Cooper Gage

Seeing that Cooper will be 4 weeks old tomorrow, I figured now was as good a time as any to finally write down how everything went on his birth day.

Because I was scheduled to be induced early on Wednesday morning, June 17th, Keith's mom came up to our house on Tuesday afternoon in order to spend the night and watch Garrett while we were at the hospital. Since she was sleeping in Garrett's room, we put him on the floor in our room. I had a hard time falling asleep that night, but around 12:30 am I woke up. I'm not sure why exactly. I leaned over the bed to adjust the blanket over Garrett and then laid back down. A couple of minutes later, I had a strange sensation and then I felt water trickling as if I was peeing in my pants. But I was pretty sure that I wasn't peeing in my pants. Of course, when you're 9 months pregnant, you can't be totally positive, but I felt pretty positive.

After going to the bathroom to try and confirm that it was in fact my water breaking, I went back to bed with a towel. I lay there and tried to figure out what to do next. It should have been obvious, but I was tired and my first thought was that we were scheduled for an induction the following morning, would it really matter if I went back to sleep for a bit before going in? Plus I wanted Keith to be able to get some sleep in too. But when he rolled over and seemed to act like he was awake, I told him that I thought my water had broke. We both got up and ready to head to the hospital. I called my doctor's office just to confirm what I was supposed to do (yes, go to the hospital.), we left a note for Keith's mom, and we headed to the hospital.


I started having a few contractions on the way, but nothing intense or worthy of speeding, so Keith drove calmly to the hospital. That doesn't mean we avoided some crazies on the road though. About 15 miles from our house, a truck came across the median of the highway, got tangled up in the wire median divider and ended up facing the wrong way in the left hand lane on our side of the road. Thankfully we saw a policeman headed in that direction so we didn't feel as if we needed to stop to see if they were ok.


When we were about 10-15 miles away from the hospital, we came thisclose to getting sideswiped by some insane person driving a silver SUV. Thankfully Keith was paying attention and swerved into the lane next to us or else we would have been hit. The SUV kept going across all lanes of traffic (and there were about 4 on this particular part of the highway) and came thisclose to driving off the side of an overpass! Apparently the driver came to their senses and swerved back on the road. We saw them again a few minutes later driving about 10 mph in the right hand lane with their turn signal on. Who knows what was going on with them. Thankfully we made it to the hospital in one piece and found a close parking spot in the parking garage. We could have parked in the spaces provided for women in labor, but those have a time limit and I didn't want Keith to have to leave to move the car and I felt ok to walk that distance.


By this point, it was 2 am. We were taken to the room and I got changed and had monitors strapped to me. The nurse checked and confirmed that my water had definitely broken and the monitor was showing that I was having some contractions. So we decided to let things progress on their own. We watched some TV and read magazines for a while. My contractions got intense at times, but nothing terrible. The nurse had said I could have my epidural whenever I wanted one, but I told her we would hold off on that for the time being. At 4 am, I had only progressed to 4 cm (I was at 3 cm when she first checked me). The resident doctor on call wanted to go ahead and start pitocin, so we did, but a very small amount. Keith has a brain for numbers (of course, he's an accountant) and he could remember that my initial pitocin level with Garrett was a 7, whereas this time with Cooper, the nurse started me at a 2. I was able to labor for 2 more hours before I was ready for the epidural. At that point I was only at 5 cm, so I was afraid that we were in for a long labor. With Garrett, it took 6 hours from the time of the epidural to delivery and I was at 6 cm when I got it. Based on that, Keith and I were estimating that Cooper would be born around noon.

(Pre-epidural, between contractions.

Keith took a picture while I was having a contraction, but that one is not getting posted.)

An hour after getting the epidural, my doctor arrived. He told Keith "Talk about a day being destined to be." He checked me and said I was at 6 cm and he told the nurse to start my catheter. Before the nurse started it, she checked to be sure my epidural had completely taken. In her words, "there's no point in having an epidural if you can feel the catheter". Unfortunately, I was going to be able to feel the catheter for some reason and in fact, I was feeling some of the contractions on my right side. They were dull enough that I didn't feel like I was in excruciating pain, but I could definitely feel them. So she called the anesthesiologist in to "top me off". I should have said no and sucked up the bit of pain. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Once my epidural was topped off, I started feeling like I would pass out. Then I felt like I couldn't breathe. The epidural was almost too strong. I couldn't feel my legs at all. (I wanted a "walking epidural" which is what I had with Garrett, but this was a total epidural.) I was numb up to my chest which made me feel like I couldn't breathe. I had moments of my hands feeling tingly as if they were going numb too. On top of all this, they insisted I had to lay flat on my back which is about the most uncomfortable position you can be in when pregnant. At one point they even had the bed tilted to where my feet were elevated above my head. I know that was supposed to help my "feeling faint" but it was making me feel even more like I couldn't breathe. I don't think I even need to point out that Keith was a little freaked out by all of this. Though he did great and was right there for me, bringing me drinks of water and fanning me with a magazine when I felt hot. They ended up giving me a medicine to bring up my blood pressure because it was dropping so low and that didn't set well for me either. Thankfully throughout all of this, Cooper's heartrate stayed perfectly normal and everything for him was fine. I was surprised that they never did an internal heart monitor on him, but apparently the external one was picking him up just fine.

At 9 am, the nurse came back to finally do the catheter after all the craziness of the epidural issues. Before she started it, she checked me to see how I was progressing and, surprisingly, I was now at 8 cm. She said once she got the catheter started and my bladder was empty, she figured I would be fully dilated because Cooper would have room to move further down. 15 minutes later, my doctor came back to check on me, he said "it's time to push". 15 minutes to dilate 2 additional centimeters! It didn't go near that fast with Garrett. The nurse started getting the room ready for labor and my doctor helped me get into position to push. I could not feel my legs even a little bit, so they had to lift them for me into the stirrups. I swear those could have been someone else's legs, that's how little I could feel them. It was crazy! I pushed through 3 contractions and Cooper was born at 9:30am! Only 15 minutes after my doctor said it was time to push. With Garrett, the delivery room was full of people, several nurses for the baby, a nurse for me, my doctor, and a resident who was assisting my doctor. For Cooper's delivery, it was just my doctor and my nurse. Cooper was almost completely born when a baby nurse showed up to take over with him. The doctor put Cooper on my stomach and the first thing I noticed was his really long fingers and toes. They told me that he had the umbilical cord hitched over his shoulder as if he wasn't going to leave without it. Much preferred to it being around his neck like it was with Garrett.

(Right after he was born and they handed him to me.)

Our hospital stay was short. I abhor being in the hospital. It is depressing for me and I didn't want to be there a minute longer than I had to be. When our night nurse came to introduce herself at the beginning of her shift, I asked her how soon we could be discharged and she said that some patients request to leave 24 hours after delivery, while others stay the full 2 days. I told her that I wanted to leave as soon as they would let me, so she said she would be sure and complete all tests that would need to be done on Cooper, that night. So all we would need is both of our doctors to sign the discharge papers the next day. I think I might have slept for 2 hours that night, so that, combined with maybe 2 hours the night before, I was so tired by Thursday morning. I knew there was no way I would be able to tolerate the hospital for another night. Thankfully my doctor showed up and joked with me about my desire to run away from him, but he signed my discharge papers and did Cooper's circumcision. At first, the hospital pediatrician didn't want to discharge Cooper because he was borderline with his jaundice levels, but since she knows our pediatrician and I had already called and had us scheduled for an appointment the next day, she agreed to let us go home.

(Daddy and Cooper once we were moved to the recovery room.)

I have felt 100% better this time than I did with Garrett. Sure, there are some hormonal issues as most post partum women have, but nothing at all like what I experienced with Garrett. I feel like that can be attributed to 1.the shorter hospital stay, 2.the fact that this was my second baby and I felt more prepared mentally for what was to come, 3.possibly just a difference in hormones this time, for whatever reason and 4.having my mom (and subsequently, dad) here to help for 2 weeks. I have also physically healed much faster than I did with Garrett. I only needed one or two small stitches this time in comparison to a little more work with Garrett (though he had a huge head which probably is why Cooper ultimately was born pretty quickly and with minimal damage. His brother paved the way for him.)

The downside to this recovery period has been a horrible allergic reaction that I had to the medical tape that was used to hold down my epidural line. I had a slight reaction after having Garrett, but it was cleared up with the use of Benedryl and hydrocortisone cream. Since I knew I had a problem the last time, I made sure that I took a shower as soon after delivery as I could and I had Keith wash my back really well. I figured that in doing so I would eliminate or further minimize any reaction.

That assumption was totally false and it may have even made it worse, I'm not sure. From midway down my back, to the backs of my thighs, and from one side to the other, I was a solid hive. It was beet red, raised and swollen, as well as itched like nothing I've experienced. I went through tubes of hydrocortisone cream and Benedryl and it was not helping one bit. A week later I finally went and saw my regular doctor to see if she could help me out. The nurse and the doctor both literally gasped when they saw the condition of my back. They could not believe how bad it looked. They gave me a cortisone shot and some steriod cream to rub on it and after several days it finally started working. You can still see where it was almost 4 weeks later. It looks like a bad sunburn and my skin is really dry. But thankfully it doesn't itch and I'm assuming that it's healing, albeit slowly. Now I know to tell anyone and everyone that I'm allergic to medical tape, please don't touch me with it!

