Tag Archives: pregnant

Testing – Testing – 1 2 3

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“Is this Mom on??”

Wow.. Maria is either testing out being a trying 3 year old OR she senses something is about to change.  Possibly both!

Lately when I put her to bed, she pushes and tests me.  She doesn’t do this with Chad as much as she does with me.  We usually start with books. Turn out the lights.  Then say a prayer, and then I tell her a story (or 2) and/or sing a song.  But when I get up to go, she tries to get down with me. She then often kicks her railing and will just scream in my face, sometimes hits me.

I usually take her Lovey away and let her cry for a few minutes and then go back and she apologizes and lets me leave without more fighting.  However last night, I decided that I needed to hold my ground a little more. No negotiating. So I took Lovey with me and shut her door (she also likes to have the door left partially open).  She was up for at least an hour after that. Occasionally singing and being quiet, but every once in a while it would turn to “Mommy, I’m being nice. I’m sorry to Lovey, and you and Railing!”… when I didn’t respond, she would yell/scream that!  Finally Chad went up and asked her what she did wrong and asked for an apology and then went out in the hall to “convince” Lovey to go back to bed with Maria. Then she was quiet.

Well you can imagine she woke up pretty tired this morning!  And I was home (after turning around when I realized how slippery the roads were) and had to negotiate everything to get her ready for daycare… she was fine once we got there and realized 2 of the 3 other kids weren’t there (and that she would get plenty of attention)

I think she knows. I think she knows that life is about to change. And now that I’m feeling ready, she is the only thing I am unsure about.  It all seems kinds of unfair to rock her world like this. She is sooo much Mommy’s girl and sooo the center of our world and whose ever world she is in.   I know she is going to love this baby and love being a big sister and Mommy’s helper. But she is going to have to learn to share so much including Mommy’s and Daddy’s and Grandma’s and Grandpa’s and her cousins’ attention.

This whole pregnancy I have really focused on the big picture and how when she is 5 or 6, I would totally regret her not having a sibling.  Without a brother, I would be a completely different person.  And I’m guessing he would have turned out a little differently too.  It’s just lately as everything is falling into place and time is ticking down and she continues to amaze me with how much she understands and can learn, that I get more nervous for this transition for her.

I know it’ll be alright, it’s just been hard lately and now we’re going to shake it up just a bit more…  I’m ready for baby to come, I know that.  I think right now the waiting is just giving me time to worry…  and unfortunately being uncomfortable and 9 months pregnant, doesn’t make it easier!

Bits

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  • So I wasn’t ready last week, but I am now. Pretty sure Baby has dropped. And the intermittent contractions… just ready to meet this little one. I have packed my bag now, so I’m pretty ready.  Oh and my post-natal massage has been paid for… so just waiting on the little one. Although Maria thinks she should get to decide with the baby when we go to the hospital…
  • Discovered Maria won’t come out of her room at night after we put her to bed, but she is definitely getting out of bed. We’ve discovered her door open wide and different things in her room… not sure how much we fight this. She’s still hanging out in her dark room… unfortunately yesterday she didn’t want to get up when Chad woke her and then cried after he dropped her off at daycare.
  • Work is going well.  But since December I’ve been doing all these small projects (a week or less) so it’s hard to start something knowing I might not be back the next day.
  • Also sick of all the things I haul back and forth every day. Since this is a contract position, I doubt I will be back here after my maternity leave, so I take my notebooks and coffee mug and everything home every night. Then bring it back the next day.  As if I’m not carrying enough every day!
  • I have a dr. appt this afternoon.  I hope she tells me to go straight to the hospital and have this baby!  But I’m not too hopeful on that one! 🙂 
  • This morning while I was eating breakfast, I heard Maria yell from her room. Chad (who had the monitor) told me later that she said: “Mommy, is it wake up time?  I want to eat Fruit Loops.”  But luckily she seemed to go back to sleep or at least was quiet shortly after.

