19 weeks 1 day

Just realized I don't have a single belly shot of the little stinker! Poor neglected second child.  Had Nate snap a quick BB picture as he walked out for work.  Clearly I'm still getting ready for the day!

(Have I mentioned how much I miss my camera!? Hoping that GeekSquad comes through for me!)

19 weeks today!!!

Somehow I've made it to 19 weeks already!  I can't believe how fast the second pregnancy flies by!  Oliver does a great job keeping me busy I guess.  He is a go!go!go! type of kid.  I can't wait for our new home which will make getting out and doing things with him so much easier.

Back to my belly-baby.  According to Babycenter.com my little stinker is the size of an heirloom tomato and may be able to hear us already.  Craaaazy!  The man I so lovingly refer to as Baby-Daddy-Natey-Poo can just about feel this little one flip and flutter.  A lot of times I get all excited for a movement he has to have felt...but no, he was busy chatting and missed it.

Courtesy of BabyCenter.com

On Saturday I did my 2hr glucose tolerance test.  When I was pregnant with Oliver I didn't mind the taste of the orange crap too much.  This time, however, I wasn't able to get it down quite as fast and the last bit of it was especially hard to swallow.  Yech.

I got to the lab at 6:11am and had one of those lovely "I could use more sleep" headaches.  So the drink didn't make me feel so hot.  One thing I learned and did not do when I tested during my first pregnancy was that walking for 20 min after eating will help keep your blood sugar numbers low, so after finishing the crap juice I went for a stroll around the lab before returning to the waiting room for the remaining hour and a half.  Was it effective? We'll find out Thursday.  No matter what I just know I'll have to repeat the test in a few weeks.

And for anyone who has been following... we are two days from ultrasound day!!! Yahooooo!!!  My practice has two techs and with Oliver the woman who did the gender reveal kind of killed the excitement.  I guess she caught a glimpse without trying and nonchalantly said "well it's a boy." And my response was- "Oh?"  I so wanted an emotional reaction to my baby's gender.  But nope.  The moment had come and gone withoutceremony.  I was pretty bummed. 

This time the tech I like is doing the U/S so I'm hoping it's a little more special.  And this may sound wierd...but I really want a print out of baby's "stuff".  Is that edging on pervy?  I've always loved seeing other people's U/S pictures and seeing different anatomical shots- a foot, an arm... some testicles.  I am so amazed by the ability to sneak a peek at the little one growing into a real human that I love seeing these pictures.  With Oliver all I got printed out for me was the standard profile shot.  I got some extra U/Ss with Oliver because of the GD (up side I guess) and at one time we got the funniest quick glimpse at his balls.  It was so funny.  My mom had been saying "What if they're wrong? Make them double check," and I mentioned this to the tech.  Well after this little glimpse it was very obvious there was no mistake.  It was such a funny image I would have liked a copy of it (I guess that's just my sense of humor) but he moved to quick.

I also want a picture to torment my family with.  They won't be able to tell (I think) so it will be fun to show them before we announce the baby's gender to everyone in person on Saturday.  I don't know how I am going to keep my mouth shut from Thursday to Saturday!!!!

Cost of Tonight's Smile- $1.69

My dear, sweet, amazing husband listened when I told him how excited I was to get to Christmas Tree Shop and buy fun summer serving stuff for our new yard-to-be.  For Mother's Day I got a gift card to Christmas Tree Shop, and tonight after dinner he suggested there as our walk-around place since it was raining and Oliver and I had already been to the mall for a playdate today. 

Of course, being a wife and mother, I had a hard time picking things for myself while I could find several things for my husband and baby.  Well one thing I couldn't walk past was a little wooden whistle for $1.69.  I've mentioned buying instruments here before, I got Oliver a bunch for his stocking this past December, so I was excited to see new instruments to choose from.  I blew on the whistle (without putting my mouth on it! Eww) and the smile I got from my boy was precious!  I wanted to let him try, after all he looooves his harmonica.  He knew just what to do when I got over the yuk factor and let him see it for a second.  So after a few "toot-toots" I looked at hubby, and he looked at me, and we silently agreed this was coming home.  I grabbed a wrapped one for Oliver and as soon as we were out of the store it was opened and in his hands. 

After a few hesitant and unsure blows Oliver was a wooden whistle wonder!  And the cheers from mommy and daddy with each successful whistle caused an eruption of laughter that was contagious.  The whole ride home sounded like this:

::whistle::

"Woooooo"

(by mommy and daddy)

::baby belly laugh::

::daddy belly laugh::

::mommy belly laugh::

(repeat)

It was such innocent, simple, and pure fun.  I could watch Oliver whistle and smile forever and my heart would swell and break always.  I love him so much that his perfection kills me!  And I love that something so basic and inexpensive could create a memory that will last forever (for Nate and I anyway).



