Two Months and Time is Flying!

Our mini man is already two and a half months old!  In fact, three months is creepin’ up on us really quickly! Where is all the time going?  I swear it goes by even faster with your second than your first.  I know that’s not possible, but my gosh, does it feel that way! Despite the fact that our excitement for the day usually consists of a jaunt to the store or a quick walk, we are keeping busy, and time is flying by!  I go back to work in three weeks as of today and the thought has me a little FREAKED out!  I love my job, I really do, and Coen will be in good hands as I make it through the last nine weeks of the school year, but just thinking of not being around him all day has me feeling anxious already.  I go on short trips to the store by our house without him from time to time, but other than that, we are pretty tightly attached to one another, and going back to work and missing out on the day to day things with him and with Grace kills me, but we will make it through and we will definitely be making the best of our weekends (and frozen meals that take next to no time during the week….sorry Ken!).

(The pics above are from his one month “photo shoot” with mom.)

Coen at two month is SO. MUCH. FUN! Don’t get me wrong, I love the newborn stage. I love the sleepy cuddles, and I love all their tiny little  features.  I love all the firsts.  This stage, the one where he is more aware and has started to really interact with us, is just plain fun though! Coen mastered the smile right around six and a half weeks and was laughing by seven.  At first I was the only one who could coax a smile out of him, and Ken was the only one who could get a laugh, but now he gives both freely, and I love it!  I spend the majority of the day making ridiculous faces and goofy noises just to get him to smile or to hear his laugh.  Grace has just found a way to make him laugh as well, and THAT has been a blast to watch.  Coen loves both his older siblings, and the feeling seems to be mutual. The first things Fenix does when getting home from school is come over to wherever Coen is be it in my arms, his bouncer, or his playmat, so he can see him and talk to him. Grace is the same way, constantly fawning over him (well, when she isn’t talking to her imaginary Ninja Turtle friends that is-that is a post in itself!).  Sometimes she gets a little to eager to interact with her brother and I have to pull her off him to give him some space.  Three year olds really don’t understand personal bubbles quite yet, and she has most definitely invaded her baby brother’s a few (thousand) times already (her big brother’s too). I do love watching them all interact though, and I’m excited to watch them grow into best friends.  I’m not looking forward to the arguing that will most likely ensue, but I suppose it comes with the territory.  I’m happy they all have each other.

Well, here are a few more tidbits about two and half month old Coen.

At two and a half months Coen…

*Weighs 12 pounds 4.5 ounces and is 23 inches tall (both in the 50%).

*Is smiling a ton! (Just the other day I saw that he had woken up in his crib, so I went to go and get him. The minute he saw me his entire face lit up in a smile, and I just wanted to pause that moment so I could keep it a while longer.  It completely melted me!)

*Has started laughing.  His favorites are when dad says, “Give me your giggle!” or when we blow air through our lips to make a funny sound.  He loves that one.  Grace has been tickling him and saying “Gitchy, gitchy, goo!” which usually warrants a laugh from him as well.

*LOVES warm baths.  The few times that we have had a bout of crying that could not be stopped, we put him in the bath and he was calm within minutes.

*Hold his head up pretty well.  He likes tummy time for the most part and can push up with hands pretty well.  He loves to be held against your chest so he can look around and take things in.

*Sleeps fairly well at night, which is a blessing! Grace woke constantly to eat.  Coen usually eats at nine or ten and then doesn’t wake for 5-6 hours, sometimes more.  I’m really hoping that continues.  I’m a bit afraid of what it will do to my supply once I go back to work and start pumping, but we will see.  For now, I am really enjoying the extra shut eye.

*Loves his bouncy chair…to an extent.  He usually lets me sit him  in there and talk with him when I’m working in the kitchen and has gotten into the habit of taking his morning nap in there.  Hopefully I’m not setting him up for napping failure.

*”Talks” and “sings”.  I love it!  He loves to talk back to you and the other day I started singing along to the Pandora station while he was in his bouncy seat and he started to “sing”/coo back to me.  It was too much!

*Isn’t the biggest fan of the car seat:(  I’m wondering if it’s because he can’t see what’s around him.  I’m hoping he gets over that.  Grace and Fenix have always been pretty good travelers and we are taking a trip out to Nebraska this summer for my brother-in-law’s wedding (financials willing) and that means 14 hours in the car.  That’s a long drive as it is, and I would hate for him to be miserable the whole time, not to mention, I think all of our nerves would be fried within the first hour.

These first few months have quite literally flown by; I can only imagine how quickly the next few will move.  I’m always sad to see a stage end, but I’m equally excited to experience the next one, so I’m looking forward to what the next months brings.

We love you so ridiculously much little man!  I can’t wait to see how you grow these next few months!  You’ve definitely completed our little family.