Slowly But Surely

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Slowly but surely we are getting ready for this baby!  The crib mattress has been raised (I hardly remember it being so high!) Clothes are washed. Swing and bouncies are cleaned up.  We bought a 2nd monitor (because we still like to know what Maria is up to!)  Car seat bases are installed in both cars.  Maria’s bag is packed (mine is still a work in progress)

Maria is also moved out of the baby’s room and in her new big girl room. It was a long process, since we removed the horrible plaid wallpaper. Once that was done, we had the 2 light fixtures and separate ceiling fan, replaced with one ceiling fan/light.  THEN we had all the walls refinished (because the wallpaper did not come off well) and painted.

BUT end result, she loves it. I still want to get some more things on the wall, but I just love how it turned out. We found the furniture for a steal on Craigslist, except for the bookshelf which is from Ikea.  My mom made the quilt, which I love!  She really loves having her own space, unless it turns into a time-out zone! 🙂

Maria's Big Girl Room

Maria's Big Girl Room

Maria's Big Girl Room

Full Term

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I am now officially 37 weeks pregnant, which means I am full-term and this baby could come any time.  I am feeling pretty well – actually probably then I felt in December.  I think with Maria I was so ready to be done being pregnant at this point, but right now am not sure.  I think though there are several factors to this: 1 – it’s not 80 degrees like it was the spring I was pregnant with Maria, 2- I’m not completely hating my job and want to finish some things up, but probably the biggest reason is 3- My house is not ready!! 🙂

I still want to get the room completely ready and things sorted through. We aren’t changing the nursery, just moving Maria’s stuff out of it.  Most of that is done, but I haven’t completely unpacked the stuff that goes back in.  I finally got a load of newborn baby clothes washed, so hopefully can get those put away in the next few days.

One car has the carseat base installed, and I picked up a swing and papasan/bouncy this weekend (Craigslist find).  Still lots of cleaning and a bag to be packed! 🙂

OH! And getting Maria healthy!  Poor girl has an awful cold/virus.  Thought last night we were dealing with Croup.  But the doctor thinks it’s just a viral cold.  He did prescribe a cough suppressant to help her sleep (and help us sleep) but it means I’m taking yet another day off from work tomorrow!  Ugh!  Hopefully it doesn’t turn into an ear or eye infection!  Wish us luck!

Weekend Accomplishments

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Friday night: Got Maria in bed after she had a fun-filled day with her aunt and cousins! Then I caught up on some TV. (Ugly Betty & Grey’s Anatomy)

Saturday: Dishes, Laundry, Lilah’s birthday party (despite the yuk weather), short nap and some good reading time, dreamt about the baby (including its sex – last time the one dream I had was right!)

Sunday: Bed, Bath, & Beyond + Target shopping with Maria, prepared lunch(!), resisted long nap (instead read and took short nap), made banana bread, made dinner(!), watched some football, moved Maria’s clothes into her big girl room closet and dresser, read some more!

TO DO: post/blog a new recipe and pictures from the weekend. lots more baby prep stuff (install car seat, laundry, prepare room (packing more of Maria’s stuff away)

Diaper Question

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I was a pretty religious Pampers Swaddler/Cruiser user with Maria.  I think I had a couple packs of Huggies & Target brand (prior to the Up&Up rebrand) with her as a baby.  I also tried Luv’s and got a rash within the first day of using them.   I only switched to Huggies this summer when they didn’t sell Pampers where we were for vacation.  I ended up liking the Huggies and they were cheaper, so I stuck with it until we switched to Pull-Ups.

So Baby #2 I was just going to use Pampers. But now I hear P&G has changed the design of the Swaddlers and Cruisiers with not so good reviews..  Anyone have any opinions on Huggies or Target brand for infants or anything else?  Starting to feel like I should have a pack in the house pretty soon…

33 Weeks

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Yesterday, I went to the doctor and after measuring my stomach, she told me I am measuring big, but not “Ridiculous”…   nothing she is concerned about especially since Maria was not a small baby…

And Maria last night decided to give me a night time wake up call  apparently trying to help me get used to waking up in the middle of the night. Although I think waking up to a hungry baby crying will be different than having a 2 1/2 year old singing “I’m a Little Teapot” and “You are my Sunshine” through the monitor at 3 am.  When I went in and told her it was night time and not wake up time, she said “but I’m just singing”.  I tried to convince her to go back to sleep, but a few minutes later she was singing again. So I turned the monitor off.  But heard her again (without the monitor) at 4 am.  Poor girl is probably going to be crabby at daycare again today!

