29 weeks with #4

(19w5d)

 

This pregnancy is literally flying by.  I’m trying to enjoy it and take it as it comes as it is most likely my last.  But baby girl is due in 77 days now and that’s CRAZY!

(21w)

 

Overall, I feel pretty darn good.  Just in the past day or two I’ve been getting some braxton hicks if I’m too active.  They don’t hurt, they’re just uncomfortable and they make it hard to breathe.  This past week though, I’ve had a headache in the front of my head almost every day.  It’s not a migraine, but it’s this annoying pain that comes and goes throughout the day.  It hurts above and behind my eyes which makes me wonder if it’s sinus related.  Actually I was quite worried about a brain tumor last night…  But I went to bed early last night and slept well and I haven’t had a headache so far today which is nice.  I might need to get my eyes checked though because it could be from eye strain as well.  I always jump to the worst conclusion though, but after 5 days of straight headaches I was getting worried.

 

 

I’m up about 13lbs right now.  I only wanted to gain 15lbs this pregnancy but being that I have 10-11 weeks to go, I don’t think that’s going to happen.  Bummer.  I guess if I can keep it under 25 that’ll be good and usually later in pregnancy I start losing weight anyway.  This past week I’ve gotten a few “foot cramps” in the crease where my right foot meets my leg.  They hurt a LOT and they usually happen at night and I have to get up and walk them off, which sometimes takes quite a while.  Sometimes my pelvis does this weird clicking thing (that it’s done in past pregnancies) when I try to roll over in bed or get up, but it’s not terrible.   Just a little uncomfortable.

(22w4d)

I started checking my blood pressure at home this week more frequently, mainly because of my headaches.  I wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting pre-eclampsia.  They have been high at times.  The systolic number has gotten up to 148 and the diastolic number has gotten up to 89.  140/90 is considered hypertensive which could put me at risk for pre-e.  Normally I’m in the high 120’s/70’s and I can usually get back there if I relax, but on the first takes I’m usually in the 130’s/80’s.  Not too much cause for concern but I’ll keep an eye on it.  My OB didn’t say anything about it yesterday, but that’s not super surprising.  I switched from Dr. Klis to Dr. Patel, who has more GD experience, but I’m not sure I like him much either.  He did the standard belly measurement and I asked him what it was and he said 32 weeks.  I was like What?!?  And he said Why?  Aren’t you 32 weeks?  I was like umm… I’m 29 weeks.  So he “remeasured” and said I was 29 weeks but I’m pretty sure he was just pulling that out of his butthole.  I could have been measuring 25 weeks and he wouldn’t have told me any differently.  It’s annoying and it makes me not trust him.  I also asked the nurse if there was protein in my pee and she, without looking at anything, said “Oh… Um… I don’t think so.”  Great.  Thanks for looking in to that.  I’m kind of sad that this is my last pregnancy and I don’t really like my OB.  Most likely either one of them won’t deliver her anyway so I guess it doesn’t really matter, but it’s disheartening.

(24w2d)

The biggest news is that at 26 weeks I passed my GTT with flying colors.  I was SHOCKED.  Totally and completely shocked as I was sure I’d have GD this time around too.  I was supposed to eat normally 2 hours before the test, but I had to go in the morning so I had eggs one hour before the test because I knew if I drank that stuff on an empty stomach it would make me sick.  And I knew if I ate carbs it would raise my results even more.  So I had 2 eggs and water and that’s it.  I tested with 2 of my meters right before and right after they did the blood draw and my meters said 117 and 129.  The blood draw, which my OB says is the most accurate by far, said 93.  …  That is a HUGE difference and I’m not 100% sure I believe the results.  But the cut off was 135 so either way, my meters or theirs, I passed.  The odds of having GD twice (possibly 3 times) and NOT having it the 4th time is slim to none.  But I’ve been following this GD diet for over a year now and drastically changed my eating habits last August so apparently it’s working.  My OB has told me numerous times to quit testing, but testing occasionally is what keeps me on track.  My numbers have still been pretty good for the most part anyway, so that’s good.  I’ll just keep an eye on them until she’s here, just for my own peace of mind.  And sometimes your numbers start going up at the end of pregnancy anyway, so if they do I want to know.  It makes me a little nervous that I won’t get the extra monitoring I got with Ben and Jamison and even Abbie towards the end of pregnancy, but also a little relieved since the hospital/OB is 50 mins away and I have 3 kids to deal with now too.  I’m not sure how I’d pull that one off taking them to NST’s and BPP’s with me all the time.  But it does make me a little nervous to not have that extra monitoring.

(26w)

Mark and I took a weekend trip to Vegas and we got to see my good friend Steph and her hubby while we were there.  Steph is due early Oct with her first and it was so fun to see her and talk all things baby, and everything else.  I have a bunch of friends having babies from now until April and all but one of them is having a girl!  Crazy!