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Boy

 Coen Jay

December 3, 2014

New Normal

Hello!  It’s me, Misty. the author of this here blog.  It’s been a while, huh?  The last time I updated this I was sharing ridiculously adorable fall photos of my daughter.  At the time, there were leaves on the ground, and I was carrying around a gigantic bowling ball sized lump in my belly and wishing away the days until we finally got to meet the little soul who was free loading in my belly.  As I write this, February has just begun, the leaves have been replaced by snow and ice, and that bowling ball sized lump I was sporting is looking pretty deflated.  (O.K. So we’re actually passed the snow and ice phase and onto the ugly gray colored skies and rain phase.  Anyways, it’s been a WHILE!)

You can probably predict by my absence….or perhaps you’ve done the math, but he’s here!  There have been multiple times in the last (nearly) two months where I have tried to update this thing. On numerous occasions I’ve logged onto the computer, pulled up my blog, and sat here stumped, not knowing where to start.  Usually by the time I have started typing little man has woken up and is on the desperate look out for his mom and some grub.  (In truth, I think he’s just looking for some grub, but we’re kind of a package deal, so you know.) Needless to say, it’s been difficult to spend more than a few minutes on the computer, let alone the time it takes to resize pictures and do a little writing.

Now that we’ve made it beyond the six-week mark, things seem to be evening out a bit.  We’re slowly finding our new normal and seem to have a good grove going on.  We’ve made it through the perils of nursing…for the most part  (I have no idea why I thought it would be easier the second time around), and we seem to have settled into a somewhat of a schedule-dictate by the youngest and newest member of our crew, mind you.    (As I type this, our newest addition is napping in his Ergo.  After nearly two months, I finally figured out, just last week, how to wear the thing correctly.)

I’m going to be honest.  Two is hard.  Technically we have three, but Fenix is so much older, that he doesn’t provide the same challenges that his younger siblings do.  As Ken and I attempted to take the baby out to watch a basketball game for a high school team our friend coaches this past weekend, we were reminded just how tough this new baby thing is.  I think I forgot.  I forgot how tired I’d be. I forgot how difficult it is to leave the house when your day is dictated by a two-hour feeding schedule.  I forgot how much you worry- is he gaining enough weight? Am I producing enough milk?  Is he sleeping enough? Is he even breathing? Am I doing this right or am I completely messing this kid up for life?

I forgot.

Not only did I forget so much, but there was so much I wasn’t prepared for.  With Grace, it was just her and me most days.  She had my undivided attention.  Outside of showering, I’m not sure I ever put her down…which may be why she still crawls into out bed at three and a half, but whatever.  When she napped, I cuddle up on the couch with her.  With two there’s less cuddle time, not because I don’t want it, but because there are two little people dependent upon me and not just one.  I have two to split my time between.  While I’m nursing our youngest, I also have a three-year old asking for lunch or playing in the faucet in the bathroom when she should be washing her hands. There have been more times that I can count that I have broken down these past few weeks because I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for either one of them, even though I was giving my all.

Despite the lack of sleep, the sore nipples, and the occasional feeling of absolute chaos, life is good. I’m sad time is moving by so quickly!  Now that the little man is here, it’s hard to imagine a time when he wasn’t.  We’re enjoying all the little moments, the baby coos, the smiles, and the recent laugh he has been trying out.

So if you’ve wondered where we’ve been, we’re still here!  We’re just figuring things out and enjoying all the time we have together.  Hopefully, I’ll post more soon, like his birth story and maybe a two month update (can you believe it’s already been two months?!  I know, I can’t!)

In the meantime, here is a photo to tide you over until next time, whenever that may be:)

28 Weeks…

Just kidding!  I actually hit 29 weeks on Tuesday, but who’s counting anyway?  O.K. so maybe I am.  Less than 11 weeks and we may very well be up to our eye  balls in diapers and late night feedings.  I am SO excited to meet our little stowaway, but maybe not the late night feedings/diaper thing. Time is moving by at lightning speed and we have next to nothing prepared.  We have most of the big stuff from when we had Grace.  We bought and registered gender neutral on nearly everything, which is good because we’ll use it again with the little man to be.  We do, however, need to wash the car seat and swing cover, order the part we are missing on the car seat (somehow I’ve lost the plastic piece that holds the sun visor up), order a crib (Grace’s was a drop down and those have been recalled), get together with insurance on a breast pump…I just switched insurance plans too, so that should be fun, build the crib, organize Grace’s room so that it can be shared by the both of them, decide on a name, possibly paint the kids’ room, find a sub (my district has ZERO certified subs.  There is one person that may  be certified; however, her certification might be expired, so I need to call and check on that), plan sub plans for the nearly three months of school I will be gone…and the list goes on and on.  I have a lot to do, and I need to do it sooner rather than later.  I have a feeling December will be here before I know it.

 

I’m not particularly good at documenting my bump.  I really debated changing into something a bit more fashionable, and then I decided to just be honest.  Sweats/yoga pants and a tank top with a hoodie is pretty much my signature pregnancy look, especially on the weekends when I get around to taking these photos.  (I bribed the kids with a mini Kit Kat to take a photo with me.  Fenix actually didn’t take any bribing, and Grace may not have needed it, but I rewarded them anyway-note that Gracelyn is also in her own version of yoga pants.  We’re really into comfort around here.)

