Cousins

Aren't cousins the best?! They can be your best friends and best playmates. If you lose contact you can pick right back up where you left off. You have the connection of blood and special tie of family to keep you close if you drift apart. I am so glad that Joseph has the greatest cousins!

One Month Old?!

One month old little toes...


...one month old little cheeks, eyes, lips and nose...


...one month old little fingers...


...one month old in a little blue outfit...


...one month old precious profile...

...one month old little perfect face...

Can you believe it's been a month? Our little Joseph has come so far in such a small amount of time. He is holding his head up and moves it side to side. He is such a strong baby and likes to push off our chests and stomachs with his feet and hands. He looks around with great interest in his surroundings and tries to find us when he hears our voices. Joseph also likes to grab hold of his bottle when we feed him, and it amazes us each time he does it. It seems like just yesterday (in a way it was) that he didn't have any control of any body parts and we could cuddle him up tight without him squirming!

We've had many visitors come from near and far. Most recently Josh's Auntie Debbie, Uncle Sid and Bobe have come to hug up the new baby. It's been busy around here. I think my favorites have been Jessie and Lindsey, though. I love to see them with Joseph. It reminds me of my own memories with my neices and nephews and the bond that I quickly formed with each of them. Although they are cousins its still nostalgic and special to see them together.

I am officially a stay at home mom! I spoke with my (former) manager at (what was formerly) work and put in my notice. It was really very easy to quit (usually I would be very nervous about confrontation) and I am not sure that I will miss it at all! Not even a little bit! I won't miss riding the train, or waiting on elevators, or work clothes, or answering phones, or transcribing, or being scared of our building being hit by an airplane (yes, its true). So, let the mommying begin! What silly, and fun, and scary, and great adventures we will have! My little Joseph is just amazing and we couldn't have asked for anything better for the holidays and new year.

TWO WEEKS OLD!

Hello to all of my four faithful readers! I am here I am here! I have not been completly swallowed whole by the baby machine that is my new son. I love that phrase by the way. "My son". It is very surreal to hear that word combination. Josh said it for the first time when Joseph was a few days old and it really stopped me in my tracks. I turned and it was the most awesome feeling to see my son and my husband together! I've been itching to get on and journal my newest adventures and now that I am here, there is just too much flashing through my mind.

Joseph is the most precious thing! He is such a good baby...for two weeks old, that is. Check back in a few more weeks and I'll reconfirm that. He lays here next to me now stretching and making the sweetest little baby noises. I have surrendered to trying to keep his arms in his blanket when we swaddle him since he really likes them out best. I figured out that he will fuss until they become free and then he will quiet down...so we let him win that battle. I have actually been getting sleep, although not at the hours I like best. We seem to sleep the best between 6am and 1pm, but then the day is half over. I hear "it gets better" closer to six weeks. Is this true?!?! Oh psh, it doesn't really matter as my new "boss" is really the best I've ever had and we can get through all this newborn chaos one day at a time.

Some of our favorite moments in the past two weeks:
when the booger finally made his entrance after almost four hours of pushing,
our first day at home (we're really a family!),
when Joseph toots...they can easily be a minute long and are the most hilarous thing ever!
when Joseph pees on daddy,
when Joseph poops on daddy,
when Joseph's belly button healed, daddy didn't like that thing very much,
when Joseph squeaks like a puppy or kitten,
when Joseph is done eating and he makes his steal trap lip pout to let us know he is finished!

Much love and baby kisses to all!!

Joseph is very excited to be a card carrying, hard working American!

Our little present!

Our First Hanukkah!


Joseph in his Uncle Peter's blue sweater from when he was a baby!

Diaper run!

WEEK 37!

We had our Doctors appointment this morning. No news! I've started going weekly now and getting examined each time. She did say the baby has started to drop into position but that is not too significant as it could still be weeks. But I'll take anything I can get!

I am considered full term this week. We still want the baby to go to 40 weeks, or even 42 to really get good and cooked. I am eerily calm these past few days. I have had a bought with nerves in the past weeks and I am sure it won't be the last. I may be more focused on how uncomfortable and yucky I feel than on getting nervous for the big day. Funny story: last night my mom and I went to JoAnn's Fabric and Craft store and she bumped into a friend. Mom said that we were getting some stuff for my baby's room and her friend replied that I didn't look pregnant. What a laugh that was!