So that was my experience with having baby #2, the last of the Mohicans. Keith still quizzes me to see if I'm really done having babies and I can answer that with an emphatic "Yes! Yes, I am!" As soon as my ob can schedule it, I will be having a procedure done in order to insure that no more babies will be brought forth from my loins. And that day will be a good day.

Tomorrow's the day!

Yesterday was my last doctor's appointment. Keith's mom came up to keep Garrett for me and I headed for my last appointment for a few weeks. As I sat in the waiting room, I was feeling pretty anxious. One reason was because I wasn't sure what I was going to hear once I got into the exam room. Would he say I was far enough along that he would send me to the hospital immediately? What day would I be scheduled for otherwise? The other reason was because the waiting room was packed! Who would have ever thought that Monday mornings would be a busy time in an ob's office? On top of this, it seemed like every time my doctor's nurse came to call someone back, it was NOT me and that someone was inevitably someone who had just walked in the door. That sort of thing really frustrates me. Especially if those patients are running late for their appointment. After sitting there for more than a half hour, I was on the verge of snapping. I realize that the wait can be much much longer than this, but I was not in the state of mind for waiting. Plus I can't help but wonder if the receptionist put my paperwork in the correct place for the nurse to even know that I'm actually there and waiting. I've worked for a doctor's office, I know how easily things get misplaced. Heck, last week my file was missing and I've been a patient there for 5 plus years.

Anyway, I decided to attempt to take matters in my own hands and walked up to the receptionist. I asked her how much longer she thought I would be waiting because I really needed to use the restroom. (Not urgently, but hey, when you're 9 months pregnant, you always have to go to the bathroom, so it wasn't a total lie.) She told me I could go to the restroom, so I explained to her that if I went to the restroom right then, I wouldn't be able to do the sample in the cup that you always have to give at these appointments. So she sent me back to the restroom where the samples take place so I could go ahead and take care of business. When I was walking back to the waiting room, the nurse was in the doorway calling my name. Finally!! Is anyone surprised that my blood pressure was high after all this? I didn't think so. Thankfully it's been normal up until this point, so they weren't concerned.

I waited for a bit in the exam room, which is always fun when you're undressed from the waist down and only covered with a sheet the size of a small towel. I actually don't mind waiting in the exam room because I know that eventually the doctor will make his way in there. Which he did. I had only dilated about 1/2 cm more than I was last week, which both irritated and surprised me because I've been having a good number of contractions over the past week. But I was still far enough along that he asked me if I was ready to have the baby this week. We all know the answer to that question! He said that he would have his nurse call the hospital when she had a chance (they were obviously swamped so there was no way she could call right then) and she would call to let me know what day was available. He said that normally he would let me pick the day, but the hospital where I'll be delivering has been insanely busy with baby deliveries. He said it's nice job security for him, but it makes for hectic days and crazy schedules. The nurse called me within an hour of when I got home and said I was scheduled for Wednesday morning at 7:30. She said to arrive about 30 minutes early and to eat a light breakfast but "nothing that you don't want to see again". haha Unfortunately I had that problem when I was in labor with Garrett so I think I'll pass on breakfast in the morning.

After getting that good news, I met with the church secretaries for a fun luncheon that was for the new secretary who started yesterday along with celebrating Cooper. We ate at the Tea Room, which is so good. It was only my second time to go there, but I definitely want to go back many more times. Their lemonade tea is so good! And we had the best time talking and laughing. Those women are so funny! I'm going to miss seeing them regularly over the next several weeks.

So now I'm passing the time of my last day of pregnancy. I also wanted Garrett to have a fun day. I thought we could go eat breakfast at McDonald's and he could play in the play area. We RARELY do that. I'm not a fan of those places and find them to be mostly gross and the other kids rude and the other parents oblivious. But I was going to suck up my issues and let him go have fun. Of course when we arrived, the manager informed me that the play area was closed for a good cleaning. Which is nice to hear, but didn't really help me after I had talked up going to McDonald's last night and first thing this morning. But Garrett really surprised me and did not throw a fit or anything. I think it helped to see a couple of workers walking through the slides with a broom. We ate breakfast and then ran a few errands. After that we went to a new park in our area. Garrett was thrilled and mostly had the preschool play area all to himself. We had been there for about 30 minutes when a daycare group of school aged kids showed up. For the most part, those kids were pretty nice to the other kids who were already there and playing. Garrett found an older girl, probably 3rd or 4th grade, who he followed around and attempted to do everything she did. It was pretty funny to watch. After an hour, I was ready to go. The play areas are under a big shade, which is so nice, but the benches for the parents to sit on are not. Thankfully there was a nice breeze, but it was still in the mid 80's and not even 10:00, so it was time to leave. Again, Garrett surprised me with his willingness to leave when I said it was time to go. My baby is growing up. *sniff* He even told me in the car "Thank you for taking me to the park. That was my best time ever!"

It's hard to believe that at this time tomorrow I'll be in labor. (I'm not going to get my hopes up that he'll already be here. Garrett's labor was 10 hours, so I'm just going to assume my experience with Cooper will be similar.) I will attempt to post fairly soon once Cooper is here. We'll see how my wireless connection is once I'm settled into my hospital room.

Pregnancy Ramblings

It's hard for me to comprehend that by this time next week I will have a new baby.  (Assuming all goes according to plan, of course.)  Who knows if he'll be 1 day old or almost a week old by next Friday, but, regardless, he should be here.  Part of me keeps thinking that I'm going to go into labor on my own since I did not experience that with Garrett, but another part of me has just decided that it's probably not going to happen until the doctor schedules the day.  

Keith and I have decided to just let our doctor and the hospital pick Cooper's birthday.  As soon as I get my heart set on him having a specific birthday, I'm sure my doctor won't be available that day, or the hospital will be completely booked.  So we'll just see what he tells us on Monday.  This weekend is going to be full of house cleaning and project completing.  I am hoping to get all my floors vacuumed and mopped, all the laundry caught up as best as possible, Garrett's room picked up and our bedroom cleaned.  I should be doing one or more from that list right now, but I have seriously lost my motivation to get up off the couch this past week.  I'm so glad I had the energy that I did up until this point because the important stuff is done and ready to go.  But now I plan what I'm going to do around the fact that I HAVE to get up to go to the bathroom.  Once I'm up for that reason, I make myself do a few other things before crashing on the couch again.  It's borderline ridiculous, really.  

At some point this weekend, we are planning on celebrating Father's Day.  I already have the gifts and the card, so I just need to plan a special meal for one of the next couple of days and hopefully he'll feel celebrated.  I think he'll really like the gifts we've bought for him and I know Garrett is really excited to give them to him.  He goes in my closet every day to talk about Daddy's surprise.  This morning he asked me where his surprise was.  As if he should get a surprise anytime someone else gets one.  But I did tell him that he'll be getting a surprise soon and just left it at that.  We've bought him a Leapster that we'll be giving him when he meets Cooper for the first time.  We plan on telling him that it's from Cooper, in hopes of smoothing the transition for him, at least a little bit.  

He has been noticing babies a lot lately.  We went to Target on Monday (and bought him a new car seat for almost half the original price!  I was so excited!) and he was talking about all the babies we saw.  One of which was crying and he said "Cooper's not going to cry." and I told him he most definitely will cry.  I don't want to upset him, but at the same time, I don't want him to have some strange expectation of what it will be like to have a new baby in the house.  

I feel like I'm going into each day, each activity, with the thought in the back of my mind that this may be the last _____ until Cooper is born.  I'm also trying to soak in the pregnancy as best as I can.  God willing, this is my last baby, so these next few days are bittersweet for me.  On one hand, I'm very ready to be done being pregnant, as all women are in the last weeks/month of pregnancy.  But on the other hand, it's hard to believe my pregnancy is almost over and that I won't be experiencing this again.  There's definitely something to be said about being pregnant and the connection that is there with that unborn baby and the excitement that everyone usually has as a pregnancy draws to a close.  

A part of me feels like I'm mourning the passage of one stage of my life into the next.  Up until this point, I've been anticipating my 2nd and final child, the thoughts of someday being pregnant with this child and everything that goes with it.  And now I'm at the end of that.  Moving on to being fully invested and focused on raising my 2 boys and everything that entails.  No more looking forward to when we might have another baby, or wondering if I may be pregnant.  And while all of this may sound like I'm not done having kids, I really and truly am.  It's more about the fact that things change and sometimes it's hard when that change happens.  Even when it's the best, most exciting change that you might experience.  It's still hard to move on to that next stage, that next step.  I don't even know if this is making sense or if it's just my weird pregnancy hormones talking at this point.

Assuming my doctor doesn't send me straight to the hospital on Monday after my appointment, I plan on blogging at least one last time to just get my final doctor's appointment info down here on the blog.  

The Countdown Has Begun

Of course I don't know exactly how much time is on the countdown, I just know that it's started.  My doctor told me this morning that I'm dilated to 3 cm, 50% effaced and at a -2 station.  Cooper is definitely head down, too.  So for those of you who have not had babies, that means that my cervix is open 3 centimeters out of the total of 10, and it's halfway thinned out/shortened.  The station means the approximate location of Cooper in the birth canal, +4 station means birth is imminent, so he's not super low, but that's normal with a second or subsequent baby.  They don't drop as quickly as the firstborn does.  I can't remember the exact numbers from my last appointment with Garrett except that I was 3.5 cm and I was induced the following Monday.  Of course that was 1 week further along than I am right now.  I'm sure if I had encouraged my doctor this morning, he would have agreed to induce this week, but for many reasons, I decided not to do this.  

