My Ty

We had our big appointment today.  I call it a "big" one because it is the one where we got a glimpse of what Baby Ty will actually look like.  Wayne took the day off so he could be there and my mom did too.  We had to be there at 8 am... this is no easy task with a (nearly) 15 month old that typically sleeps until 7:30.  Somehow we actually made it there on time... I'd also like to note that my mom is late to just about everything but when she is meeting me for my OB appointments she's ALWAYS early.  So funny!

Here's a look at what we saw today...

He's kind of smiling in this picture :-)

Brandi assured me that his nose is not actually as large as it looks here!  I guess his cord is near is face, which causes some strange things to happen.  

 

You can't see too much movement in the video below (info on that in a moment) but it does show him smiling... I won't attempt to explain when... just treat it like one of those "Magic Eye'' puzzles and feel lucky if you are one of the few that can see it :-)

Baby Ty looked great on the ultrasound however, like his brother, he didn't want to give us too much of a glimpse of what he looks like.  I guess he's of the "no peeking" mindset... well at least until he is 7 years old and finds Christmas presents under my bed.  I bet his mindset will change then!  I was just happy to see that little heart beating perfectly.  He is still a he, which is good news since we've made so much progress in his nursery and all we have is boy stuff.  He is measuring about a week ahead.  Let's just go ahead and call him what he is... gifted!  He is already weighing in at 5 pounds 1 ounce, which is WAY more than I was expecting.  My weekly updates have been quite a bit off considering The Bump (my information source) says the baby should only weigh UP TO 3.8 pounds by Tuesday.

Ty didn't put on much of a show during the ultrasound, which was a bit concerning, although I didn't know it until the doctor mentioned it.  She said she didn't think it was anything to worry about but that she wanted to hook me up to the NST machine just to be sure (I'm sure this was totally for my benefit but I appreciated her making it sound like her idea).  I got hooked up and the baby stayed very steady the whole time without a lot of movement.  After 20 minutes the doc had me drink some OJ and eat some crackers and that got him going!  I guess you don't get to be 5 pounds 1 ounce at 32 weeks with just half a pop-tart and some water for breakfast (I do usually eat a better breakfast than that but it is pretty difficult to get Case fed and to the office by 8:00 am so something had to give).  So it turned out he was just hungry and after a little snack he was all over the place and really hasn't stopped moving since!  I will definitely try to stay more aware of movement from now on though!

The big news is that my c-section has been scheduled.  Baby Ty, Lord willing, will be joining our family on March 17th at 7:30 in the morning.  So Case will be my Halloween Pumpkin and Ty will be my St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun... wait... that's not going to work... let's call him my lucky charm... that sounds WAY cuter than a leprechaun!  It was a little weird to go and schedule the delivery of my child but it sounds like the safest way to get him from the inside to the outside and at the end of the day that's my goal and nothing else matters.

I praise God for giving us a glimpse of our healthy baby boy today.  I am so grateful for my doctor and ultrasound tech as well as all the other ladies in my OB's office.  They are always SO nice to me and call me by name.  It is just a very comforting place to be and I don't think I could ever feel so at home anywhere else!




Yes that ticker does in fact say that I only have 49 days to go... this is SO trippy!

32 Weeks

This is my weekly pregnancy update. For details on the story behind these updates you can visit my first one here.

Pregnancy Play-by-play

How Far Along: 32 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is the size of a squash.  15.2 to 16.7 inches long and 2.5 to 3.8 pounds

Total Weight Gain/Loss: + 14 (I hope the baby hit a 3 pound growth spurt this week and that it wasn't me!)

Maternity Clothes: Alright ya'll... my maternity wardrobe got a HUGE boost this week!  Shout out to Lyndsay for sharing with me!!!  I now have so many options I don't even know what to do with myself.!  It actually took me two days to go through the tub of clothes she shared with me so I could decide what fit, what didn't, and what should go nowhere near my body.  Anyway I now have such a huge selection of clothes to wear!  YAY!!!  

Gender: BOY!!! Ty Athen!  Notice I've removed the question marks.  This does NOT change the fact that I reserve the right to totally change my mind while I'm in the drunken hormonal stupor that is post-partum but assuming my husband maintains control I believe this is for sure his name.  