 

I went to the doctor this last Friday and things are going smoothly!  The baby is doing great and moving like crazy.  I had my glucose screening, which came back just fine.  I do, however, need to take iron, because I’m a bit short on that.  I had already predicted that because I had to take extra iron with Grace.  That, and for the last week, I have been DEAD tired.  My third period prep would roll around, and I would quite literally feel like I could fall asleep on my feet.  Taking a nap on my prep never looked so appealing.  I’ve literally had to drag myself through the last week.  I just started taking the extra iron today, so I’m hoping to get some energy back. I took Grace with me on Friday.  I was a little nervous because with the glucose screening we had to be there for a little over an hour.  I wasn’t sure how she would hold up for that long, but she ended up doing awesome.  She got to hear her baby brother’s heartbeat, and we were able to spend ample time looking at the fish tank in the office while we waited for the glucose to do it’s thing before I had blood drawn.  Afterwards the two of us went out to eat at The Capri.  We shared a meal and a milk shake.  Grace insisted that we each drink the milk shake at the same time because it had two straws:)

Here’s a few other details about how things are going:

Weeks? I’m 28 and a few days in the picture above, but we just hit the 29 week mark yesterday, so we are in the third trimester now.

Cravings?  Nothing interesting.  In fact, I can’t think of a single one at this point. Peanut butter twix bars always taste nice though.  But I’m not so sure that’s a pregnancy craving.

Weight Gain?  I obsessively counted calories for all of the first trimester and a big chunk of the second.  It did not help.  I put on much more in the first trimester than I had hoped.  I did well during the second trimester though, and I was happy with my weight gain at my appointment on Friday.  I stopped logging calories over three weeks ago, and that actually seems to be  working better than my obsessing.  However, I have ate poorly since Friday.  Really poorly.  We celebrated family birthdays and I bought McDonald’s on the way home tonight because I had a headache. That’s just the tip of the iceberg too. I need to be better, and I’m avoiding the scale until I do.  I’m O.K. gaining an average of a pound a week until the boy gets here, but anymore than that and we may have some issues…like me crying, a lot.  Weight gain is my least favorite part of pregnancy.

Symptoms?  Sheer exhaustion! But, like I said, hopefully the extra iron will take care of some of that. My back aches!  I’ve begun fantasizing about what it will be like to have full use of it some day.  Headaches have made a come back.  Today was particularly bad.  I woke up at four this morning and made myself breakfast so I could take the prescription I have.  It did not help, and by the time I left school I thought for sure I’d be sick to my stomach.  Eating helped…even if it was McDonald’s and not in the least bit healthy.  I think the protein/carb/caffeine combination helped, plus the long bath I took afterwards.  My headache is still there, but it’s faint, and I’m pretty confident it will be gone in the morning.  The fact that I can type this shows you that it is much, much better than from what it was this afternoon.  I’m hoping I don’t start having them on a regular basis again.

Names?  We may be closer, but we’re not sure, and we’re not disclosing anything quite yet.

Extras? Grace still hasn’t felt her brother move:(  She isn’t patient enough.  I’m still waiting for that moment though.  He is such an active baby, and I love feeling him move. I know I will miss that in a weird way once he is actually here, so I’m trying to really enjoy it.  My students have been pretty good about my pregnancy.  Middle school students always make funny comments though.  I had a student a few weeks ago ask when I was due.  I told her December 9th.  Her response?  “Yuck!”  When I asked her what she meant, she asked if I was going to have to stay in the hospital over Christmas, because she thought that would really suck.  This made me laugh. I will not be in the hospital for three weeks. At least I’m not planning on it.  Yesterday one of my students was commenting on how weird it will be when I come back because my stomach will be flat again…I just looked at her and said, “Bless your heart!”  My belly will NOT be flat again…ever.  It really wasn’t flat to begin with, but I have a feeling I will come back still holding on to quite a bit of baby weight, and it will be that way for a while.

I think that hits all the key points of our pregnancy journey so far, and Grace keeps telling me I need to go “night, night”, so I suppose it’s time I wrap this up.

Less than 11 weeks!

24 Weeks and Other News

We’ve made it to 24 weeks (almost 25)!  Less than 16 weeks to go and we’ll be able to meet our newest addition face to face.  Time is flying!  That first trimester seemed to crawl by, but I feel like we’re speeding though the second.  Three more weeks and we’re on to that last trimester.  It’s hard to believe it’s going by so quickly!

I took the photo below the Sunday before hitting 24 weeks. I look bigger than I am in this photo. I think it’s the shirt and the weird way I’m choosing to stand.  However, I managed to get Grace to cooperate, so I’m including it:)

These may be a bit more accurate looking and I took them yesterday.

