Welcome Sprout!

Induction was set for Tuesday June 14th.  Since I was to be at the hospital by 5:30 am, my parents came in the night before so that they could stay and watch Bean at our house while we were in the hospital.  I was induced with Bean and knew what the day/process would look like.  This time was a different experience in that Steve and I were at it all alone.  Last time, my parents were able to go to the hospital with us and provided distractions.  We had to come up with those on our own this time.

Ironically, I woke up a little after 4 having some contractions.  I'd been having them off and on all week, but never any that would wake me up.  The word for the whole day was "surreal". It was surreal to think about the fact that I wouldn't have to worry about going into labor or when baby would be coming -- she was coming today!

I woke Steve up just after 5 am, got everything pulled together, and made the 3 minute drive to the hospital (sorry Steve that I haven't let you fulfill your dream of a mad dash of driving to the hospital with a wife in labor).  Once we were there, we went to labor and delivery, checked in, and got the show on the road.

The first hour int he hospital is just spent going through paperwork (I had pre-registered, so really it was a nurse on a computer verifying everything), prepping the room, and starting an IV.  The nurse started me on pitocin a little after 7 and marked my beginning progress at 4cm & 80% effaced.  I could feel the contractions, but they were pretty similar to what I had been experiencing.  They weren't "painful", but did get annoying.  I had already "ordered" my epidural, but told the nurse I didn't want it until after the doctor came in and broke my water.

I watched the Today show while Steve read a book and nodded off and on.  The contractions picked up a little bit (nothing I couldn't handle), but the nurse did offer to get me that epidural sooner - I declined.  Our pastor came in and prayed with us right before the doctor came in.  Once the pastor left, it was time to get things really going.  My water was broken just before 9am and the anesthesiologist immediately followed with the epidural.  I did have a couple of strong contractions during that time.  Steve told me later he had concern for me and could tell I wasn't "just ok".  I felt the epidural go in and could tell it was more on the right side than the left.  That wasn't an issue. . . until later.

(Feeling much better after the epidural!)

(Steve on his "perch".  He would alternate between this window bench, a recliner, and my side -- he'd help in the changing positions and feeding me ice.)

The epidural kicked in and I was feeling much more comfortable.  Well, contractions were more comfortable, but laying in the bed was not so much comfortable.  I just continued to watch tv and doze off and on all morning.  The nurse did a good job of coming in every 45-60 min or so and helping me to change positions.  Each time she would have me change positions, she'd check me.  At the first check at 10:30, I was only at a 5.  My heart kind of sank at that number.  I had Bean by 1:20 and had a goal of a noon baby.  I wanted a baby by lunch time because I was STARVING.  I don't remember that with Bean.  The ice chips this time around weren't cutting it.

(Watching TV & playing on my phone -- I had plans of trying to blog, but with the IV in my left hand, I couldn't use it.)

At the 11:30 check, I was at 7cm.  Woohoo! Now that's better.  But again, my dream of a noon baby was dashed. I went back to whining about how hungry I was.  I got checked at noon and was still at 7, nurse commented on how she was going to come in more often to change the positions so that the baby would come down.  I turned on SVU to pass the next hour.  With Bean's labor, I didn't feel a single thing once I had the epidural.  This time around, if I was laying on my left side, I could feel more (remember that whole "the epidural was stronger on the right side comment"??) of the contractions.  They weren't painful, but present. My contractions also started to become a little inconsistent.  The nurse upped the pitocin to try to get the contractions to be closer together and consistent again.

At 12:55, I had been laying on my right side (and not feeling much).  The nurse came in and checked and said I was at 9! (I started to hope for a baby by 2pm!) She had me flip over to my left side and said she'd start to ready some things and come back shortly to check progress. By 1pm, I was starting to really feel uncomfortable.  I could feel immense pressure with the contractions and was starting to lose it.  I hit my button for an epidural boost and asked Steve if I was a crazy person to call the nurse right back in.  He said to do whatever I needed (however, he didn't confirm that I wasn't being crazy). I tried to tough it through another contraction, but hit the nurse call button.  She came right into the room as I did it.  There was a nurse on the intercom asking what was needed and my nurse responded with, "just hold on a second."  She then checked me and informed the other nurse that, "We need the doctor and delivery team NOW!" (Okay, she didn't yell "now", but her face kind of enforced that word.

It was a flurry of activity for the next few minutes.  I had immense pressure and the urge to push, but the nurse just told me to wait for the doctor.  She got the bed ready and put the stirrups up - with the disclaimer of, "don't put your legs up until the doctor is in here!" The doctor came into the room and the nurse told him - "baby is right here!"

I put my legs up and was told that the next time I felt pressure to go ahead and push.  A contraction started and they both looked at me and said, "now might be a good time to try." I felt the pressure and pushed!  I could feel the relief in my stomach as the baby came out.  Doctor had me stop so he could clean out her mouth (she was immediately crying!).  He was going to have me push again to get the body out, but her hand came out and body just slid out after it all on its own.  Steve and I were sort of in shock since it just took 1 push (as opposed to the 45 min with Bean!).

Sprout came into this world at 1:15 pm (that's right, only 20 min from that 9 cm check to baby being born!) weighing a small 6 pounds, 7 ounces & a long 20"! She was immediately laid on my chest, which (not gonna lie) grossed me out a little.  With Bean, they put her on my gown, but then took her and weighed/cleaned her up and then brought her back to me to do skin-to-skin.  Not this time.  She was placed right on my skin under my gown right upon coming out.  I got slimed on my face and that was about enough for me. Haha!  Doctor knew not to ask Steve to cut the umbilical chord, so I did it (I did it with Bean, too!).