So next Monday morning is my final appointment and at that time, we will decide on a date for induction.  Keith and I are currently considering our options along with what his birthday would be and what our preference would be of all the dates available next week.  It's silly, I know, but hey, if you're given the chance to choose a date that you'll need to remember for the rest of your life, you might as well pick a good one.  Not to mention working through logistics like where Garrett will be or with whom he would be with.  The fact that my mom flies in next Thursday.  The last minute things we would like to have done, etc.  Of course all of this planning could fly out the window if one of two things happen.  1. Cooper decides to come on a date of his own choosing between now and next Monday.  (That will be fine, son, so long as my water doesn't break in the middle of VBS this week.  Or, worse, at Walmart.)  2. The date we pick for the induction doesn't work for the hospital or our doctor.

I will keep you posted on how things progress.  For now, I feel the need to rest and clean my entire house from top to bottom.  We'll see which urge wins out.

Weekend Recap

This weekend has felt busy, but for the life of me, I can't really put my finger on what we've done exactly.  Our bathroom shower had the unfortunate timing of totally springing a leak, throwing mold on our sheetrock and baseboards (it's been there for a long while, we just didn't know it until Keith tore into the wall) and breaking a couple of floor tiles.  So we spent the day on Saturday running all over to get all the supplies needed to fix this project once and for all.  Then Keith ran many experiments trying to pinpoint where the leak was coming from.  I think we finally found it this afternoon.  We now have 2 holes in the sheetrock next to the shower, 2 tiles that have been pulled up, and baseboards missing.  I told Keith that as long as our shower is useable once Cooper is born, that's all I care about.  I can overlook missing floor tiles and holes in the sheetrock.  I just don't want to be kicked out of my bathroom shower at that time.  I'm not enjoying using Garrett's bathroom for shower purposes at the moment, but hopefully that time has come to an end.  When Garrett first saw the holes in the wall, he asked Keith what happened and Keith said "Momma did it."  haha  So Garrett took that ball and ran with it.  He immediately came up with the following scenario: "Momma got mad and she punched a hole in the wall."  Wow, what does that say about me?  Thankfully when Keith's mom was here this week to watch Garrett for me while I worked at the church, he told her that "Daddy did it", when he showed her the holes in the wall.  So at least he spared me from sharing his story with everyone else.

This morning we went to church.  The sermon was awesome!  Then we went to Sunday school.  It turns out that my group had planned a little surprise party for me as it was my last day to teach SS in our preteen department.  Since I'm due in a couple of weeks, they've told me they want me to go ahead and enjoy sitting in on an adult class while I can do so without a newborn accompanying me.  After enjoying a cupcake, I was promptly kicked out and told to go join my husband for the remainder of the SS hour.  (And sent with a dozen cupcakes too!)

This afternoon was spent helping Keith to determine the shower leak's origination, along with finishing up some laundry.  Then we went to Home Depot to get a few more supplies (it feels like we live there sometimes) and ate supper at Spaghetti Warehouse.  Once we got home, Keith and Garrett played ball in the backyard, which was a lot of fun for both of them.  Now Garrett's in the tub, Keith's taking a break from shower repair, and I'm sitting here on the computer.  I'm really looking forward to my doctor's appointment tomorrow.  I've had quite a few sporadic contractions over the past several days, with several more today.  

I will leave you with a couple of pregnancy profile shots.  The first one was from last month and I'm finally getting around to posting it.  The second one was taken this afternoon.  Just to give my family an idea of what I'm currently looking like in my final days of pregnancy.  Not the most flattering of pictures, but I know I'll be glad we took these many years from now.

8 months pregnant

9 months pregnant

Update

•My trip to the doctor for my leg ended with her telling me it was infected.  Normally she would have lanced it, but she didn't think that was the best route since I'm a couple of weeks away from my due date and it's on my inner thigh.  She also figured that it would go away on its own, but, again, with the location, she knew I wanted it cleared up as soon as possible in case of an early delivery, so I'm on day 2 of 10 days worth of antibiotics.  Yes, they're pregnancy-safe.  And on a side-note, should you ever encounter a pregnant woman who is taking antibiotics for whatever reason (so long as they've been prescribed by her doctor of course) please don't immediately ask her if they're safe for pregnancy and whether or not that's the best route to go at this late in the game.  At some point we have to trust our doctors to know what's best for us and I really don't want to hear someone speculating that the fact that I'm taking antibiotics for an infection in my leg may not be safe for my unborn baby.  I'm doing my best to make the right decisions for both of us.  And it only irritates me beyond belief to have someone questioning those decisions.

•My baby shower luncheon on Sunday was lots of fun.  Keith and I have been members of the same Sunday school class since we first joined our church about 6 years ago.  For the past 2 years, I've been teaching Sunday school in our preteen department, but Keith has stayed in our class and I'll be rejoining him after Cooper's born.  The women in the class all went out to lunch on Sunday (On the Border!) and showered me with gifts and a fun, girls-only meal.  I got LOTS of diapers and cute outfits.  When I got home and showed Keith all the diapers we were given, he couldn't believe it.  

•Cooper's room is basically finished.  We still haven't painted the letters spelling his name and hung them on the wall, but that's all that's left.  I may go ahead and take pictures soon and get them posted before I'm too busy to do so.  Along with the room becoming a mess once he's here and actually living in there.  

•Monday is my next doctor's appointment and I'm excited to find out if I'm making any progress.  I've definitely been having contractions this week.  Yesterday I had 2 painful ones back to back.  Of course I was outside with Garrett, walking around the house, so I had to just stop and stand on the sidewalk until they went away.  We came inside pretty quickly after that.

•I got a letter in the mail this week saying that both my family doctor and Garrett's pediatrician are leaving their current practice.  To say I was upset was an understatement.  I've been seeing my family doctor for at least 5 years now and Garrett has seen the same pediatrician since he was born.  Of course I'm due in 2 weeks and will be needing a pediatrician soon after, so that letter sent me scrambling.  First thing I did was to post on Facebook, asking for pediatrician recommendations, which I got a couple, so that was nice.  Then I called our pediatrician's office to see if he was going to be staying in the area.  Of course the letter doesn't say where he's going, just that one of the other pedi's in the current practice would be happy to take care of us.  I don't want to see one of the other pedi's.  If we can't see our current one, then I'm going to switch to someone close by.  Anyway, it turns out that both my family doctor and the pediatrician are starting a pediatric clinic in a town not much further than where they're currently located.  The upside is that we won't have to switch pedi's.  The downside is that my family doctor is switching to pediatrics (I was specifically told her age limit was 25.  So basically "Buzz off old lady.") so I will have to find a new doctor for myself, but I would prefer that to a new pediatrician at the moment.  But I'm keeping the other ones that were recommended in the back of my mind in case this other office is further than I really want to drive.  Especially since you practically live in the pediatrician's office for the first year of baby's life.

•It's hard to believe that our days as a family of 3 are drawing to a close.  I'm excited about having the baby, but a little apprehensive about how it will change what we currently have going on.  I'm elated to be able to get up off the couch without a lot of grunting and straining however.  

Doctor's Appointment and a Trip to the Movies

I almost wasn't going to blog about today's doctor's appointment because seriously?  They're getting more and more monotonous and there's only so many times I can say "weight-normal, BP-normal, urine-normal, heartbeat-good.  The end."  Not that I'm not completely and totally, 100% thankful for having a normal pregnancy.  If nothing else, my trip to the hospital 8 weeks ago taught me to be thankful for it.  But now that I'm getting down to the wire I have to realize that this very well could have been my last doctor's appointment and then I would would beat myself up later for not having blogged about these minute details.  I'm extremely doubtful that I won't be seeing my doctor at least a couple more times during this pregnancy, but you just never know.  

I should have gone to the doctor on Monday, but seeing as how it was Memorial Day, the appointment ended up being today instead.  As I said, everything was good, Garrett went with me, probably for the last time.  At each appointment, my doctor asks me if I have any questions and I seriously cannot think of anything to ask.  I feel like I should have a list of questions, but I honestly don't.  We've already discussed the issues that I've wondered about and, at this point, any other question I might consider asking would just result in him guessing as to the answer.  Of course he has no idea if I'm going to go into labor early or how much the baby will weigh.  It would just be speculation on his part, so I don't bother asking.  Though today I did ask him, once he starts doing internal exams (which could be at my next appointment), would he want to induce me if I was showing progress.  When I was pregnant with Garrett, at my 39 week appointment I was dilated 3 cm and we scheduled my induction for the following week.  I was curious if something similar would happen this go around.  And he basically answered yes.  He did say the hospital does not encourage inductions before 39 weeks if you're not dilating, which I wouldn't want to be induced if I wasn't making some sort of progress on my own, so that's not a problem.  But he did say if he checked me and I was 4 cm, he would send me to L & D and get things started.  Though I would probably request to go to the hospital the following morning rather than heading straight there from his office.  