 

I’ve been feeling great!  The baby is healthy.  I’m healthy.  They’re still making me get a progesterone shot once a week just to be on the safe side, but things are holding steady.  I’m officially having a normal pregnancy!    I’ve even managed to continue to eliptical…well, right up until school started and now I’m lucky if I eliptical once to twice a week.  I’m hoping now that I’m back into the swing of things I’ll be able to budget that in or at least a walk on a regular basis.

We have yet to name the newest Dietz to be, and I’ve kind of resigned myself to the idea that he may not have a name until he’s here.  I’m thinking once we see him, it will click.  At least I hope so.  I would hate to be stuck at the hospital, undecided.  I’m fairly certain it will come to us though.

I went to the doctor on Friday to finish up our anatomy scan.  Ken came to our official one, along with my sister and my niece, but the tech wasn’t able to get a good profile shot or a picture of all angles of the heart.  Ken had to work during this last appointment, which was a bummer, but this was probably my favorite ultrasound, aside from the fact that the tech had to make me lay on my side and then DUG her little ultrasound wand into my hip to make our stubborn child move into a position where she could see all that she needed.  I got to watch him kick and punch and feel it at the same time, which was really neat to see.

 

 

 

Anywho…here are a few more bits and pieces from this stage in the game.

Weeks? 24 (25 on Tuesday, although baby boy is measuring a week and a few days ahead, not that that really means too much, but perhaps he will come a week early.  I’d be O.K. with that.)

Cravings?  Sandwiches with tons of veggies!  We had subway for lunch on our first day of school and there was one with just veggies.  After I piled on a bunch of peppers,  I was hooked. I’ve spent the last few weeks making sandwiches with so many vegetables they’ve been hard to close.  Case in point, see the photo below. That’s pretty much it.  Nothing weird.  No pickles dipped in peanut butter or midnight trips to the store for Ken to pick me up ice cream.  Although, I did have us ditch our initial dinner plans to make us get Chinese food on Friday. Other than that, I’ve been pretty boring as far as the world of pregnancy cravings go.  (Speaking of which, on one of the pregnancy website I’m a part of someone posted that they were craving baby powder and wanted to know if they should cave in and eat it.  Seriously!  I can’t even make that stuff up!)

Weight Gain?  I’ve managed to gain a pound a week since entering the second trimester.  I’m hoping to keep it at that.  I had really hoped to gain less with this pregnancy than I did with Grace, but I’m thinking it will be right around the same.  I’ve beaten myself up quite a bit about weight gain, and I just need to get over it and myself.  It is what it is.

Symptoms?  I feel good. The only thing that bothers me is my lower back.  I frequently find myself having to find creative ways to get out of bed:)

Names? Not even close.

Extras?  This baby is ACTIVE!  I feel him move all the time, and I love it.  I think part of the reason that I’ve been so lazy since starting school (well, aside from the shear exhaustion factor) is because I feel him the most when I’m relaxed and lounging around the house. I think when I’m at school and on the go all the time, that I lull him to sleep, so he’s a bit more active once I’m home for the night and able to sit/lie down.

That pretty much sums up everything on the baby front.  In other news, I’ve gone back to school.  We already have two weeks of the school year under our belt.  I had a hard time going back.  There were lots of tears on my end. Grace was adorably sweet those first few morning and clung to me and told me not to go because I had to stay and cuddle with her, but once she made it to daycare she forgot how much she missed me:)  She’s really enjoyed seeing all of her friends and getting to play.  They officially start their preschool curriculum in September, so for these first few weeks it’s just been playtime.  I’m enjoying my students a lot. They’re a fun group and it’s too soon to see any attitude peaking out, so thus far, everyone has been on their best behavior…for the most part.  I definitely have some chatters:)

Fenix starts back tomorrow, at which points summer will officially be over.  We have had a pretty low key weekend.  Outside of our emergency trip to get Chinese food, we’ve stayed home, gone bike riding, and had a movie night.

Grace decided to wear her superhero mask (a.k.a. her brother’s goggles) for our movie.  She’s a strange one, but I wouldn’t have her any other way.

Oh, and in potty training news, Grace is finally getting it!  She is going potty all on her own.  If we’re home she loudly announces she needs to potty and then makes her way to the bathroom.  If we’re in public, she lets us know so we can take her.  She still has one accident a day though.  We seem to have mastered potty, just not the other one.  Hopefully, we will be there soon.  It’s only taken us six weeks to get pottying on the potty down, what’s another two or three weeks, right? 🙂

A Few Things I Took For Granted Before I Became Pregnant

In no particular order.