This weekend Michael and Josh built the crib, and Josh finished the changing table (just reinforcing it with wood glue). Mom made me a valance and bed skirt yesterday and everything is going to look awesome! I've got everything in piles in the dining room ready to be put away...or at least ready for a home to be found as we have SO MANY goodies that are going to have to go somewhere!

Now...I can't wait for Thanksgiving! I will be pacing myself since my stomach if about the size of a lime, but Josh can be released to the table with wild abandon and I am sure he will! Josh has been working so so hard lately and then he comes home and I run him ragged there. Not really! We make a good team even though I can't do as much as I'd like. In work news, Merit was listed in Forbes Largest Private Companies as the 253rd largest private company in America, and they had 1.7 billion in revenue with a fraction of the number of employees that the surrounding companies on the list had. That mean they have really been working their tails off and with efficiency and smoothness!

Signing off for now with thoughts of turkey dancing in my head...
XOXOX Heather

WEEK 36!

We are ONE MONTH out from the baby's due date! Eye yi yi! Thanks to Alicia we now have a bassinette for the baby to sleep in for our bedroom for the first little bit of its life. Of course the top drawer in our dresser was always an option like grandma used to do, but the bassinette will work, too. I need to go buy my g-diapers soon which I keep forgetting to do - so the child will have diapers to cover its hiney. I've already gotten my hospital pjs washed and some personal items ready to go. So, slowly but surely we are getting more ready to go.

I've been feeling like a BIG ol' poop lately. There is pressure and various other sensations everywhere all the time. This makes it hard to walk far, or sleep well, or stand, or breathe and blink for that matter (just kidding!)...but still I've got high hopes! I've made it this far, right?! We had a sonogram at our appointment yesterday and that baby was just sucking away. You could see the lips and mouth in almost full detail! It was amazing and also inspiring to go just a little bit longer until Baby is full and ready to come out and greet the world.

Now for the anatomy and physiology readers out there...from this point on the "finishing period" of growth begins, during which the baby prepares for its birth. My basal metabolism has increased 25%, which is due to the demands of the baby on my body. It helps the efficiency of converting stored nutrients. The baby's fat deposits are continuing to be laid down each day and his or her limbs are beginning to dimple and crease at the elbows, knees, wrists and neck. The baby's skin is pink and smooth. My skin is pink and smooth and stretched to Timbuktu and back, across the blue seas to the windmills of Holland, down to the Australian outback, under the ocean to the Lost City of Atlantis and back to Dallas, Texas. That's a lot.

However, in breaking news at the Blachly house....I cleaned the kitchen and did laundry this weekend!! It kept my mind off of the jellyfish that were swimming around my belly button near Atlantis.

XOXOX

November Sprinkles Bring December Jingles

This is how we welcome Fall in Texas!

And The Winner Is....

...the silver 2001 Mazda Millenia!

We love it! I have hogged it up so far! It really drives like a dream which I chalk up to being accustomed to my trusty but OLD parade of Hondas. We got a big "showroom" detail on it Saturday afternoon and it really cleaned up beautifully. We got it from an outfit in Ft. Worth called European Motor Cars whose specialty is B-mers, Mercedes, Porche, etc. This was a trade and he saw the value in keeping it since it was in good shape. I guess the cards were in our favor since there had been three people in just days (one of them his neice) who couldn't get financing for it. It was waiting for specifically for US, I'm sure. It was really fun looking at all his vintage cars while we were there, too. Maybe someday we'll be able to own a cherry red '66 Stingray of our own!
My favorite feature: the steering wheel automatically moves up and out of my way when I turn the key off. Now I can get in and out of the car without breaking a rib. Very nice.

Hello Weekend

Ahhhhhhhhhh; a big ol sigh to welcome the weekend. It's a good thing it's Friday afternoon because I don't think I can sit here at work much longer. Sometimes my hiney starts to hurt and I can't get comfortable. But more interestingly, there is a lawyer here that likes to bear his teeth and growl at me. It's frightening in an insane assylum/liver with fava beans kind of way. It's really weird and frankly quite rude - and although I am really good at ignoring these guys most of the time, I just don't know how much longer I can take it. Maybe it's tourettes, who knows? I just think he is weird. So I reiterate...thank goodness it's Friday!