 

 

I have been realizing lately that Jamison is going to have some issues when baby girl arrives.  He is still very much the baby of the family and I’m not sure he’s going to handle having a little sibling the best.  I think he will adjust, but it’s going to be rough for him I think, like it was for Abbie when Ben arrived.  J’s arrival was so easy since the big kids were a little bit older, but J is going to be too young to understand why I have a baby on me all the time.  And he’s pretty much used to being on me all the time right now which doesn’t help.  Mark and I call it his reset.  He just needs to come snuggle for 15-30 seconds and then he’s off doing something else again.  But he is a snuggler and he’s not going to like me dividing my attention at all.  Fingers crossed that it’s not as bad as I’m anticipating it to be.  I am sad that he won’t be the baby anymore too.  He’s still SO much a baby to me, it’s hard to believe there’s going to be someone even smaller than he is around again.  I am super excited about her arrival, but I’m sad for Jamison not being the baby anymore.

(28w3d)

 

I’ve had a few dreams lately about having her in the car on the way to the hospital.  I am nervous about that drive since I almost didn’t make it with Jamison and the hospital is 3x’s further away now.  I need to get my “deliver baby in car” bag ready and in the car, among other things so if that does happen, we’re at least prepared.  I’m sure worse things could happen but it does make me a little nervous.  I guess I know now that if/when my water breaks I need to at least stay near the hospital, although it was really nice to deliver only 20 mins after I got there last time and do most of the labor at home.  If I could do that again, I would be happy.  And if we didn’t have a NICU stay this time, that would be nice too.

(29w)

And I think most people that read this blog already know, but we are planning on naming her Josefina Jayne and call her Josie.  So we’ll have J and Josie, which I think sounds cute together.  Jayne is my dad’s mom’s middle name.  We were debating between Jayne and Elizabeth (my mom’s mom’s middle name) but Josefina Elizabeth is a really long name.  And with Jayne we could call her JJ if we wanted.  J and JJ.  We’ll see.  I’m sure I’ll have 15 more nicknames for her before she’s 3 months old, just like I have with the other 3.

11 weeks to go!!!

On marriage

I find myself reflecting on Mark and my marriage a lot lately.  Maybe it’s because we’re over the 10 year mark. Maybe it’s because I hear a lot of friends complaining about their husband.  Maybe it’s because this military lifestyle and the decisions we’re trying to make about the future really make me think about how thankful I am to have him home with us most of the time.  Whatever the reason is, I know for a fact that Mark and I really rock at this marriage thing.

I remember when we first started living together in August of 2005.  That was a huge adjustment for both of us, as I’m sure it is for anyone living with someone else for the first time.  Our communication styles were so different.  He just avoided everything and had NO clue how to respond to my emotions (and I had lots of emotions), and I wanted him to open up so badly.  Mark has always been a slow mover in that aspect.  I called him my pretend boyfriend for over 8 months before we ever crossed the “friendship line” (aka – held hands or kissed), but he was pretty much oblivious to the fact that I liked him.  Luckily, I’m persistent.  And patient.  Those first few months of living together had a lot of ups and downs.  I drove myself to the beach more than a few times to try to sort out my thoughts and feelings and frustrations.  Mark’s younger brother, Alex, actually said “I love you” to me before Mark did.  Haha!  True story!  I still tease Mark about that.  I remember when Mark proposed to me on Navarre Beach too.  I knew it was coming because I felt the ring box in his pocket, but I didn’t tell him that.  I thought that day was great, but that was only the beginning.  When we were friends, before we were dating, I would tell my parents that I just had so much fun with him.  I’d never had as much fun with anyone else as I did with him, and that is still true 11+ years later.  I do believe that we have such a solid marriage because we were pretty much best friends first, before we ever moved on to dating each other.


When I met him at the alter on our wedding day, he was shaking like a leaf.  I still tease him about that too.  He calmed down a little throughout the ceremony, but he pretty much shook the whole time.  I thought I would be nervous walking down the aisle, but when the time came, I just remember being so excited!  I have never once doubted my decision to marry Mark.  It is still the best decision I’ve made to date.  (Our wedding photographer, on the other hand, was not…)

Our marriage definitely hasn’t been all roses and unicorns, but compared to others I’ve heard about, maybe it has.  Sure, we occasionally argue, but we argue fairly and we respect each others thoughts and opinions.  There isn’t name calling or slamming doors or anything like that.  Emotions run high sometimes, but it is typically pretty short lived and we can figure things out and move on.  I think the number one key to a successful marriage is respect and I respect Mark more than anyone else I’ve ever encountered.  And I respect him for so many reasons.  He is kind and intelligent.  He is fair and open minded.  He works hard at work and at home, but his family is his #1 priority.  He is SUPER laid back and even tempered and he balances me out in the best ways possible.  He has an amazing ability to see the big picture and not get caught up in the small details, like I tend to.  He is always seeking knowledge – reading books, listening to podcasts, searching the internet, and he’s good at sharing his knowledge.  I’m not sure there is a better daddy on the planet and seeing him with our kids makes me love and respect him more on a daily basis.  He is willing to put the kids and me first.  He is just a genuinely good person.  And he’s incredibly easy to be married to.