So Much Going On!

With only three days until our ultrasound, I am super excited to finally know if we have a second baby boy or if I'm getting my little princess.  I can't stop thinking about it!!!  Not only that, but we will be moving (if all goes well with our home inspection Wednesday) to a new home mid-June.  Doubly excited? O yes I am!  Our two babies will be sharing a room when we move and I can't stop thinking about what it's going to look like.  I am so excited to have a complete nesting opportunity! So fun!  Does anyone have any tips on creating a shared space for a toddler and newborn.  #2 will be rooming with Mommy and Daddy for a while, but I am nervous about how things are going to go once the kids share a room.  Oliver has such a great routine down for bedtime.  He's so great about it that I'm afraid we are going to screw it up when we put them together. 

As exciting as it is to be taking the steps towards a new home, things were a little up in the air for a while.  We have to be out of our condo by the closing on May 27th.  If all goes well, we will close on our house June 10th.  So that leaves us homeless for a little bit.  My family is all in NJ and Hubby's family is in NH.  Luckily Hubby does have some family here in CT (a little over an hour away, but at least it's the same state) that are lovingly taking us in.  SUCH a relief!  But that's two moves we have to be making and preggo me is not much help in that department. 

But how exciting is this: our stay with our CT family comes complete with 2 donkeys, a steer, and cousins close to Oliver's age.  How fun!?  I'm just a little nervous about making sure we don't impose too much.  No one likes a bad house guest and I would sure hate to be one!

Meet Frankie and Frannie.

 Oliver absolutely LOOOOVED these Donkeys when he met them in November.

 

What child reaches his little nugget fingers toward equine chompers? honestly!

This is Ozzie.  Don't you love his little baby face!? I would kiss him if he wasnt to smelly and snotty!

No wonder Oliver loved them...look at those faces!  Heee Haw!

What the Heck Blogger?

What was with Blogger being down?  Not only did it decide my last post was disposable, I didn't get the chance to brag about my uncharacteristically productive day!  Are you ready for this: I woke up early, got dressed (WITH makeup!), brought Oliver for his 15 month check up, dropped my camera off with the Geek Squad at Best Buy, went food shopping at Target, ate lunch with the boy, took a nearly 2 hour nap, washed dishes, made a menu for the week, cooked dinner, went for a walk in the mall, washed another sinkfull of dishes, and packed up some kitchen stuff for our impending move. Impressed? I am.  It's so hard for me to get motivated to do anything and then every once in a while I get days like this and I feel so on top of my game. 

Ok, done with the bragging.  Oliver is doing wonderfully.  He's between 75th and 90th percentile for both height and weight.  While I've been worried that he isn't saying many words I was assured he is right on schedule with the sounds/words he is using.  So it was a good appointment...until the bloodwork and immunizations.  If it wasn't for the bloodwork he probably wouldn't have minded the shots so much.

I feel the need to do a flashback.  I need to see and share the little baby that has become this big smart babbling boy I love so much!

 Fast forward to now...sorry the picture stinks but I'm depending on my Blackberry and it's killing me.  Here he is sitting at the table sucking on a lemon for mommy's entertainment on Mother's Day.

 O where does the time go?

Hump Day

We made it over the hump! Congrats to us SAHMs...it's halfway to the weekend.  Two days to recharge and let Daddy man the changing table.

Oliver was so excited for Hump Day that he woke up before 4am to sing a little song and bang on his crib.  Not once did he utter a "get me out of here" noise, but I was awake listening to him on the monitor and therefor quite bleh for the rest of the day.

We had plans to meet up with a friend from music class at the West Haven boardwalk for a stroll, but the sky was cloudy and the air chilly, so instead we met at the mall for lunch and some indoor play.  So, going by Oliver's level of excitement as we neared the play scape by Sears, I think I rely on the mall for passing the day a bit too much.  Seriously, he started yelling and stretching out his arms as we got closer.  It was hilarious.  He seriously knows where he is.  Plus the echo is fantastic. 

Today was a great day for adult conversation!  Lots of chatting time with music class mom in the afternoon, and this evening I got to get out all by myself for my book club.  I love my book club!  I didn't even finish the reading, and there were only 3 of us tonight (some evenings there are 12 ladies and priceless conversations), but still I enjoyed the time away from home on my own. 

My purchase of the day is a Baby Sign kit with flashcards, an instruction book, and a CD/sign book combo.  Oliver is so friggin smart! He understands about every single thing we say and, depending on how cooperative he feels like being, he can follow instructions no problem.  But he is not showing any interest in words.  I know, I know! Every kid is different and learns on their own schedule.  I think I've always figured my son is a genius and so I feel like he should at least be saying a FEW words.  I mean he won't even use "Mama" to refer to me.  He says it and he knows it's me, but he won't use it to talk about me or call me. 