(Sprout)

(Daddy getting to hold Sprout for the first time.)

We got to stay in the delivery room for a little over an hour.  I was stitched up, the room was cleaned up, and it was just Steve, Me, and Sprout. Can I just say SURREAL, again?!  A nurse came in a little bit later to get Sprout's vitals and stats.  At that point, we had her sent to the nursery to get cleaned up and I was transferred to my recovery room.  All in all, the day went just about the same as it did with Bean's, only with a little more excitement in the end.

My parents brought Bean up to meet her new baby sister later in the afternoon.  Other visitors included our pastor and his wife and my friend Sara (and another pastor and his wife along with a church visitor the next day).  Days in the hospital seemed to run all together.  The hospital experience was much more streamlined this time around.  Sprout and I would share the same nurse, meaning 1 nurse would come in and check both of our vitals at the same time.  That eliminated a lot of in & out of staff!  Sprout slept most of the first day, and I would have to work to nurse her every 4 hours.  At night, she cried and needed much more attention.  During the day, Steve would head back to our house for a few hours and my mom would come and stay with me.

(First picture as a family of 4!  Bean LOVES baby sister -- although she still is convinced the baby's name is "Noah" after a baby from church.)

(This is how we usually find Bean.  In Sprout's face giving her kisses.  She LOVES her baby sister.)

(Sprout likes to keep her hands up to her face, whether sleeping or eating or chilling around.  Although right now, she mostly just eats and sleeps.)

(Check out that hair! They say that heartburn is an indication of a baby having hair.  It's been true for both of my kiddos so far! Her profile also shows off that she definitely has Steve's nose!)

(Sprout has ginormous feet -- and I say that completely out of love. She also has very long fingers.  I'm guessing she's going to get her daddy's height!)

(More sister cuddles.  Meeting Sprout has made Bean age waaaaayyy to fast.  Slow down girls!)

(It's hard to tell in the photo, but the bottom of the board in our room had a list of things that needed done before we could leave the hospital.  When you got that item checked off (i.e. "blood work"), you put a duck magnet above the item.  Once your "ducks were in a row" you got to leave.  We were discharged on Thursday and was home shortly after lunch.  My mom stayed a few extra days to help us acclimate to being home with TWO kids.)

Homestretch - LAST pregnancy update!

Last few weeks of my pregnancy were long, uncomfortable, and stressful (at times!).  I discovered that my doctor had a planned vacation the week before my due date.  I was pretty stressed over going into labor while he was gone, and of course I had a lot more time able contractions and a few nights of fearing a hospital run in the night.  We had a plan of what to do with Bean if something did happen in the night, but it still made me stressed at times.  I'm a planner and operate best when I know what to expect.  So once doctor offered me an induction date, I took it!  We knew by the end of June 14th, we'd be holding Sprout!

Actually having a date made it more nerve wrecking (so much to get done!) and less stressful (I can actually make plans and be prepared).  But then there's the whole, I still could go at any minute.  I focused on the date on the calendar and tried to soak up as much time with Steve and Bean as our last week as a family of 3.  Bean could tell change was around the corner and definitely craved (and appreciated) the extra attention.

My last two weeks of pregnancy stats:

*Baby dropped, meaning my pelvis hurts more and I have a nice waddle.  Sleeping is a bigger issue due to the pelvis pain since I can only sleep on my sides. But with baby dropping, I don't get up to pee as much. So you win some, you lose some.

*Lots of tightenings/contractions happening. They usually occur at night, but have woken up with some in the morning a couple days.  

*Bending over is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, Bean requires me to bend over a lot. . . 

*Progress kind of stalled around 2.5 - 3cm

*Pretty emotional about another kid - more so about the adjustment Bean will be going through

*Eating LOTS of chocolate

*Pretty set on a 1st name, waffling on the middle name

*I finished up final projects for baby and random things that have been piling up around the house.

(This was the week that contractions/tightenings became pretty consistent AND the week that doctor was on vacation -- eeks!)

I tried to soak up lots of time with Bean -- story time at the library, intentional play time with her (which was mostly with a Mickey/Minnie doll and I got tired of acting out the same scenario all the time), lots of cuddles and snuggles in her bed and on the couch, and special treats (i.e. ice cream, suckers, and of course - chocolate!).

(We went on a donut date after storytime at the library.  Even though it was lunch time by the time we got out of the library and to the donut shop, but the sugar high was totally worth it.)

(My grandma has been working on making up some receiving blankets for Sprout and made a couple special blankets for Bean.  She's been using them to practice holding and playing baby with them.  And by playing baby, I mean she lays on my lap, puts the blanket over her, cries for milk, and makes me feed milk to her in her sippy cup like you would a baby with a bottle.)

(LAST pregnancy photo just a few days before induction day! Boy am I thankful it isn't a "41" on that board like I had with Bean!)

Crisis Mode

After 5 kid-free days, I was worried what it would be like for Bean to return.  I feared many meltdowns and having to detox off of grandma for awhile.  I tried to plan a few days of errands and lots of activities to keep her occupied.  So with our first full day together, we had a girls morning out and went and got hair cuts!