We are heading out Saturday morning to do more car shopping. We have these two cars that we want to look at. We're taking the gold one in to a mechanic to make sure it isn't a lemon cause it's our front runner right now. It a 2001 Mazda Millenia.
The blue one is a 2002 Mazda 626 and I love the color! Both are good looking on paper and very clean with low miles...so wish us luck! We're gonna go check out truck bed liners too. Right now we need to decide between Rhino vs. Linex spray in. We've already got some hauling to do and want to get it lined asap!

On Sunday Shannon (thank you thank you thank you) is coming over to paint a little cloud action in the baby's room. Here is my inspiration shot...
I know "we" (she) can do it wonderfully since "we" (she) can paint anything, anywhere! Then "we" (Josh) will be ready to get the furniture put together and arranged. Hang on Baby, we're almost there!!

The best weekend wishes to all and talk to you next week!
***Love to All***

We Fell In Love All Over Again

...but not only with each other, also with that sweet chubby cheeked baby of ours. Josh and I had a 34 week checkup yesterday afternoon and Dr. Ryder asked if we'd like to see the baby. Our goofy grins quickly told her the answer and voila, there was our precious 5 lb 6 oz surprise right before our eyes - and head down!

The baby sure put on a show for us, too. We saw little lips purse up and blow us kisses and Baby tried to suck on his hand. We saw the baby practicing breathing as it's chest moved up and down. Baby had a full bladder that we could see too, which I am guessing he gets from his mommy already. We could see Baby's closed eyes with the sweetest little eyelids and even a grimmace or two. Those cheeks, though...those cheeks are going to be the most kissable, the softest, and the chubbiest little cheeks ever. And I know it's just a black and white fuzzy sonogram, but if you could just see them you'd understand.

I am going to go stare at our latest pictures now and dream of when we'll meet. I am such a starry eyed momma right now!

It's Official...I'm Pregnant

Goodness gracious I don't think I can fit anymore baby in me. And it still has to grow some more. I just don't know where it is going to go. As of this week, I am officially not able to keep up with whoever I may be walking beside. I officially cannot bend over forwards, at least not without smashing baby painfully into my ribs, liver, stomach, diaphragm and lungs. I officially have pregnant woman's bladder. We're clocking in at every two hours to pee at night - and the other night was FIVE times! And I officially cannot fit into almost all of my old shoes anymore. My feet always look funny when I get home in the evening - chubby and swollen!

Yes, it's true...I am officially pregnant! Six weeks and counting!

Hee Hee Hoooo: Lamaze Day 3

Yes! We learned the "hee hee hoo" method of breathing called Patterned Breathing. I had to slow down at first because I started to feel a little light headed, in fact I don't think I can fully appreciate this method until I practice it a little more. It is supposed to be slow paced and random, not like the stereotypical heeheehoo that many people think of.

This is how this one works: Josh will tell me one, two, or three in any random order and that is how many hee's I give. I finish with a hoo after each set of hee's. It's not like what you see on television where the pregnant lady is panting like an animal...I guess they just thought that makes for good comedy. My hee is a slow breath in through my nose then a slow exhale out through my mouth that sounds like "heeeeeee". I do that once, twice or three times according to what Josh tells me - basically to make me think and keep my mind off of the contraction. Then to let Josh know I am ready for my next random number I take a slow deep breath in and exhale slow with a "hooooooo".

We learned some different ways to deal with back labor, which is when the baby is facing front rather than facing mom's spine. This means that the boney part of the baby's head is pressing hard on mom's spine and causing unrelenting back pain. It occurs in 25% of labors. There are different positions to get in to let baby turn the right way, by opening mom's pelvis wider and also to relieve pressure.

We went over alternatives to pitocin which can be given to induce and stimulate labor. Pitocin is very commonly used but has many cons as well as pros. Most importantly to me, it can cause very severe contractions that are unnecessary and can cause stress on the baby and mom. There are a handful of natural alternatives that release pitocin that I can do on my own if need be. For now I have faith that my body knows what to do and will do it when it is ready...we'll see, won't we?!

I've got my labor, delivery and recovery bag packed as homework. This one is not for postpartum but just for the delivery room. I have my house shoes, robe, mouthwash, hair ties and snacks for Josh. I'm gonna tell him I'll allow him some snacks if he'll sneak me a bite. We've already agreed to sneak me water too cause I know ice chips ain't gonna cut it!

I hope everyone has a good hump day!
Love to all and baby says hello (via the knee in my ribs right now)!