So that was basically my doctor's appointment.  At the next one, I will be exactly 38 weeks, so I feel pretty sure that will begin the internal exams because I know that's when I had my first one when I was pregnant with Garrett.  I know us women usually avoid being examined internally at all costs, but at this point in a pregnancy, it will be a welcome examination.  Weird, I know.  I have been having the occasional contraction combined with the usual Braxton Hicks contractions but nothing painful or consistent.  They do take my breath away, but not because they're painful.  It's hard to describe.  The way everyone outside of my family talks, they're all expecting me to go into labor anytime now.  I don't think it will happen early, but that's just my take on it.  

After the appointment, Garrett and I went to see "Up", the new Disney Pixar movie that came out today.  I felt bad because Garrett missed his last day of school which is Splash Day where the kids get to play in wading pools and slip n slides, but I knew I couldn't handle sitting outside for all of that unless I was allowed to sit in one of the pools and that probably wasn't going to happen.  We went to the very first showing at our local AMC theater, got a bucket of popcorn and a large Coke to share.  It's so nice that he's almost 4, I don't feel quite the guilt of allowing my almost 4 year old to drink Coke, as I would a 2 year old.  I was surprised by the number of people at the movie at 10:00 am on a Friday when school hasn't let out for the summer.  And there was only 2 other preschool kids in the whole group, the rest were teenagers and adults, which I found odd because if I had a choice, I would have seen something not animated.  

I didn't know anything about this movie beforehand and the little that I had seen about it, it looked strange, but I figured it would be the better choice between it and "Night At The Museum 2", though I'm sure Garrett would like that one too, he liked the first one.  I won't give anything away about the story, but I will say I was not prepared for it and there were several moments that caused me to tear up and a couple of others that I was outright crying and trying not to make any noise and be the weird lady crying during a cartoon movie.  I would love to hear from the rest of you once you've seen it to see if it was just my crazy hormones causing me to cry or if it really did have moments of sadness.  I will definitely confess to the hormones being a little crazy right now.  I just finished a book that caused me to cry many times and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt those parts were not sad in the least.  

Garrett Stuff

It's so frustrating when something happens that I would like nothing more than to blog about it, but if there's even the slightest chance that the other person would read this, then I just can't do it.  I don't think this person even knows I have a blog, much less reads it, but I still can't do it.  I'll just say it's in regards to breastfeeding and leave it at that.  And all (2) of the men who read my blog are breathing a big sigh of relief.  But I promise it's more about the breastfeeding vs. bottlefeeding debate than anything else. OK, I'm done.

And since I'm posting a blog, I just have to share something funny that Garrett did yesterday.  We were outside and he was drawing on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.  He drew a family portrait and narrated for me as he drew.

"This is Daddy.  He's a big giant."  And he drew a very tall stick person.

"This is Momma.  She's so cute."  haha  I know the only reason why he said that is because Keith randomly asks Garrett "Isn't Momma cute?"  

"This is Cooper.  He is teeny tiny."  And he drew a dot.

"This is Garrett.  He's a big boy."  And he drew a short stick person next to my average-looking stick figure.  I tried to take a picture with the camera phone, but the drawing was half in the shade, half in the sun and I haven't thought to take another one until this moment.  

Yesterday I installed the infant car seat in the SUV and Garrett immediately told me I had done it all wrong because it was facing the wrong way.  I explained that babies face the back of the car and big boys face the front.  But he still thinks I did it wrong.  Nothing like being told how to do something by a 3 year old.

Baby Shower #2

I almost don't want to post this and I wouldn't if it weren't for the fact that I want it documented for myself and I know my mom will want to read about it.  

This afternoon was our baby shower at Keith's office.  These people absolutely spoil us rotten.  They did it when we got married, they did it again when we were expecting Garrett, and they've done it yet again with Cooper.  Keith has worked for the same CPA firm for the past 10 years and knows pretty much everyone.  While he's probably not the easiest person to work with (total speculation on my part), he's definitely a hard worker and pulls much more than his share of the load.  I know he's also pretty patient with his staff and does his best to train them well so they can do a good job.  I say all of this to say that seeing everything we were given yet again, they obviously do care about him.  That's always really cool to learn about your husband and his coworkers.  

A few weeks ago, Keith told me that I needed to go do a baby registry because the women doing a baby shower for us wanted one.  I really didn't want to do one.  I felt odd seeing as how we already have one child.  But she insisted, so I sucked up my pride and headed to Babies R Us.  I only registered for about 30 things, mostly items that we borrowed from my sister and sister in law when we had Garrett and were going to have to buy at some point because we won't be able to borrow them this time.  I did not expect to get even half of the items off the registry, even though they bought us a ton of stuff when we were expecting Garrett, I just wasn't expecting that much for boy #2.  

I obviously set my expectations really low.  I probably have about 5 items left on my registry after this baby shower.  Seriously, they almost completely bought us everything we registered for.  The way his office does baby showers is that all the employees who are interested contribute money to one pot and then the hostess/hostesses go out and buy as much as they can with the money contributed.  Occasionally there will be a few people who will buy items on their own, and we had 2 people at today's shower who had purchased their own gifts to give us, both of which were personalized and so awesome and sweet.

So a quick rundown of the shower.  I hope this doesn't come across as bragging or whatever the case may be.  I'm just seriously in shock from their generosity.  The cake was very cute, it was a bunch of cupcakes that were all iced to look like the sky with a stork on it and Cooper's name across the top.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, our digital camera totally died on us, so I only took a couple of pictures with the cell phone, one was not of the cake.  But I know at least one digital camera was present at the shower, so hopefully they will share their pictures.  We also had yummy punch.  Garrett inhaled his cupcake and punch and was chomping at the bit to start opening presents.  I had explained to him what kind of presents we would be opening, so he was prepared for the fact that nothing would be overly exciting for him, he was just thrilled to be able to open presents.  The first one that he opened was a package of diapers and he said "Yay diapers!"  He was genuinely excited, so that was a good sign.  The drawback to having your 3 year old help you open shower gifts is that it only takes about 5 minutes because he tore into them like it was Christmas morning.  Keith and I kept trying to slow him down without evoking a huge tantrum, but that didn't really work.  I just methodically made my way through each gift in order to show it to everyone as well as express my appreciation for each item.  But I think we were done opening presents in 15 minutes or less and there was a lot of presents to be opened.  

The rundown of gifts included:

a baby bath tub

a bouncer chair

an exersaucer

3 packages of diapers

a big box of wipes

many pacifiers

bibs

burp rags

a baby monitor

a backpack carrier where you can carry the baby in front of you or behind you

a boppy pillow

sippy cups

a couple of outfits

an Elmo hooded towel (so cute!)

2 crib sheets

a handmade baby quilt with a baby pillow that has "Cooper" embroidered on it!  Totally awesome

a diaper bag with "Cooper" monogrammed on it-also awesome!

a $50 gift card

I hope I'm not forgetting anything.  I really was surprised and so thankful for all the gifts and the fun time we had seeing Keith's coworkers.  Garrett hadn't been to his office in a couple of years, so it was like a brand new place to him.  Keith's office has one wall that is entirely floor to ceiling windows that look over the plaza where there are a lot of shops and restaurants and an ice skating rink.  I stay far away from these windows, but Garrett apparently has not inherited my fear of heights because he immediately went right up to the windows and pressed his forehead to them in order to look directly down the 11 stories.  It makes my stomach churn just thinking about it.  He said he wanted to jump into the pool (ice skating rink.  It looks like a pool from that high.)  Keith's boss's office has the same view except he also has a door that opens onto a balcony that overlooks the same area.  Thankfully he did not let Garrett go out there because that boy would have given me a heart attack.

Unfortunately Keith had to stay at work after the shower because he's swamped with the current project he's working on, but he helped wheel all the gifts on a big cart from their office down to our SUV.  I waited at the curb with the gifts while he brought the vehicle down from the parking garage (city life is just so different than what I'm used to).  Once Garrett goes to bed, I'm going to take some time sort through all the gifts and catalog them all in Cooper's baby book.  I brought a notebook to the shower in order to write down all the gifts and their givers, but seeing as how the majority of the gifts were from the group, it will be easy to sort through everything for thank you notes.  

If by some random chance, one of Keith's coworkers is reading this, thank you so very much for your generosity!  You have no idea how much it means to us and we really are appreciative.  And I promise I'll get that thank you note in the mail to you ASAP.  