I recently had a conversation with my in-laws about how day-care kids seem to use baby sign more than he at-home kids I know and we agreed it's probably because Mommy is able to figure out baby language in the one-on-one environment and so baby sign isn't as necessary.  Its true- Oliver totally makes himself known and I can tell what we wants most of the time.  But I saw this in the bargain section of Barnes and Noble, and so for $7 we are going to give baby sign a try.

Extra homework for myself.  I went through the flashcards already to pick out some words to start with.  Learning the songs and the signs that go with the songs is going to be extra work I didn't think too much about.  Crap.  Didn't think this completely through.  He's not going to teach himself.  I have to learn it, too, and teach it to him.  Alright fine.  We'll give it a try.  It is exciting to think of the potential new ways of communicating with my little man.  Have I mentioned how much I love him? Because I do.....Oh so much!!!!

PS- Baby #2 is moving MUCH more noticeably now and this pregster momma is LOVING IT! At this hour it's just about a week left!

PPS- I miss my camera so hard! I feel like I'm losing documentation opportunities!  Not that anything particularly special has been going on (well, Mother's Day I guess) but I miss taking tons of pictures of nothing every day!  Once I get it fixed Oliver will never touch it again!

9 More Days!!!

Can you tell by the THREE exclamation points that I am super happy to find out Baby #2's gender in just 9 days?  At first I wanted another boy.  With the age difference being only 20 months, I'd say Oliver could use (and would enjoy) a brother more.  Plus, they will be sharing rooms regardless of #2's gender.  But with the different symptoms I've felt, I very quickly started to think this could be a girl.  The first OB visit we got to hear the heartbeat at, the midwife said it sounded like a girl...fast heartbeat.  So now I have my heart set on girl.  But as all us parents know- whatever it is I am MORE than happy to welcome him or her!

But along with that excitement and happiness is the very sobering realization that: I am ALREADY far enough along to find out?  I am 18 weeks today and I can't believe it! It's gone by so fast!  I guess that is the case with second pregnancies, isn't it?  At least when the first is still a toddler.  I am so busy with him that the days just fly by, and so the weeks seem to fly by also.

My baby a 18 weeks.  Courtesy of BabyCenter.com

One thing I am definitely not excited about is doing my glucose tolerence test.  I'm thinking I will be doing it on Saturday.  You may find it surprising, but I do not think it sounds fun to bring Oliver with me for a 2 hour blood sugar test.  Not that being up early to get to the lab when it opens at 6 sounds like much more fun, but at least it will be quiet. 

With Oliver I was tested for gestational diabetes early because of my weight and previous diagnosis of PCOS (still not convinced I have that.  I never got a concrete answer from my previous GYN, and if I'm not mistaken getting pregnant would have been much harder than simply losing the condoms for a week.  Seriously, both pregnancies happened so easily we are now aware of how careful we are going to need to be!).  My first test around 18 weeks came back borderline, and the second test around 24 weeks was still pretty borderline but they had me see the specialist anyway.  Since I was high risk and tested early I had to deal with the weekly visits to the GD specialist even longer than most women.  (Sarcastic) YAY me!  It was terrible.  At least a 2 hour wait every week for a visit that went like this:

"Let's have a look at your numbers.

Very good.

See you next week."

Doesn't that sound like it would be fun with a 15 month old in tow?  A two our wait for a two minute visit.

I was able to manage my GD without the use of insulin.  By the end of the pregnancy I was pretty fed up and cheated a bit with the diet.  I even used insulin twice to keep my numbers low (without the insulin I just "forgot" to check and didn't have numbers for that occasion to show them) and pacify the doctor and his nurse/dietician.  So when people congratulate me for doing such a great job, I honestly don't know that I did.  I remember lots of Friendly's sundaes which sure as heck were a no-no.

I gained 14 pounds throughout the pregnancy, L&D was ridiculously easy (and enjoyable!), and Oliver was born at a perfect 7lbs 10.5oz with normal blood sugar.  So the fact that I was referred for being borderline makes me almost as sceptical about the GD as I am about the PCOS. 

Still, I am soooooo not looking forward to it.  When we decided we were ready for another offspring I was determined to get myself in the habit of eating for GD before becoming pregnant...but that didn't happen, nor have I since becoming pregnant.  Oliver has me much more active during this pregnancy and I have lost about 5lbs so far in my 18weeks, but I'm pretty sure I will end up classified as GD again.  Yippee. 

Well we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Soon enough.