Bean had never had a hair cut and I was being crazy about not wanting to cut her hair and mess it up.  But the back of her hair was longer than the front and it kept getting in her face, so I decided we just had to get it done.  Bean didn't want to go, but when I told her I'd get mine done, too, she got really excited.

I'm cheap and just get my hair done at Great clips.  It killed me that I didn't have any coupons to use, but we ventured out anyways.  We had to wait a little bit, but luckily there was a Panera right next door.  So we headed over for some lemonade and a cookie to pass the time (it helped immensely).  I went first and Bean just played on the chair next to the one I was in.  When it was her turn, she crawled right up in the chair and handled the cut like a champ. She had a hard time keeping her head still, but overall did great.

(Bean's hair before the haircut.  She used to love wearing a "princess bun", but more recently just wants her hair down.  It would get food and sticky candy in it and that was the tipping point for needing it done.)

(Such long hair! Hard to fathom that her hair was BLACK when she was a newborn.  It's never been cut, but she did lose most of that dark hair as a babe, and then the blonde hair grew in.)

(Killing time while eating a cookie)

(Unsure of what's going on, but intrigued by the Angry Birds cape.  Bean got introduced to Angry Birds while staying with Ahm thanks to the current McDonald's toys.)

(Sitting like a big girl.)

(There was a cup of suckers at the register and she eyed those babies from the moment we walked in.  Here's to shorter hair that hopefully won't get stuck in it!)

(This kid is a ham and hates to stand still.  I tried get a better picture of her shorter hair, but this was the best that could be managed.)

I titled this post crisis mode because in the same day that I cut my hair to be more manageable (aka, mom cut) I also had to go pickup my new glasses.  For anyone that knows me, I had LASIK done in 2012 and apparently I'm in need of it again.  I don't need to wear the glasses around the clock, just when I am going to be looking at far distances for a length of time and definitely while driving, haha).  I have a lifetime guarantee, can't get it done being pregnant and don't really know if it's best to hold off til after all kids are had.  I need to call the place and follow-up with the guarantee information to figure it out. And to top it off, I made the realization that in less than a month, I'll have TWO kids, totally look like a mom with the new cut and glasses, AND hit my last year in my twenties. YIKES.

(Bean loved the trips to the eye doctor.  She loved trying on all the glasses.)

(Now that I wear my glasses, Bean wants to have glasses, too.  So she's rekindled a love of her sunglasses. I didn't think to take a before shot of my hair before my cut, but this was it.  You just can't really tell the length of my hair.)

(AHHH, total mom look going on. Oh well.)

Pregnancy Update - 36 weeks!

I went to write down today's date and nearly had a heart attack.  Sprout is due to make her debut in exactly 1 month! But then, will we have to wait a full month??  Or will she follow in her sister's footsteps and take her sweet time and make it more like 6 weeks?!  Ahhhhh!!

I forgot all about this phase of pregnancy.  The realization (okay, really it should be the word FEAR) that I could literally go into labor at any moment.  You'd think that with this being baby #2, I'd be a pro; but reality is you can't go by last pregnancy timeline because each babe makes their own debut decisions!  My experience with labor/delivery was AWESOME with Bean.  I was induced at 10 days over, all pain went away with the epidural, and she was out in just over 6 hours of labor.  Can I hit the labor/delivery lottery twice?!  I am completely terrified of going into labor naturally (like water breaking, logistics of what to do with Bean, how much time from that happening to getting to the hospital is needed, etc).  I'm trying to just focus on the day to day and not let my mental thoughts get too crazy.

I went through a really rough week about a month ago.  My heartburn flared back up and I had to spend a few nights "sleeping" on the couch in a sitting position.  Those were a couple of miserable days, but things have seemed to have changed.  Maybe she's dropped or just found a better position, but heartburn is back to being managed with medicine -- whew! Sleeping is OK - still have to get up a lot at night to pee and switch positions, but I'm able to fall back to sleep quickly.  

I guess I've entered the "nesting" phase.  I simply call it - WE HAVE A MONTH TO GET STUFF DONE! Nursery is all ready to go, baby clothes and items are all cleaned and ready to be used, and all I really have left is to pack our own hospital bag.  But since the hospital is 3 min from our house, I'm not too stressed with that task.  

I remember with Bean, thinking that I'd go early; but then she was 10 days late.  I keep reminding myself that any signs I see/experience now that could point to labor doesn't mean anything.  I currently have lots of contractions throughout the day and have had a couple of evenings with them spacing out and being time able.  I even had some in the middle of the night that woke me up and I couldn't sleep due to them.  I timed them and they were 5-6 min apart and lasted a couple hours.  But then they just went away.  Doctor said next time that happens, at the hour mark, I just need to go to the hospital -- yikes!  

I had another night this week where they were timing 5 min apart, around the hour mark they started to space out more towards 7 min -- whew!  When they are time able, they are more just tightening (Braxton Hicks), but I've been having some more random ones that get to be more intense than just tightening.  I"ll have to freeze in my spot and just focus until the feeling passes.  Poor Steve is beginning to freak out.  When he finds me frozen in spot he immediately jumps into, "ANOTHER ONE?!" 

I had my first progress check this week.  Those contractions are doing something because progress is being made! I again remind myself that progress doesn't mean much.  With Bean, I was 2 cm at 39 weeks.  With this baby, I am currently at 2 cm and just hitting week 36.  Does that mean anything?!  Probably not.  Only thing is that my body is remembering to do it's job and prepping for baby expulsion - ha! From here on out, I'll have weekly appointments to check progress and make sure everything is still looking good!