One for You, One for Me

Why do I weigh so much?! Well I happen to have the answer right here!

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends a weight gain of 25 to 37 pounds during pregnancy, for women who were a normal weight before pregnancy. Here is the breakdown:

7 1/2 pounds is about how much the baby will weigh by the end of pregnancy
1 1/2 pounds is how much the placenta weighs
4 pounds is attributed to increased fluid volume
2 pounds is the weight of the uterus
2 pounds is the weight of breast tissue
4 pounds is because of increased blood volume
7 pounds is attributed to maternal stores of fat, protein and other nutrients
2 pounds for the amniotic fluid
Total: 30 pounds

Pretty amazing numbers if you ask me. That is a lot of extra fluids and blood flowing around in me - 10 whole pounds. And a two pound uterus? Yikes!
But I am not planning an exercise regimen just yet...I am still enjoying the turns and wiggles going on inside me too much!

Out With the New, In With the New....

We bought a new truck, we bought a new truck! We are both very excited to introduce to the world our new 2007 GMC Sierra crew cab!

**In very offical car show lady-on-the-platform voice**
This handsome four door pick up truck in Silver Birch Metallic can hold up to six passengers and tow up to 8500 pounds. It's power windows and locks, 360 degree approach to safety, all terrain handling, active fuel management, stalibitrack traction control system, and GMC warranty makes this truck the best in it's class and rated the 2007 truck of the year.
**back to Heather voice**

I just copied all that great info that doesn't really mean much to me from the GMC website. We've really really enjoyed driving it so far and Josh gets to practice parking in the garage at his work this morning. That is the biggest adjustment so far. We've had some good laughs trying to get that thing in and out of the driveway with all the neighbors trash cans and fences in the alley. The actual handling is great and I know before long we'll be whipping in and out of tight places. I love the feel of it on the road and I really really can't wait to throw some camping equipment in the back or lower the tailgate for the fourth of July. Tailgates are just a good thing to have around if you ask me!

Here are some pictures of the sad little Mazda 6 as it was deemed a total loss. On a funny side note, the adjusters name was Bobby Roberts! I know it doesn't look like a huge mess from the pictures as its mostly internal. What we've figured out is that labor costs A LOT, plus many parts for new vehicles are just darn expensive. Take for example the headlights alone were almost $500 each. The water pump was almost $1000. There was a ton of electrical that was severed and of course the big whammy was the frame was bent. That seems to always be the clentcher. So now we say goodbye to our good friend the Mazda and welcome to the family our new addition.

Wordless Wednesday: Chicken Say Whaaa...

Lamaze: Day Two

Lamaze was a little less eventful this time. I think I was overly excited last class so I was a little like a child in a candy store, whereas for the second class I had a little more lamaze self control! Josh had to fly to Houston yesterday for a training conference but he made it back in plenty of time, luckily. His flight was cancelled going out due to weather in Houston, but then arrived back earlier than expected in the evening. We thought he might just be a little late at first...but he was there right on time with bleary eyes to help me carry all my pillows in!

I don't know why I always feel like I have to stir up trouble for myself. I feel so strongly about certain labor and delivery policies that I know I am bound to get myself kicked out of the hospital. But without stirring up trouble with you, my loyal readers (all five of you!), I won't go into detail here b/c everyone has varying opinions. Besides studying these policies and procedures on my own, these are items that we talked about in class last night and I feel myself become even more adamant about what I want done with my baby. This shouldn't be a conundrum anyhow. The hospital should want to make me feel comfortable with their "standard procedures". It should be centered around the family and should be able to look past the standard to instead do what is right in each situation.

Now, with allll that being said...Josh and I have not yet met with the Medical City educators to go over all this in greater detail. I have only visited with my Doctor and Lamaze instructor over what is usually the policy. I will know more of exactly what goes on in labor and delivery after this coming Saturday...and boy am I itching to go down my list of questions and points with them!

As you can tell, Lamaze last night stirred me up...but in more ways than one. We watched our first video! I really really had every intention to prep Josh with a video as home first (babycenter.com has some great ones) but since even the teacher didn't start with a disclaimer for the graphic nature of the video I figured we would be ok! I thought it was just a "regular" video on the stages of labor. Not right! I've seen that same one on babycenter.com but it still startled me and every male in the room when all the good stuff started happening. But just like the first time I watched it...a wealth of emotion came out of nowhere. I am still a little in first time denial about it all so let me enjoy the idea that it will be an incredible experience! Ah yes, I will embrace the pain! It will be wonderful!