My All-Time Favorite Blog Format: The List

• I decided on going the Bath & Body Works route for my shower hostess gifts.  It was too hard trying to come up with something specific for each lady and I don't even know the women Keith works with.  So I picked them all up a gift package from B&BW on Thursday.  I also bought Garrett's teacher a gift for putting up with him all year.  She'll probably have him next year too, so I want her year to end on the best possible note.
• Cooper's room is almost finished!  I only have one more wall to hang things on and the items to be hung either need to be painted or are still in a container in the attic.  I also have a trash bag in there full of things that need to be hauled to Goodwill.  Then I want to buy a cushion for a straight-back chair that I have in the corner of the room and I'm trying to find a small area rug to cover up some spots on the carpet that Garrett lovingly contributed to the room during his 3 year stay.  Once all that is finished, I just need to put the sheet on the crib and tie the bumper pad around the edge.  I promise I'll take pictures when everything is complete.
• For the past several months, Keith and I have been increasingly frustrated with our cell phones.  They're going on 2 years old and the batteries are shot.  We could only talk for maybe 10 minutes at a time before we needed to charge them again.  So today we headed to the AT&T store to check out new phones.  It's always fun to get a new cell phone and I'm really enjoying mine so far.  Keith said he was afraid I would go into labor and not be able to reach him because his phone battery was dead.  So hopefully that won't happen now.  
• I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that as of today, I only have 30 days until my due date.  So in 30 days or less I will be the mom to not one, but two boys.  I do consider myself as already having 2 kids, but it's pretty easy to take care of them when one is inside my belly.  Garrett asked me the other day how Cooper gets a drink in there.  The easiest way for me to explain that was just to say that anything I drink, Cooper gets to drink.  It's hard to explain concepts like that to a 3 year old.  I'm really hoping I don't get the question "How did Cooper get out of your belly?" once he's born.  

(One of) My favorite part about pregnancy: Nesting

My "to-do" list has shrunk considerably in the past week.  I'm not sure why I've felt so productive, but it has really paid off in getting things accomplished that needing doing before bringing home a new baby.  Just this morning, while Garrett was off to VBS, I got much needed groceries, which included things needed to pack my hospital bag, and once I finished putting away the groceries, I got started packing our bags for the hospital.  I know I still have about 4 and a half weeks until my due date, but on Sunday, at my baby shower, my friend Shari (who is also a doctor) kept making little comments here and there about going into labor early.  I don't know if she has a second sense about these things, or what, but she had me itching to get these last few things accomplished just in case.  

So in the past month I have: completely reorganized the cabinets in both of our bathrooms, the cabinets in our laundry room, the spice/medicine cabinet in the kitchen, the linen closet (where we keep exactly no linens, but rather games, puzzles, craft supplies, office supplies, miscellaneous junk), my closet and Keith's closet, and I can now cross off my list "pack hospital bags".  I'm not counting the work that's been done in Garrett's room, and Cooper's room is still a work in progress.  Though I do have his closet somewhat organized, the crib is put together, the curtain is hung, and I have some of the baby clothes sorted into size piles.  

Next on the agenda is to thoroughly vacuum Cooper's room, move all the furniture, hang everything on the walls, wash his clothes, then pack his diaper bag for the hospital.  Assuming I don't go into labor early, I plan to give each room in the house a thorough cleaning in the last couple of weeks leading up to my due date (and my mom's visit.  Not that she cares about the state of my house, but I still don't want her showing up and immediately getting to work on cleaning.  Garrett has lots of plans for her as it is.  They involve going to the beach-yeah, I need to explain to him that isn't going to happen-, watching movies, eating popcorn, and going to McDonald's where he'll actually be allowed to play inside rather than going through the drive thru like I prefer.)  

That's basically where things stand right now.  It's hard to believe that as of this Friday, I will be exactly one month away from my due date.  I'm continuously trying to look ahead to see if I can predict what I will need to buy or take care of after Cooper's born, so that I can attempt to do those things ahead of time.  Does that make me sound a little crazy?  I've already bought part of Garrett's birthday presents, along with all the birthday party supplies and his birthday isn't until August.  (By the way, Garrett has seen one of the presents already because I have it in the top of my closet and he asks about it regularly.  Where do you parents hide presents?  My spot used to be in our guest room closet, but that doesn't exist anymore.)  The only other thing I'm drawing a blank on, is what to buy Keith for his birthday, which is in July.  I've used up my good ideas for Father's Day, so I'm not sure what we'll do when July rolls around.  Maybe something will come to me in the next few weeks.

And Baby Makes 3

As I get ever closer to my due date, I've been thinking back on my pregnancy and the birth of Garrett.  So in order to keep my 2 pregnancies and labor experiences separate, I thought I would jot down what I remember from Garrett before I go through labor and delivery again and start confusing what happened with which child.  While I have no plans of being overly detailed with this post, I do want to give you the opportunity to exit out before I get started if labor and delivery "stuff" isn't your thing.  

My pregnancy with Garrett was pretty similar to this one.  I found out I was pregnant about a week before Christmas in 2004.  I have exact dates for all of this written down in a "What to Expect When You're Expecting" calendar, so I'm not going to drag that out to remember.  With Garrett, we were not quite to the point of being ready to have a baby when the second line showed up on that test.  We were both a little surprised, to say the least.  I cried, mostly because I didn't know how Keith was going to respond when I told him.  So I waited for him to get home from work, we ate supper, and then I sprang the news on him.  He looked at me in shock for a few minutes and didn't say much for the rest of the evening.  It took awhile, but we both adjusted to the idea and got excited about having a baby.  I only had one bout of morning sickness, beyond the random moments of nausea, and for the most part had an easy pregnancy. 

I taught school throughout the majority of my pregnancy.  Months 7 and 8 were during my summer break, so I was able to spend that time finishing up Garrett's room and doing a lot of relaxing and soaking in the cool air.  I do remember constantly feeling hot when I was pregnant with him, which could have had something to do with the fact that he was born in August, the absolute hottest time of the year in Texas.  My brother got married in south Texas about 8 weeks before Garrett was due and I know I froze Keith to death on the drive down and back for the wedding, and that's no small feat.  

3 weeks before my due date, I had to start the new school year.  I walked into my classroom for the first time after being gone for 2 months to discover all the furniture had been moved around and (worst of all) there was no a/c!  In August!  For some reason, the a/c was out in my room and the room next to me for the entire 3 weeks until I left for maternity leave.  I think I had 3 or 4 fans in there to try and make things bearable.  The most fun though was moving all my furniture back to where it belonged.  I wasn't worried about going into labor while moving everything because I was ready to be on maternity leave, but let's just say it was interesting trying to move a 4 drawer filing cabinet across my classroom while being 9 months pregnant. I was able to get my substitute set up and ready to start the year off for me and then my maternity leave started.  I remember going to my last doctor's appointment on my first day of maternity leave and telling him that I was so ready to be done.  Turns out I was dilated to 3 cm already so he said he would induce me the following Monday.  

My family was only 5 hours away at this time, so they drove up that weekend.  Monday morning, Keith, my mom, and I left our house between 5 and 5:30 am because I had been told to be there by 6 am.  At 8 am, my doctor came to the delivery room and broke my water.  Initially I had very mild, inconsistent contractions, so at 10 am I was started on pitocin.  Once this got in my system I was definitely feeling uncomfortable.  My doctor came back to check me at noon and I remember thinking to myself "If I'm 7 cm or more, I'm going to try to do this without an epidural."  I was 6 cm.  So I told the doctor to bring in the anesthesiologist.  Keith left at this point to go to lunch.  He had no desire to be in there while I was getting the epidural and I didn't want him in there.  My mom stayed and helped me to breathe through the contractions while the epidural was being put into place.  I made sure that, while I couldn't feel my legs, I could still move them.  I didn't want too much of an epidural, just enough to keep me comfortable.  By this point, I had visitors who wouldn't have dared come in the delivery room pre-epidural, but now felt comfortable enough that I wouldn't take a swing at them since I was medicated.  Throughout the afternoon, when my doctor would come in to check on me, he would say "This baby has a big head!"  And I would say "You're scaring me" to which he would respond "You're scaring me!"  

The further along that I got, the worse I felt.  First, I had to throw up.  It came on me all of the sudden and my mom was just barely able to shove a bed pan in my face before it happened.  Then, after an exam, I began feeling very light headed.  I told the nurse I thought I was going to pass out, so she brought out an oxygen mask and made me lay on my right side.  At this point, Garrett's heartrate was starting to drop, so they moved me around until I was in a position that kept his heartrate at a level that looked good.  5:30 pm rolled around and the nurse came back in to check me.  She said it was time to start pushing, but we were going to do some practice pushes so I could get a feel for it.  Once she felt like I was ready to push for real, she called the doctor and started disassembling the room.  Atleast it felt that way, lights pop out of the ceiling, the bed is broken down to be in a better position for delivering a baby, all sorts of equipment and people showed up to take over with the baby once he was born.  My doctor showed up with someone he was training and I started pushing.  I remember hearing my mom say "I see his head!" and a few more pushes later he was born at 6:30 pm.  The cord was wrapped around his neck twice which explained why his heartrate was dropping earlier.  He also had a conehead and a lot of bruising on his scalp, so the doctor wasn't kidding when he had commented on the size of his head.  

The rest of our hospital stay was relatively uneventful.  Garrett had jaundice so we ended up staying in the hospital for an extra day so he could spend time until the lights to try and bring down his levels.  Since we went home over Labor Day weekend, which means that our doctor's office was closed, we had to go back to the hospital every day to have his jaundice levels checked.  It was NOT fun holding down a newborn to get his heel pricked.  

It took us awhile to get into a good routine once we had him.  I never knew how much of an adjustment it would be to have a baby.  Now I feel like I'm a little better prepared for Cooper, simply because I've gone through this once.  I know there will be plenty of other new and different experiences with him that will still take time to adjust to, but atleast I now have an idea of what it will be like.  I have to say that I'm more than ready to move on to this next phase and it will be here before I realize it.

Doctor's Appointment Number 1000, I think. Does that sound right?