(I am sucking at keeping up with these belly shots.  My last picture was at week 29 -- oops! I'll *try* to do weekly photos for these last few weeks. I mean, how hard is it to take 4 more belly photos, right??) 

(Bean wanted to be in the picture, too.)

(This photo makes me laugh.  Because of my thyroid condition, I had to have an additional ultrasound at week 32.  Everything checked out fine, and it was nice to see baby girl again - and yes I confirmed that it is still a girl.  The tech kept commenting on how much hair the baby had.  She finally took a screen shot and labeled the photo with "Hair" on it.  I've talked to several friends and even other nurses about this picture and no one has ever heard of a tech documenting hair on an ultrasound.  I say it's because she wants to document the human about to birth an ape!  There's an old wive's tale that the hairier the baby, the worse the mom has heartburn. I'm a believer in that tale!)

Pregnancy Update -- 3rd trimester?!

It's funny how different pregnancies are.  With Bean, I could tell you exactly how far along I was, I took weekly photos and constantly blogged about how I was feeling and progress in getting ready for the baby.  

This time around, I'm clueless on how far along I am, and I have yet to take pictures back to back - last pictures were 7 weeks apart, ha!  Steve and I rarely talk about the baby (other than when I'm complaining about how uncomfortable she is making me with jabs in the ribs) and have yet to even come up with name options.  

I think the reality this time around is that I just have other things on my mind and in my life that are higher priority than this baby at this point in time.  I know once she is here, she will get a lot of my attention, so I'm trying to take care of other things while I can.  I know it is more common to hear women talk about how awesome pregnancy is and how they just love it and soak it up.  Well, that's not me. 

This time around, I seem to be experiencing the hardships a whole lot sooner -- heartburn, jabs in the ribs, constant braxton hicks contractions, sleeplessness (I wake every 2-3 hours to go pee at night), feeling like I'm going to pop (baby is already out of room and I can feel my tummy stretching), and I still have a couple months left -- yikes! 

 Don't get me wrong -- I am extremely thankful that I am able to create and carry babies.  I am amazed at how God orchestrated the human body and reproduction and truly see each babe as a miracle.  I don't like to complain openly about how I truly feel about pregnancy, because I know there are several women who crave to have the experience who can't.  I am thankful, I'm just also realistic in that pregnancy is HARD! It isn't always sunshine and roses for me.  It is tiring, has my brain fried, and has shortened my temper exponentially (sorry Steve and Bean!).  

I couldn't do this pregnancy without Steve.  He has been so great through it all.  He is a huge help even when he is exhausted.  He helps to entertain Bean when I just need space from her.  He has also stepped up the back rubs (guess that complaining worked, ha!) and is quicker to say, "let's just go pick up dinner".  

Now the stats of this pregnancy:

*Weight Gain: So far I've only gained 10 pounds - I'm "allowed" to gain 15-20 more. I'm not trying to not gain weight. In fact, my running and exercising has taken a significant placement on the back burner.  I'm not one of those pregnant women who can eat whatever they want whenever and enjoy it.  Eating is a chore for me - I have to think about whether the food will cause me heartburn and how much of the food I can eat before I feel like I'm going to explode.  For the record, I'm on a daily heartburn pill now and still have to deal with heartburn at the end of the day.

*Baby Movement: I feel the baby move ALL.THE.TIME.  I tune it out a lot and have to stop and think about if she is moving.  If I'm up and moving, she's probably sleeping because I don't feel movement as much (but then again, I'm using my brain for other things).  When I rest, she goes into what I think are acrobatic routines.  I can feel her all the way down inside me (which is an extremely odd feeling I can't describe) and can watch her shifting my stomach back and forth.  She doesn't like it when I am sitting (or hunched over).  She lets me know this by jabbing me in the rib and reminding me she's got minimal space.  I have to sit with my back arched or laying back.

*Braxton Hicks: I get "tightenings" known as Braxton Hicks contractions ALL.THE.TIME! Sometimes they are related to a need like more water or having to pee.  But sometimes, they are brought on for no reason.  They are never at a regular interval or anything so there's no need to be concerned yet.  However, since I was induced with Bean, I have no idea what the onset of labor looks like.  It is still early for me to be worrying about it, but it is on my mind.  

*Cravings:  I don't really have cravings, just anything that doesn't cause heartburn??  I went through an ice cream phase a month ago (thank you Meijer for having Tofts Ice Cream for 3 for $10), and I'm typically not big on eating ice cream.  I'd say that I've lost desire for foods more - cut way back on soda and coffee.  I did go through a pickle phase a couple weeks ago and ate a whole jar by myself, but I loved pickles prior to pregnancy, so nothing odd about that!

*Doctors Appointments: All my appointments have gone quick and textbook.  My blood pressure is always good, I've passed my glucose test with no signs of sugar issues, and my iron and thyroid levels have been great.  I do have to have an extra ultrasound (in a week) this time around because standards have changed for women with thyroid disorders while pregnant.  I'm excited to see little Sprout on camera one more time!

*Bean's Thoughts: She thinks she can feel baby sister by putting her finger in my belly button (which I detest). There's a commercial on tv with a baby walking and every time it comes on, she tells me, "baby sister has to grow, then come out!"  I think she is excited, but really has no idea what is about to hit her!