Signing off for now...
**Love and Hugs to All**

To Protect and Serve???

I had a most unfortunate run in with a Plano police officer yesterday. Not quite as unfortunate as having to stand by as Josh's info was taken for the accident report last week...but unfortunate none the less.

As the trains pull in the station there is a mad rush of people who get off the train and trudge across the parking lots, pedestrian cross walks, sidewalks and thorough fairs to get to their car. If I estimate 50 people per train car (which is an under estimate considering it's rush hour) and 6 cars per train then that is about 300 people trying to walk to their cars at the same time every five minutes as the trains arrive. I give you this background to stress that there are hundreds of people in this area. The Parker Road train station area is fairly self contained - I mean that anyone who is over there at that time of the day is probably not "just passing through", but knows that they need to slow down and that pedestrians have the right of way. It's like a school at 3:00 when the bell rings! Kids running around, crossing the street, and parents waiting in cars....

I am among a group of pedestrians, not too many at this point as people have taken on their own walking pace and others have turned off the sidewalk as they neared their cars. There was a car sitting at a parking lot driveway waiting to turn out and she waved us across in front of her and smiled. Before we could take a step a police car turns into the parking lot without paying the pedestrians any attention. Mind you, there are police cars driving around the area everyday keeping an eye on everything...protecting and serving the people of Plano, so this isn't alarming or anything. Then I hear a soft-ish screech and see another police car (SUV) that stopped suddenly because someone was crossing the street in front of him. He starts to go again but this time me and a man behind me are the victims! We have started to cross the driveway to the parking lot and he doesn't want to wait for us! He hits his breaks and throws up his hands and screams "COME ON!". To clarify the "come on" - this was not a "hurry hurry get across the road please" type of exclamation. This was a "what the hell, you crazy people!" kind of tone. Yeah, he yells at a 7 month pregnant lady who isn't even doing anything wrong to COME ON! His windows were all down and that's how I could hear him so perfectly. I wonder if he could hear my feelings being crushed in confusion and hurt. So maybe I am a little emotional right now but he still hurt my feelings.

Everyone stared at him like he was a crazy alien from another planet, probably all equally shocked that he was yelling at us like that....NO blue and red lights on, NO white or yellow lights on, NO siren on, NO light (or hard) horn tapping, NO warning or indication that he is en route anywhere important. Even without these standard police warning devices turned on in an area with hundreds of people crossing the streets, I will give that sorry guy the benefit of the doubt and assume he was going to save someone's life...with the windows down and the breeze in his hair. Judging by his "jovial" size and arm casually dangling out of the window I will not assume he was on his way to eat some donuts at 7-11 or perhaps the early bird BBQ special at Dickeys. No, I will hope that he was going to help a pregnant lady deliver her baby or save a man from jumping off a bridge.

I will not be mad at the men who took an oath to protect and serve. I will not be mad at the men who have only ever given me tickets or appeared b/c of a car wreck. I will not be mad at the men, police men whom I personally know, who drink and drive, have questionable morals and values, who mistreat their family pets, who walk around with chips the size of the empire state building on their shoulders.

So maybe in their line of duty and from the tragedies they see everyday they have taken on a cynical view of their job. Well, so have I, I guess...
I just hope he wasn't late for his date at Dickeys.

Lamaze: Day One

Yesterday was the big day! I learned my first breathing techniques! I started out the day so tired because the Cowboys played a late game. I actually went to bed before the game was over and once Josh thought they might lose he came to bed too - but turned the game on in the bedroom. I was nice and cozy dreaming of sugar plums and other various fruits when Josh's cheering in the last CRAZY seconds of the game woke me up. I didn't really care about what was going on with the game; I just wanted to get back to my plums. As I fell back to sleep, Josh did also except he dreamed of field goals and Bills fans crying. So, we were very tired the next day and I just wanted to go home after work...but I had to go learn how to breathe.

Our instructor, Wendy, is a registered and/or certified everything under the sun having to do with breastfeeding, Lamaze and child birth. She is my new best friend! Wendy has been a doula for over 30 years and most recently her passion is being a lactation consultant. I soaked up her every word from the edge of my seat. She had already told me to get off her lap once. Yes, yes, such the teacher's pet, I know. Last night we had an overview of labor, roles of the coach (push 'em out, push 'em out, waaaayyy out!), comfort positions and breathing basics - including slow paced breathing - and progressive relaxation.