Of all the days to have a doctor's appointment, mine would be today.  The day when it's pouring down rain outside, accompanied with lightning, thunder, and high winds.  Fun!  I'm always hoping to drive in that kind of weather.  Thankfully I had already arranged for Keith to go in late to work so he can stay home with Garrett this morning, so it was just me out enjoying the hydroplaning and flooding rain.  Since Keith was home, I drove his truck rather than my SUV.  I always feel like I'm driving a tank when I'm in his truck, even though it certainly isn't the biggest truck on the road, it just has that tank-like feeling.  Because I have all kinds of experience driving tanks, as you all know.  It is 4 wheel drive though, which could come in handy with all the rain and wind and such.

Anyway, I managed to make my way to the doctor's office without incident, enjoyed walking through the parking lot, soaking my feet with every step.  I wore capris and flip flops because I hate having the hem of my jeans get wet and I don't own any waterproof shoes so I might as well just let my feet get wet from the get go.  I had barely sat down in the waiting room, when the nurse called my name at the door.  I always feel bad when that happens because there were at least 3 other women in the waiting room who were already there when I got there and I was already being called back.  Thankfully none of them tried to trip me as I walked out.

I did the usual pee in a cup, blood pressure, weight check and then went to the exam room.  Since Garrett wasn't with me, I was able to ask (and remembered!) all my questions that I've had recently.  One was about getting my tubes tied vs. having this new procedure done called Essure which is also a new form of permanent sterilization for women.  I asked my doctor which one he would recommend for his wife and he said "I would stay out of her way and let her make her own decision."  ha ha  Good one.  I think I've decided on the tubal, but I still have a few more weeks to nail that down.  I also asked about the swine flu and whether or not it was something I should be worried about.  He said, in his opinion, there will be quite a few cases that will come from this, but he doesn't see it spreading into the epidemic/pandemic proportions like a lot of the media is making it out to be.  The frustrating part of this is that we just got done with flu season and now we're supposed to stay on the look out for this swine flu.  

On my way home, the rain had let up some so I was able to actually listen to the radio.  Right in the middle of the morning show I was listening to, the Emergency Alert System started in with their buzzes.  (Isn't there a better sound they could use for this?  Something equally attention getting, but less annoying?)  After the buzzing, they said that there was a tornado warning for my county.  Lovely!  So the rest of the drive home was spent watching out for funnel clouds.  

Thankfully I made it home in one piece.  Now we're spending the day catching up on laundry and trying not to make too big of a mess while we're stuck inside all day.  Not easy to do when finger paints are involved, but we'll do our best.

This and That

Today was Garrett's return trip to the dentist to fill his 2 cavities.  At the last visit, no one told me how the process for filling cavities in a 3 year old would go, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  But the hygienist came out and called for Garrett, then she told me that I could stay in the waiting room and he would go on back with her.  They would give him nitrous (aka laughing gas) to numb him and then get his teeth filled.  I'm not really sure how an inhaled gas actually numbs your gums, but maybe it makes you loopy enough to not care if you're in a little pain.  I don't know, I've only had the big needle of Novacain shoved into my gums.  That just seems like the sensible way to do it.  But I never heard any screams during the 30 minutes or so that he spent in the back, so I guess it worked.  The hygienist came out to let me know that Garrett was done and she raved about how well he did and what a good patient he was, etc.  Of course he then turned off the good behavior and refused to leave the waiting room with me.  He wanted to stay (and who wouldn't, he was in the middle of watching "Bolt" when they finished the fillings).  I tried explaining to him that there was nothing more for us to do there, but he was having nothing to do with any sort of rational thoughts, so that meant I had to resort to physically picking him up and carrying him to the car while he screamed.  So much for being the good patient.  (And don't tell Keith.  He doesn't want me carrying Garrett around right now.  But, honestly, what else was I supposed to do, except stand there until I wore him down.  Or spanked him.)  And fyi, laughing gas does not make my child funny or even remotely so.  He spent the rest of the day being grouchy and irritable.  

Switching gears.

Lately I'm feeling every bit of the 30 years attributed to me on my last birthday.  I know being pregnant has everything to do with it.  But seriously, if what I'm feeling is how I'll be feeling when I'm 70, yikes!  I'm sorry to both my grandmas if you're feeling the aches and pains that I am.  (Which obviously are not accompanied by internal punches and kicks.  Atleast, I hope they aren't.)  I think every joint and muscle in my body has hurt in the last few months.  And while Cooper isn't the active baby Garrett was, he more than makes up for it by making every movement as painful as possible.  On Sunday and again today, he has been doing something that hurts nearly as much as a contraction.  I haven't figured out what he's doing exactly, but I'm more than ready for him to knock it off.  Thankfully laying down and moving from one side to the other seems to stop him.  But that's not an option when you're driving down I30 when he decides to do whatever it is he's doing.  I feel bad that I'm not enjoying my last pregnancy as much as I should be, but I really am ready to move on to the next stage.  I know that will involve a lack of sleep, but I'm already dealing with that now, so I might as well have some company.

Garrett's room is thisclose to being finished.  We have 3 more things to hang on the wall and then Keith and I have to decide if we want to rehang the wooden letters that spell his name.  I spent the afternoon earlier this week repainting those letters and Keith was not too thrilled with my painting expertise.  To quote him "These will never be dry!  How much paint did you use, exactly?"  He's threatened to dunk them in paint stripper and redo them, but I told him that Garrett's room does not need to have his name in it.  So I'm not sure if these will end up in the trash or if they'll get redone by the "pro" and hung up at that point.  But he did threaten me with bodily harm if I even attempted to paint the letters for Cooper's room.  (Not really, but I know he wouldn't be happy with me if I tried it.)  So as soon as all of this is done, I promise to post pictures of the completed room.  Of course once Cooper's room is done, I'll post pictures of it also.  But we still have a drop cloth and a ladder in there, so, even though the painting is done, it may still be awhile before the furniture makes it way in there and things get hung on the walls.

To finish this, I wanted to share the music video for a song that I'm really enjoying (aka crying with) right now.  If you listen to country music or live in Texas where you can't avoid country music, you've probably heard the song already.  But for the rest of you, the song is called "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and the singer is Darius Rucker (aka Hootie from Hootie and the Blowfish.  Yes, he is now a country singer and a good one at that.)  

Where my blog completely becomes a journal of pregnancy...

My doctor's appointment yesterday wasn't very exciting.  Which is good, we've had enough excitement.  My weight was up a half a pound, which could be attributed to the fact that I didn't take my shoes off this time, plus I had my cell phone and keys in my pocket, all of which go completely against the code of stepping on the scales.  But I figured since I'm down 16 pounds (now 15.5), I wasn't that concerned about what the scales said.  

The rest of the exam went quickly and smoothly.  Everything was fine, the doctor was not concerned about my bleeding from last week.  He said that sometimes that happens and there isn't an explanation.  So long as it doesn't happen again, then everything is just fine.  I am supposed to continue to take it easy, but no bed rest or anything along those lines.  I told him that Keith was ready to put me on bed rest, but he said that would involve more stress than it's worth at this point, since I'm mostly a stay at home mom.  And he's absolutely right, so I'm thankful he's the doctor and Keith isn't.  :)

Normally when I go to the doctor, I also include a little shopping, mostly because my doctor's office is close to the mall and other stores I like to go to and since we're a good 30 minutes from all that, it's a good idea to combine my trips.  But I have told my husband that I would take it easy and I doubt shopping with a 3 year old would fit in that category, so we just came home.  

I can hardly believe I have 10 weeks left to go.  (Maybe even less than that...)  Keith has Cooper's room all prepped to be painted as soon as he gets a chance, so once that's done, it's just a matter of rehanging everything on the walls and setting up the crib.  We also have some baby equipment in the attic that needs to come down and get a good cleaning.  And then clothes to wash.  It's nice to know the end is near in my preparations.  I do have a few things to buy at Babies R Us and Target, but I'm waiting until the room is ready so I'll have a place to put everything.  My friend, Shari, that I teach Sunday school with, has asked about doing a baby shower for me with the 5th and 6th grade girls one Sunday.  I think that will be a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to it.  It's been fun having the girls ask me the occasional question about the baby and how I'm feeling.  I have a set of twins in my class who are very excited that Cooper is due on their birthday.  I haven't told them that the chances of him actually being born on his due date are pretty slim, I'm just enjoying their excitement for now.  

I will post some Easter pictures at some point, though most everyone has already seen them on Facebook.  I've also finally organized all my pictures from the past 4 months and ordered prints of them.  I need to stay caught up with that between now and June because I am going to attempt to take a good number of pictures once Cooper's born and during the few months after that.  I'm trying to keep things even between the 2 boys, though I know I won't be completely successful.  Keith is bitter that there are very few pictures of him as a baby since he is the second born.  (Well, not bitter, but you know...)  So we're going to attempt equality as best as we can.  And all you parents with more than one child can start laughing now.

Our Trip to the Hospital

I know the majority of the people who read this blog already know what's gone on with me this week.  But since I use this blog as a sort of journal as well, I wanted to go ahead and document it for myself.