(So I'm a week behind, I'm actually 30 weeks as I write this, but if I waited to get another picture and have it be current, it'd take another 2 weeks to write this post.  I realized it had been awhile since I had taken a picture.  Then as I was writing down the "29" I realized I had sailed into the 3rd trimester without realizing it.  Whoa! And for the record, I think the photographer was getting creative with camera angles and is making me look thinner than I am.  The belly in that picture does not accurately portray the belly I'm sporting.)

(Bean wanted to be in the picture, too!  I think she had a ploy just to get the board so that she could potentially use the markers.  That ploy didn't work out for her this time.)

Sprout (pregnancy) Update

I am well into my second trimester with our baby Sprout! 1st trimester was really rough.  I was tired, often didn't feel good, and mentally drained.  I didn't want to talk about being pregnant or really think about what that fully meant.  But here I am 21 weeks ( over halfway!) and things are much more positive around here.

Other than having to get up and pee a ton at night, I'd say I almost feel like my old self.  Mornings are still rough (I wake up very weak and shaky and have to eat and drink a lot of water before I feel like starting my day).  I have way more good days than bad days and have even figured out some triggers that make me feel better and worse.

Just like with my last pregnancy, heartburn is an issue.  I've learned tomato sauce is not my friend, but milk is! If I know we are going to eat something with red sauce, I'll take an antacid before eating and that generally does the trick.  I also try to start and end my day with a glass of milk which also has helped alleviate heartburn.

I have way more energy (and motivation again).  I've seemed to finally retackle the house and am able to stay on top of it and not let it get to "zoo" status.  I am also back into a good exercise routine - both running and a prenatal video workout.  I try to work out 3-5 times a week with a mix of the running and video (goal of at least 2 runs a week).  My running isn't near the level it used to be.  I've dropped from being able to run over 6mph to just above 5.  I used to be able to run 2-3 miles straight, but now only do 1.5 miles at a time and sometimes have to do a portion of walking.  I never really fell in love with running when I trained for my mini a year ago, and I have to say running and being able to feel a baby moving and squirming around inside of you definitely is not on my top 10 list of "fun" things.  But alas, it must be done.

I don't have any crazy cravings yet.  During the 1st trimester, I tended to like saltier things and lost my love for sugar and soft drinks.  Now that I'm feeling much better, I'm back into sodas (still caffeine free) and have my sweet tooth back.  I will say, I did have 1 week where all I wanted was biscuits.  Like hot, fresh homestyle biscuits.  I did meet that craving but still every once in awhile think, "mmmm, biscuits. . ."  I was on a guacamole kick recently, but I would do that non-pregnant, so I don't count that one as a real craving. I would say overall my eating hasn't changed much. I eat pretty much what I did before and in the same amounts (partly to do with the heartburn!).  So far, I've only gained 7 pounds.  I have a goal of gaining no more than 25 (not that I'm actively paying attention or trying to lose weight).

Sprout is one very active baby! I've been feeling his/her kicks and pokes for the past few weeks, but they've really increased here recently.  Steve and Bean have yet to feel the baby move on the outside - most of the movements are internal.  When I do catch the baby kicking out, it seems to calm before I can get anyone's attention to come feel (or see).  Sprout's active times typically coordinate to my eating.  After lunch and after dinner are pretty active times as well as around 3am (hoping that's not a sign of things to come).  I'll often wake up feeling baby moving and it takes me awhile to fall back asleep.

We are looking forward to Sprout's arrival but have a ton of stuff to get done before June.  Mainly, lots of goals and things to get accomplished with big sister Bean (like moving to a toddler room/bed, getting rid of her pacifier for sleeping, and hopefully mastering potty training).  We will be pretty busy this spring preparing for Sprout!

(Not sure why this picture is so tiny.  With Bean, I was on top of documenting the belly bump. I even started taking pictures BEFORE I was pregnant.  This time, it was like, "oh shoot, I'm 10 weeks.  Probably should take a picture.")

(Notice the 1/2. Ha! Not because I wanted to be technical, but because I forgot to take pictures week 11 or 12 and it was getting close to 13.  Then I thought, "I'll make life simple, and only take pictures every other week." But since I was almost 13 and the last picture was 10, my OCD self wouldn't let me just put week 13.)

(Whew, actually remembered to document the every other week strategy!)

(Then life happened and before I knew it, I was 17 weeks and off my picture plan. Sigh.)

(It's bedtime, but "HEY, I  NEED to take a picture at week 19 to upkeep the every other week schedule!")

(I remembered! I was especially proud to remember this as I hit 21 weeks and not at the end.)

(I did a fun guessing game on my Jamberry page.  It was a hit! At the end of day 1, the score was 9 Girl guess and 5 Boy guesses.  I actually already knew Sprout's gender before I made the post, which made it especially fun for me to see who was RIGHT and who was WRONG!)

(Sprout's blog debut! It's hard to tell, but Sprout was sucking on his or her thumb during the ultrasound.  Kept moving its hand up to its mouth - adorable!)

(Bean was right in her last guess before finding out Sprout's gender - a GIRL! As much as we want to add a boy into the mix, Bean and Sprout will have an amazing bond! I look forward to watching Bean and Sprout in their frilly dresses dancing about and laughing together!)