We timed how many breaths we take in a minute, laying down and relaxed, and everyone was around 10-12 and I sat at 17! There was also a 21 so maybe she feels my pain of not having the greatest lung capacity right now with Baby squishing everything around. She went around and showed us how we should be sleeping and where the pillows should be...and then I showed her what works for me! She assured me I would appreciate her positioning once I get further along. We all had padded tables to lay on which was really the best part. Josh and I thought we were going to be on some sorry pad on the floor. They use the tables for physical therapy during the day and they are nice and big and soft. She told us to bring 5 or 6 pillows so I had plenty to lie on and around. My most surprising discovery was the birthing ball. Tammy has told me how much she liked it with her babies but I just didn't see it. Then I mounted the big green monster last night and felt like a million bucks. If only they could guarantee that I would feel like a million bucks hours into labor. Basically it relieves pressure in all the right places and makes my tail bone feel like cottony softness. I now officially hate chairs.

Josh has to go to Houston for a day trip with work next class day so he may be a little late, but I can't wait to learn more. It has been very inspiring to me and even a little eye opening. And that was only the first class. The series is 7 weeks long and I am about 9 weeks out from my due date so hopefully we didn't time that too close! We'll see...

Oh and another fun fact: I used the restroom three times during class and two other girls used it twice. No one else used it! I was shocked. I guess I am doing a good job keeping my fluids flushed and clean and everyone else's babies are drinking dirty amniotic pee water! I am such a good mommy!

On This Day 28 Years Ago...

...Baby Heather was barely one day old. In fact since she was born last night I think she is closer to around 12 hours than one day old right now! I think I hear the angels singing just now....!

Why is the Beatles song "Birthday" so inherent to my family? We were born with it in our brains. Installed right next to the wrinkle that says "Conscious Fact: October 3 is my birthday" is the wrinkle that says "Subconscious Fact: Birthday Equals Beatles". So that is what is being heard in my head right now...and all day yesterday. And it never gets old! You say it's your birthday...!!

I had the most wonderful day! Bright and early yesterday morning we had a group email going full of the "fun-derful" reply-all's as only the O'Brien family can do - out of control with birthday wishes and jokes. Josh and I had planned a dinner at Sullivans Steakhouse in North Dallas for yesterday evening. It was a nice, cushy, 1940's jazzy groovy place, daddy-o. I had a tomato and mozzarella with greens salad, filet stuffed with shrimp and three shrimp scampi, sautéed spinach (YUMMM-O) and au gratin potatoes. And since I am so special...we received a chocolate soufflé on the house! It was my first soufflé and I've always heard how delicate and particular they are. I know it's a disappointment when they deflate so of course our deflated before it made it to the table. Our waiter was just beside himself when he saw it. But it came with two sparklers and no singing waiters, so it was great in my opinion! By the way, I'll take a good ol chocolate cake over that soufflé thing any day...I guess it's an acquired taste.

Some of my favorite birthday wishes were from my good friends whom you might recognize.



A bithday you are having, hmmmm? I sense a happy one it shall be.




I pity the fool who doesn't wish you a happy birthday!





28?! Whatcu talkin bout Willis?






I hope you have the Ultimate birthday! Grrr!





And Alicia's precious Carmen also sent birthday wishes my way! Thanks CJ!

30 Weeks/7 Months!

Only 10 more weeks to go! Ahh but whos counting?! Certainly not the proud mommy and daddy! Our baby's latest developments are getting baby more and more ready to survive on it's own. The baby's brain is developing it's grooves and indentations which allow for an increased amount of brain tissue. The growing brain is beginning to be able to regulate body temperature, in combination with the increased body fat. So, my baby's sweet first peach fuzz style body hair (lanugo) will begin to disappear now. Another huge change...our baby's bone marrow has begun making red blood cells!

I still don't feel that big, although I do feel very pregnant. Everything is tight and pinching and stretching and I can hardly breath and eat these days. I am good if I can get down half a can of soup with the heartburn and stomach aches that accompany it. I often feel a thumping/rolling right in between where my rib cage converges into my breast plate. Even more frequently I feel what I think is a head under the right side of my ribs. It kinda makes me mad that this child has made my rib cage his or her home and I am couting the days until the baby drops down lower. Hopefully he'll drop lower. Won't the baby drop lower? Oh don't answer that.