-Wearing a swimsuit.  I thought I would never say that, ever!  Swimsuit season and I are not friends.  I have always, always, had a hard time finding a swimsuit with enough support, if you know what I mean.  In fact, the last summer that I can remember this not being an issue, I was 11.  Now that I’m pregnant, there is no way the ladies upstairs can be reined in by a swimsuit top.  No way. Nadda. Not. At. All.  I spent the entire month of June trying to find a suit that would provide support upstairs, yet fit me everywhere else.  My conclusion?  A suit like that just doesn’t exist.  Seriously, what do other women do?  And, by other women, I mean other women in the D club and above.  Impossible!  Don’t even get me started on maternity swimsuits! I’ve given up and given into shorts and a tank top and wading not swimming.

-Lunch meat.  I know, weird, right?  I don’t even eat lunch meat on a regular basis, but I miss the convenience of it.  Going camping?  Make a sandwich for lunch. Road trip? Sandwich.  Need to stop for fast food that’s not greasy?  Sandwich…just not when you’re pregnant-unless you’re craving peanut butter and jelly.

-Copious amounts of caffeinated coffee.  With Grace, giving up coffee and caffeine was easy peasy.  This time around?  Hell.  Seriously.  I didn’t realize how disgustingly dependent I have become on coffee in the past few years.  Coffee in the morning.  Coffee to sip on during 1st and 2nd period.  Coffee and a good book on the weekend.  Now I have to limit myself to one cup of half caff a day; one cup decaf if I go to a Starbucks or another chain.

-Wine.  Again, giving up wine while pregnant with Grace, and for the year that I nursed her afterwards was not an issue at all.  This time around?  Let’s say a glass of wine on my patio sounds really good right now.  I had not realized how much wine has become a staple in Ken and I’s romantic life.  Dates nights have usually been accompanied by a nice glass of wine with dinner, and Ken and I have really come to enjoy picking out a new bottle of wine to share for a date night at home.  I’ll live though.  I have the rest of my life to enjoy a nice Riesling, and this will most likely be the last baby I carry, so it’ s worth it.  I think a big part of it is that it’s summer, and wine and summer just go well together!

-Sleeping on my back, or my hips for that matter.  Two hours tops, and I have to switch sides.  While camping, I had to switch sides every thirty minutes and that is no exaggeration.

-Rolling over.  20 weeks and  I’m already asking Ken for help to roll over.  When we camped it was ridiculous.  I’d find myself  on my back in the middle of the night, and because you’re not supposed to sleep on your back, I’d wiggle from side to side attempting to roll over.  Eventually I had to wake my poor husband up to help me.  It was not pretty.  Luckily, he was too sleepy to remember how ridiculous I looked.

-My waistline. Normally I hate my waistline, but as I watch it expand and I think ahead to those first few months after coming home from the hospital…and by months, realistically, I mean that first year, I miss the waistline that I used to find sub par.

-Ibuprofen and Excedrin.  I know you can take Tylenol while pregnant, but with migraines, there is absolutely no point.

Of course, in the big picture, all of these are just mild and temporary inconveniences (well, maybe not the waistline one, but I’m really hoping), and well worth the little soul we’ll have the privilege of meeting in four and a half months or so, give or take. 20 More weeks to go!

18 Weeks

O.K., so technically as of tomorrow I’ll be 19, but the above photo was taken last week.  I’m just late posting, which is not in the least bit surprising:)

This picture is a bit more recent…and frightening.

When I was pregnant with Grace I posted similar photos to my blog.  I looked them up the other day to compare, and my gosh!  I am huge for 19 weeks.  This pic looks more like the picture I took at 26 weeks than it does the pictures I took at 20 weeks.  They say you show sooner with your second. I’m just hoping this slows down a bit.

The second semester has been much smoother than the first, and I feel like I’m finally reaching the point where I can relax a bit and enjoy being pregnant.  I hate to admit it, but I didn’t feel as connected to this baby/pregnancy as I thought I would when I first got pregnant.  I think a big part of that was the fact that I was freakin’ sick all-the-time, a little stressed by work, and super worried about bringing this baby home and how our lives would change.  I was worried about money and space, as well as balance.  I’m not nearly as sick (yay!), I very rarely think about work (although I need to start), and although I’m still worried about the financial end of having and raising this baby, my excitement/love far outweighs my worry.

I’m sure it helps that I’ve started to feel the little man move.  That started a little bit before I hit 16 weeks.  I’ve been able to feel that rolling/tumbling sensation in my lower belly, and just yesterday I am confident I felt a few kicks.  I was lying curled up  in the papasan  with a book and my hand rested on my belly, when I felt two little bumps.  I called Ken it to feel, but of course by that time, baby boy Dietz was done.  I’m sure it will be a few more weeks until I feel movement like that on a consistent basis, but I most definitely feel connected to the little person taking refuge in my womb right now:)

Here are a few other tidbits from this stage in the game.

Weeks? 19 (tomorrow)

Cravings?  Chips and Salsa…Coke, which I do, occasionally, give in on (I figure there are worse things), and peaches.

