursery. I am sure before long my nesting will kick into high gear and I'll shift my work anxiety to the baby. Sleep is becoming challenging so I'm sure I'll start to devote those hours to panicked planning.

So...that's where we are! Trucking right along towards having this little girl. I'll try to post more frequent updates during this last month. I'll even take more pictures for you of my enormous belly. You're welcome! :)

18 Month Update

Wow...I can't believe Lainey is already 18 months old. Then again, other days I can't believe she's only 18 months old! She is growing and doing great. Even her hair is starting to come in a little thicker (but we're still a long way from hair clips and the like). She was 80% for height and 70% for weight. I can't remember the exact numbers now but she's about 25 pounds and like 32" inches or so. The doctor said she's doing great and she is!

What she lacks in hair, she more than makes up for in language skills. Seriously...the girl talks up a storm! I couldn't count all the words she says if I wanted to and she's getting really good at pronouns and short sentences ("I dropped it. I'll get it!"). She can repeat nearly anything we say and has started memorizing parts of songs and books and will sing/read along.

Our mini-Troy not only talks a lot like her Daddy but she is also totally OCD. One of her favorite things to say is, "Oh no! Made a mess!" She usually says this about our garage in general (and she is right...it is a mess). At least she knows who to attribute that to ("Ew...Daddy's mess!"). That's right.

It is nice that she can communicate so well because I understand that that is the root of many a toddler tantrum. But we definitely are not immune to these. She is already asserting her independence every chance she gets. Some days it seems like her favorite word is "no" (and if she's really annoyed, it has two syllables..."NO-uh!"). Our biggest battle lately has been brushing her teeth. This often ends up in screaming matches with her Daddy or I pinning her arms down and forcefully brushing her teeth for her. At least her mouth is usually open from the screaming. But it really doesn't get your day started right. The doctor told us to be persistent though and just battle through and brush anyway. She needs to know that we won't cave. I can't wait for this phase to pass. :-P Other things she really does not like include getting out of the bath, diaper changes, not eating the second she decides she is hungry and not getting the food that she wants. Hey, who doesn't like cottage cheese and turkey dogs with ketchup at every meal? And heaven help us if we don't have whatever fruit she happens to want.

But all in all...this is a good age. She can play by herself, she loves being read to and she is a cute, sweet & funny girl. Her personality is fun to watch and I can't wait to see how she does as a big sister. I think she will love it. I hope she will love it (and her baby sister).



Lainey with her buddy Jack Jack



Chilling in Jack Jack's recliner



Mini Troy



I told you we do what we have to do with the teeth brushing, even if that means doing it in the bath with the cat around.



Happy girl! Still loves that dang paci and bunny. I don't have high hopes of getting rid of either any time soon.

Doh-mesticated

Well, folks, it's 2012 and I feel like I'm finally hitting my stride. Maybe it's nesting kicking in, but I feel like I'm finally getting into a comfortable groove with the whole work, mother, wife thing. I know, I know...I'm a little slow. When I told Troy this newsflash, he said, "Well, it's been over a decade...it's about time!"

I'm not sure why I feel so settled into things. Maybe it's the fact that Lainey's much more self-sufficient now. She's walking, she can feed herself (for the most part) and she can entertain herself in her playroom. I've also been a much better cook I think. I've never been very culinary but I've been trying out lots of new recipes lately and feel much more comfortable in the kitchen. I can't really take credit for the cleanliness of our house considering we have someone clean it every three weeks. But I do feel like I've been much better at managing my time at home in order to keep things tidy and cleaning up in between the cleaners.

You're probably thinking, "Well, that's great Holly. But you know you're getting ready to have another baby..." Yeah...that's why I wanted to jot this down now. I know in 3 months, things will be upside down again in this house so I wanted to remember the calm! Maybe so that when I get frustrated about not having any time with a newborn, I can read this and remember that it gets better and that I can handle it.

Seasonal Selection

As the holidays are now wrapping up (yes, we're finally getting the last of our Christmas things stuffed back up in the attic), I wanted to reflect on one of the oddities of this time of year: seasonal foods. I can't think of any other time of the year when they briefly come out with such deliciousness only to take it away again. Why must I wait a whole year to have these treats again?? The only other thing I can think of that they do this to is Cadbury eggs at Easter (which coincidentally is my favorite candy...why do I always fall for the temporarily available things?). For the past week I've been scouring the local stores for my Cranberry Sierra Mist but I think it's all gone. So good-bye non-stop Christmas music, festive lights and Pumpkin Spice Coffeemate. So long holiday classics on ABC Family each evening and white-fudge covered Oreos. Oh, how I will miss you all...