In the mean time I can attempt to overlook the necessary evil and concentrate on the new bundle of joy baby will be! Josh gets to feel big time kicks and punches these days. It's funny to watch my whole stomach jump and move. I try not to think about Aliens too much since it hits close to home. My baby will not be an alien, my baby will not be an alien. Josh and Bob finished sanding the baby's room and retextured last weekend...so it's time to slap on a coat of primer and paint! We're getting closer to it being a real bedroom!

I got all of my pre admission forms filled out and mailed off yesterday. That was a nice little check off the list of to dos. We start lamaze next week and I am really looking forward to that. The instructions are to bring 5-6 pillows and a blanket to class each time so I am pretty sure this is my and Josh's style of class!

My love to you all this week! And in the wise words of Jerry Springer from his closing monologue each show...take care of yourselves...and each other.

***Tums and Zantac Free Wishes to All***

Not My Baby

Kids these days! Sheesh!
Actually...PARENTS these days! Sheesh!

I've been collecting these to present to you on a blog that I'll title "Not My Baby". Let me start by saying that I can be open minded. I can appreciate funky rainbow toe socks as much as the next person. I like things a little different and cutting edge, but some of these baby - and I mean infant, sweet, innocent infant - items are just wrong! What small child wants to wake up from a nap distressed and see scary fish with razor sharp teeth eating other fish, ON THEIR CRIB BEDDING!?

Now, the hats are borderline cute...but still a little kooky. And the skull and crossbones/motorcycle gang/drinking refrences clothing and accessories are everywhere it seems. Those types of designs are what makes my eyes pop out of my head as I shop for pastels and flowers and puppy dogs and only the highest quality cotton to grace my child's skin. And ruffles in case it's a girl...lots of ruffles!

I'll just say "to each, their own". And I'll stick to the puppy dogs and flowers, thank you.

The Funnel

Last week I had an OBGYN check up. I am 28 weeks now and beginning my third trimester! My goodness, can it be true? I SWEAR that just yesterday we were staring at a pee stick wondering if we really knew what we were getting into. Time has flown right into my final 'mester and I imagine I'll be saying the same thing in two months when I am holding my new baby. Sorry, gotta grab a tissue real quick.

Ah, so the appointment last week...
I had a sono, which I've been getting often to watch a cyst or mass on my right ovary. The ovary is fine (relatively speaking) with no changes in the size of the cyst and no pain associated with it, but Doc. is keeping her eye on it. While taking measurements of that, and amniotic fluid, and baby, my sonographer came across a cervical funnel. This is not so bad but definitely not good. It is an opening in my cervix which appropriately enough looks like a funnel as it narrows down and opens into "the canal". I'll save you the pain of hearing the "V" word. It's just not one of the world most beautiful words, I know.

So the crazy part is when Mom and Josh and I are sitting in the examination room waiting to see Doc, and she walks in and shows us the picture of this fascinating (sarcasm) cervical funnel and tells me I have the possibility of going into pre-term labor in the next two weeks. Point blank. Staring straight at me. So Josh and mom and I looked at each other and started laughing! I guess shock/nervous laughter is more accurate but I really was not expecting those words to come out of her mouth, and it was a little funny in an ironic sort of way. But mostly I was floored! She said there would be more testing (called a fetal fibronectin test) and a follow up sono in one week. No bed rest was ordered, life was to go on as normal. I wasn't having anything remotely close to contractions or cramping so that was excellent. Even more excellent was that my cervix was not thinning. It was nice and thick at something like 38 cm (out of 40ish max)...how's that for too much information?!

On Monday I called to check on the test results and Nurse Tiffany broke it to me that my sample wasn't sent to the lab frozen like it should have, so there were no results. Oh man, didn't she know that we paced the house all weekend wondering if it was time to go ahead and pack a hospital bag? Didn't she know that people's lives were at stake here?! Just kidding, everyone's life was just fine...in fact the baby was at a point developmentally where everything was up and running and had something happened even the lungs were developed enough to survive in the outside world. Never mind that my dearest only weighed 2 lbs. 8 oz., AND the baby's room wasn't ready!