This past Tuesday was a pretty normal day for me.  I worked for a short time in the church office after I dropped Garrett off at MDO.  I left earlier than usual because I had several errands that I needed to run that would go much smoother without my 3 year old companion.  So I headed for our local outlet mall to find Garrett a shirt to wear for Easter.  I only went to Gap because Old Navy doesn't typically have shirts that I would want for Easter Sunday.  I was a little disappointed in our Gap outlet's selection, but I went with a yellow polo shirt and I also bought Garrett and Cooper matching Gap t-shirts for photo opps later this summer.  Then I headed to Walmart to do my grocery shopping and buy Garrett some things for his Easter basket.  After that I picked up Chick Fila for lunch, stopped by the bank then came home to put away groceries, eat, and then pay bills.  I left a little early to pick Garrett up for MDO, but first swung by the post office and library.  Once Garrett and I came home, we vegged for a few hours before I put supper together and did a little cleaning.  When Keith got home, we ate, then watched American Idol and put Garrett to bed.  I spent a little time on the computer and then went to take a shower.  I was feeling tired and ready to go to bed a little early.  

When I got out of the shower was when the excitement began.  (I will keep this from being too detailed because I'm sure I won't forget.)  I was getting dressed when I realized I had blood on my leg.  Of course my first thought was that I hadn't shaved my legs so that was strange, but once I got to really examining myself, I discovered that the blood did not originate on my leg, but much higher, not something a pregnant woman wants to see.  It was much more than the amount equivalent to spotting.  I would equate it to the very heaviest day of a period, but really even more than that, because I've not experienced anything like this in my 30 years of being a female.  (Maybe after giving birth to Garrett.)  I called Keith to the bathroom because I honestly wanted to be sure that I wasn't just seeing things.  I think we were both a little in shock, he told me to call my doctor, so I walked through the house to find my cell phone.  Keith followed me and then I saw him from the corner of my eye where he was kneeling in front of our couch. I didn't want to think about the prayer that he was praying at that moment because I knew I needed to keep myself together in order to talk to the doctor.  I left a message with his answering service, and then lay down on our bed.  The main thought that was running through my mind at this moment was that I hadn't felt Cooper moving much that day.  Earlier in the day, I had thought he seemed more quiet than usual and I should do a "kick count" later, but then I never did it.  So to be honest, at this point I really didn't think he was alive.  He wasn't moving, even after I got still.  The doctor called me within 10 minutes and as soon as I explained what was going on, he told me to head to labor and delivery of our hospital and he would call ahead to let them know I was coming.  

Keith got Garrett out of bed while I got dressed.  I grabbed a towel to sit on in the car along with Garrett's shoes and Keith grabbed the cell phone charger.  Thank goodness we both use the same kind of cell phone because we were able to keep both of our phones charged when we were at the hospital.  Garrett was not happy to be woken up from a deep sleep, nor was he thrilled when Keith strapped him in his carseat.  I explained to him that Momma needed to go to the doctor.  Once we got onto the highway and Keith started speeding, Garrett was very happy to be witnessing this.  He said "Daddy, go faster!"  Keith was driving very safely, but very fast, at some points he hit 100 mph and the governor on our SUV would kick in.  I called my parents to let them know that we were headed for the hospital (I had already called them earlier to tell them what was going on and to please pray for us.)  Keith called his parents to let them know, then I called Steve to ask him to pray for us too.  He's a good friend as well as the associate pastor at our church (and a coworker).  He went one step further and prayed with me on the phone and then told me he and his wife were coming to the hospital to meet us and they could take Garrett home for us if we needed them to.  Keith was also on the phone with his friend and coworker (actually boss) who also said he was headed to the hospital to pick up Garrett.  So we had plenty of people able and willing to take Garrett home with them.  I told Keith that this was the time when it sucks (yes, sucks) to not live close to family, but when your friends step up like this to take care of your child, that helps make it not suck so much.  About halfway to the hospital, we passed a cop (Keith had the flashers on to indicate an emergency) and the cop didn't even look at us, let alone flash his lights.  We didn't really say much on the drive once our phone calls had been made, I think we were both busy praying.  

The past several weeks, Keith had been saying that we needed to make a practice run to the hospital.  We hadn't been there since Garrett was born almost 4 years ago.  We do have a GPS, but it wasn't in our SUV at that moment, and that wouldn't have helped to find the building where labor and delivery is located.  This hospital is a really big one in downtown Dallas.  So after a few turns around a couple of different blocks, we found the big, red, metal sculpture that marks the entrance we needed to use.  When we had Garrett, I was induced, so we were able to park calmly in the parking garage and walk in, never needing to use the short term parking available right at the entrance.  Tuesday night was the exception to this and thankfully there was one space open when we pulled up.  I checked in and they gave Keith a "husband" sticker and Garrett a "big brother" sticker.  They also made me weigh, which I wasn't thrilled about but Keith moved where he couldn't see the number.  I have never wanted him to know how much I weigh, it's a weird quirk of mine.  (And yes, I know that's very trivial considering what we were dealing with and I never would have made it an issue, it was just a thought that crossed my mind at that moment.)  The nurse showed us to my room, I changed into a lovely, backless gown, then got into the bed.  When she was helping me position the sheet, I apologized to her for the blood that was dried on my legs.  Obviously I had not taken the time to clean myself off.  But she didn't care in the least.   She immediately placed the baby's monitor on my stomach and very quickly found his heartbeat.  You have no idea the relief that went through my mind at that moment.  Atleast for the time being, his heart was still beating, so that meant I could still have hope that things were going to be ok.  She went through the never-ending, ridiculous checklist that the hospital does.  She did reassure me that I wouldn't have to answer those questions again when I came back to deliver in June.  Then she came to the dreaded question, weight.  She wasn't the one who had weighed me when I checked in, so I had to say the number for my husband to hear.  I know he doesn't care, but it was so hard to spit it out.  (And yes, he weighs considerably more than I do, but I still have never wanted him to know.)  

The nurse then started an iv port "just in case" and drew blood for lab work.  At this point, Keith and Garrett weren't in the room, but during the time they were in there with me, Garrett was great.  He sat in Keith's lap or in the other chair in the room.  And he would occasionally get up and walk over to the nurse to tell her a random story.  She thought he was hilarious and cute.  Every time he and Keith left the room, he would walk over to me, kiss my hand, tell me he loved me and he would be right back.  It was very sweet.  

During one of those times when they were out of the room, the resident doctor showed up to do an ultrasound and internal exam.  Cooper looked great, much to my relief.  He was head down (which was not the case at my last ultrasound), practicing his breathing, and looking very healthy and fine.  The doctor also said that my placenta looked fine (but it's not in the "typical" position, which is why I don't feel Cooper move much, the placenta acts like a buffer between his movements and my ability to feel them very well.  But this is not the reason behind the bleeding and it's also not a problem, just different than the norm.)  The fluid levels looked good, everything on the ultrasound looked great and it showed nothing wrong.  The doctor then did an internal exam to make sure I hadn't started dilating, which I hadn't.  So she explained the various things she was looking for and that she had ruled all of those things out as the possible reasons behind the bleeding.  Now we were going to wait for the lab work to come back and see if that indicated anything.  

Our friends all showed up around the same time and Keith sent Garrett home with his friend John.  He came back to let me know that Steve and Joy were outside along with our pastor, Brent, and his wife, Julie.  At this point, we were just waiting, so I told him to bring them on back.  It was very nice to see them.  Our pastor prayed for us and we visited with them for a bit.  Joy had brought a bag of snacks in case we needed them to take Garrett home, so she left them for us, which was so nice.  They left about midnight and we settled in for the fun time of waiting.  Throughout all this time, the monitor on my stomach was tracking Cooper's heart rate.  According to the nurse, it looked "beautiful".  He also decided it was time to be super active, so he was all over the place making my stomach move every which way.  I did have a couple of contractions, which showed up on the monitor, but neither one was painful, and the nurse assumed they were stress related.  Keith pulled out the "bed" chair and we both laughed at how ridiculous he looked at trying to lay down in it.  He was like "they really expect dads to be able to sleep like this?"  I felt so sorry for him.  He hadn't even changed out of his work clothes when all this happened, so there he sat in my hospital room wearing khaki pants, a dress shirt, and dress shoes.  He promised me he was comfortable, but I told him that if we were there for the birth, I would have sent him home to change (assuming it was still going to be awhile.)  I guess it's time to pack my hospital bags and include a change of clothes for him, just in case.  

Finally at about 2:30, the nurse came back in and said all the lab results were back except one, and all of them looked just fine.  She said that sometimes this happens without there being any reason for it that they can find.  But they had ruled out the bad things, so that was the most important part.  About 15 minutes later, the doctor came in and said the last result had come in and it also was fine.  She said the only things she could guess that might have caused this much bleeding would either be a broken blood vessel or a very small tear in the placenta.  She told me to go home and take it easy for a few days in order for everything to heal, if necessary.  So we signed all the paperwork, I changed clothes, and we left.  We were both very thankful to know that everything was ok.  

The past couple of days, I've spent the majority of my time sitting or laying on the couch.  Keith has been very insistent that I not do anything.  But I'm taking it easy and going slow.  I haven't had even the least bit of spotting.  I will be seeing my doctor on Monday for a check up, but I did talk to his nurse yesterday who repeated what the resident told me.  Just to take it easy.  

So that's pretty much where things are at right now.  As far as I can tell, I'll be pregnant for the next 11 weeks, just as I should be.  But regardless of what happens, God already knows the situation and it's just up to me to trust Him.  That's easier said than done, but I'm working on it.