Thanksgiving Celebrations

I LOVE Thanksgiving!  I love how it kicks off the holiday season, brings family together, and all the food!  With family spread over different states, we have to be strategic about celebrating holidays.  Lucky for us, we get to have TWO celebrations for holidays!

Thanksgiving Round 1:

We had our first Thanksgiving with my family the weekend before the actual holiday.  We headed to IN after Steve got off work on Friday.  We stopped for dinner halfway and got to my parents' house around 8 o'clock.  At home, Bean is in bed by then, but on a travel day, bedtime routine goes out the window. She was all wound up - especially since two cousins were spending the night! So after lots of giggles and running around, we finally forced her to go to sleep!

On Saturday, my brother and his family along with my sister and the rest of her family came over.  We all chipped in with different responsibilities for the meal so that it wasn't all dumped on my mom.  The meal was wonderful, but the time with family was the best!  Bean had a little meltdown in the morning, and earned herself some alone time (I thought she'd nap, but she wouldn't). After some snuggles and reading a few books alone, she seemed to snap out of it and allowed to partake in the family festivities.

(The only picture I took all weekend -- We were watching White Christmas, much to my brother-in-law's dismay.  So my dad tried to make him like the movie by singing along with the music to my brother-in-law.  Willises be crazy!)

Bean was a little wound up from all the fun and decided to be up all night.  We sleep in the same room with her at my parents, and she has that figured out.  She ended up in bed with me.  I dozed off and on, but not really sure how much she slept.  I'd roll over and see her sitting, or she'd be playing with her legs in the air.  Whatever.  I was able to somewhat sleep, and that's all I cared about :).  We had a lazy morning and packed up our stuff.  My sister and her family came back over for lunch and we headed out after we ate.

Thanksgiving Round 2:

We had a couple of days at home before we headed out for Thanksgiving round 2! I was able to get us unpacked, laundry done, repacked, AND put up all the rest of our Christmas decorations.  Steve was able to get off work on Wednesday just a little bit early.  I had the car packed up and we were ready to go.  We hit the road, headed south, and met up with Steve's family in Cincinnati for dinner! Nanny & Poppy (Steve's grandparents), Mommom, Poppop, Scott and Ashley were all there.  Bean was a little grouchy at the start of dinner.  I've learned she gets very "Hangry" when she needs to eat.  With her picky eating, it tends to happen a lot more frequently since she won't eat what I prepare for her to snack on.  Mommom brought her some markers and a coloring book and won her over.

We headed Scott and Ashley's after dinner.  We set up our room - we got the basement.  We were able to put Bean back in the corner so she was shielded from us.  We had the option to put her in her own room, but I didn't want to have to walk up 2 flights of stairs if she got up at night! Steve and I slept on an air mattress.  I was worried about how that would go since I toss and turn a lot more at night now trying to get comfortable.  It ended up being fine, though.

On Thursday morning, Bean and I got up and were ready to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade together, only I was an hour ahead! Ha, oops! Ashley had got stickers for Bean to play with and Bean quickly got involved in that activity.  The stickers are reusable ones that you put on scenes in the provided book. However, Bean liked putting them on the big windows more.  So she'd point out on the sheet to Poppop or Ashley which sticker she wanted, they'd take it off, and she'd go place it in her collection on the window.  Bean was too focused on stickers to watch the parade, maybe next year she'll share in my affinity for it.

(Coloring with Aunt Ashley! Bean remembered where the crayons were located and went straight there asking Ashley to color with her.)

(Pointing out which sticker she wanted Poppop to get for her.)

(She then would put it onto the window and excitedly run back for another sticker! She ended up running out of space and we had to open the shade on the next window.  It took help from everyone to get all the stickers off the windows and back onto their appropriate pages.)

There was a lot of activity in the kitchen trying to get the lunch meal ready.  Ashley had everything organized and assigned jobs for everyone (mine was the mashed potatoes).  We planned to eat at 1, but the turkey took a little longer.  Bean was starting to get hangry (plus again, being a picky eater, there was nothing in the meal that she would eat.  We gotta work on this food thing!).  So she ate spaghetti while we waited for the food.  She joined us for the blessing of the meal, then she bid every night-night and I took her down and put her to bed! It made our meal just a little bit easier not trying to convince her to eat and entertain her while we leisurely ate.

(Eating her spaghetti before we had our Thanksgiving lunch!)

(Happy Thanksgiving from Cincinnati!  We missed Ian and look forward to seeing him at Christmas!)

The rest of the afternoon was just spent relaxing and enjoying time with the family.  There were 2 main rooms to hang out in.  1 room was a "devices free zone" and the other had the tv (devices allowed!).  There were a few good football games on in the afternoon, so you can guess where Steve and I spent most of our time ;).  Bean happily ran back and forth between the rooms doing stickers or playing with the toys that I had brought from home.

On Friday, there were several options of activities to be done.  I decided that Bean and I would only be partaking in 1 activity and that it needed to be the morning one.  So we headed with the family to the Krohn Conservatory.  They had decorated some of the rooms with different Christmas scenes and trains.  Bean enjoyed walking through the plants and looking for trains.  She especially liked going through the cave behind the waterfall (we even went twice!).  There was a little kids coloring room that was probably her favorite.  She got upset when it was time to go.  We headed back to Scott and Ashley's for lunch and naptime.  Naptime wasn't coordinated well for everyone, so people were all asleep at different times, haha.  The afternoon activity ended up being missed.  Poppop brought up the idea of getting some Grater's ice cream.  He got Bean on his team for ice cream and some of us headed out!