I have talked to a few friends who say they could never work with their husbands.  They need that time and space separation.  And I’ve had friends say that they are a little relieved when their husbands go TDY or are gone on business trips for a few days.  That has just never been us.  I like having Mark home.  Sure, he’s a HUGE help with the kids and when he’s here I have time to breathe and think and do something other than parent, but more so, I just like his company.  I feel complete when he’s at home with us and it’s not that I NEED him here, it’s that I want him here.  There’s just a comfort level that comes with having him home and all of us like it when he’s around.  Our kids still ask him every day if he has to go to work later or the next day.  Any time Jamison hears the door open he starts saying dada.  He never complains about not having a break when he gets home from working for 10-12 hours at work and then the kids pounce on him as soon as he walks through the door and he has a kid or three hanging on him until they are all in bed for the night.  Our goal is to someday be able to work together.  To have a business together and be able to spend all day together if we want to.  Hopefully that works out.

I am reminded on a daily basis from various sources of how lucky I am to be married to Mark.  I try hard to not take that for granted for a single minute.  Marriage can be hard work, and anyone who’s been married for 10+ years knows that, but I feel very blessed that our marriage hasn’t been much work so far.  There is a series going on at our church right now called “The Elephant in the Family Room” and a few weeks ago it talked about the elephants in marriage and what causes the most fights.  They were money, kids and in-laws and one of those has been a HUGE challenge for us and caused at least 90% of the arguments and hard feelings in our marriage, but after 10 years, we’re on the same page about it now and working towards a common goal instead of me feeling like we’re on opposite sides.

I hope our next 10 years are as great as the last 10 years have been!

First days of school 2016

 

 

 

Abbie was so excited for school to start, as usual.  I’m so glad she’s my little adventurous kiddo who loves school and anything social.  She had the first day of school jitters, but she handled them like a champ, as usual.  Mark wasn’t able to go with us as he had a training he had to attend that morning, so I wasn’t looking forward to dropping her off without his support, but we managed.  The thing I hate about Abbie’s school (well one of the many) is that their “back to school” night is 2 weeks AFTER school starts.  They don’t even tell you which teacher you have until 5pm the night before school starts.  So there’s no meeting the teacher or seeing your room before school starts to make you feel more comfortable.  The kids are just kind of thrown into it.  Last year it was really nerve wracking for us since we had no clue where anything was at the school.  It’s really a dumb concept, but whatever.

I briefly met her teacher and we got her situated in her class room and then I was off!  Abbie was fine, but after I took the picture of her waving I lost it a little bit.  I should have worn my sun glasses there.  Too bad they’re prescription and I can’t just wear them on top of my head like everyone else.  I managed to pull it together, but it’s always hard for me to drop Abbie off for the first day of school, even if there is a sense of relief too.  As a side note, I LOVE her teacher this year.  Ms. Wilson is great!  She’s new to this district, but she seems fun and energetic and she knows how to handle and challenge Abbie.  I think it’s going to be a great school year for her!

 

 

 

I wasn’t going to put Benji into preschool this year.  I’ve been trying to get him into the TK program at Abbie’s school, but he missed the birthday cut off by 6 days so he wasn’t accepted.  I didn’t want to pay $325/month for 3 half days again this year, so I was just going to keep him home.  However, once Abbie started school, Ben kept asking every day multiple times a day when he got to go back to school.  He LOVES school, which I am super happy about, I just didn’t want to pay for it.  And since I’d cancelled his enrollment at the school he went to last year before I knew that he didn’t get in to Abbie’s school, we were kind of SOL.  I saw Little Sprouts Preschool mentioned on a mom page on FB so I contacted Mrs. Tina, the owner and asked if she had room.  She did, so we got Ben into preschool with her.  He goes M,W and F from 8:30-12:30 and it’s $200/month.

 

Ben had zero hesitation to go to preschool also.  He went with me when we interviewed with Mrs. Tina so he knew where he was going and he’d already picked out a favorite toy.  So he’d been asking for a few days when he got to go back and play with it.  But he still loves it.  And Mark and I love it too.  The teachers Ben and Tina seem great and they have a private FB group that they post pictures and updates in daily.  They do a daily summary of everything they did in class that day and it’s all very educational based vs play based, which I like and which is what Ben needs.  We are really excited about Ben’s year with them as well!