Movement:   Ty was unusually quiet on Sunday.  I was worried but I thought I'd feel him more when I laid down.  I ate a cupcake, just for movement prompting of course, and drank a big glass of milk and he still didn't really move much.  So at 10:00 at night I made Wayne get out of bed and whip out the doppler.  Of course as soon as the doppler was on my belly Ty started moving.  He either really likes or really dislikes the doppler, I'm not sure which.  At any rate he became active again and I felt better.  Since then he's been pretty active.  

Sleep:  I'm still sleeping pretty well.  It is still pretty rough sleep though.  I don't know what it is but I feel like I ran a marathon when I wake up, or at least what I IMAGINE running a marathon feels like... I'm pretty sure I'll never be capable or crazy enough to actually run one to truly know though.  I'm just grateful that I am still sleeping so I'll take it! I am still trying to be disciplined enough to make my bed in the morning so that I'm not so tempted to nap.  

Cravings: I still have the ice cream craving going on but I would say my chocolate cupcakes with pink vanilla icing pretty much took over my diet this week.  This might help explain the 3 pound weight gain huh?

Symptoms: I keep saying I don't really have any symptoms but then I talk about the sheer insanity of the peeing that takes place and there's also my sense of smell.  I'm pretty sure it is of "super power" strength.  I should probably give myself a new super hero name... Super Smeller... no that's no good it just sounds like I stink then... hmmm... I need to work on that.  My sense of smell is pretty intense.  I'm thinking about offering my services to the local police department.  I'm pretty sure those drug sniffing dogs have nothing on me.  Perhaps I could contract my sense of smell out for when one of the dogs needs a vacation or a personal day.  

Best moment this week:  Making more progress in Ty's room.  I whipped out the sewing machine again this week.  I actually hemmed a pair of Case's lined swishy pants and I don't think they look too bad.  This was a HUGE feat for me because I've stared at those pants since Christmas wondering what to do with them (it was a complete outfit but was mismatched with 2T pants and 18M shirt but I had already washed them before I realized it).  I felt such a sense of accomplishment that I decided to take on the curtains in Ty's room. With help from Sarah, my sewing mentor, on a few occasions I have finally gotten them underway.  Pictures to come when the curtains are complete and assuming they are still hangable once I'm done with them.

Sidenote: Tomorrow is my 4D ultrasound.  I am SO excited and a little nervous.  With Case I had ultrasounds anytime I wanted them.  This time I've tried to just keep my faith in God and know that He is in control.  I've done pretty well and have not had an ultrasound since the regularly scheduled one at 20ish weeks.  This will be my last ultrasound, assuming everything is ok, until we meet Baby Ty.  They have a new machine, which is very exciting!  They only had a 3D machine when I was there with Case.  I'm hoping Baby Ty cooperates and lets us get a good look at him but I'm even more hopeful that he looks perfectly healthy.  I'm also excited to see Brandi, the world's best ultrasound tech!  

Doorknobs

Funny story...

I think it is blogworthy and had it gone any further it probably would have been YouTube worthy (thank God it didn't).  There are two types of door handles... there's the knob kind that you twist and then there's the lever kind that you can pull down on.  We have the knob kind but Grandma and Grandpa have the lever kind.  Case spends a lot of time at Grandma and Grandpa's house and has mastered the art of opening the lever doors.  This didn't seem like a big deal, although I was grateful that we have the knob kind to buy me some more time before he's totally free.  It became a big deal or nearly a big deal at my last OB appointment. 

At every visit I have to leave a urine sample.  I've never gone to an appointment without having someone there to help me with Case but I decided it was time I got better at this so we ventured out just the two of us so I couldn't leave him in the waiting room for this part.  He was absolutely perfect the entire time with the exception of these 2 minutes.  I'm in the bathroom, which opens up directly into the waiting room, with Case because again we were on our own.  It's nothing new for me to go to the bathroom with company, in fact I can probably count on two hands how many solo trips I've made over the last year so I didn't think this was going to be to big of a deal.  So there I am attempting to catch my urine sample (if you are a man reading this you have no appreciation for how tricky this can actually be) when Case spots the door handle... you guessed it the lever kind.  His eyes lit up and to the door he went.  He was on his tippy toes about 1/2 inch away from the lever when I realized it.  I'm "whisper" yelling at him to back away from the door and he is stretching with his every fiber to get his hand on that lever.  He made multiple attempts before I could get to him.  Thank you God for not making Case another inch taller because if he had been the entire (busy) waiting room would have gotten the show of their lives!  I will now forever be aware of what type of handles doors have! 