(Coloring with Mommom at the conservatory. Although, I think coloring quickly turned into take all the crayons out of the bucket and put them all over the table.)

Poppop made his famous spaghetti for dinner and we had another quiet evening with the family on Friday.  After Bean went to bed, we watched a new Amazon Prime show (The Man in the High Castle) with Poppop & Ashley while Mommom used a dehydrator to make turkey jerkey.

Bean had been sleeping good the first 2 nights we were there.  I'm not sure what changed, but the last night was not a good night.  She was tossing and turning a lot when we went to bed, and then she caught me going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  She started crying and wouldn't lay back down.  She kept saying, "lay down with momma."  So I put her on the air mattress with us.  It was like reliving the bad night at my parents.  I'm not sure how much sleeping she did. I would doze off and on between the jabs of her feet in my back and her head on my pillow.  I knew we would be in for a loooong Saturday.

I didn't feel the best on Saturday.  I was pretty nauseous, which wasn't anything unusual.  I hit 11 weeks pregnant while in Cincinnati.  Typically, I'd have a few good days and then a few bad days.  So I wasn't surprised by the bad day (I had had a couple of good days prior!).  I stuck to chewing my gum and drinking water and pushed through.  It was great having all the help with Bean while we were there.  I was able to rest a lot and not have to be on my feet a lot.  Some of the family went out for a mid morning activity.  It wasn't going to be very kid friendly, so Steve and I just stayed home with Poppop & Bean.  She played with Play-doh  (Mommom brought it) and stickers.

After nap, we said bye to Nanny & Poppy (well, Bean wasn't up in time to say goodbye).  Ashley and Mommom took them to the airport.  I got us all packed up and Steve loaded up the car. When they got back, we went to Bass Prop Shop so that Bean could meet Santa.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but she ended up sitting on his lap with no problem! We even got a little smile out of her!  From there, we headed over to Dewey's for some pizza!  We had to wait a half hour, but it is always worth the wait.  I was starting to feel more sick by the time food came.  I just chalked it up to being hungry.  I ate a slice and had to quickly swallow a couple of bites because my gag reflex was kicking in.  I thought maybe it had to do with the flavor (bbq chicken) and tried a smaller piece with plain sauce.  I was able to eat that small slice, but called it quits on the pizza.

(Picture with Santa! They had little coloring stations set up as you waited in line.  She was very adamant that she wanted to hold her picture as she sat on Santa's lap.  It drove the photographer crazy, but I said let her have it.  She's still holding it in this photo.)

We said bye to everyone after we ate and headed back to our house.  Steve's parents stuck around Ashley & Scott's for another day, but we had some church responsibilities and Steve had to get some stuff done on Sunday before work on Monday.  I felt miserable in the car.  Bean just sat and watched Dora all the way home while I just wallowed in self pity.  I couldn't entertain myself with my phone because it made me car sick.  And I was already fighting a lot of nausea. We got home a little after 9:30.  I went straight to work getting Bean to bed.  Once she was down, I crashed on our bed continuing to wallow in self pity.

Steve came in and tried to comfort me and get me whatever I needed.  I was tired, and felt super sick, and was tired of feeling sick and tired.  He calmed down and he went to shower to get ready for bed.  As I laid there, I felt worse and worse, and finally realized I couldn't fight it anymore.  I went to the other bathroom and lost my dinner.  I felt so much better after throwing up.  I got ready for bed and quickly fell asleep.  But that didn't last long, I woke up a few hours later feeling super sick again.  I knew the fight wasn't going to end well and went to the bathroom.  Steve heard me and came into the bathroom.  It took our relationship to a whole new level.  He rubbed my back and held my hair as I continued to throw up (only time he has ever seen me puke was at the beginning of labor, but my mom and nurse was there to help!).  We went back to bed and I again fell asleep.  I repeated the process a few hours later, only I told Steve to just stay in bed.  Finally around 4am, the puking stop and I just slept.

I felt awful the next day.  I was achy, I was tired, and still nauseous.  I nibbled on bland foods all day.  I'm super thankful it was a Sunday and that Steve was able to take on full Bean duty.  Bean didn't fully understand and wanted me to play with her.  We told her that "Momma's sick" and it stuck with her.  To this day, if I'm laying and tell her I need a minute before doing something, she'll respond with, "Momma's sick" and go about her play.  By Monday morning, I was back to my old self. I even ran a mile for the first time in a few months! As quickly as puke fest came on, it went away.  No one else got sick, so it somehow had to be some weird pregnancy thing!

Sprout

I found out I was pregnant right before our trip to Disney World, which is ironic because the last time we went to Disney, I discovered I was pregnant while there. Haha! 

This trip, I was a couple weeks further along and decided it wasn't smart to do any of the big rides.  I am typically the one who pushes to go on those rides with my dad, so I knew I had to out myself quickly.  Our first official day in the parks happened to be my dad's 60th birthday (and a day after Bean's birthday).  I wrote him a birthday card that talked about how 2 years ago I gave him Bean for his birthday, but my timing was wrong this go around and he'd have to wait until Father's day to meet the next baby.  I gave him the card as we were all standing in line for our first ride.  He was down the line from me and he looked up with big eyes and mouthed, "Does your mother know?!" I shook my head "no" and pointed - only you know.  He passed the card down to mom, and so on until everyone read it and knew I was pregnant. 