Weight Gain?  Ha!  I’m totally not sharing that.  I’m a little disturbed and worried about losing the baby weight the second time around.  I gained 35 with Grace and lost all but five…three on a good day.  I was lucky and nursing mixed with walking and the occasional spurt of eating healthy took the majority of it off.  Although, it was slow going, and I never did get that last little bit off.  This time, I’d like it all gone by the following Christmas (2015) and I’m hoping I’m not jinxing myself by saying that.  I had really hoped to gain 25 lbs this pregnancy, but I’m fairly certain I’ll gain about the same as I did with Grace, at least I’m heading in that direction now.

Symptoms?  Migraines (thankfully I seem to have found a way to have some control over them and am averaging one major one every week to week and a half-which is SO much better than it was before). My lower back has been super sore as well.  I’m sure it was with Grace, but I just can’t remember it happening this soon.  I’ve been doing lots of stretching to loosen it up.

Names?  We aren’t any closer to choosing a name yet, and we do have time.  I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll need to see the little man before a name clicks.  So far I’m still really stuck on Ryland, Avery, or Kendrick.  We’re pretty sure on the middle name, unless we end up with any form of Ken, and then it will be back to the drawing board for middle names (although I am partial to Jude).

Extras?  I started my progesterone shots last week, which means I get to have bonding time with my nurse every week until we hit week 37.  We really debated having Ken just do them, and then I ran the math, and once you take out the cost of the drug itself, the office fees don’t add up to too much, especially if I’m already going in for appointments with the doctor(with Grace it was twice a week from 20 weeks on, I’m hoping things go a bit smoother, and I’ll be able to go in less).   I may change my mind, but to be honest, having Ken do it makes me a bit nervous.  Not because of him, but because I am so jittery around needles.

So that pretty much wraps up where the baby and I are at right now.  21 more weeks to go (or somewhere around there)!

On a somewhat related note, my friend Sharlee is doing a series on her blog right now called “Girl Talk”.  Every other Wednesday she interviews two to three different women on various issues that are important to them.  I was asked to contribute to her last topic, starting a family,  and you can check it out here.   She should have another post coming out this Wednesday, so while you are in this neck of the woods, you should hop over and check it out/contribute in the comments.

Dietz Party of Five-Coming in December!

Yup, that’s right, this family of four is becoming a party of five, and we couldn’t be more excited!  We have known for a VERY long time, since four weeks, and have just kept pushing back when we were going to announce it to the social media world.  We wanted to wait until we made it to at least 12 weeks, and we wanted to make sure we told family and friends first.  Once we made it through both of those, we decided to wait and see if we could find out the gender early, at my 16 week ultrasound.  Our big 20 week ultrasound happens at the end of this month, but they did a quick ultrasound to see how my cervix was doing last week.  (I had some issues with Grace at 20 weeks and my cervix measured short from that point forward, resulting in double the doctor appointments and a nice progesterone shot in my hip once a week.)  My cervix was great at this last appointment…well, you know what I mean.  It measured in the normal range and I was ecstatic, until they told me we were still going to go through with the shots.  Boo!  Better safe than sorry though.  My actual doctor has not been in the office since I became pregnant, but she should be back this week.  In the interim we have kind of been in limbo, just seeing my nurse (who I love) and then another doctor in the practice this last week.  Anywho…we DID find out the gender.  Our newest addition was not shy, and it looks like we will be welcoming a baby boy sometime around December 9th.

(I’ve already bought two tiny little sleepers-you know the ones that look kind of like a dress, a hoodie outfit that I think he will come home in, and a baby brother outfit. )

We all knew it was going to be a boy.:Ken, Fenix, my brother-in-law (who is apparently always right about these things), me.  Even Sharlee kept referring to it as a boy.  When I first found out I was pregnant I immediately thought it was a girl…and then I hit six weeks and morning sickness (and by morning sickness I mean ALL DAY sickness) set in, as well as the migraines (both of which I had NONE of with Grace), and I knew.  This pregnancy has just felt different.  I’ll be honest, I was kind of sad. I wasn’t sad that we were having a boy, and I know that the minute I see him and hear him and hold him that I will be hooked for life.  I was sad that Grace wasn’t getting a sister.  I was sad that I wouldn’t be the mom of two girls like my mom, and I was SCARED.  I know girls.  I am a girl.  I’m raising a girl.  I get irrational temper tantrums and mood swings. I can do hair and watch princess movies.  I get girls.  Boys…oh boy, I’m just not so sure:)  But now that it’s settled in, and we’ve been able to tell people, I’m getting really excited…there are still some nerves, but I’m excited.  Now, if only we could figure out a name, because we have no idea.  Seriously, no inkling whatsoever.

Here are the ones I like:

Avery

Aiden

Ryland

Kendrick

Finley

Here are some maybes:

Atticus

Abel

Lennon

Ken hasn’t agreed to any of these, but it’s fun to throw them around. (Oddly enough Ken suggested Lennon, and now I’m the one who is on the fence about it.) I want something unique but not too out there.  Luckily, we have about 23 weeks to come to a conclusion (which in truth is NOT that long the more I think about it.)