Catchup

Posted in Moments by

Up To:

Went back to work on Tuesday. I found a short contract position working for a company that I previously worked at for a few months. It makes a nice transition to go back to some place familiar, even if it had been almost 2 years!

Baby:

I am now 31 weeks pregnant and not always sure how I will make it through the next 9 weeks!  Feeling huge.  Plus if I do too much (i.e. walk, pick up Maria, spend too much time on my feet, combination of any of the above) I sometimes have contractions which reminds me to slow down.  Last week was hard, because Chad was out of town, but we survived and he is now home for at least 2 weeks.

Maria:

She is definitely 2.  The last few weeks she is all about being independent and making decisions. This mostly comes in the form of not listening when she doesn’t want to hear what we have to say, especially at bed time.  We struggle with this, especially knowing that I shouldn’t be picking her up. But a time out only stalls bed time which is exactly what she wants…

She does love to help and when I sat at the bottom of the stairs to rest last week, she held my legs and told me she wouldn’t let me fall… 🙂

Chad:

He’s on vacation for 2 weeks.  and I am jealous.

Here are some pictures from making cookies yesterday. Maria only stayed interested until I let her use the rolling pin and then she was off to play and wait for Lilah to come over to play. Today I am frosting them and we’ll see if she’s interested in that… 🙂

Baking Christmas Cookies

Baking Christmas Cookies

Baking Christmas Cookies

25 Weeks

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I am 25 weeks along, but it seems like I should be further.

I don’t remember feeling like I was “outgrowing” my clothes this early last time. And I don’t remember having such a hard time getting comfortable last time.

But all that, it’s going well!  I am feeling this little one kick quite a bit.  Baby is definitely a fan of banana splits!

We are slowly getting ready. We are in the midst of having Maria’s big girl room and hallway painted.  Should be done by Thursday!  I’m also one again feeling the need to purge and clean out!   This time I think I’m a little more aware of how much things will be different come Feb/March.  I cleaned out a bunch of cookbooks to take to the Used Bookstore, knowing that if I’ve owned them for more than a year and not cooked much out of them that I won’t have time to do that in the next couple years…   Next up is probably some of my fabric and crafty stuff!

It’s been a whirlwind so far and I know it will all go quickly with the holidays and lots of birthdays to celebrate between now and February 20th!

Nothing

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What we’ve been doing:

Avoiding H1N1 – my co-worker’s daughters both are currently on tamiflu and “quarantined”.  Their entire daycare had a fever on Monday evening!

Working – Not as hard as I should be.  So need to work on that.

Sleeping – I’m REALLY good at napping these days!

Staying up late watching sports – Monday the Packers and Tuesday the Twins… So Tuesday wasn’t so late, but it was a long (and exciting game). Monday was late and they lost, so that made Tuesday that much harder.

Trying to keep my house clean – It’s very hard.  I’m not sure why it’s all of a sudden gotten so hard. Maybe because now when Maria naps, I nap. And now when she goes to bed, I lay around and watch TV.  LOVE having some good prime time TV back!

Cooking – I’ve been cooking quite a bit lately.  Inspired by the cooler weather, baking and crockpot cooking! Oh and trying to save money, so planning ahead a little to avoid drive-thru’s and the carside-to-go mentality!

Enjoying Maria – She is a blast these days!  She loves to “sit” by the baby.  She listens to it with her stethoscope too. She also is nuts about all her dolls!  And as much as she is Mommy’s girl, she really loves her time with Daddy when he gets home!  She never ceases to amaze us with what she says and with what she has stored in that little head of hers!!