31 Weeks

This is my weekly pregnancy update. For details on the story behind these updates you can visit my first one here.

Pregnancy Play-by-play

So I'm no longer 30 weeks... I'm actually into the 30's now.  It seems SO crazy to me that in about 8 more weeks I'm going to have another child not living inside of me but in the bassinet next to me.  In 8 more weeks Case isn't going to be the only little boy in this house.  In 8 more weeks I will no longer be sleeping.  In 8 more weeks I hope that I will be loving the snuggle time with the newest member of our family that I'm going to fall in love with just like I have with Case.  In 8 more weeks I hope that I'm not totally off my rocker like I was with Case.  In the event that I am, I will probably disappear to a padded room somewhere until I get past it but not to worry, with God's grace I will be back.

How Far Along: 31 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is the size of a squash.  15.2 to 16.7 inches long and 2.5 to 3.8 pounds

Total Weight Gain/Loss: + 11

Maternity Clothes: Maternity jeans and T-shirt, "The Suit(s)" or sweatpants and some maternity shirts... pretty much anything that I can get on without it looking like a spandex disaster straight out of the 80's.

Gender: BOY!!! Ty Athen!  Notice I've removed the question marks.  This does NOT change the fact that I reserve the right to totally change my mind while I'm in the drunken hormonal stupor that is post-partum but assuming my husband maintains control I believe this is for sure his name.  

Movement:  Lots of defined movements.  I LOVE feeling a baby move inside of me.  Selfishly, I am grateful that women get to carry the babies because I'd hate to miss this feeling.  I enjoy trying to figure out what position Ty is in based on the movements I feel.  There's just nothing in the world like feeling a baby move inside you!!!  Nothing!

Sleep:  Sleep... what can I say about this?  I have to make my bed in the morning to avoid the temptation to nap because if I nap I don't sleep well at night.  If I don't nap I'm ready for bed at about 7ish.  No I don't go to bed then but the feeling is there.  I sleep well some nights and some nights I don't.  The constant peeing plays a huge role in my sleep.  I sort of feel like I should have gotten a raise when I made the decision to work from home because 100% of my toilet paper usage is coming out of my pocket now!  Sometimes I feel like I am working just to pay for toilet paper.  Seriously... how many times can I pee in one 24 hour period???  I just bought the equivalent of 72 rolls of toilet paper and all I can think when I look at that mammoth stack of rolls is that it will be gone in no time.  I really think I have a case if I was to present to my company the amount of money I am saving them in toilet paper by working from home.  I need to be reimbursed and it needs to be retroactive!  

Now lets talk about WHY I pee all of the time.  Apparently my uterus is similar to that of a Moonwalk or Bounce House depending on what you call those giant blow up jumpy things.  My bouncy uterus makes up the walls of my interior Bounce House and my bladder makes up the floor.  I can almost hear Ty giggle every time I feel him jump on my bladder.  Case did the same thing.  Too bad you don't remember being inutero because I'm guessing these boys would one day be swapping stories about triple lutzes, backflips and McTwists (this is a real skateboarding term... I looked it up:-) all with the cushion of mommy's bladder to catch them.  They are like my miniature little Tony Hawk's in there.  

Cravings: ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm partial to Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie:-)

Symptoms: Nothing really... wait how can I say nothing really when I am peeing just about every 15 minutes on the dot?!?!?  I'm pretty sure this counts as a symptom!  Please don't misinterpret this as a complaint though... I still LOVE being pregnant even with the small fortune I've spent on Angel Soft!

Best moment this week:  Being able to watch my belly move with Ty's kicks, jumps, punches, triple back handsprings, or whatever you want to call them and then seeing Wayne's face when he sees or feels my belly move.  

Brothers

There is a part of me that is relieved that we are expecting another boy.  There are several reasons, the first is the money it will save us.  We have all boy stuff and therefore don't have to buy much.  The third bedroom in our house is much smaller and absolutely does NOT have the space to house a little girl... especially with my mom's shopping addiction.  I'm pretty sure it would only take one of those cute little tutu's to require additional closet space.  