Food for Thought

So… I have a post about Grace’s birthday and one about Mother’s Day that I had full intention of already posting until life and the end of the school year got in the way. They will eventually appear, full of pictures of our adorable little sour patch kid (one of our many nicknames for Grace), opening presents, pouring sand out of her sandbox onto the dog, and enjoying her birthday cake, as soon as life slows down long enough for me to get the photos off my camera.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for some food for thought, take a gander at the following article:
http://www.mamamia.com.au/mmtoday/kim-kardashian-pregnant-2/?repeat=w3tc

It definitely got me thinking about body image and the immense amount of pressure we, as a society, put on ourselves, especially as women and mothers. And, more importantly, what can we do stop it?

Birth Story Link Up

In exactly ten days my baby girl is going to be two.

TWO!. Can you believe that? Time has sincerely flown by, and when I say it feels like just yesterday that we were bringing Grace home from the hospital, all bundled up in her cute little new-born outfit, it’s because it does.

Somehow our itty bitty, soft, sleepy, beauty of a newborn has turned into a climbing (on things she’s not supposed to), talking, singing, energetic, creative, messy ball of a toddler, and I am left wondering where in tarnation did all of that time go?

Seriously, when people constantly tell you (as they will) that your children grow up too quickly, it is absolutely, 100% true.

Anywho…

With Grace’s birthday so close, I’ve been thinking of re-posting her birth story. I went back and re-read it the other day and got all sappy. I am terrible at writing things down when I should, but I am really happy I preserved that day in writing.

Because I had planned to post Grace’s birth story anyway, I thought I’d participate in the “Preparing for a Little One Birth Story Link Up” at http://www.wifessionals.com/.

Here’s the letter I wrote for Grace’s baby book to record the story of her birth:

Dear Gracelyn,

 I’m writing this to tell you the story of your birth, although before that I want you to know that I have loved you much longer than the time you’ve spent in this world, and I waited for you well over the nine months I was pregnant. Your dad and I wanted you long before we knew you were on your way. In some ways, it felt like I was patiently waiting for you for years. I knew some day you’d be here, and it was just a matter of waiting for the right time.

 Your dad and I found out that I was pregnant on Labor Day. I took a test that morning, and a faint pink line appeared. I almost couldn’t believe it. I had thought out the many creative ways I could tell your dad we were expecting, but then when it came down to it, I was so excited, and in such a state of disbelief, that I immediately had to share it with your dad. He too, was just as excited as I was. The doubters in us had to take one more test just to be sure though. We had plans that day to go to a family get together, so off we went. When we arrived home later that day, we took one more test, a digital one, to be sure. It read pregnant almost immediately.  Our plan was to wait until 12 weeks to tell anyone, or at least until we went to the doctor’s, but we couldn’t hold our excitement, and soon the word spread like wild fire, to your Aunt Sharie, and Sharlee and both Amanda’s. To your Grandpa Jay, and then after our appointment at six weeks, to your brother, to your Grandma and Grandpa Thayne, to your many Aunts and Uncles.  At twelve weeks I told my students that I was expecting, and they were almost as excited as I was. They talked about your arrival daily. They brought you gifts, a crocheted blanket, hats, an outfit. They daydreamed about you with me.

They say that pregnant woman glow, and I felt it. I was filled to the brim with excitement and love for you.  I loved being pregnant with you. I would lie on the bed or the couch in the evenings and wait for your little kicks, your punches. When your dad got home, I’d press his hand up against my belly to wait. And, when we reached 37 weeks and it was O.K. for you to join us, and I got the go ahead to exercise, you daddy and I walked non-stop to bring on your arrival. We walked and we walked and we walked. We ate spicy food. I jumped up and down. For two weeks we tried. We walked so much I was perpetually sore. But, you had your own time frame in mind. You’d come on your own time-table, and you did.

 On Mother’s Day, four days before your due date, your daddy and I got up and went out to breakfast. I remember feeling tired that day, like I could lounge around on the couch all day and be perfectly content. My body must have known that it would be the last day where I could do that. We went to Denny’s because it was close, and we sat on the benches in the waiting area for an incredibly long time, as the many other people who were there ate their Mother’s Day breakfast. While waiting, we met an older couple that wished us and you well. At this stage in the game, it was quite evident I was pregnant, and they struck up a conversation about when you were due and how much we’d love the journey we were about to embark on. After breakfast, our plan was to go and buy a hanging plant, which seems to be the traditional Mother’s Day gift in our house, only I was exhausted and so we decided to spend a little time at home, curled up on the couch. 