I felt great the first few weeks, then we got back from Disney.  I got sick (bronchitis) the weekend we got home.  By Monday, I felt so miserable (and being pregnant) deemed it important to just go to the doctor.  She put me on a z-pak and an inhaler to help with the wheezing/cough.  I went to the store, got my medicine, and returned home.  I started to make lunch for Bean and I and took my antibiotic.  15 min later, I threw up. Haha - Oh joys of pregnancy causing a weak stomach! I knew it wasn't the medicine, as I've had z-paks in the past.  The rest of the week was marked by recovering by bronchitis.

After that, it seemed I'd have a good week of feeling fine, then a week of being super nauseous.  I was tired and had zero energy around the clock.  I remember the zero energy when I was pregnant with Bean, but I don't remember being so mentally numb.  This time around, I got plagued with being apathetic.  I didn't have the mental energy to care about things - clean house, what food we ate, if projects got done, if I contacted people, etc.  I just was in survival mode - keep Bean alive/entertained and make it to bedtime.  I dealt with this issue from weeks 7-10.  I got behind on a lot of things - as seen on the blog! It finally got to where I just had to force myself to get up, get out, and do! I had a day where I had set appointments and things I HAD to get done. That did the trick.  I was able to get off the couch and just make things happen.  It made me realize that I needed to keep busy.  As much as I wanted to just lay and do nothing, I had to keep some sort of a schedule with something to accomplish each day.  

While dealing with the mental block, the nausea got worse.  Chewing gum and mints became my constant companions (they help me fight it).  I increased my water in take and that did seem to help.  I learned to eat smaller portions at set times.  I started to track my nausea and realized it was made worse when I was hungry and when I was too full.  So I had to find the sweet spot of not being hungry, but not eating too much - ha!  Aside from the antibiotic incident and a weird night of puking all night, I mostly just feel nauseous.   I started to have more good days than bad days, but I still will have a couple days a week where I struggle. 

How this pregnancy has been different:

- I have to put Bean's needs before my own.  With her, I was able to just lay around all day and watch movies.  This time around, I still need to be a mom and not just rely on the tv to entertain us.  We've set up a system of me being able to color with her and do puzzles with her as I lay on the couch.  She also sits up on the couch with me a lot and we play with her little figurines.  Her favorite thing is to put a blanket over us and "hide in a cave".  

- Have actually thrown up a few times.  I never did with Bean, but I did have nausea medicine I could use with her.  This time, I just rely on mints and gum.  

- Pain/Achy hips.  I already struggle with a lot of discomfort in my hips.  Sometimes it is so bad I can barely walk or it keeps me up at night.  It all has to do with hormones effecting ligaments and my body already knowing what's to come.  

- My tastes have changed.  I LOVE my sweets.  Before this pregnancy, I would eat a sweet each night before bed (and after lunch).  I also drank a couple soda's a day.  Now I can barely stomach sweets.  I can have them in small doses, but just prefer to stick to saltier foods.  I rarely drink soda now.  I went from 2 a day to maybe 2 a week.  I now crave ice water. Before, I'd just drink water because I felt I had to.  Now it's all I want.  I've also lost my taste for coffee.  I had switched to decaf back when we started discussing the possibility of another baby. But once I got pregnant, the thought of coffee made me sick to my stomach. I've been able to have some random cups in the past couple weeks. 

- I can "feel" the baby.  Okay, not really the baby yet.  It's too small to feel the movements yet. But I can feel my uterus.  There's days where it aches a ton and I know it is stretching/growing.  And I'm very aware of its location.  It doesn't help that I often have a toddler jumping and laying on my tummy, too!

- I don't care about being pregnant - ha! With Bean, I took weekly pictures, logged how I felt, and wanted everyone to know.  This time around, I'm 13 weeks and have only take 2 pictures.  I tried to keep the pregnancy more hush hush this time around because I didn't want it made into a big deal.  I'm glad it's public now though, so that I don't feel like I have to hide myself.  Especially now that I'm in 2nd trimester - what?!  

- Last time, I knew right away I wanted to call the baby Bean.  This time around, we finally came up with something to call it other than baby about a week ago.  We call this baby Sprout! (Confession, at home, we still just say baby, but will use Sprout on the blog!)

(We got to see Sprout for the first time at my 8 week appointment! Steve and Bean were both there.  She didn't believe us that that blob was a baby.)

(I chose this time to have some minor genetic testing done.  It's non-invasive, just a simple ultrasound to get some measurements and a blood test for me.  The test will check for down syndrome. We got to have an extra peek at Sprout.  This time, it actually looked like a baby!)

(So I didn't take my first bump photo until 10 weeks.  Then I thought, "Oh, I'll just take a photo every other week."  Well then I realized I missed the 12 week mark and had to take a random 12.5 picture because I didn't want to do it on odd weeks.  Anyone want to take bets on whether more pictures are actually taken?!)

(Bean has fallen in love with getting up on the couch with me.  She'll partly lay on me and likes to play with toys in a "cave" - blanket over us.  Sometimes, she'll start to get crazy, wiggles around a lot, and will put a lot of pressure on my tummy.  We talk a lot about their being a baby in my belly and she needs to be gentle.  She then lifted her shirt to ask about the baby in her belly. We need to work on this baby concept!)