(Yet Another) Baby Appointment

Are you tired of reading my doctor appointment recaps yet? Well, get nice and comfy because they're about to start coming more frequently. Yes, I have now reached the point where I have to start going to the doctor every 2 weeks. It's hard to believe I'm that far along already.

Today's appointment found me accompanied by my small, 3 1/2 year old companion. He hasn't been to the past 2 appointments, so he was more than ready to join me today. We had the talk about sitting quietly and I grabbed a couple of toys and snacks that would hopefully hold his attention.

We had just sat down in the waiting room and Garrett had found a couple of fun toys in their toy basket, when the nurse came to call me back. Somehow my blood pressure was normal and for the first time I did not lose any weight, I didn't gain any, but I didn't lose any, so that was good, I guess. Peeing in a cup = loads of fun. I was amused by a new addition to the numerous signs in the restroom. It said "If you drop your cup in the toilet, please inform the nurse. Do not attempt to flush the toilet with the cup inside." This world contains some very intelligent people if a sign like this is now required in the doctor's office restroom.

My doctor is a training doctor, so I'm never surprised to see a trainee accompany him into the exam room. Today he was with a general practitioner who is brushing up on his ob/gyn "stuff". I don't really know the correct terminology nor how this process actually works. Anyway, my doctor had the trainee find the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler, while he and Garrett had an interesting conversation about how Cooper is in my belly, as well as being in Garrett's belly. The trainee had a hard time finding the heartbeat, so my doctor took over and explained that since I'm 28 weeks, the heartbeat would be higher than where he was checking, and he proceeded to find it immediately. I asked him most of the questions that I had intended to ask (one I completely forgot to write down and therefore completely forgot to ask, but I'll be seeing him again in 2 weeks, so hopefully I'll remember then.) We also discussed the fact that while 2 pregnancies can be very similar (which mine have been) the 2 babies involved in the 2 pregnancies can be, and usually are, very different. Garrett rarely had me questioning whether or not he had moved enough when I was pregnant with him. However, I can go for long periods of time and not feel Cooper move much at all. He certainly can't be accused of waking me up at night or kicking me until I'm uncomfortable. Of course I'm uncomfortable for other reasons, but not due to frequent movement on his part. I'm very interested to see if his mellow attitude in utero will transfer over to being a laid back baby like his dad was. I know that's not always the case, so I'm not counting on it, but it would be a nice surprise nonetheless.

The past week or so, I've had several comments about my baby belly, or lack thereof. I don't know why I don't pop out as soon as a lot of pregnant women, but I've tried to explain to those who've questioned my size that I'm actually noticeably pregnant this time in comparison to what I looked like at this point in my last pregnancy. So I thought I would post a picture from each (wearing the same shirt, no less!) as a comparison. (And just as an aside, my weight is within 10 pounds of being the same in both pics.)

7 months pregnant with Garrett, at our Sunday School baby shower.

6 months pregnant with Cooper.

When I was pregnant with Garrett, I never took profile shots until I was 8 and 9 months pregnant so that's why the only shot I have is from the front.

It really is hard to believe I only have 12 weeks left until my due date. Maybe I'll be as lucky as my sister and get induced 2 weeks early as well! On Friday (or Saturday depending on how the day goes), I'll hopefully be sharing pictures of my newest nephew. My sister will be induced then, so I'm very excited for her and can't wait to see pictures of him.

And now I'm off to make fun of David Caruso on CSI: Miami.

6 Months Pregnant

I know that the majority of the people who read my blog are also friends of mine on facebook, which means they've seen the following picture. But in case there's a few of you who have not, I wanted to share my 6 months pregnant profile shot. I've included one other one that did not get posted on facebook so the rest of you don't get bored.

Also, in case you haven't heard, I got my results back from the 3 hour glucose test and it came back normal, so I'm very relieved. I think that's it for tests with this pregnancy. I just have the usual appointments to check the heartbeat and eventually I'll get to the point where my ob will do internal exams to see if I'm dilating any. I have to admit that I'm already looking forward to those. But I also want to enjoy my pregnancy as much as possible since this is the last one, barring something humorous from God.

I can now resume my eating of carbs and sugar.

I don't have the results yet, but I survived the 3 hour test, as we all knew I would.  Turns out I was misinformed on how those things go down.  You only have to drink that stuff once, not 3 times.  Thank goodness!  But it's stronger and sweeter than the stuff for the one hour, which was very obvious.  

One of my arms has better veins than the other for blood work, so I got stuck 4 times in my left arm.  On top of the blood draw from last week.  I'm sure it's going to look lovely tomorrow.  Not to mention the marks from the multiple band aids that were put on and ripped off.  

But besides the using of my arm as a pincushion, the experience wasn't all that bad.  Thankfully the doctor's office is pretty calm on Tuesday mornings, so there was never more than 3 people in the waiting room at a time, which is pretty rare for this office which has about 10 doctors and midwives total (not there all at once, obviously).  The only complaint I would have is that someone scheduled the aquarium maintenance to be performed this morning.  And that stunk!  I'm just glad I didn't smell it immediately after drinking that stuff and that I also wasn't newly pregnant.  I'm not sure I could have just sat there while the tank was being cleaned and water changed.  Didn't realize the funky smell that accompanies that procedure.  

Thankfully the book that I brought was entertaining which made the morning pass by relatively fast.  I would call it pretty similar to "The Devil Wears Prada".  Who knows if the movie will be similar to that one, but I liked that movie, so maybe this one has hope.  I got about 2/3 of the way through the book during my 3 hour stint in the waiting room and have since finished it this afternoon.  

One thing that I discovered during my time there was that Garrett is very well behaved when he accompanies me to my doctor visits.  There were some pretty wild kids that came through the doctor's office this morning.  So I now have much more of an appreciation for his ability to somehow maintain his self control while we're there.  I can't really say that of his time at home, but atleast at the doctor's office, he's able to reign in the craziness.  

Just today he came to me in the kitchen, put his shoes on and said "I need to go outside and pee in the grass".  To which I firmly told him no and directed him towards the bathroom.  To which he argued his point multiple times until he finally got that I wasn't letting him use our grass as a port a potty (not unless we're already out there, no special bathroom trips to the out-of-doors.  This isn't "Little House on the Prairie").  He also told his teacher that he did not like the sandwich that I sent for his lunch today.  Apparently it was discussed at length because she made a note of it on his paper that came home.  And she never does that.  I'm not sure what he didn't like about the ham sandwich with a little mustard, on wheat bread, cut into 4 squares, which he eats every. single. school day.  But apparently today it wasn't working for him.  It might have been because I wrapped it in plastic wrap rather than putting it in a sandwich bag because we were all out of them.  You know that plastic wrap, it totally changes the taste of a sandwich.  

Could I maybe get one that's carbonated this time?

I knew this morning when my cell phone rang that it was not going to be good news. Usually when you get a phone call from your doctor, they aren't calling to tell you to have a good day and that you're the epitome of health.

So I'm backing out of the driveway, on my way to take Garrett to "school" and myself to work, when my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and see that my ob/gyn's office is calling me. Since I had my glucose tolerance test on Monday and was specifically told that I wouldn't hear from them unless it was bad news, I knew this was my bad news.

Lovely.

The nurse told me that my number was slightly elevated (who knows what that means, hopefully exactly what she said and not "Ridiculously high and you might as well go ahead and consider yourself a diabetic, but we'll humor you and do this additional test because we love billing you whenever possible.") and I needed to come back in for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test.

I really thought I was going to go crazy during the 1 hour test, I'm not all that sure how I'm going to survive the 3 hour test with my sanity intact and without passing out in the waiting room from not eating for 14+ hours. The sad part of that is, in the middle of my 1 hour wait, I got to pass some of the time by going back to pee in a cup, step on a scale, get my blood pressure checked, listen to the baby's heartbeat, and visit with my doctor. You would think with all of that to help pass the time, it wouldn't have felt like 5 hours of sitting in the waiting room rereading the same story in the same magazine over and over.

But next week, I won't have anything to pass the time, save for whatever I might bring with me into the office, along with any decent magazine I might be able to scrounge up. I wonder what they would think if I walked in with a laptop and asked them if they had wi-fi. Surfing the internet would atleast help to kill some of that time, and I could even blog about the crazy people that I see. But I'm not going to be that person. The one who appears to be so important and busy that they can't spend even a brief amount of time in the doctor's waiting room without being attached to their laptop and "working". So I'll stick with a book and hope that it keeps me entertained in between my chugging of the gross "drink" and getting stuck like a pin cushion. I have a bad tendency of feeling faint, so I think that my biggest worry is going from before midnight the previous night until noon the next day without eating anything. I should have a pizza delivered to my car for the minute that I walk out that door.

Sidenote: Yes, I realize gestational diabetes is certainly not the end of the world and just because I have to do the 3 hour test, it does not mean that I already have gestational diabetes. I have diabetics on both sides of my family so I'm pretty much doomed to eventually be diabetic. But I would prefer to not have to deal with this 3 hour test. I would almost rather they just tell me I have GD and get on to the diet that they'll give me. Since I have to endure this test, then I hope for good results, but it certainly won't kill me if they tell me what I don't want to hear.