I'm also excited by the thought that Case and Ty will grow up so close.  I guess there's a part of me that's assuming that them being only 17 months apart will make them close because they will always be experiencing nearly the same things at the same times in life.  But my newest reason to be excited to be having another boy is that I can dress them alike!  Yes I know this is probably more acceptable with two girls but given my history I'm pretty sure I'm destined for boys so they are just going to have to be patient with their momma!  I hadn't thought about how much fun this will be until my mom came over the other day with a few matching outfits for them.  Now it's just one more reason for me to be excited to have another little man in the house:-)  

 

30 Weeks

This is my weekly pregnancy update. For details on the story behind these updates you can visit my first one here.

Pregnancy Play-by-play
30 weeks?!?!?  This freaks me out!  I guess it's because after the 30's the baby is here... there will be nothing left to count.  I don't know how this has happened so fast!  I'm going to try to maintain my composure for the next 10 (probably more likely 9) weeks as I spend a lot of time praying that God would mentally and physically prepare me for the newest addition to our family.

Please note that my weekly outfit is back!  I did about 450 loads of laundry yesterday and finally came across my shirt.  I actually had ALL of my laundry totally complete and then the end of the day came and the feeling of accomplishment that I had from looking at those empty laundry baskets is now gone.  

How Far Along: 30 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is the size of a squash.  15.2 to 16.7 inches long and 2.5 to 3.8 pounds

Total Weight Gain/Loss: + 11.5 - Darn those Dutch Cocoa Archway cookies they had on clearance for 75 cents!

Maternity Clothes: Maternity jeans and T-shirt, "The Suit(s)" or sweatpants and some maternity shirts... pretty much anything that I can get on without it looking like a spandex disaster straight out of the 80's.

Gender: BOY!!! Ty Athen!  Notice I've removed the question marks.  This does NOT change the fact that I reserve the right to totally change my mind while I'm in the drunken hormonal stupor that is post-partum but assuming my husband maintains control I believe this is for sure his name.  

Movement:  I have felt some stronger full-body movements from him when I lay in bed.  Wayne has even felt some of them.  I love to watch his face... his eyes get HUGE and he ALWAYS says "Was that him?!".  No honey, that was the alien living next door to him inside my uterus:-)  It isn't an apartment complex in there!  He makes me giggle!

Sleep:  I sleep pretty well at night.  Naps always seem like such a good idea and then I lay down but don't really sleep.  I guess I probably doze in and out but I never really sleep well during a nap right now.  It sure doesn't stop me from trying though!

Cravings: Let's see... well there was the midnight stop at Meijer for Ben and Jerry's over the weekend.  No the Ben and Jerry's was NOT for the pregnant lady but for the pregnant lady's husband.  No it wasn't the husband doing the ice cream run it was me.  What's wrong with that picture?!?!  I actually volunteered because I was on my way home from a VERY fun mom's night out (shout out to Sarah and Sarah... thanks for a great night!) and I offered to stop.  When I got home and delivered the ice cream to my husband in bed all was well until I asked for a bite... and then another... and then another.  I'm pretty sure I ended up eating more of it than he did.  I eventually told him to get it away from me because I would have had NO problem at all finishing that pint of Fudge Brownie Ben and Jerrys!

Symptoms: Nothing really... this is the easy part!  Wayne would probably like to start his own blog listing the various symptoms but this is mine and I say there are none:-)  

Best moment this week:  I think the best moments this week would involve the progress we've made in the nursery.  It's not nearly done but we're getting there.  Wayne helped with getting Case's and Ty's closets cleaned out this weekend and A LOT of stuff made it's way to our bedroom from there.  It has kind of ended up being an entire upstairs overhaul.  There have been moments when I felt like I was on an episode of Hoarders with the amount of stuff piled all around me.  Case has kind of been going through agility training all week trying to maneuver around it all.  Let's hope that happens before Ty makes his appearance!

29 Weeks

This is my weekly pregnancy update. For details on the story behind these updates you can visit my first one here.

Pregnancy Play-by-play

 You guessed it... laundry issues (also known as "sheer laziness") again... I can't even tell you where the shirt is this week.