So, we went home and settled in for a day of relaxation and T.V. At around 11:30 I began to feel contractions. They didn’t really hurt, and so I told your dad they were most likely Braxton Hicks because I had been having those since around 30 weeks. So, we continued to watch T.V. About an hour later, I began to time them. Everything I read said to wait until your contractions were about five minutes apart before heading to the hospital. My body is made kind of funny, and so at 20 weeks the doctor discovered something that made preterm labor, and quick labor, a bigger possibility for me than most (In fact, your mother had to muscle through 20 weeks of shots in her hips to make sure you’d stay put until you were healthy and your body was ready to join the world. You were worth it though:). Our doctor had said that if we wanted to come in once they were ten minutes apart we could.

 

Once the afternoon rolled around, we were at ten minutes, so we started to pack. By 5:30, they were five minutes a part, and we were on the road! I wasn’t sure if I would be the type of person who would want to be touched and massaged while I was in labor. During those incredibly long, and somewhat frightening labor classes we took to be prepared for your arrival, the teacher introduced different massage techniques. I love massages, so I have to admit, a part of me was excited to be able to ask your Dad for massages non stop. I learned on the car ride to the hospital, when the contractions really began to be painful, that I was NOT the touchy/massage during labor kind of woman. Your dad was expecting the possibility of this, so he didn’t have hurt feelings.

 

Once we arrived at the hospital, they registered us, and brought us to our room in triage. They checked my contractions and some other things, and decided (even though my contractions were about five minutes apart) that they couldn’t admit us just yet. They suggested walking the hallways for an hour and they directed us where to go. So, we walked, and we walked, and we walked. And, as we walked, we slowly watched the minute hand on the clock tick by.(Funny story: While we were walking, another couple was doing the same thing. You could tell the woman was on a mission! She had a determined look on her face and was huffing and puffing away, madly marching the hallway, while her husband stood by eating out of a bag of fast food! Oh, it made your dad and I laugh. Your dad did not stand by while I walked. In fact, he walked each step of the way, lending me his shoulder when a contraction came on, making me laugh when I grew impatient of walking and waiting.)When we made it back to triage, it was nearly 8. My contractions were three minutes apart, I were dilated to a five, and we were on our way to being admitted!

 

I had planned to have pain meds. Never was there a time when I wanted a natural labor. If that’s the route that you decide to go when it comes time to have your own children, I will support you 100%, but it was not the route for your mom. I had done my research early on and talked to my doctor to make sure you’d be safe and alert when you arrived (and you were!).

In triage they offered me an epidural, but I said no. The contractions weren’t THAT bad, and for whatever reason, I decided to hold off (not sure what I was thinking:).Once we made it to our room, things moved really quickly. The doctor came in at 8:30/9 and checked everything out, broke my water without much warning, and really jump started everything. I asked for the epidural then, and I’m glad that I did, because you were on your way. We waited for the anesthesiologist, and then for the medicine to take effect, and then we began to push. The epidural took the edge off, but I was still able to feel each contraction. Your daddy had a look of shock on his face from the time they broke my water on:) I’m not sure how long we pushed, but at one point we stopped to wait for the doctor, and then there you were!

They immediately laid you on my stomach while Daddy cut the cord. I was so enamored and taken by you, that I didn’t even notice I was crying until your Daddy told me I was later. I remember as they handed you to me that I said, “But I’m not sure what to do!” and then you were in my arms and it clicked, the whole world falling into place.

They cleaned you up, and weighed and measured you. Six pounds and fourteen ounces, 20 inches long. Daddy held you for a bit, and your aunt, and then we made our way upstairs for the night.

I was so excited to have you. You daddy and I fell in love with you immediately. From the minute you were in my arms I couldn’t imagine a world without you in it. In the birth class that we took, they suggested sending your baby to the nursery so that you could rest. In class, that made sense. Once you get home, there won’t be nurses to help when you’re tired. But when it came down to it, once you were there and in my arms, I couldn’t let you out of my sight. During the time you were in the hospital you spent a total of maybe 2 and a half hours in the nursery. Once, on the night you were born, when you began to choke up amniotic fluid, and one other time, when I decided to take a nap. That last time, you were gone thirty minutes before I sent daddy back in to get you. I didn’t want to waste a moment away from you.

I spent that first night holding you and staring down at your face. I had dreamed about that moment, never being able to clearly picture what you looked like, and then there you were, it all made sense, like I had been picturing you all along.

You changed our lives baby girl! You have made our lives so rich and so full! I am so happy and proud to be your mother. I’m so grateful that I was entrusted with you.

You turn one in two days. It has gone by so fast that it’s frightening! How quickly will the next year go? The next 10? 20? I love you my Gracie Girl! I am looking forward to it all, every minute!

Love With All of My Heart,

Mom

It’s funny, because as I re-read the letter that I wrote Grace a year ago, I still feel the exact same way as I did before in regards to how quickly time is moving, and I still can’t get enough of her.  I still feel the way I did that first night in the hospital when I couldn’t bear to let her out of my sight. Yes, there are those moments when I want to use the rest room without Grace’s little fingers poking under the door, but in truth, I still don’t want to waste a minute away from her.  (This may be why we have no reliable night-time/sleeping routine:) ) How truly blessed I am to be her mother.