Today we returned for the follow up sono. And like a good friend, the smiling sonographer said "Oh hon, there's nothing there. It's strong and thick in there. Ohhh, the baby just elbowed me!" She was very jovial which I could appreciate given the news. Then, just like every other time, the magic happened...we saw the eyes, and the heart, and the feet and fingers and spine and the cheeks, and finally the tech swears our little turkey stuck it's tongue out at us. I think it was actually licking its lips because of the chocolate covered Krispy Kreme that I had just shared with it. Sorry, gotta go grab a tissue again. Gosh I love that baby.

Doc confirmed the nonexistent state of the funnel and told us that either it was nothing in the first place, or perhaps the baby was putting too much pressure there and it opened a bit. It was a 7mm opening to be exact...less than a centimeter. Funny how less than a centimeter can represent so much. At first, for a split second I dreamed of how cool it would be to have my baby two months early. But making a human is a little different than, say, taking cookies out of the oven a few minutes early. Or leaving the nail salon before you know you're nails are really good and dry. Wouldn't you agree? Luckily our baby decided to stay nice and cozy in my belly a bit longer - or my body chose not to kick out its tenant too early after all. I may have to sit down and have a talk with "someone"; don't they know that I am the one in charge here? So maybe I'm not the one in charge...these shows of perspective are quite enlightening.

Stupid Horse

I guess I have a love hate relationship with my hobby horse. And for future reference - Shannon, Michael and Peter - the horsy will be referred to as mine because in my head it always was mine. I guess that is the spoiled and loved to death and "no one in the world but me" sibling syndrome you guess instilled in me. Sometimes I think you guys loved me more than mom and dad. But I digress.

So it started as and was always a love relationship with the horse. But once I decided that I had to have it for my unborn (but conceived) child and that it would be the perfect weekend project to re-pad and re-cover the darn thing, it turned into a hate relationship in about 5 minutes. Let. Me. Tell. You. That thing is nasty! Is stinks realllly bad, like smelly feet and nasty cheese all mixed together. It is dusty and disintegrating. And I know it's not the horsy's fault, but it's really hot in the garage where I was working. Since then a fan has been taken out there to keep us cool during various jobs. These things were expected, however, since the poor dear is 40 years old (at least 37 for sure) and a little wood work was expected but lordy. See last picture - what in the heck happened to you horsy? I will trudge ahead and I will laugh and smile every time my children ride the darn thing. For years to come!

A few P.S's for the close:
Yes, I know his face looks funny painted like that. Not too realistic, eh? What's up with those BIG black eyes?
Yes, we do watch TV in the garage. It goes good with ping pong and beer (or soda).
Yes, it does hurt your crotch realllly bad to sit on him. We'll spring for extra good padding!

The Shoes and a Drill...

This morning I woke up nice and early. Who else is laughing with me? I don't wake up nice and early...I hit the alarm no fewer than 5 times (which really is a random guess, it's too early to be counting or anything else productive) between 5:40 and 6:30-ish and then started to wake up. Josh rolled over and not even half awake this is what he said.

"There was a wierdo guy across the street drilling holes in my car. He really made me mad."

I said "what are you talking about?" and Josh told me he just had a crazy dream. Haha! I figured this was gonna be good. I asked why he would do that to Josh's car (and why wasn't it in the garage, anyway?).

"He was just walking around close to my car and had a drill, and he kept pushing the button and he really messed up my car. I was mad."

This is so funny since he is more than half asleep and probably doesn't exactly know what he is talking about, so I egg him on. I say that I'd be mad too and ask if the "wierdo" culprit fixed it.

"No, he wouldn't fix it. But it's ok, I got his shoes."

I had to laugh out loud at that! He got his shoes! Well thank goodness! Some collateral for the damage to Josh's beautiful car! I come from a long line of wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-talking-about-what-just-happened-in-a-dream family members and we really get to laughing at each other. Here's another for the collection, but it may not be quite up there with Michael's middle of the dream night stories. We are still talking about some of those from years and years ago!

Before Josh rolled back over and went to sleep again, he said...referring to the shoes..."They weren't expensive but I got 'em."
Well, good job, baby...good job.

Showing Off My Babies!

Connor Got New Glasses!
Who can resist this face? Certainly not me!


















I Didn't Know That Angels Drove Monster Trucks, But Apparently They Do!
Look at those ruby red lips!























The Best Neices Ever!
Another angel among us...our Lindsey.




















Keep Those Feet Up, Jessie!
She is so beautiful inside and out.