How Far Along: 29 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby J is the size of a squash.  15.2 to 16.7 inches long and 2.5 to 3.8 pounds

Total Weight Gain/Loss: + 10.5

Maternity Clothes: Maternity jeans and T-shirt, "The Suit(s)" or sweatpants and some maternity shirts... pretty much anything that I can get on without it looking like a spandex disaster straight out of the 80's.

Gender: BOY!!! Ty Athen???  Yes I'm still saying it with a question mark... again with the commitment issue!!  We've started calling him Ty in conversation now and he had his very own "T" ornament on the Christmas tree so I'm thinking it is confirmed.

Movement:  There were about two days where he seemed unusually still and I didn't feel very good.  I whipped out the doppler and made sure he was ok.  Heartbeat was fine and now he seems back to normal.  I would say the 7:00 PMish hour is his most active.  There is just nothing cooler than feeling him move.  It really makes me question these women that "didn't know" they were pregnant.  I mean seriously... how can you miss that feeling?  If I was feeling that and wasn't pregnant I'd be at the doctor explaining the fact that clearly ET is living inside of me.    Yes, I know there are things that can make you feel the baby less, like your placenta being in the front... mine is... I still feel him moving!

Sleep:  I'm still sleeping pretty well.  I feel like I'm just sleeping hard (if that makes sense) and having crazy dreams (I don't usually remember dreaming when I'm not pregnant) and it is like I wake up exhausted from all of that.  Does that even make sense???  Well I regained control of the pillows only to lose it again.  Wayne caught Case's cold, or Case caught Wayne's cold... I don't know which but I do know that both my boys have been sick most of this week.  I took them both to the doctor yesterday.  Wayne seems to be improving but Case has an ear infection and questionable snot... whatever that means.  If the fact that it covers him from head to toe right now is what makes it questionable then... agreed!  It is questionable indeed!  Somehow Case has continued sleeping well even through this terrible cough but I wake up a lot to listen to him and to check for fevers and to spend hours debating on whether to wake him up and give him Motrin or Benedryl.  It's a crazy world inside my head at 3AM (well, probably most other times of the day too).  

Cravings: I just read last weeks post about Jimmy John's.  I haven't had it since then but it sure does sound good right now!  My new craving... NUTELLA!!!!  Can I just say this is the most amazing spreadable deliciousness that my taste buds have ever encountered!  I feel as though everything should be dipped or spread with Nutella!  What an amazing concoction that some genius out there created!

Symptoms: Nothing really... this is the easy part!  Wayne would probably like to start his own blog listing the various symptoms but this is mine and I say there are none:-)  

Best moment this week:  Gonna have to share a few with you...

1.  Hearing the baby's heartbeat at my 2 WEEK (yes, I can't even believe I've made it to the every 2 week mark already) appointment.  

2.  Passing my Glucose test despite my pizza and brownie binge the night before.

3.  Wayne feeling the baby move... FINALLY!  You know he might be one of those didn't know he was pregnant women because somehow he could touch my stomach when Ty was moving and not feel it.  I was starting to question whether he actually had sensation in both of his hands.  All is well now and he has declared that he does believe now that I am in fact pregnant... and only 29 weeks in... good job honey!:-)  

4.  Starting the daunting task of organizing baby clothes!!!!  I've been working on this post throughout the day and I think I'd like to move this to the "NOT the best moment" section... It is so much harder time consuming than I thought it was going to be.  I am grateful to have a baby to plan for though!!!

5.  Taking LOTS of naps while Wayne was home... granted he was sick for most of it but somehow that felt like permission for me to nap whenever Case did.  

6.  Finding out that my OB has a new 4-D ultrasound machine!!!  I will get to partake in about 3.5 weeks!

So I'm nearing the 30 week mark.  That freaks me out a little.  I feel like I want to fast forward through the first 21 weeks and then I really start to enjoy the pregnancy but I get a little panicky again around the 30 week mark.  I guess it's that whole "this is really going to happen very soon and I don't feel the least bit prepared" mentality that takes over at 30 weeks and all of a sudden I feel the uncontrollable desire to organize things and nap.  Gotta be prepared and build up my sleep account! Good thing I'm much more responsible with my "sleep account" than I am with my bank account!

It's January 5th and I haven't done a New Year post yet.  I have started one several times but nothing worth sharing makes it from my head to the keyboard.  Maybe I'll just have a late New Years post or perhaps I'll pretend we haven't even started another new year already!